By PTI NEW DELHI: As many as five special economic zone developers including Mahindra World City and Ansal IT City & Parks did not follow the rules laid down by the government, Parliament was informed on Monday. The information was provided by Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The other developers include new Chennai Township, Ganesh Housing Corporation, and Persipina Developers, he said. Prabhu also said that presently, formal approval has been accorded for setting up of 421 SEZs in the country. "Out of the 421 approved, 355 SEZs have been notified and out of which 231 are operational," he added. SEZs, which once contributed significantly in the country's exports, started losing sheen after the government decided to roll back tax incentives and imposed a minimum alternate tax and dividend distribution tax. The commerce ministry has sought stakeholders' views on a report submitted by a panel to revive these zones. The SEZ Act, 2005, supported by SEZ rules, came into effect on February 10, 2006. Exports from SEZs grew about 15 per cent to Rs 5.52 lakh crore in 2017-18 as compared to the previous fiscal. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal is slated to address the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Board members on February 9, two days after the Board presents its monetary policy. Apart from a general discussion on the financial health of banks, Goyal is expected to request an interim dividend from the RBI and also seek the next round of recapitalisation for Public Sector Banks. The Finance Minister will address the RBI Board on February 9. The meeting would be customary. The finance secretary is also likely to accompany him, an official from Ministry of Finance told this publication. While the discussion would concentrate on the overall financial health of the banks and the recent proposals in the budgetary announcement, two crucial agendas would be the dividend from the RBI and recapitalisation of banks. The RBI Board would take up the governments request for interim dividend for the current fiscal, the official added. ALSO READ: Going beyond incremental growth; India set for quantum leap in road, waterways, railways sectors, says Piyush Goyal The government reportedly expects Rs 28,000 crore from the Reserve Bank as interim dividend for the current fiscal, based on the central banks financial position in the first half of the financial year. The RBI, which follows the July-June financial year, has already paid Rs 40,000 crore as dividend for the current fiscal. It is important to note that the meeting will take place two days after the sixth monetary policy review, which is expected to take a call on policy rates. Goyal, who was given additional charge of the finance ministry in the absence of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, had earlier met chiefs of the state-owned banks to review financial performance of the Public Sector Banks. Goyal, during his first stint as finance minister for 100 days last year, was instrumental in setting up a committee headed by non-executive chairman of Punjab National Bank Sunil Mehta to examine whether creation of an asset reconstruction company or asset management company would help in faster resolution of non-performing assets. By Express News Service The Budget was populist in nature and announced several measures for farmers, informal sector workers and the middle class. To relieve farmer distress, the Budget unveiled the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, an assured income support programme for 12 crore small and marginalised farmers with an outlay of Rs 75,000 crore per year. This is a good move, however, with an annual relief of only Rs 6,000 per year, it may not make any meaningful impact. There were some measures to help farmers get timely credit for cultivation besides fund allocations for rural development in the Budget, but nothing to push agri-technologies that enable transparent price discovery in commodity markets as well as help farmers increase crop yields. The pension scheme for workers in the informal sector, Pradhan Mantri Shram-Yogi Maandha, is welcome as it will provide a social security net for nearly 10 crore Indians. It will also be the first step towards generating formal data on the kind of jobs being created in this sector. An Income Tax rebate for up to Rs 5 lakh and hiking the standard deduction to Rs 50,000 from Rs 40,000 will translate into higher disposable income for the salaried and middle classes and help boost urban demand, which augurs well for the overall economy. The allocation for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has been substantially increased, which will help in improving the condition of these marginalised communities. The budgetary allocation of Rs 60,000 crore for MGNREGA for the economically weaker sections of society will also bring some relief. In the area of education, the budget allocation for the National Education Mission has gone up. Similarly, the additional allocation for the Integrated Child Development Scheme will provide better pre-school education and primary healthcare as well as improve nutrition in young children and their mothers. The allocation of Rs 1,330 crore for the Mission for Protection and Empowerment for Women is timely and will help in creating a safe and secure environment for women. Overall, the government did well to balance the populist tone of the Budget by signalling its commitment to stick to the road of fiscal discipline, pegging the fiscal deficit at 3.4 per cent of GDP (Gross Deomestic Product), slightly higher than the targeted 3.3 per cent for FY19. The Budget could have done more to strengthen the existing start-up ecosystem. It was disappointing to see that the start-up sector did not receive any relief in terms of a 10-year tax holiday for angel investors. However, announcement of a national programme on Artificial Intelligence is a welcome move. Such an initiative will go a long way in addressing the skills gap in this area. The Budget also failed to announce GST (Goods and Services Tax) exemption on drugs to treat cancer, which is an urgent need given the huge disease burden that India faces. In the final analysis, this Budget has tried to address various stakeholder groups in the run-up to the elections without unveiling any big idea. A visitation and memorial service will be held for Donald Hawk Sr., who passed away on Nov. 16, 2020, and his beloved wife, JoAnne C. Hawk, who passed away on Jan. 17, 2021. Once again the Engineers Club of Dayton has taught technical Merit Badges to 12 different troops from Montgomery, Greene and Clark Counties represented by 27 Scouts BSA members. Since 2012 we have taught such subjects as Astronomy, Aviation, Composite Materials, Digital Technology, Electronics, Electricity, Energy, Engineering, Environmental Science, Inventing, Nuclear Science, Space Exploration, and Sustainability along with Geology, Robotics, Radio, and Weather which have been taught in previous years. All in all, we have taught over 150 scouts and they have earned nearly 300 merit badges. We are proud of the fact that in previous years we have had scouts from Kentucky and West Virginia to earn Merit Badges here because they were not offered at their troops location. While the Club typically teaches in the building at 110 East Monument Avenue, we have gone to various sites around the Dayton Area such as the local Rocket Clubs site on a farm in Greene County for a rocket launch required by Space Exploration Merit Badge, the National Museum of the Air Force for the Aviation Merit Badge. We typically teach over 6 weeks starting in late October and ending the weekend after Thanksgiving. We have worked with the Miami Valley Council BSA, representing the Sunwatch and Wright Brothers districts, north and south of Dayton. The Council has notified the troops of our ability to teach the technical merit badges. Our Merit Badge leader is Dr. Charles Bleckmann who has had many meetings and conversations with the Council making sure we meet all the Scouts requirement for teaching the merit badges as well as having interactions with the scouts. 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. Sayre, PA (18840) Today Thunderstorms, some strong early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 58F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms, some strong early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 58F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. News Waverly Celebrating 100 years First Sunday event focuses on history of Waverly Rotary Club WarrenHoweler / Hannah Erb/Morning Times Waverly Rotary Club Secretary Linda Vogel, center, speaks with local library members about Waverly Rotary Club historical documents and history during the First Sundays event held at the Waverly Free Library. WAVILY The Waverly Free Library hosted its First Sundays event Sunday, which featured the Waverly Rotary Clubs celebration of their 100th anniversary. Library director Chris Brewster, a member of the Waverly Rotary Club, was present along with the Rotary Clubs secretary, Linda Vogel. Vogel has been a member of the Waverly Rotary Club or Rotary Club 4904 for 15 years and spoke on Sunday about the clubs history and background. The Waverly Rotary Club was founded in 1919 as a club of Rotary International. One of its first projects was to raise money for a hospital and orphanage in Waverly. Although neither were built, the Rotary club did pay for children to be transported to Elmira and treated at a hospital there. Another of the clubs original projects was placing the Welcome to Waverly signs at the entrances into the village. These they have also maintained over the years. The club has continued through its history to fund community projects and scholarships. One annual scholarship the club has provided for 50 years gives a Waverly High School senior a $1,000 scholarship. The Waverly Rotary Club, along with the Athens and Sayre Rotary clubs, also holds a Top Ten Banquet for the top 10 students of each graduating class every May. An upcoming event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Waverly Rotary Club is a picnic on July 20, 2019 at the East Waverly Ballpark where the community is invited to join the club in their celebration. For the future, and especially their 100th year, the Waverly Rotary Club is looking for community projects to start, support, or become involved in. Mora, MN (55051) Today Some clouds. Low 42F. W winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Low 42F. W winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. SUPPORT THIS INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM The article youre about to read is from our reporters doing their important work investigating, researching, and writing their stories. We want to provide informative and inspirational stories that connect you to the people, issues and opportunities within our community. Journalism takes a lot of resources. Today, our business model has been interrupted by the pandemic; the vast majority of our advertisers businesses have been impacted. Thats why the Weekly is now turning to you for financial support. Learn more about our new Insiders program here. Thank you. JOIN NOW Titled People You May Know, Walid Ebeid will showcase his newest paintings at Art Talks gallery starting 5 February. In his artworks, Ebeid tackles issues like sexuality, immigration and oppressionas he brings attention to the sufferings, struggles, and hopes of women in our society over the course of recent decades, according to the exhibition statement. Through his series of realistic expressionism portraits and figures, he breaks social and moral taboos as he paints women and prostitutes, channelling their issues and concerns. He seeks to express what occupies peoples minds and feelings. "The artist is a lawyer who defends any accused person when society plays the role of the judge, the artist says. An Egyptian oil painter, Ebeid was born in 1970 and graduated in 1992 from The Helwan Faculty of Arts in Cairo. His work has been exhibited internationally since 1992. Programme: The exhibition will open on 5 February at 6pm, and will run till 17 February Art Talks, 8 El-Kamel Mohamed St., Zamalek, Cairo For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Short link: By Tom Philpott On Jan. 29, attorney and retired Navy Cmdr. John B. Wells sat in the office of Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), ready to meet with staff regarding Lee's opposition to Blue Water Navy legislation, when his cell phone dinged and brought surprising news from the nearby U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A lawsuit that Wells and a team of appellant attorneys had argued on Dec. 7 before a full panel of judges on the appeals court had produced a stunning 9-2 victory for roughly 70,000 Blue Water Navy veterans. For Wells, the court's ruling delightfully deflated the importance of his visit to try to persuade Lee not to block again legislation to extend disability compensation and VA medical care to Navy veterans who deployed decades ago to territorial waters off Vietnam and now are ill, or dead, of ailments associated with Agent Orange and other defoliants used in the war. [TAKE ACTION: Visit MOAA's Legislative Action Center] Unless the Department of Veterans Affairs successfully petitions the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision in Procopio v. Wilkie, Blue Water veterans have won a victory denied them for two decades, both in the courts and Congress. Wells is executive director of Military-Veterans Advocacy of Slidell, La., a nonprofit corporation that litigates and advocates for veterans. He said he looked for years for the right case to challenge an appeals court decision that kept Agent Orange benefits from sailors whose ships steamed off Vietnam during the war. Alfred Procopio Jr. suffers from prostate cancer and type 2 diabetes, two conditions on the VA list of ailments associated with Agent Orange exposure and triggering benefits if veterans served in Vietnam for a time between Jan. 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, when U.S. involvement in the war officially ended. Procopio was aboard the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11) when, in July 1966, ship logs confirm it deployed to territorial waters off South Vietnam. The VA declined in April 2009 to find service connection for his ailments diagnosed a few years earlier. The Board of Veterans' Appeals also denied service connection, in March 2011 and in July 2015, because Procopio had not gone ashore. In denying such appeals, boards and judges routinely cite the 2008 appeals court ruling in Haas v. Peake, which affirmed VA's interpretation of the Agent Orange Act to exclude veterans from benefits if they didn't come ashore, even if their ships steamed through Vietnam's territorial sea, defined as within 12 nautical miles of the coastline. To prepare for Procopio's appeal, Wells said he interviewed lawyers at three firms offering pro bono expertise on briefs and arguments before appellate courts. He chose Melanie Bostwick of Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe, LLP, in Washington D.C., in part because of her plan to refine the challenge to Haas, focusing on what Congress meant in the Agent Orange Act by presuming exposure to defoliants if veterans served in the Republic of Vietnam. [RELATED: Battle for Blue Water Navy Benefits Begins Again in 2019] Bostwick pushed the significance of the act's reference to the Republic of Vietnam a step further than we had taken it and she was brilliant, Wells said. For Procopio, his lawyers didn't argue that given his ship's location he must have been exposed at some point to deadly defoliants just like veterans who served ashore. Instead, they contended that Congress, in writing the law, intentionally used the formal name for the sovereign coastal nation. Under international law and based on the act's legislative history, they argued, service in the Republic of Vietnam must be read by the court to include naval service in its territorial waters. Eight of 11 judges who heard the appeal accepted that argument. Another judge decided in favor of Procopio and Blue Water Navy veterans on other grounds. Two judges dissented. With Procopio, the appeals court reversed it ruling in Haas. It disagreed that the Agent Orange law is ambiguous as to whether the list of presumptive diseases tied to defoliants should apply to sailors who supported the war from the sea. Haas had let stand VA regulations that limited access to Agent Orange benefits to veterans who went ashore in Vietnam or patrolled its inland rivers and waterways. In Procopio, the court said what those judges missed a decade ago was the significance of the law granting presumption of service connection for certain diseases to veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam. By using the formal name of that country, explained Judge Kimberly Ann Moore in writing the majority opinion, the act extended benefit coverage to service in Vietnam's territorial sea. The court in Haas went astray when it found ambiguity in the plain language of the act after reviewing competing methods of defining the reaches of a sovereign nation, wrote Moore. It should have recognized that Congress unambiguously defined the pool of veterans eligible for benefits as any veteran who had served anywhere in Vietnam including the territorial sea. Congress has spoken directly to the question of whether those who served in the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea of the 'Republic of Vietnam' are entitled to [the act's] presumption if they meet [its] other requirements. They are. Because 'the intent of Congress is clear, that is the end of the matter,' Moore wrote, citing a 1984 Supreme Court decision that found a government agency must conform to clear legislative statements when interpreting and applying a law. Judge Raymond T. Chen dissented in Procopio and was joined by Judge Thomas B. Dyk. Chen's arguments are likely to be echoed by government attorneys if the VA decides to seek Supreme Court review the case. Chen wrote that in his view, the Agent Orange Act is ambiguous as to whether benefits should apply to veterans who served offshore. The court majority, he said, inappropriately preempts Congress's role in determining whether the statute should apply in these circumstances - an issue which Congress is grappling with at this very time. By repudiating a statutory interpretation from a 10-year old precedential opinion, without any evidence of changed circumstances, Chen wrote, the majority undermines the principle of stare decisis, a doctrine that obligates courts to follow precedents set in previous decisions unless they can show clearly the previous decisions were wrongly decided. Chen did not find persuasive the majority's conclusion that international law dictates its interpretation. The Haas court considered similar sources of evidence but still concluded that the statutory phrase was ambiguous, he wrote. Chen noted that Congress, in debating whether to extend Agent Orange benefits to Blue Water veterans, found it will require the allocation of $1.8 billion in fiscal 2019 and $5.7 billion over 10 years. With so much at stake and without more compelling evidence Haas got it wrong, Chen wrote, the court majority should have left the issue for Congress to settle. It is not for the Judiciary to step in and redirect such a significant budget item, Chen wrote. Wells said he expects the government to decide within a few weeks whether to petition the Supreme Court to review the case. Meanwhile, he said, we are very happy with the way the case came out. Wells said Haas case was ripe for reconsideration in part because the court has been taking an increasingly jaundiced look at the VA and some of the stuff they've done to deny benefits. Also, other cases had drilled down on weaknesses in VA's regulatory decisions excluding veterans from Agent Orange benefits. Frankly when the VA stripped the benefit [from sailors] back in 2002, we believed that they had nobody in their general counsel's office competent to understand the act and the legal definition of "Republic of Vietnam," Wells said. Burley, ID (83318) Today A few passing clouds. Low around 60F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few passing clouds. Low around 60F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. The latest exhibition of well-known artist Farouk Hosny will open at Cairos Picasso Gallery on 3 February. His minimalist, abstract style is recognizable, as his works are shown regularly in Egypt and internationally. The exhibition text describes his work as vivid, abstract, calligraphic gestures that capture Egypts landscape and icons. The blacks of sudden nightfall, the blues of sea water, the whites of limestone, the violets of the Sinai mountain range, the burning ochres of the desert, the green of the flowing Nile, the grays of ancient stones, and the oranges of flaming sunsets, the text reads. Hosnys works have been showcased in several international museums such as the Metropolitan museum, Houston museum of Fine Arts, Fort Lauderdale in Miami, the National Museum of Vienna, le Vittoriano Museum in Rome, Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, Tokyo Art Museum, in addition to several Arab and Egyptian Museums. He also held several solo exhibitions in Dubai, where he moved following the outbreak of the 25 January Revolution in 2011. He was appointed Minister of Culture by former president Hosni Mubarak in 1987, and held the position until 2011. Programme: Sunday 3 February, at 7pm Picasso Art Gallery, 30 Hassan Assem St., Zamalek, Cairo For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Short link: Young architects and urban designers are invited to contribute to designing of space hosting solar tress by participating in a competition. The winning projects will be implemented with the financial support of Chisinau City Hall. Two solar trees will be installed this spring in Chisinau on the pedestrian street and on Mircea Cel Batran Blvd. The smart trees will be equipped with USB terminals and sockets for free charging of mobile phones, tablets, laptops and electric bicycles. During night time, they will light up the neigbourhood. Solar trees can generate 800W of electricity from renewable sources daily. Vertical and cascade placement of photovoltaic leaves reduces the surface area necessary to install the photovoltaic panels in their classical form. The technology will provide an annual reduction of more than 700kg of CO 2 . The installation of the solar trees is financed by the United Nations Development Programme, in partnership with Chisinau City Hall. We aim to create a modern urban design area, where the people of Chisinau will spend the time in a functional and convenient way. We invite young architects and urban designers to develop concepts to arrange the space that host the solar trees. Two initiatives that will be voted by most people of Chisinau will be implemented with the financial support of Chisinau City Hall, says Ruslan Codreanu, interim general mayor of Chisinau municipality. Interested young people are invited to join the competition by filling in this form. The deadline for submission is February 18. The participants will be invited to an information session, so as so join site visits to the proposed solar trees locations. Design concepts developed by young people will be presented by their designers at a public workshop and finally proposed to the Chisinau people's vote. Two initiatives that will gather the most votes will be implemented with the financial support of the municipality. We enjoy the resonance that our initiative takes. Thanks to the cooperation with the municipality and the pro-active involvement of young architects, we will have modern urban recreation areas equipped with smart, environment-friendly and people-friendly technologies, mentions Alexandru Rotaru, project manager, UNDP Moldova. The installation of solar trees is a regional project of the United Nations Development Programme which covers the capitals of Serbia, Tajikistan, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. The first solar trees will be installed this spring in Chisinau. Britain on Monday will seek to reassure foreign investors worried about Britain leaving the EU after Japanese automaker Nissan said it was scrapping a major planned investment less than two months before Brexit. Prime Minister Theresa May was due to hold a conference call with around 55 chairmen and chief executives of European multinationals with operations in Britain. "She'll be stressing on that call the importance of the UK leaving the EU with a deal," her spokesman said. Nissan's decision not to build its new X-Trail vehicle at its factory in Sunderland in northeast England was "very disappointing," he said, adding however that the company had confirmed no jobs would be lost as a result. Business Secretary Greg Clark was also due to make a statement to parliament on Nissan as Brexit supporters and opponents fiercely debated whether the decision was motivated by Britain's impending withdrawal from the EU. Britain is on course to crash out of the bloc on March 29 after MPs last month voted massively against a divorce deal struck between May and EU leaders in December. Clark himself told the Financial Times that Nissan told him their decision was "a warning sign" of the damage that a no-deal Brexit could have on Britain's car sector. - 'Still time to reach agreement' - May is now seeking to renegotiate her deal, particularly its contentious "backstop" provision to keep the Irish border free-flowing, in a bid to secure parliament's support. EU leaders have so far refused, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel repeated this on Monday, saying the Brexit agreement had been painstakingly negotiated and reopening it "is not on the agenda". But speaking alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, she said: "We want to do everything to avoid a no-deal, because that would increase the uncertainty." Merkel said questions about the backstop could be discussed in the so-called political agreement that accompanies the Brexit deal, adding: "We need to show creativity, we need to listen to each other. "We can still use the time to come to an agreement over the things that are standing in our way, if everyone shows goodwill." In London, May has invited hardline eurosceptics and Remain supporters within her Conservative Party to come up with possible alternatives to the backstop. The MPs were set to meet later on Monday and again on Tuesday and Wednesday. May wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that she intends to return to Brussels where she will be "battling for Britain and Northern Ireland" to change the deal. "If we stand together and speak with one voice, I believe we can find the right way forward," she wrote. Meanwhile Brexit figurehead Boris Johnson, Britain's former foreign secretary, warned that rumours of an imminent election could be a government "scare tactic" aimed at getting Conservative MPs to support a Brexit deal. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said that "if Tory MPs were asked to go into electoral battle in the next few months, there would be a hole in the heart of our manifesto". "I have no idea what we would say about the EU - because after two-and-a-half years of dither the truly astonishing feature of the UK position is that the big questions have still not been answered," he wrote. Short link: UNDP Moldova, in partnership with Danish SDG Accelerator and BCTA Impact Lab, launches one-year business acceleration programme, aimed at engaging the private sector in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The initiative is a collaborative pilot managed by UNDP Moldovas Business Innovation Lab, with support from Sweden, UNDP, and with co-funding from private sector. On 1 February 2019, a first event was organized in Chisinau for seven small and medium-sized private companies in the Republic of Moldova, interested to work with UNDP to explore businesses alignment to the SDGs, innovative business modelling, but also impact management and evaluation. The participants analyzed international business cases of companies aligning their operations to the SDGs or launching new products/services with impact on the SDGs. The examples included businesses focused on reducing food and plastic waste, CO2 emissions from transport. The participating companies received a brief introductory training on how the SDGs could present interesting business opportunities for their operations and how impact management could be useful for them. They learned about the UN guiding principles on business and human rights, alignment of corporate social responsibility strategies to specific SDGs, noted Dumitru Vasilescu, Policy Specialist at UNDP Moldova. UNDP is aiming to launch over 60 SDG Acceleration Labs in its country offices, to better combine global, cutting-edge thinking in development to build on and invest in local solutions and partners, thereby accelerating SDG implementation in all countries involved. The Labs will be connected and supported by a global learning network, as well as a wide array of partners. The Danish SDG Accelerator for SMEs is a UNDP programme funded by the Danish Industry Foundation ran together with Monitor Deloitte as the implementing partner, helping 30 Danish small and medium-sized industrial companies to develop new SDG business solutions. The BCTA Impact Lab is a UNDP-developed and managed platform for inclusive businesses to better measure and manage their impact on the SDGs. Contact person: Dumitru Vasilescu, Policy Specialist, UNDP Moldova, tel.: (373 60) 056556, dumitru.vasilescu@undp.org Another example was the National Defense Education Act of 1958, which required signing a loyalty oath to obtain a college loan. I confess to signing one or forgo attending college. Teachers were forced to sign an oath stating, I have not and will not lend my aid, support, advice, counsel or influence to the Communist Party. Is it implausible to suggest that variations on this anti-democratic attack on civil liberties will re-emerge? After reading the article about Pennsylvania college endowments, theres only a few words that come to mind that can describe our system of higher education: greedy, wasteful, elitist. When the president complains about American companies seeking to increase their profile and revenue by investing out of the U.S., he is in effect telling them where they should or shouldnt invest their capital. This is un-American. Socialism means government control of the means of production. Colonial Regional police are asking for help in identifying this woman. Police say she used a stolen credit card at the Lower Nazareth Township Target. Colonial Regional police are asking for help in identifying this woman. Police say she used a stolen credit card at the Lower Nazareth Township Target. This is not Cabot vs. three landowners. This is Cabot vs. the money that's behind this. These are paid activists, paid actors on behalf of Food & Water Watch and the like, Cabot spokesman George Stark said outside court Monday. Some will say that, you know, again Cabot is going after a local voice. And that's nothing further from the truth. We are actively going after those that are funding. These billionaire groups are funding these mouthpieces. Taylor claims in her unfiled document, which is the subject of the caucus internal investigation, that she was 17 when Leach picked her up at her Allentown home and drove her to his residence at the Trexler Park Apartments under the pretense of talking about her mothers case in summer 1991. The document claims Leach called her into his bedroom where he was lying on a bed and told her to perform oral sex on him, which she did until she started crying. He came to the United States what he still calls the city on the hill 30 years ago from Turkey in pursuit of a safe and successful life for himself and his family because America is seen as a beacon of hope, Wild said in a statement. His countless contributions to the Lehigh Valley, to Pennsylvania, and to this country are an important reminder of the integral role that immigrants or New Americans play in the fabric of our society. The victim, who police have not identified, was just east of an ambulance bay, in the 600 block of W. Redwood Street, when he was shot in the face and buttocks at about 7 a.m., police said. University of Maryland police apprehended a suspect, a 26-year-old man, with a loaded handgun about two blocks north of the hospital shortly after the shooting, according to the Baltimore Police Department. Eleven European nations joined the United States in recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president on Monday, heightening a global showdown over Nicolas Maduro's socialist rule. The European Union members' coordinated move followed the expiry of an ultimatum for Maduro to call a new election and aligned them with Washington against Russia and China. The sitting Venezuelan leader, accused of running the OPEC nation of 30 million people like a dictatorship and wrecking its economy, has defied European heads of state and called them sycophants for following President Donald Trump. Guaido, who leads the National Assembly, declared himself caretaker leader last month in a move that has fed into a global geopolitical divide and brought Venezuelans onto the streets. Trump quickly recognised him, but Europe had been hesitant. "From today, we will spare no effort in helping all Venezuelans achieve freedom, prosperity and harmony," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, recognising Guaido. Another 10 EU nations followed suit: Austria, Britain, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden. In response, Caracas said it would revise its relations with Europe, while Maduro singled out "cowardly" Spain. "If one day there is a coup, if one day there is a gringo military intervention, your hands will be stained with blood, Mr. Pedro Sanchez," he said in a speech. Maduro, 56, a former union leader, bus driver and foreign minister, replaced former president Hugo Chavez in 2013 after his death from cancer. But he has presided over an economic collapse and exodus of 3 million Venezuelans. He accuses Washington of waging "economic war" on Venezuela and harbouring coup pretensions aimed at gaining control over its oil. Venezuela's oil reserves are the largest in the world but production has plunged under Maduro. "Illegitimate, Kleptocratic Maduro" Critics say incompetent policies and corruption have impoverished the once-wealthy nation while dissent has been brutally crushed. "The oppression of the illegitimate, kleptocratic Maduro regime must end," said British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Moscow and Beijing, which have poured billions of dollars of investment and loans into Venezuela, are supporting Maduro and warning of the dangers of foreign intervention. "Imposing some kind of decisions or trying to legitimise an attempt to usurp power is both direct and indirect interference," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Maduro won re-election last year, but critics say the vote was a sham. Two opposition rivals with a good chance of winning were barred, while food handouts to hungry Venezuelans were linked with political support. Italy, whose coalition government is divided over Venezuela, dissented from other major European powers and blocked a joint statement, saying that individual nations had the prerogative to recognise Guaido. Italy's 5-Star Movement says it cannot recognise self-appointed leaders. Ireland shared that reluctance and declined to recognise Guaido specifically, though it did back the EU stance of calling for a fair election. In addition to European pressure, a bloc of Latin American nations plus Canada were to meet on Monday seeking to maintain pressure on Maduro. "All these shameless people are clinging to power," said Luis, a 45-year-old Venezuelan outside the consulate in Madrid. "Let them hold elections so they see they won't get even 10 percent of the votes." Italy's SkyTG24 channel quoted Maduro as appealing to the Pope to help dialogue ahead of what he hoped would be a "peace conference" led by Mexico and others on Feb. 7. Conscious of the collapse of a past Vatican mediation bid, foes say Maduro uses dialogue to play for time and regroup when on the back foot. Short link: Over the summer, the Easton Area Joint Sewer Authority paid $75,000 for engineering and feasibility studies on the project. Its too early to say when the project might begin, but the authority hopes to start the design phase in the spring, said Dave Hopkins, Eastons director of public works and a member of the sewer authoritys board of directors. BRIA reviews the financing of projects in the 130-acre City Revitalization and Improvement Zone. Developers in the zone can use certain state and local taxes to pay off construction loans so long as the project brings in new companies to Pennsylvania or expands existing ones. Marks, 44, has three pending murder charges against him and is "considered extremely dangerous," the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office wrote on Twitter. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and restraints when he fled. Police found his shirt while on his trail. The state Department of Health allows 50 permitted dispensary statewide to open up to three locations. Each location must be in a different county within one of six regions across the state. The Lehigh Valley is part of the northeastern region. Two Winning Gold Trade Setups GDXJ and ROKU We are not always correct in our calls about the market. Professional researchers and analysts must understand that attempting to accurately predict the future outcome of any commodity, stock, index or ETF is impossible to be 100% accurate. Yet, we are pleased that our proprietary price modeling and analysis tools continue to provide us with very clear triggers and alert us to price moves before they happen. Today, we are sharing two recent trades we executed with our members that resulted in some decent profits. The first example is our GDXJ trade. We had been in a Long position since before the beginning of 2019 expecting Gold and Miners to rally. Our price modeling systems suggested that after price reached $1300, we may experience a brief price pause over the next 45 days or so. Thus, we pulled the profits in this trade recently to lock in 10.5% profit and to allow us to re-enter when our modeling systems suggest the price pullback has ended. The second example is our ROKU trade. We recently pulled 8.1% profit on a partial profit target execution for our members after a nice upside momentum move. This type of trade falls into our MRM (Momentum Reversal Method) trade trigger category and is supported by a momentum resurgence price move that can typically prompt prices to move +8~30% over fairly quick periods of time (under 20 days). For almost all traders, weve found that understanding general market conditions, finding suitable trading triggers/setups and staying aware of the market dynamics at play in the global markets is very hard to accomplish. This is why we offer our members a very quick and easy way for them to accomplish all of these essential components for success with their membership to Technical Traders Ltd. Wealth Trading Newsletter. Our Daily Market Video, which is typically under 10 minutes in length, covers all of the major markets, most commodities, the US Dollar, Bitcoin and many other elements of the markets. Combine this video content with our detailed market research posts, which you can read by visiting www.TheTechnicalTraders.com/FreeResearch/, allows our members to not only learn from our video content but also to begin to understand and formulate their own conclusions based on our content. Lastly, we add our trading trigger/alerts feature to alert our members to superior trading setups that we find while running our proprietary trading models. We dont post 40 trades a day hoping our members will find one or two they can make profits from. We are highly selective in our posts and attempt to only post the best opportunities for success. Over the past couple of months, we have been developing a new members area application. It will allow you to have live access to our morning spike and gap trades and traders chatroom, our Sp500 index momentum, and swing trades, plus our special MRM (Momentum Reversal Method) stock picks on small/mid-cap stocks which also all trade options so if you want to you can trade options on your own around our stock trades. Last week we made huge progress and this weeks goals are to implement the instant and automated SMS and email alerts sent to you every time there is a new trade, stop, target hit, or we close a position. This will give you more time to see and execute the trades as needed. Keep in mind most swing trades can be entered 1-3 days after the trade alert at the same price or better price simply because we are not that perfect at timing the markets every move. If you take a minute to review these example REAL TRADES (above) and review the information at www.TheTechnicalTraders.com, we believe you will understand the value and resources we offer our members. Isnt it time you found the right team of professionals to help you make 2019 an incredibly successful year? Chris Vermeulen www.TheTechnicalTraders.com Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better. His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility. He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect. Chris Vermeulen Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Stock Market Fib Resistance Warning to Err on Side of Caution The S&P 500 (SPX) is right at a price zone pointing more towards a meaningful give-back in the short-term. This zone of resistance can be viewed through the Fibonacci price and time relationships on the daily SPX chart. As the chart shows, as of Friday's close, the SPX resided approximately 16% above its late December lows, amounting to an exact 62% Fibonacci recovery of the entire prior decline from the Sep 21 all-time-high at 2940.91 to the Dec 26 low at 2346.58. In addition, last Thursday Jan 31, the SPX made its closing recovery rally high at 2704.10, which represented the (Fibonacci) 89th trading day since the establishment of the Sep 21 all-time high; and Finally, Jan 31 also represented the day when the recovery rally period from Dec 26 to Jan 31 equaled a Fibonacci 38% of the duration of the Sep- Dec decline period. Purely from a technical perspective, unless Fibonacci recovery time and price converging around 2715 are purely coincidental, my sense is that SPX is circling a critical and consequential price zone that EITHER will conclude the post-December recovery period ahead of some magnitude of correction OR represent a launchpad for upside acceleration and continuation quickly towards 2800-2820. As I see current conditions, given the presence of the Fibonacci relationships, there is no gray area separating the two scenarios. It is significant correction versus sharp upside continuation. From an alternative perspective, lets look at the SPY Point & Figure chart set-up which shows that the action since mid-December can be viewed as a large, potentially explosive accumulation pattern that is testing important resistance at 271, or the equivalent of 2710 in the cash SPX. If SPY climbs to a new recovery high print at 271.50, it will "break out" of its big base formation, triggering upside potential that projects to targets of 281, 292, and 300! Before everyone gets all bulled up, lets notice that the SPY Point and Figure price action ended last week with a minor sell-off from 271 to 269.50 that initiated a down-column of Red Os heading into Mondays open. If SPY opens lower on Monday, and prints 269.00, the column of Red Os will gain more downside traction towards testing 267 prior, the prior upside breakout zone that coincided with President Trumps meeting with the high-level Chinese officials in the Oval Office last Thursday afternoon. At the moment, the confluence of the Fibonacci price and time relationships shown on the cash SPX chart, heavy resistance at the neckline 271.00-271.50 zone on the SPY Point and Figure chart, and four weeks of extremely supportive and influential market catalysts (intervention by the Fed, promising China trade updates, and a strong January Jobs Report), suggest strongly to me that a pause in, if not a meaningful give-back of the advance approaching in the upcoming hours. This Tuesday evenings (9 PM ET) State of the Union address from President Trump is setting up to be another influential extraneous price catalyst for the equity markets that has potential to trigger the next directional algo-spike in one direction or other. That said, Fibonacci resistance is warning traders to err on the side of caution. See charts on SPX & SPY noted in this article. Mike Paulenoff is a veteran technical strategist and financial author, and host of MPTrader.com, a live trading room of his market analysis and stock trading alerts. Sign Up for a Free 15-Day Trial to Mike's Live Trading Room! 2002-2019 MPTrader.com, an AdviceTrade publication. All rights reserved. Any publication, distribution, retransmission or reproduction of information or data contained on this Web site without written consent from MPTrader is prohibited. See our disclaimer. Mike Paulenoff Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Pursuant to the recent Code of Commencement of Execution Proceedings in Monetary Receivables Arising from Subscription Agreements (the Code) published in Official Gazette dated December 19 2018, mediation is now mandatory for commercial receivables claims. In line with Article 20 of the Code, Article 5/A is incorporated into the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC). This requires mediation for commercial receivables claims, in which compensation or payment of a certain amount is requested. Accordingly, mediation is a pre-condition of bringing a lawsuit before the courts. This recent development was implemented on January 1 2019. Though the aforementioned Article 5/A does not clearly include IP-related disputes, according to Article 4/d of the TCC, civil suits regulated under IP-related codes are deemed as commercial where a request for compensation or payment of a certain amount is sought, for instance disputes arising from the price of licence agreements or transfer of IP rights and compensation due to IP right infringements etc. Before mediation was stipulated as a pre-condition for commercial receivables claims, the Law on Labour Courts made mediation mandatory from January 1 2018 for labour disputes arising from an employment contract in which compensation or re-employment is sought. According to statistics shared by the Ministry of Justice, 65% of disputes were closed by mandatory mediation between January 2 2018 and May 27 2018. As a result of mandatory mediation introduced for commercial receivables actions from 2019, a notable reduction in commercial courts' workload is expected/hoped for as was achieved for labour disputes. It is also worth mentioning that mediation was first incorporated into the Turkish legal system as a discretionary alternative dispute resolution method in 2013 by Law no. 6325 on Mediation in Civil Disputes. Though mediation is a relatively new concept for dispute resolution, it is possible to say that it has rapidly progressed in Turkey. Mediation offers parties a chance to reach an amicable solution by spending reasonable effort, time and cost and as a consequence was made mandatory first for labour and then commercial receivables actions, including some IP related-matters. However, still, in a certain number of cases it is considered a burdensome procedure that has to be completed before reaching the main stage legal action. In time, mediation might become mandatory for other types of IP disputes. Though it is expected that mandatory mediation will decrease the workload of IP courts, the impact of this new development cannot clearly be predicted, since it is conceptually new for Turkey where a culture of litigation dominates. We will wait and see what this brand new update brings to Turkish IP law. Guldeniz Dogan Alkan The material on this site is for law firms, companies and other IP specialists. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs. Share this article Kore Sehitleri Cad. 17Zincirlikuyu 34394Istanbul, TurkeyTel: + (90) (212) 354 00 00Fax: + (90) (212) 274 20 95 gun@gun.av.tr gun.av.tr To raise funds for research and development, start-ups sometimes have to announce the existence of licensing agreements, supply and distribution agreements etc. (i.e. a contract for a future sale of a product embodying an invention). In places like the US, if such agreements were made public more than one year prior to the effective filing date, even though the details of the invention are kept confidential, a statutory on-sale bar may be triggered, resulting in loss of patent protection for the invention in the US. However, Korea does not have such a statutory on-sale bar. Instead, if an invention is "publicly known or used" in Korea or other countries, it triggers a bar on patentability. According to precedent, an invention "publicly known or used" means an invention placed in such a condition that a member of the public having no confidentiality obligation, can easily grasp the content of the invention, for example, by sales of the product embodying the invention, regardless of whether the member was actually aware of the invention (e.g. Supreme Court Decisions 2000Hu1238, 2011Hu4011). Therefore, secret sales or offers for sale per se would not be prior art in Korea as the specific details of the invention need to be publicly disclosed. Generally, the Korean courts have held that when a product embodying a patented invention is publicly sold to a third party, the third party may be able to disassemble the product and recognise the features in that product. Thus the invention is publicly known or used (e.g. Patent Court Decisions 2008Heo1692, 2004Heo4686). However, specific judgments may depend on what constitutes the technical features of the invention. Recently, the Patent Court found that even a public sale of a pharmaceutical product before the priority date does not count as prior art, if a person skilled in the art was not able to know its composition or components by using analytical methods available before the priority date, without undue efforts (Patent Court Decisions 2017Na1247 and 2016Heo7954, January 11 2018). The Supreme Court upheld the Patent Court's ruling (June 15 2018). In this case, Korean local pharmaceutical companies (generic companies) challenged the patent KR 857061 (subject patent) directed to Qretin Tab. of Taejoon Pharm (patentee) by filing a negative scope complaint alleging that their generic products do not fall within the scope of the subject patent. In response, the patentee filed patent infringement suits against the companies selling the generic products. In fact, Qretin Tab. had been sold since February 1 2007, which was before the priority date (March 9 2007), but the patent application was filed without claiming the benefit of the grace period. The subject patent claims a pharmaceutical formulation characterised by specific components and their ratios, as follows: Claim 1. Vaccinium myrtillus extract-containing tablet, wherein the tablet comprises 100mg to 500mg of Vaccinium myrtillus extract as an active ingredient; at least one excipient selected from microcrystalline cellulose and anhydrous lactose; and 5 mg to 30 mg of a coating layer, a mixing ratio of Vaccinium myrtillus extract and microcrystalline cellulose is 1 : 0.5 to 1 : 3 on a weight basis (Vaccinium myrtillus extract weight : microcrystalline cellulose weight), and a mixing ratio of Vaccinium myrtillus extract and anhydrous lactose is 1 : 0.5 to 1 : 3 on a weight basis (Vaccinium myrtillus extract weight : anhydrous lactose weight). Qretin Tab was commercially sold with the following labelling information: active ingredient: Vaccinium myrtillus extract 170mg per tablet appearance: reddish-brown oval film-coated tablet indication: diabetic retinopathy, improvement of eye vascular disorder, nyctalopia. During the litigation, one of the main arguments presented by the generic companies was that the subject patent is not novel for the reason that Qretin Tab. is prior art of the patentee's invention since it was put on the market before the priority date, and a person skilled in the art could have recognised the detailed features of the sold product by using analytical methods known in the art as of the priority date; thus, their products do not fall under the scope of the subject patent because the sale of Qretin Tab. would invalidate the subject patent. The patentee argued that the patented invention cannot be recognised as publicly known, since it would be difficult to detect and quantitatively analyse the excipients from the tablet of which detailed features were not disclosed. Both the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board (IPTAB) and the courts rejected the arguments of the generic companies, and found that the alleged products fall within the scope of Claim 1 of the subject patent for the reason that Claim 1 of the subject patent is not invalidated by the sold product. Notably, the Patent Court presented a standard for determining novelty of a chemical or pharmaceutical invention as follows: As for a chemical or pharmaceutical invention, even though the product embodying the invention was publicly sold, if a person skilled in the art was not able to know its composition or components by using analytical methods available before the filing date or priority date, without undue efforts, it cannot be considered that the detailed contents of the invention were disclosed to the public. The burden of establishing invalidity of a patent based on the reasoning that the invention was made known to the public shall rest on the party asserting such invalidity. Such burden of proof does not require the party to show that all components or their composition ratios in the sold product are exactly reproduced, but at least requires that the evidence be enough to find the technical features of the sold product corresponding to those of the patented invention. The Court found that: Evidence presented by the challengers merely purported that reverse analysis for pharmaceuticals can be tried by qualitative or quantitative analytical methods, or merely showed that total contents of microcrystalline cellulose and insoluble additives could be identified when the content of microcrystalline cellulose present in Qretin tablet was measured according to the analytical method of the Korean Pharmacopoeia; and Methods of analysis for anhydrous lactose in the evidence are merely qualitative methods for detecting anhydrous lactose, or are uncertain as to whether they can also apply to the content analysis of anhydrous lactose in solid samples such as tablets, or as to whether they can distinguish anhydrous lactose from lactose hydrate. Determining whether the sale or distribution of a product before the filing date qualifies as prior art requires a case-by-case analysis which may involve various assessments on whether there is the benefit of the grace period or contractual or customary confidentiality obligations; what constitutes the patentable features of the invention; how the invention is used or worked; what was common general knowledge in the art before the filing date etc. For patentees of chemical or pharmaceutical inventions, the recent decision may serve as some useful guidance for such determinations. The fact that the patentee prevailed in this litigation seems to be attributed to the fact that the subject patent is directed to a pharmaceutical formulation characterised by the specific components and their ratios, and there was no sufficient evidence that such contents of the invention could have been easily recognised from the sold product by a person skilled in the art. In similar situations, the public sale may be carved out from prior art, even with no benefit of the grace period in Korea. Therefore, even if the one year grace period after the public sale of a product covering an invention has already passed, it is recommended to fully review whether the situation can count as prior art in view of the above decision. If there is any chance of removing it from prior art, it is too early to give up on patent filing for the invention in Korea. Min Son Partner, Hanol IP & Law HANOL Intellectual Property & Law 6th Floor, Daemyung Tower, 135, Beobwon-ro, Songpa-gu Seoul, 05836 Republic of Korea Tel: +82 2 942 1100 Fax: +82 2 942 2600 hanol@hanollawip.com www.hanollawip.com The material on this site is for law firms, companies and other IP specialists. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs. Share this article Germany on Monday joined several other European countries in recognising Venezuela's opposition chief Juan Guaido as interim leader after President Nicolas Maduro rejected their ultimatum to announce new presidential elections. "As of yesterday, no presidential election had been called," Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to Tokyo. "Therefore, Guaido is the person we are talking to and we expect him to begin an election process as soon as possible. "He is the legitimate interim president for this task from Germany's point of view and from the point of view of several European countries. "We hope that this process can be carried out as quickly and peacefully as possible." Short link: In the appealed case of Frederick Vital Erum v Integrated Formworks Builder, the Office of the Director General (ODG) of the Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) issued its decision on October 19 2018, affirming the decision of the Office of the Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA) cancelling Erum's letters patent no. 1-2006-00047 (047) entitled "A Table Form Support System for Concrete Forming," on the ground that the claimed invention lacks inventive step and is therefore not patentable. Under Section 21 of the IP Code, for an invention to be given patent protection, it must be new, have an inventive step and be industrially applicable. The inventor and patentee Erum is a member of the Filipino Inventors Society whose subject patent was granted on October 15 2012. Integrated Formworks Builder is a sole proprietorship engaged in the formwork business and the use of a table form support system for the construction industry. On November 27 2013, Integrated filed a petition to cancel patent 047 on the grounds that the invention is not new or patentable, and that the patent does not disclose the invention sufficiently to be carried out by a person skilled in the art. In his decision, the BLA director ruled that the essential elements of the invention are found in the prior arts US Patent No. 4,787,183 (Johnston Patent), and US Patent No. 4,585,204 (Parker Patent) issued on November 29 1988 and April 29 1986 respectively, and on this basis cancelled patent 047. Dissatisfied with the BLA ruling, Erum appealed to the ODG. On the issue of novelty, the ODG stated that Erum's patent application was filed on August 31 2006, hence any publication and information about the invention made available to the public anywhere in the world prior to the filing date could negate the novelty of the invention, and that only one item of the prior art may be used at a time. The ODG therefore had to examine whether the prior arts, Parker patent (1986) and the Johnston patent (1988), disclosed each and every element of the claims in Erum's patent 047. In this case, Integrated only maintained that Erum's invention is similar to the cited US patents, and was not able to prove that patent 047 was anticipated by them. The ODG ruled that patent 047 is novel. On the issue of inventive step, the ODG stated that "as distinct from the assessment of novelty, the subject matter of the claim under examination is compared not with each publication or other disclosure separately, but with the combinations, thereof, insofar as each combination is obvious to the person having ordinary skill in the art." Erum claimed the following improvements embodied in 047 over the Johnston and Parker patents: "(a) chords defined by double walled channels or double-walled channel chords; and (b) upright members having central web section with no flanged bolt slot channels." The ODG held that Integrated correctly argued that the alleged improvements in Erum's invention were not unexpected or are considered obvious to those skilled in the art, e.g. for improvement "a". It is naturally expected that an additional wall to the chords would result in the structure being stronger. The ODG further held that the cited US patents Johnston and Parker should be part of the reference materials of the 047 patent, and, had they been included, patent 047 would not have been issued. Editha R Hechanova Hechanova & Co., Inc. Salustiana D. Ty Tower 104 Paseo de Roxas Avenue Makati City 1229, Philippines Tel: (63) 2 812-6561 Fax: (63) 2 888-4290 editharh@hechanova.com.ph www.hechanova.com.ph The material on this site is for law firms, companies and other IP specialists. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs. Share this article The International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) which commenced in 1990 made it possible to use common scientific and technical methods in drug development in Japan, the United States and EU. As a result, in approval reviews of medicinal drugs in Japan, results from foreign clinical trials are utilised based on bridging development strategy as stipulated by ICH Guideline E5. Clinical trial periods in foreign countries can be counted as patent term extension periods if they were necessary for obtaining an approval. In which cases are they considered necessary for obtaining an approval? Summary of the case Daiichi Sankyo owns a patent for an invention entitled Pyridobenzoxazine Derivative. Daiichi Sankyo obtained an approval of partial changes in manufacturing approval for a medical drug whose brand name is CRAVIT TABLETS because Legionella genus was added as an applicable microorganism in relation to Levofloxacin, included in the patent. Daiichi Sankyo filed an application for the registration of patent term extension based on this disposition and was granted registration of patent term extension of "4 years, 11 months and 7 days", which includes the period of "1 year, 8 months and 23 days" of the clinical trial in the United States (the US clinical trial). In relation to the registration of patent term extension, 13 generic drug companies including Mylan filed a request for a trial for invalidation, and a JPO decision was rendered stating that the registration of patent term extension for the period exceeding 2 years, 6 months and 5 days should be invalidated. The US clinical trial period was included in the invalidated period. Daiichi Sankyo appealed to the IP High Court seeking to revoke the JPO's decision, alleging that it was a mistake not to include the period during which the US clinical trial was conducted in the patent term extension period. Judgment of October 28 2009, IP High Court The IP High Court (Presiding Judge Iimura) maintained the JPO's decision, holding as follows. The Court judged whether the US clinical trial was necessary for obtaining an approval under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act as follows, citing the court decision of the Supreme Court which held that the commencement date of "a period during which the patented invention is unable to be worked" stipulated in Patent Act Article 67 (2) should be the date on which the trial required for obtaining "the disposition designated by Cabinet Order" commenced. (i) The report of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) acknowledged that in the examination before the approval in Japan, the usage of CRAVIT TABLETS for Legionella pneumonia was medically and pharmaceutically publicly known, based on the application example of CRAVIT TABLETS for Legionella pneumonia in foreign countries and the description of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine etc. Then it acknowledged that an application with public knowledge was reasonable, and judged that it was appropriate to add Legionella pneumonia to the previously approved effectiveness and efficacy of CRAVIT TABLETS (adding "Legionella genus" to "applicable microorganism") without requiring new clinical trials to support the experience of the usage of CRAVIT TABLETS and Levofloxacin and their efficacy. (ii) In the United States, in 1996, about 10 years ago from the date on which the approval of this case was learned, the addition of effectiveness and efficacy of CRAVIT TABLETS for Legionella pneumonia was approved. The clinical trial data submitted for the approval application only had the results of the initial US clinical trial targeting 10 cases of Legionella pneumonia in which nine cases were judged to be valid. The US clinical trial at issue was started in case the shortage of cases was pointed out by the US authorities. However, the addition of effectiveness and efficacy for Legionella pneumonia was approved just two months after the beginning of the US clinical trial, and the submission of the US clinical trial data was no longer required. (iii) The PMDA also judged that in light of pazufloxacin mesilate (PZFX) which is a fluoroquinolones drugs like CRAVIT TABLETS, its usage for Legionella pneumonia should be medically and pharmaceutically publicly known. It pointed to the usage in six cases and the description of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine etc. as the basis for this. Considering the above facts, the following can be found: (i) In the approval in the United States, the addition of effectiveness and efficacy for Legionella pneumonia was approved based on only the results of 10 cases in the initial US clinical trial, and the result of the US clinical trial was not required. Therefore, it can be reasonably presumed that also in the approval for addition of effectiveness and efficacy for Legionella pneumonia filed thereafter in Japan, which is similar to the US case, the initial US clinical trial data was sufficient for the approval, and the US clinical trial data was not required. (ii) In the above examination regarding the addition of effectiveness and efficacy for Legionella pneumonia in relation to pazufloxacin mesilate (PZFX) which is a fluoroquinolones drugs like CRAVIT TABLETS, the addition of effectiveness and efficacy was approved under a condition which is quite similar to the approval application in this case. Considering this, it can be reasonably presumed that if in the initial US clinical trial data containing the clinical trial data of 10 cases, more than six cases of pazufloxacin mesilate are provided, even without the US clinical trial data, the addition of effectiveness and efficacy of CRAVIT TABLETS would have been approved in Japan. Therefore, the period of "1 year, 8 months and 23 days", the US clinical trial period, out of "4 years, 11 months and 7 days", the granted patent term extension period of this case, does not fall under "a period during which the patented invention is unable to be worked because it is necessary to obtain the disposition designated by Cabinet Order" stipulated in Patent Act Article 67 (2). Practical tips According to the JPO Examination Guidelines, periods of clinical trials conducted in foreign countries can be counted as patent term extension periods if they were necessary for obtaining an approval. It is necessary to prove the date on which the clinical trial commenced in foreign countries. Also, it is necessary to prove that all of the following requirements are satisfied: (i) the clinical trial in a foreign country which commenced on that date is indispensable for obtaining a disposition; (ii) enterprises have little discretion in conducting the testing because the testing needs to be conducted in line with the standards for testing methods, description, etc. of testing set forth by administrative agencies; and (iii) the clinical trial is closely related to obtaining a disposition. In this case, Daiichi Sankyo argued that the US clinical trial was conducted with the purpose of obtaining an additional approval for Legionella genus in Japan. However, it was judged that the US clinical trial period did not correspond to the patent term extension period because the US clinical trial was not necessary for the approval of partial changes to CRAVIT TABLETS. In order to be allowed to count the additional trial periods conducted after the initial clinical trial as patent term extension periods, it should be noted that sometimes it is necessary to positively demonstrate that the additional trial data was necessary (the initial trial data was insufficient) for obtaining an approval. This judgment provides a reference for constructing development strategy and IP strategy for pharmaceutical companies conducting bridging trials which go through 20 years after introduction and are now usual practice. Takanori Abe Michiko Kinoshita ABE & Partners Matsushita IMP Building, 1-3-7, Shiromi, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 540-0001, Japan Tel: +81 6 6949 1496 Fax: +81 6 6949 1487 abe@abe-law.com www.abe-law.com The material on this site is for law firms, companies and other IP specialists. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs. Share this article According to Section 39 of the German Patent Act, the applicant may divide an application at any time by submitting a declaration of division. The text of the divisional application can be filed within three months of receipt of this declaration. In a recent decision (19 W (pat) 33/17), the Federal Patent Court had to decide on two issues: (i) to which body the declaration of division has to be submitted during the appeal stage, and (ii) whether or not re-establishment of rights for submitting this declaration can be requested. In this particular case, a patent application was rejected by the examining division of the German Patent and Trademark Office (GPTO), and the applicant filed an appeal with the Federal Patent Court. However, the appeal was dismissed. Within the time limit for filing an appeal on points of law with the Federal Court of Justice, the applicant submitted a declaration of division to the GPTO but not to the Federal Patent Court. Shortly after expiry of the time limit, the GPTO forwarded the declaration of division to the Federal Patent Court. As the applicant did not appeal the decision of the Federal Patent Court, the application was not pending anymore at the time when the GPTO forwarded the declaration of division to the Federal Patent Court. Based on the following reasoning, the Federal Patent Court decided that no effective declaration of division had been submitted. While an application is pending in the appeal stage, the declaration of division is to be submitted exclusively to the Federal Patent Court. This also applies if the Federal Patent Court has already issued its decision on the appeal. In this case, the Federal Patent Court remained the competent authority to decide on whether or not an effective declaration of division was submitted and, if effective, on patentability of the divisional application. Furthermore, the Federal Patent Court decided that Section 39 of the German Patent Act does not contain not even implicitly a time limit, which is why no re-establishment of rights for submitting a declaration of division is possible. The approach taken by the Federal Patent Court is in line with the case law of the Boards of Appeal (e.g. J 10/12). The Federal Patent Court considered both issues i.e. the correct addressee for the declaration of division during the appeal stage (in particular if the Federal Patent Court has already issued its decision on the appeal), and the re-establishment of rights for the declaration of division as legal matters of fundamental importance and therefore allowed an appeal to the Federal Court of Justice. Christian Haggenmuller The material on this site is for law firms, companies and other IP specialists. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs. Share this article Elisenhof, Elisenstr 3D-80335, Munich, GermanyTel: +49 89 74 72 660 Fax: +49 89 77 64 24 info@maiwald.eu www.maiwald.eu In the omnibus budget bill passed by the Canadian parliament on December 3 2018 were numerous amendments to Canada's IP statutes, including to sections of the Patent Act that provide exceptions to infringement. Exception for experimental use The changes to the Patent Act include moving the exception for experimental use under subsection 55.2(6) to its own section, 55.3, and potentially altering its scope. Section 55.3 also allows the government to enact regulations setting out factors that the court may consider, must consider or cannot consider in determining whether an act is committed for experimental purposes. The changes also provide for regulations that set out circumstances under which an act is, or is not, committed for experimental purposes. The government has yet to announce plans for such regulations. Until then, the nature and scope of the existing exception for experimental use remains unchanged. Exception for acts committed prior to the claim date The changes also include replacing Section 56 of the Patent Act, expanding the scope of the infringement defence arising from acts committed prior to the asserted patent's claim date. Previously, a person purchasing, constructing or acquiring the subject matter of a claim before the claim date had the right to use or sell what had been purchased, constructed or acquired without being liable for infringement. A defence to infringement now arises when a person in good faith before the claim date, commits, or makes serious and effective preparations to commit, an act that would otherwise be infringing. This must have been done without obtaining knowledge of the claim's subject matter from the patent applicant. The exemption to infringement also extends to future third parties. When the act includes a service, users of the service are also covered by the exemption. If committing the act resulted in an article, users or buyers of such an article are also exempted from infringement. If the act giving rise to the exception was committed, or the preparations to commit the act were made, in the course of a business and this portion of the business is then sold, the exception to infringement is transferred and does not remain with the seller. These changes introduce uncertainty into determining whether an allegation of infringement is justified, even though the requirement for good faith and the extension to preparatory acts are found in similar provisions in other jurisdictions. It is unclear whether the Canadian courts will look to or follow foreign jurisprudence when they are called to provide guidance regarding the meaning and scope of "serious and effective preparations" to commit an otherwise infringing act and when an act is done in good faith. Jonathan Chong Brian Daley The material on this site is for law firms, companies and other IP specialists. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs. Share this article Suite 3800, Royal Bank Plaza, South Tower, 200 Bay Street, PO Box 84Toronto Ontario M5J 2Z4CanadaTel: +1 416 216 4000 www.nortonrosefulbright.com This content is from: Features The UK recently decided the question of who should pay for the implementation costs of blocking orders. Attorneys at Herbert Smith Freehills analyse how the framework, case law, liability and costs for such orders differ in the UK, Germany, Italy and France The challenge of how to improve understanding of intellectual property was discussed by Manny Schecter, chief patent counsel at IBM, at the Second Annual Intellectual Property Awareness Summit in New York on November 29. Increasing awareness is one thing; increasing understanding something else entirely, Schecter said. He believes the general level of awareness is higher than before. "In my mind we have a kind of conundrum," he said. "I think awareness about IP is in many ways increasing but I don't think real literacy and real understanding is on the same trajectory. It might be increasing but it isn't keeping up, that's for sure. That confusion, that lack of understanding, isn't the sole cause but it enables the lack of respect for intellectual property." Importantly, however, Schecter noted: "I don't think awareness and understanding are the same thing. We can be aware that there is such a thing as patents, trade marks and copyrights and have a sense of what they do but not really understand them, and not be literate in them. A lot of the public are aware but not really literate." This lack of understanding is a result of a variety of reasons. "Intellectual property is hard," said Schecter. "It is not an intuitive subject to many people. Every one of us has seen articles where the types of intellectual property are used confusingly where patents, trade marks and copyrights are used interchangeably, incorrectly so, because it is obvious the author didn't really understand fully what he or she was writing about." On the patent side, people often get confused about various aspects of patents, such as the difference between filing and grant date. "All understandable," noted Schecter. Those who are intimately familiar with IP do not necessarily help the situation: a second area of confusion, according to Schecter, comes from the public debate around IP. "We argue vigorously for positions in the intellectual property world, and we have a tendency to use a lot of rhetoric and take a lot of extreme positions in trying to make our point," said Schecter. "Sometimes we actually want that extreme position and sometimes we are just trying to get our point across." Schecter urged the audience to close the gap between awareness and understanding by increasing the level of understanding. "We have to figure out how to optimise the benefit of intellectual property," he said. Schecter believes that people who say that intellectual property is somehow hurting innovation are really saying is it is not achieving its optimum promotion of innovation. "If we are actually going to get people understanding intellectual property we have to overcome confusion, we have to overcome misinformation, we have to overcome our own rhetoric and we have to overcome pressure from our clients. Just speak honestly and respectfully. Our innovation economy, our national security, frankly our everyday creature comforts may depend on it," he said. "Those of us that really understand IP should feel an obligation to teach the others that need to know about IP but don't, to help them learn. If we want our competition to respect our IP, we need to respect theirs. And for other countries to respect US IP, they should see us in the United States behaving the same way towards each other. That sounds like something a parent would tell a child but I mean it sincerely." Michael Loney Managing editor The material on this site is for law firms, companies and other IP specialists. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs. Share this article Cannabis 168 The first infringement case for a cannabis-related patent could be a make-or-break moment for the growing US marijuana industry, according to sources at medical marijuana labs. The case of United Cannabis Corp (UCANN) v Pure Hemp Collective was filed over US patent number 9,730,911 (the 911 patent) for cannabis extracts and methods of preparing and using same in July 2018. A conference hearing for this case was heard at the US District Court for the District of Colorado in October 2018. Sources say that many businesses in the industry are concerned that the courts will throw the case out because marijuana is still illegal on a federal level in the US, despite being legal for either medical or recreational use in 33 states. If the courts do throw the case out, it will mean that marijuana patents registered at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will become difficult or even impossible to enforce unless cannabis is later legalised on a federal level. This is a seminal moment for the industry, and were hoping the case is not thrown out, says Reggie Gaudino, vice president of IP at Steep Hill Labs. That would be a huge blow to the industry because there would be no potential to protect innovation in the industry at least until there is a government turnaround. He adds that such an outcome could cause the industry to stagnate if it repels investors who can no longer leverage inventions to profit from their research and development spend. Dale Hunt, legal counsel for the Open Cannabis Project adds: I do think that there will be some people waiting on the sides until federal treatment of cannabis patents is a bit less dicey. Mowgli Holmes, chief scientific officer at Phylos Bioscience agrees, and says: Many people are making the assumption that patents are a placeholder that will be viable once the substance is federally legal, but I do not think anyone would make that mistake right now. But Steep Hill Labs Gaudino adds that, whichever way the case is decided, the outcome will be an enormous boon for the sector. Deciding on the case one way or another would mean the cannabis industry has a voice in the federal patent courts, despite being federally illegal, he says. It means we have recourse, which would be good for those businesses attempting to invalidate an overly broad or weak patent. As Patent Strategy reported last week, the lack of cannabis prior art available to USPTO examiners - owing the substances historic and current illegal status - has led to numerous obvious or non-novel claims passing examination, which block innovation unfairly. This situation has emerged because there are very few restrictions on what can have patent protection in the US. There is no prohibition on patenting a subject matter that is used for an illegal purpose or with an illegal substance, including cannabis-related patents. But enforcement of patent rights in the US is governed by federal law, and it is uncertain whether or not cannabis patents can be challenged or enforced because of the substances illegal status at a federal level. According to Clarivate Analytics, more than 1,500 cannabis-related patents have been filed at the USPTO since 2005 which means many registrations stand to have their protection powers diminished if UCANN v Pure Hemp is thrown out. High optimism There is good reason for corporate confidence in the future of cannabis patents, such as that indicated by key marijuana patent holder GW Pharmaceuticals. GWs patents are specific to the use of cannabinoids in therapeutic areas in which we have achieved novel innovations and we believe they are both valid and enforceable, a spokesperson at the company tells Patent Strategy. GW would not elaborate on the certainty of this statement, but one reason might be that there is strong chance that UCANN v Pure Hemp will not be thrown out. On January 3 2019, an inter partes review filed against GW Pharma and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals US patent number 9,066,920 was ruled on by the USPTOs Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The PTAB ruled on the matter without touching on the illegal status of cannabis, and sources suspect that the federal courts will take a similar approach partly because the federal courts have decided to hear the case in the first place. I did not expect that a cannabis patent law suit would make it before the courts the first time out, notes Gaudino. Another reason for corporate confidence in the future of cannabis patents is that the drug may soon be legalised on a federal level, which would completely remove any reason for federal enforcement. I do think it will be legal soon, says Holmes at Phylos Bioscience. Large and modern countries such as Canada have legalised the drug and the US has now made hemp federally legal. That changes everything. Full legalisation is inevitable, no question, he said. Kevin McKernan, chief scientific officer at Medicinal Genomics, adds that he is not expecting legalisation to happen tomorrow but that politicians will feel more and more pressured over time to legalise the substance. This is bigger than any politician, and that is something that most people understand, he notes. Hunt, legal counsel at the Open Cannabis Project, adds that there is not only considerable financial momentum behind broad legalisation (legal marijuana sales are expected to generate $25 billion by 2025) but moral momentum as well. He says that the health benefits of marijuana have propelled legalisation supporters from a minority voice to a movement that most politicians could not justify opposing. The fate of cannabis patents and the marijuana industry hangs in the balance, and will not be known until a ruling for UCANN v Pure Hemp is given or not. There is every chance that the case will not be thrown out. If it is, marijuana companies must wait for federal legalisation, which however, may be closer than some might think. The material on this site is for law firms, companies and other IP specialists. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs. Share this article Exton, PA (19341) Today Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to cloudy skies after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 68F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to cloudy skies after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 68F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. U.S. President Donald Trump said it was important to keep a U.S. military presence in Iraq so that Washington can keep a close eye on Iran, according to a CBS interview to be broadcast on Sunday. Trump said the United States spent a fortune on a base in Iraq. "We might as well keep it. One of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem," he said in excerpts from a CBS "Face the Nation" interview. Asked if that meant he wanted to be able to strike Iran, Trump said, "No, because I want to be able to watch Iran." "All I want to do is be able to watch. We have an unbelievable and expensive military base built in Iraq. It's perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East rather than pulling up." Trump defended his decision to withdraw troops from Syria but refused to provide a timetable for the pullout, which was criticized by members of his own Republican Party and caused concern among some allies in the region. He said some of the forces moving out of Syria will go to the base in Iraq and "ultimately some will be coming home." Short link: Magnolia, AR (71754) Today Thunderstorms this evening followed by a few showers overnight. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low around 65F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening followed by a few showers overnight. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low around 65F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Download Image: Web Lycoming Colleges Center for Energy and the Future (CEF) is excited to welcome environmental advocate and professional Robert Altenburg to campus on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m., in the Jane Schultz Room, located in Wertz Student Center. His lecture, entitled Achieving a Clean and Sustainable Energy Economy in Pennsylvania, will encompass the actions that need to be taken to reach climate goals. He will also discuss proposals that have recently been implemented or are being considered in the state capitol. CEF seeks to engage the College community in the nations ongoing conversation about energy through its energy science and energy studies curriculum, student-faculty research, field experiences and internships. As energy director of PennFuture, a statewide environmental advocacy group, Altenburg brings a rich understanding of energy and environmental expertise to the table. In his current role, he analyzes and provides expert comments and testimony on legislation and regulations. He also works with regulatory agencies and clean energy industry experts on climate and energy issues, and provides technical assistance and research on methane and fossil fuel impacts. Altenburg also recently served as project coordinator for Pennsylvanias Solar Future Plan, a planning process to determine what solar energy in Pennsylvania can look like in 2030 if strategies are developed and implemented to increase this renewable energy source. Prior to holding this position, Altenburg spent nearly 22 years with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) while simultaneously obtaining a degree from Widener Commonwealth Law School. After spending his days measuring and analyzing air quality in the Lehigh Valley region, his evenings consisted of working toward certificates in both environmental law and administrative/constitutional law, which allow him to practice law in the state of Pennsylvania. Altenburgs lecture is part of the CEF speaker series. The Atlantic Sunrise Community Grant program, which was established by Williams, a natural gas transmissions pipeline company committed to being a good community neighbor and environmental steward, partially sponsors the series. Grant to get older residents more active Ten local councils in the Loddon Mallee region of Victoria will share in a grant of more than $1.8 million from the Federal Government to encourage older Australians in their communities to live more active lives. The Loddon Mallee Group of Councils is one of 27 organisations that will share in an investment of almost $23 million by the Government through the Move It Aus Better Ageing program aimed at getting millions of older Australians moving more often. Minister for Sport, Senator Bridget McKenzie announced the grant. The Liberal & Nationals Government is delighted to provide this grant in support of the Loddon Mallee Region Move It project which covers 10 local government areas, reaching more than 7000 people over the age of 65. The Loddon Mallee Region Move It project will help to get older people more active by offering new and modified sport and recreation activities and strengthening local partnerships and the local workforce. The two-year project will encourage more older Australians in the Loddon Mallee region particularly those from vulnerable or socially-isolated groups to engage in regular physical activity. It will also help older Australians to better understand the benefits of regular physical activity and social connectedness. Minister McKenzie said Australians were living longer and the Move It Aus Better Ageing program was an important step in helping older Australians to get the most out of their senior years. Currently only 25 per cent of Australians over 65 meet the Department of Health physical activity guidelines of 30 minutes activity per day. Iraqs constantly squabbling politicians were united in umbrage Monday after President Trump said the United States would maintain a military presence in Iraq to keep an eye on Iran. Dont overburden Iraq with your own issues. Do not pursue your own policy priorities, we live here, said Iraqi President Barham Salih at a forum in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The rebuke was a response to Trumps comments in an interview on CBS that he would keep U.S. personnel at Ain al Asad, a sprawling air base located some 100 miles west of Baghdad, to [look] a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem. We have a base in Iraq and the base is a fantastic edifice. I mean I was there recently, and I couldnt believe the money that was spent on these massive runways, Trump said. Its perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East rather than pulling up. Advertisement Trumps comments come in the wake of his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from neighboring Syria, where some 2,000 soldiers as well as thousands more contractors have been helping a local Syrian Kurdish militia defeat Islamic State. The extremists are on the verge of losing their final slice of territory, just west of the Iraq-Syria border. When that happens, said Trump, those personnel would be redeployed to Ain al Asad. Theyll be going to our base in Iraq, and ultimately some will be coming home, he said. Trumps words angered many in Iraq, who resented the idea of their country being used as a launchpad against a neighbor even one, such as Iran, that Iraq has fought in the past. Since the United States attacked Iraq and overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraqs fragile government has been buffeted between the U.S. and Iran; a recent study released by U.S. military leaders concluded that an emboldened and expansionist Iran appears to be the only victor of the U.S. invasion. Though it once fought Hussein in a war that lasted more than seven years, Iran is today one of Iraqs top trading partners while wielding considerable political influence. Along with the U.S., Iran is thought to have an unofficial veto over who gets chosen to lead Iraq. Former Prime Minister Haider Abadi, a close ally of the United States, tweeted that Iraqi sovereignty must be respected. Iraqi sovereignty must be respected. Its interests should not be compromised. Iraq should not be used as a spring board to attack its neighbours . We are not proxies in conflicts outside the interests of our nation. Haider Al-Abadi (@HaiderAlAbadi) February 4, 2019 Advertisement His words were echoed by another former U.S.-supported leader, Ayad Allawi. He tweeted that Iraq wholly rejects foreign hegemony and becoming a fighting ground for external powers. #Iraq wholly rejects foreign hegemony and becoming a fighting ground for external powers. The remainder of foreign forces must fall under a clear agreement with governmental and parliamentarian approval. Ayad Allawi (@AyadAllawi) February 4, 2019 Others took Trumps remarks as yet another occasion to call for the expulsion of the 5,000 U.S. personnel stationed in Iraq. Advertisement Qais Khazali, leader of the League of the Righteous militia and a longtime U.S. adversary, said in an interview with local news broadcaster Sumariyah that Trumps recent statements reveal the truth of the American project in Iraq, that it targets neighboring countries. Iraq has a parliament that can take the appropriate decision regarding American presence in the country, Khazali said. Iraq also has military institutions and can expel U.S. forces from the country in a single night. A key group of European Union countries endorsed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the countrys interim president on Monday, piling the pressure on embattled President Nicolas Maduro to resign and let the country hold a new presidential election. Maduro, for his part, stood defiant, accusing the United States of preparing a coup in the South American country and rejecting a U.S.-backed effort to send emergency food and medicine into his country. We are not beggars, Maduro said on Venezuelan state TV. Spain, Germany, France and Britain delivered diplomatic blows to Maduros rule by publicly supporting Guaido after giving Maduro a Sunday deadline to call a presidential election, which he didnt heed. Sweden, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Finland, the Czech Republic and Portugal also lined up behind Guaido, the self-declared interim president who also has the support of the United States and many South American nations. Advertisement The European countries urged Guaido to hold free and fair elections as soon as possible. We are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela: human rights, elections and no more political prisoners, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised announcement. He said Spain, which has a large Venezuelan community, is also working on a humanitarian aid program for Venezuela, where shortages of basic items are acute. Critics of Maduro blame the Venezuelan governments mismanagement for the lack of food and medical supplies. British Prime Minister Theresa Mays spokesman, James Slack, said Britain is considering imposing sanctions to help bring about change in Venezuela. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to Japan on Monday that Guaido is the legitimate interim president. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking to France Inter Radio, appealed for an early presidential election that will ensure the Venezuelan crisis ends peacefully. Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said the election that brought Maduro to power was neither free nor fair and told Swedish broadcaster SVT on Monday that Venezuelans now must get new, free and fair elections instead. Guaidos backers say he is the legitimate leader because he is president of Venezuelas congress, which they regard as the only lawfully elected power in the country. Advertisement Around 1 million people in Venezuela also possess a European passport, Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva told a news conference in Lisbon. Western Hemisphere nations were set to add to the pressure Monday during a meeting in Canada of the Lima Group, which includes 13 countries that have been vocal in denouncing Maduro. But the socialist leader showed no signs of caving in and lashed out at the EU and the Trump administration, which has also put pressure on the Venezuelan government by imposing sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports and demanding Maduros departure. I dont accept ultimatums from anybody, Maduro told Spanish TV channel La Sexta in an interview broadcast late Sunday. Why should the EU be giving ultimatums to a country? Advertisement Guaido on Twitter expressed his gratitude to the EU leaders for supporting Venezuelas fight for freedom. A 37-year-old social media star who ran as an outsider and vowed to combat corruption declared victory in El Salvadors presidential election Sunday after preliminary results showed him with a majority of the vote. With 80% of ballots counted, Nayib Bukele, the former mayor of San Salvador, was ahead with 54% of the vote. In second place was business tycoon Carlos Calleja, with 32%, according to El Salvador election officials. At this time we can announce with complete certainty that we have won the presidency of El Salvador in the first round, Bukele told his supporters. Bukele needed to win more than 50% of the vote to be declared the winner and avoid a runoff. Advertisement A Bukele victory would be a major blow to El Salvadors political establishment, which has been dominated for two decades by just two parties. Candidates from either the right-wing Arena party or the FMLN, the party of El Salvadors former leftist guerrillas, have won every presidential election since the 1992 peace accords ended the countrys decades-long civil war. Bukele began his career in politics with the FMLN but ran for president with the Great Alliance for National Unity, known as GANA, a small party on the far right. His promise to form an anti-corruption commission in El Salvador helped win over disaffected voters from Arena and the FMLN, which have both been tarnished by accusations of graft. Supporters of the Grand National Alliance for Unity cheer for their presidential candidate Nayib Bukele in San Salvador on Feb. 3, 2019. (Moises Castillo / Associated Press) The other political parties have done such a bad job that they dont deserve to win, said airport worker Juan Canales, 50, who came with his daughters and wife to vote at a San Salvador convention center Sunday afternoon. People are poorer every day for the things they have done. Canales had been a die-hard supporter of Arena for years, but this time cast his ballot for Bukele. It strikes me as the moment to try another option, he said. Advertisement Geoff Thale, a researcher at a U.S.-based think tank, the Washington Office on Latin America, said Bukeles rise is part of a global rejection of the status quo. People are exhausted by the traditional political systems, Thale said. But he added that it is unclear what exactly Bukele stands for beyond a rejection of the establishment. As a candidate, Bukele ducked interviews and sat out public debates, relying instead on Twitter to communicate directly with his large following. He professes to have no political ideology, a significant shift in a country that has long been sharply divided among ideological lines. If you ask what is his program, its very hard to know, Thale said. Advertisement The election pitted Bukele and Calleja, Arenas candidate, against Hugo Martinez, a former congressman and foreign minister with the FMLN. Martinez was in third place, with 14%. Incumbent President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, of the FMLN, is deeply unpopular and has been viewed as ineffective and removed from everyday Salvadorans. He is not eligible to run for a second consecutive term. Beyond corruption several former presidents have been accused of or convicted of embezzlement the election was dominated by debate over the economy and security. Walter Guzman, 28, said he had also voted for Bukele after years of supporting other parties. Advertisement His top concern, he said, was security. While El Salvadors homicide rate has fallen in recent years, the nation is still dominated by violent gangs that run extortion rackets. One cant go out in the streets without risking running into a gang member, Guzman said. One in four Salvadorans live outside of El Salvador, the vast majority in the United States. Special correspondent Green reported from San Salvador and Times staff writer Linthicum from Mexico City. Join a retired Santa Ana Zoo director on a 10-day safari in Botswana, known for its elephants, cape buffalo and antelope. The tour begins and ends in Johannesburg, South Africa. From there, a flight will take participants to Maun, Botswana, where the excursion begins. Highlights include a visit to Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, home to large herds of wildebeest and zebra, and the Okavango Delta, with opportunities to view animals on foot and from safari vehicles, dugout canoes and power boats. Dates: July 12-22 Price: $7,995 per person, double occupancy. Includes accommodations, all meals, park entrance fees, sightseeing and guides. Pre-tour extension to Cape Town, South Africa, for $2,995; post-tour extension to Chobe National Park and Victoria Falls for $3,695. International airfare and round-trip airfare from Johannesburg to Maun not included. Advertisement Info: Santa Ana Zoo; Ron Glazier travel@latimes.com @latimestravel For the first time ever, I was in green, rainy Portland and there wasnt enough water. More specifically, there wasnt any water in the pipes serving my familys room at the DoubleTree hotel. We were in town for a youth dance competition when a plumbing crisis struck the hotel Nov. 18, putting scores of guest bathrooms out of commission on short notice and raising at least two questions: What does a hotel owe guests who lose use of their bathrooms from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m? And if the hotel falls short, how can a guest get satisfaction? Advertisement When I went to check out (as previously scheduled) the morning after that waterless night, the DoubleTree front desk attendant volunteered nothing about the major inconvenience we had just dealt with. When I asked what the hotel was doing as a make-good gesture, she offered me three free breakfast buffet coupons, a $45 value. That seemed a bit stingy, but I was willing to accept it until a few moments later, when I met a friend (from the same block of rooms) who had complained vigorously and, for his efforts, received a free night. Then I spoke with another friend who raised a little less ruckus and was offered a 50% discount. Once I got home, I sent an email to Paul Peralta, the hotels general manager. In the first sentence I told him exactly what I wanted: $149.10 (the cost of a nights stay plus taxes, less the value of the breakfast vouchers). I did not tell him I was a travel reporter for The Los Angeles Times and emailed him from my private account. In that communication, I laid out the details as clinically as I could, with this wrap-up: By making no compensation offer and instructing desk representatives to dole out settlements only when pressed, youre treating guests poorly. In fact, youre effectively training us to distrust you and complain loudly. Now that I know other guests in $149 rooms got a full nights refund, I believe my family is entitled to the same thing. After all, we suffered exactly the same inconvenience. Half an hour later, the manager replied: I acknowledge your comments and concerns. Im sorry about the lack of communication and for the way you felt about our service recovery options. He was referring the matter to his director of guest services, he added. So now I had a boilerplate apology, and my complaint was being bucked downstairs. That didnt sound good. I wrote back, said I would look forward to hearing from the guest services director and braced myself for an extended campaign. About five minutes later, my phone rang. Advertisement It was Grace Lial, the guest services director, apologizing profusely. She said she would like to just take off one night completely that is, refund $171.80, rather than the $149.10 I asked for. Then she apologized again. All I could say was thank you. Six days later, the $171.80 was credited to my credit card account. This was a snappy recovery. Kudos for that. But what about the guests who didnt speak up? For them, and anybody else who has walked away from a hotel feeling thwarted, here are a few lessons I took from the exchange. Advertisement When something goes wrong, speak up and be prompt and firm but polite about it. Start by saying exactly what you want, preferably in writing, and follow that up with the facts. Go easy on the drama and invective. Keep an eye out for allies. If we had been staying on our own in that Portland hotel, I might never have learned what settlements other guests were getting. This, of course, may be why the hotel chose the squeaky-wheel, case-by-case strategy that it used. (Its also why employers would rather you didnt talk with colleagues about how much youre paid.) Advertisement But because we happened to be part of a close-knit group of families that tend to know way too much about one anothers business, we were able to trade information and get a better response from the hotel. Being part of a group isnt just a chance to negotiate a discount rate on the front end; its also a chance to work together when something goes wrong. In other words, teamwork isnt just for the kids. Postscript: If the Portland DoubleTree sounds vaguely familiar, that may be because after my misadventure, another guest there had a far worse problem: Employees ejected Jermaine Massey, an African American hotel guest who was talking on the phone in the lobby. Advertisement He had been out for the evening, and when he returned to the hotel, he saw that his mother had called and assumed it was serious. Instead of returning to his room, he called right away from the lobby, media reports said. A security guard approached him and asked him what room he was in. He said he didnt know but was having a conversation and asked to be left alone, Instagram videos show. When he pointed out that he was a hotel guest, the security guard said, Not anymore. Massey was allowed to collect his belongings, then left the hotel. After details of his situation got out, an uproar ensued, and on Dec. 29 the hotel announced it had fired two employees over the case. Advertisement Have a travel question or dilemma? Write to travel@latimes.com. We regret we cannot answer every inquiry. christopher.reynolds@latimes.com Follow Reynolds on Twitter: @MrCSReynolds I first wrote the bulk of these thoughts 12 years ago, and since their message is both timely and poignant, I thought Id revisit them this week. When I was a young whippersnapper the tender age of 60 I was hanging with my boys in some honky tonk bar on Foothill Boulevard. We were throwing down shots of Jose Cuervo. From the corner of my eye I noticed these big ol boys walk in who must have been 9 feet tall. I could tell by their dress they were cowboys and not the drugstore type, if you know what I mean. They left their iron horses, all named Harley, outside. As they sashayed up to the bar I kept them in view. My peripheral vision has always been keen. I have eyes in the back of my head, a skill developed from spending too much time in the jungle. They brought a chill in with them. I sensed something was about to happen and it wouldnt be good. I hadnt felt that way since I was in Lucys Tiger Den in Bangkok. I told my buddy to get the one on the right and Id take out the one on the left. Well, one of the big guys walked up the bar and in a grappled voice and an eye on me said, Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses. You couldve heard a pin drop. I felt a cold stare and slowly began to reach for my pistol until I realized I had none. Since we were out-gunned, I pulled an old trick I learned from reading about Davy Crockett. When confronted by a grizzly, he grinned the bar into submission. This was our only hope! I stared right back with a big old grin wider than the Atlantic Cable. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition, the tall guy smiled back. Are you Dr. Joe? he asks. I pulled a line from a John Wayne movie: Who wants to know? Our stares were locked. Neither of us backed down. Suddenly, he extended his hand and said, Thanks, Dr. Joe! Im Staff Sergeant Ramos, 3/5 (3rd Battalion 5th Marines.) Thanks for all those Girl Scout Cookies your scout troop sent us; I recognized you from the Valley Sun. I could not believe what I was hearing. When the cookies arrived in Iraq, the morale of the Marines went through the roof, he continued. When we saw that the cookies came from children, we knew why we were there. Youll never know what a great impact it had on us. He slammed a $50 bill on the bar. Barkeep, a round for these boys! He raised his glass: Heres to us and those like us. Instinctively I answered, Darn few left! His movements were cat-like. He got up, extended his hand once more. Thanks again, Dr. Joe. And then with a smile, he added, Captain. Youd do it for me, Sgt. Ramos. He and his boys left and never looked back. They got on their horses named Harley and rode off into the sunset. Only the story remained. The Girls Scouts of La Canada and La Crescenta are selling cookies. Lots of local girls are making their rounds. Please buy an extra box or two and donate them to the Gift of Caring program, which are in turn delivered to Operation Gratitude and the USO as well as the L.A. Regional Food Bank and other entities. Through this program, many boxes of cookies are sent to the troops. Make it happen. Youll never realize the impact a box of Girl Scout cookies will have on the spirits of our soldiers. If you cant be there with them, this is the next best thing you can do. Over the years, Ramos and I have become fast friends. He struck it big in the West Texas oil fields. I recently visited his ranch called Dark Horse in Alpine, Texas. He has four daughters, all of whom are Girl Scouts making their rounds through the Texas communities of Marfa, Fort Davis and Alpine, selling cookies. Ramos remembered how he felt when years ago he received cookies from Troop 889. Hes just passing on the love. JOE PUGLIA is a practicing counselor, a retired professor of education and a former officer in the Marines. Reach him at doctorjoe@ymail.com. Visit his website at doctorjoe.us. A Palestinian was shot dead and another wounded on Monday in a clash at a military checkpoint in the northern occupied West Bank, Palestinian hospital officials said, without giving further details. The Israeli army said its troops fired at "two assailants who hurled an explosive device" in the vicinity of the checkpoint, near Jenin, but it did not confirm if either were hit. It said no soldiers were hurt. Jenin hospital officials named the dead Palestinian as Abdallah Abu Talib, 20. Short link: Ten Years Ago La Canada High School grad and Glendale Community College student Monica Kaufmann won the Wipeout Bowl challenge of the Cheerleaders vs. the Couch Potatoes and claimed the $50,000 grand prize. The competition was shown as an ABC TV special at the same time as the final hour of the 2009 Super Bowl, which aired on another channel. Kaufmann, then 20, defeated 23 other competitors. She began her cheerleading career at the age of 8, learning as a member of the La Canada Gladiators cheerleading squad. Twenty Years Ago In tragic news, La Canada Flintridge resident Chung Hong, 52, was fatally wounded and her 21-year-old son Eddie was injured during an armed robbery at the grocery store the local family operated in South Central Los Angeles. Hong was a beloved grocer whom customers called Mama, the Los Angeles Times reported. Thirty Years Ago The Foothill Auxiliary of the Childrens Home Society announced preparations were underway for its 1988 annual benefit luncheon and Chinese auction, which would be emceed by radio personality and La Canada resident Roger Barkley. Forty Years Ago A special committee advised the school board to keep and lease out rather than sell the La Canada Unified School Districts Oak Grove and Palm Crest elementary school campuses, which were slated to be closed due to declining enrollment. Fifty Years Ago Ivers Department Store opened its doors in the Plaza de La Canada in the building that now houses a T.J. Maxx on Feb. 3, 1969. A benefit opening gala was held on the Saturday evening prior to the ribbon-cutting event to raise funds for the La Canada Scholarship League. Sixty Years Ago The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in early 1959 called for a study on the best way to sell Descanso Gardens because its admissions were not sustaining the venue. Supervisor Burton Chase declared the $1 million or more such a sale would bring in was needed to supplement the countys budget. Descanso had been originally purchased by the county from former newspaper publisher Manchester Boddy for $1.16 million in 1953. Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci. Fr. Tony Marti, president of St. Francis High School in La Canada Flintridge, will be honored by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders during the organizations annual gala this weekend. Marti and longtime Los Angeles Dodgers radio announcer Vin Scully are being recognized for their exemplary life based on their faith and values said Joseph Valdes, the organizations president, in a press release. We are thrilled to honor Vin Scully and Father Tony Marti, who live life with faith and determination for a common good. The Catholic Association of Latino Leaders is a national organization that supports the spiritual growth of leaders in the Latino community. The pair will be honored during the organizations fourth annual Angel Awards Gala at the Pasadena Convention Center on Saturday, Nov. 7. -- Brian Park, brian.park@latimes.com Twitter: @TheBrianPark It will be months before the Glendale City Council is expected to take up the debate about whether or not to allow electric scooters in the city, but it hasnt stopped the efforts of at least one resident calling for their outright ban. Tony Passarella was handing out fliers on Tuesday in the Pacific Community Centers auditorium, where the Glendale City Council held a special City Council in Your Neighborhood meeting. At the top of the flier was an illustration of a scooter covered by the international no symbol. The council meeting was only informational, meaning no action was taken, and nothing related to electric scooters was on the agenda, save for a general traffic safety presentation by the Glendale Police Department. However, it didnt stop Passarella from speaking out on the issue during the public-comment portion of the meeting, criticizing companies like Bird and Lime for pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into making electric scooters appear as an environmentally friendly alternative to driving. These dockless scooters are basically a sale job, a con job by Silicon Valley, he said. Micro-mobility, last mile I mean, you cant walk a mile? Its really nonsense as far as Im concerned. He also said allowing the companies to operate would see sidewalks in Glendale littered with scooters, causing a potential hazard for people in wheelchairs or who are blind. Electric or dockless scooters have started being used all across Southern California, from Santa Monica to San Diego and even parts of unincorporated Los Angeles County. The only requirements to ride scooters are a smartphone and credit card. The appearance of scooters has given rise to safety concerns for both pedestrians and riders. Cities are left figuring out how to respond to scooters blocking sidewalks and driveways as well as riders zipping through pedestrians and traffic at speeds up to 15 mph often without a helmet. Cities like Beverly Hills and West Hollywood instituted bans, while some companies, like Bird, created no-ride zones, where its scooters are prohibited. Los Angeles even limited the number of scooters that can be placed in the city as a stop-gap solution last year, while leaders figured out a more long-term option. Electric scooters have yet to be officially deployed in Glendale, although that has not stopped riders from bringing them in from neighboring locales. Dan Bell, a Glendale spokesman, said its premature to talk about scooters because city staff members are still working on a request for proposal, where companies can submit their plans for how the vehicles would be deployed locally. The issue is not expected to go before the City Council until sometime this spring. The council previously brought up scooters during a Dec. 18 special meeting, where the request originated. The meeting saw the discussion of a one-year pilot program that would cap the number of scooters in the city at 1,000 and establish operating hours for them. The pilot program would also look at the possible establishment of designated scooter parking spots and outline a boundary for where they would be allowed to operate within the city. andy.nguyen@latimes.com Twitter: @Andy_Truc A science teacher at Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach pleaded no contest to sexually abusing a 17-year-old boy who had been living with him, authorities said. Andrew Bueno-Potts, 43, of Long Beach accepted a plea agreement Friday and pleaded no contest to one count of sodomy of a minor, according to the Los Angeles County district attorneys office. Bueno-Potts is expected to be sentenced Feb. 22 to two years in state prison and be required to register as a sex offender for life, per the terms of the plea agreement, the district attorneys office said. Bueno-Potts previously pleaded not guilty Oct. 26 to four felony counts, including sodomy by intoxication, sodomy of a person under 18 and sexual penetration by a foreign object of a person under 18, according to court records. He was arrested at his home on Oct. 23 after a teenager told police in July that he had been assaulted multiple times between July 2017 and December 2017 while living with Bueno-Potts, according to Long Beach police. The teenager, who was not a student at Ocean View, met the teacher at a school event, police said. Bueno-Potts befriended the boy and later took him in to live with him, police said. Bueno-Potts was accused of assaulting the boy twice at his Long Beach home and once in San Francisco. He also was accused of an attempted assault at his home, police said in October. Bueno-Potts provided the teen with alcohol and alkyl nitrate, a stimulant commonly known as a popper, police said. At the time of his arrest, Bueno-Potts was a science teacher and department chairman at Ocean View High. He was still listed as a faculty member on the schools website Monday, but on Tuesday his name had been removed. The Huntington Beach Union High School District declined to comment Tuesday, calling it a personnel matter. Bueno-Potts is originally from New Orleans and has taught at high schools and middle schools in Azusa, Redondo Beach, Cerritos, Ontario and the Corona-Norco school district, according to the Ocean View High website and other online profiles. UPDATES: This article was originally published at 1:25 p.m. Feb. 4 and was later updated with additional information. A little-noticed gem in Gov. Gavin Newsoms proposed budget would return California partway back to its glory days of tuition-free college. Its a relatively tiny, $40-million item in a $209-billion state budget and a bargain. It certainly wouldnt return California all the way back to when my generation and all those before ours could go to any public college without paying tuition. That included what we called junior college, state college (later fancied up to California State University) and the University of California. Advertisement A college away from home, of course, really wasnt free. There were housing and book costs. But just about any kid who wanted a college degree could afford one in California. California provided its citizens a tuition-free higher education because it was a sound investment for the state. It helped California achieve greatness by broadening the middle class, offering an opportunity for upward mobility not available in other states and supplying an educated work force for a rapidly expanding economy. Credit the Republican Party. Back then, Republicans mostly controlled the governors office and the Legislature. When Democrats took over, they started spending on other things and Republicans mostly went along: much more generous welfare, increasingly costly Medi-Cal healthcare for the poor and lots of prisons. The back-breaker was Proposition 13, which severely reduced property tax revenue for local governments and schools. The state bailed them out, leaving less money for higher education. Tuition began creeping onto campuses in the 1970s, but didnt soar until the 1990s. Now its $7,300 at CSU and about $14,000 at UC. There were no course fees at community colleges before 1984. Then the Legislature began tapping students at $5 per unit. Now its $46. For a lot of people in the upper middle class, $46 doesnt sound like a lot, but costs of everything keep going up and many families are living paycheck-to-paycheck right now, California Community College Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley says. Advertisement More from George Skelton The cost of attending college in California has significantly increased in the last decade and really put a strain on working-class families. Were not talking about affluent students in community college. A community college degree requires 60 units. To obtain that in two years costs $1,380 in fees annually. Two years ago, the Legislature took a small but significant step back to the future. It passed a bill allowing first-year, full-time students to attend community college without paying course fees. Advertisement Gov. Jerry Brown was leery. Some advisors objected to eliminating fees for students who could afford them. Problem is, there arent that many community college students who can pay $690 for 15 units without a hard stretch. The late Nancy McFadden, his top aide, persuaded the governor to loosen up and sign it. Now, that bills author is pushing legislation to provide a second year of free tuition for full-time students. This should be a no-brainer, says Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), who attended community college at Moorpark and is a past board member of the Los Angeles Community College District. When students go full-time, theyre more likely to be successful. Advertisement Coverage of California politics Community college advocates took the idea to Newsom during his gubernatorial race. He bought it and campaigned on the proposal. Actually, Santiago and other community college enthusiasts want to expand the bill further. Theyd like to provide two years of free courses for all full-time students, whether theyre first-timers at community college or not. Advertisement Now, if a student attends part time, drops out for a semester and returns full time, he has lost his freebie eligibility. Hes no longer a first-time student. Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), chairman of the Budget Subcommittee on Education and Finance, says hes a prime example of why all full-time students should be permitted to go free for two years. I flunked out of high school, went to an adult school to get a diploma, then turned to a community college, McCarty says. The first year I screwed around and didnt do too well. Then I went to work. At about age 20, I decided I wanted to go back. A lot of community college students take a couple of years to get their act together, like me. Advertisement McCarty finished community college and transferred to Long Beach State. The assemblyman says it would cost an extra $20 million to extend free tuition to all full-time students for two years. Thats on top of $40 million for the current law plus another $40 million for the new legislation $100 million total if all full-timers were included. Full time is 12 units. The L.A. Community College District jumped ahead and began providing tuition-free classes for new full-time students a year before the law took effect. Its working as planned. Were just thrilled, says Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez, whose parents were Mexican immigrant factory workers with eight years total schooling between them. Advertisement The power of education to transform a persons life is why Im so zealous about this. Its the key to a better life. California has 115 community colleges for 2.1 million students. Half already have their fees waived because theyre poor. Many of the rest are attempting to juggle a couple of courses with a job or two. Twenty-three other states red and blue provide some form of tuition-free community college. Its probably the best bang for the buck in Newsoms budget. Advertisement george.skelton@latimes.com Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter For women whose sexual harassment complaints against California lawmakers were substantiated by formal investigations over the last year, few thought that a politicians resignation would keep him out of the state Capitol for long. Thats because when a career in elected office ends, another often begins: lobbying. Former Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) registered as a lobbyist in January, just weeks after an Assembly investigation supported claims that he sexually harassed two legislative staffers in 2016. The allegations were made public Jan. 16, prompting Ridley-Thomas first client, the Los Angeles Unified School District, to cancel his four-week, $15,000 contract for work in Sacramento. While the Legislature spent much of the past year creating new sexual harassment policies and procedures for lawmakers and its employees, the conduct of lobbyists was largely unaddressed. Advertisement If a lawmaker or staffer harasses a lobbyist, that person could face disciplinary action, said Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), who led hearings for the Assembly to craft the new policies. Meanwhile, a lobbyist found to have sexually harassed a legislative staffer or lawmaker might be restricted from going to certain parts of the Capitol, Friedman said, but the Legislatures power is limited beyond that. The Legislature does not field complaints by one lobbyist against another. When it comes to so-called lobbyist-on-lobbyist behavior, we dont at this point have a way to intervene in that, Friedman said. The lobbying corps could ask for help with that, but I think it is best for the lobbying community to have this conversation among themselves to respond to sexual harassment allegations as a community. The lobbyist loophole, as some have called it, drew new attention last month after Ridley-Thomas visited the state Capitol with Los Angeles Unified Supt. Austin Beutner as the district was engaged in contract negotiations and a teachers strike was imminent. Ridley-Thomas called Los Angeles-area lawmakers asking that they attend a private Jan. 9 meeting with Beutner about the negotiations and hear the districts pitch for additional school funding in future years. The former legislator had abruptly resigned from the Assembly in December 2017, citing health problems, and a few months later became a professor of social work and public policy at USC. He was fired in July 2018 from USC amid questions about his appointment and a $100,000 donation to the school from the campaign account of his father, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Before LAUSD hired him, The Times reported that Ridley-Thomas was being investigated by the state Assembly for sexual harassment. He was notified by the Assembly in December that the allegations had been substantiated, but the Assembly does not make the reports public until after a 30-day period in which someone accused of improper behavior can appeal the finding. A Los Angeles Unified spokeswoman could not confirm whether the district knew of the sexual harassment investigation. She said the contract with Ridley-Thomas was terminated the day that the Assembly released its report, which found the former assemblyman more likely than not attempted to forcibly kiss one staffer and made another staffer feel uncomfortable by saying he had taken a liking to her and winking at her. Advertisement Attempts by The Times to reach Ridley-Thomas and his attorneys, Lance Olsen and Nancy Sheehan, for this report were unsuccessful. Ridley-Thomas has previously denied the allegations against him. Ridley-Thomas return to the Capitol took many by surprise, including lawmakers who called it curious and high-level staffers who said they would advise legislators not to meet with him due to the optics. The lawmakers and staffers asked not to be named in order to speak freely about the matter. I expect that Im not the only one floored by this, said Pamela Lopez, a lobbyist who accused former Assemblyman Matt Dababneh (D-Woodland Hills) of exposing himself to her in a hotel bathroom during a party. Dababneh denied the accusation, which an Assembly investigation substantiated, and subsequently filed a defamation lawsuit against Lopez that remains pending. Lopez said she was concerned for those who risked their careers to come forward and could now see the lawmakers and staffers they accused working in the Capitol as lobbyists. Advertisement That seems really scary, said Lopez, who founded Work Equity, a statewide organization that helps workers experiencing sexual harassment. One of the women whose complaint against Ridley-Thomas was substantiated said she knew there was a strong possibility he would become a lobbyist. The woman, who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity due to what she said was a fear of retaliation, said his return to Sacramento creates the potential for an uncomfortable work environment because of the possibility that she could encounter him. Samantha Corbin, executive director of We Said Enough, a nonprofit group formed last year to address misconduct in the Capitol, said Ridley-Thomas return underscores the need for oversight of lobbyists conduct. At the end of the day, all of [the abuse victims] sacrifice will end with them having to be lobbied by the person they have a substantiated claim against, Corbin said. We need to move swiftly on this. This issue will come up again. Its not a matter of if, but when. Advertisement Over the 15 months since women in and around California politics came forward to report a pervasive culture of sexual harassment and abuse, three lawmakers resigned due to allegations and one, Ridley-Thomas, resigned citing health concerns. At the time of their resignations, the state required that they wait a year before they could register as lobbyists. Corbin said she doesnt believe the industry should shut out a person because of a sexual harassment allegation, even a substantiated one. But without oversight, she said, the industry will ostracize some and accept others. We need something that could curb bad behavior and allows for people to be redeemed, Corbin said. Weve never been asking except for egregious incidents for people to be kicked off Survivor Island. But it shouldnt be a popularity contest. If people like you, do you get to be a lobbyist? We need a system that is objective. Corbin said its possible for the state to create a system similar to how the State Bar of California oversees complaints against attorneys. The state of Illinois requires lobbying firms to implement sexual harassment policies that identify where or to whom complaints can be reported. That states inspector general has jurisdiction to review allegations of sexual harassment against a lobbyist. Advertisement There will have to be a balance between an individuals ability to make a living with the protection of claimants who have come forward, said attorney Micha Star Liberty, who has represented several women in the Capitol in sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuits. The questions are likely to persist, given how many lobbyists come from the ranks of the Legislature or its top staff. Two former chiefs of staff to Democratic lawmakers, both of whom were the subject of investigations with substantiated allegations in the past year, have subsequently served as lobbyists. In one case, the Senate threatened to restrict the ex-staffers access to the Capitol. Lobbyists working in California politics can participate in a voluntary trade association, the Institute of Governmental Advocates, which asks its members to abide by a code of conduct. But the group has no mechanism for dealing with complaints about lobbyists, IGA president Dominic DiMare said. Its main mission is to preserve lobbyists right to access in order to advocate on their clients behalf in the Legislature. DiMare said his group has been meeting with legislative leaders about how sexual harassment allegations against lobbyists should be handled but expressed concerns about singling out one profession. Advertisement What about the person who owns the shipping store on the corner? he said. We want to address this. How can we be responsive to the needs of the people who have been sexually harassed and raise awareness in the community to eliminate this from the workplace? Coverage of California politics melody.gutierrez@latimes.com Advertisement Follow @MelodyGutierrez on Twitter and sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter. Sixteen California lawmakers met Monday with former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who was gravely wounded in a 2011 mass shooting, and agreed to form a working group to develop and pass gun control laws that can serve as a model for other states and the nation. The working group will put together a package of gun laws, including new taxes on firearms for anti-violence programs, and submit them to Gov. Gavin Newsom for approval. The Democratic state legislators said they are frustrated by inaction in Washington on the issue of gun violence and are hopeful that Newsom will be sympathetic to their efforts to further restrict the availability of firearms in California. Thoughts and prayers from Washington wont keep our kids safe, said Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel of Van Nuys after the closed-door meeting with Giffords. What we need are common-sense gun laws that will protect our schools, our families and our communities. Advertisement Giffords, who was shot by a gunman in Arizona in an incident that left six people dead, thanked the California lawmakers at a Capitol news conference for taking the lead on the issue. Now is the time to come together, she told the legislators. Be bold. Be courageous. The nation is counting on you. Bills already introduced this year would ban the purchase of more than one gun a month, require guns kept in homes to be locked away from children, and would give teachers and co-workers the ability to ask the courts to temporarily take guns from people deemed a public danger. Assemblyman Mike Gipson of Carson gave an emotional appeal for more action on Monday, citing the shooting death of his nephew two days before Christmas in Los Angeles. As all of America was celebrating the holiday season, we were mourning, he said. One approach of the package of new bills being developed would be to expand violence prevention programs in communities, including crisis intervention, mediation and trauma counseling to address street violence. Assemblyman Marc Levine of San Rafael has proposed raising money for prevention programs with a $25 tax on the sale of semiautomatic firearms, such as the handgun used Nov. 7 in a shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks that left 12 people dead. We want California to create a regulatory framework that is a model for the rest of the country, Gabriel said. Advertisement But Craig J. DeLuz, a spokesman for the Firearms Policy Coalition, said the state already has the strictest gun control laws in the country. Anything that they might consider to be reasonable gun laws has already been done, DeLuz said. Were at a point where weve gone from reasonable to infringement. Giffords visited the Capitol on the same day a new poll found that voters cited reducing gun violence in schools as the top educational issue facing the state. Some 56% of voters said gun violence is a 10 on a scale from 1 to 10 among their priority issues for education, according to a poll from researchers at the USC Rossier School of Education and Policy Analysis for California Education and conducted by Tulchin Research. Advertisement Gun violence was a higher priority to voters polled than college affordability, reducing the teacher shortage and improving education funding. This poll sends an unmistakable message from voters to policymakers: Do something about gun violence, said Karen Symms Gallagher, dean of USC Rossier. Coverage of California politics patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com Advertisement Twitter: @mcgreevy99 Since 1978, Mark DiCamillo has been polling the political views of Californians. So when you think about the millions of young voters in the Golden State inspired to cast ballots in the wake of President Trumps election, the veteran pollster points out the 2018 election results are unlikely to be a one-time phenomenon. The political forces that form your opinion when youre young carry on, DiCamillo told me. It was part of a common theme at last weeks post-election symposium at UC Berkeley: Trump may have changed the course of California elections for years to come. THE TRUMP EFFECT Advertisement Simply put, theres a strong sense among political insiders many of whom touched on the issue at the Berkeley event that the president and his agenda are as polarizing (maybe more) as three successive ballot measure campaigns in the 90s inspired by conservative anger over illegal immigration, affirmative action and bilingual education. I think theres a new awakening in California, that elections actually matter, Ace Smith, a longtime Democratic strategist, said. And it wasnt just Democrats piling on in the wake of historic defeats that cut the size of the states GOP House delegation in half and left the partys candidate for governor with only 38% of the vote. Kristin Olsen, a former Republican leader in the Assembly, told the symposium audience that its unclear if the [state] party can outlast Donald Trumps presidency. Sign up for the Essential Politics newsletter ABOUT THAT JOHN COX ENDORSEMENT ... The Berkeley event began decades ago as a quadrennial post-mortem on the governors race, broadened in recent years to include panels on other election themes. But the centerpiece of the gathering is still the chance to hear from the campaign consultants who ran the races discuss what really happened and why. This years best moment came when Tim Rosales, a top strategist for GOP candidate John Cox, was asked about last Mays endorsement by Trump. Did Cox want it? Did he know it was coming? Advertisement That is such a complex question, on so many levels, Rosales said. The crowd chuckled. He later said advisors didnt know the presidential tweet of approval was on its way. And it was unclear whether the campaign really was happy about it yes, it solidified Coxs GOP support but it was also toxic in the general election, where he lost to Gov. Gavin Newsom. NATIONAL POLITICS RIGHT NOW -- Can Democrats win back the working class in 2020? Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown thinks he might be the guy who can. Advertisement -- Howard Schultz thinks he, too, has what it takes to win the White House. The ex-Starbucks billionaire certainly got everyones attention with that idea, though not for the reasons he might have hoped. -- Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam spent the weekend trying to save his political career, defiantly refusing to resign because he said he doesnt believe its him in a racist photograph from his 1984 medical school yearbook. -- As you take in the highlights of Sundays Super Bowl victory by the New England Patriots, heres one to ponder: Why did Trump stop bashing the NFL? ESSENTIAL POLITICS Advertisement -- Interest groups spent a record $360 million last year on lobbying California government, led by electric utilities seeking help with wildfire costs, oil companies fighting new restrictions and telecommunications giants opposing a net neutrality bill. -- Gov. Newsom sent a letter Friday to a federal trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of PG&E requesting that wildfire victims, employees and customers are represented on a committee with significant sway in the proceedings. -- A state audit released Thursday found corrections officials have failed to connect many prisoners with services, monitor rehabilitation programs and keep people away from incarceration. -- In 1950, Californians approved a ballot measure that requires a public vote before some low-income housing can be built in a community. The decision had lasting effects on the state and the nation. Advertisement -- George Skelton: A little-noticed gem in Newsoms proposed budget would return California partway back to its glory days of tuition-free college. LOGISTICS Essential Politics is published Monday and Friday. You can keep up with breaking news on our politics page throughout the day. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics? Advertisement Miss Fridays newsletter? Here you go. Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com. Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox. The state Capitol hit a new level of chaos Monday as Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam asked staffers to stand by as he decides his fate, while the man who would succeed him, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, also a Democrat, denied a sexual assault allegation that appeared on a conservative website. Northam gathered Cabinet members and staffers Monday to apologize for the pain caused by a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page and told them he is still weighing options, according to several people who attended. The governor urged staffers not to quit and promised to decide his fate soon, but how soon was left unsaid, according to three people familiar with what transpired, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting. It could take days, according to one person familiar with his thinking. Northam is trying to assemble evidence to prove that he was not in that racist photo and is exploring whether he has enough support in the government to continue to be effective, according to several people who have spoken with the governor. Feedback from constituents has begun to shift, becoming more positive, one person said. Advertisement State Sen. Richard Stuart, Northams closest friend in the legislature, who has been in contact with the governor throughout the crisis, said Monday night that the governor was not giving up. I know people are speculating that Ralph is going to resign and still considering it, but I can tell you he is not going anywhere, he said. Hes dug in and he is going to fight this thing out. Elected officials from both parties stood by their calls that Northam must go, but the way forward became cloudier Monday with the incendiary charges against Fairfax. The lieutenant governor vehemently denied the claim that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2004, denying a claim which was posted on the same website that revealed the photo from Northams yearbook on Friday. She was very much into a consensual encounter, Fairfax said about the 2004 incident. Everything was 100 percent consensual. And now, years later, we have a totally fabricated story out of the blue to attack me once I was in politics. Fairfax, 39, called it an attempt to damage him. Does anybody think its any coincidence that on the eve of my potentially being elevated this uncorroborated smear comes up? he said. You dont have to be cynical, you dont have to understand politics to understand when someones trying to manipulate a process to harm someones character without any basis whatsoever. He would not say whether he believes Northam should step down. I believe the governor has to make a decision in the best interest of the commonwealth of Virginia, he said, adding that he had not spoken with Northam for a couple of days. Advertisement Swarms of national news media shouted questions at Fairfax in the Capitol rotunda as what had seemed like a deathwatch for Northams political career morphed into a political circus. Amid the clamor, delegates and senators hunkered down at either end of the building on what was already the busiest day of the legislative year, grinding through hundreds of bills before a Tuesday deadline to act. We have to stay focused, said Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, the House minority leader. Weve got 350-something bills to move. That included tuning out the furor over Fairfax. Really I havent had time to follow that right now, Im just focused on the floor, she said. While Northam was quickly and intensely criticized for the photo, lawmakers were less certain how to react to the Fairfax allegations, which carried no hard evidence. I have no comment on the Justin thing. He denies it, so I dont know what else to think at this moment, said Sen. Barbara Favola. Advertisement There were only two people present at the time of the encounter between Fairfax and his accuser, Sen. Adam Ebbin said. The lieutenant governor has said that the version of events that has been described is not what occurred. Ebbin added that the allegations against Fairfax have not affected his belief that Northam should immediately resign, saying anxiety among Democrats is growing as Northam continues to hold out. The longer the governor is in place without the confidence of the legislature, then you can see a lack of stability occurring, Ebbin said. Its important that we have a governor whos focused on the business of the state and a citizenry that is supportive of our governor. Only a week ago, the Democrats had momentum during an election year when all 140 seats in the legislature are on the ballot in November and Republicans hold razor-thin majorities in both chambers. Advertisement Northam, Fairfax and state Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat, have been popular statewide and Northam, in particular, was respected by members of both parties. He had worked with GOP leadership last year to expand Medicaid to 400,000 low-income residents; has achieved bipartisan agreement for criminal justice reform; permanent funding for Metro and coal-ash cleanup; and this year landed the biggest economic development coup of recent history: 25,000 jobs tied to Amazons HQ2 in Arlington. Now lawmakers were filling idle time between votes with speculation about various succession scenarios should Northam step down and if Fairfax faced a similar fate. There were even rumors that Northams office was behind the leak of the Fairfax allegations to try and slow the rush for resignation. The Collective PAC, which has supported Fairfax and other black candidates around the country, accused Northams team and advisers of spreading unspecified lies about Fairfax. It offered no evidence when making that claim in a tweet Sunday. Advertisement Northam spokeswoman Ofirah Yheskel dismissed the claim. There was no involvement from the governors team in this allegation surfacing, Yheskel said. Fairfax also discounted the charge about Northam. I have no indication in that regard, he said in a second media scrum Monday afternoon. When someone mentioned another scenario that Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who is said to aspire to statewide office, had links to someone who brought the womans charges to light Fairfax said: Youre great reporters, and youll get to digging and youll get to make some connections. Asked whether Stoney facilitated or encouraged the leak of the sexual assault allegation, his spokesman Jim Nolan said: This insinuation is 100 percent not true. Period. Advertisement During a brief recess of the House of Delegates, some legislators stepped outside for a breather, trading barbs with staffers or Capitol police. Del. Timothy Hugo called the sequence of events that began Friday like a Hollywood movie. You couldnt write this, he said cheerfully. Whether or not Northam will step down is still anybodys guess, he said, adding: Lets see how the day ends. Advertisement The crisis actually began last Wednesday when Northam, a pediatric neurologist, defended a Democratic delegates late-term abortion bill. His words in a WTOP radio interview led critics on social media to brand him a baby killer. Then, Friday afternoon, the racist photo surfaced. Despite initially taking responsibility for the photo, which shows one person in blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan robes and appears on his personal page in the Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook, Northam now says the picture is not him. He is surrounded by a close circle of advisors and supporters including the first lady, Pam Northam who are encouraging him to clear his name and working to gather information to explain the picture. Those close to him say Northam, who served as president of the Honor Court during his senior year at VMI, froze up when first confronted with the photo and was stunned by the swift condemnation from the state and across the nation. He felt compelled to apologize by the end of the day on Friday, they said. Advertisement But that night, he said he didnt remember dressing that way and became convinced that the image wasnt him, these people said. The prospect of resigning in shame over something that he is certain he did not do was unpalatable to him especially in an era when other political figures, such as President Trump, transgress so openly and with no apparent consequence. Even former Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, a Republican, served out his term knowing he was under federal investigation for corruption charges. McDonnell was found guilty but later had his conviction overturned on appeal. But in his nationally televised press conference on Saturday, Northam admitted darkening his face with shoe polish to imitate Michael Jackson at a dance contest in 1984 an episode that many public officials have said disqualifies Northam from holding the governors chair. Regardless of the veracity of the photograph, the governors lost the confidence of the people and cannot effectively govern, House Speaker Kirk Cox said to reporters Monday. He renewed his call for Northam, 59, to step down, but expressed hesitation about the possibility that the legislature would try to force him out. I think theres a rightful hesitation about removal from office, Cox said. Obviously you have to consider that to some degree youre overturning an election. I think the constitutional provisions are very specific . . . it really does call for mental or physical incapacitation.. . . And obviously impeachment, thats a very high standard. Advertisement Since the photo became public Friday, nearly every political ally in state and national political circles has called on him to step down. The drumbeat spread to the states public universities. The College of William & Mary on Monday announced that Northam would not attend Fridays inauguration of new president Katherine Rowe, saying in a statement that the Governors presence would fundamentally disrupt the sense of campus unity we aspire to and hope for with this event. University of Virginia President James Ryan issued a statement Sunday suggesting that Northam should resign, saying that if a leaders trust is lost, for whatever reason, it is exceedingly difficult to continue to lead. It seems we have reached that point. The Washington Posts Jenna Portnoy and Antonio Olivo contributed to this story. Pope Francis on Monday called for an end to wars in the Middle East during the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the birthplace of Islam -- the Arabian Peninsula. Francis, who has made outreach to Muslim communities a cornerstone of his papacy, is on an historic three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates. He is scheduled to hold an open-air mass on Tuesday for 135,000 of the Muslim country's million Catholic residents, set to be the largest ever public gathering in the Gulf state. On Monday, the pope held talks in Abu Dhabi with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb -- the grand imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's prestigious seat of learning -- before delivering an address at an interfaith meeting. In his address, the pontiff pushed the need for justice, equality of citizens' rights and an end to all wars, including in Yemen. The United Arab Emirates and neighbouring Saudi Arabia are key allies of the Yemeni government, which is locked in a war against Iran-backed Houthi rebels that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. The pope said all religious leaders had a "duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war". "I am thinking in particular of Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya," he said at the interfaith meeting attended by Sheikh Ahmed and UAE leaders. Yemen is the scene of what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis due to the repercussions of the four-year-old war. More than 10 million Yemenis now risk imminent starvation. The UAE, which prides itself on its religious diversity in the Gulf, is also a member of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in both Syria and Iraq. Sheikh Ahmed, who stressed in a speech that religion must never be used to justify violence, and the pope signed on Monday a document that Al-Azhar and the Vatican will work together to fight extremism. Citizenship rights Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, one of the most powerful rulers in the seven emirates, on Monday gifted the pope a deed for the plot of land on which the first church in the UAE was built. Pope Francis in turn gave the crown prince a framed medallion of the meeting between St. Francis Assisi -- the pope's namesake -- and the Sultan of Egypt Malek al-Kamel, in 1219. While the pope did not openly discuss politics, he called for "the full recognition" of rights for people across the Middle East, a potential reference to communities including Shias in Gulf countries, refugees and migrants, stateless peoples and other minorities. The pontiff called for "concrete opportunities for (interfaith) meeting, not only here but in the entire beloved region, a focal point of the Middle East". "I look forward to societies where people of different beliefs have the same right of citizenship and where only in the case of violence in any of its forms is that right removed," he said. The UAE has dubbed 2019 its "year of tolerance". Muslims make up nearly four fifths of the UAE's population, but the country is also home to nearly a million Catholics, according to the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Migrants from Asian countries make up about 65 percent of the population. The UAE has pushed itself as an open society in a conservative region. The country is home to churches, Hindu temples and a place of prayer that serves as a synagogue. Short link: Credit: Leah SteigerSammy Hagar and his current band The Circle recently announced plans to release their debut studio album, Space Between, on May 10. Now, the group has revealed the record's track list, as well as the dates for a U.S. spring tour. The trek kicks off April 19 in Reno, Nevada, and is plotted out through a June 7 concert in Tinley Park, Illinois. Former Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil and Night Ranger will open for Hagar & The Circle on select dates during the tour. Tickets will go on sale to the general public this Friday, February 8, at 10 a.m. local time, while pre-sale tickets will be available starting Wednesday, February 6, at 10 a.m. local time. Visit RedRocker.com for more details. Those purchasing tickets to the shows, with the exception of the June 4 concert in Lewiston, New York, will receive a CD copy of Space Between, as well as a digital version of the album. Space Between is available for pre-order now. It features 10 tracks, including the lead single "Trust Fund Baby," which was released last week digitally and via streaming services. "The 10 songs on the Space Between are not just a bunch of new songs grouped together on an album," explains Hagar. "They were sewn together conceptually for a complete mental, emotional and physical experienceOnce I had the overall vision, the lyrics and music began to just flow through me." Hagar is joined in The Circle by founding Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Vic Johnson, who also is a member of Sammy's longtime backing group The Wabos. Here's the Space Between track list: "Devil Came to Philly" "Full Circle Jam (Chump Change)" "Can't Hang" "Wide Open Space" "Free Man" "Bottom Line" "No Worries" "Trust Fund Baby" "Affirmation" "Hey Hey (Without Greed)" And here are Sammy Hagar & The Circle's newly announced U.S. tour dates: 4/19 -- Reno, NV, Grand Theatre 4/20 -- Concord, CA, Concord Pavilion 4/22 -- Fresno, CA, Warnors Theatre 4/23 -- Bakersfield, CA, Rabobank Theatre 4/26 -- Laughlin, NV, Rio Vista Outdoor Amphitheatre 4/27 -- Albuquerque, NM, Route 66 Casino 4/30 -- Austin, TX, ACL Live at The Moody Theater 5/1 -- Sugar Land, TX, Smart Financial Centre 5/3 -- Thackerville, OK, Winstar Casino 5/4 -- Tulsa, OK, Paradise Cove at River Spirit Casino 5/17 -- Prior Lake, MN, Mystic Lake Casino Amphitheater 5/18 -- Maryland Heights, MO, Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre* 5/20 -- Huber Heights, OH, Rose Music Center at The Heights* 5/22 -- Clarkston, MI, DTE Energy Music Theatre** 5/23 -- Indianapolis, IN, Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn** 5/25 -- Bensalem, PA, XCite Center at Parx Casino 5/26 -- Gilford, NH, Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion** 5/28 -- Boston, MA, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion** 5/30 -- Mashantucket, CT, Foxwoods Resort Casino** 5/31 -- Vienna, VA, Wolf Trap** 6/4 -- Lewiston, NY, Artpark** 6/5 -- Pittsburgh, PA, Highmark Stadium** 6/7 -- Tinley Park, IL, Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre* * = Vince Neil ** = Night Ranger Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Having worked inside the U.S. intelligence community over decades, I know all too well how much presidents dislike bad news. But when Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel and their colleagues presented the annual Worldwide Threat Assessment to an open session of Congress last week, they had to stand up to a president who wants only good news, and only about himself. Delivering the report before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Coats and Haspel stressed the growing cyberthreat from Russia and China. They also concluded that North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear arsenal, while Iran is not, for now, building a bomb. The latter assertions contradict two of President Trumps foreign policy initiatives. For openly disagreeing with the president a virtually unprecedented move among recent intelligence chiefs Coats and Haspel received a by-now familiar response from Trump, delivered via Twitter: They are wrong! The spectacle of our allies openly trying to subvert U.S. sanctions is practically unheard-of. Advertisement The episode reveals an administration that doesnt understand even the basics of national intelligence and so risks stumbling into a dangerous crisis. I oversaw the preparation of several threat assessments as chair of the National Intelligence Council during the Obama administration. In my time, we provided an advance copy to the presidents national security advisor. (If presidents dont like bad news, they detest surprises.) But Trump isnt a reader, so perhaps he didnt know what was coming. In any case, the advance copy was intended for informational purposes only. We werent soliciting comments, let alone corrections. The annual assessment is made by the intelligence community. Policymakers, including presidents, can disagree with it, but they cannot change it. The fundamental distinction between intelligence and policy eludes Trump. The closest modern parallel is Richard Nixon, who came into office deeply skeptical of intelligence. But Nixon simply ignored the intelligence information he received. He didnt publicly disparage it or seek to change it. And he surely didnt lecture intelligence leaders, much less suggest, as Trump did, that they needed to go back to school. One president I served, Jimmy Carter, didnt like what we had to say about the effects of drawing down U.S. troops in Korea, a step he had wanted to take. In the end, Carter heeded our words and didnt act. Similarly, President Obama didnt much like our rather dark forecasts of Afghanistans future, but I think they played some role in his decision not to reduce U.S. troops there as quickly as he wanted. Intelligence officials hear from presidential administrations when their prognoses turn out to be wrong. Feedback comes with the turf. Obamas national security advisor, Susan Rice, and her colleagues were hardly silent when we failed to predict the collapse of the Iraqi army in 2014. Later, we correctly anticipated that Russia would up the ante in Syria in 2015, but we had expected more weapons and training, not major combat units. We apologized to Obama, but he waved us off. Several weeks of warning wouldnt have mattered, Obama said, because he wasnt going to war with Russia over Syria. Advertisement Trumps ignorance on national intelligence and his administrations lack of process are deeply troubling. Perhaps there were too many meetings of the interagency policy committees during the Obama administration, but now there are way too few. Policy meetings give the leaders of the various national security departments, and especially their deputies, the chance to argue through differences and consider options. It is at such meetings that intelligence is introduced into the process. The dearth of meetings under the Trump administration leaves too much to the ideological quirks of the national security advisor and personal quirks of the president. Moreover, Trumps one-on-one meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin have broken another basic protocol: Always have your own translator and note-taker. Translators arent likely to go freestyle with their leaders words, but words often have several meanings in any language. Advertisement Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute And because presidents seldom take the time to debrief their subordinates, a note-taker is imperative. When Carter spoke with German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who was fluent in English, no staffers were present, and I had to phone my German counterparts later, hat in hand, to ask what had ensued. All this disarray can only be emboldening our adversaries and disheartening our allies. Indeed, Britain, France and Germany last week introduced a financial mechanism that will allow European companies to do business with Iranian companies despite U.S. sanctions against Iran. U.S. allies have sometimes disagreed with our policies, but generally they have remained silent or complained in private. The spectacle of our allies openly trying to subvert U.S. sanctions is practically unheard-of. Advertisement They are doing so, in part, because they know Coats was right when he told the Intelligence Committee: Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device. Gregory F. Treverton stepped down as chair of the National Intelligence Council in January 2017. He is now a professor of international relations at USCs Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. His latest book, Telling Truth to Power: A History of the National Intelligence Council, will be published this year. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook The public comment period has ended for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos proposal to reform how colleges and K-12 schools handle sexual assault and harassment under Title IX. DeVos must now consider more than 100,000 comments before issuing final rules. When DeVos unveiled her plan last November, the proposed rules elicited polarized reactions, with some condemning them for sweeping rape under the rug and others praising them for reinstating due process for the accused. Both sides may be right. I am part of a team at the American Civil Liberties Union that prepared comments on the proposal. But this issue is not abstract for me: I was sexually assaulted in college. Decades later, I still remember the police asking if I had been regularly asked out on dates. The Department of Education should require schools to offer lawyers to both sides when requested, and to have a properly trained lawyer officiate the process. Advertisement Ive dedicated my career to gender justice. Yet Ive chosen to do so at the ACLU, an organization committed not only to equal rights for women, but also to fairness for the accused. We believe institutions need to be accountable. We also believe equality wont be achieved without fair processes in which complainants are heard and those who are accused have an opportunity to respond. Unlike many advocacy groups, which either criticize or support the DeVos proposal, we do both. Our principal criticism is that the rules would roll back long-standing civil rights protections by substantially reducing schools obligation to respond to claims of sexual assault and harassment, which are forms of sex discrimination. For example, the rules limit what constitutes harassment to unwelcome conduct that is severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive, and they forbid schools from even investigating complaints that do not meet that exceedingly high standard. Under DeVos reforms, then, a school could not investigate a threat of rape (severe, but not pervasive) or repeated harassment that is not extreme (pervasive, but not severe). The proposal would also forbid schools from investigating most complaints of student-on-student harassment or rape that took place off campus, even if it had continuing effects on campus. DeVos definitions are far more stringent than those used in cases of racial harassment or discrimination, thus creating a different standard for sex discrimination. Under the proposed rules, schools can require that sexual harassment and assault be proven by clear and convincing evidence. This is a higher standard than is used in cases of racial harassment and in civil proceedings generally. And its an inappropriate standard where both students have their education at stake. By imposing a double standard, the department would perpetuate sex discrimination in the name of fighting sex discrimination. At the same time, the regulations would provide important safeguards for assessing claims of sexual harassment and assault in Title IX proceedings. The ACLU has long advocated for robust protections for students facing disciplinary actions. The proposed regulations further that goal by guaranteeing a live hearing and cross-examination in university proceedings, by ensuring both parties have access to all evidence the school collects, and by allowing schools to defer disciplinary proceedings if criminal investigations and proceedings are imminent or underway. Advertisement We support these protections. But we also suggest some modifications. For instance, the Department of Education should require schools to offer lawyers to both sides when requested, and to have a properly trained lawyer officiate the process. This would ensure effective and non-abusive cross-examination and avoid the inequity of only one party having a lawyer. We also favor strengthening the protections related to concurrent criminal proceedings. The regulations would permit a school to delay a Title IX hearing if the accused seeks a postponement because of an imminent or ongoing criminal proceeding for the same incident. We feel the regulations must require schools to stay proceedings in such circumstances. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute Otherwise, a student could be forced to compromise his defense in one proceeding for the sake of the other. Advertisement Postponements need to be accompanied by interim protections for the complainant, so we also recommend strengthening the provisions for such protections. These protections should apply in all university hearings where serious penalties are at stake, not just sexual harassment or assault cases. Yet DeVos has proposed them only in this context. Charges of sexual harassment and assault should be treated with the same gravity as any other case with significant consequences for education. Claims of discrimination need to be heard, not ignored. And they need to be heard in a process thats fair to both sides. Louise Melling is a deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook I suspect I wasnt the only American surprised to learn that God chose Donald Trump to be president of the United States. The Almightys rooting interest in the 2016 presidential election was so great, apparently, that he was willing to put his thumb on the scale to ensure the outcome (with, perhaps, a little help from the Russians and the vagaries of the electoral college). This according to Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, who apparently enjoys privileged access to both parties that is, both God and Trump. I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times, Sanders told David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, and I think he wanted Donald Trump to become president and thats why hes there. I have no direct evidence to dispute Sanders assertion, but I suspect that the Almighty was forced to make a few policy adjustments of his own before endorsing the president and offering up what Sanders assures us is his continuing support. Advertisement Lets begin with immigration, the cornerstone of Trumps campaign in 2016 and, it would appear, for 2020 too. God is on record pretty consistently for instructing his followers to welcome the stranger. The Hebrew Bible enjoins us many times not to mistreat or oppress foreigners, and it offers provisions for the care and feeding of strangers. Leviticus says, The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born, and the book of Hebrews reminds us to show hospitality to strangers. I didnt see the memo, but God must have revised his thinking on immigration before his endorsement of Trump. Trump likes to think of himself as a winner, so it should come as no surprise that he and his minions would want to invoke the endorsement of the Almighty. The subject of immigrants raises another issue that God has deemed important: the separation of children from their parents at the border. Jesus said, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not. Here we may encounter a bit of confusion. The president clearly interpreted this passage to mean that little children should suffer the King James translation can be a tad awkward but most scholars agree that Jesus was expressing compassion for children. Trump could have misread this passage in the course of his study of the Scriptures, so maybe God has simply given him a pass on this one. On the environment, the Bible affirms that the created order is the handiwork of God, and Jesus expressed concern for even the tiniest sparrow. Trumps biblical values presumably would include a comprehensive program for environmental protection, including measures to counteract the devastating effects of climate change. Well, no. Its hard to believe that the Almighty would look the other way while the Trump administration despoils the natural world, but according to Sanders he has. Woe to those who make unjust laws, the prophet Isaiah said, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. Its a bit of a challenge to square this with massive tax cuts for the affluent and attempts to deprive the poor of access to healthcare, not to mention Trumps refusing to pay contractors in his real estate business. But, hey, God works in mysterious ways. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute When it comes to reconciling the Ten Commandments with support for Trump, I suspect that God really had to break a sweat. First, we have that one about not bearing false witness. According to the Washington Post, one of several entities that tracks such matters, Trump made 8,158 false or misleading claims in the first two years of his presidency, an average of 5.9 a day in year one and 16.5 a day in year two. Ouch! Advertisement And then that pesky Seventh Commandment, the one about adultery. Here, I imagine the Almighty opening a long drawer and paging through dossiers labeled Daniels, Stormy; Maples, Marla; McDougal, Karen; and others. He heaves a sigh and turns away. Its not that God has no experience with using adulterous men to do his work. But King David of ancient Israel (one of the top biblical examples of Gods use of sinners) at least expressed remorse for his sins. Trump famously refuses to apologize. Ever. Despite his deficit in the 2016 popular vote, the president likes to think of himself as a winner, so it should come as no surprise that Trump and his minions would want to invoke the endorsement of the Almighty. Reconciling the president and his administrations policies with the teachings of Scripture, however, isnt easy. White evangelicals 81% of them tried to make the case in 2016. Theyre still trying. Randall Balmer is a professor of religion at Dartmouth College and the author of Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook Its been over six weeks since I got good and fed up. Facebook has been a garbage company for most of its 15 years; while Im prone to an overboard gripe (phrase provided by a former editor), this increasingly feels less a position than a statement of fact. Many more principled friends had left the platform earlier, dropping off quietly or with final posts telling us how else to reach them. But it was the banger New York Times report on Dec. 18 that revealed my personal limit. Facebook partners like Netflix and Spotify had been allowed to read, write, and delete users private Facebook messages in order to provide Facebooks Messenger service on their sites. My messages arent saucy, theyre banal. (Or they were. Now, theyre deleted.) But the idea that an unrelated streaming company could read them and that Facebook would sell them that power was and remains infuriating. I hastily composed a post telling my friends that Id be wiping all my data, making myself unsellable. I didnt, of course. Im still on Facebook, with just as much shared as before. (And a few new posts, for which I have only myself to blame.) ::: Advertisement Heres what happened when I tried to leave Facebook. Well, leave is a strong word; I knew I could never leave. Im the administrator on a company page and, in order to pay my rent, need to remain one. If youre a small-business owner, media worker, or assistant, you may already know how youre locked in there. In order to run a business page, you need a personal account. And in order to have a personal account, you need to use your real name. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute So I set out to do the next best thing: download all of my data and wipe my page clean. The first piece is intuitive enough. You trawl through the settings section and invite the company to prepare a ZIP file, which you can then download. I attempted this at least three times on Dec. 18, and at least three times I was offered a file that contained everything but my photos, the only data I was actually after. Susan Glick, a spokeswoman for the company, told me this was a temporary error caused by an outage in part of our infrastructure; it has since been resolved, at least on my account. But the average user doesnt have access to the Facebook PR team, and the standard methods of lodging complaints dont work. Everything I learned about the process, including that I needed to download a different browser to initiate it, came from non-Facebook-hosted message boards, where the fellow panicked and frustrated convene to scream into the void, together. ::: I had downloaded the data, now I needed to delete Facebooks store of it. The second piece is where you start to question your own intelligence or the depths of corporate sadism, depending on which direction your fury naturally faces. There is no way to mass delete your photos. You can delete them one by one by clicking on each photo or via the activity log. On Dec. 18, I attempted the former and managed to delete an albums worth of individual photos in an hours time; if, like me, a decade ago you thought every dumb moment was worth sharing, that leaves you with days of work ahead. In the intervening weeks, the option to delete a whole album has now emerged on my account, but not all albums in one righteous sweep. As to your other data, Glick suggests retroactively setting the audience of past posts to only me or deleting them altogether via the Activity Log. Not only am I a somewhat tech-competent 31-year-old woman who understands the internet unable to figure out how to do this efficiently, it doesnt address the issue. Im not trying to hide who I am or how I think from my friends. Im trying to hide it from Facebook. Does this sound granular? It was, it is. In an effort not to bore you to tears, Im skipping myriad other hoops Ive jumped through and walls Ive slammed up against in this process. With the companys PR team on the line functioning as personal conscious uncoupling advisors, I remain confused. If youre a regular user with issues, you have two options. One: Register your complaint via the support inbox. Your feedback will be used to improve Facebook. Thanks for taking the time to make a report, says the auto-reply bot. Individual messages cannot be responded to, it notes, which means no help will be forthcoming. Two: Search the Facebook help boards, where team members tend to answer different questions than they are asked. (For instance, a user will ask how to download and delete all photos prior to a specific date, and a support agent will direct the user to instructions on how to delete one photo at a time.) I imagine this like an ultra-light version of divorce; after youve made the decision, youre stuck with the process. The process is dull and, better yet, it drags on. Advertisement ::: Focusing on the technical frustrations obscures the individual connective element. Even if I could have deleted my account, there are things I would miss by leaving. I lived in Rwanda for a spell; my generation of Rwandans largely dont use Instagram the way they use Facebook. (Even if they did, Instagram is owned by Facebook and, according to reporting by TechCrunch, Facebook brass is pushing Instagram toward ever-more-comprehensive integration.) I have a massive extended family, spread across Canada and the United States; I want to keep tabs on my aunts and cousins without picking up the phone every day. Then theres the personal self-interest: I enjoy sharing text articles, other peoples poems, my own inane reflections. And the professional self-interest: If I nuked the separate page I use to share my freelance work, Id no longer be in ongoing conversation with those whose views I value most. Its a long story, told personally as thats the only way I can tell it. Many others I know have their own bugs, their own inextricable ties, their own values in question. The short version is this: For now, potentially forever, you can find us on Facebook. More than two years after California voters passed Proposition 64 to legalize marijuana, the states attempt to create an orderly, regulated marijuana marketplace is still a work in progress. There are far fewer licensed cannabis businesses than had been expected and tax revenue which officials had estimated could reach $1 billion is trickling in at a fraction of what was anticipated. The black market for marijuana is still thriving. Now, several lawmakers and State Treasurer Fiona Ma have introduced Assembly Bill 286, which would temporarily slash cannabis taxes in an effort to entice illegal marijuana businesses to enter the legal market. Industry groups have been lobbying for this break, arguing that lowering taxes would also bring down the price of regulated marijuana, helping legitimate operators to compete with black market dealers. Cannabis is no ordinary business, and cannabis taxes have a broader purpose than most other taxes. Advertisement We are helping legal cannabis businesses with their transition into the marketplace, just like we would for any startup industry, Ma said in a statement. But cannabis is no ordinary business, and cannabis taxes have a broader purpose than most other taxes. In fact, the architects of legalization, including a Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy created in 2013 by then-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, thought long and hard about how to set the tax structure for the new industry. Prices should be low enough to compete with the black market but high enough to deter heavy usage and use by minors, the commission recommended. Proposition 64 set the tax rates. However, the initiative also directed the Legislative Analysts Office to report to lawmakers by January 2020 on recommendations to adjust the tax rates to undercut the illicit market and discourage underage use while still providing enough money for regulation, law enforcement, research and other programs funded by cannabis tax revenue. The LAO has already begun that report. There may be good reasons to adjust the tax structure, either temporarily or permanently. Colorado lawmakers raised cannabis taxes a few years after legalization. Washington overhauled its system so that instead of having three taxes collected at various points in the supply chain, there was only a single tax at the retail shop. Shouldnt California lawmakers wait for a thorough analysis before they start cutting taxes? Cannabis industry groups argue that businesses cant wait. Legitimate operators, they say, invested enormous amounts of money to get licensed and to comply with the states complex regulations, but theyre being undercut by illegal pot shops and delivery businesses. Thats a real problem. The state needs much more aggressive enforcement to shut down illicit operators. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute But high taxes arent the only reason the black market persists. Proposition 64 allowed localities to ban cannabis businesses and many have done so. Fewer than 20% of California cities allow retail shops to sell marijuana for recreational use. No matter if a pot business has been operating for years in the gray market that existed prior to regulations, the business cant become a legitimate, taxpaying entity without local approval. Even in the cities that do allow marijuana businesses, many are still struggling to license in a timely fashion. Advertisement No wonder the black market is flourishing. AB 286 would cut the state cannabis excise tax from 15% to 11% and suspend the cultivation tax of $9.25 per ounce of cannabis flower. Both would be temporary reductions that would end in June 2022. It would not affect local marijuana taxes, which can run from 5% to 15%. Nor would the bill stop localities from raising their taxes even more if lawmakers lower the state tax rates. That would divert revenue from marijuana-related programs laid out in Proposition 64 into local coffers while undercutting the whole purpose of AB 286. Its worth remembering that legal recreational sales only started last year in January. Its not surprising that California is experiencing the growing pains as it transforms the marijuana industry from a largely uncontrolled, unchecked and underground operation into a highly regulated, taxpaying marketplace. (Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.) This was never going to be an easy process. Lawmakers ought to slow down, wait for the LAOs recommendations and then think about whether marijuana taxes are helping or hurting California. Advertisement Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook The reporter who exposed Virginia Gov. Ralph Northams racist yearbook photo said a concerned citizen led him to the story that has prompted widespread outrage and calls for the Democrats resignation. Patrick Howley, editor in chief of the website Big League Politics, first reported Friday the existence of a photo on Northams page of his medical-school yearbook depicting a figure in blackface standing next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood. Its very easy to explain, Howley, 29, said in an interview Saturday. A concerned citizen, not a political opponent, came to us and pointed this out. I was very offended (by the photo) because I dont like racism. The tip came after Northams comments on Wednesday about late-term abortions, he said. Howley declined to give any further information about his source, citing a confidentiality agreement. But he said it took him just a few hours to confirm that the photo was authentic. Advertisement The source of the tip appears to have been a medical school classmate or classmates of Northam who acted as a direct result of the abortion controversy that erupted earlier in the week, according to two people at Big League Politics, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The revelations about Ralph Northams racist past were absolutely driven by his medical school classmates anger over his recent very public support for infanticide, one of the two said. Howleys four-paragraph story, which included the yearbook photo, was quickly confirmed by the Washington Post and other news outlets Friday. The article ignited outrage on social media, immediate calls for Northams resignation and a contradictory response from Northam. In the immediate aftermath Friday, his office issued a statement in which Northam was quoted as saying that he was deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now. But at a news conference at the governors mansion in the capital of Richmond on Saturday, Northam reversed himself, saying that he wasnt in the photo and didnt know how it got on his yearbook page. He said he hadnt seen the photo until aides showed it to him after Howleys article was published. I believe then and now that I am not either of the people in that photo, he said in a prepared statement. Under reporters questioning, Northam acknowledged that he had dressed up as pop icon Michael Jackson, using shoe polish to darken his skin, when he attended a Halloween party a few months after graduating from Eastern Virginia Medical School in 1984. Howleys story claimed that the photo shows Northam and a friend. But it offers no reporting to back up that assertion. Advertisement Nevertheless, Howley stuck by that claim on Saturday. Its clearly a picture of him, he said, but again could offer nothing more in support. He added, The photo is genuine. It shows clearly hes a racist. He repeated that description several times in the interview. I know (Northam) is a racist, he said at one point. This guy is a racist. He cited only one instance to back up that assertion: a 2013 TV interview in which Northam declined to shake hands with E.W. Jackson, an African American who was running against him for lieutenant governor. A brief recording of the encounter shows Northam looking at the interviewer as Jackson extends his hand. Its not clear from the clip whether Northam saw Jacksons attempt to shake hands. Northam defeated Jackson in the general election that year. Advertisement Howley said he is co-owner of Big League Politics, which he described as politically independent. He didnt mention the sites close connection to Republican and Virginia politics. Big League Politics co-owners include Noel Fritsch, a consultant who worked for the campaign of Corey Stewart, a conservative, neo-Confederate sympathizer who unsuccessfully challenged Virginias Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine for his seat last year, and Reilly ONeal, another consultant who worked for Roy Moore, the Alabama Senate candidate who was accused by women of harassment and child molestation. In its short existence, the website has reliably boosted President Trump, attacked Democrats and liberal figures and written many articles promoting a discredited conspiracy theory popular among far-right conservatives about the murder of a young Democratic National Committee staffer named Seth Rich in 2016. Howley said he called Northams office for comment before publishing his story, but did not receive a reply. He also said he sent an inquiry to people close to the governor before publication but also received no reply from them. Advertisement Howley describes Big League Politics as independent journalism. Its not Republican or Democrat or liberal or conservative. I want it to be an investigative wire service that gets the facts out there. However, much of the material on the site would fit in with the conservative and populist ethos of the Daily Caller and Breitbart News, two organizations Howley worked for before leaving to start Big League Politics. An article written by Howley, for example, reports on a graphic that tracks Deep State conspirator cells that have been fired in the age of President Donald Trump. The story begins, President Donald Trump continues to solidify the American peoples position in the federal government. One category of articles is flagged Fake News Media, echoing Trumps critique, and includes such headlines as Washington Post Buys Super Bowl Ad to Pat Themselves and Fake News Media on the Back. Advertisement As one of Breitbarts lead reporters on the 2016 presidential campaign, Howley filed multiple dispatches a day, most of them favorable to Trump and critical of his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton. Upon hiring Howley in 2015, then-Breitbart Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon said Howley is the type of reporter we have built the company around smart, tough and aggressive. We are ecstatic about getting him immediately fully deployed. Bannon later became Trumps campaign chairman and White House strategist before being fired. Howley himself was suspended by Breitbart in March 2016 for tweeting his support of Trumps then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski after Lewandowski yanked the arm of a Breitbart reporter, Michelle Fields, who sought to question Trump after an event. Howley left Breitbart after the 2016 election to start Big League Politics. Advertisement In the wake of his Northam story, which was by far the most attention-getting of his career, Howley took a shot at the news media and opposition researchers for not discovering the yearbook first. I think people are lazy, he said. The consultants and political journalists didnt think to look at a yearbook. Its been out there for years. Paul Farhi writes for the Washington Post. Authorities on Monday identified the pilot whose plane crashed into a Yorba Linda home, killing four people inside over the weekend, as 75-year-old Antonio Pastini. Julia Ackley, a Torrance resident and one of Pastinis daughters, said in a brief interview with The Times that her father was a veteran pilot who regularly flew from Southern California to visit her family from Nevada, where he was a successful restaurant and business owner. Battling back tears as she comforted her child, she said the family is overcome with grief. Investigators with the National Transportation and Safety Board said Pastini, who was also killed in the crash, was a retired Chicago police officer. According to records, he previously owned a restaurant, Kim Lees Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar, in Gardnerville, Nev., south of Carson City. Officials are gathering information about Pastinis flight experience, medical records and plane maintenance schedules, but records show he carried a commercial pilots license. Advertisement The names of two women and two men who were in the home on Crestknoll Drive where Pastinis plane erupted have not been identified. Authorities said the bodies are badly burned, so DNA testing and dental records will be requested to identify the victims. On Monday morning, NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration investigators continued examining the scene, collecting pieces of aircraft scattered across four blocks in the residential neighborhood to transport to a Phoenix storage facility, where they will be examined. So far, investigators know the plane took off from Fullerton Municipal Airport around 1:35 p.m., made a left turn and flew for about 10 miles, reaching an altitude as high as 7,800 feet. By 1:45 p.m., the plane had crashed into a house, engulfing it in flames. Witnesses saw the plane, still in one piece, coming through the clouds, said Maja Smith, an NTSB investigator. Then the planes tail came off, followed by its wings. It plummeted rapidly. A Cessna 414 that had just taken off from Fullerton Municipal Airport crashed into a Yorba Linda home on Sunday afternoon, killing five people, including the pilot. In addition to the burned-out house, the crash damaged surrounding homes significantly. At one residence, a piece of the planes engine knocked down a pillar on the front porch and torpedoed through a first-floor window, flying through two rooms before landing in a bathroom. Fragments of exhaust pipe crashed through a second-floor window of the home and melted into the carpet. A propeller thumped onto the driveway. Joshua Nelson, 28, said he was about to take a nap when he heard a shrill whistling sound and a loud bang outside his home. He hopped out of bed, ran out the front door and saw a plume of black smoke. He saw a propeller had landed in front of a home, smashing windows. The main cabin of the plane landed in a ravine behind another house. Advertisement The challenge will be collecting all the pieces to bolster the investigation, Smith said. Debris from the crash is littered among as many as 16 homes, she said. Residents spilled out of their houses Sunday in the quiet neighborhood to take in the collateral destruction around them. In a video shot by Nelson, the burning home could be heard crackling and popping. A man several doors away from the flames was hosing down a piece of aircraft that was on fire. Get away! Get away from the house! a man shouted at residents. Two people suffered moderate burns, and a firefighter suffered a minor ankle injury in the aftermath. Advertisement NTSB officials have asked witnesses to come forward and provide any video footage of the scene. Smith said that so far she has seen only two videos on the internet. (Los Angeles Times) Times staff writers Cindy Carcamo, Laura Newberry and Richard Winton contributed to this report. alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com | @r_valejandra Advertisement anh.do@latimes.com | @newsterrier In 2016, the Los Angeles Community College District persuaded voters to approve a $3.3-billion construction bond measure to upgrade woefully outdated campuses at the nations largest two-year college system. There would be strict accountability over public funds, the district vowed, saying it had cleaned up the massive financial waste, nepotism and mismanagement that plagued projects funded with previous bond measures, as The Times documented in 2011. But the implementation of the latest bond has already sparked controversy, with lawsuits, political infighting and missed performance targets. The manager of the bond program, Jacobs Project Management Co., has overspent its first-year budget by $1.8 million. The company won the five-year, $85.9-million contract from the district in 2017 after a process that was so hotly contested that the losing bidder is challenging it in court. Advertisement David Salazar, the districts chief facilities executive, recently told trustees that the overspending did not reflect sound business practices and that Jacobs officials needed to present a plan to correct it. Steven J. Demetriou, president of parent company, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., did not respond to an interview request from The Times. But in a written response to an independent audit presented last month, Jacobs officials pledged to correct the problems. On Monday, the company met with district officials to nail down a plan. The full Board of Trustees will review the audit, conducted by KPMG LLP, at its meeting Wednesday at Los Angeles Pierce College. According to the audit, Jacobs failed to deliver on services, including written plans on how the company planned to manage the bond program and a website for it. The audit also found that Jacobs hasnt developed an adequate process to estimate costs, hasnt created a centralized database to track such information and hasnt ensured that any changes made to those cost estimates were properly authorized. Like multiple bond measures before it, money from this most recent one is intended to pay for updating decades-old buildings, outfitting them with new technology, seismic safety improvements and installing doors and ramps that comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Chancellor Francisco C. Rodriguez said last week that he remains confident that the bevy of reforms the district has adopted since 2011 would head off any additional problems with the bond measure. Am I concerned that were off to a bad start? No, he said in an interview. All that was addressed in the performance audit has been or can be remedied quickly and efficiently. Trustee Steve Veres said it was too soon for major worries. The contract allows the company to make up for any overspending by cutting back in subsequent years to stay within the confines of the contract. Spending might be higher in the first year, he said, because Jacobs was adding enough staff to handle an estimated $400 million in projects each year. Advertisement If this happens next year and becomes a trend, Veres said of the overspending, we will need a major correction. But Trustee Scott Svonkin was troubled. He successfully fought to include greater oversight in the 2016 bond measure, which requires the district to commission independent performance audits and hire a company to scrutinize projects funded by the bond to detect waste, fraud and abuse. We cant go back to the old days where we didnt pay attention, he said. We have to be vigilant and fiscally responsible with every dime. The most recent bond measure has been mired in controversy from nearly the start. Advertisement In July 2017, shortly after joining the board, Veres told Rodriguez that he was concerned about trustee ethics, potential corruption and public perception involving Svonkin. He said he believed Svonkin was rushing the bid process to favor companies that had given him nearly $20,000 in campaign contributions just before and after the request for proposals was issued, according to an email provided to The Times by Veres. Rodriguez told The Times that Svonkin had not rushed the bid process. Svonkin, for his part, said Friday that he did nothing wrong and that Veres also had taken money from contractors during his election campaign. Meanwhile, the company that lost the bid, AECOM Technical Services Inc., is suing the community college district over its decision to award the contract to Jacobs. In its legal filing, AECOM argues that its initial bid was more than $15 million lower than Jacobs bid, but only Jacobs was allowed to revise its offer. An attorney for AECOM argued in court last week that the district practiced illegal favoritism, depriving taxpayers of the best value for their dollars. The district has denied any improprieties. Advertisement In addition, a new district study has raised questions about the need for more facilities. The study, released in December, found that many classrooms, laboratories and offices on the nine campuses were unused much of the time to a greater degree than the statewide community college average. I dont believe we need to build everything that was proposed, Svonkin said, adding that he would support upgrades to enhance campus safety. Veres said many campuses need modern spaces for libraries, tutoring centers and new student unions. Rodriguez says the district needs an estimated $1 billion just for seismic safety, accommodations for people with disabilities, as well as basic repairs to storm systems, gas and sewer lines, leaky roofs and electrical systems. Such upgrades are not as lucrative as constructing new buildings, causing some district officials to worry that there will be a push for splashier projects. Rodriguez, however, said stronger oversight will guard against any boondoggles. Advertisement We will closely monitor all projects, he pledged. The taxpayers deserve accountability and transparency. teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Twitter: @TeresaWatanabe Abu Dhabi's powerful crown prince says he and Dubai's ruler were "delighted" to meet Pope Francis for a meeting amid the pontiff's trip to the United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan tweeted pictures of the meeting on Monday in what he described as "our homeland of tolerance.'' Sheikh Mohammed tweeted: "We discussed enhancing cooperation, consolidating dialogue, tolerance, human coexistence & important initiatives to achieve peace, stability and development for peoples and societies.'' He did not elaborate. Earlier, Pope Francis has assured the people of the United Arab Emirates of his prayers and "the divine blessings of peace and fraternal solidarity.'' Francis signed a book of honor on Monday at the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi, where he met for private talks with the Emirati capital's powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Frances wrote in his characteristic tiny script, in English, of his "gratitude for your warm welcome and hospitality.'' The Emirates put on a remarkably grandiose welcome for Francis, complete with an artillery salute and military flyover. Pope Francis arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. His visit represents the first papal trip ever to the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam. The highlight of Francis' day comes on Monday afternoon when he is to meet privately with a group of Muslim elders and then addresses faith leaders in a show of religious tolerance in a Muslim region known for its restrictions on religious freedom. His 40-hour trip to Abu Dhabi culminates on Tuesday with the first-ever papal Mass on the Arabian Peninsula _ a gathering expected to draw some 135,000 people in a never-before-seen display of public Christian worship here.Pope Francis is opening his historic visit to the United Arab Emirates by meeting with the federation's leader and a group of Muslim elders . After that, he will address an unprecedented gathering of faith leaders in a show of religious tolerance in a Muslim region known for its restrictions on religious freedom. *This story has been edited by Ahram Online Short link: When an altitude sensor failed on a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 flight to Amsterdam in 2009, the jetliners computerized flight controls erroneously cut the engine thrust. The pilots didnt understand what happened in time to prevent a crash. The accident had striking similarities to the recent Lion Air tragedy in Indonesia, which took the lives of 189 people. A failed sensor led flight computers to put the 737 Max jetliner into a series of dives, based on the erroneous calculation that it was losing lift and about to stall. The crew didnt diagnose the problem, which could have been remedied with the flip of a switch, and the plane fell into the Java Sea. The investigation into the crash is ongoing. Aviation experts say automated systems have made planes safer than ever and are a major reason why crash rates have declined all over the world. The push to automate which also reduces airlines training costs is only growing stronger. Boeing has a research project in the works to develop a fully automated jetliner. A company spokesman said last month that testing was ongoing. But automated flight systems are also implicated in a series of incidents in which they made the wrong decisions and pilots did not fully understand the complex software that adjusts flight controls constantly during automated takeoffs, landings and high-altitude cruising. Advertisement A lot of the optimization that the computer is doing is not made clear to the pilot, said Douglas Moss, an instructor at USCs Viterbi Aviation Safety and Security Program. He is a former United Airlines captain and before that, an Air Force test pilot, as well as an attorney. The pilot is sitting there for 10 or 15 seconds trying to figure out why the computer is pitching up the nose or adjusting the throttle. I can think of thousands of times when the autopilot or flight management system would do something that caught me by surprise. Almost always, it is the right thing to do, but it is the pilot who is responsible for the safety of the flight. The two accidents also highlight the potential risks of basing automated flight control decisions on readings by only two sensors which can create uncertainty when one fails. Boeing and Airbus, the dominant international manufacturers of large jetliners, declined to provide detailed information about how many sensors their aircraft models have for various critical measurements, such as altitude, airspeed and angle of attack, citing the ongoing Lion Air investigation. But Federal Aviation Administration documents reviewed by The Times, along with interviews of union officials and aviation experts, point out that some, though not all, aircraft have three sensors for critical readings, allowing a computerized voting system to eliminate a discrepant sensor. Aviation experts say the pilots authority, certainly outside of the U.S. and Western Europe, is being gradually encroached on by automated control systems that offer air carriers lower training costs and crew expenses in an increasingly competitive international industry. It has led to a decline in basic manual flying skills, the ability to use the stick, rudder and throttle to keep a plane at the correct speed, pitch and altitude, a wide range of safety experts say. Pilots are not being told or taught everything they need to know about their airplanes, said Chesley Sullenberger, the renowned pilot who made an emergency landing on the Hudson River a decade ago that saved every person on board. It is not easier or cheaper or requires less training to fly an automated airplane. It frequently requires more, because you have to have a deep understanding of how a system works, including the dark corners, the counterintuitive things it might do in certain circumstances. Many foreign carriers are trying to take people with zero flying experience, put them in simulators and quickly put them in the right seat of a jetliner. They dont have the experience, knowledge, skills and confidence to be the absolute master of the aircraft start to finish. Capt. Chesley Sully Sullenberger safely ditched US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in January 2009. It is not easier or cheaper or requires less training to fly an automated airplane, he says. It frequently requires more. (Todd Sumlin/MCT) Advertisement Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines captain and spokesman for the Allied Pilots Assn., agrees automated systems should result in more pilot training, not less. It makes the aircraft a bit more complicated, so understanding that, being able to utilize it and making it a part of your safety standard is critical, he said. When a piece of equipment fails, its incumbent on the pilot to keep control of the plane, he said, adding, stick and rudder skills save lives. The U.S. airline industry agrees, and Boeing doesnt dispute the value of pilots. Company executives have questioned where global airlines are going to get all the pilots needed to fly the planes that are on order and expected over coming decades. Advertisement As air travel increases rapidly around the world, many foreign carriers are coming to depend on automated controls to help flight crews that do not routinely have the deep experience, military background and intensive training that is common among major U.S. and Western European airlines. American experts are growing increasingly concerned that such crews are reluctant to fly aircraft manually and lack the skills necessary to intervene when computers make the wrong decisions. Those concerns were at the forefront in the crash of an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 in San Francisco in July 2013, which killed three and injured 187. The crew had inadvertently disengaged the auto throttle, which is akin to cruise control on an automobile, as it made its final approach. The airspeed and altitude varied widely over the prescribed glide slope and the planes landing gear and tail hit the concrete sea wall at the far edge of the runway. Federal investigators blamed the accident on improper speed and altitude control, noting that Asiana Airlines emphasizes the use of cockpit automation. As a result of similar policies, many crews from nations around the world have limited hands-on manual flying skills. In the Turkish Airlines and Lion Air accidents, the pilots should have been able to manually fly the planes out of harms way, experts say. In the Turkish Airlines flight, one of the aircrafts two radar altimeters reported that the plane was eight feet below the ground, leading the computer to think it was about to land and triggering an automatic reduction in the throttle. In fact, the aircraft was at about 2,000 feet and the crew was trying to reduce airspeed on the approach. But the crew did not realize the power settings had been cut to idle until it was too late, and the plane crashed a mile short of the runway. Nine people were killed. Advertisement In the Lion Air accident, one of the planes two angle-of-attack sensors, which measure the angle at which the wings are moving through the air, failed on takeoff from Jakarta. The aircrafts autopilot disregarded the good sensor and followed readings of the discrepant left side, or captains sensor. As a result, it triggered software meant to offset the aircrafts tendency for the nose to pitch up. Such a nose-high attitude can reduce lift and potentially stall the jetliner. But in this case, the software the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system, or MCAS was responding to wrong data and putting the plane into a dive. It is similar to what is known as a runaway trim, which can be caused by as many as five problems. Some experts say the crew should have known how to flip off the MCAS and manually fly the plane, which is what another crew had done the day before in the same plane. Instead, the captain repeatedly attempted to pull up the nose and never correctly diagnosed the problem. An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 lies burned near the runway after it crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport in 2013. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images) Automation complacency is a huge issue, said Andrew Skow, founder of Tiger Century Aircraft, which develops cockpit safety systems, and a former Northrop Grumman chief engineer and flight test director. If an automation system has control and is right most of the time, you become complacent. Advertisement Skow said automation systems often fail to consider unintended effects, which occurred in the Turkish Airlines and Lion Air accidents. He also faults Boeings design of the MCAS, saying it trimmed the nose down at too fast a rate, because it was designed to be engaged at a lower speed. At 250 knots, it was generating violent nose-down movements that the crew could not counteract. Boeing declined to comment on the matter, citing the pending investigation. A third angle-of-attack sensor may have allowed the flight computers to determine which sensor was giving a bad reading, Skow said, a view shared by other experts. Tajer, the pilots union spokesman, said airline flight manuals indicate Boeing planes have two AOA sensors, while Airbus models have three. Could three sensors have made a difference in the Lion Air accident? Advertisement I think Boeing is very much asking itself that question, said Steve Wallace, the former director of the FAAs office of accident investigation and now an aviation safety consultant. But Wallace and others dont make the case that three sensors would have necessarily changed the outcome. William Tuccio, a former aerospace engineer at the National Transportation Safety Board, said engineers rely on whats called failure mode and effects criticality analysis as one way to assess risk probabilities and determine the proper amount of protections. Additional sensors may be unnecessary and could be a waste of money or an increase in complexity, he said: If youre going to answer a single question about reliability or engineering resilience, just asking how many AOA sensors is an incomplete question. Wallace pointed out that no jetliner has crashed while on an automated landing, though there have been accidents because of the crews incomplete understanding of the automation. Fundamentally, automation is a huge plus for aviation safety, he said. You still need to know the basics of stick and rudder flying. And then there is the cost versus benefit. How many backups to your backups do you need? said Michael Barr, the former director of the USC safety program. Nobody wants to talk about cost. Advertisement No one in aviation expects automation to slow down, though there are sharp disagreements among experts about how far it should go. As far as a fully automated aircraft, Sullenberger, who retired as a commercial pilot in 2010, is skeptical that it will happen for a long time and doubts he would fly in one. Unless it is actually capable of learning in the moment and improvising, unless it could be essentially human, I dont see how you ever have the same level of confidence. Robert Ditchey, a safety consultant, expert witness and former airline executive, says the day there is no pilot in the cockpit is when he will stop flying. We have the ability to autonomously land a spacecraft on Mars, but do we want to put people on board? I dont think so. But Wallace is a big fan of automation and where it is headed. I drive my Tesla with Autopilot on all the time. It keeps a safe distance. Advertisement Milestones in aviation automation 1917 Sperry Corp. develops the first rudimentary autopilot that uses gyroscopes to reduce pilot workload. 1932 First instrument landing at Berlin-Tempelhof Central Airport, using the Lorenz beam system. 1949 Bill Lear wins the Collier Trophy, aviations most coveted award, for development of the Automatic Pilot and Automatic Approach Control System at Santa Monica. Two years earlier a U.S. Air Force C-54 made a transatlantic flight, including takeoff and landing, completely under the control of the Lear autopilot. 1964 First fully automatic landing using an instrument landing system, at Bedford Airport, United Kingdom. Advertisement 1982 The first modern flight management system, including an autothrottle that operates like cruise control in a car, introduced in the Boeing 767. 1987 The first use of a fly-by-wire system on a passenger jet on the Airbus 320. Fly-by-wire takes pilot input and calculates the control-surface movements required to deliver the result. 1995 Boeings new 777 has a fly-by-wire system with flight envelope protection, which is supposed to prevent stalls or excessive stressful movements, though a pilot can override them. 2016 Boeing introduces the 737 Max, which incorporates the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system, or MCAS. It helps control an aircrafts tendency to pitch up in certain conditions. Advertisement 2018 Boeing announces a program to research a pilotless commercial jetliner. ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @rvartabedian When the Calvin Klein fashion house announced in 2016 it was hiring the Belgian designer Raf Simons, formerly of Jil Sander and Dior, to take over its womenswear and menswear collections, the news was immediately heralded as an industry game-changer. Vogue, calling Simons, then age 48, a designers designer, predicted his presence on the New York Fashion Week calendar would make a more thrilling season. To entice Simons to New York, PVH Corp., the parent company of Calvin Klein, offered the designer a three-year contract with extraordinarily sweeping creative powers, not only over the company fashions but also over its entire branding process, including the advertising campaign. It gave Simons and the Los Angeles artist Sterling Ruby, the designers frequent collaborator, a free hand to dramatically remake the companys flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York, turning it into a maximal art installation. These were the kind of perks that had been given to Simons chief generational rivals, Alessandro Michele at Gucci and Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent (and, more recently, Celine) but not, tellingly, to Simons when he was at Dior. For the record: This post misspells designer Francisco Costas first name as Francesco. At first, the unlikely partnership seemed to be a hit. Simons first Calvin Klein show during New York Fashion Week, on the ground floor of the brands West 39th Street headquarters, was the hottest ticket in the fashion world in 2017. Months later, before his first designs hit stores, Simons was named both womenswear and menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. It was the first time a single designer had ever won those two awards in the same year. A runway during New York Fashion Week in February 2017 featuring looks from the Calvin Klein fall/winter 2017 collection by Raf Simons. (The Washington Post / Getty Images) Advertisement However, in December, it all came to an abrupt end. Simons and the brand jointly announced he was leaving eight months before the end of his contract. And though the move sent shock waves through the fashion world, it may not have come as a surprise to those who had been following the companys bottom line. Although critically acclaimed, Simons designs struggled to find a commercial audience big enough to absorb the aggressive quantities that PVH produced and sold. Stores are now dumping fashions from Simons awkwardly named 205W39NYC collection for Calvin Klein at as much as 70% off. The hand-knit Looney Toons Road Runner sweater, a street-style icon after it hit the runway last February, was marked down to $750 from $2,500 on Saks.com. At Neiman Marcus, a turtleneck from the 205 collection originally priced at $290 was on sale for $98. And, in a move that took investors and retailers by surprise, Emmanuel Chirico, chairman and chief executive of PVH, publicly rebuked the performance of Calvin Klein in a third-quarter earnings conference call with analysts last fall, saying that its designs were too elevated and too fashion-forward for our core consumer. An interior view of the refurbished Calvin Klein store, complete with a floor-to-ceiling installation by L.A. artist Sterling Ruby and the debut of Simons fall 2017 wares, on Madison Avenue in New York on Sept. 1, 2017. (AFP / Getty Images) Now, as New York Fashion Week gets underway, with Tom Ford unofficially kicking off the schedule with a show Wednesday night, Simons is back home in Belgium, and Ruby is in Los Angeles preparing for the upcoming Frieze art show. And the Calvin Klein slot on the calendar has gone dark, leaving yet another void in a week that had already lost marquee names to other cities Thom Browne and Altuzarra to Paris and Rodarte to Los Angeles. As for that expensively redesigned store on Madison Avenue the one that Ruby once described as a marker to celebrate the future of the brand the company says it will close in April after more than 20 years. (Simons and PVH executives were unable to comment for this story because of nondisclosure agreements, according to their spokespeople.) The failure of the Calvin Klein experiment has raised questions about the relevance of famous designers at big brands. Simeon Siegel, an analyst at Nomura Instinet who follows PVH, espouses a view that goes against the grain for traditionalists. Designers have a critical role, Siegel said. Its just not critical that the shopper knows who they are. Advertisement Raf Simons, winner of the awards for menswear Designer of the Year and womenswear Designer of the Year at the CFDA Fashion Awards, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York in 2017. (Evan Agostini / Invision / AP) Designers have a critical role. Its just not critical that the shopper knows who they are. Simeon Siegel, an analyst at Nomura Instinet Calvin Klein has a history as a disruptive force in fashion. After founding the label in 1968, the Bronx-raised Klein created designer jeans, underwear and the first unisex fragrance. His company was known for a lack of embellishment and sexy advertising most prominently, a teenaged Nothing comes between me and my Calvins Brooke Shields. PVH bought the label in 2002. By 2016, Calvin Kleins annual revenues had been flat for four years at about $8.2 billion, sparking alarm among PVH investors. Advertisement We were a fashion company with diminishing fashion relevance, the brands chief executive, Steve Shiffman, told attendees at the New York Times luxury conference the following year. Shiffmans current revenue goal for the brand: an aggressive $12 billion. Like its PVH sister brand Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein sought a creative jolt, similar to the one that led to a highly successful collaboration between Hilfiger and the supermodel Gigi Hadid. Enter Raf Simons. Models walk the runway for Calvin Klein 205W39NYC during New York Fashion Week on Feb. 13, 2018. (Angela Weiss / AFP/ Getty Images) Advertisement Not since Mr. Klein himself was at the company has it been led by one creative visionary, and I am confident that this decision will drive the Calvin Klein brand and have a significant impact on its future, Shiffman said as he announced Simons hire. The fashion industry lighted up with chatter. When Raf first came, everyone in the industry wanted to go work for Calvin Klein, said Ron Frasch, a longtime fashion executive and a board member of the British fashion label Burberry. They werent having any trouble attracting talent. But they may have been hemorrhaging it. Francesco Costa and Italo Zucchelli, who had designed Calvin Kleins womenswear and menswear, would obviously leave. Simons brought along his affable longtime assistant Pieter Mulier, making him responsible for managing all design teams for myriad product lines. The move sent scurrying designers within the numerous apparel lines, including Kevin Carrigan, global design director for 18 years, who quit within days and was quickly recruited by Ralph Lauren Corp. Losing Kevin Carrigan was a big loss because Kevin was the guy who understood that customer and understood those relationships, Frasch said. (Carrigan has since left Ralph Lauren.) Advertisement Retailers welcomed the change at Calvin Klein. The influential Dover Street Market, which has an outpost in L.A., added Calvin Klein, including the labels denim. Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus and Net-a-Porter placed big orders based on how strongly Simons collections at Dior had sold. One of Simons first moves was to redo the Calvin Klein logo. The move prompted the fashion site Racked to opine: $69-million worth of Justin Bieber-endorsed underwear rendered obsolete. (The Bieber campaign had moved a lot of product, retailers said.) An early Simons campaign was highbrow but unsexy skinny male models in tighty-whities gazing at paintings in an art gallery. A critic at ArtNet magazine loved it. A campaign with the cast of the Academy Award-winning film Moonlight was well received. Also, the brand had resounding success on the red carpets where A-list celebrities, including Lady Gaga, Saoirse Ronan and Lupita Nyongo, donned Simons custom Calvin Klein By Appointment line. Ashton Sanders, an actor from the Academy Award-winning film Moonlight, in a photo from the spring 2017 mens Calvin Klein underwear campaign. (Willy Vanderperre) Advertisement By Appointment was also well received by wealthy consumers who had previously traveled to European haute couture houses. Now they could order on West 39th Street. I absolutely fell in love with everything in the showroom, which burst with chic dresses and gowns, said Fay Ricotta, a New York stylist for a bevy of private clients. One client ordered four custom dresses on her first visit. Last year I did about $1 million in business with them, Ricotta said. She started putting her clients in Calvin Klein rather than European haute couture labels. Simons and Shiffman spent lavishly on a three-year collaboration with the Andy Warhol Foundation that gave the brand access to its archives. They hired Ruby to redesign the Madison Avenue store. Ruby negotiated a contract that paid him in annual licensing payments, typical for an artist, as long as the installation remained. Yet at retail, the halo line, which evoked inherently American ideals denim jackets, prairie skirts and quirky prints failed to catch fire the way retailers had bet. The 205s distribution was unusually large and random for a designer line, with competing stores hawking the same looks such as the $2,500 Road Runner sweater, which could be found at retailers including Saks, Neiman Marcus, Net-a-Porter, Matchesfashion.com and Barneys. The aggressive distribution suggested that giddy retailers had ordered with little restraint and that Calvin Klein had failed to limit distribution to create scarcity a typical luxury business strategy. Advertisement An oddly somber ad campaign with the Kardashian clan failed to ignite sales, and the denim sold poorly. Amy Leverton, a trend forecaster specializing in denim, called the brands denims creative direction a perfect modern take on Americana that has actually spurred a really strong neo-Americana trend in the industry. However, the stiff heavy fabrics failed to offer enough basic, comfortable options. The fun stuff sells the basic stuff, but if you dont have basic, well, you dont sell many pairs of jeans, she said. A label from a pair of Calvin Klein jeans. (Robert Mecea / Associated Press) As stores began cutting orders and positioning the brand in fewer doors, cracks appeared in the Calvin Klein-Simons foundation. In May, the brand hired a new chief marketing officer who did not report to Simons. More responsibilities shifted away from Simons, including advertising and store design. Ruby, Simons longtime collaborator, was told he now reported elsewhere for the store collaborations, according to people familiar with the situation. Advertisement That triggered Simons to contact his lawyers, who delivered a rebuke to PVH in the form of a 30-day breach of contract notice. Ten days later, PVHs Chirico responded with his own now-famous rebuke during the companys quarterly earnings conference call. Although Chirico noted that Tommy Hilfiger had truly outperformed, he said that Calvin Kleins performance was disappointing and he laid the blame at Simons feet. He attributed the brands lower earnings to the necessary discounting of the 205 and denim lines and a $10-million increase in creative and marketing expenditures. Twenty days later, Simons contractual severance clause was triggered as the 30-day notice ran out without protest from PVH. Less than a week before Christmas, Calvin Klein and Simons jointly announced they were parting ways after Calvin Klein Inc. decided on a new brand direction which differs from Simons creative vision. Actress Saoirse Ronan in a Calvin Klein By Appointment gown at the 90th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on March 4, 2018. (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images) Calvin Kleins Shiffman said vaguely that the brand would launch the 205W39NYC line under a new name with a new designer. The statement stirred rumors that the brand is looking for another super designer with clout such as Phoebe Philo, who has been lying low in Britain since leaving Celine a year ago. Advertisement Ricotta said she received a call to say that many of her clients custom orders could no longer be fulfilled because of the shift in direction for the By Appointment label. For Raf to be here was the Halston of the 70s and 80s for me, Ricotta said. So Im going to have to start going to Europe again. image@latimes.com Advertisement For fashion news, follow us at @latimesimage on Twitter. Marvel revealed a pair of new trailers for Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame during the Super Bowl on Sunday, though fans will be hard-pressed to glean much from them about the plots of either superhero movie. After a blink-and-youll-miss-it black, white and red montage of moments from previous Marvel films (featuring several characters that disintegrated during the snap), the Avengers trailer kicks off with shots of an abandoned New York City and a quick look at our surviving heroes holed up in what looks to be a support group meeting. Where Do We Go, Now That Theyre Gone? reads a sign by the door. Theres a shot of Tony Stark and Nebula at work repairing something out of frame before Captain America, Bruce Banner, Black Widow and Lt. Rhodes are seen walking across the lawn of the Avengers campus eyes aimed skyward. Rocket, Ant-Man, Thor and Ronin (previously Hawkeye) also appear in the clip. The film hits theaters on April 26. Advertisement Meanwhile, in the 90s, higher, further, faster is the motto in the Captain Marvel trailer, which splices together quick shots of Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) performing her duties as a military pilot, sparring with Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) and dropping into a train in full Kree uniform. A young Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) also makes an appearance, as does Danvers full-mohawk Captain Marvel suit. Captain Marvel hits theaters on March 8. FULL COVERAGE: Super Bowl 2019 Rapper 21 Savage faces possible deportation after being arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials Sunday morning, an ICE spokesman told The Times. The 26-year-old, who has long claimed Atlanta as his hometown, was arrested in the city after allegedly overstaying a visa that expired in July 2006. According to ICE, Savage, whose real name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, actually hails from the United Kingdom. Mr. Abraham-Joseph was taken into ICE custody as he is unlawfully present in the U.S. and also a convicted felon, said ICE spokesman Bryan Cox. In addition to being in violation of federal immigration law, Mr. Abraham-Joseph was convicted on felony drug charges in October 2014 in Fulton County, Ga. Just this past Thursday, Savage joined local Atlanta rappers T.I., Migos, Lil Yachty and Ludacris onstage at a Super Bowl Music Fest concert. Advertisement After being taken into custody during a targeted operation, Savage has been placed into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts. ICE will now await the outcome of his case before a federal immigration judge to determine future actions, Cox reported. In a statement to The Times, the rappers lawyer, Dina LaPolt, said: We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with the authorities to clear up any misunderstandings. Mr. Abraham-Joseph is a role model to the young people in this country, especially in Atlanta, Ga., and is actively working in the community leading programs to help underprivileged youths in financial literacy. The news shocked fans on Twitter, including fellow rapper Vince Staples, who tweeted in support of Savage. Free 21 ! Vince Staples (@vincestaples) February 3, 2019 Last week, 21 Savage spoke out against President Trumps immigration policy and the Flint, Mich., water crisis during a performance on the Tonight Show. And with the high-profile spectacle of the Super Bowl providing coverage, many on Twitter are speculating that the arrest is part of a larger ICE operation. She gotta point pic.twitter.com/dCN28yoxbk Dancing OG (@C_da_Esquire) February 3, 2019 Advertisement This 21 savage situation is so wild for so many reason especially the timing tho Desus Nice (@desusnice) February 3, 2019 The timing is just real interesting given his recent speaking out and community work, and we all know ICE has a political agenda. Why now? Im not even a 21 Savage fan or anything, this is more about not trusting ICE. Adam Best (@adamcbest) February 3, 2019 Houseless folks arrested by APD to clean the streets. ICE arresting immigrants, and apparently 21 Savage. The deaths of two Black men at the hands of APD being ignored by the mayor until the end of the Super Bowl. Stings being set up to catch sex workers. What else? Charles Preston (@_CharlesPreston) February 3, 2019 They are CLEARLY trying to catch undocumented immigrants in Atlanta who are out/working during Super Bowl weekend. I'm willing to bet this "operation" is way bigger than 21 Savage. Britni Danielle (@BritniDWrites) February 3, 2019 Advertisement I am curious as to why 21 Savage is being arrested now by ICE. Wasnt he arrested for something a few years ago? The timing of this is Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) February 3, 2019 The timing of this 21 Savage story is wild. Feels like theyre banking on us forgetting about all of this by kickoff tonight. love yo self. (@MichellCClark) February 3, 2019 sonaiya.kelley@latimes.com follow me on twitter @sonaiyak In a recent interview, Liam Neeson recounted his brief desire for revenge against a man who allegedly raped someone close to him an admission that drew swift criticism for the celebrated star Monday because of its violent and discriminatory nature. Without identifying the rape survivor, the actor said that upon learning of the sexual assault some time ago, he immediately asked the victim who her assailant was and what color were they. Upon learning he was black, Neeson took to the streets to kill the man or any random person he thought fit the racial description. Published Monday, the disturbing revelation was made in an interview with the British newspaper the Independent during a news junket for the action stars upcoming film, Cold Pursuit, about three weeks ago.Perhaps to illuminate his characters modus operandi, Neeson recounted the tale, which described the primal need for violence. I asked, did she know who it was? No. What color were they? She said it was a black person, the 66-year-old said, according to an audio recording of the actor. I went up and down areas with a cosh [a bludgeon], hoping Id be approached by somebody Im ashamed to say that and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some black bastard would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him. Advertisement At the time, the Taken star said he would just tell the rape survivor that he was going out for a walk. It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that, Neeson said. And Ive never admitted that, and Im saying it to a journalist. God forbid. FROM THE ARCHIVES: Liam Neeson talks about his transition to action star Neeson, whose costar Tom Bateman was also present during the interview, tried to convey some remorse and said he eventually came to and learned a lesson. He added that because he grew up in embattled Northern Ireland, he understands that need for revenge. But it just leads to more revenge, to more killing and more killing, and Northern Irelands proof of that. All this stuff thats happening in the world, the violence, is proof of that, you know. But that primal need, I understand, he said. Neesons spokesperson did not immediately respond to The Times request for a comment on Monday. Twitter users both harangued and criticized the action star on Monday for sharing the story. Heres a sampling of their reactions. Hmmmm. Reminds me of a time I got provoked by a rich white guy I didnt know. Hoping I would do something. Thank God I never took the bait. https://t.co/9OIka9vBRx terry crews (@terrycrews) February 4, 2019 Advertisement Liam Neeson being ready to take any Black life over what one person allegedly did just shows how meaningless and inconsequential black lives are to some. Even him telling the story demonstrates a level of privilege and understating that there may not be repercussions. Frederick Joseph (@FredTJoseph) February 4, 2019 How Black Twitter looking at Liam Neeson right now pic.twitter.com/954ysnx3ck Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) February 4, 2019 Liam Neeson is definitely a reminder that there are folks who walk around hoping to provoke Black people so they can kill us. A lot of them are in law enforcement and politics. George M Johnson (@IamGMJohnson) February 4, 2019 Well, I've seen it all now. Liam Neeson admitted to going around trying to find a black person to kill because someone he was close to got raped by a black person, and the journalist spoke to a psychologist to help contextualise his racism and included it in the article? WILD. Elizabeth Pears (@BizPears) February 4, 2019 Advertisement Liam Neeson 1) says he wanted to kill a random black man over an unrelated crime 2) thought this was an anecdote he could share to promote his movie https://t.co/lVG2N2IbpN ishmael n. daro (@iD4RO) February 4, 2019 Remember, Liam Neeson wanting to carry out an attack on a Black man, was racist AND hetero-phobic. So you all cant leave out the intersection of heterophobia and race that cis gendered Black men face. Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) February 4, 2019 remember when the viral Liam Neeson story was that a nice horse recognized him David Sims (@davidlsims) February 4, 2019 * Sees why Liam Neeson is trending* Me, at first: OK, maybe they're blowing this thing out of proportion, I mean, how bad could it be? *reads Liam Neeson's* interview* Me, at this moment: pic.twitter.com/XDWStZNdlT Just Juanita (@Sw33tH3art666) February 4, 2019 Advertisement Liam Neeson's publicist this morning: pic.twitter.com/OuLKLHlEBk van Ross Katz (@evanrosskatz) February 4, 2019 peter farrelly optioning the liam neeson story in theaters july 2021 hunter harris (@hunteryharris) February 4, 2019 Follow me: @NardineSaad Remember Waldo Lydecker? Waldo was the mordant newspaper culture-critic in Laura, Otto Premingers stylish, labyrinthine 1944 murder mystery about a breathtaking beauty who, as the movie opens, is first known to the audience from the big portrait immodestly hung above the fireplace in her own apartment. Edging out Addison DeWitt, the wickedly acid-tongued theater critic caricatured half a dozen years later in All About Eve, hes American cinemas most telling fictional critic. I dont use a pen, Lydecker patiently explains about his snooty critical duty. I write with a goose quill dipped in venom. Eventually, Lydecker is revealed as Lauras murderer or, to be specific, as the killer (by a disfiguring shotgun blast to the face) of another woman whom he thought was her. His character, narcissistic and acerbically funny, is a polished distillation of an otherwise conventional American bromide about what critics do: In the act of rendering artistic verdicts, critics kill beauty. Advertisement Waldo Lydecker isnt exactly an art critic, but more of a gossip columnist/critic. But then, neither is Morf Vandewalt, the protagonist with a similarly satirical name smoothly played by Jake Gyllenhaal in Velvet Buzzsaw. The new horror movie, set in a corner of a nearly unrecognizable Los Angeles art world, is streaming on Netflix. Seated on a Salvador Dali-styled sofa modeled on Mae Wests lips, Zawe Ashton, left, is a gallery assistant and Jake Gyllenhaal an art critic in Velvet Buzzsaw. (Claudette Barius / Associated Press) Styled in skinny suits, jazzy socks, casual but carefully coifed hair and prominent eye-wear, Morf looks more like museum director Michael Govan or gallerist Jeffrey Deitch than shambling art critic Jerry Saltz or well, me. (OK, Ill confess to the Tom Ford glasses, but thats about it.) Swanning around the art world, chitchatting with pensively folded arms and serving up airy pronouncements to artists, dealers, consultants and others, Morf effortlessly changes his spots. Velvet Buzzsaw opens at Art Basel Miami Beach, the annual December getaway thats the last chance for a big shopping opportunity in sexy, sunny Florida before New York Citys winter snows set in. To launch a horror film with the horror that is a glossy art fair merely telescopes the confused cinematic problems dead ahead. Morfs criticism is said to have a Lydeckerian quality of the scorpions sting, but it isnt much in evidence. More common is a bland quip at a funeral in the landmark Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where he ponders the banal tomb before him and unhappily murmurs, Imagine having to spend eternity in that. Schemer, climber, manipulator, wielder of high-minded covers for low-minded exploitation, Morf doesnt do much actual writing. Of course, writing of any kind, including criticism, is a pretty solitary and time-consuming gig, which is about as exciting to watch as paint drying on canvas. On screen, a movie needs to juice it up. For one brief moment, we see Morf eagerly tapping away on a keyboard. Hes decided to write a book about a newly discovered but very dead artist, whose unsold inventory of ghoulish paintings purportedly promises big piles of cash to assorted art-world mercenaries including the corrupt critic. The writer stretches out buck naked on a midcentury modern lounge chair in a midcentury modern house in the Hollywood Hills, laptop strategically placed in his lap. (I may have the Tom Ford eyewear, but I do not have the Gyllenhaal abs.) The pose is a nod to Lydecker, introduced to the Laura narrative when stretched out naked and writing in his bathtub, typewriter shelf likewise advantageously placed. Advertisement The homoerotic undertones in Lydeckers relationship with the handsome detective assigned to Lauras murder case are pretty camp. (Oscar-nominated actor Clifton Webb, himself homosexual, almost didnt get the part because studio head Darryl F. Zanuck thought him too effeminate.) They surface as essential overtones in Velvet Buzzsaw, where a second muscle-hunk dispenses with his towel to swim naked in the pool as an indifferent Morf types away. Gyllenhaal once lived across the way from David Hockney, celebrated painter of midcentury modern boys in midcentury modern swimming pools, so I fantasize that the scene was born of that. Whatever the case, 1944 is long gone: The Buzzsaw critic is also sleeping with a beautiful female gallery assistant, taking Lydeckers chaste obsession with Laura to a 21st century level. Writer-director Dan Gilroy gestures toward a couple of other movies too especially in the horror genre that Velvet Buzzsaw both follows and attempts to satirize, rather unsuccessfully. Before a gruesome hanging, the victim glimpses a grainy clip of an art-movie showing costumed trick-or-treaters think Halloween. The doomed gallery assistant gets doused in liquid paint, the famous scene from blood-drenched Carrie turned upside-down as the rivulets of paint that poured on the floor reminiscent of artist Lynda Benglis feminist work, circa 1969 run up the assistants legs, finally engulfing her entire body. Advertisement Even a maimed (and murderous) robot sculpture on crutches occupies a niche somewhere between Jordon Wolfsons actual animatronic art and Vincent Prices dead-body sculptures in House of Wax or the ravenous Chucky doll of Childs Play. But, horror conventions aside, ultimately its Laura thats out there lurking in the dark. Spoiler alert: The murderer in Velvet Buzzsaw is exposed early on, but it is not a person. The murderer is art. Paintings and sculptures come to momentary life, turning on the frail humans who dont measure up to arts robust standards. One by one, they kill off amoral art world denizens obsessed with money rather than meaningful aesthetic virtues. In Laura, the critic kills beauty. In Velvet Buzzsaw, beauty bites back. Art gets its revenge. Advertisement The movie is less a sharp satire arguably the toughest brand of comedy to write than it is a veiled lament fixated on art and commerce. Yet, what kind of art? Venality does have a high public profile in todays art world, but it has only a modest presence in the day-to-day life of art. Instead, Hollywood is where dollar signs rampage like Freddy Krueger. Framed within the everyday commercial realities of movie art, this revenge fantasy unfolds as a moviemakers slash-fest. Velvet Buzzsaw feels wrong because it isnt really about the art world after all. On the surface anyway, Nietzsches notion of the Ubermensch the Overman or Superman can be a little hard to stomach in 2019. These days it takes two to Zarathustra. A superman and a superwoman. By a lucky and rare coincidence, that is exactly what we got last week when Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted Richard Strauss orchestral spectacular Also Sprach Zarathustra with the Colburn Orchestra at the Soraya on Thursday, and Simone Young led it the next day at Walt Disney Concert Hall to begin the Los Angeles Philharmonics weekend programs. It would be very easy to apply a glib gender spin on the difference between Salonens stunningly exuberant performance, which began with the famous Sunrise introduction (you know, 2001: A Space Odyssey) sounding like futuristic supersonics, while Youngs achieved gracious glory sans all the boy stuff. There, though, is more to it than that. First of all, the performances were of interest for straightforward news value. This was Salonens first appearance with the orchestra since his recent appointment to head a Colburn School conducting program. Two weeks earlier Salonen had, moreover, conducted Zarathustra in his first performances as the music-director designate of the San Francisco Symphony, the orchestra he takes over next year. Advertisement Across town in Salonens old digs, Young led her first performances with the L.A. Phil. (I heard the Saturday matinee.) Given that she has conducted at Los Angeles Opera and has been a female pioneer the first woman to conduct the boys-club Vienna State Opera and Vienna Philharmonic, as well as the first woman to make a name for herself as a Wagner and Bruckner specialist her debut with L.A. Phil was much belated. Many factors that influenced the Zarathustra performances had nothing to do with gender, making comparisons dicey. The Colburn is a student orchestra, and Zarathustra was probably new to most if not all of the players. The L.A. Phil has had Strauss score in its repertory for 90 of the orchestras 100 years. In the late 1960s, the L.A. Phil all but branded itself with the Sunrise, thanks to Zubin Mehtas breathtaking, best-selling recording and, of course, 2001 mania. Conjoining the Soraya, Cal State Northridges perfectly fine concert hall, with the exceptional Disney, is equally inappropriate. Plus an organ matters in Zarathustra, beginning with the amazing, body-blow low C organ pedal. Disneys got the real goods; an electric organ was required for Soraya. Although Salonen and Young are the same generation (60 and 57, respectively), they come from different ends of the Earth (Helsinki and Sydney, Australia, respectively) and have radically different sensibilities. But even that isnt so simple. One of Youngs first major positions was conducting in Bergen, Norway. Salonen cant stay away from California. The real difference, and the interesting one, is that outside of Australia, Youngs career has been in Austria and Germany, and particularly in opera. She views Strauss in context with his tradition. Salonen, as a composer and modernist, looks for what he can use in Strauss. If you really want to take gender out of the equation, in fact, the L.A. Phils principal guest conductor, Susanna Malkki, made her debut with the orchestra conducting Zarathustra. Like Salonen (with whom she had once studied), Malkki is a modernist and a Finn. And like Salonens, her Strauss favored transparency over transcendence. At the time, that seemed like a radical debunking of any Ubermensch mentality. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Colburn Orchestra at the Soraya in Northridge. (Luis Luque) I might have thus written off the whole gender issue had it not been for the radio broadcast of Salonens San Francisco Zarathustra. In his brief introduction to the performance, announcer Rik Malone gave what sounded like a trigger warning, noting that Nietzsche was a notorious misogynist, an unfortunate trait Strauss shared. Advertisement Maybe so, although the great American anarchist Emma Goldman once offered a feminist reading of Thus Spake Zarathustra by suggesting the German philosophers promulgation of rising above the concepts of master and slave meant the overcoming of tradition 19th century roles of men and women (despite Nietzsches ascribing a womans role as being to give birth to an Ubermensch). The great value of these two performances was, in the end, revealing just how complex an issue gender is, neither black and white, nor, for that matter, male or female. Salonens performance was gripping in part for its abstraction. He treated the score as pure music. He used Strauss elaborate orchestration as teaching tool, inspiring the outstanding young players to enthuse in its power of sound. Young exulted in the gorgeous, blended L.A. Phil sound. She did not hold back on the climaxes. When Strauss slipped into an old-school Viennese waltz, she was very Viennese about it, whereas Salonen seemed more ironic. But for all her Wagnerian and Brucknerian grandeur, she sidestepped grandiosity. In the opposite of Malkki, Young deflated the worst aspects of Strauss and Nietzsches masculine ego. For further context, Salonens Zarathustra was preceded by an irresistibly antic performance of Strauss earlier tone poem Till Eulenspiegels Merry Pranks and Mozarts Clarinet Concerto, with Colburn clarinetist Cristina Mateo Saez as a graciously prankish soloist. Advertisement Meanwhile, in a bid to recall yet more L.A. Phil history for its centennial season, Young opened her program with Benjamin Brittens Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes and his Serenade for tenor, horn and strings. Britten came to L.A. to conduct both of these works with the orchestra 70 years ago. The further tie-in was that the opening Dawn interlude of Grimes is also a sunrise, but here evocative of a mysterious illumination. Youngs Grimes was easily as breathtaking as her Strauss, but more nuanced in mood. The British composer wrote Serenade 1943 when Ubermensch meant only one chilling thing, and tenor Michael Slattery captured the slithery, uneasy character of these settings of classic British poems. L.A. Phil principal horn and Youngs fellow Australian Andrew Bain supplied the haunting oddness that gives the songs their discomfiting character. That Young could then defang the Zarathustran Ubermensch of its most objectionable connotations, de-masculinize it without emasculating it in the spirit of Emma Goldman, proved an achievement worthy of real potential social value. Advertisement mark.swed@latimes.com Actress Kristen Dalton has a Beverly Hills investment property up for lease at $6,500 a month, long-term. Built in 1962 to evoke the French Normandy style, the house has been redone with Italian building materials, cherry floors, a kitchen with a breakfast bar and open-plan living areas. The 2,016 square feet of white-walled interior space include a living room with fireplace, an 800-square-foot bonus room, two bedrooms and three bathrooms. Sliding glass doors access patio and deck spaces. Theres also a high-tech security system. Advertisement Daltons acting credits date back to Tango & Cash in 1989 and include Steel Rain (2017), Jack Reacher (2012) and The Departed (2006). She appears this year in the series Hawaii Five-O. The 52-year-old bought the property in 1999 for $557,000, public records show, and has been leasing it out for at least a decade. Victor Brown and Denise Snanoudj with the Agency are the listing agents. lauren.beale2@latimes.com Twitter: @laurenebeale You say you care about privacy, but you dont really, and neither do millions of other Americans. This collective indifference is what keeps Big Data in business and keeps consumers constantly scrambling to find out who has access to their personal information. Worse, privacy experts tell me that even as the rest of the developed world implements far-reaching measures to protect their citizens right to be left alone, the United States, because we just dont give a damn, will continue allowing corporations to call the shots. I think it is very unlikely we will see meaningful federal privacy legislation this year, despite all of the talk about it and the clearly demonstrated need for such legislation, said Fred H. Cate, a law professor at Indiana University and senior fellow at the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research. Advertisement For the past decade, we have started almost every year saying that this would be the year we would finally see privacy legislation, he said. So far those predictions have been wrong. For proof of this privacy shoulder-shrug, look no further than Facebook. The social media behemoth, which turned 15 on Monday and now has 2.3 billion active monthly users worldwide, reported record quarterly profit of nearly $7 billion last week up a stunning 61% from the same quarter in 2017. For all of last year, Facebooks profit soared 39% to $22 billion. Those fat stacks came as the company grappled with what was arguably the worst year in its history, at least from a public relations standpoint. How bad was it? Let us count the ways. In March we had the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which it was learned that Facebook made the personal data of 87 million users available, without permission, to a researcher who used the information for political purposes. In September the company revealed that hackers had made off with information on 29 million Facebook users, including birth dates and phone numbers. In November there were reports that Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg had mapped out an aggressive plan to manage the PR crises through deception, misdirection and attacks on critics. In December came news that Facebook was sharing user data with its business partners without telling people. And the hits keep coming. It was reported just the other day that the company had been quietly paying some users including minors $20 a month so it could spy on their phone and internet usage. Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) called this inherently manipulative because younger users dont have a clear understanding how much data theyre handing over and how sensitive it is. He and other lawmakers demanded that Facebook knock it off. Thats the thing, though. Why should the company change its ways when users remain loyal no matter what, and when marketers keep showering Facebook with piles of cash to gain access to its data? Advertisement Moreover, no one should be surprised that Facebook, Google and other data-heavy tech giants are applying their considerable lobbying muscle to fighting strict privacy regulations and making sure their gravy train keeps chugging. Some of the most profitable companies in the U.S. have strong incentives to water down consumer privacy protections, said Lior Strahilevitz, a law professor at the University of Chicago. And theres a reasonable argument to be made that the relatively lax American legal environment contributed to the rise of those companies, he said. The European Union said enough was enough. It implemented sweeping privacy rules last year called the General Data Protection Regulation. Among other things, it requires that companies obtain consent from customers before using or sharing their personal information. Advertisement It also gives consumers the right to know how their personal data are being used and to receive a free copy of any such information held by a business. People must be notified of a security breach within 72 hours. A greater concern for Facebook and its tech chums, however, is a new privacy law that takes effect in California at the beginning of next year. The California Consumer Privacy Act will allow state residents to find out what kinds of information a business has collected. It also permits consumers to request that a company delete any personal information it holds, to opt out of the sale of such info and to sue if reasonable security practices arent maintained to prevent data breaches. Tech companies have been pushing for a weaker federal law that would preempt the California statute and guarantee a long leash in use of customer data. Facebooks strong earnings and the fact that its scandalously bad behavior seems not to be of concern to users may work in the companies favor. Advertisement I think business interests will be very aggressive in preempting stronger state laws, said Joel Reidenberg, a law professor at Fordham University who focuses on information technology and privacy matters. Julie Cohen, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University, agreed. There is a major push on to preempt more protective state bills, she said. Facebook spent $12.6 million lobbying Congress last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Googles parent company, Alphabet, spent nearly twice that amount. The companies almost certainly will point lawmakers attention to a recent study from the Identity Theft Resource Center showing that the total number of data breaches was down 24% last year proof, theyll say, that the tech industry is stepping up its privacy game. Advertisement Look closer, though, and the study reveals that even though reported breaches fell to 1,244 from 1,632 a year earlier, the number of exposed records more than doubled to 446.5 million. Until Americans demand change, its a problem that will keep getting worse. Zuckerberg is already sounding like the battle is over. Right now, theres a lot of negativity about the impact of technology, and some of its fair and some of its misplaced, he told financial analysts after Facebooks latest earnings were released. Advertisement I feel like weve come out of 2018 not only making real progress on important issues but having a clear sense of what we believe are the right ways to move forward, Zuckerberg said. If you think hes talking about your best interests, you havent been paying attention. David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com. Slack Technologies Inc. said it has filed confidentially with regulators to list the companys shares in the United States. The messaging platform company didnt provide details of its plans in a statement Monday. Slack plans to forgo a traditional initial public offering and instead intends to sell its shares to bidders in a direct listing, a person familiar with the matter said last month. That would allow investors to sell shares without a lock-up period, among other advantages. The San Francisco company is choosing the unusual method for going public because it doesnt need the cash or publicity of an IPO, the person said at the time. The share sale, which might take place toward midyear, could value Slack at more than $7 billion, according to the person, who added that the companys plans could still change. Advertisement The company was valued at $7.1 billion in a $427-million funding round in August. Slack is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Allen & Co. on the share sale, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the matter wasnt public. Representatives for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Allen & Co. didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. If Slack goes ahead with a direct listing, it will follow music streaming service Spotify Technology, which began trading in New York using that method in April. In an IPO, underwriters hammer out the number of shares to sell and at what price, then take their fees out of the proceeds from an offering. A direct listing allows current investors to offer their stakes directly to new shareholders priced purely on demand. Slack said in January that 10 million people use its service every day. It said last year that 3 million of those people use a paid premium version of the software. Slack faces competition from Microsoft Corp.s Teams product, which is free, but it has prevailed over other rivals. Last year, Atlassian Corp. said it was shutting down HipChat, a similar workplace messaging product, and encouraging its customers to migrate to Slack. Atlassian sold HipChats assets to Slack. El-Tayyeb's comments came in a televised speech in Abu Dhabi during a ceremony at the Human Fraternity Meeting, which is being organized by the Emirates. The meeting is attended by the Vaticn's Pope Francis, who is on his first ever visit to the Arabian Peninsule, the birthplace of Islam. The Pontiff had arrived in Abu-Dhabi on Sunday night on a three-day trip to promote interfaith dialogue and visit the Catholic peripheries. El-Tayyeb flew on Sunday to Abu-Dhabi to meet with Pope Francis and attend the event. The grand imam, who stressed in his speech 'that religion must never be used to justify violence,' and the pope signed a document that Al-Azhar and the Vatican will work together to fight extremism. Addressing communities of the Christian faith, El-Tayyeb stressed "You are part of this nation... You are not minorities." He also called on Muslims in the west to integrate in their host nations and respect local laws. El-Tayyeb said that the document was signed after a series of talks between himself and my brother and dear friend Francis. The grand imam said that he and the pope discussed the worlds issues and contemplated the situation of those who have been killed, the poor, orphans, widows, the oppressed, and those who have fled their homes and nations, and how divine religions can provide a lifeline for the miserable. What struck me is that the concerns of his holiness were compatible with my own, and that each of us feels the sacred responsibility for which God will hold us accountable in the afterlife, he said, adding that the pope feels pain for those who suffer tragedies, without discrimination. El-Tayyeb also said that the divine religions are innocent of all terrorist movements, no matter their religion, dogma, ideas, or their victims. These are killers and abusers of God and his message, and officials in the East and the West should carry out their duties to combat and apprehend these assailants while safeguarding the peoples lives, beliefs and houses of worship, he said. Short link: In the latest sign of SpaceXs continuing progress on its Mars spaceship program, Chief Executive Elon Musk said the company has test-fired the Starships Raptor flight engine for the first time. The two-second test fire at SpaceXs McGregor, Texas, test facility, which Musk announced via Twitter on Sunday, marks a major coup for the Hawthorne companys rocket engine development. The Raptor engine uses a less conventional propellant than the Merlin engine SpaceX developed to power its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. Development of this highly efficient engine is also more complex. Starship, formerly known as BFR, is key to Musks plans for Mars colonization. The two-stage Mars system includes the Super Heavy booster, which will propel the spaceship from Earth to space, and the Starship craft, which is designed to take 100 people to the Red Planet. Musk tweeted late last month that as many as 31 Raptor engines could power Super Heavy. However, he couched that number, at least in the beginning, by saying it will probably fly with fewer initially in case it blows up. Starship will be powered by seven Raptor engines for its journey to and from the Red Planet, according to SpaceXs website. Advertisement SpaceX said in an Instagram post Monday morning that the engine reached about 116 metric tons of force during the test, marking the highest-ever thrust from one of its engines. The company said the Raptor engine was at about 60% of its power during the test-fire. Its a major accomplishment for SpaceX and a major advancement in space engineering, said Richard Wirz, associate professor in aerospace engineering at UCLA and director of the universitys plasma and space propulsion laboratory. The Raptor engine will be powered by methane and liquid oxygen. Many other rocket engines, such as SpaceXs Merlin engines, use highly refined kerosene. Engineering experts have said methane burns cleaner than kerosene and thus is less likely to clog fuel lines. SpaceX has also said methane could be made on Mars, which made it a better choice for its Starship spaceship. Methane also self-pressurizes, meaning tank-pressurization systems could be eliminated. SpaceX isnt the only company interested in using methane. Jeff Bezos Blue Origin is also developing its BE-4 engine to be powered by liquefied natural gas. That engine will propel the companys New Glenn rocket, as well as United Launch Alliances future Vulcan Centaur rocket. It still requires testing and demonstration, but I think its a very promising direction to go in, said Ann Karagozian, a UCLA professor in the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering. SpaceXs Raptor engine uses a highly efficient technique known as full-flow staged combustion cycle. Although it is complicated and has a higher number of parts than other cycles, the result could be a highly reusable engine since its parts operate at a relatively low temperature and thus experience a lower level of stress, Wirz said. Advertisement Staged combustion cycles can also be more efficient, meaning rockets could launch heavier payloads with the same-size tanks as rockets using so-called gas generator cycle engines, said Paulo Lozano, director of the MIT Space Propulsion Lab. The Hawthorne company previously conducted a number of tests on earlier versions of its Raptor engine. SpaceX, whose full name is Space Exploration Technologies Corp., finished assembly of its Starship prototype last month, and Musk has said the company could conduct short flight tests in which the spaceship will launch and briefly go up in the air before returning to Earth as soon as this month. Late last month, part of the Starship prototype was damaged when winds blew over the top portion. Musk said at the time that it would take a few weeks to repair and it was unclear whether this would delay flight tests. Advertisement The company is building and testing the Starship prototype at its Boca Chica facility in south Texas. SpaceX had previously planned to build Starship and the Super Heavy rocket booster on a 19-acre site at the Port of Los Angeles, but a company official told the port in a letter dated last month that SpaceX would terminate that lease agreement. Musk has said the company would conduct development of Starship and the Raptor engine in Hawthorne but build the spaceship prototypes locally at our launch site in Texas, as their size makes them very difficult to transport. Development of the Mars spaceship and rocket booster system is one of SpaceXs main priorities. Last month, the company announced it would lay off about 10% of its more than 6,000-employee workforce, citing a need to get leaner to succeed at its plans to create the Mars spaceship and a global satellite internet network known as Starlink. On an earnings call with analysts last week for Tesla Inc., where he also serves as CEO, Musk described development of Starship and Starlink as two absolutely insane projects. SpaceX had previously said in a statement about the layoffs that either of these developments, even when attempted separately, have bankrupted other organizations. Advertisement SpaceX has to be incredibly spartan with expenditures until those programs reach fruition, Musk said. samantha.masunaga@latimes.com Twitter: @smasunaga On Tuesday, Jan. 29, Mayor Eric Garcetti said he will not run for president in 2020. He also quoted Taylor Swift. Pope Francis, Head of the Catholic Church, shakes hands with Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, Egyptian Imam of al-Azhar Mosque, upon his arrival at Abu Dhabi International airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 3, 2019. Reuters-Yonhap Pope Francis has been greeted by Abu Dhabi's powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on his arrival to the Arabian Peninsula. A young boy and girl in traditional Emirati dress handed the pontiff flowers after landing Sunday night. The two leaders then walked past an honor guard, all with traditional Arabic daggers at their waists. Pope Francis and Sheikh Mohammed smiled and spoke to each other as they walked through the airport terminal. The pope also met a host of Cabinet ministers in a greeting line, as well as local Catholic and Muslim officials. Pope Francis' Alitalia flight touched down in the capital city of the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, around 9:50 p.m. on Sunday. Pope Francis is welcomed by Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 3, 2019. Reuters-Yonhap While Francis is building on two of his priorities with his Sunday-Tuesday visit to the United Arab Emirates _ promoting interfaith dialogue and visiting the Catholic peripheries _ diplomatic protocol will likely dictate that he leaves other concerns behind. The Emirates' support for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen, which has caused the world's worst humanitarian crisis, and the UAE's problematic record on human rights and labor violations at home likely will get a pass _ at least in public. However, Francis did appeal earlier Sunday for an end to Yemen's humanitarian crisis, saying the ''cries of these children and their parents rise up'' to God. Christian leaders attending a summit ahead of Pope Francis' arrival in Abu Dhabi say they're excited for the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula. Bishop Camillo Ballin, the apostolic vicar of Northern Arabia, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the Roman Catholic Church provided succor for an estimated 1 million faithful in the United Arab Emirates, nearly all of them foreigners drawn to the country for employment. Pope Francis smiles upon his arrival at Abu Dhabi International Airport in the UAE capital on February 3, 2019. AFP-Yonhap Ballin said: ''His visit is a big and important encouragement for the Christians that live in these countries because they are far from their homeland and they need especially to be encouraged so that they feel they are home.'' Rev. Andrew Thompson of St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Abu Dhabi said his congregation was excited for Pope Francis' Mass on Tuesday. Thompson said: ''My congregation are so happy we are witnessing what will be the biggest Christian act of worship in the history of the Arabian Gulf, and we are excited to be a part of that.'' Pope Francis has appealed for the end of Yemen's humanitarian crisis, saying the ''cries of these children and their parents rise up'' to God. He made the appeal at the Vatican an hour before his scheduled departure on a three-day trip to the United Arab Emirates, which is a key member of the Saudi-led coalition at war with Yemen's Iran-aligned rebels. The conflict has driven Yemen to the brink of famine and caused the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Francis urged faithful in St. Peter's Square to join him in prayer, saying ''these are hungry children'' with no medicine, and ''are in danger of dying.'' Noting that many can't reach food aid areas, he appealed to the involved parties and the international community to urgently ensure that agreements are reached and food distributed. Pope Francis talks with journalists aboard a flight from Italy to United Arab Emirates, 03 February 2019. EPA-Yonhap Francis is expected in the United Arab Emirates later Sunday, where he will become the first pontiff to visit the Arabian Peninsula. Emiratis are welcoming Pope Francis' trip to Abu Dhabi, the first-ever papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula, where Islam was born. The National, a state-linked, English-language newspaper in Abu Dhabi, described the pope's three-day visit beginning Sunday as ''a dream come true'' for the country's estimated 1 million Roman Catholics. The newspaper said: ''With that moment will come a lifetime of gratitude to the UAE's rulers, who last year invited Pope Francis to visit the country and have fostered a society in which freedom of worship is afforded to all.'' While Christians can worship in churches built on land donated by the country's rulers, proselytizing by non-Muslims is illegal. Blasphemy and apostasy laws also carry a possible death sentence. Pope Francis is flanked by two children as they attempt to free colored balloons during the Angelus noon prayer from his window overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019. AP-Yonhap Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises headquarters on Yeouido, Seoul. Korea Times file By Nam Hyun-woo K-Biz Chairman Park Sung-taek Clockwise from top are Kim Jeong-yeoul in front of his "najeonchilgi" wardrobe in his workshop and Lacquerware Inlaid with Mother-of-pearl Experience Center and Succession Hall in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province. Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chul Master experiments in lacquerware inlaid with mother-of-pearl By Chung Ah-young YANGJU, Gyeonggi Province A stackable dish box adorned with fragmented nacre pieces shaped in baby's breath flowers remains unfinished and perhaps never will be. Kim Jeong-yeoul, an artisan of "najeonchilgi," or lacquerware inlaid with mother-of-pearl, has stopped working on it since 2008 when he went through the most difficult time in his life. Kim introduced this "unfinished" work as the product of "han" or hopeless sadness combined with anger, which well describes a lonely artisan who has survived in this modern era. "I thought this would be one of my lifetime masterpieces when I began working on it. But I couldn't finish it because I experienced a very difficult time back then," he said in an interview with The Korea Times. Nevertheless, Kim said that throughout his lifetime his craftwork has been one of the things he's used to beat hardship and loneliness. Various kinds of seashells used for najeonchilgi. Kim said when it comes to traditional artisans, for many ordinary people, three words tenacity, ignorance and poverty might cross their minds. "We have walked such a lonely road, but don't forget we help maintain the roots of traditional Korean culture," he said. Particularly, najeonchilgi craftsmen with a high degree of patience and accurate, dexterous skill take pride in the difficulty of pursuing their work. His stubbornness and pride have never allowed him to compromise with anything that runs against his artistic sense. A plate adorned with mother-of-pearl and eggshell. Kim has been good at working with both "najeon" or mother-of-pearl and "chilgi" or lacquerware since he began learning the crafts at 14 in Tongyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, home to nacre craftwork because of its abundance of high-quality, multi-shaded, lustrous sea shells. When he was a boy, Kim's mother took him to a craft workshop run by a relative, Ahn Chang-deok. While being trained there, he developed skills by emulating his teacher. As a result, Ahn passed his workshop on to Kim when he was only 17. Kim has never looked back. In 1985 Kim moved to Yangju to learn "otchil" from traditional lacquerware master Cho Sung-hoon. Kim runs his workshop and the Lacquerware Inlaid with Mother-of-pearl Experience Center and Succession Hall funded by the Yangju city government there. The filing process on mother-of-pearl. Glazing tradition Najeonchilgi was synonymous with wealth until the 1970s but is now regarded as a thing of the past, as lifestyles have changed since people lived in "hanok," or Korean traditional houses. At that time traditional lacquered dressers and closets decorated with the mother-of-pearl inlay were common. But now this has given way to Western-style fitted furniture apartments. Kim said it is becoming rare to find authentic najeonchilgi craftwork after the introduction of mass production and new materials replacing otchil or natural lacquer. New paints, such as cashew lacquer, can't make the craft durable and authentic, he said, noting that otchil is resistant to heat, acid and humidity and thus lasts for thousands of years. Finishing nacre-inlaid artwork with otchil is key to a better shine, and natural glues better preserve the work as well. Making a piece of najeonchilgi requires numerous steps from making a wooden frame and coating it with "saengot," or fresh lacquer, to drying and coating. These steps are repeated before the inlaying of the mother-of-pearl designs begins. The pieces of mother-of-pearl are cut using two methods, "jureumjil" (filing) and "ggeuneumjil" (cutting), according to how the designs are produced and inlaid. More spiritual training than skill Kim's daughter, Kim Young-hyo, 35, has been learning traditional skills from her father for about six years. When he teaches his daughter, Kim transforms from a gentle father to a strict teacher who never allows a mistake in this highly sophisticated craftwork. "To become a master, your eyes should become keener and keener to identify the smallest error in making a shape," he told his daughter who was making a traditional box decorated with ggeunuemjil. He stressed that when pursuing najeonchilgi craftsmanship, artisans should develop spiritual strength. "Artisanship is achieved through numerous years. It is not about skill but about spiritual strength to overcome all the obstacles in pursuing this job," he said. Kim pointed out that young people who are interested in this craft tend to learn only techniques as fast as they can, but if they do only that, they are nothing but technicians, not artists. "Now many people can see how to make najeonchilgi through books and the Internet. But with only that kind of knowledge, they cannot produce a masterpiece. This can only be born from a life of suffering," he said. Kim's artisanship is fully reflected in a huge masterpiece of a najeonchilgi mural, the largest of its kind in the country, installed in the lobby of Yangju City Hall, Gyeonggi Province. It took some one-and-a-half years to finish this work, which is 3 meters in width and 1.7 meters in length. Almost all kinds of najeon craft techniques and materials were used. The mural expresses "Yangju byeolsandae nori," or Korea's traditional mask drama representing this region's folk culture. Kim expressed his hope to develop this traditional craft into more painting-like experiments through collaboration with renowned painters. Who is Kim Jeong-yeoul? Born in Goseong, South Gyeongsang Province in 1954, Kim began learning "najeonchilgi" at 14 in Tongyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, home to the craft because of its abundant high-quality seashells. He moved to Yangju in 1985 to learn "otchil" or lacquer painting from traditional lacquerware master Cho Sung-hoon. He created a traditionally crafted najeonchilgi mural featuring "Yangju byeolsandae nori" or Korea's traditional mask drama representing this region's folk culture for Yangju City Hall, Gyeonggi Province in 2001. Kim won the top prize at the National Craft Competition in 1992 with his traditional mask pendent inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and he won a medal from President Kim Young-sam in 2001 and gained the top master status from the Ministry of Employment and Labor in 2011. His daughter Kim Young-hyo, 35, has been learning traditional skills from her father for about six years. He currently runs his workshop and the Lacquerware Inlaid with Mother-of-pearl Experience Center and Succession Hall in Yangju. Kim was designated as Gyeonggi Province Intangible Cultural Property No. 24 in 1998. What is 'najeonchilgi'? The term "najeonchilgi" is a combination of the words "najeon" or mother-of-pearl and "chilgi" or lacquerware. The craft inlays colorful pieces of seashells on an object and then applies a layer of lacquer. The traditional lacquer crafts are estimated to go back 1,500 years. "Najeonchilgi" flourished in ancient China and Japan but has declined in recent years. In Korea the art form peaked during the Goryeo Kingdom and began to change as the brilliant Buddhist culture during the Goryeo period gave way to the temperate Confucian culture during the Joseon period. It has been kept alive in Korea due to artisans who have passed down traditional skills from generation to generation. Kim said Korea continues to preserve this glazing tradition despite diminishing interest from people. "We should be proud of continuing the tradition, even though the craft originated in China," he said. U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, left, talks with South Korean National Security Director Chung Eui-yong during a meeting at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. AP-Yonhap Senior U.S. and South Korean officials met Sunday to discuss an expected second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump's special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, arrived in South Korea earlier amid reports that he'll meet North Korean officials soon to work out details for the summit. Trump told CBS' "Face the Nation" that "the meeting is set" with Kim, but he provided no further details about the meeting expected around the end of February. The president said there was "a very good chance that we will make a deal." With the North under economic penalties and the U.S. unwilling to ease them under the North denuclearizes, Trump said Kim "has a chance to have North Korea be a tremendous economic behemoth. It has a chance to be one of the great economic countries in the world. He can't do that with nuclear weapons and he can't do that on the path they're on now." U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, left, shakes hands with South Korean National Security Director Chung Eui-yong during a meeting at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. AP-Yonhap Seoul's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Biegun and his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon held consultations about working-level U.S.-North Korea talks ahead of the summit. South Korean media reported Biegun and his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok Chol will likely meet at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom or in the North's capital of Pyongyang early this week. Little progress has been made toward ridding North Korea of its nuclear weapons since Trump and Kim held their first summit in Singapore last June. During that summit, Kim pledged to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, though he did not provide a timetable or roadmap for his disarmament steps. Last year, North Korea suspended nuclear and missile tests, dismantled its nuclear test site and parts of its rocket launch facility and released American detainees. The North demanded the United States to take corresponding measurers such as sanctions relief. U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, right, arrives at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019. AP-Yonhap A man makes a phone call next to a photo prop horse outside a portrait studio in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. AP-Yonhap North Korea stepped up restrictions on the use of Chinese mobile networks near the border last year in an apparent effort to control the flow of outside information, human rights organization Amnesty International has said. In a recent report on North Korea's human rights situation, the group said the reclusive regime has strengthened efforts to trace the activities of smuggled mobile phones using Chinese networks and block the signals in the border areas over the past few years. "Individuals interviewed by Amnesty International in 2018 reported that the situation has not improved despite the recent dialogue between officials from the two Koreas," it said. "Rather, communications through the Chinese mobile network have become even more difficult and risky in 2018." Amnesty International said the surveillance makes it extremely difficult for families separated by the inter-Korean border to stay in contact. People wait for public trams at a stop in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019. AP-Yonhap Will bitcoin ever bounce back? gettyimagesbank By Jung Min-ho Atulya Sarin The price of bitcoin, the world's most popular cryptocurrency, was next to zero in 2009 but soared to near $20,000 at the end of 2017, only to crash back to the mid-$3,000 level this year. What's next? Three experts contacted by The Korea Times said they believe the future of cryptocurrencies is bleak and the value of most "coins" will most likely go back to where they started zero. "Bitcoin is no longer a new technology it has been around for a decade and still there is no use case for it," Atulya Sarin, a finance professor at Santa Clara University in the United States, said. "Primarily all we do with bitcoin is that we trade it. That is awfully similar to tulips and Beanie Babies in their heydays and we all know what happened to them. So it is a not a question of if, but more a question of when bitcoin will go to zero." Kevin Dowd Kevin Dowd, a finance and economics professor in the Business School at Durham University in the United Kingdom, also reckons most cryptocurrencies are in a bubble. "Many are scams, others are already dead," he said. "I believe bitcoin will eventually go to zero and so too will many bitcoin look-alikes. So the question is, what will survive? Ripple looks dodgy, so I don't think that will last either." Bitcoin has had a wild ride since its birth on Jan. 3, 2009. It was created as "alternative money" that would avoid government regulations and offer individual liberty in the financial industry. Warren Buffett: Bitcoin is a 'delusion' Many economists warned of the great risks of bitcoin and its copycats, but many welcomed them with open arms. Its value skyrocketed sometimes gaining $2,500 in just a single day to, at one point, stand at almost $20,000. But scammers soon poured into the market, regulators started to intervene and a growing number of investors began to lose hope in cryptocurrencies. On Jan. 31, bitcoin was worth $3,497 a coin, according to Coin Market Cap, a popular data source for price changes in crypto assets. Andrew Sheng Sohn Sung-won. Korea Times file Kokomo, IN (46901) Today Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 48F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 48F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Seven terrorists have been killed by Egyptian security forces in a shootout in the North Sinai city of El-Arish, an official source said on Monday. Security forces conducted a raid on the terrorists hideout based on information obtained by intelligence officials. The group was planning terrorist attacks targeting state institutions, the source explained, adding that they were found in possession of large amounts of ammunition, firearms, and improvised explosive devices. Short link: MOUNT VERNON Tragedy is an event causing great suffering, destruction and distress. Triumph is joy or satisfaction resulting from a success or victory. It is in the space between tragedy and triumph where many find their path and the voice to tell their story. Three such stories will come to life as Mount Vernon Nazarene University hosts Tragedy into Triumph, March 18-20. Tragedy into Triumph, now in its 11th year, is a three-part experience that will connect the audience with three unique people who will share their personal stories of tragedy and how a common thread God helped them rise from the pits of despair to soar like an eagle. I am extremely excited about bringing Tragedy into Triumph to campus in collaboration with the North Central Ohio District, said MVNU President Dr. Henry W. Spaulding II. It will be an evangelistic event for our students and for the Mount Vernon community. The speakers will tell their story of how God turned their personal tragedy into triumph. This message is central to the mission of MVNU and we play all who attend will be blessed. Speakers include: Monday, March 18 Rifqa Bary will share her journey through fear and cancer and describe how she found strength in her faith. Bary made national headlines at the age of 16 when she left her family in Ohio after announcing she had converted from Islam to Christianity four years earlier. Tuesday, March 19 Former Oklahoma Sooner and Seattle Seahawk Brian Bosworth will detail how drug addiction, defiance and demise nearly ruined his life. It was not until he found God that he found true success. Wednesday, March 20 Siran Stacy was handed unimaginable loss when he lost his wife and four children when a drunk driver hit their vehicle. He credits God for the victory that resulted and for carrying him over the struggles of loss, confusion and depression. Stacy is a former University of Alabama and Philadelphia Eagles running back. Rev. Wendell Brown, superintendent for the North Central Ohio District and founder of Tragedy into Triumph, believes in the power of testimonies and community worship as a means to either introduce people to God or reinvigorate ones faith through real life stories of transformation. He purposefully designed the experience to focus on the stories and leave preaching for the church service. The story is most important. The reality is the story really resonates with people, Brown said. Guests will get great worship and no one is going to preach at you. You are simply going to hear a story and you are going to have an opportunity to decide whether that story is for you, whether you believe it or not. The event, which begins each night at 7 p.m., is free and open to the public. Doors of the R.R. Hodges Chapel/Auditorium open at 6 p.m. The event is simulcast nationally to churches around the nation with a reach of over 100,000 people. For more information, visit http://tragedyintotriumph.com. The UK has allocated 12 million for a project of integrated educational services for needy children in Egypt, in a joint project with UNICEF that launched on Monday. Egypt's Minister of Education Tarek Shawki, who spoke at the launch, said the project aims at contributing to education reform and improvement efforts in the country. The ceremony was also attended by British Ambassador in Cairo Geoffrey Adams and UNICEF Representative in Egypt Bruno Maes. Shawki said that the project serves the Ministry of Education's strategy to transform the Egyptian education system to Education 2.0. Education 2.0 is a transformative education system which was announced by the Ministry of Education and Technical Education in 2017. UNICEF is providing technical guidance on curriculum reform and related teacher training and teaching and training materials for KG1, KG2, and Grade 1 levels. Shawki said that creating new curricula and developing teaching methods to suit the upgraded curricula are important for improving education in Egypt. The new education system will gradually substitute the current one and by 2030 Education 2.0 will be the only national educational system applied in Egypt, he said. Adams said that the project is a great investment in Egyptian students, adding that it will contribute to the policies related to advancing school education in Egypt. Maes said that Education 2.0 is very important for transforming schools in Egypt for the 21st century, adding that the UNICEF will spare no efforts to support the education ministry in improving the education system and ensuring that every child in the country has equal opportunities to access quality education. In recent years, Egypt has been implemting a number of reforms to improve its education system at all levels. The latest of these steps was introducing open book exams, as part of its plans to revamp the countrys education system. Around 600,000 students from more than 2,000 public schools and 1,000 private schools sat for their final first-term exams which ran from 13 January to 24 January. The open book system has been tried out for the first time on grade 10 students in Arabic, a second language, science, math and social studies. Short link: The state Public Service Commission should ensure the panels are set back a reasonable distance from property lines. The PSC also should require the developers to plan ahead for the replacement or removal of solar panels when they wear out in 30 years. While some of the concerns of neighbors may be valid, those worries must be weighed against the larger needs of our state and society. A report last fall by the United Nations scientific panel on climate change warned that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are altering the planet faster than previously thought and could cost tens of trillions of dollars in damages if ignored. The proposed solar farm would help reduce Wisconsins heavy use of coal and other fossil fuels, while encouraging further investment in clean energy. Solar panels are less intrusive than wind turbines dotting the skyline. They also will benefit farmers. The developers of Badger Hollow plan to pay landowners some $1.8 million a year in rent. In addition, Iowa County government will get about $700,000 a year in shared utility revenue, while three host towns will share $500,000. On top of that, the developers have offered to replace lost property tax revenue for local schools, technical colleges, fire and ambulance districts. Kathryn, who went by Kathy, was born Sept. 23, 1946, in Kenosha to John and Reeva Goodwin. She attended local schools, graduating from Bradford High School in 1964. It was in high school where she met both of her future husbands, Steve Philo and David Leet. She dated them both, and they all became good friends. When Kathy and David were named homecoming queen and king, Steve was the driver of their car. After high school, Steve and David moved away from Kenosha, and Kathy went to Carthage College where she majored in French. She also performed in Carthages theater productions and musicals. Kathy and David were married on Aug. 2, 1968, two months after she graduated from Carthage. Steve, who was living in Michigan, attended the wedding. I drove 400 miles for that wedding, he said. Kathy and David moved to North Carolina where David underwent basic training to be a pilot for the Marines. He was deployed to Japan, where he piloted radar jamming missions over Vietnam. In April 1972, Kathy and their son, Jason, went to Japan to visit David. On April 13, while still in Japan, she learned that his plane had gone missing on the return flight from a mission over Hanoi. Keep that forbearance in place: Many financial institutions sympathetic to customers affected by the shutdown offered them an opportunity to place their loans in forbearance. Under forbearance, a borrower who is suffering from financial difficulty is allowed to stop making loan payments. If your lender gave you a reprieve on your loan payment for February and even March, dont rush to end the forbearance if youre still struggling to cover other expenses. Dont splurge: Federal workers will be getting two paychecks at the same time. Getting such a large sum can lead to overspending. But its not time to celebrate with a meal out or a movie. You are not free of the financial strain just yet if you still dont have an emergency fund, which you may have depleted to stay afloat during the shutdown. Dont immediately restart your aggressive debt-reduction plan: Before the shutdown or a job loss, you may have been trying to get rid of debt. Now that money is coming in, youre probably eager to get back on track to reduce your debt. But you still need to preserve your cash in case another shutdown occurs. The same is true even if you land another job after a layoff. Keep making the minimum payments on your debts until youre being consistently paid. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has declared himself the interim president of Venezuela, greets supporters as he arrives at a nationwide demonstration demanding the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office says he has spoken with the man Canada and many of its allies consider the legitimate leader of Venezuela. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Fernando Llano Subscribe to our podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you get podcasts. Attorney Stacey Blakeman, who works with David Trevino, introduces herself on Jan. 31, at the presentation about immigration law at Lawrence Public Library. Columnist Grace Brunner details the provisions of the "parody marriage" bill, arguing that Kansas state legislators supporting it are attempting to severely roll back protections and rights for LGBTQ individuals. The Egyptian parliaments general committee has preliminarily approved a motion signed by more than 120 MPs (one-fifth of the total deputies) on Sunday to amend 15 articles of Egypts 2014 constitution. The proposed amendments aim to increase the length of presidential terms, make representation in parliament more inclusive, and amend regulations governing the judiciary. Parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal said that a meeting will be held on Tuesday morning to complete discussions on the amendments. The popose amendments are expected to be approved in principle, after which a report will be prepared for a vote in a plenary session in parliament. If MPs vote yes, the proposed amendments will be sent to parliaments legislative and constitutional affairs committee to be discussed in detail in hearing sessions that should not exceed two months. The committees meeting on Sunday evening heaped praise on the amendments, declaring that there is no question that four years of on-the-ground implementation of Egypts 2014 constitution have clearly shown that it needs an urgent overhaul. This is not a bad thing, as nations need from time to time to amend their constitutions to adapt to developments on the ground, said Abdel-Aal, adding that any new amendments, however, should always aim to reinforce democracy and help the countrys sovereign institutions perform their duties and jobs efficiently. Abdel-Aal said in a statement that the proposed amendments aim to achieve seven objectives: boost representation in parliament of women, Copts, Egyptian expatriates and the physically challenged; create an upper house of parliament to help widen participation in political and parliamentary life; increase the length of presidential terms from four to six years; bring back the post of vice president; introduce reforms in the selection of judicial authorities; create a coordination council for judicial authorities to be headed by the president; and change the way the minister of defence is appointed. Ahram Online has obtained a copy of the proposed constitutional amendments, which aim to change 15 articles. The amendments make no change to articles on Islamic sharia (Article 2), Al-Azhar institution (Article 7), or the ban on religious parties (Article 74). The ultraconservative Salafist Nour party has expressed approval of the proposed constitutional amendments in principle. The representatives of three political parties the leftist Tagammu, the Egyptian Socialist Democratic Party and the Conservatives have so far declined to endorse the proposed amendments. Speaker Abdel-Aal said that the amendments address a grave shortcoming enshrined in Article 140 regarding presidential terms. The conditions of the country and the region around us over four years show that a presidential term of four years is by no means realistic, and that we need a president that can have enough time to implement his election programme and development plans, said Abdel-Aal. The following is a list of the 15 constitutional amendments proposed by the Support Egypt parliamentary majority and the introduction of two new articles on the post of the vice president and the upper house of parliament. (1) Article 102 (first paragraph): The change aims to reduce the number of elected MPs in the house of representatives (Egypts lower house of parliament) from 596 to 450 MPs, with at least 25 percent of seats to be reserved for women representatives. This change received objection from some MPs who argued that it violates the principle of equality and that it could be ruled unconstitutional. Other MPs said that only 10 percent of seats should be reserved for women. There are currently 90 female MPs (12 percent) in parliament, the highest in Egypts history. (2) Article 102 (third paragraph): The law regulating the performance and election of the House of Representatives is to be changed to go in line with the above article. (3) Article 140: The president of the republic shall be elected for six (instead of four) years, and cannot remain in office for more than two consecutive terms. (4) A transitional article: The current president (Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi) can be re-elected in line with the amended Article 140. (5) Article 160 (first paragraph): If a temporary obstacle makes the elected president unable to perform his duties, he will be replaced by a vice president or prime minister if there is no vice president. (6) Article 160 (last paragraph): If a vice president or caretaker president takes office, he shall not be entitled to amend the constitution, dissolve the House or the Upper House, or dismiss the government. (7) Article 185: Create a higher council for judicial authorities to be headed by the president. The council will take charge of discussing judicial affairs and drafting a new instrument for selecting the heads of judicial authorities. (8) Article 190: The State Council will be exclusively authorised with revising draft laws and decrees. (9) Article 189, (10) 193: These aim to standardise the instrument of selecting the prosecutor-general and the chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court and his deputy. (11) Articles 200, (12) 204: Give military courts the power to deliberate on cases related to military crimes. (13) Articles 234, (14) 243, (15) 244: These articles state that the minister of defence is appointed upon the approval of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), and increase representation of women, youth, Egyptian expatriates, Copts, workers, farmers and the physically challenged in parliament. Two new articles: - A new upper house of parliament (senate) is to be created. The number of the proposed Senate seats should not exceed 250, with two-thirds to be elected and one-third to be appointed by the president. The term limit for a Senate seat is five years and a political figure cannot be a member of both the House and the Senate. A Senate member should be at least 35 years of age. - The Senate will take charge of discussing the budget and development plans, constitutional affairs, foreign agreements, and draft laws. If approved by a two-thirds majority of MPs within four months, the proposed amendments will be presented to the president in a report and will be put to a public referendum. Short link: Paradisus The sheer variety of luxury resorts lining the pristine beach of Playa del Carmen, Mexico can be overwhelming. Winnowing the choice down to all-inclusive properties narrows the search somewhat; zeroing in on adults-only options reduces it even further. Yet before youve gone too far into your research one name will definitely stand out: Paradisus Playa del Carmen - La Perla. Located 45 minutes from Cancun International Airport, the property located within the larger Paradisus Playa del Carmen complex is a truly elegantly casual retreat benefiting both from exclusivity and access to the wide range of amenities at its larger parent. Paradisus La Perla is comprised of 394 stylishly appointed suites in a building with its own VIP entrance, including 60 swim-up suites with direct access to the postcard-worthy pool reserved for La Perla guests only and refreshingly free of screaming children. Within La Perla the ultimate experience is Royal Service, for which 120 suites are reserved along with two 1,550-sq.ft. Royal Service Presidential Suites that qualify as some of the most luxurious accommodations in all of Mexico. The free-form pool lined with chaise lounges and thatched-roof palapas has both a swim-up bar and poolside grill, while a boardwalk leads to a private section of stunning white sand beach reserved for La Perla guests. Paradisus Paradisus All Royal Service suites have Jacuzzis on their private terraces, and Royal Service guests have access to a private lounge with an all-day gourmet snack buffet and a complimentary bar stocked with premium wines and spirits. Highly trained and personable butlers look after every Royal Service guests, elevating the experience exponentially. A dedicated cell phone is provided upon check-in so you can communicate with your butler at all times to arrange spa appointments, dry cleaning, special deliveries to your suite, restaurant reservations and more. Paradisus La Perla Royal Service guests have their own perfect, private restaurant called La Palapa, which offers casual fine dining in a semi-alfresco environment. The menu focusing on fresh ingredients is international in nature and guaranteed to appeal to all. It is just one of 14 restaurants which along with 11 bars makes up one of the most impressive and varied culinary offerings of any resort in Mexico. The star of the show is Passion by Martin Berasategui, an exquisite experience from a Michelin-starred chef which is considered by many to be one of the areas best restaurants. Also worth visiting are Fuego, a Latin fusion favorite that features ceviche and a raw bar in three different venues; and Bana, a contemporary Asian eatery with Japanese Tatami mat flooring, a zen-like terrace, Teppanyaki tables and an adults-only sushi bar; Mole, offering Mexican contemporary cuisine including a special live quesadilla area. On the bar front, be sure to experience Toji, a Japanese-inspired molecular mixology concept starring sake specialties; and the M Bar, with its curated wine cellar and exclusive themed martini selection. Paradisus Mindful of its presence within nature and especially its incredibly beautiful natural setting, Paradisus is committed to achieving balance with the environment around its properties, and La Perla is a shining example. Its expressed in the organic and eco-friendly interior design and decoration, with a predominantly neutral palette and natural materials, but also in locally-inspired dinner menus and environmentally conscious in-room amenities. The propertys YHI Spa is perhaps the best demonstration of how well and in harmony this can be done. The 19,00-sq.-ft. facility complete with fitness clubhouses 14 massage cabins, wet and dry saunas and hydrotherapy stations which Royal Service guests can experience at no extra charge, after which booking a treatment leads to the ultimate in relaxation. Paradisus The resort is part of the Spain-based Melia Hotels International portfolio, which operates over 370 hotels in 43 countries on four continents, including Gran Melia, Melia, Paradisus Resorts, ME by Melia, Innside by Melia, and Club Melia properties. Yet it manages to deliver a level of personal service and attention to detail at each one that creates the feeling of a boutique hotel stay every time. The number of awards that Paradisus alone has garnered in recent years alone is too numerous to mention, but include accolades from the World Luxury Restaurant Awards, World Luxury Spa Awards, and World Luxury Hotel Awards. Writing about La Perla, the latter dubbed it the perfect Playa del Carmen beach vacation for those in search of luxury and exclusivity. Paradisus Paradisus Paradisus Paradisus Paradisus Search Luxury Vacation articles for more options firms_thumbnail The merger gives the firm a combined workforce of more than 5,000 staff and 350 partners. The combined presence includes key offices in London and Birmingham, as well as 15 other locations in the UK. BDO expects revenues of 590 million ($771 million) this year. The merger strengthens the firms hold on audit contracts in the alternative investment market (AIM). Though the firm is still a long way from challenging the dominance of the Big 4, though reports that Goldman Sachs is considering BDO to audit its British operations will be encouraging. 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 Seoul: Amid reports regarding the upcoming meet between the United States and North Korea, South Korean officials have initiated the process to fix a fourth summit between North and South Korea over denuclearisation of the entire Korean peninsula. The date and venue of the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un would be scheduled after the forthcoming US-North Korea summit. "It will likely be held after the second North Korea-US summit, but it will certainly help move the denuclearization process forward if held," Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean official, as saying. The official added that the Moon-Kim summit would most probably take place in Seoul, which makes Kim the first leader to visit South Korea after decades since the end of the Korean War in the 1950s. During the inter-Korean summit in April last year, Kim had agreed to visit Seoul for any meeting between the two Koreas.In a letter to Moon, Kim had reaffirmed his willingness to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula and make a visit to South Korea. South Korea has played a major role in escalating talks between the US and North Korea and ensuring the process of denuclearisation.US President Donald Trump would be meeting Kim in De Nang, Vietnam, by the end of this month. The summit would mostly focus on the denuclearisation process in exchange of and the corresponding measures taken by Washington to dilute sanctions imposed on Pyongyang. The maiden summit between the US and North Korea was held in Singapore in June last year. Leaders from both the nations had agreed on a spectrum of things, the most prominent being the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is sending 3,750 additional United States forces to the southwest border with Mexico for three months to support border agents, the Department of Defense said on Sunday. The deployment will raise the total number of active-duty forces supporting Customs and Border Protection agents there to about 4,350, it said. The Pentagon disclosed the official figure days after a Democratic lawmaker said about 3,500 extra troops would be deployed. President Donald Trump, who has portrayed the situation at the border as a crisis, was expected to talk about immigration and his proposal for a wall along the US border with Mexico during the annual State of the Union address on Tuesday. Trump`s demand that money for the wall be included in spending legislation prompted an impasse with Democrats that led to a 35-day partial federal government shutdown that ended on Jan. 25. If lawmakers cannot reach a deal on the border security situation by Feb. 15, Trump has threatened to let the government shut down again or to declare a national emergency as a way to circumvent Congress and get his wall money. "I don`t take anything off the table," he said in a CBS interview broadcast on Sunday. The Pentagon first approved the high-profile deployment of active-duty US troops to the Mexico border in October, before the November congressional elections. The move was embraced by Trump`s supporters, including fellow Republicans in Congress. Critics called the deployment a political stunt and scoffed at Trumps comparisons of caravans of Central American migrants, including women and children, to an "invasion." The Pentagon says the US military will operate mobile surveillance cameras in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas, a mission scheduled to run through Sept. 30. Some of the additional troops will also string up 150 more miles (240 km) of concertina wire. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan approved the latest deployment on Jan. 11, according to the statement. But a figure was not disclosed until Thursday, when Democratic US Representative Adam Smith, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said 3,500 additional troops were being sent. Smith criticized senior Pentagon officials for failing to disclose the information during a hearing before his committee in Congress on the issue just two days earlier. ISTANBUL: Turkey has maintained low-level contact with the Syrian government, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, even though Ankara has supported rebels who fought for years to topple President Bashar al-Assad. Erdogan has described Assad as a terrorist and said several times during Syria`s eight-year conflict that the Syrian leader must go. But with support from Russia and Iran, Assad has recaptured large parts of Syria from rebel fighters, driving them from most of their former strongholds. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in December Turkey and other countries would consider working with Assad if he won a democratic election, and last month said Ankara was in indirect contact with Damascus via Russia and Iran. Erdogan suggested on Sunday that Turkey also had direct contacts with the Syrian government. "Foreign policy with Syria continues at a lower level," he told broadcaster TRT in an interview, adding that intelligence services operated differently to political leaders. "Leaders may be cut out. But intelligence units can communicate for their interests," Erdogan said. "Even if you have an enemy, you should not break the ties. You may need that later." The Turkish president also said that a proposed safe zone in northeastern Syria, which President Donald Trump has said should be established as US forces withdraw from the area, could not be set up by Western coalition forces without Turkey. "We can provide the security in the area. We can manage the region together with you," Erdogan said. "No problem there. But we can`t leave the region for coalition forces." Washington has said the proposed safe zone should address Turkish concerns about preventing any cross-border threat from Kurdish YPG militia fighters in north Syria, while also preventing Turkish military operations against the YPG. Trump abruptly announced his intention in December to withdraw the 2,000-strong US force from Syria, over the objections of top advisers including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis who quit in protest. One of the main concerns of critics of Trump`s decision is the fate of the YPG if US forces leave. The group has been the main ally of US forces battling Islamic State in Syria. Turkey, however, considers the YPG to be a terrorist group indistinguishable from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has fought an insurgency in mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey since the 1980s. Erdogan is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for talks on Syria in the Russian resort of Sochi on February 14. KOLKATA: According to Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and BJP leader Babul Supriyo has demanded the imposition of President's rule in West Bengal amid an ongoing tussle between state's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Centre over the detention of CBI officers at Kolkata Police chief's residence. According to Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries Babul Supriyo, "The BJP will address a press conference in the state either on Monday or Tuesday over the ongoing tussle between the Central Bureau of Investigation and Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar." "Why was the CBI stopped by police if Kumar has nothing to be afraid of? The CBI has the right to investigate the matter as they were asked to do so by the Supreme Court. Trinamool Congress (TMC) is deliberately blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah into the matter as they want to politicise the issue," Supriyo said. Responding to TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's ongoing dharna at Metro Channel, Babul said, "There was no need to sit on a dharna. It is a political narrative of TMC to prepare a plan against the BJP and then follow it. Mamata is just trying to create a constitutional crisis in the state." The desperation & fear of the TMC & @MamataOfficial are clearly visible in this decision.The state govt is trying 2 block every programme of BJP,be it a rally, yatra or the landing of @myogiadityanath Ji's chopper.This shows the undemocratic attitude of the govt. #MamataFearsBJP Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) February 3, 2019 "Rajiv has earlier headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the CBI has the proof that he had tampered electronic and paper evidence in the chit fund scam. All papers state that Rajeev has been absconding and not cooperating with the CBI. The CBI has a right to conduct surprise raids because warrant may breach secrecy," he added. The Union Minister earlier took the Twitter and wrote, "The desperation and fear of the TMC and Mamata Banerjee are clearly visible in this decision. The state government is trying to blocks every programme of BJP, be it a rally, yatra or the landing of Yogi Adityanath Ji`s chopper. This shows the undemocratic attitude of the government." "Presidents Rule should be imposed on West Bengal to control this rogue TMC Govt under a corrupt CM Mamta Banerjee. This is a constitutional crisis created by Mamata to shield her corrupt & tainted accomplices," Supriyo said in another tweet. Presidents Rule should be imposed on West Bengal to control this Rogue #TMchhi Govt under a corrupt CM MamtaBanerjeeThis is a constitutional crisis created by Mamta to shield her corrupt & tainted accomplices Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) February 3, 2019 The BJP is also expected to hold a press conference on the issue today. Meanwhile, a high-level delegation of the BJP will on Monday meet the Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Kumar Arora over the denial of permission by the West Bengal government to the landing of UP CM Yogi Adityanath's chopper and its objections to the rallies of Amit Shah and other BJP leaders. According to reports, the BJP delegation will include Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and senior leader Bhupendra Yadav. A full-blown face-off between West Bengal government and the Centre erupted as a CBI team moved to arrest Rajiv Kumar, which in turn, were unceremoniously denied entry to Kolkata Police chief's residence and then detained. Escalating her confrontation with the Centre, Mamata Banerjee started a sit-in on Sunday night to protest against what her Trinamool Congress party alleged a "coup" by the Narendra Modi government. Extending support to Mamata, her party workers also staged a 'rail roko' protest in Rishra and Asansol over the ongoing issue. The TMC workers also burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Asansol. CBI interim director M Nageshwar Rao has said that the CBI will approach the Supreme Court on Monday accusing the Bengal government of impeding the investigation of a court-ordered probe into the chit fund scams. Rajeev Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre was heading a SIT on the Saradha and Rose Valley scams. The CBI wanted the top officer to hand over the seizure list made during his probe, sources said. Reportedly, the top cop was to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he is not responding to notices to appear before the agency. Rajeev Kumar, according to media reports, became apprehensive of his arrest after Bengali film producer Shrikant Mohita was taken into custody. (With Agency inputs) Brazil real - large The federal Brazilian tax authorities (RFB) published guidance on October 4 2018 stating that revenues recognised as a result of debt forgiveness (in this case, a bank loan) should be subject to PIS/COFINS at a combined rate of 4.65% (Solucao de Consulta - Cosit 176/2018, dated September 27 2018). By way of background, Brazil has a variety of different transaction and indirect taxes and contributions, including a Contribution to the Social Integration Program (PIS) and Contribution for Social Security Financing (COFINS). Broadly speaking, these contributions apply on gross revenues as well as on the import of goods and services. The applicable rates depend on the particular transaction as well as the methodology the Brazilian taxpayer applies (the cumulative method does not allow for input credits whereas the non-cumulative method allows for input credits in specific circumstances). In 2015, Decree 8.426 re-established that financial revenue should be subject to PIS and COFINS at the rates of 0.65% and 4%, respectively, for entities applying the non-cumulative methodology. Subsequently, Decree 8.451/2015 amended the original decree, introducing a number of scenarios where 0% should apply, specifically in relation to hedging and foreign exchange transactions. In past situations where debt forgiveness was considered, there was a discussion whether the principal debt forgiven (as well as any interest on such debt) should be considered a revenue item subject to PIS/COFINS, and if so, at what rate. Solucao de Consulta - Cosit 176/2018 considers that the forgiveness of debt should be regarded as a revenue item. Citing the accounting rules (CFC No. 1.374/11), the RFB considered that the reduction of a debt originating from its forgiveness creates a requirement to recognise a revenue item. In order to subsequently determine the implications from a PIS/COFINS perspective, the RFB considered whether the revenue should be considered financial revenue. Drawing parallels with the corporate income tax definition of financial income and associated guidance issued by the RFB, similarities were drawn between the forgiveness of a debt and a discount (or re-negotiation) of an original debt, both of which the RFB considered financial revenue. The RFB clarified that such a conclusion applies to entities that are not dedicated to financial activities. Once determining that the forgiveness of the debt should be regarded as financial revenue, the RFB confirmed that the entity should apply the combined rate of 4.65%. While Solucao de Consulta does not represent law or legal precedent, it does provide further support and guidance for Brazilian entities in relation to how the RFB are treating such arrangements. Priscila Vergueiro Mark Conomy This article was written by Priscila Vergueiro (priscila.vergueiro@pwc.com) and Mark Conomy (conomy.mark@pwc.com) of PwC Brazil. 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 Grand Imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayyeb is meeting on Monday with Roman Catholic Pope Francis, who is currently in the UAE in his first-ever visit to the Arabian Peninsula. The pope is attending the UAE's Global Conference for Human Fraternity, which will be held on February 3-5. Pope Francis will meet on Monday afternoon with a group of Muslim religious leaders to discuss the issue of religious tolerance. During Mondays meetings, the pope will be accompanied by El-Tayyeb, who welcomed and embraced the pope upon his arrival in Abu Dhabi. The pope had previously met the imam five times, including during his trip to Egypt last year, where he addressed El-Tayyeb as his dear brother in a video message prior to the trip. On Saturday, Al-Azhar the Sunni Muslim worlds foremost institute of religious learning released a statement describing Mondays meeting as historic and praised the deeply fraternal relationship between El-Tayyeb and the pope. The pope arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday where he was welcomed by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the UAE news agency WAM reported. Search Keywords: Short link: KOLKATA: All opposition parties on Sunday extended their support to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after a mega showdown between the Kolkata police and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CM is holding a sit-in protest at Metro Channel in Kolkata after CBI officers showed up near the residence of Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who has been under the scanner in connection with the ponzi scheme scam case investigation. Accompanied on the protest by Rajeev Kumar, she said that she lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying that whatever is happenings in Bengal was part of the unrelenting attack on India's institutions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party. Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and DMK leader MK Stalin expressed their solidarity with Banerjee. After speaking to Mamata, Rahul tweeted: "I spoke with Mamata Di tonight and told her we stand shoulder to shoulder with her. The happenings in Bengal are a part of the unrelenting attack on India`s institutions by Modi and the BJP. The entire opposition will stand together and defeat these fascist forces," he said. Kejriwal too hit out at PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah alleging that the duo's action is against democracy. "Spoke to Mamta didi and expressed solidarity. Modi-Shah duo's action is completely bizarre and anti-democracy," Kejriwal tweeted. Tejashwi said he might head to Kolkata to join Mamata in her protest. "BJP has not only venomous and nefarious agenda against opposition leaders but Indian Administrative Service and Police Officers. Might visit Kolkata tomorrow," he said. Naidu cautioned that such an attack before the Lok Sabha elections will have disastrous consequences. "The misuse of institutions by the union government to victimise political opponents in States is reaching dangerous proportions. We strongly condemn the incidents happening in Kolkata, a glaring example of how Modi-Shah duo are destroying the institutions. Attacking political opponents in different States, few days before the Parliament elections commence, will have disastrous consequences in the country," he said. Abdullah also extending his support to Mamata and lashed out at the Centre. "The use of the CBI as a political tool has crossed all limits as has the Modi government's misuse of institutions. A former CM having such little regard for India's federalism is shocking," he said. Taking to Twitter, former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Devegowda likened the situation in West Bengal with the Emergency days. "I am shocked learning about the CBI rushing to arrest the Police Commissioner and subsequent developments in West Bengal. The country has faced similar kind of unconstitutional methods during the Emergency. Situation in WB is similar to that of the emergency days. #SaveDemocracy," he tweeted. Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav said that the BJP is trying to shed the country in civil war for electoral victory in forthcoming Lok Sabha election. "We extend full support to Mamta Banerjee ji against the manner in which the country, the constitution and the people`s freedom are in danger because of the harassing policies of the BJP government and the openly political misuse of the CBI. Today the Opposition and the people of the country are united to defeat the BJP in the next election. The common man of the country is against the BJP and its alliance partner favoritious CBI. We are standing with Mamta ji. Dictatorship is being dancing naked. The biggest threat to democracy. Unprecedented crisis on the Constitution and Constitutional Institutions. Trying to shed the country in civil war for electoral victory," Yadav tweeted. However, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury attacked both Banerjee and the BJP accusing both of "drama". "It does a drama to act now, after 5 years, and TMC leadership responds by staging a drama to protect its corrupt. This drama in Kolkata by BJP and TMC is not a fight for any principle but only to save their corrupt and hide their corruption. CPI(M) has fought both these undemocratic, corrupt, communal and dictatorial regimes in the Centre and the state and will continue to do so," he said. In an unprecedented development on Sunday evening, Banerjee sat on a dharna, protesting CBI's attempt to quiz Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams. She accused the Centre of trying to run a parallel administration in states, saying there is a "constitutional break-down". A CBI team went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area but was denied permission to enter. They were bundled into police jeeps and whisked to a police station. The CBI has been wanting to quiz Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal police probing the scams, regarding missing documents and files. NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear the applications moved by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over allegations that Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar may destroy electronic evidence related to the Saradha chit fund scam case. Pulling up the CBI for not providing any proofs of the claim yet seeking an urgent hearing, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to come back with evidence. "If Kolkata Police Commissioner even remotely thinks of destroying evidence, bring the material before this Court. We will come down so heavily on him that he will regret. There's no evidence of what you're saying right now," the CJI said. The top court will hear the probe agency's applications on Tuesday. The bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjeev Khanna, however, added that it is open for the solicitor general or any other party to lay before the court any material or evidence to show that any West Bengal authority or police official is planning or trying to destroy evidence related to the case. The apex court said all material or evidence has to be placed before it in the form of an affidavit. The CBI alleged that it has moved the application as an 'extraordinary situation' has arisen in which the top police officials are sitting on a dharna along with a political party in Kolkata. Recalling how CBI officers were taken into custody by the West Bengal Police on Sunday night, he said: "Our team was arrested and kept in alleged custody. Kolkata Police Commissioner should immediately surrender." "Please take cognisance that people in uniform are sitting on dharna with a political party and hear the matter at 2 pm. The evidence which is in the electronic form will be destroyed," said the SG. Taking note of his submissions the bench said, "if at all the evidence is destroyed, it is in electronic form and can be retrieved. " Mehta added that not only were the officers arrested, but the residence of Joint Director (East) Pankaj Shrivastav was also surrounded by the state police and his family was kept hostage. Even the CBI office at the CGO complex in Kolkata was under siege, the law officer said. When the SG was making the submissions, the bench asked him what was the position on Monday morning to which he replied that senior CBI officials have been released. Mehta added that the Police Commissioner had not responded to the CBI's repeated summons to join the investigation and when the team reached his residence, they were arrested. Mehta told the court that the agency had filed two interim applications. The first application seeks a direction form the apex court that the Kolkata Police chief should immediately surrender and should not tamper or destroy any evidence. The second application is about the contempt of court committed by the police commissioner as there was an apex court order to carry out the investigation into the case. However, the bench declined his plea to hear the two applications on Monday in the post-lunch session and said that the matter will be taken up on Tuesday morning after. KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continued her sit-in protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre on Monday over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams. Mamata has maintained that she will continue her "Satyagraha" till the country and its Constitution are "saved". A full-blown face-off between Mamata government and the Centre erupted as a CBI team moved to arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, which in turn were unceremoniously denied entry to Kolkata Police chief`s residence and then detained. All opposition parties have extended their support to the West Bengal Chief Minister. Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and DMK leader MK Stalin expressed their solidarity with Banerjee. Here are the updates from the tussle between Mamata government and the CBI: Thank you for being with us! # Tejashwi Yadav and Kanimozhi meet Mamata Banerjee at the stage where she has been sitting on 'Save the Constitution' dharna since 9 PM on Tuesday. Kolkata: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and DMK leader Kanimozhi meet West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee at the stage where she has been sitting on 'Save the Constitution' dharna since 9 PM yesterday over CBI issue. pic.twitter.com/xHO611h2AZ ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 # RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and DMK leader Kanimozhi have reached Kolkata Airport. They will meet West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee soon. # CBI has filed a contempt plea in the Supreme Court against West Bengal's Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and Kolkata Police Commissioner for wilful and deliberate violation of apex court's orders. # I am ready to give my life but not compromise. I did not take to the streets when you touched TMC leaders. But I am angry when they tried to insult the chair of the Kolkata Police Commissioner, he is leading the organisation: Mamata Banerjee # Mamata Banerjee attends a West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police event. Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar is also present at the event. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee attend a West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police event. Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar also present. pic.twitter.com/zyFgfzJwHa ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 # Meanwhile, a BJP office has been vandalised in South Kolkata's Bhawanipore # CBI Joint Director of Kolkata, Pankaj, Srivastav leaves for Delhi # TMC workers protest against PM Modi and the BJP government at the Centre over the CBI issue in Kolkata West Bengal: TMC workers protest against PM Narendra Modi and Central govt over CBI issue in Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/gg7w2MLusR ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 # In 2014 Congress tweeted Rahul Gandhi's statement that 20 lakh ppl lost their money in chit fund scam in West Bengal. We took oath on May 26,2014 so all these inquiries in Narada, Saradha scams started before us: Ravi Shankar Prasad # What is happening? A Police Commissioner is sitting on a dharna with politicians? What is the meaning of this? By sitting on dharna West Bengal CM is following the footsteps of Arvind Kejriwal: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad # West Bengal Governor submits report to Home Minister Rajnath Singh over incidents that unfolded in Kolkata. # Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal: Whatever Central government did in West Bengal is very dangerous, and against the Constitution and democracy. Every state has an elected government, if PM sends CBI and ED like this and try to scare the officers then this country will not be safe. # BJP hits back at Mamata Banerjee. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said this is "not Modi's emergency but Mamata Banerjee's emergency in Bengal. She is on dharna to save herself. There has been a complete break down of Constitutional order in West Bengal: Javadekar." # Union Minister Smriti Irani: The fact that paramilitary forces had to be deployed for the protection of those officers, who were diligently doing their duty, is for the first time an unprecedented view given to the citizen with regards to the state of anarchy in West Bengal. # Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar has filed a case at Calcutta HC to stop the operation of several CBI notices served between 2017-2018. The matter will be heard on Tuesday. # Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday called the face-off between the Kolkata Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) "unfortunate" and "unprecedented". Stating that there may be a constitutional breakdown in West Bengal, the Home Minister said that the Centre has power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country. He also added that the incident is a threat to federal political system of the country. Rajnath had spoken to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to take stock of the situation. He added that the Home Ministry is closely monitoring the situation. # Akhilesh Yadav, SP chief: Besides West Bengal, such things have been heard from other states too. BJP and Centre have started misusing CBI as elections are approaching. Not only I, not only Samajwadi Party, but all political parties are saying this. There was CBI row, Centre was scared of a CBI Director, now they are trying to scare everyone using CBI. Who has misused the institutions? If someone has politicised the institutions, it is BJP. # Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress: From the day BJP has come to power at the Centre, they have paid very less attention towards working for the country but towards eliminating opposition parties, this has been their focus for the past 5 years. There is no other party more corrupt than BJP # Farooq Abdullah, National Conference leader: Mamata Banerjee's allegations are correct. This country is in danger as its becoming dictatorial. The Central government is not the master of this country, people are. # The Home Ministry is closely monitoring the situation in Kolkata. Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Governor of West Bengal Keshari Nath Tripathi to be apprised of the facts of the unprecedented situation of officers CBI officers being manhandled, detained, intimidated and obstructed. West Bengal Governor told Rajnath that he had summoned Chief Secretary and Director General of Police and asked them to take immediate action to resolve the situation. # The Mamata vs CBI battle echoed in Parliament too with Rajya Sabha being adjourned till 2 pm soon after the proceedings of the day commenced. Lok Sabha has also been adjourned till 12 pm after uproar by Opposition parties. # Seeking evidence of CBI allegations that the Kolkata police chief may try to destroy electronic evidence related to Saradha chit fund scam, CJI Gogoi said: "If Kolkata Police Commissioner even remotely thinks of destroying evidence, bring the material before this Court. We will come down so heavily on him that he will regret." # Solicitor General Tushar Mehta representing CBI submits before Supreme Court: "Our team was arrested and kept in alleged custody. Kolkata Police Commissioner should immediately surrender." Chief Justice of India says will hear the matter on Tuesday. # CBI moves Supreme Court seeking directions to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to cooperate with the investigation in Saradha chit fund case. CBI in its petition said that Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar was summoned multiple times but failed to cooperate and created hurdles in the investigation. # Maharashtra Navnirman Sena backs Mamata. Party chief Raj Thackeray in a statement said: "We applaud and support the stand taken by Mamata Banerjee against the autocracy and tyranny of the Central government. We firmly stand behind her and the fight against this tyranny." #WATCH West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continues dharna over CBI issue after a short break early morning. West Bengal CM began the 'Save the Constitution' dharna last night. #Kolkata pic.twitter.com/DBoS0GC1MJ ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 # Chandrababu Naidu held a teleconference with party leaders on Monday. "We are coordinating with all national parties. Will discuss with Opposition leaders in my Delhi visit today. Kolkata rally was successful which is why these revengeful actions against Mamatha Banerjee are being taken," Naidu said. # Extra security has been deployed at the CBI headquarters in Kolkata to avoid any untoward incident. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at 'Save the Constitution' dharna in #Kolkata. She has been staging dharna since last night over CBI issue. pic.twitter.com/rFLuBIghfs ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 # The BJP will address a press conference on Tuesday over the ongoing tussle between the CBI and state Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. "Why was the CBI stopped by police if Kumar has nothing to be afraid of? The CBI has the right to investigate the matter as they were asked to do so by the Supreme Court. Trinamool Congress (TMC) is deliberately blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah into the matter as they want to politicise the issue," Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries Babul Supriyo said. Supriyo also demanded that President's Rule be imposed in West Bengal. Kolkata: Amid an ongoing turmoil in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday attend a West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police event which was also attended by Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. Interestingly, Kumar is under the CBI scanner for his alleged involvement in the chit fund scams. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee attend a West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police event. Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar also present. pic.twitter.com/zyFgfzJwHa ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 Banerjee, who launched her 'Save the Constitution' dharna on Sunday night amidst the unprecedented face-off with the Centre over CBI versus state police issue, continued with her protest on Monday as several Opposition parties rallied behind her. She started her sit-in protest at around 9 pm on Sunday after the CBI attempted to arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha chit fund case, which was foiled by the state police. Clad in her trademark white sari and with senior party leaders in attendance, the Trinamool Congress supremo sat under a makeshift canopy at Metro Channel till around 2 am and then went to sleep. Meanwhile, CBI has filed a contempt plea in the Supreme Court against West Bengal Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and Kolkata Police Commissioner for wilful and deliberate violation of the apex court orders. A three-judge SC bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear the pleas on Tuesday against Kolkata Police Commissioner and West Bengal government for alleged non-cooperation in a case connected with Saradha chit fund scam. (With inputs from agencies) Kolkata: Amid the ongoing turmoil in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will travel to the state and address a public rally in Purulia on Tuesday. The UP Chief Minister was scheduled to address another rally in Bankura, however, it was cancelled on Monday by the West Bengal BJP who claimed that the district administration was 'dilly-dallying' on giving permission for the landing of his helicopter. "We have decided to cancel the Bankura rally of Yogi Adityanath tomorrow as the district administration is dilly-dallying on giving permission for the landing of his chopper. We didn't want to take any risk and so we cancelled it," West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said. Adityanath's rally in Purulia on Tuesday will take place as per schedule as of now, Ghosh added. The TMC-BJP tussle became uglier on Sunday with the West Bengal government denying permission to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's chopper to land in the state and let him address two scheduled rallies in north Bengal. Adityanath had to address the rallies in Raigunj and Balurghat via telephone. Earlier on Tuesday, a delegation of senior BJP leaders met the Chief Election Commissioner to complain about the West Bengal government blocking rallies of senior BJP leaders. The West Bengal government denied permission to other BJP leaders including party president Amit Shah and Union minister Smriti Irani to conduct rallies, ahead of the Lok Sabha election. During Amit Shah's rally at Malda, permission to land his helicopter was denied. His chopper later landed on private property owned by a resort. Smriti Irani's chopper was also not allowed to land at Jhargram where she was scheduled to address a public rally. (With inputs from agencies) New Delhi: Actor Rahul Ramakrishna has some good news for all his fans. The actor, who became quite popular playing a close buddy to Vijay Deverkonda in films like 'Arjun Reddy' and 'Geetha Govindam', is now all set to feature in an American film. As per reports, Rahul will play the lead role in a Hollywood film. This is an indie film, which will be based out of the lives of Telugu people, who flew to the US for studies. The film will be directed and produced by Pradeep Katasani. Titled 'Silk Road', the film will deal with cybercrime and drug deals that take place in Los Angeles. Rahul is going to stay away from generating comedy in this film and will be doing a serious role. The makers are planning to take this two-hour long film to international film festivals and make it a super hit. He is also pretty busy with his Telugu films. This news seems to have gotten out faster than I expected. Here is a small sneak peak into a dream project Ive been chasing for a while now..my small humble entry into Hollywood. Hoping the effort reaches fruition soon.. pic.twitter.com/Xw1LzobFRT Rahul Ramakrishna (@eyrahul) January 31, 2019 Rahuls humour and spontaneity have always been loved by his fans. His brilliant comic timing has helped many films to get their much-needed collection. Rahul is a mass communication student from Hyderabad Central University and has also worked as a journalist for a local paper in Hyderabad. However, he had a passion to be a part of the films and that's how he got into the film industry. Rahul has mostly essayed the role of protagonists friend in film and he was pretty unhappy about it. It was after 'Husharu', in which Rahul played a lead, become a hit, it helped him bag some meaty projects. Rahul is also said to be playing the lead antagonist in Sundeep Kishans 'Ninu Veedanu Nene', which is bilingual. The film will mark his debut in Tamil industry. New Delhi: After announcing mega pension scheme for 42 crore unorganised sector workers in the Interim Budget 2019, the Narendra Modi government might soon give big pension bonanza to Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) subscribers, sources told Zee Media. The government may hike the minimum pension of EPFO Subscribers, setting the benchmark at Rs 3,000, sources told Zee Media. Currently, thousands of pensioners covered under the EPF-95 scheme, run by the EPFO, get Rs 1,000 at present. Finance Minister Piyush Goyal presenting the Interim Budget 2019 last week announced unorganised sector workers with monthly income upto Rs 15,000 by assuring monthly pension of Rs 3,000 after reaching age of 60 years. An unorganised sector worker joining pension yojana at the age of 29 years will have to contribute only Rs. 100 per month till the age of 60 years. A worker joining the pension yojana at 18 years, will have to contribute as little as Rs. 55 per month only. The Government will deposit equal matching share in the pension account of the worker every month. Sources told Zee Media that an announcement regarding the the revised EPF pension may be announced before elections. Sources also said that the Labour Ministry has appealed the Finance Ministry to come up with a decision regarding this soon. The government pays 8.33 percent of basic wages as employers' contribution toward Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) for other sectors and the firms are paying 3.67 percent as their share of contribution towards Employees Provident Fund under the PMRPY. The EPFO presently covers 190 industries (mentioned in schedule 1 of the EPF Act) with over 20 crore accounts in over 11.3 lakh covered establishments. New Delhi: Every year February 4 is celebrated as World Cancer Day. It is marked as a special day dedicated to creating awareness about the deadly 'c' word. The international World Cancer Day is revered to encourage a word about its prevention. On this special day, several Bollywood celebrities took to social media and did their bit in creating more awareness about the disease. Actress Sonali Bendre, author Tahira Kashyap and Lisa Ray shared their pictures with heartening notes which can inspire people to give a tough fight to cancer and never give up. Sonali wrote: World Cancer Day who would have thought it would become such a thing but it has! And just the mere mention of the C word brings dread in the hearts of anyone who hears it. We fear it so much that wed rather not talk about it which is why its important to have a day where we pull out the band aid and help us deal with this disease. I was scared too, but soon realised that burying my head in the sand was not the way to deal with this. And so with the little experience I have had, I urge you all to take the time to understand it. There's more to cancer than being emotional or weak or even being called a fighter or a survivor. It requires you to study it, find out what works for you and to be diligent about your treatment. It requires days of strongly believing in oneself, of knowing that tomorrow will be better than today. It is not a fight against negative thoughts. It's taking a stand to not give in, no matter what. Most importantly, it is about living every day, and not just surviving. Just taking it #OneDayAtATime makes it easier to #SwitchOnTheSunshine. #WorldCancerDay Tahira wrote: Today is my day! Wish you all a happy #worldcancerday and hope each one of us celebrates this day in an embracing way. That we remove any stigma or taboo associated with it. That we spread awareness about it and that we have self love no matter what. I truly embrace all my scars as they are my badges of honour. There is nothing known as perfect. Happiness lies in truly accepting yourself. This was a tough one for me. But this picture was my decision as I want to celebrate not the disease but the spirit with which I endured. To quote my mentor, Diasaku Ikeda, Leading an undefeated life is eternal victory. Not being defeated, never giving up, is actually a greater victory than winning, not being defeated means having the courage to rise to the challenge. However many times were knocked down, the important thing is we keep getting up and taking one step-even a half step- forward. #worldcancerday #breastcancerawareness #breastcancerwarrior #turningkarmaintomission #boddhisatva. Thanks @atulkasbekar for this one Lisa Ray took to Twitter and wrote: "Everyone is handed adversity in life. No one's journey is easy. It's how you react that makes people unique...how can you endure cancer and draw from it healing? This is the question no one else can answer but yourself. #WorldCancerDay." Everyone is handed adversity in life. No one's journey is easy. It's how you react that makes people unique...how can you endure cancer and draw from it healing? This is the question no one else can answer but yourself. #WorldCancerDay pic.twitter.com/OqXLGl1Hzt Lisa Ray (@Lisaraniray) February 4, 2019 Lisa was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare form of cancer of the white blood cells known as plasma cells, which produce antibodies. In April 2010, she announced that she was cancer-free, after a stem cell transplant. As multiple myeloma is an incurable disease, she is not completely cured of it. Sonali underwent treatment for high-grade cancer that got metastasised. After spending some months in NYC, the actress came back to Mumbai. She kept her fans posted about each and every phase of her journey while battling the disease. Tahira too is giving a head-on fight to the 'c' word. She opened up on her illness through social media. After sharing her battle with DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) in her right breast with high-grade malignant cells, the author was diagnosed with stage 1a cancer. She completed 12 rounds of chemotherapy and shared every detail on Twitter /Instagram. The aim of World Cancer Day is to majorly reduce illness and death caused by cancer by 2020. The day is marked so that any misinformation or stigma related to the disease is reduced. Kudos to the ladies! RALEGAN SIDDHI: Social activist Anna Hazare, who is is on an indefinite hunger strike, had warned that if the Narendra Modi government did not fulfill its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan. On Sunday Bharatiya Janata Party ally Shiv Sena came out in Hazare's support, urging him to emulate socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and lead an agitation against corruption. Hazare has been on a hunger strike since last Wednesday at his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district, demanding appointments of Lokpal and Lokayuktas and resolution of farmers' issue. "If this government does not fulfill its promises made to the country in the next few days, I will return my Padma Bhushan," he said on Sunday evening. "(The) Modi government has breached the faith of people," he said. Anna Hazare: I will be returning my Padma Bhushan award to the President. I did not work for that award, you only gave me that while I was working for social cause & the country. If the country or society is in this condition, then why should I keep that? (03.02.19) pic.twitter.com/bch2mmw08o ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 The 81-year-old was awarded the third-highest civilian honour of the country in 1992. Hazare's demands include the immediate appointment of anti-corruption ombudsmen Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states, and the implementation of Swaminathan Commission's recommendations for tackling agrarian distress and electoral reforms. Hazare has lost 3.8 kg in the past five days and his blood pressure, blood sugar and creatinine level in the urine had gone up, a doctor said. Around 5,000 farmers from the district are likely to stage a protect outside the Ahmednagar collector's office on Monday to support Hazare's agitation, his associates said. The decision to hold the protest was taken at a gram sabha at Ralegan Siddhi on Saturday night. (With PTI inputs) Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is committed towards ensuring holistic development and progress of Muslim community, said Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Sunday. Speaking at a seminar named 'Muslim Issues With The Government' organised by the Vidarbha Muslim Intellectual Forum, Gadkari said "There might be different opinions on the same issue but the BJP is committed to ensuring all kinds of development and progress of Muslim community. We are always ready to discuss issues being faced by the minority community." The Union Minister also underlined that there is a need to educate the people of the community. "The BJP never discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, sex, religion and language. If there is an issue then we all need to cooperate and communicate so that those problems get resolved at earliest," he added. "I know that education is a need for the development of the Muslim community. Also, we need to empower the Muslim women by giving them equal rights," he added. Woodbridge, VA (22192) Today Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday condemned the arrogance and attitude of BJP president Amit Shah who had, earlier in the day, attacked the former making it clear that the doors of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were closed forever for him. Hitting back at the BJP chief, Chandrababu Naidu said, "Who has asked him to open the door? Why is he talking like this? I totally condemn this attitude and arrogance." Shah launched a scathing attack on the Andhra CM and predicted that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief will once again try to come into NDA fold as the NDA will retain power and Narendra Modi will become the Prime Minister again after the 2019 Lok Sabha election. He was speaking at a public meeting at Palasa town in Srikakulam district while flagging off a 'bus yatra' of state BJP president Kanna Laxminarayana. Recalling that Naidu started his political career as an MLA of Congress, the BJP chief said he always switched loyalties to enjoy power. He further alleged that the TDP president joined hands with the Congress which had insulted Telugu people and did injustice to Andhra Pradesh. Shah was on a day-long visit to North Andhra to interact with BJP workers in four Lok Sabha constituencies in the region - Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram, Anakapalli and Araku. (With inputs from agencies) Ahmedabad: In a jolt to the Congress in Gujarat ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Asha Patel resigned on Saturday, accusing the party of factionalism and divisive politics. Patel, member of the Legislative Assembly from Unjha in Mehsana district, resigned as legislator and also quit the party. In her resignation letter to party president Rahul Gandhi, she said, "On one hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given 10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Section, while the Congress is trying to create a rift between different castes here." She submitted her resignation as MLA to Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi in Gandhinagar Saturday morning. The Speaker accepted the resignation, sources said. Unjha is one of the seven Assembly segments within the Mahesana Lok Sabha constituency, currently held by the BJP. Of the seven Assembly segments, the BJP holds four while the Congress holds three, including Unjha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hometown Vadnagar comes under the Unjha constituency. Asha Patel had won the election in 2017 against Narayan Lalu Patel after the Patel quota agitation roiled the state. In her letter to Gandhi, she said she had resigned from the party "due to prevalent infighting and because the leadership has been ignoring me". Her representations about the state of affairs in Gujarat Congress were not heeded for the last one year, she claimed. Asked whether she would join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Patel said she would consult the people of her constituency before taking any decision. State Congress chief Amit Chavda said Patel seemed to have taken the decision for "personal gains". "Till yesterday, she had not made any representation to the party," Chavda claimed. Last year, senior Congress MLA Kunvarji Bavaliya switched sides and joined the BJP. He was made a minister in the state cabinet. In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP had won 99 seats in the 182-member house while the Congress bagged 77. With these two exits, the opposition party's numbers have fallen to 75, while BJP's tally has increased to 100 after Bavaliya won a by-poll from Jasdan in December. Patna: Disgruntled BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha on Sunday criticised the government's direct income support scheme PM-KISAN, saying the announcement made in the Interim Budget was "insulting and humiliating" for farmers. In the interim budget 2019-20, the government announced transfer of Rs 6,000 per year to 12 crore farmers holding cultivable land up to 2 hectare directly into their bank accounts from this year itself. In a series of tweets, the actor-turned-politician said that he was in agreement with former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's view that it was an "account for votes and not a vote on account". The Patna Sahib MP said, "The budget had nothing for 60 per cent of our population, which was below the age of 35 years and faced acute unemployment". "In my opinion, we are putting energy and money on the Union Budget especially when only two-three months are left to fulfill and implement all the promises made in the Budget. Even our learned senior leader, experienced, tested and successful former FM P Chidambaram has said this budget is an account for votes and not vote on account," Sinha tweeted. He added, "The kind of support given to our farmers is very disappointing. After such a tiring, long wait, it is insulting and humiliating to be given Rs 6,000 per year spread quarterly, i.E., Rs 17 per family per day, in today's times. Sir, do give it a serious thought as it is never too late". In another tweet, he remarked, "Sir, we have offered nothing for the younger generation in this Budget. More than 60 per cent of our population is below 35 years of age. Do we have a magic wand which will create more jobs for them. Sir, some food for your thoughts on this important and serious issue". NEW DELHI: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who has been in and out of hospitals for several months now due to his illness, tweeted on World Cancer Day on Monday. Sharing his mantra on how to deal with illness, he wrote: "Human mind can overcome any disease." Parrikar is reportedly suffering from an advanced stage of pancreatic cancer. He has been admitted to hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, and New York since February last year. Human mind can overcome any disease. #WorldCancerDay Manohar Parrikar (@manoharparrikar) February 4, 2019 In a meeting with editors after he came back from the US after treatment in July, Parrikar had had said that he was not scared when he got to know about his ailment. "He was telling us that he did not take any stress when he was ill. He also said he had the willpower against his illness," an editor of a local English daily had told IANS. Yet another editor had said that during the meeting, Parrikar was asked about the moment doctors told him about his disease. "Parrikar was quiet for a second after the question. And then he said 'I was not scared'," the editor said. His energy and determination to fight back was also seen when he addressed a gathering recently, his first time since he has been undergoing treatment. Invoking the dialogue from the Bollywood film Uri: The Surgical Strike, he had asked: "How's the josh? to which the audience replied, "High Sir". New Delhi: Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday lashed out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for sitting on a dharna, supporting the city police commissioner who is also accompanying the politicians. He added that by sitting on the dharna Mamata Banerjee is following the footsteps of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. "What is happening? A Police Commissioner is sitting on a dharna with politicians? What is the meaning of this? By sitting on dharna West Bengal CM is following the footsteps of Arvind Kejriwal," Ravi Shankar Prasad said. The Union Minister also attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi who is said to have called up the TMC supremo and expressed solidarity over the incident late on Sunday. He encountered all allegations by Mamata Banerjee and said that the inquiries in Narada, Saradha and Rose Valley scams were initiated before the Narendra Modi government came to power. "In 2014, Congress tweeted Rahul Gandhi's statement that 20 lakh people lost their money in chit fund scam in West Bengal. We took oath on May 26, 2014 so all these inquiries in Narada, Saradha scams started before us," Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor KN Tripathi submitted a report to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the situation that unfolded in the city after a CBI team was allegedly obstructed by the city police from questioning Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scam cases. While the CBI claimed of having relevant documents with them, TMC, on the other hand, said that the investigating agency did not have a search warrant. Calling the CBI's move a 'coup' by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah on the state, Mamata had said that she launched the dharna to save the federal structure of her government. New Delhi: Vijay Mallya, the liquor baron who fled India in March 2016, is likely to be brought back to the country soon as the United Kingdom has approved his extradition with UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid signing the required papers. "On February 3 the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India," said a UK Home Office spokesperson. He added, "Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences." Mallya has 14 days from February 4 to apply for leave to appeal. The Westminster Magistrates' Court on 10 December had ordered Mallya's extradition and the UK Home Secretary had to sign the orders within two months, the deadline for which finished on February 10. The 63-year-old business tycoon was on January 5, 2019, declared a fugitive economic offender by a special court in Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Mallya is the first person to be declared a fugitive so under the PMLA. The court is expected to hear the plea on confiscating his properties on February 5. He is also facing money-laundering charges in the United Kingdom after India initiated extradition proceedings against him. Both the ED along with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) having filed several cases for alleged loan default against him. The Westminster Magistrates Court in London on December 10, 2018, had ordered the extradition of Mallya to India, who is facing charges of loan default to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore. India has been pressing the United Kingdom on extradition of another Indian fugitive Nirav Modi. India in August 2018 sent two extradition request to London with the first one being from the CBI and the other from the Enforcement Directorate on Nirav Modi. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the "requests are presently under the consideration of the concerned UK authorities". In the last four years, 16 fugitive criminals have been extradited to India. In 2018 New Delhi brought back five fugitives. Out of these five fugitives, three were Indian, one was a Romanian, British national Christian Michel James, a co-accused and alleged middleman in the alleged Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter case. Taking note of the development, India said, "While we welcome the UK Government's decision in the matter, we await the early completion of the legal process for his extradition." Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Tweeted, "Modi Government clears one more step to get Mallya extradited while Opposition rallies around the Saradha Scamsters." Meanwhile, Vijay Mallya has said, he will go for an appeal. In a late night tweet he said, " After the decision was handed down on December 10, 2018 by the Westminster Magistrates Court, I stated my intention to appeal. I could not initiate the appeal process before a decision by the Home Secretary. Now I will initiate the appeal process." Nigeria musical sensation, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, officially known and addressed as Wizkid has been trending on social media despite keeping a low profile life in recent time. Fans have been singing his praises on social media and have decided to set today 4th of February as a day to celebrate him every year(WorldWizKidDay). Recall that the United States governor of Minnesota, Mark Dayton, also declared 6th of October as Wizkid Day last year, citing several historic feats achieved by the artiste in the across the World. Their reactions: Wizkid is on vacation but trends almost every week other artistes be thinking why? I will tell them.. because @wizkidayo is a Humble King and cares more about his fans than any other artiste in the world you dont need to be loud, You just need to be real.. #worldwizkidday Common Man (@commonmanviews) February 4, 2019 #worldwizkidday Wiz trended on champions league night. He trended on davids 02 show. Man hasnt been online but he is trending as at when due. If you annoy wizkidFC, he will trend on Vals day and election day! pic.twitter.com/AEiEfwUBVA MarkAnthonyOsuchukwu (@MarkOsuchukwu) February 4, 2019 New Delhi: Delhi's Patiala House Court on Monday extended the custody of AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case co-accused Rajiv Saxena's Enforcement Directorate (ED) by a further four days. Dubai-based businessman Rajeev Saxena was sent to a four-day ED remand last week. He is an accused in the multi-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal scam, was allegedly operating a number of bank accounts in Switzerland in which huge amounts of money were deposited, according to the government dossier. Saxena was brought in Delhi on January 31, 2018, after being extradited from the UAE in connection with alleged scam in the Rs 3,600 crore deal for purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland company. As per a dossier accessed by news agency ANI, the banks in which the amounts were allegedly deposited, include Union Bancaire Privee UBP in Zurich, UBS Switzerland, and Credit Suiss AG. NEW DELHI: Amid an ongoing tussle between the West Bengal government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Centre, a high-level delegation of the ruling BJP met the Election Commission officials on Monday and apprised them of the fast deteriorating law and order situation in the TMC-ruled state. The high-level BJP delegation included Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, senior party leader Bhupendra Yadav, BJP's West Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya, Union Minister SS Ahluwalia among others. Delhi: BJP delegation including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi & Bhupendra Yadav met Election Commission today on West Bengal issue. pic.twitter.com/hYIbAyf6RI ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 The BJP leaders alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government was deliberately blocking rallies of its party leaders in the state. Talking to the reporters later, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, ''A high-level delegation of the BJP met the EC officials on Monday. During the meeting, we have demanded the poll panel to thoroughly assess the alarming situation in West Bengal. We have also requested the poll panel to remove those state government officers who are acting as the agents of the state government and the deployment of the central armed forces for the smooth, free and fair conduct of the election in the state.'' ''During our meeting with the poll panel officials, we apprised them of the extremely dangerous situation in West Bengal where the central government officers are being threatened, allegedly detained and the raised the issue of repeated denial of permission by the TMC government to BJP leaders and their rallies across the state,' Naqvi said.' Speaking to reporters on her turn, Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, ''In the interest of free and fair environment in which the upcoming Lok Sabha polls can be conducted, we have come to bring to the notice of EC certain happenings in WB which has complete cooperation of TMC. Instances which we highlighted point out that the ruling TMC doesn't believe in democracy. The party which is ruling in the state and its supporters are out in the open to ensure that no other political party gets permission to carry out its legitimate activities ahead of the polls.'' Nirmala Sitharaman: In interest of wanting free & fair environment in which LS polls can be conducted,we have come to bring to the notice of EC certain happenings in WB which has complete cooperation of TMC.Instances we highlighted point out that TMC doesn't believe in democracy pic.twitter.com/9sVZ0yDBkb ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 The meeting of BJP leaders with the EC officials came a day after UP CM Yogi Adityanaths chopper was denied permission to land in Dinajpur, where he was slated to address two rallies. The UP Chief Minister later addressed the rallies via mobile. A full-blown face-off between West Bengal government and the Centre erupted as a CBI team moved to arrest Rajiv Kumar, which in turn, were unceremoniously denied entry to Kolkata Police chief's residence and then detained. Escalating her confrontation with the Centre, Mamata Banerjee started a sit-in on Sunday night to protest against what her Trinamool Congress party alleged a "coup" by the Narendra Modi government. Extending support to Mamata, her party workers also staged a 'rail roko' protest in Rishra and Asansol over the ongoing issue. The TMC workers also burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Asansol. The CBI on Monday moved the Supreme Court accusing the West Bengal government of impeding the investigation of a court-ordered probe into the chit fund scams. The top court, which declined an urgent hearing on the CBI plea, posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday. Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre, was heading a SIT on the Saradha and Rose Valley scams. The CBI wanted the top officer to hand over the seizure list made during his probe, sources said. Reportedly, the top cop was to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he is not responding to notices to appear before the agency. Rajeev Kumar, according to media reports, became apprehensive of his arrest after Bengali film producer Shrikant Mohita was taken into custody. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: India's total steel production increased from 88.98 MT in 2014-15 to 103.13 MT in 2017-18, Minister of State for Steel, Vishnu Deo Sai, informed Lok Sabha on Monday. The Government has notified the National Steel Policy, 2017 and the Policy for Providing Preference to Domestically Manufactured Iron and Steel (DMI&SP) in Government procurement, which create facilitative environment to improve domestic production and consumption of steel, Sai told the Lok Sabha. In reply to another question the Minister of State for Steel said India has not been much impacted by the tariff imposed by USA since Indias exports to the USA were just around 2.2% before the imposition of the tariff. He said, with a view to provide relief to the domestic industry, government increased customs duty on steel in two phases-in June 2015 and August 2015, by 2.5 percent each. Government of India has also issued Quality Control Orders namelySteel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Order, 2018 covering 47 carbon/alloy steel and 6 stainless steel products. The Quality Control Order prohibits manufacturing / import of sub-standard / seconds and defective products. World Steel Association (worldsteel) in a report last month said that India has jumped ahead of Japan to become world's second largest steel producing country in the world. The report added that crude steel production of India in 2018 stood at 106.5 MT, an increase of 4.9 percent from 101.5 MT in 2017. On the other hand, Japan Japan produced 104.3 MT in 2018, down 0.3 percent compared to 2017. New Delhi: Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have released more than 6.23 crore LPG connections under the Scheme across the country as on January 28, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said on Monday Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched by the government May 2016. Under the scheme, the government provides a subsidy of Rs 1,600 to state-owned fuel retailers for every free LPG gas connection that they give to poor households. This subsidy is intended to cover the security fee for the cylinder and the fitting charges. Initially launched with a target to give 5 crore connections by March 2019 , the government later raised it to 8 crore connections by 2021 and now envisages giving all households a connection. The beneficiary has to buy her own cooking stove. To reduce the burden, the scheme allows beneficiaries to pay for the stove and the first refill in monthly installments. However, the cost of all subsequent refills has to be borne by the beneficiary household. As per report of OMCs, the number of cases of established irregularities in providing gas connections to poor households under PMUY is few. OMCs take punitive action as per the extant Marketing Discipline Guidelines and the Distributorship Agreement against LPG distributors in established cases of irregularities. NEW DELHI: A sessions court in Delhi will hear the Sunanda Pushkar death case, which allegedly involves her husband and Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor, from February 21. According to news agency ANI, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court sent the case to the Sessions Court on Monday. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal sent the court to the case to Additional Sessions Judge Arun Bhardwaj since the offence under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code was triable by a sessions judge, news agency PTI reported. The court also directed the Delhi Police to preserve a vigilance report in the matter. The court, meanwhile, dismissed a plea filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy seeking its permission to assist the court in the case. The court posted the matter for hearing on February 21. Sunanda Pushkar death case: Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court commits the case to Sessions Court. Court also dismisses Subramanian Swamy's plea seeking to assist the court in the case. Next date of hearing is 21st February. ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 The maximum punishment for the offence is 10 years of imprisonment. It is to be noted that in its chargesheet, the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the case, had earlier ruled out a murder charge against Tharoor and instead alleged that constant mental torture of Pushkar by the Congress MP led her to commit suicide. Earlier on Tuesday, the Delhi High Court had Tuesday dismissed a plea filed by a lawyer seeking the cancellation of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's bail in connection with the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. The plea was filed by advocate Deepak Anand seeking the cancellation of Tharoor's anticipatory bail which was granted by a sessions court on July 5. However, Tharoor's counsel opposed it by saying that the plea is not maintainable as the petitioner has no locus standi in the case. Tharoor's counsel and senior advocate Vikas Pahwa told the court that law has granted the right to the accused to move anticipatory bail apprehending arrest and that the sessions court has the power to deal with it. Tharoor- a Congress MP from Kerala - has been charged under sections 498A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but has not been arrested in the case. He was granted regular bail on July 7 last year after he appeared before the court in pursuance to the summons issued against him. He was summoned by the court had on June 5 after it observed that there was sufficient evidence to proceed against him. Sunanda was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in Delhi on January 17, 2014. The couple was staying in the hotel as the official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at that time. The court had directed the Delhi Police to hand over various documents filed along with the charge sheet, including statements of witnesses, to Tharoor on a plea moved by him. As per the court orders, the Delhi Police had in September handed over copies of all the evidence, including electronic and documentary proof, to Tharoor. The documents included statements of various witnesses recorded in the case. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: The Government on Monday set a National Committee of Domestic Council for Gems and Jewellery. The apex body, consisting 14 Members will represent various associations of Gems and Jewellery Sector. It has been constituted to draft Memorandum and Article of Association and other Rules/Bye-laws of the Domestic Council. The representative body, would be the forum for highlighting the issues and concerns of the industry that require redressal through policy measures. With a view to strengthen the Gems & Jewellery industry in the country, the government has taken a number of steps such as establishment of Special Notified Zone (SNZ); setting up of Common Facility Centres for gem and jewellery sector; announcement of separate ITC HS Code for lab-grown diamonds; and providing financial assistance for participation in international fairs, organizing buyer-seller meets, creation of export related infrastructure, etc. under various schemes of the Department of Commerce to boost the industry, Minister of State of Commerce and Industry, CR Chaudhary, in written reply to the Lok Sabha informed. PATNA: At least four people died on Monday after the bus were travelling fell into a pit in Bihar's Nalanda district. According to news agency ANI, the bus fell into a pit in Chiksaura police station limits of Nalanda district. Bihar: 4 people died after a bus fell into a pit in Chiksaura police station limits of Nalanda today. Locals set ablaze the bus and vandalise a fire brigade vehicle. More details awaited. ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 It is not clear as yet how the bus fell into the pit. Meanwhile, local residents, who gathered at the site of the mishap, set the bus ablaze and vandalised a fire brigade vehicle. The police and fire brigade officials had to face some resistance from the angry local protesters. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced compensation for the deceased and ordered the state government officials to ensure free treatment of those injured in the accident. #UPDATE Bus accident in Nalanda: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announces compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the deceased and free medical treatment for all the injured. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/x529IXlKVj ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 CM Nitish Kumar announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the deceased and free medical treatment for all the injured, news agency ANI reported. Ghanaian musician Mzbel, known in real life as Belinda Nana Ekua Amoah has said she was born into the National Democratic Congress party and will remain a member. In a post that YEN.com.gh sighted on Mzbel's Instagram page, the '16 Years' hitmaker noted that she was born NDC and will remain NDC till she dies. Her comments came as a response to a story about how she purportedly lost everything due to supporting NDC. READ ALSO: Photo of Charlotte Osei with handsome husband at her birthday goes viral Mzbel noted that the story was false and that she did not lose anything after throwing her support behind NDC like the story captioned. In the Instagram post, she wrote "Another twisted headline! I didn't lose s*** for supporting my own political party. I was born NDC and will remain NDC till I die!" The post reveals that Mzbel was not excited about the headline of the story that said she lost a lot supporting NDC. Mzbel as part of the Instagram post, also wrote, "Everything I'm going through right now is a deliberate sabotage but I don't give a 4k." READ ALSO: Family of Daddy Lumba look alike needs $21,000 to bring body home Social media users on reading the post reacted: @jayforjuliet advised: "You are a musician, be in your lane and let politicians be on their lane. Mind you, you have fans from all the political parties in GH, and not only in ndc." @eric_adom_frimpong teased: "If you dont know ask Mr Beautiful what kumawood did to him next time be wise and play a game of wisdom." @jay_baddo in support wrote "They always wanna bring u down, and that wont happen. God bless you." @abenaprempeh1 had this to say: "I love you to the max darling don't worry enemies are not God." @ghanaian_star commented: "I Just LOVE YOU. A strong woman who picks her battles wisely, but make no mistake, she won't let you tarnish her image. You are a QUEEN!" YEN.com.gh cannot say exactly what Mzbel is going through but it seems the musician is having a tough time which she is attributing to sabotage from some quarters. Even though for few years now Mzbel does not seem to be having her peak in the music business, she has been in the news for other reasons. Recently, Mzbel said that President Akufo-Addo has disappointed Ghanaians since he has not honour his promises made to Ghanaians. READ ALSO: Ohemaa Woyeje finally reveals why she left Multimedia; tells next move Ghana News Today: By-elections turn bloody as gunmen storm La Bawaleshie polling station| #Yencomgh Click here to get the latest exciting English Premier League news. Get match highlights, reports, photos & videos all in one place. Source: Yen Nigerian radio personality, television host, vlogger, and author.Toke Makinwa, is one beautiful and successful businesswoman who is not shy of showing off her beautiful body at every opportunity. The 34 year old brand ambassadors shared with her fans via her Instgram page earlier today a beautiful picture of herself. Picture below: Women in Takoradi in the Western Region held a mass vigil on Sunday night for the teenage girls who have been kidnapped. Mothers and women in the Western Regional capital stayed awake all night to hold a vigil for the missing girls. Holding their candles and lights, the women lined up to drum home their concern about the yet-to-be-found teenagers. The three kidnapped girls in Takoradi. Source: Supplied Source: UGC READ ALSO: 10 powerful photos from Kwame Despites renovated mansion We've all gone back to sleep after Ayawaso shame. But tonight, a very worrying national issue is keeping women in the Western Region sleepless, Atinka FM journalist Saddick Adams, wrote on his Facebook page. All the mothers in Takoradi are staying awake tonight. They're holding vigil for the three kidnapped girls. Police have no clue, still. Let's remember them, he added. Ghanaians have been alarmed in recent months following reports of numerous kidnapping cases around the country. Three girls - Priscilla Blessing Bentum, Ruth Love Quayson and Priscilla Koranchie have been kidnapped in Takoradi within the last five months. All three are yet to be found, although the prime suspect, identified as a Nigerian national Samuel Wilson Udoterg, has been apprehended by the police. READ ALSO: John Dumelo will be President of Ghana in 10 yrs - Jon Benjamin predicts on actor's birthday Meanwhile, the police has arrested 15 persons in connection with the kidnapping of three young ladies in Takoradi. The suspects were reportedly arrested at Nuaso in Odumase following a swoop by a team of Police officers. All 15 suspects have since been sent to the Police Headquarters in Accra as investigations continue into the case. Ghana News Today: By-elections turn bloody as gunmen storm La Bawaleshie polling station| #Yencomgh READ ALSO: Meet Felicitas Naa who enrolled in JHS at age 41 to meet her dream Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Click here to get the latest exciting English Premier League news. Get match highlights, reports, photos & videos all in one place. Source: Yen.com.gh Former British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin, has wished Ghanaian actor John Dumelo well on his birthday in a very uncharacteristic fashion. The celebrated actor turned 35 years old on Sunday, February 3, 2019. Many people including Dumelo's wife wished him well with sweet messages on his special occasion. One of the most notable messages came from the British diplomat who brought a message which could be described as a prophetic prediction about the actor. In a reply to photo Dumelo posted on Twitter to mark the birthday, Jon Benjamin predicted that the actor will become Ghana's president in about 10 years. A very happy birthday to my friend @johndumelo1.I hope this message is enough to score me an invitation to his inauguration as President in a decade or so," he tweeted. While it has often been reported that Dumelo has presidential ambitions, it is quite curious that the prediction is coming from the former British High Commissioner. Known as an adversary of the actor on Twitter, Benjamin almost always disagrees with anything John Dumelo says and finds every opportunity to troll him on social media. Even on Dumelo's wedding day in May 2018, the diplomat who carved a name for himself as a controversial person while in Ghana did not cease fire as he trolled him very well with his message of congratulations. With such a history between them, many on social media have brushed off Benjamin's prediction saying it is sarcasm. Ghana News Today: EOCO secures order to freeze assets of Menzgold and related companies| #Yencomgh: Do you have a story to share with us? Inbox us on our Facebook/Instagram page and we could feature your story. Click here to get the latest exciting English Premier League news. Get match highlights, reports, photos & videos all in one place Source: Yen Ghanaian women are beautiful, easy-going, hospitable, and they possess all the good traits and qualities one can think of. Lets not forget also that most of them have been blessed with what is commonly called coca-cola shape, a popular description of the African woman. Many women of different tribes all have their strengths when it comes to appearance and body shape, but it appears that women from the Northern Region somehow are very beautiful all round. READ ALSO: I have nothing now because I endorsed NDC and Mahama- Mzbel cries sadly YEN.com.gh brings you photos of nine of these women to prove that indeed, the North is filled with beautiful women: 1. Hajia Mona: Popularly called Hajia4Reall, Mona has been described by many as a very beautiful woman. She has a pretty face with a very attractive figure which makes her stand out wherever she is in the crowd. Owing to her striking beauty, Mona has had the privilege of being featured in some music videos, and an example is Shatta Wales Bullet Proof. She also has a beautiful baby girl called Naila4Reall, and for her beauty, you could just say like mother like daughter. READ ALSO: Yvonne Nelson in trouble for saying Ghanaian men lack confidence in proposing to her 2. Salma Mummin: Salma is dark in complexion, and blessed with beautiful face. Mummin is also blessed with a 'heavy' physic and a coca-cola shape. She is an actress and has acted alongside Ghanas heavyweight movie industry players, including Jackie Appiah, John Dumelo, Majid Michelle, Yvonne Nelson, Yvonne Okoro, and many others. 3. Samira Bawumia: The vice presidents wife seems to be a role model for most young Ghanaian women. Her fashion taste is impeccable, and above all, she has stunning looks and is very gorgeous. Samira has mostly been in the news for her fashion style. READ ALSO: Patapaa introduces his beautiful queen to Ghanaians with wild photo 4. Hamamat Montia: The former Miss Malaika is exceptional when it comes to beauty and physique. She looks taller, elegant, and blessed with a dark shinning skin, which she calls pride from the north. Hamamat is 30 years but she doesnt look it. She also has two children with her first daughter turning seven, but no one would know if not told. 5. Nadia Buari: The popular screen diva is the best definition of beauty in terms of her looks and body shape. Nadia, reported to be in her mid-30s, already has four children, but she does not look it because of her flat tummy. She refuses to grow as she looks the same just as she was when she started acting in movies. Her younger look and beauty could be something in her family because her mother also looks very youthful though she is advanced in years. Check out Nadia and mum in the photo below: READ ALSO: Video showing Charlotte Osei dancing at her 50th birthday goes viral 6. Abigail Baciara Bentie: Popularly called Baci, the former Ghanas Most Beautiful winner is also a clear definition of beauty. The tall, elegant, and attractive Baci hails from Tumu in the Upper West Region. She is fair in complexion, and her coca-cola shape is one thing that gets all eyes fixed on her wherever she is. The beautiful Baci. Photo credit: Top model of the world Source: Facebook 7. Anita Ayariga: Though she has failed to be crowned Ghanas First Lady, Hassan Ayarigas wife has not failed in being recognised as one of Ghanas beautiful Northern women. She looks youthful and also fair in complexion. Check out her photo with their children below: Hassan Ayariga's wife with their children. Photo credit: UGC Source: Original READ ALSO: Achievements of John Dumelo before the age of 35 8. Moesha Boduong: The controversial social media celebrity is also from Sisala in the Upper West Region. Moesha is also blessed with beauty and an attractive body shape which she is well known for. She has often been in the news for flaunting her beauty in one way or the other. READ ALSO: Mrs Dumelo sings song of love for him as he turns a year older 9. Shirley Tibilla: Popularly called Cookie Tee, not many people knew that the Tales from the powder room host on GHOne is also a proud product of the North. Like her aforementioned sisters, Shirley, apart from her pretty face, also has nice, attractive body. She is currently making waves in the media with her eloquence on TV. READ ALSO: John Dumelo celebrates birthday with widows Apart from their beauties, it must also be said that all the ladies mentioned are doing well for themselves in their adventures. YEN.com.gh wishes them all the best. Meanwhile, look out for out next article on beauties from the other regions. READ ALSO: We were only acting - Wendy Shay confirms being caught in bed with Bullet Ghana News Today: By-elections turn bloody as gunmen storm La Bawaleshie polling station| #Yencomgh READ ALSO: Richard Commey destroys Isa Chaniev to become Ghana's ninth world champion Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Click here to get the latest exciting English Premier League news. Get match highlights, reports, photos & videos all in one place. Source: Yen.com.gh Popular Ghanaian screen diva, Yvonne Nelson, had earlier said she needed a Ghanaian man for a date. According to the actress, she was no longer with her British baby daddy, Jamie Roberts, disclosing that they were only co-parenting now, according to an earlier report by YEN.com.gh. However, days after declaring that she was single and needed a man in her life, Yvonne said no Ghanaian man had proposed to her yet. According to her, the men lacked confidence in approaching her, for which reason she was still single. READ ALSO: Wendy Shay confirms being caught in bed with Bullet; explains reason In expressing their views on the matter, some social media users who commented on YEN.com.ghs Facebook page, have refuted Yvonnes claim that Ghanaian men lacked confidence in proposing to her. The fans have given their owns reason why she is still single, with some of them blaming Yvonne for shunning Ghanaian men in her hay days and going after Nigerian men and those of other nationality. For instance, Yao, said that no Ghanaian man has proposed to Yvonne Nelson because she already has a baby with a non-Ghanaian: Mike also gave the same reason: READ ALSO: Nana B apologies after slapping Sammy Gaymfi during a live radio show Bernard said Yvonne shunned Ghanaian men for Iyanya of Nigeria and for that matter they were not interested in her: Tu also made a similar claim about Yvonne's involvement with a Nigerian: Prince was also not happy that Yvonne "went away": Chizzy completely ruled out Yvonne's claim that Ghanaian men lacked confidence, saying that the men just do not want her: READ ALSO: Meet Felicitas Naa who enrolled in JHS at age 41 to meet her dream Capon also said the fact that Yvonne is a single mother with a white man, no Ghanaian man is interested in her: There are many other reasons given by the men which show that they are not happy with Yvonne dating outsiders but now wanting a Ghanaian man when she is a single mother. Yvonne was also in the news for lamenting how badly the NPP has treated her since they won power. She recently praised former president Mahama for Ghana's infrastructure development. READ ALSO: 9 beautiful photos of Mr Eazi's girlfriend you haven't seen Ghana News Today: By-elections turn bloody as gunmen storm La Bawaleshie polling station| #Yencomgh Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Click here to get the latest exciting English Premier League news. Get match highlights, reports, photos & videos all in one place. Source: Yen.com.gh Today A few clouds. Low around 80F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Tonight A few clouds. Low around 80F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Tomorrow Some sun in the morning with increasing clouds during the afternoon. Hot. High 107F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Venice, FL (34285) Today Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 77F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 77F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Former presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, Oby Ezekwesili has begged everyone she hurt or disappointed with her withdrawal from the race. The former minister of Education, who issued a formal statement on her decision to withdraw from the 2019 presidential race in a world press conference on Monday said she couldnt compromise her integrity for politics. According to her, she isnt a professional politician, and as such will go back to her career now that shes no longer running for office unlike the average politician, whos only job is politics. World press conference https://t.co/30CuaOmeJ1 Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 4, 2019 In a statement via Twitter on Monday, Ezekwesili thanked all her supporters, and laughed off allegations that she used her candidacy to negotiate for a ministerial position. Read full statement below It has been an interesting one week since I made the tough but necessary decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency. I have been truly overwhelmed by the reactions to my announcement from Nigerians. Even in airports outside the country as I travelled last week, Nigerians walked up to me with questions, concerns, encouragement, and motivation. I also saw disappointment by some who had poured their hearts and hopes into actualising our mission to #Fight4Naija, bring back hope to our land and lift 80 million fellow citizens out of extreme poverty. I ask for the forgiveness and understanding of all who are hurt by my withdrawal from the race even as I take comfort in the fact that they would agree with my choosing to stand with my values rather than compromise. Thank you to the young people who accepted and owned our campaign, to the women my sisters and comrades who worked and walked with me, to every believer and supporter from different tribes, states, religions and walks of life. Millions of our citizens who followed our campaign on multiple platforms across the country can attest that we ran a promising campaign uniquely designed to be disruptive. We adopted a decentralized messaging strategy for maximum reach and impact. Our campaign was also appreciated by citizens for being empowering of the voters in contrast to the traditional campaigns that rob the largely poor electorate of their dignity. I have never been one to go into a new venture without first measuring the odds, counting the cost or taking stock. My candidacy was no different. Even though I was the latest to throw my hat in the ring, the campaign was not slack because we believed in the power of Nigerians to take their destiny in their own hands. It was a testament to our hard work in such a short time that whenever top candidates in the race were mentioned, my candidacy was always highlighted after those of the two-in-one dominant parties which make up the old political class in the country. We took our hopeful message to at least 15 states and created a unique retail driven campaign that resonated with Nigerians. One of the more laughable moments of the past week was hearing allegations that my presidential candidacy was a scheme to negotiate for a ministerial role. This is the height of political comedy, I must say. In their mischief and desperation, they sought to blemish one of the finest and dearest of young people who gave his talent, time and treasure for my candidacy the prodigiously talented Iyin Aboyeji. The Property Council of Australia, in time for the release of the banking royal commissions final report today, has cautioned about breaking the property industry and the economy in the process of fixing the banks. In fixing the issues highlighted by the Royal Commission, we must avoid creating new problems in other leading areas of the economy, especially around the efficient and responsible provision of credit for qualified borrowers, said Ken Morrison, chief executive of the Property Council. The way the government, regulators, and financial institutions respond to the royal commissions recommendations will have direct consequences on first-home buyers, up-sizers and down-sizers, property investors and the 1.4 million Australians who work in the property industry, according to the Property Council. The residential property market is worth nearly $7 trillion3.5 times the size of the Australian stock market, and it is long-established that buyer demand and property values are being affected by the tightening of credit. Prime Minister Scott Morrison had a similar concern, noting that the economy can face serious consequences if the inquiry into misconduct in Australias financial industry causes a credit freeze. I will be very mindful that I want to see the oil that lubricates our financial system, which is access to credit, continues to flow, otherwise the consequences would be quite significant, he told The Sydney Morning Herald. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data on housing finance revealed a 2.5% decline in the value of dwelling commitments in the year to November, including a 4.5% drop in the value of commitments for investment property. In addition, the recent ANZ/Property Council industry confidence survey found that expectations around the availability of debt finance over the next 12 months have declined to their lowest level since 2011. The Property Council stated that, at this stage of the property cycle, Australians will be searching for policy responses that deliver certainty and push confidence for buying and investing in property. Access to credit, for instance, matters for people looking to buy new or established properties. The property industry also underpins state and territory government budgets, accounting for more than half of their total revenues. A strong property industry delivers great places for Australians to live and work, provides jobs and drives economic growth, and helps Australians save for their future, Ken Morrison said. The Banking Royal Commission was introduced by the government in December 2017 to investigate and report on misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry across the country. National rents rose by only 0.4% over the 12 months to the end of January, but the 5.6% drop in national dwelling values has caused gross rental yields to climb above 4 % for the first time since May 2016, according to new data from CoreLogic. CoreLogics study found that every capital city, except for Hobart and Darwin, has posted an increase in rental yields over the past 12 months because rental conditions outperformed housing prices. The yields rose despite relatively slow rental conditions. Canberra recording the strongest rental growth among capital cities, with rents up 5.6% over the year. The improved yield profile for Australian housing comes after rental yields reached record lows during the growth phase. Data showed that gross yields across the combined capitals hit an all-time low of 3.39% in August 2017 and have since recovered to reach 3.75% against a decade average of 4.06%. While yields are gradually improving, the national gross rental yield of 4.01% remains below the decade average of 4.29%. The recovery back to average levels will be gradual, especially considering the weak rental market conditions across the cities with the lowest yield profile. Sydney gross yields are the lowest of any capital city at 3.4%, and rents were down 3% over the past 12 months, said Tim Lawless, head of research at CoreLogic. CoreLogic also reported that national dwelling values decreased by 1% more over the first month of the year. This resulted in a 6.1% cumulative decline in Australian dwelling values since the market peaked in October 2017. The national index has declined over 13 of the past 15 months, and national dwelling values are now back to levels last seen in October 2016. Sydney and Melbourne continue to have the weakest housing market conditions, with prices dropping by at least 1% on a monthly basis since November. Sydney and Melbourne dwelling values declined by 4.5% and 4%, respectively, over the three months ending January 2019. These results bring Sydney dwelling values back to levels last seen in July 2016. Melbourne dwelling values are back to January 2017 levels. Among the capitals, only Hobart and Canberra recorded a rise in values over the past three months. January can be a difficult month to read the housing market due to low levels of activity. However, the recent trend in housing market data has generally weakened over the past three months, with the pace of decline accelerating across markets already in their down phase, and growth generally moderating in other areas. Tight credit conditions, weakening consumer sentiment, less domestic and foreign investment and higher levels of housing supply are the primary drivers of the worsening conditions, Lawless said. Vanguard SECURITY agencies and authorities have commence investigations into the violence that marred a campaign of the All Progressives Congress ,APC, in Tungbobiri community in Sagbama Local Government Area. Sun The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, has said that the international community has not turned its back on President Muhammadu Buhari. He spoke exclusively with Daily Sun in Abuja against insinuations that the president no longer enjoys a cosy relationship with the international community due to happenings in the country. ThisDay The Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal may have established a pattern with the the lone witness summoned by the 2nd Respondent, All Progressive Congress (APC) unwittingly indicting the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and the party for altering election results sheets. Daily Times Leaders of thought across geo-political zones in the country rose from a meeting in Abuja on Sunday to endorse Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as most preferable for candidate in the February 16 Presidential election. The socio- cultural groups Ohaneze Ndigbo (South East), Middle Belts Forum (North Central), Afenifere (South West), Pan Niger Delta Forum (South South) and Northern Elders Forum (NEF) under the umbrella of the Summit of the Forum of Nigerian Elders and Leaders at the end of its Daily Trust The Presidency on Sunday night described as irrelevant the reported endorsement of the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in the Feb. 16 general elections by some socio-cultural groups in the country. Leadership 82 Ethiopian immigrants landed in Israel Monday, following a decision taken by the government in October 2018. By December The criticism of the IDFs readiness expressed by Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, and another unnamed general, is disconcerting. A pity that the responses were mostly political and not objective, because at stake are three critical issues, not just for the IDF, but for the security of the State of Israel. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Golan, who served as the Dep. Chief of Staff, claims that the political echelons and the General staff fear deploying the IDFs ground forces, even when necessary and justified. The reason being, he claims, is the oversensitivity of the Israeli population to loss of life and the risk of soldiers being captured, which puts pressure on the security cabinet. Golani ground troops (Photo: IDF Spokesman) In order to silence the rocket launchers whether in Gaza, Lebanon or Syria the IDF must rapidly maneuver deep into enemy territory and by its mere presence and efforts to destroy the launchers and rocket stores, it will prevent major harm to the Israeli home front. This has been duly proven time and time again, in the Second Lebanon War and during the multitude of Gaza operations. Yair Golan knows this based on his experience, not just with regards to rockets but also with regards to terror which can only be defeated by a comprehensive ground operation. Golan was the Nahal Brigade commander before Operation Defensive Shield, in the early days of the second Intifada. Yair Golan (Photo: Yair Sagi) He, along with the IDFs other ground forces commanders, appealed to then-chief of staff Shaul Mofaz and prime minister Ariel Sharon to be allowed to enter Area A, including Ramallah where Yasser Arafat resided, in order to gather intelligence and confront the terrorists in the locations where they prepare their attacks. Sharon and Mofaz were hesitant to heed the request of all those officers until that fateful Passover night in 2002 when dozens of Israelis were murdered by a suicide bomber at the Park Hotel in Netanya. Operation Defensive Shield was authorized and Golan was one of the officers who led troops into the Palestinian cities and refugee camps. The present Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi also led his troops into the Nablus Qasba and the Balata Refugee Camp to root out the terror infrastructure, in what was the beginning of the end of the Intifada. Tunnels fixation lengthened the a war Golan is not arguing that the IDF isnt ready for battle, on the contrary. He is saying that the IDF is ready but the political and military brass who handled Operation Protective Edge demonstrated their hesitation to dispatch infantry, tanks and combat engineers into the Gaza Strip due to the irrational fear among the Israeli populace of battle fatalities and abducted soldiers. As a result, Golan argues, the ground forces are atrophying and are not familiar with rapid offensive battle standards. Instead of entering Gaza and eliminating the rocket threat, Israel obsessed over the marginal tunnels threat and turned that into the central focus of the operation. Golani troops train for battle (Photo: IDF Spokesman) The fixation on the tunnels, instead of what should have been the main focus destroying Hamas rocket and missile capabilities caused the war to drag on leading to more casualties among the troops and population. It is the politicians who at fault here and not the military. The irrational fixation on casualties and potential abductions may end up leading to more casualties, both among the troops and on the home front. Intelligence and air power alone are not sufficient to complete the job and General Golan was correct in his assessment. Who commands the ground forces? The second matter raised by Golans revelation is who commands the ground forces during a war. A second, unnamed, general also raised this question. This question has been a matter of controversy within the IDF almost since its founding. The established custom is that the chief of staff is the commander of the ground forces, as the Navy and Air Force have their own commanders. Golani Brigade exercise (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) But the chief of staff is of course also the commander of the military as a whole and therefore he lacks the time and ability to properly prepare the ground forces during a period of quiet and command them during a war. Accordingly, the regional commanders (north, central and south) are the ones who command the ground forces during a war. Recently, a fourth regional command was added, the Depth Command, which coordinates the IDF's long range operations and operations deep in enemy territory. But it is the GOC Army Headquarters that supplys, administers and trains the troops, but does not lead them during wartime. The establishment of the GOC command was apparently intended to unite at least one force under one authority, but in practice a situation arose in which the chief of staff and the regional commanders trained the ground forces while who exactly was responsible for what remains ambiguous as was brutally demonstrated during the Second Lebanon War. As a result of this confusing situation, the ground forces fall between the cracks, and suffer from a range of conditions, some real and some imaginary, which the various IDF comptrollers point to. Both of these arguments are very important and require swift and determined handling, but as expected, the reactions were political: for Gantz and against Gantz, for Netanyahu and against Netanyahu, for Operation Protective Edge and against. No one took a practical approach to the problems themselves, which I believe will decide the outcome of the IDFs next war, whether in the north or in the south. Immediately following the elections, there is a crucial need, not only among the general staff but for the public as a whole, to perform a genuine soul-searching and to deal with the fear of using the IDF ground forces and the question of who is responsible to ready the troops and who commands the ground forces during wartime. Some 200 Haifa Bay residents are protesting near the Lev Hamifratz Mall against the oil refinery in honor of World Cancer Day. VERSAILLES, France - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini betrayed the principles of the Iranian revolution after sweeping to power in 1979, his first president told Reuters, leaving a "very bitter" taste among some of those who had returned with him to Tehran in triumph. Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, a sworn opponent of Tehran's clerical rulers ever since being driven from office and fleeing abroad in 1981, recalled how 40 years ago in Paris, he had been convinced that the religious leader's Islamic revolution would pave the way for democracy and human rights after the rule of the Shah. "When we were in France everything we said to him he embraced and then announced it like Koranic verses without any hesitation," Bani-Sadr, now 85, said in an interview at his home in Versailles, outside Paris, where he has lived since 1981. "We were sure that a religious leader was committing himself and that all these principles would happen for the first time in our history," he said. ABU DHABI - Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Egyptas Al-Azhar mosque and university, called on Muslims in the Middle East to "embrace" local Christian communities. "You are part of this nation... You are not minorities," he said during a televised speech from a ceremony in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi, also attended by Pope Francis. He also called on Muslims in the west to integrate in their host nations and respect local laws. Palestinian rights and boycott groups, which Israel accused on Sunday of having direct links to terror organizations and convicted terrorists, have been operating freely on US college campuses and have been influencing American students since at least 2016. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter A report by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs published on Sunday, entitled Terrorists in Suits and dealing with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, alleges that numerous self-proclaimed rights groups have long-standing ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hamas, both US-designated terror organizations. These ties have received little or no scrutiny from US authorities or the education system, enabling groups mentioned in the report, such as Samidoun and Addameer, to operate unchecked on college US campuses. Pro-BDS display at DePaul University campus (Photo: AP) In 2016, for example, Samidoun, also known as Samidoun-Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, co-hosted an event at New York University titled New York reception welcomes prisoner advocacy leaders from Palestine. Earlier the same year, the organization co-hosted an event titled Repression & Resistance: Palestinians in Political Detention" at John Jay College in Manhattan. In 2017, Samidoun again co-hosted an event at UCLAs School of Public Affairs titled A Talk on Palestinian Prisoners Day." In addition to holding events on campuses, Samidoun regularly co-hosts events and co-sponsors petitions with multiple pro-Palestinian student groups. The events were able to proceed despite the groups open support for terrorists and terror organizations, much of which can be found on social media. In 2015, for example, Joe Catron, Samidouns US Coordinator, sent Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah a public Twitter message: Nasrallah my friend, attack, attack Tel Aviv, the report says. A Samidoun activist was trained by Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as delivered funds he received in Syria and Lebanon to PFLP activists in Belgium, it added. Gilad Erdan presents a government report on the BDS movement. (Photo: Ministry Strategic Affairs) The evidence presented in the report raises the question of whether designated terror organizations are gaining a strong foothold inside colleges by using movements campaigning under the banner of human rights as a tool for promoting their own agenda. Other examples of rights groups given unfettered access to US campuses include Addameer, whose official raison d'etre is to advocate for Palestinian prisoners. According to the Israeli ministrys report, Addameer was founded by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, many of whom were convicted of terrorist activity, with the mission to support and advocate on behalf of Palestinian prisoners. BDS activists (Photo: Hagai Dekel) In August 2018, Barnard College in New York hosted Addameer, a Ramallah-based movement. The organizations director, Shahar Francis, also travels to the US to speak on various US campuses despite Addameers connections to US-designated terror groups. The NGO, which promotes the BDS campaign against the State of Israel, continues to maintain significant ties with the PFLP, the report noted about Addameer. These ties include members of the NGO who are simultaneously members of the PFLP, legal representation of PFLP members charged with terrorism offenses (some of whom also hold positions in the NGO), and joint campaigns with the PFLP, it continued. In recent years, Jewish groups have voiced concerns overwhat they say is growing and prevailing anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses. The recent findings shed light on the possible sources of the increasing anti-Israel position among students. Unknown assailants on Monday daubed inciteful writing in the Palestinian village of Deir Dibwan i e West Bank. The graffiti, reading "Here they incite to murder Jews," was scrawled at the entrance to a mosque in the village. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter In addition, local residents told the Judea and Samaria District Police that the shoe rack at the entrance to the mosque smelled of an inflammable material. Graffiti reading: 'Here they incite to murder Jews' In response, the Tag Meir Forum, an NGO that fights hate crimes and racism, said in a statement that the vandalism was "Jewish terrorism." "The mosque desecration in Deir Dibwan must be condemned," the NGO said. "What begins with desecration of prayer houses ends with the desecration of human lives. The Israeli government must put an end to this Jewish terrorism." Last week, three vehicles were vandalized in the Palestinian village of Al-Lubban al-Gharbi near Ramallah in the West Bank. Malicious graffiti and the Star of David were sprayed on the vehicles there, and their tires were punctured. Local residents said they had spotted the perpetrators and began to give chas. They failed, however, to capture them. In January, five Israeli teenagers were arrested as part of a police investigation into Jewish terrorism on suspicion of causing the death of a Palestinian woman by hurling stones at the vehicle she was traveling in the West Bank in October. One of the teenagers was charged with manslaughter after his DNA was found on the rock that hit and killed Aisha al-Rawbi near the Tapuach junction. The 16-year-old youth 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. Israel's various political parties will have to submit their Knesset lists by February 21 for the upcoming general election, and veteran and fresh politicians alike are doing all they can to secure a spot as high up on the list as possible. Even though some parties still hold primary elections among their members to determine the order of the list, this democratic method is becoming less and less common in newer parties. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter This system of holding internal elections within the party, which is known as "primaries," hasn't always been part of the Israeli democratic process. Since the establishment of the state, the most common methods for allocating spots on the Knesset list was an "organizing committee." The committee included a small number of senior officials who determined the order of the list and brought it to the symbolic approval at the party convention. The first to abandon the organizing committee method was the Democratic Movement for Change (Dash in Hebrew), which upon its establishment in 1977 decided to entrust the selection of the list to all members of the party. This method gained traction in the 1990s, when the two largest partiesLikud and Laboralso canceled their organizing committees. Some of the parties entrusted the selection to all party members, while some entrusted it to large bodies that represented the members within the party, such as the central committee. Voting in the 2015 Likud primaries The inspiration for the primaries came from the United States, where registered party voters from every county participate in electing the candidate to run against the rival party. Introducing the primaries in Israel was at first seen as a move to bolster democracy by giving the power to the masses at the expense of the organizing committees, which were always seen as corrupt. At their height, all four of Israel's largest parties held primaries ahead of the 1996 Knesset elections that saw Benjamin Netanyahu become prime minister for the first time. But later, the primaries fell from grace. The political machine and illegal donations to candidates highlighted the significant downsides to the system and tainted it in the eyes of many. When the Israel Resilience Party was founded last month, the party statute was released and it determines, among other things, that the party's Knesset list will be determined exclusively by its chairman Benny Gantz, and will not be chosen in primary elections. And so Israel Resilience joins a growing group of young parties that are foregoing an internal democratic process of primaries, and leaving the selection exclusively to the chairman. Political newcomers Yair Lapid, left, and Benny Gantz, center, pick their party's Knesset hopefuls, unlike Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party Among the parties that don't hold primaries are Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid; Tzipi Livni's Hatnua; Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu; and Orly Levy-Abekasis's Gesher. "These are parties that are very much dependent upon their leader, and will likely not last without them. That is why they are giving the leaders the full authority to determine the list's makeup," says Ofer Kenig of the Israel Democracy Institute. Kenig points to a steep drop in the number of Knesset members who were democratically elected by party members. "Ten years ago, about two thirds of MKs were elected on behalf of parties that had some form of primaries. If the current polls are any indication, in the next Knesset that number will drop by almost a half," he said. The clear starter of this trend, in which the party leader can exclusively select the Knesset list, is Yesh Atid, which was formed ahead of the 2013 elections. Commenting on the matter in the past, Yair Lapid said: "Primaries is something that corrupts Israeli politics. It gives all sorts of really corrupt interest groups the ability to manage the politicians. This won't happen in our party." Dr. Kenig believes this trend is problematic. "We wouldn't want to eventually see an entire Knesset with all 120 of its members selected only by party leaders," he says. Orly Levy-Abekasis's Gesher Party also won't hold primaries, but the party supports changing the electoral system to allow every citizen have a say in the members of the party they vote for. Under this system, each party's Knesset list would only be determined on Election Day, by those who voted for that party. The voter who casts a ballot for a party would be able to indicate on the other side of the ballot paper which candidates they support, thereby influencing the makeup of the party in parliament. Even though this method may sound strange to Israelis, it is somewhat common around the world, and is known as "open list" or "more open list." It is used in many countries, including the Netherlands, Sweden and Slovakia. Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg A development that took place during the last Knesset's term could have a significant effect on party primaries. The Knesset decided that candidates in the primaries will receive a grant or a loan from the state to fund their campaign. This will spare them the need to raise funds from supporters and rich donors. Since the new law only comes into effect in these coming elections, it's still too soon to determine how it will affect the primaries and their image. Facing the wave of parties that have decided to forego primary elections, there are still parties who are going the other way. For example, the Meretz Party will have primaries that will be decided by all of its registered members for the first time since 1996, after more than two decades of the party convention selecting the list. The Zehut Party, founded by former Likud MK Moshe Feiglin, has open primaries, allowing every citizen to choose the order of the candidates through the party's website. The Yashar Party, which promotes direct democracy, will also hold primaries online. These parties join Likud and Labor, which will once again hold primaries to determine their party lists ahead of the April 9 general elections. Good morning Yair Lapid. This might be your toughest hour, but it maybe also your finest. You have been preparing for this minute, for this decisive moment, for this big bang under your leadership. You were right to believe that you are ready for this. For seven years you have been watching a corrupt and failed leader, while promising a different leadership, a moral and a professional one. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter You have earned your title as the vocal and eloquent advocate of moral values and of equally sharing the burden of national service. You were right to say you believe in Israel and in Israelis, that you have faith in the ability of our society to regain its senses, to start over, to transform into a society of which we can be proud. Yair Lapid You were right to spearhead the war against the corrupt ultra-Orthodox establishment. You were right to lash out at United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni in the Knesset plenum. "I don't tell you how to spend your Shabbat, and you can't tell me how to spend mine," you told him. You were and still are the beautiful Israeli. You worked very hard to establish a new and valued party, with branches, volunteers, and good people who believed in you so much that they entered politics just to support you. And then along came the handsome and worthy General Benny Gantz, who so reminds us of the handsome and worthy General Yitzhak Rabin, and who is stealing away your hopes for change along with your Knesset seats. You are right to feel you will not enter into the promised land; certainly not as the leader of the people of Israel. This is a tough moment in which the rug is pulled from under your feet and it hurts. But you don't stand a chance against him. He is a general and you are a foot soldier. Don't try to take him down, it is useless. For not only is he articulate and credible, some of his statements even sound like they came out of your mouth. It must be blow to hear them. Benny Gantz (Photo: EPA) Yet this is neither the time to fall into despair nor a time for arrogant slogans. You don't have a chance going head-to-head against him. Yair, this is the time to show you are bigger than that. Bend the knee and announce you are forgoing the leadership to team up with Gantz without any preconditions. . Yes, without any preconditions. Almost all of your wishes will come true anyway if you join forces with Gantz. Together you will provide an appropriate and a long-term response to long years of despair in this country. Together you will draw a new political map that could bring about the big bang about which you dreamt about for so long, and push the sane forces to unite as one solid bloc. Together you could defeat the corrupt, the inciters and dividers in Israeli society. It won't be a left-wing bloc, nor a right-wing camp with leftists sitting in it. It will be something new that will offer a new hope, moral values and good judgment. You will have to negotiate with Gantz, but the division of authority and responsibility will be easy and straightforward. He, like you, will put Israel first. And with the two of you united, this nation has a good chance of once again holding its head high as it walks towards the light at the end of this decade-long dark tunnel. This is the time for a new Israeli politics, that washes its hands of the rules of the jungle, of the savage predators and the tame lapdogs. Team up with Benny Gantz, unconditionally, and together you will bring great hope. Just don't forget that this land devours its inhabitants, and has already seen it all. Your predators won't hesitate to do anything in their power to achieve their goals. European Union states "will acknowledge" Venezuela's National Assembly head Juan Guaido as interim president, a draft statement said on Monday. EU states have been sparring for days on how to address the situation of Venezuela. Eight countries have recognized Guaido after expiry of a deadline set for Nicolas Maduro to call a new election. But other EU states have been more cautious, worried about setting a precedent of recognizing a self-proclaimed leader. The draft EU statement hence makes it clear that any such recognition is a national prerogative, rather than an EU one. It will become the EU's official position if none of the 28 member states raise formal objections by 1200 GMT. A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri has reacted to a recent statement by spokesperson of the President Muhammadu Buhari campaign organisation, Festus Keyamo, that the Yorubas wont leave vice president .Yemi Osinbajo to vote for Peter Obi, Peoples Democratic Party,PDP VP candidate. Speaking during a Channels TVs programme, Politics Today on Sunday, Keyamo said Yoruba cant be foolish to see Ohaneze endorsing their son and keep quiet and say they will go and support that son. A senior advocate of Nigeria, a renowned professor, they will now leave him for a China man? In his reaction, Omokri expressed his disappointment over Keyamos statement. He noted that the country need leaders with vision not those with division, not one that is voted on based on where he comes from. See statement below I am disappointed at Festus (Stephanie Otobo) Keyamo for asking Yorubas to reject Peter Obi because he is an Igbo man. Before, during and after the election, ALL Nigerians, whether Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani or Igbo, buy food at the same price. Poverty knows no tribe! By asking Yorubas to reject Peter Obi, not because he is unqualified, but because he is Igbo, Festus (Stephanie Otobo) Keyamo has shown that he is the foolish fly that follows the corpse into the grave. Nigerians need leaders with vision, not leaders with division. He further trashed the presidency for celebrating an endorsement by a faction of the group but was very quick to downplay the endorsement from the main group. Last week, a faction of Afenifere endorsed Buhari and the President released a statement CELEBRATING it. Yesterday, the real Afenifere, Ohanaeze, Northern Elders Forum and Middle Belt Forum endorsed Atiku and AsoRock released a statement calling it irrelevant, he said. It was reported Monday that several suspects had entered the Palestinian village of Deir Dibwan village in the West Bank, spraying malicious writings at the entrance to a mosque there. One of the writings read "Here they incite to murdering Jews." In addition, the village's residents reported they smelled an inflammable material at the mosque's entrance. The security forces have launched an investigation into the incident. Prime Minister and Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be extremely concerned by the political map taking shape in front of his very eyes. Even though Netanyahu is justifiably considered the no. 1 politician in Israel, and he is confidently heading toward another term, he has been shooting in almost all directions in recent days to prevent a possibility or a plot (according to him) that he won't be the one to form the next government after the elections. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter He asks to secure three spots in the Likud Party's Knesset list for his own personal candidates ("to prepare for the expected team-ups on the left"), calls on small parties to unite so as to not waste votes, and while he's at it he's trying to siphon votes from the Bennett-Shaked duo, Lieberman and Kahlon because (again) the "right-wing's rule is in danger." A senior Likud minister said in a private conversation a few days ago that it is quite possible that Netanyahu would have a hard time forming a stable coalition. "Netanyahu can bring 35 seats in the elections, but he might find himself without natural partners," the minister said. Gideon Sa'ar and Benjamin Netanyahu (Photos: Ynet, EPA) And how does that happen? If parties like Jewish Home, Moshe Feiglin's Zehut, Aryeh Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari's Otzma Yehudit, and perhaps even Shas and Yisrael Beytenu don't pass the election threshold of 3.25% of the vote, Netanyahu will have a hard time forming a new government. It's purely a question of math. This concern was compounded by Gantz's successful campaign launch event, which not only helped him skyrocket in the polls but also positioned him as a worthy opponent for Netanyahu in the race for the premiership. Netanyahu is convinced that, at the last minute, the left will get over its ego battles and present one united Knesset list against him. Netanyahu has the right to be paranoid. At times it even works for him. But there are a few moves that don't make sense: Netanyahu decided to secure three spots for his own candidates on the Likud Party's Knesset list, but senior officials in the party claim he is "trying to swindle Likud voters." Voting in the 2015 Likud primary in Tel Aviv (Photo: Motti Kimchi) If he wanted to bring the prominent right-wing parties into the fold, he would have had to give them spots in the top ten. So why is he also asking for the less attractive spots in the 20s and 30s? Does Netanyahu plan to bring "foreign elements" into the list, the kind even Likud voters would find hard to swallow? Even former coalition chairman, MK David Bitan, cracked up laughing when he heard Netanyahu's request to secure spots low on the list, saying: "It's a spin." And one more irrational thing that Netanyahu did on Sunday: Politically eliminating his former friend Gideon Sa'ar just 48 hours before the primary elections. Netanyahu is working to stop Sa'ar from making his way to the top of the list, but he has been unable to present even an ounce of evidence for his claim that Sa'ar is planning a putsch against him. Even early on, Likud officials expressed doubts over the prime minister's accusations of an internal plot to overthrow him. There are plenty of good reasons and bad reasons to support or not support Sa'ar in the primaries, but Netanyahu's plot theory is not one of them. Visitors at an annual flower festival in southern Israel over the weekend looted oranges, tangerines and lemons from private orchards in the region, trampled produce growing in the fields and left behind piles of garbage. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter According to local authorities, more than 60,000 people visited the area at the weekend for the start of the "Darom Adom" (Red South) festival, which marks the annual blossoming of red anemones in the northern Negev. Visitors picking fruits in orchards in the south As well as stealing agricultural produce, farmers across the south said visitors had mass picnics in the wheat fields near Kibbutz Be'eri, where some drove over the crops with their vehicles. After noticing the scores of visitors swarming the area, the farmers attempted to fend them off, but to no avail. Police officers who were later called to the scene were able to partially remove some of the people, some of whom continued to load huge quantities of fruit into their trunks. Meanwhile, visitors to the Shokeda Forest left a huge amount of garbage after them. "Because I observe the Shabbat I couldn't supervise what was going on in my orchards. My orchards are surrounded by blankets of anemones," said a farmer from Moshav Shuva in the Sdot Negev Regional Council. "I dont mind people visiting the area to enjoy the blooms in the south, but what happened here over the weekend is inconceivable," he said. "I don't recall my orchards turning into a free market. The visitors emptied my groves, while having their picnics and leaving behind huge amounts of trash. I couldn't believe my eyes when I came to work this morning. After tearing through the greenhouse nets, the visitors went inside and stole vegetables," the farmer said. Anemones in bloom in southern Israel (Photo: Yonatan Forman) Another farmer said: "After being informed about the large amount of strangers walking around in my orchard, I asked them to leave the premises. I was amazed by their nerve, told them this is private property and that our livelihood depends on this agricultural produce. But most of them just ignored me and kept on picking the fruit. "Some of them even had the audacity to tell me this is how they spend their day off. People just don't understand this is our livelihood," a third farmer said. Following the incident, the police said they would bolster their presence near agricultural areas to combat thieves and visitors causing damage to the produce. The CEO of the moshavim in the Negev, Yossi Yishai, who owns some the looted orchards, said: "The blossom is at its peak, and we enjoy visitors coming to tour the area. Nevertheless, the visitors must know it is forbidden to pick our fruit. "Visitors entering our fields and orchards, even if it is to pick one orange, cause severe damage. Moreover, the irrigation systems in the field are also harmed, which results in huge amounts of water going to waste," he said. Coalition Chairman David Amsalem (Likud) caused anger on Monday when he called former Israel Defense Forces chief and leader of the Israel Resilience Party Benny Gantz an "autistic person." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter In an interview with Radio Darom, Amsalem accused Gantz of "throwing himself a retirement party (from the IDF) which cost NIS 600,000 in tax payer money." When interviewer Mendi Rizel reasoned that Gantz did not organize his own party and therefore was unaware of how much it cost, Amsalem responded: "It's as if the IDF chief is some autistic person who doesn't care about anything and doesn't understand anything." Gantz, who has emerged as a viable rival for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the April 9 elections, has been the target of frequent attacks from Netanyahu's Likud party, including claims that the former IDF chief is left-wing or a danger to democracy. Benny Gantz and David Amsalem (Photos: GettyImages, Alex Kolomoisky) Yesh Atid leader MK Yair Lapid, whose daughter is autistic, slammed Amsalem. "Dudi Amsalem just said on the radio that Benny Gantz is autistic. Because being my daughter is a curse to him. Because in Amsalem's world, they always step on the weak," he wrote. "Benny Gantz is not autistic, Mr. Amsalem," Lapid said. "There's no need to pull over on the side of the road when he flies into a rage and starts biting his mother. He doesn't steal food from others' tables at restaurants. He doesn't need to undergo dental treatments under full anesthesia. His parents are not up at night trying to figure out who would take care of him when they are old." "I'm a politician; I'm supposed to always talk nice. Not this time. Beware of me Dudi, talk nicely about my daughter," Lapid said. Lapid and Gantz are currently holding low key talks about a possible team up between their two parties ahead of the April 9 elections. The main point of contention is who will lead the joint bloc, should they choose to unite. In response to Lapid, Amsalem issued a statement saying "I had no intention of hurting his (Lapid's) daughter, and certainly not any other special needs population. It saddens me that you are trying to gather votes using such a painful and sensitive issue. In any case, if anyone was offended by what I said, I deeply apologize for it." Amsalem's fellow Likud member, Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel, also criticized his remarks, telling Ynet that this was an "unnecessary comment." After years of waiting at camps in Gondar and Addis Ababa, 82 Ethiopian Jews of the Falash Mura community will make Aliyah to Israel on Monday evening and finally be reunited with their families. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The Falash Mura are members of the Beta Israel community in Ethiopia who converted under pressure to Christianity in the 19th and 20th centuries. They have since reverted back to Judaism, but they are not eligible to make Aliyah under the Israeli Law of Return. In November 2015, after ceaseless pressure from Ethiopian Jews who have immigrated to Israel and left behind family members, the Israeli government approved the immigration of some 9,000 Falash Mura. Under the decision, only first-degree family members, mostly parents and siblings, were allowed to immigrate to Israel. Zauditu's four siblings who were left in Ethiopia About two years ago, a group of 1,300 Falash Mura arrived in Israel and an additional 82 are expected to arrive on Monday on a flight funded in part by the Jewish Agency. But the joy of being reunited with their families will be mixed with sadness for some. Zauditu Tanasa, 26, made Aliyah to Israel alone about eight years ago. Today, she is married and a mother of twoEden, 6, and Daniel, 2and living in Kiryat Gat. Zauditu's mother Anakiya, 50, and four siblingsaged 23, 20, 17 and 14were left in Ethiopia. Zauditu Tanasa with her children Eden and Daniel Sadly, Anakiya, who was diagnosed with a serious illness, passed away a few days ago, before she could arrive in Israel and be reunited with her elderly parents, her nine siblings, her daughter Zauditu, and her two grandchildren. After Anakiya's passing, her four children who were left in Ethiopia lost their eligibility to make Aliyah to Israel. But the Interior Ministry has decided to make an exception and approve the Aliyah of Zauditu's four siblings. Anakiya Tanasa "I can't stop crying," said Zauditu. "My mother will not get to see her two grandchildren who were born here in Israel." "All of these years I've waited for her to follow me and make Aliyah," she said. "Three years ago, I went to visit Ethiopia, and that was the last time I saw her alive. Since then, we've spoken on the phone, I sent her photos of the grandchildren, but she couldn't hold on. A few days before she passed away, I managed to talk to her on the phone. My children were excitedly waiting to meet their grandmother here in Israel, but it won't happen now." BAGHDAD - Iraqi President Barham Salih said on Monday that US President Donald Trump did not ask Iraq's permission for US troops stationed there to "watch Iran." Speaking at a forum in Baghdad, Salih was responding to a question about Trump's comments to CBS about how he would ask troops stationed in Iraq to "watch" Iran. US troops in Iraq are there as part of an agreement between the two countries with a specific mission of combating terrorism, Salih said. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam on Saturday resisted mounting pressure from his Democratic party that he resign, denying that he appeared in a racist yearbook photo while admitting he once wore blackface in a dance contest. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Northam, who took office a year ago, said he would stay in his job. "As long as I feel that I can lead, I will continue to do that," he said. But even after he professed his innocence at a press conference, the pressure continued to grow, with senior Democrats across Virginia calling on him to step down. Virginia governor denies wearing KKK costume in yearbook photo X Northam had apologized on Friday, saying he was one of the people shown in the photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook, which depicted one person in blackface standing next to another in a Ku Klux Klan costume. But on Saturday he said he looked at the photo more carefully and is sure it was not him. In a news conference alongside his wife, Northam said he had made other mistakes, including dressing up in blackface to imitate Michael Jackson in a dance contest around the same time. Northam apologized for his past actions and vowed to work to earn forgiveness. Virginia's Governor Ralph Northam dressed in a KKK costume (Photo: AP) "I am simply asking for the opportunity to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that the person I was is not the man I am today," Northam said. His comments did not quell the growing pressure from within his party for him to resign. Late Saturday, Virginia's two senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, and Virginia Congressman Bobby Scott joined the ranks of prominent Democrats calling for his resignation. "After we watched his press conference today, we called Governor Northam to tell him that we no longer believe he can effectively serve as Governor of Virginia and that he must resign," they said in a joint statement. Even as Northam was speaking, Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said it was time for him to go. "Virginians and people across the country deserve better from their leaders, and it is clear that Ralph Northam has lost their trust and his ability to govern," Perez said in a statement. Democratic US Representatives Gerry Connolly and Don Beyer of Virginia said in a joint statement that they did not hear anything at his press conference that changed their view that Northam should resign. Virginia's Governor Ralph Northam (Photo: Reuters) Earlier in the day, others also called on him to step down. "Governor Northam has lost all moral authority and should resign immediately," former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat weighing a 2020 presidential run, said on Twitter. Protesters gathered in front of Northam's office in Richmond, Virginia, waving signs demanding he step down. The head of Northam's party in the state also called on him to quit. Other prominent Democrats - including 2020 presidential candidates Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Julian Castro - have been calling on Northam to resign since Friday. Northam, a 59-year-old pediatric neurologist and Army veteran, graduated from Norfolk medical school in 1984. The Virginia-Pilot, which published the photo on Friday, said on its website it obtained a copy of the photo from the Eastern Virginia Medical School library. In tweets Saturday night, President Donald Trump criticized Northam over his recent comments on late-term abortion. He also said that Northam's Republican opponent in the 2017 gubernatorial election, Ed Gillespie, would have won had the photo turned up during their campaign. It's easy to compare poverty to a tsunami: a monstrous wave that strikes without warning, a widespread phenomenon that leaves you helpless and without the ability to fight back. It can hit us all, and those in its way have three options: hiding, climbing to higher ground, or staying put and hoping the wave doesn't get you. In handling poverty in Israel, we use all three options, and they have not improved anything in in the current dismal situation. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter First of all, we hide behind data, statistics and reports just so we don't have to feel anything or see the painful truth: the poor are people like you and me, they aren't numbers and graphs. They're fathers, mothers, grandparents, friends and neighbors. They inhabit an entire world, just like the rest us, and shame on whoever makes them into a mere number. Homeless people go through garbage in search of food recyclable waste (Photo: Eran Granot) The second alternative is to remain in place, hoping the tidal wave doesn't sweep us along. This is a famous middle class tactic. We fool ourselves into thinking that poverty won't touch us, that it's a remote problem and that those who ended up poor did so through their own actions. The absurd thing is, in a country where citizens live by the mantra that "things will sort themselves out somehow," all you have to do to end up poor is fall ill or lose your job. Almost any "regular" family is three unpaid pay checks or a bout of illness away from slipping below the poverty line. Finally, our elected representatives flee to their ivory towers to save themselves. They make excuses for overlooking poverty in their state budgets, for pushing aside for more urgent matters and security issues, but the war on poverty is one we have no choice but to fight, and it is as urgent as the war with our enemies. It's a fight for Israeli society and its strength. As elections near, we must not forget the weaker sectors. Our public servants can't let this poverty tsunami drown us. They have to support all of Israeli society, and stop dealing only with the short-term. Some 1.8 million people live under the poverty line in Israel, and there isn't one governmental plan to deal with the problem neither in the near future nor the distant future. Not one government department sees eliminating poverty as its main goal, or devotes long-term processes to deal with the issue. The problem of poverty won't have a photogenic solution, the kind that makes headlines. There's no ribbon to cut, and no one will stand clapping when a minister finishes his term having eradicated poverty. But in the current situation, any leader with a little empathy and humanity can bring the longed-for change. The person who sees that hiding, climbing to higher ground or standing in place aren't solutions to the problem, and comes up with a new path to walk, will be the one who makes real news in Israel. No one will have the luxury of being surprised when the poverty tsunami finally hits us, mercilessly. The earthquake has already happened, and it's only a matter of time before years of ignoring the margins of society leads to an enraged backlash that will sweep through our streets with no prior notice. So when we go to vote this year, we should try to identify the candidate that could prevent this looming disaster. The author is the CEO of Pitchon Lev, a non-profit organization that fights hunger and poverty in Israel. Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu had aksdd Nigerians to boycott the forthcoming elections. The IPOB leader who also fixed February 16th, which is the date for the presidential election, as the day of the referendum for Biafra, said this on Saturday during his live broadcast from London, UK. By voting, all you are doing is perpetuating the misery of our people, he said. To vote in the zoo means to endorse 1999 fraudulent constitution. By voting, all you are doing is perpetuating the misery of our people. Reacting to Kanus statement, many Nigerians are calling those of Igbo extraction to shun election boycott and go all out to vote the candidate of their choice. Some of them who reacted via Twitter, labelled KANU a fraud, and asked that he should be totally ignored. Take a look at what Nigerians said via Twitter I thought Nnamdi Kanu guy is even educated and sensible but lately he's been saying all sort of gibberish. How can you tell your people not to vote & exercise their civil right ? And somehow he thinks he'll get a referendum by doing that smh dullard. Wolfgang Kohler (@_blackwolverine) February 4, 2019 Nnamdi Kanu used to make sense until this his recent "boycott election" nonsense. Now he's no better than a desperate lout be clouded by power mongery,self service and greed. Enebechi leo Esq. (SPFR) (@Iamprosperous1) February 4, 2019 https://twitter.com/Poltergeyst_/status/1092120798498820096?s=19 Nnamdi Kanu, a descendant of Israel and citizen of Britain says you should not vote on February 16 because the presidential candidates are from Sudan and Cameroon. Paul C Nwabuikwu (@paul_nwabuikwu) February 3, 2019 https://twitter.com/YemieFASH/status/1092004456412168193?s=19 Biafra was never the answer then, isn't the answer now an would never be in the future. The Igbo's should go out and vote. KANU is an idiot and would always be an idiot. tiredNigerian (@DuruchibuzorE) February 3, 2019 https://twitter.com/sholawa/status/1092044447053950976?s=19 Those agitating for boycotting of election on 16 Feb are worst than fools, this Biafra thing is getting some people mad. Igbos are known for their self reliance and deep thinking. Where is Nnamdi Kanu that's asking you to boycott election? pic.twitter.com/7L0u4GpJYH Olayinka Samuel (@_olayinka) February 3, 2019 https://twitter.com/bolanle_cole/status/1092031618687090693?s=19 https://twitter.com/toluogunlesi/status/1092039430783811584?s=19 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. Sheikhan (Irak) (AFP) - Thousands of Yazidis who survived atrocities at the hands of the Islamic State group bid a last farewell in Iraq on Monday to their spiritual leader who died last month. The longtime head of the world's Yazidi minority, Prince Tahseen Said Ali, died in the KRH Siloah hospital in Hanover, Germany at the age of 85 at the end of January. Incense floated in the air as thousands of mourners, both men and women, solemnly lined the side of the road to the mountaintop temple in the holy town of Lalish watching his wooden coffin go by. Musicians dressed in white played flutes and drums as they accompanied the funeral cortege on Monday, the eve of the prince's burial in the northern Iraqi town. "It's a day of great sadness," said one of the mourners, Abdel Khamuma. His death had left "an immense void", he told AFP. The Yazidi people were brutally targeted by the IS jihadists who swept across northern Iraq in 2014 and seized their bastion of Sinjar near the border with Syria. IS fighters slaughtered thousands of Yazidi men and boys, then abducted women and girls to be abused as "sex slaves". According to authorities, more than 6,400 Yazidis were abducted and only half of them were able to flee or be rescued. The fate of the others remains unknown. The brutal assault pushed around 360,000 of the Kurdish-speaking Yazidis to flee to other parts of Iraq, including the Kurdish region, in addition to another 100,000 who left the country altogether. The United Nations has said IS's actions could amount to genocide, and is investigating the jihadist group's atrocities across Iraq. The Yazidi faith emerged in Iran more than 4,000 years ago and is rooted in Zoroastrianism, over time integrating elements of Islam and Christianity. With no holy book and organised into castes, Yazidis pray to God facing the sun and worship his seven angels -- first and foremost Melek Taus, or Peacock Angel. Story continues Of the world's 1.5 million Yazidis, around 550,000 were living in the remote corners of northern Iraq, where their holiest site Lalish lies and where Prince Tahseen was born, before the IS onslaught. Prince Tahseen, whose body arrived in Iraq from Germany on Monday, will be buried in Lalish on Tuesday. The Yazidi cause has found a powerful symbol in Nadia Murad, a former IS abductee from Sinjar who escaped and went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her activism against sexual violence. Prince Tahseen was born in 1933 in Iraq's northwest Sheikhan district and was appointed head of the Yazidis at age 11 after the death of his father, who was the previous emir. He later moved to Germany, home of the biggest expatriate Yazidi community. Iraqi Yazidi parliamentarian Vian Dakhil has told AFP that before dying, Prince Tahseen had appointed his son, Hazem, to succeed him. ROME (Reuters) - Italy on Monday blocked a joint EU position to recognize Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president, diplomatic sources said, with the government in Rome deeply divided over the issue. Guaido said in a newspaper interview published on Monday he would do all he could to secure Rome's backing, but Italy's coalition parties took opposing positions. Alessandro Di Battista, a prominent figure in one of them, the 5-Star Movement, said: "Handing out ultimatums, sanctions, freezing Venezuelan goods ... It would mean opening the road to a military intervention. "The 5-Star Movement and this government will never recognize people who appoint themselves president." The other coalition party, the far-right League party, has come out strongly in favor of Guaido and acknowledged that attempts to find common cause with 5-Star had so far failed. "Our (coalition) allies think we need to act gradually and be more prudent," League head, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, told Rete 4 television. "We're not looking very good on this." European Union states have been debating for days how to address the Venezuela crisis, with 11 countries on Monday recognizing Guaido after President Nicolas Maduro ignored their demand to call a new election. But Italy blocked the draft EU statement. Guaido told Corriere della Sera newspaper that the only way Venezuela could emerge from the crisis was via "radical change" and said he hoped Rome would back him. "We'll do everything possible so that the Italian government adds its support - which is very important for us - to that expressed by the rest of the European Union," he was quoted as saying. Venezuelans of Italian origin are a large and influential group in the South American country. Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who plays a mainly ceremonial role and usually stays out of day-to-day politics, urged the government to overcome its differences and back Guaido. "We must demonstrate responsibility and clarity with a common line taken by all our EU partners and allies," Mattarella said at an event in Rome on Monday. Mainstream center-left and center-right opposition parties denounced the government for being out of step with major EU partners. "I think the day will come when (the government) will be ashamed of having been on the wrong side of history. I stand alongside our co-nationals, against dictatorship and for freedom," former prime minister Matteo Renzi said on Twitter. (Writing by Crispian Balmer; Reporting by Steve Scherer and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome and Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Robin Pomeroy) Geneva (AFP) - Finland has breached the political rights of its Sami population, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled Monday, charging that Helsinki had violated the indigenous people's right to "internal self-determination". Tiina Sanila-Aikio, president of Finland's Sami parliament, and 25 other lawmakers complained to the committee in October 2015, saying Helsinki had unlawfully interfered in their people's right to decide who can participate in elections to their house of representatives. They said Finland's Supreme Court had granted 93 people the right to vote in the Sami parliamentary elections, despite the fact that the house itself had found them ineligible. It had also rejected others in an "arbitrary" fashion, they said. "The Human Rights Committee found that Finland has improperly intervened in the complainers' rights to political participation regarding their specific rights as an indigenous people," a panel statement said. The Sami, formerly known as Lapps, are spread out across the northern parts of Sweden, Finland and Norway and the Russian Kola peninsula, in a region known as Lapland. According to the Finnish Sami parliament, there are 10,000 Sami in Finland. In the statement, committee chair Yuval Shany stressed that "the right to internal self-determination requires that indigenous peoples be afforded with the capacity to define group membership." "Although the state may exercise powers of oversight over procedures designed to facilitate the operation of indigenous peoples' democratic institutions, such powers should be applied carefully, on the basis of reasonable and objective criteria," he added. The team of 18 independent experts is tasked with monitoring whether countries are adhering to their human rights commitments, but it does not have enforcement powers. In Monday's ruling, it stressed the importance of ensuring that the Samis themselves determine who is eligible to take part in their elections. The Sami parliament, it said, "ensures an internal self-determination process, which is necessary for the continued viability and welfare of the indigenous community as a whole." The committee said it had asked Helsinki to inform it within six months about what measures it was taking to rectify the situation. Theres a new resource in the quest for equality and inclusion. Our goal is public service through public information, said Breanca Merritt, director of the newly formed Center for Research on Inclusion and Social Policy known as CRISP. The Indiana University Public Policy Institute created CRISP to serve as a centralized resource for reliable, nonpartisan data and research on the interrelated issues that make up the elements of social policy, such as education, poverty and housing. While most university research centers traditionally focus on a research agenda and producing peer-reviewed publications, CRISPs mission is to inform and educate the public about the many factors that contribute to the social policy conversation. A lot of the issues that create disparities are about more than just that one discipline, Merritt said. Its about the confluence of many other issues. Working to reduce disparities is a very complex task because you really have to tackle problems across a multitude of areas. CRISP is where all that research comes together. CRISPs analysts will provide on-going research and evaluation on a variety of inclusion-based topics through issues that are timely and relevant to Hoosiers. Were already working on briefs about international immigration to Indiana, as well as eviction trends around Indianapolis, Merritt said. Merritt uses Indianapolis as an example, saying that while the city hasnt always been quick to talk about disparities or how to properly address them, leaders are making progress. The city is moving in the right direction, but they dont have one place to get all the information they need about the causes and connections between these issues, she said. CRISP fills that important void for the city and the community. Merritt says by filling that void, CRISP can open eyes to the complexity of multifaceted issues like poverty and racial equity, and the role policies can play in both hurting and helping those affected. I think the language of American culture at large is a very individualistic, she says. Regardless of whether things are going well or poorly, its put on the individual, not the system. The truth is, a lot of people can work multiple jobs and its not enough. Thats an issue with the system, not the individual. When legislators, community leaders and neighbors have a better understanding of social issues, Merritt says it provides an opportunity for our communities to move forward collectively. We can lead conversations about disparity and inequity in a way thats neutral and less emotional than those who focus on advocacy, she adds. Talking through research presents a neutral ground to clearly see the differences that exist so we can address them and succeed together. Not only does CRISP provide critical information to the community, it gives students a unique opportunity to work alongside analysts, develop data-centered reports, and work with clients and partners. SPEA students major in making a difference, Merritt said. Increasingly, making a difference means youre accountable to funding organizations, government, and other agencies. To get a job in todays workforce, especially in a nonprofit environment, you have to know a little about how data works. You have to know who your stakeholders are and how to tell a story that compels them to support your cause. We help students learn how to do that. Merritt points out that the student positions at CRISP arent only for SPEA majors or those who are passionate about data. Their research assistants come from a variety of schools. You dont have to be a numbers person to do this, she said. We want students who are passionate about their community and who want to learn. Breanca Merritt is director of the newly formed Center for Research on Inclusion and Social Policy, CRISP. Students interested in learning more about opportunities at CRISP may contact Breanca Merritt at breanca@iupui.edu. By Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said military intervention in Venezuela was "an option" as Western nations boost pressure on socialist leader Nicolas Maduro to step down, while the troubled OPEC nation's ally Russia warned against "destructive meddling." The United States, Canada and several Latin American countries have disavowed Maduro over his disputed re-election last year and recognized self-proclaimed President Juan Guaido as the country's rightful leader. Trump said U.S. military intervention was under consideration in an interview with CBS aired on Sunday. "Certainly, it's something that's on the - it's an option," Trump said, adding that Maduro requested a meeting months ago. "I've turned it down because we're very far along in the process," he said in a "Face the Nation" interview. "So, I think the process is playing out." The Trump administration last week issued crippling sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA, a key source of revenue for the country, which is experiencing medicine shortages and malnutrition. Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse and the exodus of millions of Venezuelans, maintains the backing of Russia, China and Turkey, and the critical support of the military. Russia, a major creditor to Venezuela in recent years, urged restraint. "The international community's goal should be to help (Venezuela), without destructive meddling from beyond its borders," Alexander Shchetinin, head of the Latin America department at Russia's Foreign Ministry, told Interfax. France and Austria said they would recognize Guaido if Maduro did not respond to the European Union's call for a free and fair presidential election by Sunday night. "We don't accept ultimatums from anyone," Maduro said in a defiant interview with Spanish television channel Antena 3 carried out last week and broadcast on Sunday. "I refuse to call for elections now - there will be elections in 2024. We don't care what Europe says." EMBOLDENED OPPOSITION The 35-year-old Guaido, head of the country's National Assembly, has breathed new life into a previously fractured and weary opposition. Tens of thousands of people thronged the streets of various Venezuelan cities on Saturday to protest Maduro's government. Guaido allies plan to take a large quantity of food and medicine donated by the United States, multilateral organizations and non-profit groups across the Colombian border into the Venezuelan state of Tachira this week, according to a person directly involved in the effort. The group has not yet determined which border point it will cross, said the person, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the issue. It is unclear whether Maduro's government, which denies the country is suffering a humanitarian crisis, will let any foreign aid through. The embattled president on Sunday promised peace for Venezuela without specifically responding to Trump. "In Venezuela, there will be peace, and we will guarantee this peace with the civil military union," he told state television, in the company of khaki and black-clad soldiers who were earlier shown carrying guns and jumping from helicopters into the sea. Maduro has overseen several such military drills since Guaido declared himself president to display he has the backing of the military, and that Venezuelas armed forces are ready to defend the country. Air Force General Francisco Yanez disavowed Maduro in a video this weekend, calling on members of the military to defect. But there were no signs the armed forces were turning against Maduro. Venezuela has as many as 2,000 generals, according to unofficial estimates, many of whom do not command troops and whose defection would not necessarily weaken the ruling socialists. The police have also fallen in line with Maduro. A special forces unit called FAES led home raids following unrest associated with opposition protests in January, killing as many as 10 people in a single operation in a hillside slum of Caracas. Venezuela's ambassador to Iraq, Jonathan Velasco, became the latest official to recognize opposition leader Guaido this weekend. (Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Brian Ellsworth and Sarah Marsh; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Peter Cooney) Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi politicians on Monday hit back at Donald Trump after the US president said he plans to keep American forces in the country to spy on Iran. In an interview with CBS television, Trump reaffirmed his determination to pull the United States out of "endless wars" in Syria and Afghanistan but said American troops would stay on in Iraq, partly "to be looking a little bit at Iran". "We spent a fortune on building this incredible base. We might as well keep it," he said, referring to Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq that he visited in December. "If somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we're going to know it before they do," he said in the interview aired on Sunday. His comments sparked a new round of demands in Baghdad for US forces to leave the country. "The Iraqi constitution rejects the use of Iraq as a base for hitting or attacking a neighbouring country," President Barham Saleh said. Saleh said US forces were in the country legally under an agreement between the two countries, but that "any action taken outside this framework is unacceptable". Iraq's government plays a delicate balancing act between its two main allies, Washington and Tehran, which are bitter enemies. The US has been leading a coalition to crush the Islamic State group which grabbed swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, and multiple offensives have since ousted the jihadists from all but a sliver of territory in eastern Syria. Baghdad's position has also been complicated by Trump's shock December decision to pull troops out of neighbouring Syria, prompting pro-Iran factions to step up calls for an accelerated US withdrawal from Iraq. Sabah al-Saadi, a member of parliament in the bloc led by influential anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, has proposed a bill demanding a US pullout. Trump's latest remarks had made passing such a law "a national duty". Story continues Deputy speaker of parliament Hassan Karim al-Kaabi, also close to Sadr, said they were a "new provocation", weeks after the US president sparked outrage in Iraq by visiting US troops at Ain al-Asad without meeting a single Iraqi official. Officially, Iraq says there are no American bases on its soil -- only instructors deployed at Iraqi bases. Kurdish MP Sarkawt Shams tweeted that the mission of US troops in Iraq was "to help Iraqi security forces against terrorism, not 'watching' others". "We are expecting the United States to respect Our mutual interests and avoid pushing Iraq into a regional conflict," he said. Washington has had troops in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. At the height of its fight against insurgents, it had up to 170,000 US troops in the country, before a partial withdrawal starting in late 2011. Istanbul (AFP) - Thousands of people rallied in Istanbul Sunday for hunger strikers protesting against the prison conditions of militant Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. The protesters gathered amid tight police security at a square in Bakirkoy on the European side of the city. "I am saluting my friends resisting in prisons. They are our honour, they are not alone," said Fahit Ulas, a supporter of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). "If needed we will sacrifice our bodies for this cause. We have no fear," he insisted. Around 250 prisoners all over Turkey have begun hunger strikes along with HDP deputy Leyla Guven, who wants to force the Turkish government to let Ocalan hold regular meetings with his lawyers and relatives. Ocalan, a founder of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and Washington, has been sentenced to life in prison and has been held on a prison island near Istanbul since his capture in 1999. Guven, 55, was jailed in January 2018 for criticising Turkey's military operation against a Syrian Kurdish militia. Last week, a Turkish court in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir freed her under judicial supervision. Guven, who marked the 88th day of her hunger strike on Sunday, launched her protest in jail on November 8. She told AFP in an interview that she would press on with the hunger strike at home. Garo Paylan, an HDP deputy who joined the Istanbul protest, said that staging a hunger strike was a "last resort," and told AFP: "We want this demand to be fulfilled before any death." In 2012, hundreds of Kurdish prisoners ended a 68-day hunger strike after Ocalan urged them to do so. Several HDP deputies have been jailed and in an interview Sunday with state-run TRT television, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "The HDP is equal to the PKK ... It's crystal clear." Rabat (AFP) - A Spanish-Swiss man accused of having ties to the alleged killers of two Scandinavian hikers in Morocco told an anti-terror judge he was innocent at a hearing Monday, his lawyer said. "He affirmed his innocence before the examining magistrate, who heard him out in a positive atmosphere", lawyer Saad Sahli told AFP. Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland were found beheaded on December 17 in the High Atlas mountains south of Marrakesh. Moroccan authorities have called the killing a "terrorist" act and charged more than 20 people over their alleged involvement. The Spanish-Swiss suspect, who was arrested in Marrakesh, subscribed to "extremist ideology", the authorities allege. He is accused of having "taught certain people arrested in this affair the communication tools of new technologies and of having trained them to shoot", according to the anti-terror unit of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ). Investigators say the Spanish-Swiss suspect was involved in "recruitment operations and the indoctrination of Moroccan citizens and sub-Saharan Africans to execute terrorist plans in Morocco". The authorities allege that the four main suspects in the murder were inspired by the Islamic State group, but say they were not in direct contact with IS members in Iraq or Syria. Morocco, which relies heavily on tourism income, suffered a jihadist attack in 2011, when a bomb blast at a Marrakesh cafe killed 17 people, mostly European tourists. David Axe Security, A new photo of Russia's Hunter-B killer drone appears to confirm major drawbacks in the vehicle's design. This Photo May Prove Russia's New Hunter-B Killer Drone Isn't Very Stealthy A new photo of Russia's Hunter-B killer drone appears to confirm major drawbacks in the vehicle's design. With its apparently straight engine inlet and bulky, exposed engine nozzle, the approximately 50-feet-wingspan Hunter-B probably isn't very stealthy. The first blurry images of the Hunter-B drone appeared on Jan. 23, 2019 on a Russian aviation website. Those photos depict, from behind and in front, a tractor towing the unmanned aerial vehicle along a snow-ringed runway at an airfield in Novosibirsk in southern Russia. A new photo, showing the Hunter-B from the side, appeared on social media in early February. In that new pic, the Hunter-B is either parked on a runway or taxiing under its own power. Hunter-B hasnt yet flown its first test flight. Broadly speaking, Hunter-B is a flying wing that's similar in shape to the U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber. But aside from its lack of vertical control surfaces, the Russian UAV is non-stealthy. For one, it appears that the Hunter-B's nose-mounted inlet directly exposes the face of the drone's engine. That could produce a huge blip on any radar viewing the Hunter-B from head-on. "Most of the [radar-cross section] contribution for the nose region will result from the engine inlet," John Kelly, a Boeing engineer, explained in a 1975 study. Designers for years have struggled to reduce UAVs' frontal RCS. Northrop Grumman described its X-47B carrier-drone demonstrator as "low-observable relevant" rather than "low-observable," apparently owing in part to the types straight inlet. Stealthy aircraft often feature serpentine inlets with winding channels that mask the engine from view. Northrop managers told reporters that, if the U.S. Navy were to select the X-47B for development into a front-line warplane, the company might modify the design for greater stealth. Perhaps not coincidentally, the X-47B and Hunter-B share strikingly similar nose profiles. Story continues As it turned out, in 2018 the U.S. Navy tapped Boeing with its MQ-25 design to build the fleet's first carrier-launched UAV. The MQ-25 will enter service as an aerial refueling tanker, but also could evolve to perform other roles such as surveillance and strike. Boeing took pains to include key stealth features in the MQ-25's design. In contrast to the Hunter-B with its nose inlet, the MQ-25's inlet is on its dorsal spine -- a feature Boeing apparently borrowed from Northrop's 1980s-vintage Tacit Blue stealth demonstrator. Indeed, Tacit Blue and Boeing's MQ-25 are similar in several regards, Aviation Week reporter Graham Warwick pointed out . "On Tacit Blue the engines exhausted from a slot nozzle located between V-tails -- which also seems to be the case with Boeings MQ-25," Warwick wrote. A wide, short slot nozzle helps to mask a drone's engine from sensors viewing the vehicle from below, behind and the sides. Even the modestly-stealthy X-47B has a slot-like nozzle. On Hunter-B, by contrast, the engine juts out of the back of the airframe for a span of several feet, which is "about as bad as it gets when it comes to reducing the infrared and radar signatures of the aircraft," The War Zone reporter Tyler Rogoway wrote . Hunter-B is not very stealthy. But that doesn't mean the Russian air force won't deploy the drone in large numbers in the near future. Russia's experience in Syria underscored the need for armed drones, Samuel Bendett, an expert on the Russian military, told reporter Kelsey Atherton. "Going into Syria in 2015, Russia was lacking a key combat element the ability to hit targets quickly following their identification, one of the key functions of [unmanned combat air vehicles] around the world today." Weighing 20 tons and capable of speeds up to 620 miles per hour, Hunter-B likely will be the "heaviest and fastest UAV [in Russian service] if and when fielded," Bendett said. The developers reportedly plan to fly the drone for the first time this year. Hunter-B could give the Russian air force the ability to quickly strike pop-up targets. It just probably wont be capable of sneaking past enemy air defenses in order to do so. David Axe serves as the new Defense Editor of the National Interest. He is the author of the graphic novels War Fix, War Is Boring and Machete Squad. Read full article MIAMI (AP) An emigre who once fled a right-wing strongman in Peru has made his U.S.-based television program a forum for hardline opponents of Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas Maduro including some who are quite ready for the shedding of blood. "I am a conspirator in favor of freedom," Jaime Bayly says. Bayly's news and opinion program airs each weeknight on Mega TV, a relatively small network of Spanish-language stations around the United States. But YouTube videos of his programs are viewed by tens of thousands of people across the hemisphere. Programs have frequently featured Venezuelan opposition leaders such as Henrique Capriles, Leopoldo Lopez and other critics of the Maduro administration, many of whom have encouraged their country's entrepreneurs and military officials to repudiate the embattled leader. That campaign got a dramatic boost last week when the head of Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress, Juan Guaido, a Lopez protege, proclaimed himself the country's interim president. The United States, Canada and a dozen regional nations quickly announced that they recognize Guaido and not Maduro as president, saying Maduro's re-election last May was a sham. Hours after Guaido's announcement, Bayly was behind his wooden desk on television calling on members of Venezuela's all-important military to rally behind the National Assembly leader and maintaining that "the dictator Maduro has his hours counted." Bayly says he has done nothing wrong, but his program has featured guests who openly advocate killing Maduro and quite a few of his supporters. In a program following an Aug. 4 attempt to assassinate Maduro with explosives-laden drones, Bayly expressed regret it failed. He also had a sympathetic exchange on the program with opposition activist Roberto Olivares, an occasional guest, who called toppling Maduro "a spiritual duty." "What good is it to annihilate Maduro if Cabello takes office?" Bayley responded, referring to socialist party leader Diosdado Cabello. Story continues However, Bayly then noted Maduro's denunciations of assassination plots and said: "But it seems to me that's the natural consequence of all the evil he has done, no?" With no objection from Bayly, Olivares proposed "a civilian-military junta, more military than civilian, that at a minimum would impose order for six months, a year, to be able to clean up certain radical factions on their side who are going to remain in the country and have to be eliminated as well, and eliminate them is kill them, full stop." Maduro has taken note of such statements, accusing Bayly of conspiring with the U.S. to remove him from power and saying he had proof the political commentator was involved in the done attack. "It's easy for a U.S. television station to direct the death of a president," Maduro said. "What would happen if a braggart like this one, from a Venezuelan TV station, ordered the assassination of the president of the United States? We would prosecute him, because that is a serious crime." David Smilde, a professor of sociology and Latin American studies at Tulane University, said the Federal Communications Commission has never paid as much attention to Spanish-language media as it should. "Jaime Bayly engages in speech that can reasonably be said to incite violence," Smilde said. "It is doubtful that an English-language show with this content would be able to operate without FCC investigations or impediments." Bayly says that before the drone incident, a group of soldiers told him of the planned attack. "I didn't know if it was true or false. They told me: 'Let's kill him with drones,'" the commentator told The Associated Press in a December interview at his home in Key Biscayne, an island near Miami where dozens of wealthy Venezuelan families live. "They wanted money to hide or to plot a second conspiracy," Bayly said, adding that he made calls soliciting support to exiled Venezuelan businessman and U.S. officials, but without success. He did not identify the people he called. Bayly insisted he played no direct role in violent plots to bring down Maduro. "No, it doesn't come to that," he said. "It's about promoting it, persuading people that it's the best option." "I ask rich Venezuelans, free in exile, to understand that they are the ones who have to solve the problem," Bayly said. A well-known novelist and journalist in Peru, Bayley fled to the United States in 1992 during the strong-arm government of Alberto Fujimori. After Fujimori was driven from power in 2000, Bayley began returning home and dabbling in politics, and several times toyed publicly with a presidential run. Speaking slowly, he reiterated his disdain for both right-wing and left-wing dictatorships and said he is solely taking a stand against abuse of power. "You have to be transparent," he said. Bayly said he has been threatened because of his opposition to Maduro. After the assassination attempt, Bayly said, his car was rammed against a lamp post. The attacker managed to flee. "I do not know if they wanted to scare me or if they wanted to kill me," he said. Bayly said he feels afraid at times, but tries to focus on his job: putting the news in context and giving his owns opinion. "I prefer not to think about that because if I let myself be trapped by fear, I don't leave my house, I don't do the program," he said. ___ Associated Press writer Joshua Goodman in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report. Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - A Palestinian died Sunday from gunshot wounds inflicted by Israeli soldiers during violent protests along the Gaza Strip's border, the enclave's health ministry said. Ahmed Abu Jamal, 30, was wounded during clashes in Beit Lahiya in the north of Gaza on January 29, said ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra. Unrest has shaken the frontier between Gaza and Israel since March as residents of the blockaded enclave have staged mass protests. More than 30 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire on Friday as the weekly demonstrations again turned violent. At least 247 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since March 30, the majority during border protests but also by tank fire and air strikes. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed during the same period. Israel says its actions are necessary to defend the border and stop mass incursions into its territory. It accuses Gaza's Islamist ruler Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, of seeking to use the protests as cover to carry out violence. Caracas (AFP) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appeared in public on Saturday for the first time since a military parade in August when he claimed to have been targeted in an attempted assassination. Dressed in a red shirt, the socialist leader took part in celebrations in central Caracas marking the 20th anniversary of his predecessor Hugo Chavez's ascent to power. He hadn't appeared before the public since August 4 when two explosives-laden drones allegedly blew up during a military parade leaving seven soldiers injured. Standing alongside his wife Cilia Flores, Maduro sung and rallied thousands of supporters that had come out to mark the anniversary of Chavez's socialist revolution. Former bus driver Maduro came to power in 2013 as a hand-picked successor when Chavez died. Since the alleged drone attack, Maduro had limited his appearances to enclosed areas, some of which were only shown on television at a later time. Around 30 people were arrested after the drone incident, including two active generals and an opposition deputy, Juan Requesens. Maduro's appearance happened on a day when tens of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets of Caracas in opposing protests. In the east of the capital, self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido led an opposition rally demanding that Maduro resign and new presidential elections. Guaido, the National Assembly president, has led opposition to Maduro since he was elected to his post in December. On January 23 he declared himself acting president in a direct challenge to Maduro and was quickly recognized by the United States and a dozen Latin American countries. Four major European nations -- Britain, France, Germany and Spain -- have said they will follow suit if Maduro doesn't call elections by midnight on Sunday. As we enter into what is hopefully the final month of winter, we have plenty to celebrate at Indiana University. But as the days get longer and the snow begins to melt, our excitement is not limited to the arrival of spring. Each year, we join the country in marking February as Black History Month a time to celebrate the culture and accomplishments of Black Americans throughout our history. With events taking place across all of our campuses, there are many ways to mark this important holiday with the IU community. By celebrating Black History Month across Indiana University, we pay tribute to a celebratory movement that began on Americas college campuses. In 1969, students and faculty at Kent State University proposed the first Black History Month as a way to celebrate the accomplishments, culture and history of African-Americans. By 1975, Kent States celebration had spread across the country, leading President Gerald Ford to officially designate February as Black History Month nationwide. Today, IU is proud to carry on this tradition with programming that celebrates the many ways Black communities have contributed to our university, our state and our country. Of course, celebrating Black History Month also allows the IU community to reflect on the long history of African-Americans finding success at our university. During this month in particular, we remember the first African-American man and woman to attend IU, Harvey Young and Carrie Parker Taylor. So too do we remember the legacies of the first African-American male and female graduates, Marcellus Neal and Frances Marshall. From the founding of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity in 1911 to the creation of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center in 1969, the legacy of African-American achievement at IU is a long one a fact that we honor by celebrating Black History Month each year. On the IU Bloomington campus, celebrating this legacy will focus on a key aspect of Black History Month: a recognition of Black art and music. Whether through musical performance, dance or visual arts, Black Americans have pioneered new forms of creative expression that have empowered communities and inspired audiences for generations. This years theme, Lift Every Voice: A Celebration of Black Music and Art, will pay tribute to this groundbreaking legacy. Some of the events taking place on the Bloomington campus include: A long-standing Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center tradition, this years Black Knowledge Bowl will focus on an interactive exploration of Black music and pop culture with the theme of Please Dont Stop the Music. Planned in conjunction with the Black Student Union and the African Student Association, the event will take place at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Centers Bridgwaters Lounge. The events taking place at IU Bloomington are just one part of the greater celebration happening across Indiana University. Some of the events taking place on our campuses throughout the state include: At IUPUI, join students and Young, Gifted and Black for Love Being Woke: A Conversation About Black Love, a lunchtime discussion of black love and relationships. Refreshments will be provided. The event takes place at 11 a.m. Feb. 5 at Taylor Hall 101. At IU Kokomo, visitors can drop by KC 130 AC from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 12 to experience a mobile museum dedicated to chronicling and celebrating black history. At IU Northwest, attendees can join the campus in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Black Studies Program, featuring a keynote lecture by Professor Emeritus Abdul Alkalimat, one of the programs founders. The event takes place at 6 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Bruce W. Bergland Auditorium. At IU South Bend, join the community for a presentation by historian Jeff Wiltse, who will share stories from his book, Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America. The discussion will take place at the IU South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Centers historic Engman Public Natatorium, a former indoor swimming pool that was a site of exclusion and segregation until 1950. The presentation will take place at 6 p.m. Feb. 8 After attending the talk, make sure to attend the centers Streets Family Photos exhibition, which features photograms from Bernard and Odie May Streets, educators and activists who worked with the South Bend community to desegregate the citys public spaces. The exhibition runs throughout the month. At IU East, the Multicultural Affairs Club and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee will host a screening and discussion of Spike Lees BlacKkKlansman. The screening will take place in Whitewater Hall at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 19. At IU Southeast, join Justin Jones-Fosu for a presentation titled, WHY Matters NOW: How Purpose and Passion Inspire Meaningful Success. Jones-Fosu will equip attendees with the tools to become more successful leaders and engaged citizens in their communities. The events take place at 10 a.m. Feb. 15 in the Hoosier Room of the IU Southeast Conference Center. This is but a sampling of the many celebrations happening across our campuses and throughout the community. Taken in sum, they make one thing clear: throughout Black History Month and beyond, we have plenty to celebrate. I encourage all of our community to visit the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs website for more information on getting involved and celebrating this important month. James Wimbush is vice president for diversity, equity and multicultural affairs at Indiana University. Democratic Senator from Ohio Sherrod Brown visited NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday and matter of factly stated, We have a president whos a racist. The topic of racism began when host Chuck Todd asked Brown about adding his name to the growing list of politicos calling for Virginia Governor Ralph Northams resignation. Todd talked about a change in the political landscape regarding past racist transgressions for politicians and then asked Brown, What does it say that folks are now being held accountable for blackface in ways, frankly, that we didnt have that kind of, that strong of a moral code, I would argue, in our politics, until recently? Why do you think that is? Brown did not pull punches, saying, Well, I think this country hasnt dealt well with the issues of race. I mean, we have a president whos a racist. Todd then interjected by asking, Let me pause you there. You believe, in his heart, hes a racist? Brown answered, Well, I dont know what, in his heart, means. And then went on to list the many well known facts that would lead anyone with common sense to label Trump a racist. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Brown has not declared himself a candidate for president in 2020 yet, but all signs point to a run. He was in Iowa on Saturday, part of a three day trip to the early caucus state, where he spoke to a crowd of mostly union workers. Theres little doubt that Brown will throw his hat into the ring, its just a matter of when. WASHINGTON (AP) The Russia investigation snared another associate of President Donald Trump with the arrest of self-described political "dirty trickster" Roger Stone. The charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller reveal new details about how the Trump campaign sought to benefit from the release of hacked material damaging to Hillary Clinton. But they don't definitively answer the key question in the Russia probe: Did the Trump campaign coordinate with Russia's efforts to sway the 2016 election? Some takeaways from the indictment against Stone, who was arrested Friday. WHAT'S STONE ACCUSED OF DOING? Lying to Congress. Obstructing the House intelligence committee's Russia investigation. And witness tampering. The charges stem from what prosecutors say were Stone's efforts to conceal the nature of his discussions during the 2016 election about WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy group that released thousands of emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. U.S. intelligence agencies and Mueller's investigators have said Russia was the source of that hacked material. Prosecutors say Stone lied during his Sept. 26, 2017, testimony before the House intelligence committee about his interactions regarding WikiLeaks and his communications with the Trump campaign. They say he also falsely claimed he didn't have documents requested by the committee when he did. And he is accused of "corruptly" persuading one of his associates, New York radio host Randy Credico, not to testify before the House intelligence committee in an effort to conceal Stone's false statements. Stone has denied any wrongdoing, saying any misstatements he made were "immaterial and without intent." WHO IS ROGER STONE? He's a longtime political consultant, a purveyor of conspiracy theories and an unabashed reveler in his own reputation for underhanded tactics. Story continues A self-described "dirty trickster" with a tattoo of former President Richard Nixon on his back, Stone served on Trump's campaign during the early months of the 2016 presidential race. Though he was quickly ousted from the campaign, he has remained an ardent defender of the president and a colorful critic of the Mueller probe. The indictment and Stone's response Friday only served to build on that reputation. The document quotes Stone encouraging Credico to cover up Stone's false statements to the House intelligence committee by doing "a 'Frank Pentangeli,'" a reference to a character in "The Godfather: Part II" who lies before Congress. Stone, who calls Credico a "rat" and "stoolie," is also quoted as threatening to take Credico's dog, Bianca, away from him. After his release from custody Friday, Stone called in to the conspiracy theory show, Infowars, from the courthouse to dispute the charges. He branded the conversation an "exclusive." He then walked out smiling to speak to a crowd of reporters and a live cable news audience, torching his arrest as politically motivated. WHAT DOES THE INDICTMENT SAY ABOUT THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN? It says that people in the highest levels of the Trump campaign were trying to find out WikiLeaks' plans to release derogatory information on Clinton, and Stone was the chosen conduit in that effort. The indictment says that by June and July 2016, Stone told senior Trump campaign officials that WikiLeaks had obtained documents that could be damaging to Clinton's campaign. Then later, after WikiLeaks released hacked material from the Democratic National Committee on July 22, 2016, the indictment says a senior Trump campaign official "was directed" to contact Stone about additional releases and "what other damaging information" WikiLeaks had "regarding the Clinton campaign." The indictment does not name the official or say who directed the outreach to Stone. It notes that Stone then continued to pass information along about WikiLeaks and quotes conversations he had with Steve Bannon, who served at the highest level of the campaign and later joined the White House. The indictment doesn't accuse any campaign officials of wrongdoing or say that they coordinated directly with WikiLeaks. It also doesn't say that Stone had any special knowledge of WikiLeaks' plans. HOW IS THIS BAD FOR TRUMP? It adds to the growing list of Trump associates who have been charged in the special counsel's probe. And it renews questions about why so many people around the president have been accused of lying in the Russia investigation. Stone is the sixth Trump associate charged by Mueller, joining a cast of Trump's former national security adviser, his campaign chairman, his former personal lawyer and two other campaign aides. The indictment also paints an unflattering picture of the president's campaign. It shows that people in then-candidate Trump's inner circle were actively trying to politically benefit from material stolen from Democratic groups and the Clinton campaign during the election. HOW IS THIS GOOD FOR TRUMP? The president himself isn't accused of a crime. Stone isn't implicated in any conspiracy with WikiLeaks or the Russian government, and neither is anyone else in the campaign. That lack of direct allegations of colluding with Russian election interference provided new ammunition for Trump and his allies to attack the special counsel's probe. After the indictment was announced, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the charges against Stone "don't have anything to do with the president." Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said the indictment "does not allege Russian collusion by Roger Stone or anyone else." For his part, the president tweeted: "Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country! NO COLLUSION!" ___ Read the indictment: http://apne.ws/1P23qpR BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State on Thursday denied being behind a suicide blast that hit the governing council of insurgent-held Idlib in northwest Syria on Tuesday, its Amaq news service said. The explosion, which targeted the "Salvation Government" building of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militia in Idlib this Tuesday was not connected to fighters of the Islamic State," Amaq said, citing a security source. Islamic State only rarely denies carrying out attacks. Idlib and adjacent areas in northwest Syria are the last stronghold of rebels who rose up against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. Tahrir al-Sham this month seized control of most of Idlib after fighting with Turkish-backed insurgents. No other group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's blast. There have been frequent bombings and shootings targeting officials in rebel groups in Idlib over the past year. The Salvation Government runs the areas held by Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist alliance that includes the former Syrian al Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front. A war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said on Tuesday the blast had killed one person and injured three others, and that Islamic State was suspected. Islamic State has lost almost all its territory in Syria, but still claims responsibility for a string of bombings targeting U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led militia in northeast Syria. (Reporting By Ahmed Tolba in Cairo; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) Washington (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund board on Monday approved a $2 billion loan payment to Egypt, the latest in the country's three-year aid program. The latest installment brings the total paid to Cairo to about $10 billion since the loan deal was signed in November 2016. The previous loan tranche was approved in July of last year but this fourth review of Egypt's program had been awaiting board approval since October, when IMF staff and government officials had finalized it. IMF chief Christine Lagarde announced January 25 that the final details had been worked out, clearing the way for the payment. Since the 2011 revolt that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak, the economy of the Arab world's most populous country has received multiple shocks caused by political instability and security issues. Egypt has imposed harsh austerity measures to try to right the economy and reduce the budget deficit, including hiking fuel prices and electricity rates. Lagarde has praised the "substantial progress" made by the Egyptian government on the reforms, which have boosted growth and cut unemployment to the lowest rate since 2011. But she also urged the government "to press ahead with structural reforms that facilitate private sector-led growth and job creation." The fund expects the nation's economy to growth 5.5 percent this year. HONG KONG (AP) A Hong Kong police bomb squad on Saturday destroyed a World War I-era hand grenade found at a food-processing facility in a shipment of potatoes from France, news reports said. Employees reported a suspicious object encased in mud at the facility in Tseung Kwan O district in the New Territories, according to the Sing Tao Daily newspaper and other outlets. A bomb squad concluded the 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) object was a hand grenade, possibly made in Germany. Officers moved cars and piled sandbags around the grenade, then detonated it, according to Sing Tao, the Observer and other outlets. No injuries were reported. Sing Tao cited police as saying there was no indication of criminal activity. By Sudip Kar-Gupta PARIS (Reuters) - France stepped up pressure on Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Monday, saying opposition leader Juan Guaido has the right to organize new elections. "Guaido has the capacity and the legitimacy to organize an election," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Inter radio station. Several major European nations had been expected to start recognizing Guaido from Monday, after an eight-day deadline they set last weekend for Maduro to call a new vote. The Venezuelan socialist leader, who is accused of running the OPEC nation like a dictatorship and wrecking its economy, has defied that, saying Europe's ruling elite are sycophantically following U.S. President Donald Trump's agenda. Le Drian said France would consult European partners over Venezuela, and that it was imperative the conflict was resolved peacefully and civil war avoided. The United States, Canada and several Latin American countries have disavowed Maduro over his disputed re-election last year, and backed Guaido. Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse and the exodus of millions of Venezuelans, maintains the backing of Russia, China and Turkey, and the support of the military top brass. Russia, a major creditor to Venezuela in recent years, has urged restraint. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Andrew Cawthorne) By John Irish and Sophie Louet PARIS (Reuters) - French warplanes struck a rebel convoy in northern Chad on Sunday, helping local troops repel an incursion across the border from Libya, a sign France's support for President Idriss Deby goes beyond fighting Islamist militants. Mirage jets struck a column of 40 pickups carrying armed groups from Libya deep into Chadian territory, the French army said in a statement. "This intervention at the request of Chadian authorities helped hinder this hostile advance and disperse the column," it said. The strikes were the first by French jets in support of Chadian troops since the rebel Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR) based in southern Libya increased its activities last year in a bid to overthrow him. The Union of Forces of Resistance (UFR), a rebel Chadian coalition created in 2009 after almost toppling Deby, said it was behind the offensive. CCMSR is a splinter group of the UFR. "The aim is to bring Deby down," a UFR official said. "We thought France would not intervene in Chad's internal affairs, but it appears that it is offering no solutions for the Chadian people beyond keeping Deby in power to do their dirty work in the region." The official said two fighters had been killed and two trucks destroyed. Deby has faced several rebellions since seizing power in 1990 in a military coup. International observers have questioned the fairness of elections that have kept him in office since and last year he pushed through constitutional reforms that could keep him on office until 2033. France considers its former colony as vital in the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa and based its 4,500-strong counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane force in the capital N'djamena where the United States also has a base. But Deby's fight against Islamist militants - he has deployed troops to counter groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel and Lake Chad region- has strained his military and hit the oil-dependent economy, leading to growing dissatisfaction in one of the world's poorest nations. "Deby remains the most viable and solid partner in the region. The Chadians are counting on France for the Libyan border," a French military source said. Chad's military command said the operation had neutralized the column of "mercenaries and terrorists" in Chadian territory after earlier operations by the Libyan National Army. The LNA, the military wing of one of Libya's two rival governments that operates in the east of the country under General Khalifa Haftar, began operations against Chadian rebels at the start of the year. Haftar has close ties with France which has backed him against Islamist militants in Libya. (Reporting by John Irish and Sophie Louet; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) By Jose Elias Rodriguez and David Ljunggren MADRID/OTTAWA (Reuters) - Major European nations joined the United States on Monday in recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate head of state, while members of a separate regional bloc kept up the pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The coordinated recognition by a flood of European Union nations including Britain, Germany, France and Spain followed the expiration of an ultimatum for Maduro to call a new presidential election, aligning them with Washington and against Russia and China. "From today, we will spare no effort in helping all Venezuelans achieve freedom, prosperity and harmony," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said as he announced Madrid had recognized Guaido, the head of Venezuela's National Assembly who declared himself last month to be the oil-rich South American country's interim ruler. Eleven of the 14 members of the so-called Lima Group, including Argentina, Brazil and Canada, reiterated their support for Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate interim leader and called for free elections. In a statement following a meeting in Ottawa, they urged the international community to prevent Maduro's government from conducting financial and trade transactions abroad, having access to Venezuela's international assets and doing business in oil, gold and other assets. Mexico, a Lima Group member opposed to steps aimed at ousting Maduro, did not attend. Maduro's government, overseeing an economic collapse that has prompted 3 million Venezuelans to flee the country, lashed out at the EU nations, saying their move would affect relations with Caracas. In a statement, it accused them of submitting to a U.S. "strategy to overthrow the legitimate government" and singled out Spain for acting "cowardly." Among other EU nations recognizing Guaido were: Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Sweden. The United States welcomed the EU nations' recognition of Guaido and encouraged other countries to follow suit, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. Italy, however, blocked a joint EU position to recognize Guaido, diplomatic sources said, with the government in Rome deeply divided over the issue. Norway, not an EU member, said it also was not recognizing him. In power since former President Hugo Chavez's death in 2013, Maduro has been accused by critics of running the OPEC nation of 30 million people like a dictatorship. The 35-year-old Guaido, accused by Maduro's government of staging a U.S.-directed coup, has galvanized Venezuela's opposition with a hopeful message. Guaido repeatedly has called on Venezuela's military, which has remained loyal to Maduro, to support a transition to democracy. "Soldiers, we continue to wait for you. The moment is now," Guaido said in a speech on Monday in Caracas, urging the military to allow humanitarian aid to reach people. Maduro is facing calls from a growing chorus of nations, including some of Venezuela's neighbors, to resign in the wake of last year's disputed presidential vote in which he won re-election. Critics have called that election a sham and the mainstream opposition boycotted it. He has defied European heads of state, calling them sycophants for following U.S. President Donald Trump. Maduro sent a letter to Pope Francis requesting a renewal of dialogue in the crisis, the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said in Abu Dhabi. 'VERY CRITICAL' Most members of the Lima Group, which aims to peacefully resolve the Venezuela crisis, have said Maduro should quit in favor of Guaido and have called for new elections. The United States also wants Maduro gone, as do other key Western nations. Last month, the Lima Group announced a travel ban on senior Venezuelan officials and a freeze on their foreign assets. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would formally recognize Guaido's chosen envoy as Venezuela's legitimate representative in Canada in a move his government called symbolic. In New York, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said U.N. officials will not participate in international initiatives on Venezuela in order to remain neutral. Maduro's critics have said incompetent policies and corruption have impoverished the once-wealthy nation, leaving it with widespread shortages of food and medicine and hyperinflation forecast to reach 10 million percent in 2019. Guaido accused Maduro's government of trying to move up to $1.2 billion from the state development bank Bandes to a financial entity in Uruguay, but did not present evidence. Guaido urged Uruguay to prevent the move. Uruguay's central bank and the office of the country's president did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Maduro blames Washington and other Western nations for sabotaging Venezuela's economy, including through sanctions. The United States last week imposed sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA. Trump, in an interview that aired on Sunday, said military intervention in Venezuela was "an option." (Additional reporting by David Ljunggren and Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels, Philip Pullella in Abu Dhabi and Steve Scherer and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome, Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo, Lesley Wroughton in Washington, Vivian Sequera and Angus Berwick in Caracas and Malena Castaldi in Montevideo; Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Will Dunham) Reuters Stratfor Worldview Security, Eurasia Some think so. Does Russia Have a Plan to Solve the North Korea Nuclear Crisis? What Happened: The Russian government reportedly made a secret proposal to North Korea in the fall of 2018 to construct a nuclear power plant in the country in exchange for North Korea dismantling its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, The Washington Post reported Jan. 29, citing unnamed U.S. officials. The Russian envoy to North Korea, meanwhile, denied the report. Why It Matters: Russia's alleged offer would imply attempts to insert itself into the negotiation process over North Korea's nuclear program. U.S. President Donald Trump is slated to hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in late February. Background: Kim placed a significant emphasis on rectifying North Korea's electricity problems during his New Year's speech. Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov received a delegation from North Korea's Foreign Ministry in Moscow on Jan. 29. North Korea: Russia Denies Report It Made Secret Offer To Build Nuke Plant for Pyongyang is republished with the permission of Stratfor Worldview, a geopolitical intelligence and advisory firm. Image: Reuters Read full article A Egyptian-German economic conference kicked off in Cairo on Monday with the participation of Peter Altmaier, German federal minister for economy and energy, and Amr Nassar, Egypts minister of trade and industry. The conference will be attended by an economic and parliamentary delegation from Germany as well as the Egypts Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla and Ahmed El-Wakil, chairman of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and of the board of directors of the Chambers of Industry. The conference visit aims to create a positive impression of the progress of economic reforms in Egypt and further strengthen the economic relations between the two countries. The two ministers are scheduled to take part in the opening of the fifth session of the joint economic committee on Monday. Germany is one of the most important economic and trade partners to Egypt. Trade volume between the two countries reached $6 billion in 2018, according to the German embassy. German tourists also represent the largest foreign tourist bloc visiting Egypt. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Sunday that Egypt highly appreciates the role played by German companies in achieving the country's economic and social development. In a meeting with a German delegation comprising CEOs and representatives of major companies and a number of German MPs, El-Sisi said that Cairo had succeeded in making major steps towards consolidating stability, the main pillar towards attaining economic growth. Short link: Washington (AFP) - Pete Buttigieg, an openly gay mayor who is running for US president, said Sunday he believes America will judge him based on the quality of his ideas and experience. Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, launched his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in January. If elected -- which for now seems unlikely -- Buttigieg, a former naval intelligence officer who served in Afghanistan, would become the first openly homosexual president of the United States. He is among a crush of Democrats vying to unseat Republican Donald Trump next year. Other declared Democrats include Trump nemesis Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris, a California senator who aspires to be the nation's first black female president. But are Americans ready for a president who is openly gay and in a same-sex marriage? The question was put to him in an interview on ABC's "This Week." "I think there's only one way to find out," said the mayor of the city whose population is about 100,000. Buttigieg, 37, recalled that he came out as gay in 2015 in the middle of a re-election campaign. South Bend is a conservative community and at the time Mike Pence was governor of the state, Buttigieg said, recalling that he still got re-elected with "80 percent of the vote." "So, I think the lesson we learned is that people are prepared to get to know you and judge you based on the quality of your ideas and your experience and your work. And I trust that America could do that too." Buttigieg, who has been South Bend's mayor since 2012, married junior high school teacher Chasten Glezman last year. Same-sex marriages have been legal throughout the United States since a 2015 Supreme Court decision. In last November's mid-term elections, Jared Polis became the first openly gay governor in US history when he was elected in Colorado, after serving in Congress. Serbias Novak Djokovic, the current world No. 1, won his third Grand Slam title in a row today at the Australian Open, where he defeated Spains Rafael Nadal in a one-sided, 6-3 6-2 6-3 match. Last year, Djokovic also won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Sundays game marks his seventh Australian Open title, and 15th major overall. In todays game, which lasted two hours and four minutes, Djokovic crushed his longtime rival Nadal: This was their 53rd meeting. Its not a surprising win for the Serbian player, but it is especially impressive, given hes been recovering from a recent injury: At last years Australian Open, he was knocked out of the competition by South Koreas Hyeon Chung as he continued to bounce back from an elbow surgery. Im aware that making history in the sport I truly love is something special, Djokovic said of his victory. I do want to definitely focus myself on continuing to improve my game and maintaining the overall well-being that I havemental, physical, emotionalso I would be able to compete at such a high level for the years to come. Seven years ago, Djokovic and Nadal battled in a legendary match at the Australian Open that lasted almost six hours. Todays match was supposed to have been as teeth-chatteringly close, but saw Djokovic ultimately dominate. He is now one step closer to Swiss player Roger Federers world record of 20 Grand Slam titlessomething Djokovic has his eye on. Of course, it motivates me. How many seasons are to come? I dont know, he said. Im not trying to think too much in advance. Jerry Seinfeld has been sued for allegedly selling an inauthentic Porsche for $1.5 million and failing to reimburse the buyer, according to a suit filed in Manhattan Federal Court, according to the New York Daily News. The car in question is a 1958 Porsche 356 A 1500 GS/GT Carrera Speedster that went under the hammer at the Gooding & Co. March 2016 Amelia Island auction, which featured a Jerry Seinfeld Collection of cars. That green Porsche coupe was denoted as being one of 56 that were factory-built with lightweight aluminum panels, and promotional materials for the auction touted it as a highly sought-after four cam Porsche. Seinfeld himself attended the auction, which saw the vehicle sold to a Brazilian company called Fica Frio. After having a Porsche expert pore over the vehicle, it was allegedly determined to be inauthentic in March 2017, per the suit, citing a lack of photographs during the restoration. The suit also claims Seinfeld himself left a voicemail this past June, apologizing for the nuisance. Related stories Exclusive: Gooding & Company Will Auction 10 Rare Porches from a Private Collection Disco-Era Porsche 911s Have All the Right Moves at the Scottsdale Auctions An Ultrarare 1936 Bugatti Crossed the Auction Block for Less Than $1 Million [I] assure you that you will be completely indemnified in full and not have to keep the car and get all your money back, Seinfeld is alleged to have said. I did want to apologize to you personally for that happening. (I) would also love to know how your guys figured it out because . . . my guys did not, I guess, see anything amiss with the car when I bought it. However, the Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee host hasnt made good on the pledge, which led to to the suit. Seinfelds lawyer issued a statement that the comics been working in good faith to resolve this frivolous lawsuit, adding, Nevertheless, Jerry is willing to do whats right and fair and we are confident the court will support the need for an outside evaluator to examine the provenance of the car. Chicago school officers reassigned after using stun gun on 16-year-old student originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A violent and "disturbing" confrontation between a female high school student and two Chicago police officers caught on cellphone video at a city school has resulted in felony charges for her and the reassignment of both officers. The 16-year-old student allegedly got into a confrontation with the assistant principal at John Marshall Metropolitan High School on Tuesday morning. She was asked to leave the school after she apparently began flipping over desks in a classroom, according to her father, who spoke to Chicago ABC station WLS. He didn't dispute his daughter has had behavioral issues at school and said a teacher reprimanded her for using her cellphone in class leading to the argument with the assistant principal. A cut is visible on the face of a teen who was filmed in a confrontation with Chicago police officers at her school on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019. The 16-year-old is facing two felony charges. (Laurentio Howard) The teen's father, Laurentio Howard, was called to pick his daughter up from school and filmed the incident between the girl and the officers. Chicago police said the teen began fighting with the two officers -- one male and one female -- who were escorting her from the building. The officers, who were not named and only identified as Officer #1 and Officer #2 in a narrative provided by police, were allegedly bit and kicked by the student. While biting Officer #1, the two fell down a flight of stairs, police said. (MORE: Video shows Michigan police using Taser on father as he holds baby) Even at the bottom of the stairs, she continued to lash out at the officers, kicking and flailing her arms. The video shot by her father picks up after the two tumbled down the stairs and she can be seen kicking the officers. Students in the video can be heard shouting, "Don't Tase her," as one of the officers pulls out a Taser. Not mentioned in the account given by Chicago police, but clearly visible in the video, is a large male officer taking a swing at the student as she was lying on the ground. Story continues PHOTO: Two police officers from John Marshall Metropolitan High School in Chicago are being reassigned after a confrontation with a student on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019. (WLS) The officers both deployed their Tasers and the teen was taken into custody, police said. Only one of the officers can be seen using his Taser before the confrontation moves out of view of the camera. Howard told WLS that the male officer had his knee in his daughter's back and the female officer repeatedly punched her. (MORE: Police use stun gun on 87-year-old grandmother in Georgia) Both police officers were taken to University of Illinois Hospital, while the student was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital. All were treated for minor injuries. "The officers are currently on medical leave and they will be reassigned to different duties within the District as COPA and the CPD Force Review Unit complete independent investigations into the incident," Anthony Guglielmi, chief communications officer for the Chicago Police Department told ABC News in a statement. The school district said the officers will not be returning to Metropolitan High School. PHOTO: Two Chicago police officers are being reassigned after a physical confrontation with a 16-year-old student was caught on camera by her father. (Laurentio Howard) "CPS strives to create safe and supportive learning environments for all students, and this disturbing incident has absolutely no place in our schools," Michael Passman, chief communications officer for Chicago Public Schools, said in a statement to ABC News. "To ensure a thorough review of this situation is conducted, we are asking the district's Office of the Inspector General to review the matter and we will fully support the ongoing investigation by the City's Civilian Office of Police Accountability." Howard said he feared for his own life if he had stepped in to break up the fight. "It was devastating, I couldn't believe what was going on," Howard told WLS. "I was thinking, 'If I jump in they're going to shoot me. And if I don't jump in, they're going to hurt my daughter really bad.'" (MORE: Charges dropped against girl who had Taser used on her) His daughter, who ABC News is not naming as a minor, provided a different account than was provided by police in an interview with WLS. "As I tried to walk the other way, I guess he like, put out his hand and pushed me toward the stairs," she said. "He caused me to fall down the stairs and I grabbed his vest and we all fell down the stairs." She appeared in juvenile court on Friday and has been charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery to a peace officer and two misdemeanor counts of resisting and obstructing a peace officer, according to WLS. She was fitted with an ankle monitoring bracelet and her father said she has been sentenced to home confinement until her next court date on Feb. 19. ABC News' Nick Cirone and Chris Donato contributed to this report. 28 Haitians killed when migrant boat sinks near Bahamas originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A boat smuggling a large group of Haitian migrants sank over the weekend, killing at least 28 people, officials said. The U.S. Embassy in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, said officials managed to rescue 17 people, including two who were found stranded on a cay off the coast of the Bahamas on Sunday. Officials discovered the ship after residents reported finding bodies floating in the sea on Saturday near the entrance of Marsh Harbour in Abaco, the embassy said in a statement Sunday. "Another tragic loss of life," the statement said. "No journey is worth risking lives -- please urge families and communities: Illegal migrant & smuggling operations are dangerous and frequently end in tragedy." (MORE: Largest single group of migrants ever tunnels under border wall: CBP) The Royal Bahamas Defence Force, which assisted the U.S. Coast Guard in the rescue, said it's apprehended about 300 Haitians over the past month or so as citizens attempt to flee the country, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. PHOTO: National police officers raise a Haitian national flag during a memorial service honoring the victims of the 2010 earthquake, at Titanyen, a mass burial site north of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 12, 2018. (Dieu Nalio Chery/AP) Haiti's Foreign Minister Edmond Bocchit called the situation "really heartbreaking." "They are our brothers and sisters who are seeking a better life, and then they are met with this horrible death. It is really sad," he told the Miami Herald. (MORE: New migrant caravan sets out from Honduras for US ) The survivors were charged and ordered repatriated to Haiti, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force said in a statement. "The Haitian nationals have all been charged before the courts and ordered repatriated to Haiti," the statement said. "The Royal Bahamas Defence Force continues to protect and safeguard the territorial waters of The Bahamas. ABC News' Joshua Hoyos contributed to this report. The government will continue to implement measures against cancer with a focus on prevention over the next three years, the state secretary for health said on Saturday, ahead of World Cancer Day. Lung cancer is a leading cause of death in Hungary, and the government has therefore introduced several measures since 2010 to combat the disease, Ildiko Horvath told a conference of the Hungarian Respiratory Society in Budapest. The measures include enacting stricter regulations on smoking, installing new generation medical equipment and setting up oncology centres, among others, she said. The focus of government measures will be screening and prevention over the next three years, Horvath added. Addressing the conference, Gabor Kovacs, board member of the respiratory society, noted that lung cancer accounts for the highest proportion of patients diagnosed with malignant tumor in Hungary with 10,000 new cases registered each year. Smoking is the most common risk factor in this group, he said, noting that 80% of patients diagnosed with lung cancer smoke. The political climate had already changed when Hungarian deputy minister of foreign affairs Levente Magyar arrived in Washington DC last December for two days of negotiations reports direkt36.hu. Magyar could have expected a positive welcome at the State Department, but he had to face the reality that his U.S. counterparts were frustrated and critical of Hungary again. Even though the U.S.-Hungarian relations finally started to warm up last year. Support is starting to dissipate for those who believe in U.S.-Hungarian relations, we have to show results, explained Wess Mitchell, Assistant Secretary of State at the State Department. Mitchell is also the Trump administrations most influential official dealing with Hungarian affairs. He told this to Magyar during their meeting in Washington on December 18, 2018. Mitchell complained that Congress is taking a hostile stance towards Hungary, there is a constant criticism because of CEU and the extradition case. Details of the conversation between Mitchell and Magyar are included in a Hungarian diplomatic cable obtained by Direkt36. The cable was sent to Budapest by the Hungarian Ambassador to Washington DC, Laszlo Szabo. This document gives insight into Hungarian-American relations and shows how US diplomacy is trying to put pressure on Hungarys government on issues important to Washington. In the meantime, Orbans government is trying to balance its relationship between its ally, the United States, and Russia. After meeting with Mitchell, Levente Magyar went on to have talks with other senior State Department officials, and many of them repeated the same message: U.S. foreign policy breaking with the Obama administrations practice refrains from criticizing the Hungarian government on domestic politics and ideological issues, but in exchange expects the Hungarians to help the U.S. in matters that are important to them. The diplomatic cable revealed that the Central European University (CEU) was no longer among the top priorities of the US government at the end of last year. However, the strengthening of the military cooperation and the expansion of U.S. energy exports came to the forefront. According to the document, the Americans are frustrated that although they have changed their attitude towards Orbans government, they feel that the Hungarian side does not do enough in return. The Wall Street Journal and Atlatszo wrote on Sunday that Prime Minister Viktor Orban had recently told American diplomats that he wants his country to be neutral, like Austria. On Tuesday, Orban reacted by saying this is fake news, but according to the document obtained by Direkt36, the alleged statement which, however, was phrased in a milder and conditional form was even discussed at a higher diplomatic level. According to the diplomatic cable, Wess Mitchell also raised the issue that Orban had mentioned Austria and neutrality to the U.S. ambassador to Budapest. The document does not reveal if and how Levente Magyar reacted. Citing family reasons, Mitchell resigned on January 4, more than two weeks after his meeting with Levente Magyar. There is no information indicating that his resignation is in any way connected to Hungarian affairs. Previously, many in Hungarys government have credited and praised Mitchell with being the driving force behind closer U.S.-Hungarian relations. Orbans government has lost probably one of its most important and most patient partners inside the Trump administration. We requested a comment on the diplomatic cables statements from Hungarys Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (KKM) as well as the Prime Ministers spokesman, but received no substantial reply. A State Department official said that they decline to comment on private meetings. We Must Keep The Alliance After his confirmation in the autumn of 2017, Wess Mitchell, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, directed a spectacular turnaround in U.S. policy towards Hungary. The previous Obama administration openly criticized Viktor Orbans government in matters of rule of law, human rights, anti-Semitism, media freedom and corruption. Bilateral meetings on a ministerial (Secretary of State) level between the two countries ceased after 2012. Representatives of the Hungarian government have repeatedly blamed Mitchells predecessor, Victoria Nuland, for the deterioration of the relationship. Hungarian pro-government daily Magyar Idok even labelled Nuland as a Soross accomplice and Hungarys American grave-digger. Mitchell, on the other hand, had a completely different approach towards Hungary. According to the diplomatic cable, he told Levente Magyar that he never agreed with his predecessor, Victoria Nuland, on her policy towards Hungary, because allies should be treated as allies, he said. Mitchell also spoke about the fact that he is not the only one, there are others working on a positive U.S. policy towards Hungary too. There have been multiple signs of a positive change in direction for the Hungarian government over the past year. First, a program that was launched by Obama-era U.S. diplomats in the autumn of 2017 was shut down. This was a $700,000 funding opportunity by the State Department to support independent media in Hungary. However, it was cancelled shortly after Mitchell took office, hence the money was never distributed. The improvement in the bilateral relationship was also signalled by a meeting between Hungarian minister of foreign affairs Peter Szijjarto and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington in the spring of 2018. Another sign of the new direction for U.S.-Hungarian relations were the remarks of David Cornstein, the new U.S. Ambassador to Hungary. Cornstein arrived in Budapest in the summer of 2018 and named four top U.S. priorities in Hungary, three of which were related to the enforcement of American geopolitical interests. Keeping CEU in Hungary was the only issue that is related to the protection of fundamental rights. When it turned out that CEU was definitely moving Cornstein simply described the problem as a debate between two people [Orban and Soros]. Cornstein also previously stated that he is not aware of any violation of civil liberties in Hungary. According to Mitchells earlier speech there is an idea that the Obama administrations foreign policy had neglected and thereby tossed Hungary and other countries in the region into the arms of Russia (and partly China). In contrast, according to the State Departments current leadership, reducing Eastern influence over Hungary and other regional countries in the spheres of defense, security and energy became a priority so that these countries would support U.S. geopolitical interests instead. Therefore, in return, issues such as the decline of the rule of law and civil liberties must be let go. Heightened Impatience With Hungary The diplomatic cable obtained by Direkt36 shows that although Levente Magyars talks took place in the spirit of the above described line of thinking, his U.S. counterparts were noticeably frustrated. Compared to their last meeting in November, Mitchell outlined a more negative situation and asked multiple provocative questions. According to the summary of the diplomatic cable, Levente Magyar received a more negative, coordinated message on the political level (). There is increasing pressure on the U.S. administration due to its alliance focused policy towards Hungary, while results on the Hungarian side are lacking. Brian H. Hook, the influential senior policy advisor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, emphasized this message even more. According to the diplomatic cable, he expressed the heightened expectations and impatience towards Hungary. The State Department is taking a serious political risk and is attacked for its policy shift towards the Hungarian government. On the Hungarian side, there is no progress on priority issues, and the Lyubishin case is also a failure. They are forced to defend Hungary not only against Democrats but also against Republicans. What can they say when they are asked about the results Pompeos senior policy advisor asked Levente Magyar. In the document obtained by Direkt36, CEUs moving to Vienna only comes up briefly. American diplomats mostly referred to the universitys case as a further burden, one that forces the State Department to defend itself against criticism coming from Congress. There is no mention in the diplomatic cable of any U.S. criticism over rule of law, media freedom or corruption issues in Hungary. U.S.-Hungarian relations were strained by a story uncovered by Direkt36 as well as by the Hungarian governments response to it. This story involved the extradition case of two Russian arms dealers who were set up and apprehended by U.S. and Hungarian law enforcement in a joint operation. However, in spite of the U.S.-Hungarian cooperation, the Hungarian state eventually decided against extraditing them to the United States (which carried out the investigation) and instead turned them over to Russia. Following the publication of Direkt36s article on the Russian arms dealers, the State Department which refused to comment on our original request issued a statement that criticized the Hungarian government. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said that this decision raises questions about Hungarys commitment to law enforcement cooperation. This decision is not consistent with our law enforcement partnership, undercuts the work that our agencies had done together to build this case, and will make citizens in the United States, Hungary, and the world less safe. In response, Hungarys government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs accused the United States of failing to comply with Hungarian extradition requests as well: In the last five years, Hungary has made extradition requests to the United States nine times, out of which US authorities have rejected eight cases, claimed Kovacs. Mitchell also raised this issue during his discussion with Levente Magyar. According to the Hungarian diplomatic cable, in connection with the Lyubishin case, Mitchell asked us to inform them if we are dissatisfied with U.S. extradition practices. He listed the eight cases of extradition to which the Hungarian side was referring unrightfully as unfavourable U.S. decisions. In four cases, the U.S did not receive sufficient evidence from the Hungarian side, in two cases, the persons concerned did not reside in the U.S., one case was not raised by the Hungarians in diplomatic channels, and in one other case the convict was sentenced to 25 years in jail already. Assistant secretary Mitchells main problem was that government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs had publicly criticized U.S.s extradition practices on the eight cases while the U.S. was open to examining Hungarian objections. A source with information on the above-mentioned U.S.-Hungarian extradition cases, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Direkt36 that the majority of the eight unsuccessful cases mentioned by Kovacs were due to the Hungarian authorities failure to file the necessary documents for the extradition requests. The source claims the Hungarian authorities did not supplement their requests, not even after the U.S. had asked them to do so. In one case, Kovacs referred to a man who was not in the United States but in Canada. Kovacs did not respond to Direkt36s question whether he still maintains his claims. Issues Where Hungary Have Gained Over The U.S. In addition to problematic issues, positive ones were also raised during Magyars negotiations. American diplomats have repeatedly highlighted the similarity between the policies of the Trump administration and the Orban government. They also praised Hungarys participation in the Middle East reconstruction process and Hungarys steps taken for persecuted Christians. Mitchell also thanked Hungary for stepping up for the U.S. decision on Israel and Jerusalem, not only within the EU, but also in the United Nations. He asked when are we going to relocate our embassy to Jerusalem, the cable says. David Hale, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, urged Magyar on the same issue. According to Levente Magyar, Hungary does not want to be the first among EU countries to relocate its embassy, but if for example Italy, Romania or the Czech Republic would take this step, he does not rule out that Budapest would follow their lead. Sandra Oudkirk, who is responsible for energy diplomacy at the State Department, thanked the Hungarian energy company Mol for stopping the import of Iranian oil. A senior official at Hungarys Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade also listed these issues as positive examples of U.S.-Hungarian cooperation to Direkt36. According to the source, Hungary is one of the most important European supporters of US foreign policy in the United Nations, for which the rejection of the UNs Global Compact for Migration is one example, moreover, we vetoed multiple EU resolutions trying to condemn U.S. foreign policy. In recent years, U.S. diplomacy has repeatedly criticized the Hungarian government for its position on the Ukraine. Due to the Ukraines new education law, which is detrimental to the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia, Orbans government started to block high level Ukraine-NATO talks in autumn 2017. The situation has somewhat changed by now, the diplomatic cable reveals, as the U.S. is now siding more with Hungary on this topic. In the case of Ukraine, the American side now agrees with the Hungarian position regarding Ukraines nationalist attitude and the dangerous precedent its education law could set, the document claims. Mitchell admitted that Hungarian objections over Ukraines education law concerning minorities are legitimate, and the U.S. is constantly raising this to the Ukrainian side. Mitchell said that he is hoping that the Ukrainian government will concede soon. A senior official from the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade also told Direkt36 that in recent months, Ukrainians seemed more constructive in their negotiations with foreign minister Peter Szijjarto. However, Hungarian and U.S. diplomacy is very far from complete agreement over the status of Ukraine. Mitchell complained to Magyar that Viktor Orban had spoken about Ukraine as a buffer state in his speech in Baile Tusnad (Tusnadfurdo). According to Mitchell, he believes that it is also in Hungarys fundamental interest that Ukraine becomes a part of the West, and that Ukraine could be a case study that a small nation-state can establish political independence against Russia. The Hungarian diplomatic cables assessment is that the U.S. Senate sees everything through the lens of Russian relations while the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives is only expected to raise pressure on the State Department from January. The cable concludes that the State Department is still able to counter criticism over the CEU and Lyubishin cases coming from Congress and the media, but we have to make progress on key issues. Mitchell and his colleagues told Magyar what these topics are. They urged the Hungarian government to cooperate in at least two energy projects (the LNG terminal in Croatia capable of receiving liquefied natural gas from the U.S. and the development of the Romanian-Hungarian gas pipeline), and in the issue of the defense cooperation agreement (DCA). Race For Hungarys Gas Taps At the end of 2018, Francis R. Fannon, U.S. Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Energy Resources, held negotiations in Zagreb and Budapest. Mitchell told Magyar, according to the diplomatic cable, that Fannon came back from Hungary frustrated because our country has changed its position on Krk several times. The Krk in question is an island in Croatia where a terminal for receiving liquefied natural gas from the U.S. is under construction. Mitchell said that Americans were disappointed with how Prime Minister Viktor Orban talked about the price of American gas being 20 percent more expensive than the market price. The U.S. position is that purchasing gas is a strategic decision, and it is not just about the price. Mitchell subtly expressed doubts about Hungarys commitment to energy diversification, according to the cable. In his view, the Hungarian government is discussing this issue with the United States only because it helps them establish a better negotiating position against Putin while bargaining a gas deal with Russia. Levente Magyar rejected the criticism by saying that Hungarians were both interested in energy diversification and in establishing a better negotiating position. Evidence for the previous is that Hungary constructed its pipelines to Romania and Croatia, from which direction gas from non-Russian sources can be imported. In his meeting with undersecretary David Hale, Magyar refused Hales request that the Hungarian government be more committed in its support for the Krk LNG project. Magyar said that in the case of energy diversification, we have done everything but we will not make an economically unviable commitment. In addition to the expansion of U.S. energy exports, there is another issue in which, according to the diplomatic cable, Budapest and Washington are unable to compromise which really frustrates the latter. The United States wants to sign a so-called Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) with countries in the region, including Hungary. This agreement sets out the rules for how American soldiers can operate in the territory of their allies. The DCA is important to the U.S. because they feel that, despite the promised increase in defense spending, European allies will not contribute substantially to the security of the European continent in the foreseeable future, a Hungarian expert with knowledge of the American position told Direkt36. Hence the US at least wants to ensure the presence, as well as the efficient and fast movement of its own military infrastructure. Race For Hungarys Alliance The two countries started talks on the DCA in 2017, but they have not yet reached a compromise. For example, there is a dispute whether the United States or Hungary should have jurisdiction over U.S. soldiers who violate laws in Hungary. According to the diplomatic cable, the most significant debate is over the so-called general mandate. This means that once the DCA is signed and approved, the U.S. would be free to move its troops in the territory of Hungary. Orbans government does not want to accept this, citing the countrys sovereignty. Hungary would require a parliamentary vote each time to authorize further movement of troops, vehicles or equipment. Levente Magyar also explained to Wess Mitchell that the general mandate for the movement of soldiers conflicts with the Fundamental Law of Hungary, according to the document. Mitchell replied that he had studied the relevant part of the Hungarian constitution, and concluded that it is only a matter of the Hungarian sides political will to interpret the relevant point of the constitution in a favourable way in order to reach an agreement. According to Mitchell, what Hungarians are asking for is without precedent. Magyar warned if there is no shift in position, we will not conclude the agreement. Levente Magyar responded that we are open to signing the agreement and we are as flexible as we can be. The Hungarian government has only raised legal objections throughout the negotiations, but the U.S. side suspects some other reasons in the background. According to a source of indirect information about the negotiations, the U.S. government assumes that fear of Russias potential reaction to the agreement is the real reason behind the Hungarian governments reluctance. If there is such a Hungarian concern, Levente Magyar did not mention it during his talks in Washington, moreover, he said it was desirable that the United States deter Russia by military force. Deputy minister (Magyar) referred to Poland and the Baltic states and drew attention to the fear of a concrete Russian threat, so U.S. military presence is a key issue for them, it says in the document. Magyar also added that the Orban government wants to sign the DCA agreement, and suggested that progress could be made on this issue in February. A senior Hungarian foreign ministry official offered his view on the DCA discussions talking on the condition of anonymity. The official said that, in his opinion, officials do not understand in Washington that, after fifty years of Russian occupation and the 1956 military intervention, even a partial surrender of sovereignty triggers certain emotions. I have no problems with the Americans, they are very nice, but there are limits to everything, he said. Meanwhile, the U.S. is also trying to encourage Hungary with money to sign the DCA. Congress has previously approved a $55 million (about 15 billion Hungarian forints) contribution to the development of Hungarian military infrastructure. This initiative is formally independent of the DCA, but American diplomacy has made it clear that a country with no DCA signed is not getting paid. New Approach In Hungarian Foreign Policy In the diplomatic cable, Viktor Orbans alleged statement from the end of last year on the DCA which surprised U.S. officials is also mentioned. The Wall Street Journal and Atlatszo previously reported that the Hungarian Prime Minister told the U.S. Ambassador and other diplomats that he wants his country to be neutral, like Austria. Orban called it a false report aimed at creating confusion. However, there are several signs that the statement on neutrality has been expressed in some form. Direkt36 was informed by two sources on condition of anonymity that Orban spoke about this when he visited the U.S Embassy on December 6 last year after the death of former U.S. president George H. W. Bush. Orban went there to write in a book of condolences, and a roughly half an hour conversation took place between him and U.S. ambassador Cornstein. Orbans statement was also mentioned during Levente Magyars negotiations in Washington, according to the document. Wess Mitchell told the Hungarian deputy minister that according to Ambassador David Cornstein, Prime Minister Viktor Orban explained to him that Hungary might take a more neutral position similar to Austria on the issue of soldiers. Mitchell added that if it is true, please report it immediately. In this document, Orbans statement is not phrased in a clear-cut way but it is in a conditional mode (might take a more neutral position similar to Austria ), so it is also unclear how serious this intention of his is. In 1955, Austria proclaimed perpetual neutrality that is, not entering NATO which was the Soviet Unions requirement in exchange for the country to regain its sovereignty. However, sources familiar with the conversation with Cornstein state, Orban did not suggest that Hungarys policy on NATO had changed, nor does the diplomatic cable summarizing Levente Magyars negotiations refer to NATO. In his statement on Tuesday, Orban also said that Hungary is a member of NATO and an ally of the United States of America. The Hungarian people decided this in a referendum. The goal of the government of Hungary continues to be the strengthening of its existing alliance with the United States. The importance of the DCA was also signalled by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling Viktor Orban on January 22 and discussing the significance of strengthening the U.S.-Hungary strategic relationship, including bilateral defense ties. The diplomatic cable mentions that Wess Mitchell and Peter Szijjarto are expected to close the deal at their next meeting in February. Although Mitchell resigned on January 4, he will remain in office until mid-February. Direkt36 was informed by Hungarian foreign ministry sources that he will meet with Szijjarto to finalize the agreement in Washington on February 6. Mitchell is expected to be accompanied by ambassador Cornstein, the U.S. chief negotiator for the DCA, and a representative of the Pentagon at this meeting. The Hungarian foreign minister will also talk about the DCA at the White House with John Bolton, President Trumps National Security Advisor prior to the start of his meeting with Mitchell. Pompeo will start his first tour in Central Eastern Europe one week later. He travels to Poland on February13-14, then as BuzzFeed News reported he will have talks in Slovakia on February 15 (the diplomatic cable says that Slovakia and the U.S. will soon conclude the DCA). Pompeo may arrive in Budapest after that, but the State Department has not yet confirmed his trips to Budapest and Bratislava. On Tuesday Viktor Orban said that Hungary wants to strengthen its ties with its allies, and it is in this spirit that we are preparing for the visit to Budapest by Secretary of State Michael Richard Pompeo, however, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said that there is no visit we can announce at this moment. MTI Photo: Szecsodi Balazs Article republished with the permission of the source: direkt36.hu Direkt36 is a non-profit investigative journalism center in Hungary with the mission to expose wrongdoings and abuse of power through fair but tough reporting, a kind of journalism that is vital for any democracy. A Christian liberal pundit finds it nauseating that pro-government intellectuals on public media discuss gay conversion therapy as a potentially desirable treatment for homosexuality. A conservative lawyer accuses liberals of trying to normalize homosexuality and criminalize masculinity. In January in a talk show in M1 public television, conservative intellectuals and priests discussed gay conversion therapies. Participants in the debate quoted ex-gay testimonies and suggested that homosexuality may be cured. They added that gays interested in such conversion should be given a chance to voluntarily undergo treatment. In Heti Vilaggazdasag, Gyorgy Balavany finds it nauseating that conservative intellectuals seriously discuss gay conversion therapy on public television. The Christian liberal pundit acknowledges that he himself believed in such theories in the past, but now dismisses them as unscientific and potentially dangerous. Balavany suggests that there is firm factual evidence that sexual orientation is not voluntary and cannot be changed. Balavany finds conversion efforts totally futile. He adds that homosexuality is not contagious and is not a public threat by any means. He also notes that from a Christian perspective, it is absurd to call what he calls a natural given as a sin. In conclusion, Balavany thinks that the suggestion that homosexuality is an illness that should be treated is a dangerous idea that may strengthen homophobic prejudice and discrimination against gays. In Magyar Demokrata, Miklos Szantho thinks that liberal ideologies threaten our way of life. The conservative lawyer who serves as chairman of the pro-government Center for Fundamental Rights contends that efforts to normalize homosexuality under the guise of science as well as the feminization of masculinity are part of what he calls a liberal ideological war on the order of nature in which God put everything in its place. Szantho accuses liberals who openly criminalize masculinity of trying to rewrite the natural virtues by claiming that everything is socially constructed and is a matter of socialization, including sexual orientation and gender roles in general. This opinion does not necessarily represent the views of XpatLoop.com or the publisher. Your opinions are welcome too - for editorial review before possible publication online. Click here to Share Your Story Conservative opposition Jobbik has said it will convene an emergency congress to discuss the situation in light of fines levied on the party by the State Audit Office (ASZ) for violating campaign financing rules in last springs general election. Paying the close to one billion forint fine levied by ASZ altogether will practically prevent the party from running a campaign in the European parliamentary elections, Tamas Sneider, the partys leader, said. The congress to be called within the next 2-4 weeks will discuss two key issues, with one being the possibility of dismantling the party overall, which Sneider said would ultimately lead to dissolving the partys parliamentary group. The other item on the agenda, he added, would be discussing the continuation of Jobbiks national resistance. Those who rule the country today are punishing Jobbik because they fear that, according to the polls, the party could have up to four MEPs elected to serve in Brussels, he said. Meanwhile, the leftist opposition Democratic Coalition has called for the dismissal of ASZ chief Laszlo Domokos, whose authority it says has paralysed opposition parties by levying fines on them. Gergely Arato, DKs deputy group leader, said over the weekend that ASZ had fined all of the opposition parties over the past years, adding that by levying the fines, the authority was carrying out a political order. Arato said DK will propose to the other opposition parties to initiate in parliaments Immunity Committee the removal of Domokos from his post. ASZ in response rejected accusations made by Jobbik and the political pressure exerted by the party to influence the authority in carrying out its financial audit as required by law. ASZ called on the party leader to acknowledge the irregularities its audit revealed instead of making false statements about the authority and misleading the public. Responding in a separate statement to DK, the audit office called Aratos statement an unfounded accusation and an attack on the rule of law. ASZ said it conducts its audits in line with rigorous international auditing standards transparently and independently from the government or any political party, in accordance with the rule of law. MTI Photo: Mathe Zoltan Though Hungary's growth rate this year could exceed projections by the OECD, the government is weighing an economic protection scheme to offset a potential global economic slowdown, the finance minister said. Although there are not yet signs of a global economic crisis in Hungarys economic performance, the country would not be immune to the effects of a global slowdown, Mihaly Varga told public radio. Therefore the government will aim to introduce measures that can protect jobs and wage growth and ensure that economic development does not come to a halt. It will aim to keep consumption from lagging and the purchasing power of wages and pensions intact, Varga said. Commenting on the OECDs country survey on Hungary published on Thursday, Varga said international organisations tended to revise upward their initial projections on Hungarys growth. He said 2018 was a good example of how pessimistic analysts had been about Hungarys growth potential. The most favourable projection put Hungarys GDP growth rate at 3.5%, whereas the actual growth rate is expected to reach 4.6-4.7%, he said. The minister added that the government was planning to introduce over the coming months 3-4 measures to boost employment. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Friday called the European Unions policy on China hypocritical and said cooperation between the bloc and Beijing was in the interest of the whole of Europe. It is also in Europes interest that central Europe should develop its infrastructure by utilising Chinese funds, Szijjarto told public media on the sidelines of an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Bucharest. Romania, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, put EU-China relations on the agenda of Fridays meeting and EU candidate countries have also been invited to the second part of the talks. Szijjarto said it was obvious that China would soon become the largest economy in the world and the success of European cooperation with China would therefore be vital for the competitiveness of Europe. He said companies from the East and the West were now equally dictating the speed at which global economy changes and in many industries the technologies required for future competitiveness are developed and first introduced in the East. As a result, cooperation with the Chinese is especially important because if the EU cannot cooperate with China then the latest technology in many industries will be inaccessible to us and this would result in a drop in Europes competitiveness, he added. The EUs China policy is hypocritical under the current circumstances when trade turnover increased by more than 30% in one year, reaching almost 600 billion euros last year, Szijjarto said. He argued that the countries which had the largest turnover, including Germany, France, Italy, the UK and the Netherlands, were also the loudest critics of China. Cooperation between China and central Europe basically concerns infrastructure development projects that are not covered by European resources. As such, the utilisation of Chinese support for infrastructure development in north-south direction is an all-European interest and whats more, this cooperation also yields development for the Western Balkans which will therefore become ever more prepared for EU accession, the minister said. He criticised Brussels for delaying the European integration of Western Balkan countries, adding that it was unacceptable that the European Commission was holding back on Western Balkan integration until 2025, even though this would be in Europes economic and security interests. MTI Photo: Burger Zsolt Budapest Police detectives on Thursday arrested two 15-year-old boys and one 16-year-old boy who are suspected of starting the fire that heavily damaged the Raday college dormitory on January 23. Police said the three had set fire to a mattress at the Markusovszky ter entrance to the building. The detectives questioned the three boys as suspects causing public danger leading to the death of a man. Budapest Police chief Tamas Terdik told reporters on Friday that the three boys had confessed to the charges and had apologised. Putting out the conflagration took three hours. As they were putting out the fire, fire-fighters found the body of a 47-year-old man from Veszprem. College exams were suspended, as 165 students were staying in the college. As at January 29 some Ft 24.5 million had been collected throughout the country to help the students and Ft 7.5 million was donated to the family of the deceased man. Classes will resume on February 18. MTI Photo: Balogh Zoltan Clarksburg, WV (26301) Today Rain likely. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a half an inch.. Tonight Rain likely. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a half an inch. Charleston, WV (25301) Today Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Just Keep an Eye on Basketball Hoop as Tornado Strikes Illinois Yard Index-Journal Careers PART-TIME POSITION available in our packaging area. Job responsibilities include putting inserts into the newspaper. Must have a positive attitude and be a team player. Applicants must be able to: lift up to 20-lbs; stand for long periods of time; be available to work Sunday thru Friday, late evening to early morning hours; pass drug screen. On the 12th Saturday protest of the yellow vests, demonstrators paid tribute to the victims of police brutality from their movement. Nationally, 58,600 people marched, according to Interior Ministry figures. There were 4,000 demonstrators in Bordeaux, 2,000 in Lille, and 2,000 in Marseille, where 2,500 people marched in another protest against poor housing. In Toulouse, where a large number of protesters marched, the police prefecture refused to supply an estimate of their number. In Valence, the prefecture mobilized a heavy police detachment against a regional assembly of 5,400 yellow vests. The city was put under a bell, its right-wing mayor Nicolas Daragon said. In Strasbourg, a yellow vest press spokesman claimed 8,000 people had protested in an unregistered demonstration. Several clashes took place over the course of the day with the security forces, who arrested 19. In Paris, more yellow vests marched than a week ago13,800, according to the Occurrence consulting firm, with 33 arrests and 21 detentions. Protesters held signs reading United and Proud against oppression, You dont fire on your own people, Stop Bean-Bag Bullets and Instant Tear Gas Grenades, Were losing our eyes and you are blind, referring to the over 20 yellow vests who have lost eyes to bean-bag bullets. Clashes took place at Republic Square. AFP reported that firemen rescued one protester after he was shot in the face with a bean bag bullet. As the unions call a protest for February 5, for the first time since the yellow vest movement began last November, some officials from the unions or allied petty-bourgeois parties like Lutte ouvriere (Workers Struggle, LO) attended the march. LO members tried to criticize the WSWS leaflet, Oppose French unions attempts to strangle the yellow vest protests! However, masses of yellow vest protesters remain just as hostile to the union bureaucracies and increasingly feel the need for a new perspective. In Paris the World Socialist Web Site spoke to Baptiste, a temp worker, who said he was marching against capitalism: Were against Macron, his free-market policies, everything that goes with it, that means capitalism, that is to say all the pro-business policies that just cause more trouble. Now Im on the job market, and I see really what the reality of the labour market is: the lower you go, the deeper youre stuck. I believe this movement can really put an end to Macron and all his reforms, to the bosses, etc. ... Now we hope we will succeed. When the WSWS asked Baptiste what balance sheet he drew of two months of struggle, he replied: Were stagnating a bit, lets say, after coming out every Saturday without a clear perspective on what to do. Im sure there are lots of ways to build a more aggressive movement. Baptiste stressed the international character of the problems facing the yellow vest protests: I think its an international question, because one sees opposition to free-market policies in every country. So in Britain one has the left, which is becoming very strong. In the United States there is the vote for Trump and all sorts of populist forces and the like. The policies that we have endured for so many years in France are leading us nowhere. Apparently whats happening is a movement of yellow vests, but in fact its a general problem of all the capitalist societies. Asked about Macrons new anti-hooligan law that restricts the right to protest, he replied: It kills liberty. The so-called state of the rights of man is showing its true face. In fact, you could see it coming from the beginning, police repression is very strong. When WSWS reporters pointed out that Macron had gone to visit military dictator General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt, Baptiste reacted: Why are we going there to sell weapons when it is an appalling dictatorship where thousands of people are in jail? He will go make nice speeches about human rights to ultimately give weapons to a regime that wants to crush its population. The WSWS also interviewed Benoit, who had come from the Auvergne region to Paris: Im on welfare Im there also to speak for all those who support me. Their opposition has been growing for a long time: 25, 30 years. Im 40 and its been 25 years since I understood we do not live in a just world. And injustice is global, in any case. Is it normal to have people who have worked all their lives and who are now reduced to living on 300 to 400 per month? Asked about Macrons plan for a great national debate on how to satisfy the yellow vests, he said: Ive been listening to politicians going on for 25 years. They have no idea what our lives are like. They dont know what a workers or a farmers life is like. They have nice phrases, but we want real action. That is why we are organizing a movement. Everyone has the right to live well on this planet, to eat and have decent housing. Benoit said his goal was a true democracy: Everyone must take power, everything must be shared. We must have our say. We are the ones best placed to know about the problems we have in life, and how pointless suffering can be stopped. He also added he was doubtful as to what yellow vest lists in the European elections would produce: As I see it, after a little while all of them will be bought, also. Asked about the role of the unions, who are organizing tomorrows one-day protest strike, Benoit replied: I dont believe in the unions. I have worked in factories, you can see clearly that they depend on management. The unions cannot do anything different than what they have been doing. This opinion was shared by Guillaume, a metalworker from the Eure-and-Loir department who was protesting to pay tribute to our wounded, maimed and our dead. It could have been any of us, whether or not we are pacifist, whether or not we go to the hotter spots in the protest, we all get fired on. So now we are here to pay tribute to all our fellow protesters who were maimed in this movement. Guillaume said he did not trust the unions: We face a rotten political system in which we have no confidence, a trade union system in which we have no confidence. They did not support us, and we do not want them to represent us. Before, in our parents day, there were many people in the companies who were members of trade unions. But today not even 10 percent of the workers are unionized. I think the trade unions have some questions they need to ask themselves. Guillaume also pointed to the international character of todays struggles: We do not speak enough of other countries, in fact, in many countries things are moving. This movement started essentially on a national basis, maybe that was stupid, but we were thinking about our little France, but actually things go much further than that. We can see were governed by large international interests, basically by the banks, period. Were not treated as human beings, and the people worldwide have had enough. 25 years ago: Byron De La Beckwith convicted for 1963 assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers Byron De La Beckwith, member of a white supremacist group, was convicted on February 5, 1994 for the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers, a civil rights activist and head of the Mississippi state branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). De La Beckwith joined the White Citizens Council in 1954, a white supremacist organization formed following the Supreme Courts ruling in Brown v Board of Education, which declared segregated public schools unconstitutional. The group fought to resist racial integration and to prevent African American citizens from voting. It operated as the respectable middle class front for the Ku Klux Klan. Medgar Evers became a prominent leader of the civil rights movement for his role in the investigation of the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till. He became a target of the Ku Klux Klan, the White Citizens Council, and similar groups. He received so many death threats that he and his wife, Myrlie Evers-Williams, practiced and trained their three young children in safety drills in case of an attack on their home. Early on June 12, 1963, the morning after President John F. Kennedy gave a nationally televised speech calling for the passage of civil rights legislation, Evers pulled into his driveway. As he walked up to his front door, he was shot in the back through his heart by De La Beckwith. None of Evers normal police escorts and security were present, leading to public speculation that many of the local police officers were members of white supremacist groups and had advance knowledge of the attack. Evers was pronounced dead 50 minutes later at a nearby hospital, where he was initially denied entry due to his race. He was 37 years old. Nine days later De La Beckwith was arrested for murdering Evers. In Mississippi, under the system of racial segregation known as Jim Crow, African Americans were excluded from jury pools, which drew from registered voters. In February and April 1964, two all-white juries deadlocked, failed to reach a verdict and De La Beckwith went free. Myrlie Evers-Williams waited until a new judge was appointed in the county and brought her husbands case forward again in 1994 with new evidence, mainly including the killers own bragging admissions of guilt throughout the decades following the murder. De La Beckwith was convicted after spending nearly 30 years free, except for a stint from 1977-1980 when he was sentenced to jail for conspiring to murder A. I. Botnick, a Jewish activist in the civil rights movement. 50 years ago: Millions strike in Italy On February 5, 1969, millions of Italian workers participated in a one-day general strike called by the major labor federations to demand higher pensions. The strike shut down all major newspapers, television stations, ports, most factories, and many stores. Thousands of workers attended rallies called by the unions in all the industrial centers. Leaders of all three union confederationsthe Stalinist General Confederation of Italian Labor, the Catholic Church-sponsored Confederation of Italian Unionized Labor, and the Social Democratic Italian Union of Workerssanctioned the general strike. They claimed that 90 to 95 percent of their membership participated. The strike had its greatest impact in the highly industrialized Lombardy and Piedmont regions. At the giant Fiat automobile complex in Turin, most of the companys 120,000 production workers stayed off the job. Just a few days before the general strike, other sections of workers had already taken action. On February 3, 10,000 students marched in Milan, hundreds of farm workers in Naples blocked rail lines to protest falling fruit prices, and highway toll collectors began a 72-hour strike, allowing drivers to use the highways for free. At this time, Italy had accumulated the worlds third largest gold and foreign currency reserve, trailing only the United States and West Germany. Exports had increased and Gross National Product was rising. In the midst of these gains for the capitalists, employment and living standards for workers had remained stagnant. The minimum pension benefit received by an Italian worker was only 12,000 lire ($19.20) a month. The 1.8 million retired workers received an average of 30,000 lire ($48.00) per month. The unions demanded that the maximum pension after 40 years be raised immediately, at government expense, to 70 percent of final salary, with the figure to rise to 80 percent by 1973. There were also calls for an increase in the minimum pension and for payments to those without pensions. Newly installed Italian Prime Minister Mariano Rumor entered immediately into negotiations with the unions over these and other demands for social legislation. Rumor headed a Center-Left coalition of Christian Democrats, the reformist Socialist Party and Republicans. Recent electoral gains by the Stalinists had sharply reduced the Center-Left majority, increasing pressure for social reforms. 75 years ago: Roosevelt moves to control Arabian oil On February 6, 1944, the US governments Petroleum Reserve Corporation, set up by President Franklin Roosevelt, unveiled its plans to construct a vast pipeline across Saudi Arabia to transport crude oil from the Arabian wells owned by Standard Oil, Gulf and Texaco to Mediterranean ports and refineries. With growing assurance that Allied imperialism had successfully defended Middle East oil resources from a militar y assault b y Mussolini and Hitler, the US sought exclusive control over Saudi Arabian oil against any encroachments by the British. Roosevelt had used Lend Lease, which was only to be made available to countries actively fighting the war against the Axis, to outbid Britain in buying off King Ibn Saud. As Roosevelt told the British ambassador, Persian oil is yours. We share the oil of Iraq and Kuwait. As for Saudi Arabian oil, its ours. The Roosevelt administration accompanied its move into Saudi Arabia with a public campaign about the benefits of cheaper prices after the war and the threat of oil shortages if the project was not carried out. One news commentator nevertheless remarked, To go into a colonial country and buy oil concessions by favors to desert sheiks, to embark on a long-range program for the exploitation of natural resources which belong to another people, is imperialism, however we choose to disguise it. In 1940, the United States produced 63 percent of the worlds oil supply, while Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia jointly contributed only 5 percent. But exploration had shown that the Middle East contained rich reserves which, if not secured by the US, would threaten the dominant position of the US oil barons in world markets. A year later, Roosevelt would meet with King Abdul-Aziz aboard a US warship near Suez and sign a secret agreement for the postwar period, exchanging US military protection for Saudi Arabia for unrestricted US access to Saudi oil. 100 years ago: Seattle general strike begins On February 6, 1919, 25,000 workers in Seattle, Washington walked out to join 35,000 shipyard workers already off the job, as a general strike virtually shut down the city. The strike was the most powerful US manifestation of the post-World War I wave of revolutionary struggles of the working class touched off by the Russian Revolution. The Metal Trades Council, representing the 17 unions in the ship yards, had demanded a wage increase of $1.00 a day across the board. The Shipbuilding Labor Adjustment Board had turned it down. On January 21, the metal tradesmen struck the shipyards of Seattle and Tacoma. On the second day of the strike, an appeal for active assistance was made to the Central Labor Council, which polled its affiliates on calling a general strike to support the shipyard workers. The response was overwhelming. The General Strike Committee largely ran the city. It established community kitchens, butcher shops and laundries, issued special delivery permits and even organized the patrol of the streets by 500 uniformed war veterans. The committee declared that the working people were learning to manage the local economy. National labor leaders pressured the Seattle unions to call off the strikein most cases, after four or five daysbefore the shipyard workers had won their demands. The Pacific Northwest had been the scene of major struggles involving the left-wing Industrial Workers of the World and different groups of employers in the lumber industry, in particular. There was much pent-up anger over the murder of workers in Everett, Washington and other locales. Immediate after the war, an explosive strike wave erupted in the US. In 1919, 4 million American workers went on strikefully one-fifth of the nations work force. The Bolshevik Revolution had a great influence over the most advanced sections of the working class. In addition to the Seattle strike, miners in Butte, Montana walked out in February 1919 in a strike run by The Soldiers, Sailors and Workers Council. A representative of the Seattle labor movement, Hulet C. Wells, was sent as a delegate to the Communist International in Moscow soon after the general strike. Since the Venezuelan crisis erupted, Spain has been at the forefront of the regime change operation underway in the oil-rich South American country. Today, Madrid is set to formally recognise Juan Guaido as president. Guaido is the right-wing leader of the National Assembly who Trump declared to be Venezuelas president on January 23. The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE)-backed newspaper El Pais called this unknown territory, adding: Never in contemporary times has a country stopped recognizing a head of state that maintains control of its territory It is one thing not to recognise a state or to break diplomatic relations, and another to keep an embassy open in a country without recognizing who still controls the mechanisms of power. El Pais, one of the main papers backing the coup, laid out the strategy of the PSOE: Guaido will then appoint an ambassador to Spain, Madrid would accept Guaidos representative and withdraw immunity and all diplomatic prerogatives from the ambassador appointed by Maduro the current accounts of the embassy and in general all the assets and deposits of the Venezuelan state in Spain would be blocked and made available to the new president and his representative. El Pais added, In diplomacy the principle of reciprocity applies, so the government can expect the Spanish Embassy in Caracas to be subject to similar measures. This is the latest in a list of provocations by the PSOE government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez against the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro. No sooner had Guaido self-proclaimed himself president than Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell spearheaded within the EU the demand for snap presidential elections. He declared, We have to prevent the situation from worsening. This undoubtedly demands a process of intervention to guarantee the only way out is elections. Days later, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez phoned Guaido to convey his empathy for your courage. On January 26, at Spains request, an EU foreign affairs meeting was held. Borrell said if presidential elections were not called, We would consider adopting other measures including recognising (Guaido) as interim president. This position was then backed by France and Germany and enshrined in the EU parliament statement that The EU strongly calls for the urgent holding of free elections, threatening that in the absence of fresh elections the EU will take further actions, including on the issue of recognition of Guaido. Spain, along with the UK, Germany and France, then pledged to recognise Guaido if elections were not called within eight days. In the meantime, Sanchez travelled to South America to promote the coup. As soon as he landed in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic for a meeting of the social democratic Socialist International (SI), Sanchez met with right-wing, US-backed Venezuelan opposition leaders Carlos Valero, Mauricio Poler and Paula di Mattia. Sanchez called Guaido the leader of the Venezuelan transition, and it will be he who leads the process of elections and the transition. He stressed that Madrid did not recognize the May 2018 elections that gave Maduro a second term. Valero told reporters that the power vacuum must be filled. Sanchez, who recently led the campaign to expel Nicaraguas Sandinista National Liberation Front from the Second International, then ranted against Maduro: Whoever responds with bullets and prisons to the desire for freedom and democracy is no socialist, he is a tyrant. Venezuelans must feel the support of the Socialist International, and so must Nicaraguans. Sanchezs next stop was Mexico, the only Latin American country besides Uruguay and Bolivia not to have recognised Guaido. There, Sanchez tried to convince Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to break relations with Maduro and recognize Guaido. On Thursday, the PSOE, the right-wing Citizens party and the Popular Party (PP) endorsed the EU parliaments resolution to support recognizing Guaido as Interim President of Venezuela. Spains support for regime change exposes fraudulent claims last June, after the installation of the PSOE government, that Sanchez was, in Foreign Policys words, keen to show a more progressive and tolerant face to the world. In fact, Madrid is determined to use the US-instigated coup in Venezuela to carve out a new role for Spanish imperialism in its former colonies in South America. It fears that Spain is falling behind its rivals in the new redivision of the world. Carlos Malamud, chief analyst on South America for the think-tank Instituto Elcano, wrote: with a highly fragmented Latin America, Spain must have a stronger Latin American policy ... If other countries, whether European or not, have increased in recent years their presence in some specific countries of Latin America, it has been because they have taken sides and deepened certain alliances to the detriment of others. The PSOE, like other EU governments, is ruthlessly pursuing regime change to advance its imperialist interests. According to Spains Ministry of Commerce, 100 Spanish companies operate in Venezuela, including major corporations like Telefonica, Mapfre, Repsol, BBVA, Duro Felguera, Zara and others. Spain is the second-largest European investor in Venezuela after the Netherlands. In 2015, Spains direct investments in Venezuela were 21.3 billion. Madrids actions are so brazen that even former PSOE Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero felt compelled to admit that Madrids obsession against the Government of Venezuela corresponds to economic interests. These economic interests have shaped the policies of the entire Spanish ruling class since the fall of the fascist Francoite dictatorship in 1978. The ensuing PSOE government of Felipe Gonzalez, who now staunchly defends regime change in Venezuela, supported in 1989 his close friend, Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez, as he unleashed the army on mass protests against International Monetary Fund austerity programmes. This led to 3,000 deaths in what is known as the Caracazo. Gonzalezs deputy prime minister from 1982 to 1991, Alfonso Guerra, recently endorsed the bloody US-backed Chilean dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, claiming it was more effective than the Maduro regime. In 2002, the PP government supported a US-led coup that briefly ousted Chavez, and pressed other countries to endorse US State Department calls for recognition of Pedro Carmonas transitional government. Millions of workers and youth in Spain are appalled by the US- and European-backed coup in Venezuela. To oppose it, however, requires fighting the pseudo-left Podemos party, which sets out to demobilise all opposition to Spanish and European imperialism. Before the coup, top figures of Podemos, whose founders were advisors to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, were distancing themselves from the Bolivarian regime they once enthusiastically endorsed. Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias said he no longer shared the opinions he had formulated in the past on Venezuela. Inigo Errejon said the same to El Pais. When Guaido proclaimed himself president, Podemos spokeswoman Irene Montero asked Sanchez to call for dialogue instead of following Donald Trump. Spain and the EU, she said, should lead the positions of mediation and respect for the processes in Venezuela that guarantee a dialogue, negotiated and peaceful solution to the conflict. Similarly, EU MP and Pabloite leader Miguel Urban criticised the EU parliament resolution, as the EU should be a mediator in this conflict. Podemoss reactionary line not only aims to suppress social opposition to imperialism but also reflects sections of the Spanish ruling class who fear that the current aggressive regime change in Venezuela will trigger civil war, wiping out Spains investments there. This crisis is a new exposure of Podemos and its alliance with the PSOE. They are tools of the European bourgeoisie as it joins Washington in ruthlessly pursuing regime change in Venezuela. Broward County, Florida school board officials have authorized police to conduct real-time monitoring of students in school via video surveillance cameras. The action is one of a number of new police measures being instituted nationally in what President Donald Trump called the hardening of schools in the aftermath of the mass shooting last year in Parkland. While hundreds of millions of dollars are being allocated nationally to arm more police in schools, the real causes of mass shootingsnever-ending predatory wars, the glorification of the military, historic levels of social inequality, the general brutalization of social relations, and the destruction of social programs and health careare being covered up. Instead, horrific actions, like those of Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz, are being used as a pretext to build up the repressive apparatus of the state. Almost exactly one year ago, on February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Cruz entered Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle and killed 17 people, including 14 students, two teachers, and a staff member. Cruz was later captured by the police and charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. For the time being, the Broward County Sheriffs department will only have access to the video feeds during emergencies. This compromise was reached after some school board members, including superintendent Robert Runcie, raised concerns that the monitoring would violate the privacy rights of students. The Broward County school district has also purchased a new $621,000 dollar surveillance system that will be installed in 36 schools in the district. The new system will have artificial intelligence capabilities, including facial recognition software. Attempts to install similar systems in schools in New York and Arkansas faced opposition from the ACLU, which has argued that the advanced technology involved in the new surveillance systems is both invasive and vulnerable to hacking. Other measures taken in the aftermath of last years mass shooting include providing spaces inside classrooms where students can hide from potential shooters, limiting access points on each campus to a single point of entry, and improving the existing public address systems in each school. The announcement of increased police surveillance comes in the wake of the release of a 446-page report at the beginning of January by the 15-member Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission which recommended arming teachers, a policy advocated by Trump. The report details the tragic circumstances of Cruzs life. Born in 1998, he and his younger brother were adopted by a middle-aged couple, Roger and Lynda Cruz. Roger Cruz died at age 67 in 2004, followed by his wife Linda in 2017. The Cruz brothers moved in with another family, who Nikolas did not get along with. The life of Nikolas Cruz is a clear indictment of the collapse of the mental health system in the US. According to the commission report, from the time Cruz was a child onward he was displaying emotional and behavioral problems. Between the age of three in 2002 to age 19 in January 2018, there were, 69 documented incidents where Cruz threatened someone, engaged in violence, talked about guns or other weapons or engaged in other concerning behavior...As early as three years old, Cruz demonstrated violent behavior. The Broward County Sheriffs office visited the Cruz family 42 times before February of 2018. Twenty-one of the incidents involved Nikolas. This included a call in 2014 after he killed a neighbors chicken with a pellet gun. In February of 2016, deputies visited Cruz after he had posted a photo of himself on Instagram holding a gun along with the caption I am going to get this gun when I turn eighteen and shoot up the school. In September of 2016, the administration at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas conducted a threat assessment of Cruz, due to reports concerning Cruzs patterns of behavior, resulting in Cruz being prohibited from carrying a backpack to school. In November of 2017, the sheriffs department received another warning about Cruz, this time from a friend of the boys late mother who warned that, Nikolas Cruz had weapons and wanted to join the military to kill people, and that Cruz might be a Columbine in the making. Both the Democratic and Republican parties have sought to militarize schools and downplay all the growing indicators of a universally dysfunctional society which find tragic in expression in figures like Cruz and the horrific shootings which they carry out on a regular basis in the United States. They have jointly cut hundreds of millions of dollars from mental health, social programs, schools and communities, presiding over the growth of social inequality, while portraying all the resulting problems as a police matter. At the same time, the number of school counselors who are on the front lines of identifying and assisting students are declining because of the de-funding of public education. State funding for public education in Florida was cut 22 percent between 2008 and 2015, the second largest drop in the United States. Among the most critical issues in the recent Los Angeles teachers strike was the demand for more school counselors, desperately needed by schools across the US. A report issued in February shows that the average student-counselor ratio was 482 to 1 in 2014-15, the most recent year for which data are available. In Florida that ratio was 485 to 1 and the number of counselors fell over the past decade. Instead of providing help to troubled students, schools and campuses are responding to the tragic events in Parkland and other outbreaks of violence with increased surveillance and the militarization of schools. After the Parkland shooting, Florida enacted statewide measures to require police or armed guards at every school in the state. The Arkansas legislature is considering a bill to require video surveillance in all special education classrooms. Mississippi is considering a bill that would require the state to reimburse schools for the hiring more police. Only 1 percent of US schools had police presence in 1975. In the aftermath of the Columbine shooting in 1999, Democratic President Bill Clinton began the push for more police in schools utilizing federal grants. By 2004, 36 percent of schools had police presence, today it is 24 percent of middle schools and 42 percent of high schools. Since 2010, the Department of Justice has spent more than $1 billion to hire new police officers for public schools while the education budget was cut significantly over the same period, with support from both the Democrats and Republicans. A report by the New York Times documented that over 100 school districts and public universities have hired surveillance companies to monitor students social media accounts. A direct outcome of the proliferation of school resource officers has been the growing criminalization of young people. According to an ACLU report in 2017, Every day in our nations schools, children as young as five are charged with crimes for everyday misbehavior: throwing a paper airplane, kicking a trashcan, and wearing sagging pants. In the 2013-14 school year, the most recent year for which statistics are available, schools reported over 223,000 referrals to law enforcementThe criminalization of typical youth behavior has engendered a bizarre realitystudents are arrested in schools, places meant to provide safe haven, for behavior that is noncriminal in any other venue On the pretext of protecting students, schools throughout the US are increasingly bristling with the weapons of war. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for example, is considering a proposal to create a 40-person mobile force platoon to respond to campus events at a cost of $2 million annually, plus $500,000 in equipment costs. At least 117 campus police departments have been recipients of surplus war materiel from the Defense Department under the 1033 equipment transfer program, acquiring M-16 assault rifles, grenade launchers and bayonets. Just about everything sordid and degraded in capitalist politics in America has been on display over the past few days in the media frenzy over Virginia Governor Ralph Northam. Virtually the entire Democratic Party establishment is now demanding Northams resignation, although he has so far resisted the pressure. The firestorm broke following publication of photographs from Northams 1984 medical school yearbook page, showing two students, one in blackface and the other in a Ku Klux Klan costume. Initially, one of the two was believed to be Northam, and he issued a public apology on Friday. On Saturday, however, Northam held a press conference at which he denied that he was either of the two students, although he could not explain why the clearly racist images were on his personal page in the yearbook, claiming only that he had never seen the yearbook before. Northam went on to admit that on another occasion that same year, 1984, after joining the military as an Army doctor, he had worn blackface in a dance competition in Texas, in imitation of the entertainer Michael Jackson. At the time, Northam was 25 years old, a medical doctor and commissioned officer, so his actions cannot be dismissed on the grounds of youth and immaturity. The yearbook photo surfaced as part of a right-wing campaign against Northam spearheaded by the internet publication Big League Politics.com, run by a former writer for the fascistic Breitbart News website. It followed a similar exposure of a right-wing Republican politician, Florida Secretary of State Michael Ertel, who resigned last week after his photograph in blackface from 2005 became public. A few days after Ertels resignation, Northam became the target of ultra-right vilification for comments made on an interview program in which the governor, a pediatrician before he entered politics, defended late-term abortions as sometimes medically necessary. His comments were depicted as justifying infanticide and ultra-right politicians like Senator Ted Cruz called for his resignation. Then came the publication of photos from Northams 1984 yearbook page, and the entire Democratic Party establishment joined the campaign to force Northam out of office. Three top Virginia DemocratsSenator Mark Warner, Senator Tim Kaine and Representative Bobby Scottissued a joint statement calling on Northam to step down. They were joined by the black caucus of the state legislature, the Democratic caucuses of the State Senate and House of Delegates, the six other Democratic representatives from Virginia congressional districts, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic National Committee and a host of 2020 presidential candidates. Virginia state Democrats were particularly concerned because the entire state legislature is up for reelection in 2019, with the Republicans clinging to narrow majorities in both houses. Moreover, if Northam resigns, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, an African-American Democrat, would succeed him and would be eligible to run for a full term in 2021 with the advantage of virtual incumbency (Virginia is the only state which imposes a one-term limit on its governors). While the material exposing Northam was dug up by the ultra-right and promoted to serve its political interests, there is little there to surprise anyone familiar with the governors social and political origins. He grew up on the eastern shore, the most rural and remote portion of the state, and he followed a career path steeped in conservative traditionalism: Virginia Military Institute, medical school followed by an eight-year stint as an Army doctor, then 15 years in a lucrative private practice as a pediatric neurologist in the Norfolk area. Northam was a Republican, voting for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. He entered politics as a candidate for the Democrats, however, in 2007, seeking a state senate seat in the Norfolk area. But even after he entered the legislature, state senate Republicans tried to recruit him to their side, telling him that his conservative fiscal views were more aligned with theirs. The only obstacle was Northams adamant support for abortion rights, informed by his profession as a medical doctor, which put him out of step with the Christian fundamentalist right. In 2013, Northam was elected lieutenant governor, serving four years under Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe, then winning the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2017 over a Sanders-backed liberal challenger. He ran a thoroughly right-wing general election campaign, promising to work with Trump and avoiding issues of economic inequality or any challenge to the wealth and power of the ruling elite. But when he swept to victory in November over Republican Ed Gillespie, Northam was portrayed by liberal publications like the Nation as being at the forefront of a Democratic wave repudiating the Trump administrations policies. The level of sanctimony in the denunciations of Northam by Republicans, Democrats and media pundits is difficult to overstate. The Republicans, of course, tolerate far more blatant racism from President Trump and an array of congressional and gubernatorial candidates than anything of which Northam was guilty 35 years ago. Democratic officeholders and prospective candidates have traded in their hosannas to Northam for imprecations at the flip of a switch in order to pander to identity politics (and disguise their own right-wing support for big business and American imperialism). As for the corporate media, the Northam affair has served, at least for a few days, as a gigantic diversion. The Sunday television interview programs were largely devoted to the fate of this comparatively obscure state politician, whom not one in a hundred Americans outside the state of Virginia could even have identified. No need to discuss such issues as the US repudiation of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treatybringing forward the danger of nuclear waror the Trump administrations preparations to invade Venezuela, or Trumps threats to declare a national emergency and assume quasi-dictatorial powers if he cannot browbeat Congress into approving a border wall, or the freezing death of workers and students in last weeks cold snap. And with its images of blackface and the KKK, albeit 35 years old, the Northam affair provides yet another opportunity to portray racealong with gender, sexual orientation and other identitiesas the fundamental dividing line in American society. Anything to avoid the most important dividing line: that between the ruling elite of billionaires and multi-millionaires and the vast majority of the populationthe working class, which is now beginning to move in a class struggle increasingly directed against the capitalist system. There is nothing to defend in Northam. However, there is something massively fraudulent in the political-media operation launched against him. If Northam is forced out, he will be replaced by someone else, no less right-wing and reactionary, in a ritualist purge that will have no effect on anything of significance, least of all the conditions that give rise to racism. In a desperate attempt to cover its tracks, the propaganda network linked to Britains security services, the Integrity Initiative (II), has wiped its website and locked its Twitter account pending an investigation into the theft of data. The decision was taken shortly after the Anonymous hacking group released new II documents targeting Russia as supposedly the greatest threat to world peace, based on claims that it is the country most likely to use nuclear weapons. The documents reveal yet more of the disinformation campaign used to justify NATO preparations for war with Russia, including the use of nuclear weapons. Minutes from a joint workshop of the Institute for Statecraft (IfS), which runs the II, and the US government-funded Center for Naval Analyses discuss what would happen if the West intervened to push back a Russian advance in the case of a localized conflict. The reality of the Russian nuclear doctrine is that it will not back down. War games usually start with Russia about to, or using a nuclear weapon, the minutes conclude. Citing the inevitability of Russian use of nuclear weapons is used to justify their pre-emptive use by the NATO powers in the type of pre-emptive war made infamous by President George Bushs criminal invasion of Iraq and which now forms the bedrock of the Pentagons National Security Strategy. Last Friday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced US withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty as part of the reorientation of the US military toward great-power conflict with Russia and China. Registered as a Scottish charity promoting good governance and statecraft and working to counter disinformation, the IfS and II privately list their top three objectives as: Developing and proving the cluster concept and methodologythat is, creating various national networks of assets in government, the military, the media and academia to covertly coordinate anti-Russian propaganda. The silencing [of] pro-Kremlin voices on Serbian TV by the Serbian political analyst and director of the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies, Jelena Milic, is given as an example. Making people (in Government, think tanks, military, journalists) see the big picture, making people acknowledge that we are under concerted, deliberate hybrid attack by Russia, as seen in the IIs coordination of the media response to the Skripal affair. Increasing the speed of response, mobilising the network to activism in pursuit of the golden minute. That is, creating fraudulent popular campaigns and independent news stories to push an anti-Russian agenda, as with the successful effort to prevent the promotion of an insufficiently Russophobic general in Spain and the attack on Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. This work is overseen by military intelligence operatives and run in service to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on behalf of a network of pro-British and US imperialist outfits. The IfS co-founder and director, Daniel Lafyeedney, is a Senior Member, St. Antonys College, University of Oxford. His online university biography notes, As Senior Associate Fellow at the Advanced Research and Assessment Group at the Defence Academy of the UK (2004-2010) he specialised in the development and implementation of capacity-building projects for high-level governance of the security sector in European and middle-Eastern countries It adds, His military service, legal background and career as an entrepreneur have given him an understanding of the importance of the link between business and national security. Speaking in Israel in 2018, Lafyeedney explained, We have supported the creation of special Army reserve units (e.g., 77 Bde and SGMISpecialist Group Military Intelligence) with which we now have a close, informal relationship and how the work of the IfS and II feeds into the highest levels of MoD and the armed forces. In return, the IfS and II receives 2.6 million in funding for 2018-19 as well as office space in central London provided by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Funding also comes from HQ NATO Public Diplomacy, the US State Department, the German business community, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence, the US think tank the Smith Richardson Foundation and other named partner institutions. II is involved in a concerted anti-Russian offensive in Eastern European states. Ukraine, the Baltic states, Moldova and Armenia are all referenced as crucial areas of II work. One document on the Baltics refers to the need to be educating our audience to understand how Russia sees this world as being at war. Another on the war in Eastern Ukraine claims aggression is inherent in the Russian condition. A file called Moldova Democracy explicitly argues for regime change, demanding that A new team of people with integrity must come to power or else Moldova will remain a captured state forever, under Russian direct influence. During the 2018 protests in Armenia, the II published articles and intervened in social media to encourage a break with Russia after a change in government. One of its key partners in Ukraine is Stopfake, which defends the far-right Ukrainian regime and the fascist forces which put it in power. An II document resolves to Provide guest articles from our clusters for StopFakes printed material published and distributed along the contact line in Eastern Ukraine. In the UK the II is engaged in efforts to shut down uncooperative media outlets, accusing them of precisely the dirty tricks that it itself engages in. The most notable target is Russia Today (RT), which, II laments, is finding an audience because of growing mistrust of western media among westerners. RT has been the target of an escalating campaign of attempted censorship with MPs demanding its broadcasting license be revoked. In December, the regulator Ofcom threatened to fine RT, claiming it had broken impartiality rules. There was no prior announcement from Ofcom that any RT shows had received more than 10 complaints from the publicas is standard practice. The IIs hidden hand is suggested in an II Production timetable document, which included the item in eight complaints forwarded to Ofcom on RTs failure to ensure due impartiality with request to launch a formal investigation. Other II plans include efforts to investigate likely target[s] (e.g., a university with an anti-fracking agenda) in receipt of Russian fundingeven where those organisations are not in breach of the law. A 2016 report by Peter Kreko and Lorant Gyori of the Budapest-based Political Capital Institute on pro-Russian far-left parties in Europe names parties such as Syriza in Greece, the Left Party in Germany, and Unsubmissive France and essentially accuses them of being Russian stooges. Invoiced for payment to the II, the report ends with the recommendation that states need to assess in more detail the security implications of these parties alleged Russian connections. In the UKand this helps explain the complete absence of media coverage of its sordid activitiesthe leaked II documents list the names of a cluster of top journalists and TV reporters including the Times David Aaronovitch and Dominic Kennedy, the Guardians Natalie Nougayrede, Carole Cadwalladr and Paul Canning, the BBCs Jonathan Marcus, the Financial Times Neil Buckley, the Economists Edward Lucas and Sky News Deborah Haynes. Leading Blairite Labour MP Ben Bradshaw is listed, as are individuals who are very senior civilian experts in some relevant area, such as Hedge Fund managers, senior bankers, Heads of PA companies, etc., i.e., people whom the Army could never afford to hire, but who donate their time and expertise as patriots. The drawing together of such figures is a manifestation of the strategy laid out in the recent British National Security Capability Review, which singled out Russia as enemy number one for British imperialism. It called for a Fusion Strategy to advance the UKs strategic interests against Moscow, which would make use of all our capabilities; from economic levers, through cutting-edge military resources to our wider diplomatic and cultural influence on the worlds stage to project our global influence. The BBC and collaborative programmes with industry and academia are listed as examples. The II is proof that these plans are far-advanced and have been able to proceed without a word of criticism from a complicit bourgeois media. Boris Johnson, the leading Brexiteer and former foreign secretary, spoke last month at an event organised by Lord Bamford, the billionaire chief executive of earth moving equipment manufacturer JCB. Johnson reportedly earned 10,000 for his grovelling speech, littered with droll references to JCBs products. His remarks were directed towards sections of the ruling elite who might back a Johnson Conservative Party leadership bid. His appeal promoted regional economic competition and deregulation as the bedrock of a post-Brexit economy. The government should be devolving power to cities in coherent regions, he said, including bundling together local taxes such as council tax, business rates stamp duty, land tax to give to local mayors and politicians to spend so that they have clear incentives to go for growth. Johnson called for the creation of Free Ports, pointing that there are now 135 countries in the world that have Free Ports. These attract growth and it is absurd that Britain will be forbidden by this deal [Theresa Mays European Union (EU) Withdrawal Agreement] from doing the same. Free Ports are better known as Free Trade Zones (FTZ) or Special Economic Zones (SEZ). The last three decades have seen hundreds of such zones proliferate worldwide, particularly in the Indian subcontinent, South East Asia and China. The zones have become synonymous with the unbridled exploitation of the working class. In floating Free Ports in Britain, Johnson is speaking to a discussion within both the Conservative and Labour parties on how best to use the Brexit crisis to complete the deregulation of the economy and slash the wages and conditions of the working class. In the words of her former Chancellor Nigel Lawson, the hard-Brexit wing intend to finish the Thatcher Revolution and make the UK the most dynamic and freest country in the whole of Europe: in a word, to finish the job that Margaret Thatcher started. Johnsons proposals hinge on developing Britain, particularly its most deprived areas, as cheap labour and tariff-free manufacturing platforms. In 2016, Tory MP Rishi Sunak issued a report, The Free Ports Opportunity, calling for an extensive and ambitious network of UK Free Ports. These would not only provide domestic manufacturers with a wealth of tangible benefits, but also send a clear message to international markets that Britains new global role will be open, innovative, and outward looking. It is therefore imperative that, if the recommendations of this report are to be implemented, the Government acts to legislate in the immediate aftermath of Britains departure from the [European Union]. The proposals were debated in Westminster in October last year. Brexiteer Tory MP Simon Clarke explained, At its simplest, a Free Port is an area that is physically within a country but legally outside it for customs purposes. Consequently, goods that enter a Free Port do not incur import duty. Instead, import duty is paid only if and when goods pass from the Free Port into the domestic economy. This allows goods to be imported, processed and re-exported without paying any duty. Free Ports offer tax reliefs and a simplified regulatory environment and could be seaports or airports. Clarke gave the example of the Jebel Ali free zone in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in which 7,000 companies currently employ 145,000 workers. The zone draws in 40 percent of all foreign direct investment to the UAE. Clarke declined to mention conditions in the Jebel Ali free zone and across UAE, where a young and largely immigrant workforce, mostly recruited from rural areas in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, toil in overcrowded work camps. He cited a recent report from consultants Mace Group Supercharged Free Portsthe ultimate boost for Britains economy, promoting the prospects for Free Ports in the north of England. Commissioned by the Tory mayor of Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, the report breathlessly outlines a scenario for a network of Free Ports, based on the ports of Immingham, Grimsby and Hull on the Humber Estuary, Teesport and Hartlepool on the Tees Estuary in the east and Liverpool on the Mersey in the west. Connected by improved road, rail and network infrastructure, these could produce an additional 70 billion in GDP and rebalance the British economy by increasing productivity in the North of England. The report cited existing industrial concentrations in these areas which, freed of regulatory restrictions, could expect to draw in more investment. It alluded to the availability of cheap labour, arising from decades of demolition of the living standards of the working class: [T]here is a further economic rationale for selecting these ports in particular: they are in some of the most deprived parts of the UK. At the local authority level Hull ranks 3rd most deprived in England on the Governments Index of Multiple Deprivation. Thats out of 326 English local authorities. Liverpool ranks 4th worst (Knowsley, incidentally, is 2nd), Manchester 5th worst, and Middlesbrough 6th worst. Nearly a clean-sweep of deprivation. Relatively lofty Newcastle is 53rd worst, though still in the bottom quintile of local authorities. According to Clarke, previous Tory governments had not gone far enough in opening the workforce up to super-exploitation. In 1984, the then Thatcher government attempted setting up Free Ports in Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, Prestwick airport and Southampton. They all failed, Clarke continued, because of an uncharacteristic lack of ambition by the Thatcher government, but mostly due to the regulatory constraints placed on them by the EU. The Free Ports would offer lower levels of taxation and less burdensome regulations than exist outside, cut down on customs documentation, offer secure perimeter areas and therefore lower insurance costs and avoid Value Added Tax (VAT). Sunaks report noted that Free Ports would have broad ideological appeal that could be expected to command bipartisan support, allowing the policy to act as a rapid response in the event of British withdrawal from the EU Customs Union: It is easy to see Labour mayors of regional port cities partnering with a pro-enterprise, pro-trade Conservative Government to make Free Ports successful. Former right-wing Labour MP, Frank Field, now an Independent, assisted Clarke in setting up the Westminster debate. Field and Clarke penned a joint letter to The Times explaining that their Free Port proposal hinged on state aid the UK could deploy after Brexit. The duo complained, The EUs state aid regulations are far more stringent than those of the WTO; the most fundamental difference being that, under WTO law, only financial contributions count as subsidies, whereas the European Commission describes state aid as an advantage in any form whatsoever. In other words, more perks and tax breaks can be handed over to investors and more social spending can be redirected towards drawing in cheap labour manufacturers. Labour MP for Redcar, Anna Turley, also spoke in the debate, hailing Free Port zones as recognised around the world as playing a major role in retaining, reshoring and growing domestic manufacturing activity and boosting trade. Turley begged the government to give serious consideration to a Teesport Free Port without delay. Turley called for the need to ensure that there is no erosion of employment rights, environmental rights or health and safety rights. But this is worthless verbiage. The purpose of the Free Port proposal is to ruthlessly crank up rates of exploitation. Significantly, Turley opposes Brexit and supports a rerun of the 2016 referendum. In her view EU membership is no barrier to establishing Free Ports. On January 29, a catastrophic fire destroyed 12 line rooms (long buildings divided into small living quarters) at the Vanakadu Division of the Robgill Estate in Sri Lankas central hill districts. The blaze, which occurred during work hours at around 11.30 a.m., devastated the homes of 66 people, including 21 children. The 16 families have lost all their belongings, including clothes, kitchen and other domestic equipment, and birth certificates, national identity cards and other necessary documents, as well as childrens books and school uniforms. The victims are currently being accommodated, without adequate food and sanitary facilities, at the estates cultural hall and the Kovil (Hindu temple). Robgill Estate is owned by Kelani Valley Plantations and located 7 kilometres from Bogawantalawa and 11 kilometres from Hatton. About 110 workers are employed at the Vanakadu Division. While the cause of the fire has not yet been officially determined, the principal reason for the disaster is hardly a secret. It is a product of the grossly inadequate, overcrowded and unsafe housing conditions. The overwhelming majority of Sri Lankas plantation workers and their families are accommodated in line roomsrudimentary one-bedroom spaces with a small veranda and a kitchen, many built during British colonial rule. Two or more families generally live in one line room. House fires at Sri Lankan tea estates are common, as the following list reveals: * In April 2011, 20 line rooms were gutted by fire at Maskeliya Brunswick estates. Another fire seriously damaged several line rooms at the same estate in January 2016. * In 2012 May, 22 homes were destroyed at Mocha Estate at Maskeliya, displacing about 100 people. * In November 2014, over 80 people were displaced after 22 homes were gutted by a fire at the Dayagama plantation near Nuwara-Eliya. * Last year, on December 29, about 20 homes were destroyed by a fire at the Fordyce Estate at Dickoya. Management promised to provide new homes but the families are still living in temporary huts and inadequate facilities. Hundreds of other line rooms have been destroyed over the years by fire, landslides and other entirely preventable causes. While successive Sri Lankan governments and the plantation companies regularly promise better accommodation for the estate workers, nothing changes. According to some estimates, about 67 percent of plantation workers are living in 120 square feet line rooms that have no proper ventilation. Twenty five percent of these facilities do not have proper toilets. While the literacy rate in Sri Lankas urban areas is 92 percent, it is only 67 percent in the plantation districts. Schools in these areas are not properly maintained and do not have adequate numbers of teachers or proper facilities and equipment. Robgill Estate fire victims spoke last week with World Socialist Web Site reporters about their living conditions and denounced the government and the unions. S. Shanthi, a female worker, told the WSWS that three 11-member families were among those whose homes were totally destroyed by the fire. We lost all our belongings and important documents. It is not easy for us to pay for the replacement of these things because wages are not even enough for our food, she said. Shanti explained that the recently signed sellout agreement between plantation employers and the unions eliminated a number of previously established allowances. Weve actually only received a 20-rupee (11 US cents) increase in our daily wage so I cant imagine how long it will take us to pay for the replacement of our documents. If we had a proper accommodation and housing system, we wouldnt have suffered this much damage, she said. There is no bus service to the Vanakadu Division of the Robgill Estate, which is located in a hilly area, forcing residents to walk three kilometres to reach the main road. Local roads are in a dilapidated condition and children have to walk long distances to reach their schools. Ranjith Kumar, a three-wheel taxi driver, told WSWS reporters that three patients had died and six pregnant women delivered babies when he was transporting them to the nearby Bogawantalawa hospital. R. Ananthakumar, 42, said working conditions were bad at the estate but that he had previously been disciplined for speaking out. We have to pluck 18 kilograms of tea leaves to reach the daily target but then they [management] deduct two or three kilos for the weight of the bag when it should only be one kilo. If anybody challenges this, he or she is victimised. Its also very difficult to get leave at this estate. Ananthakumar pointed out that if female workers take one month more than their entitled maternity leave because of sickness they are suspended. The trade unions are not fighting for our rights and they are useless. All these unions betrayed our wage struggle. S. Prabaharan, 31, said no trade union leaders had visited the estate since the fire or even spoken to any of the homeless workers and their families. Theyre afraid to come because of their betrayal of our wage struggle. Its useless to pay the 150-rupee subscription to the union and so weve decided to stop paying and to fight for our rights ourselves, he said. Plantation management, he continued, wanted to introduce the revenue sharing system at the estate. We opposed it and it was temporarily stopped. This system was implemented at Tillyrie Estate, which also belongs to Kelani Valley Plantations, and its workers now face a lot of problems. S. Ranjini, a 21-year-old mother, has been a casual worker on the estate for three and a half years. There are several other casual workers like me but the unions are not fighting to make us permanent. I can only pluck 10 kilos of tea leaves per day and so Im paid just 300 rupees per day. If I worked at the tea factory I could get 500 rupees, but its now closed. Another worker explained that 60 former tea factory employees had been transferred to field work and had their working days reduced. Theres no guarantee for our jobs in the future, she said. Conditions facing workers at Robgill are typical of those at tea estates throughout Sri Lanka where workers have fought bitter struggles to improve their wages and living conditions. In October last year plantation workers began a determined fight to demand a 100 percent increase in the basic daily wagefrom 500 rupees to 1,000 rupees. This culminated in a nine-day national strike by over 100,000 estate workers in December. Last Monday, after weeks of political manoeuvres and backroom meetings, the Ceylon Workers Congress and the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union signed a collective agreement with employers that completely betrayed workers demands. Other plantation unions, including the National Workers Union, Democratic Peoples Front and Up-Country Peoples Front, whose leaders are ministers of the government, aided and abetted this treachery (see: Sri Lankan plantation workers protest unions sellout wage deal). As the recent pay struggle confirms, plantation workers wages, working conditions and the provision of modern and safe housing for their families will not be changed by the unions, which defend employers profits, the government and the entire capitalist system. Homeless survivors of the line room fire at Vanakadu Division and other Robgill Estate workers should follow the political lead given by Abbotsleigh Estate workers and establish an independent workers action committee on their estate to fight for safe and secure accommodation, a decent living wage and other basic social rights. What is required is a complete break from the unions and a turn to other sections of the Sri Lankan working class on the basis of a fight for a workers and peasants government to implement socialist policies, including placing the plantations under public ownership and democratic workers control. The authors also recommend: The international significance of the Sri Lankan plantation workers strike [17 December 2018] Following the five-week-long United States federal government shutdown, in which hundreds of thousands of workers were furloughed, huge numbers of federal contract workers have been unable to collect back payments for the time they were unable to work, even though bills, medical expenses and other financial requirements have continued to mount. The 35-day partial government shutdown, leaving over 800,000 thousand federal workers and an unknown number of private government contractors without pay for weeks, was an unvarnished act of political contempt and cruelty toward American workers. Hundreds of thousands of employees deemed essential to the functioning of the state were forced to work despite not being paid, a violation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which forbids slave labor. Such treatment led tens of thousands of workers to sell belongings, take additional jobs as well as line up outside of soup kitchens. On Saturday, in an apparent suicide, a Transportation Security Administration officer jumped to his death from a hotel window inside the Orlando International Airport in Florida. While the psychological causes of the workers death are still undetermined, such an act must be viewed in the context of the stress and desperation confronting the workforce during the shutdown. While federal workers began to receive their first bit of back pay late last week, workers employed by the federal governments vast network of private contractors were not so lucky. Speaking to the World Socialist Web Site, a federal contractor stated that their company had denied them back pay, unless congressional action mandated it. My company isnt allowing us any opportunity to work overtime to make up lost wages, nor are they paying us for any federal holidays that occurred during the shutdown, the worker said, adding that the company is suggesting that they exhaust all of their paid time off (PTO), leaving them with no sick days or vacation time, or simply consider the 35-day shutdown as unpaid time off. The number of privately contracted janitors, bookkeepers, security guards and cafeteria workers, along with other employees, has expanded as the federal government has sought to cut expenses and privatize its functions. According to independent statistics gathered by researchers at New York University, 40 percent of the United States government personnel consists of contract employees: workers who are employed by private firms doing work for the government, typically for less pay and without job security or benefits. In a comment to New York magazine, Paul Light, an NYU professor, suggests as many as 580,000 contract workers were affected by the furlough. The five-week shutdown was provoked due to a political impasse reached between President Donald Trump and congressional Democratic leaders over the presidents demand for funding for a border wall between the United States and Mexico. The dispute could very well result in another shutdown if the President and Congress are not able to reach a lasting agreement on February 15. For their part, the congressional Democrats have consistently affirmed their support for the right-wing nostrum of border security, differing with Trump only on the most effective means of preventing poor migrants and refugees from entering the United States. Various Democratic-sponsored bills have been introduced which have called for the reimbursement of federal contract employees affected during the shutdown. With no Republican support in either the Senate or the House, such bills are predicted to fail. Demonstrating oligarchic contempt for the plight of workers, Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, stated to the Huffington Post that such reimbursements should be considered on an agency-by-agency basis, and that some workers were not entitled to receive back pay. Clarifying the Trump administrations preference for the military, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told a press briefing last week the defense-related [contractors] will be repaid, but that he was not an expert on the matter. The Democratic-sponsored bills themselves are entirely inadequate. The Fair Compensation for Low-Wage Contractor Employees Act, sponsored by Democratic Senators Tina Smith of Minnesota, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and others, would reimburse workers up to $965 for every week spent on furlough. This would represent a fraction of the pay lost to workers during the shutdown and would do nothing to resolve their low-wage status in the first place. The precarious situation faced by federal contract workers is an exposure of the right-wing policies of the American Federal Government Employees (AFGE), the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) and government workers unions charged with the representation of the federal workforce. Last month, as both federal and contract workers rallied side by side in opposition to the shutdown and workers staged sick outs, these organizations beseeched their members to appeal to Congress to resolve the dispute, launching pathetic appeals for congressional Republicans to #CalltheVote to reopen the government. This occurred even as tens of thousands of teachers in Los Angeles and maquiladora workers along the U.S.-Mexico border in Matamoros, Mexico, were on strike against low pay, austerity and other social attacks. Now, as the government has reopened for the time being, nothing has been resolved for federal workers or their private sector counterparts, many of whom work jobs formerly tasked to public workers. The plight of federal contract workers demonstrates the correctness of the World Socialist Web Sites call for government workers to form rank-and-file committees and to take their struggle out of the hands of the government trade unions, who seek only to restrain their members and keep workers divided. The author also recommends: The way forward for US government workers in the fight against the shutdown [23 January 2019] On February 9 at 2 p.m. EST, the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter is co-hosting a demonstration in Detroit to fight plant closings, mass layoffs and concessions. For more information about attending the demonstration, go to wsws.org/auto. The World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter has received many statements of support in the last few days for the Saturday, February 9 demonstration in Detroit called by the Autoworker Newsletter and the Steering Committee of the Coalition of Rank-and-File Committees. The demonstration is aimed at mobilizing opposition to the plans by General Motors to close five plants in the US and Canada, including major assembly plants in Detroit, Michigan, Lordstown, Ohio and Oshawa, Ontario, and the elimination of the jobs of more than 14,000 production and salaried workers. The United Auto Workers (UAW) and the Unifor union in Canada have opposed any industrial action to fight the plant closings and mass layoffs. Instead, the unions have ramped up their anti-Mexican nationalism in an effort to prevent a unified struggle between autoworkers in the US and Canada and their brothers in Mexico who have been waging a determined battle against poverty wages paid by multinational auto parts producers in Matamoros. The demonstration is fighting for the formation of rank-and-file factory and workplace committees, independently of the UAW and Unifor, to unite autoworkers in the US, Canada and Mexico, along with other sections of the working class to fight the attack on jobs by GM and other global automakers. The urgency of the demonstration is underscored by the start of the jobs massacre today with 4,250 engineers, IT workers, marketing employees and other salaried workers being marched out of the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan and other locations. I will be trembling at my desk, just waiting for HR or my director to say: Im sorry sir, its time for you to leave, one global marketing worker wrote on the web blog thelayoff.com last night. The job cuts come in advance of the companys 2018 report due out Wednesday that is expected to show a decline in profits from the $11.9 billion the company made in 2017. The aim is to reassure Wall Street investors that the company is stepping up attacks on its workforce in order to drive up its earnings in 2019. Marlene, who works at the GM Detroit-Hamtramck plant, expressed her support for the February 9 demonstration. Its time that the working man links arms across the country in any field of employment. We have to stand up together. I want to be part of this and would take pride in such a movement. I lose my job June 1 and they are working us 11-hour shifts, rushing us out of a job. The union has been locked into a complete conflict of interest. How can they possibly represent us when they took GM stock? They have turned their backs on us. Its a slap in the face to workers. Its just greed. I grew up in the Poletown neighborhood and worked at St. Josephs Hospital. All that was destroyed for GM to build this plant, and now they are shutting it down. I understand technology and autonomous vehicles, but you cant let technology take over the workers. This plant closing affects peoples lives, families are being torn apart, marriages suffer. Closing plants means destroying families. It is just unfair. Now the company wants me to travel across the county to another plant. In a year or two that will be shut down too. Im all for rank-and-file committees. I'm for them to represent my coworkers, their families and myself. We need a strong foundation of unity. Kathy, a General Motors contract worker, said she was planning to attend Saturdays demonstration. I see it as encouraging for workers. This is something that people have been looking for and have not been getting from the union. They are not for the workers, they are for the company. We need to encourage the teachers, the Amazon workers, the UPS workers to join us in a struggle. We have to join together as the working class and fight for our rights. We need to understand that we all face the same struggle. We need to stand together with one another. The Fedex workers, the UPS workers and the Lear workers all got contracts rammed down their throats by the union. She said US autoworkers should take a lead from workers in Mexico. They told the union we dont need you. That was a shining example. They got what they wanted because they wouldnt settle. We need to take that next step ourselves. We cant let them run over us like they did for the last 50 years. They are saying to workers hit the road, the same workers that built the company. No matter what happens, we need to continue the struggle for ourselves and future generations. A veteran worker at Fiat Chryslers Warren Stamping plant, said, We need to come together because if we dont the corporations are going to keep taking away from us. They dont want workers to make decent wages or to have enough for a nice home and to be able to raise a family. I have family and friends at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant. Theyre forcing workers to move to Flint or to Texas to keep their jobs, while the companies are using temps seven days a week, 10 hours a day. The corporations want to push out the full-time, higher-paid workers, and they are almost there, and have the whole workforce be part-time, temporary workers. People are tired of all the layoffs and plant closings. GM and Ford are closing plants and at Chrysler some workers are facing eight- to ten-week layoffs. There is even talk that Warren Truck could be down for five months. The young workers in the plant are not guaranteed anything. No one should have to live like that, not knowing if youll be working or not, and afraid to take a day off. Its just too much stress. Ive heard about young mothers dropping their babies off anywhere just to come to work and keep a job. Youre forced to work every day. Its a lose-lose situation. As long as they keep us divided, they are going to keep taking away. The union is just as guilty as the people that own Chrysler, Ford and GM. Theyre not for us. The UAW does whatever the bosses say. As long as the union officials have their big houses, they dont care. Referring to the wildcat strikes by workers in Matamoros, she said, I dont think Mexican workers are stealing our jobs. They are fighting and its good. They work like slaves. We all need to take a stand. We have to show unity; that will make a difference. It doesnt matter if you are an older worker about to retire or a young person just getting a job in the plant or somewhere elsethis is a struggle for everybody. Ronda is a retired health care worker. She said, My neighbor was laid off from the Hamtramck plant in 2017. They sent him to school, but he never got rehired. He is young and has a child that he had around the time he got laid off who is about two years old now. I will tell him and all the other laid-off workers to come. What do they have to lose? They have already taken their jobs. "I am glad the workers in Mexico stood up and fought. It's not fair to pay them so little. The companies think they can move the plants anywhere they want, and the strike of the Mexican autoworkers shows it's not so easy anymore." Alex works at the Chrysler Trenton Engine Plant in Trenton, Michigan. Hes been closely following the developments of workers struggles in Matamoros and supported the call for a unified fight of US, Canadian, and Mexican workers. People are tired of not being able to pay their bills while the rich eat filet mignon. The way things are going, I think were going to see in this country either a civil war or revolution break out. When asked about tactics employed by Unifor and the UAW to divide workers with nationalist campaigns, such as the anti-Mexican campaign launched by Unifor, Alex responded, This is what theyve been doing for decades! I keep telling the younger workers here that the union is not fighting for us. The younger generation especially really has to wake up and recognize whats happening to them. They try to keep these younger workers in the dark and get them to think that this is just the way things are and that the union is actually representing them. Look at the workers in Mexico or whats happening in France, he said, referring to the ongoing Yellow Vests protests. People are out on the streets against their corrupt governments and against the rich. A John Deere worker in Iowa said, I support the February 9 demonstration and urge workers internationally to support it as well. The question of the unions is ultimately a historical question. The betrayals of the union bureaucrats who now act as parasitical labor managers is not something that happened overnight. The UAW has not called a national strike for over 30 years. What happened? I remember when I first started working at John Deere in the 90s. They told us not to talk to the older workers. Why? Because they didn't want us to understand what the unions used to be like. They didn't want us to get any ideas about going on strike. They definitely don't want a general strike, which I think needs to happen today. This was also around the time they introduced the two-tier system. The UAW told us we had to make a sacrifice to keep John Deere afloat. Well, John Deere is doing just fine and we're still paying for it, just like what they did to autoworkers. I support this fight by autoworkers! The WSWS Autoworker Newsletter urges workers and young people to organize delegations from your factories, workplaces, schools and communities to attend the February 9 demonstration February 9 demonstration February 9 demonstration and send in your messages of support. The one-week strike by 12,000 workers at the Hungarian Audi plant in Gyor had a massive impact on production in several factories in Europe and shook the auto industry. The main Audi factory in Ingolstadt, Germany, has been shut down since last Monday. VW and Porsche plants were also affected. According to a company spokesman more than 10,000 autos in the A3, A4, A5 and Q2 product lines could not be built. Production would have come to a standstill this weekend at the Audi plants in Neckarsulm and in the Belgian capital of Brussels. FAZ.net reported that shifts were canceled at the VW plant in Bratislava, Slovakia and the Porsche plant in Leipzig. Auto analyst Boris Tomciak told the Slovak daily Sme Should the strike last even longer, production of some auto brands at the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava could be completely stopped. But just as the strike was demonstrating the real power of the workforce and served to inspire millions of autoworkers across Europe, the union broke off the strike and ensured that production was resumed. The lines at the Audi plant in Gyor have been rolling again since Thursday. The union at Audi in Gyor, AHFSZ, works closely together with Germanys IG Metall and was determined to prevent the contract bargaining in Eastern Europe from uniting with the opposition to planned job cuts. All of the major auto manufacturers plan massive job cuts over the next one to two years, including Audi. The VW Groups Ingolstadt-based premium brand is currently preparing a massive job cutting program to maximise profits at the expense of the workforce. In justifying ending the strike, the union said the original demand for an 18 percent wage increase had been achieved. On its website, it also lists the additional payments and premiums that existed previously but have been renegotiated. A closer examination of the deal exposes the usual tricks employed by the unions to present the result in the best possible light. The wage deal runs for 15 months instead of 12 and additional bonus payments are proportionately lower for the majority of workers, meaning that the wage increase is not 18 but rather 13 percent. The wage increase does not change the fact that the approximately 12,000 employees in Gyor are still among the lowest paid workers in the VW global corporation. They earn an average of 1,000 a month, although living costs are similar to those in Western Europe. Wages are significantly lower even compared to employees at VW and Audi in Poland and the Czech Republic. Wages for Hungarian autoworkers are only around one-third of those paid to the companies workers in Belgium or Germany, and even with the current wage increase, Hungarian autoworkers remain low-paid. The average gross wage in vehicle construction is the equivalent of 1,200. Now the Audi workers will receive a wage just slightly higher. Handelsblatt wrote on Thursday: Hungarian Audi employees get 18 percent more payand are still underpaid. Germanys leading business daily explained that the wage increase was tolerated by the company executive because it was important for the entire company to maintain its site in Hungary. Hungary has become a central location of the German automotive industry precisely due to its low wage structure. The auto industry in Hungary accounts for almost 30 percent of manufacturing output. Audi, Daimler and Suzuki produce about 176,000 cars per year in Estzergom, while Opel produces almost 500,000 engines each year in Szentgotthard. German companies, in particular, have been exploiting the low wages and poor working conditions in Eastern Europe and raking in the profits since the collapse of the Stalinist regime 30 years ago, but resistance has been growing in many companies for some time. The strike of Hungarian workers is part of a growing strike movement. In recent years, autoworkers have been on strike in Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. During the strike at Gyor, workers at the VW subsidiary Skoda in the Czech Republic declared that they would also go on strike if the company did not respond to their demands in contract negotiations due at the end of the month. Just last month, workers at the Daimler plant in Kecskemet saw their wages increase by 22 percent this year, with another 13 percent due next year. Close to the Mexican border with the US, tens of thousands of workers in Matamoros have been striking for better wages for weeks in opposition to the unions. The union at Audi, the AHFSZ, is under massive pressure from workers. It was created in 1996 as a rival to the VASAS metalworkers union at Audi and is one of numerous local Hungarian unions. It works closely together with the IG Metall union in Germany and is part of the InterSoli working group in Wolfsburg, which represents VW interests. AHFSZ officials made clear that they intended to strike a deal quickly with the Audi management. Union leader Sandor Nemeth stressed that further talks would be held during the strike and that the strike would stop immediately if an acceptable offer was put on the table. On the first day of the strike, negotiations with management were already taking place. In the past, IG Metall has been instrumental in organising cheap labour in Eastern European countries. Against a background of growing resistance in many companies, it is now trying to reorient itself and is prepared to speak about solidarity. IG Metall leaders were in constant contact with the AHFSZ leadership to end the strike as soon as possible. The IG Metall sits on all the boards of the auto and supplier companies and advises the corporations how the job cuts planned for the entire auto industry can be best enforced. Their main objective is to prevent a common struggle of all autoworkers. Germanys Manager Magazin recently described Audi as urgently needing restructuring. In comments to the Suddeutsche Zeitung last December, Audi CEO Bram Schot did not rule out job cuts. He said that if the current production volume could be achieved with around 90,000 employees, then he would conclude there are too many employees at Audi. Manager Magazin now writes of at least 14,000 jobs that could be eliminated. IG Metall, which plays a leading role in the development and implementation of corporate strategy within the VW Group, wants above all to prevent the wages conflict in Hungary from turning into a wildfire. Over the past few weeks, tens of thousands have taken to the streets throughout Hungary to protest against a reform of the countrys Labour Law passed in December by the right-wing government of Victor Orban. It allows for an increase in overtime from 250 to 400 hours per year. The law is tailor-made to serve the interests of German companies and is therefore referred to in Hungary not just as a slave law, but also as a Lex Audi, Lex Mercedes or Lex BMW. The slave law is the latest example of Orbans anti-working-class policies, and illustrates why governments in the EUwith the exception of a few hypocritical protestsare lining up behind the right-wing government in Budapest. In 2017, Orban lowered social security contributions from 27.5 to 19.5 percent and reduced the corporate tax rate to 9 percent. At the same time, the government is censoring social networks, suppressing democratic rights and undermining the freedom of the press. The strike at Audi in Gyor contains important lessons for all workers. First, it made clear that workers have tremendous power due to their role in the production process. Above all, it revealed that the strike had an immediate international impact. Developing international cooperation is now the most important task. In the fight against multinational corporations, which play workers against each other, workers need their own international strategy. Second, the strike has shown that any successful struggle requires a political break with the unions. The trade unions are desperately seeking to suppress this development of the class struggle and limit it to individual factory conflicts. This underlines the necessity for autoworkers at different factories and in different countries throughout the world to organise independently of the trade unions, build action committees, and contact one other. Autoworkers can only fight against job losses in Western European plants and cheap wages in Eastern Europe if they do not permit themselves to be divided, but align themselves on the basis of an international, socialist perspective. 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 Palestinian Authority continues to pay terrorists and their families for acts of violence carried out against the people of Israel, and PM Netanyahu is not having it. The Jerusalem Posts Lahav Harkov reports that Netanyahu will now withhold funds from the P.A. because of their refusal to stop paying for terrorism: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to authorize withholding taxes and tariffs collected for the Palestinian Authority in light of its continued monthly payments to terrorists and their families, for the first time since the Deduction Law was passed last year. The Deduction Law requires the Defense Ministry to present the Security Cabinet with information about how much the PA paid terrorists in prison or the families of terrorists who were killed, and for the Finance Minister to deduct that amount from the taxes and tariffs Israel collects for the PA The US cut all aid to the Palestinian Authority recently, as a result of their own law making the aid contingent on the PA stopping its payments to terrorists. Despite the significant economic penalties, the PA plans to maintain its current policy. The PLOs Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat said this week that the US policy is misguided and will lead hundreds of Palestinians to lose their jobs. Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry is working on gathering precise figures for how much the PA paid those who attacked Israelis in 2018, in order for Israel to block funds, as well Jill Reynolds has made fine glass jewelry in her Cheshire studio since 2006. PreviousNext Cheshire Glass Works Is a Local Treasure Reynolds has been making glass bead jewelry since 2006. CHESHIRE, Mass. Glass is a passion and somewhat of an obsession of Jill Reynolds who has made fine glass jewelry in her Cheshire studio since 2006. "Glass is just awesome and people can make such beautiful things out of it," the Cheshire Glass Works owner said. "It is a beautiful mysterious medium and I wanted to figure it out." Reynolds said she started making jewelry at age 15 and her first creations were hemp macrame necklaces that she sold at concerts and a few local stores. Later in life, she took a glass bead-making class that inspired her to add the new medium to her craft. "It was just a weekend class but it was awesome. It was really basic but I wanted to up my jewelry game a little bit," she said. "After that, I set up in my basement with my torch and tank and just spent five years making glass stuff and trying to teach myself." Reynolds said she kept working at her craft and in 2006 she moved out of her basement and to her current store at 24 South St. She originally opened with a silversmith but the fellow crafter decided to move to a new location within the first year. Reynolds said the silversmith encouraged her to depart with her to what she believed to be a superior location, but Reynolds wanted to stay in Cheshire. "I wanted to stay here," she said. "I am from Cheshire and what are the chances of actually having a business in town doing something I love." Reynolds said her business quickly began to grow and she was able to leave her "back up" job and throw all her efforts into jewelry making. She said forming the glass beads is essentially the same as glass blowing just smaller. "It is just like glass blowing in a furnace but I just use a torch it is a smaller flame it is smaller scale," she said. "I get a stick of glass super hot and smoosh it then I take a colored glass and melt it on. You can do whatever the heck you want." Once finished, she puts the glass in her kiln to temper it and then turns it into jewelry or whatever else she feels inspired to make. Reynolds said she has no formal art training and has figured out the craft organically over the years. She said some people will draw up what they want to create beforehand but she prefers to jump right in. "I like to just make a coffee turn on music and see what happens," she said. "I don't draw anything I just pick it up. Sometimes I have an idea of what I want to make and some days I will focus on that others it goes in a totally different direction." Reynolds has garnered a following in town and she has developed a long list of returning customers. "I have people that come in once a month, once every few weeks to see what new things I have," she said. " I have people that are addicted to earrings and I have one guy that comes in for every holiday Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, when his wife just needs a pick me up. I must have sold him hundreds of things." Reynolds work has moved beyond the borders of Cheshire and Berkshire County to fill orders for people throughout the country and world. She has met people from Isreal, Japan, and other glass enthusiasts from around the world. But her favorite customers are those who actually walk into the store to do their shopping. "There aren't a lot of places like this to shop where the person that makes everything is right there," she said. "I can talk about it or make whatever you want if you want something special I want people to come in and see what I am doing." Reynolds said she never thought she would be a business owner and noted whatever she is doing seems to be working. "I opened at a time when a lot of cool small local businesses opened and it was a good time for that because people really wanted to support local businesses," she said. "But then they all started to close and it took a dip but I am still going." Reynolds said she hopes her business continues to grow and hopes to inspire others to do what they love. "I just hope people keep coming back and I want to see more kids get interested in this stuff," she said. "Just being interested in art, being creative, and encouraging them...If you like to do something, even if it is weird or you don't think it means a lot, just keep doing it and one day you will be a professional at it." The Democratic Republic of the Congo is an African nation that is considered to be one of the wealthiest countries regarding natural resources. Despite the presence of vast quantities of natural resources, Congo remains one of the poorest nations on earth. In 2017, the Congolese gross domestic product was roughly $37.24 billion, which was the 93rd highest globally. Even though the Congolese gross domestic product was among the top 100 in 2017, its per capita gross domestic product was ranked as the 179th globally. The most vital natural resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo include the country's arable land, minerals, wildlife, and forests. Natural Resources Arable Land In 2014, the World Bank estimated that roughly 11.56% of the Congo's territory was considered arable. The data indicated that since 2006, the amount of arable land in the Congo has been increasing steadily which can be partially attributed to the importance of agriculture to the country's economy. The Congolese government estimated that in 2012, agriculture accounted for 44.2% of the country's gross domestic product. The Congolese labor department estimated that more than 60% of the active Congolese labor force was employed in the agricultural sector. The Congolese climate can support a wide variety of crops such as cassava, corn, and coffee. The major challenge facing the Congolese agriculture industry is the poor development of the country's transport sector. Overreliance on traditional agricultural practices has also hampered the development of the country's agricultural sector. Coffee Coffee is one of Congo's most important crops since it is the country's top agricultural export item. In 2004, the Congolese government estimated that the roughly 33,000 tons of coffee were produced in the country. During the 1990s, Congolese coffee farmers produced roughly 97,000 tons of coffee each year. Most of the coffee in Congo, close to 80% according to several estimates, is grown in three provinces Haut Zaire, Kivu, and Equateur. Most of the Congolese coffee farmers grow Arabica coffee with only 15% of the country's coffee being Robusta. Congolese coffee is mainly grown for the export market with nations such as Switzerland, France, and Italy importing most of Congo's coffee. Cassava Although cassava is not one of the Congo's native crops, the Congolese people eat vast quantities of cassava each year. Historical evidence indicates that the Portuguese introduced cassava to the Congolese people during the 16th century. At the time, the Portuguese thought that the crop would feed the people during famines. Forests The Congolese government estimated that roughly 60% of the country's entire area is covered with forests. The Congolese forests are some of its most important natural resources since they are exploited to provide timber to the country. Botanical experts estimated that the Congo has roughly 600 unique species of trees used for timber production. Due to the excessive exploitation of forests in the Congo, the size of forest cover has decreased drastically. The Congo's forest cover also decreases because trees are destroyed to provide space for agriculture. The Congolese government estimated that since the 1990s, the country lost roughly 1,200 square miles of forest each year. Wildlife The Congo has been blessed with large numbers of unique wildlife that are some of its most important natural resources. Experts believe that the Congo is home to more than 1,000 species of birds as well as 400 species of mammals. The Congo is also home to over 250 species of reptiles. The Congo is also home to over 2,000 species of butterflies with close to 200 being endemic to the country. To conserve the country's unique wildlife, the Congolese government established five national parks. One of the unique wildlife species found in the Congo is the Bonobo, a species of chimpanzee, and the country is the only place where Bonobos freely roam in the wild. Apart from the bonobo, the Congo is home to several other primate species such as gorillas and the common chimpanzees. The major challenge facing Congolese wildlife is hunting and the destruction of habitats. Some of the wildlife species in the Congo have been classified as endangered due to the excessive hunting of wildlife. The Congolese government has attempted to conserve the country's wildlife by putting in place several policies. Minerals The Congo has vast deposits of minerals which are arguably its most important natural resource. A wide variety of minerals are located in the Congo ranging from cobalt to gold and tin. The mineral sector has faced several significant challenges that have hampered it from contributing significantly to the Congolese economy. One of the challenges that face the Congolese mining sector is the country's political instability. During the wars that ravaged the country, the minerals were illegally exploited by the various rebel groups fighting in the Congo. Due to the illegal operations of the rebel groups, several mining companies in the country were forced to shut down their operations. Another challenge facing the Congolese mining sector is the rampant corruption among the country's public officials. The Congolese government implemented some reforms in an attempt to make the country's mining sector more economically viable. One of the reforms that the Congolese government put in place was partnering with the International Monetary Fund and other nations such as Canada and Ireland to modernize the country's mining sector. Copper One of the Congo's most essential minerals is copper which is mainly extracted in the copper belt region. The Congolese government estimates that the country's copper belt has more than 70 economically viable deposits of copper. The copper deposits found in the Congo are some of the top high-quality copper reserves in the world. Experts believe that the copper deposits in some of the Congo's reserves could be more extensive than previously estimated. Most of the copper produced in the Congo is sold to other nations with the significant market for the nation's copper being China. Some of the companies that mine copper in the Congo are from other nations such as Metorex from South Africa and Anvil Mining from Canada. Oil Congo has some of the largest deposits of oil on the African continent and in 2008 the country was believed to have 180 million barrels of oil. The Congolese government estimated that in 2008, the nation produced roughly 19,960 barrels of oil each day. Economic Challenges Facing the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Congolese economy faces a significant number of challenges with the major one being the country's political instability. The wars that have affected the Congo have hampered its economic development. Stranded: Over 100 seek refuge at Bodmin pub Cars stuck in the heavy snow More than 100 people sought refuge at a pub high on Bodmin Moor overnight after heavy snowfall hit the A30, leading many stranded motorists to abandon their cars. Some of those reaching the Jamaica Inn reported trudging through snow for several miles after more than 12cm of the white stuff brought "chaos" to the cross-country route on Thursday. The pub's 25-year-old general manager, Sammy Wheeler, said groups and families with young children arrived in droves after around 100 cars got stuck on a nearby stretch of the A30. "A lot of people have abandoned their cars. Some of them have walked a good three, four or five miles," she told the Press Association. "People were fed up of being in a cold car and they were running out of fuel." No room at the inn Each of the inn's 36 rooms was full, with some being shared by complete strangers on Thursday night. Meanwhile makeshift dormitories with mattresses on the floors were set up in other parts of the pub, including 15 beds in the restaurant another five in the lounge. Paul Drye, 54, from St Austell, Cornwall, was heading home after working in Dorchester, Dorset, on Thursday afternoon when he became stuck on the A30 around 3.30 pm. He said: "There had been a bit of heavy snow but while everything was moving it was fine, but as soon as there was a few incidents up ahead everything ground to a halt. "You never know how long these things are going to last, whether it will be moving in two minutes or four hours as it turned out." Mr Drye arrived at the Jamaica Inn around 7.30 pm and was met with a real "cross-section" of people including dogs, children and truck drivers. "People were still arriving until the early hours of the morning, people who had left their cars and walked, a couple miles some of them," he said. The Jamaica Inn staff were like a "well-oiled machine", they provided mattresses, blankets and pillows for everybody and stayed up all night stoking fires, Mr Dyre said. High spirits Spirits were said to be "incredibly high" among the guests, who included around a dozen children and an eight-month-old baby. The pub's seven staff, including two chefs, were pulling out the stops to make sure all were comfortable - although they were "in for a long one," Ms Wheeler said. "Credit to my staff - a shout-out goes to all of them," she added. The area is under a yellow weather warning of snow and ice until Friday afternoon and efforts continued through the night to clear the A30 and get people moving again. Speaking to the Press Association at 7.30 am on Friday morning Mr Dyre said some travellers had already left to walk back to their cars and that from the Inn they could see traffic on the A30 was moving again. Next time you're heading away domestically, check out our UK trip travel insurance options to guard against unexpected circumstances. Para muchos pacientes, la intubacion puede ser un ultimo esfuerzo para evitar la muerte. Pero eso no mitiga lo aterradora que puede ser la experiencia. The State of Michigan will re-open to full capacity on June 22 as more than 9 million vaccines have been administered, and COVID-19 cases fall to a one-year low. There's an update to this story! LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - WLFIs five and six oclock evening anchor/reporter Kayla Sullivan is celebrating the birth of her first child. Kayla delivered a healthy baby boy on Saturday, Feb 2 at 12:58 in the morning. Kayla and Allan Heiden named their son Sullivan Dale Heiden. I love when women use their last name as a first name for their child, said Kayla. Plus, Sullivan honors my Irish heritage and makes for a cute nickname, Sully! Sullivans middle name, Dale, is after Allans Grandpa. He passed away shortly before I met Allan and they were extremely close, said Kayla. We feel like he has been smiling down on us from Heaven ever since. Allan was the only male in his generation with the opportunity to pass down the Heiden last name. Allan has always wanted a son and if you compared his baby picture to Sullivan Dales, you wouldnt know the difference, said Kayla. Im extremely happy about that! I prayed for Sully to have that adorable dimple. Kayla will be off the air taking care of baby Sully for at least six weeks. I think being a mother will only enhance my ability to understand what is important to this community and report it, said Kayla. I look forward to coming back with a whole new perspective on life! Kayla wants to thank the Greater Lafayette community for all their well-wishes and prayers throughout her pregnancy. Id also like to thank the staff at Franciscan Health, added Kayla. Theyve been so helpful and patient as I learn the ropes of motherhood! Once Kayla returns to work, News 18s Trevor Peters will act as Sullivans nanny. Trevor is Allans cousin and introduced us with the help of his mom, explained Kayla. We jokingly call him the manny and trust he will take great care of Sully while we are at work! WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind (WLFI) The winter weather isn't over yet, but roadways have already started to suffer. INDOT, along with the local street departments, have already started taking charge in trying to fix the pothole problem. ''There's times when we have repaired a pothole and it comes right back out, said West Lafayette Street Commissioner Ben Anderson. I mean especially when you dont have the ideal circumstances to be able to repair them. Those circumstances involve the freezing and thawing that take place during a drastic weather change. Water can freeze in the cracks of roadways and expand once frozen again. ''You got that frozen layer and you warm up the top with the sun, said Anderson. "You get a little bit of penetration of moisture into the top layers of the asphalt or the pavement and then you get a freeze at night. It just pops. The temperature in the air may feel warm but the street, is still cold, Anderson says. In most cases, this makes it harder for crews to fix the potholes effectively. ''When you've had cold temperatures and our sub surface is frozen our road is frozen, said Anderson. Then you have a quick warm up and it feels great outside, but we are still below. The top layer of the asphalt is still frozen. The ground is still frozen. Quickly forming potholes aren't the only obstacle that street departments have to jump over. Winter weather could also create a financial obstacle. ''You think about all the people up north that deal with the lake affect snow, said Anderson. "The amount of snow events they'll have. They'll have seventy, eighty events a year where we may have forty or so and Southern Indiana have 10. We all get the same money to be able to work all that stuff out. So that's where you have to get into where things go and just being the best steward that you can with what we have.'' Be sure to keep a look out for any potholes you may see around the city or in your community. You can report potholes by going to here or here. You can report potholes in Lafayette at (765)-807-1000 and West Lafayette: (765) 775-5100. You may also report potholes to Tippecanoe County by calling (765) 474-7079. For any interstate highway, U.S. highway, or state road, please refer to the INDOT map here to report the pothole. You can also call 855-INDOT4U (463-6848). When reporting a pothole, please provide the following information: The name of the county. The state road number. The mile marker or nearest cross road. The direction of travel and which lane the pothole is located. LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) -- A man is in the Tippecanoe County Jail after a 2-hour standoff with Lafayette police. Gregory Harris, 33, has been arrested for intimidation, confinement and domestic battery, according to police. Officers were called to a home in the Romney Meadows neighborhood around 10:30 Sunday night for an unwanted guest call. When officers arrived, Harris said he had a knife and refused to come out. Police also said he had his 3-year-old son. According to LPD, there were concerns a person was inside and injured. Police were able to get to Harris about two hours later. No injures were reported. According to the Tippecanoe County inmate listing, Harris was booked around 2:30 a.m. Police also said Harris had two active warrants out of Minnesota for criminal confinement and domestic battery. A group of major European nations recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's interim president on Monday, urging him to hold free and fair elections. The coordinated move came after President Nicolas Maduro ignored a demand set by some EU nations to call snap elections by the end of Sunday. Spain, the United Kingdom, France and Germany were among the European nations to recognize Guaido's legitimacy. "We will dedicate all our efforts to achieve peace, freedom and harmony of the Venezuelan people," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. He called on Guaido to hold "free, democratic presidential elections, with guarantees and without exclusions." British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said on Twitter that the UK would recognize Guaido as interim president "until credible elections can be held." A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Theresa May added that sanctions against Venezuela were also on the table, underlining that the Maduro regime must end. Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Estonia and Sweden also said they would recognize Guadio as Venezuela's interim president. Venezuela's Foreign Ministry denounced the groundswell of support for Guaido, suggesting that European governments were acting as part of a US-led effort to topple Maduro. "The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects decision adopted by some European governments, where they officially fold into this strategy led by the US administration to topple the legitimate government of President Nicolas Maduro -- who the people of Venezuela elected in a sovereign, free and democratic way," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Maduro rejected the "ultimatum" set by EU leaders, asserting that previous elections that ushered him into another six-year term were fair. "We don't accept ultimatums from anyone," Maduro said in an interview with Spanish TV network LaSexta on Sunday. It was not clear why the EU as a whole did not recognize Guaido Speaking in Brussels on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that while the EU never recognized Venezuela's elections last year as legitimate, the decision to recognize a head of state was up to individual EU members alone. A political and peaceful process EU leaders have hailed a newly formed "international contact group," which will meet in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Thursday to discuss a "political and peaceful process" to ending the Venezuela crisis. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that France supported the group of EU and Latin American countries and their role in Venezuela's transition period, after recognizing Guaido as "acting President" in a tweet. Speaking on France Inter radio on Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the decision to recognize Guaido was "not foreign meddling," as Russia, one of Maduro's key allies, has suggested. Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned Europe's interference in the oil-rich country on Monday, calling it an attempt to "legitimize the usurped authority." Russia and China, which have together invested billions of dollars into Venezuela, have continued to back Maduro. China said on Monday that, no matter the outcome of the current political crisis, cooperation with Venezuela would not be damaged. Humanitarian aid Since declaring himself acting president on January 23 -- invoking a constitutional rule to open a rare challenge to Maduro's presidency -- Guaido's leadership has already been recognized by Canada, the United States, Australia, and a number of Latin American countries. Canada is currently hosting a meeting of the Lima Group regional bloc to discuss how the international community can further aid the people of Venezuela, including through immediate humanitarian assistance. Opening session in Ottawa on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a contribution of 53 million Canadian dollars ($40.4 million) in aid to Venezuela. Earlier in the day, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Germany had earmarked 5 million euros ($5.72 million) worth of assistance for Venezuela. USAID has already begun packaging pallets of foodstuffs following National Security Advisor John Bolton's announcement last week that it would send humanitarian aid. Guaido has said that humanitarian aid will begin to flow into Venezuela in the coming days, defying Maduro's repeated refusal of assistance in the face of food and medicine shortages. He outlined the move as part of a plan to push the military into cooperating with the opposition. Maduro has repeatedly denied that Venezuela is in a crisis, suggesting aid efforts were part of an international plan to destabilize his socialist regime. During Maduro's tenure as president, the once-wealthy oil nation has descended into economic collapse and a humanitarian crisis. Southwest Airlines Co. operates as a passenger airline company that provide scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2020, the company operated a total fleet of 718 Boeing 737 aircrafts; and served 107 destinations in 40 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos. Its services also cover destinations in Hilo on Hawaii; Cozumel, Mexico; Steamboat Springs, Colorado; Miami, Florida; Palm Springs, California; and Montrose (Telluride and Crested Butte), Colorado. In addition, the company provides inflight entertainment and connectivity services on Wi-Fi enabled aircrafts; and Rapid Rewards loyalty program that enables program members to earn points for dollars spent on Southwest base fares. In addition, the company provides a suite of digital platforms to support customers' travel needs, including Southwest.com, mobile website, and apps; and SWABIZ, an online booking tool. Further, it offers ancillary services, such as Southwest's EarlyBird Check-In, upgraded boarding, and transportation of pets and unaccompanied minors. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Read More WESCO International, Inc. provides business-to-business distribution, logistics, and supply chain solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Electrical & Electronic Solutions (EES), Communications & Security Solutions (CSS), and Utility and Broadband Solutions (UBS). The EES segment supplies products and supply chain solutions, including electrical equipment and supplies, wires and cables, lubricants, pipes, valves, fittings, fasteners, cutting tools, power transmission products, and safety products, as well as assemblies and components; and provides various value-added services, such as supplier consolidation, design and technical support, just-in-time supply and electronic commerce, and supply chain management services to the construction, industrial, and original equipment manufacturing markets. The CSS segment provides copper and fiber optic cable and connectivity, access control, video surveillance, intrusion and fire/life safety, cabinets, power, cable management, wireless, professional audio/video, voice and networking switches, and other ancillary products; and value-added supply chain solutions, including inventory management, product packaging and enhancement, and customized supply chain services to the network infrastructure and security markets. The UBS segment supplies electrical transmission and distribution, power plant maintenance, repair and operations supplies, and smart-grid products; arranges materials management and procurement outsourcing services for the power generation, transmission, and distribution industries; and offers conductors, transformers, overhead transmission and distribution hardware, switches, protective devices and underground distribution products, connectors, critical components, and lighting and conduit products for the investor-owned utilities, public power companies, and contractors. The company was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Read More Thor Industries, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells recreational vehicles (RVs), and related parts and accessories in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It offers travel trailers under the Airstream Classic, Globetrotter, International, Flying Cloud, Caravel, Bambi, and Basecamp trade names; Class B motorhomes under the Interstate and Atlas series, and Sequence and Tellaro trade names; and gasoline and diesel Class A and Class C motorhomes under the Four Winds, Freedom Elite, Majestic, Hurricane, Chateau, Windsport, Axis, Vegas, Tuscany, Palazzo, Aria, Quantum, Compass, Gemini, and A.C.E trade names. It also provides conventional travel trailers and fifth wheels under the Montana, Springdale, Hideout, Sprinter, Outback, Laredo, Bullet, Fuzion, Raptor, Passport, Cougar, Coleman, Kodiak, Aspen Trail, Aerolite, Voltage, Cruiser, Volante, Sunset Trail, Zinger, Landmark, Bighorn, Elkridge, Trail Runner, North Trail, Cyclone, Torque, Prowler, Milestone, Shadow Cruiser, Lithium, MPG, Radiance, Sundance, Stryker, Escape, Sportsmen, Connect, Venom, Gold, Durango, Sportster, Stratus, SportTrek, Sonic, Jay Flight, Jay Feather, Eagle, Pinnacle, Talon, Autumn Ridge, Telluride, Highlander, Mesa Ridge, and Open Range trade names; and luxury fifth wheels under the Redwood and DRV Mobile Suites trade names. It offers Class A and Class C motorhomes under the Alante, Precept, Greyhawk, Redhawk, Odyssey, Esteem, Emblem, Insignia, Aspire, Anthem, and Cornerstone trade names. It also provides motorcaravans, caravans, campervans, and urban vehicles under the Buccaneer, Buerstner, Carado, Compass, CrossCamp, Dethleffs, Elddis, Eriba, Etrusco, Hymer, Laika, LMC, Niesmann+Bischoff, Sunlight, and Xplore brands. It offers aluminum extrusion and specialized component products to RV and other manufacturers; and digital products and services for RVs. It provides its products through independent and non-franchise dealers. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in Elkhart, Indiana. Read More The Egyptian Ministry of Interior says that police forces have arrested 54 members of the terrorist-designated Muslim Brotherhood group for plotting attacks in Egypt in coordination with the Brotherhoods leadership abroad. The ministry said that intelligence revealed that the leaders of the outlawed group abroad were plotting to sow chaos in the country in January and February to coincide with the anniversary of the 25 January revolution. The suspects plotted to sabotage public roads and terrorise citizens with the aim of disrupting public peace and harming the country's national interests, according to the ministry. The MB leadership abroad formed a group on the internet which included members of the Muslin Brotherhood and anti-state elements inside the country under the name "O Allah, Revolution," holding a number of meetings abroad to plan the execution of their terrorist plot, the statement added. The ministry said that the suspects were found in possession of cash and materials used in riots to block roads and set fires. The ministry said that it is working to identify and arrest the remaining members of the group, which is led by Yasser El-Omda, a fugitive Brotherhood leader currently residing in Turkey. Short link: The following companies are subsidiares of Sysco: 2234829 Alberta ULC, 2234842 Alberta ULC, A. M. Briggs Inc., A.M. Briggs, Almacen Fiscal Frionet Caldera S.A., Almacen Fiscal Frionet Limon S.A., Appert's Foodservice, Arnotts (Fruit) Limited, Asian Foods, Bahamas Food Holdings Limited, Bahamas Food Services Limited, Brake Bros, Brake Bros Foodservice Ireland Limited, Brake Bros. Foodservice Limited, Brake Bros. Holding I Limited, Brake Bros. Ltd., Brakes Foodservice NI Limited, Buchy Food Service, Buckhead Beef Co., Buckhead Meat & Seafood of Houston Inc., Buckhead Meat Company, Buckhead Meat Midwest Inc., Buckhead Meat of Dallas Inc., Buckhead Meat of Denver Inc., Buckhead Meat of San Antonio LP, Buzztable Inc., CAKE Corporation, Central Seafood Co., Christys Wine & Spirits Limited, Clafra Aktiebolag, Colorado Boxed Beef Co - Specialty meat-cutting division, Corporacion Frionet Sociedad Anonima, Crossgar Foodservice, Crossgar Foodservice Limited, Crown I Enterprises Inc., Cucina Acquisitions (UK) Limited, Cucina Finance (UK) Limited, Cucina French Holdings Limited, Cucina Fresh Finance Limited, Cucina Fresh Investments Limited, Cucina Lux Investments Limited, Curleys Quality Foods Limited (Third Party), Davigel Belgilux S.A., Davigel Espana S.A., Desert Meats & Provisions, Distagro, Doerle Food Service, Doughtie's Foods Inc., Dust Bowl City LLC, Eko Fagel Fisk o mittemellan AB, Enclave Insurance Company, Enclave Parkway Association Inc., Enclave Properties LLC, European Imports, European Imports Inc., Figg Inc., Freedman Meats, Freedman Meats Inc., Freedman-KB Inc., Fresh Direct (UK) Limited, Fresh Direct Group Limited, Fresh Direct Limited, Fresh Holdings Limited, FreshPoint, FreshPoint Arizona Inc., FreshPoint Atlanta Inc., FreshPoint California Inc., FreshPoint Central California Inc., FreshPoint Central Florida Inc., FreshPoint Connecticut LLC, FreshPoint Dallas Inc., FreshPoint Denver Inc., FreshPoint Hawaii LLC, FreshPoint Inc., FreshPoint Las Vegas Inc., FreshPoint North Carolina Inc., FreshPoint North Florida Inc., FreshPoint Oklahoma City LLC, FreshPoint Pompano Real Estate LLC, FreshPoint Puerto Rico LLC, FreshPoint San Francisco Inc., FreshPoint South Florida Inc., FreshPoint South Texas Inc., FreshPoint Southern California Inc., FreshPoint Tomato LLC, FreshPoint Vancouver Ltd., Freshfayre Limited, Fruktservice i Helsingborg AB, GHS Classic Drinks Limited, Gilchrist & Soames Inc., Gilchrist & Soames UK Limited, Guest Packaging LLC, Guest Supply, Guest Supply Asia Limited, Guest Supply Singapore Pte. Ltd., International Food Group, Isakssons Frukt & Gront AB, J & M Wholesale Meats, J. Kings Food Service Professionals, J. Kings Food Service Professionals Inc., Kent Frozen Foods, Les Ateliers Du Gout, Liquid Assets Limited, M&J Seafood Holdings Limited, M&J Seafood Limited, Manchester Mills LLC, Mayca Autoservicio S.A., Mayca Distribuidores S.A., Menigo Foodservice AB, Mitshim Etatu Supply LP, Newport Meat Company, Newport Meat Northern California Inc., Newport Meat Pacific Northwest Inc., Newport Meat Southern California Inc., Newport Meat of Nevada Inc., North Star Holding Corporation, North Star Seafood, North Star Seafood Acquisition Corporation, North Star Seafood LLC, PFS de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Palisades Ranch Inc., Pallas Foods, Pallas Foods Farm Fresh Unlimited Company, Pallas Foods Unlimited Company, Pauleys Produce Limited, Promotora del Servicios S.A. de C.V., Restaurangakdemien AB, Restaurant of Tomorrow Inc., Rohan Viandes Elaboration SAS, SMS Bermuda Holdings, SMS GPC International Limited, SMS GPC International Resources Limited, SMS Global Holdings S.a.r.l., SMS International Resources Ireland Unlimited Company, SMS Lux Holdings LLC, SOTF LLC, SYY Netherlands C.V., SYY Panama S. de R.L., Serca Foodservice, Servicestyckarna I Johannes AB, Servicios Ameriserve S.A. de C.V., Shenzhen Guest Supply Trading Co. Limited, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Bianchi Montegut, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Boiseau, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Garcelles, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) J.D. Lanjouan, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Le Dauphin, Specialty Meat Holdings LLC, Stockflag Limited, Stockholms Fiskauktion AB, Supplies on the Fly, Sysco Albany LLC, Sysco Asian Foods Inc., Sysco Atlanta LLC, Sysco Autoservicio S.A., Sysco Baltimore LLC, Sysco Baraboo LLC, Sysco Bermuda Partners L.P., Sysco Boston LLC, Sysco Canada Holdings S.a.r.l., Sysco Canada Inc., Sysco Central Alabama LLC, Sysco Central California Inc., Sysco Central Florida Inc., Sysco Central Illinois Inc., Sysco Central Pennsylvania LLC, Sysco Charlotte LLC, Sysco Chicago Inc., Sysco Cincinnati LLC, Sysco Cleveland Inc., Sysco Columbia LLC, Sysco Connecticut LLC, Sysco Corporation, Sysco Corporation Director's Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Employee's 401(k) Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Executive Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Good Government Committee Inc., Sysco Corporation Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Executive Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Unemployment Benefits Plan Trust, Sysco Detroit LLC, Sysco Disaster Relief Foundation Inc., Sysco EI VI S. s.r.l., Sysco EU II S.a.r.l., Sysco EU III S.a.r.l., Sysco EU IV Capital Unlimited Company, Sysco EU IV S. s.r.l.., Sysco EU V S. s.r.l., Sysco Eastern Maryland LLC, Sysco Eastern Wisconsin LLC, Sysco Foundation Inc., Sysco France Holding SAS, Sysco France SAS, Sysco George Town II LLC, Sysco George Town Limited S. s.r.l.., Sysco Global Finance LLC, Sysco Global Finance LLP, Sysco Global Holdings B.V., Sysco Global Resources LLC, Sysco Global Services LLC, Sysco Grand Cayman Company, Sysco Grand Cayman II Company, Sysco Grand Cayman III Company, Sysco Grand Rapids LLC, Sysco Guernsey Limited, Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc., Sysco Guest Supply Europe Goods Wholesalers LLC, Sysco Guest Supply Europe Limited, Sysco Guest Supply LLC, Sysco Gulf Coast LLC, Sysco Hampton Roads Inc., Sysco Hawaii Inc., Sysco Holdings II LLC, Sysco Holdings LLC, Sysco Indianapolis LLC, Sysco International Food Group Inc., Sysco International Inc., Sysco Iowa Inc., Sysco Jackson LLC, Sysco Jacksonville Inc., Sysco Kansas City Inc., Sysco Knoxville LLC, Sysco Labs Europe Limited, Sysco Labs Pvt. Ltd., Sysco Leasing LLC, Sysco Lincoln Inc., Sysco Lincoln Transportation Company Inc., Sysco Long Island LLC, Sysco Los Angeles Inc., Sysco Louisville Inc., Sysco Memphis LLC, Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Canada Inc., Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Inc., Sysco Metro New York LLC, Sysco Minnesota Inc., Sysco Montana Inc., Sysco Nashville LLC, Sysco Netherlands Partners LLC, Sysco North Central Florida Inc., Sysco North Dakota Inc., Sysco Northern New England Inc., Sysco Philadelphia LLC, Sysco Pittsburgh LLC, Sysco Portland Inc., Sysco Raleigh LLC, Sysco Resources Services LLC, Sysco Riverside Inc., Sysco Sacramento Inc., Sysco San Diego Inc., Sysco San Francisco Inc., Sysco Seattle Inc., Sysco South Florida Inc., Sysco Southeast Florida LLC, Sysco Spain Holdings SLU, Sysco Spokane Inc., Sysco St. Louis LLC, Sysco Syracuse LLC, Sysco Technologies Cayman Ltd., Sysco Technologies LLC, Sysco UK Holdings Limited, Sysco UK Limited, Sysco UK Partners LLP, Sysco USA I Inc., Sysco USA II LLC, Sysco USA III LLC, Sysco Ventura Inc., Sysco Ventures Inc., Sysco Virginia LLC, Sysco West Coast Florida Inc., Sysco Western Minnesota Inc., The SYGMA Network Inc., Upsys, Victua SAS, Walker Foods Inc., Waugh Foods, and Wild Harvest Limited. The following companies are subsidiares of American International Group: AGC Life Insurance Company, AIG APAC HOLDINGS PTE. LTD., AIG Advisors S.r.l., AIG Aerospace Insurance Services Inc., AIG Asia Pacific Insurance Pte. Ltd., AIG Asset Management (Europe) Limited, AIG Asset Management (U.S.) LLC, AIG Assurance Company, AIG Australia Limited, AIG Brazil Holding I LLC, AIG CIS Investments LLC, AIG Canada Holdings Inc., AIG Capital Corporation, AIG Capital Services Inc., AIG Claims Inc., AIG Egypt Insurance Company S.A.E., AIG Employee Services Inc., AIG Europe (Services) Limited, AIG Europe Holdings S.a.rl., AIG Europe S.A., AIG Federal Savings Bank, AIG Financial Products Corp., AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd., AIG Global Asset Management Holdings Corp., AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp., AIG Global Reinsurance Operations, AIG Holdings Europe Limited, AIG Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, AIG Insurance Company China Limited, AIG Insurance Company JSC, AIG Insurance Company of Canada, AIG Insurance Company-Puerto Rico, AIG Insurance Hong Kong Limited, AIG Insurance Limited, AIG Insurance Management Services Inc., AIG Insurance New Zealand Limited, AIG International Holdings GmbH, AIG Investments UK Limited, AIG Israel Insurance Company Ltd, AIG Japan Holdings Kabushiki Kaisha, AIG Kenya Insurance Company Limited, AIG Korea Inc., AIG Latin America I.I., AIG Latin America Investments S.L., AIG Lebanon SAL, AIG Life Holdings Inc., AIG Life Insurance Company (Switzerland) Ltd, AIG Life Limited, AIG Life South Africa Limited, AIG Life of Bermuda Ltd., AIG MEA Holdings Limited, AIG MEA Limited, AIG Malaysia Insurance Berhad, AIG Markets Inc., AIG Matched Funding Corp., AIG PC Global Services Inc., AIG Philippines Insurance Inc., AIG Property Casualty Company, AIG Property Casualty Inc., AIG Property Casualty International LLC, AIG Property Casualty U.S. Inc., AIG Re-Takaful (L) Berhad, AIG Resseguros Brasil S.A., AIG Seguros Brasil S.A., AIG Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., AIG Shared Services Corporation, AIG South Africa Limited, AIG Specialty Insurance Company, AIG Technologies Inc., AIG Travel Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., AIG Travel Assist Inc., AIG Travel Assist Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., AIG Travel EMEA Limited, AIG Travel Inc., AIG Uganda Limited, AIG Vietnam Insurance Company Limited, AIG WarrantyGuard Inc., AIG-FP Pinestead Holdings Corp., AIG-Metropolitana Cia. de Seguros y Reaseguros S.A., AIGGRE EOLA LLC, AIGGRE Europe Real Estate Fund I GP S.a r.l., AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund I GP LLC, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund I LP, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund II GP LLC, AIU Insurance Company, AM Holdings LLC, Ageas Protect, AlphaCat Managers Ltd., American General Corporation, American General Life Insurance Company, American Home Assurance Co. Ltd., American Home Assurance Company, American Home Assurance Company Escritorio de Representacao no Brasil Ltda., American International Group Inc., American International Group UK Limited, American International Overseas Association, American International Overseas Limited, American International Realty Corp., American International Reinsurance Company Ltd., American International Underwriters del Ecuador-Holding S.A., American Security Life Insurance Company Limited, Arthur J. Glatfelter Agency Inc., Avondhu Limited, Blackboard Customer Care Insurance Services LLC, Blackboard Insurance Company, Blackboard Services LLC, Blackboard Specialty Insurance Company, Blackboard U.S. Holdings Inc., Chartis Takaful Enaya B.S.C. (c), Commerce and Industry Insurance Company, Crop Risk Services Inc., Eaglestone Reinsurance Company, Ellipse, Fortitude Group Holdings LLC, Fortitude Life & Annuity Solutions Inc., Fortitude Reinsurance Company Ltd., Franklin Life Insurance Company, Fuji Fire and Marine, Glatfelter Insurance Group, Globe and Rutgers Insurance Group, Grand Isle SAC Limited, Granite State Insurance Company, Group Risk Services Limited, Group Risk Technologies Limited, Illinois National Insurance Co., Jefferson Eola Venture LLC, Johannesburg Insurance Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, Laya Healthcare Limited, Lexington Insurance Company, MG Reinsurance Limited, Mt. Mansfield Company Inc., National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh Pa., National Union Fire Insurance Company of Vermont, New Hampshire Insurance Company, PT AIG Insurance Indonesia, Pine Street Real Estate Holdings Corp., Private Joint-Stock Company AIG Ukraine Insurance Company, Risk Specialists Companies Insurance Agency Inc., SA Affordable Housing LLC, SAFG Retirement Services Inc., Service Net Warranty LLC, Stratford Insurance Company, SunAmerica Affordable Housing Partners Inc., SunAmerica Asset Management LLC, Talbot Holdings Ltd., Talbot Underwriting Holdings Ltd., Talbot Underwriting Ltd., Thai CIT Holding Company Limited, The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York, The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company, Travel Guard, Travel Guard Group Canada Inc./Groupe Garde Voyage du Canada Inc., Travel Guard Group Inc., Tudor Insurance Company, VALIC Financial Advisors Inc., Valic Retirement Services Company, Validus Holdings, Validus Holdings (UK) Ltd., Validus Holdings Ltd., Validus Reinsurance (Switzerland) Ltd, Validus Reinsurance Ltd., Validus Ventures Ltd., Volunteer Firemen's Insurance Services Inc., Western World Insurance Company, and Western World Insurance Group Inc.. The following companies are subsidiares of Sealed Air: AFP (Shanghai) Limited, AFP Inc. (Branch), AFPTOH LTD, Aconcagua Distribuciones SRL, Air Ride Pallets Hong Kong Limited, Austin Foam Plastics Inc., Auto-C LLC, Automated Packaging Systems, B+ Equipment, B+ Equipment SAS, Beacon Holdings LLC, Biosphere Industries, BluPack (New Zealand), Blue Dot Packaging Pty Ltd., CPI Packaging Inc., CPI Packaging Systems Inc., Cactus (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Cactus Shanghai Trading Co. Ltd., Ciras C.V., Ciras C.V. - Luxembourg Branch, Ciras C.V. Luxembourg Branch, Cleanwise Inc., Cryovac (Malaysia) SDN. BHD, Cryovac (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Cryovac Brasil Ltda., Cryovac Chile Holdings LLC, Cryovac Holdings II LLC, Cryovac Inc., Cryovac International Holdings Inc., Cryovac LLC, Cryovac Leasing Corporation, Cryovac Londrina Ltda., Cryovac Packaging Portugal - Embalagens Ltda., Cryovac Packaging Portugal Embalagens Ltda, Cryovac Sweden AB, Cryovac-Sealed Air de Costa Rica S.R.L., DELTAPLAM Embalagens Industria e Comercio, Deltaplam Embalagens Industria e Comercio Ltda, Diversey, Diversey Australia Pty. Ltd., Diversey Austria Trading GmbH, Diversey B.V., Diversey Belgium BVBA, Diversey Brasil Industria Quimica Ltda., Diversey Canada Inc., Diversey Centroamerica S.A., Diversey Danmark ApS, Diversey Hungary Acting Off-shore Capital Management Limited Liability Company, Diversey J Trustee Limited, Diversey Trustee Limited, Diversey Ceska republika s.r.o. clen koncernu Diversey, Entapack Pty. Ltd., Fagerdala (Chengdu) Packaging Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Chengdu) Packing Co. Ltd. (Chongqing Branch), Fagerdala (Chongqing) Packaging Co. Ltd. (Branch), Fagerdala (Huiyang) Packaging Co. Ltd, Fagerdala (Huiyang) Packaging Co. Ltd. (Branch), Fagerdala (Shanghai) Foams Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Shanghai) Polymer Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Shenzhen) Packaging Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Suzhou) Packaging Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Suzhou) Packing Co. Ltd. (Hefei Branch), Fagerdala (Thailand) Limited, Fagerdala (Xiamen) Packaging Co. Ltd., Fagerdala Leamchabung Limited, Fagerdala Leamchabung Ltd., Fagerdala Malaysia Sdn Bhd., Fagerdala Mexico S.A. de C.V., Fagerdala Mexico S.A. de C.V. (Chihuahua Branch), Fagerdala Mexico Supply Chain S.A. de C.V., Fagerdala Packaging Inc. (Indiana), Fagerdala Shanghai Foams Co. Ltd., Fagerdala Singapore Pte Ltd, Fagerdala Singapore Pte Ltd (Branch), Fagerdala Singapore Pte. Limited, Fagerdala Singapore Pte. Limited (Taiwan Branch), Fagerdala Singapore Pte. Ltd., Fagerdala Suzhou Packaging Co. Ltd., Fagerdala Suzhou Packaging Co. Ltd. (Hefei Branch), Fagerdala Thailand Ltd., GEIE VES, Getpacking.com GmbH, Indonesian Rep Office of Sealed Air Hong Kong Limited, Invertol S. de R.L. de C.V., JCS Sealed Air Kaustik, JSC Sealed Air Kaustik, Kevothermal LLC, Kevothermal LLC, Kevothermal Limited, Nelipak Holdings, Pack-Tiger GmbH, Packaging C.V., ProAseptic Technologies S.L., Producembal - Producao de Embalagens Ltda., Proxy Biomedical Ltd., Reflectix Inc., SLD Air Packaging Paketleme Malzemeleri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Saddle Brook Insurance Company, Sealed Air (Asia) Holdings B.V., Sealed Air (Barbados) S.R.L., Sealed Air (Canada) Co./CIE, Sealed Air (Canada) Holdings B.V., Sealed Air (China) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air (China) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air (China) Limited, Sealed Air (China) Ltd., Sealed Air (India) Limited, Sealed Air (Israel) Ltd., Sealed Air (Korea) Limited, Sealed Air (Latin America) Holdings II LLC, Sealed Air (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Sealed Air (New Zealand), Sealed Air (Philippines) Inc., Sealed Air (Singapore) Pte. Limited, Sealed Air (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Sealed Air (Thailand) Limited, Sealed Air (Ukraine) Limited, Sealed Air Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Sealed Air Africa (Pty.) Limited, Sealed Air Americas Manufacturing S. de R. L. de C. V., Sealed Air Argentina S.A., Sealed Air Australia (Holdings) Pty. Limited, Sealed Air Australia Pty Ltd., Sealed Air Australia Pty. Limited, Sealed Air B.V., Sealed Air Belgium N.V., Sealed Air Central America S.A., Sealed Air Chile S.P.A., Sealed Air Colombia Ltda., Sealed Air Corporation (US), Sealed Air Denmark A/S, Sealed Air Embalagens Ltda., Sealed Air Europe Holdings C.V., Sealed Air Europe Holdings LP, Sealed Air Finance B.V., Sealed Air Finance II LLC, Sealed Air Finance II LLC (Sucursal Mexico), Sealed Air Finance Ireland Unlimited Company, Sealed Air Finance Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Finance Luxembourg S.a.r.l. Luxembourg (L) Root Finance Branch, Sealed Air Finance Luxembourg S.a.r.l. US Finance Branch, Sealed Air Funding Corporation, Sealed Air Funding LLC, Sealed Air General Trading LLC, Sealed Air Global Holdings C.V., Sealed Air Global Holdings I C.V., Sealed Air Global Holdings I LLC, Sealed Air GmbH, Sealed Air Hellas S.A., Sealed Air Holding France S.A.S., Sealed Air Holding France SAS, Sealed Air HoldingS I LLC, Sealed Air Holdings (New Zealand) Pty. Ltd., Sealed Air Holdings I C.V., Sealed Air Holdings LLC, Sealed Air Holdings South Africa Proprietary Limited, Sealed Air Hong Kong (Jakarta Indonesia Branch), Sealed Air Hong Kong Limited, Sealed Air Hungary Ltd., Sealed Air International Holdings LLC, Sealed Air International Holdings LLC , Sealed Air Investment and Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air Investment and Management Co. Ltd., Sealed Air Japan G.K., Sealed Air Korea Limited, Sealed Air LLC, Sealed Air Limited, Sealed Air Luxembourg (I) S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Luxembourg (II) S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Management Holding Verwaltungs GmbH, Sealed Air Multiflex GmbH, Sealed Air Netherlands (Holdings) I B.V., Sealed Air Netherlands (Holdings) II B.V., Sealed Air Netherlands (Holdings) II B.V. - Deutsche Zweigniederlassung, Sealed Air Netherlands (Holdings) II B.V. - Deutsche Zweigniederlassung, Sealed Air Netherlands (Holdings) III B.V., Sealed Air Netherlands (Holdings) III B.V., Sealed Air Netherlands Holdings V B.V., Sealed Air Nevada Holdings Limited, Sealed Air Norge AS, Sealed Air OY, Sealed Air Packaging (India) Private Limited, Sealed Air Packaging (Shanghai) Co. Limited, Sealed Air Packaging (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air Packaging LLC, Sealed Air Packaging Materials (India) LLP, Sealed Air Packaging Materials (India) LLP, Sealed Air Packaging S.L.U., Sealed Air Paketleme Malzemeleri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Sealed Air Peru S.A.C., Sealed Air Polska Sp. Zoo, Sealed Air Pty Limited, Sealed Air S.A S., Sealed Air S.A.S., Sealed Air S.r.l., Sealed Air South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Sealed Air Svenska AB, Sealed Air Taiwan Limited, Sealed Air US Holdings (Thailand) LLC, Sealed Air Uruguay S.A., Sealed Air Venezuela Corporation, Sealed Air Verpackungen GmbH, Sealed Air de Mexico Operations S. de R.L. de C.V., Sealed Air de Venezuela S.A., Sealed Air s.r.o., Shanklin Corp, Shanklin Corporation, Soinpar Industrial Ltda., TART s.r.o., TART s.r.o. Joint Venture, TTS-Ciptec, TXAFP Asia Pacific Ltd., TXAFP GP LLC, TempTrip LLC, Trigon Industries, and Vietnamese Rep Office of Sealed Air Hong Kong Limited. Owens Corning manufactures and markets a range of insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composite materials in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Composites, Insulation, and Roofing. The Composites segment manufactures, fabricates, and sells glass reinforcements in the form of fiber; and manufactures and sells glass fiber products in the form of fabrics, non-wovens, and other specialized products. Its products are used in pipe, roofing shingles, sporting goods, consumer electronics, telecommunications cables, boats, aviation, automotive, industrial containers, and wind-energy applications in the building and construction, transportation, consumer, industrial, and power and energy markets. The Insulation segment manufactures and sells fiberglass insulation for residential, commercial, industrial, and other markets for thermal and acoustical applications; and manufactures and sells glass fiber pipe insulation, flexible duct media, bonded and granulated mineral fiber insulation, cellular glass insulation, and foam insulation used in construction applications. This segment sells its products primarily to the insulation installers, home centers, lumberyards, retailers, and distributors under the Thermafiber, FOAMULAR, FOAMGLAS, Paroc, Owens Corning PINK, and FIBERGLAS Insulation brand names. The Roofing segment manufactures and sells residential roofing shingles, oxidized asphalt materials, and roofing components used in residential and commercial construction, and specialty applications, as well as synthetic packaging materials. This segment sells its products through distributors, home centers, lumberyards, retailers, and contractors, as well as to roofing contractors for built-up roofing asphalt systems; and manufacturers in automotive, chemical, rubber, and construction industries. Owens Corning was incorporated in 1938 and is headquartered in Toledo, Ohio. Read More Efficient rail transport services are necessary to facilitate everyday mobility and expand travel-to-work areas, and consequently a key contributor to the competitiveness of Finland, she said on Friday. ANNE BERNER (Centre), the Minister of Transport and Communications, has revealed that a new state-owned special-purpose company will be established to oversee the development of high-speed rail links between Helsinki and Turku, and Helsinki and Tampere. The wholly state-owned company will consist of five subsidiaries, two of which are dedicated to developing rolling stock and railway-related real estate, another two to promoting the high-speed rail link projects, and one to promoting Rail Baltica, a greenfield railway infrastructure project linking Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Berner on Friday argued that opening rail transport to competition is a prerequisite for proceeding with the large infrastructure development projects. The Finnish government, she added, will provide a capital injection of 100 million euros to the special-purpose company, which is tentatively called Suomen Rata. The company will then distribute almost 30 million euros of the capital among the three project-specific companies. The HelsinkiTurku high-speed rail link is estimated to cost roughly two billion euros and, once completed, attract around 1.6 million passengers a year. Linking Helsinki and Tampere via Helsinki Airport, in turn, is estimated to cost roughly 5.5 billion euros and the high-speed services to attract around 6.5 million passengers a year. It is clear that budget appropriations will not suffice to carry out the necessary large-scale investments in railway infrastructure, and that is why new financing methods are needed, admitted Berner. We have looked for a solution throughout the electoral term, and it is great that one has now been found in co-operation with the cities. The rest of the capital will be disbursed to the rolling stock company to kick-start the modernisation of the ageing equipment, according to a press release from the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The purpose of the real estate company is to create a competition-neutral market environment for all operators by providing equal access to state-owned depots, stations, terminals and maintenance facilities, as well as the services they provide. Berner declared her willingness to open passenger rail transport to competition already in August 2017. Aleksi Teivainen HT Wall Street analysts have given iShares Global Healthcare ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but iShares Global Healthcare ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Ormat Technologies, Inc. engages in the geothermal and recovered energy power business in the United States, Indonesia, Kenya, Turkey, Chile, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Ethiopia, New Zealand, Honduras, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Electricity, Product, and Energy Storage. The Electricity segment develops, builds, owns, and operates geothermal, solar photovoltaic, and recovered energy-based power plants; and sells electricity. The Product segment designs, manufactures, and sells equipment for geothermal, recovered energy-based electricity generation, and remote power units, such as fossil fuel powered turbo-generators and heavy duty direct-current generators. This segment also provides services relating to the engineering, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance of geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants. The Product segment serves contractors; developers, owners, and operators of geothermal power plants; and owners and operators of interstate natural gas pipelines, gas processing plants, and cement plants, as well as companies in other energy-intensive industrial processes. The Energy Storage segment offers energy storage and related services, as well as services relating to the engineering, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance of energy storage units. Ormat Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1965 and is based in Reno, Nevada. Read More ORIX Corporation provides diversified financial services in Japan, the Americas, Asia, Europe, Australasia, the Middle East, and internationally. The company's Corporate Financial Services segment offers leasing, loans, life insurance, environment and energy, auto leasing related, and other fee based services to primarily small- and medium-sized enterprises. Its Maintenance Leasing segment engages in the leasing, automobile rental, and car sharing businesses; rental of precision measuring, information technology-related and medical, and environmental analysis equipment, as well as tablet computers, robots, and drones; sale of software packages; equipment calibration and asset management activities; and provision of technical support, vehicle maintenance outsourcing, and tailor-made services for corporate and individual clients. The company's Real Estate segment develops and leases office buildings, commercial properties, logistics centers, and residences; operates accommodations, aquariums, training facilities, baseball stadiums, and theaters; and offers real estate rental and investment management, and REIT and real estate investment advisory services. Its Investment and Operation segment engages in the collection and disposal of waste generated from end-of-lease assets; environment and energy business, such as mega-solar and electric power retailing; and investment in wind power generation and geothermal projects. The company's Retail segment offers life insurance, banking, and card loan products and services. Its Overseas Business segment is involved in leasing, financing, management, investment, intermediary, and sales activities in the field of aircraft and ship; and corporate finance, securities investment, private equity, and loan origination and servicing activities. The company was formerly known as Orient Leasing Co., Ltd. and changed its name to ORIX Corporation in 1989. The company was incorporated in 1950 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Read More The Electric Vehicle boom is here! This upstart lithium developer is positioning to be a future supplier to Teslas Gigafactory in the Nevada desert. Best of all, its currently undiscovered by Wall Street below US$1 per share. Unum Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial protection benefit solutions primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Poland. It operates through Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, and Closed Block segments. The company offers group long-term and short-term disability, group life, and accidental death and dismemberment products; supplemental and voluntary products, such as individual disability, voluntary benefits, and dental and vision products; and accident, sickness, disability, life, and cancer and critical illness products. It also provides group pension, individual life and corporate-owned life insurance, reinsurance pools and management operations, and other products. The company sells its products primarily to employers for the benefit of employees. Unum Group sells its products through field sales personnel, independent brokers, and consultants, as well as independent contractor agency sales force. The company was founded in 1848 and is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Read More The Sami is a unique example of indigenous people and culture uniting mainly six countriesNorway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Ukraine and the USA. They speak six dialects of Sami language. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages. UNESCO keeps reporting that approximately 600 languages disappear each year. As a result, world globalization smashes many cultures and people literally lose their roots. The Zhivaya Classica Foundation from Russia took the initiative to unite the work of Sami authors and poets from different countries in one almanac to be released in May 2019. As of now, the works of 26 Sami authors from Russia have been accepted and dozens of authors from Norway, Finland and Sweden were invited to participate by submitting their pieces of poetry, poems, songs, fairy tales or stories. The idea of the almanac is to save the culture of Sami as it is, leaving their dialects and also translating some works into different dialects and the Russian language. This way, a truly unique Sami culture can be shared with more people. Otherwise, what is the point of art if an artist cannot deliver the vibe and message to the people and have a chance to be acknowledged widely? Altogether the almanac will contain over 80 works and over 100 translations into Russian. Owing to Nornickel, a Russian nickel and palladium mining and smelting company who supported this idea, the almanac will be released and published on a free of charge basis. The hard copy of the book will be distributed among the libraries and culture institutions of Murmansk City in Russia and will also be available in a soft copy online at the official website - samialmanac.ru and online library - sever1000.ru, says Darya Balakina, the project leader of Zhivaya Classica. The inspiration for such a wonderful idea was the Taburetka Festival, which was organized in Monchegorsk city in August 2018. The event was mainly dedicated to poetry and included a wide variety of educational, entertaining and cultural events with the participation of well-known European and Russian figures. Owing to this event, the leaders of the Zhivaya Classica Foundation have witnessed a lively interest of people in the unique Sami culture, which created a big buzz at the festival. In fact, translating a piece of art into a different language or a dialect that has a totally different alphabet and mentality is an extremely difficult task. Some translators may work three to four hours on just a single page! Despite such an obvious challenge, the efforts will be hopefully pay off in the interest drawn from people who have never read or perhaps even heard of Sami culture before. BlackRock, Inc. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks. It also provides global risk management and advisory services. The firm manages separate client-focused equity, fixed income, and balanced portfolios. It also launches and manages open-end and closed-end mutual funds, offshore funds, unit trusts, and alternative investment vehicles including structured funds. The firm launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and real estate mutual funds. It also launches equity, fixed income, balanced, currency, commodity, and multi-asset exchange traded funds. The firm also launches and manages hedge funds. It invests in the public equity, fixed income, real estate, currency, commodity, and alternative markets across the globe. The firm primarily invests in growth and value stocks of small-cap, mid-cap, SMID-cap, large-cap, and multi-cap companies. It also invests in dividend-paying equity securities. The firm invests in investment grade municipal securities, government securities including securities issued or guaranteed by a government or a government agency or instrumentality, corporate bonds, and asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. It employs fundamental and quantitative analysis with a focus on bottom-up and top-down approach to make its investments. The firm employs liquidity, asset allocation, balanced, real estate, and alternative strategies to make its investments. In real estate sector, it seeks to invest in Poland and Germany. The firm benchmarks the performance of its portfolios against various S&P, Russell, Barclays, MSCI, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch indices. BlackRock, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is based in New York City with additional offices in Boston, Massachusetts; London, United Kingdom; Gurgaon, India; Hong Kong; Greenwich, Connecticut; Princeton, New Jersey; Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Sydney, Australia; Taipei, Taiwan; Singapore; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, District of Columbia; Toronto, Canada; Wilmington, Delaware; and San Francisco, California. Read More Fortis Inc. operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 433,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 98,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,233 megawatts (MW), including 59 MW of solar capacity. The company also sells wholesale electricity to other entities in the western United States; owns gas-fired and hydroelectric generating capacity totaling 65 MW; and distributes natural gas to approximately 1,048,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in British Columbia, Canada. In addition, it owns and operates the electricity distribution system that serves approximately 572,000 customers in southern and central Alberta; owns 4 hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 225 MW; and provides operation, maintenance, and management services to five hydroelectric generating facilities. Further, the company distributes electricity in the island portion of Newfoundland and Labrador with an installed generating capacity of 143 MW; and on Prince Edward Island with a generating capacity of 130 MW. Additionally, it provides integrated electric utility service to approximately 67,000 customers in Ontario; approximately 270,000 customers in Newfoundland and Labrador; approximately 31,000 customers on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; and approximately 15,000 customers on certain islands in Turks and Caicos. The company also holds long-term contracted generation assets in Belize consisting of 3 hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 51 MW; and the Aitken Creek natural gas storage facility. It also owns and operates approximately 91,000 circuit Kilometers (km) of distribution lines; and approximately 49,500 km of natural gas pipelines. Fortis Inc. was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in St. John's, Canada. Read More The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages. UNESCO keeps reporting that approximately 600 languages disappear each year. As a result, world globalization smashes many cultures and people literally lose their roots. The Sami is a unique example of indigenous people and culture uniting mainly six countriesNorway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Ukraine and the USA. They speak six dialects of Sami language. C3.ai, Inc. operates as an enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) software company. The company provides software-as-a-service applications for enterprises. Its software solutions include C3 AI Suite, a platform-as-a-service application development and runtime environment that enables customers to design, develop, and deploy enterprise AI applications; and C3 AI Applications, which include industry-specific and application-specific turnkey AI solutions. Its C3 AI applications include C3 AI Inventory Optimization, a solution to optimize raw material, in-process, and finished goods inventory levels; C3 AI Supply Network Risk, which provides visibility into risks of disruption throughout the supply chain operations for enterprise supply chain managers; C3 AI Customer Churn Management, which enables account executives and relationship managers to monitor customer satisfaction using transactional, behavioral, and contextual information, as well as to take action to prevent customer churn with AI-based and human-interpretable predictions and warning; C3 AI Production Schedule Optimization, a solution for scheduling production; C3 AI Predictive Maintenance, which provides insight into asset risk to maintenance planners and equipment operators; C3 AI Fraud Detection solution; and C3 AI Energy Management solution. The company also offers integrated turnkey enterprise AI applications for various market segments, including oil and gas, chemicals, utilities, manufacturing, retail, banking, financial services, intelligence, aerospace and defense, healthcare, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, smart cities, transportation, and others. C3.ai, Inc. serves customers primarily in Europe, Asia, and the United States. It has strategic partnerships with Baker Hughes in the areas of oil and gas market; FIS in the areas of financial services market; Raytheon in the areas of the U.S. defense and intelligence communities; and Microsoft and Adobe in the areas of customer relationship management. The company was formerly known as C3 IoT, Inc. and changed its name to C3.ai, Inc. in June 2019. C3.ai, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California. Read More Wall Street analysts have given American Premium Water 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 American Premium Water wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. The following companies are subsidiares of LyondellBasell Industries: A. Schulman, A. Schulman 's-Gravendeel B.V., A. Schulman AG, A. Schulman Asia Limited, A. Schulman Belgium BVBA, A. Schulman Canada Ltd., A. Schulman Castellon S.L., A. Schulman Europe GmbH & Co. KG, A. Schulman Europe International B.V., A. Schulman Europe Verwaltungs GmbH, A. Schulman Gainsborough Ltd, A. Schulman GmbH, A. Schulman GmbH (Austrian Branch), A. Schulman Holding Company France S.A.S., A. Schulman Holdings (France) S.A.S., A. Schulman Holdings S.a.r.l., A. Schulman Inc., A. Schulman Inc. Limited, A. Schulman International Inc., A. Schulman International Services BVBA, A. Schulman Ireland Limited, A. Schulman Magyarorszag Kereskedelmi Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, A. Schulman Nordic AB, A. Schulman Plastics (Branch), A. Schulman Plastics (Dongguan) Ltd., A. Schulman Plastics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., A. Schulman Plastics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., A. Schulman Plastics BVBA, A. Schulman Plastics India Private Limited, A. Schulman Plastics PTY. LTD., A. Schulman Plastics S.r.l., A. Schulman Plastics SAS, A. Schulman Plastics bvba Bornem Sucursala Cluj-Napoca, A. Schulman Plastics organizacni slozka, A. Schulman Plastk Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, A. Schulman Plasticos do Brasil Ltda., A. Schulman Polska Sp. z o.o., A. Schulman Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, A. Schulman S.A.S., A. Schulman S.a.r.l., A. Schulman Thermoplastic Compounds Limited, A. Schulman Thermoplastic Compounds Sdn Bhd, A. Schulman de Mexico S.A. de C.V., A. Schulman del Peru S.A.C., A.Schulman Poznan Sp. Z o.o., ARCO Chemical, AS Global Holdings Inc., AS Mex Hold S.A. de C.V., AS Worldwide LLC, AS Worldwide LLC & Cie S.C.S., ASI Akron Land Co., ASI Employment S.A. de C.V., ASI Investments Holding Co., Al Waha Petrochemical Company, BKV Beteiligungs- und Kunststoffverwertungs-gesellschaft mbH, BMC Deutschland GmbH, BMC Dongguan Limited, BMC Far East Limited, BMC TetraDURTurkey Plastik Hammadde Kompozit Uretim Sanayi ve Ticaret Limted Sirketi, Basell (Thailand) Holdings B.V., Basell Advanced Polyolefins (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Basell Advanced Polyolefins (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Basell Advanced Polyolefins (Thailand) Company Ltd., Basell Arabie Investissements SAS, Basell Asia Pacific Limited, Basell Bayreuth Chemie GmbH, Basell Benelux B.V., Basell Chemie Koln GmbH, Basell Europe Holdings B.V., Basell Germany Holdings GmbH, Basell Holdings Middle East GmbH, Basell Iberica Poliolefinas Holdings S.L., Basell International Holdings B.V., Basell International Trading FZE, Basell Italia S.r.l, Basell Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Basell Moyen Orient Investissements SAS, Basell North America Inc., Basell Orlen Polyolefins Sp. Z.o.o., Basell Orlen Polyolefins Sprzedaz Sp. Z.o.o., Basell Poliolefinas Comercial Espagnola S.L., Basell Poliolefinas Iberica S.L., Basell Poliolefinas Ltda., Basell Poliolefinas S. de R.L. de C.V., Basell Poliolefine Italia S.r.l., Basell Polyolefin Istanbul Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Basell Polyolefine GmbH, Basell Polyolefines France S.A.S., Basell Polyolefins Company BVBA, Basell Polyolefins India Private Limited, Basell Polyolefins Korea Ltd., Basell Polyolefins UK Limited, Basell Sales & Marketing Company B.V., Basell Service Company B.V., Basell Slovakia s.r.o., Basell Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Basell UK Holdings Limited, Basell UK Ltd., Brindisi Servizi Generali S.c.a.r.l., Bulk Molding Compounds Inc., Bulk Molding Compounds Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bulk Molding Compounds do Brasil Industria de Plasticos Reforcados Ltda., Citadel Brazil Holdings LLC, Citadel Intermediate Holdings LLC, Citadel Plastics Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Citadel Plastics Holdings Inc., Citadel Plastics Mexico Holdings LLC, Citadel Plastics Netherlands Holdings LLC, Compagnie Petrochimique de Berre SAS, Compagnie de Distribution des Hydrocarbures SAS, EMS Holding Ltd., EPS Ethylen-Pipeline-Sud Geschaftsfuhrungs GmbH, EPS Ethylen-Pipeline-Sud GmbH & Co. KG, Elian S.A.S., Equistar Bayport LLC, Equistar Chemicals LP, Equistar GP LLC, Equistar LP LLC, Equistar Mont Belvieu Corporation, GuangZhou Basell Advanced Polyolefins Co. Ltd., HGGC Citadel Plastics Holdings Inc., HGGC Citadel Plastics Intermediate Holdings Inc., HMC Polymers Company Limited, HPC Holdings LLC, Hadlock Plastics LLC, Houston Refining LP, I.F.M. S.c.a.r.l., ICO Europe C.V., ICO Holdings LLC, ICO Holdings New Zealand Limited, ICO Petrochemical Cayman Islands, ICO Polymers Cayman Islands, Indelpro S.A. de C.V., Infraserv GmbH & Co. Hochst KG, Inmobiliaria Satchmo S. de R.L. de C.V., Innovacion Y Desarrollo en Materiales Avanzados A.C., J.R. Courtenay (N.Z.) Limited, LPI Holding Company, LYB (Barbados) SRL, LYB Advanced Polymer Solutions Ireland Limited, LYB Americas Finance Company LLC, LYB Equistar Holdings LLC, LYB Export Holdings Limited, LYB Exports Inc., LYB Finance Company B.V., LYB International Finance B.V., LYB International Finance II B.V., LYB International Finance III LLC, LYB Ireland 2 Limited, LYB Ireland Limited, LYB La Porte Hyperzone LLC, LYB Luxembourg S.a r.l., LYB Matrixx Holdings Inc., LYB Receivables LLC, LYB Trading Company B.V., LYB Treasury Services Ltd., Limited Liability Company "LyondellBasell Polyolefins", Limited Liability Company A. Schulman, Lucent Polymers Inc., Lyondell Asia Holdings Limited, Lyondell Centennial Corp., Lyondell Chemical Company, Lyondell Chemical Europe Inc., Lyondell Chemical Overseas Services Inc., Lyondell Chemical Products Europe LLC, Lyondell Chemical Properties L.P., Lyondell Chemical Technology 1 Inc., Lyondell Chemical Technology L.P., Lyondell Chemical Technology Management Inc., Lyondell Chemie (PO-11) B.V., Lyondell Chemie (POSM) B.V., Lyondell Chemie Nederland B.V., Lyondell Chimie France SAS, Lyondell China Holdings Limited, Lyondell Greater China Holdings Limited, Lyondell Greater China Ltd., Lyondell Greater China Trading Limited, Lyondell Japan Inc., Lyondell PO-11 C.V., Lyondell POJVGP LLC, Lyondell POJVLP LLC, Lyondell POTechGP Inc., Lyondell POTechLP Inc., Lyondell Refining Company LLC, Lyondell Refining I LLC, Lyondell South Asia Pte Ltd, LyondellBasell Acetyls Holdco LLC, LyondellBasell Acetyls LLC, LyondellBasell Advanced Polyolefins Mexico S.A. de C.V., LyondellBasell Australia (Holdings) Pty Ltd, LyondellBasell Australia Pty Ltd, LyondellBasell Brasil Ltda., LyondellBasell Canada Inc., LyondellBasell Central Europe Kft., LyondellBasell China Holdings B.V., LyondellBasell Circular Economy B.V., LyondellBasell Covestro Manufacturing Maasvlakte V.O.F., LyondellBasell Egypt LLC, LyondellBasell F&F Holdco LLC, LyondellBasell Finance Company, LyondellBasell Holdings France SAS, LyondellBasell Hungary Kft, LyondellBasell Industries Holdings B.V., LyondellBasell Industries N.V., LyondellBasell Investment LLC, LyondellBasell Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., LyondellBasell Polyolefin (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., LyondellBasell Services France S.A.S., LyondellBasell Subholdings B.V., LyondellBasell Taiwan Co. Ltd., LyondellBasell Transportation Company LLC, Millennium Chemicals, Natpet Schulman Specialty Plastic Compounds, Ningbo ZRCC Lyondell Chemical Co. Ltd., Ningbo ZRCC Lyondell Chemical Marketing Co. Ltd., OE Insurance Ltd, Oil Casualty Insurance Ltd., Oil Insurance Limited, PD Glycol LP, PO JV LP, PO Offtake LP, POSM II Limited Partnership L.P., POSM II Properties Partnership LLC, PT A.Schulman Plastics, PT ASchulman Plastics Commercial, PTT Chemical PCL, Poly Pacific Polymers Sdn. Bhd., Poly Pacific Pty. Ltd., PolyMirae Co. Ltd., Premix Holding Company, Premix Inc., Prime Colorants Inc., QCP B.V., QCP Holding B.V., QCP IP B.V., Quantum Composites Inc., RIGK GmbH Gesellschaft zur Ruckfuhrung industrieller and gewerblicher Kunstoffverpackungen mbH, Rayong Olefins Co. Ltd., Rexene - LDPE and PP Businesses, SCG ICO Polymers Company Limited, SJS Plastiblends, San Jacinto Rail Limited, Saudi Ethylene & Polyethylene Company, Saudi Polyolefins Company, Sociedad Espanola De Materiales Plasticos Semap S.A., Societe des Stockages Petroliers du Rhone SA, Solvay Engineered Polymers, Surplast S.A., TRV Thermische Ruckstandsverwertung GmbH & Co. KG, TRV Thermische Ruckstandsverwertung Verwaltungs-GmbH, Technology JV LP, The Matrixx Group Incorporated, ULSAN PP Co. Ltd., YNCORIS GmbH & Co. KG, Zylog Plastalloys, and tetra-DUR Kunststoff-Produktion GmbH. M&T Bank Corporation operates as a bank holding company that provides commercial and retail banking services. The company's Business Banking segment offers deposit, lending, cash management, and other financial services to small businesses and professionals. Its Commercial Banking segment provides deposit products, commercial lending and leasing, letters of credit, and cash management services for middle-market and large commercial customers. The company's Commercial Real Estate segment originates, sells, and services commercial real estate loans; and offers deposit services. Its Discretionary Portfolio segment provides deposits; securities, residential real estate loans, and other assets; and short and long term borrowed funds, as well as foreign exchange services. The company's Residential Mortgage Banking segment offers residential real estate loans for consumers and sells those loans in the secondary market; and purchases servicing rights to loans originated by other entities. Its Retail Banking segment offers demand, savings, and time accounts; consumer installment loans, automobile and recreational finance loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, and credit cards; mutual funds and annuities; and other services. The company also provides trust and wealth management; fiduciary and custodial; investment management; and insurance agency services. It offers its services through banking offices, business banking centers, telephone and Internet banking, mobile banking, and automated teller machines. As of December 31, 2020, the company operates 716 domestic banking offices in New York State, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia; a full-service commercial banking office in Ontario, Canada; and an office in George Town, Cayman Islands. M&T Bank Corporation was founded in 1856 and is headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Read More I have never burned through so many snow days this quickly, Beck said of his 23 years in education, which has included stops in New York, Michigan and Illinois. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The Portage Community School District is now two days behind after building four snow days into its 2018-19 calendar. It is currently set to finish the school year on Friday, June 7. Students at Woodridge Primary School in Portage on Friday morning reviewed the schools rules of being respectful, responsible and safe but otherwise had a normal day of instruction, Principal Salina Thistle said. Theyre well-rested, Thistle said with a laugh. Kids will jump right back into their routines if you keep things consistent. Its great to have them back in the building. Pardeeville built the equivalent of seven snow days into its 2018-19 calendar and, in theory, could still end the school on June 7 as planned. Ive got one more day in my pocket, Superintendent Gus Knitt said, but thats it. Ive never seen anything like this in my 40 years in education, Knitt said of canceling school six times in two weeks. I dont remember ever having six days off in an entire school year. One of those lawsuits, filed last month by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and other groups, contends the so-called extraordinary session held to pass the laws was unconstitutional. The lawsuit prompted Evers to hire private attorneys to represent him at a cost to taxpayers of as much as $50,000. Republican legislative leaders have retained Misha Tseytlin, the former state solicitor general, as their attorney in that case. Its unclear whether GOP lawmakers will hire attorneys, at taxpayer expense, to defend themselves in the new lawsuit. Liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now is bringing the other lawsuit, which seeks to overturn the provisions of the lame-duck law that curtailed access to early voting. A federal judge last month blocked those changes as part of a previous injunction against previous laws limiting early voting. In addition, a state lawmaker, Rep. Jimmy Anderson, has asked Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne to file suit against state Assembly leaders and void the votes that passed the laws. Ozanne has not said if hell act on that request. Anderson, who is paralyzed from the chest down and requires advance notice of meetings as an accommodation of his health and logistical issues, contends Assembly Republican leaders broke state open-meetings law by not telling him when early-morning votes on the laws would be held. A House-Senate conference committee is beginning work on a package of border security policies that, it is hoped, can win the support of both Democrats and Republicans. The final product is certain to include several measures that already have full, bipartisan approval: more immigration judges, more technology to detect illegal drugs at ports of entry, more humanitarian aid for migrants in custody, etc. The hang-up, of course, will be a border barrier. President Trump insists on money his demand is $5.7 billion that would build new steel-slat barriers along about 230 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. About 80 miles of that would replace current, dilapidated, inadequate fencing, while 150 or so miles would cover currently unfenced areas. On the other side are Democrats led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has called a border wall an immorality between nations and denies evidence that a barrier would increase border security by decreasing the number of illegal crossings into the United States. Pelosi won the 35-day partial government shutdown by sticking to her position. The new negotiations will test whether she and other Democratic barrier deniers can prevail again. Lorraine P. Vieth, 87, Beaver Dam, died Dec. 6, 2018, under comfort care following a short stay at Hillside Manor in Beaver Dam. A memorial gathering will be at Trinity Church United Methodist, 308 Oneida St., Beaver Dam on Saturday, Feb. 9, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. A memorial service will follow at church Saturday beginning at noon with the Rev. Cherie Forret officiating. A luncheon will take place at the church immediately following the service. Lorraine was born Oct. 14, 1931, in rural Shawano County, the daughter of William and Hulda (nee Ewert) Salzman. She graduated from Shawano High School and Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing in Milwaukee. Interested in becoming a missionary nurse, Lorraine visited North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, to learn about its program. While there, she accepted an invitation to go on a blind date with Arthur Vieth, a student at the nearby Evangelical Theological Seminary. On Sept. 12, 1953, she married him at Seneca EUB Church in Tilleda, Wisconsin. Authorities say a snowmobiler was flown by medical helicopter to Madison on Saturday after crashing into a tree in the village of La Valle. Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister said in a news release that the crash was reported to dispatchers around 12:48 a.m., and took place off Highway 33 about 2 miles south of the village. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Deputies who responded to the scene found a 2014 Arctic Cat snowmobile with its front end damaged about 300 yards from the road. The operator of the snowmobile suffered injuries and was carried out by the La Valle Fire Department and turned over to Reedsburg EMS, Meister stated in the release. First responders requested a University of Wisconsin Med Flight helicopter, which then flew the snowmobiler to Madison for treatment. Meister said the incident remains under investigation. Follow Tim Damos on Twitter @timdamos or contact him at 608-745-3513. 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. Three Sauk County villages are challenging restrictions that a state agency has placed on their wastewater discharge into the Baraboo River. The villages of Rock Springs, North Freedom and La Valle filed lawsuits Jan. 16 in Sauk County Circuit Court against the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, asking a judge to reverse provisions the agency included in their wastewater treatment facility permits. The lawsuits claim the DNR used an overly restrictive formula to regulate the amount of phosphorus the villages can discharge into the Baraboo River, which flows southeast through Monroe, Juneau, Sauk and Columbia counties into the Wisconsin River. The state agency is in the process of developing a new phosphorus limit formula, and the villages argue it should have waited until after the new formula is approved to reissue the permits. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Once thats approved, these communities are likely to get different phosphorus limits, said attorney Vanessa Disbrow Wishart of Stafford Rosenbaum, the Madison law firm that is representing the villages. The new permits, which the DNR granted in December, require the villages to meet a number of milestones, including treatment facility upgrades. Winona Police Department Friday 10:57 p.m. Veronica Kay Hennen, 21, Rice, Minn., was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after she was stopped for driving without headlights. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.16 percent. 11:26 p.m. A 19-year-old Arlington Heights, Ill., woman was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after she was stopped near Broadway and Center streets for having a suspended object from her rearview mirror. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.15 percent. Saturday 1:38 p.m. Crystal Leshanda Tucker, 35, Minneapolis, was cited for shoplifting from Walmart. 10:25 p.m. Zachary Alexander Oberg, Joshua Hunter Oberg and Dylan Bradley Hane, all 20 from Winona, were cited with having a loud party or gathering after police responded to the 500 block of Center Street. Sheriffs Department Saturday 3:13 a.m. Dean Thornton Heavyrunner, 21, Browning, Montana, was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after he was found slumped over the wheel of his vehicle near Winona Street. His blood-alcohol level was 0.14 percent. Winnipeg city council will soon be presented with details of the new residential infill strategy, a guide for development in the citys existing neighbourhoods that represents an important opportunity to manage higher-density growth and define what our communities will look like in the future. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Winnipeg city council will soon be presented with details of the new residential infill strategy, a guide for development in the citys existing neighbourhoods that represents an important opportunity to manage higher-density growth and define what our communities will look like in the future. The idea of increased neighbourhood density is something that makes people instinctively recoil in opposition, but it is critical to the citys long-term economic, social and environmental sustainability. The mathematics of higher density is simple: the more people paying for things, the better. A simplified scenario demonstrates the concept. With 10 houses on 100 metres of street, the property taxes from each maintain 10 metres of road. With 10 houses on 200 metres of street, the property taxes from each maintain 20 metres of road. The result of lower density is either taxes rise, or maintenance is reduced. This formula works for all infrastructure and services, including sewer, water, snow clearing, garbage collection and emergency services. Our pothole-covered roads and stretched civic budgets are the result of a low-density city, growing more than twice as fast in area as it is in population. Winnipegs mature neighbourhoods generally have 20 to 30 per cent fewer people living in them today than in the 1970s, due largely to average household sizes dropping from 3 people to 2. This decline means that while infrastructure such as roads, schools, community clubs, arenas, pools and libraries is serving a much smaller population than it was built for in the central city, we are at the same time having to build infrastructure for new outer neighbourhoods. An important benefit of infill growth is that it uses more existing infrastructure and reduces this need to build new. Opponents of infill often point to the fact existing infrastructure also needs to be maintained or replaced, such as the combined sewer lines in older neighbourhoods. This is true; infill is not free, but the fewer sewer lines we can build today, the less it will cost our children to replace them in the future. As Winnipeg embarks on development of its residential infill strategy, the city of Edmonton should provide valuable inspiration and insight. In 2014, Edmontons Infill Roadmap was released, cited as a work plan to advance infill. Possibly the most valuable lesson for Winnipeg is that Edmonton approached its strategy with the fundamental premise that infill is necessary, and instead of appeasing community resistance by implementing barriers that limit change, the road map looks for ideas to reduce public opposition. The plans success has begun to shift the conversation from "should" infill happen to "when, where and how" it will happen. Edmontons Infill Roadmap began with dedicated political buy-in from the mayor and much of council, who navigated the dialogue through public opposition and media criticism. Financial resources and manpower were dedicated to the file, and partnerships were built with community and industry leaders to broaden public conversation. The road map lays out 23 action items, the vast majority of which focus on communication, consultation and dialogue among developers, politicians, planners and the general public. The communications strategy includes a user-friendly website with short videos and clear infographics, providing easy access to neighbourhood plans, events and development information. Clear and understandable signage is posted for variance applications, workshops are offered, and industry and community focus groups have been created. An infill compliance team was established to perform routine inspections of construction sites, ensuring they are kept clean and bylaws, such as tree protection, fencing and noise limitations, are respected. Instead of implementing design guidelines mandating new houses look like they were built in 1920, modern design and innovation is encouraged through public presentations and an annual city-run design competition to showcase innovation and celebrate good modern design in mature neighbourhoods. To complement communication strategies, the infill road map implements a series of regulatory policies to promote development. Reduced red tape and faster approval processes are in place, parking requirements were eliminated for laneway housing and secondary suites (a significant impediment to their development in Winnipeg), more flexible zoning regulations are being tested and lot splitting to a minimum of 25 feet is allowed. In 2014, Edmontons Infill Roadmap set an ambitious goal of having 25 per cent of all new development occur as infill in mature neighbourhoods, more than double what Winnipeg typically sees. It has almost reached this goal. Setting a similar target of returning to 1970s density in mature neighbourhoods could be an effective goal for Winnipegs infill strategy. Edmontons experience is a model for other cities. Fear of change is slowly being replaced with understanding of the long-term benefits of higher-density growth and acceptance that neighbourhood character and demographics can evolve to meet the needs of a modern city without detriment to quality of life. Lot splitting and the acceptance of skinny houses, row houses and other infill types mean the growing population of seniors can downsize and stay in their own neighbourhoods. It allows young families and more socially diverse populations access to neighbourhoods they would traditionally be priced out of. With greater access, communities are becoming younger, more vibrant and economically prosperous. Schools are filling, community clubs are active and neighbourhood retail is better supported. Last year, five mature Edmonton communities saw property values rise almost 20 times faster than the city average, driven by the demand for infill housing. Winnipegs residential infill strategy is a valuable initiative, but it will fall short without public support or political champions. The city is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of Winnipeg Transit service, the OurWinnipeg plan and the second phase of impact fees. This presents a unique opportunity to dovetail an infill strategy with these other policies to set Winnipeg on a progressive development path for the future. Brent Bellamy is a senior design architect for Number Ten Architectural Group. Winnipeg police hate crimes detectives are investigating after a Jewish cafe in the city was the target of anti-Semitic graffiti. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/2/2019 (869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Winnipeg police hate crimes detectives are investigating after a Jewish cafe in the city was the target of anti-Semitic graffiti. "Its a very scary thing," said Maxim Berent, a member of the family that owns BerMax on 1800 Corydon Avenue. He and the staff discovered "Jew" spray-painted in black on the eatery and its fence when they opened the cafe early Friday. "When we came in at 8 a.m., there was graffiti on our window and fence in our parking lot," said Berent, the spokesman for the hip cafe thats owned by an Orthodox Jewish family. "It was shocking," he said. They called police and got to work preparing for Shabbat, the Jewish sabbath. Police officers showed up at about 3 p.m, just as they were closing, he said. Its the second time in recent weeks that they were targeted by ant-Semitic graffiti, and the fourth time they were vandalized since opening four years ago, Berent said. Two weeks ago, they had graffiti spray-painted on their front window, which faces Corydon Avenue, he said. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS This is the second time in the last month Berent has been a victim of anti-Semitic graffiti. The police are investigating the incident as a hate crime. "Police were aware of that but they didnt come," Berent said. A year ago, they had a rock thrown at the window and a couple of months after opening in the heat of summer and again overnight sometime the restaurant was pelted with eggs. This time, police are looking into the vandalism and treating it as an anti-Semitic attack. "The incident is being reviewed by hate crimes detectives in the major crimes unit," Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Jay Murray said Sunday. Other organizations are taking it seriously, too, said Berent. "The Jewish Federation (of Winnipeg) is involved, after what happened in the States in Pittsburgh," he said referring to the ant-Semitic mass shooting at a synagogue in that city in October in which 11 people were killed and seven were injured. Bnai Brith Canada is also looking into it, said Berent. The annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents by Bnai Briths League for Human Rights showed that anti-Jewish hatred has increased in the past five years, culminating in peak levels in both 2016 and 2017. The BerMax Caffe on Coyrdon Avenue The recent show of hate in Winnipeg has many in the Jewish community on edge. "Its knowing someone who has so much hate to write something like that," said Berent. "Were known as being at the centre of Jewish community," the restaurateur said. The place is also popular with others who go for the food and the ambiance, he said. "We have a very mixed crowd. Our menu is very Middle Eastern," said Berent who immigrated to Canada from Israel 14 years ago. Customers response to the graffiti has been the same regardless of the their faith, he said. "Theyre shocked and very angry that someone wants to bring harm to this business," he said. "Its not fair." That kind of hatred towards people because of their race or creed shouldnt happen in multicultural Canada in this day and age, he said. "Its not who we are." Its especially unnerving for people who lost family members in the Holocaust, said Berent, who is one of them. He points to a survey published on Jan. 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day, that shows more than half of Canadians and nearly two-thirds of young people in this country do not know that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. The findings show "critical gaps" in knowledge, especially among younger people," said Schoen Consulting of New York, which conducted the poll. In Europe, another poll found that Jews believe anti-Semitism is on the rise there and nearly half plan to leave. The 2018 survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights the largest ever conducted among Jewish people found that 90 per cent of respondents believe anti-Semitism is on the rise throughout Europe. Of the 16,395 respondents, nearly 40 per cent said they plan to emigrate because they do not feel safe. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Manitoba is expected to roll out 65 new ambulances in 2019, the office of provincial Health Minister Cameron Friesen said Monday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitoba is expected to roll out 65 new ambulances in 2019, the office of provincial Health Minister Cameron Friesen said Monday. "It is anticipated that the new ambulances will be delivered and placed in all five health regions later this year," a statement from Friesen's office said. The contract has yet to be awarded. A provincial tender sets out a number of specifications for the new ambulances, including requirements for construction, materials and workmanship. The tender asks potential vendors submit proposals for a suspension system that enhances ride quality. A Health Department spokeswoman said it hasn't yet been determined how many of the new ambulances will wind up in Winnipeg. The decision on where to locate the new vehicles will be based on the age, condition and mileage of existing ones, she said. An official with the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union, which represents most paramedics in the province, said a number of ambulances currently on the road have around 350,000 kilometres on them. Sixty-five ambulances represents about one-third of the provincial fleet. The province wouldn't ballpark the cost of the new vehicles because, it said, it didn't want to affect the tendering process. "This significant investment will ensure our paramedics continue to have the right equipment to support the excellent care they provide to Manitobans," Friesen said in the news release. The minister said work is underway to implement recommendations of the 2013 EMS system review. This includes a $5-million annual investment in 60 full-time paramedic positions throughout rural Manitoba, to reduce the provinces reliance on on-call staffing. These new full-time positions (35 of which have been filled) will ensure ambulances are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "Our approach is focused on implementing changes gradually," Friesen said. "This includes the creation of a consistent, integrated EMS and patient transport model as part of Manitoba's broader health system transformation. "These efforts will first build capacity, equip staff and invest in skilled professionals across the province." Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Theyre at it again. Since 1994, when private wine stores were first licensed to operate in Manitoba, there has been nearly constant conflict between the private owners and government. Over those 25 years, the relationship between private wine retailers and government has featured numerous investigations, audits, penalties, lawsuits and out-of-court settlements. It all adds up to a lot of animosity. The latest skirmish erupted last week when Banville & Jones Wine Company announced it was seeking an injunction to stop direct-to-customer (DTC) sales from wineries outside the province. Lawyer Robert Tapper said DTC is tantamount to "bootlegging" and could represent "a deathblow to independent wine stores." Those allegations make it sound as if the province is treating the private wine stores very unfairly. But in keeping with the long and murky history of conflict between the wine stores and the province, things are not entirely as they appear. To understand what is going on here, we need to go back, way back in the history of both the wine stores and interprovincial alcohol trade. The groundwork for the current legal framework was laid by the federal government in 2012, when it passed a law that permitted wine to be carried across provincial borders without penalty, nullifying restrictions in place since Prohibition. Unfortunately, most provinces continued to use a variety of legal and administrative means to discourage people from bringing any form of alcohol from one province to another. Manitoba, however, has been consistently ahead of the curve on this issue. Shortly after the federal law passed, the former NDP government allowed Manitobans to purchase wine online from an out-of-province winery and have it delivered to their homes. Restaurants and you guessed it private wine stores are not permitted to order directly from out-of-province wineries. These provisions were reiterated when the current Progressive Conservative government passed a new law governing both alcohol and cannabis sales. That law stipulates that it is OK to possess and consume alcohol for personal use that has been "lawfully imported into Manitoba." The Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation (MLLC) website clearly indicates that DTC purchases of wine are considered lawful. These liberties may be popular among Manitoba wine lovers, but it angers the private wine stores, who are wholly dependent on the MLLC for their supply. By law, private wine stores must purchase their product through the MLLC, which allows the province to levy all appropriate duties and taxes at the point of importation. It also means that MLLC can partly control the price the private stores charge for some wine. If a store wants to sell a particular wine that is also carried at Liquor Marts, they must sell it for the same price. However, the private wine stores are also allowed to mark up non-listed wines as much as they want. That means they can, and do, apply markups much larger than MLLC does for the wine it sells through Liquor Marts. The wine stores are also allowed to purchase a certain quantity of wine without having to pay the provincial markup. This was included in the original deals to allow the private vendors to compete against a Crown corporation. Its a perfectly imperfect system that perhaps should have been modernized along with other provisions governing DTC purchases. However, the wine stores are not being treated badly in Manitoba even though they have, at times, acted badly. In 2006, the private wine stores won a multimillion-dollar settlement against MLLC, which had been accused of using predatory marketing practices including aggressive use of loyalty rewards and price discounts to compete unfairly against the private wine stores. The wine stores ultimately used this settlement to give themselves special protection against competition from other private vendors. It is widely believed that part of the settlement was an assurance by the province it would not expand the number of licensed private wine stores in the future. Although MLLC has consistently refused to confirm that provision, since 1999 when the second wave of private wine stores opened in Manitoba the province has never allowed other retailers into the market. Its also important to note that the same wine store seeking the injunction now, Banville & Jones, was previously caught manipulating its invoices to avoid paying provincial taxes. Banville & Jones was caught in a split-invoice scheme, where it struck agreements with wineries to record the invoice price of a particular wine below its actual wholesale price. That means less tax is calculated upon importation. The wine store then pays the winery the difference between the invoice price and the actual wholesale price. With such a long and tattered history of legal conflict, how exactly are we to judge the Banville & Jones lawsuit? First off, it seems unlikely that the wine store or anyone else is going to be successful at putting the DTC genie back in the bottle. Premier Brian Pallister is among the countrys foremost champions of removing interprovincial trade barriers. Its not known what kind of wine the premier likes, but one can imagine that, philosophically, he loves the idea of allowing Manitobans to purchase any wine, from anywhere, without restrictions. He has the added comfort of knowing that there is legislation in place legalizing DTC purchases. In that context, its likely that Banville & Jones isnt really seeking to stop DTC sales outright. Instead, the lawsuit is a bid to win some sort of reduction on taxes it pays at the point of importation, to level the playing field with out-of-province wineries. On the surface, that doesnt seem like an unreasonable thing to do. Unless, of course, you consider that there has been very little reason in the relationship between the province and its private wine stores. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca If youre an international student at Red River College, chances are youve encountered Duy Ngo. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion If youre an international student at Red River College, chances are youve encountered Duy Ngo. The second-year business administration student volunteers on campus as a diversity ambassador. "Its a great opportunity to motivate and encourage other international students like me," says Ngo, who was born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Diversity ambassador positions are available to immigrant and international students in full-time academic programs. As a diversity ambassador, Ngo shares his experience with other immigrant and international students. The 20-year-old promotes diversity on campus, provides peer support and helps a variety of programs and services across the college by assisting with events and activities. Coming from a working-class family, Ngo never thought he would have the means to study outside Vietnam. "Being abroad is a big opportunity for me," he says. "My involvement in the diversity ambassadors program comes from my admiration and appreciation for life, and all the positive things and all the opportunities that I have been given." International students face a variety of challenges, which can include language barriers, orienting themselves to Canadian life, forming new friendships and developing self-confidence. As someone who arrived in Winnipeg only 18 months ago, Ngo is familiar with those challenges. "There are quite a lot of uncomfortable situations and circumstances I experienced," he says. "I didnt have family or friends here at first, so it was hard to do everything on my own and learn everything from scratch." At the same time, Ngo adds, whenever he encountered difficulties, there were professors and staff at the college who supported him by listening and offering their insights. "I was inspired by that," he says. Ngo enjoys telling students about the services that are available to them, as well as sharing his story. "I like to tell them about miracles that happened to me, to encourage them to take educated risks and be confident in themselves," he says. "Sometimes I stumbled and fell several times, but I kept going. I want to spread that positivity to students." The diversity ambassadors program is important because it provides assistance to international students, as well as the opportunity to take on leadership roles, says Lauren Konrad, student integration co-ordinator at Red River College. "I think international students sometimes can be overwhelmed," she says. "Its great the college has a role to facilitate integration and help students overcome some of those barriers, because it can move the process of resettlement and enhance learning on campus in a more efficient and effective way." Ngo is an enthusiastic volunteer who embraces new challenges, Konrad adds. "Hes been a great addition to the college and hes a really good example of how getting involved can change your experience," she says. "Im just happy hes here." Ngo hopes to stay in Canada after graduation in April. "I believe that the success of this country is also thanks to the fact that it has generously embraced the identities (and) the uniqueness of students like me, as well as other international immigrants," he says. "That diversity, that mixture of different cultures and traditions, will keep giving this country power and colour and vibrancy in the future." If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com. FIELD, B.C. - A Canadian Pacific freight train fell more than 60 metres from a bridge near the Alberta-British Columbia boundary in a derailment that killed three crew members, a union representative said Monday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Canadian Pacific Railway train passes through a crossing on a rural road in Delta, B.C., on Sunday February 5, 2017. Three crew members of a Canadian Pacific freight train have died in a derailment near the Alberta-British Columbia boundary. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck FIELD, B.C. - A Canadian Pacific freight train fell more than 60 metres from a bridge near the Alberta-British Columbia boundary in a derailment that killed three crew members, a union representative said Monday. The westbound freight jumped the tracks at about 1 a.m. near Field, B.C. Greg Edwards with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said the workers had just taken over the train east of the town. "Everybody I've spoken with both within the company and within the union is just devastated by this," he said. "It's just terrible, terrible news." He said the locomotive fell into the Kicking Horse River. Two of the men were found outside and the other was still inside. "I got the call in the middle of the night and it's one of the worst calls that you want to take," Edwards said. A train derailment is shown near Field, B.C., Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. A union representative says a Canadian Pacific freight train fell more than 60 metres from a bridge near the Alberta-British Columbia boundary in a derailment that killed three crew members. The westbound freight jumped the tracks Monday at about 1 a.m. near Field, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh The railway said in a statement that conductor Dylan Paradis, engineer Andrew Dockrell and trainee Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer were killed in the derailment. President and CEO Keith Creel said he was deeply saddened to learn of the deaths, which he said will have a long-lasting effect on CP's family of railroaders. The railway will not speculate on the cause as it "owes it to those involved to get it right," Creel said, adding the company remains focused on the safety of its employees and first responders, as well as working closely with the families of the deceased. Creel said the company is also working with Parks Canada and other agencies to ensure the environment is not negatively impacted. Recovery will be complex and challenging given the remote location and extreme weather, he added. "As we work to safely recover from this tragedy, we do so with our fallen colleagues in mind," he said. A man who identified himself as Waldenberger-Bulmer's father wrote on Facebook that he had lost one of the "jewels" in his crown. "He will be sadly missed by me his father and 'mentor' as he loved adventure and challenge as I do," wrote Albe Bulmer, who did not immediately return a message seeking further comment. The union said the crew was based out of Calgary. Edwards said the engineer had more than two decades of railroad experience. The train had three locomotives and 112 cars smaller than the 135-car trains the railway tends to run, Edwards said. The train was carrying grain to Vancouver. David Karn, a spokesman for the B.C. Environment Ministry, said between 30 and 40 grain cars left the tracks in the derailment. He said the situation was being monitored and there was no immediate word of fuel or other contaminants entering the water. Edwards said he didn't know if frigid temperatures played a role. "Cold isn't good for train brakes and things, but we've been operating in the winter for years and years and years," he said. "We've dealt with winters ever since they invented the railway in Canada." Edwards said it would be tough for equipment and recovery crews to get access to the ravine near the Spiral Tunnels where the accident happened. The tunnels were built 110 years ago to help trains traverse the treacherously steep Kicking Horse Pass. Railway spokeswoman Salem Woodrow said in a statement that there will be a full investigation to determine what caused the derailment. The Transportation Safety Board said it had sent a team of investigators to the site. Sixteen cars from a CP train derailed on Jan. 3 in the same area. No one was hurt in that derailment. The union said eight railway workers have died in Canada since November 2017 and investigations into those accidents are ongoing. LONDON - With Brexit just seven weeks away, Britain's ruling Conservative Party was locked in tense negotiations with itself Monday to rework the U.K.'s divorce deal with the European Union as the EU stood firm in ruling out any renegotiation. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. LONDON - With Brexit just seven weeks away, Britain's ruling Conservative Party was locked in tense negotiations with itself Monday to rework the U.K.'s divorce deal with the European Union as the EU stood firm in ruling out any renegotiation. Meanwhile, pro-EU and pro-Brexit U.K. politicians traded allegations about whether Nissan's decision not to build a new SUV in northern England was the latest Brexit-induced damage to Britain's economy. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at Downing Street, London, Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. May's Brexit strategy took another blow Sunday when Nissan canceled plans to make its new SUV in northern England amid continued uncertainty over the country's future relations with the European Union. (Yui Mok/PA via AP) Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29, and many businesses fear economic chaos if there isn't an agreement on the rules and conditions that will replace the 45 years of frictionless trade that came with being an EU member. The uncertainty has already led many firms to shift some operations abroad, stockpile goods or defer investment decisions. Nissan announced over the weekend that it has decided not to build the X-Trail model at its existing U.K. plant in Sunderland, England, cancelling plans announced two years ago after May's government promised to ensure the carmaker's ability to compete after Brexit. The company said it instead plans to consolidate production of the next generation X-Trail at its plant in Kyushu, Japan, where the model is currently produced. It will continue producing three other models at the Sunderland plant, which employs 7,000 people. The company said it had made the decision "for business reasons," and it comes amid falling sales of diesel vehicles in Europe. But Nissan added that "the continued uncertainty around the U.K.'s future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future." U.K. Business Secretary Greg Clark a proponent of keeping close economic ties with the EU said Monday that Nissan regarded the risk of a no-deal Brexit as "a source of damaging uncertainty." He said executives at the firm had "commented on the need for us to come together and resolve the question of our future trade relationship with the EU." German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prior to their meeting at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP) The automaker's decision is a blow to the government, which in 2016 offered Nissan incentives to stay in Britain. On Monday, the government published a previously secret October 2016 letter from Clark to Nissan promising up to 80 million pounds ($105 million) in support for the Sunderland plant. The letter also said Britain would "seek to maintain the closest possible economic relationship between the U.K. and our European partners" and would try to ensure that carmakers' "ability to export to and from the EU is not adversely affected" by Brexit. Carmakers are particularly concerned about Brexit because they rely on complex supply chains of parts from multiple countries. With Britain's Parliament at odds over Brexit, Prime Minister Theresa May gathered pro-Brexit and pro-EU Conservative lawmakers into an "alternative arrangements working group" seeking to break the deadlock. The group was holding three days of meetings with ministers and civil servants to investigate possible changes to the EU divorce deal, which was rejected by Parliament last month. The changes centre on replacing a measure known as the backstop, designed to keep an open border between the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland. The border area was a flashpoint during decades of conflict in Northern Ireland that cost 3,700 lives. The free flow of people and goods across the near-invisible frontier now underpins both the local economy and Northern Ireland's peace process. May's office said she plans to travel to Northern Ireland on Tuesday to meet business leaders and make a speech underscoring the government's commitment to avoiding a hard border. But it's less clear than ever how Britain plans to achieve this. The EU insists the Brexit withdrawal agreement can't be renegotiated, and has already rejected some of the arrangements under discussion in London, including a time limit on the backstop and unspecified technological solutions to customs checks. EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said that backstop remains "the only operational solution available" for an orderly exit of Britain from the EU. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney accused some British politicians of seeking "to essentially do away with an agreed solution between the U.K. government and EU negotiators and to replace this with wishful thinking." German Chancellor Angela Merkel also said the agreement couldn't be renegotiated, although questions surrounding border arrangements could be addressed in a declaration on the future relationship between the EU and Britain. Speaking during a trip to Japan, she said a Brexit agreement was still possible, but first "we must hear from Great Britain how they envision that." May hasn't spoken to EU leaders since Wednesday, a day after British lawmakers instructed her to seek changes to the Brexit withdrawal agreement she had spent a year and a half negotiating with Brussels. But May's spokesman, James Slack, denied that the Brexit process was deadlocked. He said the government was working with "urgency" on border solutions. "What we are doing right now is working at home on the proposal we will take to Brussels," he said. Raf Casert in Brussels, and Geir Moulson, in Berlin contributed to this story. Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit LONDON, Ont. - Autoparts maker Brose Fahrzeugteile says it will cut 100 jobs at its London, Ont., operations by the end of the year. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. An employee is seen at the Brose Canada plant in London, Ontario, Thursday, February 27, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Geoff Robins LONDON, Ont. - Autoparts maker Brose Fahrzeugteile says it will cut 100 jobs at its London, Ont., operations by the end of the year. The German company says it is adjusting production capacity at the manufacturing facility to meet shifting customer demand. The company did not specify which shifts it is adapting to, but the automotive market in general has been moving away from passenger cars towards various types of SUVs including crossovers. Brose Canada produces seat components and adjusters for its main customers including Ford Motor Co., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Volkswagen, Subaru, and Mercedes-Benz. The company says its focus is on supporting those affected by the job cuts by providing transition options, including potential relocation to other Brose facilities. Brose, which started operating in London in 2005, has more than 600 employees at two facilities in Canada. 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. Winchester, VA (22601) Today Thunderstorms this evening giving way to periods of light rain late. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening giving way to periods of light rain late. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Showers in the Vicinity Today Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 59F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Tonight Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 59F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Tomorrow A few passing clouds, otherwise generally sunny. High 78F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. A forthcoming global real estate auction will be actively targeting wealthy buyers from China and Southeast Asia. Concierge Auctions together with The Wall Street Journal and Mansion Global is lining up its forthcoming auction of curated premier properties around the world and says Chinese buyers remain a key focus. "We continue to see increased interest and activity from our collections in China and for the first time are expanding our efforts to Singapore, which is becoming a powerhouse investor in the US real estate market," states Concierge Auctions Chief Marketing Officer Krystal Aeby. The firm is currently inviting property owners and their agents to submit properties to potentially be included in the March auction. The properties will be promoted to around 550,000 high-net-worth individuals. What do wealthy Chinese buyers want? The homes that typically appeal to wealthy Chinese buyers are in well-known destinations with ultra-luxury price points, with proximity to top-notch schools and easy access to China via direct flights. They are looking for solid investments for future generations and want homes that are valued at a price in comparison to Chinese real estate. They are also interested in financial security, a possibility for rental income, and visas that benefit Chinese tourists, investors and migrants. Chinese buyers also highly value characteristics that adhere to Feng Shui and numerology guidelines (a propensity for the numbers 6, 8 and 9). Previous Concierge Auctions sales have attracted 130 bidders from 8 countries including China, Hong Kong, Russia, France, England, Ireland, Canada, Cyprus, and the Bahamas, with over $140 million in transactions. Jacques Villeneuve may miss several grands prix in 2019 as he returns to racing. For the past few seasons, the 1997 world champion has been an expert pundit for Canal Plus (France) and Sky (Italy). But this year, the 47-year-old will be racing in the European Nascar series, as well as the Italian GT series. "My schedule is going to be very busy," Villeneuve told Le Journal de Montreal. "I had to make choices because of the conflict of dates." One of the Nascar races will take place at Zolder, where his father Gilles was killed. "It is important for me to race there," said the former Williams driver. As he returns to racing, Villeneuve confirms that he will have to skip some grands prix. "Driving a car is what I do best, although I love to comment on F1 on TV," said the Canadian. Le Journal de Montreal said Villeneuve will miss the races in Shanghai, Barcelona, Austria, Silverstone and Singapore. (GMM) Valtteri Bottas has admitted a few sips of alcohol helped him through the winter period. The Finn struggled alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2018 and it is now rumoured this year will be his last with Mercedes. "I am a normal Finn, and yes on a weekend it (alcohol) sometimes helps," Bottas smiled to Hinsingin Sanomat newspaper. Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya thinks Bottas' struggles in 2018 could have been a simple matter of the Mercedes car. "Perhaps he just didn't feel comfortable in the car, while it is obvious that Lewis did," the Colombian told AS newspaper. "It is possible that everything will return to normal now." For his part, Bottas is glad that he will have a new car and a points reset in 2019. "There was quite a bit of criticism but that's actually given me an extra boost," he said. "I have found many positives which I maybe didn't see at the end of the year, but now digging deep I can see those. "It's going to be a new season and I'm going to put everything I have for this year, all in. I'm sure it's going to be interesting," added Bottas. (GMM) WESTPORT It was 20 across the years when The Westport Library hosted its 20th annual Crossword Puzzle Contest at Saugatuck Congregational Church on Saturday afternoon. Nearly 100 people came for fun competition, community and, of course, the chance to visit with the veritable guru of the word puzzle Will Shortz, crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times. (TNS) A more than $1 million investment is being made into Clark County voting machines and the county board has picked a company to buy the machines from.The Clark County Board of Elections selected Clear Ballot as their new voting machines. Clear Ballot will replace Election System Software, which the county has used for decades, Clark County Election Board Director Jason Baker said.Since the state of Ohio has given out the money for it, about 10 counties have gone with Clear Ballot, Baker said to the Clark County Commission at a recent meeting.Clear Ballot machines are paper-based voting systems in which every voter ends the voting process with a scannable paper ballot. Once ballots are scanned, ballot images can be viewed by election officials.The state of Ohio has dispersed more than $114 million to upgrade voting machines throughout the state. Clark County is receiving about $1.3 million from that total, Baker said.We are going to use all of it except for $20,000, Baker said.The Board of Elections said the funding couldnt have come at a better time. Clark County hasnt upgraded its voting machines for about 13 years.Baker said in the last election, he had several voting machines fail and that cant happen anymore. The new equipment is expected to be in place before the May 2019 election.While the investment is large, Baker told the commission he believes the new machines will save the county money in the long run. Now the county wont have to pay to remake a ballot that is miss-marked.Baker said reprinting a ballot cost about 30 cents. There were 700 ballots that needed to be remade in 2016. While the immediate cost isnt more than $500, over a period of 10 years the savings add up.Also, if one of the machines break, the election board can fix it using parts bought from third-party stores like Amazon or Best Buy instead of relying on a single company to fix it.The county will receive the new voting machines in mid-February, Baker said, and then begin working to get the new set up ready for the New Carlisle city council elections which will take place in May.I dont know how other counties are doing it or why they dont, but we want as many elections under our belt as possible prior to the 2020 election, Baker said. We may have one or one and a half right now.Baker said Clear Ballot began as an election auditing company, so the software they have in the background to audit elections is amazing.A lot of great things can come from this software, he said.The Clark County Election Board came to the decision after showing off four companies to the community throughout the last couple of months. The board was adamant about getting residents opinions throughout the process.Clear Ballot was chosen over Election Systems, Dominion Voting and Hart Inter Civic Inc.It should not rest solely on the board of elections shoulders to make this decision it should be the voters of Clark County, Baker said. We want input from everybody.The new machines use paper ballots, unlike the touch screen devices used in Miami County. Miami Countys 2018 election came under scrutiny when the Secretary of States Office noted while reviewing election results that the vote total was not consistent with the countys voter participation history and asked the elections office to check results.The check found that 6,288 early votes were not counted. The Secretary of State is investigating. * The US-led coalition targeted a Syrian artillery in eastern Syria overnight Saturday, wounding two soldiers, the Syrian state TV reported. * Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi Saturday met with his Jordanian counterpart Omar al-Razzaz at the Trebil border crossing for the implementation of cooperation agreements, a statement from Abdul Mahdi's media office said. * At least 43 fighters including three police personnel and a Taliban commander were killed in fighting between government forces and the Taliban group in the country over the past 24 hours, officials said Saturday. * Kosovo's parliament approved the 2019 budget on February 3 after an opposition party agreed to support the minority government two days after the deadline expired, forcing a halt in all state expenditure. * Iran displayed a new cruise missile with a range of 1,300 km (800 miles) on February 2 during celebrations marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, state television reported. * Sudan's Prime Minister Mutazz Musa on February 2 described the calls of protests over the economic conditions as "legitimate." * Iraqi security forces on February 2 foiled a missile attack on Ayn al-Asad air base in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a statement by the Joint Operations Command said. * Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on February 2 survived a helicopter crash while on an official trip to the country's central state of Kogi, a presidential spokesman has confirmed. * A committee overseeing a ceasefire in Hodeidah will hold its next meeting on a ship off the port city as Yemen's warring parties cannot agree on a venue, Yemeni and UN sources said on February 2. * The Central African Republic reached a peace deal with 14 armed groups following talks conducted in Khartoum, the United Nations said on February 2, potentially ushering in a period of stability in the volatile country. AGAWAM, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- Middle school students in Agawam were allowed to celebrate their last day of school with ice cream after all. The annual tradition was called into question Wednesday when an email to parents from school administrators said Friendlys would not be able to serve stude Description GIS 04 February, 2019: A business forum and networking event was organised by the Economic Development Board (EDB) on 02 February 2019 at Hilton Mauritius Resort and Spa in Flic en Flac, in the context of the State Visit of the President of the Republic of Mozambique, Mr Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, to Mauritius. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Seetanah Lutchmeeraraidoo, the Vice Chairman of the EDB, Mr Azim Currimjee, and other personalities and economic actors from Mauritius and Mozambique were present. In his address, President Nyusi said that his country is ready to welcome investors in the Mozambican economic and strategic zones. He mentioned the facilities offered by Mozambique, namely measures taken to combat tax evasion and money laundering, adding that this forum will strengthen business and cooperation ties between the two countries. With regard to the potential areas of collaboration in the fisheries sector Mr Nyusi called for Mauritian expertise in the Small and Medium Enterprises. On that score, he listed the resources available in Mozambique which comprise gold, aluminium, phosphorus, precious stones, gas, and fertile land among others while lauding his countrys connectivity and the port facilities in Maputo. The Mozambican President further recalled that several memoranda of understanding have been signed in the fields of environment and tourism between the EDB and the Confederation of Business Associations of Mozambique for establishing practical framework for cooperation with regard to trade and investment, trade promotion and strengthening institutional relations and capacity building through mutual cooperation. For his part, the Vice Chairman of the EDB underlined that the relationship between Mauritius and Mozambique dates from the colonial era as 60% of slaves brought to Mauritius were from Mozambique. Mauritius is a peaceful country with an honourable place in the rankings of international institutions, he said. Mr Currimjee also recalled that Mauritius is well placed to invest and serve the interests of the continent. Indiana police ask for help finding man linked to death of woman found on I-65 Nine inmates charged with the murder of a correctional officer during a violent two-day prison riot in 2017 have now filed a federal lawsuit, claiming they, too, were abused in the riot's aftermath. Dwayne Staats, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the attack and the sole inmate convicted of the murder of Lt. Steven Floyd during the first set of trials against those involved, filed the handwritten lawsuit in U.S. District Court on January 17, 2019, along with Jarreau "Ruck" Ayers, Roman "Rome" Shankaras, Lawrence "Smoke" Michaels, Kevin Berry, Obadiah "OB" Miller, John Bramble, Abednego Baynes, and Abdul-Haqq El-Quadeer aka Louis Sierra. All nine claim they were "physically, mentally, and emotionally" abused and mistreated for decades at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna. Delaware Department of Correction Commissioner Perry Phelps, former Warden David Pierce, and prison medical provider company Connections are among the defendants named in the lawsuit. "The higher ranking officers and administration at JTVCC knew about the abuses and torment, permeating throughout the environment," the lawsuit said. "They chose to either support and encourage these behaviors or turn a blind eye to them." They said conditions prior the riot included inconsistent policies and procedures, an adversarial culture, poor medical and mental health treatment, a lack of supervision and response to violence, limited access to rehabilitation programs, and a dysfunctional grievance system all led to the February 1 and 2, 2017 riot that killed Lt. Steven Floyd. After the riot, the inmates alleged conditions grew worse. They claimed they were punched, kicked, pepper-sprayed, and struck by batons by Delaware and Maryland state troopers, correctional officers, and CERT teams as officials re-took the prison. All plaintiffs claim they complied with officers' demands to lay on the ground with their hands behind their back. They said their hands were zip tied and "pulled as tight as possible causing unnecessary pain and nerve damage." Staats claimed his forehead and mouth were "busted open" from being rammed into a pile of metal locker boxes as he was extracted from the building. Ayers, who was not convicted of murder, but was found guilty of assault, kidnapping, and riot, claimed he already had limited mobility and was awaiting knee surgery when officers stomped on his face and back while another officer walked across his legs, causing further damage to his knee. Shankaras, who was kicked out of the first group of inmates being tried so as not to jeopardize the case, claimed he received multiple bruises to his forehead, face, neck and chest. "He was sprayed with mace all over his face, got stomped on his lower back, his mouth was bleeding. An unknown object got shoved near his rectum, and one of his teeth got chipped," the complaint said. Michaels, who has yet to go to trial, claimed he suffered a bloody nose and two black eyes as well as a hickey on his forehead. Article continues below advertisement "While being choked by an officer, he was forced to open his mouth to get mace spayed directly down his throat," the complaint alleged. Remaining plaintiffs, Miller, Berry, Bramble and Abduil-Haqq said their heads were banged against the walls by officers, and they were kicked, punched, and sprayed with mace, causing them to suffer severe headaches, bruising, and even concussions. All inmates, except Baynes, claim they were forced to lie in pools of their own blood on freezing cement for hours. They further claimed medical attention was either "non-existent" or "inadequate" for injuries they suffered at the hands of police and correctional officers. "These 'check-ups' last approximately 30-40 seconds. That was just enough time to clean up the dried blood off our faces before we were hearded [sic] to the gym. This was medical negligence in its purest form," they allege. In the days that followed, inmates claim sick calls were declined for three weeks They add their personal property, including TVs, radios, clothes, food, fans, sneakers, letters and photos from loved ones--that can't be replaced--and other commissary items, were destroyed or disposed, and their mail was tampered with after the riot. Their civil rights lawsuit alleges the unsafe prison conditions at JTVCC constituted "cruel and unusual punishment" in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and the brutal beatings while restrained was done "maliciously and sadistically" and constituted assault and battery under state law. It mirrors a similar federal lawsuit filed by inmates, who were not charged in the riot. Inmates charged with the murder of Floyd were not permitted to be a part of their class-action lawsuit due to a conflict of interest. +2 Class-action lawsuit claims brutal inmate abuse in wake of Vaughn riot As the first of several criminal trials is underway in the deadly Vaughn prison riot, which The nine plaintiffs in the newly-filed lawsuit are seeking $300,000 in compensatory damages as well as $100,000 in punitive damages from most defendants. The Delaware DOC and its medical provider Connections have consistently had no comment on pending litigation. The second criminal trial in the prison riot, wherein Bramble, Baynes, Berry, and Miller are on trial for the murder of Floyd, is underway in New Castle County Superior Court. Wilmington, DE (19810) Today Thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 68F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 68F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. The Governors Official Program is comprised of a wide range of constitutional and legal duties and ceremonial and community engagements. Each year, the Governor hosts thousands of visitors to Government House to take part in investiture and award ceremonies, Open Days, receptions and meetings, and travels widely throughout Queensland to support the activities of Patron groups. View a chronological record of the Governors daily program below. On Friday, in the morning, at the Finch Hatton Showgrounds, Finch Hatton, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC attended a community breakfast in recognition of bushfire recovery efforts, and the Governor addressed guests. Following, at Eungella, His Excellency visited the Eungella Chalet. Following, at the Eungella Memorial Hall, Eungella, His Excellency attended a community morning tea in recognition of bushfire recovery efforts, and the Governor addressed guests. Following, His Excellency visited Eungella State School, and the Governor addressed students and guests. In the afternoon, at the Campwin Beach SES Shed, Campwin Beach, His Excellency attended a community afternoon tea in recognition of bushfire recovery efforts, and the Governor addressed guests. In the evening, His Excellency returned to Government House following official travel to Mackay. A federal three-judge panel on Friday rejected Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's proposed consent decree to end a gerrymandering lawsuit brought by the Michigan League of Women Voters.Instead, the panel ordered the case -- which alleges Michigan Republicans who control the Legislature unconstitutionally gerrymandered Michigan's congressional, state Senate and state House seats to benefit their candidates and disadvantage Democrats-- to go to trial on Tuesday.The suit was initially brought against Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, who was vigorously defending the drawing of the political lines. Benson, a Democrat, inherited the lawsuit in Johnson's place when she took office on Jan. 1.The ruling leaves Benson in the position of defending political districts she has described as gerrymandered and constitutionally indefensible."The court has ruled, and I respect its decision," Benson said in a statement. "As the state's chief election officer, I will continue efforts to resolve this lawsuit in the best interests of all voters and in compliance with constitutional requirements."The three-judge panel -- U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Eric Clay, Detroit U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood, and Grand Rapids U.S. District Judge Gordon Quist -- ruled that Benson "lacks the authority -- absent the express consent of the Michigan Legislature, which she does not have -- to enter into the proposed consent decree."In issuing the order, the panel came down on the side of Republicans who intervened in the case and opposed the proposed settlement.In recent weeks, Republicans reacted with alarm and outrage to news that Benson was working to settle the lawsuit, noting that League of Women Voters attorney Mark Brewer is a former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party. Republicans speculated that Benson and Brewer would craft a backroom agreement that would force Michigan Senate elections two years early, in 2020, in an attempt to flip the Legislature from Republican to Democratic control.On Jan. 25, Benson and the League proposed a much more modest settlement that would only directly impact 11 state House districts, leaving state Senate and congressional districts untouched. She proposed that Michigan lawmakers would redraw the districts deemed unconstitutional in the consent agreement."I believe today's settlement strikes a balance between recognizing the unconstitutionality of the 2011 redistricting maps while reaching a remedy that is limited in scope," Benson said.Regardless of the outcome of the League of Women Voters lawsuit, Michigan's new citizen redistricting commission, approved by voters in the November election, will draw lines for the 2022 elections. Missouri Republican Eric Greitens Alabama Republican Robert Bentley Oregon Democrat John Kitzhaber Alaska Republican Sarah Palin New York Democrat Eliot Spitzer New Jersey Democrat James McGreevey Connecticut Republican John Rowland Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam refused to step down over the weekend despite nearly universal calls for his resignation from top officials in his own party.The controversy began late last week when Northam's medical school yearbook page resurfaced, showing one person dressed in blackface and another as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. After initially apologizing for appearing in the photo, Northam backtracked and said he does not believe he is one of the people in it. He did, however, admit to donning blackface at least once as a young man -- for a Michael Jackson contest in 1984.Few governors resign their office, in comparison with members of Congress. Those who do often resist resignation calls from political enemies and former allies for days or even months.Usually, it's scandals involving sex -- not racism -- that force governors to give up their post. From Thomas Jefferson having children with his slave Sally Hemings to Bill Clinton's impeachment in a sex and perjury case, political sex scandals have been a recurring feature of American life for centuries.Some governors caught in sex scandals have served out the remainder of their terms, including South Carolina Republican Mark Sanford and Kentucky Democrat Paul Patton. But sex has been at the root of most gubernatorial resignations over the past 20 years (not counting governors who have left office to take other political offices).Here's a look back at that history, starting with the most recent resignations:Greitens stepped down last May, after facing felony indictments and several months of controversy regarding allegations that he had taken a nude picture of his mistress and distributed it without her consent. Greitens also faced complaints regarding campaign finance abuses. As part of a settlement with the St. Louis prosecutor, Greitens resigned in June, and his lawyers agreed there had been enough evidence to justify filing the charge regarding the distribution of the photograph. In July, Missouri state Rep. Jay Barnes, who led an investigation of the governor, filed a complaint with the state ethics commission about a group associated with Greitens that had been used to evade campaign finance limits and disclosure requirements. No action has been taken.Bentley agreed in 2017 to a plea deal that included his resignation and an admission of guilt regarding campaign finance violations. Bentley had been engulfed in controversy for more than a year after transcripts and tapes were released documenting his interactions with Rebekah Mason, a former aide with whom Bentley allegedly had an affair.Kitzhaber stepped down in 2015, just three months after winning a fourth term. Kitzhaber was under criminal investigation for complaints that his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, may have violated the law or ethics rules by advising him on energy issues while accepting fees as a private consultant on overlapping policies. Federal investigators dropped their case against Kitzhaber in 2017, without filing charges. Last March, Kitzhaber paid $20,000 as part of a settlement with the state ethics commission, agreeing not to question its findings that he had repeatedly violated ethics laws, misusing his office for personal gain and failing to disclose conflicts of interest.Palin's resignation, coming less than a year after her candidacy for vice president in 2008, came as a surprise. She had faced ethics complaints regarding her dismissal of the state's top public safety official in a dispute over her desire to see her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. Palin cited her legal expenses in her resignation speech, saying she had to clear her name from "frivolous" complaints. She said she wanted to spare the state having a governor operating under "lame-duck status."Spitzer announced his resignation in 2008, two days afterbroke the story that he had been the client of a high-end prostitution ring. Over the course of my public life, I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people regardless of their position or power take responsibility for their conduct, the former state attorney general said. I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor.McGreevey announced his resignation in 2004, admitting to an affair with Golan Cipel, his homeland security adviser who threatened to file a sexual harassment suit against him. McGreevey said it was a consensual relationship. "My truth is that I am a gay American," McGreevey said.Rowland resigned in 2004, facing an impeachment investigation and a federal corruption probe regarding his relationships with state contractors. Rowland had accepted work done by state contractors for no charge, among other bribery complaints. By the end of the year, Rowland pleaded guilty to corruption. In 2014, Rowland was convicted separately on election fraud charges. The government eventually committed to a package of grants totalling 61 million. The promise was in response to Nissans concern that after Brexit potential future trade arrangements could affect the business case for your investments, the letter said. Anti-Brexit demonstrators outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Credit:PA At the time, the government denied it had offered Nissan any financial support. The 2016 decision to produce the X-Trail in Sunderland had been hailed by Brexiters as proof that the pre-referendum Project Fear about the consequences of Brexit had been wrong. At the end of January the British car industry reported production had fallen by more than 9 per cent in 2018. Investment in car production in the UK had fallen by almost half on 2017 (and 80 per cent in the past five years), partly, the sectors chief body said, as a result of businesses needing to wait for certainty over the future UK-EU relationship. Ralf Speth, head of Jaguar Land Rover, has said a no-deal Brexit would mean its factories could shudder to a halt and result in tens of thousands of job losses. We depend on free, frictionless, seamless logistics (in EU trade), he said. A pro-Brexit supporter, left, and a remain supporter near the Parliament in London. Credit:AP On Monday there was little sign of progress on Prime Minister Theresa Mays latest tactic, narrowly endorsed by the House of Commons last week, to attempt to renegotiate the Brexit divorce deal she agreed with Brussels last year. A group of MPs met the European Commissions secretary-general Martin Selmayr, and some said afterwards they believed Brussels was ready to consider a new legally binding agreement covering the contentious issue of the Northern Ireland "backstop", a post-Brexit insurance policy to keep the border open by putting the entire UK in a customs union with the EU. But Selmayr then tweeted that on the EU side nobody is considering [changing the backstop], and added the EU did well to start its no-deal preparations in December 2017. UK Prime Minister Theresa May. Credit:Bloomberg Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva later said the Commission was always open to listen in full respect of national parliaments. She referred to a speech last week by president Jean-Claude Juncker, who said he would stay in close contact with May and I will listen to her ideas but reiterated that the already-negotiated Withdrawal Agreement was the best and only deal possible. German chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to offer a lifeline in a speech in Japan, where she referred to the need to be creative and listen to each other in finding ways to preserve Europes single market while meeting the need for no border controls in Ireland. Loading However she was talking about the yet-to-be-negotiated future trade relationship between the EU and UK, and ruled out changes to the divorce deal. Meanwhile bad news Brexit stories continue to pile up. The Guardian reported on the weekend that government officials were concerned about an end to the export of waste in a no-deal Brexit, predicting that odours will obviously be an issue as the stockpiled waste putrefies. The Times on Monday revealed that companies were scaling back their plans for spending and hiring more ferociously then at any time since the 2008-9 financial crisis amid uncertainty over Brexit. The same newspaper reported that critical government IT systems were dangerously exposed to a no-deal Brexit. Remainers rally last week. Credit:Bloomberg One example was the National Health Services blood and transplant system, which stores personal data on a computer network in Ireland that it may not be able to access without a Brexit withdrawal agreement. On Sunday Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers Union, said a no-deal Brexit would be absolutely savage for us, destroying farmers livelihoods and putting food-buying customers at risk. She also pointed out that 90 per cent of animal vaccines were made in the EU. Recently Sony and Panasonic announced they were relocating their European headquarters to the Netherlands Sony said the move was due to concerns over Brexit-related disruption, though it added it had no short-term plans to move people or business functions. Panasonic said it was due to potential tax problems created by Brexit. Toyota and Honda are halting some UK production temporarily at the end of March due to concerns about what Honda called logistics and border issues. And a week and a half ago Airbus chief executive Tom Enders issued a video message warning 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, one of the countrys biggest manufacturers, employs 14,000 people across 25 UK sites and indirectly supports many more suppliers. Australia should phase out exporting cotton within three years to save a Murray-Darling basin "in deep crisis", according to the Central Alliance party. The South Australian-based party plans to introduce legislation into both houses of the Federal Parliament to amend the Export Control Act 1982 to ban the crop, circumventing complex jurisdictional controls between federal and state governments. Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick says 'it's not in the national interest to export our river'. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "Something needs to be done and no-one's taking action," Rex Patrick, the Central Alliance's environment spokesman, said. "It's not in our national interest to export our river." According to the alliance, the cotton industry accounts for about 27 per cent of the entire water allocation across the Murray-Darling basin, making it the biggest water extractor. About 90 per cent of the crop is exported. I have cancelled my membership of the Australian Medical Association after 30 years as a loyal member. I can no longer tolerate the AMA's hypocrisy on harm reduction: supporting pill testing for drug takers but opposing vaping to reduce the harm from smoking. The association recently lent vocal support for pill testing at music festivals. Pill testing is a sensible harm reduction policy which aims to the reduce harm from illicit drugs. The association accepts that people will continue to use drugs despite the risk. Pill testing is a pragmatic solution which aims to reduce the harm that will inevitably occur in some cases. Loading However, with smoking the association takes a zero-tolerance approach and rejects safer alternatives such as vaping for smokers who are unable to quit. According to the UK Royal College of Physicians, long-term vaping "is unlikely to exceed 5 per cent of the harm from smoking tobacco". An incident between rival tow truck companies in Perth's northern suburbs has turned violent after two drivers arrived at the same towing job. Nine News Perth reported the confrontation occurred in Alexander Heights around 2pm on Sunday. The incident unfolded in Alexander Heights on Sunday Credit:Nine News Perth Two drivers from rival towing companies allegedly became involved in a heated argument when they both arrived at the same job. The argument then escalated with claims it became violent. A 44-year-old man charged with the murder of his wife in Balga on Sunday has faced court in Perth dressed in a police forensic jumpsuit. Upendra Ihalahewa has been charged with murdering Darshika Nilmini Kudaligama Withana, aged in her 40s, on Sunday morning. Upendra Ihalahewa has been charged with murdering his wife Darshika Nilmini Kudaligama Withana. Credit:Facebook Mr Ihalahewa appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Monday, but spoke only to confirm his name. The presiding magistrate, upon reading a report, confirmed Mr Ihalahewa would spend seven days in custody at Graylands Hospital, undergoing a psychiatric assessment. A Gosnells great-grandmother is recovering in hospital after an out-of-control car crashed into her lounge room on Sunday evening. The 73-year-old was sitting in a lounge chair at her Eudoria Street home around 10.15pm when an unregistered Holden Commodore lost control and ploughed through her house. The car crashed through the Gosnells home on Sunday night Credit:Nine News Perth Nine News Perth reported the debris from the smashed exterior wall fell on the pensioner, causing her to suffer a fractured back. The driver of the vehicle, a 37-year-old man, failed a preliminary breath test at the scene. Cladding likely to be 'fuel' for fire Metropolitan Fire Brigade assistant chief fire officer Trent Curtin said the emergency response to the fire was escalated as soon as they knew the building had cladding on the outside. "The combustible cladding appears on small parts of the building around the balconies and we believe at this stage the combustible cladding will have been one of the fuels that escalated the fire," he said. "It's unclear at this stage how much of an effect it would have had on the fire." He said the firefighting effort to ensure the building was safe to reoccupy was being hampered by residents who are refusing to leave despite repeated warnings from authorities. Firefighters inspect the damage from the blaze. Credit:Jason South MFB investigators have also found some of the residents had put plastic over their smoke alarms. "It's been observed at this point that a number of occupants that have covered their smoke alarms with plastic in order to stop their fire alarms from activating," Mr Curtin said. "It's my understanding occupants have taken plastic and wrapped it around the smoke alarm to stop it activating in the case of cooking or other products of combustion in an apartment." He said other "building management issues" which were affecting the emergency response included residents who refused to leave despite repeated pleas from firefighters. The Spencer Street building is clad in the same materials involved in the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people in London in 2017, MFB chief officer Dan Stephens said. "It is my understanding that the building is cladded [sic] with aluminium composite materials, the sort of cladding that was on the Grenfell Tower," Mr Stephens said. Asked how dangerous the ACM cladding is, Mr Stephens said: "I probably don't need to answer that, we saw what happened [in Grenfell] in London, back in 2017." It is understood the building has recently undergone a renovation but was deemed safe by Melbourne City Council. "There are a whole range of issues that are undertaken to determine compliance with the building code," said Adam Dalrymple, who led the MFB's policy response to the Lacrosse tower fire in 2014. "In this particular building here, the fire services have real issues with combustible cladding, and our view is any building with an effective height over 25 metres shouldn't have cladding on it at all." Fifteen fire trucks responded to a call about the fire just before 5am. There was no hope of reaching the blaze from outside the building firefighters had to climb the stairs and extinguished the fire from the inside. There have been no serious injuries reported, but one man in his 20s was treated for smoke inhalation and was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition. Residents say it's the second fire in the building in recent years. Testing will have to be done on the cladding on the apartment building. Credit:Jason South The building's construction was completed in 2007 by LU Simon. Asked what the builder knew about the cladding and if any steps have been taken to remove it, a spokeswoman said "we are not in a position to comment as we have not received sufficient information or any official reports". The Victorian Building Authority was aware that the building at 200 Spencer Street was fitted with "non-compliant cladding material" and it was referred to the Municipal Building Surveyor. Following an audit in 2016, the MBS determined the building was "safe for occupation and no further action was required". The same builder was involved in the Lacrosse building, which was devastated by fire in 2014. The fire at the Lacrosse tower in 2014 sent shockwaves through the nation's construction industry, sparking major concerns over aluminium cladding used over four decades on thousands of Australian buildings. Owners of buildings across the state were ordered to remove dangerous cladding, creating a legal nightmare for many residents involved. 'We saw the smoke billowing from our apartment': Residents share their stories Couple Thomas Rumble, 25, and Gabby Angelone, 24, had lived in the Spencer Street apartment building for two years. Mr Rumble couldn't sleep and had gotten up early to make tea when he heard the sirens from the trucks. He roused his girlfriend and they left immediately. "We didn't hear an alarm until we were halfway down the stairs," he said. "Before that it was silence. Now I'm thinking what if I hadn't been up early. We could smell it as well ... we saw the smoke billowing from our apartment." Mr Stephens also said there may have been an issue with one of the alarms in the building. He said the MFB would investigate whether any suspicious circumstances were involved. The Spencer Street apartment building that caught fire this morning is believed to be covered in combustible cladding. Credit:Simone Fox Koob George Fittje was staying in an Airbnb in the Spencer Street apartment building when he and a friend were evacuated before 6am. He said his friend went out onto the balcony, looked down and saw the flames. "It was on the side in the building," he said. "Everyone was in the stairwell. It looked like it started on the 16th floor and went to about the 23rd. No idea what caused it." Hairdresser Lucy has lived in the apartment block for seven months. Her partner works early and called her at 5.50am to ask if she was safe. "I said, 'What do you mean?'," she said. "I walked out to balcony and saw all the fire trucks." About 200 residents have been evacuated. Credit:Jason South At first glance the Prime Ministers approach to the banking royal commission report seems crazy. The report, due to be released this afternoon, will be explosive. The list of sins charging dead people fees and other acts of naked greed will be damning. There is a fair chance it will suggest criminal charges should be laid. But there was Scott Morrison, at the end of last week, seeming to pave the way for ignoring some recommendations. In principle the government is keen to accept them all, but in practice, the Prime Minister says, it depends on what is recommended. In one sense thats a statement of the obvious. But it is also a massive gamble. Is he really preparing to defend the banks? Labor will be thrilled if he follows through. It wont care which recommendation he rejects any which one will do. Labor sees this week as an opportunity to remind voters of its favourite line: that Morrison voted 26 times against the royal commission. The opposition insists its a vote changer. Its not a statistic many voters can reel off, and Labor wants to change that. Taxpayers face significant future liabilities from the Opal Tower debacle due to a state government agency retaining ownership of more than 40 units inside the Sydney Olympic Park development, and potentially retaining liability for the costs of rectifying the development. After awareness of the deep cracking within the 34-storey tower came to prominence before Christmas, a stoush over responsibility erupted between property developer Ecove and its builder Icon Construction. The Opal Tower at Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney. Credit:AAP However, there is also a chance that much of the burden of the costs of rectifying the structure and compensating those who have lost out from the faults could fall on NSW taxpayers through the state government organisation the Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA). This situation could dint hopes of using land development at Olympic Park to pay for future government promises. Late last year, for instance, the Berejiklian government said it would raise $30 million from land sales at Olympic Park to pay for a Cricket NSW Centre of Excellence, after Cricket NSW was dislodged from Moore Park by the impending construction of a $730 million stadium. The Massachusetts Senate on Thursday voted to ban the use of nondisclosure agreements by the state Senate. This represents a clear policy break with the Massachusetts House, which uses the agreements and has explicitly rejected attempts to limit their use.Sen. Diana DiZoglio, D-Methuen, who proposed the amendment, said banning nondisclosure agreements "sends a clear message to our communities that we are not nor will we be in the business of silencing victims or covering ups misdeeds under any circumstance using public funds."Nondisclosure agreements are generally signed as part of a settlement or severance package to ban the participants involved in an incident from talking about it publicly.The use of nondisclosure agreements garnered public attention recently after these agreements were used by high-profile individuals accused of assaulting women, including Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and casino mogul Steve Wynn, to prohibit the alleged victims from speaking out.Last March, the Massachusetts House updated its policies against sexual harassment in response to the national #metoo movement.DiZoglio, then a state representative, said on the House floor that she had been required to sign a nondisclosure agreement as a condition of getting severance pay as a House staffer asked to leave her job. She left amid rumors surrounding her entering the House chamber with a lawmaker during a late-night party, although an investigation found she did nothing wrong. DiZoglio blasted the use of nondisclosure agreements and asked House members to ban their use.House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, said at the time that there have been 33 agreements executed with employees who were terminated from the House. None related to sexual harassment.House lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected DiZoglio's proposal.This Wednesday, during a debate on House rules, Rep. Patrick Kearney, D-Scituate, renewed DiZoglio's effort to ban the use of nondisclosure agreements."They are tools used by the like of Harvey Weinstein to silence victims," Kearney said, according to a State House News Service transcript. "No victim wants to give up their First Amendment right to share their story with family, friends and their support system or have their severance package hanging in the balance."But several representatives said nondisclosure agreements can be used by victims to silence their abuser and to quell concerns that an abuser will bad-mouth a victim. They said in the House, a nondisclosure agreement can only be initiated by a victim."If a victim wants to make sure their abuser is also silent, this is an important tool," said Rep. Natalie Higgins, D-Leominster, according to the State House News Service.Rep. Claire Cronin, D-Easton, said, "I don't think anyone in this chamber wants to take that control and power away from the victim."The House overwhelmingly rejected the proposed ban, 5-151.The Senate, in recent years, has not used nondisclosure agreements. In an interview earlier this month, Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, said she would not require anyone to sign a nondisclosure agreement.In the Senate vote Thursday, senators voted unanimously, 39-0, to accept DiZoglio's amendment to the Senate rules to ban the use of nondisclosure agreements.DiZoglio said nondisclosure agreements have been used to "cover up the misdeeds of powerful, serial harassers and abusers" like Weinstein and Wynn."Any use of nondisclosure agreements, which silence victims of assault, harassment or discrimination while protecting powerful perpetrators who may be elected politicians or staff in this Legislature, simply put, is shameful," DiZoglio said.Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, said Senate Republicans agree with DiZoglio and "think it's important we take a definitive, bold and clear step that these kinds of agreements have no place in the Legislature." An Argentinian judge will this week consider whether Nicolas Gil Pereg can see the body of the mother he allegedly murdered at his derelict Mendoza property several weeks ago. Mr Pereg, 36, is charged with the aggravated homicide of his mother, Israeli national Pyrhia Sarusi, and his aunt, Australian academic Professor Lily Pereg. Gilad Pereg, the son of one of two missing sisters found dead in Mendoza, Argentina, is arrested. Credit:AP In an exclusive interview with The Sun-Herald, Minister of Justice of Mendoza, Dr Marcelo D'Agostino said that Mr Pereg had tried to mislead police and convince prosecutors he was mentally ill at the time of the alleged crimes. "He has asked to see his mother's body, and also to see his cats," Dr D'Agostino said yesterday. We know Coalition members are working overtime to address the so-called "women problem" in the party, so we were buoyed to hear the newer generation has taken the message to heart. Which brings us to the West Brisbane branch of the Young Liberal Nationals who have decided their party should bring back the Miss Young Liberal pageant. Yep, nothing will improve female representation more than proposer Tien Kellys vision of parades, sashes and a catwalk. The idea was raised at a branch meeting last Wednesday at Ipswich's Prince Alfred pub. We're unsure if the motion was passed. Neither Ms Kelly nor the branch executive including Lara Byrnes, Benjamin Kozij or Daniel Torbey responded to multiple requests for comment. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Call for restrictions Mr Low said giving evidence at the royal commission was "quite confronting" but he is hopeful that his testimony and that of others at the royal commission will have an impact. "What I am hoping to come out of the royal commission is change, obviously the banks can't keep going the way they are," he said. "There are a lot of people out there taken advantage of. Restrictions need to be put into place so people don't get into situations where they can't get themselves out of. I think there needs to be more improvement in researching the individuals' lending capacity... banks really need to take into account the affordability of the loans they are offering and not being greedy." Rien Low leaves the royal commission after giving evidence in May 2018. Credit:Jason South Ombudsman calls for clarity However, small business advocates including small business ombudsman Kate Carnell are worried restrictions imposed on lending as a result of the royal commission could dry up lending to small businesses. "Our concern is that there will be more requirements on the banks to ensure that loans they give can be paid back," Ms Carnell said. "The serviceability issue is a really big issue for small business. Over the last six months the banks have really tightened up on home loans requiring information on expenditure and income and the problem is that has flowed through to small business. What I would be hoping for is some real clarity around small business lending to ensure it doesn't get sucked into the same serviceability requirements as consumers." Anthony Healy, NAB chief customer officer, business and private banking. Credit:Wayne Taylor Impact on lending The banks are also concerned the royal commission report may impact on lending to business. Anthony Healy, chief customer officer for business and private banking at the National Australia Bank, said the bank supports the royal commission report's interim recommendations in relation to small business and is always open to policy ideas that support the sector and accelerate the creation of new business and opportunities. "As we pointed out in our response to the interim report, we do not support extending the application of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act provisions to SMEs and deem the current legal framework for SME lending to be appropriate," Mr Healy said. "We are open for business and we want to lend our appetite hasnt changed." Nevertheless, Mr Low is hopeful there will be change. "I feel that a very bright light is being shone onto these banks, the good thing about the royal commission was there was nowhere to hide," he said. A national regulated power price could save households up to $440 off annual power bills, according to a study to be published on Monday, but those who actively seek out discounted offers could find them harder to secure. A report by the Australian Council of Social Service and the Brotherhood of St Laurence has outlined how the governments proposed default power price could cut power bills on standing non-discounted offers by between 30 and 40 per cent. A regulated default price, as proposed by the government, could slash power bills in NSW and Victoria by more than a third. Credit:Fairfax Our analysis shows that a fair regulated retail price would reduce energy bills for those on bad offers by hundreds of dollars a year, Brotherhood of St Laurence executive director Conny Lenneberg said. The Australian Energy Market Commission has forecast an average annual power bill of $1294 for NSW in the 2018/19 financial year and $1375 for Queensland, while Victoria is forecast to have an average power bill of $1096 for 2019. Industry Super Australia said the Banking Royal Commission had shone a welcome light on serious conflicts within the financial services system. ISA deputy chief executive, Matt Linden, said that by shining a light on the systems deeply entrenched problems, the findings could prove the vital catalyst for long overdue reform. As a whole, the system must be more transparent and more accountable it shouldnt take a Royal Commission for workers to see whether their retirement savings are in safe hands or not," Mr Linden said. The onus is now on the Parliament and industry to ensure superannuation works in the best interest of fund members not that of shareholders or bank executives. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia chief executive Martin Fahy said the report's proposed reforms amounted to a strengthening of conflicts management and regulatory frameworks that seek to ensure members best interests are at the heart of all trustee determinations. However, in the course of his forensic inquiry, the Commissioner has identified specific areas for improvement to ensure these standards are better applied in practice. Its now up to industry and regulators to raise the bar, said Dr Fahy. Reforming the system in this manner will build consumer trust and confidence in a system that is already delivering some exceptional outcomes for Australians." The Financial Services Council, which represents Australia's retail and wholesale funds management businesses, said the industry needed to on with the task of strengthening the financial services sector for the future "so that we never end up in this situation again. Chief executive Sally Loane said financial services is Australias largest industry sector, employing 450,000 people and managing almost $3 trillion of consumers savings. It must be free of misaligned incentives, mismanagement and poor governance, and focused solely on protecting the savings and growing the wealth of all Australians," she said. We acknowledge it will take significant time and effort, and cultural change to effect thorough reform." 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. A law that would require abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals won't go into effect on Monday as scheduled, after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary hold on it.Justice Samuel Alito issued a one-page order late Friday noting that "the justices need time to review" court filings before deciding whether to grant a petition to block the law from taking effect while it continues to be challenged in court.According to Alito's order, the hold, which will prevent the law from being enforced at least through Feb. 7, is administrative and not a reflection of how the court may act once it has reviewed the case.Act 620 was signed into law in 2014, but it's being challenged in court by a pair of doctors who say it's too onerous.Because the application for the emergency hold is expected to be reviewed by the full court in the coming week, Louisiana's law is widely being viewed as the first major test of how President Donald Trump's appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court could ultimately impact abortion laws across the country. Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh were not on the bench when a similar law in Texas was ruled unconstitutional nearly three years ago.Both have testified that they see the Supreme Court's landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that affirms the right to access to abortions with limited restrictions as a settled matter, but the conservative jurists have drawn scrutiny from abortion rights advocates and some Democratic lawmakers.The Texas law that, like Louisiana's, sought to require admitting privileges, was rejected on a 5-3 Supreme Court vote in 2016.Supporters of the effort here say it's meant to make the procedure safer in case of complications, while opponents say it's an onerous requirement meant to create additional hurdles for those seeking abortions.The crux of the argument against the law has been that it's modeled after the Texas law that the high court already struck down. But the 5th Circuit majority that agreed to uphold Act 620, ruled that "unlike in Texas, (Louisiana's law) does not impose a substantial burden on a large fraction of women" and would affect, at most, 30 percent of Louisiana women.Louisiana, which tends to be among states with the toughest restrictions on abortion access, has three remaining abortion clinics -- one each in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport. There were five when Act 620 passed the Louisiana Legislature in 2014. Opponents of the pending law say it would reduce the number further. After British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt confirmed that his country would join those backing Guaido, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said London was studying possible sanctions. Venezuelan people deserve a better future. They have suffered enough, and the Maduro regime must end. It is time for free and fair elections, the spokesman told reporters, according to Reuters. We are looking at what further steps we can take to ensure peace and democracy in Venezuela including through sanctions. After two years of watching the death toll grow, its really tempting to be satisfied that such a study took place, said Daniel Mahanty, director of the U.S. Program at the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), an advocacy group. While were happy that Pentagon leaders saw this as an important issue, our focus now is to make sure it results in meaningful changes to prevent casualties and ensure those who have been killed get the acknowledgment they deserve. We think that building strong relations with the U.S. for the benefit of the two peoples is important, said a senior Iraqi diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about a sensitive subject. So far, signals from Washington send the wrong message about the future of the relations we aspire to, the diplomat said. The Indiana school district superintendent who used her son's insurance to help a sick student resigned late last week.Casey Smitherman, the superintendent of Elwood Community Schools, stepped down Friday, almost a month after she took a 15-year-old student to an emergency clinic after he showed symptoms of strep throat.After being turned away from the first clinic because she was not the boy's guardian, Smitherman said she went to another facility and pretended the student was her son."I knew he did not have insurance, and I wanted to do all I could to help get him well," she previously said in a statement. "I know this action was wrong. In the moment, my only concern was for this child's health."Using her son's name again, Smitherman filled a prescription for Amoxicillin at a local CVS and gave the medication to the teenager. The total bill for the medical care came to $233.A few weeks later, in mid-January, Smitherman turned herself in after police followed up with the boy's guardian. At the time, she said she had previously bought clothes for the student and helped clean his house.She was charged with insurance fraud, identity deception, official misconduct and insurance application fraud."I am very embarrassed for that, and I apologize to the board, the community and the teachers and students of Elwood Community Schools. I sincerely hope this single lapse in judgement does not tarnish all of the good work I've done for students over the span of my career," Smitherman said in a statement to the Indianapolis Star Friday, calling it a "lapse in judgement.""I am confident the board will take the necessary steps to ensure the school system works through this period of change in the best possible way." In addition to the domestic legal proceedings, we have engaged in extensive outreach and advocacy to make clear that these two admirable reporters were not, at any time, acting as spies to harm Myanmar, Adler said. We will continue to explore and pursue every possible path to advocate on their behalf so that they may return to their families and us as soon as possible. The two-day meeting will bring key Afghan power brokers together with the insurgents to discuss ending the war that began with the ouster of the Taliban from power in late 2001, and it follows up on an earlier such meeting in Moscow in November. Ghanis government was invited to participate but declined to do so this time because the meeting did not provide for direct talks with the Taliban, and the attendance of Ghanis rivals would put them on an equal footing with the government, officials said. Northams conduct was a dominant topic of discussion on the Sunday morning news shows. In one interview, Northams predecessor, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, said he winced during Northams Saturday news conference, a widely panned appearance in which Northam insisted he was not in the photo, reversing what he said the day before. Northam said he had once put dark shoe polish on his face to impersonate Michael Jackson as part of a dance contest in the 1980s, an admission that brought additional condemnation. I would imagine what shell try to do is tell the country theyre a responsible governing party and make the case more about what they are for than what they are against, Wehner said. They wont take a blowtorch to the president. . . . Shell put forward a vision of unity not so much in rebuttal to Trumps speech but to Trumps presidency. Leaders in Washington, in both the executive and legislative branches, cite infrastructure as a top priority for the new Congress. All agree that the case for serious investment has been made. But while federal policymakers prepare to debate how they might provide more funding for new or improved infrastructure, state and local governments are beginning to tackle the long-neglected issue of deferred maintenance with money, muscle and spreadsheets.This is an important development after decades of postponing scheduled upkeep and routine repairs on roads, schools, bridges and water lines as pleas for additional funding to maintain these critical workhorse assets were drowned out by the allure of new shiny-pony assets. More and more, public finance officials are taking stock of their existing assets, their condition and the costs to address the consequences of deferred maintenance. These efforts mark a profound change in focus.One of the forces driving this change is the realization that current accounting practices do not require governments to recognize deferred maintenance obligations as liabilities on their balance sheets. This is similar to the dawning that took place about unfunded public pension obligations, which governments did not begin to book as liabilities until after Government Accounting Standards Board guidance to that effect was issued in 2012.Like pension debt before, the cost of deferred maintenance has largely gone unmeasured and unreported, with staggering multi-trillion-dollar estimates repeated again and again. No one really knows, though, because there is no standard practice for defining, measuring and reporting deferred maintenance. This led credit ratings agencies to announce last summer that they would begin to focus on deferred maintenance in reviews of municipal debt levels.Instead of waiting for regulatory directives, some state and local governments are already taking action. At the state level, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Tennessee and Utah, along with the District of Columbia, are among governments that are disclosing deferred maintenance obligations on their balance sheets and in annual financial reports.To do so, they developed asset inventories and condition-assessment practices -- the building blocks for tracking deferred maintenance needs -- to make regular calculation of the costs they face in repairing and replacing the assets they own. While more work is needed to standardize how deferred maintenance is assessed, jurisdictions like these are leading the way toward clearer depictions of maintenance liabilities and more accurate municipal financial reporting.Even better, credit agencies are rewarding governments for taking charge of deferred maintenance. Case in point: the District of Columbia. All three of the major credit rating agencies raised the District's credit rating on the strength of its plan to fund deferred maintenance, which was developed using D.C.'s centralized system for managing asset inventories, condition assessments and needs prioritization across all departments.Infrastructure maintenance may never get its due beyond the credit rating agencies' lens -- unless John Oliver does a sequel to "Infrastructure: The Movie" -- but it is one of government's most critical obligations. Awards and fanfare are rare; maintenance projects are not often given names or tracked by industry market data providers. And our public finance officials are more used to fielding complaints about inconveniences caused by maintenance work than receiving thanks or credit for tackling it.But there are plenty of deferred maintenance projects that deserve recognition. Here are just a few:Against an accumulation of $100 million in deferred maintenance needs, the Denver library system is using a $31 million voter-approved bond issue to modernize the central library and the 10 of its 25 regional branches that have gone the longest without renovation. Soon, the some 2,600 patrons who use those branches every day will enjoy updated HVAC systems, elevators, computer access and other basics.The Louisville, Ky., Metro Council developed a "fix it first" strategy expressly to address deferred road maintenance needs. It resulted in 130 roads being repaved, besting all previous efforts. An additional $190 million in street and sidewalk repairs is on deck.In addition to a $100 million repair program dedicated to through-levee conduits that had been compromised by deferred maintenance, the California Department of Water Resources funded an experimental flood control project for the Dos Rios floodplain to test a methodology that reconnects rivers with natural floodplains. It changed hearts and minds not only in California but also in Mississippi and Missouri, where similar projects are now underway.Notable projects across more infrastructure sectors can be found here . These projects show that in an era of diminished budgets, public finance officials are making the case to taxpayers to take care of the assets we already have. They are increasingly advocating for using tax dollars to fix potholes, dredge port channels, replace pipes, modernize HVAC systems, paint schools, rehabilitate bridges, service parks, green wastewater systems, strengthen levees and fortify dams. Experience has shown that a hundred routine-maintenance projects will yield a much higher return on taxpayer money than any single big, new project ever will.By taking responsibility for the assets that are delivering services taxpayers need and those that are no longer performing, public officials will be able to make smart decisions about which assets should be repaired, replaced or recycled based on long-term asset management strategies. More importantly, they will be better able to help taxpayers differentiate between fiscal responsibility and political folly in the dialogue on infrastructure. The North Koreans do not take criticism well, said Jean H. Lee, an analyst at the Wilson Center and a former reporter who opened an Associated Press bureau in Pyongyang in 2012. They are very sensitive to an assault on their way of life and their political system and their penal code. I suspect there may be some reluctance to bring up the issue of defectors and showcase them in a way that Trump did last year, to avoid angering the North Koreans. In both cases, attorneys with the Justice Department, which is representing Trump, have argued that payments to the hotel and other businesses from foreign embassies such as events paid for by the governments of Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia do not constitute emoluments and thus are not violations of the Constitution. The president does have his amen corner on right-wing talk radio, Fox News and Breitbart, megaphones that help keep his base rock solid and reticulate his warped version of the facts and truth. But in the rest of the news media, there is little evidence that reporters have fulfilled their pledge to report on and reflect the interests and values of the people who voted for him. There have been some good dispatches from the heartland, but too often what is published amounts to the proverbial toe touch in Appalachia. What we can be sure of is self-congratulation over Fridays report that the economy added 304,000 jobs last month. Trump may talk about all of the regulations he has scrapped (though probably not with a lot of specifics, since most voters dont cotton to dirtier air or water, or less policing of shady banking practices). He might mention his corporate tax cut, even if its unpopular and has fallen far short of the promises made on its behalf. He kept digging himself deeper into the hole. Throughout his news conference, he seemed to imply that blackface was just something people did at the time. That would have perhaps been a contextual explanation, if not an excuse, if the time in question were, say, the post-Reconstruction era. If it were 1884, when blackface was widely used by whites in Virginia and elsewhere to ridicule and denigrate African Americans as inferior, Id at least understand the nobody knew better defense. But the yearbook and the dance party were in 1984 two full decades after passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act. Legal fees and court costs Kim Davis incurred after she was sued for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Kentucky GOP Gov. Matt Bevin, who has praised the county clerk as "an inspiration," says she should be responsible for paying them -- not the state. Israel's premier takes aim at media in webcast: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a weekly webcast to "get rid of the fake from the news" ahead of national elections in April. The inaugural webcast Sunday, which aired on the official Facebook pages of Netanyahu and his Likud party, featured the prime minister fielding questions from a reality television personality and drew about 6,000 viewers. The prime minister appears to be modeling the idea on President Trump's "Real News Update," a weekly webcast on Facebook hosted by the president's daughter-in-law. Observe vendors carefully. Vendors should use gloves whenever they handle food and should change them whenever they move from raw to ready-to-eat or cooked foods. They should also change them when they stop handling food to do activities such as managing the cash register or answering the phone. This is especially important with ready-to-eat-foods, Rogers says. Raw foods that are to be cooked tend to be safer when properly prepared because you have the cooking temperature as a kill step for any bacterial contamination, he says. But unless you are very sure that any ready-to-eat food that is purchased has been prepared and stored at the proper conditions, I would tend to avoid them. As fentanyl started seeping into the city four years ago, Marshall said, the public health and harm-reduction communities revamped their message to drug users. It was clear people were going to use it, so we decided not to scare people by saying that fentanyl will definitely cause an overdose, she said. Instead, we said they should use it with caution. Another study published last week found that young people who use e-cigarettes are more likely to try regular cigarettes. The association was especially strong for low-risk youth who typically would be less likely to smoke, according to the study published in the journal JAMA Network Open. Other studies have raised concerns about whether flavors used in e-cigarettes can hurt lung function. Milwaukee, WI (53187) Today Partly cloudy skies. Low 44F. NW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 44F. NW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, Nghi noted that by the end of 2018, Vietnam hosted about 3,000 projects invested by OVs in 45 cities and provinces, with total investment of nearly US$4 billion. Statistics from the World Bank showed that in 2018, OVs sent home US$15.9 billion, about 60% of which was poured into business and production, he said. Nghi said that during the year, the country saw the return of a large number of intellectuals and scientists, especially young ones. A number of activities were held to lure OVs engagement in business and research at home, including a forum to connect Vietnamese startups in June 2018, gathering a large number of startup firms at home and abroad. An initiative on Vietnam innovative network was launched in the year with the participation of more than 100 young Vietnamese scientists around the world who gave many ideas and strategies for Vietnam to successfully build the development strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the future, he said. About 250 initiatives and proposals were given at the first Vietnamese Young Intellectual Forum in Da Nang in November 2018. Meanwhile, more than 200 OVs from 23 countries and territories gathered at a conference in late 2018, contributing many ideas for localities to improve their investment and business environment, promoting their potentials in economy and tourism, stated Nghi. The event was followed with the signing of many cooperation agreements, he said, adding that an OV from Germany received a licence to build a US$10 million factory in Ha Tinh province. Nghi underscored that to further promote brainpower resources from the 4.5 million-strong Vietnamese community abroad, it is necessary to make changes in policy to attract expat scientists. It is estimated that about 500,000 OVs are working in research institutes abroad, with 300 of them regularly cooperating with organisations and localities at home, he noted, pointing to the need to optimise their potential by creating a flexible environment for them to make more contributions. Nghi said that in the coming time, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs will coordinate with the Vietnamese communities in different countries to seek proper measures to strengthen connectivity activities. Meanwhile, the committee will support the Vietnamese associations abroad in line with local law, he said. Matt SwinskyFollowing his arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 21 Savage has received an outpouring of support from his fans and fellow rap peers. As previously reported, the rapper, a U.K. national who's been in the U.S. illegally for years, was arrested during a targeted operation on Sunday and may now be deported. In response to the unexpected arrest, Meek Mill, Cardi B, Offset and more have taken to social media to express their support for the "A Lot" lyricist. "ALL THE MEMES AND S*** AINT FUNNY WHEN SOMEBODY GOING THROUGH SOME PRAYING FOR MY DAWG," the Migos front man tweeted in the wake of the news. "AINT S*** FUNNY HIS FAMILY DEPENDING ON HIM," he added. Offset's estranged wife Cardi B, meanwhile, went after conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren after she made light of the rapper's arrest by changing the lyrics of his song "Bank Account" to "I got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight ICE agents ready to deport ya." "Don't make me get my leash," Cardi wrote in response to Lahren's tweet. It was a reference to a previous exchange the two had on Twitter where Cardi had threatened to "dog walk" Lahren. Meanwhile, Meek Mill has joined a chorus of other celebrities calling for 21's freedom. According to ICE, 21 legally entered the U.S. in July of 2005 under a non-immigrant visa. However, he "failed to depart" the country when the visa expired in July 2006. ICE claims the 26-year-old is in violation of federal immigration law; in addition, in 2014, he was convicted of felony drug charges in Georgia. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. We cant ignore the fact there were incendiary and outrageous and shockingly disturbing pictures in a yearbook, he added in the interview. There has to be some way to sort that through. The only way to do that is to get at the heart of the investigation and find the facts and then communicate the results to the public. The woman described a sexual encounter that began with consensual kissing and ended with a forced act that left her crying and shaken. She said Fairfax guided her to the bed, where they continued kissing, and then at one point she realized she could not move her neck. She said Fairfax used his strength to force her to perform oral sex. I was a sissy little boy, Roi said. That was not an easy thing to be where he grew up: in tiny Poplar Branch, N.C., a place of dirt roads and outhouses. Roi got on well with his mother, Tillie, but his father, Willie, didnt know quite what to make of his son, who one day came home from high school excited to say hed made the team. He was regarded as one of Fords most influential aides the presidents conscience, Smith said. He was the wise man of the Ford administration, he added, someone who was steeped in the traditions of the House, someone who enjoyed the confidence of both sides of the aisle, someone seen as not primarily thirsting in ambition. Hed walked away from the House. 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 Authorities said police, fire and rescue personnel responded to the scene at about 2:46 a.m. They said it appeared that Wattss gray 2007 Toyota Corolla was traveling north when it left the road and hit the pole for reasons still under investigation. Police tape blocks off the parking lot to the Home Depot in Phoenix where Glendale police were involved in a shooting. It has always seemed self evident to me that even if I drank a lot, I would still be responsible for my actions. A man who rapes a drunk girl should be prosecuted. At the same time, a good way to avoid a potential date rape is to stay reasonably sober, Rao wrote in 1994. They sang along as they played an Ethiopian childrens game that requires a student in the center to twirl with eyes closed and point to another classmate at the end, until each youngster has a chance in the middle. The students at Oakland Terrace Elementary in Silver Spring sang in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, and they were learning from a curriculum designed specially for them by their music teacher, Anna Harris. And yet, just over the past few days, there he was, sitting down nicely with the publisher of the New York Times, practically begging for positive treatment from what he, remarkably, referred to as his newspaper. (I came from Jamaica, Queens . . . and I became president of the United States. Im sort of entitled to a great story just one, from my newspaper.) As he tells it, his life story sounds like a cerebral version of Forrest Gump Loeb always single-mindedly pursuing his science and intersecting with the giants of the field, whom he regularly name-drops. Stephen Hawking had dinner at his house. Steven Spielberg once asked him for movie tips. Billionaire Yuri Milner once walked into his office and sat on the couch and asked him to help design humanitys first interstellar spaceship which he is now doing, with a research budget of $100 million and the endorsement of Mark Zuckerberg and the late Hawking. Its one thing to say, Were going to mix rap and rock, said Sommer. That wasnt his vision. His vision was mixing rap and this heavy riffing that one gets from Sabbath or Blue Oyster Cult or Aerosmith. Thats very different. What Rick said is, Im going to take this definitively unfunky white music and Im going to take that and mix that with rap. That was the experiment of the Beasties and to a lesser extent the experiment of Run-DMC. Its an oversimplification to say mixing rap and rock. Anybody can do that. What Rick wanted was a specific kind of rock. That meathead kind of rock. More facts about the arrest are sure to emerge, but for now, the optics remain appalling. Five days after 21 Savage spoke out against President Trumps family separation policy on national television, ICE had him arrested on Super Bowl Sunday, the most media-saturated day of the year, in Atlanta, the hip-hop capital of the world. Whether this was some impossible coincidence is beside the point. ICE had just made its most high-profile arrest a young black celebrity up for two Grammys the following Sunday night on a day when the entire nation was watching. The other meta-narrative hanging over Charm City was The Wire, David Simons acclaimed fictional television series about Baltimore. Ness heard from residents who hated its portrayal of their city. We had to sort of live down The Wire in a lot of ways, she says. But it also did provide another narrative you could counter. By that, she means The Wires recurring theme about how a larger system tends to crush individuals no matter what they do. By contrast, Ness wanted Charm City to be what she calls The Wire 2.0, where individuals actions and activism helped to support others against that crushing weight. (Asked for comment, Simon wrote in an email, We stand by what we wrote and filmed and why we did so. But thats merely our part. ... There are many stories in Baltimore, and Ms. Ness along with every journalist, author and filmmaker in this city is entitled to her own narrative. I wish her well with it.) For more than a billion people, its time to celebrate the new year. Modern-day calendars mark the day on January 1, but its not so simple in China. There, the new year is determined by the cycles of the moon. Q: Two years ago, I purchased and renovated a three-bedroom, ranch-style home. In the winter, condensation accumulates daily in a swath 2 or 3 inches wide in the guest bedroom where the ceiling meets the north-facing wall. I have to wipe off the water at least twice a day. I renovated the house soon after I bought it, so I do not know if this problem existed previously. The only structural changes I made affecting that room were a new roof and new vinyl siding on part of the exterior. I have ruled out roof leaks, and the contractor came back and upgraded the attic insulation. That helped a little, but not entirely. I have had the gas hot-air furnace and humidifier checked (they are operating properly) and I have turned down the humidifier to 22 percent, lower than recommended for winter. I keep my thermostat at 69 degrees during the day and 63 overnight in the winter. The guest bedroom door stays open most of the time. What can be done to stop the condensation? This book should have been easier. Khan had traveled widely in Israel when she worked in human rights, and she had contacts throughout the region. She also had a track record as a writer and a publishing house behind her. But writing about Palestinian food was thornier than even Khan had imagined. Where do you draw the lines for a country that doesnt technically exist? So many words, such as barrier and wall, were loaded. If readers couldnt find maftool, a traditional Palestinian couscous, would the more widely available Israeli version be an acceptable substitute? Some surely would say no. If there is anything more likely to spark an argument in this region than land, it might be food. A generation ago, companies such as Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth and Signature developed from found spaces into the cultural cornerstones they occupy now, but that kind of evolution has almost stopped dead. In terms of renown, Synetic grew by leaps and bounds in its early years, raking in Helen Hayes Awards and sparking partnerships as the singular troupe praised for its disciplined, dancerly style, especially with its popular wordless Shakespeare programs performed at the Kennedy Center and at the Shakespeare Theatre Companys Lansburgh stage. When Arenas renovation on its Southwest Washington facility was complete, Synetic took the opportunity to move into the Crystal City space. General Mot ors on Monday said it was starting to hand pink slips to about 4,000 salaried workers in the latest round of a restructuring announced in late November that will ultimately shrink its white-collar workforce in North America by 15 percent out of 54,000. Two people briefed on the cuts said GM is cutting hundreds of jobs at its information technology centers in Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Michigan and more than 1,000 jobs at its Warren, Mich., Tech Center. ASU West Assistant Vice President Carolyn Starr speaks to the need for mentors and more community engagement. (Photo by Carolyn Dryer) Decatur, IL (62521) Today A clear sky. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A clear sky. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. WAHOO A break-in at an upstairs apartment in downtown Wahoo Saturday morning led to a short standoff and then an arrest. Patrick Nissan was taken into custody and charged with burglary, possession of a weapon by a prohibited individual and possession of drug paraphernalia. Wahoo Police Chief Bruce Ferrell said law enforcement was contacted about 10:15 a.m. Saturday that an individual had kicked in a door to one of the upstairs apartments on the northwest corner of Fifth and Broadway Streets. Ferrell said Nissan appeared to be looking for somebody who he thought used to live there and had a knife. He barricaded up and officers talked to him for a short while, maybe 10 to 15 minutes, he said. He then agreed to come out without the knife. Ferrell said there were no injuries and thanked the Saunders County Sheriffs Office, Nebraska State Patrol and Wahoo Fire Department for their assistance in resolving the situation peacefully and quickly. According to the police chief, Nissan is an individual that had already made himself known to law enforcement. There was no permanent address for him available. Sources have confirmed he had previously lived in Memphis. Johnny was born on January 23, 1940 in Waco, to Royce and Frieda Peters. He was given the middle name McClelland as he was the first baby boy born at the McClelland Memorial Hospital. At the age of 9, Johnny went to work at O&H Rare Foods and worked there until he bought the store in 1990. He owned and managed the store until his retirement in 1998. Johnny's exposure to good food from a young age helped to develop his interest in cooking, and he became a great cook. He enjoyed experimenting with recipes and loved to prepare meals for family and friends. Cookbooks were his favorite reading material, and he could often be found watching a variety of cooking shows. Johnny was a very talented artist, and we are blessed that he left us many beautiful oil paintings to enjoy. Police on Monday identified the woman shot to death the previous day at a West Waco home, while local and federal authorities searched the property for clues. Police said Sherrell Carter, 26, of Waco, was identified as the murder victim found inside a home about 3:30 a.m. Sunday in the 5600 block of Wilshire Drive, in the Richland Hills neighborhood. Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said a witness told police someone had come into the home and shot Carter. He would not comment on whether the shooting was by a random attacker or acquaintance. Police executed a search warrant for the house Monday morning. They were joined by officers with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Sundays shooting is the second homicide investigation this year following the New Years Day shooting at the House of Blues Club in East Waco. Police said Marcus Carprew, 39, of Waco, was died after he was shot multiple times outside the club. The New Years Day shooting remains under investigation, with no arrests made. 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. Weeklong blood drive The Baylor Chapter of the American Medical Student Association will have a weeklong blood drive from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Friday at Moody Library, 1312 S. Third St. and at the Bobo Spiritual Life Center, 500 Speight Ave., on Carter BloodCare buses. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call Margaret Klausmeyer at 230-3169. Reunions program Linda and Ashley Weaver will present a program on planning a great family reunion at noon Monday at the West Waco Library meeting room, 5301 Bosque Blvd. The Central Texas Genealogical Society program is free to the public. For more information, call 750-5945. Waco Rotary Club Jim Haller will present a program on the history of the Southwest Conference during the Waco Rotary Clubs meeting at noon Monday in the Waco Lions Den, 1716 N. 42nd St. Lunch is $12. Baylor concert The Baylor Symphonic Band will perform with the Tomball Memorial High School Wind Symphony at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Jones Concert Hall in the Glennis McCrary Music Building, 110 Baylor Ave. The event is free and open to the public. Submit items in printed or typed form to Briefly, P.O. Box 2588, Waco 76702-2588; fax 757-0302; or email goingson@wacotrib.com. A murder charge in a 2017 Albertville shooting has been dismissed. Marshall County Circuit Court Judge Tim Riley ruled Monday that Alabamas Stand Your Ground and self-defense laws clear Richard Wayne Crawford in the death of Jason Myers. At a hearing, Crawford and his wife both testified that Myers came to the doorway of their mobile home late one night in November 2017, according to the judges order. Riley says Myers came to the Crawfords doorway and began yelling at Richard Crawford, who told him to leave. Myers continued to threaten Crawford, advancing toward him with an item in his hand. Crawford reached for a nearby gun and fired, hitting Myers. Rileys statement says Crawford had to make a rapid decision as to fire or not to fire his legally owned weapon when he and his family were threatened with death in their home. The evidence from both Mr. and Mrs. Crawford showed they had a reasonable fear, or reasonable belief they were to be subjected to unlawful physical force or deadly force in their home by Myers. The state has 30 days to appeal. Gov. Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall have released a letter detailing their opinions on the Alabama Board of Pardon and Paroles second corrective action plan. In the letter it says that Lyn Head, who was appointed to be the parole boards chairperson back in October, called Ivey about a loophole in the early parole consideration language. Head told Ivey and Marshall that the language regarding early consideration was an oversight and they had no plans to pursue a loophole which would allow early paroles. Governor Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall Governor Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall Ivey and Marshall said in the letter they are not happy about the parole board seeking an outside consultant when it comes to organizational structure, employee morale, and executive leadership. "In our letter to you last November, we repeatedly asked you to consult with the State Personnel Department about these matters," they write. Ivey and Marshall said they have not done this and instead consulted with an outside agency, which the two officials called a waste of time and money. Ivey and Marshall are also asking the board to submit a timeline of when they will implement these changes. "Without meaningful deadlines, these proposals may never get off the ground, they write. Establishing timelines now, at the outset, should permit you to more effectively pursue the reforms that we all agree are necessary. The Governor and Attorney General also said in the letter they would be keeping their eye toward any legislative changes, but did not go into detail as to what laws could change. All of this stems from a WAAY31 investigation into the parole boards policies and procedures. In October, Ivey and Marshall said they were disappointed with the parole board and removed Cliff Walker as chairperson, replacing him with Head. Walker still serves on the three-person board. In October, Ivey issued executive order 716 which halted early paroles for 75 days and told the board to come up with a corrective action plan to fix its problems. The boards original plan was shot down by Ivey and Marshall. The second corrective action plan was submitted on Dec. 28. Five children died in a weekend car crash after being ejected from a minivan in Maryland, the Washington Post reported. The children range in age from 5 to 15; two of them were siblings. Maryland State Troopers told the Post the driver of the Chrysler van lost control, went off the road, and slammed into a bank of trees. All five children were thrown from the car. The driver is the mother of the two siblings who died in the crash. The other victims are extended relatives. The front passenger was critically injured and remains in the hospital. The exact cause of the wreck remains under investigation, but state troopers said road conditions were icy at the time of the crash. We Are Living in the Matrix A weeklong series about how a 1999 movie predicted kind-of-everything about life 20 years later. Keanu Reeves as Neo from The Matrix. Photo: Pari Dukovic for New York Magazine The Matrix was the first shot fired in whats now considered a benchmark year for American movies 1999, the year that brought us Being John Malkovich and Magnolia, The Sixth Sense and Office Space, Fight Club and The Blair Witch Project and Election. And although few would claim it was the best of the bunch, it has worked its way into our thinking for better and, unmistakably, for worse as few other pieces of pop culture have done. We may talk about all those other movies. But Morpheus was right. In 2019, we are living in the Matrix. Or, you know, maybe were not. Maybe in 2019, we just like to say things like We are living in the Matrix and that may be the truest and deepest influence of a movie whose high-flown paranoia has insinuated itself into the way we live now. In an era when the presidents lawyer can go on TV and splutter, Truth isnt truth! as if its something everyone should know, and endless speculative conversations proceed not from What is reality? but from What if were living in a broken simulation?, The Matrix is omnipresent amazingly so, given how little we still talk about the actual movie. Its not that the film was prescient. It didnt anticipate our world. But it anticipated and probably created a new way of viewing that world. And, just as Madness is the only sane response to a crazy world fiction like Catch-22 had done a generation earlier, it granted everyone permission to refuse to contend with reality by deeming that refusal a form of hyperawareness. To revisit The Matrix 20 years later is to make a jolting discovery almost immediately: Its not that complicated! A lowly computer hacker (Keanu Reevess Neo) a drudge, like so many late-90s protagonists is pulled into a pre-hashtag resistance he didnt know existed against a system he didnt know enslaved him. The rebels offer him enlightenment, but at a brutal price; he has to lose all delusion and realize he is literally part of an immense, systemic machine, doing the bidding of, well, take your pick: The Man. The Establishment. Corporate Overlords. The Government. The System. And only by knowing can he hope to be rescued from it. The plot is pretty basic, and the politics are alluringly, perhaps dangerously, viable for anyone of any ideology who feels pissed off. Few arguments have found themselves more adaptable to this moment than Youre getting screwed by a world you didnt invent and cant see, but the good news is that the cure is just willing yourself to see it. For all the fan pages, the long and winding Wikis, the nods to Platos Allegory of the Cave and to French critical theory, the hours upon hours of dauntingly labeled philosophers commentaries that adorn the Blu-rays, the original movie itself is, in some ways, as plain as the green cursor blinking on a black screen that, quaintly, begins it. In memory, the premise of Lilly and Lana Wachowskis breakthrough film was an elaborate, wordy, barely comprehensible piece of world-building. But in truth, The Matrix gets most of the explanatory stuff out of the way in a few efficient strokes in its frontloaded first third so that it can get to the combo heist-moviechase-movieSneakersmeetsTronmeetsMission: Impossible action flick that it becomes. Laurence Fishburnes Morpheus lays it all out. The Matrix is everywhere. Its all around us, he explains to Neo. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you to the truth that you are a slave, born into bondage in a prison that you cannot touch Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland and I show you how deep the story goes. And there you have it: For all the ways in which it is subsequently elaborated on, thats really all you need to know to get The Matrix and to get everything, both benign and insidious, that it has spawned. In those brief screenwriting gestures, the Wachowskis concocted the perfect one-size-fits-all combination of flattery, paranoia, anti-corporate wokeness, libertarian belief in the primacy of the individual, and ideologically nonspecific anger at the system: a Wake up, sheeple! for its era and, even more, for ours. The film has spawned only one piece of durable slang Take the red pill (the uses of which range from the jokey to the horrific) but its attitudes have worked themselves into and, arguably, toxified much of our discourse. We live, today, in the anti-reality world The Matrix built. Photo: New York Magazine Before looking at that, though, its worth glancing back at the world that built The Matrix. For all its deep/stoned dorm-room Big Idea underpinnings, the movie was heavily steeped in the pop culture that preceded it. America tends to buy into one dystopian Hollywood fantasy at a time, and that fantasy can hang on for a generation or longer. At the time The Matrix opened, the dominant fantasy had, for the previous decade or so, been James Camerons The Terminator and its sequel. Robots and computers are eventually going to take over and turn against us was a narrative to which the Wachowskis film tipped its hat almost overtly: Its essentially The Matrixs origin story, acknowledged when Morpheus tells Neo that the rise of artificial intelligence spawned a race of machines we dont know who struck first, us or them. The Matrix replaced The Terminators This is coming and you cant stop it with the logical next step: This happened already and you dont even know it. In that, it drew from the other prevailing dystopic hit of the time, The X-Files, which was then at the height of its popularity, in its sixth season of advancing the premise that the vast majority of people were unknowing puppets in an alien-run world that was unseeable by them. The series explored that premise through the dichotomy of a believer and a skeptic; The Matrix, whose creators were up front about its being their version of a quasi-religious salvation narrative, changed it to the enlightened and the yet-to-be-converted, appropriating The X-Filess opening slogan, The Truth Is Out There, almost intact. What is the Matrix? Neo asks Trinity. The answer is out there, she says. Shrewd scavengers, the Wachowskis didnt stop at The Terminator and The X-Files; they grabbed the idea of a rusted-out future and evil faceless corporate overlords from Alien and some future-noir flourishes from Blade Runner, and Hugo Weavings sunglassed Agent Smith is nothing if not a Man in Black. Neil Gaimans Sandman had already been around for a decade, and the Wachowskis are said to have told Fishburne to play their Morpheus like Gaimans Morpheus. But The Matrix isnt just cleverly constructed out of spare parts. The Wachowskis added two important ingredients of their own: a sense that the only path to understanding is through a profound mistrust of everything that is put in front of you and a veneration of the stay-at-home hero. The first protagonist we see in the film isnt Neo but Trinity, looking phenomenally badass as she sits working at a terminal, only raising her hands in stone-faced surrender when there are literally guns pointed at her back. The Matrix was the first movie to make sitting down and jacking in a renegade move and a form of kick-ass action, and it did so presciently, at the dawn of an era when more and more people would start to live on, and through, the internet, where its always easy to give in to the intoxicating effects of knee-jerk skepticism. The film ends with a Whoa, dude! moment in which we see Neo emerge into a very 1999-looking urban streetscape. This whole thing youve been watching? It could be happening in our world! Even the Wachowskis may not have realized how much they were onto with that. Over the next few years, the real world would provide ample opportunity for people to turn their film into the foundational text of a frighteningly thorough and self-adoring denial of whatever was in front of their noses, which roughly translates as: Reality is fake and I dont have to listen to anyone about anything (plus maybe I know karate despite never having studied it). Nineteen ninety-nine ended with the endless run-up to Y2K, which, although it ceased to be interesting to most people by about 12:03 a.m. on January 1, 2000, nevertheless provided ample fuel for speculation about the sentience and sheer power of machines. The following year brought the disputed presidential election; 9/11 happened ten months later. With each event, the ranks of those who chose to believe in alt-reality swelled. Take the red pill and you will understand that jet fuel cant melt steel beams, or that all the Jews were secretly told not to go the World Trade Center that day, or, to quote the man who would go on to become Americas most infamous reality rejecter, that Muslims in New Jersey were cheering as the towers fell. It was our first taste of how much ugliness lay beneath the devotion to these quasi-principles: You were most likely to reject reality if reality had somehow rejected you; you were most likely to suspect entire groups of people of being puppet masters if you hated or feared those groups in the first place. It was no great leap from there to Soros controls everything. Today, The Matrix is less a touchstone than something thats now so deeply threaded into the way we think and talk that it can sometimes feel invisible. Its loudest manifestations are also its most malignant: The clown-in-hell mad-prophet fulminations of Alex Joness InfoWars, Pizzagate, QAnon, and the anti-Semitic mutterings about lizard people of which Alice Walker is so enamored all retail, for the most morally depraved reasons, the idea that reality is just a pane of glass concealing the truth and that the only way to reach that is to pick up a rock and throw it. Some of the manifestations are mere eye rolls, like the recent mini-trend of professional athletes who are flat-earthers, whose circular logic combines If I cant see it, I cant believe it with Why cant you see it? Some of them are just linguistic: Headlines like Heres a Better Way to Peel Garlic became Youve Been Peeling Garlic Wrong Your Whole Life because in the post-Matrix universe, You have been living inside a delusion, you big dimwit is an actual selling point. The Matrix is in every single Everything You Know About [X] Is Wrong story. Its in the phrase life hack, which suggests that your daily existence is a code you need help cracking. It is, in often pleasurable form, in the first half-hour of The Rachel Maddow Show, during which she basically says to viewers, Im going to tell you something you dont know about and cant connect the dots on, but submit to knowing you understand nothing, and by about 9:25 Ill make it make sense to you and you will join the ranks of believers. Its in a certain segment of the hard left that insists corporations are controlling you in ways that youre too complacent to understand (because you took the blue pill, you ignorant dope). Its in the fetishization of counterintuitivity that has spawned its own prophets, worshippers at the altar of Malcolm Gladwell. It is in the voguish Trump-era fun of talking about the darkest timeline. Its in those were-living-in-a-broken-simulation conversations, but even more deeply, its in the slightly glassy look your weirdest friend gives you when you try to change the subject and he says, No, but we really are. Unlike Star Wars or Harry Potter or any number of other beloved franchises, The Matrix inspires relatively little devotion to its actual content. Theres not a lot of talk about Neo or Morpheus or Trinity or the Oracle as characters, nor is there much inclination to speculate about what happens next. To be sure, nothing can cut the legs out from under a franchise like two solemn sequels handed down like stone tablets in the same year, and in the Department of You Get What You Give, its worth noting that warmth, emotional resonance, and a sense of humor, which can often increase a propertys durability, are not exactly The Matrixs thing. It was not an adventure or a lark but a manifesto. Its adherents mined it for ideology and info, then discarded the husk. And what they took from the movie what makes The Matrixs long tail so long and so unusual was a negative. The Matrix did not offer its disciples the joy of discovering a new reality but rather the empowerment of nullification of casting off whatever temporal, physical, practical, or apparent reality doesnt suit you. The film gives everyone the authority to say This isnt happening. But all it has to offer in response is a pronouncement that, as cold comfort goes, could have been drawn directly from The Sopranos (which also had its 20th anniversary last month): One thing you can never say: That you havent been told. *This article appears in the February 4, 2019, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now! Katrina Lenk and Tony Shalhoub making you all wistful. Photo: Matthew Murphy After sweeping last years Tony Awards, The Bands Visit is packing up and leaving Broadway this spring. The acclaimed musical, based on the film of the same name, will play its last performance April 7 at the Barrymore Theatre, making for a total of 589 performances plus 36 previews on Broadway. The musicals plot follows the members of an Egyptian army band who get stranded in a small town in Israel. Its original Broadway cast included Katrina Lenk, Tony Shalhoub, and Ariel Stachel, all of whom won Tonys for their performances, as did book writer Itamar Moses, composer David Yazbek, and director David Cromer. Shalhoub later left the production and was replaced by Sasson Gabay, who starred in the film. The Bands Visit recouped its $8.75 million capitalization in September 2018, making it the rare profitable Broadway production, and will start a national tour on June 25 in Rhode Island. In case you need a good emotional moment to process this news, Katrina Lenk herself will appear on The Tonight Show tonight, February 4, to perform her standout solo from the musical, Omar Sharif. Were wistful and dreamy and melancholy and many other bittersweet adjectives just thinking about it. Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images On Sunday, multiple sources reported that 21 Savage was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who allege the Atlanta rapper is a United Kingdom national who stayed in the U.S. after his visa lapsed. His whole public persona is false, an ICE spokesperson told CNNs Nick Valencia per the journalists tweets. He actually came to the U.S. from the U.K. as a teen and overstayed his visa. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ICE spokesperson Bryan Cox said 21 Savage, whose given name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested at a traffic stop in Atlanta, along with three other people, during which ICE discovered his immigration status. The rapper allegedly received a one-year visa in July 2005. If the timeline put forth by immigration officials is true, 21 Savage would have been 12 when he arrived in the United States. Per CNN, the rapper is presently in ICE custody in Georgia and has been placed into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts. The rappers lawyer Dina LaPolt told TMZ in a statement: We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding. Mr. Abraham-Joseph is a role model to the young people in the country especially in Atlanta, Georgia and is actively working in the community leading programs to help underprivileged youths in financial literacy. BREAKING- @ICEgov spokesman tells me @21savage was taken into custody by ICE. His whole public persona is false. He actually came to the U.S. from the U.K. as a teen and overstayed his visa. MORE COMING Nick Valencia (@CNNValencia) February 3, 2019 BREAKING- @21savage was in the car with another rapper who was the target of a criminal arrest. 21 was taken into custody by law enforcement after they learned of his immigration status. There is no misunderstanding. 21 Savage is a British National.: Law Enforcement source Nick Valencia (@CNNValencia) February 3, 2019 He wasnt the target. Another rapper was. 21 got caught up while in the car. It wasnt a targeted immigration detention as initially implied in the ICE release https://t.co/hfZaVl6btD Nick Valencia (@CNNValencia) February 4, 2019 Update, February 4: According to CBS News, 21 Savage wasnt the target of the original arrest that landed him in ICE custody. His cousin, Quantavious Thomas (who goes by the rap name Young Nudy), and two other men were instead the focus of a sting that resulted in the traffic stop. Young Nudy was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and participation in criminal gang activity; CNNs Nick Valencia reports that a background check was then run on 21 Savage, during which his alleged immigration status was discovered and he was transferred into ICE custody. Asked how that alleged status wasnt flagged during 21 Savages 2014 arrest on felony drug charges, law-enforcement officials tell Valencia that they werent aware of it then and became aware of it in the fuller picture afterwards. As Valencia notes, that doesnt explain how 21 Savage wouldve been able to tour overseas and reenter the U.S. since 2006 with an allegedly expired visa. Britains Foreign Office confirmed on Monday that 21 Savage is British and that they are in contact with 21 Savages lawyers. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail published what appears to be a copy of 21 Savages birth certificate that claims he was born Sheyaa bin Abraham in Plaistow, Newham, in East London on October 22, 1992, to two British-born parents, Heather Joseph and Kevin Emmons. According to the Mail, it appears his mother immigrated to Atlanta with 21 Savage in 2005 after separating from his father. They claim 21 Savage still has two twin sisters and a grandmother living in London, as well as his father. One of the sisters allegedly deleted tweets about 21 Savages arrest, saying he moved to America when he was mad young, so he basically is American, he grew up there, and that his potential deportation smells fishy. Update, February 4, 3 p.m.: 21 Savages lawyer, Charles H. Kluck, has issued a new statement accusing ICE of attempting to intimidate his client into leaving the U.S. He says that Homeland Security has known about Savages immigration status and history since 2017, when he applied for a still-pending new visa, but curiously did not take any legal action until Sunday. Kluck claims that the arrest is based upon incorrect information about prior criminal charges referring to Savages 2014 federal drug conviction, which was expunged from his record last year and that ICE is refusing to release Savage on bond. This is a civil law violation, and the continued detention of Mr. Abraham-Joseph serves no other purpose than to unnecessarily punish him and try to intimidate him into giving up his right to fight to remain in the United States, he says. Savages 2017 application was for a U visa, which is used for victims of a crime. In 2013, Savage was shot six times during an incident that also killed his best friend; his application claims that the shooting severely affected [him] physically and mentally, and therefore should make him eligible for permanent residence. Kluck also notes that Savage has three American-born children, making him eligible for relief from deportation. President Donald Trump said in comments broadcast Sunday that U.S. military intervention in Venezuela is "an option." Trump declined, in an interview with CBS News, to give any specifics of what might prompt him to order U.S. forces into the South American country as the U.S. and other countries ramp up pressure to oust President Nicolas Maduro and support opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's interim president. Trump said that "a number of months ago," he turned down Maduro's request to meet with him, because "we're very far along in the process...really democracy in action" for Guaido to assume power. The United States and other countries have recognized Guaido as the acting Venezuelan president. "I decided at the time, "no" because so many really horrible things have been happening in Venezuela when you look at that country," Trump said of possible talks with Maduro. "That was the wealthiest country of all in that part of the world which is a very important part of the world," Trump said in the interview that was taped Friday. "And now you look at the poverty and you look at the anguish and you look at the crime and you look at all of the things happening. So, I think the process is playing out - very, very big tremendous protests." Trump's comments came as the late Sunday deadline approached for an ultimatum from several European countries for Maduro's government to call new presidential elections. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Twitter he talked with Guaido, telling him "he has our full support to restore democracy." Kurz said that "should Maduro not respond to the EU's call for free & fair presidential elections, we will acknowledge and support Juan Guaido as President ad interim." Maduro has called for early National Assembly elections. Guaido, as head of Congress, has standing to claim he is the country's legitimate leader. Guaido was set to announce when humanitarian aid will be delivered to the crisis-ridden country. He told supporters Saturday the opposition would start collecting humanitarian aid in Brazil, Colombia and an unnamed Caribbean island and called on the military to allow the aid into the country. The United States has said it would transport aid to Venezuela at Guaido's request. But Maduro has refused to accept aid because he believes it opens the way for a U.S.-led military intervention. Defections Two military leaders and an ambassador defected Saturday from Maduro's government and instead recognized Guaido as the acting president. Early Saturday, General Francisco Yanez called on other members of the military to defect as he announced his own defection in a social media video. He rejected Maduro's "dictatorial" authority and recognized Guaido as the acting president. Major General Jorge Oropeza, former air force general commander, said later Saturday that he also recognized Guaido as acting president. Top military leaders have helped Maduro survive mass demonstrations in recent years by jailing activists and repressing opposition protestors. Guaido said in an interview with VOA Noticias he has offered "amnesty and guarantees" to high-ranking military officials as part of a broader effort to get "this usurpation to end." It remains unclear how much military support there is for Guaido. Jonathan Velasco, Venezuela's ambassador in Iraq, also joined the defectors Saturday. Supporters of opposition leader Guaido and President Maduro participated in rival demonstrations in Caracas Saturday. Thousands of Guaido's supporters, carrying flags and blowing horns, converged on a handful of locations around Caracas in support of his call for early elections and the establishment of a transitional government amid mounting global pressure for Maduro to step down. Guaido arrived at one of the rallies with his wife, Fabiana, and was quickly surrounded by exuberant supporters. Pro-Maduro demonstrators took to the streets on the western side of Caracas to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Bolivarian revolution that led to the rise of socialist Hugo Chavez, Maduro's deceased predecessor. Maduro addressed the crowd, the first time he has appeared at a public rally since August 4. Maduro called for parliamentary elections earlier than planned, repeated that he is the country's legitimate president and told the crowd, "I am very ashamed to see this group of opposition coup perpetrators" take orders from Washington. Zimbabwe champions FC Platinum are on the brink of elimination from the CAF Champions League and need a miracle to survive following their shock 1-0 home defeat to visiting AC Horoya of Guinea on Saturday. The Zimbabweans are now bottom of the four-team table with one point, four points behind joint leaders Orlando Pirates and Esperance, and three points behind third-placed AC Horoya. With two tough away matches to AC Horoya and Orlando Pirates, FC Platinum will have to play more than they have done in the past if they are to take one of the two slots in Group B that are reserved for the quarter finalists. The Zimbabweans need to win all their three remaining matches too qualify for the last eight. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is inviting opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido to sit down with him and have a "face-to-face conversation." "Let's talk. Let's talk about the problems of the country and the solutions. Politics is not a child's game," Maduro said during an interview with the Spanish television show Salvados. The interview was taped last week and broadcast Sunday. At one point, the interviewer, Jordi Evole, picked up the telephone and called Guaido and Maduro said he would talk with him right then and there. But the call went to a voice mailbox that was full and not taking messages. Maduro said Guaido "should think about what he is doing. He's a young man with a lot of years of fight ahead. He shouldn't hurt the country anymore. He should stop the strategy of a coup and stop simulating a presidency in which nobody elected him." Maduro told the Spanish show that the international media and foreign embassies are the ones spreading the idea of a "parallel government" in Venezuela and said it "doesn't exist in reality. Maduro said President Donald Trump is "making mistakes" and is going to wind up with blood on his hands. President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flor President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores greet supporters as they arrive at a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 2, 2019. President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores greet supporters as they arrive at a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 2, 2019. Trump: US intervention an option Trump said Sunday that a U.S. military intervention in Venezuela is "an option." But in comments to CBS, he did not say what would prompt him to send in U.S. forces. He also said he turned down Maduro's request to meet with him "a number of months ago." "I decided at the time, 'no' because so many really horrible things have been happening in Venezuela when you look at that country That was the wealthiest country of all in that part of the world which is a very important part of the world. And now you look at the poverty and you look at the anguish and you look at the crime and you look at all of the things happening. So, I think the process is playing out - very, very big tremendous protests." Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed i Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido waves to supporters during a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 2, 2019. Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido waves to supporters during a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 2, 2019. Maduro rejects call for new elections Maduro rejected an ultimatum from several European countries for him to call for new elections by the end of Sunday or they would recognize Guaido as the country's leader. But Maduro has called for early National Assembly elections. Guaido, as head of Congress, has standing to claim he is the country's legitimate leader. Guaido has also said he plans to announce when humanitarian aid will be delivered to the crisis-ridden country. He told supporters that the opposition would start collecting humanitarian aid in Brazil, Colombia and an unnamed Caribbean island and called on the military to allow the aid into the country. The United States has said it would transport aid to Venezuela at Guaido's request. But Maduro has refused to accept aid because he believes it opens the way for a U.S.-led military intervention. Venezuelan opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido said Monday that President Nicolas Maduro is trying to transfer up to $1.2 billion to a bank in Uruguay. Speaking on national television after over a dozen European countries officially recognized him as Venezuela's leader, Guaido claimed, without presenting evidence, that Maduro was moving the money from state development bank Bandes to a financial entity in Uruguay. Trump: US Military Intervention in Venezuela 'an Option' President Donald Trump said in comments broadcast Sunday that U.S. military intervention in Venezuela is "an option." Trump declined, in an interview with CBS News, to give any specifics of what might prompt him to order U.S. forces into the South American country as the U.S. President Donald Trump said in comments broadcast Sunday that U.S. military intervention in Venezuela is "an option." Trump declined, in an interview with CBS News, to give any specifics of what might prompt him to order U.S. forces into the South American country as the U.S. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States, which recognized Guaido as interim president last week, welcomed Monday's decision by European countries, including Austria, France, Germany, Sweden and Britain to follow suit. "We are also heartened by the European Parliament's January 31 resolution recognizing Juan Guaido as interim president. They join the United States and more than 23 other countries in recognizing Juan Guaido as interim president, in accordance with Venezuela's constitution," Pompeo said in a statement. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and first lad Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores acknowledge supporters at the end of a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 2, 2019. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores acknowledge supporters at the end of a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 2, 2019. The announcements came after a number of countries gave Maduro a deadline to hold free and fair elections, or else they would recognize Guaido, who declared himself interim president in January, as the leader of the South American country. Guaido said during a recent VOA interview he would order new elections "when we achieve the capacity to convene elections." First, Guaido said, "we have to achieve the necessary force in order for this usurpation to end." In New York Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations will not participate in any groups of countries looking to resolve the political crisis in Venezuela. "The UN secretariat has decided not to be part of any of these groups in order to give credibility to our continued offer of good offices to the parties to be able at their request to help find a political solution," Guterres told reporters. #UNSG @antonioguterres says the #UN will not go to meeting on #Venezuela Thursday in #Uruguay or be part of other initiatives in order to preserve credibility of his continued offer of Good Offices to find a political solution to crisis. @VOANoticias pic.twitter.com/Mo3ftotj1v Margaret Besheer (@mbesheer) February 4, 2019 British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt posted on Twitter: "Nicolas Maduro has not called Presidential elections within 8 day limit we have set. So UK alongside European allies now recognizes @jguaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held. Let's hope this take us closer to ending humanitarian crisis." Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a st Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a statement at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, Feb. 4, 2019. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a statement at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, Feb. 4, 2019. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday in Madrid that "...we are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela..." French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Inter Radio that the Venezuelan crisis would end "peacefully" with an early presidential election. In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov criticized Monday's European declarations as "attempts to legitimize usurped power" and "interference in Venezuela's internal affairs." Maduro has presided over a Venezuelan economic collapse that has resulted in chronic shortages of food and medicine. He blames the U.S. for supporting what he calls a coup to remove him from power and exploit Venezuela's vast oil reserves. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at t Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at the Paris Peace Forum as part of the commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day, in Paris, Nov. 11, 2018. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at the Paris Peace Forum as part of the commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day, in Paris, Nov. 11, 2018. On Monday, Canada announced at an emergency meeting of the Lima group that it would provide $53 million in aid to Venezuela. "The bulk of the funds will go to trusted partners and neighboring countries to help them support Venezuela and Venezuelans," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the group, which includes Canada and 13 Latin American countries. Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. The Obama-era program that protects young immigrants from deportation and that President Donald Trump has tried to end is likely to remain in effect through most of this year. The U.S. Supreme Court did not add it to its docket. Meanwhile, the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program lies with 11 cases all over the country. "So, all in all, there's 11 cases that are pending right now because they're kind of grouped based on where they were filed. Most of the time, you'll just hear people talking about them as five," Joshua Rosenthal, staff attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, told VOA. Among these five groups of cases, two courts have halted the government's termination of DACA and allowed DACA recipients to renew their benefits. Another has ordered the government to follow its own 2012 policy and protect DACA recipients' private information, which might be used to start deportation proceedings. A fourth court has twice ordered the government to reinstate DACA in its entirety, going beyond letting DACA recipients renew to allowing new people to apply. A fifth court the one widely expected to shoot down the program declined to issue an injunction that would have stopped DACA renewals while the case was being adjudicated. The Trump administration announced the end of DACA in September 2017. The government argued the program was established "without proper statutory authority." Under that plan, DACA would have been phased out starting in March 2018. But the courts have kept the program going at least until it has its full day in five different courts. Vidal v. Trump A three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York the next step up from the courts that have already ruled in the various cases recently heard oral arguments for Vidal v. Trump to determine whether the Trump administration's 2017 decision to end DACA violated the Constitution. Martin Batalla Vidal, who was born in Mexico, pose FILE - Martin Batalla Vidal, who was born in Mexico, poses in Brooklyn, New York, Aug. 26, 2016. FILE - Martin Batalla Vidal, who was born in Mexico, poses in Brooklyn, New York, Aug. 26, 2016. Rosenthal said the court was hearing arguments on a few issues, most of which dealt with a preliminary injunction that a lower court in Brooklyn, New York, had ordered one of the two court orders that currently require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to continue accepting renewal applications from DACA recipients. Though a ruling is not immediately expected, Rosenthal said if there is something that is "urgently" about to happen, a party can go to the court earlier in the case and say, "We know that this case is going to take a while, but in the meantime, we need some relief right now." "That's what happened in our case," he said. Attorneys representing Martin Batalla Vidal, and several other New Yorkers who had been among 700,000 DACA recipients, asked the courts to keep the preliminary injunction that says while this case goes forward, things will stay the way they were before the Trump administration rescinded DACA. "[That way], people aren't harmed while the court takes the time to figure out what's going on," Rosenthal said, adding that a case will take two or three years to go through the whole process and that includes giving each party a chance to take depositions or asked for documents from the other. Judge Dennis Jacobs of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York asked lawyers representing the plaintiffs if they thought the DHS secretary has the authority to end the DACA program. "If DACA is justifiable as an exercise of prosecutorial discretion and can be implemented by a memorandum from the secretary, why can't it be undone as a matter of prosecutorial discretion by a memorandum of the secretary?" Jacobs asked Anisha Dasgupta, who was representing the state of New York. "It could, and defendants [DHS] remain free to do that," Dasgupta said, but added the issue in question was what lay behind the DACA termination. Justice Department attorney Mark Stern, representing the government, argued that it was within the administration's rights to end the program, and many times defended the decision as a matter of "prosecutorial discretion." "This is a quintessential exercise in enforcement discretion," he said. caeecaaaaee (US Court of FILE - The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York FILE - The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York Jacobs asked Stern, "What is precisely the government's position as to why the policy was rescinded in 2017?" "I don't know," Stern replied. "There isn't a whole lot more reasoning stated there, but there doesn't need to be. This isn't an administrative decision in a rulemaking or adjudication." Now, the decision in Vidal v. Trump is with the judges. "Usually what happens after oral argument, the judges go back, they talk about [the case] then they'll start writing the opinion that can take anywhere from a week to several months or even longer," Rosenthal said. Where now? In November, another U.S. appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling to keep DACA alive. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals court ruled that the rescission of DACA was "not in accordance with law" and noted "the cruelty and wastefulness of deporting productive young people to countries with which they have no ties." US Supreme Court Declines Action on DACA The U.S. Supreme Court took no action Tuesday on a program that shields from deportation hundreds of thousands of young people who came to the United States as children. Not adding DACA to the cases to be reviewed likely signals that the high court will not take up the issue during its current term that ends in June. The U.S. Supreme Court took no action Tuesday on a program that shields from deportation hundreds of thousands of young people who came to the United States as children. Not adding DACA to the cases to be reviewed likely signals that the high court will not take up the issue during its current term that ends in June. ?The Justice Department had previously asked the U.S. Supreme Court to interfere, but the request was unsuccessful. That the high court did not add DACA to its docket in February signals that the justices will not take the case during the court's current term that ends in June. But the court's nine judges may still take up DACA in the October term. Will the Supreme Court Kill DACA? DACA the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals allows young people who came to the US as undocumented children to live and work legally in the country In the meantime, the lower courts rule. Immigration lawyer Leon Fresco told VOA in May that multiple cases about the same issue is "not very common." But as long as even one of them, much less several, keeps DACA running, it is good to go. "So long as even one nationwide injunction is in place, DACA continues to operate," Fresco said. "Only the Supreme Court can wipe the slate clean here." After hearing nearly three months of testimony, a New York jury is set Monday to begin deliberations in the drug-smuggling case against infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. The jurors heard testimony from more than 50 prosecution witnesses about the 61-year-old Guzman's rise to power as head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Prosecutors allege that he oversaw the smuggling of 200 tons of cocaine into the United States over two decades and was responsible for a wave of killings in turf battles with other cartels. He is perhaps best known for escaping twice from Mexican prisons before being captured a third time three years ago. The U.S. Treasury Department considered him to be the "most powerful drug trafficker in the world." In closing arguments last week, U.S. prosecutor Andrea Goldbarg said Guzman was plotting yet another prison breakout when he was sent in 2017 to the U.S., where he's been held in solitary confinement ever since. She said El Chapo "The Shorty" in Spanish, for his diminutive stature wanted to escape again "because he is guilty and he never wanted to be in a position where he would have to answer for his crimes." Guzman's lawyers only presented one witness in his defense. But they said his role has been exaggerated by cooperating government witnesses who are seeking leniency in their own cases. Defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman called the prosecution case a "fantasy" and urged the jury not to believe cooperators who "lie, steal, cheat, deal drugs and kill people." The jury deciding Guzman's fate comprises seven women and five men, but for security reasons, their identities have not been disclosed. If convicted, Guzman faces life in prison. The U.S. State Department called on countries to take in and prosecute hundreds of foreign fighters captured by America's Kurdish allies in Syria as the United States withdraws troops from the country. The department's spokesman, Robert Palladino, did not say how many prisoners were detained by the Syrian Democratic Forces an alliance of militias dominated by the Kurdish YPG but U.S. officials believe they number about 850. The United States has long said it wants to see the fighters returned to their countries of origin for prosecution. "The SDF has demonstrated a clear commitment to detain these individuals securely and humanely," Palladino said in a statement. "The United States calls upon other nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens detained by the SDF," he added. Washington on Wednesday hosts a meeting of about a dozen coalition partners fighting Islamic State in Syria. Questions have arisen about what the SDF would do with the prisoners since President Donald Trump's announcement in December that the United States would withdraw all of its 2,000 troops from Syria. The announcement stunned allies, especially the SDF, which has been among the most effective against Islamic State. FILE - An Iraqi student walks past a school wall c FILE - An Iraqi student walks past a school wall covered with drawings showing how Islamic State militants executed their prisoners in Mosul, Iraq, April 30, 2018. FILE - An Iraqi student walks past a school wall covered with drawings showing how Islamic State militants executed their prisoners in Mosul, Iraq, April 30, 2018. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the U.K.-based war monitoring group, said in December that Islamic State militants had executed nearly 700 prisoners in nearly two months. The prisoners were among 1,350 civilians and fighters that Islamic State has been holding near the Iraqi border. When plans for a summit between the European Union and the Arab League were first hatched last year, it was envisioned as the start of a new friendship across the Mediterranean. What a difference a few months makes. The EU hopes that improving ties with its Arab neighbors would help advance its policies, not least its aim to fight illegal immigration from the Middle East and North Africa. But after the murder of a journalist in a Saudi consulate last October, European officials helping to prepare for the Feb. 24-25 summit in Egypt say they are now focused mainly on limiting the awkwardness. "The idea was to give them red carpet treatment and start engaging with them more, see what we can do on migration," said one European diplomat. "But now we are in an unlucky spot as some of the [Arab League] national leaders are not our favorites." With barely three weeks to go before the summit, top EU leaders have yet to confirm their participation. A lower-level meeting of Arab League and EU foreign ministers intended to set up an agenda for the summit ended on Monday in Brussels with no agreement on a joint statement. As top EU diplomat Federica Mogherini was explaining to a news conference why they had failed to agree, she was interrupted by her co-chair, the Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini attend a joint meeting of European Union and League of Arab States foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 4, 2019. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini attend a joint meeting of European Union and League of Arab States foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 4, 2019. There were "more complications on the European side than the Arab side," Aboul Gheit said. In a friendly but public sign of disagreement, Mogherini snapped back: "I would say the contrary." The EU wants to focus at this month's summit on migration, but that is a fraught area in which EU member states disagree sharply among themselves. Hungary, led by an anti-immigration hardliner, vetoed Monday's joint declaration over the subject. "This summit has been very difficult to organize, to find a date, nobody really wants this," another EU official said of the top-level talks later this month. "For the EU it is all about migration, but there are so many other touchy subjects that people would rather not address." Saudi, Sudan and Syria A key change in the European-Arab relationship in recent months has been the collapse in the global standing of the wealthy and influential Arab leader, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. FILE - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman atte FILE - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the second day of the Future Investment Initiative conference, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 24, 2018. FILE - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the second day of the Future Investment Initiative conference, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 24, 2018. The West's relationship with Saudi Arabia the world's biggest exporter of oil and second biggest importer of arms has been the bedrock of its ties to the Arab world for decades. But the de facto ruler has been shunned since U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. Riyadh initially denied the killing, then gave conflicting accounts. It now accepts that its agents killed him but says its leadership had nothing to do with it. Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, arrived at Monday's meeting in Brussels speaking as if little had changed: the sides faced common challenges "like countering extremism and terrorism," he said. "There are also big offers related to trade and investment." But relations are not what they once were. Attending an event with the crown prince is tricky for some European leaders who were already accused by rights groups of rubbing shoulders with him at a meeting of the G-20 industrialized countries in November, European sources said. Nor is Crown Prince Mohammed the only potentially awkward guest for the EU. In recent weeks, Arab states have been showing solidarity with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, who has been facing the most sustained anti-government demonstrations at home of his 30 years in power. FILE - Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir delivers a FILE - Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir delivers a speech at the Presidential Palace in Khartoum, Sudan, Dec. 31, 2018. FILE - Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir delivers a speech at the Presidential Palace in Khartoum, Sudan, Dec. 31, 2018. Bashir, wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in the Hague, is persona non grata for some Europeans. "We don't deal with him directly, but we deal with Sudan," an EU official said. "They could send somebody else." A guest even more unwelcome to the Europeans will not be invited to this summit, but could be at a future one soon: Syria's Bashar al-Assad. FILE - In this photo released June 13, 2018, by th FILE - In this photo released June 13, 2018, by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks during an interview with Iran's Al Alam TV, in Damascus, Syria. FILE - In this photo released June 13, 2018, by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks during an interview with Iran's Al Alam TV, in Damascus, Syria. Hostility to Assad has long been an issue on which European countries agreed with the leading Arab states, which suspended Damascus from the Arab League in 2011. But with Assad's future now all but secured by Russian and Iranian forces, some Arab countries are pushing to readmit Syria. Most EU countries are not ready to rehabilitate him. "We are not in a situation today to renew a normal relationship with Syria," Belgium's Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said Monday. However, Austria and the Czech Republic are more amenable, hopeful that restoring ties with Assad would help Syrian refugees return home. "Preparations for the summit are going very slowly, it's all rather uncomfortable," one EU diplomat said, but stressed there were no plans to call the whole thing off. "There are plenty of embarrassing traps to avoid, like sitting at one table with the Saudis, Sudan's Bashir, or even Assad returning." WASHINGTON - In 1982, the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., an icon of the U.S. civil rights movement, was about to launch a career in politics that would encompass two presidential bids and a decades-long presence on the national stage. That same year, half a world away, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu was born in a slum outside Kampala, Uganda. In the 60s and 70s, Jackson had cemented his role as a leader in advocating for African Americans access to opportunities and resources through nonviolent resistance. In the 1980s, he was preparing for a new chapter of political activism. FILE - The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stands with The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., second from right, stands with other civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., second from left, on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, a day before King was assassinated, April 3, 1968. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., second from right, stands with other civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., second from left, on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, a day before King was assassinated, April 3, 1968. Ssentamu, better known by his stage name, Bobi Wine, would grow up to become a musician and entertainer. He released his first songs in 1999; in 2017, he joined Ugandas parliament. Like Jackson, Wine landed in politics after years of nonviolent resistance. The protests and marches of the civil rights movement provided the backdrop for Jacksons activism. For Wine, activism emerged from his music, which carried strong political messages long before he sought public office. FILE - The Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks to reporters Jesse Jackson speaks to reporters at the Operation PUSH Soul Picnic in New York, March 26, 1972, as Tom Todd, vice president of PUSH, from second left, Aretha Franklin and Louis Stokes look on. Jesse Jackson speaks to reporters at the Operation PUSH Soul Picnic in New York, March 26, 1972, as Tom Todd, vice president of PUSH, from second left, Aretha Franklin and Louis Stokes look on. Music is a huge tool of communication, Wine told VOA in a studio interview. I think what makes me a little different what gives me an upper hand is mainly the music, he added. Last week, the two men, born a generation apart but joined by a belief in progress through nonviolent protest, met for the first time. For Wine, the encounter was momentous. It was historic for me, Wine said. Hes an inspiration. A military dictatorship Wine contrasts his generations desire for nonviolent change to the tactics of Ugandan President Yoweri Musevenis generation. Museveni has been president of Uganda since 1986, when Wine was just four years old. Ugandan army soldiers stand in front of a crowd du Ugandan soldiers stand in front of a crowd during protests by supporters of Ugandan pop star-turned-lawmaker Bobi Wine, in Kampala, Uganda, Aug. 31, 2018. Ugandan soldiers stand in front of a crowd during protests by supporters of Ugandan pop star-turned-lawmaker Bobi Wine, in Kampala, Uganda, Aug. 31, 2018. Through intimidation and violent crackdowns, Museveni has held fast to power. Last month, Peace Mutuuzo, a junior minister, told the Reuters news agency that the government planned to pass legislation clamping down on artists. Critics say Wines popularity prompted the regulations. Under the new rules, musicians would have to register to work, submit song lyrics for review and risk losing their licenses if they run afoul of government censors. It was an absolute honor and pleasure to meet with and hold a discussion with @RevJJackson, a towering leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, who worked very closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in the fight against injustice, poverty and discrimination. pic.twitter.com/pFDqnf01Fn BOBI WINE (@HEBobiwine) January 30, 2019 We are living in a military dictatorship back in Uganda, Wine said. Political parties are, ideally, vehicles for change. Not only change, but vehicles for governance for good governance, he added. In Uganda, though, only parties that pose no true threat to Musevenis rule have space to operate, Wine said. All the liberation efforts in Uganda have been carried out from the diaspora since, whenever Ugandans needed liberation, it has evidently been clear that theres no room to operate from back home. Presidential run? Prior to his meeting with Jackson, Wine met with Representative Bob Sherman of California. Before visiting the U.S., he traveled to Jamaica, where he met with Prime Minister Andrew Michael Holness. But its the Ugandan diaspora that Wine is perhaps most keen to connect with. The diaspora has a great, great, great role to play in the politics of Uganda, Wine said. Wine is less interested in speeches, however, than dialogue. Its constructive debate, Wine said, that will lead to ideas that can solve the problems Ugandans face. FILE - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni attends a FILE - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni attends an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Jan. 28, 2018. FILE - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni attends an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Jan. 28, 2018. Observers expect Museveni will run in Ugandas 2021 polls. Saturday, Wine told CNN hes seriously considering running for president himself. That could mean a showdown between entrenched power and a grassroots movement hungry for change. This afternoon, it was a pleasure meeting with the leader of Jamaica, the Most Honorable Prime Minister Andrew Michael Holness. Among other things, we discussed the role of music and the arts in a nation%27s development. pic.twitter.com/c4ktyhyAna BOBI WINE (@HEBobiwine) January 24, 2019 Wine has already found himself in the midst of political violence. In August, his driver was shot dead at a by-election campaign rally. Wine believes he was the intended target, and that government forces were responsible. He was beaten and tortured in an ensuing altercation and sought medical treatment in the United States. But as he sets his sights on the next polls, he has no intention of picking up arms. We draw inspiration from peaceful revolutions, Wine said. Peaceful movements, like the civil rights movement in America. ISLAMABAD - Taliban representatives will meet influential Afghan opposition leaders in Moscow for two days of peace building discussions starting Tuesday, but envoys from the Kabul government will not be in attendance. The controversial meeting, critics say, underscores a deepening political divide in Afghanistan and would further weaken President Ashraf Ghanis National Unity government. The so-called intra-Afghan peace meeting in Russia comes just days after the United States reported significant progress in ongoing talks with Taliban insurgents, though they also excluded the Afghan government. The Taliban refuses to engage in direct or indirect talks with the Ghani administration, branding them American puppets. A Taliban spokesman has confirmed to VOA a delegation from its Qatar-based political office will participate in the Moscow talks under the leadership of senior insurgent negotiator, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement Monday said his his group intends use the Moscow conference to open channels to reach an understanding with political groups outside the Afghan government. The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) wants to appropriately utilize this opportunity to clarify its Shariah-based and ethical stance to various parties and explain its policy and mechanism about future Afghanistan vis-a-vis end of (U.S.) occupation, enduring peace in homeland and establishment of an intra-Afghan Islamic system of governance, Mujahid explained. Russia has distanced itself from the upcoming meeting after criticism from the Afghan government. Critics suggested the disputed Afghan talks could have stemmed from Moscows deepening rivalry with Washington. But the Russian embassy in Kabul has clarified in a statement that the meeting is being arranged by a Russia-based Council of Afghans Society to promote peace in Afghanistan. FILE - Members of Taliban delegation take their se FILE - Members of Taliban delegation take their seats during the multilateral peace talks on Afghanistan in Moscow, Nov. 9, 2018. FILE - Members of Taliban delegation take their seats during the multilateral peace talks on Afghanistan in Moscow, Nov. 9, 2018. A 38-member Afghan political delegation, including several women, consists of prominent former leaders, presidential candidates, lawmakers, tribal elders, all of them highly critical of Ghanis beleaguered National Unity government. Former president, Hamid Karzai, former national security adviser, Haneef Atmar who is running against Ghani in the July presidential elections Mohammad Mohaqiq, former governors Mohammad Ismail Khan and Atta Mohammad Noor, who fought against the Soviets after their 1979 invasion of Afghanistan are part of the delegation. A joint statement issued on behalf of the Afghan delegation described Tuesdays meeting in Russia as the first step towards intra-Afghan peace talks in the peace process. We hope that the Moscow meeting will prove helpful and complementary for encouraging a national and regional consensus and for supporting the U.S. efforts for Afghan peace, the statement noted. It urged the Afghan government to play its constructive role for achieving a sustainable peace in the country. Holding such meetings will not help us in reaching peace at all, so its little more than a political drama, Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebghat Ahmadi told reporters in Kabul when asked for his reaction to the Moscow talks. A statement from Ghani's office charged that Afghan politicians attending the gathering were doing so "in order to gain power." Ghani's chief adviser, Fazel Fazly, tweeted that it was "regrettable." U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Taliban negotiators are due to hold another round of peace talks in Doha on February 25. At the end of their six days of uninterrupted talks in the Qatari capital last month, Khalilzad and chief Taliban negotiator Stanekzai, in separate statements announced they are close to a deal on a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in exchange for assurances from the Taliban they will not to allow terrorists to use Afghan soil for future attacks against America and its allies. But Khalilzad has underscored the need for a comprehensive cease-fire and the Talibans engagement in intra-Afghan national peace negotiations for further progress. MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Five suspected Abu Sayyaf militants accused of involvement in the deadly bombing of a Roman Catholic cathedral in the southern Philippines have surrendered to authorities, the national police chief said Monday. Police Director-General Oscar Albayalde said the five would be charged with murder and attempted murder for their role in the Jan. 27 attack at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Sulu province's Jolo town, which killed 23 people and wounded about 100 others. Police have said the attack was carried out by two Indonesian suicide bombers. Police said the suspects taken into custody had escorted the two Indonesians around Jolo and to a meeting with an Abu Sayyaf commander, Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, who has been accused of plotting and funding the attack. Police said the five suspects were led by a suspected local militant identified as Kammah Pae, who has denied any involvement in the bombing. The attack has renewed terrorism fears across the Philippines and the national police have been placed on full alert and security has been strengthened in churches, shopping malls and other public areas. President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered troops to destroy the Abu Sayyaf, leading to a renewed military offensive in the south that has included air strikes and gunbattles. Oscar Albayalde, chief of the Philippine National Oscar Albayalde, chief of the Philippine National Police, speaks at a news conference at Camp Crame, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines, Feb. 4, 2019. Oscar Albayalde, chief of the Philippine National Police, speaks at a news conference at Camp Crame, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines, Feb. 4, 2019. The attack has also highlighted concerns that the Islamic State group may be gaining a foothold in Southeast Asia after sustaining major battle setbacks in Syria and Iraq. Local militants aligned with the brutal extremist group laid siege to Marawi city in the southern Philippines for five months in 2017 before they were defeated by the military. Albayalde said the Abu Sayyaf, a small but violent group based in the jungles of predominantly Muslim Jolo and outlying island provinces, staged the cathedral bombing to gain attention and possible funding from the Islamic State group. The militants also want to foment sectarian conflict between minority Muslims in the south and the country's majority Christians, he said. "It's the very same reason why they pledged allegiance to ISIS. They are seeking funding and they are bombing, kidnapping and murdering targets to get funds from the ISIS,'' Albayalde said at a news conference in Manila. The Abu Sayyaf, which has about 300 to 400 armed fighters, has been blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization because of years of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings. The commander police have implicated in the cathedral attack, Sawadjaan, is a Muslim preacher who has been linked to ransom kidnappings and the beheadings of hostages, including two Canadian men in 2016. Citing witnesses to the bombing and statements by some of the suspects, Albayalde said Sawadjaan funded the assembly of the cathedral bombs, which most likely were detonated by an Indonesia man, who had hidden in the south for about a year, and an Indonesian woman, who only recently entered the south. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, center, touc Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, center, touches one the caskets of some of the victims of the bombings, Jan. 26, 2018, of a Roman Catholic Cathedral on Jolo, Sulu province in southern Philippines, during his visit Monday. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, center, touches one the caskets of some of the victims of the bombings, Jan. 26, 2018, of a Roman Catholic Cathedral on Jolo, Sulu province in southern Philippines, during his visit Monday. From a southern island, the Indonesians traveled to Jolo by boat last month and were met by the group now in custody, he said. Indonesian officials have said there is no conclusive evidence that the attackers were Indonesian. Police said the attack was planned since last year. Albayalde said the explosives used were powerful pipe bombs, packed with ammonium nitrate, TNT and other chemicals that have been used by the Abu Sayyaf in past attack. While the local militant leader, Pae, has denied involvement in the bombing, the national police's chief investigator, Chief Superintendent Amador Corpus, said his surrendered companions have pointed to him as one of their accomplices and said he purchased parts for the bombs. A military officer with experience monitoring militants, however, raised doubts about some of the police accounts, including the discovery of a bomb and bomb parts in Pae's house in Patikul town, near Jolo. The officer wondered why Pae would leave such incriminating evidence in his house then surrender to police but deny any involvement in the attack. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the sensitive case in public. The Islamist militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for two deadly attacks in Somalia on Monday, with at least nine people killed in a car bombing in downtown Mogadishu and another man shot dead at a port in the country's semi-autonomous region of Puntland. In Mogadishu, a powerful car bomb went off around 10 a.m. local time near one of the the city's biggest shopping centers, the Mogadishu Mall, in the oldest district of Hamarweyne. Mogadishu's Aamin Ambulance service told journalists that they recovered nine bodies including those of three women and evacuated seven injured victims. Security sources also told VOA Somali that a senior security official was killed in the attack. "Innocent people were killed," a man who survived the attack told a group of journalists, including one representing VOA Somali service. We pulled a woman and her son from under the rubble. An al-Shabab spokesman said on a pro-Shabab website that the group had planned the car bombing to target a meeting of regional and security officials at the nearby governors headquarters. FILE - A view of the Port of Bosaso in Somalia's FILE - An eagle over flies at the Port of Bosaso in Somalia's Puntland, Apr. 19, 2015. FILE - An eagle over flies at the Port of Bosaso in Somalia's Puntland, Apr. 19, 2015. Bosaso killing The militant group also said it was responsible for fatally shooting a manager of a Dubai government-owned port in the Puntland town of Bosaso. Police identified the man as Paul Anthony Formosa, manager of P&O Ports. The shooting occurred near the port of Bosaso as the victim, said to be a citizen of Malta, walked to work around 7:15 a.m. P&O Ports is a subsidiary of the United Arab Emirates' global port operator Dubai Ports World. P&O, which has a 30-year concession to manage the Bosaso Port, began running it in October 2017. The Associated Press said the development deal is worth $336 million. Somalia Colonel Mohamed Ali Hashi, police commander at the port, said Formosa, a co-worker and two soldiers working as bodyguards walked from their residence near the port when the attack occurred around 7:15am local time. A young man with a hidden pistol quickly caught up with the manager, his team and his bodyguards and opened fire, Hashi said. He added that Formosa was killed and the soldiers and co-worker were injured. Hashi said the alleged attacker was shot, wounded and apprehended. Puntland regional leader Said Abdullahi Deni condemned the terrorist attack against the port manager. This is not just a terrorist attack, this is an act is intended to undermine the development of people in Puntland, he said, promising a merciless, stern response to the attack's instigators. Fadumo Yasin Jama and Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulle contributed to this VOA Somali service report from Bosaso and Mogadishu. LONDON - She had so much to offer." Ian Russell is speaking of his 14-year-old daughter Molly, the youngest of three sisters, who committed suicide in 2017, leaving a note that read, I am sorry. I did this because of me. After Mollys suicide, her parents examined the teenagers social media use and discovered she was interacting with other teenage users caught in the grip of depression and who were suicidal and self-harming. The users were almost grooming themselves and goading each other to take drastic action. I have no doubt that Instagram helped kill my daughter, Mollys father told the BBC in an explosive interview that drew a public apology from U.S. social media giant Facebook, owner of the photo sharing site Instagram, as well as a promise to do more to tackle suicide and self-harming posts. We're going to look at this from top to bottom and change everything we're doing, if necessary, to get this right, Nick Clegg, a former British deputy prime minister and now Facebook's head of global affairs, said in a statement. The promise, though, has done little to tamp down criticism. In the past eight years, the suicide rate among British teenagers has nearly doubled. Last year around 200 schoolchildren killed themselves. Tech giants do not bear all of the responsibility for the deaths, their critics say, but they are abetting them by not doing enough to help stop them. Amid growing public uproar, the British government has said next month, it will unveil groundbreaking legislation designed to enforce a legal duty of care on such firms. Social media companies clearly need to do more to ensure they are not promoting harmful content to vulnerable people, said a government official. The British plan to order social media providers to protect users against material that promotes suicide methods and self-harm will be watched closely by policymakers in other European countries, who are also grappling with how to cope with malign consequences of social media use. Germany is cracking down on what Facebook does with users personal data. In France, the government is embedding regulators inside social media companies to investigate how they combat online hate speech. Since January, Facebook, in particular, has been targeted for criticism in the United States. The company operates a unique suite of apps, but U.S. critics say the social media giant is too casual about social responsibilities. U.S. lawmakers accuse Facebook of doing too little to stop Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race, and along with YouTube and Twitter, it has been attacked for being slow in taking down jihadist posts and videos. Laying the groundwork for the British measure, the countrys chief medical officer will announce this week that Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp figure as important links in a dangerous chain leading from self-harm to suicide. Sally Davies will urge parents to be more alert and to limit, as well as monitor, their childrens screen time. The legislation is likely to be based on recommendations from a British parliamentary committee which wrapped up an inquiry last week and concluded social media use is disrupting young users sleep patterns, distorting their body image and leaving them exposed to bullying, grooming and sexting. The panel said that self-regulation will no longer suffice. We must see an independent, statutory regulator established as soon as possible, one which has the full support of the government to take strong and effective actions against companies who do not comply, the committee said. Clegg said some of the criticism is over-wrought. In a television interview last week, he said the company had saved the lives of thousands of potentially suicidal users by flagging them to authorities. Recent academic studies, including one by psychologists at Oxford University, suggest that social media use has no major adverse impact on mental health. The Oxford University study concluded that wearing glasses has more negative effect on adolescent mental health. But the academic studies are not assuaging critics, and some lawmakers cast doubt on their overall accuracy, saying they do not look closely enough on teenage girls, who seem the most vulnerable. Worryingly, social media companies who have a clear responsibility toward particularly young users seem to be in no rush to share vital data with academics that could help tackle the very real harms our young people face in the virtual world, said lawmaker Norman Lamb. More than 30 British families have complained that social media giants have blocked or hindered their access to social media data after their childrens suicides. A requirement on firms to share data which can help identify and protect teenagers at risk will likely be among the new legal requirements the government unveils, officials said. NAIROBI - A new report says the world produces at least 50 million tons of electronic waste each year, and that number is expected to double 30 years from now. The impact of all that electronic junk is especially felt in Africa. Mobile phones are increasingly common gadgets across Africa. You can get a phone for as little as $10 in the streets of Nairobi. Most Kenyans, however, don't know how to safely dispose of their old phones when they get a new one. "I have a spoiled phone. I have kept at home maybe for future use or dispose it one daymostly if it's not working, I can decide to throw it away. It depends on how it has spoiled. I throw it away, Winnie says. It's this kind of behavior that has environmentalists concerned, as many phones, once thrown away, end up in rivers and oceans. The U.N. Environmental Program estimates that 50 million tons of electronic waste was produced in 2018. It says that number could climb to 120 million tons by the year 2050. One half of so-called e-waste comprises personal devices like computers, smartphones and tablets. Simon Omengo uses unorthodox means to dispose of his electronic gadgets. Since its motherboard failed then automatically I disposed it. I threw it in the toilet. I burn it, I break into pieces because its useless to me now, Omengo says. Winnie says the government needs to come up with ways to safely dispose of old devices. Our government (needs) to come up with a place where we can take all the gadgets, especially the phones which are spoiled. We go and dispose them there and they will know how they will dispose them, rather than just scattering around because some of the people they just throw them in the dust pin and its hazard to the environment, Winnie says. Experts say electronic devices are becoming complicated to repair and some dont last long. With more devices being thrown away, one Kenya-based group, Enviroserve, is trying to change how Africas e-waste is managed by stripping down re-useable metals and plastics from phones. Some materials remain in Kenya, while other parts like batteries are shipped abroad. Shaun Mumford, the head of the company, says old phones have been simply dumped in Kenya for years. "It wasnt done in a way that is useful, and also it was staying here. So what we are able to do instead of Africa being the dumping ground, which historically been the case, we are able to deal with what makes sense here and send back out of the country things that need to be dealt with properly, Mumford says. More than half the population is under the age of 30 and the demand for the latest electronics and dumping the old ones is only growing. Even as U.S.-backed forces close in on the very last pockets of the Islamic State's self-declared caliphate in Syria, the terror group is unfazed, instead preparing to declare victory and retake territory. The sobering assessment by U.S. Central Command and relayed to the lead inspector general for U.S. efforts in Iraq and Syria comes just over a month after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw some 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, declaring the fight against IS over. White House Defends Declaration of Victory Against IS Sudden declaration leads to flurry of questions, forcing both White House and Pentagon officials to clarify president's tweet with statements of their own But far from agreeing with the presidents assessment that the United States has beaten them and weve beaten them badly," U.S. military officials warned the terror group is poised for a resurgence, should U.S. forces actually leave Syria. Absent sustained [counterterrorism] pressure, ISIS could likely resurge in Syria within six to 12 months and regain limited territory, U.S. Central Command told the inspector general, using an acronym for the terror group, in the report released Monday. "ISIS may conduct opportunistic attacks on U.S. personnel as they withdraw but will leverage the event as a 'victory' in its media," Central Command added, further warning the terror group is "regenerating key functions and capabilities" both in Syria and in Iraq. The U.S. military commanders also said the inability of Syrian and Iraqi officials to address long-standing Sunni Arab grievances could make IS even more potent. "It is very likely that ISIS will have the opportunity to set conditions for future resurgence and territorial control," they said. This latest U.S. military assessment of the strength of IS forces in Syria and Iraq follows similar reports over the past six months warning about the terror group's resiliency and long-term planning. As far back as August of last year, U.S. military intelligence officials cautioned that IS still had a fighting force of 13,000 to 14,500 fighters in Syria, with as many as another 17,000 in Iraq. Islamic State Well-Positioned to Rebuild Caliphate Destroying the Islamic State is proving more difficult than the United States and its allies envisioned, with the most recent intelligence assessments warning that the self-declared caliphate is well-positioned to rise again.For months, U.S. Destroying the Islamic State is proving more difficult than the United States and its allies envisioned, with the most recent intelligence assessments warning that the self-declared caliphate is well-positioned to rise again.For months, U.S. In response, Pentagon officials said the group was "well-positioned to rebuild and work on enabling its physical caliphate to re-emerge." In December, just days before Trump announced his plans to pull U.S. troops from Syria, then-special presidential envoy Brett McGurk warned despite key advances against IS in Syria, "it would be reckless if we were just to say, well, the physical caliphate is defeated, so we can just leave." Defeat of Islamic State's Caliphate Is Not Defeat of IS U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet early Wednesday on the fight against the Islamic State terror group in Syria was definitive."We have defeated ISIS in Syria," he wrote, using an acronym for the group, adding the defeat of the group was "my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency."We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency. Donald J. U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet early Wednesday on the fight against the Islamic State terror group in Syria was definitive."We have defeated ISIS in Syria," he wrote, using an acronym for the group, adding the defeat of the group was "my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency."We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency. Donald J. ?Yet despite losing even more ground in the weeks since then, U.S. military officials caution IS remains, "a battle-hardened and well-disciplined force ... able to coordinate offensives and counter-offensives." Officials with Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S. mission in Iraq and Syria, also caution that morale among IS fighters, while not as high as it once was, remains high overall. At times, IS fighters even appear to be "unfazed by coalition airstrikes," the officials told the inspector general. Contrasting assessments Such assessments from U.S. military commanders involved in the fight against IS, however, continue to contrast with the optimism expressed by President Trump. "You have very little ISIS and you have the caliphate almost knocked out," Trump told CBS's Face the Nation Sunday, seemingly dismissing concerns about cells of active IS fighters in Syria. "We can come back very quickly," he added. "We have very fast airplanes, we have very good cargo planes. We have a base in Iraq." Only U.S. military and intelligence officials publicly insist it will likely not be so easy. Just last week, top U.S. intelligence officials cautioned lawmakers that IS still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria, and remains "intent" on resurging. US Intel Chiefs Warn Washington Risks Losing Friends, Influence U.S. intelligence chiefs are sounding alarms about an ever more perilous future for the United States, one in which the country is in danger of seeing its influence wane, its allies waiver and key adversaries team up to erode norms that once kept the country safe and the world more stable.Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, along with the leaders of five other top intelligence agencies, delivered the grim assessment Tuesday, unveiling their annual worldwide threats report for lawmakers on the U.S. intelligence chiefs are sounding alarms about an ever more perilous future for the United States, one in which the country is in danger of seeing its influence wane, its allies waiver and key adversaries team up to erode norms that once kept the country safe and the world more stable.Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, along with the leaders of five other top intelligence agencies, delivered the grim assessment Tuesday, unveiling their annual worldwide threats report for lawmakers on the And the new inspector general report cautions that many IS fighters in Syria remain beyond the reach even of U.S. warplanes, in places like Idlib province and in areas south of Damascus. At the same time, the loss of the IS caliphate has not completely erased the luster of the IS brand. U.S. officials estimate the terror group continues to attract about 50 foreign fighters a month to Syria, while also maintaining "pockets of popular support throughout Iraq." Much of the responsibility for dealing with the lingering IS threat will fall to partner forces on the ground, as well as to other members of the international coalition to defeat IS, a subject likely to come up later this week at a coalition ministerial meeting at the U.S. State Department. We are on the cusp of the end of the territorial caliphate that ISIS enjoyed not that many months ago, a senior State Department official told reporters Monday. Were not intending to let up on the pressure. And there is some confidence the local partners can handle it. The Iraqis have generated a tempo, which has continued to go after these clandestine [IS] cells, a second official said. And were starting to see the tempo generated by our Syrian Democratic Force colleagues as well, in spaces that have been liberated but still need to be cleared because sleeper cells are starting to fire up. Warren Ragudo died after two Taser shocks by police intervening in a family altercation. Ramzi Saad died after a Taser shock by police during a dispute between Saad and his mother. Chinedu Okobi died after police used a Taser to subdue him in a confrontation they blamed on his refusal to stop walking in traffic. All three were unarmed. All three had histories of mental illness. And all three died last year in a single northern California county, San Mateo. They were among at least 49 people who died in 2018 after being shocked by police with a Taser, a similar number as in the previous two years, according to a Reuters review of police records, news reports and court documents. The deaths typically draw little public scrutiny no government agency tracks how often Tasers are used or how many of those deployments prove fatal, and coroners and medical examiners use varying standards to assess a Taser's role in a death. But some communities now are considering more restrictive Taser policies following allegations that the weapons were used excessively or deployed against people with physical or mental conditions that put them at higher risk of death or injury. Reuters has contacted 14 police departments, counties and cities that saw a Taser-related death or other serious Taser-related incident in 2018. Of those, five are reviewing their Taser policies; three had conducted reviews and made no changes; and five declined comment because investigations into the incidents were still ongoing. Reuters now has documented a total of at least 1,081 U.S. deaths following use of Tasers, almost all since the weapons began coming into widespread use in the early 2000s. In many of those cases, the Taser, which fires a pair of barbed darts that deliver a paralyzing electrical charge, was combined with other force, such as hand strikes or restraint holds. Following the three San Mateo deaths, all within nine months, the county board of supervisors and the district attorney launched ongoing reviews of the use and safety of Tasers, which were touted by police and the weapon's manufacturer as a near-perfect, "non-lethal" weapon when they began coming into widespread use more than a decade ago. There is a need to reevaluate "the proper role for Tasers and how and when they are engaged," Dave Pine, a member of the Board of Supervisors told Reuters. Until then, "I personally think it would be appropriate to have a moratorium on their use." Most independent researchers who have studied Tasers say deaths are rare when they are used properly, but in a series of reports in 2017, Reuters found that many police officers are not trained properly on the risks and weapons are often misused. Reuters was able to obtain cause-of-death data for 779 of the 1,081 deaths it has documented and the Taser was deemed a cause or contributing factor in 21 percent of those. Axon Enterprise Inc , the Taser's manufacturer, says most deaths involving the weapons are a result of drug use, underlying physiological conditions, such as heart problems, or other police force used along with the Taser. Axon argues that most cause-of-death rulings implicating its weapons are misinformed and said in an email that Tasers albeit "not risk free" are "the most safe and effective less-lethal use of force tool available to law enforcement." Recognizing the risks Reuters reporting, which included the most complete accounting to date of fatalities following Taser shocks, showed that many cases involved high-risk subjects, such as people agitated by drugs or mental illness, people with heart problems,people who are very young or very old or very frail. At least half those who died after Taser shocks last year fell into one or more of those categories. As in previous years, about 90 percent were unarmed and nearly a quarter had a history of mental illness. As police departments have become more aware of Tasers' risks and limitations, a growing number have restricted their use, says Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) think tank. Still, many officers remain unaware of the hazards when they encounter those vulnerable to a Taser's shock, Wexler warns. "That's a big problem" Nationally, there are no uniform standards governing police use of Tasers, although PERF and the International Association of Chiefs of Police offer model guidelines that warn against using Tasers on vulnerable populations and limit the number and duration of shocks during deployment. Axon said it offers police departments "the latest public-safety best practices and training" for Taser use, including warnings about vulnerable populations. The company also offers "de-escalation training" to help officers resolve conflicts without Tasers, as well as "empathy training for special populations, including the mentally ill." Concerns in San Mateo In San Mateo, the county coroner ruled the death of Ramzi Saad a homicide: "cardiac arrest occurring during physical exertion, physical restraint and tasering." Police visited the Redwood City home where Saad, 55, lived with his mother on Aug. 13 after a neighbor witnessed him shoving his mother during an argument and called 911. Saad, who suffered from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, diabetes and high blood pressure, was shocked with a Taser at least twice after threatening an officer, then lost consciousness as he was pinned to the ground by other police, investigators later found. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Stephen Wagstaffe, the county's district attorney, found the officers' response justified, but a second death in 2018 after a Taser shock made local officials take notice. FILE - Chinedu Okobi is pictured in a family photo FILE - Chinedu Okobi is pictured in a family photo in Menlo Park, California, Oct. 16, 2010, provided Dec. 28, 2018. FILE - Chinedu Okobi is pictured in a family photo in Menlo Park, California, Oct. 16, 2010, provided Dec. 28, 2018. Two months later, the questions about Taser use grew more urgent: Chinedu Okobi, 36, died on Oct. 3 after being shocked by San Mateo County Sheriff's deputies in Millbrae. FILE - Taser warnings to police, included in Axon' FILE - Taser warnings to police, included in Axon's training materials, are seen in this image taken from video, in Washington DC, US. FILE - Taser warnings to police, included in Axon's training materials, are seen in this image taken from video, in Washington DC, US. The deaths have raised major concerns, Wagstaffe told Reuters. He said he has directed staff "to come up with as much information as possible on Taser-related deaths." The results of the fact-gathering exercise will go to the sheriff and the county's 15 municipal police chiefs "to help them in their judgment on the future use of Tasers," Wagstaffe said. The district attorney is conducting a separate, formal investigation into whether the deputies who confronted Okobi before his death committed any crimes. That inquiry should be completed by the end of the month and will be made public, Wagstaffe told Reuters. While Pine favors a moratorium on Taser use during the review, several municipal police chiefs told Reuters they preferred to wait for Wagstaffe's Okobi investigation before deciding whether to alter policies. The sheriff's department, which operates countywide, is against a moratorium. Carlos Bolanos, the San Mateo County Sheriff, said he was awaiting results of Wagstaffe's report into Okobi's death before his department conducts its own internal review into the death. Meanwhile, Okobi's death has become a flashpoint in the county's debate over Taser use. The sheriff's department and Okobi's sister Ebele, a Facebook executive, have offered conflicting accounts about the events surrounding Okobi's death. The Board of Supervisors will hold a public meeting on Feb. 11 to discuss law enforcement's Taser use. Presenters will include officials from Axon, the county sheriff's office, the American Civil Liberties Union and Dr. Zian Tseng, a cardiologist, Pine said. Authorities in the Bahamas have put the death toll from the Haitian migrant boat sinking at 28. The Royal Bahamas Defense Force say they were able to rescue 17 survivors, including two found stranded on a cay Sunday. The bodies of the other victims were found in the sunken boat or floating in the water. The U.S. Coast Guard helped with the rescue efforts. The boat sank Saturday about 10 kilometers off the Abaco Islands, just north of the Bahamas. The U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince called the vessel a people-trafficking boat and warns "No journey is worth risking lives. Please urge families and communities: illegal migrant smuggling and operations are dangerous and frequently end in tragedy." Haiti is the Western Hemisphere's poorest country and thousands who cannot get visas to go elsewhere try to get to other Caribbean islands or North America. Officials in the Bahamas say they have arrested 300 illegal Haitian migrants so far this year, which is only a month old. ISTANBUL - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras heads to Ankara Tuesday in the latest effort to improve relations with regional rival Turkey. "The conditions must be created in Greek-Turkish relations for historic steps to take place," Tsipras said in an interview with a Turkish news agency. Territorial and historical disputes have hurt ties, and pushed the two NATO members to the brink of war on more than one occasion. Tsipras will be hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara. The two leaders have developed a working relationship that has underpinned rapprochement efforts. "They are worlds apart. Tsipras is a very secular politician, whereas Erdogan is a very deeply religious. Therefore, their world views will in the end inevitably clash," said international relations professor Serhat Guvenc of Istanbul's Kadir Has University. "What brings them together is not a lasting reason, but temporarily, because they are dealing with similar problems at home, which brings a shared sympathy for one another," Guvenc added. "Respect, honesty and directness," Tsipras said in explaining his relationship with Erdogan, adding that it is "challenged in very difficult moments." Greece Turkey Erdogan FILE - Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, right, talks during a joint news conference with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Maximos Mansion in Athens, Dec. 7, 2017. FILE - Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, right, talks during a joint news conference with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Maximos Mansion in Athens, Dec. 7, 2017. Controversy flared the last time the two leaders met, during Erdogan's 2017 December visit to Athens. The Turkish president publicly challenged Tsipras' government over a series of bilateral and historical disputes. However, analyst Guvenc believes shared interests will mean Tsipras' Ankara visit is likely to pass without controversy. "The two leaders have elections ahead in a couple of months, they need to make sure that while they are busy with other problems, Turkish-Greek relations don't go through yet another round of crisis," Guvenc said. Turkey is due to hold key local polls in March, and Greece heads to general elections in October. Aegean Sea Bilateral tensions have recently started to rise over ongoing territorial disputes on the Aegean Sea, which divides the two countries. Turkish and Greek navies and air forces regularly challenge one another. "Tsipras will propose to Turkey a moratorium on the mutual incursions in the Aegean be it the sea or airspace," said political scientist Cengiz Aktar of Athens University. "A six- to 12-month moratorium on these continual clashes and dogfights will be proposed." Aktar says the Greek leader will likely address another point of tension with Ankara. "Tsipras will inform Erdogan that Athens will not extend to 12 miles Greek sovereignty in the Aegean Sea or around the island of Crete. Both Russia and the U.S. have encouraged Greece not to go ahead with this move." FILE -A Turkish coast guard ship patrols in the Ae FILE - A Turkish coast guard ship patrols in the Aegean Sea, off the Turkish coast, April 20, 2016. FILE - A Turkish coast guard ship patrols in the Aegean Sea, off the Turkish coast, April 20, 2016. Ankara warns such a move would effectively close the Aegean Sea to Turkish shipping and be a cause for war. Analysts point out that Moscow is playing a more active role in the eastern Mediterranean. "Moscow is like the United States and they all playing with what they have," Aktar said. "They want to be present in the region." Russia, Venezuela Russian President Vladimir Putin has developed close ties with both Tsipras and Erdogan. "Of course, both [Erdogan and Tsipras] having good relations with Moscow is a big help for Russia," said Guvenc. "But I don't think Russia does enjoy a direct effect on relations between the two countries." Tsipras and Erdogan also share common ground in supporting the beleaguered Venezuelan President Nikolas Maduro. However, significant differences still exist between the two leaders. The Mediterranean Island of Cyprus divided between Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities remains a point of tension. Analysts warn the fate of Cyprus remains in the balance between a permanent partition and hopes of reunification. Tsipras is expected to discuss with Erdogan a dispute over energy exploration rights between the Cypriot communities. EU, refugees The Greek premier will be also likely to be looking to Erdogan for a commitment to continue with an EU agreement to control refugees crossing the Aegean to Greece. "As a result [of the deal], illegal flows and especially deaths in the Aegean, drastically decreased," Tsipras said ahead of his Ankara visit. Volunteers help migrants and refugees on a dingy a FILE - Volunteers help migrants and refugees on a dingy as they arrive at the shore of the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey, March 20, 2016. FILE - Volunteers help migrants and refugees on a dingy as they arrive at the shore of the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey, March 20, 2016. "I believe that Turkey has taken over the great burden of hosting four million refugees. That should always be recognized by the international community, and the EU should do all it can to support our neighbor," the Greek premier added. Ankara regularly accuses Brussels of failing to honor its side of the 2016 refugee agreement. Turkey's relations have soured with the EU, as its membership bid had all but ended amid growing human rights concerns. Turkey's membership bid was initially the impetus to Ankara improving relations with EU member Greece. Analyst Guvenc says, at least for now, mutual interests are sustaining the rapprochement. "That the rapprochement has survived so long is a surprise to me because they [Ankara] have not walked out of the cooperation despite the absence of the EU carrot. The so-called rapprochement has not turned into a detente or a lasting process of the stability and peace between the two countries. But in the meantime, the two sides have learned to reap the benefits of the rapprochement, for now," Guvenc said. PARIS - French warplanes struck a rebel convoy in northern Chad on Sunday, helping local troops repel an incursion across the border from Libya, a sign France's support for President Idriss Deby goes beyond fighting Islamist militants. Mirage jets struck a column of 40 pickups carrying armed groups from Libya deep into Chadian territory, the French army said in a statement. "This intervention at the request of Chadian authorities helped hinder this hostile advance and disperse the column," it said. The strikes were the first by French jets in support of Chadian troops since the rebel Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR) based in southern Libya increased its activities last year in a bid to overthrow him. The Union of Forces of Resistance (UFR), a rebel Chadian coalition created in 2009 after almost toppling Deby, said it was behind the offensive. CCMSR is a splinter group of the UFR. "The aim is to bring Deby down," a UFR official said. "We thought France would not intervene in Chad's internal affairs, but it appears that it is offering no solutions for the Chadian people beyond keeping Deby in power to do their dirty work in the region." The official said two fighters had been killed and two trucks destroyed. Deby has faced several rebellions since seizing power in 1990 in a military coup. International observers have questioned the fairness of elections that have kept him in office since and last year he pushed through constitutional reforms that could keep him on office until 2033. France considers its former colony as vital in the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa and based its 4,500-strong counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane force in the capital N'djamena where the United States also has a base. But Deby's fight against Islamist militants - he has deployed troops to counter groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel and Lake Chad region- has strained his military and hit the oil-dependent economy, leading to growing dissatisfaction in one of the world's poorest nations. "Deby remains the most viable and solid partner in the region. The Chadians are counting on France for the Libyan border," a French military source said. Chad's military command said the operation had neutralized the column of "mercenaries and terrorists" in Chadian territory after earlier operations by the Libyan National Army. The LNA, the military wing of one of Libya's two rival governments that operates in the east of the country under General Khalifa Haftar, began operations against Chadian rebels at the start of the year. Haftar has close ties with France which has backed him against Islamist militants in Libya. Nearly 100 Ethiopian Jews landed in Israel on Monday in the first wave of new immigration since the government said last year that it would let some of the 8,000 remaining community members join relatives in Israel. Local Ethiopian community members welcomed the newcomers after years of delays. Israel recognizes the community's Jewish roots but does not consider them fully Jewish, so they require special approval to immigrate that has not always been forthcoming. Atersau Baiye, 61, said he had been waiting for over 12 years to come to Israel and be reunited with his daughter, who lives in Tel Aviv. "I am very happy to be here and excited to see my daughter, but it's a mixed feeling," he said. Baiye said that because he immigrated with his wife and six kids, he was forced to leave two other children behind in Ethiopia. "I don't know if we will see them again." Ethiopian Jews hold Israeli flags at the Ben Gurio Ethiopian Jews hold Israeli flags at the Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 4, 2019. Ethiopian Jews hold Israeli flags at the Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 4, 2019. Alisa Bodner, spokeswoman for an Ethiopian-Jewish activist group, said she was "far from satisfied" by the slow trickle of Ethiopian immigration, long stalled despite government promises to bring all remaining members of the community to Israel. "This is a continuation of the discriminatory practices against Ethiopian-Israelis emanating from this current government," she said. The activists renewed their calls for Israel to make good on its 2015 promise to bring all remaining members of the Jewish Ethiopian community to Israel. The government never approved a budget for the move, and the slow trickle of immigration ground to a halt over a year ago. Last fall, the government announced it would absorb 1,000 of the remaining 8,000 Jews in Ethiopia, frustrating community members. The bulk of the Ethiopian Jewish community was airlifted to Israel in major clandestine operations in the 1980s and 1990s. Although many of the newcomers are practicing Jews, Israel doesn't consider them Jewish because their Jewish ancestors underwent forced conversion to Christianity over a century ago. Ethiopian Jews who have made it to Israel complain of racism, lack of opportunity and endemic poverty. Last week, thousands of Ethiopian-Israelis marched through major roadways in Tel Aviv to protest police brutality and discrimination. Despite the challenges, Baiye says he is ready to start his new life. "I'm going to work hard, earn a living, and live like everyone else." LONDON - British lawmakers are debating new proposals on the European Union Withdrawal Agreement this week, amid a series of stark warnings over the consequences of Britain crashing out with no deal on 29 March. Prime Minister Theresa May hopes to negotiate changes to the Withdrawal Agreement in meetings with Brussels in the coming days, after a majority of British MPs backed calls to change the deal last week. The European Union has flatly rejected reopening the talks. Feuding UK Politicians Seek Elusive Unity as Brexit Looms With Brexit just seven weeks away, Britain's ruling Conservative Party was locked in tense negotiations with itself Monday to rework the U.K.'s divorce deal with the European Union as the EU stood firm in ruling out any renegotiation.Meanwhile, pro-EU and pro-Brexit U.K. With Brexit just seven weeks away, Britain's ruling Conservative Party was locked in tense negotiations with itself Monday to rework the U.K.'s divorce deal with the European Union as the EU stood firm in ruling out any renegotiation.Meanwhile, pro-EU and pro-Brexit U.K. There are growing signs that uncertainty over Brexit is starting to hit investment, as Japanese car giant Nissan has announced Sunday it is moving production of the X-trail one of its most popular SUV models out of the UK. The decision reverses a pledge made by Nissan in the wake of the 2016 referendum. Its emerged that Britain offered Nissan over $100 million in 2016 to persuade it to keep its operations in the UK. The reversal was met with dismay by British lawmakers. Nissan Cancels Plans to Make SUV in UK Nissan announced Sunday it has cancelled plans to make its X-Trail SUV in the UK a sharp blow to British Prime Minister Theresa May, who fought to have the model built in northern England as she sought to shore up confidence in the British economy after it leaves the European Union. Nissan said it will consolidate production of the next generation X-Trail at its plant in Kyushu, Japan, where the model is currently produced, allowing the company to reduce investment costs in the early stages of the Nissan announced Sunday it has cancelled plans to make its X-Trail SUV in the UK a sharp blow to British Prime Minister Theresa May, who fought to have the model built in northern England as she sought to shore up confidence in the British economy after it leaves the European Union. Nissan said it will consolidate production of the next generation X-Trail at its plant in Kyushu, Japan, where the model is currently produced, allowing the company to reduce investment costs in the early stages of the 'It concerns me that they have noted the uncertainty around Brexit and I think that is a serious signal to all of us in Parliament, that now is the time to resolve that uncertainty, Business Minister Greg Clark told reporters Sunday. As Britains ties stumble, Japan and the European Union are celebrating the entry into force of a trade deal, covering a third of global GDP. Visiting Tokyo Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a Brexit deal was still possible. German Chancellor Angela Merkel answers a question German Chancellor Angela Merkel answers a question during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe following their summit meeting at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Feb. 4, 2019. German Chancellor Angela Merkel answers a question during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe following their summit meeting at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Feb. 4, 2019. But we need to know from Britain and this is the critical point what it envisages, Merkel said in a press conference. The threat of a no deal Brexit is growing starker by the day. Government contingency plans leaked to British media purportedly entail evacuating the Royal Family from Buckingham Palace. Worst-case scenarios envisage rioting on the streets amid food and medicine shortages, as waste export restrictions create mountains of garbage. Alberto Alemanno, a professor of EU Law at HEC Paris, says neither Britain nor Europe can accurately predict the consequences of a no-deal exit. Obviously its a very complicated scenario, which entails incredible implications for citizens, for businesses on both sides of the Channel. But the other option is to rethink the Withdrawal Agreement. But not entirely its just about arranging the process that might lead the Withdrawal Agreement to finally find a majority in the Houses [of Parliament]. That might not be enough. Britain is demanding changes to the so-called "Irish backstop" clause, which seeks to keep Britain tied to EU rules until a trade deal is in place aimed at preventing a hard border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, which will become the EUs external border. But the EU is unlikely to budge, says analyst Anand Menon of the UK in a Changing Europe program at Kings College London. They wont give us a time-limited backstop, because as the Irish keep staying, if its time-limited its not a backstop, said Menon. EU Rejects British Bid to Change Brexit Deal The European Union on Wednesday rebuffed Britain's efforts to renegotiate the terms of its exit from the EU.British lawmakers voted Tuesday night to send Prime Minister Theresa May back to Brussels to try to get better terms for its planned March 29 divorce from the continent's 28-nation EU. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks duringBritain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during PMQ session in Parliament, in London, Britain, Jan. The European Union on Wednesday rebuffed Britain's efforts to renegotiate the terms of its exit from the EU.British lawmakers voted Tuesday night to send Prime Minister Theresa May back to Brussels to try to get better terms for its planned March 29 divorce from the continent's 28-nation EU. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks duringBritain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during PMQ session in Parliament, in London, Britain, Jan. Reopening the Withdrawal Agreement could see other EU member states request their own changes, notably Spains demands for talks on the sovereignty of Gibraltar. Some member states could have some possible claims, certainly Spain might be one of them. But also the political context in Europe is also moving, and very fast, ahead of the next European elections, notes Professor Alemmano. It is a reminder that the current deadlock is just the beginning of Britains recasting its relationship with a fast-changing Europe a process that could take years, if not decades. Britain, along with Spain, France and Sweden and Denmark on Monday recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the South American country's interim president. The European countries want Venezuela to hold a presidential election as soon as possible to end its political and humanitarian crises. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt posted on Twitter: "Nicolas Maduro has not called Presidential elections within 8 day limit we have set. So UK alongside European allies now recognizes @jguaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held. Let's hope this take us closer to ending humanitarian crisis." Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday in Madrid that "...we are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela..." French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Inter Radio that the Venezuelan crisis would end "peacefully" with an early presidential election. A "free and fair election" did not bring Maduro to office, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom told Swedish broadcaster SVT. Denmark's Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen tweeted "Denmark recognizes the President of the National Assembly @jguaido as the interim President of #Venezuela until new free and democratic elections take place." Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov criticized Monday's European declarations as "Attempts to legitimize usurped power" and "interference in Venezuela's internal affairs." Maduro on the Spanish television program Salvados, broadcast Sunday said: "We don't accept ultimatums from anyone. It's like if I told the European Union: 'I give you seven days to recognize the Republic of Catalonia, and if you don't, we are going to take measures.' No, international politics can't be based on ultimatums. That was the era of empires and colonies." He also called on U.S. President Donald Trump to refrain from supporting Guaido, saying "You are making mistakes that are going to stain your hands with blood" ISTANBUL, TURKEY - Turkey has maintained low-level contact with the Syrian government, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, even though Ankara has supported rebels who fought for years to topple President Bashar Assad. Erdogan has described Assad as a terrorist and said several times during Syria's eight-year conflict that the Syrian leader must go. But with support from Russia and Iran, Assad had recaptured large parts of Syria from rebel fighters, driving them from most of their former strongholds. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in December Turkey and other countries would consider working with Assad if he won a democratic election, and last month said Ankara was in indirect contact with Damascus via Russia and Iran. Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey also had direct contacts with the Syrian government. "Foreign policy with Syria continues at a lower level," he told broadcaster TRT in an interview, adding that intelligence services operated differently to political leaders. "Leaders may be cut out. But intelligence units can communicate for their interests," Erdogan said. "Even if you have an enemy, you should not break ties. You may need that later." In recent weeks, hopes have been dashed for the mothers of two jailed Chinese rights defenders to reunite with their sons Liu Feiyue and Huang Qi during this weeks Lunar New Year holidays. Last Tuesday, after a court in Hebei sentenced her son Liu Feiyue to five years in jail for "inciting state subversion" his mother Ding Qihua broke her silence. Liu is the founder of the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website. Along with the sentence, the 48-year-old citizen journalist was also fined 1.01 million yuan (US$149,700), a punishment the Chinese Human Rights Defenders group called the harshest measure the Chinese government has taken in its war on civil society organizations that promote human rights, rule of law and democracy. Making a Deal with the Devil? Previously Ding had worked with authorities to try and convince her son to admit his guilt. Ding said she now regrets having made a deal with local court officials and police in the case in exchange for her familys silence and her efforts to reform her school teacher-turned-activist son. Last week she posted a letter online, revealing details of what had happened. They tricked us into assisting them with undergoing [ideological] work [on Liu] so that my son would be given a suspended sentence. But they have broken the promise and handed the heaviest five-year sentence. Were extremely angry now and prepared to appeal, Ding told VOA. She added that ahead of Lius trial in August last year, the family was naively preparing for Lius release, acting on an empty promise of a lenient treatment. Ding now takes pride in her sons integrity and courage to speak up against injustice. She said her son has done nothing wrong but to publish reports of rights abuses in China. Courage to Speak Up Upon hearing the courts verdict, he was very emotional. He yelled to the court this is tyranny, dictatorship and political persecution. He has insisted in his innocence. Even if weve tried to persuade him into pleading guilty, he firmly believes in his heart that hes not guilty, said the 76-year-old mother. VOAs calls to Cheng Xiang-lin, spokesman of the Hebei provinces Suizhou Intermediate People's Court, for comments went unanswered. One lawyer, who spoke with VOA on the condition of anonymity, said Lius appeal of the case will only serve as a symbolic rebuttal to the ruling of the court, which is controlled by the Communist Party and will never revise its sentencing on those who are critical of the one-party state. Liu was arrested in November of 2016 and is scheduled for release in 2021. The Strongest Advocate Unlike Ding, cyber activist Huang Qis mother Pu Wenqing has been a strong advocate of her sons innocence and what she calls his politically-motivated trial. She has repeatedly made sure that her grave concerns over her sons deteriorating health in jail were heard. And she constantly talked to media, revealing details of her sons case or progress of his trials in writing or video clips online. She also petitioned the court and called on the Communist Party to fully investigate. She said she was once questioned on a 10-hour train ride from Sichuan to Beijing and violently shoved down to the ground at a Beijing train station by interceptors, who found out her goal of appealing to Chinas leaders to release her son. After a detention of more than two years, Huang, who founded the 64 tianwang (Skynet) rights website, was reportedly put on trial after a closed-door hearing last month. Huang, along with Chen Tianmao and Yang Xiuqiong, has been accused of leaking state secrets to foreign entities an ill-defined charge often used by the Chinese authorities to clamp down on dissent. Prior to the hearing, Pu disappeared with her whereabouts remaining unclear. Although Huangs verdict has yet to be announced, his mothers choice to be vocal about her son's case has been the best policy, which not only allows the truth to speak for itself in face of political intimidation, but also keeps a tab on the authorities power abuse, said Patrick Poon, China Researcher at Amnesty International in Hong Kong. Thats exactly what the Chinese authorities want to make people feel, if you speak up, then youll face more consequences. But in reality, we see, public pressure [and] international pressure would help instead of giving [it a] negative impact, he said. Keeping a Tab on Power Abuse Poon said that Li Wenzu, wife to detained rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang, is another example of such open vocal pressure. Li has long been determined to expose all the harassment and pressure from the state security to restrict her freedom of expression while putting her husbands unfair trial and treatment under public scrutiny, he said. By doing so, it is believed that Wang, a lawyer who defended political dissidents, was given a more lenient verdict last Monday, when a court in Tianjin sentenced him to four and a half years in prison for state subversion. Wang was the last tried among those who were arrested during Chinas crackdown on rights lawyers in July 2015, and may be released in early 2021. Along with the U.S. government, many international rights groups have denounced Chinas arbitrary verdicts on many of its rights defenders and called on the immediate release of Wang, Huang and Liu. We remain concerned by the deteriorating situation for the rule of law, human rights, and fundamental freedoms in China, and continue to urge China to uphold its international human rights commitments and to respect the rule of law, said Robert Palladino, deputy spokesperson of the U.S. Department in a press statement. Nayib Bukele, the former mayor of San Salvador, claimed victory Sunday in El Salvador's presidential election. He told his cheering supporters that he had won a majority of the ballots. With nearly 90 percent of the ballots counted, El Salvador's election commission said Bukele had almost 54 percent of the votes, enough for the politician to avoid a runoff vote in March. "At this moment we can announce with total certainty that we have won the presidency," Bukele told the crowd. Former Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez of the ruling FMLN party and Carlos Calleja of the right-wing ARENA acknowledged their defeat. Turnout was reported heavy for Sunday's vote. Polls leading up to the election had favored Bukele. The candidates promised the same things to voters, including more economic opportunities and efforts to tackle gangs and crime. El Salvador has one of the world's highest murder rates. Presidential hopeful Nayib Bukele casts his ballot Presidential hopeful Nayib Bukele casts his ballot as he and his wife Gabriela vote in the presidential election in San Salvador, El Salvador, Feb. 3, 2019. Presidential hopeful Nayib Bukele casts his ballot as he and his wife Gabriela vote in the presidential election in San Salvador, El Salvador, Feb. 3, 2019. ?But Bukele, who has always considered himself to be a liberal, has been critical of the ruling leftists. He ran as a candidate with the newly-formed conservative Grand Alliance for National Unity. Two parties -- the left-leaning FMLN and conservative ARENA party -- have dominated Salvadoran politics since the end of the civil war in 1992. But neither party has been able to successfully neutralize gangs or revitalize the economy. Many voters say both traditional parties are corrupt and change is needed. About a third of Salvadorans live in poverty. Many Salvadorans joined the Central American caravans to the U.S. - Mexican border to seek a better life in the United States. When Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam refused to resign last week, he did so in the shadow of a Capitol built by a founding father and a slave owner, in the former seat of the Confederacy still wrestling with what to do about statues that honor those who fought to preserve slavery. The 35-year-old photo on his yearbook page of a person in blackface and another person in a Ku Klux Klan robe has brought about a stunning reversal of fortune in Northam's political career and laid bare for the nation just how deeply racist behavior remains interwoven in American culture, institutions and politics. In rejecting calls to step down, the 59-year-old white son of Virginia came across to many African-Americans as displaying a sense of white privilege. What we have learned over the last 24 hours along with all the incidents of the last two years brings front and center the need for this nation to deal with the question of race once and for all, NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in an interview Saturday. Because we have [President Donald] Trump in the White House, who has created a political landscape of intolerance and racial hatred, this has exposed a wound that has been festering for a while now. The incident came on the first day of Black History Month and as Virginians prepare to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to the settlement of Jamestown. I think a lot of black folks are tired of apologies and talking, said Wes Bellamy, a councilman in Charlottesville, Virginia, who has worked for the removal of Confederate statues in the city. This is another ugly stain on our state's history. We are going to have to commit ourselves to making this right not just with our words, but with our resources. Should Northam, a Democrat, ultimately step down, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax would become the second black governor in the South since Reconstruction. Last month, Fairfax, the only black official currently elected statewide, sat down in protest as the Virginia Senate recognized Lee-Jackson Day, which honors Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Demonstrators hold signs and chant outside the Gov Demonstrators hold signs and chant outside the Governor's Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, Feb. 2, 2019. The protesters are calling for the resignation of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam after a decades-old photo with a blackface is unearthed in his yearbook. Demonstrators hold signs and chant outside the Governor's Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, Feb. 2, 2019. The protesters are calling for the resignation of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam after a decades-old photo with a blackface is unearthed in his yearbook. Virginia is still healing from the racial wounds inflicted in August 2017, when white supremacists marched on Charlottesville to protest the removal of a statue of Lee. Many of the mostly white men who converged on the city chanting racist slogans and burning torches were about the same age that Northam would've been as a student at Eastern Virginia Medical School. Northam's age belies the assumption that their actions reflected the tenor and tone of the era. In 1984 when the photograph was included in Northam's yearbook page, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson was running for president. Pioneering black entertainer Bill Cosby was the star of one of America's most popular television shows. African-Americans were climbing the nation's social, professional, political and economic ladders at unprecedented speed. In his initial apology, Northam said that the photo does not represent who he is now. A day later, he denied being in the photograph at all, while admitting to wearing blackface to imitate Michael Jackson at a dance contest. The incident is the third in recent weeks: Last month, Florida's secretary of state resigned after photos from a 2005 Halloween party showed him in blackface dressed as a Hurricane Katrina victim. Also last month, videos surfaced of people in blackface at the University of Oklahoma, including a man walking near campus. Two students withdrew from the university and apologized. Such incidents are not only hurtful; they can be harmful when they happen at institutions of higher learning and are perpetrated by people who go on to impact the lives of people of color as decision-makers from politicians to doctors. A recent University of Virginia study showed that black Americans are systematically undertreated for pain relative to white patients, and that white laypeople and medical students and residents hold false beliefs about the biological differences between the races beliefs that can affect the perception and treatment of black patients. The trust Northam, a pediatric neurologist, established with his patients was not unlike the faith he sought from voters. In running for governor, many people including the 87 percent of black voters who supported him saw Northam as a candidate who belongs to a party associated with justice and equality, who ran against an opponent tied to a president who has been accused of racism. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax speaks during an Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax speaks during an interview in his office at the Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, Feb. 2, 2019. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax speaks during an interview in his office at the Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, Feb. 2, 2019. Their vote for Northam was, in part, a rejection of those views and beliefs. The governor's defiance amid the roar for him to step aside among even his Democratic colleagues, black and white, casts doubt on Northam's ability to represent these voters going forward, said NAACP President Johnson. If we cannot recognize African-Americans are full citizens entitled to humane treatment by our public policy makers, how can we expect public policy to meet the needs and interests of those communities being portrayed as less than human? Johnson asked. It also raises a critical question: In politics, should sincerity and repentance for a racist past matter more than the hurt feelings of Americans who live on the receiving end of racism? Northam's lieutenant governor doesn't think so. I have worked closely with Ralph Northam over many years. He has been a friend to me and has treated my family and me with hospitality and respect, Fairfax wrote in a statement Saturday, noting that he is a descendant of people enslaved in Virginia. While his career has been marked by service to children, soldiers and constituents, I cannot condone the actions from his past that, at the very least, suggest a comfort with Virginia's darker history of white supremacy, racial stereotyping, and intimidation. Fairfax has not called for Northam's resignation, but by Sunday, he was one of the few Democrats who had spoken publicly and not called for him to step down. Northam doesn't want to go down on something he doesn't think he did, said Anthea Butler, a University of Pennsylvania religion professor who has written about politics. I don't know how he thinks he can show up in the black community. He's hobbling what he can do for his African-American constituents, and we're asked to do the labor of forgiveness and healing. We're over it. Why should he be allowed to stay? His stance illustrates how many Americans have come to view racism since the end of legally-enforced segregation, defined by only the most egregious, blatant examples like using the N-word or the Ku Klux Klan. That's the boundary. Everything else is not, said Carol Anderson, Emory University African American studies professor and author of White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide. Unless you're burning a cross, you're not racist, Anderson said. But racism since the Civil Rights Movement is deceptively structural. Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's guest for the State of the Union will be a woman who made headlines protesting Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. Ana Maria Archila says she is "honored" to be the guest of the star freshman Democrat and will sit in the gallery overlooking the chamber during President Donald Trump's address. She said she will wear white and a pin that the congresswoman gave her that says, "Well behaved women rarely make history." FILE - Ana Maria Archila of New York, N.Y., become FILE - Ana Maria Archila of New York, N.Y., becomes emotional as protesters against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh tell their personal stories of sexual assault outside offices of Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., on Capitol Hill, Sept. 24, 2018. FILE - Ana Maria Archila of New York, N.Y., becomes emotional as protesters against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh tell their personal stories of sexual assault outside offices of Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., on Capitol Hill, Sept. 24, 2018. Archila cornered then-Sen. Jeff Flake at a Senate elevator in September and pleaded for the Republican lawmaker to reconsider voting for Kavanaugh, who was accused by Christine Blasey Ford of sexual assault. Kavanaugh denied the accusation. Kavanaugh, now a Supreme Court Justice, is also expected to attend the speech. Somalia's al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group shot and killed a Maltese man on Monday, authorities said. The slain man was working for a Dubai government-owned port operator in the country's semi-autonomous Puntland region. The attack on Dubai's P&O Ports comes as the United Arab Emirates has rapidly expanded its port operations and military presence in Somalia and across East Africa. In claiming the attack, al-Shabab said it targeted the man because he worked for a company that "occupies" Somalia's Bosaso Port, likely a worrying sign for the Emiratis amid their expansion. Somalia P&O Ports acknowledged one of its employees was killed and three others injured in an "incident" Monday at its operations in Bosaso, 1,100 kilometers (690 miles) northeast of the capital city, Mogadishu, on the Gulf of Aden. The government-run Dubai Media Office tweeted the information on behalf of P&O Ports, saying an investigation was ongoing. It did not explain the circumstances of the worker's death, though it said those injured were receiving medical care. P&O Ports did not answer a phone call Monday seeking comment. Malta's Foreign Ministry identified the dead man as a Maltese citizen who worked as a construction project manager for P&O Ports. It said he had been "shot dead." Al-Shabab separately claimed the attack. Al-Shabab, or "the youth" in Arabic, is a Sunni Islamic extremist group in Somalia born out of that country's years of anarchy following its 1991 civil war. The al-Qaida-linked group has launched attacks across Somalia and into Uganda and Kenya. The U.S. has targeted al-Shabab leaders in drone strikes while Somali forces, backed by troops from African nations, regained control of Mogadishu in 2011. But suicide attacks from al-Shabab continue unabated, challenging the Somali government even as investment and rebuilding take hold. On Monday, a suspected al-Shabab car bombing in Mogadishu killed at least seven people. The UAE in recent years has increasingly invested in ports in East Africa, which lie along a crucial trade route for the federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. P&O Ports signed a 30-year, $336 million deal in 2017 to develop the Bosaso Port. Meanwhile, Dubai's DP World also is operating a major port in Somalia's breakaway territory of Somaliland. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline. A delegation from the Californian city of Long Beach led by its mayor has made a four-day visit to Cambodia to strengthen trade and cultural ties with its sister city of Phnom Penh. The delegation, led by Mayor Robert Garcia, met with several government officials, including the commerce minister and minister of transport. Mayor Garcia is visiting to renew the sister city relationship between Long Beach and Phnom Penh, first signed in 1993, the US Embassy in Phnom Penh said on its Facebook page. This is the first time a sitting Long Beach mayor has visited Cambodia! Together, Long Beach and Phnom Penh celebrate the people-to-people ties, as well as the growing trade ties, between our two countries. Garcia reportedly told reporters at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh his visit was to ensure that trade is strengthened and that we have a great cultural exchange. So were proud to be here and we just love everybody in Long Beach and we love Cambodia and the Cambodian community, he added, according to the Facebook page of the Long Beach-Phnom Penh sister cities. The visit to Phnom Penh was part of a nine-day tour of Asia, which also included Singapore and Vietnam. Long Beach is the second-busiest port in the United States after Los Angeles and is home to more than 20,000 Cambodian-Americans, making it the largest community of Cambodians outside of Cambodia. The city has been designated a Cambodia Town to honor their contributions to the wider US population. In the history of our country, our nation has never before had the honor of having a formal designation of Cambodia Town, culture, and business district in a foreign country, King Norodom Sihamoni said in a speech that was broadcast on state television. Were grateful to you Mr. Mayor and to you, Mr. chairman [of Cambodia Town] for your very loyal gesture. Please Enable Cookies www.vision-systems.com is using a security service for protection against online attacks. The service requires full cookie support in order to view this website. Please enable cookies on your browser and try again. Last year Southern Rock icons, Lynyrd Skynyrd, announced that, after a career that has spanned more than 40 years and includes a catalog of more than 60 albums with more than 30 million units sold, they would embark on their Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour. Produced by Live Nation, the career-concluding farewell tour logged over 50 stops by the end of 2018. Last year Johnny Van Zant, Gary Rossington, and Rickey Medlocke sat down with Dan Rather for a candid conversation on The Big Interview during the first leg of their farewell tour. Reflecting on Lynyrd Skynyrds enduring legacy and their fans around the world, Rossington told Rather, It takes a long time to finish a farewell tour when youre like us, cause weve played everywhere I keep jokin itd take ten years to do the farewell tour. True to their word and faithful to their loyal fans, the Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour continues in 2019 and will make a Las Vegas stop at T-Mobile Arena Friday, Aug. 16 at 8 p.m. The farewell tour will continue to take the band across the country and around the globe through the remainder of the year giving fans one last unforgettable night of classic American Rock-and-Roll. The Southern Rockers will be joined for select dates by special guests including: Bad Company, Cody Jinks and Hank Williams Jr. The blockbuster farewell tour kicks off 2019 in Canada where the band will be joined by one of the most celebrated musicians in Canadian history, special guest, Randy Bachman. The two-time inductee into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame is one of few artists to hold the distinction of topping the charts in two different bands: American Woman with The Guess Who and You Aint Seen Nothing Yet with BachmanTurner Overdrive. Following the Canadian run the band will head to the U.K. and Europe this summer. They will be joined by special guests, English rock band Status Quo, for U.K. dates and Southern rock band Blackberry Smoke for dates in Germany. The tour derives its name from their song, The Last of the Street Survivors and the bands fifth studio album Street Survivors that is certified multi-Platinum by the RIAA and includes the Platinum-certified single, Whats Your Name. The Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour marks a big moment for generations of fans, as Lynyrd Skynyrd has been touring consistently since the 90s. The band, that USA Today called the whiskey-soaked genres most popular and influential crew, is ready to rock one last time. The farewell tour will take original member Rossington joined by Van Zant, Medlocke, Mark Sparky Matejka, Michael Cartellone, Keith Christopher, Peter Keys, Dale Krantz Rossington, Carol Chase and special guest Jim Horn across the country over the next two years. The legendary rockers are best known for the RIAA Platinum-certified Sweet Home Alabama and self-proclaimed signature song, Free Bird, that Rolling Stone said was easily the most requested live song in existence. With everlasting hits such as Simple Man, Gimme Three Steps, Whats Your Name, Call Me The Breeze, You Got that Right, and more, it is easy to see why Rolling Stone named Lynyrd Skynyrd one of its 100 Greatest Bands of All Time. On February 2, Politburo member and Head of the Party Central Committees Commission for Organisation, Pham Minh Chinh visited and presented Tet gifts to poor households in Dinh Hoa commune, Go Quao district, Kien Giang province. Chinh presented 100 gifts to disadvantaged local households, wishing them to enjoy a happy new year and urging the local leaders to pay special attention to policy beneficiaries to help them enjoy a warm Tet. The same day, he also visited police officers in Go Quao district. Also on February 2, Politburo member and Secretary of Hanoi municipal Party Committee, Hoang Trung Hai, visited the citys Phung Hung mural painting street and Hang Luoc traditional flower market. He inspected the Tet preparations in Hang Ma ward, Hoan Kiem district and conveyed his Tet wishes to the local authorities and people. Hanoi leaders visit Hang Luoc flower market on February 2. (Photo: NDO) On Saturday afternoon, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung paid pre-Tet visits to former leaders and revolutionary contributors in Vinh Phuc province. Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Dao Ngoc Dung has joined the Thanh Hoa provincial leaders to visit and present Tet gifts to former wounded soldiers being cared for at the Thanh Hoa nursing centre for people with contributions to the nations revolution. On February 2, 47 free rides home were given to over 2,000 workers at Hoa Khanh industrial park in Da Nang city to help them return home to enjoy Tet with their families. Free buses ready to depart on February 2 to bring Da Nang workers home to enjoy Tet with their families. (Photo: NDO) Meanwhile, various activities to support and take care of disadvantaged workers, children and patients ahead of the nations biggest festival of the year have been organised in Binh Dinh, Phu Tho, Dak Lak and Ho Chi Minh City. In Laos, representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy and the Defence Attache of Vietnam in Laos visited and gave Tet gifts to officers, soldiers and workers under the Multi-battalion 11 on February 2, who are responsible to construct the new Lao National Assembly House, which is a gift from the Party, State, Government and people of Vietnam to the Party, State, Government and people of Laos. Valdosta, GA (31601) Today Isolated thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 72F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Isolated thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 72F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2019) Uruguay and the European Union will conduct the first ministerial meeting of an international contact group on Venezuela to contribute to resolving a political crisis in the country, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and President of Uruguay Tabare Vazquez said in a joint statement on Sunday. "The Oriental Republic of Uruguay and the EU will co-host on Thursday the 7th February the inaugural meeting of the International Contact Group on Venezuela," the statement says. The meeting, which will take place in Montevideo, will be held at a ministerial level, it added. The contact group will comprise the European Union, eight of its member states (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) and Latin American countries (Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Uruguay). Venezuela has been recently going through a political crisis, which further escalated after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president. Incumbent President Nicolas Maduro accused Washington of trying to orchestrate a state coup in Venezuela after the United States and several of its allies immediately recognized Guaido as legitimate interim president. Russia is among the countries that have voiced their support for Maduro. (@ChaudhryMAli88) DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2019) Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem will pay a visit to Tehran on Tuesday, during which he will discuss bilateral relations and the situation in the Arab republic with senior Iranian officials, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said. The announcement came after the Iranian Labor news Agency (ILNA) reported earlier in the day that Iranian Foreign Minster Javad Zarif would hold talks with Muallem on Tuesday. After that, the Iranian top diplomat will reportedly meet with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen. "During the visit, the minister and the delegation will hold talks with senior Iranian officials and discuss the situation in Syria and the region, as well as ways to strengthen bilateral relations between the brotherly countries in all areas," the Syrian ministry said. According to the ministry, Muallem will visit the country at Zarif's invitation and "as part of permanent coordination" between the two states. Iran, along with Russia and Turkey, is a guarantor of the ceasefire in Syria. On Saturday, the Russian delegation, led by Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, visited Tehran to discuss the formation of Syria's constitutional committee. Before that, the Russian delegation held similar consultations with Turkish counterparts. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2019) The Russian delegation, led by Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, discussed the formation of Syria's constitutional committee in Tehran, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. "The tasks of the speedy formation and launch of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva were discussed. The preparation of the upcoming tripartite summit in the Astana format was also considered. An exchange of views was held on a set of issues relating to the development of the situation in Syria and the middle East region," the ministry said. Lavrentyev and Vershinin, as part of an interdepartmental delegation with the participation of representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry, held a meeting with Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the Iran Ali Shamkhani and consultations with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jabari Ansari, the ministry said. According to the statement, the negotiations took place on Saturday. On Thursday, Lavrentyev and Vershinin held consultations with Turkish representatives led by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal on the current situation in Syria and measures to advance the political process, including the launch of the constitutional committee as an important stage in resolving the Syrian crisis. Russia, Iran and Turkey are the guarantors of the truce in Syria. (@FahadShabbir) TEL AVIV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2019) The new Lebanese government is under Iran's control through the Shiite Hezbollah movement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday. The composition of the new Lebanese cabinet was announced on Thursday after nine months of a political crisis. Hezbollah representatives secured three ministerial positions sports, healthcare and parliamentary affairs. The ministries of finance, agriculture, and culture went to another Shiite movement, Amal. "Iran has proxies. One of them is Hezbollah. Hezbollah just joined the government of Lebanon. That's a misnomer; they actually control the government of Lebanon. It means that Iran controls the government of Lebanon," Netanyahu said at a meeting with a delegation of foreign ambassadors to the UN, as quoted by his office. It was the first time he publicly commented on the formation of the Lebanese government. Israel last fought Hezbollah in 2006. After the Second Lebanon War, both sides generally observe a truce on the Lebanese-Israeli border, but the Israelis admit that they had repeatedly bombed weapons caravans that Iran tried to transfer to Hezbollah via Syria. In December and January, they also found and destroyed several underground tunnels, which are believed to have been built by Hezbollah to send sabotage groups into Israel. Lebanon had been mired in a political crisis that left the country without a government since May, when the last Cabinet resigned following parliamentary elections, as required by the country's constitution. Long delays in the formation of cabinets are common in Lebanon due to the country's political system, which allocates power on the basis of sectarian affiliation. Denmark and France have recognized Venezuelan opposition parliament speaker Juan Guaido as the country's interim president MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th February, 2019) Denmark and France have recognized Venezuelan opposition parliament speaker Juan Guaido as the country's interim president. "Denmark recognises the President of the National Assembly @jguaido as the interim President of #Venezuela until new free and democratic elections take place. Applaud similar statements from key EU partners. Important EU statement coming up," Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said on Twitter. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: "The people of Venezuela have the right to express their opinions freely and democratically. France recognizes Juan Guaido as 'interim president' who will launch the electoral process." PRAGUE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2019) The Czech Republic is imposing strict control over all food trucks arriving in the country from Poland starting from Tuesday amid reports on a Polish abattoir selling meat from sick cows for human consumption, Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamacek said Monday. In January, Poland's TVN24 television channel broadcast a film showing visibly sick cows being smuggled into a slaughterhouse near the town of Ostrow Mazowiecka in northeast Poland and killed for their meat. Polish Chief Veterinary Officer Pawel Niemczuk said on Thursday that around 2. 5 tonnes of suspect meat was exported to and sold in almost a dozen countries. "Today we have agreed with Minister of Agriculture Miroslav Toman that in cooperation with the police, we are beginning to strictly control food trucks on the borders with Poland, so that the police together with veterinarians could conduct inspections right at the border crossings," Hamacek said. Around 300 kilograms of meat of Polish sick cows was delivered to the Czech Republic at the end of last week, while 137 kilograms of it have already been sold to consumers. Further sale of this beef was stopped. (@ChaudhryMAli88) The preliminary signing of the prospective peace agreement between the Central African Republic (CAR) government and armed groups is planned for Tuesday, and the final signing procedures are expected to take place Wednesday in the country's capital of Bangui, Andrei Kemarsky, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of Africa, told Sputnik Monday MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th February, 2019) The preliminary signing of the prospective peace agreement between the Central African Republic (CAR) government and armed groups is planned for Tuesday, and the final signing procedures are expected to take place Wednesday in the country's capital of Bangui, Andrei Kemarsky, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of Africa, told Sputnik Monday. On Saturday, Adolphe Nahayo, the Economic Community of Central African States' (ECCAS) ambassador to CAR, told Sputnik, following the conclusion of talks between the car government and armed groups, that the parties had agreed to sign a peace agreement on Monday or Tuesday. According to Nahayo, it was also decided to set up as soon as possible a follow-up committee on the implementation of the peace deal. "The agreement was expected to be initiated yesterday, but seems like it was not. The new initiating date is set for tomorrow," the diplomat said, adding that if the initiating went well, the final signing was expected to take place on Wednesday. The CAR has been suffering from sectarian clashes between the Muslims and the Christians since the 2013 coup, when the Muslim Seleka rebels seized control of the nation, overthrowing then-President Francois Bozize and provoking a backlash from the Christian Anti-Balaka militia. On January 24, the CAR government for the first time engaged in direct talks with the country's opposition groups, with the negotiations having been brokered by the African Union. Nahayo also revealed in his comments to Sputnik that apart from the decision to sign a peace agreement, the parties to the talks had also agreed to establish a mixed border security mechanism between the CAR government, the UN troops and representatives of the armed groups. It was also decided to set up a special commission that would be tasked with accounting all the crimes committed in the country since 2013. (@mahnoorsheikh03) Sharing pictures of the bicycle after getting truck art done on it, the German envoy said that he loves his Pakistani bicycle even more now. Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News 4th February, 2019) German Ambassador to Pakisan Martin Kobler expressed his love for Pakistani truck art as he got it done on his recently bought bicycle. Sharing pictures of the bicycle after getting truck art done on it, the German envoy said that he loves his Pakistani bicycle even more now. Kobler had a bicycle ride on the streets of Rawalpindi and to his delight, the horn of the bicycle is also perfectly working. Here it is!! My pakistani bicycle is ready with amazing truck art. Haha, love it now more . Rode it in the streets of Pindi. feels great! Horn also works, in case you are wondering he wrote on his Twitter, asking his followers, Let me know what do you think of colors? Well, we definitely love the truck art with bright colors on this bicycle. Martin Kobler continues to admire Pakistani people and Pakistani goods as he is often seen buying locally made products. He had recently bought this locally made bicycle for himself on a hard-choice day. Taking to Twitter, Kobler shared how he had trouble finding a locally made bicycle as most of the shops had foreign made. When he finally found one in Rawalpindi, he got confused whether to buy Sohrab or Pecco. He finally bought a red Pecco. The German envoy is loving his bicycle which has a horn as well. uff,was a hard-choice day! wanted to buy a bicycle MADE IN Pakistan. first,it was hard to find one.All foreign made!! then finally found it in #rawalpindi. then get stuck between Sohrab or peco? Finally,bought this red one. Also has a horn 'imy bike what do u guys think of it? he had written in his tweet. Milledgeville, GA (31061) Today Isolated thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Rain will be heavy at times. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Isolated thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Rain will be heavy at times. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Next week: Benjamin Brown French begins life in Washington with the help of Franklin Pierce. Aurore Eaton is a historian and writer in Manchester; contact her at auroreeaton@aol.com or at www.facebook.com/AuroreEatonWriter. 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 Dr. Paul P. Baard is an organizational psychologist, specializing in motivation, with Fordham University, a former senior line executive in the television industry, and the lead author of a book on leadership and motivation. He and Veronica Baard, a former managing director responsible for HR at a major international investment banking firm, head up Baard Consulting LLC, a firm in the greater Boston area, focusing on motivation, conflict reduction, and team building. Questions are welcomed at pbaard@baardconsulting.com Doug Verge is a shareholder and director of Sheehan Phinney Bass & Green. His practice focuses on technology, internet and intellectual property agreements, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, and privacy and data security. He is past chair of the firms intellectual property law group and currently chairs the firms franchise and distribution law group. Paul Reuland is a corporate attorney with Sheehan Phinney Bass & Green. He represents companies and entrepreneurial individuals on a variety of matters, including entity selection and formation, corporate finance, mergers and acquisition and other day-to-day corporate and contractual matters. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Von der Leyen said the German deployment had bolstered joint training efforts and improved the ability to deploy on missions if needed. Germany will invest a total of 110 million euros until 2021 in improving military bases in Lithuania, its defense minister said on Monday, underlining Berlin's continued commitment to the defense of its NATO allies in the Baltic region. Germany leads a NATO force of 1,200 troops from 10 countries sent to Lithuania two years ago as part of NATO's effort to beef up defenses along eastern Europe's borders with Russia after its 2014 annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine, Reuters said. Read alsoStoltenberg: NATO has no intention to move new land-based nuclear arms in Europe "We want to make clear that Lithuania is not alone and will never stand alone. It will never again have to sacrifice its freedom and independence," Ursula von der Leyen told reporters during a visit to the German forces. "We will stay here with the Bundeswehr (German armed forces) as long as we're needed, and as long as the security situation requires it." Von der Leyen said the German deployment had bolstered joint training efforts and improved the ability to deploy on missions if needed. Germany will invest 50 million euros this year in a joint barracks shared by NATO forces and in other facilities, with spending to total 110 million euros by 2021, she said. Welcoming her comments, Lithuanian Defence Minister Raimundas Karoblis said: "This is the first time we have heard so clearly and from such a high political level that Germany is here for the long term, until the security situation changes." Lithuania, a former Soviet republic, joined NATO along with the two other Baltic states Latvia and Estonia and a number of other ex-communist nations in 2004. The three Baltic states, which were forcibly annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 and secured their independence only with the fall of communism, were rattled by Russia's annexation of Crimea and its support for Moscow-backed forces in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian intelligence agency has voiced the cost of Russian war against Ukraine the figures Moscow has been trying to cover up. EU and U.S. economic sanctions on Russia had a much bigger impact than previously thought, Ukraine's intelligence agency head says. "One of the estimates which we managed to learn, Russian internal estimates, is that Western sanctions ... forced the Russian budget to lose $173bn [151bn] already, which is quite a lot," Yehor Bozhok, the head of Ukraine's foreign intelligence service, the SZRU, told EUobserver. The figure covered the period from mid-2014 to the end of 2018, he added. The EU and U.S. imposed sanctions on Russian banks, energy firms, and arms companies after Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea. They are due to expire on 31 July unless EU states renew them by consensus. Russia denies being at war in Ukraine and has previously said that the sanctions had no effect on its economy. The Russian embassy to the EU declined to comment on Bozhok's number. If true, it would be more than half of Russia's state budget for 2019. It is much larger than estimates based on open sources by leading EU and US think tanks, which say Western sanctions might have been to blame for between 0.5 percent to 10 percent of Russia's economic contraction in 2014 and 2015. Read alsoCalling on Ukraine to compromise with Russian invader "strategically foolish" media The SZRU figure sounded "incredibly big", an EU diplomat said. Bozhok also cited other Russian data he said his spies had obtained. "Just for 2019, to intervene in the Ukrainian elections, Russian special services received a top-up of $350 million," he said. Ukraine is to hold presidential elections on March 31 and Russia was spending the money on bribing politicians, funding subversive groups, and propaganda designed to harm pro-Western candidates, he added. Russia is also channeling funds to anti-EU radicals in Europe to meddle in the European Parliament elections in May and to aggravate divisions in the long term, Bozhok said. Read alsoEU steps up pressure on Russia over Ukraine media "It's in the scale of hundreds of millions of euros a year," he told EUobserver. "This is one of our tasks - we try to trace subversive Russian activity in Ukraine and in Europe," he said. "I'm trying to be helpful, because European unity is in our interest - if the EU loses, we lose," he added. Russia is also keeping 48,000 Russian soldiers on Ukraine's eastern border in a state of high readiness, Bozhok added. "By imposing sanctions, the West is not only supporting Ukraine, it is hedging the risk that Russia will use the same money for asymmetric operations against EU countries," he said. "How do you stop Russia? By ensuring the Kremlin's resources for foreign operations are depleted," he added. Lieutenant general Serhiy Nayev, the commander of Ukrainian forces in east Ukraine, echoed the spy chief. "The intensity of Russian aggression in east Ukraine was reduced because of European sanctions," he told EUobserver in a recent interview in Kramatorsk, near the front line. He said that if Russia won in Ukraine, it would be more likely to attack other European countries, such as Poland or the Baltic states, in future. Several EU countries, including Germany, France, Britain and Spain had been urging Maduro to call for new elections before midnight on Sunday. Venezuela's embattled president Nicolas Maduro has rejected a call from European countries to hold snap elections despite huge domestic protests and international pressure. In an interview with Spanish TV network Sexta, he said he would not "cave in to pressure" by those urging him to step down, DW wrote. "Why does the European Union have to tell a country in the world that has already had elections that it has to repeat its presidential elections, because they were not won by their right-wing allies," Maduro said. Several EU countries, including Germany, France, Britain and Spain had been urging Maduro to call for new elections before midnight on Sunday. Read alsoTrump says sending military to Venezuela 'an option' media "They are trying to corner us with ultimatums to force us into an extreme situation of confrontation," Maduro said. But Maduro did say he supported plans for a meeting of Latin American and EU states in a "Contact Group" meeting in Montevideo next Thursday as it could lead to a "dialogue among Venezuelans to resolve our issues." Members of U.S. Congress have questioned whether the border mission is distracting troops from their main work of fighting extremists abroad and training for combat. The Pentagon said Sunday it will send 3,750 more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to put up another 150 miles of concertina wire and provide other support for Customs and Border Protection. The additions will bring the total number of active-duty troops on the border to 4,350, Time reported citing The Associated Press. Critics have derided the plan as a political ploy by the White House as President Donald Trump seeks billions to build a border wall. Read alsoTrump says sending military to Venezuela 'an option' media Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan said on Tuesday that several thousand more troops would be sent mainly to install additional wire barriers and provide a large new system of mobile surveillance and monitoring of the border area. Members of Congress have questioned whether the border mission is distracting troops from their main work of fighting extremists abroad and training for combat. The first active-duty troops were sent to the border on about Oct. 30 for a mission that was to end Dec. 15. It has since been extended twice. Vice Adm. Mike Gilday, the director of operations for the Joint Staff, told the panel that he does not believe military readiness has been significantly affected. He said some units have missed training opportunities because of the deployment and others have seen less time at home between deployments than the military likes to provide. But he said there is an effort to rotate service members in and out of the mission every six to eight weeks in order to minimize any impact. No one was hurt in the attacks, the report says. Russian-led forces mounted nine attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, in the past 24 hours. "No Ukrainian army casualties were reported in the past day. According to intelligence reports, three invaders were killed," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in an update on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on February 4, 2019. Read alsoUkraine eyes Croatian model for peaceful reintegration of Donbas During the period under review, the Russian occupation forces opened fire from grenade launchers of various systems, heavy machine guns, and small arms at the Ukrainian positions near the villages of Vilniy, Novotshkivske, Luhanske, Zaitseve, and Zolote-4. Also, the enemy employed 82mm mortars twice near the village of Krymske. "Since Monday midnight, Russian-led forces haven't attacked Ukrainian positions yet," the report said. Both offenders were nabbed on the outskirts of Novohrad-Volynskyi in the evening, February 3. Operatives of the SBU Security Service of Ukraine have detained a pair of Ukrainian nationals for the illegal sale of firearms earlier stolen from a military unit in Zhytomyr region. "SBU have found that the two residents of Novohrad-Volynskyi [the city in Zhytomyr region], both with a criminal record, plotted to sell weapons and ammunition, which a tip said they had stolen in one of the local military bases. Men were looking for buyers among their acquaintances and local gangs," the SBU's press service in Zhytomyr region said on February 4. Read alsoSBU fighting off Russian intel attempts to meddle in elections via social networks Both offenders were detained on the outskirts of Novohrad-Volynskyi on the evening of Sunday, February 3, as they were attempting to sell two automatic rifles with loaded cases, a pistol with cartridges, and a suppressor for a total of UAH 65,000 (US$2,343). During the raid, one of the suspects resorted to armed resistance. Law enforcers found and seized two automatic rifles, three pistols, suppressors and cartridges of various calibers in the cache set up in the nearby forest. The operation was carried out by Zhytomyr SBU officers together with investigators from the quick deployment team of the city of Khmelnytskyi under the procedural guidance of the military prosecutor's office of the Zhytomyr garrison of the Central Region of Ukraine. The enthronement the OCU Primate is an important historical moment for Ukraine, Emmanuel, Metropoletan of France, has stressed. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has received a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which arrived in Ukraine to participate in the liturgy and the ceremony of enthronement of a Primate of the newly created Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epifaniy (Epiphanius). "I'd like to convey my warmest congratulations and words of gratitude to His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew over this event. This happened and became possible due to his great love for Ukraine and Ukrainians," the president said on February 3, adding that it was an outstanding event both for church life and the Orthodox community, and for the Ukrainian state as a whole. He added that the OCU has come a long way toward uniting and obtaining a tomos of autocephaly, which became possible, among other things, thanks to the efforts of the exarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. "Today is a big day for Ukraine. And I'm glad that the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is with us on this day," he stressed. Read alsoMetropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epifaniy inaugurated as Primate of Orthodox Church of Ukraine In turn, Metropolitan of France, Emmanuel, reaffirmed support of Ukraine and its new Orthodox Church on the part of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. "His Holiness moved forward on the issue of granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian church, because the people of Ukraine had asked for it. And you were also the first Ukrainian citizen who assumed, I would say, a risk, but at the same time took a great opportunity," he said, according to the president's press service. The enthronement the OCU Primate is an important historical moment for Ukraine, he stressed. Metropolitan Emmanuel added that a representative of Athon's Xenophon monastery, Archimandrite Alexiy came to Ukraine as part of their delegation. It was in this monastery that the text of the tomos was drafted. He expressed hope that President Poroshenko would visit Athos and the monastery where the historic document was prepared. As UNIAN reported earlier, the Unification Council of members of the Ukrainian Orthodox churches in Kyiv on December 15 elected Metropolitan of Pereyaslavsky and Bila Tserkva from the then Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate Epifaniy (also known as Epiphanius I) as head of the new local Orthodox church in Ukraine. On January 6, Epifaniy, as Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, received from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in Istanbul the tomos of autocephaly (independence) of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epifaniy was inaugurated as Primate of the newly created Orthodox Church of Ukraine at Kyiv's Saint Sophia Cathedral on February 3. "First aid in combat" classes are also in the curriculum. Russia-controlled "local authorities" in the occupied Crimea, in accordance with the decision of the Russian defense minister, have set up a Dom Yunarmii [literally, a House of Young army] "military patriotic center" for children. Schoolchildren will be trained, among other things, to assemble and disassemble an AK-74 Kalashnikov assault rifle. They will also undergo drill training and pass tests in physical education, RFE/RL reports.. As part of civil defense classes, kids will be taught how to put on as quickly as possible a gas mask and a protective suit to protect the body from radiation, chemical and biohazards. "First aid in combat" classes are also in the curriculum. Read alsoCrimea may face another environmental disaster OSINT expert As UNIAN reported earlier, an explosion hit the Polytechnic College in the Russian-occupied Crimea's Kerch on October 17, 2018. Some 21 people were killed and at least 70 wounded in the explosion and a mass shooting at the college premises. The bomb was reportedly planted by Vladislav Roslyakov, a local student of the same college, who allegedly committed suicide following the attack. It was reported Russian occupation forces had long and seriously trained Roslyakov to handle firearms. He completed the latest training cycle a week before the Kerch tragedy, during the "patriotic education" classes in the Artek camp. The standard training program of the "Russian patriot" includes live fire exercises as well as classes on mining and general knowledge of explosives. Ukraine calls to do everything possible to prevent the use of force to resolve the political crisis in Venezuela. Ukraine has announced it recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate head of state. "Ukraine recognizes Juan Guaido as head of Venezuela's democratically elected government, the National Assembly, and leader of the democratic opposition," Press Secretary of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Kateryna Zelenko has said in a statement. Read alsoMFA: Ukraine supports people of Venezuela in bid for democracy "Therefore, the return to democratic governance in the country depends on him and other Venezuelan political leaders, in particular by reaching agreements on democratic elections, which shall be confirmed by international observers," Zelenko said. Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the leaders of the political forces of Venezuela to hold democratic elections and not to settle the political crisis with the use of force. "Ukraine calls to do everything possible to prevent the use of force to resolve the political crisis and, as a result, to address an economic disaster that is already causing humanitarian problems and makes the Venezuelan people suffer," she said. According to Reuters, major European nations joined the United States on Monday, February 4, in recognizing Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate head of state, as a separate regional bloc met in Canada to pressure socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The coordinated move by 11 nations including Britain, Germany, France, Spain and seven more European Union members followed the expiration of an ultimatum for Maduro to call a new presidential election, aligning them with Washington and against Russia and China. He appealed to all factions to mobilize their efforts as much as possible on that day. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy has offered to consider on February 7 amendments to the Constitution regarding Ukraine's course for the acquisition of full membership in the European Union and NATO. "I propose to consider on Thursday one of the key bills on amending the Constitution on the strategic course of the state to acquire full membership of Ukraine in the EU and NATO. I'd like to stress: this will be the final, third vote, which requires 300 votes to pass," he said during the Conciliation Council, an UNIAN correspondent reports. He appealed to all factions to mobilize their efforts as much as possible on that day. "Another issue, which we did not completely address last time, is the draft law on amending Article 133 of the Constitution of Ukraine regarding the renaming of Dnipropetrovsk region," he said, reiterating the fact that there had been two bills calling for renaming the region. Read alsoEurope needs Ukraine to win in geopolitical game Rzeczpospolita He noted the parliament would consider both of these bills, hold a rating vote to determine the right option, which will be then forwarded to the Constitutional Court. According to Parubiy, a block of issues on informatization will also be considered on Thursday. On Tuesday, the Rada will consider a set of bills on national security and defense, fuel and energy, as well as education. On Wednesday, the parliament will consider ratification of international agreements, as well as a bill to improve the efficiency of proceedings in cases of violation of the law on the protection of economic competition. Soroka did not express any complaints, diplomats say. Ukrainian consuls have visited a Ukrainian wounded sailor Vasyl Soroka, one of the Ukrainian servicemen captured by Russia in a November 25 Kerch Strait incident, who was recently transferred to the Moscow-based Lefortovo detention center. "We have started visiting [capture sailors held in Moscow-based detention centers] from February 1; we're continuing today. The consuls have received permits. They have so far visited Ukrainian prisoner of war Vasyl Soroka, that's on Friday. He is wounded. Today, they'll be visiting two more wounded Andriy Eyder and Andriy Artemenko," Deputy Head of the Consular Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleksandr Khomiak told UNIAN. Read alsoRussia to exploit issue of captive Ukrainian sailors, political prisoners release in context of Ukraine elections Klimkin He added that, according to the information received from the diplomats, Soroka did not express any complaints, while his health condition is improving. "Let's hope their condition will improve," the diplomat added. Ukrainian consuls have received permits to visit Ukrainian prisoners of war, but not on a daily basis, the report says. 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. Read alsoVolker supports deployment of international monitors in "uncontested" Ukrainian territories along Azov coastline 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, ruled to keep the Ukrainian sailors in remand until the end of April 2019. The number of troops Russia could potentially involve in the move would depend on the level of U.S. and NATO support for Ukraine. The scenario of Russia trying to force a land corridor to Crimea or Transnistria is extremely unlikely at the moment. At the same time, such developments cannot be completely excluded, Senior Eurasia Analyst at Stratfor Eugene Chausovsky said in an interview with the Radio Liberty's Ukrainian Service. If Russia was going to make such a serious military step, it would most likely have done so at the very beginning of the conflict, he told RFE/RL, according to a report delivered in Ukrainian. And given that the situation has stabilized over the past year or two, the expert believes this makes it even more unlikely that Russia will take such steps; however, there may be external factors that could affect the decision, as well as specific figures. The expert recalls that, when Stratfor had first prepared a report on possible military scenarios in Ukraine four years ago, the experts estimated that Russia would require from 20,000 to 30,000 troops to create a Russian 'land bridge' to Crimea and almost twice more from 40,000 to 60,000 people to reach Transnistria. Chausovsky believes those numbers are still valid, but it all depends on what actions Russia will take, as well as on external circumstances. Read alsoUkraine, Putin, NATO: Journalists name reasons that could push Russia to grab Belarus First of all, it's about how much the U.S. and NATO countries will support Ukraine militarily. This will determine the number and the type of troops that Russia could use in such a scenario. However, a different number of troops is required to capture the territory and then hold ground, he said. Dozens of thousand more soldiers are needed in this regard, Chausovsky suggests, adding that it is difficult to name an exact number, since it will depend on the specific circumstances. Read alsoVolker supports deployment of international monitors in "uncontested" Ukrainian territories along Azov coastline And it would be a grueling positional war against Ukrainian forces and, perhaps, forces supported by NATO, the expert says. In case Russia tries to break through a wider corridor to Transnistria, Moscow would need to deploy hundreds of thousands of soldiers or even more. For Russia, it would be a very significant military involvement, according to Chausovsky. At the same time, the expert notes specific areas where Russia has so far acted militarily only in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, because these moves had maximum political support. But if the efforts go beyond these territories, such decisions will become less viable and favorable for the Russian political climate. If Russia chooses a war of attrition with Ukraine or temporary hostilities in wider areas, Russia will face enormous internal problems, according to Chausovsky. UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie speaks with Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. UNHCR/Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo Angelina Jolie, the Special Envoy for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is visiting Bangladesh this week. Bangladesh has been heavily affected by the influx of more than 730,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar since August 2017 and now hosts nearly a million refugees. The majority of refugees more than 620,000 people live in just one area: Kutupalong, the largest refugee settlement anywhere in the world today. Jolie is undertaking a three-day mission in Coxs Bazar to assess the humanitarian needs of the Rohingya refugees and some of the more critical challenges facing Bangladesh as a host country. The Special Envoy will conclude her in-country visit in Dhaka for official meetings with the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, and the Foreign Minister, AK Abdul Momen, to discuss how UNHCR can best support the current response led by the Bangladeshi Government, along with the need for safe and sustainable solutions to the plight of one of the world's most persecuted minorities. Her visit comes just before the launch of a new appeal for the humanitarian situation in Bangladesh the 2019 Joint Response Plan which seeks to raise some $920 million to continue meeting the basic needs of Rohingya refugees and the communities so generously hosting them. The Special Envoy focuses on major forced displacement crises, representing UNHCR and the High Commissioner at the diplomatic level. This is the Special Envoys first visit to Bangladesh. Jolie has also met with displaced Rohingya people during a prior visit to Myanmar in July 2015 and in India in 2006. The Lviv Regional State Administration wants to strengthen links with the Brazilian state of Parana, which has the largest Ukrainian community in Latin America. The strengthening of partnership in various fields was discussed at the meeting of Parana governor Ratinho Junior and Ukrainian Ambassador to Brazil Rostyslav Tronenko, the press service of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Federative Republic of Brazil reports. "Strengthening partnership in the area of education, agriculture, infrastructure projects and public security was discussed during the meeting of Parana Governor Ratinho Junior and Ambassador of Ukraine to Brazil Rostyslav Tronenko. Accompanied by the leaders of the Ukrainian community in Parana, the diplomat handed over to Ratinho Junior the Memorandum of Understanding, which had been sent by Chairman of the Lviv Regional State Administration Oleh Syniutka to strengthen the links between the regions," the statement reads. The possibility of sending students to Ukraine as part of the exchange program was also discussed. As noted, Ukraine is already offering scholarships for young people from the Ukrainian community in Parana. "The Ukrainian community is very important for Parana. We are interested in strengthening and expanding our partnership with Ukraine," Ratinho Junior said. The Ukrainian community of Parana is the largest Ukrainian community in Latin America as 500,000 Brazilians of Ukrainian descent live there. Russia openly stated its unwillingness to reach any meaningful arrangements within the framework of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk or in other formats prior to the presidential election in Ukraine, scheduled for late March. Russia has already openly stated its unwillingness to reach any meaningful arrangements within the Trilateral Contact Group or in other formats until 2019 Presidential elections in Ukraine, Ambassador Ihor Prokopchuk, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna, said at the 1215th special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. According to him, Russia blocks all Ukraines proposals on mutual release of detained persons. Despite the recent ceasefire agreements, the Russian armed formations continue everyday shelling of positions of the Ukrainian military and objects of civilian infrastructure. Thousands of people continue to suffer in long queues created by the Russian armed formations at the entry-exit checkpoints along the contact line, with the situation being aggravated by severe winter conditions. The appeals at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan on putting an end to aggression and restoration of respect for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity have been ignored by Moscow, just as in the previous years, the Ukrainian diplomat stressed. Prokopchuk added that Ukraine stayed committed to the peaceful politico-diplomatic resolution of the conflict started by Russia, but the developments on the ground demonstrate unchanged Russias intent to maintain occupation and use military force for achieving its political goals of forcing Ukraine and its people into submission. As the Parliament is set to debate a bill on July 2nd for the establishment of a new pricing arrangement at the fuel pumps, will getting the oil refinery in Point-a-Pierre back up and running have an impact on the new pricing system? Greg Weiner, author of the best book about Madisons thought (Madisons Metronome), rightly celebrates the way the 35-day government shutdown ended: The House stared down the presidency and won. In losing, Donald Trump behaved (reluctantly) as a president should, as a constitutional actor subservient in policymaking matters to the will of Congress. Pelosi acted like a speaker of the House laying a claim to primacy in policymaking. Says Weiner, This was institutional hardball between branches not just with respect to policy but, more important, with respect to authority. Madisonians should rejoice. In his 1962 State of the Union address, President John Kennedy told his congressional audience, The Constitution makes us not rivals for power, but partners for progress. Such anesthetizing bromides serve the interests of presidents by diverting Congress from a truth expressed by the American Enterprise Institutes Jay Cost: Congress is not, as its members too often and too plaintively insist, a coequal branch. It is superior. It creates all executive-branch offices other than president and vice president, and all Article III courts other than the Supreme Court, and can deny appointments to the executive and judicial branches, whereas the other branches are largely incapable of interfering with Congress. The executive power enforces the law, the judicial power resolves controversies under the law. The legislative power makes the law: It comes first. He believes the state will have $150 million to $200 million extra to spend. It is not a lot of money, Thompson said. Meanwhile, Gov. Kevin Stitt has said he would like to increase teacher salaries to the regional average, which would require additional dollars. Last session, lawmakers passed and former Gov. Mary Fallin signed a tax hike package to fund an average teacher pay raise of $6,100. The Legislature always finds ways to generate additional money as session unfolds and this year is unlikely to be an exception, said David Blatt, Oklahoma Policy Institute executive director. In the past, the Legislature has tapped agency revolving funds to balance the budget. State Treasurer Randy McDaniel is a member of the Board of Equalization, which certifies budget amounts. Current economic indicators, including the latest report on Gross Receipts to the Treasury, point to an expanding state economy, he said. However, a number of recent developments warrant a close watch, including the fact that oil prices have not fully recovered and current geopolitical events could impact the economy. With negative feedback from residents and from industry representatives, the board in December said discussion would continue and indicated the rules may come down to legislative action. In our view, the setbacks were a start but didnt go far enough and didnt address things like distances to schools and churches and cemeteries, Kingfisher said. It didnt address at all the biggest problem for our county, which is the concentrations of them, how many of these barns can be placed where they entirely surround neighborhoods. Adding to the groups suspicion of the process, two new houses for an operation under the integrator Aviagen that would hold a total 22,000 birds were approved Dec. 18 in spite of the suspension in place. Six more under a Simmons Foods integrated operation, for 282,000 birds, was deemed to have submitted its paperwork in time even though the suspension went into effect while the permit was pending. Because the registration was completed before the original suspension on Oct. 8, it was approved per direction of the previous agency director, Painter said via email. Painter said the previous administration approved one other application and has two others pending because the operations involve fewer than 30,000 birds each. Lying on an air mattress on the floor of an apartment with no possessions beyond one set of clothes and a hand-me-down TV might be rock bottom for some people. But for Charles Ireland, his ultimate low point had come the previous summer as he stood on a curb at Admiral Boulevard and Harvard Avenue. It was a hot and humid day. Hed had enough and stood contemplating the next step. The one that would be in front of a bus. The shopping cart was so heavy. The heat and humidity had taken its toll as he considered suicide. So for Ireland after the seven years in and out of homelessness, the evictions, couch surfing and unemployment that go along with it lying in a near-empty apartment was part of his climb out of the abyss. Things began to turn for Ireland when he ran into his former boss, Bill Farr, at a convenience store. He had worked for Farr about 10 years ago at his business First Maintenance Co. He asked Farr to rehire him. Youre a great worker, Farr replied, and told him if he would get in his car right then and could pass a drug test, Farr would put him to work. Ireland was clean. Ireland explained his living situation, telling Farr he lived on the streets. That would make employment hard. I just felt compelled in my heart to help him, Farr said. He got Ireland an apartment, paid all the deposits, got him clothes and some furnishings. Farr is the only transportation available to help Ireland get to work. He takes him to his 5 p.m. shift stripping and cleaning floors at different Nordam facilities. He then picks up Ireland between midnight and 2 a.m. and drives him home. Then Farr arrives to work between 7 and 9 a.m. the following morning. Ive got several thousand dollars invested in him, Farr says. When you do it to the least of these, youve done it unto me. There was no one least in the world than Charles Ireland at the time. In six months, if everything goes well, the apartment complex will put the lease in Irelands name. Then he can start building credit for himself. Ireland is doing well paying his rent. Farr gets compliments from people at Nordam about the floor guy. And these are people who dont even know what situation Ireland came from. Irelands biggest obstacle is lack of transportation, but Farr plans on getting him a car as soon as Ireland can get his drivers license. Like most people who do this sort of thing, Farr gives credit to others. He credits Nordam. Without the companys participation, none of this could have happened, he says. They knew Irelands circumstances and when they heard about his clean drug test, they took a chance on him. Ireland says Farr saved his life. Summertime is bad enough, but the wintertime, I know we wouldnt have survived, Ireland says of himself and his prized companion, Peewee, a dog he has had for 17 years. He paid me the highest compliment that he couldve paid me, Farr says of Ireland, who told him For the first time in many, many, many years, I see what true love is all about. If we all stepped out of our comfort zone and spent a little money, it could change the world, Farr says. If there was more Bills in the world, this would be a lovely planet, Ireland says. Mike Simons 918-699-8814 mike.simons@tulsaworld.com @mikesimonsphoto 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. OKLAHOMA CITY Gov. Kevin Stitt was not kidding when he told state lawmakers in December not to be quick to divvy up the $612 million in new revenue then projected for Fiscal Year 2020. On Monday, Stitt proposed an FY 2020 budget that holds most agencies appropriations flat and puts $382.6 million into what amounts to savings. It includes a modest increase for common education but makes no provision for Medicaid expansion or much else in the way of nonmandatory new spending. Stitts budget holds as much $382.6 million in reserve, ostensibly to plump up the states emergency cash. But it suggests a lack of confidence in the December revenue projection and just might come in handy as negotiations progress during the session. The governors emphasis this year is financial stability, Budget Secretary Mike Mazzei said during a press briefing prior to Stitts first State of the State address. And financial stability, as defined by Stitts budget proposal, means not doing anything rash in terms of spending or tax policy and trying to put as much money in the bank as possible. To that end, the administration proposes a vote of the people to raise the limit on the constitutional reserve fund and carry larger operating balances. As we work to establish this program for greater transparency and continuous improvement in a critical service we provide our fellow Tulsans, I hope every interested stakeholder knows their thoughts on this are encouraged, the mayor said. Harpers lengthy email begins by detailing the history of citizen oversight programs across the country. Often, he argues, it has been the police culture that has resisted oversight from outside organizations. As police departments across the country worked to develop relationships with community leaders and maintain accountability, the thought of civilian oversight continued to be kicked down the road, Harper wrote. Historically we can see that the issue is not necessarily with the individuals, but with a police culture that is slow to change. Harper said he believes the Tulsa Police Department is one of the best in the country and that hes confident that 99 percent of the time the independent monitor will find that officers have done their jobs properly. We are going to work and do our jobs the way it is supposed to be done, he said. And the formation of this oversight committee or OIM is not going to affect the way we do our jobs one bit. "You don't want things so convenient that you don't even know when fraud might be occurring, but on the other hand you don't want it so secure no one can vote," the state election board secretary says. A Tulsa man allegedly broke into the courthouse Sunday evening, shattered at least two glass doors and called 911 on suspicions that people were coming for him. Tulsa County sheriffs deputies were dispatched around 8:30 p.m. Sunday to the courthouse, 500 S. Denver Ave. Larry Shawn Teague, 42, called 911 from inside the courthouse to seek help, according to an arrest report. Deputies found a basement entry door had been shattered. Deputies found Teague sitting on a bench in the entry hallway, according to a probable cause affidavit. Teague told deputies that there were people out to get him and he needed help, according to the affidavit. Deputies state in the arrest report that Teague initially complied with their commands to walk toward them with his hands in sight. As he approached, Teague allegedly became more aggressive, and a responding deputy electrically stunned him. Deputies arrested Teague after stunning him. During further investigation, they found an interior glass door had been broken. Tulsa natives Alfre Woodard and Bill Hader were honored this past weekend for their work one in film and one in television. Sundance Film Festival, the most prestigious indie movie festival, gave the Grand Jury Prize its top award to Clemency, a death-penalty drama starring Woodard as a warden overseeing executions at her prison. Reviews have been raves for Woodard, such as the Hollywood Reporter writing of her towering performance (ranking) among the best of this fine actors career. Meanwhile, Hader on Saturday took home the Directors Guild Award for directing a TV comedy for Barry, the HBO comedy that he co-created, wrote and in which he stars. Hader was honored for directing the first episode of Barry and won over Atlanta and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, each of which had two episodes nominated. His directing honor is his latest for Barry, for which he won best TV comedy actor at the Emmys and last months Critics Choice Awards. Woodard is a graduate of Bishop Kelley High School, while Hader graduated from Cascia Hall. Michael Smith, Tulsa World Michael Smith 918-581-8479 michael.smith@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @michaelsmithTW Black Bear Diner officially opened its doors on Monday. The Redding, California-based restaurant chain set up shop in the building that formerly housed Applebees at 9039 N. 121st E. Ave. in the Smith Farm Shopping Center. The diner, founded in 1995, serves up old-fashioned, home-style comfort food classics, including a daily selection of breakfast, lunch and dinner, in a bear-themed atmosphere. Signature dishes include the Corned Beef Hash and Bigfoot Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs for breakfast; Turkey Pesto and Parmesan Sourdough Cheeseburger for lunch; and Housemade Meatloaf and Roadhouse Tri-Tip Platter for dinner. Olgas Bread Pudding and Grandmas Famous Blackberry Cobbler, along with Sugar Bears Lava Cake, are on the menu for dessert. Bruce Dean, Black Bear Diner co-founder and chief executive officer, said in a recent press release that the company chose Owasso as its next location as part of its eastward expansion strategic plan. - More brands were found to be producing peanut butter which contain dangerously high levels of aflatoxin - Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) revealed it had been conducting tests since July 2017 - Many of the brands were found to have substandard peanut butter with the cancer-causing agent aflatoxin present - Companies will now be required to recall their products and correct the defects Barely a week after the government recalled the popular Nuteez peanut butter and two more brands making the same product have also been blacklisted. The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) seized the peanut butter production at Jetlak foods Limited as well as Triclover and Mother Nature brands for allegedly producing butter with too much afflatoxin. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens Barely a week after the government recalled the popular Nuteez peanut butter and two more brands making the same product have also been blacklisted. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Mombasa Governor Joho writes to Interpol, wants it to clarify his association with drug barons the maximum total aflatoxin content as required by KEBS should stand at 15 parts per billion. A letter said to be from the government chemistry indicated tests confirmed a contaminated batch of the peanut butter in Nandi. In a fresh statement from the standardisation body, it was revealed that KEBS has over the past seven months been conducting tests and surveys of peanut butter across various brands to determine whether it was absolutely condusive for human consumption. The brands will now be expected to recall their products to correct the afflatoxin levels Source: UGC READ ALSO: Mwingi Central MP Gideon Mulyungi once assaulted his father, knocked off his teeth Once a brand has been found to be producing sub-standard or potentially harmful peanut butter, manufacturing of the product is expected to be discontinued. Manufacturers whose product permits have been suspended are instructed to discontinue the manufacturing or offering for sale of all substandard peanut butter. Additionally, the manufacturers should recall all substandard products and institute corrective actions, the statement read. READ ALSO: Joho claims Jubilee leaders linking him to drug trade have been sent by William Ruto Aflatoxin is believed to be one of the major agents of the dreaded cancer as the contaminant is considered carcinogenic. Foods which have excessive aflatoxin only double up the risk of cancer since the pollutant is a byproduct of mold that can cause DNA damage. Manufacturer of Nuteez peanut butter have already removed the product from shelves in Kenya and Uganda following reports that the popular bread spread product was not fit for human consumption. 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 What Kenyans Think About Sidechicks (Mpango wa Kando)| Tuko TV: Source: Tuko Breaking News It is my humble opinion that as long as Covid-19 vaccines are available in Trinidad and Tobago the vaccination drive should be continuous and should never be rescheduled. This was already done for two previous holidays and is now being done again this weekend. LET them eat cake. This is a saying that clearly shows what is happening now in Trinidad and Tobago, how the insensitivity to our suffering citizens and clearly the incomprehension of the realities of the life that our population is facing by the lockdown restrictions and the pandemic are totally being mishandled by the Rowley Government at this time. They are out of touch with the common man. This is a long overdue letter of thanks to the Public Health Department of the Division of Health, Wellness and Family Development of the THA. We, the residents of Calder Hall Trace, Scarborough, have long enjoyed excellent service from the sanitation workers who operate in our neighbourhood. 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. THE Police Service Commission (PolSC) has the green light to proceed with a new shorter process to appoint a Police Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner. Leader of Government Business Camille Robinson-Regis made this clear yesterday in response to a story in the Sunday Express which stated that the legal notice giving effect to the process was to be debated in the Parliament today. Staff at the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL) have reached their breaking point as they claim they have not been paid for two months. The situation has become so dire, employees said they are struggling just to make ends meet. pardeepdhull@gmail.com Washington, February 4 The US Department of Defence on Sunday announced they will send an additional 3,750 soldiers to the border with Mexico for three months, during which time they will build some 240 meters of fence and provide logistical support to the US Border Patrol agents. With this new deployment, the total number of soldiers on the border with Mexico will rise to 4,350, a Pentagon spokesman said in a statement, reports Efe. According to the spokesman, the military will have two main missions: to operate surveillance cameras in the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas until September 30, as well as raise 240 additional kilometres of concertina fences, a type of fence that may include barbed or razor wire. For now, the soldiers will be deployed for three months, but the Pentagon will continue to evaluate the composition of the force required to meet the mission of protecting and securing the southern border, the spokesman said. A US law from 1878 prohibits the use of soldiers for national security and public order tasks. Therefore, according to US authorities, the military cannot detain immigrants who cross the border illegally and its work is limited to assisting border agents in air operations and surveillance, as well as in mechanical work, such as repairing vehicles. The deployment of the new troops was approved on January 11 by acting Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan, although the number of troops was not known until now. The Pentagon approved the deployment of soldiers to the border with Mexico in late October, just before the November legislative elections, in which US President Donald Trump campaigned with the harshness of his immigration policies to win votes for the Republicans. However, in the elections the Democrats regained the House of Representatives, while the Republicans increased their lead in the Senate, where they already had the majority. Trump justifies his decision to send troops to the border because of what he himself has called an invasion, that is, groups of migrants from Central America who have begun travelling in caravans to cross more safely into Mexico and heading towards the US. IANS sanjiv@tribunemail.com London, February 3 Britains Queen Elizabeth II and other senior members of the royal family may have to be evacuated if the UK experiences riots as a result of a no-deal Brexit next month, a media report said on Sunday. The UK is set to exit the 28-member European Union (EU) on March 29. As the risk of Britain leaving the EU without an amicable withdrawal agreement continues to hang over ongoing negotiations, emergency proposals to rescue the royal family during the Cold War era have been repurposed in recent weeks to ensure their protection. The plans were originally intended to be put into action in the event of a nuclear attack from the erstwhile Soviet Union, The Sunday Times reported. In the event of the UK and EU failing to agree a settlement before the Brexit deadline of March 29, the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, will be moved out of London to a secret location, which the newspaper said it has agreed not to disclose. These emergency evacuation plans have been in existence since the Cold War, but have now been repurposed in the event of civil disorder following a no-deal Brexit, a UK Cabinet Office source said. If there were problems in London, clearly you would remove the royal family away from those key sites, said Dai Davies, the former head of royal protection. The plans, first devised in 1962 after the Cuban missile crisis and approved the following year, have now been revived by senior civil servants involved in contingency planning for Operation Yellowhammer, the battle plan for what happens in the event of a no deal when border arrangements with the EU will be thrown into chaos. PTI sanjiv@tribunemail.com Washington, February 3 Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, officially launched her presidential campaign from her home state Hawaii on Sunday, promising to bend the arc of history away from war and toward peace. Taking a dig at Americas foreign policy establishment in her campaign announcement, the four-time Democratic lawmaker in the US House of Representatives from Hawaii blamed politicians in ivory towers for US' involvement in costly armed conflicts abroad. We must stand against powerful politicians from both parties who sit in ivory towers thinking up new wars to wage and new places for people to die. Wasting trillions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives, undermining our economy and security, and destroying our middle class, Gabbard said. A former Iraq war veteran, 37-year-old Gabbard is a former Co-Chair of the powerful India Caucus in the House of Representatives. PTI uttara@tribuneindia.com Abu Dhabi, February 4 Pope Francis, the first leader of the worlds 1.3 billion Catholics to visit the Arabian Peninsula, will attend an interfaith meeting in the UAE on Monday as part of his outreach to Muslims. The pontiff arrived in a modest black Kia at Abu Dhabis presidential palace, where he was welcomed with a lavish military parade. Officers fired 21 shots in the air, while jets flew overhead leaving white and yellow trailsthe colours of the Vatican City flag. The popes highly publicised 48-hour visit to the United Arab Emirates will also include an open-air mass on Tuesday for 135,000 of the Muslim countrys million Catholic residents, set to be the largest public gathering in the countrys history. The pope was expected to raise the issue of Yemen, devastated by a war in which the UAE is a key player, in talks with Abu Dhabis Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. Yemen is the scene of what the UN calls the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, triggered by the intervention of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies in a war between the government and Huthi rebels. More than 10 million Yemenis now risk imminent starvation. Sheikh Mohammed said on Monday that UAE rulers were delighted to meet the pontiff in our homeland of tolerance. We discussed enhancing cooperation, consolidating dialogue, tolerance, human coexistence and important initiatives to achieve peace, stability and development for peoples and societies, he tweeted. Pope Francis, who made history when he touched down in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night, said he came as a brother, in order to write a page of dialogue together, and to travel paths of peace together. To mark the occasion, the pontiff offered the crown prince a framed medallion of the meeting between St. Francis Assisithe popes namesakeand the Sultan of Egypt Malek al-Kamel, in 1219. Sheikh Mohammed, in turn, offered a deed for the plot of land on which the first church in the UAE was built. The pope was set to meet with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayebimam of Cairos Al-Azhar, Sunni Islams prestigious seat of learninglater Monday. Sheikh Ahmed greeted the pope personally with an embrace on Sunday night as the pontiff arrived in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. The emirates crown prince was also at the airport to greet the pontiff, who has made strengthening ties between Christianity and Islam a cornerstone of his papacy. Hours before he flies back to Rome on Tuesday, the pope will lead a mass at a stadium in the capital. The UAE has dubbed 2019 its year of tolerance, but rights groups have criticised the country for its role in Yemen, where an estimated 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-led alliance including the UAE joined the governments fight against the Huthis in 2015. Rights groups, which have slammed the UAE over its intolerance of dissent, have also urged the pope to raise the issue of Ahmed Mansoor, an Emirati activist serving a 10-year prison term. Before heading to the Gulf on Sunday, Pope Francis urged warring parties in Yemen to respect a truce agreement and allow deliveries of food aid. The population is exhausted by the lengthy conflict and a great many children are suffering from hunger, but cannot access food depots, he said. The cry of these children and their parents rises up to God. The UAE, which prides itself on its religious diversity in the Gulf, is a member of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in both Syria and Iraq. The UAE has eight Catholic churches. Oman, Kuwait and Yemen each have four. Qatar and Bahrain have one each, while ultra-conservative Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia bans all non-Muslim places of worship. Muslims make up nearly four fifths of the UAEs population, but the country is also home to nearly a million Catholics, according to the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Migrants from Asian countries make up about 65 percent of the population. AFP sanjiv@tribunemail.com Kathmandu: A 21-year-old Nepali woman has died reportedly due to suffocation during her stay in a windowless hut as part of a banned practice that considers women untouchable during menstruation, according to a media report. The incident happened in Nepals remote Doti district when Parwati Bogati was sleeping alone in a secluded hut due to menstruation and had lit a fire to keep the hut warm. When Bogati did not wake up till late next morning, her mother-in-law went to the hut to check her but found that she had died. In January, a 35-year-old woman and two of her sons died of suffocation after they spent a night in a windowless hut. PTI WW1 grenade found in French potato shipment Hong Kong: A German World War I hand grenade was found among a shipment of French potatoes imported for a Hong Kong crisp factory. The device was safely detonated after it was discovered at the Calbee snacks factory on Saturday. The grenade was in an unstable condition because it has been previously discharged but failed to detonate, Superintendent Wilfred Wong Ho-hon said. The police detonated it on site with a police video showing bomb disposal officers packing the grenade in a drainage channel at the factory before blowing it up. The grenade is believed to have been left in a trench during World War I and accidentally gathered up with potatoes planted a century later in the former battlefield. AFP Decoded: Why do you feel sleepy when sick? New York: Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have found a gene that acts as a direct link between illness and the need for more sleep. In a study of over 12,000 lines of fruit flies, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found the single gene, called nemuri that increases the need for sleep. The nemuri protein fights germs with its inherent antimicrobial activity and it is secreted by cells in the brain to drive prolonged, deep sleep after an infection. While its a common notion that sleep and healing are tightly related, our study directly links sleep to the immune system and provides a potential explanation for how sleep increases during sickness, said Amita Sehgal, professor at the varsity. IANS sanjiv@tribunemail.com Caracas, February 3 Venezuelas Opposition leader called on more members of the military to abandon the countrys socialist government following the defection of a high-ranking general, while President Nicolas Maduro proposed holding early National Assembly elections that could potentially oust his challenger. Maduros call for early legislative voting is likely to intensify his standoff with rival Juan Guaido, who heads the opposition-controlled National Assembly and is demanding a new presidential election. Guaido declared himself Venezuelas legitimate ruler on January 23, and has the support of Washington and most South American nations. Speaking from behind a podium decorated with Venezuelas presidential seal, Guaido told supporters he would keep his opposition movement in the streets until Maduro stopped usurping the presidency and agreed to a presidential election overseen by international observers. On Saturday, tens of thousands of Venezuelans joined opposition protests against Maduro in Caracas and other cities. Guaido called on blocks of the military to defect from Maduros administration and get on the side of the Venezuelan people. We want you to be part of the reconstruction of Venezuela. He said in the coming days, the opposition would try to move humanitarian aid into the country by land and sea along three border points, including the Colombian city of Cucuta. Maduro also dug in his heels, insisting he was the only president of Venezuela and describing Saturdays anti-government protests as part of a US-led coup attempt. AFP Sending US troops to Venezuela an option US President Donald Trump said sending the military to Venezuela was an option as Western nations boost pressure on Maduro to hand over power to Opposition leader and self-proclaimed President Guaido. In an interview with CBS, Trump reiterated that military intervention was a possibility. Certainly, it's something that's on the, its an option, Trump said. harinder@tribunemail.com WE learn from a Poona contemporary that New India has in a recent article described the Delhi Congress as being a popular crowd rather than a deliberative assembly as it used to be. In the most important matter that divided Mrs. Besant and her friends and followers from the rest of the progressive party, namely, the resolution on Provincial Autonomy our sympathies are entirely with the former. But that does not prevent us from reminding Mrs. Besant that angry words leave a most unpleasant memory behind. The Congress never was and never could be a deliberative assembly in the same sense in which the British Parliament or the American Senate is a deliberative assembly, for the simple reason that five thousand men cannot sit down to deliberate together. From the earliest years the real deliberation of the Congress has been carried on at subjects committee meetings while the open Congress has, generally speaking, only ratified the decisions arrived at by the committee. monicakchauhan@gmail.com Aman Sood Tribune News Service Patiala, February 4 The local police today arrested gangster Navpreet Sandhu alias Nav Lahoria believed to be a thread between criminals of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and wanted in over a dozen cases of robbery, murder and attempt to murder from Samana along with two aides. The other two arrested are Ankur Singh, alias Mani, and Prashant Hindrav, both from Uttar Pradesh. Investigators claim Lahoria, who tried to eliminate Patiala SSP Mandeep Sidhu when a police team was fired upon on February 2, is one of only a few gangsters from the Malwa belt, with a majority belonging to the border districts of Punjab. The three had escaped while two of their associates were arrested. Lahoria would have shot the Patiala SSP but his weapon misfired and he fled the scene, said the investigators. The police desisted from firing indiscriminately to avoid collateral damage. SSP Sidhu said Lahoria first went to jail in 2016 in an attempt-to-murder case where he met gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and later got in touch with another gangster, Sampat Nehra. Thereafter, Lahoria was regularly in touch with the two, facilitating their stay while evading the police. He won their trust and got involved in the crime world, he said. Facing 20 cases in all, Lahoria got involved in over a dozen cases of attempt to murder, murder, extortion and robberies in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in the past three years. A diploma-holder in electronics, Lahoria earned notoriety after the broad daylight murder of an Ambala City jeweller, Sunil Jain (45). Jain was shot dead at his shop in Sarafa Bazaar, while his helper Bharat Bhushan sustained a bullet injury. Sources say the gang was in Patiala to eliminate a target and planned to use a snatched car in the crime. However, two of the suspects, Mani Dullar and Navneet Kaithal, were arrested on February 2 and two pistols and a Swift car were recovered. They told interrogators that they were staying with friends at a house in Ranjit Nagar, which was taken on rent by six youths, two of them being sons of serving police officers. Police recovered a book, condoms and 100 empty liquor bottles from the house, said investigators, adding that following the visit of gangsters to the house, neighbours lived in fear and their complaints to the local police went unheard. Learning this, the SSP yesterday ordered a departmental inquiry against Tripuri SHO Rajesh Malhotra. The Delhi and Haryana police have got in touch with us and they will interrogate him for crimes in their states, said Sidhu. Bishnoi confidant dabbled in music rchopra@tribunemail.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 4 Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday slammed SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal for rubbing salt on the wounds of the farmers with his demand to double the ludicrous relief given to them by the Centre. Lashing out at the former deputy chief minister over his statement, Amarinder asked Sukhbir why he had not spoken up for the farmers all these years despite his SAD being part of the ruling alliance at the Centre. The Centre had already made a mockery of the farmers by announcing a meagre Rs 6,000 a year, which amounted to Rs 17 a day, to support them in their distress, the CM said, adding that the SAD president had added insult to the injury with his shameless demand. Did he really believe a thousand rupees a month would help the beleaguered farmers, many of whom were being driven to suicide as a result of their massive debts? Amarinder asked. Unlike the previous SAD-BJP government, which had failed to give even a penny to the distressed farmers during 10 years of their rule, his government had already waived over Rs 4,514 crore of loans of 5.63 lakh small and marginal farmers in the state, the CM said. He said his government in less than two years had provided some relief to every section of society despite the massive financial crunch they had been left. He said if the Centre was interested in helping the farmers, it should announce a one-time waiver of their loans and ensure remunerative prices for their produce by implementing the Swaminanthan Committee report. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Bathinda, February 3 Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal hinted at a people-friendly state Budget, scheduled to be presented in the Vidhan Sabha on February 18. Addressing a public meeting at the local grain market, Manpreet said: There is good news for the people that the condition of states economy has turned better and I want to assure them that there is a lot coming for them in the Budget. Lashing out at the SAD, Manpreet said: While the SAD skipped a meeting of NDA over the issue of interference of the BJP in the affairs of Takht Hazoor Sahib and Patna Sahib, Union Minister Harsimrat Badal performed kikli with BJP leader Smriti Irani. They dont have guts to snap ties with the BJP and leave the ministry even for the remaining 60 days, which shows that they are not at all serious about the community. Manpreet said many people had been asking what the Congress had done. I want to tell them that the Congress brought Bhakra Dam, Punjab Engineering College, Punjab Agricultural University and many more big projects. On the other hand, the SAD only laid stones and did nothing. The meeting was organised on the occasion of taking over of charge by DCC urban president Arun Jeetmal Wadhawan and Bathinda rural president Khushbaz Singh Jattana. monicakchauhan@gmail.com Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 4 Political greenhorn and Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill on Monday threw his hat in the ring for the Lok Sabha ticket from Anandpur Saheb constituency of Punjab. Shergill, 35, has no past electoral experience and entered the Congress only in 2011, after party president Rahul Gandhi spotted him national talent hunt for spokespersons. Shergill was born and brought up in Jalandhar and went on to take his law degrees from Kolkata and London. Hes a practising lawyer and was earlier co-convenor of the AICC legal cell. Shergill is eyeing a key seat where Congress veteran Ambika Soni holds sway having invested a lot of funds when she was Minister for Culture in UPA regime. Ambika had, however, unsuccessfully contested from Anandpur Sahib segment in the 2014 LS polls when then sitting Congress MP from the area Ravneet Bittu asked to be shifted to Ludhiana. Reports are that Sonis son may also be interested in the seat though its not clear if he will formally apply. Shergill told The Tribune that he wanted to take Gandhis vision of new India forward. Rahul Gandhi has always encouraged youngsters from non political families to contest elections and so I have applied from Anandpur Sahib, Shergill said. An active debater, Shergill has participated in 140 national debates to defend the Congress. He was recently appointed media coordinator for Congress in Chhattisgarh where the party won big. Professor Vladimir Kolotov, Director of Ho Chi Minh Institute under St. Petersburg State University, said the thriving relationship was boosted by the visit to Russia by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong in September, as well as Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedevs visit to Vietnam in November. The Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Free Trade Agreement lifted trade and economic ties between Vietnam and Russia, he said, noting that the two countries have made significant steps in efforts to raise bilateral trade revenue. Businesspeople from Russian cities came to Vietnam to introduce their products. Meanwhile, delegations of Vietnamese enterprises visited Russia to seek cooperation and investment opportunities. The partnership in military technology between the two countries has also made progress, with notable events like the June visit to the south central province of Khanh Hoa by a Russian Pacific Fleet detachment. During the fourth defence strategy dialogue in Moscow in December, Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh stressed Russia has been, and will always be Vietnams trustworthy ally and partner. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu also highlighted the special relationship between the two countries. In education, four Russian universities have been awarded with Vietnams Friendship Order, namely Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow State Linguistic University, RANEPA Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service and National Research Nuclear University MEPhI. Although Vietnam cancelled a project to build a nuclear power plant, the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI is still helping the country train experts in the nuclear field. In 2018, Vietnamese in Moscow and Russian friends held a festival to commemorate the death anniversary of the Hung Kings for the first time, which is expected be observed annually not only in the Russian capital but on a larger scale in the future. The first Russia-Vietnam Youth Forum took place in St. Petersburg earlier this month, along with activities marking the 95th year since Nguyen Ai Quoc (then President Ho Chi Minh) set foot in Russia for the first time (June 30, 1923-2018). Prof. Kolotov and other Russian experts believe the bilateral relationship will be enhanced in 2019. editorial@tribune.com GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 3 Education Minister OP Soni faced embarrassing moments at a programme here today where he, on behalf of NRI Mohinder Singh Dhiman, was to hand over cheques for Rs 25,000 each to the kin of the Amritsar train tragedy victims. The minister could not convincingly reply to queries of the victims families who asked for the assured jobs as per the governments special rehabilitation scheme. Pawan Kumar and wife Anita, both received head injuries in the tragedy that claimed 59 lives three months ago, were snubbed when they tried to apprise the minister that the government had discontinued their medical aid. The government had presented Rs 5 lakh each to the deceased families and Rs 50,000 each to the injured ones as compensation, besides assuring free treatment in government and private hospitals. But, Pawan said it ended up in a farce. He and his wife do petty labour jobs and raised a loan to meet their medical expenses. Incidentally, he is the same person whose photographs with Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu went viral when she had gone to the hospital to meet the injured hours after the incident. I went to Dr Sidhus house and met her many times. I apprised her that the doctors refused to treat us free, but except for false promises from her side I got nothing. Today, the minister too snubbed me on the stage, Pawan said. Manjit Kaur, who lost her husband Abhey Kumar and received injuries in the accident, said initially, she too got free treatment, but later it was discontinued. Whatever compensation we received was consumed. Now, the doctors asked me to arrange money for the treatment. I lost my husband in the accident and dont have any fixed source of income, she said. Deepak, whose left leg was fractured during the accident, has a similar tale to tell. Initially, my leg was operated upon free of cost. But I required another surgery and the hospital has told me to bear its expenses, he said. Swarn Kaur, mother of Dalbir Singh, who played Ravana during Ramlila and died while trying to save people on tracks, said, The government didnt provide job to her son as was promised by the Chief Minister. Dr Sidhu too became indifferent editorial@tribune.com Parvesh Sharma Tribune News Service Sangrur, February 3 A senior citizen was shocked when he got a notice from the Income Tax (I-T) authorities four days ago, seeking explanation for Rs 1.30 crore time deposits (TDs) in his Oriental Bank of Commerce account during the financial year 2011-12 that he had closed in May 2011. Parween Bansal (61), who is also a heart patient, today wrote to the CBI and the higher authorities demanding action against I-T Department officers for the issuance of a baseless notice to him as he had closed the account in May 2011. I had closed my Oriental Bank of Commerce account in May 2011. The I-T notice shows TDs of Rs 1.30 crore during 2011-12, but the bank statement says there were no such deposits. It shows I-T Department officers are issuing baseless notices to mint money from locals. Due to tension, I was admitted to a hospital for three hours, Bansal said. The I-T notice, a copy of with is The Tribune, says as per information available with the I-T office, Parween Bansal had deposited cash of Rs 2.30 lakh in the bank account of IDBI maintained by him and TDs amounting to Rs 1.30 crore with the Oriental Bank of Commerce during the FY 2011-12. In order to verify the source of these cash deposits made by Bansal, he is required to furnish documentary evidence. Bansal alleged that I-T officers misbehaved with him when he went to their office to show his papers three days ago. When there was no transaction of Rs 1.30 crore, from where will I bring the record? If the department has any evidence, they must deduct their tax out of the total amount and hand over the remaining to me. I have got in touch with some other residents also, who have got similar notices, he said. However, Kultej Singh Bains, Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, Sangrur Range, said, My junior officers have informed me that Bansal spoke rudely to our woman officer. We have our procedure and by issuing notices, we give a chance to people to explain their source of money. If there was no money in his account in 2011-12, Bansal must have told us and we would have closed his case. vermaajay1968@gmail.com GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 3 With the introduction of direct international flights and better infrastructure, the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport here has witnessed a 48 per cent growth in passenger footfall, data provided by the Airports Authority of India suggests. In December 2018, the airport saw its highest-ever international commuter footfall of 83,276 as against 56,284 in December 2017. Similarly, the passengers carried by international airlines during the first nine months (April-December) in the 2018-19 fiscal reached 5.6 lakh as against 4.4 lakh during the corresponding period of the previous year a growth of 26.2 per cent, the second highest after Coimbatore (27.7%). This is being attributed to the launch of four direct international flights in 2018 by Air India to Birmingham, Air Asia X (Kuala Lumpur), IndiGo (Dubai) and Spicejet (Bangkok). While the major factor for the boost in total passenger traffic is international, the contribution of domestic traffic is also significant. The domestic passenger footfall at the airport increased by 8.6 per cent to highest-ever 1,76,898 in December 2018, up from 1,62,932 in December 2017. More flights are expected to start from the airport soon as three new destinations (Patna, Jaipur, Kolkata) have been awarded under the UDAN-3 scheme. Currently, the airport is directly connected to nine domestic and eight international destinations. The total monthly footfall of passengers reached an all-time high of 2,60,174 in December 2018, surpassing its previous high of 2,32,837 in January 2018. Sameep Singh Gumtala, FlyAmritsar Initiative convener and Amritsar Vikas Manch overseas secretary, said the airport had outclassed other international airports of the country. There is already a huge demand for direct flights to London, Toronto and Vancouver from Amritsar in the wake of 550th Guru Nanak Dev Gurpurab celebrations scheduled from November, he said. Many international airlines such as Turkish Airways, Oman Air, Fly Dubai were willing to start flights from Amritsar, but the Ministry of Civil Aviation was not too keen, he said. rchopra@tribunemail.com Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Moga, February 4 Two men were killed while another was seriously injured when the car in which they were travelling crashed into an unidentified vehicle due to dense fog near Rajeana village in Baghapurana sub-division of Moga district on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday. The deceased were identified as Gurav Kumar (28) and Anoop Kumar (30) while the injured was identified as Sahib Kumar, the brother of one of the deceased. The injured was rushed to a local hospital from where he was referred to the DMC Hospital at Ludhiana where his condition was said to be critical, the local police said. According to the details, all three were coming from Kotkapura to Moga in a Zen car. When they reached Rajeana village, the car crashed into an unidentified vehicle due to dense fog. Gaurav and Anoop died on the spot while Sahib was seriously injured, the local police said. The roof of the car was ripped and it was badly damaged from the front side. The vehicle in which it crashed was not found on the spot. The police believe that the vehicle could be a truck and the car might have hit it from the back. The driver of the unidentified vehicle managed to escape taking advantage of the darkness and dense fog. The mishap took place at about 11 pm on Sunday. The police had registered a case at the Baghapurana police station and begun investigations. Efforts were on to trace the unidentified vehicle, the police said. uttara@tribuneindia.com Ahmednagar (Maharashtra), February 4 Fasting activist Kisan Babural alias Anna Hazare said on Monday that he was "used by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)" to win the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. "Yes. The BJP used me in 2014. Everybody knows that it was my agitation for Lokpal that catapulted the BJP and also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to power. Now I have lost all regards for them," Hazare told the media in his Ralegan-Siddhi village. He said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi "is only misleading the people of the country and leading the country to autocracy" and added that the BJP-led Maharashtra government was speaking "lies" over the past four years. "For how long will the lies continue? This government has let down the people of the country. The state government's claims that 90 per cent of my demands have been conceded are also false," the 81-year old said. He rued that now the very same people who benefitted from his agitations in 2011 and 2014 had turned their backs on his demands and nothing had been done to implement them in the past five years. "They keep saying that central and state government ministers will come and discuss the issues with me. But I say no to them as it would confuse the people... (Let) them take firm decisions and give me everything in writing as I have lost faith in their assurances." To a question, Hazare said his former associate Arvind Kejriwal -- now the Delhi Chief Minister -- was welcome to join his current agitation. "But I will not permit him to share the dais with me." Hazare's strong remarks came on the sixth day of his indefinite hunger strike and a day after he threatened to return his Padma Bhushan -- India's third highest civilian honour -- if his demands were not conceded by the government soon. Last weekend, Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik called Hazare an "RSS and Sangh Parivar agent". Hours later, senior NCP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar apologised for the remarks. Amid rising concern over his frail health, Hazare said: "Don't worry. I am fine. The Almighty is with me. Nothing will happen to me for another five days." -- IANS Sena seeks Modi's intervention to save Anna's life MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Monday demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government intervention in social activist Anna Hazares indefinite hunger strike for the appointment of the Lokpal. With Hazare's hunger strike entering the sixth day on Monday, Shiv Senas mouthpiece Saamna suggested that time was running out for the veteran Gandhian. "First you have to save Anna's life and then other things can be thought of later," Saamna said in an editorial on Monday. Hitting out at the central government's silence on the issue, Saamna wondered whether Prime Minister Modis government was interested in Hazare. "If the government wants Anna to lose his life in this battle, it is a sign of the state's culture becoming sicker," the write-up said. The Shiv Sena mouthpiece also used the occasion to launch a personal attack on the prime minister. "Anna is called stubborn. It is a hallmark of selfless people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a similar character as well, but he is called a great leader," Saamna said. The newspaper also accused the government of "managing the media" so that there was little coverage of Hazare's fast. "If Anna's agitation spreads across the country like it did last time, there would be chaos across the country," it noted. Meanwhile Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray and water conservation activist Rajendra Singh met Hazare at his village, Ralegan Siddhi, where he is on fast. Extending support for his agitation for a strong Lokpal, Thackeray suggested that Hazare abandon his fast and embark on a tour across Maharashtra to bring down the BJP government. Singh warned Hazare that he would meet the same fate as activist GD Agarwal, who died last October after fasting for 111 days while demanding a cleaner Ganga. TNS rchopra@tribunemail.com Kolkata, February 4 West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi on Monday submitted a report to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the prevailing situation in the state in the wake of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees dharna, according to a source in the Raj Bhavan. Banerjee is staging the dharna against the CBIs attempt to grill Kolkata Police chief. Rajnath had called up Tripathi on Sunday to take stock of the situation after a CBI team, which went to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumars residence in the city to question him in connection with ponzi scams, was denied permission, bundled into jeeps and whisked to a police station. The Chief Minister has been sitting on a dharna since 8.30 pm on Sunday in protest against the CBI action, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a coup in Bengal. According to officials, Tripathi told the Union Home Minister that he had summoned the Chief Secretary and director general of police (DGP) and asked them to take immediate action to resolve the situation. The source in the Raj Bhavan said the Special Investigation Branch (SIB) submitted its findings to Tripathi, following which he compiled the report. He said the Governor prepared the report after holding discussions with state Chief Secretary Malay De and other officials. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 4 Sundays tug-of-war between the CBI and West Bengal Police reverberated in the Lok Sabha on Monday, with BJP and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs exchanging words. A united opposition condemned the CBI move to raid the house of Rajiv Kumar, the commissioner of the Kolkata police. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed the situation as unprecedented, adding that the tussle between the CBI and state police agencies indicated a constitutional breach, which many saw as a hint at the possible imposition of Presidents rule in the state. The TMC accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of damaging the constitutional structure. TMC MPs termed the CBI as chor (thief) and raised slogans against Modi. Senior TMC leader Saugata Roy said there was no specific instruction from the Supreme Court to raid the Commissioner. Rajnath countered this saying the CBI had to go to the house as the officer was not responding to the summons and not cooperating in the probe in the Saradha chit fund scam. He said the CBI was probing the case at the Supreme Courts behest. Roy claimed the CBI was being used to put pressure on the opposition. Matters reached such a pass that Saumitra Khan, a TMC MP who had joined the BJP in January, was not allowed to speak by TMC MPs from the opposition benches. The MP walked across to the ruling benches and was allowed to speak, and he launched a tirade against the West Bengal Chief Minister. The TMC was supported by the Congress, BJD (which often backs the BJP), NCP, Samajwadi Party and the TDP. Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress said, Whoever raises his voice is suppressed. Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJD blamed the government saying, We are not a banana republic; institutions are being derided to suit particular people. vermaajay1968@gmail.com Chandigarh, February 3 The Shiromani Akali Dal today said the Rs 6,000 per annum direct income support announced for farmers by the NDA government was too less. This happens to be the first reaction by the BJP ally on the Interim Budget. The SAD had recently expressed anger over alleged interference in Sikh affairs by the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, an RSS affiliate, and threatened to snap ties with the BJP. Having objected to an alleged bid by the Sangat to take over Sikh shrines, the party, though a constituent of the NDA, had not reacted to the Budget. Tough posturing by the Akali Dal, despite having received an assurance from the BJP chief that the RSS would not step on to Akali Dals turf, shows the issues between the allies might have been sorted out for now, but the peace could be conditional. SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal emphasised that the assured income support announced by the Modi government was too less. Punjab is different from other states and a minimum of Rs 12,000 per annum should have been announced. A delegation of Akali Dal MPs will meet the Finance Minister to request him to increase the income support, he said. The government should also extend the scheme to farm labourers, he added. He said BJP chief Amit Shah assured him at a meeting on Friday night that amendments made to the Takht Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib Board Nanded Act, 1956, would be repealed. Addressing reporters, the SAD chief declared that the two parties would contest the elections together. The seat arrangement (SAD 10, BJP three) would be the same, although discussions are on to evaluate the possibility of any change, he said. A meeting of the coordination committee would be held this week to sort out all issues, he said. Badal said the SAD core committee had also asked the Punjab Government to fulfil its moral obligation towards farmers and farm labourers by announcing a matching direct income support for them, as done by the Centre. TNS Waiver all across "PMs given Rs 10,000 crore to Nirav Modi, only Rs 7 per day to farmers. If Congress comes to power, it would waive farm loans, like in MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh"Rahul Gandhi, Cong president Phenomenal: Modi "Kisan Samman Nidhi is a phenomenal scheme. People sitting in AC rooms in Delhi do not know what Rs 6,000 means for poor farmer." Narendra Modi, Prime Minister rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, February 4 Union Home Minister Rajanth Singh has spoken to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to take stock of the situation in the wake of a CBI team being allegedly obstructed by the state police to grill the Kolkata Police commissioner in the Saradha ponzi scam case, officials said on Monday. The ministry has decided to deploy central forces at the official and residential premises of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in West Bengal and the MHA is now closely monitoring the situation, they said. The Home Ministry on Sunday evening received information that officers of the CBI in Kolkata had experienced intimidation and threat to personal safety in course of investigation into the Saradha scam being conducted under the directions of the Supreme Court, they said. Singh called up the Governor to be apprised of the facts of the unfortunate and unprecedented situation of CBI officers being manhandled, detained, intimidated and obstructed, the officials said. Tripathi told Singh that he had summoned the chief secretary and director general of police (DGP) and asked them to take immediate action to resolve the situation, according to the officials. Reports were also received that the residence of Joint Director of the CBI was surrounded by the Kolkata police, they said. PTI vermaajay1968@gmail.com Tribune News Service Srinagar/new delhi, Feb 3 Even as New Delhi expressed strong disapproval over his previous call to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday night called up another Kashmiri separatist leader, Syed Ali Geelani, and assured him of support for separatism. In a statement, Geelani said they discussed the volatile situation in Jammu and Kashmir and he also thanked Pakistan for its moral, political and diplomatic support. Geelani said Qureshi assured that Pakistan would continue to extend its political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris for their right to self-determination in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions. The two phone calls from Pakistani Foreign Minister to Kashmiri separatists have come at a time when Islamabad is preparing to observe Kashmir Day on Tuesday. On Wednesday, India had summoned Pakistan envoy Sohail Mahmood and told him that Qureshis conversation with Mirwaiz was a brazen attempt to subvert Indias unity and violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity. vermaajay1968@gmail.com Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 3 Fridays Mirage-2000 crash that left its two pilots dead has raised a question mark over future upgrades of the fighter jet being carried out by public sector giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. In all, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is slated to upgrade 110 Mirage and Jaguar jets. The killed pilots, Squadron leaders Samir Abrol and Sidhharth Negi, were attached to Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE). The two were on a test flight before the plane could be re-allocated to its squadron in the Air Force. The IAF and the Ministry of Defence are expected to review the progress of the upgrades shortly and new parameters are likely to be introduced on speeding up the programme, running years behind schedule, and also maintaining the quality. A court of inquiry has been launched. Of the 51 Mirage-2000 planes, only 11 have been upgraded so far. Dassault Aviation, the original manufacturer, upgraded four jetstwo at its own plant in France and the rest at the HAL headquarters. The contract with the HAL is to upgrade 47 Mirage-2000s. As of now, the programme is two years behinds schedule. The entire lot was to be upgraded by July 2021 and the deadline was rescheduled to December 2022. So far, the HAL has delivered 9 planes, including the two done by Dassault here. The crashed plane was the 10th upgraded by HAL and the 12th overall if the two done in France are counted. Going by the contract, by now 25 of the planes should have been upgraded and handed over to the IAF. The upgrade includes new Thales radar, allowing long-range engagement of targets in the air, automatic tracking of targets and mapping of targets on the ground. The pilots now have a display inside their helmets. A clutch of new weapons and beyond visual-range missiles is being added and kits for all the add-ons have been supplied. In case of Jaguar, a total of 61 are to be upgraded to what in military terminology is called Darin 3 standard. The contract was signed in 2009 but was largely in cold storage over the choice of its engine. The first plane in its final operational clearance (FOC) version should have been handed over in February this year and has not been handed over. The present pace would mean the upgrade of 61 jets would not be completed by 2024, the scheduled target. Jaguars are currently powered by Rolls-Royce Adour 811 engines, which are to be replaced with Honeywells F-125N. The new engines are supposed to provide almost 1.5 times the power of the existing ones. Speaking at a seminar in New Delhi last week, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa noted that a crucial contribution to all the successes of indigenisation was also the supreme sacrifice of IAFs pilots in testing these aircraft to battle-worthy standards. He said the IAF had lost 17 pilots and engineers in air accidents during the testing and evaluation of indigenous-prototyped aircraft. vermaajay1968@gmail.com Kolkata, February 3 An all-out war broke out between the Centre and the Mamata Banerjee government tonight, with the feisty West Bengal leader beginning a sit-in protest at a city landmark over the CBIs attempt to question the Kolkata police chief in connection with chit fund scams, insisting it stifled the spirit of Constitution and federalism. In a dramatic showdown with the BJP government, a furious Banerjee began a sit-in in front of the Metro Cinema to protest insults she faced at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, hours after a CBI team that had gone to question Rajeev Kumar was detained in a rare face-off between the police establishments of the Centre and the state. CBI sources said the agency would move the Supreme Court on Monday, claiming its probe in ponzi scams was being obstructed by the West Bengal government and the state police. Banerjee claimed the CBI knocked on the doors of Kumar without a search warrant. She alleged they want to impose President's rule in whatever states the opposition is in power. I can assure.... I am ready to die but I am not ready to bow down before the Modi government and we wont allow imposition of Emergency... please save India, save democracy, save the Constitution, she said. Banerjee asked all Opposition parties to unite to bring down the Modi government and, in a rare exhortation by a political leader, called upon personnel of security forces of the Centre and states, besides the Army, to condemn the attitude of the Modi government. The fast-paced development started unfolding as soon as a team of 40-odd agency officers arrived at Kumar's residence at Loudon Street in central Kolkata this afternoon, but they were stopped by sentries and officials. CBI joint director Pankaj Srivastava said the agencys officials had gone to question Kumar in chit fund scam cases and we would have rounded him up if he hadn't cooperated with us. According to the CBI, Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre who led a special investigation team of West Bengal Police probing the scams, needs to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he has not responded to notices to appear before the agency. A day earlier, the CBI claimed that Kumar had been absconding and being looked for in connection with Saradha and Rose Valley ponzi scam cases. As the CBI team landed at the city police chief's residence, a team of Kolkata Police officers rushed to the spot to speak to the CBI officials and tried to enquire if they had the documents required for questioning Kumar. Later on, a small team of CBI officials was taken to Shakespeare Sarani police station for further discussions. Thereafter, more men arrived at the spot and a commotion ensued. Some CBI officers were then forcibly bundled into police jeeps and taken to the police station. In a tit-for-tat move, a team of Kolkata Police also cordoned off the CGO Complex, the state headquarters of CBI. Later, central forces arrived at the CBI office in Kolkata. Subsequently, Kolkata Police personnel vacated the compound. PTI Opposition backs Didi uttara@tribuneindia.com Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 4 Under criticism for using the Central Bureau of Investigation to target opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party asked on Monday if it was wrong to investigate corruption allegations. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who addressed a press conference as opposition criticism mounted on the BJP-led Centre for allegedly misusing the agency to target rivals,called the grand alliance that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is apparently shepherding an opportunist and corrupt alliance that has now crossed limits of decency. Whats there (sic) in this police commissioner that Mamata Banerjee is sitting on a dharna to save him, when she kept quiet even when her top partymen were indicted and arrested in Ponzi scams, Prasad, a senior BJP leader, said. It seems he knows a lot and its important to save him. She seems to want to frustrate any attempts to conduct a fair investigation against this police officer. Mamata Banerjees on a dharna because she wants to project herself as the leader of this corrupt mahagathbandhan (grand alliance). Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has started this lowly idea of sitting on dharna, and now shes (Banerjee) taking it forward, he said. A row has erupted over CBIs attempts to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar over allegations in a chit fund scam. Kolkata Police briefly detained CBI officials who visited the city to question the police officer. Prasad claimed that the CBI went to Kolkata after the police officer ignored three summons, and mocked the police officers participated in the dharna. Commissioner-level officials are sitting on dharna, which shows where West Bengal is headed, he said. He accused Banerjee of being intimidated by the support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP has found in the state. Prasad also criticised the Congress party for its hypocrisy, saying that it was the Left and the Congress that had approached the Supreme Court to have the CBI investigate the Sarada chit fund allegations. In 2014, the Supreme Court asked the CBI to investigate the Sarada scam, and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had then supported them. The Narada and Sarada scams happened before the BJP came to power in the Centre. Investigation had already been ordered by the Supreme Court (before BJP assumed power), he said. monicakchauhan@gmail.com Kolkata, February 4 Union Minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar on Monday claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was on a dharna to save herself from the CBI. Banerjee began her sit-in protest at a city landmark on Sunday night over the CBIs attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, insisting it stifled the spirit of Constitution and federalism. In a dramatic showdown with the BJP government, the furious Trinamool Congress chief began the sit-in right in front of the Metro Cinema to protest insults she faced at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, hours after a CBI team that had gone to question Kumar was detained in a rare face-off between the police establishments of the Centre and the state. The West Bengal Chief Minister had on Sunday said that she would not attend the presentation of the state Budget at the Assembly on Monday and described the evolving situation an emergency. Hitting back, Javadekar, at a press conference here, said, This is not Narendra Modis emergency but Mamata Banerjees emergency in Bengal. She is on a dharna to save herself from the CBI. We would like to warn the TMC that we will fight against the emergency in Bengal. Indira Gandhi had also imposed Emergency in the country. We had fought her and defeated her. We would defeat the TMC also, he said. West Bengal Opposition party activists are being killed and being stopped from taking out rallies, the senior BJP leader alleged. Choppers of Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath and Smriti Irani were not allowed to land. Is this democracy? Is this not an emergency? She is abusing the Modi government, Javadekar said. He claimed that constitutional order has completely broken down in the state, but stopped short of demanding imposition of Presidents rule in West Bengal. We would say both law and order and constitutional order has completely broken down in the state. On whether the BJP would demand imposition of Presidents rule in the state, he replied, We wont say anything as of now. Wondering how come IPS officers in plain clothes can sit on a political dharna along with the Chief Minister, the senior BJP leader said CBI officers were stopped from doing their duty allegedly to protect the chit fund evidences in Kolkata police chiefs possession from falling into the hands of the federal probe agency. West Bengal Director-General of Police Virendra, State Security Adviser Surajit Kar Purkayastha, and Kumar were with Banerjee at the dharna site for sometime on Sunday night. Denying TMCs claims that the BJP was using the CBI to serve its own political purpose, Javadekar said, The CBI was investigating the chit fund cases as per the orders of the Supreme Court. PTI gspannu7@gmail.com Shiv Kumar Tribune News Service Mumbai, February 4 The Maharashtra Government on Monday formally decided to implement the ten per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in the general category, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told reporters here. Following the decision of the state Cabinet, 78 per cent of vacancies in government jobs and educational institutions in Maharashtra will come under various quotas. In addition to the 52 per cent reservation in educational institutions and government jobs which was already in existence in the state, the Maharashtra Government introduced a 16 per cent quota in government jobs and educational institutions for the Maratha community last year. According to Mungantiwar, the new quotas for the Marathas and those under the EWS categories will cover the recruitment exercise commenced by the Maharashtra Government. The state government has published advertisements to fill up 3914 vacancies in various departments in the first phase. Advertisements for the second phase of recruitments where 23,860 vacancies are to be filled will be issued in the next few weeks, according to state government sources. The Maharashtra Government has told the Bombay High Court which is hearing a petition challenging the 16 per cent reservation for the Maratha community that the recruitment process would take several months to complete. Filling up vacancies under various quotas would happen at the last stage, counsel for the state government told the court when the petitioners sought a stay on the recruitment process. rchopra@tribunemail.com Pune, February 4 Two people were injured in an attack by a leopard and another person got hurt after falling while trying to run away from the animal which entered a residential area in Pune district of Maharashtra on Monday, police said. The feline later fell into the duct of an under-construction building in Keshav Nagar area as it panicked when a large number of people gathered there, an official at Mundhwa police station said. Efforts were on to rescue the animal from the duct. Between 5 am and 6 am on Monday, the leopard was spotted in the area, which has several under-construction housing projects and is fairly populated. The animal attacked two people, including an old woman, causing injuries to them, the official said. Besides, one person received minor injuries when he fell down while trying to escape from the spot, he said. When several people gathered there, the leopard got frightened and fell into the duct of an under-construction building, the official said. Forest officials, police and fire brigade personnel were making all efforts to rescue the big cat, he said. All the injured persons were rushed to a nearby hospital, he added. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, February 4 The Union Home Ministry will examine the role of some IPS officers in the alleged obstruction put up against a CBI team probing the Saradha ponzi scam in Kolkata and whether they violated the service conduct rules while preventing questioning of city police commissioner Rajiv Kumar, officials said on Monday. The Union home ministry is the cadre-controlling authority of the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in the country. According to a ministry official, the MHA will seek report on the role of the IPS officers who allegedly obstructed the CBI probe and whether they violated the service conduct rules in Sundays episode in Kolkata. The Centre on Sunday evening received information that CBI officers in Kolkata had experienced intimidation and threat to personal safety in course of investigation into the Saradha scam being conducted under the directions of the Supreme Court. Reports were also received that the residence of a joint director of the CBI was surrounded by the Kolkata police, the ministry official said. Another official said that according to reports received by the home ministry, the CBI team was allegedly obstructed by the state police when they went to grill the Kolkata police chief in connection with the Saradha scam case. The ministry has deployed central forces at the CBI office and residential premises of the probe agency officials in the state and it is now closely monitoring the situation. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has already spoken to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi and took stock of the unprecedented situation that arose in Kolkata on Sunday, the official said. According to the CBI, IPS officer Rajiv Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal Police probing the ponzi scams, needs to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he has not responded to notices to appear before the agency. Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre, did not even attend a meeting with Election Commission officials who had gone to Kolkata to review election preparedness. In an unprecedented development, a number of CBI officers, who had gone to question Kumar in connection with chit fund scam cases on Sunday, were bundled into police jeeps, whisked to a police station and briefly detained. Hours after the incident, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee began a sit-in right in front of the Metro Cinema to protest against insults she faced at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and claimed the CBI knocked on the doors of Kumar without a search warrant. PTI monicakchauhan@gmail.com KV Prasad Tribune News Service New Delhi/Kolkata, February 4 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who began a sit-in protest over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit-fund scams, said on Monday she will continue her "Satyagraha" till the country and its Constitution are "saved". The Chief Minister skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on a makeshift dais here along with some senior ministers and party members. "This is a Satyagraha and I'll continue till the country is saved," Banerjee told reporters who accompanied her at the place of dharna. She said she was getting calls from politicians, including former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamalnath, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani. Asked if any of the leaders would arrive in the city to meet her, Banerjee said, "I've no idea about that. If someone wants to come, we will welcome them. This fight is not by my party. It is for my government". Several party supporters from different districts thronged the area shouting slogans in support of Banerjee. "We have come here in support of our beloved didi. We stand in support of her," said a supporter Poritosh Sengupta from Halisahar. In an unprecedented development on Sunday evening, Banerjee sat on a dharna, protesting CBI's attempt to quiz the Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit-fund scams. A CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and were whisked to a police station. The CBI wants to quiz Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal police probing the scams, regarding missing documents and files. Several political leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister M Chandrababu Naidu, R J D national president Lalu Prasad, came out in support of Banerjee. Gandhi called up Banerjee and extended support to her, saying the entire opposition is together and it will defeat the fascist forces. Meanwhile, the Opposition on Monday decided to step-up campaign in the CBI versus West Bengal government and would hold a meeting to draft a nation-wide action plan highlighting fall of constitutional institutions. Having sprung into action on Sunday evening by speaking to Opposition leaders, Andhra Chief Minister and TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu is arriving here to coordinate. Expressing solidarity with Banerjee, in a statement, he said everyone should condemn the incidents in West Bengal. Kolkata rally was successful. That's why these revengeful actions against Ms Banerjee. Court cases are being lifted off on those submitting to BJP, but new cases are being put on those opposing the BJP, Naidu said. Recently, cases were filed against Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati and now, revengeful action against Mamata Banerjee, he said adding that Centre-state relations have deteriorated completely. Meanwhile, the Opposition on Monday decided to step-up campaign in the CBI versus West Bengal government and would hold a meeting to draft a nation-wide action plan highlighting fall of constitutional institutions Having sprung into action on Sunday evening by speaking to Opposition leaders, Andhra Chief Minister and TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu is arriving here to coordinate. Expressing solidarity with Banerjee, in a statement, he said everyone should condemn the incidents in West Bengal. Kolkata rally was successful. That's why these revengeful actions against Ms Banerjee. Court cases are being lifted off on those submitting to BJP, but new cases are being put on those opposing the BJP, Naidu said. Recently, cases were filed against Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati and now, revengeful action against Mamata Banerjee, he said adding that Centre-state relations have deteriorated completely. With PTI inputs amansharma@tribunemail.com Georgetown, February 4 Fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi, a main defendant in Punjab National Bank fraud case, is still an Indian citizen despite holding an Antigua and Barbuda passport, an official said, adding the government is pushing for his extradition. Choksi, who is one of the key people accused of defrauding PNB of $2 billion, fled India before the accusations surfaced last year. Bringing Choksi back would be a boon for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he tries to bolster his anti-corruption credentials ahead of a general election due by May. Choksi, along with his nephew, diamond tycoon Nirav Modi, are accused of colluding with a handful of bankers to secure credit from overseas banks using fraudulent guarantees. Both have denied the allegations and have moved abroad. Choksi has secured a passport from Antigua and Barbuda, where wealthy foreigners can become citizens in exchange for investing in the country. But Indian officials still consider him an Indian citizen, Venkatachalam Mahalingam, the Indian High Commissioner to Guyana and Non-Resident High Commissioner to Antigua and Barbuda as well as St Kitts and Nevis, said in an interview in Georgetown last week. "He has not renounced his Indian citizenship. We have revoked his passport, but that does not mean we have revoked his citizenship. We must agree if someone wants to renounce their citizenship; we have not agreed," Mahalingam said. "You cannot commit some crime and run away from the country and (think) we'd allow you to renounce your citizenship. That would look really stupid." India in August lodged an extradition request, which Mahalingam said Choksi was fighting. If all sides agree Choksi is Indian, he could potentially be extradited from Antigua using a Commonwealth-based agreement. But his Antiguan citizenship complicates the situation even though India does not permit dual citizenship. "He is ... entitled to the protection any citizen of Antigua and Barbuda is," Lionel Hurst, the chief of staff for the Antiguan Prime Minister's Office, told India Today TV in September. Brought to justice In January, Hurst told India Today the struggle over Choksi now depended on Antiguan courts, and warned the case could last for a very long time. Choksi in November also filed an application to a Mumbai court refuting that he was a fugitive and blaming "persisting medical conditions" for preventing him from returning to India, court documents show. When asked whether Choksi remained an Indian citizen, Choksi's Mumbai-based lawyer Sanjay Abbot late last week confirmed that Choksi had surrendered his passport but directed questions on his citizenship to David Dorsett, a lawyer for Choksi in Antigua. Dorsett did not respond to a request for comment. In a separate case, the Indian government is pursuing businessman Jatin Mehta regarding fraud allegations at his company, Winsome Diamonds and Jewellery Ltd. India has requested that St. Kitts and Nevis, where Mehta is believed to be living, provisionally arrest him, Mahalingam said. "Once that is done, extradition request will follow," he added. Reuters was unable to contact Mehta. Officials in Antigua and Barbuda, as well as St. Kitts and Nevis, did not respond to requests for comment. Modi said recently any corruption suspect would face justice "regardless of whether he is in India or abroad". "Any person who has cheated or looted the country shall be brought to the justice," Modi said in a speech. Reuters gspannu7@gmail.com New Delhi, February 4 Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday complimented Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for his remarks that one who cannot take care of home, cannot manage the country, saying he has guts and should also comment on the Rafale deal, farmers distress and destruction of institutions. The Congress president cited a report quoting Gadkari as saying that party workers should first fulfil their domestic responsibilities as those who cannot do that cannot manage the country. Gadkari Ji, compliments. You are the only one in the BJP with some guts. Please also comment on: The Rafale scam and Anil Ambani, farmers distress and destruction of institutions, he tweeted and tagged with it the report on Gadkaris comments. Gadkari Ji, compliments! You are the only one in the BJP with some guts. Please also comment on: 1. The #RafaleScam & Anil Ambani 2. Farmers Distress 3. Destruction of Institutionshttps://t.co/x8BDj1Zloa Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 4, 2019 The union minister had made the remarks on Saturday while addressing former workers of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the BJPs student wing, in Nagpur. The Congress chiefs comments praising Gadkari came in the wake of various other Congress leaders lauding the union minister for his recent statements they view as a swipe at the BJP leadership. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari had last week lauded Gadkari for his remarks that leaders who fail to fulfil promises get beaten up by people, but at the same time took a swipe at him saying his target was Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his eyes were on the PMs chair. In December, Gadkari had said at an event in Pune that leadership should have the tendency to own up defeat and failures. The remarks had come days after the BJPs loss in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assembly polls. Incidentally, Rahul Gandhi was seen exchanging notes with Gadkari while being seated along with him in the front row at the Republic Day parade at Rajpath. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 4 The Supreme Court on Monday warned Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar of strict action if it was found that he tried to destroy evidence relating to Saradha chit fund scam case in West Bengal after the CBI said it apprehended destruction of electronic evidence. If the Police Commissioner is even remotely trying to destroy evidence, we will come down so heavily on him that he will regret, said a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta demanded urgent hearing citing apprehension of destruction of evidence. You (SG) show us evidence, it said. The Bench, however, turned down Mehtas request to take up CBIs plea against Kumar on Monday itself and instead posted it for hearing on Tuesday. The Bench, which also included Justice Sanjiv Khanna noted that there was no shred of evidence in the agencys applications about tampering with evidence. However, it said it was open for the CBI or any other party to produce any material/evidence on affidavits to show that any West Bengal civil or police official was trying to destroy evidence. Earlier, seeking urgent hearing of the issue, at the outset Mehta said an extraordinary situation had arisen after what happened yesterday in Kolkata. He alleged that CBI officials were arrested by the West Bengal Police when they went to Kumars residence for collection of evidence. He said the residence of CBI Joint Director (East) Pankaj Shrivastav was surrounded by the state police and his family was made hostage and even the CBI office at the CGO complex, Kolkata was under siege. Mehta said the Kolkata Police chief had not responded to the CBIs repeated summonses to join the probe and when our team reached to his residence, they were arrested. However, on being asked by the CJI he clarified that they were no longer under arrest. But he said FIRs were being registered by the state police against CBI officials on a regular basis. The CBI has filed two interim applications -- the first seeking a direction to Kolkata Police Commissioner to immediately surrender and refrain from tampering with evidence; and the second demanding initiation of contempt of court proceedings against him for allegedly obstructing probe into a case assigned to it by the top court. Mehta sought to highlight the fact that top police officials of West Bengal were sitting on a dharna with activists of a political party. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been sitting on a dharna since Sunday evening. Mehta said CBI officials wanted to approach the court last night itself but it was decided to wait till Monday morning for want of access to official records. When we drafted the interim applications yesterday, we did not have our records. It was under the siege of police. We got the records today only, he said. On behalf of Kumar, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi opposed the CBI plea, terming it a political witch-hunt. He said Kumar was not an accused and the Calcutta High Court had passed an order in his favour. ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 3 Despite the rising resistance against it, including from the JD(U) and allies from the North-East, the BJP says it remains firm on its stance on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and that a lot of thought has gone into it. Responding to queries at the Bharat ke mann ki baat, Modi ke saath an exercise to seek suggestions from 10 crore people across India to help the BJP prepare its manifesto party chief Amit Shah said every issue has two sides. Home Minister Rajnath Singh is talking to parties (to build consensus). The Bill has been brought after a lot of thinking, (and) we are firm on it, Shah said. It remains to be seen whether or not the contentious Bill can even be taken up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha although leaders say it is a promise the BJP made to the people in 2014 like a grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya to which it remains committed. This, despite the fact that BJPs Bihar ally JD(U) wants the Bill to be scrapped and even claims it has been slowed down following its protests. While the Asom Gana Parishad has already walked out, smaller allies like the National Peoples Party (NPP), Naga Peoples Front (NPF), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Mizo National Front are also opposed to the idea of religion-based citizenship. The Congress is expected to stick to its earlier stance, which is to send the contentious legislation to a select committee. The Bill is unlikely to make it through Parliament given the numbers in the Rajya Sabha and the time factor. And given the way numbers are stacked up in the Rajya Sabha against the ruling NDA, for the proposed legislation to fail, the grand old party will have to stay put in the House and participate in voting, unlike the Lok Sabha where it walked out at the time of the process. For the saffron party, the build-up on the Bill is important to make inroads into West Bengal and firm up Assam. For it, the issue is as important as the Ram Mandir. Organisations in the North-East, they say, may oppose what is being seen as a polarising law, but several parts of Assam and West Bengal have supported it. They claim Bengali Hindus also constitute a large section of the North-East that contributes around 25 seats to the Lok Sabha, of which BJP is aiming for at least 21 along with 23 from West Bengal. Suggestions invited for sankalp patra BJP chief Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday unveiled the Bharat ke mann ki baat, Modi ke saath a month-long exercise seeking suggestions from 10 crore people across the country to compile the sankalp patra (manifesto) for the LS elections The 12 focus areas on which suggestions have been invited include issues related to farmers and foreign policy. But there is no mention of Article 370 and Uniform Civil Code N-E filmmaker to return Padma Shri New Delhi: Fifteen-time National Award winner Manipuri filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma on Sunday announced he would return the Padma Shri over the contentious citizenship Bill. "The Bill is against the interest of the people of North-East and indigenous people of Manipur," Sharma said, adding Padma Shri was an honour and the best way to protest was by returning it. IANS vermaajay1968@gmail.com Ralegan Siddhi (Maha), Feb 3 Social activist Anna Hazare, whose indefinite hunger strike entered the fifth day on Sunday, warned that if the Narendra Modi government did not fulfil its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan. Earlier in the day, BJP ally Shiv Sena came out in Hazares support, urging him to emulate socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and lead an agitation against corruption. Hazare has been on a hunger strike since last Wednesday at his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Maharashtras Ahmednagar district, demanding appointments of Lokpal and Lokayuktas and resolution of farmers issue. If this government does not fulfil its promises made to the country in the next few days, I will return my Padma Bhushan, he said on Sunday evening. (The) Modi government has breached the faith of people. The 81-year-old was awarded the third-highest civilian honour of the country in 1992. Hazares demands include immediate appointment of anti-corruption ombudsmen Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states, implementation of Swaminathan Commissions recommendations for tackling agrarian distress and electoral reforms. In the morning, in support of the activists demands, a group of farmers and youths blocked the Ahmednagar-Pune highway at Supa village in Parner tehsil, 38 km from here. The police tried to pacify the protesters and asked them to end the blockade as vehicles had backed up for around six km on both sides, Supa police station inspector Rajendra Bhosale said. As many as 110 protesters were detained in the afternoon and released after the traffic resumed, Bhosale said. PTI/TNS rchopra@tribunemail.com Kolkata, February 4 Describing her sit-in over the CBIs attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief as a non-political protest, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said support had poured in for her from different quarters. The Chief Minister, who has been sitting on a dharna since 8.30 pm on Sunday on a makeshift dais at Metro Channel here, said she would continue her satyagraha till the country and its Constitution are saved. "Dharna will continue till Friday," Banerjee said on Monday evening. Banerjee also asked his party members to ensure that the protest was peaceful. The unprecedented development came after the CBIs attempt to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with multi-crore chit fund scams. The CBI team, which went to Kumars residence in the citys Loudon Street area on Sunday, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and whisked to a police station. Welcoming support for her dharna, Banerjee said, Its not a political programme. But all political parties can join us in our protest. Banerjee maintained that Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, DMK president MK Stalin and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti were among those who called up to express solidarity with her protest. The TMC chief on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a coup in the state. She alleged that National Security Adviser Ajit Doval was directing the CBI to harass political opponents, as per orders of the Prime Minister. Addressing her party workers, who raised slogans against Modi near her dais, Banerjee said, We want a peaceful demonstration. Please do not burn any effigies here. The dais displayed a banner saying Save the constitution, save the federal structure, save the police force, save the Indian Administrative Service and all ranks of civil service from disaster. The CM skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on the dais here along with some senior ministers and party members. Criticising reports that questioned the presence of senior police officers at the demonstration, Banerjee said, Its a programme of the government and thats why police officers are here. The TMC supremo had earlier said she would not attend the Assembly, where the state budget would be placed by Finance Minister Amit Mitra, on Monday. Prior to that, a cabinet meeting would be held inside a makeshift room set up behind the stage. Meanwhile, party workers hit the streets from morning in Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura, Burdwan East, Purulia, Birbhum and North 24 Parganas districts, officials said. Effigies of Modi and Shah were also burnt. In Howrah and Hooghly districts, TMC activists obstructed train movement while they put up blockades on national highway in Bankura district. Shouting slogans against the CBI, the TMC cadres vowed to continue their fight till the Narendra Modi government is defeated in the next Lok Sabha polls. Banerjee had also directed party leaders to organise protest marches across the state on Monday between 2 pm and 4 pm without inconveniencing the people. In a tweet, the CM had earlier asserted that the Kolkata Police Commissioner was among the best in the world and that his integrity, bravery and honesty are unquestioned. PTI vermaajay1968@gmail.com Ehsan Fazili Tribune News Service Srinagar, February 3 Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the government wanted to break the back of terrorism and would take all steps for a peaceful and prosperous Kashmir. After e-inaugurating several infrastructure and development projects for Kashmir and elsewhere, PM Modi said a peaceful atmosphere would help development and progress in the state. We want to break the back of terrorism in the state, he said at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre after inspecting the Dal lake here this afternoon. Modi said surgical strikes had shown to the world the new policy (neeti) and tradition (reeti) of the country in responding to acts of terror. He said it was painful to learn about the killing of youth in the state, particularly Kashmir valley, where the youth were being targeted by the (separatist) militants. Without referring to the separatists, he said the people of Kashmir, by participating in the urban local body and panchayat elections last year, had sent across a clear message to those believing in hatred and negativity. It was a clear message for them (separatists) as the people made clear their belief in the democratic process of the country, Modi said. He also referred to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayees dreams for Kashmir and added that his government would continue to fulfill the dreams for uplifting the trouble-torn state. He reiterated his slogan of Sab ka saath sab ka vikas for a prosperous Kashmir, saying that his government would continue to strive for that. Modi pointed out that his government had the distinction of completing projects on the ground, which had not been the practice of the previous government. During his rally in Vijaypur, Jammu, Modi talked about a very emotional issue of Kashmiri Pandits, saying he have been bearing the pain of their exodus. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Srinagar, February 3 Closed markets and deserted roads greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his arrival in Srinagar as Kashmir observed a shutdown on the call of separatists. The call for the shutdown was given by separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik as a mark of protest against Modis visit. While the shutdown hit normal life, the state suspended mobile internet service across the Valley to ensure that Modis visit passes off peacefully. An official said internet services were suspended as a precautionary measure around midnight. Shops, business establishments and fuel stations were shut and public transport was off the roads in Srinagar. However, some private vehicles plied on city roads. Some separatist leaders and a former MLA were placed under house arrest on Saturday. There were also reports of a shutdown in other district headquarters of the Valley. In Srinagar, the PMinaugurated and laid stones of developmental projects. He also inspected the Dal Lake and interacted with students from various states andnewly elected sarpanches. Many locals were, however, indifferent to the visit of the Prime Minister. Nothing changes for an ordinary Kashmiri whosoever visits the Valley, said Ali Mohammad, a vendor at Batamaloo. A police officer said the day passed peacefully. There were no reports of any untoward incident, he added. Meanwhile, the mobile internet was restored in the Valley on Sunday evening. editorial@tribune.com Arun Joshi Tribune News Service Jammu, February 3 Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his day-long visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, packaged his call for the victory in 2019 (polls) with a declaration for war on terrorism, clearly signalling the intensification of anti-terrorism operations in the state that witnessed killing of more than 250 militants last year alone. This strong message against terrorism also meant that the talks with terrorists and their political patrons were not on the Modi governments agenda. He has been drawing a lot of flak from the separatists, Peoples Democratic Party and other political groups for not talking to separatists and Pakistan, and former Chief Minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had even pitched for talks with militants, as they were sons of the soil. Significantly, this message came amid Pakistans open inciting of the separatists against India ahead of the London conference on the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir on Monday. It was for the first time that Prime Minister used such strong words against terrorism and terrorists from the soil of Kashmir since 2014 in a complete reversal of the theme of the reconciliation that marked his previous visits to Jammu and Kashmir. Modi declared war on terrorism in the state from the podium at Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre on the banks of Dal Lake this afternoon within a couple of hours after he pledged and sought a promise of victory in the 2019, the code that he used for the forthcoming parliamentary elections at a rally in Vijaypur, near Jammu. His speech at the Vijaypur rally was marked by his trademark attack on the Congress, and also contrasted that with profuse praise for the budgetary proposals for farmers. Todays visit was essentially development-oriented as the Prime Minister inaugurated and laid foundation stones of several projects aimed at expanding the education, healthcare and providing 24x7 electricity to all homes in the state. But the political messaging was too loud to be ignored in his speeches in all three regions Ladakh, Kashmir and Jammu that he visited on Sunday. His speeches were fulsome of praise for his government since 2014 and a bristling attack on the Congress and also an indictment of the coalition government that his party had propped up in alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party, for he conceded that many projects could not be undertaken during that period. Development has gathered pace in the state in the last seven-eight months, he said, referring to the works undertaken under the Governors rule and subsequently under the Presidents rule. The state had come under Governors rule in June last year, and he claimed that many languishing projects have been undertaken with a fixed deadline for completion. Modi was at his aggressive best when he mentioned surgical strikes (of September 2016) and a fight to finish terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. We are committed to fighting terrorism to the finish for we cannot allow terrorists to kill innocent people and their dreams, the Prime Minister said. Modi also connected the dreams of Kashmiri youths with India and equated terrorists with the killers of dreams. Prime Minister Narendra Modis strong message against terrorism also meant that the talks with terrorists and their political patrons were not on the Central governments agenda. He has been drawing a lot of flak from the separatists, PDP and other political groups for not talking to separatists and Pakistan. Significantly, this message came amid Pakistans open inciting of the separatists against India ahead of the London conference on the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir on Monday. "We are committed to fighting terrorism to the finish for we cannot allow terrorists to kill innocent people and their dreams." Narendra Modi, Prime Minister editorial@tribune.com Dinesh Manhotra & Amit Khajuria Tribune News Service Rakhbarotian (Vijaypur), Feb 3 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the Congress of befooling and cheating farmers in the name of loan waivers, saying the partys intention is always dubious in solving the problems of the farming community. Virtually launching the election campaign for the coming Lok Sabha polls from the Vijaypur area of Samba district after inaugurating various developmental projects for J&K, the PM, in his 36-minute speech, minced no words in attacking the arch-rival while highlighting the achievements of his own government. He said, The Vijay yatra will be starting from Vijaypur. The Congress only remembered farmers during the time of elections but after getting votes, the party shamelessly abandoned the farming community, the PM said, while recalling the Congresss promise of farm loan waiver on the eve of the 2008 Lok Sabha elections. As the Congress won the Assembly elections in three important states of Hindi heartland in December last year in the name of farmers, the PM made it a point to counter the oppositions campaign in favour of the farming community. Ten years ago, the Congress had promised loan waivers to the farmers. At that time, the outstanding debt was Rs 6-lakh crore. But after attaining power, they only waived debts worth Rs 52,000 crore. They befooled the farmers, he recalled, adding, The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, in its investigation, had found a scandal in the farm loan waiver. Loans of undeserving people were waived, fattening the pockets of middlemen. Realizing that there is strong anger among the people of the Jammu region against former BJP ministers in the previous government, Modi admitted that the Centre could not pursue various projects due to coalition compulsion. He, however, assured to accelerate developmental activities in J&K to ensure balanced and equitable development. The recent panchayat elections in J&K were a victory of democracy as 70 per cent people had exercised their right to franchise, he said and reiterated his governments commitment to strengthen democratic institutions in the state. Pointing out that enhancement in defence Budget was aimed at strengthening the security of the country, the PM asserted that terrorism in J&K would be dealt with an iron hand. Intensifying his tirade against the Congress for cheating every section of the society, Modi said while the previous government had tried to hoodwink one rank one pension with a grant of Rs 500 crore, we had allotted Rs 35,000 crore. He launched his attack on his arch-rival on the Kartarpur issue. The previous governments had the tendency to ignore the necessities and sentiments of the country. Take the Kartarpur corridor for instance. Had they paid attention, then the land of Guru Nanak Dev would have been a part of India, he added. Meanwhile, BJP leader Choudhary Lal Singh skipped the rally. "Ten years ago, the Congress had promised loan waivers to the farmers. At that time, the outstanding debt was Rs 6-lakh crore. But after attaining power, they only waived debts worth Rs 52,000 crore. They befooled the farmers. Loans of undeserving people were waived, fattening the pockets of middlemen." Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Warns Pakistan As the PM addressed the rally near the International Border, he made it a point to give a warning to Pakistan. Pointing a finger towards Pakistan, Modi said: Our forces are giving a befitting reply to the enemy. He said 14,000 bunkers had been built along the border. Strikes emotional chord The PM tried to strike an emotional chord with the people of the Jammu region by starting his speech in Dogri. He narrated some couplets of a famous Dogri song to hail the Dogra warriors. Modi also sought the blessings of Mata Vaishno Devi and Maa Bawe Wali. sanjiv@tribunemail.com Vijay C Roy in Chandigarh In December last year, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) released the first-ever state start-up rankings on the basis of the start-up policy framework formulated by the Central Government. The ranking framework measured and compared the results of the start-up initiatives and exercises undertaken by various state governments. The ranking was based on over three dozen action points divided across seven broad categories, including the states start-up policy and its implementation, incubation support, seed funding, angel and venture funding, simplification of regulations, easing public procurement, and awareness and outreach. On the basis of their performance in these categories, the states have been recognised as the best performer, top performers, leaders, aspiring leaders, emerging states, and beginners. A total of 27 states and three union territories participated in the exercise. Gujarat topped the list as the best performer. The top performers include Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha and Rajasthan, while states such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana were put in the leaders category. States identified as aspiring leadersinclude Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, while the emerging states category includes Assam, Delhi, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. Chandigarh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim and Tripura are at the bottom of the pile under the beginners category. Considering the rankings, except Rajasthan, none of the northern states were among the top performers. According to a government official, the objective of the rankings was to encourage the states and union territories to take proactive steps towards strengthening their respective start-up ecosystems. Experts cite lack of start-up ecosystems in the northern region as one of the prime reasons why these states are among the laggards. Punjab, which is known for entrepreneurship, is a notch above north-eastern states such as Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, which are ranked at the bottom as per the State Start-up Ranking Report. The government needs to play a proactive role in nurturing start-ups. While South India took the lead by launching the start-up policy, it was only in 2017 that the northern states realised its importance. Now, they have to create a congenial atmosphere so that new start-ups come up. So far, most of the incentives or benefits offered by the northern states are on paper only, said Pumpkart founder KS Bhatia. In the region, Himachal Pradesh took the lead by introducing the start-up policy in 2017. Later, Haryana unveiled its policy, followed by Punjab. Jammu & Kashmir introduced its start-up policy in September last year. Is a policy enough to promote start-ups? No. The start-ups are contending with a host of issues, including implementation of the policy. The lone Entrepreneur Development Cell in the region is not effective. Initially, we have to cope with hefty real estate rentals and lack of qualified manpower in this part of the country. Even if we overcome these odds, getting funding is a Herculean task in the region, said an entrepreneur who did not wish to be quoted. Punjab Additional Chief Secretary, Industries & Commerce, Vini Mahajan told The Tribune recently that having received feedback, the state government was going to intensify its efforts to boost the start-up ecosystem in the state. We are working with the industry, academia and industry bodies to develop the ecosystem and foster new ventures and help them grow. Taking a step forward, we have already signed an MoU for setting up a start-up hub in the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) incubation centre in Mohali. We are also supporting the Union Government in setting up a start-up centre in Amritsar, she added. In terms of start-ups registered with the DIPP, Punjab occupies the 20th place. Over 100 start-ups from Punjab are registered. Jammu & Kashmir has 63 start-ups, followed by Chandigarh (52). In Himachal Pradesh, there are 27 start-ups registered with the DIPP. At the number seven position nationwide, Haryana leads in the northern region with 710 start-ups as it enjoys the NCR advantage. Young entrepreneurs get start-ups registered with the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion to avail incentives offered by the Central Government. Over 60 per cent of the 14,500-odd start-ups in India are concentrated in five states Maharashtra (2,587), Karnataka (1,973), Delhi (1,833), Uttar Pradesh (1,129) and Telangana (748). These startups are from various sectors, including IT (information technology) services, healthcare, education, food, agriculture, renewable energy, and technology hardware. The Central Government launched the Start-up India Action Plan in January last year to promote budding entrepreneurs. The plan aims to give incentives such as tax holiday, an inspector raj-free regime and capital gains tax exemption. However, operators of start-ups complain that despite various measures taken by the Centre, the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities concerned, especially in small cities, is a major stumbling block. State-wise start-up rankings Best performer: Gujarat Top performers: Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Rajasthan Leaders: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, MP, Telangana Aspiring leaders: Haryana, HP, Jharkhand, UP, West Bengal Emerging states: Assam, Delhi, Goa, Punjab, J&K Gettysburg, PA (17325) Today Thunderstorms, some strong this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 67F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms, some strong this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 67F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. editorial@tribune.com Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service Dharamsala, February 3 Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY) has failed to pick up in Dharamsala. Initially, about 1,300 cases were approved under the scheme. Out of these, 320 cases have been rejected. Of the remaining 980 cases, just about 40 beneficiaries have received a grant of Rs 1.65 lakh for converting their kucha houses into pucca ones. Sources here said that the scheme has virtually failed in the Dharamsala Municipal Corporation area due to strict norms that were not feasible for a hill state like Himachal. The PMAY was launched by the Government of India under which a beneficiary got Rs 1.65 lakh for converting kucha house into pucca. Out of the said subsidy of Rs 1.65 lakh, Rs 1.5 lakh was given by the union government and Rs 15,000 was contributed by the state government. Under the norms, the land on which the house was to be construction should be free of any kind of construction. Besides, construction of just 30 square metres house is allowed under the scheme. The sources here said that in Himachal poor people who have kutcha houses do not have excess land on which a new construction can be raised. The only option for them to avail the benefit under the scheme was that they should first dismantle their kutcha houses and then construct a 30 sq m pucca house over the land. The sources said that many people have given up their sanctioned loan as they had nowhere to go in case they dismantle their kutcha houses. Some of the beneficiaries have also given up the loan as 30 sq meter house that would also include a bathroom would mean just about 5X5 m single room. This was too small for the families as their kutcha houses had two to three rooms. In some of the cases the people after being informed that their cases have been approved built the foundation from their own money. In such cases officials concerned raised objections saying that they had to show a clear plot to get their loan. The sources said that due to un-viability of the scheme in Himachal the Dharamsala Municipal Corporation authorities have requested the state government to change the norms of the schemes to make it more viable for the residents of Himachal. Some of the suggestions given by Municipal Corporation include increasing the area of house from the present 30 sq m. The sources said that changing this norm was within the preview of state government. The corporation authorities have requested the state government to take up the issue of change in norm with the union government for hill areas like Himachal. The sources said under Indira Awas Yojana the people were given grants up to Rs 75,000. uttara@tribuneindia.com Ravi S.Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 4 When Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar showed up at the Parliament Complex on Monday, he expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What he didnt expect is a waiting army of reporters and a volley of questions about an ongoing standoff between his partys government at the Centre and the West Bengal Government under its mercurial chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Khattars attempts to evade and break the tight flank of reporters proved pointless, and finallyhelpless without his usual security detail that acted as shieldhe was forced to face the press. His response, predictably, was along the same lines as that of his party: that Banerjees attempts at creating a constitutional crisis and the state polices treatment of the Central Bureau of Investigation were deplorable. The West-Bengal governments action of preventing an autonomous agency from discharging its official duties is most improper. The CBI is carrying out investigation in corruption case in the state as per the direction of the Supreme Court, Khattar said, adding people holding constitutional positions were expected to act with propriety. Haryana BJP president Subhash Barala and the newly elected party MLA from Jind Krishan Middha accompanied the chief minister in his Delhi visit, which Barnala said was a courtesy call after BJP won in the Jind by-election last week. West Bengal Police detained CBI officials who visited Kolkata to question Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar over Sharda Chit Fund scam allegations on Sunday evening, stirring a political storm and dividing the political spectrum. Like in the past, Banerjee and Opposition parties accused the BJP-led Centre of using the CBI to target rivals. Banerjee has currently holding a sit-in protest against the Centre to save democracy. The Centre has denied the allegation. uttara@tribuneindia.com Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 4 Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar on Monday ruled out simultaneous state and Lok Sabha elections. Khattars announcement came after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday. Lok Sabha elections will happen on its schedule, and state elections on its own schedule. There is no proposal to have these together, Khattar told reporter in the national capital. Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar said in a tweet later on Monday: Theyre lying & all elections in last 4 years starting from Panchayats, local bodies and 5 Corporations to recent Jind bye -elections is testimony to this. They delay for few months and suddenly make announcements, this is their Modus operandi to kill Democracy. General Elections is due April-May this year. Two BJP-ruled statesHaryana and Maharashtraare due for elections later this year, after the Lok Sabha elections. Khattars government will complete his five-year term around October. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has already indicated he isnt keen on the idea of simultaneous elections and that he wants to complete his term. amansharma@tribunemail.com Deepender Deswal Tribune News Service Hisar, February 4 In a shocking incident, a class-12 student was stabbed to death by his two-year junior at Government Senior Secondary School in Jandli Kalan village of Fatehabad district on Monday. The deceased has been identified as Bintu, 18, a resident of Jandli Kalan village. The assailant, a minor, too hailed from same village. The incident occurred on the school premises at around noon when a fight broke out between the two. The class-10 student who was allegedly carrying a knife in his school bag repeatedly attacked Bintu in his chest. The victim's brother, Raman, who is also student of the same school raised the alarm after which teachers rushed the spot. Fatehabad DSP Jagdish Kajla said the school staff took the victim student to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Bhuna town. The doctors referred him to the Medical College in Agroha town of Hisar district where he died during the treatment, the DSP said. He added that while the victim is above 18 years, the accused is juvenile. The DSP said initial investigation revealed that the two students had a fight some days ago. "They seem to be nursing a grudge against each other after the incident," he said, adding that Raman, the victim's brother, was witness to the crime. The police are registering a case in this connection while the accused student had still not taken been into custody, he added. harinder@tribunemail.com The crash of the multirole fighter Mirage 2000 as it was taking off in Bengaluru and the death of two intrepid test pilots has dealt a heavy blow to the Indian Air Force and the ambitious Make in India initiative. It has also knocked the wind out of the sails of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). What adds to the worries is the fact that the Mirage was freshly upgraded and serviced by HAL under a 2015 contract and was being test-flown by young ace pilots before its re-induction into the Air Force. The horrendous crash rate of MiG-21 dubbed flying coffins is still fresh in public memory. In recent months, there have been a slew of crashes, including a Jaguar aircraft, a MiG-29 and Sukhoi 30 MKI. Though the overall annual crash rate has come down after the induction of the British Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT), it hovers close to the red line, as the bulk of our air frames are, alarmingly, over two decades old. Some Sukhoi-30 squadrons are the exceptions. Mirage 2000 was first inducted into the force in 1984 and proved its worth during the Kargil War with its accurate bombing runs that snapped the Pakistani supply line to intruders on mountain-top fortifications. The Friday crash was the 11th such, bringing down the three-squadron fleet of the IAF to 48. In 2011, India had inked a $2.4-billion contract with the original manufacturers to upgrade the fleet. While two aircraft were upgraded in France, it fell upon HAL to pick up the baton for the rest. The probe will establish the actual cause, but prima facie HAL stands humbled in public perception. The spotlight is back on its technical capabilities. Several of its projects, including the Mirage upgrade, are trailing behind schedule. As imports often lead to political fracas which delays replacements, India must pump in funds to reduce foreign dependence. It speaks of our national security commitment when the IAF is expected to fix-and-fly refurbished planes. The make do approach comes at an exorbitant cost, of both man and machine. pardeepdhull@gmail.com New York, February 4 A 60-year-old Indian man has pleaded guilty for his role in a complex, transnational conspiracy to smuggle individuals from India to the US for profit, which claimed at least one life and endangered many others, the US Justice Department said. Yadvinder Singh Bhamba pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy and 15 counts of smuggling aliens to the United States for profit before US Magistrate Judge Sivia Carreno-Coll of the District of Puerto Rico. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April. According to admissions in Bhambas plea agreement, since 2013, Bhamba had a leadership role in a human smuggling conspiracy operating out of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, India and elsewhere. As part of the conspiracy, Bhamba personally assisted around 400 people to unlawfully enter the United States between 2013 and 2015. He also oversaw and directed co-conspirators operating out of the Caribbean, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division said. Individuals paid between USD 30,000 and USD 85,000 to be smuggled from India to the United States and from at least 2013 to 2016, human smuggling was Bhambas primary source of income, the Department said. Bhamba was arrested in the Dominican Republic in August 2017, and later transferred to Puerto Rico. Bhamba and other members of the conspiracy made flight arrangements for people to travel from India through other countries, including Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Iran, Panama, Venezuela, Belize, and Haiti, to the Dominican Republic, which was used as a staging area, where aliens were housed before being transported to the United States. The organisation brought groups of aliens from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico or Florida by boat and from there they were picked up by co-conspirators and taken to stash houses until flights could be arranged to California, New York, or elsewhere in the United States. Bhamba and others arranged for fraudulent identifications for some aliens to use in the United States. The Justice Department said that the boat trips organised by Bhamba and his co-conspirators were perilous. Boat captains used old, damaged, cracked, unlicensed, overcrowded, and unsafe boats to make the journey. In at least one instance, a person died in a boat on his way to the United States. At times, the smugglers would take passports from the aliens during their journeys, physically assault them, and threaten their families to collect money. Bhamba used fraudulent Indian, Dominican, and Jamaican identifications for travel and financial transactions related to the conspiracy. In some instances, he created and provided false employment documents on behalf of the aliens to authorities to obtain foreign visas. Bhamba also instructed aliens travelling through foreign airports how to find, and in some instances, pay cash to, corrupt immigration officials, passport control officers, or airport employees in order to bypass regular immigration and passport control procedures. PTI Prem Chowdhry Prem Chowdhry Author and academic, Delhi University THERE are only 11.8 per cent women members in the current Lok Sabha and 9 per cent in the state Assemblies with Mizoram and Nagaland having none. In contrast, Indias neighbours Nepal and Bangladesh have 32.8 and 20 per cent representation of women, respectively, in their Legislative Parliament, according to the Women in Politics 2017 map brought out by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women. India ranks 20th from the bottom in terms of representation of women in Parliament. There is a rising demand from the National Association for Womens Reservation Bill and other organisations that the NDA government bring in this long-awaited Bill. This is also a reminder to the BJP-led dispensation that it is obliged to fulfil its election promise of 50 per cent reservation, not 33 per cent, for women. Before this demand could be addressed, the BJPs attention got diverted to the passage of the Bill to provide quota to the poor upper castes 10 per cent reservation in jobs and education to the economically poorer sections of society in the general category. The BJPs justification was that the government was attempting to build consensus among the political parties for the passage of the Womens Reservation Bill. The participation of women is crucially related to political consciousness and political activism and also to their involvement in the decision-making process. Most delayed Bill The Womens Reservation Bill or The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill is one of the longest pending legislations in Parliament. It has been introduced in Parliament several times since 1996, but its status remains undecided primarily due to lack of political consensus. Dr Ranjana Kumari, Director at the Centre for Social Research, has rightly called it the most delayed Bill in the history of India. However, the politicians have increased their outreach to women, having recognised that womens participation and work in political parties is becoming more crucial to the success of the party, especially in getting female votes. Three largest parties in India the BJP, the Congress and the Communist Party of India have fully functional womens wings, namely the Mahila Morcha (BJP), the All India Mahila Congress and the National Federation of Indian Women (CPI). This involvement of women in political parties has been instrumental in their increasingly articulated demand for equal rights and participation in decision-making. Flawed arguments This demand has hardly evoked enthusiasm from male politicians. The main argument against the Bill, voiced by several male MPs, is that it would benefit only women from the privileged strata of society, so it is advocated that there should be 33 per cent reservation within the womens category for those belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes; now, we may add 10 per cent from the general category as well. It is further pointed out that the Bill would only help female relatives of current politicians to enter public space and thereby defeat the purpose of the Bill. According to them, women in modern India do not need reservation. Reservation, if need be, should only be at the level of distribution of the party ticket. Although it is acknowledged that nepotism exists, it exists regardless of gender. Most male politicians are relatives of others or the ticket is distributed on the basis of caste and community considerations. It is also claimed that women are not winnable candidates. However, Tara Krishnaswamy, a civic activist and convener of an initiative to bring more women into electoral politics, has quoted the Election Commissions statistics about women candidates winning at a rate 3 to 20 per cent greater than that of their male counterparts. Fresh perspective Women bring a fresh perspective to policy-making because of their being rooted firmly in the family structure and having experienced discrimination and injustice from childhood itself. Numerous articles on panchayats show that women leaders prioritise health, education and sanitation and deliver better projects with less corruption. A UN study of more than 4,000 Assembly constituencies from 1992 to 2012 showed that women-led constituencies experienced 15 per cent more economic growth and contributed 1.8 per cent more per year to the GDP. In terms of qualification also, 53 per cent of the women candidates in India are graduates as against 48 per cent men. The Indian republic had started its journey with the ideals of liberty, equality and justice. The significant indicators of the status of women in society are political participation and say in the decision-making bodies. Womens dream of being equal citizens, however, remains unfulfilled. If women are not included in the political process, it may result in politics reflecting only the male perspective. It may also lead to the allocation of resources and decisions which may not be in the best interest of women. It is high time we rectify this anomaly and make women equal partners in nation-building. Subir Roy Subir Roy Senior economic analyst Every Budget has a political context and the 2019 interim one is no exception. The ruling NDA is looking at the prospect of failing to get an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections due in a few months, a sharp reversal from the large majority it had secured in 2014. The Opposition is in a resurgent mood, regional parties (SP and BSP) have tied up for crucial UP and no one can call a reborn Rahul Gandhi Pappu anymore. In this scenario, Narendra Modi could be expected to go the full political hog and has lived up to that expectation. First, the Budget seems to have breached convention by proposing major changes in tax laws, which an interim Budget does not. Second, it has done two things in one go offered goodies to virtually every section of the electorate and simultaneously appearing to retain fiscal prudence. The goodies come in the form of income support for farmers with small landholdings, a pension scheme for the workers in the unorganised sector with low incomes, and several measures to benefit the middle class increase in the limits for rebates, standard deduction and the TDS threshold for interest income. But this will not upset the fiscal balance. The fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP has been projected for 2019-20 at the same 3.4 per cent as in the revised estimates for 2018-19. This key ratio, indeed, remained within the Budget estimates for three years (from 2014-15 to 2016-17), but exceeded it in 2017-18 (Budget estimate versus actuals) as also in 2018-19. How will staying within limits in 2019-20 be achieved? Corporation tax and income tax revenue are projected to go up by far more than they are expected to do in the current year (Budget estimate versus revised estimate). The difference in the case of income tax is, in fact, huge. In 2018-19, the Budget and revised estimates for income tax collection are likely to remain the same, but in the coming year the revenue is expected to go up by a massive 17 per cent over the revised estimates for 2018-19. There are many ways of fudging the fiscal deficit, outlined by the CAG. One of them is by not passing on to public sector enterprises what is due to them within the financial year, notably in the case of the Food Corporation of India. Take the loss-making public sector banks. Instead of recapitalising them, the government has gone in for merging loss-making ones with profitable ones and also got one particular bank in the red to be taken over by the LIC. If this is the way the interim Budget has managed to keep the fiscal deficit in check, what is it laying up in store for the final Budget to be placed later on in the year by whichever formation comes to power? The new government, by all accounts, will have a first-class fiscal problem on its hands. It is not as if any of the key political formations are different from the others. Just before the interim Budget, Rahul Gandhi promised an income guarantee scheme. Now the NDA has come up with its income support scheme for farmers. These are very big-ticket items, resources for which will be hard to find while keeping the fiscal deficit in check. What is fascinating is that the NDA under Modi had over the first few years of its tenure tried to abide by the fiscal balance dharma, symbolised by the refusal to go in for farm loan waiver, and succeeded. The Congress, on the other hand, has announced farm loan waivers immediately on coming to power in the three Hindi belt states. Clearly, the Assembly election upsets have made the NDA government change its approach. What is disappointing is that there is little in the interim Budget which addresses the root cause of the two most critical problems facing the economy rural distress and lack of jobs. Not only is the income support scheme for farmers with small landholdings poorer than the schemes in the same genre announced by Telangana and Odisha (farmers organisations have described the Rs 6,000 promised as a pittance), but also there is nothing in the Budget to address the condition of tenant farmers and agricultural labourers who form the core of rural poverty. Additionally, there is no attempt to address the market inefficiencies which have led to farmers not getting a proper price. The main reason for not announcing things that really matter in addressing rural distress (income support is no substitute for adequate market prices) is that the NDA government does not have a sense of the farm crisis. It woke up to the issue once farmers demonstrations hit the streets. As for the job crisis, when the issue of the missing jobs that were promised first began to surface in public debate, it was argued that the jobs were there, but the numbers that say so were hard to find. Now we know that the report of a nationwide statistical exercise, which found unemployment at a historical high, has simply not been released. George Orwell, in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, depicting a dystopia fashioned in the light of the excesses of the Soviet Union under Stalin, spoke of people who disappeared being unpersoned. In India, we are seeing official statistics being unnumbered. Again, negative statistics cannot be suppressed beyond a point. When the truth is out, the government of the day, after the next elections, will have to come to terms with it and pay for the populist sins of the political class across the board. editorial@tribune.com Ambala, February 3 The Ambala police have booked two men for duping youths of Rs 12 lakh on the pretext of getting them employed in the Indian Army. The suspects have been identified as KB Thapa and Narang Thapa, both residents of Nepal. Padam Bhandari, a resident of Nepal, alleged that Narang Thapa, who runs a guest house in Nepal, had told him that the recruitment in the Indian Army was on and his friend KB Thapa was a Colonel in the 14th Gorkha regiment, who could arrange a job for him in the Indian Army. Thapa alleged that nearly two-and-a-half-months ago, Narang, along with Prakash Sharma and Ashish, reached Ambala Cantonment, where KB Thapa met them and he introduced himself as a Colonel. He assured them that since he had good connections, he would help them get jobs, for which he would charge Rs 2.50 lakh per candidate. They were also given a training letter of the Gorkha Regiment and an army uniform kit. Three more youths from their village Sanju, Robin, and Nirmal were also called by the suspects. Padam claimed that on failing to to fulfil their promise, the suspects refused to return money. TNS editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 3 Five persons, including a 12-year-old child, received burn injuries after an LPG cylinder caught fire at a house in Dhanas village here this morning. The gas that had accumulated in the room led to a blast. A total of five persons identified as Ram Singh (36), his wife Rashmi (26), mother Sona Devi (50) and two neighbours, Santosh Das (19) and Zharkhandi Das (12), received burn injuries. The police said information was received that there is a cylinder blast near Shama Dhaba, village Dhanas. The police reached the spot and found that the incident took place in room no 32 on the first floor of the building number 149. The police said Ram Singh changed the cylinder in the morning after which he was unable to fix the regulator, following which he called his neighbour Santosh. Santosh fixed the regulator. However, gas continued to leak, which went unnoticed. When Rashmi lighted a matchstick to cook the food, the cylinder caught fire. The gas accumulated in the room led to a blast. People immediately informed the police after which the injured persons were rushed to the PGI, where they are undergoing treatment. The police said Ram Singh received more burn injuries. A DDR has been lodged at the Sarangpur police station. rchopra@tribunemail.com Mumbai, February 4 The rupee on Monday depreciated by 48 paise to 71.73 in early trade on the forex market ahead of the Reserve Bank of Indias policy review meet and lower opening in domestic equity market. Forex traders said strengthening of the US dollar against some currencies overseas weighed on the local unit. However, easing crude prices and fresh foreign fund inflows capped the losses for the domestic unit. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened on a weak note at 71.57 then fell further to 71.73 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 48 paise over its previous closing. On Friday, the rupee had settled 17 paise lower at 71.25 against the US dollar. Forex traders said sentiments were muted ahead of the next meeting of the RBIs Monetary Policy Committee scheduled between February 5 and 7. Foreign funds bought shares worth Rs 1,315.89 crore from the capital markets on a net basis on Friday, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 5.07 crore, provisional data showed. The global benchmark, brent crude oil, was trading at USD 62.73 per barrel, lower by 0.03 per cent. Meanwhile, domestic equity market opened on a lower note. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex, was trading at 35,368.12, down 101.31 points in early trade. The wide-based Nifty was also trading down by 32.25 points at 10,861.40. PTI editorial@tribune.com Sukhmeet Bhasin Tribune News Service Bathinda, February 3 Power Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar on Sunday visited Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, Bathinda, to explore the possibility of conversion of one of the plants units into a biomass-fed one. He said around 60 to 62 MW power could be generated at an investment of approx Rs 120 to Rs 150 crore. A team of GNDTP engineers explained that the unit can be converted to rice straw (stubble) fed unit. The boiler needs to be replaced whereas the other major equipments like turbine, generator and other major auxiliaries can be reutilised, resulting in fruitful utilization of the existing infrastructure which has been used for 100 days only. Moreover, the minister said the cost of generation from the proposed plant will be very less as compared to the power purchased from private biomass power plants. This seems to be a cost-effective solution to meet the non solar renewable energy power target set by the ministry of power and renewable energy notified by the state government as well. Kangar claims that this will also help curb the menace of pollution due to burning of paddy straw in the open fields and it will also help in preserving soil fertility. Further, he said the project will attract an investment of Rs 100 crore in the farm sector and will result in direct and indirect generation of employment to the youth. It is pertinent to mention that the plant was shut down on December 31, 2017. After 11 months PSPCL had decided to run a 60-65 MW paddy straw-based power plant at a cost of Rs 150 crore in one unit. PSPCL has also cleared another project of 100 MW solar power project on 250 acres of land of the thermal plant which was used to dump fly ash within this complex. Sources said the proposal for straw-based power plant had been cleared after the feasibility study by Denmark-based Biomass Company Babcock and Wilcox (B&W) Volund. Even a few months back a team of a company from Denmark had also visited the GNDTP regarding this biomass power plant. Mark Bennett has reported and analyzed news from the Wabash Valley and beyond since Larry Bird wore Sycamore blue. That role with the Tribune-Star has taken him from Rome to Alaska and many points in between, but Terre Haute suits him best. Follow Mark Bennett 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 Gerald Kirkham, 88, of Terre Haute, passed away Friday, June 18, 2021 in Terre Haute Regional Hospital. Gerald was born in New Goshen on June 9, 1933 to Cecil Kirkham and Fay Lake Kirkham. He was a member of the Lutheran Church and member of the American Legion in Sellersburg, IN. He was an Johnstown, PA (15901) Today Periods of rain. Low 57F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch.. Tonight Periods of rain. Low 57F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch. Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian. He can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian.com, facebook.com/jeffreyedelstein and @jeffedelstein on Twitter. Hey Long Beach, Its me, Jesse! And today Id like you to come with me on a historical excursion across the city in search of fun and interesting historical landmarks. Join me as I explore the last remaining remnants of... Racism Northam black-face ridicule and inspection should extend to the U.S. nasty N-word @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. This is both a blessing and curse. The thrift stores never saw it coming. As soon as Netflix cleverly launched "Tidying up with Marie Kondo" on New Year's Day, when everyone was feeling most untidy, it struck a nerve with viewers. Over the past month, thrift stores the world over have been inundated with donations of clothes, books, and home furnishings that have failed the notorious "spark joy" test. While the uptick in donations can't be linked definitively to the Kondo effect, it does offer a solid explanation for the surplus of stuff coming in at a usually slow time of year. Combined with the U.S. government shutdown, which gave many federal employees the time to comb through their closets, it's safe to say that conditions were perfect. Ravenswood Used Bookstore in Chicago said it received a month's worth of donations in two days and attributed it to Kondo's show. They posted on Facebook, "The good news is, we have a LOT of new books. The bad news is, we need a nap! Phew!" Beacon's Closet in New York City said it usually doesn't get a lot of donation in January because the weather is cold and people don't want to bother. But this year has been different, according to store manager Leah Giampietro. She told CNN: "[There] have been really large bags. Ikea bags, suitcases or garbage bags. It's really hard to estimate the amount but it has been a ton of stuff, but I can say thousands of pieces a day." Goodwills in the D.C. area said donations were up 66 percent over last year in the first week of 2019, and one location saw a 372 percent increase. Photos circulated around the Internet of cars lining up to drop off donations. On the other side of the world, thrift stores in Australia are struggling to cope with the deluge. One charity, Lifeline, is begging people to stop dumping goods outside of donation bins that are already overflowing; these items are considered contaminated and cannot be resold, no matter how they look. They must go to landfill, which already costs Australian charities $13 million per year, due in large part to the number of broken and damaged goods that are donated. It's both a blessing and curse to these stores, many of which have been struggling to stay afloat in recent years. CityLab calls it "a weird time for thrift stores" and calls them a "dying breed." They have trouble competing with fast fashion outlets, which sell clothes for dirt-cheap, and yet are inundated with donations because people don't keep these cheap clothes for long. Now employees are witnessing people thanking their belongings when handing them over, which is something that Kondo teaches. CityLab analyzes this behavior: "Marie Kondo reminds people to acknowledge that inherent value; and at least starts to challenge them to think more about where its second life should begin. Partly, this is the great irony of her theory of austerity: Decluttering is what happens after youve accumulated mountains of goods, and its most freeing when you know you can replace whatever, if you really need or want to. Its as much a product of the fast-fashion moment as a reaction to it." Donations, however, are only the first part of a thrift store's business model. It also relies on people who are willing to shop second-hand in order to move all that product. I have a niggling suspicion that the decluttering impetus we're seeing these days is less about environmentalism and reducing one's footprint than it is about the aesthetic of minimalism and participating in a fad (albeit a fairly sensible one). It seems like a stretch to imagine that the same people queuing up to drop off dozens of bags of clothing are going to head back to Goodwill when it comes time for a wardrobe update. But who knows? Hopefully I'm wrong. At the very least, the dedicated thrifters like myself are in for a treat over the next few months, once these goods are sorted and priced! The award-winning Royal Cliff Hotels Group has recently welcomed back the Racing Pigeon International Association (RPIA) for their royal trophy ceremony and the Pattaya International Pigeon Race (PIPR) Auctions 2019 at the newly revamped Royal Summit Chamber of the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel. (TRAVPR.COM) THAILAND - February 4th, 2019 - Pattaya, Thailand The award-winning Royal Cliff Hotels Group has recently welcomed back the Racing Pigeon International Association (RPIA) for their royal trophy ceremony and the Pattaya International Pigeon Race (PIPR) Auctions 2019 at the newly revamped Royal Summit Chamber of the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel. The first 330-kilometer race was launched at Buayai, Korat. The competition included races covering a distance of 430 and 530 kilometers, where the pigeons were released from Khon Kaen and Udon Thani and the race finished in Pattaya. The competition has sent out a total of 3230 pigeons and has drawn attention from more than 400 pigeon fanciers from 27 nations across the world including Mr. Dhanin Chearavanont, the Chairman of Charoen Pokphand Group, who joined the event. Pattaya International Pigeon Race (PIPR) is held annually by the Racing Pigeon International Association (RPIA) since 2016. Numerous pigeons are released from their cages to race a significant distance which was well-received by both Thai and foreign pigeon enthusiasts. This year, winners get the chance to win up to 25 million baht and a brand new Luxury car. A unique meeting destination that is set in a stunning location with breath-taking ocean views, the Royal Cliff Hotels Group along with Pattaya Exhibition And Convention Hall (PEACH) is one of Asia's premier resort - convention destinations that provide complete versatility as a convenient 'one-stop convention solution' for any meeting needs. With over 13,000 sq.m of available meeting space, it offers modern facilities, professional services and technical support to successfully host a wide variety of engagements such as international conferences, exhibitions, product launches and banquets. Want to hold your next event at the Royal Cliff and PEACH? Request for a proposal by contacting our Sales Managers at (+66) 38 250 421 Ext: 2845 or emailing: success@royalcliff.com Let us make your events extraordinary. For more information on the Royal Cliff Hotels Group and Pattaya Exhibition And Convention Hall (PEACH), please visit www.royalcliff.com and www.peachthailand.com. ### Gamasutra is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726. Gone are the days when SUVs were just spacious vehicles with a basic engine that just about did its job. SUVs are now replacing sedans in almost all the aspects. The big vehicles are now refined, have better on-road driving manners, and come loaded with features and equipment. A lot of automakers have also been getting into performance SUVs lately. The latest entrant to that niche is Hyundai with its upcoming Tucson N. The Tucson N will hit the roads in about two years and will come on the back of 340 ponies. Hyundai Has Ambitious Plans For the 2021 Tucson N Last year, Auto Express quoted Hyundais global head as saying that a Tucson N is under development. The publication has now confirmed the same and says that Hyundai is working on the SUV and we can expect to see it by 2021. Hyundai has been giving a lot of work to the N division. The South Korean automaker has already revealed the Veloster N and the Elantra GT N Line debuted at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show last month. After working on two hot hatches, it looks like Hyundai wants to up the ante by N-fying the Tucson. Auto Express says that the performance division engineers are aiming for a 0 - 62 mph time of under six seconds for the Tucson N. The Veloster N manages to touch the same speed in 5.2 seconds with merely 275 horses. You may wonder then why is Hyundai not shooting for a time under five seconds since the Tucson will have 340 horses? Well, thats because the Tucson N is expected to weigh 800 pounds more than its hatchback sibling. And, since the Tucson N will become the torch-bearer of the N division, it will come with changes in the mechanical department, like a completely re-tuned chassis, stiffer springs, more reactive dampers, and thicker anti-roll bars. Tucson Aiming For The Stars Hyundai does not want to swim in the pool with other mass car manufacturers like Ford. With the N division, it wants to dive into the ocean that consists of whales and sharks like Audis, BMWs, and Mercedes'. To put things into perspective, the Audi SQ5 gets to 60 miles per hour from a standstill in 5.1 seconds with 369 horses under the hood. The Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 makes the same sprint in 4.8 seconds with 362 ponies powering the beast. BMW will soon be coming up with X3 M that could come riding on 400 to 450 horses and will most likely be the fastest of the lot. Tucsons Immediate Rivals Will Be Blown Out Of The Water But coming back to reality, Hyundai will pit the Tucson N against old rivals - the Ford Escape that comes with 245 horses, the Toyota RAV4 riding on 203 ponies, and the crowd-popular Mazda CX-5 that has 187 horsepower. Until these brands come up with faster SUVs, the South Korean beast will slaughter them all with its 340 horses. Auto Express said that the Tucson N will arrive "towards the end of the current model's lifecycle." Given the cars history, the Tucson gets updated every five years. The current generation has been around since 2016, so we could see the Tucson N in 2020 or 2021, the latter seeming more likely. It is surprising that the Tucson N will be built on a generation that is being phased out from the standard Tucson. About the 2019 Hyundai Tucson The standard Tucson comes with two engine options - a 2.0-liter unit that churns out 164 horses and 151 pound-feet of torque and a 2.4-liter naturally aspirated engine that produces 181 ponies and 175 pound-feet of torque. Both engines are mated to a lethargic, six-speed automatic transmission. The Tucson comes with a starting price tag of $22,500, so you can expect the Tucson N to be priced somewhere in the vicinity of double of $40,000. Other than the aforementioned SUVs, Hyundai will also go against the likes of the Cupra Ateca and the Volkswagen T-Roc R as well. Final Thoughts Hyundai will actually be rolling out the i20 N in 2020; ahead of the Tucson N. This hatch will have at least 250 horses under the belt and will take on the Ford Fiesta ST and the Volkswagen Polo GTI. What are your thoughts on Hyundai going berserk by hooking its cars on steroids and slapping them with an N tag? Share them with us in the comments section below. Further reading Read our full review on the 2019 Hyundai Tucson. Read our full review on the 2019 Hyundai Veloster N. Read our full review on the 2018 Hyundai i30 N. Source: Auto Express A four-year-old girl is in critical condition after police say she was shot in Kansas City, Missouri. Officers were called to a house in the 3800 block of College just after 11:00 p.m. on a shooting. When they arrived they found a four-year-old girl with a gunshot wound. Two shot, one killed at 19th and Vine in KC KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Two people were shot, including one fatally, shortly before 2 a.m. on Sunday near 19th and Vine streets. Kansas City, Missouri, police were called to the area to investigate the sound of shots and located a victim in a vehicle who was deceased. More than a dozen people witnessed this spate of local gunfire . . . So far nobody has said anything, on the bright side, this photo related to the case has emerged. Take a look: (Image credit: Nvidia) 3DMark today updated its Port Royal benchmark, which is used to quantify performance in ray tracing-enabled graphics cards, with support for Nvidias Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) tech. Nvidia commemorated the occasion with a new GeForce Game Ready driver made to offer optimum performance in Port Royal. The GeForce Game Ready 418.81 WHQL driver also introduces support for the RTX-equipped laptops that are starting to debut. But the focus is very much on how Port Royal highlights the performance of RTX graphics cards. Nvidia published a separate blog post today, comparing the benchmark results for various RTX cards at 1440p with DLSS enabled or disabled, showing frame rate increases of over 10 frames per second in some cases and indicating that each of the companys RTX graphics cards benefit from DLSS. Image 1 of 2 Image 2 of 2 Album credit: Nvidia The gains vary from card to card. Nvidia reported the slightest performance gains with the RTX 2080 Ti and the highest gains with the RTX 2060. The smallest gain was around 40 percent, and the highest was 50 percent. We havent verified these results for ourselves, though, so we cant speak to their veracity. Nor can we speak directly to Nvidias claims that anti-aliasing is improved, detail is sharper and game elements seen through transparent surfaces are vastly improved when Port Royal is run with DLSS enabled. Nvidia has published comparison images of Port Royal running with DLSS enabled and disabled on its website. Its explained the steps youll need to take to run the benchmark yourself too, if you shelled out for an RTX graphics card and want quantifiable proof that youre actually getting better graphics. (Image credit: michelmond/Shutterstock) The cryptocurrency bust might affect Nvidias financials more than the companys let on. RBC analyst Mitch Steves reportedly warned investors that Nvidia severely underestimated revenues from crypto-related sales between April 2017 and July 2018. Nvidia reported that it generated $602/461 million in revenue from sales related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies in that time period. According to Steves, however, that figure should be closer to $1.95/1.49 billion. That's a discrepancy of over $1 billion. Steves is said to have pegged the total crypto-related revenue for that period to be around $2.75/2.11 billion. He then estimated that Nvidia captured 75 percent of the market, with AMD getting the rest. That would mean Nvidia made $1.95/1.49 billion in that period (at least from crypto), while AMD made about $234/179 million. AMDs guidance supports those figures, with Business Insider noting that the company implied it had crypto exposure of $234/179 million in the first quarter of 2018, which roughly matches the 25 percent of the total crypto revenue," citing Steves. There is a mother of a caveat though. Steves believes these numbers cant actually be confirmed. Its not like people had to disclose why they were buying a GPU at time of purchase; theres no way for the companies to determine if a sale during the cryptocurrency boom was related to mining. Still, the estimates are sure to raise more questions about Nvidias performance since the cryptocurrency boom, especially since Steves slashed his price target after his findings. Investors were already concerned; SoftBank, Nvidias largest shareholder, was reportedly considering selling its stake. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attempted to ease some of those fears by saying the company had nearly sold through its remaining inventory of 10-series graphics cards ahead of schedule. The idea was that finally getting through the oversupply of 10-series cards caused by the crypto bust would let Nvidia start selling the Turing-based GPUs it had announced in the interim. Yet the company lowered its Q418 revenue guidance in late January due to "weaker than forecasted sales of its Gaming and Datacenter platforms," among other economic factors, including Turing-based graphics cards being too expensive. Well find out exactly how bad things are for the company on February 14. Asus has released its first graphics card under The Ultimate Force (TUF) Gaming brand. Nvidia's GeForce RTX 2060 is the first graphics card to receive the TUF treatment from the Taiwanese motherboard and graphics card manufacturer. (Image credit: Asus) Standing firm to its TUF roots, the TUF GeForce RTX 2060 carries a distinctive military camouflage exterior devoid of any RGB elements. Asus proudly proclaims that it built its TUF graphics card upon three pillars of durability, compatibility, and performance. The TUF GeForce RTX 2060 features a compact design that's 20.4cm long. However, the graphics card does present an impression that it's pretty thick due to its 4.6cm depth measurement. (Image credit: Asus) Asus produces the card with its Auto-Extreme automated manufacturing process. The cooler uses a pair of high-quality dual-ball bearing cooling fans that Asus claims provides twice the normal lifespan. The fans are also IP5X certified, which means they are dust-resistant. Asus also outfitted the TUF GeForce RTX 2060 with a sleek matching backplate to protect the graphics card's PCB. There's also added supports that connect the backplate directly to the shroud, which supposedly helps create a solid frame that protects during handling. As normal, the TUF GeForce RTX 2060 has passed Asus' 144-hour validation program that includes performance and stress tests with different titles, such as Fortnite, League of Legends, Overwatch, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and other benchmarking software, like 3DMark. The TUF GeForce RTX 2060 operates with a 1,365MHz base clock just like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Founders Edition. However, the two models have higher boost clocks. The TUF GeForce RTX 2060 (TUF-RTX2060-6G-GAMING) runs with a 1,689MHz boost clock in Gaming Mode and a 1,710MHz boost clock in OC Mode. The TUF GeForce RTX 2060 OC Edition (TUF-RTX2060-O6G-GAMING) flaunts a 1,710MHz boost clock in Gaming Mode and 1,740MHz boost clock in OC Mode. Similar to the Founders Edition, the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 2060 gets its power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector. However, the graphics card does come with a small twist in terms of display outputs. The TUF GeForce RTX 2060 is one of the very few to still come with a DualLink DVI-D port. The other remaining ports include one DisplayPort 1.4 output and two HDMI 2.0b ports. There's no USB-C port on the TUF GeForce RTX 2060. Asus haven't disclosed pricing or availability for the TUF GeForce RTX 2060 graphics cards. We just got new Geekbench 4 scores of the incoming Exynos-based Samsung Galaxy S10, thanks to Ice Universe revealing them on Twitter. The quick take: the phone is not as quick as the A12 Bionic, but it gets close. Check the scores out: (Image credit: Ice Universe) The 4,427 single-core score and 10,387 multi-core score makes the Exynos 9820 phone the fastest Android phone on the planet at least for now. Other Android phones have come close, such as the Snapdragon 845-powered Huawei Mate 20 Pro (9,973) and OnePlus 6T (8,972), but the Galaxy S10 is on pace to trounce its Android competition. MORE: Samsung Galaxy S10 Rumors: Release Date, Price and Specs The Exynos-based Galaxy S10 series beat the reference Qualcomm Snapdragon 855s scores, which is the one that will come to the US market thanks to Qualcomms legal muscle. The Exynos S10 beats the only known benchmark for the Snapdragon 855 version of the S10, getting a single-core score of 3,413 and multi-core of 10,256. The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max beat it easily in multi-core: 11,420 and 11,515 respectively. In single-core Geekbench4, the iPhone XS gets 4,797 as does the XS Max. Apples A12 Bionic-based devices are still the kings of phone performance for now. Cover Image: 91Mobiles The next phone in Oppos Find series has been found in trademark applications, and potentially reveals the name of the upcoming handset. (Image credit: The Oppo Find X. Credit: Tom's Guide) Information filed with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (found by GizmoChina) shows that Oppo made its trademark application via Spain on Feb. 2. The title of the application, Find Z, shows that the Chinese companys decided to skip a letter in naming its new device. The application is at the time of writing still under review. There is therefore a chance this wont get granted, but that's doubtful. MORE: 5G Phones: Every Known Phone and Release Date The Oppo Find X just launched in the UK, along with two other models as the brand establishes itself in the country. Sadly, its not available from retailers in the U.S., but you can import it via online sources. Its still a remarkable phone though. The most striking feature is its pop-up camera, which uses a motorized system to stow the front and rear snappers, leaving the display clean and notch-free. Oppo has also been in the news recently for its 10x optical zoom lens for phones, and for its R17 (RX17 in the UK), which includes features like an in-display fingerprint sensor. With Mobile World Congress 2019 just a few weeks away, and with some exciting rumous buzzing around, there seems to be a good chance Oppo will have something to show attendees. Sonys stock price decreased by 8.1 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange today, a single business day after the company released its third-quarter earnings report and charted slowing gains in its video games business. That decrease marks the largest fall in price Sonys stock has seen since September 2015. As Bloomberg points out, there are other factors that likely contributed to the declining share price (like Sonys struggling Xperia smartphone business), but that slowing momentum in the companys PlayStation arm has analysts apprehensive of the companys near future. Sonys latest financial report clocked operating income in its games business at 73.1 billion yen (~$665.4 million) for the three month period ending December 31, 2018, a 14 percent decrease from last years holiday quarter. The quarter saw a strong showing from software sales, something that helped offset slowing sales of PlayStation 4 hardware. But, coming off a year with a strong software lineup, 2019 doesnt have nearly as many heavy-hitters planned for release that could help compensate for those declining hardware sales. Analysts cited by Bloomberg note that they're keeping a watchful eye on Sony as they assess any risk that might come along with a slowing games business, while some are anticipating the launch of the next PlayStation console during the next fiscal year and any costs that might come with that endeavor. [February 04, 2019] AmeriHealth Caritas Awarded Contract to Serve North Carolina's Medicaid Population AmeriHealth Caritas, a national leader in Medicaid managed care and other health care solutions for those most in need, announced today that it has been selected by North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services to help Medicaid enrollees in the state access quality health care. North Carolina has approximately 2 million Medicaid enrollees with diverse backgrounds and wide-ranging needs who require solutions that address their health as well as the social determinants of health, such as education, job training, transportation and housing. "We are proud to be selected to help North Carolina transform its Medicaid program, and we look forward to bringing our whole-person care model to North Carolinians most in need," said AmeriHealth Caritas Chairman and CEO Paul Tufano. "Coe to our mission is that every individual should have access to quality health care and services. We commend North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services for its commitment to creating and implementing an innovative Medicaid managed care program for its citizens." AmeriHealth Caritas provides integrated Medicaid managed care services that focus on family and caregiver involvement, community-based services, successful care transitions and intensive case management. It currently operates Medicaid managed care health plans in Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and the District of Columbia. AmeriHealth Caritas also serves dual eligibles in Michigan and South Carolina through Medicare-Medicaid plans and in Pennsylvania through Medicare Advantage special needs plans. It also serves Pennsylvanians receiving long-term services and supports. AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina has been awarded a contract to provide a standard benefit plan under the state's new Medicaid managed care program, which will also include long-term services and supports. The program will be launched in two phases - the first on Nov. 1, 2019, and the second on Feb. 1, 2020. About AmeriHealth Caritas AmeriHealth Caritas is one of the nation's leaders in health care solutions for those most in need. Operating in 11 states and the District of Columbia, AmeriHealth Caritas serves more than 5 million Medicaid, Medicare, and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) members through its integrated managed care products, pharmaceutical benefit management and specialty pharmacy services, and behavioral health services. Headquartered in Philadelphia, AmeriHealth Caritas is a mission-driven organization with more than 35 years of experience serving low-income and chronically ill populations. AmeriHealth Caritas is part of the Independence Health Group in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. For more information, visit www.amerihealthcaritas.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005790/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] SNMA Releases Statement on Virginia Governor Ralph Northam EVMS Class of 1984 Yearbook Photo The Student National Medical Association (SNMA) is certain that you are aware of the current controversy surrounding the photograph that surfaced from the Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) Class of 1984 student yearbook involving Virginia Governor Dr. Ralph Northam, a pediatrician. The photo found on the Governor's page depicts two individuals, one wearing black face and the other in the Klu Klux Klan's (KKK) signature white hood and robes. The photo gained attention from numerous media outlets and the initial response of Governor Northam was an apology that included the following direct statement; he apologized stating, "I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now." This situation and his initial comments caused a media frenzy and heightened scrutiny of the physician and now Governor of the State of Virginia. In response to numerous calls for his resignation from various political leaders, community members, organizations across the nation, and within his own political party, he held a press conference within 24 hours of his initial apology. During the press conference on February 2, 2019 he stated that e believes he was not one of the persons depicted in the photo that was on his page and he has refused to resign. Richard V. Homan, President of EVMS has released a statement addressing this photo that is clearly racist. He apologized on behalf of the school for "past transgressions of your trust" and said he would convene a meeting of school leadership to address the issue. As an organization whose mission for over 50 years has been to support current and future underrepresented students in medicine, these actions are antithetical to everything the Student National Medical Association stands for. The abhorrent photo is an example of the effects of insensitivity and unawareness at best and at its worst serves as an example of institutional racism and numbness to the discrimination against Black people. It demonstrates that racism can permeate any level of education and highlights the overt prejudice and microaggressions that many of our past and current members face. Our SNMA chapter at EVMS has existed for decades and our national officers have been in communication with their leadership. True to our current and historic role in the education and activism of minority medical students, the SNMA chapter at EVMS is very much concerned about this situation and will be organizing an open forum about this issue for students and faculty. I commend the chapter's leadership for organizing to address and rectify issues of racism and discrimination that arise, whether they be from the past or present. The Student National Medical Association will not excuse or overlook any kind of racism. We stand in solidarity with the staff, students, alumni and physicians from EVMS who have been professionally or personally harmed by this photo and any other actions that threaten a culture of diversity, inclusion, and social equality at their institution. In support of future professionals in the state of Virginia and the noble profession to which we aspire, we stand firm in our belief that the government infrastructure should not stand by in light of past indiscretions. Therefore, the Student National Medical Association demands that Governor Ralph Northam, MD must resign from his position immediately. For more information on SNMA, please visit www.snma.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005775/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] DVIGear's DisplayNet and HyperLight at ISE 2019 MARIETTA, Ga., Feb. 4, 2019 /CNW/ -- DVIGear, a leading manufacturer of digital connectivity products, is introducing the latest SDVoE technology in its expanding DisplayNet AV Distribution platform at ISE 2019 in Amsterdam, NL on February 5-8 in Stand 1-M100. DVIGear is also demonstrating its comprehensive suite of end-to-end 4K (UHD) video distribution solutions at the show, including its family of award-winning HyperLight Active Optical Cables. DisplayNet DN-150 Unprecedented Value The DN-150 Series offers a new entry point to the award-winning DisplayNet platform. These products offer the same zero-latency and zero-artifact 4K /60p video routing performance as the DN-200 Series in a value-oriented package. The units support HDMI 2.0 with up to 12-bit color and HDCP 2.2, and offer independent multi-layer routing of HDMI, Analog audio, IR, and RS-232 signals. DN-150 series devices are compatible with all DN-200 series devices; and may be deployed within the same system. A high level of interoperability between these products ensures the winning combination of performance and value in DisplayNet systems that utilize both product families. DN-150 Series transmitters and receivers support twisted pair (CAT6a or CAT7) media up to 328 ft. (100 meters), and DN-150F Series transmitters and receivers support fiber optic media via an SFP+ module, with distances of up to 18 miles (30 km). DN-150 Series are expected to be available in Q2 of 2019 starting at $995 (USD) MSRP per end point. At ISE, DVIGear will also exhibit several enhancements to its DisplayNet Manager Software suite. The Advanced Video Wall feature adds support to the DN-200 series for asymmetric video walls, with Stretch, Fit, and Crop options available for aspect ratio correction. Enhancements to DisplayNet Manager include new, streamlined interfaces for device and Video Wall configuration. These enhancements are free for all existing DN-200 series customers, and are available now. DisplayNet DN-200 Series Cutting Edge AV Distribution The DN-200 Series is the flagship product of the DisplayNet product line. The DN-200 Series leverages SDVoE technology to distribute uncompressed AV signals with resolutions up to 4K /60p over a 10GbE Ethernet network. The DN-200 Series supports HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 with up to 12-bit color and HDCP 2.2. Additionally, DN-210U and DN-220U models support High Speed USB 2.0 extension. A high-performance video processor in both the transmitter and receiver units enables Fast Switching, MultiViewer, Advanced Video Wall, and output scaling functionality. The DN-200 Series supports twisted pair (CAT6a or CAT7) media up to 328 ft. (100 meters), or Fiber Optic media using an industry standard SFP+ module supporting extension distances up to 18 miles (30 km). DN-200 transmitter and receiver units are available starting at $1,350 (USD) MSRP per end point. DVIGear will ehibit the performance of the DisplayNet product line through an interactive racing car simulator exhibit at the show. Stand visitors will have the opportunity to race in a simulated hypercar, with both controls and the video feed provided by DisplayNet. "This simulator serves as a great demonstration of DisplayNet's performance.", said Matthew Pulsipher, Product Manager at DVIGear. "You can't drive a hypercar if your audio and video signals have latency and if your controls aren't immediately responsive." DVIGear will be handing out prizes to participants with qualifying fast lap times. HyperLight Active Optical Cables Performance that Goes the Distance DVIGear's HyperLight Series is an award-winning family of advanced Active Optical Cables that employs cutting edge technology to deliver unprecedented resolution, performance and value. The award-winning DVI-26xxx-AOC Series supports DisplayPort 1.4, transmitting at data rates up to 32.4 Gbps. (HBR3). These DisplayPort cables support very high resolution applications at 4K / 60Hz (4:4:4) with cable lengths up to 100 meters, and 8K / 30Hz (4:4:4) up to 50 meters. Expanding the HyperLight family is the DVI-23xxx-AOC Series, DVI Active Optical Cables that support any Single-Link DVI resolution, compliant with DVI 1.0 Standards, with data rates up to 1.65 Gbps / lane or 4.95 Gbps total. Both are HDCP 1.4 / 2.2 compliant, plenum-rated and provide a wide range of features in a compact, lightweight form-factor. DVIGear will also be showcasing a new line of HyperLight HDMI cables. The DVI-25xxx-AOC Series offers the same exceptional performance as existing HyperLight cables, with support for HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 at 4K / 60Hz (4:4:4) and cable lengths up to 100 meters. Additionally, the DVI-25xxx-AOC Series allows installers to change the connector type at the ends of the cable through a series of interchangeable docking connectors. HDMI, DVI, and Dual-Mode DisplayPort docking connectors are available. HyperLight cables are plenum-rated (UL CMP-OF). Constructed using a hybrid design of Polyfluorinated Optical Fiber and copper wires, they are rugged, yet lightweight, compact and highly flexible, with a two millimeters minimum bend radius. To further minimize cable diameter, HyperLight docking connectors may be detached making the cables easy to install in narrow conduits and plenum spaces. Video signals are transmitted over the optical fibers, making them immune to interference from environmental noise. The optical transmission path provides a very low RFI / EMI profile that allows the cables to be installed in sensitive applications with strict security requirements. By drawing power from the connected source, the need for an external power supply is eliminated. HyperLight cables are ideally suited for applications that require ultra-high resolution signals to be extended over long runs with flawless image quality. Attractively priced, the DisplayPort and DVI series are available for immediate shipment. The DVI-25xxx-AOC HDMI Series is expected to be available in March of 2019. DVIGear will also be exhibiting its comprehensive suite of AV connectivity solutions at ISE 2019 in Stand 1-M100. About DVIGear Founded in 1999, DVIGear is a leading supplier of Digital Connectivity Solutions for a wide range of professional display applications. Located in Marietta, Georgia, USA, DVIGear offers an extensive portfolio of high performance digital video distribution products including: DisplayNet AV signal distribution over 10GbE Ethernet Systems, Switchers, Splitters, Extenders, Converters, Scalers, as well as long-length copper and optical cables. For more information, visit DVIGear.com and DisplayNet.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. DVIGear, DVIGear & Design, DisplayNet and DisplayNet & Design, and HyperLight are trademarks of DVIGear, Inc. and may not be used without the prior written permission of DVIGear, Inc. SDVoE is a trademark of the SDVoE Alliance. 2019 DVIGear, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Contact: Matthew Pulsipher / +1.770.421.6699 / Sales@DVIGear.com DVIGear Logo DisplayNet Logo DN-200 Series DisplayNet Server HyperLight AOC Cables HyperLight Logo View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dvigears-displaynet-and-hyperlight-at-ise-2019-300789300.html SOURCE DVIGear [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Uniserve Announces 3.5:1 Rollback of its Common Shares and Resignation of Director VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Uniserve Communications Corporation (Uniserve) wishes to announce that it will be proceeding with a rollback of its issued and outstanding common shares on a three and one-half (3.5) old for one (1) new basis effective on or before the opening of the market on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 wherein the total 78,779,075 issued and outstanding shares of Uniserve will become 22,508,307 with adjustment due to fractional rounding, on a post-consolidated basis, subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. Uniserve received Shareholder approval to a consolidation at its Annual General Meeting held January 24, 2019. Uniserve further wishes to announce the resignation of Thorsten Gutsche as a Director. About Uniserve Uniserve Communications Corporation is a 2018 TSX Venture top 50 performance company. Uniserve is a unified communications company which has been in business for 30 years, combining voice, data and media services all into one seamless soltion, one bill and one point of contact. The unique selling proposition of the business is SMART People, Solutions, and Technology with over 13,000 customers spread across residential and enterprise centered around Vancouver, Calgary and Kitchener-Waterloo. Uniserve prides itself on world class customer service based in Canada. When all else is equal, clients can trust Uniserve to have a great price, a great experience and to be a company that customers enjoy working with we call it ONE click, call, connect. This news release was prepared on behalf of the Board of Directors, which accepts full responsibility for its contents. Learn more at www.uniserve.com or at www.sedar.com . Michael C. Scholz Chairman of the Board For more information please call 604-395-3961 or email corporate.relations@uniserveteam.com . Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Management has prepared this release and no regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. The statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements. Such statements are based on managements estimates, assumptions and projections using available information. Uniserve cautions that actual financial results could differ materially from the current expectations due to a number of factors. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] UnitedHealthcare to Serve People in North Carolina State Medicaid Program The State of North Carolina, which is partnering with local health plans to improve people's health and well-being and reduce health care costs, selected UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina as one of four managed care organizations to administer its statewide Medicaid program, effective Nov. 1, 2019. UnitedHealthcare has a long history in North Carolina, offering employer-sponsored, individual and Medicare plans for more than 20 years. The company will now offer health benefit plans for adults and children who qualify for Prepaid Health Plan Services, the state's new Medicaid program, which includes access to UnitedHealthcare Community Plan's care provider network, wellness programs and comprehensive health coverage. This includes preventive care, primary care, hospitalization, prescriptions and other health and wellness services, often at low or no cost. UnitedHealthcare employs nearly 5,000 people in North Carolina and works with a number of local organizations and nonprofits to improve access to vital health care and community resources that help people live healthier lives. "We are honored to work with the State of North Carolina to ensure Medicaid beneficiaries have access to personalized, cost-effective health care," said Anita Bachmann, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina. "We are committed to improve the overall health of Medicaid plan participants throghout North Carolina." UnitedHealthcare will work closely with the state to improve the overall health and well-being of North Carolinians through whole-person, coordinated care, which addresses both medical needs and social supports and services such as access to food, transportation, employment and housing. UnitedHealthcare serves nearly 1.4 million people in North Carolina through employer-sponsored, individual, Medicare and Dual Special Needs plans. For more information, visit www.uhccommunityplan.com/nc. About UnitedHealthcare UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.2 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,500 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC on Twitter (News - Alert) . Click here to subscribe to Mobile Alerts for UnitedHealth Group. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005721/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Ziyen Inc. Appointed as Official Partner of the Blockchain Oil & Gas Summit NEW YORK, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Momentum Events is delighted to announce the appointment of Ziyen Inc., a Scottish American Oil and Energy Company, as the Official Supporting Partner for the upcoming Blockchain Oil & Gas Summit Increasing Efficiency, Transparency & Security in the Energy Sector (www.blockchainoilgassummit.com/), which will be held in Houston, Tx. on March 7, 2019. We are thrilled to be partnering with Ziyen on the 8th installment of our blockchain for enterprise portfolio, said Ben Greenzweig, Momentums CEO. There are a handful of companies that have real, first-hand knowledge of how blockchain technology can revolutionize the enterprise, especially in Oil & Gas, and strategically positioned, Ziyen, is one of them. The Blockchain Oil & Gas Summit will offer you a strategic understanding of how Blockchain Technology can make your energy business more secure, compliant, efficient and profitable. Fortune 500 executives alongside the creative technologists driving Blockchain adoption will share specific tactics for how to incorporate Blockchain into your enterprise transformation. We are delighted and honored to have been appointed as the Official Supporting Partner of the Blockchain Oil & Gas Summit, said Ziyen CEO, Alastair Caithness. This offers the perfect venue for investors to learn more about our plans. About Blockchain Oil & Gas Summit The Blockchain Oil & Gas Summit is the first evidence-based blockchain summit crafted exclusively for the Oil & Gas industry. The Summit brings together peers with the common goal to solve problems across the oil and gas industry, providing attendees a strategic understanding of how blockchain technology can make their energy business more agile, secure, compliant, efficient and profitable. Save 15% with discount code: ZIYEN15. To register and for more information, please visit: www.blockchainoilgassummit.com/ AboutMomentum Events Since 2014, Momentum has produced events that showcased the latest applications of blockchain technology and on March 7th is proud to offer our newest edition; The Blockchain Oil & Gas Summit. More information please visit: www.momentumevents.com Contact: Rob Candiano Marketing Director Momentum Events Email: Rob@momentumevents.com Tel: 1 (516) 426-0506 About Ziyen Founded in 2016, Ziyen Inc. was initially launched as a software company providing information about oil and gas related procurement contracts, Ziyen Inc. diversified in 2017, instating the Ziyen Energy Division with the intent to produce oil in the U.S. with advanced extraction methods and technology implemented and guided by career experts in the oil and gas industry. In 2017 Ziyen acquired the mineral rights to its first oil field in Indiana, and now has eighteen (18) oil assets, covering over 1,650 acres across Illinois and Indiana. More information may be found on its website: www.ziyen.com . Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements related to anticipated commencement of commercial production, targeted pricing, performance goals, and statements that otherwise relate to future periods are forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, which are described in more detail in the Companys periodic reports filed with the SEC- specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made and based on information available to the company on the date of this press release. Ziyen Inc. assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release. Contact: Josh Berg Berg Capital Markets josh@bergcapitalmarkets.com Dean Holter, Esq. Berg Capital Markets dean@bergcapitalmarkets.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Workers and LGBTQ Allies Protest at Freehand Hotel After Alleged Offensive Remark Referencing the Westboro Baptist Church Directed at Community Group, Including Gay Rights Activist and Openly Gay Priest On January 30, around 100 workers, LGBTQ activists, and community allies protested at the Freehand hotel after an incident in which a hotel security guard allegedly made offensive remarks referencing the Westboro Baptist Church to a group of clergy and LGBTQ activists advocating on behalf of hotel workers. On January 23, a group of clergy and workers' rights advocates entered the Freehand hotel to speak to management about allegations that the company had attempted to threaten and intimidate workers organizing to improve their working conditions. After management refused to meet with the group and demanded they leave the hotel, the head of security remarked that they reminded him of the Westboro Baptist Church. Witnesses say the security guard appeared to direct this statement to a member of the delegation who had earlier identified himself as a gay rights activist. The remarks of the security guard sparked outrage from membrs of the community and UNITE HERE Local 11, who assembled the protest on January 30. UNITE HERE, the hospitality workers union, has a large percentage of LGBTQ members and has been engaged in multiple campaigns against homophobia in the tourism industry. Workers at the Freehand hotel have sought to exercise their legal rights in response to poor working conditions, low wages, and possible wage theft. According to workers, after they began their efforts, hotel security threatened and sought to intimidate them. An unfair labor practice charge has been filed with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that hotel security and management engaged in unlawful surveillance of their organizing activity, in violation of federal labor law. Located in downtown Los Angeles, the Freehand hotel is managed by the Sydell Group and marketed towards a "new generation of urban travelers." The Sydell Group also manages the Nomad hotel and the LINE hotel in Koreatown, where workers have voted to authorize a strike. The Westboro Baptist Church is a designated hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center known for its rabidly anti-LGBTQ stances and public protests at soldiers' funerals. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005704/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Aliera Healthcare Showcasing Industry Leading Health Sharing Plans at Inter-Company Marketing Group Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona Aliera Healthcare, an industry-leading provider of traditional healthcare and health sharing plans, today announced it is a gold sponsor of the Inter-Company Marketing Group's (ICMG) 2019 Annual Conference at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., Feb. 5 and 6. In alliance with Trinity HealthShare, Aliera will showcase a full spectrum of alternative individual healthcare sharing plans and customizable self-insured employer programs designed to meet a wide variety of needs and budgets. A highlight of the conference will occur on Feb. 5 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. when former seven-term U.S. Congressman Barry Goldwater, Jr. will speak to a gathering of invitation only guests at a hospitality event hosted by Aliera. Goldwater is the son of 1964 Republican Presidential Nominee Barry Goldwater, Sr. Media are cordially invited to attend the speech which will take place in the Salt River Grand Ballroom - Salt 2 at Talking Stick Resort. Prior to his speech, Goldwater will be available to meet and greet conference attendees, pose for photos and signautographs at Aliera's exhibit hall booths 23 and 24 from 4 to 5 p.m. on Feb. 5. In addition to the hospitality event, members of Aliera's leadership team will be available throughout the conference to discuss the company's newest health sharing products and provide insight on market trends. ICMG is an industry leading showcase bringing together senior level executives and decision-makers from insurance carriers, fraternal, and financial organizations, marketing organizations and distributors, operational and sales support providers, and others involved in creating business relationships and strategic alliances. About Aliera Healthcare Aliera Healthcare is pioneering innovative healthcare programs for both individual and group markets that put the power of choice back in the hands of the consumer. Aliera's individual and family-focused healthcare plans are built on an innovative cost-sharing model that is designed to streamline access to affordable, high-quality healthcare plans without the costs and complexities of most one-size-fits-all traditional medical insurance plans. Aliera's nationwide self-insured employer programs improve employee participation by providing access to customizable health plan choices that meet a wide variety of needs and budgets while promoting stable monthly costs and potential for premium ROI year after year. For more information, visit www.alierahealthcare.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005697/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Sledgehammer Games co-founder Michael Condrey will lead a new 2K development studio based in Silicon Valley. 2K parent company Take-Two interactive broke the news in a press release, revealing the former Visceral Games COO has joined the company as president of the as yet unnamed game studio. Condrey left Sledgehammer last February alongside fellow co-founder Glen Schofield to take up an internal role at Activision, though he's now left the company entirely. He brings over 20 years of experience to 2K, having overseen the development and progression of the Call of Duty franchise while at Sledgehammer, and also leading the creation of acclaimed horror shooter Dead Space during his time at Visceral. His first task will be to form a new team before leading development on an unannounced project, and Condrey said he jumped at the "rare and special" opportunity to build a new studio from the ground up. "Great games come from the passion of a team driven by the pursuit of quality and the empowerment of an independent studio model," he commented. The Silicon Valley studio will join a roster of 2K development teams that includes Visual Concepts, Firaxis Games, Hangar 13, and Cat Daddy Games. [February 04, 2019] Major investment in genomics research will improve the lives of Canadians More than $22 million to support genomics projects between researchers and innovators GUELPH, ON, Feb. 4, 2019 /CNW/ - Canada is a world leader in genomics research, producing dramatic breakthroughs in science, and transforming our understanding of the world around us. The results of this research are being used to tackle important challenges and develop innovative solutions, not just in human health, but across diverse sectors of the economy. Today, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport, announced $22.7 million funding to support 37 research projects as a result of three funding competitions through Genome Canada. An additional $33.4 million is being invested by provincial governments, business and research partners for a total of $56 million in support for these projects spanning sectors such as health, agriculture, natural resources, and the environment. This investment will support researchers at the University of Guelph including Dr. Bonnie Mallard, who is working on improving cattle welfare by fighting Bovine Respiratory Disease, which costs Canadian farmers more than $100 million a year. Funding will also support Dr. Mehrdad Hajibabaei and his team who will use 'environmental DNA barcoding' to generate and monitor biodiversity of Canada's watersheds to better understand the impacts of resource projects like mines, hydro dams and energy projects. Genomics collaborations not only improve the health of Canadians and expand our understanding of the genomics field they will help create jobs and economic growth. Today's investment in these projectswill help businesses grow while supporting a stronger middle class. Quotes "Since taking office, our government has worked hard to return science and research to its rightful place. Today's announcement is another step in that direction. Genomics research is driving innovation across many sectors: including health, forestry, agriculture, fisheries, mining, energy and the environment. These exceptional projects we are investing in today encourage strong research partnerships and will help our economy and communities thrive." The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport "It's very exciting to see the ways that our different programs help enable large-scale science, pioneering technologies, and the translation of discoveries into real-world applications. Every day we are learning that genomics has very real, very tangible benefits in diverse sectors across Canada." Marc LePage, President and CEO Genome, Canada "Through these collaborative investments, we are enabling the development of real-world genomics-based solutions that will positively impact the health and well-being of Ontarians, protection of our environment, and growth of the Canadian economy." Dr. Bettina Hamelin, President and CEO, Ontario Genomics Quick Facts The University of Guelph is one of 16 Canadian universities to benefit from the $56.1 million to support 37 research projects at institutions across Canada . is one of 16 Canadian universities to benefit from the to support 37 research projects at institutions across . Today's announcement includes support for recipients of three Genome Canada programs: Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Competition, Disruptive Innovation in Genomics and Round 10 of the Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP). Genomics research is driving innovation across sectors: including health, forestry, agriculture, fisheries, mining, energy, the environment. Since 2000, the government has made $1.5 billion in targeted investments for genomics research through Genome Canada. in targeted investments for genomics research through Genome Canada. The global genomics market is expected to reach 27.6 billion US dollars in the next six years. Related Links Backgrounder list of projects funded Social Media Canadian science news on social media @CDNScience: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook Genome Canada news on social media @GenomeCanada: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn Genome Canada is a not-for-profit organization that acts as a catalyst for developing and applying genomics and genomic-based technologies, to create economic and social benefits for Canadians. Genome Canada connects ideas and people across public and private sectors to find new uses for genomics, invests in large-scale science and technology to fuel innovation, and translates discoveries into applications and solutions across key sectors of national importance, including health, agriculture, forestry, fisheries & aquaculture, energy, mining, and the environment. SOURCE Genome Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Girard Sharp and Gibbs Law Group Announce Important Deadline for Those Affected by the 2018 Pacific Fertility Center Tank Failure and Other Lawsuit Updates San Francisco-based law firm Girard Sharp (News - Alert) LLP, along with Gibbs Law Group, want to alert those affected by the 2018 Pacific Fertility Center tank failure that the upcoming one-year anniversary of the incident marks an important deadline for the filing of potential legal claims: certain claims may expire after March 4, 2019 due to statute of limitations. Individuals and families who were affected by the Pacific Fertility Center equipment failure and would like to understand their legal rights in the Pacific Fertility Center Lawsuit are urged to contact our team at (415) 981-4800. Hundreds of families and individuals have filed claims arising out of the March 4, 2018 tank failure at Pacific Fertility Center, in which a cryo-preservation tank holding thousands of eggs and embryos failed. According to the lawsuit, one month after the tank failure incident, Chart Industries, the manufacturer of the tank, issued a recall of several cryo-preservation tanks citing reports of issues with "vacuum leak or failure." Last year, the federal judge overseeing the Pacific Fertility Center lawsuit appointed our team to a leadership position, with responsibility for directing and prosecuting claims against defendants Pacific Fertility Center, Prelude Fertility, Inc. (a company also responsible for egg and embryo storage at the time of the incident), and the manufacturer of the cro-storage tank, Chart Industries. The cases have been progressing despite Defendants' ongoing attempts to have the lawsuits removed from San Francisco federal court and sent to confidential, binding arbitrations. We have been leading efforts to oppose arbitration and to obtain detailed information from the defendants to uncover exactly what caused PFC's cryo-storage tanks to fail, and how the failure might have been avoided. "We have been on the front lines of this case from the outset, and we are committed to fighting for the rights of those individuals and families who have been affected by this tragedy," said Dena Sharp of Girard Sharp. "We will continue to zealously advocate to hold those responsible for the tank failure accountable." "In speaking with many individuals whose lives were affected by the tank failure, we know it takes time to digest the impact," said Amy Zeman of Gibbs Law Group. "We want to ensure that those affected are aware that the passage of time affects their rights so that they are able to make informed decisions about whether to take action." Our lawyers are providing free, confidential case evaluations for anyone affected by the Pacific Fertility Center tank failure. For more information about the lawsuit, or to contact our team, visit http://www.classlawgroup.com/fertility-clinic-lawsuit or call (415) 981-4800. Our attorneys pride themselves on being there for our clients at every stage of the litigation, from intake through verdict or settlement. About Girard Sharp Girard Sharp LLP is a national litigation firm representing plaintiffs in lawsuits in state and federal courts. The firm serves individuals in cases involving catastrophic personal injury and consumer protection laws. Girard Sharp has been named a Tier 1 law firm for plaintiffs' mass tort and class-action litigation by the U.S. News & World Report. Our attorneys have been named among the Best Lawyers in America for six consecutive years and have been recognized among the Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California. About Gibbs Law Group Gibbs Law Group has recovered more than a billion dollars on behalf of its clients against some of the largest corporations in the world. Our attorneys have represented thousands of clients in class actions and personal injury cases throughout California and around the country. Gibbs Law Group's attorneys have been named among the Best Lawyers in America , the Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California, the Top Class Action Attorneys Under 40, and Consumer Protection MVPs. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005563/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] bioAffinity Technologies Announces Award of Canadian Patent SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- bioAffinity Technologies, a privately held biotech company, announced that the Canadian Intellectual Property Office has awarded a patent expanding the Companys claims associated with its proprietary CyPath technology for the early detection of cancer. The patent, titled System and Method for Analyzing Samples Labeled with 5, 10, 15, 20 Tetrakis (4-Carboxyphenyl) Porphine (TCPP), is bioAffinitys third Canadian patent granting protection for its porphyrin-based oncology platform developed for the non-invasive diagnosis of cancer. bioAffinitys intellectual property (IP) portfolio now consists of 51 awarded patents in 21 countries. bioAffinitys porphyrin-based CyPath assay preferentially binds to cancer cells that can be found in bodily fluids, such as sputum or urine, collected from people with cancer. CyPath causes cancer cells in the samples to fluoresce in contrast to non-cancer cells, allowing for detection and diagnosis. CyPath Lung, bioAffinitys initial product for the early detection of lung cancer, is currently in a test validation trial at seven clinical sites in the U.S. The Company expects to begin commercial sales in Q2 2019 under a licensing agreement with Precision Pathology Services of San Antonio, TX. According to the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths and the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Canada, bioAffinity President and Chief Executive Officer Maria Zannes said. In Canada, where 44 percent of Canadians are either current or former smokers, CyPath Lung can provide clinicians with an accurate, non-invasive, cost-effective tool for the early detection and diagnosis of lung cancer when patients have the best prognosis for survival. Canadian health officials currently recommend low dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for adults between 55 and 74 years of age who are at high risk for lung cancer. But the high false-positive rate for LDCT can lead to invasive and expensive follow-up testing and overdiagnosis. Using CyPath Lung as an adjunct to LDCT will improve the positive predictive value of lung cancer screening and diagnosis and lower the number of unnecessary invasive procedures. We are pleased to add our third Canadian patent to our patent portfolio, Zannes said. Protecting our IP at the international level is part of a strategy to commercialize our proprietary CyPath technology and make a meaningful contribution to the global war on cancer. bioAffinity holds 51 awarded patents, including protection in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Australia and countries of the European Union. The Company has three additional patent applications pending in the United States and internationally. About bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. (www.bioaffinitytech.com) is a privately held development-stage company addressing the significant unmet need for non-invasive, early-stage cancer diagnosis and treatment. The Company develops proprietary in-vitro diagnostic tests and targeted cancer therapeutics using breakthrough technology that preferentially targets cancer cells. Research and optimization of its platform technology is conducted in bioAffinity Technologies laboratories at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA). The Companys platform technology will be developed to diagnose, monitor and treat many cancers. Contact: Maria Zannes, 505.400.9747 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Hagens Berman: Judge Gives Green Light to Emissions-Cheating Class-Action Lawsuit Against Mercedes and Bosch An opinion issued by U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares has given the green light to a class-action lawsuit accusing Mercedes and Bosch of widespread diesel emissions-cheating akin to Volkswagen's Dieselgate scandal, according to attorneys at Hagens Berman. The opinion, filed Feb. 1, 2019, largely denied Mercedes' motions to dismiss the case's core class-action claims including consumer harm and RICO fraud. The judge's decision allows the case to continue past a major hurdle, potentially bringing massive relief to tens of thousands of owners of Mercedes' BlueTEC diesel automobiles. "We are incredibly pleased with the court's ruling in our emissions-cheating case against Mercedes and Bosch that has allowed most of plaintiffs' claims to continue forward on behalf of all BlueTEC owners," said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman and attorney representing vehicle owners in the class action. "We have worked hard to address the court's thoughtful concerns throughout this case and look forward to continuing to prove our case of emissions-cheating." The emissions-cheating lawsuit against Mercedes was originally filed Feb. 25, 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by Hagens Berman, the same firm that worked to achieve the $14.7 billion Volkswagen Dieselgate settlement, and was the first firm to file suit against Volkswagen in that matter. The firm has also pioneered emissions-cheating lawsuits against Audi, BMW, Fiat Chrysler, Ford (News - Alert) and General Motors, and conducted independent research and testing in each case. According to the lawsuit, Mercedes joined forces with Bosch to program its BlueTEC vehicles to release illegally high, dangerous levels of emissions via a defeat device similar to the one used by Volkswagen. This defeat device turned off or limited emissions reductions during real-world driving conditions but not during vehicle emissions tests. In his opinion, Judge Linares noted that defendants had a duty to disclose the defeat device, saying disclosure would be reasonably expected, "where the nondisclosure of those facts amounts to taking advantage of the plaintiffs ignorance, such that it would be 'shocking to the ethical sense of the community, and [would be] so extreme and unfair, as to amount to a form of swindling'... It is this Court's opinion that Mercedes and Bosch's active concealment of the existence of the defeat device amounts to such a situation." The complaint accuses Mercedes of deceiving consumers by failing to disclose the defeat device despite marketing its BlueTEC vehicles as "the world's cleanest and most advanced diesel" cars that reduced NOx by 90 percent. According to the complaint, on-road testing confirmed that Mercedes' BlueTEC cars produced average on-road NOx emissions that are 19 times higher than the U.S. standard, with some instantaneous readings as high as 65 times more than the U.S. limit, a fact that Mercedes and Bosch concealed from the public. Indeed, the court found that "Plaintiffs have plausibly pled that the products received did not live up to the claims made by Defendants," and that "benefit of the bargain damages are recoverable for overpayment and recoverable to confer standing," finding that plaintiffs properly pled that those who bought BlueTEC vehicles overpaid for them based on the concealed, emissions-cheating defeat device. "Like Volkswagen, Mercedes tried to scam consumers by green-washing its line of diesel cars," Berman said. "With the help of some crafty marketing, and Bosch's defeat device, the duo set out to rake in profits from unknowing purchasers." Affected Models The lawsuit alleges that the following Mercedes models powered by BlueTEC diesel-fueled engines are affected by the unlawful, unfair, deceptive and otherwise defective emission controls utilized by Mercedes. Contact Hagens Berman to find out your rights if you purchased or leased one of the following affected BlueTEC vehicles: ? ML 320 ? R320 ? S Class ? ML 350 ? E Class ? GLK Class ? GL 320 ? GL Class ? GLE Class ? E320 ? ML Class ? Sprinter ? S350 ? R Class Mercedes owners and lessors can also find more information about the case at Hagens Berman's Mercedes Owners Hub, including an FAQ about the Mercedes emissions lawsuit. The suit alleges that Mercedes' and Bosch's actions violated numerous state consumer-rights laws, as well as the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO). The suit also states that the automaker's omissions and misrepresentations constitute fraudulent concealment. Find out more about the class-action lawsuit against Mercedes. About Hagens Berman Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is a consumer-rights class-action law firm with 10 offices across the country. The firm's tenacious drive for plaintiffs' rights has earned it numerous national accolades, awards and titles of "Most Feared Plaintiff's Firm," and MVPs and Trailblazers of class-action law. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005593/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin Opens Enrollment for 2019-2020 School Year Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin (WIDCA), a tuition-free, online public school, is now accepting enrollment applications for the 2019-2020 school year. WIDCA provides students in grades 9-12 from anywhere in the state with access to a unique online Career Readiness program. In addition to its full-time program, students enrolled in any Wisconsin public school can also enroll part time in online Career Readiness courses at WIDCA. While working towards their high school diplomas, students can explore exciting career paths such as Health & Human Services, Business, IT, and Manufacturing and Trades. WIDCA students enrolled in the Manufacturing and Trades pathway have the unique opportunity to participate in the Heavy Machinery Operators Pre-apprenticeship Program. A partnership with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 and Fox Valley Technical College, this program prepares students to enter an apprenticeship training program in the construction industry. Students gain in-person knowledge and experience via the dedicated curriculum and have access to simulators of such construction equipment as excavators, front loaders and road graders. "Some kids know what they want to do with their lives, and some don't just yet. We wanted to give our students every opportunity to be successful, whether they are heading to college or into the workforce," says WIDCA Head of School Nicholaus Sutherland. "By giving them early exposure to a variety of career options, we empower our students to shape their own future." In addition to Career Readiness courses, WIDCA's curriculum includes courses in the core subjects of math, science, English/language arts, history, world languages, art and music. Students can take AP classes as well. Wisconsin-licensed teachers provide live online instruction and communicate with students in the virtual classroom, as well as via phone and email. Families can submit an application during the open enrollment window, which runs from Monday, Feb. 4 through 4 p.m. CST on Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Families are encouraged to attend an in-person or online information session hosted by the school. For more information on how to enroll, and for a schedule of upcoming events, visit widca.k12.com. About Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin, a charter school authorized by the McFarland School District, is the first-ever career and technical education-focused online high school in Wisconsin using the curriculum and academic programs by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN). It is also the first online career readiness program in Wisconsin to offer a construction pre-apprenticeship program in partnership with industry leaders. As part of the Wisconsin public school system, Destinations Career Academy is tuition-free and serves students statewide in grades 9-12. For more information about Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin, visit widca.k12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005024/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] GORE ImproJectTM Plunger for Pre-Filled Syringes at Pharmapack Europe NEWARK, Del., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. ("Gore"), a global materials science company, plans to attend Pharmapack Europe (www.pharmapackeurope) on February 6th and 7th, 2019, to continue their year-long launch of the GORE ImproJectTM Plunger for Pre-Filled Syringes. Commercially launched last year at the 2018 PDA's Universe of Pre-Filled Syringe and Injection Device meeting, this solution for silicone-sensitive biologics has been well-received by the industry. Gore will be in Booth A42 at the Pharmapack event, to be held at the Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles in Paris, France. Conventional pre-filled syringe systems use silicone to help provide a seal and to act as a lubricant between the barrel and the plunger. However, there can be problems associated with silicone impacting broader drug stability for some highly complex sensitive biologics. Silicone oil has been shown to cause aggregation and particle formation in therapeutic proteins.1, 2 In addition, silicone migration can impact injection performance. And, the break-loose-glide forces may change over time, affecting injection time and patient comfort. By eliminating the need for silicone from the barrel and the plunger, the GORE ImproJect Plunger may enable today's more challenging sensitive biologics to be administered in a pre-filled syringe, a practice that may not ave been an option with traditional siliconized pre-filled syringe systems. "Our approach eliminates the need for silicone in both plunger and glass barrel, while ensuring the functionality and performance of pre-filled syringes" said Christiane Gumera, Product Specialist, Gore PharmBIO Products. "Additionally our plunger's PTFE-based fluoropolymer barrier provides protection from extractable compounds found in butyl rubber." "We look forward to discussing this technology with our pharmaceutical customers, and our value chain partners at Pharmapack Europe, and continuing the conversation about the potential benefits of the Gore solution for our pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical customers." About Gore PharmBIO Products Our technologies, capabilities, and competencies in fluoropolymer science are focused on satisfying the evolving product, regulatory, and quality needs of pharmaceutical and bioprocessing customers, and medical device manufacturers. The GORE ImproJectTM Plunger, like all products in the Gore PharmBIO Products' portfolio, is manufactured in a manner that adheres to relevant current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) as defined in the stringent Gore PharmBIO Products' quality system which is certified to ISO 13485 and ISO 15378. About Gore W. L. Gore & Associates is a global materials science company dedicated to transforming industries and improving lives. Founded in 1958, Gore has built a reputation for solving complex technical challenges in the most demanding environments from revolutionizing the outerwear industry with GORE-TEX fabric to creating medical devices that improve and save lives to enabling new levels of performance in the aerospace, pharmaceutical and mobile electronics markets, among other industries. The company is also known for its strong, team-oriented culture and global recognition from the Great Place to Work Institute. Headquartered in Newark, Del., Gore employs 9,500 Associates and generates annual revenues of $3.5 billion. www.gore.com References 1 Basu P, Blake-Haskins AW, O'Berry KB, Randolph TW, Carpenter JF. Albinter-feron a2b adsorption to silicone oil-water interfaces: effects on protein conformation, aggregation, and subvisible particle formation. J Pharm Sci. 2014;103(2):427-436. 2 Gerhardt A, Bonam K, Bee JS, Carpenter JF, Randolph TW. Ionic strength affects tertiary structure and aggregation propensity of a monoclonal antibody adsorbed to silicone oil-water interfaces. J Pharm Sci. 2013;102(2):429-440. Gore Contact: Liz Guiney, Marketing Communications, Gore, lguiney@wlgore.com Media Contact: Susan Stipa, McDay, susanstipa@mc-day.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gore-improjecttm-plunger-for-pre-filled-syringes-at-pharmapack-europe-300788842.html SOURCE Gore [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Delta Dental of Wisconsin Foundation Kicks Off Cool Water Program The Delta Dental of Wisconsin Foundation proudly announces the launch of the Cool Water Program that will start on February 1, 2019, kicking off Children's Dental Health Month. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005548/en/ The Delta Dental of Wisconsin Foundation will provide grants to replace existing drinking fountains with new water fountain/bottle filling stations at a number of selected schools in Wisconsin. (Photo: Business Wire) Through the Foundation's Cool Water Program, Wisconsin elementary and middle schools can apply for a grant to replace an existing water fountain with a new water bottle filling station and fountain. The grant will cover the cost of the full installation, and provide toothbrushes and dishwasher-safe water bottles for all students and staff. Drinking fluoridated water is essential in keeping teeth strong and cavity-free; water washe away harmful bacteria from the mouth and the fluoride strengthens the enamel of teeth. Drinking water can also help combat obesity, increase energy levels, and improve students' cognitive functions. 1 According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, one out of every five third grade students has some form of untreated decay. "The Cool Water Program hopes to help change that landscape here in Wisconsin," said Megan Tenpas, community outreach specialist for the Delta Dental of Wisconsin Foundation. To be considered, schools must be within a community with optimally fluoridated water and have a free-and-reduced meal rate of 40 percent or higher. Schools with the most creative and impactful implementation plans that will encourage students and staff to drink more water will receive one of the available grants. The applications, found at deltadentalwi.com/foundation, will be available from February 1 through March 31. Schools will be selected and awarded the grants in April, with installation planned for the summer. Anyone can submit a request on behalf of their school, but the school's principal must agree to the application and commitment. Water is cool to drink and better for everyone's overall health! 1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22841529 About Delta Dental of Wisconsin For more than 50 years, Delta Dental has been working to maintain healthy communities and healthy teeth. We provide dental benefits and services to more Wisconsin companies, subscribers, and their family members than any other insurance carrier. Our mission is to improve oral health and wellness by extending access to care, advancing science, and supporting an effective oral-health workforce. Through Delta Dental of Wisconsin's Foundation, we are committed to advancing solutions for Wisconsin's oral health. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005548/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] NASA, NOAA to Announce 2018 Global Temperatures, Climate Conditions WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Climate experts from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will provide the annual release of global temperatures data and discuss the most important climate trends of 2018 during a media teleconference at 11:30 a.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 6. The teleconference participants are: Gavin Schmidt , director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York , director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in Deke Arndt , chief of the global monitoring branch of NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville, North Carolina the United States and Canada ) or 312-470-7398 (international) and use the passcode "climate." Audio of the briefing, as well as supporting graphics, will stream live at: https://www.nasa.gov/live NASA and NOAA are two keepers of the world's temperature data and independently produce a record of Earth's surface temperatures and changes based on historical observations over oceans and land. For more information about NASA's Earth science programs, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/earth View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-noaa-to-announce-2018-global-temperatures-climate-conditions-300789021.html SOURCE NASA [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Marqeta Named to 2019 Forbes Fintech 50 Marqeta, whose advanced payments infrastructure and open-API platform has pioneered a new standard for modern card issuing, today announced that it has been named to Forbes' prestigious annual Fintech 50 list. This is its first appearance on the list and validates the company's innovation and market leadership among the current wave of innovation in the financial technology industry. Forbes' Fintech 50 list honors companies in the industry with the greatest impact and track record of innovation. The media outlet also considered recent rate of growth and how that compared to overall growth in their categories. "More than anything, we look for companies leading industry-changing innovation," Jeff Kauflin, a Forbes Staff writer, explained in this year's call for entries. "This often means they're regularly releasing new products or features or making big strategic improvements - not simply benefitting from products that look largely the same as they did a decade ago." Marqeta has transformed the payment card issuing and processing arena with its Modern Card Issuing solution, the first of its kind aimed at developers and technology-first innovators. Its payment card platform helps companies easily issue physical, virtual, or tokenized payment cards, helping them deliver better customer experiences and business outcomes faster in a more mobile and connected economy. Founded in 2010, Marqeta is the first new issuer processor platform built in a decade. Prior to Marqeta, companies wh needed a card product to support their business struggled with a lack of options, slow time-to-market, and inability to iterate. Marqeta's open APIs expedite the introduction of new and innovative payment programs and experiences, allowing businesses to customize payment cards to meet the unique needs of their customers. "Recognition as a leading innovator in fintech is tremendous validation for the hard work we've done at Marqeta to open the industry up to the possibilities and opportunities of modern card issuing," said Jason Gardner, CEO and founder of Marqeta. "We're a people-driven organization, with a culture characterized by grit and commitment to finding a way to move the payments industry forward. I'm thankful to everyone who has played a part in our tremendous growth." Marqeta has doubled its revenue for three straight years and seen a dramatic increase in spending activity on its platform in that same time. It has 250 employees and has added 100 employees in each of the last two years, with plans to continue its team growth rate in 2019. It has attracted more than $116 million in funding from investors including Goldman Sachs, Iconiq Capital, 83North and Visa. In October 2018 it expanded internationally, opening a European office based in London. About Marqeta Marqeta is the global standard for modern card issuing, providing the most advanced infrastructure and tools for building highly configurable payment cards. With its open API, the Marqeta platform is designed for innovators who want a simplified way of managing payment programs so that they can create world-class experiences and power new modes of commerce. Marqeta is headquartered in Oakland, California. For more information, visit www.marqeta.com, Twitter and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005483/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] FreeWire to Demonstrate Innovative Infrastructure-light Technology at DistribuTECH FreeWire Technologies, a pioneer in flexible mobile power and EV charging technology, announced today that it will demonstrate its Mobi Gen and Mobi EV Charger units at DistribuTECH in partnership with Sacramento Municipal Utility District ( SMUD (News - Alert) ), the nation's sixth largest utility. SMUD is testing the units for deployment within Sacramento. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005247/en/ FreeWire Technologies' Mobi Gen delivers clean and quiet on-site power for facilities or remote sites that require a guaranteed source of power (Photo: Business Wire) "These units allow us to expand our power service offerings," said Lupe Jimenez, Manager of Energy Research and Development at SMUD. "SMUD chose FreeWire's Mobi Gen and Mobi EV Charger units to engage Sacramento residents with a new offering aimed at improving air quality, driving EV adoption, and intelligently managing customer demand." Mobi Gen's battery-backed power provides an alternative to diesel-burning generators for applications that require quiet, non-polluting power for facilities or remote sites, such as food trucks, music events, construction sites, emergency response, and backup power needs. Mobi EV Chargers are ideal for applications that require flexibility and when installing permanent infrastructure is not feasible; they deliver high-performance EV charging capabilities beyond the confines of fixed infrastructure. "The flexibility of FreeWire's technology helps us enable early market transformation hile testing out different use cases," said Jimenez. "Serving our community and increasing user engagement allows us to extend beyond the confines of the grid and reach more customers where and when they need power." This collaboration builds on SMUD's major progress towards the clean energy transition, while identifying new ways to provide services that generate new revenue streams. The community-owned utility has drafted an Integrated Resource Plan, committing to achieving a 90% reduction in their electricity portfolio greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, relative to 1990 levels. The plan acknowledges that reducing GHG emissions in the Sacramento region will require transforming the local energy economy in ways that expand beyond current state policies and mandates. SMUD is poised to facilitate critical pieces of this transition. SMUD also expects to be a major partner with other local, regional, and state players in ensuring that Sacramento is on a path to achieving the state's ambitious climate goals. "We are thrilled to provide our infrastructure-light solutions to one of the most forward-thinking utilities in our home state," said Arcady Sosinov, CEO of FreeWire Technologies. "We are dedicated to creating clean power options that scale to meet customer demand and expand accessibility at the grid edge. Utility innovation centered around the end-user will play a critical role in meeting California's emissions goals and driving the future of electrification." FreeWire and SMUD will demonstrate the capabilities of the Mobi Gen at DistribuTECH in New Orleans from February 5th to 7th in booth #10748 by powering Petite Rouge Cafe Camionette's coffee truck. Guests are invited to stop by and enjoy artisanal coffee and learn more about electrification beyond the grid. Additionally, James Frasher, Sr. Strategic Business Planner, Energy Storage and DER at SMUD, and Ethan Sprague, VP of Sales at FreeWire Technologies, will discuss "Enabling Infrastructure Transition: Challenges and Opportunities" at the Decarbonizing the Grid Knowledge Hub on Thursday, Feb 7th from 10:30-11:00 a.m. SMUD will present their holistic and integrated resource approach to decarbonization and how they're evaluating the impact throughout the entire value chain from generation to consumption. This panel will also explore how innovative mobile power and EV charging technologies can help alleviate infrastructure constraints for both utilities and customers. About FreeWire Technologies FreeWire Technologies merges beautiful design with convenient services to electrify industries formerly dependent on fossil fuels. FreeWire's turnkey mobile energy storage solutions deliver and manage energy whenever and wherever it's needed for reliable electrification beyond the electrical grid. With scalable clean power that moves to meet demand, FreeWire customers can tackle new applications and deploy new business models without the complexity of traditional energy infrastructure. FreeWire's Mobi EV Charger product line offers mobile charging that can be quickly deployed to shift with the rapidly changing EV landscape. FreeWire's Mobi Gen product line offers clean and quiet on-site power to substitute or supplement the use of diesel generators for a variety of remote power needs. For more, please visit: https://freewiretech.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005247/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Kenji Sukeno) has today signed a basic agreement with JEOL Ltd. (President: Gon-emon Kurihara, JEOL) Japan's major manufacturer of automated biochemistry analyzers, regarding the marketing and distribution of JEOL's clinical chemistry analyzer products in the global market outside of Japan. JEOL specializes in equipment for performing clinical chemistry biochemical analysis on blood and urine samples to determine the levels of glucose, cholesterol, and other component. Fujifilm will combine clinical chemistry reagents (reagents) handled by FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation (President: Kazuo Shiraki, Fujifilm Wako), with JEOL's automated biochemistry analyzers (analyzers), and launch them as Fujifilm-branded clinical chemistry systems this autumn in the global market. Clinical chemistry testing is essential in diagnosing medical conditions, observing their progression, determining the efficacy of treatments and checking general health conditions. Public awareness on health and prevention of lifestyle diseases is rising not only in industrialized nations but also in emerging economies where rapid economic development takes place, resulting improvement in the standard of living. The global clinical chemistry market is said to be worth approx. US$10 billion per annum, with an anticipated annual growth rate of 3% on average*1 . The Middle East and African market, in particular, is expanding at the rate of 6.2% per annum, well above the international average*2 . For over 30 years, Fujifilm has globally supplied healthcare equipment in its in-vitro diagnostics business, including the FUJI DRI-CHEM series of dry clinical chemistry analyzers, allowing quick and easy testing of blood samples at hospitals and clinics, and other point-of-care products*3 including the FUJI DRI-CHEM Immuno AG1, a highly-sensitive system that swiftly provides diagnosis of influenza and other infectious diseases. Mainly targeting the Japanese market, Fujifilm Wako has supplied test reagents of advanced quality stability and analysis reliability as well as testing equipment such as the TASWako i30 fully-automated microfluidic-based clinical immunoanalyzer, capable of providing early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and determining treatment efficacy, and the FOBITWAKO(II) fecal occult blood analyzer, used for colon cancer screening. In this partnership, Fujifilm Wako's test reagents, which are renowned for a high level of quality stability and analysis reliability to boast the largest market share in Japan for many years, are combined with JEOL's analyzers, which have been adopted by Japanese and global clients for many years and are characterized with highly-accurate microanalysis capability. The resulting Fujifilm-branded biochemical test systems will be promoted, through Fujifilm's global sales network, to clinical pathological laboratories at major medical institutions and contract laboratories. Sales activities will start in the Middle East and African region, and will be gradually expanded to other regions including emerging markets in Asia. The campaign to introduce the systems has been launched today at the Fujifilm booth of the MEDLAB 2019*4 trade show, held in the United Arab Emirates, where the company showcased Fujifilm Wako's test reagents and JEOL's analyzing equipment. Fujifilm will continue to accelerate active investment in and overseas deployment of its in-vitro diagnostics business for its further expansion, while providing products that address various needs of medical frontline, thereby contributing to maintaining and promoting people's health and well-being. The event drew a number of local officials, including Canadian Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion Mary Ng, Torontos Deputy Mayor Dezil Minnan-Wong and parliamentarian Julie Dzerowicz, along with foreign friends and Vietnamese community in Canada. In a greeting message sent to the CVS, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognised great contributions of the Vietnamese Canadian community and thanked the CVS for bringing Vietnamese culture closer to Canadian people. At the event, Minister Mary Ng affirmed that through the preservation of the tradition of the Vietnamese Canadian community as well as the Vietnamese cultural identity, the Vietnamese community has become a key community in the country. Trade, investment and education are outstanding cooperation areas between Vietnam and Canada over the years, she noted, adding that Vietnam has been the biggest trade partner of Canada among ASEAN countries. Director of the CVS in Toronto Nguyen Dai Trang highlighted the fruitful results in trade and education partnership between the two sides, stressing that the number of Vietnamese students wishing to study in Canada has risen. Participants at the event were feasted with Vietnamese traditional food, music and dances. Meanwhile, on February 1-2, a Tet greeting programme and a Tet festival and carnival was held in Prague, the Czech Republic, gathering Czech officials and locals, and the Vietnamese community in the country. This was one of the biggest events that the Vietnamese community has organised in a year, giving a chance for Vietnamese and Czech people to meet, exchange, and enjoy traditional dishes that Vietnamese people prepared for Tet, along with traditional art performances. Not only in Prague, the Vietnamese community in other localities such as Plzen, Most, Usti and Ostrava also organised various activities to celebrate Tet and the Year of the Pig. [February 04, 2019] SEC Senior Counsel Philip Moustakis Joins Seward & Kissel Seward & Kissel LLP announced today that Philip Moustakis, most recently a senior counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission, has joined the firm. Moustakis spent more than a decade in the SEC's (News - Alert) Division of Enforcement in New York, where he served a lengthy tenure in the Asset Management Unit and was a member of the Cyber Unit since its formation in 2017. He will work closely with several of Seward & Kissel's practice areas in both New York and Washington, D.C., including the Government Enforcement and Internal Investigations Group, the Investment Management Group, and the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Group. As a member of the SEC's Asset Management Unit from 2012-2017, his notable matters included work investigating two wealth management subsidiaries of a global financial services and banking firm for failing to disclose conflicts of interest across the company's wealth management franchise, as well as investigating an adviser to private funds for insider trading and a mismarking scheme. For these and other cases, Moustakis frequently worked with the Department of Justice. While at the SEC, Moustakis was also instrumental in cryptocurrency-related matters, initiating the SEC's involvement in the space in 2013 with the Commission's first Bitcoin-related enforcement action against the operator of a Bitcoin-denominated Ponzi scheme. He advised the Commission on cryptocurrencies, and conducted trainings on the emerging technology for the SEC, FBI, and FINRA. Before joining the SEC, Mostakis served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Investor Protection Bureau of the New York Attorney General's Office, where he helped bring a landmark case against a global insurance organization over deceptive business practices, ultimately securing an $818 million settlement. "Philip has earned great respect within the securities bar for his proven ability to investigate and prosecute major enforcement actions, often at the cutting edge of the law," said Jim Cofer, managing partner of Seward & Kissel. "The insights he has gained from years of government practice at the highest levels will strengthen our existing capabilities and be immensely valuable to our clients across all areas of the firm." At Seward & Kissel, Moustakis will work with the Government Enforcement and Internal Investigations Group to advise companies and individuals on SEC enforcement matters, internal investigations, and other regulatory and criminal matters, including those that may arise for the firm's financial services and shipping industry clients. In addition, Moustakis will work with the firm's Investment Management Group, and will be a valuable resource for Seward & Kissel Regulatory Compliance (SKRC), which provides an innovative suite of compliance services to registered investment advisors. His prior experience at the SEC will also enable Moustakis to be an invaluable resource to Seward & Kissel's Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Group, an interdisciplinary group that advises clients on issues arising from investments in assets based on blockchain or distributed ledger technology, including cryptocurrencies and other cryptoassets such as utility coins and tokens. "I'm very eager to join Seward & Kissel's well-regarded team," Moustakis said. "I look forward to working with this great collection of lawyers, and bringing my experience to bear on our clients' most pressing legal issues across a variety of practice areas." Moustakis received his J.D. from New York University School of Law, and a B.A., cum laude, from Purchase College. He is a four-time recipient of the SEC Division of Enforcement's Director's Award. About Seward & Kissel LLP Seward & Kissel LLP, founded in 1890, is a leading U.S. law firm with offices in New York City and Washington, D.C., with particular expertise in the financial services, investment management, banking, and shipping industries. The Firm is well known for its representation of investment advisers and related investment funds, broker dealers, major commercial banks, institutional investors, and transportation companies (particularly in the shipping area). Its practices primarily focus on corporate, M&A, securities, litigation (including white collar), restructuring/bankruptcy, regulatory, tax, employment, and ERISA for clients seeking legal expertise in these areas. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005334/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] TempWorks Software Releases Out of the Box Staffing Software Solution for Staffing Businesses EAGAN, Minn., Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TempWorks Software, a premier staffing software provider for more than 20 years, is proud to announce the release of TempWorks Core, an out of the box staffing software solution to meet the needs of small and growing staffing agencies. TempWorks Core offers a simplified workflow to streamline staffing operations. From recruiting and sales to back office functions, Core delivers the staffing tools to increase efficiency for staffing agencies with as few as one or two users. We are excited to deliver a suite of staffing tools to help small and growing staffing agencies become more efficient and scale for growth, says David Dourgarian, CEO at TempWorks Software. For the last decade, our development and leadrship teams have explored opportunities to expand our products and services to support small business growth more effectively. With a cost-effective out of the box staffing software solution, small to medium-sized staffing agencies receive the basic tools necessary to manage candidates, create customer records, and fill orders. It also delivers the functionality to perform straightforward back office functions, such as standard invoicing and check calculations. At a low user cost per month and no long-term contract terms, TempWorks Core provides a cost-effective solution to help small staffing agencies increase productivity and profitability. About TempWorks Software Based in Eagan, Minnesota, independently-owned TempWorks Software has been a leading provider of staffing software solutions for more than 20 years. With an emphasis on exemplary client service, TempWorks consistently delivers innovative and cutting-edge technology to hundreds of temporary staffing agencies across the nation. Media Contact Brenna Kruger Brenna.Kruger@tempworks.com 651-287-8356 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] BlueRush Announces Appointment of New Directors TORONTO, Feb. 4, 2019 /CNW/ - BlueRush Inc. ("BlueRush" or the "Company") (TSX-V: BTV), an emerging Software as a Service ("SaaS") company providing personalized customer engagement solutions, is pleased to announce the appointments of Michael Beckerman and Paul G. Smith to the Company's Board of Directors. Mr. Beckerman and Mr. Smith were elected as Directors at the Annual and Special Meeting of the Shareholders of the Company (the "Meeting") held in Toronto earlier today. Shareholders also re-elected the Company's other three nominees at the meeting: Larry Lubin, Steve Taylor and John Eckert. Mike Beckerman is a seasoned business executive with a track record of leading strong sales, marketing and operational performance. He was formerly Chief Executive Officer of the marketing agencies Ariad Communications and Bluespire Marketing (2015 2016), where he led the successful integration of three separate agencies. As President of Ariad Communications (2007 2015), he established the firm as one of Canada's leading marketing services companies, specializing in the financial services, healthcare, business-to-business and consumer packaged goods sectors. Previously, Mr. Beckerman was Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President at Bank of Montreal, where he played a key role in strengthening brands across the bank's portfolio and delivering a more consistent customer experience. He started his career at Nike Inc., where he advanced to various senior positions in global sales and marketing strategy across Asia-Pacific, Europe and the U.S. Mr. Beckerman is currently the principal of Beckerman Consulting and serves as a director for Points.com. Paul Smith brings extensive public and private sector experience to the Board. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Frontline Broadband Inc., a Toronto-based provider of telecommunications and IT services. He was previously Co-Founder and CEO of Equity Financial Holdings Inc., a TSX-listed financial services company that served the alternative mortgage market. Prior thereto, Mr. Smith was Chief Financial Officer of Bell Conferia, a subsidiary of BCE Inc. Mr. Smith currently serves as a director for several public and private companies. He was the Chair of VIA Rail Canada Inc. from 2010 to 2014. Prior to joining the public sector, Mr. Smith served in the federal government, where he held a number of important roles including Executive Assistant to the Prime Minister. He holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Jay Cashmore and Len Smofsky, who previously served on the Board of Directors, did not run for re-election. Mr. Smofsky remains Executive Vice President at BlueRush. Larry Lubin , President and Chair. "We look forward to their added guidance on strategy and governance, as BlueRush continues to advance its growth and development." "On behalf of the Board, I would also like to thank Jay Cashmore for his significant contributions to BlueRush and wish him the best in his future endeavours," added Mr. Lubin. At the Meeting, shareholders also re-appointed the auditor (RSM Canada LLP), and approved an amended and restated fixed number stock option plan reserving for issuance options exercisable for up to 15,050,369 common shares. Pursuant to the amended and restated option plan, the Company's newly appointed directors, Michael Beckerman and Paul Smith, have each been granted 250,000 stock options at an exercise price of $0.08 per common share expiring on February 1, 2024. About BlueRush BlueRush offers Software as a Service ("SaaS") based content engagement platforms that enable organizations to achieve greater engagement and conversion metrics with existing customers and new prospects. BlueRush has a particular focus on the financial services industry in areas such as mortgage, loan and credit card origination, as well as supporting pension fund and insurance use cases. BlueRush develops and markets IndiVideo, a disruptive interactive personalized video platform that drives return on investment ("ROI") through customer interactions, from increased conversions to more engaging statements and customer care. IndiVideo enables BlueRush clients to capture knowledge and data from their customers' video interaction, creating new and compelling data driven customer insights. IndiVideo can also be integrated with DigitalReach, BlueRush's SaaS-based content engagement platform, that delivers improved sales conversion metrics for more than 75,000 financial advisors at leading financial institutions. The combination of IndiVideo and DigitalReach is unique in the marketplace and provides BlueRush with a strong value proposition. For more information, please visit www.bluerush.com. More information on the BlueRush SaaS products can be viewed for DigitalReach at www.digitalreach.ca and for IndiVideo at www.individeo.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Company's current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. These factors include, without limitation: the TSX Venture Exchange not approving the warrants for debt transaction; changes in law; the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities; state of the capital markets; the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations; a novel business model; dependence on key suppliers and local partners; competition; the outcome and cost of any litigation; as well as general economic, market and business conditions, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in disclosure documents filed by the Company with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward -looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law. The Company's results and forward-looking information and calculations may be affected by fluctuations in exchange rates. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE BlueRush Inc, [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] VirtualArmour to Present at the 31st Annual ROTH Conference on March 17-19, 2019 CENTENNIAL, Colo., Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VirtualArmour International Inc. (CSE:VAI) (F:3V3) (OTCQB: VTLR), a premier cybersecurity managed services provider, has been invited to present at the 31st Annual ROTH Conference being held at The Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Orange County, California, on March 17-19, 2019. The conference will feature presentations from public and private companies across a variety of industry sectors. Last year, the ROTH Conference hosted close to 550 participating companies and more than 4,700 attendees, including institutional investors, analysts, family offices and high net worth investors. VirtualArmour, CEO Russ Armbrust, is scheduled to present in one-on-one meetings with institutional analysts and investors held throughout the day on March 18-19. He will be joined by the companys CFO, Michael Panec. They will be discussing VirtualArmours winning strategies for cybersecurity that are driving the growth of the companys higher-margin managed services business. VirtualArmour management will present via pre-recorded webinar, which will be available here and on the companys website in the Investors section under Events and Presentations beginning two weeks prior to the conference. To schedule a one-on-one meeting with VirtualArmour, please contact your ROTH representative. For any questions about the company, contact Ron Both of CMA at (949) 432-7557 or submit your request here . About Roth Capital Partners ROTH Capital Partners, LLC (ROTH), is a relationship-driven investment bank focused n serving emerging growth companies and their investors. As a full-service investment bank, ROTH provides capital raising, M&A advisory, analytical research, trading, market-making services and corporate access. Headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, ROTH is privately-held and employee owned, and maintains offices throughout the U.S. For more information on ROTH, please visit www.roth.com . About VirtualArmour VirtualArmour International is a global cybersecurity and managed services provider that delivers customized solutions to help businesses build, monitor, maintain and secure their networks. The company maintains 24/7 client monitoring and service management with specialist teams located in its U.S. and UK-based security operation centers. Through partnerships with best-in-class technology providers, VirtualArmour delivers leading hardware and software solutions for customers that are both sophisticated and scalable, and backed by industry-leading customer service and experience. VirtualArmours proprietary CloudCastr client portal and prevention platform provides clients with unparalleled access to real-time reporting on threat levels, breach prevention and overall network security. VirtualArmour services a wide range of clients, which include Fortune 500 companies and several industry sectors in over 30 countries across five continents. For further information, visit www.virtualarmour.com . Important Cautions Regarding Forward Looking Statements This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and U.S. securities laws. This press release includes certain forward-looking statements concerning the future performance of our business, its operations and its financial performance and condition, as well as managements objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions. The forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of VirtualArmour. Although VirtualArmour believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information as VirtualArmour cannot provide any assurance that it will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are frequently identified by such words as may, will, plan, expect, anticipate, estimate, intend and similar words referring to future events and results. Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and expectations of management. All forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and subject to a variety of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including the success of this partnership, the future deal potential from this partnership, future interest in such partnerships, competitive risks and the availability of financing. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and VirtualArmour disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws. Company Contact Russ Armbrust CEO VirtualArmour International Inc. Tel (720) 644-0913 Email Contact Investor Relations: Ronald Both or Grant Stude CMA Tel (949) 432-7566 Email Contact [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] FTC Dramatically Simplifies Network Operations with AXOS, Cuts OSS/BSS Integration Time from 18 Months to Just 10 Weeks SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) today announced that Farmers Telecommunications Cooperative (FTC) has deployed AXOS to rapidly move its network to GPON as it continues its fiber expansion across more densely populated areas of northeastern Alabama. With AXOS, FTC was able to reduce the typical integration time of OSS/BSS systems by 86 percent, from 18 months to 10 weeks. FTC is leveraging the E7-2 Intelligent Modular System and the Services Management Connector (SMx) to deliver this upgrade to an AXOS network. This upgrade will simplify operations and accelerate future back office integrations. FTC is expanding into both ILEC and CLEC markets with varying population densities. The flexibility of the E7-2 Intelligent Modular System and SMx connector provides a simple bridge between its legacy network and its new next-generation network. AXOS offers service providers a clear path to a simplified, intelligent, unified access network that can accelerate time-to-revenue while reducing time-to-market and total cost of ownership. AXOS has already enabled us to integrate our billing systems in a fraction of the time it traditionally takes, and we now have the blueprint for success with fuure integrations, said Charles Austin, manager, network engineering and operations for FTC. Since the deployment, our network has been so stable that we havent even needed to leverage the AXOS Diagnostic Toolbox . By employing consistent service models and workflows with AXOS, FTC is able to simplify operations as well as reduce operating expenses. As FTC transitions its network to Software Defined Access (SDA) while working with existing OSS/BSS systems, AXOS and SMx provide the northbound and southbound connections needed to eliminate middleware and reduce cost and complexity. The scalability of AXOS has also enabled FTC to venture beyond its previous business development capabilities. The cooperative recently bid on a school district project in one of the CLEC markets in which it is actively laying fiber. Given the schools bandwidth requirements and network design, the best way to support their subscribers needs was via 10G PON. Calix AXOS systems support this via both NG-PON2 and XGS-PON. AXOS systems provide both the simplicity and flexibility to meet a wide range of deployment scenarios and future-proof a CSPs network. We sincerely appreciate a longtime, valued customer like FTC, and we are pleased that they have opted to build on our strategic relationship through this latest network upgrade, said Skip Hirvela, VP sales, field operations management for Calix. The reliability of our solutions is important, but the value of Calix extends far beyond our product portfolio. We take pride in being a true partner that can open new opportunities for our customers by accelerating their success. For a closer look at AXOS or other Calix solutions, visit Calix in booth 500 at NTCA RTIME, February 3-6 in New Orleans. About Calix Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) Innovative communications service providers rely on Calix platforms to help them master and monetize the complex infrastructure between their subscribers and the cloud. Calix is the leading global provider of the cloud and software platforms, systems, and services required to deliver the unified access network and smart premises of tomorrow. Our platforms and services help our customers build next generation networks by embracing a DevOps operating model, optimize the subscriber experience by leveraging big data analytics and turn the complexity of the smart home and business into new revenue streams. This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are based upon management's current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this release, and we assume no obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking statement to reflect any event or circumstance after the date of this release, except as required by law. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from current expectations based on risks and uncertainties affecting Calixs business. The reader is cautioned not to rely on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Additional information on potential factors that could affect Calix's results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed in its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov. Press Inquiries: Dale Legaspi 408-474-0056 dale.legaspi@calix.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Philadelphia Selects Sensus for Advanced Metering Infrastructure Upgrade The City of Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) has selected Sensus, a Xylem brand, through a competitive request for proposal process, to deliver smart water technology for its Metering and Customer Service Program. PWD provides services to more than 1.7 million people in Philadelphia. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005150/en/ Sensus smart water technology will provide the City of Philadelphia Water Department with real time access to detailed water usage data. (Photo: Business Wire) "Our AMI deployment will provide us with real time access to detailed water usage data, enhancing our customer service and empowering our customers to better manage their water usage," said Water Commissioner Debra McCarty. "The Sensus solution will enable our customers to receive leak detection notifications that can help avoid unexpectedly high water bills." The city will begin deployment of the Sensus FlexNet communication network and approximately 480,000 SmartPoint radio transceivers for its existing water meters over the next three years. The Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solution allows for daily water meter reads and the data is automatically transmitted to PWD. "We welcome the opportunity to partner with the City of Philadelphia on its smart water journey," said Mike McGann, Vice President, Sensus Americas. "Our solution will help streamline city water operations thanks to smart metering capabilities such as meter malfunction alerts, leak detection and tamper alarms." Sensus participated in the city's successful AMI pilot demonstration last year. About Sensus Sensus helps a wide range of public service providers-from utilities to cities to industrial complexes and campuses-do more with their infrastructure to improve quality of life in their communities. We enable our customers to reach farther through the application of technology and data-driven insights that deliver efficiency and responsiveness. We partner with them to anticipate and respond to evolving business needs with innovation in sensing and communications technologies, data analytics and services. Learn more at sensus.com and follow @SensusGlobal on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. About Xylem Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to developing innovative technology solutions to the world's water challenges. The Company's products and services move, treat, analyze, monitor and return water to the environment in public utility, industrial, residential and commercial building services settings. Xylem also provides a leading portfolio of smart metering, network technologies and advanced infrastructure analytics solutions for water, electric and gas utilities. The Company's more than 16,500 employees bring broad applications expertise with a strong focus on identifying comprehensive, sustainable solutions. Headquartered in Rye Brook, New York with 2017 revenue of $4.7 billion, Xylem does business in more than 150 countries through a number of market-leading product brands. The name Xylem is derived from classical Greek and is the tissue that transports water in plants, highlighting the engineering efficiency of our water-centric business by linking it with the best water transportation of all - that which occurs in nature. For more information, please visit us at www.xylem.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005150/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Jupiter by InFocus Introduces Flagship Catalyst XL Display Wall Processor Integrated Systems Europe, Stand 2-B60 - Jupiter by InFocus, a division of leading provider of display wall solutions for collaboration and learning, InFocus Corporation (www.infocus.com), debuts its new flagship Catalyst XL display wall processor, featuring ultra-fast bandwidth and data transfer, high memory capacity, 4K and 8K capture board technology, and real-time document and video annotation capability. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005113/en/ InFocus - Jupiter Catalyst XL (Photo: Business Wire) Catalyst XL can support enterprise as well as mission-critical, 24/7 operations that require video quality and uptime, both for single video wall installations and those on a corporate network with multiple connected video walls. The processor can power up to 48 displays and a maximum of 156 4K IP and direct inputs, with a density of processing power that allows for fewer input/output boards to reduce an installation's hardware footprint. Catalyst XL is available with a four-channel HDMI input board capable of ingesting resolutions up to 4K per input, and which can be synchronized for 8K capture. Using point-to-point technology, Catalyst XL offers the fastest available bandwidth at bidirectional speeds of 15.8 GB/s PCIe Gen 3 x 16 that enables direct data sending without needing to go through system memory. Next-generation DirectGMA technology enables the processor to maintain frame synchronization while handling high-speed data transfer from the capture board to one or more GPU boards, and it can support full-duplex communication between any board for full-frame rate transmission from the source to display hrough the PCIe bus. For easy deployment, Catalyst XL includes a new graphics driver, support for multiple languages, and backwards compatibility with the Jupiter by InFocus's ControlPoint software. Catalyst XL offers users security and ease-of-use with a specialized version of Windows 10 LTSB and Jupiter by InFocus's award-winning collaborative visualization software, Canvas, in its newest 5.6 version. With Canvas, users on a mobile device or conference room display can view video, data, and applications from a control room, as well as annotate directly on live video streams, chat by text or voice, and collaborate on documents in real-time. Catalyst XL can be used for a single video wall using Canvas or it can be connected to a Canvas Enterprise ecosystem, where multiple video walls are managed by one or more Canvas servers. "Equipping Catalyst XL with the fastest bandwidth available, along with more 4K direct inputs and streaming sources, was critical in debuting our newest flagship display wall processor," said Devon Wright, Jupiter by InFocus product manager. "We've tapped into processing, memory, and resolution advancements to give users a highly-capable solution designed for the enterprise and mission-critical applications the Jupiter brand is known for." Catalyst XL will debut at Integrated Systems Europe at InFocus stand #2-B60 from February 5 to 8, 2019, along with the full Jupiter by InFocus line including PixelNet 2.0 and the newly-updated Canvas 5.6. To learn more, please visit infocus.com. About Jupiter by InFocus Jupiter by InFocus has a 30-year legacy of enabling business visualization and collaboration anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Its comprehensive line of display wall processors to collaborative visualization software arms customers with the insights to make fast, confident, accurate decisions, and organizations the ability to manage global enterprises and mission-critical scenarios in real-time. About InFocus Corp. (News - Alert) InFocus makes connecting people and ideas easy, reliable and affordable. The industry leader for more than 30 years, InFocus creates innovative collaboration solutions that support visual teamwork. Its award-winning, integrated services, hardware and software products, including Jupiter by InFocus, are employed and trusted by thousands of the most successful businesses, public agencies, and schools around the world. With solutions for conference rooms, huddle rooms, office desktops, control rooms, classrooms, large venues, and people on the move, there is an InFocus product and service for every application. Learn more at www.InFocus.com. Visit the InFocus store at www.infocus.com/store. Follow InFocus on social media at facebook.com/InFocusCorp, linkedin.com/company/InFocus or twitter.com/InFocusCorp. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005113/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Radient Technologies Inc. Announces Changes to its Board of Directors and Provides Corporate Update EDMONTON, Alberta, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Radient Technologies Inc. (Radient or the Company) (TSX Venture: RTI; OTCQX: RDDTF) announces today the following changes to its Board of Directors. The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Allan Cleiren, who is Chief Operating Officer of Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX: ACB; NYSE: ACB) and a Director of Hempco Food & Fiber Ltd., to Radients Board of Directors. Mr. Cleiren brings with him nearly three decades of leadership experience working with private and public companies on the execution of strategic business operations. Radient believes Mr. Cleiren will be a valuable addition to the Company as it moves forward with the commercial production of cannabinoid extracts and products, along with the global expansion of its operations. Mr. Cleiren commented: Having worked closely with Radient for the past couple of years, I have been very impressed with the technical accomplishment, vision and professionalism at the organization. As regulations are finalized this year that will allow for new form factors for both the medical and adult use of cannabis, Radients extraction capabilities will be paramount for success. I look forward to this new role with Radient to assist in furthering Aurora and Radients close relationship, and to working with Denis and the team at Radient to accelerate their growth. Concurrent to the appointment of Mr. Cleiren to Radients Board of Directors, the Company also announces that Mr. Terry Booth is stepping down from Radients Board of Directors, effective today. Mr. Booth, who is CEO of Aurora Cannabis Inc., has served as a member of Radients Board of Directors since late 2017, and has played an instrumental role in the evolution of the Company as it expanded its operations to enter the cannabinoids market. Mr. Booth commented: With the transformative grant of their processor license, Radient will now transition from technology development to commercial operations, which requires a shift in focus. Allan, Auroras COO, who has been extensively involved with RTI over the past couple of years as they progressed to being licensed, as well as with our hemp assets through Agropro and Hempco, is better positioned than myself to provide the bandwidth and focus RTI requires. Our two companies will now execute jointly on our early mover advantage in the global Hemp and Cannabis derivative markets, as we believe Radients technology is a game changer for our industry. Our product development and opportunities teams recognized this back in 2016 when we commenced our relationship, and we are now realizing this vision. The Company also announces that Mr. Jith Veeravalli will be stepping down from Radients Board of Directors, effective today, in order to pursue other interests. Mr. Veeravalli has been a valued member of Radients Board for over 4 years and has played a key role in supporting the Company through its growth during this time. Frank Ferlaino, Radients Chairman of the Board commented: Jith has been a strong supporter of Radient since the Company became public in 2014. His significant experience in health specialty ingredients has helped shaped the growth and future wellness initiatives of the Company. We are grateful to him for his many contributions. Radient is also pleased to provide its shareholders with the following corporate update regarding its license status and manufacturing facilities. Receipt of Standard Processing License from Health Canada: Radient announced today, via a separate press release, that it has received its Standard Processing license rom Health Canada, which allows the Company to process cannabis for the purpose of sale to federal license holders, including its strategic partner, Aurora Cannabis Inc. Processing of cannabis will now begin at Radients recently expanded Manufacturing Facility (Edmonton I Facility) located at 4035 101 St NW in Edmonton, Alberta. The Edmonton I Facility is expected to be capable of processing more than 200 kg of cannabis biomass per day at full capacity. Retrofitting of Existing Manufacturing Facility for CBD from Hemp: The Company announced on November 28, 2018 that it would be retrofitting a portion of its previously existing operational Manufacturing Facility (Edmonton II Facility) also located at 4035 101 St NW, Edmonton, exclusively for the processing of industrial hemp. The retrofitting operation is currently underway, and is expected to be complete in Q3, 2019. The expected throughputs for the retrofitted Edmonton II Facility will be in excess of 1,200 kg of industrial hemp per day. Radient will not be required to apply for an additional Standard Processing license from Health Canada for the Edmonton II Facility. New Edmonton Manufacturing Facility: Radient announced on November 5, 2018 that it had begun the development of a brand new Edmonton-based Manufacturing Facility (Edmonton III Facility) of over 100,000 square feet, located on the additional land adjacent to its existing Edmonton I and Edmonton II Facilities at 4035 101 St NW, Edmonton. The Edmonton III Facility will be dedicated to cannabinoid extraction and product development, and is expected to be capable of processing estimated throughputs of more than 1,000 kg per day of medical cannabis and more than 10,000 kg per day of industrial hemp. The foundation work on the Edmonton III Facility has commenced, with the general contractor to be appointed in early February 2019. Completion is expected in Q1 2020. German Manufacturing Facility: On November 5, 2018, the Company announced that it would be building a brand-new German processing facility (the German Manufacturing Facility), which is expected to be production ready in 2020. The German Manufacturing Facility is expected to be capable of processing throughputs of more than 1,000 kg per day of medical cannabis and more than 10,000 kg per day of industrial hemp. Site selection and preparation is now complete and permitting is underway, with initial design renderings having also been completed. Canada Cannabis House at Davos: Radient was honoured to participate in the World Economic Forums Annual Meeting at Davos, Switzerland, from January 22 25, 2019. Radients CFO, Prakash Hariharan, attended meetings and appeared as a guest speaker in a panel entitled, The Next Investment Opportunities in Global Cannabis Expansion at the Canada Cannabis House at Davos on January 23, 2019. About Radient Radient Technologies provides industrial-scale manufacturing solutions for premium natural ingredients and products. Utilizing its patented MAP extraction technology, Radient delivers superior customer outcomes in terms of ingredient purity, yield, and cost, and serves global market leaders in industries such as foods & beverages, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and personal care. Since 2016, Radient has expanded its offerings to enter the cannabinoids market, using its MAP platform to provide premium ingredients that contain a full range of cannabinoid and terpene profiles. Please visit www.radientinc.com for more information. SOURCE: Radient Technologies Inc. Denis Taschuk, Chief Executive Officer, dtaschuk@radientinc.com , (780) 465-1318; Prakash Hariharan, Chief Financial Officer, phariharan@radientinc.com , (416) 561-9461 Caitlin Cheadle, Director of Communications, ccheadle@radientinc.com Forward Looking Information: This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the growth of the Companys business operations; the impact of changes to the Companys Board of Directors; the impact of obtaining the Standard Processing Licence; the Companys ability to retrofit the Edmonton II Facility; the Companys ability to process materials at each of its facilities; the Companys ability to construct and commission the Edmonton III Facility and the German Manufacturing Facility; the Companys ability to expand its operations in Europe and Canada; the Companys ability to grow its business in the cannabis sector and the Companys future plans. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Radient, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Although Radient has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Radient does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] NanoViricides Has Initiated IND-Enabling Safety/Toxicology Studies for Its First Drug Candidate Moving towards Human Clinical Trials SHELTON, Conn., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NanoViricides, Inc. (NYSE Amer.: NNVC) (the "Company"), a company with novel platform technology to treat difficult and life-threatening viral diseases, announces that its first drug candidate has now entered IND-enabling Safety/Toxicology studies moving towards human clinical trials. The first part of the IND-enabling Safety/Toxicology studies for the shingles drug candidate began towards the end of December, 2018. These studies are being conducted by BASi, Indiana, a Contract Research Organization specialized in IND-enabling safety/toxicology studies. The first of these studies, namely non-GLP Safety/Tolerability and Toxicity using Dermal Exposure in Mini-Pigs, began at the very end of December, 2018. Following initial observations on this mini-pigs study, the next non-GLP studies for Systemic Exposure using sub-cutaneous administration in Rats has begun in the second week of January, 2019. Another study of Systemic Exposure using sub-cutaneous administration in Dogs has also begun recently. The Company expects to report on these various studies as soon as the data become available to us and is reviewed by our scientists. The Company is negotiating the earliest possible date for entering the next phase, namely, the GLP Safety/Toxicology studies with BASi at present. The Company has employed its drug candidate, namely, NV-HHV-101, for these non-clinical IND-enabling studies. Two related development candidates in the HerpeCide program were previously tested by the Company in non-GLP Safety and Tolerability study in rats for dermal exposure as well as systemic exposure by subcutaneous and intravenous routes of administration. The Company previously reported in April, 2018, that those candidates were both found to be safe based on multiple parameters in the then completed non-GLP Tolerability study. No clinically observable adverse safety and toxicology effects were seen in that study of the Company's optimized topical dermal drug candidates. On the basis of these previous studies, the Company engaged in scale-up for large scale production of the development candidates while simultaneously also further optimizing the candidates for quality control and for effectiveness. The effectiveness of the drug candidates against VZV, the virus that causes chickenpox in children and shingles in adults, continues to be evaluated by Professor Moffat in the human skin organ culture model at the Upstate Medical Center, SUNY Syracuse, NY. The Company has chosen the candidate now called NV-HHV-101 as the clinical drug candidate based on these drug candidate optimization studies. Assuming that the safety/toxicology studies are successful, the Company anticipates advancing NV-HHV-101 into human clinical trials for topical dermal treatment of the shingles rash as the initial indication. The Company also continues to evaluate this broad-spectrum drug candidate as well as certain variations based on the same candidate, to develop for the treatment of other herpesviruses, namely HSV-1 cold sores and HSV-2 genital herpes. The Company has a license to the TheraCour technologies for HSV-1 and HSV-2 and the license for VZV Shingles is currently in progress. The cell culture based evaluation of drug candidates for HSV-1, HSV-2 and VZV is performed in our own BSL2 Virology lab. The animal studies for HSV-1 and HSV-2 indications will be performed by Professor Brandt at the CORL facility at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. The Brandt team is currently working on optimizing their animal models so that drugs that may be superior to existing treatments can be discriminated from the existing treatments. In another news, the Company confirms that its CEO, Dr. Irach Taraporewala has resigned effective January 31, 2019, for personal reasons, and will continue as a Consultant to help the Company with its regulatory advance asneeded. The Company has signed a consulting agreement with him for two years, ending in January 2021. The Company has filed a current report Form 8-K with the SEC for this event. The Board has elevated Dr. Anil Diwan, the Company's President and Chairman of the Board, to Executive Chairman in order to undertake the additional executive responsibilities at present. The Company has continued to undertake austerity measures, and activate available options to reduce its expenditures while taking care that the timeline for moving its first drug candidate into human clinical trials is not adversely affected. NanoViricides, Inc. is a global leader in the application of nanomedicine technologies to the complex issues of developing effective treatments for viral diseases. The nanoviricide platform technology enables direct attacks at multiple points on a virus particle. It is believed that such attacks would lead to the virus particle becoming ineffective at infecting cells. Antibodies in contrast attack a virus particle at only a maximum of two attachment points per antibody. Our anti-viral therapeutics, that we refer to as "nanoviricides" are designed to mimic and look to the virus like the native host cell surface to which it binds. Since these binding sites for a given virus do not change despite mutations and other changes in the virus, we believe that our drugs will be broad-spectrum, i.e. effective against most if not all strains, types, or subtypes, of a given virus, provided the virus-binding portion of the nanoviricide is engineered appropriately. In addition, any mutated viruses that develop in vivo under a nanoviricide drug treatment regimen would be expected to be inefficient in infecting human cells, and thus incompetent. With the nanoviricide platform technology, the Company has previously demonstrated that highly effective anti-viral drug candidates can be created against complex diseases such as Influenza, HIV/AIDS, Dengue, and Ebola/Marburg, to name a few. The market size for our immediate target drugs in the HerpeCide program is variously estimated into billions to tens of billions of dollars. The Company believes that its dermal topical cream for the treatment of shingles rash will be its first drug heading into clinical trials. The Company believes that additional topical treatment candidates in the HerpeCide program, namely, HSV-1 "cold sores" treatment, and HSV-2 "genital ulcers" treatment are expected to follow the shingles candidate into IND-enabling development and then into human clinical trials. The Company anticipates achieving several additional important milestones in the current calendar year towards firmly establishing its nanoviricide platform technology. With this press release we announce that we have successfully met the milestones of declaring our first clinical drug candidate and of initiating IND-enabling Safety/Tox Package studies for the same. The additional milestones that the Company anticipates achieving in the current calendar year 2019 include establishing successful cGMP-like production of the drug as required for the "Tox Package" studies, further enhancing the production capability to make human clinical product batches, successful completion of the Tox Package studies, a "Pre-IND" meeting with the FDA, filing of an IND, and the beginning of initial human clinical trials. The timelines for meeting these milestones depend upon several external factors not under the control of the Company, including availability of project time windows at the various service providers for Efficacy studies, Safety/Tox Package studies, Clinical Trials, and the availability of adequate capital. The Company's most advanced pre-clinical drug candidate is our anti-VZV nanoviricide for the topical treatment of shingles, being developed as a skin cream. In cell culture studies, a tested development candidate was as much as five times more effective than acyclovir, the current standard of care. These anti-VZV drug candidates have also shown strong effectiveness in studies involving VZV infection of human skin patches ex vivo. These studies were conducted by Professor Jennifer Moffat at the SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY, an internationally recognized expert on varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection, pathogenesis, and anti-viral agent discovery. Some of the work was presented at the 31st International Conference on Antiviral Research held June 11 - June 15, 2018 in Porto, Portugal. Our drug programs address a market size in the range of $40 Billion to $70 Billion by various estimates. We are thus poised for strong growth with a number of drug candidates in a multitude of disease indications in our broad and deep pipeline enabled by our platform technology. About NanoViricides NanoViricides, Inc. (www.nanoviricides.com) is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for antiviral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide class of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them. The Company is developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, oral and genital Herpes, shingles and chickenpox, viral diseases of the eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others. This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors. Certain statements in this release, and other written or oral statements made by NanoViricides, Inc. are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. Although it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors, they may include the following: demonstration and proof of principle in preclinical trials that a nanoviricide is safe and effective; successful development of our product candidates; our ability to seek and obtain regulatory approvals, including with respect to the indications we are seeking; the successful commercialization of our product candidates; and market acceptance of our products. (FDA refers to US Food and Drug Administration. EMA refers to the European Union's office of European Medicines Agency.) View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nanoviricides-has-initiated-ind-enabling-safetytoxicology-studies-for-its-first-drug-candidate-moving-towards-human-clinical-trials-300788844.html SOURCE NanoViricides, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] The Hartford Announces New Operating Model For Its Specialty Commercial And Middle Market Businesses Following Navigators Acquisition The Hartford announced the new operating model and organizational structure that will be effective upon the closing of its pending acquisition of The Navigators Group, Inc. Navigators operations, along with The Hartford's current Specialty Commercial and Middle Market businesses, will be aligned around two new market-facing businesses - Global Specialty and Middle & Large Commercial. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and expected to close in late March or April. "We are pleased with our progress on the integration planning and excited about our growth opportunities post-close," said The Hartford's President Doug Elliot. "The acquisition accelerates key strategic objectives for The Hartford by expanding our product offerings, risk appetite and geographic reach. This go-to-market operating model will enable us to optimize our shared commitment to underwriting excellence, innovation and delivering value to our best-in-class distribution partners and their customers." A. Morris "Mo" Tooker, currently head of Middle Market at The Hartford, will lead Middle & Large Commercial, which will include national accounts, and continue to report to Elliot. This business will focus on delivering workers' compensation, general liability, auto liability and property insurance to mid-size and large businesses through retail agents and brokers. Included in this organization are: industry verticals; program and captive businesses; and umbrella, excess and high-hazard general liability offerings. Middle & Large Commercial will comprise approximately $2.7 billion of net written premiums on a pro forma basis.1 Vincent C. Tizzio, currently president of Navigators' U.S. Insurance operation, will lead Global Specialty and report to Elliot. This business will focus on delivering a broad array of specialty products through retail and wholesale channels, and will include U.S. specialty insurance and international teams. The surety and financial products businesses of The Hartford will become a part of Global Specialty. Global Specialty will represent approximately $1.9 billion in net written premiums on a pro forma basis.1 M. Ross Fisher, currently head of Specialty ommercial at The Hartford, will take on the new role of property and casualty global chief underwriting officer and continue to report to Elliot. H. Clay Bassett, Jr., will continue to lead Navigators Reinsurance in the new organization and report to Fisher. Stanley A. Galanski, who has served as Navigators' CEO since 2003, will continue to serve as president and CEO through the completion of the acquisition. Upon closing of the transaction, he will assume an executive advisory role during a transition period. Under Galanski's leadership, Navigators grew to become a global specialty insurer with strong positions in the global marine, specialty casualty, and management and professional liability markets. The Hartford announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of The Navigators Group, Inc. on Aug. 22, 2018. Approximately 800 Navigators employees globally will join The Hartford upon closing. About The Hartford The Hartford is a leader in property and casualty insurance, group benefits and mutual funds. With more than 200 years of expertise, The Hartford is widely recognized for its service excellence, sustainability practices, trust and integrity. More information on the company and its financial performance is available at https://www.thehartford.com. Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at www.twitter.com/TheHartford_PR. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., (NYSE: HIG) operates through its subsidiaries under the brand name, The Hartford, and is headquartered in Hartford, Conn. For additional details, please read The Hartford's legal notice. HIG-C, HIG-F 1 Based on 2017 net written premiums of the combined businesses. Some of the statements in this release may be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements about the expected closing date of the acquisition of Navigators, the strategic and financial impact of the acquisition, the realignment of business upon closing, and the pro forma net written premiums of the realigned businesses. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in our 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-Q, and the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued. From time to time, The Hartford may use its website to disseminate material company information. Financial and other important information regarding The Hartford is routinely accessible through and posted on our website at https://ir.thehartford.com. In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about The Hartford when you enroll your email address by visiting the "Email Alerts" section at https://ir.thehartford.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005329/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] ioTium Named to the GSMA 100 SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ioTium, the first commercially deployed Software-Defined Converged Infrastructure company for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), today announced that the GSMA has named ioTium to the GSMA 100, a global innovation discovery initiative designed to identify the world's most promising growth-stage companies and advance the next generation of connectivity and digital services. As the first commercially deployed software-defined converged infrastructure company for the Industrial IoT, ioTium is the company of choice for Fortune 500 organizations looking to enable secure, scalable IIoT deployment. The company's managed services offerings ensure that any machine, using any protocol, can be instantly, seamlessly and securely connected to any application residing in any cloud or data center through any network infrastructure and operator, while eliminating deployment complexity issues and minimizing network security risks. "This well-deserved recognition underscores ioTium's position as a definitive standout driving innovation for global mobile operators," said Ron Victor, CEO, ioTium. "ioTium's north star has always been to meet the evolving needs of our customers as they work toward digital transformation, and our industry-leading software-defined converged infrastructure for IIoT is the foundation required for that transformation." "We welcome ioTium to the GSMA 100. The GSMA 100 companies are leaders in categories that are poised to drive digital transformation and industry growth," said Laxmi Akkaraju, chief strategy officer, GSMA. "We look forward to working with ioTium to unlock business development and investment opportunities and champion innovation in our industry." ioTium joins the second cohort of the GSMA 100, which includes AppOnBoard, Cinarra, Cloudify, CUJOAI, DefinedCrowd, Genus AI, Invisible Systems, Jimny, KaiOS, Limitless, Litmus Automation, Lumina Networks, Messagenius, SecureHome, UserTribe, Vilynx and Zeotap. The GSMA 100 represents the innovation priorities of mobile operators around the world. Companies are referred into the program through investment and key partners. Contributors to the GSMA 100 to date include America Movil, Blumberg Capital, British Telecom, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, EIT Digital, Etisalat, Telecom Italia, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, KPN Ventures, MegaFon, MTN Group, Orange, Rogers Communications, Sony Innovation Fund, Telefonica, Telenor Group, Telstra Ventures, US Cellular and Vodafone, among others. Follow the #GSMA100 hashtag on Twitter or visit: www.gsma100.com. 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: @GSMA. About ioTium ioTium is the first commercially deployed Software-Defined Converged Infrastructure company for the IIoT. Headquartered in Silicon Valley and funded by GE Ventures, Honeywell Ventures, Juniper Ventures, JC2 Ventures, Hanna Ventures, March Capital Partners and the Fabric, ioTium is the company of choice for Fortune 500 organizations looking to enable secure, scalable IIoT deployment today. ioTium bridges the legacy brown-field world with the new cloud-enabled world. The company's offerings have been deployed in leading building automation, energy, oil and gas, and manufacturing organizations. ioTium solutions include the groundbreaking ioTium OT-Net; ioTium OT-Access; and the ioTium OT-Edge converged infrastructure solution. The company's solutions ensure that any machine, using any protocol, can be instantly, seamlessly and securely connected to any application residing in any cloud or data center through any network infrastructure and operator; while eliminating deployment complexity issues and minimizing network security risks. For more information, visit: http://www.iotium.io. Media Contacts: GSMA Press Office pressoffice@gsma.com Kim Truong ioTium Kim.Truong@ioTium.io Brittney Timmins ioTium ioTium@bocacommunications.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iotium-named-to-the-gsma-100-300788380.html SOURCE ioTium [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] MUFG Bank, Ltd. Announces Consolidated Summary Report of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. Under Japanese GAAP for the Nine Months Ended December 31, 2018 MUFG Bank, Ltd.: Company name: Mitsubishi (News - Alert) UFJ Financial Group, Inc. Stock exchange listings: Tokyo, Nagoya, New York Code number: 8306 URL https://www.mufg.jp/english/ Representative: Nobuyuki Hirano, President & Group CEO For inquiry: Kazutaka Yoneda, Managing Director, Head of Financial Accounting Office, Financial Planning Division TEL (03) 3240-3110 Quarterly securities report issuing date: February 14, 2019 Dividend payment date: - Trading accounts: Established Supplemental information for quarterly financial statements: Available Quarterly investor meeting presentation: None (Amounts of less than one million yen are rounded down.) 1. Consolidated Financial Data for the Nine Months ended December 31, 2018 (1) Results of Operations (% represents the change from the same period in the previous fiscal year) Ordinary Income Ordinary Profits Profits Attributable to Owners of Parent For the nine months ended million yen % million yen % million yen % December 31, 2018 5,023,125 9.7 1,184,876 (1.8) 872,232 1.0 December 31, 2017 4,577,331 6.0 1,206,031 (0.5) 863,427 9.7 (*) Comprehensive income December 31, 2018: 279,708 million yen, (81.0) % ; December 31, 2017: 1,470,500 million yen, - % Basic earnings per share Diluted earnings per share For the nine months ended yen yen December 31, 2018 66.68 66.43 December 31, 2017 64.86 64.63 (2) Financial Conditions Total Assets Total Net Assets Equity-to-asset ratio (*) As of million yen million yen % December 31, 2018 307,194,844 17,100,324 5.1 March 31, 2018 306,937,415 17,295,037 5.2 (Reference) Shareholders' equity as of December 31, 2018: 15,790,135 million yen; March 31, 2018: 16,024,639 million yen (*) "Equity-to-asset ratio" is computed under the formula shown below (Total net assets - Subscription rights to shares - Non-controlling interests) / Total assets 2. Dividends on Common Stock Dividends per Share 1st quarter-end 2nd quarter-end 3rd quarter-end Fiscal year-end Total For the fiscal year yen yen yen yen yen ended March 31, 2018 - 9.00 - 10.00 19.00 ending March 31, 2019 - 11.00 - ending March 31, 2019 (Forecast) 11.00 22.00 (*) Revision of forecasts for dividends on the presentation date of this Consolidated Summary Report : None 3. Earnings Target (News - Alert) for the Fiscal Year ending March 31, 2019 (Consolidated) MUFG has the target of 950.0 billion yen of profits attributable to owners of parent for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019. (There is no change to our earnings target released on November 13, 2018.) MUFG is engaged in financial service businesses such as banking business, trust banking business, securities business and credit card/loan businesses. Because there are various uncertainties caused by economic situation, market environments and other factors in these businesses, MUFG discloses a target of its profits attributable to owners of parent instead of a forecast of its performance. ? Notes (1) Changes in significant subsidiaries during the period: No (2) Adoption of any particular accounting methods for quarterly consolidated financial statements: No (3) Changes in accounting policies, changes in accounting estimates and restatements (A) Changes in accounting policies due to revision of accounting standards: No (B) Changes in accounting policies due to reasons other than (A): No (C) Changes in accounting estimates: No (D) Restatements: No (4) Number of common stocks outstanding at the end of the period (A) Total stocks outstanding including treasury stocks: December 31, 2018 13,827,607,320 shares March 31, 2018 13,900,028,020 shares (B) Treasury stocks: December 31, 2018 905,097,166 shares March 31, 2018 737,138,211 shares (C) Average outstanding of total stocks: Nine months ended December 31, 2018 13,081,212,089 shares Nine months ended December 31, 2017 13,311,369,048 shares ? This"Consolidated Summary Report"(Quarterly"Tanshin") is outside the scope of the external auditor's quarterly review procedure. ? Notes for using forecasted information etc. 1. This financial summary report contains forward-looking statements regarding estimations, forecasts, targets and plans in relation to the results of operations, financial conditions and other overall management of the company and/or the group as a whole (the "forward-looking statements"). The forward-looking statements are made based upon, among other things, the company's current estimations, perceptions and evaluations. In addition, in order for the company to adopt such estimations, forecasts, targets and plans regarding future events, certain assumptions have been made. Accordingly, due to various risks and uncertainties, the statements and assumptions are inherently not guarantees of future performance, may be considered differently from alternative perspectives and may result in material differences from the actual result. For the main factors that may affect the current forecasts, please see Consolidated Summary Report, Annual Securities Report, Disclosure Book, Annual Report, and other current disclosures that the company has announced. 2. The financial information included in this financial summary report is prepared and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in Japan ("Japanese GAAP"). Differences exist between Japanese GAAP and the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("U.S. GAAP") in certain material respects. Such differences have resulted in the past, and are expected to continue to result for this period and future periods, in amounts for certain financial statement line items under U.S. GAAP to differ significantly from the amounts under Japanese GAAP. For example, differences in consolidation basis or accounting for business combinations, including but not limited to amortization and impairment of goodwill, could result in significant differences in our reported financial results between Japanese GAAP and U.S. GAAP. Readers should consult their own professional advisors for an understanding of the differences between Japanese GAAP and U.S. GAAP and how those differences might affect our reported financial results. To date, we have published U.S. GAAP financial results only on a semiannual and annual basis, and currently do not expect to publish U.S. GAAP financial results for the period reported in this financial summary report. Above is part of the Consolidated Summary Report of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. under Japanese GAAP for the nine months ended December 31, 2018. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) makes available financial reports and highlights of MUFG group companies including those of MUFG Bank, Ltd. Please refer to MUFG's website for full information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005269/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 03, 2019] APHRIA 24 HOUR DEADLINE ALERT: Approximately 24 Hours Remain; ClaimsFiler Reminds Investors with Losses in Excess of $100,000 of Deadline in Class Action Lawsuit Against Aphria Inc. - APHA ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have only until February 4, 2019 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Aphria Inc. (NYSE: APHA). Investor losses must relate to purchases of the Company's securities between July 17, 2018 and December 4, 2018. This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Get Help Aphria investors should visit us at https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-aphria-inc-securities-litigation or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick amp; Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options. About the Lawsuit On December 3, 2018, Hindenburg Research reported in an article entitled "Aphria: A Shell Game with a Cannabis Business on the Side," that an extensive investigation revealed that "Aphria is part of a scheme orchestrated by a network of insiders to divert funds away from shareholders into their own pockets" and detailing the questionable value of its investments. On this news, the price of Aphria's shares plummeted. The case is Gloschat v. Aphria Inc. et al, 18-cv-11427. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190203005011/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 03, 2019] LOMA NEGRA 24 HOUR DEADLINE ALERT: Approximately 24 Hours Remain; ClaimsFiler Reminds Investors of Deadline in Class Action Lawsuit Against Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima - LOMA ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors with losses in excess of $100,000 that they have only until February 4, 2019 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima (NYSE: LOMA). Investor losses must relate to purchases of the Company's American Depositary Shares ("ADS") in connection with the Company's November 2017 initial public stock offering. This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Get Help Loma Negra investors should visit us at https://ww.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-loma-negra-compania-industrial-argentina-sociedad-anonima-american-depositary-shares-securities-litigation or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options. About the Lawsuit Loma Negra and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information in registration statements issued for its IPO, violating federal securities laws, specifically (i) the extent of exposure to a corruption scandal involving its majority owner; (ii) true demand for products and growth potential; (iii) risks forecasted had actually occurred by the time of the IPO; and (iv) as a result, Loma Negra's financial statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. The case is Carmona v. Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima et al, 18-cv-11323. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190203005012/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 03, 2019] Crestron Flex Unified Communications & Collaboration Solutions to Debut at ISE 2019 SINGAPORE, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Crestron, a global leader in workplace technology, will demonstrate the complete portfolio of new Crestron Flex Unified Communications & Collaboration solutions in Hall-2, Stand C20 at ISE 2019, 5 - 8 February. Crestron Flex clears the way to more productive, stress-free days. Crestron Flex solutions provide a simple, consistent user experience in all the places people work and meet. From desks to boardrooms, no more wasted time trying to get the technology to work. Crestron Flex delivers a native Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, and Zoom Rooms software experience, including one-touch join. "We decided that Crestron Flex was the perfect solution for us," says Bradley Wilbanks, Global AV Supervisor at Sealed Air, a Fortune 500 company that designs and manufactures unique and innovative packaging products. "In the past, we were always finding ourselves trying to force our customers to bend to our platform and codec. Crestron Flex allows us to be more flexible while offering a seamless experience; taking the technology out of the equation and letting us focus on doing our jobs." Crestron Flex solutions come in several forms, but all deliver the same experience, regardless of the space in which they're deployed: Crestron Flex P100 Series: Crestron's first ever voice-over-IP desk phone, the P100 Series takes a new approach to the notoriously complex and disjointed world of telephony. It delivers the Microsoft Teams or Skype for Business experience to users of desktop phones. I features a large touch screen that provides convenient tools that connect you to your calendar and coworkers, right at your desk. Crestron Flex B100 Series: With a stunning, yet practical, wall-mount sound bar design, the B100 Series delivers crystal clear audio with a beam forming microphone array, an integrated 4K high-definition camera that provides auto-zoom, people counting, and lifelike image quality. A front of room solution for Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, or Zoom Rooms, the B100 Series pairs with a 10" touch screen to deliver a simple, intuitive in-room user experience. Crestron Flex M100 Series: The Crestron Flex M100 Series is a tabletop solution that provides everything you need to instantly and securely call, present, and videoconference using Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, or Zoom Rooms software. An included 4K high-definition camera provides auto-zoom, people-counting, and lifelike image. The premier audio performance is delivered via the incorporated four-microphone 360-degree array. Crestron Flex C100 Series: The Crestron Flex C100 Series is a flexible, integrated UC kit that brings one-touch join to even the most custom spaces. It natively supports Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, or Zoom Rooms, and includes an optional certified UC DSP and ceiling tile microphone array Centralized deployment and management Crestron Flex solutions benefit from zero-touch deployment via the Crestron XiO Cloud platform. The world's leading companies are seeing up to 90% reductions in installation time, improvements in device uptime, and less strain on support resources. Crestron was awarded the prestigious 2018 Microsoft Global Partner of the Year Award for Internet of Things (IoT) in recognition of how Crestron XiO Cloud, built on the Microsoft Azure platform, has revolutionized provisioning and management of Crestron's workplace solutions. Learn more Visit Crestron in Hall-2, Stand C20 at ISE 2019, 5 - 8 February to learn more about how Crestron Flex solutions create better meeting and collaboration experiences everywhere in the modern workplace. About Crestron At Crestron we build the technology that integrates technology. Our automation and control solutions for homes and buildings let people control entire environments with the push of a button, integrating systems such as AV, lighting, shading, security, BMS and HVAC to provide greater comfort, convenience and security. All of our products are designed and built to work together as a complete system, enabling you to monitor, manage and control everything from one platform. Our products are backed by more than 90 fully-staffed offices that provide 24 x 7 x 365 sales, technical, and training support across the globe. In addition to its World Headquarters in Rockleigh, New Jersey, Crestron has sales and support offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia. Discover Crestron by visiting www.crestron.com. All brand names, product names, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Certain trademarks, registered trademarks, and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Crestron disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. Crestron is not responsible for errors in typography or photography. 2019 Crestron Electronics, Inc. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190201/2363463-1 Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190111/2344649-1LOGO SOURCE Crestron [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 03, 2019] CIGNEX Datamatics Contributes to the Robotic Process Automation Community Through UiPath Go! LIVONIA, Mich., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Components developed and contributed will facilitate Organizations in accelerating their RPA Initiatives CIGNEX Datamatics, leading provider of Open Source, Cloud and Automation solutions and services announced today that it is now active on UiPath Go! - The New App Store for Automation. Along with marking a presence on the platform, CIGNEX Datamatics has recently created and contributed two components via the platform which will act as building blocks and facilitate enterprises in their larger RPA initiatives. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/682196/CIGNEX_Datamatics_Logo.jpg) The component 'Am I Online?' is a plug-n-play workflow that quickly verifies and ensures that Internet connection is available on the system running the bot. Installing this component will help users avoid any unnecessary exceptions during the workflow execution while saving time. The other component, 'Date Information - Workday or Weekend' helps to verify if the day is weekday or weekend within the week. With this developers can ensure that operations in the business process that need to be done on a working day or any particular day of week are carried out accordingly. Enterprises today are looking to implement process automation the smarter way. Accessing and utilizing these components will enable them to accelerate their automation development process, thereby saving time and cost. A number of reusable components and process libraries emerging from various RPA implementations related to different business domains across industries will help achieve high automation ROI. "CIGNEX Datamatics has always been committed towards giving back to the community. By these contributions, our aim is to assist in strengthening the RPA ecosystem and help organizations easily adopt RPA," said Harish Ramachandran, CEO, CIGNEX Datamatics. "We will continue to build and contribute more such components which can add value and help organizations save time and effort during their RPA implementation," he added. CIGNEX Datamatics had invested in RPA since 2016 and built a CoE with 30+ certified RPA professionals to help customers achieve their automation goals by solving challenges from process identification, RPA architecture design, workflow development and orchestrations and best practice implementation. For information on components, visit https://connect.uipath.com/company/cignex-datamatics. About CIGNEX Datamatics (http://www.cignex.com) CIGNEX Datamatics is a Michigan-based global consulting company offering solutions and services on Open Source, Cloud & Automation. Since 2000, CIGNEX Datamatics has been delivering enterprise class solutions that enable organizations achieve unparalleled results. Media Contact Priyanka Sharma CIGNEX Datamatics priyankap.sharma@cignex.com +91-07967010345 SOURCE CIGNEX Datamatics Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Solar Software Pioneer, Aurora Solar, Closes $20M Series A Round SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Aurora Solar, the leading software platform for distributed solar, today announced that it has raised $20 million in a Series A round, led by Energize Ventures . S28 Capital also joins existing investor, Pear , in the round. This financing signals a high-growth phase for Aurora, as the company expands its product functionality to further streamline solar installers' processes. Amy Francetic, managing director of Energize Ventures, will join Aurora co-founders Christopher Hopper and Samuel Adeyemo and existing board member, Shvetank Jain, on Aurora's board. "We see a tremendous market opportunity for software to drive efficiency across every aspect of the solar project lifecycle as the industry continues to grow, and Aurora is best-positioned to build it," said Francetic. "Aurora's LIDAR-enabled digital solution will be instrumental in making solar energy more affordable and reliable. In addition to capital, we look forward to bringing our energy industry network and experience in scaling industrial SaaS companies to help accelerate Aurora's growth." As California and other states implement solar mandates, the tools used by utilities, developers and installers to design and sell solar systems must work quickly, and with pinpoint accuracy for both small residential and large commercial systems. Aurora is meeting this demand by incorporating LIDARdata, computer aided design technology and computer vision to help solar professionals remotely design solar projects. This allows Aurora clients to avoid one of the solar industry's most cumbersome points of contact - the site visit. "With over $20Bn spent annually on solar in the US, and $200Bn globally, we wanted to invest in the company that is building the operating system of the solar industry," said Mar Hershenson, Managing Partner, Pear. Jain added "Solar is going to have a very meaningful impact on the energy infrastructure in the world in the near future. We had the privilege of being involved with Aurora Solar from day one and see it as the leading company in this space. Doubling down has been a no-brainer." With $20 million of new capital, Aurora will expand its engineering, customer success and other business teams. "This funding will enable us to continue to attract the most talented engineers, marketers, customer success and salespeople to service the fastest growing occupation in the US the solar professional," said Adeyemo. Aurora's world-class engineering team has developed its patented SmartRoof technology, which is the only solution in the market that allows solar professionals to create a highly accurate 3D CAD model of a site in just a few minutes. Using these models, Aurora can forecast how many solar panels will fit on a property, calculate how much energy they will produce, and predict how much money the installation would save a property owner. Aurora's technology enables shade reports that are equivalent to on-site measurements, and are accepted by all major rebate authorities such as NYSERDA, MASSCEC, Energy Trust of Oregon and the Connecticut Green Bank. "We are thrilled to be partnering with Energize to bring the best-in-class sales and design platform to solar professionals in the US and all over the world. Transitioning to a world powered by sustainable energy is one the biggest challenges facing our generation and we are looking forward to enabling more solar installers to sell and install more solar," says Hopper. About Aurora Solar Aurora Solar is a fast-growing company that builds powerful software for residential and commercial solar sales and design. Over 60,000 residential and commercial solar projects a month are designed in Aurora. For more information, visit: http://www.aurorasolar.com and follow us on Twitter @AuroraSolarInc About Energize Ventures Energize Ventures is a pre-growth stage, female-led, venture fund located in Chicago. We partner with companies that create digital solutions that drive affordability, reliability and security for energy and other industries. Energize Ventures has thus far made five investments spanning cyber security, mobility, data analytics, operational efficiency, and distributed energy. For more information on Energize Ventures, please visit www.energize.vc. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/solar-software-pioneer-aurora-solar-closes-20m-series-a-round-300788668.html SOURCE Aurora Solar Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] CUB Releases Its First-Ever Guide To Combat Robocalls CHICAGO, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of a yearlong 35th anniversary celebration, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) announced on Monday that it has released its first-ever guide to help Illinois consumers reduce annoying "robocalls." Visit CitizensUtilityBoard.org to get a free copy of the eight-page publication, "CUB's Guide to Fighting Robocalls." Robocalls are prerecorded messages from computer-generated dialers. Some robocalls, such as those announcing school closings, are helpful. But technology allows scam artists to cheaply and easily make thousands of calls a minuteand the calls have reached an alarming level. Consumers were hit with a record 47.8 billion automated calls in 2018, with 37 percent classified as scam calls and another 19 percent telemarketing, the telecom services firm YouMail estimates. (Illinois ranked sixth in the nation, receiving nearly 1.8 billion robocalls in 2018, according to YouMail.) Despite the growig problem of spam and scam calls, little is being done to reduce them. Jessica Rosenworcel, a commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Tweeted in December that the FCC "is not doing enough to stop this scourge of nuisance calls. Not by a long shot." CUB hears consumer frustration about the "scourge of nuisance calls" among thousands of Illinoisans who contact the group each year with a question, concern or complaint about their utility service. And in recent months the watchdog itself has been harassed by automated calls. "Illinois consumersand CUB staffersare exasperated by bothersome robocalls," CUB Executive Director David Kolata said. "Part of our mission is to help people reduce their stress level regarding electric, gas and telecom service. So we thought an appropriate way to celebrate 35 years of consumer advocacy was to give consumers tips and tricks on how to stop or reduce these annoying calls." CUB researched dozens of sources to identify tips for users of traditional landlines, digital home phone service, and smartphones. The guide is available at CitizensUtilityBoard.org. In 2019, CUB is celebrating its 35th anniversary as Illinois' leading nonprofit, nonpartisan utility watchdog. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, it has saved consumers more than $20 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds. For more information, call CUB's Consumer Hotline, 1-800-669-5556, or visit its award-winning website, www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cub-releases-its-first-ever-guide-to-combat-robocalls-300788904.html SOURCE Citizens Utility Board [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 04, 2019] Conexon welcomes veteran telecom and broadband sales leader Abby Carere as Vice President of Sales & Marketing KANSAS CITY, Mo., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Conexon, a company committed to partnering with electric membership cooperatives to bring fiber to the home in rural communities, today announced the addition of veteran telecom and broadband sales leader Abby Carere to its senior team. Carere serves as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Carere offers Conexon clients a breadth of knowledge and expertise related to selling and deploying communications technologies including residential, commercial VoIP, broadband services, as well as back-office support and provisioning. She began her career in direct business-to-business telecom sales in one of the nation's most competitive telecommunications markets before stepping into leadership and overseeing a direct sales team. With a company of more than 1,000 representatives, she finished in the top 3 percent of the company in sales every year. Carere has spent the last four years working with electric cooperatives to deploy broadband in their markets, helping them implement residential and commercial VoIP services and back-office support solutions. She is widely recognized for her industry knowledge, strategic alliance expertise and being a top sales performer. In her new role, Carere will lead Conexon's client acquisition stategy, and also serve as a resource to the company's electric co-op clients. Conexon supports co-ops in every aspect of a fiber business from feasibility planning to securing funding to designing networks, managing construction, operations, and beyond. Carere will support clients in building the sales, marketing and brand infrastructure necessary to be successful as broadband providers in their markets. Conexon has worked with more than 80 electric co-ops that have entered the broadband market. The company represented the Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium (RECC), the single largest Gigabit winning bidder in the FCC's recent CAF Phase II auction. This consortium of member-owned co-ops will be awarded $186 million over a 10-year period to build fiber-to-the-home networks capable of gigabit speeds to more than 66,000 locations across rural America from Virginia to Oregon. "We are committed to being a one-stop resource for our clients," said Jonathan Chambers, partner at Conexon. "Abby's skills in sales, marketing, strategic alliances and the overall broadband landscape allow us to provide them with a key element for post-deployment operations success." "We're excited to welcome Abby to the team," added Conexon Partner Randy Klindt. "Her expertise and leadership will enhance Conexon's position in the broadband arena and allow us to offer our clients the benefit of her expertise and experience." Carere holds a Bachelor's in Business Administration and Marketing from the University of Kentucky. About Conexon Conexon works with Rural Electric Membership Cooperatives to bring fiber to the home in rural communities. The company is comprised of professionals who have worked for electric cooperatives and the telecommunications industry, and offer decades of individual experience in business planning, building networks, marketing and selling telecommunications. Conexon offers its electric cooperative clients end-to-end broadband deployment and operations support from a project's conception all the way through to its long-term sustainability. It works with clients to analyze economic feasibility, secure financing, manage construction, provide operational support, optimize business performance and determine optimal partnerships. To date, Conexon has assisted more than 80 electric cooperatives, over 30 of which are constructing fiber networks, and secured more than $200 million in federal and state grants for its clients. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/conexon-welcomes-veteran-telecom-and-broadband-sales-leader-abby-carere-as-vice-president-of-sales--marketing-300788778.html SOURCE Conexon [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Feb 13, 1954 - Jun 19, 2021 Virginia Sue Stewart, 67, of Mannington, passed away on June 19, 2021 at WVU Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. She was born February 13, 1954 in Fairmont, a daughter of the late Clarence "Kim" Glover and Mary Virginia Richardson Glover. Sue is survived by her ALBANY - After a 47-year-old Peruvian woman who has lived in the U.S. for 16 years discovered her husband was abusing two of her daughters, she needed legal help applying for her youngest daughter's visa for crime victims in Putnam County. In Sullivan County, a 30-year-old Mexican woman who has lived in the U.S. for 13 years with her four U.S. citizen children was abused by her husband and she's now eligible to apply for a visa for crime victims. Nearby in Orange County, a 19-year-old Mexican man who came to the U.S. when he was a toddler to escape his abusive father needs assistance from an attorney to apply for a special visa for immigrant youth. These undocumented immigrants are all in need of pro-bono legal help and their cases are being advertised on a new web portal run by the state's Liberty Defense Project and Catholic Charities to connect them with volunteer immigration attorneys. The new website funded by the state brings attention to Catholic Charities, which has placed 105 pro bono cases with more than 230 volunteer attorneys throughout New York. Every volunteer receives expert legal training to file applications for asylum-seekers, crime victims, juveniles or individuals trying to reunite with family members. Patricia Gunning, a former Special Prosecutor and Inspector General for the Justice Center who is running for Rockland County District Attorney, is a volunteer with Catholic Charities. Her first case was helping a young girl who was a victim of sexual abuse. "Over time, I got to know her and her family and began to understand the breadth of issues facing undocumented individuals in a way that went way beyond the headlines. The experience helped me regain my footing, and at the same time helped them potentially gain a path to citizenship. I am learning a new area of the law and find it both personally and professionally rewarding," Gunning said. Currently the website lists eight cases in need of legal help, with the farthest north near Newburgh but there are more cases in the Capital Region that need representation. The Albany office of legal aid organization The Legal Project already finds pro-bono attorneys to take on cases of juveniles applying for immigration status. Mary Armistead, an attorney and Equal Justice Works Crime Victims Justice Corps Fellow who represents children and crime victims, has recruited eight volunteer lawyers to take on local cases. The new website is funded by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Liberty Defense Project, launched in 2017, which provides free legal help to immigrants across the state through Office for New Americans locations. The program has provided more than 25,000 services to immigrants, according to a press release. A quarter of the immigrants in detention who received representation under the program have been released and reunited with their families. ALBANY New York state is facing an unexpected $2.3 billion shortfall the most significant in eight years due to a sharp drop in income tax collections for December and January, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo revealed on Monday. The governor, who had announced his $175 billion spending proposal for 2020 last month, cast blame on the federal government, attributing the drop largely to the 2017 federal rollback of the state and local tax deduction, known as SALT, which he said was designed to penalize Democratic "high-tax" states. "Everything we did economically is right," Cuomo said Monday. "We tightened our belt, we cut taxes, we're creating jobs, and here's a penalty just because we are Democrats." The federal tax measure, which placed a $10,000 cap on SALT deductions, went into effect last year. Cuomo said the majority of homeowners impacted chose to file their 2017 taxes early to take advantage of the benefit before the change went into effect. Because of this, the state anticipates that the full fallout of the SALT cap will be felt in 2019. "This is the most serious revenue shock New York has faced in many years," DiNapoli said. "And that $2.3 billion figure will frankly get worse before it gets better." DiNapoli cited anecdotal reports of New Yorkers leaving the state or changing their primary residence and Wall Street volatility as factors in the revenue gap. The current spending plan only accounts for a $1.7 billion dip in tax collections over two years. The combined state and local tax rate for high-income New Yorkers is the second highest in the nation. Due to New York's progressive tax structure, the top one percent of earners account for nearly half of the state's income tax revenue. Those are the same New Yorkers impacted by the SALT cap, according to Cuomo. It is not the largest budget deficit Cuomo has had to contend with. In 2011, during the governor's first year in office, the state made deep cuts to school aid and other programs to close a $10 billion budget gap. DiNapoli and Cuomo were joined at their news conference by Robert Mujica, director of the New York State Division of Budget. They said they are still evaluating how to absorb the shortfall but declined to say whether the state would increase taxes or cut back services. Senate Minority Leader John J. Flanagan, in a statement, said that he fears Democrats will use the deficit as an excuse to increase taxes on middle-class New Yorkers. "We cannot allow this to happen," Flanagan said. "It's imperative that we balance the budget without resorting to tax increases, enact the spending cap into state law, and make the property tax cap permanent to bring certainty to homeowners and seniors. Budgeting is about choices; and it's time for Gov. Cuomo and legislative Democrats to make the right ones." Dave Friedfel, director of state studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, said the state could do more to increase its reserve funds and account for the possibility of an economic recession. "While true that the governor has increased reserves since taking office, the projected balance of $2.3 billion is not enough to weather the extreme volatility caused by our dependence on high-income New Yorkers with extremely volatile incomes," he said. "Even a mild recession would be expected to create a $20 billion deficit over four years and that's if spending remains flat." The announcement comes as Democrats in the Legislature are pushing for significant increases in state funding for housing, healthcare and school aid in next year's budget. While Cuomo and DiNapoli were outlining the state's financial predicament, state legislators were rallying with advocates nearby in the Capitol calling for a $100 million investment in child care subsidies. "We can find enough money to do this right," said Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh, a Ballston Republican. Sen. James Skoufis, an Orange County Democrat, said it would be "penny wise and pound foolish" to skimp on spending on child care, despite the budget crunch. Last July, New York, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan that seeks a court order overturning the $10,000 federal tax cap. The states, in a recent court filing, said the cap "deliberately seeks to compel certain states to reduce their public spending." The multi-state coalition cast the measure as an "unconstitutional assault on the states sovereign choices." The lawsuit is pending and the Justice Department, which is defending the U.S. Treasury and Internal Revenue Service, is scheduled to file its response to the litigation later this month. David Lombardo contributed to this report. NEW YORK CITY - Keith Raniere, the leader of sex cult NXIVM, argued that he should be released from jail because of brutally cold conditions at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, the New York Post reported. "MDC has been without heat, electricity, hot water, commissary or warm food since January 27, 2019, following an apparent fire in the institution," read court papers filed Friday by Keith Raniere's lawyer, Marc Agnifilo. ALBANY Five months and two days after a fatal motorcycle crash killed Leanna Rose Prudhomme, the driver was sentenced to up to three years in state prison. Albany County Judge William Carter imposed the 1-to-3-year sentence prosecutors reached with Alex Hamilton to resolve charges from the Labor Day weekend crash on Route 403 in Berne. Prudhommes relatives spoke to a nearly full courtroom about the emotional pain they have suffered since her death. Several said they wished Hamilton would face more time. Lurina Zelvian, said she cries daily and misses her sister's texts that included photos of duct work she was making at her sheet metal apprenticeship. The only way to try to describe how I feel every day is I feel like a dead person simply existing. I think about Leanna every single day. I miss her beyond words, she said. For her brother, Shane Zelvian, it's guilt - that he has some how let his family down because he can't dull their pain. He recalled driving back from New York City with Leanna and his girlfriend after going to a concert by the band Between the Buried and Me. The memory now feels like a treasure. I will never get to enjoy another night like this with my sister, he said. And for her mother, it is the unrelenting grief that can disintegrate a life. Falling behind on bills. Lying in bed a floor below her daughters room waiting for a cellphone alarm that wasnt going to ring. Having to care for animals Leanne had rescued, the small measure of thankfulness that the last holidays she was alive for were among the best they had ever had. In the end, the sentence wasnt enough for her, she said. I am not, will not, nor ever will be able to forgive Alex Hamilton for driving drunk and killing my daughter, she said. Hamilton spoke to Prudhommes family before he was sentenced and apologized for what he had done. Haltingly, he said that while he didnt remember the accident, he knew his actions had consequences. I wanted to reach out every day and tell you how sorry I was, he said. But my guilt, I just couldnt. Hamilton bike was unregistered and carrying a plate that belonged to another motorcycle when he lost control and struck a utility pole. He and Prudhomme were thrown from the motorcycle. The two had left a bar in Greenville prior to the crash. Deputies found Prudhomme lying in the road. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Hamilton, of Hannacroix, was found lying next to the motorcycle. He was treated at Albany Medical Center Hospital for internal injuries, deputies said. His blood alcohol content measured 0.08 percent two hours after the crash. Hamilton smelled of alcohol and several beer cans were found in the motorcycle's saddlebags and around the accident scene, officials said. Hamilton, 23, pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter in early December as part of the plea deal. The district attorneys office made the decision to offer a plea deal rather than go to trial after looking at several factors, including Hamiltons lack of a prior criminal history, said Mary Tanner-Richter, the vehicular crimes bureau chief. It was a very hard decision but it was one that we thought was the right way to go, she said after the sentencing. Richmond, Va. Gov. Ralph Northam clung to office Sunday amid nearly unanimous calls from his own party to resign over a racist photo in his 1984 medical school yearbook, going silent after a bizarre 24 hours in which he first admitted he was in the picture, then denied it. The Democrat's stunning about-face at a weekend news conference where he also acknowledged putting on blackface for a dance contest decades ago and appeared to briefly entertain the notion of doing the Michael Jackson moonwalk for reporters only seemed to make things worse. The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus declared that Northam "still does not understand the seriousness of his actions." The photo shows someone in blackface and another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. "I think he's been completely dishonest and disingenuous," Rep. Karen Bass, D-California, said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "He knew this picture was there, and he could've come clean and talked to African-Americans that he's close to decades ago." Northam worshipped at his home church, the predominantly black First Baptist in Capeville, but otherwise kept out of sight on Sunday as calls intensified for him to step down. Even if Northam doesn't resign, the scandal threatens to cripple his ability to govern. He has lost the support of virtually all of the state's Democratic establishment. Top Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly also urged Northam to step down, as did many declared and potential Democratic presidential candidates. Virginia governors can be removed for "malfeasance in office, corruption, neglect of duty, or other high crime or misdemeanor" under the state constitution, but top Democrats said they don't believe it will come to that. Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe predicted that Northam who served as McAuliffe's lieutenant governor will eventually leave office. "Ralph will do the right thing for the Commonwealth of Virginia," McAuliffe said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." Northam apologized on Friday for appearing in the photograph on his yearbook page. He did not say which costume he was wearing, but said he was "deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo." On Saturday, though, the governor reversed course and said the picture "is definitely not me." While talking with reporters, Northam admitted he once used shoe polish to put on blackface as part of a Michael Jackson costume for a 1984 dance contest in Texas, when he was in the Army. Northam said he regrets that he didn't understand "the harmful legacy of an action like that." Asked by a reporter if he could still do Jackson's famous moonwalk, Northam looked at the floor as if thinking about demonstrating it. His wife put a stop to it, telling him, "Inappropriate circumstances." His shifting explanations did little or nothing to sway prominent Democrats who had swiftly disowned him. Both of Virginia's U.S. senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, joined the dean of Virginia's congressional delegation, Rep. Bobby Scott, in saying they no longer believe Northam can serve effectively. James Ryan, president of the University of Virginia, said in a statement that it would be "exceedingly difficult" for Northam to continue serving. If Northam does resign, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax would become the second African-American governor in the state's history. He stopped short of calling for Northam's departure but said he "cannot condone actions" from Northam's past that "suggest a comfort with Virginia's darker history of white supremacy, racial stereotyping and intimidation." McAuliffe faulted Northam's handling of the furor. "If it wasn't him in the photo, he should've said that on Friday," McAuliffe said. "Instinctively, you know if you put black paint on your face. You know if you put a hood on. And so if it isn't you, you come out immediately and say, 'This is not me.'" Ultimately, McAuliffe said, "It doesn't matter whether he was in the photo or not in the photo at this point. We have to close that chapter. We have to move Virginia forward." One of the few voices backing Northam on Sunday was former Virginia Rep. Jim Moran, a Democrat who served in Congress from 1991 to 2015. Moran told ABC's "This Week" that Northam's record including his support of Medicaid expansion and of public schools in minority neighborhoods shows that the embattled governor is a friend of African-Americans and that he should ride out the storm. "I think it is a rush to judgment before we know all of the facts and before we've considered all of the consequences," said Moran, who is white. "I don't think these public shamings really get us all that much." Northam, a pediatric neurologist who came to politics late in life, spent years courting the black community in the run-up to his 2017 race for governor. He recently came under fire from Republicans who have accused him of backing infanticide after he said he supported a bill loosening restrictions on late-term abortions. Late last month, Florida's secretary of state resigned after photos from a 2005 Halloween party showed him in blackface while dressed as a Hurricane Katrina victim. Capital City Rescue Mission chef Kinimo Ngoran won't be deported for at least three weeks. A federal judge adjourned his case but Ngoran will remain in detention near Buffalo until the matter is decided. On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Charles J. Siragusa extended the emergency stay on Ngoran's deportation order, issued Friday, until a court hearing on Feb. 25 where his legal counsel will argue for his release as he waits to get a green card through marriage, Albany Law School professor Sarah Rogerson confirmed. "The stay remains in place. The government can't deport him," said Rogerson, who is heading up Ngoran's legal team. A petition to get immigration status through his American wife of two years, Lisa Pepper-Ngoran, was approved Thursday. At the end of last week, Ngoran's legal counsel filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Attorney General in federal court in Rochester, arguing his detention is unlawful because he still has a pending application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that could grant him legal status. With the approved visa petition, Ngoran now has to wait to apply for a green card. "We're making the argument that they're holding him unlawfully," Rogerson said. Ngoran entered the country illegally more than a decade ago, saying he was fleeing violence and religious persecution in the Ivory Coast. Since then, he's been trying to get legal status. ICE spokesman Khalid Walls said Ngoran was ordered removed from the U.S. by a federal immigration judge in 2004. Courts denied his subsequent appeals. While Ngoran's attorney at the time worked on his appeal, the Department of Homeland Security issued him a temporary stay of deportation, forbidding his immediate removal. Ngoran had been regularly reporting to ICE under an order of supervision issued in 2012 because the agency was previously unable to obtain a travel document from his home country, Walls said. City Mission Executive Director Perry Jones said Ngoran came to the mission in 2011 homeless and seeking shelter, but the beloved chef quickly earned his keep first volunteering in the kitchen and then becoming a mainstay employee. Jones mentored and accompanied Ngoran to his regular ICE visits, but on Jan. 23 Jones returned to the mission without Ngoran. The Ivory Coast native had been arrested and detained overnight in the Albany County jail before being sent to the Batavia Federal Detention Center near Buffalo. The case received widespread attention after Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, whose jail houses detained migrants, decried the decision by ICE to detain Ngoran after years of allowing him to be free. Ngoran's family, legal counsel and elected officials rallied at the Capital City Rescue Mission on Friday to advocate for his release. Courtesy of Albany County Sheriff's Office COLONIE An Albany woman was arrested Saturday on assault and criminal possession of a weapon charges for allegedly stabbing her ex-boyfriend, said Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple. Katrina Murray, 23, is accused of assaulting her ex-boyfriend in Colonie on Feb. 1, stabbing him in the face and hand so seriously that he required 30 stitches. The final hours of the relationship were a duel of mixed emotions, both blasts of anger and pleas of devotion, all tapped out in text messages. "I wanted you to be with me forever," Michael McNew, a suburban Philadelphia pharmaceutical executive, wrote to his soon-to-be-ex girlfriend on Aug. 6, 2017, Philly.com reported. "You have a new boyfriend now." In a subsequent text, the 64-year-old wrote that he was going to move her belongings out of the house and into a storage locker. He told her to stay away, warning he would "defend himself if she came into his home." "(G)et the gun ready cause I'm coming, I already told you that I'll be there tonight ... guess you're just gonna have to shoot me," Jennifer Morrisey wrote back, Patch reported, citing court documents. Thirty-one years younger than McNew, Morrisey was a former exotic dancer with a young child who struggled with a heroin habit. The two had bonded originally over a shared interest in motorcycles. Now the relationship was at a breaking point. "I'll gut you like I'm field dressing a ... deer," Morrisey texted. Two days later, after McNew's manager at AbbVie Pharmaceuticals had not heard from him for a few days, a co-worker drove to his 2,770-square-foot house on a quiet street in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. The front door was unlocked. Inside the house, floor-to-ceiling windows peered out onto the glassy surface of the nearby Delaware River and the tree-crowded edge of New Jersey beyond. McNew was sitting upright in a recliner "like he was starting out at the river," the co-worker testified this week in court, according to Philly.com. A single .380 bullet had struck him between the eyes. A month later, Morrisey was arrested and charged with the murder. Her trial began this week, and court documents and testimony from both sides of the case detail a tangled relationship involving expensive lifestyles, secret life insurance policies and a violent motorcycle gang leader. The prosecution contends Morrisey killed her older "sugar daddy" because he threatened to cut her off. "You don't have to like the fact that there is a big age difference, and you don't have to approve of the type of relationship they had," Bucks County Assistant District Attorney Kristin McElroy told the jury, according to Philly.com. "But he didn't deserve to die because of it." Morrisey's attorney, however, claims that what happened inside McNew's house was self-defense, and describes his client as a vulnerable woman who was financially trapped by a wealthier older man. "She's ultimately someone that suffered a lifetime of abuse, and continued to be in an abusive and inappropriate relationship with the decedent," her attorney, S. Philip Steinberg, told Philly.com in July 2018. "He met a struggling girl and bought her things as a means of control, not love." When the pair first met and clicked over motorcycles, Morrisey was in "the most desperate time in her life," Steinberg told jurors this week. A high school dropout who suffered from PTSD and depression, she was working as an exotic dancer and motorcycle mechanic while raising a young child and feeding a drug habit. According to NBC Philadelphia, the couple began living together in January 2015. The relationship strained McNew's ties with his grown children, his son testified on Thursday. McNew reportedly did not go to his daughter's wedding due to his liaison with the younger woman. Even before Morrisey moved into McNew's home, the older man began helping her financially. According to the Burlington County Times, McNew posted her bail when she was arrested in 2014 on a drug charge. Between 2013 and 2017, he paid more than $6,000 in court costs and restitution related to a later probation violation, the County Times reported. Her own contribution to the debt was only around $200. In 2016, after Morrisey hit a bike rider while driving his car, McNew also paid out $2,000 for the accident. At some point, McNew made Morrisey the beneficiary of two life insurance policies totaling more than $360,000. But in the months leading up to the 2017 murder, Morrisey started dating Charles Kulow, a member of the Breed motorcycle gang known as "Ruthless," who had a criminal record including assault, robbery and drug convictions. McNew was aware Morrisey was involved with Kulow, according to prosecutors. The County Times has reported that in one text message exchange before his death, McNew called Kulow a "monster" and threatened to report him to the FBI. Citing text messages recovered later, authorities allege Morrisey turned to Kulow after McNew was killed on the night of Aug. 6, 2017. In court this week, prosecutors told jurors Kulow told Morrisey she needed to return to McNew's home after the shooting to "make sure" he was dead. In a preliminary hearing in November 2017, detectives testified that Morrisey did later go back to the crime scene to stage the house as a burglary gone wrong. The Bucks County Courier Times reported Morrisey allegedly turned out McNew's pockets and took his watch, laptop and phone. The items were reportedly later discovered buried in the backyard of Morrisey's boyfriend, detectives testified at the preliminary hearing. (They did not identify if that boyfriend was Kulow.) Authorities also alleged Morrisey had the boyfriend urinate on her hand after McNew's death to "eliminate any gunshot residue." Morrisey also sent Facebook messages to McNew after he was killed, the Courier Times reported - an attempt, according to prosecutors, to create the impression she believed he was still alive. According to Philly.com, investigators took Morrisey into custody on a probation violation shortly after McNew's body was discovered. In her first interview with police, Morrisey allegedly tried to direct attention to Kulow, telling detectives McNew had to "fear for his life" from the motorcycle gang member. She also claimed she had not been in the house since July 31, 2017. While in custody, however, Morrisey allegedly confided to a jailhouse informant the details of the shootings, saying that when she arrived at McNew's house, he had brandished a handgun at her. The two struggled. The pistol accidentally fired. McNew was killed. The informant later swore out an affidavit for authorities. Investigators used cellphone tower data to prove Morrisey was near McNew's house when he died, and again a day later. In September 2017, she was charged with criminal homicide, burglary, possession of instruments of crime and tampering with physical evidence. Kulow, in the meantime, was found guilty of an unrelated third-degree murder charge last October, Philly.com reported. The case involved a man killed in Philadelphia who was pretending to be a Breeds member. As she awaited trial, Morrisey continued to maintain the shooting had been an accident, that she had not driven to McNew's house with the intention of doing him any harm. "If it was planned out, I wouldn't have had to come back a second time," the defendant said in a recorded jailhouse call, Philly.com reported. "If I was there to deliberately ... kill him, I wouldn't tell him, 'I'm on my way.'" She even attempted to explain the vituperative texts she blasted at McNew on the night of his death. "They were not credible threats," she said. "It was just the nastiest stuff I could think of." She also claimed she knew nothing of the insurance policies. As Morrisey's criminal trial lurched into motion this week, her attorney, Steinberg, argued along a similar tack as he laid out the case for self-defense, telling jurors on the night of the killing his client "entered panic mode and ultimately stupidity mode." The Rev. Gus Puleo is pastor of St. Patrick Church in Norristown and served as an adjunct professor of Spanish at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. He is a graduate of Norristown High School and attended Georgetown University, where he received B.A. and B.S. in Spanish and linguistics. He has masters degrees in Spanish, linguistics and divinity from Middlebury College, Georgetown University and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania. Mary Rose Tolbert passed away June 13, 2021, after a lengthy period of declining health. She was born in Bedford, England, on March 11, 1943. She dedicated herself to raising three boys, who she loved completely. She was a talented cook and baker, and enjoyed sports, the outdoors, fishing, a Vedanta Limited operates as a diversified natural resources company in India. The company explores for, develops, extracts, produces, processes, and sells oil and gas, zinc, lead, silver, copper, aluminum, iron ore, steel, and power. It is involved in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas; and exploration, mining, and processing of iron ore, pig iron, and metallurgical coke. The company also operates a thermal coal-based commercial power facility of 600 megawatts (MW) at Jharsuguda in the State of Odisha in eastern India; two 300 MW thermal coal based power plants at Korba; 1,980 MW (three units of 660 MW each) thermal coal-based commercial power facilities; 274MW of wind power plants; and a power plant situated at Mettur Dam in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. In addition, it manufactures and supplies billets, TMT bars, wire rods, and ductile iron pipes; engages in the mechanization of coal handling facilities and upgradation of general cargo berth for handling coal at the outer harbor of Visakhapatnam Port on the east coast of India; and provides logistics and other allied services inter alia rendering stevedoring, and other allied services in ports and other allied sectors. Further, the company is involved in manufacturing glass substrates in South Korea and Taiwan. It also has operations in South Africa, Namibia, Ireland, Australia, Liberia, and the United Arab Emirates. The company was incorporated in 1965 and is based in Mumbai, India. Read More Tenaga Nasional Berhad engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in Malaysia and internationally. The company operates and maintains thermal generation facilities and hydroelectric power generating schemes, as well as supports independent power producers; and manages and operates the National Grid that is connected to Thailand's transmission system, as well as Singapore's transmission system at Senoko. It also supplies fuel and coal for power generation; generates, distributes, supplies, deals in, and sells various energy sources, as well as provides related technical services; develops district cooling systems; operates and maintains co-generation works; manufactures, sells, and repairs distribution, power, and earthing transformers; and develops, owns, and manages dry bulk terminals. In addition, the company provides turnkey contracting of transmission substations; repair and maintenance services to heavy industries and other related services; operation and maintenance services on telecommunication equipment and data centres; higher education, and telecommunication and IT infrastructure solution and services; research and development services in the areas of engineering, information technology, business, accountancy, and liberal studies; and training courses. Further, it offers insurance and reinsurance products, parking facilities for motor vehicles, technical and laboratory, and consultancy and other services; manufactures and distributes power and general cables, and aluminum rods; operates an integrated district cooling systems for air conditioning systems of office buildings; assembles, manufactures, tests, reconditions, and distributes high and medium voltage switchgears, and control gears for transmission and distribution of electric power; and operates wind assets. It primarily serves commercial, industrial, and residential customers. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Read More Iron ore miner Ferrexpo was on a downhill slide after launching an investigation into its charitable donations. Ferrexpo's auditor Deloitte has found 'unexplained discrepancies' in the bank statements of Blooming Land, a Ukrainian charity which was set up to manage the miner's corporate and social responsibility programme. This involves providing medical and social services to communities across Ukraine, though Blooming Land is not managed by Ferrexpo. The FTSE 250 iron company said it donated 7.3million to Blooming Land in the first half of last year, but is launching an independent review to determine why the charity's bank statements do not seem to align with its own. Ferrexpo's auditor Deloitte has found 'unexplained discrepancies' in the bank statements of Blooming Land Deloitte found the discrepancies when verifying that Blooming Land was using Ferrexpo's contributions correctly. The auditor warned its discovery of the potential errors might prompt it to qualify, or even modify its audit opinion relating to Ferrexpo's 2018 accounts, which are due on March 20. The worrying announcement came just days after Ferrexpo's senior independent director Simon Lockett, the former boss of Premier Oil, resigned with immediate effect. Shares in the company tumbled 7.9 per cent, or 20.8p, to 241.3p. A clutch of smaller miners and drillers also disappointed investors yesterday. Stock Watch - Transense Car sensor business Transense shot up after revealing its technology would be used by the US army. GE Aviation, which uses Transenses technology under licence, was selected to help re-engine the armys Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters. The army is planning to replace more than 6,000 engines, which will all include Transenses Surface Acoustic Wave sensor. Shares climbed 14.9 per cent, or 6.5p, to 50p. Mixed results from a well at the Brockham Oil Field, south of London in Dorking, pushed down shares in its owners Angus Energy and Alba Mineral Resources. Angus said that the well had been deepened from 960 metres to 1,155 metres, after delays throughout December and January due to component failures. But it hit water during the drill, and will now need to engineer a work-around to isolate the water and produce undiluted oil. Chief executive George Bingham, who is Lord Lucan's son, said: 'The water zone is obviously an unexpected hindrance but, with natural flow to surface and evidence of oil, we remain quietly optimistic of achieving commercial success at Brockham.' Bingham the 8th Earl of Lucan, whose father disappeared after the murder of the family nanny in 1974 only took the helm at Angus last week after a boardroom battle. Previous boss Paul Vonk stepped down ahead of a vote on his removal, which had been put forward by two secretive shareholders. Angus had claimed one of them was connected to its previous chairman Jonathan Tidswell-Pretorius, who left the company last year. Following the Brockham announcement, shares slid 21.4 per cent, or 1.5p, to 5.5p. Alba Mineral Resources, which also owns part of the oil field's licence, dipped 8.9 per cent, or 0.03p, to 0.26p. Firestone Diamonds, which operates the Liqhobong Diamond Mine in Lesotho, said it had treated less ore in the last three months of 2018 and recovered fewer carats. Though it was still on track to meet full-year guidance, shares fell 8.7 per cent, or 0.25p, to 2.62p. Back on the FTSE 250, drugs company Indivior which makes treatments for heroin addiction slipped 1.5 per cent, or 1.75p, to 113.15p after announcing a pair of deals. First it said it was selling its rights to the Sai Bo Song tablet in China to Zhejiang Pukang Biotechnology, for up to 94million. Secondly, it had stopped its competitor Alvogen Pine Brook from selling a copycat version of its dissolvable film dug in the US. Alvogen agreed not to import or sell the treatment until US courts dropped the injunction that had already been granted against Indivior's rival Dr Reddy's Laboratories. After an uneventful day, relatively devoid of political upset, the FTSE 100 edged up 0.2 per cent, or 13.91 points, to 7034.13 points. Female entrepreneurs get just 1 of investment from start-up backers for every 99 that goes to men, a damning study reveals. Of the 5.6 billion pumped into UK companies by venture capital firms in 2017, a total of 89 per cent went to businesses solely founded by men. Demand: Liz Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, wants a level playing field Another 10 per cent was handed to firms with both male and female founders, and just 1 per cent was given to women-only teams of entrepreneurs, according to the British Business Bank. Liz Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, said: 'It's incredible that men seem to have a virtual monopoly on venture capital. 'We need more investment going into start-up ventures and more women putting businesses forward.' Parents often argue that it makes financial sense to take their children out of school during term time if they want to save on their family holiday. Even paying fines is still cheaper than facing inflated prices imposed by travel agents and airlines, especially during the summer break. One council has been rumoured to be considering 1,000 fines as an increasing number of children miss out on a slice of education as parents feel the pinch. Just how much more expensive are flights in the school holidays? Parents responding to This is Money's social media query about rip off school holiday prices said they were happy to take their children out during term time as it made financial sense to do so A comparison of flights conducted by This is Money taken a week before term time ends - from the 10-17 July 2019 - with ones taken during school holidays - 7-14 August - found that nine out of the 10 flights surveyed cost more during school holidays. It supports parents' theories that they get ripped off when going on a trip outside of term time. This is Money compared flights to popular summer holiday destinations like Spain, Turkey and Greece, among others. While some flights were marginally more expensive, a few were a couple of hundred pounds more expensive. One flight from London Gatwick to Antalya in Turkey was 702.96 or 87 per cent more expensive if parents flew in August compared to the same trip just three weeks before in July. With such sky-high price differences, parents living in England could perhaps be forgiven for rather opting to pay the 120 fine per child (which is reduced to 60 if they pay within 21 days). These rules only applies to children attending state schools in England while those from private schools are exempt. According to GOV.UK, if you don't pay the fine after 28 days you may be prosecuted for your child's absence from school. You could get a fine of up to 2,500, a community order or a jail sentence up to three months. The court also gives you a Parenting Order. The rules differ slightly in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In Wales, for instance, the rules are slightly more relaxed as as headteachers can authorise up till 10 days in certain circumstances. Parents still need the permission of the headteacher to remove their child from school for a family holiday. If the headteacher does not give permission for the leave of absence, the absence is treated as an 'unauthorised absence' and if children are still taken out of school, parents could be fined. Flights: Most prices are far higher in the school holidays compared to term time Sky high prices In our comparison, we compared a few flights from no frills airlines such as Ryanair, Easyjet and Level, which has just launched new flights to Vienna and also added in prices from one major carrier, British Airways. When This is Money invited parents to share their stories of term time trip savings on social media, many came forward to say that they had taken advantage of being able to take their children out of school during term time if given permission. Those that were allocated fines were happy to pay them as they were still able to save hundreds of pounds by taking just a couple of days off before or after before the school term ended. Many said they were careful to not take more than a couple of days off term time so that it wouldn't disrupt their children's education or affect the school's attendance record too harshly. Taking our children out during term time saved us money Several parents approached This is Money with their term time holiday savings, which in some cases resulted in thousands of pounds in savings even after paying the fine. Jo-Anne Greengrass: I have taken mine out on a number of occasions, but only for a maximum of 4.5 days. We are off to Egypt in April and by leaving on the 10th and coming back on the 24th we saved about 500. Verena Steward: I took my kids out over the Easter holidays last year. Three days before and three days after. It meant we could fly on air miles and saved us around 2,000. We would have taken the hit on the fines but our head unexpectedly authorised the absence. Emma Foster: I have taken my daughter out for ten days when she was in reception, which saved us over 3,000 on our trip to Menorca. The school didn't fine us but if they had it would still have been cheaper. Yolande Smolka: When searching for flights last year for our family holiday, I searched the exact same flight, one week apart. First price was 1,420 during half term and second price was 276 one week before. And they wonder why we take our kids out in the term! It was 1,420 vs. 276 for a family of four on flights...it's a no brainer. Sophie Drury: I'm taking my son out of school this year in June. The same holiday in August was 3,000 more expensive. It's extortionate! Could fines for parents soon increase? For some parents the argument that it's cheaper to pay the fine and go during term time would have fallen flat if rumours of an increase in the fines that could be imposed were true and upheld. This month, parents were sent into panic when it was reported that Lancashire County council was looking into hiking penalties for families who take their children out of school during term time from 120 to 1,000. Guillaume Thevenot, founder of website BabyBreaks advises parents to take advantage of inset days to save money on travel It was fueled by a letter circulated by a head teacher of Balladen Community Primary School in Rossendale who wrote to parents to warn them of the proposals and possible 880 increase. In it, she said that the Lancashire County Council are currently trialling a new system for dealing with unauthorised holidays during term time and that this involves the increase in the financial penalty to parents of 'up to 1,000 per child rather than the current fixed penalty notice of 120 per parent per child'. However, the reports were far from accurate and it forced Lancashire County Council to issue a statement regarding school absences and fines. In it, the county explained that 'there is no initiative running regarding increasing the amount of money people would be fined because of an unauthorised absence from school'. Lancashire County Council pointed out that penalties for unauthorised absences are set by the Government and cannot be changed by a local authority. What's more, the decision to authorise an absence rests with the head teacher of a particular school and not with the county council. Travel industry to blame for rip-off prices? Poll Should parents face higher fines for trips in term time? Yes No Should parents face higher fines for trips in term time? Yes 107 votes No 481 votes Now share your opinion Independent travel consultant, Bonnie Nelson says she has much sympathy for parents who struggled to pay the exorbitant school holiday prices. 'It's so frustrating and sometimes very upsetting trying to find holidays for families who don't have an endless pot of money to be able to go away in school holidays and who really don't want to "break the law" but feel that's the only way they can afford to go on holiday and have that quality family time.' However, not everyone welcomed the ability for parents to drag their children out during term times. One parent, Caroline Withers pointed out: 'I appreciate that family time is important and also that some families have holidays with loads of culture and history. 'We are given a free education in this country that many children around the world would give their right arm for. 'How can we expect our children to see value in this when we put it second to two weeks in the sun with a kids club?' Jack Sheldon says using price comparison tools like Skyscanner or Momondo is much cheaper than going to local travel agent Teachers, especially those with children, were also quick to add that this was a luxury that was not afforded to them. Teacher Rayne Harris explained that they are unable to take term time holidays. 'This is except for special occasions such as weddings. It would be in your contract.' A few also put the blame squarely at the tourism industry that look to make a quick buck from parents who have little choice but to take trips during school holidays. Withers adds: 'The answer is to stop the holiday price hike. Schools and parents are not to blame for this. It's the tourism industry'. But travel experts Jack Sheldon, founder of Jack's Flight Club and Guillaume Thevenot, founder of website BabyBreaks, point out that savings can be made during school holiday breaks. All it takes is a bit of research on behalf of parents, some flexibility and some compromises from parents - such as exploring options and prices on new routes (see below). 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 Chandigarh, Feb 4 (PTI) The Union Public Service Commission Monday held a meeting to discuss the panels sent by the Punjab government for the selection of the next Director General of Police (DGP) of Punjab. The names of three senior IPS officers -- Mohammad Mustafa (1985 batch), Samant Goel (1984 batch) and Dinkar Gupta (1987 batch) were learnt to have been discussed during the meeting which took place in Delhi, official sources said. The meeting was also attended by Punjab Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh and DGP Suresh Arora. The UPSC will send the names of three IPS officers to the state government for selecting one of them as next Punjab DGP, official sources further said. Mustafa, who is currently DGP (STF) and Gupta, who is now DGP (Intelligence) are the front runners for the DGP post. Goel is on Central deputation. The Punjab government last month had sent three different panels to the UPSC for the selection of DGP. The first panel had comprised 12 IPS officers (9 DGPs and three ADGPs) who had completed 30 years of their service while the second panel included names of officers who were left with service of more than two years and the third list included names of those who were left with less than two years of service. The incumbent DGP Suresh Arora, who was on extension, had told Chief Minister Amarinder Singh that he was not keen on continuing. The state government had asked him to discharge duties until the UPSC clears a panel of names for DGP post. PTI CHS VSD CK Hyderabad, Feb 4 (PTI) The TRS government in Telangana came under attack from the opposition parties on Monday over "delay" in formation of a full-fledged cabinet, with the Congress and the BJP alleging violation of constitutional norms. However, the ruling party dismissed the criticism, saying an exercise was on to streamline the administration and that the two-member cabinet would be expanded very soon. K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, was sworn-in as chief minister on December 13 after his Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) returned to power with a thumping majority in the assembly elections. Along with him, Mohammad Mahmood Ali also took oath and was given the Home portfolio. The Congress and the BJP alleged that even after more than seven weeks of the government taking charge, the absence of a full-fledged cabinet is a violation of Articles 163 and 164 of the Constitution, which deal with the council of ministers in states. Taking aim at the government, AICC spokesperson Sravan Dasoju said there was a "dictatorial rule" in Telangana. "The governor, who is supposed to be the custodian of the Constitution... he is playing a dubious role and the role of a puppet by not questioning the government...," he alleged. Dasoju sought to know why the constitutional obligation of having a minimum of 12 ministers was not being fulfilled. "There is no government and no respect for the Constitution in Telangana and it's a chaotic situation...(it is) unfortunate," he said. Chief spokesperson of the BJP's Telangana unit, Krishna Saagar Rao, said his party wondered if the state had a governor at all. "If he (governor) is present, then why is he not playing his role as the custodian of the Constitution? The BJP asks why the governor is a mute spectator of CM KCR's subversion of the Constitution. KCR has not constituted his cabinet and the council of ministers even after 50 days of taking office," the BJP leader said. "CM KCR hasn't just insulted the letter and spirit of democracy but also brazenly mocked it by practising family-fiefdom governance. He must have mistaken the recent mandate for assuming monarchy in Telangana instead of an elected and an accountable government," he added. The BJP demanded that Governor E S L Narsimhan summons the chief minister immediately and ensures that the cabinet is constituted right away. "We also demand that chief minister KCR should explain the reason for this inordinate and extraordinary delay in constitution of the state cabinet and the council of ministers," he said. TRS spokesperson Abid Rasool Khan rejected the Opposition's charges and said the government had appointed a committee of senior IAS officers to streamline the entire administration. There are about 60 departments in the government and the state can have a maximum of 17 ministers as per the constitutional cap of 15 percent of the assembly strength, he said. The Telangana Assembly has 119 members. "We want to streamline (the cabinet) in such a way that all connected departments come under one minister, so that there is no overlap. This exercise is definitely taking time," Khan told PTI. The exercise, he said, was nearing completion and a full-fledged Cabinet would be in place "very shortly". Khan said the chief minister was taking extra care to monitor all the departments and been holding reviews on a daily basis so that administration does not suffer. PTI RS VS DIV DIV Faridkot, Feb 4 (PTI) A court here on Monday extended the police remand of former Moga SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma, who had been booked in the 2015 Behbal Kalan police firing incident, by three days. The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Chetan Sharma extended the police remand after hearing arguments of both the prosecution and the defence. Sharma's eight-day police remand was expiring on Monday. He was arrested in a case related to the killing of two youths in alleged police firing on anti-sacrilege protesters in 2015 in Behbal Kalan of Punjab's Faridkot district. Sharma was leading a police party that allegedly opened fire at the anti-sacrilege protesters at Behbal Kalan on October 14, 2015. PTI COR CHS SNE SNE \R New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) The Delhi University has issued an advisory against the use of loudspeakers, public address systems "beyond permissible limits" on the varsity premises, saying it disturbs the teaching and research environment. An area not less than 100 metres around the premises of the Delhi University is a "silence zone" according to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 and the directions of the Delhi High Court and the National Green Tribunal, the advisory said. "Please note that the use of loudspeakers/public address system/beating of drums/sound amplifiers/sound-emitting fire crackers beyond permissible limits is not advisable as it disturbs the teaching and research environment of the varsity," the advisory read. The advisory comes in the wake of protests by student groups and DUTA on various issues over the last few months wherein loudspeakers, public address systems and drums were actively used. The Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) called the advisory an 'empty threat' and asserted it would not have an impact on them. Students and teachers are not habitual offenders. The varsity must play a proactive role in solving our problems. These kind of empty threats will not have an impact on us, the teachers' body said. PTI SLB GVS New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) The National Testing Agency (NTA) has launched a mobile application through which students can practice or take mock tests on their smartphones, the government said Monday. In reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for HRD Satyapal Singh said that in order to ensure no student is disadvantaged, the NTA has established a network of more than 4,000 Test Practice Centres (TPCs) to acquainten aspirants, especially those from rural areas, with computer-based tests (CBTs). Students across the country can register themselves online at the NTA Website or the NTA students app for visiting the TPCs, he said, adding all these services are provided to the students free-of-cost. More than one lakh students have registered at these TPCs and over one crore students have benefited from these app and web services, he added. The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts entrance examinations for admission in higher educational institutions in the country. PTI SLB SLB TIR TIR New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) Leaders of various opposition parties met at NCP chief Sharad Pawar's residence in Delhi on Monday and discussed their joint strategy to take on the ruling BJP on various issues, including what they say is misuse of CBI by the Centre. Sources said among those present at the meeting included Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah. TMC leader Derek O'Brien and NCP leader Supriya Sule were also present, besides AAP leader Sanjay Singh. Pawar later said that earlier during the day leaders of several opposition parties had met in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad and discussed certain issues. The meeting comes three days after opposition leaders had a meeting at the Constitution Club, where issues pertaining to efficacy of EVMs and other issues concerning the opposition were discussed. Earlier Monday, the opposition leaders also accused the Centre of misusing the CBI to target them. "The problem in the agriculture sector and unemployment, which is affecting a sizeable section of the younger generation. We discussed the issue of the assault on democratic institutions. We decided that on these three issues, we would meet again," Pawar told reporters after the meeting that lasted for over an hour. "But what happened yesterday in Kolkata, we cannot say or we cannot bypass that issue. We have to decide on this issue either tomorrow or day after tomorrow. The Congress and all other parties will sit and we will make some definite programme. We want to support Mamata ji on this issue," he added. Pawar was referring to the showdown between the West Bengal chief minister and the Centre over an attempt by the CBI to question the Kolkata police chief in connection with the Sharadha chit-fund scam case. Mamata Banerjee has sat on a protest in Kolkata in defence of the police officer. "What happened to Mamata ji is not about only Mamata ji, we have seen it in Delhi. "Mr Arvind Kejriwal, his office, his senior officers, have also faced similar issues. So, this is a clear cut attack on democratic institutions... We will sit along with all other political parties, especially those who were present in yesterday's meeting and today's meeting, and one definite programme will be made," Pawar added. Naidu said, "We condemn the CBI action". He said all 23 parties which participated in the Kolkata rally hosted by Banerjee on January 19 against the BJP including SP, BSP, Congress, TDP, DMK, NCP and AAP condemned the CBI action on Sunday. "Some of our people are meeting Mamta ji in West Bengal independently. Individually, they are going and expressing their solidarity. Now, we are thinking, as Sharad Pawarji has rightly mentioned, in a day or two we will meet again and have a collective strategy to move forward," he said. On the absence of Congress leaders at his residence on Monday, Pawar said this was an unscheduled meeting. "When Chandrababu came to Delhi, I got a communication that he would like to come and sit. It was a courtesy call." Kejriwal said, "Whatever is happening in Kolkata, we have been facing it for the past four years due to the Modi government." PTI DSP SKC SKC ABH ABH ABH New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) Two days after one of its passengers found a cockroach in the food served aboard a Bhopal-Mumbai flight, Air India on Monday apologised and said it has initiated "corrective action internally". "We sincerely apologise for the incident where our valued pax (passenger) had a disappointing experience with the meal served on board our Bhopal-Mumbai flight. Air India always endeavours to ensure our pax enjoy our services," it issued a statement on Twitter. Rohit Raj Singh Chauhan, who was on the the Air India plane heading to Mumbai from Bhopal, tweeted on Saturday he was served idli-vada-sambar during the flight and it had a cockroach in it. He also posted a picture of the food served where a cockroach could be seen. "We have taken serious note of the incident and immediately issued a strong notice to the caterer concerned. Air India has zero-tolerance policy in this respect and has initiated corrective action internally. Our senior officials are in touch with the aggrieved passenger," the airline tweeted. PTI DSP DSP ABH ABH New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) The CBI has booked its own Head Constable who was allegedly trying to steal Rs 6 lakh during a search operation Saturday, the officials said. Sudesh Yadav was deputed to guard the rear of a farm house in Sainik Farms of one Wing Commander Y S Tomar (Retired) which was being searched by the CBI. He saw a maid removing a bundle of Rs 6 lakh from a bathroom window, they said. He allegedly threatened the woman servant, locked her in servant room and removed the bundle from the window, they added. It was spotted when one of the residents of the farm house, Gaurav Tomar, told DySP Ashok Yadav that Kumar had allegedly stolen "huge cash" during the search, they said. When confronted, Kumar showed the places where he had allegedly hid the money, the FIR alleged. In the presence of independent witnesses, money was recovered from scrap lying in the backside and under the sofa of a bedroom, it said. The search was going on in a case related to the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) scam in which the agency has booked and arrested its own officer on Sunday. Tomar had allegedly kept money of one of the accused which was allegedly to be paid to CBI officers. After getting the tip-off, the CBI team had searched the premises of Tomar, they said. PTI ABS CK New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi Monday assured three delegations of the civil society, students, farmers and activists from the Northeast that his party will oppose the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, claimed leaders of the organisations. The delegations of North East Students' Organisation (NESO), Forum Against Citizenship Act Amendment Bill (FACAA), led by renowned academician Hiren Gohain, and 70 organisations of Assam, including Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), met Gandhi and sought his cooperation to stall the bill in the Upper House, where the legislation is pending. "We have apprised the Congress president about the people's apprehension about the bill and how it can hurt the indigenous people of the Northeast, its languages and culture. He assured us that the Congress party will oppose the bill in Rajya Sabha," NESO advisor Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharjya told PTI. The delegation of FACAA, led by Gohain, also met Gandhi separately where they told him that the bill will violate the basic tenets of the Constitution and the secular foundation of citizenship in the country as it provides for citizenship to all Hindus who come from the neighbouring country. "The Congress president told us that the party will oppose the bill and will not allow to destroy the language and culture of the Northeast," convenor of FACAA Manjit Mahanta told PTI. The third delegation, comprising 70 organisations of Assam, met Gandhi and sought his intervention in "scuttling" the NDA government's "agenda" to impose the bill on the people of the Northeast. Gandhi gave the assurance that he would do the needful to ensure that the bill does not get the approval of the Rajya Sabha, a member of the delegation said. The bill provides for according Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after seven years of residence in India instead of 12 years, which is the norm currently, even if they do not possess any document. The legislation was passed by the Lok Sabha during the Winter Session on January 8 and has been awaiting Rajya Sabha nod. There has been strong opposition in Assam and other Northeastern states against the bill. Political parties have been protesting on the grounds that the bill seeks to grant nationality to non-Muslims who have come up to December 31, 2014, thereby, increasing the deadline from 1971 as per the Assam Accord. Also, according to the Assam Accord, all illegal immigrants who have come after 1971, irrespective of their religion, have to be deported and this bill violates that. Addressing the joint sitting of Parliament, President Ram Nath Kovind Thursday said the bill will give justice to persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan through Indian nationality. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also announced that the bill is an "atonement of the wrong that was done during India's Partition. India will safeguard all who had been victims of the Partition". PTI ACB ACB SNE SNE New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) Newly-appointed CBI Chief Rishi Kumar Shukla is likely to take over the reins of the probe agency Monday. A 1983-batch IPS officer, Shukla will be taking charge at a time the agency is busy in a dirty battle of turf war with the Kolkata Police which has spiralled into a political slugfest between the Centre and West Bengal Government. A perplexed interim CBI chief M Nageswara Rao was seen scrambling resources to counter the West Bengal Police's action that not only detained a CBI team, which went to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, but also cordoned off the agency's office at the CGO complex in Salt Lake city. The arrival of 58-year old Shukla, a former DGP of the Madhya Pradesh Police and an Intelligence Bureau veteran, as a full-fledged director is likely to bring some sort of order in the agency as it moves to the Supreme Court to challenge the action of the West Bengal government in ponzi scam cases. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had started a dharna on Sunday evening to protest against the alleged highhandedness of the Centre and insults meted out to her by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. The issues were triggered when a team of CBI officials arrived unannounced at the doors of Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar to question him in connection with Saradha and Rose Valley scam. The investigations in these cases have been sped up in the run up to the general elections with the agency recently questioning a close aide of Banerjee at his residence. The team was stopped by West Bengal Police personnel and they were bundled into a police vehicle and taken to a police station. The West Bengal Police took the action as the agency's officials had failed to produce any warrant, state police officials had said. PTI ABS ANB ANB Lucknow, Feb 4 (PTI) Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that the BJP wants to stay in power "by hook or by crook" and was using the CBI as an "election agent". Yadav's remarks came against the backdrop of West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's sit-in over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams. "The BJP wants to stay in power by hook or by crook. They are so scared of losing (general elections) and the CBI is being used as election agents," Yadav tweeted Sunday night. An all-out war broke out between the Centre and the Mamata Banerjee government Sunday, with the feisty West Bengal leader beginning her sit-in protest last night in front of Metro Cinema in Kolkata to protest against "the attack on constitutional norms". "This is undemocratic and against the spirit of the Constitution. We demand due process be followed so that the CBI is not used as a tool of political interference," he said. While Yadav spoke to Banerjee on Sunday night, Samajwadi Party leader Kiranmoy Nanda reached the protest venue Monday morning to express the party's solidarity with Banerjee over the issue. Banerjee, who is one of the prime movers behind the effort to cobble together an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, has alleged that Modi and Shah want to impose President's rule in states where a non-BJP party is in power. PTI ABN SMI ANB ANB Kolkata, Feb 4 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who began a sit-in protest over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, said Monday she will continue her "Satyagraha" till the country and its Constitution are "saved". The Chief Minister skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on a makeshift dais here along with some senior ministers and party members. "This is a Satyagraha and I'll continue till the country is saved," Banerjee told reporters who accompanied her at the place of dharna. She said she was getting calls from politicians, including former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamalnath, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani. Asked if any of the leaders would arrive in the city to meet her, Banerjee said, "I've no idea about that. If someone wants to come, we will welcome them. This fight is not by my party. It is for my government". Several party supporters from different districts thronged the area shouting slogans in support of Banerjee. "We have come here in support of our beloved didi. We stand in support of her," said a supporter Poritosh Sengupta from Halisahar. In an unprecedented development Sunday evening, Banerjee sat on a dharna, protesting CBI's attempt to quiz Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams. A CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and were whisked to a police station. The CBI wants to quiz Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal police probing the scams, regarding missing documents and files. Several political leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister M Chandrababu Naidu, R J D national president Lalu Prasad, came out in support of Banerjee. Gandhi called up Banerjee and extended support to her, saying the entire opposition is together and it will defeat the fascist forces. PTI SCH MRJ MRJ Modi govt playing with fire in Bengal: Shatrughan Sinha Patna, Feb 4 (PTI) Disgruntled BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha on Monday fired a fresh salvo at the Narendra Modi government, accusing it of playing with fire by targeting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee whom he called a tried and tested mass leader. The second consecutive term Patna Sahib MP also rued that the party in power at the Centre has almost lost its credibility and people are not accepting anything we are saying, a day after Banerjee sat on a dharna in Kolkata in protest against visit of a team of CBI officials to question the police commissioner in connection with a corruption case. Sirji, what is happening. Why are we playing with fire through the much-maligned, disgraced and condemned government institutions, that too when elections are around the corner, Sinha, who had recently annoyed his party by addressing an opposition rally organized by Banerjee at Kolkata, tweeted. By targeting the tried and tested mass leader with impeccable image, Bengal Tigress @MamataOfficial the lady who is identified with hawai chappal and cotton saris. We have almost lost our credibility and people are not accepting whatever we are saying. Let us not get into knee-jerk panic action reaction, Sinha added in an another tweet. For quite some time, Sinha has been criticizing the leadership of Modi and BJP president Amit Shah calling it a one man army and two man show. He has also indicated that if denied a ticket by the BJP, he was ready to seek re-election from Patna Sahib as a nominee of another party with the cryptic remark location would be same, situation may be different. PTI NAC SNS SNS Centre "insensitive" towards indigenous people of NE: UCFNEI Guwahati, Feb 4 (PTI) The United Christian Forum of North East India has expressed deep anguish at the alleged "insensitivity" of the ruling dispensation at the Centre to the "growing unrest" and "anxieties" of the indigenous people of the N-E region. In a meeting here on February 1, the forum discussed at length "the growing unrest, fear and anxiety expressed by all sections of citizens across the seven states of the region at decisions being made by the ruling dispensation that will seriously affect the destiny of North East India", said a UCFNEI release on Monday. The church leaders cutting across all church denominations in the North east expressed their deep anguish and pain at the "total unconcern and insensitivity of the decision-makers at the Centre to the anxieties of the indigenous people of the North East whose future stands threatened", said the release issued by UCFNEI spokesperson Allen Brooks. "It is all the more shocking when major decisions are made in the country based only on religious affiliation, thus compromising the secular identity of the nation", it said. "The Church leaders while expressing their solidarity with the people, appealed to the Government of India to reconsider its decision and adhere to the democratic voices of its citizens", the release added. PTI ESB RG RG TMC activists vandalized BJP office in Kolkata: Dilip Ghosh Kolkata, Feb 4 (PTI) The BJP has charged the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with vandalization of one of its offices in south Kolkata, an allegation denied by the state's ruling party. According to state BJP president Dilip Ghosh, the TMC activists, who were out on a rally as part of their statewide protest against CBI's attempt to grill Kolkata police chief, pelted stones at the saffron party's office in Bhawanipore area, while passing by it. "A scuffle broke out between the members of the two parties, following which the TMC workers overpowered the BJP men and vandalized the party office," Ghosh said, adding that the party has lodged a police complaint in the case. A local TMC leader, however, termed the allegation as "baseless". "It was the BJP workers who beat up the TMC activists," he said. TMC activists on Monday took out protest rallies, blocked highways and rail tracks and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah in various parts of West Bengal. They criticised the Centre over Sunday's CBI episode and vowed to "continue their fight" till the Narendra Modi government is defeated in the next Lok Sabha polls. A CBI team had gone to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's residence in the city Sunday to question him in connection with multi-crore ponzi scams, but was denied permission, bundled into jeeps and whisked to a police station. The chief minister, who is on a dharna since 8.30pm Sunday, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a "coup" in the state. She alleged that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was directing the CBI to harass political opponents on the orders of the prime minister. PTI PNT RMS RMS Guwahati, Feb 4 (PTI) AGP, a former ally of the ruling BJP in Assam, Monday slammed the state government for its alleged attempt to nullify the 1985 Assam Accord and staged a walkout in the state assembly. The state government, however, said implementation of the accord is a priority and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is holding regular discussions with the Centre on the issue. During the Question Hour, AGP MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita charged the Centre with trying to nullify the accord by bringing in the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Responding to Kalita, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said there is no question of nullifying it and the Centre has recently formed a high-powered committee to implement the Clause 6 of the accord. Clause 6 of the Assam Accord envisaged that appropriate constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people. The previous Congress governments in the state took initiatives to define indigenous people, but could not do that due to lack of consensus, he said and assured that the present dispensation will take a decision on it. To this, Kalita said "you are talking about constitutional safeguards for indigenous people. Has the Assam government finalised the definition of indigenous people? If not, then how will you give safeguards? "Lok Sabha polls are there after two months. Why was the committee not formed two years ago instead of now? Then we would have welcomed the intention of the Centre." AIUDF member Mamun Imdadul Haque Chawdhury said that while the Assam Accord spoke about Assamese people, the present government is using the term indigenous people. "From where has this come? Even the governor's speech talked about indigenous people. How come has this happened? A wrong signal should not go from here," he added. Congress's Rakibul Hussain said the Clause 6 talks about land and political rights for people till March 24, 1971, while the Citizenship Bill is self-contradictory in this case. "Will those coming under the Citizenship Bill not get land or political rights because you are talking about safeguards as per Clause 6," the former Congress minister asked the government. Patowary informed the House that foreigners who were detected earlier were pushed back at the Indo-Bangladesh border, but now they are handed over to Border Guards Bangladesh in absence of any formal repatriation pact. When Kalita wanted to ask since when this process with BGB started, Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami did not allow him, saying only one supplementary question is allowed. This lead to noisy protests from AGP members. "We wanted a few answers from the government. As we did not get them, we are walking out in protest as the issue is a very serious," the AGP member said and led his party MLAs out of the House. Patowary said the Centre has for the first time taken a concrete step for constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to Assamese people as per the Assam Accord. "From 1951 to 71, Assam took the big burden of foreigners. The Citizenship Act was amended in 1987, 2003 and the 1971 deadline was already compromised. We have devised a model and gave it to the Centre, which formed the committee," he added. Patowary told the House that 6,26,793 cases were registered against suspected foreigners since 1985 to August 2018. "Of them, Foreigners Tribunal has declared 1,08,815 as Indians and 1,03,764 as foreigners. A total 29,829 foreigners have been deported". BJP's Binanda Kumar Saikia, who had raised the issue, inquired about the future of the Centre's Committee on Assam Accord as most of its members had refused to be a part of it in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Patowary said he is unaware of the reasons for its members resigning and emphasised that the Centre will take steps for implementation of the Clause-6. "The accord will give land rights to indigenous people. It will be rare and exclusive to Assam. Protests are going on for Jati-Mati-Bheti (community, land, homeland). Mati and Bheti will be there and if Bheti is there, then Jati will survive," he added. The Citizenship Bill provides for according Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after seven years of residence in India instead of 12 years, which is the norm currently, even if they do not possess any document. PTI TR KK KK ABH ABH NDA government "weakening" constitutional institutions: Baghel Raipur, Feb 4 (PTI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel Monday accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of "weakening" and "misusing" constitutional institutions of the country. The Congress CM's remarks came in the backdrop of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's sit-in against the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata police commissioner in connection with chit fund scam cases. Baghel said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has lost its credibility under the BJP-led government. "The BJP has been constantly trying to weaken constitutional institutions. The party has destroyed the CBI as much as it could have done. Its (CBI) credibility has come to an end. "How the agency was being misused was evident in West Bengal (Bharatiya Janata Party lagatar sanvaidhanik sansthao ko kamjor karne me lagi hai aur CBI ko wo jitna niche gira sakte the wo gira chuke hai. Uski vishwasniyata ab samapt ho chuki hai. Uska durupyog kis prakar se kar rahe hai wo kal West Bengal me dikhai diya hai)," Baghel told reporters. He was responding to a query on the face-off between the West Bengal government and the premier central agency. "The entire county has been witnessing how all the institutions - be it CBI or ED - are being misused. The Centre is taking action with an intention to extract revenge," he alleged. The chief minister also condemned the alleged attack on a journalist by BJP functionaries at their party office in Raipur Saturday. "The incident is condemnable. Police have taken action in the incident, but BJP should also take action against those who had thrashed the journalist. "Don't they (BJP) have faith in democracy. The way BJP is trying to weaken constitutional institutions, it is also trying to weaken the fourth pillar of democracy," Baghel said. The incident was a result of frustration of the BJP over its loss in the recent assembly election, he claimed. "We have already taken an initiative to enact a journalist protection law. But in view of the incident at the BJP office, it seems the law has to be enacted soon," he added. The journalist, Suman Pandey, who works with a Raipur- based news website, was allegedly thrashed by BJP office- bearers during the partys district-level meeting in Raipur. According to Pandey, he was beaten up for covering a scuffle among BJP leaders during the meeting called to review the saffron outfit's defeat in the November assembly polls. Four BJP men, including Raipur district president Rajeev Agrawal, were arrested following the incident. However, all were released on bail bond from the police station. Journalists are sitting on an indefinite protest in front of the Raipur Press Club demanding their expulsion from the BJP. PTI TKP RSY RSY Abu Dhabi, Feb 4 (AFP) Pope Francis Monday called for "the full recognition" of rights for people of all faiths from the UAE, the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the Arabian Peninsula. The pope called for the "full recognition of the other and his or her freedom" in a meeting with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the top Sunni Muslim cleric. Religious freedom "is not limited only to freedom of worship but sees in the other truly a brother or sister, a child of my own humanity whom God leaves free and whom, therefore, no human institution can coerce, not even in God's name", Pope Francis said. (AFP) SCY SCY Abu Dhabi, Feb 4 (AFP) Pope Francis on Monday rejected "hatred and violence" in the name of God, on the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the Muslim-majority Arabian Peninsula. The pontiff, who met with the world's top Sunni Muslim cleric in Abu Dhabi, said "every form of violence must be condemned without hesitation... No violence can be justified in the name of religion". The pope arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night for a three-day visit, during which he will lead a historical open-air mass for some 135,000 Catholics. (AFP) SCY SCY Ottawa, Feb 4 (AFP) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday 53 million Canadian dollars (USD 40 million) in aid for Venezuelans suffering through a political, economic and humanitarian crisis. "Today, Canada is stepping up and announcing USD 53 million to address the most pressing needs of Venezuelans on the ground, including almost 3 million refugees," Trudeau told a gathering in Ottawa of the Lima Group of nations. "The bulk of the funds will go to trusted partners, and neighbouring countries to help them support Venezuela and Venezuelans," he said. (AFP) SCY SCY Abu Dhabi, Feb 4 (AFP) Pope Francis, the first leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics to visit the Arabian Peninsula, will attend an interfaith meeting in the UAE on Monday as part of his outreach to Muslims. The pontiff arrived in a modest black Kia at Abu Dhabi's presidential palace, where he was welcomed with a lavish military parade. Officers fired 21 shots in the air, while jets flew overhead leaving white and yellow trails -- the colours of the Vatican City flag. The pope's highly publicised 48-hour visit to the United Arab Emirates will also include an open-air mass on Tuesday for 135,000 of the Muslim country's million Catholic residents, set to be the largest public gathering in the country's history. The pope was expected to raise the issue of Yemen, devastated by a war in which the UAE is a key player, in talks with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. Yemen is the scene of what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, triggered by the intervention of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies in a war between the government and Huthi rebels. More than 10 million Yemenis now risk imminent starvation. Sheikh Mohammed said on Monday that UAE rulers were "delighted" to meet the pontiff "in our homeland of tolerance". "We discussed enhancing cooperation, consolidating dialogue, tolerance, human coexistence and important initiatives to achieve peace, stability and development for peoples and societies," he tweeted. Pope Francis, who made history when he touched down in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night, said he came "as a brother, in order to write a page of dialogue together, and to travel paths of peace together". To mark the occasion, the pontiff offered the crown prince a framed medallion of the meeting between St. Francis Assisi -- the pope's namesake -- and the Sultan of Egypt Malek al-Kamel, in 1219. Sheikh Mohammed, in turn, offered a deed for the plot of land on which the first church in the UAE was built. The pope was set to meet with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb -- imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's prestigious seat of learning -- later Monday. Sheikh Ahmed greeted the pope personally with an embrace on Sunday night as the pontiff arrived in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. The emirate's crown prince was also at the airport to greet the pontiff, who has made strengthening ties between Christianity and Islam a cornerstone of his papacy. Hours before he flies back to Rome on Tuesday, the pope will lead a mass at a stadium in the capital. The UAE has dubbed 2019 its "year of tolerance", but rights groups have criticised the country for its role in Yemen, where an estimated 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-led alliance including the UAE joined the government's fight against the Huthis in 2015. Rights groups, which have slammed the UAE over its intolerance of dissent, have also urged the pope to raise the issue of Ahmed Mansoor, an Emirati activist serving a 10-year prison term. Before heading to the Gulf on Sunday, Pope Francis urged warring parties in Yemen to respect a truce agreement and allow deliveries of food aid. "The population is exhausted by the lengthy conflict and a great many children are suffering from hunger, but cannot access food depots," he said. "The cry of these children and their parents rises up to God." The UAE, which prides itself on its religious diversity in the Gulf, is a member of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in both Syria and Iraq. The UAE has eight Catholic churches. Oman, Kuwait and Yemen each have four. Qatar and Bahrain have one each, while ultra-conservative Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia bans all non-Muslim places of worship. Muslims make up nearly four fifths of the UAE's population, but the country is also home to nearly a million Catholics, according to the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Migrants from Asian countries make up about 65 percent of the population. (AFP) PMS PMS Colombo, Feb 4 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday said he is opposed to forming a national government only to expand the Cabinet of ministers, indicating that his rift with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was far from over. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe-led government on Friday sought the consent of the Speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament to form a 'national government', a move seen as a step to get a majority in the 225-member House. Addressing the nation at the 71st National Independence Day celebrations, Sirisena said the proposed national government is simply an attempt to increase the number of Cabinet ministers and provide privileges to the ministers at the people's expense. Calling the move unethical, the president said the people's wish is to limit the Cabinet to 25 ministers. "I have seen media reports of an attempt to form a national government. I stand opposed to the move as this would be an exercise only to expand the cabinet of ministers and attain more privileges," Sirisena said referring to the move by Wickremesinghe. Wickremesinghe was sacked by President Maithripala Sirisena in October last year and strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed the prime minister. The President also removed the members of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from the national unity government. The UNP, with 106 seats, had joined hands with the Sirisena's SLFP in 2015 to form a unity government. Sirisena was forced to reappoint Wickremesinghe as the prime minister after Rajapaksa failed to prove his majority twice in Parliament. Since his reappointment in December last, the Wickremesinghe-led government has been functioning without the required majority of 113 in the 225-member House. Sirisena's move to dissolve Parliament to hold a snap parliamentary poll on January 5 was turned down by the Supreme Court. Wickremesinghe plans to set up a national government by entering into a pact with the solitary member from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress while roping in the members from Sirisena's Freedom Party. The year 2019 is a crucial year for Sri Lanka as the next presidential election is scheduled to be held between November this year and early January 2020. Wickremesinghe's party has already announced that they would not back the president again due to the ongoing rift between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe. Rajapaksa cannot contest again as he had been twice president before. The former President's new Sri Lanka People's Party is less inclined to back Sirisena. The Rajapaksa-led opposition has been demanding holding of fresh elections ahead of its schedule in August 2020. During the address, Sirisena also warned that international forces were working against Sri Lanka in this election year. He said international reactionary forces have arrived in the country in various disguises. He also lamented that even after 71 years of independence the main national question regarding the Tamil minority still remains unresolved. Interestingly only last week that Sirisena publicly opposed the ongoing attempts to form a new Constitution aimed at addressing the issues of the Tamil community. PTI CORR NSA Washington, Feb 4 (AP) Worried about a potential Republican primary challenge, President Donald Trump's campaign has launched a state-by-state effort to prevent an intraparty fight that could spill over into the general-election campaign. The nascent initiative has been an intense focus in recent weeks and includes taking steps to change state party rules, crowd out potential rivals and quell any early signs of opposition that could embarrass the president. It is an acknowledgement that Trump, who effectively hijacked the Republican Party in 2016, hasn't completely cemented his grip on the GOP and, in any event, is not likely to coast to the 2020 GOP nomination without some form of opposition. While any primary challenge would almost certainly be unsuccessful, Trump aides are looking to prevent a repeat of the convention discord that highlighted the electoral weaknesses of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter in their failed re-election campaigns. To defend against that prospect, Trump's campaign has deployed what it calls an unprecedented effort to monitor and influence local party operations. It has used endorsements, lobbying and rule changes to increase the likelihood that only loyal Trump activists make it to the Republican nominating convention in August 2020. Bill Stepien, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, calls it all a "process of ensuring that the national convention is a television commercial for the president for an audience of 300 million and not an internal fight." One early success for Trump's campaign was in Massachusetts, where Trump backer and former state Rep Jim Lyons last month defeated the candidate backed by Massachusetts Republican Gov Charlie Baker, a Trump critic, to serve as the state party chairman. "We have a constant focus on tracking everything regarding this process," Stepien said. "Who's running, what their level of support for the president is and what their vote counts are." The campaign's work extends beyond state party leadership races, which are taking place in many key states in the coming weeks. Trump's team plans to organize at county and state caucuses and conventions over the next 18 months to elevate pro-Trump leaders and potential delegates. Ahead of the convention, it aims to have complete control of the convention agenda, rules and platform and to identify any potential trouble-makers well in advance. That sort of organization is a leap from Trump's 2016 delegate operation, which faced challenges by anti-Trump activists in the party. Trump aides say it's the most aggressive effort ever launched to protect an incumbent. Nick Trainer, a White House veteran named last month as the campaign's director of delegates and party organization, is leading a team of three to coordinate with state and local parties in the run-up to the convention. Yet the efforts to protect Trump simply highlight his vulnerability, said an adviser to one potential Republican opponent. "They're not talented, but they're not idiotic. They rightfully understand that he could be badly damaged or lose in a nomination battle. They're doing too much. It looks weak," said John Weaver, a senior adviser to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, one of the few high-profile Republicans seriously contemplating a primary challenge. Trump's campaign is closely monitoring the intentions of Kasich and other potential primary challengers, and aides said they expect someone to mount a campaign for the nomination. But they insist their efforts are not borne out of fear that Trump is vulnerable. Primary challenges against incumbent presidents have never been successful in the modern era. And Trump's poll numbers among Republican voters have proven to be resilient. Still, his aides said they are taking lessons from one-term leaders who lost their re-elections after embarrassing nominating fights. Those in the past who challenged a president both distracted the incumbent from the November campaign and offered a voice to intraparty discontent, seeding weaknesses that were exploited by a general-election rival. Pat Buchanan's campaign against Bush in 1992 focused in part on highlighting Bush's broken pledge not to raise taxes, a vulnerability that dogged Bush throughout the campaign. In a show of party unity Buchanan was awarded the opening night keynote at that year's GOP convention. He delivered a "culture war" speech that Bush loyalists believed contributed to his loss. As an incumbent, Trump already wields control over the Republican National Committee, which voted last month to express its "undivided support" for Trump and his "effective presidency." But he's getting a boost from well-placed allies at the state level. In Iowa, the state Republican Party adopted new rules more than a year ago to seize control of the delegate selection process in direct response to the messy convention floor fight in Cleveland in 2016. Virtually all of Iowa's delegates had preferred Texas Sen Ted Cruz, and they fought unsuccessfully to oppose Trump at the convention. "It was embarrassing. It was troubling. To be honest with you, it made me mad," said Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufman, a strong Trump supporter. "Donald Trump won the Republican nomination fair and square. That was about people not accepting a loss." AP NSA Mumbai, Feb 4 (PTI) Veteran Marathi actor Ramesh Bhatkar passed away, Monday, after a battle with cancer. He was 70. The actor, who was suffering from cancer for more than one and a half years, breathed his last at a hospital here. "He fought bravely as much as he could. But in the last one month, he was in tremendous pain and we all were worried. He was in ICU for the last fifteen days," actor Jaywant Wadkar told PTI. Bhatkar's last rites will be held at 10.30 pm at Shivaji Park. Bhatkar was known for his roles in the TV series "Commander" and "Hello Inspector" and worked for more than 30 years as an actor in mainstream Hindi and Marathi films such as "Aai Pahije", "Kucch To Hai" and "Bhavesh Joshi Superhero". PTI JUR BK BK (Eds: Disclaimer: The following press release comes to you under an arrangement with NewsVoir. PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.) Dubai, United Arab Emirates (NewsVoir) Vowels Advertising has recently been recognized as one of the ten most promising creative agencies in India. Founder of this creative agency, GeetBagrodia, began his journey as a mechanic. Now with over 10 years of experience, he has carved his name in the industry as a solid marketer. Today as they successfully complete three years in the business, it is essential to note that Vowels Advertising agency has been able to build over 190 brands across the world through offices in India, Dubai and Australia. Team Vowels is working towards building stronger brands through their capabilities in branding, creative content, communication, digital marketing and video production. As a team, we consistently aspire to offer unique solutions to all our clients. The aim is to have Vowels on the speed dial of every brand from every industry in the country, says Geet. Through their efforts, they have worked with several multinational brands for escalating their growth and have also been fundamental in the successful launch of varied start-ups in hospitality, real estate, healthcare, retail and F&B. As a team, they have reshaped communication within the jewellery industry and have played a pivotal role in rebranding players from the FMCG community. Their journey so far has witnessed a colossal reach of over 9 crore people. Their brainchild event Rock Paper Beer created a massive ripple and gathered a footfall of over 20,000 people. Looking ahead, they are willing to move out of their comfort zone and create something unique through distinctive projects. What lies in the future is more and more innovative & irrational creative solutions that would help build brands through Vowels, says Geet. For more information, please visit www.vowels.co.in. Image 1: Vowels Team after executing its Intellectual property Event - Rock Paper Beer Image 2: GeetBagrodia - CEO, Vowels Advertising PWR PWR (Eds: Disclaimer: The following press release comes to you under an arrangement with PR Newswire. PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.) KOLKATA, February 4, 2019/PRNewswire/ -- Six days, four cities and three thrilling rounds later, on the evening of 2nd February, 2019, France was crowned winner of the IIHM International Young Chef Olympiad 2019. The winners were announced at the end of a colourful and grand closing ceremony befitting the standard of the Young Chef Olympiad, held at Nicco Park in Kolkata. Cyrene Randrianasolo, a student of Albert de Mun Hotel and Catering School, beat 49 other nations and was declared winner of the fifth edition of the world's biggest culinary extravaganza. She was also the lucky first to wear the Golden Chef Cap given for the first time this year to the winner of YCO 2019. The silver trophy went to Romania's Bogdan-Petru-Alin Vandici of ICEP Hotel School and the bronze went to England's Luke Hayward from the University College of Birmingham. Along with the trophy, Cyrene also bagged a gold medal and was handed over a cheque for $10,000. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/817227/IIHMWinnersofYCO19.jpg ) (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/817228/IIHMNamesCategoriesYCO19.jpg ) Shocked and awed at her victory, Cyrene was nervous and managed to thank everyone for her win. "I am honoured to win this recognition from IIHM at YCO 19. I want to thank them all for this wonderful opportunity and I am overwhelmed to have won this trophy and prize," said Cyrene. This year, the International Young Chef Olympiad, had an additional attraction with a Plate Trophy for countries that ranked between 11 to 20. The plate trophy winner was Matthew Potgieter, a student of South African Academy of Culinary Arts. The International Young Chef Olympiad 2019, commenced on January 28th 2019 with a Grand Opening ceremony held at Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishna Auditorium in New Delhi. After that, the countries completed two rounds of competition in Delhi, Pune and Bangalore before coming to Kolkata for the final round. Cyrene bagged the winner's trophy after the final round held at the IIHM Global Campus in Kolkata. The final round included preparing a salmon-based dish, a potato-based side and a dessert. Apart from the winner's trophy, Cyrene also bagged an award for Best Hygienic Practice. TheInternational Young Chef Olympiad 2019 was presented by the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) in association with International Hospitality Council (IHC). The culinary competition this year had a special message for everyone. With the opening of the brand new IT-enabled Global Campus in Kolkata, the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) made heads turn when hundreds of students, along with the judges and mentors turned out on the street of Sector V to celebrate the Global Connect and bonding and unity of so many countries, on 1st February 2019. The campus was officially opened by a ceremonial ribbon cutting by the eminent judges, mentors, participants and IIHM students. "It is indeed heart-warming to see the extraordinary response that the Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) has received from the hospitality and culinary industry globally, with 50 countries participating in YCO 2019. YCO is emerging as an annual global convention for the culinary stars of tomorrow. Today, standing at the closing ceremony of the fifth Young Chef Olympiad, I feel that this platform is about bringing the world together. It's about global harmony, coming together, bonding cultures and making 'one world'. Young Chef Olympiad is much bigger than just a cooking competition, it is a platform for the united world of young chefs," said Dr Suborno Bose, the Chairman of the YCO 2019 committee. Winners in other categories: The International Young Chef Olympiad 2019 had a bunch of surprises for everyone; there were several other category prizes which went to the countries. The Best Dessert Dish in Round 1 went to Ahmed Alawadhi from Bahrain, the Late Shakuntala Devi Award for Best Vegetarian Dish Creation in Round 2 went to Andrea Guardiani from Italy. Apart from France, the Best Hygienic Practice Awards also went to Jordan McKenzie of Scotland and Henry Tan Jung Ming from Singapore. The Best Ambassador Awards went to Ryan Malone of Ireland, Eden Frank of New Zealand and Gizem Oznacar from Switzerland. The Mentors Nomination Awards went to Elina Seguin of Canada, Daniel Busuttil of Malta and Jordan Mckenzie of Scotland. The Rising Star Award selected from the Delhi rounds went to Yea Rim Kim of South Korea. The Rising Star from the Pune round went to Tafadzwa Nigel Siyanga from Zimbabwe. The Welcome Skills Special Achievement Award went to Aqsa Iqbal of Bangladesh. The Young chef Olympiad through other's eyes: Michelin Chef John Wood, who was a senior judge of YCO19 was here for the competition for the second time. He was awed by the whole experience. "IIHM is going great. Their hospitality and organization of the event is fantastic. As far as the competition is concerned, I think the standard is great. From the judges' point of view, we should try to educate and guide these students who are in a learning experience, not just a competition. The plate trophy was introduced to encourage the students. YCO is all about celebrating success when we have got something right, which is why we have so many different categories of awards," he said. Prof David Foskett, the Chairman of the Jury said, "The competition is about bringing people from different parts of the world together and that is what is most important here. Food unites people, it creates companionship, makes friends, breaks barriers and bonds people." Padma Shri Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, who is also the Chief Mentor of YCO said, "When we were studying, there was no platform like YCO. I am happy that students today have the opportunity to experience something like YCO." Chef Ranveer Brar, the Brand Ambassador of IIHM said, "YCO is a great platform where you give and you get. Both the participants and the students of IIHM who take part in organizing the event benefit from it eventually and get to learn a lot more." United World of Young Chefs: The second edition of the unique event within Young Chef Olympiad, was held on the evening of 1st February, 2019 at Novotel. The young chefs and their mentors from the 50 participating nations got together and presented their country's traditional dishes. They shared their roots, culinary culture and the extraordinary ways in which food unites. The evening was quite a blend of flavours and colours and each contestant prepared their country's staple food and presented the food wearing traditional attire. About IIHM: IIHM (International Institute of Hotel Management) is the largest chain of premier hospitality and hotel management schools across India that started its journey in 1994 in Kolkata. 2018 marked the 25th year of IIHM that is part of Indismart Group, the conglomerate that operates the Indismart Hotels. IIHM campuses are located across eight national and international cities with the associate institute IAM-IHM located in Kolkata, Goa and Guwahati. Students passing out of IIHM are armed with an international degree from the University of West London and equipped with global hospitality skills that enable easy placements in any hospitality brand across the world. IIHM is dedicated to its pursuit of excellence in teaching and placements. Real time experience is the key to success in hospitality and that makes the institute popular. In recent years, IIHM has been instrumental in organizing the Young Chef Olympiad, a unique idea and initiative inviting young culinary talents from across the world to participate in the biggest cookery reality show of all time. The institute has bagged several prestigious awards including the Best Education Brand Award from Economic Times in 2018 and in 2017. IIHM was also awarded as one among the World's Greatest Brands & Leaders 2015-16 by URS International (IMEA - Process Reviewer PriceWaterhouseCoopers P.L.) and also received the Best Institute in Hospitality Education 2017 Award bv ASSOCHAM from Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Hon'ble Minister of State for HRD (Higher Education), Govt. of India. For more information, please visit: www.iihm.ac.in. Source: International Institute of Hotel Management PWR PWR Tokyo, Feb 4 (AFP) The board of Japanese car giant Nissan is poised to suggest a replacement for jailed former chairman Carlos Ghosn at a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday, according to local media. New Renault boss Jean-Dominique Senard is expected to replace Ghosn on the board but an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in April will be needed to sign off on the appointment. At this gathering in April, shareholders also will be asked to remove Ghosn and his right-hand man Greg Kelly from the board as they fight allegations of financial misconduct. Both were sacked from the board after their arrest on November 19 but a special shareholders' meeting is required to remove them officially. Ghosn's arrest and subsequent indictment on three charges exposed rifts between Nissan and French carmaker Renault which, together with Mitsubishi Motors, make up the world's top-selling auto manufacturing group. The Japanese firms jettisoned Ghosn almost immediately but Renault waited much longer and the tycoon eventually resigned as chairman and CEO. Current Nissan boss Hiroto Saikawa has described Senard's appointment as a "new chapter" in relations between the two firms -- an unlikely alliance that Ghosn created and held together. In an interview with AFP last week, Ghosn said Nissan's probe into his alleged misconduct was a "trap", "plot" and a "story of betrayal". It was a result of "opposition and anxiety on the project of bringing the companies together," said Ghosn, amid rumours his arrest was a "coup" designed to prevent a fully fledged merger between Nissan and Renault. "The scenario was to create a holding company that would control the three operational entities and would hold all the shares, while preserving autonomy of each group," Ghosn told AFP. AFP NSA NSA Copenhagen, Feb 4 (AFP) Denmark has ordered the expulsion of two employees of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei because their residence and work permits were not in order, Copenhagen police said Monday. "On Thursday, the Copenhagen police carried out a normal check of the residence and work permits (at the Huawei offices)... In two cases, the people didn't have the proper paperwork," a Copenhagen police source told AFP, saying the pair were ordered to leave the country. (AFP) PMS PMS Heritages values Trang An, located in Ninh Binh province, was recognised by UNESCO as a World Natural and Cultural Heritage site, covering 6,226 hectares. The diversity of geological tectonics, unique culture, and majestic natural landscapes have helped the Trang An heritage area to form many river tours, cave tours, and spiritual tourism to well-known sacred temples. According to Tran Thi Suu, a boatwoman at Trang An, Trang An ecotourism area under the Trang An Natural and Cultural Heritage site has three boat tours. With the first tour, takes visitors to nine caves, and three spiritual sites, including Tran Temple, Trinh Temple and Phu Khuong. The second tour takes visitors to four underground caves and the Thanh Cao Son temple, Vu Lam military base and the 'Kong: Skull Island' film studio. Travellers can visit Dot cave with its different stalactites, more than 1,000 metres long, and Suoi Tien Temple with the third tour. During the Tet holiday, Trang An welcomes a large number of domestic and international visitors. From the 25th to 26th day of the last lunar month, many boatman in Truong Yen commune, Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province, prepare to make banh chung (square glutinous rice cake), and organise year-end parties with their families. On the first and second day of the first lunar month, they again row boats to serve tourists visiting Trang An, see traces of ancient Vietnamese people and attend the Bai Dinh Pagoda Festival, which opens on the sixth day of the first lunar month. Bai Dinh Pagoda is located in Gia Sinh commune, Gia Vien district, Ninh Binh province. It is known by millions of tourists with many established records in Vietnam and Asia. Bai Dinh Pagoda Festival opens many other festivals in Trang An Heritage area such as the King Dinh and King Le Temple Festival (known as Truong Yen Festival) taking place in the first days of the third lunar month. According to the custom of the local people, the rituals of Bai Dinh pagoda Festival includes: streaking bells, offering incense to Buddha; drumming to open festival, and ritual procession worship Cao Son to ancient Bai Dinh Pagoda. The festival draws tens of thousands of visitors, Buddhist monks, nuns and followers across the country. All pray for peace for the country, good weather, happiness and prosperity for all. Bai Dinh Pagoda Festival also features many folk games and art programme such as Cheo (Vietnamese traditional opera) singing, xam singing (ballads sung by wandering blind musicians), ca tru (ceremonial singing) and water puppetry. In 2018, the Dinh Tien Hoang's coronation and the Xa Tac worship ritual were re-enacted at Bai Dinh Pagoda. Conservation for future generations Both international visitors such as Dheeraj Dureddy from India and Nikita Gogia from Australia and domestic visitor such as Le Van Phuong from the Muong Thanh ward, Dien Bien Phu city, Dien Bien province, along with many tourists, who have visited Trang An Heritage area, have the same feeling: The nature here is beautiful, the cave is attractive, the Trang An people are friendly, and Trang An site Trang An deserves the worlds mixed natural and cultural property. However, there are thousands of people living in Trang An heritage area, especially more than 14,000 people living in the core zone, posing difficulties and challenges for the tourism industry in terms of the management and conservation of the heritage associated with tourism development. Besides, awareness of the responsibilities of the community and of a number of commune and district officials for heritage protection, building a cultural and civilised environment in festivals and tourism services remains limited. That leads to the situation of some cases of Trang An heritage abuse being detected late or not handled in time. It is the "gap" in the state management of heritage. Therefore, Ninh Binh province should focus on innovating and improving the effectiveness of state management of heritage; promoting socialisation, encouraging organisations, individuals and enterprises to effectively invest and exploit the global outstanding value of Trang An Heritage. The functional branches of the province should strengthen the inspection and review of policies and legal documents on heritage conservation that aims to timely adjust and supplement the legal basis, facilitating conservation in parallel with sustainable tourism development. In order to keep the title of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Ninh Binh province has fully implemented the recommendations of UNESCO on heritage conservation and issued a plan to manage Trang An Heritage Complex in the period of 2016-2020, with a vision to 2030. New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) The government Monday submitted the debt resolution plan for crisis-hit IL&FS to the NCLAT and also suggested the name of retired Supreme Court judge Justice D K Jain to supervise the entire process. The entire resolution process would be based on the principles enunciated in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Under the plan, the government has categorised IL&FS group companies into green, amber and red based on their respective financial positions. The corporate affairs ministry has fixed September 30, 2018 as the cut-off date for entertaining the claims submitted by the lenders. On October 1 last year, a newly appointed board took over the reins of IL&FS. "During the conduct of the resolution process of the IL&FS group, payments will be permitted only to maintain and preserve the going concern status of the companies of the IL&FS group," the ministry said in its affidavit detailing the resolution plan. According to the ministry, it would maintain the waterfall system during asset monetisation, wherein the seniority of lenders would be maintained as is done under the IBC. "The distribution of the sale proceeds would be in accordance with the waterfall mechanism specified under section 53 of the IBC," it added. Under Section 53 of IBC, senior secured creditors loans are cleared first and any surplus that remains thereafter is given to unsecured or subordinated creditors and thereafter to the equity owners. "... we allow the counsels for Union of India and IL&FS to contact Justice (Retd) D K Jain, for consent and to discuss the terms and conditions of engagement including monthly fee, travelling expenses, allowance etc," the two-member NCLAT bench said. According to the resolution plan, a suitable eligibility criteria will be stipulated, approved by the newly appointed directors and then expression of interests will be invited for the same. It further added that upon receipt of the recommendations, a successful bidder would be declared, who will deposit the earnest money. Upon declaration of the successful bidder, documentation of the sale will be completed and the forwarded to National Company Law Tribunal for the final approval. According to the affidavit filed before the NCLAT, the classification of the IL&FS group companies is "based on a 12 month cash flow based solvency test". Companies falling in the green categories are the entities, which will continue to meet their payment obligation. While companies falling in amber category are those who are not able to meet their obligations but can meet only operational payment obligations to senior secured financial creditors. Amber category entities "are permitted to make only payments necessary to maintain and preserve the going concern". "Companies falling in the red category are the entities which can not meet their payment obligations towards even senior secured financial creditors," it said, adding that these companies would be permitted to make payment necessary to maintain and preserve the going concern status. Over the cut-off date, it said: "Financial, operational and statutory claims and liabilities as of September 30 (Cut-Off-Date) will be invited... the Cut-off date has been kept as September 30 since the newly appointed directed were appointed by the NCLT on October 1, 2018". BAL BAL New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) Any dispute in the execution of Inter-Governmental Agreement for Rafale jets will be settled through the Bilateral High Level Group established by India and France, the government said Monday. In a written response to a question in the Upper House, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said if any dispute between the two sides remains unresolved by the group, it will be settled by arbitration in accordance with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. Elaborating on the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA), she said the defence deal was signed on September 23, 2016 for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in fly-away condition, along with an initial consignment of weapons, maintenance support through performance-based logistic, simulator and associated equipment. In the IGA, the French government has provided a 'Letter of Comfort' signed by the French prime minister. The provision in the IGA along with the Letter of Comfort "provides adequate safeguards" to the Government of India, Sitharaman said. "Any dispute in the execution of the IGA will be settled through the Bilateral High Level Group established by the Government of India and Government of French Republic. Any dispute not settled by this group shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with UNCITRAL arbitration rules," she said. The minister said the unit cost of basic Rafale aircraft in procurement through the IGA was about 9 per cent cheaper than the price arrived at in unconcluded MMRCA process in which Dassault Aviation was L1 bidder in a global open tender. In the procurement of 36 fighter jet, provisions of Capital Acquisition as provided in the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) have been followed, the minister noted. Elucidating the price of the fighter jet, she said the basic aircraft price has been disclosed to Parliament and the government has shared all pricing details with the Comptroller and Auditor General. "Disclosure of comprehensive pricing details in the public domain which overlap with sensitive details of kind of systems, equipment, weaponry etc. will not be in the interest of national security. Further, pricing details are covered by Article 10 of the IGA which provides that the protection of the classified information and the material exchanged under IGA shall be governed by the provisions of the Security Agreement signed between Government of India and Government of France on 25th January 2008," she said. The supply protocol for 36 Rafale jets has provision for commercial confidentiality, Sitharaman noted. The non-disclosure of the Rafale jet's price has been one of the major issues over which the Opposition has been attacking the government. The package cost of 36 Rafale fighter jets through IGA route includes design and development and there was no increase in prices and the total package price was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security, she said. PTI PR PR ABH ABH Veteran Manipuri filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma on Sunday said that he would return the Padma Shri as a mark of protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, terming it "anti-Northeast". The 83-year-old director, known for Manipuri films such as Olangthagee Wangmadasu, Imagi Ningthem and Ishanou, was bestowed with the country's fourth highest civilian honour in 2006. He said the plea of the Northeast people to not let the bill pass was not being heard by the Centre. "The bill is against the interest of the Northeast and its people, especially in Manipur. All the leaders of the states in the Northeast have already requested the central government to reconsider (on the bill's passage). "But yesterday when I was following the news, our honourable prime minister announced that the bill would be passed soon. He also requested the chief minister of West Bengal to help him pass the bill. That means the government, rather the BJP, is determined to pass this bill. They are not listening to us," Sharma said. Citing the example of Tripura, the filmmaker said history would repeat itself in Manipur if the bill is passed. "We have already seen this in Tripura. Tripuris are having no say in Tripura... The population of Manipur is only 28-29 lakhs, which is less than the population of a district in Uttar Pradesh. "The smaller states like Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya have protection. Even then they are protesting because if the bill is passed the indigenous people will have no place. They will be wiped out. It may not happen now, but it will happen 50 years from today," he said. Sharma said returning the award was the only way in which he could raise his voice against the bill. "I'm not a politician. I'm not at all concerned with the politics. I'm just a filmmaker. I have seen a lot in life. But this is the worst. If the bill passes, there will be no place for us. This is against the Northeast. "I can't do anything else. This is the only way in which I can protest... We feel neglected. Some kind of racial differences are happening... If not paid attention, the consequences will be severe. I'm worried about this," he said. Addressing a rally in West Bengal on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, insisting it would bring "justice and respectability" to those who faced religious persecution. "India got Independence after splitting it into pieces. People thought they can make a living in the country of their choice, but there they faced atrocities and torture because of communal malice... Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Parsis. "It was because of this that we brought the Citizenship Bill. These people have no place to go other than India. Should they not be given justice and respectability? I ask the TMC to support the Bill and facilitate its passage in Parliament," he said. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill seeks to grant nationality to religious minorities such as Hindus, Sikhs and Parsis from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh after six years of stay in India, instead of the currently required 12 years. Protests were witnessed in different parts of the country, particularly the Northeast, over the Bill which has been passed by Lok Sabha. Apart from Chulbul, his brother Makkhi, Rajjo will also be part of animated version UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid Monday ordered the extradition of Vijay Mallya to India who is wanted in India for alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores. Following is the chronology of the case and its origin: May 9, 2005: United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL) Chairman Vijay Mallya's luxury airline - Kingfisher Airlines - starts commercial operations. 2013: A consortium of Indian banks led by State Bank of India approached United Breweries Holdings Ltd for the payback of a loan amounting to Rs 6,493 crore on behalf of Kingfisher Airlines. March 3, 2016: Mallya fled India and took refuge in London. February, 2017: India sent extradition request to UK. April 18, 2017: Scotland Yard arrests Mallya on an extradition warrant after he surrenders at a central London police station. He is released on bail within hours after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds. June 13, 2017: The first case management hearing takes place at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London in the extradition case. Mallya's bail is extended until December 2017, for the start of the extradition trial. July 6, 2017: Mallya appears for a hearing in the case despite an exemption from appearance in court. September 14, 2017: Another case management hearing in the case when Mallya's defence team informs the court of plans to depose six experts they intend to rely upon in their evidence. October 3, 2017: Mallya is re-arrested in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and is released on the same bail conditions, as the CBI and ED cases are clubbed together for the purposes of the extradition trial. Novembver 20, 2017: A pre-trial hearing in the case takes note of additional "supplemental" charges of money laundering to the previous charges of fraud, amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores. December 4, 2017: Mallya's extradition trial begins. December 5, 2017: Mallya's defence team lays out its counter-arguments, claiming there was no evidence to support the "nonsensical" case of fraud against their client. December 7, 2017: The hearing resumes with Mallya's defence claiming his offer to pay back nearly 80 per cent of the principle loan amount owed to the Indian banks, led by State Bank of India, had been rejected. December 11, 2017: Mallya's defence continues deposing its experts and tries to establish that the case against him is "politically motivated". December 12, 2017: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) takes Mallya's defence team's political expert to task, claiming that he had relied on flawed material to discredit Indian investigation agencies like the CBI and ED in his testimony. December 13, 2017: Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where Mallya is to be held on extradition, comes into focus as the defence seek to discredit its suitability through the witness statements of UK-based prison service expert Dr Alan Mitchell and the dismiss his claims. December 14, 2017: Both sides conclude the evidence stage of the trial, with the case moving into 2018 to complete all procedures. January 11, 2018: The hearing returns for the judge to hear arguments for and against the admissibility of certain evidence in the case. March 16, 2018: The judge notes that it is "blindingly obvious" to her that rules were being broken by Indian banks, which sanctioned some of the loans to the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines as the case returns for hearing. April 27, 2018: The CBI gets a boost as the judge confirms that the bulk of the evidence submitted by the Indian authorities in the extradition case will be deemed admissible. July 31, 2018: The court asks the Indian authorities to submit a video of Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai to allay all doubts over its suitability as the case edges towards conclusion. September 12, 2018: At the final hearing in the case, Mallya tells media outside the court that he met finance minister Arun Jaitley before he left India in March 2016. Jaitley instantly issues a statement to dismiss the comments as factually incorrect. December 10, 2018: Westminster Magistrates' Court judge ordered the extradition of Mallya. The UK Home Secretary will have to sign Mallya's extradition order within two months. However, Mallya's defence team has a chance to appeal in higher courts in the UK against the verdict. February 4, 2019: UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid orders Mallya's extradition to India. The Legal Assistant provides specific legalassistance to the assigned Legal officer and office in the provision of directlegal support to victims of forced migration and in carrying out policyadvocacy on forced migration. The Legal Assistant also provides technicalsupport to in relation to Legal work through an active contribution in definingLegal priorities on research, partnership, alliance building and advocacy. HumanitarianInitiative Just Relief Aid (HIJRA) is an international African humanitarian anddevelopment organization that positively contributes towards improving theliving standards and conditions of those adversely affected by disasters andconflict in the Horn, East & Central Africa by implementing WASH, Health,Education, Livelihoods, Community service & development and Protectionprograms in the region for a period of more than 20 years. 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HARTFORD A wanted 31-year-old Alton woman caused serious injuries Saturday when she fled from South Roxana police, crashing into another vehicle head-on. At approximately 3 p.m. Saturday, South Roxana police officers observed a 2002 gold Mercury Mountaineer in the area of Illinois Route 3 and Lambert Lane, being driven by a subject known to have multiple felony warrants, according to a release from Illinois State Police. BETHALTO A Civic Memorial High School Secondary English teacher is among the finalists for a statewide, high-profile teaching award. Jacob Carlson, a ninth- and 11th-grade Secondary English teacher at CM, was announced as a finalist for the prestigious Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching. Golden Apple, a leading Illinois nonprofit committed to recognizing exemplary educators and developing future educators, annually gives out the awards, but for the first time in the history of the organization, the award eligibility boundaries were expanded to include all of Illinois. Following a highly competitive process, 32 high school educators were selected as finalists for the award just six percent of more than 550 nominations. The historic opportunity to bring the recognition of the Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching to all of the schools and teachers in Illinois is thrilling for us and we are delighted to honor these outstanding 32 finalists, said Alan Mather, President of Golden Apple. The demand for recognition throughout the state was profound. As evidence, nominations for outstanding teachers and leaders were received from 71 counties throughout Illinois. Golden Apple is honored to recognize outstanding educators whose quality of teaching and passion for growing their students create an environment in which students are inspired to persevere and attain their dreams, said Alicia Winckler, CEO of Golden Apple. The Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching honors outstanding teachers for their roles in having lasting, positive effects on students lives and builds stronger communities. Teacher finalists demonstrate in their teaching and results significant, positive impact on their students growth and learning. Fellow educators, students, parents and community members nominate teachers for the awards. Teachers may not self-nominate. All award finalists will be honored on Saturday, Feb. 23 at the Golden Apple Celebration of Excellence to be held at the Tinley Park Convention Center. Event details and tickets are available at www.goldenapple.org/celebration. Award recipients are selected by master educators who understand and recognize instructional best practices and who utilize professional standards to evaluate exemplary teachers and school leaders. Members of the selection committee viewed video evidence of instruction and will observe finalists teaching in-person in their classrooms a comprehensive day which includes direct observation of in-classroom teaching accompanied by interviewing finalists colleagues, school leaders, students, parents, and community members. The finalists for the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Leadership, presented in honor of founding Golden Apple board member Stanley C. Golder, will be announced Thursday, Feb. 7. The 2019 Golden Apple Award recipients will be notified in the spring with surprise visits at their schools. The selected award recipients will be featured on a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) one-hour TV program. The livestream of the show taping will air on Golden Apples Facebook page on May 18 and the edited PBS broadcast will air on multiple future dates. As a highly-valued component of this recognition, Northwestern University, Golden Apples partner for more than 30 years, generously provides a Spring Sabbatical to award recipients at no cost. In addition, each Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching recipient receives a $5,000 cash award. Award recipients also become Fellows of the Golden Apple Academy of Educators, a community of educators who support current and future teachers and deepen the learning of students. An important part of a Fellows mission is to share their expertise and mentor Golden Apple Scholars, who are aspiring teachers with a desire to teach in Illinois schools-of-need. Both Northwestern and Golden Apple are dedicated to developing teachers who will transform the lives of their students and we are proud to host these master teachers on the next step in their professional journeys in education, said Timothy Dohrer, Ph.D., Director of the Master of Science in Education Program at Northwestern Universitys School of Education & Social Policy. CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) A man on trial for the fatal shooting of a St. Louis County police officer had talked on social media and in text messages about wanting to die in a suicide by cop encounter and told the fallen officers partner to shoot him, prosecutors said Monday in opening statements. Prosecutors are seeking a first-degree murder conviction, which would send Trenton Forster, 20, to prison for life without parole. They decided not to seek the death penalty for the October 2016 killing of Officer Blake Snyder. Public defender Stephen Reynolds conceded, meanwhile, that Forster killed Snyder but argued that Forster did not deliberate first, as prosecutors say. Youre going to find Trenton Forster guilty of murder, but Im asking you not to find him guilty of murder in the first degree, Reynolds said, suggesting second-degree murder as the appropriate charge. That would allow for a life sentence, calculated in Missouri at 30 years, with the possibility of parole. Snyder, 33, of Edwardsville, was killed while responding to a disturbance call in the Green Park area. Police said Forster had a relationship with a girl who lived in a home on the block, and that Forster had been beating on the door. When Snyder approached Forster, who by then was in a car parked outside the home, Forster opened fire on Snyder, police said. Snyder left behind a wife and 2-year-old son. Assistant prosecutor Alan Key said that in the week before the shooting, Forster tried multiple times to buy firearms and ammunition at gun stores and pawn shops, but was turned away several times because he appeared to be high. Eventually, someone he smoked marijuana with put him in touch with a private seller, who sold him a pistol and a rifle. A few days later he bought 50 rounds of ammunition at Walmart, Key said. Snyder approached Forsters car, saying, Hey bud, let me see your hands, Key told the jury. Officer John Becker then saw Snyder fall and unloaded his gun at Forster, hitting him five times. Key told jurors that Forster said to Becker, Shoot me, I have a gun, though Forsters pistol had jammed. The trial is expected to run through at least Friday. The Ontario government is sending mixed signals over whether the province wants Ottawa to surrender in the trade war with the United States that is hurting steel and aluminum industries in Canada. Economic Development and Trade Minister Todd Smith told reporters at Queens Park on Monday that the federal government must immediately lift its retaliatory tariffs against the Americans. We want tariffs removed on both sides of the border when it comes to steel and aluminum, said Smith, who has sent Ottawa a joint letter with Quebec Minister of Economy and Innovation Pierre Fitzgibbon. This is bad for industry, he said, imploring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to end the impasse with President Donald Trump and criticizing the federal governments new trade deal with the U.S. and Mexico. I know that the premier (Doug Ford) has suggested this to the federal government that they should remove their tariffs as a first step in removing tariffs overall. In their missive, the Ontario and Quebec ministers demand the permanent removal of any and all tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. At the same time, it is important that Canada not agree to an outcome that would see other trade impediments such as quotas continue to restrict trade and hamper the competitiveness and growth of Canadian industry, the ministers wrote. But Fitzgibbons office later said the Ontario governments stance appears to differ slightly from Quebec, which is not calling for an immediate end to the levies without any concessions stateside. Smiths office was then forced to clarify that in fact Ontario is asking them to review the counter tariffs, such as those on playing cards, bourbon and matchsticks, etc., in an effort to persuade the newly elected U.S. Congress ... to remove the steel and aluminum tariffs. The confusion comes against the backdrop of American tariffs of 25 per cent on imports of Canadian steel and 10 per cent on imports of Canadian aluminum imposed last spring. Canada retaliated with dollar-for-dollar tariffs of its own against American industry. Ottawa noted that money collected from the levies has been flowing to companies in Ontario. About $624 million has been distributed across the country, mostly in this province. Federal Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains said there are no plans to capitulate. Read more: Trump says his tariffs do not exist Mexico, Canada diverge in tariff relief hopes after trade deal Canada and Mexico urged to approve new NAFTA to spark action from U.S. The Ford governments call for Canada to unilaterally and unconditionally remove its counter-tariffs would equal unilateral surrender to the Americans, said Bains. The reciprocal tariffs are critical to pressuring the Americans to end this dispute once and for all, he said, blasting Queens Park for being missing in action. While were standing up against illegal U.S. tariffs and supporting steel and aluminum workers in Ontario, Doug Fords government is nowhere to be seen. Bains noted the last time any Ontario official visited Washington was five months ago in September, when Premier Ford held one meeting at Canadas embassy, but he skipped the chance the meet anyone from the administration or congress. Todd Smith and Doug Ford should join us and stand-up for Ontario workers instead of trying to score cheap political points on the back of our steel and aluminum workers. In a tweet, the Canadian Steel Producers Association, which represents the industry, sided with Ottawa. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The federal governments retaliatory action against the U.S.A. is vital in protecting businesses and steelworkers, it said. These measures represent an appropriate response to the baseless decision to apply (tariffs) on Canadian steel and should stay in place until the U.S. lifts the tariffs on Canada. Similarly, the Aluminum Association of Canada said the government should maintain all tariffs on U.S. imports and support Canadian businesses as long as U.S. tariffs are in place. Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie Read more about: Valued, a San Francisco, CA-based compliance solution that enables HR leaders to continuously analyze communication patterns to reward diversity and inclusion while preventing workplace bullying, raised $1.7M in seed funding. The round was led by BootstrapLabs. Led by Sabrina Atienza, Founder and CEO, Valued leverages advancements in natural language processing to analyze anonymized communication data from platforms like Slack and Gmail to give companies an early warning of potential problems such as inappropriate behaviors and biased or inconsistent treatment. The technology also allows companies to get regular conversational feedback from their employees to gain insights to reward and encourage positive behavior while proactively shielding their employees from abusive behaviors that may lead to attrition, legal risk, loss of engagement, loss of productivity, and ultimately costs to the business. The main features of the solution include: Valued language processing engine analyzes anonymous, aggregated communication data to detect patterns over time. This gives leaders real-time insight to create a thriving culture, keep engagement high, and prevent workplace bullying and harassment. Valued Slack bot invites employees to share their weekly progress, concerns and upcoming efforts, entirely through Slack messaging. This encourages employees to voice problems early so leaders can take action and provide consistent support. Data-powered org chart visualizes communication patterns within and across teams, enabling leaders to optimize their organizational design and improve collaboration. FinSMEs 03/02/2019 A bureaucrat has been fired and police contacted by the head of Ontarios public service after the leak to the opposition New Democrats of Premier Doug Fords health care overhaul plan. The dismissal of the unnamed civil servant came Monday as NDP Leader Andrea Horwath revealed more internal government documents, dated Dec. 13 and later, which suggest Ford is preparing to privatize some health services under a new super agency first reported by the Star in December. The Ford government has been keeping it all under wraps, Horwath told a news conference, following up on the release by her office last week of confidential draft legislation to create a new health super agency with powers to contract out more health services. They are covering up the fact that Fords overhaul of the health care system is a done deal. Health Minister Christine Elliott denied accusations from Horwath who cited one document on outsourcing that the government will be privatizing health inspections, laboratories, licensing, medical devices, and the Ornge air ambulance service. The answer is no, Elliott told reporte rs during a news conference where she repeatedly evaded questions about indications in the documents that some other measures have been passed by cabinet. Read more: Ontario health minister downplays confidential draft bill that would create super agency and allow more privatization Ontario wont contract health services to lowest bidder, Christine Elliot says Opinion | Martin Regg Cohn: The danger of two-tier medicine if Doug Fords top doc doesnt seek informed consent first The minister would not confirm what has been approved, other than to say nothing is finalized and that there are many, many parts to this entire plan. An aide said later that due to the importance of cabinet confidentiality, we are unable to confirm what has gone through the cabinet process. However, we can confirm that much of the material released by the NDP has never even crossed the ministers desk let alone made it to the cabinet table, said Hayley Chazan, Elliotts press secretary. The super agency has already been incorporated under the name Health Program Initiatives as indicated in the documents revealed by the NDP, the Star has determined. A public record search with the Ministry of Government Services shows that the super agency was formally incorporated on Jan. 18 under the name Health Program Initiatives. Health Program Initiatives and the super agency are one in the same, said a source close to government, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give media interviews. The incorporation documents name two directors: deputy health minister Helen Angus and assistant deputy health minister Lynn Guerriero. Elliott accused the NDP of fear-mongering and intentionally creating confusion with the inappropriately obtained documents to raise funds from supporters and bolster Horwaths position at a party leadership review slated for this spring. The health minister, who last Friday denied any plans to tender health services to the lowest bidder, insisted she had not seen many of the documents Horwath referenced and said some contained options prepared by the civil service for the government to consider. On the firing, acting secretary of cabinet Steven Davidson said the disclosure of documents was unauthorized. As a result of our investigation into this matter, the employee responsible for this breach is no longer employed in the Ontario Public Service. The Ontario Provincial Police have also been notified, Davidson, the provinces top civil servant, wrote in a memo to staff. We are in privileged positions as public servants ... trust, professionalism and integrity are at the very core of our work. This includes strict adherence to our oath to protect the confidentiality of all information that comes into our possession unless we are legally authorized or required to release it, he added. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... A breach of this oath can have serious consequences, not only for the individual involved, but for the many thousands of public servants who I know faithfully discharge their duties every day. I have every confidence in the professionalism of the Ontario Public Service as we work to support the government in the delivery of its agenda. It was not immediately clear if the OPP will investigate. Nor is it known whether the ousted employee was a manager or a unionized worker. While leaks are not unusual at Queens Park, they usually come from political staff rather than non-partisan bureaucrats, who are bound by their oath of secrecy. The latest batch of documents from the New Democrats mention a plan for between 30 and 50 MyCare groups for patients across the province, aimed at creating a single team of providers for all their care needs to avoid gaps in service. Horwath said the papers show these groups will have unprecedented power to contract out services to private providers at a time when we need every last health care dollar to go directly to patient care. She would not comment on how the NDP got the papers, given statements by the governing Progressive Conservatives about the possibility of a police investigation. I am not prepared to talk about anything in that vein, Horwath told reporters before the firing was revealed, adding she fears talk about police will discourage potential whistle-blowers. On a potential police probe, Government House Leader Todd Smith Smith said, I have full faith in the OPP if it gets there. Smith insisted there is no potential for conflict of interest if Ron Taverner, a friend of Ford whose appointment as OPP commissioner is in limbo pending an investigation by the integrity commissioner, takes command of the force. Both Horwath and Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter said the potential involvement of the OPP proves the point, also raised by policing experts, that its dangerous to have the premiers friend in charge of the countrys second largest police force. The OPP is not the premiers private police force. The public needs to have confidence that if the OPP opens an investigation its for the right reasons not political ones. If Taverners appointment goes through it will undermine public confidence in the OPP, Hunter said in a statement. In these situations the public must have confidence the OPP will act appropriately. That is impossible if the OPP commissioner is known to be a close friend of the premier. Horwath said its the OPPs decision to decide whether it investigates any suspected crime not the governments. It does raise the question, if Mr. Taverner were in the role of the OPP (commissioner), could we all be confident that it would be an independent decision of the OPP. In 2014, after the then Liberal governments budget rollout plan was leaked to Conservative MPP Vic Fedeli, now the finance minister, the Tories warned against a witch hunt to find the whistle-blower. This was brought to us. This is the brown envelope. This was not sought out, Fedeli said at time, expressing solidarity with bureaucrats leaking out of frustration with the government of the day. Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie Read more about: During last years Ontario election campaign, when Anthony Dale, head of the Ontario Hospital Association, wanted to talk about fixing hallway medicine, which Doug Ford had turned into a campaign slogan, he brought two people with him. And it was the heads of Ontarios home care services and long-term care homes who spoke first because its in their fields, not his, where the best answers to this problem are to be found. Ontarios hallway medicine crisis, which manifests as backed-up emergency rooms, delayed surgeries, and overly creative decisions about what hospital spaces can house beds (patient lounges to storage rooms) is caused by having too many people in hospital beds who should be somewhere else. Thats a long-term care bed or, better still, their own home with home care services and community supports. Dale took less than an hour last year to explain that in detail to the Stars editorial board. So how on earth did it take the premiers handpicked and highly paid special adviser, Dr. Rueben Devlin, seven months to come to a similar conclusion? Indeed, Devlins first report on improving health care and ending hallway medicine released last week does little more than sum up the problems. Ontarios health care system does not provide the appropriate mix of services; it doesnt integrate care around the patient; and it leaves people receiving care in the wrong place. Thats a lot of months of effort by Devlin and the 13 other experts on the premiers council to land in the same place that anyone in this province whos been to an emergency room, waited for an appropriate long-term care bed, or struggled to get home care and community supports for a loved one has long known. So was this whole exercise just an excuse to buy the government time to figure out how to deliver on its election promises? The Ford PCs were elected on a platform that vowed to cut hospital wait times, end hallway medicine, build 30,000 long-term care beds and invest billions in mental health, but crucially without costing that all out or showing how the government would pay for it. Or is it part of the more worrisome explanation put forward by NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, hours after Devlins report was released, that the government already has a plan but doesnt want to tell the public about it? Horwath released a copy of the governments draft legislation that would create a super agency to manage health-care services across the province and give the health minister new powers to overhaul all aspects of the system with little notice and no public input. She fears the underlying intent of that is to empower the Ford government to privatize more services. Health Minister Christine Elliott says Horwath is way off base and the government remains committed to publicly funded health care. But since she declined to talk about the 81-page draft bill entitled the Health Systems Efficiency Act, or explain how the super agency is intended to work, that doesnt clear much up for Ontarians who are confused and concerned. So either the Ford government doesnt have a plan or it has a secret plan. Neither option provides the slightest cause for confidence in this government, or its ability to tackle a problem with as many moving parts as health care. At first glance, creating a super agency to replace a bunch of other agencies seems a lot like moving deck chairs around on the Titanic. Its a distraction from the real problem and risks creating chaos within a system already struggling to deliver the services Ontarians need. The Ford government should just get moving on the necessary retooling of health care to expand and better integrate home care, community supports and long-term beds to provide for Ontarians long before they get to a hospital hallway. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Read more about: WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump has installed a historic number of federal appeals court judges for this point of a presidency. But the immediate effect on the composition of the courts across the country is modest and the rapid pace is unlikely to continue because of a limited number of remaining open seats. The Senate confirmation of Trumps 30 appeals court judges is more than any other presidents two years into a term. His picks for the nations 13 circuit courts, one step below the Supreme Court, predominantly are male and less diverse than those tapped by his predecessor. They also include younger nominees, including a 36-year-old former clerk to Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, which means Trumps conservative imprint on the federal judiciary will endure through cases involving state gun regulations, the environment, immigration and abortion. Trumps nominees mostly add to conservative majorities on courts already dominated by judges picked by Republicans or narrow the margin on more liberal-leaning courts such as the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit, according to an analysis by judicial expert Russell Wheeler of the Brookings Institution. A full flip would occur only at the appeals court in Philadelphia, if the presidents current nominees all are confirmed. Newly confirmed judges to the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit make that court evenly divided by judges nominated by Republicans and Democrats. The shift in the balance nationally is not as impressive as one might think, Wheeler said, but the longevity of Trumps choices will be, given their ages. When Trump replaces a 72-year-old slightly right-of-centre judge with a 45-year-old conservative firebrand, its not really apples for apples, Wheeler said. Trumps Supreme Court nominees, Brett Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, drew widespread attention for solidifying a more conservative majority on the nations highest court. But while the justices resolved 69 cases in the term that ended in June, the 13 circuit courts handle tens of thousands of cases each year. That makes the appeals courts the last word in most matters affecting residents of the states they cover. The regional circuits take appeals from the lower federal courts, and the appeals bench often is a stepping stone for the candidates presidents consider for the Supreme Court. All but one of the current justices, Elena Kagan, previously served on a circuit court. The Senate Judiciary Committees new chairman, Lindsey Graham, R-S. C., is moving quickly on the latest batch of nominees starting this week to confirm as many as possible, as soon as possible, he said in a statement. The Judicial Crisis Network, a key group supporting the administrations nominees, recently launched a $1.5 million (U.S.) ad campaign calling on Senate Democrats to confirm the judges. But it isnt clear how many more vacancies Trump will get a chance to fill because openings turn on judges retiring, resigning or otherwise leaving. Judges nominated by Democratic presidents may be less inclined to step down if it means giving Trump an opportunity to name their successor. Especially given the intensity of opposition in many quarters to President Trump, its even less likely than usual that you would expect voluntary retirements from Democratic appointees, said conservative legal commentator Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Remaking the appeals courts is a long game. It takes more than two years of strong appointments to begin to transform the courts, Whelan said. There is no shortage of jurists who could leave or create an opening by shifting to a lighter workload known as senior status. At least 60 of the 167 circuit judges are eligible because of a combination of their age at least 65 and years of service on the bench, according to Wheelers analysis of Federal Judicial Center data. But the decision to step down is highly personal and hard to predict. The party of the president in power may be one among many considerations. That might be one factor, but it is not the controlling factor, said J. Harvie Wilkinson III, 74, and the longest-serving judge on the Richmond-based appeals court, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan. At the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit where Wilkinson sits, Trump added two judges who are already hearing cases. Jay Richardson is a former assistant U.S. attorney who led the prosecution of Dylann Roof, convicted in 2016 of killing nine black parishioners in a Charleston church. A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. practiced law in South Carolina before Trump initially picked him to serve on the District Court in August 2017. The president elevated Quattlebaum to the 4th Circuit less than a year later. Richardson and Quattlebaum received bipartisan backing in the Senate and well-qualified ratings from the American Bar Association. A third nominee, Allison Rushing, has proved more controversial, with the committee set to vote this week on her nomination. The former clerk to Thomas and Gorsuch, during Gorsuchs tenure on the Colorado-based 10th Circuit, would be the youngest appeals court judge at age 36, if confirmed. A partner at Williams & Connolly, Rushings nomination is opposed by civil rights groups concerned about her work as a legal intern for the Christian conservative legal non-profit Alliance Defending Freedom. The organization recently represented the Colorado baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because of his religious beliefs and brought a case that allowed corporations to opt out of covering contraceptives through their employee health plans based on religious objections. In response to written questions from senators, Rushing said as a judge she wouldfaithfully follow Supreme Court precedent. As to her relative youth, Rushing cited her extensive relevant experience as a clerk and attorney in private practice for the last eight years. If Rushing goes to the 4th Circuit, the makeup of the court that hears appeals from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the Carolinas will remain steady, with judges appointed by Democrats still outnumbering those appointed by Republicans. There are unlikely to be additional openings any time soon, said Wilkinson, who described the bench as fairly stable. Im not going anywhere, Wilkinson said. When Trump took office in January 2017, he inherited a large number of court openings, including 17 on the federal appeals bench. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, during the last two years of the Obama administration, had delayed nominations. Most notably, the Senate refused to hold a hearing for Obamas Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, chief judge of the D.C. Circuit in Washington, to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. McConnell and the White House Counsels Office, led until recently by Donald McGahn, made the confirmation of conservative judges a top priority. The path from nomination to confirmation has been quick. Trumps circuit court picks were confirmed after a median 146 days, compared to 229 for his Obamas nominees, even though Trumps picks had to overcome more negative votes, Wheelers analysis shows. With Senate Republicans gaining seats after the November election, it should be even easier to confirm Trumps picks. Once current vacancies are filled, Republican nominees will account for 54 per cent of all circuit judges, compared to 44 per cent when Trump took office, Wheelers data shows. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... That increases the likelihood that appeals cases will wind up before a more conservative three-judge panel. But the losing side still could ask for a second look by a full complement of a circuit courts judges sitting en banc. Many of the presidents circuit nominees have impressive credentials, including Supreme Court clerkships, degrees from prestigious law schools and portfolios of legal scholarship. Most are members of the Federalist Society, the conservative and libertarian organization whose president, Leonard Leo, helped shape Trumps list of high-court nominees. The presidents early picks Amul Thapar, Joan Larsen and Amy Coney Barrett are on his shortlist for the Supreme Court should there be a third opening, according to the White House. But some nominees havent had a smooth path and faced questions about their qualifications, affiliations and temperament. The White House last summer withdrew the nomination of Ryan Bounds for the 9th Circuit after widespread criticism of his writings as a college student disparaging multiculturalism. Two new judges on the Missouri-based 8th Circuit Jonathan A. Kobes and L. Steven Grasz were deemed not qualified by the American Bar Association. Kobes, a former aide to Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S. D., has neither the requisite experience nor evidence of his ability to fulfil the scholarly writing required of a circuit judge, the association said in a letter to the Senate. The ABA evaluators reviewing Graszs record and writings expressed concern that his passionately-held social agenda appeared to overwhelm and obscure the ability to exercise dispassionate and unbiased judgment. Grasz, a former general counsel to the Nebraska Republican Party and deputy attorney general, described in an opinion for the states attorney general the moral bankruptcy which is the legacy of Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion decision. Both Grasz and Kobes were confirmed along party-line votes, with Vice President Pence breaking the tie to confirm Kobes in December. The presidents pick to replace Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit is facing scrutiny for her work to roll back regulations as the Trump administrations regulatory czar and for provocative columns she wrote as a college student. Neomi Rao, a professor at George Mason Universitys law school for more than a decade, clerked for Wilkinson on the 4th Circuit, and at the Supreme Court for Thomas, with whom she has co-taught a law-school course on the administrative state. As head of the obscure but powerful Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs since 2017, Rao has advocated for smaller, less intrusive government and expressed concern about the unchecked power of federal agencies. She has pressed to eliminate regulations the Trump administration considers overly burdensome on business and is pushing back the expansion of the administrative state, she wrote in a column in The Washington Post. Nan Aron of the liberal Alliance for Justice said in a statement that Raos nomination seems to epitomize the Trump Administrations slash-and-burn approach to deregulation with the goal of using the justice system to eviscerate a whole host of legal protections for Americans. Raos concerns about government agencies, and her view that the heads of those agencies should be subject to dismissal by the president, echo those of the judge she would replace on the D.C. Circuit. Kavanaugh cited one of Raos law review articles in his 2016 opinion finding the structure of the governments consumer watchdog agency unconstitutional because it gives too much executive control to a single, unaccountable, unchecked director. Anthony Johnstone, a University of Montana law professor who was Raos college and law school classmate, said her sharpest defence of executive power came in articles she wrote during the Obama administration. Her views are deeply principled, but not partisan, Johnstone said. Shes interested in institutions, not who holds those positions. Raos prolific writing for a conservative campus publication at Yale in the 1990s is also sure to surface when she appears this week before the Senate. Rao, the daughter of Indian immigrants, denounced the multicultural nightmare on campus and tackled issues such as date rape and feminism. Multiculturalists are not simply after political reform. Underneath their touchy-feely talk of tolerance, they seek to undermine American culture, she wrote as a senior in a column that appeared in the Washington Times during a Heritage Foundation fellowship. Homosexuals want to redefine marriage and parenthood; feminists in womens studies programs want to replace so-called male rationality with more sensitive responses common to women. It may be kinder and gentler, but can you build a bridge with it? Rao alluded to such debates on campus in a recent speech to an organization of conservative university women: Although students at Yale were disproportionately of a progressive or liberal perspective, I found that my more conservative (sometimes contrarian) perspective was often sought out and treated with respect. In letters to the Senate backing her nomination, Yale classmates praised Rao for her intellectual honesty, fairness and thoughtfulness, even when they were on opposite sides of a debate. Congress has only a few days left to come up with an agreement on border security spending to prevent a government shutdown and may yet see the process upended once U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday. Trump in recent days has repeatedly declared the negotiations a waste of time and said Feb. 1 that his speech to a joint session of Congress would reveal more of his own plans. He suggested that might include a politically and legally fraught emergency declaration to circumvent Congress to begin building a border wall. While the government has funding to keep operating until Feb. 15, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the 17 Republicans and Democrats on a House-Senate conference committee need to wrap up their work by Friday to allow time to vote on any plan to resolve the stalemate. While staff members talked over the weekend and on Monday, real progress isnt expected until after party meetings on Tuesday. When the talks began last week, Democrats offered no new money for border barriers and Republicans were still seeking $5.7 billion (U.S.) for a wall. Democrats suggested an openness to border fencing, but not the wall Trump made a centrepiece of his presidential campaign. For lawmakers in the talks, Trump and Pelosi are proving the biggest obstacles to a compromise. Some Republicans accused Democrats of being inflexible given that theyd supported funding for new fencing in the past. They are moving in the wrong direction by now saying zero funding, said Georgia Rep. Tom Graves, who serves on the conference committee. If theres another shutdown, it lies at the feet of Nancy Pelosi. Trump told reporters on Friday theres a good chance hell declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and tap existing sources of money to build a wall if lawmakers dont give into his demands. Hes suggested the declaration could come as early as his State of the Union speech, and that another government shutdown to force the issue remained a possibility. I dont take anything off the table, Trump said in an interview with CBS news broadcast Sunday. Pelosi can keep playing her games, but we will win. At the same time, White House aides said the presidents State of the Union speech would implore Congress to compromise on issues including immigration and bridge old divisions. If lawmakers reach a deal, it could include Democrats agreeing to miles of new border fencing. It remains unclear if Trump would accept that offer. While hes described new and replacement fencing as a wall, and U.S. troops have been laying miles of concertina wire near the border, hes also said fencing is not sufficient. Negotiators then would also need to sort out how to pay for the extra barriers, including whether to cut other programs or use budget gimmicks to make up the difference. Theyll also need to sort out other fiscal disputes such as whether to send more disaster aid to hurricane-battered Puerto Rico, which Trump has opposed. House Republican negotiators Kay Granger of Texas, Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee and Steven Palazzo of Mississippi joined Democratic negotiator Henry Cuellar of Texas on a tour of border conditions in McAllen, Texas, on Sunday, and the group will be in El Paso and San Diego Monday, according to Grangers spokeswoman Sarah Flaim. Theres already a physical barrier on about 654 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border about half of which is fencing to deter pedestrians, with the other half covered by vehicle barriers. The Department of Homeland Security still has 46 miles of unfinished fencing that was authorized under the Secure Fence Act of 2006 and hasnt yet been built. Under the 2018 spending bill, 33 miles of the remaining fence was funded, leaving 13 miles called for in 2006 left to fund. Much of the rest of the 2,000-mile border, especially in Texas, follows natural obstacles in mountainous areas or the Rio Grande River. The 2016 Republican platform called for building a wall on the entire southern border, and Trumps demands have shifted over the past three years, most recently acknowledging that the wall wouldnt have to cover areas where theres a natural barrier. Hes also said the wall could be steel slats instead of concrete, and in December tweeted an image of a Steel Slat Barrier. The top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Vermonts Patrick Leahy, said hes hopeful a deal can be reached because Republicans seem willing to disregard Trumps comments on Twitter and elsewhere about the conference committee being a waste of time. People are paying less and less attention to the tweets, Leahy said. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week said he wants congressional negotiators to find common ground, underscoring the need to prevent another shutdown and stop Trump seeing the need for an emergency declaration. Im for whatever works that prevents the level of dysfunction weve seen on full display here in the last month and also doesnt bring about a view on the presidents part that he needs to declare a national emergency, McConnell told reporters. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Under a 1976 law, Trump can declare a national emergency if he specifies the reason to Congress. Congress could, in turn, vote to disapprove such a declaration, though the president has the ability to veto such a resolution. Democrats likely would file suit over any such declaration. Senate Republican leaders are wary of creating a public display of party disunity over Trumps possible move toward an emergency declaration. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, an adviser to McConnell, said that if Trump declares an emergency, any lawmaker could demand a vote to overturn his decision. Cornyn said that Trump has been personally warned that such a divisive vote would be inevitable if he declares an emergency. Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Sunday on CNN that while Trump has the power to declare an emergency, it would likely have to be decided by the courts. A CBS News poll released Sunday found two-thirds of Americans oppose Trump declaring a national emergency in order to get the wall built, and most survey respondents 73 per cent said they want Trump to continue negotiating while keeping the government. In several votes in recent weeks, Republicans have shown their independence from the president, suggesting Trump could lose more backing if he pushes toward another shutdown. Eleven Senate Republicans sided with Democrats on a proposal designed to force the Treasury Department to keep sanctions on Russian companies linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska. And 43 Republicans joined Democrats in a 68-23 vote advancing a plan that would urge the U.S. to avoid any precipitous withdrawal from Syria or Afghanistan, as Trump seeks to draw down troops. At the tail end of the 35-day shutdown, six Senate Republicans voted with Democrats on proposal to reopen the government until Feb. 8 to allow more time to negotiate a border compromise, despite heavy pressure to vote on a rival plan aligned with Trumps $5.7 billion wall request. Both proposals were blocked before agreement the following day on terms for the short-term reopening. If the border talks fail, lawmakers said Congress wont be able to get much else accomplished. If we cant arrive at a deal over that, it becomes hard to see how you arrive at a deal over a national infrastructure package or drug pricing or things of that nature where the country needs us to come together and find a common sense solution, said Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican who sits on the House Appropriations Committee. Read more about: LEVERETT, MASS.Paula Green has spent much of her life working on conflicts abroad. In places like Bosnia, Rwanda and Myanmar, Green, an American psychologist, brings together survivors of war, helping them see past their differences so they can live with one another again. But recently, she began seeing some warning signs in the United States, flashes of social distress that she recognized from her work abroad, and after 29 years of peacemaking in other places, she decided to turn her lens on her own society. People are making up stories about the other Muslims, Trump voters, whoever the other is, she said. They dont have the values that we have. They dont behave like we do. They are not nice. They are evil. She added: Thats dehumanization. And when it spreads, it can be very hard to correct. Green is now among a growing group of conflict resolution experts who are turning their focus on the United States, a country that some have never worked on. They are gathering groups in schools and community centres to apply their skills to help a country this time their own where they see troubling trends. They point to dehumanizing political rhetoric for example U.S. President Donald Trump referring to the media as enemies of the people, or to a caravan of migrants in Mexico as riddled with criminals and unknown Middle Easterners. Political violence has flared: A gunman killed worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue in October after ranting about a refugee agency. That same week, an outspoken supporter of Trump sent pipe bombs to a dozen of the presidents critics. In 2017, an Illinois man steeped in left-wing politics shot four people at a congressional baseball practice. Read more: Russia to pull plug on nuclear arms pact after U.S. does same Trumps response to concerns about his handling of race relations sends a clear message Trump says Venezuelas transition of power is playing out There are a lot of people who have been working internationally who are calling me up and saying, Oh my gosh, what do we do? We have to do something, said Elizabeth Hume, a former conflict expert for the government, who is vice president of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, a professional association for conflict prevention experts. We are seeing some serious red flags, she said, things that make conflict experts like me really nervous. Conflict experts said while the United States is not nearly in the dire state of some of the other countries they work in, the resilience of American institutions was being tested. And the deterioration of political stability is always gradual. People are realizing we are not as exceptional as we thought, Hume said of the United States. Democracy rankers have taken note. The Fund for Peace, a non-profit that focuses on fragile states, declared the United States the fourth-most-worsened country for 2018, after Qatar, Spain and Venezuela. In 2017, the Economist Intelligence Unit, the research division of The Economist Group, downgraded the United States to a flawed democracy, from a full democracy, citing declining popular trust in government that began long before Trumps election. Daniel Noah Moses, director of educator programs for Seeds of Peace, a non-profit that began with work on the Middle East, but recently has ramped up its focus on the United States, said when he moved to the United States from Jerusalem in 2017, the political climate seemed strangely familiar. Ive been surprised by how similar it all is the gaps in understanding, the levels of emotion, the negation of the other, he said. Greens homegrown peace mission consisted of 18 people from Leverett, a liberal enclave in western Massachusetts, and 11 people from eastern Kentucky. In three-day sessions in both places, Green used tools from social psychology to probe underneath politics. The goal was not to change minds, but to broaden them, by getting the participants to see one another as people. The beginning was bumpy. The initial overture for a meeting with the Kentucky residents came from Jay Frost, a retired corporate training consultant in Leverett who admits that he did not think much of Trump voters at first. Stupid was the adjective I used, he said, explaining his early thinking. He wrote in an email that he wanted to understand how rural white voters could possibly support such a vulgar, dystopian presidential candidate, language he says he now regrets. Gwen Johnson, an education administrator, who was part of the Kentucky group that received it, said two people started to cry when it was read. But she did not take offence and decided to make the 15-hour trip in a van to Massachusetts to explain to people there that while some might have been mad starting in 2016, she had been mad for most of her life. If these folks want to hear why I voted the way I voted, Im going to damn well tell them, she said. That was my attitude. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... And the people from Massachusetts seemed like eager suitors, trying to get the Kentucky residents to agree to a date. They had such desperation, said Nell Fields, a community health researcher from Whitesburg, Kentucky, said of the participants from Massachusetts. They are very well educated and I think theyve always been confident that theyll just carry people along with their way of thinking. And suddenly, when it didnt happen, they didnt hardly know what to do. She said she got the feeling that they were kind of doing a project where at the end they would say, OK, look, we fixed them. When they finally met, in the fall of 2017 in Leverett, Green applied a basic rule of psychology: Once people feel heard, their dignity had been acknowledged and the facts of their lives taken seriously, it is easier to take on harder topics like politics. She decided to start with the things that people have in common. She asked everyone to talk about their families, because everybody has one. They sat in a circle in a white clapboard building surrounded by sheep pastures and spoke, one by one. No interruptions were allowed. We have been groomed and educated to have lots of opinions, but that all has to be set aside in dialogue, Green said. Its not about opinions, its about profound listening. When talk did turn to politics, again in a circle one by one, they managed to stay civil. They talked about Trump, immigration and guns, but participants said they managed to avoid blowups. Around the country, groups are using listening to tackle the political divide. Rachel Milner Gillers, a conflict resolution expert who previously worked with the United Nations, has been practicing with college students. In one exercise, students from Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C., and Radford University, in Southwest Virginia, many with different political views, had to ask curious questions of each other and simply repeat back what they were hearing without giving opinions. This is a technique sometimes used in marriage therapy. It turned out to be very hard. You had people turning red hearing what they were hearing, said Milner Gillers, an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School. It got easier as they got to know each other better. The same was true for Greens group. They had a spirited debate about guns over lunch in Kentucky. The people from Leverett believed they were safer when no one had one. The Kentuckians believed they were safer when everyone did. To illustrate the point, Johnson pointed out that most of the women in the restaurant including her had guns in their purses. The people from Massachusetts were shocked. Fields said the group was able to talk about hard things because of what came before: the feeling that the other side had heard them and that they had become, in a fundamental way, equals. I think we all expected it to be a lot harder than it was, Fields said. I really learned that no matter how differently we think or vote, if we take a moment to see the other person for who they are, as somebody with a family and a story, that made the hard stuff easier. She added: It was about having a hard conversation in a soft place. Read more about: BATAVIA, Ohio - The Latest on man accused of shooting deputies during standoff (all times local): 5:05 p.m. A lawyer representing a man accused of fatally shooting an Ohio sheriffs deputy and wounding another deputy during a standoff says the man has been under psychiatric care in the past. Twenty-three-year-old Wade Edward Winn is charged with aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder in the weekend shootings in Clermont County, with bond set at $10 million. Clark confirmed Monday that Winn broadcast parts of the standoff live to his followers on Instagram. He says he believes the content of his clients video indicates he was trying to get help because he truly thought he was being threatened. Clark also said that Winn has articulated to me that he is extremely remorseful. The attorney says he doesnt think Winn fully appreciates exactly what happened or how it happened. ___ 11:10 a.m. A judge has set a $10 million bond for a man accused of fatally shooting a sheriffs deputy and wounding another deputy during a 12-hour standoff in Ohio. A Clermont County Municipal Court judge set bond Monday for 23-year-old Wade Edward Winn. The shackled suspect was in court on charges of aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder in the weekend shooting in Pierce Township, east of Cincinnati. Authorities say Detective Bill Brewer died from his wounds. The other deputy was treated and released. Prosecutors said Monday that Winn had faked killing himself and the two deputies were shot when they tried to enter the apartment to assist him. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty. Messages seeking comment were left for Winns attorney. ___ 1 a.m. Court records show a man accused of fatally shooting a sheriffs deputy and wounding another deputy during a 12-hour standoff in Ohio is set for a court hearing. Clermont County Municipal Court records show 23-year-old Wade Edward Winn is scheduled for a hearing Monday on charges of aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder in the weekend shooting in Pierce Township, east of Cincinnati. Authorities say Detective Bill Brewer died from his wounds. The other deputy was treated and released. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Court records dont show an attorney for Winn. Authorities say officers responded Saturday night to the apartment complex after a 911 call from a man who said he believed someone was inside his residence. It wasnt clear whether the suspect made the call. Authorities found one person in the home. SAN DIEGOSan Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican, will announce on Monday a new position in his office to carry out a five-year plan to make the city more welcoming to immigrants. In a stark contrast to the ongoing stalemate at the federal level over immigration and the border, Faulconer will be joined by Council President Georgette Gomez, a Democrat, to unveil the plan a list of 20 recommendations put together over a year through community input and guidance from civic, business, education and non-profit leaders. Immigrants from around the globe help define our city. San Diego has long been a destination for people in search of opportunity, refugees looking to rebuild their lives, and new citizens who are proud to call America home, Faulconer said. San Diegos economy, workforce and future growth are connected to our ability to welcome new Americans into our community. To move the plan forward, Faulconer included $91.9K in his mid-year budget report to hire an Immigrant Affairs Manager, whose role will be to co-ordinate existing efforts to serve immigrant and refugee communities and to triage and implement recommendations in the plan. We do it differently here, said Joel Day, one of the mayors office staff who led the research initiative to make the plan. At the end of the day, we dont get to set federal policy on immigration who comes in and who goes out but what we do have control over is making people feel welcome in our city. Whether youre a Democrat or a Republican, it doesnt matter. We want everybody to feel welcome here. The initiative launched at the beginning of last February after the city, in partnership with the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and several non-profit, received a grant to research ways to better integrate and support immigrant residents. At the launch, about 300 people shared insights and ideas about where the city should focus its efforts to be more welcoming. Over the next four months, researchers held seven community forums across the city to gather input. They also gathered feedback online through September. A steering committee of 19 local leaders continued to meet with community members as they drafted the reports recommendations. Other stakeholders were invited to participate in an online draft, and one day Day saw about 40 people editing it at the same time, he said. The community engagement was remarkable, Day said. Sometimes people disagreed, Day said, but disagreement never devolved to divisive argument. The recommendations included providing more opportunities to immigrant workers and entrepreneurs, increasing civic engagement, removing barriers to education and access to city services and improving relationships between immigrant communities and local police. Each recommendation has short-term and long-term suggestions for how to implement it. Among those suggestions: additional grants and microloans to help immigrants with foreign credentials use their skills to work in the U.S., a San Diego World Cup soccer tournament of neighbourhood-based teams and an office of immigrant affairs at the city level. It will be the immigrant affairs managers job to sort through those possibilities and work with the community to make them a reality, Day said. Day said it was important to note that many of the issues brought forward by members of immigrant communities were the same issues that many native-born worry about like housing and transportation. Part of the point, Day said, is to make sure that immigrants and refugees are included in conversations about how to handle those issues, as they are often overlooked during policy planning. Several steering committee members hoped to see the staff position evolve to an office for the city. They said they worried if the position remained in the mayors office, it could be scrapped by a future mayor. For us this plan will remain just that a plan unless we commit the resources to make it happen, said Karim Bouris, executive director of Business for Good and member of the steering committee. Paola Avila, vice president of international business affairs at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and a member of the plans steering committee, said recommendations that increase the economic power of immigrants in San Diego would be a big win for the region. Based on what we know already, the ROI is going to be tremendous, Avila said, citing a report produced for the research that found San Diego County immigrants make up about 24 per cent of the population and 33 per cent of its local entrepreneurs. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Andrea Guerrero, executive director of Alliance San Diego and another member of the steering committee, said shes cautiously optimistic about the plan getting fully implemented and called the mayors decision to create a staff position an important first step. She also thinks the reports recommendations to help people from different communities in San Diego get to know each other better will be particularly well received. She was surprised how many people immigrant and native-born alike expressed an interest in more ways to connect with others. Thats part of the immigrant experience is wanting to know your sister and brother, wanting to know your neighbour. But we heard a lot of that also from San Diego-born, Guerrero said. They want to know who their new neighbours are and know them not in a superficial way but engage in dialogue and relationships. That warmed my heart to see. YORBA LINDA, Calif. - Dave Elfver was getting ready to go to a friends house to watch the Super Bowl when he heard a whining sound in his Southern California neighbourhood like a motorcycle going a hundred miles per hour. Then, he said, came the explosion from a twin-engine plane that broke apart in flight and crashed, setting a home on fire in the Los Angeles suburb of Yorba Linda, killing five people and injuring two. The whole house shook. I thought it was an earthquake, but the whining sound didnt make any sense. Elfver, 75, said he ran to his backyard and saw a house engulfed in flames. He ran toward it along with a crowd of neighbours, and only then he saw an airplane wing in the street. I didnt realize what it was until I ran around the corner, he said Monday. Across the street, one of the columns of a neighbours home was collapsed and debris from the plane was strewn throughout the street. Another home had broken windows. The four people on the ground who died were all in the house that burned. The pilot was also killed and was the only person on the plane, Orange County Sheriffs Lt. Cory Martino told reporters. Martino said the dead occupants of the home were two males and two females but he did not further identify them. The Cessna 414A, which can carry up to eight people, took off from the Fullerton Municipal Airport about 12 miles (19 kilometres) west of the blaze, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said. According to preliminary radar data, the plane reached an altitude of about 7,800 feet (2,377 metres) and then made a rapid descent, said Eliott Simpson, an aviation accident investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. The debris field spanned about four blocks, he said. The main cabin of the airplane and one engine came to rest at the bottom of a ravine in the backyard of a house and the other engine landed on a street, creating a hole, Simpson said. During the impact sequence one house caught fire and thats where we have the four fatalities, he said. It was not immediately clear what set the two-story house ablaze. The property where the fuselage ended up is about three houses down from the home that burned. Aerial footage from news helicopters showed plane parts, including side panels and a propeller, scattered on rooftops and driveways near the burned house. Shawn Winch, 49, said he was out in his backyard when he heard a loud sound. It sounded like a missile coming at my house, he said. He said he saw the plane veer off and debris falling. It wasnt intact, he said of the plane as it was coming toward the neighbourhood. It was already breaking up. The crash sent panicked neighbours into the streets. Some tried to run into the flaming house but explosion sounds came from its garage and other neighbours called them off, Winch said. It was a boom. It sounded like something exploded. It shook our house, said John Wolbart, who lives a block away. He said he ran to the burning house and saw a woman come out with singed hair. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The injured were taken to a hospital with burns, said Pokey Sanchez, an assistant chief with the Orange County Fire Authority. A firefighter was also treated for a minor injury. Clint Langford, who lives about a half-mile (0.8 kilometre) away, said he was in his living room when he heard a low rumbling. Its the eerie, low rumbling sound that keeps getting lower and louder. It was scary, he said. And then all of a sudden boom. It shook the house. He looked out his front door and could see plane parts falling out the sky in the distance. Pat Rogers, who lives about a mile (1.6 kilometres) from the crash site, told the Orange County Register he saw the plane on fire and coming apart. Video posted on Twitter showed panicked residents running to the house as it became engulfed in flames and dark smoke. One man used a garden house to douse a burning wing that landed on the street. Catherine Paulson, 78, said she considered herself lucky because she was not home when the debris crashed down and a piece of the plane landed in a tree right above her roof. Its just devastating, she said. The National Transportation and Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash. Simpson said it will take some time to determine the maintenance history of the aircraft, which was built in 1981. Representatives of the manufacturers of the airframe and engines were expected on the scene Monday. The wreckage will be transported to Phoenix, Arizona, for a forensic examination, Simpson said. ___ Associated Press writer John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report. PHILADELPHIA - A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to trafficking protected turtles. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania says David Sommers on Monday admitted to sending a package to Canada in 2014 containing 11 diamondback terrapin hatchlings. Sommers pleaded guilty to one felony count of violating the Lacey Act and agreed to forfeit nearly 3,500 diamondback terrapin hatchlings that authorities say he poached from coastal marshes in New Jersey. The Lacey Act bans trade in illegally obtained wildlife, fish and plants. As part of the agreement, prosecutors will drop the remaining charges against him at his sentencing on May 15. He faces up to five years in prison. Terrapins are prized in the reptile pet trade for their unique shell markings. The turtles are protected under New Jersey law and by international treaty. OKLAHOMA CITY - Vowing to make education a priority for his administration following a teacher rebellion that shuttered schools for two weeks last year, Oklahomas new Republican governor told lawmakers Monday he wants to give classroom teachers a $1,200, across-the-board pay raise. In his first State of the State address to lawmakers, Gov. Kevin Stitt delivered his plan for spending about $8.2 billion , including about $70 million from a budget surplus for a teacher pay proposal that would make the state the best in the region for educators pay and benefits. The pay boost for teachers would be in addition to the average annual pay hike of $6,100 that teachers received last year before a statewide walkout over demands for more education spending . The walkout was part of a springtime rebellion of teachers across the nation, including Kentucky, West Virginia and Arizona. Stitt says his long-term vision for public education includes higher standards and more classroom money, but we must first continue our investment in the teacher, because its not programs, curriculum or resources that a student will remember, he said. The magic happens between the student and teacher in the classroom. Stitts budget includes an additional $20 million for teacher benefits, but Democrats complained his proposal does nothing to boost classroom spending. Weve talked to a lot of teachers who say theyd rather have more money in the classroom this year if they were given a choice between the two, said House Democratic Leader Rep. Emily Virgin, D-Norman. They certainly deserve another pay raise, and we want to get one for them, but the governor didnt mention anything about a classroom or a per-pupil funding increase, so we feel like that was a glaring omission. Among Stitts other ideas are putting more money into reserves, conducting performance audits of the largest state agencies and putting more cash into a fund the governor could use to close deals that would bring more jobs to the state. He also wants expanded power to include the hiring and firing of the directors of the states largest agencies. Stitts executive budget did not include funding for the state to participate in a Medicaid expansion, however the governor and GOP leaders in the Legislature said last week they were open to the idea . Hes also proposing $5 million to fund a recruitment effort to encourage teachers to stay in Oklahoma or return to the classroom after a hiatus. Oklahoma currently is projected to have a surplus of $612 million over last years spending levels, but that number is expected to be reduced when the states Board of Equalization certifies the final amount that lawmakers are authorized to spend. Stitts Secretary of Budget Mike Mazzei says the final certified surplus could be closer to $400 million. Stitts executive budget calls for nearly all state agencies to have no funding increases, although education and some health and public safety agencies would see modest boosts in spending. As a result of the states rebounding economy, Oklahoma is expected to make a $422 million deposit into the states Rainy Day Fund, bringing its total to $878 million. But Stitt says the states reserves should be at least twice that amount, and he is seeking a public vote on increasing the current cap. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... ___ Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy Siete Family Foods, an Austin, TX-based Mexican-American food brand, raised $90m in funding. The round was led by Stripes Group. The company intends to use the funds for continued growth, particularly in staffing, new product development and distribution. Co-founded in 2014 by siblings Veronica (President and Chief Innovation Officer) and Miguel Garza (Chief Executive Officer) and their mother Aida Garza, Siete Family Foods makes grain free Mexican-American food offering grain free chips, grain free tortillas, hot sauces, cashew queso and an expanding lineup of heritage-inspired products to be found in more than 4,400 stores across the country. They are also available for purchase online at sietefoods.com. Siete employs 40 full-time staff members and plans to nearly double that again in 2019. FinSMEs 04/02/2019 NEW YORK - After nearly three months of testimony about a vast drug-smuggling conspiracy steeped in violence, a jury began deliberations Monday at the U.S. trial of the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. The day ended without jurors reaching a verdict for Guzman, who faces life in prison if convicted. They were to resume deliberations Tuesday morning. The jury has heard months of testimony about Guzmans rise to power as the head of the Sinaloa cartel. Prosecutors say he is responsible for smuggling at least 200 tons of cocaine into the United States and for a wave of killings in turf wars with other cartels. Guzman, 61, is notorious for escaping from prison twice in Mexico. In closing arguments, prosecutor Andrea Goldbarg said he was plotting yet another breakout when was he was sent in 2017 to the U.S., where he has been in solitary confinement ever since. The defendant wanted to escape because he is guilty and he never wanted to be in a position where he would have to answer for his crimes, Goldbarg told the jury. He wanted to avoid sitting right there. In front of you. The defence claims Guzmans role has been exaggerated by co-operating witnesses who are seeking leniency in their own cases. In his closing, defence attorney Jeffrey Lichtman assailed the case as a fantasy and urged the jury not to believe co-operators who lie, steal, cheat, deal drugs and kill people for a living. Jeffrey Lichtman, a defense attorney for Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, arrives at federal court, Monday, Feb. 4, 2019 in New York. A jury is due to begin deliberations Monday at the U.S. trial of the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Last week, newly unsealed court papers revealed disturbing allegations not heard by the jury that Guzman had sex with girls as young as 13. A Colombian drug trafficker told investigators that the kingpin paid $5,000 to have the girls brought to him, and that he sometimes drugged them, the papers say. The start of the proceedings Monday was briefly delayed after two jurors indicated to the judge they were aware of reports about the alleged sex crimes. He questioned both behind closed doors before allowing them to remain on the jury. The unsealing of the documents came at the request of The New York Times and Vice News. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan had ordered prosecutors to review the material originally sealed because it was deemed unrelated to the drug charges and make portions of it public within four days of the government resting its case against Guzman. Guzmans attorneys said their client denies the allegations. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, on a visit to New York City, stopped by the courtroom, with the jury not present, to thank the governments trial team. NEW YORK - Ever since the historical musical Hamilton began its march to near-universal infatuation, one group has noticeably withheld its applause historians. Many academics argue the portrait of Alexander Hamilton, the star of our $10 bills, is a counterfeit. Now theyre escalating their fight. Ishmael Reed, who has been nominated twice for a National Book Award, has chosen to fight fire with fire collecting his critique of Lin-Manuel Mirandas acclaimed show into a play. Reeds The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda is an uncompromising take-down of Hamilton, reminding viewers of the Founding Fathers complicity in slavery and his war on Native Americans. My goal is that this be a counter-narrative to the text that has been distributed to thousands of students throughout the country, said Reed, who teaches at the California College of the Arts and the University of California at Berkeley and whose latest novel is Conjugating Hindi. Reed, whose play had a recent reading in New York and who is raising money for a four-week production in May, is part of a wave of Hamilton skeptics often solitary voices of dissent amid a wall of fawning attention who have written journal articles, newspaper op-eds and a 2018 collection of essays, Historians on Hamilton . Mirandas glowing portrayal of a Hamilton who celebrates open borders Immigrants, we get the job done! and who denounces slavery has incensed everyone from professors at Harvard to the University of Houston to Rutgers . They argue that Miranda got Hamilton all wrong the Founding Father wasnt progressive at all, his actual role as a slave owner has been whitewashed and the pro-immigrant figure onstage hides the fact that he was, in fact, an anti-immigration elitist. Its a fictional rewrite of Hamilton. You cant pick the history facts that you want, said Nancy Isenberg , a professor of American history at Louisiana State University who has written a biography of Aaron Burr and is the author of White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America. Its not just the portrait of Hamilton that has drawn fire. Critics also say Mirandas portrait of Burr is horribly distorted and argue that Hamiltons sister-in-law, Angelica Schuyler, was in no way a feminist, as she is portrayed in the musical. Reed considers Hamilton so problematic that even edits to it wouldnt help. I think the corrective would be to close the show, he said. Reeds own play borrows from Charles Dickens in portraying a naive Miranda being visited by a succession of ghostly slaves, Native Americans and indentured servants people Reed argues never made it into the Tony-, Grammy-, and Pulitzer-winning musical. What I tried to do was to cover the voices that were not present onstage, Reed said. Reed, who has not seen Hamilton but read it, criticizes the musical as just the latest piece of entertainment that is sympathetic to slave owners. I say this is a successor to Gone With the Wind, he said. But at least in Gone With the Wind, Hattie McDaniel had a speaking part. In Reeds play, Hamilton is unmasked as a slave owner who once worked for a slave trading firm in St. Croix. Youve been up to your blue eyes in the slave trade from the time you were a child, he is told. A slave tells Miranda that the Schuyler family, which Hamilton married into, were brutal slave owners and life under them was no damned musical comedy. A horrified fictional Miranda is eventually convinced by the evidence. I have to undo the damage that I have done, he wails at the end. Because of me, thousands of school children are trapped intellectually in the same lies as I was. Perhaps the true villain of the piece is historian Ron Chernow, who wrote the award-winning biography of Hamilton that Miranda relied upon. (You should have read books by black people, a slave tells Miranda in Reeds play.) At the plays conclusion, the fictional Chernow advises the fictional Miranda to stop making a fuss and just enjoy their good hustle. Chernow has declined to comment on Reeds criticisms, and a publicist for Hamilton and Miranda also declined comment. However, Miranda has said in interviews that he felt a responsibility to be as historically accurate as possible but that Hamilton is necessarily a work of historical fiction, including dramatizations and imprecisions. Perhaps in a veiled response the critics, producers of Hamilton have created an immersive exhibit to open in Chicago this fall that promises to take visitors deeper into the life and times of Hamilton. How much it will try to correct the impressions made in the musical are unclear. Harvard Law professor and historian Annette Gordon-Reed, who has criticized the show in the past and is offering her historical consultation for the exhibit. She attended a reading of Reeds play and sounded a hopeful note that both sides can come together. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Theres room for my earlier commentary, Mr. Reeds take, the grand musical itself, and now a good faith effort to consider the musicals subject in his real-world historical context which is what the exhibit Is designed to do, she said. For Reed and Isenberg, the omissions and distortions in Hamilton are part of a larger problem with the way the Founding Fathers are portrayed in mainstream history, often as flawless, enlightened geniuses. It even has a name: Founders Chic. Isenberg notes that, over generations, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and then John Adams have been held up periodically as darling patriotic heroes. Now its Hamiltons turn. We always want to refashion the Founders to be a mirror for us, she said. My job as a historian is to dislodge misconceptions, not to entertain my students and not to make people feel comfortable. Thats what good history does. Isenberg even argues that Miranda went further than Chernow in trying to reshape Hamilton into a progressive to celebrate President Barack Obama, portraying the Founding Father into someone hip and multicultural. She notes he once bought two slaves for $250. Imagine if one of the songs in the musical was $250, she said. This would make everyone in the audience squirm and scream and it would completely undermine the heroic message and the progressive Hamilton that they want and they crave. Dr. Lyra D. Monteiros criticism jumps from the page to the stage when she notes that three minority actors play white, slave-owning current or future presidents obscuring the white supremacist origins of our country. Its a musical about the mythology of the ruling class that anybody can join it, said the Rutgers professor, noting that both Hillary Clinton and Dick Cheney are fans. Its the myth that the ruling class of the United States wants to believe. Monteiro is keeping her fingers crossed that Reed gets the backing to mount his play. Id love to take my students to that, she said. ___ Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut lawmakers are considering legislation that would ban female genital mutilation, partly because of a U.S. District Court judges ruling last fall that determined a federal prohibition was unconstitutional. The General Assemblys Public Health Committee heard testimony Monday on one of several bills proposed this session barring the procedure known as female circumcision or cutting. Advocates said 28 states have enacted laws to combat it, and Connecticut needs to join them. The mutilation of girls external genitals for non-medical reasons is practiced in some two dozen African countries and parts of the Middle East and Asia. It also affects many immigrant and refugee communities in Europe and the U.S. This barbaric practice, which operates mainly in secrecy, must be stopped, said Dorothy Cutter, a resident of Somers who testified at the public hearing. She urged committee members to pass a bill with stiff penalties that prohibits transporting girls across the state border to perform what she called child abuse at its worst. Advocates warned after the judges ruling in Michigan that states like Connecticut, without laws on the books, could now become destination states for the practice. Legislation was proposed last year in Connecticut to make the practice a class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. That bill, however, didnt move beyond a committee vote. Last November, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman threw out genital mutilation charges against a Michigan doctor, arguing the federal law that bans female genital mutilation was unconstitutional because Congress didnt have the power to regulate it. Eight people were charged in that case. The government accused Dr. Jumana Nagarwala of performing genital mutilation on nine girls from Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota at a suburban Detroit clinic. She denies she committed any crime and says she performed a religious custom on girls from her Muslim sect. Federal prosecutors are seeking to reinstate the charges. A wide range of interest groups submitted testimony supporting Connecticuts legislation this year. But in testimony submitted by Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, Susan Yolen, vice-president of public policy and advocacy, warned its hard to know if female genital mutilation is being practiced at all in Connecticut. She said creating a criminal penalty for those responsible could be a difficult if not impossible burden for a young girl to bear. While Planned Parenthood opposes the practice, Yolen said the organization also recognizes the unique challenges faced by immigrant women and believes criminalizing the ritual may only further isolate those who, now that they are in the U.S., can and should become more fully integrated into our way of live. She urged Connecticut lawmakers to consider a different approach to the issue and instead enlist public health students or professionals to study the practice in Connecticut and identify public health interventions that could be used to mitigate or eliminate the procedure. GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. - Four climate-change activists from the Catholic Worker movement were arrested Monday in an attempt to shut down an Enbridge oil pipeline in north-central Minnesota. The four broke into a fenced area southeast of Grand Rapids that contains shut-off valves for three Enbridge pipelines around noon Monday, said their spokeswoman, Diane Leutgeb Monson. After a period of prayer and offerings, she said, they then called to warn the company of their plans to turn off the Line 4 pipeline. But she said Enbridge shut the pipeline down itself remotely. Itasca County sheriffs deputies arrested the four around 1:30 p.m., she said. Sheriff Vic Williams didnt immediately return a call from The Associated Press but told the Star Tribune that four people were in custody in the incident. The group spokeswoman named the four as Michele Naar Obed, of Duluth, Minnesota; Allyson Polman, of Denton, Texas; and Brenna Cussen Anglada and Daniel Yildirim, of Cuba City, Wisconsin. In a statement, they said they believed it was time to take personal responsibility for preventing the dangerous expansion of the oil industry, because governments and regulators have failed to do so. Juli Kellner a Minnesota-based spokeswoman for Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge, said the protesters put people and the environment at risk, though no oil was spilled. She also said the company supports the prosecution of everyone involved. The actions taken to trespass on our facility and tamper with energy infrastructure were reckless and dangerous, she said in an email. The people involved claimed to be protecting the environment, but they did the opposite. Their actions put themselves, first responders, neighbouring communities and landowners at risk. Line 4 is one of five Enbridge pipelines that carry Canadian crude from Alberta to Enbridges terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. The companys plan to replace its aging Line 3 was the subject of long, contentious proceedings before Minnesota regulators, who approved the project last year. The Line 3 fight has now switched to the courts , where appeals are pending , as well as protests along the route . A Clearwater County judge in October dismissed charges against three other activists who tried to shut down Enrbidge Lines 4 and 67 in northwestern Minnesota in 2016, saying prosecutors failed to prove that the protesters caused any damage. District Judge Robert Tiffany threw the case out even before the protesters could argue that the threat of climate change from Canadian tar sands oil was so imminent that their actions were necessary and morally right. Climate change activists have had mixed legal success using the necessity defence in pipeline protest cases in other states. All of those actions have definitely provided inspiration for this group although they werent linked to this group, Monson said. GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Authorities say two men are missing after they possibly drove a tracked snow vehicle onto a frozen lake and fell through the ice in western Colorado. The Daily Sentinel reports Delta County sheriffs deputies were called to the Grand Mesa Lodge Sunday after the owner reported the men failed to check out and their belongings were still in the room. Delta County Sheriff Mark Taylor says 30-year-old Ryan Wells and 30-year-old Richard Colton are missing. Lodge owner Michael Wenner told deputies that Wells had brought a Sno-Cat vehicle to the lodge. Vehicle tracks were later found leading to a hole where the vehicle might have fallen through the ice at Island Lake. The Summit County Sheriffs Office was planning to use an underwater drone to search the lake. ___ Information from: The Daily Sentinel, http://www.gjsentinel.com ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - The Latest on Pope Franciss visit to the United Arab Emirates (all times local): 8:25 p.m. Pope Francis and the grand imam of Egypts Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in Sunni Islam, have signed a statement with their hopes for world peace and human understanding. The two signed the document Monday night during the popes visit to the United Arab Emirates. It is the first papal visit ever to the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam. The document describes itself as being in the name of all victims of wars, persecution and injustice; . and those tortured in any part of the world, without distinction. It also decried modern signs of a third world war being fought piecemeal. The United Arab Emirates is deeply involved in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which faces widespread international criticism for airstrikes killing civilians and the conflict pushing the country to the brink of famine. The document says: We resolutely declare that religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood. The statement also says countries have a duty to establish a concept of full citizenship. The UAE relies heavily on foreign labourers who have no path to naturalization. ___ 8 p.m. The head of Sunni Islams highest seat of learning has told an audience that includes Pope Francis and hundreds of other religious figures from around the world that Islam is a religion of peace that values human life. At an event Monday evening during the first-ever papal visit to the Gulf, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the head of Al-Azhar, quoted numerous Quranic verses about the value of life, including one that says: Whoever kills a person it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind. The grand mufti said all faiths denounce terrorism in all its forms and that acts of terrorism are carried out by criminals, not by true believers of God. The sheikh said that after the 9-11 attacks the media made Islam look like a bloodthirsty religion and that Muslims paid a heavy price for the acts of a few. He spoke after the Muslim Council of Elders and the pope met for an interreligious dialogue that recognized efforts by the pope and al-Tayeb to foster peace. ___ 7:50 p.m. Pope Francis has asserted in the first-ever papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula that religious leaders have a duty to reject all war and commit themselves to dialogue. Francis concluded his landmark speech to an interfaith gathering on Monday by saying: God is with those who seek peace. From heaven he blesses every step which, on this path, is accomplished on earth. Speaking in Italian at the Abu Dhabi Founders Memorial, Francis cited the conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya in calling for leaders to resist the floods of violence and the desertification of altruism. The UAE is involved in the conflicts in Yemen, Syria and Libya. Speaking to a gathering of imams, muftis, ministers, rabbis, swamis, Zoroastrians and Sikhs, Francis said: Human fraternity requires of us, as representatives of the worlds religions, the duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war. Let us return it to its miserable crudeness. ___ 7:35 p.m. Pope Francis has called out the dangers of so-called fake news amid ongoing propaganda campaigns across Gulf Arab countries. Francis made the comment in a speech Monday night, saying: Young people, who are often surrounded by negative messages and fake news, need to learn not to surrender to the seductions of materialism, hatred and prejudice. The boycott of Qatar by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has seen such propaganda published since its start in June 2017. The crisis began after Qatars state-run news agency was hacked and fake items were published. In the time since, slanted or one-sided coverage in the dispute has been common in both Arabic- and English-language media outlets. Pope Francis is visiting the UAE on the first papal trip ever to the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam. ___ 7:30 p.m. Pope Francis has condemned all violence committed in Gods name, telling an interfaith meeting in the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula that religious leaders must be beacons of peace and promote the dignity of all Gods children. Francis warned that unless people of different religions come together to promote concrete paths of peace, the future of humanity itself will be in doubt. He warned: We will either build the future together or there will not be a future. The time has come when religions should more actively exert themselves, with courage and audacity, and without pretense, to help the human family deepen the capacity for reconciliation, the vision of hope and the concrete paths of peace. At the highlight of his 40-hour visit to Abu Dhabi on Monday, Francis also called for full religious freedom in this majority Muslim region, where restrictions are placed on non-Muslim expressions of faith. ___ 6:20 p.m. Pope Francis has met with a group of Muslim elders at the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi in what the Vatican says was a particularly cordial and fraternal encounter. The Vatican says the private meeting lasted about 30 minutes, and was followed by a visit of the mosque alongside Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Egypts Al-Azhar, the seat of Sunni learning. Francis later paid homage at the tomb of the founder of the Emirates. The Vatican says that during the meeting Monday, Francis and the participants emphasized the importance of the culture of encounter to reinforce the commitment to dialogue and peace. Francis is making the first-ever trip to the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam, in a bid to strengthen ties with the Muslim world. ___ 2:15 p.m. Human Rights Watch is urging Pope Francis to use his visit to the United Arab Emirates to press its rulers about serious human rights violations in the war in Yemen and their repression of critics at home. The rights group released a letter on Monday at the start of the first-ever papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... HRW says the Saudi-led coalition backed by the UAE has bombed Yemeni homes, markets and schools indiscriminately while impeding humanitarian aid from reaching desperate Yemenis. The New York-based watchdog also says that the UAE authorities have targeted critics, political dissidents and human rights activists with arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances. HRW called in the letter on the pope to lead international pressure to hold the UAE leadership accountable. It says that despite its assertions about tolerance, the UAE government has demonstrated no real interest in improving its human rights record. ___ 1:55 p.m. Abu Dhabis powerful crown prince says he and Dubais ruler were delighted to meet Pope Francis for a meeting amid the pontiffs trip to the United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan tweeted pictures of the meeting on Monday in what he described as our homeland of tolerance. Sheikh Mohammed tweeted: We discussed enhancing co-operation, consolidating dialogue, tolerance, human coexistence & important initiatives to achieve peace, stability and development for peoples and societies. He did not elaborate. Pope Francis arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. His visit represents the first papal trip ever to the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam. ___ 1:10 p.m. Pope Francis has assured the people of the United Arab Emirates of his prayers and the divine blessings of peace and fraternal solidarity. Francis signed a book of honour on Monday at the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi, where he met for private talks with the Emirati capitals powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in the first-ever papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula. Frances wrote in his characteristic tiny script, in English, of his gratitude for your warm welcome and hospitality. The Emirates put on a remarkably grandiose welcome for Francis, complete with an artillery salute and military flyover by a country that is now at war in Yemen, where the UAE backs a Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemens Houthi rebels. ___ 12:10 p.m. Pope Francis has arrived at the presidential palace to officially start his historic visit to the United Arab Emirates as canons boomed and a military aircraft flew over trailing the yellow and white smoke of the Holy See flag. Guards on horseback escorted Francis tiny Kia car to approach the palace where a marching band, complete with bagpipers, was on hand on Monday for a red carpet welcome at the massive, domed structure in Abu Dhabi. The capitals powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was to welcome Francis, the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula. The highlight of Francis day comes on Monday afternoon when he is to meet privately with a group of Muslim elders and then addresses faith leaders in a show of religious tolerance in a Muslim region known for its restrictions on religious freedom. His 40-hour trip to Abu Dhabi culminates on Tuesday with the first-ever papal Mass on the Arabian Peninsula a gathering expected to draw some 135,000 people in a never-before-seen display of public Christian worship here. ___ 9:55 a.m. Pope Francis is opening his historic visit to the United Arab Emirates by meeting with the federations leader and a group of Muslim elders. After that, he will address an unprecedented gathering of faith leaders in a show of religious tolerance in a Muslim region known for its restrictions on religious freedom. Francis speech to the gathering on Monday evening is the highlight of his brief, 40-hour visit to Abu Dhabi. His trip culminates on Tuesday with the first-ever papal Mass on the Arabian Peninsula. Its expected to draw some 135,000 people in a never-before-seen display of public Christian worship here. Francis arrived in the Emirati capital late Sunday and was greeted by Abu Dhabis powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Against the backdrop of the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula is an interfaith conference that includes prominent U.S. rabbis and Christian evangelicals, who are seeking stronger recognition of Israel through closer ties with Muslim figures and Arab leaders. These merged interests come as Arab leaders look to strengthen ties with the Trump administration through his evangelical base of supporters. Its also happening as Gulf Arab states take their once-private outreach to Israel more publicly in the absence of peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis. Rabbi Marc Schneier, who founded The Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, New York, is at the forefront of building ties between Jews and Muslims in the U.S. and the Middle East. Through greater interreligious dialogue, hes pushed for closer relations between Muslim leaders and the state of Israel. I think there is a very, very keen interest in bringing Islam and Judaism together, but our role as Jewish leaders we also need to sensitize and educate and expose both Gulf leaders and Muslim interfaith leaders to the fact that Israel again is not a political dimension for the Jewish people; its at the very core of our religion, he told The Associated Press in an interview on the sidelines of Pope Francis visit to the United Arab Emirates. Schneier has carved a foothold in the region to deliver that message. The king of Bahrain has appointed him as a special adviser and hes been hosted by Qatars ruler in Doha. He also has links to Saudi Arabias interfaith centre in Vienna and has been invited to Saudi Arabia to meet the crown prince. He even boasts that he has helped ensure kosher hot dogs will be available to soccer fans attending the World Cup in 2022 in Qatar. Over the weekend, he delivered a sermon to a congregation of expatriate Jews in an unmarked synagogue in Dubai a move that not only underlined growing acceptance and recognition of Jewish life in Gulf Arab states but also of the warming of ties between these nations and Israel. I remember when I first entered the fray here in the Gulf, there was a tendency to bifurcate Israel and Judaism, to break out Israel from Judaism, Schneier said, explaining that he used to hear people in the region say: We have nothing against Jews. Its Israelis and Zionists that we have a problem with. I no longer hear that rhetoric. Its no longer part of the conversation, he said. For Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, which still feel stung from the 2015 nuclear deal with rival Iran that was struck by then-U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders, building ties with the Trump administration and Israel are seen as ways to counter Tehrans footprint in regional conflicts. For Qatar, which has hosted Hamas leaders over the years, welcoming pro-Israel figures from the U.S. for conversations with the ruling emir appear to be driven by an effort to manoeuvr politically within Washington lobbying circles in the face of a blockade by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain. For some U.S. evangelicals, support for Israel is at the very core of their faith. Most believe that before Jesus can return, Jews have to go back to the Holy Land. They also believe the return of the Messiah will follow the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, also the site of Islams sacred Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The Rev. Bob Roberts, who leads a congregation of about 1,200 people in Texas and works on interfaith outreach with Muslims, said he believes this theology is very unhealthy and also harmful to Palestinians. Very few agree on exactly how Jesus is coming back, so its all a guess. But were letting that drive our foreign policy, which drives things like war and conflict. Thats very serious, he said, speaking on the sidelines of an interreligious conference in Abu Dhabi. Roberts acknowledges that although hes a supporter of Israel, he remains in the minority among Christian evangelicals in the United States. The month after Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed by agents close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, a delegation of top Christian evangelicals, including American-Christian Zionist leaders, travelled to Riyadh to meet the crown prince the first-ever meeting of its kind. The timing of this outreach was especially crucial for the crown prince, who faces fierce bipartisan criticism in the U.S. over the killing, despite denials by the kingdom that he had any involvement. The delegation to Riyadh was led by Israeli-based communications strategist Joel Rosenberg and included former Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann; Jerry Johnson, the president and CEO of National Religious Broadcasters; and Michael Little, former president and COO of The Christian Broadcasting Network, among others. CBN described it as a meeting filled with both political controversy and spiritual opportunity. The group issued a statement after the meeting saying they were encouraged by the candour of the two-hour conversation and were looking forward to continuing the dialogue. The Riyadh meeting came about after the crown prince had met with top Jewish American leaders in the U.S. in April. Hed also been quoted speaking about Israelis right to have their own land during his tour of major U.S. cities. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Just before their Saudi stop, the evangelicals were in Abu Dhabi meeting with its crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Theyd previously already met with Egypts President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Roberts notes that while some evangelicals are reaching out to Muslim leaders in the Gulf, theres a major challenge with Islamophobia in the U.S., particularly among evangelicals. I think its fine for evangelicals to be connected with Muslims in the Middle East. I am. But Im also connected with the ones right in my own backyard the imam down the street, the rabbi down the street, he said. BEIRUT - The head of Lebanons Hezbollah is brushing off U.S. concerns about the health minister his group named to the new government, calling the official a trusted brother who will serve all Lebanese. Hassan Nasrallah stressed Monday that Jamil Jabbak is not a member of the militant group, which Washington sanctions as a terrorist organization. He is one of three ministers named by the group. The new government was formed last week after a nearly nine-month deadlock. Jabbak was Nasrallahs personal physician at one point. Washington urged the government to ensure that Hezbollah does not benefit from its resources. Nasrallah says his groups religious and legal obligations guarantee against abuse of public funds. He says the group would ensure Jabbaks success, including donating Hezbollah funds to the ministry. MADRID - The latest on Venezuelas political crisis (all times local): 12:20 a.m. A coalition of Western Hemisphere nations is urging Venezuelas military to allow badly needed food and medicine to enter the country as the bloc pushes for a peaceful transition of power in the South American nation. The call came Monday from the Lima Group, which is made up of nearly a dozen conservative Latin American nations and Canada. It has led the push to recognize opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido as Venezuelas rightful leader and seeks ways to remove President Nicolas Maduro. The coalition met Monday in Ottawa and issued a declaration saying Venezuelas soldiers must show loyalty to Guaido. The group also said the United Nations and the international community should be ready to step in with humanitarian assistance for Venezuela. Further, the bloc dismissed the idea of opening negotiations with Maduro, who has used past talks as a stalling tactic. ___ 9:50 p.m. The interim government challenging Venezuelan socialist Nicolas Maduro says it will hold an international conference to seek emergency humanitarian assistance at the headquarters of the Organization of American States in Washington. Carlos Vecchio was recently designated as ambassador to Washington by the interim government headed by the opposition leader Juan Guaido and he says that governments, private sector and civil society representatives will attend the Feb. 14 conference Dozens of countries have now recognized Guaido as interim president, but many others back Maduro, who holds practical power in the country. At least 3 million Venezuelans have left their country due to an acute shortage of medicines and food. ___ 8:30 p.m. Poland and Croatia have joined at least 14 other other European Union nations in recognizing Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela. Croatias Foreign Ministry says in a statement Monday that it strongly condemns the breach of human rights and the rule of law by Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro. Guaidio is the head of the opposition-led National Assembly and declared himself Venezuelas legitimate ruler on Jan. 23. ___ 7:25 p.m. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he has been in contact with supporters of the rival initiatives to deal with the Venezuela crisis and has decided the United Nations wont be part of any of them. He told reporters Monday that he took the decision in order to give credibility to our continued offer of good offices to the parties to be able at their request to help find a political solution. Guterres said he has been following the evolution of the situation in Venezuela with a lot of concern. The presidents of Mexico and Uruguay have offered to negotiate between socialist President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has been recognized by many nations in Europe and the Americas as the countrys legitimate leader. But Guaido rejected the offer. ___ 7 p.m. European Parliament President Antonio Tajani is pressing Italys populist government to side with other EU countries on Venezuela. He told reporters Monday in Rome that Italys coalition government should heed the words of Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who earlier in the day urged Italy to adopt a shared position with EU partners and allies. At least 12 EU countries have recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president, rejected the legitimacy of socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Italys squabbling government coalition hasnt joined them, instead calling for reconciliation and new and free elections in Venezuela. Tajani slammed the Italian government position as very grave and urged it to follow Mattarellas very clear message for EU unity on Venezuelas political crisis. ___ 6:30 p.m. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will give $53 million in humanitarian aid for Venezuelans who he says are living under a dictatorship willing to use force and fear to maintain its power. He says the money will go to trusted partners in neighbouring countries to help them support Venezuela and Venezuelans. The announcement came during a meeting in Ottawa of the Lima Group that includes countries from the Americas that oppose socialist President Nicolas Maduro and recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as the countrys legitimate interim leader. Two dozen foreign affairs ministers, ambassadors and other officials from the Americas and Europe were taking part. ___ 4:55 p.m. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido is calling on Western nations to continue applying pressure to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He made his comments in a video message ahead of a meeting in Ottawa by the Lima Group, a group of countries from the Americas that oppose Maduro and recognize Guaido as the countrys legitimate interim leader. Guaido said that Venezuelans are still under a dictatorship and that it is becoming increasingly important to apply pressure on Maduro. Two dozen foreign affairs ministers, ambassadors and other officials from the Americas and Europe heard Guaidos message while gathered in Ottawa to define the terms of their opposition to the Maduro regime. At the meeting, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $53 million in new humanitarian aid for the Venezuelan people. ___ 3 p.m. The Czech Republic has joined other European Union nations in recognizing Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela. The Czech centre-left government approved the move on Monday after it was proposed by Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek. Petricek says the Czechs are co-ordinating with other EU nations. The Czech Republic joins Germany, Spain, France, Sweden, Austria, Denmark and Britain in recognizing Guaido, arguing that Maduros re-election was illegitimate. Russia opposes that step by EU nations. Guaido is also supported by the United States and most South American nations. The head of the opposition-led National Assembly declared himself Venezuelas legitimate ruler on Jan. 23. ___ 2:35 p.m. President Nicolas Maduro is again rejecting moves by at least eight European nations recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuelas legitimate president. Germany, Britain and France are among the nations that announced support for Guaido on Monday. The EU nations say Maduros election was fraudulent and that he ignored their deadline to announce a new round of democratic presidential elections. Maduro was especially harsh on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, a fellow socialist. Maduro said Sanchez would have blood on his hands if a coup is carried out against him. In a live address on state television, Maduro said he refuses ultimatums from any country. Maduro also rejected a U.S.-backed effort to send emergency food and medicine into his country, saying Venezuela isnt a nation of beggars. Guaido meanwhile used Twitter to express gratitude to the EU leaders for supporting what he called Venezuelas fight for freedom. ___ 2 p.m. A senior Canadian official says the country will announce new humanitarian assistance for countries most affected by the Venezuelan refugee crisis. The official says the announcement will come Monday at a meeting of nations that have recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president of his crisis-torn country. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland are hosting the meeting of the Lima Group, a regional bloc of 13 countries that have been vocal in denouncing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The official says Venezuela will need substantive international support because the economic and social reconstruction effort in the country will be monumental. The official spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to discuss it before an official announcement. From Rob Gillies in Toronto ___ 1:35 p.m. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says in an Italian TV interview that he has written to Pope Francis asking for help in fostering dialogue. Maduro said in the interview with Sky TG24 that he hopes the letter is in route or has reached the Vatican. In the interview conducted at a military base, Maduro describes himself as being in the service of Christs cause and in this spirit he has asked Francis to facilitate and reinforce dialogue with his best effort, his willingness. Maduro added he was hoping for a positive response. He appealed to Europe not to be dragged along by the craziness of President Donald Trump in raising the possibility of a foreign intervention. Maduro had ignored several European nations call for new elections. ___ 12:30 p.m. The Netherlands and Austria have joined other European countries in recognizing Juan Guaido as Venezuelas interim president. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok says in a tweet that he made the call after an eight-day deadline for Venezuela to call free and fair elections expired. Blok said Monday the Dutch want freedom and democracy to return to Venezuela asap. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced the decision in a Spanish-language tweet on Monday after President Nicolas Maduro ignored an ultimatum to call a new election. Kurz said Guaido, who heads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, has our full support in his efforts to re-establish democracy in Venezuela. ___ 12 noon French President Emmanuel Macron says he recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela and urges him to hold a new presidential election shortly. Macron also declared that Venezuelans have the right to express themselves freely and democratically. Moments after Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian said France is recognizing Guaido, Macron posted a message on Twitter on Monday to express his support for the head of the Venezuelan congress. At least eight other European nations did the same on Monday after current Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro defied their call to resign and hold a new vote. Sweden said the vote that brought Maduro to power was not free or fair. ___ 11:40 p.m. Germany has joined other European nations in recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuelas interim president. Germany and several other countries in the European Union had given Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduros government an eight-day deadline to call a new presidential election. That ultimatum expired on Sunday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to Japan on Monday that Guaido is the legitimate interim president. Germany joins Spain, Britain, France, Sweden, Austria, Denmark and Lithuania in recognizing Guaido on Monday. He also has the support of Washington and most South American nations. Guaido, who heads the opposition-led National Assembly, declared himself Venezuelas legitimate ruler on Jan. 23. ___ 11:10 a.m. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is remaining defiant amid European Union pressure to stand down and is accusing the United States of preparing a coup in the South American country. Maduro told Spanish TV channel La Sexta in an interview broadcast late Sunday that he accepts ultimatums from nobody, amid demands by some EU countries that opposition leader Juan Guaido take over. The Trump administration has also backed Guaido, after he declared himself the interim president of Venezuela on Jan. 23. Maduro says the military option is on (U.S. President) Donald Trumps table. He accuses the U.S. of wanting to return to the 20th century of military coups, subordinate puppet governments and the looting of resources. Washington recently imposed sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports in an effort to undermine Maduros main source of income and weaken his grip on power ___ 10:55 a.m. Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom says the election that brought Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to power was neither free nor fair. In an interview Monday with Swedish broadcaster SVT, Wallstrom said Venezuelans now must get new, free and fair elections instead. She said we support and consider Juan Guaido and the National Assembly as the only legitimate representatives of the Venezuelan people a move made by several European Union nations on Monday. Wallstrom also says Venezuela is a country in disrepair. There is a lack of food and medicines, its (facing) inflation and mass demonstrations. Guaido declared himself Venezuelas legitimate ruler on Jan. 23 and has the support of Washington and most South American nations. ___ 10:40 a.m. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says his government is endorsing Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela and is urging him to call a presidential election as soon as possible. Sanchez on Monday carried out his threat to recognize Guaidos leadership if embattled President Nicolas Maduro hadnt called a presidential election by Sunday. Other European Union countries followed suit, a week after the European Parliament has called on the EUs member states to recognize Guaido as Venezuelas interim president. Spain has strong historical, cultural and economic ties to Venezuela, and its support for Guaido is a diplomatic blow to Maduro. Sanchez says, we are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela: human rights, elections and no more political prisoners. He says Spain is also working on a humanitarian aid program for Venezuela. ___ 10:25 a.m. Britain has joined Sweden and France in recognizing Juan Guaido as the interim leader in Venezuela. U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt says in a tweet that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had not called for a new presidential election within the eight-day time limit set. He tweeted that the UK alongside European allies now recognises @jguaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held. Lets hope this takes us closer to ending humanitarian crisis. Opposition leader Guaido declared himself Venezuelas legitimate ruler on Jan. 23, and has the support of Washington and most South American nations. ___ 10:25 a.m. Spain, France and Sweden have all announced that they are recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the countrys interim president and are urging him to hold a new presidential election. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters in Madrid on Monday that we are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela: human rights, elections and no more political prisoners. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking Monday to France Inter Radio, urged Guaido to call an early presidential election that will ensure the Venezuelan crisis ends peacefully. Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom told Swedish broadcaster SVT the vote that brought Maduro to power was not a free and fair election. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has so far rejected calls by European countries to call an early election. LONDON - With Brexit just seven weeks away, Britains ruling Conservative Party was locked in tense negotiations with itself Monday to rework the U.K.s divorce deal with the European Union as the EU stood firm in ruling out any renegotiation. Meanwhile, pro-EU and pro-Brexit U.K. politicians traded allegations about whether Nissans decision not to build a new SUV in northern England was the latest Brexit-induced damage to Britains economy. Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29, and many businesses fear economic chaos if there isnt an agreement on the rules and conditions that will replace the 45 years of frictionless trade that came with being an EU member. The uncertainty has already led many firms to shift some operations abroad, stockpile goods or defer investment decisions. Nissan announced over the weekend that it has decided not to build the X-Trail model at its existing U.K. plant in Sunderland, England, cancelling plans announced two years ago after Mays government promised to ensure the carmakers ability to compete after Brexit. The company said it instead plans to consolidate production of the next generation X-Trail at its plant in Kyushu, Japan, where the model is currently produced. It will continue producing three other models at the Sunderland plant, which employs 7,000 people. The company said it had made the decision for business reasons, and it comes amid falling sales of diesel vehicles in Europe. But Nissan added that the continued uncertainty around the U.K.s future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future. U.K. Business Secretary Greg Clark a proponent of keeping close economic ties with the EU said Monday that Nissan regarded the risk of a no-deal Brexit as a source of damaging uncertainty. He said executives at the firm had commented on the need for us to come together and resolve the question of our future trade relationship with the EU. The automakers decision is a blow to the government, which in 2016 offered Nissan incentives to stay in Britain. On Monday, the government published a previously secret October 2016 letter from Clark to Nissan promising up to 80 million pounds ($105 million) in support for the Sunderland plant. The letter also said Britain would seek to maintain the closest possible economic relationship between the U.K. and our European partners and would try to ensure that carmakers ability to export to and from the EU is not adversely affected by Brexit. Carmakers are particularly concerned about Brexit because they rely on complex supply chains of parts from multiple countries. With Britains Parliament at odds over Brexit, Prime Minister Theresa May gathered pro-Brexit and pro-EU Conservative lawmakers into an alternative arrangements working group seeking to break the deadlock. The group was holding three days of meetings with ministers and civil servants to investigate possible changes to the EU divorce deal, which was rejected by Parliament last month. The changes centre on replacing a measure known as the backstop, designed to keep an open border between the United Kingdoms Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland. The border area was a flashpoint during decades of conflict in Northern Ireland that cost 3,700 lives. The free flow of people and goods across the near-invisible frontier now underpins both the local economy and Northern Irelands peace process. Mays office said she plans to travel to Northern Ireland on Tuesday to meet business leaders and make a speech underscoring the governments commitment to avoiding a hard border. But its less clear than ever how Britain plans to achieve this. The EU insists the Brexit withdrawal agreement cant be renegotiated, and has already rejected some of the arrangements under discussion in London, including a time limit on the backstop and unspecified technological solutions to customs checks. EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said that backstop remains the only operational solution available for an orderly exit of Britain from the EU. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney accused some British politicians of seeking to essentially do away with an agreed solution between the U.K. government and EU negotiators and to replace this with wishful thinking. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also said the agreement couldnt be renegotiated, although questions surrounding border arrangements could be addressed in a declaration on the future relationship between the EU and Britain. Speaking during a trip to Japan, she said a Brexit agreement was still possible, but first we must hear from Great Britain how they envision that. May hasnt spoken to EU leaders since Wednesday, a day after British lawmakers instructed her to seek changes to the Brexit withdrawal agreement she had spent a year and a half negotiating with Brussels. But Mays spokesman, James Slack, denied that the Brexit process was deadlocked. He said the government was working with urgency on border solutions. What we are doing right now is working at home on the proposal we will take to Brussels, he said. ___ Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Raf Casert in Brussels, and Geir Moulson, in Berlin contributed to this story. ___ Follow APs full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit instagrid, a Stuttgart, Germany-based provider of mobile power infrastructure, raised a seven-figure euro funding round. The round was led by High-Tech Grunderfonds (HTGF) with participation from Segnalita Ventures GmbH from Austria and the Swiss Martin Global AG. The company intends to use the funds to bring the product to the market. Founded on January 1, 2018 by Dr. Sebastian Berning and Dr. Andreas Sedlmayr, instagrid specializes in the development of portable battery storages. The startup offers users a mobile power supply for working at temporary locations. To reduce the size and weight of the energy source, the company has developed a Software defined Battery technology with a modular design. As a first step, instagrid will sell its battery storage as white label products marketed through its brand partners existing distribution channels. Then, they will step up its market entry under its own brand through direct sales online. The company plans the widespread market launch for major European brand partners in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia for the first half of 2020. FinSMEs 04/02/2019 LISBON, Portugal - A key group of European Union countries endorsed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the countrys interim president on Monday, piling the pressure on embattled President Nicolas Maduro to resign and let the country hold a new presidential election. Maduro, for his part, stood defiant and accused the United States of preparing a coup in the South American country. Spain, Germany, France and Britain delivered diplomatic blows to Maduros rule by publicly supporting Guaido after giving Maduro a Sunday deadline to call a presidential election, which he didnt heed. Sweden, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and Lithuania also lined up behind Guaido, the self-declared interim president who also has the support of the United States and many South American nations. The European countries urged Guaido to hold free and fair elections as soon as possible. We are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela: human rights, elections and no more political prisoners, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised announcement. He said Spain, which has a large Venezuelan community, is also working on a humanitarian aid program for Venezuela, where shortages of basic items are acute. Critics of Maduro blame the Venezuelan governments mismanagement for the lack of food and medical supplies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to Japan on Monday that Guaido is the legitimate interim president. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking to France Inter Radio, appealed for an early presidential election that will ensure the Venezuelan crisis ends peacefully. Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said the election that brought Maduro to power was neither free nor fair and told Swedish broadcaster SVT on Monday that Venezuelans now must get new, free and fair elections instead. But Maduro showed no signs of caving in to the pressure and lashed out at the EU and the Trump administration, which has also put pressure on the Venezuelan government by imposing sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports and demanding Maduros departure. I dont accept ultimatums from anybody, Maduro told Spanish TV channel La Sexta in an interview broadcast late Sunday. Why should the EU be giving ultimatums to a country? He added that Venezuela is being threatened by the biggest powers in the world. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Turning to Washingtons role in the Venezuelan crisis, Maduro claimed that the military option is on (U.S. President) Donald Trumps table. The United States wants to return to the 20th century of military coups, subordinate puppet governments and the looting of resources, Maduro said. BRUSSELS - The European Union and Arab League say they agree on tackling conflicts in Syria and Yemen or stalled Middle East peace efforts but were unable to approve a joint statement at talks in Brussels. The organizations ministers were preparing Monday for a summit in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Feb 24-25. Asked about the holdup, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said common ground was there on 90-95 per cent of issues. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit pointed out that there were more complications on the European side rather than the Arab side. Mogherini replied: I would say rather the contrary. Hungary objects to migration provisions in the statement, but the Europeans also want to avoid being seated around a summit table with Syria or Sudans leaders. WASHINGTONThe White House was lit with glowing Christmas trees when Ji Seong-ho arrived for a holiday reception in December, an opulence he could not have imagined as a boy in North Korea. In the Grand Foyer, to the strains of the U.S. Marine Band, Ji made a wish that his former countrymen would be liberated one day and witness such grandeur. I almost teared up, he said in a recent interview. It was a return to the pinnacle of political power for Ji, who rose to prominence as an activist after defecting to South Korea and played a key role in U.S. President Donald Trumps risky strategy to build the international pressure that helped bring North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the negotiating table over his nuclear weapons program. A year ago, Trump shared Jis personal story during his State of the Union address to shine a light on the brutality of Kims regime and praise the human spirit to overcome tyranny in a bid for freedom. It was an emotional appeal to the world that, beyond the existential nuclear threat, North Koreas authoritarian leader was enacting savagery on his own people every day. Watching from first lady Melania Trumps box in the House chambers, Ji stood and raised a pair of crutches over his head a reminder of his amputated leg to a standing ovation from both political parties. Yet so much had changed as Ji mingled at the White House reception. Since Jis starring role in last years State of the Union, Trump has said almost nothing about the plight of the North Korean people, more than 100,000 of whom are estimated to be held in hard-labor prison camps. Instead, the president has abruptly shifted from a fire and fury condemnation of the North to an unprecedented strategy of engagement with Kim, which led to their historic summit in Singapore last June. Their joint declaration after the meeting made no mention of human rights, and Trump has spoken warmly of Kim since then. He has said Kim has shown courage in moving forward with negotiations and often speaks about the beautiful letters the North Korean leader has sent him. At a campaign rally last fall, Trump told the crowd that as the two men got to know each another they fell in love. We have a fantastic chemistry, Trump said in an interview with CBS News that aired Sunday. Gone are the denunciations of the abuses Kim inflicts on his people. A second summit is tentatively booked for late February, perhaps in Vietnam. Ji and several other North Korean defectors who visited the Oval Office a year ago remain uncertain whether their partnership with Trump will lead to the human rights improvements that they have sought. It was a great honour to be invited by the president, but they do not hide their disappointment under the current circumstances, said Greg Scarlatoiu, who is executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and helped arrange the defectors visit to Washington. The group has been told by the Trump administration that there is a time for everything and we still remember, Scarlatoiu added. But one of the fundamental problems in dealing with North Korea is that unless an issue is put on the table now, its very difficult to add new issues to the agenda while youre negotiating. White House officials declined to comment. But the administration has sent clear signals that human rights issues, including humanitarian and public health concerns, are on a second tier an apparent strategic decision to maintain the focus on nuclear disarmament and keep the North at the table. In December, Vice President Mike Pence reportedly cancelled a scheduled speech on North Koreas human rights abuses, citing a scheduling conflict. But ABC News reported that the White House was concerned the speech would anger Pyongyang at a time when lower-level talks had bogged down. During lengthy remarks at Stanford University on Thursday, Stephen Biegun, the State Departments special representative for North Korea, outlined his priorities in the negotiations, with no mention of human rights. For Trump, there is more at play than geopolitics. With an eye on his 2020 reelection campaign, the president has cast the North Korea gambit as a budding success, and he is expected to tout progress in this years State of the Union address Tuesday night. The North Koreans do not take criticism well, said Jean H. Lee, an analyst at the Wilson Center and a former reporter who opened an Associated Press bureau in Pyongyang in 2012. They are very sensitive to an assault on their way of life and their political system and their penal code. I suspect there may be some reluctance to bring up the issue of defectors and showcase them in a way that Trump did last year, to avoid angering the North Koreans. At the reception in December, Ji felt honoured to be back at the White House. But the event was crowded, and he did not have a chance to speak with Trump. I still have hopes for the leader of the United States, Ji said from Seoul, where he runs a human rights organization. It is true that President Trump has been less outspoken about rights issues since the summit. But I am not sitting here just looking at his lips. . . . Various entities in Washington can speak. The administration has maintained economic sanctions, some pegged to human rights abuses, that officials said will not be eased until Pyongyang takes clear steps toward denuclearization. Last July, Pence, who met with Ji and other defectors at the Winter Olympics in South Korea in Feb. 2018, denounced North Korea, along with China and Iran, in a speech about religious freedoms, saying the Norths persecution of Christans has no rival on the Earth. It is unforgiving, systematic, unyielding and often fatal. But, otherwise, direct criticism of the Kim regime has been muted. In a landmark 2014 report, a U.N. commission found that the North Korean regime committed unspeakable atrocities against its own people on a vast scale. A separate assessment in 2017 from the International Bar Association War Crimes Committee concluded that Kim should be prosecuted for 10 separate crimes against humanity. One official, who had survived the concentration camps in Auschwitz, said North Koreas gulags were worse than those of Nazi Germany. At a Senate Intelligence Committee oversight hearing last week, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., asked CIA Director Gina Haspel whether the Kim regimes human rights record has improved since Trump took office. I do think a vision for North Korea that further brings them into the community of nations would have a positive effect on our ability to influence them on important things like human rights, Haspel said. But she added, I dont think I can point to any specific changes over the last couple of years. In the run-up to the 2018 State of the Union, Trump had escalated tensions with Kim, holding Pyongyang responsible for the death of Otto Warmbier, an American college student who died days after being released, in a coma, after 17 months in captivity in North Korea. Trump used a speech to the South Korean National Assembly in Seoul in November 2017 to eviscerate the North as a hell that no person deserves. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... An estimated 100,000 North Koreans suffer in gulags, toiling in forced labour and enduring torture, starvation, rape and murder, Trump said, citing specific atrocities, including forced abortions and a dead baby taken away in a bucket. Since then, however, the administration has made the assessment that they perceive the issue of denuclearization and arms control of greater value than advocating for human rights, said a former Trump administration official whose current job did not allow the person to speak on the record. That gets to the central question of U.S. foreign policy whether we believe that advocating for values is a fundamental tenet, the former official said. If such advocacy is something we think is important, absolutely this is an oversight. But if they take a more inward, America First approach, then maybe values arent important. In general, Trump has shied away from broadly condemning foreign countries over human rights, favouring a more transactional approach, including pressuring them to free American prisoners in specific cases. Ahead of the Singapore summit, the Kim regime released three Americans as a goodwill gesture, and Trump met them on the tarmac at a military base in Maryland in a made-for-television moment. In Singapore, the joint agreement signed by Trump and Kim focused on co-operation toward peace and prosperity, nuclear disarmament and the return of the remains of American service members. Asked about human rights at a news conference, Trump said the topic was discussed relatively briefly. Reminded of the harsh language he employed at the State of the Union when he said no regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally Trump was asked whether he still believed that. The North, Trump replied, is a rough place. Then he added, Its rough in a lot of places, by the way, not just there. Trump is not the only key player who has made a strategic decision not to talk about human rights. So has South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a former human rights lawyer who has staked his liberal administration on engagement with the North. As Moon has coaxed Kim to three summit meetings, he believes you have to make choices, you have to prioritize, in a way that moves the dialogue and the relationship forward, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told The Washington Post last year. Yet experts warned that shunting aside human rights will make it more difficult to advance the U.S. security agenda. In Singapore, Trump showed Kim a White House-produced video offering two paths for North Korea one to a fiery military confrontation and another to gleaming economic prosperity. But Western companies will be hesitant to invest in the North without significant social changes, said Scarlatoiu, the human rights advocate. How can you run a water and sanitation project right next to a political prison camp? he asked. Daniel Russel, who served as a high-ranking Asia-policy official in the Obama administration, warned that Trump is sending a message that human rights are transactional. In a moral vacuum, in a values-free environment, human rights is a lever to be used in service of ones objectives, Russel said. The administration, he suggested, could demand that Pyongyang take modest steps such as releasing political prisoners, signing the U.N. Convention against Torture or allowing humanitarian groups to visit the country. As for Ji, he toured the United States as part of a State Department exchange program last fall, but he has not been invited to brief U.S. officials. Reflecting on the past year, he offered no regrets, saying he remains grateful for the spotlight Trump gave him last year. I do not feel used at all, he said. But he emphasized that North Koreas abuses must not be viewed through a political lens and that it was crucial to remember that the regimes oppression is taking a toll on peoples lives right now as we speak. Read more about: SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - El Salvadors new president-elect won in resounding fashion, but breaking the three-decade hold on power of the countrys two dominant parties means that Nayib Bukele will take office with few friends in congress. The 37-year-old former mayor has an ambitious agenda, topped by a vow to root out corruption. To accomplish that and many other campaign promises, Bukele will have to find allies who can help. Bukele won with more than 53 per cent of the votes Sunday, topping three rivals. But GANA the Grand Alliance for National Unity party that he carried to victory has only 10 seats in the legislature, well short of the 43 votes needed to pass laws. This new government is going to be weak, said Alvaro Artiga, a professor of political science and sociology at the Jose Simeon Canas Central American University. Its that institutionally it doesnt have legislative support. The outgoing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN, government had a difficult time of it as a minority presence in the Legislative Assembly, and it had 23 of the 84 seats. And Bukeles promise to establish a commission to investigate official corruption modeled on a U.N.-backed effort in Guatemala is unlikely to win him friends among the FMLN or the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance, or ARENA. That party itself has 37 deputies and its allied parties have 12 more. Bukele will need to send a message immediately through his cabinet picks that it wont be business as usual, and avoid cronyism, Artiga said. It cant be the friends, the relatives, all that he has accused the usual suspects of, he said. He cant repeat that, because people voted as a rejection, Artiga said. Bukele will start his five-year term June 1. El Salvador is small both in size and population, with just 6.5 million people. Close to a third of its households live in poverty, and Salvadorans searching for a better life have joined recent caravans of migrants trekking across Mexico hoping to reach the U.S. Bukele rose quickly through the ranks of the FMLN, a former guerrilla army that transformed itself into a political party after a 1992 peace deal ended the nations civil war. He first won election as a youthful small-town mayor and then became mayor of San Salvador, the capital. But his persistent criticisms of FMLN leadership got him expelled from the party. Joining GANA which has been a right-leaning party was a last-minute move just to get on the ballot. It was always about the size of the resentment among the urban middle class toward the countrys elites, said political analyst and former guerrilla commander Salvador Samayoa. It was never that he was the best, most honest, most wholesome, most capable candidate. Voters were tied of corruption, the lack of economic opportunities and the persistent violence. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... I voted, everybody in my family voted for Bukele because were tired of these ARENA and FMLN governments that steal money, said 42-year-old Manuel Lopez as he headed to work Monday. Nobody believes them. Two presidents from ARENA, Paco Flores, Tony Saca and one from FMLN, Mauricio Funes, have stolen everything they could, he said. RIO DE JANEIRO - Justice Minister Sergio Moro presented an anti-crime bill Monday that seeks to toughen Brazils approach to organized crime, corruption and violence. Key measures include obligating convicts to begin serving their sentences after a first appeal is denied, categorizing militias and drug trafficking gangs as organized criminal groups and cracking down on illegal campaign finance. We want to be more rigorous with more serious crimes, Moro told reporters after presenting his bill to state governors and key public security officials in Brasilia. Passing the measure will be Moros first big test since he was named justice minister. The former judge surprised many of his supporters last year when he abandoned the vast Car Wash anti-graft probe he helped create and led for years to join the ranks of far-right President Jair Bolsonaros administration. The investigation has put dozens of politicians and business leaders behind bars, including ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a fact that somewhat paved the way for Bolsonaros victory. Now the justice and public security minister, Moro has the task of helping Bolsonaro meet his ambitious campaign promises: fight corruption and put an end to a cycle of violence. In 2017, nearly 64,000 people were killed in Brazil, a record for the country that has long been the world leader in annual homicides. In the 34-page document, which will soon be submitted to congress, Moro targets specific gangs, classifying the Sao Paulo-based Primeiro Comando da Capital, the countrys most powerful gang, Rio de Janeiros Comando Vermelho and militias as organized crime groups. The bill, aligning itself with one of Bolsonaros most criticized proposals, would grant more protection to police officers who kill during operations, adopting a more lenient definition of self-defence. During the presidential campaign, Bolsonaro praised police officers who killed criminals during operations and argued they should be decorated, not criminally tried. Another key measure, one likely to stir a heated debate in congress, is campaign funding and electoral fraud. As cases of under-the-table election funding have multiplied in recent years, Moro proposes to crack down on the use of illegal slush funds, also known in Brazil as Caixa Dois. Before submitting the bill to Congress, Moro presented the text to state governors, who he said will be key in implementing his security agenda. In Brazil, public security is largely a state-level responsibility. Moro also said the bill had already been approved by Bolsonaro. In a message to congress backing up the proposal, the president wrote Monday that the fight against organized crime remained one of his mandates top priorities. KABULTaliban representatives and Afghan President Ashraf Ghanis political rivals plan to discuss the future of Afghanistan Tuesday in Moscow, a move seen by some as a further blow to the authority of the countrys current administration. The two-day meeting brings key Afghan power brokers together with the insurgents to discuss ending the war that began with the ouster of the Taliban from power in late 2001 and follows up on an earlier such meeting in Moscow in November. The Moscow talks follow a series of direct negotiations between Taliban members and U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad amid a renewed push by U.S. President Trump to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Officials of Ghanis government were excluded from all of those meetings because of the Talibans objection to direct talks with an administration it regards as a U.S. puppet. According to two Afghan dailies, Kabuls absence from the Moscow gathering further isolates Ghani and sabotages the authority of the government. Among nearly Afghans invited to the gathering are former President Hamid Karzai; Haneef Atmar, national security adviser to Ghani until late last summer and his key rival in Julys presidential election; and a number of factional leaders such as Ismail Khan, Mohammed Mohaqeq and Atta Mohammad Noor. The Afghan government has described the meeting as not in the interest of Afghanistan and the efforts for peace process, and it accused Moscow of failing to fulfill its past pledge to facilitate direct talks between its officials and Taliban members. The Russian Embassy in Kabul said the gathering was an intra-Afghan dialogue to discuss ways of ending the war. The meeting, to be held in a Moscow hotel, was organized by Afghan refugees living in Russia, it said. Like the Taliban, Moscow has been insisting on a pullout of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov embarked on a tour of Central Asian countries this week, coinciding with the Moscow talks. Beginning Sunday, Lavrov will visit the former Soviet republics of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, meeting the leadership of each country and navigating the security landscape in light of Trumps stated intention to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Moscow is considering establishing a second military base in Kyrgyzstan and wishes to bolster security along the southern flanks of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, which share a border with Afghanistan. Ahead of his journey, Karzai, the former Afghan president who has forged closer ties with Moscow in recent years, said he will carry to the Taliban a message of peace, unity and sovereignty and will emphasize that all Afghan men and women need to progress. Atmar, a former communist, said in a statement that the Afghan nonstate actors will try to make future such meetings more inclusive and involve the government as well. The Talibans longtime negotiator, Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, who has taken part in all rounds of discussions between the insurgents and Khalilzad among other U.S. diplomats in recent months, will lead the Taliban delegation in Moscow. The U.S.-Taliban talks have revolved around a pullout of foreign troops in return for a guarantee from the insurgents that Afghan soil will not be used against U.S. interests by militant groups such as al-Qaeda and affiliates of the Islamic State. Members of Ghanis administration have spoken about their frustration and anger over behind-the-scenes discussions between the Taliban and Khalilzad. Ghani wants the peace process to be led and owned by his government. His opponents say the incumbent has alienated much of the countrys political elite, including some of those who helped bring him to power. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... They argue that Ghani seeks to spoil this rare opening for peace and that his resistance derives from a fear that if talks progress, he could lose his chance for five more years in power. Khalilzad has said that one of his main goals is to facilitate direct talks between Ghani and the Taliban. For now, the Taliban is hesitant to sit at the same table with Afghan government officials because the insurgents view such face-to-face talks as giving Ghani concessions ahead of the presidential election this summer. Read more about: STOCKHOLMFootage of security officers dragging a pregnant Black woman off a Stockholm subway train and pinning her to a bench has caused an outcry in Sweden, raising questions about the treatment of minorities in a country often seen as a beacon of tolerance. Two security guards have been suspended and police have begun an investigation into the encounter, officials said. Footage showed the woman shouting in protest and a child crying as the episode unfolded. The video was widely shared on social media, with many Swedes complaining that a Black woman had been unfairly targeted. Some expressed shock that the child had been left crying while the woman was being overpowered by the guards. Many asked whether the guards, who appeared to be white, would have forcibly removed a pregnant white woman from the subway. Henrik Palmer, a media officer for the Stockholm public transport authority, said Sunday that the woman had been accused of travelling without a valid ticket and had grown angry when given a fine and asked to leave the train. When she refused, he said, security officers took hold of her arm. That is when the tumult started, Palmer said, adding that her removal involved the very disturbing consequence of her being pushed down on a bench. In the footage, she is shown having an argument with security guards, then being dragged off the train and held down. A bystander can be heard saying: Take it easy. Shes pregnant. Leave her alone. The woman was later taken by ambulance to Huddinge Hospital, where she spent the night, officials said. Police said they were looking into charges of misconduct against the security guards, as well as charges of violent resistance by the woman against a public servant. Sweden, once one of the most welcoming of nations for immigrants and long considered a moral superpower, as the political scientist Lars Tragardh put it, has experienced a rise in anti-immigration sentiment amid increasing globalization, immigration and anxiety about national and cultural identity. The episode occurred days after a prominent TV investigative program reported on racial profiling in Sweden. TV4s Kalla Fakta spoke with about 100 Swedes with foreign backgrounds who said they had been stopped, checked and treated by police in a disparaging and condescending way. John Stauffer, chief legal counsel with the Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders, said by phone that ethnic profiling was widespread. The rights group published a report on the issue in 2017, showing that people were being stopped, questioned and controlled. We can see that people experience being profiled on a daily basis and in everyday situations, such as on the subway system, on the way to work and school, moving around in public places, he said. Interviews on Sunday with the woman who insisted on being identified only by her first name, Jeanine, because she feared for her safety and with others revealed that she is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo and worked at a beauty salon. She said that she had been on her way to the hospital with her 5-year-old daughter on Thursday evening because she was having contractions. She said she had her travel card with her at the time but could not find it. By the time she pulled it from her pocket, she said, the ticket controller had already issued a fine. I took the fine and threw it on the ground, she said. I was angry at myself for losing the card. Thats when the ticket controller said she had to leave the train. I said, Why do I have to get out? she said. I wanted to go to the hospital because I was in pain. When the train car stopped at Hotorget Station, she said, security guards arrived and pulled her from the car. When they took hold of her, she said, she started to panic. They took me by the arm very hard, she said. They forced me out. They put me on the bench, with my stomach down. One of them put their knee on my back and I lost my breath. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... I was afraid that my baby was going to die in my belly. One witness, Francisca Infante, 42, a human resources manager, said that she had been sitting nearby when the argument began. She raised her voice and she moved her arms and that is all that was needed for them to take a police grip on her, Infante said by phone. She said that the guards pressed her and her stomach against the edge of the bench and pushed with all their weight. I dont know why she reacted like that, Infante said. But if they had more than two weeks training they would know that humans react in different ways. Asked whether she believed that she had been profiled, Jeanine said: I dont think a white woman would have to go through this. I was treated like an animal. Lovette Jallow, a blogger and social justice activist who lectures about racial profiling, collected testimony from witnesses and posted videos of the guards tactics on social media. They are not meant to remove you, Jallow said. They can do that with drunk people. They can do that with violent people. They do not know her background. She said that she had met with Jeanine at the hospital. She is 36.5 weeks pregnant, Jallow said. She worked full time up until last week in a beauty salon. Jallow, who is Swedish and Gambian, said that she herself had received racist and sexist threats on Instagram and on her cellphone since publicizing the treatment of the mother. We are living in a dangerous country right now, she said. Jeanines baby is due on Feb. 20, and she said that she still had bruises on her back, thighs and arms. She is scheduled to return to the doctors office on Monday. She said she would take a taxi. Will a new street in a proposed housing development be good for cyclists, pedestrians, cars and buses? Is the design of a new residential or commercial tower too bulky, and does it blend with plans for the podium below? Would a shiny new condo building work well behind an old church that has heritage value? These are the kinds of questions that a little-known but powerful group of Torontonians have been deliberating over and advising the city on for nearly 12 years. The task of Torontos Design Review Panel, a group of architects and urban designers that has been providing independent advice to Torontos city planners since 2007, is to coax, hurry, nudge and cajole developers and their design teams to strive for design excellence when it comes to their buildings, says Michael Leckman, vice-chair of the panel and a principal with Diamond Schmitt Architects. To make a good city you have to stay focused on the public realm, says Leckman, noting a key mandate for the 17-member group is providing input, through city planners, to developers on ways to improve designs that affect public areas streets, sidewalks, public parks and open spaces. Read more: Once dissuaded from studying architecture, the founder of Q4 Architects wants more women in the field Is another luxury condo project like the King Toronto development what the city needs right now? In Torontos tough rental market, live-work units offer ideal option for some business owners The group began as a pilot project under then Toronto mayor David Miller. The projects they review Leckman estimates the panel sees about 15 per cent of the projects that go through the citys pipeline are those that dont fit neatly into the criteria outlined in the citys Official Plan, or in guidelines for zoning, tall buildings, avenues and midrise buildings and other areas. Waterfront Toronto has a design review panel, as does Toronto Community Housing, and the cities of Ottawa, Brampton, Mississauga, Markham and others. We look for ways that proposals are fulfilling the highest ambitions of the city, and what is possible for liveability, walkability, quality of life and a high standard of design, Leckman says of the Toronto group. When the panel meets once a month in a committee room at Toronto city hall, they get a brief overview from city planners on the projects on that days agenda. They spend about five or six hours poring over proposals, the bulk of which pertain to building designs put forward by private developers. The panel members will have already been sent a package outlining the background particulars of the project including images depicting what the developer hopes it will look like, heights, numbers of proposed units in the building if its residential, floor plans, rules the city has already put forward for the site, reasons why the developer is proposing the project on the given site, landscaping, energy efficiencies, and what the developer hopes the building will contribute to the area. During the meetings the proponent also makes a presentation, and the panel asks questions and provides commentary to the citys planning department through panel chair Gordon Stratford, an architect and urban designer. After reviewing projects that come before the panel, members vote on it. Even if they vote in favour, the panel will provide a list of criticisms and elements they want improved. The panel has met more than 100 times and reviewed about 380 projects in its nearly 12 years in existence. Stratford took the Star on a recent walk to point out a downtown development underway that the panel recently looked at a project he says the group likes in large part because it will help solidify Toronto as a place of choice to build in. The new CIBC Square, being built at the corner of Bay St. and Lake Shore Blvd., is an example of thinking outside the box, Stratford says. Among the interesting elements of the commercial project is the fact the two glass buildings on Bay will be connected by a .4-hectare park elevated green space over the rail corridor that connects to Union Station. This is an example of finding green space where you didnt think you would, Stratford said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Stratford said the project is part of the current critical mass of thinking and activity going on when it comes to innovative design in the city and his panel is thrilled to be playing a role in that. Panel member Heather Rolleston, a design director and principal at the firm Quadrangle, says one recent project members of the group criticized last May was a redevelopment proposal calling for a highrise tower 73 storeys at the northeast corner of Carlton and Yonge Sts. because the proposal missed the opportunity to provide a better entrance to the TTCs College/Carlton subway stop. It (the stop) is not working as it currently is. There is a huge pile of people at the (street) corner and its uncomfortable. Its nasty. Theres not enough sidewalk depth to accommodate (the crowd of passengers and pedestrians), Rolleston said in an interview. The majority of panel members attending the meeting voted that the project by Northam Realty Advisors, designed by architecture firm IBI Group, be redesigned, she said, adding the panel strongly encouraged the TTC, owners of the proposal and their lawyers to come together and address this matter. It was our responsibility to make that happen and we agreed that a hands-off approach was not good enough, Rolleston explained. Panel members were somewhat divided on a different redevelopment proposal in September, one that dealt with a heritage structure. The design called for a new residential highrise to be built behind Bloor Street United Church at Bloor St. W. and Huron St. The design had already gone through a community engagement process with local residents, which lowered the building from 38 to 28 storeys and made it a little wider but the panels opinion was the latter scenario crowded the church. By a five to two margin the panel voted to support the project, advising the original dimensions worked better. The general opinion on the panel was is there a way to ... head in a direction closer to where it was (originally) so (the tower) wasnt crowding the church, allowing this beautiful heritage artifact to stand on its own, Rolleston said. Thats not a nice thing for the city to hear, given the community engagement that took place in this case, noted Rolleston, who voted in support of the first design. In an email to the Star, Marianne McKenna, founding partner with KPMB, the architects behind the design, said the review panel provided invaluable commentary on the project. The panels input has definitely impacted the proposal to improve the quality of the public realm ... where pedestrians come in contact with the human scale of the building, McKenna added. Lorna Day, director of urban design in the citys planning department, says its hard to precisely quantify the impact the panel has had, but says the group has played a key role in the overall trend in the city toward a better quality of design. Day says minutes from the panels meeting go back to her, her staff, and city planners, and from there into planning reports that make their way to city council. The presence of the panel backs up the conversation about the value of good design, Day says. Correction March 29, 2019: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Heather Rolleston is a design architect at the firm Quadrangle. In fact, she is a design director at that firm. Thousands of parking tickets were issued and hundreds of vehicles towed during a recent weeks-long crackdown on motorists who were were blocking traffic, Toronto police figures show. Police said in a new release sent out Monday that 4,352 tickets were issued and 753 vehicles were towed from Jan. 14 to Feb. 1. The enforcement of the citys rush hour routes and other traffic and parking offences continues to be a priority, police said. The campaign focused on stopped drivers blocking traffic on major streets, not congestion within major intersections, also known as blocking the box. The stats that were released Monday dont include numbers for tickets issued for distracted driving, a crackdown that was running at the same time. When the campaign was announced, police spokesperson Brian Moniz said that officers will be taking a zero tolerance approach to drivers blocking traffic on major routes during rush hour in an attempt to combat congestion. According to Moniz, a ticket for blocking traffic during rush hour is $150 and a tow is an additional $250. On average, police issue 70,000 tickets per year during rush hour, or roughly 275 per day. Police tow about 15,000 a year, or around 60 a day, Moniz said. The Ontario Fire Marshals office says itll be difficult to determine when the families surrounding a house explosion in Caledon on Sunday will be able to return to their homes. Right now, we have no gas to the area residents, they dont have power, dont have gas, some of them are structurally not safe to occupy, said Andrea Gaynor, fire investigation supervisor for the office of the Ontario Fire Marshall and Emergency Management at the scene Monday morning. Gaynor said its going to take several days for investigators to map out the debris field and categorize all the evidence they will need to figure out what happened when 9 Maple Grove Rd. exploded just after 6 a.m. Sunday. Joseph Westcott, 54, was killed. Gaynor said the information she has now is that at least 22 other homes have been damaged. Seven to nine have significant damage, which she said could involve fractured brick, roofs that have been raised and lowered again and walls that have shifted among other effects. Structural engineers will have to come in and look at all of that, she said. Read more: House explosion in Caledon leaves one person dead The investigators have laid out tarps near the home with pieces of barbecues, gas metres and other appliances carefully organized on them. We want to look at all the appliances that were fuel-powered, she said. Were going to take everything out of the basement, going to take a look at the furnace, the hot water tank, anything that was fuel-powered and were going to take a look at all of them. Asked if something other than gas is being considered for a cause, she said they have to be cognizant of all possibilities and dont want to eliminate anything. She said the blast was a high-order blast with a pressure wave that was more than 1,000 metres per second, creating an extremely large debris field. Gaynor said another crew is walking the street, looking through the peripheral damage that occurred due to the blast. Their goal is to document everything so that the homes can hopefully be released back to the town, and the insurance companies. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... So hopefully they can start the process they need to do to look after these people, she said. Gaynor said her team has a number of different things underway, including waiting for Bell to come in and remove lines so that they can move heavy equipment in. If we find anything important, then we can put it on our tarp that weve also gridded out in a matching fashion, and then well have that examined, she said. Forex trading is one of the most profitable money-making options a successful trader can double their investment in 6 months. However, it is also extremely risky and can ruin you financially if you dont know what you are doing. With this article, you will learn: What Forex is; How Forex trading works; How to start trading on Forex; What is Forex? Forex is an international Foreign Currency Exchange, where international and government banks trade currencies. It has been running since 1980, however, corporations and private traders were invited to the market only in 1996. Forex is regulated by the rules of supply and demand if there is a lot of a demand for a currency, its value rises, and vice versa. The Forex prices are heavily affected by the public perception of the currencies and the countries that issue them, and price changes often correlate with the mass media publications and economic reports. However, there is a catch the government banks that issue the currency are also on the market and they are interested in keeping its value high. So when the currency starts losing its value, a government bank will often start buying it, trying to prop it up. This increases the market volatility by an order of magnitude and provides traders with even more opportunities. Volatility the instability of prices on the market, characterized as rapid and noticeable changes in the value of assets. High, yet predictable volatility is preferable for trading. How Does Forex Trading Work? Forex trading works the same way as any other asset trading you buy low and sell high. And as long as the price is growing, thats easy. The downward markets, however, are much more interesting. In order to trade on a downward trend, you need to short-sell assets. Short selling means borrowing some assets from a third party, selling them, buying them back later and returning the borrowed amount. If the price lowers between selling and buying, you will make money. Of course, it is not that simple. If you will only rely on luck and intuition, you will most likely lose. Forex is very ruthless, especially if you are using leverage, so you need to know what you are doing. Luckily, there are great newb-friendly Forex trading strategies like Price Action trading and Lazy River scalping. Leverage allows trading with larger amounts of money than your starting capital, using the resources of your Forex broker. While it increases the possible profits, the risks are also much higher. Generally, brokers offer leverage up to 1:3000. How to Start Trading on Forex However, finding someone willing to give that loan as an individual trader is hard. You need either an astronomical amount of money or some contacts in the industry. Thats why the majority of individual traders are using a broker who provides them with shorting capacities, leverage and cheaper access to the Forex network. While you are searching for a broker, consider: Reputation . Manipulating reviews online is easy, but if your broker has a lot of negative reviews thats something to remember. Also, keep an eye on the way they respond to those reviews and whether or not they are solving the problems. . Manipulating reviews online is easy, but if your broker has a lot of negative reviews thats something to remember. Also, keep an eye on the way they respond to those reviews and whether or not they are solving the problems. Age . A lot of new broker companies are either scams or are going through growing pains. And while it may not seem fair to them, you dont need those issues in your life. Check when your broker was registered and do not join inexperienced ones. . A lot of new broker companies are either scams or are going through growing pains. And while it may not seem fair to them, you dont need those issues in your life. Check when your broker was registered and do not join inexperienced ones. Registration. The European Union and the United States have tight regulations for Forex brokers and make sure that they do not scam their traders. Other countries do not provide such warranties. So check where your broker is registered and make sure that its not something like St. Vincent or Madagascar. I it is, make sure that like JustForex, they have an EU license too (JustForex review). Once you have a broker, you are set use the manuals on their website to deposit money and download MetaTrader 4, and start trading on Forex. Conclusion Forex trading is very profitable, but difficult and involves a lot of risks. And before your turn in your first profits, you will need to study a lot. However, if you think you are up to it Forex trading will be a great opportunity and an awesome introduction to the asset markets. WARNING: this article contains graphic content. A glimpse of a red van captured on surveillance video, a blurry shot of murder victim Andrew Kinsman getting in, and one word jotted down on a calendar: Bruce. Seven years after Bruce McArthur murdered his first victim, police had the evidence that would, in the words of Crown lawyer Michael Cantlon, crack the case open leading them to a serial killer who preyed on vulnerable men, took ritualistic photographs of their staged bodies and was possibly minutes away from a ninth murder the morning he was arrested. The evidence, collected in the wake of Kinsmans June 2017 disappearance, launched an unprecedented investigation that ultimately put McArthur, 67, under constant police surveillance. And so investigators were watching on Jan. 18, 2018 as McArthur accompanied a man up to his apartment and, fearing for his life, made the impromptu arrest of a man now known to have planned and executed eight murders. Tied up in McArthurs bedroom confined as were past victims, inside the room where most of his murders took place investigators found John. Just like most of McArthurs other victims, he was a recent immigrant and was gay. Unlike all the other victims, John made it out alive. Read more: Opinion | Rosie DiManno: A note in a calendar led to the undoing of serial killer Bruce McArthur What we learned from Day 1 of serial killer Bruce McArthurs sentencing Eight men, eight stories: What we know about serial killer Bruce McArthurs victims For years, members of the LGBTQ community believed that they were being targeted by a killer, Cantlon said in his opening address to a packed court, on the first day of sentencing for McArthur, who pleaded guilty to eight counts of first degree murder last week. They were right. The grave acknowledgement began a sombre reading of admitted facts, Cantlon unfurling in detail the deaths of each victim and the investigation that brought a killer down. The information, Cantlon warned members of the public Monday morning, would be disturbing. Please think carefully about whether or not you wish to expose yourself to the nature of the information that will be presented in court, he told a full courtroom, one of the largest in the downtown courthouse. In the final moments of reading out the facts, Cantlon himself struggled to finish, his voice catching as he spoke the victims names. All the while McArthur sat nearly motionless, eyes open and mouth unmoving as his atrocities were exposed and, later, their toll relayed through victim impact statements. I believed for years that he had simply disappeared. But secretly I worried that he had been killed, Phil Werren, a long-time close friend of McArthurs first victim, Skanda Navaratnam, told the court. A life that was snuffed out by someone that knew him for close to 15 years, said Kinsmans sister Patricia Kinsman, telling the court she has a sadness that will not go away. McArthur strangled Andrew, dismembered him, threw him in a planter and then admired his work for 7 months, she said, looking at McArthur as he sat in the prisoners box. First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years, guaranteeing McArthur will be in jail until he is at least 91 years old. But its possible his sentence for each count of first-degree murder will be served consecutively, assuring the killer would die in jail. Arguments are set to begin in court Tuesday. For the first time since McArthurs arrest, court heard how he came to be on police radar, with police piecing together surveillance footage from Kinsmans apartment with knowledge he had meeting with a Bruce. Toronto police Det. David Dickinson and a team of investigators determined through distinctive van features including the absence of fog lights the make and model of McArthurs van: a 2004 Dodge caravan. They then sought vehicle registry information from Ontarios Ministry of Transport, which produced 6,181 results in the Greather Toronto Area. Of those, five owners were named Bruce. But only one had any recent contact with Toronto police: McArthur, who in 2016 was arrested but not charged in connection to a report that McArthur had attempted to strangle a man. McArthur was made a person of interest. One month before his arrest, police made a surrepticious search of McArthurs apartment, downloading digital files off a USB drive and an external hard-drive, and an old desktop computer hard-drive. It was there that investigators found the most incriminating evidence: reams of photos depicting most of his deceased victims, although McArthur had made attempts to delete them. The images showed what Cantlon called post-offence rituals: including that McArthur posed his deceased victims and took photos of them, frequently using the same fur coat or hat, and sometimes placing a cigar in their mouth. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The photos also sometimes showed a murder weapon: a rope attached to a metal bar. Court heard McArthur repeatedly killed by strangling his victims using a rope attached to a metal bar. McArthur carefully organized those photos, creating sub-folders for each of his victims, their titles suggesting he didnt know the names of all of his victims. The folder containing images of Selim Esen, his seventh victim, for instance, was labelled as Turkish Guy. Those for victims Soroush Mahmoudi and Kirushnakumar Kanagaratnam were simply 4 and 5, respectively. McArthur kept photos of the men both alive and dead. Forensic analysis showed McArthur would look through the images months or years later, or email the images to himself. Read more: Why experts say we should investigate Bruce McArthurs motive even if we never get answers Importantly, police located a ninth folder, labelled John. In it were photos of the man investigators had found tied up on McArthurs bed on the day of the arrest. Forensic analysis showed that on the day of Kinsmans murder, McArthur had searched for John and downloaded photos of him from social media. The summary read out in court confirmed McArthur was interviewed in 2013 as part of Project Houston the special Toronto police project investigating the disappearances of McArthurs first three victims: Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi and Majeed Kayhan. That project ran from 2012 to 2014, but did not result in any charges. Police interviewed McArthur on Nov. 11, 2013, after an analysis of Faizi and Navaratnams belongings revealed both men knew him. Police did not consider McArthur a suspect at the time, but treated him as a witness in a missing persons case. The killer admitted to police he knew both men. He told them he regularly socialized with Navaratnam at The Black Eagle, a Toronto bar, but denied having a sexual relationship with him. McArthur told police that hed employed Kayhan and that they had had a sexual relationship, though McArthur said hed broken it off. Two weeks after he was interviewed, McArthur purchased a new van, the 2004 Dodge Caravan that would ultimately lead police to him. Cantlon described new, detailed information about a June 20, 2016, incident in which a man told police McArthur had attempted to choke him, but the killer was released without charges. The incident began when the man met McArthur inside his van, where he had removed the seat behind the drivers seat so that there was room to lie down, revealing a plastic sheet on the floor and a fur coat on top of that. Court heard McArthur asked the victim to lie on the coat and instructed him to put an arm behind his back. Then, with a look of determination on his face, he grabbed the victims throat and started strangling him, Cantlon said. The victim managed to roll away, escaped the van and called 911. McArthur went to the police station on his own and was arrested, but gave an exculpatory statement and McArthur was released without charges. A brief summary of the facts read out in court last week revealed that the majority of the eight killings, spanning 2010 to 2017, were sexual in nature. McArthur dismembered the bodies of his victims to avoid detection, Cantlon said, then disposed of body parts at the Leaside home where he had worked as a gardener and stored his landscaping supplies. McArthur also kept some items belonging to his victims, including a bracelet worn by his first victim, Navaratnam, jewelry from his sixth victim, Dean Lisowick, and the notebook kept by Esen, his seventh victim. Police also found a duffel bag belonging to McArthur that contained duct tape, a surgical glove, zip ties, a black bungee cord, rope and syringes, court heard. In victim impact statements, more of which will be read Tuesday, friends, family and community members described not just the devastation of years and months of not knowing the fate of their loved ones, but the betrayal of their lives ending at the hands of someone who was part of their safe spaces, their chosen family as Rev. Deana Dudley of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto said. The men who were killed were our brothers. And for many people within the LGBTQ community, their murders have changed the way we look at the community forever. Even with the defendant in custody, it feels less safe. It feels less trustworthy. It feels less like home and family, she said. For many of the men who knew the defendant, there is no safe place anymore. Lisowicks daughter Emily Bourgeois never knew her biological father, but always wanted to one day bump into him. In a statement read out by a Crown lawyer, as she listened to the hearing by phone, she said she hoped she would learn he turned his life around, that he had a happy home and a family. I will now always have to live with knowing I will never have a relationship with my father because of what happened. Deborah Savage is standing in her apartment more than three weeks after a fire at the house, looking up at a hole cut in the wall of her living room and waiting for police to walk through the door. The sun will set in a few hours and already frigid temperatures will plunge to extreme lows. There is no central heat in her one-bedroom unit or in any of the five units spread throughout the red-brick, three-storey house any electrical power comes from cords plugged into outlets in the second-floor hallway. Disconnected pipes in her bathroom mean flooding if her water is turned back on. Her landlord says he does not want her in there, but, she told the Star, she fears losing her home. Savage, 47, along with a number of tenants of the Junction house, returned to stay in the building after being displaced by a small fire the first week in January. Theyd been staying at a hotel, paid for by an emergency city fund, but a fear of being permanently evicted in a city with a severe shortage of affordable housing has led them to return, effectively occupying their former units without the landlords consent. We are taking back our place, said Savage, who was allowed into her apartment by the landlord the day after the fire to pick up necessities. Homelessness is a big problem in Toronto ... we cant be put out on the street because the landlord decides to renovate, said Savage. Its the middle of winter. Landlord David Chun alleges the tenants broke in after refusing to accept that fire damage and issues identified through subsequent inspections mean the house is unsafe. There are rules and laws and we are doing everything exactly by the law, said Chun last week. If there was a way to get them back in he would, he said. The police department, the fire department, the fire inspector, the insurance company, the contractor, me the owner, the city and anybody who has been there, said Chun, when asked who deemed the house unsafe. But Savage who, like most of her neighbours, lives on a low and fixed income, said some of them would rather live in the home that is now full of holes and partially void of heat and water, than be thrown into Torontos rental market, which they say theyve been priced out of. Savage pays $650 a month and hydro is included. The average market rent for a one-bedroom unit in a purpose-built rental building in the GTA is about $1,260, according to data published by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Those figures are based largely on occupied apartments and landlords can charge what they want for empty units. The rest of the tenants are also paying well-below average market rent. The hole in Savages unit was where a strip of drywall had been cut out to expose electrical wiring and wooden studs. They took this off after the fire, I guess, to check for damage in my bedroom and thats it, said Savage, on Tuesday. One of the tenants told the landlord they were back in, she said, noting she expected he had called the police. Chun, who signs emails John David Chun, is known to tenants as David Chun. Savage said they werent able to get written proof from the city or landlord that the attic fire meant nobody could come home. Whether the tenants can stay or will be told to go could be determined at the Landlord and Tenant Board on Tuesday. The tenants were able to arrange an emergency hearing Friday where their lawyer argued they were entitled to possession and the landlord should restore full power. The landlords lawyer argued that the fire and problems found during inspections meant the house was unsafe and he has no choice but to keep them out until the house is fixed. The board adjudicator said he felt it was best to hold off on a decision until a forthcoming city report could be submitted for everybodys review. The fire in the attic of the Keele St. house broke out on Jan. 7. and 10 people were evacuated from five units, including the resident of the attic who has not returned. Heather Mackay-Lams, 36, who lives in the basement, says she didnt know anything was wrong until people knocked on her door that morning I was in my pyjamas, grabbed the cat ... we all figured we would be back in five minutes. They were sheltered in a TTC bus then sent to a Howard Johnson Inn. The landlord changed the front door and two back locks the next day, they said, and told them renovations and electrical work were needed and they must collect their things. The city office covering the cost of the hotel said their stay can be extended and no firm date had been set for them to leave. The tenants got back in, in stages. First-floor resident John Demetriades, whose door is at the back of the house, got a locksmith to let him in more than a week ago. His insulin was inside, he said. Mackay-Lams also had one supervised visit to collect a few things. After that she got access through her window, she said, then Demetriades changed the lock so she could use a key. She hasnt stayed overnight at Keele St. since the fire and said the landlord should have let them back the next day. If he wanted them out, she said, he could have served them with eviction notices. It was just him deciding it, said Mackay-Lams. I dont consider it breaking in, considering I live there. Demetriades, 60, was checking the mail on Tuesday and found the front door unlocked. So were the doors of the two upstairs apartments, the tenants told the Star. So the decision was made to stay in rotating shifts returning to the inn to shower and eat to make sure they were not locked out of the Keele St. house again. The house has not had central heating since Savage initially moved in. Four tenants told the Star they always used space heaters and blankets. Savage said using heaters is one tradeoff for affordable housing. Savage said Chun has helped them in the past by not raising rent, and during a major ice storm that knocked out the power he provided generators so they could stay in their home. On Tuesday, the residents say they found space heaters on the second floor and attic and one in the basement that provided a decent amount of heat. When Clinton Reynolds, 37, returned, he also found a stack of cardboard boxes and furniture pulled from the attic piled in his living room. And in his ceiling, there was a gaping hole exposing the upstairs floorboards. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Reynolds, who has a licence to grow marijuana for personal medical use it was prescribed for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder said his plants have been in storage since the fire and suffered greatly because of the cold and are in a vegetative state. He brought them back in on Tuesday. At this point I am just trying to get them healthy so I can take some clippings basically I have to start from cloning again, or start all over, he said. That means hell likely have to purchase marijuana from a licensed producer and is concerned about the quality and the price. Reynolds said being locked out, without the landlord producing clear documentation that they must be evacuated and kept out was a violating and deeply frustrating experience. As somebody who broke the law for most of their life, for the past five years I try to follow the letter of law ... our lease is a legal binding document. That really perturbs me, he said. Demetriades said the priority for residents was getting power throughout the house. Well obviously buy water. For me it is going to be a cold night, he said. The police did come by briefly the next day, after being called by the landlord, but left after speaking with Chuns son and the tenants. Chun has been ordered to arrange and pay for an inspection by the Electrical Safety Authority, after the provincial body found Chun or an employee have done electrical wiring without first arranging for an inspection. He was also ordered to fix any defects by Jan. 23, based on a notice dated Jan. 9. A second notice, mailed on Jan. 31, warned that failure to comply is a provincial offence and a conviction could mean a fine of up to $50,000. Copies were provided by the ESA to the Star, for a fee. On Friday, an inspector with Toronto Building visited the house and taped an order to remedy unsafe building to the front door. Chun must prohibit the use or occupancy of the attic apartment, hire an engineer to inspect the building, submit a damage report to the city, make sure urgent repair issues are addressed and obtain permits for all future work, according to that notice. Prior to that, nobody from the city, including Toronto Fire and Toronto Building, had issued an order to shut the building down, according to Mark Sraga, director, investigation services, municipal licensing and standards. The power was shut down and doors locked, he said, after tradespeople brought in by the landlord found problems in the house. It is not that the city has issued any orders directing this, but the building owner knowing the requirements has acted proactively, he said. Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop told the Star that the property was returned to Chun the day of the fire and minor deficiencies were later found in other apartments but no order was issued to evacuate the building. Chun told the Star he has been a landlord for two decades and provides many people with affordable housing. He owns at least seven properties, some under his name and others, including the Keele St. house are owned by a registered company where he is listed as sole director. He said he has terminal brain cancer, that conversations are difficult and stress could devastate his already fragile health. Some of the tenants, he said, have been harassing him. Everything he has done has been above board and legal, he told the Star. When first contacted, Chun suggested his son could provide a tour of the Keele St. property to show the extent of the damage but rescinded in a text message saying the city was in possession of an engineers report that proved the property was uninhabitable. He did not respond to a request to review that report or questions about prior inspections, heating issues and what tenants were told about the work. Stop harassing me because you dont want to get the Star in hot water, Chun said. Savage said no tenant should have to go through the stress of losing their home and not being told why and said a central office or hotline could fix the problem. By Sunday, Savage had run a power cord through a hole in her floor to Demetriadess apartment so he could run a heater. The water was still off. Reynolds was so stressed he said that if Chun gave him back first and last months rent, covered damages and moving costs hed leave. It is a rock-and-a-hard-place situation, but its the landlords choice, he said. Another complication, he needs to stabilize and care for his plants. They are like kids, and cant exposed for long to the cold, he said. Mackay-Lams, who lives in the basement, found out Sunday morning that her unit had flooded. I dont know if I am coming or going anymore, she said. I feel like the lunatics are running the asylum. I have no idea what is going on. Kamran Karim arrived at Kennedy station and waited 30 minutes for the RT to arrive before realizing it was out of service again. There is no sign. There is no notice, he said, pointing to a gate barring access to the the stairs leading up to Scarboroughs elevated rail transit system, which was working on and off in the days after the snowstorm that bore down on the city Monday. The record snowfall and the polar ice freeze that followed wreaked havoc on portions of Torontos transportation system, but in particular the aging and vulnerable elevated train service in Scarborough dubbed the RT, the SRT, or more recently, Line 3 that is supposed to connect residents of the suburb to the rest of the city to the southwest. It was a grim reminder of what residents of Scarborough are in for as they wait for construction to begin on the Scarborough subway extension, a project that successive city, provincial, and federal governments have supported for years but whose ultimate design and completion date are uncertain. Meanwhile the SRT is nearing the end of its useful life, raising the prospect that riders will be left taking the bus if a replacement isnt built soon. Residents of Scarborough are among the citys super-commuters spending an hour to two hours or more getting downtown to work or study connecting by bus from their homes to the RT train service that brings them to Kennedy subway station, the eastern terminus of the Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth) subway. From there its a long ride west on the subway and then south into the heart of Toronto. About 35,000 people use the SRTs six stations on a typical weekday. Among them is Jackie Abrokwa, 25, who said it takes her about two and a half hours to get to Humber Colleges lakeshore campus from her home in east Scarborough. The shuttle buses meant to replace the RT in recent days were much slower, and added another 30 to 45 minutes to her commute, she said. As someone who has been taking the TTC for a very long time, I am kind of over it, said Abrokwa. In this weather it makes the whole thing really difficult, said Joy Moro, who commutes from Scarborough to downtown Toronto for her tech job each day. But if you dont get to work, you dont get paid, so you have to do what you have to do. The latest issues for the SRT started Monday, when the city was walloped with more than 20 centimetres of snow. The transit line went down at about 4 p.m., and though the TTC was able to get it up and running again for a few hours Wednesday, it was soon forced to shut it down again. Regular service resumed Friday morning, but a mechanical problem forced one of the lines six trains out of commission and the TTC had to supplement service with buses. Although the SRT opened in 1985 and is nearing the end of its service life, TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said the problems in recent days were not a product of age, rather extreme weather conditions. He said the issue was high winds blowing loose packed snow onto the SRTs traction rail, which powers the train. Snow on the line causes the vehicles to lose power. As quickly as were clearing it, another section gets covered, Green said. While the line was shut down the agency deployed between 15 and 20 shuttle buses as a replacement to SRT service. Green couldnt say if the service outage was the longest SRT users have been forced to endure, but said about seven years ago there was also a winter shutdown that lasted several days. Councillor Jennifer McKelvie, who represents the ward of ScarboroughRouge Park and also sits on the TTC board, said transit users from her part of the city are tired of being left out in the cold. McKelvie, who is serving her first term at city hall, said the solution is building the Scarborough subway extension and Eglinton East LRT as soon as possible. She blamed previous terms of council for not getting a replacement for the SRT built quickly enough. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... For years weve been debating, revisiting, voting, revoting on Scarborough transit. Its time that we get on with building the transit that Scarborough deserves, she said. Although council has voted several times about the specifics of the Scarborough subway extension, the subway option has been the official plan for six years, since Rob Ford was mayor. Council approved a three-stop Scarborough subway extension in 2013, opting for that project over a cheaper seven-stop light rail line that at the time would have been fully funded by the provincial government. The three-stop subway was initially projected to cost about $3 billion, but as costs ballooned council voted in 2016 to scale back the plan to a single stop at the Scarborough Town Centre, and to supplement the subway extension with a 17-stop Eglinton East LRT, which would run from Kennedy to U of T Scarborough. Share your experience Cost estimates for those two projects also soon exceeded the available $3.5-billion funding envelope, and the LRT is now unfunded. City and TTC staff have spent the past three years planning the one-stop subway option, and council is set to receive an update as early as April that if approved would advance the project toward procurement. Construction would take six years, with a potential completion date of 2026. However, subway supporters in government are set to change the plan again. As part of its plan to take ownership of the TTC subway network, the Ontario PC government wants to add two stops, at Lawrence and Sheppard, back to the extension. Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek has pledged to try to fund the additional stations using contributions from developers at no cost to taxpayers. Experts warn the private-sector approach to funding two additional stops is far-fetched, and adding stations could require months if not years of additional design work that would delay construction. Councillor McKelvie supports adding the additional stops, arguing its essential to have a station at the important transit hub at Lawrence, and to connect the line to future transit planned for Sheppard Ave. E. Asked when SRT users can expect the subway to be up and running, McKelvie couldnt give a firm date. As long as we have the funds and we have the willpower hopefully we can get that transit built in Scarborough soon, she said. Minister Yureks spokesperson Mike Winterburn said the provinces plan to upload the subway system from the city would be structured to build transit faster, but he also couldnt provide a clear timeline. He said it would be premature at this point to speculate on a timetable for building the Scarborough subway. Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering transportation. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr Read more about: MONTREALAs a survivor of the 2017 Quebec City mosque attack was honoured by the province Monday for his bravery, he took Quebec Premier Francois Legault to task over comments downplaying the threat of Islamophobia. Speaking at the end of a caucus meeting last week, Legault told reporters that there is no Islamophobia in Quebec. His office later sought to clarify those comments, saying the premier meant to say that Islamophobia exists but its not widespread. Aymen Derbali, who was among eight Quebecers receiving medals from the provincial government for their acts of courage, said he does not share Legaults point of view. There is Islamophobia the proof is what happened at the mosque, he told reporters. Derbali, who was hit by seven bullets, put himself in the line of fire in an effort to distract the shooter. He was paralyzed from the waist down and now uses a wheelchair. Quebec Justice Minister Sonia LeBel, who praised the recipients heroism as she handed out the awards, said she understood what the premier wanted to say. Read more: Muslim groups denounce Quebec Premier Legaults statements on Islamophobia Opinion | Heather Mallick: Lets value every life in the Quebec mosque shooting CSIS stopped monitoring right-wing extremism months before mosque shooting, watchdog says Theres no strong current that Quebecers can be considered as people who are Islamophobic, but there certainly is Islamophobia, she told reporters. During Mondays ceremony, a medal was also awarded to Azzedine Soufiane posthumously. He was one of six men killed in the Jan 29, 2017 attack. The 57-year-old Soufiane managed to pounce on the gunman and overpower him for several seconds. But he died when the shooter broke free and fired his weapon. The victims nephew, Said Soufiane, said recognizing his uncles act of courage shows the national assembly appreciated his efforts. He tried to take action to avoid the massacre, but unfortunately it didnt work out as he had hoped, Soufiane told The Canadian Press. He was just five years younger than his uncle, and the two men grew up together in Morocco. They studied at the same university there before his uncle came to Quebec City to study at Universite Laval. His uncle eventually opened a Halal grocery store and butcher shop for the Muslim community. He was a good person, a very good person, and he helped me get settled in Canada, said Soufiane, who lived for a time in Spain. He said his uncle encouraged him to come to Canada to escape racism in Europe. Alexandre Bissonnette, who is to be sentenced Friday for the mosque killings, pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder. Among the others receiving medals Monday were: Jake Gravelle and Derek McColgan, who extracted a driver from his burning vehicle in June 2017 and pulled him to safety; Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Patrick Beaulieu and Robert Masson, who rescued an unconscious man from a car that was sinking in a lake 18 metres from shore in June 2017; Frederic Beaulieu, who heard a cry for help while out jogging in April 2017 and pulled to safety a man whose canoe had capsized in the icy river; Noureddine Fard, who helped pull a man from a car that had stopped in a tunnel and was filling with smoke. Read more about: Police say a 17-year-old boy has been charged with second-degree murder after a death last week in Niagara Falls. Niagara police say the incident occurred Tuesday night when the teen allegedly assaulted a 52-year-old man with a weapon. Police say the teen then fled the scene but was located later and arrested. Investigators say Tony Paonessa was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and died Friday. The teen was initially charged with aggravated assault after the alleged incident but the charges were upgraded following the mans death. MOOSE JAW, SASK.The deputy mayor of a Norwegian town says she may be coming to Saskatchewan to discuss a possible truce in an ongoing battle over the worlds tallest moose sculpture. Linda Otnes Henriksen says she has been following efforts by people in Moose Jaw to raise funds to boost the height of the communitys beloved Mac the Moose. The rivalry started when it was revealed that her town of Stor-Elvdal had a silvery moose sculpture that was taller than Mac by 30 centimetres. Moose Jaw Mayor Fraser Tolmie told CKRM radio that hes open to conversations about twinning the communities and building relations over the sculptures, but says plans still involve making Mac taller. Otnes Henriksen says Stor-Elvdal doesnt have the kind of money to keep building bigger sculptures to compete with Moose Jaw. She suggests the Saskatchewan city raises Macs height to be equal to the Norwegian moose. Maybe, you know, we could get out of this by making the moose the same height, Otnes Henriksen told The Canadian Press in an interview on Sunday. Last week, Moosehead Breweries donated $25,000 towards making Mac the tallest moose statue in the world again. A GoFundMe campaign has also been launched to support the campaign, with the goal of raising $50,000. Some ideas proposed for raising the statues height include bigger antlers, although adding an RCMP Stetson hat or stilettos have also been proposed. Mac weighs 9,000 kilograms and has been welcoming visitors from his perch along the Trans-Canada Highway since 1984. Tolmie says the people of Canada want to have the bigger moose. To be quite honest with you, I think our plans are still going to be that were going to be making Mac the tallest moose and regaining that crown, the Moose Jaw mayor told CKRM on the weekend. The rivalry has gained international media attention, including a segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Otnes Henriksen said the moose in her community was designed by an artist and couldnt be easily enlarged, although she noted the artist has discussed the idea of building another, taller moose. The current moose is in a spot where it appears to emerge from the woods, and is part of a road safety campaign to remind drivers to be on the lookout for the huge animals. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Otnes Henriksen said shes never been to Canada and looks forward to a possible trip. I really hope we can make that happen, she said. BAY ROBERTS, N.L.Police in Newfoundland are urging caution after finding bubble gum with traces of narcotics near an overdose victim. RCMP said Monday that police officers in Bay Roberts recovered the roll of what appeared to be Hubba Bubba bubble gum tape at the site of a recent overdose. The gum tested positive for fentanyl, a particularly potent narcotic that can be fatal in small amounts. The victim, a man about 30 years old, survived after the responding officer administered naloxone nasal spray. As of Monday afternoon, the source of the gum was still under investigation, though it is believed to have originated outside of Newfoundland. Cpl. Matthew Christie said police believe the man received the gum in the mail and did not purchase it at a local store, meaning the contamination likely did not happen at a factory level. Read more: Some drug users in Western U.S. seek out deadly fentanyl heres why Drug-dealing pharmacists are feeding Ontarios opioid crisis Fentanyl smuggled from China is killing thousands of Americans Police in Waterloo Region say a 56-year-old man killed in Cambridge, Ont., was the victim of a targeted shooting. They say officers went to a residence around 6:30 a.m. on Thursday and found a man suffering from gunshot wounds. Police say Kurt McKechnie was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. Investigators say four people were seen leaving the area at the time of the incident and believe the man knew the people who targeted him. Anyone with information is being asked to contact police. OTTAWAThree young people in Calgary are challenging Tim Hortons to roll up the rim for the planet. Mya Chau and Eve Helman, both 12, and Ben Duthie, 16, are behind a change.org petition asking Canadas iconic coffee chain to introduce a fully compostable or recyclable paper cup. They also think the coffee chain, which has more than 4,600 stores worldwide and claims to sell two billion cups of coffee every year, can use its popular Roll Up the Rim to Win contest to encourage customers to bring in reusable mugs. If Tim Hortons had some sort of electronic version of the Roll Up the Rim to Win I think that would be a much more environmentally positive way to run the contest, said Duthie. Roll Up the Rim to Win has been held by Tim Hortons since 1986, and this years version of the contest launches Wednesday. The kids say the company could, for example, give people who bring in reusable cups two chances to win rather than just one, or it could move the entire game online. Read more: Tim Hortons owners stock jumps as new CEO takes reins amid sales growth Tim Hortons sees Canadian growth as it works to fix franchisee relationship Tim Hortons seizes ownership of four locations from outspoken franchisee Tim Hortons has had some electronic components of its game, including Scroll Up the Rim to Win, which was introduced last year on the companys mobile app. The prizes on the app version were limited to coffee and doughnuts. The prizes available to people playing by rolling up the rims of their coffee cups include cars. Duthie said he understands the contest would have to be rebranded if disposable cups were eliminated altogether. I do think that would be a challenge for them but I think its certainly possible, he said. While theoretically the plastic-lined single-use coffee cups used by chains like Tim Hortons and McDonalds can be recycled, most municipal recycling systems arent equipped to do it. The kids say more than 600 billion single-use cups are produced worldwide every year and all companies need to find a way to be better about reusing, composting or recycling them. Jane Almeida, a spokeswoman for Restaurant Brands International, which owns Tim Hortons, said in a written statement the company is working on a packaging strategy to reduce its environmental footprint, offers china dishes for customers eating in its shops, and has discounts for customers who bring their own reusable cups. Working closely with industry, Tim Hortons will also begin testing a new strawless lid in 2019 and increasing the amount of recycled content in our packaging, Almeida said. Sarah King, head of the oceans and plastics campaign at Greenpeace Canada, said Roll Up the Rim is a fun contest that Canadians love but it inherently encourages people to use cups that will mostly end up in the garbage. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... She said the company is in a good position to influence change given its popularity and loyal customer base. Several restaurant companies are addressing concerns about plastic packaging. Starbucks last year began a quest to find someone to design a biodegradable liner for its coffee cups, a move that came after Chau and Helman petitioned it to build a better cup. Duthie also petitioned Starbucks to stop giving out plastic straws and the company is phasing those out by 2020. Their petition for Tim Hortons now has nearly 105,000 signatures on it. Read more about: OTTAWAPrime Minister Justin Trudeaus office says he has spoken with the man Canada and many of its allies consider the legitimate leader of Venezuela. Trudeaus office says he spoke with Juan Guaido about the need for countries to send a clear message about what the PMO calls the illegitimacy of the Maduro regime. A statement from the PMO says the two also discussed the need to respect Venezuelas constitution and to have free and fair presidential elections. The call comes a day before Canada and its allies in the so-called Lima Group are set to meet in Ottawa. The gathering of more than a dozen of Canadas Western Hemisphere allies is meant to find new ways to support the Venezuelan opposition and ease the refugee crisis in neighbouring Brazil and Colombia The agenda was still being finalized on Friday, in part because of the speed at which the Venezuelan crisis is unfolding. Canada has already contributed $2.2 million for the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela that has forced three million people from their homes. Trudeaus office says he told Guaido that Mondays meeting will look at any ways countries can can further support the people of Venezuela, including through immediate humanitarian assistance. The prime minister commended Juan Guaido for his courage and leadership in helping to return democracy to Venezuela and offered Canadas continued support, the statement says. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump signalled that hes confident a transition of power in Venezuela is underway as the U.S. presses for opposition leader Juan Guaido to take over. Use of U.S. military force in Venezuela remains an option and he isnt inclined to negotiate with President Nicolas Maduro to persuade him to leave, Trump said in an interview on CBS Face the Nation Sunday. At the same time, I think the process is playing out as Venezuelans take to the streets to protest, he said. If you talk about democracy, its really democracy in action, Trump said. Supporters of Maduro and Guaido, who Venezuelan lawmakers named interim president in January, marched in demonstrations Sunday in Caracas, the capital. The U.S. and two dozen other countries recognize Guaido as Venezuelas rightful leader and are stepping up pressure on the ruling socialists to cede power. European Union countries signalled that theyre moving toward backing Guaidos legitimacy. France will recognize him as interim president if Maduro didnt announce a new presidential vote by Sunday night, European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau said. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Guaido had our full support to restore democracy in Venezuela. Both men have made a point of reaching out to the military, the countrys most powerful institution. After an Air Force general broke with Maduro Saturday, Guaido appealed to the armed forces for support at a rally. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... I have absolute certainty that change is very near in Venezuela, Guaido told the crowd of thousands. Maduro, elected president in 2013 and who rigged his re-election last year, told a crowd of thousands of red-clad supporters and soldiers: Venezuela doesnt surrender. Venezuela charges forward. With files from Bloomberg. Read more about: Forge Global, Inc. (FKA Equidate Inc.), a San Francisco, CA-based marketplace for pre-IPO securities, expanded its Series B funding round by approx. $35m. In July 2018, the company announced the raise of $50M in Series B. The latest round was led by Munich Re. The company, which was initially funded by leading technology investors Peter Thiel and Tim Draper, will be expanding the range of services it offers to companies, investors and strategic partners to expand access to the private markets. Led by Kelly Rodriques, CEO, Forge Global is a trading and settlement partner for a wide range of investors in the private markets. Established in 2014, the platform allows shareholders and investors in privately held innovation firms to liquidate a portion of their shares and provides private and institutional investors access to top companies like Spotify, Lyft and 23 and Me before their IPO. The funding builds on some milestones in the last six months, including the launch of an index tracker and accompanying fund. The Forge Tech30 Capped Index tracks the valuations of Uber, Airbnb, SpaceX, and an additional 27 of the largest U.S. private technology companies while the EQUIAM Private Tech30 Fund, based on the index, provides investors with diversified access to these companies. To date, the company has facilitated over $1 billion in transaction volume in companies based in the US and abroad. FinSMEs 04/02/2019 salt Created and performed by Selina Thompson. Directed by Dawn Walton. Feb. 7 to 10 at the Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts, 5040 Yonge St. TOCentre.com or 416-250-3708 British writer and performer Selina Thompson so impressed audiences with Race Cards at last years Progress Festival that she was quickly invited to return this year. This time, she brought her solo performance salt. It ran from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 at the Theatre Centre as part of Progress but, luckily for anyone who missed this brief run, its moving uptown to the Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts this week. And I mean lucky its rare to see an hour-long show so affecting in text, physical movements and a scope that encompasses hundreds of years, many miles and several generations but feels intimate, immediate and personal. Read more: London came calling for actor and playwright Haley McGee but now shes back in Toronto with The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale The Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts can feel a little out of the way, but there can be no complaints about a long journey that ends face to face with Thompson. Salt was born out of her decision to trace the Transatlantic Slave Triangle route from the U.K. to Ghana to Jamaica via cargo ship and plane in 2016. The story really begins with Thompson herself, whose birth parents immigrated to Birmingham, England, from Jamaica, and whose adopted parents are from Montserrat and Jamaica. It continues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2014, a.k.a. where white men shout at (her) about their pain while the stories of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and Michael Brown take over her social media. There is no conclusion to this story of colonialism, history and racialized pain. As Thompson concludes herself, there is no healing from the devastation of displacement and dehumanization initiated in the past, only a choice to keep living through its repercussions in the present. (Fittingly, this performance takes place during Black History Month, which points to the small steps we consider impactful on a problem thats as metaphysical and incalculable as it is tangible and relevant.) Thompson and director Dawn Walton use a variety of techniques to make Thompsons journey (which began with another artist Thompson purposefully doesnt name) and the learning from it visceral to the audience, including white settlers like me. The first is Thompsons sheer power of presence onstage: shes calm but intense, never pushing but allowing her emotions, which swing from playfulness to sorrowful, deep anger, to emerge in her words. It is and should be a cursed continent, but its where Ive always lived. Europe, she says, as she lists the microaggressions she endures and the ways in which she resists, while also acknowledging her place and privilege as a British citizen with a British passport that allows her to choose to take such journeys. A repeated phrase that trails off to finish a thought Something in me brings to mind the way that this story comes from Thompsons body: her skin, her blood, her ancestry, her connection to the African diaspora, her innate urge to take this trip in her desire for space and perspective on contemporary colonization and racism. But in addition to Thompsons storytelling there is a physical tactic that gives salt its title; with a sledgehammer in her hands and plastic goggles on her eyes (the first two rows get them too), Thompson breaks down a large chunk of pink salt throughout the show. In its most moving segment, Thompson spreads several medium-sized pieces across the front of the stage to illustrate the way systems of oppression (capitalism, colonialism, racism and God knows what else) destroy organizations and humans beneath them. Using the cargo ship travelling from the U.K. to Ghana as her example, she shows how these systems remain mostly untouched, while those at the bottom of the hierarchy two Black women, Thompson and her fellow artist are pulverized into dust. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... All this said, salt is primarily a warm and celebratory production. Thompsons arrivals in Ghana and Jamaica are complex but ultimately joyous, as seen in a dramatic moment in Cassie Mitchells mostly subtle lighting design. This is where her parents and grandparents return to the story and bring it full circle, back to Thompson herself. Salt deals with dark and weighty subjects, delivered by a Black woman who is not defeated or deterred by them. They are real, but they are not indestructible. At first, the chunk of salt is too heavy for Thompson to move, other than rolling it along the ground. At the end, she sweeps it away. And then she gives you a piece as you leave: a reminder but not one that needs to drag you down. The digital publishing industry took a big hit in recent days, when more than 1,000 employees were laid off at BuzzFeed, AOL, Yahoo and HuffPost. Vice Media started the process of laying off some 250 workers on Friday, and Mic, a site aimed at younger readers, axed much of its staff two months ago before a competitor bought it in a fire sale. Coupled with recent layoffs at Gannett, the company behind USA Today and other dailies nationwide, the crisis in the digital sphere suggested that the journalism business was damned if it embraced innovation and damned if it didnt. The cuts at BuzzFeed were the most alarming. Wasnt this the company that was supposed to have it all figured out? Didnt its team of wizards, led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained chief executive, Jonah Peretti, know tricks of the digital trade that lay beyond the imagination of fusty old print publishers? Chris Hayes, the author and MSNBC anchor, summed up the bleak outlook with a tweet that asked, What if there is literally no profitable model for digital news? The in-the-moment doomsaying was understandable. But look past the gloom, and a complicated narrative emerges that does not lend itself to a one-size-fits-all interpretation of What Went Wrong or a handy forecast of journalisms future. While leading digital publishers have resorted to harsh measures, legacy titles such as The Washington Post, The Atlantic, the New Yorker and The New York Times have seen growth as they accommodate the habits of their increasingly digitally oriented readers. Read More: Vice Media to cut 10 per cent of workforce At the same time, a digital-native business, Vox Media, the owner of The Verge and Eater, turned a profit last year, its first as a large company, according to two people with knowledge of the matter who were not authorized to discuss it publicly. And a more recent digital upstart, Axios, a buzzy site for Beltway insiders created by the founders of Politico, expects a profit in 2019, according to its chief executive, Jim VandeHei. Even BuzzFeed may hit its financial marks this year. If it does, the reason will most likely be a combination of old-school business methods tried elsewhere (including layoffs), rather than its ability to crack some esoteric digital code. Going Around Facebook It was simpler in the days of print. Even when radio and television laid waste to certain newspapers and magazines, the industry as a whole racked up steady profits. Twentieth-century readers were more or less unchanging in their habits, so media executives did not have to revise their business models much from year to year. That has changed, to say the least. Peretti seemed to be on the right track with his reliance on sponsored posts to generate revenue before his reluctant pivot to banner ads last year. That money encouraged him to stick to his idea of creating free content that readers cant resist sharing on social media. Hedging his bets, he varied BuzzFeeds money stream by selling branded cookware in association with Walmart and opening a toy store in Manhattan. The companys revenue grew more than 15 per cent in 2018 not quite enough to stave off Perettis decision to cut about 220 of BuzzFeeds roughly 1,500 employees. As he put it in a recent staff memo, Unfortunately, revenue growth by itself isnt enough to be successful in the long run. Ben Thompson, an analyst who has become a favourite among the Silicon Valley set, argued that BuzzFeed had inadvertently devalued its content by mostly relying on the kindness of digital giants to distribute its articles. Facebooks changes to its News Feed in recent years increased the visibility of posts from your aunts and uncles while playing down articles from professional publishers. That was no good for sites like BuzzFeed. The only way to build a thriving business in a space dominated by an aggregator is to go around them, not to work with them, Thompson wrote in his Jan. 28 newsletter. Digital Revolution? More Like Evolution In BuzzFeeds youth, Facebook was not the dominant traffic driver it is today, and online sharing was just as likely to occur away from social media platforms. (Remember email?) Five years into its existence, in 2011, the site got newsier, with the addition of Politicos Ben Smith as its editor-in-chief, along with a team of editors and reporters. In 2015, Thompson, the analyst, called BuzzFeed the most important news organization in the world. After that, Peretti adjusted his approach again. He determined that Facebook had already built the pipes for distribution, so instead of trying to amass audiences around a single venue, like BuzzFeed.com, he went where the audience was: Facebook. That was back when Facebook was considered a natural ally for media organizations seeking millions of online readers, and before Mark Zuckerberg, its chief executive, was made to testify before skeptical lawmakers in Washington and Brussels. So publishers didnt balk when Facebook asked them as part of its plan to take on YouTube to go big on video. Companies like BuzzFeed, Vox Media and Refinery29 had an additional incentive to go along with Facebooks request: the ad dollars that had shifted online as viewers started to favour streaming services over traditional television. The plan proved difficult to monetize, however. Facebook wanted brevity, but it defied common sense to load a 15-second commercial in front of a 30-second clip, Peretti said in a November interview with The Times. In 2017, Facebook created a new section, Facebook Watch, that featured longer videos. The company also opened more of those videos to advertising in August. For publishers, it was an improvement, but still not enough. They need to make a lot more progress to truly compensate for the value that media companies are creating for them, Peretti said in the interview. He compared Facebook to cable operators like Comcast, which pay programmers to carry their shows. Except the compensation isnt like cable, he added. As television viewers continued their migration to the web, big TV companies like NBCUniversal, Turner Broadcasting and Discovery Communications followed them, plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into digital companies. Now they would like to see a return on their investments. And they are getting impatient. Old-School Digital It wasnt supposed to be this hard for digital publishers. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... In 2011, when The Times drew criticism for its decision to charge online readers, creating a paywall, BuzzFeed was taking off, thanks to its knack for harnessing the power of social networks. In that context, the paywall strategy struck media gurus as the last-ditch gambit of a slow-moving stalwart, and the conventional wisdom was that digital mastersmiths would soon outperform or perhaps even vanquish their print-beholden rivals. By the end of 2018, the picture looked vastly different. BuzzFeed generated more than $300 million (U.S.) in sales, while still bleeding money, and The Times was on a pace to exceed $650 million in digital revenue. A stormy sociopolitical climate played to the strengths of seasoned media companies. John Wagner, who handles ad spending for publisher properties for the media agency PHD, said that during the Trump presidency, advertisers had favoured venerable publications like The Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. News sites of 21st-century vintage, on the other hand, have to keep proving themselves. BuzzFeed has really good offerings, Wagner said. But its listicles and quizzes, he added, may eventually fall out of favour. Consumers are fickle, and theyll move on to the next thing, he said. VandeHei of Axios said media companies needed more than digital savvy to make it in the current cutthroat environment. I think media is still a great business, if you run it like a damn business, he said in an email. VandeHei recited a litany of plagues on the digital houses, such as taking investments from venture capitalists expecting big returns in a short time or tying audience growth to platforms like Facebook. With its reliance on sponsored newsletters, Axios has a business model wildly different from BuzzFeeds. (Im an outlier, VandeHei said.) But while a comparison of the two companies may not be apples to apples, the debate over journalisms future comes down to which business model works better or works at all. Axios generated more than $24 million in revenue last year while incurring an overall loss of $56,000, VandeHei said. He credited a simple reason for its success: The audience for high-quality content is huge and voracious and growing. And the companys focus on newsletters means it is unaffected by the whims of Facebook. The Information, a San Francisco tech-news site founded in 2013, is another digital publisher that adopted an old-fashioned business model from the start: paid subscriptions. Journalism has been paid for since its early days, Jessica Lessin, the founder and chief executive of The Information, said in an interview. From her perspective, the tendency of news media executives to give their content away once they moved to the web was the result of something like amnesia. We just forgot, she said. We all went online and threw that out. Lessin, a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal, declined to disclose the exact number of readers who pay $399 annually, but said the publication had tens of thousands of subscribers. While that audience is relatively modest, it allowed her to double her staff last year to 26 journalists. Subscription is a great business, Lessin said. We are covering and expanding at the pace we want to expand off subscription, since that revenue can be very predictable. While BuzzFeed and HuffPost have remained anti-paywall, and Axios and The Information have depended on sponsorships or subscriptions, Vox Media has found a middle way. Jim Bankoff, the companys chief executive, is more business oriented than his peers and rarely calls attention to himself. A former AOL executive, he has explored areas outside of traditional advertising as part of his approach. One result was a production agreement with Netflix for a series based on Voxs explanatory journalism, Explained. The company has also generated revenue by building its conference business, getting into podcasting and licensing its content management system, Chorus. Last year, its revenue increased 20 per cent to around $185 million, for a modest profit. But that doesnt mean Vox has stumbled onto some wild innovation. We dont see ourselves as a digital media company, Bankoff said. I mean, is anybody only just that now? Were a modern media company. Justin Trudeau brought together Venezuelas neighbors to voice support for a peaceful handover of power, making a modest pledge of humanitarian aid for the country and those whove fled economic crisis under the regime of Nicolas Maduro. The Canadian prime minister hosted the Lima Group, which includes Brazil, Colombia and other Latin American nations, Monday in Ottawa. The group recognized Juan Guaido as interim president and welcomed his Venezuelan government-in-waiting into its ranks as Maduro digs in against international pressure spearheaded by U.S. President Donald Trump. Everyone here today wants the same thing for Venezuela, a peaceful transition to democracy, free and fair elections, a return of political accountability and transparency and the respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms for all Venezuelans, Trudeaus foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, told reporters after the meeting wrapped up. Pressed about the possibility of military intervention, she cited the commitment in the Lima Groups communique calling for a peaceful transition without the use of force. The Trump administration maintains that all options remain on the table. Peruvian Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio said the Lima Group is focused on getting humanitarian aid into the country and called on Venezuelas military not to interfere. We have also urged the national armed forces of Venezuela to recognize their commander in chief Juan Guaido, the acting president, he said through a translator. Guaidos envoy to Canada, Orlando Viera-Blanco, praised the groups focus on providing aid to Venezuela, including such basics as food and medicine. Trudeau said at the start of the meeting that Canada would provide $53 million in humanitarian funding. The bulk of the funds will go to trusted partners and neighbouring countries, he said Read more: Trudeau speaks with Venezuelan leader Guaido ahead of key meeting of allies Venezuelan opposition leader Guaido appeals for help in Ottawa via video EU nations endorse Venezuela opposition leader over Maduro Gregory Weeks, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, said aid pledges are clearly pledges of support for Guaido but noted that funds and supplies sent to neighbouring countries or through multilateral agencies might be preferable. If it gets sent to Venezuela directly, as the U.S. is planning, then the chance for confrontation is high, Weeks said in a phone interview. This is risky for any country that attempts it. Too Long But for too long in the oil-rich South American nation, Trudeau said, the international community has witnessed a dictatorship willing to use force, fear and coercion to retain power. The violation of human rights and the complete disregard for the rule of law shown by the regime has been both inexcusable and unacceptable. Absent from Mondays meeting was Mexico. Once a Lima Group member, it isnt participating under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The group also welcomed delegations from the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Spain and others. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joined the discussion via video link and Trumps ambassador to Canada, Kelly Craft, attended in person. Europes position on Venezuela hardened earlier Monday, with the U.K., Germany and France formalizing their support for the interim government. Guaidos economic mentor, Harvard professor Ricardo Hausmann, took part in the talks, as did former National Assembly President Julio Borges. The closing press conference, however, was briefly interrupted by a pair of pro-Maduro protesters shouting hands off Venezuela. With Guaidos envoy to the U.S. vowing that the government-in-waiting would scrap requirements that Venezuelas state oil firm keep a controlling stake in joint ventures, Freeland said Canada is exploring ways to help share its expertise in the sector. After democracy is restored "its also equally important to have a clear plan for the day after to ensure that a democratic Venezuela is very quickly able to return to freedom for its people, but also to prosperity for its people," she said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Viera-Blanco said in an interview Sunday Maduro needs to heed the call of his own people, who filled the streets in the hundreds of thousands on Saturday, that its time to cede power peacefully. We are trying to conduct the restoration of democracy in Venezuela in a peaceful manner, in a peaceful way, he said. Venezuelan human-rights observers noted over the weekend that Saturdays demonstrations werent met by the usual response from Maduros security apparatus. These were demonstrations with 2.5 million people all over Venezuela without any detentions, without any repression from the national forces, Viera-Blanco said. That is the message, and Mr. Maduro needs to understand the message. Read more about: Staff reports Watertown Public Opinion During his time as chairman of the Federal Reserve, William McChesney Martin said his job was to take away the punch bowl just as the party gets going. Amid the rollicking fiscal Mardi Gras being enjoyed by both political parties in Washington, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz may volunteer to perform that unpopular task. Central to his potential presidential candidacy is his view that the federal government shouldnt continue running up vast budget deficits. Schultz argued in June that the greatest threat domestically to the country is this $21 trillion debt hanging over the cloud of America and future generations. He opposed the 2017 corporate tax cut passed by the Republican Congress, despite the $425 million windfall it yielded for Starbucks last year. But he is not enamored of Democrats who favor a top personal income tax rate of 70 percent and Medicare for all. Schultz is right that both parties have contributed to irresponsible budgets Republicans by cutting taxes without cutting spending, Democrats by dreaming up new tasks for an underfunded federal government. But he still has to prove that he has the stomach for solutions. When asked whether he would raise corporate tax rates, Schultz took a dive worthy of the most weaselly politician: I dont want to talk in the hypothetical about what I would do if I was president. Maybe he will realize there is no point in running unless he is prepared to tell Americans that unpleasant sacrifices are in order. In that case, he might play a role in returning the nation to some semblance of fiscal restraint. There is a precedent for that sort of venture. In the 1980s and early 90s, under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, federal budget deficits soared, and the federal debt as a share of the economy doubled in size. That raised the hackles of Ross Perot, a Texas billionaire who ran for president as a third-party candidate in 1992 pledging to balance the budget. His plan involved a massacre of sacred cows: raising taxes on Social Security benefits and gasoline, curbing the mortgage interest deduction, and slashing outlays for defense, Medicare and farm subsidies. With his blunt style and business credentials, Perot briefly led both Bush and Bill Clinton in the polls. Despite abruptly withdrawing from the race in July, before re-entering in October, he got 19 percent of the popular vote, the most of any third-party candidate since 1912. It was enough to reframe the national debate. A combination of tax increases, spending curbs and economic growth led to four consecutive surpluses beginning in 1998. Perot, by running for president and pushing the issue to the fore, did much to create the conditions that brought it about. Back then, both parties felt obligated to practice fiscal responsibility. But George W. Bush and Barack Obama helped them overcome that wholesome habit, and it has not returned. Republicans passed a package of tax cuts in December 2017 despite projections that over 10 years, it would add $1 trillion to a federal debt that was already ballooning. They claimed to believe that the measure would reduce the deficit. But it grew by 17 percent in 2018, to $779 billion, and that seems to be fine with them. Bigger deficits dont trouble the sleep of Democrats, either. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York drew Republican fire with her proposal to raise the marginal tax rate on incomes above $10 million to 70 percent from the current 37 percent. What was overlooked is that the revenue would be used to pay for a Green New Deal, to move the economy away from fossil fuels and create clean-energy jobs. But when you are on track to run trillion-dollar deficits every year, you should not be thinking of new programs to finance with borrowed funds. The Congressional Budget Office already projects the federal debt to double as a share of gross domestic product over the next 30 years. New revenues should go to arrest or reduce that growth, not to expand it. Spending reductions should take priority over spending increases. The politicians who prosper by habitually spending money they dont have are happy to pretend they can do so forever without destructive consequences. Schultz may not be the right person to lead an effort to restore fiscal sobriety. But it would be nice if someone did. Steve Chapman blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chapman. Follow him on Twitter @SteveChapman13 or at www.facebook.com/stevechapman13. Rare sea turtle returns to Phang Nga PHANG NGA: An olive ridley sea turtle, or tao ya, was found laying eggs on a beach in this southern province on Saturday (Feb 2), in the first such reported sighting in 23 years. marine By Bangkok Post Monday 4 February 2019, 09:55AM The olive ridley was last spotted laying eggs in the national park in 1996. National park staff place the eggs of an olive ridley sea turtle on a tray after a local resident found the eggs on Bo Dan beach in Phang Nga on Saturday (Feb 2). Mongkhol Liewwiriyakul, head of Khao Lampee-Hat Thai Muang National Park in Phang Nga province, said he and park staff went to Bo Dan beach in Thai Muang district after being alerted at around 6.50am on Saturday. Traces of a turtles presence were found in the area outside the national park. Officials dug a hole about 25 centimetres deep and found many eggs of an olive ridley sea turtle, said Mr Mongkhol. A total of 81 eggs were found, each about 3-4cm in diameter. They were taken to a centre monitoring turtles laying eggs at Wat Tha Sai, where they will take about 45 days to hatch naturally. The hatchlings will then be handed over to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources to care for before they are released to the sea, said the national park chief. He cited a statistic showing that an olive ridley sea turtle was last spotted laying eggs in the national park in 1996. There have been no other sightings of the species laying eggs since then. The olive ridley is the smallest of the sea turtles, weighing up to 40 kilograms. It is found in warmer waters including the southern Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Its current status is listed as vulnerable. Mr Mongkhol said a cash reward of B10,000 was given to local resident Sahad Seeraya for informing park staff about the good news. The reward was from two local sea turtle conservation foundations. Read original story here. CoreTigo, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of industrial mission critical wireless connectivity solutions, raised $10m in Series A funding. The round was led by Qualcomm Ventures and Sierra Ventures, with participation from Magma Venture Partners, Cardumen Capital and Meron Capital. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the development of its core technology and IP, to further build end to end solutions, and expand its strategic and business partner ecosystem. Founded in 2017 by Eran Zigman, CEO, CoreTigo provides manufacturers with wireless connectivity solutions to optimize industrial operations. The companys technology is based on the IO-Link Wireless standard, which enables legacy machines to be monitored and connected to the cloud. FinSMEs 04/02/2019 Phuket rallies after fire devastates Surin Islands sea gypsy village PHUKET: The Phuket Tourist Association is collecting donations to provide relief for the sea gypsy villagers in the Surin Islands whose homes were devastated by fire last night (Feb 3). tourismaccidentsdisastersSafetyculture By Tanyaluk Sakoot Monday 4 February 2019, 09:56AM The remains of much of the village this morning (Feb 4). Photo: DNP The fire ripped through the village, destroying 67 homes. Photo: DNP The fire ripped through the village, destroying 67 homes. Photo: DNP The fire ripped through the village, destroying 67 homes. Photo: DNP The fire ripped through the village, destroying 67 homes. Photo: DNP National parks officers this morning confirmed that 67 homes were destroyed in the blaze, which tore through the village made of wooden shanties with thatch roofs. No injuries were reported from the fire, which started shortly after 7pm. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined. A total of 18 buildings in the village remain standing, including the health center and school. The Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command dispatched HTMS Narathiwat from its base in Phang Nga at 10:20pm last night to deliver relief supplies and medical personnel. The Narathiwat arrived at the remote village at about 3am today. For details of the relief supplies campaign or to make a donation call Phuket Tourist Association Vice President Bhummikitti Ruktaengam at 076-211932. New Year ignites Phuket tourism PHUKET: Red lanterns are not only lighting up Phuket during the Chinese New Year festival, but also delighting tourist operators. tourismeconomics By Bangkok Post Monday 4 February 2019, 09:15AM Tourists queue up to get on a wooden shuttle bus to Chalong Pier in Muang district before boarding boats to smaller islands. Officers at Chalong Pier offer boater safety tips to tourists to help them stay safe during their trip. Phukets Old Town is the historical centre of Phuket City. The area is known for its many restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques and bars which make it a lively hangout after sunset and during the day. Tourists are seen on Nai Harn Beach, located on the southernmost tip of Phuket, west of Promthep Cape and facing the Andaman Sea. It is one of the most beautiful beaches on the southern coast. As Chinese New Year celebrations start tomorrow, Phuket is starting to see an upswing in local tourism, which was dealt a major blow after the Phoenix boat tragedy last year that killed 47 Chinese tourists. The boat capsized amid bad weather on July 5 as it was carrying 101 people back to the resort island. The accident hit the tourism industry hard, with thousands of hotel cancellations and six Chinese carriers halting their flights between China and Phuket. But a large number of visitors from China, the largest source of visitors to Phuket, will return this week thanks to attempts to improve safety standards. Tourism officials and businessmen welcomed the change in their fortunes last Tuesday (Jan 29) while attending the Lantern Festival in Phuket municipality. Hoteliers earlier expected Chinese tourists would return to Phuket by October of last year or by New Year at the latest after the government campaigned to boost tourist confidence in safer and happier trips. But that did not happen, Kongsak Khuphongsakon, chairman of the southern chapter of the Thai Hotels Association, told the Bangkok Post. Even during the Golden Week, a one-week vacation to celebrate the National Day of the Peoples Republic of China from Oct 1 to 7, many Chinese travellers opted not to spend time in Phuket. However, the week-long Chinese New Year festival will be another story. Hotel operators have reported higher numbers of room bookings between Feb 2 and 10, Mr Kongsak said. The occupancy rate has now risen to nearly 90%, out of about 100,000 hotel rooms, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The Chinese New Year festival alone will generate up to four billion baht, Kanokkittika Kritwutthikon, chief of TATs Phuket office, said. Compared with the number of tourists celebrating the festival in Phuket in 2018, this years arrivals are still down 30%, the Phuket-based Thai-Chinese Tourism Associations deputy chairman Triwit Aphimuk said. But, he said, Chinese New Year is playing a key role in reviving the bustling tourism atmosphere on the resort island. Though the number of Chinese tourists stood at 2.1 million and brought in revenues of 400 billion baht in 2018, their numbers dropped sharply from August to November after the boat tragedy, according to TATs Phuket office. They started to return to Phuket last December, but most of them are FIT, Ms Kanokkittika said, referring to what she calls free independent travellers (FIT), who prefer travelling without tourist guides. Those travelling with tour agencies have also come, but their numbers are still low, she said. At present, the FIT numbers made up more than 60% of all Chinese tourists in Phuket, with less than 30% for large tour groups, Mr Kongsak said. One reason is that FIT is a popular new trend among tourists from China, he said. Prospective travellers just read online reviews from tourists and are equipped with all of the information that they want. The tour agencies have, in contrast, plunged into the red after the deadly accident last summer. The red lights of the Lantern Festival should at least allow agencies to breath a sigh of relief as Phuket begins to draw back Chinese tourists who come to experience the beach and charm of Sino-Portuguese buildings in Phukets Old Town. Tourists will travel happily if all safety concerns and any inconveniences are removed. The government and tourist operators have launched various measures to achieve both of those goals. Authorities have placed regulations on 24 piers around the island to ensure their services meet with safety standards. Patrol boats will also keep tourist operators updated on weather conditions to avoid any unpleasant events. Several million baht have been spent on improving facilities both on land and in the sea. That will also boost the morale of tour operators, Thai-Chinese Tourism Association chairman Phichet Kittikomet said. I believe Chinese tourist numbers will increase by 10% as a result. The cabinet also agreed earlier this month to extend the waiver on the 2,000-baht visa-on-arrival fee for travellers from 20 countries, including China, until the end of April. One of the first results of its new measures is the higher number of foreign tourists during the Chinese New Year. While the situation in Phuket is showing a positive outlook, businessmen in the capital have to wait their turn to enjoy the same good fortune. Entrepreneurs on a half-kilometre stretch of Pracha Rat Bamphen Road in Bangkoks Huai Khwang district, which has been dubbed the New Chinatown, do not hold the same optimism on the number of Chinese tourists coming to Thailand this time of year. An owner of a small retail store, who asked not to be named, said the number of Chinese customers and sales at her shop has fallen by half since July. My shop used to draw up to 50 Chinese customers daily, but now it has only 10-20 Chinese visitors per day. I don't see Chinese walking along this road as often as before, so I don't think there will be more visitors during the Chinese New Year, she said. The shop owner said she thought the boat tragedy and other accidents related to tourists from mainland China might be the reason behind the absence of Chinese tourists visiting Thailand. A manager of a small hotel near Huai Khwang MRT station, who identified herself as Prang, said her hotels booking rate for Chinese tourists is also half of what it was six months ago. Luckily, Chinese only account for around 20% of our total guests, so the impact is not severe for us, but for other businesses in this area it must be worse, she said. Another Chinese restaurant operator, who asked not to be named, said it's not just the number of Chinese tourists in the new Chinatown that has decreased over the last six months, but the number of Chinese businesses there as well. Many shops have shut themselves down as the competition is more fierce now. When you rely on a specific group of customers and they instantly disappear, you cannot survive and make a profit. My restaurant can survive because I also have regular customers who live and work around here, he said. A Chinese couple visiting from Yunnan in southern China, who identified themselves as Mr and Mrs Chen, said the reason they chose to come to Thailand was to escape from the winter weather in China. We've come here several times because Thailand is not too far away and is inexpensive. We also love Thai street food culture, spas and Thai massage, they said. The couple said they were not at all concerned about safety while travelling in Thailand. However, they admitted that there has been negative news that has affected perceptions of Thailands safety among Chinese people. But we don't think it will be permanent. If Thai authorities improve security measures to restore confidence, they can easily bring back Chinese visitors because Thailand is one of the most welcoming countries, they said. Read original story here. American tourist hit by cop joins police volunteers PHUKET: An American man has joined the tourist police as a volunteer after an incident that was filmed in which he was assaulted by a Patong traffic police officer after demanding the reason why he was fined B1,000. patongpolicetourism By The Phuket News Monday 4 February 2019, 06:49PM UPDATE: The American man* contacted The Phuket News directly this morning (Feb 5) with the folllowing message: "I feel like associating myself and being involved with the police publicly is not something I'm interested in. I was perfectly happy with the way my life was before this happened, and this also doesn't support the life I want to have. So for these and many other reasons, I have decided not to participate in the volunteer police program. I was simply trying to honor my friend who helped me and the apology from the police. I hope everyone understands. Please update your article." Asked if the original intention was to be a volunteer just for one day, the American replied, "Yes. It was an agreement for them to try and make up to me and show what the police do in Patong. They offered for me to join the volunteers but after deep consideration I have decided it is not something I am interested in or want to be associated with. I was simply trying to honor the police chief and my friend (Thai lady) who went through the trouble to get the police to apologize." The video clip, which has since gone viral, was recorded by a 34-year-old American man* and shows him repeatedly asking the police officer, Capt Phirom Srisuwan, Why you take B1,000 from me? Tell me, why? The video clip then shows Capt Phirom shouting Bpai! (go) pushing the American mans arm and then his phone that he was recording with as the American repeats the question. Patong Police Chief Col Anotai Jindamanee told The Phuket News that the incident happened on Sawatdirak Rd in Patong, near Sai Nam Yen School at about 3am on Sunday (Feb 3). Everything is fine, people make mistakes. We need to be kind and forgiving in society. Everything has been figured out, Col Anotai assured. The main issue was miscommunication between a Thai policeman and an American tourist. It is normal that we might not understand everything that we say to each other, he explained. It was initially thought that the American was stopped for ghost driving (driving on the wrong side of the road). However, Col Anotai explained that the dispute was not about ghost driving as the American was ordered to stop before he drove into a forbidden road. Capt Phirom was trying to explain to [the American*] that he had to go to Patong Police Station when the misunderstanding occurred, Col Anotai said. Both [the American*] and Capt Phirom understand how the misunderstanding happened. [the American*] is a tourist who visits Phuket often and today began to volunteer for Patong Police. We welcome the decision by [the American*] as we need more English-speaking volunteers to help communicate with tourists and explain our traffic laws to them, Col Anotai explained. The American* told The Phuket News today, I admit that I turned on the wrong street by accident, however, I did not deserve to be hit. The police chief made an apology and offered me to be a volunteer to help and I accepted the offer. I appreciate Thai police efforts and everyone's understanding in this matter, he added. * The American man contacted The Phuket News on Aug 14, 2019 and requested that his name and photo be be removed from the article. Royal Oak murder suspect Dane Steward in 44th District Court. His attorney says Steward has a history of mental health problems, is now unresponsive and has stopped eating. Students at Athens High School participate in a previous Jail n Bail fundraiser during Charity Week. Students can put themselves or others in jail and they have to raise money for their release. The fundraiser will be part of this years Charity Week. The fundraisers will benefit underprivileged children in Detroit. The 13th annual Kids Heart Challenge, hosted by Huron Valley Schools, raised $62,800 for the American Heart Association at the Lakeland High S To curb a growing measles outbreak, Oakland County schools and daycares where a measles exposure has occurred are being asked to exclude unvac Bud, a London, UK-based open banking app, raised $20m in Series A funding. According to a blog post, backers included HSBC, Goldman Sachs, ANZ, Investecs INVC fund, InnoCells, Lord Fink, and 9Yards Capital. The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations and its business reach. Led by Edward Maslaveckas, CEO, and George Dunning, CTO, Bud provides an Open Banking as a Service API that enables banks to create a new generation of finance app that integrates products from third parties, generates insights and simplifies customer experiences. Its open banking API enables banks to build digital products to: Increase the functionality of new or existing apps by letting customers securely link their bank accounts and more Improve customer engagement with personal insights and notifications Use bank data to make user journeys more meaningful and less time-consuming. The company has connections with fintech companies and financial service providers, allowing banks to integrate products and services into existing apps or launch new products. FinSMEs 04/02/2019 Effectiveness generates from linkages Despite its youth, Minh Nguyen Supporting Industry JSC has invested heavily in technologies to produce quality products, thanks to its steadfastly aims to participate in the global supply chain since its inception in 2015. From then till now, only three years after its establishment, Minh Nguyen has become a reliable manufacturer of plastic components for multiple industries, such as digital household goods, electronic components and car parts, as well as becoming a first-tier supplier for Samsung Vietnam. Citing specific examples of the effectiveness of the linkage between domestic and FDI enterprises, Professor Nguyen Mai, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE), said that in 2008-2018, Samsung has invested over US$17.3 billion in Vietnam and recruited 170,000 workers. In 2014, Vietnam had four enterprises as Samsung's first-tier suppliers. At present, Samsung has more than 200 Vietnamese supporting enterprises, of which 29 are first-tier venders. It is expected that by 2020 the figure will rise to 50 first-tier venders. To increase the number of its Vietnamese suppliers, Samsung has continuously implemented a capacity building programme for them, through sending experts from the Republic Korea to directly support Vietnamese enterprises. "Thanks to that, in only three months, Golsun Company has a 60% decrease in its inventory, while equipment error rate decreased by 72% and the exact production rate increased from 0% to 94%. For Mida Company, the general equipment efficiency increased by 26%, equipment operating productivity up by 59%, the error rate decreased by 52%, and the proportion of inventories down by 54%, revealed Prof. Nguyen Mai. He also affirmed that FDI enterprises connect with Vietnamese ones to provide practical support for them in terms of sending experts, technological solutions and business management to improve production and business capacity. On that basis, more and more Vietnamese enterprises have joined the global supply chain. Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) show that Vietnam has about 1,800 support industry enterprises, of which about 300 are participating in multinational companies' supply chains. At a recent conference on support industry, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that the capacity of the domestic support industry has gradually improved, meeting a part of localisation for Vietnams production sectors, particularly, 40-45% for textile and garment industry and leather shoes, 10-20% for manufacturing and assembling of cars under nine seats, 15% for electronics, informatics and telecommunications, and 5% for special electronics and high technology. However, in addition to being proactive in seeking opportunities to establish reliable cooperation between domestic enterprises and transnational companies doing business in Vietnam, the State needs more policies to encourage this link. Connecting enterprises Although positive results have been achieved, Ron Ashkin, Director of the USAID-funded Linkages for Small and Medium Enterprises (LinkSME) Project in Vietnam, said that the barrier of Vietnamese enterprises is that despite efforts to develop in scale, most of them are still small and medium, with limited productivity, technology, experience, manpower and management capacity. To effectively connect with the global value chain, businesses must analyse their own capabilities to know where they are, their strengths, weaknesses, what buyers need and their ability to respond. It is also necessary to prioritise on the issues that need to be tackled and focus resources to meet customer requirements. In addition, the State needs more supportive solutions to enhance this connection. According to the Industry Agency under the MOIT, in recent years, to strengthen the linkage between FDI enterprises and domestic suppliers, as well as to increase the number of enterprises participating in the global value chain, the ministry has often held meets and exchanges with FDI enterprises, promoting projects to facilitate Vietnamese enterprises to join the supply chain. In particular, the two outstanding areas are electronics and automobile assembly and production. Specifically, in the field of electronics, the ministry has collaborated with Samsung in finding Vietnam's support industry companies qualified to participate in Samsung's production chain. The MOIT is cooperating with Samsung in a training programme for 200 Vietnamese consultants who are qualified to advise and retrain the suppliers in Vietnam's supporting industry. Similarly, in the automotive sector, the ministry carries out activities every year to survey and assess the capacity of support industry enterprises and support them to join the supply chain for automobile businesses in Vietnam. Since 2014, the MOIT has published an annual yearbook on supporting industry in Vietnamese manufacturing sectors. Mr. Mac Quoc Anh, Vice President cum General Secretary of the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, said that there is no other way for supporting industry than to compulsorily link with FDI enterprises, who cover 65% of Vietnams exports, to learn how to design, manufacture and absorb source technologies. Therefore, the association will strengthen coordination with Hanoi authorities and relevant departments to bring supporting industry enterprises to Japan and the Republic of Korea the countries with strong development of support industry, to call for investment and business cooperation with Vietnamese enterprises. At the same time, it will call for ODA and concessional loans to aid supporting industry enterprises with investment in technologies, factories and human resource training. In the near future, the MOIT and concerned localities will continue to implement the contents in the Supporting Industry Development Programme during 2016-2025, as approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 68/Q-TTg to promote production of supporting industry products for domestic production and export and participating in global value chains. Aging 'Golden Girls' trend could be a golden opportunity for retirees facing isolation 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. Students help faculty seek best way to deliver anti-inflammatory curcumin to cancer Getting out of a comfort zone is something that most adults want to see out of students. SMCP gets beyond one billion euros. The French group, owner of Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot, closed 2018 fiscal year with an increase of 13% in sales, to 1.01 billion euros. The company explained in a press release that the results are due to the boost in sales in America, Asia Pacific and the region of Europe, Near East and Africa, where the revenue grew by 25.7%, 18.2% and 7.2%, respectively. In France, its local market, the companys income took a step backwards, with a fall of 1.9% due to the yellow vest protests. Moreover, SMCP pointed out that, although in the region of Europe, Near East and Africa the results have been positive, the climate and the impact of the Brexit have also affected sales. By brands, Maje is the one that had a better evolution during 2018. The brand registered a growth of 15.9%, to 391.4 million euros. Sandro, on its part, registered a rise of 11.4%, to 500.6 million euros, while Claudie Pierlot had a revenue of 125.2 million euros, 11.1% more. During last year, SMCP increased its store network with 134 openings. The company, present in forty countries, set up 7 points of sale in France, 49 in the region of Europe, Near East and Africa, 19 in Africa and 59 new stores in Asia Pacific. Ingersoll Rand Inc. provides various mission-critical air, fluid, energy, specialty vehicle and medical technologies in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through four segments: Industrial Technologies and Services; Precision and Science Technologies; Specialty Vehicle Technologies; and High Pressure Solutions segments. The company offers air and gas compression, vacuum and blower products, fluid transfer and management equipment, loading systems, power tools and lifting equipment, displacement pumps, liquid and precision syringe pumps, and compressors, as well as as well as aftermarket parts, consumables, and services. It also designs, manufactures, and markets golf, utility, and consumer low-speed vehicles, as well as integrated systems. The company's products are used in medical, laboratory, industrial manufacturing, water and wastewater, chemical processing, drilling, hydraulic fracturing, well servicing applications, precision irrigation, energy, food and beverage, agriculture, and automated liquid handling end-markets, as well as various manufacturing, industrial facilities applications, and other activities. It serves to various industries and sectors. The company sells its products through an integrated network of direct sales representatives and independent distributors under the Ingersoll Rand, Gardner Denver, Club Car, CompAir, Nash, Elmo Rietschle, Robuschi, Thomas, Milton Roy, ARO, Emco Wheaton, and Runtech Systems brands. The company was formerly known as Gardner Denver Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Ingersoll Rand Inc. in March 2020. Ingersoll Rand Inc. was founded in 1859 and is based in Davidson, North Carolina. Read More Pierre Duhaime (Image courtesy of Montreal Council on Foreign Relations)Former SNC-Lavalin CEO Pierre Duhaime pleaded guilty Friday to helping a public servant commit breach of trust. Following his plea, Duhaime, 64, was sentenced to 20 months house arrest and 240 hours of community service. Fourteen other charges he faced were dropped. Duhaime was set to go on trial this week for the bribery scandal around construction of a $1.3 billion super-hospital in Montreal. SNC-Lavalin, Canadas biggest engineering and construction management firm, has been mired for years in allegations of domestic and foreign bribery. In 2012, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police filed an affidavit that tied former SNC-Lavalin executive Riadh Ben Aissa to more than $160 million in alleged bribes paid to Libyan officials in exchange for contracts. Swiss authorities arrested Ben Aissa and held him for 29 months. They released him as part of a 2014 plea deal after he forfeited about $40 million in cash and property. In 2013, the World Bank barred SNC-Lavalin from bank-funded projects for ten years because of alleged corruption in Bangladesh and Cambodia. In October last year, federal prosecutors in Canada said they wouldnt negotiate a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin to resolve criminal fraud and corruption charges related to Libya. Prosecutors charged the company and two subsidiaries for the Libya graft in February 2015. The board fired Duhaime from his $5 million-a-year CEO post in March 2012. An independent review had discovered he approved $56-million in payments to undisclosed agents. SNC-Lavalin said in December that ongoing legal challenges have caused it to shrink from 20,000 employees in 2013 to 8,500 today. But it said that since 2012 it has built a world-class ethics and compliance program, cooperated fully with regulatory and government authorities, changed its board, management, and key personnel, and settled class actions in Quebec and Ontario filed on behalf of security holders. ___ Richard L. Cassin is editor at large of the FCPA Blog. The following companies are subsidiares of Laboratory Co. of America: 1957285 Ontario Inc. dba Quality Underwriting Services, 2089729 Ontario Inc., 2248848 Ontario Inc., 3065619 Nova Scotia Company, 3257959 Nova Scotia Company, 896988 Ontario Limited, 9279-3280 Quebec Inc., Accupath Diagnostic Laboratories Inc., Alpha Medical Laboratory LLC, Assets of Pathology Inc, Beacon LBS IPA Inc., Beacon Laboratory Benefit Solutions Inc., CannAmm GP Inc., CannAmm Limited Partnership, Center for Disease Detection International, Center for Disease Detection LLC, Centrex Clinical Laboratories Inc., Clearstone Central Laboratories (U.S.) Inc., Clearstone Holdings (International) Ltd., Clipper Holdings Inc., Colorado Coagulation Consultants Inc., Colorado Laboratory Services LLC, Correlagen Diagnostics Inc., Covance Inc., Curalab Inc., Cytometry Associates Inc., Czura Thornton (Hong Kong) Limited, DCL Acquisition Inc., DCL Medical Laboratories LLC (DE), DCL Medical Laboratories LLC (FL), DCL Sub LLC, DIANON Systems Inc., DL Holdings Limited Partnership, Decision Diagnostics L.L.C. 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Inc., Dynacare Holdco LLC, Dynacare Laboratories Inc., Dynacare Laboratories Limited Partnership, Dynacare Northwest Inc., Dynacare Realty Inc., DynalifeDX Infrastructure Inc., Endocrine Sciences Inc., Esoterix Genetic Counseling LLC, Esoterix Genetic Laboratories LLC, Esoterix Inc., Execmed Health Services Inc., FirstSource Laboratory Solutions Inc., GDML Medical Laboratories Inc, Gamma Dynacare Central Medical Laboratories GP Inc., Gamma Dynacare Central Medical Laboratory Limited Partnership, HHLA Lab-In-An-Envelope LLC, Health Trans Services Inc., Home Healthcare Laboratory of America LLC, IDX Pathology Inc., Impact Genetics Corp, Impact Genetics Inc., Kaleida LabCorp LLC, Lab Delivery Service of New York City Inc., LabCorp BVBA, LabCorp Belgium Holdings Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (Canada) Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (China) Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (Singapore) Pte., LabCorp Development Company, LabCorp Employer Services Inc., LabCorp Health System Diagnostics LLC, LabCorp Indiana Inc., LabCorp Japan G.K., LabCorp Limited, LabCorp Michigan Inc., LabCorp Nebraska Inc., LabCorp Neon Ltd., LabCorp Neon Switzerland S.a.r.l., LabCorp Specialty Testing Billing Service Inc., LabCorp Specialty Testing Group Inc., LabCorp Staffing Solutions Inc., LabCorp Tennessee LLC, LabCorp UK Holdings Ltd., LabWest Inc., Laboratoire Bio-Medic Inc., Laboratory Corporation of America, Lifecodes Corporation, LipoScience Inc., Litholink Corporation, MEDTOX Scientific Inc., Medical Neurogenitics LLC, Medtox Diagnostics Inc., Medtox Laboratories Inc., Monogram Biosciences Inc., Monogram Biosciences UK Limited, NWT Inc., National Genetics Institute, New Brighton Business Center LLC, New Imaging Diagnostics LLC, New Molecular Diagnostics Ventures LLC, Orchid Cellmark Ltd., Orchid Cellmark ULC, PA Labs Inc., Path Lab Incorporated, Pathology Associates Medical Lab LLC, Pee Dee Pathology Associates Inc., Persys Technology Inc., Pixel by LabCorp, Princeton Diagnostic Laboratories of America Inc., Protedyne Corporation, ReliaGene Technologies Inc., SW/DL LLC, Saint Josephs-PAML LLC, Sequenom Biosciences (India) Pvt. Ltd., Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine LLC, Sequenom Inc, Sequenom Inc., Southern Idaho Regional Laboratory, Tandem Labs Inc., The LabCorp Charitable Foundation, Tri-Cities Laboratory LLC, Viro-Med Laboratories Inc., and Yakima Medical Arts Inc.. 13 hours ago | June 21st | 2021 8:00 AM Why You Might Have to Retire Later Due to COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic in general increased retirement uncertainty. In fact, Lincoln Financial Group reported three different sentiments regarding the pandemic and specific age groups: Pre-retirees: The age group from 55 to 64 saw the biggest drop of retirement-ready confidence. Mid-career: Individuals between the ages of 35 and 54 saw a When it comes to noodles, Japan may be more famous for ramen. Yet Kagawa Prefecture prides itself on serving the best udon, and now has a hotel that doubles as a cookery school dedicated to the local delicacy. The Udon House opened last October in Mitoyo city, on the western Japan island of Shikoku, in a refurbished 80-year-old home built in a traditional style. "We hope to promote the local region through the culture of sanuki udon," said hotel manager Kanako Harada, referring to Kagawa's famous thick, chewy noodles. Guests take half-day classes from udon masters, learning the tricks of the trade necessary to turn wheat flour into the local soul food. To cater to the rising number of foreign visitors, the hotel has staff who can speak English, Chinese and Korean. Still, the bulk of guests are Japanese. Kaori Yamada, a 44-year-old university lecturer visiting from Kyoto in late December, said the udon-making lesson was very detailed and she was glad that teachers took account of participants' individual needs. Harada, the manager, hails from Tokyo and had worked in Rakuten Inc.'s travel department until spring 2017. But last June, she moved to Mitoyo after being involved in the launch of Setouchi Udon Co., a local trading company fully funded by the city. Read also: Six restaurants in Japan that serve halal food Drawing on her global travel experiences as a student and later work in the tourism industry, Harada said, "I came to realize that travelers desire to learn about the local culture of where they are visiting." So far, foreign visitors account for some 20 percent of guests, but Harada said overseas' interest had picked up since the hotel was featured on CNN's travel website in January. "I want to show that a local community in Shikoku is capable of being directly connected to the world," Harada said. The hotel offers two dormitory-type rooms and one Japanese-style room. The standard plan, which includes the udon class and a local farm visit, in addition to dinner and breakfast, is priced at 29,800 yen ($270) per person, excluding tax. Kagawa, which promotes itself as Japan's "Udon Prefecture," is situated in the Seto Inland Sea and is a famed pilgrimage spot on the 88-temple "Shikoku Henro" route. The nearby island of Naoshima is famous as a contemporary art hub, while the olive-producing island of Shodoshima boasts of its picturesque "Angel Road" sand bar that only appears during low tide. British guidebook publisher Rough Guides has included Indonesia in its list of the worlds most beautiful countries and quite high up, too. The ranking was updated on Jan. 4 based on Rough Guides readers voting on social media channels. This was not lost on President Joko Jokowi Widodo, who hailed the achievement with a video shared on his Instagram account. Renowned UK publisher Rough Guides recently conducted a global survey on the worlds most beautiful countries. The result [shows] that Indonesia was ranked sixth in the world, but [was named] the most beautiful country in Asia, Jokowi wrote in the same post. The video shows some of the most popular tourist attractions, from temples to surfing spots in Bali, beautiful beaches in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, and orangutans in Kalimantan. Rough Guides polling strengthens Indonesias position as a world-class tourist destination, said Jokowi. Read also: Bali ranks 4th among TripAdvisor's top 25 global destinations Heres the full of the worlds 20 most beautiful countries, according to Rough Guides readers. (jes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 14:40 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b174633 1 SE Asia #Indonesia,#Philippines,#bomb-blast,#TerrorAttack,#Terrorism,Indonesia,Philippines,bomb,terror-attack Free A statement from Manila that claimed that an Indonesian couple was behind the deadly Jan. 27 bombing of a church on Jolo island was still one-sided claim, Jakarta said on Monday. Efforts to verify the information was still underway and involved Indonesias National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) and Foreign Ministry, said Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto. Relevant authorities are still investigating who exactly was behind this attack. There are still many possibilities, he said. So dont conclude rashly that Indonesian citizens were [the perpetrators]. The government planned to deploy officials from the BNPT and the Foreign Ministry to the Philippines to gain clear understanding of the incident, said Wiranto: We should not be trapped by a one-sided statement. We should await [the investigation]. Following the Jan. 27 bomb attack on the Our Lady of Mount Carmel cathedral on the majority Muslim island of Jolo in the Philippines' Sulu province, Philippine Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano stated that an Indonesian man and his wife were behind the attack, according to an AFP report. At least 22 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in the bombing. In his statement, Ano said that the information had been obtained from undisclosed sources and witnesses. The couple was believed to have received help from Islamic State (IS), which had claimed responsibility for the attack. On the morning of the day after the bombing, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack on its Twitter account and conveyed its condolences to the Philippine government and the victims' families. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Brian Ellsworth (Reuters) Caracas, Venezuela Mon, February 4, 2019 12:12 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b16901d 2 World #USA,#VenezuelaCrisis,Donald-Trump,US,military-operation,venezuela,Russia,rejects Free US President Donald Trump said military intervention in Venezuela was "an option" as Western nations boost pressure on socialist leader Nicolas Maduro to step down, while the troubled OPEC nation's ally Russia warned against "destructive meddling." The United States, Canada and several Latin American countries have disavowed Maduro over his disputed re-election last year and recognized self-proclaimed President Juan Guaido as the country's rightful leader. Trump said US military intervention was under consideration in an interview with CBS aired on Sunday. "Certainly, it's something that's on the - it's an option," Trump said, adding that Maduro requested a meeting months ago. "I've turned it down because we're very far along in the process," he said in a "Face the Nation" interview. "So, I think the process is playing out." The Trump administration last week issued crippling sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA, a key source of revenue for the country, which is experiencing medicine shortages and malnutrition. Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse and the exodus of millions of Venezuelans, maintains the backing of Russia, China and Turkey, and the critical support of the military. Russia, a major creditor to Venezuela in recent years, urged restraint. "The international community's goal should be to help (Venezuela), without destructive meddling from beyond its borders," Alexander Shchetinin, head of the Latin America department at Russia's Foreign Ministry, told Interfax. France and Austria said they would recognize Guaido if Maduro did not respond to the European Union's call for a free and fair presidential election by Sunday night. "We don't accept ultimatums from anyone," Maduro said in a defiant interview with Spanish television channel Antena 3 carried out last week and broadcast on Sunday. "I refuse to call for elections now - there will be elections in 2024. We don't care what Europe says." EMBOLDENED OPPOSITION The 35-year-old Guaido, head of the country's National Assembly, has breathed new life into a previously fractured and weary opposition. Tens of thousands of people thronged the streets of various Venezuelan cities on Saturday to protest Maduro's government. Guaido allies plan to take a large quantity of food and medicine donated by the United States, multilateral organizations and non-profit groups across the Colombian border into the Venezuelan state of Tachira this week, according to a person directly involved in the effort. The group has not yet determined which border point it will cross, said the person, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the issue. It is unclear whether Maduro's government, which denies the country is suffering a humanitarian crisis, will let any foreign aid through. The embattled president on Sunday promised peace for Venezuela without specifically responding to Trump. "In Venezuela, there will be peace, and we will guarantee this peace with the civil military union," he told state television, in the company of khaki and black-clad soldiers who were earlier shown carrying guns and jumping from helicopters into the sea. Maduro has overseen several such military drills since Guaido declared himself president to display he has the backing of the military, and that Venezuelas armed forces are ready to defend the country. Air Force General Francisco Yanez disavowed Maduro in a video this weekend, calling on members of the military to defect. But there were no signs the armed forces were turning against Maduro. Venezuela has as many as 2,000 generals, according to unofficial estimates, many of whom do not command troops and whose defection would not necessarily weaken the ruling socialists. The police have also fallen in line with Maduro. A special forces unit called FAES led home raids following unrest associated with opposition protests in January, killing as many as 10 people in a single operation in a hillside slum of Caracas. Venezuela's ambassador to Iraq, Jonathan Velasco, became the latest official to recognize opposition leader Guaido this weekend. A recent docket update by the Southern District of New York suggests that Andrew Simon, a Manhattan-based commercial real estate broker charged in 2017 with conspiring to violate the FCPA, has pleaded guilty under seal and is scheduled to be sentenced later this month. Simon was originally charged in October 2017 on one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA for his role in a corruption scheme involving the Keangnam Hanoi Landmark 72 skyscraper in Vietnam. Based on the relevant court filings, Simon conspired with two other Manhattan-based commercial real estate brokers, Joo Hyun Bahn and Sang Woo, to channel a $500,000 bribe through a New York fashion consultant and blogger named Malcolm Harris to a government official from an unnamed Middle Eastern country. The bribe, which Harris reportedly had no intention of passing along, was meant to induce the unnamed Middle Eastern countrys sovereign wealth fund to purchase the Landmark 72 building. Simon, Bahn and Woo were allegedly acting at the behest of Bahns father, Ban Ki Sang, the nephew of former U.N. Chief Ban Ki-Moon and a former executive with Keangnam Enterprises Co., which built and owned Landmark 72 and was heavily indebted on the project. Simon entered a plea of not guilty to a superseding indictment filed on March 30, 2018, after which the docket contains limited information until two entries on January 22, 2019, that indicate that Simon is scheduled to be sentenced on February 25, 2019, suggesting his plea agreement is under seal. Prosecutors frequently seek court approval to file plea agreements under seal where the settlements relate to other ongoing cases that could be negatively affected by the premature release of sensitive or confidential information. Simon would be the latest defendant to plead guilty in connection with the Landmark 72 scandal, following: Harris, who pleaded guilty to a non-FCPA offense on June 21, 2017, and was later sentenced to 42 months in prison; and Bahn, who pleaded guilty on January 5, 2018, agreed to a $225,000 disgorgement with the SEC on September 6, 2018, and was ultimately sentenced to 6 months in prison. The status of Woos charges are unclear. Woos case was last continued until May 12, 2017, and he was reportedly attempting to negotiate a plea. Which leaves only Ban, who is a South Korean national whom the United States has been trying to extradite since January 2017. _____ Marc Alain Bohn, pictured above, is Counsel in the International Department of Miller & Chevalier and focuses on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other areas of international corporate compliance, including export controls and economic sanctions. He can be contacted here. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 14:01 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b16e043 4 Business SMF,mortgage,disbursement,target Free State-owned secondary mortgage company PT Sarana Multigriya Finansial (SMF) aims to disburse Rp 10 trillion (US$716 million) in mortgages in 2019, 2 percent higher than last year, which saw Rp 9.8 trillion disbursed. SMF securitization and finance director Heliantopo said recently that the company had set strategies to achieve the target, including by providing consultation and training to those responsible for the distribution of loans as well as to maximize loan distribution in central and eastern Indonesia. The distribution of mortgages has so far focused on western Indonesia, particularly, Java, the most-densely populated island. In 2018, 78 percent of SMFs mortgages was distributed to the western part of the country, 20 percent to central Indonesia and 23 percent to eastern Indonesia. Heliantopo said SMF planned to cooperate with regional development banks in central and eastern Indonesia to boost loan disbursement. If the banks have not channeled any housing loans, we will encourage them to do so. If they have, we will increase the figure," Heliantopo told kontan.co.id. However, he acknowledged that mortgage distribution should be in line with the populations in certain regions. On top of that, SMF will also target millennials by holding events to raise their awareness about the importance of owning homes. From 2005 to 2018, the company disbursed Rp 47.5 trillion, Rp 37.3 trillion of which was channeled to mortgage lenders, while Rp 10.5 trillion was disbursed through securitization transactions. (ars/bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 08:40 869 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b15efe6 2 Business village-funds,President-Jokowi,rural-development Free President Joko Jokowi Widodo has said infrastructure in rural areas is the foundation of development in Indonesia. [...] what I like most is the availability of infrastructure in villages. It is the basic foundation for development all over the country, the President said, adding that there were around 74,000 villages across the country. Jokowi made the statement during a visit to Surabaya, East Java, on Saturday. During his visit Jokowi was accompanied by First Lady Iriana, Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Eko Putro Sandjojo and East Java Governor Soekarwo, among others. Jokowi said he was pleased to have received reports about the use of village funds in East Java. East Javas village funds amounted to Rp 19.8 trillion (US$1.42 billion) and its realization reached 99 percent, according to Soekarwo. If more money was circulated in villages, the welfare of locals would be significantly improved, Soekarwo noted. Since 2015, the Jokowi administration has disbursed Rp 257 trillion in village funds Rp 20.7 trillion disbursed in 2015, Rp 47 trillion in 2016, Rp 60 trillion in 2017, Rp 60 trillion in 2018 and Rp 70 trillion in 2019. More funds will be disbursed in 2020, 2021 and 2022 [for village development], because that will be the foundation of the countrys progress, said Jokowi, who is seeking reelection in April. (brf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 09:47 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b160f6b 2 Business investment,Japan,prospect Free Indonesia believes Japanese investment in Southeast Asias largest economy still has the potential to increase. Japanese portfolio investment in Indonesia still has the potential to increase, as the value is very small at present, Mirza Adityaswara, the senior deputy governor of Bank Indonesia (BI), said on Saturday after his meetings with Japanese investors and analysts in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. Indonesia needs to maintain ties with Japanese investors and provide up-to-date information about Indonesias economy on a continual basis, he said. His meeting with Japanese investors and analysts in Tokyo and Osaka was part of a move to provide updated information about Indonesia. Based on Finance Ministry data, the value of portfolio investment in the form of shares and bonds in rupiah as of December 2018 totaled US$163.56 billion, including $61.68 billion of foreign ownership. The ownership of Japanese investors was recorded at only $2.07 billion. Their ownership of Indonesian bonds in yen is also small. Adityaswara has called on all relevant stakeholder to help intensify ties with Japanese investors in order to attract more investment, including direct investment. Investors would notice Indonesias commitment to development, if there was sound coordination and synergy among relevant stakeholders in the country, he added. Suahasil Nazara, head of the Finance Ministrys Fiscal Policy Agency, said the government was optimistic about attracting more investment from Japan by offering up-to-date information to Japanese investors. Indonesian Ambassador to Japan Arifin Tasrif added that the value of Japanese trade and investment in Indonesia would increase if the two countries signed an economic partnership agreement. He hoped the agreement would be signed in June this year, prior to the G20 Summit in Japan. Indonesia enjoyed a trade surplus of some $2 billion with Japan, which was not a problem for Japan, he said. (brf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4 2019 Kampung residents have criticized the Jakarta administrations Community Action Plan (CAP), a supposedly collaborative program between the city administration and residents, for a lack of communication between its hired consulting firms and residents. On Jan. 14, 2018, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan issued Gubernatorial Decree No. 878 on village management that earmarked 21 of the citys kampungs for renewal by the administration using the regional budget. Supervised by the Jakarta Housing and Settlement Agency, 10 consulting firms are involved in the program. The city administration has set aside a budget of Rp 10 billion (US$717.5) for the program. The consulting companies include PT Hardja Moekti Consultant, which won tenders in seven kampungs; PT Innerindo Dinamika, which won in three kampungs; and PT Jakarta Konsultindo and PT Angelia Oerip Mandiri, whic... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Catherine Marciano with Rene Slama in Dubai (Agence France-Presse) Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Mon, February 4, 2019 20:28 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b18b520 2 World #PopeFrancis,#Islam,PopeFrancis,dialogue,UAE,Muslim Free Pope Francis, the first leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics to visit the Arabian Peninsula, will attend an interfaith meeting in the UAE on Monday as part of his outreach to Muslims. The pontiff arrived in a modest black Kia at Abu Dhabi's presidential palace, where he was welcomed with a lavish military parade. Officers fired 21 shots in the air, while jets flew overhead leaving white and yellow trails -- the colours of the Vatican City flag. The pope's highly publicised 48-hour visit to the United Arab Emirates will also include an open-air mass on Tuesday for 135,000 of the Muslim country's million Catholic residents, set to be the largest public gathering in the country's history. The pope was expected to raise the issue of Yemen, devastated by a war in which the UAE is a key player, in talks with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. Yemen is the scene of what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, triggered by the intervention of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies in a war between the government and Huthi rebels. More than 10 million Yemenis now risk imminent starvation. 'Delighted' to welcome pope Sheikh Mohammed said on Monday that UAE rulers were "delighted" to meet the pontiff "in our homeland of tolerance". "We discussed enhancing cooperation, consolidating dialogue, tolerance, human coexistence and important initiatives to achieve peace, stability and development for peoples and societies," he tweeted. Pope Francis, who made history when he touched down in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night, said he came "as a brother, in order to write a page of dialogue together, and to travel paths of peace together". To mark the occasion, the pontiff offered the crown prince a framed medallion of the meeting between St. Francis Assisi -- the pope's namesake -- and the Sultan of Egypt Malek al-Kamel, in 1219. Sheikh Mohammed, in turn, offered a deed for the plot of land on which the first church in the UAE was built. The pope was set to meet with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb -- imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's prestigious seat of learning -- later Monday. Sheikh Ahmed greeted the pope personally with an embrace on Sunday night as the pontiff arrived in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. The emirate's crown prince was also at the airport to greet the pontiff, who has made strengthening ties between Christianity and Islam a cornerstone of his papacy. Hours before he flies back to Rome on Tuesday, the pope will lead a mass at a stadium in the capital. - Pope addresses Yemen war - The UAE has dubbed 2019 its "year of tolerance", but rights groups have criticised the country for its role in Yemen, where an estimated 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-led alliance including the UAE joined the government's fight against the Huthis in 2015. Rights groups, which have slammed the UAE over its intolerance of dissent, have also urged the pope to raise the issue of Ahmed Mansoor, an Emirati activist serving a 10-year prison term. Before heading to the Gulf on Sunday, Pope Francis urged warring parties in Yemen to respect a truce agreement and allow deliveries of food aid. "The population is exhausted by the lengthy conflict and a great many children are suffering from hunger, but cannot access food depots," he said. "The cry of these children and their parents rises up to God." The UAE, which prides itself on its religious diversity in the Gulf, is a member of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in both Syria and Iraq. The UAE has eight Catholic churches. Oman, Kuwait and Yemen each have four. Qatar and Bahrain have one each, while ultra-conservative Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia bans all non-Muslim places of worship. Muslims make up nearly four fifths of the UAE's population, but the country is also home to nearly a million Catholics, according to the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Migrants from Asian countries make up about 65 percent of the population. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 21:53 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b18d02a 1 National KPK,attack-on-KPK-officials,Jakarta-police Free The Jakarta Police are still investigating the motive behind the assault of two Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) officials, who were recently attacked while reportedly tailing Papua Governor Lukas Enembe. The two officials, who were previously reported as KPK investigators, were following up a tip-off about alleged corruption at Hotel Borobudur in Central Jakarta, where officials from the Papua administration, including Lukas, were holding a meeting with members of the Papua Legislative Council (DPRD Papua). The KPK officials were then assaulted by unidentified assailants. Following questioning of the two KPK officials, Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said the two KPK officials were not investigators but probers, suggesting they had not been involved in a raid or sting operation. Probing is an early stage in an investigation in which the KPK conducts an assessment on whether there is a case of graft or not and whether a tip-off can be further developed into an investigation. Argo said KPK deputy chairman Laode Muhammad Syarif had picked up the officials after the questioning on Sunday evening. We have yet to find out [the reason for the assault]. We still dont have any information on the matter, Argo said on Monday, as quoted by kompas.com. The KPK reported the attacks to the Jakarta Police on Sunday without elaborating to public on the case the officials had been working on at the hotel, or whether it involved Lukas. DPRD Papua Speaker Yunus Yonda told Antara on Sunday that Papua provincial administration employees had detained KPK employees who had been tailing Lukas. Yunus, however, stopped short of saying they had assaulted the KPK officials. Antara reported that one of the KPK investigators, identified only as Muhammad Gilang W., was caught taking pictures of Lukas by Papua administration regional secretary Hery Dosinaen. They allegedly took his phone and discovered a WhatsApp chat detailing Lukas activity upon attending the meeting at the hotel. KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said the assailants had continued the attack even after the officials had shown them their KPK identification cards. The injured officials were being prepared on Sunday afternoon for surgery for a broken nose and other facial injuries. The assailants had also confiscated some of the officials belongings, Febri said, declining to divulge details. Febri said on Monday that the KPK had submitted information about the identity of the alleged assailants to the Jakarta Police, including a photo of them. We expect the case will be handled immediately, because we have provided visual information, he said. We will also hand [a medical report] over to the police. Febri said the assault should be deemed an obstruction of justice, in which the assailants tried to disrupt the work of law enforcement officials. Yunus said on Monday that the KPK officials were not assaulted. He said that the officials were taken to the Jakarta Police headquarters after the Papua officials discovered them in their gathering at the hotel. "When we took them to the Jakarta Police, they were in good condition. We took them to make sure that they were KPK officials. [At that time] no bruise, no blood. Everything was normal," he said. Yunus also said the Papua officials had the right to question the KPK officials who had taken pictures during their meeting because the activities had intruded privacy. (afr) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nelson Renteria and Noe Torres (Reuters) San Salvador, El Salvador Mon, February 4, 2019 14:32 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b1704f4 2 World #El-Salvador,#election,former,mayor,Nayib-Bukele,president Free A former mayor campaigning on an anti-corruption ticket swept to victory in El Salvador's presidential election on Sunday, bringing an end to a two-party system that has held sway over the violence-plagued Central American country for three decades. Nayib Bukele, the 37-year-old former mayor of the capital, San Salvador, won 54 percent of votes with returns counted from 88 percent of polling stations, said Julio Olivo, the head of the electoral tribunal. Bukele won more votes than all other candidates combined in his first-round sweep, highlighting deep voter frustration over the failure of the two main parties to tackle violence and corruption. "This day is historic for our country. This day El Salvador destroyed the two-party system," Bukele told hundreds of Salvadorans who danced, waved flags and blew whistles in a San Salvador plaza that Bukele revitalized when he was mayor from 2015 to 2018. His two rivals from the mainstream political parties conceded defeat. Bukele must now contend with U.S. President Donald Trump's frequent threats to cut aid to El Salvador - as well as neighboring Guatemala and Honduras - if they do not do more to curb migration to the United States. At home, supporters hope that a third-party politician will usher in changes to improve a sluggish economy and widespread poverty. "Let's see if he can do what he's promised for us," said a jubilant supporter, Baltazar Sanchez, 30, at Bukele's victory speech. "After 30 years of two parties, we've been dealt the best hand." 'WE DID IT' Gang violence has made tiny El Salvador one of the world's most murderous countries in the past few years, driving Salvadorans to flee to the north. Among his campaign promises, Bukele, an avid social media user who snapped a selfie with supporters before declaring his win, said he would push infrastructure projects to limit such migration. Since the end of its civil war in 1992, El Salvador has been governed by the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) and its rival, conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). Though he describes himself as from the left and was expelled from the FMLN, Bukele has formed a coalition including a right-wing party that together has just 11 seats in the legislature, which consists of 84 people. Outside the hotel in San Salvador where Bukele waited for the results, a group of supporters set off fireworks, beat drums and danced as early figures came in. "Yes, we did it! Yes, we did it!" they chanted. FMLN candidate Hugo Martinez conceded defeat shortly after Bukele's victory speech while ARENA candidate Carlos Calleja said he recognized the election results and would call Bukele to offer congratulations. Definitive results would be announced within two days, Olivo said. 'CORRUPT CAN'T HIDE' Along with the goal of modernising government, Bukele, who is set to take office in June, has proposed creating an international anti-corruption commission with the support of the United Nations, following similar committees in Guatemala and Honduras. "We'll create a (commission) ... so that the corrupt can't hide where they always hide, instead they'll have to give back what they stole," Bukele said in January. Growing up, Bukele's relatively wealthy family was sympathetic to the FMLN, the former leftist guerrilla army that became a political party at the end of the civil war. But Bukele has turned away from Latin America's traditional left, branding Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega as well as conservative Honduran Juan Orlando Hernandez as dictators. "A dictator is a dictator, on the 'right' or the 'left'," Bukele wrote last week on Twitter. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rachmadea Aisyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 17:55 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b1851c1 1 Business StapleFood,imports,Ombudsman,comments Free The Indonesian Ombudsman has urged the government to maintain a strict policy on the import of rice, corn, sugar and salt -- four staple commodities, whose imports often spark controversy -- ahead of the presidential and legislative elections in April. The Ombudsman recorded that in its four years in office from 2014 to 2018, the administration of President Joko Jokowi Widodo had authorized the import of 4.7 million tons of rice, 5.7 million tons of corn, 17.2 million tons of sugar and 12.3 million tons of salt. In this political year, attention to import administration might be lacking because of the intensity of the national political process, Ombudsman member Alamsyah Saragih told reporters on Monday. If we do not pay attention to it, it could lead to disadvantages for various stakeholders. Alamsyah said imports of corn, sugar and salt, which are meant for industrial purposes, had been increasing because industrial players were looking for better quality ingredients leading to price reductions for the commodities produced by local farmers. This year, industrial verification must be done thoroughly in order to avoid importing too much, he said. We encourage the government, especially the Industry Ministry, to verify industrial requirements and audit stocks of local supplies. Alamsyah also cited the plan by state-owned logistics company Bulog to export rice, which showed stocks were getting excessive as Bulog this year distributed less rice to poor families. Last month, Bulog head Budi Waseso said the rice-export plan was being carried out to prevent stock overflows, with the domestic harvesting season coming in March to May. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fachrul Sidiq (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 15:02 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b1754a1 1 City #Jakarta,#MRT,#Transportation,jakarta,MRT,MRT-Jakarta,MRT-station,Transportation Free As construction of the MRT nears completion, PT MRT Jakarta, which will operate the countrys first-ever subway line, has launched its Kartu Jelajah, an electronic money card to be used at its stations. Similar to cards issued by the Greater Jakarta Commuter Train operator PT Commuter Line Indonesia, a subsidiary of state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), the Kartu Jelajah is divided into two categories: multi-trip and single-use cards. Apart from Kartu Jelajah, passengers can also use electronic money cards issued by banks. Currently, we are still waiting for approval from Bank Indonesia, MRT Jakarta corporate secretary Muhamad Kamaludin said in a statement on Monday. MRT Jakarta is also preparing a procedure to enable members of the public to try the service before its commercial operation. The MRT is currently undergoing testing and commissioning runs and if everything goes smoothly and the regulator gives the green light, the full trial run will commence on March 12. On that date, members of the public will be able to try the service after registering themselves on the official MRT website, Kamaludin said. He added that more detailed information about the registration would be posted on its website jakartamrt.co.id. The trial run will operate until the full commercial operation, which has been scheduled for the fourth week of March, he said, adding that MRT Jakarta reserved the right to determine the procedures and mechanisms of the trial run. On Wednesday, the MRT began to operate six trains simultaneously to check the integration of the system. The service takes 30 minutes to transport passengers from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle stop in Central Jakarta to Lebak Bulus Station in South Jakarta. The first section of the service spans 15.7 kilometers through 13 stops, both underground and elevated. Meanwhile, construction of the second phase of the MRT has had to be postponed, pending approval from the State Secretariat. The second phase, connecting Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to Kota Station in West Jakarta, had already been pushed back from the initial plan to start work in December 2018. MRT Jakarta president director William Sabandar said the State Secretariat's delayed approval was related to a land-use issues concerning the Medan Merdeka area in Central Jakarta. The management is also considering whether to offer women-only passenger cars on the MRT. President director William Sabandar said the company would gather public input on the possible provision of women-only MRT cars. The Commuter Line provides two women-only passenger cars per train on its routes. City-owned TransJakarta also provides specific areas reserved for women passengers on each of its busway buses. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 11:10 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b1647dd 1 City LRT,Trafficcontrols,traffic-diversion,construction,Transportation Free The Jakarta Transportation Agency is detouring traffic at Simpang Kuningan, South Jakarta, every day from Feb. 2 to Aug. 19 overnight, to allow for the installation of a long span box girder for the Cawang-Dukuh Atas section of the Light Rail Transit (LRT). Acting Head of Jakarta Transportation Agency Sigit Wijatmoko said 17 box girder box segments would be installed above the junction. Each segment requiring 10 days to install. Traffic is being adjusted to allow the work to progress, Sigit said on Sunday as quoted by Kompas.com. He said vehicles from Mampang to Menteng passing through the underpass would be diverted every day from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. Traffic from Menteng to Mampang, Pancoran and Semanggi passing along the slow lane, will be diverted in front of Tempo Scan Tower via Jl. Patra Terusan Jl. Gatot Subroto - and make a U-turn in Simpang Pancoran - Simpang Kuningan before going straight toward Semanggi or turning left to Mampang or Tegal Parang. During the diversion, road users can use the fast lane on Jl. HR Rasuna Said through the underpass to Mampang and turn left to Pancoran or choose to turn around at Mampang Tendean intersection and then turn left toward Semanggi. We hope that road users can adjust to the diversions, obey the traffic signs and instructions from officers and prioritize road safety," Sigit said. (ggq) Sterling, VA (20165) Today Thunderstorms, some strong early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 67F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms, some strong early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 67F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Vientiane Times/ANN) Vientiane Mon, February 4, 2019 11:45 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b1669ba 2 Business #Laos,#China,#export,#furniture,#sales,Laos,China,sales,furniture Free The export value of wood furniture products sold by Laos to China in 2018 is estimated to have doubled after the government encouraged more productivity and sales. In 2017, Laos earned about US$5 million from the sale of wooden furniture to China, rising to more than US$9 million in the first 10 months of 2018, according to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Laos wood products are mostly exported to Thailand, China, Japan, the EU and Australia, an official with the Lao Furniture Industry Group said. However, the Lao furniture industry is in need of more highly skilled workers as well as modern technology if products are to increase in quality and thus have more value. The governments strategy is to strengthen the wood processing sector in order to benefit more from the countrys forest resources. Products intended for export include finished or semi-finished wood products such as floor tiles, furniture, wood accessories, plywood and other processed timber products. Furniture for home use is also being made with an eye on the export market. The government is also looking at growing more trees as a means to bolster the economy by expanding the timber industry. The government aims to have tree plantations on 500,000 hectares, 70 percent of which would be natural and planted forests, by 2020. Laos bio-climatic conditions are suitable for growing commercial tree species such as teak, acacia, rubber and eucalyptus. If this target is achieved, Laos would have a foundation for a sustainable industry based on wood harvested from plantations. The government also plans to either close or merge factories to promote efficiency and final product processing and export. Most furniture products are handmade, but in some processes workers use low-technology machines. As most finished items retain the natural colour of the wood they are made from, they are safe for human health and the environment. Manufacturers are being encouraged to develop new designs and product types under the governments policy to add value to wooden furniture products. But the sector is facing several issues that hinder higher value wood processing and exports, such as the high cost of transport and a shortage of labour. Transport remains the major constraint for Lao exporters and importers as they are reliant on road, river and air transport, which is expensive. This drives up production costs and limits access to international markets and services. Many exporters are not competitive because they have not developed international connections, while geographical and logistical conditions also limit markets. Topics : This article appeared on the Vientiane Times newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Kharishar Kahfi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4 2019 Two Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators suffered injuries after being assaulted by two unidentified men, reportedly while tailing Papua Governor Lukas Enembe in Jakarta late on Saturday night. The KPK has confirmed its two men were assaulted but declined to reveal details of the operation they were engaged in prior to the incident. The incident took place at the Borobudur Hotel in Central Jakarta, where at the same time, officials from the Papua administration, including Lukas, were holding a meeting with members of the Papua Legislative Council (DPRD) to discuss the provinces 2019 draft regional budget. In a bizarre development, Papua DPRD Speaker Yunus Yonda said, as quoted by Antara on Sunday, that Papua provincial administration employees had detained KPK employees who had been tailing Lukas. Yunus, however, stopped short of saying they ... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 12:58 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b169e09 1 Politics Joko-Widodo-Maruf-Amin,Prabowo-Subianto-Sandiaga-Uno,2019-presidential-election,2019-presidential-debate,#2019PresidentialElection Free President Joko Jokowi Widodo appears to have gone on the offensive against his challenger in the upcoming presidential election Prabowo Subianto as the second presidential debate draws nearer. Over the weekend, Jokowi made strong remarks slamming his rival in his speeches, ranging from criticizing Prabowos statement that Indonesia could become extinct to accusing the rival camp of using foreign consultants to prepare themselves for the election. The incumbent also defended Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati against Prabowos statement that described her as a debt-printing minister in relation to swelling government debt, as Jokowi implied that the former military general did not understand macroeconomic issues. I can only convey [the facts] as they are. How can I stay silent and continue to remain patient? I will not, Jokowi said in Jakarta on Sunday, I can [play rough] once in a while. The statement came two weeks before the second election debate, in which Jokowi and Prabowo are expected to trade blows on issues surrounding food, energy, natural resources, the environment and infrastructure. During his 2019 presidential campaign event in Semarang, Central Java, Jokowi said the most important thing was that he conveyed facts and data in his statements. Whats important is [we] dont produce outbursts of lies [] and hoaxes, he said on Sunday, in an apparent jab at Prabowo supporters who have been implicated in spreading misinformation. Last week, musician Ahmad Dhani was sentenced to imprisonment for hate speech and violating the Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law. Dhani was found guilty for hate speech in connection with a tweet he posted that incited people to attack supporters of former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama. Fellow opposition activist Ratna Sarumpaet, a former member of the Prabowo-Sandiaga campaign team, is currently in police custody awaiting trial for violation of the same law, after falsely claiming that she had been assaulted by three unknown assailants last September. She later admitted that the bruises on her face were the result of cosmetic surgery. Jokowis recent remarks, however, are not the first time that the incumbent has taken the offensive against political attacks that have targeted his administration over the last four years. In the past few months, the incumbent fumed over accusations that he was affiliated to the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), a rumor which started during his 2014 presidential election campaign. He has also refuted allegations that he is a foreign puppet, pointing out that Indonesia had officially become the majority owner of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) with 51.23 percent of ownership during his tenure. (afr/mai) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie and Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 20:28 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b18ab5a 1 Politics #Indonesia,#election,#Elections,#PresidentialDebate,#Jokowi,#Prabowo,#Russia,Indonesia,election,Jokowi,jokowidodo,Prabowo-Subianto,Prabowo-Subianto-Sandiaga-Uno,Jokowi-Maruf,Russia,Russian-ambassador,Russia-meddling Free President Joko Jokowi Widodo has ruffled some feathers by suggesting that his challenger in the 2019 presidential election employed a foreign political consultant to support his campaign. A spokesman of the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno campaign team called the accusation made by Jokowi in a recent speech naive and nonsensical. At a recent event in Surabaya, East Java, Jokowi said there was another campaign team playing dirty tricks by disseminating hateful propaganda with the help of a foreign consultant, which divided society and raised concern among the public. They dont care whether or not [the propaganda] makes people feel insecure, Jokowi said on Sunday. The incumbent did not mention the country the purported consultant came from, but he spoke about Russian propaganda in his speech, saying that in theory, it produces nonstop slander, lies and hoaxes that confuse the people. Although he did not specifically cite Prabowos name, the insinuation was quite clear, since Jokowi went on to cite examples of blunders made by the rival camp, such as misinformation about seven containers of ballots from China that had been tampered with to Jokowis advantage. The upcoming election is a two-horse race, pitting the incumbent against the former general again, similar to the 2014 election. The accusation caused uproar in the countrys political scene, as the rival camps prepared for the second presidential election debate between Jokowi and Prabowo, scheduled for Feb. 17. The campaign team of Jokowi and Maruf Amin amplified the incumbents statement, with deputy chairman Abdul Kadir Karding explaining that the propaganda technique mentioned by Jokowi was dubbed a fire hose of falsehood. By producing massive hoaxes, the strategy aims to overturn all data and facts to influence the people, particularly in voting, Karding said. Its dangerous, because people will gradually get used to fake narratives. A 2016 publication by US-based think tank RAND Corporation characterizes what it calls the Russian fire hose of falsehood by two distinctive features, namely multichannel messaging and a willingness to disseminate partial truths or plainly false information. Similar propaganda is believed to have been utilized in the strategy of US President Donald Trump, who is still under investigation over accusations that his campaign colluded with the Russian government in the 2016 US presidential election. Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Verobieva issued a statement through the Embassys twitter account @RusEmbJakarta on Monday, saying that Russia did not interfere with any electoral matters of other countries. "We underline that Russia's principal position is not intervening in any domestic affairs and electoral processes in foreign countries, including Indonesia, which is our close friend and important partner," she wrote in the messages. Karding clarified that the camp did not mean Russia as a country or nation, but that the political consultant allegedly hired by Prabowos team was a Russian. He went on to say that the foreign consultant was also believed to have disseminated narratives that accused Jokowi of being a foreign puppet. In his speech on Sunday, Jokowi pointed out that his administration had made efforts to take over national assets from foreign investors who had managed them for decades, such as achieving Indonesian majority ownership of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI). Dont accuse [me] as being a foreign puppet, while [Prabowo] himself is a foreign puppet, Jokowi said. Prabowo-Sandiaga campaign team communication and media deputy director Dhimam Abror denied the accusation. We have no foreign consultants, it is enough that we use local products, he said as quoted by kompas.com. Dhimam said Jokowis accusation did not make any sense and was naive. To counter the foreign puppet issue he accused us of employing foreign consultants and concluded that Pak Prabowo is the foreign puppet. [Jokowis] logic is shallow. Jokowi-Maruf campaign team deputy director for political communication Meutya Hafid said the camp was considering to stop using the term Russian propaganda following the objection raised by Ambassador Vorobieva. Like Karding, Meutya clarified that the camp had not referred to Russia as a country or nation, but said the term had been coined during the US election, and it was feared the same technique would be used in Indonesia. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 11:32 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b165e3a 4 Business insurance,holding-company,Rini-Soemarno Free The State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Ministry plans to establish a state-owned insurance holding company and state-owned banking holding company in March and April ,respectively, in trying to improve efficiency of government businesses in the two sectors. I hope the state-owned insurance holding company is established next month and will be followed by the establishment of a state-owned banking holding company in April, said SOE Minister Rini Soemarno in Jakarta over the weekend as reported by kontan.co.id. In addition to improving efficiency, she added, the establishment of the holding companies was expected to improve foreign investors confidence to the countrys economy. The government had assigned state-owned insurance company PT Jasa Raharja as a leading company for the holding establishment with the three other state-owned insurance companies PT Asuransi Kredit Indonesia (Askrindo), PT Jaminan Kredit Indonesia (Jamkrindo) and PT Asuransi Jasa Indonesia (Jasindo) as the members. Jasa Raharja corporate secretary Harwan Muldidarmawan said the company would implement the governments decision to establish the insurance holding company. He, however, was reluctant to comment on the plan, saying that it was the SOE Ministrys domain to explain the plan. The government established a number of holding companies recently, including state-owned plantation holding company PTPN III, state-owned mining holding company PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) and state-owned holding company Pertamina. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Andrew Beatty and Glenda Kwek (Agence France-Presse) Sydney, Australia Mon, February 4, 2019 15:03 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b175838 2 World #Australia,#economy,inquiry,finding,scandal-hit,Australian,banks,watchdog Free A major inquiry into scandals in Australia's banking and financial services firms has referred more than 20 cases to regulators for possible prosecution, and called for substantial changes in the sector. In the findings of its year-long investigation, the Royal Commission called for swathes of rules to be revisited, and for banks to be more heavily regulated or monitored to prevent future misconduct. "Saying sorry and promising not to do it again has not prevented recurrence," said the inquiry's commissioner, former High Court judge Kenneth Hayne. "The financial services industry is too important to the economy of the nation to allow what has happened in the past to continue or to happen again." Among the 76 key recommendations were the banning of particularly egregious sales practices in the pension and insurance markets, and structural changes in the mortgage broking sector. The big banks were sharply criticised, with National Australia Bank's chair Ken Henry and chief executive Andrew Thorburn singled out for being unwilling to acknowledge their organisation's mistakes. But Hayne stopped short of publicly recommending criminal charges, preferring to leave punishment to regulators -- which he said themselves had fallen down on the job and were in need of review. The report -- while extensive -- is likely to disappoint some observers who had called for the heads of individual senior executives who allowed or perpetuated the repeated misconduct and breaches. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, whose ruling conservative party had opposed the creation of the commission, called it "scathing". "From today, the banking sector must change and change forever," he said, announcing that the government would act on Hayne's recommendations. "Our principle focus is on restoring trust in our financial system and delivering better consumer outcomes." Australian banks issued an acknowledgement of wrongdoing ahead of the report's release, admitting to failing customers and vowing to "reset" the industry. "Banks know they have failed their customers and not lived up to the high standards Australians rightly expect of the industry," Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh said in a statement Monday. "We do know this an opportunity to reset the industry and to make things better for our customers." The report had been seen as an inflection point for the economically vital sector, but analysts said the commission was calling for the tweaking of existing laws rather than the introduction of new ones. Banks have already started to address some of the issues raised, such as spinning off their financial advisory arms from their main activities to avoid conflicts of interest. Commissioner Hayne had been praised for his no-nonsense approach to the hearings. He made clear his independence from Canberra when he uttered a curt "no" when asked by a journalist to shake hands with Frydenberg when the report was being handed over. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4 2019 Non-Jakarta residents flocked to a general election-information booth provided by the Central Jakarta office of the General Elections Commission (KPU) during a Car Free Day event on Sunday, to find out how to change voting address. Musfir, an official at the booth, said many prospective voters who had identity cards from outside the capital, but who were currently working in Jakarta had asked about the requirements needed to change their voting address. Musfir explained that those non-Jakarta residents who planned to cast their vote in the capital should go to the KPU office in their respective municipality to change the location of their polling station. For instance, if you come from Magelang, East Java, but currently live in East Jakarta. You must visit KPU East Jakarta with your identity card and family card. [KPU staff] will validate the data, M... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 15:52 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b17b396 1 Business Pertamina-EP,fire-accidents,refinery Free A fire has razed a facility owned and operated by PT Pertamina EP (PEP), the upstream subsidiary of state-owned energy holding company Pertamina, in Indramayu, West Java, near the Balongan refinery. Pertamina corporate secretary Syahrial Mukhtar confirmed the incident, saying the fire had originated from a boiler facility that supplies gas to the refinery at 9:40 a.m. on Monday and had been extinguished within 20 minutes. I can assure you that the Balongan refinery is safe and the operation isnt disrupted. Weve found no casualties, and currently we are studying the cause of the fire, he said four hours after the incident. The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministrys oil and gas director general, Djoko Siswanto, concurred that the incident would not hamper work at the Balongan refinery. [The operation of the refinery] wont be disrupted by the fire, nor will the lifting process, he said. The local fire department reportedly deployed about 10 fire trucks to fight the fire and was helped in the effort by military and police personnel as well as Pertamina workers. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dyaning Pangestika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 18:20 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b185f5b 1 National health,cancer-survival,cancer,non-communicable-diseases,BPJS-Kesehatan,JKN Free Rifaldi was only 2 years old when he was diagnosed with Wilms' tumor, a rare kidney cancer that affects mainly children. His family suspected that something was wrong when his belly kept swelling, which is a common symptom of the disease. I spent most of my childhood at the hospital, Rifaldi said on Thursday. I did not have many friends back then, because I could not play outside like the other kids, he added. Rifaldi was lucky to have attentive parents. After 10 rounds of chemotherapy and five surgeries, the now 15-year-old is proud to call himself a cancer survivor. He now lives with only one kidney but says he can perform any activity, just like other teenagers his age. Other cancer patients are not as lucky. The 2018 Basic Health Study (Riskesdas) shows that the prevalence of cancer has increased from 1.4 per 1,000 residents in 2013 to 1.79 per 1,000 residents in 2018. The chairman of the National Cancer Prevention Committee (KPKN), Soehartati Gondhowiardjo, said 65 percent of cancer patients in Indonesia only sought treatment in the late stage, resulting in a low survival rate. Cancer is actually [curable], if [patients] are aware of the symptoms, she said on Thursday. According to Soehartati, many patients delay going for a check-up because of misinformation regarding cancer symptoms and treatment. Many misconceptions regarding cancer and cancer treatment circulate in social media. For example, some people suggest that eating raw ginger will cure cancer, some suggest wearing an anticancer jacket; things like that, Soehartati said. Aside from the lack of awareness and misinformation, Soehartati also took issue with the administrative system of the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) that runs the national health insurance (JKN), which she said was too complicated for cancer patients and often delayed proper treatment. Our committee is working on solving this issue right now. Hopefully, cancer patients dont have to go through a long referral [process], so that they can receive treatment as soon as possible, she added. Soehartati said her committee was planning to open a 24-hour cancer center to help patients receive treatment as soon as possible. The ministrys noncommunicable diseases prevention and control director, Cut Putri Arianie, said the ministry would keep up its efforts to optimize health facilities nationwide. Cut said many national hospitals were already equipped with cancer treatment centers. We will work on this issue, so that regional hospitals are equipped with cancer treatment facilities as well. The ministry will gradually [set up such] centers at other hospitals, since we have to spare a lot of funds for that too, she said. Speaking at an event to commemorate World Cancer Day on Monday, Health Minister Nila Farid Moeloek called on the people to increase their awareness of cancer and cancer symptoms. "Forty-three percent of cancer cases are actually treatable if the people affected seek treatment as soon as they become aware that something is wrong with their bodies," Nila said. Unfortunately, she said, people nowadays trusted information from the internet very easily, which could keep them from seeking actual treatment. "For example, a lot of information on the internet encourages people to choose alternative treatment, even if the effectiveness has yet to be scientifically proven," she added. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung, West Java Mon, February 4, 2019 13:00 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b16aa35 1 Business Bukalapak,ITB,innovation-center Free E-commerce platform Bukalapak launched its artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing innovation center at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in West Java on Friday. The research laboratory, located at ITBs School of Electronics and Informatics building, is expected to serve as a research center on AI and cloud computing for students, lecturers and researchers. Bukalapak founder and CEO Achmad Zaky said the center would not only provide facilities such as servers for research purposes but also knowledge transfer with the help of 200 engineers from its main research center -- Bukalapak Research and Development. "Our challenge now is to discover talents in the field of technology and AI who can contribute to Indonesia," Zaky said, citing the lack of AI experts in the country. The center will also provide data related to the platform's hundreds of millions of products, said Bukalapak public relations manager Evi Andarini, ensuring that its users' privacy would be protected. Even a sample of less than 0.1 percent of our petabyte-scale data warehouse will consist of a mountain of valuable data that we hope can accelerate AI research in Indonesia on areas such as natural language understanding, computer vision and deep learning, Evi told The Jakarta Post. Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister M. Nasir expressed the hope that the collaboration could produce positive impacts on the country's economy. "The ministry will help with the funding for the research on the upstream side, while the users are in charge of the downstream," he said. (ars/bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Japan News/Asia News Network) Tokyo, Japan Mon, February 4, 2019 08:08 869 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b15df83 2 World #Japan,#China,Japan,arrested,Chinese,ships,coral-reefs,poaching Free Coral poaching by Chinese ships is feared to be resuming again in Japans exclusive economic zone near the Ogasawara Islands in Tokyo, following the arrest of the captain of a Chinese fishing boat by the Japan Coast Guard for refusing a halt order in waters near the islets. The JCG arrested ship captain Chen Wen Ting, 40, on Saturday on suspicion of violating the Exercise of the Sovereign Right for Fishery Law, which deals with refusing to allow a boarding inspection. The waters around the islands are home to rare jewelry coral (see below). Five years ago, the poaching of such coral by Chinese fishing boats in waters near the Ogasawaras emerged as a problem. The JCG suspects the fishing boat in this case entered the waters for the purpose of poaching. Although the problem had previously been brought under control following a crackdown on Chinese poachers, the JCG fears a recurrence and has stepped up its vigilance and surveillance activities. According to the Yokohama Coast Guard Office, a JCG patrol boat on Saturday morning ordered the Chinese ship to stop as it was navigating Japans EEZ about 298 kilometers east of Hahajima island in the Ogasawaras. The boat, with 11 Chinese fishermen including Chen aboard, suspected of attempting to flee for about two hours. The waters off Chichijima island of the islets are known for their abundance of coral. Judging from the Chinese boats equipment and external appearance, the JCG believes that it entered the EEZ for poaching. JCG officials have been inspecting the ship and questioning the crew. From September 2014, a large number of Chinese ships for poaching coral started trespassing into Japans territorial waters and the EEZ. At its peak, a convoy of more than 200 ships were confirmed in a single day. To address the situation, the JCG tightened controls over such Chinese fishing boats, and busted 10 Chinese fishing boats in the period from October to December 2014. Japan also asked China to take steps to prevent a repeat of the poaching, while stiffening penalties for unlicensed operations by foreigners in its territorial waters and the EEZ. The maximum fines for violations were increased by three to eight times, to as high as 30 million. Such measures proved successful, and no Chinese ships appeared in the EEZ around the islands after January 2015. However, that situation has changed recently, as several Chinese fishing boats have been confirmed again in the EEZ. On separate occasions, the JCG caught four Chinese fishing boats from Jan. 28 to 31 which it suspected of poaching in the EEZ off Okinawa Prefecture. The vessels allegedly ignored orders to halt and tried to flee. Given this situation, it is believed that Chinese boats have become actively poaching in waters around the Ogasawaras and other areas. As measures to prevent a resumption of poaching by Chinese ships, the JCG plans to add more officers to the Ogasawara Coast Guard Station, which guards the area, and deploy a patrol boat to Chichijima island. We will tighten control before [Chinese ships] swarm in, in a way to avoid generating concern among local people, a JCG senior official said. Jewelry coral The species that includes red, pink and white corals, considered precious as gemstones, that are found on the seabed 100 meters or deeper. In China, red coral is especially popular and trades at a high price. Because of a slow growth rate, the corals are said to take 50 years to grow to the size of an adult little finger. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 10:32 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b164109 1 Business antam,gold,sales,target,2019 Free State-owned diversified miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) increased its gold sales target to 30 tons this year ,7.5 percent higher than last years achievement of 27.8 tons, president director Arie Prabowo Ariotedjo said over the weekend. The focus in 2019 is, of course, gold. We also aim to sell 30,000 tons of ferronickel. We are also awaiting an ore export permit, he said. Meanwhile, the companys finance report shows that its gold production stood at 1.95 tons in 2018 and its ferronickel production at 24.86 tons. In terms of facilities, Arie said the companys nickel smelter project in Tanjung Buli, East Halmahera was set to operate in July, one month behind schedule. The operation of the Tanjung Buli smelter will boost feronickel production with its production capacity of 13,500 tons. Meanwhile, for the Smelter Grade Alumina Refinery (SGAR) project in Mempawah, West Kalimantan, Ario said the company had signed heads of agreement last year. He added that the company was evaluating the engineering, procurement and construction plan. We hope construction can kick off soon, he said. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 15:04 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b176fea 1 Business Vale-Indonesia-INCO,government,divestment Free After gaining control of 51.23 percent shares of gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia, the government is eyeing to gain a 20 percent stake in publicly listed nickel miner PT Vale Indonesia (INCO). "We are certainly interested, but we have not assigned a company yet [to represent the government]," the SOEs Ministry's undersecretary for mining, strategic industries and media affairs, Fajar Harry Sampurno, said in Jakarta on Friday as quoted by kontan.co.id. The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministrys mineral director, Yunus Saefulhak, said the ministry had received INCO's divestment proposal letter. He added that INCO had submitted its report to the Finance Ministry while sending its offer to the SOEs Ministry. "The corporate action will be decided by the government. The divestment has been offered to state-owned mining holding company PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium [Inalum] and state-owned diversified miner PT Aneka Tambang [Antam], among others," he said. Antam president director Arie Prabowo Ariotedjo said the company was not disinterested in securing INCOs shares but that the miner would focus on its downstream business this year. Inalum president director Budi Sadikin, meanwhile, expressed the company's interest, citing the strategic value of nickel. Budi said the company was awaiting instructions from ministers Ignatius Jonan and Rini Soemarno. In 2017, INCO booked 95.1 million tons of nickel reserves, leading the company to become one of Indonesia's biggest nickel producers. Vale Indonesia president director Niko Kanter refused to comment on the matter. (ars/bbn) Ahead of Tuesdays celebration of Chinese New Year, Chinese-Indonesians in Semarang set up the Pasar Imlek Semawis (PIS) night market from Friday to Sunday. Held for the 15th time in the capital city of Central Java, the night market is popular with both ethnic Chinese and Javanese Indonesians. Thousands visited the market over the weekend. Visitors found Jl. Wotgandul Timur abuzz with sellers and buyers of Imlek-related accessories and food. "To me, this market is always interesting; it is our signature of culture as Semarang residents. I always make time to come here," said one of the visitors, Agnes, on Sunday. Semarang Chinatown Community for Tourism (Kopi Semawis) chairman Harjanto Halim said the market aimed to rejuvenate Chinese cultural traditions when welcoming Imlek. Read also: Colorful market in Semarang welcomes Chinese New Year "Jie Kao Meh is Semarang Chinatown's traditional way to welcome Imlek, where Chinese-Indonesians purchase prayer paraphernalia and eat together with their extended families at the Gang Baru Market, which is open until midnight," said Harjanto. Meanwhile, Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi said: "This event is one of our tourism calendar events that attracts not only Semarang residents but also people from outside the city. Since former president Megawati declared Imlek a national holiday in 2003, people from outside Semarang will come to this city to attend this market." Dozens of artistic performances were staged over the weekend, including the barongsai and liongsamsie dances as well as modern art and contemporary dances. As one of the highlights of the event, the night market served dinner on a long table called the Tok Panjang. Pasar Imlek Samawis event chairman Ocha Mattias said at least 400 people had been invited to the dinner, including residents, artists, administration officials and other local figures. "The Tok Panjang dinner serves as a symbol of harmony and kinship between people of Chinese and other ethnicities," he said. Guests were served teh serbat (herbal tea), a concoction of 20 herbal plants, shrimp broccoli and radish soup as an appetizer, followed by nasi ulam bunga telam (a Malaysian and Singaporean-Chinese steamed rice dish with various herbs) as a main course, cincu sirup mapel (maple syrup dessert) for dessert and rounded off with Kopi Alam-style coffee. Nearing Imlek, dozens of temples in the Chinatown area have been spring-cleaned, such as Kwan Im Ting near Bale Kambang in Gang Belakang. Built in or around 1746, it is regarded as the second-oldest Chinese temple, after the one in Gedung Batu, Simongan. (kes) Thousands of people gathered in Chinatown near Pasar Gede Market in the Central Java city of Surakarta on Sunday for the Grebeg Sudiro cultural parade to ring in the Chinese New Year, which will start on Tuesday. The 4-kilometer long parade began at 3 p.m. with various food offerings. Two cones of nian gao (Chinese New Year cake, known as kue keranjang in Indonesia), cones of fruits, vegetables and local delicacies, including bakpao (steamed bun), getuk (cassava-based snack coated with liquid palm sugar and grated coconut) and onde-onde (glutinous rice balls), were carried around Kampung Surodiprajan. Widely acknowledged as the citys Chinatown, Surodiprajan comprises Pasar Gede Market, the Tein Kok Sie Chinese temple and a number of villages, including Balong, Kepanjeng and Ketandan, where cultural assimilation has transpired for hundreds of years. Performances at in the Kampung Sudiroprajan area attracted a respectable crowd despite some rain. (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi) Involving around 3,000 participants, the parade showcased a mix of Javanese-Chinese performances, from the reog ponorogo dance and gunung dance to the liong (dragon) and barongsai (lion) dance. Traditional acts were featured as well, including the lembu Sura dance, Joko Tingkir performance, kuda lumping (horse dance) and topeng ireng dance. Other participants were dressed as deities, jesters or monks. Despite some rain, the parade attracted an impressive crowd as people flocked to the Pasar Gede area, the main venue of the event. Read also: A mash of Chinese New Year, cultural diversity in Surakarta 'Liong' and 'Barongsai' performances (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi) The sharing of the offerings marked the peak of Grebeg Sudiro. People scrambled to get their portions of kue keranjang distributed from the second floor of Pasar Gede. Around 5 kilograms of kue keranjang was consumed during the event. I watch this parade every year and jostle with others to get kue keranjang, said Rimati, 21, who studies at a state university in Surakarta. Surakarta is the only city where Javanese people take part in the Imlek celebration. Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi Rudy Rudyatmo said harmony among ethnicities in Surakarta had existed for a long time. Grebeg Sudiro has eliminated boundaries between Javanese-Chinese and other ethnicities. Surakarta is a diverse city, and Indonesia is built out of diversity, said Rudy. Around 3,000 people took part in the Grebeg Sudiro parade that started at 3 p.m. (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi) The city has another tradition that displays an amalgamation of Javanese and Chinese culture, the Buk Teko thanksgiving ceremony, held prior to Grebeg Sudiro. The head of the Grebeg Sudiro 2019 organizing committee, Martono Hadi Pranoto, said the parade demonstrated tolerance and cultural diversity. The acculturation is more than just socializing. Its on the level of culture and other aspects of life, said Martono. (wir/wng) Award-winning Japanese actor Hirofumi Arai was last Friday arrested on suspicions of sexual assault. The prolific 40-year-old, who made his on-screen debut in 2001 and won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Supporting Actor in 2016 for the movie Hyakuen No Koi (Hundred Yen Love), is accused of sexually assaulting an outcall masseuse in her 30s on July 1 last year. assault [slt] Japanese actor Hirofumi Arai arrested for sexual assault. # pic.twitter.com/Yrady6B0kG TOEIC 900 (@TOEIC9000) February 2, 2019 Arai, who was reportedly drunk at the time of the incident, had called the woman to his residence in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, near Shibuya, at about 2.30am. She filed a police report on the same day, Japanese media reports said, and investigations culminated in a search of Arai's residence last Friday. The woman, who has quit her job, was working as a masseuse at a business that provides outcall services. Arai had reportedly engaged the services of the shop for the fourth time and had signed a contract with the business to acknowledge that sexual activity was prohibited. It was the first time he had met the woman. The Yomiuri daily quoted the Tokyo Metropolitan Police as saying Arai largely admitted to the allegations during questioning, though he has denied some of them. "There are things that I did, but there are things that I did not do, like hold her head down," he is said to have told the police. Arai was born in Hirosaki city in northern Aomori Prefecture in 1979 and made his debut in the award-winning Isao Yukisada film Go in 2001. He is a lead actor in the upcoming movie Taifu Kazoku (Typhoon Family), which is slated for release in June. Read also: Indonesia, Japan collaborate in fantasy drama film set in Banda Aceh The production firm said it has not made any decision on the release of the movie. However, BS Fuji Television said it will cancel a television programme starring Arai that was slated to air on Sunday. Arai has not issued a public statement on his arrest. In response to Arai's arrest, his management company Anore said in a statement issued to the Japanese media: "While we have not been able to confirm the detailed facts, it is deeply regrettable that such a situation has occurred. "We would like to profoundly apologise to the victim and all concerned parties." One of the worlds most densely populated cities, Hong Kong, is facing a proliferation of wild boars as the large mammals stray increasingly into built-up areas. A wild boar holds a plastic lid in its mouth as it eats leftovers from a barbecue pit at the Aberdeen Country Park in Hong Kong, China January 27, 2019. Picture taken January 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jayson Albano And while some residents welcome sightings of the boars as a symbol of good fortune, especially with the arrival of the Chinese Lunar Year of the Pig on Tuesday, others say reports of attacks show that the wild pigs are becoming a danger. The global financial hub isnt well known for its biodiversity, but with 40 percent of its land area comprised of protected country parks and reserves, it still harbors creatures such as boar, barking deer, porcupine, otters, threatened pangolins, giant Burmese pythons and more than 530 species of bird, some highly endangered. Continued urbanization of the city of 7.4 million is now increasingly drawing droves of wild boar to the teeming metropolis fringes. Boar have charged down hikers, raided rubbish tips and camp sites, and even scampered through a shopping mall and a runway at the airport. Read also: Pet peeve: Animal lovers fear for pet pigs in Lunar New Year Most Hong Kong wild boars, at this point, have already lost their fear of humans, said Roni Wong, a member of a community group campaigning for the protection of wild boars. The cause of it is feeding, which causes them to lose their natural instincts, added Wong who has identified numerous spots where residents feed wild animals in violation of local wildlife protection laws. The habituation of boars to humans has brought some safety concerns. Complaints against wild pigs have more than doubled since 2013, with over 700 incidents reported in 2017, including some attacks on people. A lot of the residents who used to take part in outdoor leisure activities, especially at night, are no longer doing that, said Jeremy Young, a district councillor for the Peak, an affluent area with a conspicuous boar population in its woods. They are scared. You dont want to run into a 250 pound (113 kilogram) male pig with tusks. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said in a statement to Reuters that some pigs pose imminent risks to public safety, particularly those which have attacked people, or are accustomed to searching for food around built-up areas and also getting easily irritated. Young believes the government should once again allow the selective culling of boars by civilian hunting teams to mitigate the porcine threat, a practice that was suspended in 2017 after an outcry by animal rights groups. The AFCD, however, rejected this proposal. Instead, it said it would take measures to put down, or relocate troublesome pigs to wilder areas, and to fit some with GPS trackers. French 'yellow vests' march through Paris denouncing police violence Authorities say they dont know the size of Hong Kongs wild pig population, nor whether numbers have actually increased or whether theyre just venturing more frequently into urban areas. Most Hongkongers wont mind the wild boars, said 40-year-old taxi driver Water Siu, shortly after a boar interrupted his Sunday barbecue in the Aberdeen country park. In fact, we see them as our neighbors. If you think youve missed the main attractions of the latest exhibition at Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara (Museum MACAN), you actually havent. While one of the programs most anticipated performances concluded in mid-January, the exhibition still has a lot more to offer until March 10, mainly from the works of Indonesian artist Arahmaiani. Among key female voices in the development of the contemporary art scene of Southeast Asia, Arahmaiani presents a survey exhibition called The Past Has Not Passed. This exhibition brings together more than 70 works of hers from the past 30 years, depicting the surrounding social and cultural context of the time her works were created. Whats unique in this exhibition is that most of the phenomenons she encountered while working on her pieces are still relevant to the current social situation, hence the name. The artists strong focus on social activism, multiculturalism and the effects of globalization are strongly illustrated within her works displayed at Museum MACAN. Nation for Sale (1996) by Arahmaiani (Courtesy of Museum MACAN/File) Nation for Sale(1996) might be one of the strongest, as it is regarded as one of her most iconic projects to date. The installation addresses Indonesias rapid development powered by large capital investment that comes with a high price: commodification of land. Her criticism of acute consumerism is shown through a collection of boxes containing guns, medicine, water and even soil. Do Not Prevent the Fertility of the Mind (1997-2014-2018) by Arahmaiani (Courtesy of Museum MACAN/File) In Do Not Prevent the Fertility of the Mind(1997-2014-2018), Arahmaiani voices another social aspect important to her: feminism. The installation, which consists of a wall of female sanitary napkins, a red-blood liquid in a vial upon a stool, and two photographs of herself dressed in a nurses outfit while holding scissors and contraceptive devices shows how women shouldnt only independently take control of their own physical fertility but also their minds. 11 June 2002 (2003) by Arahmaiani (Courtesy of Museum MACAN/File) Cultural context and religious values based on personal experiences are among the topics Arahmaiani presented. 11 June 2002(2003) tells the story of her overnight detainment by the United States immigration authority in Los Angeles in 2002 following the 9/11 tragedy. As a part of the detainment, a male officer was assigned to oversee her in her own room, resulting in great insecurity over lack of privacy and freedom. Not to mention in the practice of Islam, it is forbidden for unmarried men and women to share a room. The artist recreated the situation in her hotel room complete with personal objects such as stockings and underwear, alongside a series of photographs portraying the exploitation of freedom she experienced in the presence of the guard. Read also: Museum MACAN named one of worlds greatest places As a performance artist, its no wonder that some of Arahmaianis works require engagement with her audience. In Breaking Words, the artist invited visitors to each write one word meaningful to them on a plate. She then would smash them all, to symbolically show that those important things may one day be gone, but the meaningful value would stay if it is truly absorbed. Believe it or not, when the performance took place at Museum MACAN, there were two words that didnt break despite being smashed: keadilan (justice) and mother (ibu), Nina Hidayat, the head of communications of Museum MACAN told The Jakarta Post. Coincidence? It could be. Unfortunately, the powerful message was not completely accepted in one of Arahmaianis past exhibitions. An audience member in Kuala Lumpur wrote Allah on a plate and got offended by the smashing of the plate. The festival was then forced to shut down after complaints were made and police intervened. I Love You (After Joseph Beuys Social Sculpture) (2009) by Arahmaiani (Courtesy of Museum MACAN/File) Similar misapprehension often times occurred in Arahmaianis exhibition journey. I Love You (After Joseph Beuys Social Sculpture) (2009) was once rejected to be displayed abroad because it contains Arabic letters. In fact, the gigantic colorful stuffed fabrics literally read I Love You, showing Arahmaianis attempts to promote peaceful values in Islam that had been degraded by the media especially after the event of 9/11. Though more popular in performance and installation arts, Arahmaianis paintings are equally influential. Lingga-Yoni(1994) bears the elements of lingga and yoni, the symbols of virility and fertility often times found in Hinduism and Buddhism temples. In this painting, Arahmaiani combines the imagery of male and female sex organs with a series of Jawi alphabets that naturally look like Arabic letters. This illustration was once protested for blasphemy, sending a certain group of people into rage for mistaking it as verses from Holy Quran. Arahmaiani decided to leave Indonesia for a while, resulting in several changes of ownerships of Lingga-Yoni until finally Museum MACAN discovered the painting and it became a part of the museums collection, explained Nina. Meanwhile, in Grey Paintings (2008-2010), visitors will discover the other side of the artist. In contrast to most of her works that express her wrath towards her social and political surrounding, the series of paintings reflects on Arahmaianis constant process of self discovery, after more than a decade living life as a global nomad. Alongside Arahmaiani, Museum MACAN has been presenting solo exhibitions of two more contemporary artists since mid-November 2018. Seven Stories by Lee Mingwei (Taiwanese/American), invites audience through seven major performances and participatory projects. His large-scale installation, Guernica in Sand painting that took 12 days to make, was destructed on the dusk of January 19th 2019, a moment after it was finished. This was a part of his performance, to show the world that nothing is eternal. The distorted version of the sand is left as is to be enjoyed throughout the rest of the exhibition. Completing the exhibitions is One Million Years by On Kawara, a presentation that sees male and female volunteers alternately take turns reading out dates from Kawaras multi-volume collection. (kes) *** A travel writer and author of six backpacking travel guide books, all under his personal project called Cheating the World. Follow his travel stories and travel articles on www.cheatingtheworld.com or Instagram accounts @cheatingtheworld and @rifkyvicky. Actor Jussie Smollett appeared onstage in Los Angeles on Saturday in his first public appearance since he told police he was the victim this week of a racist and homophobic attack. Smollett, an openly gay African-American who plays a gay character on the hip-hop drama Empire, performed in West Hollywood less than a week after he reported to Chicago police that he was attacked on Tuesday by two men who shouted racist and homophobic slurs and put a rope around his neck. The most important thing I have to say is thank you so much and that Im okay. Im not fully healed yet, but Im going to be and Im gonna stand strong with yall, the 36-year-old actor and R&B performer told a crowd of hundreds of cheering fans, according to media reports. Read also: Chicago police to release images after attack on Jussie Smollett of 'Empire' He said his doctors had cleared him to perform at the show, which was scheduled before the alleged attack. News of the alleged assault sparked outrage on social media, but some questioned Smolletts account as the Chicago police have not found video evidence. Chicago police said they are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. UNHCR special envoy and US film star Angelina Jolie has been visiting Rohingya refugee camps in Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar. The US Hollywood film star went to the refugee camps directly from the Cox's Bazar Airport, Mohammed Abul Kalam Azad, commissioner of the Rohingya, Relief and Repatriation Commission (RRRC), told our local correspondent. Julie, a special envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, arrived in the district boarding a plane of Novoair around 10:10am, the official said. She first meet with the Rohingya refugees at Chakmarkul camp and later she is scheduled to visit two more camps at Nayapara and Leda area in Taknaf, he said. She might talk to journalists today, he added. She will meet Rohingya women, who were victims of sexual violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State during a brutal military operation in August 2017. Read also: Angelina Jolie returns to Cambodia as director She will observe UNHCR activities, hold meetings with officials and meet Rohingyas in the camps in her two-day visit in the area, UNB reports quoting officials. The UNHCR special envoy will talk to media in Cox's Bazar tomorrow afternoon. Jolie, strongly raised voice against sexual violence of Rohingya Women and Children in Myanmar's Rakhine State. On November 15, 2017, the Hollywood actress told a Bangladesh delegation in the Canadian city of Vancouver that she was planning to see the Rohingya victims of sexual violence. Over 800,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar since late August 2017, driven out by the military's actions that a UN Fact Finding Mission described as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Estherville News and other members of the press spoke with Sen. Joni Ernst (R ), Red Oak Thursday about immigration, the government shutdown, foreign policy, and other matters. Senator Joni Ernst kicked off her 99 county tour last week. Ernst said she had the opportunity to speak with health care workers, people working in small businesses, and had town hall meetings at University of Northern Iowa and in her hometown of Red Oak. I was fortunate to talk to people of all different ages and backgrounds. Lots of folks showed up in spite of the bad weather, Ernst said. Ernst was asked if she would support a second shutdown if Congress cannot fund the next fiscal year by the Feb. 15 deadline. I didnt support it the first time, Ernst said. Ernst said the solution is a clear resolution and a path forward. Ernst said President Trump has given on so many areas, and has given great concessions in order to allow Democrats and the GOP to come together before Feb. 15. There are multitudes of suggestions coming forward from the GOP, but absolute refusal to bend at all from Democratic colleagues. We need to come together and find solutions to keep the government operating, Ernst said. Ernst has co-sponsored two separate bills to prevent government shutdown in the future. Ernst said there are other continuing resolutions, which would keep the government going in the event of another appropriations stalemate. One of these is a no budget/no recess bill that states if the government is not operating or Congress has not completed a budget by April 1, and hasnt completed appropriations before Aug. 1, members of Congress are not allowed to travel. When we are kept together as a group to continue work on the budget, we would not be able to return to our states and districts, travel with our families, or travel on official business. We would stay in attendance doing our jobs, Ernst said. The matter at hand is to complete appropriations for Homeland Security and National Security and keep the government open. Lets make sure as Congress we are providing a pathway forward, Ernst said. Ernst added, We saw a lot of families hurt through the government shutdown. The president made it very clear we needed appropriations for border security. The left says theres no plan. There is a plan. Ernst referred to a 33-point plan created by Homeland Security. They have already prioritized work for us. We can look at how many dollars to appropriate, how many miles for a physical border structure, how many new technologies we need. Its all outlined already. Congress must decide what we would like to allocate moving forward and pass a plan that works for the American people, Ernst said. Ernst said it is the three-year anniversary of the death of Sarah Root, an Iowa woman who died after a car crash with a drag racing drunk driver. The driver was an illegal immigrant. Due to a loophole in the law of the time, the driver posted bail, disappeared and remains at large. Im reintroducing Sarahs law to allow law enforcement to detain illegal immigrants who are charged with killing or seriously injuring someone. We have an obligation to ensure no one falls victim to this again, Ernst said. Ernst explained how Sarahs law fits in with both the shutdown and with the issue of border security. All of this stuff works together, Ernst said. It needs to be moved as a discussion moving forward. If were making changes to the legal immigration system, honor the American people by making sure the border is secure. Ernst said the U.S. needs new technology, additional border security agents, and that people known as Dreamers or DACA, who were brought here as children and have grown up in the U.S. need a path forward to citizenship or long term legal residency as part of the greater package of immigration reform. Ernst addressed two issues with which she disagrees: Fourth Dist. Representative Steve Kings recent comments about nationalism and President Trumps position on Syria. Steve King has been re-elected by the people in the Northwest district. They seem to support him widely. What we heard from this particular report was very alarming and at a time we are trying to work through very difficult issues and legal immigration versus illegal immigration. Language that is derogatory toward anyone is not acceptable. We really do need to regulate our speech. Lets refocus on issues, not religious or ethnic difference. If we focus on issues, we dont need extraneous conversations, Ernst said. Ernst said of Trump and the pullout of troops from Syria: There are specific issues I disagree with President Trump and his assessment overall, specifically in Syria. He has stated ISIS has been defeated and intelligence shows they have not. Just after he decided to withdraw troops from Syria, his decision left a service member from the United States dead. Any withdrawal needs to be done in a measured approach. If we are pulling out of the region, we must have the resources to maintain presence and make sure security is as strong as when we were there, Ernst said. Ernst said she spoke with the president directly in the oval office and voiced her opposition. We should be following through as a nation should do to protect its own, Ernst said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Sylvie Tanaga (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 4, 2019 14:14 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b16ec30 3 Opinion minority-groups,Chinese-Indonesians,tolerance,religious-beliefs,discrimination,Chinese-New-Year-2019 Free The law on the elimination of racial and ethnic discrimination was passed a decade ago, but many Indonesians still experience discrimination. A survey last year on trends of socio-religious tolerance among Indonesian Muslim women showed that from about 1,500 respondents across the nations 34 provinces, Christians and ethnic Chinese were among the most disliked people. In the survey by the Wahid Foundation, in which respondents were asked which people they disliked most, regardless of whether they knew them, communists were the least favored among nearly 22 percent of respondents, followed by people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender at 17.8 percent and Jews (7.1 percent). Christians followed by 3 percent, atheists (2.5 percent), Shiites (1.2 percent), Chinese (0.7 percent), Wahabi (0.6 percent), Catholics (0.5 percent) and Buddhists (0.5 percent). Such findings reflect the layered discrimination against individuals like former Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, just released after serving two years in prison for blasphemy. Human Rights Watch notes that even though he was freed on Jan. 24, Ahoks unjust conviction is a reminder that minorities in Indonesia are at risk so long as the abusive Blasphemy Law remains in place. Thus, it is quite natural for many of my Chinese friends to be reluctant to speak up on any discrimination they experience. Though the young generation never experienced the May 1998 riots that targeted the ethnic Chinese, they have learned they must be careful and avoid the political world as much as they can. As a result, discrimination continues, though president Abdurrahman Gus Dur Wahid made Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb. 5 this year, a national holiday. Chinese culture can be celebrated since reformasi but the ethnic Chinese lack a critical voice. Highly competent Chinese-Indonesians have become agents of socio-political change but play safe because they continue to be reminded of being victims of discrimination; with the case of Ahok, or BTP as he prefers to be called now, being the most obvious precedent. Yet, although the word minority tends only to refer to Chinese and non-Muslims, many other Indonesians are still marginalized, such as Papuans, farmers who are industrial victims, people evicted in the name of development or illiterate villagers. It is vital for the Chinese to be more active in humanitarian work especially for those who are still discriminated against and marginalized. I have repeatedly experienced that humanitarian actions tend to melt identity boundaries faster. They even become the most powerful tool for introducing diversity. It leaves only the essence: we are all human beings who need mutual respect and love. By consistently working for humanity, minorities like the Chinese could dismiss stereotypes of being self-serving foreigners. When I went to Peureulak, East Aceh, for a government educational mission, the first greeting I got from students at one school was shouts of Cina musyrik (Chinese worshiping other gods besides Allah). This may sound very hurtful but I chose to laugh and invited some of them to play with me. A few days later, they had forgotten that greeting and asked me cheerfully to continue playing with them. In Bogor, West Java, some village children glanced at me timidly. Some asked whether I was Taiwanese. Can I speak Indonesian? Why is my skin whiter than theirs? They said they had never met anyone like me before, with slanted eyes and lighter skin. While playing with them, I explained I was an Indonesian, that we are only different physically. A Chinese friend, Margareta Astaman (Margie), also had a similar experience. As a fruit exporter she involves herself directly with farmers. They initially kept their distance but Margies efforts in helping them to empower themselves in the international arena made them no longer feel different from her. They said we as Indonesians, we must try to introduce our fruits to the world. A student of mine admitted she did not like Chinese-Indonesians because all her life her Chinese friends seemed to only care about business. She came to think that all Chinese-Indonesians were only thinking of themselves and prioritized profit over essential things like sincere friendship. This is where she got the stigma of the Chinese as economic animals. Other students admitted they had hated ethnic Chinese just because their parents said the Chinese only thought of profit. They changed their minds after they began to make friends with the Chinese, experiencing wonderful friendships. Therefore Ive come to realize that the most effective way to introduce differences is to make people directly experience the beauty of difference. Such experiences become far more imprinted in peoples hearts than just teaching others about the importance of tolerance. Sometimes, someone is intolerant only because he or she has never experienced the beauty of friendship across differences. That is why I encourage my fellow Chinese-Indonesians to consistently take part in humanitarian work in any field according to their preference and talent. Working directly in communities, people will see how Chinese-Indonesians are no different as fellow human beings. They can see we are also very concerned about those who are still discriminated against and marginalized. Yes, it is never easy to care about others when we ourselves are still struggling against discrimination. But sincere friendships and humanitarian work, especially for minorities or marginalized groups, are among the most effective ways to introduce the beauty of differences and tolerance. Never give up doing that. The results may not be immediately visible, but they can be the most tangible form of resistance to discrimination experienced by Chinese-Indonesians: that discriminatory treatment has no power to curb our essence as human beings, to continue to work for others. Happy Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai! *** The writer, a Chinese- Indonesian, lectures on media and intercultural communication at the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Indonesia. She is the author of Dokter di Jalan Kemanusiaan: Biografi Lie Dharmawan (Doctor on the Path of Humanity: Biography of Lie Dharmawan). 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 Mon, February 4, 2019 08:55 868 ab327006fac3d4a4e8af45a51b15f8f7 1 Editorial Indonesian-Military,TNI,civil-military-relations,Jokowi-administration,military-reform,#Editorial,democracy Free For many years, noticeable imperfections in the Indonesian Militarys (TNI) personnel management system have gone unresolved. Now, the government is offering a remedy that could do more harm than good and throw the country back into the old days. After opening a joint TNI-National Police leaders meeting last Tuesday, President Joko Jokowi Widodo announced plans to restructure the TNI, with the aim of addressing a surplus of hundreds of middle-ranking officers. TNI commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said new 60 posts would become available for brigadiers, majors and lieutenant generals, with some colonels standing a chance of filling the vacancies through a promotion. In addition, officers will have the opportunity to take up positions in the civil service. And, in an apparent move to appease thousands of other soldiers, enlisted personnel and noncommissioned officers will have their service extended by five years to 58. These plans will require an amendment of the 2004 TNI Law. The law permits military officers to hold positions in certain non-military institutions, such as the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister and the National Search and Rescue Agency, by taking into account their military expertise. But revising the TNI Law to justify the recruitment of active military officers into the civilian bureaucracy invites serious risks, if not threats. First and foremost, it has sent shockwaves through the civilian bureaucracy. Unless the officers retire and follow the fair recruitment mechanism stipulated in the 2014 Civil Service Law, the policy would break the hearts of many high achieving civil servants. Second, and more crucially, such an amendment would counter the spirit of TNI reform, which envisions a strong and professional defense force. The reform mandated the TNI to focus on defense, relinquishing its long-preserved dwifungsi (dual function) doctrine of the New Order. The amendment, if passed, would open Pandoras Box, practically resurrecting the ghost of dwifungsi. To address the problem of surplus colonels, an organizational restructuring of the TNI has been underway since 2016, as evident in the formation of two new regional military commands (Kodam) and the upgrading of several sub-provincial military command posts (Korem), now led by brigadier generals. But these efforts seem to have been inadequate to absorb enough officers, who have grown quite fast in number as a result of the TNIs policy to recruit many more Military Academy cadets that began about 20 years ago. Back then, the fall of the New Order and the reform of the TNI was perhaps unimaginable. The issue of idle soldiers indeed needs an immediate solution, as restless colonels have changed the history of nations. But the issue does not merit a quick fix, let alone short-sighted, politically motivated policy. The government should keep the plans on hold and listen to as many wide-ranging views as possible, either from lawmakers, experts and civil society groups. A wrong move can sacrifice TNI reforms, which have yet to be completed, and our hard-won democracy. EDWARDSVILLE A presentation about Madison County aimed at attracting the attention of regional St. Louis officials was made by County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler to the St. Louis Regional Chamber Thursday morning. This comes as the Chamber announced the creation of the St. Louis Regional Economic Development Alliance, a concierge service for site selectors, businesses and talent interested in the entire St. Louis region. A subsidiary of the chamber, it will focus on business recruitment and expansion, according to a press release about the announcement. This is an effort to do a better job of selling the St. Louis metro area, Prenzler said. Were a part of a region. Prenzler made the presentation to the Chambers Board of Directors Thursday morning; he is also a member of that board. In September the Madison County Board approved a $30,000 membership in the Chamber. This came after several months of discussion about membership to several regional economic development groups. Part of the question was how much the county was benefiting, and if Madison County was being fairly represented. Prenzler had supported membership with the Chamber and Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois. Membership with the Leadership Council was approved in December. Weve supported these in years past, and I think its important that we are indeed part of the St. Louis metro area, Prenzler said Thursday. We benefit from that association. He noted the entire St. Louis metro region has about 2.8 million people, with one-quarter of them living in Illinois. Most of those are in Madison and St. Clair counties, which have about 250,000 people each. Its important for the people in the region to know whats here, Prenzler said Thursday afternoon. We are truly a part of a region. The presentation emphasized the Chambers role in helping Madison County attract new business, provide feedback on better ways for county government to help people. It also emphasized some of the major economic drivers in Madison County, including the Wood River Refinery, U.S. Steel-Granite City Works, Americas Central Port, St. Louis Regional Airport and Gateway Commerce Center. He noted that there is still a lot of development potential, and referred to the recent fight for the new Amazon headquarters expansion. We were not considered for the Amazon location because Amazon wanted light rail, but when they did that study they found four super locations, he said. He said a major factor for the countys development continues to be transportation, and noted the importance of bridges between Madison County and the Missouri side of the river. That includes the Clark Bridge at Alton, I-270 Chain of Rocks Bridge, the Merchants (rail) Bridge in Madison, and the McKinley Bridge in Venice. One of the biggest positives were looking at is the new I-270 bridge, he said. The Illinois Department of Transportation is currently looking at replacing the bridge, which was built in 1966 and is near the end of its planned life. The project is in the first of three phases, and construction is not funded yet. The bridge replacement is also a part of larger efforts to improve I-270 from Lilac Avenue in Missouri to Illinois Route 111 in Illinois. The cost for all the work is anticipated to be about $1 billion. With our pipelines and our railroad tracks, our interstate highways and our employment, we are truly part of the region, he said. February is National Childrens Dental Health Month the perfect time to emphasize the importance of establishing good oral health habits at an early age to prevent tooth decay. Although preventable, tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease, according to the U.S. Surgeon General. Tooth decay can develop any time after the first tooth comes in, starting around 6 months of age. Establishing good dental habits in early childhood is essential for preventing or lessening the impact of tooth decay while ensuring a lifetime of good oral health. This month, we encourage parents to help their kids develop healthy routines including visiting the dentist regularly, brushing their teeth twice a day and flossing once a day. Good oral health is important to a childs overall health and well-being. First, healthy baby teeth are the foundation for proper alignment of adult teeth. Second, untreated tooth decay and other oral health issues can not only cause discomfort and pain, but also lead to school absences and difficulty learning. Oral health problems also can affect a childs ability to speak and eat, impacting social confidence and overall nutrition. According to a statewide oral health assessment, 22 percent of Illinois third-graders had untreated tooth decay and only 65 percent of Illinois children had their first dental visit before 5 years of age.1 Regular dental visits are vital. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children visit the dentist by their first birthday and continue regular dental visits thereafter. Visiting the dentist early and often can help set the foundation for good oral health care and allows the child and parent to establish a relationship with the dentist. In addition to regular dental visits starting at age 1 or when a childs first tooth appears, a good home oral health routine is important. However, Illinois parents acknowledge that their kids brushing and flossing habits could use some improvement. More than 4 in 10 (43 percent) parents say their children only brush their teeth once a day at most, while nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of parents say their children do not floss every day.2 Children should brush twice a day and floss once a day just as adults should. Parents should practice good oral health habits themselves, which makes establishing a routine for their children easier. We also recommend parents help children brush and floss or at least supervise until they are 7 or 8, when most children can properly care for their teeth with occasional reminders. Visit Delta Dental of Illinois oral health website, YourOralHealthHub.com, for tips on how to make oral health fun for the whole family. Delta Dental of Illinois is committed to improving oral health in Illinois. Through the Delta Dental of Illinois Foundation, we sponsor programs that provide oral health education and improve access to care. For example, our Land of Smiles program visits Illinois elementary schools educating thousands of pre-kindergarten through third-grade students on how to take care of their teeth and overall oral health each year. In addition, our annual Dentist By 1 program educates caregivers on the importance of dental visits by age 1. The program provides training to dental professionals who then participate in free clinics to deliver preventive care to children 5 and younger. To learn more about the Foundation and how its working to improve oral health, visit deltadentalil.com/ddilfoundation. SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. After 35 years of C-21 operations, mobility Airmen are celebrating 2019 as the Year of the Lear with upgrades for the airframe and changes within the units that fly it. A $38 million avionics upgrade for the fleet is underway and a consolidation effort is moving four aircraft from Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, to join Scotts 10 C-21s by late summer, bringing the total of 14 aircraft assigned here. In addition, and to help celebrate the legacy of the C-21 fleet, members from the 458th Airlift Squadron designed a new tail flash for the aircraft which is scheduled to be unveiled in late March. We are receiving phenomenal additions in terms of resources and people, and are excited about their upcoming arrival, said Lt. Col. Brooke Matson, 458th AS commander. As we combine forces to become Americas Learjet Squadron, were fortunate to have such a supportive local community to grow with. The Air Force couldnt have picked a better location than Scott Air Force Base to expand our mission set. One by one, C-21s are being sent to Wichita, Kansas, to receive new avionics and communications suites that will expand the aircrafts reach, effectiveness, and capability. The upgrades come in time to meet FAAs 2020 equipment mandate to keep increasingly congested airspace safe. Lt. Col. James Chapa, 458th AS director of operations, explained, that our mission is to deliver rapid, responsive and safe airlift, but we do that in increasingly congested airspace here in the U.S. and around the world. Aircraft with the new avionics upgrade give our crews the tools they need to continue to operate safely in that busy environment, while also gaining access to some of the exciting new advances in communication and navigation systems being implemented now throughout the airspace system. As they gain certification in the AUP aircraft, our crewmembers arent just learning how to operate new avionics; theyre unlocking the skills theyll need to operate as crewmembers in 2020 and beyond. Embracing the challenge and opportunity of the new upgrades, members of the 458th AS took the initiative to design and implement a new tail flash that commemorates the legacy of Scott AFB and its historic contributions to military aviation. It was truly a group effort design within the squadron to come together to figure out how we could symbolize our incredible mission at this remarkable time, said Matson. It was voted on base-wide, and we love how this particular design celebrates our history and heritage and it lets those who see it know we represent not only Scott AFB, but the entire nation. The C-21A is a twin turbofan-engine aircraft used for cargo and passenger airlift. The aircraft is the military version of the Learjet 35A business jet. In addition to providing cargo and passenger airlift, the aircraft is also capable of transporting one litter or five ambulatory patients during aeromedical evacuations. I cant think of a better way to celebrate the Year of the Lear than to invest in our mission set by expanding our capabilities and adding to our fleet, said Matson. Its an exciting time to be a part of the 458th Airlift Squadron. Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles premier radio show that discusses the ideas and issues happening on campus and beyond, SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook, PhD, spoke with Christine Taylor, PhD, vice president and associate provost for diversity, equity and inclusion Sunday at The University of Alabama. Taylor served as the guest speaker for approximately 265 guests at SIUEs 36th Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Week Luncheon Celebration on Jan. 23. The duos conversation aired Sunday on WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound and siue.edu/wsie. In her address at the MLK Week Luncheon, Taylor reminded guests of Dr. Kings address during the March on Washington. King spoke of a fierce urgency of now, followed by a need for vigorous and positive action. She believes the sentiment is needed in todays troubling climate. We need to look beyond ourselves and see where inequities exist in our communities. Secondly, we need to build our personal power and energy to address those inequities, Taylor says. Its my hope that as we think about Dr. King and his legacy, we begin to think about issues like voter registration and suppression, and people get out there in vote. Democracy needs engagement, and its imperative where I sit that we get out and engaged in our individual communities in order to make the biggest change. Taylors career in higher education, particularly in diversity, equity and inclusion, is formed by a wealth of personal experiences and a passion for seeing students succeed after they graduate. My mother would argue that my career in diversity education began in first grade when I was the first to integrate an all-white elementary school, Taylor says. Part of how I supported myself in graduate school and through my school was [working in] residence life. I was involved in training and development of our student staff around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, which were becoming more important in the context of a living and learning community. I was also fascinated in seeing how students were getting ready for their life outside of the institution, and these things launched my career in higher education. It is interesting how we have those pathways to higher education, Pembrook replies. Certain things just resonate with us and take us in entirely different directions. For example, I entered college with the intention to become a high school band director, but I got involved in research and technology, and it took me in an entirely different direction. A lot of my colleagues in higher education have those stories where we found something that fascinates us that takes us on a new journey. I tell people that its a true blessing that your personal goals and passions align with your professional goals and passions, Taylor says. Its exactly what Ive found in my work, and Im honored to be able to do what I do. If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life! Pembrook quotes. At Alabama, Taylor provides executive-level leadership to build on its core principles of inclusiveness in learning environments, programs, workforce and strategic partnerships. I look at who comes, who stays and who graduates in terms of faculty and students of underrepresented groups, Taylor says. I want to make sure our campus is more welcoming, which involves all students, faculty and staff. I also want to make sure we as an institution are prepared to deal with an increasingly global society. That means we collectively develop culturally competencies, so we can effectively interact with people that are different from ourselves. In order to help their students develop those cultural competencies, both Pembrook and Taylor are firm supporters in national and international emersion experiences. These travel study programs, according to Taylor, require students to use critical thinking skills, become empathetic, and take actions once outside the realm of possibility. While at a different university, Dr. Timothy Staples (interim director of the SIUE East St. Louis Center) and I took a diverse group of students to Washington, D.C., for a social justice experience, she recalls. We visited the Holocaust Museum, the King monument, and partnered with students from American University to witness the inauguration of President Barack Obama. The most powerful part of the experience was witnessing the students, from the bus ride from Indiana to the Capitol, learn everything about each other. It created a bond, and these students still meet and contact each other on social media long after graduation. This episode will air at 9 a.m. this Sunday on WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound and siue.edu/wsie. At 6:02 a.m. Saturday, the Estherville Fire Department was paged to a house fire. Upon arrival, firefighters found fire in the basement that extended through the main floor. The house was unoccupied. The cause of the fire is believed to be electrical. No injuries were reported. Emergency Responders were on scene for three hours. Wallingford Fire Dept., Estherville Police Dept., Emmet County Sheriff, Emmet County Emergency Management, and Estherville Ambulance Service assisted at the scene. Photos submitted NORWALK Tracey Elementary School is the first in city and the only school in the state to earn the School of Character distinction. Schools of Character have been named for more than 20 years by Character.org, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that recognizes schools who commit to a social-emotional educational model. At Tracey, the distinction is the result of roughly three years of work by Principal Theresa Rangel, who became aware of Character.org in her second year at Tracey. We had started working on building the schools character but needed benchmarks to measure. In doing research, Character.org was the only thing we found where they have the materials and principles to help guide and a way of measuring, Rangel said. Having them recognize that weve been implementing our character program with fidelity and at a high level is the icing on top of the cake. Before earning the distinction, Rangel worked to implement a curriculum that focused on education the whole child. The schools pledge, PRINT which includes problem solving, respect, integrity, being neighborly and taking responsibility is incorporated into each days lessons. Character is embedded in everything they do. The staff have been tremendously successful in making this a key part of the daily life for the school, Norwalk Public Schools Chief Communications Officer Brenda Wilcox Williams said. Character.org assesses schools based on a set of 11 Principles, which include creating a caring community, providing students opportunities for moral action and fostering student self-motivation, among others. Between October and December 2018, Rangel and her staff completed a rigorous application that investigated each of the principles. Its all the pieces put together. Its how the students are doing emotionally, socially all those pieces really coming together and making sure we dont ignore any part of, Rangel said. Its been an exciting start to the year for Rangel and Tracey Elementary. In January, Gov. Ned Lamont, Barbara Dalio, co-founder and director of the Dalio Foundation, and James Comer, the founder of Yales Child Study Center who is considered by many to be the father of social/emotional learning, toured the school after it was named as an example of rising academic achievement in a new report, From a Nation at Risk to a Nation at Hope. The report was commissioned by the Aspen Institutes National Commission on Social, Emotional and Academic Development. Board of Education Chairman Mike Barbis, who was also in attendance, praised the student-led tour and the improvements at the school in general. The board is thrilled with developments at Tracey particularly the gains in student achievement, Barbis said. Sometime in the next two months, Tracey Elementary will be reviewed to determine whether it will earn the distinction of National School of Character, Character.orgs highest honor. Were excited to be the only school in Connecticut and we hope to reach nationals. Were excited to share our journey and we hope that more schools decide to embark on this journey. Its the most worthwhile thing we can give to a child, Rangel said. justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586 Alexander Soule / Hearst Connecticut Media The board of Gannett rejected a $1.4 billion buyout offer from the parent company of Digital First Media, describing as not credible the proposal from Denver-based MNG Enterprises. In a statement, Gannett chairman Jeffry Louis said we know that there are challenges that face us and our industry and that the company would not rule out acquisition offers from other parties, while continuing to focus on evolving its business model. Chinese missiles are seen on trucks as they drive towards Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City during a military parade in Beijing on Sept. 3, 2015. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) Chinese Missile Threat a Major Concern in Arms Treaty Withdrawal, According to Report The threat of China and its formidable arsenal of missiles is one of the major hurdles for U.S. defense under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty, according to a newly published congressional report. China isnt a signee to the treaty. However, remaining outside the pact has allowed China to rapidly expand its missile arsenal as part of a military strategy designed to counter U.S. and allied military power in Asia, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) said in a report published Jan. 28 analyzing the implications of U.S. withdrawal from the treatyjust four days before the Trump administration formally announced that it would suspend its obligations under the treaty and begin the process to formally withdraw. With the INF restrictions on the United States, Washington is unable to defend its interests in the Asian region, according to the report. The INF treaty was signed by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in 1978, prohibiting both countries from deploying ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 310 and 3,410 miles. This distance restricts U.S. missiles from reaching Asia. The Feb. 1 announcement by the Trump administration explained that the United States has decided to pull out of the treaty after months of failed negotiations requesting that Russia dismantle its 9M729 ballistic missiles that the United States says breach the pact. Though President Donald Trump and other officials had initially cited Chinas missile capabilities as a rationale for withdrawing from the treatya point made throughout the USCC reportduring a phone call with reporters on Feb. 1, an administration official denied such a connection, saying, for the United States, this really doesnt have anything to do with China. This is solely about Russias violation of this treaty. The following day, Russia announced that it would also suspend participation in the treaty. China Threat Under INF Restrictions The USCC report pointed out that 95 percent of Chinas inventory of more than 2,000 ballistic and cruise missileswhich includes short range (between 310 and 620 miles), medium range (620 and 1,860 miles), and intermediate range (1,860 and 3,410 miles)would violate the INF Treaty, if China was a signatory. While the majority of these Chinese missiles are fitted with conventional warheads, some are nuclear warheads and others are dual-capable, meaning the missile can be fitted for either a conventional or nuclear warhead, according to the report. Without the restrictions under INF, Beijing has amassed missiles with the military strategy of holding U.S. forces at risk should they choose to intervene in a regional conflict, the report said. The USCC painted a hypothetical situation for the United States, under INF restrictions. If a regional conflict broke out over Taiwan or disputed islands in the East or the South China Sea, China could forestall or defeat U.S. intervention by targeting regional U.S. military facilities as far out as Guam, along with naval and air assets operating offshore. The Chinese regime considers the self-ruled island of Taiwan part of its territory and has threatened the use of military force to unite it with the mainland. The report noted that if the United States couldnt intervene, U.S. allies in the Asia region would be at a disadvantage during a conflict, due to the sheer number of Chinese missiles and the speed with which they could be fired. Furthermore, China would also be able to successfully stave off U.S. intervention if U.S. policymakers become reluctant to keep fighting or sustain additional losses as a result of the damage initially inflicted by Chinese missiles. Any sign of the United States becoming less willing to intervene would serve Beijings ultimate purpose: to intimidate and coerce regional states, according to the report. Response from China When asked by reporters about the United States suspension on Feb. 2, Geng Shuang, Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson, said that China is opposed to the U.S. withdrawal and warned that the withdrawal may trigger a series of adverse consequences. When asked if China would agree to negotiate a new multilateral treaty on arms control to replace INF, Geng said, China opposes the multilateralization of this treaty, adding the Chinese regime believes it is imperative to uphold and implement the existing treaty instead of creating a new one. Gengs words were conservative compared to the scathing criticism by Chinese state-run media to denounce the U.S. decision. Xinhua, in an editorial published Feb. 2, equated the U.S. withdrawal to opening up a Pandoras box, as it would seriously undermine global peace and security. U.S. withdrawal leaves the entire human race with a negative outlook as they anticipate the 21st century, the state-run newspaper Global Times said in an editorial on Feb. 2. The article also reiterated Beijings opposition to any form of multilateralization under the INF, or any other forms of multilateralization demanded by Washington. The reason behind Beijings wariness of any multilateral framework was stated in the USCC report. Implicit in Chinas official position [on opposition to multilateralization under INF] is an assessment that U.S. and Russian adherence to the INF Treaty, while China remains outside the pact, creates an asymmetry of arms control regimes that Beijing leverages to its advantage and therefore wants to maintain, the report said. Ramification Ultimately, the United States would have one major advantage were it to withdraw from the INF: U.S. defense planners would have the additional option of putting ground-based missiles in the territories of its allies and partners in Asia to deter aggressive actions by Beijing, according to the report. It would force China to focus on destroying more targets in a conflict, thus diluting the amount of firepower the [Peoples Liberation Army] could devote to any specific target, the USCC said, adding that it would complicate Chinese military planning. China already poses a threat to U.S. allies in Asia. SD Pradhan, former chairman of Indias Joint Intelligence Committee and former deputy national security adviser, wrote in an editorial published in Indias English-language daily newspaper The Times of India, that China is already placing weapon systems in its periphery and its bases in the Indian Ocean, in connection with its foreign policy of One Belt, One Road initiative (OBOR). With the United States INF withdrawal, China could decide to accelerate that process, Pradhan said. Beijing rolled out OBOR in 2013, with the objective of building up trade routes linking China, Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America by funding infrastructure projects in more than 60 countries. Pradhan also warned that India needs to continue monitoring Chinas missile deployment in Tibet, as well as the possibility of China placing new missiles in Pakistani territories. Regardless of how China might respond after the U.S. withdrawal, China has already shown its willingness to use missiles for intimidation, according to the USCC report, such as when it fired missiles into the waters off Taiwan during the 1995-1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis. China had fired the missiles to intimidate Taiwanese citizens just prior to the island holding its first presidential elections in 1996. U.S. bimonthly magazine the National Interest, in an article published Jan. 4, identified ballistic missiles as one of five weapons China could use in a war against Taiwan. One of the Chinese missiles, DF-16, has a range of 1,000 kilometers (about 620 miles); can carry a 1,500-kilogram (about 3,307) warhead; and possesses a maneuvering capability that can evade interception by anti-ballistic missile systems. U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, left, talks with South Korean National Security Director Chung Eui-yong during a meeting at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 4, 2019. (South Korea Presidential Blue House via AP) US Envoy, South Korean Official Discuss 2nd Trump-Kim Summit SEOUL, South KoreaThe U.S. special envoy for North Korea met with South Koreas national security adviser on Monday to discuss a planned second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Seouls presidential office said. Stephen Biegun explained to Chung Eui-yong Washingtons stance toward North Korea ahead of talks on setting up the summit, the presidential Blue House said in a statement. There is speculation that Biegun will meet his North Korean counterpart at the Korean border village of Panmunjom or in North Koreas capital, Pyongyang, this week. The Blue House did not specifically say what was discussed during Mondays meeting, but said Chung told Biegun that South Korea hopes the planning talks between the United States and North Korea will pave the way for a successful summit. Biegun arrived in Seoul on Sunday and also held talks with South Korean Foreign Ministry official Lee Do-hoon. Trump and Kim met last June in Singapore, where they issued aspirational goals for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without going into details. Post-summit nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea have been vigorous, with the countries disagreeing on which should come firstNorth Koreas nuclear disarmament or the removal of U.S.-led international sanctions against the North. In an interview with CBS Face the Nation, Trump said the second summit is set with Kim, but didnt provide details. He said there was a very good chance that we will make a deal. South Korea didnt say whether Biegun and South Korean officials discussed the possibility of partially easing the sanctions on North Korea to allow more inter-Korean cooperation and create more space for nuclear diplomacy. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who held three summits with Kim last year and helped set up the first Trump-Kim meeting, has described inter-Korean reconciliation as crucial for resolving the nuclear standoff. But the tough sanctions necessary for keeping the pressure on the North have limited the range of joint activities the two Koreas can undertake. The Koreas have discussed ambitious plans, such as reconnecting railways and roads across their border, resuming operations at a jointly run factory park in a North Korean border town, and restarting South Korean tours to the Norths Diamond Mountain resort. But none is possible unless the sanctions are eased, which Washington says wont happen unless North Korea takes stronger steps toward irreversibly and verifiably relinquishing its nuclear weapons. In his New Years speech last month, Kim urged more cooperation between the Koreas and said the North is ready to reopen the factory park and resume joint tours to the resort. Last year, North Korea released American detainees, suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests, and dismantled a nuclear test site and parts of a rocket launch facility, but without the presence of outside experts to verify. It has repeatedly demanded that the United States reciprocate with measures such as sanctions relief, but Washington has called for North Korea to take steps such as providing a detailed account of its nuclear and missile facilities that would be inspected and dismantled under a potential deal. Satellite video taken since the June summit has indicated North Korea is continuing to produce nuclear materials at its weapons factories. U.S. intelligence chiefs told Congress last Tuesday that they believe there is little likelihood Kim will voluntarily give up his nuclear weapons or missiles capable of carrying them. Biegun said last week that Kim committed to the dismantlement and destruction of North Koreas plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities during his summit with Moon in September and at a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in October. At a second Trump-Kim summit, some experts say North Korea is likely to seek to trade the destruction of its main Yongbyon nuclear complex for a U.S. promise to formally declare the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, open a liaison office in Pyongyang, and allow the North to resume some lucrative economic projects with South Korea. By Kim Tong-hyung The Epoch Times contributed to this report. President Donald Trump meets with President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on July 25, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) US and EU Make Progress in Tackling China WASHINGTONThe United States is making steady progress in its trade negotiations with Brussels, as both sides close ranks in fighting Chinas unfair trade practices. While the U.S.-China trade talks have stolen much of the attention lately, the United States and the European Union are making headway in fixing the troubled global trading system, which is one of the key elements of their bilateral talks. In July last year, President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed to join forces to protect U.S. and European companies from unfair trade practices of non-market economies such as China. To advance this common goal, both sides started to work together to reform the World Trade Organization (WTO) and address market-distorting policies such as intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and government subsidies. We need to update the rules facing this centurys realities, particularly unfair trade practices from China, Cecilia Malmstrom, European commissioner for trade, said at an Atlantic Council event on Jan. 10. Malmstrom visited Washington last month to meet with her counterparts, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Hiroshige Seko, Japans minister of economy, trade, and industry. Weve made good progress in these talks, Malmstrom said, adding that trilateral partners have intensified their work in reforming the WTO and drafting new rules. In the areas of industrial subsidies and forced technology transfers, for example, the trilateral partners agreed to draft rules by spring this year. Industrial subsidies and forced technology transfers are some of the key tools that the Chinese regime has been using for decades. Beijing spends hundreds of billions of dollars to support its monopolies, particularly state-owned enterprises that control strategic sectors such as defense, energy, telecommunications, and aviation. A recent report by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative states that China continues to protect its industries with excessive domestic subsidies, stockpiling of commodities, and discriminatory taxes. All these measures violate WTO rules, according to the report. In addition, China also pressures foreign companies to transfer their most sensitive technologies to domestic firms through various means, including joint-venture requirements or foreign equity limitations. The United States has a bilateral agenda there as well, which we follow with interest, but we thinkfor systemic change and enforcementwe need global rules on this, Malmstrom argued. Both sides need to join forces, not just in drafting new WTO rules, but also in helping China in the reform process, she said. Its going to be very difficult. I have no illusions that this is a walk in the park, but I think this is one of the key issues in 2019. Trump has repeatedly criticized the WTO for its outdated rules, which have become dysfunctional in regulating global trade disputes. In the joint statement, both Trump and Juncker agreed to work closely, together with like-minded partners to reform the WTO and to tackle unfair trading practices. World leaders came around to Trumps view at the G-20 summit held in Argentina in early December last year and agreed for the first time to reform the 23-year-old organization. It was long overdue that the United States and the EU worked together at the WTO level to counter unfair trade practices, said Marie Kasperek, deputy director of global business and economics program at Atlantic Council. If Washington and Brussels continue their trade dialogue and avoid slapping additional tariffs on each others goods, they can focus on China and find a way of working together against Chinese trade practices, she said. In July last year, the United States and the EU agreed to work together towards zero tariffs, zero nontariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods. The White House held off on releasing a Commerce Department investigation into whether import of autos and auto parts impair national security, as defined in Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. The department is expected to conclude its study in February and may advise on imposing tariffs on foreign cars. Speaking at a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Malmstrom said she is confident that the Trump administration will avoid imposing tariffs on European autos and auto parts. She added that Brussels was ready to respond if the White House does. We will have to respond. I dont want to do that. But we will have to do that. But we are confident that we will not be taxed on this, she said. UK Police Arrest 33 Men Over Child Sex Abuse LONDONBritish police have arrested 33 men as part of an investigation into historical child sex abuse allegations involving one woman, a police force in northern England said Feb. 4. The men were arrested after the woman alleged that she was sexually abused as a child between 2002 and 2005 in Halifax in the West Yorkshire area, local police said. All of the men were interviewed and released under investigation, according to West Yorkshire police. Protecting and safeguarding children is a top priority this operation forms part of West Yorkshire Polices ongoing commitment to investigating both current and non-recent sexual offenses against children, Detective Inspector Laura Nield said. Tackling child abuse is not something the police can do alone, and we continue to work closely with local authorities, charities, and other organizations to support victims and bring offenders to justice, she said in a statement. West Yorkshire police last month arrested 55 men in a separate investigation into historical child sex abuse allegations involving seven women in the region. All the men were interviewed and released under investigation, according to detectives in West Yorkshire. The allegations were made by seven women in connection with sexual abuse against them as children between 2002 and 2009. The men are from Dewsbury, Batley, and Bradford. Investigators warned in 2017 that child exploitation was still in operation across the country. I think theres every likelihood that this is happening in every town and city across the country, Chief Constable Steve Ashman of Northumbria Police told The Independent. Last August, 30 men and one woman were charged with sexual exploitation in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. The suspects were charged with abusing five girls under the age of 18 over a period of seven years, between 2005 and 2012. Charges included rape, trafficking, and sexual exploitation. The alleged victims were between the ages of 12 and 18. In March 2018, seven men were convicted of abusing young girls in Oxford. The gang frequently abused girls aged between 13 and 15, the court heard. A number of grooming gangs have been exposed in the UK in recent years; one of the most prominent cases is in Rotherham. A 2014 investigation found there were 1,400 sex abuse victims in the town between 1997 and 2013. Reuters and Epoch Times reporters John Smithies and Simon Veazey contributed to this report. US Envoy on North Korea Arrives in Seoul U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun arrived at Incheon International Airport on Feb. 3 to meet his counterparts from the two Koreas ahead of a second summit between the United States and North Korea expected held later this month. Biegun is expected to meet his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok Chol at the truce village of Panmunjom as early as Feb. 4 to prepare for the second summit of their leaders, said Seouls Yonhap News Agency citing its sources. The U.S. envoy is also expected to discuss the next steps to advance the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and progress on commitments from the Singapore summit, between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to the U.S. Department of State. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Jan. 30 that he was dispatching a team to make preparations for the summit to be held someplace in Asia in late February. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Jan. 31 that the date and location of the summit with Kim would be announced early next week and probably during his State of the Union speech on Feb. 5. US Will Suspend Obligations Under Nuclear Treaty With Russia on Feb. 2 The United States will suspend its obligations under a landmark nuclear treaty with Russia starting on Feb. 2, according to simultaneous statements issued by the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. For years, Washington has accused Moscow of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The pact prohibits both nations from possessing short- and mid-range ground-launched missiles. The United States has fully adhered to the INF Treaty for more than 30 years, but we will not remain constrained by its terms while Russia misrepresents its actions, Trump said in a statement issued by the White House. We cannot be the only country in the world unilaterally bound by this treaty, or any other. Both Trump and Pompeo said the United States withdrawal is backed by NATO allies that joined Washington in December to declare Moscow in material breach of the treaty. NATO issued a statement on Feb. 1 backing the withdrawal decision by the United States. Unless Russia honors its INF Treaty obligations through the verifiable destruction of all of its 9M729 systems, thereby returning to full and verifiable compliance before the U.S. withdrawal takes effect in six months, Russia will bear sole responsibility for the end of the Treaty, the NATO declaration states. The withdrawal will be complete six months after the official notice is served on Feb. 2. During that time, Russia will have another opportunity to return to compliance by destroying the missiles, which are allegedly in violation. American officials made more than 30 attempts over the past six years to bring Russia into compliance. Pompeo said on Feb. 1 that Moscow has refused to take any steps to comply with the requests. In December, Pompeo gave Russia 60 days to return to compliance with the treaty. He noted at the time that European allies have lobbied for the additional time in order to mount a diplomatic campaign to return Russia into compliance. Russias violation puts millions of Europeans and Americans at greater risk, Pompeo said on Feb. 1. It aims to put the United States at a military disadvantage and it undercuts the chances of moving our bilateral relationship in a better direction. Its our duty to respond appropriately, he added. When an agreement is so brazenly disregarded and our security is so openly threatened, we must respond. The United States alleges that Russias 9M729 missile is in violation of the INF treaty because it operates in a prohibited range. The treaty prohibits Russia and the United States from deploying ground-launched missiles with ranges of 300 to 3,400 miles. Russia denies the allegation, saying that the missiles range is a few miles short of 300 miles. Washington asked to test the missiles range, but Moscow refused and offered a testing scenario U.S. officials found unacceptable. Trump said that the United States will now move forward to respond to Russias deployments. We will move forward with developing our own military response options and will work with NATO and our other allies and partners to deny Russia any military advantage from its unlawful conduct, Trump said. Russia made a last-ditch attempt to preserve the treaty and displayed the disputed missile on Jan. 23 as proof, which American officials rejected. Trump noted that the United States stands ready to engage with Russia on arms control negotiations. The president also suggested that a positive resolution of arms control issues would pave the way to an outstanding relationship on economic, trade, political, and military levels. This would be a fantastic thing for Russia and the United States, and would also be great for the world, Trump said. A senior Trump administration official told reporters on Feb. 1 that the exit from the treaty has nothing to do with China, which has deployed more than 1,000 missiles neither Washington nor Moscow could deploy under the INF. The threat from China is a much bigger problem for Russia than it is for the United States, the official said. Russian President Vladimir Putin has voiced concerns about other nations fielding INF-prohibited missiles as early as 2007, noting that South Korea, North Korea, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Israel have those weapons. Epoch Times reporter Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this article. Company logo at the office of Huawei in Beijing seen on Dec. 6, 2018. (Thomas Peter/Reuters) Two Huawei Staff Expelled From Denmark After Work Permit Inspection COPENHAGENDanish authorities have expelled two Huawei Technologies staff after an inspection at the companys Copenhagen office showed they failed to comply with laws covering residence and work permits, police said on Feb. 4. Police said the inspection of Chinese companys Copenhagen office was part of a routine investigation done by authorities at locations with many foreign workers. Four Huawei staff were charged following Thursdays inspection, of which two were later expelled from the country, a Copenhagen police spokeswoman said. The news was first reported by Bloomberg. The spokeswoman could not reveal whether the charged were Chinese nationals. She said the inspection had no relation to recent headlines around growing scrutiny over Huaweis ties with the Chinese regime and allegations that Beijing could use its technology for spying, something which the company has denied. No one at Huawei in Copenhagen could be reached by phone. The company did not immediately reply to questions sent by email. Huawei is facing roadblocks in the European market. Germany is considering stricter security requirements in an effort to exclude Huawei from building the countrys next-generation 5G network. French telecommunications company Orange announced it would not hire Huawei system for 5G in France. The UKs BT Group also banned Huawei from 5G and said it would remove the companys equipment from its existing 3G and 4G operations. Czech intelligence agencies warned of the security threats from Huawei, and Poland is considering a ban after a Huawei employee was arrested and charged for espionage. By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen. The Epoch times contributed to this report. Gov. Northam and the guy who said: Kill people in mixed-race relationships By Selwyn Duke Its certainly a sign of the times that Governor Ralph Northams resignation has been demanded not because of an apparent endorsement of infanticide, but because of a 1984 yearbook photo. Yet another sign is how, while Virginias Northam is condemned for having appeared in blackface or a KKK costume, another man is being honored despite having actually appeared before a KKK rally and preaching strict racial separation. This man expressed affection for notorious segregationist governor George Wallace (D-Ala.), regularly taunted adversaries with racial insults and even insisted that people in mixed-race relationships be killed. This mans name was Muhammad Ali. While Northams political future has apparently been aborted, late boxer Ali was just given the honor of having Louisville, Kentuckys airport renamed after him. The airport probably wont honor him to the extent of having separate facilities for whites and blacks. Yet in accordance with his Nation of Islam doctrine, Ali did consistently preach racial separation, as in the below 1968 interview produced for PBS THIRTEEN (relevant portion begins at 12:20). Ali was already in his 30s when, in a 1975 Playboy interview, he insisted adamantly that people in black-white relationships should be killed. No wonder Martin Luther King Jr. once called him a champion of segregation. That said, I may shock you: I probably like Ali more than Northam. Not a political prostitute, the boxer was likely far more sincere, and it appears he generally treated people well on a personal level (he was very close to his white trainer, Angelo Dundee). Although, the black boxers he showered with contempt for not sharing his racist views such as Joe Frazier, whom he called an Uncle Tom might not have agreed. But heres the point: In this age where careers are ended and statues rended because someone way back when harbored a now unfashionable racial view, how can a man with Alis past be honored? Because he really was a nice guy? Perhaps he was. Yet Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) appears a nice guy, too, but that doesnt stop people from demanding his scalp for recent comments he made; at the same time, they also tolerate Democrat Minnesota attorney general and ex-congressman Keith Ellisons past association with the Nation of Islam. The real answer is quite different: In todays identity-politics world, its not what youve done. Its what you are. Certain qualities help your cause, such as being non-white, female, non-Christian, LGBTQ, left-wing and Democrat; the more of these qualities you possess, the more protected you are. Youre practically bulletproof if you have them all. Then there are qualities that hurt your cause, such as being white, male, Christian, straight, conservative, Republican and a Trump supporter; the more of these qualities you possess, the more jeopardized you are. The slightest hiccup can ruin you if you have them all. Thus did newswoman Megyn Kelly lose her NBC show in 2018 for making rather innocuous comments about darkened skin and Halloween costumes, while a couple of months earlier one Sarah Jeong was hired by The New York Times despite having sent vile anti-white tweets (todays resume enhancers), replacing a white woman fired for, yeah, alleged bigotry. Thus did a hapless Catholic teen become a national symbol of hate for a Facecrime while the American Indian left-wing activist with a criminal record who confronted him was portrayed a victim. And thus did the national media beat the racism drum after a grown white Hispanic man shot a 17-year-old black kid in self-defense, while being silent after a grown black man shot a 17-year-old white kid (who never laid a hand on him) in alleged self-defense. The leftist Thought Police couldnt care less about prejudice and equality. Theyre simply informed by and are acting upon their own particular vile prejudices and discriminatory standards, which their institutional power gives them the capacity to enforce. This results in whites being demeaned, demoted, derailed and taken down while leftists elevate and exalt their preferred bigots, as their cultural revolution continues apace. So forget about getting woke just wake up. Contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on Gab (preferably) or Twitter or log on to SelwynDuke.com. Nick Sandmann from Covington Catholic High School stands in front of Native American activist Nathan Phillips while the latter bangs a drum in his face in Washington on Jan. 18, 2019. (Kaya Taitano via Reuters) Truth and Hysteria: The Viciousness of Liberal Media Commentary As the fog of the culture war clears from the media attack on the boys of Covington Catholic High School, some points become clear. We have witnessed a moral hysteria that took hold like a spark on dry tinder. It was a small spark, nothing but a dishonest and distorting video clip, but enough to set off a forest fire. There was an extraordinary rush to judgment and a contagion of fake news spread by social media and the collapse of professional standards in mainstream reporting. The spark was a tiny and bizarre hate group called the Black Hebrew Israelites (BHI), who accosted the students with a barrage of vile racial and religious slurs. More than an hour after the abuse started, Nathan Phillips, a Native American activist with a shaky relationship with the truth, approached the minors, drumming and chanting in their faces. The students chanted spirit songs from their Catholic high school in Kentucky to drown out the torrent of racist, homophobic, and bigoted verbal abuse from the BHI cult. As one piece in Reason magazine put it, Phillips walked away after several minutes, the Black Hebrew Israelites continued to insult the crowd, and nothing else happened. That was all it took. What made it possible for such a brief and limited exchange, in which the Covington students did nothing but exercise extraordinary restraint, to be turned into a national event? As reported in our liberal media, it was a blatant expressionby the boys, no lessof racism, privilege, tribalism, and hate. Andrew Sullivan, a long-time critic of the president, put the question raised by this performance, thusly: How did this grotesque inversion of the truth become the central narrative for what seemed the entire class of elite journalists on Twitter? Thats the somewhat terrifying question. Across most of the national media, led by The New York Times and The Washington Post, the narrative had been set. What made it possible for such an insignificant spark to set aflame such an extensive and fierce forest fire? There are several elements to an answer to that question. Some are structural: the increasing speed of the news cycle, tempting once-reputable media and elite journalists to cut corners rather than risk being scooped by new online news sources. Some are ideological: the overwhelming dominance of progressive views on the part of mainstream reporters, creating a bubble of ideological conformity fed by the increasing leftist intolerance on campuses, an orthodoxy of political correctness, and militant hostility to alternative views and speakers or faculty who express them; and by the growing dominance in the Democratic Party of a leftist ideology comprising identity politics, anti-religious bigotry, growing sympathy for socialism, and more open hostility to U.S. patriotism (American Greatness), all endorsed and supported by corporate progressivism. A Policy of Personal Destruction The election of President Donald Trump strengthened, but did not create, these elements. A new level of anti-democratic and anti-constitutional rage hit the streets, most notably in the form of antifa groups in Portland, Oregon, who were rioting even before the inaugurationthat is, before Trump had done anything, good or bad, as president. There was, from the start, a widespread determination among Democrats and leftists to derail this presidency, and for some, by any means necessary. The Democrats had already adopted a strategy of ruthless personal destruction in trying to block both Robert Bork (1987, successfully) and Clarence Thomas (1991, unsuccessfully) as nominees to the Supreme Court. But the level of defamation and personal destruction reached new depths in the hearings before the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, when the courts pro-abortion majority was at stake. The Democratic attempt to derail the nomination was reinforced, this time, by increasingly extreme attempts to prevent the constitutional process itself from proceeding to its conclusion. It included even clamorous attacks on the U.S. Senate as it deliberated. By now, the demand was to disregard questions of evidence and the assumption of innocence. Instead, we were told to believe any woman who accused any man in these circumstances, however implausible and uncorroborated her testimony. The approach, advocated by Saul Alinsky and described by Laird Wilcox as ritual defamation, was one of personal demonization, disregard of evidence, refusal to engage in rational argument, and single-minded focus of hostility on the individual to be destroyed. Women themselves were not long immune from these kinds of assaults, as we see currently in the attempt, as The Wall Street Journal put it, to kavanaugh the presidents nominee to replace Justice Kavanaugh on the D.C. Court of Appeals. The attempt is based on articles the supposedly reputable BuzzFeed dredged up by scouring the student newspaper to which the nominee, Judge Neomi Rao, then a student herself, wrote in the 1990s. As The Wall Street Journals editorial board commented, Ms. Raos sins arent that she was inflammatory but that she is a conservative. The Covington hoax was an extension of these methods beyond the realm of judicial appointments and professional politicians to the demonization of a group of schoolboys from Kentucky, and one in particular who smiled at the man accosting him in a way that liberals took offense to (a face crime in the newspeak term of Orwells dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four). The boys actual offense was not anything they did, but who they weremale, Catholic, pro-life, white, and, perhaps worst of all,judging by their MAGA hatssupporters of their president. No wonder that public trust in the media, already declining years before Trumps election, has sunk so low. No wonder that the media responsible for this subordination of truth to an ever more closed-minded liberal narrative are suffering. Some, like BuzzFeed, Huffpost, Yahoo, AOL, and Gannett are laying off writers, editors, and other staff. As Trump, the main villain in these developments according to those sources, wrote in a tweet: Fake news and bad journalism have caused a big downturn. Sadly, many others will follow. The people want the Truth! Even moderate readers and ones critical of the president tire of seeing four or five op-ed pieces a day attacking the president, even in once-reputable newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post. They will look instead, to more trustworthy sources. Paul Adams is a professor emeritus of social work at the University of Hawaii and was a professor and associate dean of academic affairs at Case Western Reserve University. He is the co-author of Social Justice Isnt What You Think It Is and has written extensively on social welfare policy and professional and virtue ethics. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. US President Donald Trump gestures as American conservative activist and author Alveda King (C), a niece of Martin Luther King Jr., speaks before Trump signs the First Step Act and the Juvenile Justice Reform Act at the White House in Washington, DC, on Dec. 21, 2018. (Jim Watson/AFP) The Weaponization of Political Diversity Commentary Since the 2018 midterm elections, Americas political left has been celebrating the most diverse Congress in U.S. history. And, as the races for the 2020 congressional and presidential elections heat up, political diversity is a key focus. The Guardian noted a stark difference between the diversity of incoming Democrats and incoming Republicans before dismissing the Republican Party as even more white and male. Lately, a common critique of the Republican Party is that its members dont look like America, because the demographic makeup of the party doesnt match the demographic makeup of the country. The underlying argument is that a less diverse political body couldnt possibly yield favorable results for a broader segment of the population. Consequently, it presupposes that more diversity leads to better policy outcomes. Rashad Robinson, executive director of the civil rights-focused nonprofit Color of Change, told The Associated Press that diversity is a great thing and we should celebrate it, but added diversity alone does not mean structures and policies and practices that have held so many back will change overnight. What he should have said is that diversity alone may not change those things at all, especially in the black community. Widening Gaps History shows that increased black political capital has not always translated into increased socioeconomic capital. According to Fact Tank by Pew Research: Data from the past 50 years reveal the upward yet uneven trajectory of black political leadership in America. In 1965, there were no blacks in the U.S. Senate, nor were there any black governors. And only six members of the House of Representatives were black. As of 2019, there is greater representation in some areas52 House members are black, putting the share of black House members [12 percent] on par with the share of blacks in the U.S. population overall for the first time in history. In not only Congress, but also counties, cities, and states across the nation, we have seen more blacks elected to positions of poweran increase in diversity. So what did we get in exchange? According to 2016 data from Pew Social Trends, more than a third (36 percent) of whites hold a bachelors degree, compared with 23 percent of blacks. This is a disparity between blacks and whites that has widened since 1964. The gap in median household income between blacks and whites has widened. Pew reported that in 1967, median black household income was $24,700, compared with $44,700 among white households (a difference of $20,000). Yet, after eight years of a black president and his exceptionally diverse administration, median black household income in 2017 was $40,258 compared to $68,145 among white households (a difference of $27,887). The Urban Institute published a study showing that in 1963, the average wealth of white families was $121,000 higher than the average wealth of nonwhite families. By 2016, the average wealth of white families ($919,000) was more than $700,000 higher than the average wealth of black families ($140,000). And blacks are still twice as likely as whites to be unemployed. The area of criminal justice has long been a thorn in the side of the black community. And there are two issues we have wanted to reverse for years: 1) disparities in sentencing resulting from the 1980s-era War on Drugs that (among other things) mandated harsher sentencing for crack cocaine than powder cocaine, and 2) disparities created by the 1994 Clinton (yes, as in Hillarys husband, Bill Clinton) crime bill, which was said to fuel racist mass incarceration. Both sets of policies had disastrous consequences for the black community, and both sets of policies were actively supported by black Democrats. Pew also reported that the highest level of black representation in a presidential Cabinet occurred during Clintons first term, when four out of 15 Cabinet appointees were black, which coincides with the exact same time the racist crime bill became law. Recently enacted legislation called the First Step Act was the first in a series of bills aimed at reversing decades-old disparities in criminal sentencing. Interestingly enough, this bill was neither passed under the administration of Americas first black, President Barack Obama, nor put forward by the so-called diversity-championing left. Although it had bipartisan support, this legislation was drafted and passed under the Trump administrationan administration chided for its lack of diversity. Worse Outcome The data show unequivocally that in exchange for putting more blacks in powerful government positions, the black community gained little and actually regressed in some areas. Simply put, the recently orchestrated chorus of calls for political diversity is hardly based on altruism. It amounts to one segment of the political spectrum (the left) weaponizing the idea of political diversity against their primary opponent (the right) to falsely smear them as racists, to try to score cheap political points on this issueone that doesnt even produce positive results. The data show that simply adding more black faces to leadership positions doesnt make life better for the black population, giving credence to the unpopular notion that ideological diversity may actually be far more important than racial diversity. After all, Asian Americans lead in the categories of median household income, college graduation, and median wealth and have historically had less political representation than black Americans. Having an extremely diverse political party may look great on campaign posters and may be seen as a selling point during election season, but only because many voters still dont seem to understand that racial and ethnic diversitysans intellectual diversitydoesnt automatically guarantee better outcomes for those groups represented. Ultimately, ideas should win elections, not skin color. Adrian Norman is a writer and political commentator. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Parked vehicles under a winter storm sweeping in Mammoth Mountain, Calif., early on Feb. 3, 2019. (Peter Morning/Mammoth Mountain via AP) Blizzard, Avalanche Warnings for California SAN FRANCISCOA forecast of more snow and intense winds in the Sierra Nevada mountains has prompted authorities to issue blizzard and avalanche warnings and say that conditions could become life-threatening. A winter storm sweeping across California and Nevada has dumped as much as 8 feet of snow over the past two days. Much more is expected over the next two days. The National Weather Service says 8 feet fell at the June Mountain Ski resort north of Mammoth Lakes and up to 3 feet were reported in the resorts around Lake Tahoe since Feb. 1. Were open! Storm total is currently 6-8 and were still counting. Face Left is going off and chair two is also expected. Its deep out there, always ski or ride with a friend and stay clear of tree wells. pic.twitter.com/IOIYLbe0QS June Mountain (@JuneMountain) 3 februari 2019 Forecasters say a blizzard from Sunday night to Monday night could bring another 8 feet of snow to the highest elevations, and light snow down to the foothills. The weather service warned people to stay indoors until the snow and winds subside. A message from Sgt Dave Hunt ~ PCSO North Lake Tahoe Station. #PSA #LESM pic.twitter.com/aAwrQbZv22 Placer Sheriff (@PlacerSheriff) 3 februari 2019 Evacuated Residents Allowed To Return Home Residents who were ordered to evacuate over fear of mudslides in Santa Barbara County are being allowed to return home. The sheriffs office lifted evacuation orders Sunday morning after the National Weather Service advised that heavy rain predicted for areas near three wildfire burn scars didnt materialize. The #SantaBarbaraCounty Sheriffs Office, in consultation with fire agencies and other public safety officials, has announced that effective at 9a.m. today, February 3, Evacuation Orders are lifted for all areas in Santa Barbara County. More info at: https://t.co/7oAZaSLclj pic.twitter.com/G0s1b77ptd Santa Barbara County (@countyofsb) 3 februari 2019 Evacuations were ordered or recommended on Friday, Feb. 1, for neighborhoods near the Thomas, Whittier and Sherpa fire scars. Authorities said showers were expected through Tuesday, but the rain wasnt expected to be heavy enough to cause debris flows. More than a year ago, a downpour on the huge Thomas Fire burn scar unleashed a massive debris flow that destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in the seaside community of Montecito. The disaster killed 21 people and two others have never been found. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker announces indictments against Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and other officials at the Department of Justice in Washington on Jan. 28, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) The Farce Nears Its End Commentary For more than a year, various media outlets, journalists, and social media personalities have spun narratives outlining how special counsel Robert Muellers investigation is preparing major indictments of people affiliated with the Trump campaign for collusion with Russia through WikiLeaks publication of stolen Democratic emails. Story after story supposedly detailing damning new evidence obtained by the special counsels office has blown up, one after another. You would think that after having been burned several times, and watching fellow media outlets also get burned by anonymously sourced stories, many of these news organizations would be increasingly wary of such stories. Youd be wrong. Far from growing more cautious, many outlets have actually stepped up the pace of their publication of these fake news stories, something I detailed in a column just last week. Three months ago, it was the absurd Paul Manafort snuck into the Ecuadorian UK embassy three times to meet with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange! by UK newspaper The Guardian. That story fell apart when people began to ask how Manafort managed to sneak unnoticed into one of the most watched buildings in the world. Who Assange meets and who gives him documents or receives documents from him is a subject of intense interest to the intelligence agencies of more than a dozen countries. One month ago, it was the resurrection by McClatchy of the completely debunked Steele dossier claim that President Donald Trumps former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was in Prague in 2016 and paid off the hackers who supposedly stole the Democratic emails that WikiLeaks published. Based on anonymous sources who provided no evidence whatsoever for their claims, McClatchys reporters alleged foreign intelligence services had detected Cohens phone in the Prague area when the Steele dossier claimed he was there. This story also didnt stand up to scrutiny. Weeks ago, it was the spectacular blow-up of a Buzzfeed story alleging the special counsels office had in its possession documentary evidence proving that Trump ordered Cohen to lie to Congress about a real estate deal to build a new Trump Tower in Moscow. That scoop didnt even last two full days before being debunked by the special counsels office, which took the unusual step of releasing a statement disputing the key points of the article. Not only that, the reporters who co-authored the story together couldnt even agree on whether they had seen any of the supposed documents or not. And recently, a long-cherished narrative propagated most enthusiastically by people like Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) died a most inglorious death when new evidence surfaced. It had been claimed for more than a year by TrumpRussia conspiracy theorists that phone calls to two blocked numbers that Donald Trump Jr. made around the time of that now infamous Trump Tower meeting between members of the Trump campaign team and Fusion GPSs political operatives had been to his father. However, phone records now indicate those blocked numbers actually belonged to two close family friendsnot the president. Mad scrambling ensued once The New York Times published this new information as desperate attempts were made to save the collusion narrative. Schiff went on Rachel Maddows show on MSNBC and said hed continue to investigate these phone calls anyway because questions remained. This vicious cycle of hot new evidence that proves TrumpRussia collusion that turns out to be wrong or false has repeated itself endlessly. Nobody in the DNC News Media seems to learn anything from their constant failures in their craft. And now, on Jan. 28, the top official at the Department of Justice dropped the biggest new piece of evidence that shows the TrumpRussia narrative was never correct. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker held a press conference in which he announced a big indictment against Chinese telecom giant Huawei for breaking sanctions on Iran and stealing U.S. private sector technology. Although that was massive news, something just as big happened once he finished his official statement and began taking questions from reporters. Recently, oversight of the Mueller investigation passed from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to Whitaker once the question of whether Whitaker needed to recuse himself had been resolved. So, of course, one of the questions Whitaker was asked had to do with his now being in charge of the special counsels investigation. Whitakers answer caused an immediate panic in some media circles because he clearly said the Mueller investigation was close to being completed and he looked forward to receiving the special counsels final report. I have been fully briefed on the investigation and I look forward to Director Mueller delivering the final report. I really am not going to talk about an open or ongoing investigation otherwise, but the statements Ive made were as a private citizen only with publicly available information. I am comfortable that the decisions that were made are going to be reviewed, either through the various means we have. But right now, the investigation is, I think, close to being completed. And I hope that we can get the report from Director Mueller as soon as possible, Whitaker said during the Jan. 28 press conference. Whitakers answer simply does not fit the narrative thats been spun by so many in the news media, that Muellers investigation is far from being finished and that he is actually about to roll out a whole slew of new indictments based on the supposed mountain of evidence hes been said to have found linking the Trump campaign to Russia and WikiLeaks. Theories were enthusiastically spun for more than a year about all the supposed people affiliated with Trump that Mueller had pressured into flipping on the president and cooperating with the Russia investigation. It was reported in numerous news articles based on alleged leaks from inside the special counsels office that Paul Manafort, Lt. General Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, and several others were giving extensive cooperation. That narrative has always been absurd. Youre being asked to believe that while all the leaks from inside the Mueller investigation that claimed to prove TrumpRussia collusion blew apart upon examination, somehow the very same leakers inside the special counsels office have been sitting on the real evidence and have not leaked any of it, waiting for some sort of grand revelation in the future. Can it actually be possible that supposed crack investigative journalists are this gullible? There was never any real TrumpRussia collusion to find because it never existed. Trumps known this all along and that Mueller is in no position whatsoever to try to invent a Russian collusion case. Once Mueller closes up shop and hands Whitaker his final report, Trump and his team will, at last, begin to go on the offensive. Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the date of Attorney General Whitakers press conference. The Epoch Times regrets the error. Brian Cates is a writer based in South Texas and author of Nobody Asked For My Opinion But Here It Is Anyway! He can be reached on Twitter at @drawandstrike. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen visits the 6th Army Command, ahead of Lunar New Year, in Taoyuan, Taiwan on Jan. 25, 2019. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters) Taiwan Indirectly Criticizes Chinas Lack of Democracy in New Year Message TAIPEITaiwan President Tsai Ing-wen indirectly criticized Chinas lack of freedom in a message to mark the start of the Lunar New Year on Feb. 5, saying she hoped ethnic Chinese all over the world could experience the blessing of democracy. Self-governed Taiwan is Chinas most sensitive issue and is claimed by Beijing as its sacred territory. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has stepped up pressure on the democratic island since Tsai, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, became president in 2016. Xi kicked off 2019 with a speech warning that China reserves the right to use force to bring Taiwan under its control, though it will strive for peaceful reunification. Taiwan is able to maintain cultural traditions and is committed to uphold the values of freedom and democracy, Tsai said in the message, posted late on Sunday on her official social media accounts. Those in places lacking democracy may not understand this commitment. We hope that ethnic Chinese all over the world can experience this blessing, she added, without directly mentioning China. So I want to make three new years wishes for our ethnic Chinese friends both at home and abroad. I hope that you may all enjoy democracy, freedom and continued prosperity. There was no immediate reaction from Beijing. Xis new years speech, also on Sunday, did not mention Taiwan, apart from new year wishes to people on the island. Taiwan is gearing up for presidential elections early next year. Tsais party suffered stinging losses to the China-friendly Kuomintang in mayoral and local elections in November. Tsai has repeatedly called on China to respect Taiwans democracy, and to embrace democratic reforms itself. Taiwan has shown no interest in being ruled by autocratic China, where Xi has overseen a sweeping crackdown on dissent since assuming office six years ago and the ruling Communist Party has tightened controls on all facets of society. By Yimou Lee & Ben Blanchard. The Epoch Times edited this report. Southwest Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Passengers Left With Ear Pain A Southwest flight had to turn around and make an emergency landing after a loss of cabin pressure caused passengers ear pain and, according to local media, left one with ears bleeding. The Feb. 1 night flight to Tampa, Florida, turned back to Hartford in Connecticut only a half hour into the three-hour journey, reported the Hartford Courant. There was no indication of severe injuries, according to the Courant, but ambulances were dispatched for several passengers who experienced ear pain and injuries. The pilot of the Boeing 737 asked for emergency medical technicians to meet the flight, and initial reports were that at least one passenger had bleeding ears. The airline confirmed in a statement that the flight experienced a pressurization issue shortly after takeoff. Flight 1694 got as far as eastern New York state, before circling back round to Bradley airport in Connecticut, where it had taken off an hour earlier. Several customers among the 139 on board are being treated for injuries and discomfort by local paramedics, Southwest said in a written statement We have removed the aircraft from service and will accommodate those wishing to continue their travel with another aircraft. Blood in Oxygen Mask Bleeding from the ears is a common occurrence in the event of depressurization. Last September, pilots of a Jet Airways flight reportedly forgot to turn on a cabin pressure switch and had to make an emergency return to the airport after passengers started to bleed from their noses and ears. The Boeing 737 aircraft, which was carrying 166 passengers, landed safely. At least 30 passengers suffered ear and nose bleeds, NDTV reported on Sept. 20, 2018. Passengers on board Jet Airways flight 9W 697 from Mumbai to Jaipur captured video of the incident, showing frantic passengers and oxygen masks dangling from the ceiling. An official with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that the crew forgot to press a button to pressurize the cabin, according to News 18. During the climb, the crew forgot to select the bleed switch due to which cabin pressurization could not be maintained, and oxygen masks got deployed, the official said. Panic situation due to technical fault in @jetairways 9W 0697 going from Mumbai to Jaipur. Flt return back to Mumbai after 45 mts. All passengers are safe including me. pic.twitter.com/lnOaFbcaps Darshak Hathi (@DarshakHathi) September 20, 2018 A Ryanair flight was diverted in July after depressurization that caused 33 passengers to be treated in hospital, with some bleeding from the ears. One photograph circulated on social media, reportedly taken by a passenger on the flight, showed an oxygen mask with blood in it. The Packet of Chips Would Also Explode According to Adam Taylor, Director of the Clinical Anatomy, a sudden change in pressure could have caused the small blood vessels in the roof of the nose to rupture, due to expanding liquids and gases in the tissues and blood. For comfort and safety, aircraft cabins are pressurized to an altitude of somewhere between 5,000-8,000 feet, which is lower than pressure at sea level, wrote Taylor in an analysis of the incident. This is why if you take a bag of crisps on the flight, it looks like it is about to burst. While #Ryanair claimed "a small number received medical attention as a precaution", a total of 33 passengers, some of who were bleeding from their ears and nose, had to be hospitalised. https://t.co/mM58hlDWkJ Latest on SAYS (@saysdotcom) July 15, 2018 When the cabin pressure drops, higher pressure air is trapped inside the ears like the air in the bag of chips. This can be released by sucking sweets, drinking, and yawning, which opens up the Eustachian tube that runs from the middle ear to the back of the nose, allowing air to move through and pressure to equalize. But the pressure outside the aircraft is still much loweraround only one third the pressure at sea level. In the event of a loss of cabin pressure, the air escapes to outside the aircraft, and the pressure drops. The same happens inside the passengers ears. Taylor said, At this high altitude, the pressure difference may result in barotrauma, rupturing the eardrum and small blood vessels in the ear, causing hearing problems and bleeding. At this point, the packet of crisps [chips] would also explode. Tom Ozimek contributed to this Report Sheriff: MMA Fighter Facing Pending Murder Charges Escapes CONROE, TexasAn MMA fighter suspected of killing an ex-girlfriend and friend of hers escaped Sunday, Feb. 3, from a prisoner transport van, authorities said. Cedric Marks escaped from the private prison transport van during a stop for food at a McDonalds in Conroe, police Lt. Dorcy McGinnis said during a news conference in the city, which is about 40 miles north of Houston. Update on escaped prisoner Cedric Joseph Marks. Montgomery County Sheriff's Office 201923 She said murder warrants were issued Sunday for Marks in last months killings of an ex-girlfriend, Jenna Scott, and a friend of hers, Michael Swearingin, who were found buried in a shallow grave in Clearview, Oklahoma, on Jan. 15. Marks is an ex to Jenna Scott (left). Scott and her friend Michael Swearingin (right) were found dead in Oklahoma several weeks ago. Marks and Scott had a history of domestic abuse, harassment, and protective orders. pic.twitter.com/uehAfRJ5La Alex Caprariello (@alcaprari23) February 3, 2019 Authorities said Marks is extremely dangerous and that anyone who sees him should immediately call 911. Marks was arrested in Michigan last month on a Texas charge alleging that on Aug. 21, he broke into Scotts home in Temple, which is about 60 miles north of Austin. Scott requested a protective order against Marks last July accusing him of choking her unconscious twice, Temple television station KCEN reported. Each time he allowed me to regain consciousness and then he choked me out again, Scott said in the affidavit. There are a lot of twists and turns in the Jenna Scott/Michael Swearingin case. I headed back to the beginning to break it all down. @KCENNews pic.twitter.com/TN8YYGRFe1 Cole Johnson KCEN (@ColeJohnsonTV) January 18, 2019 Scott had filed for a protective order against Marks in August, alleging he broke into her home while her daughter, who was 9, was there and took her cellphone to prevent her from calling 911. The protective order request was denied. The Montgomery County Sheriffs Offices initial tweet about the escape said Crews was facing three pending murder charges, but it didnt immediately respond to requests for further information about those charges. @MCTXSheriff and @ConroePolice are searching for an escaped prisoner in the area of 800 block of N. Loop 336 West. Mark escaped from a private prisoner transport.Marks has 3 pending murder charges and is a professional MMA fighter. Mark is considered extremely dangerous. pic.twitter.com/YJsFXlg6ZM MCTXSheriff (@MCTXSheriff) February 3, 2019 According to deputies Cedric Joseph Marks isnt wearing a shirt. It was found by law enforcement after he fled. https://t.co/Oe1BT8aAc3 MCTXSheriff (@MCTXSheriff) February 3, 2019 Police in Bloomington, Minnesota, said Marks remains a person of interest in the 2009 disappearance of April Pease, who was the mother of one of his children. The two were involved in a fierce custody dispute in Washington state and Pease went to a protected location with their son because she said she was afraid of Marks. She went missing in March 2009 while living in a womens shelter in Bloomington and Marks was given custody of their son. She was good at playing jokes, just teasing & having fun, Dottie Pease, mother of April Pease told @KXAN_News She always had a smile on her face. April was reported missing in Minnesota in 2009 & hasnt been seen since. She has a son with Cedric Marks. https://t.co/6mHBZw97ou pic.twitter.com/FAtp7a9Nm8 Brittany Glas (@BrittanyGlasTV) January 16, 2019 Two women were arrested in Michigan on charges related to Marks. Maya Maxwell is charged with evidence tampering and is jailed in Bell County, Texas, on $150,000 bond. According to an arrest affidavit, she told detectives that she drove Swearingins vehicle to Austin in an attempt to hide it from investigators. It was found abandoned in the city Jan. 6. Maya Maxwell was removed from the roster of Michigan jail Tuesday afternoon. https://t.co/g0ayz24XHE KWTX News 10 (@kwtx) January 29, 2019 Ginell McDonough, who is Markss wife and the mother of two of his two children, is jailed in Muskegon County, Michigan, on an obstruction of justice charge. She is accused of allowing Marks and Maxwell to stay in her home between Jan. 5 and Jan. 9. Women charged with destroying evidence, harboring Texas burglary suspect https://t.co/ILHBLqBMcN MLive (@MLive) January 16, 2019 Jail records do not list an attorney for either woman. Islamic studies students attend a class at the Xinjiang Islamic Institute during a government organized trip in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China on Jan. 3, 2019. (Ben Blanchard/Reuters) Rights Campaigners Seek UN Probe on Chinas Xinjiang Camps GENEVARights activists urged European and Muslim nations on Feb. 4 to take the lead in establishing a U.N. investigation into Chinas detention and what they call its forced indoctrination of up to one million Uyghurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang. Beijing, which faces growing international concern over its de-radicalization program for Muslims in its far western region, said last month it would welcome U.N. officials if they avoided interfering in domestic matters. Groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Council, which opens its main annual session on Feb. 25, to send an international fact-finding mission to Xinjiang. The abuse in Xinjiang today is so severe that it cries out for international action, Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, told a briefing at the Geneva Press Club. The purpose of this detention is to erase the ethnic and religious identities of Turkic Muslims and ensure their loyalty to only the Chinese government, the Communist Party and the would-be leader for life, (Chinese leader) Xi Jinping, he said. The Chinese regime denies such accusations. In January, Beijing organized a visit to three facilities, which it calls vocational education training centers, for foreign reporters including Reuters. Beijing says it is not enforcing arbitrary detention and political re-education, but rather some citizens guilty of minor offenses were being sent to vocational centers to provide employment opportunities. However, a report published on Nov. 5 by U.S. think-tank the Jamestown Foundation found that despite the purported large vocational training campaign, employment outcomes had not markedly improved, according to Xinjiangs own official employment figures. Xinjiangs budget figures do not reflect increased spending on vocational education Rather, they reflect patterns of spending consistent with the construction and operation of highly secure political re-education camps designed to imprison hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs with minimal due process, said the reports author, Adrian Zenz, an anthropologist at the European School of Culture and Theology in Germany. Uyghurs and other Muslims held in concentration camp-like facilities, known as re-education centers, are forbidden from using Islamic greetings, must learn Mandarin Chinese, and sing propaganda songs, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. Open-Air Prison Campaigners say one million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim minoritiesnearly 10 percent of Xinjiangs total populationare being held in mass detention, deprived of any legal rights and subjected to mistreatment. Today Xinjiang has become an open-air prisona place where Orwellian high-tech surveillance, political indoctrination, forced cultural assimilation, arbitrary arrests and disappearances have turned ethnic minorities into strangers in their own land, Kumi Naidoo, secretary-general of Amnesty International, said by video. Member states must not be cowed by Chinas economic and political clout, he said. The Chinese regime has used the excuse that Xinjiang faces a serious threat from Islamist militants and separatists who plot attacks and stir up tensions with the ethnic Han Chinese majority to crack down on the local population in Xinjiang. China is currently a member of the 47-nation Geneva forum, where it often leads opposition to setting up investigations into allegations of rights abuses in specific countries. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which acts as the collective voice of the Muslim world, worked with the European Union last September to launch a U.N. body to prepare evidence of crimes in Myanmar against Muslim Rohingya, including possible genocide, for any future prosecution. In our view Xinjiang demands a similar response, Roth said. Michael Ineichen of the International Service for Human Rights said: It is really a test of the credibility of the Human Rights Council We think it is time that membership also comes with scrutiny. By Stephanie Nebehay. The Epoch Times contributed to this report. Rental Market for Luxury Goods Heating up Ahead of Chinese New Year With Chinese New Year just a day away, out-of-towners in China are returning to their hometowns in droves in order to spend the important holiday with family. But as modern Chinese society has emphasized conspicuous consumption to show off wealth and social status, a new kind of rental businesswhich allows people to borrow everything from cameras, shoulder bags, and electronic productsis now flourishing. Zhou Xiaodong, the founder of an online rental platform called Tanwu, told Chinese state-run newspaper Beijing Youth Daily in a Jan. 24 article that leading up to the New Year, his companys business increased by more than 200 percent compared to the same period last year. Many Chinese have shared their reasons for wanting to take out a rental. I need to attend many gatherings with former classmates and family get-togethers. I need a shoulder bag that looks decent. But there is no need to really buy one, said Ms. Liu, a white-collar worker in Beijing, in an interview with Beijing Youth Daily She explained that she had paid a daily fee of 50 yuan ($7.41) to rent out a bag that has a market value of more than 10,000 yuan ($1,482). Multiple Chinese media have recently re-posted an article originally published on WeChat, a popular social media platform, about an unnamed 30-year-old Chinese woman who was fired from her job in Beijing two months ago. Out of fear that her parents might find out about her unemployment, she decided to rent a handbag with a market value of 100,000 yuan ($14,826) before going home for the New Year holidays. Ms. Zhang, a white-collar worker in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, told local state-run media Sichuan Online that she planned to rent out a luxurious shoulder bag worth more than 10,000 yuan (about $1,482) on the rental platform Bgbaobao because it would only cost her about a little more than 100 yuan ($15) for a 7-day rental. Many women have shoulder bags that they might use a few times before leaving them unused in their closets. Some might sell their unused bags on second-hand platforms, but they usually incur a huge loss because the resale price is a steep drop-off from the original price tag, explained Ms. Zhang. This [rental] platform is a money-saver. You can experience using different bags with just a little money, she said. Chinas state-run Spring Evening News, in an editorial published Jan. 26, objected to the phenomenon of renting luxurious items for the New Year holiday as keeping up with the Jonesesto show off in front of friends and family members. One plausible reason why Chinese are increasingly opting to rent luxurious goodsrather than ownis the recent downturn in the economy. Chinas GDP grew 6.6 percent in 2018, the slowest pace in 28 years. Unemployment is on the rise as Chinese job websites report fewer recruitment listings and rumors abound of layoffs at some of the countrys biggest tech companies. Chinas popular job-listing service Zhaopin.com, for example, reported a decline of 51 percent year-on-year in the number of ads for positions in the information technology (IT) sector during the third quarter of 2018. 21 Savage performs onstage during Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest / EA SPORTS BOWL at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest / EA SPORTS BOWL) Rapper 21 Savage Arrested by ICE Ahead of Super Bowl: Reports Rapper 21 Savage has been detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to a spokesman. The agency said the rapper, whose real name is Shayaabin Abraham-Joseph, is a resident of the United Kingdom and is illegally present in the United States, CNN reported on Feb. 3. The agency said he legally entered the United States in 2005 when he was minor, but he failed to depart the country under the terms of his visa. 21 Savage ARRESTED by ICE for possible DEPORTATION from the U.S. TMZ 201923 After his visa expired in July 2006, his presence in the United States became unlawful, ICE said. Mr. Abraham-Joseph is presently in ICE custody in Georgia and has been placed into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts, ICE said in a statement about the matter. The agency said his case will now be heard by a federal immigration judge to determine the next move. 21 Savage is evidently a British citizen Variety 201923 Abraham-Joseph was also convicted on felony drug charges in 2014 in Georgia, ICE said. His attorney, Dina LaPolt, told TMZ, We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding. He claimed that the rapper is a role model to the young people in the country and is actively working in the community leading programs to help underprivileged youths in financial literacy. 21 Savage has been arrested by ICE, who claim that the rapper was "unlawfully present" in the the US after overstaying his British visa. SPIN 201923 According to TMZ, its not clear what U.K. territory he is from, but reports have indicated that he hails from the Caribbean island of Dominica, an associated state of the U.K. Cox told CNN the rapper, who has made a number of hit songs, was arrested in a targeted sting. He released his first album, Issa Album, in 2017 and second album, I Am > I Was, in December 2018. Abraham-Joseph performed in Atlanta as recently as Thursday during the Super Bowl Music Fest at State Farm Arena, WSB reported BREAKING: The "Bank Account" rapper has held several back to school events in what he called his hometown of east Atlanta, Georgia. WSB-TV 201923 The station reported that Abraham-Joseph had claimed to be from Atlanta and was long considered a local act. Other details about the case are not clear. Security Drills Near Mexican Border U.S. border patrol officers performed a series of drills near its international border with Mexico, as thousands of Central American migrants cross overland toward the northern frontier seeking asylum in the United States, Reuters reported. Reuters video shot from Ciudad Juarez on Thursday, Jan. 31 in Mexico, showed officers in riot gear and using gas. At the Tijuana crossing point late on Friday, officers laid out barb wire as part of another security operation. President Trump has hardened his stance on immigration, and specifically against the caravan of migrants. He has sought to suspend the granting of asylum to illegal immigrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, seeking fresh ways to block the thousands of Central Americans traveling in caravans from entering the United States. He has also said any migrants seeking asylum will have to wait in Mexico whilst the claim is heard. Reuters contributed to this report. Mathematical modeling illusions By Dr. Jay Lehr and Tom Harris For the past three decades, human-caused global warming alarmists have tried to frighten the public with stories of doom and gloom. They tell us the end of the world as we know it is nigh because of carbon dioxide emitted into the air by burning fossil fuels. They are exercising precisely what journalist H. L. Mencken described early in the last century: The whole point of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be lead to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. The dangerous human-caused climate change scare may well be the best hobgoblin ever conceived. It has half the world clamoring to be led to safety from a threat for which there is not a shred of meaningful physical evidence that climate fluctuations and weather events we are experiencing today are different from, or worse than, what our near and distant ancestors had to deal with or are human-caused. Many of the statements issued to support these fear-mongering claims are presented in the U.S. Fourth National Climate Assessment, a 1,656-page report released in late November. But none of their claims have any basis in real world observations. All that supports them are mathematical equations presented as accurate, reliable models of Earths climate. It is important to properly understand these models, since they are the only basis for the climate scare. Before we construct buildings or airplanes, we make physical, small-scale models and test them against stresses and performance that will be required of them when they are actually built. When dealing with systems that are largely (or entirely) beyond our control such as climate we try to describe them with mathematical equations. By altering the values of the variables in these equations, we can see how the outcomes are affected. This is called sensitivity testing, the very best use of mathematical models. However, todays climate models account for only a handful of the hundreds of variables that are known to affect Earths climate, and many of the values inserted for the variables they do use are little more than guesses. Dr. Willie Soon of the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysics Laboratory lists the six most important variables in any climate model: 1) Sun-Earth orbital dynamics and their relative positions and motions with respect to other planets in the solar system; 2) Charged particles output from the Sun (solar wind) and modulation of the incoming cosmic rays from the galaxy at large; 3) How clouds influence climate, both blocking some incoming rays/heat and trapping some of the warmth; 4) Distribution of sunlight intercepted in the atmosphere and near the Earths surface; 5) The way in which the oceans and land masses store, affect and distribute incoming solar energy; 6) How the biosphere reacts to all these various climate drivers. Soon concludes that, even if the equations to describe these interactive systems were known and properly included in computer models (they are not), it would still not be possible to compute future climate states in any meaningful way. This is because it would take longer for even the world's most advanced super-computers to calculate future climate than it would take for the climate to unfold in the real world. So we could compute the climate (or Earths multiple sub-climates) for 40 years from now, but it would take more than 40 years for the models to make that computation. Although governments have funded more than one hundred efforts to model the climate for the better part of three decades, with the exception of one Russian model which was fully tuned to and accidentally matched observational data, not one accurately predicted (hindcasted) the known past. Their average prediction is now a full 1 degree F above what satellites and weather balloons actually measured. In his February 2, 2016 testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space & Technology, University of Alabama-Huntsville climatologist Dr. John Christy compared the results of atmospheric temperatures as depicted by the average of 102 climate models with observations from satellites and balloon measurements. He concluded: These models failed at the simple test of telling us what has already happened, and thus would not be in a position to give us a confident answer to what may happen in the future and why. As such, they would be of highly questionable value in determining policy that should depend on a very confident understanding of how the climate system works. Similarly, when Christopher Monckton tested the IPCC approach in a paper published by the Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015, he convincingly demonstrated that official predictions of global warming had been overstated threefold. (Monckton holds several awards for his climate work.) The paper has been downloaded 12 times more often than any other paper in the entire 60-year archive of that distinguished journal. Moncktons team of eminent climate scientists is now putting the final touches on a paper proving definitively that instead of the officially-predicted 3.3 degrees Celsius (5.5 F) warming for every doubling of CO2 levels there will be only 1.1 degrees C of warming. At a vital point in their calculations, climatologists had neglected to take account of the fact that the Sun is shining! All problems can be viewed as having five stages: observation, modeling, prediction, verification and validation. Apollo team meteorologist Tom Wysmuller explains: Verification involves seeing if predictions actually happen, and validation checks to see if the prediction is something other than random correlation. Recent CO2 rise correlating with industrial age warming is an example on point that came to mind. As Science and Environmental Policy Project president Ken Haapala notes, the global climate models relied upon by the IPCC [the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] and the USGCRP [United States Global Change Research Program] have not been verified and validated. An important reason to discount climate models is their lack of testing against historical data. If one enters the correct data for a 1920 Model A, automotive modeling software used to develop a 2020 Ferrari should predict the performance of a 1920 Model A with reasonable accuracy. And it will. But no climate models relied on by the IPCC (or any other model, for that matter) has applied the initial conditions of 1900 and forecast the Dust Bowl of the 1930s never mind an accurate prediction of the climate in 2000 or 2015. Given the complete lack of testable results, we must conclude that these models have more in common with the Magic 8 Ball game than with any scientifically based process. While one of the most active areas for mathematical modeling is the stock market, no one has ever predicted it accurately. For many years, the Wall Street Journal chose five eminent economic analysts to select a stock they were sure would rise in the following month. The Journal then had a chimpanzee throw five darts at a wall covered with that days stock market results. A month later, they determined who preformed better at choosing winners: the analysts or the chimpanzee. The chimp usually won. For these and other reasons, until recently, most people were never foolish enough to make decisions based on predictions derived from equations that supposedly describe how nature or the economy works. Yet todays computer modelers claim they can model the climate which involves far more variables than the economy or stock market and do so decades or even a century into the future. They then tell governments to make trillion-dollar policy decisions that will impact every aspect of our lives, based on the outputs of their models. Incredibly, the United Nations and governments around the world are complying with this demand. We are crazy to continue letting them get away with it. Dr. Jay Lehr is the Science Director of The Heartland Institute which is based in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Tom Harris is Executive Director of the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition. Home As the host of the WEF ASEAN 2018, which took place in Hanoi from September 11 to 13, Vietnam was responsible for joining with the WEF and ASEAN countries to discuss important issues and work out the major ideas and orientations for the development of ASEAN member nations in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), aiming to contribute to the successful implementation of the ASEAN Vision 2025 for the benefit and development of the region and each country, contributing to the common prosperity of the region and the world. Speaking at the forum, the recommendations and initiatives raised by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc were agreed upon and appreciated by leaders of many countries and businesses. According to the PM, the theme of the WEF ASEAN 2018, ASEAN 4.0: Entrepreneurship and the Industry 4.0, was in accordance with the trend of the world, while meeting the concerns and interests of ASEAN countries and being relevant to the 2018 ASEAN theme of building a self-reliant and innovative ASEAN Community. PM Phuc predicted that ASEAN is no longer a workshop of the world but can become a source of innovation. The Vietnamese leader proposed new initiatives on a shared mobile network with the same prices across ASEAN, cyber-security cooperation, and cooperation in training high-quality information technology human resources. He also introduced a number of specific suggestions in terms of digital connectivity, data sharing, support for e-commerce and e-governments, harmonising the business environment, promoting the formation and connection of innovation incubators, seeking and tapping into talents, and forming an ASEAN education network and lifelong learning systems. It is an affirmation of the vision of an ASEAN Community of solidarity, self-reliance, innovation, promoting internal strength, strengthening connectivity, and proactively and actively taking advantage of the Industry 4.0, as well as an affirmation of Vietnams role and position, and its active and responsible contributions to building the ASEAN Community in the context of the Industry 4.0. The ASEAN WEF 2018 featured more than 60 discussions covering many political, economic, technological, environmental and social issues that are practical to ASEAN countries. It also gathered many heads of state of ASEAN nations, senior leaders of partner countries, roughly 1,000 representatives of multinational corporations, ASEAN companies and international firms, and near 800 domestic enterprises in Vietnam. Under the framework of WEF ASEAN 2018, the Vietnam Business Summit (VBS) 2018 was held with the theme Vietnam Reliable Business Partner: Connection and Innovation. It was the first conference of its kind in the history of organising the WEF meetings in economies, and was an initiative launched by the Vietnamese side. Vietnamese businesses are actively integrating into the international market. According to WEF statistics, the WEF ASEAN 2018 received huge attention from the international community. By the noon of September 13, there were 7,890 articles published on the event, an almost four-fold increase compared to that of the WEF ASEAN 2017 (around 2,000 articles). More than seven million people participated in interactions on social networks, with 13,000 posts and comments on Facebook and 90,000 online viewers of different WEF discussions. The message conveyed the most was that ASEAN countries need to catch up with the Industry 4.0 so as not to lag behind. WEF Founder and Executive Chairman, Prof. Klaus Schwab, stated that during 27 years of organising the WEF ASEAN, the event in Vietnam was the most successful among the conferences he had attended. Peter Vanham, a media strategist at the WEF, shared: Walking around Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, you can feel the energy flowing from all directions. Vietnam is full of youthful power, is growing strongly, and seems to be able to make things possible. Around 30 years ago, Vietnams economy was still very difficult, but now the country is one of the stars in the group of emerging economies. WEF Executive Chairman Borge Brende affirmed that since 2010, the WEF has witnessed Vietnams amazing growth, with its gross domestic product (GDP) nearly doubling in eight years, while its export revenues have increased by nearly threefold. More importantly, the poverty rate in Vietnam has decreased rapidly, from 50% in 1990 to only 3% at present. These figures are a clear testament to Vietnams success in the process of steady development. Based on these results, Vietnam has developed appropriate development policies. This shows that the Vietnamese government has not rested on its victory and has shown no signs of complacency. And moreover, Vietnam is carrying on with its reforms to continue growing in the future. At the conference, most of the worlds leading politicians, scholars and business leaders affirmed the success of the WEF ASEAN 2018. The host countrys specific contributions in preparing for and ensuring the success of the event in Hanoi clearly showed Vietnams proactiveness in its determination to rise to self-reliance in the Industry 4.0. The WEF ASEAN 2018 demonstrates the attractiveness and confidence of the business community and international investors in Vietnams development prospects, while reflecting Vietnams proactiveness and stature in international integration and engagement in forming and shaping the regional and global economy. Following the success of the 2017 APEC Year and the sixth Greater Mekong Subregion Summit (GMS-6) in March 2018, the WEF ASEAN 2018 was an opportunity for Vietnam to deepen its relations with countries and partners, including neighbouring nations and strategic partners. The conference also helped enhance Vietnams foreign relations of openness, multilateralisation and diversification, contributing to creating a peaceful and stable environment for socio-economic development, and improving the countrys position and reputation in the international arena. A section of border wall is constructed on the U.S. side of the border in Tijuana, Mexico, on Jan. 28, 2019. The U.S. government had been partially shut down as President Donald Trump battled congress for $5.7 billion to build walls along the U.S. border with Mexico. Despite Trump agreeing to end the shutdown, the debate over border wall funding and other immigration issues continues. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Prudence and Our Political Disfunction Commentary We just survived the longest government shutdown in U.S. history and are staring at the possibility of another one within weeks. We all know the issueto build part of a wall along the southern border or notbut many seem perplexed by the underlying forces that have led us to this point. Revisiting the foundations of the constitutional order will help us both understand why we have found ourselves in this situation and think about how we might deal with it. James Madison and the framers of our constitutional order had a complicated understanding of government and its place in society. They were not libertarian, realizing that positive government action was often necessary to promote the common good. But they were also far from modern progressives seeking to make it easy and efficient for the government to act. Call them careful and suspicious governors, perhaps. That careful suspicion created a constitutional order that helped lead to the government shutdown and may lead to more. Heres how. Deliberation Our framers, by and large, believed that quick, efficient, and unilateral action in government would more often than not lead to bad decisions with unforeseen consequences. They built a system that would require discussion, cooperation, and, yes, even compromise in order to get things done. They built a system, in other words, based on valuing deliberation over quick action. And, to facilitate a slow and deliberative policy process, they built a system that stands on several different legs. Within the federal government, they split the lawmaking power between a president and a Congress, requiring both to agree before enacting a law (unless a veto was overridden). They also split Congress into a House of Representatives, elected by the people and subject to re-election every two years, and a Senate, originally elected by state legislatures for longer terms and representing each state equally. These three parts of the legislative process were designed to look and act differently from one another and to respond to different constituencies. The House, elected locally and directly by the people, might sway more often with the momentary passions in the electorate. The Senate, ideally filled with more elder statesmen, would represent their states, and their six-year staggered terms would distance themselves from the passions of any given moment. They were, as is sometimes said, to be the saucer that cools the legislative tea. The president, elected every four years by an Electoral College majority, would represent something like a national and constitutional majority. Participation by each of the three political institutions of the policy process was seen as essential to the making of good law. Officeholders had to listen, deliberate, discuss, and ultimately come to the best decision possible within the existing political situation. This is where American government has broken down over the course of U.S. history. But why? Here are a few reasons. Party Politics The two-party system was a development unforeseen by the creators of our constitutional order. Almost universally, they feared the pernicious impact of party politics and warned against it. Here, George Washingtons Farewell Address is most well known. As we think in terms of political parties and what is good for them, we lose the ability to compromise and deliberate on the merits of legislation and the common good. The 17th Amendment made senators directly elected by the people, and the development of the primary system and the democratization of the Electoral College has made both the Senate and the presidency look more like the popularly elected House than was intended. Deliberation, as Alexander Hamilton made clear in The Federalist, requires space and time, within which politicians can make good decisions that might not be immediately popular. Daily opinion polls, the 24-hour-a-day cable news cycle, hourly talk radio programs, and now instantaneously available social media has made it increasingly challenging for politicians to make tough decisions that their bases or the majority in the nation may not like at any given moment and given the information they have available. The way we now run campaigns also makes compromise and actual deliberation increasingly difficult. The founders anticipated almost issue-less campaigns focused on electing men of the requisite wisdom and character to make good decisions. Today, in contrast, we run campaigns based on concrete promises for action. Once a politician promises a policy outcome, whether it be a border wall or opposition at all cost to the policies of a president, deliberation becomes fruitless and compromise nearly impossible. And so here we find ourselves today. We inherited a system based on making legislation slow to achieve and founded on deliberation, discussion, and compromise. And we live in a political world where parties, campaign promises, media technology, and increasingly ideologically committed bases make that same deliberation, discussion, and compromise even more difficult to achieve. What is to be done? Prudence Well, we cant (and shouldnt) change the constitutional order anytime soon. That order produced a Donald Trump presidency, a moderately conservative Senate, and a liberal House of Representatives. None of them can or should act alone. Our only hope in the immediate future is to adjust our expectations along the lines once considered a virtue in politics, particularly conservative politicsprudence. Prudence means that we see the political order for what it is and what is actually possible. We look to the long-term health of the nation and the common good of our people, and seek to promote it within the actual possibilities of the moment within which we live and act. Our political leaders would benefit from a healthy dose of prudence that would allow them to work together, both sides willing to listen and compromise for the common good. But we, the American people, our talk show hosts, and our social-media mavens must also exhibit prudence and accept the possibilities of the existing political order while we work toward the next election in hopes of making it better. As Otto von Bismarck stated, Politics is the art of the possible, not the ideal. Gary L. Gregg holds the Mitch McConnell chair in leadership at the University of Louisville, where he is also director of The McConnell Center. He is author or editor of a dozen books, including his young adult novels published as The Remnant Chronicles. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Jennifer Irigoyen, 35, who was five months pregnant, was stabbed to death in New York City on Feb. 3, 2019. (LinkedIn) Pregnant Woman Found Stabbed to Death After Yelling Hes Going to Kill the Baby! A pregnant woman was found stabbed to death in New York City after people who live in nearby apartments heard her shouting Hes going to kill the baby! Jennifer Irigoyen, 35, a real estate agent, was dragged screaming from her apartment in the borough of Queens and stabbed repeatedly at the entranceway of the apartment building around 1 a.m. on Feb. 3. Maurice Roman Zereoue, one of the witnesses, told the New York Post that Irogyen, who was five months pregnant, shouted: Hes got a knife! Hes going to kill the baby! as a man pulled her from her apartment on the third floor and dragged her down the stairs. The Post published a photo of the crime scene that showed copious amounts of blood on the entranceway steps. Zereoue said he saw the murderers head but that it was obscured by a hood. The man had what appeared to be a butter knife in his hands. I seen him dragging her down the stairs, said Zereoue, who peered into the hallway after hearing the screams. I seen her hands hanging on to a hallway wall for dear life, he added. Building superintendent Lisa Ramos said that surveillance video showed that the first stab went into the stomach. Zereoues girlfriend called 911 while he at some point ran downstairs but by that time she was stabbed and bleeding profusely and the attacker was gone. A pregnant woman was found stabbed to death in the lobby of a building in Queens, police and law enforcement sources said https://t.co/ksGTkZlU3u NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) February 3, 2019 Zereoue said that he tried to extract the attackers name from the victim in the moments before death but she couldnt communicate with him. I asked, Do you know who he was? And she kept nodding yes and waving her arm, he said. She couldnt speak. Irigoyens boyfriend was among those sought for questioning. Police sources told NBC that officers had previously received five calls reporting domestic disputes involving Irogyen and her ex-boyfriend. Officers are searching for that man although its not clear whether hes a suspect in the death. I heard screams: Pregnant real estate agent found stabbed to death https://t.co/ENh2yh42oa pic.twitter.com/LMoRaHgRvP New York Post (@nypost) February 3, 2019 Another neighbor told Ramos that she heard a commotion inside Irigoyens apartment prior to the brutal attack but they thought that the noise came from a party. I had a tenant that heard what was going on. She thought it was a party, because they have parties all the time, Ramos told reporters, according to the New York Daily News. She heard the commotion, but she thought it was a party. A pregnant real estate agent was found stabbed to death inside a Queens apartment building lobby.https://t.co/8KVzosT5ZS New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) February 3, 2019 Shocked Ramos, the superintendent of the building at 60-80 Myrtle Avenue, said she cant imagine why someone would murder Irigoyen. She was a beautiful person, she was so bubbly, Ramos said. She was such a warm person. Im still shocked, Ramos added to CBS. She was a sweetheart, sweetheart. Really, really nice girl. Really, really nice. According to Irigoyens LinkedIn page, she was a licensed real estate saleswoman for Crosstown Apartments NYC and a human resources manager for the same company. Before joining the company in 2018, she spent seven years with the NY Casa Group. The former Fashion Institute of Technology student was also a spinning instructor, a Zumba instructor, and a Latin ballroom instructor. Neighbors added that the attack left them nervous and sad. Because Im a mother I feel so sad, Linda Gashi, a neighbor, told CBS. Theres not only one but two person is thats really sad. I dont know why people do that. From NTD News Portraits Painted for Love, Not Money Gainsborough's Family Album, an exhibition at Princeton University Art Museum The family portfolio of the great British artist Thomas Gainsborough (17271788) is the most comprehensive collection of personal family portraits by any artistof his time or of any time prior. Collectively, these portraits are a unique peek into the life of ordinary 18th-century people, in this case a middle-class family, at a time when most portraits could only be afforded by the wealthy. Fifty of Gainsboroughs self-portraits and family portraits, from public and private collections, will come together for the first time in Gainsboroughs Family Album, an exhibition organized by the National Portrait Gallery in London, in association with the Princeton University Art Museum. The exhibition opens on Feb. 23 at the Princeton University Art Museum and runs until June 9, 2019. The exhibition is curated by professor David Solkin, professor emeritus of the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, with the support of Lucy Peltz, the senior curator of the 18th-century collections and head of collections displays (Tudor to Regency) at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The Art of Gainsborough Gainsborough was known for painting portraits, landscapes, and fancy pictures. Fancy pictures were scenes of everyday life interspersed with elements of imagination, inventions, or storytelling. It was Gainsboroughs contemporary and rival, the renowned British portraitist Sir Joshua Reynolds, who coined the term fancy pictures to describe Gainsboroughs paintings from 1770 until his death in 1788. Whereas Reynolds referenced antiquity and the Italian Renaissance in his portraits, Gainsborough tended to depict contemporary life and landscapes in his. Perhaps this difference is in recognition of their upbringings: Reynolds came from an educated family, and Gainsborough was the son of a wool manufacturer. Yet they were both influenced by the work of Rubens and Van Dyck. Gainsborough was born in Sudbury in the district of Suffolk, a rural part of England. In 1740 at the age of 13, he was sent to London to train with the French engraver and illustrator Hubert-Francois Gravelot, a pupil of the prolific French painter Francois Boucher (17031770). Later, in 1752, after revisiting the countryside, Gainsborough moved to Ipswich, where he began to paint portraits for town merchants and squires. In 1759, he moved to Bath, where he took commissions from members of high society and painted full-length portraits. In 1768, he was a founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and he eventually moved to London in 1774. Although Gainsborough made his living through portraiture, he greatly preferred to paint landscapes. He wrote to his friend William Jackson that he was tired of painting portraits: [I wish I could] take my Viol da Gamba and walk off to some sweet Village, where I can paint Landskips and enjoy the End of life in quietness and ease. The Viola da Gamba is a late 15th-century musical instrument similar to a cello. Yet when it came to painting his familys portraits, it seemed he did not tire. Gainsborough painted his close family members: his wife and two daughters; his extended family: his nephew and brother-in-law; his servants; and even his pets. The portraits chart not only Gainsboroughs family through time, but also his maturation as an artist. These intimate portraits were perhaps a true expression of Gainsborough the artist, whereby he could experiment with style, composition, and technique without the confines of a commission or patron. Bringing Gainsboroughs Family Portraits to Light As a curator at the National Portrait Gallery in London, Peltz, according to Country Life magazine, spent more than five years tracing the whereabouts of some of Gainsboroughs family portraits, some of which had been in private hands for many years. After exhausting all the usual avenues, in a spark of inspiration, she turned to traditional media, and in July 2015, she posted a letter appealing for information on the missing Gainsborough family portraits in the quintessential English publication Country Life magazine. The first appeal was a success, which led to another appeal a few months later. One of the paintings found through the appeal was an unfinished portrait of Gainsboroughs daughter Margaret playing a cittern, which has not been publicly shown for 130 years. Before Gainsboroughs Family Album first opened in London on Nov. 22, 2018, at the National Portrait Gallery, as with every piece of artwork that is exhibited at the gallery, the in-house conservators studio had to assess each painting as to its suitability for public display. One of the works inspected was the oval portrait of Gainsboroughs nephew and apprentice, Gainsborough Dupont (17541797), which has not been on public display for over 100 years. The portrait was only identified as being Dupont in 2003, by Susan Sloman, author of Gainsborough in Bath and a contributor to the exhibition book. On close inspection, the conservators at the National Portrait Gallery in London ascertained that the portrait of Dupont had probably been restored in the 19th century. Although the painting was in a stable state to exhibit, the varnish obscured some of the nuances of Gainsboroughs brushwork. The careful removal of the varnish revealed how thin layers of paint were applied in Gainsboroughs highly praised sprezzatura, the specific art of making difficult brushstrokes appear effortless. Gainsboroughs painting of Dupont clearly shows spirited, broad, and bold brushstrokes, expertly applied. The conservation effort also revealed elements previously hidden by the aging varnish, such as touches of blue in Duponts hair and around his eyes, which reflect the opulent blue jacket, and also the pink-beige background used as a highlight throughout the painting. The conservators have brought back a luminosity that was missing in the painting, which is perhaps what Gainsboroughs friend Philip Thicknesse saw at the time it was painted. He had said it was more like the work of God than man and the finest head he had ever painted, for Gainsborough, inspired by the paintings of Van Dyck, had transformed Dupont from a Suffolk carpenters son to an aristocrat. An Enduring Family Delight The exhibition is full of delightful surprises, in addition to the new Dupont. Many of the paintings have long been kept behind closed doors, like a family album. Among the many highlights is a gorgeous portrait of Gainsboroughs wife, Margaret (circa 177778), in later life. Another is a rarely seen, double full-length portrait of Gainsboroughs daughters (circa 1774), Mary and Margaret, wherein the young ladies are dressed in sumptuous finery of the kind Gainsboroughs customers might have been accustomed to. Of all the paintings, those of Gainsboroughs daughters may feel the most familiar. In this exhibition, there are 10 portraits of the girls, who, much as in a collection of photographs, seem to grow from innocence into adulthood. Maybe the most enduring image of the girls is the famous portrait The Artists Daughters Chasing a Butterfly (circa 1756). Although it wont be in Princetons exhibition, the painting was exhibited on the first stop of Gainsboroughs Family Album at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The young girls can be seen holding hands side by side, as one of them playfully reaches out to a catch a butterfly. In the press release, exhibition curator Solkin hopes that Gainsboroughs Family Album will prompt new ways of thinking about Gainsborough, and about the family albums that so many of us create. Gainsboroughs Family Album is at Princeton University Art Museum from Feb. 23 through June 9, 2019. To find out more about the exhibition, the opening events, and a series of evening concerts by The Princeton Symphony Orchestra, visit ArtMuseum.Princeton.edu Soldiers from the Kentucky-based 19th Engineer Battalion work in a public park in Laredo, Texas, where they are installing barbed and concertina-wire on Nov. 17, 2018. (Thomas Watkins/AFP/Getty Images) Pentagon Sending Another 3,750 Troops to Mexico Border WASHINGTONThe Pentagon is sending 3,750 additional troops to the southwest border with Mexico for three months to support border agents, the Department of Defense said on Feb. 3. The deployment will raise the total number of active-duty forces supporting Customs and Border Protection agents there to about 4,350, it said. The Pentagon disclosed the official figure days after a Democratic lawmaker said about 3,500 extra troops would be deployed. The Pentagon says the military will operate mobile surveillance cameras in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, a mission scheduled to run through Sept. 30. Some of the additional troops will also string up 150 more miles of concertina wire. President Donald Trump, who has called the situation at the border as a humanitarian crisis, is expected to talk about immigration and his proposal for a wall along the border with Mexico during the annual State of the Union address on Tuesday. President Donald Trump on Feb. 1 said there is a good chance that he will have to declare a national emergency to secure funds for a border wall. Asked if he will definitely declare a national emergency, the president said, I think theres a good chance well have to do that. I dont want to say, he added. Youll hear the State of the Union and lets see what happens. Trump reached a deal with Democrats on Jan. 25 to reopen the government for three weeks so that lawmakers can negotiate a deal that includes funds for a border wallthe presidents landmark campaign promise. With Caravans marching through Mexico and toward our Country, Republicans must be prepared to do whatever is necessary for STRONG Border Security. Dems do nothing. If there is no Wall, there is no Security. Human Trafficking, Drugs and Criminals of all dimensions KEEP OUT! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2019 On Jan. 31, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that Democrats will not include any money for a border wall in their proposed legislation. The president and Democrats are at an impasse over Trumps request for $5.7 billion in funds for border wall construction. The wall is part of a larger border security package requested by experts at the Department of Homeland Security. The Pentagon first approved the high-profile deployment of active-duty troops to the Mexico border in October, before the November congressional elections. The move was embraced by Trumps supporters, including fellow Republicans in Congress. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan approved the latest deployment on Jan. 11, according to the statement. But a figure was not disclosed until Thursday, when Democratic U.S. Representative Adam Smith, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said 3,500 additional troops were being sent. The Epoch Times reporter Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report. Officials: 4-Year-Old Accidentally Shoots Mom in Face in Washington A 4-year-old boy in an apartment found a loaded gun under a mattress and used it to shoot his pregnant mother in the face, Washington state authorities said on Feb. 3. The unidentified woman, 27, and her boyfriend were watching television in bed on Feb. 2 when their son found the gun under the mattress, said the King County Sheriffs Office. He unintentionally shot his mom in the face, Sgt. Ryan Abbott told The Associated Press. BREAKING: A mom 8 months pregnant was critically injured when her 4-year-old child found a gun under their bed and pulled the trigger. KOMO News 201922 The woman, who is eight months pregnant, was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. Abbott said her condition improved on Feb. 3 after she was taken to another hospital, AP reported. The boys father told officials he borrowed the firearm for protection, Abbott said. The gun wasnt reported stolen but is unregistered, he said. Deputies told KOMO that the father placed the gun between the mattress and box spring because he was worried about recent crime in the area. Abbott said that Washingtons new law stipulates that gun owners could face criminal charges for not safely storing a gun but it doesnt go into effect until July. The case is still under investigation. The shooting occurred at an apartment in the 12000 Block of 71st Avenue South, KOMO reported. Were reminding anybody with a gun, kids see them as toys, Abbott told AP. The biggest tragic lesson here is please lock-up your guns so they cant be used accidentally for the wrong reason. Neighbors have spoken out about the incident. Its sad that that happened. Its crazy, its crazy, neighbor Treasure Nickles told KOMO. She added the parents are nice people. Their kids are always playing outside, they are always outside with their best friend. This is devastating, I pray his mom is okay. A 4-year-old accidentally shot his mom in the face using an unsecured gun in Skyway on Saturday evening, according to KIRO 7 News 201922 An aunt to the woman told KIRO outside of the hospital, My niece was shot. She was shot but shes doing OK, the woman said. Violent Crime in the US The number of murders and violent crimes committed in the United States dropped slightly in 2017, according to new crime statistics released in September 2018. Crime declined nationwide last year, consistent with our earlier analyses of 2017 data in the nations 30 largest cities, Ames Grawert, senior counsel for the Justice Program at the Brennan Center for Justice in New York, told the Washington Times. Thats the good news. The bad news is that even while crime is falling, the number of Americans incarcerated remains near-record highs. Now is the time to address the problem. The number of cases of manslaughter and murder dropped 0.7 percent in 2017 from the prior year, the report said. Feeling safe in Seattle? If not, you might feel more secure in Snoqualmie, Oak Harbor, Sunnyside, West Richland or The Seattle Times 2019129 Rapes rose by 3 percent and aggravated assault rose by 1 percent, but overall violent crimes dropped 0.2 percent, the report added. In Washington state, according to the Seattle Times, Kent, Federal Way, Tacoma, Spokane, and University Place were found to be the least safe out of the 72 cities in the state. Seattle ranked 46th, with 4,564 violent crimes and 37,934 property crimes as reported in the FBI Uniform Crime Report. Seattle has one of the highest rates of property crime among major U.S. cities, and nearly half of those involve vehicles, The Times reported. Three men wrestled on a New York City subway platform before one whipped out a gun and shot another on Feb. 3, 2019. The shooting suspect is reportedly a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. (Bidur Bista/Facebook) New York City Subway Shooting Suspect Is a MS-13 Gang Member: Report Video of a fight that turned into homicide at the 90th Street subway station in Queens was circulated social media on Feb. 3. One man was pronounced dead on the scene, and officials believe that they now have the shooter in custody. In a live press conference, it was been revealed that the shooter, 26, is an MS-13 gang member, CBS reported. MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, is a notoriously violent gang that is known for its obscene methods of killing, including beheadings. What we know here now [is] that the individual we have in custody is an individual that is known to us, New York City Police Department (NYPD) Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said. He is in our criminal group database as an MS-13 gang member. At around 12:43 p.m., the NYPD responded to reports of gunfire at the station. When they arrived, they found Abel Mosso, 20, with gunshot wounds to the head. Mosso is also affiliated with a gang: the 18th Street Gang. After the emergency medical services arrived, Mosso was pronounced dead at the scene. Shea stated that the fight seen in a widely circulated video of the incident started on the 7 train and spilled onto the platform at the 90th Street station. Thereafter, the MS-13 gang member shot the victim multiple times in the face, according to the press conference. One Suspect Down, One to Go During the press conference, the NYPD also released a picture of a second suspect who was seen to be involved in the shooting. The name of the suspect who is currently detained by authorities has not been disclosed. Person of interest in fatal shooting at 90th St/ Elmhurst Ave. 7 train subway station in Jackson Heights, Queens. pic.twitter.com/MfqvDKIzGi CeFaan Kim (@CeFaanKim) February 3, 2019 The video of the incident starts with a scuffle outside of the 7 trains doors. At first glance, its a confusing mess with bodies atop bodies. Then, a womans screaming drowns other noises in the video and civilians are seen trying to intervene by peeling off layer after layer of people from the frenzy. But they fail to do so. Ultimately, the suspect with the scarf detaches himself from the mess, only he seems to have something in his hand that another person leaps after. Gunfire is then heard. Everyone flees onto the train as six shots are fired. Because the camera person fled, the suspect who shot and killed Mosso was not recorded. Due to the investigation, the subway station was closed but reopened the day after the incident. According to Shea, subway crimes are mostly grand larceny but this crime was an anomaly. MS-13 Committing Crimes in Queens Shea emphasized the recent number of crimes suspected or verifiably committed by MS-13 members in Queens recently: including an incident in Far Rockaway and another that took place a few days later in Nassau County. In an interview with The Epoch Times, Robert J. Bunker said, MS-13 has created a brandlike Los Zetas in Mexicobased on its reputation for engaging in unspeakable acts of brutality using machete and knife attacks against those that cross it. Bunker is an adjunct research professor at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College. Theres been a number of cases specifically targeting them by our investigators and well continue to target any group that does violence in New York City, said Shea. Were you on the 7 train today? Investigating a shooting at the Elmhurst Ave Station earlier today. It was a crowded platform and train. Every detail matters, every call is important. If you saw something or have any info? Call @NYPDTips 800-577-TIPS (8477) Let our Detectives know pic.twitter.com/MSbesIIAIj Chief Dermot F. Shea (@NYPDDetectives) February 4, 2019 Watch Next: What is MS-13? Spanish soldiers in a tank during an exercise to capture an airfield as part of the Trident Juncture 2018, a NATO-led military exercise, near the town of Oppdal, Norway, on Nov. 1, 2018 (JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images) NATO Is Now Stronger Than Ever The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is now stronger than ever. What was a Cold War relic is now returned to service with renewed vigor and teeth. Take it from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg himself, who said that President Trumps pressure on European allies to meet their military funding commitments has had real results. President Donald Trump is having an impact, Stoltenberg told Fox News in a Sunday morning interview. In all, Stoltenberg continued, by the end of next year, NATO allies will add $100 billion extra toward defense. So we see some real money and some real results. And we see that the clear message from President Donald Trump is having an impact. When asked if he was concerned that President Trumps tough rhetoric might be helping Putin splinter NATO, Stoltenberg said the exact opposite is happening. What I see is that actually NATO is united because we are able to adapt to deliver, he explained. North America and Europe are doing more together now than before. For context, U.S. defense spending amounted to just under $686 billion in 2017, equating to 3.6 percent of GDP. By comparison, Germany spent around $45 billion on its armed forces last year, or 1.2 percent of GDP. Start My $1 Month Trial For years, our NATO allies in Europe have shortchanged the system and relied on the United States to foot most of the bill for our mutual defense, but President Trump shocked the elites of Washington and Brussels by demanding that those countries actually meet their pledges to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense. President Trump declared during the 2018 NATO summit that the United States will no longer tolerate other member states spending only a little more than 1 percent of their GDP on defense while the United States in actual numbers is paying 4.2 percent of a much larger GDP, saying this is not fair to U.S. taxpayers and were not going to put up with it. While some European diplomats initially reacted to the Presidents pronouncement with outrage, its now clear that his strategy is bearing fruit. The biggest loser in all this is Russiaa country that spent just $66.3 billion on defense in 2017, a 17 percent decline from the previous year and the first year-over-year drop since 1998. That means the $100 billion in new defense spending promised by our NATO allies in Europe is nearly double that of Russias entire 2017 budget. President Trump is an effective negotiatorproofs in the pudding so to speak. Despite political criticism (most of it free of facts) both at home and abroad, his insistence that our allies meet their spending commitments has made NATO stronger than its been for years. His policy is strength. His Reaganesque view of security is necessary. His goals of protecting the interests of the United States and our allies are being realized. Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer is a retired senior intelligence operations officer and Acting President of the London Center for Policy Research. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Mom Surrenders Newborn Twins to Fire Station Under Safe Haven Law A young woman surrendered healthy newborn twins to a San Bernardino Fire Station in California on Jan. 28no questions asked. She told firefighters at the station she had just given birth to twins and wanted to leave the babies at Fire Station 302, a safe-haven site, under the California Baby Safe Haven Law, according to a Facebook post by the San Bernardino County Fire Department (SBCF). Both babies were healthy, clean, and fed. They were taken via ambulance to a nearby hospital for further evaluation. SBCF said the young mother refused medical attention and was told how she could reclaim her children if she wished to do so within 14 days, as per the safe surrender state law. This is exactly why the Safe Surrender program was created, said Fire Chief Mark Hartwig. This young mother did the right thing by bringing her babies to the fire station. Regardless of your circumstances, the Safe Surrender program is a viable and loving optionno questions asked. Mother Surrenders Twins to Firefighters at Safe-Haven SiteDate/Time: Monday, January 28, 2019, 8:39 p.m.Location: San Bernardino County Fire 2019129 Californias Safe Haven Law protects the mother or surrendering person, from criminal prosecution if they surrender the baby to a designated safe-surrender site within 72 hours of birth. The baby and parent, or person with legal physical custody, both receive a confidentially coded ankle bracelet upon arrival. Under the law, the parent or surrendering person has 14 days to reclaim the baby if they change their mind by bringing their coded bracelet back to the site. After a baby is received, he or she is examined, receives medical treatment if needed, and then placed in a foster or pre-adoptive home. This policy was developed to prevent newborn babies from being abandoned, which is dangerous, illegal, and often results in the death of the child. From 1999 to 2018, 3,524 newborns were surrendered using Safe Haven laws, 1,397 newborns were illegally abandoned, 773 newborns were found dead, and 462 newborns were found alive, according to National Safe Haven Alliance. You may have heard stories about babies being left in dumpsters, public toilets, or other unsafe locations. The parents abandoning their babies may have been under severe emotional or financial stress. The mothers may have hidden their pregnancies, fearful of what would happen if their families found out. Because they were afraid and felt they had nowhere to turn for help, they abandoned their baby, according to the California Department of Social Services website. Horrifying news in Long Beach last night. Thank you to Mayor Robert Garcia for reminding the public that there's ALWAYS a better choice: No shame. No blame. No names. L.A. County Safe Surrender 2016224 The Law was first introduced in California in 2001 but formally signed into law in 2006. From January 2001 to December 2017, 931 newborns were surrendered in California and in 2017, 88 newborns were surrendered. A total of 33 babies have been reclaimed since 2001. In Los Angeles County, a baby surrendered on Jan. 10 became the 151st baby surrendered in the county since 2001 and the first of 2019. One hundred and forty-nine families have been blessed, 149 mothers made the right decision, 149 children have the right to grow up and be whatever they want to be because of the love and the care of the safe-surrender families, Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe said in a video posted to the L.A. County Safe Surrender Facebook page. Thank you A message from Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe to the Safe Surrender families and supporters. L.A. County Safe Surrender 20161128 The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors designated San Bernardino County fire stations as Safe Haven sites in 2004. Only fire stations staffed full-time are considered safe-surrender sites. All designated sites have safe-surrender signs displayed. From NTD News In this photo provided by the Kent County Michigan Sheriff's office, Cedric Marks is pictured in a booking photo in Grand Rapids, Mich., dated Jan. 8, 2019. (Kent County Michigan Sheriff's Office via AP) MMA Fighter Wanted in Killings Captured After Escaping Van An MMA fighter suspected of killing two people, including an ex-girlfriend, was captured on Feb. 3 after escaping from a prisoner transport van in Texas, authorities said. Cedric Marks was taken into custody after a nine-hour manhunt involving multiple law enforcement agencies, Montgomery County sheriffs Lt. Scott Spencer said in a tweet on the evening of Feb. 3. Marks escaped from the private prison transport van during a stop at a McDonalds in Conroe about 40 miles north of Houston, Conroe police Lt. Dorcy McGinnis said during a news conference earlier on Feb. 3. McGinnis said murder warrants were issued on Feb. 3 for Marks in last months killings of an ex-girlfriend, Jenna Scott, and a friend of hers, Michael Swearingin, who disappeared Jan. 4 and were found buried in a shallow grave in Clearview, Oklahoma, on Jan. 15. Marks was arrested in Michigan last month on a Bell County, Texas, charge alleging that on Aug. 21, he broke into Scotts home in Temple, which is about 60 miles north of Austin. Authorities say he escaped while being transferred to Bell County to face that charge. Scott requested a protective order against Marks last July, accusing him of choking her unconscious twice, Temple television station KCEN reported. Each time he allowed me to regain consciousness and then he choked me out again, Scott said in an affidavit. The protective order request was denied. She also reported to police that Marks had broken into her home in August while her daughter, who was 9, was there. She said he took her cellphone to prevent her from calling 911. The Montgomery County Sheriffs Offices initial tweet about Sundays escape said Marks was facing three pending murder charges, but it didnt immediately respond to requests for further information about those charges. @MCTXSheriff and @ConroePolice are searching for an escaped prisoner in the area of 800 block of N. Loop 336 West. Mark escaped from a private prisoner transport.Marks has 3 pending murder charges and is a professional MMA fighter. Mark is considered extremely dangerous. pic.twitter.com/YJsFXlg6ZM MCTXSheriff (@MCTXSheriff) February 3, 2019 Police in Bloomington, Minnesota, say Marks remains a person of interest in the 2009 disappearance of April Pease, who was the mother of one of his children. The two were involved in a fierce custody dispute in Washington state and Pease, who had a drug problem, went to live in a Bloomington womens shelter because she said she was afraid of Marks. Like Scott, Pease alleged that Marks had choked her unconscious on more than one occasion, according to a court custody investigator. Pease went missing in March 2009 and Marks got custody of their son. Peases mother, Dottie Pease, told KCEN last month that she had believed her daughter might have had a drug relapse, but that given the developments in Texas, she thought it was possible that Marks might have had something to do with her daughters disappearance. Two women were arrested in Michigan on charges related to Marks. Maya Maxwell is charged with evidence tampering and is jailed in Bell County, Texas, on $150,000 bond. According to an arrest affidavit, she told detectives that she drove Swearingins vehicle to Austin in an attempt to hide it from investigators. It was found abandoned in the city Jan. 6. Ginell McDonough, who is Marks wife and the mother of two of his two children, is jailed in Muskegon County, Michigan, on an obstruction of justice charge. She is accused of allowing Marks and Maxwell to stay in her home between Jan. 5 and Jan. 9. Jail records do not list an attorney for either woman. Marks compiled a record of 31-28-0 during his professional MMA career, which began in 1999, according to mixedmartialarts.com. His last fight was in September. Missing Newborn Case in North Carolina Is a Hoax, Suspect Arrested: Police Officials in North Carolina said that reports of a woman and an infant believed to be missing and in danger turned out to be a scam. The Scotland County Sheriffs Office said on Feb. 1 that a woman, Danilla Bethea, was arrested on 10 felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses and one count of false reporting to law enforcement. The sheriffs office stated it received a report of two female parties, mother and daughter, believed to be a female infant child, born to a female named April Morrison. On Friday, February 1, 2019,the Scotland County Sheriffs Office arrested Danilla Mitzia Missy Bethea, on 10 counts Scotland County Sheriffs Office Criminal Investigative Unit 201921 The reports initially indicated that Morrison was being held against her will and provided information that led investigators to suspect may be victims of human trafficking or prostitution, according to the sheriffs office. The report initially suggested that the infant child was sold for monetary value or in exchange for elicit narcotics either by Morrisons consent or by force. But officials interviewed Bethea, who said Morrison was safe and the baby was in the care of a third party. The department later determined that Bethea made up the story and that April Morrison was a fictional character and there was no infant child named Lee Ann Morrison. JUST IN: Missing newborn case is a hoax; suspect in custody after starting fake kidnapping story for donation money: Police Nancy Grace 201921 Betheas false claims were allegedly made to try and receive money, the officials said. The image of the infant child provided was an image obtained allegedly through social media, according to the Sheriffs office. The Scotland County Sheriffs Office takes every single report of a missing person and/or child seriously. The Scotland County Sheriffs Office is trained and ready to respond to, and act swiftly and thoroughly in all reports of any person who may be suspected of being victim to human trafficking or, sexual servitude, said the office. The Scotland County Sheriffs Office believes that in any report of a missing person and, especially any missing juvenile or infant child regardless of the nature of how they came to be missing, is extremely important and a matter that must be addressed immediately and as expediently as possible. This includes information sharing, local, state and federal resources, and information sharing with all available media outlets. This ensures maximizing the potential that a missing person, and especially a child, could be found safely by law enforcement and search and rescue personnel, it added. MISSING BABY: Scotland County Sheriff's Office is warning this little girl may be in danger and her mother may be dead.What we know: abc11.com/5116061 ABC11 WTVD 201921 Bethea is being held at the Scotland County Detention Facility, ABC11 reported. According to local news outlet WBTW, a 30-year-old woman named Danilla Missy Bethea has two prior convictions in North Carolina, including larceny and littering. 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. Watch next: North Korean Defector Ji Seong-Ho: North Korea Was Bad, China Was Worse Got hope? By Dr. Robert Owens Marching out of Yorktown to surrender the British Army played the song The World Turned Upside Down. As I drive to Mega Lo Mart to make my latest deposit of monopoly money in a Chinese savings account all I can do is mumble the final tag-line of the Wicked Witch of the West, What a world! What a world! There is a massive unspoken problem in America today floating like the iceberg in front of the Titanic waiting to sink the unsinkable ship. Founded by revolutionaries crying No taxation without representation! the Republic these revolutionaries devised has devolved into a society where 44% of the people pay no Federal Income Tax and the number of people receiving government benefits is even higher. What incentive would these non-paying receivers have to reign in an overbearing and intrusive government? This unseen and unspoken problem is a cancer in the body politic. Self-serving professional politicians buy votes by exempting non-productive people from personal financial responsibility while providing ever-expanding benefits at the expense of the productive. This is not the right versus left, conservative versus liberal, democrat versus republican he-said-she-said endless debate that devours the chatocracy of cables wall-to-wall talking-heads. This is not an academic exercise that pointy-headed political science and history majors with dueling pocket protectors debate for hours in their mothers basement as they post their latest scoop on their samizdat blogs. If it is not any of these things what is it? Its a dagger pointing directly at the heart of our civilization. Western Civilization awoke from the slumber of the Dark Ages enlightened and empowered by a belief that humanity has an innate right to be free and a natural right to excel. Rights and freedoms given by God not bestowed at the whim of some Legend-in-his-own-mind Leader. This civilization gathered steam in Europe exploding upon the world stage through an energetic period of exploration. In America after a revolution fought by farmers and merchants against the greatest empire of the day the Founders dared to declare, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. After centuries of government thugs standing on the windpipe of everyday people these self-sacrificing giants observed that in a civilized world government was not imposed by the strong upon the weak it was instead built upon a social contract between the governed and those entrusted with the privilege to govern when they said, That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Today this bold and unique experiment in freedom is being devoured from within and challenged from without. Those who believe the collective should reign over the individual, those who believe in the suffocating sameness of socialism over the rough-and-tumble of capitalism have worked for generations building a culture of dependency. This has tempered the steel will of the pioneers into the sloppy demands of the couch-potato slacker waiting for someone to find their remote as they guzzle some refreshments and wait for the game as bread and circuses take the place of innovation and accomplishment. Schools teaching 2+2 might = 5, trophies for everyone, politically correct new-speak and affirmative action promotions have sapped the vitality from the citizens of our Republic. Politicians and their fellow-travelers use a system of cronies and sweet-heart deals to reward each other for siphoning trillions from the public treasury promising the dumbed-down descendants of revolutionaries that they just might win the lotto before they have to declare bankruptcy so they might as well re-elect the same old grafters once again. There comes a time when those who are raising the sails and paddling the boat have to admit to themselves the ballast down in steerage weighs more than the cargo. There comes a time when even the most non-confrontational and loyal among us begin to ask, Who is John Galt as Atlas tires of his thankless job and shrugs the burden of dead-weight into the dustbin of history. As the perpetually-reelected and the propaganda spewing Corporations Once Known as the Mainstream Media trumpet the inevitability of government rationed health-care, cap-n-trade industrial suicide, comprehensive import-a-voter immigration reform and the surrender of sovereignty through treaties supposedly designed to deal with mythical global warming there shines a light in a bell tower, one if by land and two if by sea. America finally elects a president who directly runs on promises to deal with these life threatening problems and the disloyal opposition and the kangaroo courts do everything in their power to make sure no one applies the breaks as we careen towards the cliff on insolvency. Every trick in their playbook is employed to make sure the president elected to drain the swamp is neutered. Investigations run by politicized lawyers and G-men keep revealing things that point at Hillary as the only person who tried to fix an election by stealing the primary from Bernie. Hillary whose campaign colluded with the Russians through Fusion GPS and their KGB connected British Spy Christopher Steele. It turns out that the Trump campaign received 0 dollars from the Russians while the Clinton Foundation money laundromat received millions over a period of years while Bill earned 500,000 for a short speech to the Russians seeking to corner Americas uranium market, a sale that his wife help guide through the process. And the conclusion drawn by the witch hunters wait for it Trump is a Russian agent. If Chicken Little hasnt told you lately, The sky is falling. Can anyone say, impeachment? That is the sorry state of the American political world today. There is one almost humorous aside as we slide towards that dustbin historians love to reference. All the geriatric radicals and revolutionaries still dreaming of their glory years in the 60s and 70s aided by the screen-addicted beneficiaries of government public school programming lined up behind the swampy establishment to fight the first truly revolutionary leader weve elected since 1980. What a world! What a world! But praise God we have somewhere else to look for hope for without hope were hopeless and I refuse to allow the despicable but predictable changes currently assaulting our economy and our political system to bring about my own personal Great Depression. Those who believe in the Devil believe he comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I believe if he cant steal your joy he cant keep your stuff and weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. And I believe that Jesus Christ has come to set us free. And if He sets us free we are free indeed. So take courage. Dont lose hope. Instead be hope-filled. All you have to do is confess Jesus as the lord, the leader of your life and believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and you will enter into a world of joy unspeakable and full of glory. If you havent done that before Im going to believe you just did, and that fills me with hope. Dr. Robert Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com 2019 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens Home Savannah Spurlock, 22, went missing after being seen last at a house in Garrard County, Kentucky on Jan. 4, 2019. (Richmond Police Department) Missing Kentucky Mom Savannah Spurlock Was Taken to Rural Home: Police A missing Kentucky mother was taken to a house in a rural area by three men before she vanished, police officials revealed on Feb. 3. Savannah Spurlock, 22, was last seen on surveillance footage in the early hours of Jan. 4 after leaving the Other Bar in Lexington with the men. Lt. Col Rodney Richardson, assistant chief of police with the Richmond Police Department, told Fox News that Spurlock was taken to a house in Garrard County, some 40 miles from the bar before she vanished. He also said that the men were strangers. We know that she ended up at a home in Garrard County sometime after leaving the bar with these three men, Richardson said. They did not know Savannah prior to meeting her at the bar. Spurlock rode in the backseat of a vehicle that one of the men drove, with another in the passenger seat. The third man drove a separate vehicle. Investigators havent been able to confirm if Spurlock ever left the house. Spurlocks mother, Ellen Spurlock, told Fox News that she spoke to her daughter on FaceTime on Jan. 4. There was a man driving the car. Savannah was in the passenger seat. There were at least two people in the back seat talking. I heard one of them tell me to chill, Ellen Spurlock said. They were also hollering other things but I couldnt make it out. I was just checking on my daughter. She added, I do not believe Savannah left this home on her own. She had no car, no money, no phone, and no coat. Where would she go? I dont believe that for a second. Spurlocks mother said in late January that she wants whoever has information about the case to come forward. Somebody knows something and I want that person to think about what they are doing to all these people who are devastated by Savannahs disappearance, Ellen Spurlock told WKYT. She has four babies that need her, that want her home. She said that she is still hopeful that her daughter will be found alive. Continued thanks to all the search teams and law enforcement. (This is Savannahs beautiful senior picture from a couple years ago) Missing Savannah 201924 Search Warrant Police officers have taken a number of steps following Spurlocks disappearance. They served a search warrant at a house in Garrard County on Jan. 22. A car was towed from the scene. It wasnt immediately clear how the warrant or car was connected to the Spurlock case. Because Savannah has so many different looks we ask if anyone has photos taken the six weeks prior to missing to Missing Savannah 2019125 And on Jan. 9, officers said theyd identified the three men who were with Spurlock before her disappearance. The men have not been publicly identified. The Richmond Police Department told WKYT that the three men would be questioned but that they didnt plan to file charges against the men as of yet. In the update to Fox News, police officials said that during the questioning one of the men said that Spurlock left the rural house but didnt specify how she left. The Cajun Coastal K9 Search & Rescue team are down at the Kentucky River this afternoon searching for Savannah Spurlock. They will be putting three boats out on the river. Commander Toney Wade says they have received a few messages about searching the area. @WKYT pic.twitter.com/O31STxDnsT Lauren Minor WKYT (@LaurenMinorWKYT) February 2, 2019 Search Volunteers and a search and rescue team were scouring the Kentucky River over the weekend, trying to find clues as to what happened to Spurlock. The Cajun Coast Search and Rescue team and volunteers walked along the river looking for clues. Crews couldnt get boats on the river due to muddy conditions but leaders still wanted to take advantage of daylight, they told Lex 18. No specific tips led to the river but crews wanted to rule it out. From NTD News Merkel Drops Hint of Creative Brexit Compromise TOKYOGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel on Feb. 4 offered a way to break the deadlock over the United Kingdoms exit from the European Union, calling for a creative compromise to allay concerns over the future of Irish border arrangements. The United Kingdom is due under British and European law to leave the EU in just 53 days yet Prime Minister Theresa May wants last-minute changes to a divorce deal agreed with the EU last November to win over lawmakers in the British parliament. May is seeking legally binding changes to the deal to replace the Northern Irish backstop, an insurance policy that aims to prevent the reintroduction of a hard border between EU-member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland. While Merkel said she didnt want the so-called Withdrawal Agreement renegotiated, she added that difficult questions could be resolved with creativity, the strongest hint to date that the EUs most powerful leader could be prepared to compromise. There are definitely options for preserving the integrity of the single market even when Northern Ireland isnt part of it because it is part of Britain, while at the same time meeting the desire to have, if possible, no border controls, Merkel said. To solve this point, you have to be creative and listen to each other, and such discussions can and must be conducted, Merkel said at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo. Merkel said the Irish backstop issue could be solved as part of a discussion over a separate agreement on the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom, offering May a potential way out of the deadlock. Merkels stance on Brexit is driven by an eagerness to preserve the integrity of the EU and its internal market, which are crucial to Germanys postwar identity and prosperity, while also keeping Britain close to the bloc even after it leaves. Keen to avoid the economic disruption a no-deal Brexit would bring to Germanys economy, which slowed sharply last year, Merkel also values Britain as a like-minded partner and wants to keep its security expertise close at hand. We can still use the time to perhaps reach an agreement if everyone shows good will, Merkel said. Last-Minute Deal? Britains labyrinthine crisis over EU membership is approaching its finale with an array of options including no-deal Brexit, a last-minute deal, a snap election, or a delay. May said she would seek a pragmatic solution when she tries to reopen talks with Brussels, though Brexit-supporting lawmakers in her Conservative Party have warned they will vote against her deal unless there are substantial changes. In Brussels, a group of British lawmakers met the head of the EU civil service and said Martin Selmayr appeared to indicate that the EU might bind itself to new legal conditions. While European Commission Secretary General Selmayr, the longtime lieutenant of President Jean-Claude Juncker, had reiterated the EU line that it would not reopen the withdrawal agreement, Labour lawmaker Hilary Benn told reporters, I got the impression that they might be prepared to consider some additional statement or legal protocol. But Selmayr was quick to fire back on Twitter, On the EU side, nobody is considering this. The German EU official said the lawmakers gave inconclusive answers when he asked whether any EU assurances could help May win support for her deal. Selmayr has been in charge of the blocs preparations for the event of Britain failing to agree on an orderly withdrawal and his role in meeting the lawmakers was seen by some British commentators as a sign of a harder line from Brussels than that from Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, a former French minister. By Andreas Rinke Juan Guaido speaks to demonstrators during a protest against the government of Nicolas Maduro, on Feb. 2, 2019, in Caracas, Venezuela.(Edilzon Gamez/Getty Images) Nine Major European Nations Recognize Guaido as Venezuela President Nine major European nations joined the United States and major South American nations in recognizing Juan Guaido as Venezuelas interim president on Feb. 4, intensifying pressure on socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro to step down. Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, and the Netherlands coordinated the announcement upon the expiration of an eight-day deadline for Maduro to call a new election. From today, we will spare no effort in helping all Venezuelans achieve freedom, prosperity, and harmony, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, urging both fair elections and humanitarian aid. In Central and South America, the majority of nations, are backing Guaido. Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama have all announced their support for the interim leader. El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Cuba sided with Maduro. Israel, Australia, and Canada also sided with the United States to recognize Guaido. Maduro, a socialist dictator accused of empoverishing a once oil-rich nation of 30 million people, defied the European leaders saying they are following the lead of President Donald Trump. Venezuelas duly elected National Assembly dethroned Maduro last month. Guaido, the leader of the Assembly, declared himself as interim caretaker. The move pitted free nations against socialist regimes and brought the Venezuelan people into the streets. Trump, who had incrementally increased pressure on Maduro since taking office, immediately recognized Guaido. Trump is a vocal critic of socialism and communism and has used Venezuela as a poster child for the ideologies failures. Russia and China poured billions of dollars of investment and loans into Venezuela. Both are supporting Maduro. Guaido has courted officials in both Moscow and Beijing in an effort to sway the two powers to his side. The United States imposed sweeping sanctions on Venezuelas state-owned oil firm on Jan. 28, aimed at pressuring Maduro to step down. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Venezuelans had suffered enough. The oppression of the illegitimate, kleptocratic Maduro regime must end, he said. Maduro replaced another socialist leader, Hugo Chavez, in 2013 after Chavez died of cancer. The socialist policies championed by Chavez and Maduro have resulted in an economic collapse, widespread hunger and destitution, and the exodus of more than 3 million Venezuelans. In a fashion typical to socialist dictators, Maduro blamed the failure of the economy on the United States, accusing Washington of plotting coups and controlling the oil market. Venezuela has the largest reserves in the world, but production has plunged under Maduro. Russia, a former communist regime, accused European nations of foreign meddling. We think that imposing some kind of decisions or trying to legitimize an attempt to usurp power is both direct and indirect interference in Venezuelas internal affairs, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. The Maduro government is paying both Russian and Chinese loans with oil. Maduro won re-election last year, but critics say it was a sham. Two opposition rivals with a good chance of winning were barred from running. Food handouts and other subsidies to hungry Venezuelans were linked with political support. Italys left-wing 5-Star Movement, which makes up half of the ruling coalition, dissented from the European stance, saying it would never recognize self-appointed leaders. Handing out ultimatums, sanctions, freezing Venezuelan goods It would mean opening the road to a military intervention, Alessandro Di Battista, a prominent 5-Star figure, said on Feb. 3. Meanwhile, Italys right-wing League party, backed Guaido last month. Im with the Venezuelan people against regimes like that of Maduro, based on violence, fear, and hunger, League leader, Matteo Salvini, said last month. In an interview with Corriere Della Sera newspaper on Feb. 4, Guaido said he will do whatever it takes to persuade Italy to join the position of other EU nations. In addition to the European pressure, a bloc of Latin American nations plus Canada were to meet on Feb. 4 seeking to maintain pressure on Maduro. Reuters contributed to this report. The wife of a staff member at the DusitD2 hotel cries next to one of her children during a memorial service on Jan. 23, 2019, for six staff members of the hotel who were killed during an attack at the Consolata Shrine in Nairobi, Kenya. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images) Kenyas Struggle with Terrorism The Horn of Africa nation continues to suffer from terrorist attacks due to its regional profile NAIROBI, KenyaFear and panic rocked Kenyas capital, Nairobi, at 3 p.m. on Jan. 15 when four armed gunmen and a suicide bomber stormed the DusitD2 hotel complex. The result was a 12-hour siege that lasted until the next morning, ending with all the terrorists being neutralized by security personnel. At least 21 people died in the attack. During the attack, Al Shabaab, a Somali terrorist group, spoke to Al Jazeera, claiming responsibility. We are currently conducting an operation in Nairobi, the groups spokesperson said. One of the reasons why Nairobi is a target for terrorism may be because of its international business presence, some experts say. Retaliation Kenya has been a target for terror attacks by Al Shabaab for the past few years. This was initiated, among other reasons, by the entry of the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) into Somalia in 2011 after the kidnapping of Italian tourists visiting the Kenyan coast. With the support of the African Union, Kenya entered Somalia to fight Al Shabaab as part of the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), even though the terrorist group said they were not responsible for the kidnapping. AMISOM has carried out the military operation against Al Shabaab to try to neutralize the rebel group that has claimed responsibility for attacks in several East African countries, and the KDF has taken a lead role in the combat. In retaliation, Al Shabaab launched a series of attacks on Kenyan soil, the most notable ones being at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in 2013 that claimed over 60 lives and left close to 200 people injured, and another at Garissa University in Garissa, eastern Kenya, two years later in 2015 that claimed the lives of at least 147 students and left close to 80 people injured. In August 1998, Al Qaedaan affiliate of Al Shabaabsimultaneously launched a bomb attack at the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, resulting in the killing of 224 civilians213 in the Nairobi attack and 11 in Dar es Salaam. The assault at the DusitD2 hotel complex in Nairobi was just one of many attacks Kenya has suffered over the years, costing hundreds of lives. International Business Nairobi is home to many international companies and organizationsincluding some United Nations agenciesthat run their regional and continental headquarters from the city. Daniel Heal, the managing director at Control Risks East Africa, a global strategic risk consultancy, said Nairobi is seen as a primary target for terrorist attacks because of the high-profile international businesses hosted by the city. But he warned that there was no easy solution to deal with the problem of terrorism for Kenya. There is no one single solution to combat terrorism, because this is a global issue and not Kenya alone is a victim, Heal said. Control Risks has its Nairobi office located at 14 Riverside, the same complex that houses the DusitD2 hotel. The company has 18 staff members. They were all in the office at the time of the attack and, lucky enough, all of them managed to escape and are safe, Heal said. Abullahi Boru, a Horn of Africa security analyst, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that the prime reason Al Shabaab earmarks Nairobi is because of the attention the group would get by targeting the Kenyan capital. Nairobi hosts international high-value targets that the group can target to send a signal to Western countries. Countries like Burundi are less strategic, but also you will have to cross multiple borders to reach and hence risky. Al-Shabaab, like many groups of their ilk, is very well attuned to the reality that huge media attention generates more recruitment opportunities, Boru said. Many Kenyan politicians, especially those in the opposition, had criticized the government for sending troops to fight Al Shabaab in Somalia. But Heal says withdrawing the troops is not a good solution. Terrorism, being a global issue, means that not only Kenya is in the fight against it but also many other countries. There should only be a well-coordinated exchange of intelligence between the security organs to try [to] avoid another attack, he said. Maria Cristina Menjivar, 32, and her three sons, Angel Menjivar, 7, Adrian Menjivar, 8, and Julian Menjivar, 10, were killed in a car crash near Fremont, Nebraska, along with Menjivar's unborn baby girl, on Feb. 2, 2019. (Funeral Expenses for Cristina Menjivar & Children/GoFundMe) Its Difficult: Pregnant Mother and Children Killed in Car Crash A woman who was due to give birth in March and her three children were killed in a crash in Nebraska, after a vehicle that was struck from behind flew into traffic and crashed head-on with the vehicle they were in. Maria Cristina Menjivar, 32, and her three sons, Angel Menjivar, 7; Adrian Menjivar, 8; and Julian Menjivar, 10, were killed in the crash, along with Menjivars unborn baby girl. Maria was always such a positive, loving and hardworking mom. She did anything and everything to make sure her boys had all they needed and was always there for them. Her boys were three sweet little boys. She was also pregnant with her first baby girl due next month, a family friend wrote on a GoFundMe fundraising page. On Feb. 2 near Fremont, a 16-year-old identified as Jack Ford was stopped in the eastbound lane of Highway 30 trying to turn into Westlake Mobile Home Park. Thats when he was struck from behind by a pickup truck driven by 33-year-old German Lopez Saenz. The impact drove the pickup into the oncoming traffic lane, where it slammed head-on into a 2001 Ford Taurus driven by Menjivar, the Dodge County Sheriffs Office said in a statement obtained by KLKN. She and her family members were all pronounced dead at the scene. Menjivar was not wearing a seatbelt; two of her children were while the other was not, officials said. Ford was rushed to a hospital with two passengers and is expected to survive, reported the Omaha World-Herald. Saenz was also taken to a hospital and was in serious condition on Sunday, Feb. 3. A search of records at the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles did not turn up a drivers license for Saenz and he has been cited three times for driving without a drivers license, the World-Herald reported. The third time, on Dec. 4, 2014, he was fined $75. Officials said that after an initial investigation, they do not believe that alcohol was a factor in the crash. She did anything and everything to make sure her boys had all they needed and was always there for them https://t.co/YuEMhyNTI1 Omaha World-Herald (@OWHnews) February 4, 2019 Its Difficult Law enforcement officials said that processing the scene was hard. We knew we had multiple victims and we knew we needed multiple squads, Dodge County Sheriffs Office Deputy Brie Frank told KETV. Its difficult. Its definitely, it pulls at your heart strings and you want to feel for this family. Youve got younger guys that have kids on the department, added Lt. Doug Backens with the Fremont Fire Department. Youve got some of us older guys that have had kids and now weve got grandkids, so it sets in. Fremont Fire Capt. Jamie Meyer said that counselors will be brought in for deputies and firefighters on Wednesday. Just the sights and the sounds and just letting guys talk about it and just getting that emotional edge off, Meyer said. It doesnt mean it goes away. A punch to the gut. Were learning 32 year old Maria Cristina Menjivar was pregnant, due in March. She and her children, all under 10, were killed in a crash last night. https://t.co/LmwVbkuHTn Sarah Fili (@SarahFiliKETV) February 3, 2019 Fatal Car Crash Statistics According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, analyzing data from the Department of Transportation, there were 37,461 deaths from car accidents in 2016, the last year full data is available for. The deaths occurred across 34,439 fatal motor vehicle accidents. The number means 11.6 deaths per 100,000 people and 1.16 deaths per 100 million miles traveled, although those numbers can vary widely across states. The highest deaths per 100,000 population were in Mississippi, which saw 23.1 such deaths, and the most deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled were in South Carolina, which saw 1.88 such deaths. The majority of fatal accidents are single-vehicle crashes, the institute noted. From NTD News Huawei invites foreign officials to its headquarter as public relations methods. The photo was shot on on October 16, 2013 when British Chancellor George Osborne (L) visited Huawei headquarter and accompanied by Huawei CEO and founder Ren Zhengfei. (Bobby Yip - Pool/Getty Images) Huawei Embarks on PR Blitz Amid Global Concerns About Its Shady Practices Chinese telecom giant Huawei is conducting an aggressive public relations campaign to allay global concerns about security loopholes in its equipment by inviting foreign leaders and reporters to visit its headquarters in Shenzhen City. Most recently, the tech firm invited a reporter from the Globe and Maila Canadian newspaper that has reported extensively on the extradition case of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who was charged by the United States with violating Iran sanctionsto visit its headquarters on Jan. 31. The Globe and Mail report noted that the visit would have been impossible to arrange two months ago. Huawei arranged a tour for the reporter, which included a brief look at a largely robotic assembly line for the new Huawei P20 smartphone; the Noahs Ark artificial intelligence lab; and other research divisions. Liang Hua, Huaweis chairman, also gave the reporter a one-hour exclusive interview. During the interview, the reporter asked Liang about indictments against Huawei that the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed at the end of January, especially with regard to allegations that Huawei encouraged employees to steal trade secrets regarding Tappy, a robot developed by U.S. mobile carrier T-Mobile in 2017. Liang responded vaguely by saying its not clear, while seeming to vindicate the company of IP-theft claims by saying it owns 80,000 patents, 10,000 of which are under license in the United States. Liang also told the reporter that Huawei has partnerships with more than 10 Canadian universities, and the resulting intellectual property belongs to the [Canadian] professors. But Global and Mail found that Canadian scholars who worked at universities that cooperated with Huawei, with the support of Canadian public funds, filed 40 U.S. patent applications in 2018which were all applied under Huaweis name. Huawei has even secured exclusive rights to some of the intellectual property. That would mean Liang lied to the reporter. Huaweis management team repeatedly told the reporter that they avoid hiring people with intelligence or military backgrounds, but that was found to be false. For example, Sun Yafang, the chairwoman of Huawei from 1999 to 2018, has a background in the Ministry of State Security (MSS), Chinas chief intelligence agency, according to a U.S. CIA report in 2011. The Globe and Mail isnt the first foreign media that was invited to visit Huawei headquarters. In May 2018, a reporter from CNBC received a tour of the headquarters. After the visit, CNBC published a four-minute video about the campus. The company also frequently invites foreign leaders. Liang said at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January that his company would welcome foreign officials to its 5G research and development facilities in China, Total Telecom reported on Jan. 22. In August 2018, Huawei hosted Graham Stuart, member of Parliament and undersecretary of state at the United Kingdoms Department for International Trade, at its headquarters to promote Huaweis business. But the PR efforts havent quelled security concerns. U.K. newspaper The Telegraph reported on Feb. 3 that an upcoming annual report on Huaweis security measures conducted by the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centeran oversight board created by the UK governmentwould accuse Huawei of failing to address security concerns. In July 2018, the oversight board had assessed that Huawei offered limited assurances to its security. The evaluation report noted that Huawei spent $2 billion to address security issues in the UK. If Huawei now fails to restore confidence in the UK, it will likely spell the end of its ambitions across the Five Eyes nations, the evaluation report said. Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising the Anglophone countries of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the United States. All but Canada has banned Huawei from helping build a new high-speed network. But the Canadian government said it is now evaluating the risk of using Huaweis products. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Harpers former national security adviser Richard Fadden, and other Canadian politicians have said publicly that Canada should ban Huawei from its 5G networks. Ghana Latest Nation Hit With US Visa Sanctions for Non-Compliance WASHINGTONThe Department of Homeland Security has issued visa sanctions against Ghana for failing to accept their nationals that the United States is trying to deport. The African nation is the seventh country hit with such sanctions by the Trump administration. In September 2017, Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, and Sierra Leone were sanctioned, and in July 2018, Burma and Laos were added. The sanctions most-often involve the suspension of B visas (temporary visitors for business or pleasure) to government officials. American citizens have been harmed because foreign governments refuse to take back their citizens. These sanctions will ensure that the problem these countries pose will get no worse as ICE continues its work to remove dangerous criminals from the United States, then-ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan said in September 2017. After six months, ICE is forced to release illegal immigrants who are in detention and ready for deportation if their country of origin wont accept them or issue travel documents for them. The six-month deadline is pursuant to a 2001 Supreme Court ruling, Zadvydas vs. Davis. In 2015, a Haitian man, whom Haiti failed to accept back when the United States tried to deport him, was released after six months and subsequently murdered a 25-year-old Connecticut woman in her home. ICE had attempted to deport Jean Jacques, according to a 2016 Inspector General report. He was listed as a passenger on three charter flights to Haiti in June, August, and October of 2012, but the government of Haiti refused to accept him. The Trump administration has been extremely active on recalcitrant countries, said Sarah Pierce, policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. Recalcitrant countries is just one strategy in their broader scheme of trying to increase interior enforcement, Pierce said. But, the sanctions may work, she said. One example is Iraq, which was included on the initial travel ban that imposed tight restrictions on visas from several countries. Iraq wasnt included in the final iteration of the travel ban and Pierce said one of the things that had changed was Iraq agreed to accept deported nationals. Before Trump, only two countriesThe Gambia (2016) and Guyana (2001)were sanctioned for not accepting back their nationals. Pierce said the population of illegal aliens that have been released from detention due to the Zadvydas ruling should be simple for ICE to remove. And just the missing piece is the fact that their home countries arent accepting them, she said. So by putting all of these pressures on these foreign nations, this administration has been able to kind of open up this population to ICE to execute their removal orders and increase those numbers. A dinner out will often be the kind of processed industrial food most of us would be better off avoiding. (Pablo Merchan Montes/Unsplash) Food Then and Now: How Nutrition Has Changed A loss of nutrients and processed food has transformed our diets Within the last half century, our food has drastically changed. Things we eat now are not the same as they once were. What happened? How has our nutrition changed? Meat, Eggs, and Dairy Factory farmed animal products, a huge industry today, were essentially inconceivable fewer than 100 years ago. If you didnt live in a rural setting where you likely raised your own animals, the milkman delivered dairy products from a not so far away dairy. Meat and poultry could be purchased from a local butcher who may have even known the animals personally. Growth hormones, antibiotics, and genetically modified feed were never fed to animals. Our recent ancestors were eating the healthiest kinds of animal products, those raised on grass, outdoors and hopefully, with a lot of human love too. Nowadays, of course, thats not the case. More than 10 billion animals will be raised in American factories this year. Most will never see daylight, except on their way to slaughter. Theyll live in dark, tiny, and unsanitary conditions where diseases spread rapidly. Theyll eat unnatural foods, like genetically modified corn, that are then loaded with chemicals and drugs that directly impact the humans who eat those animals. While some farm animals have been bred for tastier cuts of meat or sweeter milk, the drugs they are pumped with diminish their nutrient absorption which also decreases our ability to extract those nutrients. To eat like your grandparents, look for organic, grass-fed meat, eggs, and dairy. Its even better if you can find a local source, too. Fruits and Vegetables Conventionally raised produce contains far fewer vitamins and minerals than it did a half-century ago. You can credit pesticides and chemical fertilizers with disrupting soil quality, and mono-crop industrial agriculture for depleting it of vital nutrients. Run-off from those gnarly animal factory farms pollutes soil and water making foodborne illness risks more severe, too. Even organic options are still battling 50 years of depleted soil. Its an uphill battle, but not a losing one. One farmer, Bionutrient Food Association director, Dan Kittredge, hopes to change the criteria for success in farming from high yield to higher nutrient content. Hes working with farmers directly to help them battle depleted soil while improving product yields and flavor. Our grandparents and great-grandparents grew up when organic farming was essentially the norm. Crops were cycled to ensure the soil stayed healthy. Now farmers rely on chemical fertilizers, not healthy soil, to make crops grow. Thats why its so important that we support organic farmers, local growers and grow our own. Because dependence on these inputs isnt just unhealthy, its also a food security risk. Processed Foods Meals were cornerstones of our culture in a much different way back in the old days, and you see a lot of that in old films. But what you dont see is any junk food. Not in the sense that we eat it today. Even when there is a soda fountain scenethe drinks are considerably smaller, and you had to go to the pharmacy or soda shop to get one. People still ate real food. It was made from scratch. Ingredients were pronounceable. Things began to change after the 1950s when the idea of shortcuts and faster foods became the norm. Today, our processed foods resemble anything but their original ingredients. Nearly 80 percent of all processed foods in the United States contain genetically modified ingredients. Theyre also full of artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners. Theyre stabilized with trans fats (at least until a proposed FDA ban takes hold) and chemical preservatives and then packaged in plastics that have been known to cause cancer and birth defects. In his book Food Rules, author and food expert Michael Pollan writes that the only junk food we should eat should be what we make ourselves. If we can make that type of commitment to eliminate processed/fast/junk food except for the occasion that we want to make a Twinkie from scratch, we should be able to maintain the healthy relationship with food our ancestors took for granted. Jill Ettinger is a freelance journalist and marketing specialist primarily focused on the organic and natural industries. This article was first published on NaturallySavvy.com Female Border Patrol Agent, Mother of Two, Killed in Line of Duty A female Border Patrol agent who had worked for the agency since 2003 was killed in Texas the line of duty over the weekend, officials said. Donna Doss, 49, was in Abilene at 8:50 p.m. on Feb. 2 responding to a call for assistance from a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper on a frontage road. While on the scene, she was struck and killed by a passing vehicle. Doss was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation into the crash was launched. Doss is survived by her husband, father, mother, two-step children, sister, and two brothers. Del Rio Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Matthew Hudak said that the loss of Doss is difficult. Agent Doss died while performing her duty, protecting the community and the United States. Our heart, prayers, and support go out to Agent Doss family in this time of need, he said in a statement. Last night, while on duty, United States Border Patrol Agent Donna Doss lost her life in Abilene, Texas. Agent Doss of Class 569 served for nearly 16 years. On behalf of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), my deepest condolences go out to her family and loved ones, added CBP Commissioner Keven McAleenan in a statement. The Abilene Police Officers Association also responded to the news, saying: Prayers tonight officer down. Federal agent struck in our area. Last night, while on duty, United States Border Patrol Agent Donna Doss lost her life in Abilene, Texas. Agent Doss of Class 569 served for nearly 16 years. On behalf of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, my deepest condolences go out to her family and loved ones. pic.twitter.com/QZx9CHlCrc Kevin McAleenan (@CBP_McAleenan) February 3, 2019 Dawn Buckingham, a Texas state senator, said in a statement: Tragic news. Ed and I send our condolences and prayers to this agents family and the law enforcement community. Rep Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) added, Our hearts are heavy to hear of the passing of Border Patrol Agent Donna Doss, who was killed in the line of duty last night. This is yet another reminder that our border patrol agents and other law enforcement officers put themselves in harms way day in and day out to keep our communities safe, he said. Few people in their lifetime will earn the title of heroDonna Doss unequivocally did. Anne and I extend our deepest condolences to the Doss family and the entire Abilene community. Tragic news in #sd24 s Taylor County. Ed and I send our condolences and prayers to this agents family and the law enforcement community. #txlege #86thLegislature https://t.co/hHwLnNo9yN Dawn Buckingham (@DrBuckinghamTX) February 3, 2019 Our hearts are heavy to hear of the passing of Border Patrol Agent Donna Doss, who was killed in the line of duty last night. https://t.co/VLdzq63shu Rep. Arrington (@RepArrington) February 3, 2019 The Border Patrol Agent Family Network said that it started a fundraiser to help the Doss family in the aftermath of the death. The fundraiser was launched through Facebook. It had raised over $11,000 from 284 people in two days as of Monday. Saddened we lost a Border Patrol Agent last night. Join us in honoring her sacrifice. Together, we can make a difference. ???? #BPAFN #FallenAgent #DelRioSector https://t.co/vQK6BDkwCh pic.twitter.com/Uk7veMVtYn BPA Family Network (@BpaFamily) February 3, 2019 The last Border Patrol agent to die in the line of duty was Rogelio Martinez, 36, according to CBP. Martinez died as the result of injuries he suffered while on patrol near Van Horn, Texas, on Nov. 19, 2017. He had been an agent since 2013. He was survived by his parents, brothers, son, fiancee, and her children. From NTD News Demos hate the effectiveness of border barriers By Byron York A House-Senate conference committee has begun work on a package of border security policies that, it is hoped, can win the support of both Democrats and Republicans. The final product is certain to include several measures that already have full, bipartisan approval: more immigration judges, more technology to detect illegal drugs at ports of entry, more humanitarian aid for migrants in custody, etc. The hang-up, of course, will be a border barrier. President Trump insists on money his demand is $5.7 billion that would build new steel-slat barriers along about 230 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. About 80 miles of that would replace current, dilapidated, inadequate fencing, while 150 or so miles would cover currently unfenced areas. On the other side are Democrats led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has called a border wall "an immorality between nations" and denies evidence that a barrier would increase border security by decreasing the number of illegal crossings into the United States. Pelosi won the 35-day partial government shutdown by sticking to her position. The new negotiations will test whether she and other Democratic barrier deniers can prevail again. The need for new and improved barriers along some parts of the border is in the news almost daily. Take, for example, the events of Jan. 24 near Lukeville, Arizona, in the Tucson Sector of the border. Even though there is a six-lane crossing at Lukeville, migrants seek to enter the United States illegally in nearby areas that have ineffective fencing. Thus, on the 24th, Border Patrol agents found a large group 242 people, most from Central America who illegally crossed the border west of Lukeville. "Agents discovered the group after they crawled over and under the crude vehicle barrier separating the United States from Mexico," the Border Patrol said in a press release. Just a week earlier, a group of 84 migrants arrived nearby in a tour bus, and then crawled under the fence into the United States, where they were taken into custody by Border Patrol agents. On Dec. 19-20, in nearly the same place, the Border Patrol apprehended 306 Central American migrants crossing illegally into the U.S. Clearly, the fencing in that part of the Tucson Sector is not working. The border is 1,954 miles long. Everyone agrees that big parts of it do not require any fencing because the terrain is so rough that it makes crossing very difficult. On the other hand, a significant part of the border does need barriers. Right now, there are about 705 miles of fencing about 405 miles of pedestrian fencing and about 300 of vehicle fencing, which blocks vehicles but allows people on foot to cross easily. The vehicle fencing did nothing to stop recent crossings near Lukeville and in other places on the border. In addition, some of the pedestrian fencing is easy to breach because it is old, falling apart and was never that imposing in the first place. The Trump administration seeks to do three things: 1. Replace some ineffective pedestrian fence; 2. Replace current vehicle fence with new pedestrian fence; and 3. Build new pedestrian fence in some currently unfenced areas. The construction of barriers dramatically reduces illegal border crossing attempts. Looking at the Yuma Sector along the border in western Arizona, in 2005, before the construction of barriers, the Border Patrol caught 138,438 illegal crossers, according to figures compiled by the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors greater restrictions on immigration. Last year, with barriers, there were 26,244 such apprehensions in the Yuma Sector. The San Diego Sector in California is a case study in the effectiveness of a border barrier. In 1986, before the construction of a barrier, there were more than 628,000 apprehensions, while untold numbers of others successfully made it across the border illegally. In 2017, after the construction of extensive barriers, there were 26,086 apprehensions, according to the Border Patrol. Would anyone argue that border barriers had nothing to do with those striking before-and-after reductions? And, given what is happening in the Tucson Sector and other places today, would anyone argue that new, more daunting barriers such as the Trump administration proposes would not reduce the number of illegal crossings? The effectiveness of border barriers is a settled fact. Yet some Democrats, led by the speaker of the House, deny that fact and insist that new and improved barriers would not increase border security. Other prominent Democrats, such as recently declared presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, have called the Trump barrier proposal a "medieval vanity project." At the same time, other Democrats seem more willing to take a fact-based approach. "In the past, we have supported ... enhanced fencing," Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, a member of the Democratic leadership, said recently. "And I think that's something that's reasonable that should be on the table." Who will prevail in the border talks? Will it be Pelosi and her fellow deniers, or Jeffries and the reality-based community? The president and Congress have two weeks to find out. 2019 Byron York Home Fatal Boat Crash Trial Ends After Defendant Found Dead FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla.Authorities said a Florida man on trial for a boat crash that killed two people appears to have killed himself. The Northwest Florida Daily News reports that a circuit judge convened court on the morning of Thursday, Jan. 27, long enough to declare a mistrial in Judsen Cunninghams boating-under-the-influence case and dismiss the jury. The Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office said deputies responded to Cunninghams home earlier Thursday morning and found him dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Prosecutors had spent two days building a case against Cunningham for the March 2016 crash. Witnesses testified that he had been drinking and operating a boat with 11 other young people on board when it crashed into a jetty in Destins East Pass, killing Avery Hatchett and Anna Sorokina. Family Mourning Fathers Death From Rabies Gets Huge Bill for Vaccines A Utah family mourning the death of a loved one who died from rabies was hit with a huge bill for rabies vaccinations. Gary Giles, 55, died from the rare disease in November 2018, marking the first time someone has died from rabies in Utah since 1944. Family members said that they didnt realize that the bats in their house carried the deadly virus. The bats never hurt us, and we were always catching them in our hands and releasing them outside because you hear all the time about how bats are good for the insect population, and you dont want to hurt them, Gary Giless wife Juanita Giles told Deseret News. Besides bats, rabies can be transmitted through a range of wild animals, such as raccoons, skunks, and foxes that have become rabid, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The disease infects the central nervous system and usually kills within days. After Gary Giles died, Juanita Giles and 25 family members received a rabies vaccine because of fears that they were exposed to the disease. It can be passed by saliva, and thats why the health department told us to get the shots, Catherin Dalton, Gary Giless sister, told KSL. They called the closest ER and called me right back, and said, They are waiting for you, Juanita Giles said, adding that she was told by the Utah Health Department not to worry about the cost. But the family now has to worry about the cost after getting a $50,000 bill for the vaccinations. The family said officials need to have a better protocol in place for future rabies cases. Sticker shock: Utah family facing $50K rabies vaccination bill https://t.co/N9mxfMtXuH KentBottles (@KentBottles) February 4, 2019 I know they are trying to save lives, but if you lead somebody to believe there is help out there, you ought to stand behind that, too, Giles said. The Utah Department of Health released a statement saying officials are trying to work on the case and that the vaccines very possibly saved their lives. We recognize this family has been through a lot. The situation they now find themselves in is very unfortunate, and we sympathize with them. We also want to support them, the department stated. There are financial assistance resources available through vaccine manufacturers and health care providers and weve worked with the family to provide them with this information and help steer them in the right direction. Were committed to continue working with the family to hopefully help them find a resolution. Rabies Vaccine The rabies vaccine typically requires multiple doses, according to the CDC. The first dose of the four-dose course should be administered as soon as possible after exposure. Additional doses should be administered on days 3, 7, and 14 after the first vaccination, the agency stated. For adults, the vaccination should always be administered intramuscularly in the deltoid area (arm). For children, the anterolateral aspect of the thigh is also acceptable. The gluteal area should never be used for rabies vaccine injections because observations suggest administration in this area results in lower neutralizing antibody titers. Even people who were previously vaccinated should receive two doses of vaccine, one immediately and the other three days later. Fatalities usually only happen to people who dont seek medical assistance after being bitten by a rabid animal, usually because they werent aware of the exposure. Although the number of deaths in the United States has declined dramatically in recent decades, the cost of rabies prevention has risen to an estimated $245 million to $510 million annually. According to the CDC, the cost per human life saved from rabies ranges from approximately $10,000 to $100 million, depending on the nature of the exposure and the probability of rabies in a region. From NTD News A police officer casts his vote at a polling station during the presidential election in San Salvador, El Salvador Feb. 3, 2019. (Reuters/Victor Pena) El Salvador Votes for New President, Anti-Corruption Outsider Favored SAN SALVADORSalvadorans headed to the polls in the first round of a presidential election on Feb. 3, with an energetic former mayor campaigning as an anti-corruption outsider predicted to win the top job and end decades of a two-party system. Nayib Bukele, 37, has capitalized on the anti-establishment feeling sweeping elections across the region and further afield, as voters seek an alternative to traditional parties. Since the end of its bloody civil war in 1992, El Salvador has been governed by just two parties: the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) ruling leftists, and its rival, conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). Though he describes himself as from the left and was expelled from the FMLN, Bukele has formed a coalition with parties including a right-wing one which together have just 11 seats in the legislature. Polls were due to close at 5 p.m. CST (6 p.m.), and El Salvadors electoral tribunal is expected to announce the initial results at 8 p.m. CST. Pollster Mitofsky found in a January poll that Bukele had 57 percent of voter support, while a poll by Gallup showed him with 42 percent. Both polls show ARENAs Carlos Calleja in second place. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the Feb. 3 vote, two candidates will move into a runoff to be held in March. El Salvadors next president will face pressure against the U.S. government over concerns of mass-migration, and connections with China. The new government will also have to try to kick-start a sluggish economy, combat corruption and tackle one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Some voters told Reuters they were skeptical that Bukele has the experience to govern. Others said a third-party candidate is the only option for dramatic change. We had 20 years eating trash with ARENA, and 10 years with the Front. We have to vote for something different, and something different is this kid Nayib, said driver Oscar Rosales, 46, a former FMLN supporter who voted at a school in the city of Santa Tecla, outside the capital. Entire families turned up at polling stations to vote, from parents with their children to older people in wheelchairs, in a calm atmosphere presided over by police. At San Salvadors main polling place, a large convention center, each party loudly blasted its own music from stalls set up with colorful banners, while campaign workers danced and handed out pens and stickers. Corrupt Cant Hide Bukele, who was San Salvador mayor between 2015 to 2018, wants to create an international anti-corruption commission with the support of the United Nations, following similar committees in Guatemala and Honduras. Well create a (commission) so that the corrupt cant hide where they always hide, instead theyll have to give back what they stole, Bukele said in January. Growing up, Bukeles relatively wealthy family was sympathetic to the FMLN, the former leftist guerrilla army that became a political party at the end of El Salvadors civil war in 1992. But Bukele has turned away from Latin Americas traditional left, branding Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and Nicaraguas Daniel Ortega as well as conservative Honduran Juan Orlando Hernandez dictators. A dictator is a dictator, on the right or the left,' Bukele, who has a large social media following, wrote last week on Twitter. By Nelson Renteria & Noe Torres Michael Kovrig, an adviser with the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based non-governmental organization, speaks during an interview in Hong Kong on March 28, 2018. (AP Photo/File) Detained Canadian Kovrig Gets Third Consular Visit in China OTTAWAThe federal government says Canadian Michael Kovrig has received his third meeting with consular officials since his December detention in China on charges of endangering Chinese national security. A statement by Global Affairs Canada says the officials met today with the former Canadian diplomat, who was on leave from his job at the time of his arrest. The statement says the government continues to be deeply concerned by what it calls the arbitrary detentions of Kovrig and fellow Canadian Michael Spavor, who was also detained in December on similar allegations. The government says Spavor, an entrepreneur, has also met with Canadian diplomats three times. Canada has demanded the release of both men and it is trying to get more consular access to them. Some Western analysts say their detentions are in retaliation for Canadas December arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou following an extradition request from the United States. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez makes an official statement on Venezuela at La Moncloa palace in Madrid on Feb. 4, 2019. (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images) Critics Call for EU Foreign Policy Decision-Making Reform after Statement on Venezuela Vetoed BRUSSELSThe leaders of two of the European Unions biggest political groupings have called for urgent reform of how the bloc makes foreign policy decisions after its response to the Venezuela crisis descended into chaos. Senior politicians were urged to rethink rules that require all 28 member states to approve diplomatic decisions in response to Italy vetoing a planned statement that would have declared the blocs backing for Juan Guaido. Instead, major European nations had to scramble to individually recognize the Venezuelan National Assembly leader as interim president on Feb. 4 after their deadline for Venezuelan regime leader Nicolas Maduro to hold fresh elections passed. Fourteen countries issued their own statements saying Guaido is now the countrys legitimate leader, but others refused to follow suit on a decision that exposed how divided the EU is on major global issues. Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who is now a member of the European Parliament and heads the pan-European liberal grouping, told The Epoch Times that having to take foreign policy decisions by unanimity is crippling the EU on the world stage. Reform of the way that the EUs foreign policy is set is long overdue. As we have seen with Venezuela, collective EU positions can be blocked by one EU member state, which all too often cripples our collective influence, he said. As part of a wholesale reform of the EU, I have long advocated a move from unanimity to qualified majority voting in our external relations, which would provide Europeans with a stronger voice in a changing world. Influential German member of the European Parliament Manfred Weber, who leads the conservative European Peoples Party grouping and is a candidate to become the next Commission president, said the blocs disjointed response had been a tragedy. It really was a tragedy to see that Europe wasnt able to act in a quick and appropriate manner, Weber told the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. We as Europeans have a common value base. We have to show on a global level that we are willing to defend these principles, also with our friends for example in South America. Weber said the current rules on unanimity must be scrapped in favor of a majority voting system, otherwise we will always be weak and not capable to deliver. The current Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, has made repeated calls for the system to be changed, arguing that the EU needs reform to become a global player. In his State of the Union speech in September 2018, he said the bloc must improve our ability to speak with one voice and that the time for European sovereignty has come. European sovereignty is born of Member States national sovereignty and does not replace it. Sharing sovereigntywhen and where neededmakes each of our States and nations stronger, Juncker said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron also agreed last June that they would work more closely together on foreign policy and push for an end to the rule on unanimity. The government of Netherlands, meanwhile, said in its own State of the Union letter this week that it would back a modest reform to move to a majority voting system on issues such as applying sanctions and taking positions on human rights abuses. The requirement of unanimity has sometimes led to EU decisions being blocked or taken too slowly. This can undermine the EUs effectiveness and reputation, and thus harm Dutch interests, the Dutch government said. However, The Hague warned that it would not hesitate to block any move to qualified majority voting on issues where it feels member states should keep powers to themselves. Any move to significantly revamp the voting rules on foreign policy would be hugely controversial in countries such as Italy and Greece, which have repeatedly blocked EU-wide initiatives in this area. European nations had already agreed on Jan. 26 to issue Maduro with an eight-day ultimatum to hold fresh elections and decried the indiscriminate violence used to suppress opposition protests. The UK, France, Spain, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, and Luxembourg all went further on Feb. 4 by recognizing Guaido as interim president. However, Italy, with its government run by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and League parties, continued to block an EU-wide declaration, saying it is not Brussels job to interfere in other countries politics. Spanish foreign minister Josep Borrell lamented: There is not going to be one. There are still some who oppose it. A Commission spokeswoman could only repeat the blocs previously agreed position when questioned Feb. 4. European Parliament President Antonio Tajani added: On behalf of the European Parliament, I would like to thank all countries that have already recognized Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela. I call on all other member states to do the same. Nick Sandmann, wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat, looks at Nathan Phillips, a Native American anti-President Donald Trump activist, after Philipps approached the Covington Catholic High School student in Washington, on Jan. 18, 2019. (Survival Media Agency via AP) Covington Student Nick Sandmann Prepares Massive Lawsuit Lawyers for the Covington Catholic High School student who was demonized by the media are making preparations to potentially sue celebrities, media entities, politicians, and others for libel and defamation. Lawyers sent out more than 50 letters instructing potential defendants not to destroy evidence. Nick Sandmann, the 16-year-old seen in the viral video standing in front of a Native American man playing a drum, was trashed by prominent figures like actor Jim Carey, actress Alyssa Milano, Senator Elizabeth Warren; media organizations like the New York Times and the Washington Post; and many others in a mob-like fashion. Lawyer Robert @Barnes_Law named several individuals he intends to sue for #libel against some the #CovingtonCatholicHighSchool students. https://t.co/HIjDkeQ85T The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) January 29, 2019 After a longer video emerged with more context, many that were initially against Sandmann issued apologies, retractions, or simply deleted tweets. The extended video showed how the Covington Catholic High School students were being harassed by a group of Black Hebrew Israelites before the Native American group stepped toward the students while playing drums and singing. The image was initially interpreted by the media as a racial confrontation, with the white high school students as the aggressors. Sandmanns legal team includes L. Lin Wood, an attorney nationally recognized in the field of libel, defamation, and the first amendment. The legal team released a 15-minute video to clarify what happened that day, after the March for Life in Washington, on Jan. 18. Under the video, the description says: 2 weeks ago, the mainstream media, politicians, church officials, commentators, & celebrities rushed to judgment to wrongfully condemn, threaten, disparage & vilify Nick Sandmann based solely on a few seconds of an out-of-context video clip. It only takes 15 minutes to learn the truth. Here it is. The 15-minute video paints a picture with much more context than the short viral video clip that led to the initial outrage. It shows how the Indigenous Peoples March took place at the same time at the anti-abortion March for Life. The video shows Black Hebrew Israelites spewing racial slurs at Native Americans seemingly there to attend the march. They are doing much the same thing that they did to the Covington High School students who were waiting for their bus after the march, near the Lincoln Memorial. The video shows the Hebrew Israelites also throwing out racial slurs and using abusive language towards other black people passing by. Im coming to bomb your office. Get ready. 48 hours. Be ready. The lawyer for the #CovingtonCatholicHighSchool students received a #bomb threat after warning media and celebrities they could be targets of a libel suit. https://t.co/kryH4pnt4h The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) January 25, 2019 A few of the high schoolers wander over, and are met with racial abuse, irregardless of the age difference between the Hebrew Israelite men and the Covington high school boys. Bring yall cracker [expletive] up here and make a statement. Tell em come over here in the lions den. You little dirty [expletive] crackers, your day comin. Fox News asked lawyer David Gibbs of the National Center for Life & Liberty what he thinks of the viability of the lawsuit. I think we need to recognize that reputations should not just be disposable by journalists in this internet era. In this case you dont have the president, or the Speaker of the House, or a public figure, you have teenagers, said Gibbs. But when you look at an ongoing defamation where false statements are being made, where theyre being labeled as terrorists or trouble-makers in this internet era, thats a branding that the journalists should be held responsible for. Looking like Nick Sandman & Covington Catholic students were treated unfairly with early judgements proving out to be false smeared by media. Not good, but making big comeback! New footage shows that media was wrong about teens encounter with Native American @TuckerCarlson Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019 Gibbs had more words about the journalists who reported falsely about Sandmann. Theyre making money off these hits. Theyre making money off this publicity. And when they destroy peoples lives or put them at risk, they should be held accountable under the law. From NTD News A petitioner holds photos of evidence in her grievance against local officials, outside a government petition office in Beijing on March 2, 2016. (Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images) Chinese Authorities Crack Down on Petitioners Over Open Letter Seeking Reforms More than 250 Beijing citizens and rights activists signed a letter of advice to the Chinese regimes rubber-stamp legislature ahead of its annual session in early March, calling for greater protections for petitioners in the country. Authorities have been swift in their response, with reports that Beijing police have began to investigate several signatories and have detained the person who started the petition. In a letter titled Letter of Advice to the National Peoples Congress from the People of Beijing, 251 signatories urged more transparency and oversight of bureaucratic processes, greater rights for petitioners at all levels of government, and an end to authorities forcibly evicting and relocating people from their homes. The letter was posted on a public online platform hosted by the Beijing city government. According to Defending Human Rights, an overseas-based website that serves as a clearinghouse for rights abuses in China, the author of the petition, Liu Jingru, was taken away by police on Feb. 1 and hasnt been seen since. Authorities are also reportedly looking for the leaders behind the petition. Meanwhile, police have visited several Beijing petitioners and questioned them about their activities. Not Breaking the Law Beijing resident Wang Xiuzheng, a signatory to the petition, told Radio Free Asia that police have visited her home three times to interrogate her about the letter. Wang said she asked the police, We [petitioners] have not broken any law. We have petitioned in the usual way, is there anything wrong with that? Since ancient times, Chinese people have had the right to submit their grievances to authorities through written letters or by in-person visits. State petitioning bureaus have been set up across the country to receive and handle complaints by aggrieved citizens who cant resolve their issues at the local level. However, authorities have consistently harassed and detained petitioners in an attempt to stop them from making public protests. Wang told the outlet that she joined the petition to urge authorities to stop all illegal acts, including forced evictions, and ensure the rights of citizens to lawfully petition their grievances. The Chinese Communist Partys judicial system is unjust. The countrys petition system does not do anything. The supreme court also does not do anything. Wang said that many people were driven to petitioning after their experiences in the court system, where they allege judges failed to carry out justice. Black Jails Another Beijing resident, Guo Jiang, told the outlet that he felt compelled to sign the letter after being repeatedly held in black jails for petitioning against the demolishing of his home by authorities. Black jails are an extrajudicial network of detention centers used to detain petitioners, preventing them from exercising their right of complaint. Another Beijing resident, Hu Xiulan, also signed the petition. She told Voice of America that she has been visited by the police. When Hu asked the police whether or not what she did was illegal, the police replied that it wasnt, she told the outlet. Hu said she became a signatory because of what happened to her son when he protested their home being demolished by authorities. She said her son was beaten and detained by the police. Hu has been petitioning the sons case since then, seeking an explanation from the court. Another signatory, Li Huiqian, said police have detained several people already but werent able to take her because she wasnt at home at the time, according to Voice of America. American Anarchist, Marijuana Activist Slain in Acapulco An American anarchist who went by the name John Galton was shot dead at his home in the Mexican resort of Acapulco after at least six armed individuals stormed the residence and opened fire on Galton and two more Americans while they were eating, Mexicos police told the local media. A woman describing herself as Galtons partner, Lily Forester, said via social media that she saw the gunmen go straight for Galton and his friend Jason Henza, 43. Henza made it to a private hospital, Del Prado, with bullet wounds in an armpit, leg, and hand. The hospital said he checked out that same day. Finalmente informa el gobierno de #Guerrero que un estadunidense fue asesinado y otro resulto herido en la colonia Vista Hermosa de #Acapulco donde fueron atacados por 6 pistoleros y en esa casa encontraron un laboratorio de procesamiento de drogas. #Guerrero #Mexico #EUA pic.twitter.com/IpTapC9YDs Jacob Morant (@JacobMorant) February 2, 2019 Forester and Henza both posted videos to Facebook immediately after the shooting. Forester screamed: I really need help! Somebody please come. In his post, a bearded Henza said in a blood-smattered T-Shirt: We were attacked. Ive been shot three times. Im not doing so good. At 3:37 p.m. local time, Forester wrote on her Facebook profile: John is dead, I do not know what to do. Then, at 5:14 p.m., she asked for help: For those interested in helping after the death of my love, send bitcoin to this address or contact me. At 5:25 p.m., she wrote: Feel free to harass Shepard, a spy for killing my husband. At 6:44 p.m., she said: Thank you John Galton for teaching me how to love, how to stand up for myself and what is worth dying for. The last message was at 11:45 p.m. when Forester wrote: Owww my [expletive] head good pain owww. Her Facebook profile has since been deactivated. The cold-blooded daytime murder sent shivers through the tightknit anti-state community of expatriates that organizes events in the violence-torn city with seminars on topics such as how to make money via cryptocurrencies. According to the anarchist community, Galton was dealing drugs in one of the most dangerous communities in Acapulco. Mexican police found equipment to process drugs, glass pipes, synthetic narcotics, and marijuana plants at Galtons home after the shooting, according to a report by state police, Mexican media reported. A mas de 12 horas el Gobierno de #Guerrero oculta informacion del ataque a 2 estadunidense, uno muerto #EUA. / Espero que el gobierno de @lopezobrador_ @FGRMexico no oculte la informacion / En espera tambien del comunicado de la Embajada de @USEmbassyMEX pic.twitter.com/F04eA9iCov Jacob Morant (@JacobMorant) February 2, 2019 Guerrero State Police said in a Facebook post that Galton was a proponent for the international decriminalization of marijuana. Police said Forester and Henza did not know the reason for the attack. I was afraid that they would come close to finish us, fortunately it was not like that, Henza, named in the police report as Thason Heinzan, said, according to police. Police also wrote in the post that according to American Michel Alexander, who was also attacked in the shooting, that the armed group tried to kidnap them, and shots were fired after a struggle between the parties. Prior to the shooting, Galton and Forester hosted weekly Meat Ups at a local restaurant where self-professed carnivores dined only on meat. They were also busy recruiting speakers for an anarchist conference set to take place in Acapulco later in February. The dreadlocked couple, both in their 20s, posted a video to Facebook two months ago calling for attendees at the conference. Lily did not respond to request for comment via social media on Saturday. Henza declined to comment. A U.S. Department of State official said the Bureau of Consular Affairs was aware of an investigation into the death of a U.S. citizen in Acapulco but that it couldnt provide additional information due to privacy considerations, according to The Associated Press. John Galton is a pseudonym, a nod to John Galt, the fictional character who defies convention in Ayn Rands novel Atlas Shrugged. John Galt is idolized among some anarchist groups who resent state overreach. In a separate video posted to a YouTube channel called Press For Truth, Galton and Forester described how, in early 2016, they fled drug charges in the United States. Galton said they each faced up to 25 years in prison for manufacture of a controlled substancespecifically, condensing marijuana into powerful extracts that Lily used for chronic pain. Extranjero ejecutado en #Acapulco #Guerrero es #JohnGalton, activista definido como criptoanarquista que huyo de #USA por promover la despenalizacion de la marihuana. Co fundador de #Anarchaforko y #Anarchapulco en el mismo lugar donde fue asesinado. .@CNNEE .@CriptoNoticias pic.twitter.com/hXQIUgwI09 Ezequiel Flores (@EzequielFloresC) February 2, 2019 No U.S. federal court records for drug charges are filed under the name John Galton. In a second video by Press For Truth posted a year later, the couple detailed how they were getting by financially through selling glass drug pipes that Lily blew into shape. When asked about the high crime rates in Acapulco, the blue-eyed anarchist with scruffy facial hair said: Id say its safer than any big city Ive lived in in the U.S., like way safer than Chicago or something like that. The state of Guerrero state, which is home to Acapulco, has a murder rate of 64.2 per 100,000 residents. That is two times higher than in Chicago. Acapulco has become a hotbed for violence between drug gangs. Theres pockets of freedom all over the world, John said in the video. Theres so much thats more free about where we live here. The Associated Press contributed to this report. From NTD.com A Philippine Army member inspects the damage inside a church after a bombing attack in Jolo, Sulu province, Philippines January 27, 2019. Armed Forces Of The Philippines (Western Mindanao Command/Handout via Reuters) 5 Abu Sayyaf Members Surrender Over Philippine Church Bombing A senior Abu Sayyaf operative and four members of the Islamic terrorist group believed to be behind the deadly bombing of a church in the southern Philippines surrendered to authorities over the weekend, the national police chief said on Feb. 4. Kammah Pae, whom authorities believe to have aided an Indonesian couple in the Jan. 27 suicide attack, gave himself up to government troops, Oscar Albayalde said. He was forced to surrender, Albayalde told a media briefing. He probably didnt want to die during the military offensive. Philippine troops killed three suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorists and suffered five fatalities in a firefight on Jan. 2 in Patikul, a town in the province of Sulu as troops pursued those behind the church attack. Albayalde said Kammah denied involvement in the twin bombings at the Jolo cathedral that killed 23 people, including civilians and soldiers, but eyewitnesses accounts showed he escorted the Indonesian couple. Security forces also retrieved an improvised explosive device (IED) and components from his home, Albayalde added. The five suspects will face multiple murder charges, among others, Albayalde said. However, the investigation into the church bombing in Sulu, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group, is far from over, he added. Abu Sayyaf is a terrorist organization notorious for kidnappings and extremist factions and has pledged allegiance to ISIS. There are more pieces of evidence that need to carefully examined, Albayalde said. Before Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte suggested on Jan. 29 that the twin explosions may have been a suicide attack, military and police said the bombs within and outside the church appeared to have been detonated remotely. A few days later, Dutertes interior minister, Eduardo Ano, said that suicide attack was carried out by an Indonesian couple with the help of Abu Sayyaf. That would be in line with a claim of responsibility by ISIS via its Amaq news agency early on Jan. 4. Philippines Vows to Crush Terrorists After Church Bombs Kill 20 The Philippines vowed to destroy those behind twin bombings that killed 20 people during a Jan. 27 church service in the countrys restive south, six days after a referendum on a peace agreement between the government and Filipino Muslims in the region returned an overwhelming yes vote. The attack wounded more than 100 people and was one of the deadliest in recent years in a region long plagued by instability. It came amid hope and excitement about the ratification of a devolution plan that aims to bring development, jobs, and peace to one of Asias poorest and most volatile places. The first explosion went off inside the cathedral on Jolo island, in Sulu province, and was followed by a second blast outside, which was detonated as security forces raced to the scene, officials said. The enemies of the state have boldly challenged the capability of the government to secure the safety of the citizenry in that region, said Salvador Panelo, spokesman of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. The armed forces of the Philippines will rise to the challenge and crush these godless criminals. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack via the extremist groups Amaq news agency, describing it as twin suicide bombings that it said killed 120 people. Police are investigating but suspect it was the work of Abu Sayyaf, an extremist group embedded in the Philippines that has pledged allegiance to ISIS and are blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization because of years of bombings, kidnappings, and beheadings. They also go by the name ISIS-Philippines Province. They want to show force and sow chaos, national police chief Oscar Albayalde told DZMM radio, suggesting Abu Sayyaf was the prime suspect. Civilians bore the brunt of the attack, which also killed five soldiers. Police lowered the death toll from 27 to 20, after discovering duplications in initial records. Jolo is a stronghold of the group, which runs a lucrative piracy and kidnapping operation that successive governments have failed to break up. The group, which operates in the waters and islands of western Mindanao, has beheaded numerous foreign captives when ransom demands were not met. Images of the inside of the Jolo church showed several rows of wooden pews destroyed, with debris strewn across a blackened floor. 16-Year-Old Allegedly Denied Honor Society Membership Because He Supports Trump A high school student claimed that he was rejected from the National Honor Society because he supports President Trump. Boris Kizenko is 16-years-old and has a 4.0 grade point average. He told NJ 101.5 that he is a former class president and has done the required community service to qualify for the National Honor Society at Holmdel High School in New Jersey. While managing his classs Instagram page, he posted inspirational quotes from various personalities and historical figures. But after he posted a quote from President Trump, If youre going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big, the backlash from the school was fierce. Posting things that dont represent the class of 2020. If this doesnt, then what does? Boris Kizenko 2019110 I would post motivational quotes every day, from Marcus Aurelius to Yoda to Drake. Trump is our president, so I felt there should be no problem quoting him as well, Kizenko told the radio station. They took the post down and took away all my social media authority as president. [They] demanded my password They told me that I was being a monarch in the Student Council and said that doesnt represent the ideals of the class, Kizenko added. Teen decries National Honor Society exclusion A Holmdel High School student tells Bill he was denied membership to the National Honor Society because of his support for President Trump. Chasing News 2019110 Kizenko also used a slogan in his class president reelection campaign that school administrators took issue with, although he said most students didnt mind. He borrowed and personalized the presidential slogan and formulated, Make Holmdel Great Again. The school referred to the shirts as propaganda and used the issue to exclude him from the honor society. In another instance, during his time as class president, he had the idea to host a paintball fundraiser for the school. His class advisor rejected the idea, so he asked the school principal. He said that doing so, combined with the shirts and the Trump quote, led the school to reject his application from the honor society on the grounds of a character issue, he told NJ 101.5. When he tried to appeal the decision, he was not told who the decision makers were, and he ultimately did not get a chance to appeal before the induction ceremony, he told NJ 101.5. Thank you @PeteHegseth and Emily and Ed for letting me on FOX and Friends! Im glad we had the opportunity to shed light Boris Kizenko 201923 When Kizenko first received the honor society rejection letter, he initially did not know what to think. I get this letter at home one day that I was not accepted because of character reasons, that I didnt meet their character and leadership standards. And I didnt understand. I felt bad at first, like I did something wrong, Kizenko told Chasing News. But soon I realized it was because they dont like my politics and there have been issues all throughout high school so far, with politics I have a feeling that they were just collecting a lot of the times where I was speaking out about my politics and they hit it with me when they denied me NHS, Kizenko added. Panel members on the show commented on the issue. I remember a time in our nations history, when it was okay to respect our president, Bill, and that doesnt seem to be the case here, which is really unfortunate, said Republican strategist Jeanette Hoffman. Democratic strategist Bill Caruso also commented. The politics of the school system are some of the most disgusting politics that you see. Unfortunately kids arent immune to this, said Caruso. His support for whomever he believes in in his political world, provided that he is doing it in a respectful manner and abiding by the rules of the school, should have no bearing on anything that is going on with him professionally. From The Epoch Times 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. Americas Suicidal Turning Point: Chapter Ten: Barack Hussein Obama By Michael Moriarty When I and, Im sure, many others first heard about him and his name, I thought, Black Muslim. Hell never be elected! The Lefts and Hillary Clintons certainty that Trump would never win the Republican Primary, let alone the Presidency?! Both, shocking surprises from the Left and the Right has become Third Millennium Americas identity! The United States is now in the middle of a symbolic, Second American Civil War. A fashionably Leftist, Leonard Bernstein, was quite fond of Black Muslims. Radical Chic The Democrat Party, once so influential In The slave-holding South?! Now? Black Americas best friend! As Wikipedia describes Radical Chic, They are ideologically invested in their cause of choice only so far as it advances their social standing. In the end, President Barack Hussein Obama has proven himself to be half Don Cox, Field Marshal of the Black Panther Party and half Leonard Bernstein. One can never dismiss the charming power and eloquence of Barack Hussein Obama. His most impressive style won him the Presidency. Twice! Donald Trumps infuriatingly provocative and angry style also won him the Oval Office, out of which he pronounces daily on Twitter. Without being the racist that the Left has tried to paint him as, President Trump has been selling American Nationalism with the same disturbing abandon that President George H. W. Bush sold his New World Order. His love affair with a One World Order to be run by the United Nations! The American Treason which the Left and The Bush RINOs have tried to paint on Donald Trump?! It actually belongs on the increasingly slithery and Marxist hides of the Democrat Party. Not to mention the indisputably RINO coverings to the Bush Familys dislike of Donald Trump. It sounds complicated but its not. The Dems wish to keep it sounding complicated because that complexity not only makes them sound more intelligent, they can lie with greater ease than the Republicans can. Its all an increasingly ugly and dangerous mess. What is The most dangerous lie By both political parties? Pretending that thoughts of A New World Order are not American treason. Why doesnt President Trump call the Democrat Party on its treasonous betrayal of The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and its Bill of Rights?! As treasonous as the Democrat Partys earlier, racial supremacy in the purely Democrat, Confederate South?! Why doesnt he indict the whole idea of a Progressive New World Order as treason?! I dont know. His refusal to do what to me is the obvious?! For someone who is renowned for not withholding his contempt, his silence about The New World Order Betrayal of America is deafening. Michael Moriarty is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor who starred in the landmark television series Law and Order from 1990 to 1994. His recent film and TV credits include The Yellow Wallpaper, 12 Hours to Live, Santa Baby and Deadly Skies. Contact Michael at rainbowfamily2008@yahoo.com. He can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/@MGMoriarty. Home The site announced this week that they've renewed the show for a second season that will be made up of 8 episodes. After the success of season one, writer Laurie Nunn has said how she couldn't be anymore excited. The reception to season one has been so exciting, Seeing how people across the world have connected to characters that began as ideas in my head is incredible. I'm hugely grateful to every person that has taken the time to watch the series, and I cant wait to continue this amazing journey. It doesn't come as much of a surprise that they'll be a second season though after Netflix shared that the show was viewed by more than 40 million households in the the first four weeks of its release. It happened in the blink of an eye: Texas A&M lost its voice on the state House Committee on Higher Education. State Rep. John Raney, who had served on the committee in the last legislative session was not re-appointed to the post by new House Speaker Dennis Bonnen. Perhaps it is just coincidence that Raney initially supported someone else in the race to replace House Speaker Joe Straus, who chose not to run again -- a loss for Texas to be sure. Raney also was not reappointed to the House Appropriations Committee. Instead, Bonnen named Raney to the Transportation Committee and the International Relations & Economic Development Committee -- certainly important committees, but neither in the league of Appropriations or High Ed. Raney's District 14 includes most of Bryan and College Station, including the Texas A&M campus. State Rep. Kyle Kacal -- whose District 12 includes rural Brazos County -- was appointed by Bonnen to the Culture, Recreation & Tourism and the Environmental Regulation Committees. To be sure, Speaker Bonnen has the authority and the right to appointment members of every House committee, but he failed miserably in particular to his appointments to the Higher Ed Committee. My first thought upon hearing about the current measles outbreak in the Pacific Northwest was to wonder if Washington and Oregon are among the 18 states that allow parents to get waivers for their kids mandatory school vaccinations on account of their personal beliefs. The outbreak has sickened at least 35 people so far around Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. You may recall that California allowed such exemptions until just a few years ago. A serious outbreak at Disneyland in 2014 woke lawmakers to the fact that the personal belief exemption had been allowing childhood immunization rates to decline to dangerous levels. They ended that exemption not long after and vaccination rates quickly started rising to safer levels. Phew. And, yup, turns out that both Washington and Oregon have laws that allow parents to opt out of the vaccination requirement if they have a philosophical or religious objection. Most of the kids sickened had not receive the vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella that is a standard requirement for kids entering public school. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency last month. House Bill 1413, which was filed during the 2015 session and would have given optometrists more power to treat glaucoma without a second opinion, prescribe more medications and perform minor surgeries, was referred to the House Public Health Committee but was withdrawn. In the last five years, nearly 30 percent of new Texas optometrists have left the state upon graduation to practice in places such as Louisiana or Oklahoma, where they are allowed to provide more services to patients, according to the Texas Optometric Association. When youre an optometrist and you look at our laws, I hate to say it, we just roll our eyes at how sad the law is, Lucas said. Its a total underutilization of our qualification. Texas optometrists cite Louisiana as a top place to practice because optometrists allowed to manage glaucoma cases without getting a second opinion and prescribe medications without another medical professional. Louisiana optometrists can also perform surgical procedures for sties, remove items from an eye or use a special laser to treat glaucoma when drops don't work for a patient. "My hope is that when someone comes through these doors into the Lincoln Center, that they feel the love -- not just from me, but from the staff and from anybody," Johnson said. Often referred to as "Ms. Cheletia," Johnson replaced a local legend, Lance Jackson, who was the center's supervisor from the mid-1990s until his 2017 retirement and relocation to Temple. "She had some big shoes to fill when Lance left," College Station mayor Karl Mooney said last month at the city's Martin Luther King Jr. weekend celebration. "Cheletia found out that this is something she really loves to do, and does it well. The community's embraced her, and we're blessed to have her. I hope we never lose her," he said. Johnson paused for several moments when asked about what it means to work at the place that helped raise her. "I have a lot of pride about being a product of this community. When people say certain people are not going to amount to anything, when they say 'That neighborhood is bad'... I know, looking at what I turned out to be, you can't say what someone will turn out to be like." Bryan archaeologist and author William E. Moore gives readers a guided tour of abandoned tiny Texas jails in his new book, The Texas Calaboose and Other Forgotten Jails (Texas A&M University Press, $35 hardcover). A calaboose, or tiny jail, was often used in small towns to incarcerate prisoners on an overnight or temporary basis until they could sleep off their inebriation, pay their fine or be taken before a judge or transferred to a larger facility. Moore discusses the history of the calaboose, but most of the book consists of an alphabetical listing -- with color photographs and a page or so of text -- of about 120 calabooses, jails or cages that are no longer used but are still around as storage buildings or abandoned structures. Many are on private property. "Although the majority of prisoners who spent time in the local calaboose were the Saturday night drunks and ruffians," Moore writes, "others were locked up for theft, counterfeiting, owning or discharging illegal firearms, prostitution, and selling fortunes without a license." "A night in the local calaboose," he adds, "was not a pleasant experience even when electricity and other amenities were available. Most calabooses did not have that luxury, and sanitary facilities were often absent." Melanie joined The Daily Times in the early 90s and has served as the Life section editor since 1993. A William Blount and UT alum, Melanie is generally the early arriver who turns on the lights in the newsroom. Follow Melanie Tucker 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 Towanda, PA (18848) Today A few showers this evening, becoming a steady light rain overnight. Low 57F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight A few showers this evening, becoming a steady light rain overnight. Low 57F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. 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. Mazda acquires Ford's stake in Changan Ford Mazda Engine Co HIROSHIMA, Japan, Jan, 30 2019; Mazda Motor Corporation has purchased in full Ford Motor Company's stake in Changan Ford Mazda Engine Co., Ltd. (located in Nanjing, China), a joint venture between the two companies and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. In line with the change to a 50:50 ownership structure (Mazda and Changan), the name has been changed to Changan Mazda Engine Co., Ltd. Changan Ford Mazda Engine Co., Ltd. was established in September 2005 with Changan owning 50 percent of shares and Ford and Mazda 25 percent each. It began production of engines for Mazda cars in April 2007. After the name change, the plant will continue to produce Skyactiv-G 1.5-, 2.0- and 2.5-liter gasoline engines for supply to Changan Mazda Automobile Co., Ltd. (also in Nanjing), which produces the Mazda CX-8, Mazda CX-5 and Mazda3 (called Axela in Japan) for the Chinese market. Through joint venture projects with partner Changan, Mazda aims to strengthen its business in China and contribute to the growth of the automotive industry. The company hopes to build a strong bond with Chinese customers by continuing to deliver attractive and high-quality vehicles that drive home the value of car ownership. Overview of Changan Mazda Engine Co., Ltd. Name: Changan Mazda Engine Co., Ltd. Established: Sept. 27, 2005 (Founded as Changan Ford Mazda Engine Co., Ltd.) Located: Jiangning District, Nanjing, China Employees: 1,258 (as of December 2018) Capital ratio: Changan (50%) Mazda (50%) Capacity: 430,000 units per year Mazda engines: Skyactiv-G gasoline engines (1.5-, 2.0-, 2.5-liter) History of Mazda engine production in China Apr 2005 - Mazda, Ford and Changan sign joint venture contract for new engine plant May 2005 - Government approval received Sep 2005 - Changan Ford Mazda Engine Co., Ltd. established, groundbreaking ceremony Apr 2007 - Production of engines for Mazda cars begins Jun 2013 - Production of Skyactiv engines begins Jan 2019 - Mazda buys Ford?s stake, name changed to Changan Mazda Engine Co., Ltd. About Mazda NADA Market Beat: U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales Down 3% U.S. light-vehicle sales fell by 3.0% compared to this time last year. Many segments posted declines or were flat, although the popular pickup and crossover segments gained market share relative to January 2018. on February 4, 2019 By Patrick Manzi, NADA Senior Economist Washington DC February 4, 2019; U.S. light-vehicle sales fell by 3.0% compared to this time last year. Many segments posted declines or were flat, although the popular pickup and crossover segments gained market share relative to January 2018. During the 35-day federal government shutdownthe longest in U.S. historyas many as 2 million workers went without paychecks. Federal employees will receive their missed pay, but federal government contractors will not. Coupled with crippling winter storms from the polar vortex, which ground cities and states to a halt, the shutdown contributed to a sharper-than-expected drop in sales. Uncertainty about another looming government shutdown may cause workers to again delay purchases in February. But aside from these headwinds, the current state of the economy is strong. Both the tight labor market, which is causing wage growth to accelerate, and solid consumer spending are bolstering our expectations for a solid year of new-vehicle sales. So while 2019 sales will fall somewhat compared to 2018, we expect to close out the year with very respectable sales of 16.8 million units. Barrett-Jackson Positions Collector Car Future SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. February 4, 2019 Barrett-Jackson; Not only did total auction sales soar to $131.6 million, but the weeklong event solidified significant market trends, as well as dynamic shifts in the hobby, which have been predicted by Barrett-Jackson Chairman and CEO Craig Jackson and President Steve Davis since the early 2000s. Based on internal sales and market data over the last decade, among the trends Barrett-Jackson identified was the growing demand for professionally built Resto-Mods as well as an increasing number of Gen X and millennial buyers coming to the hobby. When I took the helm of Barrett-Jackson in 1995, I knew that stagnation would be the biggest threat to this hobby,a??? said Jackson While prewar classics were hot at the time, we recognized the demographic of our buyers would change over time and consequently the demand for those cars would also change. Plenty of naysayers thought it was foolish when we began adding 1960s and 1970s muscle cars to our docket. But we realized these were the dream cars of baby boomers and they had the means to buy them. Itas rewarding to look back and know, without a doubt, that we were right. Even today, they remain one of our most popular docket vehicles, and have increased in value significantly over time.a??? As early as 2000, Jackson and Davis forecast another shift in the market a the growth of professionally built Resto-Mods, largely due to the burgeoning accessibility of new technology, high-quality custom parts and top-notch design talent. In 2002, Barrett-Jackson began consigning more Resto-Mods, which are defined as domestic and import cars that retain their classic look, but have been restored (resto) and modified (mod) with modern-day bodywork, technology, engine, drivetrain and interiors. meteoric rise in interest among buyers. The immensely popular SEMA Show and the coveted Detroit Autorama Ridler Award are among the factors contributing to the demand.A Barrett-Jackson prides itself on being at the cutting edge of changes and trends in the collector car market,a??? said Davis Resto-Mods is one of those trends we saw emerging from the customs segment nearly 15 years ago. We had the foresight to give these cars the platform to be seen by millions of collectors, which has made Resto-Mods one of the fastest-growing segments in this hobby.a??? Similar to the upward trend of classic muscle cars, Resto-Mods have also experienced a jolt in demand among buyers. Over the past two years alone, Barrett-Jackson has seen a steady increase in not only the amount of customs and Resto-Mods sold, but also an increase in value. At the 2019 Scottsdale Auction, 161 custom vehicles were on the docket, an increase of 87.2 percent over the 2017 Scottsdale event, while the average sale price for vehicles in that category has risen 27.7 percent, from $62,711 to $80,103. Some of the best Resto-Mods are bringing well over six figures at auction. A prime example was a multiple award-winning 1971 Plymouth HEMI aCuda built by Alan Johnson of Johnsonas Hot Rod Shop in Alabama that sold for $588,500 at the 2007 Scottsdale Auction (Lot #1290 Other professionally built Resto-Mods that have made their mark at Barrett-Jackson auctions include: -1958 Chevrolet Corvette Custom Convertible (Scottsdale 2018 Lot #1348) - $440,000 1938 Lincoln Zephyr V12 Coupe Street Rod (Scottsdale 2004 Lot #682 1936 Cadillac Custom Convertible (Scottsdale 2015 Lot #5034 - $440,000 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Split-Window Custom Coupe (Scottsdale 2019 Lot #1333 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Custom Convertible (Scottsdale 2019 Lot #1371 1967 Ford Mustang Kindig-It Design Custom Fastback (Scottsdale 2019 Lot #1367 1970 Dodge Challenger Custom Coupe (Scottsdale 2017 Lot #1080 About The Barrett-Jackson Auction Company Established in 1971 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Barrett-Jackson, The Worldas Greatest Collector Car AuctionsA, is the leader in collector car and automotive lifestyle events, which include authentic automobilia auctions and the sale of high-profile estates and private collections. The company produces auctions in Scottsdale, Arizona; Palm Beach, Florida; at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut; and Las Vegas, Nevada. With broadcast partners MotorTrend (formerly Velocity) and the Discovery networks, Barrett-Jackson features extensive A live television coverage including broadcasts in over 150 countries internationally. Barrett-Jackson also endorses a one-of-a-kind collector car insurance for collector vehicles and other valued belongings. For more information about Barrett-Jackson, visit Barrett-Jackson.com call 480-421-6694. "Strategically, they then dumped portions of that information out, either directly through websites they controlled like dcleaks.com, which they created, or Wikileaks as a proxy." Foreign governments would then 'amplify' damaging information through social media. "This was mainly the internet trolling, the troll farms, internet research agencies and the like, creating thousands of fake accounts, imitating Americans, pretending to be Americans, and then using those accounts to push out information that seemed harmless, but then woven into that was information that served their interest," Mr Nehring said. What's the end game? Mr Nehring said the object of these operations during the last US presidential campaign was to create the "the maximum dysfunctional division within our country because that gives them breathing room, an operational space". This means that voters and politicians are distracted while foreign governments in this case Russia can act against the US government's interests. "On May 21, 2016, the Russian troll farms organised a pro-Islam rally and an anti-Islam rally both in front of the Islamic Centre in Houston, Texas, for the same day, same time, same place with the obvious intent of trying to create bloodshed," Mr Nehring said. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "If we were entirely consumed with a police shooting, and arguments about Sharia law, and whatever else, we are distracted from being able to focus our attentions on them. "And that's where the need comes to raise awareness about what's going on." Is Australia at risk? Foreign influence campaigns are still under way, according to Mr Nehring, and Australia is in the firing line. "Whether it's the Russians or anyone else, a new field of asymmetrical warfare is being pioneered," he said. "Political parties, activists and voters have to be conscious of what they are seeing on social media and they need to be more skeptical of sensationalistic claims that are being made, especially in areas that have a higher emotional content, to do with race, ethnicity, and religion," he said. "They don't talk about taxes or trade or regulation, they go for these highly emotional issues like around Australia Day. "That is exactly the type of issue these folks would drive, because it turns people inward, they get very emotional and they get worked up." In the US, foreign internet trolls had started phony separatist campaigns in Texas and California which people had begun to treat as serious issues. Loading "These foreign intelligence services, these aren't dumb people, these are people who understand where the divide lines are in our society," Mr Nehring said. "Columbus Day in the United States has the same type of back and forth as Australia Day. "They know where the seams are in our society and they want to tug at that as much as they can." Beware the dubious and politically emotional "We need people to be aware that maybe that thing you're sharing on the internet, that's so outrageous, maybe we should take a look as to what the source is," Mr Nehring said "Is it coming from a legitimate news outlet or is it coming from breakingnewsnow.com or some nonsensical site? "All of our candidates and political parties should be aware and monitoring what's happening on social media and look for patterns that are odd." For a time, this orthodoxy held without great complaint. But slowly, the disenfranchisement of government employees from political life came to generate controversy. In the early 1960s, disciplinary action against three public servants invoked debate about the appropriateness of these limitations. In the most high-profile case, the director of the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, P. L. Bazeley, was suspended after publicly opposing a draft bill that would have affected his agency. Although Bazeley apologised and admitted his guilt, the public outcry was significant. Opposition leader Arthur Calwell condemned the punishment as "outrageously severe", railing that Bazeley was "worth more to Australia than all the Pecksniffian chiefs of the Public Service Board". The Sydney Morning Herald decried this "example of unwarranted authoritarianism", while The Age asked whether "responsible, prominent citizens, however eminent in intellect or achievement, were to be muzzled because they worked in the public service"? This question, asked almost 60 years ago, goes to the heart of Banerji's case before the High Court. The great difficulty in resolving the issues that arise in this context is that there are persuasive arguments on both sides. The government and the public at large have reasonable expectations of a neutral and impartial public service. One need only look to President Donald Trump's overt politicisation of senior echelons of the US bureaucracy to appreciate the havoc caused. A respected and apolitical APS is a bulwark against political patronage and the ineptitude it brings. Wholesale hiring and firing within the public service following every change of government would not aid stable administration. But these meritorious objectives are in tension with equally compelling individual and public interests. Public servants are equal participants in Australian democracy they must enjoy the rights and responsibilities that come with it. Academic and judge Paul Finn once wrote "we have not created a separate caste of public officials", nor have we "relegated our officials to the status of second-class citizens". While public servants agree to certain restrictions when they accept employment, they cannot contract out of constitutional or fundamental rights. Ms Banerji in 2018. After she was fired, she became immobilised, and suffered depression and anxiety, for which she sued Comcare. Credit:Karleen Minney And, as The Age highlighted, nor should we want them to. Beyond the quantitative detriment to public discourse caused by silencing 16 per cent of the working population, public servants are often particularly well-qualified to discuss the issues of the day. Excluding those contributions risks institutionalising as Finn later wrote a "dialogue of the deaf", between "those who do not know and those who will not or cannot tell". Historically, the appropriate balance between these principles received little attention from Australian courts. This was partially explained by a liberalisation of the restrictions, beginning in the 1970s, and partly due to the absence of strong free speech protections in the constitution. Yet following the High Court's discovery in 1992 of an implied protection for political communication in Australia's founding document, the balance struck by federal and state governments became a matter of judicial concern. The first case to challenge these limits arose in the early 2000s, after the Australian Customs Service disciplined an employee, Peter Bennett, for public comment he gave in his capacity as a union representative. At the Federal Court in Canberra, Finn, as judge, remained true to his earlier academic writings. "Official secrecy has a necessary and proper province in our system of government," he mused. "A surfeit of secrecy does not." Accordingly, while the impugned regulation had "been a threatening presence for Commonwealth public servants for over 100 years", Finn declared it unconstitutional. Although the federal government promptly replaced the invalidated regulation, and a subsequent challenge to the replacement failed, the arrival of social media again enlivened this issue. In 2014, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet staff were told to dob in colleagues for political tweets. Meanwhile, the most recent Public Service Commission guidance warned that merely liking an anti-government post on social media could contravene the code of conduct. More recent litigation has been inconclusive. In 2016, Centrelink employee Daniel Starr was reinstated after successfully challenging his dismissal for online posts on free speech grounds. But in 2017, the Federal Court accepted the legality of the Australian Defence Force's dismissal of army reservist officer Bernard Gaynor, who had made a series of homophobic and Islamophobic tweets. While the High Court ultimately refused to hear an appeal in that case, the comments of the army's barrister Jeremy Kirk, SC proved prescient. "No doubt there are some interesting issues over the horizon here interesting issues about social media and members of the public service," he conceded. It seems dawn has now arrived. When the High Court hears Comcare v Banerji, three questions will ultimately determine whether public servants can speak with any freedom on political matters. First, what is the proper interpretation of the Public Service Act and its demand of impartiality "at all times"? Both Banerji and the federal government argue for a narrow interpretation, for very different reasons. In Banerji's view, a limited reading of the relevant provision would mean that her anonymous conduct is not even covered, so the constitutional question falls away. The federal government, on the other hand, suggests a narrow scope in the hope that doing so saves the provision's constitutional validity. This gives rise to a line in its submissions that only a lawyer could write: " 'At all times' ... does not mean 'always and under any circumstances' ". The second question concerns the proper methodology for undertaking constitutional review in this context: essentially, whether the High Court should assess the constitutionality of the APS code of conduct itself, or of the individual decision to terminate Banerji. The government argues for the former; Banerji the latter. Finally, and in light of the proper answer to the first two questions, is this limit on political expression beyond constitutional limits? Even Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, usually good for a lofty expression of moral outrage, could only say she "wasn't sure" if it would pass "the pub test". More significantly, though the media carried occasional rebukes from disillusioned citizens, there was no sustained outcry from the various integrity groups. No one argued this was another reason to establish a federal anti-corruption commission. This time, however, the public response was more muted. The minister's spokesperson said the flight had been approved in the normal way. While Cormann himself said nothing, one of his cabinet colleagues, Dan Tehan, spoke up and defended the lobbying effort as justified expenditure in the public's interest and in support of lower taxes. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen refused to buy into the debate, saying the great majority of such flights by both sides of politics were within strict rules. It was up to Cormann, Bowen said, to outline why this flight was appropriate in the circumstances. This year, journalists tried the same tactic with an expose of Finance Minister Mathias Cormann's $37,000 special flight from Canberra to Perth via Adelaide in June last year. The flight's purpose was to allow Cormann to lobby South Australian crossbench senators on the supposed virtues of his proposed changes to corporate tax, changes the government later abandoned. The dog days of January, when the political class is at the beach and the news cycle is quiet, are a favourite time for journalists to dig around for political scandals. Two years ago, Health Minister Sussan Ley and her trip to visit investment properties on the Gold Coast offered a tempting opportunity. The story ran for weeks and eventually led to Ley's resignation from Malcolm Turnbull's cabinet and the establishment of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority . The lack of strong public comment suggests that high levels of travel expenses incurred by politicians, especially ministers, are not necessarily seen as morally unjustifiable or as evidence of greedy snouts in the trough. The contrast with some other, previous, high-profile cases is instructive. Unlike Ley, who used taxpayer-funded travel, at least in part, for private gain, Cormann was clearly engaged in government business of no personal benefit to himself. Compared with Bronwyn Bishop's notorious helicopter trip from Melbourne to Geelong, Cormann's flight was on behalf of the government, not his party, and there were no alternative means of travel available, at least on that day. More generally, Cormann may have many critics but few, if any, would accuse him of being in politics for the perks. Overall, Hanson-Young was right to be cautious about the pub test. In this case, the drinkers propping up the bar might have a general grumble about fat-cat politicians but they would hardly work up any moral outrage. Use of "special-purpose aircraft", formerly known as "VIP" aircraft, is outside the normal range of travel entitlements, being administered by the air force under the defence minister. The latest guidelines are comprehensive, while allowing a necessary degree of discretion. In Cormann's case, the relevant principles were the availability of flights on major domestic airlines, the priority of the entitled person and the importance of the occasion. Consideration can also be given to the number of people travelling, which can affect the comparison of cost with regular commercial air travel. The misuse of VIP aircraft has a notorious place in the history of the Australian Public service. As Ian Hancock described in his excellent monograph, The V.I.P Affair, 1966-67, senior public servants at the time, including Sir John Bunting, who was secretary of the Prime Minister's Department and Robert Menzies' "prince of public servants", helped ministers to cover up evidence of questionable use of VIP aircraft. Closely scrutinised: Vikki Campion and her partner, former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce. Credit:Sunday Night, Channel 7 Since those days, the use of such aircraft has become much more tightly controlled. However, controversies can still arise. In the Gillard Labor government, for instance, the then defence minister, Stephen Smith (another West Australian), flew regularly on VIP jets from Perth to Canberra at an estimated cost of over $1 million. Questions were also raised about the frequency of ministerial flights along the eastern seaboard, where commercial services were very frequent. No surprises, then, when Labor refused to cast the first stone at Cormann. Thus, Cole returned to the Treasury in 1972 to deal with a series of controversial budgets under three Whitlam government treasurers: Frank Crean, Jim Cairns (a fellow Northcote High boy) and Bill Hayden. If these were not enough, the Treasury was under the distracting stress of the so-called loans affair while Cole's direct superior, John Stone, remained a person of bombastic self-confidence who had a strong influence on many Treasury staff. A colleague from these days remembers that, at morning teas, Cole would have vigorous but never rancorous debates with Stone and other officers, including Ian Castles and Fred Argy. It's easy to imagine Cole more than holding his own in such quick-witted company. The scuttlebutt that he left the Treasury for the Bureau of Statistics because of differences with Stone is almost certainly untrue. The two were good friends and it would be entirely out of character for Cole to run from an argument. The bureau job was a promotion and Cole said "Treasury is an exciting place but it's a bastard of a place to work because of the pressure. And it's nice to be running your own organisation." Cole was an ideal first secretary of Finance. He had a working familiarity with its responsibilities and he and subsequent Finance secretaries, most notably Castles and Mike Keating, turned the department's functions into greater forces for good than they would have been had they remained in the Treasury. Cole stood up for the public service. When Cole became chairman of the Public Service Board in 1978, the public service was in the middle of major reductions in staff. There was a wage freeze, the breakdown of so-called wage indexation and roiling industrial conflict made worse by provocative legislation enabling staff to be dismissed for taking industrial action. The period marked the beginnings of large-scale restructuring and redundancies in the public service, particularly in Defence, with controversial new legislation to cope with those circumstances. The crucially important Bowen committee report on public duty and private interests landed on Cole's desk about the same time as he issued the first extensive code of conduct for the public service. There were radical changes in administrative law, including freedom of information and revised methods of review of administrative decisions in place of the prerogative writs, and continuing attempts to implement the recommendations of the Coombs royal commission. Cole stood up for the public service. When prime minster Malcolm Fraser announced further staff reductions in 1981, Cole said in the board's annual report "that this will require shedding of functions or reduction of activities if the service is to operate efficiently and without excessive strain". And he pushed for easing of staff ceilings and special training to help with the administrative law changes about which he was sceptical. Perhaps drawing on the lessons of his experience, Cole fostered various staff mobility schemes: an interchange program between the public service and the private sector, and executive development and personnel management schemes. Industrial relations was possibly the least satisfying part of his duties at the board. He was unhappy with certain changes in the early 1970s, which he saw as providing conditions of employment better than those in other comparable areas of employment pace-setting, as it were and he was pleased to get the chance to wind bits of this back. While he was ever polite in union negotiations, it's unlikely he got much satisfaction from them. In the middle of a major strike, he said "at times like this I wish I was back in Finance". Cole found it difficult to "adjust" from the Public Service Board to Defence. Still, he got on well with the senior military; they respected him for his courtesy and willingness to debate issues with restraint and on their merits. Several long-serving senior civilian staff believe Cole was the best Defence secretary in the last 30 years of the 20th century. In the middle of a major strike, he said 'at times like this I wish I was back in Finance'. He was pleased to have the Department of Defence Support (essentially the old Department of Supply, in which he had been a junior officer about 1950) merged into the Department of Defence. That made sense in machinery-of-government terms and it opened the door for microeconomic changes, the significance of which can be signified by noting that, in the subsequent 20 years, the Defence civilian workforce was reduced by about 30,000 to the great benefit of the organisation, taxpayers and the economy. Cole was, however, frustrated about Defence's inability to progress a broad review of defence policy initiated by the Hawke government and its first defence minister, Gordon Scholes. "Defence could not get it started," Cole complained. According to PM&C, when Kim Beazley succeeded Scholes, Cole advised the new minister to get in an outsider to help break the deadlock. A former defence official, Paul Dibb, was engaged and his report resulted in a Defence white paper in 1987 outlining major changes in strategic defence policy, the essence of which remains to this day. Paul Dibb (left), Sir William Cole and then defence minister Kim Beazley at the release of the Dibb report in 1986. Credit:Archives Cole's view of the public service was clear and consistent. When asked to give a talk on "the changing role of the public service", he changed the topic to "the role of the public service in a changing environment", pointing out that the unchanging role of the public service is "to assist governments in thinking through and implementing their plans and policies". "It's easy in the public service," he added, "to be preoccupied with contemporary challenges and to imagine these are new and different. But that says more about the way memory discounts the past than anything else the latest problem ... is always the worst." That phenomenon endures, unfortunately. Cole probably had a more conservative opinion of the proper ambit of government activity. For example, he said: "I do not think it can be seriously argued that public trading enterprises are not handicapped by being government-owned", including, he added in a typical barb, as a consequence of "short-sighted Department of Finance scrutiny". Cole had a sophisticated appreciation of the central role of cabinet and its ministers. He put great effort into getting cabinet submissions right and to ensuring that "coordination comments" in these documents were crafted with due seriousness. On policy advice, he said: "Often it is a matter of judgment as to how forcefully and tenaciously public servants should express their own views. Certainly there are circumstances when officials must put their views pungently and with determination. However, they should know when to stop and where the dividing line is between pressing an argument and nagging." Cole was impatient with those who sought to draw a line between policy and administration, saying: "The minister must often become involved in the detailed administration of his department ... That is proper because the success or failure of many programs will depend on the way they are administered." Public servants should know when to stop and where the dividing line is between pressing an argument and nagging. Sir William Cole He believed in firm central control of staff numbers, pointing out that "the public service is not a business ... for the head of a Commonwealth department, extra staff ... are, in economic terms 'free goods' the money doesn't come out of their pockets and they don't have to provide a profit and loss account". Goodness knows what he'd make of the present system, whereby departmental heads routinely mock staff controls by employing contractors to perform public service jobs thereby opening the gates to untold corruption and nepotism in personnel management. Finally, Cole had open and enlightened views of how public servants should behave. In 1979, he emphasised that "where personal behaviour does not interfere with the proper performance of official duties, and where it does not reflect on the integrity and standing of the service, it is of no interest to the employing authority". At the time, that was a quite modern sentiment, and it still is. Among the challenges in designing such an expert-based competition are: Loading the criteria for determining the "best in show"; and who manages the process. The commission itself developed a methodology for benchmarking funds' investment performance, which it believes is independent of the risk profile a member selects. While some funds have queried whether the commission's methodology actually achieves this, and indeed whether this is feasible at all, the status quo of no expert guidance at all seems indefensible, particularly given major variations in performance. In any case, having as many as 10 "best in show" products should reduce the risk that the methodology used is not entirely independent of the chosen investment risk profile and, hopefully, the commission's methodology can be refined over time. At the very least, we need a process to remove poorly performing funds as defaults. The commission suggests the criteria should be based on three guiding principles: Products should be chosen based on the fund's likelihood of providing the best outcomes for members in the accumulation phase, taking account of risk. Products chosen should be particularly suitable for members who have typically defaulted but also highly suitable for all members. The panel should always seek to ensure a competitive dynamic between funds without compromising the integrity of the "best in show" list. I hope these principles require criteria that go beyond investment performance and suitability of products, and reinforce good governance in the interest of members. On the evidence in the commission's report, it would seem that such a "best in show" list today would be dominated by industry funds (perhaps exclusively so). Loading On selecting the panel, the commission rightly recommends a tightly controlled arrangement. It recommends the panel be independent experts identified by a selection committee comprised of the heads of respected, independent government agencies, including the Reserve Bank, and appointed by the Parliament's presiding officers through procedures similar to those used to appoint the parliamentary budget officer, including approval by a parliamentary committee. The panel arrangement would replace the Fair Work Commission's role in approving defaults. While I agree the process should now move away from the Fair Work Commission, and that we need a robust, independent process, I think the function of such a panel should be the responsibility of the executive arm of government, not the legislature. The panel appointment could be by the governor-general in council so long as no room for political interference is allowed: my suggestions to the current APS review for appointing "integrity officers" (such as the auditor-general and the electoral commissioner) might provide a model, with an appropriate selection committee and approval by a parliamentary committee. For these appointments, I agree the selection panel should include the RBA governor and one or two heads of other relevant independent agencies (such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or Australian Prudential Regulation Authority), but perhaps be coordinated by the public service commissioner or Treasury secretary. Despite the (unsurprising) reaction of many in the industry, I believe this approach is eminently feasible, retaining competition in the system (unlike most overseas systems, which have monopoly providers of products from mandated contributions) and greatly increasing pressure to perform well. The Commonwealth already provides indexed annuities in the form of age pensions why not allow it to sell them as well? Interestingly, the Productivity Commission does not rule out a government fund being involved, and I see considerable advantages in allowing a fund such as ComSuper to offer itself as a default for employees outside the public sector (the Future Fund is another option, but its experience in the retirement incomes space is only indirect). Most obviously, this would add a very large-scale competitor to the system, but it might also help demonstrate to the industry how to offer secure, suitable and convenient income products in the pensions phase. This, in my view, remains a critical weakness in our system. There is still considerable reluctance in the industry to offer annuities at all, let alone at a reasonable price. But the government funds have some experience in providing and/or financing super pensions. The Commonwealth already provides indexed annuities in the form of age pensions why not allow it to sell them as well? Loading Finally, the commission calls for an independent inquiry into the whole retirement incomes system in advance of any further increase in the superannuation guarantee (the next increase to 10 per cent is legislated to take effect in 2021). The recommendation is not without merit as there are legitimate questions about how the guarantee is affecting national savings and private savings (including home ownership), and about striking the right balance to achieve adequate and secure retirement incomes by spreading lifetime earnings without imposing undue burdens on families facing immediate financial burdens. But the commission's failure to acknowledge the important benefits of the emerging Australian retirement incomes system, and its list of issues to be examined by an independent review, leaves the impression it wants to extend indefinitely the current pause in increasing the guarantee towards its intended 12 per cent rate, and it has only limited interest in the essential, yet-to-be-finalised agenda of turning accumulations into income streams. My unease may be related more to the Grattan Institute's recent attack on any increase in the super guarantee (see my article in the Informant in December). I might feel less uneasy if the review the commission recommended has terms of reference that clarify the objectives the government has for the system, such as those suggested a couple of years ago by the Committee for Sustainable Retirement Incomes (based around "secure and adequate incomes for all Australians", and encompassing the four pillars of the system: the age pension, compulsory super, voluntary super and housing). My preference also would not be to delay further the next increase in the guarantee, but to hold off increases beyond 10 per cent until after such an independent inquiry is completed. More surprisingly, she confirmed the government had no idea how much money agencies spent on these executive benefits. "The [commission] does not have visibility of amounts paid," she said. Which no doubt explains why Auditor-General Grant Hehir has raised his eyebrow and is considering scrutinising the payments more closely. Somehow, a 'corrupt' payment to a junior public servant is an appropriate and lawful 'incentive' for a senior one. So, how much are they likely to be worth? The commission says two weeks' pay per year of service, up to 48 weeks, "is an appropriate reference point". Anecdotally, I hear a year's salary is standard, which, today, would be about $195,000 for a typical band 1 senior executive (a deputy secretary might receive about $350,000). A nice farewell, certainly, and most SES also have a handsome pension awaiting them. (If they are in the PSS super fund, the payments also trigger an immediate, lifetime pension, regardless of their age.) Agency heads are advised to consult the public service commissioner if they want to pay an officer more than 48 weeks' salary, though that's a guideline only who knows whether anyone pays attention to it. But let's go back to the legality of the pay-outs. Yes, agency heads are allowed, under the act, to grant "a payment of a specified amount" to boost the departing benefits of officers who don't wish to leave. In other words, "incentive to retire" pay-outs are essentially redundancies. However, various government publications acknowledge that the payments are also used to remove underperforming SES; officers who, for want of skills or motivation, can no longer do their job. The bizarre thing about this? The government explicitly forbids the use of redundancy payments to get rid of underperforming non-SES staff. It says that to do so is an improper use of public money and, hence, in breach of the APS code of conduct a form of corruption. Yet, somehow, a "corrupt" payment to a junior public servant is an appropriate and lawful "incentive" for a senior one. There's another likely reason for the Auditor-General's office's interest in this matter. In a small note in a 2017 report, its auditors estimated that one in three SES staff who received these payments were duds (or, to use their more polite language, officers who "no longer had the skills to perform at their SES classification"). I asked the office how it arrived at this estimate, but it wouldn't divulge its method. Nonetheless, if we apply its estimate across all 1019 SES officers who received an "incentive to retire" payment over the past decade, it suggests about 340 "elite" senior executives were so poor at their jobs that their agency head threw money at them to go. Over that same period, not a single SES officer was sacked for underperformance (though four were fired for misconduct). I began researching this article while toying with the idea of defending the use of redundancies to get rid of dud employees. Yes, it's not lawful but, as most public servants know, it happens all the time. Performance management can be a messy business; many human resources staff warn senior executives not to bother, because the hours lost, and the potential legal costs, pose significant risks. By comparison, and for a relatively small outlay, a targeted redundancy can invigorate an entire team's morale and productivity. However, the present use of "incentive to retire" payments among the SES is simply immoral. They have clearly become a perverse incentive, encouraging executives who want to move on to instead wait for a lucrative send-off. Nor is there is any justification for the secrecy that surrounds them. I have no wish to slight the SES; every one of them that I know works harder than me, and could earn more money elsewhere. I don't believe the SES is laden with slackers, nor are these officers grasping. But bad laws induce improper decisions. It's rare for a single case to be so revealing about so many topics as was the Fair Work Commission's recent decision in the enticingly named KB v The Agency (2018). It's also rare for a commissioner to be so scathing about an employer as was Nicholas Wilson in his decision. Then again, it's also rare for a single employer to fall into so many pitfalls, and to make so many mistakes, as did The Agency in this matter. So what exactly did we learn from this case? Can you sack someone for not disclosing a past criminal conviction? (Answer: not necessarily.) Credit:Shutterstock As I see it, the decision has three key lessons. First, it sheds light on how the commission will approach cases concerning an employee's failure to disclose information about past criminal convictions that could be adverse to their employment. Second, the case sheds light on the role of support people in employment discussions. Finally, Wilson gave us a timely reminder of what happens when an employee no longer meets the inherent requirements of their job. Centrelink is a recent and classic example. First, it was gutted. Then, in response to the service-delivery crisis that mass sackings had caused, outsourcing call-centre operations was presented as the solution. One favourite argument in favour of privatisation was the perceived failure of public institutions to "catch the mice". But even where this is true, the jump to privatisation is by no means logical not when public entities are underfunded, stripped of resources and run down, and then blamed for not doing their job. The argument is compelling and can be applied to any analysis of the wave of privatisations that, along with the suppression of workers' rights and the incremental dismantling of social infrastructure, marked the neoliberal era. When discussing the need to introduce private enterprise into communist China, Deng Xiaoping quipped: "It doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice." Similarly with the visa-application system, the rationale presented to Senate estimates hearings late last year was that, rather than invest in the necessary IT to deliver services, the government preferred to pass on this cost to a private provider, which would in turn pass on these costs (and more!) to visa applicants. In less recent cases, such as the privatisation of the Federal Airports Corporation, there was, as revealed in just-released cabinet papers from the time, no economic rationale. One briefing reads "there is no obvious reason to expect a private monopoly to perform markedly better than the corporatised FAC. There may also be a perception that privatisation would facilitate improvements in FAC's access to capital but there is no evidence to suggest that the FAC is capital-constrained as a government business enterprise." Everything hinges on how one defines the "mice". In other words, what is your starting point? Is it equitable access to a good or service? Public accountability? Cost? An ideological leaning towards either the market or the state as the ideal vehicle for production or distribution? Do you begin with the question: "Why can't the market do this?" Or do you begin by asking: "How do we best, as a society, use our resources to achieve the common good?" It is not just a question of who owns what. It's about how workforces and the public are treated as a result. It's about whether public resources are used as a means to reduce inequality rather than buttress it through an even greater concentration of wealth in the hands of the few, along with deeper exclusion for some sections of society. The champions of inequality have always hated and loathed the public sphere. It reeks too much of the promise of democracy. Democracy, in its fullest sense, cannot be built on structural exclusion. It requires a fair share in decision-making, in control of a shared future. It requires resources to be allocated in the public interest rather than in the interests of private portfolios. The notion that the government does something the private sector could do fills the anti-democratic purveyors of inequality with a deep dread at what they see as the residual persistence of a grey, cumbersome socialism. They also feel dizzy with excitement at the prospect of privatisation. Ipswich City Councils new chief executive officer has twice worked as the chief executive after a council was sacked; first in Wollongong in 2008 and now in Ipswich. David Farmer on Monday began his career as Ipswichs senior civil servant, the citys new CEO. Incoming Ipswich City Council chief executive David Farmer. He worked for 11 years as CEO of Wollongong City Council until January 2019. Before Wollongong, Mr Farmer was CEO of Cairns City Council for more than six years, from October 2000 until May 2007. One in five of the Australian medical experts tasked with deciding which drugs are recommended for use by doctors have undisclosed links to drug companies, an investigation has found. In a paper published in the journal BMJ Open on Tuesday, the reports authors identified 83 experts with potential conflicts of interest that they had not disclosed, out of a total of 402. Bond University academic researcher Dr Ray Moynihan, one of the reports authors, said in many cases there was no actual requirement for the experts in question to disclose their conflicts of interest. A review has found one in five experts who worked on medical guidelines had undisclosed links to drug companies. Credit:MICHEL O SULLIVAN They didnt do anything illegal, and in fact were probably doing what they thought was the right thing, Dr Moynihan said. John taught generations of medical students who remembered him for his incredibly sharp mind and his incredibly soft voice. His ward rounds were regarded as the most stressful as the students would strain to catch every word and try to outlast his long silences as he waited for their responses to his quiet questions. Many students became loved colleagues and friends in future years. His long silences were part of his nature. Late one night a medical registrar called, seeking advice. Perhaps not knowing that John always chose his words carefully, at the end of a long pause, the registrar muttered to a colleague "the old bastard is asleep". John replied: "The old bastard is thinking". John was a humble man. While the St V's consultants carpark was full of luxury cars in the 1970s, John was happy to roll up in his 1956 Morris Minor, having ignored his children's embarrassment at the school drop-off. One consultant remarked: "Who let that old wreck in?" John, who hoped he was referring to the car, simply said "That's mine", got in and drove away. On another occasion, John returned to his unlocked car to find a homeless man sleeping there. After some gentle prodding was unsuccessful, John returned to work and let the man sleep in peace. When asked why he didn't call security, he replied that the man needed the sleep more than he needed the car. While still working full time at St V's he would drive every six weeks to Swan Hill to deliver specialist medical care to an area where there were very few physicians. After he retired from St V's at 65, he was able to get to the country more regularly. He set up a renal dialysis unit in Echuca, liaised with St V's and taught the registrars sent on rotation to the rural hospitals. In his 70s, when most men settle down in retirement, John added to his roster, taking on Wimmera Base Hospital in Horsham. He felt committed to giving what he could for as long as he could. Having served Swan Hill Hospital for 30 years, and Echuca Hospital for more than 20, he continued his work with rural hospitals until finally retiring in 2014 at the age of 86. In 2011, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine. The citation read: "The depth and breadth of your knowledge have been outstanding, and you have been very important in providing patient care and support for rural practitioners based on your altruistic belief that a need existed and you could provide it". The most fortunate moment of John's life had occurred in Hammersmith Hospital, when he met another brilliant young physician, Dr Ann Morgan, from Wales. John was wise enough to fall in love quickly. Married in October 1957, they were rarely apart from that time on. Together they had seven children including Owen, who continues the family connection with St Vincent's as a surgeon. Ann had a successful career at the Royal Children's Hospital and in private practice. At his retirement dinner from the hospital, John said he had St V's, Ann had the Royal Children's Hospital, and together they had the children. John was a patient, gentle and kind father. He would never raise his voice and was always supportive and actively involved in his children's lives. His extended family relied on him in any medical crisis. Phone calls from his Gorman cousins, even from remote Balranald in NSW, brought calm advice and warm reassurance. He would often arrange family admissions to St Vs and be there to welcome and settle the patients on arrival. John loved the Murray River region where he had spent happy holidays with the cousins since childhood. The family has fond memories of John's Christmas Day ward rounds in the 1970s. The children would enjoy Christmas cake and chocolates with the Sisters of Charity nuns. The young doctors and nurses, in fancy dress and singing Christmas carols, would try unsuccessfully to get John to have an early morning beer. On Christmas morning, 2018, John suffered a severe stroke and was taken to St V's. He spent his last 24 hours at that hospital, a place he loved and a community he served for over 50 years. He passed away peacefully, surrounded by family. He is survived by his devoted and much-adored wife Ann, his seven children and their families including 12 grandchildren, and his five siblings. A gas that was recorded at extremely hazardous levels on a boat where a woman died on Sydney Harbour at the weekend has previously been linked to other deaths at sea and on land. Hydrogen sulphide is a colourless, toxic gas that is heavier than air and known for its rotten egg smell. The Lady Rose cruise boat, on which a 39-year-old woman was found dead. Credit:Instagram It is understood "extremely hazardous" levels of the noxious gas were recorded after 39-year-old Shalina Abdul Hussien was found dead in a toilet cubicle aboard the Lady Rose commercial cruise vessel on Saturday afternoon. In May last year two men died when they were overcome by hydrogen sulphide at the Ettamogah paper mill, near Albury. The NSW Labor leader has moved to quarantine potentially "tainted" donations at the centre of an investigation into his party by the state's corruption watchdog. The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption is reportedly investigating $100,000 of donations received by the Labor Party at a 2015 fundraising dinner. NSW Labor leader Michael Daley. Credit:Nick Moir Those donations were at the centre of an ICAC raid on Labor's NSW head office in December 2018, according to the ABC. NSW Opposition Leader Michael Daley on Monday said he had directed his party's head office to quarantine $100,000 and send it to the NSW Electoral Commission. Loading It means about 200 residents who were evacuated could be left stranded for two days. Pieces of the building could be seen falling off the tower as the fire quickly spread up cladding on the building. It is not the first time a blaze has hit the tower, which has previously also struggled to combat apartment overcrowding and issues with short-term rental guests. A fire broke out at the apartment block as recently as last year. After the 2015 fire, residents were told a towel or some kind of rubbish had been left on an air-conditioning unit on a balcony, sparking the blaze. Residents told The Age that balconies were often crowded with possessions and it was hard to police. "It's private property, you can't just go into private property," one resident said. "The council can check for overcrowding but they have to give warning ... We know we have had beds in the stairwell [in the past]." Neo200 was hit by fire on New Year's Eve 2015 shortly after it emerged it had harboured illegal rooming houses, with living rooms rented to tenants as sleeping spaces. Almost 30 firefighters fought the blaze on the 29th floor in 2015. It did not spread to any other levels, but the the 29th floor was left with extensive water damage. Amber Liu, who manages a number of short-stay apartments in the building, said the building managers had installed extra smoke alarms close to the cladding two weeks ago. Firefighters inspect the damage from the blaze. Credit:Jason South She said she was told the balcony material was not fireproof and that it would "cost a lot" to replace the cladding so they had decided to add smoke alarms instead. Body corporate chair Rona Gowans confirmed additional smoke alarms had been installed in the ninth unit on each floor those closest to the cladding at the request of the council a fortnight ago. She said only one-third of the apartments were owner-occupied and it was difficult to control how private properties were managed. Firefighters say they were hampered in their efforts by residents who covered their fire alarms in plastic and others who refused to leave the complex. About 60 firefighters battled the blaze, which is believed to have started on the the 22nd floor just after 5am and reached the 27th floor before it was extinguished. "We believe at this stage the combustible cladding will have been one of the fuels that escalated the fire," Metropolitan Fire Brigade assistant chief fire officer Trent Curtin said. "It's my understanding occupants have taken plastic and wrapped it around the smoke alarm to stop it activating in the case of cooking or other products of combustion in an apartment." The MBF said covering smoke alarms was a dangerous practice that it strongly warned against. A message sent to residents from the owners' corporation on Monday evening asked that they seek alternative accommodation for at least two days, for which they will be reimbursed. Level 39 tenants Raquel Harris, 21, and Michael Condon, 30, evacuated after finding out about the fire via a text message from a friend. Both were unaware of the combustible cladding used in the building. Yeah, Im concerned. Im hoping theyll shut it down and rebuild it or renovate it, Ms Harris said. Kenneth Madison Hayne saved his most scathing criticisms for National Australia Bank's chairman Ken Henry and chief executive Andrew Thorburn. But it turns out in private he showed no love for one major bank he has backed at least financially in the past. In December 2017, three days after being appointed to run the royal commission into misconduct in the financial services industry, Hayne sold all the Commonwealth Bank shares he owned. They were sold on December 3, according to the CBA share registry. Good call. And not only on the conflict-of-interest front. CBA's shares (which were trading at $17 when Hayne first bought in late 1996) were worth about $80 each when he sold. They have fallen over the past year and hit $70 on Monday, in no small part because of the good work of the royal commission. Scientists searching for the elusive cure for type 1 diabetes will get an extra $54.5 million in federal government funding to help the more than 120,000 children and adults in Australia with the chronic condition. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation will receive $29.5 million for its Type 1 Diabetes Clinical Research Network, Health Minister Greg Hunt announced on Monday. There is no cure for Type 1 diabetes. Credit:Matthew Bouwmeester Another $25 million will be awarded in competitive grants to research projects focused on early-stage research that could potentially unlock new discoveries that can lead to clinical trials of new treatments. Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease that attacks a persons ability to produce insulin. It is most commonly first diagnosed in children under 15, but can manifest at any age. I used to say, If you are going to scratch 1 per cent of the Mona Lisa, which 1 per cent are you going to scratch? In 1976, Dr Sinclair was named as The Australian newspapers Australian of the Year. John Sinclair (far right) with the Fraser Island Defenders Organisation in 2002. Credit:Fraser Island Defenders Organisation. In 1990 he was selected by the United Nations Environment Program for individuals who made a substantial and significant role in protecting the environment when he was named in their Global 500. In 1993 he received the internationally respected Goldman Environmental Prize and in 2014 he was appointed in the Order of Australia. At that time he still spent "seven to eight weeks a year" on his beloved island and remembers doubting he would win and be able to stop logging and sand mining. When we lost the first rounds I had second thoughts, Dr Sinclair said in September 2017. But I just thought weve got to stick in there because if we just keep battling away, we'll make it so tough the Bjelke-Petersen government would never, ever sacrifice a beautiful place like Fraser Island again, he said. Britain's Prince Harry (right), the Duke of Sussex, is seen with Fred Bulanyu Leone at Pile Valley on Fraser Island in October 2018. Credit:AAP His last visit to K'gari was as a guest of the Butchulla people and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Fraser Island to include the rainforest island as part of Queens Commonwealth Canopy. Dr Sinclair leaves four sons and nine grandchildren and his partner Su. He died in Brisbane's Wesley Hospital from prostate cancer. Keith Sinclair, who accompanied his father countless times to Fraser Island, said his father never sought recognition. "Dad was very much motivated by Fraser Island not being destroyed. And not just Fraser Island, but many other wild places," Keith said on Monday. He said his father used his training as an economist to highlight the tourism sustainability of Fraser Island, not simply its value as a source of rutile or of logged timber. "I remember when logging was stopped I said to him, 'Dad, you've won, there will be no more logging, Fraser is safe'," he said. "And he said to me, 'No. Now we have to stop Fraser Island from being loved to death.' " Keith said his father was always thinking of the longer-term issues and wrote the first management plan for Fraser Island. That mean trips to Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks in the US to see how they used boardwalks allowing tourists to visit striking parts of the environment without harming them. "He tried to understand how they controlled the people so they had an experience of being in a wild place and being somewhere beautiful but not causing any impact," he said. "That was his intent. How do we do that?" He said his father's work to protect Fraser Island was an inspiration to modern conservationists. "It was a conservation battle but he fought it on economic terms," he said. "He wrote - it might have been in the World Heritage Listing submission - that Fraser Island would ultimately be worth more in tourism that it would be in mining. "And he estimated some very conservative figures and unfortunately he was wrong. He was out by a factor of 10. "Now it is still there and worth so much more to Queensland and to the people in terms of tourism than it would ever have been. Approvals to build new homes in Australia collapsed to five-year lows in December as sliding house prices and a squeeze on credit hammered the apartment market, a blow to what had been one of the economy's stronger sectors. Monday's grim data knocked the local dollar lower as it intensified pressure for a cut in interest rates from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) a day before it holds the first policy meeting of the year. Approvals to build new homes plunged 8.4 per cent in December, which follows a 9.8 per cent dive in November. Credit:Tamara Voninski It also highlights the stakes at play when the government releases the findings of the royal commission into financial misconduct later on Monday. With gun-shy banks already reining in much-needed credit, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has cautioned against going too far with new regulations and thus threatening to choke off economic growth. It looks like no accident of timing that the corporate regulator has launched a nuclear strike against the Commonwealth Bank in the hours leading up to the release of Kenneth Haynes royal commission report into financial services. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned CBA's financial planning business, CFPL, from charging any fees or taking on new customers after the regulator determined that the bank hadnt yet properly fixed the weeping sore of fees for no service. From a public relations standpoint, this is a shocking outcome for CBA. Credit:Louie Douvis The bank and the regulator have been engaged in a bitter battle over the issue for a year, with one deadline passing, an extension granted and a new deadline set. This is more than a tug of war between the regulator and the regulated. A federal judge declared a mistrial Monday in the corruption trial of former Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Chad Scott after the jury was unable to reach a verdict on any of the seven charges Scott faced. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo made the declaration and sent the parties home about 10:48 am. Monday, after jurors notified her that they were still deadlocked. The jury had been deliberating since mid-day on Thursday. But on Friday, they sent two notes to Milazzo saying they could not agree. The judge allowed them to take a walk in a nearby park and then recessed court early Friday afternoon, but ordered jurors to return Monday. The mistrial is a win for Scott, who faces a second trial on different charges in October. Prosecutors must now decide whether to retry him on the seven counts he faced in this trial. More to come. If New Years resolutions have already gone by the wayside, you have a second chance. Tuesday is Tet, the beginning of the new year in Vietnam. It's the Year of the Pig, which, according to lore, brings prosperity and luck. A good place to start anew is at Mary Queen of Vietnam Church, epicenter of the Vietnamese-American community that settled in the area beginning in 1975 after the fall of Saigon. The church has been hosting its Tet Festival, open to the public, for 29 years. "Tet is a time when families and friends come together to celebrate," said New Orleans Councilwoman Cyndi Nguyen, who represents District E, where the church is located. Through its three days of festival, Tet attracts over 20,000 people, said Nguyen, and generates a significant amount of sales tax for the city. Tet is short for Tet Nguyen an, or Feast of the First Morning of the First Day. The date of the festival is based on the lunar calendar, taking place over seven days in Vietnam. It plays an important role in Vietnamese culture as a way of getting all the bad luck and evil out of the house, then starting the year fresh, said festival spokeswoman Lang Le. While there already have been Tet celebrations at local schools and other churches in New Orleans, the Mary Queen of Vietnam festival is the largest and takes place over three days, Friday through Sunday. The community get-together celebrates Vietnamese culture with live music, traditional dances, children's activities and food. Lots of good food, said Mark Vicknair, who has been attending off and on for 10 years. If youve never been, go. It is one of my favorite festivals. He recommends the pandan, or green, waffles. Extract from pandan, a floral grass used in Vietnamese cooking, brings a fragrant herby flavor that is subtly sweet and almost vanilla-like. The food is prepared by different church ministries, which makes for a diversity of flavor in the phos, Vietnamese egg and spring rolls, fried bananas, banh mi and other Vietnamese cuisine for sale. Many festivalgoers return to favorite food booths each year. Le said at one point, a new layout was suggested, but organizers realized that their regulars, who know where they want to go, would be unhappy with the changes. What you probably wont see offered are traditional Tet foods, such as banh chung (a sticky rice cake filled with mung bean, fatty pork and spices) and banh tet (a circular sticky rice cake with a mung bean or mung bean and pork filling). Le said the traditional Tet foods are served at home during this time rather than at the festival. Vietnamese cuisine isnt the only food at the festival: There are also shrimp and oyster po-boys, french fries, grilled kebobs, Manchu chicken (A festival favorite, said Le), nachos, cheese fries and fresh sugar cane, a nod to the areas Latino population. Fried plantains are a favorite of festivalgoer T.J. Rogers, in addition to the pho. "Get them served hot out the fryer, and then dip them in the fish sauce, which you have to ask for," Rogers said. "But it's so good! Bands perform, including Royal Street (1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday) and Groovy 7 (1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday) with the main attraction being Vietnamese group the Headline Band, with Vietnamese performers as special guests. Fireworks good for scaring away ghosts and evil spirits, and bringing good luck for the new year illuminate all three nights about 6 p.m. If you get there during the day, or miss the fireworks, dont fear, there are snappers for children to throw on the ground, re-creating the sound of fireworks. The pyrotechnics are followed by lion or dragon dances: The lion is manned by two people, the dragon by more because it is longer. Minh Luu, who is part of the Versailles Lion Dance Team, said they have been practicing year-round. There will also be other traditional Vietnamese dances and a fashion show. Childrens rides and games round out the festival activities. "Most of all, what I love is that the festival brings people together," Nguyen said. ************* Tet Festival WHERE: Mary Queen of Vietnam Church, 5069 Willowbrook Drive, New Orleans WHEN: 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday ADMISSION: Free THE "THERES NO PLACE LIKE HOME" ADAGE particularly rings true when it comes to these unconventional residences in New Orleans. While the city is known for its colorful, historic architecture, these newer homes also display character, innovation and charm. Each of these houses is environmentally friendly: One is made from an old grain silo that its owner found on Craigslist; one is crafted from shipping containers (and also reflects the industrial components along the nearby Mississippi River) and another is tiny and efficient, as its owner strives to reduce her carbon footprint. Tiny home By now, most people have heard of Marie Kondo and her decluttering methods. She has inspired many people to at least clean out their closets, but most probably havent drastically changed their lifestyles. We dont know if this homeowner in the Lower 9th Ward subscribes to Kondos philosophies, but this home likely would make Kondo proud. Just a few blocks from the Industrial Canal, this tiny house serves as the perfect minimalist space for a young homeowner who purchased it when she was a student two years ago. At just 580 square feet, there is virtually no room for messes or extraneous possessions; every part of the home must be used efficiently. Selling agent Robert Van Meter says hes not sure if the trend of tiny homes will take off in New Orleans. I got a lot of inquiries about it [when it was on the market], he says. Everyone thinks they want a tiny house, but then they complain about there not being enough space. Despite its size, the home powered by solar panels offers a few features that are important to New Orleanians, including a wraparound porch and an open kitchen. On the first floor, theres a small storage closet and a bathroom. Upstairs, theres a bedroom and a closet. Built through Brad Pitts Make It Right Foundation, the home was constructed in 2015. Since its so new, insuring the property is relatively inexpensive. The homeowner also enjoys low utility bills and property taxes. +2 A real estate debate: Is a new home necessarily a better home? WHEN NARROWING DOWN THE SEARCH FOR A HOUSE, local homebuyers face a few tough decisions. Which neighborhood best suits their lifestyles and pe Its extremely affordable to live like this, Van Meter says. [The homeowner] really wanted to reduce her carbon footprint. Silo home A repurposed vintage grain silo serves as the unconventional, charming guest house in the Gentilly backyard of Robin Brou Antin and her husband, Bob Antin. An architecture enthusiast who works as a nurse, Robin bought the silo from Craigslist in North Carolina for $700 and hired a group of contractors from South Carolina to deliver it to New Orleans, where she solidified blueprints with a licensed architect and dealt with City Hall for permits. Reminiscent of a castle turret albeit one on the bohemian side the guest house has brought a lot of joy to the Antins, their neighbors, friends, grandchildren and other family members. Despite its original purpose, the structure is anything but industrial. The interior is bright and sunny thanks to generous windows and well-placed art and furnishings. As the only residential structure in New Orleans made from a silo (so far), its arrival a few years ago sparked enthusiasm and curiosity from the Antins neighbors and friends. It took about a year to complete the project. Much of the interior is filled with eclectic artwork and refurbished goods, many of which were donated by Robins friends. It also incorporates other repurposed materials of special significance, including a window from Robins childhood home that flooded following Hurricane Katrina. A desk chair that folds out from the wall is a seat from the former Krauss Department Store. The design and decor often pay homage to institutions and people of importance to Robin. Her mother and sister died on the same day a few years ago; a celestial stained-glass door was constructed in their honor that incorporates an original decoupage sun designed by her late sister. Robin says the piece also pays tribute to her alma mater, Cabrini High School. (The schools mascot is a crescent moon.) The spiral staircase to the right of the entrance leads to a bedroom, which overlooks another stained-glass window salvaged from the St. Frances Cabrini Church on Paris Avenue prior to its demolition. In the kitchen area, Bobs son James Antin installed wood features obtained through the Preservation Resource Center. The silo house also incorporates cob, a natural building material made from subsoil, water and other organic materials. When it rains, Robin finds it soothing to listen to the water drumming on the metal roof. She looks forward to having more visitors this spring the place is popular for friends to visit during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. In the meantime, she and Bob also enjoy spending quiet evenings there. Skimmer Studio's handmade wooden furniture Foot-powered and hand-crank drills, bubble levels, a rivet gun, a hammer and anvil these are the simple tools that craftsman Ross Lunz uses This was a real team effort, she says. Theres a lot of symbolism in here, and a lot of meaning. KAN house In building this house together, we were building a relationship, says Kicker Kalozdi, who, with his wife, Anne, a biomedical engineer, facilitated construction of an industrial-style home in the Irish Channel using seven standard-sized shipping containers. A designer and founder of DamnDog a company that makes premium bags and specialty sewn products Kicker loves to tackle projects that require innovation and creativity. The couple met a few years ago and bonded over a shared passion for fitness. One day during training, Kicker mentioned that he wanted to build a home out of shipping containers. [Anne] thought I was batshit insane, he says. No one in the city had ever done anything quite to this extent before, he says. But after he purchased the lot, I asked her if she wanted to join me on this project, and as the procedure came along, we got really serious. Though neither of them works in construction professionally, building the home together solidified their relationship as they navigated critical decisions together. Closing time: Local lenders explain how buyers can close on a home faster YOU DID IT! In what is perhaps the pinnacle of adulting, you put in an offer to buy a house and that offer was accepted. Now youre under contract. Affordability was important to the couple in this project. We had cheap sources of metal, so we figured it out one step at a time, he says. The home incorporates industrial-style interior decor, but its also cozy, he says. Banisters are built out of custom-welded square tubing. Doors in the home are reclaimed from a farmhouse slated for demolition. The couple loves to travel internationally, and they collect one-of-a-kind art pieces that are prominently displayed in the house. We came up with a lot of ideas on the fly, Kicker says. The first floor has a large, open floor plan, where the couple frequently hosts cocktail hours although Kicker prefers to call them snacky hours and requires his friends to show up with food. (A recent party was cereal-themed.) Its not a stereotypical layout, he says. The dining room, living room and kitchen is just sort of one big, flowing space. The first floor also features a master bedroom and a guest room that doubles as a home gym for the fitness enthusiasts. The second floor features Kickers home office and studio space that overlooks the first floor. It was my dream to have a lofted office space, he says. Its a key feature of the house we built everything around that. Theres another guest room on the second floor. The third floor is a hobby area, he says. It has potential to become a master suite. We dont have kids yet, but it could become a master bedroom. The home also features two rooftop decks, three bathrooms and a courtyard. The couple and their friends have dubbed it The KAN house its a play on Kicker and Annes names, a nod to the cans from which its constructed and also a testament to their can-do personalities. We had to learn to build everything from scratch, Kicker says. Both of us are relatively intelligent human beings, and we have access to the internet. Plus, were both extremely determined, so when we combined that, we realized we could do this together. Louisianas largest business lobby is pushing for changes to the states Industrial Tax Exemption Program in an effort to make it easier on co After almost a year of trying to ward off a drinking water disaster, the governors emergency response team is now looking for help from the Louisiana Legislature. The state Rural Water Infrastructure Committee began swooping in to assist troubled communities back in March. What they discovered is that the states drinking water dysfunction goes beyond rickety pipes and pumps. The responses need to be more widespread, and for that, the panel needs some laws to change. We need to concentrate on our legislative efforts, said Leslie Durham, who chairs the Rural Water Infrastructure Committee. Gov. John Bel Edwards formed the RWIC in March hoping to avoid a repeat of a health emergency like the one in the northeast Louisiana town of St. Joseph, which required about $10 million to immediately repair infrastructure that had started leaching lead into the drinking water. RWIC members come from different state and federal agencies that hadnt really coordinated before. Their job is less about coming to save the day and more about guiding locals through a patchwork of grants, loans and technical assistance to repair old and neglected pipes and pumps whose inconsistent pressure defeats chemicals aimed at keeping the drinking water safe. Fifty-eight percent of the states public systems are a half-century old or older far beyond their intended life span and have been poorly maintained, if at all. But the RWIC focused much of their initial work on the 10 worst systems. The governors office, government bureaucrats and Durham prefer most distressed to worst. They are trying to tamp down the air of crisis surrounding a Louisiana drinking water infrastructure that the American Society of Civil Engineers graded at D-minus and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2011 would cost taxpayers about $5.3 billion to fix. Louisiana communities other than the 10 worst have similar financial needs, lack of adequate management and poor maintenance they will be on the RWIC list eventually but these 10 are closest to crisis. After almost a year of work, they are still the worst. 'Most distressed' drinking water systems? Governor's panel identifies 10 to start overhaul Out of the hundreds of Louisianas dysfunctional drinking water systems, the governors kitchen cabinet has found the 10 worst on which they p RWIC brought in engineers and identified loans for most, according to a memo updating the work the panel has done. They suggested rate increases for half of the 10 worst; recommended the state take over two of the communities and found four others needed to consolidate with larger systems. But the real lesson, Durham said, was recognizing the various legal, political, technical and financial hurdles that can only be addressed by changing some of the states laws. Durham drove Jan. 24 to Baton Rouge from her Delta Regional Authority office in St. Joseph to speak with RWIC members and citizen activists about possible bills that could be drafted and passed during the legislative session that begins in April. Theyre looking at a wide spectrum of alternatives from paying fiscal administrators to making it easier for the state to take control of the finances of troubled municipalities to consolidating water systems. In the meantime, the state also is trying to get a handle on the size of the problem. About 40 percent 556 of 1,366 water systems statewide were in violation of drinking water standards during 2018, according to a report released Tuesday by the Louisiana Department of Health for legislators. A total of 1,762 boil advisories were issued last year, according to LDH. That doesnt necessarily mean system failures, but boiling water before consumption is necessary when lines are repaired. About a third 150 of 424 of the water systems run by local or parish government ended 2017 paying more in expenses than they took in as revenues, according to an analysis by the Legislative Auditor. Eighty-six percent of the states population drink water delivered by public systems. (The rest of the 1,366 water systems are not publicly owned and include factories, mobile home parks, apartment complexes and the like.) Mark Ballard: More small Louisiana towns are needing financial help -- from the state A lot of fingers were pointed when a special state committee convened last week to decide whether to take over the Natchitoches Parish village The first legislative focus, Durham said one on which the water professionals, citizen activists and local government agree is to appropriate, for the first time ever, money for a fund to pay the fiscal administrators who take over a local governments finances. Requested by the state Fiscal Review Committee and appointed by the court, fiscal administrators are given near dictatorial powers to push aside a town's elected local officials, raise fees and rates, reorganize departments and lay off local government employees. Were having trouble finding fiscal administrators to work for free, Durham said. We need to be able to get fiscal administrators into these towns. Its more than just water. The faster we can make that happen, the easier itll be on the system Its less costly for everyone involved. A Fiscal Administrator Revolving Loan Fund was created in 2014. The idea is for the state to pay the administrator and then the municipality would repay the loan fund after getting back on its feet, thereby providing money for the next administrator. But legislators never made the initial appropriation. The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Another complication is that the Revolving Loan Fund was one of 34 statutory dedications slated for elimination a couple years ago when ridding the state budget of statutorily dedicated funds was all the rage. (Act 61 also set legislator pay at $177 a day plus mileage whenever they show up for meetings to discuss dedicated funds.) So, in addition to finding money for the Revolving Loan Fund, legislators also will have to pass a law to keep the fund alive after July 2020. Russel Honore, the retired general whose Green Army of environmental activists have taken a lead in bringing drinking water problems to the forefront, backs efforts to appropriate money for the Revolving Loan Fund. But he says the state needs to get involved way before all the procedures for appointing a fiscal administrator are completed. By the time a fiscal administrator is called in, things have gone too far. We need to be proactive and require these towns to do their mandatory audits, Honore said. Under current law, townships that fail to provide clean audits for three years in row are open to the state, after the third year, asking the courts to approve a fiscal administrator. Honore has asked his lawyers to see what legal wording would be necessary to pick up that pace. If you dont do your audit, then you cant apply for the grants and assistance that you need, Honore said. Theyre not getting the money because theyre not getting the paperwork straight. Dr. Jimmy Guidry, the state health officer, has long said that too many of these systems are too small to be sustainable and need to merge with nearby systems to create a larger customer base. But consolidation is a lot easier to say than to do, he said. Legalities need to be worked out: Who has the authority to handle the fees? Who is responsible for the repairs? How will the rates be increased? Then there are political considerations. One of the key reasons many of the states villages and towns incorporated in the first place was to provide a legal framework for selling drinking water. And as populations dropped over the years, businesses moved out, tax revenues dropped, and the sale of drinking water became one of the few regular revenue sources. At the same time, some of the larger systems dont want to absorb a smaller one that is badly in need of repairs. The state is reticent to tell the locals what to do, Guidry said. But for some of these systems, this is going to be their option. John Gallagher, who heads the Louisiana Municipal Association, says the board for his Baton Rouge-based group that represents village, town and city governments will be meeting Feb. 19 to have a frank discussion about consolidation and decide what position locally elected officials should take. Were writing the book on this as we go, Guidry said. Everybody recognizes this is a problem. State funding program to help Broussard upgrade water system Broussard residents will soon get their water entirely from the citys water system, thanks to a $3.75 million investment in three new water w +2 Clinton faces $847 daily fine after 'drop dead' mark passes without water system corrections Clinton missed a key deadline Thursday to resolve problems with its troubled water system and the town could soon face daily fines of up to $847. Initial Top 10 Water Infrastructure Projects Baldwin, St. Mary Parish, purchasing water Clarence, Natchitoches Parish, purchasing water, fiscal administrator requests Clayton, Concordia Parish, fiscal administrator requested Enterprise, Catahoula Parish, working on consolidating Hammock, Rapides Parish, under receivership Melville, St. Landry Parish, loans and grants for repairs Ozone Pines, St. Tammany Parish, working on consolidating Powhatan, Natchitoches Parish, working on consolidating Rogers, LaSalle Parish, working on consolidating Tullos, LaSalle Parish, increase rates Source: Governors Office U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham is coming under fire for skipping votes in Washington, while he campaigns for governor in Louisiana facing web ads from Democrats and jabs from Democratic incumbent John Bel Edwards team. Since announcing his campaign to unseat Edwards, who is in his first term, Abraham has missed nearly two-dozen votes, including some during the recent partial federal government shutdown that sought to reopen government. Other votes he missed included legislation that would impact recreational fishing and the reauthorization of funding for rural health offices. During that time, Abraham, a three-term congressman from North Louisiana who has not previously run for statewide office, has held several fundraisers in the state as hes tried to build up his political war chest, including in Baton Rouge, Lake Providence and Alexandria. His campaign hasnt yet revealed how much money he has in the bank heading into this falls election. +3 As Louisiana governor's race kickstarts, here's how Edwards, Rispone, Abraham are prepping Louisiana voters will head to the polls this fall to decide whether Gov. John Bel Edwards will have a second term in office beginning in 2020. Campaign finance reports are due Feb. 15, which will provide more insight into campaign spending and top tier donors. Edwards campaign announced last month that the incumbent was heading into 2019 with nearly $8.4 million in his campaign coffers, after raising $3.8 million in 2018. Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone, the other Republican who has announced that hes running for governor, is expected to report $5.5 million cash on hand, about $5 million of which Rispone has put up himself. He raised half a million after establishing a campaign committee in October. Louisiana Spotlight: In re-election bid, Edwards to face tax scrutiny As he seeks re-election to a second term, Gov. John Bel Edwards will have a delicate dance to do on taxes, one of the chief points of criticis The election is Oct. 12. A Nov. 16 runoff will take place between the top two vote-getters if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary. Edwards, who has been in office since January 2016, is the only Democratic governor in the Deep South and the Louisiana race is seen as a priority for Republicans nationally this year. American Bridge, a Democrat-backing super PAC that specializes in opposition research, recently launched a digital ad across the state to highlight Abrahams missed votes. If 80 percent of success is showing up, Congressman Ralph Abraham failed miserably, American Bridge spokesman Zach Hudson said. Louisianans saw firsthand during the shutdown that Ralph Abraham wont show up for them when they need it. What will it take for Abraham to actually do his job? +3 5 takeaways from meet and greet with Eddie Rispone, Republican candidate for governor Baton Rouge businessman and Republican candidate for governor Eddie Rispone took part in a meet and greet event in Baton Rouge Tuesday night, The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The group also steadily released video footage, shot by the PACs researchers, of Abraham attending fundraisers in Louisiana during the shutdown. The state Democratic Party has also gotten in on the Abraham voting record criticism. Rep. Abraham cant claim to care about Louisianans affected by the shutdown when hes skipping shutdown-ending votes to go to fundraisers, Eric Holl, spokesman for Victory 2019, the Democratic Coordinated Campaign, said. (H)es saying he wants to help Louisianans affected by the shutdown, and then abandoning his job. You just cant trust Ralph Abraham to do what he says hell do. And Edwards, himself, has had pointed words for Abraham over the issue. Its interesting that the congressman is in Louisiana, running around raising money and missing votes in Washington to reopen the government, Edwards said during a recent meeting with The Advocate editorial board. +10 Louisiana governor election: Here's who's in, who's out of 2019 race With less than a year left before the next Louisiana governor's election, a number of candidates have announced their candidacy while far more Cole Avery, a spokesman for Abraham, defended the congressmans voting record and noted that noted his previous attendance record was the highest among the Louisiana delegation. Louisiana desperately needs a change in leadership. A side effect is Ralph will occasionally have to miss votes, Avery said. Beating John Bel is that important. Louisiana cant afford another four years of John Bel Edwards, he added. Abraham voted for a bill that passed the House before the shutdown that would have funded government and Trumps border wall request, Avery said, and he argued that the shutdown votes Abraham missed wouldnt have seen a different outcome had he been there to vote. They werent going anywhere. They were dead in the water. Everyone knew this, he said. They were gimmicks, they were political stunts. Abraham had acknowledged before last years election that he was considering a run for governor. Avery said that the congressman heard from constituents during that campaign that they would support him seeking the governors office. People knew what he was thinking about doing, Avery said. Its not uncommon to hold one office and run for another. A former Ascension Parish public middle school principal misappropriated more than $2,500 in student activity funds last May to buy nearly 400 T-shirts for his private company, an audit of the school system's finances released Monday says. The former principal, Daryl Comery, is no longer principal of the middle school, Lowery Middle in Donaldsonville, and is currently on an educational sabbatical leave, according to the audit by Postlethwaite & Netterville. The audit, completed in December and released Monday by the state Legislative Auditor's office, said school district administrators have removed Comery as a signee on the middle school's bank account and that Comery will not return as principal of the school once his sabbatical leave ends, a date which was not named in the audit or by school officials. A message left with Comery had not been returned as of late Monday afternoon. Comery became Lowery Middle's principal in October 2016. Last June, Paul Sampson, formerly the assistant principal at the middle school, was named principal to take Comery's place. Jackie Tisdell, the public information officer for the Ascension Parish School District, confirmed Monday that Comery was on sabbatical leave, but said she could not discuss the status of his employment once his sabbatical ends, as it was a personnel issue. The school system was aware of the audit results and "in fact, we reported concerns to various and appropriate agencies several months ago and have been awaiting their determination and guidance with regard to our concerns," Tisdell said in a statement Monday. 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 No charges have been filed against Comery, the audit says. Comery spent approximately $2,556 of the middle school's student activity funds in May 2018 to buy close to 400 T-shirts for the company Product of Donaldsonville Community Outreach, the audit by Postlethwaite and Netterville said. The limited liability company was formed by Comery and his wife, Taina, in 2015, when Daryl Comery was then the associate principal of Donaldsonville High School's Freshman Academy. In Advocate articles at the time, Comery said he came up with the concept "Product of Donaldsonville," to build pride in the community, after a string of homicides there in 2014 and 2015. T-shirts printed with the slogan were at one point presented to outstanding students at the high school, Advocate articles said. Accused mass murderer Dakota Theriot was booked on five counts of first-degree murder Monday and ordered held without bail in the Jan. 26 shooting deaths of five people, including his parents, his girlfriend and two members of her family. Theriot, 21, returned to Louisiana last week from Virginia, where he fled after the killings in Livingston and Ascension parishes. He was booked Monday on two murder counts in Ascension Parish, then transferred to Livingston Parish, where he was booked on three murder counts and an allegation that he stole his girlfriends fathers truck for a cross-country escape. Can't see video below? Click here. Theriot is accused of killing Summer Ernest, 20; her father Billy Ernest, 43; and a brother, Tanner, 17; at their home north of Walker and then killing his parents, Keith and Elizabeth Theriot, both age 50, at their home southeast of Gonzales. Each were shot in the head. Investigators say Theriot has confessed to the killings and that he used a gun stolen from his father to kill them. According to the Livingston Parish sheriff and the Ernests neighbors and relatives, Summer Ernest had recently started dating Theriot and he moved into her familys home a few weeks before the killings, after his parents had kicked him out. An aunt said in an interview that, at a gathering a week before the killings, relatives didnt get good vibes when they met Theriot. Can't see video below? Click here. Keith Theriot survived long enough after being shot in the head that he was able to identify his son as his attacker, investigators have said. 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 After the slayings, Theriot had fled to his grandmothers house in Virginia, but authorities were present for his arrival there and captured him after he pulled up with a gun in his hand. +2 Confessed killer Dakota Theriot drove to Virginia to say 'I love you, I'm sorry,' attorney says WARSAW, Va. (AP) A man charged with killing his parents and three others in Louisiana before fleeing to Virginia had made the drive north to Under Louisiana law, authorities can hold Theriot without bail for a first-degree murder charge. One state district judge Monday also set a combined bail of $125,000 on home invasion and illegal use of a weapon counts, and another one set bail at $25,000 for the theft of a motor vehicle count. Theriot has not yet been formally charged. Under state law, prosecutors must bring any homicide case before a grand jury, and in this case Theriot would face two one for Ascension Parish and one for Livingston Parish. Tyler Cavalier, spokesman for 23rd Judicial District Attorney Ricky Babin in Ascension Parish, said prosecutors have not decided whether to seek Theriot's execution. +3 Sheriff: Dakota Theriot case is 'extremely horrific example' of failed mental health system With each spin through the revolving door that brings police and the mentally ill together, accused killer Dakota Theriot grew more unstable. Given Theriot's history of mental troubles, defense attorneys could also seek a sanity commission, a formalized review by court-appointed mental health professionals, to determine whether he is fit to stand trial. A funeral is scheduled for Saturday for the three members of the Ernest family. Advocate staff photo by ELIOT KAMENITZ-- Cedric Jones of Drago's tosses cheese on some grilling oysters for despite rain and wind, people still turned out to shuck and jive and the fifth annual New Orleans Oyster Festival at Woldenberg Park in New Orleans, La. Sunday, June 1, 2014. The Galaxy A90 is rumored to be the first Samsung smartphone with a truly bezel-less screen and no notch, according to new reports. It's no secret that the company has been experimenting alternatives to the notch design. Its most impressive implementation so far is called the Infinity-O display, which puts a tiny camera cutout on top of the screen instead of a notch, resulting in a cleaner, less disruptive overall look. But no matter how clean and innovative the Infinity-O display looks, it appears it's still merely a stopgap solution to what Samsung ultimately wants to achieve: no notch or cutouts of any kind at all. Galaxy A90 This speculation can be traced back to industry tipster Ice Universe, who on Twitter said that the upcoming Galaxy A90 would be "perfect." He later clarified that he was referring to the screen. Apparently, the Galaxy A90 will be Samsung's "first pop-up front camera phone," which essentially means the screen would have no notch or cutouts. Pop-Up Cameras Pop-up cameras aren't a novelty. In fact, Vivo and Oppo have both released phones with such a feature. However, the long-term stability of the pop-up components remains unproven. Samsung is welcome to experiment, of course. The South Korean electronics company is noted to release products of utmost quality, and it would be interesting to see how its pop-up will differ from existing implementations. Other than Ice Universe's tweet, there's not much information on the Galaxy A90 at the moment apart from rumored colorways. Samsung has teased about an Infinity Display with minimal bezels and no cutout, though, and said that it might test experimental features on midrange phones first before eventually bringing them over to its premium flagships. That lines up neatly with the fact that it released a triple-camera system on a midrange device a while back. Samsung is rumored to put three cameras on the Galaxy S10 next. Not to mention that the Infinity-O display appeared first on a midrange device as well. Using the Galaxy A90 as a test bed for Samsung's pop-up camera experiments would make sense, but customers will have to wait and see whether the company actually has any such plans. For now, the only sure thing is that Samsung has found clever ways to avoid the notch, and it will surely keep working until it gets rid of it completely. Thoughts about a notch-less Samsung phone with a pop-up camera? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below! 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed an ingestible jelly-like smart pill that could stay in the stomach for up to 30 days. The pill quickly expands into a ping pong-sized ball, which has the ability to monitor temperature in the gastrointestinal tract. The scientists behind the experiment said that the device could monitor ulcers, cancers, and other GI conditions in the long term. The ingestible pill equipped with a sensor can safely pass through the digestive tract. The person only needs to drink a calcium solution to shrink the pill back to its original size. Jell-O-Like Pill The pill is made using two types of hydrogels, which is similar to the texture and consistency of Jell-O. The combination of polymers and water makes the pill impermeable to the natural acidity of the gut environment while maintaining its ability to change in size. "The dream is to have a Jell-O-like smart pill, that once swallowed stays in the stomach and monitors the patient's health for a long time such as a month," said Xuanhe Zhao, coauthor and an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. The Jell-O-like smart pill exceeds the expectations from the current ingestible sensors whose half-life is only up to a few days. Since the new pill is designed out of hydrogels, it is softer and more biocompatible compared to previous prototypes that are made of plastic or metal. Inspired By Fish The design of the Jell-O smart pill is inspired by the defense mechanisms of certain species such as pufferfish or blowfish. When threatened, the pufferfish will quickly inflate into a spiky balloon by sucking in a large amount of water under a short period of time. "Hydrogels offer new opportunities for human-machine interactions due to their superior mechanical compliance and biocompatibility," the authors reported in the study published in the journal Nature Communications. "Large animal tests support the exceptional performance of the ingestible hydrogel device for long-term gastric retention and physiological monitoring." The researchers realized that the super absorbency of the pill will likely cause the breaking of its particles as it pass through the stomach. To protect the sensor, they designed a second protective layer made of nanoscopic gridlock pattern equipped with an anti-fatigue feature. To test its feasibility, the scientists submerged the pill into solutions of water and fluid similar to the gastric juices found in the stomach. They found that the smart pill inflated up to 100 times its original size in about 15 minutes. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In brief: A college student will be sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing more than $5 million in cryptocurrency last year. He took the money by hijacking the phones of about 40 different people. Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Erin West told Motherboard on Thursday that Joel Ortiz accepted a plea bargain for his 2018 crime. The man pleaded guilty to charges of SIM swapping. It is believed that he is the first to have been convicted of the offense. SIM swapping involves taking control of someones phone number without stealing their device. It is usually carried out by tricking cell providers into transferring the victims phone number to a SIM card that the hijacker owns or controls. The scam can be very damaging because once the attacker has the phone number, he can access various accounts including social media, bank, and cryptocurrency wallets with ease. Not even two-factor authentication is an effective deterrent since the hacker has control of the phone number. As we reported last year, Ortiz was arrested in July 2018 at the Los Angeles International Airport as he was about to flee the country heading to Europe. Not only had Ortiz stolen millions in cryptocurrency, but he also trafficked in hijacked social media accounts, which can be sold on the dark web for Bitcoin. A handful of other SIM swappers have been apprehended in recent months in other unrelated cases including Joseph Harris, who allegedly stole over $14 million in cryptocurrency in a single heist. Harris was arrested last October. Deputy DA West and the agents involved in the arrest are happy for the conviction and hope that it serves as a message to other hijackers. We think justice has been served. And hopefully this is a strong message to [the SIM-swapping] community, said Samy Tarazi, a Secret Service agent involved in the Ortiz case. Ortiz will face a judge on March 14 for official sentencing. He is expected to be handled a 10-year sentence as per his plea deal. Photo via Associated Press 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! I've been watching antitrust cases actively since the 1980s. I had to study historical antitrust cases going back to Standard Oil and RCA, in order to ensure compliance with a related consent decree When I worked at IBM. Each of the other cases had one thing in common: Both of the companies being charged were massively and obviously monopolies. There were many questions about whether they were behaving badly or really had an adverse impact on competition, but there generally was no doubt they had monopoly power. The current FTC v. Qualcomm case is vastly different, in that the two companies that apparently have been screaming they were damaged are four times and 10 times larger than Qualcomm, and they have a history of anticompetitive behavior. During the closing arguments, I had a ton of wtf moments, as the FTC brought forth incredibly stupid arguments. During the close, it felt as though the FTC attorney hadn't really prepared, hadn't organized her evidence into what I would have thought to be an obvious framework, and pretty much just called Qualcomm names with little to back up her claims. This isn't high school pre-law -- this is federal court. The quality of work was more in line with what you might expect to see from an overworked and under-resourced public defender with too many cases. The implication that the FTC effectively was working for Apple was particularly disturbing during a time when I, and others, are increasingly concerned that the U.S. government is being run by big companies through lobbyists. I'll share my thoughts about the troubling FTC vs. Qualcomm litigation and then close with my product of the week: an impressive update to my go-to home security camera solution, Arlo. The FTC's Murky Case Against Qualcomm The FTC's position was that Qualcomm, through use of its patent portfolio and licensing, restricted competition by abusing its power as a monopoly. This allegation should have led to a closing argument that clearly delineated three pillars of proof. When I was studying prelaw, I received training from a judge, and I'm still a fan of tight organization regarding how you present your legal arguments and evidence. In this case, the FTC should have established three pillars of proof to show that Qualcomm was acting as a monopoly. If it wasn't, then it didn't have the power to commit the crime that was alleged. Second, the FTC should have established that Qualcomm was abusing its monopoly power. Without abuse, there was no crime. Third, the FTC should have shown that Qualcomm damaged the industry, because that is what drives the remedy. Any damage would have to be corrected. There were no obvious pillars of evidence in the FTC's argument. First, if Qualcomm was acting as a monopoly, then it must have dominated its market. However, the three largest players in the smartphone market -- Samsung, Huawei and Apple -- generally have not used Qualcomm modems or processors. Samsung and Huawei mostly have made their own, and Apple has bought them from Intel. In fact, if you look at Qualcomm vs. either Intel or Apple, it is comparatively tiny, with just one-fourth the value of Intel and one-tenth the value of Apple. Granted, both companies have been having significant issues, but Qualcomm can't be blamed for a massive lack of demand for Apple's products, or for Intel's inability to solidify a management team. Intel's issues pretty much start with its having a board that, for the most part, wouldn't know the difference between a GPU and a CPU. Intel can't seem to find a new CEO who is both qualified and dumb enough to take the job. Second, the FTC needed to show not only that Qualcomm was a monopoly, but also that it abused its monopoly power. Given that I don't think it came close to achieving its burden of proof on the question of Qualcomm being a monopoly, the abuse contention immediately became problematic. The FTC argued that Qualcomm illegally tied its patent portfolio to its modem sales, but it presented no evidence that Qualcomm ever cut modem supply to a buyer that didn't have a patent license. There was a legitimate reason to tie those two things together: Implementing one of Qualcomm's modems did require the use of Qualcomm's patents, and a license would have avoided litigation. I found it particularly troubling that the FTC argued that reducing litigation was an example of abuse of power. I'm guessing that was because the commission believed that normal companies -- as in non-abusive monopolies -- must spend millions on unnecessary litigation in order to operate. Maybe this had something to do with job security, but I sure didn't get the connection. Virtually all of the witnesses the FTC brought forward who said that Qualcomm forced their companies into signing a contract were countered by witnesses Qualcomm's attorneys called -- employees from the same companies who said those accounts were BS. Each FTC witness was impeached by a coworker, which really made the FTC's case look fabricated. Third, the issue of damages was telling. During the close, the example the FTC used was that every time Apple requested a concession from Qualcomm, Qualcomm wanted a concession in return. It was as if the FTC existed in some strange parallel universe where only the bigger company can make demands, and the smaller firm can say nothing but "yes sir, can I have another?" It was obviously bullying behavior by Apple, and the FTC seemed to be saying that any company that could resist Apple's bullying clearly was abusing its power. I seriously thought that the U.S. legal system was starting to look as though it was founded on concepts you'd more likely see in a third-world country, where the laws are whatever the powerful say they are. The FTC's Impeachable Expert What I found particularly bizarre was the unique theory offered by the FTC's lead expert, Carl Shapiro, a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Shapiro concluded that Qualcomm's business model must be illegal, although his view appeared to have no connection to any facts. He offered no research or empirical evidence -- just one guy's ideas about how the world ought to work. More importantly, he made it clear that anyone who disagreed with him -- including judges (and I'll get to this in a moment) -- was an idiot. I've worked with folks like this in the past and I'm sure you have as well. They are so extremely narcissistic that they don't accept anything from anyone but themselves. Now this legend in his own mind also was a pivotal expert in the AT&T Time Warner trial, and the judge in that trial went off on how poorly founded Shapiro's testimony was, and how far from reality his fanciful theory was. Seriously, the judge went on and on with his observations that Shapiro's comments were so poorly founded as to be less than worthless, before ruling in favor of the merger and against the DoJ. The FTC attorneys' choice to use this guy must come down to the fact they couldn't find any other qualified expert who agreed with them, and hoped, which was pretty foolish, that Qualcomm's attorneys wouldn't find out about that prior case (Shapiro claimed under oath that he didn't remember it. There is no way that is true, given how he went after the judge when it was brought up.) Seriously, the guy was a narcissist. Anyone who went after him, like the judge in the AT&T/TM trial did, would be on his immortal mortal enemies list. Even for a normal person, if judge were to tear you or me a new bung hole like that judge did, we'd remember it till the end of days. Shapiro claimed he forgot it in a few months. I doubt any of us are that gullible -- but apparently, the FTC was. Does the FTC Now Work for Apple? There is a lot of apparently illegal behavior going on in the government now. Just look at the impressive number of indictments coming out of the Mueller probe. Further, the amount of self-dealing in congress is frightening. This case, in my mind, is like two bullies (Apple and Intel) that went to a smaller kid who is willing to fight back, and complaining that the smaller kid is a bully because he won't pass over his lunch money. Go back and look at what I said about Qualcomm pushing back on Apple's demands. Now add the FTC's argument that because Qualcomm wouldn't accept Apple's demand that every patent be arbitrated individually by a panel -- we are talking thousands of patents -- Qualcomm was at fault. This really was the FTC complaining that Qualcomm wouldn't give up its lunch money to a bigger and vastly more powerful firm. Now I'm not sure the FTC rank and file are on board with this, because its legal team seemed to be trying to throw this fight. The fact that they used the impeachable expert, gave one of their least-capable attorneys responsibility for the close (really, she performed like a first-year associate), and made no real attempt to organize their evidence in a hierarchy that would allow the judge to decide more easily in their favor, makes me think there is a rebellion in the FTC and that they want to lose this thing. The Qualcomm close was far from the best I've seen -- likely because the FTC was so disjointed that it forced a less-organized response -- but it was massively better executed than what the FTC did. Compared to the FTC using one of its most junior folks, Qualcomm used one of its most senior, because the company thought the case was that important. Now this may come down to the FTC being inept, but I saw some strong litigators on its team last Friday that should have done the close (both men, and I'll get to that in a moment), but they weren't used. Two other reasons are concerning. One is that the FTC attorneys knew Judge Koh would rule in their favor regardless of their case, so they really didn't have to do the work. The other is that they knew Judge Koh would pick a female attorney over a male attorney and subordinate the evidence and arguments to that choice. The judge came across to me as capable and competent, but I haven't done the research on her that the FTC likely has so I remain concerned. I've seen a lot of judges phone it in, but she wasn't one of them. (I was actually pretty impressed.) Wrapping Up The FTC didn't seem to come close to meeting its burden of proof that Qualcomm was a monopoly or even had monopoly power to abuse. It also fell short on proving bad behavior, and the damages appeared to have no foundation in fact. The term one of my old law professors used was "throwing crap against the wall," and I am no more a fan of that strategy than he was. The danger of the FTC getting this wrong is high, because Qualcomm is critical to the U.S. lead in the 5G rollout. If the government cripples Qualcomm, it basically hands the market off to the Chinese and Huawei. If Qualcomm is guilty, that is problematic, but if it was charged wrongfully, given that the U.S. is in a declared trade war with China, that is potentially treasonous. There is also the growing concern that, thanks to budget cutting, our government is an offshoot of big business. The ever-wealthier tail is wagging the ever more poorly funded dog, and even the promise of a lucrative corporate gig has far more potential to corrupt than it ever has before. This little piece, which details how lobbyists legally corrupt government, should give us all a bit more pause. So, and to recap: The FTC didn't organize its close in a way that would best present the evidence it had; most of the evidence was invalidated; its key expert was impeached; and the closing attorney was the weakest I've seen at the podium. It was as if the FTC wanted to make a statement or prove a point that had nothing to do with Qualcomm. I have an idea what that is -- but it is too dangerous to share. If this is an elaborate sting, there is only one likely candidate. I use and recommend Arlo cameras highly (their lights are crap, but there's a ton of other automatic lights you can buy). These cameras allow me to check on my house and pets when I travel, and to make sure the pet sitters are doing the job we pay them for. (We've had two pet sitters who were really bad. One almost destroyed our house, and the other just lied about the work she was doing.) We even caught one accidentally letting one of our indoor cats outside (there are a lot of animals that eat cats where I now live), but she got the cat corralled without issue. Over time, these cameras have received software updates allowing them to send more accurate alerts if they see an escaping pet or a person who isn't supposed to be there. They record video to the cloud, making it nearly impossible to disable their record after the fact, and they are wireless allowing you to put them where you need them without having to call an electrician. Arlo's latest camera, the Arlo Ultra, adds an LED light, jumps the resolution to 4K HDR (far better if you want to make out a face, as there apparently are lots of hoodie-wearing kids going around breaking car windows at the moment), has enhanced night vision and a far wider 180-degree view, and has active noise cancellation so you can better hear what people are saying. Arlo Ultra The combination results in an ability to see things like license plates far more easily, and pick up activity that normally would be outside the camera's viewing angle, without fisheye distortion. You can use the light to scare off intruders, and the new camera has autozoom and tracking, so you immediately can see what caught the camera's attention. The last generation of cameras sucked when it came to talking through them; the new camera appears to have addressed that problem well. There was a significant jump in price, with a four-camera system costing nearly a grand, and each new camera costing just short of $300, around 30 percent more than the cost of the last generation. Still, if your home is attacked, saving $300 would seem kind of stupid after the fact. Oh, and this new system will work with the old cameras, so you don't have to replace everything at once (thank god, as I have 12 of the old cameras). Because this new camera from Arlo significantly improves my home security, it is my product of the week. 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. Florida Department of Health reported 10,629 new COVID-19 cases statewide during the week of June 11-17, bringing the cumulative total since March 2020 to 2,310,881. Forty-three more people died, upping the death toll to 37,555. Upstate New York's weather will remain active this week as a couple minor storm systems work through. Snowy weather will be hard to come by though. The week will start off mild on Monday thanks to an incoming low pressure, a stalled out front north of New York, and some sunshine. The resultant south winds and sunshine will push temperatures into the 50s across Western New York and the Finger Lakes with a mix of 40s and 50s in Central New York, the Catskills, the Capital Region, and the North Country. Even the Adirondacks will be mild, with widespread 40s throughout the region on Monday. Clouds will increase later Monday and rain showers will work from west to east during the overnight. The rain will be light, but on top of the snow melt, could be enough for some minor flooding issues, especially in Western New York. Most of the precipitation should be out of Upstate New York by Tuesday morning. A few rain or snow showers will linger with no accumulation. Tuesday will otherwise be rather cloudy and a bit blustery. Northwest winds will result in temperatures falling through the 30s over the course of the day. The next system will move into Upstate New York during the daytime hours on Wednesday. Precipitation with this system will primarily fall as freezing rain or rain. The best chance for ice will be north of Buffalo, into the St. Lawrence Valley, through the Adirondacks and into the higher elevations of the Catskills and Central New York. Some of these areas could see a significant amount of ice while the rest of Upstate New York mainly stays rain. Warm air will eventually win out, turning all precipitation to rain showers for Thursday. High temperatures will range through the 40s with a few 50s west of I-81. Rain will become more widespread Thursday night. On top of the snow melt and previous bouts of rain, some additional flood concerns could be raised. This will be something to watch over the next several days. Temperatures will fall again on Friday with a few snow showers lingering behind Thursday night's storm system. Like Tuesday, much of the day will be spent in the 30s with blustery northwest winds. Here are the details day-by-day: Monday, February 4 After a period of sun, clouds will increase late in the day. Rain will work from west to east overnight. A few morning showers will also be possible across the north. Temperatures will range through the 40s and 50s with the warmest temperatures near Rochester. Tuesday, February 5 Skies will be cloudy and a couple flurries will be possible. Northwest winds will be gusty. Temperatures will slowly fall over the course of the day, ending up in the upper 20s and low 30s late. Wednesday, February 6 Rain and freezing rain will overspread the region during the midday and afternoon hours. Icy precipitation could persist well into the evening before eventually turning to rain. Temperatures will range through the 30s during the day with a slight rise for some areas Wednesday night. Thursday, February 7 Rain showers will be on and off through the day before more widespread rain arrives during the evening. Temperatures will rise into the 40s with some 50s west of I-81. Friday, February 8 Rain overnight will end with a little morning snow. The rest of the day will be cloudy with a flurry or two. Winds will be gusty. Temperatures will fall throughout the day, starting near or above 40 degrees and ending in the 20s. With the warmer temperatures and rain will come at least a minor risk of ice jams and flooding. More from NYUP Weather New York Upstate Weather NEW YORK (AP) The U.S. Department of Justice said Sunday it will work with the Bureau of Prisons to examine what happened at a federal detention center in Brooklyn that had lost heat and electricity last week and to ensure that it has a backup system in place. "In the coming days, the Department will work with the Bureau of Prisons to examine what happened and ensure the facility has the power, heat and backup systems in place to prevent the problem from re-occurring," said Wyn Hornbuckle, deputy director of public affairs for the Justice Department. Electrical power was finally restored at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Hornbuckle said. Protesters have gathered outside the facility in recent days following news reports that those housed there have largely been without heat or power for the past week and also haven't been able to communicate with lawyers or loved ones. Outdoor temperatures have been well below freezing on some recent days, though Sunday was warmer. "With the heat and hot water operational, and the restoration of electrical power, the facility can now begin to return to regular operations," Hornbuckle said. Earlier Sunday, some demonstrators attempted to enter the facility, and guards drove them back with pushes and shoves. Witnesses said they also used pepper spray. A reporter and photographer for The Associated Press were at the facility when a woman, whose son is being detained, tried to get into the jail. On Sunday, an inmate was able to call through the window of his cell, which faces out to the street, to his mother below. The woman, Yvonne Murchison, was crying and upset and tried to get into the facility, where visits have been stopped. "I'd trade places with him any day, that's my child," she said. She was followed by activists and media into the lobby, where visitors have to pass through metal detectors. Witnesses said officers used significant force to push the people out, with some of those attempting to come in being pushed to the ground. The AP photographer felt some type of spray, and began to have trouble breathing. Those affected were seen washing out their eyes with water or milk. The Bureau of Prisons has acknowledged that the jail "experienced a partial power outage due to a fire in the switch gear room." The bureau had said a new electrical panel was being installed by an outside contractor. The agency insisted that inmates had hot water for showers and sinks, and were getting medications as needed. The jail administration did not return an email seeking comment on the clash Sunday. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for an investigation of the circumstances of the loss of heat and electricity by the federal Department of Justice, saying the situation was "a violation of human decency and dignity" and also raises "questions of potential violations of law." The Democrat said he wanted answers, and those responsible held accountable. "Prisoners in New York are human beings," Cuomo said. "Let's treat them that way." The New York Civil Liberties Union released a statement Sunday calling on the Bureau of Prisons to "ensure that no detainee be subjected to retaliation for peacefully protesting." Todays confrontation between the Bureau of Prisons and family members of people jailed at MDC highlights the desperate need to address the dangerous, inhumane and unlawful conditions inside the facility, NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman said. Syracuse, N.Y. At Liehs & Steigerwalds downtown restaurant, diners can have their steaks and chops their way. The restaurant, which opened nearly four years ago as a casual deli, bar and burger place, has added a full-service dinner menu. Now, Wednesdays to Saturdays, Liehs & Steigerwald offers dinner with table service. One side of the menu contains existing favorites, such as burgers, sandwiches, wings and pierogi. But the flip side offers seasonal entrees and small plates to share including the choice of a steak or pork chop, cut to the diners specifications, and cooked to order. Co-owners Jeff Steigerwald and Chuck Madonna have hired head chef Tim Brown, who has worked in Syracuse-area kitchens for two decades. Everything is fresh and homemade, Brown said of the menus soups, salad dressings, sandwiches and sides. Were going to change the back part (of the menu) regularly to go along with what is local and seasonal. Suppli di telefono (wild mushroom risotto stuffed croquettes) served at Liehs & Steigerwald's downtown Syracuse restaurant. Photo provided by Liehs & SteigerwaldPhoto provided by Liehs & Steigerwald The menu also celebrates what Liehs & Steigerwald is known for: Meat. The current menu includes pomegranate molasses barbecue baby back ribs ($10), pasta Bolognese ($18), a sausage sampler ($22) and beef teriyaki lettuce wraps ($10). The pick-your-own steaks (ribeye, strip or filet) and pork chops will be served with the days starch and vegetable sides. The costs will vary, depending on market price and how much the customer wants; the pick-your-own entrees will likely be $25 to $35, Steigerwald said. The pork is from Bostrom Farms in the Finger Lakes. The beef is from Rosenkrans Farms in Seneca Falls, New York. Sausage sampler at Liehs & Steigerwald's downtown Syracuse restaurant. Photo provided by Liehs & SteigerwaldPhoto provided by Liehs & Steigerwald There are vegetarian options, including a goat cheese and wild mushroom crepe ($17). Additional sandwiches include a banh mi ($10), gyro ($12), calamari po boy ($9) and turkey burger ($10) which each come with a side. The menu also includes options for kids (ranging from $6 to $8) that come with a scoop of ice cream. The expanded dinner menu is the latest change at the downtown location, which opened nearly four years ago. Since then, the owners have downsized the deli section to make room for Gannons Ice Cream and a French-style crepe plate. Tuesday has become a popular trivia night and nothing is changing about the food or service on Tuesdays, the owners said. Lunch service also remains the same. As part of this latest expansion, Madonna and Steigerwald are applying for an expanded liquor license; currently they serve beer and wine. The restaurant also serves Paul deLima coffee and milkshakes. The restaurant at 117 E. Fayette St. is open from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays and 10:30 a.m. to the end of trivia night on Tuesdays. Its open for separate lunch (10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and dinner service (5 p.m. to close) on Wednesdays through Saturdays. WASHNGTON U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has invited a transgender U.S. Navy officer to be her guest at President Donald Trumps State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said she has been inspired by the service of Lt. Commander Blake Dremann, who has been deployed overseas 11 times and won the Navys highest logistics award. Dremann is president of SPARTA, an LGBT military advocacy organization that advocates for transgender military members. Gillibrand wants to draw attention to transgender service members after the U.S. Supreme Court last month granted a request from the Trump administration to ban most transgender people from serving in the military. Gillibrand plans to reintroduce legislation this week to protect transgender members of the Armed Forces. She said there is no reason people like Dremann should be prevented from serving. Transgender service members like Lt. Commander Dremann make extraordinary sacrifices every day to defend our freedom and our most sacred values, and President Trumps decision to ban them from military service is cruel and undermines our military readiness, Gillibrand said in a statement. She added, The heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard have testified to Congress that transgender service members are serving in our military without any problems. Each member of Congress is permitted to bring one guest to the State of the Union address. Rep. John Katko has invited Randi Bregman, executive director of Vera House in Syracuse, an organization that fights domestic and sexual violence and runs a shelter in Central New York. Katko, R-Camillus, wants to draw attention to the failure of Congress to pass a long-term bill funding the Violence Against Women Act, which helps fund organizations like Vera House. A temporary funding bill is due to expire Feb. 15. Rep. Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, has invited an Air Force veteran from New Hartford to attend as his guest. Chief Master Sgt. John A. Jones, is a 25-year veteran of the Air Force and Air National Guard. He is a former chief of staff of the New York wing of the Civil Air Patrol. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the Senate minority leader, gave his guest ticket to Ronan Byrne, an air traffic controller from Long Island. The father of four was among federal employees who were required to work without pay during the record 35-day government shutdown. Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 To the Editor: New York state has a program called the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPA) that allows people with disabilities to select and manage their own home care workers. This program is used by people with many different types of disabilities, people with an intellectual disability and many senior citizens. Human service agencies act as the fiscal intermediary. They provide supports in managing the service that can range from payroll processing, recruitment, assistance in managing the service, training, advice and other supports for consumer supervisors. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has declared war on disabled New Yorkers in his 2020 budget. He is looking to end the CDPA as we know it today. The governor proposes awarding a no-bid contract for a statewide fiscal intermediary. His attacks on the program go so far as putting the entire fate of the program in the hands of Washington, which is in danger of having another shutdown. The governors plan is to repeal the law that made CDPA and replace it with a version that eliminates 9 out of every 10 in the state. If a fiscal intermediary opened its doors after Jan. 1, 2012, and is not an independent living center, it will be out of business immediately. It appears as though the goal is to have one FI for all of New York, eliminating over 600 CDPA and forcing disabled New Yorkers to operate under a monopoly. Disabled consumers statewide are extremely upset about the governors attempt to destroy a program that has proven to save so much money in Medicaid dollars. People with disabilities advocated very strongly for this legislation so that they would have control of their services, instead of having a licensed or certified agency determine when you get out of bed in the morning and when you go to bed at night. This was the major reason for advocating for CDPA. People with disabilities continuously complained about having different aides come in to their home each day and often having to go to bed by 4 PM because there were no aides available in the evenings. This was not a healthy life for anyone with a disability or for seniors. Disabled in Action has received many calls of concerns regarding the governors proposed action. Many fear that the destruction of this program will force them into nursing homes at a greater expense to Medicaid. We ask Cuomo to please understand how beneficial this service has been for thousands of disabled and senior citizens throughout New York state, and ask that he continue to support this valuable service as is. Sally W. Johnston President Disabled in Action of Greater Syracuse Inc. Syracuse Syracuse, N.Y. -- Walking through TCGplayers new headquarters in downtown Syracuse is like strolling through a medieval castle, the Millennium Falcon, Hogwarts, a pirate ship and a Mario Bros. game. About 200 employees recently moved from Armory Square into the companys two-story, 44,000-square-foot headquarters in the Galleries of Syracuse on South Warren Street. Their workstations are in rooms decorated to look like much like the Millennium Falcon ship of Star Wars fame, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry of the Harry Potter movies, a pirate ship and Mario Bros. games. Just inside the offices main entrance, the grand hall is decked out like a large castle. Founder and CEO Chedy Hampson said he wanted the office to reflect TCGplayers business and provide a fun environment for employees (any maybe help with his recruiting of new employees for his growing company). TCGplayer operates an online hub for the sale of new and pre-owned trading card games, many with a dungeons and dragon themes, as well as geek culture collectibles. Speaking of dragons, the new office is going to have one of those, too. It will hang from the ceiling, with its head busting out the front of the office to the sidewalk outside. Its tail will double as a slide, providing employees with a fast and fun way to get from the second floor to the first. The dragon has not arrived yet, though. Were in the design phase for that, said Hampson. Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148. Syracuse, N.Y. -- People who regularly stand on the citys street corners asking for spare change will soon have the option to work for $50 a day. A new city-county program, run by John Tumino of In My Fathers Kitchen, will offer people the opportunity to work in a day labor program starting May 1. Tumino was awarded the contract for the Hire Ground program. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh announced the award together today. The idea grew out of a proposal by McMahon to outlaw aggressive panhandling. Instead, he and Walsh had conversation with each other and with homeless services providers, including Tumino, about finding other options. It will help people get work through dignity, McMahon said. He went out last week to observe the Point in Time Count of the city and county homeless, which found 13 people sleeping outside in deadly cold temperatures. Its just really Gods work, McMahon said of Tumino and the others who help the regions homeless. Tumino has been running a homeless help outreach program with is wife, Leigh-Ann, for eight years. Theyve helped more than 100 people come in off the streets and into housing, working with other agencies. His proposal to run the day labor program was written by Melissa Marrone, the former director of the Housing and Homeless Coalition of Central New York, The day labor program is the next logical step to helping the homeless, Tumino said. These people need to work, Tumino said. Were going to give them an opportunity, an alternative to panhandling. Will we end it? I dont know. Tumino will purchase a van and hire a driver and a caseworker. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the driver and the caseworker will pick up eight people who want to work at different stops throughout the city. The jobs all will be at the same job site; the van driver and case worker will work alongside the participants. At the end of the day, which will be five hours of work plus a provided lunch, the workers will receive a $50 stipend. The idea, Tumino said, is to provide people who are not yet employable in the traditional job market with a stepping stone. The day labor set-up will give them confidence, work experience and access to services. Many of the people Tumino imagines will be interested struggle with untreated mental illness and substance abuse problems. The hope is to get them hooked up with help for those issues, too. The problem is everyones problem, Tumino said. The programs budget is $200,000. The county is providing $180,000 and Tumino had to come up with $20,000. Richard Lester, who owns Ziebart and is on Tuminos board, donated money, as did Roger Burdick, Tumino said. Tumino and his wife went to Albuquerque, N.M., to see how a day labor program for panhandlers there worked and modeled their proposal after it. That program has had significant success, Tumino said In Syracuse, Onondaga County will fund the program but it will be overseen by Sue McMahon of the citys Emergency Solutions Grant office. (McMahon, the county executives mother, said shes been championing the day labor idea since she heard about it.) At the day labor announcement, the mayor talked about when he rode around the city with Tumino and spoke with the homeless and panhandlers. I remember pulling up in this parking lot and speaking with someone under the bridge, Walsh said, standing in the lobby of Ziebart. The car detailing and weatherproofing shop is on Hiawatha Boulevard near the overpass where homeless people often camp and panhandle. Today, after the announcement, a man stood next to the bridge, holding a sign asking for money. Marnie Eisenstadt is an enterprise reporter who writes about people, life and culture in Central New York. Have an idea or question? Contact her anytime: email | twitter | Facebook | 315-470-2246 SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A group opposed to replacing Interstate 81 with a street-level community grid listed U.S. Rep. John Katko as a supporter of their stand on what to do about the aging highway in Syracuse. Katko, however, is undecided on how to replace 1.4 miles of the elevated highway in downtown, according to Katkos spokeswoman, Erin OConnor He has not taken that position, she said Monday in a text to Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard asking about whether he has endorsed the position of the group Save81. Save81, a coalition of suburban elected officials, Central New York residents and businesses, listed Katko and five other members of Congress on the groups website as supporters of maintaining I-81s designation as an Interstate Highway through Syracuse. Katko is holding a series of of community hearings about replacing the highway. The first of the four town hall meetings will be 6 p.m. today at the Community Room of Cayuga Community College in Auburn. Save81 has six current or former members of Congress listed as being opposed to the community grid option. The other members of Congress on the list also have not publicly stated their positions, either. After Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard contacted Save81 for comment, the names of the six Congress members were removed from the groups website. Tony Mangano, a businessman who owns hotels in Salina and North Syracuse, said the group included Katko and the other members of Congress because of a letter they wrote urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo not to rule out any option for the highway based on cost alone. We are appreciative of his efforts to secure any necessary funding; which is why the website listed the Congressman and his colleagues as supporters, Mangano said on behalf of Save81 in an email. A grid would cost $1.3 billion. Rebuilding the viaduct would cost $1.7 billion, according to state estimates. Building a tunnel would cost $3.6 billion, according to an independent firms study. The members of Congress did not endorse a specific option for the highway in that letter or since then. Mangano said he appreciates Katkos advocacy for funding at the federal level. The letter was co-signed by Reps. Claudia Tenney, R-New Hartford; Chris Collins, R-Clarence; Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro; Tom Reed, R-Corning; and Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring. Tenney is no longer a member of Congress. Save81s website states the members of Congress support maintaining the current highways footprint, which would eliminate the community grid option. The grid option entails taking down the raised I-81 viaduct and diverting through traffic onto what is now Interstate 481. Save81 members prefer other options, including rebuilding the highway or constructing a tunnel to carry through traffic under the city. The downtown section of highway has reached the end of its useful life and must be rebuilt in some fashion, according to state engineers. Members of the Save81 group did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Mark Nicotra, who used to be the groups main spokesman, stepped away from the group when he became a communications official at Onondaga County, he said. A screenshot from the supporters' section of Save81.org. It's since been taken down. Its not clear exactly when Katko and the other members of Congress were added to the website as supporters. A cached version of the site from October 2017 does not have them listed, according to an Internet archive. This isnt the first time Save81 has falsely listed members of Congress as supporters on their website. When the group launched in 2014, it listed Dan Maffei, then a Congressman, as a supporter, though he later said he was not. Also, the group falsely said that state elected officials Dave Valesky, a former state senator, and Pamela Hunter, a state assemblywoman, opposed the community grid in a document they provided to Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard in late July. Valesky and Hunter have not publicly stated their preferences, either. More than 50 firefighters helped battle a three-hour blaze at a house in Camillus late Sunday into Monday, a fire department official said. Warners-Memphis Fire District Chief Michael Knowlton said the fire that appeared to start in the attic at 6327 Van Alstine Road resulted in a total loss of the home. No one was injured, the chief said. One person who was home at the time was safely evacuated, he said. The fire was first reported to the Onondaga County 911 Center at 11:14 p.m. Sunday, according to dispatch logs. Knowlton said the blaze had likely been burning for a while before first responders arrived. Firefighters from Warners-Memphis, Howlett Hill, Fairmount, Lakeside, Solvay, Baldwinsville, Jordan, Elbridge, Plainville, Cato, Cody, Weedsport, Sennett, Lysander, Navarino and South Onondaga and Lysander all responded to the fire. Knowlton said the heavy response was necessary because of a tricky set of factors the firefighters faced: Winds carried the flames from the top of the house to the second floor and rear of the first floor, Knowlton said. Also, the house is near the top of a hill, which meant water pressure was low, he said. The additional crews came with tankers and set up ponds to give firefighters a large supply of water, Knowlton said. Firefighters got the flames out before 3 a.m., he said. Crews reopened the road, cleaned up their equipment, and returned to regular service by 8 a.m., the chief said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. SALINA, N.Y. -- Onondaga County sheriffs detectives say theyve arrested a man who shot three people and injured a fourth person early Sunday at Dennys restaurant in Salina. Justus Holmes, 24, of Syracuse, had been arguing with his ex-girlfriend prior to the shooting, sheriffs spokesman Sgt. Jon Seeber said Sunday evening. The ex-girlfriend was with a group of people at Dennys, at 201 Lawrence Road E., when Holmes walked in with a gun at about 4 a.m. and started shooting, Seeber said. Holmes first shot a man before opening fire on a group of patrons and employees, Seeber said. Detectives say the motive appears to be domestic related as Holmes had been arguing with his ex-girlfriend, who was among the group of people inside the Dennys restaurant, Seeber said in a news release. Holmes, of 220 Kenwick Drive, Syracuse, was charged with: Second-degree attempted murder First-degree assault Second-degree assault Second-degree menacing First-degree criminal use of a firearm Holmes is accused of injuring at least four people. The sheriffs office has not yet released the names of those injured. Two shooting victims were taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries, Seeber said. A third shooting victim was treated at the scene for an arm injury. The fourth person injured was transported to Upstate University Hospital for a non-shooting related injury, Seeber said. Holmes is scheduled to be arraigned Sunday night in the Centralized Arraignment Court in Syracuse. CAMILLUS, N.Y. -- Firefighters are battling a house fire overnight in the town of Camillus. Someone called the Onondaga County 911 Center at 11:14 p.m. Sunday to report flames shooting from the roof" at 6327 Van Alstine Road in the Warners-Memphis fire district, officials said. Multiple fire departments have been called to help, including Warners-Memphis, Fairmount, Lakeside, Solvay, Howlett Hill, Baldwinsville, Jordan, Elbridge, Plainville, Cato, Cody, Weedsport, Sennett, Lysander, Navarino and South Onondaga. Shortly after firefighters arrived, they reported the roof was on fire and wires had fallen outside the northern most corner of the home. Firefighters were ordered out of the house at one point because they feared an imminent collapse, dispatchers confirmed. Emergency crews reported to 911 that everybody was out of the house, dispatchers said. Firefighters have closed part of Van Alstine Road while they continue to battle the fire into the early morning hours on Monday. Property records show the 2,850-square-foot old style house has seven bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms. Check back for updates. Taken star Liam Neeson is sparking outrage with a shocking tale of racist revenge. The Oscar-nominated actor told The Independent that he once wanted to find a random black bastard to kill to avenge a loved one who was raped. Theres something primal God forbid youve ever had a member of your family hurt under criminal conditions," he told the British publication. She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way... I asked, did she know who it was? No. What color were they? She said it was a black person. I went up and down areas with a cosh (nightstick), hoping Id be approached by somebody Im ashamed to say that and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some black bastard would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him. Liam Neeson: I walked the streets with a cosh, hoping Id be approached by a black b****** so that I could kill him - Listen to his full comments in our exclusive interview https://t.co/jdWzfip1rI pic.twitter.com/Ma14TG8pNj The Independent (@Independent) February 4, 2019 Neeson, 66, said he looks back at that experience with regret (what the f--- are you doing?) and learned to teach himself not to be overcome with emotions like anger and rage. It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that. And Ive never admitted that, and Im saying it to a journalist. God forbid, Neeson admitted. The Irish actor, who next appears in the films Cold Pursuit and Men in Black: International, didnt elaborate on who was sexually assaulted or when. According to The Independent, he declined a follow-up interview to further discuss the story, which he told for the first time. Still, the comments have sparked backlash among furious social media users. But my immediate reaction was I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person." Not how old were they? How tall were they? You just asked what colour were they? I don't care how sorry you are, Liam Neeson, that is disgusting. https://t.co/sCDVTBCBIx Hannah Al-Othman (@HannahAlOthman) February 4, 2019 Liam Neeson 1) says he wanted to kill a random black man over an unrelated crime 2) thought this was an anecdote he could share to promote his movie https://t.co/lVG2N2IbpN ishmael n. daro (@iD4RO) February 4, 2019 That Liam Neeson interview is just so saddening (and yes, still racist). It reinforces the idea that people of colour, and especially black men, are collectively responsible for the misdeeds of one. And that when a woman is sexually violated, it's a man who is left truly wounded. Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) February 4, 2019 Me seeing Liam Neeson trending: I hope hes okay, I love his movies... *checks Twitter to see why Liam Neeson is trending* Me: pic.twitter.com/zvYWERq7qU eagle: + = (@FlyLikeAB_Eagle) February 4, 2019 Liam Neeson is 100% cancelled pic.twitter.com/sRNxYX9xdf CLARK KENT (@ComeSeeGuy) February 4, 2019 Emporia, KS (66801) Today Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 58F. NE winds shifting to S at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 58F. NE winds shifting to S at 10 to 15 mph. 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. The one-of-kind meteorite is going under the hammer at a Christies auction, the latest chapter in the objects journey which began with it making its way to planet earth 4.5-billion years ago after crashing through Earths atmosphere at a speed of more than 30,000mph. The rare meteorite is said to have landed in Russia on 12 February 1947, after it created havoc over the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in Siberia. Traveling at almost nine miles per second, the bright fireball left behind a thick smoke that could be eye-witnessed by many from almost 200 miles across. One of those to have experienced its long smoke trail was Russian artist P.I. Medvedev who also captured it in a painting that was later reproduced as a postage stamp, issued in 1957 by the Soviet Union to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the event. Out of the many fragments collected from the site in Russia was this heart-shaped specimen that, until now, has been carefully preserved. Christened as The Heart of Space, the fine rock now forms part of the Christies Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and other Rare Meteorites sale. It is expected to fetch up to $500,000 at the auction, which takes place on 6 February. Click the image above to watch the video In todays weather forecast we are expecting some morning cloud, and a fine day. Also light winds and sea breezes. Its a one-clothing layer day today with a high of 27 and an overnight low of 16 degrees. Humidity is 90 per cent. High tide is at 8.20am and low tide at 2.30pm (Tay St). Theres a sea swell of 0.6m and sea temperature is 22 degrees. Sunset tonight is at 8.22pm. If youre going fishing the next best fish bite time is between 6 and 9pm. On this day in NZ history in 1867 was the opening of the railway from Invercargill to Bluff. The 27km line between Invercargill and Bluff was the third public railway in New Zealand. Southland's railway ambitions helped drive the province into bankruptcy. In 1911 New Zealands first controlled powered flight took place. Pioneering aviator Vivian Walsh took to the skies over South Auckland to complete the first successful flight in New Zealand. In 1994 the first Big Day Out music festival was held in New Zealand. The Big Day Out, an Australian franchise based on the successful Lollapalooza model, brought alternative, hard rock, hip hop and, more recently, dance acts together in a one-day festival in Auckland. On this day in world history in 1783 Sweden recognized U.S. independence. In 1900 the United States and Great Britain signed the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, giving the United States the right to build a canal in Nicaragua but not to fortify it. In 1922 the Readers Digest began publication in New York. In 1952 New York adopted three-coloured traffic lights. In 1961 the Soviets launched Sputnik V, the heaviest satellite to date at 7.1 tons. In 1971 two Apollo 14 astronauts walked on the moon. Today is the birthday of Sir Alan Hodgkin, English physiologist and biophysicist. Born in 1914 he once said In neurophysiology we have none of those vast tidal waves of discovery which shake the world to its foundations and which have such incalculable consequences for good or evil. To get involved in activities around the Bay of Plenty, please check out our Whats on page. Have a great day! - Bay of Plenty Our client has plenty of work in the pipeline and as such they are in need of hammerhands for an immediate start.The successful... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz For many New Zealanders in the east this Waitangi Day will be colder than normal with temperatures down several degrees in some places thanks to a southerly change on the way - except for Waitangi itself which will be warmer than usual. Monday and Tuesday are both hotter than average in a large portion of the country as high pressure drifts east of NZ allowing warmer winds, says WeatherWatch.co.nz By late Tuesday and across Wednesday a colder airflow from the Southern Ocean will sweep up the eastern side dropping temperatures. At the end of Tuesday temperatures will be lowering back to normal in Southland and parts of Otago then go below normal for Waitangi Wednesday. "In fact on Waitangi Day itself parts of Southland, Otago, Canterbury, Marlborough, Nelson, Wellington, Wairarapa, Manawatu, Horowhenua and Hawke's Bay will be a few to several degrees below normal for February 6th. "But not all will be cooler. Waitangi itself, along with all of Northland, will be warmer than average as will Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, King Country and parts of the West Coast.". Despite the cool many places will be dry or fairly dry but cloud cover may be heavier for some in the east. Showers are most likely in the upper South Island and eastern North Island around Hawke's Bay. The Impact of Apple's HEVC Adoption: A Survey-Based Report Sponsored By: Harmonic Early 2018 is a particularly dynamic time for codec development and deployment, and many streaming publishers are wondering whether to stand pat with H.264 or to start to experiment with VP9, HEVC, or even AV1. When Apple added HEVC to HLS in mid-2017, HEVC seemed like the frontrunner. Then, in January 2018, Apple joined the Alliance for Open Media, seemingly backing the AV1 codec, which is scheduled to be released in early 2018. Which codecs will advance in 2018 and beyond, and which will fall by the wayside? To a great degree, this depends upon which codecs are deployed by streaming producers and when. A new report from Unisphere Research and Streaming Media magazine, and sponsored by Harmonic, reveals these intentions. The new report, entitled The Impact of Apples HEVC Adoption: A Survey-Based Report, asks how quickly the over 600 respondents anticipate supporting HEVC in HLS, as well as their plans for VP9 and AV1. It also delves into the concerns each publisher has about each format, such as unknown royalty costs (HEVC) or uncertain performance parameters (AV1). Anyone seeking a snapshot of how codec deployments will play out over the next 12-18 months should download this free report. Content Discovery Has Viewers in a Rage, So What's Being Done? As an editor, I hear vendors pitch solutions to three common problems every week, yet somehow they never get fixed. Vendors say that can provide sub-second latency, yet somehow 30-second latency is still common. That's enough to spoil your Super Bowl tweeting. Ad networks say they can provide personalized ads and won't spam people with the same spots in every break. Yet, I still see the same ads over and over. And many companiesbig and smallsay they offer smarter content discovery solutions. But recommendations aren't getting any better. I'm not the only one who feels this way. A PwC report called "A New Video World Order" (which I covered in a news article) says those artificial intelligence (AI) video recommendation systems are falling short. 36% of viewers say finding something to watch needs to be easier and 30% say OTT services push the same movies and shows over and over. From my couch it looks like recommendations are often based on just one show or movieyou watched A so you'll like B. Wouldn't a smart recommendation system consider more than one variable? This should be a top priority for OTT companies, because viewers are frustrated and angry. PwC says 50% of viewers would cancel a service because it was overwhelming (offering too much content) or challenging (getting around the poor discovery system was difficult). You've heard people joke about endless scrolling right? That by the time they've found something to watch, it's time for bed? That's not a good thing. No one is doing content discovery well right now. When Netflix makes me click over and over to find the list of shows I've already indicated I want to watch, then something's screwed up. Content discovery on Hulu and Amazon Prime isn't any better. If they're going to thrive, OTT companies need to do a much better job at pairing viewers with content. And they need to get smart about how they present it. Viewers are fickle and there's a lot more competition on the way. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Related Articles Washington, MO (63090) Today Mainly clear. Low 51F. NNW winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low 51F. NNW winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. In Britain, the inability of the military to maintain aircraft in flyable condition was recently revealed when current aircraft readiness data was made public, despite government efforts to keep it secret. There had been rumor and hearsay from pilots and aircraft maintainers about the growing problems. But earlier pledges by military and political leaders to fix, or at least halt the spread of the problem were shown to have been unfulfilled. The current situation has a third of the 434 combat and EW (Electronic Warfare) aircraft in the RAF (Royal Air Force) unavailable for lack of money to properly maintain them. This is not a new problem but has become a common and intractable one since the Cold War ended in 1991 and NATO countries sought to enjoy as large a peace dividend (reduced defense spending) as possible. The peace only lasted a decade and after 2001 the threats and crises just kept coming. Defense spending did not keep up and these embarrassing military readiness (or lack thereof) headlines became increasingly common. The latest media reports also noted another aspect of these chronic crises was that certain types of aircraft never seem to suffer from inadequate maintenance budgets. In Britain, this included the four business jets used to transport the royal family and senior politicians around and the most high profile new aircraft, in this case, the F-35B jets for the two new aircraft carriers the navy is putting into service. This is a stark reminder that once an aircraft is no longer in the media spotlight a lot of its maintenance budget is plundered for what are considered more urgent needs. Since 2017 the United States has made a big deal of repairing the damage done by a decade of inadequate maintenance budgets for aircraft and ships. The American forces have always carried a heavier load of the mutual (with allies in Europe and Asia) defense obligations and the navy and air force were expected to make large numbers of warplanes and ships available even though maintenance resources were being cut and senior military or civilian officials who spoke up were replaced by ones who would be more discreet. As in other countries if the leaders wont speak up the followers will. Enterprising reporters need only show up at places where military personnel hang out while off duty and listen. In democracies that means the official data eventually gets forced into public view and the problem again becomes worthy of public debate. In 2017 the French media had at it. Over the previous five years, France had made a major effort to improve the readiness rate for its military aircraft. Despite that, it was revealed in 2017 that the overall readiness rate was only 44 percent. It varied by aircraft type and where aircraft were is based. Thus the readiness rate is 80 percent for French warplanes in combat zones while that rate plummeted to 30 percent for military aircraft in France. French military transports were in particularly bad shape with overall readiness rates closer to 20 percent. Another annoying factor was that in 2000 the overall readiness rate was 55 percent and a lot of the problems appear related to bureaucracy and more paperwork required to do repairs in the 21st century versus the 1980s. In 2017 the French Defense Ministry insisted it would take a closer look at how maintenance is carried out, especially compared to other nations with large fleets of modern military aircraft. Britain, for example, has a better readiness rate, but not by much (readiness rates for British Typhoon fighters was about 35 percent in 2017). Back then it was noted that it was not just a French problem but is typical of all West European armed forces. Britain had been more successful at improving readiness rates while Germany had not. For example in 2014 a German Defense Ministry readiness report was leaked. The report showed that only 8 percent of 109 Eurofighters (similar to the U.S. F-15), 11 percent of 67 CH-53 transport helicopters, and 10 percent of 33 NH90 helicopters were fully operational (not sidelined for upgrades, repairs or other problems.) However, 38 percent of 56 C-160 twin turboprop transports were available. Normally a combat-ready military has at least half, and more normally over 70 percent of its warplanes and transports ready to go. While this sorry situation for NATO forces shocked many, those who have followed European military trends since the 1980s were not surprised. The problems began developing in the 1990s and no one in or out of the government felt any compulsion to make an issue of it. It is common in European nations for the Defense Ministry to eventually discover that a shortage of spare parts and years of poor management practices led to the parts shortage and the low readiness levels. A new Defense Minister will often come in and promise to make it all better. That may be possible once there is general agreement that there is a problem but often the promised fix is just another illusion. After the Cold War ended Britain and France were known for having the most capable forces and able to deploy them around the world to deal with crises in distant places. But even these two nations were unable to allocate sufficient maintenance funds to achieve acceptable readiness rates. Germany learned the hard way that it was not combat ready in the 1990s when they had a hard time organizing a peacekeeping contingent for a joint effort in the Balkans. Reforms did not come quickly enough because when Germany sought to help out in Afghanistan after 2001 they again came up short. The lesson is that the next time you see this routine being played out with problems discovered and assurances made that it will be fixed, check back every year after that to see what was, or was not, actually fixed. The worst part of this is that NATO forces are going the way of so many less affluent nations that buy some modern warplanes and other equipment and then find that this equipment is expensive to use. It is no secret that the lifetime (several decades) cost of actually operating and maintaining a jet fighter, warship or modern tank reveals that the actual cost of the aircraft, ship or tank is a small percentage (a third or less) of lifetime cost. This can be avoided by simply not using the expensive military equipment much. Just keep the equipment looking good, have photographers standing by during the few times the airplane flies, the ship goes to sea or the tank is taken out for training. The rest of the time this stuff is basically in storage. As long as you dont get involved in a war, no one really notices. At the end of 2018 Ukraine ordered two Bayraker TB2 UAV systems, for $69 million from the Turkish manufacturer. Each system contains six UAVs, three truck-mounted ground control systems, two remote video terminals (which troops can use) and maintenance gear. The first system will be delivered in 2019 and the other in 2020. Ukraine is the second export customer for Bayraker, as Qatar had earlier ordered one system. The primary customer is the Turkish military, which already has six systems and plans to buy 151 UAVs (mostly as systems but also spares for expected operational losses). The small Turkish firm that developed Bayraktar borrowed heavily from commercial technology that has already proved itself. As a result, Bayraktar was the first locally designed and built UAV of its class to enter service (with the Turkish Air Force) in 2014. Bayraktar is a 650 kg (1,433 pounds) aircraft with a 55 kg (110 pound) payload and an endurance of 24 hours. In 2016 Bayraktar TB2 was equipped to carry two 22.5 kg (50 pound) Turkish made Mam-L laser-guided missiles. With a range of 8 kilometers, the Mam-l weighs half as much as the American Hellfire and is light enough for Bayraktar TB2 to carry two of them. These are used regularly against PKK separatists in Turkey and Islamic terrorists and rebel groups in Syria. The same firm also developed the much smaller Bayraktar Mini UAV which is a 4.6 kg (9.9 pounds) aircraft that is battery powered and hand launched. Endurance is 60 minutes and the Bayraktar can operate up to 15 kilometers from the operator. The Turkish Army has been using the Bayraktar Mini since 2007. The Turkish national police have also ordered the Bayraktar Tactical. Since the late 1990s, Turkey has developed and deployed several workable UAVs. In early 2018 the Turkish Air Force received six of 40 Anka UAVs they had ordered back in 2013. At that point eight Ankas had been built but two have crashed during testing. Anka is actually delivered as a system. Each Anka system consists of three UAVs plus ground control equipment and all necessary maintenance and ground operations gear. Looking very similar to the American Predator, the Anka is a 1.6 ton aircraft propelled by a rear-facing propeller. The payload is 200 kg (440 pounds) and endurance is 24 hours, and Anka can operate up to 200 kilometers from its controller. Max altitude is 7,900 meters (26,000 feet). A UAV like this would sell for over $2 million each. The Turkish military was supposed to receive its first Anka by the end of 2013 but that was delayed by technical problems. Turkey also announced a larger (four ton) version of Anka that can carry missiles or a lot more reconnaissance equipment. That has also been delayed and none have entered service yet. In 2016 Turkey put the original Anka UAV into service for the first time but deliveries of production models only began in 2017. The Turkish Air Force ordered 30 aircraft (ten systems) in 2013. Turkish UAV development has been going on since the late 1990s when Israel was still an ally and supplier of weapons and tech to the Turks. But by 2003 an anti-Israel Islamic government was running Turkey and local UAV development was crippled but not destroyed as military and technical relationships with Israel were severed. Anka was clearly a military UAV, of the type the Israelis had pioneered in the 1980s. The Turkish government apparently ordered a state-owned firm to match the leased Israeli Heron UAVs used by Turkish forces. These Herons were eventually (2017) returned to Israel. Building large UAVs similar to the Heron has proven difficult to do. One of the disputes with Israel was over electronic accessories Turkey wanted to add to the Israeli UAVs. The Turkish developer was perpetually late and when delivery was made there were problems installing in on the Israeli UAV. The Turks blamed the Israelis and the Israelis kept quiet until they got their UAVs back and then details of the over-promised and under delivered Turkish technology were released. This situation was not unique to the large UAVs like Anka but with other ambitious defense projects where the government demanded more than Turkish firms, especially state-owned ones, could deliver. With the Israelis out of the picture, there was no one the government could blame for the years of delays in getting the Anka operational so few updates were released. The smaller Turkish firm that developed the two Bayraktar UAVs paid closer attention to the Turkish experience with Israeli UAV tech and managed to develop and manufacture competitive UAVs sooner than the larger Turkish firms that paid more attention to Turkish politics than to customer needs. The Bayraktar TB2 was very similar to the Israeli Heron UAV, which was the primary UAV for the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). Bayraktar also paid a lot of attention to software development, learning much from the experience of the Israelis and Americans. The latest Bayraktar TB2 flight software not only takes off and lands automatically but can also move from its parking spot on an airfield, taxi to the runway and takeoff without human intervention other than commands from the airbase flight controllers. In flight, the control software has several redundancies (backup procedures for various emergencies) that make Bayraktar TB2 a safer and easier to operate UAV. Ukraine probably could have obtained a similar UAV from China for less money but Bayraktar already had a reputation for reliability and better software than most. Another bonus for Ukraine to buy UAVs from Turkey is that Russia is trying, with mixed success, to turn Turkey into an ally. The Turks are not cooperating. Ukraine also does business with China, which is also an ally with Russia but believes business is business. The Heron Shoval UAVs Israel sold/leased to Turkey are very similar to the American Predator A (or MQ-1). The Shoval weighs about the same (1.2 tons) and has the same endurance (40 hours). Shoval has a slightly higher ceiling (10,000 versus 8,100 meters) and software which allows it to automatically take off, carry out a mission, and land automatically. Not all American large UAVs can do this. Both Predator and Shoval cost about the same ($5 million), although the Israelis are willing to be flexible on price. The Shoval does have a larger wingspan (16.5 meters/51 feet) than the Predator (13.2 meters/41 feet) and a payload of about 137 kg (300 pounds). Meanwhile, the anti-Israel Turkish government thought Shoval would be easy to replicate because Turkey's economy has been booming since 2000 and the Islamic government made good on its pledge to crack down on the corruption that had long crippled the economy. As the economy grew, the government sought to make Turkey more self-sufficient in military equipment, and UAVs are considered part of this program. But this was mainly for show, not for real. One exception was Turkish commercial firms developing, and delivering less ambitious UAVs like the Bayraktar TB2 and Mini UAVs. By 2017 state owned firms caught on. That year STM, a state owned Turkish firm, put on the market three new locally developed UAVs. These UAVs (Alpagu, Kargu and Togan) are simpler and smaller than earlier Turkish efforts. STM declared that the three new UAVs were already in service, which meant that Turkish troops and police tested them and found them useful. What the manufacturers want is export sales and these UAVs address a market that is currently very crowded and competitive. Alpagu is a 3.7 kg (8.2 pounds) fixed-wing UAV that can do surveillance but is primarily meant for use as a portable cruise missile as it carries half a kilogram warhead and can be guided to a target up to 5,000 meters away by a soldier. This is similar to the American Switchblade, a one kilogram (2.2 pound) expendable (used only once) UAV that can be equipped with explosives. The Switchblade is launched from its shipping and storage tube, at which point wings flip out, a battery-powered propeller starts spinning and a vidcam begins broadcasting images to the controller. The Switchblade is operated using the same gear the larger (two kg/4.4 pound) Raven UAV employs. Moving at up to a kilometer a minute, the Switchblade can stay in the air for 20-40 minutes (depending on whether or not it is armed with explosives) and entered service in 2011. This led to a larger version in 2017. This one weighed 2.2 kg (5 pounds) with up to 30 minutes endurance and a 9 kilometer range. Meanwhile, Israel was offering its similar Hero 30, a three kg (6.6 pounds) UAV with 30 minutes endurance. Based on past experience Turkey wont have much luck finding export customers and appears to have put together these three new small UAVs mainly to show that Turkey can develop and ship this sort of thing. The other two new STM UAVs (Kargu and Togan) are based on commercial quad-copter designs. Kargu is a 6.3 kg (13.8 pounds) UAV while Togan is a 7.5 kg (16.5 pounds) quad-copter design. These also carry a wide variety of accessories already available for UAVs like this. The problem with smaller UAVs like this is that they compete in a crowded commercial market, largely dominated by several Chinese firms. The companies are constantly innovating and introducing new models. Israel recognizes what is going on here and has adopted the Chinese quad-copters for military and police use. The protests seen in France and the interference in the domestic politics of Venezuela highlight Western double standards, which stand in contrast to the respect for international law maintained by China, India and Russia. In France on November 17, 2018, hundreds of thousands of citizens, angered by the diminishing quality of their lives, the social iniquity in the country, and the widening gap between rich and poor, took to the streets in protest. The protests can easily be encapsulated in the following slogan: We the people against you the elite. This slogan has been a recurring theme throughout the West over the last three years, shaking up the British establishment with the pro-Brexit vote, discombobulating the United States with Trump's victory, overturning Italy with the Lega/Five-Star government, and bringing Merkels star crashing down in Germany. Now it is the turn of Macron and France, one of the least popular leaders in the world, leading his country into chaos, with peaceful protests drawing a bloody response from the authorities following ten weeks of unceasing demonstrations. In Venezuela, Western elites would like us to believe that the situation is worse than in France in terms of public order, but that is simply a lie. It is a media creation based on misinformation and censorship. In Europe, the mainstream media has stopped showing images of the protests in France, as if to smother information about it, preferring to portray an image of France that belies the chaos in which it has been immersed for every weekend over the last few months. In Caracas, the right-wing, pro-American and anti-Communist opposition continues the same campaign based on lies and violence as it has customarily conducted following its electoral defeats at the hands of the Bolivarian revolution. The Western mainstream media beams images and videos of massive pro-government Bolivarian rallies and falsely portrays them as anti-Maduro protests. We are dealing here with acts of journalistic terrorism, and the journalists who push this narrative, instigating clashes, should be prosecuted by a criminal court of the Bolivarian people in Caracas. Instead, the West continues to tell us that Assange is a criminal for doing his job, that Wikileaks is a terrorist organization for publishing true information, and that Russia interfered in the US elections. All of these deceptions are carried out by the same Western journalists, media publications and US government that are currently plying their mendacious trade in Venezuela. What double standards! In Venezuela, the people are with Maduro, and before him they were with Chavez. The reason is simple and easy to understand, having everything to do with the economic policies adopted by the government of Caracas, which during just over a decade in power, reduced the level of poverty, illiteracy and corruption in the country, lengthening life expectancy and increasing access to education. The leftist model followed by dozens of South American countries during the 2000s favored the poorest layer of society by redistributing the wealth of the top 1%. The contrast between events in France and Venezuela perfectly encapsulate the state of the world today. In France, the people are fighting against Macron, austerity policies and globalist superstructure. In Venezuela, the the opposition (synonymous with the rich population) is leveraging external interference from the governments of Colombia, Brazil and the United States to try and overthrow a government that enjoys the full support of the people thanks to its domestic policies. Even as many in France are not conscious of it, they are actually protesting against an unjust, ultra-capitalist system imposed by the globalist elite of which Macron is a major cheerleader. In Venezuela, the ultra-capitalist class, backed by the transnational globalists, seek to overthrow a socialist system that places the interests of the 99% before those of the 1%. Maduro has an approval rating of around 65%, higher than any European or American leader. In France, Macrons approval ratings hover around the single digits, with only Ukraines Poroshenko scoring lower. Poroshenko, quite naturally, dutifully joined the chorus of those egging on a coup against the Bolivarian government of Maduro, even as he leads a country besieged by out-of-control neo-Nazis. The protests in France are driven by two decades of impoverishment as a result of European diktats that prescribe austerity and the need to strip the middle class of its wealth to favor the influx of cheap labor. This strategy of reducing labor costs has already been employed in other countries, the aim being to increase profits for multinational companies without the need to relocate production to low-wage countries. The large-scale importation of exploited people from Africa has continued unabated for years, and now the average French citizen not only finds himself in an increasingly multi-ethnic society (with the government giving little incentive for newcomers to integrate) but also sees his lifestyle suffering due to a combination of lower wages and increasing taxes, making it increasingly difficult for him to make ends meet every month. In Venezuela, the crisis stems entirely from external interference coming from the United States, which has economically strangled Venezuela for over a decade. The methodology is that of sanctions and economic destabilization, the same as has been applied against Cuba over more than 50 years, albeit in that case unsuccessfully. Chavez and Maduro have drawn the ire of the global elites by blocking their international oil corporations from access to Venezuelas oil reserves, the largest in the world. It must be noted that Venezuela is one of the most important members of OPEC, with Riyadh and Moscow advancing the creation of an oil conglomerate known as OPEC +, with Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela as influential members. The West is of course deploying the democracy promotion canard to justify its shenanigans in Venezuela, one of its go-to tactics drawn from its well-used PSYOP toolkit. Howard Schultz, the founder and current major shareholder of the ubiquitous coffee chain, Starbucks, wants to be president of the United States. When asked why he wants to run as an independent candidate, Schultz replied with a glittering generality common among new age mercantilists who run for political office: I want to bring the country together. Schultz and those like him who have or are harboring political ambitions want governments to serve the neo-mercantilist elites, not the common folk. The historical precedent for this behavior is the British East India Company, also known as the Honorable East India Company. This London-based company controlled a vast monopoly on trade, extending from India and Southeast Asia, China, and Japan to the wharves of Boston in the British colony of Massachusetts Bay in North America. The famous Boston Tea Party of 1773 was a rebellion by American colonial merchants over the imposition of the Stamp Tax on tea and other goods imported to North America from India by the British East India Company. However, the rebels of Boston were more interested in their bottom line than in political fervor to break from the British Crown. In fact, the thirteen red and white stripes on the flag of the British East India Company, with the British Union Jack in the canton, became the basis for the design of the American flag, with a field of white stars replacing the Union Jack. When Americans fight over respect for the flag, few realize that what they are being forced to respect is a modified form of the standard for one of the largest mercantilist contrivances in history. In effect, the British East India Company, which had its own army and navy, ruled over India and British colonies in Malaya, China, Burma, Mauritius, and Reunion. The same mercantilist notions of trade expansion and control of commodities exists today with companies like Starbucks. The coffee chain distinguishes itself from its competitors by offering coffee choices with exotic-sounding names like Sulawesi Dark Roast, Rwanda Blue Bourbon, Sumatra Dark Roast, and Guatemala Antigua, and menus featuring choices written in a bastardized version of Esperanto. Schultz prides himself on being an enlightened entrepreneur, however, a close look at the Brooklyn-born mega-merchant of Seattle, yields the company he formed far from advocating any notions of progressive capitalism. As with other new age global corporations, including Apple, Amazon, Ikea, Microsoft, Starbucks has ridden the wave of corporations becoming more powerful than many countries, just as was the case with the old British East India Company and British South Africa Company, the latter founded by uber-capitalist and colonialist Cecil Rhodes. When it came to buying coffee from some of the world's worst human rights violators and child labor practitioners, Schultz led the pack. Starbucks enjoyed a very cozy relationship with the Indonesian military-backed coffee-growing colonists who ran East Timor's large plantations, during the Indonesian occupation of the former Portuguese colony. In 1999, protestors highlighted Starbucks' practices in East Timor and other countries during the anti-World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, Starbuck's headquarters. Starbucks, a company that prided itself as being progressive, turned out to be no different from than Shell, British Petroleum, Nike, Chiquita Brands, and other companies that exploit workers in poor developing nations. In 1994, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) officially took control of East Timorese coffee plantations from the Indonesian armed forces. One of the Indonesian military bigwigs in on the deal was former Indonesian armed force commander General Benni Murdani, a favorite of the Central Intelligence Agency. Although Murdani was forced to resign as commander in 1993, his influence over East Timor's coffee production remained significant. Operating through a local super-cooperative called the Timor Coffee Project, which acted like a modern-day British East India Company, USAID and the US National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) administered the coffee plantations and arranged for most of the organically-grown reddish-hued Arabica bean crop to be sold to none other than Starbuck's. In East Timor, many of the local officials of the coffee cooperative were not even native Timorese, but migrants from Java and Bali who wanted to turn a quick profit on the backs of underpaid East Timorese farm workers. Rather than be caught selling East Timorese coffee at its stores, Starbuck's cleverly re-named the coffee as being from Sulawesi or Sumatra. To deal with the public relations debacle caused by its exposure in East Timor, Starbucks agreed to place "Fair Trade" labels on its products as proof that it was paying coffee farmers a fair price for their coffee. The Fair Trade labels were the brainchild of Trans Fair USA, the American branch of a self-regulatory international industry watchdog group that guarantees coffee, tea, chocolate, and banana growers receive a fair price without the markup of middlemen, and that farm laborers work under safe conditions. Starbucks, as the first company to adopt the Fair Trade labeling scheme for coffee, offered its "fair trade" coffee free to passers-by during the World Bank protests in Washington, DC in 2000. Although Starbucks wanted to get ahead in the public relations contest, fair trade labels were not found on most of the company's products. Also, there has never been a real way for determining how much of Starbucks' business is really conducted through "fair trade" entities, or if only a small percentage of its wholesale coffee purchases are "greenwashed" for public relations reasons. Many have argued that such mercantile activism is nothing more than a corporate smokescreen designed to hide more unsavory business practices. As East Timor slowly drifted toward independence from Indonesia, Washington, DC lobbyists, some employed by Starbucks, went to work. Following East Timor's overwhelming vote for independence in a 1999 referendum, every statement issued by the US State Department concerning the Indonesian genocide against the people of East Timor was tainted by assertions that any United Nations relief operation would have to be worked out with the authorities in Jakarta. Oddly, no such preconditions concerning Belgrade's acquiescence were ever attached to NATO's invasion of Kosovo taking place at the same time. Starbucks lobbyists were clearly trying to buy time for the status quo in East Timor. One place where Starbucks phoniness on fair trade coffee was exposed was in the rebellious Mexican state of Chiapas. There, a Starbucks "greenwashing" effort was in full operation. In an attempt to drive independent squatters off of the sensitive rain forest land in Montes Azules, where farmers slash and burn for agricultural land, groups such as Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as well as the always suspect USAID, began a campaign to protect the land for 66 surviving Lacandon Mayan families. However, it was discovered that the non-governmental organizations and their USAID partners had other motives, which included gaining access to the Montes Azules rainforest for the exploitation of coffee, fruit, oil, and pharmaceutical precursors. Leading the parade of the firms wanting to exploit Montes Azules was Starbucks, with ExxonMobil, Chiquita Brands, and Coca Cola in tow. The Zapatista National Liberation Front, which is active in Chipas, said it would fight any attempt to remove any villagers from Montes Azules, once again pitting Starbucks and its agents of influence against the poorest of the poor. Starbucks' support for unsavory regimes did not end with the Indonesian military occupiers of East Timor. After Rwandan President Paul Kagame transformed his country into a virtual one-party state, Starbucks announced it was interested in buying Rwandan coffee. In April 2004, Kagame made a pilgrimage to Seattle, the home of Starbucks, with his trade and agriculture ministers in tow. Rwanda's coffee industry received financial support from the Bush administration, anxious to bolster its client in Kigali. The Assistance a la Dynamisation de l'Agribusiness au Rwanda (ADAR), a Rwandan enterprise designed to spur entrepreneurship in the coffee industry, received US government funding. In an appearance in Seattle to promote his movie, "Hotel Rwanda," director Terry George, used the occasion to promote Rwandan coffee: "If Starbuck's would carry Rwandan coffeewhich is extremely good, by the waythat alone could save the country from economic disaster." Under Brazil's new far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, the nation's child labor laws are being rolled back, with companies like Starbuck's at the ready to take advantage of the situation to purchase cheaper coffee beans. Howard Schultz, like other mercantilists of today and yesteryear, made his billions on the backs of others, including, in some cases, children as young as five-years old. It does not help Schultzs political case to have signed on to his nascent exploratory campaign staff, Steve Schmidt, the former Republican Party strategist who convinced 2008 Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, to select Alaskas Governor, Sarah Palin, as his running mate. The United States has already experienced the ravages brought about by a self-seeking billionaire currently occupying the Oval Office and it can ill-afford to replace him with another. Trumps decision to unilaterally withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) is now back in the spotlight as the main players of the Russian side (President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu) have met and openly discussed the issue. The publicity of the discussion leads one to believe that there is a lot of message sending (to Washington, the media etc.) going on at this meeting which begs thorough analysis in order to understand what the reaction from Moscow actually is and what important points can be read between the lines. One of the most important statements made during the meeting came from Lavrov who said that according to Russian information the United States has been violating the Treaty since 1999, when it started testing combat unmanned aerial vehicles that have the same characteristics as land-based cruise missiles banned by the Treaty. He went on to describe missile defense systems in Europe as a further and blatant violation. It must be noted that the US and allies have also accused Russia of violating the INF treaty. If both sides are telling the truth then this is yet another piece of evidence to support the argument that nuclear disarmament is a farce. If two men were in a Mexican standoff like the kind in old Western movies where two gunslingers are standing face-to-face in the center of town with their fingertips on the handles of their revolvers there is no way to convince one of the parties that disarmament is somehow in their best interest. Because as soon as the one cowboy throws down his gun it essentially forces the other one to shoot as this will be his only chance to take the shot with no retaliation. This is the danger of nuclear disarmament, because a reduction in arms by one side leads the other closer to feeling that they may finally have the ability to make a first strike without retaliation. This temptation is irresistible and is the reason is why no one in Moscow or Washington should ever reduce their means of causing mutually assured destruction or they will be as dead as the cowboy who threw down his pistol first. Nuclear arms reduction is not a step towards peace but a temptation to wage atomic war. The next important point made in the discussion was also made by Lavrov It all started with the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, when the US decided to withdraw from it in 2002, as you know all too well. Very often the media portrays issues like what is happening with the INF as something completely unique and unprecedented when virtually nothing is new under the sun. So far we have seen the years 1999 and 2002 mentioned, which were highpoints for Russian weakness on the international stage. A contract between a powerful entity and a nearly helpless one will be enforced only so long as the powerful entity feels it is necessary. A weak Russia does not have the ability to demand the respect to keep the US/NATO in line like a globally influential Soviet Empire did. Russia has certainly made huge gains over the last 20 years, but judging by Trumps actions is not seen as a truly equal among peers when it comes to treaties. Lavrov continued his impactful statements Apart from the INF Treaty, there is the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty [START] that remains in force. It is also essential for preserving at least some measure of strategic stability and global parity. If he means that the only way to maintain global nuclear parity is for the United States to willfully restrict itself then Russia, China and anyone else who occasionally goes against the grain is in dire straits. To be a civilization of global importance one cannot rely on whining at the enemy to weaken itself. For those who joyfully see the US as the worlds rightful policeman and exceptional nation these words from Lavrov must be very appealing because he makes it seem as though Russia is very far away from changing this dynamic. Later in the meeting Shoigu offered President Putin a set of retaliatory measures that in all likelihood Putin was already well aware of. Putins response to the offer was as follows I agree. This is what we will do. Our response will be symmetrical. This statement is very much in line with the current Russian foreign policy status quo reacting to threats rather than taking action that might stir them up. In many ways Russian foreign policy is far more pragmatic than in its Communist past being willing to work with anyone willing to work with Russia even if both sides in a conflict desire to do so. Israel and Iran are a good example of this. Although this is respectable anyone who plays wargames knows that a passive/reactive strategy guarantees a loss against a strong opponent because by only reacting this allows the aggressor to set the course of all actions and possibly even provoke predicted and desired reactions from the passive side predictable reciprocal moves. These words are not in any way a call for physical aggression. Since Russia is strong enough to be a threat to the US yet weak enough not to be treated as a peer much of this lack of respect in terms of treaties could all ultimately be a problem of public relations and perception. Even slightly more folksy PR could change the dynamic. Russias international relations problems have never been because of producing too many high quality weapons but instead due to it not being able to produce a single high quality motion picture that wins hearts and minds. Perception is a key cause in the INF breakdown. The worst case scenario for the future of humanity would be for Russia to be perceived as helpless when it is not. This would lead to the final temptation in the Oval Office to press that button. This PR problem could lead to Armageddon and should be a key goal for Russia on top of making enough fancy sounding weapons to maintain parity. Morristown, VT (05661) Today Thunderstorms this evening with a few showers possible late. A few storms may be severe. Low 61F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening with a few showers possible late. A few storms may be severe. Low 61F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. The commentary "Why change the Missouri Constitution to unify St. Louis?" (Jan. 31) by Michael A. Wolff may very well be accurate regarding the shortcomings of the freeholders approach and the need for a statewide constitutional change to allow Better Together's plan. However, such an approach does not allow the residents of St. Louis city and county to make the decision. A statewide vote is acceptable to allow for consolidation but not to effect consolidation. Any such combination must require a majority or supermajority vote in both the city and the county. The Better Together proposal could have allowed for such a process, but they wish to subvert the will of the citizens involved. This is both inappropriate and undemocratic. Barry Chod Creve Coeur As Northams would-be successor, Fairfax was probably correct to stay out of the fray. During months of controversy in Missouri surrounding Gov. Eric Greitens, then-Lt. Gov. Mike Parson also avoided commentary. Former Virginia Rep. Jim Moran called for redemption, not resignation: Even if the worst-case scenario is true, is it not possible that the power of redemption might present an even greater opportunity for Virginia to heal from its original sin? ... He asks for a chance to learn from his failings and prove who he is today. The issue isnt whether Northam is redeemable. Its whether he can continue to lead Virginia a state struggling mightily to tamp down its image as a haven for white supremacists after exposure for having immersed himself in that very world. Democrats cannot credibly claim to champion equality for women and minorities if they also appear to defend Northams continuation in office. Had any Republican been exposed for having this kind of past behavior, the Democratic outrage would be immediate, unanimous and deafening. Whatever work Northam has done to promote African-American issues seems more than artificial against the context of disrespect depicted on his yearbook page. "The bottom line is that family support was just not available," said Butler, 30. "It's a humbling experience to ask for help imagine having to go to a building and talk to a stranger about how you aren't able to take care of yourself and your family. Without these programs in place, there is no safety net for people like me." After she earned her degree last year, she got a new job making $30 an hour as a sales representative for a virtual human resources firm. One month into her new job, Butler's earnings grew, and she was cut from receiving any federal benefits. "My goal was always to get off them," she said. "The stigma is that black people are lazy, but those benefits helped me survive. Struggle doesn't have a color." Butler, who was promoted to senior recruiter, now makes $100,000 a year. She bought a three-bedroom house in Gulfport, where she lives with her husband, a truck driver for a moving company, and their five children, including two stepchildren and a newborn. "A little help goes a long way with the right person," she said. The Star published records in the days before the Nov. 6 election showing that Hawleys taxpayer-paid staff was taking direction from Hawleys campaign consultants in 2017. Hawley denied any wrongdoing, but his opponent, former Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, said that Hawley may have violated laws barring official resources for political purposes. Daniel Hartman, who was Hawleys custodian of records, told the Star on Friday that the office acted in good faith when processing Sunshine requests. Hartman, who also worked on Hawleys 2016 campaign for attorney general, now works in Hawleys Senate office. For every request, the Office engaged in a diligent search of its records to determine responsiveness, and conducted a rigorous analysis of whether any of the numerous factors set out in Chapter 610 applied, Hartman told the Star. Each determination under the Sunshine Law was made carefully and in good faith. It was unclear Monday whether the DSCC would take any legal action against the attorney generals office. The Missouri Democratic Party on Friday blasted the office for possible violations of the Sunshine Law. JEFFERSON CITY The family of a man who hanged himself at a troubled Missouri Department of Corrections halfway house and wasnt found for hours has settled a federal lawsuit with the state for $1.9 million. According to a new report issued by Attorney General Eric Schmitt, the payout to the family of David Garceau came in December after the familys attorneys reached an agreement with state officials in November. Garceaus son, Nathan, received $1 million. Garceaus parents split $30,000 and attorneys will receive the remainder of the settlement, court documents note. The agreement was approved by U.S. District Judge Ronnie White. Garceau, 41, who struggled with homelessness, mental illness and addiction, was found dead Oct. 24, 2016, in his cell at the then 550-bed St. Louis Community Release Center at 1621 North First Street. In court Thursday, Alix's husband, Anthony Meyer spoke, but what he said was inaudible to spectators. During the rest of the hearing, he alternated between staring at Hendren and Hendren's relatives, who were sitting behind Hendren in court. Alix's sister, Jessica Durbin, also spoke, saying there was a "huge hole in my heart." Defense lawyer Talmage Newtown IV said Hendren was not a flight risk or a danger to the community. He graduated with honors from Columbia College in Missouri, and spent four years with the U.S. Marines before "serving with distinction for the past 14 months" with St. Louis police. He said Hendren had virtually no assets with which to post bond. Assistant Circuit Attorney Rachel Smith called Hendren's alleged actions a "blatant disregard for human life" and an "outrageous betrayal of the public trust," saying it would be inappropriate to treat it like other cases. She said Hendren snuffed out a "promising bright star of our community," and that lowering the bond would send a message that "somehow this is just business as usual." Before announcing his decision, Roither spoke about the case, saying that he hunted and had been trained in firearm safety, and reminded everyone that "you don't point a muzzle at anything you don't intend to shoot." Jan. 23 A police officer was arrested on suspicion of theft. He has not been charged by prosecutors. Jan. 24 Officer Katlyn Alix, who was off duty, was fatally shot by Officer Nathaniel Hendren at his home. Hendren was on duty and was supposed to be at least two miles away. On Jan. 25, prosecutors charged him with involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. Charging documents say the two were playing a Russian roulette-like game with a revolver at the time of the shooting, and a supervisor claims Hendren and his partner, Patrick Riordan, were drinking at the time. Hendrens lawyer has called it a tragic accident and said the criminal charges were uninformed and unsustainable. Jan. 28 ST. LOUIS Four inmates who were or are still in the St. Louis Medium Security Institution, better known as the Workhouse, got mixed results in court hearings this week prompted by a federal lawsuit claiming constitutional violations for the citys bail practices. The lawsuit, filed Monday, says that St. Louis routinely imprisons people on unaffordable money bail, den(ies) them even the most basic procedural protections, and violate(s) their fundamental constitutional right to pretrial liberty and their equal protection right not to be detained because of their poverty. Before a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, both sides struck a deal to provide the four inmates another bail hearing in St. Louis Circuit Court, citing a recent Missouri Supreme Court rule change. One man, Richard Robards, was freed on his own recognizance by Circuit Judge Paula Bryant. Another, Aaron Thurman, was freed with electronic monitoring and other requirements by Judge Michael Noble. Two others had their requests rejected, court records show. JEFFERSON CITY Pilots flying drones too close to a state prison could end up in state prison if one Missouri Republicans proposal were signed into law. State Sen. Denny Hoskins bill would create the crime of unlawful use of unmanned aircraft near a correctional center." Hoskins, of Warrensburg, presented the legislation to a Senate committee on Monday. Drones have been used across our country to drop drugs, cellphones, knives and razors into correctional centers, Hoskins said in a statement. Karen Pojmann, spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, told the Post-Dispatch that officials have made 11 drone sightings near Missouri correctional centers since September 2016. She said there were three sightings last fall. So far, no contraband discoveries have been directly tied to these sightings, but the incidents have created a disruption in operations, she said in an email. We dont have counter-drone technology or an efficient way to monitor and regulate air space 24/7, so its likely that more incidents have occurred than have been reported. Pojmann said the department supports Hoskins legislation. UPDATED at 9:55 a.m. Monday ST. LOUIS A man was found shot to death Sunday night in an alley in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, police said. The body was discovered in an alley near the 4400 block of Michigan Avenue near Osceola Street about 8:40 p.m. Sunday, police said. Officers called to the alley and found him dead from an apparent gunshot wound. As of Monday morning, police said they still did not know the man's identity. Police are investigating the shooting as a homicide. Authorities asked anyone with information to contact CrimeStoppers at 1-866-371-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward. This is the 18th homicide of the year in St. Louis. At the same time last year, the city had 21 homicides. 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. "He overall was a great kid. "He was quiet and kept to himself," Jackson's father told the Post-Dispatch after his death . "He looked out for others. He was awesome." A McKendree spokeswoman said the university had not been informed of the cause of death. But Lisa Brandon said the university has educational programs about alcohol use beginning with freshman orientation and through a student's college career. She said the university offers free counseling services to students at all times, but added supplemental services for the volleyball teams after Jackson's death. An insert included in the package the drug was distributed in recommended that patients start at the lowest dose before it was increased. The company feared that patients who found no pain relief from the low dose would ask doctors for competing drugs and stop using Subsys, Napoletano said. After he objected to Kapoor's promotion of the high dosage levels, Napoletano said he was pushed aside and regional sales manager Alec Burlakoff was assigned to train sales representatives. The sales reps said Burlakoff tied their bonuses to selling higher doses and threatened "immediate negative consequences" if their doctors kept prescribing low doses, the jury was told. In one email sent by Burlakoff that was shown to the jury, sales reps were told a new prescription for 100 micrograms of Subsys would earn them $283, while they'd get $1,830 for the highest dose. Napoletano testified that he once shouted at Kapoor over the company's practice of linking payments to doctors for speaking programs with how many prescriptions they wrote. He said he stormed out of that meeting and waited to be fired. But he was kept on, earning more than $200,000 annually plus bonuses and stock options. Napoletano said he didn't quit because he had moved his family across the country and his son and his mother were both diagnosed with cancer. Two months later, the questions about Taser use grew more urgent: Chinedu Okobi, 36, died on Oct. 3 after being shocked by San Mateo County Sheriff's deputies in Millbrae. The deaths have raised major concerns, Wagstaffe told Reuters. He said he has directed staff to come up with as much information as possible on Taser-related deaths." The results of the fact-gathering exercise will go to the sheriff and the countys 15 municipal police chiefs to help them in their judgment on the future use of Tasers, Wagstaffe said. The district attorney is conducting a separate, formal investigation into whether the deputies who confronted Okobi before his death committed any crimes. That inquiry should be completed by the end of the month and will be made public, Wagstaffe told Reuters. While Pine favors a moratorium on Taser use during the review, several municipal police chiefs told Reuters they preferred to wait for Wagstaffes Okobi investigation before deciding whether to alter policies. The sheriffs department, which operates countywide, is against a moratorium. Carlos Bolanos, the San Mateo County Sheriff, said he was awaiting results of Wagstaffe's report into Okobi's death before his department conducts its own internal review into the death. Rules for admission were fairly simple. Once asked by a boy how he could belong, Dunne said, You have got to take a bath, son. Another of fathers rules: Dont talk at night after you say your prayers. Dunne made them share the chores, go to school and chapel and, when they became teenagers, get jobs. If they could, they paid part of their board. In 1931, Dunne opened another home next door for about 40 black youths. In the cultural tradition of the times, white and black boys ate and slept separately, even during the Thanksgiving feasts provided for every year, first by Mrs. August A. Busch Sr. and later by a mystery donor. More than 6,500 boys had found shelter there when Dunne died in 1939 at age 68. Thousands of mourners passed by his coffin at the home or attended the funeral at the St. Louis Cathedral. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery. Obituary articles noted that some of the boys had entered religious orders and five had been killed in World War I. In 1947, a movie starring Pat OBrien was made of Dunnes story entitled, Fighting Father Dunne. In 1970, the Newsboys Home was moved to the first of two new locations and later recast to serve neglected or abused boys. Its programs became part of Good Shepherd Children and Family Services in 2006. The home on Washington Boulevard became part of the Harbor Light shelter of the Salvation Army, which is remodeling it into apartments. Dive into hometown history 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. PNL (National Liberal Party, opposition, ed. n.) president Ludovic Orban announced on Monday that the liberals will send an information material to the European Commission on Ordinance 114/2018 on fiscal measures. "We have formed a team to prepare an information material for the European Commission on Ordinance 114. (...) The team that will work should prepare a briefing with the PNL point of view regarding the regulations in Ordinance 114, both the regulations in the energy field, in the financial and banking field, and in respect of the regulations concerning the administration of Pension Pillar II (mandatory private pensions' fund, ed. n.), which we consider to be non-compliant with the EU Treaty and regulations at European level," Orban said after the meeting of the PNL Executive Bureau. He showed that the liberals have proposed to finalize this information material until next week, and will be approved in the PNL Executive Bureau. "We will send this information material to the European Commission and to any European entity interested in this subject, because we believe that it is also possible to initiate an infringement procedure against Romania regarding certain provisions of Ordinance 114 (OUG), which is a criminal act at the address of the Romanian economy. I do not think it would be good for Romania to enter into an infringement procedure while it holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and partially exercises it through the representatives of the current Government," Orban said. In this information, the views of employers' associations, organizations, companies operating in the areas addressed by OUG 114 will be introduced. Ludovic Orban pointed out that the goal of the PNL for this parliamentary session is to repeal the OUG on fiscal measures. "Our fundamental objective in this parliamentary session is the abolition of Ordinance 114 as soon as possible. It is unconstitutional, it is contrary to many provisions of the Treaty of the Union, and it contains provisions contrary to regulations and objectives adopted at European level," the PNL leader said. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila endorses a relocation of budget funds from services to healthcare. "We have three priority areas in which we want to make important steps: healthcare, education and public investment. Our budget will reflect these priorities and we will try to bring to the three areas as much positive elements as possible," Dancila stated on Sunday after the meeting of the Social Democratic Party's (PSD) the National Executive Committee (CExN). When asked if an opinion of Romania's Supreme Council for National Defence (CSAT) is needed in this case, she responded that this decision hasn't yet been made."We will discuss it now," Dancila added.In his turn, Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici showed that on Sunday evening an analysis will be carried out regarding the relocation of budget funds from services to healthcare."This evening, we will make this analysis after the discussion in the CEx meeting and, tomorrow morning, we will have the exact figure and the final version to enter Tuesday in the Government," Teodorovici explained.The Prime Minister also said that all the efforts would be made so that the draft project be adopted on Tuesday.Viorica Dancila was asked also about the mayors' requests."Some of the statements are real and where we have real observations we will regulate, some of them are in an electoral spirit and we have no reason to respect those," the PM stated. The upcoming meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council that will take place in Bucharest is an opportunity for Romania to convey that joining the Schengen is a national goal, Interior Minister Carmen Dan said on Monday. The Romanian official emphasized that for Romania this is an important subject and that it is her duty to bring it to the attention of the European interior ministers. "Schengen talks will be an occasion to test the positions of the member states on the future of this area. It is an opportunity for Romania to convey once again, including in this format of the meeting of the Interior Ministers, that joining the Schengen area is a national goal of which Romanians duly have high expectations. It is my duty, as Minister of the Interior, to reopen this subject and bring it to the attention of the EU Interior Ministers. Each of us - government members and the President of the country - have the duty to convey, each at his own level, that this is an important topic for Romania," Carmen Dan told AGERPRES. According to the IntMin, the agenda of the meeting due in Bucharest February 6 - 8 includes topics such as migration, counter-terrorism or police cooperation, which are on the list of priorities during the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. More than 30 ministers will take part in the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting this week, as well as Dimitris Avramopoulos - EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship; Julian King - EU Commissioner for the Security Union; and Chairman of the European Parliament's LIBE Committee, Claude Moraes. Also attending the meeting, considered to be one of the major events of the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council, will be delegations from all member states, ministerial delegations from Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, as well as representatives of the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU. Taking into account the interest in the issue of border security, the Romanian officials are considering organizing a visit of all European delegates to the Border Police headquarters, to see first-hand the functioning of the Romanian border surveillance system. "Romania has one of the most efficient border surveillance systems, and it's good for European interior ministers to know this," added Carmen Dan. The National Communications Administration and Regulation Authority (ANCOM) last year handed down fines worth a total of 2.43 million lei (rd 530k euro, ed. n.) to several electronic communications and postal service operators, and conducted some 4,000 checks in the sector, the communications watchdog said in release on Monday. ANCOM carried out in 2018 as many as 2,728 control actions that ended with offending companies being served 203 notifications, 391 warnings and 89 fines in excess of 2.4 million lei, as follows: Telekom Romania Mobile Communications was fined 1.1 million lei, of which 600,000 lei for the network being down as a result of the worst security incident registered in Romania's electronic communications, and 500,000 lei for non-observance of the obligation to keep the network logs at the granularity level stipulated in the license. ANCOM also slapped telephony service providers with 19 fines amounting to 155,000 lei, mainly for the violation of their obligations regarding number portability and roaming services. Another 26 fines worth a total of 240,000 lei have been handed down to providers of television and radio broadcasting services (RTV). According to the cited source, CATV service providers received 33 fines totaling 237,500 lei for failure to meet the requirements set forth in the General License, while another nine fines worth a total of 72,000 lei were ordered on radio communication operators. In 2018 ANCOM completed a broad campaign to measure national voice coverage of the areas that hold at least 98 percent Romania's population by operators Orange, Vodafone and Telekom, which had this requirement stipulated in the radio spectrum licenses awarded to them at the 2012 tender. In this context, Telekom Romania Mobile Communications was fined 500,000 lei, while Vodafone Romania and Orange Romania were served warnings for failure to meet their legal obligations. As far as the postal services market is concerned, ANCOM carried out 395 controls last year that ended with 55 warnings and seven fines worth a total of 60,000 lei slapped on the offenders. The highest fine in the market was 25,000 lei and was ordered for the Romanian Post Company for breach of the minimum quality requirements for internal mail. All energy producers will have to supply electricity to population for a regulated price to ensure them a 5 per cent profit of justified costs, according to Order No. 10/2019 of the National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE), published in the Official Journal. ANRE kept the provision according to which Hidrolectrica and Nuclearelectrica must deliver up to 65 per cent of their output, under a regulated regime, but specified it won't happened this year. The regulatory committee of the National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE) on Friday approved the order regarding the methodology for establishing the price for the electricity sold to producers based on regulated agreements and the quantities of electricity recorded in the regulated agreement concluded by the producers with the final suppliers, according to Government Emergency Ordinance 114/2018. "The methodology is part of the regulatory package applicable in the period March 1, 2019 - February 28, 2022, with the objective of ensuring supply of electricity to households clients of the final suppliers, under the regulated conditions. (...) The application of the provisions of the Methodology won't lead to increases in prices for electricity provided to the final household consumers who choose supply under a regulated regime in the period 01.03.2019-28.07.2022," according to an ANRE release. 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With this subscription you will get: Digital access to ElPasoInc.com and archives (value $45) Print subscription home or business delivered (value $65) Book of Lists (annual rate only, value $50) El Paso Inc. Magazine (value $20) El Paso Kids Inc. Special sections - OR - Get 15% off of the regular $45 annual Digital-only rate. With this subscription you will get: Complete digital access to ElPasoInc.com. Think of all the innocence and sense of optimism that comes with childhood. Young minds seem to carry a unique, boundless urge to explore and express their existence. Statesville artist Kellie Funderburk seeks to capture that sense of wonderment with a science-fiction-infused twist. She is one of this years featured artists to exhibit at the Iredell Arts Council space in downtown Statesville. Her exhibit is A Visual Story: Color, Life and Flow. Funderburk said that her fascination with youthful innocence comes from a sense of purity, that holding onto the thought of youth helps her balance all the good and bad in life. I think imagination is one of the biggest things that can still hold that innocence, she said. Funderburk also said she aspires to capture the positive aspects of childhood in her work. Because thats why a lot of my work is always full of colors, she said. I always still hold that hope and just that belief that we all still have that child-like innocence within us. And an expressive color palette does seem to be her signature. One of Funderburks exhibited works is Flower Blossom, which features a young, black woman wearing a blue and gold pendant, with large golden earrings dangling from her ears. The girl bears a soft smile while covered in a green wave laced with a few leaves. In the center of her massive, purple afro lays a modest flower arrangement, resting almost like a tiara above her face. Her use of color in the work is actually somewhat reserved except for the flowers, which are composed of bright greens and reds that almost distract a viewer from the girl entirely. Funderburks website lists her as both an illustrator and problem solver. She said that comes from her constantly melding her artistic style with the desires of people commissioning her work. They want me to still follow the vision that they have, but at the same time, I think the awesome thing is they want me to put myself within that piece, she said. For Funderburk, that part of her identity is her love of comics and science fiction. She mentioned that she is an avid reader of manga, a distinct genre of comic books and graphic novels coming from Japan. Her fixation on nerd culture is reflected in her work. She created a whole Space Rangers series that depicts young children, usually black girls, exploring the cosmos. Funderburk often places the characters in settings that suggest a feeling of vastness, but also takes up other science fiction themes like blending humans with machines. She said this stems from depictions she had seen of humanizing robots. I wanted to show to a certain degree, if we look from a sci-fi point of view, we can almost be the same, she said. Because in sci-fi a lot of robots are being shown that they have emotions and that they have feelings just as much as humans do. But Funderburk also said it is crucial to create characters that she can identify with, noting that as a black woman, she doesnt see herself represented often in art or the other media she enjoys. Even just with African-American women, its just important that we show ourselves and tell our stories no matter what the style is, she said. And though she admits to practicing art throughout her whole life, Funderburk said that she didnt think about it as a career option until she was in middle school. Born and raised in Statesville, Funderburk graduated from South Iredell High School in 2009. After receiving her associate's degree in fine art from Mitchell Community College in 2011, Funderburk transferred to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In 2014, she graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree with a concentration in illustration. Besides doing student exhibitions and the Statesville Art Crawl, this will be her first solo exhibition. And even though Funderburk said shes feeling everything from anxiety to excitement, being in a familiar setting is comforting. It feels really good, especially for it to be the beginning of her career, she said. It is really nice to know that its at home and I feel welcomed. Funderburks work will be on display at the Iredell Arts Council Feb. 6-28. The exhibit is located at 203 S. Meeting St. and the opening reception is planned for Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. More of her work can be seen at her website kelliefunderburk.com. Funderburk is a former student of Iredell Arts Council director Rogelio Calvo. 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. 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On Thursday, we began working on the final component of the barrier project along the Gaza border, said Brig.-Gen. Eran Ophir, head of the armys fence-building administration. The barrier is unique and especially suited to threats from the Gaza Strip and will provide a maximum response to prevent entry into Israeli territory. Read More: Join us - become an Elderado today at: LarryElder.com Follow Larry Elder on Follow Larry Elder on Twitter "Like" Larry Elder on Facebook 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 S amsung has unveiled its latest device, the Samsung Galaxy S10, alongside an innovative foldable smartphone. The tech giant announced a host of new handsets, including three other Galaxy S10 mobiles, at the Samsung Unpacked event on Wednesday. The Galaxy Fold, which is expected to go on sale in two months time, opens up to create a 7.3in (18.5cm) screen similar to a tablet. The phone also contains six cameras - three on the back, two on the inside and one on the front - so photos can be taken at any angle. Samsung usually sets the tone for the next year of smartphones with its February Galaxy release date, but this year has hot competition from the likes of Honor and Xiaomi. So how does the Samsung Galaxy S10 measure up? Here's what we know so far: Samsung Galaxy S10 release date UK The next Galaxy Unpacked event will take place on February 20, with corresponding events taking place in London and New York. Given Samsung usually announces its new phone at Mobile World Congress, the big mobile conference in Barcelona, its interesting that it is deciding to break with tradition and reveal the phone a week earlier. Given this unveiling date, its likely the new phone will be available to pre-order later that week on February 22, with the new phone officially on sale a few weeks later, on March 8. That means you could have a shiny new Samsung phone in just over a month. Samsung Galaxy S10 price It looks like Samsung could be unveiling three phones this year: a lower priced Samsung Galaxy S10E, the normal Galaxy S10, and the larger-sized Galaxy S10+. Three phones means three different price tags. For the S10E, the lite Galaxy S10, the price range is expected to be around 500 - 585, putting it firmly in the mid-market range. This will likely be Samsungs direct competitor to phones from companies like Honor and OnePlus. Other reports are suggesting it could be around 669, making it a cheaper alternative to the iPhone XR. For the normal Galaxy S10, the phone is rumoured to cost 799 with 128GB of storage, and 999 with 512GB of storage. This substantially raises the price of the Galaxy S range from last years S9 phone. The largest Galaxy S10+ could cost around 899 for 128GB of storage, and 1,099 for 512GB storage. There could even be a Galaxy S10+ device with 1TB of storage at 1,399. Now that is an expensive phone. Samsung Galaxy S10 design So what will this new phone look like? The leaks weve seen so far show that Samsung is going for the full-screen device, minimising the bezels (frame around the screen) as much as possible and with no notch. It looks like the phone will have a pinhole camera on the front screen for the selfie camera, similar to the Honor View 20, on the right-hand side of the screen. The Galaxy S10 is likely to be the same 6.1-inch size as the S9, with the larger S10+ likely to be around 6.4-inches. On the glass black of the phone, there will be either two or three cameras and a flash, arranged in a horizontal design. Colour-wise, the phone may come in three colours: black, a pearlescent white and an aquamarine green. Mobile reporter Evan Blass has leaked a few images on his Twitter feed which demonstrate how the phone is likely to look. Samsung Galaxy S10 camera The leaked images display a three-camera set up on the S10 and S10+ devices. According to SamMobile, the phones could have a 12-megapixel main camera, with a 16-megapixel super wide-angle lens and another 13-megapixel lens. The S10+ could have dual-selfie cameras on the front of the phone, like the Google Pixel 3 XL. This should be handy for wide-angle selfies. The Galaxy S10E will only have two cameras, so probably without that third 13-megapixel lens. Samsung Galaxy S10 specs Inside, the phones will likely be sporting Samsungs new Exynos 8920 chip. Its set to be more powerful than the previous 8910 chip, and can handle AI processing up to seven times faster. Keep an eye out for the new AI abilities coming to the Galaxy S10 range. The new chip is expected to be 40 per cent more power efficient, important for battery life, and designed for 5G capability though its unlikely Samsung will be releasing a 5G smartphone just yet, with that device rumoured to arrive later on in 2019. Battery-wise, the S10 is rumoured to have a 3,300mAH battery, which is fairly small given were becoming used to 4,000mAH+ batteries. However, the Galaxy S10+ will be where the bigger battery is. It is rumoured to have a 4,000mAH battery, just like the Note 9. Samsung Galaxy S10: Accessories One thing we're looking forward too at the Samsung Unpacked event is the rumoured wireless earbuds Samsung could be launching. The new Galaxy Buds look to be discreet, wireless earbuds that will carefully match your new Samsung device. As well, according to a leaked promotional image published by German website WinFuture, it looks like the back of the Galaxy S10+ will be able to charge the earbuds wirelessly. The leaked image shows the Galaxy S10+ charging the new wireless earbuds / WinFuture 1 5 years ago, the internet underwent a fundamental change, when Mark Zuckerberg and a few college friends decided to launch Facebook. Initially called TheFacebook, after the directories of students given to American university attendees, the social network now boasts over 1.52 billion daily users, with 2.32 billion people logging in monthly to check status updates and share images. Heres what you need to know about Facebook and how it has changed over the years. How Facebook used to look back in 2009 / Dan Kitwood/Getty Images When did Facebook start? Zuckerberg started Facebook when he was a student at Harvard alongside a few friends, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The idea was to bring online the massive student directories college students were given when they started university in the US, essentially a paper guide of images and information about other students. It went live on February 4, 2004. At first access to the site was only limited to students at Harvard, though its popularity meant it was extended to other university students across the US and Canada by March 2004. Zuckerberg soon dropped out of Harvard and moved to Palo Alto, California, to work on Facebook full time. Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg on stage in 2010 / Justin Sullivan/Getty Images When did Facebook introduce the timeline? The timeline is one of the major features of Facebook and one that has since been copied by other social platforms. The first iteration of this was the News Feed in 2006, which was personalised for each user. It shows highlights from their friends and other pages they followed, such as posts, photos, and birthdays. It was in 2011 when the platform introduced the timeline, a chronological feed for an individual user. This was more like a profile page than the news feed, but featured status updates, photos and more from that individual user. When was the Facebook like button invented? A controversial move, Facebook launched the like button as a thumbs up in February 2009. This allowed people to offer a seal of approval to someones message or photo post. Other social media platforms have a similar feature: Twitter had a favourites button that it has since turned into likes, and Instagram includes a heart button which is essentially a like. For years, Facebook users have been calling for a dislike button. In some way they have one: the platform rolled out Reactions in 2016 which allows people to press the like button and deliver a specific emoji, either love, haha, sad, angry, or wow. Facebook introduced the "like" button in 2009 / JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images When did Facebook buy Instagram and WhatsApp? Facebook has bought around 77 companies since it launched back in 2004, but it was the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp that stand out. Instagram was acquired back in 2012 for $1 billion (629 million). A shrewd move; the app has 1 billion monthly users and is one of the most popular social networks in the world. The WhatsApp acquisition was a little more expensive. Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion in February 2014. It was a controversial deal, to say the least the European Commission fined Facebook $112 million for giving misleading information during the acquisition process. At the time, Facebook said it would not automatically match user accounts on Facebook and WhatsApp in 2014, yet proceeded to do so two years later. This is because this would force WhatsApp users to share their details with Facebook, particularly if they were not already signed up to the platform. When did the Facebook Messenger app launch? Back in 2008, Facebook launched Facebook Chat, an instant-messaging function on the platform. This was so successful that the platform spun it out into a separate platform, named Facebook Messenger, and launched iOS and Android apps for it in 2011. Recently, rumours emerged that Facebook is planning to integrate the messaging aspects of its separate apps, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. The apps would continue to function on their own, but you would be allowed to send encrypted messages directly to people on different platforms, i.e someone on WhatsApp could message someone on Instagram without having to change apps. Facebook spun Messenger out into its own app and platform in 2011 / Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images Facebooks latest problems: fake news and data mishandling Over the past 12 months, Facebook has been marred in controversy. In 2018, there was the Cambridge Analytica scandal which revealed that information on over 87 million users had been sold to a political data analysis firm without their consent. This information was used to target political ads in the 2016 US Presidential election, as well as the 2016 Brexit referendum in the UK. It has also faced criticism for the prevalence of fake news on the platform, allowing the spread of disinformation and hate, as well as scam ads. Last week it was revealed a research app was allowing Facebook to pay people for access to all the data on their phones, including teenagers aged 13 and above. The app exploited a loophole in the Apple App Store and encouraged people to go around the security features in iOS to download the app in exchange for cash. Google has also been found to have a similar app. Both platforms have been shut down now, but it was the latest in a string of data scandals for Facebook. Where will Facebook go next? Despite the issues the platform has faced, it is constantly growing, with over 2.2 billion monthly users on Facebook. That means billions of people around the world use Facebook for news, to catch up with friends and family, share photos, and chat online. However, given its past performance over the last year or so, it is clear that the company has an image problem and it will need to change this if it wants to continue to grow. Speaking about the next steps for Facebook, Dr Ben Marder, senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Edinburghs Business School, said: Greed can be counterproductive - Facebook has lost sight on the reason people use its site, giving too much weight to ads in its algorithm. This is a terrible and unsustainable long-term growth strategy that has proven to cause rapid user decline. It must avoid temptations for short-term quick profitability and instead focus on creating value for their users. G emma Collins joked that she could replace Susanna Reid as Piers Morgans new TV wife as she made a special appearance on Good Morning Britain. The Dancing on Ice hopeful appeared as a guest reporter on the ITV breakfast show after Morgan publicly pledged his support to her following a spat with judge Jason Gardiner last month. Arriving on the show in a cloud of smoke to the tune of Destinys Childs Survivor, the GCs big entrance nearly backfired as the dry ice failed to clear, leaving Morgan joking that the team had set fire to the entire studio. After discussing her lacklustre performance on last nights show and addressing her feud with Gardiner, Collins presented Morgan with a banana inscribed with a special message. Gemma Collins arrives on Good Morning Britain Taking her cues from the Duchess of Sussex, who was photographed writing encouraging notes on bananas during a charity engagement last week, the GC marked the fruit with I love Piers Morgan. The TOWIE star signed off from the show by informing viewers that she hope[s] to be back very soon, prompting Morgan to tell her: I feel like Ive got a new host. Royal-inspired: The GC wrote a message for Morgan on a banana / Good Morning Britain Collins was quick to suggest that she could be Morgans new presenting partner, telling him: Im the new wife move over Susanna! Susanna who? Morgan then jokingly ask, while his usual co-host looked extremely perturbed. Its all about the GC, baby, Collins added. Morgan later shared a photo of him and Collins, captioning it: Move over Susanna, theres a new dream team in town. Though the pair seemed to get on famously, some viewers were less than impressed by the new addition to the Good Morning Britain team, suggesting that Collins cameo had prompted them to switch over to watch Morgans BBC rivals. Didnt even switch on today because of her. BBC gets my vote now, one Twitter user wrote. Hence the reason I watched BBC1 this morning, another added. Others, however, were happy to see a new side to Collins personality. Just seen @missgemcollins with @piersmorgan on @GMB and having a change of heart, one viewer wrote. Not keen on the GC but I do like Gemma, they added. Saw a different person this morning. Please lets see more Gemma and less GC. Discussing her feud with Gardiner, Collins admitted that she found the sharp-tongued judge very amusing and said that she does agree with some of the comments he makes. I think he does it to sort of get me going a bit but it also drives me on, she continued. The more his comments are awful about me, the more I think Im going to come back and prove him wrong. Collins will perform on Sundays instalment of Dancing on Ice after narrowly avoiding the skate-off in last nights show. G wyneth Paltrow is taking lifestyle brand Goop to Netflix for a brand new docuseries, focused on physical and spiritual wellbeing. According to Variety, the award-winning actress is expanding Goops original slate by partnering up with the streaming site later this year with a short series hosted by Paltrow and chief content officer Elise Loehnen. Each 30-minute episode will cover issues related to wellbeing including mental, physical and sexual health - with the help of field experts, doctors and researchers all in conversation. Loehnen told Variety that there is no better platform than Netflix and hailed highly visual and tactile Paltrow for looking to the provider. On screen: Gwyneth Paltow will co-host the new Goop Netflix series (Getty) The deal means that Goop is likely to have a TV-style budget at its disposal to discuss issues Goop fans have come to expect. As well as taking on Netflix, Goop has landed itself a deal with Delta Airlines which will push out their podcast on-board 600 aircrafts and increase the listeners to over 18 million. The first of these podcasts will include a conversation between Paltrow and Oprah Winfrey. Last October, the Hollywood star walked down the aisle with Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk, confirming the sweet news with a photo of two hands overlapping with wedding bands on. The pair married in a private ceremony at the Hamptons, with the newlyweds later taking a modern honeymoon with Paltrows ex Chris Martin, her children and Falchuks children. Paltrow told US talk show Live With Kelly And Ryan: We had a big family honeymoon over Christmas. My new husband, and his children, my children, my ex-husband, our best family friends. A very modern honeymoon. By NY Post , Feb . 03, 2019 Terry McAuliffe, the former governor of Virginia, predicted that embattled Gov. Ralph Northam will do the right thing and step down over racist photos published in his medical school yearbook. Ralph is a good, moral, decent man. And may have made some mistakes in his past. We all have made mistakes. Ralph will do the right thing for the commonwealth of Virginia. He will put Virginia first. And I think that will happen relatively soon, McAuliffe said on CNNs State of the Union on Sunday. Read More: Join us - become an Elderado today at: LarryElder.com Follow Larry Elder on Follow Larry Elder on Twitter "Like" Larry Elder on Facebook L iam Neeson has revealed that he once walked around hoping to kill a black person after someone close to him was raped. The 66-year-old actor said that he was now ashamed of his horrible behaviour. Neeson shared the story in an interview with The Independent in response to a question about his new film Cold Pursuit, in which his character looks for revenge after his son is killed by a drug gang. The star said that he was told about the rape after returning from a trip abroad. Ashamed: Neeson described the behaviour as "horrible" / Neilson Barnard/Getty Images She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way, he told The Independent. But my immediate reaction was I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person. I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping Id be approached by somebody. Im ashamed to say that, and I did it for maybe a week hoping some [Neeson gestures air quotes with his fingers] black b****** would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know. So that I could kill him. The Taken actor told the publication that he required a week or a week and a half to process the events. It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that, he said. And Ive never admitted that, and Im saying it to a journalist. God forbid. Its awful. But I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, What the f*** are you doing, you know? I understand that need for revenge, but it just leads to more revenge, to more killing and more killing. L iam Neeson is facing a furious backlash after stating he once sought a black person to kill in a contemplated act of revenge after someone close to him was raped. The 66-year-old Taken actor said during an interview for his new film he roamed the streets with a cosh "hoping some black b****** would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him." In discussing the story, which was labelled career-ending by one critic, he used the phrase black b******. Author Marian Keyes posted a message on Twitter which said: "I am mortified by Liam Neeson." Comedian and writer Phillip Henry said: "What's most disturbing about what Liam Neeson said is everything. But what's particularly terrifying is the idea that the death of any other Black guy would satisfy the revenge quota to the clear indication is that he knows his whiteness would protect if he followed through on it." Frederick Joseph, who launched a GoFundMe to help take underprivileged children from Harlem in New York to see the film Black Panther, said the statements from Neeson showed a level of privilege. He tweeted: "Liam Neeson being ready to take any Black life over what one person allegedly did just shows how meaningless and inconsequential black lives are to some. "Even him telling the story demonstrates a level of privilege and understating that there may not be repercussions." PA Actress Annie Wallace said: "Liam Neeson... DAMN! What's wrong with people these days... not just the horrible thoughts and deeds, but saying things out loud, in a career-ending kinda way." Others spoke of anticipating the statements having a damaging affect upon Neeson's career. Piers Morgan compares Liam Neeson's racist remarks to Ku Klux Klan stuff Neeson made the comments while discussing how his character turns to anger in new film Cold Pursuit. Neeson told the Independent: "There's something primal - God forbid you've ever had a member of your family hurt under criminal conditions. I'll tell you a story. This is true." He said the rape happened some time ago and said of his friend: "She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way. "But my immediate reaction was... I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person. "I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I'd be approached by somebody - I'm ashamed to say that - and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some black b****** would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him. "It took me a week, maybe a week and a half, to go through that. She would say, 'where are you going?' and I would say, 'I'm just going out for a walk'. You know? 'What's wrong?' 'No no, nothing's wrong.' Referring back to his comments later in the interview, he said: "It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that. And I've never admitted that, and I'm saying it to a journalist. God forbid. "It's awful. But I did learn a lesson from it." R apper 21 Savage was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who say he is in the country illegally. Spokesman Bryan Cox said the artist, whose real name is Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, is a British citizen who entered the US legally in July 2005 but overstayed his visa, which expired in July 2006. His arrest has left fans confused over his origins, since most of his raps detail a turbulent upbringing in Atlanta surrounded by drugs and violence. Officials said they are still waiting for the judges ruling in order to determine how to proceed. 21 Savage was arrested by US immigration officials who say the rapper is a UK native and is in the country illegally. / AP Here's what we know so far: Why was he arrested? Abraham-Joseph was arrested by ICE officials who claim that, although he entered the US legally in 2005, he failed to leave under the terms of a non-immigrant visa. Mr Cox confirmed the arrest to local Atlanta station WSB TV, saying: Mr Abraham-Joseph was taken into Ice custody as he is unlawfully present in the US and also a convicted felon. In October 2014, Abraham-Joseph was convicted on felony drug charges in Fulton county, Georgia. The rapper's attorney, Charles Kuck, said in a written statement: "ICE has not charged Mr Abraham-Joseph with any crime. As a minor, his family overstayed their work visas, and he, like almost two million other children, was left without legal status through no fault of his own." An ICE spokesperson said Abraham-Joseph is being held at a detention facility in Georgia and faces deportation proceedings in federal immigration court. Who is 21 Savage? Confusion: 21 Savage / Getty Images 21 Savage is an American rapper heavily associated with the Atlanta rap scene in the US. Emerging in the late 80s taking influence from the rap scenes in LA and New York, southern hip hop has made artists like Future, Migos, Young Thug and 21 Savage international stars. After releasing a series of mixtapes and EPs, 21 Savage released his debut studio album in 2017, featuring his hit Bank Account. In 2017, he collaborated with Post Malone on his chart-topping track Rockstar, earning him one of two Grammy nominations in 2019. In December, he dropped his much-anticipated second album, I Am > I Was, which debuted at No1 on the US Billboard 200. On Friday, he released the music video to his first single from the album, a lot, which makes references to families being separated at the border. Is 21 Savage from the UK? Since his arrest, representatives for Abraham-Joseph have confirmed that the rapper was born in the UK. A report published by Reuters points to a birth certificate which states the rapper was born in the London borough of Newham. In a statement, his representatives said: "Mr Abraham-Joseph has three US citizen children, a lawful permanent resident mother and four siblings that are either US citizens or lawful permanent residents. "He has exceptionally strong ties in the United States, having lived here since he was in the first grade. Because of his length of residence in the United States and his immediate relatives, Mr Abraham-Joseph is eligible to seek Cancellation of Removal from an Immigration Judge." Dina LaPolt, an attorney for Abraham-Joseph, told TMZ that lawyers are working diligently to get Mr Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding. A n attempted robbery at an Ontario convenience store was thwarted by a quick thinking shop assistant and a bunch of bananas. The would-be thief was forced to run after shop staff defended themselves with the fruit. The man approached the counter on Saturday evening wearing a face covering and asked workers to open up the cash register. Then he jumped up to the counter, my husband pushed down on him, the stores owner told CTV news. Loading.... I saw my husband fighting with him and I just think I have to protect my husband and I looked at the bananas there and just hit him. I had to use something but nothing else here so I used the bananas. Peel Regional Police are investigating the incident. They said the suspect did not have a gun and no employees were hurt during the the botched robbery. Police warned retail workers not to confront suspects as they could be armed. M ajor European nations including the UK, Germany and Spain have today recognised Venezuelas opposition leader Juan Guaido as the countrys interim president. The coordinated move, which also involves Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, came after the expiry of an eight-day deadline the countries set last weekend for President Nicolas Maduro to call for a new vote. France has said Mr Guaido has the right to organise an election given the socialist government's refusal. Mr Maduro, accused of running the nation like a dictatorship and wrecking its economy, has said Europe's ruling elite are sycophantically following Donald Trump's agenda. President Nicolas Maduro / AFP/Getty Images Russia hit back at the coordinated move, stating on Monday that it was an attempt to legitimise Mr Guaido's illegal attempt to seize power and amounted to foreign meddling. Both Russia and China, who have poured billions of dollars of investment and loans into the OPEC nation, support Mr Maduro. Mr Guaido, who leads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself temporary leader last month in a move that has split global powers. A crowd gathers for opposition leader Juan Guido / Getty Images Mr Trump immediately recognised him and European Union nations back Mr Guaido, though some have been nervous over the global precedent of a self-declaration. "I recognise the president of Venezuela's assembly, Mr Juan Guaido, as president in charge of Venezuela," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a statement on Monday, urging a free and fair election as soon as possible. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said "we are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela" / AP British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and the Netherlands' Foreign Minister Stef Blok followed suit. "Nicolas Maduro has not called presidential elections within 8-day limit we have set," Mr Hunt said. "So UK alongside European allies now recognises Juan Guaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held." A spokesman for the German government also said it recognises Mr Guaido as interim president. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Inter radio station Mr Guaido has "the capacity and the legitimacy" to organise a presidential election. Mr Le Drian said France would consult European partners over Venezuela, and that it was imperative the conflict was resolved peacefully and civil war avoided. Sweden, Austria and Denmark also said they recognised Mr Guaido as interim leader of Venezuela. Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido / REUTERS Mr Maduro, 56, former union leader, bus driver and foreign leader, replaced Hugo Chavez in 2013 after his death from cancer. But he has presided over an economic collapse and exodus of 3 million Venezuelans. He blames a US-led "economic war" and also accuses Washington of seeking a coup against him. E mbattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has reportedly compared Donald Trump to the head of the KKK. He apparently made the remarks as he continued to defy efforts by Western powers to recognise his opponent Juan Guaido as acting president. Mr Maduro said he would resist such a move and repeated his assertion that the US President would like to turn his country into a new Vietnam. He was quoted by Sky Italia as saying: Europe and the world need to know that the White House has been taken over by an extremist. It is like the Klu Klux Klan arrived in the White House and Donald Trump is the head of the KKK. Hes surrounded by a group of people they call the Venezuela team. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro / AP According to Sky Italia, he also said that US vice president Mike Pence and national security adviser to Mr Trump John Bolton were part of the supremacist group who dedicate themselves daily to conspire against Venezuela. It comes after major European nations including the UK, Germany and Spain on Monday recognised Venezuelas opposition leader Mr Guaido as the countrys interim president. The coordinated move, which also involves Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, came after the expiry of an eight-day deadline the countries set last weekend for President Nicolas Maduro to call for a new vote. France has said Mr Guaido has the right to organise an election given the socialist government's refusal. Opposition leader Juan Guaido gestures at thousands of supporters / AFP/Getty Images Mr Maduro, accused of running the nation like a dictatorship and wrecking its economy, has said Europe's ruling elite are sycophantically following Mr Trump's agenda. Russia hit back at the coordinated move, stating on Monday that it was an attempt to legitimise Mr Guaido's illegal attempt to seize power and amounted to foreign meddling. Both Russia and China, who have poured billions of dollars of investment and loans into the OPEC nation, support Mr Maduro. Mr Guaido, who leads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself temporary leader last month in a move that has split global powers. Mr Trump immediately recognised him and European Union nations back Mr Guaido, though some have been nervous over the global precedent of a self-declaration. T housands of passengers have been left stranded after a budget airline with routes between the UK and India was blacklised for safety reasons. Turkmenistan Airlines, which has been banned by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), flies from Heathrow and Birmingham to Delhi and Amritsar via Ashgabat. A notice from the Foreign Office to travellers from India says the airline has been banned to or from the EU pending confirmation that it meets international safety standards. A UK Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said: "Following the decision on February 4, by EASA to suspend permission for Turkmenistan Airlines to operate services to the European Union, Turkmenistan Airline flights from Birmingham and Heathrow to Amritsar, and Heathrow to New Delhi - which fly via Ashgabat - are suspended with immediate effect. "The UK Civil Aviation Authority is required under European law to withdraw Turkmenistan Airlines' permit to operate to the UK pending EASA's restoration of their approval that it meets international air safety standards." The airline operates five flights a week from Birmingham and one flight from London Heathrow to Ashgabat. The majority of passengers flying from Britain take connecting flights to India. The Foreign Office said: "Turkmenistan Airlines flights between the UK (London Heathrow and Birmingham) and Turkmenistan (Ashgabat), do not have permission to travel to and from the UK. "Affected passengers are advised to contact Turkmenistan Airlines to seek advice." Turkmenistan Airlines is popular among Britain's Sikh population, with connections to Amritsar, location of the Golden Temple. Flights linking Ashgabat with Frankfurt and Paris have also been grounded. A spokesman for CAA said that passengers who booked directly with Turkmenistan Airlines with a credit card "may be protected under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974" and said customers should contact their card issuers for further information. He added: "Similarly, if you paid by debit or charge card you should contact your card issuer for advice as you may be able to make a claim under their charge back rules. "If you purchased travel insurance that may include cover for scheduled airline failure, known as SAFI, you should contact your insurer. A koala named Summer drowned in a backyard pool while trying to shelter from the scorching heat in Australia. A resident in the country's Gold Coast made an urgent call to Wildcare Australia Inc. after finding the animal, which had been seeking shelter from the heat, at the bottom of her swimming pool on Sunday. A spokeswoman for Wildcare Australia said they believe the koala, named Summer by rescuers, was looking for a drink, which is why koalas lose their lives to pool drownings. She added: Even though koalas can swim, if there are no assisted ways for a koala to climb out they will eventually drown. Pool owners in the area been asked to consider attaching a rope with a flotation device to a tree to ensure koalas can climb out of the water. They have also been advised to use pool covers. A cryptocurrency exchange company has said it cannot repay 110m to its clients because the founder died and was the only one with access to the required passwords. QuadrigaCXs, Canadas leading cryptocurrency exchange company, has been unable to access funds since Gerald Cotten died. The 30-year-old had died due to complications with Crohns disease while travelling in India to open an orphanage in December. Mr Cottens responsibility was to handle funds and coins and no other members of the team had the access he did, CoinDesk reported. Jennifer Robertson, who has been identified as Cottens widow in court documents, said the exchange owes its customers roughly C$250m (US$190m) in cash and cryptocurrency held in its cold storage. Ms Robertson has access to her late husbands laptop but does not know the password, she said. A technical expert has also been brought in to try and access his laptop, but has been unable to bypass its encryption. Customers of QuadrigaCX have been complaining on social media they have been umnable to withdraw money from their accounts. A statement from the board said: "For the past weeks, we have worked extensively to address our liquidity issues, which include attempting to locate and secure our very significant cryptocurrency reserves held in cold wallets, and that are required to satisfy customer cryptocurrency balances on deposit, as well as sourcing a financial institution to accept the bank drafts that are to be transferred to us. D octors are demanding free sanitary towels and tampons are made freely available in hospitals around the UK. The British Medical Association (BMA) argued that, like food, sanitary products are a basic human need and it was inconsistent for some hospitals to give out razors and shaving foam but not offer women towels and tampons. They found that 42 per cent of hospital trusts did not supply any sanitary products at all, only supply small amounts or supply them only in the case of an emergency. Some patients cannot afford to buy their own products, while others unexpectedly find themselves in hospital with nobody to rely on, the BMA said. The union sent Freedom of Information requests to NHS trusts and health boards in the UK and received responses from 187. For those that did have a supply, tampons and towels were often only available on gynaecology or maternity wards. Only 22 percent of hospitals said they could easily be bought on site by the patient. Some trusts and health boards said they spent nothing on sanitary products for inpatients. For those that did, the average spend was 71p per bed per year. A rough estimate from the BMA suggests UK hospitals could supply the products for around 120,000 per year. In a letter to NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens, the BMA's board of science chairwoman, Professor Dame Parveen Kumar, said: "Action must be taken to ensure that patient experience of care is not jeopardised by the non-availability of these essential items. "Patients must not be deterred from undergoing necessary treatment, or hindered in their recovery, because they are unable to access, or embarrassed to request, sanitary products. By Daily Caller , Feb . 03, 2019 CNNs Bakari Sellers agreed with Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown who had called former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz an idiot on Sunday morning, then immediately scrambled to walk it back. Sellers was responding to video showing Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is reportedly thinking about a run for the presidency in 2020, talking to one of his constituents about the fact that Schultz is considering an independent bid for the White House. Read More: Join us - become an Elderado today at: LarryElder.com Follow Larry Elder on Follow Larry Elder on Twitter "Like" Larry Elder on Facebook N ew coins marking Chinese New Year in the UK are set for release by the Royal Mint. The coins, to be issued on Chinese New Year on Tuesday, celebrate the Year of the Pig. The Royal Mint said its latest collection celebrates the UKs multi-cultural society, while also marking the final stage of the 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle. Nicola Howell, director of consumer business at the Royal Mint, said the new coins celebrate the centuries-old Chinese tradition of giving coins at the lunar new year. Rosie-May the micropig presents the Year of the Pig coin / CPG Photography/Royal Mint The pieces, which come in gold and silver forms, were designed by wood engraver and stone carver Harry Brockway. It comes as London gears up for its massive Chinese New Year celebrations on Sunday, with more than 700,000 people expected to descend on central London. B osses warned today it is close to midnight on Brexit as they pleaded with MPs to take no deal off the table. Ryanair called for common sense to prevail at Westminster to avoid the UK crashing out of the EU on March 29. Grim new figures also showed the construction sector grinding to a halt. Business chiefs stressed investment into some automotive firms was in freefall amid the political deadlock over Britains future trade ties with the EU. They stepped up their warnings after Nissans shock announcement that it would build its X-Trail 4x4 in Japan instead of at its Sunderland plant. The car giant, which employs 7,000 people in Sunderland, hit out at Brexit uncertainty as it confirmed the decision. It also gave other reasons such as the move away from diesel vehicles. John Neill, chief executive of parts distributor Unipart, warned that a no-deal Brexit would be devastating for the car industry as it would mean unravelling 40 years of agreements, including frictionless trade. He argued that the automotive industry is suffering an investment famine, with on average 2.5 billion a year having been recently pumped into it but this was now down to 400 million. Richard Swart, global sales director for manufacturer Berger, said: Due to the uncertainty, due to the Prime Ministers plan of not giving assurances on frictionless trade, due to the threat of no deal, its close to midnight now and business have to make decisions. We cannot wait any longer. Ryanair warned that the risk of a no-deal departure remained worryingly high as it reported a 17.5 million loss for the third quarter of 2018, citing weaker-than-expected air fares among its challenges. While we hope that common sense will prevail, and lead to either a delay in Brexit, or agreement on the 21 month transition deal currently on the table, we have taken all necessary steps to protect Ryanairs business in a no-deal environment, the company said. The Markit/CIPS UK Construction purchasing managers index recorded a reading of 50.6 for January, down from 52.8 in December and below the 52.5 expected by the City. B rexit may be delayed to ensure a smooth and orderly departure from the European Union, a Cabinet minister said today. David Gauke became the third senior Cabinet member to admit a delay is possible, despite Downing Street continuing to insist that Britain will leave on time on March 29. The chances of a deal being struck by the deadline seemed remote this morning, despite attempts by the Prime Minister to get hard Brexiteers and Labour MPs on board her withdrawal agreement agreed in November. In key developments: France declared there is no question of going back on the withdrawal agreement and said it remained committed to the Irish border backstop. Claims that Chancellor Philip Hammond would resign if the Government adopted a policy of no deal were described as speculation but not denied by his friends. Formal talks got under way at Downing Street between hardline eurosceptics and former Remain campaigners on the so-called Malthouse compromise, proposals to use new technology to enable a hard Brexit without causing a hard border with Ireland. EU negotiator Sabine Weyand said she did not believe it was possible. European Research Group chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg said many Tory MPs would not vote for a snap general election. But Labours Dame Margaret Beckett said she was increasingly nervous that the PM will go to the country next month, saying that would be a betrayal. German Chancellor Angela Merkel flew to Japan for talks with Shinzo Abe aimed at bolstering EU-Japanese trade after Brexit. Downing Street clarified that it does not expect another meaningful vote on the withdrawal agreement next week in the Commons, although voting can go ahead on amendments on February 14, including one to outlaw a no-deal Brexit. Justice Secretary David Gauke said the phones would provide "a crucial means of allowing prisoners to maintain family relationships" / AFP/Getty Images Justice Secretary Mr Gauke told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that a delay to Brexit was not being sought, but went on: We need to leave the European Union in a smooth and orderly way, and our objective is to do that on 29th March, but I think it is important that it is a smooth and orderly departure and that is key. European leaders made plain their scepticism towards the talks at No 10 on a hi-tech alternative to the backstop, which were attended by ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker, a hardline Brexiteer, and Remain-campaigning former education secretary Nicky Morgan. French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: On the withdrawal deal, there is no question of going back. He told France Inter radio it was hard to see a way out of the current impasse over the backstop. Jacob Rees-Mogg said many Tory MPs would not vote for a snap general election / REUTERS Deputy EU negotiator Ms Weyand tweeted her own answer to the question of whether technology could solve the border problem, saying: Short answer: not in the next few years. Leading Brexiteer Mr Rees-Mogg made clear on LBC radio that he and other ERG members would swallow with some reluctance Mrs Mays withdrawal agreement only if the Malthouse plan was approved. There was anger among Remain campaigners at former ministers who were taking part in the talks. Guto Bebb said: The Malthouse Compromise is a choice between a backstop-free unicorn Brexit and a pig-in-lipstick version of a no-deal Brexit. Neither beast is going to fly. C ommons speaker John Bercow said it was time Sajid Javid upped his game in Parliament as he blasted him for missing a grilling on knife crime prevention orders. He criticised the home secretary and said he was "rude" after sending junior minister Victoria Atkins in his stead to answer an urgent question on Asbo-style knife crime prevention orders. Mr Bercow said Mr Javid was discourteous in a three-minute long rant. "Let it be crystal clear that the Secretary of State for the home department should be in this chamber answering this urgent question. "If the Secretary of State for the home department aspires to something a little more elevated than to be a jobbing functionary of the executive branch, and wants to be a serious and respected parliamentarian, he has to develop antennae and respect for the rights of the House of Commons. "In the circumstances that he's had notice that he should be here, it is both ill-judged and rude of the Secretary of State for the home department to send his admittedly brilliant junior minister into the chamber when he should be here." Home secretary Sajid Javid speaks to media at the Home Office in London / Stefan Rousseau/PA Mr Bercow concluded it was not his place to take any stance on the policy but said: In procedural terms it really is time that he [Mr Javid] upped his game. He also criticised him for taking time to "scuttle off" for media appearances in regards to the policy. Ms Atkins stated the Home Office meant no discourtesy by Mr Javid not being in attendance. John Bercow has been in multiple spats in the Commons / PA She went on to discuss the new policy, which would put limits on knife crime suspects access to social media. For the issue to be curbed she said it was vital for the police to "have the powers they need". She added when those on the front line said "they required additional powers of intervention to deal more effectively with people being drawn into knife crime we listened and we have acted". "These orders are aimed at young people who are at risk of engaging in knife crime, it is aimed at people who police call habitual knife carriers of any age and at those who have been convicted of a violent offence involving knives, she added. As well as Mr Bercow, opposition politicians were quick to criticise Mr Javid. Labour's Vernon Coaker said the public would find it "absolutely incredible" that the Home Secretary could not turn up, adding: "He is not only invisible, he's vanished from this chamber, it's not good enough. B osses today pleaded with MPs to take no deal off the table as shock figures were published showing a recovery in Britains construction sector has been snuffed out amid Brexit uncertainty. The grim news came the day after Nissan announced it would build its X-Trail 4x4 in Japan instead of at its Sunderland plant. John Neill, chief executive of parts distributor Unipart, warned no deal would be devastating for the car industry, and called for it to be taken off the table. Ryanair also called for common sense to prevail at Westminster to avoid the UK crashing out of the European Union on March 29. London was said to be particularly hit by the sharp slowdown in growth in the construction sector which was worse than the City had feared. Uncertainty about Brexit has snuffed out the recovery in the construction sector, said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. The gloomy figures came as: Downing Street announced Theresa May will travel to Northern Ireland for a speech to try to open a way for a Brexit deal. David Gauke became the third senior Cabinet member to admit a delay to Brexit is possible, despite Downing Street continuing to insist that Britain will leave on time on March 29. Claims that Chancellor Philip Hammond would resign if the Government adopted a policy of no deal were described as speculation but not denied by his friends. Talks got under way at Downing Street between hardline Eurosceptics and former Remain campaigners on the Malthouse compromise, proposals to use new technology to enable a hard Brexit without causing a hard border with Ireland. EU negotiator Sabine Weyand said she did not believe it was possible. France declared there is no question of going back on the withdrawal agreement and said it remained committed to the Irish border backstop. European Research Group chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg said many Tory MPs would not vote for a snap general election. But Labours Dame Margaret Beckett said she was increasingly nervous that the PM will go to the country next month, saying that would be a betrayal. German Chancellor Angela Merkel flew to Japan for talks with Shinzo Abe aimed at bolstering EU-Japanese trade after Brexit. Downing Street clarified that it does not expect another meaningful vote on the withdrawal agreement next week in the Commons, although voting would go ahead on amendments on February 14, including one to outlaw a no-deal Brexit. The Markit/CIPS UK construction purchasing managers index recorded a reading of 50.6 for January, down from 52.8 in December and below the 52.5 expected by the City. A reading above 50 indicates growth. Tim Moore, of IHS Markit, which compiles the survey, said: Delays to client decision making on new projects in response to Brexit uncertainty was cited as a key source of anxiety at the start of 2019. TODO: define component type apester Staff recruitment slowed to a crawl in January, with construction firms reporting the softest rate of job creation since July 2016. Justice secretary David Gauke hinted his support for a delay to Brexit if it was needed to ensure a "smooth and orderly" exit. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We need to leave the European Union in a smooth and orderly way, and our objective is to do that on March 29, but I think it is important that it is a smooth and orderly departure and that is key. B russels has again ruled out making changes to the controversial Irish border backstop in Theresa Mays Brexit deal as senior Tories began talks on alternatives. The European Union's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said the backstop was the "only operational solution" to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. And senior Brussels official Martin Selmayr insisted there were no plans to offer legally binding assurances to help Mrs May get her deal through Parliament. He added that the EU did well to start no deal preparations in December 2017. The EU's refusal to give ground came as senior Tories from both wings of the party met in Whitehall for talks aimed at finding a solution to the Irish border issue following last week's Commons vote calling for "alternative arrangements" to replace the backstop. Conservative MPs Theresa Villiers, Nicky Morgan, Damian Green, Iain Duncan Smith and Owen Paterson leave the Cabinet Office on Whitehall / AFP/Getty Images TODO: define component type apester In another headache for the Prime Minister, former first minister of Northern Ireland Lord Trimble threatened to take the Government to court over the backstop, arguing it breaches the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Irelands deputy premier Simon Coveney said alternatives to the border backstop represent wishful thinking and that many hours were involved in coming up with a legally credible and pragmatic solution. He added: "He added: "What Ireland is being asked to do by some in Westminster is to essentially do away with an agreed solution between the UK Government and EU negotiators and to replace it with wishful thinking and I think that's a very unreasonable request to ask the Irish Government to be flexible on. Standing firm on the backstop: Jean-Claude Juncker and Michel Barnier / EPA "So if there are alternative arrangements that can work the current protocol, if people take the time to read it, takes account of that and it says very clearly that the backstop can be replaced by alternative arrangements as long as they work." The alternative arrangements working group, made up of senior Leave and Remain-leaning Tories, held its first talks in Whitehall with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay. Under pressure on Brexit: Theresa May / Jack Taylor/Getty Images After more than two hours of discussions, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, a leading Brexiteer, said "all sides of this debate" were "coming together to find a solution", while ex-education secretary Nicky Morgan said the talks were "very constructive". Meanwhile the cross-party House of Commons Brexit Committee was in Brussels for talks with senior figures including Mr Selmayr, the European Commission general secretary viewed as Jean-Claude Juncker's right-hand man. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte with Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier / EPA In response to reports that he had told the Brexit Committee that the EU would be ready to consider legally binding assurances, Mr Selmayr tweeted: "On the EU side, nobody is considering this. "Asked whether any assurance would help to get the Withdrawal Agreement through the Commons, the answers of MPs were ... inconclusive. "The meeting confirmed that the EU did well to start its no deal preparations in December 2017." Mr Barnier held talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and said there was "full agreement that (the) Withdrawal Agreement cannot be reopened". He said the EU was "ready to work on alternative solutions during transition", restating Brussels' position that the backstop had to remain in place unless and until a replacement could be agreed. Labour MP Hilary Benn leaves after a meeting with the Secretary General of the European Commission and Britain's Ambassador to the European Union / AFP/Getty Images Mr Rutte said: "The Withdrawal Agreement remains the only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. "We continue to urge the UK Government to clarify its intentions with respect to its next steps." Brexit: Leave and Remain supporters gather in London on 29 January 1 /25 Brexit: Leave and Remain supporters gather in London on 29 January Pro-EU and pro-Brexit protestors discuss the vote and ongoing political processes as they demonstrate near to the Houses of Parliament Getty Images A man holds a 'Stop Brexit' sign aboard a campaign bus travelling down Whitehall in Westminster, London PA Pro-Brexit demonstrators chant slogans outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Anti-Brexit demonstrators protest outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters A leave supporter vapes electronic cigarette in front of a group of remain supporters AP Pro-Brexit protestors dressed as suffragettes demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Images An anti-brexit supporter holds banners in London AP Pro and anti Brexit protestors discuss the vote and ongoing political processes as they demonstrate near to the Houses of Parliament Getty Images Pro-Brexit and anti-Brexit protesters hold banners in London AP A campaigner dressed as Charlie Chaplin walks by the Houses of Parliament PA A leave supporter holds banners at the parliament gates AP Pro-Brexit, left and anti-Brexit protesters hold banners in London AP Pro-Brexit demonstrators protest outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters A leave supporter holds banners in front of remain supporters during demonstrations in London AP Police officers stand near Pro-Brexit and Anti-Brexit posters outside the Houses of Parliament, in Westminster, London Reuters Leave supporters hold placards in front of remain supporters during demonstrations in London, AP A pro-Brexit protestor sets fire to a roll of toilet paper decorated with the EU flag as she demonstrates near the Houses of Parliament Getty Images A pro-Brexit protestor sets fire to a roll of toilet paper decorated with the EU flag as she demonstrates near the Houses of Parliament Getty Images Leave supporters hold placards as they take part in demonstrations near the parliament in Londo AP Leave and remain supporters hold placards as they take part in demonstrations near the parliament in London AP Pro-Brexit activists hold placards and wave flags as they demonstrate opposite the Houses of Parliament in London AFP/Getty Images A remain supporter, left and a leave supporter, center, discuss during demonstrations in London AP Pro-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster Getty Images v Reuters Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate on a double decker bus outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster Getty Images Mrs May will visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday for a speech in which she is expected to confirm her Government's "absolute commitment" to avoiding a hard border with the Republic after Brexit. Downing Street has indicated potential solutions could revolve around a time limit or unilateral break clause on the backstop or new technologies to make it unnecessary. But Mrs May's official spokesman declined to say whether Home Secretary Sajid Javid was right to suggest that the UK Border Force had identified "existing technologies" to do the job. Countdown to Brexit: 53 days until Britain leaves the EU German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was ready to listen to proposals to solve the border "riddle", but needs to hear from Britain how it thinks it can be done. Speaking during a trip to Japan, Mrs Merkel said: "To solve this riddle, you have to be creative and you have to listen to one another. "We can have those conversations, so we can use the remaining time to perhaps remove the obstacles that have so far stood in the way and find an agreement if everyone is willing. "But we must hear from Great Britain how they want to do it." Mrs Merkel's visit for talks with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe came soon after a new EU-Japan trade deal came into force and a day after Nissan confirmed it was ditching plans to build its X-Trail SUV in Sunderland. The company said the decision was largely driven by changing demand for diesel models but added that "uncertainty around the UK's future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future". The chairman of the Brexit Committee, Hilary Benn, voiced scepticism about the prospects for a technological solution to the border issue, telling reporters: "Personally, I don't see how it can work - particularly in the very short amount of time that there is left." Speaking after the committee's meeting with Mr Selmayr, Mr Benn said the UK Government and EU had already put a great deal of effort into exploring a technological solution, only to conclude that: "It's not going to work." Meanwhile, Downing Street poured cold water on speculation over an early election, saying that Mrs May was "absolutely not" considering a vote on June 6. C ould there be an upturn in the fortunes of Julian Assange the WikiLeaks founder who has been in asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy for nearly seven years? Diplomats from his native Australia have been in to interview him about his deteriorating health recently. Greg Barns says that the diplomats have now seen first-hand the untenable situation Julian is in. His health is deteriorating yet he cannot get medical care for fear of arrest. Assange entered the Ecuadorian Embassy in Knightsbridge on June 19, 2012 seeking asylum after a European Arrest Warrant was issued by the Swedish authorities who claimed he had questions to answer over sexual assault claims in Stockholm. Assange claimed he would not receive a fair hearing and feared that Sweden would extradite him to America. He has not left the Ecuadorian Embassy since. His stay has cost the Latin American country 3.8 million in security costs. Barns says Assange who has little opportunity to exercise and minimal exposure to sunlight is now suffering chronic pain in his arm and is in need of dental work, which cannot be carried out at the embassy. In June last year, Australian diplomatic staff made a preliminary secret visit to see Assange, who wants Marise Payne, Australias foreign minister, to secure permission from the UK for him to be treated outside the embassy without being arrested. Alan Duncan, the Foreign Office Minister, has said: If [Assange] were to step out of the embassy ...first priority would be to look after his health. Assange has been unsuccessful in his attempts to have the UK arrest warrant against him withdrawn. Although Sweden dropped its own warrant for him, an English judge said his failure to surrender to bail meant the UK warrant was still valid. Supporters who stumped up 200,000 in sureties in 2010 forfeited their contributions. The Australian High Commission confirmed this morning that they are giving assistance to Assange, and told the Londoner: "The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to Mr Assange through the Australian High Commission in London. Consular officials routinely visit Australians to provide consular assistance. As with every consular case, our focus is on the welfare of the Australian citizen. Owing to our privacy obligations we will not provide further comment." Opaque? Never! Batman returns: Camila Batmanghelidjh / Carl Court/Getty Images Camila Batmanghelidjh is back. The founder of Kids Company was among speakers at a 120 a ticket conference titled Vulnerability and Gang Life on Saturday. The biography supplied to guests summarised her career: Having qualified as a psychotherapist in her early 20s, she has combined a wide range of therapeutic practices with practical interventions in depleted, urban neighbourhoods... She doesnt do vanilla or sepia, and wont wear opaque tights. No mention of the fact that Kids Company closed in 2016 over questions concerning its use of 46 million of public funding, performance and management. -- Why did Stella Rimington, the first-ever female director general of MI5, never divorce her husband John despite separating in the Eighties? People think its odd, she says, but by the time we split up, I was working very hard. Because of the work I was doing like investigating the IRA I didnt want the publicity a divorce would bring. -- There is no one lonelier in literature than Sophies mum in the Tiger Who Came To Tea, says Tony Award-winning playwright Jack Thorne. When the Tiger knocks shes shocked because the milkmans been, its not the groceries day and her husband has a key. No one ever visits her. No wonder she lets that cat do whatever he wants. Reds are not the only Labour supporters Author Jeanette Winterson / Getty Images Jeannette Winterson, who wrote Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit about her harsh upbringing in a typical Northern, working-class mill town in Lancashire, says she wants to be an MP but is against Jeremy Corbyns 1970s, past-its-sell-by-date socialism. She says: If Labour splits to form a new party committed to tax reform, human rights, social justice and a second referendum, then I will join that party and stand for election as an MP. Winterson recently wrote a pamphlet on the womens rights movements inspired by the Suffragettes entitled: Courage Calls to Courage Everywhere. SW1A Lasting legacy: David Miliband (Riccardo Savi/Getty Images ) / Riccardo Savi/Getty Images David Miliband is the brains behind the community organisers whose costs are apparently pushing the Labour Party into the red for the first time under Jeremy Corbyn. A Labour source points to the Movement for Change that Miliband debuted during his 2010 leadership campaign. The idea briefly bore fruit before being shelved but was revived by Corbyn last year. -- Whatever could be behind Corbyns call on Saturday for a snap election? Surely it wasnt Momentum chief Jon Lansman admitting on Friday that now an election looks unlikely anytime soon? Given Labours second referendum policy was that they would only consider it if they couldnt get a general election, thats an awkward circle for Corbyn to square. -- Man of the Moment: Kit Malthouse / K. Y. Cheng/Getty Images The Malthouse Compromise was the proposal to salvage Brexit, but housing minister Kit Malthouse reveals it originally had a far sexier name the Room 34 proposal. Quote of the Day So is being hit by a car at 30mph, but that doesnt mean its advisable A chef is serving up lasagne made out of grey squirrel in London's Borough Market. Ivan Tisdall-Downes, who runs the restaurant Native in the capital's foodie hub, makes a squirrel ragu by slow cooking the meat from the squirrels' hind legs. He sources the meat from his wild boar supplier, who also happens to help with grey squirrel culling, according to the Sunday Telegraph. The former River Cottage chef, from south east London, said diners are increasingly turning to cruelty-free wild meat and are interested in minimising their carbon footprint - making squirrels a popular choice. A London restaurant is using grey squirrel meat to make lasagne / Pixabay/bigfoot Mr Tisdall-Downes then uses his ragu to make an open lasagne using lightly cooked sheets of celeriac instead of pasta. And the chef uses offal from the meat for Native's game parfait, according to Big Hospitality. Grey squirrels, which were introduced from America in the 1870s, are classed as an invasive species that out competes the UK's endangered native red squirrel. Mr Tisdall-Downes claims the meat tastes like rabbit. He said: Squirrel is one of the most sustainable proteins you can cook really. It is almost exactly the same in taste as rabbit. It's tasty, it's not as gamey as rabbit, it's nice white meat. It's good to cook down slowly and make stews from and ragus for lasagne. "It's very good for you, it's quite lean." He added: "I think sustainable eating is becoming more popular now. More and more people are more conscious of their carbon footprint and the damaging additives that get put in their food." The London chef is not alone is his use of wild meat. Kevin Tickle, who runs the Michelin-starred restaurant The Forest Side in Cumbria, uses grey squirrel meat to make croquettes. His "critter fritter" has been on the restaurant's tasting menu since 2016. He said diners find it quite exciting. The red squirrel is officially classed as Near Threatened in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but is locally common in Scotland. L ondoners are at an increased risk of harm because two hospitals are not sharing information with a scheme aimed at tackling hidden violence on the street, it was claimed today. The project, which has been shown to reduce attacks by up to 40 per cent, sees 27 of 29 A&E departments in London give anonymised information to police, to help identify violence hotspots. However, St Georges A&E, one of the busiest in the capital, is no longer giving information to the scheme because of concerns over data protection, prompting fears others may follow. It has also emerged that Chelsea and Westminster hospital trust has never joined the so-called Cardiff model. 27 of 29 emergency departments are sharing data aimed at tackling violence In Hackney, the scheme has been used by the police gangs unit to identify problem areas since victims of gang violence rarely go to police but do go to hospital for treatment. The decision by the two hospitals not to participate was described as truly horrific by a London Assembly politician. Liberal Democrat police and crime committee member Caroline Pidgeon said data sharing was highly effective, adding: For a hospital, especially in London, to opt out of the scheme is truly horrific. As the scheme does not involve any breach of personal data there really is no excuse. Jonathan Shepherd, architect of the original Cardiff scheme launched 20 years ago, said: Evaluations show that the use of this unique information cuts serious violence by over 40 per cent. A St Georges spokesman said: We chose not to renew the agreement because the guidance didnt meet new data protection legislation. This decision does not restrict our ability to provide police with information to help them investigate specific incidents. A spokesman for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: We are committed to supporting and working closely with The Mayors Office for Policing And Crime ... we will ensure we share the required data around violent incidences. 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Sir Brian Leveson, who, as president of the Queens Bench oversees the criminal justice system, told parliamentarians that financial cutbacks had created a serious risk to quality and threatened to deplete the number of skilled scientists able to test to the necessary standard. A television-inspired CSI effect was adding to the risk by making it harder to persuade witnesses to testify in court because they wrongly believed all crimes could be solved forensically. This trend meant that if forensic evidence was absent, prosecutions might not be possible and part of the criminal justice system would fall away dramatically. Sir Brian: 'Forensic science providers continue to be under significant financial strain' / Getty Images Sir Brians warning, which was delivered during an appearance before the House of Lords science and technology committee, is the latest in a series of alerts issued in recent years about the quality of forensic science. Many of the problems, which have included testing errors in rape and sexual assault cases, have arisen since the Government closed the state-owned Forensic Science Service in 2012 and shifted its work to private companies or in-house police laboratories. In his testimony to peers, Sir Brian said: I think that we are in very serious trouble. Forensic science providers continue to be under significant financial strain. This represents a serious risk to quality, particularly in relation to the potential for the loss of skilled scientists. He said more investment was needed to maintain experienced and capable scientists who are not going to be rushed into reaching conclusions that will be undermined because the job has not been done properly and that new regulatory powers to enforce high standards were also required. He added that the effect of US TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation made the consequences of not having adequate forensics even worse. If we cannot solve it [crime] in any way, less will be solved and the system will start to crumble, he added. P olice have launched a manhunt after a thug broke into a Tube drivers cab and attacked him with a bottle. The attack happened on a Jubilee line train at Kilburn station at about 10.40pm on Tuesday. A man reportedly threatened to shoot the driver after he had been told to leave the train. No firearm was seen, but the man forcibly entered the drivers cab and attacked him with a bottle. Police are hunting this suspect after the attack on Tuesday / British Transport Police The suspect left the station and boarded another Jubilee train travelling southbound. Anyone with information on the man is asked to call British Transport Police / British Transport Police The victim suffered a cut to the back of his head. British Transport Police has released images of a suspect and is appealing for information. P olice investigating the damage of London war memorials have released CCTV of a man with a distinctive gait who they are hoping to track down. The clips show the suspect at around the time of the attacks with what appears to be white paint splashed onto his trousers. The Bomber Command memorial in Green Park was vandalised on January 20. The next day, police also received reports of damage to the 'Allies Statue' of Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt in New Bond Street, the Canada Memorial in Green Park, The Royal Marine Memorial in The Mall and the Yvonne Fletcher memorial in St James's Square. The man was spotted with white paint splashed on his clothes in the area / Metropolitan Police In all cases white paint had been splashed on the memorials and paint was also found on a shop window on Old Bond Street. Detective Inspector David Watkinson, who is leading the investigation, said: We have exhausted all operational lines of inquiry and have now released this footage as part of our sustained effort to identify the person responsible for this wanton vandalism. The Bomber Command memorial in Green Park was vandalised on January 20 / Jeremy Selwyn The individual in the CCTV, who we believe to be male, has a distinct gait and we want to people to think carefully about whether they can identify him. People have had a strong reaction to the damage caused to these important memorials which are part of our culture and heritage. A statue of Winston Churchill in Mayfair was also daubed with white paint / Jeremy Selwyn We are committed to doing everything we can to bring the perpetrator to justice. "The route we believe was taken by the suspect is usually very busy and they are likely to have been seen by a number of people. If you travelling on public transport and remember seeing someone with white paint on their clothes, please call us. It isnt too late to share information. A mentally ill man's death in police custody more than a decade ago prompted a cover-up from officers, a misconduct hearing has heard. Sean Rigg, a 40-year-old musician who had schizophrenia, died after being detained in Brixton police station in 2008. He was taken there following reports he was aiming karate kicks at passers-by while semi-clothed for no apparent reason. The incident was not treated as a medical emergency despite Mr Rigg showing clear signs of mental illness. Metropolitan Police constables Andrew Birks, Richard Glasson, Matthew Forward and Mark Harratt and custody Sergeant Paul White are facing misconduct charges in regards to the incident. Gerard Boyle QC, representing the Met, said multiple witnesses reported Mr Rigg acting as if in the grips of a mental crisis. He stated if officers searched the police computer for the name on his passport they would have found his medical history. However, according to Mr Boyle, Mr Riggs was unjustifiably arrested on suspicion of stealing the passport, cuffed and held face-down in the prone position for an "excessive" period. He added: "It was obvious Mr Rigg must have been suffering from mental health problems and that he should've been treated by the officers as a medical emergency. "It's simply staggering that the officers did not consider the role of mental health issues." They should have been aware that if there is "any doubt" of such an issue that the detainee should have been taken to A&E and not the station. Mr Boyle added their "egregious failure" to do anything for Mr Rigg became "more unforgivable" when they failed to help him when he was slumped on the floor in the station. The QC said White, the custody sergeant, expressed a "cavalier and lackadaisical" attitude to Rigg and even falsely assumed he was under the influence of drugs or "feigning" his condition. Mr Boyle said: "In an attempt to cover up their behaviour, Glasson, Harratt, Forward and White have lied to investigating officers and/or a jury." Mr Rigg was arrested in Balham, south-west London, in August 2008 and was restrained in the prone position by three officers for more than seven minutes. He later died after suffering a heart attack. At the inquest into Mr Rigg's death in 2012 jurors found that officers had used "unsuitable" force against him. All five officers are accused of misconduct over Mr Rigg's arrest and his treatment in custody. Glasson, Forward, Harratt and White are further accused of giving dishonest accounts of what happened to either the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, or the jury at Mr Rigg's inquest. The Crown Prosecution Service decided there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges against any of them, other than one count of perjury against Sgt White. He was cleared of the charge in 2016 after being accused of lying to the inquest into Mr Rigg's death. S cotland Yard is seizing record sums from Londons criminal Mr Bigs using new powers to freeze bank accounts containing suspected illicit cash. Figures show that the Met has seized 83 million from suspected criminals in the 11 months to the end of 2018 a 50 per cent rise on the previous year. Detectives are using powers that came in last January that allow law enforcement agencies to freeze the accounts of individuals suspected of involvement in crime. So far, the Met has obtained 199 account freezing orders with a total value of 42,327,826. The measures were part of legislation to target organised crime and run in parallel with unexplained wealth orders. Police say they are also seizing regular bundles of cash part of the billions in drug-dealing profits being ferried around the capital. Officers say criminal couriers carry huge sums in suitcases, rucksacks and shopping bags to convert at the UKs 45,000 money service bureaus, the vast majority in London. The cash is laundered through MSBs before being dispatched to airports such as Heathrow and air freighted abroad. Detective Superintendent Nick Stevens, head of economic crime at Scotland Yard, said: Street drug dealers deal in cash because their clients want to pay cash and we follow that up through the chain, the organised criminals and the money launderers. He added: Cash will move through an MSB and the money will be freighted out of the country 2 billion a month to countries such as UAE and other places. He said the Mets Proactive Money Laundering Team seize parcels of cash from criminals nearly every day. In the 12 months to November the Met made 817 seizures. Mr Stevens said the new laws had opened up significant opportunities. He added: The account freezing orders are decided by magistrates courts on the balance of probabilities and can be followed up with forfeiture requests. All the investigations are ongoing and, so far, none of the sums has been ordered by the court to be forfeited. Last year, Edoardo Archetta, who ran Italian restaurant Bucci in Balham, was jailed after being convicted over a global money-laundering operation for the Ndrangheta mafia group. A murder investigation was under way today after a man was found dead after a fire at a mental health facility in north London. Fire crews were called to the Highgate Mental Health Centre to reports of a fire on the ground floor shortly before 6.30am yesterday. Police and ambulance crews also raced to the hospital on Dartmouth Park Hill and found a 46-year-old man who was pronounced dead at the scene. Two men, aged 21 and 30, were arrested on suspicion of murder. Both are being questioned in custody today at London police stations. Detectives launched a murder inquiry amid suspicions that the fire was started deliberately. Police said no-one else was injured in the incident. The victim and the two men arrested are all thought to be residents at the mental health facility. The centre is part of the Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust and has a number of acute inpatient wards plus a crisis resolution team and mental health services for older people. London Fire Brigade said part of a room on the ground floor was damaged by fire and 100 people were evacuated by staff. Fire crews were called at 6.20am and the fire was under control by 7.19am. Scotland Yard said the victims family had been told and a post-mortem examination to establish how he died would be held soon. A spokesman said enquiries were under way to establish the full circumstances and the cause of the fire. H alf of all knife crime offenders in London are teenagers or even younger children, new Met figures have revealed in a stark illustration of the scale of youth violence in the capital. The police statistics show that 41 per cent of those being caught for knife crimes across Londons boroughs are now aged between 15 and 19. Another 8 per cent are younger still, ranging in age from ten to 14, in a further sign of how carrying and using blades has become part of life for a minority of troubled young people. The new figures came as a Scotland Yard chief warned that attacks in the capital were also becoming more ferocious as offenders who were more and more young tried to kill or injure by getting up close and stabbing someone several times. Chief Superintendent Ade Adelekan, the head of the Mets Violent Crime Task Force, added that police were striving hard to tackle the problem and making some progress by upping stop and search and using other tactics, including the deployment of embedded plain clothes officers to work with uniformed counterparts in the worst hit communities to help police intervene before stabbings occurred. Jaden Moodie, 14, was stabbed to death in London last month / Metropolitan Police But he admitted that officers were having to re-educate themselves on how to conduct stop and search after losing the art and skill during recent years when under pressure from the government - their use of the tactic had declined to negligible levels. Mr Adelekans comments follow the fatal stabbing of two London teenagers - Jaden Moodie. 14, and 17-year-old Nedim Bilgin - last month and a succession of other young knife fatalities in 2018. Both killings have already prompted intense concern about the way in which young Londoners are being caught up in knife crime. Stabbed to death: Nedim Bilgin But the new statistics disclosed by Mr Adelekan provde the most comprehensive illustration so far of the strikingly young age profile and background of Londons knife offenders. He said that the perpetrators of knife crime which the Office for National Statistics last week showed at a near record level of just under 15,000 offences in a year - were overwhelmingly young males with almost half aged between 10 and 19. Another 17 per cent were aged between 20 and 24, meaning that the under-25s account for two thirds of all knife crime in the capital. On ethnicity, Mr Adelekan said that 73 per cent of knife offenders and 53 per cent of victims were from a black or ethnic minority background. Many were from more impoverished communities and possessed similarities with each other that needed to be understood if sustained falls in knife crime were to be achieved. Violence is top of the agenda for the Met and knife crime injury victims under 25 are 15 per cent down, he said during an address to the policy debating organisation Westminster Insight. Theres still plenty of work to be done, but we are heading in the right direction. Part of our success around this has been down to increasing our use of stop and search. There were 15,000 done in November, compared to July when there were roughly around 9,000. So theres been a significant increase. We are also making sure all our recruits go through stop and search training and frontline officers are re-educated around stop and search because what our officers were finding on the streets, we havent done stop and search in quite a while, there were people walking round carrying a knife, there was lots of confrontation because we hadnt done it in quite a while and probably lost the art and skill of having the conversation without it descending into confrontation. So we are sort of learning as we go along. Mr Adelekan said the Violence Crime Task Force, which was set up last April and now has 300 officers, was also using 24 hour intelligence gathering, combined with a high profile overt presence, covert operations, and other confidential tactics to target offenders He warned, however, that we cannot enforce our way out of this - prevention and intervention is the key and added: Attacks are more ferocious. We had 135 homicides in 2018 and 79 of those were knife homicides. That says something; getting up close and stabbing people several times When you speak to gang members and ex-gang members their world is totally different from ours and I think we need to understand that in order to intervene. The journeys of some of these young people embroiled in knife crime and gangs are quite similar. Excluded from school, no significant role model in their life, move from place to place, involved in petty crime very early on, come from a household known to social services. All those things, you look at the pattern, its all the same. Police have a role, but every profession, every agency has a role to play, so hopefully we intervene in the right places. Home Secretary launches new orders to tackle senseless knife violence Mr Adelekan said that the Met also backed the introduction of new knife crime prevention orders announced by Home Secretary Sajid Javid last week - which will allow social media bans, restrictions on going to specific areas and curfews to be imposed on those aged 12 or over who are at risk of blade offending. Mr Adelekan said the new orders had been requested by the Met and would allow intervention without criminalising young people. He added: Currently if you are not in a gang there are no civil interventions. To get a criminal behaviour order you have to have been convicted of an offence. Theres nothing that allows us to intervene in young peoples lives legislatively without criminalising them at the moment. So theres a gap. Knife crime in London reached an all-time high last year when Office for National Statistics figures showed a total of 14,987 such offences during the 12 month period ending in June 2018. New figures published last week showed the total had dipped marginally to 14,847 in the year to the end of September. But that still amounted to an 8 per cent rise on the comparable period a year earlier and included 83 knife killings and 161 rapes or sexual assaults carried out with a blade. F ormer crime boss Terry Adams has been jailed for 12 months after he claimed to be too poor to pay a 46,000 legal bill. The 64-year-old claims he is living on handouts and unable to settle the debt from his 2007 money laundering conviction, arguing he has no assets and is living in a council flat. However, District Judge Michael Snow ruled today that Adams has undisclosed reserves held in secret by associates. Im satisfied he clearly has asset available to him, assets he doesnt wish to disclose to me, he said. Given he has assets, and has been aware of this order since 2007 and made no attempt to pay, he has wilfully refused to settle the order. The judge ordered Adams into custody immediately, but said the former gangster could be free as soon as the money was provided. Giving evidence to Westminster magistrates court this morning, Adams claimed he is the victim of a witchhunt by the courts and prosecutors. Adams was ordered last year to settle a 720,000 confiscation order from his 2007 conviction, fighting all the way to the Court of Appeal is a bid to avoid paying all the money. He claimed to be effectively living off his actress wifes money, but judges ordered him to pay after hearing about regular meals out at the Dorchester, The Ivy and Browns in Mayfair. The money was then paid by a man Adams has refused to identify, saying only that he was a member of his extended family who admired his charity work with ex-offenders. I said never ever again to him, because it was like it was my money, said Adams. He thought he was helping, having seeing the charity work that I do in helping people not to go back to prison. Adams claimed to the court that he would only be able to pay back 15 a week, which Judge Snow remarked would take decades to settle the bill if this was true. Adams, along with brothers Patsy and Tommy, ran the Clerkenwell crime syndicate, becoming one of the most powerful criminal gangs in London. But they are all three now behind bars, as Patsy was jailed for nine years in 2016 for shooting former associate Paul Tiernan and Tommy was locked up for seven years in 2017 for money laundering. Adams, who lives in Bloomsbury, was supported in court by his wife Ruth. A man has been taken to hospital after a reported acid attack at an east London shopping centre. It was reported that a corrosive substance had been used during the attack at the Mary Rose Mall in Beckton, Scotland Yard said. Pictures circulated on social media showed fire crews and an ambulance at the scene. Officers are hunting the suspect after the victim was found at a nearby address. He was taken to hospital as a precaution but there were no reports of any serious injuries. The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "Police were called at approximately 12:15hrs on Monday, 4 February to reports of a man assaulted in Mary Rose Mall, E6. "It was reported that a corrosive substance had been used during the assault. Officers attended but neither the victim nor the suspect was on the scene. "The victim was subsequently traced to a nearby address and has been taken to hospital as a precaution. No reports of any serious injuries. "Enquiries continue to trace the suspect. No arrests. E arlier this month, we reported that cruise giant Royal Caribbean is looking to hire a "Shore Explorer" to travel to far-flung destinations like Alaska, Japan and Dubai, while documenting their bucket list worthy experiences on the 'gram and they'll be paid 2,000 per week for the three-week trip. Now, it has been revealed that 35,000 millennials have applied for the role - but with five days left to send in your application, this role of a lifetime could still be yours for the taking. The successful candidate will be appointed apprentice to Royal Caribbeans so-called 'Instagrammer-in-Chief,' like Russ Francis, who scooped the role following his application in 2016. Here's a look at the kinds of stunning photos Francis has captured while on his travels with the Royal Caribbean. As well as sharing their experiences on Stories and IGTV, the explorer will get to visit glaciers in Alaska and Osaka in Japan, go white water rafting in the Norwegian Fjords and ride the worlds longest urban zip wire in Dubai. They'll also be one of the first to set foot on Royal Caribbeans new private island in the Caribbean, CocoCay, which is set to open in May 2019. People. Fashion. Power. Delivered weekly. Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} Specifically the company says it's after an "adrenaline junkie who is not only hungry for adventure, but also has a unique ability to capture a moment and tell a story in a simple social media post." Always fancied seeing the Norwegian Fjords for yourself? / Royal Caribbean An independent panel of judges, including I'm A Celebrity's James McVey, will pick the winning candidate. To apply, all you have to do is share your best travel story on Instagram, either an image or video (via a post, Instagram stories or IGTV) and tag @RoyalCaribbeanUK and #ShoreExplorer. Applications opened at 9am on February 4 and will close at 11:59pm on March 1. Oil Palm Uganda has assured its stakeholders about its financial stability, dismissing reports of alleged Shs7.4 billion fraud as a smear campaign against the company. In the latest statement, Oil Palm Uganda Managing Director and the Board, say Janadhan Naidhu, the financial controller alleged to have executed the fraud resigned from the company to pursue other interests after serving his notice. He said allegations on some social media platforms in Uganda were false. The statement said OPUL had not defaulted on its commercial obligations to Kalangala Oil Palm Growers Trust (KOPGT) as reported. The management revealed that it was up to date on its payments, with supplies of up to 21st January 2019 having been paid by 25th, while supplies from January 22nd to 31st will be paid by February 10, as per its practice. Stories Continues after ad The board said in 2018, Kalangala Oil Palm Growers Trust received Shs23 billion from Oil Palm Uganda for its palm fruit supplies and an additional Shs3.9 billion as dividend for its 10% shareholding in OPUL. OPUL notes with concern that some social media outlets seem to be unwittingly taking part in this ill-motivated smear campaign by publishing allegations against it without proper fact-checking, providing concrete or complete information to support them, it says. Bidco, owns 40 per cent of Oil Palm Uganda Limited and is the sole buyer of crude palm oil from OPUL. The Kalangala Oil Palm Project is part of the Ugandan Government Vegetable Oil Development Project (VODP) initiative geared towards increasing vegetable oil production in Uganda. This joint venture spearheaded by Oil Palm Uganda Limited and Bidco Uganda Ltd is the single largest single foreign direct investment in Uganda in recent times crossing over $150 million. Being such a massive and successful project, the board said malicious attacks targeted at OPUL would, unfortunately, jeopardize the jobs of its 1,300 employees, 1,800 contracted farmers, distributors and other suppliers who earn a living from the company. It said the publishers of the reports had quoted nonexistent officials purporting to speak OPUL employees. At no time were the two OPUL officers and KOPGT officer quoted in the publications contacted for attribution, the board says. The other source quoted in the fake news reports as an OPUL employee has never worked for OPUL. The board said OPUL was still committed to maintaining a fully accountable and transparent organization and zero-tolerance to corruption. A s a lifelong campaigner for disabled peoples rights, I strongly disagree with those who claim the disabled would be made more vulnerable or marginalised if assisted dying were legalised. A change in the law is supported by 86 per cent of disabled people and the fact is that assisted dying is about allowing terminally ill people to die well, not about devaluing or ending the lives of people who may otherwise be helped. This is supported by 82 per cent of the public. Such strength of feeling suggests to me that change can and will come to the UK, as it has done in American and Australian states, across Canada and, increasingly, within Asia and Europe. John Cameron EDITOR'S REPLY Dear John When I was in Parliament I voted like most MPs of all parties against changes to the law on assisted dying. I thought it would make patients vulnerable to pressure from families and undermine the central focus on life in medical treatment. I now think I was wrong. We need to help those who are terminally ill and in pain to end their lives in a dignified way. George Osborne, Editor Knife-crime orders seem so anti-youth Home Secretary Sajid Javids proposed knife-crime protection orders put me in mind of ASBOs, PSPOs and Labours anti-youth policies, with their dispersal zones and curfews on children. Neither seem aware that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty. Mark Taha I would be interested to see statistics in respect of the vaunted children are carrying knives for protection claim. I doubt it, but if they are, the police will have an even greater job in loco parentis. Penny Baker Give police more respect than filth Why do the scriptwriters of EastEnders keep referring to the police as the filth? Characters Phil Mitchell and Mo from the Slater family often use this vile nickname in their lines. At a time when our police are having to deal with gang and knife crime, it can do no good to have them being given such an obscene tag. As we are talking watershed time here, why not tone it down a bit with old Bill or plod? We live in a time of being politically correct, and yet our police are openly slandered. Douglas Went Let Onasanya learn from her mistakes I disagree with Robert Readman and Robert Boston [Why is jailed MP still allowed to draw a parliamentary salary?, January 31]. Fiona Onasanya worked hard to become an MP and has paid dearly for her gross stupidity. Let her serve her sentence and return to Parliament, thereafter a wiser person. Furthermore, her conviction is under appeal and many well be successful. I, for one, wish her well. Dominic Shelmerdine Power of Parliament over the Crown P upils, education minister Nick Gibb has just decided, should be banned from taking smartphones to school. After looking at his Twitter feed Ive found an alternative way to deter children from digital addiction: they should be ordered to follow him online. A pleasure to meet Jeyhun Bayramov, Minister of Education in the Republic of Azerbaijan yesterday evening, he told us earnestly the other day. Very good meeting with the Vietnamese Minister for Education, Professor Xuan Nha Phung, he announced before that. Other encounters include a useful discussion over a cheering glass of water with an Armenian and a welcome introduction to a chubby-cheeked but nameless man from Ukraine at the sort of mid-table conferences which are all that Britains global standing now merits. After a month of watching this hell, kids will be begging to leave the Samsung Galaxy at home. With that problem sorted, Gibb will of course want to do something else. No education minister ever sees the weekend news bulletins approaching without spotting a chance to fix the delinquency of the next generation. Recent examples include Gibbs call for a debate on how oracy can support the delivery of a knowledge-rich curriculum and the startling belief of his boss, the Education Secretary, in the importance of banning designer shoes, a clogs-for-all approach which, if applied to the Cabinet instead of the classroom, would remove the only mildly interesting thing about his Prime Minister. None of these ideas are actually useful. No one will grow into adulthood pleased that they struggled through long afternoons of double oracy, or relieved that they learnt about the pleasures of boring shoes. But there is something that schools should teach us and dont. Why are there no lessons in how to sleep? Ive spent more of my life sleeping, or trying to sleep, than any other single thing. So why does no one, ever, tell us how to do it? Are there rules? Tips from celebrity influencers? You are just expected to work it out for yourself. Recently, Ive settled on a big-pillow (rock-hard lumps being a continental thing, unlike the saggy polyester scraps I imagine Brexiteers use to support their nightmares), head-to-the side, no-pyjamas, duvet-in-a-tangle, unplanned heap. But now I read thats bad for your spine and the proper thing to do is to lie on your back, face up and arms neatly to your side. So I tried it and couldnt sleep. Gibb needs to step in immediately to help us put this right. What about your arms, for instance? Does anyone know where to put them at night? Under your head? Sideways? Drooping down towards the floor? Its an unsolved and untaught problem. It would be helpful to know. And waking up at 3am are you allowed to get up for a bit? Should you use the time to empty the dishwasher? Or just lie awake fretting about your lack of oracy skills, or indeed any understanding of what oracy means? Heres a chance for Gibb to make his name with an education revolution. When hes cracked that he can show us all how to stuff a duvet, too. Brilliant books keep me snoozing happily Thinking about sleep, theres one thing Ive found that does work and thats being read to once you have turned out the lights. Parents know the trick but until now its been weird for adults to expect a narrator in the bedroom. The late Queen Mary, I discovered from a new book by Hugo Vickers and James Pope-Hennessy, demanded her ladies-in-waiting read to her for hours she used to discard ones who went hoarse but that isnt an option open to the rest of us. Which is why Ive become addicted to audio books. Over Christmas I drifted off to a reading of Pope-Hennessys safari among the stranger species of European royalty as he researched his biography of Queen Mary, itself the most brilliant book about a boring woman anyone has ever produced. Ive snoozed happily through his stay with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in their camp Paris palais (waking only to suspect that Pope-Hennessy agrees with the rumour that the peculiar Duchess was really a man). My partner has also adopted the delightfully drunken Prince Axel of Denmarks rolling expression of exasperation Ohforgodssake. Now Ive moved on to the BBCs new podcast, The Fall of the Shah. But the problem with these bedtime riches? As I fall asleep, I miss the best bits of the story. * Nothing is as good as it used to be, especially Test cricket. So when England set out to play the West Indies many expected an easy ride in front of a few sunburnt Brits before the real business of an Ashes summer. The great days of Courtney Walsh, Malcolm Marshall, Viv Richards etc were supposed to be long gone. I ndivior on Monday sold off the rights to an opioid withdrawal drug in China for up to $122.5 million (93.6 million). The group will sell the Sai Bo Song tablets to Hangzhou-based vaccine maker Pukang Biotechnology. China has an estimated 7.3 million people dependent on opioids, according to the latest figures. Indivior will get $17.5 million up front and up to $105 million more depending on certain sales targets being met over the next decade. Indivior chief executive Shaun Thaxter said offloading the tablets was consistent with Indiviors efforts to focus on its other well-known drugs, Sublocade and Perseris. With its knowledge of the local environment and scientific heritage, we believe Pukang is well suited to advance the science of addiction treatment in China, he added. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. R yanair chief executive Michael OLeary unveiled plans to step back from the controls of the budget airline on Monday, 25 years after slipping into the cockpit. The major overhaul sees the motor-mouthed multi-millionaire step upstairs to become chief executive of a group holding company and the creation of four subsidiaries, including Ryanair UK, each with its own CEO and management team. Ryanair said the decision would deliver cost and operating efficiencies as well as allowing the airline to look at small-scale M&A. Although OLeary is still committed to the group until 2024, the restructuring will also help form a breeding ground for an eventual successor to the 57-year-old Irishman. OLeary stepping away from day-to-day management would also remove him from dealing with the unions, with which the airline has had a fractious relationship for years. Ryanair was crippled by pilot strikes last year, grounding one in six of its flights. As recently as last month after another dispute, pilots union Balpa accused the company of being heavy-handed. General secretary Brian Strutton said today: The appointment of OLearys replacement as CEO of Ryanair later this year will be critical. will it be someone capable of working with unions and will they be allowed to do so without interference from above? Im sceptical but I hope Im wrong, or the industrial unrest will continue. The restructuring also sees long-serving chairman David Bonderman step down next year, to be replaced by former Kerry Foods boss Stan McCarthy. Senior independent director Kyran McLaughlin also steps down. The shake-up came as it slipped to a disappointing 20 million (17.5 million) loss for the third quarter today, blaming overcapacity on European short-haul routes for driving down fares. Although passenger numbers were 8% ahead of last year at 32.7 million, oil prices spiking higher at the end of last year have added to the airlines costs. The firm expects the weaker fares picture to eventually shake out more-vulnerable competitors. Regional airline Flybe is seeking a buyer while Norwegian launched an emergency fundraising last week. I nvestors should be sceptical of chief executives selling a company turnaround story more often than not they are a lame excuse for sustained underperformance. But in MC Minings case the T-word might be justified. The miner was going through a torrid time just a few years ago, short on cash and owing money to the banks and Rio Tinto. The writing looked on the wall but it managed to restructure its balance sheet by selling off mines and, in 2017, it bought Uitkomst colliery in South Africa from Pan African Resources for 15 million. This enabled MC Mining to become cashflow positive for the first time and put shareholders minds at ease. The company now has breathing space to focus on its major project, a large coking and thermal coal development called Makhado Lite in Soutpansberg in northern South Africa, which has secured all necessary permits to begin digging. If financing discussions are completed, then it is expected the company could break ground in the final quarter this year, with full capacity being hit by the end of next year. It has a coal purchase agreement with Chinas Huadong Coal Trading Center for the hard coking coal it plans to produce at Makhado. Under the deal Huadong Coal Trading Center will buy 400,000 tonnes of coking coal per year. It still needs to find a buyer for the other 400,000 tonnes as the project is expected to produce 800,000 tonnes in total. Chief executive David Brown believes he can sell the rest domestically. South Africa currently has no significant hard coking coal which results in producers having to import the commodity. Makhados coking coal can replace some of these imports, he said. But not all the companys issues have been resolved in this turnaround story. Only last week the miner said production at Uitkomst fell to 112,562 tonnes in the second quarter, compared with 140,501 tonnes a year ago. The fall was because of equipment issues and incorporating ex-mining contractor staff into new systems. A number of worker shifts were lost over these issues, MC Mining said, although the company expects it to be resolved quickly. H eres a contrarian view to lighten the Brexit gloom: Theresa May is in the strongest position ever to get a great deal with the EU which could please just about everyone. Heres why. First, there are clear signs the European Commission is cracking, starting with the way EU negotiators moved so fast after MPs voted in the Commons last week to adopt Sir Graham Bradys amendment to find alternatives to the Irish backstop. To be precise, it took EU officials six minutes to rule out new negotiations on the backstop, a sure signal they wanted to close down interference from member states which may have been more sympathetic to the UKs position. That suggests insecurity. Second, EC officials have been leaking to the press that they might consider a two-year extension for Article 50. Thats EU code for they too are feeling the heat of a no-deal Brexit. Third, and by far the most significant game-changer, is the bombshell report from Germanys Ifo Institute for Economic Research which challenges the EUs hardline stance on Brexit, warning that Brussels may not have the upper hand after all or that the UK will capitulate before March 29. The report, which was published last week but received remarkably little media coverage, calls on Brussels to tear up the Irish backstop and for the EU to abandon its indivisibility dogma on the four freedoms. Ifo goes on to say the EC has mishandled Brexit negotiations, and manipulated the legal advantage of the Article 50 process to punish the UK. Its worth noting the Ifo report was led by Clemens Fuest and Gabriel Felbermayr, two of Germanys top economists, but also includes input from the chairmen of the advisory boards of its finance and economics ministries. They also point out that since 2000, the UK has paid a net contribution to the EU budget of 76 billion (66 billion) and add: One may argue that this fact alone merits a fair treatment of the second-largest European economy. Its not the first time Ifo has taken such a critical stance. A few weeks ago Fuest, who is the Ifo president, said he understood why MPs had rejected Mays first deal because it would downgrade Britain to the status of a trade colony. It would not stand to gain trade autonomy and its territorial integrity would be called into question. If the PM needed extra firepower as she goes into battle in the next round of chicken with the EU, Ifos intervention provides her with enough dynamite to blow a few holes in the negotiating process. Indeed Barney Reynolds, one of the Citys most distinguished legal brains on financial services, argues the PM should now rip up the withdrawal agreement and start negotiating for a free-trade agreement before the March 29 deadline. He says Mays deal falls short on both sovereignty and trade: it locks the UK into a dangerous transition period, means the EU has control over the UKs competitiveness and fiscal policy because of state-aid rules and fails to protect the services industry. With some fresh thinking, he reckons the PM can now play a blinder by putting together a new free-trade agreement which respects the wishes of both the UK and the EU in a matter of days: and threaten to withhold some of the 39 billion until one is agreed. His starting point is simple: the UK wants a deal on services, which is some 80% of our economy, and the EU wants one on goods to protect its whopping trade surplus. Ironically, Reynolds, the global head of financial institutions at US law firm, Shearman & Sterling, claims that May already has what she needs for a fresh deal in the existing political declaration. As he explains, the relevant UK and EU laws are at present the same, so moves could be made to implement a legal mechanism on Brexit from EU law which achieves what they have already said they want in the political declaration. On services, for example, the agreed trade outcome should involve the mutual recognition of service qualifications and for financial services, enhanced equivalence which covers all the existing EU passporting arrangements, thus ending the uncertainty for so many City and overseas firms. Sounds simple, doesnt it? But is the PM brave enough to take negotiations to the wire on March 29? I wonder how many crashes Jacob Rees-Mogg has caused. Not of the stock-market variety (although hes been doing his best at that) but on Britains roads. As I happily steered around Sloane Square yesterday, he came on the radio to discuss Nissans partly Brexit-inspired U-turn on building the X-Trail SUV in the UK. My driving handled his usual bluster, but then he went on repeatedly to point out that Nissans chief executive Carlos Ghosn was in jail on corruption charges. His clear inference: that the decisions of a company with a corrupt boss should not be seen as a wider problem. That was when I nearly shot the red light. Ghosn has been in a Tokyo jail since November 19 on the flimsiest of corruption charges due to a medieval legal system that incarcerates suspects for months without trial. He could spend another year there until his case comes to court, in a system that convicts 99% of those charged. It is an outrage. Western politicians like Rees-Mogg should be using their high profiles to bring attention to this appalling abuse of human rights, rather than smear the poor guy for their own dirty political ends. Hollering this and more at the radio, before I knew it, I was heading in the wrong direction up Sloane Street. Fortunately, I was safely seated in a cafe when I was reading Wetherspoons Tim Martin harping on in the papers. He was citing the repeal of the Corn Laws as historical proof that the Brexiteers plan to abolish all trade tariffs would be great for Britain. After all, he said, the end of import duties on wheat in 1846 led to lower prices. True, but it also triggered a decades-long depression for UK farmers as cheaper imports from the American prairies flooded the market. The resulting mass disinvestment from UK farming led to British agriculture losing its crown as the envy of the world. Our reliance on overseas imports then left us vulnerable to starvation from German U-boats in the First World War. There are two sides to every Brexiteer myth. Just make sure youre not driving when you hear them peddled. Its business as usual at Ryanair Dont be misled by Ryanairs losses. Overcapacity at European airlines may be going on longer than expected, but eventually the weaker players will go under, easing the price war. Super-efficient Ryanair, with its strong balance sheet, can only win this battle. Similarly, dont be fooled by Michael OLearys step back from operational management. The unions antichrist may look as if hes taking a back seat to take the heat out of labour relations, but if you think he wont still have his hands on the joystick, youre badly mistaken. Y oure in your fifties. Its imperceptible, but theres a chance youre already showing signs of mild dementia. This situation is at the centre of HomeTouch founder Jamie Wilsons mission: to make people more aware of the latent threat and slow it down where possible. One of the problems is the way the model of care has been: lets prescribe drugs or lock people away, says the 40-year-old former NHS doctor turned entrepreneur. If youre 50 or 60 and you have a little bit of memory impairment, there are about 40 different things you can do to change the risk. You cant do all of those things when youre 90 and have established dementia. He set up HomeTouch four years ago, with 50,000 of his savings. His website matches professional carers with the families of people living with dementia looking to hire them. It was born out of his frustration with how the system worked while he ran so-called memory clinics, where GPs could refer people showing early signs of memory impairment, in London. If you are the family looking after someone with dementia, what you want is continuity, which was a big pain point. A carer would be sent by an agency and they would leave after two weeks and they [carers] werent getting paid very well. HomeTouch is now responsible for 40,000 hours of care every month. The carers who join tend to stick around because they get a bigger chunk of the earnings than they typically would in a conventional agency, while clients are billed a similar amount. They can earn up to 15 an hour compared with the minimum wage in some instances. The business, based in Clerkenwell, keeps a slice too. There is a detailed assessment before the matchmaking begins, which looks at what particular skills the carer needs to have or the best personality match. HomeTouch then typically puts forward two or three carers and, in some instances, the client will be able to interview them and decide who the best fit is for their loved ones. It made sales of 3.5 million last year, although it is not profitable yet. The start-up has rustled up 5 million of funding to date from the likes of Eileen Burbidge, who co-founded venture capital firm Passion Capital. Wilson expects to double the turnover this year and raise more cash. In 2016 it bought a small competitor for a six-figure sum, which meant the business could grow beyond London and have a database of carers across the country. But alongside providing care, prevention is playing a bigger part in the way the business is run. The founder hopes to start providing services that will help with that. He says: We always debate who funds care and how do we sort the carer crisis. One of the ways we can address that is to focus more on prevention and improve our brain health, which is something we dont talk about widely. The future of the NHS has to involve widescale adoption of technology and better awareness for the individual to look after themselves. The eldest of three children, Wilson was born in Chiswick and grew up on the south coast in Hampshire. His mother was a nurse and a medical secretary and his father was an accountant. When he was 17 he did work experience as a carer before he went to medical school at Leeds university. After he graduated he went through a couple of gruesome years as a junior doctor. It was incredibly stressful. You go from having a nice, comfortable life and then suddenly youre thrown in at the deep end, working 100 hours a week, living in the hospital. He thinks thats part of the reason, as well as the NHS becoming too politicised, why so many doctors went on to set up their own businesses. Take Five - This is your final free article during this 30 day period. Stay in touch with all of the news. Sign up today for complete digital access to The Daily News-Record. RALEIGH, N.C. - At about 4 a.m. on Aug. 23, federal agents rousted Jose Solano-Rodriguez from his bed in the suburbs of Raleigh. A couple of hours later, three agents knocked on Hyo Suk George's door as she fed her rabbits and chickens in rural Columbus County. Jose Ramiro-Torres was at his job at a fencing company near the Outer Banks when his girlfriend called to tell him to come home, where federal agents were waiting. In all, 20 immigrants - two still in pajamas - were rounded up over several days, many of them handcuffed and shackled, and charged with voting illegally in the 2016 presidential election. The sweep across eastern North Carolina was one of the most aggressive voting-fraud crackdowns by a Trump-appointed prosecutor - and also a deliberate choice that demonstrates where the administration's priorities stand. At the time of the arrests, an organized ballot-tampering effort that state officials had repeatedly warned about was allegedly gearing up in the same part of North Carolina. The operation burst into public view after Election Day in November, when the state elections board, citing irregularities in the mail-in vote, refused to certify the results of the 9th Congressional District race. That seat remains unfilled while state officials investigate. The decision by U.S. Attorney Robert Higdon to focus his office's resources on the prosecution of noncitizens rather than the ballot-tampering allegations in Bladen County comes amid a broad push by President Donald Trump and other Republicans to portray illegal voting as a widespread phenomenon that threatens the integrity of American elections. After the August arrests, Higdon issued subpoenas for millions of records of foreign-born voters from state and local agencies - a request North Carolina officials have said will consume an enormous amount of time and cost millions of dollars. In Texas last week, state officials announced that more than 50,000 noncitizens may have voted in state elections over 22 years, though they subsequently revised those numbers considerably. A Washington Post examination of the effort in North Carolina found a complicated portrait of who is voting illegally and why - and exposed systemic problems that allowed noncitizens to register and cast ballots, in some cases without knowing they were breaking the law. All but one of those arrested are legal residents of the United States, including a man from Italy who had passed the citizenship test but had not been sworn in. Four others said they had been urged to vote by campaign workers or election volunteers and did not realize they were breaking the law. So far, the voting-fraud prosecutions have netted minimal penalties: The five defendants who have been sentenced received minimal fines, misdemeanor convictions and no jail time. Still, those who were convicted said the experience sent a powerful message. "I want to tell my people: Don't vote," Solano-Rodriguez said after he pleaded guilty in federal court in Raleigh on Jan. 17 to a misdemeanor charge. He was fined $100. Solano-Rodriguez, a legal resident of the United States who lives in Raleigh with his U.S.-born wife and three children and runs a successful landscaping business, added: "They tell you, 'You can vote.' But don't do it." Immigrant advocates said the federal investigation in North Carolina has wasted tax dollars and targeted legal residents for offenses that are minor but could result in their deportation. One green card holder from Mexico who was prosecuted for illegal voting by Higdon's office in an earlier case has been held at a detention center since his August sentencing. Higdon has declined requests for comment. But in a statement announcing that sentencing, he said: "The right to vote is a precious privilege available only to citizens of the United States. When a noncitizen votes in a federal election it serves to dilute and devalue the vote of American citizens and places the decision-making authority of the American electorate in the hands of those who have no right to make those choices." - - - 'It's cherry-picking' Higdon spent nearly 24 years as a career federal prosecutor, serving at one point on the team that unsuccessfully prosecuted former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards for campaign finance crimes. In 2015, he joined a law firm in Raleigh. Rep. George Holding, R-N.C., who served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District before running for Congress in 2012, described Higdon as a "consummate, professional career prosecutor." "He's incredibly competent," Holding said in an interview. After Trump's election, Higdon discussed the U.S. attorney job with staff for North Carolina's two Republican U.S. senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, as well as with Tillis directly, according to written testimony Higdon submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Tillis and Burr subsequently submitted his name for consideration, Higdon wrote. Neither senator's office responded to requests for comment. Trump nominated Higdon in August 2017. By that time, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions had made clear one of his top priorities for the Justice Department: to prosecute immigration crimes. "I ask that you increase your efforts in this area," Sessions wrote in an April 2017 memo to all federal prosecutors. At his October 2017 swearing-in ceremony, Higdon echoed Sessions, emphasizing the risk posed by undocumented immigrants. "Some are here committing crimes among us now," he warned in his speech. As U.S. attorney, Higdon has been regarded as a by-the-book prosecutor - but also someone guided by what Washington wanted, according to lawyers who have worked with his office. "He would always say by name, 'President Trump and Attorney General Sessions have directed that we do X, Y and Z, and we're going to do that,' " said a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District who requested anonymity to describe internal discussions. "And he would note that during meetings - how things are going to change in the office." By the time Higdon assumed his post, the U.S. attorney's office had obtained information indicating that some noncitizens had voted in the previous election. A state audit released in April 2017, conducted by the state's elections board after Trump and other Republicans said as many as 3 million ineligible voters had cast ballots the previous year, detailed a list of irregularities in the North Carolina vote - some more serious than others. The audit found that out of more than 4.5 million ballots cast in 2016, more than 400 felons and 41 noncitizens had voted improperly. The audit also found 34 cases in which voters flagged as noncitizens by local election officials were actually eligible voters. State officials also found two cases of voter impersonation and 24 cases of double voting. And the audit flagged "irregularities affecting absentee by-mail voting in Bladen County." It was one of several warnings that federal officials had received about alleged ballot tampering in the 9th District, as The Washington Post has reported. Former associates and voters told The Post that a GOP operative named Leslie McCrae Dowless paid workers in 2016 and 2018 to collect mail-in ballots from voters, then turned in some of the ballots and possibly discarded others. It is a felony under both North Carolina and federal law to tamper with another voter's ballot. An attorney for Dowless has denied that he broke any laws, adding that "current ongoing investigations will prove the same." Frustrated state investigators said they saw little interest from Higdon's office in pursuing the case. "His office is extremely interested in noncitizens who vote and made a huge deal out of that and subpoenaed all kinds of documents, but he has no interest in this other matter? It's cherry-picking," said Marshall Tutor, an investigator for the state elections board who retired in March. The state elections board has declined to certify the results in the 9th District while it investigates the alleged irregularities. Republican Mark Harris leads Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in the unofficial count. Harris had hired Dowless to run his absentee-ballot program. A hearing on the investigation is expected this month. - - - 'It was a nightmare' The audit of the 2016 vote in North Carolina did lead to one known federal investigation, according to court records: the Eastern District's probe into voting by noncitizens. Most of the 20 arrested last August by federal agents were immigrants from Latin American or Caribbean countries, but noncitizens from Japan, South Korea, Germany, Poland, the Philippines, Italy and Nigeria were also charged in the operation. The Post interviewed defendants, as well as defense attorneys representing those charged, and attended four sentencing hearings. "It was a nightmare that I will never get over," George said of the experience. George, who had been feeding her animals when she was arrested, was allowed to change her clothes before she was taken away, but only with a federal agent watching her, she said in an interview. All her neighbors saw the commotion, George, 70, recalled. She sat in the courthouse in Wilmington for most of the day without food or water. When her initial appearance came in the late afternoon, a magistrate postponed the proceedings for two weeks so the court could find a Korean interpreter. She was charged with voting in federal elections in 2008, 2010 and 2016. She recalled that she voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and Hillary Clinton in 2016. A housekeeper who met her American husband 20 years ago at the hospital where they both worked, George said she was encouraged to register to vote in 2008 by a member of her church. Public defender Sherri Alspaugh said George did not know she was breaking the law. When George presented her residency card, driver license and Social Security card to register, the person processing her application accepted it, Alspaugh said during a court hearing last month. "So they see a green card and they say, 'That's fine, you can register'?" U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle asked Alspaugh. "Yes, sir," Alspaugh replied. "Because they don't know what they're doing!" the judge said. George pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of "voting while alien." Boyle fined her $100. Fourteen of the defendants have required interpreters at hearings, court records show. On Jan. 17, a Korean interpreter drove to Raleigh from Northern Virginia for George's third and final court appearance. Another defendant, Nigerian native Elizabeth Amachaghi, needed an interpreter in her native language, Ibo, to be flown to North Carolina from the West Coast, her attorney said. Interpreters speaking Japanese, Haitian Creole, Tagalog and Spanish have also been called in for court appearances, records show. One of the first to be sentenced was Italian immigrant Alessandro Cannizzaro, who has lived legally in the Raleigh area since 2000. Cannizzaro, who is married to a U.S. citizen and has two children, applied for citizenship in 2003. He passed the test but was told he had to come back to take the oath because the room was too full, according to a transcript of his October sentencing hearing. "I called and called to check on it, and they said I had to wait," Cannizzaro said at the hearing last fall, according to a transcript. "I never received any notification." When his family went to vote in the 2016 presidential election, "I joined them to vote," he said. "I never checked the status . . . so I'm here today to take full responsibility." He pleaded guilty to voting while alien. Boyle fined him $200. Four more sentencings came before Boyle in his Raleigh courtroom over two days in mid-January, including that of Solano-Rodriguez - who never signed a voter-registration application at all, public defender James Todd said. His client was at work the day someone from a voter-registration drive showed up at his home to register a number of people attending a party there, Todd said. Solano-Rodriguez doesn't know how a form was filled out on his behalf, his lawyer added. When Solano-Rodriguez received a card from the Wake County Board of Elections indicating that he was registered, he assumed he was supposed to vote, Todd said. At one point during George's sentencing hearing, Boyle chastised Assistant U.S. Attorney Sebastian Kielmanovich, who was representing Higdon's office in court that day. "Maybe as much attention as is focused on illegal voting should be focused on management of elections so they are not encouraging people to vote who are not eligible to vote," the judge said. "Absolutely," Kielmanovich responded. Kielmanovich declined to comment to The Post. Most of the remaining defendants, many of whom could not be reached for comment, have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors and are awaiting sentencing. Two remaining defendants face felonies. One, an undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic, has pleaded guilty to assuming the identity of a legal resident, obtaining a passport and voting. The other, a native of Mexico, was charged with applying for citizenship after having voted improperly in a federal election. - - - A rare practice Numerous studies indicate that illegal voting is rare, making the recent prosecutions by Higdon's office unusual. Before those cases, 40 noncitizens had been convicted of voting illegally since 1992, including two in North Carolina, one in 2003 and another in 2018, according to the conservative Heritage Foundation, which tracks voting fraud. David Iglesias, a former U.S. attorney in New Mexico under President George W. Bush, said the North Carolina number is "huge" when compared with historical patterns. Iglesias established a voter-fraud task force when he was a federal prosecutor, but he said he did not end up prosecuting anyone. "These cases are hard," said Iglesias, now a professor at Wheaton College in Illinois. "They are not serious cases in the bigger scheme of things. They're rare." However, other high-profile convictions of noncitizen voters are popping up elsewhere around the country - driven in part, immigration advocates say, by Trump's rhetoric. In Texas last year, a jury sentenced Rosa Ortega, a permanent resident originally from Mexico, to eight years for voting illegally in state elections in 2012 and 2014 - including for Ken Paxton, the Republican attorney general who prosecuted her case. She is set to be deported after serving her time. The emphasis in North Carolina on voting by immigrants instead of the alleged ballot-tampering operation in the 9th District has drawn criticism from congressional Democrats. At a Senate confirmation hearing earlier last month for attorney general nominee William Barr, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, described Higdon's actions as "a needle-in-the-haystack effort to prosecute voting by noncitizens." She later told The Post that prosecutors should have been "looking at the fraud that was right in front of their faces," referring to the irregularities in the 9th District. Barr said in the hearing that, if confirmed, he would examine the merits of the investigation. Some conservatives have also urged a more evenhanded approach. Jay DeLancy, who leads the North Carolina-based Voter Integrity Project and advocates for stricter laws, such as voter ID requirements, said he supports prosecution of intentional voter misconduct, and he applauded Higdon for bringing the cases. But DeLancy also said the North Carolina prosecutions don't get at the real problem - what he described as lax voter registration procedures that make it too easy for ineligible voters to unintentionally break the law. "They are setting up a lot of noncitizens for failure," DeLancy said. "These are sympathetic cases." The focus on noncitizen voting in North Carolina did not end with the 20 charges that Higdon's office filed in August. About a week after the arrests, the Eastern District issued far-reaching subpoenas seeking more than 15 million voting records from the state's Department of Motor Vehicles, its elections board, and 44 county election boards within Higdon's jurisdiction in eastern North Carolina. Working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the subpoenas targeted all foreign-born North Carolinians who have tried to register to vote since 2010. State elections officials called it a vast and burdensome demand that would cost state and local governments millions of dollars - in addition to potentially chilling registration and participation among eligible voters. The state is fighting the subpoenas in court. "Compiling records would have burdened state and county elections administration - commandeering staff time for weeks," said Josh Lawson, general counsel for the state's elections board. Meanwhile, those prosecuted for noncitizen voting in the state are now at risk of being deported, even if they are here legally, immigration attorneys said. Among them is Roberto Hernandez-Cuarenta, a 57-year-old landscaper from Mexico who has lived in the United States legally since 1992. Charged in 2017, before Higdon took office, he pleaded no contest in August to two misdemeanor charges of illegal voting, two weeks before the 20 other voter-fraud arrests. His sentencing triggered deportation proceedings, and he has been held in an ICE detention center in Georgia since, according to his attorneys. Andrew McCoppin, Hernandez-Cuarenta's defense lawyer, said his client filled out a registration application at the state's motor vehicle department and was told when he went to the polls that he was registered to vote. Hernandez-Cuarenta also spent six months in county jail in 2009 and 2010 on misdemeanor charges of assault and resisting an officer, public records show. The detention center where he is being kept is about 600 miles from his wife of about 30 years, who is a U.S. citizen, said his immigration lawyer, Marty Rosenbluth. A preliminary hearing on his residency status is scheduled for Feb. 18. McCoppin believes his client's legal status may have expired since he has been in custody. "It's unfortunate that the government is expending resources on prosecuting long-term legal residents who didn't realize they couldn't vote and were voting because they felt pride in the U.S.," McCoppin said. "Deporting them would be such a disproportionate penalty for a minor offense." - - - The Post's Reinhard and Crites reported from Washington. Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report. STAMFORD A tax incentive created to revitalize economically depressed communities could soon pump millions of dollars into the city through so-called opportunity zones. But its an open question as to who will reap the most benefit in the new-found land of opportunity the city, its residents or outside investors. The hope, of course, is that the rising tide of investment will raise all. The approved zones, five in Stamford out of 8,700 sprinkled throughout the U.S. and 72 in Connecticut, are tracts the U.S. Treasury Department and respective states agreed could benefit from investment after consulting data gleaned from the 2010 Census. To get money flowing to these neighborhoods, President Donald Trumps 2017 tax overhaul made it so the rate at which your capital gains is taxed gets better over time as long as it is first in an opportunity fund funneling money into an opportunity zone and, if the investment is held for at least a decade, tax forgiveness on any appreciated value. Many cast the break as a great benefit to hollowed-out industrial centers and cities still reeling from the Great Recession. U.S. Census Bureau / Contributed photo Others, however, warn the new tax advantage could be a subsidy for gentrification. In an optimistic scenario, the tax benefits might encourage purchasing and rehabilitating residential property or expanding local businesses, wrote Adam Looney of the Brookings Institution. But the value of the tax subsidy is ultimately dependent on rising property values, rising rents, and higher business profitability. That means a states opportunity zones could also serve as a subsidy for displacing local residents in favor of higher-income professionals and the businesses that cater to them a subsidy for gentrification. In Stamford, residents in opportunity zones said they are hopeful the tax advantage will help their neighborhoods, but fear it could further reshape the city as it continues to grow, now within a few hundred residents of becoming the second most populous city in the state. Downtown is now an opportunity zone, along with the South End, Waterside, the westernmost half of the West Side and a census tract that picks up the bulk of the East Side and part of Glenbrook. Stamford applied for 10 tracts and was awarded five by the state and U.S. Treasury, said Economic Development Director Thomas Madden. Nearby Norwalk went for five and got three, and New Haven and Bridgeport snagged seven each. Hartford leads Connecticut with 10. The fact that the the new opportunity zone designations are based off 9-year-old data collected before the city embarked on a historic building boom could prove a gift or a curse in the city where fault lines have already emerged between longtime residents and city leaders. City leaders praise the building boom and preach the citys newfound economic vitality, while many residents say its uncontrolled and too much, too fast. The South End, for example, is already fast becoming a development battleground after a decade of investment. Longtime residents are fighting Harbor Point-developer Building and Land Technology and chasing away bulldozers called in by speculators with big ideas for the land beneath run-down Victorians. The South Ends Neighborhood Revitalization Zone is now disputing plans for a new BLT high-rise in the neighborhood, has a petition circulating to save two century-old homes and has requested a demolition delay on two others. Now pour tax-advantaged opportunity gasoline on that kindling. Sue Halpern, vice president of South Ends NRZ, echoed several residents who say the South End could use investment as long as its controlled. High rises do not a neighborhood make, Halpern said. We would like a place where people have an opportunity to buy a townhome or a small business and make the South End a community it once was. The tax advantage could also provide for a boom in historic preservation which South End residents lobby for if builders choose that route instead. One could still use historic preservation tax credit on an opportunity zone investment. This doesnt cannibalize or restrict any other tax credits you can get, said Liddy Karter, a managing director at national asset manager Enhanced Capital Partners. The potential uncapped tax break appears to have Stamford investors salivating if a recent presentation in a Tresser Boulevard office building is any indication. Weve got interest from a bunch of different people, Madden said in an interview. Ive had people talk anywhere from $20 million to a billion dollars. The late January meeting filled a small auditorium with realtors and developers all keen to learn how to leverage the new tax tool. On group that didnt attend were the residents now living in opportunity zones, More than a fifth of Stamford does, nearly 25,000 people, according to the most recent census estimates. Its unclear what this will do for them. Glenbrook native Mike Battinelli said investment would be great for the part of his neighborhood in an opportunity zone, but he hopes builders dont think too big and chase outsize returns to the neighborhoods detriment. I just hope this isnt something thatll get people changing zoning, he said. I dont want wolves in sheeps clothing coming in and building these monstrous apartment buildings. But if its there to help the businesses and people, then Im all for it, he added. Staff writer Justin Papp contributed to this report. barry.lytton@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2263; @bglytton STAMFORD - A debate over building-permit fees illustrates a perpetual push-pull in the city - how much development is too much? The Board of Representatives will take up the fees 8 p.m. Monday at the Stamford Government Center, potentially putting and end to an argument thats been occupying city government for months. They were the topic of yet another debate during last weeks meeting of the boards Operations Committee. Representatives are weighing how much to increase fees for building permits on large commercial projects. They are not interested in hikes for residential projects or small commercial jobs. The city sets permit fees by charging a certain amount for each $1,000 of the estimated cost of a project. Representatives have agreed to leave the fee at $13 per $1,000 for residential projects, such as homeowners seeking to add a bedroom or bathroom, and leave it at $16.50 for the first $1 million of commercial projects. The proposal before the committee was whether to raise the fee to $25 for commercial projects once the cost exceeds $1 million, which was amended from an earlier proposal for a hike to $19. So it was $25 vs. $19 on larger commercial developments. The committee meeting began with a public hearing and ended with the representatives debate, which included questions for Mayor David Martin and members of his administration who attended. Developers are people too Stamford resident Larry Davidoff, a Realtor who represents small developers, was the first to step to the podium in the boards Legislative Chambers before the Operations Committee. Davidoff said he takes great exception to board members statements during the ongoing fee debate that they represent residents, not developers. In an expensive market like Stamford, its easy for a project cost to exceed $1 million and trigger the higher fee, he said. Some of us residents are developers - we are no less constituents than anybody else you represent, Davidoff said. A $25 fee is a big change. You dont want to take development and destroy it. Vincent Tufo, CEO of Charter Oak Communities, the citys affordable housing authority, spoke next. The city should exempt nonprofits that are building projects with at least 50 percent of affordable housing units, Tufo said. Charter Oak operates on a tight budget, and struggles to obtain funding for every project we develop. Deborah Billington, a Cove resident, said comparable cities in the area charge $30 per $1,000 for a building permit, so the proposed $25 is a bargain. This fee has been discounted long enough, Billington said. This is a onetime cost of doing business for developers. But residents live with property taxes forever. Upside-down Heather Cavanagh of the Stamford Chamber of Commerce is worried the fee will chase people away. The cost will trickle down to small businesses and get passed on to consumers, she said. What message are we sending to businesses looking to relocate here? But Kieran Ryan, a Board of Finance member who said he was speaking as a lifelong Stamford resident, told representatives that, since 2000, the volume of commercial projects has far outweighed that of residential ones, yet the cost of residential permits increased $3 and commercial only 50 cents. It seems to me the law of supply and demand is upside-down, Ryan said. Charles Epstein of Stamford works for a subsidiary of Lennar, the developer now demolishing one of the three cylindrical St. John Towers - affordable units on Washington Boulevard - to put up a luxury apartment building. City officials should protect projects that are already approved or already have their application in, Epstein said. This additional increase could make this deal financially not viable. Mike Battinelli, president of the Stamford Neighborhood Coalition, countered that developers of large apartment complexes quickly sell them for significant profits then take their check and go away, and leave the residents to pay for more classrooms and fixing the roads for all the added traffic. The gooses egg James Ritman, a manager in a real estate firm, pointed out that Stamfords office vacancy rate is 30 percent when 10 percent is healthy. Developers take a risk to come here, he said. Others from his industry told representatives to be careful not to kill development, the goose that laid the golden egg. But city Rep. Robert Roqueta, D-4, cited a $47 million project that a developer recently sold for $78 million. Monthly rents in the building are $2,500 for a one-bedroom and $3,500 for a two-bedroom, which is out of the range of many Stamford residents, he said. By hiking the fee for big developers, the city is not going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg, because the golden egg is going back to the goose, Roqueta said. City Rep. Nina Sherwood, D-8, who proposed the $25 hike, said that in 2000 the Board of Representatives raised the commercial fee from $10 to $16 for each $1,000 of cost - a 60 percent hike - and developers were not deterred. Weve been here before, we were fine afterward. Theres nothing to be afraid of, Sherwood said. This fee represents only a fraction of the cost of any project for a large developer. A fee is not a tax Martin said he opposes the increase to $25. Fees should not be a form of taxation, the mayor said. Fees should cover the citys cost of providing a service, and not be used as a way to get somebody because theyre bigger, he said. But city Rep. Megan Cottrell, D-4, said Martin told the board he needs revenue to beef up the Building Department, which lacks staff and adequate software. Large developers can bear the extra cost and will benefit from the improvements, Cottrell said. Developers cry poor because its their job to keep profits up. But I think its the great American lie that we believe we have to bend over backwards to corporate America, that if corporate America does well, we do well, Cottrell said. Developers want to be here because we have a good location near New York City and an educated population. If developers based decisions about where to build just on costs such as building-permit fees, they all would be moving to the middle of Alabama, she said. Cottrell is among the board members who won seats in November 2017 by sharing the concerns of residents who spoke out about overbuilt neighborhoods, crowded schools, and traffic and parking congestion they say is the result of decades of poorly managed development. In the end, the committee decided to take up at a later date the question of exempting already-approved projects and affordable-housing agencies from the fee increase. Then members voted, 7-2, to recommend that the full board set the commercial building-permit fee at $19 for each $1,000 of the cost of projects over $1 million. Raising it to $25 was too big a jump at once, they said. acarella@stamfordadvocate; 203-964-2296. Brussels, February 2, 2018 (SPS) - Polisario Front National Secretariat member and Minister Delegate to Europe Mohamed Sidati said the "vicious campaign" conducted by the European Commission to gain approval for the free trade agreement with the Moroccan occupier, illegally including occupied Western Sahara, was nothing more than a "support for a crime of plunder and a hold-up in the fullest sense of the word," against an African Union member state. In a statement to Sahrawi media on Thursday, Sidati said the European Commission's latest decision "is an act of aggression against a member State of the African Union (AU) and plunder of Western Sahara people's resources." The Sahrawi official stressed the great contradiction within the European Union, whose member countries attended the EU-AU ministerial meeting last week, in Brussels, alongside the Sahrawi Republic. Sidati wondered, in this respect, how the European Commission can validate so a legally fragile agreements, which are even in total contradiction with the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). (SPS) 062/SPS/APS When the U.S. government partially shut down in December, furloughing almost all NASA employees for 35 days, missed paychecks and stalled science weren't the only issues NASA had to worry about. The shutdown also threatened the agency's cybersecurity, NASA officials said at a post-shutdown town hall meeting Tuesday (Jan. 29). "NASA is one of the it is the most attacked agency in the federal government when it comes to cybersecurity," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told a room full of NASA employees at the town hall, which took place at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C. "Across the world there are governments that are very, very interested in what we're doing, because technology ultimately determines the balance of power on Earth, and we are doing things that are very, very advanced technology," Bridenstine said. "There are people who would love to use it not for the benefit of humankind, but for their own power purposes." [Government Shutdown May Have Done Long-Term Damage to NASA] While nearly 95 percent of the agency's employees could not come to work during the government shutdown, those working in NASA's Security Operations Center (SOC) never stopped fighting cybersecurity threats, Renee Wynn, NASA's Chief Information Officer, said during the town hall. The center, located at NASA Ames Research Center in California, operates 24/7 every day of the year, no matter what. "No snow stops them from coming in and taking care of and monitoring what's going on in our networks," Wynn said. "We do have to protect your data, and we have to protect the integrity of all the data that NASA gets and shares," Wynn said. "That is our main driver in cybersecurity. [It's] you and our name, our reputation which is through our data and the science, engineering, mathematics and technology discovered through that." The SOC researched incidents throughout the shutdown, and they reported that, on average, the agency faced about one cybersecurity threat per day, Wynn said. This doesn't necessarily mean that hackers were breaking into NASA computers every day, though. A NASA employee losing their government phone also counts as a security threat. "Please stop losing your devices," Wynn told the NASA employees in the room. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks at an agencywide town hall meeting on Jan. 29, 2019, four days after the longest government shutdown in history came to an end and furloughed employees could return to work. (Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA) Thanks to the indispensability of the SOC, "cybersecurity in the most part was fully functional" during the shutdown, Wynn said. "I say 'in the most part,' because we also had to think about funds conservation, and so while cybersecurity is important, there are things that are more important than other things." For example, some NASA websites had to be taken down during the shutdown because their website certificates had expired. "We left our websites up until they posed a threat to the agency," Wynn said. Websites deemed insecure could be vulnerable to hacking, putting NASA's data at risk. Over the course of the 35-day shutdown, NASA took down at least 35 sites because their security certificates expired, Wynn said. "So, we took them down because the information on [them] wasn't critical to shutdown or to a certain active function in the agency." NASA employees who remained at work during the shutdown also had problems running certain software programs on their computers, because they were unable to renew software licenses and install security patches. "If you don't have a license for your software, you're not getting the patches, and we get fixes every single day for all the software that we do," Wynn said. On their first day back at work after the shutdown ended, furloughed employees had to patiently wait for their computers to install all the updates and security patches before they could get back to work. Despite any security concerns brought on by the shutdown, Wynn was pleased to report that the most recent scan by the Department of Homeland Security showed that NASA "had no external-facing, critical issues," she said. "In my opinion, for now, we got through this really well." Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Original article on Space.com. Alexander Krivenyshev of WorldTimeZone.com captured this alignment of Saturn, the crescent moon, Venus, Jupiter and the red supergiant star Antares over Manhattan during the predawn hours of Feb. 1, 2019. Celestial sights rival Manhattan's lights in a gorgeous new skywatcher photo. Alexander Krivenyshev of WorldTimeZone.com captured a glorious arcing alignment of Saturn, the crescent moon, Venus, Jupiter and the red star Antares over the Big Apple shortly before sunrise on Friday morning (Feb. 1). "It was a great show no time to sleep!" Krivenyshev, who took the photo from Guttenberg, New Jersey, told Space.com via email. This skywatching spectacle was pretty special, but don't fret if you missed it the principal players will continue putting on various shows for a while. For example, in the predawn hours of Feb. 18, Venus and Saturn will hang very close together near the horizon, separated by a mere finger's width from our perspective here on Earth. And a day later, skywatchers will be treated to the largest and brightest full moon of 2019. The Feb. 19 "supermoon" will occur just 7 hours after lunar perigee, the moon's closest approach to Earth. (The moon's orbit around our planet is slightly elliptical, so some full moons appear larger in our sky than others. It's all a matter of timing.) And a quick word about Antares, one of the brightest stars in the sky: It's a bloated red supergiant about 700 times wider than the sun but less than one-millionth as dense. Antares, which lies about 600 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius (the Scorpion), is nearing the end of its life and will die in a violent, dramatic supernova explosion before too much longer (in the cosmic scheme of things). Editor's note: If you captured an amazing astronomy photo and would like to share it with Space.com for a story or gallery, send images and comments to managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com. Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate) is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us @Spacedotcom or Facebook. Originally published on Space.com. Georgetown, SC (29440) Today Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 74F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 74F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Kristie Erickson The History Museum Though Schuyler Colfax retired from politics when his term as vice president ended in 1873, he was never far from the public eye. On his untimely death at the age of 62, his passing was lamented across the country. Colfax had left his home in South Bend on Jan. 12, 1885, to give a lecture in Rock Rapids, Iowa. He arrived in Mankato, Minn., the next day, where he had to change trains to continue to his destination. Though Colfaxs doctors had informed him of his ailing heart, he chose to walk the three-quarters of a mile between depots. The Minnesota winter that day was unusually frigid, plummeting to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the station agent at the second depot, on his arrival the former vice president thanked the baggage man, lay his things on a bench, looked at a map on the wall, sat down, crossed his legs and expired. Ellen Ella Colfax, unaware of her husbands heart disease, was taken by surprise when Peter Studebaker arrived to inform her of her husbands demise. As the news spread, newspapers across the nation lamented his death. The South Bend Tribune wrote, never has [death] struck down one who will be so universally mourned in this city as Mr. Colfax. A more loving husband, a kinder father, or a more gracious brother was never lost to earth. After his body was returned home, Colfax lay in repose in his own office, surrounded by papers and books just as he left them earlier that week. On the day of his funeral, thousands passed through the home to pay their respects. The Tribune said of the funeral, There was no pageant of grief, but the tokens of private sorrow were many and touching. Than such a tribute, there could be no higher eulogy. His body has been consigned to the tomb, but his words and deeds will live forever. Ted Booker South Bend Tribune The Niespodziany Ditch, which spans several miles in western St. Joseph County, serves as a drain for many farms. But could farmland be vulnerable to flooding if part of the ditch is relocated to make room for businesses in the New Carlisle area? That was among several questions raised by those who attended a county drainage board meeting Monday morning at the County-City Building in South Bend. More than 30 people, including farmers and environmentalists, packed into a room to raise concerns about a proposal that calls for relocating a 2.5-mile portion of the ditch that passes through land to the east of New Carlisle. That is where the county is planning a massive industrial park, the Indiana Enterprise Center, on thousands of acres of undeveloped land. County leaders say if the ditch is relocated to the west, it would free up 2,000 acres of land targeted by businesses that could create hundreds of jobs. Bill Schalliol, the countys economic development director, has said four businesses are interested in the area, but he has declined to identify them. The five-member drainage board, which oversees regulated drains in much of the county, could decide on the fate of the ditch proposal. It could be months before a decision is made, however, because the county first must buy properties that the new ditch would pass through. Marcell Cooreman, who owns about 1,000 acres of farmland adjacent to the ditch, said he is concerned that replacing farmland with concrete for businesses could create run-off problems. This water has to move somewhere, and I just hope you guys prepare for it, he told the board. Jen Betz, a leader of the Open Space and Agricultural Alliance, said the ditch relocation plan raises a moral question. She said a petition has been signed by more than 1,000 residents who are concerned about the proposed industrial park. She said people are concerned the plan is being pushed upon us without a lot of thought of what kind of a development is this, who is it really for, whats it going to do to our way of life, whats it going to do to our land? Betz also called attention to how County Commissioner Dave Thomas, who served for a decade on the drainage board, was replaced this year by Commissioner Andy Kostielney. We dont want the drainage board to become essentially a yes board for what county leaders propose, she said. Thomas, a Democrat, was surprised when the other commissioners Kostielney and Deb Fleming voted for Kostielney to replace him on the drainage board. He suspects politics drove the decision, with his Republican counterparts wanting to push through development plans and remove him as a potential roadblock. Kostielney, however, insisted politics werent involved. It was time for a change, he said, because Thomas exercised poor judgement as a drainage board member. Kostielney claimed that at a drainage board meeting last year, Thomas inappropriately tried to get the board to vote against relocating the ditch. Thomas called something up out of the blue and tried to call for the vote, Kostielney said. But there was nothing presented, nothing on the agenda and no one there to even talk about the project, which hadnt even been clearly defined yet. Thomas, however, said he never called for such a vote. This past fall, however, the board decided it wont consider any ditch relocation proposal unless the petitioner owns the property. The drainage boards role with the ditch relocation, meanwhile, will depend on how the county proceeds. Schalliol has said if the county implements a stormwater management district for the Niespodziany watershed, it would take over management of the ditch and wouldnt need the drainage boards approval to relocate it. The district, however, would still need to be approved by the board. The district would encompass the 8,700-acre watershed for the Niespodziany Ditch, which is bounded by U.S. 20 to the north and ends at the Kankakee River to the south. Drainage board member Thomas Schlarb, who is a farmer, is against the creation of a stormwater district for the ditch. Theres nobody better than these fellas sitting right here to manage water, he said. Marshall V. King South Bend Tribune Correspondent Salvador Perez Lopez and Juan-Carlos Alarcon arent sure if theyll walk the red carpet at the Grammys this coming Sunday. They arent sure what going to the ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles will be like. They are sure, though, that its part of a wild ride they never expected. The two grew up in Bremen and Bristol, respectively. They both were attending Indiana University South Bend when they became part of a project that has been nominated for three Grammy awards. Dream come true, said Alarcon, a pipe organist who graduated from Elkhart Central High School in 2010 and is in his last semester at IU South Bend. Whatever happens on the 10th, the experience that Ive had, the people that Ive met, the music that was made, its very rewarding. Perez Lopez is a clarinetist who graduated from Bremen High School in 2014 and IU South Bend in spring 2018 Hes now studying for a masters degree in music performance at Indiana University in Bloomington. Both young men are DREAMers, immigrants who were brought from Mexico when they were boys. John Daversa, a jazz artist who also teaches at University of Miami, started a project that resulted in an album titled American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom. He gathered 53 musicians who are in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to play American songs such as James Browns Living in America and Stars and Stripes Forever. Perez Lopez hadnt told many people around him that he was part of DACA, having come to Indiana when he was a toddler, but he had written an item about the experience that was published in the New York Times. Kabir Seghal, a producer on the project, reached out to him in fall 2017 via Facebook Messenger and asked him to be part of the album. When Perez Lopez told his friend Alarcon about the project, the two had their first conversation about both being DREAMers. Theres DREAMers everywhere among us, Perez Lopez said. He submitted bios and links from his YouTube channel to Daversa and in March 2018 they arranged for him to travel. I pretty much didnt know what this was going to entail until I got to the first day in Miami, he said. Alarcon had forgotten about the project and was teaching at Pierre Moran Middle School in March when he got an email from Perez Lopez inviting him to Florida. By Sunday morning I was on a plane to Florida, Alarcon said. I still cant believe it, to this day. I dont know how everything aligned. Alarcon was recorded playing a pipe organ on the Miami campus. Perez Lopez got to go into the studio with professional musicians in the John Daversa BigBand. I was in the studio lots of hours, he said. That experience of coming together to play music was powerful for the two. Both are humble about their musical prowess, but Karen Braden, co-executive director of Elkhart County Symphony points out that Perez Lopez has played with the Elkhart County Symphony and Alarcon plays keyboard as well as organ and is on the symphony board. The album includes both their spoken stories in addition to the songs. The story really makes it in my opinion, she said. The album was released in September and is available for purchase or streaming. The stories of these two, of the eight others on the album, are emblematic of the stories of thousands of others who grew up here and consider themselves Americans. Its not just us, said Perez Lopez. Theyre hoping the album raises awareness of how theyre contributing to the United States and that it could be part of immigration reform. We live among our neighbors, Alarcon said. We go to school. Weve lived here for years. We just want to make a difference. Perez Lopez added, We shouldnt be DREAMers or DACA. We should just be Americans like everyone else. Being nominated in three jazz and a capella Grammy categories was a huge shock. Last Monday, they got an even bigger shock when they found out they had tickets to go to the ceremony. Theyre making arrangements for travel and accommodations. Perez Lopez, who is going with his fiancee and staying with family, is taking a tux. They dont know how the awards will be announced or whether theyll be onstage. They just know theyll be in the room with the stars of the American music industry on its biggest night of the year. Im going to take lots of pictures, said Perez Lopez. Success! An email has been sent with a link to confirm list signup. Based on state Constitution, Hood could win governors race and not be seated PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a plenary public meeting on Monday, February 4, 2019. The Minister of General Affairs will be present. The plenary public meeting which was adjourned on Monday, January 21, 2019, will be reconvened on Monday at 16.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The agenda point is: Discussion on the decision of the Council of Ministers taken on Tuesday to go with the Dutch government and European Investment Bank (EIB) financing proposal to the tune of US $100 million for the reconstruction of St. Maartens Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) (This meeting was requested by MP A.M.R. Irion, MP E.J. Doran and MP C.T. Emmanuel, MP S.E. Jacobs, MP F.G. Richardson, and MP R. Brison) (IS/487/18-19 d.d 14 January 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. MONTEGO BAY:--- Tourism Commissioner Designee Joe Boschulte soundly proclaimed that the U.S. Virgin Islands is "open for business" during the 2019 Caribbean Travel Marketplace conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica last week. Recognizing the hard work and determination of the Territory's tourism stakeholders as well as its residents, communities, friends and supporters from near and far, he said the tourism sector had emerged from the ravages of two hurricanes "stronger and more hardened". Speaking to reporters during a series of back-to-back Caribbean destination press briefings, Commissioner Designee Boschulte said between 60 and 65 percent of accommodations across the Territory were open and accepting guests, while other properties were rebuilding and repairing apace. Traditional accommodations such as hotels, bed and breakfasts, resorts, and timeshares, are offering about 1,050 rooms on St. Thomas, nearly 150 rooms on St. John, and about 600 units on St. Croix. Additionally, 600 villa units and 200 charter yachts were available in the St. Thomas-St. John district while St. Croix has about 300 villa units in operation. Recognizing the contributions of the sharing economy during the early stages of the recovery when Airbnb and other platforms played an important role, the tourism leader recalled it was also a time when residents learned more about how they could help. There are now approximately 830 Airbnb listings in St. Thomas, 250 in St. John, and 350 in St. Croix. The Tourism Commissioner Designee delivered the good news that airlift capacity to St. Croix already is ahead of pre-storms levels, while seats to St. Thomas are at approximately 80 percent of the pre-storms level. Cruise ship arrivals continue to strengthen while the Territory is managing "bigger, heavier and longer" ships by adjusting the size and efficiency of its ports, as well as enhancing the attractiveness of land-based activities for cruise passengers. He added the Territory was looking to improve efficiency by developing water transportation to enable cruise passengers to use water taxis to travel to the retail areas where they can spend more time exploring historic areas, dining and shopping. Extra lanes were also being added to heavily traveled roads in Charlotte Amalie. Commissioner Designee Boschulte noted that as a mature destination, the U.S. Virgin Islands must refresh its existing attractions and keep up with visitors' increased desire to move beyond sun, sand and sea. Much of the Territory's revitalization, therefore, will include attractions highlighting the cultural heritage, natural environment and culinary richness of the islands. Acknowledging there was still work to be done, he credited the infusion of "significant federal dollars" along with the resolve of local stakeholders with helping the USVI to achieve its rebuilding objectives. POINTE BLANCHE:---The newest addition to the Tropical Shipping fleet, Vessel Tropic Hope made its inaugural call in January at the Cargo terminal facilities at the Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facilities. Port St. Maarten Management would like to congratulate Tropical Shipping and its local management representation on the island with the inclusion of this new vessel that will be calling at the port cargo terminal. Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic & Telecommunication TEATT the Honourable Stuart Johnson, commended Tropical Shipping for the introduction of their second vessel to the island. Johnson said, as Port St. Maarten sails into the future with its numbers rebounding in the Cargo Sector, the continued growth of the port relies on the continued commitment from companies such as Tropical Shipping, whose investments post-Irma solidifies a lifelong partnership with the destination. Johnson presented Tropical Shippings General Manager Keyla van Heyningen with a plaque of the new vessel to mark the momentous occasion. Johnson underscored the importance of container and breakbulk shipping to the sustainable redevelopment of St. Maartens economy and said it was crucial for the island's recovery process that companies such as Tropical Shipping remained committed to the destination. He said, I am truly happy to extend the sincerest appreciation of the people and government of St. Maarten, to Tropical Shipping for its unwavering commitment to our destination. Much of what our people need to rebuild their homes and provide for their families depends on our ability to maintain a solid line of cargo delivery, and that is why the Cargo Facilitys repairs have been of major importance to my ministry. Tropical Shipping is one of the ports strategic stakeholders and one of their key partners in the movement of cargo. The company is one of the leaders in ocean transportation and we are very proud to be associated with Tropical Shipping. The name of the vessel Tropic Hope is also symbolic to the recovery phase that the country is currently in, rebuilding after the devastation left behind by Irma, whereby the population looks towards the future with hope and confidence during the rebuilding phase, Port St. Maarten Management said on Sunday. Tropical Shipping Island Manager Keyla Van Heyningen said on Sunday: The arrival of the Hope to our fleet of vessels means that we are committed to our customers and we are committed to island life. To our customers, their cargo will arrive on a timely manner. Tropical invests in 6 new vessels to replace some of the older vessels with these bigger faster vessels will be able to arrive on the island on Sunday morning and Tuesday night. Tropical Shipping is the primary reefer-carrier serving the Caribbean region. The new vessel will increase the companys capacity for temperature-controlled cargo to the Caribbean Basin based on increased speed and efficiency of the new vessel. The Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facilities are the gateway or main entry of the majority of aggregates, building materials, food, dry and consumer goods needed by the islanders imported by sea. The port serves as a hub for trans-shipment to the neighbouring islands. The port continues to see high volume numbers as it relates to the movement of cargo and trade numbers. The investments made by the private sector demonstrates strength and confidence in the island and we expect to see projected high volumes in cargo movement for the next upcoming years. Tropical Shipping continues to bring in double-digit growth numbers on full imports and transshipment due to our hub port function. In addition, their provisioning numbers are reaching high volumes and they continue to be a strategic partner with the cruise lines where provisioning is concerned, increasing with double-digit growth using the port as a strategic hub for provisioning of key cruise vessels. Port St. Maarten has a track record and a reputation of being a reliable partner with a serious and dedicated staff who have contributed to the success of cargo operational excellence, therefore, making us the preferred port for all major shipping carriers. Due to the ports quick recovery and pace of repairs after the Irma disaster, and significant cargo terminal investments that would ensure sustainability and durability, the growth experienced by the port and cargo operators is a testament to the strategic business decisions taken to ensure operational excellence during a time of crisis. At this time, we congratulate Tropical with its new vessels and continuous investments in reliability and dedicated service and we are proud to continue to play a part in Tropicals success and growth in future market leadership and profitability, Port St. Maarten Management adds. Tropical Shipping back in 2016 signed an order with Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard, China, for six new vessels, an investment worth close to US$150 million as part of fleet reinvestment and a commitment to the Caribbean market. Another new vessel entering into service is Tropic Island. Tropic Hope is part of the Carib Class which are 160 meters long and a capacity for 1148 TEU including 270 reefer plugs, hi-cubes below deck, bow and stern thrusters, and can travel up to 20 knots; are equipped with two cranes. The vessel will be serving ports in Canada, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Northern and Eastern Caribbean. Tropical Shipping has grown over the past five decades to become the largest containerized cargo carrier in the Caribbean region. Tropical Shipping provides direct service to Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. Serving thousands of customers throughout this region, Tropical Shipping has a broad range of worldwide clients, whose diverse shipping needs include moving millions of tonnes of cargo throughout the global marketplace, making Tropical Shipping the carrier of choice for the Caribbean. The crash has raised questions about whether Boeing played down or overlooked, largely for cost and competitive reasons, the potential dangers of keeping pilots uninformed about changes to a critical element of the plane's software. And it has put a new focus on whether the FAA has been aggressive enough in monitoring Boeing. A crew member of Indonesian Navy ship KRI Ngurah Rai conducts a search for the victims of Lion Air plane crash in the waters of Tanjung Karawang, Indonesia, in October. Credit:AP Boeing has taken the position that the pilots of the Lion Air flight should have known how to handle the emergency despite not knowing about the modification. The company has maintained that properly following established emergency procedures long familiar to pilots from its earlier 737s should have allowed the crew to handle a malfunction of the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system, known as MCAS, whether they knew it was on the plane or not. The FAA declined to comment about the crash but acknowledged that its own role was being examined. "The FAA's review of the 737 Max's certification is a part of an ongoing investigation with the NTSB and Indonesian civil aviation authorities," the agency said in a statement, referring to the National Transportation Safety Board. "We cannot provide details of that review until the investigation is complete." Boeing's position has left many pilots angry and concerned. "Any time a new system is introduced into an airplane, we are the people responsible for that airplane," said Jon Weaks, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association. Saving airlines time and money In designing the 737 Max, Boeing was selling airlines on the aircraft's fuel savings, operating cost reductions and other improvements. But at the same time, it was trying to avoid wholesale aerodynamic and handling changes that would spur the FAA to determine that 737 pilots would need substantial new and time-consuming training. Loading Internally, a primary requirement for the Max was that no design change could cause the FAA to conclude that pilots must be trained on the system differences between the then-current version of the plane, the 737 NG, and the Max using simulators, said Rick Ludtke, a flight crew operations engineering analyst who was involved in devising some of the other new safety features on the 737 Max. By limiting the differences between the models, Boeing would save airlines time and money by not putting their 737 pilots in simulators for hours to train on the new aircraft, making a switch to the Max more appealing. "Part of what we wanted to accomplish was seamless training and introduction for our customers," Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing's chief executive, said on CNBC in December. "So we purposely designed the airplane to behave in the same way. So even though it's a different airplane design, the control laws that fly the airplane are designed to make the airplane behave the same way in the hands of the pilot." But Boeing's engineers had a problem. Because the Max's engines are larger than those on the older version, they needed to be mounted higher and farther forward on the wings to provide adequate ground clearance. Early analysis revealed that the engines would have a destabilising effect on the airplane, Ludtke said. The concern was that an increased risk of the nose being pushed up at low airspeeds could cause the plane to get closer to the angle at which it stalls, or loses lift, Ludtke said. After weighing many possibilities, Ludtke said, Boeing decided to add a program to the aircraft's flight control system to counter the destabilising pitching forces from the new engines. That program was MCAS. MCAS, according to an engineer familiar with the matter, was written into the umbrella operating system that, among other things, keeps the plane in "trim", or ensures that the nose is at the proper angle for the plane's speed and trajectory. In effect, the system would automatically push the nose down if it sensed that the plane's angle was creating the risk of a stall. The FAA sides with Boeing Ultimately, the FAA determined that there were not enough differences between the 737 Max and the prior iteration to require pilots to go through simulator training. While the agency did require pilots to be given less onerous training or information on a variety of other changes between the two versions of the plane, MCAS was not among those items. Loading The bottom line was that there was no regulatory requirement for Boeing or its airline customers to flag the changes in the flight control system for its pilots and Boeing contended that there was no need, since, in its view, the established emergency procedures would cover any problem regardless of whether it originated in the original system or the modification. At least as far as pilots knew, MCAS did not exist, even though it would play a key role in controlling the plane under certain circumstances. Boeing did not hide the modified system. It was documented in maintenance manuals for the plane, and airlines were informed about it during detailed briefings on differences between the Max and earlier versions of the 737. The role of pilots Among the many unanswered questions raised by the crash is the degree to which Boeing and the FAA considered what would happen in the event that MCAS or the sensors that fed the system information about the plane were to malfunction. In the Lion Air crash, one of the primary theories is that the system was receiving faulty data about the angle of the plane. At the heart of the debate is whether the pilots would have responded differently if they knew the plane's nose was being forced down by MCAS. Information from the flight data recorder shows that the plane's nose was pitched down more than two dozen times during the brief flight, resisting efforts by the pilots to keep it flying level. If MCAS was receiving faulty data indicating that the plane was pitched upward at an angle that risked a stall and the preliminary results of the investigation suggest that it was the system would have automatically pushed the nose down to avert the stall. The standard checklist for dealing with that sort of emergency on the previous version of the 737 focuses on flipping two "stabiliser trim cutout" switches on the central console of the cockpit, then adjusting the stabilisers manually to keep the plane from pitching up or down. Boeing has asserted the pilots on the next-to-last flight of the same Lion Air aircraft that crashed encountered a similar, if less severe, nose-down problem. They addressed it by flipping off the stabiliser cutout switches, in keeping with the emergency checklist. That flight, with different pilots from the flight that crashed, landed safely. Older 737s had another way of addressing certain problems with the stabilisers: Pulling back on the yoke, or control column, would cut off electronic control of the stabilisers, allowing the pilots to control them manually. That feature was disabled on the Max when MCAS was activated another change pilots were unlikely to have been aware of. After the crash, Boeing told airlines that when MCAS is activated, as it appeared to have been on the Lion Air flight, pulling back on the control column will not stop stabiliser runaway. The preliminary results of the investigation, based on information from the flight data recorder, suggested that the pilots of the doomed flight tried a number of ways to pull the nose back up as it lurched down more than two dozen times. That included activating switches on the control yoke that control the angle of the stabilisers on the plane's tail and when that failed to stop the problem, pulling back on the yoke. Cairo: A group of politicians has submitted a petition to extend the presidential term to six years, a move that would allow Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to stay in office at least until 2024. "Four years isn't enough," Mahmoud Badr, one of the proposal's sponsors, said. About 125 of Egypt's 596 legislators had signed the petition, and they're still debating whether the change would affect El-Sisi's second term alone or apply retroactively to his first term, Badr said. Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal said on Sunday he had referred the petition to committee. The term extension would have to be approved by parliament and in a national referendum because it would require a constitutional amendment. El-Sisi's current term is to expire in 2022. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is due to step down in 2022. Credit:Bloomberg Momentum has been building for some time to either remove the two-term limit or extend the length of the terms. A separate petition is before a Cairo urgent matters court. San Salvador: A former mayor of El Salvador's capital has romped home in Sunday's presidential election, standing 20 points ahead of his nearest rival as he sought to end a quarter century of two-party dominance in the crime-plagued Central America nation. The Supreme Electoral Court said that with just over two-thirds of the ballots counted, Nayib Bukele had 52.9 per cent of the votes. Carlos Callejas of the Nationalist Republican Alliance was in second with 32.3 per cent, while even farther back were former Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front and a minor party candidate. Presidential hopeful Nayib Bukele waves as he leaves a polling station after casting his vote in the presidential election in San Salvador on Sunday. Credit:AP Bukele needed 50 per cent of the votes to avoid a March runoff. All four candidates promised to end corruption, stamp out gang violence and create more jobs, with crushing crime at the top of the agenda. Roughly 67,000 Salvadorans belong to gangs that terrorise their communities with extortion, murder and other forms of violence. NSW Labor leader Michael Daley says potentially "tainted" donations would be quarantined and not spent on the election campaign as the corruption watchdog investigates his party. Call for integrity: Opposition Leader Michael Daley. Credit:Dean Sewell The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption is understood to be investigating $100,000 in donations made to NSW Labor at a 2015 fundraising dinner. The donations were at the centre of an ICAC raid on Labor's NSW head office in December. More than 600 people attended a fundraising dinner at The Eight restaurant in Sydneys Chinatown on March 13, 2015, two weeks before the NSW election. Prime Minister Scott Morrison claims government agencies have told him "hundreds" of people on Manus Island and Nauru would be flown to Australia "within a matter of weeks" if Labor and the crossbench pass a bill giving doctors more say in treating sick refugees. The claim, made in a letter sent to Bill Shorten on Monday urging the Opposition Leader against voting for the proposed law, was swiftly rejected as "scare tactics" by doctors and advocates. The bill to compel ministers to more readily approve medical transfers of refugees to hospitals in Australia is expected to come to a vote when Parliament resumes next week. If passed, it would be the first serious defeat of a government in the House of Representatives in 90 years. In a bid to avert defeat, Mr Morrison on Monday proposed a new panel of medical experts to advise the government on transfers but that offer failed to dent support in Parliament for the bill proposed by independent MP Kerryn Phelps. Dr Phelps' legislation limits the discretion of the minister to intervene when two doctors recommend treatment on the mainland. The immigration minister of the day would have to approve the transfer unless he or she "reasonably believes" it would harm security, as defined by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act. The politics of the response to this royal commission will be like the politics of its creation. There will be no reward for going soft. Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten are both vowing to act on the final report but their responses are only the start of years of political wrangling. What is said this week will not count as much as what the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader and their parties do and say in the next term of Parliament when tougher laws are put to a vote. There is no time before the election to change the law to act on Kenneth Haynes long list of recommendations. A huge debate is coming in the next Parliament on how far to go to implement his findings. A New South Wales man accused of having bikie links has been charged after attempting to allegedly drive to Perth with $96,000 in cash and 1.9 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in a spare tyre. Jason William Jeffery had just relocated to Perth with his wife and three children when he was arrested by police on Sunday at a Rivervale motel. During a hearing in Perth Magistrates Court on Monday, the 38-year-old was granted bail despite police prosecutors expressing concerns he was a flight risk. Mr Jefferys lawyer told the court his client had borrowed the car he was driving across the Nullabour, and did not know it had meth or cash hidden inside it. He is a law-abiding citizen... he had no knowledge of the contents in the car, the lawyer said. In what was, so far, the best baseball game of the week, the Jaguars pulled their 33rd win out of the fire and salvaged a gem of a start from their star pitcher. Extra smoke alarms were installed near balconies in a Melbourne CBD apartment block just two weeks before it was hit by a fast-moving fire thought to have been fuelled by combustible cladding. The Neo 200 apartment complex on Spencer Street, contains cladding material similar to London's deadly Grenfell Tower on the balconies but was deemed safe to occupy after an audit prompted by Melbourne's Lacrosse tower fire in 2014. However, Amber Liu, who manages a number of short-stay apartments in the building, told The Age that building managers had installed extra smoke alarms close to the cladding two weeks ago. She said she was told the balcony material was not fireproof and that it would "cost a lot" to replace the cladding so they had decided to add smoke alarms instead. As north Queensland's flooding disaster enters the 11th day, two men have been reported missing in Townsville, prompting a water and land search. Overnight, three people were plucked from their sinking cars by rescue crews during a 12-hour period. Police were no closer to finding the missing men, 21-year-old Hughie Morton and 23-year-old Troy Mathieson, after speaking to their family and friends. They were last seen on Ross River Road in the Townsville suburb of Aitkenvale early on Monday morning. A planned snap rally on Tuesday against Brisbane City Council's Mt Coot-tha zipline project, which was approved by the council on Friday, has about 400 people interested in attending. Greens MP Michael Berkman and Greens councillor Jonathan Sri announced the rally to protest the council's approval of its own development application despite powerful community opposition to the project. An artists' impression of the proposed Mt Coot-tha zipline. Credit:Brisbane City Council About 90 per cent of the more than 3600 submissions made during public consultation were against the zipline project. The zipline was approved by the council's planning officers on Friday and will next be under assessment from the state government after approval from the State Assessment and Referral Agency was granted late last year. Education authorities do not know how many students are actually cyberbullied at school or if the problem is increasing or decreasing. One of the anti-cyberbullying taskforce's 29 recommendations in September 2018 was for the Queensland government to fund research into trying to establish a baseline bullying figure. There is no accurate measure of the prevalence of cyberbullying in Queensland schools. The Queensland government allocated $3.5 million over the next two years, aiming to announce by February 2019 a group of people to put the recommendations in place. Queensland Anti-Cyberbullying Taskforce member Kevin Bates, from the Queensland Teachers Union, said knowing how many young people were cyber bullied was a crucial education issue. A policeman who tasered a Sydney man who'd threatened to cut down a power pole with a chainsaw, and splashed petrol onto an officer, didn't "foresee" the explosion and fire that followed, a coroner has been told. Sergeant Jason Shaw said he feared a colleague would be seriously injured or killed by 51-year-old Stephen Raymond Kline in Riverstone in March 2016. "I just wanted to stop the violence and stop the threat," Sergeant Shaw told an inquest at Lidcombe Coroners Court on Monday. He believed "exceptional circumstances" existed which allowed him to use the Taser, although he conceded it shouldn't normally be used near explosives or flammable liquids. He said he thought Mr Kline was "far enough away" from the petrol and argued a baton wouldn't have been effective to subdue him due to his size and anger. Rosemary Mariner, who shattered barriers when she became one of the Navys first female pilots and the first woman to command a naval aviation squadron and who later successfully fought for a congressional measure that lifted a ban on women serving in combat died on January 24 in Knoxville, Tennessee, aged 65. Her husband, Tommy Mariner, a retired commander in the Navy, said the cause was ovarian cancer. Rosemary Mariner commander of a Navy tactical electronic warfare squadron, in 1991. Credit:The New York Times When Captain Mariner joined the Navy in 1973, she was a licensed pilot and a graduate of Purdue University, where she had been the first woman to enroll in a newly created aeronautics program. She had been enthralled by flight since she was young, when she watched Navy pilots taking off from Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego. Most women in the Navy of the early 1970s were assigned to hospital posts or clerical jobs. But times were about to change. Power giant Origin says the governments proposed energy company break-up bill "will have a detrimental impact" on the electricity sector. The bill is unworkable, confusing, discourages investment, is an over-reach into a free market, and a potential costly burden on taxpayers, Origin said in its submission to the government's proposed bill. The comments come ahead of the legislation's public hearings in Sydney and Melbourne this week. The energy industry warns that the forced divestment bill would allow for excessive, punitive action from the government for perceived breaches. Credit:Nick Moir This bill is not the answer, nor is it an appropriate substitute for long-term policy framework." With almost 20,000 investors standing to lose as much as $1 billion from a spate of failed direct property investment schemes, the peak body representing the industry has stepped in with some words of caution. The demise of property investment group Australian Capital Reserve (ACR) was the third chapter in what has been a sorry tale for the $20 billion direct property investment market over the past 18 months. The collapse of ACR leaves 7,000 Australian investors facing the prospect of losing a combined $340 million, and comes after the failure of two other direct property investment schemes, Fincorp and Westpoint. Between them, the three collapses mean almost 20,000 investors could lose up to $1 billion. In the wake of the ACR case, the Australian Direct Property Investment Association (ADPIA), the peak body representing the direct property investment sector, has urged investors to do their homework before handing over any money. The energy regulator plans to roll out new guidelines electricity retailers must follow when dealing with vulnerable customers as an increasing number of households struggle to pay rising power bills. The changes, which include plans to fine retailers that fail to enact adequate hardship policies, come after more than 72,000 households had their power cut off due to non-payment of bills last financial year, up 11 per cent on the prior year. Household energy debt rose to new levels last year. Credit:Louie Douvis The average electricity debt level for households was $1000 in 2017-18, up from $665 in 2016-17, amid a spike in power prices after the sudden closure of the Hazelwood power station in Victoria took out nearly 20 per cent of the state's power generation capacity. We know that rising energy prices have flowed through to more Australian households experiencing difficulty in paying their bills, putting them at risk of disconnection," Australian Energy Regulator (AER) chairman Paula Conboy said on Monday. Building materials giant Borals profits have taken a hit from extreme rainfall across Australias east coast and construction delays on major government infrastructure projects. The company also warned investors on Monday that its United States-based operations had been negatively affected by slowing volumes, also attributed to above-average rainfall in key states. Boral is Australia's largest building materials supplier. Credit:Jack Atley Ahead of its half-year results due later this month, Australias largest building materials supplier said it expected earnings to be slightly lower that the same period in the previous year. The announcement sparked a sharp share price sell-off on Monday, with the stock falling nearly 8 per cent to end the day trading at $4.55. Since February last year, Boral shares have plunged 43 per cent, wiping out out more than $4 billion in the companys market value. By Carol Rasmussen 30 January 2019(Jet Propulsion Laboratory) A gigantic cavity two-thirds the area of Manhattan and almost 1,000 feet (300 meters) tall growing at the bottom of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is one of several disturbing discoveries reported in a new NASA-led study of the disintegrating glacier. The findings highlight the need for detailed observations of Antarctic glaciers undersides in calculating how fast global sea levels will rise in response to climate change. Researchers expected to find some gaps between ice and bedrock at Thwaites bottom where ocean water could flow in and melt the glacier from below. The size and explosive growth rate of the newfound hole, however, surprised them. Its big enough to have contained 14 billion tons of ice, and most of that ice melted over the last three years. We have suspected for years that Thwaites was not tightly attached to the bedrock beneath it, said Eric Rignot of the University of California, Irvine, and NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Rignot is a co-author of the new study, which was published today in Science Advances. Thanks to a new generation of satellites, we can finally see the detail, he said.The cavity was revealed by ice-penetrating radar in NASAs Operation IceBridge, an airborne campaign beginning in 2010 that studies connections between the polar regions and the global climate. The researchers also used data from a constellation of Italian and German spaceborne synthetic aperture radars. These very high-resolution data can be processed by a technique called radar interferometry to reveal how the ground surface below has moved between images.[The size of] a cavity under a glacier plays an important role in melting, said the studys lead author, Pietro Milillo of JPL. As more heat and water get under the glacier, it melts faster. Numerical models of ice sheets use a fixed shape to represent a cavity under the ice, rather than allowing the cavity to change and grow. The new discovery implies that this limitation most likely causes those models to underestimate how fast Thwaites is losing ice.About the size of Florida, Thwaites Glacier is currently responsible for approximately 4 percent of global sea level rise. It holds enough ice to raise the world ocean a little over 2 feet (65 centimeters) and backstops neighboring glaciers that would raise sea levels an additional 8 feet (2.4 meters) if all the ice were lost.Thwaites is one of the hardest places to reach on Earth, but it is about to become better known than ever before. The U.S. National Science Foundation and British National Environmental Research Council are mounting a five-year field project to answer the most critical questions about its processes and features. The International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration will begin its field experiments in the Southern Hemisphere summer of 2019-20. How Scientists Measure Ice Loss Theres no way to monitor Antarctic glaciers from ground level over the long term. Instead, scientists use satellite or airborne instrument data to observe features that change as a glacier melts, such as its flow speed and surface height. Another changing feature is a glaciers grounding line the place near the edge of the continent where it lifts off its bed and starts to float on seawater. Many Antarctic glaciers extend for miles beyond their grounding lines, floating out over the open ocean. Just as a grounded boat can float again when the weight of its cargo is removed, a glacier that loses ice weight can float over land where it used to stick. When this happens, the grounding line retreats inland. That exposes more of a glaciers underside to sea water, increasing the likelihood its melt rate will accelerate. An Irregular Retreat For Thwaites, We are discovering different mechanisms of retreat, Millilo said. Different processes at various parts of the 100-mile-long (160-kilometer-long) front of the glacier are putting the rates of grounding-line retreat and of ice loss out of sync.The huge cavity is under the main trunk of the glacier on its western side the side farther from the West Antarctic Peninsula. In this region, as the tide rises and falls, the grounding line retreats and advances across a zone of about 2 to 3 miles (3 to 5 kilometers). The glacier has been coming unstuck from a ridge in the bedrock at a steady rate of about 0.4 to 0.5 miles (0.6 to 0.8 kilometers) a year since 1992. Despite this stable rate of grounding-line retreat, the melt rate on this side of the glacier is extremely high.On the eastern side of the glacier, the grounding-line retreat proceeds through small channels, maybe a kilometer wide, like fingers reaching beneath the glacier to melt it from below, Milillo said. In that region, the rate of grounding-line retreat doubled from about 0.4 miles (0.6 kilometers) a year from 1992 to 2011 to 0.8 miles (1.2 kilometers) a year from 2011 to 2017. Even with this accelerating retreat, however, melt rates on this side of the glacier are lower than on the western side. These results highlight that ice-ocean interactions are more complex than previously understood.Milillo hopes the new results will be useful for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration researchers as they prepare for their fieldwork. Such data is essential for field parties to focus on areas where the action is, because the grounding line is retreating rapidly with complex spatial patterns, he said. Understanding the details of how the ocean melts away this glacier is essential to project its impact on sea level rise in the coming decades, Rignot said. The paper by Milillo and his co-authors in the journal Science Advances is titled Heterogeneous retreat and ice melt of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica. Co-authors were from the University of California, Irvine; the German Aerospace Center in Munich, Germany; and the University Grenoble Alpes in Grenoble, France. Contact Youth publisher Vice has joined BuzzFeed in slashing staff at its global operations, with Australian staff to find out their fate as soon as Thursday in a global shake-up of its workforce. The local arm of Vice has about 50 staff and 10 per cent of its worldwide employees are expected to be forced out of the business under the restructure, with cuts across all divisions. SBS and Vice have a partnership in Viceland, which airs shows like comedy Adam Ruins Everything. Last week, another youth-focused content business Buzzfeed Australia announced 11 staff would be made redundant at its local operations, and 200 jobs globally (15 per cent of its workforce), to reduce costs and improve its operating model. Vice launched in Australia in 2003, nine years after its initial launch in Canada, and has a partnership with public broadcaster SBS with SBS VICELAND. An email from Vice Media chief executive Nancy Dubuc to the company's global teams, received by Sydney and Melbourne staff around 1.30am on Saturday, told staff the 2019 budget had been finalised and management "had to make hard but necessary operating decisions". 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. Days after family and friends of a missing Staten Island man erected a memorial outside of a West Brighton apartment where he might have taken his last breath, the candles and flowers allegedly disappeared without their permission. A lifelong friend of 40-year-old Michael Stewart, who authorities allege was stabbed to death, said she visited the site on North Mada Avenue on Wednesday to re-light candles and pay homage to the Weserleigh man, and father of two. Police say Stewart was stabbed to death by 33-year-old ex-convict Angelo Nesimi, who resided at the apartment. Nesimi was arraigned Monday in state Supreme Court on murder charges, after authorities allege they found Stewarts DNA inside the apartment. Also charged in connection with Stewarts disappearance is William Formica, a co-owner of Formica Construction who authorities alleged helped in the cleanup of the murder and owns the West Brighton apartment where the memorial was erected. Both Nesimi and Formica were charged with possession of cocaine. Stewarts family said the flowers and candles were gone by Thursday, however, theyre not certain who was responsible. We have nothing, said Stewarts cousin, Laurie, in reference to the fact Stewarts body has not been recovered by authorities, weeks after he went missing. All we have is a piece of tree. Tantao and Laurie were among a dozen or so family members who reconvened Sunday at the memorial site, to staple new photos of Stewart to the tree; this time laminated to shield off the rain. They arrived moments after renovations were being done to the apartment. A work truck exited the site around the time an NYPD squad car arrived, as officers kept watch on the second memorial ceremony erected over the past week. Family said there shouldnt be an expiration date on a memorial. You pass by some memorials, and they stay up, said Stewarts brother, Richard. The candles might get damaged or wear out, but the flowers and everything, I mean... people just go and put them back. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It was a tip that paid off. A Dongan Hills man, who cops said had a loaded gun in his possession when they busted him in Stapleton last summer, was sentenced Friday to a year in jail. Damon Mitchell, 25, was arrested about 11:09 p.m. on July 9 at the rear of 212 Broad St., said a spokesman for the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. Officers were acting on a tip of a man with a firearm at that location, and Mitchell fit the description, the spokesman said. The defendant had a semiautomatic handgun with five live rounds in his possession, said the spokesman. A post on the 120th Precinct Twitter feed credited Anti-Crime and Field Intelligence officers with the arrest. The defendant was charged with multiple counts of criminal weapon possession. In November, Mitchell pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to attempted second-degree criminal weapon possession to resolve the case. Mitchells lawyer did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Assistant District Attorney Kate Malloy prosecuted the case. Please use another Browser It looks like you are using a browser that is not fully supported. Please note that there might be constraints on site display and usability. For the best experience we suggest that you download the newest version of a supported browser: Internet Explorer, Chrome Browser, Firefox Browser, Safari Browser Continue with the current browser As a current print subscriber, you receive 24/7 access to our website and online e-edition at no additional charge. All you have to do is activate your access. To activate digital access, you will need your account number. You can find your account number on any recent subscription notice or bill. ISLAMABAD Taliban leaders said Monday they will participate in what they call intra-Afghan talks in Moscow designed to bring together prominent Afghan figures, including former President Hamid Karzai, opposition figures and tribal elders but no Kabul government officials. The two-day meeting in the Russian capital, which starts Tuesday, is seen as another step in a process aimed at resolving Afghanistans 17-year war, a process that has accelerated since the appointment in September of U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. Khalilzad has been holding separate negotiations with the Taliban even as he presses for a dialogue that would bring together all key Afghan players. Afghan President Ashraf Ghanis office criticized the meeting in Moscow, saying Afghan politicians attending the gathering were doing so in order to gain power. Ghanis chief adviser, Fazel Fazly, tweeted that it was regrettable. Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Talibans political office in the gulf Arab state of Qatar, confirmed the insurgents participation. A 10-member Taliban delegation will be led by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai. The Taliban have refused to talk to Ghanis government, which they denounce as a pawn of the U.S. A statement released on Monday by Afghans attending the Moscow meeting described it as the first step toward intra-Afghan dialogue. Along with Karzai, the former president, many of the 38 delegates from Kabul have held prominent government positions. Two presidential hopefuls are among those going to Moscow, including Hanif Atmar, who resigned as Ghanis security adviser in August, apparently over differences with the president. Also on the list are powerful warlords turned politicians and former Taliban insurgents who reconciled with the Kabul administration. The only woman on the list, lawmaker and activist Fawzia Koofi, has been an outspoken advocate for womens rights and girls education, once posting pictures of her daughters on her Twitter feed asking the Taliban: What about my daughters education? The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 imposing harsh forms of Islamic law limiting womens education and rights. Kathy Gannon and Rahim Faiez are Associated Press writers. MANILA Five suspected Abu Sayyaf militants accused of involvement in a deadly suicide attack on a Roman Catholic cathedral in the southern Philippines have surrendered to authorities, the national police chief said Monday amid renewed terrorism fears. Complaints for murder and attempted murder were filed against the five, as well as several other suspected Abu Sayyaf fighters who remain at large, for their alleged role in the Jan. 27 attack at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Sulu provinces Jolo town that killed 23 people and wounded nearly 100 others. WARSAW Krzysztof Strzemeski watched with unease as a high school friend voiced support for Polands nationalist government on social media, followed by hate-filled extremist posts. But when the liberal mayor of Gdansk was stabbed to death in public in January, he could no longer hold back his anger. Congratulations for your perseverance sharing right-wing filth, the 58-year-old university lecturer wrote to his former classmate. The two havent communicated since. Polands political fissures have widened in recent months, pitting conservatives many of them government supporters against liberal critics who accuse the ruling party of threatening the countrys hard-won democracy by undermining the independence of the judiciary and the media. In the toxic atmosphere, there has been an increase in hate speech, political threats and, most stunningly, the assassination of popular Gdansk Mayor Pawel Adamowicz, a critic of the ruling Law and Justice Partys anti-immigrant policies. After stabbing Adamowicz during a Jan. 13 charity event, the attacker grabbed a microphone and said that was his revenge against an opposition political party that Adamowicz had once belonged to. Although there have been suggestions the assailant also had psychological problems, some government critics blamed Polands heated political discourse, some of it from state television. Commentators had often vilified Adamowicz for his open acceptance of refugees and gays, and his widow said he had been getting death threats, causing the family to live in fear. Poles have long spoken of two tribes in their central European country. Now, increasingly there is talk of a Polish-Polish war a divide that is greater than at any time since the 1980s, when the Soviet-backed Communist regime tried to crush the Solidarity freedom movement by imposing martial law. The Law and Justice Party won the 2015 election amid Europes migration crisis and a weariness with the centrist government that had been in power for eight years. Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski vowed more help for the poor, a tough anti-corruption stance and a hard line against Muslim migrants, who he said carried parasites and protozoa dangerous to the native European population. Vanessa Gera is an Associated Press writer. CARACAS, Venezuela More than a dozen European Union countries endorsed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the countrys interim president on Monday, raising the pressure on embattled President Nicolas Maduro to resign and clear the way for a new presidential election. Maduro, for his part, stood defiant, rejecting a U.S offer of humanitarian aid that has shifted attention to Venezuelas western border with Colombia, where opponents were gearing up to try to bring emergency food and medicine into the country. We are not beggars, Maduro said in a speech to troops broadcast on Venezuelan state TV. Spain, Germany, France and Britain delivered diplomatic blows to Maduros rule by publicly supporting Guaido after a Sunday deadline for Maduro to call a presidential election passed without action. Sweden, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Croatia also lined up behind Guaido, who last month declared himself interim president with the support of the United States and many South American nations. Meanwhile, in Canada, foreign ministers from Western hemisphere nations belonging to the Lima Group, which includes 13 countries that took the lead in recognizing Guaido as Venezuelas rightful leader, gathered in Ottawa to discuss additional steps to pressure Maduro. Before the meeting got under way, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned a dictatorship willing to use force and fear to maintain its power. He also announced $53 million in humanitarian aid to support the Venezuelan people. We know that the people of Venezuela are facing tremendous hardship and they need our help, as do the countries that have taken in those fleeing violence, Trudeau said. Maduro showed no signs of caving in and lashed out at the EU, accusing it of taking orders from the Trump administration, whom he has repeatedly accused of trying to carry out a coup to get its hands on Venezuelas oil reserves, the worlds largest. But he stopped short of breaking off diplomatic relations with the 16 European countries that recognized his rival Monday, unlike his swift move to cut off ties with the U.S. after it threw its support behind Guaido last month. A growing list of 38 countries has now recognized Guaido, including non-EU nations Kosovo and Albania. Maduro was especially harsh on fellow socialist and Spains prime minister Pedro Sanchez, saying he would have blood on his hands if Maduro is toppled. They gave us an ultimatum, as if Venezuela was being governed from Madrid, said Maduro, who addressed troops Monday on the 27th anniversary of the failed military uprising that thrust his political mentor, the late Hugo Chavez, onto the national stage. Amid the rising pressure, Maduro has shown signs hes willing to negotiate. In an interview that aired Monday with Italys Sky TG24 he said that he had written Pope Francis asking for help in fostering dialogue with the opposition. Some of the EU countries backing Guaido are part of a newly formed International Contact Group of eight European and four Latin American nations. It aims to facilitate dialogue and is due to hold its first meeting in Uruguay on Thursday. Joshua Goodman and Barry Hatton are Associated Press writers. In Tit-For-Tat Move, Putin Announces Russian Suspension of INF Treaty (Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; issued Feb 02, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia has suspended its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, one day after the United States made a similar announcement. Putin met in Moscow on February 2 with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss Russia's reaction to the long-expected U.S. move. "We will do as follows," Putin said during the meeting. "We will come up with a tit-for-tat response. Our American partners have announced the suspension of their participation in the treaty, so we will suspend as well." On February 2, Washington said it had formally notified Russia and other treaty parties of the United States' intent and suspended its obligations under the INF. Putin ordered Lavrov not to begin any new INF talks with the United States, saying Moscow will wait to see if Washington responds to any of Russia's earlier proposals on saving the agreement. "Over the past several years, we have seen that our partners do not support our initiatives," Putin said. "On the contrary, they are constantly looking for certain pretexts to dismantle the global security system." Meanwhile, he said the Defense Ministry will begin developing new nuclear-capable missiles, including supersonic ones. He added that Russia should avoid being drawn into a new and costly arms race and said Moscow would not deploy any new weapons unless the United States did so first. Lavrov said he believes the U.S. suspension of the INF Treaty jeopardizes other arms-control agreements, including the New START pact, which is set to expire in 2021. Lavrov also accused the United States of violating the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) by participating in nuclear-weapons exercises with NATO-member countries that are not among the five nuclear-armed states under the NPT. "That is an outright violation of the Nonproliferation Treaty," Lavrov told Putin. The foreign minister also said Washington had "lost any interest" in the possibility of joining the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The U.S. State Department said in a statement on February 2 that the United States could not be restricted by the treaty while Russia violated it. "The United States has concluded that extraordinary events related to the subject matter of the Treaty arising from Russia's continued noncompliance have jeopardized the United States' supreme interests," the statement said. Earlier in the day, Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the Federation Council's International Relations Committee, said Washington had "taken another step toward [the world's] destruction." Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the U.S. withdrawal from the INF Treaty was part of "the strategy of the United States to get out of its international legal obligations in different areas." Moscow's reaction comes after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that as a result of what he called years of Russian violations, Washington would no longer abide by the key Cold War-era arms-control pact. "For years, Russia has violated terms of the INF Treaty without remorse," Pompeo said in a news briefing. "To this day, Russia remains in material breach of obligations." "The United States will therefore suspend its obligations under the INF Treaty effective February 2," Pompeo said. "We will provide Russia and the other treaty parties with formal notice that the United States is withdrawing from the INF Treaty effective in six months, pursuant to Article 15 of the treaty." The INF Treaty was signed in 1987 and bans the development, production, and deployment of ground-launched cruise or ballistic missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. The agreement was the first of its kind to eliminate an entire class of missiles. Pompeo told reporters in Washington that the United States remained open to arms-control negotiations with Russia. U.S. President Donald Trump issued a written statement saying that "we will not remain constrained by its terms while Russia misrepresents its actions. We cannot be the only country in the world unilaterally bound by this treaty, or any other." Moscow denies it has violated the treaty and has called on Washington to offer proof of its allegations. Foreign Minister Lavrov on February 2 countered that Washington had violated the treaty by developing combat drones with similar characteristics to the banned ground-based missiles. Putin said U.S. tests of missile-defense weapons also violated the INF agreement. U.S. officials have expressed concerns that China, which is not party to the INF, has gained a military advantage in Asia by deploying large numbers of missiles with ranges banned by the treaty. Beijing on February 2 urged Moscow and Washington to come together to preserve the treaty. "China opposes the United States' move to denounce the treaty and urges the U.S. and Russia to properly settle the differences through efficient dialogues," a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said. NATO allies issued a statement saying they "fully support" the U.S. decision to withdraw from the INF Treaty. "All NATO allies support the U.S. decision today to start the withdrawal process, but it will take six months before that process is completed," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the Associated Press. "We continue, therefore, to call on Russia to come back into compliance and fully respect the INF Treaty, he added. The United Nations secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, said he hoped Moscow and Washington use the six-month period to reach a new agreement. "We have seen the announcement they made today," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. "The secretary-general hopes that the parties will use these six months to resolve their differences. The INF is a very important part of arms-control architecture." The U.S. action has been expected for months and was virtually assured after last-ditch talks in Beijing on January 31 between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and U.S. Undersecretary of State Andrea Thompson ended without agreement. Washington and NATO accuse Russia of breaching the treaty by developing the 9M729 cruise missile, also known as the SSC-8. The United States first publicly accused Moscow of violating the INF Treaty in 2014. After several years of fruitless talks, Washington began stepping up its rhetoric in late 2017, publicly identifying the missile in question and asserting that Russia had moved beyond testing and had begun deploying the systems. (ends) Statement on Russia's Failure to Comply with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty (Source: North Atlantic Treaty Organization; issued Feb 01, 2019) 1. Following nearly six years of U.S. and Allied engagement with Russia, on 4 December 2018, NATO Allies declared that Russia has developed and fielded a missile system, the 9M729, which violates the INF Treaty, and poses significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security. Allies strongly supported the finding of the United States that Russia is in material breach of its obligations under the INF Treaty and called upon Russia to urgently return to full and verifiable compliance. 2. Since that announcement, the United States and other Allies have remained open to dialogue, and have engaged Russia on its violation, including at a NATO-Russia Council meeting on 25 January 2019. Allies regret that Russia, as part of its broader pattern of behaviour, continues to deny its INF Treaty violation, refuses to provide any credible response, and has taken no demonstrable steps toward returning to full and verifiable compliance. 3. As a result, the United States is suspending its obligations under the INF Treaty in response to Russias material breach, and is providing the requisite six-month written notice to Treaty Parties of its withdrawal under Article XV of the INF Treaty. The United States is taking this action in response to the significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security posed by Russias covert testing, production, and fielding of 9M729 ground-launched cruise missile systems. Allies fully support this action. 4. Unless Russia honours its INF Treaty obligations through the verifiable destruction of all of its 9M729 systems, thereby returning to full and verifiable compliance before the U.S. withdrawal takes effect in six months, Russia will bear sole responsibility for the end of the Treaty. 5. NATO continues to closely review the security implications of Russian intermediate-range missiles and will continue to take steps necessary to ensure the credibility and effectiveness of the Alliances overall deterrence and defence posture. We will continue to consult each other regularly with a view to ensuring our collective security. 6. Allies are firmly committed to the preservation of effective international arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation. Therefore, we will continue to uphold, support, and further strengthen arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation, as a key element of Euro-Atlantic security, taking into account the prevailing security environment. 7. We continue to aspire to a constructive relationship with Russia, when Russias actions make that possible. 8. We urge Russia to use the remaining six months to return to full and verifiable compliance to preserve the INF Treaty. (ends) Russian Defence Ministry: US Started Production of Intermediate-Range Missiles Two Years Before It Accused Russia of Violating the INF Treaty (Source: Russian Ministry of Defence; issued Feb 02, 2019) In Washington, two years before the public unproved accusations of Russia of alleged violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), they not only made a decision, but also began preparations for the production of intermediate-range missiles banned by the treaty. Thus, according to irrefutable information available at the Russian Ministry of Defence, since June 2017 the enterprise of the Raytheon military-industrial corporation in the city of Tucson, Arizona, has launched a program of expansion and upgrade of production facilities in order to create medium and shorter-range missiles banned by the INF Treaty. This plant is the largest diversified enterprise of the US space industry, producing almost all types of rocket weapons, including medium-range and short-range cruise missiles. Over the past two years the space of the plant has increased by 44% - from 55,000 to 79,000 sq m, while the number of employees is about to rise by almost 2,000 people, according to official statements. In November 2017, the US Congress allocated to the Pentagon the first tranche amounting to $ 58 million, directly pointing at the development of a land-based missile of intermediate range. Thus, the work carried out irrefutably proves that the US administration decided to withdraw from the INF Treaty a few years before it started making public unfounded accusations against Russian of violating the Treaty. -ends- BANGKOK Candidates in Thailands first general election since the military seized power in 2014 began registering Monday, as supporters waved banners and rallied in political activities that until recently was illegal. Hundreds of candidates from dozens of parties crammed into an indoor stadium to officially enter the race and draw lots for the numbers that will go alongside their names on the ballots for the March 24 election. Enthusiasm for a return to democracy is high but is tempered with an awareness that new election rules handicap the political machine of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, which has easily won every national election since 2001. The Thaksin-associated Pheu Thai Partys main challenger is expected to be the Palang Pracharat Party, widely considered a proxy for the military. Following the election, Palang Pracharat is expected to nominate the head of the current military government, Prayuth Chan-ocha, to be the next prime minister. Prayuth, one of three candidates the party has proposed, was army commander when he led the 2014 coup that ousted an elected government formed by Thaksins sister, Yingluck Shinawatra. Pheu Thais top pick for prime minister urged the state Election Commission to keep a close watch on the polls. The people have been waiting for this election for eight years, said Sudarat Keyuraphan, referring to the last time an election installed a government. So this election must be held with freedom, fairness and confidence to make the country move forward. Prayuths chances of remaining prime minister are considered good because of elaborate rules for forming the next government. There are 350 directly elected seats in the new lower house, but another 150 are decided through a complicated system of proportional representation that, roughly speaking, deals out seats in inverse proportion to those a party wins in the constituency vote. The more of the 350 seats a party wins in the direct vote, the lesser share of the 150 it is rewarded. The architects of the military-endorsed system say it will ensure that lawmakers are drawn from a wide range of parties, thereby bringing many voices into the chamber. Critics say the system is designed to keep any one party from winning a majority, forcing the creation of a coalition government. Jerry Harmer is an Associated Press writer. 3 1 of 3 Oscar Rivera / AFP / Getty Images Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Luis Acosta / AFP / Getty Images Show More Show Less 3 of 3 SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador A former mayor of El Salvadors capital romped to victory in Sundays presidential election, winning more votes than his two closest rivals combined to end a quarter century of two-party dominance in the crime-plagued Central America nation. The Supreme Electoral Court declared Nayib Bukele the winner, saying he had nearly 54 percent of the votes, with nearly 90 percent of ballots counted. Carlos Callejas of the Nationalist Republican Alliance was far behind in second with less than 32 percent, while even farther back were former Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front and a minor party candidate. ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates Pope Francis urged religious leaders Monday to work together to reject the miserable crudeness of war as he opened the first-ever papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam, with a strong denunciation of violence committed in Gods name. In a keynote speech to an interfaith gathering in the United Arab Emirates, Francis warned that the future of humanity is at stake unless religions come together to resist the logic of armed power ... the arming of borders, the raising of walls. There is no alternative: we will either build the future together or there will not be a future, Francis told Abu Dhabis powerful crown prince and hundreds of imams, muftis, ministers, rabbis and swamis gathered in the Emirati capital at a time when the UAE-backed Saudi war in Yemen has driven the Arab worlds poorest country to the brink of famine. God is with those who seek peace, Francis added. Francis speech to the gathering of faith leaders was the highlight of his 40-hour visit to Abu Dhabi. His trip concludes Tuesday with the first papal Mass on the Arabian Peninsula, a gathering expected to draw some 135,000 faithful in a never-before-seen display of public Christian worship here. Francis visit, 800 years after his peace-loving namesake St. Francis of Assisi visited an Egyptian sultan, marked the culmination of years of Holy See efforts to improve relations with the Muslim world after they hit a low during the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI. Since then, religious fanaticism and faith-inspired wars have only grown around the globe. The Jesuit pope capitalized on his relationship with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Egypts Al-Azhar, the revered 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni learning, to make the historic trip. They found welcome in the Emirates, which prides itself on its tolerance in a region known for severely restricting religious freedom and is home to a remarkably vibrant Catholic community that by some estimates numbers 1 million faithful in a federation of 9 million. At the end of the interfaith meeting, Francis and el-Tayeb signed a joint statement on human fraternity and their hopes for world peace, and then laid the cornerstones for a new church and mosque to be built side-by-side in Abu Dhabi. The document, in Arabic and Italian, describes itself as being written in the name of all victims of wars, persecution and injustice. The United Arab Emirates is deeply involved in the Saudi-led war in Yemen and faces widespread international criticism for air strikes killing civilians and the creation of the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. As Francis began his trip, human rights groups that are banned from the UAE urged him to use his visit to press for accountability by the Emirati leadership for atrocities in the war in Yemen and its repression of dissent at home. Nicole Winfield and Jon Gambrell are Associated Press writers. MEXICO CITY An American anarchist who went by the name John Galton was shot dead at his home in the Mexican resort of Acapulco, sending shivers through a tight-knit, anti-establishment community of expatriates that organizes events in the violence-torn retreat with seminars on topics such as how to make money via cryptocurrencies. A woman describing herself as Galtons partner, Lily, said via social media that she saw the gunmen target Galton and his friend Jason Henza, 43. Henza made it to a hospital with bullet wounds in an armpit, leg and hand. Mexican police said they found equipment to process drugs, glass pipes and marijuana plants at the home. Will history repeat itself? More than an inch of snow fell in San Francisco this same week 43 years ago on Feb. 5, 1976, and this week there's an ever-so-slight chance of snow in the city "if the timing is right," says forecaster Jan Null, who runs private forecasting service Golden Gate Weather Services. (See historic photos of times when it snowed in San Francisco in the gallery above.) Temperatures will be falling swiftly into the 30s in valleys and 20s at higher elevations overnight Monday and into Tuesday morning around the Bay Area, as a low-pressure system dives down from the Northwest delivering a blast of cold air. At the same time, bands of moisture will be moving quickly across the area, and Null explains where and how much snow falls is dependent on how the waves of precipitation and cold air line up. The coldest air will be arriving Tuesday morning at the backend of the system when a lot of the moisture will already be squeezed out. "It's such a narrow call between snow and no snow," says Null. ALSO: Blizzard warning for Sierra through Monday night: 'Even a short walk could be deadly' Snow accumulation is in the forecast for elevations of 1,500 feet to 2,000 feet, and Null says there's a high probability Bay Area residents will wake to Mounts Diablo, St. Helena and Hamilton iced in fresh powder. "That's where showers linger," says Null. Locations at 1,000 feet - such as the East Bay hills and Skyline Boulevard at the Summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains - could also receive a dusting. Again, "It's a matter of whether the cold air coming in and the showers phase together," he says. Just south of the Bay Area, the Santa Lucia Mountains in Big Sur are expected to see up to a foot of accumulation on the ground, and snow is also highly likely in the Redding area at 500 feet as, Null explains, "cold air gets trapped in the Northern Sacramento Valley." In the Bay Area, snowfall at 500 feet is most likely in the North Bay, the including Sonoma and Napa valleys, but Roger Gass, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, says it's unlikely to stick to the ground and could be mixed with rain. As for San Francisco, Null says it's "not impossible" Twin Peaks and Mount Sutro, both at about 900 feet elevation, will see snow, but "the odds are less" because temperatures warm up near the ocean. MORE: Chilly Bay Area storm forecast to spray local peaks and some valleys with snow The NWS warns snow accumulation could impact motorists on Highway 17 over the Summit in the Santa Cruz Mountains and on Highway 29 at Robert Louis Stevenson Park in Calistoga. In the valleys, Bay Area residents will see a nasty mix of severe weather with heavy rain and possible thunder, lightning and small hail. Conditions will be blustery, but this system isn't expected to deliver widespread high-winds into valleys as Friday's storm did. The skies are forecast to clear Tuesday afternoon and conditions will remain dry through at least Friday when a weaker system could bring more rain. Temperatures will remain cool through the week with daytime highs in the low 50s and overnight lows in the 40s. The only thing bigger than the hair in Lawrence Luckham's photos of Bell Laboratories are the computers. In the late 1960s, Luckham managed a Bell Labs computer center in Downtown Oakland. The center was tucked in the basement of the Bermuda Building, a location chosen for its ample floor space, floor-loading capacity and privacy. Secrecy was tantamount to the project, called the Live Traffic Experiment, spurred by an influx of calls to 411 that overwhelmed telephone operators. Bell Labs, credited with inventing the world's first transistor and laser, set out to streamline the process by automating it. "We were basically doing Google in the 1960s," said Luckham, who is now retired and living in San Rafael. As operations manager, Luckham oversaw a team of computer operators, data entry staff and programmers. The latter group, he says, didn't conform to the rigid office culture of the 1960s, with their disheveled outfits and odd hours. "One would come in at 10 a.m. on Monday and not leave until Wednesday night," he said. Often, Luckham would run into programmers mumbling to themselves in the hallway, chewing on rubber bands. They were unorthodox, but "very bright and interesting to work with." Of interest to people looking at Luckham's photographs taken on a single day in 1968 or 1969 is the abundance of women, not often associated with the technological workspaces of the 1960s (or today). Beside the five male programmers, the entire cohort of computer operating staff were women. Primitive processing involved the punching of cards that were created on a machine resembling an overgrown typewriter. The cards eventually gave way to sorting machines, which women operated because the task was considered clerical. Thus, women's entry into the computer industry followed on the heels of typing pools. Such was the way of the world at that time, admits Luckham, now 75. "Though the interesting thing," he added, "is that some of the most significant advances in technology were pioneered by women," like Grace Hopper, a navy computer specialist, and Ada Lovelace, considered the first computer programmer. Some years after the brought his camera to the Bell Labs office, Luckham decided to leave the computer industry for good. In the 1970s, a series of personal issues convinced him to quit his job, sell his house and car, and purchase a motorcycle. After riding around Mexico and Europe, Luckham returned to the computer industry briefly before going into construction. Luckham still owns and operates dozens of low-income housing units in the Bay Area. Curiously, he found his way back to photography in the new millennium. More than a decade ago, then-mayor of San Rafael Al Boro, who worked with Luckham at Pacific Telephone, asked his old pal to join the fire commission. "I famously said to the city council and the mayor during the interview: 'If you're looking for somebody to go to meetings and that's all, then I'm not the guy. If you appoint me, I'm going to find something to do,'" Luckham said. That something turned out to be photographing fires, training and other fire department business. Luckham uploaded the photos he took to hand-built websites. When asked if he regretted leaving the lucrative tech industry, Luckham laughed. "Regret? I'm not completely out of it, even today," he said. "All my websites are on my own servers." Luckham retired in 2018 after 10 years on the commission. The websites are still up and running. Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@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. Iran Claims Successful Test of New Cruise Missile (Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; issued Feb 02, 2019) Iran Unveils New Long-Range Cruise Missile Hoveizehhttps://t.co/Q65gB7m3un pic.twitter.com/ny4psEWNPa Iran Front Page (@IranFrontPage) February 2, 2019 State media in Iran have reported the successful test of a new cruise missile with a range of 1,350 kilometers.The February 2 test came as Iran was celebrating the 40th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution."The test of the Hoveizeh cruise missile was carried out successfully at a range of 1,200 kilometers and accurately hit the intended target," Defense Minister Amir Hatami said on state television.He also said the missile was manufactured entirely in Iran without foreign assistance.One of the reasons that the United States gave for withdrawing from a landmark 2015 agreement that restricted Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief was that it did not prevent Iran from developing missiles that could threaten Israel.UN Security Council Resolution 2231, adopted in 2015, "calls upon" Tehran to refrain from developing nuclear-capable missiles for a period of eight years.Tehran says its missiles cannot carry nuclear warheads.The test could not be independently verified, and Iran frequently overstates the capabilities of its weaponry.-ends- Order to Procure Three Additional "Black Hawks" Granted (Source: Austrian Ministry of Defence; issued Feb 01, 2019) (Unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com) Austria has decided to reinforce its army aviation component by adding three S-70 Black Hawks, bringing the force to 12 aircraft which are often used for disaster relief and rescue missions. (Austria MoD photo) VIENNA, Austria --- The Federal Army's S-70 "Black Hawk" fleet will be expanded by three additional units, to 12 helicopters, through additional funds from the "Civil Protection Package," in accordance with the Council of Ministers' decision of 22 August 2018. Today, the order confirmation for the procurement of the three "Black Hawks" by the countersignature of the company "ACE Aeronautics" became final. In 2021, the first helicopter of the expanded fleet is to land in Austria. Necessary investments to protect the population "We have been able to make the necessary investments in the future to equip the squadron with modern aviation equipment, and with the three additional 'Black Hawks', we will reach the required full strength for the first time in the history of the Second Republic," said Defense Minister Mario Kunasek. "The number of emergency missions also clearly shows how important the investments in the framework of the 'Civil Protection Package' are: Our soldiers must be able to act even in the event of disasters, in order to quickly assist the population. "Maintaining mobility to fulfill the mission and protect the population, whether in the air, on the water or on the ground, is a top priority for me," said the Secretary of Defense. The Avionic update for the remaining nine "Black Hawks" is already underway and will be completed by 2021. Medium transport helicopter The Black Hawk is a medium transport helicopter. Due to its two powerful engines, each one 1,940 hp, it is very versatile and ideal for use at high altitudes in the mountains. It has a de-icing system of the rotor blades and the tail rotor, so it can operate even in bad weather or in winter conditions. The transport capacity is 20 people, or about 4 tons of cargo. In an emergency, however, up to 25 people can be carried. The helicopter has a range of about 500 kilometers, which can be extended with external fuel tanks up to about 1,600 kilometers, or a flight endurance of about 4.5 hours. It reaches a maximum speed of 360 km / h and the maximum altitude is around 6,000 meters. Over 25,000 flight hours completed The first flight of the Black Hawk helicopter in Austria took place on 21 September 2002. The first of these military helicopters were procured as a result of the catastrophe of Galtur. Since its official service introduction in 2002, the S-70A Black Hawk has flown over accident-free 25,000 hours, transporting about 219,000 people and about 23,000 tons of external and internal loads. -ends- Neel Bhatt, a UW assistant professor of otolaryngology, specializes in treating patients with voice problems. Through his work, he began to realize people did not like the sound of their own voices. With the transition to school over Zoom, many students can relate to the discomfort of hearin All lanes of northbound U.S. Highway 101 have reopened following a collision early Sunday morning that killed two people and injured nine, according to the California Highway Patrol. The three-car collision was first reported at 2:33 a.m., with a vehicle traveling south in the northbound lanes of 101 near Vermont Street striking two vehicles, according to CHP Officer Bert Diaz. The wrong-way vehicle is believed to have come from the Vermont Street off-ramp, Diaz said. The wrong-way driver, a woman from San Jose, then struck another vehicle just south of Cesar Chavez Street that was driven by a Concord man, according to Diaz, resulting in one person being ejected from a vehicle. The drivers of both cars died, Diaz said. Diaz was unable to confirm whether the victim who was ejected was riding in the wrong-way vehicle or the vehicle headed north. At least one of the injured remained in critical condition Sunday afternoon, Diaz said. The condition of the other injured person was unknown. All northbound lanes of the freeway were blocked from around 2:40 a.m. until shortly before 10 a.m. Sunday. A 51-year-old San Francisco man was arrested Friday night when officers found a loaded, unregistered handgun in his Jeep, shortly after the suspect tried to pass two counterfeit $100 bills at a Sausalito liquor store, police said. Officers went to a liquor store in the 3000 block of Bridgeway at about 7 p.m., where the clerk said a man tried to pass two counterfeit bills, according to Sausalito police Lt. Bill Fraass. The clerk recognized the man, whom police said had successfully passed a counterfeit $100 bill at the same store a few weeks earlier. The man and the clerk got into an argument, and the clerk seized both the bill and the man's cell phone. The man fled the store, with the clerk chasing him, threatening to hit him with a liquor bottle. The man climbed into the passenger seat of a Jeep with Texas plates, which then drove off. Police located the Jeep shortly thereafter and found a loaded, unregistered semiautomatic pistol, as well as two more fake $100 bills and burglary tools. Kevin Dean was arrested and booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition by a "prohibited" person, forgery and possession of burglary tools. The Jeep's driver was not arrested. A 63-year-old man was arrested Friday in connection with an assault the previous day, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office. At about 10 a.m. Thursday, deputies responded to a call of an assault involving a bicyclist and a hiker in the Mount Burdell Open Space in Novato. The suspect, Jeffrey K. Skelton, allegedly started yelling at the victim and her dog. Skelton then got off his bike and started kicking the dog. When the victim tried to push Skelton away from the dog, he knocked her to the ground and choked her, according to police. Skelton left the area in a van, leaving his bicycle and personal items behind. On Friday, police found Skelton, who claimed he was assaulted by the hiker, in the Hamilton area of Novato. He was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of assault likely to produce great bodily injury, cruelty to an animal and violation of probation. Neither the victim nor the dog suffered serious injuries. A motorist has been found dead in a submerged vehicle in a creek in unincorporated San Mateo County, according to the California Highway Patrol. The CHP received a report shortly before 8 a.m. Sunday of a submerged vehicle down an embankment in the areas of Alpine and Heritage roads. Emergency crews have recovered a body from the vehicle. No further information was immediately available. Police responded to a home burglary overnight at University Village in Albany, according to University of California at Berkeley police. The burglary occurred while the residents were sleeping between 11:30 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday. The suspect entered the apartment through an unlocked ground floor window and stole two cell phones, police said. The residents were not physically harmed during the robbery. Police are asking anyone with information about this or any similar incidents to call (510) 642-0472 or (510) 642-6760 during non-business hours. 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. SANTA ROSA (BCN) The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office Monday identified the victim of a homicide in Santa Rosa Thursday as Derrick Young, 50, a Santa Rosa area transient. Santa Rose police arrested two homeless men, William Armister Amons, 62, of San Francisco and Solomon Asgedom Fret, 55, of Santa Rosa as the suspects. Both men are schedule to be arraigned in Sonoma County Superior Court Tuesday afternoon. The two men confronted Young about a dispute over a bicycle and repeatedly struck Young in the upper body with blunt objects. The suspects fled and Young died at the scene, Lt. John Cregan said. A witness ran to the El Brinquito restaurant at 810 Piner Road to report a man was being beaten with a stick behind a nearby business. The witness gave a detailed description of the suspect and police responded around 9:40 p.m. Thursday, Cregan said. Officers found Young with blunt force trauma injuries on the ground behind an industrial building in the 900 block of Piner Road. Amons was found moments later on a bicycle in the 1700 block of Piner Road. He had injuries consistent with a fight and he matched the witness's description of the suspect, Cregan said. He was arrested and booked under no bail in the Sonoma County Jail for murder. Fret was arrested Friday based on statements from witnesses and involved parties, Cregan said. Several homeless people were living in vehicles parked behind the industrial buildings in the area and others commonly gather there, Cregan said. Police are seeking other witnesses to the homicide. Anyone with information is asked to call Santa Rosa police at (707) 543-3590. The Sonoma County Alliance is offering a reward up to $2,500 for information leading to the convictions of the suspects. 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. ANTIOCH (BCN) A 30-year-old man was critically wounded Sunday afternoon in a shooting in Antioch, and police on Sunday night were searching for the shooter, police said. Antioch police got several reports shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday of gunshots fired in the area of Lemontree Way and Sycamore Drive, Antioch police Sgt. Rick Smith said in a news release. Officers arrived to find the injured man, who was taken to an area hospital; he was listed in critical condition Sunday night, Smith said. The victim was not identified Sunday night. Officers were working leads in the case Sunday night, and no other information was released. Sunday night are currently following up on investigative leads. No further information is being released Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925)778-2441, or text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH. 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. SALINAS (BCN) A Southern California couple has been sentenced for poaching succulent plants off the coast of Garrapata State Park in Monterey County with plans to sell them to customers in China, the Monterey County District Attorney announced Saturday. On May 5, 2018, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office received a tip that the couple, 49-year-old Guanrong Rivera and 64-year-old Jose Luis Rivera, had climbed up a cliff on State Highway 1 and were loading bags of the succulent Dudleya farinosas into their car. The person who sent in the tip took a photo of the suspects, their car and their license plate. The Sheriff's Office referred the matter to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which found the couple's house in Palmdale. They watched the house and saw Guanrong Rivera walking in and out of her garage taking photos of the succulents on her driveway. Five days later, on May 10, CDFW searched the Riveras' home and found about 600 Dudleyas inside the garage. Guanrong Rivera said she took the succulents from the Big Sur area and was planning on selling them to customers in China. The plants were taken to the University of California at Santa Cruz to be evaluated and returned to the wild. On Jan. 15, Jose Luis Rivera entered a no contest plea to illegally taking plants from the state park. He was sentenced Jan. 31 to 40 days in the county jail, three years of informal probation and a $4,018 fine. Guanrong Rivera entered a no contest plea to grand theft, vandalism and illegally taking plants from the state park. She was sentenced Jan. 31 to three years of formal probation, 179 days in the county jail, ordered to pay a $9,999.90 fine and a $10,000 contribution to CDFW, pay restitution to CDFW and forfeit all stolen plants. Both were banned from all national and state parks in California. 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. Visitors in the Charles Adams Studio looking at the many paintings and drawings being displayed. Lubbock's First Friday Art Trail was at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 1, 2019. The Texas Tech School of Theatre & Dance will be hosting performances of "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" until Feb. 10. In the pictured scene, drunk and covered in blood, Andrew Jackson, played by Luke Weber, returns home to the Hermitage to his wife, Rachel, played by Malana Wilson, after the Battle of New Orleans. Lubbock, TX (79409) Today Partly cloudy skies. Low near 60F. Winds E at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low near 60F. Winds E at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. ABC/Heidi GutmanLast summer, Green Day drummer Tre Cool revealed that the punk trio had been rehearsing their iconic 1994 album Dookie in full, leading to speculation that the band might be planning some kind of 25th anniversary celebration. Well, now we know why it never happened. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has revealed that the band did want to do something to celebrate 25 years of Dookie, but nothing came together. "We wanted to think of something special to do but we couldn't quite come up with anything," Armstrong writes in an Instagram post. Some of the ideas that Green Day apparently floated include performing Dookie in full at the pyramids of Egypt or Machu Picchu, or at a special concert in the Italian town of Viggiano, where some of Armstrong's ancestors lived before immigrating to America. But, as Armstrong puts it, none of those ideas "came to fruition." However, he's still leaving the door open for something Dookie-related to happen this year. "Never despair," Armstrong writes. "2019 still has time." Dookie celebrated its 25th anniversary on February 1. The album, which features the singles "Basket Case," "Longview" and "When I Come Around," is Green Day's best-selling record, and has been certified Diamond by the RIAA for 10 million copies sold. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. WASHINGTON Worried about a potential Republican primary challenge, President Trumps campaign has begun a state-by-state effort to prevent an intraparty fight that could spill over into the general-election campaign. The nascent initiative has been an intense focus in recent weeks and includes taking steps to change state party rules, crowd out potential rivals and quell any early signs of opposition that could embarrass the president. It is an acknowledgment that Trump, who effectively hijacked the Republican Party in 2016, hasnt completely cemented his grip on the GOP. While any primary challenge would almost certainly be unsuccessful, Trump aides are looking to prevent a repeat of the convention discord that highlighted the electoral weaknesses of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter in their failed re-election campaigns. To defend against that prospect, Trumps campaign has deployed what it calls an unprecedented effort to monitor and influence local party operations. It has used endorsements, lobbying and rule changes to increase the likelihood that only loyal Trump activists make it to the Republican nominating convention in August 2020. Bill Stepien, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, calls it all a process of ensuring that the national convention is a television commercial for the president for an audience of 300 million and not an internal fight. One early success for Trumps campaign was in Massachusetts, where Trump backer and former state Rep. Jim Lyons last month defeated the candidate backed by Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, a Trump critic, to serve as the state party chairman. We have a constant focus on tracking everything regarding this process, Stepien said. Whos running, what their level of support for the president is and what their vote counts are. The campaigns work extends beyond state party leadership races, which are taking place in many key states in the coming weeks. Trumps team plans to organize at county and state caucuses and conventions over the next 18 months to elevate pro-Trump leaders and potential delegates. Ahead of the convention, it aims to have complete control of the convention agenda, rules and platform and to identify any potential troublemakers well in advance. That sort of organization is a leap from Trumps 2016 delegate operation, which faced challenges by anti-Trump activists in the party. Trump aides say its the most aggressive effort ever launched to protect an incumbent. Yet the efforts to protect Trump simply highlight his vulnerability, said an adviser to one potential Republican opponent. They rightfully understand that he could be badly damaged or lose in a nomination battle. Theyre doing too much. It looks weak, said John Weaver, a senior adviser to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, one of the few high-profile Republicans seriously contemplating a primary challenge. Trumps campaign is closely monitoring the intentions of Kasich and other potential primary challengers, and aides said they expect someone to mount a campaign for the nomination. Zeke Miller and Steve Peoples are Associated Press writers. NEW YORK After nearly three months of testimony about a vast drug-smuggling conspiracy steeped in violence, a jury began deliberations Monday at the trial of infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. A federal judge in Brooklyn gave instructions to jurors before they were asked to begin deciding the verdict for Guzman, who faces life in prison if convicted. The jury has heard months of testimony about Guzmans rise to power as the head of the Sinaloa cartel. Prosecutors say he is responsible for smuggling at least 200 tons of cocaine into the United States and a wave of killings in turf wars with other cartels. Guzman, 61, is notorious for escaping prison twice in Mexico. In closing arguments, prosecutor Andrea Goldbarg said he was plotting yet another breakout when was he was sent in 2017 to the U.S., where he has been in solitary confinement ever since. The defendant wanted to escape because he is guilty and he never wanted to be in a position where he would have to answer for his crimes, Goldbarg said. He wanted to avoid sitting right there. In front of you. The defense claims Guzmans role has been exaggerated by cooperating witnesses who are seeking leniency in their own cases. In his closing, defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman assailed the case as a fantasy and urged the jury not to believe cooperators who lie, steal, cheat, deal drugs and kill people for a living. Last week, newly unsealed court papers revealed disturbing allegations not heard by the jury that Guzman had sex with girls as young as 13. A Colombian drug trafficker told investigators that the kingpin paid $5,000 to have the girls brought to him, and that he sometimes drugged them, the papers say. The start of the proceedings Monday was briefly delayed after two jurors indicated to the judge they were aware of reports about the alleged sex crimes. He questioned both behind closed doors before allowing them to remain on the jury. The unsealing of the documents came at the request of the New York Times and Vice News. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan had ordered prosecutors to review the material originally sealed because it was deemed unrelated to the drug charges and make portions of it public within four days of the government resting its case against Guzman. Guzmans attorneys said their client denies the allegations. Tom Hays is an Associated Press writer. VANCOUVER, Wash. A measles outbreak in the Portland, Ore., area has revived a bitter debate over philosophical exemptions to childhood vaccinations as public health officials across the Northwest scramble to limit the fallout. At least 44 people in Washington and Oregon have fallen ill in recent weeks with the extraordinarily contagious virus, which was eradicated in the U.S. in 2000 as a result of immunization but arrives periodically with overseas travelers. More than a half-dozen more cases are suspected, and people who were exposed to the disease traveled to Hawaii and Bend, Ore., raising the possibility of more diagnoses in the unvaccinated. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee recently declared a state of emergency because of the outbreak. I would hope that this ends soon, but this could go on for weeks, if not months, said Dr. Alan Melnick, public health director in Clark County, Washington, just north of Portland. The county has had most of the diagnosed cases so far. Of the confirmed cases, 37 are people who were not immunized. Most of the confirmed cases have been children younger 10. The outbreak has lawmakers in Washington state revisiting nonmedical exemptions that allow children to attend school without vaccinations if their parents or guardians express a personal objection. Liberal-leaning Oregon and Washington have some of the nations highest statewide vaccine exemption rates, driven in part by low vaccination levels in scattered communities and at some private and alternative schools. Four percent of Washington secondary school students have nonmedical vaccine exemptions. In Oregon, which has a similar law, 7.5 percent of kindergartners in 2018 were missing shots for nonmedical reasons. Washington and Oregon are among 17 states that allow some type of nonmedical exemption for vaccines for personal, moral or other beliefs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A measure introduced by Republican Rep. Paul Harris of Vancouver, Wash. the epicenter of the current outbreak would remove the personal exemption specifically for the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or MMR. Its scheduled for a public hearing in Olympia this week. California is one of the few states that stripped away personal belief vaccine exemptions for children in both public and private schools. The law passed in 2015 after a measles outbreak at Disneyland sickened 147 people and spread across the U.S. and into Canada. Gillian Flaccus is an Associated Press writer. RICHMOND, Va. Gov. Ralph Northam consulted with top administration officials Monday about whether he should stay in office or resign amid an uproar over a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page. Practically all of the states Democratic establishment and Republican leaders, too turned against the 59-year-old Democrat after the picture surfaced of someone in blackface next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. The sense of crisis deepened as the official next in line to be governor, Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, denied an uncorroborated allegation of sexual misconduct first reported by a conservative website. Fairfax told reporters that the 2004 encounter with a woman was consensual, and he called the accusation a smear. Northam stayed out of sight Monday as he met with his Cabinet and senior staff, following a meeting the night before with minority officials in his administration. The governor wanted to hear their assessment of whether it is feasible for him to stay in office, according to a top administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The meetings included frank conversations about the difficulties of governing under such circumstances, the person said. The state government was thrown into confusion by the scandal on what was already one of the legislatures busiest days of the session. Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne said he told Northam that the state cannot afford a prolonged period of uncertainty over his future. Northams office is in the middle of negotiations with GOP lawmakers over a major tax overhaul and changes to the state budget. The Republican Party controls both houses of the legislature. One way or the other, it needs to be resolved, Layne said. The furor over the picture erupted on Friday, when Northam first admitted he was in the picture without saying which costume he was wearing, and apologized. But a day later, he denied he was in the photo, while also acknowledging he once put on blackface to imitate Michael Jackson at a dance contest decades ago. Alan Suderman is an Associated Press writer. WASHINGTON The last Democrat to win a presidential election, Barack Obama, ran in 2012 on a platform of raising taxes for top earners to nearly 40 percent. Now a new crop of Democratic presidential hopefuls is signaling that they want to go even higher. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is floating a 2 percent tax on all assets of people with a net worth of more than $50 million a moon-shot plan that could face legal challenges for hitting investments, homes and cars, not just income. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is pitching a steeply higher inheritance tax on large estates. Others targeting higher income earners include California Sen. Kamala Harris, who has proposed rolling back the recent GOP tax cuts for wealthier families to pay for tax rebates for middle- and lower-income earners. The eruption of high-end tax proposals is a shift for Democrats, who have traditionally not centered their presidential bids around tax hikes particularly at this early stage of a campaign. It underscores the partys march to the left and candidates desire to tap into the Wall Street-rattling energy of liberal voters. If youre looking for a bumper sticker, tax rich people is a pretty good bumper sticker, said Howard Glickman of the centrist Tax Policy Center. Beyond its messaging power, taxing the wealthy also gives Democratic contenders a way to propose paying for their sweeping progressive agendas. Sanders put it simply last week: We need additional revenue if were going to provide health care for all, rebuild our infrastructure, make public colleges and universities tuition-free. The rush to tax the rich has prompted criticism from others eyeing the White House namely billionaires Michael Bloomberg, a former Republican who is considering running as a Democrat, and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is mulling an independent run for president. Schultz says he was driven from the Democratic Party by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the rising star who has issued her own call for a 70 percent income tax rate on people making more than $10 million. Democratic strategists worry Schultz could peel off a small but vital slice of affluent voters and help President Donald Trump get re-elected in a three-way race. But to progressive Democratic contenders, the criticism from billionaires like Schultz proves their point. The billionaires are writing the rules around here. And guess what: All those rules favor the billionaires, Warren said in an interview. Nicholas Riccardi and Elana Schor are Associated Press writers. No untarnished liberal from the North could ever have gotten the Great Society programs passed, Moran said, but he was able to work with his Southern colleagues because he knew where they were coming from. We still have a conservative Republican legislature and, frankly, I think that Ralph will have the highest motivation possible to bring us further away from this horrible past of racism. Sufferfest Beer Company, a San Francisco craft brewing company known for its range of gluten-removed ales and lagers, has been acquired in full by Chico's Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. The breweries announced the sale on Monday; the price was not disclosed. It is Sierra Nevada's first acquisition. The purchase underscores the continuing popularity and growth of the emerging category of gluten-free and gluten-removed beers. The sales of such specialty beers are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17 percent between 2018 and 2022, highlighting the notion that drinkers are increasingly making health-wise decisions in their purchasing. Sufferfest was founded by one such drinker, Caitlin Landesberg, in 2016. Landesberg, a Bay Area native and active trail runner, sought to make a gluten-free beer that both fit her health-conscious lifestyle and didn't sacrifice flavor in favor of utility. "I'm not a serial entrepreneur, I didn't see a gap in the market," she says. "I was just a runner who loved beer and wanted to solve a problem for my friends. It really just grew exponentially and exceeded all my expectations." Landesberg crossed paths with Sierra Nevada by chance last fall, when she and Sierra Nevada President and CEO Jeff White were seated at the same table before they each presented at a beverage industry conference. White recalls the revelatory impact of watching Landesberg speak about her San Francisco company's health-conscious approach to making beer. "It was one of those smack-myself-in-the-head moments," he recalls. "It was just like, gosh I wish I thought of that. It feels so right." Citing Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman's pay-it-forward ethos, White says he made himself available to Landesberg for help. "Here was this company, really young, energetic and positive," he says. "I thought, I've seen a lot of things, maybe I can help them, give them advice, counsel, warnings." Landesberg had already been courting offers from prospective investors and other strategic partners, but nothing had appeared an attractive enough offer until she met White. "I didn't think I was going to be in this scenario and certainly not this soon," Landesberg says. "I definitely believed that Sufferfest would align with a partner at some point because of the nature of this business and the economies of scale that we face ... This wouldn't have happened with any other brand. The fact that they're family-owned and have a value base and their own North Star, I felt this was the right partner." For his part, White is excited to expand Sierra Nevada's offerings to meet a new audience. "What we can bring to Sufferfest (is assistance) to grow and be all that they want to be, quicker," he says. The partnership is also notable for Sierra Nevada because it's the company's first. As White explains, the Chico brewing company had fielded many opportunities in the past to acquire or invest in other breweries, but they "just never took the swing" because the right option never materialized. But Sufferfest demonstrated shared values and was exploring "a space that's going to explode." "This is Sufferfest's third year," he says. "This isn't someone who saw a trend and jumped on it, this is someone who was there before it was a trend. Being real innovators and pioneers aligns with our history." Sufferfest's employees will continue to operate in their current roles, and brewing operations will at some point in the near future move from Colorado, where they currently contract brew, to Sierra Nevada's Chico brewhouse. Landesberg will now report to White, though she is excited to have more flexibility in her position now that the company has "Sierra Nevada as the wind at our backs." As for where Sufferfest goes next, Landesberg has big aspirations. "We serve a community of people who care about what they put in their body," she says. "For that reason I see our beer in every fridge where you are enjoying that post-sweat, earned-your-beer occasion. That's really the vision being the go-to beer for athletes. And now we can go to every state to find the right community at the right time." Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira. When rescuers set off to find the Donner Party in the winter of 1847, they took care to leave behind food for the return journey. At regular intervals, the men would climb up into the evergreen trees around what is today Donner Lake, hiding packages of jerky and flour in the boughs. On the way back, accompanied by two dozen starving settlers, they were devastated to discover the food packets had been vandalized. Something had gone into the trees, ripped open the bags and eaten every morsel. The most likely candidate for this opportunistic snack, modern historians believe, was a wolverine. California wolverines now sound like the stuff of legend, but they once roamed the Sierra Nevada. Their quiet, scavenging days, as for so many other species, were brought to an end by humans. Settlers arriving in California in the second half of the 19th century began trapping them. And the predators they relied on for carrion leftovers, like wolves and bears, were also hunted. The wolverine population rapidly dwindled until 1922, when the last wolverine was seen in California. Nearly nine decades went by without another sighting. Then, a furry loner waddled into the Tahoe National Forest. Called Buddy, the male wolverine was first spotted by wildlife cams in 2008. After bagging his DNA by setting up hair snares on trees baited with raw chicken, scientists determined hed likely come from the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho, 600 miles away. Hes kind of a transient, said Chris Stermer, a California Department of Fish and Wildlife senior environmental scientist. Hes a lone wolverine looking for a female hes likely never to find. Guided by his biological imperative (or misguided romanticism, if youd like to anthropomorphize Buddy), the wolverine ended up claiming a 300-square-mile territory in the mountains near Truckee. For a few years, Buddy showed up on wildlife cams with some regularity. Once, he was spotted with a coyote, a scene straight out of a Disney movie. But there were never any other wolverines, and it didnt look like Buddys bachelor days had come to an end. Now, its been a full year since anyone has seen him, and biologists are beginning to wonder if their rare visitor is gone for good. Hes almost nine years old or 10 years old, Stermer said. Thats an old wolverine in wolverine age. If Buddy has died, he has died a trailblazer there may soon be wolverines in the Sierra again. According to Stermer, a coalition of scientists in the western U.S. have formed a working group to explore the possibility of reintroducing wolverines into California. The effort requires support and collaboration from the western states that currently have wolverines (Montana, Wyoming, Washington and Idaho) and two that did historically (California and Colorado). The group is working to establish a reintroduction proposal which can be presented to and, they hope, approved by state authorities and local land-owners. In comparison to reintroduction candidates like the grey wolf, wolverines are less controversial. Livestock owners have fought wolf reintroduction, citing threats to their animals. But wolverines are largely scavengers, munching on scraps left by predators like mountain lions. Theyre not known to be aggressive at all toward humans, Stermer said. Theyre not known to break into cabins and raid your home. Theyre not known to bother livestock. Theres another logistical advantage. Unlike the reintroduction project with California condors, nearly driven extinct by human-linked causes, theres an existing wolverine population to draw on. They still have healthy numbers in British Columbia and some could be relocated to the Sierra Nevada. A small group would be introduced first to test the wolverines ability to grow and sustain their population independently. Before you start planning your wolverine sightseeing trip, though, know that youre unlikely to see these alpine recluses. Because of their habitat they prefer terrain above 9,000 feet theyre rarely encountered. Which is just fine for Buddy and his ilk. The biggest problem with wolverines is youll probably never see them, said Stermer, which is not a bad thing for a population trying to avoid humans. Update: Carlos Hernandez, Jr., 21, or Maia Herman-Kitami, 18, were located "safe and well" inside their vehicle at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, the Glenn County Sheriff's Office said. The couple were located on County Road 312 in an area known as Oceanside. According to authorities, Hernandez's Jeep had gotten stuck in the snow. The couple are heading home. End of update. Authorities are searching for a young couple from San Francisco who were reported missing after not returning from a camping trip in Mendocino. Helicopters combed the snow-laden Mendocino National Forest Monday, but did not find a sign of Carlos Hernandez, Jr., 21, or Maia Herman-Kitami, 18, who planned to go off-roading in Hernandez' Jeep and camp at Alder Springs between Jan. 30 and Feb. 1, Action News Now reported. Hernandez and his father had reportedly visited the area multiple times and had mapped out coordinates for the trip. The couple was reported missing on Saturday night when they did not return as planned and family members could not get into contact with them, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department said. Over the weekend, a snowstorm barreled through the area, raising concerns the couple was trapped in the snow. Hernandez's sister, Fabi Hernandez, said in a Facebook post she believed they had enough equipment to stay warm, but feared they lacked enough food to get them through the weekend. The last known contact with family members was a text on Jan. 30 saying the couple were losing service but would text when they arrived at their campground, ABC7 reported. Officials told Action News that they tried to track the couple's phones, but they are either out-of-service or switched off. Search-and-rescue efforts began Sunday morning and continued into Monday. The couple was traveling in a 2004 yellow Jeep Wrangler with license plate number 7NAJ240 Anyone with information about the couple's whereabouts should contact the Glenn County Sheriff's office at 530-934-6441. Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@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. WASHINGTON Maria Mendoza-Sanchez fought for 16 months to return to Oakland and be reunited with her family after being deported to Mexico under President Trumps hardline immigration policies. On Tuesday, shell get a chance to face him in person. As Trump lays out his policy agenda during Tuesdays State of the Union address at 6 p.m. PST, Mendoza-Sanchez will be in the House gallery as a guest of Oakland Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee. Lee is among many congressional Democrats using the annual address to offer a human counterpoint to Trumps aggressive rhetoric on immigration. Mendoza-Sanchez had lived in the U.S. without documentation since 1994, working her way through school to become an oncology nurse at Highland Hospital in Oakland. She had fought unsuccessfully for years for legal status, avoiding potential deportation because immigration officials granted her work permits every six months until Trump took office. But under the Trump administrations hardline policies on illegal immigration, Mendoza-Sanchez was deported in 2017, forcing her to leave behind her three daughters, two of them native-born U.S. citizens and the third protected from deportation as a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient. Her son briefly moved to Mexico with her and her husband before returning to the Bay Area. From Mexico, Mendoza-Sanchez applied for a high-skilled visa to resume her nursing job and was accepted, but needed a waiver from U.S. immigration officials because she had originally entered the country illegally. After she gained national attention and support from politicians including Lee, officials granted the waiver, and in December she returned to Oakland. Lee called Mendoza-Sanchez a loving mother, a trusted nurse and a generous neighbor. Tragically, her unjust deportation shone a light on the pain caused by the Trump administrations harsh immigration policies, Lee said in a statement. Marias attendance at the State of the Union highlights the urgent need for humane immigration reforms that treat families with dignity, respect and compassion. In addition to Mendoza-Sanchez, guests of the Bay Area congressional delegation will include a Yemeni woman who was almost barred under Trumps travel ban from entering the U.S. as her 2-year-old son was dying of a brain disease. Shaima Swilehs son was on life support at UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland. But she was unable to be with him and her U.S. citizen husband because of Trumps travel ban. After her story attracted national attention, she was granted a visa and was able to see her son before he died. Swileh will be the guest of San Jose Rep. Zoe Lofgren. Her husband, Stockton resident Ali Hassan, will attend with Stockton Rep. Jerry McNerney. Immigration is expected to be one of the key elements of Trumps speech. According to a senior administration official who previewed the speech last week, cracking down on illegal immigration and reforming the legal system will be one of Trumps focuses. The official also said the speech would be bipartisan in tone. Together we can break decades of political stalemate, Trump will say, according to an excerpt of his speech text. We can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions and unlock the extraordinary promise of Americas future. But Democrats in Congress are skeptical the presidents approach will be different from his usual tone, which has been harsh on immigrants and prone to vilifying them. His tweets over the weekend continued his refrain of warning of caravans marching ... toward our country, accusing Democrats of doing nothing and calling for his border wall, which Democrats refuse to support. Presidents usually bring guests to highlight aspects of their speech. Among Trumps 13 invited guests Tuesday night are three Redding relatives of a couple slain last month in Reno, allegedly by an undocumented immigrant. It is similarly a tradition for members of the opposition party to bring guests to offer a counterpoint. Members of Congress each may bring one person. Other Bay Area delegation guests Members of the Bay Area congressional delegation and their guests at Tuesday's State of the Union address. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord: an asylum seeker from Africa who lives in the East Bay after being detained for six months. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto: family. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael: DACA recipient Alex DeLeon. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont: no public guest. Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton: Ali Hassan, husband of Shaima Swileh. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco: Several advocates and leaders highlighting causes including abortion rights, organized labor, immigrants and gun control. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo: Air Force Staff Sgt. Logan Ireland, a transgender service member who opposes Trump's ban on transgender troops. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Dublin: Parkland high school shooting survivor and gun control activist Cameron Kasky. Rep. Mike Thompson: D-St. Helena: Gunshot survivor, trauma surgeon and violence prevention advocate Dr. Joseph Sakran. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.: Brookings Institution President and former Marine Gen. John Allen. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.: air traffic control specialist and 2017 Thomas Fire survivor Trisha Pesiri-Dybvik, who was furloughed during the partial government shutdown and whose husband worked without pay. See More Collapse Other Bay Area Democrats aiming to highlight a more welcoming message on immigration include San Rafael Rep. Jared Huffman, who is bringing a DACA recipient, and Concord Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, who is bringing an asylum seeker from Africa. Other lawmakers are bringing guests to counter other parts of Trumps agenda, including his ban on transgender service members in the military and workers harmed by the recent record-length government shutdown. Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan SACRAMENTO He has sued the Trump administration more than 40 times, over everything from the separation of migrant families to fuel economy standards. Now, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is taking on the president in a new arena: Democratic congressional leaders have tapped him to give the Spanish-language response to the State of the Union address Tuesday night for a national prime-time audience. Its a vote of confidence and a beneficial new platform for Californias top law enforcement official, whom some in the Democratic Party see as being among the top tier of potential candidates for higher office in the state. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, in a statement announcing the selection, called Becerra a towering champion of equal justice and a tireless fighter for every Americans right to quality, affordable health care. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he embodies the promise of America. Becerra laughed Monday when asked whether he has his eye on the governorship or a seat in the U.S. Senate someday. But he did not deny his interest. As I always tell my daughters, if you work hard and you play by the rules, in America today, the sky will be the limit, Becerra said. For those of us who hope to make a big difference for our country, youre always looking for ways to do that. But right now, Im really happy having this chance to do it as the attorney general. Opposition parties have long given an official answer to the presidents State of the Union address. This year, the English-language response will be delivered by another rising Democratic star, Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost her bid for Georgia governor in November. The Spanish-language response began in 2011, when then-Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen gave a translated version of Republicans reply to then-President Barack Obamas address. In 2013, GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida gave both the English and Spanish speeches. Democrats have made unconventional picks to respond to President Trump in Spanish over the past two years, opting not to go with federal officeholders. Immigration activist Astrid Silva, who came to the U.S. illegally as a child, delivered the rebuttal in 2017, and Virginia state lawmaker Elizabeth Guzman gave last years. The 61-year-old Becerra, who previously served 24 years in Congress representing a Los Angeles district, brings another level of political power and symbolism to the address. Raised in Sacramento by a Mexican immigrant mother and a U.S.-born father who grew up in Mexico, Becerra attended Stanford University for his undergraduate and law degrees. After working as an attorney, he was elected to the Assembly in 1990 and then the House two years later. In December 2016, he was appointed attorney general, the first Latino to hold the post, and won the race for the job in November with 63 percent of the vote. His rebuttal to Trump will be broadcast on the Spanish-language networks Univision and Telemundo after the presidents 6 p.m. PST address. Although many viewers wont be California voters, the exposure could help extend Becerras fundraising reach. Becerra, who will speak from his Sacramento alma mater, C.K. McClatchy High School, said his remarks will stress the importance of cooperation as opposed to what he considers the division, deception and dysfunction of the Trump administration. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, called Becerra one of our stars and said she hoped he could be a breakthrough figure for Latino representation at the highest levels of government. No California Latino has ever been elected governor or U.S. senator. California, for all weve done, were behind the curve of other states, said Gonzalez, D-San Diego. She added that the Spanish-language response, while indicative of Latinos rising electoral clout and the political parties awareness of the need to court them, also shows that Latinos are still not treated as a substantive voice in national discussions. Rubio is the only Latino to have delivered the English-language State of the Union rebuttal. Its still a struggle to be taken seriously at a certain level, Gonzalez said. Republicans have sharply criticized Becerras approach to the attorney generals job, saying he focuses more on suing Trump than fighting crime in California. My thoughts are kind of an eye roll, said Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney and a committeewoman to the Republican National Committee for California. Dhillon said picking Becerra for the Spanish-language address was symbolic of Democrats pandering to the most liberal parts of their base. His tenure as attorney general has been anti-Trump and not pro-California, she said. California issues are being neglected with this sort of Trump derangement syndrome, Dhillon said. If youre the party of virtue-signaling of the far left, then certainly Becerra is the perfect person for that. Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff 2 1 of 2 Jeff Chiu/Associated Press Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Jeff Chiu / Associated Press 2014 Show More Show Less The soda industry has won two rounds in the battle to discourage consumption of sugary drinks linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and tooth decay. It will take a concerted effort by the community to keep the focus on whats really at stake: our health. The most recent setback was the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last week that San Franciscos law requiring a warning label of a certain size on ads for sugary beverages might violate free speech. The city had not made the case, the court said, for the size of the warning label. A federal district court will take up the issue. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, with his wife Pam at his side, said at a news conference in the Executive Mansion on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, that he is not the person in the racist photo in the EVMS yearbook and he will not resign. (Steve Earley/staff / TNS) WASHINGTON Wielding control of the House and a new set of investigative powers, Democrats are preparing to bring Education Secretary Betsy DeVos under the sharpest scrutiny she has seen since taking office. DeVos has emerged as a common target for Democrats as they take charge of the House and its committees, which carry the authority to issue subpoenas and call hearings. At least four panels are expected to challenge DeVos on her most polarizing policies, among them her overhaul of campus sexual assault rules and her rollback of for-profit college regulations. We are going to hold Secretary DeVos accountable for, in so many ways, failing to uphold federal protections for our students, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat leading an appropriations subcommittee that oversees the education budget. It has to do with hurting student borrowers, protecting predatory for-profit schools and, above all, moving toward privatizing public education. House Democrats are increasing scrutiny of several top federal officials, but few have drawn as much attention as DeVos. Along with the appropriations committee, DeVos is likely to see pushback from panels that oversee education, veterans affairs and government oversight. Without control of the Senate, Democrats will have a tough time forcing DeVos hand through legislation, but they can press her through subpoenas, hearings and the budgeting process. In contrast, DeVos was called before the Houses education committee just once over the last two years of Republican control. Much of the new scrutiny will come from Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, the top Democrat on the education committee, who said he will call DeVos to testify as often as necessary. We have not been getting answers to most of our questions, Scott said in an interview, recalling when Democrats were in a minority. Its kind of hard to do oversight when theyre not answering our questions. Scott is particularly interested in exploring whether the Education Department is allowing states to skirt federal rules requiring them to address achievement gaps between students of different races. Education Department spokeswoman Liz Hill countered that DeVos has been responsive to requests for information from Congress and will continue to be. Shes ready to work with any member of Congress who wants to rethink education and do better for Americas students, Hill said. DeVos greatest opposition could stem from her rollback of rules targeting for-profit colleges. As Trump pursues a broader effort to scale back regulation, she has sought to undo policies that the previous administration crafted to rein in for-profit colleges accused of deceiving students. Among them are the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute chains. Collin Binkley is an Associated Press writer. Harris said stores, including Best Buy and Harbor Freight, inquired about bringing in his food truck during holiday shopping. He also tried to sell lunch to Fairlead Boatworks workers down at the southern tip of Jefferson Avenue, but a city employee came down and stopped him because he wasnt allowed to serve food there. Even a small ownership stake in Salesforce Tower, San Franciscos tallest building, is worth nine figures. Owner Boston Properties said in a recent corporate filing that it paid $187 million last year to buy out minority partner Hines, which owned 5 percent of the building. A $187 million payment for a 5 percent ownership stake suggests Salesforce Tower is now worth more than $3 billion. But there are a few details to consider. The deal included Hines 5 percent stake in the building as well as an additional promoted payment based on the success of the property, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Hines won the competition to build the project, then known as the Transbay Tower, in 2007. It later brought in Boston Properties, one of the countrys biggest office owners, as an equity partner. The additional payment amount wasnt specified, so the towers total valuation is unclear. Older San Francisco office buildings have sold for upward of $1,300 per square foot in the past year. A 49 percent ownership stake in Park Tower, a new building near Salesforce Tower, is expected to trade for more than $1,500 per square foot, The Chronicle previously reported. Based on those price ranges, Salesforce Tower could be worth more than $2.1 billion, but the building isnt for sale. The Boston Properties and Hines transaction is one of the Bay Areas largest real estate deals in the past year, but its unclear whether San Francisco will see any boost in tax revenue from it. Salesforce Towers 5 percent ownership change is far below the threshold a more than 50 percent ownership change that triggers a one-time transfer tax, said Jeffry Bernstein, a partner at law firm Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass who specializes in tax law. Its unclear whether the deal will affect Salesforce Towers assessed property value, which was $1.33 billion for the 2017-18 fiscal year, making it the most valuable building in the city. The city will release new property assessments in July. Boston Properties didnt provide details on how Salesforce Tower was valued in its transaction with Hines. Were in discussions with the city assessor right now, and its just not appropriate to discuss how the valuation was done and what it was, Mike Labelle, Boston Properties chief financial officer, said in a Wednesday earnings call. Boston Properties and Hines declined to comment. Under Californias landmark 1978 property tax law Proposition 13, building values can rise no more than 2 percent a year, which shields both corporate owners and individual homeowners from spikes in taxes. Two exceptions are when more than 50 percent ownership in a building is sold or when a new building is completed. Most valuable San Francisco buildings 1. Salesforce Tower, 415 Mission St., $1.33 billion, 1.4 million square feet 2. 555 California St., $1.01 billion, 1.8 million square feet 3. 101 California St., $984 million, 1.2 million square feet 4. One Market Plaza, $834 million, 1.6 million square feet 5. Westin St. Francis, 345 Powell St., $718.5 million, 500,000 square feet 6. 50 Fremont St., $689.3 million, 817,000 square feet 7. Chase Center, 300 16th St., $659 million, 680,000 square feet 8. The Exchange, 1800 Owens St., $558.1 million, 750,000 square feet 9. Parc 55, 55 Cyril Magnin St., $512.2 million, 696,431 square feet 10. One Front St., $510 million, 638,000 square feet Based on city property assessment, fiscal year 2017-18 Source: San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Salesforce Tower by the numbers Assessed value: $1.33 billion (2017-18 fiscal year) Estimated value: $2.1 billion Height:1,070 feet Size: 1.4 million square feet Rent paid by Salesforce: $50 million a year Source: Chronicle research See More Collapse Salesforce Tower falls into the new building category in the current 2018-19 fiscal year, said Douglas Legg, deputy director of operations at the citys Office of the Assessor-Recorder, which oversees property taxes. Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available. Last years $1.33 billion calculation was based on the towers construction costs and came shortly before the building opened, Legg said. He expects that number to go up this year but doesnt know by how much because the city hasnt done an appraisal. Office buildings are typically valued based on their rental income, he said. Legg said he isnt aware of any discussions between the Assessor-Recorders Office and Boston Properties related to the recent deal with Hines. Boston Properties said in SEC filings that Salesforce Tower is fully leased, and that it generated net operating income of $11.3 million in the last three months of 2018. Salesforce leases 882,000 square feet, or nearly two-thirds of the 1.4 million-square-foot tower. Salesforce said in SEC filings that its paying nearly $50 million a year in rent. Other tenants include co-working firm WeWork, consulting giants Accenture and Bain & Co., law firm Covington & Burling, private equity company Hellman & Friedman and real estate brokerage CBRE. Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf Gig worker or employee? California will wrestle with that question this year with efforts under way in Sacramento to either codify or limit a groundbreaking state Supreme Court decision issued in April. The ruling, in a suit brought by delivery drivers at Dynamex, made it harder for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors. It implemented a formula, called the ABC test, that says workers are employees if companies control what they do, if their tasks are central to a companys core business, and if they dont run independent businesses doing that work. The ruling could upend scores of industries that rely on independent contractors, ranging from gig economy companies like Uber and Lyft to traditional areas such as architects, lawyers, insurance agents and emergency-room doctors. Now, lawmakers, labor, companies, trade associations and workers are negotiating what will happen next. Unions want Dynamex to be enshrined as state law; companies do not. So far Dynamex has not resulted in any large-scale reclassification, although it has been cited as precedent in a few legal cases. Uber and Lyft drivers, for instance, remain independent contractors. Were trying to codify what the Supreme Court said, said state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, who introduced AB5 to do that, although its exact provisions wont be set until later this month. We want to ensure that workers arent left behind in this new gig economy, doing one side hustle after another. While the Dynamex decision dealt only with pay, saying that workers who pass the ABC test are entitled to minimum wage and overtime, Gonzalez wants to take it further with benefits such as unemployment insurance, workers compensation, paid family leave, sick days and health insurance. All these things are important not only to workers but to the state of California, to ensure companies are contributing to a social safety net, she said. Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore (Riverside County), has sponsored a competing bill, AB71, that would roll back the Dynamex provisions. This legislation addresses the chilling and potentially harmful impacts the Dynamex decision will have on the business community in our state and for the nearly 2 million Californians who have made the choice to have flexible work schedules as independent contractors, she said in a statement. Companies see any effort to reclassify workers as a threat. Employers pay about 30 percent more to pick up the tab for worker benefits. On-demand companies and others fear that theyd lose the ability to turn on and off labor in real time to match demand. What makes a worker an employee? The California Supreme Court set forth a three-part standard, called the ABC test, that says a worker is an independent contractor only if all of these apply: A. Control: The company hiring the worker does not direct how the work is performed. B. Scope: The work is in a field different from the hiring company's business. C. Independence: The worker runs a business doing the same kind of work performed for the hiring company. To see the ruling: https://bit.ly/2WBvnn6 See More Collapse Scores of trade groups and individual companies, including gig-economy players like Uber, Lyft, Caviar, DoorDash, Handy, Instacart and Postmates, have banded together as a coalition called Im Independent to oppose any efforts to apply the ABC test to their workers. Dynamex jeopardizes work opportunities for millions of individuals who want to maintain independent contractor status for a host of reasons, said Jennifer Barrera, executive vice president of the California Chamber of Commerce, which is spearheading the group. I dont think theres an industry that isnt affected by that decision, she said, citing transportation, construction, health services, hairstylists and barbers, insurance agents, music teachers, freelance writers and editors, architects, engineers and lawyers as among those who might be affected. Gonzalez and labor leaders say workers lower on the economic ladder need the protection of employee status, while well-paid professionals like doctors, lawyers and architects would be exempt. We want to protect the workers who are most vulnerable to exploitation, said Steve Smith, spokesman for the California Labor Federation. In addition to gig economy workers, he cited people who work at nail salons, car washes and performing services as examples. Misclassification has been an issue for decades, long before the gig economy was even born. Behind the scenes, interest groups are negotiating about what provisions and what industries to include in any legislation. Theres been talk about easing up (on the ABC test) if companies provide portable benefits or other employment-like protections, said Benjamin Ebbink, a Sacramento attorney at Fisher & Phillips, a law firm that represents employers, and a former consultant for the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment Committee. There are even proposals to let workers come together and form a guild of independent drivers with some bargaining power, represented by unions, Ebbink said. Obviously, gig companies would be looking for some relief from the Dynamex decision or its possible retroactive effect in exchange. Uber and Lyft say theyd like to offer more benefits and perks to drivers, as long as that doesnt involve making them employees and losing the real-time flexibility on how many drivers are working at any given time they consider key to their businesses. Uber executives point to protections such as paid sick leave and paid parental leave that theyve implemented in Europe, where laws are less binary about employee versus independent contractor. We really have to think about benefits for temporary workers where the benefits are mobile and you get the benefits regardless of if youre moving from job to job, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in September. Regarding the current California landscape, We support efforts to modernize labor laws in ways that preserve the flexibility drivers tell us they value while improving the quality and security of independent work, Uber said in a statement. Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available. We are engaging with policy makers, labor, drivers, worker advocates, and others to actively explore options to allow drivers to maintain this flexibility while also addressing the lack of benefits for independent contractors, said Loni Mahanta, Lyft vice president of future of work. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who was elected with support from both tech companies and labor, must walk a fine line in the negotiations. We come down on working across differences to collaborate, he said at a press event in January. Ann OLeary, his chief of staff, will lead a committee about the issues. Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle Ravinder Singh of Fremont has been an independent truck driver since the mid-1990s, ferrying sand, gravel, pipes and other supplies in his $156,000 Kenworth truck to and from construction sites around the Bay Area. He often goes to a different site every day on hauls that are arranged by truck brokers. Ive been my own boss all my life, he said. If someone asked me to be an employee, that would like being hit with a brick. He makes several extended trips to India every year to spend time with his elderly father, wife and daughters. If I worked for someone else, hed fire me if I went for a month or six weeks, he said. Veena Dubal, an associate law professor at UC Hastings College of the Law, said his fears seem unfounded. Someone like him who works for multiple enterprises seems unlikely to become an employee. Companies are using confusion about the employment situation to scare people, she said. Dubal said that a new state law could allow companies to preserve flexible schedules while treating workers fairly. For instance, it could say that independent contractors must make at least minimum wage. At the same time, drivers and other workers deserve the panoply of regulations and protections that all workers have, she said, citing workers compensation, unemployment insurance and the right to unionize. All workers in California deserve minimum wage and overtime protections; that is all Dynamex offers them, she said. What is at stake here is a living wage. Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid 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. On January 17, 2019, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted in part and denied in part the SEC's motion for partial summary judgment against Thomas Conrad, Jr. and two unregistered advisory firms he controlled, Financial Management Corporation ("FMC") and Financial Management Corporation, S.R.L. ("FMC Uruguay"). The SEC charged Conrad, FMC, and FMC Uruguay in July 2016. The SEC's complaint alleges that, from 2010 to 2014, Conrad directed preferential redemptions and other disbursements from funds advised by FMC and FMC Uruguay for himself, his extended family, and certain favored investors, while representing to other investors that redemptions were suspended. The complaint also alleges that Conrad failed to disclose conflicts of interest arising from loans made to Conrad's family members and Conrad's appointment of himself as a sub-manager for a fee. The complaint further alleges that, in offering materials given to prospective investors, defendants touted Conrad's significant experience in the securities industry, but failed to disclose his disciplinary history. The court ruled that the SEC was entitled to summary judgment on its fraud claims based on the fraudulent redemption practices and failure to disclose Conrad's disciplinary history. The court found that Conrad, FMC, and FMC Uruguay repeatedly made material misrepresentations about the funds' redemption practices and that the failure to disclose Conrad's disciplinary history was material because Conrad, FMC, and FMC Uruguay touted Conrad's experience and expertise when soliciting investments in the funds. The court will determine the remedies at a later time. The court denied the SEC's motion for summary judgment on its claims that Conrad failed to disclose conflicts of interest, finding that there were disputed issues of facts. The SEC's complaint also alleges that Conrad failed to disclose to investors that he titled certain fund assets in his name, rather than the fund's name, and that Conrad, FMC, and FMC Uruguay falsely represented the historical performance of the funds and that the funds were being audited. The SEC did not move for summary judgment as to these claims, and the court has yet to adjudicate them. Defendants moved for summary judgment on all of the SEC's claims, and the court denied their motion. The SEC is represented by M. Graham Loomis, William P. Hicks, and Kristin W. Murnahan of the Atlanta Regional Office in this litigation. Every single marine mammal analyzed in a recent study had ingested plastic, researchers found. The scientists, who published their findings Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, examined the digestive tracts of 50 seals, whales and dolphins from 10 different species that had washed up on British shores. They found tiny pieces of broken-down plastic in every single one of them. The number of particles found in the animals was fairly low, lead author Sarah Nelms said in a statement, suggesting the plastics "eventually pass through the digestive system, or are regurgitated." Most of the particles the scientists found were made of synthetic fibers, used in fishing nets and clothing and toothbrushes. Others were fragments of larger pieces of plastic, like plastic bottles and food packaging. Nelms, of the University of Exeter, said the findings were "shocking but not surprising." The animals in the survey died of a variety of causes, but those that perished due to infectious diseases had a slightly higher number of particles than the other animals, the study found. Brendan Godley, a professor at the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University Exeter, said in the statement that the team cannot "draw any firm conclusions on the potential biological significance of this observation." The effects of microplastics, and the chemicals in them, on marine mammals is not yet known, and the study authors stressed the need for further research. Godley called the report a "benchmark" for future studies to be compared with. "Marine mammals are ideal sentinels of our impacts on the marine environment, as they are generally long lived and many feed high up in the food chain," he said. "Our findings are not good news." Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@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. I have intel people, but that doesn't mean I have to agree, he said in the CBS interview. He cited past U.S. intelligence mistakes regarding Iraqs weapons of mass destruction and what he seemed to suggest was their underestimating now of the threat posed by Iran. ATLANTA (AP) Authorities in Atlanta say rapper 21 Savage is in federal immigration custody. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox says the Grammy-nominated artist, whose given name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested in a targeted operation early Sunday in the Atlanta area. Cox says Abraham-Joseph, 26, is a British citizen who entered the U.S. legally in July 2005 but overstayed his visa, which expired in July 2006. Cox said Abraham-Joseph was convicted on felony drug charges in Georgia in October 2014. Cox says Abraham-Joseph has been placed in deportation proceedings in federal immigration court. ALSO: Rams owner has bad start to Super Bowl Sunday The veracity of 21 Savage's birth country has, before now, never come into question publicly. As of Sunday afternoon, his Wikipedia page said he was born in Georgia in 1992 and, since coming into stardom, he's been considered a home-grown celebrity. For the last three years, he's hosted a back-to-school supplies giveaway for DeKalb County Schools. A story on last year's giveaway in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the event was held where Abraham-Joseph "used to hang around as a teen." This would match ICE's timeline, which has the rapper arriving in America when he was about 14. His debut mixtape, "The Slaughter Tape," was released in May 2015. ALSO: The most streamed Spotify artists of the last decade Abraham-Joseph is nominated for two awards at next week's Grammys, including record of the year for "Rockstar" alongside Post Malone. He performed as recently as Thursday, appearing at a pre-Super Bowl concert in his once-assumed hometown of Atlanta. A representative for Abraham-Joseph did not respond to an email seeking comment. Pro-choice Catholic politicians in the Diocese of Spokane should not seek to receive communion during mass, Bishop Thomas Daly has written in a letter to the diocese. The letter comes as conservative Catholics, and a prominent evangelical, have urged action against Catholics in public office who support legislation that would expand abortion rights. "Politicians who reside in the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, and who obstinately persevere in their public support of abortion, should not receive communion without first being reconciled to ... the church," Daly wrote in the Feb. 1 letter. "Efforts to expand access to abortion, allowing murder of children up to the moment of birth, is evil. Children are a gift from God, no matter the circumstances of their conception. They not only have a right to life, but we as a society have a moral obligation to protect them from harm." RELATED: Connelly: Catholic bishops want faithful to fight abortion coverage Washington voters legalized abortion in 1970, three years before the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, and expanded abortion rights in a 1991 vote. The state's Catholic bishops opposed both abortion measures, as well as the state's 2008 assisted suicide initiative and same sex marriage in 2012. All passed. The latest national controversy has been set off by an abortion law, with provisions for late term termination of pregnancies, signed into law Jan. 22 by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. RELATED: The best coffee table book you can buy is about abortion The Rev. Franklin Graham, evangelist and supporter of President Trump, has called on New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan to excommunicate Cuomo. Dolan, on his radio show, has said he will do nothing of the kind. Any action to punish Cuomo "would be completely counterproductive, right," said Dolan. "Especially if you have a governor who enjoys this and wants to represent himself as a kind of martyr to the cause, doing what is right. He is proud to dissent from the essentials of the faith." The debate in Washington, in recent years, has centered on whether abortion services should be part of insurance coverage. Abortion rights advocates have also sought to put limits on pregnancy centers operated by abortion foes. MORE FROM CONNELLY: Sen. Murray -- I witnessed college friend's botched abortion Even in states with large Catholic populations, such as Massachusetts and New York, bishops have found they have lost clout on such topics as choice and LGBTQ issues. The sex scandal in the church has caused a loss of credibility with churchgoers. The scandal even reached the Diocese of Spokane, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2005. The Diocese would raise $48 million to compensate victims. Three decades ago, then-Bishop Lawrence Welsh faced the allegation that he took a male prostitute to a Chicago hotel room, and tried to choke the man. Welsh denied the allegation, saying he had taken the young man for counseling. He was never charged. Let Your Software Define Your Branch Operations By Bill Yates , Communications Correspondent The expansion of SD-WAN programming to branch locations is the next big thing in networking, according to a panel discussion at SD-WAN Expo in Fort Lauderdale. At the SD-WAN track of the conference yesterday, a group of experience communications experts participated in a panel discussion on the adoption of SD-WAN software for managing branch locations. Participating in the discussion were Paul Congdon (News - Alert) , chief technology officer at Tallac Networks, and Mark Palmer, vice president of relationship development at Granite Telecommunications. Also included were Mike Thompson, consulting systems engineer for Aruba and Alfredo Avilez, international product marketing manager at Claro (News - Alert) Enterprise Solutions. SD-WAN software allows you to simplify management, control and visibility across campuses and branches. With SD-Wan branch software, you can manage your platforms and technologies together in one package. Thompson says the trend is away from the centralization of IT resources and toward dispersion. SD-WAN is a tool that allows you to prioritize applications across your environment, he says. The software also is useful for establish centrally-controlled firewalls within your branches. According to Congdon, employing SD-WAN technology allows you to: Break down barriers to IT success; Develop new products more quickly; Incorporate vendors into your development; Produce open, flexible systems that are cost effective. Extending those SD-WAN operations to your branches lets you project technical expertise where none previously existed. Its important to be able to take complete control of the branch when you need to, Congdon says. Avilez says its about improving the quality of service afforded to your branches. In order to properly deploy SD-WAN technology at the branch level, he says you should: Map your application architecture; Determine your management priorities; Match your customer profile to your applications; Continuously analyze your communications algorithm. Do the right projects, and do the projects right, he says. Palmer says SD branch is going to be the next thing people are talking about. The ability to extend your operational control to the branch level is there, and people are ready to take advantage of it. The only question is which form will it take in your organization. Congdon says that software-defined networks are becoming increasingly open sourced. Everyone would like to have a little more flexibility that you gain using open-sourced software, Congdon says. Problems that can be solved by installing branch-wide SD-WAN software include network congestion, packet delay variation and packet loss. With the use of SD-WAN software now becoming accepted procedure, the next step is to expand the technology throughout your company branches. Edited by Maurice Nagle Schultz is right. In fact, a recent Pew Research poll found that 53 percent of Democrats want the party to move in a more moderate direction, not embrace the radical policies of Ocasio-Cortez. That is precisely what the party needs to do if it wants to beat President Trump. Democrats should be trying to win back the millions of once-reliable Democratic voters who twice cast their ballots for Barack Obama but switched to Trump in 2016. But instead of tacking to the center to win back voters, Democrats are embracing leftist policies such as government-run health care, government-funded college for all, a government-funded job guarantee and a "Green New Deal." Together, these programs would cost $42.5 trillion about twice the national debt. And they are claiming they can pay for it all by taxing the very rich. That's impossible, and Americans know it. But it is what the most rabid elements of their party are demanding. This is the problem with our politics today. Both sides have decided that the way to win is no longer to persuade those in the middle, but rather to throw red meat to their hardcore supporters and get them more worked up than those on the other side. Lost in the shuffle are millions of reasonable, persuadable citizens who are left to choose between two unpalatable alternatives. William Jack "Bill" Carlson, age 86, died on February 1, 2019, at his home in Florence, SC. Funeral services will be held at 12:00 PM on Tuesday, February 5th at the Stoudenmire-Dowling Funeral Home Chapel. Mr. Carlson will be buried in Florence, SC, at the National Cemetery. He was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of the late F. S. and Viola J. Fowler. He was educated in schools in Nebraska and Texas, and had an Associate Degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology from Florence-Darlington Tech. Bill was a retired Air Force MSgt and a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. He served in the United States Air Force as an aircraft mechanic and he worked and flew on many types of aircrafts, he was a B-52 gunner, and a C-141 flight engineer. His decorations include, the Purple Heart, Senior Aircrew Members Badge, the Combat Crew Members Badge, Air Medals, and the Air Force Commendation Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster. He had numerous other medals, Letters of Appreciation, and Certificates of Commendation.After retiring from the Air Force, he was employed from 1976 until his retirement in 1995, as a chemistry technician by CP&L at the H. B. Robinson Nuclear Plant in Hartsville, SC.Bill was a certified reading instructor and worked with the Low Country Literacy Volunteers for a time. He was a member of the Air Force Association, the National Rifle Association, the Air Force Gunners Association, and was the Adjutant of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Low Country Chapter 1948. He was a Red Cross volunteer at the Naval Hospital in Beaufort, SC for many years. He was at one time a volunteer fireman with the Palmetto Fire Dept. in Darlington County, SC. Bill was not a church goer, but he loved the Lord. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Angie Reeves Carlson; a son, William J. Carlson, II (Peggy); grandson, William Reeves Carlson (Julia); and great-grandchildren Ana and Olivia Carlson.Please sign the tribute wall for the family at www.stoudenmiredowling.com. FLORENCE, S.C. Book illustrator and author Floyd Cooper shared his journey as an author and illustrator with students Monday morning at Savannah Grove Elementary School. Cooper was motivational, entertaining and inspirational to the students. He encouraged them to go after their dreams and not to give up until they reach them. His dream was to be an artist. He kept working at it until he became one. I am an artist, he said. That is what I do for a living. He said he also collects erasers. They are starting to take over the house, he said. He has all types and colors of erasers. He even has an electric eraser, but his favorite is a stretchy eraser. Cooper said he uses erasers to create his illustrations. The technique Cooper uses to make his illustrations is called oil wash on board. He first paints over an illustration board with oil paint, and then with a stretchy eraser he creates his picture by erasing the paint. He calls his method a subtractive process. Many of his illustrations are faces, he said. It's about time for the annual mass migration of honeybees to California, and new research is helping lower the chances the pollinators and their offspring will die while they're visiting the West Coast. Each winter, professional beekeepers from around the nation stack hive upon hive on trucks destined for the Golden State, where February coaxes forward the sweet-smelling, pink and white blossoms of the Central Valley's almond trees. Almond growers rent upwards of 1.5 million colonies of honeybees a year, at a cost of around $300 million. Without the bees, there would be no almonds, and there are nowhere near enough native bees to take up the task of pollinating the trees responsible for more than 80 percent of the world's almonds. The trouble was, bees and larvae were dying while in California, and nobody was sure exactly why. The problem started in adults only, and beekeepers were most worried about loss of queens. Then in 2014, about 80,000 colonies -- about 5 percent of bees brought in for pollination -- experienced adult bee deaths or a dead and deformed brood. Some entire colonies died. With support from the Almond Board of California, an industry service agency, bee expert Reed Johnson of The Ohio State University took up the task of figuring out what was happening. Results from his earlier research had shown that some insecticides thought safe for bees were impacting larvae. Building on that, Johnson undertook a new study, newly published in the journal Insects, that details how combinations of insecticides and fungicides typically deemed individually "safe" for honeybees turn into lethal cocktails when mixed. Johnson, an associate professor of entomology, and his study co-authors were able to identify the chemicals commonly used in the almond groves during bloom because of California's robust and detailed system for tracking pesticide applications. Then, in a laboratory in Ohio, they tested combinations of these chemicals on honeybees and larvae. advertisement In the most extreme cases, combinations decreased the survival of larvae by more than 60 percent when compared to a control group of larvae unexposed to fungicides and insecticides. "Fungicides, often needed for crop protection, are routinely used during almond bloom, but in many cases growers were also adding insecticides to the mix. Our research shows that some combinations are deadly to the bees, and the simplest thing is to just take the insecticide out of the equation during almond bloom," he said. "It just doesn't make any sense to use an insecticide when you have 80 percent of the nation's honeybees sitting there exposed to it." The recommendation is already catching on and has been promoted through a wide array of presentations by almond industry leaders, beekeepers and other experts and has been included in the Almond Board's honeybee management practices. Many almond growers are rethinking their previous practices and are backing off insecticide use during almond bloom, Johnson said. That's good news for bees, and doesn't appear to be harming the crops either, he said, because there are better opportunities to control problematic insects when almonds are not in bloom. advertisement "I was surprised -- even the experts in California were surprised -- that they were using insecticides during pollination," Johnson said. While these products were considered "bee-safe," that was based on tests with adult bees that hadn't looked into the impact they had on larvae. "I think it was a situation where it wasn't disallowed. The products were thought to be bee-safe and you've got to spray a fungicide during bloom anyway, so why not put an insecticide in the tank, too?" Insecticides are fairly inexpensive, but the process of spraying is labor-intensive, so growers choosing to double up may have been looking to maximize their investment, he said. "The thing is, growers were using these insecticides to control a damaging insect -- the peach twig borer -- during this period, but they have other opportunities to do that before the bees enter the almond orchards or after they are gone," Johnson said. This research could open the door to more study of fungicide and pesticide use on other bee-dependent crops, including pumpkins and cucumbers, Johnson said. A study of the differences between healthy brains and those with Alzheimer's Disease has produced largest dataset of its type ever. And the data, developed by a team of researchers led by Dr Richard Unwin at The University of Manchester, is now freely available online for any scientist to use. The team included researchers from the Universities Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool and Auckland. The development is an important advance for scientists researching Alzheimer's. The team also show that one region of the brain previously thought to be unaffected by the disease, the cerebellum, displayed a series of changes which they think might protect it from damage caused by Alzheimer's. The Alzheimer's Research UK funded study is published in the journal Communications Biology today. advertisement The analysis, mapping the relative levels of over 5,825 distinct proteins across six regions of the brain, generated a massive 24,024 data points. The brain regions in the study included the more heavily affected Hippocampus, Entorhinal cortex, Cingulate gyrus and the less affected Motor Cortex, Sensory Cortex, and Cerebellum The samples were donated for research by patients at the New Zealand Brain Bank in Auckland. Dr Unwin said: "This database provides a huge opportunity for dementia researchers around the world to progress and to follow-up new areas of biology and develop new treatments. "It could also help validate observations seen in in animal or cell disease models in humans. advertisement "It's very exciting to be able to make these data public so scientists can access and use this vital information." Alzheimer's Disease arises in the hippocampus and spreads through pathways in the brain. But by looking at different parts of that pathway, the team were able to observe, for the first time, how Alzheimer's progresses in more detail. "We think that the changes we see in the regions affected later on-represent early disease changes, present before cells die," he said "These represent good new targets for drug developers, as we know it's important to try to intervene early." In the course of the study, the team hit upon new molecules not previously associated with the disease, representing more targets to develop new drugs. They also confirm that researchers looking at a range of pathways -- including inflammation, Wnt signalling, and metabolic changes in human tissue -- are on the right track. The team identified 129 protein changes which were present in all areas of the brain studied, with at least 44 not previously associated with the disease. But there were hundreds others which change only in the late-affected regions. He added: "These new protein changes represent further targets for scientists developing new drugs "The cerebellum, previously thought be unaffected, displays a significant response at the molecular level. "Many of the changes here are not seen in other regions and this could imply that this region actively protects itself from disease. We won't know for sure until we carry out more research." Dr Rosa Sancho, Head of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "By studying thousands of individual proteins, this exciting research has generated a detailed molecular map of changes that get underway in the brain in Alzheimer's disease. Making this information freely available online will help researchers to navigate the complex and changing environment of the brain in Alzheimer's and identify processes that could be targeted by future drugs. "There are over half a million people in the UK living with Alzheimer's and there are currently no treatments that can slow or stop the disease from progressing in the brain. Pioneering research like this is driving progress towards new breakthroughs that will change people's lives." David Carroll is a Chattanooga news anchor, the author of Chattanooga Radio and Television and Volunteer Bama Dawg, a collection of his best stories. He can be reached at 3dc@epbfi.com Seismologists use waves generated by earthquakes to scan the interior of our planet, much like doctors image their patients using medical tomography. Earth imaging has helped us track down the deep origins of volcanic islands such as Hawaii, and identify the source zones of deep earthquakes. "Imagine a radiologist forced to work with a CAT scanner that is missing two-thirds of its necessary sensors," said Frederik Simons, a professor of geosciences at Princeton. "Two-thirds is the fraction of the Earth that is covered by oceans and therefore lacking seismic recording stations. Such is the situation faced by seismologists attempting to sharpen their images of the inside of our planet." Some 15 years ago, when he was a postdoctoral researcher, Simons partnered with Guust Nolet, now the George J. Magee Professor of Geoscience and Geological Engineering, Emeritus, and they resolved to remediate this situation by building an undersea robot equipped with a hydrophone -- an underwater microphone that can pick up the sounds of distant earthquakes whose waves deliver acoustic energy into the oceans through the ocean floor. This week, Nolet, Simons and an international team of researchers published the first scientific results from the revolutionary seismic floats, dubbed MERMAIDs -- Mobile Earthquake Recording in Marine Areas by Independent Divers. The researchers, from institutions in the United States, France, Ecuador and China, found that the volcanoes on Galapagos are fed by a source 1,200 miles (1,900 km) deep, via a narrow conduit that is bringing hot rock to the surface. Such "mantle plumes" were first proposed in 1971 by one of the fathers of plate tectonics, Princeton geophysicist W. Jason Morgan, but they have resisted attempts at detailed seismic imaging because they are found in the oceans, rarely near any seismic stations. MERMAIDs drift passively, normally at a depth of 1,500 meters -- about a mile below the sea surface -- moving 2-3 miles per day. When one detects a possible incoming earthquake, it rises to the surface, usually within 95 minutes, to determine its position with GPS and transmit the seismic data. By letting their nine robots float freely for two years, the scientists created an artificial network of oceanic seismometers that could fill in one of the blank areas on the global geologic map, where otherwise no seismic information is available. The unexpectedly high temperature that their model shows in the Galapagos mantle plume "hints at the important role that plumes play in the mechanism that allows the Earth to keep itself warm," said Nolet. "Since the 19th century, when Lord Kelvin predicted that Earth should cool to be a dead planet within a hundred million years, geophysicists have struggled with the mystery that the Earth has kept a fairly constant temperature over more than 4.5 billion years," Nolet explained. "It could have done so only if some of the original heat from its accretion, and that created since by radioactive minerals, could stay locked inside the lower mantle. But most models of the Earth predict that the mantle should be convecting vigorously and releasing this heat much more quickly. These results of the Galapagos experiment point to an alternative explanation: the lower mantle may well resist convection, and instead only bring heat to the surface in the form of mantle plumes such as the ones creating Galapagos and Hawaii." To further answer questions on the heat budget of the Earth and the role that mantle plumes play in it, Simons and Nolet have teamed up with seismologists from the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China, and from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). Together, and with vessels provided by the French research fleet, they are in the process of launching some 50 MERMAIDs in the South Pacific to study the mantle plume region under the island of Tahiti. "Stay tuned! There are many more discoveries to come," said professor Yongshun (John) Chen, a 1989 Princeton graduate alumnus who is head of the Department of Ocean Science and Engineering at SUSTech, which is leading the next phase of what they and their international team have called EarthScope-Oceans. The Food Safety and Technology Research Centre under the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed a new method for rapid authentication of Chinese herbal medicines, including Ganoderma (known as Lingzhi in Chinese), and Gastrodiae Rhizoma (known as Tianma in Chinese). The new method is quick and simple, which takes around 10 minutes to analyse one raw sample, achieving various ends including authentication of genuine and counterfeit species, classification of wild types and cultivated types, as well as differentiation of geographical origins. This method can be further applied to other herbal medicines. Lingzhi and Tianma are two of the most popular and valuable Chinese medicines. Due to their high commercial values, problem of counterfeiting, adulterating and confusing Lingzhi and Tianma species is not uncommon in the market. Conventionally, fingerprint chromatography is adopted to authenticate and differentiate the species as it can provide comprehensive chemical composition of a sample. However, it is a labor-intensive and time-consuming method as it takes several hours to undergo the sample preparation and separation process for one sample. Recently, the PolyU research team adopts the direct ionization mass spectrometry (DI-MS) method to detect the major active components of Lingzhi (ganoderic acids) and Tianma (gastrodin, parishin B/parishin C/and parishin). By directly applying a high voltage on a small piece of raw sample with its surface loaded with solvents, spray ionization could be induced at the tip of the sample to generate corresponding mass spectra within minutes, as if they are fingerprints which helps identification. The presence of major active components in the DI-MS spectra authenticates genuine samples from counterfeit ones. Moreover, with Principal Component Analysis (PCA), a commonly used dataset analytic tool, wild and cultivated types can be classified, while geographical origins could be differentiated. There are approximately 80 Lingzhi species while only two of them, known as Chizhi and Zizhi in Chinese, are described in Chinese Pharmacopeia. Some other Lingzhi species which have similar appearances are commonly found to be confused with the official species. On the other hand, Tianma is easily confused with two counterfeit species, namely Cacalia davidii (Franch.) Hand.-Mazz. and Canna edulis Ker. Both wild Lingzhi and Tianma are very rare and cultivation has become the major source. In general, wild types have higher contents of major active components and thus better curative effect. Samples originated from different geographical locations also have variations in components due to varying cultivation conditions. The method developed by PolyU is simple, rapid, reproducible and can be easily adopted by researchers in relevant fields as no additional specialized device is required. It has the potential to be further expanded for analysis of other herbal medicines, for example, Heshouwu and Wuweizi, and therefore is expected to bring positive impact on the Chinese herbal medicine industry. February Monthly Tips Academics. Encourage your student to utilize the Student Success Center resources to receive extra help in certain classes. Resources include peer tutoring, supplemental instruction, writing labs and more! Encourage your student to utilize the Student Success Center resources to receive extra help in certain classes. Resources include peer tutoring, supplemental instruction, writing labs and more! Commencement. Families can learn when their spring 2019 graduates ceremony will take place by visiting the Commencement website. Local hotels and restaurants will book quickly for Commencement weekend, so think about making your reservations soon. Families can learn when their spring 2019 graduates ceremony will take place by visiting the Commencement website. Local hotels and restaurants will book quickly for Commencement weekend, so think about making your reservations soon. Conversation Kick-Starters. Looking to have meaningful conversations with your South Carolina student? The Parent & Family Programs mobile application hosts conversation topics and questions on a variety of subjects to encourage discussion between you and your student. New posts are added monthly to help keep the conversation going. Looking to have meaningful conversations with your South Carolina student? The Parent & Family Programs mobile application hosts conversation topics and questions on a variety of subjects to encourage discussion between you and your student. New posts are added monthly to help keep the conversation going. Off-Campus Housing Search. Students who are still searching for next years housing can attend the Spring 2019 Off-Campus Housing Expo Feb. 7 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. They can meet with representatives from local student apartment communities and can get their off-campus housing questions answered by the Office of Off-Campus Living & Neighborhood Relations. Students who are still searching for next years housing can attend the Spring 2019 Off-Campus Housing Expo Feb. 7 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. They can meet with representatives from local student apartment communities and can get their off-campus housing questions answered by the Office of Off-Campus Living & Neighborhood Relations. Parents Association. Join the dues-free Parents Association! Youll receive monthly e-newsletters and other timely information from the Office of Parent & Family Programs to keep you updated. Its the best way for parents and families to stay connected to South Carolina! Join the dues-free Parents Association! Youll receive monthly e-newsletters and other timely information from the Office of Parent & Family Programs to keep you updated. Its the best way for parents and families to stay connected to South Carolina! Scholarships. Now is the time for students to think about applying for departmental scholarships (deadlines vary) to offset costs for the 2019-20 academic year. Now is the time for students to think about applying for departmental scholarships (deadlines vary) to offset costs for the 2019-20 academic year. Spring Break. Spring break is right around the corner, March 10-17. Have a conversation with your student about their plans during the break. Encourage your student to make safe and responsible choices whether theyre on campus, traveling, or home with you. As a reminder, residence halls will close for the break March 9 at 10 a.m. and reopen March 17 at 8 a.m. The Greek Village will close for the break March 8 at 6 p.m. and reopen March 17 at noon. Spring break is right around the corner, March 10-17. Have a conversation with your student about their plans during the break. Encourage your student to make safe and responsible choices whether theyre on campus, traveling, or home with you. As a reminder, residence halls will close for the break March 9 at 10 a.m. and reopen March 17 at 8 a.m. The Greek Village will close for the break March 8 at 6 p.m. and reopen March 17 at noon. Stress Management. If your student is feeling stressed or overwhelmed, encourage them to schedule an appointment with Counseling and Psychiatry. South Carolina students who have paid the student health fee are eligible to receive most counseling services at no additional charge. Please note that students who request more than 10 individual visits per academic year may incur additional charges. If your student is feeling stressed or overwhelmed, encourage them to schedule an appointment with Counseling and Psychiatry. South Carolina students who have paid the student health fee are eligible to receive most counseling services at no additional charge. Please note that students who request more than 10 individual visits per academic year may incur additional charges. Undergraduate Research. Students who have participated in undergraduate research are encouraged to apply for Discover USC, an annual event to be held April 26 for undergraduates to showcase their scholarly pursuits in and out of the classroom. The deadline for students to register is March 8. Share this Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about Danvers, MA (01923) Today Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Kolkata, Feb 4 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is on a sit-in over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams, Monday said she will continue her "satyagraha" till the country and its Constitution are "saved". Trinamool Congress (TMC) activists organised rallies and sit-in demonstrations in various parts of the state to protest against the BJP-led central government and stopped train movement in at least two districts in West Bengal. Banerjee, who sat on a dharna around 8.30 pm Sunday to protest against "the attack on constitutional norms", skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on a makeshift dais at Metro Channel in the heart of the city along with some ministers and party members. The TMC chief had undertaken a 25-day fast at the same spot in December 2006 to protest the land acquisition in Singur by the erstwhile Left Front government to set up a car factory. The Singur movement catapulted her to power in 2011. The unprecedented development came after the CBI's attempt to question Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams. Mamata Banerjee The CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and were whisked to a police station."This is a satyagraha and I'll continue till the country is saved," Banerjee told reporters present at the protest site. Banerjee said she was getting calls from politicians across the country including former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamalnath, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani. Asked if any of the leaders would arrive in the city to meet her, Banerjee said, "I've no idea about that. If someone wants to come, we will welcome them. This fight is not by my party. It is for my government". Samajwadi Party leader Kiranmoy Nanda later reached the dharna venue to express his party's solidarity with Banerjee over the issue. Some road restrictions have been imposed at the spot where the dais was erected. Several party supporters from different districts thronged the area shouting slogans in support of Banerjee. The TMC supremo had said she would not attend the assembly, where the state budget would be placed by Finance Minister Amit Mitra, on Monday. Prior to that, a cabinet meeting would be held inside a makeshift room set up behind the stage. TMC sources said Banerjee was scheduled to attend a meeting of the party's farmers' wing in an indoor stadium here. However, she might not go there and other party leaders would address the meeting. Meanwhile, party workers hit the streets from morning in Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura, Burdwan East, Purulia, Birbhum and North 24 Parganas districts, officials said. Effigies of Prime minister Narendra Modi and BJP national President Amit Shah were also burnt by them.In Howrah and Hooghly districts, TMC activists obstructed train movements while they put up blockades on national highway in Bankura district. Shouting slogans against the CBI, the TMC cadres vowed to continue their fight till the Narendra Modi government is defeated in the next Lok Sabha polls. Banerjee had directed party leaders to organise protest marches across the state on Monday between 2 pm and 4 pm without inconveniencing the people.Insisting that the spirit of "Constitution and federalism" has been stifled, Banerjee had claimed that the CBI knocked on the doors of Kumar without a search warrant. Banerjee, one of the prime movers behind the effort to cobble together an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah want to impose President's rule in whatever states the opposition is in power. Patna, Feb 4 (PTI) Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday questioned the use of the term Mahagathbandhan, which he had coined and popularized in the wake of his short-lived alliance with arch rival Lalu Prasads RJD, for the existing opposition alliance in Bihar.To a query about Congress president Rahul Gandhis leadership in the context of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar, Kumar quipped why are you using this term. It was I who had coined it. He (Gandhi) himself kept saying only gathbandhan at yesterdays rally. Kumar, who heads the JD(U), had buried the hatchet to form an alliance with Prasad taking the Congress on board as a smaller partner after the BJP-led NDA swept the 2014 Lok Sabha polls winning 31 out of the 40 seats in Bihar. Having stepped down as Chief Minister, taking moral responsibility for the debacle of the JD(U), which won only two seats, Kumar had envisaged a broader Janata Parivar which could take shape with the merger of his party, RJD and the Samajwadi Party (SP), which then ruled the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. This did not materialize though the Mahagathbandhan took shape and went on to trounce the NDA in the assembly polls of 2015, belying skeptics who had predicted that the alliance would be done in on account of absence of electoral chemistry between the arch rivals. Ahead of the 2017 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, When the term was used to describe a hurriedly forged alliance between the SP riven by a bitter family feud and the Congress, Kumar had cautioned against loosely using the label and said the coalition could have been called a Mahagathbandhan only if it had included the BSP one of the major anti-BJP parties in UP. The SP and BSP have now forged an alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, taking Ajit Singhs RLD along but keeping the Congress out of it. New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) Rajya Sabha proceedings were Monday washed out amid ruckus by Trinamool Congress members protesting over the issue of alleged misuse of the CBI by the Centre.As soon as the House resumed in the afternoon, TMC leader Derek O'Brien asked Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu about his notice for discussion on the issue.Replying to this, Naidu said, "I have told you in the morning that you can raise this issue during Zero Hour. During the motion of thanks to the President's address to Parliament, you can also raise the issue and others related to your state."In the meanwhile, TMC and SP members trooped into the well and started raising slogans.The chairman said, "You don't want discussion. You don't want to speak on reply to the motion of thanks (to President's address)".When TMC members did not show any signs of relenting, Naidu adjourned the House for the day. Rajya Sabha Earlier in the morning, the Rajya Sabha could not transact any major business. As soon as the house assembled, Slogan shouting by TMC members on the issue resulted in adjournment of the House till 2 PM. Naidu had asked agitating members to raise the issue during the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address but TMC members did not heed to the suggestion and started raising slogans like "Save the Constitution" and moved towards the Well. Naidu then adjourned the House till 2 pm. As soon as the ministers laid listed papers on the table of the House, some opposition members were on their feet. Naidu said he has received several notices, including from Derek O'Brien of the TMC on the CBI issue."I have not admitted any one of them (notices)," Naidu had said, adding members will get an opportunity to raise "important matter at length" during the debate on the President's address. However, TMC member had started raising slogans and some members started moving towards the Well leading to adjournment. In an unprecedented development on Sunday evening, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna, protesting CBI's attempt to quiz Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams. A CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and were whisked to a police station. The CBI wants to quiz Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal Police probing the scams, regarding missing documents and files. Several political leaders, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and RJD national president Lalu Prasad came out in support of Banerjee. Gandhi called up Banerjee and extended support to her, saying the entire opposition is together and will defeat "fascist" forces. Guwahati, Feb 4 (PTI) Assam government has registered a total of 245 sedition cases since the BJP-led alliance came to power in the state in 2016, the Assembly was informed on Monday. In a written reply, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said 245 sedition cases were filed against various individuals and banned organisations since May 26, 2016 when the present coalition government took charge. Bharatiya Janata Party Replying to the query by Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia of the Congress, Patowary said sedition cases have been filed against militant groups such as ULFA(I), NDFB (S), NDFB(B), KLO, NSLA, NSLA(AT), UPLFS, DHD, DHNA, NSCN(IM), ZUF and ATF among others.Such cases were also registered against several individuals, Patowary said on behalf of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal who also holds the Home portfolio. Two sedition cases were slapped on RTI activist-cum- peasant leader Akihil Gogoi in Dibrugarh district and Guwahati city. Along with Gogoi, sedition cases were registered last month against eminent intellectual and Sahitya Akademi awardee Hiren Gohain and journalist Manjit Mahanta for their comments on the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.The Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims who fled religious persecution from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and entered India before December 31, 2014. PC Luke Bugdol donated his bone marrow on Monday A POLICE officer took on a whole new kind of operation this morning one that could save someones life. PC Luke Bugdol (35), who is part of the Central Rotherham Neighbourhood Policing Team, donated his bone marrow today (Monday) to someone with blood cancer - and urged others to join the register. Every 20 minutes somebody in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer such a leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma and only around 30 per cent of those find a match within their own families. But thanks to donors such as PC Bugdol, who register with charities linked to the British Bone Marrow Registry, some patients find a potentially life-saving match outside of their family. PC Bugdol following his bone marrow operation this morning. PC Bugdol, of Rotherham, said he first thought about becoming a bone marrow donor two years ago after he attended an incident with a colleague. After the incident they began talking about joining the bone marrow register. PC Budgol said: After that conversation, without hesitation, at the end of my shift, I went home and registered to become a donor. It wasnt something I had thought about before. Registering was really easy I registered online and was sent a swab kit. I swabbed the inside of my mouth and send it back in a pre-paid envelope. It was as easy as that. PC Bugdol during the operation to extract stem cells from his bone marrow. Two years later, he received a telephone call saying he was a match to somebody in need. He immediately said he would help. PC Bugdol underwent his operation this morning at a private hospital in London. He was put under general anaesthetic while surgeons drilled into his bone to extract vital stem cells. After the operation, PC Bugdol said: "I instantly felt great knowing I have helped a total stranger." PC Bugdol is expected to be fit and well again within a few weeks. The details of PC Budgols donation remain anonymous, but if successful, he will be given the opportunity to meet the recipient, if they agree. PC Budgol said he urged anybody who had considered becoming a donor to sign up. He added: To be able to do this for somebody is a privilege. To be somebodys match could be a one in a million chance - you could be that one person that makes all the difference. Insp Jenny Lax, of Rotherham Central Neighbourhood Policing Team said: I am so proud of Luke for this selfless act. He is a caring, compassionate officer, and his passion to help people is reflected in his anonymous donation. PC Budgol is registered with charity DKMS (We Delete Blood Cancer), one of the organisations linked to the British Bone Marrow Registry. People aged 16 to 30 can sign up with Anthony Nolan and those up to age of 55 can register with DKMS. More information can be found by visiting the NHS Blood and Transplant website. April 1, 1938 January 31, 2019 Treva Albert Quesenberry, 80, of Bristol, Tenn., went to be with The Lord on Thursday, January 31, 2019, at Johnston Memorial Hospital. The funeral service for Mrs. Quesenberry will be held 4 p.m. Sunday, February 3, 2019 in the Weaver Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Phil Whitaker officiating. The family will receive friends from 2 until 4 p.m. prior to the service. A visitation will be held Monday, February 4, 2019 from 6 until 8 p.m. at McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Dr. SW, Blacksburg, VA 24060. The committal service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at Centennial Christian Church Cemetery in McCoy, Va. Online condolences may be registered at www.weaverfuneralhome.net. Arrangements have been made with Weaver Funeral Home and Cremation Services. A Saturday night fire that caused $500,000 in damage to equipment at a Mountain Valley Pipeline construction site is being investigated as arson, the Pittsylvania County Sheriffs Office reports. The fire occurred in the Smith Mountain community of northern Pittsylvania County, the sheriffs office reported. A passerby spotted the fire at about 11 p.m. Saturday and called 911. When emergency crews and sheriffs deputies arrived they found the earth-moving equipment referred to as a Caterpillar PL 87 ablaze. It was located on the site of the Mountain Valley Pipeline construction right-of-way, according to the sheriffs office. The Pittsylvania County fire marshals office determined the fire was intentionally set. There were no injures reported and no other equipment was damaged. Anyone with information concerning the arson is asked to call the Pittsylvania County Sheriffs Office. Callers may be eligible for a reward. On Friday, a protester was arrested at a pipeline site on Oxford Road in Climax after she locked herself to a piece of equipment. The YMCA did a wonderful job during the past five years and they stepped up to the plate when no one else would, Gross said. But this will be the first time the farmers market will be run by farmers and we are looking forward to showing what that brings to the table. Gross said starting in May, the new market will not charge vendors for their spaces. It will be on a rent-free basis, Gross said. Vendors that have been at the farmers market will have preference for a spot this spring but we will be opening it up to anyone that wants a spot. The 2019 market also will run later into the year under the new management. A lot of the farmers in the area wanted the market to run through the fall and even into early winter, Gross said. That is something that we will be doing as well. Gross said the new management group also will be working closely with local entities like the Bedford County local Farm Bureau, the Bedford County Agricultural Board and the town of Bedford to help the annual open-air market be more successful. We really want this to be a win-win for everyone, Gross said. We are trying to get the right entities on board to make this bigger and more successful than ever. Tuck, a Republican, voiced other reasons for the referendum that were rooted to activities in the treasurers office, but Royal and Shelton backed by their respective professional associations pushed back by saying that placing their duties under the oversight of a county-appointed department head could lead to a conflict of interest. Royal said her other key role is dealing with taxpayers who argue that her office erred in its assessment of their properties. Its a separation of power. Were the closest people to the people, Royal said. If you have a problem with me, you come in here and talk to me about it. We sit here and discuss it. I dont just arbitrarily say no. I listen to what they have to say and I have to help them. While the commissioner of the revenue and treasurer are separate offices, they work in tandem as they each play a role in property tax bills. The commissioner of the revenues office maintains the property assessments that tax bills are based on, and the treasurer collects the bills themselves. Another key function of the treasurers office is the processing and accounting of all state and federal funding going to the county. The College of William and Mary and office of Gov. Ralph Northam decided his presence would disrupt an annual celebration of the school and the inauguration of its current president. Northam will no longer attend. President Katherine Rowe, who has led Virginia's oldest school since last summer, announced the decision to William and Mary students Monday morning amid calls for the governor to resign, after a racist image was discovered on his medical school yearbook page. "That behavior has no place in civil society not 35 years ago, not today," Rowe said. "It stands in stark opposition to William & Mary's core values of equity and inclusion." Northam officiated Rowe's swearing-in ceremony last July. He was scheduled to attend her inauguration, which is coupled with the university's annual celebration of its 1693 founding. "However, under the circumstances, it has become clear that the Governors presence would fundamentally disrupt the sense of campus unity we aspire to and hope for with this event," Rowe said. "We have conferred with the governors office, and he will not be part of Fridays program." Rowe's message did not say whether she believes Northam should resign. Unionized workers at Volvo Trucks North America in Dublin have been on strike for the past two weeks after voting down two contract proposals. Since the strike began June 7, Volvo has been slow to come back to the bargaining table, UAW representatives say. A Montgomery County home was destroyed by fire Saturday and one person was hospitalized for burns. Crews were called about 2:40 p.m. to the 3500 block of Deer Run Road, according to Blacksburg Volunteer Fire Department Chief Drew Smith. On the scene, they found a 2 story wood-sided structure with flames and heavy smoke coming through the roof. Along with Blacksburg, units from Christiansburg and Longshop-McCoy Fire and Rescue worked the blaze for about five hours. Smith said one person was home at the time and suffered burns. Smith did not identify the injured man but said he was taken to LewisGale Medical Center in Salem, then airlifted to the burn center at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Neighbor Eugene Gardner said the man was treated for burns and possible smoke inhalation but was in good condition and was expected to be released within a few days. Gardner said he believed the fire caused at least one car to explode. Two other automobiles were also destroyed by the fire, he said. The cause of the blaze is still being investigated . Smith said the home was a total loss and estimated the damage to be in excess of $300,000. 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. BLACKSBURG A downtown property owner has submitted plans to build a brewpub at the intersection of Alumni Mall and North Main Street. The space previously belonged to Mikes Grill, a local institution that closed in 2016 after 40 years on the edge of Virginia Techs campus. The name of the new tenant has not been identified, and property owner Ann Linden declined to comment on her intentions for the space. Plans submitted to the towns Historic or Design Review Board in August of 2018 describe a restaurant and brew pub big enough to accommodate about 311 people. It would fill the former Mikes Grill storefront, as well as a shuttered self-service laundry business next door. The former Cooks Clean Center space, which sits beside the laundry business and is owned by the town, is not part of the project. Building renderings, obtained through a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, show signs above the proposed front door that read Lindes Restaurant and Off The Mall Brewing Co. Its unclear if that will be the name of the new business, as property owners often use fictitious names on renderings. The man who was killed in a shooting in Roanoke over the weekend was from New York, police said Monday. Milton Roman, 28, of Brooklyn, died at an apartment during what police say was a home invasion. His death marks the citys first homicide in 2019. Officers came to the 1300 block of Maple Avenue Southwest on Saturday night on a report of a gunshot wound victim. Jonathan Billings, 33, of Roanoke, an acquaintance of Romans, sustained minor injuries, according to police. Nobody has been arrested in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call 334-8500 or text 274637, beginning with the phrase RoanokePD. 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. Mexicos 2011 Oscar entry, Miss Bala, was a searing slice of social commentary about the raging narco wars wrapped up in a sexy, action-packed thriller. Directed by Gerardo Naranjo, the script was ripped from the headlines, basing its beauty queen-meets-drug lord story on a stranger-than-fiction 2008 scandal, when Miss Sinaloa winner Laura Zuniga was arrested in the company of the Juarez cartel. The tension inherent in the question of whether or not she was a victim or an operator was what drove Miss Bala, a tale about how easy it is to get sucked into this underworld, and how hard it is to get out. With the combo of gun battles and pageant girls, its no wonder Hollywood came knocking. But achieving tonal balance between sociology and schlock is no easy task, and this film doesnt pull it off. Catherine Hardwicke helms the remake of the same name, with a script by Mexican writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, starring the eminently appealing Gina Rodriguez as Gloria, a young Mexican-American makeup artist from L.A. who gets caught up in the swirl of corruption and cartels while visiting a friend who is competing in the Miss Baja California pageant. Bala means bullet in Spanish, and therein lies the dark pun of the title. Cancun driver dies in horrific two-taxi crash Cancun, Q.R. A radio taxi driver from the Andres Quintana Roo union died after he was reportedly crashed into by another taxi from Leona Vicario. The horrific accident happened along the Cancun-Merida highway just before the entrance to Leona Vicario. Reports show the two hit with incredible impact, spinning both vehicles off the highway and into the brush. Photo: El Heroico Cuerpo de Bomberos de Cancun Police say the driver of the Cancun radio taxi, William E.C., was pronounced on scene while the male driver of the Leona Vicario taxi, who has not been identified, was seriously injured and rushed to hospital. Last May, Princeton University released a study that showed Richmond had the nations second-highest eviction rate. Four other Virginia cities Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, and Chesapeake also ranked in the top 10. Upon learning the news, both the state and the city of Richmond began studying ways to reduce those high rates. Discussions ensued on how to address a complicated issue that would be fair to both tenants and landlords. On Thursday night during his State of the City address, Mayor Levar Stoney announced Richmonds plan to launch the states first eviction diversion program sometime this year. Speaking at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Stoney told the audience that the new program will help tenants avoid receiving an eviction on their rental history, while ensuring landlords get the back rent they are owed by way of a payment plan. The plan seems promising. It offers tenants the opportunity to start anew with a clean slate, provided they qualify for the program and agree to participate in a financial literacy course. The assistance will be offered on a one-time-only basis. Pro bono lawyers will assist as mediators for landlords and tenants. Fairfax, who denied the allegations to the Post, told reporters Monday that everything was 100 percent consensual, later adding, There was no inappropriate contact whatsoever. Fairfax said the woman sought him out after the encounter, saying she wanted to go to New York City to meet with him and introduce him to her mother. And years later now, we have a totally fabricated story out of the blue thats meant to attack me because of where I am in politics, Fairfax said. The Washington Post denied claims in Fairfaxs statement that it had found significant red flags and inconsistencies within the allegations. The Post reported: Fairfax and the woman told different versions of what happened in the hotel room with no one else present. The Post could not find anyone who could corroborate either version. In response, Fairfax spokeswoman Lauren Burke issued a statement that said, The Washington Post, acknowledging that it had no corroboration, just smeared an elected official. He said his memory of that is vivid, and thats why he doesnt think he is in the yearbook photo. I have made my mistakes in the past, Northam said. Northam says resigning would be an easy path but he took an oath to serve to the best of his ability and believes he can continue. He says this moment can be a small step to a discussion. Northam says he knows people will not immediately believe his account of events but wants an opportunity to show that the person he was is not the man he is today. I am far from perfect and I can always strive to do more, he said. Northam said he submitted three of the four photos in the yearbook, but does not know where the photo of a man in blackface and one in KKK garb came from. "I'm telling the truth today," he said, "that was not my picture." "I was not in that picture," he said, "... either as blackface or KKK." Northam was asked why he apologized Friday night if he's not in the picture: "I saw this last night, it was horrifying to me ... I just felt it important to reach out and let people know I was sorry this picture ... was on a page with my name on it." The waiver also would allow Virginia to create a reinsurance program that would provide a separate pool for the most expensive customers for insurance to serve. A state-operated marketplace and reinsurance program are among two options highlighted by a work group Gov. Ralph Northam formed last year to look for state solutions to what insurers consider a national problem caused by continued fighting in Congress over the Affordable Care Act. The work group, chaired by Secretary of Health and Human Resources Dan Carey, produced a wide-ranging report last fall but did not ask for legislation to be introduced in the current legislative session. However, it did recommend against a number of short-term approaches to give Virginia consumers alternatives to the individual market, including plans with short duration, coverage only for catastrophic health emergencies, and sponsored by associations to offer large-group coverage to a broad number of members. Northam vetoed those bills last year because of concern about their potential effects on the insurance risk pool for other consumers, but Senate Republicans resurrected them with a vow to make alternative approaches to health insurance coverage central to their legislative agenda in an election year. "We need to make sure they understand as physicians that this is offensive to me as well as to future patients and grossly offensive to minority students and African Americans," Homan recalled saying. "They're going to be taking care of everybody. You can't be wearing incendiary symbols if you're going to be a young physician and a healer." He also banned future editions of the yearbook, which he said had been largely run by students, with little staff oversight - although some graduates of EVMS from the 1980s have told The Washington Post the yearbooks were submitted for staff review. Homan said it did not occur to him at the time to review yearbooks from previous years, including the 1984 edition, the revelation of which has led to mass calls for Northam, a Democrat, to resign. "In retrospect, that was my error," said Homan, who was interviewed following an emergency meeting of the school's board of visitors early Monday. "I thought because I stopped publication that would have been enough. I think in retrospect, I would have had an audit or review of those." At the meeting, Homan told board members the school has hired Richard Cullen, a partner at McGuireWoods and a former Virginia attorney general, to lead an outside investigation into how racist photos came to be published in EVMS yearbooks. The seedlings for this year have all been claimed, but the program has three new educational games. Liberty plans to retain its academics chief LYNCHBURG Liberty University has announced that it is keeping the same academics chief. Scott Hicks, who has served as the colleges interim provost since July 1, will stay in the role permanently. Hicks started as an assistant professor at Liberty in 2007 before being named dean of the School of Business in 2012. He was named the vice provost of graduate education in 2017. Lee-Davis High earns RAMP designation MECHANICSVILLE Lee-Davis High School has become the first high school in the Richmond region to be honored as a Recognized American School Counselor Association Model Program (RAMP) School of Distinction. With the honor, Lee-Davis is one of 59 schools in the state to earn the RAMP designation, which is given to schools that are committed to delivering an exemplary comprehensive school counseling program. Our pets provide us with immense comfort, so its no surprise that their presence puts children who are learning to read, which to them can cause some anxiety, at ease, said Tamsen Kingry, the Richmond SPCAs chief operating officer whose daughter is in one of the participating classes and now reads to their own rescue dog, Maggie, at home. The anxiety that early readers may have while reading evaporates in the presence of an animal. Its a really calming relationship that the children develop with the animals. There are currently six classrooms taking part in the program: four kindergarten, one first-grade and one second-grade. Paws for Reading launched in the fall. Teachers choose to participate in Paws for Reading with the SPCA-screened dogs. Its somebody whos not judgmental with them reading the book, said Blumberg, the teacher who used to bring her friends King Charles spaniel named Jax into the classroom before the SPCA launched the pilot. Since the program launched in the fall, Kingry said, three more teachers have said they would like to have rescue dogs make visits to their classrooms, and the SPCA is working on finding dogs and guardians to help it expand. Chesterfield County police issued arrest warrants for a 53-year-old man accused of killing his parents who were found dead in their home in the Queensmill neighborhood in Chesterfield. Police found the bodies of Jan Ralph, who was in his mid-80s, and Victoria Sophia Ralph, 79, in their home in the 1000 block of Castle Hollow Road after responding to a call at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday for a welfare check. After discovering the body that they believed was Jan Ralphs, police initially were not able to find Victoria Ralph and issued a missing person report. After obtaining a search warrant for the home, they located her body inside. Chesterfield police began a search for the Ralphs son, Robert Raff, also known as Robert James Ralph. On Saturday, police officers in Avon, Ohio, took him into custody after someone reported suspicious activity, Chesterfield police said in a news release. They constructed the aforementioned house that was like a basement without the rest of the house the way it was built into the earth and began farming the land. Delora spent most of her childhood in the same house. She was born in 1944, the seventh of nine children, and one of only two born in a hospital. My dad reminded me I was the most expensive, she said with a laugh as we sat in her Midlothian home. I cost $65. Before she came along, her family weathered the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl years, when over-farming and heat and drought led to black blizzards of blowing dirt that blocked the sun and convinced more than a few people they were witnessing the end of the world. When she was young, the family had no electricity, and their home was lit by coal oil lamps. Rural electric power arrived when Delora was in eighth grade. They had no indoor plumbing, though a pipe did bring well water into the kitchen sink, pumped from the earth by a windmill near the house. Saturday baths came in a galvanized tub, and it was a 50-yard walk to the outhouse, which could be a frigid stroll in the dead of winter but also somewhat treacherous since one might encounter rattlesnakes or black widow spiders. Those accounted for two of her three fears; tornadoes were the third. There has been a whole lot of interest, Little said. Real estate has been intended to be a long-term capital gains maker. What is interesting is we are attracting capital to real estate that was totally unrelated like selling stock or private equity. But the change is a widening group of investors who are coming in and seeking those types of investments. John B. Levy & Co. put together an opportunity zone fund that closed in late December to invest in a mixed-use development that includes an apartment building in Scotts Addition, Little said. He declined to name the specific project. The capital raise for the fund was millions of dollars, he said. The total capital for the project was $30 million, which includes debt and equity. We had more people wanting to get into the investment than we had availability for the investment, Little said. What was surprising was the type of investors who took part in the fund, he said. The fund attracted more high net-worth individuals who generally use wealth management companies or money managers. The Jefferson Hotel did it again, earning a coveted AAA Five Diamond rating for 2019. The downtown Richmond hotel joins The Inn at Little Washington in Northern Virginia and The Williamsburg Inn as the only hotel properties in Virginia receiving a Five Diamond. The three hotels are among 121 in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean that received the Five Diamond this year, AAA announced. The Five Diamond Rating is an impressive accomplishment that recognizes the upper echelon of hotels. These properties have extraordinary physical qualities, extensive amenities and impeccable standards of excellence in delivering a highly personalized experience, said Michael Petrone, AAAs director of inspections and diamond ratings, in a statement. Eighteen properties in Virginia earned a Four Diamond rating, including three in the Richmond region the Hilton Richmond Hotel and Spa/Short Pump in Henrico County, The Westin Richmond in Henrico, and Virginia Crossings Hotel & Conference Center, a Tapestry Collection by Hilton property in Henrico. The Jefferson received AAAs Five Diamond rating from 1993 through 2013 and then was not rated for three years because it was placed on a list of properties under renovation. ONTARIO -- The Springfield Township Fire Department has been awarded more than $60,000 in grant funding, allowing the department to purchase equipment items from its wish list. In 2018, the department received six grants equating $60,778. The funding will be used to ease the burden of taxpayer dollars used to fund EMS and fire operations. "It means the operating funds stay more solvent," said Chief Ronald Henry. "The large amounts of grants will help our financial cushion from deteriorating." One of the major grants, secured by fire dept. Lieutenant Ron Conn, was $40,000 awarded from the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation's (BWC) program, the Safety Intervention Grant (SIG). This grant allowed the department to purchase a Stryker Powerload System, technology engineered to make a first responder's job safer. "That's a battery-assisted cot," Henry explained. "Instead of our people having to use their muscle and work lift the cot up (after a body is on the cot), we can push a button." Henry said this is important as Americans become heavier and need to be lifted in and out of ambulances. The Stryker, he added, can lift up to 700 pounds. "People are getting larger, it can be a recipe for injury or career enders," Henry said. Additional grants the Springfield Township Fire Department were awarded include: Ohio Fire Marshal's Training Reimbursement grant for $50 Ohio Fire Marshal's Equipment Grant (helmets, boots, gloves and piercing nozzle) for $10,000 Ohio Division of Emergency Services Management annal training/equipment grant for $4,112 The BWC Firefighter Exposure to Environmental Elements Grant for $4,616 The BWC Safety Grant and the Home Depot Community Impact Grant for $2,000 Henry gave credit to Lieutenant Conn and EMS Coordinator Lieutenant Ellen Meredith for their hard and and diligence in applying for and securing the grant funds received in 2018. ALMATY -- Uyghurs in Kazakhstan have commemorated victims of 1997 violence in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang. Some 500 people gathered at restaurant in Kazakhstans largest city, Almaty, and held a collective prayer to commemorate the victims and protests Beijing's current treatment of Uyghurs and other indigenous people in the region. Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of the Bashkir, Nogai, and Azerbaijani diasporas took part in the ceremony on February 3. Leaders of the World Uyghur Congress in Europe took part in the event via Skype. On February 5, 1997, police in Qulja (also known as Yining), the capital of Ili-Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, violently dispersed a large demonstration by Uyghurs. The demonstrators were protesting the arrests of several popular Uyghur leaders and a crackdown on traditional Uyghur self-governing communities called mashraps. Chinese officials said at the time that nine people were killed when police dispersed the rally, but international human rights organizations and Uyghur activists say at least 100 protesters were killed. An organizer of the commemoration, Qaharman Qozhamberdiev, told RFE/RL that the gathering was also meant to voice opposition to Beijing's policy of assimilation of Uyghurs and other indigenous people and its use of so-called reeducation camps in the Xinjiang. Turkic-speaking, mostly Muslim Uyghurs are the largest indigenous community in Xinjiang, followed by Kazakhs, and the region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans. Han, China's largest ethnicity, are the second-largest community in Xinjiang. The United Nations said in August last year that an estimated 1 million Muslims from Xinjiang were being held in "counterextremism centers." The UN also said millions more had been forced into reeducation camps. In recent months, several demonstrations protesting against reeducation camps for Muslims were held in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia's Republic of Tatarstan. The U.S. State Department has called on other nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens captured by U.S. Kurdish allies in Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of militias dominated by the Kurdish YPG, "has demonstrated a clear commitment to detain these individuals securely and humanely," the department's spokesman, Robert Palladino, said in a statement on February 4. The alliance, known as the SDF, say they have detained more than 900 foreign fighters who had traveled to Syria to fight with the extremist group Islamic State. They are also holding more than 4,000 family members of IS fighters. Questions arose about what the SDF would do with the prisoners it is holding after President Donald Trump announced in December that the United States would withdraw all of its 2,000 troops from Syria. Few countries have so far expressed any readiness to repatriate their citizens. Washington is set to host a meeting on February 6 of about a dozen coalition partners fighting against the IS group. IS militants have lost virtually all the territory they once held in Syria and neighboring Iraq, but Palladino said it remains "a significant terrorist threat. "Collective action is imperative to address this shared international security challenge," he added. With reporting by AP Ukraines Central Election Commission (CEC) has completed acceptance of registration documents for the March 31 presidential election, saying 83 candidates have put forth their names. The CEC on February 4 said it had approved 28 of the applications, rejected 22 others, and have left open 33 for consideration. The commission is to officially announce no later than February 9 the final registered list of candidates. Recent polls indicate current President Petro Poroshenko, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy and are the likely front-runners. The 53-year-old Poroshenko announced his candidacy on January 29 to seek a second five-year term and has vowed to press for European Union and NATO membership for the country. Poroshenko, one of Ukraines richest men, came to power in the aftermath of the pro-European Maidan protests that pushed Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych out in February 2014. He has vocally advocated closer integration with the West and criticized Russia following Moscow's seizure of Ukraines Crimea region and amid a continuing war against Russia-backed separatists in the eastern region known as the Donbas. Poroshenko, who critics say has failed to tackle pervasive corruption, also vowed that a special court to try corruption cases would be up and running this year. Western officials say graft is a huge hurdle on the path to the prosperity and security of Ukraine. In what was widely seen as a bid effort to bolster his sagging public support ahead of the election, Poroshenko spearheaded successful efforts to secure the creation of an independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The 58-year-old Tymoshenko, who announced her presidential bid on January 22, was a leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution but was defeated by Poroshenko in the 2014 presidential election. Tymoshenko has presented herself as a pro-NATO, pro-European Union candidate and has declared her backing for the Ukrainian military in the fight against the Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Former Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Boyko is also among those who have registered.. With reporting by Reuters, Kommersant, UNIAN, TASS, and Interfax The Taliban says it will attend what it calls "intra-Afghan" talks in Moscow designed to bring together prominent Afghan figures, including former President Hamid Karzai, opposition figures, and tribal elders -- but no government officials. The meeting is due to start on February 5 and last for two days. The Moscow-based Council of Afghan Society, an organization of the Afghan diaspora in Russia, said in a statement issued in Kabul on February 4 that it was the organizer of the meeting. The Russian government has denied organizing the meeting, while the United States has made no comments so far about it. It comes amid a renewed push aimed at resolving Afghanistan's 17-year war, a process that has accelerated since the appointment in September of Zalmay Khalilzad as U.S. peace envoy. Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Qatar, confirmed the Taliban's participation. Their delegation is to be led by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai. The Taliban has refused to talk to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's government, which it views as a U.S. puppet. Along with Karzai, the former president, many of the 38 delegates from Kabul have held prominent government positions. Among them is potential presidential candidate Hanif Atmar, who resigned as Ghani's security adviser in August. Former Vice President Mohammad Yunus Qanuni and former Balkh provincial Governor Atta Mohammad Noor are also on the list of participants, along with former Taliban insurgents who reconciled with the Afghan government. Khalilzad has been holding separate talks with the Taliban even as he presses for a dialogue that would bring together all key Afghan players. Ghani's office criticized the meeting in Moscow, saying that Afghan politicians attending the gathering were doing so "in order to gain power." Ghani's chief adviser, Fazel Fazly, tweeted that it was "regrettable." With reporting by AP and tolonews.com BISHKEK -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says that Bishkek has not asked Moscow to open a second military base in Kyrgyzstan, but suggested that Russia is open to discussing the idea. Speaking to students at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in Bishkek on February 4, Lavrov was asked whether Russia was prepared to open a second base in the Central Asian country. Claiming that "this is the first time we've heard about this," said Lavrov, who was meeting with senior officials in Kyrgyzstan -- his first stop on a trip to three Central Asian countries. "This is not our initiative. We will be ready to discuss with our Kyrgyz friends their ideas regarding security." Reports and rumors about the possibility that Russia could open a second military base have been circulating in Kyrgyzstan and Russia for months. Russia's air base at Kant, in northern Kyrgyzstan, was opened in 2003 under the auspices of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which includes Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. A U.S. air base outside the capital, Bishkek, began hosting U.S. troops in 2001 as part of the campaign in nearby Afghanistan, but Kyrgyzstan shut it in 2014. Russia had pressed Kyrgyzstan for its closure. In December 2018, Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov said that Bishkek was not negotiating with Moscow on the possible opening of another Russian military base. In March, Jeenbekov said that the idea of a second Russian base was discussed before he was elected president in October 2017, but that no decision was made. Earlier in 2017, then-President Almazbek Atambaev said that Russia could deploy troops in the Batken region on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border instead of increasing the number of troops stationed at Kant. He said that the issue had been discussed years ago but that no decision was made due to questions about funding. Also in 2017, the Kant air base and three other Russian military facilities in Kyrgyzstan were formally combined into a single base. Lavrov is expected to visit Tajikistan on February 5 and Turkmenistan on February 6. With reporting by Interfax The leaders of Russia, Iran, and Turkey are scheduled to meet in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on February 14 to discuss the situation in Syria, according to Turkish and Russian state media. The reports on February 3 did not give full details of the planned meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Hassan Rohani of Iran. But Russias NTV broadcaster said the leaders will discuss the situation around the so-called deescalation zone around Idlib in Syria and the pending withdrawal of U.S. troops from the war-ravaged country. The three countries have said they want a political solution to end the seven-year civil war in Syria. Moscow and Tehran back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey and the United States back differing rebel groups. Several rounds of negotiations over recent years have failed to end the fighting, which has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, displaced millions, and devastated many historic sites across the country. U.S. forces are set to depart from Syria where they worked closely with the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, which Turkey considers to have terrorism links. U.S. President Donald Trump has received criticism from Republicans, Democrats, and some foreign officials for what they have called a hastily planned withdrawal of the 2,000 U.S. troops, with many saying it leaves Kurdish allies at the mercy of the Turks and hands a victory to Russia and Iran. Turkey has threatened to attack the United States' Kurdish allies fighting Islamic State militants in Syria. Ankara views the Kurds as terrorists with ties to insurgents within Turkey. On January 14, Trump threatened to devastate Turkey economically if Ankara attacks the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. With reporting by Reuters, TASS, and Interfax President Donald Trump has declared his intention to reduce U.S. military engagement in Syria, but a new Pentagon report warned that the extremist group Islamic State could then make a comeback in the war-torn country within six to 12 months and "regain limited territory." The report issued on February 4 by the Defense Department's Inspector General warned that the IS group continues to attract dozens of foreign fighters to Syria and Iraq each month, and maintains a flow of external donations. IS is "regenerating key functions and capabilities more quickly in Iraq than in Syria," it also said. In both countries, the Inspector General said, local forces remain heavily reliant on support from the U.S.-led coalition fighting against the IS group. Trump surprised U.S. lawmakers and international allies last month by announcing he was withdrawing all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. Critics have said that a vacuum left by the departure of U.S. troops from Syria, where they are assisting a Syrian Arab and Kurdish alliance fighting against some of the last IS-held areas and other forces, could result in a resurgence of the IS and Al-Qaeda in the country or neighboring Iraq. Based on reporting by dpa and Reuters The head of Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning has urged Muslims in the Middle East to "embrace" local Christians. Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar Mosque, made the call on February 4 during an interfaith meeting in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) attended by Pope Francis. The head of the Roman Catholic Church, who is on his first official visit to the Arabian Peninsula, called for a halt to wars in the Middle East, citing the conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Libya. Sheikh Ahmed and Pope Francis addressed the gathering in Abu Dhabi after signing a document calling on world leaders to work together to "spread the culture of tolerance." The Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together also condemns those using God's name to justify violence. Members of religious minorities have been attacked repeatedly by extremists in countries across the Middle East in recent years. They have also faced legal and social discrimination, as well as restrictions on their ability to practice their faith. On February 5, Francis was set to celebrate an outdoor mass in Abu Dhabi expected to draw 120,000 people. Based on reporting by the BBC and AFP Farmers in Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul have unsold potatoes up to the rafters after prices plunged dramatically. They say they planted more potatoes this year in the hope of exporting them to Uzbekistan, but the export deals never materialized. The Kremlin says that moves by some major European countries to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president amounts to foreign meddling and that Venezuelans, not foreign forces, should resolve their own domestic political issues. Guaido, who leads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself temporary leader last month in a move that has split global powers. Austria, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden recognized Guaido as interim president on February 4, with Paris saying he had the right to organize an election given the socialist government of embattled President Nicolas Maduro's refusal to do so. The coordinated move from major European nations came after the expiry of an eight-day deadline they set last month for Maduro to call a new vote. "Attempts to legitimize usurped power" constituted "interference in Venezuela's internal affairs," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on February 4. "Any resolution of Venezuela's internal political crisis is possible only [if it is conducted] by Venezuelans themselves," Peskov said. Guaido and his supporters reject the argument that letting Venezuelans resolve the country's political issues means leaving Maduro in power, saying that his May 2018 reelection was illegitimate because his strongest opponents were barred from running. Critics also say Maduro has run the oil-rich nation like a dictatorship, wrecking its economy. Maduro has accused European countries of sycophantically following the example of U.S. President Donald Trump, who quickly recognized Guaido as interim president. Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, and RIA Novosti President Nursultan Nazarbaev has asked Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council to provide an official interpretation of an article of the country's constitution that deals with the termination of the president's duties. The council said in a statement on February 4 that it had started working on the matter following the presidents request to look into Article 42, Section 3 of the Kazakh Constitution. According to the relevant article of the constitution, the powers of the current Kazakh president shall terminate as of "the moment the newly elected President of the Republic takes office" as well as in the event of the current president's "release from office, resignation or death." "All former Presidents of the Republic except those who were discharged from office shall have the title of ex-President of the Republic of Kazakhstan," it adds. Nazarbaev, 78, has been in power in the energy-rich Kazakhstan since before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. He was last elected in 2015, securing a new five-year term after moving the vote up from 2016 in what was widely seen as a move to strengthen his control. Rights activists and critics say he has persistently suppressed dissent, prolonged his time in office through undemocratic votes, and used the levers of power to neutralize potential opponents. Kazakhstan's next presidential election is set for December 2020, and Nazarbaev told reporters late last year that there were no plans for early polls. The Iraqi president has said that President Donald Trump did not ask Baghdad's permission for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq to "watch Iran." President Barham Salih made the comment on February 4, after Trump said in a television interview that the United States has an "incredible base" in Iraq that he intends to keep "because I want to be able to watch Iran." There are an 5,000 estimated U.S. military personnel in Iraq to train, advise, and assist Iraqi security forces. The forces are there as part of an agreement between the two countries and with a specific mission of combating terrorism, Salih told a forum in Baghdad, adding that they should stick to that mission. He also said that the Iraqi Constitution forbids the use of Iraq as a base to threaten the interests or security of neighboring countries. "Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues," Salih added. "It is of fundamental interest for Iraq to have good relations with Iran" and other neighboring countries, the Iraqi president also said. In a CBS interview broadcast on February 3, Trump said it was important to keep a U.S. military presence in Iraq so that Washington can keep a close eye on Iran "because Iran is a real problem." Apparently referring to the Al-Asad air base in western Iraq, Trump said that the facility was "perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East." The base hosts U.S. troops but belongs to the Iraqi military. Trump made the remarks after announcing last month that he was withdrawing all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. His comments also came amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran after the United States pulled out of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, and imposed crippling economic sanctions against Tehran last year. Trump has looked to increase pressure on Iran to bring about what his administration has called a "change in behavior" regarding its weapons programs and its "destabilizing" activities in the region, accusations Tehran denies. With reporting by AP and Reuters Kurdish fighters in northern Syria have apparently detained a close associate of a fugitive Tajik police colonel who joined the extremist group Islamic State (IS) in 2015. The Kurdish fighters said in a statement last week that they had detained a Tajik man identified as Dilovar Azimovich Dodoev along with two other alleged IS fighters as they were trying to cross the border between Syria and Turkey. The statement includes pictures of the three men Dodoev's father, from Tajikistan's northern city of Istaravshan, confirmed to RFE/RL on February 4 that the Tajik man was his son. Dodoev has been frequently shown posing next to Gulmurod Halimov on photos and videos distributed by the IS group in recent years. Halimov, a former commander of Tajik Interior Ministry special forces, is one of IS's most notable international recruits. In 2016, the U.S. State Department named him as a key member of IS and offered a reward of $3 million for information on his whereabouts. There were several claims that he had been killed in an air strike in Iraq, but Tajik authorities have not been able to confirm the reports. A fire at the Iranian Space Research Center has killed three scientists, a top Iranian official has announced. Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi on February 3 said the scientists died as a result "of a fire in one of the buildings of the Space Research Center." He did not provide further information about the incident at the Tehran site. The names and positions of the victims were not immediately provided. One report said staffers in another part of the research center were celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution when the fire broke out. Iran's space program has contributed to heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran. President Hassan Rohani has said Iran soon will put two satellites into orbit using domestically made rockets, despite U.S. concerns that the launches could help further develop the country's ballistic missiles. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Iran not to proceed with "provocative" plans to launch new rockets, claiming they were "virtually identical" to nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and would violate a UN resolution. Over the past decade, Iran has sent several satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. The program has had mixed results. Tehran on January 15 said it conducted a satellite launch but that the rocket failed to reach orbit. Jahromi told state TV at the time that the rocket carrying the Payam (Message) satellite failed to reach the "necessary speed" in the third stage of launch. With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP More than half of the countries which make up the European Union have recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's interim president. The move on February 4 came after the expiry of an eight-day deadline set by Britain, France, Germany, and other EU members for embattled President Nicolas Maduro to call new elections. Guaido, who leads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself interim leader last month, and won support from major powers including the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the Europeans' concerted action and urged other countries to "support the Venezuelan people by recognizing Interim President Guaido and supporting the National Assembly's efforts to return constitutional democracy to Venezuela." The Kremlin, which has sided with Maduro from the beginning of the crisis, slammed European "interference" in the Latin American country, saying it was an attempt "to legitimize usurped power." Maduro took office in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chavez, and was sworn in for a second term in January following elections in May 2018 that were marred by an opposition boycott and claims of vote-rigging. He has been criticized for alleged human rights abuses and for his handling of Venezuela's economy. Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, RIA-Novosti, and the BBC BRUSSELS -- The European Union has welcomed a new mechanism to trade with Iran while bypassing U.S. sanctions, but criticized Tehran over its "destabilizing" ballistic missile program, its "hostile activities" on the territories of several EU member states, and its meddling in countries in the Middle East. In a joint statement unanimously adopted by the bloc's ambassadors on February 4 following more than a week of wrangling in Brussels, the EU restated its commitment to saving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. The statement hailed the launch last week by France, Britain, and Germany of a financial mechanism to allow firms to trade with Iran without falling foul of U.S. sanctions as key to supporting "legitimate trade" with Iran. It said the system aimed to provide "a positive impact on trade and economic relations with Iran, but most importantly on the lives of Iranian people." But the statement said the European Council was "gravely concerned" by Iran's efforts to "increase the range and precision of its missiles, together with increasing the number of tests and operational launches." It called on Tehran to refrain from such activities, saying they "deepen mistrust and contribute to regional instability." The bloc also urged Iran to immediately end its "hostile" activities in EU member states, and said that the bloc would "continue to demonstrate unity and solidarity in this area." Earlier this month, the EU approved sanctions on Irans intelligence services and two Iranian nationals, accusing them of attempting -- or carrying out -- attacks against Iranian government opponents on Danish, Dutch, and French soil. Tehran denied the claim, saying the accusations were aimed at damaging relations between Iran and the EU. The EU also expressed concern at the "growing tensions in the region and Iran's role in this context, including the provision of military, financial and political support to non-state actors in countries such as Syria and Lebanon." The statement urged Tehran, a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to use its leverage to get Damascus behind UN-led efforts to end the civil war. On Yemen, where a Saudi-led military coalition battling Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels to restore the internationally recognized government there, the EU called upon Tehran and all other parties in the region to constructively work towards a lasting political solution to the conflict under UN leadership. The statement also urged Iran to fully respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, and called on the country to put an end to the death penalty and ensure equal rights for women and girls and members of ethnic and religious minorities. With reporting by AFP and RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak Politicians, lawyers, and business-owners went on strike in Pakistans southwest province of Balochistan after a regional leader of a Pakistani civil rights group died, allegedly at the hands of police. Many businesses in the provincial capital, Quetta, were closed on February 4, with shops shuttered and padlocked. The Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, a Pashtun nationalist party, called the general strike after Muhammad Ibrahim Arman Luni was buried in the town of Qillah Saifullah. Eyewitnesses told RFE/RL that a police officer struck the college teacher on the neck with a gun after stopping him as he returned from a sit-in protest in the Loralai district of Balochistan on February 2. Balochistans interior minister told RFE/RL that an "initial investigation suggests Arman Luni died of a cardiac arrest." The Balochistan chief minister has ordered an inquiry into the death. An official autopsy report is expected later. Loni was a leader in the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM), which has been holding rallies across Pakistan since the beginning of 2018 to protest against what it says are human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings by security forces in the tribal regions. Mohsin Dawar, a lawmaker and a PTM founding member, said that the police singled Loni out and deliberately beat him to death because of his "association with PTM." "It was a targeted attack on him by police, he told the Reuters news agency. The civil rights group announced nationwide protests against the alleged murder on February 5. Resource-rich Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, has been plagued by sectarian violence, Islamist militant attacks, and a separatist insurgency that has led to thousands of casualties since 2004. With reporting by AP, dpa, and Reuters Authorities in Belarus say they have busted "the largest marijuana production [operation] in years." Police searching for the source of "high-quality" marijuana that started circulating in the eastern Vitsebsk region in recent months found the facility in a town in the neighboring Minsk region, the Vitsebsk Interior Directorate said on February 4. The marijuana-growing operation was located in a 200-square-meter house with barred windows, a statement said, adding: "Police had to use special tools to open heavy metal doors to reach large greenhouses inside." "The autonomous energy supply system [installed] to support the necessary microclimate and sophisticated agricultural equipment indicated wide-scale production," the statement said. The statement said that, among other things, hundreds of pots with marijuana plants at various stages of growth were found in the building, along with marijuana that was ready to sell. Several people suspected of running the business were detained, it said. Neither the date of the arrests nor the exact number of the suspects and their identities was disclosed. "One thing can be said for sure," the statement added: "The production [operation] was the largest to be discovered [in Belarus] in recent years." 4 Artist Mahdi Zahak, 25. "There is hope for peace. But the only way we can have peace is if they (the Taliban) accept the achievements made in this country in the past 17 years and let everyone enjoy their lives." Police in Kyauktaw township in western Myanmars troubled Rakhine state on early Monday arrested 24 civilians who had fled their homes to escape armed conflict in Paletwa township of neighboring Chin state, along with the couple who was hosting them, according to police and a local resident. The two dozen people from Shin Let Wa village, which sits in a active conflict zone in Paletwa, were detained after officers and township administrators questioned them in the home of Thein Soe and his wife Hla Hla Yee in Kyauktaws Ywama ward, where they were temporarily residing. The homeowner reported [their presence] to the ward administrator when they arrived, Kyauktaw resident Hla Myint told RFAs Myanmar Service. The ward administrator also reported this as an unusual event to the township administrator, he said. But it seems they all have been taken away, including the hosts. Rakhine state lawmaker Maung Than Sein from the Arakan National Party (ANP) told the online journal The Irrawaddy that police arrested the 26 people on suspicion of having connections with the Arakan Army (AA), which has been battling Myanmar soldiers in Rakhine state. The government has branded the AA a terrorist group and has called on its forces to crush it. Kyauktaw Township Court later confirmed that Major Aung Naing Soe from Light Infantry Battalion No. 375 filed lawsuits against the villagers under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act, and that all but one were taken to Rakhines capital Sittwe, The Irrawaddy said. The section carries a three-year prison sentence for those who are members of or interact with an unlawful association, such as an ethnic armed group. Rights groups accuse Myanmar authorities of using the act to intimidate and arrest ethnic minorities, especially those in turbulent regions where government troops are engaged in hostilities with ethnic armies. Fighting between Myanmar troops and soldiers from the AA in Rakhine state has driven about 6,000 civilians from their homes and into other villages or even farther afield, according to local relief groups. Some local governments have consented to requests by the Myanmar Army and other security forces to conduct searches of villagers homes for AA soldiers and civilian supporters, sparking fear in the local population, said regional politicians, who also warned that such a move could complicate the situation. RFAs calls to police in Ywama went unanswered. But Rakhine state police chief Kyi Lin later said, I can only say that were working in accord with the laws. If you would like to know more, come to me in person, and I will explain it to you in detail. Amid the uptick in fighting between the AA and Myanmar military in Rakhine state, government military authorities have restricted displaced civilians' access to food supplies in an effort to keep them from reaching AA troops. Searches in Rathedaung The arrests came as Myanmar troops continued searching villages in northern Rakhines Rathedaung township for AA soldiers who they believe may be hiding in homes following recent intense fighting there. Hostilities between the two forces escalated in northern Rakhine following deadly coordinated attacks by Arakan fighters on police outposts in neighboring Buthidaung township in early January. Local residents say some 100 soldiers from the Myanmar Army entered Rathedaungs Yae Gaung Chaung village at about 6 a.m. Sunday to conduct searches. One resident who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity said the soldiers disguised themselves in two local monasteries before entering the village to search homes. They changed from their army uniforms into police uniforms before leaving the monasteries, he said. They then came to the village and searched one house after another. They also asked me to sign a paper, but nothing was written on it. While the soldiers probed the villages estimated 200 homes, male residents hid in nearby villages out of fear of government troops who make frequent visits to Yae Gaung Chaung, he said. It [the search operation] was mainly conducted by the Myanmar Police force and other institutions, said Myanmar military spokesperson Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun. The Myanmar military is responsible for security and will conduct searches only if necessary. Police arrest 10 Rohingya Muslims from Rakhine state traveling illegally with two human traffickers in the town of Thayetin in Mindon township, central Myanmars Magway region, Feb. 4, 2019. Photo courtesy of the Magway Police Rohingya, Traffickers Arrested Police in central Myanmars Magway region, meanwhile, arrested 10 Rohingya Muslims from ethnically and religiously divided Rakhine state, who were traveling illegally with two human traffickers, a police officer involved in the matter said. Authorities apprehended the group and the traffickers in the town of Thayetin in Mindon township as they traveled from Kyauktaw township to Yangon, said Police Colonel Myint Maung from the Mindon Police Station. They are here at the police station and are under investigation, he told RFA. We will work on their case according to instructions from the top officials. Each of the 10 Rohingya paid the traffickers about 3,500,000 kyats (U.S. $2,300) each to be taken to Yangon regions Thaketa township, he said. The Immigration Department will file a case against the 10 Rohingya, who are viewed as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and are not permitted to travel freely inside or outside Myanmar, for violating the countrys Immigration Act, Myint Maung said. Mindon police have filed charges against the two traffickers, he added. Only Rohingya who have government-issued National Verification Cards (NVCs) and receive permission to travel can leave their confines and go elsewhere in Myanmar. Those without NVCs and who leave the area without permission risk changes under the Immigration Act. One of two traffickers had a crime reporter ID card issued by the Myanmar Crime Reporters Association (MCRA), an organization comprised of former police officers and informants who are notorious for their involvement in criminal activities, including human trafficking in Rakhine state, Myint Maung said. The so-called crime journalists wear grey or beige photographer jackets and caps with an insignia with a red and blue paneled shield with white script, similar to that of the police, according to a June 2018 report by the magazine Frontier Myanmar. MCRA chairman Thet Naing Oo told RFA that his organization is investigating whether the one trafficker is a member. And if he is a real member, we have to make sure what kind of person he is, he said. If he is a real member and really violated [the law], the association will have to file a lawsuit and take action against him. The 10 Rohingya are among more than 280 members of the minority group from Rakhine state who have been arrested in Magway region during the past several months while en route to other regions of Myanmar or to Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand or Malaysia, where they believe they will have a better life, according to police. In January, police arrested more than 30 Rohingya in Magway, they said. Rohingya, who are denied Myanmar citizenship and access to jobs, health care and education, say it is difficult to try to survive in Rakhine state. More than 120,000 Rohingya and other Muslims have been living in crowded displacement camps in the state since 2012 after their homes were destroyed during a spate of communal violence with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. As Rakhine is a poor state, people try to go out of state to work, said Rakhine state lawmaker Maung Than Sein. Myanmar expects to repatriate some of the more than 720,000 Rohingya who fled northern Rakhine during a brutal crackdown by security forces in 2017 in response to deadly assaults on police outposts by the militant group the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). Reported by Aung Theinkha and Htet Arkar for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar and Nandar Chann. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. China's ruling Communist Party's censors have removed a textbook on constitutional law from bookshops in recent weeks, amid a nationwide crackdown on teaching materials relating to the country's constitution. The book, titled "Constitutional Law," by Peking University (Beida) scholar Zhang Qianfan has been removed from bookshops following a nationwide order to universities to report back to their provincial governments on any teaching materials dealing with the topic. The move comes as President Xi Jinping continues a political campaign against any ideas seen as having a "Western" origin, including democracy, human rights and the rule of law and constitutional government. Constitutional scholar Zhang Lifan said the campaign stems from the fact that the country's constitution has never been properly implemented, although it contains nominal protections for freedoms of speech and association, as well as the right not to be treated arbitrarily by the authorities. He said the review of constitutional law teaching materials and the removal of Zhang Qianfan's book came after someone made a secret complaint to the authorities. "This person, acting in anger, reported not just Zhang Qianfan, but the whole of legal studies and constitutional studies as being subject to Western influence," Zhang Lifan said. "Their report was approved, and the order came down to investigate," he said, adding that the informer was a disgruntled scholar whose work was ignored by other academics. He said the whole idea of constitutional government was indeed a Western import. "The idea of a constitution came from the West," he said. "There was no such thing in ancient China. But if you are going to use that to argue that China shouldn't have a constitution, because these so-called Western ideas are bad for China, I think that's rubbish." "Communism came from the West as well; the Communist Manifesto was written by a German, and the Internationale by a French person," Zhang Lifan said. "The Chinese flag was designed by a Russian." Sensitive clauses Beijing rights lawyer Mo Shaoping said Zhang Qianfan's book was an introduction to the basic principles of constitutional law. "If these reports are accurate, then I would definitely be against such actions, because they're not carried out in the broad light of day," Mo said. "If somebody disagrees with [Zhang Qianfan's] view, then they should write a paper to start a dialogue." "I don't think that secretly reporting people is a normal way to behave; it's not how an intellectual, a university professor should behave," he said. Canada-based lawyer Feng Zhiqiang said the Chinese constitution sounds good on paper, but the ruling Chinese Communist Party doesn't like people mentioning it, because it is never implemented. "Zhang Qianfan's book has been taken off the shelves because of the current political climate in China," Feng said. "Ever since the 19th Party Congress and the constitutional changes which followed [giving President Xi the right to rule indefinitely], certain clauses in the constitution have become very [politically] sensitive." "The Chinese Communist Party really wants to go back to the era of totalitarian dictatorship, and the constitution is being tossed aside, for all its high-sounding phrases," Feng said. "It never gets followed at all in practice." U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao said the move is part of an overall tightening of control on the country's academic life initiated by Xi. "It shows that the Chinese Communist Party is tightening ideological controls," Teng said. "It also indicates how frightened the authorities are of any kind of liberal thought or tendencies toward liberalism among the general population." The Chinese Ministry of Education has meanwhile ordered all institutes of higher education to make an inventory of any teaching materials used in the study of constitutional law at any level. Repeated calls to the State Bureau of Educational Materials rang unanswered during office hours last week. Reported by Xi Wang for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Tam Siu-yin for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. 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. We get it. You don't want to see the ads. We'd just ask you to understand that those ads help us pay the bills and our reporters. Please, consider white-listing the Standard Journal in your ad-blocker or, even better, purchase a subscription so that you can help support quality local journalism. NEW HAVEN Two patients with measles were released from Yale New Haven Hospital Monday, the state Department of Public Health reported, as public health and medical experts emphasized that vaccination is considered the best defense against the disease, which can develop into serious illnesses, including pneumonia and encephalitis, if left untreated. In a release, the state health department said its staff is collaborating with local partners to identify contacts and implement appropriate control measures. Investigators have not identified any common links between the first and second cases, although both were probably exposed to measles in early January. Measles is very easily spread from person to person, Dr. Raul Pino, the states public health commissioner, said in the release. If you have a fever and a rash and you think you might have measles, you should avoid public settings and telephone your healthcare provider before going directly to a healthcare facility so steps can be taken to avoid possibly exposing others. The two measles patients were admitted to Yale New Haven Hospital in the past two weeks; three cases is considered an official outbreak by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But public health and medical experts say the vast majority of the public has no major cause for concern because of routine vaccinations of children entering school. In general, most people are vaccinated against measles and in general we are protected by that, said Dr. Goran Miljkovic, and infectious disease physician at Bridgeport Hospital, on Monday. Most of the case are the case of people who have not immunized for some reason or theyre not vaccinated. Miljkovic said people traveling abroad may be exposed and come down with measles if they havent been vaccinated. It is a highly contagious disease and we have to be on the alert to prevent any new cases to keep the public informed about this, he said. For the most part, because of childhood vaccinations, we are exempted from measles. Miljkovic said a patient with measles is put in airborne isolation in a negative air-pressure room, meaning no air can escape from the room. Anyone entering the room must wear a mask. Dr. Paul Nee, an infectious disease specialist at Danbury Hospital, said isolation measures are needed because of how highly contagious measles is. Measles is transmitted through droplets and [is] airborne. The droplets can remain up in the air for up to two hours. ... People can be in one area and people can come through that area and pick it up there, so you dont have to be in direct contact with the person. He said that once the patient leaves the hospital, they should be kept isolated at home as well so as not to expose visitors who might not be vaccinated. There were three cases of measles reported in Connecticut in 2018 by the state Department of Public Health. Two of them were infants from the same New Haven County household who had caught the disease while abroad. The third was a Hartford County adult. Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a state of emergency, where 48 cases have been confirmed, all but one in Clark County, according to CNN. Forty-one of the patients had not been vaccinated against the disease, CNN reported. According to Connecticut state law, children must be vaccinated for measles and other childhood diseases before they enter kindergarten and seventh grade. Exemptions may be given for medical and religious reasons. According to the state health department, in 2017-18 there were 83,508 students entering school and 1,513 received exemptions, or a 1.8 percent rate. That was a 14.9 percent increase from the 1,317 exemptions in 2016-17. According to Dean Sten Vermund of the Yale School of Public Health, Its possible that an undervaccinated pool of kids might be the source of infection to the adults. There is such a things as a partially vaccinated child who has not received a booster shot yet. There are also people with religious or political views or from groups such as undocumented workers who dont get immunized against the disease, he said. It includes this anti-vaccination movement that were confronting that has celebrity adherence, that tries to convince parents that vaccination their children is not a good idea. Others who may refuse vaccinations are people who are natural food aficionados and they may say something like, I dont want to put an artificial protein in my children. Others, such as some libertarians, dont trust the government. He added, We still have a group of parents that are delaying vaccinations under the false assumption that ... too much immunization will overwhelm the immune system, which is just poppycock. Its just the opposite. The immune system is strengthened. Vermund said that as a result of widespread immunizations, measles is a rare disease and that lulls people into a false sense of security. Theyve never seen the disease so they dont believe they can catch it, he said. When only a small percentage of people are unvaccinated, they are protected by herd immunity, which protects unvaccinated people by vaccinating a high-enough proportion of the population so the virus doesnt spread among the community, Vermund said. State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, co-chairman of the General Assemblys Public Health Committee, said Monday that leaders of the panel have not decided whether there will be vaccine-related legislation this session. The state has a high rate of vaccinations, Steinberg said, noting that eliminating exemptions for religious and medical reasons could spark a daylong public hearing. We know if we do anything related to vaccines, well have a lot of people. When you start seeing isolated but growing cases of these diseases, it goes to show you can never really relax. House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, former co-chairman of the Public Health Committee, had asked for a study of the 2015 law granting the exemptions. We noticed that there was a spike in the numbers to almost 1,200 who opted out, he said Monday. We noticed that in the form, you only had to fill it out once. Like in kindergarten you could say, Im not doing it for medical reasons and that was it. We felt like there had to be more times by which you swore by affidavit that you needed to have a medical exemption, so that it was not just a one-time blanket thing. Ritter said there should be a debate about what exemptions should be allowed and how they are granted. Connecticut is still in a pretty good range, dont get me wrong. Were still at 98.5 percent, but its scary, and we had a debate in 2015 about whether we should get rid of all exemptions but medical. But we havent done that yet. I think that conversation has to happen. Vaccinations are critical, Ritter said. They are important, and the idea that anybody is saying simply, I dont want to do it endangers everyone elses children. And thats not fair. We still lag behind other states, but we have a much higher vaccination rate than California and Oregon. ... I still feel very passionate about that issue. According to the state health department, the vaccine can prevent measles if given within 72 hours of exposure to an infected person, but in practice measles exposures are rarely identified and vaccinated in that timeframe, and measles vaccine administered after exposure is less effective than vaccine given prior to exposure. Left untreated, measles can develop into more serious illnesses, including gastrointestinal inflammation, conjunctivitis (pink eye), pneumonia and viral encephalitis,or swelling of the brain. In rare cases it can be fatal. Measles starts out as lethargy and fever and symptoms include a rash that begins on the face and spreads downward through the body. Once an outbreak occurs, Vermund said, a combination of targeted and mass vaccination is employed. What is often done is revaccinating, mass vaccination, he said. They may go and offer a booster to the vaccinated children, hoping to get the unvaccinated children. Public health workers also may check to see if those who contracted measles worked for the same employer or had similar ethnic, religious or political affiliations, Vermund said. They may go to churches or social organizations said say, We understand that youve had some concerns. ... We would very much like to vaccinate the members of your church, of your community, he said. The majority of people exposed to measles are not at-risk of developing the disease since most people have either been vaccinated or have had measles in the past, before vaccination became routine, according to information from the state health department. Further, DPH said, The majority of people (adults and children) who get measles are unvaccinated. Measles is still common in many parts of the world including some countries in Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and Africa. Travelers with measles continue to bring the disease into the U.S. Measles can spread when it reaches a community in the U.S. where groups of people are unvaccinated. edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382. Politics Editor Ken Dixon contributed to this story. Minors fleeing violence or poverty in their native country sometimes travel without parents, tagging along with others. Some manage to fly to Canada and enter the United States through the northern border. Others must connect with smugglers who lead groups to the Mexican border before handing them off to a different runner. Thats was the reality for the more than 2,000 unaccompanied minors placed in homes by the state in 2018. Representatives from area nonprofits and the state Department of Children & Families last week held a panel discussion at Unitarian Church in Westport focusing on human trafficking and unaccompanied minors. The panelists, from Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants, the Connecticut Coalition Against Trafficking, Love146 and the Department of Children & Families, started by discussing unaccompanied minors or children younger than 18 who enter the United States without legal immigration status and dont have a parent or guardian present. The children are often apprehended by an immigration official at the border after traveling hundreds or thousands of miles with others also fleeing their country. Many travel to the United States after witnessing violence, sex assault, forced labor and other hardships. Some children are victimized on their trip to America. Most unaccompanied minors are hoping to reunite with a family member or guardian already living in America. A classic situation is a childs family member dies in their native country and the only relatives the minor has left are living in the U.S. The problem is, the child and the sponsor often havent seen each other in years, said William Rivera director of multicultural affairs and immigration practice at the Department of Children & Families. Often, the sponsor doesnt have the childs best interest at heart with many surreptitiously posing as the childs family member, when they in fact, are not. In those situations, the Department of Children & Families investigates by requesting DNA, for example. These minors are cared for by the Department of Health and Human Services until theyre granted immigration relief or deported. The average age of unaccompanied minors traveling to Connecticut is between 14 and 17, and some arrive pregnant or as young as 1-year-old, said Alicia Kinsman, a staff attorney at Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants. If officials are unable to ascertain the childs age, medical examinations like bone scans are requested. Often, the child is tasked with finding a lawyer to handle their case once they reach the United States. On average, a trip costs the sponsor about $7,000 per child and the minors are expected to work and pay back the sponsor. As a result, many are at risk for labor exploitation or domestic servitude. Police often call the Department of Children & Families to report a child working late at a restaurant and teachers call to say one of their students is sleeping in class after working all night. We have hundreds of those cases, said Rivera of the DCF. The experience leads some children to request deportation back to their country, he said. Working with refugees and immigrants like any other vulnerable populations has never been easy but it is certainly more difficult now than any other time in history, Kinsman said. There is a dominance of myth over fact and all of that is contributing to fear and the current administration hasnt done much to correct it, she said. Her clients are terrified of deportation. For them that doesnt just mean the inconvenience of detention or being ripped from your home or sent to a place with less employment opportunity, but it means theyre sent back to a place where they left running, Kinsman said. Many wont call police or peruse immigration relief. Some let protective orders lapse because they fear interaction with the government or even her, their attorney. When youre dealing with vulnerable populations who are already voiceless, this climate heightens all of that and they are so terrified of coming forward or asking for help, Kinsman said. The recent government shut down led to a backlog of cases in the immigration court system, she said. She pointed to thousands of immigrants who had court hearings canceled amid the recent federal goverment shutdown and now must wait two to three years for another court date. Rivera concurred, saying families think DCF is synonymous with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Its been more difficult to engage families and get them to trust us, he said. In most cases we really dont want to take your child, we want to get them services. Leonela Cruz Ahuatl of the Connecticut Coalition Against Trafficking said some of her clients wont answer her calls or are scared to open the door when she visits. Some minors placed in Connecticut are nowhere to be found when she calls to check on them, and others will move to another state from fear of deportation. The forum also looked at risk factors that contribute to human trafficking among at-risk American youth. Cynthia Melendez, a survivor and social worker at Love146, said social media has made it easier for perpetrators to traffic local youth. Victims often run away, isolate themselves or show up at home with gifts such as another cell phone from an unknown source. Secretive, compulsive texting with a stranger could indicate the child is being trafficked, she said. Were in between Boston and New York with cross-cutting highways that are frequently travel ways and we are a wealthy state, Kinsman said. There are factors here that make it worthwhile for traffickers to operate here. Many diplomats live here and thats been an unfortunate pipeline for victims here too. One man attending the event asked how he or the community could help, and Kinsman said raising awareness about human trafficking is a good first step. People can support nonprofit organizations that fight against human trafficking or donate money, food, clothing or their time to local organizations, she said. The Department of Children & Families has a care line people can call if they suspect human trafficking at 800-842 2288. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center has a tip line at 888-373-7888. When immigrant families bring their children to the Yale Childrens Hispanic Clinic, its just not about check-ups and vaccinations. Clinicians help them deal with everything from teething to nutrition to finding a place to live. But these days when front-line clinicians encourage families to use the many services offered through federal public programs, parents have questions and misgivings. They are hesitant because they are afraid, said Patricia Nogelo, a clinical social worker at the Yale Childrens Hispanic Clinic. A proposed change in immigration law is making immigrants in Connecticut and nationally wary of utilizing federal programs that cover health, food and housing assistance. Immigration attorneys are working to reassure clients that it is still safe to access benefits, as no changes to the rules have been approved yet. The proposal, by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, would allow the federal government to consider immigrants use of public benefit programs, such as Medicaid (HUSKY), food stamps and housing assistance, as a reason to deny lawful permanent residency, also known as a green card. The change in the so-called public charge rule is awaiting final action by DHS. The American Academy of Pediatrics is among a number of organizations condemning the proposed rule change. Its just another thing that is weighing down so heavily on these vulnerable women and children, said Alicia Kinsman, director of immigration legal services with the Bridgeport-based Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants. Kinsman said she encourages her clients not to give up assistance with housing, food and other necessities but they are forgoing these benefits anyway. Greater Hartford Legal Aid has developed a fact sheet to help explain the current law and the proposed changes. According to the fact sheet, for immigrants who have green cards using benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, SNAP (food stamps) and Medicaid will not affect their immigration status. The proposed rule change only applies to someone applying for a green card or seeking admission to the U.S. from abroad. Lucy Potter and Christina Gill, lawyers at Greater Hartford Legal Aid, drafted the fact sheet. They and their colleagues are reaching out to human-services and health care providers about the proposed rule change, which is very technical. There have been many misinterpretations and miscommunications of the proposed rule change, Potter said, adding that the proposal is meant to terrify. She said DHS states that cost savings from the rule will result from discouraging people not even subject to the rule legal immigrants and those who have become citizens from accessing benefits for which they are eligible. Customs and Immigration Service spokesman Michael Bars declined to respond to Potters allegation that the rule is designed to create confusion that stops immigrants and their children from accessing benefits. Bars wrote in an email: USCIS will give all feedback we received during the 60-day public comment period due consideration and look forward to addressing these public comments While we cannot respond directly to such comments at this time, much of the media reporting on the rule appears to reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the Departments proposal. Under the proposed regulation, when making a determination of the applicants likelihood at any time of becoming a public charge, the adjudicating officer must consider the factors set by Congress in the statuteage, health, family status, assets, resources and financial status, and education and skills. Until the rulemaking process is completed, we remain focused on faithfully implementing and carrying out a law that Congress first enacted more than 100 years ago in line with existing guidance. At the Yale Childrens Hispanic Clinic, patients are still coming to appointments, and many are benefiting from the federal nutrition program WIC. But we don't know in particular what other resources families are choosing not to participate in, said Dr. Marietta Vazquez, the clinics medical director. Its really a concern. She said she treats children who fear that they will come home from school to find their parents have been deported. Its tragic, she said. Kinsman, of the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants, said her clients who use benefits suffer from anxiety. She said she has had clients who did not want to send their children to school or use the library out of fear of deportation. She spoke of clients who are victims of domestic violence yet refuse to renew protective orders because they are afraid to walk into a government building. An early draft of DHSs proposal that was leaked to the press said WIC and other services used by immigrants children could be grounds for denying a green card. These provisions were not in the proposed rule that DHS ultimately submitted, but providers report that some immigrants are still scared to access services for their children. Until the DHS makes a final decision, questions remain. The proposal is putting babies, toddlers and pregnant moms, breastfeeding moms, at nutritional risk, said the Rev. Douglas A. Greenaway, CEO of the National WIC Association. The average WIC monthly food packet costs about $41, Greenaway said, whereas low birth weight infants require expensive care and often will need special services throughout their childhoods. Numerous studies have shown that WIC is cost effective because children enrolled in the program require less health care and special education services. In fact, the DHS proposed rule acknowledges that a public charge change could cause worse health outcomes including increased prevalence of obesity and malnutrition, especially for pregnant or breastfeeding women, infant, or children. Greenaway agrees that immigrant families should feel confident in using WIC now, but he has concerns about how the program will fare in the final rule. Until that regulation is finalized and WIC is definitely excluded, there is sufficient question out there, he said. To view the fact sheet by Greater Hartford Legal Aid, click here. This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to health reporting. One of the more difficult items on Gov. Ned Lamonts initial to-do list is to craft a new taxing arrangement with Connecticuts hospitals and the stakes are huge. Lamont must contend with an industry that insists it was misled, overtaxed and otherwise abused by his predecessor. He must explain that Connecticut cant afford to deliver most or all of the tax relief legislators pledged to hospitals this year because the states coffers stand to lose more than $400 million if adjustments arent made. And he must deal with conflicted lawmakers who face increasing pressure to help hospitals from back home, where these facilities usually are among the largest employers. We are developing a budget that will put the states finances on a stable trajectory over the biennium and into the future, Chris McClure, spokesman for the governors budget office, said Friday. Disruption of recurring revenue sources, such as the current hospital tax arrangement, creates additional challenges to meeting this goal. Sources say the Lamont administration and the industry have been discussing options in preparation for the governors first, two-year budget proposal, which is due to the General Assembly on Feb. 20. Connecticut Hospital Association spokeswoman Michele Sharp declined to comment for this article, noting that it involves pending litigation hospitals brought against the state over the provider tax. But the CHA launched a new advertising campaign earlier this month, reminding the general public and, more importantly, legislators that the industry employs an estimated 103,000 people with an annual, collective payroll of $7.6 billion. In addition, the economic activity generated by hospitals supports another 101,000 jobs with a projected payroll of $7.7 billion. I think everyone wants to find another compromise, said Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, co-chairman of the tax-writing Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. We know the hospitals were not treated as fairly as they should have been and I think (a compromise) would be an ideal situation. My hope is that we will come to an agreement on the taxes and that the lawsuit will go away, said Rep. Toni E. Walker, D-New Haven, co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee. When things change every year its hard for them to manage their hospitals. And we know the hospitals are a major part of our economy. At issue is a tax which began only as a tool to draw more federal dollars into Connecticut, but ultimately became a huge source of friction between the industry and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Having inherited an unprecedented $3.7 billion deficit, Malloy proposed the hospital provider tax one month after taking office in January 2011. It was to be a tax in name only. The industry would pay $350 million per year to the state, which would redistribute and return every penny back to hospitals plus $50 million more. This back-and-forth arrangement, common in most states, would enable Connecticut to qualify for huge federal reimbursements through the Medicaid program. But things began eroding almost right away. As state government struggled frequently with budget deficits over the next six years, the tax grew while the payments back to the industry shrank, despite an increase in the federal reimbursement rate. Hospitals also could not even rely on the shrinking payments they would see in the adopted state budget. Legislatures routinely ordered Malloy to achieve massive savings once the fiscal year was underway often with little guidance as to how those targets were to be met. And, at times, the administration would order emergency reductions to the hospital payments. After four years, the frustrated industry struck back with a lawsuit arguing Connecticuts budgetary policies violated federal Medicaid rules. Hospitals also routinely have filed appeals with the state Department of Social Services, which administers the Medicaid program, contesting rates paid to hospitals for treating the poor and uninsured. We are outraged by the governors refusal to pay hospitals for care provided to patients, Jennifer Jackson, the Connecticut Health Associations CEO, said when Malloy suspended $140 million in payments to hospitals in March 2016. His actions are breaking the health care system and increasing costs for patients. By the 2016-17 fiscal year, hospitals were paying $514 million to the state and getting a collective $78 million in return. Kurt Barwis, president and CEO of Bristol Hospital, said the biggest challenge posed by the unstable provider tax is the restraints it has imposed on hospitals ability to make capital investments. Whether it involves something basic, like building elevators, or renovations to emergency and pharmaceutical departments, the haphazard nature of the hospital tax has made it increasingly challenging to make these improvements when planned. When you get into a prolonged period of your cash flow being tied up by the state, one of the things you dont do is make the required investments in your facility, he said. These arguments did not move Malloy, who countered that industry executives were receiving ridiculously high salaries while their hospitals did plenty of business as the Affordable Care Act expanded coverage, funneling more patients than ever through their doors. Hospital officials long have argued they lose money on Medicaid patients because state rates dont cover the full cost of treatment. Malloys budget director, Ben Barnes, angered hospital officials during a 2015 legislative hearing when he defended the growing tax burden placed on hospitals, cementing the animosity between the industry and the administration. Why do you rob banks? Barnes said. Its where the money is. Legislators tried to smooth things over when adopting a new taxing arrangement in November 2017. That arrangement dramatically raised the annual hospital tax, from $514 million to $900 million. But it increased even more the funds being paid back to the hospitals, from $78 million to $671 million. In other words, the industry went from losing $436 million per year down to $229 million. The state made out as well. The extra payments to hospitals triggered additional Medicaid payments from Washington. Still, hospitals were wary that state officials might again maintain or increase the tax while reducing payments back to the industry. Fast forward to 2019. A final component of the November 2017 agreement was that starting July 1, 2019 the upcoming fiscal year burdens on hospitals would be lowered even more. Connecticut would drop the tax greatly, from $900 million to $384 million, while payments to the industry would shrink from $671 to $342 million. While thats still a lot of money, this would mean hospitals would pay just $42 million more than they get back. For the state, though, this would be a big challenge. Not only would Connecticut finish just $42 million ahead instead of $229 million after payments to hospitals, but those reduced payments mean the state also would lose $222 million in matching federal aid. Add up the pluses and minuses and thats a $409 million hit to the states coffers next fiscal year. And thats just one part of a much larger deficit forecast. Nonpartisan analysts say state finances, unless adjusted, are on pace to run $1.5 billion in deficit in 2019-20, and $2 billion in the red in 2020-21. Deputy House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, said he would like to see the lawsuit resolved this year but would settle for a provider tax arrangement the industry could support. The past administration doesnt have a good track record at negotiating with the hospitals, Candelora said. To try to get the hospitals back in the room right now and saying you need to come to the table and try to solve these problems yet again, is a tall task, and I wouldnt be surprised if that alone is going to take some time. The Board of Directors of Northwest Connecticuts Chamber of Commerce voted unanimously to join a coalition of business organizations signing a letter to the state legislative delegation regarding two proposals that will be considered during this legislative session. The following is the contents of the letter: As we enter this legislative session, you will be asked to consider at least two proposals that will significantly impact employees and employers. We ask that you review all of the facts, because voting for these proposals results in new burdens on every business in the state, and the loss of opportunities and wages for nearly every employee. The proposals we are specifically referring to will seek to increase the minimum wage in Connecticut to $15 per hour and create a program to provide Paid Family Medical Leave for employees. Under the legislative proposal, businesses with two or more employee would be required to provide up to 12 weeks of paid FMLA each year to an employee to care for his or her own illness, or the illness or injury of an extensive number of blood and non-blood relatives. Those supporting paid FMLA are quick to point to polls showing the favorability (nearly 80 percent) of such a program, stating that we need this to attract young workers to the state. However, when clarified to workers that employee wages will be deducted by an unknown percentage to pay for the program whether they use it or not, the favorability drops down to only 20 percent. Migration data also shows that we get more workers to Connecticut from states that have paid FMLA, and our population is leaving most often for three states which do not have a paid FMLA program. FMLA supporters also make the false claim that the program has no cost to employers. However, businesses are required to continue to provide non-wage benefits for those using the program. Employers and taxpayers will be on the hook to pay for the $13 million in start-up costs and $18 million in ongoing costs to run the program. Given that the Connecticut proposal is so much more expansive and financially unsustainable than any of few other paid FMLA programs enacted nationwide, it is only a matter of time before businesses are forced to pay into the program as well. The immense burden on employers needs to be considered. Employers will be responsible for complying with this program, transferring wage deductions to the state, and dealing with routine absences. The enormity of these burdens is precisely why the state exempted itself from this new mandate they so willingly push on businesses. At any given time, up to 6% of the state workforce is out on unpaid FMLA leave, and they anticipate this number will vastly increase to a point that agencies will be unable to provide services if paid leave is enacted. The proponents of a $15 per hour minimum wage assert that past minimum wage increases have never significantly hurt businesses and that this increase wouldnt either, but thats simply not the case. While no specific legislative language for 2019 has been proposed, prior year proposals have called for a $1 increase per year for four consecutive years bringing the minimum wage to $15 by 2023, nearly a 50 percent minimum wage increase in only four short years. Previous increase have been adopted at a much slower rate, allowing businesses to absorb the increased costs over time. On the proposed accelerated schedule, increases of this magnitude may very well force some businesses to consider significant price increases, closures, layoffs, and/or automation. It will also result in less entry-level or low-skill employment opportunities. The nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis found last years proposal would have cost taxpayers at least $50 million annually through increased compensation and contract costs to state agencies and municipalities. Billion-dollar budget deficits will call for tough fiscal decisions ahead and these minimum wage implications must be considered before passing any legislation. Our state is facing serious challenges and these proposals should not be considered lightly. These proposals add significant expense to our state budget at a time when you are faced with potentially cutting other programs. Connecticuts unsustainable fiscal path hurts our economic growth and makes the state less competitive. Our young people are leaving the state for jobs and opportunities, not paid medical leave or increased minimum wage. The business community stands ready to work with lawmakers to find solutions to the states real problems. Thank you for your consideration. Further discussion on these and other proposed legislation affecting businesses will take place at the Chambers Government Relations Committee meetings on the second Thursday of the month at 8 a.m. All members are welcome to attend. In addition, members are welcome to utilize the bill tracking website provided by the Chambers lobbyist, International Government Strategies: http://206.162.241.82/NWCCReport.html. Our lobbyists attend each meeting of the committee. Check out our website at www.nwctchamberofcommerce.org for more Chamber happenings. *This institution is an equal opportunity provider* When authenticityis narrowly defined it becomes oppressive and stifling The 1950s marked the institutionalization of Sinhala nationalism We have romanticized Dharmapala, Bandaranaike and Amarasekaraand made them one-dimensional national heroes The problem is that we try to look at identities in the early 20th century through todays divisions and categories By the 1980s, villages beganto disintegrate under the pressure of open economic policies The nation-state is a 19th century phenomenon Dr. Harshana Rambukwella is an academic with an interest in literary history, postcolonial theory and sociolinguistics. Bringing these disciplines together, he recently authoredthe book The Politics and Poetics of Authenticity (UCL Press, 2018), whichexamines the unfoldingof Sinhala nationalism through the life and work ofAnagarika Dharmapala, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Gunadasa Amarasekara. The book, which is now available in major bookstores, has been hailed for the marshalling of sources available in the Sinhala language that are usually ignored in scholarly work on contemporary Sri Lanka, (Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda), and as a workthat guides the reader with compassion through the cultural and political whirlwind of colonial and postcolonial Sri Lanka, (Prof. NiraWickramasinghe). Dr.Rambukwella, who is the Director of the Post Graduate Institute for English at the Open University, and has served on many national English and Sinhala literary committees, spoke to Daily mirror on his book and theimpact of Sinhala nationalism on the political, social and cultural life of Sri Lanka. QLets begin with the book title. Why is it called The politics and poetics of authenticity? The title refers to the central theme of the book. It is primarily about why we think certain cultural practices are more authentic than others. How do such ideas come about?And what are the political implications of such notions of authenticity and what are the cultural and aesthetic implications of these notions as well?The poetics in the title refer to the second aspect of culture and aesthetics. Let me try and unpack this a little more. When we think something is authentic it gains a certain social and political value. We try to enshrine it, protect it and preserve it for posterity. We also begin to believe it is an inalienable part of our identity of who and what we are.What the book tries to demonstrate is that these things we consider authentic whether its music, art, the food we eat, how we dress, etc., have specific and contingent histories. They are not timeless things we have inherited but the outcomes of various debates, trends and ideas that emerged at certain times in history some more recent and others more distant. I also try to demonstrate how such notions of what is authentic and inauthentic have become part of nationalist politics. Because of this political dimension these are not just questions about individual taste or cultural preference, but questions with serious political implications. For instance, why do most of our politicians wearthe white national dress though this is not something that existed before the 1920s? I think the main contention here is the notion of a unitary state. This notion is at least partly informed by our historical perception that Sri Lanka was one unified nation state in the past. For instance, in the Elara-Dutugemunu incident we see Dutugemunu as a unifier who united the divided Sri Lankan nation state. But what we forget is that the nation-state is a very modern 19th century phenomenon that emerged in Europe and through colonialism influenced and shaped our societies QReviewing your book, Prof. Sumathy Sivamohan wrote: Authenticity is about belonging and simultaneously serves to unbelong others, those who are inauthentic. Do you agree? Yes and no. Yes because the discourse of Sinhala authenticity I describe in the book is so tightly bound up with nationalist politics. It has become a discourse that demarcates what can belong, and what should not belong. But this does not have to be inevitable. I dont think anyone or any society can live without some sense of authenticity.But when it becomes too narrowly defined it can become oppressive and stifling. The challenge is to retain a sense of authenticity that can be relatively open to change and influences from other cultures and societies. QIn discussing Sinhala nationalism, you stress on the notion of apekama or ourness, and describe it as a type of cultural exceptionality that gained traction in post-independent Sri Lanka. Can you elaborate on this? The 1940s and 1950s was a period of rising nationalist consciousness in Sri Lanka particularly Sinhala nationalist consciousness. Accompanying this was a cultural revival where the groundwork was laid for many modern artistic genres such as song, theatre, film and writing. It was a period of cultural innovation as well when writers such as Martin Wickramasinghe, dramatists such as Ediriweera Sarachchandra, and filmmakers like Lester James Peiris were seeking to establish a postcolonial idiom and identity for Sinhala cultural expression. The term most associated with this period is desheeya or indigenous, which did not necessarily exclude the cultural practices of non-Sinhala Sri Lankans. But with the political changes of the 1950s, one sees apekama gain a more explicit cultural and political value. Everyone from politicians to song writers become eager to establish themselves as representatives of this apekama.Increasingly it becomes a discourse which conceives authentic Sinhala identity narrowly and exclusively. This kind of cultural nationalism, however, is not exceptional to Sri Lanka. One can see this in many parts of the post-colonial world where political independence is accompanied by a need to assert ones cultural identity and there is a turn towards the revival of tradition. However, what I trace in the Sri Lankan context is how it becomes an institutionalized and punitive discourse that traps the political, societal and cultural imagination in an anachronistic frame always looking back, rather than forward. QYour book focuses on the era from late 19th century to the new millennium. Why, in your view, is this period significant to the Sinhala identity? This is the period in which the nation-state establishes itself in Sri Lanka and also goes into crisis. It is in the late 19th to early 20th century that nationalist consciousness, as a felt presence, begins to enter all domains of society religion, culture, the arts, etc. The 1950s mark the institutionalization of Sinhala nationalism, when policies are shaped by nationalist discourse.And then this trend continues into the 1980s, but is increasingly challenged by Tamil nationalism and its militant expression. I extend the story into the new millennium because the idea of authenticity or apekama I trace in the book faces an existential crisis in the late 1980s, and alternative discourses begin to emerge. In the late 1980s the notion of a classical Sinhala culture based on the triad of wewa-dagoba-ketha comes under increasing pressure as popular cultural forms begin to proliferate. This pressure is also brought on by the political manipulation and exploitation of apekama.In essence apekamabegins to become increasingly commodified and loses its luster.It loses its authenticity, and therefore becomes more difficult to invoke, whether in a political or cultural sense. What is also interesting is that Bandaranaike, even after he formed the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in 1951after breaking away from the UNP, still supported parity of status for Sinhala and Tamil, and it was only very close to the 1956 election that he began to openly adopt a Sinhala Only position QYou examine the lives of three iconic Sinhala nationalist leaders, AnagarikaDharmapala, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and Gunadasa Amarasekara. What drew you to these three personalities in particular? I position Dharmapala and Bandaranaike as father figures in the Sinhala nationalist narrative that I trace. This is not an arbitrary choice, because for Sinhala intellectuals like Gunadasa Amarasekara, these two figures represent important moments, or eras, in the rise of Sinhala nationalist consciousness. However, what I try to do in the book is to demonstrate that when we look at these people retrospectively we tend to romanticize them and reduce their historical complexity. There were many dimensions to their lives which we fail to see today because we have made them into one-dimensional national heroes. Amarasekaras work brings together Dharmapala and Bandaranaike in a grand story about Sinhala nationalism, and it is therefore important for us to understand how and why these historical figures are so important to Sinhala nationalism. QYou refer to a duality in Anagarika Dharmapalas Buddhist activism, where he adopted a more universal approach abroad, and a more Sinhala-centric approach at home. How do you view this contrast in his activism? I think this is not unique to Dharmapala, but a feature of nationalism in the decolonizing world. As a person aware of how the world perceived our societies and cultures at the time, he is eager, through Buddhism, to connect to the world and to demonstrate how something that is a societal and cultural legacy of Sri Lanka can contribute to enlightenment in the world. But back at home the compulsions were different. Here Dharmapala wanted to build pride among the Sinhala people about their historical achievements and legacies and make them feel ashamed of their current situation --to spur them to modernize. I dont think he saw the two approaches (abroad and at home) as contradictory.They were part of a single mission. By building Sinhala and Buddhist pride at home he could give the Sinhala nation a place in the world order as a country that bequeathed the legacy of Buddhism to the modern world. QBut in pursuing this mission, how did Dharmapala respond to other ethnic and religious groups in Sri Lanka? Dharmapala was either indifferent or at times openly hostile toward non-Sinhala and non-Buddhist groups in Sri Lanka. But one must realize that this was not on the same terms as today. For instance, when he spoke against Muslims it was largely the so called Coast Moors or traders, who were relatively recent arrivals not Ceylon Moors. Similarly, he almost exclusively critiqued Indian Tamils rather than Tamils who were well settled in Sri Lanka. He even criticized Sinhala Catholics and Christians at times, but he also included them in the Sinhala nation he envisioned. Often the problem is that we try to look at identities in the early 20th century through todays divisions and categories. But how people saw each other at that time was quite different. QHow differently did people see each other back then? Can you give some examples? For instance, caste was more important than ones ethnic identity. Goiygama people tended to identify with Vellala people rather than Karava or other Sinhala caste groups. These perceptions also had political implications because political alliances were formed along cast lines rather than on the basis of ethnic identities particularly among the political elite. QRegarding S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, how do you think his Oxford memoirs from the 1920s influenced his nationalist consciousness and political aspirations? I dont think the memoirs influence his nationalist consciousness or politics directly. But they provide fascinating insights into his thinking at the time. What is most interesting about them is that politics and nationalism are hardly present, and his main concern as a young undergraduate at Oxford is to contest racism and to prove to himself and to his British peers that he is their equal. The memoirs reveal that he did not have a strong or principled anti-colonial stance at the time, but was eager to win the approval of his British peers. The 1950s mark the institutionalization of Sinhala nationalism, when policies are shaped by nationalist discourse.And then this trend continues into the 1980s, but is increasingly challenged by Tamil nationalism and its militant expression QWhy did Bandaranaike form the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1936, and how did this influence his politics thereafter? Bandarnaike was one of the few elite politicians of his time to recognise the importance of projecting an indigenous image. With the introduction of universal franchise in 1931along with the Donoughmore reforms, elite Sri Lankan politicians from all communities suddenly needed to appeal to the masses. One of the strategies they adopted was to indigenize their public image, and Bandaranaike was one of the earliest to do so. In fact, he along with others who converted to Buddhism at the time were called Donoughmore Buddhists to suggest political opportunism.But my reading of his memoirs and other writings suggest that the conversion was out of personal belief rather than for political expediency. However, Bandaranaike was not able to retain control of this indigenization process. For instance, he wanted to change the name of the Sinhala Maha Sabha and make it more inclusive by renaming it Swadeshiya Maha Sabha (Great Association of the Indigenes), but Munidasa Cumaratunga defeated this motion. What is also interesting is that Bandaranaike, even after he formed the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in 1951after breaking away from the UNP, still supported parity of status for Sinhala and Tamil, and it was only very close to the 1956 election that he began to openly adopt a Sinhala Only position. What this shows is that Bandaranaikes affective relationship with some aspects of Sinhala nationalist thinking were at best guarded. However, he did publicly adopt Sinhala nationalism as his main political cause, because he saw that as the most effective political strategy to gain power. QYou write that 1956 marked the institutionalization of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism. What do you mean by this? I mark this as a symbolic moment in the trajectory of the post-independence Sri Lankan nation-state because you see explicit policymaking targeted at benefitting the Sinhala majority at the expense of other communities. This is not to suggest that such a trend was not visible earlier. It is impossible to mark historical trends with such precision. But symbolically, 1956 and the making of Sinhala the sole official language do stand out as a watershed moments in the countrys political history. QMoving on to Gunadasa Amarasekara, you say his writings took a nationalistic turn in the 1960s, due (in part) to public criticism by Martin Wickramasinghe. What other factors led to Amarasekaras shift in ideology? Amarasekaras turn is an interesting one. It cannot be read simply as a political one. It was also to do with aesthetic belief and practice. In his early phase,Amarasekara had a distinct avant-garde edge to his writing.But in the 1960s he abandons this trajectory in his prose fiction and turns to a more realist narrative style. Thematically also he begins to project the wewa, dagoba, yaya kind of discourse more explicitly in his writing. You cant read this simply as a political move it is more an aesthetic and cultural choice, though politics may have implicitly shaped it. It is later in the 1970s and 1980s that his writing takes a more distinctly political edge. QYou highlight two texts by Amarasekara, namely Abuddassa Yugayak(A topsy-turvy time) (1976) and AnagarikaDharmapala Maaksvaadeeda? (Is Anagarika Dharmapala Marxist?) (1980). What do these writings tell us about Amarasekara as a cultural critique? Both these texts are significant attempts at a kind of post-colonial cultural and literary criticism. The beginnings of some of the ideas that later influenced the influential Jathika Chintanaya movement are also found in these texts. Both the texts try to critically explorehow a modern Sinhala nationalist intellectual project can be formulated, and in AbudassaYugayak in particular,Amarasekara discusses the role of literature in such a project. In the Dharmapala text,Amarasekara is building an argument for combining Buddhism and Marxism to formulate a modern political project. But later in his career he gives up this attempt at trying to infuse western thinking with more indigenous ideas,and begins to advocate a more nativist stance. With the introduction of universal franchise in 1931along with the Donoughmore reforms, elite Sri Lankan politicians from all communities suddenly needed to appeal to the masses. One of the strategies they adopted was to indigenize their public image, and Bandaranaike was one of the earliest to do so QThe 1980s witnessed two tragic and violent events, the 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom and the 1987-89 JVP uprising. How did these events impact, or alter, the Sinhala nationalist discourse? The anti-Tamil pogrom resulted in intense international scrutiny of Sri Lanka. It also resulted in a lot of intellectual and scholarly work, produced both by Sri Lankans and overseas scholars, that began to look very critically at various aspects of Sinhala culture and society and tried to identify the roots of the present conflict in the past. Many Sinhala intellectuals were aware of this scholarly work, and felt the need to actively resist such interpretations of Sinhala society. A kind of explicit western antipathy and suspicion of critical scholarship develops out of this moment and continues to this day. As for the second JVP insurrection it was deeply unsettling due to the threat it posed to the very existence of the nation-state. It also demonstrated the limits of the bourgeois nationalism represented by the wewa, dagoba, yaya kind of discourse. Because in 1987-89 the JVP also took an explicitly Sinhala nationalist position, but were not necessarily aligned with bourgeois Sinhala nationalist thinking when it came to issues like culture and the economy. QMuch of the Sinhala identity has its essence in the village. But the last few decades has seen a trend of rural disintegration. Is the village losing its significance in the Sinhala nationalist imagination? I believe this is the case, and this is one of the central arguments in the book. The village for a long time and particularly since independence was seen as the repository of apekama or authenticity. Even many of Sri Lankas post-independence economic and developmental policies were targeted at preserving various aspects of the Sinhala village. In film, song, poetry and writing we celebrated the village and its values. But by the 1980s this imagination could no longer be sustained. In a very real sense, villages began to disintegrate under the pressure of open economic policies, and at the same time the idea of a pure and pristine village where some kind of unchanging essence of Sinhala identity resides became untenable. The rise of popular culture and a market-oriented media culture also plays a big role in this change. QSri Lanka just experienced a constitutional crisis, and is now grappling with constitutional reform and upcoming national elections. What aspects of Sinhala nationalism do you anticipate being played out in these scenarios? I dont think Sinhala nationalism has receded or is any less today. One can argue that it might even be more intense. What I argue in the book is that a certain story we told about ourselves and our identity is past its heyday. There are other stories now emerging that might one day replace this older story but I will not attempt to detail that here, or to try and provide sociological or cultural predictions. My main contention is that the cultural content that informed Sinhala nationalism from independence has and is changing this is not to say apekamahas or will disappear. However, what we consider authentic may be very different in the years and decades to come. I think the main contention here is the notion of a unitary state. This notion is at least partly informed by our historical perception that Sri Lanka was one unified nation state in the past. For instance, in the Elara-Dutugemunu incident we see Dutugemunu as a unifier who united the divided Sri Lankan nation state. But what we forget is that the nation-state is a very modern 19th century phenomenon that emerged in Europe and through colonialism influenced and shaped our societies. In the precolonial past we had kingdoms, sometimes multiple kingdoms at the same time, which controlled the territory of Sri Lanka. This was not a modern nation state. Modern nation states use various instruments of governance to impose uniformity (not always successfully) on the populations they govern for instance things like birth certificates, identity cards, passports, border control, etc. These things simply did not exist back then. This is not to suggest there was no idea of Sinhala identity or community but modern national consciousness simply did not exist. Beckley, WV (25801) Today Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 59F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 59F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. February 04, 2019 11:18 IST With her various overtures and right noises at the right time, Mamata is once again trying to reshape her image from being a regional leader to one with national appeal and acceptability. After all, the charge of building a Federal Front may also bring to the fore Mamata's chances to become prime minister in 2019. A revealing excerpt from Shutapa Paul's Didi: The Untold Mamata Banerjee. IMAGE: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on her 'Save the Constitution' dharna, February 4, 2019. Photograph: ANI May is a time of summer lull in Bengal. This year (2018) the calm is distinctive. Just a few weeks ago, the hectic activity surrounding the panchayat polls had come to an end. Mamata and her party registered yet another thumping victory winning 19,394 gram panchayat seats. But the national attention was distracted by two factors -- reports of unprecedented political violence in the state especially on polling day and the BJP emerging as the runner-up with 5,759 seats. Of the 48,650 seats in 3358 gram panchayats, 16,814 seats were left uncontested. Of the 9,217 seats in 341 panchayat samitis, 3,059 did not see an election fight. In the twenty zilla parishads, 203 of the 825 seats were uncontested. The Opposition parties moved court alleging that their candidates were not able to file nominations. Eventually, the TMC won 34 per cent uncontested seats even before a single vote was cast. But Mamata's victory was bittersweet. Panchayat polls have a history of being violent, but when news channels flashed the images of strong-arming and destruction of votes on loop, the rest of the country took notice. Ballot boxes were found destroyed in ponds and goons were caught on camera preventing voters from reaching the polling booths. Footage of a couple who had been allegedly burnt alive in poll violence also did the rounds. Bengal looked like a state where there was no law of the land. The election commissioner promptly announced re-election in several booths, but the victor remained the same. The cases of violence were brushed aside by the TMC as being lesser in number than during the Left regime's time. But the brouhaha was enough to make the Union home minister demand a detailed report from the state government. IMAGE: Mamata Banerjee and Telugu Desam Party leader Nara Chandrababu Naidu meet in Kolkata. Photograph: Ashok Bhaumik/PTI Photos While speaking about the panchayat polls, Mamata seemed rattled and alleged that various groups had ganged up against her. She meant that the CPI-M, Congress and the BJP had joined forces against the TMC. The CPI-M and Congress, however, peddled a different story. They said that in spite of Mamata's open attacks against Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi at public rallies and on social media, she could still become an NDA ally at an opportune moment. The TMC did not back the impeachment of then Chief Justice Dipak Misra neither did the party participate in the no-confidence motion that the Congress and some other Opposition parties had tried to move. On May 25, 2018, when Mamata shared the stage with Prime Minister Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina at the annual convocation of Visva Bharati University in Birbhum, there was no noticeable animosity between the leaders. In fact, quite the opposite. They shared the stage, took group photographs and Modi even looked out for Mamata as they walked on a slippery helipad. Is Mamata keeping her options open? Can she once again afford to go back to the NDA, especially at a time when the Congress and regional parties are prepared to do anything to wrest power away from the BJP as in the Karnataka assembly elections of 2018? Mamata's closest aides say no. Mamata, they believe, is genuinely trying to build a Federal Front that will be non-Congress, non-BJP. She has many a time spoken openly about the Congress's political missteps but her lines of communication are always open with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. Mamata has been keeping in touch with all the regional leaders, offering her advice and support whenever needed. When Janata Dal-Secular's H D Deve Gowda was considering the Congress's offer for a post-poll alliance in Karnataka, Mamata telephoned and advised him to take it. She is also regularly in touch with the younger lot of leaders such as Akhilesh Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal, H D Kumaraswamy, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Hardik Patel. IMAGE: Mamta Banerjee greets Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav in Bengaluru. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photos More recently, Mamata has been proactive in shaping her image as a national leader. She is seen in Delhi often and regularly meets leaders of various parties who may help her sew the Federal Front together. She attended the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and when DMK patriarch M K Karunanidhi breathed his last, she immediately flew down to Chennai and headed to his Gopalapuram residence and became one of the first people to pay their respects to him. Mamata is also more vocal about national issues, be it the steadily weakening Indian rupee or the rising fuel prices that have been burning a hole in the aam aadmi's pocket. She has been acerbic in her criticism of the Modi government. Every attack seems more scathing than the last. Her coterie insists that this proves her game plan -- she wants to see the back of the BJP in the state and in 2019. 'Over the years, the party (the BJP) has failed to keep promises. Moreover, the audacity, arrogance and atrocity of their leaders has become intolerable. Ban of high value notes, hurried implementation of GST without preparation and failure to control the alarming rise of fuel prices will go against the party,' she said. 'The people will be united to vote against BJP and when people are driven by some view then it is difficult to change their mindset. You cannot change it even by spending money.' Of all her attacks, Mamata has been vitriolic in her criticism of the National Register of Citizens that was implemented in Assam, based on which 40 lakh people were declared 'illegal'. Mamata has taken the government head on and dared it to go ahead with the exercise in Bengal, which too has historically witnessed an influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Though early on in her career she had been against the entry of illegal immigrants, today she vociferously opposes the NRC which, according to her, wrongfully evicts people. 'They (the BJP) are trying to wrongfully evict many people from Assam. Some are even threatening to evict people from Bengal through a similar exercise here. I dare them to lay a finger on us. They will understand what Bengal is made of,' Mamata challenged. With her various overtures and right noises at the right time, Mamata is once again trying to reshape her image from being a regional leader to one with national appeal and acceptability. After all, the charge of building a Federal Front may also bring to the fore Mamata's chances to become prime minister in 2019. In 2014, when her name made the rounds as possible prime ministerial candidate should a motley group of regional parties get to call the shots, her most trusted aides and confidantes were excited. They teased Didi that they may have to shift to 7, Race Course Road, the official residence of the prime minister of India. Mamata simply asked them to dream on. In 2019 though, there is a strong possibility that should the alliance of regional parties perform well, even with the Congress's support from the inside or outside, a regional leader will be more acceptable by all for the top job. But does Mamata, who calls herself a commoner and a Less Important Person, harbour such a dream? Like a good politician, she is preparing for any eventuality. Excerpted from Didi: The Untold Mamata Banerjee by Shutapa Paul, with the kind permission of the publishers, Penguin Random House India. Source: Last updated on: February 04, 2019 23:55 IST A political firestorm raged on Monday as Mamata Banerjees sit-in protest against Central Bureau of Investigations bid to question Kolkata police chief in chit fund scam cases entered the second day, with the West Bengal Chief Minister declaring her agitation to save the Constitution and country will go on and she was ready to face the consequences. IMAGE: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with DMK MP Kanimozhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav at Banerjee's sit-in over the CBI attempts to question the Kolkata Police Commssioner in connection with chit funds scam in Kolkata. Photograph: PTI Photo Virtually all opposition parties rallied behind Banerjees direct confrontation with the Modi government, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party called it an alliance of corrupt and Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that developments in West Bengal were indicative of a breakdown of the Constitution. Trinamool workers took to streets burning effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and blocked trains, while the BJP lined up its top leaders to step up the counter-offensive against Banerjee and other opposition leaders. The ripple effect of political tremors in West Bengal were felt in several state capitals, as Banerjees combative posturing on the issue drew support from several regional satraps trying to sew up an anti-BJP alliance ahead of Lok Sabha polls, expected in April-May. IMAGE: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a sit-in over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams. Photograph: Ashok Bhaumik/PTI Photo This is a satyagraha and Ill continue (it) till the country is saved... Constitution is saved, the firebrand Trinamool Congress boss said at the protest site. She added that her dharna against the CBI's attempt to grill the Kolkata Police chief in the chit fund scam cases will continue till Friday in view of the upcoming boards examinations. WATCH: TMC workers protest against PM Modi in Kolkata Banerjee is sitting on a dharna at the Metro Channel in Esplanade area in the heart of the city, the same spot she had sat on a 26-day fast in 2006 against the acquisition of farmland at Singur for the Tata Motors factory. This demonstration will continue till February 8. Because the board examinations will be starting soon and we will not be playing the loudspeakers, she said. IMAGE: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar during the Joint Investiture Ceremony of West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police, in Kolkata. Photograph: Swapan Mahapatra/PTI Photo The tense standoff between the CBI and the Kolkata police for the second day echoed in Parliament and led to a washout of the proceedings following opposition protests. There may be breakdown of Constitution in West Bengal...under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country, Singh told Lok Sabha. Whatever happened on Sunday indicates constitutional breakdown, he said. Singh also sought a report from Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi which was promptly sent by Raj Bhavan. I do not have any grudge against any individual. But I am angry over the way institutions are being destroyed and misused, Banerjee told the gathering at the protest venue. IMAGE: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee sitting on her 'Save the Constitution' dharna after CBI raids Kolkata Police Commissioner's residence in Kolkata. Photograph: Swapan Mahapatra/PTI Photo She said it was her government that arrested Saradha chairman Sudipta Sen and claimed Rs 250-300 crore was returned to the duped depositors. The alleged ponzi scams at Saradha and Rose Valley groups are at the centre of what has become a major political controversy now, as the BJP leaders have alleged that the ruling party leaders in West Bengal have been among major beneficiaries of fraudulent collection of money. Allegedly, these schemes were being run without necessary regulatory approvals and collected nearly Rs 20,000 crore from lakhs of investors in West Bengal and neighbouring states, through what is commonly known as chit funds. Several TMC leaders including parliamentarians like Kunal Ghosh, Srinjay Bose, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal, and state minister Madan Mitra were arrested for their alleged links with the two groups. Today you are labelling those who helped arrest the culprits as thieves. You are calling Rajeev Kumar (Kolkata Police Commissioner) a thief! Whose money has he taken? You are calling me a thief! Whose money have I taken? If you are labelling people who are honest as thieves without any evidence, then I will definitely stand by their side. And for that if I need to give up my life, then I am ready to do that but I will not compromise, she asserted. IMAGE: TMC supporters gather outside near Metro Channel where Banerjee is sitting on a dharna. Photograph: PTI Photo Claiming that the CBI team had knocked on Kumars door without a warrant, Banerjee said, I have fought all through my life but never given up. I am ready to face any consequences. The failed attempt by the CBI to question Kumar in connection with the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams on Sunday became the latest flashpoint between the BJP-led Centre and Banerjee, one of its bitter critics. The CBI has accused Kumar of destroying evidence related to the two fraud cases. A CBI team was bodily prevented from entering Kumars residence by police personnel, bundled into vehicles, and detained. Police contingents also descended on CBI premises in Kolkata, as a furious Banerjee rushed to Kumars residence before beginning a dharna opposite landmark Metro Cinema. IMAGE: TMC workers raise slogans during a protest rally against yesterday's CBI-Kolkata Police clash at Balurghat. Photograph: PTI Photo As political temperature soared, Banerjee told her supporters to keep the demonstration peaceful and not to burn any effigies. Save the Constitution, save the federal structure, save the police force, save the Indian Administrative Service and all ranks of civil service from disaster, read the banner that fluttered on the dais Banerjee has made her home since Sunday night. Support for her poured in from far off leaders Dravida Munnetra Kazagham chief M K Stalin in Chennai, Andhra chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Amravati and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda in Bengaluru. WATCH: Opposition parties rally behind Mamata Banerjee Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav and DMK MP Kanimozhi arrived at the venue of dharna of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday night and expressed solidarity and support to her after she began a sit-in protest over the CBIs attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief. Tejashwi and Kanimozhi spoke with Banerjee and enquired about the incidents since Sunday evening. Both of them also expressed solidarity with Banerjee. IMAGE: CRPF Jawan stands guard in front of CBI office at CGO Complex at Salt lake near Kolkata. Photograph: PTI Photo It is a political conspiracy to use the CBI against political opponents. Narendra Modi is elder to us and he should understand that PM comes and goes but the institutions of this great country remains. Whoever will not compromise with BJP they will be harassed by the CBI and other agencies, Yadav said. He said if all political parties dont unite then the people of this country will not forgive them. DMK leader Kanimozhi while expressing solidarity with Banerjee, said all the opposition parties should work towards staying united and work towards ensuring that BJPs dream of returning to power doesnt get fulfilled. I would say that this episode was Modijis pre-election gift to Mamata Banerjee as the BJP has realised after January 19 rally that they wont return to power after Lok Sabha polls, she said. WATCH: BJP hits back at Mamata Banerjee The BJP and the RSS believe in divisive politics and in order to oust BJP, we should work together, she said. Banerjee, while thanking both the leaders, said all the opposition parties are united and will fight till Modi is ousted from power. If we have to save India we have to oust Modi (Desh ko Bachana hain toh Modi toh Bhagana hain), she said. Odishas ruling party Biju Janata Dal, which had hitherto kept silent over the development, also threw its weight behind Banerjee. We are not a banana republic..., BJD leader B Mahtab said, adding the CBI was becoming a political stooge and political weapon in the Centres hand. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge charged that the government was using the CBI as a weapon to finish the Opposition and put in place an autocratic regime. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged the Modi-Shah duo were trying to murder democracy. Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar, at whose residence leaders of opposition parties met, said what has happened to Mamata has happened in Delhi to Kejriwal also. Special Task Force Commandant Senior DIG M.R. Latiff will retire tomorrow (February 5) following 40 years in service. He assumed duties as the STF Commandant on August 19, 2016, and was the 11th Commandant of the STF. He joined the Sri Lanka Police as a Sub Inspector on January 15, 1979 and joined the STF on February 7, 1984 as one of the first members of the STF, which was established on March 1, 1983. During the 40-year-long service, he has held the post of Commanding Officer, Director of Terrorism Investigation Division and Director of VIP Protection prior to being appointed as the STF Commandant in 2016. In addition to the duties as the STF Commandant, SDIG Latiff was also appointed as the Crimes, Organized Crimes and Narcotic Prevention Division in-charge and contributed towards eradicating the drug menace from the country. Under his leadership, nearly 1,000 kilograms of heroin had been seized by the STF during narcotic raids carried out across the country. Accordingly, a mammoth heroin haul of 278 kilos valued at more than Rs. 3,336 million which was the largest heroin haul in Sri Lanka, seized from Dehiwala in a joint operation carried out by the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) and the Special Task Force (STF). SDIG Latiff following his operational duties in the Special Task Force was attached to the National Intelligence Bureau as counter-terrorism specialist during which time he was trained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the British MI5 and the Special Air Services (SAS). He was also attached as a counter-terrorism specialist as First Officer in various stations including Paris, London, Bangkok and Geneva during the height of the operations of the LTTE. Following his contribution, he was awarded the Janadhipathi Police Weeratha Padakkama, Police Weeratha Padakkama, Purna Bhumi Padakkama, Vishishta Seva Padakkama, Presidents Inauguration Medal, 125th Anniversary Medal, 50th Independence Anniversary Commemoration Medal, East Humanitarian Operation Medal, First Aid Medal and 150th Anniversary Medal. Sources said that SDIG Latiff is not seeking a service extension. Meanwhile, the National Police Commission said they are yet to receive the nomination for the appointment of a new STF commandant following to retirement of SDIG Latiff.(Darshana Sanjeewa) Source: February 04, 2019 22:39 IST Leaders of several opposition parties petitioned the Election Commission on Monday and demanded that 50 per cent of EVM results should be cross-checked with voter verifiable paper audit trails before declaring final Lok Sabha election results. IMAGE: Opposition leaders Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and TMC MP Derek OBrien at a press conference in New Delhi. Photograph: Kamal Singh/PTI Photo Leaders of 23 political parties met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, seeking redressal of the issue of alleged tampering of electronic voting machines before Lok Sabha polls. The leaders told the Election Commission the people of the country doubted the efficacy of EVMs and this issue needs to be redressed. The Election Commission said it has heard the concerns of the parties on their demands related to the counting of VVPAT slips and assured them that the issues raised would be deliberated and examined. While considering the averments made by the political parties, the Commission shall also keep in view the pronouncements made by the different courts as well as the report expected shortly from the Indian Statistical Institute on the subject, besides the overall administrative and operational feasibility on the ground, before firming up any response, the EC said in a statement. The opposition parties had earlier sought moving back to the ballot paper system, but after the Election Commission categorically ruled it out, they changed their strategy and are now demanding matching of results of 50 per cent EVMs with VVPATs. We are writing to you in most trying times. The times when each and every institution built and strengthened over decades, for safeguarding democracy and the rule of law, is sought to be subverted by those who have scant respect for peoples will. In these trying and testing times, we are writing to you as members of an exalted constitutional institution, tasked with the responsibility of ensuring free and fair elections, which in turn is the bedrock of democracy and has repeatedly been held to be part of the unamendable basic structure of the Indian Constitution, according to a memorandum signed by leaders of all 23 parties, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar, to the poll panel. The memorandum also said if the difference of votes bagged by the winner and his nearest rival is less than 5 per cent, mandatory counting of paper trail from VVPAT should be carried out in each polling station... If there is a difference in counting of votes between EVM and VVPAT, then the result in counting from VVPAT should prevail. The leaders of various opposition parties earlier met in Parliament and discussed their strategy on the issue. After the meeting, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said, If a vote polled for one party goes to another party, it is against democracy. Azad told reporters that the parties have demanded that the EC removes the shortcomings in EVMs. He said parties wanted to revert to the old paper ballot system, but parties decided that since there is no time left for Lok Sabha polls, they have demanded bringing in transparency in the EVM system. We have demanded that be it Lok Sabha or assembly elections, 50 per cent votes be matched with paper trail of votes and the EC should not destroy the results of VVPAT machines, he said. Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said 23 parties representing 69 per cent of the voters have met the EC. Even now they are counting only 1 per cent (of VVPAT). We have demanded total transparency. Even developed countries are using ballot papers. But since there is no time we have demanded that 50 per cent VVPAT slips be counted. For democracy, for creating confidence, they can do that job. Since everybody is having a doubt it is the duty of the Election Commission to convince people that it is undoubtable, he said. The EC has a mandate and power as per the Constitution to conduct free and fair elections and people should have confidence in EVMs and electoral system. EC must restore the credibility of EVMs, Communist Party of India leader D Raja said. The onerous task of redeeming the pride and prestige of the entire electoral process in the worlds largest democracy is bestowed upon you and we appeal to your conscience and act and do right so that the future of this country and of our democracy is secure. We hope and trust that you will receive these suggestions in the spirit of nation building in which they have been made and that you will act expeditiously and decisively to implement them, the memorandum said. The delegation included Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel and Anand Sharma of the Congress, Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party, NCPs Majid Memon, Derek OBrien of Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Partys Ramgopal Yadav, Satish Chandra Misra of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, Mohd Salim and T K Rangarajan of the CPI-M, Manoj Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Aam Aadmi Partys Sanjay Singh, Danish Ali of the Janata Dal-Secular. Source: Last updated on: February 04, 2019 11:06 IST Opposition parties have expressed solidarity with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is on a sit-in protest over the Central Bureau of Investigation's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, as the Congress termed it "mala fide" and an "assault" on the federal polity. IMAGE: Samajwadi Party leader Kiranmoy Nanda meets West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee at her 'Save the Constitution' dharna in Kolkata. Photograph: ANI Congress president Rahul Gandhi called up Banerjee and extended support to her, saying the entire opposition is together and it will defeat the fascist forces. He alleged the events in West Bengal were part of an unrelenting attack on India's institutions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. He said the Congress stood shoulder to shoulder with Banerjee who is on an overnight dharna. Andhra Pradesh chief minister M Chandrababu Naidu said it was a glaring example of how "Modi-Shah duo are destroying the institutions". "Attacking political opponents in different States, few days before the Parliament elections commence, will have disastrous consequences in the country," he said. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also came out in support of the TMC chief. "Spoke to Mamta didi and expressed solidarity. Modi-Shah duo's action is completely bizarre and anti-democracy," he tweeted. Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has said the massive standoff between the Centre and the West Bengal government reminded him of the Emergency days. The Janata Dal-Secular patriarch sympathised with the Bengal government and said he was shocked to learn about the CBI rushing to arrest the Kolkata Police Commissioner and the subsequent developments. "I am shocked to learn about the CBI rushing to arrest the Police Commissioner and subsequent developments in West Bengal. The country has faced similar kind of unconstitutional methods during the Emergency. Situation in WB is similar to that of the Emergency days. #SaveDemocracy," the JD(S) national president tweeted. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav termed the CBI's action undemocratic and against the spirit of the Constitution. "The BJP wants to stay in power by hook or by crook. They are so scared of losing that CBI is being used as election agents. This is undemocratic and against spirit of the Constitution. We demand due process be followed so that CBI is not used as a tool of political interference," he said on Twitter. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the CBI action in Kolkata is clearly "mala fide" and an "assault" on the federal polity, which has come within 48 hours of Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah's public "threat" to him. He alleged that the BJP and the prime minister are desperate to create a controversy in the state for "cheap publicity and divisiveness" to get some space in 2019 elections. He claimed the Modi government has ensured a non-functional and non-productive Parliament session going by such assaults on the federal polity on a Sunday evening. Congress leader Ahmed Patel said, "Investigative agencies are constitutional bodies and need to operate within the parameters of law. "They cannot act at the behest of any political party or any extra constitutional authority." Rashtriya Janata Dal national president Lalu Prasad said the Constitution and constitutional institutions in the country were facing an "unprecedented crisis" and alleged that there were "attempts to plunge the country into a civil war". "The common public of the country is against the BJP and its coalition partner - a partisan CBI. We stand with @MamataBanerjeeOfficial. There is a brazen display of dictatorship. "It is the greatest danger to democracy. The Constitution and Constitutional institutions are facing an unprecedented crisis. Attempts are being made to plunge the country into a civil war for electoral gains," Prasad tweeted in Hindi. Prasad's official twitter handle is operated by people close to him as he is serving sentences in connection with fodder scam cases and admitted at a hospital in Ranchi for treatment of multiple ailments. Incidentally, the fodder scam conviction which led to the imprisonment of Prasad and rendered him disqualified from contesting polls, was also investigated by the CBI. According to party sources, the RJD supremo's younger son and political heir Tejashwi Yadav has spoken to Banerjee over phone and he might visit Kolkata on Monday in a show of solidarity. "State governments will be compelled to take such steps in view of political decisions taken by the CBI in the last few months under pressure from the BJP. The CBI may have to face the wrath of the public if it continues to act as a coalition partner of the BJP. Nobody is mightier than the public in a democracy," Tejashwi Yadav tweeted. NCP president Sharad Pawar wrote on the micro-blogging site," #Assualtondemocracy - blatant misuse of CBI in #WestBengal to intimidate the opposition and settle political scores." National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also threw his weight behind Banerjee, saying the use of the agency as a political tool has crossed all limits. "Just spoke to @MamataOfficial didi to convey the support of @JKNC_ as she sits in dharna. The use of the CBI as a political tool has crossed all limits as has the Modi government's misuse of institutions. A former CM having such little regard for India's federalism is shocking," Omar tweeted. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti also expressed solidarity with Banerjee, saying history stands testament to how JK has faced the wrath of central agencies. She said, "Its disheartening to see how institutions are being hijacked only to discredit political opponents. Doesn't bode well for the Centre-State relationship." In a dramatic showdown with the Modi government, a furious Banerjee, wrapped in a brown woollen shawl, began a sit-in right in front of the Metro Cinema to protest "insults" she faced at the hands of the prime minister and Shah, hours after a CBI team that had gone to question Kumar was detained in a rare face-off between the police establishments of the Centre and the state. February 04, 2019 08:36 IST The interim Budget has attempted to tick all the boxes that could help the Modi government return to power, reports Archis Mohan. With the Lok Sabha polls less than 70 days away, the challenge for the Narendra Modi government was to neutralise the Oppositions criticism of it having been a 'suit boot ki sarkar' that failed to prevent farm distress and caused immense job losses with its demonetisation and 'hurried implementation' of the goods and services tax (GST). The Modi government departed from parliamentary conventions by presenting, in effect, a full Budget in an election year. The interim Budget announced an income support scheme for farmers with retrospective effect. Stand-in Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said the Centre would give Rs 6,000 per annum in three instalments to an estimated 120 million farmers. Goyal promised a tax rebate for a section of the middle class, which could help his party retain the support it received from them in 2014. He also announced a contributory pension scheme for 100 million unorganised workers that promises a pension of Rs 3,000 per month, if they pay Rs 100 per month with a matching contribution from the government on their attaining the age of 60 years. There were also announcements to spur revival of the real estate sector, and sops for the MSME sector, which had borne the brunt of demonetisation and the advanced GST roll-out. If the objective was to generate euphoria over the interim Budget announcements, and galvanise party workers ahead of a tough election campaign, Goyal might believe he has succeeded. The government hopes to deposit the first instalment of Rs 2,000 in bank accounts by the time farmers queue up at polling booths. Clearly, the Modi government betrayed that losses in three Hindi heartland states in the December assembly polls haunted it. The Opposition, after initially forced on the back foot, started making sense of the interim Budget, and it looked as if the stand-in FM might rue his decision not to present a vote-on-account. Several political leaders, including Congress's P Chidambaram, Swaraj Abhiyans Yogendra Yadav, and others, pointed out that the income support scheme did not cover sharecroppers, there was little for landless farm labourers or urban poor. They also said it was nothing but the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'cash for farmers' votes'. 'Dear NoMo, five years of your incompetence and arrogance has destroyed the lives of our farmers. Giving them Rs 17 a day is an insult to everything they stand and work for,' Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted. Congress leaders said their partys proposed minimum income guarantee for all poor was a more comprehensive scheme. Another criticism was that Goyal's interim Budget ignored the Modi government's poor record on creating jobs. The minister suggested better growth delivered by the government and investments in infrastructure 'obviously' led to more jobs, but did not identify the number of jobs generated. The interim Budget announced a Rs 750 crore increase for the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and setting up of Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog to enhance production and productivity of cows. The move would probably prove too late to assuage farmers facing stray cow and bull menace across northern Indian states. The interim Budget has attempted to tick all the boxes that could help the Modi government return to power. It is now up to the larger Sangh Parivar to deliver on its threat to start building a temple around the Ram Janmabhoomi disputed site in Ayodhya in the forthcoming weeks. Source: February 04, 2019 18:43 IST Social activist Anna Hazare has lost 4.25 kg in the last six days since his fast over appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs began, doctors said on Monday. As concerns over Hazares health grew, the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena sought the Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments intervention to save the 81-year-old activists life. Hazare began his fast on January 30 at his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, demanding appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra and resolution of farmers issues. Anna now weighs 71.1 kg and has lost 4.25 kg since his fast began. His blood pressure is also increasing due to fasting, Dr Dhananjay Pote, a doctor attending to him, said on Monday. Pote has been asked by the villagers to keep a tab on Hazares health and prepare a daily report. Several people, including government officials, have met Hazare in the last six days and requested him to end his fast. MNS chief Raj Thackeray and water conservationist Rajendra Singh met Hazare on Monday and extended their support to his agitation. Thackeray asked him not to sacrifice his life for the useless government. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra, had Sunday extended his support to Hazare, asking him to emulate socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and lead an agitation against corruption. The Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana on Monday, appealed to the BJP-led government to save his life. Hazare had earlier warned that if the Modi government did not fulfil its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan award. The activist has been demanding appointment of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states where such statutory anti-corruption watchdogs do not exist, and resolution of farmers issues. He has also been demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations on ways to address agrarian distress, besides electoral reforms. Raj Thackeray asked Hazare to end his protest and conduct a joint tour of the state with him to bury the BJP-led government. The MNS leader and Hazare held a closed door meeting at a room in the Yadavbaba temple premises for around 20 minutes. After the meeting, Thackeray addressed the gathering at Hazares protest site and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of cheating the nation and not following his partys own poll manifesto. He quoted some tweets and speeches of Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections campaign in which, Thackeray said, the prime minister had praised Hazare for his honesty and moral attitude. I have appealed Anna not to sacrifice his life for these useless people. I have also asked him not to trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi and any of his promises, he said. Thackeray said on December 18, 2013 Modi had tweeted in favour of the Lokpal Bill. Now, almost five years of the Modi government is completed but no action has been taken so far. Today, the people in power are there because of Annas agitation in 2013. They should not forget it, he said. Thackeray said he was surprised that even Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was part of Hazares agitation some years ago and came into national limelight from there, had not visited the activist or enquired about his health. The entire country got to know Kejriwal because of Annas agitation. Now, he (Kejriwal) is in power and not showing concern towards Annas health, he said. The MNS leader said he had told Hazare that they are dishonest people. You should quit the fast and we will jointly tour the state and bury this government. My party is extending support to Annas cause, Thackeray said. Rajendra Singh met Hazare on Monday morning and expressed concern over the activists health. Singh along with some social activists discussed the issues plaguing the farmers and flaws in the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act-2013. He extended his support to Hazare and his agitation and said some NGOs would also be joining his protest in a day or two, as everybody has realised the insensitivity and cruelty of the Modi government. February 04, 2019 14:42 IST 'In the CBI's history, a situation like this has never ever occurred.' You cannot barge into a senior police officer's house at 6.30 in the evening on a Sunday.' 'Just because you are a CBI officer, you can't perform a duty that is not legal.' IMAGE: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a dharna over the Central Bureau of Investigation's attempt to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the probes into chit fund scams in Kolkata, February 4, 2019. Photograph: Swapan Mahapatra/PTI Photo As the unprecedented drama continues in Kolkata following a standoff between the Kolkata police and a Central Bureau of Investigation team trying to question Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha and Rose valley chit fund scams, K Ragothaman, the CBI's former chief investigating officer, believes the Bureau is at fault in going to the police commissioner's office without a warrant. "The procedure adopted on Sunday was not in accordance with the CBI manual," Ragothaman, below, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier. You worked as an investigating officer with the CBI for many decades. Can you recall any incident similar to what we are witnessing in Kolkata? From 1968 to 2005, I was with the CBI and I know what had happened at the CBI from 1963-1964, that is, after the organisation came into existence. I can say that in the CBI's history, a situation like this has never ever occurred. There were cases registered against even chief ministers of India, and they were questioned. Lalu Prasad Yadav was questioned when he was the chief minister of Bihar. Similarly, when Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat, he was questioned. It was a routine matter. The investigating officers and the supervising officers had a smooth relationship with the local police and the local administrators. We used to send a request seeking to question them in connection with an investigation under the directive of the Supreme Court of India. We had questioned M Karunanidhi. I myself had questioned Jayalalithaa in 1999 in the SPIC case. We had questioned many police officers including the DGP which we did taking the confidence of the state government. Here, in Kolkata, the CBI should have contacted the DGP and sought his permission to question (the Kolkata police commissioner). As per law, you have to issue a notice under Section 160 CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code) and then you can summon any witness for examination in any crime investigation. It is not only applicable to CBI officers, it is also applicable to local officers. So, considering his (the Kolkata police commissioner's) position, the CBI should have issued a 160 notice. If he doesn't appear, you then take action against him. That is what the CBI officers say. He didn't appear and was absconding... As far as I know, they have not issued a 160 notice to him. Without issuing a 160 notice, you cannot barge into a senior police officer's house at 6.30 in the evening on a Sunday. Look at the timing. They should have gone to his office on a working day during daytime. What made the CBI to go to his house at 6.30 in the evening on a Sunday? Forget that he is a police commissioner, you cannot go and examine any officer on a Sunday in the evening. There are a set of principles the CBI follows. If the person refuses to come (in response) to the notice, the CBI can go to court and get a warrant to summon him as a witness. We have followed this in several cases. Who will you blame for this situation? The CBI has to be blamed first. The officer has already said that he was neither an accused nor a witness in the Saradha scam case; he was only a supervising officer of the case. Moreover, the CBI should have asked him for the records in 2014 itself when the Supreme Court had ordered and not after five years. It took five years for them to take the records from a supervising officer! How can they explain the reason for the delay? And the procedure adopted on Sunday was not in accordance with the CBI manual. The Kolkata police can be justified in their action because the CBI officers went there without a warrant and without a notice. This point can be raised by any citizen of India, not just the senior police officer because this violates the fundamental rights of a citizen. When the CBI say they have the Supreme Court order, they can ask, you have it from 2014. Now that you have come to examine the police commissioner, do you have the warrant? But the CBI chief claims the police chief has been instrumental in destruction of evidence and obstructing justice... That's okay. Let them put this argument before the court and he can be hauled up under Section 214 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code), for fabricating evidence to save the accused. This is a punishable offence. So, when they have considered him as an accused, they should have taken a warrant. Do you think this is more a political battle between the Centre and Mamata Banerjee? Let us leave the political battle aside. Political battles have always been there in all the issues, but the CBI has to maintain its decorum and dignity by following a procedure. When you follow the procedure laid down by the CrPC, nobody can raise a finger against you. Why do you think the CBI did not follow procedure? That is the fault of the CBI. It is not the fault of the investigating officer or supervising officer. They were just following the head office. The new CBI director was to take charge on Monday morning. So why the hurry to do this on a Sunday evening? Can anyone answer this question? Mamata Banerjee says democracy has been murdered and the Constitution has been trampled upon. Politicians can take shelter under any umbrella. But the police, especially the CBI, should not become a tool in the hands of politicians. Had they not gone to the commissioner's house at 6.30 in the evening on a Sunday, nothing of this sort would have happened. This drama would not have enacted. I don't attribute all the mess that is happening with the CBI to Prime Minister Modi or BJP chief Amit (Anilchandra) Shah or Mamata Banerjee; it is the making of the CBI officers themselves. They are destroying the organisation. The ruling parties -- whether it is the Congress or the BJP -- would like to have their people in the CBI, but the CBI should have been professional in its dealings. What happened in Kolkata was unnecessary and unwarranted. It only brought bad name to the CBI again. Was it because of a lack of understanding that they behaved like this? The CBI used to be manned by experienced police officers from the state who had served in the investigation department. There is a difference in working in the investigation department and law and order. Let them be from the CID, CoD, anti-corruption as they are better than the local police as they know how to investigate, and also how to go about when big politicians or police officers are involved. There are a set of rules and regulations to follow in investigation and the officers have to be thorough with them. What has happened is now officers with no experience in investigation are dumped into the CBI. This is the root cause of all the problems with the CBI, and not the politicians. I won't fault the politician for destroying the credibility of the CBI; the officers are the culprits. These inexperienced officers are destroying the image of the CBI. Here, if they had gone with a warrant, nobody on earth could stop the investigating officer. If the state police had stopped them, they would have been liable for penal offence for preventing an officer from doing his duty. But performing the duty has to be legal! Just because you are a CBI officer, you can't perform a duty that is not legal. February 04, 2019 19:29 IST 'Glaciers are melting all across the region.' IMAGE: The majestic Gangotri glacier. Photograph: Photograph: Kind courtesy Arpit Rawat/Wikimedia Commons Over a billion people living in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, including some parts of India, confront the threat of climate change's impact. The Guardian newspaper reported on Monday, February 4, 2019, that 'at least a third of the huge ice fields in Asia's towering mountain chain are doomed to melt due to climate change, according to a landmark new report, with serious consequences for almost 2 billion people.' The report can be accessed here (external link). David Molden, who heads the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, explains to M I Khan -- in a recent conversation in Kathmandu -- the seriousness of the threat of global warming-induced environmental changes in the climate-vulnerable the Hindu Kush Himalaya region and how to face it. The ICIMOD works in eight South Asian countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. As South Asia has about 40 per cent of the world's poorest people who will be most affected by the ramifications of climate change, it is an issue of concern for all. Most of the poor people in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region live in flood- or drought-prone areas. And most of them are dependent on agriculture and the environment for their livelihoods. How serious is the threat climate change poses to the Hindu Kush Himalaya region and South Asia, in general? It is getting critical in the sense that we can see what's happening in the region that extends from Afghanistan to Myanmar. Since temperature rises faster at heights, mountains are highly vulnerable to climate change. And the Hindu Kush Himalaya region is the hotspot for climate change. In fact, we've already started to witness the affects of climate change. Glaciers are melting all across the region. It has impacted hydrologic systems and certain people living next to the glaciers, like in Ladakh, are facing it. This is a huge early warning of climate change. By the way, mountain people add very little to emissions, but bear the brunt of climate change (the most). Going by the ICIMOD study, people in the mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalayas feel the impact of climate change much more than those in the plains. One after another research studies by experts have established that people in the mountains release very small amounts of green house gases. This doesn't cause the problem of global warming, but they become its victims. Most of the people living in mid hills and other parts in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region are facing changes in the weather pattern and change in water system and farmers have to respond to those changes. Moreover, (South) Asia, of course, depends a lot on the monsoon, so it is quite big what is happening with the monsoon pattern. The model tells us that in future there will be more rain in a year than what we are getting now. It may sound good. But the bad news is that we will be getting intense rainfalls and heavy downpour in a short period of time, which will result in drought reoccurrence even as the annual volume of rain may go up. So we have to prepare for more floods and droughts. Ironically, it is the poor people, as we saw in the devastating floods in South Asia, who are mainly hit by it. Will all this hit the rivers of the region? Certainly, all this will change the river water system in Asia. Water is already a serious issue. The changing patterns of these rivers will have its impact. It will be witnessed across Asia. We have to prepare for it and tell the world that we need some action on climate change. In Asia, we have 10 river basins that come from the Hindu Kush Himalaya region that provide water, ecosystem services and livelihoods to more than 210 million people. These river basins are also home to about 1.9 billion people -- a fifth of the world's population -- living downstream. The basins of these rivers provide water to them. Comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan, the Hindu Kush Himalayan region extends to 3,500 km across eight countries. It is the source of 10 large Asian river systems -- the Amu Darya, Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra (Yarlungtsanpo), Irrawaddy, Salween (Nu), Mekong (Lancang), Yangtse (Jinsha), Yellow River (Huanghe), and Tarim (Dayan). You are saying that water resources from mountains are important for the people below. Look, people in cities and on plains are causing the problems and they should think seriously about helping poor communities of mountains cope with climate change. Water resources are important not only for the people living there, but also for people outside the mountains. Mountains are important for the eco-system and bio-diversity. What are your views about climate change vis-a-vis India? How serious an issue is climate change for India and how to address it? Climate change is as serious an issue for India as it is for others in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region and across the world. India has taken two actions under its mitigation and adaptation efforts. India is moving rapidly towards renewable energy and energy efficiency. I believe India is moving in the right direction. However, India has to pay a lot more attention to mountains because mountains are neglected. India can lead the way and work with other countries of the region to tackle the problems of climate change. NITI Aayog members have shown their commitment to address climate change issues. It is said China and India are two major polluters in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region and both contribute to global warming. Both India and China have huge populations and growing economies. One can't compare them with Nepal and Bhutan as far as action plans on climate change is concerned. India and China are taking steps to face it. There is collaboration between them on this front. Why is the main focus on 'climate resilience' to tackle climate change globally? Resilience (the capacity for a socio-ecological system to absorb stresses and maintain function in the face of climate change and adapt, reorganise, and evolve into more desirable configurations to be better prepared for future climate change impacts) is the future of the climate-vulnerable Hindu Kush Himalaya region and more so for extremely vulnerable mountain communities, as far as mitigation of the exacerbating climate risks are concerned. Mitigation and adaptation should be focus across the world. Climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region is unfolding at a much higher pace, posing grave risks to the sustainability of lives and livelihoods. Environmental change drivers in the region have already begun to impact ecosystems and communities and often manifests in communities through an increasing vulnerability and exposure to natural disasters such as floods, droughts and landslides. We need to diversify our efforts by organising women's group for flood and agriculture. Let us hope for a change. Though mountains are without boundaries, it is not possible in my lifetime. February 04, 2019 10:16 IST 'In India, we are very far away from the per capita incomes of the West. And so the need to support many more people with much more money will come sooner in India than in other nations,' says Aakar Patel. A farmer in the kisan rally in Delhi where farmers from 207 organisations participated in December 2018. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI The government's announcement of a scheme to give small farmers Rs 6,000 cash per year is seen as a brilliant move that will reap political benefit in May. The scheme, announced in the Budget, comes after two other developments. First, a report that the government has suppressed, which says that unemployment is at its highest in more than 45 years. Second, that Congress President Rahul Gandhi is talking of a minimum income guarantee. The scheme for farmers already has precedent in India. In Telangana farmers are given Rs 8,000 per acre a year. The Modi government's scheme is for farmers who have less than 2 hectares (meaning about 5 acres). Such a farmer would already be getting Rs 40,000 if he were in Telangana. In Odisha, all farmers get Rs 5,000 in cash. In addition, small farmers get Rs 25,000 as assistance for five seasons of sowing and each landless family gets Rs 12,500 in three phases. There are critics of both schemes who say that they will be difficult to implement because of difficulty in targeting (how does one determine who is landless and who is a small farmer?) and obviously the lack of resource. However it seems likely that this is something that every state government is going to emulate, particularly now that the Centre is also doing it and it is seen as politically very beneficial. The idea that individuals cannot survive without direct cash transfers from the State is not limited to India and in fact the origins of the idea are abroad. In the United Kingdom, unemployed couples get 114 per week (Rs 42,000 per month) from the government. Families that don't have a house or are living in cramped conditions are given government housing in highly subsidised council homes. Unemployment benefits and food stamps are offered in the United States also. In June 2016, voters in Switzerland rejected a proposal to introduce a guaranteed basic income for all, just as Rahul Gandhi is proposing. In a referendum, 77% of the Swiss voted against a scheme that would give each of them an unconditional monthly income, whether or not they had a job or any other income. Supporters of the proposal had called for each adult to be given 2,500 Swiss francs per month (Rs 1.8 lakh per month) and Swiss francs 625 (Rs 45,000 per month) for each child. The logic of the supporters of this plan was that increased automation would soon mean that there would not be many jobs available for humans in the western world. The logic of the opponents was that such a scheme would attract millions of immigrants into Switzerland. It will interest readers to know that there was little support among Swiss politicians for the idea and not a single parliamentary party came out in favour. This is quite different from India where, even though we do not have as much money as the Swiss, all the parties want to give out money in cash. A few days ago Finland ended a two year experiment in which 2,000 unemployed individuals between the ages of 28 and 58 were paid a monthly sum of 560 (Rs 45,000 per month). These individuals would continue to get the money even if they got a job to see what effect the guaranteed income would make. The cities of Barcelona in Spain (which has very high unemployment) and Utrecht in The Netherlands are also doing similar experiments. Across the world, from India to Europe, the idea of a Universal Basic Income is finding appeal. The left and liberals believe it can reduce poverty and inequality. The right wing sees it as a more efficient and less bureaucratic way of distributing welfare. Narendra Damodardas Modi came into power with the promise that he would bury schemes like MNREGA, which he called a living monument of Manmohan Singh's failure. But in this Budget, Modi increased the allocation to MNREGA by almost 10%, showing that his views on this have changed. The reality is that jobs around the world are shrinking and will continue to shrink, particularly the sort of jobs that people want. Many experts are predicting mass unemployment in most advanced economies within the next decade and a half. This means more and more emphasis on the universal basic income. In India, we have a more pronounced problem than the West. We are very far away from the per capita incomes of the West (the average Swiss earns 30 times more than the average Indian). And so the need to support many more people with much more money will come sooner in India than in other nations. It does matter whether we have a genius prime minister (like the present one) or a highly trained economist respected globally (like the previous one). This is a structural problem we cannot escape and more parties will be talking about this in our upcoming election. Aakar Patel -- winner of the 2018 Prem Bhatia Award for Political Reporting -- is Executive Director, Amnesty International India. The views expressed here are his own. January 29, 2019 08:29 IST John Bogle figured that cheap mutual funds, which just mirrored indices with little tracking error, would be a useful vehicle for wealth creation, recalls Devangshu Datta. IMAGE: A tribute to John Bogle, founder and retired CEO of The Vanguard Group, is displayed on the bell balcony over the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York on January 17, 2019. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters Retail investors should pay homage to John Bogle (1929-2019) who passed away recently. About 45 years ago, Bogle introduced and popularised index funds and thereby revolutionised investing. Bogle's insights seem simple enough in hindsight. He built on the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The EMH states it is hard to outperform consistently, in a market where information dissemination is efficient, and a large number of participants have equal access to info and trading platforms. Most stock pickers in efficient markets fail to match index returns consistently. Very few money managers beat indices consistently even three years in a row, and just a handful of stock pickers have beaten indices over longer-term periods. Another Bogle insight was also simple: In the long run, equities outperform other assets. By the 1970s, when he launched Vanguard, there was more than enough data to show that the US was an efficient market and US equities had outperformed bonds, gold, etc over 75 years. Bogle had a well-developed moral compass, which is unusual in the financial services industry. He figured that cheap mutual funds, which just mirrored indices with little tracking error, would be a useful vehicle for wealth creation. Vanguard pioneered that model and became the largest global player in that space. Passive investing -- buy, hold, match the index and pay as little brokerage as possible -- was pooh-poohed by many active players when it was launched. It took a while to catch on. But it transformed wealth creation for middle-class folks. Bogle offered a guesstimate of long-term index returns, using a formula that added historical dividend yield to a long-term compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of earnings growth and the change (maybe negative) of price-to-earning (PE) over a fairly long period. For example, the Nifty has a five-year dividend yield of 1.3 per cent. The five-year compounded earnings per share (EPS) growth rate since Jan 2014 is 3.9 per cent. The PE change is 7.5 with the index PE rising from 18.5 in Jan 2014 to PE 26 in Jan 2019. Add up the numbers (7.5+1.3+3.9) and an investor could expect the index to return around 12.8 per cent CAGR over the next five years. The Nifty has returned 12.9 per cent CAGR since Jan 2014 with 11.6 per cent capital gain and 1.3 per cent dividend yield. You may note that the returns have come mainly from re-rating of the index, with PE rising by 40 per cent. The five-year EPS growth rate is pathetic and EPS growth has fallen from a poor 5.9 per cent in 2016, to less than 4 per cent now. Obviously there will be errors with this "formula". It isn't rocket science to understand that it just assumes returns will stay roughly within the same ballpark over long periods. But making this rough estimate allows the investor to compare the assumed return to other assets like debt. That helps a retail investor, who can, right or wrong, look at her life-cycle and future needs, and make allocations to different assets. There are a couple of things Bogle followers need to understand about India. In one way, India is a huge outlier as capital markets go. It's a large market with easy trading access for many persons. But a very large number of active Indian funds consistently beat the index returns and have done so for many years. There are some possible explanations. One is that the index construction is flawed. Another, more likely reason, is that India is simply not an efficient market in terms of information dissemination. Some people have better access to information than others. However, even with this caveat, index investing is not a bad option in India. A Nifty index fund or exchange-traded fund gave a return of 11.6 per cent (ex-dividend) in the past five years. That beats the returns available from debt and it beats gold as well, across the same period. If markets become more efficient in terms of information dissemination (this is not very likely but it's possible), fewer active stockpickers will outperform. But the index return should still beat other assets. Passive investing in low-cost funds, using systematic investment plans may seem like a no-brainer nowadays. It wasn't, when Bogle started evangelising. He created more wealth for more people than any other individual in history. The next time you buy a mutual fund, offer up thanks in his memory. January 31, 2019 08:30 IST If everyone had decent meaningful jobs, the rally maidans would be largely empty and, save for the Akhara babas and curious foreigners and the devout senior citizens, not very many would spare time for the Kumbh Mela, says Mahesh Vyas. Fifteen or twenty million devotees took a dip in the Ganga in Prayagraj on Makar Sankranti which fell on Tuesday, January 15. Assuming that these are not kids, and also assuming that one-third of these were women and elders, the number implies that about 2.5 per cent of Indias labour force was on the banks of the Ganga taking a holy dip. Estimates suggest that 150 million would visit Prayagraj for the Kumbh mela over the 48 days from January 15 through March 4. This could imply that about a quarter of Indias labour force would be visiting Prayagraj over about 10 weeks. Less than six months ago we witnessed 30 million Kanwariyas trek to the Himalayas to fetch Ganga water for their local Shiv temples. Now, many more have descended into the plains to take a dip in the Ganga, ostensibly to wash away their sins. Estimates vary wildly from one million to three million on the number of people who attended the political rally in Kolkata on January 19. It is amazing that millions of people move in different directions for different purposes in India all within a week. This is only possible if the unemployment rate is high. Melas and rallies are an interesting barometer of unemployment. The larger the melas and rallies, the higher we expect the unemployment rate to be. We dont measure unemployment by counting the numbers that attend these melas and rallies or, the number of people who apply for a government job. But, their numbers do reflect the same problem -- the problem of unemployment. It is much easier to mobilise large numbers of people for religious or political events if the unemployment rate is high compared to times when unemployment is low. If everyone had decent meaningful jobs, the rally maidans would be largely empty and, save for the Akhara babas and curious foreigners and the devout senior citizens, not very many would spare time for the Kumbh. The unemployment rate has averaged 7.3 per cent in recent times. Urban unemployment has been rising sharply but rural unemployment has been declining equally sharply. The worrying factor is the sharp rise in the urban unemployment rate. This had risen to a two-year high of 7.6 per cent in December 2018. By January 20, this is estimated to have scaled much higher at 8.7 per cent. This is a rather sharp increase of over 100 basis points in just 20 days. In the past, we have not seen such a sharp increase in the unemployment rate in urban India even over a month. Such a sharp increase in 20 days is, therefore, a bit alarming. While urban India seems to be seeing a sudden increase in unemployment during January, urban Uttar Pradesh has been witnessing high unemployment rate for several months now. Urban unemployment rate in the state was at a 25-month high at 11.9 per cent in December 2018. In the past six months, urban unemployment rate has averaged at 10 per cent. The Kumbh Mela itself could have provided substantial employment to locals in preparation for the mela and also to participate in the commerce associated with the event. It is therefore likely that the current 11.9 per cent unemployment rate could rise once the effect of the Kumbh wears out in March or April. Unemployment in rural India has dropped -- from 7.25 per cent in December 2018 to 6.5 per cent by January 20. Prices of agricultural commodities have risen in recent weeks and farmers are possibly making the best of the situation given that the rabi crop is not doing very well. Farmers hope to make the best of the rise in prices by maximising output from a not-very promising crop. Uttar Pradesh saw a big jump in rural unemployment in December. The rate doubled from 5.4 per cent in November 2018 to 10.8 per cent in December. Farmlands around Prayagraj have been temporarily acquired to accommodate a temporary township. Farmers will be compensated for this. In the meanwhile, the farmers could be unemployed although there would be plenty of Kumbh Mela associated employment opportunities. Reports from the state suggest that the December rise in unemployment could be a temporary phenomenon caused by the end of the rabi sowing season. Rabi sowing was up by 0.8 per cent in Uttar Pradesh till end-December. Possibly, rural unemployment in Uttar Pradesh could decline in the coming months. But urban UP may continue to see high unemployment rates for some time. Finally, hopefully, some part of the vast infrastructural arrangements made for the Kumbh Mela would survive and help Prayagraj become a city of better facilities and this in turn may help in alleviating the states unemployment problems. Photograph: Jitendra Prakash/Reuters. Mahesh Vyas is managing director and CEO, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy P Ltd. February 02, 2019 09:00 IST While the brand did step into cities such as Delhi in the last few years, it is now stitching up an expansion strategy aimed at partaking of growth in areas where consumption of ice cream remains strong. For Mumbaikars a scoop of Naturals Ice Cream is synonymous with fresh-fruit flavours, devoid of preservatives and sweeteners. The 35-year-old brand, which switched from the name Natural to Naturals in 2017, today has 125 stores, mainly in the south and west of India. While the brand did step into cities such as Delhi in the last few years, it is now stitching up an expansion strategy aimed at partaking of growth in areas where consumption of ice cream remains strong. One such region is the north, where the brand has zeroed in on markets such as Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Currently, we have no presence in these two states and hence are excited to have outlets there, says Srinivas Kamath, director of Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams, the company that owns the Naturals brand. Kamaths father Raghunandan is the original founder of Naturals. The brand is now being pushed aggressively by the second generation. People in this region are aware of the Naturals brand and some are regular customers of it when visiting cities such as Delhi. "We would like to take advantage of this familiarity they have with the brand and set up stores closer to them. This way, we will be able to establish our presence in these markets, he says. As things stand now, the domestic ice cream market, including organised and unorganised players, is Rs 9,000 crore in size. In recent years, regional names such as Arun, Cream Bell, Vadilal, and Heritage have become ambitious, expanding their presence beyond their core markets. Naturals, say experts, appears to be taking a leaf out of the marketing manual of these companies. What has also buoyed regional majors to spread their wings is the growth that the overall ice cream market in India is seeing. Experts say that the organised ice cream market is growing at 10-15 per cent per annum, with consumers beyond metros embracing organised labels versus unorganised brands owing to quality issues with the latter. The move is also linked to growing disposable incomes and the aspiration for a better life, says N Chandramouli, CEO, TRA, which brings out the annual Brand Trust Report. Even national brands are seeing sense in going regional, visible in Hindustan Unilevers acquisition of the Adityaa Milk ice cream brand from Karnataka-based Vijaykant Dairy and Food Products in August last year. The transaction, for an undisclosed amount, saw HUL get hold of the companys front-end distribution (namely, ice cream parlours) in markets such as Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa , and Kerala in the west. The move, said experts, was intended to help HUL consolidate its presence in key regional pockets even as it built a national footprint with brands Kwality Walls, Magnum, and Cornetto. Some companies such as South Koreas Lotte have opted to acquire regional names such as the Ahmedabad-based Havmor, in their quest for growth. As part of its expansion plans, Naturals, says Kamath, will invest Rs 100 crore over the next five years, including setting up a second manufacturing unit near Mumbai. The first one is located in the suburb of Kandivali in Mumbai. In addition, the company plans to increase its store count by an additional 125 outlets in new markets. While some will be owned by the company, much of the stores will be led by franchisees, in keeping with existing strategy. We aim to double our average production of ice cream which is currently 15 tonnes (a day) and have already begun work on the same. For every five franchisee outlets, we will have one company-owned store, keeping costs down, he says. An average Naturals outlet takes Rs 50 lakh to build and the company will set aside Rs 13 crore for its own base of stores in new markets. The balance will be ploughed into its plants and for improving the supply chain. The company is also working on new flavours to add to its portfolio in a bid to woo millennials. These include ice creams made of exotic fruits such as kiwi and passion fruit. It is also looking to enter the kulfi segment and launch a range of ice creams inspired by Indian mithai shortly. Photographs: Kind couresy, Naturals via Twitter. President Maithripala Sirisena said today he opposed to forming a new national government with a party that has only one seat in parliament. He told the 71st Independence Day celebration in Colombo that it was not correct to form a national government just to give more ministerial portfolios. We should move away from the practice of concentrating on ones political camp and thinking of political aspirations, the President said. Last updated on: February 04, 2019 19:40 IST Most legal experts indicate the former ICICI Bank CEO will take the matter to court. Her contention will be she can't be fired and called guilty without proof. She may have been indicted by the probe panel, but if ICICI Bank's deposed former managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar takes the legal route, she will have several grounds to challenge the findings of an enquiry headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice B N Srikrishna. 'Chanda Kochhar was in violation of the ICICI Bank Code of Conduct, its framework for dealing with conflict of interest and fiduciary duties, and in terms of applicable Indian laws, rules and regulations,' a statement from the bank, citing the report, said. The bank terminated her service and decided on a 'claw-back' or to take back all bonuses given to her between April 2009 and March 2018, and also revoke other benefits and unexercised stock options. The committee investigated her role from April 2009, when she was named MD and CEO, to March 2018. The bank's board has said Kochhar 'ineffectively' dealt with 'conflict of interest and due disclosure or recusal requirements' while deciding on loans given to the Videocon group, in which her husband had a vested interest. Delhi-based counsel Percival Billimoria, who specialises in commercial matters, says first and foremost "she can challenge the decision in court because the panel is not a judicial body and the former banker has every right to defend herself and will be perfectly justified in doing so." The second matter is that the fundamental requirement of fairness is that due process must be followed before any person is found guilty or innocent, he added. Justice Srikrishna, who is overseas, declined to comment when contacted. Most legal experts indicate Kochhar will take the matter to court. Her contention will be she can't be fired and called guilty without proof. The bank has not shared the panel report with Kochhar. Billimoria acknowledges with such cases which involve high-profile personalities in an alleged position of conflict of interest leads to optics that are very difficult to manage. Even if it is ultimately shown that there is no substance to the allegations, no senior official should ever place herself or himself in such a position in the first place, he adds, saying that the report finds her guilty of breach of the bank's code of conduct, which is not the same thing as saying that she or her family profited from such conduct. Despite all that, "she needs to demonstrate innocence to the courts, and no one else", he says. A person familiar with the case draws attention to the fact that the bank board had issued a statement in March 2018 in support of Kochhar and that there was no question of any quid pro quo or nepotism/conflict of interest. The release went on to say the board had full confidence and had faith in Kochhar and commended the management team under her leadership. In May, the bank appointed Justice Srikrishna to conduct an independent enquiry after an anonymous whistle-blower complaint. In October, ICICI Bank issued another statement that the board had based the March clean chit on a law firm's enquiry report in 2016 when the allegations had first surfaced. It added the law firm had withdrawn the report, finding no evidence of nepotism and conflict of interest. Photograph: PTI Photo February 04, 2019 14:53 IST Many developers are facing financial challenges after the IL&FS defaults, after which non-banking finance companies - the major financiers to real estate firms - slowed disbursals. The governments move to relax taxes on notional rent on unsold ready inventory to two years is unlikely to help property developers much due to lower absorption of units and the liquidity crunch they are facing, analysts said. Many developers are facing financial challenges after the IL&FS defaults, after which non-banking finance companies - the major financiers to real estate firms - slowed disbursals. Given that the industry is reeling under the pressure of unsold inventory, the relaxation on notional rental income to two years is expected to provide marginal relief to developers who are already under stress, said Amish Mehta, chief operating officer at ratings and analytics firm CRISIL. CRISIL Research believes that though the number of unsold inventory remains moderate to high in the metros, the share of ready-to-move properties is small. Hence, the relaxation by an additional year will benefit only a section of developers, Mehta said. The countrys top 27 listed realty companies had an unsold inventory worth Rs 1.13 trillion in the September quarter, FY19, up 21 per cent from Rs 93,358 crore at the end of the March quarter. DLF, the largest listed developer, had an inventory of Rs 23,815 crore at end of September 2018 and Lodha Developers, the largest developer by sales, had an inventory of Rs 23,570 crore at the end of December 2017. According to Anarock Property Consultants, there are more than 6.73 million unsold units across the top seven cities. Increase in rollover capital gains benefit and exemption of levy on notional rent on a second self-occupied house is unlikely to have a material impact on new home sales, Mehta said. Gautam Chhaochharia and Tanvee Gupta Jain of global brokerage UBS said the announcement to relax taxes on unsold inventory gives developers more time to handle unsold ready inventory, though even the extended period could still be not enough for those developing luxury projects, as their demand is currently subdued. However, developers and fund managers have a different take on the issue. If absorption is weak, relaxation in taxes is always better, said Kamal Khetan, chairman and managing director at Mumbai-based Sunteck Realty. Amit Bhagat, chief executive of ASK Property Investment Advisors, said the measure will help developers. Developers will not be in a hurry to sell and give deep discounts. Their tax burden will reduce. Photograph: Reuters February 04, 2019 22:23 IST Vijay Mallya is accused of money laundering and violating the FEMA. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid ordered the extradition of Vijay Mallya who is wanted in India for alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crore. Following is the chronology of the case and its origin: May 9, 2005: United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL) Chairman Vijay Mallya's luxury airline - Kingfisher Airlines - starts commercial operations. 2013: A consortium of Indian banks led by State Bank of India approached United Breweries Holdings Ltd for the payback of a loan amounting to Rs 6,493 crore on behalf of Kingfisher Airlines. March 3, 2016: Mallya fled India and took refuge in London. February, 2017: India sent extradition request to UK. April 18, 2017: Scotland Yard arrests Mallya on an extradition warrant after he surrenders at a central London police station. He is released on bail within hours after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds. June 13, 2017: The first case management hearing takes place at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London in the extradition case. Mallya's bail is extended until December 2017, for the start of the extradition trial. July 6, 2017: Mallya appears for a hearing in the case despite an exemption from appearance in court. September 14, 2017: Another case management hearing in the case when Mallya's defence team informs the court of plans to depose six experts they intend to rely upon in their evidence. October 3, 2017: Mallya is re-arrested in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and is released on the same bail conditions, as the CBI and ED cases are clubbed together for the purposes of the extradition trial. November 20, 2017: A pre-trial hearing in the case takes note of additional "supplemental" charges of money laundering to the previous charges of fraud, amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crore. December 4, 2017: Mallya's extradition trial begins. December 5, 2017: Mallya's defence team lays out its counter-arguments, claiming there was no evidence to support the "nonsensical" case of fraud against their client. December 7, 2017: The hearing resumes with Mallya's defence claiming his offer to pay back nearly 80 per cent of the principle loan amount owed to the Indian banks, led by State Bank of India, had been rejected. December 11, 2017: Mallya's defence continues deposing its experts and tries to establish that the case against him is "politically motivated". December 12, 2017: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) takes Mallya's defence team's political expert to task, claiming that he had relied on flawed material to discredit Indian investigation agencies like the CBI and ED in his testimony. December 13, 2017: Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where Mallya is to be held on extradition, comes into focus as the defence seek to discredit its suitability through the witness statements of UK-based prison service expert Dr Alan Mitchell and the dismiss his claims. December 14, 2017: Both sides conclude the evidence stage of the trial, with the case moving into 2018 to complete all procedures. January 11, 2018: The hearing returns for the judge to hear arguments for and against the admissibility of certain evidence in the case. March 16, 2018: The judge notes that it is "blindingly obvious" to her that rules were being broken by Indian banks, which sanctioned some of the loans to the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines as the case returns for hearing. April 27, 2018: The CBI gets a boost as the judge confirms that the bulk of the evidence submitted by the Indian authorities in the extradition case will be deemed admissible. July 31, 2018: The court asks the Indian authorities to submit a video of Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai to allay all doubts over its suitability as the case edges towards conclusion. September 12, 2018: At the final hearing in the case, Mallya tells media outside the court that he met finance minister Arun Jaitley before he left India in March 2016. Jaitley instantly issues a statement to dismiss the comments as factually incorrect. December 10, 2018: Westminster Magistrates' Court judge ordered the extradition of Mallya. The UK Home Secretary will have to sign Mallya's extradition order within two months. However, Mallya's defence team has a chance to appeal in higher courts in the UK against the verdict. February 4, 2019: UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid orders Mallya's extradition to India. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters February 04, 2019 14:09 IST 'If she contests it, then these people will have to fight it in court.' Sachin P Mampatta reports. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com ICICI Bank's move to stop all unpaid retirement benefits and recover bonuses since 2009 from former CEO Chanda Kochhar for allegedly violating various regulations is a rare case where a top executive in the country is facing 'clawing back' of compensation. Though uncommon in India, there have been a slew of incidents of 'clawing back' of compensation in countries like the US and Denmark. For instance, US insurer United Health Group CEO and chairman William W McGuire had to face clawback provisions, which resulted in loss of compensation worth over $600 million in 2007. This followed an investigation into backdating of options. A September 2018 report on Denmark's largest bank Danske Bank talked of a clawback in compensation for CEO Thomas Borgen. The bank is alleged to have helped launder around $235 billion. Canada-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International had to battle former CFO Howard Schiller over the return of compensation of $26.1 million. There was a scandal after allegations of accounting fraud at the company. In the case of US-based financial services firm Wells Fargo, chairman and CEO John Stumpf had to return over $60 million in compensation. The bank had been involved in a scandal where staff is said to have opened fraudulent accounts in the names of customers. Top executives at the bank JP Morgan Chase returned over $100 million. This was following a rogue trader which cost the company $6 billion. Kochhar was accused of favouring the Videocon group which had business relations with her husband. An independent inquiry found that she was guilty of conflict of interest. This decision reversed an earlier move. J N Gupta, co-founder and managing director of corporate governance advisory Stakeholder Empowerment Services, said that the change in position of the board against Kochhar could also come into question. It had earlier given Kochhar a clean chit. "One cannot absolve the...board," he said. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India's own guidelines have talked about clawback provisions. 'A clawback is a contractual agreement between the employee and the bank in which the employee agrees to return previously paid or vested remuneration to the bank under certain circumstances,'according to the Reserve Bank's compensation guidelines of 2012. 'Banks may put in place appropriate modalities to incorporate the clawback mechanism in respect of variable pay, taking into account relevant statutory and regulatory stipulations as applicable,' added the RBI's compensation guidelines of 2012. ICICI Bank, too, has provisions for a clawback, according to a copy of its 2018 compensation policy available on its Web site. 'Employees will be required to sign clawback agreements for variable pay. In a clawback arrangement, the employee will agree to return, in case asked for, the previously paid variable pay to the bank in the event of an inquiry determining gross negligence or integrity breach, taking into account relevant regulatory stipulations,' it said. Amit Tandon, founder and managing director of Institutional Investor Advisory Services India, said there is limited precedent in India on enforcing clawback provisions. The modalities of such an action will be closely monitored. Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of proxy advisor InGovern Research Services, said companies will most likely make sure that agreements with professional chief executives become more watertight. People will want to make it easier to enforce such clawback if it is required, according to him. The current case will be closely watched for the precedent it sets, according to Shriram. "If she contests it, then these people will have to fight it in court," he said. "The general prevalence in India is to restrict the exercise of options during the time period where the inquiry for such 'cause' is taking place and in cases where the employee is adjudged guilty of 'cause' both the vested and unvested options lapse," said Gaurav Chaubey, director at consulting firm Grant Thornton Advisory.. "The treatment of the shares resulting from the exercise of options as well as any cash payed out due to equity-linked compensation plans can be clawed back along with a penalty if the provisions for the same exists in the...(compensation plan)...document." February 04, 2019 08:45 IST Brokerages put sell notice on Vedanta shares over the company's move to buy Volcan Investments' stake in Anglo American via subsidiary Cairn India Holdings, reports Aditi Divekar. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters Brokerages have asked investors to either sell or stay away from Vedanta shares following the company's move to buy Volcan Investments' stake in Anglo American via subsidiary Cairn India Holdings. "While we envisage better days for Vedanta operationally, we fail to find merit in its investment in Anglo American Plc," said Edelweiss Securities. On Friday, shares of Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta slipped 18 per cent to Rs 163 per share on the BSE. "Vedanta has its returns linked to share price movement of Anglo American, and Vedanta has no strategic interest in the promoter's investment in Anglo American. We fail to see merit in this investment arrangement for the company," said Kotak Institutional Equities in its report. Volcan Investments is a family trust of promoter Anil Agarwal. In December 2018, Vedanta paid Rs 1,431 crore to Volcan Investments towards the purchase of economic interest in structured investment in Anglo American Plc. It has also committed an additional Rs 20 billion to Volcan Investments as part of this structured investment, the company said in its earnings release Thursday. "Given that Vedanta has a net debt level of Rs 19,000 crore, even after accounting cash and investment balance of Hindustan Zinc Ltd, which is Rs 23,333 crore, Vedanta has transferred Rs 1,431 crore cash to the group company. This is a negative for Vedanta," said Sameer Kalra, equity research analyst at Target Investing. Post the transaction, Cairn India Holding does not have voting right in Anglo American Plc. The voting right remains with Volcan Investments (promoter group) and the funds might be used to buy further voting rights in Anglo American Plc. "We have a sell rating on Vedanta," said Kalra. Volcan Investments is a promoter entity that delisted Vedanta Resources from the London Stock Exchange. It holds a 97.2 per cent of the existing issued share capital of Vedanta Resources. "This move by Vedanta breaches investor trust. I will recommend investors to stay away from this stock," said a Mumbai-based analyst. Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world's leading diversified natural resource companies with business operations in India, South Africa, Namibia and Australia. "This is a related-party transaction wherein the value will move with the share price of Anglo American. Investors are now concerned about the future allocation of capital, especially from foreign subsidiaries," said Motilal Oswal in its report. The brokerage has downgraded Vedanta stock to sell. February 04, 2019 09:49 IST 'To bring about a paradigm shift in farmers's income, we need to change our approach to agriculture, and transit from the narrow prism of cultivation to a full-fledged enterprise, by building all associated supply chain linkages.' 'This alone will make the farmer an entrepreneur in his own right.' Photograph: Mahipal Soni/ Rediff.com IMAGE: Farm workers pack strawberries at a farm in a Madhya Pradesh village. After coming to power in 2014, one of the major promises of the Narendra Damodardas Modi government to farmers was to double their incomes by 2022-2023. A sharp fall in farm-gate prices the past few years has prompted critics to raise several doubts about the promise. Ashok Dalwai, chairman of the high-powered panel on Doubling Farmers Income, tells Sanjeeb Mukherjee that the target is achievable as there is huge potential to reduce wastage and create efficient markets. The panel has submitted its 14-volume report to the government. Critics have questioned the target set by the committee on Doubling Farmers Income, of achieving a CAGR of 10.4$ in farm incomes from 2016-2017 to 2022-2023 to double them in real terms. Given that three of the six years have already passed, how realistic do you think is the target? When some people consider the estimated CAGR of 10.4% for the nation as achievable, they are mostly seeing it from the perspective of historical growth rates of agricultural GDP. A rise in income is being forecast based on higher gross returns, better real prices of the output in the market and reduced cost of production. The committee is confident of achieving the targeted CAGR because there is huge potential to reduce the current food loss estimated at more than 10%, and to improve substantively market prices through an efficient market structure. How has the committee arrived at the figure of 10.4% growth in incomes? The committee has mathematically computed the CAGR at the national level, and also for all the states and UTs. The computation works out the income growth rates needed to double farmers' income by 2022 by adopting state-specific strategies. The committee has extrapolated farmers's income for 2015-2016, based on estimates of the National Sample Survey Organisation for agriculture year July 2012-June 2013. Since the timeframe for translating the government's vision of doubling farmers's income is 2016-2017 to 2022, the DFI Committee has held 2015-2016 as the base year and all data points for this year will form the benchmark for measuring growth and change by 2022. How realistic is the target of 2022-2023 given the existing circumstances? The committee began its work in April 2016 and was advised to submit recommendations parallel to its working on the final report. Budgets 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 clearly reflect this alignment. One can, therefore, be confident that when the incomes are measured in 2023-2024, the target would have been achieved. Farm-gate prices of most commodities have plummeted the past few years and growth of agriculture and allied activities has averaged less than 3%, fanning farmer protests in several states. In such a situation, farmer groups are questioning the committee's assessments and targets. What's your take? It is true that farm-gate prices in the past few years have been subdued. It may be appreciated that market prices are determined by demand-supply status of the commodities. As they say, success can be its own enemy, as manifest in surpluses in many of the agri-commodities causing mellowed market prices. The situation has been exacerbated unfortunately, by a weak global commodity market. The committee's estimates of income growth rates are supported by appropriate strategies along the entire agricultural value system, comprising pre-production, production and post-production segments. Transferring remunerative prices to farmers will always require an efficient market structure and farmer-friendly procurement system, considering that agriculture markets can never be perfect or near-perfect, and are subject to fluctuations. A recent Nabard report says the average Indian farming household earned Rs 8,931 a month during 2015-2016. This implies that between 2002-2003 and 2015-2016, real incomes have grown by just 3.7%. In such a situation how realistic is expecting a growth rate thrice the average in just next three years? Since farmers's income wasn't the core concern until now, the committee had to extrapolate NSSO sample survey-based estimates for agriculture year 2012-2013. This was only to suggest the context in which farmers's income grew at a slower pace, and much below its actual potential. As we have not had a system of estimating farmers's income at regular intervals, this measure is, in fact, one of the committee's recommendations. Now that the government is committed to doubling farmers' income vis-a-vis 2015-2016 status, it cannot be business as usual. We are now talking of a new strategy with focus on capturing the value of the produce at every single stage in the agricultural value system. Hence, the growth rate of incomes will have to pace up in the total value captured by farmers, and it is possible to realise this. The DFI committee's strategy is woven around the income centric principles. The committee also identified the sources of growth which include increase in crop productivity, increase in livestock productivity, resource use efficiency, increase in cropping intensity, diversification towards high value crops and improvement in real prices received by the farmers. The committee also says that to achieve that kind of income growth, an investment over Rs 6.4 trillion is needed, of which almost 80% will come from government's own resources. How does the government plan to mobilise such resources when the growth in investment has been 12.45% between 2000 and 2013? The DFI committee has actually assessed the investment as 'IN' Agriculture and 'FOR' agriculture, based on incremental capital output ratios (ICOR). The additional investment 'IN' agriculture is about Rs 78,000 crore (Rs 780 billion) and that 'FOR' agriculture is Rs 2.3 trillion. Cumulatively, the new investment required is Rs 3.1 trillion over the seven-year period from 2016-2017 to 2022-2023. The investment growth rate in case of 'FOR' agriculture is 16.8%, and, as you said, it was at 12.45% till 2013. The incremental 4% is easily achievable and the scaling up is already underway. This can be evidenced from the sharp rise in budgetary allocations of the ministry of agriculture which has more than doubled from Rs 25,460 crore (Rs 254.60 billion) in 2015-2016 to Rs 58,080 crore (Rs 580.80 billion) in 2018-2019. In the recent year, the budget for the ministry of food orocessing was also doubled. The projected growth rates in both private and public investments for capital formation in agriculture are realistic and achievable. The committee says farm investment in the case of individuals will come from providing them higher access to institutional credit (loans at concessional rates of interest) and inculcating in them the habit of savings and investment. A special drive needs to elicit higher participation by the private sector. What kind of policy instruments need to be taken for these? In case of private investment 'IN' agriculture, the growth rate has been 9.15% between 2002-2012 and looking ahead, a growth rate of 12.5% is needed. Here, investments have mainly been by the farmers themselves, with very little participation from the private corporate sector. In the case of farmers, in the last few years disbursal of farm credit has outstripped targets and the volume of institutional credit has risen from Rs 8 trillion in 2014-2015 to Rs 11 trillion in 2018-2019. A higher outlay for credit can further enable the farmers with subvented credit. Another recommendation of the committee was to extend such institutional credit beyond crops and the release of Kisan Credit Card to fishers as farmers is a result. In addition, easy access to post-harvest credit or loans against pledged produce is being promoted. Importantly, increased investment by corporates in agriculture is desirable as it is also expected to support much desired capital use efficiencies. As of now, it is only around 2%. The classifying of post-harvest activities and cold-chain under agriculture for private sector lending, and the dispensing of the distinction between direct and indirect agriculture, are steps carried out by the RBI towards this end. The committee says institutional mechanism is recommended for formulating a long-term Agricultural Trade Policy. The government recently came out with a farm export policy, but keeps the option of curbing import and export of essential commodities. Doesn't this action go against the very grain of what the committee has said? The committee views the recently released -- the first ever Agriculture Trade Policy -- as a step in the right direction. It is expected that other suggestions of the DFI committee in this regard will also be adopted in due course. The DFI committee has suggested an institutional mechanism for recommending import-export duty structure keeping in mind the interests of farmers, while simultaneously taking care of the consumers's interest. It is not necessary that the option of tweaking export-import duties or imposing quantitative restrictions is anti-thetical to a facilitative export policy. In any economy, the interest of both producers and consumers will need to be balanced, and no country can be wholly self-sufficient in respect of every commodity. The committee has suggested lot of structural changes in the farm sector, including putting 'agriculture marketing' in the concurrent list. But states have strongly opposed the idea. What is the basic premise of the idea and how feasible is it given states' opposition? Has there been any progress on this recommendation? Yes, to bring about a paradigm shift in farmers's income, we need to change our approach to agriculture, and transit from the narrow prism of cultivation to a full-fledged enterprise, by building all associated supply chain linkages. This alone will make the farmer an entrepreneur in his own right. Further, allowing access to a one-India market is critical in this scheme. The DFI panel has worked in partnership with state governments, and at no stage have we found the states opposed to the idea of market expansion. In fact, the trend suggests that more states are on-boarding on e-NAM, GST now networks across the country, inter-state traffic has improved and the concept of one-India, one-Market is gaining ground. The logic is simple. What steps is the government now taking to implement the committee's recommendations? Has there been any forward movement on the reports? Following the submission of the committee's final report, the government has set up an empowered body with representatives from official and non-official circles to supervise, guide and handhold the implementation across the country. The empowered body also has farmers's leaders and a member of Parliament as its members. The body is also supported by the National Institute of Agriculture Economics and Policy Research to provide technical support to carry out its work. Specific terms of reference have been assigned to this body such as advocacy, orientation, drafting of required Acts, rules and guidelines, besides supervision and monitoring. Implementation is certainly on track, and moving at the right pace. Many experts suggest dovetailing Direct Benefit Transfer with the reduction in subsidies, in order to sustain benefits for farmers. Is this a feasible idea? It is no gain saying that rights and entitlements available to farmers from governments and credit institutions can be better targeted by adopting the IT-based direct benefit transfer platform. This approach will bring in transparency, timely and accurate delivery, and cost effectiveness and contribute to realisation of the intended spirit. In fact, various initiatives at both national and state levels with DBT have demonstrated their efficiency, bringing gains to both the targeted beneficiaries and governments. Critics say recommendations made by the committee like a model land leasing law, a new model APMC act and model contract low are within the states's domain. What is being done to ensure state governments take up these reforms in right earnest? The truth is that agriculture is a state subject under the provisions of the Constitution. The major responsibility for effecting change will hence rest with the state governments. We have seen a lot of progress in case of the Model APLM Act 2017. Many states have begun to discuss the Model Contract Farming & Services Act. There is positive response to promoting Gramin Agriculture Markets. Large number of states have also on-boarded the e-NAM platform. The participatory approach is encouraging. January 31, 2019 09:00 IST Woefully inadequate infrastructure is just one of the many reasons why a case is not settled within 180 days and even 270 days as envisaged by the law, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay. Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com In August 2016, the chief executive officer of a large bank celebrated the arrival of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the new bankruptcy law of India. The jubilant boss of the bank, laden with a mound of bad assets, asked one of his colleagues how many days it would take to settle a bad loan under the new law. The bankers response was 1,800 days, 10 times the law actually stipulated! Needless to say that this cynicism was not appreciated. By now, looking at the progress of the single-window insolvency and bankruptcy resolution process which is expected to minimise the cost and time for liquidation and resolution of bad assets, the (now retired) CEO must have changed his opinion and renamed his colleague Cassandra. Under the new law, ICICI Bank filed the first case against a steel products maker which had Rs 955 crore debt in September 2016. Since then, at least 10,000 cases have been filed but there are just 13 benches of the National Company Law Tribunal to hear such cases. Any default above Rs 100,000 can be dragged to NCLT by financial creditors, operational creditors and even the corporate borrowers. Woefully inadequate infrastructure is just one of the many reasons why a case is not settled within 180 days and even 270 days as envisaged by the law. Meanwhile, 28 defaulters against which bankers moved the insolvency court in December at the instance of the Reserve Bank of India have been celebrating the first anniversary. Forget settlement, not all the cases have even been admitted at the NCLT. The RBI in June 2017 listed 12 defaulters against whom it had wanted immediate bankruptcy proceedings to be invoked. This was followed by another list of 28 defaulters in August 2017. Together, the two sets account for around 50 per cent of the Rs 10 trillion bad debt in the Indian banking system. Recently, during a court hearing, an interesting observation was made in relation to a case where the defaulter moved the court. When do we give capital punishment to someone? For a premeditated murder -- a heinous crime. Often a contract killer does this just for money. "If the person is hanged what happens to his family -- his innocent wife and school-going children who are not even aware of the crime? "Should we treat them as outcast or rehabilitate them? Can business failure be treated as more heinous than a murder? These cases will continue to be heard at the courts but such an observation gives a new dimension to the law which, through an amendment, prohibits relations of a bank defaulter from bidding for such assets. We can expect the process of fine-tuning the law to continue for the time being. Once a defaulter is identified, a committee of the creditors appoints a resolution professional (RP) to supervise the case. In the next stage, the information memorandum is prepared and the so-called expression of interest is sought from the prospective bidders. After checking the eligibility of the bidders and evaluating the bids, the CoC goes to NCLT. Typically, the CoC always gives priority to the interest of the lenders over the operational creditors, such as suppliers of capital goods, original equipment manufacturers, maintenance vendors and others. A company going for liquidation is fine but when the plan is to sell it as a going concern with resources to continue operations, the interest of the operational creditors has to be taken care of. Otherwise, the assets will become junk -- and thats what has been happening in many cases. Recently, the Supreme Court reserved its judgment in petitions moved by operational creditors challenging the validity of the IBC, and alleging that discriminatory treatment was given to a certain class of operational creditors and the law was protecting the rights of only financial creditors. For a power plant, the moment the liquidation process is invoked, the power purchase agreement and fuel supply pact lose their validity and in their absence no bidder will come forward. While Indian insolvency law is more aggressive than most developed markets, unlike in the US and some other countries here the law does not have any scope for preservation of the assets. This means once the bankers move against, say, a steel defaulter, the machinery of the factory may disappear with no security guard in sight. Besides, the RP enjoys no immunity. Recently, the police filed an FIR against an RP who was overseeing the insolvency proceedings of a company in West Bengal which had not deposited the provident fund of its employees with the authorities. Finally, no one knows when the bidding process for an asset up for sale ends as even the losers can make fresh bids and new bidders can join the fray. Allowing new bids after sealing the process helps the price discovery but it leads to inordinate delays and kills the sanctity of the process. The judiciary seems to be in favour of value maximisation than early resolution. Also, at least one successful bidder for more than one asset has not been able to put money on the table! The Cassandra recently told me that IBC is just marginally better that DRTs (debt recovery tribunals) set up after the passing of Recovery of Debts due to the Banks and Financial Institutions Act (RDBBFI) 1993 which miserably failed to resolve the bad debt disputes. Around 100,000 cases have been pending at three dozens-odd DRTs across India. A World Bank estimate says the old law used to take an average of 4.3 years to resolve insolvency and recovery was 25.7 cents for every dollar. The first instance of a defaulter being dragged to a DRT -- Mardia Chemicals Ltd -- is a classic case study illustrating how helpless the lenders are. IBC is emerging as an ideal tool to threaten the defaulters and bring them to the discussion table. If the lenders want to use it, the wait could only get longer unless the loopholes are plugged and the defaulters denied the normal legal course. Of course, if the defaulters are not allowed to move courts, the IBC runs the risk of being dubbed as draconian. Tamal Bandyopadhyay, a consulting editor with Business Standard, is an author and senior adviser to Jana Small Finance Bank Ltd. February 01, 2019 10:21 IST Those behind recapitalisation are neither aware nor do they care. After all, they have no skin in this game. And the Lok Sabha elections are round the corner. That's what they care about, points out Debashis Basu. As it has done with most problems inherited from the Congress-led government, the National Democratic Alliance has tried to find a quick fix for the vast problem afflicting public sector banks (PSBs). As part of that same ad hoc fix, the finance ministry plans to inject Rs 410 billion of fresh capital into ailing PSBs this fiscal year. This, said the then finance minister, will allow five PSBs to exit the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework, which has restricted their lending capacity drastically and forced them to cut the concentration of loans in certain sectors. Then finance minister Arun Jaitley said: 'The recognition of NPAs, a process that started in 2015, is almost complete.' Rajiv Kumar, secretary, department of financial services, claimed: 'PSBs are showing tremendous improvements in terms of recognition, provisioning, recovery and reforms. Therefore, this is the time we empower them and equip them with capital so that banks are ready to support the growth of the fastest-growing economy.' The question is: Will more capital change anything? If you look at the performance of PSBs over the decades, it is clear that they have been beset by four problems: Businessmen use political clout to extract loans, which go bad. The government of the day uses PSBs to run various pet 'schemes', which drain their resources, including disguised 'loan melas', where the loans are given without any enforceable collateral. At any time, many PSBs remain headless. At any time, 8 to 10 banks were without chairman and executive director. Even the Banks Board Bureau, whose job is to recommend the right people to head banks, has been a lame duck. Even the Banks Board Bureau, whose job is to recommend the right people to head banks, has been a lame duck. There is no in-built system of rewards and punishment. Indeed, chairmen responsible for humungous bad loans have moved on to plum positions in the government and private sector. Note that this government is not talking of making any changes to these four ills that have destroyed PSBs. All talk is only about escaping PCA so that they can start lending again. The only focus is how the increased capital will make balance sheets look better and reduce the NPA to capital ratio, which can be triumphantly displayed as an achievement. Every government has done the same thing in the past; this one, despite all the nationalist rhetoric and invoking 70 years of misrule, has turned out to be no different. Between 2008-2009 and 2016-2017, various governments injected Rs 1.1 trillion of taxpayers's money into PSBs. This was pure dole. The money was not linked to any performance improvements which would have been the most obvious thing to insist upon. Why wasn't it done? For the obvious reason that all politicians want to misuse PSBs for their own purposes, which is a toxic mix of populist ideas and crony capitalism. Under the former they do loan waivers and loan melas. Under crony capitalism they direct banks to fund large dubious business ventures, which turn into NPAs. How big is the mess of bad loans? Not less than Rs 10 trillion, for which no politician or bank chairman has been held accountable or taken to task. Recapitalising banks without any framework of carrots and sticks, as is being done, will perpetuate this theft of public money. Congress President Rahul Gandhi got a lot of flak for announcing loan waivers in the three states where the Congress recently came back to power. He has been criticised for being the kind of populist who kept India in poverty for decades, an 'economic saboteur', if you will. Loan waivers hurt the PSBs and set a bad example. But the bigger picture is that all politicians want PSBs continue to function exactly as they have all these years. Force them to lend and lend badly and inflict bad loans on them. There is no accountability of bank chairmen, the board of directors handpicked by the netas, secretaries, regulators... Nobody wants to make them efficient enterprises, operating at arm's length from netas and babus. Don't forget one of the first acts of the Modi government was to 'revive' 23 unlicensed district central cooperative banks in four states, 16 of them in Uttar Pradesh. Yes, unlicensed! Under the regulations, they should have been shut down. What kind of signal came from that scandalous move? The real intent behind the recapitalisation move is to get PSBs to start lending like before. But there is a small irony here. The whole lending landscape has changed rapidly in the past five years. Lending is now dominated by small banks and finance companies. There was a time when with more capital PSBs could 'support growth of the fastest growing economy', as Rajiv Kumar fondly hopes. But times have changed. Even recapitalised PSBs will lose ground to private banks and finance companies. Those behind recapitalisation are neither aware nor do they care. After all, they have no skin in this game. And the Lok Sabha elections are round the corner. That's what they care about. Debashis Basu is the editor of www.moneylife.in January 29, 2019 10:52 IST China has consistently spent more than 2% of GDP on R&D while India's expenditure on R&D has stagnated around 0.7% of GDP. Can our government shore up resources so that we hit the R&D expenditure target of 2% of GDP set out by the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy of 2013, asks Chidambaran G Iyer, Senior Fellow, Pahle India Foundation. Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters The importance of research and development (R&D) in the industrialised world needs no emphasis. We owe our modern lifestyle to the toils of the scientists and engineers who made all the technology advancements possible. Many of the technologies that are now an inseparable part of our lives were the outcome of a Government supported R&D programme. Modern States understand this and hence have generously supported R&D in science and technology, India being no exception. To safeguard the work done in such programmes, intellectual property rights were defined so that there is incentive to carry on such work. Patent is one such IPR. In the Indian context, our R&D expenditure has increased from being just under Rs 5,000 crores in 1990-1991 to Rs 85,326 crores in 2014-2015. As per the World Intellectual Property Organization, resident patent applications filed at the Indian patent office, increased from 1,267 in 1991 to 14,961 in 2017. Corresponding non-resident patent applications increased from 2328 to 31621. Thus, though our investment in R&D has resulted in increase in our IPR, we clearly have to speed up to match the non-resident patent application pace. Incidentally, one of the sub-parameters of the recently released Global Innovation Index 2018 also points out to this need to catch up. This sub-parameter which measures the number of resident patent applications filed at a given national or regional patent office (per billion PPP$ GDP), ranks India at 55. From 2011 till 2018, India's rank in this sub-parameter has hovered from a high of 52 (achieved in 2014) to a low of 55 (achieved in 2012, 2013, and 2018). It must be mentioned here that the resident patent applications filed at the Indian patent office, increased from 8,841 in 2011 to 14,961 in 2017, an increase of almost 70%, but our ranking remained almost the same. What these numbers clearly point out is that given our size of GDP in PPP terms, we are consistently below the top 50 nations when it comes to filing resident patent applications. To give some perspective, lets us look at the numbers of China; resident patent applications filed at the Chinese patent office, increased from 7,372 in 1991 to almost 1.2 million in 2017, while corresponding non-resident patent applications increased from 4,051 to 0.13 million. In the sub-parameter mentioned above, China ranked 3 in 2011 and since then has ranked 1. It is very clear that with respect to resident patent applications, China has been able to set the pace, which others have been trying to match. One of the reasons for India's lacklustre performance has been less spending on R&D as a proportion of GDP. It may be surprising to note that from 1996 to 1998, as a per cent of GDP, India spent more than China on R&D. However, after 1999, China has never looked back, and from 2013 till 2016 has consistently spent more than 2% of its GDP on R&D, while India's expenditure on R&D has stagnated around 0.7% of GDP. In the Indian context, the major contributor to R&D expenditure has been the government. From a high share of 75% in 1990-1991, the government gradually reduced its share to a low of 54.8% in 2012-2013. In order to compensate for this, as well as incentivise private sector R&D, the government in April 2010 introduced a weighted tax deduction of 200% on company expenditure on in house R&D. However, before one could the see effects of this policy on the ground, the government reduced the tax deduction to 150% from 2017 onwards, and to 100% from 2020 onwards. This reduction in tax deduction will in no way accelerate private sector R&D. With the private sector ruled out, the onus of catch up is now on the government. Can our government shore up resources so that we hit the R&D expenditure target of 2% of GDP set out by the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy of 2013? This will at least keep alive the nation's hope of catching the technology bus, which is already out of the station. Agitation against citizenship bill Facing stiff opposition in the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) of the Indian parliament, where it does not have a majority, the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has all but given up its bid to pass two politically- motivated,Hindutva-driven Bills. These are, the Triple Talaq Bill and the Citizenship Amendment Bill. The BJP government had touted the Triple Talaq Bill as protection for Muslim women from arbitrary divorce. As per Indian Muslim tradition, a husband could divorce his wife merely by repeating the word Talaq (divorce) thrice. The Modi-led, radical Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hoped that the abolition of the Triple Talaq system would get the votes of Muslim women in a situation in which the party was seen as being rapidly anti-Muslim. The Triple Talaq Bill was passed in the Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) because the NDA had an overwhelming majority there. But it got stalled in the Rajya Sabha where the NDA had no majority though it was the single-largest entity. Opposition forces Modi to retreat on two politically motivated communal bills Objections To Talaq Bill The oppositions objection to the Triple Talaq Bill was based on five grounds: (1) The Bill sought to criminalize the civil act of divorce. It prescribed immediate arrest of the offending husband and incarceration for three years if found guilty. (2) It was discriminatory in as much as divorcing a wife was criminal only in the case of Muslims when men of other faiths could divorce with impunity. (3) The impossibility of a husband providing adequate maintenance to a divorced wife and children if he was in prison. (4) It was a ploy, not so much to get Muslim womens votes, which the BJP would not get anyway, but to win the votes of the majority Hindus who routinely criticized the Muslims for their medieval socio-religious practices. (5) The Muslim parties felt that the Bill was an unwarranted interference in their traditional social practices and a gross violation of their constitutional right to religious freedom and equality. Citizenship Amendment Bill Like the Triple Talaq Bill, the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha but ran into trouble in the Rajya Sabha. There was stiff opposition in the Rajya Sabha and also outside, in the eastern States of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland. The Bill sought to make illegal non-Muslim immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, eligible for Indian citizenship. The governments plea was that these communities were discriminated against in those Islamic countries. Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees The proposed amendment also placed at a disadvantage illegal immigrants who might have fled from countries like Sri Lanka, Tibet and Myanmar because of persecution. More than a 100,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees have been living in India (30% in government run camps) since 1983. But these are still barred from taking Indian citizenship. Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who had fled from Myanmar would be disadvantaged. Like the Triple Talaq Bill, the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha but ran into trouble in the Rajya Sabha. Overseas Citizen of India The Bill also sought to amend the rules relating to the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI). It said that the OCI (who are drawn from people of Indian origin living overseas) could lose their citizenship if they broke any Indian law. It was pointed out that in the absence of the listing of Indian laws which could not be violated, a person could lose his OCI even for a traffic violation! Drawbacks of the Citizenship Bill The BJP-led governments communal attitude was reflected in the Citizenship Bill. Its plan was to get the Hindu migrants votes and also win the plaudits and votes of the Hindus all over India. Building up antagonism towards the Muslims and marginalizing them in as many ways as possible, have been the cornerstones of the BJPs Hindutva-based political project. But keeping the Muslims and Jews out was antithetical to the concept of secularism espoused in the Indian Constitution and was a violation of Art 14 which guarantees equality. It was also pointed out that persecuted Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh like writer Taslima Nasrin could be ousted from India as a result of this Bill. Nullifies Assam Accord The Bill sparked large-scale protests in Assam and other States in Eastern India which had been facing the problem of illegal immigration of all communities from Bangladesh. The Bill nullified the Assam Accord of 1985 which said that foreign nationals would be identified and expelled from Assam irrespective of religion. Besides, the current updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam would be rendered meaningless if a section of illegal migrants were granted citizenship on the grounds that they were Hindus or Buddhists.It was pointed out that a good section of the 4 million illegal migrants from Bangladesh, identified when NRC was being prepared, were Hindus and Buddhists. Over 70 organizations from Assam and the North East went to the Supreme Court against the Bill. Top leaders from Assam and other eastern States met the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and appealed to him to call off the Bill. Singh appeared to be sympathetic said the Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma. Postponement Meanwhile, it is learnt that the top leaders of the BJP government have decided not to proceed with the Triple Talaq and the Citizenship Bills in the Rajya Sabha for now because of a lack of majority there. The Bills may be revived only if the BJP-led NDA wins the Indian parliamentary elections in May this year. De Facto Operation Though the Citizenship Amendment Bill is yet to become law, its provisions are being implemented through an Ordinance and other administrative instruments. In September 2015, the government, through an executive order, exempted non-Muslim illegal migrants from the three countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh) from the operation of the Foreigners Act of 1946. This provided immunity to this class of migrants from any adverse action by the state due to illegal entry and stay. In October 2018, the Ministry of Home Affairs notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2018, making it mandatory for a person applying for Indian citizenship to declare his or her religion. On 23 October 2018, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a directive that provided a separate and accelerated process for non-Muslim legal migrants from the three countries to get citizenship. Athens, GA (30605) Today Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 71F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 71F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Last Thursday, South Dakota's new governor Kristi Noem (R) signed SB 47 into law. The bill, among other things, repealed the licensing requirement to carry a concealed firearm. Under the new law, which takes effect July 1, 2019, individuals no longer need to obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm in South Dakota. Governor Noem's signature on the legislation was not surprising given her campaign platform and prior accomplishments. On her website, then gubernatorial candidate Noem documented her protection of the Second Amendment under her 4 Pillars of Protection. She also listed leading the U.S. House of Representatives in passing national right-to-carry legislation under her accomplishments (the bill ultimately died in the Senate due to that chamber's inaction). However, the change in the law is only restricted to those who would have been lawfully able to obtain a concealed carry permit under the old statutory regime. Individuals who are prohibited under federal or state law are not able to lawfully carry a concealed firearm. South Dakota residents are still able to obtain a permit, should they choose to, in order to carry in another state that offers reciprocity and requires an individual obtain a permit in their home state. In addition to amending the existing law, the bill also added two new provisions. The first prevents a person from carrying a concealed pistol in any licensed establishment that sells malt liquor or alcoholic beverages and derives more than half of its income from the sale of malt liquor or alcohol. The second provision prevents a person who is under the age of 18 from carrying a concealed pistol unless they are in the presence of their parent or guardian. The Argus Leader reports that there is another bill currently under consideration which would restrict permitless carry to South Dakota residents only. No action has been taken on that bill at this time. The NRA commended the actions of South Dakota's governor and legislature by calling the law a common sense measure that allows law-abiding South Dakotans to exercise their fundamental right to self-protection in the manner that best suits their needs. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Adam Kraut is a firearms law attorney practicing in southeastern PA and across the country federally. He hosts The Legal Brief, a show dedicated to crushing the various myths and misinformation around various areas of the gun world and The Gun Collective Podcast. He was also the general manager of a gun store in the suburbs of Philadelphia. There are performance gaps among many of today's rifle cartridges, not obvious to most of us, that beg to be filled. The 300 PRC fills that gap. The .300 Winchester Magnum is perhaps the most beloved hunting rifle cartridge in America. Its also the current choice among military snipers. Its popularity is based on its ability to shoot flat, reach far, and hit hard. Its not without faults, though. That's where the 300 PRC comes in. And, when Hornady Manufacturings ballisticians took a close look at the .300 Win. Mag and its .30-caliber magnum shelf mates, it saw an opportunity to combine the best features of the lot into a single, modern cartridge and chamber design that was missing. CONSIDERATIONS Hornady ballistician Jayden Quinlen explains the considerations Hornady took into account when deciding how to build its new .30-caliber magnum. There has not been a SAAMI standardized, factory-produced cartridge that combines all of the attributes needed for long-range accuracy, says Quinlen. Namely, he points to the need for a cartridge that has a standard, magnum bolt face that properly seats modern, long-range and traditional projectiles outside the case body, provides optimized body taper, shoulder angle, neck length and has a deliberate throat clearance in the chamber. Further, it was important to design the case that accommodates propellants best suited to long-range shooting and also maximizing barrel life. Well touch on each of these attributes below. The first attribute, staying with a standard bolt face, is the easiest to explain, as it means switching to 300 PRC is a matter of rebarreling an existing action, rather than buying a whole new gun. DITCH THE BELT Building a cartridge and chamber designed for precision means giving up the belted magnum concept thats used in the .300 Win. Mag. Originally developed from the 375 H&H Magnum, which has narrower shoulders than a Portland hipster, it was an OK solution in its day, but headspacing a cartridge from the belt leaves as much as 0.009 inch of room for error in pushing the business end of the round into the chamber throat. The belt rebate in the chamber wall also leaves room for slop as the bullet enters the chamber, allowing the bullet to wander a bit before seating, which introduces the possibility of the bullet to enter the rifling ever-so-slightly offcenter. And, a ten-thousandth of an inch, or degree, as the bullet begins engraving in the rifling is magnified massively at 1,500 yards once the forces of wind, gyroscopic stability, and gravity have their way with it. ON THE 300 PRC CASE Case geometry is a complex topic, but well keep it simple and only look at the cartridge taper from the base to the shoulder. Less taper equals more case volume for propellant, but more difficult extraction. More taper means the bullet has to move higher as it progresses under gravity through the chamber and into the throat. The more bullet rise, as well call it, the less precisely the loaded bullet enters the throat. Combine this with a loose throat dimension and theres a good chance that bullet is going to enter the lands slightly off-axis. Modern, long-range bullets are heavier and have longer, more aerodynamic bodies than traditional bullets. Seating them in a case in a way that holds them securely sometimes means shoving them down into the powder column. Compressing a powder charge changes the way it burns and causes inconsistent pressures. And, we know consistency is the basis of precision, so dropping or gaining a few feet per second at the muzzle leads to a change in a bullets elevation that grows the farther it travels On the opposite end of seating depth is cartridge head height. This is the amount of room a cartridge occupies, outside of the case. To accommodate long, modern bullets as well as traditional bullet designs requires a longer cartridge length that allows the bullet to be seated out of the case body and a chamber design with a throat that does the same. The cartridge capacity must also be designed, says Quinlen, with specific, long-range propellants in mind to prevent voids between the bullet base and the powder. We want the case to be 100-percent full of the optimum powder to give pressures that make full use of the operating envelope. Factory loaded ammo is plentiful in the shorter, lighter bullet range, but ammo manufacturers often shy away from producing ammo for modern long-range projectiles because, too often, the best performance comes from ammunition loaded outside of SAAMI specifications and doing so would likely see manufacturers placing the profit from such loads directly into its litigation fund THAT BARREL LIFE Snipers working at 2,000 yards with only a shot or two to make a hit track barrel life meticulously and hate cleaning their barrels for fear of causing a point of impact shift, let alone rebarreling a rifle. So, Hornady smartly placed barrel life prominently on its list of considerations. So, the question we face is whether theres already a cartridge on the market that answers the long-range call as weve outlined. Lets look at a few of the contenders Hornadys taking on with its .300 PRC, namely the .300 Winchester Magnum, .300 Remington Ultra Magnum, .300 Norma Magnum, and .30 Nosler. 300 WIN MAG VS 300 PRC The .300 Winchester Magnum is redlined right off the bat, thanks to its belted case. Add to that the chambers maximum 0.315-inch throat diameter, and youre adding the hot dog down a hallway effect that makes it hard to get the .308-inch bullet to enter the rifling at a consistent angle, as Quinlen explains it. Also, the .300 Win. Mag. suffers from a short combined overall cartridge length. Long bullets seat deeply, which isnt good for precision. Propellant selection is good for traditional bullets, up to about 200 grains. There are plenty of powders thatll give good case fill and consistent velocities using smaller bullets. Moving up past 200-grain projectiles, though, limits the number of powders thatll work well with bigger projectiles. Barrel life, by all accounts is good for this caliber, as its generally burning around 70 grains of powder. Not a scorcher. 300 RUM VS 300 PRC The .300 Remington Ultra Magnum uses a rebated case rim which generally blows, since it sacrifices case head surface area and reliable extraction in an effort to match a larger case with a standard-sized bolt face. The .300 RUM has a much longer cartridge length than .300 Win. Mag., but the case itself is so long that big bullets dip as deeply into the powder stack as they do in the .300 Win. Mags. The case capacity is huge, but there arent a lot of powders thatll take up that much room and burn well. On the plus side, the throat 0.3091 diameter is much tighter than .300 Win. Mag., and theres far less chance of the bullet tilting into the rifling. Barrel life suffers from the large amount of powder the RUM burns, typically 95 to 100 grains. 300 NORMA MAG VS 300 PRC The .300 Norma Magnum is growing in popularity despite a few downsides. One, its not a SAAMI-approved cartridge, though its CIP approved. (CIP is the European equivalent of SAAMI.) Two, it uses a non-standard in the U.S., Lapua-sized bolt face, which limits the number of actions that it can be chambered in. Three, its got a lot of case taper. As we explained earlier, this can cause inconsistent presentation of the bullet to the rifling based on headspace variations. Tighter headspace means the bullet is centered. Looser headspace will leave the bullet a skosh low in the throat. Norma gives up ground when it comes to case capacity. Theres a ton of room in there, and its impossible to fill it all up. This makes the cartridge sensitive to the rifles orientation when firing. Barrel life is similar to the RUM, burning 85 to 95 grains of powder. 30 NOSLER 30 Nosler is the latest comer cruising for wallflowers at the .30-cal prom. It comes in with a standard magnum bolt face, a non-belted case, more case capacity, and a tighter throat than the .300 Magnum. But its hamstrung by its overall length, forcing those longer bullets down into the powder column. It sips powder, so barrel life is solid. 300 PRC Refinements As you may have already guessed, Hornady took in the pitfalls of the preceding cartridges and addressed each one of them with the 300 PRC. Right down the list, its got a standard bolt face, a 3.70 cartridge overall length that allows seating the bullet way out of the case, a case overall length of 2.580 that leaves 1.120 inches of head height to a fit longer bullets while meeting the COAL requirements. The throat is a tight 0.3088. The case was specifically designed to fit long 200- to 225-grain bullets with the ideal amount of temperature stable powders, such as Retumbo and Reloader 26, while still working well with shorter, lighter bullets using 4831 and Reloader 23. Burning 75 to 80 grains of powder should equate to average barrel life. Heck, the only downside of 300 PRC at the moment is Hornady is the only one loading it. But the ammo its producing is high performance 212-grain hunting and 225-grain match cartridges. ON THE RANGE We had a chance to shoot both the 300 PRC 225-grain ELD-Match and 212-grain ELD-X hunting ammo in their natural habitats. We smoked steel out to 2,000 yards with the ELD-Ms using a half-minute GA Precision Templar rifle in Texas and then filled the freezer with an ELD-X that provided a clean kill of a bull elk in Montana at 350 yards with a rifle from Remingtons custom shop. The true eff, yeah! moment for us was hearing the ding on steel after hitting an 18-inch steel plate at 2,000 yards using dope from Hornadys 4DOF ballistic solver, .300 PRC ELD-M loads, and what had to be a heavy helping of luck. Even though the cartridge made its SAAMI debut a couple months ago, the 300 PRC cartridge was seeing chamber time as far back as 2010 when it was designed by one of the Hornady guys who came up with 6.5 Creedmoor, Joe Thielen. It was first used as a benchrest cartridge, but word of its merits traveled and it eventually caught the attention of a group of cool kids in the U.S. military. That interest, no doubt, fueled work on the cartridge and ushered its commercial release along with Hornadys December 2018 announcement that 300 PRC was tested and selected by the Department of Defense for its extended long range sniper program They went on to say the cartridge outperformed the .300 Norma Magnum as well as several other cartridges in testing past 2,000 yards. That last bit tells us even if Hornady is currently the only company loading 300 PRC at the moment; therell be more. Lots more. Visit www.hornady.com This article originally appeared in RECOIL Issue 41 Corey Graff contributed to this article. Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! Sri Lanka today celebrated its 71st Independence Day at the Galle Face Green commemorating its independence from British rule on February 04, 1948. The event was held under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and several other dignitaries. Pix by Pradeep Dilrukshana , We're sorry, this article is not currently available Property details: 1 acre Many homes around Easily accessible from Hwy 40 For Information on this parcel: Enter owner number R0014822 in Torrance County Assessor Website search box http://portico.mygisonline.com/html5/?viewer=torrancenm.bv1-p1 You are bidding on the full price. NO RESERVE We charge no ($0.00) document fees. No hidden charges. BUY OUR LAND WITH CONFIDENCE WE GUARANTEE CLEAR TITLE OR YOUR MONEY BACK ALL PROPERTIES SOLD WITH A WARRNTY DEED Great Investment opportunity to own New Mexico Ranch Land at ... Price: $ 495 State/Province: New Mexico Seller State of Residence: New York City: Albuquerque Type: Homesite, Lot Location: 101**, New York, New York You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Homesite, Lot One of the more foolish things the government of the United States does is invite senior members of the national intelligence community to testify publicly before Congress in a so-called unclassified worldwide threat assessment. It is foolish for the simple reason that information, like money, is fungible. Once shared it cannot be contained for one purpose only. The idea that the possessors of classified intelligence can disclose unclassified intelligence without reference to that classified material is naive, which not surprisingly is also the word that President Trump used to describe his intelligence chiefs following their appearance before a Senate committee last week. In their testimony, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, FBI Director Chris Wray and CIA Director Gina Haspel went out of their way to undercut the presidents policies on Iran, Russia, China, North Korea and Afghanistan, which are among the most important foreign hotspots. Who exactly does that benefit? Certainly not the president whom they serve. The takeaway, according to the headline atop a Washington Times report, was that the Intelligence chiefs threat assessment refutes Trump assertions. You would probably get similar headlines from almost every news organization, but as a former copy editor, let me begin with a correction. To refute is to prove something wrong. That didnt happen. What we got was not evidence that President Trump is wrong, but rather opinions that disagreed with his. Of course, it is not surprising that the national media dont know the difference. Most of the media elites believe that whenever they open their mouth, they have disproven Trump by fiat. Numquam Trumpus. It is unfortunate that members of the presidents own administration believe the same thing, but it is by their words and actions that we have fortuitously come to realize there is something called the Deep State an establishmentarian clique of permanent bureaucrats who run the government to promote the interests of themselves and their allies rather than the American people. Therefore, when Director Coats publicly disagreed with the president he serves, it behooves us to ask hard questions about Coats and whom he benefits by undermining President Trump. When Coats says North Korea wont give up nuclear weapons, isnt he giving comfort to the enemy? When he claims that Iran is abiding by the 2015 nuclear deal, isnt he giving cover to the most dangerous nation in the Middle East? When he worries that ISIS is intent on resurging, does he really think the president doesnt know that? But more importantly, does Coats think that we should give ISIS control of our foreign policy? Are we to remain in Syria forever because we have a sworn enemy there? These questions are not rhetorical. They raise the serious issue of whether U.S. intelligence agencies owe their loyalty to the U.S. president. You can make the case that they owe their allegiance to the Constitution, but according to the Constitution that is the same thing. As members of the executive branch, they are subordinate to the president and serve his foreign policy. We have one president at a time, and the intelligence chiefs serve him, not the other way around. If they dont understand that, then they are part of the problem part of the threat, so to speak, to our Constitution. Which brings me, in a roundabout manner, to my proposal for a domestic threat assessment. Considering the forces arrayed against the president and the American people, this seems to be much more imperative than a worldwide threat assessment. I wont try to prioritize the threats, but certainly the intelligence agencies are near the top of the list. Since at least 2005, they have pooh-poohed the Iranian nuclear threat by totally misjudging the evidence. As I wrote in 2007, If global geopolitics were a television sitcom, then the government of the United States would be Boss Hogg, and Mahmoud and the gang in Tehran would be the Dukes of Hazzard. We may have more money and power, but them Duke boys always seem to get the last laugh. Add to their general incompetence (remember the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?) the open war that the intelligence agencies have waged against President Trump in the politically motivated Russia hoax, and you would certainly be justified in thinking that they represent the greatest internal threat to our republic, but there are others that need to be considered, too. Oh, wait Im not done with the intelligence agencies yet! I could not move on without talking about the FBIs outrageous early-morning armed assault against Roger Stone and his wife just over a week ago. As many as 27 armed federal agents, 17 SUVs, two armored vehicles and two amphibious assault vehicles surrounded Stones Florida home to arrest the 66-year-old raconteur and political provocateur on charges of wait for it! lying to Congress. Heck, why should only Congress get to lie with impunity? To make matters worse, there is every reason to believe the FBI tipped off CNN, so the blatantly anti-Trump news channel could have a camera crew on hand to record the Gestapo-like assault. Probably not what J. Edgar Hoover had in mind when he wrote about The Enemy Within, but, yes, I definitely think the FBI deserves its very own spot on the list of domestic threats. Next up has to be the Opposition Party. No, not the Democrats, but rather the mainstream media, which have set themselves up as defenders of the republic against the dangers of traditional morality, religion and legislation. The recent BuzzFeed debacle and the Covington Catholic fiasco were just the latest examples of the national media working overtime to gin up controversy and throw shade on conservatives. If police were known to be planting evidence and slanting testimony as freely as the mainstream media do, then no one could ever be legitimately convicted of anything north of jaywalking. If Thomas Jefferson could say in 1807, Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper, then what would he make of the nonstop spin of 24/7 cable news? Turning moral arbitration over to celebrity journalists may prove to be the single greatest mistake in the history of liberty. Or maybe not. Perhaps even more foolish was turning over control of our privacy, our information and our society to private companies that are completely unregulated. Yes, Im talking about the FAANG that is ripping the heart out of not just America, but the world. Thats Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google, in case you didnt know. You can take your pick of which one is most dangerous, but its not Russians manipulating these social media and tech giants that should scare you its the progressive billionaires who believe they are qualified to steer us like cattle to our final destination in the slaughterhouse. Whether its Googles get out the vote campaign for Hillary Clinton or the shadow banning of conservatives on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, these nearly omniscient entities had better be stopped before they become omnipotent, too. Of course, we could list the dangers from a variety of policies supported by mainstream politicians that are generally subsumed under the heading socialism or communism, which by the way was the real Enemy Within that FBI Director Hoover singled out for our attention. Those socialistic tendencies are certainly a serious threat to the republic, but oddly enough they pale beside those listed above. Sen. Chuck Schumer tweeted last week that [i]ts past time for U.S. Intelligence Community leaders to stage an intervention with Donald J. Trump. Thats a sad commentary on the senators confidence in the American people who elected President Trump. As for those of us who did so, we are hoping for an intervention as well, but of a different kind entirely. What we pray for is a divine intervention to awaken Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, members of the press, the intelligence community and the tech billionaires to the danger they are putting the nation in by working constantly to undermine the presidents authority and thus weaken the fabric of our fragile republic. To quote an oath that Democrats were said to want to do away with: So help us God. No Amount of Intervention Is Going to Save Afghanistan These failed pundits' efforts are meant to shame President Trump into reversing his instinct to pull the United States out of Afghanistan. Turns out, killing babies is not so popular. What is truly amazing is how many Virginia Democrat politicians had to touch that hot stove before they got the message that even mainstream Democrat voters do not approve no, they are appalled, aghast and unbelieving at the mere notion of an elective abortion during delivery. Tallying up ship numbers makes poor shorthand for U.S. naval power. Bean counting yields one datapoint, albeit an important one. There is some bare minimum of assets needed to concentrate strength at scenes of battle. But bean counting not only disregards the enemy, the surroundings, and the goals set by the navys overseers, it doesnt differentiate among ship types. The walking dead are ravaging Capitol Hillagain! I refer not to literal ghouls but to misleading ideas about navies that refuse to die in policymaking circles. The living dead shamble around during election season or just afterin other words, at times of political flux like this one, when one house of Congress has changed hands and the other is undergoing a leadership shakeup. Take out one zombie factoid with a shot to the head and ten or a hundred more just like it trample the fallen corpse to get at you. The latest to traffic in undead ideas is Sen. David Perdue , representing my erstwhile home state of Georgia. Hes taking over as chairman of the Seapower Subcommittee, an arm of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. The new chairman exhibits a gratifying sense of urgency about Americas return to history after its postCold War strategic holiday, and about the need to bulk up the sea services to wage protracted strategic competitions against peer competitors. Thats the good news. In stating his case, though, Senator Perdue uttered a factoid that is as manifestly incomplete as it is commonplace as an index of naval power. Today we have the smallest Army since WWII, the smallest Navy since WWI, and the oldest and smallest Air Force ever, he told Defense News . At the same time, we face complex threats from China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran. Thats a dark picture to paint, and Perdue is correct in a strict factual sense: at 287-odd ships , there are fewer vessels in the U.S. Navy inventory now than at any time since the Great War. (Actually, the inventory has rebounded after bottoming out in the 270sbut only by a handful of vessels.) But the important question is whether the navy is powerful enough to accomplish the goals assigned it by senior commanders and their political masters. Naval power is not solely a function of hulls in the water. Think of ships as delivery vehicles. They deliver combat power to a particular scene of action at a particular time, in concert with friendly sea, ground, and air forces, to overcome the combat power a particular foe has staged there. If the U.S. and allied force outguns the antagonist at the decisive place and time, it is sufficient regardless of how many or few ships take part in the engagement. If not, then U.S. naval commanders have a problem. So we should divorce calculations of naval might from brute numbers of hulls, which reveal little about whether a given fleet size is adequate to apply enough combat power at likely hotspots to fulfill U.S. strategic goals. What U.S. maritime strategy calls on the navy to do matters a great deal to this calculus. For instance, a 287-ship force might well suffice to mount a hemispheric defense of the Americas, working alongside allied forces from Canada and Latin America. It would probably boast surplus capacity for such humble duty. Yet a fleet that size might be woefully understrength to take the fight to China in the South China Sea, Russia in the Black Sea, or Iran in the Persian Gulf. In short, reaching back to World War I to compare raw numbers reveals little about the outcomes of probable encounters in the here and now, and thus about the prospects for U.S. tactical, operational, and strategic success or failure. Tallying up ship numbers, then, makes poor shorthand for U.S. naval power. Bean counting yields one datapoint, albeit an important one. There is some bare minimum of assets needed to concentrate strength at scenes of battle. But bean counting not only disregards the enemy, the surroundings, and the goals set by the navys overseers, it doesnt differentiate among ship types. A century ago a battleship counted as a ship of war, and so did a winsome destroyer. A fleet made up entirely of battleships would have been the same as a fleet composed of destroyers by Perdues standard. It would have been an entirely different creature. Today, similarly, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier bearing scores of warplanes counts as a ship. But so does a littoral combat ship with light armament and one-thirtieth the flattops tonnage. So does a lumbering amphibious assault ship that deposits marines and cargo on embattled shores rather than assail enemy fleets. Simple ship counts obscure elementary distinctions like these while making no judgment about the balance among ship types and missions within the fleet. Statistics can lie. If you couple the smallest navy since World War I talking point with the results of realistic wargames showing that the U.S. Navy fields too few vessels vis-a-vis prospective foes under realistic circumstances, though, then you have the makings of a useful benchmark to gauge whether U.S. naval means are sufficient to advance U.S. strategic and political ends. And in turn you can bellow forth a rallying cry to lawmakers, administration officials, and the electorate to furnish more shipbuilding resources. Apart from gamesters, you can consult scholarly work for informed opinion about these matters. For instance, back in 2010 a team of scribes from the Center for Naval Analyses compiled a study postulating that the U.S. Navy stood at a force-structure tipping point beneath which it would no longer be the globetrotting service it has been since Congress passed and Franklin Roosevelt signed the Two-Ocean Navy Act of 1940. If the sea service dwindled much further in numbers and especially in capability, maintained the CNA team, it would possess too few assets to discharge the missions entrusted to it. The U.S. Navy would revert to the regional force it was before World War II. The fleet still hovers around that tipping point nine years hence. At least Senator Perdue errs in the right direction by fretting over fleet numbers. In all likelihood the U.S. Navy is too small, even when you redefine ships as delivery vehicles for combat power and estimate U.S. battle strength through that unorthodox but illuminating technique. Still, friends of American sea power need more than soundbites to lend punch to their pleas for a larger fleet. Now, so as not to pick on Senator Perdue too much, its worth noting that the World War I comparison is far from the most loathsome zombie to stampede through force-structure debates at times of political change. However flawed, Perdues talking point at least alerts Washington and the nation to danger. Taking other ubiquitous factoids at face value could induce America to relax its guard at a time when relaxing is the last thing it should do. Two such fallacies come to mind. One holds that the U.S. Navy is larger than the next X navies combined, X usually being some double-digit number. That being the case, it should smash smaller rivals into kindling with ease, right? But this factoid makes no sense whatever when cross-referenced against numbers of hulls. Reputable estimates indicate , for instance, that Chinas navy will boast over 500 vessels by 2030, even as the U.S. Navy struggles to field a 355-ship fleet. How could Americas navy constitute the larger force? It turns out that this living-dead factoid refers to the total tonnage of the U.S. Navy fleet vis-a-vis foreign navies. On average American ships displaceor, roughly speaking, weighmore than their counterparts overseas. Like numbers of hulls, tonnage is not a meaningless figure. Larger vessels can carry more fuel, armaments, and stores. Bigger is betterto a point. But aggregate tonnage must also be taken in context. For one thing, the size of a ship says little about the armament and sensors installed aboard. A mammoth vessel could bear minimal armament. Combat logistics shipstransports for fuel, ammunition, refrigerated stores, and the likeare a case in point. Undefended by escort vessels, a large ship can make easy pickings for a much smaller foe such as Chinas fleet-footed Type 022 Houbei catamarans . These lightweight 225-ton craft pack a heavy wallop in the form of eight anti-ship missiles. Offensive power need not correlate with tonnage, in other words. For another, U.S. Navy men-of-war must carry more supplies than probable adversaries. After all, likely battlegrounds lie thousands of miles from North American shores. U.S. expeditionary forces must haul everything they need to fight in a Chinas, Russias, or Irans backyard, or they may as well stay home. Meanwhile local defenders may get away with smaller vessels because they operate close to homenear their supply and operational basesand because theyre backed by the combined firepower of shore-based air and missile forces. Antagonists, in other words, might make do with lesser craft and still attain their goals. The Type 022 is not a war-winning craft on its own. It is a formidable craft when integrated into a defensive thicket made up of ships and shore-based weaponry. Its a fallacy, then, to compare the tonnages of U.S. and foreign navies and conclude the battle result is a foregone conclusion. Doing so oversimplifies radically. In reality the bulkier U.S. Navy will square off not against a hostile navy but against a hostile joint forcea composite of sea, air, and ground forces operating close to home. In warfare as in sports, the advantage goes to the team making a home stand. Girth is no guarantee of victory for the visitors. The second noxious factoid relates to budgets. All too often even knowledgeable pundits or officials cite the U.S. defense budget relative to likely competitors and conclude American supremacy is guaranteed. Because Washington spends more than the next Y powers combinedY, like the X in tonnage comparisons, being some double-digit figurethen victory must be a sure thing. If you spend more you must have purchased superior strength. Right? Not necessarily. He who spends the most may not win, just as he who weighs the most may not. Officialdom must not draw false comfort from budget comparisons suggesting that the United States holds a lopsided advantage over its rivals because it outspends them. Again, think about where likely sea fights will take place: in waters and skies close to hostile shorelines. The U.S. military must maintain pricey base infrastructure, not to mention those bigger, more expensive ships, planes, and armaments, merely to get into the battle zone. Fighting close to home is cheap by contrast. Advantage: red teams . Prevailing against distant opponents off their own coasts tends to cost you more than it costs them. Factor in such disproportionate expenditures and the margin between U.S. and foreign spending doesnt gape nearly so wide as budgeteering implies. You would think the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq had put paid to the conceit that the bigger, higher-tech, more expensive force inevitably triumphs. Substate enemies brandishing makeshift weaponry gave the U.S. and coalition armed forces fits during those conflicts. Afghanistan is sputtering to an indecisive conclusion at best. Its hard to imagine that China, or Russia, or Iran would fare more poorly than the Taliban or Iraqi militant groups considering all the resources these martial states can tap. Thats the trouble with the undead: you cant reason with them. You have to shoot down ghoulish ideas one by one when the herd swarms. Looks like wed better stockpile ammunition for a long siege. James Holmes is J. C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy at the Naval War College, coauthor of Red Star over the Pacific (released last month), and author of A Brief Guide to Maritime Strategy (forthcoming this November). The views voiced here are his alone. This article appeared originally at The National Interest. Jonathan Hall is a security and political risk analyst focused on Eurasian geopolitics, military affairs, and emerging technologies. Follow Jonathan on Twitter at _JonathanPHall. Divergent Options content does not contain information of an official nature nor does the content represent the official position of any government, any organization, or any group. Title: Assessing Military Thought in Post-Soviet Russia Date Originally Written: January 21, 2019. Date Originally Published: February 4, 2019. Summary: While the geopolitical landscape of the 21st century is characteristically different than it was during the time of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Russias underlying political interests remain largely unchanged. As such, rather than any abeyance to the previously popular strategies of the USSR, Russias activities in the information sphere and on the battlefield are no more than the continuation, and refinement, of Soviet-era tactics and operational concepts. Text: Predominantly following the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, the assumption that Russian tactics have drastically changed may be chiefly explained by the growing popularity of the terms hybrid warfare and the Gerasimov Doctrine. The former, a potentially applicable military concept to modern day examples of war has yet to find an agreed upon definition. Despite lacking agreement, hybrid war is, unfortunately, used as a for label nearly every example of Russian strategy. The latter, however, is neither a real doctrine, nor fully Gerasimovs idea. The term originates from an article written by Dr. Mark Galeotti[1]. In it, Galeotti provides his commentary on a 2013 piece written in the Military-Industrial Kurier by Russian General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation. Galeottis article included a disclaimer that the term Gerasimov Doctrine was merely used for its value as a title, however that did little good as many began to quote the term without reading the article, or likely even knowing where it came from. Gerasimovs article, The Value of Science in Prediction, was his response to the then-recent Arab Springs, and how the face of warfare is evolving. Gerasimovs most widely cited statement, The very rules of war have changed. The role of nonmilitary means of achieving political and strategic goals has grown, and, in many cases, they have exceeded the power of force of weapons in their effectiveness, has interestingly been used by some to form their conclusion that Russian military thought has undergone a transformation. However, rather than anything new, Gerasimovs writing largely building on the work of his predecessor, Nikolai Makarov repeatedly cites Soviet military strategists such as Aleksandr Svechin who wrote, Each war represents a partial case, requiring the establishment of its own peculiar logic, and not the application of some sort of model[2]. Svechins quote provides evidence that he was invariably familiar with the writings of Carl von Clausewitz, who similarly posited that Every age has its own kind of war, its own limiting conditions, and its own peculiar preconceptions[3]. Taken from On War, written between 1816 and 1830, Russias current General Staff not only anchors its strategy in Soviet-era thought it is founded upon the principles Clausewitz first presented in the early nineteenth century. For analysts and defense planners today, understanding that they are currently facing Soviet adaptations is critical. The notion that history repeats itself is alive and well in the Russian General Staff. A perennial component in the Kremlins toolbox has been its disinformation campaign. This concept finds its roots in spetspropaganda, or special propaganda. First taught as a subject at the Russian Military Institute of Foreign Languages in 1942, it was removed from the curriculum in the 1990s. Unsurprisingly, it was reinstated by Putin, a former Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB) officer, in 2000[4]. Specific tactics within Russias strategy of information warfare are based upon the idea of reflexive control. Developed during the Soviet Union, the theory of reflexive control states that, control can be established through reflexive, unconscious responses from a target group. This group is systematically supplied with (dis)information designed to provoke reactions that are predictable and, to Russia, politically and strategically desirable[5]. Allowing the Kremlin to exploit preconceptions and differences in opinion amongst its enemies, this tactic which was prolific during the Soviet Union is once again being used against Ukraine and North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries. All of these so-called nonmilitary tactics, as the current Russian General Staff defines them, are no more than active measures which date back to the 1920s[6]. Once used by Cheka (the Soviet secret police organization), the OGPU (Unified State Political Administration), the NKVD (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs), and the KGB during the Soviet Union, the practice is being continued by the Federal Security Service (FSB), Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU), and other government agencies. Founded in Leninist-thinking, these subversive activities may be used within or without the framework of a larger kinetic operation. Detailed by former KGB general Oleg Kalugin, they were designed to weaken the West, and, to drive wedges in the Western community alliances[7]. These concepts, alluded to by Gerasimov, more narrowly focus on the non-kinetic components of the Kremlins strategy. However, official Russian documents, while echoing similar language, combine them with more traditional military means of executing operational plans. The 2010 Russian Military Doctrine highlighted the importance of integrating nonmilitary resources with military forces. This was further detailed in 2014 to include, participation of irregular armed force elements, and, use of indirect and asymmetric methods of operations[8]. Illustrating this in practice, the best example of Russias use of irregular armed forces would be in post-annexation parlance its little green men. This tactic of sending Russian Spetsnaz without insignia into a foreign country to destabilize its political environment and assume control has been discussed as somewhat of a novel concept. However, going back to December 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan began with around 700 Spetsnaz, many of them Soviet Muslims, in Afghan uniforms taking Afghanistan President Amins palace by storm, along with several key military, media, and government installations[9]. With many other useful parallels to draw upon, the idea here is not to deny change has occurred in the nearly three decades since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Thanks to emerging technologies and progressive military thinking, tactical choice in Post-Soviet Russia has certainly advanced. But in many ways these advancements are no more than superficial fitting in with the argument that the characteristics of war may change, but its nature may not[10]. The ideas Russia has presented in both word and deed surely deserve detailed analysis. That analysis, however, should be conducted with an understanding that the concepts under review are the continuation of Soviet thinking, rather than a departure. Moving forward, the Kremlin will continue to design, perfect, and implement new strategies. In looking to respond, history remains our greatest tool in discerning the practical applications of Russian military thinking. As Gerasimov would likely agree, the theoretical underpinnings of the Soviet Union provide us with a more perceptive lens of inspection than any new model of warfare ever could. This article appeared orginally at Divergent Options. Endnotes: [1] Galeotti, M. (2014). The Gerasimov doctrine and Russian non-linear war. Moscows Shadows, 6(7), 2014. https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/the-gerasimov-doctrine-and-russian-non-linear-war/ [2] Gerasimov, V. (2013). Tsennost Nauki V Predvidenii. Military-Industrial Kurier. https://vpk-news.ru/sites/default/files/pdf/VPK_08_476.pdf [3] Howard, M., & Paret, P. (1976). On War (Vol. 117), pg. 593. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. [4] SmoleA?ova, I. (2016). The Pro-Russian Disinformation Campaign in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. per Concordiam. https://www.marshallcenter.org/MCPUBLICWEB/mcdocs/files/College/F_Publications/perConcordiam/pC_V7_SpecialEdition_en.pdf [5] Snegovaya, M. (2015). Reflexive control: Putins hybrid warfare in Ukraine is straight out of the Soviet playbook. Business insider.https://www.businessinsider.com/reflexive-control-putins-hybrid-warfare-in-ukraine-is-straight-out-of-the-soviet-playbook-2015-9 [6] Watts, C. (2017). Disinformation: A Primer in Russian Active Measures and Influence Campaigns. Statement prepared for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/os-kalexander-033017.pdf [7] Pomerantsev, P., & Weiss, M. (2014). The menace of unreality: How the Kremlin weaponizes information, culture and money (Vol. 14). New York: Institute of Modern Russia.http://www.galerie9.com/blog/the_menace_of_unreality_fin.pdf [8] Kofman, M., & Rojansky, M. (2015). A Closer Look at Russias Hybrid War. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/190090/5-kennan%20cable-rojansky%20kofman.pdf [9] Popescu, N. (2015). Hybrid tactics: neither new nor only Russian. EUISS Issue Alert, 4. https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/187819/Alert_4_hybrid_warfare.pdf [10] Gray, C. S. (2015). The future of strategy. John Wiley & Sons. ./It is a fact that as in Sri Lanka the symbol of the lion has been playing an important role in India as well. The sculpture of four Asiatic lions standing back to back or the Lion Capital of Ashoka was declared the official emblem of independent India. The carving had been originally placed on an Ashokan pillar around 250 BC in the Northern Buddhist city of Sarnath and therefore the national emblem is today known as Lion Capital of Ashoka of Sarnath. Interestingly it was the lion, and not the tiger as it is in today, that was originally made the national Animal of India after independence. However, under Indira Gandhi in 1972, the lion lost its place to Bengal Tiger. The key reason behind the decision was the global attention on the dwindling tiger population of India, which even today is the home to 70 per cent of the world wild tiger population. By 1972 the tiger population which stood at around 40, 000 at the turn of the 20th century had dropped to a mere 1,827. The year after adopting Tiger as the national animal Gandhi launched Project Tiger, an ambitious conservation plan to protect this engendered beautiful cat. Thanks to that project today India is home to about 4,000 tigers spread over sixteen states. Bengali Tiger is also the national animal of Bangladesh where around 400 Bengali tigers have survived. Conservationists believe that there are around a hundred Bengali Tigers each in Bhutan and Nepal as well. All was well until 2015 In 2015 a proposal was made in Rajya Sabha to revert to the lion as the national animal in view of drawing attention to the extreme challenges faced by countrys lion population. Gir National Park in Prime Minister Narendra Modis home State Gujarat is the only home for the heavily endangered Asian Lions. The park has about 600 lions today. Though the lion population is more endangered than Tigers, the conservationists, however, launched a strong attack against the move on the premise that it would only scuttle the ongoing projects to protect Bengali tigers. They charged that the proposal to replace tiger with lion had been made by those who were eyeing tiger sanctuary lands for industrial purposes. The debate snowballed into a political dispute with pro-Tiger lobbyists arguing that while Tigers deserve the national animal slot with its population spread over sixteen States, lions can only be found in PM Modis Gujarat. The lions in Gir National Park are today faced with numerous challenges and key among them is the drastic drop in the level of immunity. This has been attributed to inbreeding with almost all 600 lions living in an area of 258 square km. Moves by conservationists to shift some of the Gir Lions to Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere to address the plaguing issues had been met with stiff resistance from consecutive Gujarat State Governments despite even Supreme Court orders. Gujarat leaders have been maintaining that Gir lion had been the pride of Gujarat and they would not let anyone take away the pride. The move to replace the tiger with the lion as national animal meanwhile has died a natural death in the din of the protests by Tiger lovers. Following what it says was a highly successful and popular series in 2018, Rise, the advocate group for gender diversity within the broadcast manufacturing and services sector, has launched its second mentoring scheme. The UK-based mentoring programme will work with a further 20 mentees from the broadcast industry, with each mentee receiving 12 hours of mentoring contact with their assigned mentor. The mentees will also have the opportunity to meet with their mentee group on a monthly basis, attend networking events and workshops throughout the six-month period.In 2018, industry experts from companies including ITV, Clear-Com, Deluxe and Molinare came together to share their expertise and support the women as they progressed with their careers. Rise says that its first scheme demonstrated how mentoring and guidance can change and empower women across the broadcast manufacturing and services sector. It adds that feedback from the 2018 mentoring scheme echoes this statement with mentees and mentors stating the scheme provided new confidence, fantastic knowledge and inspiration, in addition to opportunities to engage with the wider broadcast industry.We are absolutely delighted to announce our second Rise mentoring programme. Last years group saw women grasp new opportunities, learn about other areas of the sector and embrace the confidence that came with being part of the programme, said Rise director Carrie Wootten. We look forward to supporting 20 new women throughout 2019 and seeing the impact that can be made for both mentees and mentors, this time round.The scheme will be supported by leading industry companies with the broadcast industry such as Avid , which is a platinum sponsor; NEP and Clear-Com, gold sponsors; Pixelogic and DPP , silver. Membership to Rise is free and details can be found at http://risewib.com/ where mentees can also apply to the scheme. The deadline for entries is 29 March 2019. The Australian federal government agency charged with supporting screen development, production and promotion, Screen Australia, has announced new story development funding for six feature films, four television dramas and two online series. Screen Australia recently made clarifications to its guidelines to improve the application process for funding. These changes included increasing the pitch video length to up to four minutes, adding budget level limits to more clearly differentiate the agency's Generate and Premium funds and working to ensure creative teams are being given the best opportunity to highlight the strength of their projects and eligibility for funding.One of the aims of the guideline changes was to encourage a more platform-agnostic approach from creative teams we wanted creators to think about their story and audience first, and then what medium would be best suited to tell it on, commented Screen Australia head of development Nerida Moore. Were beginning to see more of that thinking and Im pleased that there is also a real mix of compelling stories from emerging writers coming through.The investment, totalling over AUS$300,000, will be made on a development slate including feature film Memoir of a Snail from animator Adam Elliot; Aleph, a science-fiction series about a mother who faces the unthinkable decision of saving her daughter or humanity; and online dark comedy Plushed, which explores mental illness through the eyes of a toy; a ten-part online comedy series set in the distant future, when Australia has collapsed and the pressure to save the country falls on one extremely underqualified but very nice young man; Girls In Hotels, a film from Dollhouse Pictures, with Gracie Otto directing and producing her first narrative feature. FINLAND: New line development, transparent access to infrastructure services and the provision of rolling stock for on-rail competition are to be facilitated by a state-owned special purpose company to be formed under plans unveiled by Minister of Transport & Communications Anne Berner on February 1. Transmashholdings Bryansk plant has supplied a 2TE25KM twin-section diesel freight locomotive to Kazakh coal mining company Shubarkol Komir. The manufacturer said it was its first locomotive to be more than 90% assembled from components produced in Russia. The 2TE25KM design is used extensively by Russian Railways, and Siberian Coal Energy ... Purdue President Mitch Daniels proposed to the University Senate on Jan. 28 a plan to implement a standardized test to all students about U.S. history and political literacy. The test, which all students would be required to complete prior to graduation, would call for students to better familiarize themselves with U.S. history and political structure. Robert Browning, C-SPAN Scholarship and Engagement senator, supported the idea. Many newly naturalized citizens know more about our government and history than their American-born counterparts, he said. According to Browning, the test would be around 10 questions, inspired by the actual U.S. naturalization test. The test is a requirement for any person seeking citizenship in the U.S. Some questions that might appear on the test include: Who are the president, vice president and speaker of the house? What are the three branches of the government? What are the divisions of congress? Students would have to get around six out of 10 questions right to pass, although nothing is set yet about the length of the test, Browning said. Browning added the test could help students become better citizens. This test could possibly help students familiarize themselves with their government and rights as students and citizens, he said. However, Browning thinks that this test could be completed by students during the first week of classes, if they wish. Some students have questions about the measure. Now that I will be a senior next year ... it would be somewhat unfair to only give me a year to prepare compared to four years that the freshman will have, said Eduardo de la Garza, a third-year College of Engineering international student. I also wonder if international students will have to take it ... before graduation, de la Garza said. On the other hand, Connor Fisher thinks it will help students be more involved in politics. Thats a great idea, this will force kids to get involved in politics and not shy away from it, said Fisher, a junior in the Krannert School of Management. The proposition is set to go to the educational policy committee for review, which could take weeks or months to pass. Still, the test could be implemented as soon as next semester. For its 50th anniversary, the Black Cultural Center exhibited its history over the years, including a visit from Muhammad Ali. Anti-hate signs are posted all around Stanley Coulter to show that people of all cultures are welcome. The Asian American and Asian Resource and Cultural Center is a safe space for people to learn about Asian culture. Computer simulations show for the first time that when a patient has history of an enlarged prostate, tumors in the prostate barely grow at all. (University of Pavia/Guillermo Lorenzo) WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. For men older than about 60, an enlarged prostate means feeling the urge to make a pit stop way too often throughout the day. But a new study shows that if these men also happen to have prostate cancer, the larger prostate actually impedes tumor growth. The findings suggest that it might be a bad idea to downsize an enlarged prostate through surgery or drugs, because doing so could lead to faster growth of prostate cancer. While the five-year survival rate for prostate cancer is generally very high, it is still one of the leading causes of death among men in the U.S., according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Computer simulations of patient data offer a possible explanation of why an enlarged prostate might be a life saver: because a prostate can only grow so much within a confined space, force accumulates and puts pressure on the tumor, effectively keeping it small. "It's already known that forces and stresses have an impact on tumor growth, and that patients with enlarged prostates tend to have slower cancer growth, but it wasn't known why," said Hector Gomez, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University, who builds models and simulations for understanding tumor growth, cellular migration and blood flow. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to simulate the possible effects of benign prostatic hyperplasia, a disease that causes the prostate to enlarge progressively, on the tumors of prostate cancer. Guillermo Lorenzo, a former doctoral student of Gomez who is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pavia in Italy, performed most of the research and ran the simulations. Alessandro Reali and Pablo Dominguez-Frojan also participated in the study and are coauthors of the paper. Gomez and Thomas Hughes, a professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin, began the project as part of their work on using computer simulations to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer. "Current diagnosis and prognosis methods have had a hard time differentiating between patients who are under serious risk of prostate cancer and those who aren't," Gomez said. "This has led to people getting overtreated or undertreated." Looking at the relationship between prostate enlargement and prostate cancer could bring new insights. The study looked at data from patients in medical studies who had a history of both an enlarged prostate and prostate cancer. To perform the simulations, Lorenzo extracted a three-dimensional anatomy of the prostate and locations of the tumors from MRI images. At the end of a one-year period, the simulations showed that the tumor of a patient with history of an enlarged prostate barely grew at all. When the researchers removed history of an enlarged prostate in the program, the tumor had grown to be over six times larger at the end of the same time period. "But now we know that the mechanical stresses that originate as prostates enlarge impede tumor growth," Hughes said. Realistically, these findings would need to be clinically validated in humans through a long-term observational study before doctors take action. In the meantime, the researchers plan to extend their model to incorporating the effects of drugs that downsize the prostate, as well as use the model's information on the deformation of the prostate to help detect cancer. Gomez, Hughes and Lorenzo are listed as co-inventors of this technology on a patent application filed by The University of Texas at Austin. The work received financial support from the European Research Council, Xunta de Galicia and Fondazione Cariplo-Regione Lombaria. This research aligns with Purdue's Giant Leaps celebration, acknowledging the universitys global advancements made in health, longevity and quality of life as part of Purdues 150th anniversary. This is one of the four themes of the yearlong celebrations Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues. Writer: Kayla Wiles, 765-494-2432, wiles5@purdue.edu Source: Hector Gomez, hectorgomez@purdue.edu Note to Journalists: For a full-text copy of the paper, please contact Kayla Wiles, Purdue News Service, at wiles5@purdue.edu. A YouTube video is available at https://youtu.be/JW7pla1zLpM. The simulation was created by Guillermo Lorenzo, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pavia. Other multimedia, along with text-free images of the simulations, can be found in a Google Drive folder at this link: http://bit.ly/prostate-research-media. The materials were prepared by Erin Easterling, digital producer for the Purdue College of Engineering, 765-496-3388, easterling@purdue.edu. ABSTRACT Pamela Beech, Esquire, Director Graduate and Compliance Programs at Delaware Law School states we continually see the need for this level of education and were looking forward to building on the success of last years event. The 2nd Annual Healthcare Compliance Symposium will bring professionals from the healthcare and legal communities together for a day of discussion and learning on the campus of Delaware Laws School. Seven industry experts will provide helpful insight on timely topics including cybersecurity, human resources challenges, telemedicine, exclusions, and ethics while instructing and leading interactive discussions among attendees to answer common questions and provide practical tips. The symposium is a joint effort to provide resources for professionals facing the challenges of the ever-changing healthcare industry. Pamela Beech, Esquire, Director Graduate and Compliance Programs at Delaware Law School states we continually see the need for this level of education and were looking forward to building on the success of last years event. The inaugural Healthcare Compliance Symposium held in April of 2018 enjoyed an audience of local professionals and also served administrators who chose to travel from locations as far away as Texas. Beech continues, attorneys, healthcare administrators and aspiring compliance professionals from around the United States are searching for these learning opportunities and were happy to collaborate with First Healthcare Compliance. Attendees will receive a complimentary copy of First Healthcare Compliance's The Fundamentals guidebook, a comprehensive resource designed to help compliance professionals comply with federal rules and regulations and to better understand their compliance responsibilities at a time of heightened scrutiny and increased regulations. Attendees are eligible to receive CLE and CEUs while networking with industry peers. The full-day event will be held on April 4, 2019, at Widener University Delaware Law School in Polishook Hall Room 203 from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm and will include continental breakfast, boxed lunch, and refreshments. Registration is open to the public, but availability is limited. About Delaware Law School: Widener University is a metropolitan university that connects curricula to social issues through civic engagement. Dynamic teaching, active scholarship, personal attention, applied leadership, and experiential learning are key components of the Widener experience. Delaware Law School is the First States only law school, providing a Juris doctor, legal graduate and paralegal degree programs with an emphasis on developing legal professionals who reflect the Delaware Way and its traditions of civility, integrity and mutual respect. The school offers signature programs in corporate and business law, environmental law, family health law and policy, trial advocacy, and dignity rights. About 1sthcc.com [First Healthcare Compliance __title__ First Healthcare Compliance]: Founded in 2012 by a nurse attorney, the First Healthcare Compliance software solution creates confidence among compliance professionals through education, resources, and support in the areas of HIPAA, OSHA, human resources compliance, and fraud waste and abuse laws. Serving clients across the United States, the companys evolving platform provides real-time insight for board reporting and across multiple locations. For more information please visit https://1sthcc.com/ Several heads of governments including Queen Elizabeth II, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian President Ram Nath Kovind have extended their wishes on Sri Lankas Independence Day, the Presidential Media Unit said. In a message, Queen Elizabeth II has extended her best wishes for the good fortune and happiness of the people of Sri Lanka in the coming year. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the bilateral relations rest upon heart-warming traditions of friendship and mutual respect and expressed confidence that cooperation in all fields meets the interests of the people of the two countries and is in line with the strengthening of regional stability and security. Indian President Ram Nath Kovind offered his best wishes to the brethren of Sri Lanka and to the President Sirisenas people-friendly programmes. He expressed confidence that historic and indivisible relations between India and Sri Lanka would grow with strength for mutual benefit. Meanwhile, on behalf of the US Government, State Secretary Michael R. Pompeo extended wishes to Sri Lanka on the national day. The United States remains eager to build on our partnership with Sri Lanka and advance shared interests in the Indo-Pacific region based on our common democratic values. Sri Lankas democratic institutions and constitutional processes have ensured your countrys continued advancement. We look forward to working together to further deepen ties between our nations, promote shared prosperity, and secure a stable and peaceful future. As you celebrate your national day, I extend my best wishes for peace and happiness in the year ahead, he said. "The staff is so happy they can access the schedule remotely, request comp, sick or vacation time while also being able to see their vacation, sick, and comp time balances. -- Jesse Madden, Warren County Emergency Services Operation Manager Past News Releases RSS Aladtec Team Attending Fire-Rescue... Team From Aladtec Attending... Aladtec Announces New Integration... The 44 dispatchers and supervisors at Warren County Emergency Services in southwest Ohio recently moved their scheduling tasks from manual spreadsheets to Aladtec. The change is saving several hours each shift, and employees love the convenience, according to Operation Manager Jesse Madden. "The staff is so happy they can access the schedule remotely, request comp, sick or vacation time while also being able to see their vacation, sick, and comp time balances," Madden wrote. The center operates from Lebanon -- situated midway between Cincinnati, some 30 miles to the southeast, and Dayton, 27 miles to the north. The population of Warren County was 212,600 in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Madden and several co-workers became familiar with Aladtec while working part-time with area fire departments. Aladtec, a cloud-based scheduling and workforce management application, is currently used by 246 fire, EMS, law enforcement, and communication centers across Ohio including some agencies for which Warren County ES provides dispatch services. "Prior to Aladtec we used an Excel Spreadsheet," said Madden. "It was very time-consuming each time changes were needed, and the employees could not access it remotely or on their personal devices. When we decided to demo the product, we were able to streamline the paperwork, reducing the man-hours it was taking to approve time off, and track it in multiple different systems." "Switching to Aladtec has saved us several man-hours per shift. We already see great time savings from the supervisors by freeing them up from 'paperwork' and going paperless," Madden added. The agency began using Aladtec in July 2018. The Warren County center employs 32 Dispatchers, six Dispatch Supervisors, an administrative assistant, and a training coordinator, plus Madden and Director Melissa Bour. The center provides dispatch services for 10 area police agencies and 13 fire departments, as well as the Warren County Sheriffs Office, Adult & Juvenile Probation, the dog warden and county park rangers. The staff also fields after-hours calls for the Coroners Office, Children's Services, Health Department, plus the street, sewer, and water departments. Last year, Warren County ES dispatchers handled approximately 212,000 police calls and 22,000 fire and EMS calls. Other Aladtec dispatch patrons in Ohio include Akron Safety Communications Center; Athens County 911; Chagrin Valley - Brecksville; Chagrin Valley Dispatch, Bedford; Cuyahoga Emergency Communications System, Cleveland; Hamilton County Communications, Cincinnati; Licking County Regional Communications Center, Newark; Lorain County 9-1-1, Elyria; Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Communications, Dayton; Southwest Summit Communications, Akron; and the Wooster-Ashland Regional Council of Governments, Wooster. Aladtec, labeled "software-as-a-service" in computer parlance, is a subscription-based platform that streamlines the process managers use to build complicated schedules. It uses e-mail and texting tools to allow employees to trade shifts, request time-off, and be notified of open shifts anywhere they have phone- or internet connectivity. The program also allows agencies to build and host electronic forms to document daily station routines like public records requests, training documentation, and repair requests. Administrators can also track staff members' licenses and certifications, upload files that members can access remotely, and send notifications to individuals or groups when the need arises to fill an open shift or staff a special event. A system log tracks all activity on the platform, providing airtight accountability. Aladtec, Inc. is based in River Falls, Wis. The software was first developed in 2003 to solve scheduling problems at a rural ambulance service. The firm has continued to grow and now serves more than 2,200 fire, police, EMS, dispatch- and healthcare clients across the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit http://www.aladtec.com, or call 888-749-5550. Keith Whittaker, ValvTechnologies' Director of Global Quality Management ValvTechnologies, Inc., manufacturer of zero-leakage severe service isolation valve solutions, today announced the appointment of Keith Whittaker as Director of Global Quality Management. Based in Houston, Whittaker will report to company president, Kevin Hunt, and be responsible for global quality standards, programs and systems. In this role, he will lead the development and continuous improvement of our quality programs and processes to support the growth and globalization of the company. Most recently, Whittaker served as Director of Quality for General Plastics and Composites, L.P. for six years, where he developed and managed the corporate quality program and systems. Previously, he held senior Quality Management positions at Oceaneering International, Inc., Dana Corporation, and E-Z-GO Textron. He brings a comprehensive quality management and business leadership experience base to ValvTechnologies, together with an impressive track record of process improvement and change agency. Whittaker attended the University of West Florida, graduating at a double major with Bachelor of Science degrees in Mathematics and Computer Engineering Technology. He is Certified Master Six Sigma Black Belt, an ISO certified auditor, and a member in good standing of numerous quality professional organizations. Keith is a tremendous asset to our global leadership team, said Hunt. With his experience and expertise, he will play an integral role in ensuring ValvTechnologies quality systems and commitment to safety and reliability continue to lead the industry. About ValvTechnologies Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, ValvTechnologies is the leading manufacturer of zero-leakage, high-performance isolation valve solutions providing an unsurpassed level of severe service isolation services and reliability to customers in the fossil power, nuclear generation, upstream oil and gas, downstream and chemical processing, mining and minerals, pulp and paper and other specialized industries. Employing more than 500 people worldwide, ValvTechnologies has offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Malaysia, Peru, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States. In addition, ValvTechnologies partners with stocking distributors, independent representatives and authorized repair centers to service customers around the world. To find out more about the products and services offered or to locate a representative, visit our website at http://www.valv.com. Connect with ValvTechnologies on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. # EC-Council has been the worlds leading information security certification body since the launch of their flagship program, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), which created the ethical hacking industry i The selected certifications had to achieve ANSI 17024 accreditation, unanimous support and sponsorship from each of the military services, as well as pass an external 3rd party review commissioned by the Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program at DoD EC-Council announces the official approval of both the Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO) and the Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) programs as new baseline skill certification options for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) cyber workforce in several categories. Specifically, the CCISO program is a recognized certification for the DoD IAM Level II, IAM Level III, and CSSP Manager, all specialized cyber management personnel classifications within the DoDs information assurance workforce. CHFI is now recognized as a baseline certification for CSSP Incident Responder. The CCISO and CHFI recognitions fall under the auspices of DoD Directive 8140 (formerly 8570) Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program. Directive 8140 provides clear guidance to information assurance training, certification, and workforce management across all affected components of the DoD. The 8140 directive applies to OSD (Office of the Secretary of Defense), All Military Departments, Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), Combatant Commands, Office of the Inspector General of the DoD (IG DoD), Defense Agencies, DoD Field Activities, and all organizational Entities within the DoD (Collectively DoD Components). The directive divides the total cyber security workforce into four primary categories: Information Assurance Technician, Information Assurance Manager (IAM), Information Assurance Architect and Engineering (IAAE), and Cyber Security Service Providers (CSSP). CCISO has been added to the list of certifications for IAM and CSSP professionals, while CHFI has been added to the CSSP Incident Responder category. Military service members, contractors, and foreign employees across all job descriptions in the IA workforce must show 100-percent compliance with this directive, and now CCISO and CHFI are options to achieve and maintain compliance. This shows the DoDs focus on increasing training and preparation of the U.S. military workforce in cybersecurity. The CCISO program has been selected due to its focus on executive-level cybersecurity skills as well as its hands-on approach to training. The CHFI program was chosen due to its rigorous focus on incident response and forensics, electronic evidence collections, and digital forensic acquisitions. CCISO and CHFI are valuable additions to Department of Defense Directive 8140. CCISO and its five domains, governance, risk management, project management, core competencies, and strategic management, complement the learning objectives of the cybersecurity workforce of the US government. CHFI brings a forensically sound approach to systems auditing, investigation, and incident response. These are critical skills across the DoD IA workforce and we are proud to support the military workforce upskilling with our programs. said Jay Bavisi, CEO, EC-Council Group and Chairman of the Board, EC-Council University. Bavisi added: We are proud to have completed the rigorous process of evaluation required by the various components of the Department of Defense required before an acceptance of this level is granted. The selected certifications had to achieve ANSI 17024 accreditation, unanimous support and sponsorship from each of the military services, as well as pass an external 3rd party review commissioned by the Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program at DoD before being considered for this prestigious honor. KEY FACTS: CCISO and CHFI are now officially recognized as Baseline Certification programs in the DoD 8140. CCISO is now recognized as a baseline certification option for Information Assurance Manager Level 2 (IAM II), Information Assurance Manager Level 3 (IAM III) and Cybersecurity Service Provider Manager (CSSPM) CHFI is now recognized as a baseline certification for CSSP Incident Responder. CCISO and CHFI certifications were officially approved in December of 2018 and added to the DISA Baseline Certifications chart in February of 2019. DISA Cyber Security Baseline certifications and the official chart of approved programs can be found here: https://iase.disa.mil/iawip/pages/iabaseline.aspx More information about EC-Council and our Federal and Government programs can be found at https://www.eccouncil.org/government-cybersecurity/ About EC-Council EC-Council has been the worlds leading information security certification body since the launch of their flagship program, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), which created the ethical hacking industry in 2002. Since the launch of CEH, EC-Council has added industry-leading programs to their portfolio to cover all aspects of information security including EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI), Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO), among others. EC-Council Foundation, the non-profit branch of EC-Council, created Global CyberLympics, the worlds first global hacking competition. EC-Council Foundation also hosts a suite of conferences across the US and around the world including Hacker Halted, Global CISO Forum, TakeDownCon, and CISO Summit. For more information about EC-Council, please see http://www.eccouncil.org. Weve been inviting and staging Traditional Chinese Lion Dances in front of our restaurants in Las Vegas since 1975 The Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year will be landing on February 5, 2019, two days after the winner of Super Bowl LII is known. With just one day in between watching the Superbowl inside the oldest and most authentic Thai-Chinese Restaurant in Las Vegas, Kung Fu Plaza, patrons are welcomed back to personally witness the annual traditional Lion Dance. On Tuesday February 5, 2019 at 1700 hours, or 5:00pm PT, the Martial Artist from the Lohan School of Shaolin will be performing their Legendary Lion Dance Ceremony in front of the restaurant. Weve been inviting and staging Traditional Chinese Lion Dances in front of our restaurants in Las Vegas since 1975. Said Allan Wong, general manager of Kung Fu Plaza Restaurant. Back then, my dad was one of the first businesses in Las Vegas extending invitations to the Chinese marital artist into performing the dance here. Said Wong. Traveling from San Francisco to perform in Las Vegas back in 1975 was a common ritual, since the Asian population then was very limited outside of the west coast. On the first day of Chinese New Year, the restaurant will be recommending traditional dishes that have been prepared and feast throughout the centuries by Chinese families as they ring in the Lunar New Year. Chinese Roast duck, Pork Hock, Stir Fried Baby Bok Choy, Seafood Tofu Soup, Hon Sui Tofu, and Lychee in iced sweet syrup for desert rounds up the feast in 2019. Lychee is considered the LUCKY FOOD of 2019 due to its red skin (which is peeled away prior to consumption) and white-grayish texture. Both Red and white-gray are considered positive-lucky-harmonious colors for the year of the pig 2019 as red are associated with Fire and white gray with metal, both are Earth elements coinciding with the year of the earth pig. The traditional Chinese New Year Feast has many similarities to the Western Thanks Giving Feast at its core. The Roasted Duck replaces the Turkey, Steamed Jasmine Rice instead of Dinner Rolls, Stir Fried Vegetables in Garlic sauce in place of stuffing, Potatoes is replaced with Tofu, and this year, Lychees is enjoyed in place of Apple Pies. The most important element of any feast is not the type of food, but rather that the whole family is together gathering around to enjoy the meal if not each other. To view a complete menu and more information about Kung Fu Thai & Chinese Restaurant, visit https://www.kungfuplaza.com. Kung Fu Plaza restaurant is open for Lunch and dinner every day of the year from 11:00am to 10:30pm PT, where diners could Dine in, order Take Out, have their meals delivered, the restaurant will even cater their next event. Located at 3505 S. Valley View Boulevard., Las Vegas, NV 89103 USA, the kitchen is just mile west of the Wynn Resort on the Las Vegas Strip. For more information or reservations, call 702-247-4120. America will not be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves" Abraham Lincoln The United Sovereignty Alliance was developed and incorporated by Burton F. Hill of Sioux Falls 11 years ago to Unite the American people under one banner for the preservation of our Republic from outside influence. As with millions of other Americans Mr. Hill draws Social Security as well as some disability so any Press release depends on funds available and Mr. Hill works alone on any media outreach mostly through Facebook at United Sovereignty Alliance.org. Every 2 years there is a Referendum on the Legislative branch and every 4 years on the Executive branch, yet there has never been a Referendum that allows the Citizens to cast their ballots on specific items that represent their true choices where the political establishment has failed to address namely representing the people and not the all mighty dollar. The Declaration of Independence declared the rights of "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" to all Americans, yet within the last few decades interference by outside sources bent on the destruction of our Republic. It is the intention of the Alliance to use the informal Amendment process and encourage all Citizens to vote for several amendments to the Constitution as well as nullify many laws and regulations that violate the initial intent of the founding fathers. Anything listed on a Referendum ballot which passes by a majority in 38 States will be Constitutional and Neither Congress nor the Courts have a say. Life. An amendment to the Constitution that Congress recognize " Life begins at Conception " thus the following 1. Taxpayer funding of abortions shall be banned. 2. Non profit status for planned parenthood shall be revoked permanently. 3. The father of the unborn child shall be charged with child abandonment and fined heavily. 4. Organ harvesting shall be considered murder. Liberty. 1. The McCarren-Walter act of 1952, repealed by the 101st session of Congress in 1990 shall by the vote of the American Citizens be a Constitutional ban on any political ideology which contradicts the Constitutional rights of all Americans from immigrating into the United States, therefore all non profits promoting a political ideology which threatens the existence of our Constitutional Republic shall have their status permanently revoked. Representation of any and all political ideology whether buildings, text or media as well as representation in any elected or appointed position in any City, County, State or Federal office within the boundaries of the United States or its Territories shall be banned. Flags or other mention of foreign ideology shall be banned from all taxpayer funded schools, colleges, universities, municipal and federal buildings. Liberty. 2. Under Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution by a vote of the American Citizens All members of Congress refusing to secure our southern border and violating their Oath of Office shall be charged with Article 3, Section 3 Treason. 1. All civic officials declaring their States or Cities sanctuary for illegal aliens shall be charged under Article 3, Section 3 for Treason. 2. All illegal criminal aliens currently in Federal, State or county detention shall be transferred to military custody and interred in GITMO as invading enemies. 3. All foreign drug carriers [mules] captured shall be placed in military custody for GITMO. Amend the 22nd amendment to include limit of 2 terms for Senate and house with maximum service 12 years. 1. Eliminate current congressional pensions and replace with a maximum of $18,000 per year for term served under new limit. House 2 terms $72,000 Senate 2 terms $216,000 3. Eliminate free airfare. 4. Eliminate speakers perks after term and nullify any leases for taxpayer funded offices other than at the Capitol. To protect the sanctity of our election process the Federal government shall by order of the Citizens of these United States hereby direct the federal election committee to provide photo ID to all citizens. 1. Voter fraud by an Illegal Alien shall result in immediate deportation. 2. Voter fraud by any citizen shall result in fine of $5,000 and imprisonment of no less than 5 years per count. Never give up, Never surrender to the Socialist agenda that wishes to destroy our Republic. Praise the Lord, Pass the Constitution and We'll all live Free Join the cause on Facebook at United Sovereignty Alliance.org Hoosiers can now access fresh food from Sally the Robot. The robot, located in the Beet Box Eatery in front of The Healthy Food Cafe, offers vibrant, forward-thinking meals via touchscreen interface 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Sallys unlimited accessibility benefits employees, especially those who work night shifts, at Franciscan Health hospital, located across the street. Several other medical and veterinary facilities, as well as fitness centers and hotels, are located nearby. Sally, created by Silicon Valley-based food robotics company Chowbotics, offers thousands of custom meal and snack options from any combination of up to 22 ingredients, in addition to chef-crafted, pre-programmed bowls. Sally serves salads, grain bowls, and yogurt bowls in entree-sized portions. Ingredients with which users can customize include chile verde-roasted tofu, quinoa and yam pilaf, fire roasted corn, garbanzo beans, spiced pepitas, tortilla strips, and pulled chicken mole; and pre-programmed recipes include Mango Kidney Bean Taco Salad, Crisp Jicama and Mango Salad, and Spicy Spinach Salad. Users can fine-tune the calorie total by adding or subtracting ingredients, as well as view full nutritional details for each recipe. Sally is equipped with a credit card reader to facilitate transactions when the cafe is closed. A smart refrigerator stands next to Sally, providing customers with cold press juices and healthy snacks to pair with their meal. For nearly three years, The Healthy Food Cafe has dished out vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and paleo options made with local, seasonal ingredients to its health-conscious customers. Adding Sally to our team was a no-brainer, says Erica Bryant, owner. We are excited to provide the same quality of food our customers have come to expect all day and night through this groundbreaking technology. Sallys proprietary technology also reduces the risk of foodborne illness, as ingredients are kept sanitary and separate. Each of Sallys ingredients is replenished on a regular basis and contained within the robot, greatly reducing the potential for contamination. Sally is an ideal alternative to a salad bar, especially in and around higher-risk facilities such as hospitals, says Dr. Deepak Sekar, founder and CEO of Chowbotics. Sallys fresh, healthy food will bring nourishment to those working at or visiting Franciscan Health as well as the Indianapolis community at large. Chowbotics has been recognized by The New York Times, Food & Wine, Bloomberg Pursuits, CNN, CNBC, WIRED, TechCrunch and many more influential national publications for its creation of Sally and the robots impact on the foodservice industry. Fast Company named Sally one of 10 Restaurant Innovations Changing the Way We Eat and a 2018 World Changing Ideas Finalist. Xtalks Life Science Webinars Addressing the inefficiencies in IRB approvals is essential to reducing costs and speeding the delivery of life saving therapies to patients in need. Numerous factors adversely impact the initiation of clinical trials and their efficiency in an industry plagued by rising development costs and increasing complexities. Complex protocols, finding patients who meet challenging inclusion/exclusion criteria, protocol amendments, competition for sites, contract and budget negotiations, regulatory changes and global compliance, PI and CRA turnover, and IRB approvals all contribute to significant trial delays. Before research on human subjects can begin, federal regulations require approval from an IRB. Many researchers have complained that use of multiple IRBs to review research sites for a multicenter trial is extremely inefficient and leads to additional cost burdens and trial delays. Research indicates principal investigators spend 42 percent of their time on administrative burden, with IRB-related burdens ranking the highest, and a third of the time required for IRB approval due to researcher omissions and errors. IRB review takes roughly 1.4 2.9 percent of the total time devoted to the study and represents 2.3 4.7 percent of study costs. Addressing the inefficiencies in IRB approvals is essential to reducing costs and speeding the delivery of life saving therapies to patients in need. How can a streamlined system improve and expedite human research oversight? Join Mitchell Parrish, EVP & General Counsel at Quorum Review IRB, Barry Milton, Head of Business Operations at Novartis and Elvin Thalund, Director of Industry Strategy at Oracle Health Sciences in a live session on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 at 1pm EST to learn about: Common bottlenecks and submission errors in the IRB submission process The growing trend of using centralized IRBs for multisite studies How the trial master file (TMF) reference model can be utilized to create a standard language for the exchange of documents for IRB submissions, approvals and notifications How workflow-based technology can be integrated with IRB processes to accelerate the submission process and reduce submission errors For more information or to register for this event, visit Streamlining IRB Submissions to Accelerate Clinical Trials. ABOUT XTALKS Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers. To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/ IP analysts, R&D scientists and their support staff have a tough task these days. The amount of data available to screen, analyze and summarize are growing exponentially. Support resources, however, are not growing at the same pace. Secondary research, i.e., reviewing published literature such as patents, articles and web-sites, extracting relevant documents and gleaning insights involves thousands of technical documents nowadays where there were only a few hundred not too long ago. In such a challenging data overload environment, corporate IP/knowledge management groups with limited internal staff are struggling to keep up with the quality and turnaround expectations of internal R&D/management 'customers'. To meet the needs of this customer segment, SciTech Patent Art (SPA) is launching breakthrough custom-trained Assisted Intelligence agents to help technical experts in real-time screening, analysis and curation of technical documents. Development of these agents and the training platform took SPA's engineers 1000s of hours of research and real-world trials by SPA's technology experts in live projects. SPA's technology experts have witnessed not only time savings ranging from 40 - 60 percent of project execution time but also significant quality improvements. SPA's trained Assisted Intelligence agents successfully detected inadvertent oversights, screening errors, inconsistencies in analysis, etc. SPA has now decided to make these agents available to external clients to help them overcome the data overload challenge. To develop the Assisted Intelligence agents, SPA employed a proprietary technology training methodology on a robust deep neural net-based NLP training platform. As opposed to generalized models that are popular in industry today, SPA has discovered that training is typically most effective in focused subject matters for example, textile polymers, food ingredients, obstacle detection, etc. SPA's Managing Director, Dr. Srin Achanta says "AI is like a smart high-school student...just as how we send our kids to college to make them a computer scientist or a chemical engineer, we train our AI algorithms using subject-specific information. Just as how a good college imparts good training, the higher the quality of subject-specific training, the better the models are in assisting experts". SciTech Patent Art (http://www.patent-art.com) is a leading patent and technology analytics firm based out of Hyderabad, India. With 17 years of experience and over 90 analysts covering various scientific and engineering disciplines, SPA has been providing hiqh quality and cost-effective services to large corporations in the US, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. SPA's scientists, assisted by proprietary Deep Web and AI/ML tools, extract in-depth technology insights from large patent and non-patent data-sets. Its time for educators to get involved and speak out against the criminalization of immigrant children, Manning said, adding that one goal of the teach-in is to educate the public about the negative impact that weeks of detention can have on children. Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) who advocate for immigration reform are calling on RPCVs nationwide to show their support for a national 12-hour Teach-In for Freedom on Sunday, February 17, in El Paso, Tex., opposing the Trump administrations detention of thousands of migrant children. The Peace Corps Community for Refugees, a volunteer group founded three years ago, strongly supports the Teach-In for Freedom, said Pat Nyhan, spokesperson for the group. We are urging RPCVs to get involved by viewing the Teach-In on the internet on Feb 17 and contacting the White House, members of Congress and their local newspapers in support of the event. Led by 2018 National Teacher of the Year, Mandy Manning, who started her teaching career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Armenia, the Teach-In is expected to involve teachers from every state in the country who oppose the Trump administrations immigration policies toward children. The teach-in will be accessible nationwide on Facebook and other venues on the internet. A veteran teacher of refugee and immigrant students at Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane, Wash., Manning says that separating immigrant children from their parents and detaining the children in shelters deprive children of their basic human rights and a quality education. Its time for educators to get involved and speak out against the criminalization of immigrant children, Manning said, adding that one goal of the teach-in is to educate the public about the negative impact that weeks of detention can have on children. The Peace Corps Community for Refugees also is making a special outreach effort to RPCVs who are now teachers, Nyhan said. Among the more than 200,000 Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who have served in the developing world since the Peace Corps was founded in 1961, more than a third have entered the field of education after returning home. Many of them know first-hand what Mandy is talking about, she said. We believe Mandy Manning is setting a powerful example for all RPCVs. During the past year, she has transformed her skills, dedication and years of experience as a teacher to become a national spokesperson for a more tolerant and positive approach toward refugees and immigration, Nyhan said. The Washington, D.C.-based Peace Corps Community for Refugees engages former Peace Corps volunteers in advocating for humane immigration policies and helping refugee families resettle in their communities. For more information, visit our website: PCC4Refugees.org For more information on the teach-in, go to teachersagainstchilddetention.org Investor interest in the industry has continued to mushroom as natural, functional and healthier alternatives penetrate further into mainstream product categories, especially in food and beverage. After four years of dramatic growth that averaged almost 40% annually, the Nutrition and Health & Wellness Industry saw only a 3% increase in transaction activity in 2018 compared to 2017, with the number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) down 5% and financings up 9% compared to 2017, according to Nutrition Capital Network(NCN) and the NCN Transaction Database. The NCN Transaction Database follows transactions in two categories: 1) mergers & acquisitions (M&As) or changes in ownership or control, and 2) investment or equity financing (excluding debt or non-cash strategic partnerships) from around the world in what NCN defines as the Nutrition and Health & Wellness Industry. The NCN Transaction Database recorded a total of 942 transactions in the Nutrition and Health & Wellness Industry in January-December 2018 compared to 911 in January-December 2017, 715 in 2016, and 627 in 2015. NCN has tracked transactions in the industry using the same methodology since 2009. Total transactions numbered 203 in 2010 and grew fairly steadily to 253 in 2013 before taking off in 2014-2017. Given the steep growth rates of the last four years, its hardly surprising to see that the Nutrition and Health & Wellness Industry has not sustained that pace of growth in M&A and financing transactions, said Grant Ferrier, managing director of Nutrition Capital Network. But its still impressive that 2018 exceeded 2017s record numbers. Moreover, the absolute number of transactions has risen from 253 in 2013 to 942 in 2018an increase of 690 transactions in five years! I find that remarkable, even in light of the sustained growth in nutrition and health & wellness markets, said Ferrier. Investor interest in the industry has continued to mushroom as natural, functional and healthier alternatives penetrate further into mainstream product categories, especially in food and beverage. It is also remarkable that the number of companies with investible propositions is keeping up with investor demand for opportunities in nutrition and health & wellness, although there are signs that the quantity of quality deal-flow may soon fall short of demand in light of slowing growth in 2018. New investors and acquirers in nutrition and health & wellness include more strategic players from food and beverage: NCN sees not only household names like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, General Mills, Kellogg and Campbell, etc. participating but also increasingly a number of mid-tier and smaller firms becoming more active in healthier and natural & organic products. Health & Wellness has certainly become the centerpiece of the competitive game board in food & beverage this century, intertwined with other trends shaping future market demand like e-commerce, convenience and the millennial preference for grazing or multiple consumption occasions throughout the day rather than three sit-down meals. The landscape of investors in health & wellness, nutrition science and the still-emerging sectors of agtech and foodtech include private equity investors with a consumer or nutrition science focus; family offices dedicating themselves to this industry or at least to social, health or sustainability causes; venture capital firms broadening their scope out of tech and biotech, including the top technology global superstars like Google, Alibaba and Tencent; high-net-worth individuals and a growing list of industry players that have sold business for tens of millions and are giving back and leveraging their experience, expertise and contacts in early-stage investments; and angel investors willing to support local startups or entrepreneurs that share their ethos or just have a good value proposition and happen to be in the same zip code. Key Segment Trends Nutrition Capital Network reports a moderate decline in activity in transactions in Natural & Organic and Functional Foods in 2018, but still 30% above 2015 and 2016 levels. The segment saw M&As decrease by 1% to 136 in 2018, and financings decrease by 4% to 134, but as these figures indicate there were still well more than two deals per week. Overall industry transactions increased 3% as the table below indicates, with growth in financings and a decline in M&As. NCN notes the increasingly finite number of M&A candidates in many key segments is a factor, as well as the resulting supply-demand equation leading to understandably high expectations of value. Nutrition Capital Network produces annual lists of top transactions in the Nutrition and Health & Wellness Industry, in addition to a summary of investment and M&A activity by segment, derived from the NCN Transaction Database. NCN has maintained a database on transactions since 2004, and has been compiling nutrition industry market data and top company lists data since 1996 when NCN founders founded Nutrition Business Journal. NCN also maintains and produces bi-annual summaries from its Dealflow Database and the NCN Presenter Tracking Database. About NCN: The mission of Nutrition Capital Network is to facilitate financing, partnering and asset sales for growing companies, and to introduce investors to the next generation of successful brands and technology in the nutrition and health & wellness industry. NCN hosts five Investor Meetings each year featuring qualified deals screened by the NCN Selection Committee, in addition to unique industry content: An East Coast Spring meeting (New York) and a West Coast Fall meeting (San Francisco), both presenting branded products primarily; and an annual European meeting (Geneva, Switzerland) and an Fall meeting at SupplySide West (Las Vegas) dedicated to ingredients, science and technology. In 2017 we launched NCN-NPC Canada, an investor meeting co-hosted with Natural Products Canada. NCN also presents candidates for investment at Expo West and Expo East in a joint event called the PitchSlam with New Hope Network. Led by industry veterans and experienced investment professionals, NCN serves as a gateway to connections, insights and resources that support the continued growth of the nutrition, natural products and health & wellness industries. Contact: Grant Ferrier, Nutrition Capital Network, (619) 295-7685 x 15 - gferrier@nutritioncapital.com, 4452 Park Boulevard, Suite 306, San Diego, CA 92116 NCN 2019 Events NCN XXIV, New York, April 23-24, 2019 NCN Europe VI, May 6, 2019, Starling Hotel, Geneva, Switzerland NCN-NPC Canada III, September 18-19, 2019, Toronto NCN Ingredients & Technology Investor Meeting XI at SupplySide West, October 16, 2019 NCN XXV, San Francisco, November 2019 Sri Lankan Ambassador to Qatar A.S.P. Liyanage yesterday denied reports of being recalled by President Maithripala Sirisena, claiming instead that he had resigned. I sent my resignation letter, and the president accepted it. But I wasn't recalled. I prefer to return to Sri Lanka as soon as I finish my official commitments as a diplomat, Mr. Liyanage said. He added that he had requested the President to relieve him of his position as he wanted to be of service in Sri Lanka and nowhere else in the world. It was reported that Mr. Liyanage was expecting to be appointed as a governor during the recent governor reshuffle, but was disappointed at being overlooked. Despite this he would continue to support the President, Mr. Liyanage said. (Darshana Sanjeewa) OATI is pleased to announce the successful completion of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53 (NIST SP 800-53) examination, re-affirming OATIs commitment to robust security practices. Seven years ago, after a careful analysis and consideration of available best practices, OATI decided to pursue the NIST SP 800-53 audit. This commitment stands strong today. The examination, conducted by Schellman & Company, LLC, inspected OATI Data Center operations against the NIST 800-53 standards. After a thorough examination, conducted in accordance with attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, OATI was found in compliance with all Low baseline controls and some Moderate baseline controls across all OATI operations. Through a commitment of yearly audits, OATI software solutions have built a reputation for their unparalleled security and reliability in North America for exceeding the energy industry standards. Each set of standards contains specific and detailed requirements related to business process, controls, and both cyber and physical security. NIST publishes stringent and well-thought-out standards relied on by federal agencies and private organizations alike, said OATI President and CEO Dr. Sasan Mokhtari. Choosing to adopt NIST standards has served OATI well in demonstrating our robust security practices. About OATI OATI provides innovative solutions that simplify, streamline, and empower the operational tasks required in todays energy commerce and Smart Grid. Serving more than 2,000 customers in North America, OATI successfully deploys and hosts diverse mission-critical solutions committed to industry standards and stringent security guidelines. OATI (http://www.oati.com) is a leading provider of Smart Grid, Energy Trading and Risk Management, Transmission Scheduling, Congestion Management, Distribution, and Market Management products and services. OATI is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with offices in California, Punjab, Telangana, and Singapore. For more information, please contact sales@oati.net. As a combat-tested fighter pilot, Nicole Malachowski understands the discipline and perseverance it takes to achieve at the highest levels," said Teresa Zimmerman, VP of Marketing, Personify. "We look forward to learning from her experiences and insights on turning possibilities into reality. Personify, Inc. (Personify), the market-leading provider of technology solutions for associations and nonprofit organizations, today announced that Colonel Nicole Malachowski (USAF, Ret.) will give the keynote address at the 2019 PersoniFest taking place April 7-10, 2019, in Savannah, Georgia. PersoniFest is the leading conference for professionals and leaders in the association and nonprofit sector. Malachowski will discuss lessons she has learned throughout her career and provide attendees with the courage to push the envelope when it comes to business, their careers and personal endeavors. Malachowski has achieved many personal successes as a leader, combat veteran, the first woman pilot on the Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron, an instructor, a White House Fellow and an inductee into the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame. When Nicoles distinguished military career was cut short by a neurological tick-borne illness, she overcame those challenges as well. As Nicole continues to recover from her illness, she is educating the public and inspiring people in the process. Todays business leaders are looking for ways to maximize performance while maintaining a standard of excellence, said Teresa Zimmerman, Vice President of Marketing, Personify. As a combat-tested fighter pilot, Colonel Nicole Malachowski understands the discipline and perseverance it takes to achieve at the highest levels. Were honored to welcome her to PersoniFest and look forward to learning from her experiences and insights on turning possibilities into reality. In its 20th anniversary year, Personifest will provide three days of education, thought leadership and training from leaders like Malachowski. Attendees are offered five different content tracks dedicated to executives, marketing, membership, finance and IT professionals, all while earning Certified Association Executive (CAE), Certified Exposition Management (CEM) and Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits. For additional information on PersoniFest or to register, visit https://personifycorp.com/personifest-2019. About Personify Personify is the market-leading Constituent Management and Engagement (CME) platform that empowers organizations to better engage their constituents, maximize revenue and optimize operations. For over 20 years, Personify has served as the technology foundation for organizations of all sizes from the largest associations, charities, YMCAs and JCCs to emerging nonprofits. For more information, visit https://personifycorp.com/ ## Clients can send money to Serbia with few clicks, using any VISA/Mastercard, with fees starting from 0.99% for a minimum amount of /1. MoneyTO remittances are available for cash pickup across 170 branches of Banka Postanska stedionica*in the following cities: Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Subotica, Lajkovac and Zrenjanina, as well as other places. With so many Serbians now basing themselves in different countries across Europe and the UK, MoneyTO recognises the need for a trustworthy, safe and secure money transfer service in Serbia that can be accessed by all, says Galina Selicka, CEO of MoneyTO. Customers that use our service can be assured that their money will be handled in complete safety, as MoneyTO uses advanced technologies that ensure reliable and rapid transfers. In addition, we offer very competitive exchange rates and low fees that help us to win our clients trust and loyalty. According to the International Organization for Migration, around 2.7 million Serbian immigrants now live in Europe, including 7,000 in the UK - a figure that is constantly growing. The total amount of international remittances to Serbia in 2017 was a massive $3.5 billion**, with Germany ($617m), Switzerland ($383m) and Austria (379m) among the most important source countries. Having the growing market of money transfers in mind, MoneyTO is delighted to be able to extend its services around the world, to anticipate and meet its clients needs while sending or receiving money from abroad. The clients value MoneyTO for the speed and reliability of its service to suit all their requirements for money transfers. To transfer money with MoneyTO you simply need to log onto the website http://www.moneyto.co.uk or to download our mobile app from the App Store or Google Play and register. Registration takes two minutes. Transfers are available for collection within five minutes. MoneyTO Ltd is a payment institution authorised by FCA and registered by HMRC. MoneyTO has been passported to conduct money transfer business in all of the EU countries. MoneyTO Ltd was acquired and re-launched in 2014 by British and Russian entrepreneur George Piskov, co-founder of Russia-based remittance powerhouse Unistream and Armenia-based Unibank. MoneyTO's use of great technology enables customers to send money abroad online using their VISA or MC card. The card can be debited in GBP or Euros at the customers discretion. Transfers can usually be picked up within minutes in cash at more than 100,000 convenient and secure locations in 53 countries. MoneyTO is a reliable partner and is always open to work with new partners to expand its payout network throughout the world. *Banka Postanska stedionica, one of the largest operating banks in Serbia, is dedicated to providing financial services to meet the needs of personal and corporate customers. It is majority-owned by the Government of Serbia. **http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/migrationremittancesdiasporaissues/brief/migration-remittances-data (Bilateral Remittance Matrix 2017, Bilateral Remittance Matrix 2016) We vetted several systems providers and felt that FoodLogiQ was best positioned to help us manage data and dramatically increase efficiencies. - Tim York, President, Markon FoodLogiQ, the leading SaaS provider of food safety compliance, whole chain traceability, and supply chain transparency solutions, announced today Markon has selected its FoodLogiQ Connect Manage + Monitor product for global supply chain visibility and streamlined supplier management. Markon Cooperative, Inc., comprised of seven independent, broadline foodservice companies in the U.S. and Canada, has been a premier source of fresh produce for the food industry for more than 30 years. Headquartered in Salinas, California, Markon became a food safety pioneer long before the topic came to national attention. In 1992, the company initiated their food safety programs, developing stringent specifications for all growers and shippers packing their brands. Today, Markons 5-Star Food Safety Program is based on specifications, inspections, and information at five key points: fields, facilities, transportation, distributor warehouses, and the commercial and residential kitchen. According to Markon President Tim York, managing hundreds of growers and dozens of processing plants is a massive undertaking that requires more than just manual tracking methods like spreadsheets and paper documents. Markon needed a technology solution to provide a global view of their supplier quality management, and they needed greater transparency across the companys supply chain. We vetted several systems providers and felt that FoodLogiQ was best positioned to help us manage data and dramatically increase efficiencies. With hundreds of suppliers, and thousands of farms, a robust system is necessary for us to maintain our industry-leading food programs. Markon will utilize the FoodLogiQ Connects Manage+Monitor to: Centralize their supplier documentation to meet the companys corporate food safety standards, implement corrective actions, support supplier verification, and manage required recordkeeping, thereby easing FSMA compliance; Track and report on food safety across their supply chain and address those issues with suppliers directly to drive compliance; and Leverage data-driven reporting to help leadership make informed decisions about supplier performance and expiring documents. Markons commitment to providing their customers with safe, quality produce is second to none, and we are proud to work with such a well-respected organization, said FoodLogiQ CEO Sean OLeary. Were very pleased that, after researching a wide variety of solution providers, Markon chose FoodLogiQ to help them manage their supplier relationships, gain visibility into their supply chain, and utilize real-time data and analytical reporting to make intelligent business decisions. Markon joins the ranks of FoodLogiQ customers that include Tyson Foods, Buffalo Wild Wings, CAVA, Chipotle Mexican Grill, CKE Restaurants, Compass Group USA, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, IPC/SUBWAY, Hain-Celestial, and Whole Foods Market, as well as hundreds of growers, co-packers and produce marketers. For more information, please visit https://www.markon.com and http://www.foodlogiq.com. About Markon From its headquarters in Salinas, California, Markon Cooperative, Inc. provides fresh produce purchasing, logistics, information, and marketing services exclusively to its member distributors (Ben E. Keith Foods, Gordon Food Service, Gordon Food Service Canada, Maines Paper & Food Service, Nicholas & Company, Reinhart Foodservice, and Shamrock Foods Company) and their foodservice customers. A leader in food safety, quality control, and innovation, Markon is also mindful of the produce industry's impact on people - from field workers to consumers. Read more about Markon at Markon.com. About FoodLogiQ FoodLogiQ LLC is the leading SaaS provider of traceability, food safety and supply chain transparency solutions. FoodLogiQ Connect is the most comprehensive, data-driven software solution that enables supplier management, food safety compliance, quality incident management, recall management and whole chain traceability all on a single platform built exclusively for the food industry. To meet mounting regulatory requirements and consumer demands for transparency, food companies are leveraging FoodLogiQ Connect to validate supplier compliance with food safety and act with confidence in the event of a food safety or quality issue. To request a demo, please visit http://www.FoodLogiQ.com/demo. Media Contact: Kiecha L. Berzins, APR VP, Marketing & Communications kberzins@foodlogiq.com 919-656-4887 Marilynn's Place, a Cajun and Creole restaurant located in Shreveport, Louisiana, will host its 8th Annual Mardi Gras Bash on Sunday, March 3. The party will begin at 9 a.m. as the enormous parade stages in the neighborhood surrounding the restaurant. Marilynns Place, a popular Cajun and Creole restaurant located at 4041 Fern Avenue in Shreveport, will host the 8th Annual Mardi Gras Bash, 9 a.m.-10 p.m., on Sunday, March 3. The day-long party will include live music from Junior the Third, That Girl DJ, Easy Money, and Ouro Boar, as well as food and drink specials, face painting, and more. Party admission is free and open to all ages. VIP packages including reserved seating, table service and inside restroom access are available for purchase by visiting Marilynns Place or calling (318) 868-3004. Marilynns Place is located just one block from where the Krewe of Highland Parade XXIV will begin at the intersection of Gilbert Drive and Gregg Avenue. The party will begin at 9 a.m. as the enormous parade stages in the neighborhood surrounding the restaurant. The party will continue during and after the parade, with live music set to begin as the parade is winding down. Food specials offered at the party will include boiled crawfish, gumbo, beignets, meat pies and more. Cocktail and local beer specials will also be available throughout the day. VIP packages are available at the Purple, Green and Gold levels. The Purple VIP package costs $100 and includes reserved picnic table seating for 6-8 people outside of the restaurant. Only 12 Purple VIP packages are available. The Green VIP package costs $100 per person and includes free drinks, free food, first access to the bar, and access to the restaurants inside restrooms. The Gold VIP package costs $400 and includes one reserved table inside of the restaurant with four seats, wait staff, inside restroom access, and four VIP wristbands which entitle the wearer to free food and drinks. Only 12 Gold VIP packages are available. Now in its 24th year, the annual Krewe of Highland Parade is a funky, unpredictable neighborhood parade that is typically made up of a combination of huge, colorful floats and quirky, homemade mini-floats, as well as numerous marching groups and bands. Among other things, the parade is known for its unusual throws the items tossed by float riders and members of marching krewes which have historically included grilled hot dogs, packaged ramen noodles and original works of art. Great places for visitors to watch the parade include the start of the parade near Marilynns Place, the west side of the Centenary College of Louisiana campus, the area near Columbia Park at 600 Columbia Street in Shreveport and the area near Noel Memorial United Methodist Church at 520 Herndon Street in Shreveport. For more information on Marilynns Place, visit http://www.Marilynns-Place.com or search for the restaurant on Facebook. For more information on Mardi Gras celebrations in Shreveport-Bossier, visit http://www.ShreveportMardiGras.com or call 800-551-8682. #### Tim has a proven track record of scaling marketing technology companies into category leaders. Magnolia, a global leader in digital experience and content management software, today announces the appointment of Tim Brown as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Former CEO and Co-Founder, Pascal Mangold, will continue to serve on the Board of Directors and is delighted to finalize the transition of executive leadership to Brown. Brown brings more than two decades of experience in the marketing technology industry as both a corporate executive and investor. He has served as CEO of website testing and personalization category leaders Maxymiser and Touch Clarity, both of which over a period of many years grew powerful, global market positions. Under Browns leadership, Magnolia will advance its goal to help marketers deliver a superior customer experience at speed. According to Brown, The bottom-line is that todays customer experience practitioners have had enough of their legacy content management systems. Theyre tired of the rising costs, the complex integration challenges, and the painfully slow go-live times required for even the most basic web project. Theyre searching for a better way. This provides a fantastic opportunity for Magnolia and our strong partner network, adds Brown. Were offering a unique blend of power, speed, and connectivity that surpasses other content management systems on the market in on-prem, cloud, and headless configurations. We strive to meet the needs of digital-savvy customer experience practitioners with ambition but who dont possess the vast resources and budget required to support many legacy platforms. Former CEO Pascal Mangold agrees, Since founding the company, weve made meaningful strides towards building a content management system that marketers can truly trust. With that said, I couldnt be more proud of everything weve accomplished to date. Tim is the right person to build on this momentum, explains Mangold. He has a proven track record of scaling marketing technology companies, like Magnolia, into category leaders. I am looking forward to working with him in his new role as CEO. As CEO, Brown will be focused on driving global growth for the digital experience solution provider, which includes Magnolia 6, the latest version of the companys flagship product. Purpose-built to help marketers deliver a better customer experience faster, the products new features include a re-designed user interface, intelligent contextual search, automated tagging, and faster content modeling functionalities. To learn more about Magnolia, please visit: https://www.magnolia-cms.com/ About Magnolia Magnolia is a platform for building best-of-breed digital experiences. Enterprises such as Avis, Generali, Tesco and the New York Times use Magnolia CMS as a central hub for their web, mobile and DX initiatives. Magnolia is a privately-held company, founded in 1997, with headquarters in Basel, Switzerland and subsidiaries around the globe. To learn more, please visit: https://www.magnolia-cms.com/. Getting online quotes will help drivers save hundreds, even thousands of dollars. Spending several minutes will help you find the best car insurance offer, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. Carinsurancesavings.biz has released a new blog post that explains how much money can drivers save simply by using online car insurance quotes. When using online quotes, drivers gain the following advantages: They get a better view of the auto insurance market. Online quotes will help drivers get a better view of the local insurance market. All online questionnaires start with a simple requirement: to add the ZIP code. After that, the search engine will find the companies or the local companys branch selling insurance in that specific area. When using brokerage websites, it is possible to be redirected not only to the very big companies, but also to some smaller, less-known local companies. These local companies may provide the best prices. They can access valuable discounts. One of the best ways to save money is accessing car insurance discounts. Top quality questionnaires do not forget to ask the right questions and see how much the driver can save. The most common discounts include: low mileage discount, Smart Technology discounts, homeowner discount, accident-free discount and continuous insurance discount (a loyalty discount) Drivers should choose to pay-in-full. Paid-In-Full discount is a very rewarding one. It can save money than 10% on premiums. Paying in advance ensures that the client will not have a coverage gap and will remove some administrative costs associated with monthly payments. Look for bundling options. Adding another insurance product or another car to an existing policy will also provide huge benefits. Many companies advertise that adding a second vehicle will save the policyholder around 15% on premiums. Quotes will help drivers save a lot of money. The savings depend on the value of the insurance. For an average family car, protected by full insurance coverage, quotes can help saving 10%-15%. This means, on average, several hundreds of dollars, each year. Quotes can help drivers simulate different coverage options. For example, online forms allow customers to change deductibles, thus modifying the value of premiums. By experimenting with different coverage options, a driver can tailor an affordable policy. Carinsurancesavings.biz is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. For more information, please visit http://carinsurancesavings.biz MIAMI Residential President Ines Hegedus-Garcia The MIAMI Realtors Residential Board is comprised of a diverse, talented group of Realtors and we are excited to do our part to improve our real estate industry. -- MIAMI Residential President Ines Hegedus-Garcia The nations largest local Realtor association has elected Miami Realtor Ines Hegedus-Garcia as its 2019 Residential President. She and the entire Board of Directors were installed Feb. 1 at the MIAMI Association of Realtors (MIAMI) 2019 Inaugural and Awards Celebration. The Residential Board of MIAMI is dedicated to leadership in the industry, the real estate profession, and the communities it serves. They analyze information, are actively and visibly involved in events and programming, and promote Miami and South Florida worldwide. The association represents more than 46,000 residential, commercial, and international real estate professionals. Im humbled and proud to take on this new role, Hegedus-Garcia Said. The MIAMI Realtors Residential Board is comprised of a diverse, talented group of Realtors and we are excited to do our part to improve our real estate industry. Hegedus-Garcia started her real estate career almost 20 years ago in commercial property management. She earned her real estate license 15 years ago. Hegedus-Garcia integrated her Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Miami with residential real estate and specializes in historic and architecturally significant real estate. Hegedus-Garcia manages an award-winning real estate blog (http://www.miamism.com). Hegedus-Garcia and her husband, Enrique, comprise RelatedISG International Realtys Miamism Sales Team. Team Miamism is one of South Floridas first realty teams to capitalize on Internet marketing and dedicated to using media innovations to promote their services. Hegedus-Garcia is serving her fifth year in leadership at MIAMI. Identified by the National Association of Realtors as an influencer in progressive ideas about real estate, she was invited to serve at a national level on the Global Business and Alliances Committee. In 2009, Hegedus-Garcia was selected as one of Inman News Real Estate 50 Most Influential Online. She is regularly called upon for speaking engagements all over the world to educate others on the power of new media. Her speaking engagements include Inman Real Estate Connect, NAR Annual Conferences, RETSO, Inmocionate in Spain, Social Media Club of South Florida, HAR Digital Media Training, Long Island MLS Tech Fair, Midwest Tech Fair, NARs Tech Edge, and local conferences. Hegedus-Garcia has played a significant role in MIAMIs Changing Communities Initiative, which has invested more than $175,000 in grant funds from NAR to improve South Floridas communities. Hegedus-Garcia, a Miami Shores resident, led MIAMIs Plaza 98 initiative. MIAMI, sponsors and volunteers sought zoning approval and painted 10 multi-colored, intersecting pineapples on Plaza 98's asphalt to create the new Downtown Miami Shores destination for community gatherings. MIAMI is partnering to host free monthly Plaza 98 community this year. Announcing the 2019 Residential Board of Governors Joining Hegedus-Garcia are: Residential President-Elect Raul R. Estrada of Gables Mavens; 2018 Residential President Jorge L. Guerra, Jr, CRS of Real Estate Sales Force; Tere Shelton Bernace of Shelton & Steward Realtors; Alma Betancourt, PMN of Real Living First Service Realty; Roman Bokeria of RE/MAX Red Box; Alberto Carrillo of RelatedISG International Realty; Maria E. Carrillo, CRS, SFR of The Keyes Company; Scott Diffenderfer of Compass Florida LLC; Daniel A. Guerra of Fortune International Realty; Carlos Gutierrez of Gutierrez Group Miami Real Estate at Compass; Julio Guzman of Essential Realty; Martha Pomares, GRI, ABR, CIPS, CRS of Douglas Elliman Real Estate; Dianne Regalado Kammerer, CAM, CRS of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate; Oscar Resek, CRS, CIPS of Keller Williams Eagle Realty; Miguel A. Salvat of YES Real Estate Services; Denise Sicuso of EWM Realty International; Enrique Teran of Avanti Way Realty; Matey Veissi, CRS, CIPS, TRC, RSPS of VEissi & Associates, Inc. Deborah Boza-Valledor serves as the COO & Chief Marketing Officer for the MIAMI Association of Realtors. Teresa King Kinney, CAE, CIPS, GRI, RCE, TRC serves as the CEO for the MIAMI Association of Realtors. About the MIAMI Association of Realtors The MIAMI Association of Realtors was chartered by the National Association of Realtors in 1920 and is celebrating 99 years of service to Realtors, the buying and selling public, and the communities in South Florida. Comprised of six organizations, the Residential Association, the Realtors Commercial Alliance, the Broward Council, the Jupiter Tequesta Hobe Sound (JTHS-MIAMI) Council, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) Council and the award-winning International Council, it represents more than 46,000 real estate professionals in all aspects of real estate sales, marketing, and brokerage. It is the largest local Realtor association in the U.S. and has official partnerships with 204 international organizations worldwide. MIAMIs official website is http://www.MiamiRealtors.com. ImageX work with some of the best and brightest brands in the world. Their portfolio of clients speaks volume to the excellent service that they provide. Clutchs analysts selected the highest-performing Web Developers in Canada based on a variety of factors, including independent client feedback. According to Clutch, the chosen organizations not only embody exemplary customer service, but they also demonstrate their prowess in the B2B sector by boasting strong industry knowledge, project management, thought leadership, and a diverse portfolio of work and clientele. EVP, Brent Wilker noted "We're excited to once again to be recognized by Clutch as #1 in our industry. The recognition is testament to ImageX's commitment to helping clients solve their challenges and the exceptional service our team provides. Reviews which have contributed to the #1 ranking include: ImageX had a high level of UX/UI expertise. VP for Marketing, Non-Profit Organization ImageX helped increase traffic to our website 15% and session time by 23% in one year. - Director of Digital Strategy, YMCA of Greater New York I was impressed by ImageX's pragmatic execution and composed, instructive leadership. Web Development Business Partner, Technical Safety BC We've learned to rely on ImageX as a business partnerthey think for us. Director Of Marketing, Steptoe & Johnson ImageX has always met or exceeded our expectations in terms of timeline, quality, and general collaboration. Director of Demand Generation, Schoology ImageX is closely aligned with our mission, produces great quality, and is an outstanding partner. Associate VP of Digital Product Management, Non-Profit Founded in 2001, ImageX is a technology & web agency with a global reach. We've help brands across the world such as Disney, Apple, YMCA, Samsung, Adidas, Adobe and Stanford University architect complex technical solutions and create meaningful digital experiences through user experience, content strategy, stunning visual design, and ongoing digital strategy. With offices in Vancouver, Canada, Kiev, Ukraine and team members throughout North America, ImageX offers around the clock web support to brands both big and small. To contact ImageX, email brent@imagexmedia.com or visit http://www.imagexmedia.com/contact About Clutch Clutch is a B2B research, reviews and rating platform which guides small and medium-sized businesses through the process of finding the best-fit solutions provider for their challenges and projects. Clutchs methodology compares vendors in a specific market based on market presence, services offered and verified client reviews. 71 years of independence As Sri Lanka celebrated her 71st anniversary of independence, there are two competing schools of thought that take stock of the performance of the foregone period. One is blinded by a heavy dose of patriotism, and the other, by an overdose of bitterness and acrimony. The former selectively crows about accomplishments, especially in the broader area of social justice at the same time, glossing over the manifest underachievement in a much larger area, primarily of the economy and national unity. Their opponents consider independence as a sordid farce, a period of majoritarian discrimination against ethnic minorities. The most vocal typed there also bankrolled an armed struggle that fought for the division of this country and, now lament the annihilation of the terrorists. Leave aside supposed political correctness and put a face on the two opposing types: The majority of those who hold an unquestionably favourable opinion is primarily of Sinhalese (Perhaps Buddhist, often rural) background. The disgruntled lot are overwhelmingly Tamil, most vocal and venomous of whom have already emigrated. This dichotomy of opinion is manifest in the contrasting reactions: There was a grand independence day parade in Colombo, and celebrations in many other cities and black flags were hosted in Jaffna. Equally, an intriguing question is whether post-independent Sri Lanka managed to keep the momentum of these achievements, lately. In contrast to Sri Lankas unassertive achievements, countries that lagged behind in social indicators have made tremendous progress However, a more nuisance assessment of Sri Lankas track record over the past 71 years is that it is modest, but not spectacular, troublesome, but not evil. It is one of the middle ground. An average C pass or B-. In the most account, Sri Lankas achievements in social justice remain significant, however, the interesting point is that the foundation for these achievements was laid long before the independence. Equally, an intriguing question is whether post-independent Sri Lanka managed to keep the momentum of these achievements, lately. In contrast to Sri Lankas unassertive achievements, countries that lagged behind in social indicators have made tremendous progress. For instance, in 1945, the literacy rate of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) was 57 per cent and in 2017 it is 93 per cent. That is modest progress and is in line with the world; world literacy rose from 56 per cent in 1950 to 86 per cent in 2017. Whereas the literacy rate of India at the independence was 18 per cent. In spite of overall wretchedness of the vast majority of its teeming masses, Indias literacy has risen to 74% in 2017. Similarly, only one in five could read and write in China in 1950. Today, Chinas literacy rate is per cent. Similarly, Sri Lanka lost out qualitatively. In the 1960s, the then the University of Ceylon, ( now Peradeniya) ranked among the top 100 universities in the world. Now, none of the Sri Lankan universities is anywhere near there. This explains another less-talked about aspect of Sri Lankas social progress. i.e. rather than being a well thought- out an economic plan, Sri Lankas social progress was a result of one big populist policy, which allocated scare economic resources to social projects as an election ploy- to win votes. The populist narrative- rather than a long term coherent long term economic vision- of these policies should also be assessed in the context of bloated welfare measures, such as rice rations etc. also in offer at the time. Such dole outs came at the expense of long term economic development. In the end, the economy grew at a modest 4.2 per cent in a yearly average during the last seven decades, which is less than ideal for a country of a low GDP base of 80 USD at the time of independence. Sri Lankas Per Capital GDP of an estimated 4000 USD as of now is a lot less compared to the performance of other states which had a similar economic standard in the 1950s, such as South Korea, Taiwan or Malaysia. Performance of nations should be viewed in relative terms, in comparison to the achievement of their peers. Sri Lanka is an underachiever. Now it risks the prospect of losing its hither- too held relative advantage in secondary education and health. Sri Lankans may kowtow, various politicians, dead and living, as fathers of this nation. But in reality what Sri Lanka had at the helm of political power during the past seven decades were mere passengers, than any transformative leaders. The venom of the other group of interlocutors is a product of two intertwined factors. First, the Northern Tamils, the most articulate of minorities, were an exceedingly primordial lot, deeply ingrained in the Dravidian civilization which had metamorphosed into a unique sense of Tamil exceptionalism. Second, Tamils, perhaps only second to Burghers, were favoured by the colonial British and were disproportionately represented in the government service. That was in part, because they were hard working, had access to better education facilities thanks to American missionaries, but also, because they were willing to pay the second fiddle to the British, more enthusiastically than the Sinhalese. However, the independence unleashed the political empowerment of the Sinhalese Buddhists, who at last wanted their due share in their country. Tamil elites did not want to share the spoil, nor did a certain sense of entitlement and superiority allow them to cooperate and cohabit. Tamil nationalist opposition emerged the very day the country gained independence- much earlier than the much demeaned Sinhalese Only Act was passed in 1956. Sri Lankas process of political empowerment and mobilization of its people was premature. It also overwhelmed its nascent political institutions and infused political elites with a populist idealism that blinded them from the realities of governance. This enhanced scope of political activism was too much for a nascent nation-state to cope with. It weakened the central government and tied its hands. Northern Tamils were better off in Ceylon in the 1950s than their compatriots in Malaysia, which still maintains a Bhumiputra system that favours the native Malays over the other races, or Singapore. Yet, why it was in Sri Lanka that the Tamil elites played the most destabilizing role and refused to take a role in the Central Government (even as of now) is because the Sri Lankan state allowed space for dissent which neither Malaysia nor Singapore did. However, that unrestrained space of political activism effectively weakened the Central government, both to confront the excesses of dissent and accommodate the reasonable demands of protestors. Whereas if Sri Lanka had a rightwing autocrat who cracked the whip and herded everyone, to a unified policy, a good deal of Northern Tamil elites could well have vied for positions in his Cabinet. Singapore strikes a chord. In the end, in the absence of adequate state response, Tamil opposition metamorphosed into a nihilistic and self-destructive terrorist campaign which robbed this country two decades of its prosperity. It had its worst toll on the Tamils themselves. This explains another less-talked about aspect of Sri Lankas social progress. i.e. rather than being a well thought- out an economic plan, Sri Lankas social progress was a result of one big populist policy, which allocated scare economic resources to social projects as an election ploy At its seventh decade since the independence, Sri Lanka is still riven by the mismanagement of its history of independence. It is also blessed by certain, ( perhaps even populist measures) that built a largely functional welfare society. However, continued mismanagement of things would rob the last glimmer of hope. Just like their predecessors over the seven decades, politicians at present remain to be mere passengers riding the gravy train down the precipice. Electoral populism has distorted the policy coherence. Opportunism has its toll on the economy. Fifty-odd days of the constitutional crisis triggered by the President saw an over 1 billion USD of FDI flight out of the country and downgrading of credit status by three credit rankers, making it further expensive to borrow. Tamil politics though subdued by the military defeat of the armed struggle may revive in the opportune moment. Their perceived grievances are not addressed, and given the primordial factors of Tamil exceptionalism, there is no guarantee as to whether addressing those demands would satiate the l nationalist quest or fuel further confrontation. Countries learn from successful experiences of peer states and emulate them. Sri Lanka can learn from the experience of countries which were in similar economic standards decades ago and since then surpassed us in leaps and bounds. The first lesson is that the government should regain a good deal of social and political autonomy to make policy changes in a disorganized polity like ours. That can be achieved through new laws and a bit of Gotabaya styled heavy-handedness. Policies should be pursued in a utilitarian, goal achieving manner, rather than them being excessively rule-following, which delay economic development in corrosive societies. The Second should be to disentangle obsessive populism from economic policy. Third would be to build a cohesive structure vested with powers for policy and project implementation and monitoring. The fourth ethnic question needs to be addressed since it remains a major distraction. Genuine grievances should be addressed through a constitutional amendment. However red lines should be drawn and enforced. The solution should entail a mixture of accommodation and threat or actual repression, where it is mandated, preemptively. Ignoring these national priorities or mishandling them would result in other several decades of underachievement. Storytime In Heaven: an illuminating book that reveals the truth of heaven and its significance to mankind. Storytime In Heaven is the creation of published author, G. T. Froese, a former pastor and Bible teacher who resides in Florida. Froese shares, In this narrative, we embark on an imaginary journey to this place called heaven. Many have pondered, 'What is it like?' Many heard of its existence and desired to eventually take up residence in this celestial city. "During our adventure called Story Time in Heaven, we will see amazing places that fill us with wonder. We will meet some of heavens citizens and hear incredible family stories and their accounts of dreams, choices, and covenants of love! We will begin to see magnificent, glorious sights that can only be seen through faith and we will learn eternal truths. All of this can only be accomplished in the spirit of our imagination. We will observe our family story and the story of mankind from heavens perspective. When viewed in the light of eternity, we find even greater meaning in our lives here on earth. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, G. T. Froeses new book shows a wonderful viewpoint of the true experience of heaven to readers. This book also contains resonant insights that mirror biblical stories, hoping to reinforce their belief of eternal life in the loving abode of the Lord. View a synopsis of Storytime In Heaven on YouTube. Consumers can purchase Storytime In Heaven at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about Storytime In Heaven, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. "Over the past several months, I have been working closely with Chuck Fallon on the succession plan for my role. I could not be more excited to announce that Katie Ward, the executive vice president of FirstService Residential California, will assume this executive role, said Huey. FirstService Residential Texas announced today that its President Cindy Huey was retiring after over three decades of dedicated service. I wanted to let you know that after 30 years in the industry, I have decided to retire from my position...I do so with a full heart. Over the past several months, I have been working closely with Chuck Fallon, chief executive officer of FirstService Residential, on the succession plan for my role. I could not be more excited to announce that Katie Ward, the executive vice president of FirstService Residential California, will assume this executive role, said Huey. Ward began her new role on January 14, 2019. The transition was strategically planned for months to ensure a seamless transfer. Huey will remain in her position until February 8, 2019, to usher in the newly appointed president. Cindy has built a tremendous legacy throughout Texas, and I have nothing but admiration and respect for the outstanding work she has done. I am honored she has entrusted me to carry on and look forward to continuing to grow the business, said Ward. Ward has over two decades of experience in the property management industry managing one of the largest markets in Orange County. She has successfully served as Executive Vice President of Community Management and President of FirstService Association Consulting in California. A graduate of the University of California Irvine, she brings a depth of experience, strong business acumen and unmatched leadership ability and insight to her new position presiding over the Texas region. She will be responsible for overseeing and developing the Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio markets. About FirstService Residential FirstService Residential is North America's largest manager of residential communities and the preferred partner of HOAs, community associations and strata corporations in the U.S. and Canada. FirstService Residentials managed communities include low-, mid- and high-rise condominiums and cooperatives, single-family homes, master-planned, lifestyle and active adult communities, and rental and commercial properties. FirstService Residential delivers proven solutions and exceptional service that add value, enhance lifestyles and make a difference, every day, for every resident and community it manages. FirstService Residential is a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation, a North American leader in the property services sector. Eastern Foundry, a veteran-owned coworking space and accelerator for small businesses and emerging technology companies interested in working with the federal government, will host a special event, co-sponsored by the Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia and the Truman National Security Project, featuring Jeh Johnson, the former Secretary of Homeland Security. Former Secretary Johnson led the US Department of Homeland Security from December 2013 to January 2017, where he was responsible for counterterrorism; cybersecurity; border, port, aviation and maritime security; enforcement and administration of immigration laws; response to national disasters; the detection and prevention of nuclear, chemical and biological threats; and the protection of critical infrastructure and the nation's leadership. Currently, a partner in the Paul, Weiss Litigation Department, Former Secretary Johnson advises clients, including management teams and board of directors, on crisis management, government and internal investigations, high-stakes litigation and regulatory matters, and legal aspects of cybersecurity and other security matters. His legal career has encompassed both private law practice and public service, including three Senate-confirmed presidential appointments. Having former Secretary Johnson speak to our members about his time with Homeland Security is really powerful, said CEO of Eastern Foundry, Andrew Chang. This gives us a chance to have our fingers on the pulse of a person who was the front line of Homeland Security for 4 years. We hope our members find it very helpful and are able to use his expertise in their day-to-day work. Homeland security and national security issues are more in the news than ever, said President of the Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia, Laurie MacNamara. The Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia is proud to foster dialogue around major challenges that impact business and our country at large, and especially pleased to join our friends at the Truman National Security Project and Eastern Foundry to welcome Secretary Johnson. If you would like to learn more about this event, or to get further information regarding Eastern Foundry, please reach out to us at info@eastern-foundry.com. ### About Eastern Foundry Eastern Foundry is a first-of-its-kind marketplace where technologists, government contractors and agencies convene to exchange information and opportunities, find teaming partners and conduct business. Providing all of the resources of a modern technology incubator, Eastern Foundry offers physical workspace, services, trainings and information that are tailored to help large and small businesses achieve government contracting success. To learn more about Eastern Foundry, visit Eastern-Foundry.com, follow us @EasternFoundry or stop by our location in Crystal City. "What I Say, I See": a wise book of caution, is the creation of published author Dr. Janice Holmes. Dr. Holmes' primary focus is on empowering people with practical principles that help them bring to life their dreams and aspirations. She is the senior co-pastor of El-Shaddai, Missionary Baptist Church, alongside her husband. Dr. Holmes is a sought after speaker for local and international conferences, and is a blessed mother and grandmother. When the lightbulb comes on, what a remarkable difference it can make in your life, Dr. Holmes writes. Have you ever noticed that the things you say, the things people say about you who are very close to you, or the things people of influence say about you has a profound effect on your emotions, attitude, and how you think? Well, words really make a difference because the words you say or the words people say about you really do matter. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Dr. Janice Holmess new book is an invaluable guide helping people rethink the words they declare or decree from their mouth. With the keen scripture-based understanding that words have power to determine ones fate, Dr. Holmes provides the specific keys and mind-set the reader will need to build a life of hope, joy, and peace in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity called life. View a synopsis of What I Say, I See on YouTube. Consumers can purchaseWhat I Say, I See at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about What I Say, I See, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Nearly one-third of all food is wasted within households, another third is wasted at retail level The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), recently announced their new agreement Winning on Reducing Food Waste inititative. The new inititative is to help improve education, communication and other impacts of reducing food loss and waste. While nearly one-third of all food is wasted within households, another third is wasted at retail level. With these facts in mind, a couple of researchers published in Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy (AEPP) to examine how food price and expenditure affect the demand for food waste. Craig Landry and Travis Smith from the University of Georgia test their theories in Demand for Household Food Waste. Smith says, Due to the inherent difficulty in collecting food waste data, previous research has relied on stated preference information (i.e., hypothetical scenarios). Our estimates are the first to use nationally representative data of actual meal production and consumption in the household. The article, Demand for Household Food Waste, is now available online for a limited time. If you are interested in setting up an interview with Travis Smith, please contact Allison Scheetz in the AAEA Business Office. ABOUT AAEA: Established in 1910, the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) is the leading professional association for agricultural and applied economists, with 2,500 members in more than 60 countries. Members of the AAEA work in academic or government institutions as well as in industry and not-for-profit organizations, and engage in a variety of research, teaching, and outreach activities in the areas of agriculture, the environment, food, health, and international development. The AAEA publishes two journals, the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, as well as the online magazine Choices. To learn more, visit http://www.aaea.org. Josh Ulla Joins Deep Imaging as Chief Development Officer In a volatile commodity environment, increasing service efficiency and reservoir productivity are of critical importance to Deep Imagings customers. Josh Ullas talent and experience will allow Deep Imaging to bring their solutions to bear with a broader customer base across the country. Deep Imaging, the technological leader in Electromagnetic (EM) Hydraulic Stimulation monitoring solutions, welcomes Josh Ulla, formerly Vice President of Business Development at Fracture ID, as the companys Chief Development Officer. Ulla will work to expand adoption of Deep Imagings advanced EM technology improving the way operators monitor their fracs with better, more conclusive data. David Moore, Deep Imagings President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, There has been some frustration in the market with other monitoring technologies that fall short. Josh will be an important part in helping operators make the pivot to Deep Imagings technology so they can see where fluid is moving, and get consistent, robust data to make quick well-by-well decisions. We are moving rapidly with our technology investment and will be introducing our real-time EM solution very soon, which will be an industry game changer. SCF Partners Vice President Richard Gaut said, In a volatile commodity environment, increasing service efficiency and reservoir productivity are of critical importance to Deep Imagings customers. Josh Ullas talent and experience will allow Deep Imaging to bring their solutions to bear with a broader customer base across the country. Josh Ulla is a high-tech sales executive who excels at translating advanced products into practical business solutions helping clients improve processes and operations. Before joining Deep Imaging, Ulla served as Vice President of Business Development at Fracture ID where he was tasked with product commercialization. Previously he spent five years at ExxonMobil working at both the specialist and asset levels applying borehole seismic solutions globally. Born and raised in Canada, Josh earned his masters degree in earth sciences at Carleton University. Im very excited to be joining Deep Imaging. Great technology is the future of the oil and gas industry, and Deep Imaging delivers high-tech monitoring products that are effective, said Ulla. As development grows tighter, the need for better information that can lead to greater productivity is becoming pronounced, and Deep Imaging is a big piece of that puzzle. ABOUT DEEP IMAGING Deep Imaging is an oilfield services company that directly measures subsurface fluid movement with minimal interpretation. The companys unique imaging technology and services provide superior, in-depth information, enabling operators to gain a better understanding of fluid placement for improved drilling and reservoir optimization. Deep Imaging was founded in 2008 and is the leading provider of onshore electromagnetic (EM) imaging. They hold patents on their proprietary technology. To learn more visit http://www.deepimaging.com Media Contact: Name: Melissa Turowsky Email: MelissaTurowsky@DeepImaging.com Phone Number: (281) 290-0492, Ext: 3502 Park Cities Pet Sitter has won a 7th Angie's List Super Service Award for providing exemplary customer service. "We could not win the numerous awards we have over the years without the amazing team of pet sitters and dog walkers that we have." Joette White, President of Park Cities Pet Sitter Park Cities Pet Sitter is proud to announce that it has earned the home service industrys coveted Angies List Super Service Award (SSA) for 2018. This award honors service professionals who have maintained exceptional service ratings and reviews on Angies List during the 2018 calendar year. The service professionals that receive our Angies List Super Service Award represent the best in our network, who are consistently making great customer service their mission, said Angies List Founder Angie Hicks. They have provided exceptional service to our members and absolutely deserve recognition for the exemplary customer service they exhibited in the past year. Angies List Super Service Awards 2018 winners have met strict eligibility requirements, which include maintaining an A rating in overall grade, recent grade and review period grade. The SSA winners must be in good standing with Angies List and undergo additional screening. This is the 7th time that Park Cities Pet Sitter has won an Angies List Super Service Award since 2011. Park Cities Pet Sitters President, Joette White, said that she is most proud of her companys year over year consistency of great service, and gives full credit for that to her employees. It is our companys mission to provide a service experience that people rave about, said White. We take that commitment very seriously, and it is something that is reflected in hundreds of small ways each day. We do everything we can to make Park Cities Pet Sitter a great place to work, and our employees return that favor by providing great care to each client and pet. We could not win the numerous awards we have over the years without the amazing team of pet sitters and dog walkers that we have. Service company ratings are updated continually on Angies List as new, verified consumer reviews are submitted. Companies are graded on an A through F scale in multiple fields ranging from price to professionalism to punctuality. For over two decades Angies List has been a trusted name for connecting consumers to top-rated service professionals. Angies List provides unique tools and support designed to improve the local service experience for both consumers and service professionals. About Park Cities Pet Sitter: PCPSI has served the Dallas, Richardson and Plano areas 7 days a week, 365 days a year since 1992, and was recently named the 2017 Business of the Year by the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters. Dog walking, pet sitting, pet taxis, overnight sitting, pet supply shopping, and dog training are some of the many services PCPSI offers. Park Cities Pet Sitter is bonded and insured, and all sitters are employees--not independent contractors. A manager is on-call 24 hours a day to handle any emergencies. Go to http://www.pcpsi.com to learn more. D Thomas + Associates is proud to announce the appointment of Tim Layton and Phil Burris as partners. The addition of Tim and Phil is just another important aspect of our evolution in management and leadership as D Thomas + Associates positions itself for another 45 years of growth, said Dan Hogerty II, Chairman. Phil and Tim have both been with us for years, and they represent the ideal candidates to continue our founding philosophy that emphasizes honesty, integrity and the nurturing of long-term relationships. Layton joined D Thomas + Associates in 1998, working in several different channels in his 20-plus years, including packaging sales, technical support and supply chain solutions. His focus during his tenure has been on food manufacturing clients with a special emphasis on baking and dairy customers. Prior to his time with D Thomas, Layton worked in manufacturing management with Jefferson Smurfit Corporation and Packaging Corporation of America. He has a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Burris started with D Thomas + Associates in 2006, after several years with the Krispy Kreme Business Development team focusing on mass merchandisers. His expertise is in sales and account management with all types of food/beverage companies, as well as clients in the grocery industry. Burris is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Both Tim and Phil have demonstrated excellence in building lasting client relationships, Hogerty added. We are confident they will be a great fit as partners and help us steer the growth of our company in the future. ABOUT D THOMAS + ASSOCIATES Since 1973, D Thomas + Associates has delivered customer-driven sales, service and support on behalf of a diverse group of best-in-class packaging manufacturers. We believe in the power of strong and dependable relationships and that our teams collective intelligence adds value by creating innovative solutions for our clients. For more information about the packaging solutions D Thomas & Associates offers, visit https://www.dthos.com. Contacts: Darcy Myers dlmyers@dthos.com 816-822-6419 Headquarters 1717 West 91st Place Kansas City, MO 64114-3237 Covered Insurance Solutions, Inc. (Covered), an independent digital insurance marketplace, is excited to announce the recent appointments of Robert S. Brennan as Chief Revenue Officer and Mickey Freeman as Chief Operating Officer. Brennan and Freeman join the leadership team at a crucial time, as the insurtech scaleup gains traction in providing a faster, simpler, and more personalized way to provide property and casualty insurance products to consumers. Brennan previously joined Covereds Advisory Board in June 2019. He has been instrumental in advising the company on its channel partner strategy and product development efforts. Prior to joining Covered as CRO, he served as EVP of Corporate Strategy & Business Development at mortgage servicer Specialized Loan Servicing (SLS), a subsidiary of Australian-based Computershare. At SLS, Brennan led sales teams and partnership efforts in developing and nurturing relationships with banks, hedge funds, private equity firms, independent mortgage banks, and asset managers. At Covered, Brennan will focus on strategic partnerships, cross-channel distribution, market development, and commercial marketing. Freeman brings 25 years of general management, operations, and marketing experience in technology-driven companies, social enterprises, and national nonprofits. Prior to Covered, Mickey served as President and Co-Founder of Education Funding Partners, a leading social Certified Benefit Corporation and digital marketing company connecting consumer brands with public schools. He previously served as President of Outward Bound Wilderness, COO of Outward Bound USA, and President of Schoolpop, a market-making digital fundraising platform. A graduate of Harvard Business School, Freeman began his career at Sprint Corporation. At Covered, Freeman will focus on operations, strategy, corporate development, and omni-channel marketing. The expansion of Covereds leadership team mirrors the expansion of the companys offerings. Covered now partners with leading mortgage lending, servicing, and real estate providers to offer integrated solutions that help streamline the process of home-buying and annual insurance renewal. Covereds solutions are designed to help partners reduce inefficiency and strengthen relationships while driving value for the end consumer. As our business model grew from startup to scaleup, we sought executive sales and operations talent that has been there, done that, said Covered Co-Founder and CEO Ross Diedrich. Robs strategic partnership experience and ability to create win-win partnerships in the mortgage servicing and lending channels was immediately apparent. Mickeys extensive multi-sector, enterprise-driven experience in rapid-growth environments is being applied to grow revenues and results without sacrificing quality and customer enthusiasm. Were excited to see what 2019 will bring with our expanded leadership team. About Covered Insurance Solutions, Inc. Covered is the smarter, easier, and faster way to buy homeowners insurance. Were an independent, consumer-first insurance agency focused on making insurance easy to understand and painless to purchase. Our integrated online marketplace combines intuitive technology with a human touch to help consumers quote, compare, and purchase the right coverage at the best price in minutes. We partner with mortgage lending, servicing, and real estate providers to make the home-buying process seamless. Covered is innovating insurance: Were a Housingwire 2018 HW Tech100 winner and one of Kairos 50 World-Changing Startups to Watch in 2019. Learn more at https://www.itscovered.com/ and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. More than one million adults in California will experience problems resulting from their gambling during their lifetimes, says Robert Jacobson, the Executive Director of CCPG. We applaud these casinos for working to create a healthier, safer environment for their guests. The California Council on Problem Gambling (CCPG) has awarded annual Responsible Gaming Certifications to two California casinos: the San Manuel Casino and the Pechanga Resort Casino. Certified casinos have demonstrated their commitment toward creating a healthier environment for their guests by following CCPGs seven principles of responsible gaming. This includes maintaining responsible marketing policies, scheduling a comprehensive team member training, offering a self-exclusion program, and ensuring that help and prevention information is readily accessible to all. More than one million adults in California will experience problems resulting from their gambling during their lifetimes, says Robert Jacobson, the Executive Director of CCPG. We applaud these casinos for working to create a healthier, safer environment for their guests. CCPG also offers a heartfelt THANK YOU to its community of supporters, without whom it would not be able to provide many of the services it does! These supporters include the United Auburn Indian Community, the Barona Band of Mission Indians, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the California Lottery, and the California Gaming Association. Gambling addiction is a devastating yet treatable disease, which manifests as the inability to control ones gambling, despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. If left untreated, it can have devastating consequences for the gambler (and the people around them), doing severe and sometimes irreparable harm to their finances, relationships, and mental and physical health. The statewide helpline, 1-800-GAMBLER, is available 24/7/365, at no cost, and provides confidential crisis intervention and referral services in English, Spanish and Chinese, with translation services available for more than 240 languages and TTY for the hearing impaired. You can also chat with a counselor by texting support to 53342, or visiting http://www.800gambler.chat. If you are struggling with a gambling problem, or have been affected by someone elses gambling, there is help available at NO COST. Services include one on one therapy, group sessions, and intensive outpatient or residential treatment. For more information about these and other services, call the 1-800-GAMBLER helpline. Treatment is funded under the California Gambling Education and Treatment Services program (CalGETS), and is available at no cost to residents of California who exhibit at least one symptom of gambling disorder. ABOUT CCPG CCPG is a non-profit organization, founded in 1986, dedicated to assisting problem gamblers and their loved ones by promoting awareness, education, research, prevention and treatment for problem gambling. CCPG is one of 36 state affiliates of the National Council on Problem Gambling. Construciton of a railway line In 1864 they commenced the construction of railway line from Colombo to Ambepussa during the period of British Governor Frederick North and constructed the up-country railway line up to Badulla They introduced large scale plantations mainly tea replacing coffee. They brought Indian labourers to work. Worlds oldest rubber research centre was established in Dartan After Independence we could not maintain these two railway lines due to our inability and narrow train line operated up to Opanayaka was stopped British rulers introduced their education system to Sri Lanka and still, we are following the British curriculum however with some alterations Before the British Rulers came to Sri Lanka, we were under the Portuguese and the Dutch. The 71st Independence Day was celebrated yesterday (4) with great dignity. British Imperialists invaded Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in 1796 and they brought the country into dominion rule in 1815. The British were in Sri Lanka till the independence, February 4, 1948. They introduced large scale plantations in Sri Lanka, mainly tea replacing coffee. They brought Indian labourers to work in plantations. The worlds oldest rubber research centre was established in Dartan Field in Agalawatta in Kalutara District by the British and it was one of the gifts to us. Lunuwila Coconut Research Centre and Tea Research Centre in Talawakele are two of the landmark institutions. They introduced Railway to transport the produce to Colombo from the hill country and introduced Lipton Tea. In 1864 they commenced the construction of railway line from Colombo to Ambepussa during the period of British Governor Frederick North and constructed the up-country railway line up to Badulla with great difficulties without modern construction facilities including 46 tunnels up to Badulla. In the meantime, they constructed railway line for small train service from Colombo to Opanayake and normal railway line to Nuwara Eliya from Nanu Oya. After gaining Independence we could not maintain these two railway lines due to our inability and small train line operated up to Opanayaka was curtailed up to Avissawella. Nanu Oya to Nuwara Eliya railway line has been demolished. It shows our development in railway. During the Premadasa regime, a railway line was introduced to Mihintale from Anuradhapura. We learned that this line is operated only for Poson Festival Season in Anuradhapura. Though they constructed upcountry railway line with various difficulties without modern facilities during those days, we could not construct our railway line with modern construction facilities up to Kataragama which is a flat area. It was quite recently that the Southern Railway Line was extended up to Beliatta. Anyway, if the colonial rulers had not come to Sri Lanka, travelling to Badulla by train would have only been a pipe dream. British rulers introduced their education system to Sri Lanka and still, we are following the British curriculum however with some alterations. They also gave us Westminster Parliament system and Judiciary system. We had a clean and impartial judiciary system under British rulers. We are following the same Judiciary System introduced by British rulers. One example can be indicated as to how they have delivered verdict impartially. There was a court case named The Bracegirdle Incident. In this case, the verdict was delivered in favour of the complainant and not in favour of their Governor. They never biased delivering verdicts to anyone. We know very well a case regarding Hambantota. Leftists lament British looted our wealth. But they go to UK and Western countries and send their children for higher education without shame A judge who gave his ruling on the case said later on the last election platforms that he had sent the culprit home instead of sending him to jail. He begged pardon about his ruling. If this case was heard during the British period, definitely the culprit would be imprisoned. Our people are always allege that the British rulers looted our property. There are pros and cons of any person or anything. We cannot expect 100% well from anything. They established three research centres for three crops such as tea, coconut and rubber. Dartan Field Rubber Research Centre is the world oldest research centre and the tea research centre was established in Talawakele and Research Centre for coconut was established in Lunuwila. They refurbished the irrigation system of the country, especially in Hambantota District. Road network was properly processed islandwide and those facilities were given to rural areas of the country. Ultimately, I can state that if we were further under British rule at least 50 years, I am sure we would have been ahead in our development and the country would have been in a good position economically and socially and technologically. The Leftists always lament that the British rulers looted our wealth. But they always used to go to UK or Western Countries for medical treatment and sending their children for higher education in the UK without shame. In conclusion, I take this opportunity to salute the British rulers, who ruled Sri Lanka on the day we commemorate 71st Independence Day. Cascade Angels has invested nearly $4 million in 24 companies and were excited to partner with more great companies, said Julie Harrelson, Managing Partner of 44North Ventures, Fund Manager for Cascade Angels Fund. Entrepreneurs seeking investment capital have an opportunity to present their early stage businesses to Cascade Angels. Cascade Angels Fund V, LLC has opened up its first application period for 2019, which runs from February 4-March 15, 2019. Entrepreneurs interested in applying can do so via Gust. The Fund anticipates investing in 5-7 companies in 2019. Typical investments are made in early stage companies from any industry and investments are anticipated to range from $150,000 to $250,000 per company. Cascade Angels Fund is now investing out of its fifth fund. The Funds mission is to create regional opportunities for investors and businesses to drive economic growth and fuel prosperity. The Fund is managed by 44North Ventures, under the leadership of Julie Harrelson and Robert Pease. Harrelson, an entrepreneur, investor and leader in Oregons startup community, founded Cascade Angels fund in 2014. Pease has over 20 years of experience as an investor, founder, operational executive, and consultant. In addition to his current role as Fund Manager, he serves as a Venture Partner to the previous Cascade Angels Funds. Cascade Angels has invested nearly $4 million in 24 companies and were excited to partner with more great companies, said Julie Harrelson, Managing Partner of 44North Ventures, Fund Manager for Cascade Angels Fund. About Cascade Angels Fund Founded in 2013, Cascade Angels is a professionally managed, investor driven collaborative seed fund that creates opportunities for investors and businesses with connections to Oregon to drive economic growth and fuel prosperity. The Funds investors include prominent business leaders, exited entrepreneurs and institutional investors who are committed to contributing to a sustainable economy and building Oregon's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Since 2014, Cascade Angels Funds have invested nearly $4M in 24 early stage companies that cumulatively employ over 200 people. For more information, visit http://www.CascadeAngels.com, http://www.Gust.com/organizations/cascade-angels-fund, or http://www.twitter.com/CascadeFund. Participation in the Cascade Angel Fund is by referral and invitation only. Angel and venture investments involve a high degree of risk. Participation is limited to "accredited investors," as defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, AND to investors who have such knowledge and experience in financial and business matters that they are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of prospective investments. Food Lover Tour, a food tourism company with main operations based in Barcelona, is excited to continue expanding and growing as we are now well into the new year. Food Lover Tour has been hard at work planning delicious new food tours for customers all around the Iberian Peninsula. New tours began in Granada, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal in 2018, welcoming guests to try the local cuisine in these cities. Looking forward, Food Lover Tour aims to continue adding new tours and cities to its roster in 2019. After finding tremendous success in only a few short years, Food Lover Tour has succeeded at remaining a small, family business based in Barcelona and at the same time has become a well-known food tourism company in Spain and Portugal. As Matt (the founder of Food Lover Tour) says, it was clear to me that visitors can go by themselves to the most touristic areas of the city. My goal is to show the authenticity of each city where we operate by going where the locals go. I believe that this can only be achieved through small groups and highly-trained food guides. Tours currently run in Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Malaga, Granada and Lisbon. The Picoteo Lover Tour, an authentic tapas crawl adventure, opened the doors to discovering Granada with Food Lover Tour in 2018 and has since received very positive reviews from guests. Lisbon opened the Petiscos Lover Tour and Food & Fado Lover Tour in 2018, which are also doing amazingly well. Food tours in Porto will be rolling out this year, so keep your eyes open! Keeping in tradition with all of Food Lover Tours other tours, these new cities will hold food tours that show guests the best side of the city, paired with traditional cuisine. Food Lover Tour is excited to announce new tours in Barcelona, Seville, and Madrid, too. An exciting new tour being offered in Barcelona and Seville, the Market Cooking Class offers guests a unique opportunity to shop, cook and eat in a neighborhood food market. Things are also sweeter in Madrid now that Food Lover Tour is bringing guests on its Sweets Lover Tour, a fun way to taste the Spanish capitals most delicious desserts and treats. The key to Food Lover Tours growth and success is that it distinguishes itself from competitors in the food tourism industry. By going to authentic neighborhoods in each city and going where the locals themselves love to hang out, guests get a genuine feel for the city they are visiting. In addition to immersion in Spanish & Portuguese culture, guests try high-quality food that highlights the citys traditions and customs. These new ventures are especially exciting because they pave the way for amazing growth. As the Food Lover Tour family continues to grow and expand, the company continues to think about how best to serve its guests and partners. The sky's the limit as Food Lover Tour looks to the delicious year ahead! Beautytap, the premier destination for Korean beauty education, advice, content, community, and premium luxury beauty products, will unveil Afterglow Ampoule, the first release from its luxury product line: AZN Labs. The Seoul of this line was designed with three core concepts in mind - ingredients, science, and effectiveness. Afterglow Ampoule, the first luxury product released from the line, represents the perfect combination of J-Beauty & K-Beauty, thanks to the use of traditional floral ingredients found in the best K-beauty products, and the careful use of Astaxanthin (AX), a vibrant red keto-carotenoid naturally created in rainwater microalgae and containing 6,000% the potency of Vitamin C, which was introduced to the cosmetics industry in Japan. The release of AZN Labs Afterglow Ampoule is special to us because it reflects the direct needs and requests of our community and, through the creation of this product, weve closed a huge gap in the marketplace, said CEO and Founder at Beautytap, James Sun. Before the release of our ampoule, people wanted a product that reduces fine lines and wrinkles and gives an instant glow through a single serum that combines the best ingredients from Asia. The Afterglow Ampoule IS that product. It plumps up the skin to achieve immediate results, leaving one with a healthy glow while repairing fine lines and wrinkles, instantly. We cant wait for everyone to try it and see the results for themselves. Afterglow Ampoule, a soon-to-be undisputed serum for anyone suffering from age-related dryness, dark spots, dullness, and loss of firmness and elasticity, was created and formulated in Korea. However, the true beauty of this new line has more than just K-Beauty at its core! The Company was determined to use J-beauty miracle ingredient, astaxanthin, known for being notoriously difficult to work with in cosmetic formulations and naturally unstable, degrading quickly in light and heat and in response to oxygen exposure, in its premier product. Beautytap was up for the challenge of combining the best of the best ingredients from Asia into one miracle blend and, because of its powerful and proven anti-aging effects, AX was a must-have. It took the work of dedicated scientists in Japan as well as our master formulators in Korea to perfect our light- and heat-stable formula to create the first product introduced by AZN Labs. Users will find consistent results from beginning to end, because our ampoule delivers the full benefits of a preventative and reparative anti-aging skincare routine, without harsh ingredients or the hassle and confusion of multiple steps to address multiple problems, continued Sun. While AZN Labs is Beautytaps first product line, the company plans to continue creating products using effective ingredients and cutting-edge technology as their main goal has always been to help customers tap into their inner beauty. For now, Afterglow Ampoule is THE go-to for those who love both J-beauty and K-beauty, and for those who crave a product that leaves them feeling immediately rejuvenated and pampered, while nurturing and healing their skin, contributing to an effortless glow. Limited supplies of Afterglow Ampoule will be available for pre-order today, with online purchases beginning February 21st. ABOUT BEAUTYTAP: Beautytap is THE destination for everything K-beauty, with an extensive range of educational resources and the strongest community surrounding popular and indie Korean beauty products. Its new product line, AZN Labs, is more than just that. From A to Z, Beautytap sources Natural ingredients from all over the world with proven efficacy, producing new, creative formulas for topical skincare. Beautytap is passionate about Korean beauty, as well as educating, empowering, and spreading the diversity of unique cultures around the world. It is the destination for people who share this philosophy. Now with our first flagship retail location, Beautytap complements its online community, e-commerce site, and editorial expertise with a brick-and-mortar experience to truly connect with those eager to learn about Korean beauty. Beautytap is a U.S.-based company with a direct sourcing team located in South Korea, so you can expect the credibility, service, and trust of a U.S. company with the true ground floor expertise of our Korean team. Learn more by following us on social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and at https://www.beautytap.com. "Civil Rights mural at Martin Luther King Memorial Park in Atlanta, May 18 2013 by denisbin via Flickr. Used under CC BY-ND 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/) "In 1966, a Gallup poll had found that [Martin Luther] King was viewed unfavorably by 63% of Americans. Today, of course, King is an American icon, and a 2011 poll found that 94% of Americans had a positive view of him." BackStory, an American history podcast produced by Virginia Humanities, releases BlackStory: BackStory Celebrates Black History Month with a Compilation. After more than 10 years of audio storytelling, BackStory has an impressive back catalog that features many stories about African Americans. Nathan showcases some of BackStorys best content with this weeks episode, a compilation just for Black History Month 2019. Hear about one historians heartbreaking research into the human effects of lynching to the extraordinary story of Korla Pandit, the turban-wearing showman of Californias cocktail lounges. BackStory also shares a segment from Scene On Radio about the racial cleansing in Corbin, Kentucky that took place 100 years ago, but mostly remains hidden from the towns official history. Segments in this episode come from the following previously published shows: Reflecting on Darkness: Lynching; Americans and the Holocaust Color Lines: Racial Passing in America The Real Martin Luther King: Reflecting on MLK 50 Years After His Death BlackStory: BackStory Celebrates Black History Month with a Compilation, is available now. Find it and every episode of BackStory on the website (http://www.BackStoryRadio.org) or on popular podcatchers including iTunes, Spotify and Google. BackStory publishes every week at noon and is available for free. Image credit: "Civil Rights mural at Martin Luther King Memorial Park in Atlanta, May 18, 2013 by denisbin via Flickr. Used under CC BY-ND 2.0 About BackStory: BackStory brings historical perspective to the America of today. Each week, U.S. historians Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, Joanne Freeman and Nathan Connolly look at current issues and trace them back to their roots in American history. From the days of the Early Republic to the 21st century, BackStory reveals the connections (and disconnections) between the past and the present. BackStory makes history accessible for listeners not only in the United States, but around the globe. BackStory is available for free on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and other apps. Get new episodes delivered directly to your device by following BackStory on your preferred podcatcher. New to podcasts? Just search for BackStory (and look for the blue logo in the Society and Culture category) and then click Subscribe. About Virginia Humanities: Virginia Humanities connects people and ideas to explore the human experience and inspire cultural engagement. As the state humanities council, Virginia Humanities reaches millions in its estimated annual audience through festivals, grants, fellowships, digital initiatives, teacher institutes, radio programs, podcasts, apprenticeships, and school programs. Headquartered at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia Humanities endeavors to serve Virginians in every corner of the Commonwealth. To learn more visit VirginiaHumanities.org. Mila Christine Bourdon, a veteran of the Cold War, former teacher of Russian, and published genealogist has completed her new book Surviving Americas Decline and the Progressive Agenda: An Indictment Against the Good Salt: a novel which follows Grace Winders, an American who returns home after many years abroad only to find the country a far cry from the one she left. The campaign slogan in 2008 to fundamentally transform the country was a wakeup call, Bourdon said when asked about her inspiration for this work. Leninists echoed similar disturbing words before bringing down the Russian monarchy in 1917. Moreover, just like the wicked Soviets, Americas radical left openly rejects all things godly. This book presages the demise of the Republic as we know it at their hands. Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, Mila Christine Bourdon explores the decline of the United States, its unprecedented debt, lawlessness at the highest levels of government, lack of well-paying jobs resulting in a burgeoning underclass eking out a living on entitlements, its military weakened and influence around the globe diminished, its cities polluted by drugs and street gangs, the proliferation of sanctuary cities allowing illegal aliens pouring into the country freedom from the law, terrorist activity on our own soil, and political correctness making many of these changes possible. Readers who wish to embark upon this thrilling journey can purchase Surviving Americas Decline and the Progressive Agenda: An Indictment Against the Good Salt at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional New York based full-service publishing house that handles all of the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not bogged down with complicated business issues like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes and the like. Its roster of authors can leave behind these tedious, complex and time-consuming issues, and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. John Kearney, CEO of Advanced Training Systems, stresses how the implementation of virtual simulators affects the performance of school bus drivers on local roadways. As with the shortage of long-haul truck drivers, says ATSs Kearney, also a growing source of concern, simulators offer an economical and highly effective approach to increasing the available supply of drivers for our nations schoolchildren." Shortly after the first of the year, a public school in Maine was forced to call off classes when too few of its school bus drivers reported to work. The unprecedented closing was a first for Kermit S. Nickerson Elementary, and school officials vowed not to allow it to recur. According to local reports, however, the district is experiencing a critical shortage of substitute drivers.1 This is just the tip of the iceberg, says John Kearney, CEO, Advanced Training Systems LLC. Kearney, whose company is a leading designer and manufacturer of virtual simulators for driver training, among other applications, adds, There is a widespreadand worseningshortage of school bus drivers across the country. According to a recent survey by School Bus Fleet Magazine, in fact, 22% of private bus contractors call the driver shortage severe, and five percent describe it as desperate. The director of transportation for Douglas County school district in Colorado, Donna Grattino, noted that bus driving is not as attractive an occupation as it might recently have been. The economys better, she says, so people are going back to jobs they had previously, or they find the need to stay at home.2 In addition to the economic recovery, a variety of other factors contribute to the school bus driver shortage, says Mike Martin, executive director of the National Association of Pupil Transportation. Drivers generally need a commercial drivers license, which requires training, sometimes without payfurther restricting the flow of new applicants. Whatever is causing the shortage, its effects of the problem are being seen nationwide: In St. Paul, Minnesota, some students are arriving late to school because fill-in drivers are not familiar with the normal routes. In Lincoln, Nebraska, some positions remain unfilled even after the local school district offered $1,000 signing bonuses for new hires. In Hawaii last year, a driver shortage in Maui forced state officials to suspend bus rides for some students and limit rides for others.3 In Texas, meanwhile, state government has turned to what is proving to be an at least partial solution to the problem. A group of prospective school bus drivers in the town of Atlanta, in the northeastern corner of the state, for example, are being trained behind the wheel of a state-of-the-art virtual training simulator, where they are taught how to handleand recover froma series of worst-case scenarios. The program was made possible by a $114,000 grant from the Texas Department of Transportation. If we can save one childs life, says Texas Region 6 Education and Service Center Specialist Larry Thornton, our goal has been accomplished. Statewide, Thornton says, the program has reduced driver error accidents by 33%.4 As with the shortage of long-haul truck drivers, says ATSs Kearney, also a growing source of concern 5, simulators offer an economical and highly effective approach to increasing the available supply of drivers for our nations schoolchildren. The technology can both reduce the cost of training and produce better, safer drivers. About Advanced Training Systems LLC: Advanced Training Systems (ATS) is a high-tech simulator technology and engineering firm that has revolutionized the design and manufacture of advanced training systems to improve training and create safer drivers. ATS, the holder of multiple patents in high-tech training simulation, has as its mission to provide this cutting edge adaptive training to all involved in the transportation industry at an affordable cost, resulting in safer drivers/operators. For more information, visit http://www.atstrainingsystems.com 1. May, Ashley, Bus driver shortage causes Maine elementary school to cancel classes, USA Today, January 8, 2019. 2. Osunsami, Steve, School-bus driver shortage across the US sparks growing concern, ABC News, August 15, 2017. 3. Schulte, Grant, School bus driver shortage creates headaches for districts, Associated Press, December 26, 2018. 4. Atlanta ISD bus drivers learn from state-of-the-art training, KTBS News, January 16, 2019. 5. Long, Heather, America has a massive truck driver shortage. Heres why few want an $80,000 job, Washington Post, May 28, 2018. "Bay Cat" California Ale We are excited to be partnering with Ale Industries to help conserve mountain lions in the wild. Having an Oakland Zoo ale is an exciting new opportunity for us, and were proud to partner locally while doing good for our Bay Area wildlife, says President and CEO of Oakland Zoo, Dr. Parrott. Oakland Zoo and Oaklands oldest brewery are releasing a new ale, Bay Cat with proceeds going to fund efforts around saving Bay Area mountain lions caught in human-wildlife the conflict. Oakland Zoo taps into a new conservation approach by partnering with local brewery, Ale Industries, to release an Oakland Zoo themed brew, Bay Cat California Ale, on February 2, 2019. Six dollars from each case of Bay Cat will raise funds for Bay Area mountain lions. Bay Cat is made with locally- sourced sage, chamomile, coriander, and orange peel. Label art designed for the ale demonstrates the collide of urban development into wildlife inhabited areas, thus leading to incidents of human-wildlife conflict. The silhouettes of the city skyline, rolling hills, and a mountain lion represent the ties between these two worlds. Oakland Zoo fits into one of our main philanthropic tenants, which is nature conservancy. We strive to do what we can to preserve our natural world for the next generation says Morgan Cox, Cofounder and Brewmaster of Ale Industries DROPBOX LINK TO PHOTOS AND VIDEO Bay Cat California Ale provides a new opportunity to educate people about human wildlife conflict and how people can support mountain life conservation by purchasing the ale. Oakland Zoo partners with organizations such as Bay Area Puma project and the Mountain Lion Foundation. Oakland Zoo staff teams up with these partner organizations to respond to such conflicts and ensure the best and safest outcome for both people and the mountain lions. Oakland Zoo helped found BACAT (Bay Area Cougar Action Team) in 2013, an alliance with the Bay Area Puma Project and the Mountain Lion Foundation, to help support the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to save mountain lions caught in the human-wildlife conflict. For every case sold of Bay Cat California Ale, six dollars will go to Bay Area mountain lion conservation. We are excited to be partnering with Ale Industries to help conserve mountain lions in the wild. Having an Oakland Zoo ale is an exciting new opportunity for us, and were proud to partner locally while doing good for our Bay Area wildlife, says President and CEO of Oakland Zoo, Dr. Parrott. Bay Cat California Ale will be officially released on Saturday, February 2, 2019 at Ale Industries tap room (3096 E 10th St, Oakland, CA 94601) from 12pm to 10pm. Make sure to grab a pint or buy a 4 pack of the ale to support Bay Area mountain lion conservation. Oakland Zoo staff and mountain lion conservation partners will be onsite to talk about the human-wildlife conflict and how this endeavor will help support mountain lion conservation. ### ABOUT OAKLAND ZOO AND THE CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA: Oakland Zoo, home to more than 750 native and exotic animals, is managed by the Conservation Society of California (CSC); a non-profit organization leading an informed and inspired community to take action for wildlife locally and globally. With over 25 conservation partners and projects worldwide, the CSC is committed to conservation-based education and saving species and their habitats in the wild. Oakland Zoo is dedicated to the humane treatment of animals and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the national organization that sets the highest standards for animal welfare for zoos and aquariums. Elevate 2019 is the place independent agents can break out of the day to dayand get the know-how and inspiration to break the cycle of doing things the same way theyve always been done. Agency Nation, the online hub for 10,000-plus members of the independent insurance agency community, today announced the full lineup for its Elevate 2019 conference being held March 24 26 in the heart of New Orleans. Celebrating its third year, the annual event will bring a convergence of 60-plus speakers delivering inspirational keynotes and tactical breakout sessions and insurtech innovators all together in one place to drive independent agent success in a digitally connected world. For indie agents and owners, agency life can be pretty isolating, said Sydney Roe, director of brand engagement at Agency Nation. Elevate is the one place independent doesnt mean alone, where forward-leaning agents can break out of their insurance bubble and get the inspiration and tactics they need to break the its always been done this way mold. Elevate 2019 is expected to draw 800 insurance thought leaders, agents, carrier representatives and insurtech innovators to the Marriott New Orleans. Program highlights for the two-plus day experience include: Seven notable keynotes including NYT bestselling author Donald Miller, who has helped businesses like Intel, Pantene and Chick Fil A quadruple revenue through his StoryBrand Framework 60-plus presenters, four learning tracks and 24 breakout sessions with a majority led by agency owners, all sharing their best practices and tactical approach to marketing, operations, technology, etc. Three impactful panel discussions, including Applied Systems, Vertafore and TechCanary taking the stage to share how theyre breathing new life into back office innovations Dozens of hand-selected insurtech vendor partners will be on hand to present the new stack of technologies essential to delivering a customer-centric experience in a digital world Safeco-sponsored Agent For the Future faceoff welcomes four super agents to debate two questions agents all over the country are asking: Do I need a brick and mortar store? Should I be a generalist or niche-focused?, with the winner selected by live audience vote. A NOLA-inspired street party, right in the heart of New Orleans Additionally, attendees can join the conferences online community and start networking immediately, powered by the custom Elevate app, downloadable from iTunes and Google. Commenting on the Elevate experience, What started as a desire to build a different kind of insurance conference experience, one where innovative ideas are explored and the business of insurance is celebrated, has grown into the industrys must-attend event, said Chip Bacciocco, CEO of TrustedChoice.com/Agency Nation. We couldnt be more excited about this years lineup, one thats laser-focused on elevating independent agent success. Registration for Elevate 2019 is open now through March , or while while tickets last. Learn more and register, visit http://www.elevateconference.com. About Agency Nation Agency Nations mission is to help independent insurance agents connect their brand to their clients in innovative ways. As the online hub of the independent insurance channel, Agency Nation gives agents access to the tools they need to drive referral and retention success. Learn more at http://www.agencynation.com. "We are confident that these individuals will continue in ABCorp's effort to provide our customers best-in-class products, service and an unparalleled experience." William Brown, CEO American Banknote Corporation (ABCorp) is pleased to announce the appointment of Aglika Georgieva as Chief Financial Officer for the consolidated operations, Tim Perry as Managing Director of the Asia-Pacific (Australia, China and New Zealand) region and Sarah Schousboe as Country Manager of New Zealand. William Brown, CEO of ABCorp, stated Each of these individuals has extensive experience within their vertical of expertise and, more importantly, holds a detailed understanding of our customers and their needs. We are confident they will continue in ABCorps effort to provide our customers best-in-class products, service and an unparalleled experience. About Us: American Banknote Corporation or ABCorp dates back to 1795 in assisting the newly formed Bank of the United States to design and produce better, more counterfeit resistant currency. Since that time, we have been involved in countless innovations relating to security and authentication. Our expertise in credentials (IDs), payments and secure access spans nearly 225 years. Many of our relationships with governmental entities and blue-chip companies span decades, even centuries. During the past two centuries ABCorp has assisted numerous governments and blue-chip companies elevate to higher levels of security, trust and utility with their constituents and customers. Knight Franks latest report, Chinese Developers in Australia Market Insight 2019, has found that 31% of Australian development sites in 2018 were bought by Chinese developers who purchased $1.3 billion worth of Australian residential development sites in 2018. This figure was down from $2.02 billion in 2017, or one-third of all site sales. Of all Australian sites purchased by Chinese developers and investors in 2018, 41% were suited to low density (single dwellings or landed properties) up from 29% in 2017 and just 2% in 2013. According to Knight Franks Head of Residential Research, Australia Michelle Ciesielski, over the past five years, Chinese developers have significantly ramped up their presence building landmark residential towers around the world including along the skyline of the Australian east coast. Chinese developers and investors purchased $1.3 billion worth of Australian residential development sites last year. This was down substantially from the $2.02 billion recorded a year earlier, although the share of total sales fell only slightly from 33% - reflecting a wider, slower-paced market. Ciesielski said there is no denying Chinese developers have met with challenges throughout this time. From the Chinese government attempting to moderate capital outflow, to locally, the impact when major domestic banks restricted lending to offshore borrowers which limited the ability to rely on deep databases with clients familiar with projects in their home towns all of this has had an impact on Chinese outbound investment. In addition, changes to Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) rules and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) encouraging stricter lending practices for investors cooling off-the-plan presales, not to mention the introduction for state-based surcharges all current challenges also being faced by local developers. According to Knight Franks Partner, Head of Asian Markets, Australia Dominic Ong, the majority of Chinese developers who have entered the Australian landscape are settling in for the long haul now diversifying their portfolios to adapt to local market trends. Over the past year, the likes of Zone Q, China Poly Group, Yuhu Group and Aqualand have increased their exposure to office assets and this trend is likely to continue in 2019. In addition, Chinese developers are shifting weight towards lower-density residential with 41% of sites purchased suiting low-density in 2018 up from 29% in 2017, said Ong. The report also found that almost 11% of all new apartments out of 5,160 apartments built in 2018 were by Chinese developers, with this share projected to rise to 22% in 2021 for the major Australian cities. According to Ciesielski, these new apartments were concentrated on the major east coast cities of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. This includes those projects which have already commenced, and those with development approval which are currently being marketed. With current headwinds heading into 2019, the likelihood of all projects proposed by Chinese developers going ahead over the next couple of years is diminishing, except those with an exceptional product. Projects submitted for development approval and those already with approval, but not yet having started marketing campaigns, tend to taper off substantially for Chinese developers with less than 6% of total projects in the pipeline. Going forward, developers both Chinese and local must hold realistic expectations following a residential market in correction mode after a lengthy period of significant growth. It will be imperative proper time is allocated to strengthen their position in the market for when the time to proceed arrives, concluded Ciesielski. In 2016 Chinese developers and investors purchased $2.4 billion worth of Australian residential development sites, some 9.4%% stronger than 2015. The figure was up by 36% from 2012. Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Qatar Mr. A S. P Liyanage has been recalled, government sources today said. Sources said President Maithripala Sirisena had dispatched the letter of recall to Mr. Liyanage this evening. Mr. Liyanage was embroiled in controversy recently on charges of trying to take over a Sri Lankan school in Qatar. A parliament debate was held on the matter as well. (Yohan Perera) Madrid, Feb 5 : Spain and 18 other countries belonging to the European Union (EU) has signed a joint declaration of support and recognition for the US-backed opposition leader as the interim Venezuelan president after an ultimatum they had signed calling on the embattled incumbent to call early elections expired. The statement proclaims National Assembly speaker Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president with the aim of "calling free, fair and democratic presidential elections." Signing the declaration were Spain, Portugal, Germany, the UK, Denmark, Holland, France, Hungary, Austria, Finland, Belgium, Luxemburg, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Sweden and Croatia, Efe reported on Monday. The move came after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro failed to comply with an ultimatum from several EU members to call a snap presidential election. "The goal is to call elections as soon as possible," Pedro Sanchez, Spain's prime minister, told a press conference at his official Moncloa residence in Madrid, kicking off a day of similar announcements across the bloc. "These elections have to be free, democratic, with guarantees and without exclusions," he said, adding he would liaise with EU member states and the UN to draw up a humanitarian aid package for Venezuela. Guaido is the president of the National Assembly, which is considered by the EU to be the only the legitimate parliamentary body in Venezuela. In 2017, Venezuela's Supreme Court, whose members are mostly pro-Maduro, withdrew recognition of the National Assembly and the government proceeded with elections to a parallel body known as the National Constituent Assembly, which was boycotted by the opposition. Shortly before the release of the joint statement, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini had said that recognising Guaido as interim president is not the responsibility of the bloc but rather lies within the purview of each of the individual member nations. She insisted, however, that "there is a common EU position on Venezuela and we have expressed it very clearly and together -- all the 28," referring to the demand for new elections. "That position is very clear and consolidated over time. The EU and its Member States have never recognised as legitimate the presidential elections that were held last year. We did not participate -- none of us -- at the inauguration of Maduro on 10 January. We recognise the National Assembly as the legitimate institution of the country and we recognise the role of its President (Guaido). This is clear, this is a common position," she said. Nine EU nations, including Italy, declined to sign the joint statement recognising Guaido. Russia, which is one of Venezuela's principal creditors, rejected the EU ultimatum and the recognition of Guaido. Maduro accuses the EU nations of bowing to the policies of US President Donald Trump. Guaido secured the backing of Washington before declaring himself acting president on January 23. Guaido took to social media to individually thank all the EU governments that had recognised him as caretaker president throughout the course of the day. Patna, Feb 5 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said no one has any concern for the country and that political parties are only concerned about the votes ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. "Desh ki chinta kisi ko nahi hai. Rajnitik dalon ko kewal vote ki chinta hai," Nitish Kumar told the media in Hindi when asked about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's dharna in protest against the CBI in Kolkata. Banerjee has been on a sit-in since Sunday night after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials showed up at the residence of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar for questioning him in connection with their probe into a ponzi scheme scam case. Refusing to say anything on Banerjee's dharna against the CBI action, Kumar said now the case is in the Supreme Court and only court can say anything. However, he said one or two months ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, many such developments would take place in the country. "Look forward to many more in the coming days." New Delhi, Feb 5 : A couple in a live-in relationship were arrested for robbing and killing a Uber driver, a police officer said on Monday. "The accused, Farhat Ali, 34 and his partner Seema Sharma, 30, were arrested on Sunday after they were seen in CCTV footage around the cab of the deceased who was identified as Ram Govind," Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijayanta Arya said. The incident was reported to police on January 29 when the victim's wife, a resident of Shakarpur area of east Delhi, filed a missing complaint of her husband who drove a Uber cab. "During investigation, we found it was a blind case as there were no witnesses. The last ride of the cab was booked from Madangir to Kapashera border and thereafter the GPS device was found to have stopped working," Arya said. "With the help of technical surveillance, the mobile phone of Govind was recovered and the police teams found a couple moving around the cab on the Mehrauli-Gurugram road," she said. The police team zeroed in the couple later identified as Ali, of Uttar Pradesh's Amroha and Sharma, of the state's Sambhal and arrested them, the DCP said. "During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they, early on January 29, hired Govind's cab from MG road to go to Ghaziabad where they were staying on rent. They, on the way, hatched a plan to rob the deceased and as per the plan, took him to their home and offered him tea laced with sedative," she added. "They later killed Govind by strangling him. Next day, they arranged a cutter and blades in order to cut the body into small pieces and wrapped it three separates bundles. They later thew them in a drain at Greater Noida," Arya said. "The Hyundai Xcent car and Govind's mobile phones were recovered from the possession of the duo," the officer said, adding that the motive for the crime was the accused's dire need of money. Agartala, Feb 4 : In all, 38 Rohingya Muslims, mostly children, detained from different parts of Tripura by the security forces, were on Monday sent to judicial custody and juvenile homes, police said. A police official said that a local court in Agartala sent 31 Rohingya Muslims, including seven women and 17 children, for another term of judicial custody. "The court offered bail to the adult foreigners, but they could not submit the bail bond, hence they would be in judicial custody till February 13. The 17 children will stay along with their mothers in the central jail," the official said. According to him, the Border Security Force (BSF) had on January 22 handed over 31 Rohingya Muslims, who were stranded along the India-Bangladesh border since January 18, to the Tripura Police. Ever since, they were in the judicial custody and their 14-day judicial custody was ending on Monday. Another local court in northern Tripura's Dharmanagar, 190 km north of the state capital, also sent seven more children of Rohingya Muslims to the juvenile home in the northern Tripura's district headquarters. "The seven children would be in juvenile home till their cases are settled," an official of Government Railway Police (GRP) said. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of the Northeast Frontier Railways on Sunday detained six girls and a boy, belonging to the Rohingya community, at the Dharmanagar Railway Station adjoining Assam. The children, aged between 13 to 17 years, were subsequently handed over to the GRP. "The GRP on Monday produced the children in the local court and the court sent them to juvenile home," the official said. He said that these children accompanied by touts reached Dharmanagar from Agartala by bus and intended to go to Badarpur in southern Assam by train. But, before the detention of these children, the touts fled. With this, 68 Rohingya Muslims, mostly children, have been apprehended in Tripura and Assam-Tripura border in the last two weeks. Tripura has a 856 km-long international border with Bangladesh, most of which is fenced except a stretch of nearly 20 km. New Delhi, Feb 4 : Contending that free and fair elections have come under a "serious cloud" with EVMs a "major cause of concern", opposition parties on Monday asked the Election Commission to audit at least 50 per cent of EVMs with corresponding VVPATs in all constituencies during the Lok Sabha polls. The poll panel assured them of examining the issues. A delegation of opposition parties comprising Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu among others, submitted a memorandum signed by 21 parties raising concerns about EVM tampering and democratic institutions being "subverted" under the Modi government. "We are writing to you in most trying times when each and every institution built and strengthened over decades, for safeguarding democracy is sought to be subverted by those who have scant respect for people's will," said the memorandum, citing "suspicious activities" concerning EVMs during the November-December Assembly polls in five states. "Instances of EVMs and strong rooms becoming vulnerable to attacks and manipulations were widely recorded and reported. "Added to this were incidents where there were power outages, failure of CCTV cameras at the strong rooms, detection of signals of wireless/mobile networks of a particular telecom operator in the vicinity of polling centres and strong rooms and so on and so forth," they said. While the parties in 2018 had asked the Election Commission to revert to paper ballot system for the Lok Sabha elections, but with the poll battle just weeks away, they held a meeting on February 1 in the national capital where they resolved to seek for at least 50 per cent verification of VVPATs with the paper trails instead of the now 10 per cent. "The insistence of ECI on use of EVMs is certainly not adding to the credibility of the process. "Anything that leads to opaqueness in the electoral process is the antithesis of democracy itself. Ideally, the EC should have started the process of reverting to physical paper balloting well before the 2019 elections to enable it to implement such paper balloting in these forthcoming elections," they said. Interacting with media after the meeting, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad raised the poll panel's "inability" to give satisfactory explanation about the concerns on EVMs raised by political parties from time to time. "In the last 3-4 years there have been many instances where a vote has gone to the BJP irrespective of which button you press in the EVM. This is not happened once or twice but has repeatedly happened and the EC has not been able to give a satisfactory explanation," he said. The parties said there are "serious doubts about the credibility of EVMs and the purity of the entire electoral process" and sought the EC to mandate physical counter check of paper trail and matching it with the electronic vote in at least 50 per cent of all EVMs, if not all. "The average voter, who is central to democracy, is rightly suspicious, confused, bewildered and dissatisfied with the current state of EVM-based elections. "Attempts by the ECI to lend reassurance to India have, unfortunately, failed miserably," said the memorandum while pointing out the absence of a provision for any audit of the machines. "It is imperative that the EC should ensure that sample, physical counter check of the paper trail and matching it with the electronic vote should happen mandatorily in all, if not in at least 50 per cent of all EVMs," said the parties. The poll panel said the issues raised by the opposition parties would be deliberated and examined. "While considering the averments made by the parties, the Commission shall also keep in view the pronouncements made by the different courts as well as the report expected shortly from the Indian Statistical Institute on the subject besides the overall administrative and operational feasibility on the ground, before firming up any response," it said in a statement. New Delhi/Amaravati, Feb 4 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday hit back at BJP President Amit Shah, saying people will close their doors for his party. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief reacted strongly to Shah's remark that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has closed its doors forever for him. "Amit Shah is speaking as if somebody is asking him to open the doors. Nobody is asking him. They should remember whom they approached in 2014," Naidu said alluding that BJP leaders came to him for an alliance. Naidu was reacting to Shah's comments made earlier in the day during a public meeting in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. "This highhanded and egoist behavior is not good. Where was he (Shah) before 2014. What is his history. I can speak a lot but will do it at an appropriate time," Naidu said. He said BJP betrayed people of Andhra Pradesh and that was why TDP came out of NDA. "When we are asking what they have done for the state, instead of replying they are attacking and threatening us. We are not the one to be afraid," said Naidu. The TDP chief said he would visit Kolkata to express solidarity with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was on a sit-in to protest against the Centre. Accusing the BJP was misusing institutions to reopen old cases to target its political opponents, he termed this as a threat to democracy and said democrats should condemn and rise against this. Naidu was in the national capital to submit a representation to the Election Commission along with leaders of other non-BJP parties. Stating that going back to paper ballot is the only way to save democracy, Naidu said since there was no time for this, they urged the Election Commission to audit at least 50 per cent of EVMs with corresponding VVPATs in all constituencies. Naidu's main political rival in Andhra Pradesh and YSR Congress Party President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was also in New Delhi on Monday to meet Chief Election Commissioner. The TDP chief lashed out at Jagan, as the leader is widely called, for the allegations that he (Naidu) was promoting police officers of his caste with an eye on the elections. "In my 40-year-long political career I have never seen such cheap politics," he said. Naidu alleged that Jagan was trying to create rift among different castes for electoral gains. London/New Delhi, Feb 4 : In a shot in the arm for the Narendra Modi government, the British government on Monday approved the extradition of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya to India where he is wanted in the Rs 9,000-crore Kingfisher Airlines loan default case. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday signed the order to extradite Mallya which has already been allowed by a lower court. Mallya has 14 days' time to appeal against his extradition in a higher court -- the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. A note issued by Press Officer Bethany Ditzel, citing a UK Home Office spokesperson, said: "On 3 February, the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India. "Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences. He has 14 days from today to apply for leave to appeal." India has welcomed the decision by the British government to extradite Mallya. "While we welcome the UK government's decision in the matter, we await an early completion of the legal process for his extradition," said a source in the Indian government, adding they have taken note of the decision of the British Home Secretary. Welcoming the development, the CBI officials in New Delhi hoped to bring Mallya back to India soon and said that the agency was always strong on facts and legally, it was confident while pursuing the extradition process. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took a dig at the opposition over the British government approving the extradition of Mallya, saying that they were rallying around the Saradha scamsters but the Modi government has cleared one more step for bringing back the fugitive liquor baron. "Modi government clears one more step to get Mallya extradited while opposition rallies around the Saradha scamsters," Jaitley, who is in the US for medical treatment, said in a tweet. Jaitley was referring to opposition parties supporting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her sit-in against the Centre over the CBI investigation into the Saradha scam case in the state, which involves the Kolkata Police Commissioner, among others. The decision of the British government gave the BJP bragging rights in the poll season with its leaders expected to tom-tom as a success during their speeches for the coming Lok Sabha elections. They are also expected to target the Congress which has often accuse the BJP leadership of not being successful in bringing back economic fugitives including Mallya. The Westminster Magistrates Court in the UK on December 10 gave the ruling to extradite Mallya following a prolonged litigation. Westminster Magistrates' Court Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot had then sent Mallya's case to the Home Secretary of State for a decision to be taken on whether to order his extradition. After the British Home Secretary's order, Mallya can move the Special Immigration Appeals Commission -- also known by the acronym SIAC -- which is a superior court of record in the United Kingdom established by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997. It deals with appeals from persons deported by the Home Secretary under various statutory powers, and usually related to matters of national security. SIAC also hears persons deprived of British citizenship under the British Nationality Act 1981 as amended by Section 4 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. An appellant is represented to the Commission by a special advocate who is a person vetted by the security service with controversy surrounding the use of secret evidence which only the judges and special advocates have access to. Mallya, 63, left India on March 2, 2016 after defaulting on loan amounting to Rs 9,000 crore he had taken for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines but he has repeatedly denied fleeing the country, saying he is ready to pay back the money he owed to the Indian banks. A consortium of 13 banks -- led by the State Bank of India (SBI) -- has been preparing to initiate loan recovery proceedings against him. The proceedings are on before the Mumbai Special Court against Mallya under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. Kingfisher began defaulting on loans in 2009-10. Late in 2017, India had filed extradition proceedings against Mallya which he contested. He is currently out on bail in London. On June 22, the Enforcement Directorate had moved the Special PMLA Court to declare Mallya a "fugitive economic offender" and confiscate all his properties, estimated at more than Rs 12,000 crore, making it the first such case of its kind under the new FEOA (Fugitive Economic Offender Act) law. Mumbai, Feb 4 : The Mahila Congress's Maharashtra unit on Monday demanded a probe and stringent action against those spreading malicious content on social media against Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi. "Since Priyanka Gandhi's entry into politics, many Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have been making misogynistic comments on her. Since past few days, a derogatory thread against her physical appearance has been unleashed onto social media. This is totally unacceptable," said Mahila Congress President Charulata Tokas. A delegation led by her submitted a memorandum to the Maharashtra Cyber Police Cell headquarters in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), seeking a probe and nabbing those responsible for the objectionable content. The action was part of an all-India campaign initiated by the All India Mahila Congress and all state units to lodge police complaints in the matter and prevent obscene political attacks of this nature. Simultaneously, Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam carried out a protest against the "insult" meted out to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi by activists of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha on Jan 30 in Uttar Pradesh. New Delhi, Feb 4 : India on Monday welcomed the decision by the British government to extradite Indian industrialist Vijay Mallya wanted here on charges of committing a Rs 9,000-crore bank loan fraud. Government sources here said that they have taken note of the decision of British Home Secretary Sajid Javid to sign the order for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India. "While we welcome the UK government's decision in the matter, we await the early completion of the legal process for his extradition," ae source said. In a statement, a British Home Office spokesperson said the Home Secretary "after having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India". London, Feb 4 : In a shot in the arm for the CBI, the British government on Monday approved the extradition of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya to India where he is wanted in a Rs 9,000-crore Kingfisher Airline loan default case. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday signed the order to extradite Mallya which has already been allowed by a lower court. However, experts said that Mallya has 14 days' time to appeal against his extradition in a higher court. A note issued by Press Officer Bethany Ditzel citing a UK Home Office spokesperson said: "On 3 February, the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mally's extradition to India. "Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences. He has 14 days from today to apply for leave to appeal." The Westminster Magistrates Court in the UK on December 10 gave the ruling to extradite Mallya following a prolonged litigation. Mallya, 63, left India on March 2, 2016 after defaulting on loan amounting to Rs 9,000 crore he had taken for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. A consortium of 13 banks -- led by the State Bank of India (SBI) -- has been preparing to initiate loan recovery proceedings against him. Proceedings are on before the Mumbai Special Court against Mallya under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. Late in 2017, India filed extradition proceedings against Mallya which he has contested. He is currently out on bail in London. London, Feb 4 : In a shot in the arm for the CBI, the British government on Monday approved the extradition of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya to India where he is wanted in the Rs 9,000 crore Kingfisher Airline loan default case. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday signed order to extradite Mallya which has already been allowed by a lower court. However, experts said that Mallya has 14 days time to appeal against his extradition in a higher court. Mallya left India on March 2, 2016 after defaulting on loan amounting to Rs 9,000 crore he had taken for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. Kupwara, Feb 4 : Demanding a "political solution" to the Jammu and Kashmir problem, former IAS officer Shah Faesal on Monday told his first public meeting that he wanted to chart his own course in politics a la Imran Khan and Arvind Kejriwal. Faesal, 35, told the public rally at the Tourist Reception Centre that "our Ph.D scholars are getting martyred while our youths are accused of waging protests after being paid Rs 500 each. "As a civil servant, I have seen the bitter experiences faced by our people to seek their genuine rights. "Kashmir is a political issue and it should be resolved in a political way. Those at the helm of affairs enjoy while the people in Kashmir suffer. I saw this while in service. "I was deeply disturbed by seeing these things. That is why I left the civil service," he said. Faesal said it was the callous attitude of those at the helm of affairs that forced him to leave the comforts of the civil service and join politics. He told the gathering that his politics would be like that of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. "My partymen will work selflessly for the good of the people," he asserted, indicating his intention to steer clear of other mainstream and separatist political parties in order to form a political outfit of his own. The 2009 IAS topper belongs to a village of Kupwara district. After obtaining his Bachelor's degree in medicine from the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), he became the first Kashmiri ever to top the coveted civil service. His dream with the civil service could not last long as he felt bureaucrats were forced to work at the whims of their political masters. Faesal said he would work for the honour and dignity of the Kashmiri people by fighting corruption, injustice and poor governance. "I have decided to fight every party that has been exploiting the innocent people of Kashmir. "When politicians are asked what is the issue, they say 'Kashmir is a problem. Give them monetary packages'. Do we only need money? Is the Kashmiri a beggar? "We want to tell them that Kashmir is a political problem. They should not play with the lives of Kashmiri people by throwing money around. Referring to the period he was in IAS, Faesal said: "I tell you honestly I spent the last 10 years in a jail. In many ways I tried to serve my people and succeeded as well, but what I saw in those 10 years despite being a senior government officer, the fire in my heart... the atrocities and injustices I saw, I used to feel helpless." Faesal responded to allegations that he was an agent of intelligence agencies. "To those who spread these false rumours, I have just one answer. I may lose, but I will bear everything for my people." As the meeting progressed, scores of youth raised slogans normally heard at pro-freedom rallies. "Yahan Kya Chalega, Nizam-e-Mustafa." The other slogan was: "Aya, Aya, Shair Aya." Faesal has earlier said that his resignation was a small act of defiance against the continuing killings in Jammu and Kashmir and the failure of the central government to start an initiative that would address the people's problems in Kashmir. Guwahati, Feb 4 : A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee confronted the CBI over the probe into multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam, the opposition Congress in Assam on Monday questioned the details of the probe regarding the Saradha scam in Assam. Senior Congress leader and former Minister Pradyut Bordoloi on Monday said that while the probe has started in Assam and some prominent people have already been interrogated, the probe was stopped after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government came to power in Assam in 2016. "The CBI had interrogated the Assam Finance Minister in the past and raided his house in Guwahati. However, things changed after he joined the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) in 2015. Ever since the BJP came to power in Assam in 2016, there has been no action in Assam regarding the multi-crore scam," Bordoloi told the media here. "Is the CBI trying to protect the perpetrators of the chit fund scam in Assam? The agency has become a puppet in the hand of BJP," said Bordoloi, adding that former Director General of Assam police (DGP) Shankar Baruah shot himself dead in Guwahati after the interrogators started investigating the case. "CBI had raided Baruah's house in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam a few days before he shot himself," Bordoloi said. The former Minister said that the BJP parliamentary board in 2014 had come out with a list of allegations mentioning water supply scam from Goa to Guwahati. "While the properties of former Goa Minister Digambar Kamat was attached, investigation has not made any headway in Assam since 2016," he said, adding that the CBI is being used for political black-mailing now. Chandigarh, Feb 4 : Punjab Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria said on Monday that compensation for crop damage due to hailstorm in some parts of the state during the last few days would be disbursed soon. "Crops of some farmers had got damaged in the ongoing spell of inclement weather due to hailstorm. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had immediately issued orders to all Deputy Commissioners to conduct fresh 'girdawari' to assess the damage," Sarkaria added. The compensation amount was being raised to Rs 12,000 from the existing Rs 8,000 per acre, he said. He said that reports regarding crop damage were being received and all compensation to farmers would be released immediately on receipt of the full report. Allaying the fears of the farmers, Sarkaria said that last year the Punjab government had given compensation to farmers whose muskmelon and maize crops had been damaged by hailstorm. "The government is working on various pro-farmer measures for debt alleviation. More than 5.63 lakh farmers have been provided relief to the tune of Rs 4,513 crore by the state government in three rounds of the debt waiver scheme," he added. New Delhi, Feb 4 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday said it has arrested Jaish-e-Mohammad operative Fayaz Ahmad Magray, wanted in the 2017 attack on a CRPF camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Lethpora that left five paramilitary personnel dead. The NIA, in a statement, said that Magray was an active over ground worker of JeM and a key conspirator who provided logistical support and shelter to the terrorists and conducted reconnaissance of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) group centre at Lethpora before the terrorist attack on the intervening night of December 30-31, 2017. Five CRPF troopers were killed and three griveously injured in the attack, while security forces killed three terrorists, later identified as Fardeen Ahmad Khandey, Manzoor Baba and Pakistani national Abdul Shakoor. The NIA said that he will be produced in the special NIA court and it will seek his police custody for further investigation. Amaravati, Feb 4 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah's visit to Andhra Pradesh, the meeting of YSR Congress Party chief Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora on Monday have stepped up poll activity in the state. Shah was on a visit to north Andhra to interact with BJP leaders in five Lok Sabha constituencies and to sound the poll bugle at public meetings. While BJP chief arrived in the state, Jaganmohan Reddy dashed off to New Delhi to meet the CEC and seek his intervention for free and fair elections. Simultaneous polls to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and the Lok Sabha are likely in April-May. Jagan, as the leader of opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly is popularly known, sought deletion of nearly 60 lakh voters from the voter list, saying they were doubtful voters and were included at the behest of ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He also alleged the TDP had parked Rs. 4,000-5,000 crore in all 175 Assembly constituencies for distribution among voters. Jagan also claimed Naidu was giving out-of-turn promotion to police officers of his community. Interestingly, Naidu reportedly conveyed his doubts about the electronic voting machines (EVMs) to the CEC and demanded use of paper ballot in the coming elections. The TDP chief remains ahead of his political rivals in poll preparations. He is holding tele-conferences with TDP leaders every day under the Mission 2019 to enregise them and also share his thoughts on various issues. By announcing sops to various sections of people on almost daily basis and by attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 'betraying' the state, Naidu is keeping the pressure on his rivals. The day-long shutdown by a group fighting for the special status to Andhra Pradesh also came handy for the TDP. The ruling party not only extended its support to the shutdown but Naidu and his party legislators also wore black shirts in the Assembly to protest the Centre's 'unjust' attitude towards the state. Naidu plans to take his 'Dharma Porata Deeksha' to New Delhi next week by staging a protest in the national capital. Leaders of the Congress and other non-BJP parties are likely to join the protest. Political analysts say Naidu is using every opportunity to target the Centre for going back on commitments made at the time of state's bifurcation and project himself as the champion of state's rights. Naidu is also training his guns at the BJP leaders for their frequent visits to the state. "Shah had no time to visit north Andhra when it was hit by the cyclone Titli. Now he is coming to play politics," he said and asked TDP cadres to protest by wearing black badges. Naidu is also visiting New Delhi regularly to meet leaders of the Congress and non-BJP parties. Be it the issue of EVMs or the alleged vendetta by the Modi government against its political rivals, he is lending his voice to opposition parties. His attacks are focused on the BJP and the YSR Congress Party. He has been accusing the YSR Congress of colluding with the BJP and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS). Jagan's recent meeting with TRS leaders over proposed Federal Front provided more ammunition to Naidu. He is also looking to encash the proposed visit of Telangana Chief Minister and TRS President K. Chandrashekhar Rao to the state. New Delhi, Feb 4 : Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday moved the Delhi High Court, seeking to file some additional documents on record to support his pending plea for anticipatory bail in the INX Media case. Justice Sunil Gaur, who has reserved the order on his anticipatory bail plea, asked him to go to the registry and file the documents, if required. Chidambaram's move came after the Law Ministry informed the government that there was no legal infirmity in granting the CBI sanction to prosecute the former minister. On January 25, the Delhi High Court reserved order on Chidambaram's bail plea in the INX Media case being probed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The probe agencies have opposed his bail plea, saying that custodial interrogation of the former Finance Minister was necessary as he was evasive and had given false information during his questioning. Chidambaram is on interim protection from arrest granted by the Delhi High Court. The ED and the CBI are probing how his son Karti Chidambaram managed to get clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in 2007 when his father was the Finance Minister. Karti Chidambaram was arrested on February 28 by the CBI for allegedly taking money to facilitate the FIPB clearance to INX Media. Later, he was granted bail. Karti's chartered accountant S. Bhaskararaman was also arrested and got bail later. New Delhi, Feb 4 : The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) left more than 2,500 seats vacant from its all-India quota in the last four years, a reply to an RTI query has revealed, despite there being thousands of eligible candidates. The ICAR, an autonomous body under the Agriculture Ministry for coordinating agriculture education in India, conducts the All India Entrance Examination for Admission (AIEEA) for undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) courses in agriculture and allied activities (except veterinary science) every year for government institutes across the country. The entrance is conducted for 15 per cent of total UG and 25 per cent of total PG seats in these institutes/universities, barring the few chosen ones where the council reserves 100 per cent seats under AIEEA. As per the data given by the council in response to the RTI query, a total of 2,558 seats were left vacant for both UG and PG combined in the last four years across these institutes/universities. The latest year for which examination was conducted was 2018. Separately, a total of 1,095 seats were left vacant for the PG courses and 1,463 for the UG courses during these years. In addition, the council is yet to refund the millions of rupees it collected in the form of fees from the students for counselling. In 2018, for 1,954 UG seats across India, a total of 25,246 candidates registered for counselling after paying Rs 2,000 each. The RTI reply, received on December 10, 2018, revealed that the ICAR is yet to refund Rs 4,52,34000 to the candidates who could not be given admission. The amount to be refunded to PG candidates (9,447) is Rs 1,31,36000. The information bulletin doesn't specify any deadline by which the amount needs be refunded. Chandrashekhar Gaur, the RTI applicant, termed the vacancies a glaring indictment of wastefulness on the part of the government. "There were thousands of eligible candidates who could have taken admission. But the ICAR left the job of filling these seats to the states, which could not care less," Gaur told IANS. The admission procedure involves online counselling for the selected candidates, who are given the choice of university and course, but not the college. There may be one or several rounds of counselling. The ICAR in its information bulletin said if the seats are not filled after the rounds of counselling, it will leave the job of filling them up to the universities. "The ICAR quota seats after the final round of online counselling, if vacant, shall automatically stand released to the agricultural university concerned for filling up at their level and as per the procedure in vogue at the respective university. These seats will no more be called as ICAR seats and will be treated as university seats. "Once the counselling/admission process is over, filling up of any subsequent vacancies created due to any reason shall not be the responsibility of ICAR. No correspondence in this regard will be entertained, either from the universities or from any candidate," the bulletin said. Gaur took exception to the clause, questioning its propriety. He said if the government has taken the task of conducting an exam for which thousands aspire every year, it should also take the responsibility of filling the seats. "There should ideally be a mopping-up round after the counselling. And if any seat still remains vacant, it should be filled through spot counselling. They can't wash their hands off it like this," he said. The primary reason why many candidates prefer to go for AIEEA instead of taking the state university test is that the former gives them the opportunity to get access to universities in other states. This much is stated by the ICAR too, which on its website cites a reduction in "inbreeding in agricultural education by encouraging mobility amongst students outside their home state" as one of AIEEA's objectives. ICAR Director General Trilochan Mohapatra did not reply to e-mailed queries from IANS. New Delhi, Feb 4 : The Delhi government on Monday organised a consultation workshop to gather information and prepare its Entrepreneurship Curriculum with over 80 NGOs, individuals and school students. All the participants were divided into four thematic groups of content development, teacher training, ongoing support and mentorship-cum-startup support, the government said in a statement. After a two hour deliberation, each group presented its suggestions for the design and implementation of an entrepreneurship mindset curriculum to the audience. "A total of 20 students from Class 9 and 11 also participated in the workshop to provide their perspective on how should the Curriculum be designed," it said. The Delhi government is readying itself to introduce the Entrepreneurship Curriculum for about six lakh students studying in Classes 9 to 12 in its schools from the upcoming academic year 2019-20. Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia said the idea behind the new Curriculum is not to stop at imparting financial, marketing, communication, management skills to the students. "The bigger idea is that we want to impart the 'Entrepreneurial mindset', the courage to think big and new," Sisodia said. "Although the fulcrum idea behind Entrepreneurship Curriculum is to help students strive to become job givers, instead of job seekers, but having said that, the entrepreneurial 'mindset' is important in all walks of life, for a businessman as well as for an officer. The same mindset led Mark Zuckerberg to build Facebook, Verghese Kurien to lead the second biggest dairy of India, AMUL, right from its inception," he said. He said that it is an uplifting fact that our nation boasts the biggest youth force in the world, but the worrying fact is that we are a nation of the biggest unemployed educated youth force in the world. "Despite having the most laborious and intelligent youth force, not even one of the biggest 50 companies of the world is Indian. It can also be corroborated by the fact that most Indian youth today wish to get placed in a multinational company. This is the reason why those economies are so big, a job seeker economy can never compete with a job providing economy. The roots of the problems need a fix and we believe it lies in school education," Sisodia said. Seoul, Feb 4 : Stephen Biegun, US Special Representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) policy, met Chung Eui-yong, top National Security Advisor (NSA) for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, here on Monday. The Chung-Biegun meeting lasted about 50 minutes, stating on 4 p.m. local time (0700 GMT) at the presidential complex, Xinhua news agency reported. Biegun explained Chung the US position ahead of the working-level discussion between Pyongyang and Washington, while Chung delivered his country's assessment on current situations and issues to tackle to the visiting US envoy, according to Blue House, the executive office and official residence of the South Korean head of state. During the meeting, Chung said South Korea anticipated a fruitful working-level discussion between the DPRK and the US. Biegun arrived here on Sunday and met Lee Do-hoon, special South Korean representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs. According to Yonhap news agency, Biegun will also hold a working-level discussion with his DPRK counterpart, ahead of the second DPRK-US summit, on Tuesday at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom. DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump held their first summit meeting in Singapore in June 2018. Patna, Feb 4 : A shutdown called by the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) to protest against a police lathi charge which injured party chief and former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha hit train and road services in Bihar on Monday. The state-wide strike was supported by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). Kushwaha and half a dozen RLSP workers were injured on Saturday in the state capital. Protesting RLSP workers on Monday blocked roads and and stopped over a dozen long-distance and passenger trains in Patna, Gaya, Sasaram, Buxar, Jehanabad, Supaul, Hajipur, Bhagalpur, Darbhanga, Nalanda and Katigar districts. They halted the Rajdhani Express and Amritsar Express at Buxar railway station. In Patna, scores of RLSP leaders and workers, joined by their counterparts from RJD and HAM, took to the streets. They blocked roads at different areas in the city. The RLSP was protesting against the alleged collapse of school and higher education system in Bihar on Saturday when the police charged at them. Kushwaha last year walked out of the BJP-led NDA and joined the alliance of RJD, Congress and HAM. Los Angeles, Feb 4 : At least five people were killed and two others injured after a small plane crashed into a house in the US state of California, the media reported on Monday. On Sunday, the twin-engine Cessna 414A came apart and caught fire mid-flight before crashing into the two-storey house in Yorba Linda, a suburb of Los Angeles, reports the BBC. The flight went awry just minutes after taking off from an airport, 32 km from the city, according to police. The victims comprised the pilot, who was the only occupant of the plane, and two men and two women inside the house. Ahmednagar : , Feb 4 (IANS) Fasting activist Kisan Babural alias Anna Hazare said on Monday that he was "used by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)" to win the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. "Yes. The BJP used me in 2014. Everybody knows that it was my agitation for Lokpal that catapulted the BJP and also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to power. Now I have lost all regards for them," Hazare told the media in his Ralegan-Siddhi village. He said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi "is only misleading the people of the country and leading the country to autocracy" and added that the BJP-led Maharashtra government was speaking "lies" over the past four years. "For how long will the lies continue? This government has let down the people of the country. The state government's claims that 90 percent of my demands have been conceded are also false," the 81-year old said. He rued that now the very same people who benefitted from his agitations in 2011 and 2014 had turned their backs on his demands and nothing had been done to implement them in the past five years. "They keep saying that central and state government ministers will come and discuss the issues with me. But I say no to them as it would confuse the people... (Let) them take firm decisions and give me everything in writing as I have lost faith in their assurances." To a question, Hazare said that his former associate Arvind Kejriwal - now the Delhi Chief Minister - was welcome to join his current agitation. "But I will not permit him to share the dais with me." Hazare's strong remarks came on the sixth day of his indefinite hunger strike and a day after he threatened to return his Padma Bhushan - India's third highest civilian honour - if his demands were not conceded by the government soon. Last weekend, Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik called Hazare an "RSS and Sangh Parivar agent". Hours later, senior NCP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar apologized for the remarks. Amid rising concern over his frail health, Hazare said: "Don't worry. I am fine. The Almighty is with me. Nothing will happen to me for another five days." Mumbai, Feb 4 : A chastened collective of five leading mutual fund CEOs and ratings agency chiefs emerged from a meeting with SEBI member Madhabi Puri Buch on Monday morning, following a story broken by IANS on Sunday, after a shellacking over lapses in their judgment in taking huge debt exposure to the Zee group promoters against inadequate and illiquid collateral. The Indian MF industry has lent a staggering Rs 7,000 crore to Zee Group promoters, and after the recent debacle in the stock price, the value of the security is less than even the principal amount due to them, leave aside any margin. Sources in SEBI revealed that the regulator was categorical in its assessment over what had transpired and had firmly communicated the same to the delegation. Firstly, MF industry players could not enter into any moratorium dialogue or agreement with an errant corporate group under existing MF rules and regulations. This tantamounted to restructuring which banks could do, but not MFs. The regulator clearly told the industry representatives that what they were contemplating was akin to shadow banking, something clearly beyond their permitted activities. Secondly, the MF industry was told it should have done a well rounded risk assessment of its massive exposure to a corporate group where the debt levels were worrisome, before taking on such concentrated exposure. The regulator said if the only justification for not liquidating the shares now was the expected loss to investors, the industry should not have made such investments, otherwise what was the purpose of taking any security. Thirdly, the MFs should have given adequate warning to investors who had subscribed to the mutual fund schemes that they were taking on the risk of illiquid security for debt investments, which might not be encashable on default and might lead to losses for investors. On an impassioned request by the five CEOs that SEBI should "bless" the contemplated moratorium as a one-off case, the regulator categorically and firmly rejected this plea, stating that there was no provision in existing rules and regulations for any such moratorium, leave alone for a condonation of the same. The regulator's tone and tenor was clear as daylight that the MF industry heavy hitters had gravely erred in their judgment, and now it was for them and their respective Boards of Directors/Trustees to decide how to proceed in the matter. The regulator also refused to countenance the MF industry stand that the moratorium was in the best interests of investors, stating this was something time alone would tell, and SEBI was holding out no assurance that in subsequent inspections/audits this was something which would be overlooked. New Delhi, Feb 4 : The Lok Sabha on Monday witnessed uproar as opposition parties led by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) protested vehemently against the CBI raid in Kolkata, calling it a misuse of the agency against political opponents, forcing Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to adjourn the House for the day. Soon after the House re-assembled in the post-lunch session, the Trinamool Congress and other opposition leaders were on their feet. They trooped near the Speaker's podium and started sloganeering against the CBI and the Central government. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar urged the agitating members to begin discussion on the thanks giving motion on the President's address to the joint sitting of the Parliament. But they did not relent. As the din continued, Mahajan adjourned the House for the day. Earlier, raising the issue during Zero Hour, TMC leader Saugata Roy dubbed the situation in West Bengal as a "constitutional crisis" and accused the Cente of constantly using the CBI to throttle the opposition voice and to intimidate them. "Forty officers of the CBI went to the house of the Police Commissioner of Kolkata without taking any previous permission, without specific order from the Court and they wanted to question the Police Commissioner of Kolkata. "Our Chief Minister went to the Police Commissioner's residence and she protested but they were unrelenting. As a result, the Chief Minister went on a 'dharna' since last night," he said. Roy said the 'satyagraha' by the Chief Minister was to highlight the misuse of CBI against non-BJP governments. "They have done it especially after the January 19 rally where 22 political parties got together to challenge Modi and his BJP. They are constantly using the CBI to throttle the opposition's voice and to intimidate them. A situation like this is unforeseen in the country," Roy said. He said the CBI was being used against the state government illegally and politically to capture West Bengal. "This is not the way they will succeed. In elections, they will get a big zero," Roy said. Other opposition parties including the Congress, NCP, RJD and the Samajwadi Party and Biju Janata Dal too criticized the CBI move. BJD's Bhratruhari Mahtab accused the Centre of using the Central Bureau of Investigation as a weapon against opponents. "Yesterday's incident questions the integrity of the CBI. The manner in which the CBI has been functioning is not professional. We are not in a Banana Republic. This should be stopped," Mahtab said. Recalling how the CBI barged into a judge's office in Odisha recently, he said: "We want the CBI to be a professional institution." Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the government and accused it of trying to finish off the opposition by using the CBI. He claimed that such incidents were happening in Lucknow, Chennai and several other places. "No party will bow to your illegal measures," he thundered. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh refuted the charges and termed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's ongoing sit-in protest in Kolkata as "unprecedented". "The CBI was probing a multi-crore chit fund scam and wanted to interrogate the Kolkata Police chief. Since the scam took place in several states, the case was transferred to the CBI. The tussle between two law enforcement agencies is unfortunate and threatens the federal structure," he said. The Minister said he had spoken to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. "I have asked him to send a report on the issue," he said, urging the state government to cooperate with the CBI probe. As Rajnath Singh was making his statement, TMC members trooped near the Speaker's podium and started sloganeering against the Centre. They were joined by Congress, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Telugu Desam Party members. Amid the din, Speaker Mahajan tried to proceed with the Zero Hour urging the opposition members not to disrupt the proceedings. But they did not relent. Mahajan then adjourned the House till 2 p.m. Earlier, the opposition members created ruckus over the same issue during Zero Hour, leading to the first adjournment till noon. Abu Dhabi, Feb 4 : A Hindu priest said here at an event that "tolerance is the soul" of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and that an upcoming temple in the city represented unique diversity and fraternity. "A foreign journalist once asked me whether tolerance in the UAE was only cosmetic? Not at all. It is not skin deep, tolerance is the soul of the UAE," Sadhu Brahma Viharidas, who is in charge of the Middle East at BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha that will build and manage the temple, said at the event on Sunday. He was addressing the opening session of the Global Conference on Human Fraternity at Emirates Palace, reports Gulf News. Viharidas said the UAE is an unique example of tolerance. "Tolerance and human fraternity is not just a beautiful word or meaningful idea or value here. In the UAE, they are verbs and not nouns. Verbs means they are in action. We can write poetry and hold conferences but unless they are in action ... They are meaningless." He also shared his experiences of meeting UAE King Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who donated the land for the temple. Washington, Feb 4 : The Pentagon has announced that it will deploy 3,750 additional US forces at the country's border with Mexico for 90 days to provide support to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials. The Department of Defence said in a statement on Sunday that the additional forces will raise the total number of active duty troops supporting the CBP at the border to about 4,350, reports NBC News. The support they will provide includes "mobile surveillance capability" and the placement of "approximately 150 miles of concertina wire between ports of entry", the statement said. The additional forces were approved by Acting Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan on January 11. On January 29, Shanahan said the US would be sending "several thousand" more troops to the Mexico border. The move comes as another caravan of asylum seekers and migrants from Central America has been making its way to the US border. President Donald Trump tweeted about the caravan on Sunday, saying "if there is no Wall, there is no security", NBC News reported. Last week, the Trump administration also began its new policy of sending some migrants seeking asylum back to Mexico while they await court hearings that are set to take place in San Diego. The Pentagon had announced last October that it would deploy an additional 5,600 troops to the border in the wake of a caravan making its way to the US that month from Central America. Thousands of migrants have since been waiting weeks or months to seek asylum in the US, often waiting in shelters and in poor conditions. Any additional forces deployed by the US are not allowed to apprehend migrants the way border agents do. Sunday's announcement is separate from the potential White House-led effort to use existing Pentagon funds or personnel to help build new sections of a border wall with Mexico. Washington, Feb 4 : US President Donald Trump is planning to keep American troops in Iraq to monitor and maintain pressure on neighbouring Iran. "I want to be able to watch Iran," Trump said in an interview aired on Sunday on CBS. "We're going to keep watching and we're going to keep seeing and if there's trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we're going to know it before they do." Trump's comments come as the US has quietly been negotiating with Iraq for weeks to allow American commandos and support troops now operating in Syria to shift to bases in Iraq and strike the Islamic State (IS) terror group from there, reports The New York Times. Military leaders are seeking to maintain pressure on the IS as the President fundamentally reorders policy toward Syria and toward Afghanistan, where peace talks with the Taliban are underway. In response to Trump's remarks, Iraqi MP Jawad al-Musawi said on Sunday night that "there will be an escalation in the opposition to them". "There is distrust of the American government - even if they say they are coming to protect us against the IS," he said, adding "the real reason they will be coming is to hit Iran." American forces operate from several Iraqi bases across the country, with most of the roughly 5,200 troops based at Al Asad or in Erbil in northern Iraq. San Francisco, Feb 4 : Google has deleted 29 malicious "beauty camera" apps that were sharing pornographic content and forwarding users, particularly in India, to phishing websites to steal their information. Some of these Android apps have been downloaded millions of times and a large number of the download counts originated from Asia -- particularly in India, said a report from US-based cyber security firm Trend Micro. The apps have now been removed by Google from the Play Store. "A user downloading one of these apps will not immediately suspect that there is anything amiss, until they decide to delete the app," said Trend Micro. The app will push several full screen ads when users unlock their devices, including malicious ads (such as fraudulent content and pornography) that will pop up via the user's browser. "During our analysis, we found a paid online pornography player that was downloaded when clicking the pop up," the report added. None of these apps gave any indication that they were the ones behind the ads, thus users might find it difficult to determine where they're coming from. Some of these apps redirected to phishing websites that asked the user for personal information, such as addresses and phone numbers. "For example, the package com.beauty.camera.project.cloud will create a shortcut after being launched. However, it will hide its icon from the application list, making it more difficult for users to uninstall the app since they will be unable to drag and delete it," Trend Micro noted. Furthermore, the camera apps used packers to prevent them from being analysed. Jammu, Feb 4 : The strategic Jammu-Srinagar highway was open for one-way traffic on Monday, as nearly 3,000 vehicles, mostly trucks, were still stranded, according to traffic department sources. The traffic will be allowed to move from Jammu to Srinagar, but not from the opposite direction. "Nearly 3,000 Srinagar-bound vehicles from Jammu, mostly trucks, were unable to cross the Jawahar Tunnel on Sunday evening," the sources told IANS. "Due to highly slippery road conditions from Nowgam in the Bannihal sector and Lower Munda in the Kashmir Valley, vehicular movement was stopped on Sunday evening." According to the sources, the weather conditions are likely to improve on Monday which will allow the stranded vehicles to continue their onward journey to the valley. Landslides in the Ramsoo-Ramban sector and heavy showfall in Bannihal caused the blockade of the highway. Due to the highway closure, prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed in the valley. 404 page not found error Looks like the item you were looking for does not have a current offering. Please contact the course coordinator or subject coordinator for further details. In the last month, Ive added a new word to my vocabulary kayfabe. What does it mean? Its the theatrical master plan that people involved in pro wrestling engage in when deciding whether Boris the Black or The White Snake will win or lose a match. Caracas, Feb 4 : Embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has refused to accept an ultimatum from European countries calling for free elections, saying that "international politics cannot base itself on ultimatums". Last week, the UK, France, Germany and Spain gave Maduro until Sunday to call new elections or they would recognise the country's self-declared Interim President Juan Guaido as President, reports CNN. "We don't accept ultimatums from anyone," Maduro said in an interview with Spanish private channel LaSexta on Sunday. "It's as if I went to the European Union (EU) and said, 'I give you seven days to recognise the republic of Catalonia or if not, we will take measures'. International politics cannot base itself on ultimatums. That is the epoch of imperialism or colonies." Maduro went on to question why the EU should dictate political norms to his country. "Why does the EU tell a country in the world that already had presidential elections in accordance to its constitution, its laws, its institutions, with the international observers, that they have to repeat their presidential elections? Why? Because their right allies in Venezuela didn't win?" he asked. Maduro also refused to accept the humanitarian crisis in his country. "Venezuela does not have a humanitarian crisis. Venezuela has a political crisis. Venezuela has an economic crisis. We have a huge economic war," he said. As Maduro showed no willingness to relinquish power amid defections and calls for his ouster, Guaido outlined an opposition road map on Sunday, reports CNN. The main points of Guaido's plan concern humanitarian aid and Venezuela's assets. In a series of tweets Sunday, Guaido laid out the three steps to his road map: "Create a coalition of national and international interests to facilitate humanitarian aid to three collection points; demand the military permit aid into the country; ask Europe to protect Venezuela's assets abroad." The self-proclaimed Interim president said on Saturday that humanitarian aid would be sent to collection points in Cucuta, Colombia; Brazil and an unspecified Caribbean island. The EU -- whose Parliament, along with the US and several Latin American countries, has recognised Guaido's interim leadership -- is scheduled to co-host a meeting to "create conditions for a political and peaceful process to emerge". The International Contact Group on Venezuela will meet in Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital, on Thursday. It seeks "free, transparent and credible elections". The group includes Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the UK and co-host Uruguay. China, Cuba, Russia and Turkey are among the countries that have voiced support for Maduro. London, Feb 4 : UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has dismissed newspaper speculation of a snap general election in June, saying that "last thing we want is an election, the people will never forgive us." The British government is still hoping to secure a time limit or unilateral exit mechanism for the Irish border backstop when the country leaves the European Union (EU) on March 29, he told the BBC's The Andrew Marr Show. "They want politicians to get on with the job. They have been given a very clear mandate, now it's our job to get on with it," the home secretary said. The statement came when Javid was dismissing newspaper reports that Downing Street strategists were considering holding a snap general election on June 6 if UK Prime Minister Theresa May cannot get her Brexit deal through parliament before the Brexit deadline of March 29, Xinhua reported on Sunday. Last week, members of parliament voted in favour of an amendment to examine the possibility of alternative arrangements, but it is unclear that the necessary technology exists. Meanwhile, Javid also said that he believed that the UK would be as safe in the case of a no-deal Brexit. He said that no-deal would be "very bad for the security of this country." Javid said although he wants to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29, it "makes sense to plan for all contingencies, including no-deal." "It is absolutely true that if we have a no-deal situation, there will be certain capabilities that we rely on for security with the EU such as databases, arrest warrants, others, that of course will change," he said. The EU has made it clear that after Brexit, Britain would no longer be part of the European arrest warrant system, which allows suspects to be extradited back to the UK. "Keeping that in mind, we have been working on mitigants and I'm not pretending for a second through Interpol or through the Council of Europe on extradition you can have a like-for-like capability. So there will be a change in capability," he said. "There will be a change in capability but it's worth putting it all in perspective," he added. GAITHERSBURG, Md., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- VLP Therapeutics today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared an investigational new drug (IND) application for a clinical trial of the Company's VLPM01 malaria vaccine. The Phase I/IIa clinical trial will begin recruiting participants in February 2019, and is designed to assess the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of the VLPM01 vaccine. The clinical trial will be conducted at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) in Silver Spring, MD. Clinical trials utilizing mosquito-bite induced controlled human malaria infection, or CHMI, with P. falciparum are conducted in malaria-naive adults in order to determine the protective efficacy of malaria vaccines. Following vaccinations, clinical trial participants will be exposed to malaria-causing parasites via mosquito bites under controlled laboratory conditions. CHMI allows researchers to evaluate a malaria vaccine candidate's efficacy and serves as a precursor to field studies in malaria-endemic regions of the world. Volunteers who become infected with malaria are treated with antimalarial drugs to clear their infections. VLPM01 is a pre-erythrocytic vaccine delivering the circumsporozoite (CSP) antigen on VLP Therapeutics' proprietary inserted alphavirus virus-like particle (i-VLP) vaccine platform and is the Company's first vaccine candidate to enter human clinical trials. Dr. Wataru Akahata, PhD, CEO of VLP Therapeutics said, "This clinical trial represents an important milestone for VLP Therapeutics as we initiate our first clinical trial and is a great accomplishment for the team at VLP Therapeutics. This represents the culmination of several years of work by our team and our partners and we are grateful for the support we have received from our partners, including the US Department of Defense." Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes that causes approximately 200 million cases of illness and more than 400,000 deaths per year. While the most significant incidence is in sub-Saharan Africa, malaria is also a significant threat to US military forces deployed in malaria-prone regions. Contact: Jacob Licht, Chief Operating Officer 240-421-9755 [email protected] VLP Therapeutics VLP Therapeutics was established in 2013 with a mission to create next-generation virus-like particles to transform traditional vaccine therapies. VLP Therapeutics modifies viruses to create novel infectious disease and cancer vaccine candidates, and the Company's virus-like particle vaccines have proven to be highly immunogenic in multiple animal models. VLP Therapeutics will initiate a human trial of its malaria vaccine in early 2019. SOURCE VLP Therapeutics, LLC METAIRIE, La., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As a proud US Navy Veteran that served in the Vietnam War, 80-year-old entrepreneur Glen Newell has a wealth of knowledge and a genuine passion for fishing. Spending a large portion of his life on the water, Glen fell in love with Louisiana and what The Sportsman's Paradise offered him. Expanding on his affinity for fishing, Glen runs Home Run Charters Fishing & Lodges company in Venice, Louisiana. However, along with being an outdoorsman, Glen possesses a keen eye for stylish performance fishing gear. Therefore, with decades of business experience, he combined his talents and ideas to make his own clothing company, Apparel by Home Run. Variety of Apparel By Home Run Fishing always held a special place in Glen's heart. He believes that protective fishing attire is a necessity, and it must be very attractive for men and women. Armed with a local design team of graphic designers and Louisiana artists, Apparel By Home Run makes a big splash into the waters of performance fishing apparel. Glen wasn't handed the opportunity to create businesses, like Apparel By Home Run. In childhood, Glen ran away from home at the age of 15 years old, to escape domestic violence. Before joining the US Navy, he apprenticed under a MAYO Clinic physician, in exchange for food and a roof over his head. After his apprenticeship, Glen attended and graduated from the Balboa Hospital Pharmacy School in California. In his service, Glen worked on a ship as a pharmacist and provided medication to those in need, during the trials and tribulations of the Vietnam War. When he returned home, Glen built everything he had from nothing, which displayed the American Dream. All he knows is hard work. Even at 80-years-old, he remains relentless with his final business. He works with a passion for everything in fishing, fashion, and community. Glen is a machine, when it comes to perfectionism and quality. With his good judgement, he outfitted his company with workaholic individuals, to power Apparel By Home Run. There's a new fishing apparel company, superior products, a desire to leave its mark, and it's here to stay. In honor of the United States and all those who served to protect its freedom, Apparel by Home Run is hiring disabled veterans. Customer Testimonials: "Love the shirt, good fit and super comfortable! I've gotten so many compliments on this shirt! Thanks Home Run!" Nathan N. "The shirts and clothes are super comfortable. I live in Mississippi and it gets hot here. It really makes fishing a lot more comfortable. I'm not one for wearing anything typical, these shirts are one-off and look way better than anything else you can buy. The artwork on them is great, just fantastic." TreVante Taliaferro About Apparel By Home Run: Here in the Sportsman's Paradise, we share the same passions as you. Our staff of Louisiana natives learned techniques and skills from their legacy leaving ancestors. We create quality, attractive products with high-quality material, UV protection, UPF 50+, moisture-wicking, anti-wrinkle, anti-shrinking, and anti-microbial features, for men and women. Our fully embroidered shirts also share these factors. Our designs are 100% original. Each piece of art is created in-house, by our graphic artists and designers. Media Contacts: Zach Gosnell Leah Labat Apparel By Home Run (504) 729-2440 [email protected] www.apparelbyhomerun.com SOURCE Apparel By Home Run Related Links http://www.apparelbyhomerun.com LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Utelogy, the leading software company in Enterprise Management & Control, announced today that it has appointed industry veteran Kevin Morrison as Chief Executive Officer to lead the company through its next phase of innovation and growth. Morrison is the CEO of Integritas, a firm that helps start-ups and small-cap companies with funding and building global presence. Acting as an investor's representative on a recent round of private funding for Utelogy, he takes on the role of CEO. Morrison has a solid tenure in the AV industry and was formerly the CEO of Endeleo, Executive VP of AMX and most recently Senior VP of Harman Professional. Utelogy has been transforming itself to lead the enterprise software market for today's digital workspace. The company's latest software release delivers an exciting line-up of innovation including a new management and monitoring platform with advanced analytics. This is accompanied by a host of other significant announcements this week at Integrated Systems Europe 2019 (ISE) in Amsterdam, February 5 to 8, 2019. "It's the right time for Utelogy to bring in someone like Kevin to take the company to the next level," said Utelogy co-founder and former CEO Frank Pellkofer. "With our global expansion and rate of growth, there is massive opportunity and the time is right to take advantage of Kevin's vast experience with both the investment community and management of high-growth technology companies." "I'm delighted to join Utelogy at this pivotal point for the company," said Morrison. "The company has a great future and we are focused on the continuous development of our enterprise-class platform which is attracting huge interest from the end user and integrator community. I am looking forward to a very exciting period ahead." Co-founder and former CEO, Frank Pellkofer, will assist Morrison as he transitions and Pellkofer will take over as President and will continue to lead the sales organization. Utelogy, ranked 984 in the 2018 INC 5000, won a Commercial Integrator 2018 Top New Technology Award at ISE 2018 for its control platform and U-Command, its video wall solution. You can find Utelogy in Stand 14-M170 at ISE. About Utelogy Corporation Utelogy Corporation publishes an enterprise-grade software platform for managing and controlling connected workspaces. This hardware-agnostic platform revolutionizes productivity for end-users and enables advanced services for integrators and other service providers. For more information, visit https://www.utelogy.com/. *PHOTO link for media: Send2Press.com/300dpi/19-0204s2p-Kevin-Morrison-300dpi.jpg *Caption: Kevin Morrison, CEO, Utelogy Corporation. This release was issued through Send2Press, a unit of Neotrope. For more information, visit Send2Press Newswire at https://www.Send2Press.com. SOURCE Utelogy Corporation Related Links https://www.utelogy.com WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States Department of the Treasury (Treasury) awarded a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) contract to Hill Associates Corporation (HillASC, Inc.) to provide Information Technology and Financial Management Support Services (ITFMSS). The five-year contract has a potential value of $100 million if all task and option periods are exercised. This contract, sponsored by the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), supports Treasury's headquarters' offices and operating bureaus across a wide spectrum of IT areas. These include technology management, acquisition support, IT strategy, systems security, financial management, project and program management, program development, enterprise architecture and development, and cloud support services. The company will support Treasury's IT mission as it undergoes significant business and technical transformation as a result of emerging technologies related to cloud, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. In addition, HillASC, Inc. will update and execute Treasury's IT strategy, focusing on reducing operational costs and improving efficiency across the Department. "We are honored to have been selected for this important work and look forward to building upon our eight (8) years of support for Treasury programs, networking, telecommunications and bureau IT service requirements and missions," said Kelsey W. Hill, company President. The Hill Associates team will continue its' commitment to providing high quality program and project management, IT systems engineering, and technical and business support services. Also, transformational cloud strategy related to Treasury's mission critical infrastructure programs, including the Wide Area Network, voice services, and IT infrastructure services, as well as other strategic IT initiatives. The scope of the task orders issued under the BPA will also expand to focus on strategic consulting and support related to innovative cloud - and mobility-based services, information security, data center consolidation, as well as optimization of programmatic support across the Treasury enterprise. "This is an exciting time to be involved with the Treasury's IT modernization as advances in cloud, mobility, and next-generation computing technologies provide a foundation for transformational initiatives," said Brian Clary, Hill Associates Vice President and Treasury Program Lead. "Furthermore, the requirement for Treasury and all government agencies to transition their legacy GSA Networx telecommunications contracts to the new GSA Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract in the coming years will accelerate change and modernization of IT service delivery." Hill Associates serves as a prime contractor and has partnered with a highly experienced team of subcontractors that include Accenture Federal Services, Booz Allen Hamilton, IT Coalition, and CTAC. About Hill Associates A registered small business for over seventeen years, Hill Associates (www.hillasc.com) provides enterprise-class information technology, cloud, networking, and information security consulting services for federal government and private sector customers. Contact Media Relations at 202.656.6560 for additional information. SOURCE Hill Associates Corporation Related Links http://www.hillasc.com DENVER, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Transamerica announced today the reopening of the Transamerica International Small Cap Value fund Class I (TISVX) to new investors, effective immediately. "We want to provide investors with the opportunity to participate in the performance of the international small cap value markets," said Tom Wald, chief investment officer for Transamerica Asset Management, Inc . "We are pleased to be offering, once again, our International Small Cap Value fund to new investors. It is a valuable part of our extensive selection of investment strategies that can help investors create a well-diversified portfolio." The Transamerica International Small Cap Value fund seeks maximum long-term total return by investing in approximately 80 to 120 equity securities of small-cap companies outside of the U.S. The fund's sub-adviser, Thompson, Siegel & Walmsley LLC, has managed the fund since its inception in January 2013. Previously, the Transamerica International Small Cap Value fund had been open only to existing investors since November 2014. About Transamerica With a history that dates back more than 100 years, Transamerica is recognized as a leading provider of life insurance, retirement and investment solutions, serving millions of customers throughout the United States. Recognizing the necessity of health and wellness during peak working life, Transamerica's dedicated professionals work to help people take the steps necessary to live better today so they can worry less about tomorrow. Transamerica serves nearly every customer segment, providing a broad range of quality life insurance and investment products, individual and group pension plans, as well as asset management services. In 2017, Transamerica fulfilled its promises to customers, paying more than $35.6 billion in insurance, retirement, and annuity claims and benefits, including return of annuity premiums paid by the customer. Transamerica's corporate headquarters is located in Baltimore, Maryland, with other major operations in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Transamerica is part of the Aegon group of companies. Based in the Netherlands, Aegon is one of the world's largest providers of life insurance, pension solutions and asset management products, operating in more than 20 markets worldwide. For the full year of 2017, Aegon managed $982 billion in revenue generating investments. For more information, please visit www.transamerica.com. About Transamerica Asset Management, Inc. Transamerica Asset Management, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. The funds advised and sponsored by Transamerica Asset Management, Inc. include Transamerica Funds, and Transamerica Series Trust. Transamerica Asset Management, Inc. has total assets under management of $73.62 billion as of December 31, 2018, and is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Aegon N.V., an international life insurance, pension, and asset management company. Mutual Funds are subject to market risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Mutual Funds are sold by prospectus. Before investing, consider the funds' investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. This and other important information is contained in the prospectus. Please go to www.transamerica.com or contact your financial professional to obtain a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Please read it carefully before investing. Investments in international markets involve risks not associated with U.S. markets, such as currency fluctuations, adverse social and political developments, and relatively small size and lesser liquidity of the markets. Investing in small- and medium-size companies involves greater risk than is customarily associated with more established companies. The prices of securities the sub-adviser believes are undervalued may not appreciate as anticipated or may go down. Transamerica Funds are advised by Transamerica Asset Management, Inc. (TAM) and distributed by Transamerica Capital, Inc. (TCI) member of FINRA. TAM and Thompson, Siegel & Walmsley LLC are not affiliated companies. 1801 California St., Suite 5200, Denver, CO 80202 Media inquiries [email protected] Hank Williams (319) 355-7789 Email: [email protected] Julie Quinlan Phone: (303) 383-5923 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Transamerica Related Links http://www.transamerica.com Brian Essenter, a pharmacist and medical marijuana counselor, said cannabis is a safer alternative to Suboxone and other treatments for opioid addiction. "Im seen firsthand the literal death grip that opiates have on those addicted, and getting clean is a long lonely and harsh journey,'' he said. "Weve seen that methadone and Suboxone programs are just another form of addiction. The overwhelming number of drug abuse counselors that I have talked to feel that cannabis is a much safer option to help and deal with the withdrawal effects.'' DENVER, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD) today announced that it will honor alumni Jenny Morgan and Paul Trani in the school's first-ever Radiance Awards. The event will take place on May 9, 2019. The Radiance Awards are a celebration of individuals from the RMCAD community whose achievements have made an impact in the art and design world. The inaugural event will include a ceremony honoring Morgan and Trani, as well as the opening of the Radiance Award Gallery, which will feature works by the honorees. Morgan and Trani will also participate in student-only workshops and special events during their visit to campus. About the Radiance Award Honorees Jenny Morgan Current Occupation: Contemporary Artist Career Highlights: With over 18 solo exhibitions to date, in addition to numerous group exhibitions, Morgan has shown her work across the United States and internationally. She celebrated her first solo museum exhibition, "Skin Deep" with The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver in 2017, and her 2013 solo exhibition "How To Find A Ghost" was named one of the top 100 fall shows worldwide by Modern Painters. and internationally. She celebrated her first solo museum exhibition, "Skin Deep" with The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver in 2017, and her 2013 solo exhibition "How To Find A Ghost" was named one of the top 100 fall shows worldwide by 2003 graduate, Illustration Paul Trani Current Occupation: Senior Worldwide Creative Cloud Evangelist for Adobe Career Highlights: Trani has over 20 years of experience as an award-winning designer, public speaker, and professional trainer. He has traveled to over 40 countries for events, making him a sought after public speaker in the creative world. He has earned top author status on Lynda.com and has created a steady stream of content for Adobe during his time at the company. 1995 graduate, Illustration The Radiance Awards ceremony will take place on May 9 at 6 p.m. in Mary Harris Auditorium on RMCAD's campus at 1600 Pierce Street, Denver, CO 80214. A reception will be held following the ceremony. The event is free and open to the public. Ticket information will be available at www.rmcad.edu/radiance. ABOUT ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE OF ART + DESIGN A premier arts school in the Denver area, Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design is an innovative, rigorous, and community-oriented global learning environment that inspires passion for critical thinking and prepares learners to be forces of change in the creative industries, our communities, and the world. Find more information at www.RMCAD.edu or by calling 800.888.ARTS. SOURCE Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design Related Links http://www.rmcad.edu Castelan complements his transactional work with advice on midstream operating agreements. His areas of focus include oil and gas gathering and processing agreements, supply and offtake agreements, transportation agreements, hydrocarbon purchase agreements and pipeline interconnect agreements. Castelan also advises clients with respect to engineering, procurement and construction arrangements. "We are delighted to welcome Jonathan, an experienced M&A practitioner with critical experience in core operational agreements, to our team," said Tim Fenn, Houston Office Managing Partner. "His strong relationships with private equity firms and energy companies will further expand our ability to serve the oil and gas industry." Ryan Maierson, Chair of the Corporate Department in Houston, added: "Jonathan's excellent track record in complex energy transactions complements our M&A platform. In particular, he brings significant experience in infrastructure projects and offshore investments, which are areas of growing interest among our clients. His arrival demonstrates our continued commitment to strengthening our M&A and Private Equity Practices, both in Houston and around the world." "Latham's Oil & Gas Industry Group is known for bringing exceptional value to clients by combining a global platform with expansive capabilities throughout the entire energy value chain," said Castelan. "I look forward to growing my practice, enhancing my ability to serve clients, and contributing to the continued success of this dynamic team." Castelan is the second partner to join Latham's Houston office in 2019. The firm announced on January 23, 2019 the arrival of finance partner Trevor Wommack from Vinson & Elkins LLP. Prior to joining Latham & Watkins, Castelan was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Houston. He received his JD from the University of Texas Law School and his BA from Southern Methodist University. About Latham & Watkins (lw.com) Latham & Watkins delivers innovative solutions to complex legal and business challenges around the world. From a global platform, our lawyers advise clients on market-shaping transactions, high-stakes litigation and trials, and sophisticated regulatory matters. Latham is one of the world's largest providers of pro bono services, steadfastly supports initiatives designed to advance diversity within the firm and the legal profession, and is committed to exploring and promoting environmental sustainability. Notes to Editors 1 Latham & Watkins operates as a limited liability partnership worldwide with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in France, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, and the United Kingdom and as an affiliated partnership conducting the practice in Japan. Latham & Watkins operates in South Korea as a Foreign Legal Consultant Office. Latham & Watkins works in cooperation with the Law Office of Salman M. Al-Sudairi in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Contacts Tim Fenn, Houston Office Managing Partner, 1.713.546.7432 Ryan Maierson, Corporate Department Chair, Houston, 1.713.546.7420 SOURCE Latham & Watkins LLP Related Links http://www.lw.com Global Poultry Probiotics Market is expected to surpass USD 125 million by 2025; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Increasing consumer demand for meat products owing to consumption of protein along with shift in dietary preference is likely to drive poultry probiotic ingredients market demand. Growing eggs consumption in routine diet due to prevailing health concerns and to fulfill necessary protein requirement may stimulate industry growth. Probiotic ingredients are widely used as feed additives for enhancing growth performance and feed efficiency in pigs, ruminants, aquaculture and poultry animals. It helps the host animal to maintain gastrointestinal flora and improve animal health along with animal products production. Increasing demand for high quality meat due to growing meat & meat products consumption may act as a major contributing factor towards poultry probiotic ingredients industry growth. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/318 Bifidobacterium poultry probiotic ingredients market demand may witness significant gains at over 6.5% by 2025. Growing animal health awareness among farmers and animal feed manufacturers may impact on product demand. These are effective probiotic ingredients which help in maintaining gastrointestinal flora and avert specific diseases. Safety approval from EU commission and favorable regulatory norms from GRAS may stimulate the product growth. Lactobacilli are easily available poultry probiotic ingredients which helps improving immunity, inhibits bacterial colonization, and increase competitive exclusion. Broiler chicken subjected to stress during production process which boost need to improve feed efficiency by alleviating stress. Rise in demand for natural growth promoter owing to increasing health concerns regarding synthetic antibiotics is likely to poultry probiotics ingredients industry growth. Browse key industry insights spread across 210 pages with 157 market data tables and 23 figures & charts from the report, "Poultry Probiotic Ingredients Market Size By Product (Lactobacilli, Bifidobacterium, Streptococcus, Bacillus), By Application (Broilers, Layers, Turkeys, Breeders, Chicks & Poults), Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia, Spain, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa), Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2019 2025" in detail along with the table of contents: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/poultry-probiotics-market Germany poultry probiotic ingredients market demand is anticipated to surpass USD 8 million up to 2025. Strict regulatory framework by EU commission regarding antibiotics ban owing to bioaccumulation causing resistance to medical antibiotics in humans & animals, may stimulate market growth. Moreover, increasing importance owing to technological and product innovation in this sector may contribute towards the regional industry growth. China poultry probiotics ingredients market demand may register significant gains at over 8.5% by the end of forecast period. China per person per year meat consumption is around 60 kg and accounts for highest share with 31.3 kg per captia in 2016. Increasing demand from restaurants and growing fast food chain is another contributing factor towards meat consumption in this region. Shift in consumer preference towards consuming poultry meat due to increasing restaurants and availability at low cost is likely to drive industry growth. Kemin Industries, Organica Biotech, Prowell and Neospark are key industrial participants in poultry probiotics ingredients market. Companies are focusing to expand their business by collaborating and forming partnership accompanied with strong focus towards R&D to enhance product portfolio. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/318 Browse Related Reports: Probiotics Market Size Forecast to 2024 The Probiotic Ingredients Market exceeded USD 1.8 billion in 2017 with significant gains at over 7% over the forecast timeframe as Increasing functional food demand with rise in nutritional health benefits will propel the industry demand. https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/probiotics-market Eubiotics Market Size Outlook 2018 2024 Eubiotics Market size was over USD 2.3 billion in 2017 and industry expects consumption above 1.5 million tons by 2024 owing to rising livestock diseases risk owing to rapid increase in consumption of meat products majorly in China, India and Brazil. https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/eubiotics-market 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 Hegde Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights, Inc. Phone: +1-302-846-7766 Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.gminsights.com Blog: http://www.l2food.com/ Connect with us: Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter SOURCE Global Market Insights, Inc. Related Links https://www.gminsights.com "Asim is respected for his astute insights into policy and practical questions facing our industry. He will bring a unique and thoughtful perspective to PJM, informed by his recent service as chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio," said Vincent P. Duane, senior vice president, general counsel, Law, Compliance, & External Relations. Haque will report to Denise R. Foster, vice president State & Member Services. Haque was appointed to PUCO by Ohio Governor John R. Kasich in 2013 and was reappointed to a second term in 2016. As an attorney, he began his career in a general practice law firm, Ice Miller LLP in Columbus, where he represented a broad spectrum of clients in energy and utility matters. He went on to join the in-house counsel team at Honda of America Mfg., Inc. until his appointment in 2013. Haque is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University, where he received a bachelor's degree in chemistry and political science. He received his Juris Doctor from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he was awarded the school's Outstanding Recent Alumnus Award in 2015. PJM Interconnection , founded in 1927, ensures the reliability of the high-voltage electric power system serving 65 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. PJM coordinates and directs the operation of the region's transmission grid, which includes over 84,042 miles of transmission lines; administers a competitive wholesale electricity market; and plans regional transmission expansion improvements to maintain grid reliability and relieve congestion. PJM's regional grid and market operations produce annual savings of $2.8 billion to $3.1 billion. For the latest news about PJM, visit PJM Inside Lines at insidelines.pjm.com . SOURCE PJM Interconnection Related Links http://www.pjm.com ANNAPOLIS, Md., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Paul Ryan, the 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (2015-2019), will address the 2019 Spring Conference of the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) on Feb. 21 in San Diego. At the Opening General Session, scheduled from 8:00 AM 9:30 AM PT, Ryan will deliver keynote remarks and participate in a "fireside chat" with John J. Kelliher, managing director, Berkeley Resource Group, and former chief counsel of the Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. House of Representatives. Ryan is expected to share his views on entitlement and regulatory reform, the continued shift to private management of Medicare and Medicaid, and labor and immigration issues, including their impact on unemployment and wages. As a veteran Capitol Hill leader who has influenced national policy and legislation impacting seniors, Ryan's remarks will be of keen interest to conference attendees comprised of decision makers in seniors housing and skilled nursing, as well as healthcare leaders who are exploring new partnership opportunities in the sector. "As we embark on a new Congress, there are new players and dynamics that will shift the policy landscape. The seniors housing and care sector will be paying close attention to what Mr. Ryan has to say," said Brian Jurutka, NIC president and CEO. "His timely perspective from the leadership seat on the sector's most important policy, regulatory, and economic issues will be invaluable as attendees develop strategies to succeed in this time of change." Immediately following the Opening General Session, Kelliher will moderate a discussion featuring Republican and Democratic perspectives on Ryan's comments. The panel will feature Chris Jennings, who served at the White House in health policy under both President Obama and President Clinton, and Jennifer B. Young, who served as Assistant Secretary for Legislation at HHS as well as Senior Counselor to Secretary Mike Leavitt in the George H.W. Bush administration. The discussion will cover what Americans can expect from a divided Congress and from the Trump Administration, in terms of further action on healthcare payment and delivery reform, and initiatives to address the housing and care needs of seniors. The 2019 NIC Spring Conference will take place February 20-22, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego, California. About the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care The National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) is a 501(c)3 organization established in 1991 whose mission is to enable access and choice by providing data, analytics, and connections that bring together investors and providers. For more information, visit www.nic.org, and follow NIC on Twitter. Contact and Media Seat Requests: Mary Ann Donaghy, 301-974-5797; [email protected] SOURCE National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care Related Links https://www.nic.org WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Marking the 10th anniversary of the landmark federal act that encouraged hospitals, clinics, and physician offices to adopt electronic health record systems (EHRs), MedStar Health experts in patient safety and health information technology are collaborating with the American Medical Association (AMA) to push for changes to address the known risks to patient safety and clinician burnout that stem from poor EHR usability. In their latest joint effort, MedStar and the AMA are making available for the first time videos from the clinician's point of view that demonstrate the risks and challenges caused by poor EHR usability, which is the extent to which the technology can be used efficiently, effectively, and satisfactorily. The videos have just been made available on a new website, EHRSeeWhatWeMean.org, that presents compelling evidence for the need to act. The site specifically calls out what multiple stakeholderspolicymakers, healthcare providers, EHR vendors and patientscan do. The theme of the website and campaign is 'Everybody Has Responsibilities' to stress the need for increased collaboration. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was passed in February 2009 to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of EHRs to ultimately improve the safety, quality, and efficiency of patient care. As a result of this legislation and the $40 billion investment supporting it, EHRs are now used by the vast majority of hospitals, clinics, and physician offices in the United States. As part of the push for EHR usability and safety on the HITECH Act anniversary, MedStar is gathering signatures on a letter to the elected leaders of the United States Senate and House committees encouraging them to prioritize EHR usability and safety in their oversight of new policies being put in place by the Department of Health and Human Services. Central to this effort is a program that would allow for the open reporting of usability and safety challenges by both providers and patients so that common themes can be identified and addressed more rapidly. "EHR safety must be a priority for all stakeholders. Nearly every high-risk industry promotes the sharing of safety information to foster improvement, and health information technology should be no different," said Raj M. Ratwani, PhD, a leading EHR safety researcher and director of the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare. MedStar built the video website based on research they conducted recently on the usability of Cerner and Epic products, which comprise more than 50 percent of the market. The research findings, "A usability and safety analysis of electronic health records: a multi-center study," were published July 2, 2018, in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. For the study, 12 to 15 emergency physicians from four health systems (two using Cerner and two using Epic) were given common tasks mimicking real patient casesplacing orders for medical imaging, lab tests and medications. Researchers collected data pertaining to the variability of performance at each site. "The results of this study reinforce the assessment that ensuring the usability and safety of EHRs is a joint responsibility between physicians, technology vendors and technology purchasers that requires collaboration with these stakeholders at each stage of design, development and implementation," said AMA CMIO Michael Hodgkins, M.D. "The health care system must have confidence in the EHR systems used to manage patient care." Dr. Ratwani and MedStar Health have worked extensively with the AMA, Pew Charitable Trusts and other collaborators on EHR safety and usability over the past several years. About the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare The MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare occupies a unique position in the United States as the largest human factors program embedded within a healthcare system. It brings together human factors scientists, systems safety engineers, health services researchers, clinicians, and other experts to create a safer and more efficient healthcare environment through four core services in research, usability, safety advisement, and education. The center is part of the MedStar Institute for Innovation and is also affiliated with the MedStar Health Research Institute and MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety. MedStar Health, the parent organization, is the largest not-for-profit healthcare provider in the Maryland and Washington, D.C., region, with 10 hospitals and an extensive ambulatory services network, and is the medical education and clinical partner of Georgetown University. SOURCE MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare Related Links https://www.medstarhealth.org BOSTON, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Fueled by growing consumer demand for more shared experiences, the brand that introduced Paint Nite and Plant Nite brings creativity to the next level with its evolution into Yaymaker. Yaymaker hosts one-of-a-kind locally crafted events where attendees can laugh, drink, connect and try their hand at something new perfect for consumers today who are looking to enrich their lives with shared experiences. The new brand aims to provide creative, social outlets for people to get up, get out and get making, bringing a little more positivity and a sense of community to its guests. In addition to continuing popular favorites Paint Nite and Plant Nite, Yaymaker's offerings include creating a personalized wood sign at Design a Sign, arranging a beautiful fresh flower bouquet at the Flower Workshop or designing a one-of-a-kind scented candle at Candle Maker. Instruction is provided by an expert host, so no experience is required, and all materials are supplied. The making doesn't stop there; Yaymaker is always developing new events in collaboration with the brand's local partners, hosts and guests, as well as at the Yaymaker Innovation Labs, which tests new experiences prior to launch. "Over the past seven years, we continuously expanded with the goal of encouraging creativity, empowering communities and inspiring connections, all while having fun," said David Krauter, CEO of Yaymaker. "The name Yaymaker encompasses the multi-experience brand we've created and evokes the innovative, positive spirit that led us to create a variety of intriguing events for our guests. Ultimately, we're all about getting out and making, together." Yaymaker, as Paint Nite, started as a single event in a Boston bar in March 2012, and expanded into over 300,000 events across 1,400 cities and towns in North America with more than 6.5 million tickets sold. The brand was founded on a licensee platform in which licensed entrepreneurs own and operate their own Yaymaker businesses, enabling them to engage with their local communities in a unique way. Those looking to join in on the fun can visit Yaymaker.com to book a local event. Just like the original Paint Nite, attendees will get together to paint, plant, tinker and build with friends at restaurants and bars. About Yaymaker Yaymaker was born as Paint Nite, holding its first event in a Boston bar in 2012. By partnering with thousands of like-minded entrepreneurs and artists, Yaymaker pioneered the idea of creative social experiences that get people up, out and making at bars and restaurants in their neighborhood. Actively expanding its offerings in North America and internationally, the company rebranded as Yaymaker in 2019, hosting locally crafted events in a variety of categories that focus on creativity and community. For more information, visit www.yaymaker.com, Facebook.com/Yaymaker or @yaymaker on Instagram. Yaymaker Contact: Sarah Nunes (855) 767-4270 ext. 812 [email protected] Hunter Public Relations Contact: Erin Wronka (212) 679-6600 ext. 282 [email protected] SOURCE Yaymaker Related Links https://www.yaymaker.com Lawmakers have clashed for the past two decades over the minimum wage, and the battle this year will be over how fast the wage would be increase to $15 per hour. Both Lamont and Democrats are calling for the wage to be boosted in a phased-in process. The current minimum wage in Connecticut is $10.10 per hour, far above the national minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pacific Brain Tumor Center at Pacific Neuroscience Institute, in collaboration with the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center, is the leading enrollment site for the MDNA55 clinical trial from Medicenna Therapeutics. This study offers an innovative treatment option using a new minimally invasive technique to deliver potent anti-tumor therapy directly into the tumor of patients with glioblastoma, an aggressive and lethal form of brain cancer. Drs. Achal Singh Achrol & Santosh Kesari Now in the final stages of recruitment, the clinical trial is currently still open to eligible patients. The study registered its first patient in April 2017 and is scheduled to complete enrollment in the next couple of months. The open-label, non-randomized, multi-center phase-2 study assesses safety and efficacy of convection-enhanced delivery (CED) of a new bioengineered targeted therapeutic, MDNA55, in adults with recurrent or progressive glioblastoma. For patients who are no longer responding to first line chemotherapy treatment after surgery, MDNA55 is directly infused into the brain at the site of the tumor. This form of direct infusion, using targeted CED therapy, is of significant scientific interest as a method for achieving better drug delivery and efficacy to target tumor cells while reducing side effects associated with systemic and generalized delivery methods typical of standard therapies, like chemotherapy or radiation. Lead Principal Investigators, Drs. Achal Singh Achrol, MD, and Santosh Kesari, MD, PhD, are encouraged by this trial and the method of bypassing the blood brain barrier (BBB) to optimize concentrations of therapeutic agent within the tumor. "Systemic treatments do not cross the BBB well, so not enough anti-tumor agent can get through to the brain tumor to be effective. With this precision approach, we can better target the tumor and surrounding areas directly. Recurrent glioblastoma has been shown to occur within centimeters of the original site, so we're hoping this approach will destroy the active cancer cells that remain after the initial surgery, to prevent recurrence," said neuro-oncologist Dr. Kesari. "Because overall survival of glioblastoma patients after diagnosis with standard therapy alone is on average only a year in many community-based studies, there is significant importance to clinical trials in developing new therapeutic approaches for patients with glioblastoma," neurosurgeon Dr. Achrol emphasized. The process of CED in this trial involves mapping the patient's tumor through specialized computer software and 3D imaging to determine optimal therapeutic coverage of the entire tumor and surrounding brain regions in preparation for the procedure. Dr. Achrol explained, "Because the therapy is delivered by micro-catheters, only very small openings of a few millimeters are required. We use real-time MRI to monitor the MDNA55 delivery after the tiny catheters have been placed along computationally-planned trajectories." "MDNA55 is bioengineered to act like a 'trojan horse' delivery system. It does this by binding to specific cell receptors, called interleukin-4 receptors, found on tumor cells but not normal brain tissue. Once attached to these targeted cells, the protein delivers a toxic payload that kills only the target cells while leaving surrounding healthy tissue unharmed," he added. Fahar Merchant, PhD, President and CEO of Medicenna Therapeutics, stated, "We are very fortunate to have the impressive expertise of Drs. Achrol and Kesari at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in this important clinical trial. We are especially encouraged with promising survival results in the ongoing clinical trial following a single infusion of MDNA55 at the low dose. With patient recruitment at the high dose nearing completion, we expect better patient outcomes as demonstrated by earlier clinical and pre-clinical studies." Pacific Neuroscience Institute is one of only seven sites across the country that offers this clinical trial. What is Glioblastoma? Glioblastoma (also called glioblastoma multiforme or GBM) is classified as a Grade 4 astrocytoma, and represents the most common and aggressive malignant primary brain tumor. Patients experience a multitude of symptoms including headaches, nausea, generalized changes in clarity of thought and attention, vision changes, weakness, numbness, or seizures. Standard glioblastoma treatment typically involves neurosurgical resection followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Due to the invasive nature of the tumor, complete removal of the entire tumor is not usually feasible and unfortunately recurrence is common. MDNA55 Trial Enrollment Adults 18 years and older with recurrent or progressive glioblastoma are invited to participate. For more information and to enroll into the trial, please contact Mini Jaya Gill, at 310-582-7437 or at [email protected]. About Pacific Neuroscience Institute Pacific Neuroscience Institute (PNI) is devoted to the comprehensive care of patients with a wide spectrum of neurological and cranial disorders. Dedicated teams of specialists, state-of-the-art facilities and the use of leading-edge treatment along with our collaborative approach ensure that each patient receives the attention they require for successful treatment and recovery. PNI's specialty clinics are located at award winning hospitals Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica and Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance, California. PacificNeuro.org Media Contact: Zara Jethani [email protected] 818-209-4070 SOURCE Pacific Neuroscience Institute Related Links https://www.pacificneuroscienceinstitute.org CARSON CITY, Nev. and AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- With a Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) program of over $2.7B for 2019-2022, Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) is responsible for the planning, construction, operation and maintenance of the 5,400 miles of highway and over 1,000 bridges which make up the state highway system. In early 2018, NDOT decided to replace three of the existing legacy systems, Project Scheduling and Management System (PSAMS), Bid Estimate System (iPD) and Financial Management System (FinMan) with a single integrated modern cloud solution. NDOT also wanted to select a system that was easy to integrate with other state and federal systems. After careful due diligence of various technology vendors in the market place, NDOT has selected Aurigo Masterworks Cloud to replace all three legacy systems. "We are delighted to welcome Nevada DOT, to our growing list of customers in North America. Several state DOTs and provincial agencies in North America have come to rely on Aurigo Masterworks Cloud software to significantly improve the way they plan and deliver their multi-billion-dollar programs on time and within budget. Aurigo is excited to partner with Nevada and its residents to achieve their transportation goals for a safe and connected Nevada," said Balaji Sreenivasan, CEO of Aurigo Software, Inc. "We are excited to partner with Aurigo Software Technologies to implement their enterprise cloud and mobile product suite, Masterworks. By replacing our aging legacy systems with this comprehensive, integrated platform, we will drive greater efficiency and collaboration throughout the Department by automating workflows and having electronic documentation stored in a single location for our various transportation projects. We believe this solution will not only help reduce the time it takes to get a project released and awarded but also improve our ability to get additional Federal funds keeping our commitment to have a Safe & Connected transportation system for Nevada," said David Wooldridge, Chief IT Manager at Nevada DOT. About Aurigo Aurigo Software is America's leading provider of modern cloud software to help infrastructure owners plan, build, maintain and operate their multi-billion-dollar capital investments safely and efficiently. Aurigo Masterworks Cloud is a comprehensive suite of enterprise software products that automate the entire lifecycle of capital programs, including planning, forecasting, budgeting, bid & estimation, project management, contract administration, scheduling, the right of way, permitting, materials testing, field inspection, civil rights, and document control. The system has powerful reporting and dashboard capabilities and a native mobile application that works offline and online. Aurigo is investing extensively in harnessing artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. Aurigo helps over 500 customers plan and deliver over $300 Billion of capital programs safely and efficiently. Aurigo is a privately held US corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas, with wholly owned subsidiaries in Canada and India. Visit www.aurigo.com for more information. SOURCE Aurigo Software DENVER, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Morse Energy Capital Partners ("Morse Energy", or "the Firm"), a Denver-based private equity firm focused on the oil and gas sector, announced that the Firm raised over $100 million in committed capital and deployed over $50 million of investment capital across five new E&P investments in 2018. The deals represent the successful deployment of capital into assets which through a comprehensive diligence process were identified as deeply discounted by markets and offered substantial upside via strong cash on cash returns from current cash flow as well as significant capital appreciation potential. The Firm has identified multiple privately negotiated deals still available in the market today that offer similarly attractive investment opportunities. Morse Energy continues to seek investment opportunities where it can leverage its strong reputation and operational expertise to invest in transactions in the lower middle market where access to capital is limited and the Firm can optimize for strong returns at a lower risk. The Morse Energy funds target privately-negotiated, structured equity, credit, and asset level investments. "Our strategy of opportunistically investing in undervalued assets and optimizing them proved to be extremely effective in the course of 2018," said Morse Energy Capital Partners President and Founder Brad Morse. "We continue to see opportunity and balance sheet distress in the space, and we believe 2019 will be a transformative year for the Firm." Morse Energy Capital Partners changes its name to Fulcrum Energy Capital Funds "As a part of that transformation, we believe it is appropriate to take on a name that reflects the full depth of our team's experience," continued Mr. Morse. "To that end, we have decided to rebrand the Firm to Fulcrum Energy Capital Funds. For our portfolio companies, the capital provided by Fulcrum is the lever which elevates their business from where it is today to where they want it to be." The Fulcrum Energy Capital Funds ("Fulcrum") team has over 70 years of experience in the oil and gas space encompassing corporate finance, business development, reservoir engineering, drilling and completion, and structuring opportunistic investments across the capital structure. "Our unique combination of experience, a disciplined investment approach, outstanding reputation, and a robust deal flow pipeline has made the Firm what it is today. I look forward to working with our team to continue executing on low-risk, high-return investments, making Fulcrum a leading lower middle market special situations and credit focused upstream oil and gas asset manager," said Mr. Morse. For 2019, Fulcrum Energy Capital Funds sets its sites on continued growth "In the coming year, we will benefit from strong market dynamics in an underserved and fragmented part of the market," continued Mr. Morse. "In an industry that is out-of-favor with year-on-year global demand for traditional energy sources continuing to rise, the Fund's disciplined investment strategy is set to capitalize on opportunistic and special situation investing across the capital structure by implementing a value-oriented investment philosophy to an industry that is largely focused on growth." Fulcrum Energy Capital Fund II recently launched and is currently raising capital from potential investors as well as evaluating new investment opportunities. About Fulcrum Energy Capital Funds Fulcrum Energy Capital Funds is a Denver, Colorado-based private investment firm focused on direct lower middle market oil and gas investment opportunities in North America. The Fulcrum Funds target privately-negotiated, structured equity, credit, and asset level investments. Fulcrum currently manages more than $100 million in committed capital under a team with more than 70 years of experience across hundreds of energy industry deals. For more information, please visit fulcrumef.com. Contact: Brad Morse 410 17th Street, Suite 1110 Denver, CO 80202 (720) 328-5070 [email protected] SOURCE Fulcrum Energy Capital Funds NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- MoneyLion, America's most powerful financial membership, today announced a partnership with Penske Automotive Group to provide its associates with a better way to save, earn and invest their money. The partnership will enable Penske Automotive Group associates in the U.S. to sign up for MoneyLion Bonus, a financial wellness program designed to help them gain access to financial products and tools beyond what a traditional bank offers. Expanding beyond its primary sponsorship of Team Penske, MoneyLion is committed to improving the financial health of Penske Automotive Group associates across the country. The MoneyLion Bonus program offers free access to MoneyLion Plus, along with a proprietary matching contribution, MoneyLion Match. MoneyLion Bonus members gain access to: Zero-fee checking account and debit card Zero-fee managed investment account with no minimums 0% APR cash advances Loans at 5.99% APR, funded in seconds Free credit monitoring Up to 12% cashback rewards at over 20,000 nationwide retailers 55,000 no-fee ATMs Personalized AI-driven budgeting and financial education MoneyLion Bonus, an employee sponsored benefit, is designed to help hardworking Americans save money and manage their finances. In fact, the company believes its membership is the most efficient way for American households to manage banking, investing, saving and financial literacy in a single modern platform. MoneyLion members typically save an average of $887 per year by eliminating bank fees, reducing the cost of borrowing, earning rewards and zero fee investing. The average MoneyLion member experiences a dramatic improvement in their credit score within 60 days and are able to invest for the very first time. "We are excited to roll our employer sponsored financial wellness membership program out to Penske Automotive Group, providing their associates with the tools and advice they need to reduce financial stress and more quickly reach their financial goals," said Dee Choubey, CEO and Co-Founder at MoneyLion. "In the past, these types of financial tools have only been available to only the very wealthy. MoneyLion Bonus brings user-friendly, private bank-like services to the fingertips of everyday Americans, something we think is long overdue." "What began as a sponsorship of Team Penske on the racetrack has evolved into a powerful opportunity for all of our employees," said Roger Penske, Chairman of Penske Automotive Group. "This partnership with MoneyLion will offer our employees an opportunity to improve their financial wellness." For more on how MoneyLion is making a positive impact on members' financial lives, see the MoneyLion blog for real customer success stories. About MoneyLion MoneyLion is America's most powerful and rewarding financial membership, empowering people to take control of their finances to achieve their dreams. Since its launch in 2013, MoneyLion has amassed more than 4 million members and has earned its customers trust with new banking and investments capabilities that offer a one-of-a-kind rewards program, no-fee checking account, overdraft protection, and loans funded in 15 seconds. From a single app, users can get a 360-degree snapshot of their financial lives while having access to personalized tips and tools to improve their credit and achieve everyday savings. With the notion that good habits are formed over time, MoneyLion rewards users for each decision that moves them closer towards their financial goals. The success of MoneyLion relies on finding ways to make the members' money work as hard as they do. MoneyLion has offices in New York City, San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For more information, visit www.moneylion.com or download the app here . Disclosure MoneyLion's affiliate, ML Wealth LLC, is a Registered Investment Advisor with the SEC. MoneyLion Plus members' investments are protected by the SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) for up to $500,000. Brokerage services provided to clients of ML Wealth by Drive Wealth LLC, a member of FINRA/SIPC. Other services provided by our affiliates including ML Plus, LLC. This communication and all data are for informational purposes only and do not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell securities. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Keep in mind investing involves risk. The value of your investment will fluctuate over time and you may gain or lose money. Nothing in this communication should be construed as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or services. Contacts Grayling Public Relations [email protected] SOURCE MoneyLion Related Links https://www.moneylion.com LANSING, Mich., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Michigan Chamber of Commerce today issued the following statement in response to Governor Whitmer's Executive Order (E.O.) eliminating the recently established Environmental Oversight Committees. The Michigan Chamber is opposed to silencing the voices of environmental stakeholders. This E.O. will reduce public access to Michigan's rulemaking and environmental permit processes. "We encourage the Legislature to seriously consider exercising its constitutional authority (Article 5, Sec. 2) to disapprove this E.O.," said Michigan Chamber President & CEO Rich Studley. "The Michigan Chamber is disappointed that Governor Whitmer decided so early to reduce openness, accountability and transparency in the state government regulatory process." The Environmental Oversight Committees were signed into law last year to strengthen and improve environmental rulemaking by providing for increased stakeholder involvement earlier in the regulatory process. Today's E.O. will silence the 12 recently appointed members of the Environmental Rules Review Committee representing the general public, conservation, environmental, public health, local government and businesses. This advisory committee's role was to make a recommendation to the Governor on whether a rule should move forward, leaving the final decision to the Governor. The Governor's E.O. will also eliminate the new permit appeal process that ensured permit approvals and denials were based on sound science, that the state government would have to publicly explain their decisions and that it would all be done in a transparent way. "We are also disappointed the Whitmer administration did not make any effort to implement the new law before throwing in the towel on this important regulatory reform," said Studley. "Expanding the openness, accountability and transparency in environmental regulations and permitting should have been a top priority for the Governor," said Jason Geer, Director of Energy & Environmental Policy for the Michigan Chamber. "If implemented, this law would have created a more cooperative rulemaking and permit process. "Eliminating seats at the table for a wide range of stakeholders and closing the curtain on the state's environmental rulemaking process sends a negative message to Michigan's business community," stated Geer. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce is a statewide business organization that represents approximately 6,000 employers, trade associations and local chambers of commerce. The Michigan Chamber represents businesses of every size and type in all 83 counties of the state. The Michigan Chamber was established in 1959 to be an advocate for Michigan job providers in the legislative, political and legal process. SOURCE Michigan Chamber of Commerce Method's Creative Growth partnership began two years ago out of a shared belief in creativity as a powerful agent of change, and has brought much-deserved recognition to Creative Growth, its mission and its community of artists. Method's donation for the collection will support materials, instruction and facility upgrades to ensure that Creative Growth can continue to inspire, thrive and enrich the lives it impacts. "The incredible artwork, amazing stories, and talented people behind Creative Growth demand to be seen and heard," said Doug Piwinski, method's Chief Marketing Officer. "No doubt the combination of artful design and unforgettable fragrances is sure to leave a lasting impression on countertops everywhere this Spring." The commissioned Creative Growth artists and their work include: Aurie Ramirez watercolor and pencil bring to life a fantastical, fun world full of unicorns and rainbows watercolor and pencil bring to life a fantastical, fun world full of unicorns and rainbows Cedric Johnson a colorful, complex swirling pattern made from colored pencils, markers and acrylic paint a colorful, complex swirling pattern made from colored pencils, markers and acrylic paint Sher-ron Freeman spectacular splashes of color create a forest of exotic hues made from deco markers and colored pencils spectacular splashes of color create a forest of exotic hues made from deco markers and colored pencils Edward Walters rulers, sharpies and watercolors come together in this wonderful wash of colors arranged in artful architectural shapes. "Our mission at Creative Growth is to understand how everyone is part of the creative community. Method is run by people who value creativity and they value the social good, and those two things came together in this latest limited-edition partnership," said Tom di Maria, director of Creative Growth. "One of the things that's remarkable about having our artists work with method is that our people, our artists, go to Target and will see these bottles. it's becomes a part of people's lives and the achievement comes home. When you walk into a store and you see something that you did in an art studio in Oakland, California on a shelf in a store where you go every day to shop and it's enlightening and it's creative and you made it, that's a fantastic moment for our artists." ABOUT PEOPLE AGAINST DIRTY People Against Dirty is a company made up of two brands method and Ecover filled with fearless thinkers, mad scientists and adventurous designers who believe in defying the status quo with innovation and optimism. We take cleaning seriously but not ourselves. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in San Francisco, method (methodhome.com) is the pioneer of premium planet-friendly and design-driven home, fabric and personal care products. Formulated with naturally derived, biodegradable ingredients, method puts the hurt on dirt without doing harm to people, creatures or the planet. Also playing an important role at People Against Dirty is Ecover (ecover.com) the revered pioneering European-based line of ecological cleaning products that has had an enormous impact on the world of cleaning and a positive impact on the planet. ABOUT CREATIVE GROWTH Creative Growth Art Center is a non-profit that serves artists with developmental, mental and physical disabilities, providing a professional studio environment for artistic development, gallery exhibition and representation and a social atmosphere among peers. SOURCE method "Sue is the type of caregiver we would all want for our loved ones," said Bill Butz, Maxim's chief executive officer. "While she is clinically competent, it is her empathy, positivity and nurturing spirit that set her apart. We are so honored to have Sue as a part of our Maxim family." Scott was recognized for her dedicated care of Richard "Rick" Cole, a veteran with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) who passed away in December 2018. ALS is a progressive neurological disease that has no cure and Scott knows firsthand the disease offers no reprieve. Her husband, Andy, was diagnosed with ALS in 2013 and passed away just nine months later. Upon his passing, Scott left her home just outside of Boston for a fresh start in Virginia. After securing a job at Maxim, she was matched with Rick, who relied on a variety of medical equipment to maintain his quality of life. Despite her friends' and family's concerns about being face-to-face with ALS again, Scott believes she was meant to be matched with her patient. Upon winning the award, Scott said, "This is so surreal. I love working for Maxim. I love my patients. I thank Rick every day and I thank my Andy for teaching me patience and how to die with dignity and grace." Maxim's Caregiver of the Year Award program was established in 2011 and is designed to enhance the caregiver experience at Maxim and acknowledge and celebrate Maxim's nurses and aides for the quality patient-centered care and service they provide to many of the nation's most medically fragile and chronically ill patients. About Maxim Healthcare Services Maxim Healthcare Services provides a comprehensive suite of home healthcare, behavioral care, healthcare staffing, personal caregiving, and population health and wellness solutions. Our commitment to customer service, compassionate patient care and staffing experienced healthcare professionals has made a difference in the lives of patients, employees and caregivers nationwide for more than 30 years. Learn more about Maxim Healthcare Services, or get more information about available positions. SOURCE Maxim Healthcare Services LONDON and CHICAGO, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Marex Spectron, one of the world's largest commodities brokers, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of the customer business of Rosenthal Collins Group LLC (RCG), a leading independent Futures Commission Merchant (FCM). Through the acquisition, which was announced on 20 December 2018, Marex Spectron maintains the RCG name and brand, 14,000 client accounts and balances, 150 associated staff and the Chicago headquarters. As part of Marex Spectron, RCG clients retain the excellent service model and gain access to new products and capabilities, including: A more extensive global exchange network of cleared exchanges via Marex Spectron's global network. Direct access to London Metal Exchange, where Marex Spectron is a leading Category One member. New proprietary technologies and tools, including Marex Spectron's NEON trading and risk platform. Marex Spectron's extensive agricultural, metals and energy research. Over-the-counter (OTC) hedging and investment products across all asset classes through Marex Solutions. Marex Spectron's larger balance sheet and investment grade rating. About Marex Spectron Group Limited Marex Spectron is a leading global commodities brokerage, with significant market share of many major Agricultural, Metal and Energy products. Headquartered in London, Marex Spectron's extensive international network covers Europe, Asia and North America markets. State-of-the-art electronic and voice broking services facilitates all types of trading strategies. This is backed by decades of experience, with Marex Spectron placing great emphasis on intellectual knowledge and insight, alongside access to extensive data sets and the latest analytical tools. Clients are commodity producers and consumers, banks, hedge funds, asset managers, brokers, commodity trading advisors and professional traders. Global exchange memberships include, amongst others, the London Metal Exchange (LME), CME Group and ICE Group. Marex Spectron is regulated in the UK by the FCA, in the U.S. by the NFA and CFTC, in Hong Kong by the SFC, and in Singapore by the MAS. For more information visit www.marexspectron.com. About RCG RCG launched in 1923 and became Rosenthal Collins Group in 1988 with the merger of Rosenthal & Co. and Collins Commodities. Today Rosenthal Collins Group is owned by Marex Spectron, the global commodities broker, and is one of the world's leading regulated Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) offering trading execution, clearing, brokerage, managed futures and a full range of electronic trading services. RCG has a wide range of institutional, commercial, professional and retail customers around the globe, as well as a large network of more than 150 introducing broker and correspondent brokerage relationships. RCG holds clearing memberships on all principal U.S. futures exchanges and has access to world futures markets through a network of correspondent relationships. Further information about Rosenthal Collins Group can be found at www.RCGdirect.com. SOURCE Marex Spectron Related Links http://www.marexspectron.com L'Oreal Paris is debuting a versatile assortment of silver shades ranging from Silver Blonde to Smokey Silver to Silver Blue. These new silver shades come from their top collections Superior Preference, Feria, and Colorista Makeup, allowing people to easily achieve 2019's most coveted color at-home. "Not only has silver hair been a top color trend on the runways and it is the 'it' color for women of all ages, we love what the color stands for it symbolizes charisma, ethereal energy, power, focus and it is beyond chic," says Orrea Light, Vice President of L'Oreal Global Marketing Product Development and Beauty Innovation. "As the world's #1 selling hair color brand*, we are thrilled to now bring this color trend to people everywhere in an accessible way. Whether someone's desired result is sophisticated, daring, fun, or all three, they can find their perfect metallic match within the esteemed houses of Preference, Feria or Colorista." The 2019 Hair Color of the Year collection includes: FERIA SMOKEY SILVER: The L'Oreal Paris Feria franchise is known for its bold and vivid colors and always being on the cutting-edge of "what's next" in hair color artistry. Custom blended by master colorists for the daring trend setter, new Feria Smokey Silver is formulated with multi-faceted icy silver and a deep smokey undertone to create an edgy & metallic shade of silver. is formulated with multi-faceted icy silver and a deep smokey undertone to create an edgy & metallic shade of silver. SUPERIOR PREFERENCE SOFT SILVER BLONDE: Since 1973, L'Oreal Paris' Superior Preference has proven itself time and time again as the gold standard in hair color delivering luminous multidimensional hair color that lasts. Now, the brand debuts its modern take on a classic blonde shade with Soft Silver Blonde. This shade is a mix of warm blonde and delicate cool silver tones for a "wearable" and sophisticated silver look. Superior Preference has proven itself time and time again as the gold standard in hair color delivering luminous multidimensional hair color that lasts. Now, the brand debuts its modern take on a classic blonde shade with Soft Silver Blonde. This shade is a mix of warm blonde and delicate cool silver tones for a "wearable" and sophisticated silver look. COLORISTA HAIR MAKEUP SILVER BLUE: For the trendsetter who only wants silver hair for 1 day, try makeup for your hair. New Colorista Hair Makeup Silver Blue is a gentle gel cream formula mixed with icy silver makeup pigments for a vivid silver blue color payoff without the long-term commitment. "While other aspects of beauty can surely make an impact, nothing quite compares to the effect of that perfect statement-making color. I have seen a big uptick in client requests for silver this year and love that L'Oreal Paris makes it easy to achieve at home," says Jonathan Colombini, L'Oreal Paris Hair Color Consulting Colorist and Stylist. "The best part about the lineup is that it's color any way you like it not only are they the shades of the moment, but they span different formulas and application techniques, which means there is a silver for every lifestyle." The 2019 Hair Color of the Year will come to life through Vogue.com, Vogue and L'Oreal Paris' social & digital channels, in Vogue magazine's February Issue and during New York Fashion Week. People are encouraged to show off their own silver hair by tagging @lorealhair and using #HairColoroftheYear. *Based on Nielsen data for units of L'Oreal Paris brand hair color sold in 2018. About L'Oreal Paris: The L'Oreal Paris division of L'Oreal USA, Inc. is a total beauty care brand dedicated to empowering women by offering luxurious and innovative products and services available in the mass market. The brand's signature tagline, "Because I'm Worth It," was born in the United States in 1973 to celebrate the beauty and intrinsic self-worth of women, and for more than 100 years, L'Oreal Paris has been providing women around the world with products in four major beauty categories: hair color, haircare, skincare and cosmetics. With L'Oreal's invention of hair color in 1909, the brand continues to serve as a leading innovator of hair products across color, care, and styling with brands such as Superior Preference, Feria, Colorista, Elvive, the Ever Collection, and Elnett Satin Hairspray. L'Oreal Paris provides scientifically-advanced skincare products that are tested to address individual skin concerns through its renowned brands Revitalift, Pure-Sugar, Pure-Clay, Age Perfect, and Sublime Bronze. L'Oreal Paris' iconic cosmetics include best-seller Voluminous Lash Paradise, as well as the Infallible, True Match, Colour Riche, Voluminous, and Visible Lift collections. For more information about L'Oreal Paris and to receive personalized advice, expert tips, and exclusive content, please visit www.lorealparisusa.com or follow on Instagram (@LOrealMakeup, @LOrealHair, @LOrealSkin, @LOrealMen, Snapchat (@LOrealMakeup), Twitter (@LOrealParisUSA), Facebook (@LOrealParisUSA), and Pinterest (@LOrealParisUSA). Contact: Jacqueline Glasner at Alison Brod Marketing + Communications (212) 230-1800, [email protected] SOURCE L'Oreal Paris USA Related Links http://www.lorealparisusa.com LINE-X and DieselSellerz partnered with some of the hottest names in the industry to help represent its brand as a leader in polyurea coatings and truck accessories. The build features several premium products, most notably the LINE-X ULTRA exterior coating tinted in olive drab green with a UV topcoat. Featured companies on the build include: "Our relationship with the DieselSellerz has really grown over the past few years and we're honored to be able to show their incredible build at the Chicago Auto Show. Heavy D and Diesel Dave remain very popular in the diesel community, and we are proud to be able to put their talents on display at the show," said Dennis Weese, president of LINE-X. "In addition to the Diesel Brothers-built truck, we will also have on display an outfitted 2019 RAM 1500 truck courtesy of Great Lakes LINE-X that gives show attendees some great examples of the customization possible at LINE-X shops around the country." AFTERMARKET EXCELLENCE ON DISPLAY In addition to the 2018 RAM built by the DieselSellerz, the LINE-X booth will also feature a customized 2019 RAM 1500 with top-quality aftermarket accessories and upgrades. This truck includes some of the most popular products sold through LINE-X franchisees and was built by local Chicago-area shop Great Lakes LINE-X. 2019 RAM build includes: LINE-X PREMIUM bedliner LINE-X Specialty Automotive Exterior Coating on Drop Steps, Fender Flares and Bumpers Truck Gear by LINE-X Drop Steps Truck Gear by LINE-X LXP Tonneau Cover Bushwacker Pocket Style Fender Flares Grid Wheels Mickey Thompson Baja Boss Tires Daystar Lift Kit Rigid Light Bar Addictive Desert Design Front and Rear Bumpers Husky X-Act Contour Floor Liners Suntec Window Film Sticker Dude Designs Vehicle Wrap Gibson Stainless Steel Exhaust TrailFX 9500lb Winch WeatherTech Rain Guards Owners and staff from local franchises including Great Lakes LINE-X, LINE-X of Bartlett, LINE-X of Kenosha and LINE-X of Northern Illinois will be on hand to discuss various types of LINE-X protective coatings and vehicle customization options available at LINE-X franchise locations. Show goers that visit the LINE-X booth can sign up to receive special show discounts and enter to win exclusive LINE-X and Truck Gear by LINE-X products, like a Truck Gear Expedition Cooler, Jump Starter and Power Bank, and more. LINE-X will be located at booth SH8 in the South Hall of the McCormick Place convention center. SOURCE LINE-X Related Links http://www.linex.com Environmental groups and local officials urged lawmakers to support a plan that would allow cities and towns to voluntarily set new fees on real estate transactions of up to 1 percent of the value of sales more than $150,000. The municipalities could then use that money to buy or maintain open space, clean up old industrial brownfields, and other environmental projects. BALTIMORE, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE: LM) today reported its operating results for the third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2018. Quarters Ended Nine Months Ended Financial Results Dec Sep Dec Dec Dec (Amounts in millions, except per share amounts) 2018 2018 2017 2018 2017 Operating Revenues $ 704.3 $ 758.4 $ 793.1 $ 2,210.7 $ 2,355.3 Operating Expenses 940.7 622.7 820.4 2,185.7 2,131.0 Operating Income (Loss) (236.4) 135.7 (27.3) 25.0 224.3 Net Income (Loss)1 (216.9) 72.8 149.2 (78.0) 275.8 Net Income (Loss) Per Share - Diluted1 (2.55) 0.82 1.58 (0.95) 2.86 Assets Under Management (Amounts in billions) End of Period Assets Under Management $ 727.2 $ 755.4 $ 767.2 $ 727.2 $ 767.2 Average Assets Under Management 739.3 750.2 759.9 745.6 750.6 (1) Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Legg Mason, Inc. Joseph A. Sullivan, Chairman and CEO of Legg Mason said, "Legg Mason's quarterly results were negatively impacted by the industry's record net outflows from actively-managed U.S. mutual funds, as well as double-digit equity market losses. However, the diversification of our assets under management served to mitigate equity market declines, with Legg Mason's total AUM down just 4%. Furthermore, we continue to focus on working together with our Affiliates from both strategic and operational perspectives to better execute for our clients and shareholders. To that point, we are developing a new global operating platform to enhance collaboration to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our multi-Affiliate model, while still prioritizing independent investment management. Over time, we believe a more integrated operating platform will benefit clients and create a path for continued growth." Assets Under Management of $727.2 Billion Assets Under Management were $727.2 billion at December 31, 2018 compared with $755.4 billion at September 30, 2018, resulting from $30.0 billion in negative market performance and other, $8.5 billion in long-term outflows and $0.2 billion in realizations, partially offset by liquidity inflows of $10.5 billion. Quarter Ended December 31, 2018 Assets Under Management AUM (in billions) Flows (in billions) Operating Revenue Yield 1 Equity $ 181.0 $ (3.3) 59 bps Fixed Income 406.6 (5.1) 27 bps Alternative 66.3 (0.1)2 59 bps Long-Term Assets 653.9 (8.5) Liquidity 73.3 10.5 13 bps Total $ 727.2 $ 2.0 37 bps (1) Operating revenue yield equals total operating revenues less performance fees divided by average AUM (2) Excludes realizations of $0.2 billion At December 31, 2018, fixed income represented 56% of AUM, while equity represented 25%, alternative represented 9% and liquidity represented 10%. By geography, 68% of AUM was from clients domiciled in the United States and 32% from non-US domiciled clients. Average AUM during the quarter was $739.3 billion compared to $750.2 billion in the prior quarter and $759.9 billion in the third quarter of fiscal year 2018. Average long-term AUM was $672.4 billion compared to $690.0 billion in the prior quarter and $685.3 billion in the third quarter of fiscal year 2018. Quarterly Performance 1-Year 3-Year 5-Year 10-Year % of Strategy AUM beating Benchmark3 41% 80% 73% 81% % of Long-Term U.S. Fund Assets Beating Lipper Category Average 43% 69% 71% 65% (3) See "Supplemental Data Regarding Quarterly Performance." Of Legg Mason's long-term U.S. mutual fund assets, 59% were in funds rated 4 or 5 stars by Morningstar. Operating Results - Comparison to the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2019 Net loss was $216.9 million, or $2.55 per diluted share, compared to net income of $72.8 million, or $0.82 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal year 2019. In addition to the net impact of the factors listed below, the decreased earnings were driven by lower average AUM and lower non-pass through performance fees. This quarter's results included: Non-cash intangible asset impairment charges of $365.2 million , or $3.11 per diluted share, primarily related to commingled fund management contracts at EnTrustPermal and RARE Infrastructure. , or per diluted share, primarily related to commingled fund management contracts at EnTrustPermal and RARE Infrastructure. Net discrete expenses and other tax items of $10.5 million , or $0.12 per diluted share. , or per diluted share. Global operating platform implementation costs4 of $5.9 million , or $0.05 per diluted share. The prior quarter's results included: Discrete tax benefit related to the completion of a prior year audit of $2.8 million , or $0.03 per diluted share. , or per diluted share. Global operating platform implementation costs of $3.2 million , or $0.02 per diluted share. , or per diluted share. Real estate charge associated with the sublease of office space in the Company's Baltimore headquarters of $2.4 million , or $0.02 per diluted share. Operating revenues of $704.3 million were down 7% compared to $758.4 million in the prior quarter reflecting: A decrease in separate account and fund advisory fee revenues of $27.7 million , or 4% reflecting lower average AUM. , or 4% reflecting lower average AUM. A $16.6 million decrease in pass-through performance fees. Operating expenses were $940.7 million compared to $622.7 million in the prior quarter, but excluding the non-cash impairment charges of $365.2 million, expenses were down 8%, reflecting: Lower compensation of $48.0 million driven by lower operating revenues. driven by lower operating revenues. An increase in other expenses of $10.8 million . . A $10.8 million loss in the market value of deferred compensation and seed investments which is recorded as a decrease in compensation and benefits with an offset in non-operating income, as compared to a $4.0 million gain in the prior quarter. Non-operating expense was $30.3 million, as compared to $24.8 million in the prior quarter reflecting: Losses on corporate investments, not offset in compensation, were $4.9 million compared with gains of $2.9 million in the prior quarter. compared with gains of in the prior quarter. A residual distribution of $8.4 million from an investment holding. from an investment holding. Gains on funded deferred compensation and seed investments, as described above. A $2.6 million gain associated with the consolidation of sponsored investment vehicles compared to a $4.3 million loss in the prior quarter. The consolidation of sponsored investment vehicles has no impact on net income as the effects of consolidation are fully attributable to noncontrolling interests. Operating margin was (33.6%) compared to 17.9% in the prior quarter, reflecting the impact of the non-cash impairment charges of $365.2 million. Operating margin, as adjusted5, was 21.1%, as compared to 23.6% in the prior quarter. Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, excluding consolidated investment vehicles, was $9.0 million compared to $11.3 million in the prior quarter, principally related to Clarion, EnTrustPermal, RARE and Royce. (4) For the September and December quarters, global operating platform implementation costs include all collaboration initiatives costs (5) See "Use of Supplemental Non-GAAP Financial Information." Operating Results - Comparison to the Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 Net loss was $216.9 million, or $2.55 per diluted share, compared to net income of $149.2 million, or $1.58 per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal year 2018. In addition to the factors listed below, the decreased earnings were driven by lower average long-term AUM and lower non-pass through performance fees. This quarter's results included: Non-cash intangible asset impairment charges of $365.2 million , or $3.11 per diluted share, primarily related to commingled fund management contracts at EnTrustPermal and RARE Infrastructure. , or per diluted share, primarily related to commingled fund management contracts at EnTrustPermal and RARE Infrastructure. Net discrete expenses and other tax items of $10.5 million , or $0.12 per diluted share. , or per diluted share. Global operating platform implementation costs of $5.9 million , or $0.05 per diluted share. The prior year quarter's results included: One-time non-cash tax benefit of $213.7 million , or $2.27 per diluted share, related to the tax law change. , or per diluted share, related to the tax law change. Non-cash intangible asset impairment charge of $195.0 million , or $1.62 per diluted share. , or per diluted share. Discrete tax expense items of $7.4 million , or $0.08 per diluted share. , or per diluted share. EnTrustPermal acquisition and transition-related costs of $1.3 million , or $0.01 per diluted share. Operating revenues of $704.3 million down 11% compared with $793.1 million in the prior year quarter reflecting: Decreases principally due to lower average long-term AUM. A decrease in non-pass through performance fees of $43.8 million . Operating expenses of $940.7 million were up 15% compared with $820.4 million in the prior year quarter reflecting: Non-cash intangible impairment charges of $365.2 million , compared with a non-cash impairment charge of $195.0 million in the prior year quarter. , compared with a non-cash impairment charge of in the prior year quarter. Decreased compensation, related to decreased revenues driven by lower average long-term AUM and performance fees. An increase in other expenses of $9.9 million . . A $10.8 million loss in the market value of deferred compensation and seed investments, which is recorded as an increase in compensation and benefits with an offset in non-operating income, compared with a gain of $4.3 million in the prior year quarter. Non-operating expense was $30.3 million, compared to $13.5 million in the prior year quarter reflecting: Losses on corporate investments, not offset in compensation, were $4.9 million compared with gains of $1.5 million in the prior year quarter. compared with gains of in the prior year quarter. Losses on funded deferred compensation and seed investments this quarter, as compared to gains in the prior year quarter, as described above. A residual distribution of $8.4 million from an investment holding. from an investment holding. A $2.6 million gain associated with the consolidation of sponsored investment vehicles, as compared to an $7.9 million gain in the prior year quarter. The consolidation of sponsored investment vehicles has no impact on net income as the effects of consolidation are fully attributable to noncontrolling interests. Operating margin was (33.6%) as compared to (3.4%) in the prior year quarter reflecting the impact of the non-cash impairment charges of $365.2 million this quarter and $195.0 million in the prior year quarter. Operating margin, as adjusted, was 21.1%, as compared to 27.2% in the prior year quarter. Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, excluding consolidated investment vehicles, was $9.0 million, compared to $13.6 million in the prior year quarter, principally related to Clarion, EnTrustPermal, RARE and Royce. Quarterly Business Developments and Recent Announcements Legg Mason initiated a new global operating platform, which will result in annual expense savings of $90 million to $110 million , and costs to implement of $130 million to $150 million . to , and costs to implement of to . Legg Mason, Brandywine Global, ClearBridge Investments and Western Asset were all recognized by Pensions & Investments (P&I) in their Best Places to Work in Investment Management survey for 2018. Legg Mason was ranked #3 among 32 Capital Markets companies and was ranked in the top quintile overall in the Forbes/Just Capital annual ranking. Western Asset Management is the sub-advisor on the launch of the first active fixed income ETF in Australia on November 11, 2018 , the Betashares Legg Mason Australia Bond Fund. Balance Sheet At December 31, 2018, Legg Mason's cash position was $835.2 million. Total debt was $2.2 billion, and stockholders' equity was $3.7 billion. The ratio of total debt to total capital was 38%, compared to 37% in the prior quarter. Seed investments totaled $224.2 million. Conference Call to Discuss Results A conference call to discuss the Company's results, hosted by Joseph A. Sullivan, will be held at 5:00 p.m. EST today. The call will be open to the general public. Interested participants should access the call by dialing 1-800-447-0521 (or for international calls 1-847-413-3238), confirmation number 48102569, at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start to ensure connection. A live, listen-only webcast will also be available via the Investor Relations section of www.leggmason.com. The presentation slides that will be reviewed during the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Legg Mason website shortly after the release of the financial results. A replay of the live broadcast will be available on the Legg Mason website, www.leggmason.com , in the Investor Relations section, or by dialing 1-888-843-7419 (or for international calls 1-630-652-3042), enter pass code 48102569# when prompted. Please note that the replay will be available beginning at 8:00 p.m. EST on Monday, February 4, 2019, and ending at 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, February 18, 2019. About Legg Mason Guided by a mission of Investing to Improve Lives, Legg Mason helps investors globally achieve better financial outcomes by expanding choice across investment strategies, vehicles and investor access through independent investment managers with diverse expertise in equity, fixed income, alternative and liquidity investments. Legg Mason's assets under management are $727.2 billion as of December 31, 2018. To learn more, visit our web site, our newsroom, or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. This release contains forward-looking statements subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, see "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Legg Mason's Annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018 and in the Company's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Supplemental Data Regarding Quarterly Performance Strategy Performance For purposes of investment performance comparisons, strategies are an aggregation of discretionary portfolios (separate accounts, investment funds, and other products) into a single group that represents a particular investment objective. In the case of separate accounts, the investment performance of the account is based upon the performance of the strategy to which the account has been assigned. Each of our asset managers has its own specific guidelines for including portfolios in their strategies. For those managers which manage both separate accounts and investment funds in the same strategy, the performance comparison for all of the assets is based upon the performance of the separate account. Approximately 89% of total AUM is included in strategy AUM as of December 31, 2018, although not all strategies have three-, five-, and ten-year histories. Total strategy AUM includes liquidity assets. Certain assets are not included in reported performance comparisons. These include: accounts that are not managed in accordance with the guidelines outlined above; accounts in strategies not marketed to potential clients; accounts that have not yet been assigned to a strategy; and certain smaller products at some of our affiliates. Past performance is not indicative of future results. For AUM included in institutional and retail separate accounts and investment funds managed in the same strategy as separate accounts, performance comparisons are based on gross-of-fee performance. For investment funds which are not managed in a separate account format, performance comparisons are based on net-of-fee performance. Funds-of-hedge funds generally do not have specified benchmarks. For purposes of this comparison, performance of those products is net of fees, and is compared to the relevant HFRX index. These performance comparisons do not reflect the actual performance of any specific separate account or investment fund; individual separate account and investment fund performance may differ. The information in this presentation is provided solely for use regarding this presentation and is not directed toward existing or potential clients of Legg Mason. At December 31, 2018: 1-Year 3-Year 5-Year 10-Year % of Strategy AUM beating Benchmark Fixed Income 19% 88% 81% 92% Equity 56% 57% 36% 51% Alternatives 75% 73% 93% 56% Long-term US Fund Assets Beating Lipper Category Average Long-term US fund assets include open-end, closed-end, and variable annuity funds. These performance comparisons do not reflect the actual performance of any specific fund; individual fund performance may differ. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Source: Lipper Inc. At December 31, 2018: 1-Year 3-Year 5-Year 10-Year % of Long-Term U.S. Fund Assets Beating Lipper Category Average Fixed Income 26% 75% 83% 84% Equity 62% 63% 59% 44% Alternatives (performance relates to only 3 funds) 30% 0% 0% n/a LEGG MASON, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (LOSS) (Amounts in thousands) (Unaudited) Quarters Ended Nine Months Ended December September December December December 2018 2018 2017 2018 2017 Operating Revenues: Investment advisory fees: Separate accounts $ 256,657 $ 261,567 $ 255,696 $ 778,119 $ 758,870 Funds 361,173 383,923 395,370 1,128,660 1,170,633 Performance fees 12,619 31,874 58,926 68,529 181,284 Distribution and service fees 72,185 79,074 81,463 230,449 241,037 Other 1,688 1,989 1,635 4,897 3,446 Total operating revenues 704,322 758,427 793,090 2,210,654 2,355,270 Operating Expenses: Compensation and benefits 316,876 364,885 362,071 1,043,329 1,143,329 Distribution and servicing 108,842 114,525 124,254 339,959 370,237 Communications and technology 56,664 57,489 54,239 170,893 155,841 Occupancy 24,077 27,352 24,982 76,333 74,561 Amortization of intangible assets 6,089 6,102 6,071 18,371 18,492 Impairment of intangible assets 365,200 195,000 365,200 229,000 Contingent consideration fair value adjustments 145 739 571 (15,811) Other 63,001 52,201 53,067 171,021 155,330 Total operating expenses 940,749 622,699 820,423 2,185,677 2,130,979 Operating Income (Loss) (236,427) 135,728 (27,333) 24,977 224,291 Non-Operating Income (Expense): Interest income 3,126 2,420 1,827 7,992 4,867 Interest expense (28,770) (29,860) (29,088) (88,547) (87,431) Other income (expense), net (7,042) 6,627 5,519 6,837 24,196 Non-operating income (expense) of consolidated investment vehicles, net 2,369 (3,998) 8,225 1,954 11,316 Total non-operating income (expense) (30,317) (24,811) (13,517) (71,764) (47,052) Income Before Income Tax Provision (Benefit) (266,744) 110,917 (40,850) (46,787) 177,239 Income tax provision (benefit) (60,354) 29,844 (209,396) 165 (142,468) Net Income (Loss) (206,390) 81,073 168,546 (46,952) 319,707 Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests 10,498 8,270 19,324 31,043 43,901 Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Legg Mason, Inc. $ (216,888) $ 72,803 $ 149,222 $ (77,995) $ 275,806 LEGG MASON, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (LOSS), CONTINUED (Amounts in thousands, except per share amounts) (Unaudited) Quarters Ended Nine Months Ended December September December December December 2018 2018 2017 2018 2017 Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Legg Mason, Inc. $ (216,888) $ 72,803 $ 149,222 $ (77,995) $ 275,806 Less: Earnings (distributed and undistributed) allocated to participating securities (1) 1,049 2,577 5,347 3,190 9,639 Net Income (Loss) (Distributed and Undistributed) Allocated to Shareholders (Excluding Participating Securities) $ (217,937) $ 70,226 $ 143,875 $ (81,185) $ 266,167 Net Income (Loss) per Share Attributable to Legg Mason, Inc. Shareholders: Basic $ (2.55) $ 0.82 $ 1.59 $ (0.95) $ 2.87 Diluted $ (2.55) $ 0.82 $ 1.58 $ (0.95) $ 2.86 Weighted-Average Number of Shares Outstanding: (2) Basic 85,537 85,482 90,377 85,381 92,770 Diluted 85,537 85,612 90,833 85,381 93,199 (1) Participating securities excluded from weighted-average number of shares outstanding were 3,104, 3,156, and 3,357 for the quarters ended December 2018, September 2018, and December 2017, respectively, and 3,104 and 3,322 for the nine months ended December 2018 and December 2017, respectively. (2) Diluted shares are the same as basic shares for periods with a loss. LEGG MASON, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATING STATEMENTS OF INCOME (LOSS) (Amounts in thousands) (Unaudited) Quarters Ended December 2018 September 2018 December 2017 Balance Before Consolidation of Consolidated Investment Vehicles and Other (1) Consolidated Investment Vehicles and Other (1) Consolidated Totals Balance Before Consolidation of Consolidated Investment Vehicles and Other (1) Consolidated Investment Vehicles and Other (1) Consolidated Totals Balance Before Consolidation of Consolidated Investment Vehicles and Other (1) Consolidated Investment Vehicles and Other (1) Consolidated Totals Total operating revenues $ 704,477 $ (155) $ 704,322 $ 758,530 $ (103) $ 758,427 $ 793,373 $ (283) $ 793,090 Total operating expenses 940,561 188 940,749 622,430 269 622,699 819,984 439 820,423 Operating Income (Loss) (236,084) (343) (236,427) 136,100 (372) 135,728 (26,611) (722) (27,333) Non-operating income (expense) (32,158) 1,841 (30,317) (22,189) (2,622) (24,811) (19,970) 6,453 (13,517) Income (Loss) Before Income Tax Provision (Benefit) (268,242) 1,498 (266,744) 113,911 (2,994) 110,917 (46,581) 5,731 (40,850) Income tax provision (benefit) (60,354) (60,354) 29,844 29,844 (209,396) (209,396) Net Income (Loss) (207,888) 1,498 (206,390) 84,067 (2,994) 81,073 162,815 5,731 168,546 Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests 9,000 1,498 10,498 11,264 (2,994) 8,270 13,593 5,731 19,324 Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Legg Mason, Inc. $ (216,888) $ $ (216,888) $ 72,803 $ $ 72,803 $ 149,222 $ $ 149,222 Nine Months Ended December 2018 December 2017 Balance Before Consolidation of Consolidated Investment Vehicles and Other (1) Consolidated Investment Vehicles and Other (1) Consolidated Totals Balance Before Consolidation of Consolidated Investment Vehicles and Other (1) Consolidated Investment Vehicles and Other (1) Consolidated Totals Total operating revenues $ 2,211,115 $ (461) $ 2,210,654 $ 2,355,620 $ (350) $ 2,355,270 Total operating expenses 2,184,807 870 2,185,677 2,130,412 567 2,130,979 Operating Income (Loss) 26,308 (1,331) 24,977 225,208 (917) 224,291 Non-operating income (expense) (74,131) 2,367 (71,764) (55,892) 8,840 (47,052) Income (Loss) Before Income Tax Benefit (47,823) 1,036 (46,787) 169,316 7,923 177,239 Income tax provision (benefit) 165 165 (142,468) (142,468) Net Income (Loss) (47,988) 1,036 (46,952) 311,784 7,923 319,707 Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests 30,007 1,036 31,043 35,978 7,923 43,901 Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Legg Mason, Inc. $ (77,995) $ $ (77,995) $ 275,806 $ $ 275,806 (1) Other represents consolidated sponsored investment products that are not designated as CIVs LEGG MASON, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES SUPPLEMENTAL DATA RECONCILIATION OF OPERATING MARGIN, AS ADJUSTED (1) (Amounts in thousands) (Unaudited) Quarters Ended Nine Months Ended December September December December December 2018 2018 2017 2018 2017 Operating Revenues, GAAP basis $ 704,322 $ 758,427 $ 793,090 $ 2,210,654 $ 2,355,270 Plus (less): Pass-through performance fees (7,436) (24,006) (9,970) (44,062) (95,275) Operating revenues eliminated upon consolidation of investment vehicles 155 103 283 461 350 Distribution and servicing expense excluding consolidated investment vehicles (108,771) (114,516) (124,071) (339,845) (369,998) Operating Revenues, as Adjusted $ 588,270 $ 620,008 $ 659,332 $ 1,827,208 $ 1,890,347 Operating Income (Loss), GAAP basis $ (236,427) $ 135,728 $ (27,333) $ 24,977 $ 224,291 Plus (less): Gains (losses) on deferred compensation and seed investments, net (10,826) 3,964 4,333 (5,590) 14,585 Impairment of intangible assets 365,200 195,000 365,200 229,000 Amortization of intangible assets 6,089 6,102 6,071 18,371 18,492 Contingent consideration fair value adjustments 145 739 571 (15,811) Charge related to regulatory matter 151 4,151 Operating loss of consolidated investment vehicles, net 343 372 722 1,331 917 Operating Income, as Adjusted $ 124,379 $ 146,462 $ 179,532 $ 409,011 $ 471,474 Operating Margin, GAAP basis (33.6) % 17.9 % (3.4) % 1.1 % 9.5 % Operating Margin, as Adjusted 21.1 23.6 27.2 22.4 24.9 (1) See explanations for "Use of Supplemental Non-GAAP Financial Information." LEGG MASON, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES SUPPLEMENTAL DATA RECONCILIATION OF CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES TO ADJUSTED EBITDA (1) (Amounts in thousands) (Unaudited) Quarters Ended Nine Months Ended December September December December December 2018 2018 2017 2018 2017 Cash provided by operating activities, GAAP basis $ 256,591 $ 289,568 $ 116,912 $ 443,989 $ 291,818 Plus (less): Interest expense, net of accretion and amortization of debt discounts and premiums 28,259 29,341 28,503 86,956 85,176 Current tax expense (benefit) (1,218) 9,975 8,823 17,635 24,557 Net change in assets and liabilities (170,384) (69,426) 27,338 (24,794) 97,672 Net change in assets and liabilities of consolidated investment vehicles 60,158 (84,704) 20,023 (9,966) 51,223 Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (10,498) (8,270) (19,324) (31,043) (43,901) Net gains (losses) and earnings on investments 21,367 8,336 (4,163) 36,495 2,874 Net gains (losses) on consolidated investment vehicles 2,369 (3,998) 8,225 1,954 11,316 Other (68) 153 663 (289) 934 Adjusted EBITDA $ 186,576 $ 170,975 $ 187,000 $ 520,937 $ 521,669 (1) See explanations for "Use of Supplemental Non-GAAP Financial Information." LEGG MASON, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES (Amounts in billions) (Unaudited) Assets Under Management Quarters Ended By asset class: December 2018 September 2018 June 2018 March 2018 December 2017 Equity $ 181.0 $ 214.5 $ 206.4 $ 203.0 $ 207.6 Fixed Income 406.6 411.0 412.3 422.3 420.1 Alternative 66.3 67.4 66.4 66.1 66.3 Long-Term Assets 653.9 692.9 685.1 691.4 694.0 Liquidity 73.3 62.5 59.5 62.7 73.2 Total $ 727.2 $ 755.4 $ 744.6 $ 754.1 $ 767.2 Quarters Ended Nine Months Ended By asset class (average): December 2018 September 2018 June 2018 March 2018 December 2017 December 2018 December 2017 Equity $ 198.2 $ 212.2 $ 205.0 $ 208.8 $ 204.7 $ 204.1 $ 197.9 Fixed Income 407.4 411.4 416.7 422.2 414.8 411.9 408.7 Alternative 66.8 66.4 66.0 66.1 65.8 66.3 66.4 Long-Term Assets 672.4 690.0 687.7 697.1 685.3 682.3 673.0 Liquidity 66.9 60.2 61.8 69.8 74.6 63.3 77.6 Total $ 739.3 $ 750.2 $ 749.5 $ 766.9 $ 759.9 $ 745.6 $ 750.6 Component Changes in Assets Under Management Quarters Ended Nine Months Ended December 2018 September 2018 June 2018 March 2018 December 2017 December 2018 December 2017 Beginning of period $ 755.4 $ 744.6 $ 754.1 $ 767.2 $ 754.4 $ 754.1 $ 728.4 Net client cash flows: Equity (3.3) (1.1) (2.2) (2.1) (3.2) (6.6) (4.6) Fixed Income (5.1) (0.5) 1.3 2.8 5.4 (4.3) 6.6 Alternative (0.1) 0.6 0.5 0.6 (1.5) Long-Term flows (8.5) (1.0) (0.9) 1.2 2.2 (10.3) 0.5 Liquidity 10.5 3.0 (2.9) (10.7) (2.3) 10.4 (13.6) Total net client cash flows 2.0 2.0 (3.8) (9.5) (0.1) 0.1 (13.1) Realizations(1) (0.2) (0.2) (0.3) (0.5) (0.3) (0.7) (2.2) Market performance and other (30.0) 11.0 1.1 (6.0) 13.5 (17.8) 51.8 Impact of foreign exchange (2.0) (6.5) 2.9 (0.4) (8.5) 2.5 Acquisitions (disposition), net 0.1 (0.2) End of period $ 727.2 $ 755.4 $ 744.6 $ 754.1 $ 767.2 $ 727.2 $ 767.2 (1) Realizations represent investment manager-driven distributions primarily related to the sale of assets. Realizations are specific to our alternative managers and do not include client-driven distributions (e.g. client requested redemptions, liquidations or asset transfers). (2) Due to effects of rounding, the sum of the quarterly results may differ immaterially from the year-to-date results. Use of Supplemental Non-GAAP Financial Information As supplemental information, we are providing a performance measure for "Operating Margin, as Adjusted" and a liquidity measure for "Adjusted EBITDA", each of which are based on methodologies other than generally accepted accounting principles ("non-GAAP"). Our management uses these measures as benchmarks in evaluating and comparing our period-to-period operating performance and liquidity. Operating Margin, as Adjusted We calculate "Operating Margin, as Adjusted," by dividing (i) Operating Income, adjusted to exclude the impact on compensation expense of gains or losses on investments made to fund deferred compensation plans, the impact on compensation expense of gains or losses on seed capital investments by our affiliates under revenue sharing arrangements, amortization related to intangible assets, income (loss) of consolidated investment vehicles, the impact of fair value adjustments of contingent consideration liabilities, if any, unusual and other non-core charges (including the previously disclosed regulatory charge), and impairment charges by (ii) our operating revenues, adjusted to add back net investment advisory fees eliminated upon consolidation of investment vehicles, less distribution and servicing expenses which we use as an approximate measure of revenues that are passed through to third parties, and less performance fees that are passed through as compensation expense or net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests, which we refer to as "Operating Revenues, as Adjusted." The deferred compensation items are removed from Operating Income in the calculation because they are offset by an equal amount in Non-operating income (expense), net, and thus have no impact on Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Legg Mason, Inc. We adjust for the impact of the amortization of management contract assets and the impact of fair value adjustments of contingent consideration liabilities, if any, which arise from acquisitions to reflect the fact that these items distort comparison of our operating results with the results of other asset management firms that have not engaged in significant acquisitions. Impairment charges, unusual and other non-core charges (including the previously disclosed regulatory charge), and income (loss) of consolidated investment vehicles are removed from Operating Income in the calculation because these items are not reflective of our core asset management operations. We use Operating Revenues, as Adjusted, in the calculation to show the operating margin without distribution and servicing expenses, which we use to approximate our distribution revenues that are passed through to third parties as a direct cost of selling our products, although distribution and servicing expenses may include commissions paid in connection with the launching of closed-end funds for which there is no corresponding revenue in the period. We also use Operating Revenues, as Adjusted, in the calculation to show the operating margin without performances fees which are passed through as compensation expense or net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests per the terms of certain more recent acquisitions. Operating Revenues, as Adjusted, also include our advisory revenues we receive from consolidated investment vehicles that are eliminated in consolidation under GAAP. We believe that Operating Margin, as Adjusted, is a useful measure of our performance because it provides a measure of our core business activities. It excludes items that have no impact on Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Legg Mason, Inc. and indicates what our operating margin would have been without distribution revenues that are passed through to third parties as a direct cost of selling our products, performance fees that are passed through as compensation expense or net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests per the terms of certain more recent acquisitions, amortization related to intangible assets, changes in the fair value of contingent consideration liabilities, if any, impairment charges, unusual and other non-core charges (including the previously disclosed regulatory charge), and the impact of the consolidation of certain investment vehicles described above. The consolidation of these investment vehicles does not have an impact on Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Legg Mason, Inc. This measure is provided in addition to our operating margin calculated under GAAP but is not a substitute for calculations of margins under GAAP and may not be comparable to non-GAAP performance measures, including measures of adjusted margins of other companies. Adjusted EBITDA We define Adjusted EBITDA as cash provided by (used in) operating activities plus (minus) interest expense, net of accretion and amortization of debt discounts and premiums, current income tax expense (benefit), the net change in assets and liabilities, net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests, net gains (losses) and earnings on investments, net gains (losses) on consolidated investment vehicles, and other. The net change in assets and liabilities adjustment aligns with the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Adjusted EBITDA is not reduced by equity-based compensation expense, including management equity plan non-cash issuance-related charges. Most management equity plan units may be put to or called by Legg Mason for cash payment, although their terms do not require this to occur. We believe that this measure is useful to investors and us as it provides additional information with regard to our ability to meet working capital requirements, service our debt, and return capital to our stockholders. This measure is provided in addition to Cash provided by operating activities and may not be comparable to non-GAAP performance measures or liquidity measures of other companies, including their measures of EBITDA or Adjusted EBITDA. Further, this measure is not to be confused with Net Income, Cash provided by operating activities, or other measures of earnings or cash flows under GAAP, and are provided as a supplement to, and not in replacement of, GAAP measures. SOURCE Legg Mason, Inc. Related Links http://www.leggmason.com CHICAGO, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Klein Tools (www.kleintools.com), the premier hand tool brand among U.S. electricians, today announced the acquisition of the Wattmaster and Alco brands, based in Carrum Downs, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Klein Tools acquired substantially all of the business assets of Wattmaster and Alco parent company ElMako Pty Ltd, with no further specifics of the asset transaction terms disclosed. Having celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013, Wattmaster markets and distributes one of Australia's best-known ranges of electrician's tools, instruments and consumables. Sister brand Alco was the first in market to provide a comprehensive range of Metal Cable Glands designed in Australia to meet Australian and International Standards. "The Wattmaster business is very appealing to Klein Tools as we continue to expand our Australian-market presence," says Thomas R. Klein, Sr., Chairman of Klein Tools. "Wattmaster and Klein Tools have much in common, including loyal customers and reputations for high-quality products. We believe our combined resources will present additional growth opportunities, and we're excited to welcome Wattmaster and Alco to the Klein Tools family." About Klein Tools Since 1857, Klein Tools, a family-owned and operated company, has been designing, developing and manufacturing premium-quality, professional-grade tools. Having celebrated its 160th anniversary in 2017, Klein Tools remains committed to investing in the Australian market, building upon its 2010 acquisition of South Australia-based Mumme Tools. For more information, visit www.kleintools.com. Klein is a registered trademark of Klein Tools, Inc. SOURCE Klein Tools Related Links http://www.kleintools.com WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --The Junior State of America (JSA) will welcome more than 1,500 high school students for a two-day Congressional simulation in February. The students are coming from JSA chapters in Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia to debate bills on issues facing the nation. Among the issues scheduled for debate are immigration, reinstating voting rights to felons, and redistricting. "In our current political environment, it is refreshing to watch these young people discuss issues of national importance in a civil and thoughtful manner," said JSA Chief Executive Officer Ken White. "These are issues that the students identified as important to the country and its future, and the students themselves are working together to craft solutions." As the nation's largest and oldest student-run organization, JSA offers high school students the opportunity to learn how to engage with the political system, gain hands-on experience on the workings of Congress, as well as running a nationwide organization of 10,000 high school students. Over Feb. 9-10;16-17 and 23-24, students will meet in committees to amend bills, negotiate with their fellow legislators on which bills get passed and debate the bills in Congress. To learn more about JSA and its programs, visit www.jsa.org . About Junior State of America Since 1934, the nonprofit the Junior State of America (JSA) have helped more than 500,000 student leaders acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to be active, informed and responsible citizens, voters and leaders. We are committed to developing a diverse cross section of young leaders throughout the entire country. The mission of JSA is to strengthen American democracy by educating and preparing high school students for life-long involvement and responsible leadership in a democratic society. At the student-run Junior State chapters, summer schools and summer institutes, participants learn statesmanship as they engage in political discourse. They cultivate democratic leadership skills, challenge one another to think critically, advocate their own opinions, develop respect for opposing views and learn to rise above self-interest to promote the public good. CONTACT: Melissa Williams, Director of Engagement & Communications (650) 393-7728/804-349-4342 or [email protected] SOURCE The Junior State of America Foundation Related Links www.jsa.org EATONTOWN, N.J., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IPKeys Power Partners (IPKeyspowerpartners.com) announced today the completion of the acquisition of SigmaFlow LLC, the leading provider of utility-focused automated compliance technology for North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) regulations. The acquisition accelerates IPKeys strategy of leveraging its Cyber Lab as a Service (CLaaS) platform and related cyber security services that have been provided in the federal and Department of Defense (DOD) sectors for delivery in utility and public safety network communications sectors. "We are excited about coming together with the SigmaFlow team and the value IPKeys Power Partners will be able to deliver to utilities through its cost-efficient and end-to-end cyber security solution," said Robert Nawy, CEO, IPKeys Power Partners. "Our mission is to strengthen the cyber security defense programs of utilities and public safety organizations in a framework that essentially locks the cyber doors, continuously monitors those locks and now, with the addition of SigmaFlow, includes NERC CIP compliance and road maps." To support this effort, IPKeys Power Partners has hired Carter Schoenberg, the former CEO of HEMISPHERE Cyber Risk Management, to serve as its Executive Vice President - Cyber Solutions. Mr. Schoenberg brings over 19 years' experience in cybersecurity solving diverse and complex challenges in both commercial and government markets. "I am thrilled SigmaFlow is joining the IPKeys Power Partners' family, a proven leader in the cybersecurity and compliance space," said Vasu Avadhanula, Vice President of Product Management & Engineering, Sigma Flow. "By combining IPKeys secure technology suite with SigmaFlow's best-in-class workflow platform and NERC domain expertise, we can offer investor owned utilities, municipal power producers and electrical cooperatives with a compelling solution for their pressing cyber security compliance challenges." "Joining IPKeys and accessing their reputable and secure technology solutions made sense on many levels for SigmaFlow. What's really exciting about this acquisition is the opportunity to offer our customers a more comprehensive solution which includes additional cybersecurity services along with an advanced metering technology platform," said Betsy Williams, Vice President, Sales, SigmaFlow. "I'm delighted to work with the talented team at IPKeys. Their cyber security and energy industry expertise will be a great benefit to our customers and service offerings," said Louis Riendeau, Director of Professional Services at SigmaFlow. England & Company provided advisory services to IPKeys Power Partners in support of this acquisition. About IPKeys Founded in 2005, IPKeys is a strategic partner to public and private entities in the energy, DOD, federal, and commercial sectors and delivers expertise in the development, integration, and deployment of cyber secure Internet Protocol ("IP") technology and communications systems. IPKeys Power Partners is a wholly owned subsidiary of IPKeys and provides the utility, energy and municipal public safety sectors with Meter and Operational Data Management, Cyber Security, Public Safety Network Engineering and Electricity Demand Management and Demand Response services. IPKeys is headquartered in Eatontown, NJ with installations in Virginia, California, Maryland, Louisiana and Texas. About SigmaFlow For over a decade, SigmaFlow has delivered workflow platforms to the energy sector. The company's Oil & Gas Well Delivery solution provides visibility into drilling plans through rig scheduling and pre-drill workflow, while its Compliance Manager (CM) solution reduces the risk and cost of NERC Compliance for electric utilities with process controls and evidence management. SigmaFlow's CM solution has been widely adopted in the U.S. and Canada as the market leader for automating critical infrastructure protection (CIP) compliance. SOURCE IPKeys Related Links http://ipkeys.com CHICAGO, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --According to a new market research report "IoT Middleware Market by Platform Type (Device, Application, and Connectivity Management), Organization Size (Large Enterprises and SMES), Vertical (Manufacturing, Government & Defense, Automotive & Transportation), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global IoT Middleware Market size is expected to grow from USD 6.9 billion in 2018 to USD 19.5 billion by 2023, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 23.0% during the forecast period. Major driving factors for the IoT Middleware Market are the growing need for centralized monitoring, increased cloud adoption, increase in regulatory compliance, evolution of high speed network technologies, and rising adoption of next-generation technologies. Browse in-depth TOC on "IoT Middleware Market" 42 Tables 43 Figures 117 Pages Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=84839232 Large enterprises segment to account for a higher market share during the forecast period The large enterprises segment is expected to have the largest market size in the IoT Middleware Market, due to their early adoption of IoT platform and high investment capabilities. In addition to this, large enterprises are investing in IoT platform and associated services to cater to the dynamic customer needs, streamline business operations, and enhance the experience of the stakeholders. Moreover, affordability of resources and high economies of scale enable these organizations to leverage the benefits of IoT platform. Manufacturing vertical to account for the highest market share during the forecast period Manufacturing organizations are moving toward Industry 4.0, wherein smart devices and automation would work together in an entirely new way. In Industry 4.0, robotics is connected remotely to computer systems equipped with Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms, which can learn and control robots with minimal inputs. The Industry 4.0 includes cyber-physical systems, which monitor physical processes of factories and make decentralized decisions. IoT is at the center of factory automation and Industry 4.0, and helps organizations streamline their business processes and optimize operations. IoT platforms enable connectivity between various layers and the application layer. IoT platforms help manufacturing companies to automate processes and manage supply chains. Device management segment to account for the highest market share during the forecast period With the deployment of IoT ecosystems, a large number of devices are being connected, which range from small sensors and single-purpose microcontrollers to powerful gateways that connect the devices to the server. These ecosystems need a single platform that can manage the information and applications across a variety of devices. The device management platform provides capabilities, such as provisioning and authentication, configuration and control, monitoring and diagnostics, software updates, and maintenance. Device management platforms assist organizations in effectively managing and tracking, and securing the devices used in the organization. Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=84839232 North America to account for the highest market share during the forecast period North America is the dominant region for IoT platform deployment and progressive in terms of technology adoption. The region comprises US and Canada. The US accounts for the highest market share in the IoT Middleware Market. The US and Canada are also the early adopters of trending technologies, such as IoT, big data, and mobility, and it would provide significant growth opportunities for IoT platform vendors. Major vendors in the global IoT Middleware Market include IBM (US), PTC (US), SAP (Germany), Cisco (US), Alphabet (US), Amazon (US), Hitachi (Japan), HPE (US), Bosch (Germany), Microsoft (US), Salesforce (US), Oracle (US), GE (US), Siemens (Germany), and Schneider Electric (France). Browse Adjacent Markets: Digitalization and Internet of Things (IoT) Market Research Reports & Consulting About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Shelly Singh MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/iot-middleware-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com SOURCE MarketsandMarkets Related Links http://www.marketsandmarkets.com COSTA MESA, Calif., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In line with its continued growth, inVibe Labs, a market research innovator dedicated to changing the way healthcare organizations listen to their customers, today announced the appointments of Kathryn Ticknor as Head of Research, Mariana Posada as Research Manager, and Zach Rigotti as Software Engineer. These newly created roles expands inVibe's presence in Virginia, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, respectively. "Industry reaction to our entirely new way of listening has been a key component in the overall growth of our business," stated inVibe CEO Fabio Gratton. "By adding seasoned industry players to our team, we're furthering what's possible with the science of sound. We're extending our solutions well beyond our speech emotion recognition technology to deliver actionable insights derived from authentic personal healthcare narratives." Kathryn Ticknor brings nearly a decade of innovative research experience to inVibe. Most recently an account director at Cello Health Insight, Ms. Ticknor's background will add additional leadership to inVibe's qualitative and linguistic capabilities. She holds a master's degree in Language and Communication from Georgetown University and a bachelor's in Linguistics from the College of William & Mary. Mariana Posada joins inVibe after nearly six years as a project manager at GfK, one of the largest market research companies in the world. Her appointment bolsters inVibe's quantitative research and mixed-methods capabilities. Ms. Posada earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Ramapo College. Zach Rigotti, previously a software engineer at medical record industry-leader Epic, will play a key role in furthering the development of inVibe's proprietary research technologies. Mr. Rigotti holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin. About inVibe Labs inVibe provides healthcare organizations with an entirely new way to listen, enabling them to better understand their customers by capturing authentic stories and translating sound science into actionable insights. inVibe's structured methodology combined with sociolinguistic analysis and AI-powered acoustic metrics provides unique emotion and customer insights that are used by major pharmaceutical companies, marketing agencies, universities, and healthcare startups. For more information, please visit http://www.invibe.co. SOURCE inVibe Labs Related Links http://www.invibe.co BOSTON, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Amid growing economic uncertainties, mining companies need to develop value creation strategies that are independent of commodity prices and enable them to pursue value creation from multiple angles. So says a new report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) titled Value Creation in Mining 2019: Return to Strategy. Banking on rising commodity priceswhich powered performance in the most recent cycle and has largely driven gains in the current recoveryis no strategy in itself, according to the report. "Instead, companies need to return to true strategy in the fullest sense," says Gustavo Nieponice, a senior partner at BCG and coauthor of the report. "They need to secure future growth, be resolute about improving productivity, and manage current and future capital projects in a balanced, disciplined way." Bright Spots in the Recovery The report analyzes the key drivers of total shareholder return for 63 leading mining companies. After the severe downturn from 2011 through 2015, when mining turned in the lowest TSR of any major industry, it experienced a welcome rebound. However, a sharp decline during the second half of 2018 has raised questions about how sustainable the recovery isand what executive teams can do to respond. Among the report's other key findings: In 2017 and 2018, revenues and margins grew simultaneously for the first time in seven years. Higher cash flows and valuations shored up balance sheets, enabling companies to pay down debt. Although cash reserves improved, project spending remained near decade lows. Meanwhile, companies have been returning a growing chunk of excess cash to shareholders. Exploration is on the rebound, particularly among juniors, which now account for almost one-third of all exploration spending. Despite speculation to the contrary, M&A activity has remained subdued. Although industry circumstances have improved markedly since 2016, companies cannot afford to be complacent. Since mid-2018, uncertainties in demand and prices, along with rising operating costs, have stirred up headwinds that are challenging the recovery. Build Resilience, Pursue Profitable Growth Recent industry and macroeconomic developments underscore the need for value creation strategies that help companies build business resilience while pursuing profitable growth. BCG research has consistently shown wide variation in TSR performance within every industry. "Some companies systematically outperform their peers in value creation," says Thomas Vogt, an associate director at BCG and coauthor of the report. "What are they doing differently? In a nutshell, they understand the key drivers of TSR beyond commodity prices, and the tradeoffs required at different points in the cycle." The report emphasizes three main avenues for value creation. Take productivity to the next level. To ensure that cash flows remain sustainableand to keep up with rising costscompanies must continually and ambitiously adjust their productivity targets. A number of new and emerging technologies promise powerful new ways to unlock valuebut as the authors note, developing a cohesive technology strategy that delivers hard benefits can be difficult. "You want to be sure that the business drives technological change, and not the other way around," says Vogt. "A portfolio approach to digital and technology solutions makes sense. Adopt a venture capital mindset: take a range of higher- and lower-risk bets, and actively manage the portfolio of opportunities." Secure future growth. Ultimately, long-term value creation depends on profitable growth, whether organic or inorganic. As exploration activity picks up, companies should review their exploration strategies to ensure alignment with business needs for future production. They should also consider applying innovative technologies such as machine learning to improve targeting and discovery rates, and seeking efficiencies in exploration management. In M&A, companies must use a broad set of price and demand scenarios to evaluate deals. Every deal under consideration should have a clear and demonstrable value creation logic. Seek value at every project stage. BCG has found that companies that apply lean principles to projects can reduce capital intensity (the capital required per unit of productive capacity) by from 8% to 17%. Improving construction planning and productivity and aligning incentives can generate another 9% to 23% reduction in capital intensity. "New capital projects should explore the use of forward-looking technologies to avoid building 'new old mines,'" says Alex Koch, a senior partner at BCG and coauthor of the report. "At the same time, companies should stay focused on overall business value, considering project timing, construction, and future operability, in order to maximize long-term returns." Value Creation in Mining 2019 is the sixth report on value creation in mining sponsored by BCG's Industrial Goods practice. The report is part of BCG's Value Creators series, which applies BCG's proprietary methodology to disaggregate the sources of value creation among top-performing companies throughout nearly three dozen leading industries. A copy of the report can be downloaded here. To arrange an interview with one of the authors, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or [email protected]. About Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world's leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients from the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors in all regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their enterprises. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with offices in more than 90 cities in 50 countries. For more information, please visit bcg.com. Boston Consulting Group Eric Gregoire Global Media Relations Senior Manager Tel +1 617 850 3783 [email protected] SOURCE The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. Related Links www.bcg.com HOUSTON, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BBVA Compass today announced that the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta rated it "Outstanding" for CRA performance for its most recent examination period encompassing 2015 to 2017. The bank achieved "excellent performance" for community development lending and investments, and "high satisfactory" for service, which would translate to an overall "Outstanding" rating. The evaluation cited several reasons for BBVA Compass' overall 'Outstanding' rating, including the bank's excellent responsiveness to credit needs and the distribution of loans among borrowers of different income levels and businesses of different revenue sizes. In addition, BBVA Compass demonstrated leadership in making community development loans and investments, as well as leadership in providing community development services. "Over the past three years, BBVA Compass has continued to demonstrate our strong commitment to responsible banking across our footprint with renewed and improved programs, and I think that hard work is reflected in this outstanding rating," said BBVA Compass Director of Communications and Responsible Banking Reymundo Ocanas. "We've really entrenched ourselves in the communities we serve, too, with the formation of our Community Advisory Board, which helps us to identify and address the greatest needs in each community." Ocanas also serves as the bank's Community Reinvestment Act Officer. "BBVA Compass is the perfect example of a lender who takes responsibility in LMI neighborhoods and with people of color," said John Taylor, president and founder of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and a member of the bank's community advisory board. "Their commitment is clearly demonstrated by the outstanding rating, but more importantly, in the lending, services and investments they make throughout their footprint." During the exam period, BBVA Compass implemented programs and enhanced processes in a number of key areas, including: Lending: In 2015, BBVA Compass formed its Community Advisory Board, made up of leaders tasked with giving BBVA Compass executives and board members guidance and feedback on the bank's CRA program and providing referrals for business opportunities in mortgage, small business and commercial lending that will help the bank meet its CRA goals. The bank has reached in excess $2 billion in community development lending, surpassing its 5-year commitment. in community development lending, surpassing its 5-year commitment. In Year Four of its small business commitment, BBVA Compass is already more than halfway to its $6.2 billion goal, with $5 billion in lending as of 2018. goal, with in lending as of 2018. BBVA Compass provided a $17.5 million construction loan for and a $12 million Low Income Housing Tax Credit investment in a 187-unit Supportive Housing Complex in Houston for low income families who have experienced chronic homelessness. This is the first project of its kind in Houston for low income families struggling with homelessness. Most other Permanent Supportive Housing projects operate Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Units focused on supporting single adults only. The project coordinates a variety of social services related to health, substance abuse, education and job training. construction loan for and a Low Income Housing Tax Credit investment in a 187-unit Supportive Housing Complex in for low income families who have experienced chronic homelessness. This is the first project of its kind in for low income families struggling with homelessness. Most other Permanent Supportive Housing projects operate Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Units focused on supporting single adults only. The project coordinates a variety of social services related to health, substance abuse, education and job training. The bank also provided a $10 million construction loan for and an $11 million equity investment in a 60-unit Permanent Supportive Housing Apartment Complex in Lakewood, Colo. with units set aside for low income veterans who have experienced chronic bouts of homelessness. construction loan for and an equity investment in a 60-unit Permanent Supportive Housing Apartment Complex in with units set aside for low income veterans who have experienced chronic bouts of homelessness. Investments totalling $900 million : totalling : $492.2 million in low income housing tax credit investments that financed the development of more than 5,000 affordable housing units. in low income housing tax credit investments that financed the development of more than 5,000 affordable housing units. Partnered with 20 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) located across its footprint and provided 73 equity equivalent (EQ2) loans, equity and stock purchases totaling $54 million to help increase CDFI lending capacity. to help increase CDFI lending capacity. BBVA Compass provided a $12 million construction loan for and an $18.9 million Low Income Housing Tax Credit investment in a 100-unit Affordable Housing Complex for families in Birmingham, Ala. making less than 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). The project is the redevelopment of an existing 500-unit public housing site consisting of "barrack style" buildings from 1952. The redevelopment will reduce the unit density and provide a more aesthetically pleasing design and site plan more conducive to community building. construction loan for and an Low Income Housing Tax Credit investment in a 100-unit Affordable Housing Complex for families in making less than 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). The project is the redevelopment of an existing 500-unit public housing site consisting of "barrack style" buildings from 1952. The redevelopment will reduce the unit density and provide a more aesthetically pleasing design and site plan more conducive to community building. BBVA Compass closed a $5 million equity investment investment to Pathway Lending, becoming the largest investor in Alabama's effort to build up small businesses in the state's Appalachian region. Pathway Lending, a Community Development Financial Institution certified by the U.S. Department of Treasurer, currently operates the state's new loan fund established in 2017 for small businesses in the 37 counties of Appalachian Alabama. equity investment investment to Pathway Lending, becoming the largest investor in effort to build up small businesses in the state's Appalachian region. Pathway Lending, a Community Development Financial Institution certified by the U.S. Department of Treasurer, currently operates the state's new loan fund established in 2017 for small businesses in the 37 counties of Appalachian Alabama. Community Giving Over the exam cycle the Community Giving Program invested $22.5 million in charitable sponsorships from the Bank and grants from the BBVA Compass Foundation for community-based programs and events. in charitable sponsorships from the Bank and grants from the BBVA Compass Foundation for community-based programs and events. In addition, The BBVA Compass Foundation introduced social impact initiatives in community development finance and entrepreneurship. The Opportunity Fellows Program, designed to address the human capital pipeline for leaders in the CDFI industry was activated over a two year term beginning in 2016. BBVA Momentum launched in the U.S. in 2017, which, to date, has delivered professional education and awarded a combined $205,000 to aspiring entrepreneurs. The program will continue in 2019. to aspiring entrepreneurs. The program will continue in 2019. The Foundation also continued to act as a responsive grantmaker investing $597,500 in immediate disaster relief. This included donations for severe flooding in Central and Southeast Texas and Hurricanes Matthew, Harvey and Irma. in immediate disaster relief. This included donations for severe flooding in Central and and Hurricanes Matthew, Harvey and Irma. Employee Involvement The bank's employee volunteer opportunities have deliberately shifted from an 80 percent concentration in financial education for children to less than a 65 percent concentration in general financial education opportunities and only a small percentage focused on children. Employees engaged in 4,136 qualified community development service activities, totaling 43,820 hours. To learn more about BBVA Compass, visit: www.bbvacompass.com For more news visit: www.bbva.com and newsroom.bbvacompass.com About BBVA Group BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) is a customer-centric global financial services group founded in 1857. The Group has a strong leadership position in the Spanish market, is the largest financial institution in Mexico, it has leading franchises in South America and the Sunbelt Region of the United States; and it is also the leading shareholder in Garanti, Turkey's biggest bank for market capitalization. Its diversified business is focused on high-growth markets and it relies on technology as a key sustainable competitive advantage. Corporate responsibility is at the core of its business model. BBVA fosters financial education and inclusion, and supports scientific research and culture. It operates with the highest integrity, a long-term vision and applies the best practices. More information about BBVA Group can be found at bbva.com. About BBVA Compass BBVA Compass is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates 644 branches, including 331 in Texas, 89 in Alabama, 63 in Arizona, 61 in California, 45 in Florida, 37 in Colorado and 18 in New Mexico. BBVA Compass ranks among the top 25 largest U.S. commercial banks based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest banks in Alabama (2nd), Texas (4th) and Arizona (6th). BBVA Compass has been recognized as one of the leading small business lenders by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and ranked 8th nationally in terms of dollar volume of SBA loans originated in fiscal year 2018. Additional information about BBVA Compass can be found under the Investor Relations tab at bbvacompass.com. For more BBVA Compass news, follow @BBVACompassNews on Twitter, visit newsroom.bbvacompass.com, or visit bbva.com. SOURCE BBVA Compass Related Links https://www.bbvacompass.com "It's an exciting time to be at EMD Serono as we prepare to introduce new therapies into practice and advance existing standards of care," said Rehan Verjee, President of EMD Serono and Global Head of Innovative Medicine Franchises, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. "I am very pleased to welcome Elizabeth at this time given her significant experience in supporting companies like ours achieve on this mission." Prior to joining EMD Serono, Ms. Jobes served as Global Chief Compliance Officer and Legal Counsel at Spark Therapeutics, Inc., where she was responsible for building a corporate compliance program supporting the launch of the first-approved gene therapy in the United States. Previously, Ms. Jobes held leadership positions across a number of biopharmaceutical companies, including Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer for Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer for Adolor (Cubist) Corporation; and Senior Director, Global Compliance for Cephalon, Inc. Ms. Jobes also spent a number of years working in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, first as a trial attorney, then as assistant chief and chief across various units. She earned her J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law and her B.A. from Pennsylvania State University. About EMD Serono, Inc. EMD Serono - the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in the U.S. and Canada is engaged in the discovery, research and development of medicines for patients with difficult to treat diseases. The business is committed to transforming lives by developing and delivering meaningful solutions that help address the therapeutic and support needs of individual patients. Building on a proven legacy and deep expertise in neurology, fertility and endocrinology, EMD Serono is developing potential new oncology and immuno-oncology medicines while continuing to explore potential therapeutic options for diseases such as psoriasis, lupus and multiple sclerosis. Today, the business has approximately 1,300 employees around the country with commercial, clinical and research operations based in the company's home state of Massachusetts. www.emdserono.com. About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a vibrant science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 51,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases, to enabling the intelligence of devices the company is everywhere. In 2017, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of 15.3 billion in 66 countries. The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark "Merck" internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company's business sectors operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Performance Materials. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company's technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Your Contact Melissa Beglin 781-681-2609 SOURCE EMD Serono Related Links http://www.emdserono.com MARIETTA, Ga., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- DVIGear, a leading manufacturer of digital connectivity products, is introducing the latest SDVoE technology in its expanding DisplayNet AV Distribution platform at ISE 2019 in Amsterdam, NL on February 5-8 in Stand 1-M100. DVIGear is also demonstrating its comprehensive suite of end-to-end 4K (UHD) video distribution solutions at the show, including its family of award-winning HyperLight Active Optical Cables. DisplayNet DN150 Unprecedented Value The DN150 Series offers a new entry point to the award-winning DisplayNet platform. These products offer the same zero-latency and zero-artifact 4K /60p video routing performance as the DN200 Series in a value-oriented package. The units support HDMI 2.0 with up to 12-bit color and HDCP 2.2, and offer independent multi-layer routing of HDMI, Analog audio, IR, and RS-232 signals. DN150 series devices are compatible with all DN200 series devices; and may be deployed within the same system. A high level of interoperability between these products ensures the winning combination of performance and value in DisplayNet systems that utilize both product families. DN150 Series transmitters and receivers support twisted pair (CAT6a or CAT7) media up to 328 ft. (100 meters), and DN150F Series transmitters and receivers support fiber optic media via an SFP+ module, with distances of up to 18 miles (30 km). DN150 Series are expected to be available in Q2 of 2019 starting at $995 (USD) MSRP per end point. At ISE, DVIGear will also exhibit several enhancements to its DisplayNet Manager Software suite. The Advanced Video Wall feature adds support to the DN200 series for asymmetric video walls, with Stretch, Fit, and Crop options available for aspect ratio correction. Enhancements to DisplayNet Manager include new, streamlined interfaces for device and Video Wall configuration. These enhancements are free for all existing DN200 series customers, and are available now. DisplayNet DN200 Series Cutting Edge AV Distribution The DN200 Series is the flagship product of the DisplayNet product line. The DN200 Series leverages SDVoE technology to distribute uncompressed AV signals with resolutions up to 4K /60p over a 10GbE Ethernet network. The DN200 Series supports HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 with up to 12-bit color and HDCP 2.2. Additionally, DN210U and DN220U models support High Speed USB 2.0 extension. A high-performance video processor in both the transmitter and receiver units enables Fast Switching, MultiViewer, Advanced Video Wall, and output scaling functionality. The DN200 Series supports twisted pair (CAT6a or CAT7) media up to 328 ft. (100 meters), or Fiber Optic media using an industry standard SFP+ module supporting extension distances up to 18 miles (30 km). DN200 transmitter and receiver units are available starting at $1,350 (USD) MSRP per end point. DVIGear will exhibit the performance of the DisplayNet product line through an interactive racing car simulator exhibit at the show. Stand visitors will have the opportunity to race in a simulated hypercar, with both controls and the video feed provided by DisplayNet. "This simulator serves as a great demonstration of DisplayNet's performance.", said Matthew Pulsipher, Product Manager at DVIGear. "You can't drive a hypercar if your audio and video signals have latency and if your controls aren't immediately responsive." DVIGear will be handing out prizes to participants with qualifying fast lap times. HyperLight Active Optical Cables Performance that Goes the Distance DVIGear's HyperLight Series is an award-winning family of advanced Active Optical Cables that employs cutting edge technology to deliver unprecedented resolution, performance and value. The award-winning DVI26xxx-AOC Series supports DisplayPort 1.4, transmitting at data rates up to 32.4 Gbps. (HBR3). These DisplayPort cables support very high resolution applications at 4K / 60Hz (4:4:4) with cable lengths up to 100 meters, and 8K / 30Hz (4:4:4) up to 50 meters. Expanding the HyperLight family is the DVI23xxx-AOC Series, DVI Active Optical Cables that support any Single-Link DVI resolution, compliant with DVI 1.0 Standards, with data rates up to 1.65 Gbps / lane or 4.95 Gbps total. Both are HDCP 1.4 / 2.2 compliant, plenum-rated and provide a wide range of features in a compact, lightweight form-factor. DVIGear will also be showcasing a new line of HyperLight HDMI cables. The DVI25xxx-AOC Series offers the same exceptional performance as existing HyperLight cables, with support for HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 at 4K / 60Hz (4:4:4) and cable lengths up to 100 meters. Additionally, the DVI25xxx-AOC Series allows installers to change the connector type at the ends of the cable through a series of interchangeable docking connectors. HDMI, DVI, and Dual-Mode DisplayPort docking connectors are available. HyperLight cables are plenum-rated (UL CMP-OF). Constructed using a hybrid design of Polyfluorinated Optical Fiber and copper wires, they are rugged, yet lightweight, compact and highly flexible, with a two millimeters minimum bend radius. To further minimize cable diameter, HyperLight docking connectors may be detached making the cables easy to install in narrow conduits and plenum spaces. Video signals are transmitted over the optical fibers, making them immune to interference from environmental noise. The optical transmission path provides a very low RFI / EMI profile that allows the cables to be installed in sensitive applications with strict security requirements. By drawing power from the connected source, the need for an external power supply is eliminated. HyperLight cables are ideally suited for applications that require ultra-high resolution signals to be extended over long runs with flawless image quality. Attractively priced, the DisplayPort and DVI series are available for immediate shipment. The DVI25xxx-AOC HDMI Series is expected to be available in March of 2019. DVIGear will also be exhibiting its comprehensive suite of AV connectivity solutions at ISE 2019 in Stand 1-M100. About DVIGear Founded in 1999, DVIGear is a leading supplier of Digital Connectivity Solutions for a wide range of professional display applications. Located in Marietta, Georgia, USA, DVIGear offers an extensive portfolio of high performance digital video distribution products including: DisplayNet AV signal distribution over 10GbE Ethernet Systems, Switchers, Splitters, Extenders, Converters, Scalers, as well as long-length copper and optical cables. For more information, visit DVIGear.com and DisplayNet.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. DVIGear, DVIGear & Design, DisplayNet and DisplayNet & Design, and HyperLight are trademarks of DVIGear, Inc. and may not be used without the prior written permission of DVIGear, Inc. SDVoE is a trademark of the SDVoE Alliance. 2019 DVIGear, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Contact: Matthew Pulsipher / +1.770.421.6699 / [email protected] DVIGear Logo DisplayNet Logo DN-200 Series DisplayNet Server HyperLight AOC Cables HyperLight Logo SOURCE DVIGear PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP is pleased to announce the election of nine new partners, representing four of the firm's offices and six practices. "Our new partners have demonstrated excellence in their respective practice areas, an instinct for leadership, and above all, a commitment to their clients. They form a best-and-brightest partnership class whose collective talent and passion bode well for our firm," said Drinker Biddle Chairman and CEO Andrew C. Kassner. "These nine partners distinguish themselvesand Drinker Biddlein another important way," added Kassner. "They are a diverse group that has taken multiple paths toward partnership. We are proud of our history of promoting diverse partner classes, and feel our nine new partners reflect important demographic and social changes occurring within the legal industry." The 2019 partnership class comprises five women and four men, one of whom is African-American. Eight of our new partners are parents, and six of those partners became first-time parents while at Drinker Biddle. Seven of the eight took family leave to spend time with their children; four have used the firm's part-time work policies and two still do. Of the 41 lawyers promoted to partner at Drinker Biddle over the past five years, 46 percent are women; in three of the past five years, more than 50 percent of newly promoted partners are women. The firm's commitment to flexible work arrangements and diversity starts at the top and extends through the ranks. In 2018, Drinker Biddle achieved an industry milestone with the election of seven new managing partners resulting in a Governing Board of 50 percent women. The firm's Executive Leadership Team also is 50 percent women. The following are the nine accomplished attorneys who exemplify Drinker Biddle's culture and commitment to excellent client service and whose recognition as partners is richly deserved: Christopher P. Bruenjes (Washington, D.C.) is an experienced patent litigation attorney representing clients in the industrial chemical, pharmaceutical, large hygiene product manufacturer, and medical device industries, among others. Aggeliki Delimaris (Philadelphia) advises public and private clients on corporate and securities matters, including capital-raising transactions, and public company boards of directors on a range of routine and extraordinary corporate governance matters. Molly E. Flynn (Philadelphia) focuses her practice on the defense of major pharmaceutical and medical device companies in complex litigation and serves as local and national counsel in litigation for these clients. She has significant experience litigating for and defending against claims for statutory attorneys' fees. Levi J. Giovanetto (Chicago) represents corporate and individual clients facing government inquiries, conducts internal investigations and handles complex commercial litigation. He is a contributor to the firm's SEC Law Perspectives Blog, which provides reports, discussions, and analyses on trends in enforcement and regulatory activity of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies. Monica A. Novak (Philadelphia) advises clients on a wide range of employee benefits matters. She routinely counsels clients regarding the design, implementation and administration of benefit plans to ensure consistency with plan terms and compliance with the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA requirements, and the requirements under Health Care Reform. Lee Roach (Washington, D.C.) has helped multiple clients secure merger clearance from federal regulators and has defended against merger challenges brought by antitrust regulators in federal court. He also has defended clients' interests in lawsuits alleging price fixing and other anticompetitive conduct. Zoe K. Wilhelm (Los Angeles) has a diverse litigation practice with a focus on class actions, accounting and valuation litigation, and general business disputes. She has a deep understanding of complex financial issues, including those related to allocations, the valuation of pass-through entities, and discount rates. David L. Williams (Chicago) counsels multi-series and multi-class funds and their boards, money market funds, exchange-traded funds, multi-manager funds, and investment advisers. David also represents and advises sponsors of unregistered investment funds organized in the United States and offshore. He provides advice regarding the organization and structure of both managers and funds. David is an active member of the firm's Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Nicole C. Wixted (Philadelphia) advises and represents life insurers, property & casualty insurers, and brokerage general agencies on a broad range of issues, including the secondary market for life insurance, premium financing, and market conduct and compliance. Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP is a national law firm with nearly 600 lawyers. The firm provides client service in corporate and securities, litigation, government and regulatory affairs, health care, products liability, corporate restructuring, investment management, labor and employment, insurance litigation, intellectual property, employee benefits and executive compensation, environment and energy, white collar defense and corporate investigations, trusts and estates, and real estate. Contact: Lawrence Martinez | (310) 203-4078 | [email protected] SOURCE Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP SUNRISE, Fla., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Dental Whale, a firm specializing in dental practice support services, recently announced Joe Cavaretta joined the leadership team as President of Dental Whale Services. This announcement comes on the heels of a record-breaking year for the firm, signing an unprecedented number of service-related contracts with more than 1,000 private dental practices throughout North America in 2018. Joe Cavaretta joins the Dental Whale Executive Team with 23 years of industry experience, the last 17 years working for Henry Schein in several different leadership positions. In 2006, Cavaretta became the first Director of Sales for Henry Schein in the dental division, utilizing his strong fiscal management, problem solving and leadership skills in the role. He continued to move up the ranks within the company before becoming Area Vice President for the company's Western Area, where he was responsible for more than $1 billion in sales, while managing 1,000 Team Schein members. After a successful career as Western Area Vice President, Cavaretta moved to the Eastern Area to create a similar culture to the one he cultivated in his previous position. Cavaretta has been affiliated with the New York State Federation of Professional Health Educators and Eta Sigma Gamma, National Professional Health Science Honorary. He also sat on the Oral Health of America Board from 2007 to 2009, and currently sits on the advisory board for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. "We are looking forward to a long, successful partnership with Joe as Dental Whale's new head of services, and we know he will be an asset to our rapidly-growing brand," said Dr. Scott Leune, co-founder of Dental Whale. "We are confident he will significantly strengthen our support services firm, providing additional high-level, best-in-class oversight, strategy and guidance to all our dental practice partners, as they work to optimize their existing practice or expand their footprint." Dental Whale offers private dentists a range of services and support, which includes helping start up and acquire practices, grow profitability and create exit strategies, monitor network security, purchase dental and office supplies at reduced rates, and more through its subsidiaries that include: Breakaway Practice Consulting Provides dentists with the design, construction, renovation and remodeling services they need to launch state-of-the-art startup practices while achieving cost efficiencies across the board Provides dentists with the design, construction, renovation and remodeling services they need to launch state-of-the-art startup practices while achieving cost efficiencies across the board Breakaway Practice Seminars Specializes in dental success and practice management seminars, services and consulting programs to help dental practices grow and increase their level of profitability while maintaining a high level of patient care Specializes in dental success and practice management seminars, services and consulting programs to help dental practices grow and increase their level of profitability while maintaining a high level of patient care Conversion Whale The nation's leading Google AdWords marketing company for dental practices that creates simple yet profitable lead generation strategies, including direct mail services The nation's leading Google AdWords marketing company for dental practices that creates simple yet profitable lead generation strategies, including direct mail services Dental Fix Rx Mobile dental equipment repair service delivering immediate, on-demand equipment maintenance, hand-piece repairs and cost-effective consumable products. Through the brand's Unlimited Service Plan, dental practices receive regular preventive maintenance checks and repair services by the same technician for one low monthly flat rate Mobile dental equipment repair service delivering immediate, on-demand equipment maintenance, hand-piece repairs and cost-effective consumable products. Through the brand's Unlimited Service Plan, dental practices receive regular preventive maintenance checks and repair services by the same technician for one low monthly flat rate Dental Whale Dental Entrepreneurs Offering mergers and acquisitions consulting to independent dentists Offering mergers and acquisitions consulting to independent dentists Dental Whale Savings Network A nationwide organization that provides dentists with inventory cost controls by leveraging the buying power of hundreds of dental practices A nationwide organization that provides dentists with inventory cost controls by leveraging the buying power of hundreds of dental practices Front Desk DDS A dental-specific scheduling service used by dentist offices nationwide to book appointments, verify insurance benefits, process payments, manage unpaid claims and provide billing and collection services A dental-specific scheduling service used by dentist offices nationwide to book appointments, verify insurance benefits, process payments, manage unpaid claims and provide billing and collection services UnlimiTECH Dental IT A comprehensive IT management services firm that monitors dental practice systems around the clock and takes action upon notification of any issues Private dentists join Dental Whale when they want to begin developing innovative start-up practices or grow their businesses by acquiring and operating multiple practices. They also join to increase their bottom line by running their practices with greater efficiencies through proven methods. Dentists utilize Dental Whale's expert consulting and customizable outsourcing options, which help take professionals out of the chair and into management and ownership. About Dental Whale With offices in Atlanta, San Antonio and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Dental Whale is an innovative dental company carving a new category of group private practice ownership and management. Through its suite of subsidiary companies, Dental Whale helps dentists operate dental practices more efficiently by saving money on purchases, marketing to new patients, expanding through acquisitions, improving patient experience and increasing office efficiency. In 2018, Dental Whale and its more than 850 team members supported more than 17,000 dentists and helped serve more than 4 million patients. For more information on Dental Whale, call 855-339-3740 or visit https://www.dentalwhale.com/. Media Contact: Amanda Gualtieri 847-945-1300 AGu[email protected] SOURCE Dental Whale CLEVELAND, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CavoGene LifeSciences announced today the appointment of Scott J. Fisher, PhD as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Fisher is a regenerative medicine expert who has previously led drug development and gene therapy clinical research of multiple regenerative therapies at early stage companies. CavoGene will be headquartered at the Global Center for Heath Innovation in Cleveland, Ohio. Cavogene has licensed a novel investigational gene therapy for patients with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease (AD), traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, and age-related cognitive decline. Currently, there is a large unmet medical need for these life-threatening conditions. The licensed rights for SynCav1 come from the University California San Diego (UC San Diego) and the laboratory of Brian P. Head, PhD. SynCav1 is a novel gene therapy intervention that restores and augments pro-growth signaling, axonal and dendritic growth, and formation of new functional synapses in animal models. That data demonstrate that SynCav1 improves motor function, maintains body weight and extends survival in ALS rodent models, increases structural and functional neuroplasticity, and improves learning and memory in aged mice and in an AD mouse model. "The exciting opportunity with SynCav1 is not only that it is a novel, gene therapy approach to neurodegenerative disorders, but that we have observed rescue and regrowth of neurons," said Dr. Fisher. "Caveolin restoration and overexpression enhances neuroregeneration, innervation and synaptic neuroplasticity. I am eager to work with Jim Sergi, Dr. Head, our advisors and the great team at CSSi, to champion this therapy and bring SynCav1 to patients." CSSi LifeSciences will manage the preclinical, manufacturing, regulatory, and clinical development of SynCav1. About CavoGene LifeSciences: CavoGene is a biotechnology company committed to individuals worldwide who are impacted by various neurodegenerative diseases. We are dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel gene therapies that attenuate memory loss and increase synaptic neuroplasticity. CavoGene has secured exclusive license to SynCav1, a novel and neuron specific gene therapy to target caveolin expression and restore synaptic signaling and improve cognitive function in the neurodegenerative brain. About UC San Diego: UC San Diego was founded in 1960 as a forward-thinking research institution for graduate and undergraduate study. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, established in 1903 and now a division of the university, served as a catalyst for UC San Diego's initial growth. Today, our campus has grown to encompass six undergraduate residential colleges, five academic divisions - Arts & Humanities, Biological Sciences, Jacobs School of Engineering, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences - three graduate schools, a medical school and a school of pharmacy. About CSSi LifeSciences: CSSi LifeSciences provides fully integrated regulatory and clinical services to support the entire product lifecycle, from discovery to commercialization, for pharmaceutical and medical device companies. With global expertise, CSSi LifeSciences has been a key partner in the development of more than 500 drugs, biologics, medical devices, and in-vitro diagnostics. The company's headquarters is located in Baltimore, MD, with additional offices in San Francisco, California and Hyderabad, India. For more information, visit: www.cssilifesciences.com. About the GCHI: The Global Center for Health Innovation, located in Cleveland, is the platform where global healthcare leaders industry, health systems, investors, and innovators convene and collaborate to develop solutions to solve high-priority healthcare issues. Engaged brands include BioEnterprise, Cardinal Health, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic, DHG Healthcare, G2G consulting, GE Healthcare, Gleeson, HIMSS, Innovation Fund Northeast Ohio, JumpStart, MetroHealth System, OnBase by Hyland, NGP Capital, Philips Medical, Plug and Play, RiverVest Ventures, RRE Ventures, Siemens, SmartShape, Steris, TeamNEO, University Hospitals System and multiple digital health, medical device and biotechnology startups. http://www.theglobalcenter.com/ Media Contact: Amanda Jenaway [email protected] 586-789-0418 SOURCE CavoGene LifeSciences HOUSTON, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Callon Petroleum Company (NYSE: CPE) ("Callon" or the "Company") today announced that senior management plans to participate in the upcoming investor events: Credit Suisse 24th Annual Energy Summit The Company will present at the Credit Suisse 24th Annual Energy Summit hosted by Credit Suisse on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 at 8:05 AM Mountain Standard Time. The live and archived webcast for this event will be accessible on Callon's website at www.callon.com in the "Investors" section. Callon Petroleum Company is an independent energy company focused on the acquisition, development, exploration and operation of oil and gas properties in the Permian Basin in West Texas. This news release is posted on the company's website at www.callon.com, and will be archived for subsequent review under the "News" link on the top of the homepage. For further information contact Mark Brewer 281-589-5200 SOURCE Callon Petroleum Company Related Links http://www.callon.com "The gift of $100,000 from Alfred Street Baptist Church to help our students pay off their financial obligations and make ends meet just before they graduate is truly a blessing," said President Wayne A. I. Frederick . "Their generosity is a reminder of how one person's selfless act of kindness can be multiplied and have a profound impact on the lives of others." The ASBC congregation raised the funds for the contribution during Seek 2019, a church-wide physical, social media, and financial fast that lasted throughout the month of January. "About two or three years ago, the Lord gave us a vision for a project called Hidden Halos, which is our realization that whenever you meet strangers, they're God's hidden angels," says Pastor Wesley. "This year, as our fasting ended, we had asked members to make a sacrificial offering that we promised would go out the door of our church. We decided to come to Howard University to find some students who are about to change the world but have some financial concerns, and let them know we're going to take care of it for them." ASBC is a long-time supporter of the HBCU community. The church holds one of the largest free HBCU festivals in the nation annually; which will be held on Saturday, February 23 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Moreover, they make a contribution of $25,000 to a designated HBCU during their annual HBCU Sunday worship services. This special contribution is one that has Howard students like Inestin Dante Petit-Homme feeling blessed beyond measure. "Pastor Wesley brought me in and told me I'm having my tuition balance covered thanks to the Alfred Street Baptist Church," says Petit-Homme. "That was one of the main issues for me and my family this year in terms of graduating because it's been a long road even getting to senior year. I still have some rent to pay as well as the balance, in addition to the expense of graduation. I know we're all God's children, but I feel like He's blessing me a lot right now." About Howard University Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, two Marshall Scholars, one Schwarzman Scholar, over 70 Fulbright Scholars and 22 Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu. About Alfred Street Baptist Church: Established in 1803, Alfred Street Baptist Church will celebrate its 216th Anniversary in November and is home to the oldest African American congregation in Alexandria, VA. It has served as a prominent religious, educational, and cultural in the Northern Virginia community. Currently under the esteemed leadership of Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, Alfred Street Baptist Church has over 8,000 members with services every Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30am, 9:30am and 11:30am. Alfred Street is also home of the popular Come As You Are (CAYA) worship service. For more information, visit Alfred Street Baptist Church, visit www.AlfredStreet.org Media Contacts: Alonda Thomas. Howard University [email protected] Carla Welborn, Alfred Street Baptist Church [email protected] SOURCE Howard University Related Links http://www.howard.edu BOSTON and LONDON, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Advent International, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, today announced that it is deepening its commitment to the technology sector with the appointment of Bryan Taylor as a Managing Partner to lead Advent's technology investment team and the opening of a new office in the San Francisco Bay Area. Taylor, who joined Advent on February 1, 2019, and will be located in the Bay Area, is an accomplished industry veteran with more than 18 years of experience investing in technology. Most recently, he was co-head of TPG Capital's technology group, where he was instrumental in building the firm's software investment capabilities and jointly led a 20-person team. He has a strong track record in the sector, having invested billions of dollars in numerous technology companies across a range of deal sizes, from later-stage growth equity investments to large-scale buyouts. At Advent, Taylor will work closely with the firm's 14-person technology deal team in North America and Europe. Eric Wei, a Managing Director on Advent's technology team in New York, will be relocating to the Bay Area this summer. Wei and Taylor have known each other for more than 20 years from their time working together at Bain & Company. Advent has been investing in the technology sector for 28 years and during this time has backed management teams at growth-oriented technology companies worldwide. Under Taylor's direction, Advent's technology team will build on this strong foundation and continue to focus on growth equity and buyout opportunities across a variety of software, data and technology-enabled services subsectors, primarily in North America and Europe. The team will also collaborate closely with Advent investment professionals in other sectors and regions around the world. Advent plans to open its new office in the Bay Area later this year. A California presence will help the firm to deepen its connectivity to relationships and companies throughout the broader technology community and benefit all of Advent's sectors globally. David Mussafer, a Boston-based Managing Partner and Co-Chair of Advent's Global Executive Committee, said, "Bryan is the ideal person to lead our technology investment activities as he understands our partnership culture, which emphasizes global collaboration and operational excellence to build sustainable long-term value in companies. He is a highly respected and successful investor whose leadership will ensure that we continue to capitalize on technology opportunities within each of our five industry sectors and across the markets where we operate." "Eric Wei approached me about joining Advent to help expand its technology franchise, and I'm very excited about this opportunity," said Bryan Taylor. "Advent's strong global platform, collaborative culture and philosophy of backing innovative management teams at growth-oriented companies were key factors in my decision to join the firm. I look forward to working with my new colleagues at Advent to continue building market-leading businesses in the technology sector." Commenting on Bryan's appointment, James Brocklebank, a London-based Managing Partner and Co-Chair of Advent's Global Executive Committee, added: "Technology is an attractive area of investment in its own right, but its effective application is also central to success across all industries in the global economy. With our cross-border capabilities and sector expertise, we believe a deeper focus in technology will enable us to pursue investment opportunities in the technology industry more effectively and create additional value in our portfolio companies across all our target sectors." Prior to TPG, Taylor was co-founder of Symphony Technology Group, a private equity firm focused on driving significant operational improvement in software companies. From 1992 to 2000, he was a strategy consultant at Bain & Company in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Taylor holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA degree in political science with honors from Stanford University. About ADVENT INTERNATIONAL Founded in 1984, Advent International is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. The firm has invested in over 340 private equity transactions in 41 countries and as of September 30, 2018, it had $39 billion in assets under management. With offices on four continents, Advent has established a globally integrated team of over 190 investment professionals across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on investments in five core sectors, including business and financial services; healthcare; industrial; retail, consumer and leisure; and technology, media and telecom. After more than 30 years dedicated to international investing, Advent remains committed to partnering with management teams to deliver sustained revenue and earnings growth for its portfolio companies. For more information, visit www.adventinternational.com. SOURCE Advent International The new program, called the C Spire Software Development Pathway, will start in 2019-2020 and is a public-private partnership between C Spire, a Mississippi-based diversified telecommunications and technology services company, and the Mississippi State University Research and Curriculum Unit's new Center for Cyber Education. Equipping young people with computer science skills is a key part of the broader C Spire Tech Movement initiative launched in 2017 and designed to move communities forward through technology with a focus on broadband access, workforce development and innovation. Forty-seven teachers, counselors and administrators from 11 school districts and nine community college districts across the state met last week in Ridgeland with officials from the Mississippi Department of Education and the Mississippi Institute of Higher Learning for preliminary discussions on curriculum delivery methods, costs, teacher qualifications and scheduling of course work. Representatives agreed to pair up interested high school districts with community colleges since the goal of the three-year program is to deliver 93 percent more Mississippi graduates qualified for entry-level software development jobs than current programs, which should help close the skills gap for this profession in the state. The group also plans to schedule an initial set of recruiting tours in February at participating high schools for interested students and potential local business and community group partners, along with summer workshops for teachers and community college instructors to discuss curriculum, job shadowing and real-world class projects for program participants. The pilot program, which will be fully funded in the first year and partially funded in the second and third years by C Spire, is bringing together high schools and community colleges to develop an innovative approach that will use curriculum to teach students skills in coding, project management, collaboration, and Web design. Students can earn an Associate's Degree of Applied Science after two years of specialized course work in high school and just one additional year in community college. More than 150 students in the first year are expected to benefit from this new program and be on track for high-paid, high-demand jobs in computing fields with higher numbers in subsequent years. Curriculum for the pilot program was derived from Base Camp Coding Academy, a highly successful, non-profit coding academy that started an intense, fast-paced,12-month specialized computer coding training regimen for select high school students in 2016. Every graduate of the program, now in its third year, has received job offers from multiple employers. Participating high school districts include Booneville, Brookhaven, Gulfport, Laurel, Meridian, Starkville-Oktibbeha, Oxford, Lafayette, Newton, Lee and Rankin counties. Community colleges partnering with high schools include Copiah-Lincoln, East Mississippi, Gulf Coast, Hinds, Itawamba, Jones, Meridian, Northeast and Northwest. "There is a lot of energy and enthusiasm to make this approach a success for our state," said Shelly Hollis, assistant director of the MSU Research and Curriculum Unit's Center for Cyber Education. "We are using a creative, out-of-the-box approach to meet the real-world needs of students to land better jobs and for employers have more qualified workers now." Workers with a background in computer science are in high demand and short supply in Mississippi. Employers currently have 974 unfilled job openings due to the serious shortage of trained, qualified IT workers. The average salary for qualified IT workers is over $69,000 a year, almost double the statewide average. Nationwide, new research indicates there will be a shortage of over 1 million software developers in the U.S. by 2020. ""We live in a software-defined world where code and the internet influence every aspect of our lives," said C Spire CIO Carla Lewis. "Computer science, coding and software development drives innovation and creates jobs in our economy, but we need to do more now to encourage schools to offer courses, equip teachers and enable young people to develop these important skills so they can pursue these highly-sought IT careers." Lewis said the main objective of the program is to close the skills gap for qualified software development programmers in the state. "These students will have an opportunity to receive quality education and training in a short, accelerated time frame with the ability to enter a critical field that businesses of all types and sizes need within one year of graduation." To learn more about the C Spire Tech Movement initiative, visit www.cspire.com/techmvmt. About C Spire C Spire provides a full suite of world-class, customer-inspired dedicated Internet, IP Voice, data, managed services, cloud services, value added resale and mobile communications to businesses and wireless, 1 Gigabit consumer Internet access and related home services for consumers. This news release and other announcements are available at www.cspire.com/news. For more information about C Spire, visit cspire.com or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/cspire or Twitter at twitter.com/cspire. About Mississippi State University Center for Cyber Education Founded in 2018, the CCE contributes to MSU's mission as a land-grant institution to better the lives of Mississippians with a focus on improving education. In particular, the CCE has as its mission to ensure all students in Mississippi have access to quality cyber education instruction from elementary through high school. Ultimately, this encompasses topics across the technology spectrumincluding programming, cybersecurity, robotics, data science, and artificial intelligenceas well as the quantitative, technological, and sociological implications of each. The CCE also promotes teaching foundational concepts, including computational thinking, effective and appropriate uses of technology, digital forensics, and digital ethics across the K-12 curriculum. For more information about CCE, visit www.rcu.msstate.edu/cybereducation. SOURCE C Spire Related Links http://www.cspire.com CHICAGO, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sustainable Bioproducts, a biotechnology company developing a new way to grow edible protein, has raised $33 million in Series A financing from premier venture capital funds and two of the world's largest food and agribusiness companies. 1955 Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture fund founded by Andrew Chung, led the round. Among the participants: Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a $1 billion investor-led fund created to help stop climate change; ADM Ventures, the venture investing arm of global food and feed ingredient provider Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM); Danone Manifesto Ventures, the venture-investing arm of French food and beverage company Danone (EPA: BN); Lauder Partners; and the Liebelson family office. "We have witnessed incredible growth in the demand for new proteins in recent years and believe Sustainable Bioproducts has the most compelling and efficient solution to satisfy this demand," said Chung, managing partner of 1955 Capital. "This demand will not only come from the West, but from the developing world where the need for protein will become more severe." Sustainable Bioproducts' technology emerged out of fundamental research into extremophile organisms that live in Yellowstone National Park's volcanic springs. That work led to the development of an innovative fermentation technology, which can grow protein with great nutritional value and minimal impact on the environment. "Curiosity and a passion for exploration led us to Yellowstone, one of the harshest ecosystems in the world," said Thomas Jonas, Sustainable Bioproducts' CEO and cofounder. "By observing how life optimizes the use of resources in this challenging environment, we have invented a way to make protein that is radically more efficient and gentler on our planet." NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Park Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the State of Montana and Montana State University have provided financial and in-kind support to the company. The company currently is based out of the University of Chicago's Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Contact: Melissa Harris, M. Harris & Co. [email protected] SOURCE Sustainable Bioproducts A multiplexed test could aid in doctors assessment of suitability of donor lungs for transplant Collaboration with Dr. Shaf Keshavjee at UHN's Toronto Lung Transplant Program, the largest lung transplant program in the world TORONTO, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - SQI Diagnostics Inc. (TSX-V: SQD;OTCQB: SQIDF), today announced two research and development agreements with University Health Network (UHN) to create and license rapid multiplexed protein assays and a point-of-care (POC) diagnostic device that will help transplant surgeons assess the suitability of lungs and other organs for transplantation. SQI is a Toronto-based life sciences and diagnostics company that develops and commercializes proprietary technologies and products for advanced multiplexed diagnostics. SQI scientists will work with Dr. Shaf Keshavjee who heads the world-renowned Toronto Lung Transplant Program at UHN and the University of Toronto. Dr. Keshavjee is a pioneer in improving the health of donor organs so that they can be transplanted to critically ill patients with end-stage lung disease, including: Pulmonary Fibrosis, Cystic Fibrosis, Pulmonary Hypertension & Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This past year, only about 6,000 lung transplants were performed globally due to the shortage of donor organs. Compared to other solid organ transplants, donor lungs have one of the lowest utilization rates at about 20%. As a result, one in five patients waiting for a lung transplant will die before that transplant occurs. The need for suitable donor lungs is massive. A significant challenge exists to assess the quality and health of a donor lung and the suitability for transplantation. Today, the decision on whether a donor lung is "good" rests on largely an assessment by the surgeon based mostly on qualitative clinical factors available during the organ donation process. However, even with new lung assessment and preservation techniques, such as the Toronto Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion technology (EVLP) developed at UHN, there may be underlying injury to the donor lung that is not apparent to the surgeon at the time of transplant, which could contribute to less than optimum patient outcomes. SQI will work with UHN to create a rapid multi-plex test and POC device that leverages predictive biomarkers developed at UHN to more accurately and quantitatively assess the suitability of a lung for transplant. This will bring precision medicine to the bedside in transplantation, providing unprecedented data to surgeons that will better inform the decision to transplant and ultimately improve post-transplant outcomes for the patient. For SQI, the market for a high-quality POC testing device for transplants is large and growing. This research partnership aims to expand the applicability of the device to other organs beyond lung. "Integrating rapid diagnostics is a major step forward in lung transplantation. By providing transplant teams with quantitative metrics to more accurately assess donor lungs, we are moving decision making in transplantation into the era of personalized medicine," said Dr. Keshavjee. "We are pleased to work with SQI, another Canadian pioneer, in advancing health care through leading edge diagnostic advances." Andrew Morris, CEO of SQI Diagnostics stated: "This agreement represents a reputational landmark for SQI, given the pioneering and global leadership role of Toronto and UHN in the growing field of lung transplantation. It also represents a major long-term commercialization opportunity. SQI's multi-array testing is proving to be applicable in areas well beyond drug development and disease identification." Investor relations contact: Chief Executive Officer Andrew Morris 416.674.9500 ext. 229 [email protected] Vice President of Finance Patricia Lie 416.674.9500 ext. 277 [email protected] About SQI Diagnostics SQI Diagnostics is a life sciences and diagnostics company that develops clinical grade multiplexed microarray and molecular assays run on its automated instrumentation for the pharmaceutical research, animal health, and clinical diagnostics markets. SQI develops custom research and diagnostic assays that are multiplexed; meaning the simplification, consolidation and automation of many individual tests into one. This increases sample throughput, reduces time, cost and chance for human error, and provides excellent data quality. For more information, please visit sqidiagnostics.com. About University Health Network University Health Network consists of Toronto General and Toronto Western Hospitals, the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and The Michener Institute of Education at UHN. The scope of research and complexity of cases at University Health Network has made it a national and international source for discovery, education and patient care. It has the largest hospital-based research program in Canada, with major research in cardiology, transplantation, neurosciences, oncology, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, genomic medicine and rehabilitation medicine. University Health Network is a research hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto. Forward-looking Statements This press release contains certain statements including, without limitation, the words "may", "plan", "will", "estimate", "continue", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "believe", "in the process", "benefits", "leading to", "position" "possible", "is subject to" and other similar expressions which may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectations and assumptions, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to: our ability to market and sell our products including our novel multiplexing technologies and detection platforms; our ability to maintain any technical or product advantages; the success of our Diagnostic Tools and Services business and our intent to build near-term revenue streams from this business; the successful regulatory filing and receipt of regulatory approvals for our later stage quantitative diagnostic consumable kits; adverse changes in general economic conditions; international risk and currency exchange fluctuations; competitor activity; technology changes; regulatory approvals and the impact of healthcare reform legislation; and, SQI's ability to raise additional funds in the future. Such statements, risks and uncertainties are detailed in the Company's ongoing filings with the securities regulatory authorities, and are available to the public at www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE SQI Diagnostics Inc. Related Links www.sqidiagnostics.com ROCKY HILL, Conn., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Connecticut Innovations (CI), Connecticut's strategic venture capital arm and one of the leading sources of financing and ongoing support for innovative, growing companies on the east coast, today announced the launch of the application period for VentureClash. In its fourth year, VentureClash is Connecticut's $5 million global venture challenge for early-stage digital health, financial technology, insurance technology and industry 4.0 companies. Awards The investment award pool is $5 million, with a top investment award of $1.5 million. The remaining $3.5 million will be determined by the judges' panel on the day of the event. Application VentureClash launches the first-round application on February 1, 2019, and companies will have until June 7, 2019, to submit the application. After two rounds of judging, approximately 10 companies will be invited to the finals event in Connecticut in the fall to compete in person for investment awards. An outside panel of judges will determine the winning companies of VentureClash 2019. Eligibility To be eligible to apply, a company must: Have been in business for at least 12 months Have paying customers or customers that are actively testing the applicant's product Have a compelling business reason to create a Connecticut presence, which applies to domestic and international applicants presence, which applies to domestic and international applicants Be focused in digital health, financial technology (fintech), insurance technology (insurtech) or industry 4.0 (including sustainable materials and resources) In addition to the annual pitch event, VentureClash will be hosting a pitch competition in Tel Aviv on Thursday, May 23, 2019. The event will invite promising companies from Israel to compete for a $500,000 investment from Connecticut Innovations, a semifinalist spot in VentureClash 2019 and a $5,000 grant to visit Connecticut in August. To apply for the Tel Aviv pitch competition, companies must submit applications by Friday, March 15, 2019. "There is a dense concentration of fast-growing startups in Tel Aviv," said Matt McCooe, CEO of Connecticut Innovations. "Over the past few years, many Israeli companies have competed in our semifinals and finals rounds. This year, we are taking VentureClash to Israel to meet companies that are ready to expand to the United States." For more information on qualifications, requirements, guidelines and application, visit www.ventureclash.com. About VentureClash Managed by Connecticut Innovations, VentureClash is Connecticut's global venture challenge focused on early-stage companies. The challenge, launched in 2016, identifies high-potential companies in digital health, fintech, insurtech and industry 4.0 that will compete for investments from a $5 million award pool. For more information, visit www.ventureclash.com. About Connecticut Innovations Connecticut Innovations (CI) is Connecticut's strategic venture capital arm and is the leading source of financing and ongoing support for innovative, growing companies. CI provides venture capital and strategic support for early-stage technology companies, financial support for innovation and collaboration, and connections to its well-established network of partners and professionals. For more information, please visit www.ctinnovations.com. Contact: Lauren Carmody Director of Marketing and Communications Phone: (860) 258-7829 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Connecticut Innovations It would be fair to say that our recent health issues have made us realize that we need to figure out a better way to make this work so that we can actually live our lives and enjoy our family in a way that we cant do here right now, Woodward Tracy said. Peter Low Named as Managing Director, EMEA; Keir Fawcus Hired as Senior Vice President of Sales, EMEA CHICAGO, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Cision (NYSE: CISN) today announced the appointment of Peter Low as Managing Director of Cision Group, Ltd., overseeing Cision EMEA operations. The company also announced Keir Fawcus as Senior Vice President of Sales, EMEA. Based out of the London office, industry veterans Low and Fawcus join Cision from Kantar Media, a global leader in media intelligence. As Managing Director, EMEA, Low is responsible for driving strategy and go-to-market execution across Cision's EMEA region. He will deliver on international customer needs to meet the global demand for Cision solutions. Fawcus is responsible for implementing long-term business strategies to increase revenue and operational excellence for Cision EMEA. Peter Low Keir Fawcus "Peter and Keir bring an established track record of operational excellence and combined five decades of industry experience to their positions at Cision," said Kevin Akeroyd, Cision CEO. "Their in-market expertise in the EMEA region will be instrumental as we expand our global leadership in Earned Media Management the unification of technology, data, measurement and analysis to modernize the comms function from an expense into a business driver for organizations around the world." With more than 20 years of experience developing multinational organizations, Peter Low was one of the founders and CEO of Precise Media Group, where he led the company through a period of rapid growth resulting in its acquisition by Kantar Media. Low subsequently worked as Chief Strategy Officer at Kantar Media, where he led the integration of the company's monitoring and evaluation businesses in Europe. Low's deep experience in the industry also includes roles as CFO and Managing Director of PR Newswire Europe, where he spearheaded the company's business expansion across Europe. He also held senior executive positions at Prudential UK, Total Oil and United Business Media. Low is a former chair of the U.K. Media Monitoring Association (UKMMA) and served as director at the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC). "I am excited to join Cision and to work closely with Kevin, Keir and the broader global executive team during this exciting period of organizational growth and acceleration," said Peter Low. "As Managing Director of EMEA, I will develop and implement new strategies across the region to further drive and support Cision's vision for the future of Earned Media worldwide." An experienced managing director and commercial leader, Keir Fawcus has a track record of delivering corporate growth and value. Fawcus was one of the founders and Managing Director of Precise Media Group, with responsibility for driving growth in the U.K. and international markets. Following the acquisition of Precise Media Group, Fawcus led the Kantar Media Reputation Intelligence businesses in the U.S. and U.K. Fawcus previously managed the current affairs division of Citigate Dewe Rogerson after an early career in market research. He maintains a strong network across the communications sector and has worked closely with customers and industry organizations to further the aims of the sector in demonstrating value and ROI. "Cision has become the industry leader by anticipating the communications needs of global customers and delivering comprehensive solutions that allow for the measurement of every aspect of PR and communications programs," said Keir Fawcus. "As Senior Vice President of Sales, EMEA I am thrilled to be a part of the company's next phase of evolution, fulfilling the vision for the future of Earned Media Management worldwide." About Cision Cision Ltd. (NYSE: CISN ) is a leading global provider of earned media software and services to public relations and marketing communications professionals. Cision's software allows users to identify key influencers, craft and distribute strategic content, and measure meaningful impact. Cision has over 4,000 employees with offices in 22 countries throughout the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. For more information about its award-winning products and services, including the Cision Communications Cloud, visit www.cision.com and follow Cision on Twitter @Cision. Media Contacts: Kate Walker VP Earned Media Management [email protected] Steph Macleod Kaizo for Cision [email protected] SOURCE Cision Related Links http://www.cision.com ST. LOUIS, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) announced today that its North Carolina subsidiary, Carolina Complete Health, has been awarded a contract in North Carolina for the Medicaid Managed Care program. Carolina Complete Health is a joint venture partnership with the North Carolina Medical Society and North Carolina Community Health Center Association to offer a unique approach to Medicaid reform. Pending regulatory approval, the new three-year contract is effective February 1, 2020 and includes the option to renew for up to two additional years. Under the agreement, Carolina Complete Health will provide Medicaid managed care services in Regions 3 and 5 with a focus on the state's goals of whole-person care, localized care management and addressing the full set of factors impacting health. A key feature of the joint venture will be the active participation of physicians in the ownership of the health plan and responsible leadership in its governance. "We are pleased to be selected to work with the state of North Carolina to implement its new Medicaid managed care program," said Michael F. Neidorff, Chairman and CEO for Centene. "Through our transformative model, Carolina Complete Health will ensure providers are involved in health care decisions, using our advanced systems, and promoting value-based care. Members will have access to the highest quality services and experience better health outcomes at a competitive cost." "As the oldest professional society in the state and the largest group representing North Carolina physicians and PAs, we are looking forward to working with our partners to launch Carolina Complete Health, an innovative Medicaid plan serving our most vulnerable citizens," said North Carolina Medical Society CEO Robert W. Seligson, MBA, MA. "Both Centene Corporation and the NC Community Health Center Association share our core values of patient-focused, physician-led care and working diligently toward achieving better health for all North Carolinians." "We're excited to partner with North Carolina physicians and the industry leading Centene Corporation to develop a patient-centered, provider-directed Medicaid plan," said E. Benjamin Money, Jr., President and CEO for NCCHCA. "With over 50 years of service to Medicaid beneficiaries in North Carolina, community health centers have the experience and relationships necessary to make our effort a success. Health Centers are governed by the patients that use their services. Having the direct engagement of consumers and providers creates the necessary elements to drive decisions aimed at increasing access, improving quality, and managing costs." Centene provides Medicaid managed care programs in 26 states, and is the leader in the four largest Medicaid markets, including California, Florida, New York and Texas. About Centene Corporation Centene Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that provides a portfolio of services to government sponsored and commercial healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals. Many receive benefits provided under Medicaid, including the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), as well as Aged, Blind or Disabled (ABD), Foster Care and Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS), in addition to other state-sponsored programs, Medicare (including the Medicare prescription drug benefit commonly known as "Part D"), dual eligible programs and programs with the U.S. Department of Defense. Centene also provides healthcare services to groups and individuals delivered through commercial health plans. Centene operates local health plans and offers a range of health insurance solutions. It also contracts with other healthcare and commercial organizations to provide specialty services including behavioral health management, care management software, correctional healthcare services, dental benefits management, commercial programs, home-based primary care services, life and health management, vision benefits management, pharmacy benefits management, specialty pharmacy and telehealth services. Centene uses its investor relations website to publish important information about the Company, including information that may be deemed material to investors. Financial and other information about Centene is routinely posted and is accessible on Centene's investor relations website, http://www.centene.com/investors. Forward-Looking Statements The company and its representatives may from time to time make written and oral forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA) of 1995, including statements in this and other press releases, in presentations, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), reports to stockholders and in meetings with investors and analysts. In particular, the information provided in this press release may contain certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of Centene and certain plans and objectives of Centene with respect thereto, including but not limited to the expected benefits of the acquisition of Health Net, Inc. (Health Net) (Health Net Acquisition) and the acquisition of New York State Catholic Health Plan, Inc., d/b/a Fidelis Care New York (Fidelis Care) (Fidelis Care Acquisition). These forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts. Without limiting the foregoing, forward-looking statements often use words such as "believe," "anticipate," "plan," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "seek," "target," "goal," "may," "will," "would," "could," "should," "can," "continue" and other similar words and expressions (and the negative thereof). We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe-harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in PSLRA. A number of factors, variables or events could cause actual plans and results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, Centene's ability to accurately predict and effectively manage health benefits and other operating expenses and reserves; competition; membership and revenue declines or unexpected trends; changes in healthcare practices, new technologies and advances in medicine; increased healthcare costs; changes in economic, political or market conditions; changes in federal or state laws or regulations, including changes with respect to income tax reform or government healthcare programs as well as changes with respect to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act and any regulations enacted thereunder that may result from changing political conditions or judicial actions, including the ultimate outcome of the District Court decision in "Texas v. United States of America" regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Friday, December 14, 2018; rate cuts or other payment reductions or delays by governmental payors and other risks and uncertainties affecting Centene's government businesses; Centene's ability to adequately price products on federally facilitated and state-based Health Insurance Marketplaces; tax matters; disasters or major epidemics; the outcome of legal and regulatory proceedings; changes in expected contract start dates; provider, state, federal and other contract changes and timing of regulatory approval of contracts; the expiration, suspension or termination of Centene's contracts with federal or state governments (including but not limited to Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE or other customers); the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of pending or future litigation or government investigations; challenges to Centene's contract awards; cyber-attacks or other privacy or data security incidents; the possibility that the expected synergies and value creation from acquired businesses, including, without limitation, the Health Net Acquisition and the Fidelis Care Acquisition, will not be realized, or will not be realized within the expected time period; the exertion of management's time and Centene's resources, and other expenses incurred and business changes required in connection with complying with the undertakings in connection with any regulatory, governmental or third party consents or approvals for the Health Net Acquisition or the Fidelis Care Acquisition; disruption caused by significant completed and pending acquisitions, including the Health Net Acquisition and the Fidelis Care Acquisition, making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; the risk that unexpected costs will be incurred in connection with the completion and/or integration of acquisition transactions, including among others, the Health Net Acquisition and the Fidelis Care Acquisition; changes in expected closing dates, estimated purchase price and accretion for acquisitions; the risk that acquired businesses, including Health Net and Fidelis Care, will not be integrated successfully; the risk that, following the Fidelis Care Acquisition, Centene may not be able to effectively manage its expanded operations; restrictions and limitations in connection with Centene's indebtedness; Centene's ability to achieve improvement in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Star ratings and maintain or achieve improvement in other quality scores in each case that can impact revenue and future growth; availability of debt and equity financing, on terms that are favorable to Centene; inflation; foreign currency fluctuations; the stock split and the required stockholders approval to increase Centene's authorized common stock; and risks and uncertainties discussed in the reports that Centene has filed with the SEC. These forward-looking statements reflect Centene's current views with respect to future events and are based on numerous assumptions and assessments made by Centene in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, business strategies, operating environments, future developments and other factors it believes appropriate. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are subject to change because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. The factors described in the context of such forward-looking statements in this press release could cause Centene's plans with respect to the Health Net Acquisition, the Fidelis Care Acquisition, actual results, performance or achievements, industry results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although it is currently believed that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct and persons reading this press release are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date of this press release. Centene does not assume any obligation to update the information contained in this press release (whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise), except as required by applicable law. This list of important factors is not intended to be exhaustive. We discuss certain of these matters more fully, as well as certain other risk factors that may affect Centene's business operations, financial condition and results of operations, in Centene's filings with the SEC, including the annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. SOURCE Centene Corporation Related Links https://www.centene.com Brazilian Congressman Bolsonaro to Work with Populist Nationalist Leaders across Europe BRUSSELS, Feb. 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Eduardo Bolsonaro, Brazilian Member of Congress and son of President Jair Bolsonaro, announced that he would represent South America in The Movement, a united consortium of European representatives who support populist nationalism and reject the influence of globalism founded by Steve Bannon. "I'm very proud to join Steve Bannon as the leader of The Movement in Brazil, representing Latin American nations. We will work with him to reclaim sovereignty from progressive globalist elitist forces and expand common sense nationalism for all citizens of Latin America," announced Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro is the most voted congressman in the history of Brazil, having received more than 1.8 million votes in Brazil's 2018 national elections. "We will restore dignity, freedom and economic opportunity to our great nation and her neighbors. We will walk through our program of uniting the forces of nationalism. Mr. Bannon's work in Europe is vital and we support his effort against the dangerous Global Pact on Migration. We'll be able to do more as we join our forces to promote prosperity and our shared western culture," Bolsonaro added. Led by former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and his European counterpart, Belgian attorney Mischael Modrikamen, The Movement supports parties and candidates across Europe that advocate for nationalist populism in their states and oppose encroachment on sovereignty by international forces, ahead of the European parliamentary elections in May. "The Movement is honored to welcome Eduardo Bolsanaro as a distinguished partner, and Brazil, a key ally in South America," Bannon said. "We stand together in our pursuit of a populist nationalist agenda for prosperity and sovereignty for citizens throughout the world." "With the addition of Eduardo, The Movement is expanding beyond Europe to our friends in South America," Modrikamen said. "Eventually, we hope to reach citizens in all nations who feel abandoned by the globalist world order and want their governments to re-assert sovereignty." The Movement officially launches at its first annual summit in Brussels this March. MEDIA CONTACT: Sebastian Edgington-Cole sedgecole@gmail.com +32 472871369 SOURCE The Movement Federal ministries of health for Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania endorse NCCN Harmonized Guidelines as national standards for treating the growing cancer burden NCCN joins with cancer leaders, health professionals, and supporters across the world to empower communities and individuals to grow, support, take personal action, and press governments to do more on World Cancer Day PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pennsylvania, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) announces formal endorsements from the governments of Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania for the NCCN Harmonized Guidelines for Sub-Saharan Africa, while joining cancer leaders across the globe to raise awareness and take action for World Cancer Day on February 4. Those three countries are home to 335 million people, about 33% of the Sub-Saharan African population1, and have a combined 225,500 new cancer diagnoses every year2. The NCCN Harmonized Guidelines are part of the organization's year-round commitment to reducing the global cancer burden by defining and advancing high-quality, high-value, patient-centered cancer care. "We know that cancer patients who are treated according to standard clinical guidelines have better outcomes, but until now, we haven't had guidelines to fit the complexities of cancer in Africa," said David Atuwo, MD, National Cancer Control Coordinator at the Federal Ministry of Health Nigeria. "This collaborative project from the African Cancer Coalition and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network allows us to bring together African oncology experts and their U.S. counterparts to create up-to-date, evidence-based guidance for cancer treatment in Africa and to ensure that people with cancer in Africa will get the best quality of care we can give them." "Working together with the African Cancer Coalition, we're able to adapt the easy-to-follow algorithms and evidence-based treatment recommendations that NCCN Guidelines are known for, in order to account for different resource levels," said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. "Standardizing practices make the medication market more predictable, which helps with negotiations to lower prices. It also allows for more regional training and collaboration, while reducing needless duplications of efforts." NCCN's work with the African Cancer Coalition is part of a broader collaboration with The American Cancer Society (ACS), the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), and IBM, which is addressing rising cancer rates and limited resources in parts of Africa. So far, the NCCN Harmonized Guidelines for Sub-Saharan Africa include: Adult Cancer Pain Antiemesis (nausea and vomiting prevention) B-Cell Lymphomas (Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas) Bladder Cancer Breast Cancer Cervical Cancer Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma Colon Cancer Esophageal Cancer Gastric Cancer Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia (GTN) Head and Neck Cancers (concentrating on the lip, oral, and oropharynx) Kaposi Sarcoma Kidney Cancer Myeloid Growth Factors Palliative Care Prostate Cancer Rectal Cancer Small Cell Lung Cancer NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines)which were downloaded more than 10 million times across the world in 2018are already being used by 90% of radiation oncologists in Nigeria, according to a study published in the Journal of Global Oncology on April 11, 2018.3 But the study also found some clinicians can have difficulty implementing the recommendations due to facility resource limitations. The NCCN Harmonized Guidelines are helping to address that problem by including two tiers of treatment recommendations, which vary depending on access to resources like radiation equipment or laparoscopic surgical tools. NCCN Harmonized Guidelines are available free-of-charge for non-commercial use online at NCCN.org/harmonized, or via the NCCN Virtual Library of NCCN Guidelines Mobile App for tablets and smartphones. "Improving access to high-quality cancer care worldwide is the cornerstone to everything we do at NCCN," said Dr. Carlson. "We believe everyone should be able to get the best treatment possible; we are committed to doing our part to see that medical advances reach every corner of every country across the world." NCCN Resource Campaign for Cervical Cancer Patients and Caregivers NCCN is also a member of the World Cancer Day advisory group, representing the United States in the lead-up to the worldwide event on February 4. Nigeria's Project PINK BLUE is also participating in the group, along with representatives from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Greece, India, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. "This World Cancer Day, we want people to know that many cancers can be managed and even cured, especially if they're detected and treated as early as possible," said Dr. Cary Adams, Chief Executive Officer, Union for International Cancer Control. "By detecting cancer at its earliest stage, we seize the greatest opportunity to prevent millions of avoidable deaths worldwide." Cervical cancer is one area where early detection and prevention, such as the HPV vaccine, can have particularly powerful results in reducing the number of deaths. In the United States, the five-year survival rate for women diagnosed with cervical cancer at the advanced stage is just 15%, compared to 93% if diagnosed before cancer has spread4. In a new effort to raise patient awareness of effective therapies for the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer, NCCN is raising funds through the NCCN Foundation to create NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Cervical Cancer. Visit NCCN.org/WCD to learn more about how to get involved this World Cancer Day, and join the conversation online with the hashtags #NCCNGlobal, #WorldCancerDay, and #IAmAndIWill. About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is a not-for-profit alliance of 28 leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education. NCCN is dedicated to improving and facilitating quality, effective, efficient, and accessible cancer care so patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. By defining and advancing high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers around the world. Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit NCCN.org/patients. Media, visit NCCN.org/news. Follow NCCN on Twitter @NCCNnews and Facebook @National.Comprehensive.Cancer.Network. About World Cancer Day 2019 World Cancer Day takes place every year on 4 February and is the uniting global initiative under which the world comes together to raise the profile of cancer in a positive and inspiring way. Spearheaded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), the day aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and improving education about the disease alongside calling on governments and individuals across the world to take action. 2019 will be the first year of the new three-year campaign, 'I Am and I Will'. The new theme is an empowering call for personal commitment and represents the power of our actions taken now to reduce the growing impact of cancer. This year follows on the back of last year's tremendous campaign success, including nearly 1,000 activities taking place in 130 countries, over half a million tweets, and more than 50 governments participating in 2018. 1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017). World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision. Custom data acquired via website. 2 Globocan dataset: https://gco.iarc.fr/ 3 Ismaila N, Salako O, Mutiu J, Adebayo O. Oncology Guidelines Usage in a Low- and Middle-Income Country. J Global Oncol. 2018;4:1-6. Available at: http://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/JGO.17.00136 4 American Cancer Society (2017) Survival Rates for Cervical Cancer, by Stage [Accessed: 19.12.2018] https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cervical-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/survival.html Media Contact: Rachel Darwin 267-622-6624 darwin@nccn.org Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/441768/NCCN_Logo.jpg Related Links http://www.nccn.org SOURCE National Comprehensive Cancer Network Newsbusters February 4, 2019 As NewsBusters previously reported, The Washington Post quickly rushed to the defense of Virginias Democratic Governor Ralph Northam after a racially charged photo on his medical school yearbook page surfaced. The picture in question featured a man in blackface standing next to a man in a KKK robe. Fox News host Tucker Carlson singled out the Post on his show Friday night, accusing the paper of ripping the Republican and skipping the Democrat in the midst of a very competitive gubernatorial election. The Washington Post is not a serious newspaper, Carlson said. Its a joke. He called it this kind of newsletter run by the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, really a shameful publication. Carlson argued that the paper got pretty forensic with Ed Gillespie, Northams Republican opponent in the 2017 gubernatorial election. (Post blogger Jen Rubin ripped Gillespie on MSNBC as disgraceful.) And yet, They couldnt find a yearbook photo of the guy running for governor? Believe it or not, Carlsons guest, liberal radio show host Chris Hahn, agreed with Carlson: This is some of the worst opposition research I have ever seen. How none of his primary opponents or his political opponents or the local papers or the national press for that matterfound this picture is beyond me. This was a hotly contested race. You would think that they would leave no stone unturned. Carlson argued that The Post did not have to do any opposition research at all, they could have instead simply done some reporting. Carlson then indicated his desire to get the Washington Post guys who were assigned to Ralph Northam on this show to explain how they missed this. Read more This article was posted: Monday, February 4, 2019 at 6:31 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Zero Hedge February 4, 2019 The latest sensation from the yearly rally of global elites in Davos is Rutger Bergman, 30 years old Dutch historian and first time attendee. Hes the perfect character : a cosmopolitan, globally mobile, upper class, white progressive berating (fellow) like-minded Davos attendees for polluting the world with their private jets and not spreading their wealth around. His rant went viral: Start talking about taxes! Taxes, taxes, taxes. () Michael Dell asked a question: Name me one country where a top marginal tax rate of 70% has actually worked? And you know Im actually a historian.. the United States, thats where it has actually worked, in the 1950s, during Republican President Eisenhower () the top marginal tax rate was 91% for people like Michael Dell (.) I mean this is not ROCKET SCIENCE. Lets go through a history lesson. First the history of top marginal rates for the past century in the US: The first large hike is in 1917. Bregman is a historian, he knows what happened during that year: its the year the US entered the First World War. The top marginal tax rate remains high through the war, then decreases. After the 1929 market crash and Roosevelt electoral triumph, it increases again in 1932 (New Deal) and once more in 1936 as the world prepared for the 2nd World War. As the war escalates, the top marginal tax rate does as well. It peaks in 1944 at a whopping 94%. When WW2 finally ends, the threat of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe preserves the high tax rate all throughout the 50s. After the great crises in the early 60s, Cuba and the Berlin wall, finally tensions de-escalate and so do taxes. With the advent of Reagan and the progressive implementation of free flow of capital, a drastic reduction is unleashed through the 80s. It roughly lasts to today. So, what does exactly history teach us? That high marginal tax rates work? Only if you have a war economy requiring the elite willing to subsidize the war effort and capital controls. Unfortunately, thats apparently a too complex analysis for a history Phd that attends Davos. According to his Wikipedia page, Bregman is also an advocate of a fifteen hours workweek, universal basic income paid to everybody and open borders as a migration policy. Pretty ironic because if UBI may ever succeed anywhere, itd require the strictest border controls. Bregmans popularity highlights a humongous problem within the Western world: the intellectual class. Hes not an expert in economics (and those often dont do too well either), but even when it comes to his discipline of choice, something is clearly lacking. Whether its competence or intellectual integrity it doesnt matter: hes being already hailed as a hero by many liberal-leaning media and well likely hear from him more. Among polluters that lecture the world about pollution, tax evaders that discuss inequality and elitist politicians that warn us about the danger of people voting in a democracy, a historian that doesnt know or doesnt understand history fits perfectly at Davos. This article was posted: Monday, February 4, 2019 at 6:30 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Comment on this article SPLC listed Proud Boys as an extremist hate group and accused McInnes of promoting violence Paul Joseph Watson PrisonPlanet.com February 4, 2019 Gavin McInnes is suing the Southern Poverty Law Center after the group designated his former organization The Proud Boys as an extremist hate group and accused McInnes of advocating violence. The SPLC officially designates McInnes former organization, The Proud Boys, as an extremist hate group and their website contains numerous articles about McInnes himself. An article entitled Why are the Proud Boys so violent? Ask Gavin McInnes asserts, Violence is at the core of their ideology and their primary tool for silencing their political foes and blames McInnes for blatantly promoting violence and making threats. The national demonization campaign against McInnes has come at personal cost to the former VICE co-founder. A Daily Beast article revels in the fact that he faces regular confrontations with and harassment from his neighbors. During a September appearance on Infowars, McInnes complained that George Soros was paying people to mess with my life, and spread these lies about me, spread fake news. McInnes was also completely deplatformed by Twitter back in August. McInnes is not the first high profile political figure to sue the SPLC in recent times. Last year, the group was forced to pay out $3.4 million and issue an apology to British political activist Maajid Nawaz after they falsely listed him as an anti-Muslim extremist (Nawaz is a Muslim reformist who campaigns against extremism). A full press release containing more details of McInnes lawsuit against the SPLC will be made public later today and he will also appear on the Alex Jones Show. UPDATE: PRESS RELEASE Gavin McInnes Launches Lawsuit Against SPLC on Organizations Hometurf Alleging Defamation and Damages McInnes has been harassed, deprived of work, and suffered other damages as a result of being wrongly placed on The South Poverty Law Centers partisan hate list. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ali Alexander [email protected] Montgomery, AL Talk show host Gavin McInnes has filed suit against the hyperpartisan Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) this week. The 70-page complaint was electronically filed early evening Sunday in the Middle District of Alabama outlining defamation and other tortious acts resulting in reputational and economic damages. The Canadian-immigrant talk show host is demanding an apology from the left-wing SPLC for purposefully misrepresenting his beliefs in a defamatory manner and the defamatory mischaracterization of a fraternal club he founded, Proud Boys. McInnes is being represented by noted First Amendment attorney Ron D. Coleman of Mandelbaum Salsburg P.C. and Baron Coleman of the Baron Coleman Law Firm. Gavin McInnes will appear in the city of Montgomery Monday morning to consult with his legal and advocacy team, making himself available to local members of the media and kick off the launch of a crowdfunding website, www.DefendGavin.com. Attorney Ron Coleman emphasized the significance of the case in relation to the growing partisan divide and practice of censorship by stating, [t]his lawsuit has implications beyond Gavin McInnes because were challenging the use of deplatforming and defunding to privately censor speech. If we cant stop this phenomenon now, the First Amendment will be rendered meaningless as dissent is silenced through private actors such as SPLC and its allies. Montgomery-based attorney Baron Coleman noting, I wasnt familiar with Gavin or his work prior to beginning work on this case. But there is absolutely zero excuse in America for systematically targeting someone for complete personal and financial destruction because they support a different politician or different set of political beliefs. I wouldnt represent a racist or an anti-semite. And Gavin is neither. And the most horrific part of this entire ordeal is that the SPLC knows Gavin isnt a racist or anti-semite or anything else theyve labeled him. Rather, he supports a different slate of politicians with his satire and wit, and the SPLC would rather destroy him than have him out there convincing other people to see politics his way. McInnes released the following statement: I, Gavin McInnes, formerly of every job Ive ever had, am announcing, as of today, a lawsuit against the SPLC. They have harassed me, my family, and my friends to a level of tortious interference that goes well into sabotage. I am doing this, not just to protect my reputation and my family but to protect everyone elses. The SPLC has gone from a noble institution genuinely dedicated to eradicating hate to a hate group in and of itself that pretends this country is frothing with bigots desperate to foment WW3. They purposely lie about their enemies in an attempt to destroy them (their words) and its become a very effective way to make money. Scaremongering brought them the $50m their founder originally set out to make. Since then, its garnered hundreds of millions including untold millions in the Cayman Islands. I dont fault entrepreneurs but they are using this incredible wealth to wield power over the innocent and destroy careers and businesses in their insatiable need to generate more bigots because, in the world of SPLC fundraising, mo hate is mo money. Ben Carson is an extremist to them. So is, Laura Ingraham, the Tea Party, Jeanine Pirro, a group of volunteer lawyers called Alliance Defending Freedom, the Center for Immigration Studies, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Maajid Nawaz. Maajid was a jihadist who toned it down and became a moderate Muslim. For that, he was deemed an anti-Muslim extremist. He sued the SPLC and won. I intend to win too. I have had enough no, WE have had enough of America being portrayed as a racist, Islamophobic, sexist, homophobic etc etc hellhole where White nationalists have, become emboldened in the age of Trump. Its not true. The vast majority of us are good people and getting us fired and deplatformed because we dare to support the president isnt just a corrupt and immoral way to make money. Its not just immoral. Its un-American. I have been completely kicked off all platforms including Paypal which I was using to help people get decent legal representation. Im unable to defend myself against the lies being spread around the Internet. My family has been attacked and so have my friends. The pro-Trump mens club I started, the Proud Boys, have been rounded up and arrested facing serious felonies for daring to defend themselves against the radical left. Its not just my circle of conservative Christians. Seemingly countless business and careers have been destroyed (yes destroyed their word) by this group. Leo Johnson was working security at the Family Research Council when he was shot by a man who saw them on the SPLCs hate group list. The Steve Scalise shootings were inspired by the SPLCs list. A professor at Middlebury College was hospitalized after daring to defend Charles Murray who was deemed verboten by the SPLC. When you see their hate map of America, youd think you were living in Nazi Germany. Its not just Twitter or a couple of apps. They are embedding themselves into Big Tech overall and getting involved with banks. Jennifer Morse runs The Ruth Institute, which is a group that prioritizes father / mother couples over gays in adoption procedures. Its a pretty mainstream stance but thanks to the SPLC, her bank has closed all her accounts. Why are we giving these random busybodies so much power? Ive had enough of this group pretending to fight hate while manifesting it out of thin air. Their relentless thirst for fake villains shows no signs of abating, and until we stop and say No, they will continue to portray this country as a dark and disgusting Klan rally populated with bigots determined to torture those who disagree. Thats a lie. Its a profitable lie that has made them multi-millionaires with unlimited power but the buck stops here. Lets fight back. Please join me in the fight of my life. I want to help you take this country back. We are living in one of the most prosperous and egalitarian nations in the world. Lets enjoy it. Updates on the case will be made available on www.DefendGavin.com 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: Monday, February 4, 2019 at 8:03 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Comment on this article Campus Reform February 4, 2019 A private Christian university announced it is canceling a student-organized speaking engagement by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, citing a current high volume of rhetoric. In a Friday statement, Arizonas Grand Canyon University explained the rationale behind its decision to cancel the event, organized by the schools Young Americans for Freedom chapter. The university said that while its mission often aligns with Shapiros message, specifically regarding his emphasis on Judeo-Christian values and the importance of a free market economy, the school has decided to bar him from speaking in order to focus on opportunities that bring people together. The university went on to tout its unique and united community where people come together no matter their political differences, and warned against todays high volume of rhetoric, which it says has not led to community building or problem-solving. Grand Canyon University, rather than engage in this type of rhetoric, has instead worked to bring people together and build partnerships to renovate our inner-city community. We have obviously disappointed and offended some of you, the university admitted, adding We know that if we had made a different decision, we would have disappointed and offended others within the same community. However, the university assured the community that it did not intend to disappoint or offend anyone, but instead to use [its] position as a Christian university to bring unity to a community that sits amidst a country that is extremely divided and cant seem to find a path forward toward unity. By caving to an unseen mob and ignoring the popularity of Shapiro among its student body, Grand Canyon University just played itself and deserves whatever negative response this brings, Young Americas Foundation Spokesman Spencer Brown said in a Friday statement. GCU has abandoned the sentiment of its own proclaimed values, deluded itself into acting like the liberal campuses it claims to differ from, and blindly accepted the Lefts ludicrous argument that Shapiros presence somehow damages students, campuses, or debate. GCUs YAF chapter called the schools decision to cancel the event absurd. We cannot understand why our school would refuse to host someone who is a tireless advocate for traditional Judeo-Christian values, the group said in a statement posted to Facebook. Shorter @gcu: we are so united were going to deny some a speaker because we cant be united if some students choose to hear @benshapiro. Sounds like @gcus unity is shallow and not gospel filled. https://t.co/YZRjIl67xX Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) February 3, 2019 Other conservative voices have also weighed in. Erick Erickson, the founder of the conservative website The Resurgent and a current Ph.D. theology student, mocked GCU on Sunday, tweeting, shorter @gcu: we are so united were going to deny some a speaker because we cant be united if some students choose to hear @benshapiro. Sounds like @gcus unity is shallow and not gospel filled. Its not the first time a Christian university has come under criticism for canceling a Shapiro appearance. In November, Gonzaga University in Washington State cited its Christian mission as one of the reasons for not hosting the conservative speaker. Campus Reform reached out to GCU for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication. This article was posted: Monday, February 4, 2019 at 6:51 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Girls and women are afraid Paul Joseph Watson PrisonPlanet.com February 4, 2019 Doctor and former MP Marcus Franz says white girls in Vienna, Austria have begun wearing Islamic headscarves to prevent street harassment by male Muslim migrants. During an appearance on OE24, Franz revealed that in migrant-heavy areas fathers were telling their daughters to wear hijabs so as to disguise the fact that they are non-Muslim. Speak with women on the street, speak with children, speak with young girls, I myself know fathers who, when their daughters who are coming home in the evening, when they live in a problem area, give them headscarves so they wont be recognized as Austrians, said Franz. I know this personally, in the 15th district (Vienna), this is a fact, he added, saying that women were afraid because of permanent micro-aggressions and being sexually propositioned by Muslim men. Doctor and former MP Marcus Franz says white girls in Vienna, Austria have begun wearing Islamic headscarves to prevent street harassment by male Muslim migrants. pic.twitter.com/SUSfiLUjlq Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) February 4, 2019 He added that the girls were being propositioned with unpleasant aggression and attitudes, and the girls and women, quite simply, are afraid. You can see it in the population if you work in a social profession like me, remarked Franz, adding, We need to distinguish clearly between the settled population and those who have arrived more recently. The story bears some similarities to how some German girls in migrant-heavy schools are also wearing hijabs to prevent bullying. As we previously reported, a mother in Germany whose daughter was being bullied by Muslim students because she was blonde, Christian and didnt wear a headscarf was told by the headmaster of a school in Frankfurt to cover her up with a hijab. The mother of the student told BILD that her daughter was being bullied by Muslim girls to such a degree that she had to take them out of school for protection. She was beaten and verbally attacked on the way to school, said the mother, explaining that abuse was because her daughter has blonde hair, doesnt wear a headscarf, has a German-Hebrew name and is a Christian. When the headmaster was informed of the situation, he advised the mother to cover up her daughter with a hijab. Your daughter does not have to say that she is German. Besides, you can give her a headscarf! she was told. 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: Monday, February 4, 2019 at 11:36 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Comment on this article Jerusalem Post February 4, 2019 Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) came under fire on social media on Sunday night after it was revealed that she spoke with UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, embroiled in a number of antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents and comments. Corbyn tweeted on Sunday that it was great to speak with AOC on the phone this evening and hear first-hand how shes challenging the status quo. Lets build a movement across borders to take on the billionaires, polluters and migrant baiters, and support a happier, freer and cleaner planet, he said. Great to speak to @AOC on the phone this evening and hear first hand how shes challenging the status quo. Lets build a movement across borders to take on the billionaires, polluters and migrant baiters, and support a happier, freer and cleaner planet. Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) February 3, 2019 Responding soon after, AOC said it was an honor to have shared such a lovely and wide-reaching conversation with you, @jeremycorbyn! She added that she was also honored to share a great hope in the peace, prosperity, + justice that everyday people can create when we uplift one another across class, race, + identity both at home & abroad. It was an honor to share such a lovely and wide-reaching conversation with you, @jeremycorbyn! Also honored to share a great hope in the peace, prosperity, + justice that everyday people can create when we uplift one another across class, race, + identity both at home & abroad. https://t.co/7qnz42I8du Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 3, 2019 [] Im a huge huge fan of yours. I hope youll take a look at the amount of Jews trying to call attention to Corbyns long, documented history of anti-Semitism. The lefts blind spot in this regard can still be fixed. But we need leaders like yourself to listen. Elad Nehorai (@PopChassid) February 4, 2019 Read more This article was posted: Monday, February 4, 2019 at 6:29 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Comment on this article Bysiewicz didnt say whether Gov. Ned Lamont is considering the idea as part of the two-year state budget he will propose later this month. The states community college system cost about $594 million to operate in 2017, with state grants paying more of that. Student fees and tuition covered only $97 million. Waiving that revenue to help financially struggling students and their families would be worthwhile, she said. Judiciary not above criticism NDC tells CJ, stands with Dr Ayine The NDC has jumped to the defense of Dr Ayine after the Chief Justice seeks to 3 players shortlisted for NASCO Player of the Month Award Three players have been shortlisted for the NASCO Player of the Month Award for 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 New Jersey is one of just five states in which almost none of its voting machines have a way to verify that their results are valid. All the states counties but one use machines that record votes directly and only into an electronic memory module. Only small Warren County uses machines that simultaneously record votes on paper, the gold standard nationwide for ensuring that what the computer says is what voters intended. Last year, New Jersey received a $10 million federal grant to help update its voting systems. The administration of Gov. Phil Murphy instead spent the biggest part of the grant on efforts to increase the number of people registered to vote, including signing up anyone at a motor vehicle agency claiming to be a New Jersey citizen, no license or other documentation required. Some of the money funded a tiny pilot program with paper-backup voting machines in small election districts, one each in three counties in the state. These succeeded in producing a verifiable voting record but also resulted in long lines to vote at times. Voters took too long to vote, with their confusion with the new machines reportedly worsened by excessive explanations on their use. Some voters were handed wet or creased paper ballots to insert into the machines, which jammed. For years, David Sommers would drive from his Levittown, Pennsylvania, home to New Jerseys swamps and marshes, often under the cover of darkness, to collect turtles or dig for their eggs. But these werent just any turtles: they were diamondback terrapins, a species native to the East Coast that is in sharp decline. When hatched, they can bring in thousands of dollars in sales. In New Jersey, its illegal to take or transport the semi-aquatic turtle. And, federally, its illegal to misrepresent such sales. In 2017, federal investigators, posing as buyers, launched an elaborate undercover sting that included tracking Sommers vehicle by GPS to remote wetlands. On Monday, Sommers pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of false labeling for a package shipped to Canada under the Lacey Act, which makes it unlawful to submit false records for fish, wildlife or plants that have been shipped in the U.S. or internationally. He had originally been charged with six counts, including smuggling, when he was indicted in July 2018. An attorney representing Sommers, Steven M. Jones, said he could not comment until after sentencing, which is scheduled for May 15. Sommers faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 as well as restitution. ATLANTIC CITY The community is coming together for Sister Jeans Kitchen after finding out about a burglary that left the nonprofit with 300 pounds of food missing. Renate Taylor, the development officer at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Southern Branch, said the food bank will replace the food that Sister Jeans lost. Its the food banks responsibility to make sure Sister Jeans recovers from the loss, she said. It wasnt even an option, Taylor said. Of course were going to be there. This is what we do for each other. The Rev. John Scotland, executive director of the nonprofit that feeds the homeless, hungry and people in need, said the food bank called them as soon as they found out about the burglary. Theyre very much supporting of us, he said. Sister Jeans Kitchen opened its doors at the Presbyterian Church at Pennsylvania and Pacific avenues at 7 a.m. Wednesday to find pounds of fish, pork and chicken missing from its freezers and damage to doors, windows, locks and freezers. Scotland estimated about 300 pounds of food was missing, along with two shopping carts that were stored in the kitchen. Miller told the officer that he was a farmer who bought the goats from a farm in Manchester and that he had them in his basement before putting them in the trailer about 11 a.m. that morning. He said a friend was coming to get the goats about 9 p.m., according to the report. ATLANTIC CITY Sister Jeans Kitchen, which for decades has served the homeless and those in need, will soon move to the closed St. Monicas Catholic Church. The group is expected to make settlement on the property Aug. 15, officials said. The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority approved up to $1 million in funding for the improvements to the church, which was closed two years ago as part of a consolidation by the Diocese of Camden. The relocation of Sister Jeans Kitchen is the second phase of the Pacific Avenue Midtown Redevelopment Project, along with the relocation of the John Brooks Recovery Center already in progress, said Chris Howard, executive director of the authority. This relocation will be a significant upgrade from Sister Jeans current facility and will provide a cleaner and safer environment for its critical services. The move takes the kitchen, now in the Presbyterian Church across from the closed Trump Taj Mahal, outside of the authoritys Tourism District. The district includes the entire Boardwalk, the Marina District, Gardners Basin and 10 roads that lead into the district, including several on the citys northern end. City zoning laws regulate development in the rest of the resort. 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. Our audience has always been great, and a lot of casino (players) tend to connect to us, because we have this Rat Packy kind of vibe, Imperioli explains, adding, It was an opportunity for us to connect with the fans and give the fans an opportunity to hear what it was like behind the scenes. We get to reminisce about some of our favorite moments in the show, we allow the fans to ask questions about things theyre curious about, we show some clips and talk about the work we did. Although Sinatras association with mob bosses became the stuff of legend during most of his career, Imperioli never asked the Sinatra siblings if they felt their father would have been a fan of the show. I never asked either of them, but I assumed they probably thought he would dig it, he says. The fact that they wanted to be on the show, and agreed to be on the show and loved the show makes me think that (their father) would have liked it. I think their sensibilities were similar to their fathers. Whenever they spoke about Sinatra on The Sopranos, it was always done with a lot of reverence. ADVERTISEMENT Thirty-seven communities in Ekiti State on Monday got cheques worth N194.3m to complete abandoned community self-help projects in the state. Distributing the cheques in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, Governor Kayode Fayemi said the 37 World Bank-assisted projects were initiated during his first tenure. He said They were regrettably abandoned by the Fayose-led administration. He said his administration would not allow abandoned projects to litter the state. Mr Fayemi said though 82 projects were presented, only 37 fell within the World Bank sponsorship guidelines. He said the remaining projects would receive the attention of the state government. I am happy to inform you that attention is being placed on the new requests you have submitted during my last meeting with town unions/community development associations chairmen and secretaries As part of the resolution arrived at the meeting, very soon, the programme will accommodate more communities We promise to make life more meaningful for our people and we are poised to fulfil our own part of the accord, he said. Steve Bamisaye, the General Manager of the State Community and Social Development Agency (EKCSDA), lauded Mr Fayemi for facilitating the projects. He said the governors robust relationship with donor agencies would bring about rapid grassroots development in the state. Mr Bamisaye said the projects would boost the economy of the benefitting communities since the Community Project Management Committees had been mandated to engage local bricklayers and carpenters in their implementation. Responding on behalf of the 37 benefiting communities, the Onisan of Isan, Gabriel Adejuwon, appreciated the governor for the gesture and promised that the communities would make judicious use of the fund. The monarch urged the government to continue to seek more inter-governmental assistance on behalf of the communities in its quest to develop the state. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The Ogun State police command has arrested a 35-year-old self-acclaimed Islamic cleric, Jamiu Olasheu, and three others for being in possession of a human skull. The commands public relations officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, made this known to journalists on Monday. He said a police patrol team from Agbara division, who were on routine patrol, accosted the suspects who were on a motorcycle at Kofedoti area of Agbara. The two men, Teslim Ayeniromo, m 45yrs and Sunday Kolade m 35yrs were asked to come down for search consequent upon which a human skull was discovered in a sack found on them, Mr Oyeyemi said. He said the duo were promptly arrested and taken to Agbara Divisional headquarters where the divisional police officer, Adegbite Omotayo personally interrogated them. He said the suspects claimed the human skull was given to them by one Micheal Osanyinbi for delivery to the Islamic cleric. They led the DPO to the house of the man who gave them the skull, who in turn led the police to the self-acclaimed cleric. The cleric has made a confessional statement that he requested for the skull which Micheal Osanyinbi promised to get for him at the rate of N25,000 and N1,000 for the bike man who will deliver it to him. He stated further that the skull is needed for a yet to disclose ritual. The states commissioner of police, Ahmed Iliaysu has ordered the transfer of the suspects to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad for investigation and prosecution. ADVERTISEMENT The Lagos State Police Command says it has begun investigation into alleged initiation of 12 underage children into a cult known as the Awawa Cult Group. The Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Imohimi Edgal, told journalists that the children were discovered to have been initiated into a nefarious association by a guardian and counsellor attached to a public school in Egan, Igando, a suburb of Lagos. The oldest among the children, 16 years old, revealed that they were taken for initiation and that the symbol on their jaws was that of the notorious Awawa boys. Two adult suspects behind the initiation are already in police custody and are helping in police investigation. Investigation is ongoing with a view to arresting other members of the Awawa group for prosecution, the police commissioner said. He advised teachers and guardians to always monitor the conduct of their children. It is not enough to just teach the students alone but their conduct must also be monitored, you must know who they associate with, Mr Edgal said. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, says the impression in some quarters that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is marginalising the South-East is false. Mr Onyeama said this on Monday in Adani, Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, during a campaign tour of the area. The minister said the false notion which had led to the formation of separatist groups needed to be placed in its right perspective. He said as a minister and member of the Federal Executive Council, he could attest to the detribalised disposition of the president. He also said Mr Buhari believes in equality and had not treated the South-East as a separate entity. The minister cited the unprecedented federal government projects going on in different parts of the region as a clear testament that the president did not hate Igbos. Mr Onyeama said the zone stood better chances of attracting federal government presence under the All Progressives Congress (APC). He assured the people of Adani known for rice production that they would benefit from the massive road revolution going on in the zone to enable them gain access to markets to sell their farm produce. He said several development agenda of the federal government under Mr Buhari including the economic renaissance would have the Igbo man as the highest beneficiary. We all love children and Buhari also loves children. He is concerned about their future. That is why in his second term, more attention will be given to education and the school feeding programme to encourage and keep them in school because they are the future leaders. Our people should vote for Buhari so that the benefits pensioners enjoy under the current dispensation and the security of the region will not be cut short, Mr Onyeama said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister had earlier paid a courtesy visit to the traditional ruler of Uzo Uwani, Igwe Patrick Okafor. The monarch expressed delight at the visit and assured the minister that they were in support of the re-election of the president. The local campaign rally witnessed a massive turn out of the people of the area who also expressed their commitment to supporting the president. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 400,000 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) were yet to be collected out of the 3,215, 273 registered in the state. Enabor Edwin, the Head of INEC Voter Education and Publicity Department in Rivers, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Port Harcourt. Mr Edwin said the commission had received a total of 3,118,638 PVCs from Abuja. He said about 96,735 cards were yet to be received from the commissions headquarters. About 2, 700,541 voters have collected their PVCs in the state and we have about 418,097 individual cards yet to be collected at the Local Government Areas as at January 31. Collection of PVCs is still ongoing in the state at the various LGAs, he said. Mr Edwin said relocation, deaths and transfers of workers could be some of the challenges that could affect the collection of PVCs before the deadline of February 8. He said registered voters were expected to go to their various LGAs for collection of their cards. We expect that everybody that is registered should personally go and collect their cards from their various LGAs, Mr Edwin said. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The Court of Appeal, Rivers State, has granted a stay of execution on the judgment of a lower court which nullified the primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State. The Appeal Court ruling was delivered on Monday in Port Harcourt. The ruling also put on hold an order which restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from having the names of APC candidates on the ballots in the forthcoming general elections in the state. APC supporters broke into wild jubilation in Port Harcourt, following the court ruling. We have always said that the wheel of justice may grind slowly, sometimes annoyingly slowly, but surely justice comes ultimately. We believe that todays judgment has vindicated APC in Rivers State, the spokesperson of the APC in Rivers, Chris Finebone, said in a statement in response to the ruling. The earlier nullification of the APC primaries, including the governorship primary, in Rivers followed a legal battle between a faction of the party loyal to Magnus Abe, a senator from the state, and the one loyal to Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation. The APC national leadership is backing Mr Amaechis faction which produced the partys governorship candidate in the state, Tonye Cole. With his faction organising a parallel congress and primaries, Mr Abe is claiming to be the authentic governorship candidate of APC in Rivers. Mr Abe, who felt shortchanged by the APC, filed the lawsuits which created the pitfalls on the partys road to the elections. As it is, if INEC goes ahead to act on the latest court ruling, it means Mr Coles name would be on the ballot as the APC governorship candidate in the state. The battle would now shift to the Supreme Court for a final ruling. Anyone who has carefully and painstakingly followed our pending matter at the Supreme Court, especially, during the last sitting before the apex court reserved ruling, will easily and safely conclude that our victory at the Supreme Court is only a matter of time, the APC spokesperson, Mr Finebone said in the statement. The key issues of representation and jurisdiction which Justice Chiwendu Nworgu deliberately overlooked in tailoring his judgment to fit into a predetermined purpose, and yet bandy it as a consent judgment, will be completely deconstructed by the excellent legal minds on the Supreme Court bench. In this particular case, the end will justify our dogged efforts as we shall, once again, prevail by Gods grace! Mr Finebone added. Mr Cole took to Twitter to react to the court ruling. As we celebrate todays victory, we must not lose sight of the other hurdles we must scale to get to the Brick House, Mr Cole said through his personal handle @TonyeCole1. The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has dislodged 35 drug joints and hotspots in Kano State. The state Commander of the agency, Ibrahim Abdul, said this on Monday while briefing newsmen on the activities of the command in the last one month. According to him, the success is recorded due to the efforts of its officers during their special operations to keep the state free from drug use as the 2019 general elections approach. During the period under review, 35 joints and hotspots were dislodged at the following areas: Plaza, Sanya Olu, Kabuga, Rimin Kebe and Danzaki village. Others are Sauna, Wurare, Aisami, Sabon Titi, Dorayi, Hauren Gadagi, Kwanar Dan-marke Motor park, Chalawa, Madobi, Ring Road, Farawa village, Mariri Motor park and Kofar Ruwa, among others, he said. Mr Abdul sais the operation would be sustained to ensure that those drug users did not continue to patronise the joints and the hotspots. However, during the raid operation, a 42-year-old suspect named Okechukwu Echefu was arrested with nine cartons of fake Coartem tablets, seven cartons of fake Augmenting tablets. Other exhibits found with the suspect included two cartons of Laclox tablets and two cartons containing brand package and label of the fake drugs. Preliminary investigation revealed that the drugs were imported and also investigation is ongoing which at the end the suspect will be transferred to relevant authority, he said. According to him, the command had arrested 176 suspects, out of which eight are female, during the period in review. He added that a grand total of 736,165 kilograms of exhibits were intercepted by operatives of the command. Mr Abdul explained that among the drugs intercepted, an exhibit similar to Cannabis called Khat, imported from South Africa was intercepted. The commander added that 136 drug users were referred for brief intervention counseling, while five regular clients were counselled and rehabilitated. We were also able to secure the conviction of three suspects, and presently 81 cases are pending. From the statistics and considering the previous record, the supply chain has reduced significantly. This I believe was recorded as a result of the new approaches we adopted in combating the menace which has yielded a positive result, Abdul said. He commended the Kano Emirate Council and the state government for their relentless efforts towards reducing drug abuse and trafficking in the state. He called on religious, traditional rulers and community leaders to redouble their efforts in supporting the command in carrying out its responsibilities. I also wish to call on property owners to desist from allowing their premises to be used for hoarding drugs or any form of such dealing, as the law has made a provision that will earn such an individual or corporate body a jail term conviction, he warned. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT Police said they received a report from someone at the cemetery that a man had been shot while sitting in his truck. Police reports described it as a grey truck with a volunteer fire department plate on the front. No one else appears to have been injured. ADVERTISEMENT The military command in Maiduguri, Borno State, has said that four Boko Haram insurgents were, on Saturday, killed by Nigerian troops during a gun battle. The incident happened in Malamfatori, a border community between Nigeria and Niger Republic. Three soldiers of the Nigeria army sustained injuries in the fight. The spokesperson of the Operation Lafiya Dole Counterinsurgency operations in northeast Nigeria, Onyema Nwachukwu, disclosed this in a statement released to journalists on Monday. Mr Nwachukwu, an army Colonel, said the four Boko Haram gunmen were killed in an operation carried out by troops of the 118 and 119 Task Force Battalion of the Operation Lafiya Dole. He said while other members of the outlawed armed group escaped with various degree of injuries, the troops were able to recover some arms and ammunition abandoned by the insurgents. Mr Nwachukwus statement reads: Troops of 118 and 119 Task Force Battalions of Operation LAFIYA DOLE in northern Borno have neutralised 4 Boko Haram terrorists in an encounter yesterday night at Mallam Fatori, a border town in Abadam Local Government Area of Borno state. On Saturday 2nd February 2019, a group of Boko Haram terrorists attempted to attack the town taking advantage of darkness but met their Waterloo in an encounter with gallant troops of 118 and 119 Task Force Battalions. The vigilant troops engaged the terrorists with heavy fire power and instantly despatched 4 of the attackers to the great beyond, while some of them escaped with gunshot wounds. The fleeing surviving terrorists abandoned some of their weapons and equipment which were recovered by the troops. The recovered items include, 1 Light Machine Gun, 1 Rocket Propelled Grenade 7 (RPG 7) tubes, 3 Rocket Propelled Grenade Bombs, 3 Rocket Propelled Grenade Chargers, a belt of 200 rounds of 7.62 mm (NATO type) ammunition, 5 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition and 4 Hand Grenades. The gallant troops are unrelenting and are further exploiting their success, as they engage in hot pursuit of the fleeing insurgents. Three soldiers, however, sustained various injuries during the encounter. They are all in stable condition and receiving medical attention. The Boko Haram insurgency, which has entered its 10th year, has claimed the lives of many soldiers and thousands of civilians. It has also displaced nearly two million civilians, mostly women and children, from their communities across the states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday got another critical endorsement from 71 retired military generals, who expressed their readiness to work tirelessly toward his re-election in the February 16 general elections. The position of the generals led by Buba Marwa, a retired brigadier general, was made known when they paid a courtesy call on Mr Buhari at the State House, Abuja. Mr Buhari retired as a major general. Mr Marwa, who was military governor of Borno, and later military administrator of Lagos State, said the retired top officers thought it right to visit the president, to say that you have represented your constituency very well. You announced a simple three-point agenda upon assumption of office namely security; fighting corruption, and the economy. You have kept your words as an officer and a gentleman. Mr Marwa added: We the retired armed forces officers, representing 99.9% of our colleagues say that we are proud of you; proud to be associated with your administration; and proud to witness this era of Nigeria rising again under your able leadership. We support you fully and totally in the presidential elections next week and will do whatever we can within the law to contribute to your emergence as the victor in the election in order to take Nigeria to the next level. The most senior of the retired officers, Jubrila Ayinla, a retired vice admiral and former Chief of Naval Staff, said future generations would acquit Mr Buhari as the most creditable personality of his time. He added: On behalf of the generals here today, I congratulate you on the tremendous work done by this administration, and wish to state unequivocally that we are proud of you and fully behind you in the presidential elections next week. We pledge our full support and continued loyalty. Responding, Mr Buhari thanked the retired generals for their support and reiterated that he would continue to do his best in serving the nation. He revealed that he contested elections four times and ended up in Supreme Court three times, before he finally won the election in 2015. He said: God has made this country great. We have human and material resources, and may God continue to give us the right leaders. My objective is very clear, and I will continue to do my best. The president recalled what he said in his days as military head of state that. We have no other country but Nigeria. We will stay here and salvage it together. Mr Buhari noted that even if one was blessed enough to send children for training abroad, after such training, they will still have to come back here. We must, therefore, give our best for our country. The patriotism imbued in us by the military will ever remain relevant. Lets do our best for this country. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Buhari, who described Nigeria as a fabulous country, said if it were not so, the country could not have survived the damage done to it materially and morally in the past. He, therefore, glorified God that after 30 months civil war, with over two million lives lost, we are still one country. He prayed that Nigeria would not lack people who could exploit its human and material resources, adding that, the higher you go in Nigeria, the hotter it becomes, and not the other way round. But I cant complain. I tried so hard to be here three times, ending up at the Supreme Court. So, I cant complain over anything I am going through now. He described the military as an institution that gives amazing opportunities to know the country, its different peoples and cultures, and I am very grateful that you have claimed me back as one of your own. I was governor of North-East, which is now six states, Minister of Petroleum for over three years, Head of State; I was arrested and detained, but did not lose my rank, because nothing was found against me. The delegation of the retired military generals was made of one Vice Admiral, two Lt.-Generals, 15 Majors General and two Rear Admirals. Others included eight Air Vice-Marshals, 12 Brigadier Generals, three Commodores, nine Air Commodores, and 17 former military governors/administrators. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has narrated how the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Enoch Adeboye prayed for him before his accident on Saturday. The helicopter conveying Mr Osinbajo and his team to a campaign rally in Kogi crash-landed on Saturday. No one was hurt in the incident. In a Thanksgiving message he gave during a service organised on his behalf by Mr Adeboye, the official said the church leader appeared to have seen a vision of a possible impending danger during the said prayer session. In the statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES by Mr Osinbajos media assistant, Laolu Akande, the number two citizen described his survival as a manifestation of Gods word. His statement reads in part: On Friday, we went to (RCCG) camp; usually, I attend our Holy Ghost service. We came in very late from Akwa Ibom State. We arrived just in time for the grace at the end of the service. After that, our daddy in the Lord, (G.O) Pastor Adeboye, wanted to speak to me. Adeboye leads thanksgiving Service for Osinbajo. [PHOTO CREDIT: Segun Komolafe] He asked me how things were going on, the campaign activities and all that, and I explained everything; what I was doing on the campaign trail and all of that, some of the challenges. He (Adeboye) then said I am going to pray for you. He said a prayer that turned out to be very interesting because usually, as you know, he doesnt pray for long. He said Lord God Almighty, I want you to protect this man. You know how very dear he is to my heart. I want you to protect him. I found it very funny that he repeated it several times and then he prayed for favour and other things. So, when the crash happened, immediately it dawned on me that the Lord God had led him to say that very special prayer. And the Lord God Almighty delivered us by His word that, even when 10,000 fall by our side, no harm whatsoever, will come near us. Mr Osinbajo thanked God for the gift of life and reeled out the names of those on the flight crew with him. They are Labour Minister, Stephen Ocheni; & Mr Femi Osinbajo, my elder brother; Babafemi Ojudu, Special Adviser and Ambassador Abdullahi Gwary, SSA Foreign Affairs/Protocol. Others are Mr Laolu Akande, my spokesman; Dr Biodun Adelowo, my physician; Mr Doyin Adetuberu, security officer; and Ayoola Oladunni, (ADC) and others. ADVERTISEMENT The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on Monday decorated seven deputy inspectors-general who were promoted last week. Police spokesperson Frank Mba said the seven police chiefs were inducted into the police management team at a maiden meeting of the team held at the Force Headquarters Monday afternoon. At the event, Usman Abubakar was assigned as the new head of the department of finance and administration. Abdulmajid Ali got the department of operations; while Frederick Lakanu was assigned to the department of logistics and supply. Mr Lakanu was the assistant inspector-general of police in charge of operations, and was the force secretary prior to his promotion last week. Anthony Michael will now head the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID); while Yakubu Jubrin has become the new head of the department of training and development. Mr Adamu assigned Aminchi Baraya the head of the department of research and planning for the police; while Godwin Nwobodo will head the department of information and communication technology. No organisation rises above the quality, competence and dedication of its management team as well as the depth of the goals set for the organisation, Mr Adamu told the seven police chiefs at their inauguration, adding that they should justify the confidence reposed in them. Musiliu Smith, a former police inspector-general and chairman of Police Service Commission; Abdulrahman Dambazau, the minister of interior; Ogbonnaya Onovo, former police inspector-general; and Kebbi State Governor Abubakar Bagudu were amongst those at the event. PICTURE STORY DIG ALI DIG NWOBODO DIG NWOBODO DIG YAKUBU DIG TILLI DIG OGBIZI ADVERTISEMENT The Senate is no longer interested in continuing a case it filed at the Supreme Court on the suspension of Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen. In a statement on Monday, Yusuph Olaniyonu, media aide to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said the Senate has decided to give the National Judicial Council (NJC)s intervention a chance. The statement noted that the decision follows the intervention of the NJC on the issue. The Senate has therefore decided to discontinue the case it filed in the Supreme Court. It should be noted that the case has been slated for hearing tomorrow. This decision also affirms the confidence of the Senate in the ability of the NJC to successfully and creditably resolve the issues, the statement reads. The Senate on January 28 filed a case at the Supreme Court to seek clarification on the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen. Relying on an order from the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), President Muhammadu Buhari last Friday suspended the chief justice replacing him with another Supreme Court justice, Tanko Mohammed. In the suit, the Senate approached the apex court seeking its interpretation on whether President Buhari acted within the provision of the constitution in his suspension of Mr Onnoghen. The Senate also wanted the court to determine whether the action of the president does amount to usurpation of the powers of the Senate as provided for in Section 292 of the constitution. The section states conditions for removal of a chief justice but fails to clarify the difference between temporary removal and permanent removal. A day after the announcement of the suit, the All Progressives Congress caucus in the Senate dissociated from the legal action, following which Mr Saraki clarified that it was initiated by a majority of the leadership of the chamber. New ICPC Chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye, speaking with State House correspondents after the inauguration of the new board by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday. President Muhammadu Buhari has said some agencies of government still divert or refuse to fully account for revenue generated despite his governments anti-corruption drive. Mr Buhari said this Monday when he inaugurated the new board of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). He did not give the names of the defaulting agencies and did not indicate whether there were plans to sanction officials responsible for the diversion. Previous government records have shown that trillions of naira have been lost in the last decade to diversions by government agencies or their refusal to remit generated funds. The ICPC inauguration was done Monday afternoon inside the council chamber of the State House. The board is headed by the immediate past secretary of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Bolaji Owasanoye. Speaking shortly after the inauguration, Mr Buhari said the appointment of the new board was the continuation of his administrations fight against corruption. Mr Buhari said the fight against corruption is very crucial in Nigerias national development, adding this is why I have often said if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. The president said apart from deliberate and wanton looting of national wealth and common patrimony, corruption has eroded the values and ethical foundation of Nigeria as a nation. Corruption has negatively affected our political, economic and social life. Those opposed to our fight against corruption berate us for our focus, determination and single mindedness. They pretend that they do not know what corruption is. But Nigerians know what corruption is. Ordinary people know what corruption is and they support our effort and determination to fight it, he said. He expressed delight that the ICPC law under which the new board will operate is robust enough to assist government to sanitise the public sector of corruption. Revenue diversion still rampant Mr Buhari said despite his anti-corruption drive, some agencies of government still divert or refuse to fully account for revenue generated. He said rather than obey constitutional provisions and extant rules and regulations, such agencies continue as if nothing has changed. He vowed that he is determined to ensure that every agency of government account for public revenue generated or expended. I am looking forward to ICPCs support both for enforcement of anti-corruption laws and submission of policy measures and directives to prevent revenue leakage and diversion. In this regard, I urge you to collaborate with other government agencies such as the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation towards mitigating wrong-doing in public expenditure. ADVERTISEMENT Furthermore, I look forward to receiving anti-corruption recommendations linked to e-Government standards and principles. As the old saying goes Prevention is better than cure. Your statutory mandate recognizes this principle. Therefore, I encourage you to come up with strong preventive policy measures and strategies for governments endorsement to take us to the NEXT LEVEL in the fight against corruption. I am aware that the ICPC laws empowers you to make proposals to assist government in this fight, he said. Other members of the board who were inaugurated are Grace Chinda, Okolo Titus, Obiora Igwedebia, Olubukola Balogun, Adams Bello, Hannatu Muhammed, Abdullahi Saidu, and Yahaya Dauda. The ICPC board were approved by the Senate last December, 16 months after they were nominated. In a short acceptance remarks the board chairman, Mr Owasanoye, said they were lucky to be given the assignment. He said they were lucky because Mr Buhari is known for having unquestionable, unequivocal and unshakable resolve to deal with corruption. Therefore, the political will required to fight corruption is available. I pledge on behalf of the commission and members that we will do our best not to disappoint you or disappoint the country, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Following the recent launch of its Third-Party Fact-Checking Programme to help assess the accuracy of news and reduce the spread of misinformation, Facebook has partnered with Nigerian fact-checking website, Dubawa. Dubawa is a national platform which provides factual information to its readers so they can make informed decisions, whether political, economic, security or mainstream decisions, based on the truth. Since its existence, Dubawa has championed the cause of fact-checking and verification through its published reports on the website, trainings for newsrooms and as such, was accredited by the International Fact-checking Network (IFCN), a body whose members commit to promote excellence, non-partisanship and transparency in their work. Facebooks fact-checking programme, which also improves the quality of news people find on its platform, relies on feedback from the Facebook community, as one of many signals it uses to raise potentially false stories to fact-checkers for review. Local articles will be fact-checked alongside the verification of photos and videos. If one of our fact-checking partners identifies a story as false, Facebook will show it lower in News Feed, significantly reducing its distribution. Akua Gyekye, Facebook Public Policy Manager, Anglophone West Africa commented: With this new partnership, we aim to build on the work we already started in Nigeria. Nigeria is important to us and were committed to taking our responsibility seriously in tackling the spread of false news. Dubawa is a platform that has distinguished itself in cross-checking news stories and presenting the facts to the public, leaving them to draw their own conclusions. This forms part of the work we are doing, and that is why we have decided to partner with them. When third-party fact-checkers write articles about a news story, Facebook will show these in Related Articles immediately below the story in News Feed. Commenting on the partnership, Dubawas Editor, Ebele Oputa, added: The danger of fake news, mis-information, dis-information, in whatever form, is ever more real and vivid in todays world. In recent years, weve seen democracies all over the world, being threatened by the spread of false news which plays to the fears and prejudices of people. As a fact-checking organization in Nigeria, we try as much as we can to fight this via our articles, tweets and trainings, but we also understand the role that technology plays in getting the right information to the public. We hope that the partnership with Facebook will further improve on the work we have been doing. ADVERTISEMENT The Presidency on Sunday night described as irrelevant the reported endorsement of the Peoples Democratic Partys presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the February 16 general elections by some socio-cultural groups in the country. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that five socio-cultural groups including the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and Middle Belt Forum (MBF) had on Sunday endorsed the PDP presidential candidate for the forthcoming presidential candidate. But, the presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, in a statement, dismissed the position of the groups, saying that the PDP was only hiding in the bunker of ethnicity to avoid its inevitable defeat. According to him, the current scenario resembles efforts to stop Mr Buhari in 2015 by the same characters which failed. The statement read in part: The Peoples Democratic Party is hiding in the bunker of ethnicity to avoid their inevitable defeat but that wont change anything. The current scenario resembles efforts to stop Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 by the same characters. It is an effort to repeat the old experiment that failed in 2015. They failed to stop him from coming to power in 2015 and they will fail yet again on February 16. If all these groups are ganging up against one person, that is President Buhari, it tells you who the formidable candidate in the election is. President Muhammadu Buhari [Photo: Presidency] This gang up they forged, one more time will change nothing. It is for the people to decide, Mr Shehu said. The spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, had also frowned at the endorsement of Mr Abubakar by the groups. Those endorsing Atiku are angry because President Buhari has chosen to relate with the masses directly and not through them, as middlemen, he said. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT A former Nigerian senator, Joseph Waku, has died. He passed on at the National Hospital, Abuja, on Sunday evening, his wife, Rosemary Waku, told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday morning. Mr Waku was 72. Mr Waku was a senator representing Benue North-West Senatorial District from 1999 to 2003. He became a prominent member of the Arewa Consultative Forum shortly after leaving the Senate. He hailed from Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, and was a vocal voice against the incessant killings of Tiv and other ethnic nationalities across central Nigerian by suspected herdsmen. His wife and children survived him. ADVERTISEMENT The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has said the Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has not endorsed his presidential ambition. Mr Sowore disclosed this via his verified Instagram handle on Sunday. Prior to this time, Mr Soyinka had earlier said he is not in support of the candidate of the rulling All Progressive Congress (APC), Muhammodu Buhari and the major opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the coming February 16 presidential election. He described Mr Buhari and Mr Abubakar as part of those that have failed in their responsibilities as leaders of the country. While many Nigerians are waiting for the experienced playwright to declare who he is supporting, Mr. Sowore said Mr Soyinka refused to support him. Prof. Wole Soyinka has expressed to me in private his decision to back a different candidate. We should therefore not be surprised should he choose to announce this. The Sahara Reporters publisher, however, said despite Mr Soyinkas refusal to endorse him, he still respects him and urged his supporters to do same. While I might disagree with his decision, I have great respect for the Nobel Laureate and urge TakeItBackers to accord him the utmost respect at all times. Mr Sowore is among the 73 presidential candidates running for the February 16 presidential election. He has campaigned across Nigeria on a populist policy of free health care for all and zero tolerance to corruption including at the National Assembly. Merino Hernandez, 50, was last living in Waterbury when he was charged with illegally coming back to the United States twice in 2005 and 2011 after he was deported to Mexico, the U.S. Attorneys office said. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has adopted fresh strategies to check vote buying during the forthcoming general elections. The commission also insists that it would not collate and transmit the results of the elections electronically, saying it does not have a place in the nations electoral law. INECs National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, disclosed this on Sunday night during an interactive session with media executives in Abuja. The Presidential and National Assembly elections hold on February 16 while those of governorship and state Houses of Assembly would be conducted on March 2. Vote buying had characterised recent governorship elections in the country. During some of the elections, notably in Anambra, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo and Osun States, voters turned their votes to commodities of trade and boldly struck deals with agents of parties willing to pay the highest price. Lamenting the increasing incidences of vote buying, Mr Okoye said the commission had put in place measures to check the act but that it discovered that sometimes those involved devised other means to thwart its efforts. He said the commission would not disclose the fresh strategies it has adopted for the coming general elections, stating that those planning to buy votes would be shocked on the election day. The other strategies we have designed will not be made known so that they will not go ahead of us, Mr Okoye said. The official said the commission had enhanced the Smart Card Reader in readiness for the poll, adding that it had eliminated the use of incident forms. The commissioner said the results of the elections would be collated and transmitted manually. He explained that though it had conducted pilot of electronic transmission of results and would continue to do so, it would not use the method because it was not recognised by the Electoral Act. We are collating and transmitting manually in accordance with the law. Everything is manual collation and manual transmission of results. INEC is aware that there is a bill before the National Assembly that may likely lead to the amendment of the law, he said. It is important for INEC to pilot in e-collation and transmission of result so that any day the National Assembly amends the law, we will be ready to do that. Mr Okoye further explained that some advanced democracies do not collate and transmit election results and those that were doing it had to revert to manual because they do not trust the technology. He said INEC was presently fine-tuning its preparation for the conduct of the two strands of the election and that the national commissioners had just returned from states where they went to assess the extent and levels of preparation for the polls. He explained that the election would involve the 91 registered political parties and a total of registered voting population of 84,004,084. ADVERTISEMENT He added, The election will take place in 1,558 constituencies and 774 local government areas. The collation of results will take place in 8,809 registration areas/wards and in 119,973 polling units and 57,023 voting points nationwide. Mr Okoye said the presidential election would be contested by a total of 73 candidates while the governorship election would be contested by 1,068 candidates in 29 states. He also said the 109 senatorial seats would be contested by 1,904 candidates while the 360 seats in the House of Representatives would be contested by 4,680 candidates and the 991 state constituencies by 14,583 candidates. He said the 68 area council seats in the FCT would be contested for by 806 candidates. Mr Okoye said INEC had concluded the identification and recruitment of over 814,453 AC-DC hoc staff for election and that their training had commenced in all the 36 states. According to the national commissioner, INEC had also accredited 116 domestic observers and 28 foreign observers for the elections. The Resident Electoral Commissioner in FCT, Yahaya Bello, who was present at the event appealed to the media to partner with the commission for the success of the elections. He said INEC was committed to the policy of inclusiveness and delivery of free, fair and credible elections. ADVERTISEMENT The police in Jigawa said they exhumed a day-old baby buried alive hours after she was declared missing. The police said an investigation launched after the infant was declared missing led operatives to an unmarked grave where the baby was buried alive The police spokesperson, Audu Jinjiri, told PREMIUM TIMES late Monday that the police have arrested a suspect, Ashiru Abubakar, 27, an indigene of Janbiri village in Birnin Kudu Local Government Area of the state. He said the baby spent 28 hours under the ground before the police exhumed her. He explained the suspect impregnated one Hussaina Yusuf, 20, of Tosawa village in Birnin Kudu who gave birth to the baby on February 1. It was alleged that the suspect sneaked into the house of Hussaina while she was asleep and took the newly born baby, went to a nearby bush, dug a grave, then buried her alive. Subsequently on 02/02/2019 (next day), the baby was exhumed from the grave by the police who discovered she was still alive. The baby and mother have been taken to Federal Medical Center, Birnin Kudu, for medical examination and suspect detained while the case is under preliminary investigation. With 12 days to the general elections, the Federal Government has alerted the public to the evil machinations of the opposition to scuttle and discredit the 2019 polls. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed at a media briefing on Monday in Abuja, alleged that the opposition was dispatching a 10-member delegation to some Western capitals, to sell the idea that government had perfected the plan to rig the election. He said the opposition, (apparently referring to the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party), was also instigating widespread violence and attacks on key institutions including the INEC and the police to discredit them Specifically, they are sending a delegation to some Western capitals, including London, Brussels and Washington DC, to push the concocted line that the Buhari Administration has perfected plan to rig the polls. They are therefore pushing for a rejection of the results if the President wins re-election. They are also predicting carnage in the event of the presidents victory. Already, they have started flying the rigging kite domestically, he said. The minister added: They have been engaging in incendiary rhetoric and in making outlandish claims using several fronts, including the nebulous Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) which, by the way, is nothing more than a reincarnated Association for Better Nigeria (ABN). Of course you all know the role that the ABN played in the failed 1993 political transition process. They have targeted, for attacks, the two key institutions that are most critical to the success of the election: INEC and the Police. They have used every malleable and malicious personality to make wild allegations against INEC. He said the strategy by the opposition is to discredit the election even before it is held. Mr Mohammed said he recently alerted the nation to the plot by the opposition elements to scuttle the polls and push the nation into a constitutional crisis that would lead to an interim government. When we raised the alarm, the opposition dismissed it. Of course, they were shocked to have been found out, so we understand their panic reaction. To underscore the seriousness of our alert, a week after our press conference, the National Security Adviser (NSA) met with state governors to also inform them of this same plan to scuttle the polls via widespread violence, he said. The minister said the opposition was going the hog to scuttle the polls because they were convinced, that they could not win. Mr Mohammed assured that the administration was undaunted by the oppositions antics. He restated the commitment of the president to ensure a free, fair and violence-free election. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) on Monday issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet its demands. Josiah Biobelemoye, the national chairman of the union, said this at a rally organised by the union in collaboration with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC). The meeting was to explain the challenges bedevilling the health sector in Abuja. Mr Biobelemoye noted that the seven-day ultimatum was given due to the intervention of clerics and their love for the Nigerian populace. We decided to seek Gods intervention by reporting our offenders to him. Last Friday we attended the Jumaat Prayers while on Sunday we attended Church Service. Fortunately and unfortunately, we met the Minister of Health in the church where we worship, and the Overseer told him that he is in a better position to resolve this matter and allow the populace to receive better health. The cleric further pleaded with us to exercise some patience. Hence we decided to give the seven days ultimatum after which we will report to the NLC that decided to take over the matter, Mr Biobelemoye noted. The chairman listed the demands of the union as unjustified withholding of the salaries of its members for April and May last year, an upward adjustment of CONHESS Salary Structure and headship of hospital departments. Others, according to him, are the implementation of consultancy cadre for JOHESU members and punitive actions against its members at Federal Medical Centre Owerri and Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH). He specifically noted that these demands were outside the ones under the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Mr Biobelemoye added that the rally was organised due to the violation of the May 30 Court Order by the Federal Ministry of Health. According to him, the court ordered the union to suspend the action and also said no party should do anything that will jeopardise the peace in places of work. While we are in the ARD discussing, the Federal Ministry of Health decided to indiscriminately implement no-work-no-pay after the court has said no one should do anything to provoke the other. We refused to take action for over seven months that they violated the courts order because we are mindful of the fact that every strike affects the common man negatively. Earlier, the NLC President, Ayuba Waba, said he would map out actions to ensure the demand of over 90 per cent of the health workforce was met. Mr Wabba further noted that it would work out modalities to compel the minister of health to respect the collective agreement reached with the union. He quoted the National Industrial Court judgment as stipulating that no health worker should be denied his or her arrears and salary adjustment, among others. According to him, instead of obeying that judgment by paying the over 90 per cent workers their dues, the minister paid the medical doctors, which is unfair and unjust. ADVERTISEMENT We will mobilise Nigerian workers to battle; collective bargaining agreement must be respected. He who comes to equity must come with clean hands, Waba said. (NAN) A civil society group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has developed a five-point anti-corruption commitment for candidates in the February 16 presidential election. Adetokunbo Mumuni, the Executive Director of SERAP, unveiled the document at a Pre-Election Public and Enlightenment Session on Anti-corruption on Monday in Lagos. The contestants in the presidential poll include President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC). Others are Kingsley Moghalu (Young Progressive Party), Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim (Alliance for New Nigeria), Tope Fasua (Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party) and Ade Byron (Kowa Party). Mr Mumuni said Nigerias leadership in the next dispensation must demonstrate sufficient will to tackle corruption, which had been the bane of the countrys underdevelopment and the cause of widespread misery among its populace. He said to this end, SERAP had developed the five-point anti-corruption commitments for presidential candidates in respect of security votes and power sector corruption. According to him, the other commitments include judicial corruption, the establishment of special anti-corruption courts and removal of immunity for president, vice -president, state governors and deputy governors. Mr Mumuni said: We expect that the electorate will demand their candidates commitment to these as part of the focal point of their campaign agenda. It is fortuitous in that it is coming at a time when corruption has assumed alarming dimensions in the public and private space. Most importantly so, at a time that we have political gladiators seeking in earnest for attention from the electorate. He said the document was part of SERAPs contribution to not only guide the political leaders in their delivery of the social contract but also to hold them accountable for their actions when they attain power. Also speaking, Dele Seteolu, a lecturer at the Department of Political Science, Lagos State University (LASU), said the commitments developed by SERAP were capable of setting Nigeria on the right path. Mr Seteolu noted that SERAP scheme of security, power, judicial based corruption, removal of immunity clause and creation of special courts were concise and meaningful attempts to engage state officials on the challenge of corruption. According to him, the removal of the immunity clause and the creation of special courts to adjudicate on corruption-related offences were long overdue. There should be political pressure on the political class, especially the presidential candidates to foster legal processes that would lead to the creation of special courts and the extensive reforms of the judicial organ. The allegation of corrupt practices in the judiciary are mind-boggling and creates fear in the public space on the prospect of earning justice at the courts. It is imperative to expose every corrupt judicial official for trial with a view to redeeming the bruised image of this organ, he said. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, has been presented an Appreciation Award. The Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Maritime Branch, gave her the award for her support and exemplary contributions to human development in Port Services. The event held during the associations 40th Anniversary in Lagos. Below are some photographs from the ceremony. The Representative of the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the General Manager, Human Resources, Yahaya Bukar Gana receiving the award from the President of the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Maritime Branch, Comrade Adamu Gora Yau during the event. The Representative of the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the General Manager, Human Resources, Yahaya Bukar Gana receiving the award from the President of the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Maritime Branch, Comrade Adamu Gora Yau during the event. The Representative of the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the General Manager, Human Resources, Yahaya Bukar Gana (standing 4th from right), top Management of NPA and former Presidents of SSASCGOC, Maritime Branch, during the event. The Representative of the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the General Manager, Human Resources, Yahaya Bukar Gana (standing 4th from right), top Management of NPA and former Presidents of SSASCGOC, Maritime Branch, during the event. The Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace has raised an alarm over rising insecurity in the country, as Nigeria approaches the elections. In a communique issued at the end of its second general assembly in Abuja, the forum called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to demonstrate neutrality. It also urged it to prevent a chaotic situation in the country after the election. The 12-point communique which was signed by the forums co-chair members, Sunday Onuoha and Ishaq Sanni, enjoined government and political, as well as religious leaders to sensitise their followers on the need to ensure a peaceful transition. The theme of this years general assembly was; 2019 elections and national security: the role of interfaith communities. The resolution, as contained in the communique include the following: That the present insecurity in the country is worrisome and alarming and call on the government to scale up their efforts to arrest the situation as the 2019 General Elections draws closer As we approach the 2019 General Elections, the government should engage in massive sensitization calling on all to embrace peace and eschew violence before, during and after the elections That the political, religious and traditional leaders and all relevant stakeholders should be careful in their choice of words to avoid heating up the polity. RelatedNews No Content Available That INEC should display their independence and be impartial in the conduct of the 2019 General Elections. That government should beef up security especially in areas ravaged by conflict and ensure that no citizen is disenfranchised owing to prevailing security challenges. That the security agencies should be unbiased and remain neutral while discharging their duties during the forthcoming general elections. The relevant stakeholders such as religious bodies, civil society organizations, town unions, youth groups have critical roles to play to douse the palpable tension and ensure hitch free elections. That politicians should see election as a platform to serve the people and should not instigate violence in the process. That the media should be inclusive and practice peace journalism in their reporting of all national issues and especially on the forthcoming general elections. That the various communities ravaged by conflict should embrace dialogue to resolve their differences rather than revenge and promoting circle of violence. That the government should give serious thought to the challenge of climate change and come up with a workable policy to address it. That the government should do more to control our national borders to arrest the challenge of influx of illegal aliens ADVERTISEMENT The statement also gave a brief history of the interfaith forum. The Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace (IDFP) was established as a national interfaith and intercultural dialogue platform through funding and facilitation of the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID), Vienna Austria. The IDFP was formally inaugurated on 16th January 2017 in Abuja Nigeria with 100 Christian and Islamic leaders evenly divided. The Sultan of Sokoto and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria are the Patrons of the IDFP. KAICIID is an intergovernmental organisation that promotes dialogue to build peace in conflict areas. It does this by enhancing understanding and cooperation between people of different cultures and followers of different religions. The Centre was founded by Austria, Saudi Arabia and Spain. The Holy See is the Founding Observer. Its Board of Directors comprises prominent representatives from five major world religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism). The Board designs and supervises the Centres programmes, it explained. ADVERTISEMENT The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has pledged to end the lingering strike by university lecturers in the country, from his first day at work, if elected the next president of the country. The presidential candidate made this disclosure in Lagos, Sunday evening, at the Silverbird Man of the Year event. According to Mr Abubakar, the industrial action which has denied university students in the country access to education for a period running into four months is disgraceful and thus will receive his first attention as president if voted into office in the February 16 presidential election. I am aghast that as I speak, our students across the nation are not being educated due to the ASUU strike caused by an unresolved debate of about N60 billion. If I get the job I am seeking, my first task on day one along with naming my cabinet will be to end this disgraceful strike and get our students back to their studies. In his remarks, the presidential candidate observed that education plays a pivotal role in the rise to success of any individual or nation and hints further that if he becomes the next president of Nigeria, his administration will increase the budgetary allocation to education in triple fold from the current 7 per cent to not less than 20 per cent. According to Mr Abubakar, I will also triple the amount the Nigerian government spends on education from 7 per cent of its budget today, not just to the 15 per cent recommended by UNESCO, but to 20 per cent. I recognise the value education can bring to the individual and the nation. But even more than that, I want every child in Nigeria to have the opportunities I had. Mr Abubakar further noted that the 2019 presidential election presents an opportunity for a turning point in the development of the country, adding that he has the requisite experience to drive Nigeria to prosperity. He pointed out that three basic lessons are essential for any individual or nation aiming at greatness. These include investment in women, investment in education and investment in opportunities that will create jobs for the people. ADVERTISEMENT A senior Nigerian lawyer, Femi Falana, has asked the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to facilitate the withdrawal of false asset charges against suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen. In a letter to the AGF dated February 3, Mr Falana is demanding that the charges against Mr Onnoghen be withdrawn to nullify the controversial suspension of the accused judicial officer, following an order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal on January, 25. Mr Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, reiterated previous remarks that Mr Onnoghens suspension is illegal and asked Mr Malami to take advantage of the continuation of the matter on January 4, to correct the errors relating to the said suspension. The lawyer noted a petition written by the AGF against Mr Onnoghen to the National Judicial Council. He added that the NJC is the constitutional body to enforce an action against Mr Onnoghen and should be allowed to execute its responsibility. Since the charge of false declaration of assets was filed against the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, by the Code of Conduct Bureau, I have repeatedly requested you to use your good offices to discontinue the case. My request was anchored on the case of Elelu-Habeeb v Attorney-General of the Federation & Ors (2012) 40 WRN 1 where the Supreme Court held that by virtue of Section 292 of the Constitution of Nigeria the head of any of the judicial arms of State and Federal Governments cannot be removed from office without a prior investigation conducted by the National Judicial Council. Having confirmed that you have since submitted a petition to the National Judicial Council alleging grave misconduct against the Chief Justice, I am compelled to request you, once again, to file a nolle prosequi to discontinue the charge pending against his Lordship at the Code of Conduct Tribunal without any further delay. The charge should not be allowed to hang like a Sword of Damocles on the head of the Chief Justice while he is being investigated by the National Judicial Council, Mr Falana said. Mr Falana said the suspension of Mr Onnoghens trial was necessary, in the face of the current petition written to the NJC. He further explained the implication of the desired suspension. As you are no doubt aware, the withdrawal of the case from the Code of Conduct Tribunal will lead to the immediate vacation of the ex parte order relied upon by President Mohammadu Buhari to justify the illegal suspension of the Chief Justice from office and the appointment of Justice Tanko Mohammad as Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria. Even though by virtue of Paragraph 10 (2) (a) of Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) the Code of Conduct Tribunal is empowered to order any public officer to vacate office the power cannot be exercised until such a public officer has been tried and convicted for breaching the provisions of the code of conduct for pubic officers. But as a public officer cannot be removed from office on the basis of an ex parte order granted by any Court or Tribunal in Nigeria we urge you to advise President Buhari to reverse the suspension of the Chief Justice. Once the suspension is reversed Justice Walter Onnoghen will then be prevailed upon to resign as the Chief Justice having lost the moral authority to preside over the affairs on the juridical organ of the Government of the Federation. However, if his Lordship does not call it quits or if the National Judicial Council does not recommend his removal from office you may wish to exercise your powers under section 174 of the Constitution to prosecute him for failure to declare his assets which is a punishsble offence under the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act. It may interest you to know that the decision of the Code of Conduct Tribunal which declared section 3 (d) of the Code of Conduct illegal and unconstitutional was affirmed by the Court of Appeal in Dr. Olubukola Saraki v Federal Republic of Nigeria (unreported) Appeal No CA/A/1/127C/16 in which judgment was delivered on 27th October 2016. A former presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Oby Ezekwesili, has denied the allegation that her presidential race was aimed at getting a ministerial appointment or enriching her pocket. She made this known while addressing the press on Monday in Abuja. She was reacting to allegations levelled against her by her former party claiming her earlier ambition to become president was a ruse. Mrs Ezekwesili stepped down from the presidential race about two weeks ago. Her party has since declared support for President Muhammadu Buhari. Despite stepping down, she said she is set to form a coalition to unseat the two big parties. The ACPN alleged that her race was to get a ministerial appointment and that she had party property still in her possession including cash donated for her campaign. Denials Mrs Ezekwesili said since her stepping down as a minister in 2007, she has turned down ministerial offers from successive administrations so she doesnt need that. Why would I go through the pains of launching a presidential campaign to negotiate for a role I last occupied twelve years ago and have thrice rejected since? Mrs Ezekwesili served as Minister of Education under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. She describes the allegations as theheight of political comedy. Mrs Ezekwesili also denied allegations of looting her campaign donations. Only morally bankrupt politics can make anyone even imagine such accusation against me, she said. She said the allegations are desperate attempts by the ACPN leadership to slander her. Such mud-raking tactics is the reason why our best minds abstain from offering themselves up for political office thus leaving the worst of us to lead the rest. She said this would not stop her from pushing for a better Nigeria. She said this is because her dedication to public accountability is widely known. As an official of the government of Nigeria, I took a 90 per cent salary cut to serve this great country. I left the government with my integrity intact and my name untainted. In all my years in the public, private, or development sector, there has never been any allegation of corruption against me not one. I have stayed true and consistent to my values in private and public. I remained incorruptible in government, she said. Campaign finances Her campaign deputy director, who identified himself as Mr Ini, gave a breakdown of her campaign finance covering both income and expenditure. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Ini said the full details would be up on her campaign site @Oby2019.com. No matter how much we had hoped to raise as campaign support from the public, we designed an accounting system to go beyond the minimum of accountability required by the Electoral Act. For example, the accounting function and system were separate from my candidacy. It was independently managed for the campaign, she said. She said she took her campaign to about 15 states. We took our hopeful message to 15 states and created a unique retail driven campaign that resonated with Nigerians. Appreciating her supporters, the former minister asked her supporters not to believe these vicious lies. Some of our supporters gave us as little as N500 and etched themselves for eternal gratitude in my heart. Do not believe those vicious lies. Your support was part of why our campaign forced issues-based discussions in the presidential contest. Please be proud of what you helped us accomplish, she said. She pleaded for forgiveness and understanding from those who believed she disappointed them by her withdrawal. She assured them the move was for a greater cause. I also saw disappointment by some who had poured their hearts and hopes into actualising our mission to #Fight4Naija, bring back hope to our land and lift 80 million fellow citizens out of extreme poverty. I ask for the forgiveness and understanding of all who are hurt by my withdrawal from the race even as I take comfort in the fact that they would agree with my choice to stand with my values rather than compromise, she said. INECs position correct Reacting to the position of the Independent National Electoral Commission that her withdrawal was too late, she admitted this was so. She said, based on the Electoral Act, the time has elapsed for withdrawal, so the law still sees me as a presidential candidate. She said having suspended her campaign, she would work in the days ahead to ensure her supporters cast their votes instead for a consensus candidate who will emerge from the coalition of willing credible alternatives in the coming days. My lawyers have officially written to INEC in a symbolic gesture to make them aware of my separation from ACPN. Plans Speaking of her plans for the future, she said it was time for her team members to get some rest, and return to their professional work. But as a citizen, she said she had two big priorities going forward. The first is FixPoliticsDotOrg, a values-based movement to disrupt our politics and reconstruct this country and the establishment of a multi-partisan school of politics and governance, she said. RICK ALLEN Says ROCK HALL Induction Is Something Special For DEF LEPPARD Screenshot Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen was interviewed recently by Philadelphia TV and spoke about the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Rick spoke to Whitney Ullman of WTXF/Fox 29 TV for the Good Day Philadelphia show to promote his art exhibitions in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He was also interviewed by phone separately. Rick talked about his latest Legends and Dreams artwork, working with veterans, advice to young artists, vegan food and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. He commented on the Rock Hall fan vote win and Induction. (Phone Interview) - Rick talked about his art exhibitions, the 1984 car accident and recovery, getting into artwork and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction. The 34th annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction takes place on 29th March at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Watch the full 4 minute interview video below. Rick also spoke to Mark Goodman and Alan Light for SiriusXM Volume's Debatable show on the 18th of January. Listen to two clips from this show. The art events took place from 18th t0 20th January in Atlantic City, NJ, Short Hills, NJ and King Of Prussia, PA. Whitney Ullman of WTXF/Fox 29 - Rick Allen Interview Quotes What's your inspiration? "Pretty much my life experience, you know, life before I was with Def Leppard. Life before I came to the United States for the first time which was in 1980. And then since then, you know, I've had incredible experiences just travelling the world with Def Leppard. So you know everything you see from angels to telephone boxes to Buddhas, bottle caps you name it, hearts. It's all part of my life experience." Talk to us about your work with veterans? "Through my own experience of extreme trauma, you know, I suffer from PTSD and when I visited Walter Reed in the D.C. area. I visited some of our wounded vets having spent time around them I realised that they've been through some similar experiences to me. So with my experience of trauma and me talking to them it becomes this wonderful sort of two way street where we help one another." Advice to an upcoming artist? "Do it from your heart. And take inspiration, take direction but really celebrate your own uniqueness." Any hidden talents? "I don't think. Not too many people know that I've been a vegan since I was like 21. So yeah after my accident, you know, it was like a reset. So I thought it was a great way to create less devastation in the world you know. And it was a good way for me to get healthy." What's your favourite vegan dish? "Favourite vegan dishes?. I love Indian food. Any vegan Indian food is great." How excited are you about the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame? "That I just appreciate everybody's support and, you know, I think being part of the Hall Of Fame is really something special for us. And I think the thing that's most special for the whole band is the fact that the Fan Vote really. I think that really influenced, you know, how the final vote came out, How, you know, the fact that we're gonna be in the Hall Of Fame. And yeah I think that to us it's great that people are finally recognising how hard we work." Favourite memory of Atlantic City and Philadelphia? "Philly, the thing I know about Philly is the crowds there whenever they come to see Def Leppard shows they know how to party. They know how to let go and have a good time." Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction We had discussions towards the end of the last tour, and we were just really happy that so many people came out and voted for Def Leppard," he said. "Im hoping that had influence on the Hall of Fame in terms of why were getting in there. SiriusXM Volume - Rick Allen Interview Quotes Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction "Yeah that started to happen. It was right at the end of the last tour and I remember sitting in the car with Joe and just going wow, this is so cool that people are acknowledging, you know, us and the amount of emails and people reaching out to congratulate. It's a big deal and actually. I think, I'm hoping that the fan vote influenced the decision that was made because there were so many people that voted for that you know." Recovery from his car accident "And then for me it became necessity and then discovering the power of the human spirit and just really going you know what?, this is horrible. This is a horrible thing to happen to anybody but I'm gonna do it." Buy 'The Story So Far...The Best Of Def Leppard' Online Amazon - (1CD Regular Edition - 17 Tracks) Amazon - (2CD Deluxe Edition - 35 Tracks) Amazon - (2LP Vinyl Edition) Amazon - (MP3 Regular Edition - 17 Tracks) Amazon - (MP3 Deluxe Edition - 35 Tracks) Buy 'Personal Jesus / We All Need Christmas' Online Amazon - (MP3 - Personal Jesus) Amazon - (MP3 - We All Need Christmas) Buy 'Hysteria The Singles' Online Related News - PHIL COLLEN On DEF LEPPARD's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Setlist Related News - DEF LEPPARD Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Tickets On Sale In February Related News - RICK ALLEN Says DEF LEPPARD Really Excited By Rock Hall Fan Vote Win Related News - JOE ELLIOTT On Sharing Rock Hall Induction With DEF LEPPARD Fans Related News - PHIL COLLEN Says DEF LEPPARD Want BRIAN MAY To Induct Them Into RARHOF Related News - DEF LEPPARD Will Honour STEVE CLARK/Invite PETE WILLIS To Rock Hall Induction share this story: A review of old U.S. diplomatic cables by PREMIUM TIMES has shed fresh light on the circumstances under which Justice Taslim Elias was controversially sacked as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) in August 1975 and how the military government made amends by promoting his election to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague two months later. Until the suspension of Walter Onnoghen by President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Elias was the only CJN removed from office. Other former holders of the office left upon their attainment of the retirement age, which now stands at 70 years. Mr Elias was sacked by General Murtala Muhammed, the Nigerian Army major-general who became Head of State after the July 29, 1975 coup. The putsch ended the nine-year military government of General Yakubu Gowon. Following the coup, the new military regime launched a ferocious purge of the public service. The exercise was so massive that the American embassy in its cable of August 22, 1975 to Washington described it as being of avalanche proportion. Caught in the sweep were senior armed forces officers, including all military officers from the rank of major-general and above, and 94 senior police officers; hundreds of senior federal and state civil servants, nine career ambassadors and some judicial officers. But the name that surprised Nigerians and outside observers most on the list of those sacked or forced to retire was that of Mr Elias. One of Africas greatest jurists, he had been appointed CJN only three years earlier in 1972. Before the appointment, he was the Attorney-General and Federal Commissioner of Justice. He was first appointed Nigerias Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in 1960 and served in the capacity through the whole of the First Republic. After the first Nigerian coup detat in January 1966, the short-lived military government of Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi removed him from the position. However, he was reinstated in November of that year after Mr Gowon became Head of State. Earlier in 1966 after his sack by Mr Aguiyi-Ironsi, the University of Lagos appointed Mr Elias as a professor and dean of its Faculty of Law. When Mr Gowon reinstated him as Attorney-General and Federal Commissioner for Justice, the jurist combined the position with his chair at the University of Lagos. When the military government announced his removal on August 20, 1975, it cited his health as reason for the action. To show he retains its regards, the government issued a statement praising his contributions to the nation and profession of jurisprudence. However, when the American Charge daffaires called on Mr Elias at his residence on August 27 to express regret at his retirement, the jurists told him that health had nothing to do with his removal. According to another American cable of August 29 that year that has been published by Wikileaks, Mr Elias told the envoy the majority of the members of the Supreme Military Council did not support his removal and that it was regretted by the countrys new leadership. Taslim Elias was grateful and reassured Charge (daffaires) that health had nothing to do with his removal, the embassy reported in the cable. He said a small caucus composed of persons (unidentified) in and outside the current government was calling the shots in the FMG (Federal Military Government) and had included his name among those to be sacked. When other members of supreme military council learned of this, a majority of them, including several key northerners, objected strongly. Was decided to rescind the ouster, but at that point announcement of it appeared in the Daily Times; FMG was embarrassed to recant publicly, and therefore tried to excuse it by alleging Elias ill health. But that account is markedly different from the one given by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his book, Not My Will. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Obasanjo, at that time a lieutenant-general, said those who decided on the sack were himself, Mr Muhammed and the then Attorney-General and Federal Commissioner for Justice, Augustine Nnamani. Mr Obasanjo was the de facto deputy to Mr Murtala as the Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters. According to his own account, the military junta decided to extend the purge of the public service to the judiciary because The judiciary had lost credibility and confidence in it had greatly eroded when we came to government. He continued: A Nigerian eminent legal luminary confirmed the situation by saying that he had made up his mind to stop appearing in courts. The situation was that bad and a desperate situation requires a drastic action. Mr Obasanjo then explained why the axe fell on Mr Elias, in spite of the fact that his legal competence was not in doubt and we also acknowledged that he was a great academician. He wrote: His management competence and integrity to administer the judiciary was called to question especially, as a result of the apparent muddle, confusion and ineptitude by the judiciary previously. One issue of integrity that was raised and the accusation against him was the empanelling of a Supreme Court body to hear the appeal of a land case brought by the Chief Justices brother on which the Chief Justice was alleged to have sat, and he chaired that panel which decided in favour of his brother. If it was right legally, we considered it improper and offensive to public morality. We considered his capacity to administer the judiciary thereby impaired. He would not be able to move along with the new order and new dispensation. He had to be relieved of his assignment. It was made known to me by a colleague of Justice Taslim Elias much later after my period in government that Dr. Elias could lose his sense of propriety on issues involving his brother who was his great mentor. This could possibly explain his behavior in this respect. The governments embarrassment over the sack grew as hundreds of friends and well-wishers (200 to 300 a day) descended on Elias residence to express shock, disapproval and concern. Mr Elias was immediately replaced with an outsider from the Supreme Court, Darnley Alexander, a long-time Caribbean resident in Nigeria who at that time was the Chief Judge of Cross River State. Two months later, nevertheless, the military government wrote the secretariat of the International Court of Justice, proposing Mr Elias as the Nigerian candidate for the election for African seat on the court. Mr Obasanjo explained why the junta decided to help a man it just dismissed from his role at home to get another prominent one on the global stage. It was in consideration of Justice Taslim Elias distinguished status as a Jurist, if not as an administrator and a good manager of judicial establishment and to indicate that our intentions were based purely on the fact as we saw them that we recommended him for appointment into the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Not only did we recommend him, we also fought to get him elected against other African candidates who were nominated well ahead of him. Ironically, Mr Gowon had offered him the ICJ seat earlier in the year, Mr Elias told the American envoy. He said he declined the offer, believing he could serve Nigeria better at home. Now, however, with changed circumstances, he is very much interested in ICJ candidacy, the American embassy stated in the cable. Embassy believes Taslim Elias will be a good choice. Embassy recognizes it is not in position to evaluate relative merits of various candidates (Kenyan High Commission has circulated note requesting support for Justice Waiyaki) for seat on ICJ currently held by Nigeria but would simply note: (a) Justice Taslim Elias is a man of stature, highly respected in international circles, recently named a member of the elite International Commission of Jurists; (b) Trained in the UK, Elias was initially cool to the U.S. but has established extensive contacts with U.S. jurists and has become keenly interested in U.S. legal system, which he believes has much to offer Nigeria. Elias has encouraged use of U.S. law texts in Nigeria and has sponsored training of Nigerian law librarians in the U.S. He is interested in federalism and has been looking to the U.S. Constitution for ideas that might be incorporated in a new constitution for Nigeria. (c) U.S. support for Elias nomination to ICJ would help FMG salvage its handling of Elias retirement and should therefore be appreciated by new leadership. Even though he recognised that it was already late for his candidacy to be proposed; as nominations were supposed to be made in June for the election, Mr Elias told the envoy he would be most grateful if U.S.G. (United States Government) could express an interest in his candidacy or lend its support in any way. Apparently, the Americans and their allies did just that, as Mr Elias was in October 1975 elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations to the International Court of Justice at The Hague. In 1979, he was elected Vice-President by his colleagues on that Court. In 1981, after the death of Sir Humphrey Waldock, the President of the Court, Mr Elias took over as Acting President. In 1982, the members of the Court elected him President of the Court. He thus became the first African jurist to hold that honor. Five years later, Mr Elias was also appointed to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. He died on 14 August 1991 in Lagos, his home state, at the age of 77 years. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he has written a letter to Pope Francis urging him to play a mediating role in his countrys political crisis. I have written a letter to Pope Francis [] saying that I serve the cause of Christ, Maduro tells Italian news channel SkyTg24, declaring himself a practising Catholic. In this spirit, I asked him to help us in a process of facilitating and strengthening dialogue, Maduro adds, mentioning other mediation efforts by Mexico, Uruguay, Bolivia and others. I ask the pope to offer his best efforts, his will, to help us on this path of dialogue. I hope we will have a positive answer [from him], Mr Maduro says. Also, Mr Maduro has said he cannot rule out the possibility of civil war as pressure mounts on him to stand down. In a TV interview, he warned that U.S. President Donald Trump would leave the White House stained with blood if he intervened in the crisis. He also defiantly rejected the EUs Sunday deadline to call snap elections. Opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in January and won U.S. backing. He said on Sunday he would build an international coalition to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuelans but Mr Maduro has accused him of organising a coup. Everything depends on the level of madness and aggressiveness of the Northern Empire [the US] and its Western allies. We ask that nobody intervenes in our internal affairs and we prepare ourselves to defend our country, Mr Maduro said. Mr Trump has told U.S. broadcaster CBS the use of military force remains an option. But Mr Maduro warned the U.S. leader he risked a repeat of the Vietnam War in which the U.S. was involved from 1965 to 1973 if he intervened. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers were sent to help fight communist forces in a costly and unsuccessful war which brought domestic civil unrest and international embarrassment. Stop. Stop. Donald Trump! You are making mistakes that are going to stain your hands with blood and you are going to leave the presidency stained with blood, he said. Lets respect each other, or is it that you are going to repeat a Vietnam in Latin America? Sunday saw the expiry of a deadline set by several European countries including France, the UK, Austria, Germany and Spain for Maduro to call early presidential elections. They said that they would recognise Mr Guaido as interim president if no such pledge was forthcoming. ADVERTISEMENT Spains Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged him to call elections as quickly as possible. Venezuela should be the author of its own destiny. The international community has a duty to help and ensure that this happens with the necessary guarantees, he said. French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian said Mr Guaido had the legitimacy to organise presidential elections. People are on the streets, people want change, he told broadcaster France Inter. But Maduro responded: We dont accept ultimatums from anyone. Its like if I told the EU: I give you seven days to recognise the Republic of Catalonia, and if you dont, we are going to take measures. No, international politics cant be based on ultimatums. That was the era of empires and colonies. Thousands took to the streets of the capital Caracas on Saturday for protests in support of both President Maduro and Mr Guaido. Maduro retains the support of the military, but ahead of the demonstrations Mr Guaido received a boost when an air force general Francisco Yanez became the highest-ranking military official yet to pledge support for him. Mr Guaido says he has held private meetings with the military to win support for ousting Maduro. He says he has also reached out to China, one of Maduros most important backers. Mr Maduro has rejected letting aid into the country, telling supporters on Saturday weve never been nor are we a country of beggars. In January, Mr Maduro was sworn in for a second term following disputed elections which many opposition leaders did not contest because they were in jail or boycotting them. Mr Guaido, who is head of Venezuelas National Assembly, declared himself president on January 23. He says the constitution allows him to assume power temporarily when the president is deemed illegitimate. On Saturday he said protests would continue until his supporters had achieved freedom. (dpa/NAN) The Venezuelan government hit back at European countries which on Monday recognised President Nicolas Maduros rival, opposition leader, Juan Guaido, as interim president. Messrs Maduro and Guaido have been battling for legitimacy in a struggle that has drawn in the worlds major powers on one side or the other. I swear that I will defend with my life this fatherland under threat, Maduro said at an event in Aragua State in the north, commemorating the 27th anniversary of a failed coup by his late predecessor Hugo Chavez. Germany, France, Britain and Spain were among the EU states to officially endorse Guaido and call for fresh elections in crisis-hit Venezuela. The Bolivarian republic of Venezuela expresses its most energetic rejection of the decision by some European governments, which officially submit to the strategy of the U.S. administration to topple the government, Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, tweeted. Once more, they follow behind Washington, he added. Venezuela will reconsider its bilateral relations with European countries which recognised Mr Guaido, said the government, which has already broken off diplomatic relations with the U.S. Mr Maduro accused Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, of having taken a terrible decision in recognising Mr Guaido. If a military coup took place in Venezuela, Mr Pedro Sanchez, your hands will forever be stained with blood, he said. The president also announced a campaign to collect signatures against U.S. interventionist acts starting on Wednesday and said they would be handed over to the White House. I call on the Venezuelan people to sign at all the barracks, factories, schools, Mr Maduro said. The international pressure on Venezuelan leader Mr Maduro intensified on Monday as a host of EU nations declared his rival Mr Guaido as interim president. It is only the Venezuelan people that has to decide their future, Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said in a statement. Venezuela has to be the master of its own destiny, and it is up to the international community to help and respect the outcome of the democratic process and verify that it takes place with all necessary guarantees, he said. Last week, several EU nations gave Mr Maduro an eight-day deadline to announce new elections or they would recognise Guaido as the countrys leader. After the cut-off point was reached on Sunday, European capitals began making announcements on Monday morning. By yesterday there was no call for presidential elections, therefore, Guaido is the person . We expect to initiate an election process as quickly as possible and for this task he is the legitimate interim president in the view of Germany and many European partners, German Chancellor, Angela Merkel said. ADVERTISEMENT A joint EU statement was notably missing on Monday, however. Italy was blocking agreement on such a statement, diplomatic sources said, due to a split in opinion in the coalition government. The Five Star Movement was concerned that Maduros departure could affect Italys ties to countries such as Libya, Afghanistan or Iraq. The far-right League is, however, keen to see Maduro leave office. Russia, one of Maduros most powerful foreign backers, having provided billions of dollars of credit to his government in recent years, denounced the diplomatic pressure as meddling in Venezuelas internal affairs. Such intervention does not contribute in any way to a peaceful, effective and vital settlement to the crisis that Venezuelans are enduring, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in comments carried by state news agency TASS. Other EU states to support Mr Guaido include Austria, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg and Portugal. They join the U.S., Canada, Australia and a host of Latin American powers, including Brazil and Argentina. Mr Guaido, the leader of the National Assembly, declared himself interim head of state on January 23. On Monday, Guaido said the EU needed to act in unison so that the forces, who are still supporting Maduro feel all the weight of Europes diplomatic and political pressure. We are in permanent contact with the governments of Spain, France, the United Kingdom and Germany. They showed the most solidarity towards us and they are constantly monitoring events in Venezuela. Their support for us has been fundamental, he said. On Monday, Maduro said he had written to Pope Francis, urging him to play a mediating role. I ask the pope to offer his best efforts, his will, to help us on this path of dialogue. I hope we will have a positive answer [from him], Mr Maduro told Italian news channel SkyTg24. Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have turned out in recent protests to demand Mr Maduros exit, although he appears to have the support of the nations powerful military and security services. He is also backed by Russia, China, Turkey, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua. (dpa/NAN) ADVERTISEMENT A 21-year-old woman has died of suffocation while observing a centurys-old Hindu tradition that banishes menstruating women in Nepals remote far-western region, police said on Monday. Lala Bahadur Dhami, head of police officer in Doti district, said the woman was on the fourth day of her period and had lit a fire to keep herself warm inside a house in the village of Purbichauki. It appears she died of suffocation after the fire. We will know more after the autopsy report is made public, Mr Dhami said. The incident recently occurred three weeks after another woman and her two sons died in similar conditions as a result of the practice in Bajura district. Mr Dhami said the woman, after finding the communal menstruation hut crowded, decided to spend the night on the ground floor of an abandoned house near her home. The victim lived with her mother-in-law since her husband worked as a migrant worker in Malaysia, the police officer said. The practice is common in several districts of western Nepal. It forces women to cowsheds or outhouses and forbids them from touching other people, cattle, vegetables or fruit. The government criminalised the practice in August 2017, however it persists among patriarchal Hindu families that deem menstruating women as impure. (dpa/NAN) Provision of healthcare services in 23 Kenyan counties was paralysed on Monday as nurses went on strike to protest delay in the implementation of an agreement to pay them higher salaries. The nurses strike affected critical services in public hospitals where the bulk of Kenyas low-income earners seek treatment. Union officials said the strike would continue until a collective bargaining agreement negotiated with their employer in November 2017 is implemented in full. Seth Panyako, Secretary-General of Kenya National Union of Nurses, said his members would not relent in their push for higher salaries and perks in line with an agreement signed with the employer. We are demanding full implementation of the collective bargaining agreement of 2017 before the strike by our members is called off. The strike was our last option and hope the stalemate will be solved amicably, said Panyako. Earlier on, Ukur Yatani, Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection, urged the nurses union to call off the strike and embrace dialogue to avoid hurting operations in public health facilities. Yatani appointed a three-member team to resolve the stalemate between the nurses union and the council of governors before the strike kicked off countrywide. The cabinet secretary demanded that the union representing more than 8000 nurses give an additional one month to facilitate implementation of the deal on salary increase. Local media reported that the nurses strike was taking a toll on healthcare services across 23 counties including the capital, Nairobi. The paralysis was pronounced in Nairobi and other major towns like Mombasa and Kisumu where outpatient services in public hospitals were grounded due to absence of nurses. Similarly, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday sent a message of goodwill to the Chinese people ahead of New Year festivities to be marked from Tuesday. Kenyatta in his salutations underscored the long-standing friendship between Nairobi and Beijing that has unleashed benefits across the social, economic, political and cultural spheres. It is a pleasure to send our best wishes to the people of China, and to all those, who will celebrate the Chinese New Year beginning this Tuesday, said Kenyatta. The friendship and partnership between Kenya and China is very old; in recent years, we have drawn even closer together, with tight cooperation now across a whole range of areas, from industry to infrastructure, he added. Chinese nationals will celebrate the 2019 New Year or Spring Festival beginning February 5 amid pomp and pageantry. The 2019 Chinese New Year called the Year of the Pig will provide an opportunity for family reunions and celebration of timeless cultural values and norms that have defined the Asian country. Kenyatta, who has visited China four times since he was sworn into office in April 2013, in his New Year message hailed bilateral ties with the worlds second largest economy. ADVERTISEMENT That cooperation has changed the lives of ordinary people in both countries. In Kenya, we see it most clearly in the Standard Gauge Railway, the regions most ambitious infrastructure project, said Kenyatta. He said the China funded modern railway project had reaffirmed the mutual benefits that are likely to be unlocked against a backdrop of robust ties between Nairobi and Beijing. I look forward, as do the people of Kenya, to working with China, a true partner and friend, in the year to come, said Kenyatta. China has become the leading trading partner and source of foreign direct investments in Kenya since the two countries established diplomatic relationship more than 50 years ago. (Xinhua/NAN) PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 07:50:33 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 # 713 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 Turkish figs are famous for its delicacy since ancient times. Turkish figs are the rich source of phytonutrients, antioxidants, and vitamins. Turkish figs are sweet in flavor, with a chewy texture, unlike most other fruits. Turkish figs are available in different sizes, ranging from small to extra-large, and are offered in fresh or dried form.The Turkish figs market is growing from past few years due to the growth of global food industry. The market is driven by the rising consumption of health-based packaged foods and innovations in manufacturing variety of processed food products by key stakeholders. Emerging markets for health-based packaged foods are projected to generate potential opportunities for Turkish figs.The Turkish figs market is categorized by intense competition, due to the presence of some large-scale firms. The growing demand for Turkish figs in the various region such as North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific is leading towards fierce competition amongst key industry players for capturing the market opportunities.Turkey is largest producer and exporter of dried figs globally, it accounted nearly 70% share of global production and exported more than 75% of its domestic production. Turkey was the largest supplier for figs in the year 2015 with the market size of near about the US $ 30 million.Turkish Figs Market SegmentationTurkish figs market can be segmented by type, by application, by form, and by regions. By type, Turkish figs market is segmented as natural and processed products. The processed products segment is further segmented into Lerida, garland, proto be, pulled, layer and baglama. Turkish figs market by application segment is segmented into confectionaries, dairy products, bakery products, and others. Turkish figs market by form segment is segmented into fresh and dried form. Turkish figs market is further segmented by region as, Latin America, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific. In regional segments, North America and Europe possess significant potential, whereas Latin America and other developing markets such as Asia-Pacific and MEA possess growing market demand for Turkish Figs over the forecast period. Factors stimulating the growth in Asia-Pacific are due to the application of premium food products, which are gaining popularity among all generations. Further, the growth of middle-class population, amplified spending power, and growing urbanization have impelled the demand for Turkish figs products in these regions.Request Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4379 Turkish Figs Global Market Trends and Market Drivers:Turkish figs market has observed strong growth trends with the increase of global food industry. The Turkish figs sector is evident of various investments and expansions opportunities in forms of finished products by many key players. Various associations and organizations promote export, research, and consumer awareness campaigns for the growth of the market. The growing application of Turkish figs in world cuisine and varied food categories such as desserts, bakery products, confectioneries, snacks & bars, cereals, and dairy products is driving the market for Turkish figs product. The growing focus on precautionary health care measures, the launch of varied figs products and technological developments in the manufacturing of Turkish figs product have also enabled the global trade of Turkish figs to a greater extent.Turkish figs are exceedingly versatile in product formulation; therefore they are considered a preferred choice for food manufacturers and also for consumers as they provide both taste and impart health benefits. Every year, manufacturers are introducing the new product, introductions exceeding the production with developments which is leading to the growth of Turkish figs demand.The fluctuating import export tariff rates in individual countries are restraining the growth of Turkish figs market. The higher tax rates lead to increase in the prices of the products which in turn affects the demand for Turkish figs from developing regions, which hampers the growth of the market. Changing climatic conditions is another factor restraining the growth of Turkish figs market. The changing weather conditions hinder the output of Turkish figs. The shortage in production of Turkish figs is also restraining the market growth.Request For TOC@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4379 Turkish Figs Market Key Players:Key global market players supplying different type of Turkish figs products include Incircle Ltd STI., Natura Dried Fruit S.A., Carias Farm, Turkish Dried Figs, Izmir Organic, Alan, Yates's A.S., Yupik, Aurora Natural, and Harris Farms. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 14:05:29 Trona also knew as sodium carbonate is a natural form of sodium sesqui- carbonate. It is a double salt of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate with two waters of hydration. Trona is named from a Swedish term which means native salt. The process of extracting soda ash and sodium bicarbonate starts with the heating of the material followed by refining and purification. Its chemical formula is Na2CO3-NaHCO3:2H2O. In the arid regions, trona forms efflorescent crusts on the walls of caves and mines. Trona is found in deposits Trona is the odorless, light brown solid, crystal or dust used in varied industrial applications such as glass manufacturing and is a common source of soda ash. Soda ash is used in chemicals, paper, textiles, and glass. It is used for water conditioning. The global trona market is anticipated to have significant CAGR owing to vast use in the application and functional uses.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4031 Global Trona Market: Market DynamicsThe glass manufacturers majorly drive the trona market. Trona being a non-energy commodity is not directly affected by the oil, and natural gas prices. It is widely used in industrial applications of soda ash in glass, detergents, and textiles. Moreover, the growth of trona market is fueled by the factors such as availability of trona in the mines, wide industrial applications and concentrated source of mines. Thus trona market is expected to grow with a significant CAGR in the forecast period 2017-2027. However, the major factor affecting the trona market is the environmental issues and air quality concerns. The Environmental Protection Agency is the responsible agency for the maintenance of air quality in the areas where the market exist. Moreover, the prolonged contact with the trona may cause eye and skin irritation. It reacts with the acids to form carbon dioxide and heat. Thus these factors mentioned above stagnates the growth of trona market in the forecast period 2017-2027.Global Trona Market: SegmentationIndustrial use segments global trona market intoChemicalsGlassSoaps and DetergentsMetals and MiningPaper and PulpAnimal FeedAir pollution controlFunctional use segments global trona market intoBath saltsWater treatmentCleaning agentSoftening agentGlobal Trona Market: Segment OverviewThe global trona market is specifically segmented into industrial applications and functional uses. Industrial applications based on soda ash consists of glass manufacturing, chemicals, soap, detergents, and metal and mining. In the animal feed, trona is used as animal feed for dairy cows. It helps to increase milk production. In air pollution control, trona removes oxides of sulfur, hydrochloric acid and hydrofluoric acid from fuel gas emissions. The trona market on the basis of functional uses is segmented into water treatment i.e. for water softener and cleaning. It is also used in swimming pools and as a bath salts. Trona is rapidly calcined to sodium carbonate at or above 275 F. The global trona market is driven majorly by the glass manufacturing industries owing to high dependence on soda ash. The global trona market is expected to grow with significant CAGR in the forecast period.Global Trona Market: Regional OverviewGeographically, global trona market is divided into seven regions including North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa. North America dominates the global trona market. United States lead the market in the exports of trona and ultimately of soda ash in the world. South western Wyoming mines in the Wilkins Peak Member of Green River is the largest deposit for trona in the world. Thus it supplies around 90 percent soda ash of the nation. Apart from United States, trona is also mined in China, Turkey, Africa and Mexico. Asia Pacific also shows significant CAGR and is expected to show positive outlook during forecast period.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4031 Global Trona Market: Market PlayersThe prominent players of the global trona market areTata Chemicals North America, Inc., OCI Chemical Corp. and Solvay Chemicals Inc., PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 14:05:27 Titanium dioxide is a naturally occurring mineral, whose chemical formula is TiO2. Titanium dioxide is processed and refined in a very fine powder after it is mined from earth. It is produced either by sulphate or by chloride process. Rutile, ilmenite, brookite and antanese are its natural forms, which are available as bulk crystals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declared titanium dioxide as GRAS i.e. Generally Regarded As Safe for consumption. FDA also allows use of food grade titanium dioxide usage up to 1 %, without declaring it on products labels. In many consumer products such as personal care and food; titanium dioxide is used as a common additive. Titanium dioxide also provides smooth texture to products such as chocolates and doughnuts, whilst provides abrasive texture in products such as toothpastes and lotions. It is also used to brighten the color of the products whether it be food or personal care. The titanium dioxide nanoparticles are the second most produced nanoparticles in the world. Nanowires and nanotubes made by titanium dioxide are high performance materials. Titanium dioxide imparts brightness, opacity and whiteness when used as a coating. It is extensively used as a white pigment in the paint industry.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4030 Global Titanium Dioxide Market: Market DynamicsThe increase in use of plastic and paper as packaging materials is fostering the growth of titanium dioxide market. The increasing number of patents and research activities is developing new applications of titanium dioxide creating a base for its further production. The growing need for high-scratch resistant materials is increasing the demand of titanium dioxide as a coating material.The use of calcium phosphate and silica dioxide as a substitute can affect the titanium dioxide market in future.Titanium dioxide is listed as a Group 2B carcinogen by the International Agency for Research (IARC) on Cancer which means it can cause cancer in human beings. More studies on hazardous effects on direct inhalation of titanium dioxide are being conducted, which can affect the steady growth of titanium dioxide market. The self-cleaning, odor reducing and water shedding properties of titanium dioxide makes it an ideal coating material for sustainable construction projects. The increasing use of personal care products in Middle East and Latin American countries is increasing the scope of more production of titanium dioxide in the respective regions. The growing infrastructure development in the Asia Pacific countries includes the growing usage of paints and coating materials, which are produced with titanium dioxide as a major ingredient. The increasing awareness for beauty and personal grooming around the globe especially in Chinese citizens is indirectly increasing the titanium dioxide demand by fostering the demand for cosmetic products.The growing trend for low weight automobiles is fostering the growth of nanoparticles of titanium dioxide. The increase in use of low volatile paints and coatings in sustainable housing projects is creating the growth opportunities for titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide coating on construction materials is used to maintain the indoor quality of air in commercial and residential buildings. Reflective properties of titanium dioxide make it ideal for manufacturing solar panels.Global Titanium Dioxide Market: Market SegmentationOn the basis of application:FoodBeveragesCosmeticsManufacturingOn the basis of form:Rutile gradeAntanese gradeGlobal Titanium Dioxide Market: Segmentation OverviewThe titanium dioxide market can be segmented on the basis of its applications. Titanium dioxide is used in the production of various cosmetic products such as creams, toners etc. The property of reflecting UVA and UVB radiations of the sun makes titanium dioxide a key ingredient for sunscreen lotions. It is also used in the manufacture of different construction materials such as fibers, paints, coatings etc. Titanium dioxide is used in food industry as an additive and coloring agent. It also increases shelf life of various food products which are sensitive to UV radiations. Dairy products such as mayonnaise, yogurt etc. also contain titanium dioxide. The photo catalytic activity of titanium dioxide diversifies the scope of its applications in various industries such as automobiles (manufacturing of side mirrors). It is used for coating glass and cement. Titanium dioxide has replaced lead in the paint industry and is also used in the production of cleaning products used in households. Titanium oxide is used in the packaging industry for making light weight films. Other applications of titanium dioxide are preparation of printing inks, artificial fiber, rubber and semiconductors. Titanium dioxide market can be segmented on the basis of form i.e. Antanese and Rutile. Rutile titanium dioxide pigments are preferred over antanese because they are more stable and they scatter light more efficiently.Global Titanium Dioxide Market: Regional OutlookThe global iron oxides and hydroxides market is divided into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). The APEJ region, holds a significant market share of titanium dioxide owing to the growth of cosmetic industry. The market in North America and Europe, is more inclined towards increasing consumption of titanium dioxide for construction of sustainable habitats using innovative materials manufactured from titanium dioxide such as paints and surface coatings. Furthermore, the robust growth of construction materials such as abrasives, adhesives and sealants, wherein titanium dioxide is the key chemical ingredient, aids in boosting the titanium dioxide market in the aforesaid regions.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4030 Global Titanium Dioxide Market: Prominent Market PlayersDuPont, Huntsman, Evonik, Argex Titanium, Tronox Limited, Henan Billions Chemicals are some of the prominent players in global titanium dioxide market. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 14:09:39 Distinct from other ceramic materials, zirconium dioxide is a dynamic material used in the manufacturing of many domestic and industrial products. Zirconium dioxide, which is also known as zirconia is expected to find potential market opportunities for its varied range of applications over the forecast period. The recent technological developments have accelerated the demand for zirconium dioxide, which in turn helped gain lucrative market share by advanced materials companies and multi-national chemical companies in terms of production of nanoparticles of zirconium dioxide. Thus, the zirconium dioxide market is expected to develop significantly in the near future owing to the increased production of nano particles. The increase in demand for high-quality zirconium dioxide in the field of medical, electronic, steel and so on are expected to bolster the market growth considerably over the forecast period. The zirconium dioxide is expected to be a popular ceramic in the upcoming decade owing to its increasing application in numerous industries around the world.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4153 Zirconium Dioxide Market: Drivers and RestraintsZirconium dioxide is available in plenty from nature and it contains no toxic elements, which makes it easy to discharge the waste back into the nature. Thus, zirconium dioxide is one of the extensively used ceramic materials ranging its applications from dental, such as bridges and crowns, to paints and lacquers and so on. An outstanding compatibility has been identified between zirconium dioxides with the connective tissues in the human body, which makes it prevalent in surgery practices for joint implants that drives the zirconium dioxide market. Another attractive factor about zirconium dioxide is its use in jewelry as a diamond imitation, which is expected to boost zirconium dioxide market in making artificial jewelry over the forecast period.The market for zirconium dioxide is expected to grow substantially on industrial level owing to its high temperature and mechanical properties, thermal, chemical and oxidation resistance that has resulted in attracting business houses and scientists in the manufacturing of engineering products on a large and diverse scale that include nuclear fuels, seals, valves, wear parts, bearings, tiles and nose cones for space shuttle and missiles, coating for turbines, aviation engines, diesel engines and many more.However, the significant price of the products using zirconium dioxide becomes a hurdle as the same products made using alumina ceramic are available in lower prices.Zirconium Dioxide Market: SegmentationZirconium dioxide market can be segmented on the basis of form as:Synthetic Zirconium DioxideFused Zirconium DioxideZirconium dioxide market can be segmented on the basis of product type as:Partially StabilizedFully StabilizedZirconia Toughened AluminaTransformation Toughened CeramicTransformation Toughened ZirconiaZirconium dioxide market can be segmented on the basis of application as:DentalAutomobilesIndustrial CatalystElectronicPaintsAntifriction MaterialFuel CellsAviation EngineJewelryBio CeramicsCeramicsZirconium dioxide market can be segmented on the basis of manufacturing process as:Alkaline ProcessFused ProcessChlorination ProcessZirconium dioxide market can be segmented on the basis of End-use segment as:ChemicalSteelRefractoriesFoundryOtherZirconium Dioxide Market: Region wise OutlookBased on the geography, the zirconium dioxide market is expected to be dominated by the U.S., owing to the noteworthy production and consumption of zirconium dioxide in the country, over the forecast period. The U.S. is expected to be followed by Japan for its production of zirconium dioxide nano-particles. The developing countries such as India, Korea and China are rich in availability of zirconium dioxide that will create strong opportunities for zirconium dioxide market along with the wide scope of innovative technologies in the production of electronic displays, wear-resistant coating, thermal barrier and many others.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4153 Zirconium Dioxide Market: Market ParticipantsSome of the examples of market participants in the global zirconium dioxide market are listed below:ZIRCOMET LIMITEDIluka Resource LimitedKenmare Resources plcTronox LimitedCRISTALSaint-Gobain ZirPro PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 08:42:36 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 # 659 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 Tea tree oil is distilled from the leaves of tea tree and also known as melaleuca alternifolia. Tea tree oil has wide application in cosmetics and personal care products due to its natural and antiseptic properties. In addition, the demand for tea tree oil is also increasing due to its purity and quality and which is primarily influencing the personal care and cosmetic manufacturers to use this oil as a natural and herbal ingredient in their products. In health care industry also the demand for tree oil is increasing as it is used for health care treatments related to skin infections, acne, cuts, scrapes, rashes etc. The primary reason behind increasing demand for tea tree oil in the global healthcare manufacturers is due to its natural antiseptic properties. In the global market, the majority of production accounts from Asia Pacific region such as from Australia and New Zealand.Global Tea Tree Oil Market: Key DriversSome of the key drivers influencing the demand for tea tree oil in the global market is due to increase demand for herbal, natural and organic cosmetic, and personal care products. Tea tree oil is naturally produced from Manuka and Kanuka tea tree and due to which it is widely used as a natural and organic ingredient in products such as skin care, hair care, shampoos, perfumes, soaps, and many others. Nowadays, due to increasing level of income, increasing urban population and consumers greater emphasis towards health care has enforced the manufacturers to focus more towards the quality of raw material or ingredient used in products. Further, the demand for tea tree oil is also increasing in healthcare industry, as it is widely used in health care products related to skin ointments, cold, dental care, and fungal infection and for many other medicinal purposes. The key reason behind increasing demand for tea tree oil in personal care and healthcare industry is due to its antiseptic, antibacterial, and antifungal properties.Request Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4501 Global Tea Tree Oil Market: Market SegmentThe market segment for tea tree oil is segmented by application, by end-use, and by distribution channel. On the basis of application segment, it is segmented into cosmetics, personal care, health care, and others (food). A major application of tea tree oil is in cosmetic and personal products which include skin care products, hair care, body lotions, beauty care products, soaps, deodorant perfumes, sanitizer etc. In health care sector, it is used in skin care products such as for fungal infection, acne, dandruff etc. and also used in health care products related to mouth, ear and nose infections and creams used for cuts and scrapes. Further, the market for tea tree oil is segmented by end-use includes commercial use and household use, and the market segment on the basis of distribution channel includes supermarket/hypermarket, wholesaler/distributor, departmental stores, and online retailers. Tea tree oil is also directly purchased by the consumers as a solution to prevent from heal, cuts, common cold, and cough, acne and also for household purpose as an insect repellent and cleaners.Request For TOC@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4501 Global Tea Tree Oil Market: Regional SegmentOn the basis of the regional segment, tea tree oil market is segmented into seven regions including North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan and the Middle East & Africa. On analyzing the market share on the pie chart, it is expected that North America and Asia-Pacific accounts for the majority of share in terms of tea tree oil consumption.Global Tea Tree Oil Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players operating in the global tea tree oil market are NATURES REMEDIES, New Zealand Coromandel Mountains Tea Tree Oil Company Ltd., AOS PRODUCTS PVT. LTD., Young Living Essential Oils, Oribi Oils (Pty) Ltd., Naturally Australian Tea Tree Oil Pty Ltd., Xi'an Natural Field Bio-Technique Co., Ltd., NOW Foods, and Jenbrook Pty Ltd. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 13:05:03 MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2019 / Sphinx Resources Ltd. ("Sphinx" or the "Corporation") (TSX-V: SFX) and its partner SOQUEM announce that they increased the 2,400 meters drilling campaign initially planned to more than 3,500 m as zinc mineralization was intersected in all drill holes. This drilling campaign began on January 4, 2019 and ended on January 28, 2019. These holes were drilled by Forage RJLL Drilling Inc. of Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. A total of 29 holes were drilled on a zinciferous zone traced over 1,500m trenching and stripping (see August 30, 2018 press release). This campaign adds to the 1,525 m of drilling already done by the Sphinx-SOQUEM partners on the Calumet-Sud project.The Calumet-Sud project is adjacent to the site of the former New Calumet mine that produced 3.8 million metric tonnes of ore at a grade of 5.8% Zn, 1.6% Pb, 65 g/t Ag et 0.4 g/t Au from 1944 to 1968 (reference: Annual report New Calumet Mine 1968).The description and sampling of these holes is in progress. This work is done by the Explo-Logik Inc. technical staff from St-Hippolyte, Quebec. The core samples are sent to ALS laboratories in Val-d'Or in compliance with the procedures prescribed by National Instrument 43-101.Next drilling campaignA new drilling campaign is planned to begin during the month of May when all the results of the January campaign have been received and interpreted.Supervision and Qualified PersonThe January 2019 drilling campaign was managed by Sphinx under the supervision of Mr. Jeremie Ryan and under the direction of Mr. Michel Gauthier in the field. Messrs. Ryan and Gauthier are respectively President and CEO, and Director of Sphinx. Mr. Gauthier is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. He holds a BScA (1976), MScA (1978) and PhD (1982) in geological engineering from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal. He is also a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists and is registered on the board of the Quebec Order of Geologists under number 144. This press release was prepared jointly by Messrs. Ryan and Gauthier.About SOQUEMSOQUEM, a subsidiary of Ressources Quebec, is a leading player in mineral exploration in Quebec. Its mission is to explore, discover and develop mining properties in Quebec. SOQUEM has participated in more than 350 exploration projects and contributed to major discoveries of gold, diamonds, lithium and other minerals.About Quebec and SphinxSphinx is a mineral exploration company that focuses its activities in Western Quebec in search of deposits of base metals (zinc, copper, lead) and precious metals (palladium, platinum, gold and silver). Sphinx is particularly active in the Pontiac MRC where its president resides. It has a strong local shareholding that ensures enviable social acceptability.For further information, please consult Sphinx's website or contact:Jeremie RyanPresident and Chief Executive Officer819.664.2632info@ sphinxresources.ca Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and activities to vary materially from targeted results and planning. Such risks and uncertainties include those described in Sphinx's periodic reports including the annual report or in the filings made by Sphinx from time to time with securities regulatory authorities.All forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Sphinx does not undertake to update any such forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.SOURCE: Sphinx Resources Ltd. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 14:05:58 At present, the primary focus of the oil refiners is to convert the residues to produce stable LSFO i.e. low sulphur fuel oil and hydro-treated feedstock as per the market specification. With the increasing demand for secondary resources over the primary ones, the residue hydrodesulphurization catalyst market is expected to account for significant share over the forecast period. The residue hydrodesulphurization catalysts are traded mainly in the oil refineries depending upon the size distribution, pore size and activity grading.The residue hydrodesulphurization catalyst market is estimated based on the operational activities in the oil refineries and petrochemical industries, where metals such as Nickel, Rhodium, Cobalt, Platinum and molybdenum are widely used for catalytic processes in order to reduce sulphur content to a desired level in the final product. This leads to a rise in demand for the residue hydrodesulphurization catalyst market. With the rising concern about air pollution caused by the combustion of gasoline products used in the transportation sector, the market for residue hydrodesulphurization will witness an exponential growth over the forecast period.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4151 Residue Hydrodesulphurization Catalyst Market: Drivers and RestraintsAlthough the sulphur laden crude oil petroleum products have been treated since a longer period, the regulations proclaimed by the environment protection authorities have led to enforce major changes in the refining system to produce low sulphur fuel oil. In regions such as the U.S. and European nations, the government bodies have mandated deep hydrodesulphurization process to produce ultra-low sulphur diesel between the ranges of 300 to 500 ppm by weight of total sulphur. Such major steps adopted to limit environmental damages are expected to create lucrative growth in the residue hydrodesulphurization catalyst market in coming future.Also, it has been observed that the deactivation rate has led to wastage of huge amount of catalyst, which results in reuse of the residue hydrodesulphurization catalyst. The disposal of such materials causes land pollution due to its toxic nature and creates landfill disposal problems. To overcome this, the solubilization process for metal extraction has been adopted to reuse the catalyst in a varied range of applications such as artificial mineral ores. Thus the residue hydrodesulphurization catalyst market is expected to gain opportunities, where spent catalysts are fed as raw material, since its demand over primary mineral resources is increasing.Residue Hydrodesulphurization Catalyst Market: SegmentationResidue hydrodesulphurization catalyst market can be segmented on the basis of product type:Oxide TypeSulfides TypeTransition Metal TypeResidue hydrodesulphurization catalyst market can be segmented on the basis of form:HomogenousHeterogeneousOtherResidue hydrodesulphurization catalyst market can be segmented on the basis of application:Petroleum RefiningChemical SynthesisPetrochemical IndustryCoal Chemical IndustryResidue Hydrodesulphurization Catalyst Market: Region Wise OutlookBased on the geography, the residue hydrodesulphurization catalyst market is expected to be prevalent in North America. The region is recognized for its oil refineries where residue hydrodesulphurization catalysts are expected to be in huge demand for the innovative technologies adopted in order to reduce the sulphur content in the crude oil by-products over the forecast period. The region is followed by the European nations where stringent regulations have to be followed to minimize air pollution.The developing countries such as India and China, with the increasing demand for petroleum products due to significant developments in almost every sector, are expected to account for noteworthy monetary value for residue hydrodesulphurization catalyst market over the forecast period. The Middle East countries such as Kuwait with oil refineries in abundance are expected to account for substantial growth in residue hydrodesulphurization catalyst market over the forecast period.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4151 Residue Hydrodesulphurization Catalyst Market: Market ParticipantsSome of the examples of recognized players in residue hydrodesulphurization catalyst market are listed below:CRI Catalyst CompanyHoneywell International IncChina Petroleum & Chemical CorporationChina National Petroleum CorporationBASF SEHaldor Topsoe A/SAlbemarle Corporation PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 12:25:08 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 # 691 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 Infant Positioning Aids systems are intended to keep infants intact by using external support in order optimize biomechanical alignment, to enhance sensorimotor experiences, skeletal development and support medical conditions. They are aimed to maintain and improve the autonomic and physiological status of the infants. Infant positioning aids facilitate flexion in trunk and limbs appropriately for gestational maturation. They facilitate mobility, support self-regulatory behaviors and prevent delays in development. The goal of infant positioning includes not only promoting physiological flexion, but also the prevention of hips external rotation and head flattering. They are used in the prevention of asymmetrical movement and posture by promoting midline orientation. Traditional infant positioning aids such as boundaries and swaddling's are used to maintain midline orientation and physiological flexion. Swaddlings are used to improve neuromuscular development, improved sleep, decreased startles, improved self-regulation and decrease stress. Boundaries are used to improve postural and motor behavior development, to decrease abrupt movements and to improve midline movements. Alternatives infant positioning aids are designed to allow movement of extremities along with containment of the infant.Infant Positioning Aids Market: Drivers and RestraintsDue to advances in neonatal and prenatal care, there is an increase in survival rates of preterm infants, but the risk of neurodevelopment remains high along with increased risk for motor problems, cerebral palsy and cognitive delays. Infant positioning in physiological flexion is the newborn's ideal position and it promotes joint symmetry and alignment, promotes behavioral organization and self-soothing and neuromuscular development. Effective infant positioning can reduce asymmetry in the infants. All these factors act as a driver in the burgeoning growth of the infant positioning aids market. Along with these, other factors like increasing demand for infant positioning aids to reduce sudden infant death syndrome. Rising prevalence of sudden infant death syndrome is driving towards fast growth of the infant positioning aids marketRequest For Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5261 Regulatory pressure (In 2010, CPSC and FDA have issued a joint warning against the use of infant positioning aids) and limited availability of evidence based data for the effectiveness of infant aids is limiting the growth of the infant positioning aids marketInfant Positioning Aids Market: SegmentationSegmentation based on End UserHospitalsClinicsAmbulatory Surgical CentersInfant Positioning Aids Market: Market OverviewGlobal Infant Positioning Aids market has witnessed a robust growth due to increasing demand due to rising prevalence of sudden infant death syndrome. Infant Positioning Aids market has a presence of many regional players which have a huge market share in emerging countries operating at regional or country level. There are huge opportunities for the untapped markets in emerging countries due to few approved players of the infant positioning aids. The key players in the infant positioning aids market are mainly focused on expansion by collaborations and partnerships with local vendors in increase the market reach of the products. The future of Infant Positioning Aids market anticipated with double CAGR during forecasting period.Infant Positioning Aids Market: Region-Wise OverviewGlobal Infant Positioning Aids market segmented into following regions North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan and the Middle East and Africa. North America is dominant in the Global Infant Positioning Aids market mainly due to increased acceptances by the general population. In North America, particularly the USA is dominating due to the high penetration. Economic conditions in the APAC region are set to drive the Infant Positioning Aids market to new heights. European and APAC are fastest growing region due to rising awareness of Infant Positioning Aids Market. Growth in the Middle East and African region is considerably less when compared to the other regions. However, North America would maintain its position in the Infant Positioning Aids market, though, we are anticipating emerging economies such India, China, Brazil, to have the highest growth rate in Infant Positioning Aids market.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5261 Infant Positioning Aids Market: Key ParticipantsThe key participants in the Infant Positioning Aids market mainly include Koninklijke Philips N.V. and others. Companies are mainly focused on R&D to strengthen core competencies of the companys product portfolio. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 12:25:12 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 # 743 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 Ultrasound skin tightening is a non-invasive, non-surgical cosmetic procedure. Ultrasound skin tightening is also known as ultherapy. Ultrasound skin tightening devices reaches about 5 mm deep under the skin and penetrating in the second layer of muscles underneath the facial muscles. In ultrasound skin tightening procedure, the micro-focused ultrasound waves are used to stimulate collagen production and resulted in the uplift of the face and neck of the body. Ultrasound skin tightening is also used to lift sagging skin, lift the brows and tighten the loose skin around the jowls. It also improves the double chin appearance. In 2014, the Food and Drug Association (FDA) approved the technique for the smoothing decolletage i.e. the chest area lines and wrinkles. The result of ultrasound skin tightening is generally last for a year but in some cases, it may last for around two to three years also.In the current lifestyle, being slim and fit has become the trend. The rising concern about sagging skin and wrinkles leads to the need for skin tightening, which augments the market growth of the ultrasound skin tightening procedures over a forecast period.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5262 The global ultrasound skin tightening devices market is segmented on the basis of indication, modality, and end user.On the basis of modality, the global ultrasound skin tightening devices market is segmented into:PortableNon-portableOn the basis of indication, the global ultrasound skin tightening devices market is segmented into:AgeingMassive weight LossOn the basis of end users, the global ultrasound skin tightening devices market is segmented into:HospitalsDermatology ClinicsCosmetic CentersHome CareThe global ultrasound skin tightening devices market is anticipated to register a significant CAGR over a forecast period. After having a first skin tightening procedure, fresh and young collagen is still being produced a year on and skin continuously gets ageing and needs top up treatment around once in a year, which is the leading factor anticipated to boost the demand and growth of the global ultrasound skin tightening devices market over the forecast period. The ultrasound devices have other benefits such as it promotes thermal energy and promote metabolism, increases blood circulation, lymph drainage and regulates the pH of the skin. Which also boost the demand for devices and propel the growth of the global ultrasound skin tightening devices market. The increasing research and development activities are also expected to drive the market growth over a forecast period.However, the high cost of ultrasound skin tightening devices treatment, may hamper the demand for the procedures and restrain the growth of the global ultrasound skin tightening devices market. The stringent and non-favorable reimbursement coverage policies and the post-procedural possible adverse effects, hypersensitivity, may slow down the demand of procedures and hinder the growth of the global ultrasound skin tightening devices market over the forecast period.On the basis of regional presence, the global ultrasound skin tightening devices market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Currently, North America is contributing the leading shares to the global ultrasound skin tightening devices market in terms of value and anticipated to register a significant CAGR over a forecast period. The Europe is also contributing the moderate shares to the market due to the advanced medical facilities and easy availability of the ultrasound skin tightening devices in the market. APAC is the most lucrative market for the ultrasound skin tightening devices due to increasing trend of being slim and toned and developing cosmetic industry in the region is expected to show a robust growth to the global ultrasound skin tightening devices market. MEA is at a nascent stage to the global ultrasound skin tightening devices market and anticipated to register a decent growth to the market over a forecast period. Overall, the global ultrasound skin tightening devices market is expected to show significant growth over a forecast period.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5262 Market Player:Some of the major market players in ultrasound skin tightening devices market globally include Ulthera, Inc., Daeyang Medical Co. Ltd., Beijing ADSS Development Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Beautylife Electronic Technology Co. Ltd, Beijing Forimi S& T Development Co. Ltd, Dimyth Beauty Equipment Manufacturer, Lumasail Industrial, Inc. etc. The ultrasound skin tightening devices market is currently witnessing a number of strategic collaboration and partnership activities by manufacturers and end users. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Nahcolite Market " report to their offering Future Market insights PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 15:32:54 Press Information Future Market insight 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 Bhudholia MANAGER 8455795705 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 733 Words Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comMANAGER8455795705 Nahcolite (NaHCO3), is a colourless to white carbonate mineral. Nahcolite is naturally occurring sodium bicarbonate. Nahcolite structure consists of planar chains of carbonate groups linked by hydrogen bonds; those planes are bonded together by sodium in six-fold coordination with oxygen. Nahcolite commonly does forms by reaction of carbon dioxide with the mineral named trona in evaporated lake basins. Such surroundings where Nacholite is mostly formed is found in large quantities in the central salt body of Searles Lake, California, and as concentrations up to 5 feet (1.5 metres) thick in oil shale deposits in the Piceance Basin of the Green River Formation in Colorado, from where Nahcolite is commercially mined. Apart from North America Nahcolite has also has been excavated in Botswana and Kenya, and there are sizable deposits in Uganda, Turkey, and Mexico. Coming to its usage in day-to-day life, Nahcolite can be used in traditional applications of sodium bicarbonatee.g., in baking soda and toothpaste. Moreover, Nahcolite can be converted to soda ash (sodium carbonate, Na2CO3) and can be used in various other industrial manufacturing needs. Over the forecast period, Nahcolite is expected to register healthy CAGR over the forecast period.Nahcolite Market: Drivers and RestraintsPrimary factor for growth of Nahcolite is its uses in making of baking soda. Baking soda has an extensive usage as a primary ingredient to make cookies, cakes, biscuits, and similar other baking confectioneries. With rise in population and subsequent demand of various food items, packaged foods, confectionery and bakery item the rise in demand of baking soda is increasing which will catapult the market of Nahcolite. Detergent industry across globe is flourishing which also influences Nahcolite market. Nahcolite ability to absorb moisture and neutralize chemicals results in uses such as to neutralize odors. Due to its relative softness, which means it is not a strong abrasive, it is a common ingredient in toothpaste or used as a replacement for toothpaste. Nahcolite is used for tooth care product since it is believed to kill bacteria, prevent plaque, reduce odors, reduce sensitivity, strengthen enamel, or whiten teeth. Owing to Nahcolite contribution in various commodities which are associated with day to day life of human it can be anticipated that market of Nahcolite is expected to grow substantially over the forecast periodGet More Information @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/nahcolite-market Nahcolite is not harmful for human consumption unless it is not in pure chemical form. Therefore, with least of harmful effects Nahcolite market has no restraints.Nahcolite Market: Market SegmentationBased on the end user industry, Nahcolite market can be segmented into:Food IndustryOral carePharmaceuticalsBased on the sales channel, Nahcolite market can be segmented into:B2BB2CGlobal Nahcolite Market: Regional OutlookBased on the geographic regions, global Nahcolite market is segmented into seven key market segments namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Among the aforementioned regions, APEJ will dominate the Nahcolite market over the forecast period. The countries such as China, India, and South Korea will be the key contributor to the growth of Nahcolite market. Presence of a huge population and various food industries and other industries to meet such a huge populations demand is the key factor for growth of Nahcolite market in APEJ region. North America and Western Europe region will come next to APEJ with respect to growth of Nahcolite market. Even though they are next to APEJ for Nahcolite market but these region are the first movers in using Nahcolite for manufacturing of ingredients, which are used in various food products as well as in manufacturing of other commodities. In Eastern Europe, the market of Nahcolite has also gathered momentum with establishments of various food industries. MEA is also a prominent market for Nahcolite market owing to presence of various food industries that has been established to meet general masses consumption demand. Latin America is also expected to perform well in Nahcolite market. Japan has also a wide range of various food industry that caters to the demand of young Japanese population; such industry provides the necessary scope for growth of Nahcolite market.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3981 Nahcolite: Key PlayersThe major players identified in the global Nahcolite derivatives market includes:PalsgaardFoodchem International CorporationEstelle Chemicals Pvt. Ltd.Parchem fine & specialty chemicals.LiuYang SanJi Chemical Co.,Ltd PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 17:22:24 TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2019 / Renforth Resources Inc. (CSE - RFR) ("Renforth" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the final cash payment ($200,000 CAD) and final share issuance (250,000) required under the terms of Renforth's 100% option on the Parbec Property, located in Malartic Quebec, contiguous to the Canadian Malartic Mine, have been made. Renforth has until January 2020 to complete the work required on the property, there is currently a drill program underway, as announced January 23, 2019.The current program is expected to complete the third hole today, with approximately 950m drilled to date. General details of the current program are as follows;PAR-19-95Target - a step out to the east from prior drilling test strike extensions of the gold bearing Discovery Zone porphyries and magnetic diorite occurrencesResult - the targeted lithologies are observed in the drill core, total length 252mPAR-19-96Target - this was an exploratory step out to the east of ~150m from PAR-19-95 targeting the Cadillac BreakResult - this hole intersected several porphyries interbedded with sediments carrying pyrite stringers that follow joints and shears within the porphyry, and pyrite clots within pegmatitic vein zones, total length 306mPAR-19-97Target - the depth extension of the gold bearing #2 Zone dioritesResult - this hole has successfully intersected the down-dip extension of the targeted diorite zone, as well as a number of wide weakly silicified zones and narrow "magnetic diorite" type zones. In addition, the hole intersected an interesting tuff zone further north than expected, once the contact with the volcanics to the north is reached this hole will terminate, anticipated to be today. The hole is at a current length of 399mThe core from this program is being logged, samples selected will be cut, bagged and tagged and delivered for assay. Once available results will be press released.Brian H. Newton P.Geo, a "qualified person", has read and approved the technical disclosure in this press release.For further information please contact:Renforth Resources Inc.Nicole BrewsterPresident and Chief Executive OfficerT:905-831-9606E: nicole@ renforthresources.com #269 - 1099 Kingston Road, Pickering ON L1V 1B5No securities regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release.Forward Looking StatementsThis news release contains forward-looking statements and information under applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward looking. Forward-looking statements are frequently identified by such words as 'may', 'will', 'plan', 'expect', 'believe', 'anticipate', 'estimate', 'intend' and similar words referring to future events and results. Such statements and information are based on the current opinions and expectations of management. All forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and subject to a variety of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, fluctuating commodity prices, the risks of obtaining necessary approvals, licenses and permits and the availability of financing, as described in more detail in the Company's securities filings available at www.sedar.com . Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements and the reader is cautioned against placing undue reliance thereon. Forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is provided and the Company assumes no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law.SOURCE: Renforth Resources Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 18:11:59 Engages LHA to provide Investor Relations ServicesVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2019 / PowerBand Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: PBX) (OTCQB: PWWBF) (FRA: 1ZVA) (''PowerBand'', ''PBX'' or the ''Company''), a leading online automotive auction, remarketing and sales platform in North America, is pleased to announce that it has received conditional approval from the TSX Venture Exchange (''TSXV'') in respect of the Company's proposed Fundamental Acquisition (previously announced on January 23, 2019) of MUSA Holdings, LLC, and its subsidiaries, including MUSA Auto Finance, LLC (''MUSA''), in a transaction valued at US$15 million.Mike Moen, President/COO of PowerBand, commented, ''We would like to thank the TSX Venture Exchange for their prompt and thorough review of the Fundamental Acquisition and for providing conditional approval of the transaction.'' PowerBand would also like to announce that it has retained the services of Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Inc. (''LHA'') to provide investor relations services to the Company. Services will include providing guidance on best practices for shareholder communication, drafting and reviewing of corporate disclosure and coordinating conferences and presentations with shareholders and the investment community. LHA will be compensated at a rate of US$15,000 per month for an initial four month period. The agreement is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Founded in 1984 with headquarters in New York and offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, LHA is comprised of seasoned professionals working in teams who are committed to serving small-cap companies across multiple industry sectors. Market capitalizations of LHA's clients range from under US$100 million to over US$10 billion.About MUSA Auto FinanceMUSA Auto Finance is a technology innovator in the new and pre-owned vehicle leasing industry and originates its leases from franchised and select independent dealers. In addition, in 2018 MUSA was chosen by Tesla Motors to be a national finance partner. The company is licensed in 33 states and is planning to be doing business in 48 states within the next two years. MUSA maintains its corporate offices in Dallas, Texas.About PowerBand Solutions Inc.PowerBand Solutions Inc. is a technology provider listed on the TSX Venture Exchange that is developing solutions for automotive and other industries that drive efficiency and transparency in the marketplace.PowerBand has developed and commercialized a leading-edge online auction platform that increases revenues and profit margins for its automotive dealership, Original Equipment Manufacturer, commercial fleet and rental company customers. PowerBand's remarketing platform, the PowerBand Exchange, incorporates the industry's latest auction technologies, inventory management, market intelligence, and appraisal processes. For more information, visit www.powerbandsolutions.com For further information, please contact:Richard Goldman, VP Corporate DevelopmentP: 1-866-768-7653FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as ''will'', ''may'', ''should'', ''anticipate'', ''expects'' and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by Canadian securities law.Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.SOURCE: PowerBand Solutions Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 14:05:39 Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) resin is a semi-crystalline organic polymer made of aromatic rings linked with sulphides. PPS is a temperature resistant colour engineered plastic which is white to light tan in colour. It can tolerate temperatures up to 218 C. It possesses unique properties such as resistance to extreme temperature, high mechanical strength, flame retardancy, chemical resistance, relatively higher dimensional stability and is a non-conductor of electricity. These exceptional properties make PPS an effective substitute for thermoset plastics and for metals. Polyphenylene sulfide resins are available in various grades and forms such as fibres, compounds, filaments, coatings and films. PPS resins are reinforced with different strengthening materials, particularly glass fibers, to enhance their thermal and mechanical properties. Polyphenylene Sulfide resins are used in numerous applications such as for production of fibers that are used for making belts, conveyors, filtration media and flame-resistant clothing. Additionally, PPS is used to make electrical insulation, gaskets and packing and papermaking felts.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4068 Market DynamicsWith the growth of the electrical & electronics industry across the globe, the demand for materials involved in the manufacturing of electrical & electronics products is also increasing. Increasing demand for Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) resins for the manufacturing of switches, connectors, etc. is expected to drive the growth of global Polyphenylene Sulfide market. Along with this, increasing use of Polyphenylene Sulfide resins in the automotive industry is another factor driving the growth of the market. Moreover, rising demand for Polyphenylene Sulfide resins for industrial filtration & filter bags application is expected to boost the demand further. That aside, growing demand for high temperature flame resistant coatings is another factor responsible for growth of global PPS market. However, availability of substitutes such as PEI and PEEK as well as instability of raw materials prices may hamper the growth of the global Polyphenylene Sulfide resins market during the forecast period. Comparatively high cost of Polyphenylene Sulfide resins has significantly affected the growth of this market. Also, Polyphenylene Sulfide resins are relatively more difficult to process due to their higher melting points as well as the fillers required to get desired impact strength and this might weight heavily on the PPS market in the long run.SegmentationThe global Polyphenylene Sulfide resins market is segmented on the basis of application intoAutomotive,Electrical & ElectronicsCoatingsIndustrial filtration & filter bagsOthers.The global Polyphenylene Sulfide resins market is segmented on the basis of product type intoReinforcedUn-reinforcedAmong these applications, filtration & filter bags segment accounted for a significant share in the global market and is expected to witness steady growth during the forecast period.Regional outlookGlobal Polyphenylene Sulfide resins market is mainly dominated by the APAC region. Growing interest of foreign investors in developing countries such as China, and India is one the major factors responsible for considerable penetration of PPS in APAC market. Growing automotive industry coupled with increasing demand for electrical & electronics products in APAC region is likely to result in a significant increase in demand for PPS over the forecast period. North America is the second largest market for Polyphenylene Sulfide resins in terms of consumption. Given the high demand for industrial filters and filter bags in North America, the demand for PPS is expected to increase steadily over the forecast period. Middle East & Africa and Latin America are expected to register steady growth over the forecast period.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4068 Key PlayersExamples of some of the market participants in the global Polyphenylene Sulfide resins market identified across the value chain include Celanese Corporation, SK Chemicals, Toray Industries, Lumena, Solvay Specialty Polymers USA, LLC, DIC Corporation, Tosoh Corporation, Zhejiang NHU Special Materials Co Ltd, Kureha Corporation, Lion Idemitsu Composites Co. Ltd, and SABIC. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 14:20:31 Press Information FactMR 11140 Rockville Pike Suite 400 Rockville, MD 20852 United States Abhishek Budholiya Marketing Manager 353-1-4434-232 email https://www.factmr.com/ # 571 Words 11140 Rockville Pike Suite 400 Rockville, MD 20852 United StatesMarketing Manager353-1-4434-232 Increasing geriatric population across the world have propelled the demand for the dermatology devices, which in turn has contributed to the growth of the dermatology devices market. Rising adoption of dermatology devices in parallel to the rapid adoption of technology in the dermatology clinics and hospitals for treating skin disorders have been prominent factors for the growth of dermatology devices market.Spur in the spending capability of consumers have facilitated the access to these devices. Pervasiveness of skin disorders has been rising at the global level, which has created demand for acute treatment devices. Developments in the treatment methodologies such as liposuction devices and laser instruments have been successful in attracting the attention of the consumers. A recent report published by Fact.MR states that the global dermatology devices market is anticipated to surpass the whopping value of US$ 1,000 Mn by 2022.Browse Full Report with TOCDemand for dermatology devices have been surging, which can be attributed to the rising applications for stretch mark reduction treatments. With the advent of the technological advancements in the cosmetic industry, radiofrequency lectrosurgery devices are anticipated to capture the largest market share. On the back of increasing applications of ultrasonic electrosurgery devices, developed economies like North America, are envisaged to exhibit an impressive CAGR during the forecasted period.Dermatology Devices Market: Purview of the ReportThis detailed study begins with a detailed executive summary of the dermatology devices market. This comprehensive report lends an in-depth overview on the important market definitions and market dynamics that aid the stakeholders of this market gain valuable insights on the market scenario. Besides a comprehensive analytics on the key demand drivers of this market, the brief study assesses and incorporates latest trends, recent developments, restraints, challenges, threats, and opportunities that has an evident impact on the market.For More Information Raise EnquiryThis detailed study provides a brief view on several macroeconomic and microeconomic factors that influence the market growth. This descriptive study has been forecasted for the period 2017 2022. The market evaluation has been done in terms of revenue (US$ Mn). This elaborative study provides key information on the supply chain analysis, y-o-y growth of this market, and average pricing analysis.The attractiveness of this market has been estimated and incorporated in this study to provide a holistic outlook on the dermatology devices market. A detailed taxonomy of this market at the global level has been evaluated and included in the report, depending on the type of product type, end user, application, and region.A Brief Outlook on the Geographical Split and Key Companies in the Dermatology Devices MarketOn the basis of geography, the market has been divided into North America, Europe, Latin America, Japan, Asia Pacific except Japan (APEJ), and Middle East and Africa. A brief analysis for each of these regions have been incorporated in this descriptive region, along with revenue comparison, depending on the end user, product type, and application.The leading players in the dermatology devices market consists of B. Braun Melsungen AG, Heal Force Bio-meditech Holdings Limited, Erbe Elektromedizin GmbH, Medtronic Plc, Smith and Nephew Co., Johnson & Johnson Private Limited, AngioDynamics, Inc., and Bovie Medical Corporation. A detailed overview for each of these regions have been included in this report, along with their product type assessment, product type sales data, key financials, recent developments, and SWOT analysis. PET Blow Moulder Market PET Blow Moulder Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 11:36:42 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/ # 625 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 Booming food & beverage industry in the US and Canada demands higher production of plastic containers. Over time, a vast variety of carbonated and non-carbonated drinks have been developed across North America, some of which went on to span the globe. Manufacturers of these drinks and food products continue to seek customized bottles for packaging as their unique designs provided the needed brand identity for products. PET blow molders, thus, have become a key industrial equipment in North America.Future Market Insights recently published its report on the PET blow molder market in North America, excerpts from which project the market to reach US$ 57.3 Mn value by the end of 2026. Although, key findings from the report project that during the forecast period, 2016-2026, the North American PET blow molder market will expand at a moderate pace. The market is presently valued at an estimated US$ 37.5 Mn, and is anticipated to register a moderate CAGR of 4.3%. In terms of volume as well, the market recorded sales of close to 400 PET blow molders by 2016. In the due course of forecast period, around 574 PET blow molders will be sold in North America, exhibiting a sluggish growth at 3.8% CAGR.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/REP-NA-3534 Factors Restraining the Demand for PET Blow Molders in North AmericaThe report, titled PET Blow Molder Market: North America Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026, has compiled multiple factors impacting the growth in demand for PET blow molders in North America. Higher preference to PET bottles by manufacturers of packaged drinking water is expected to drive the demand for PET blow molders in the region. But, the key restraints for North Americas PET blow molder market include:Is it Economical? Blowing machines are majorly utilized by big manufacturers who require large scale output, but this creates a barrier for the other rural industries. If these machines are forced to give an output of a smaller volume, then the manufacturers arent able to fetch much profits. This is because PET blow molders consume the same amount of energy regardless of output volume.Poor Stretch Ratios - These customized bottles have acute stretch ratios, due to which they can bend or even break upon dropping. The bottles should also be able to achieve standard measures set bearing certain force at lower temperatures.Saving Resins Hampers the Bottle Quality - Bottle manufacturers have started to use lesser raw material amount in the manufacturing process. Such bottles tend to collapse at their weakest points, as at those points, the material gets too thin to bear any force. And, these bottles will not be able to bear the load administrated to them during their quality checking process.Companies such as PET All Manufacturing Inc., R& B Plastics Machinery, LLC, Amsler Equipment, Inc., SIPA North America Inc., Nissei ASB Company, Milacron Holdings Corporation, Sidel, Jomar Corporation, Custom-Pak Inc., and Tech-Long Inc. are leading manufacturers of PET blow molders, based across the US and Canada. The PET blow molder market in North America is split into these two countries, where US is projected to remain the dominant country by procuring over 70% of gross revenues throughout the forecast period.On the basis of molding technologies, by 2016, injection blow molding technology accounted for revenues worth nearly US$ 17 Mn. This technology will continue to dominate the market revenues in the years to come. Demand for automatic PET blow molders will also gain traction, exhibiting a market revenue share of whopping 93.6% by 2026-end. The report also reveals that pharmaceuticals and personal care application of PET blow molders will showcase revenue growth above 4.3% CAGR, while food & beverages continue to be largest application of PET blow molders in North America. Get full report now @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/3534 Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. February 04, 2019: This report focuses on the global PC Website Builders status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the PC Website Builders development in United States, Europe and China. Website builders are tools that allow the creation of websites without manual code editing. These builders are available in the form of cloud-based graphical user interface (GUI) tools as software as a service (SaaS), or as downloadable packages that can be installed on local machines. Website builders deliver simple, swift, and affordable website creating services to users without the need of any knowledge of web development frameworks and coding languages. In 2017, the global PC Website Builders market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of xx% during 2018-2025. Download sample Copy of This Report at: https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-pc-website-builders-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025/request-sample The key players covered in this study Weebly, Inc. Squarespace com, Inc. Duda Yola Inc. Jimdo GmbH Yahoo GoDaddy Operating Company, LLC. Homestead Technologies Inc. iBuilt Ltd. Read Complete Report with TOC @ https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-pc-website-builders-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025 Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Laptops Desktops Market segment by Application, split into Personal Websites School/College Websites Business Websites Others 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 PC Website Builders status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. To present the PC Website Builders 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 PC Website Builders 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 PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 09:42:44 Growing number of diabetics in the US, Canada and European countries has been compelling hospitals to keep artificial pancreas systems in stock. Government-funded organisations in North America and Europe are collaborating with local as well as global medical device manufacturers to meet the rising demand for artificial pancreas systems. A latest report published by Future Market Insights reveals that the value of artificial pancreas systems market in North America and Europe reached US$ 86.5 Mn by the end of 2016. The report also predicts that people suffering from diabetes in these regions will keep opting for artificial pancreas systems in order to control their blood sugar levels externally.To Download the Sample of This Report, please: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-na-3058 Lifestyle of residents in Europe and North America is triggering the incidence of diabetes (type 1 as well as type 2) in these regions. Substantial rise in diabetic patients compels doctors, pathologists and endocrinologists to treat patients malfunctioning pancreas superficially. The rate at which a physiological pancreas get replaced with a substitute (artificial pancreas system) will keep gaining momentum in this region. By the end of 2026, more than US$ 280 Mn worth of artificial pancreas systems will be sold in North America and Europe, registering a revenue growth at 12.6% CAGR.Almost every artificial pancreas system sold in these regions will treat patients suffering from type 1 diabetes. In US, the occurrence of diabetes mellitus type 1 is expected to surge beyond control. The US artificial pancreas systems market is presently valued at just over US$ 40 Mn, and will account for over two-third of North Americas artificial pancreas system revenues through 2026. Canadas artificial pancreas system revenues, on the other hand, will surge rampantly at 13.8% CAGR.Hospitals will remain the largest distribution channel for artificial pancreas systems across North America and Europe. Although, the report does highlight a noticeable presence of e-commerce websites in global distribution of medical devices as critical as artificial pancreas systems. Among these regions, North America will remain dominant over Europes artificial pancreas system market. Likewise, the demand for artificial pancreas systems will be fairly high in Western Europe, compared to Eastern Europe. Germany, France, the UK and Poland are leading European countries that are more likely to showcase revenue growth at over 11.5% CAGR.Request to Browse Report Customization @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-na-3058 One of the largest company in North America & Europes artificial pancreas systems market has been identified as Illinois-based medical device manufacturer Medtronic plc. With it, the UK-based Cellnovo is also being recognised as a prominent manufacturer of artificial pancreas systems. Other key players in the artificial pancreas systems market across North America and Europe include, Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., Dexcom Inc., Insulet Corporation, and Tandem Diabetes Care Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 12:25:15 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 # 564 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 Respiration is the main process for the every living organization, as the pollution level is increasing various problem are occurring with respect to lungs. The formation of mucus is the major problem in the lungs which can caused many diseases such as cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, bronchiectasis, and chronic bronchitis. Lungs problem is very complicated which directly affect the lifestyle of the patients, the treatment is generally prescribed and available are medicine which may treat the patients for a time being, as for support the patients suffering from lungs diseases then the high frequency chest-wall oscillation devices is very helpful for the patients. The high frequency chest-wall oscillation devices is easy to carry with them, the device is like a jacket which can be wear and provide the refile to the patients. The high frequency chest-wall oscillation devices is portable and fit on the upper part of the body just as jacket, the device is wearable. The high frequency chest-wall oscillation devices have inflatable air bladder all around.High Frequency Chest-Wall Oscillation Devices Market: Drivers and RestraintsHigh frequency chest-wall oscillation devices is a growing market over the forecast period, as the number of patients are increasing, according to British Lung Foundation approx. 1.2 million individuals are suffering COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in U.K and according to Canadian Lung Association approx. 26,100 individual Canadian peoples are suffering from lungs problem. In U.S 9.3 million cases of chronic bronchitis are registered according to CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) / National Center for Health Statistics. The high costing and the lack of availability of the product in all the geographical region is the hindrance of the product.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5269 High Frequency Chest-Wall Oscillation Devices Market: SegmentationHigh frequency chest-wall oscillation devices market is segmented based onHigh frequency chest-wall oscillation device by product typeSmartvestAfflovestRespirtechVest TypeHigh frequency chest-wall oscillation device by indication typeBronchiectasisCerebral palsyEmphysemaChronic bronchitisSpinal cord injurySpinal muscular atrophyTracheomalaciaMuscular dystrophyDisorders of the diaphragmPneumoniaPost-operative lung transplantOthersHigh frequency chest-wall oscillation device by distribution channelHospitalsClinicsOthersHigh Frequency Chest-Wall Oscillation Devices Market: OverviewHigh frequency chest-wall oscillation device have the highest demand in the market as this device provide proper support to the patients. Players and research scientist are also working to develop more portable devices, so that patients can carry the device with them and have a better lifestyle for their daily works. The players are also directly involved in improving the energy source, so that the device can work all the time with less maintains.igh Frequency Chest-Wall Oscillation Devices Market: Region-wise OutlookGeographically, High Frequency Chest-Wall Oscillation Devices Market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America is a major market for high frequency chest-wall oscillation device, the number of cases registered is high and the players are also present in this region. Europe and Asia Pacific is a growing market as the awareness is increasing about the product and the treatment process.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5267 High Frequency Chest-Wall Oscillation Devices Market: Key PlayersSome of the players in High Frequency Chest-Wall Oscillation Devices Market include: Hill-Rom, Electromed, Inc., Respiratory Technologies, Inc., International Biophysics Corporation and Aetna Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 12:38:48 Summit, Who Spent 20 Years Working with the Scottsdale Police Department, will be developing the First Responder PATH to Recovery Program with Fountain Hills RecoveryFOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2019 / The founders, John and Natalie Salem, of Fountain Hills Recovery, a substance abuse treatment center located in Fountain Hills, Arizona, are pleased to announce that Natalie Summit, LPC has joined their team to develop the First Responders PATH to Recovery Program, which is due to open May 2019.To learn more about Fountain Hills Recovery (FHR) and the inpidualized drug and alcohol treatment programs that they offer currently, please visit www.fountainhillsrecovery.com Summit noted, after serving 20 years with the Scottsdale Police Department as a Police Crisis Intervention Specialist, she had retired but was not yet ready to end her service of helping others. She knew that she still had the energy and passion to continue to help people, but this time, she desired to help her brothers and sisters in Public Safety, specifically those with addiction and mental health concerns. "I was ecstatic to be presented with an opportunity to join forces with Fountain Hills Recovery, a family owned facility, to help develop a treatment program dedicated to serving those First Responders who serve selflessly to help others." Natalie Summit presents with lived experience and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Arizona.Co-Founder/owner Natalie Marston Salem is the daughter of a California Fire Captain who lost his battle with addiction. Both Natalie Summit and Salem bring a personal and family perspective to the equation and can speak to the totality of substance abuse and the effect on the family and community.Summit states that she is committed to designing a culturally sensitive First Responders addiction treatment program utilizing all the intel gathered in her research and connections. "Ultimately, First Responders PATH to Recovery will be the treatment program that I would have come to when I decided to address my own addiction issues." About Fountain Hills Recovery:Fountain Hills Recovery (FHR) is an Arizona Licensed Facility, as well as a Joint Commission Accredited Center, that specializes in Substance and Alcohol Abuse treatment. In addition, FHR excels in Trauma work and other Dual Diagnosis issues. For more information, please visit https://www.fountainhillsrecovery.com/ Fountain Hills Recovery16872 E Ave. of the Fountains, Suite 204Fountain Hills, AZ 85268Contact:Natali Salemnatalie@ fountainhillsrecovery.com 800-715-2004SOURCE: Fountain Hills Recovery PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 12:36:20 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 # 710 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 Mono rapid testing is a type of point of care testing for the qualitative detection of mononucleosis heterophile antibodies in the whole blood. This test is only done for the diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis in the blood sample. Infectious mononucleosis is an acute lymphoproliferative disease. This disease is caused by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and it is non-recognizable disease during its early stages. The diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis is done by mono rapid test kits. This diagnosis is based on the on the evaluation of characteristic serological, clinical, and hematological changes in the blood sample. Physicians suggest to perform the mono rapid test for the detection of infectious mononucleosis if the patient is suffering from fever, pharyngitis, and cervical lymphadenopathy for more than 4 weeks. The result of mono rapid testing can be analyzed in few minute. There is no age restriction to perform the mono rapid testing. The mono rapid test kit includes a cassette, dropper, and reagents such as mono developer solution.Mono Rapid Testing Market: Drivers and RestraintsRising prevalence of infectious mononucleosis diseases due change in the lifestyle of people is the major factor driving the growth of the mono rapid testing market. Beside that mono rapid test kits provide an early and instant diagnosis which allows people for the better treatment option. The rising awareness among the people for the early and rapid diagnosis by using rapid test kits is also fuelling the growth of this market. Moreover, leading manufacturer of mono rapid test kits are also focusing on developing better products will also upsurge he growth of this market over the forecast period. The mono rapid test kit provides only qualitative detection of infectious mononucleosis and quantitative analysis of antigens is not possible with this test which wilt restraint the growth of this market to some extent. Results for mono rapid tests have to be recorded within the stipulated time as with the passage of time, the results are unreliable which will also responsible for the sluggish growth of this market.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5372 Mono Rapid Testing Market: SegmentationThe global Mono Rapid Testing market is classified on the basis of product type, application, end user and geographic region.Based on product type, mono rapid testing market is segmented into following:Lateral Flow Assay KitAgglutination Assay KitsBased on application type, mono rapid testing market is segmented into following:Infectious Diseases TestingSubstance Abuse TestingOthersBased on end user, mono rapid testing market is segmented into following:HospitalClinicsHomecare SettingResearch CentersDiagnostics CentersMono Rapid Testing Market: OverviewMono rapid testing market is expected to gain remarkable growth over the forecast period due to increased focus of leading manufacturer to develop the better product for the diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis. Mono rapid testing is a highly fragmented market with majority of local players. The local players are expected to gain maximum market share for the mono rapid testing market. The trend of in-house laboratory for clinical testing in the physician office has increased the demand for the mono rapid test. Homecare setting and clinics are expected to gain major market share for the mono rapid testing market over the forecast period.Mono Rapid Testing Market: Regional OverviewBased on geographic region Mono Rapid Testing market is classified into seven key regions, North, America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America is expected to dominate the mono rapid testing market which is then followed by Western Europe and Asia-Pacific. The rapid adoption of rapid test kits and increasing awareness among the people will be responsible for the growth of North America and Western Europe. APEJ and Japan and the fastest growing owing to increasing geriatric population in this regions. Latin American and MEA are the least attractive region for the mono rapid testing market due to lack of awareness of people about infectious disease testing.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5372 Mono Rapid Testing Market: Key PlayersExamples of some of the market participants in Mono Rapid Testing market identified across the value chain include Cardinal Health, ELITech Group, Sekisui Diagnostics, Thermofisher Scientific Inc, Cortez Diagnostic, Inc., Quidel Corporation, Genzyme Diagnostics, Jant Pharmacal Corporation. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 09:34:27 Applications of microfluidics in drug delivery and diagnostics will continue to fuel the market for microfluidics over the next few years. The US$ 2.9 Bn microfluidics market will possibly cross US$ 11 Bn by the end of 2026. North America is expected to contribute over US$ 3 Bn to the total revenues in 2026. The collective share of North America and Asia Pacific will be over 40%, states Future Market Insights in a recently published market report outlook, titled Microfluidics Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026.The report by Future Market Insights analyses the global market for microfluidics over a 10-year forecast period, 2016-2026. The market is likely to witness a robust CAGR of 14.4% over the assessed period.For More Information, and to Download the Sample of This Report, please: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-398 Key Insights: Market DynamicsIncreasing discretionary funding from national labs for R&D in the developed regions will remain a primary factor driving the growth of market through 2026.Improving healthcare infrastructure and wide availability of affordable microfluidic devices or kits are also foreseen to boost the market growth in near future, especially in developing countries.Expansion of drug delivery sector will favour the market growth in near future.Consistent advancements in the fields of genomics and proteomics are also expected to benefit the sales of microfluidics-based devices and kits.Dynamic collaborations between key market players and active involvement of government entities will collectively foster the market through 2026.Key Insights: SegmentsCeramics will remain dominant material typeBased on material, ceramics will continue to be the most sought after material for microfluidic device or kit manufacturing. Ceramics segment is expected to remain dominance, accounting for over 42% market value share in 2026, followed by glass, polymer, and silicon. While ceramics is likely to witness the fastest growth, polymer segment is anticipated to exhibit a significant CAGR of over 15% over 2016-2026, driven by PVC.POCT will be dominant application segmentBy application, POCT (point of care testing) segment is projected to retain dominance through 2026, accounting for over 33% share in terms of revenues. Clinical diagnostics and analytical testing will remain the next major segments in the global microfluidics market.In-vitro diagnostics industry will hold maximum revenue shareOn the basis of industry, in-vitro diagnostics, life science research, and pharmaceuticals are likely to be the key segments. In-vitro diagnostics segment is estimated to hold a share of over 35% in the total market revenues. The fastest growing segment will be in-vitro diagnosis.Request to Browse Report Customization @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-398 APEJ will be the most lucrative regional marketGeographically, North America, followed by Western Europe are expected to remain the dominant regions for microfluidics, capturing respective market value share of over 26% and over 21% share by 2026 end. Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) will possibly represent the most lucrative market, expanding at a significant CAGR of over 14% throughout the forecast period. This growth is attributed to growing use of microfluidics devices and kits for in-vitro diagnostics. North America and Western Europe will also exhibit significant growth rates over 2016-2026.Key Insights: Leading Market PlayersSome of the most prominent players in the global microfluidics market, include Agilent Technologies, PerkinElmer Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Qiagen NV, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Fluidigm Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, and F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.Almost all the leading companies serve point of care testing application and survive the competition with an individual differentiating strategy. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Abbott Laboratories, through active engagement in agreements and collaborations with leading regional companies, highlight a growing trend of strategic mergers and acquisitions among the top companies. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 07:55:48 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 # 566 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 Chocolate powdered drinks can be mixed with water or milk to prepare instant chocolate drinks. Water based chocolate powdered drinks are generally cold beverages which include soft drinks or energy drinks. Whereas milk based chocolate based drinks include chocolate drinks, protein shakes, cappuccino mixes. Chocolate powdered drinks can be served cold or hot form depends on consumer needs and wants. Chocolate powdered drinks are beneficial for health with good taste and flavor which attracts all age of consumers, especially kids, teenagers and youngsters consume it in large scale. Vigorous aspects of chocolate powdered drinks are low-cost production and have various health beneficial features to the end user. The potential growth of chocolate powdered drinks has a niche market as compared from tea and coffee globally. Chocolate powdered drinks are mainly consumed at breakfast. Due to hot and humid climatic region of the world, the cocoa market is facing a significant challenge for the overall market growth.Chocolate Powdered Drinks Market: SegmentationChocolate powdered drinks market is segmented on the basis of types, end users and distribution channel. On the basis of product type chocolate powdered drinks are segmented in dark chocolate powdered drink, milk chocolate powdered drinks, white chocolate powdered drinks. On the basis of end users chocolate powdered drinks is segmented in energy drinks, milk beverages, cappuccino mixes, protein shakes and chocolate drinks which can be served hot as well as cold and it also enhances the taste of the drinks, which attracts a large number of consumers. On the basis of distribution channel, the chocolate powdered drinks are segmented into supermarket/ hypermarket, convenience stores, Speciality stores, online and grocery stores. Among the distribution channel segment, hyper/supermarket segment contributes larger market share in terms of revenue. Increasing online purchasing of food and beverage is expected to drive market growth of online segment.Request Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4202 Chocolate Powdered Drinks: Region wise outlookDepending on geographic regions, chocolate powdered drinks market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Africa, particularly West African countries (Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon) produce 70% of the worlds cocoa, according to the World Cocoa foundation are the major producer of cocoa seeds. Brazil is the largest market for chocolate powdered drinks. The countries which are global leaders in cocoa products are Ghana, Belgium, The United Kingdom and Switzerland. The markets of the Middle East, North America as well as Asia-Pacific is rising in both consumption and production of cocoa products and growth is mainly expected from emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil.Chocolate Powdered Drinks: DriversThe growing impact of western culture, increasing disposable incomes of consumers, rising population are the major factors to fuel the growth of global chocolate powdered drinks in Asia-Pacific region. Innovation in the field of chocolate powdered drinks with health benefits such as fortification with DHA, dry fruits, natural herbs , natural flavours, is driving the demand chocolate powdered drinks in Europe and North America. Organic chocolate powdered drinks remain rare and niche which may offer an opportunity for the entrants of several organic brands.Request For TOC@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4202 Chocolate Powdered Drinks: Key playersSome of the key participating players in chocolate powdered drinks globally are Mondelez, Nestle S.A., Gatorade, Mars Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, PepsiCo Inc., Kanegrade Ltd, and others. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 14:05:45 VVT Actuators enable mechanisms such as advancing or retarding valve timings, and also change or overlap or even lift valves in some applications. VVT actuators controls valve timing and contributes significantly to fuel efficiency improvement and emission reduction by optimally adjusting the opening and closing timing of intake and exhaust valve, as per the need of driving condition. These actuators mostly operates hydraulically and typically uses oil pressure to change the position of a phaser mechanism.The technology has been widely used across a variegated range of Japanese and European engines which includes Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen. However, over the last few years many local manufacturers have also incorporated VVT actuators with their engines. The global VVT actuator market is expected to witness decent growth over the forecast period.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4105 VVT ActuatorsMarket: Drivers & RestraintsThe major factors boosting the growth of VVT Actuators market is rising automation across automobile industry. With rising disposable income, the global automobile market is expected to continuously increase over the forecast period. A large chunk of this demand is anticipated to come from the developing nations of Asia pacific and Latin America. This coupled with increasing focus on improving fuel efficiency and incorporating automation for better control, together will drive the market for VVT Actuators. Also, as local and regional car manufacturers also increasingly incorporate VVT actuators, demand is on the go. Furthermore, it is anticipated that many countries will mandate the incorporation of VVT actuator in passenger automotive vehicles, on the backdrop of increasing fuel efficiency, which will significantly fuel the global market for VVT actuators. Further, with the advent of driverless cars demand for VVT Actuators become unavoidable and the factor is expected to fuel the global VVT Actuators market over the end years of forecast period. However, high cost of VVT Actuators, still keeps the technology tapered with high end vehicles.VVT ActuatorsMarket: Market SegmentationThe VVT Actuators Market is segmented on three factors, on the basis of placement side, implementation method and in terms of end use applicationBased on placement side, the VVT Actuators market is segmented into:Intake SideExhaust SideOthersBased on implementation method, the VVT Actuators market is segmented into:Cam SwitchingCam PhasingOscillating CamEccentric cam driveThree-dimensional cam lobeTwo shaft combined cam lobe profileCoaxial two shaft combined cam lobe profileHelical camshaftCamless enginesBased on end use application, the VVT Actuators market is segmented into:AutomotiveAerospace & AvionicsMarineOthersVVT Actuators Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, VVT 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.North America anticipated to be the global leader in terms of demand for VVT Actuators. The region has endorsed some of the most advanced technologies in vehicle automation, and caters wide-scale technological adoption rate. Further with the advent of companies into driverless vehicles, demand in the regions VVT actuators market is anticipated to shoot up over the end of forecast period. Western Europe being home to some of the most prominent global car manufacturers also caters huge demand for VVT Actuators, as many passenger cars and buses in the regions comes equipped with this technology, amid saving significantly on fuel efficiency. With increasing demand for cars in Asia Pacific Exc. Japan (APEJ) region, amid rising disposable income, demand for cars with high end features such as VVT Actuators is also on the rise. A large chunk of demand for VVT actuators is expected to come particularly from China and India based automobile manufacturers, as they shift towards global standards. Latin America, on similar lines as APEJ is expected to boost its demand for automotive vehicles over the forecast period, fuelling more demand for VVT Actuators in the region. Eastern Europe also attracts high demand for VVT Actuators not only from automotive segments, but also from Marine and Aerospace segment. The Middle East and Africa, VVT Actuators market is also expected to witness gradual growth over the forecast period, as global car manufacturers are expected to gradually set up their manufacturing bases in the region, over the last years of the forecast period.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4105 VVT Actuators Market: Key PlayersSome of the players identified in Global VVT Actuators market are:-Mitsubishi Electric CorporationCamcraft, Inc.Metal Seal Precision, Ltd.Mikuni American CorporationZhejiang DiMa Vehicle Industry CompanyAutorun PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 14:06:03 The intake-air temperature sensor is a device which detects, measures and controls the temperature of air that is passing into the engine. Manifold absolute temperature sensor on the vehicle, the intake-air temperature is located in an intake-air passage where else the intake-air is a part of MAS sensor on a vehicle equipped with mass air flow sensor to provide multi-functional sensing unit. A heating element is used in intake-air temperature sensor for generating high or less resistance according to temperature. All the modern high-end vehicles run with the use of controlled engine management system which is computer controlled (engine control module). The engine computer receives data from various sensors installed that regulates and adjust fuel mixture and spark time of the engine to keep running the vehicle in its peak conditions and to accomplish optimal combustion. The air-intake sensor determines volume and density of air entering into an engine. The intake-air temperature sensor monitors the temperature of surrounding air passing into the engine, and the monitored result allows the installed intake-air sensors to make necessary fuel adjustment according to climatic change to ensure the smooth operation of the engine under all conditions and maintain the correct air and fuel ratio.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4178 Global Intake-air Temperature Sensor Market: DynamicsIntake-air temperature sensor plays a vital role in the vehicle engine management system owing to the signal received by the engine controller unit to modulate and shown effects of its impact on the performance of a vehicle. A key driver to intake-air temperature sensor is its ability to determine exact fuel engine requirement to suit the operating air temperature during hot winds of summer as well as freezing nights of winter. Intake-air temperature sensor alters fuel mixture and spark time for optimal combustion of the engine and will display a noticeable increase in power when accelerating adds as a potential factor to the growth of intake-air temperature sensor market. Use of intake-air temperature also ensure maximum fuel efficiency through continuous adjustment of engines air and fuel mixture is another potential factor in the application of intake-air temperature sensor market.Global Intake-air Temperature Sensor Market: SegmentationBased on system sensor: Global Intake-air Temperature Sensor market is segmented intoStandalone intake-air temperature sensorIntegrated into mainfold absolute pressure (MAP) sensorIntegrated into mass air flow (MAF) sensorBased on engine types: Global Intake-air Temperature Sensor market is segmented intoV-twin engineV-6 engineV-8 engineV-12 engineL-3L-4Global Intake-air Temperature Sensor Market: Region Wise OutlookGlobal intake-air temperature sensor market is divided into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Western Europe holds a significant high share in consumption of intake-air temperature sensors owing to the presence of key vehicle manufacturing plants which majorly uses intake-air temperature sensors in their high-end vehicles. North America holds second major share in the global intake-air temperature sensor market owing to the climatic conditions in the regions which boost the application of the intake-air temperature in vehicles. The developed regions of Western Europe and North America are estimated to grow at a healthy CAGR in global intake-air temperature senor market during the forecast period. Intake-air temperature sensor market in Japan also holds significant share is owing to the government regulation to install various sensors that include intake-air temperature sensors in the vehicle. APEJ is estimated to expand at high CAGR in global intake-air temperature sensor owing to the development and advancement of the technology in manufacturing of vehicles that are equipped with various sensor to provide optimum benefit for the safety of the vehicle as well as the user.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4178 Global Intake-air Temperature Sensor Market: Prominent PlayersFew of the prominent players in the Intake-air Temperature Sensor market are as followsDelphi CorporationACDelco CorporationStandard Motor Products CompanyFederal-Mogul Motorparts CorporationMotorcraft-Ford Motor CompanyHella GroupAEM Electronics, Inc.Edelbrock, LLC PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 12:34:59 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 # 667 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 increased use of Implant-borne prosthetics in dental implant grow rapidly due to the treatment of choice to replace missing teeth in partially edentulous areas. The fundamental process involved in implant-borne prosthetics is basically depended on the restoring a dental implant by connecting the implant to the crown of the replaced tooth. There are two main technology used to manufactured and designed the implants such standard prefabricated prosthetic and CAD/Cam. Bone level prosthetics and tissue level prosthetic is the major streamline implant-borne prosthetic type. Innovation in the implant borne prosthetic market gives the comfort, durability, reliability, and precision which further boost the market growth over the forecast period. The implant-borne prosthetic framework can be tailor-made to the patient specific requirement which also assists the growth of the implant-borne prosthetic market. The material used in implant-borne prosthetic also plays an important role to fuel the market.Implant-borne prosthetics Market: Drivers and RestraintSeveral factors such as rising incidence of dental caries, periodontal disease, and increasing geriatric population, and increasing healthcare expenditure are act as driving force for the Implant-borne prosthetics market. Increasing demand for cosmetic dentistry, high awareness are the major driving force for Implant-borne prosthetics market. The high cost of treatment, lack of reimbursement aid and higher tooth loss related risk of the Implant-borne prosthetics can be the restraints for the Implant-borne prosthetics market.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5282 Implant-borne prosthetics Market: SegmentationThe global market for Implant-borne prosthetics segmented by product type, modality, material, end user, and region:Segmented by Product TypeBone level prostheticsTissue Level ProstheticsSegmented by ModalityScrew-retainedCement-retainedRemovableFixedSegmented by MaterialTitaniumZirconiumCeramicOthersSegmented By end UserHospitalsDental ClinicsSegmented by RegionNorth AmericaLatin AmericaWestern EuropeEastern EuropeAPEJ(Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan)JapanThe Middle East and AfricaImplant-borne prosthetics Market: OverviewImplant borne prosthetics are widely used in dental implantation raise Implant-borne prosthetics growth. Emerging countries offer significant growth opportunities during the forecast period owing to increasing patients (for dental treatments) from developed countries, thus prompting international players to expand their geographic presence in these markets, The other benefits of implant-borne that is further triggering the growth of this market. The expansion of dental implantation industry which further increases the revenue growth of Implant-borne prosthetics market. Development in technology and increasing no of dental hospitals assist the market growth for the forecasted period.By Product type, Implant-borne prosthetics can be segmented into bone level prosthetics and tissue level ProstheticsBy Modality, the global Implant-borne prosthetics market is segmented into screw-retained, cement-retained, removable and fixedBy Material, Implant-borne prosthetics can be segmented into titanium, zirconium, ceramic and othersBy End-user, Implant-borne prosthetics can be segmented into Segmented into Hospitals and Dental ClinicsBy region, Implant-borne prosthetics market is segmented into North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and the Middle East and AfricaImplant-borne prosthetics Market: Region-wise OutlookBy region, global Implant-borne prosthetics market is segmented into seven key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ (Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan), Japan and Middle East & Africa. North America followed by Europe will continue to dominate the global Implant-borne prosthetics market attributed to growing number of dental caries case and increasing demand for the cosmetic dental implant. Furthermore, the newly developed product in the Implant-borne prosthetics is also expected to result in higher demand for Implant-borne prosthetics market globally over the forecast period. Asia Pacific excluding Japan is expected to be the emerging region in the global Implant-borne prosthetics market.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5282 Implant-borne prosthetics Market: Key Market ParticipantsThe key players in the Implant-borne prosthetics market are Straumann AG (Switzerland), DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (U.S.), Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (U.S.), Danaher Corporation (U.S.), 3M Company (U.S.), AVINENT Implant System (Spain), CAMLOG Biotechnologies AG (Switzerland), BioHorizons IPH, Inc. (U.S.), OSSTEM IMPLANT Co., Ltd. (South Korea), and Bicon, LLC (U.S.). Future Market Insights PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 15:28:49 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 Abhishek Budholiya Manager 3479183531 email http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 678 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 A heavy Oil Cracking Catalyst is an integral part of any oil refinery process. These catalysts are used to convert high molecular weight and high boiling point hydrocarbons to more valuable products such as olefin gases, gasoline and other petroleum products. The suppliers generally provide a dedicated technical team to their customers to provide better provide pre-sales, sales and after-sales services based on specific requirements of individual refineries to perfectly combine feedstock, operation parameters and catalysts for maximum effectiveness. Heavy Oil Cracking Catalysts help in cracking the hydrocarbon chain in distilled crude oil to produce transportation fuels such as gasoline and diesel fuels and other petroleum-based products. Apart from cracking, Heavy Oil Cracking Catalyst additives are also used to reduce sulfur in gasoline, maximize propylene production in refinery units and reduce sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emission from refinery cracking units. The demand for additives is expected to rise in near future as cracking produces sulphur and nitrogen compounds. The high demand for ultra-low sulphur containing diesel and aviation fuels will be a major driving factor propelling the growth of the heavy oil cracking catalyst market. Also, supply solutions to meet customized needs of the clients through tailored products and services will add to the growth of this market.Heavy Oil Cracking Catalyst Market: Drivers and RestraintsIncreasing scarcity of oil resources is one of the key factors driving demand of Heavy Oil Cracking Catalysts in coming years. These catalysts are required for improving light oil yield and efficiently utilizing existing oil resources. The primary source of air pollution are the olefins that exist in vehicle exhaust. Developing countries such as China and India will face issues regarding depleting petroleum reserves due to high economic growth. Also, increasing usage of petroleum products to cater to rising demand from manufacturing, industrial and transportation sectors is also anticipated to drive the demand for Heavy Oil Cracking Catalysts during the forecast. Cracking catalysts that reduce olefins in gasoline are anticipated to gain importance in coming years to comply with rigorous environmental protection standards being implemented by various government authorities. The demand for heavy oil cracking catalysts will also be fueled by expected technological up gradation and enhancement of existing equipment in the region. However, high operation and investment costs are two major restraints expected to negatively impact future demand for Heavy Oil Cracking Catalysts. Demand for gasoline in developed regions such as Europe and North America is declining and this may heavily impact Heavy Oil Cracking Catalyst industry growth in these regions.Request Sample Report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4187 Heavy Oil Cracking Catalyst Market: SegmentationOn the basis of hydrocarbon type, the Heavy Oil Cracking Catalyst Market can be segmented into:Vacuum Gas Oil (VGO)ResidOil SandsOn the basis of application, the Heavy Oil Cracking Catalyst Market can be segmented into:CrackingOlefin reductionPropene enhancementOther additivesHeavy Oil Cracking Catalyst Market: Region Wise OutlookThe global Heavy Oil Cracking Catalyst Market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). As of 2017, the growth in developed regions such as Western Europe, Japan and North America will be driven by new product innovations that comply with strict government regulation owing to rising environment concerns across the globe. APEJ and Latin America regions are also expected to register a significant CAGR over the forecast period owing to strategically increasing investments in the petroleum refining sector to cater to the growing demand. MEA is also projected to expand with a significant CAGR over the forecast period due to expected future investments in the downstream sector to compliment huge oil reserves in the region.Examples of some of the market participants in the global Heavy Oil Cracking Catalyst Market identified across the value chain include:Haldor TopsoeChina National Petrochemical CompanyAxensJohnson MatheyCRI Catalyst CompanySud-ChemieAlbemarle CorporationGrace Davison, IncBASF SEExxonMobil ChemicalRequest to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4187 Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Non-Lethal Weapons Market by End User (Law Enforcement and Military & Defense), by Product Type (Direct Contact Weapons and Directed Energy Weapons), by Technology (Electromagnetic, Mechanical, and Chemicals) and by Geography - Forecast To 2021 The market report for Non-Lethal Weapons of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions. The global Non-Lethal Weapons market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 9% during 2016-2021 Some Top Key Players: The leading market players in the Non-lethal weapons market primarily include Aardvark Tactical, BAE systems, General Dynamics, KRATOS Defense and Security Solutions, Lamperd Less Lethal. The other prominent players include Brugger & Thomet AG, Condor Non-Lethal Technologies, Metal Storm Ltd, Nonlethal Technologies Inc., Raytheon Co and TASER International, Inc. Non-Lethal Weapons Market Market Overview Non-lethal weapons are used by both the military and the law enforcement forces. Unlike lethal weapons, that can cause casualties, the non-lethal weapons are used to reduce the fatalities to a large extent. These weapons are specifically designed to cause temporary harm or injury to a person. Non-lethal weapons are mainly used for crowd dispersion, controlling civil wars, and controlling illegal protests against governments. Non-lethal have become the weapon of choice for state police forces in many parts of the world where they do not have permit to use lethal weapons on civilians. One of the reasons for this is also the easy availability of non-lethal weapons. They are available legally for the state's use. There are thousands of companies in approximately 100 countries producing small arms and non-lethal weapons. The Small Arms industry has become globalized, with most of the small arms, including non-lethal weapons now being produced in different countries. Non-Lethal Weapons Market Competitive Analysis The global Non-Lethal Weapons Market is a highly fragmented market due to the presence of a large number of established manufacturers, small-sized vendors, and medium-sized vendors. The competitive environment in this market is likely to intensify, during the forecast period, with the increase in product extensions, technological innovations, and increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions. It is expected that international players may grow organically during the forecast period by acquiring smaller players. Established companies are acquiring smaller companies that have a weak financial position and a low market share. Such acquisitions are helping major companies increase their market shares and their geographical presence. It is also helping them enhance their product portfolio. For instance, The Safariland Group acquired the explosive ordnance disposal and crew survivability businesses of Allen-Vanguard Corp., the leader in customized solutions for defeating terrorist and extremist threats. Industry/ Innovation/ Related News: March, 2018:- It was reported that the US military scientists were developing a laser cannon that shoots disembodied voices. March, 2018:- It was reported by the US Pentagon that non-lethal laser technologies would be used during the riots. Non-Lethal Weapons Market Segments For the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding; the non-lethal weapons market is segmented in to four key dynamics: Segmentation by End User: Law Enforcement and Military & Defense. Segmentation by Product Type: Direct Contact Weapons and Directed Energy Weapons. Segmentation by Technology: Electromagnetic, Mechanical, and Chemicals. Segmentation by Regions: Comprises Geographical regions North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South America. 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. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 13:05:01 HARVIA PLC PRESS RELEASE FEBRUARY 4, 2019 AT 2:00 P.M. EET Harvia will publish its Financial Statements Bulletin 2018, on Thursday, 14 February 2019 at around 09:00 a.m. Finnish time. The stock exchange release and the presentation material in Finnish and English will be available at https://www.harvia.fi/en/investors/. Analyst, investor and press briefing Harvia will hold an analyst, investor and press conference on the same day at 11:00 a.m. Finnish time, at Allas Sea Pool, Smart & Clean Showroom (address Katajanokanlaituri, Helsinki, Finland). The conference will be held in English. The conference will be hosted by Harvia's CEO Tapio Pajuharju and CFO Ari Vesterinen. The conference can be followed as a webcast, accessible at https://harvia.videosync.fi/2018-results/register . You can also participate by calling: FI: +358 9 8171 03 10 SE: +46 8 5664 26 51 UK: +443 333000804 US: +1 6319131422 PIN: 32075725# After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions in Finnish and English. A recording of the webcast will be available later at the company's website. HARVIA PLC For further information, please contact: CFO Ari Vesterinen, ari.vesterinen@harvia.fi , tel. +358 40 505 0440 Harvia is one of the leading companies operating in the sauna and spa market globally, as measured by revenue. Harvia's brands and product offering are well-known in the market and the company's comprehensive product offering strives to meet the needs of the international sauna and spa market, of both private and professional customers. Harvia's revenue amounted to EUR 60.1 million in 2017, its operating profit was EUR 9.3 million and adjusted operating profit EUR 10.7 million during the same period. The company employs some 365 professionals in Finland, China and Hong Kong, Romania, Austria, Germany and Estonia. The company is headquartered in Muurame, Finland, adjacent to its largest sauna and sauna component manufacturing facility. Read more www.harvia.fi This announcement is distributed by West Corporation on behalf of West Corporation clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Harvia Oyj via Globenewswire PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 14:05:36 In any type of industrial engine wet steam reduces thermal efficiency, further, it can also cause a hydraulic lock or erode internals. Thus, clean steam separators becomes an essential part of many industrial processes, where handling steam and moisture is unavoidable. A typical steam separator uses a tangential inlet and cyclonic action to instantly separate steam and condensate, however, simpler versions are also available. Clean steam separators come across a variegated range of sizes, for different pressure ranges, for different applications. Demand for clean steam separator is directly proportional to growth of its end use industries. Due to gradually increasing growth rate among most end use industries, the global clean steam separators market is expected to expand with a moderate CAGR over the forecast period.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4060 Clean Steam Separators Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe prime factor boosting the growth in the global Clean Steam Separators market is the rising demand for power across developing nations of Asia Pacific. As coal still remains the most dominant fuel for power generation, demand for steam separators will continue to rise. With reviving economies of US and Western Europe, the chemical and chemical processing industries of the region will also drive the demand for clean steam separators. Furthermore, as regulation become stricter regarding industrial safety, clean steam separators are bound to witness untapped installation areas, where moisture can corrode other equipment. Reviving crude oil prices is also fuelling oil and gas companies to further invest in gas processing stations, which is also driving more demand for clean steam separators.Clean Steam Separators Market: Market SegmentationThe Clean Steam Separators market is segmented into three parts based on material type, structure type and end use industry:Based on material type, the Clean Steam Separators market is segmented into:Cast SteelStainless SteelAluminumBronzeOthersBased on structure type, the Clean Steam Separators market is segmented into:FlangedFabricatedFlanged and FabricatedOthersBased on end use industry, the Clean Steam Separators market is segmented into:Utilities/PowerChemical ProcessingOil and GasFood and BeveragePaper and PulpPharmaceuticalOthersClean Steam Separators Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, Clean Steam Separators market has been categorized into seven key regions including North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ, Japan, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. North America has been the global leader in generating demand for clean steam separators, amid, matured industrialization and its giant thermal power industry. However, over the forecast period, the regions clean steam separator market is expected to witness maturity levels, as focus on renewable energy rises. Contrary, Western Europe is already catering a mature clean steam separators market, but with reviving chemical and pharmaceutical industry of the region, demand for clean steam separators is anticipated to rise gradually over the forecast period. Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ) is expected to present the most impressive growth considering the demand for clean steam separators. China and India are anticipated to take the lead, amid, increasing demand for power in these countries. Also, as prominent chemical processing and oil & gas companies such as BASF, Dow, Shell, etc. initiates their processing facilities in the region, demand for clean steam separator shall witness a rise. Japan is another prominent clean steam separators market and is expected to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. This can be attributed to a number of reasons such as Japans dominant chemical and rubber industry. Latin America and Eastern Europe are also rising markets in terms of demand for clean steam separators, particularly because of rising power demand in the region, and also reviving oil and gas industry. Gas processing in Russia in one such sector which will attract high demand for clean steam separators. Middle East and Africa is also a prominent region in terms of growing demand for clean steam separators, as KSA plans to diversify its economy. Furthermore, the region has always been highly dependent on fossil fuels for its power consumption, which will continue to drive demand for clean steam separators.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4060 Clean Steam Separators Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players identified in Global Clean Steam Separators market are:-EatonDidion SeparatorColton IndustriesKelburn Separation SpecialistsCole Industries Inc.Spirax-Sarco Engineering plcForbes MarshallKadant Inc. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Emollient Esters Market " report to their offering Future Market insights PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 15:08:58 Press Information Future Market insight 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 Bhudholia MANAGER 8455795705 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 632 Words Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comMANAGER8455795705 Emollient esters are chemical ingredients used in the cosmetic product formulations. Emollients offer a barrier to the natural moisture loss from the skin, thereby preventing the evaporation of water from an outer layer of the epidermis. This barrier helps to improve the smoothness of the skin. Emollient esters are formed through the reaction of a fatty alcohol with carboxylic acids. Other emollient types include ethers, silicones, fatty acids, fatty alcohols and hydrocarbons. The personal care industries are the major end users of emollient esters since they improve the sensorial sensation when applying cosmetic products. It offers multi-functional properties, for instance, it offers excellent spreadability on the skin, solubilizes for organic sun filters, as the dispersant for inorganic sun filters. Among various advantages of emollient esters, some of the major ones include modifies the skin to a shiny appearance, conditions the hair, improves the elasticity of skin, prevent skin moisture loss etc.Global Emollient Esters Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe emollient esters offer multi-functional sustainable properties to the personal care formulations which aid in solving the complex problems during manufacturing of cosmetic products. The increasing demand for skin and hair care products across the personal care industry verticals are the main drivers for the global emollient esters market. The growing economies such as BRICs, Middle East countries, growing ageing population are the key characterises areas for the fast growth of personal care industries. The chemical manufacturers and suppliers are keeping pace with the increasing demand for emollient ingredients for hair, skin, oral care etc. The healthy growth of mens grooming market also influences the global emollient ester market to a great extent. Other driving aspects for global emollient esters market are expansion of halal beauty products, natural and bio-based personal care products. However, the strict regulations and compliance across the regions and countries, limits the emollient ester market to some extent since the chemical ingredients manufacturers/suppliers have to provide accurate data and evidence from where the ingredients are sourced.Get More Information @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/emollient-esters-market Global Emollient esters Market: SegmentationOn the basis of application, emollient esters market can be segmented as follows:-Hair CareSkin CareSun CareOral CareOn the basis of end use, emollient esters market can be segmented as follows:-Personal CareCosmeticsOthersGlobal Emollient esters Market: Region wise OutlookThe global emollient esters market is divided into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The personal care market is highly diverse and is expanding at regional levels. The strong demographic trends coupled with changing consumers preference influences the global emollient market. APEJ holds the major share in the global emollient esters market owing to the population growth, a rise in disposable income and urbanisation. North America emollient ester market is influenced by the presence of multinational companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Revlon, Inc., Kimberly Clark etc. Also, the per capita spending of consumers in North America region for beauty and personal care products is high, especially for skin care and hair care. The emollient market in European countries is expected to growth at moderate CAGR where older consumers are more inclined towards using anti-aging, sun protection creams, and anti-wrinkles lotions. The market in some countries of MEA, such as Syria, Iran, Egypt, and Cyprus has been affected due to the geo-political tensions and the civil war.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3947 Global Emollient Esters Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players identified in the global emollient esters market include:Croda International PlcLonza Group LtdBASF CorporationEvonik Industries AGLipo Chemicals, Inc.RITA CorporationAshland Inc.Phoenix Chemical, IncAbitec CorporationStepan Company Garbage Bag Market Garbage Bag Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 11:27:42 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/ # 616 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 The competitive landscape of the market for garbage bag market is a mildly fragmented one marked with the presence of quite a few large players, according to a report published by Future Market Insights (FMI). The key players in the European garbage bag market are Novolasta, s.r.o Senkvice, Extrapack OOD, Pack-It BV, Achaika Plastic S.A., DAGOPLAST AS, Terdex GmbH, International Plastics, MirPack TM, Plasta.It , Primax D.o.o. The key players are now focusing on research and development of garbage bags in a bid to stay ahead in the competition. These market players are also trying to expand their geographical reach through collaborations with local players.So far as geography is considered, the market for European garbage bag has been segmented into Germany, France, Italy, Spain, U.K., Russia, and BENELUX. Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg comprise BENELUX.Owing to the high demand of garbage bags across Europe, the market is anticipated to soar registering a good CAGR during the forecast period of 2016-2026.Demand for Biodegradable Garbage Bags to Bolster GrowthThe market has been segmented into five categories, so far as material is considered. The segments are, namely Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), Liner low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), High-density polyethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene (PP) and others.High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is characterized with high performance and extreme tensile strength and with these qualities, HDPE is forecasted to spearhead the European market for garbage bags. This segment accounted for 30% of the total revenue of the European market in 2016. During the forecast period of 2016-2026, the segment of HDPE is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.5%.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-eu-3034 These garbage bags have the ability to contain substantial amount of weight and are cost effective as well. Such characteristics are expected to propel the market for high-density polyethylene garbage bags. Furthermore, high-density polyethylene or HDPE bags come with biodegradable versions. Biodegradable HDPE bags are made of domestic biomass material thereby diminishing oil dependency. They are also easy to recycle and are frequently used.Developed economies of countries like the U.K. and Germany are expected to fuel the demand for premium garbage bags. These premium garbage bags come with qualities like odour control and ability to stretch and people from the developed countries are willing to pay the extra bucks for these premium quality garbage bags. As such, the opportunity for such premium quality garbage bags are increasing.Stringent Government Policies to Restrain the Growth of the MarketGovernments of several European countries are implementing strict measure to contain the usage of plastic bags. They are imposing regulations wherein the sales of lightweight bags are getting restricted. Countries like Italy, France are applying a complete ban on HDPE plastics bags that are meant for single use. Such bans, though restraining the growth of the market for HDPE garbage bags, help to diminish the harmful effects of plastic bags on the environment, specifically the oceans, lakes, rivers, and the wildlife that inhabit in those water bodies. This is one of the major restraining factors of the European market for garbage bag.In addition, imposition of extra charges and increased taxation by the governments of various European countries on the use of plastic garbage bags are dampening the spirit of the market players. Customers are charged extra for plastic garbage bags at various convenience and retail stores. Such government initiatives play a major role in the diminishing the usage of plastic garbage bags in Europe.This review is as per the findings of a new report by Future Market Insights (FMI) titled, Garbage Bag Market: Europe Industry Analysis & Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026.Get full report now @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/3034 Research Report Insights (RRI) has launched the report titled, Gamma Knife Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Sales and Forecast By 2025: Research Report Insights. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 09:57:19 The global gamma knife market secured US$ 172 Mn in 2015, and is expected to grow at more than 9% CAGR through 2025, accounting for over US$ 400 Mn in terms of revenues. Strong growth is expected in regions such as India, South Korea, the U.S., Japan, EU5 and China. Varian and Elekta medical systems are likely to retain their dominance in developed economies, whereas Huiheng Medical, Inc. based at China will consolidate its position in Asia Pacific. Currently, North America, the biggest market for the gamma knife is likely to demote to second position due to robust acceptance of the gamma knife equipment in Asia Pacific.Report For Sample with Table of Contents@ https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/report/sample/230118-Gamma-Knife-Market Drivers and Trends of MarketInclination towards non-invasive treatments have positively impacted adoption of radiation therapy, with Gamma Knife, LINAC and Cyber Knife gaining traction in healthcare sector. Positive perception toward gamma knife, rising preference for minimally-invasive surgeries and huge success rate are among the key factors anticipated to propel adoption of gamma knife treatment over the forecast period. Medical tourism, emphasis on R&D and increasing expenditure per capita on healthcare are some other factors anticipated to support growth of the market in long run. Improvements in technology that makes gamma knife more effective and safer are also expected to expand its adoption among end-users throughout the forecast period. Yet, high cost continues to be main challenge for widespread adoption and is likely to limit its adoption in developing economies.Request For Report Discount@ https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/report/discount/230118-Gamma-Knife-Market Brain Metastasis to Remain Largest Disease Indication SegmentGamma knife treatment is applicable to treat various disease indications, including trigeminal neuralgia, cancer, brain metastasis, and AVM. Among these, application of gamma knife for remedying brain metastasis is likely to account for significant percentage of total market revenues, trailed by cancer and trigeminal neuralgia. Brain metastasis is likely to remain largest disease indication segment for gamma knife market over the forecast period.Asia Pacific Gamma Knife Market to Expand at Significant CAGRAsia Pacific is likely to pip both Europe and North America to emerge as the largest market for gamma knife by 2025-end. Increasing adoption of gamma knife equipment in India, South Korea, Japan, and China will support expansion of the gamma knife market in Asia Pacific. The gamma knife market in Asia Pacific is estimated to expand at CAGR of more than 10% throughout the forecast period. APEJ will emerge as more lucrative region than Europe and North America however, collectively secure nearly two-fourth revenue share of the global gamma knife market by the end of 2025.Prominent Market Players Strategies to Maintain Market PositionHuiheng Medical, Inc., Elekta, and Varian Medical Systems are prominent gamma knife equipment manufacturers. These players are likely to maintain their position in the market through continuous innovative product development and stepping in into new marketsReport Analysis@ https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/report/analysis/230118-Gamma-Knife-Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 07:53:31 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 # 706 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 Fruit beer is nonspecific term which is generally used to refer various type of beer made from fruit. Fruit beer in any form (stout, large, etc.) contains fruit which is added as a flavoring agent or an adjunct. Fruit beer is originated in Belgium and now it is found in other parts of the world as well. There are lambic and oud bruins which have fruit or fruit syrup added after fermentation as a flavoring and these are termed fruit limbic or fruit beers. Fruity aroma in the fruit beer is very important factor. The strength of the aroma is very much dependent on the fruit used in the brewing process. Some fruits like cherries, plums and raspberries have a more aggressive aroma than the fruit such as blueberries or peach. The aroma of the hop or malt is still present in the fruit beer as it is the base aroma on which fruity smell additionally occur.Market Segmentation:Fruit beer marketis segmented on the basis of flavor, distribution channel and region. On the basis of flavor the fruit beer market is segmented into raspberry, peach, blueberry,cherries, plums and others. Among all these flavor, raspberry flavoured fruit beer segment is expected to account for significant share of total fruit beer market during the forecast period. The demand for fruit beer is more as it is one of the most refreshing beverage consumed during summers and the flavors offered are very much loved by women. On the basis of distribution channel the fruit beer market is segmented into hyper/supermarket stores, departmental stores, specialty store and online retailers. Hyper/supermarket is expected to hold a relatively higher share in the fruit beer market, followed by specialty store segment. As we all know online stores offers great discounts and easy delivery options of the product at the doorstep, thus this segment is anticipated to grow enormously in the forecast periodRequest Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4346 Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of fruit beer is segmented into five different regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, APAC and MEA. Among these segment Europe is expected to represent for the largest market share globally, and is also expected to remain dominant during the forecaster period. In North America, countries like U.S. is the key market for fruit beer. In terms of revenue North America is the expected to be the second leading contributor in thefruit beer market.Market Drivers:The fruit beer market is also driven by the love for refreshing beverage by women population. Fruit beers flavor possess a fine balance between the traditionally found malt beer and the sweetness of fruit. Fruit beers are available in different flavors unlike traditional beers. Furthermore, the unique flavor profile of fruit beers has made it one of the most popular beverage among the consumers in the west.Flavor , much like the aroma, must have a noticeable character imparted by the fruit. The sugar present in selected fruit is generally totally fermented, which creates a drier finish and lighter flavors, because of which the amount of extra added sugar in these beer in considerably less and the flavor of the fruit becomes more noticeable. Rising ever-increasing population, increase in the number of bars and restaurants, disposable income, increase in the acceptance of western culture and relaxation in the rules and regulation related to the operation of fruit beer industry are some of the major driving force for fruit beer market. Increasing disposable income among the working class population allows the consumers to socialize more in bars and restaurants and spend more on alcoholic beverage. In addition, consumers are now willing to pay more for premium segments as well. All these combined factors are fuelling the growth of the fruit beer market in the forecast period globally.Request For TOC@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4346 Market Key Players:Some of the major players in Fruit Beer market includes Joseph James Brewing Company, Inc., Lindemans Brewery, Lost Coast Brewery, Magic Hat Brewing Company, New Belgium Brewing Company, Brewery Ommegang, All Saints Brewery, Shipyard Brewing Company, Unibroue, Wells & Young's Ltd., Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck N.V., Abita Brewing Co. and Pyramid Breweries, Inc. among others PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 07:52:31 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 # 705 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 Frozen yogurt is a frozen dessert which is made up of yogurt and at times other dairy products are also used. The prime ingredient of frozen yogurt are milk fat, milk solid, sweetener (artificial sweetener such as aspartame is used) and culture of yogurt. Frozen yogurt are also known as frogurt. Frozen yogurt was originated in America and now its popular all over the world. Frozen yogurt are generally tarter than ice-cream and is also very much low in fat because of the use of milk instead of cream. It is a conventional soft serve but is very different from ice- cream. It is also termed as low fat light ice-cream. Unlike the normal yogurt, frozen yogurt is not regulated by FDI. There is a misconception in people that frozen yogurt is a probiotic, but its not always true, frozen yogurt may or may not contain live and active bacteria cultures in it. Frozen yogurt also contains vegetable additives such as guar gum, carrageenan, etc. and animal gelatin to stabilize the yogurt which reduces the crystallization of yogurt when it is kept in low temperature.Market Segmentation:Frozen yogurt marketis segment on the basis of type, fat content, flavour, distribution channel and region. On the basis of type the frozen yogurt market is segmented into regular frozen yogurt and sugar free frozen yogurt. On the basis of fat content the frozen yogurt market is segmented into low fat and no fat. The low fat frozen yogurt is made up of part-skim milk or low fat milk and the percentage milk fat is between 2% - 0.5%. No fat frozen yogurt is prepared from skim milk which contains milk fat less than 0.5%. On the basis of flavour the market is segmented into chocolate, peach, mango, strawberry, lemonade, banana, pineapple and others. In this category, strawberry and mango flavored frozen yogurt are gaining the popularity worldwide and is expected to remain dominant over the forecast period. On the basis of distribution channel the market is segmented into supermarket/hypermarket, online stores, specialty stores, grocery stores, and others. Frozen yogurt sold through the specialty stores is expected to hold relatively higher revenue share in the frozen yogurt market, which is followed by supermarket/hypermarketsegment.Request Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4344 Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of frozen yogurt is segmented into seven different regions: North America, Latin America, APAC, Europe and MEA. Among these region North America is expected to have the major market share globally. Europe has also emerged as a prominent market for frozen yogurt, as the popularity of frozen yogurt is increasing in the countries like France, U.K. and Germany, which is expected to fuel the growth of frozen yogurt.Market Drivers:Consumers are more health conscious these days, they tend to consume desserts that are low in fat and has minimal amount of sugar, and frozen yogurt becomes the best alternative to unhealthy desserts as frozen yogurts fulfill both the requirements of consumers, and these factors are expected to drive the market of frozen yogurt. Another factor which is anticipated to boost the sales of frozen yogurt is the distribution of these products through online channels, as online retailers offers a wide variety of frozen yogurt. Moreover, online stores offer frozen yogurt with lucrative offers or coupons. All these benefits combined are expected to act as positive factors driving growth of the global frozen yogurt market over the forecast period. The frozen yogurt market is also driven by the love for refreshing ice-cream alternative by the kids. Kids prefer chilled desserts in the summer seasons and frozen yogurt is a perfect answer to their demands. Moreover, increasing penetration of organized players ensures a highly competitive market scenario, and results in launch of an increasing variety of frozen yogurts, which is expected to boost overall growth of frozen yogurt globally to a substantial extent over the forecast period.Request For TOC@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4344 Market Key Players:Some of the key players in frozen yogurt market includes Menchie's Frozen Yogurt Company, Pinkberry, Honey Hill Farms, Scott Brothers Dairy, Red Mango, Inc., Yogurtland Inc., Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd., TCBY, and Nestle among others. Research Report Insights (RRI) has launched the report titled, Flexible Glass Market: Asia Pacific Industry Analysis, Size, Sales and Forecast By 2020: Research Report Insights. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 10:10:59 A recently published report by Research Report Insights (RRI), reveals that market for flexible glass in Asia Pacific is set to surge at a staggering CAGR of 36.5% between 2014 and 2020 to reach valuation in excess of US$ 600 Mn. Development of displays with higher flexibility threshold is expected to reflect favourably on the flexible glass market in the Asia Pacific in the forthcoming years. Moreover, the flexible glass is likely to find widespread application in 2.5D and 3D semiconductor packaging. In the near future, flexible glass may emerge as a more cost-effective and better alternative for silicon interposer. Developers are also viewing the use of flexible glass in manufacturing flexible OLED display and may potentially replace plastic substrates.Report For Sample with Table of Contents@ https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/report/sample/230126-Flexible-Glass-Market On the basis of application, the market for flexible glass in Asia Pacific is primarily segmented into solar PV (photovoltaic) and display. Among these two, the display application segment currently hold account for the dominant share of the market. In 2013, this segment is was valued at over US$ 74 Mn, and is estimated to stand at a market valuation of over US$ 417 Mn by end for 2020, expanding at a robust pace. In addition, the arrival of Roll2Roll process is expected to further drive the demand for flexible glass, especially in solar PV manufacturing.This, in turn, in boosting the growth of solar PV application and making it the fastest growing segment during the assessment period. The display application segment is sub-divided into curved TV, wearables, tablets, smartphones and displays mounted on buildings. Among these, the smartphones & tablets segment is projected to lead, accounting for more than 50% revenue share of the market by the end of the forecast period. Meanwhile, the curved TV segment is projected to reflect a robust CAGR of 37.1% during the same period. This is primarily attributed to emergence of new market players that are accelerating the demand for flexible glass in manufacturing of curved TV.Request For Report Discount@ https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/report/discount/230126-Flexible-Glass-Market On the basis of countries, the market for flexible glass in Asia Pacific is segmented into South Korea, China, Japan and others. Among these, Japan in currently the most attractive market for flexible glass, followed South Korea and China respectively. In addition, the Japan is anticipate to represent for more than one-fourth share of the market in the region by the end of 2020. Meanwhile, existence of the established smartphone & TV manufacturers coupled with increasing number of research and development centres is expected to boost the growth of the market in South Korea.Factors such as higher investments R&D programs, integration of flexibility threshold in display, introduction of Roll2Roll process for flexible PV is expected to play a significant role is driving the sales of flexible glass in Asia Pacific over the next couple of years.Some of the leading companies functioning in the market for flexible glass in the region include Nippon Electric Glass Company Ltd., Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., Schott AG and Corning Inc. The presence of prominent glass manufacturers makes the market highly competitive in the region.Report Analysis@ https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/report/analysis/230126-Flexible-Glass-Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 19:16:00 ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2019 / Findit, Inc. (OTC PINK: FDIT) a Nevada Corporation helps car dealerships increase their online presence and improve their overall brand image. With a plethora of tools to create customized content, car dealerships can attract new customers to their lots through shareable Right Now Status Updates done on Findit.Findit is a social media content management platform that does not require visitors to the site to join in order to see or share the content on Findit to their other social sites. Members, however, have access to their content dashboard, where they can create Right Now Status Updates that can include text, photos, a video, a press release, and an audio file. The creation of Right Now Status Updates and having your own account on Findit is free, however, car dealerships can take advantage of many of Findit's paid for services to further the reach their content has on social media and in organic search engines.Car dealerships that are looking to attract new customers to their dealership can reserve Findit Keyword URLs. A Findit Keyword URL is an extension of findit.com such as findit.com/toyota-corolla-atlanta or findit.com/bmw-3-series-santa-monica . The purpose of these URLs are to: 1) create a catered message within each URL that is solely about the model of car you are advertising and 2) improve indexing in search engines and in Findit search. By reserving unique Findit URLs for each model on your lot, you will not only be creating useful Right Now Status Updates that are informative and help improve brand and dealership awareness, but through each of your Findit Sites because of your unique vanity URLs, you are helping increase your online presence in outside search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.Car dealerships compete to get customers to come to their dealership to purchase their new or used vehicles. While many customers are loyal to a specific brand or even dealership, many car buyers may not have an idea of where to go to buy their next Audi, BMW, Toyota, Infiniti, or Honda. By reserving Findit URLs that target a specific model in a specific location, such as findit.com/bmw-3-series-marietta or findit.com/roswell-infiniti-q70 , customers that are searching the web can more readily come across your dealership that they may not have known even existed prior to using a search engine to find you. When you reserve these types of geo-specific URLS that include the model name of a car you sell, you are targeting the customers that have not yet heard of you that are looking for the car or truck model that you sell at your dealership.How To Get StartedJoining and using Findit is extremely simple. Account creation takes less than a minute and dealerships have the ability to set up an 'about me' page which can include a profile and banner image, a description, a section to include a link back to your website and title the name of your site, hours of operation, dealership address, and contact information. Everything a potential customer might need to know about your dealership is all available on this single page. For every Findit Keyword URL that you reserve, you can have an about page for that URL, so if you reserve findit.com/bmw-3-series-marietta , that about page can be all about the 3 series BMW, the inventory you have for 3 series and more. The same is true for every additional URL you purchase (3 series, 4 series, 5 series, 7 series, X3, X5, X6 and so on).If you already have an existing LinkedIn Page, Facebook Page, Pinterest Account, and Twitter for your dealership, that is great - and you should keep using these sites to engage the existing audience that already follows you. However, these are closed sites and the only way to get additional followers or exposure on these sites is by paying for sponsored ads and posts or having people come across your page through their friends' feeds that already follow you when they may like or interact with your posts on your page. These closed sites limit indexing in outside search engines.By starting your status updates and content that you want seen on Findit and then sharing to your other social sites, you are engaging the audiences that are coming across your dealership information in organic search results as well as continuing to engage your existing following base on these other social sites. Moreover, posting on Findit allows anyone that visits Findit, even non-members, the ability to share your content to their social feeds, increasing the amount of people that can see your content exponentially.Join Findit today and start posting dealer specials, inventory availability and any other information that you want your followers and new customers to see. Findit empowers you to reach more people in social media and through organic search results and is the right choice for the starting point for your social media content.About Findit, Inc.Findit, Inc., owns Findit.com which is a Social Media Content Management Platform that provides an interactive search engine for all content posted in Findit to appear in Findit search. The site is an open platform that provides access to Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines access to its content posted to Findit so it can be indexed in these search engines as well. Findit provides Members the ability to post, share and manage their content. Once they have posted in Findit, we ensure the content gets indexed in Findit Search results. Findit provides an option for anyone to submit URLs that they want indexed in Findit search result, along with posting status updates through Findit Right Now. Status Updates posted in Findit can be crawled by outside search engines which can result in additional organic indexing. All posts on Findit can be shared to other social and bookmarking sites by members and non-members. Findit provides Real Estate Agents the ability to create their own Findit Site where they can pull in their listing and others through their IDX account. Findit offers News and Press Release Distribution. Findit, Inc., is focused on the development of monetized Internet-based web products that can provide an increased brand awareness of our members. Findit, Inc., is a non reporting public company that trades under the stock symbol FDIT on the OTC Pinksheets.Safe Harbor:This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), including statements regarding potential sales, the succe PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 12:25:16 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 # 717 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 Some of the gastrointestinal (GI) conditions such as inflammation, surgical anastomoses, neoplastic fistulae, etc. need non-surgical closure. Endoscopic closure systems are used to close such small GI perforations. Closure is also required after natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery. To allow the closure of these GI wall defects, several endoscopic closure systems are developed and practiced. According to American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, ideal endoscopic closure systems should be non-expensive, safe and easy to use, should provide fast, reliable, durable and robust closure. Endoscopic closure systems market has evolved over time. Endoscopic clips or endoclips were the first technology developed for endoscopic closure systems. Over-the-scope clipsmore effective endoscopic closure system than standard endoclips was first approved for human use in Europe in 2009 and then in the U.S. in 2010. Endoscopic suturing system was then developed that allows placement of running or interrupted full-thickness sutures. This device was developed based on Eagle Claw device, however, the device was more complex and was compatible with only one endoscope. Introduction of endoscopic suturing systems is expected to revolutionize the endoscopic closure systems market due to its advantages over previously available devices. Some of the examples of popular endoscopic closure system brands are Padlock Clip, Carter-Thomason CloseSure System, OTSC Proctology, Amplatzer Septal Occluder (used off-label), etc. However, these devices sometimes provide inadequate and unreliable solution and thus there is an urgent need for reliable and robust endoscopic closure systems that can be used for closure of mural and spontaneous iatrogenic defects.Endoscopic Closure Systems Market: Drivers and RestraintsIncreasing need and interest for development of dedicated devices and techniques that enable the endoscopic closure of small GI perforations and increasing adoption of minimally invasive endoscopic procedures are the primary factors driving the growth of global endoscopic closure systems market. Number of endoscopic closure systems are being developed and tested in animal models for e.g. Bioabsorbable plugs being developed by W.L. Gore and Associates, Mucosal clips being developed by Boston Scientific Inc., Endoloops under development by Olympus Corporation etc. among others. Moreover, availability of these devices in various sizes would increase the demand for endoscopic closure systems over time. However, only few devices are available for use in human and majority of them possess some deficiencies, which limits the widespread use of currently available endoscopic closure systemsRequest For Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5273 Endoscopic Closure Systems Market: SegmentationTentatively, global endoscopic closure systems market has been segmented on the basis of product type, end user, and geographyBased on product type, global endoscopic closure systemsmarket is segmented as below:Endoscopic clips/Endoclips (Over-the-scope Clips)Overstitch endoscopic suturing systemCardiac septal defect occludersEndoscopic vacuum assisted closure systemsOthersBased on end user, global medical physics market is segmented as below:HospitalsAmbulatory Surgical CentersEndoscopic Closure Systems Market: OverviewSeveral innovative devices present safe and durable endoscopic closure systems for acute and chronic GI defects. However, their efficiency in closure of acute closure is poor and need to be improved. Out of currently available endoscopic closure systems endoclips segment is expected to contribute highest volume share in the global market. Endoscopic vacuum assisted closure system is expected to witness robust CAGR owing to high adoption by endoscopic surgeons. Endoscopic vacuum-assisted wound closure system provides perfect wound drainage and closure of various kinds of defect and promotes tissue granulation. Among two end users of endoscopic closure systems hospitals end user segment is expected to lead the global market due to high patient volume.Endoscopic Closure Systems Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, global endoscopic closure systems 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 endoscopic closure systems market.Over-the-scope clips and Overstitch systems are currently being used in the U.S.Europe is expected to be the second largest market for endoscopic closure systems as large number of global medical devices players are involved in development of innovative endoscope closure systems.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5273 Endoscopic Closure Systems Market: Key PlayersSome of the players identified in global endoscopic closure systems market include CooperSurgical Inc., US Endoscopy, Life Partners Europe, Ovesco Endoscopy AG, Apollo Endosurgery, Inc., St. Jude Medical, Inc. (Abbott), etc. among others. the complete review - fiction In Your Face by Scarlett Thomas general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author A Lily Pascale Mystery - Return to top of the page - Our Assessment: B : enjoyable amateur sleuthing; agreeable voice See our review for fuller assessment. Review Summaries Source Rating Date Reviewer Publishers Weekly . 5/1/2004 . From the Reviews : "Thomas's fresh and sexy contemporary English mystery, the second in a trilogy (after 2003's Dead Clever), keeps the reader riveted." - Publishers Weekly Quotes : "(A) dirty, dangerous book disguised as a straight-forward detective story; approach with caution." - Matt Thorne, Independent on Sunday (5/12/1999) Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review 's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure. - Return to top of the page - The complete review 's Review : In Your Face is the second (of only three) mysteries featuring and narrated by twenty-five-year-old Lily Pascale, university lecturer in crime fiction. She begins her story here at semester's end, a few months after her great local success in the case featured in Dead Clever -- for which she continues to get recognized (it comes up rather often -- perhaps a bit too often). It's a time of transition: Lily is clearing out her office, and close friend and colleague Fenn, who she thinks she might be in love with, is getting married in a few days (to a pregnant student of hers); among the slightly annoying parts of the story then are Fenn's repeated attempts to reach her on the telephone over the course of the novel and never quite managing to get through to her, leaving the state of their relationship and futures slightly up in the air until the end. At least Lily has the opportunity to put some distance between her and the wedding preparations, as Jess, a friend she hasn't seen since university (not that that was too long ago ...), gets in touch with her with a desperate plea for help -- a good enough excuse for Lily to head out of town, over to London. Lily's parents -- "My father was a chain-smoking, wine-drinking French womaniser; my mother was a radical feminist" -- are divorced, and Lily's trip to London gives her an opportunity to spend some time with dad Henri -- a fairly well-known psychiatrist with "a growing number of celebrity patients" -- and his new girlfriend, Star, a researcher of psychopathy, as Lily makes herself comfortable in dad's house. Jess' situation is an odd one, and one can see why she is concerned: a freelance journalist, she wrote an article for the tabloid Smile ! on stalking, profiling three stalked women and telling their stories. Now, on the day the story appeared, all three have been found dead -- murdered. Obviously, there must be a connection -- and Jess is terrified, since she's obviously implicated. Lily is as mystified as the police are -- and intrigued. Complicating matters, when she gets to London she can't find Jess, who seems to have gone into hiding or done a runner. But Lily goes ahead and looks into the case on her own, including visiting the three victims' homes. What's particularly baffling is the absence of any discernible motive: other than the article, there is nothing linking the three victims -- though it is notable that there are few people who knew them well, as, for example, all three no longer have parents: Lots of people could have killed those women, but nobody seemed to have a very good reason for doing so. - M.A.Orthofer, 4 February 2019 - Return to top of the page - : Faculty page Interview at 3:AM Interview at Bookslut Profile in the Evening News See Index of Contemporary British fiction See Index of Mysteries and Thrillers See Index of Series and Sequels under review - Return to top of the page - About the Author : English author Scarlett Thomas was born in 1972. - Return to top of the page - PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 12:34:06 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 # 672 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 Endocrine peptide test is used for the measurement of the level of c-peptide present in the blood. C-peptide and insulin are usually found in equivalent amounts. Insulin aids the body to use and regulate the quantity of glucose present in the blood. The level of c-peptide present in the blood can indicate the amount of insulin made by pancreas. Sugar level in the body does not affect by the C-peptide. C-peptide is also called the connecting peptide. It is a short 31-amino acid polypeptide. Endocrine peptide test can be done when diabetes is just been initiate and it is not clear whether type 1or type 2 diabetes is present. The test is basically performed to check the type of diabetes present in the body. C-peptide is produced in same amount to insulin. Both c-peptide and insulin are secreted out by the pancreas at the same time and in same quantity. C-peptide is also called as connecting peptide and it is a short 31-amino acid polypeptide. In the pro insulin molecule endocrine peptide connects insulin's A- chain to its B-chain. It allows the glucose to enter the body cells where it is used for energy .A measurement of c- peptide blood serum level can be used to distinguish between certain diseases with similar clinical features. The test is basically performed to check the type of diabetes present in the body. This is performed in those patients who are confirmed to have diabetes but are not able to find whether it is type-1or type-2 i.e. diabetes mellitus or diabetes insipedus .The test is also performed to find the cause of blood sugar (hyperglycemia) or a non-cancerous growth (tumor) in the pancreas (insulinoma).Endocrine Peptides Test Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe endocrine peptides test market is increasing due to the increasing prevalence of endocrine disorders like thyroid disorders, diabetes, infertility, etc. In addition, the decreased immunity and higher risk of developing complications are also some of the factors driving the growth of global endocrine peptides test market. Technological advancement in terms of accuracy and affordability resulted in an increased usage of these tests. Testing has raised the demand, helping the market to grow.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5275 Endocrine Peptides Test Market: SegmentationTentatively, global endocrine peptides test market has been segmented on the basis of test type, end user, and geography.Based on test type, global endocrine peptides test market is segmented as below:Estradiol (E2)Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS)Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG)Progesterone, Luteinizing Hormone (LH)Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH)thyroid prolactinOthersBased on end user, global endocrine peptides test market is segmented as below:HospitalsPhysicians officesCommercial laboratoriesHealth care centersEndocrine Peptides Test Market: OverviewBased on the test type, the global endocrine peptides market is segmented into Estradiol (E2), Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), Progesterone, Luteinizing Hormone (LH), Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), thyroid prolactin and others. Thyroid Stimulating hormone (TSH) attributed to the growing occurrences of TSH-related disorders and the increasing awareness about the correlation between variations in the thyroid hormones levels and cardiovascular disorders. Similarly based on end user, the global endocrine peptides market is segmented into hospitals, physicians offices, commercial laboratories and health care centers. Amongst them hospitals are the major users for the endocrine peptides test.Endocrine Peptides Test Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, global endocrine peptides test market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America is expected to dominate global endocrine peptides test market over the forecast period due to high prevalence of endocrine disorders. Western Europe is expected to be the second largest market for endocrine peptides test. Asia Pacific market is expected to experience delayed growth due to unawareness and low disposable income.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5275 Endocrine Peptides Test Market: Key PlayersSome of the players identified in global endocrine peptides test are Quest Diagnostics, Siemens Healthcare, Abbott Laboratories, bioMerieux and others. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 12:25:14 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 # 790 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 Special coagulation tests are performed to measure the bloods ability to clot and the time taken in it. The special coagulation tests are prescribed by the doctor in case of clotting disorders. The coagulation disorders may be caused due to thrombophilia (condition of excessive clotting), hemophilia (Condition of inability to clot normally), blood factor deficiency, or other liver diseases. The coagulation disorders may be either acquired or inherited. Coagulation is an innate process that prevents the excessive bleeding in case of a cut or skin injury. The blood in the blood vessels should not clot, or hence will lead to severe conditions such as, stroke, heart attack or even death. The special coagulation test measures the capability of the blood to form a clot in case of physical injury leading to blood loss. The special coagulation laboratory tests are useful in elucidating the cause of excessive bleeding. Moreover, the tests do not provide information concerning the occurrence of bleeding in post- operative or perioperative period. Also, the well described special coagulation test, are used to detect the hereditary predilection of thrombosis. The coagulation disorders may be either acquired or inherited.Special Coagulation Test Market: Drivers & RestrainsThe increasing demand of special coagulation testing is projected to grow in the forecast period with the growing population base suffering from chronic blood disorders, cardiovascular disorders, and lifestyle associated diseases. Moreover, the increasing awareness about these conditions is anticipated to improve the preventive care management and diagnostic rate, which is expected to substantially drive the global special coagulation test market. In most of the under developed and developing countries, the less popularity of the procedure and high implementation cost are the factors responsible for restraining the growth of special coagulation test market. The lack of skilled and trained professionals also hinders the growth of special coagulation test market.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5266 Special Coagulation Test Market: SegmentationThe global Special coagulation test market is segmented on the basis of test type, product type, technology, end user and geography.Based on test type, the global Special coagulation test market is segmented as:Prothrombin Time (PT)Activated Clotting Time (ACT)FibrinogenD DimerAnti-factor XaActivated Partial Thromboplastin Time (PTT)Heparin & Protamine Dose Response Test for ACTPlatelet FunctionOther Coagulation TestsBased on product type, the global Special coagulation test market is segmented as:ConsumablesReagentsStandards, Controls and CalibrationsSystemsAutomated SystemsSemi-automated SystemsManual SystemsBased on technology type, the global Special coagulation test market is segmented as:MechanicalElectrochemicalOpticalOther TechnologiesBased on end user, the global Special coagulation test market is segmented as:Clinical LaboratoriesDiagnostic LaboratoriesHome Care SettingsOthersSpecial Coagulation Test Market: OverviewThe special coagulation tests are beneficial for monitoring people, prescribed with medications that improve clotting ability. The special coagulation tests are sometimes recommended before the surgical procedures. Excessive bleeding disorders can lead to abnormal bleeding, thereby increasing danger to the life. The special coagulation tests are considered to be the most important, for the diagnosis and monitoring of the coagulation status. Special Coagulation test involve different types of test, of which prothrombin time (PT) is widely used. Based on technology type, electrochemical technique is the most preferred technique. On the basis of end user, the diagnostic laboratories segment is considered to be the major segment in the market of special coagulation test market.Special Coagulation Test Market: Regional OverviewGeographically, the global Special coagulation test market is segmented into seven key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa. North America followed by Western Europe hold the largest share of Special coagulation test market owing to the high adoption rates of the coagulation testing instruments such as POC testing PT monitors, analyzers, etc. The increased awareness among the people about the importance and need of monitoring and detecting the coagulation status, increasing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, and the availability of a favorable reimbursement scenario are the factors propelling the market of Special coagulation test in these regions. The Special coagulation testing market in Asia Pacific and Middle Eastern Countries are at the initial level. It is projected that Asia Pacific region will experience a significant growth in the market share over the forecast period.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5266 Special Coagulation Test Market: Key PlayersThe major key players in the global Special coagulation test market are F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Alere Inc., Abbott Laboratories, SYSMEX CORPORATION, Siemens Healthineers, HemoSonics, LLC, Universal Biosensors, Inc., and Helena Laboratories, Inc. The coagulation testing with high accuracy and specificity is expected to remain a major factor in the global Special coagulation testing market. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 12:37:20 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 # 621 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 dental ceramics has advanced in the past few years in terms of its mechanical properties and methods of fabrication of ceramic materials. Moreover, there has been development in terms of the bonding technique which has increased the range and scope for use of ceramics in dentistry. The porcelain-based materials are used as a major component in the market and market players are bringing in materials to replace the metal ceramics systems with all ceramic systems.Dental Ceramics Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe market for dental ceramics is driven by the increasing research to replace the metal ceramics with metal free ceramics. Moreover, the aesthetic appeal of offered by dental ceramics as compared to metal ceramics is also driving the market. Metal ceramics systems has both advantage of esthetic appeal and extraordinary mechanical properties of metals. But some of the restorative materials used as constitute a problem for some patients. These problems constitutes of gum staining and release of metallic ions into the gingival tissue and the gingival fluid. These drawbacks, as well as the search for more esthetic materials by patients and dentists, have stimulated research and development of metal-free ceramic systems.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5280 Dental Ceramics Market: SegmentationOn the basis of material type the dental ceramics market can be segment as:SilicatesOxidesGlass CeramicsOthersOn the basis of application the dental ceramics market can be segment as:Restorative dentistryOrthodonticsPeriodonticsEndodonticsDental Ceramics Market: OverviewDental cermaics are used as a part of system to prepare dental prostheses that are used to replace missing or damaged dental structures. Ceramics and glasses are brittle, which means that they display a high compressive strength but low tensile strength and may be fractured under very low strain (0.1%, 0.2%). Ceramics are basically classified based on their microstructural classification which is the amount and type of crystalline phase and glass composition. Another form of classification is based on the processing technique; power liquid, pressed and machined.Dental Ceramics Market: Region-wise OutlookIn terms of geography, dental ceramics 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 North America market players are continuously striving to expand their product portfolio thereby offering dentists with an entire continuum of oral care. 3M merged its 3M ESPE and 3M Unitek Orthodontics into a single unit as 3M Oral Care. Moreover, the dental ceramic market is also experiencing mergers wherein the companies are to leverage eachothers technologies and to offer better dental care solutions to consumers. In 2016, Dentsplys merged with Sirona Dental Systems for US$ 5.4 Bn combining Dentsplys dental consumables platform with Sironas dental technology business.Scientists from Europe and Japan have worked together to develop the iBOND Universal, an adhesive which can work on any form of dental ceramics. The development of an acetone-based universal adhesive with a unique moisture control system provides instant and reliable bond strength. Heraeus Kulzers iBOND Universal, can be applied for bonding of direct restorations for all cavity classes and fissure sealants, sealing of hypersensitive tooth areas, sealing of cavities and core preparations and cementation of indirect restorations.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5279 Dental Ceramics Market: Key Market ParticipantsSome of the dental ceramics market participants are 3M Espe, Jensen Dental Incorporated, Noritake Co. Limited, Coorstek Medical, Small Precision Tools Inc., New West Dental Ceramics., Ceramtec, Ferro-Ceramic Grinding Inc., Saint Gobain, Corning Inc., Jyoti Ceramic Industries Pvt. Ltd., Lava, Procera Forte, Nobel Biocare and Cercon. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 09:40:56 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/ # 789 Words Office: Dublin 2Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandHead of Marketing+353-1-4434-232 Global Cross Bottom Bags Market: InsightCross bottom bags have hexagonal base without side folds. Cross bottom bag is an attractive type of packaging. In the food sector, bags are ideal for carrying tea, spices and confectionery items such as chocolates, nuts, cookies and sweets or finely ground spices. Cross bottom bags are extensively used in the retail sector. Cross bottom bags have a good holding capacity and are extraordinary stable along with easy storage when the bag is empty. If cross bottom bags are filled evenly and carefully, it will stay upright without any support. The bottom of the cross bottom bag is sealed rather than glued. Cross bottom bags offer various advantages such as rip proof, highly transparent and ensure the safety of food items. Cross bottom bags can be modified to suit individual product preferences and brand so that it has high resistance to pressure that decreases the chances of package rupture. Cross bottom bags are used to carry different kinds of agricultural products, agrochemical products, fertilizers, etc.Get Free Exclusive Sample Copy of This Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2849 Global Cross Bottom Bags Market: DynamicsCross bottom bags are cost effective than its alternatives such as block bottom bags and pinch bottom bags, which is the prime factor expected to drive the growth of the market. Increasing urbanization and awareness regarding better packaging are the other factors expected to drive the growth of the cross bottom bags market globally. Cross bottom bags are generally made from paper and plastic, which makes them recyclable. Cross bottom bags used for packaging not only protects the material but also prevents from leakage as they are in standing position during transportation across the supply chain. Cross bottom bags are recyclable and biodegradable in case of paper which makes it more popular than its alternatives. Properties such as high strength, stability and cost efficiency are escalating the growth of the market for cross bottom bags.In the recent years, consumers are seeking sustainable packaging to the extent that it affects the choices, which plays an important role in the growth of the cross bottom bags market. With the technological developments, the design of cross bottom bags is more sturdy and effective. Most of the manufacturing companies focus on recyclability and sustainability of the cross bottom bags, which is also expected to accelerate the growth of the market. However, stringent government regulations towards plastic usage below 50 microns is expected to hamper the growth of the cross bottom bags market. Request Brochure of this Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2849 Global Cross Bottom Bags Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the global cross bottom bags market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, MEA, APEJ & Japan. APEJ is expected to account lions share in the global cross bottom bags market due to increasing export activities in emerging economies. Countries in this region such as India China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia & Thailand are witnessing momentous increase in the use of cross bottom bags in food & beverage industry. The growth is in this region mainly due to the increasing population & rapid economic growth that is escalating the demand for cross bottom bags for various end-use industries in Asia-Pacific. The U.S., Europe & MEA are projected to witness moderate CAGR growth over the forecast period owing to growing industrialization. Global Cross Bottom Bags Market: Key PlayersExamples of some of the key players in the cross bottom bags market are:Polymer-Synthese-Werk GmbHCharlotte Express Packaging Ltd.Elke Plastic GmbHSIEGFRIED POHL VERPACKUNGEN GMBHHELMUT SCHMIDT VERPACKUNGSFOLIEN GMBHBK InternationalWestflex Ltd.Dijkstra Packaging Inc.Many local and unrecognized players are expected to contribute to the global cross bottom bags market during the forecast period. The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative 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, macroeconomic 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. For more information on this report, please visit: https://www.factmr.com/report/2849/cross-bottom-bags-market About Fact.MR Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFactMR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@ factmr.com Web: www.factmr.com/ Read Industrial News : http://insiderstribune.com/ PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 18:13:53 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 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 Report For 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: 2019-02-04 07:54:37 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 # 611 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 Champagne is a product produced from grapes that are grown in the Champagne region of France.The grapes that are used are very specific such as Pinot Noir, Pinot Meuniere, and Chardonnay. These grapes are fermented to make wine that contains about 9% of alcohol by volume. Champagne is also known as sparkling wine and is strictly regulated by Comite Champagne of France. Various wine producing country, produces sparkling wine similar to champagne, but any other wine which might resemble champagne cannot be sold or labelled as champagne. All champagne is a sparkling wine, but all sparkling wine is not a champagne.Grapes that are grown according to the appellation rules are only allowed to make champagne.Market Segmentation:Champagne marketis segment on the basis of grape used, type of wine, distribution channel, flavour and region.On the basis of grape used the market is segmented into Pinot Noir, Pinot Meuniere, and Chardonnay. Black pinot noir and pinot meuniere are the primarily used grapes for champagne making but small amount of white chardonnay grapes are also used. On the basis of type of the market is segmented into prestige cuvee, blanc de noirs, blanc de blancs and rose champagne. On the basis of distribution channel champagne market is segmented into supermarkets/hypermarkets, specialty stores and online stores. Supermarkets/hypermarkets is anticipated to hold a relatively high share in the champagnemarket. Online stores have also contributed significantly to the growth of champagnemarket over the forecast period. On the basis of flavors the market is segmented intobrut and fruity flavour. Fruity flavour segment can further be segmented into apple, pear, citrus, strawberry, nutty, cream and vanilla. Nutty flavored champagnes are the most common in old world champagne. The most popular style of champagne today is the Brut. Brut Champagne is considered as a dry champagne and has a dry taste, with very low sugar levels.Request Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4271 Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of champagneis divided into five different regions: North America, Europe, Latin America, APAC, and MEA. Among these segment Europe is expected to have the major market share globally, as it is the largest producer and consumer of champagne. In Europe market the countries like France and U.K. are generating the major revenue.Market Drivers:The rising economic growth in developing economies has been a key factor driving the growth of the global champagne market in recent years. The increasing acceptance for consumption of alcohol in the cultural beliefs of consumers in these regions is propelling the growth of this market. Bars and lounge are those businesses which are specialized in selling a variety of alcoholic drinks that patrons can consume onsite in a social environment. Oftentimes, bars cater to an affluent clientele, offering expensive premium champagne. Many lounges also offer a wide variety of inexpensive flavored champagne, which have become increasingly popular among those who for social gathering. The above-mentioned factors are resulting in increasing penetration of the bars and lounge culture which in turn is boosting the growth of champagne market. Availability of a wide variety of flavored champagne is resulting in increasing consumer base and this is expected to fuel market growth over the forecast period. Introduction of flavors such as candy, fruit, and nutty etc has been leading to an increasing number of individuals, to try consume champagne.Request For TOC@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4271 Market Key Players:Some of the 10 key players in champagne market areMoet Hennessy USA, LANSON-BCC, Vranken - Pommery Monopole, Champagne Laurent-Perrier S.A.S., Pernod Ricard, Remy Cointreau, Centre Vinicole Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte, Martel, Louis Roederer and Taittinger. Future Market Insights PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 15:42:20 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 Abhishek Budholiya Manager 3479183531 email http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 703 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 Calcium hydrogen sulphite, also known as calcium bisulphite is a salt, widely used as a food preservative/additive. The use of calcium hydrogen sulphite in foods, prevents the discoloration and spoilage of foods through bacteria formation, since it functions in deactivating the microbial cells. Thus, calcium hydrogen sulphite plays a prominent role in increasing the shelf life of the food products. The global calcium hydrogen sulphite market is growing due to the essential features of sulphites which help food manufacturers to sustain their products fresh with the extended shelf life. Some of the applications in which calcium hydrogen sulphite is widely used are meat, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, dried food products, fruits and vegetables etc. The concentration of its usage in various food products varies its functions also varies, which is mostly dependent on microbial activity or the presence of gram-negative bacteria. The maximum allowed usage of calcium hydrogen sulphite also varies according to the food authorities of the particular country or region. It also finds application in paper and pulp industry where it acts as dissolvent and scavenger. Other uses include, disinfectant and as bleach.Global Calcium Hydrogen Sulphite Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global calcium hydrogen sulphite market is reliant on the supply & demand of end-use industries such as food industry. For instance, in paper and pulp industry sulphites are commonly used in the pulping process since the process is carried out in excess of sulphurous acid. However, other than calcium type of sulphite, magnesium, sodium, or ammonium type can also be used. The calcium hydrogen sulphite is cost effective compared to others which help in driving the market. The increasing demand for ready to eat food from consumers and at the same time handling critical factor of the shelf life of the food products by the manufacturers propels the global calcium hydrogen sulphite market. The calcium hydrogen sulphite is regarded as safe by the independent food authorities in various countries, which aids the calcium hydrogen sulphite manufacturers to capitalise on opportunities and expansion of their production capacity. Some of the multi-functional factors of calcium hydrogen sulphite driving the market are, prevention of oxidative rancidity and other oxidative reactions of foods such as cereals, restricting enzymatic browning reactions, colour stabilisation and effective in inactivating microbial conditions.Request Sample Report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4282 However, some of the independent authorities restrict the use of calcium hydrogen sulphite, for instance in Australia and New Zealand its intake not permitted. Also, most of the liquors of calcium hydrogen sulphites have difficulty in recovery, and thus limits the use in industrial applications to some extent. Such a scenario, restricts the growth and expansion of the global calcium hydrogen sulphite market.Global Calcium Hydrogen Sulphite Market: SegmentationOn the basis of application, calcium hydrogen sulphite market can be segmented as follows:-Technical GradeFood GradeOn the basis of application, calcium hydrogen sulphite market can be segmented as follows:-FoodMeatDairyDried FoodsFruits & VegetablesOthersBeveragePaper & PulpWaste waterGlobal Calcium Hydrogen Sulphite Market: Region wise OutlookThe global calcium hydrogen sulphite market is divided into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The calcium hydrogen sulphite market in APEJ region is expected to grow at healthy CAGR during the forecast period, with the growth of end use industries such food, beverage, paper and pulp etc. The calcium hydrogen sulphite market in North America and Western Europe is matured, the robust paper and pulp manufacturers in European countries such as Italy, Sweden, Finland and Canada in North America boost the calcium hydrogen sulphite market in the regions. The Latin America and MEA calcium hydrogen sulphite market is expected to expand at healthy CAGR during the forecast period, owing to the past pace development of end-use industries.Global Calcium Hydrogen Sulphite Market: Key PlayersSome of the prominent players identified in the global calcium hydrogen sulphite market include:BASF SETriveni Interchem Pvt. Ltd.Hangzhou Dayang Chemical Industry Limited CompanyHenan Coreychem co., LTDHaihang Industry Co., Ltd.Angene International LimitedRequest to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4282 Future Market Insights PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 15:26:27 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 Abhishek Budholiya Manager 3479183531 email http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 746 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 The brush motor control unit provides precision control of the speed, and it has an electric power system (EPS), which is responsible for controlling the torque of the motor drive. Brush motor control unit system makes precise current adjustments based on the steering of torque signals; which are detected by torque sensors. It thus offers vehicle drivers a little steering assistance in the vehicle operation. Brush motor control unit consumes energy only when the steering assist is necessary. The brush motor control unit system is comparatively more fuel efficient than the conventional hydraulic power steering systems. The electrical control unit (ECU) of the brush motor control unit calculates the torque necessary for the steering assist from the engine speed and the torque sensor signal, etc. and ultimately supplies the maximum electric power to the brush motor control unit. Choosing a right type of motor control unit is critical for the overall performance of vehicle or machine in which it is used in as a component.Brush Motor Control Unit Market: Market DynamicsThe increasing demand for fuel efficient automobiles coupled with the fact that the fuel reserve levels are going down constantly; is fueling the growth of the brush motor control unit market. The increasing demand for the cost-effective automotive parts coupled with the fact that the companies are constantly trying to reduce their operational and overall cost of production; is contributing to the growth of brush motor control unit market. However, the high initial cost of investment is a restraining factor. Another challenge faced in the expansion of the brush motor control unit market is a wide acceptance and proven performance of hydraulic steering systems. The launch of the brushless motor control units is a threat to the brush motor control unit market as they have less cost of maintenance (brushes require maintenance). The use of brush motor control units in the cabin pressure, navigation and target servos, trim controls, utility actuation and valve drives, etc., is one of the prevailing trends. Companies are also manufacturing the brush motor control units with a range of magnetic materials such as samarium cobalt alloys and neodymium. These units have low-weight with a durable performance which makes these ideal for use in a helicopter and small aircraft applications. There is an increasing preference for the brush motor control unit because it can alter or vary the speed-torque ratio in all possible ways.Request Sample Report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4183 Brush Motor Control Unit Market: Market SegmentationThe global brush motor control unit market can be segmented by end-use industries:AutomobilesAerospaceElectronicsDefenseHealthcareOffice AutomationFire ControlPackagingOthersIt can also be segmented by versions or generations of its models:First generationSecond generationIt can also be segmented on the type of vehicles it can be used in:Heavy Commercial VehiclesLight Commercial VehicleMulti-Utility VehiclesBrush Motor Control Unit Market: Segmentation OverviewThe second generation of the brush motor control unit consists of the electrical control unit with an entirely simplified structure. It is also compatible with the existing parts such as with the connector. The second generation brush motor control unit model provides the same output and is almost 50 % lesser in volume as compared to the first generation. Brush motor control unit also uses a new kind of microprocessor for enhanced speed of processing. Brush motor control unit also has enhanced capacity and improvised control performance than the conventional hydraulic power steering systems.Brush Motor Control Unit Market: Regional OutlookThe global brush motor control unit market geographically is segmented as North America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe hold a significant market share of brush motor control unit market owing to the demand for environment-friendly automotive parts. Furthermore, the increase in R & D activities related to automobiles and electronics, wherein brush motor control unit is a useful and economic machine component, aids in boosting the growth of its market in the region. The market in the APEJ region is more inclined towards growing demand for brush motor control unit because of the increasing demand for premium quality auto parts and automobiles.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4183 Brush Motor Control Unit Market: Prominent PlayersSome of the leading players in the global brush motor control unit market are:Mitsubishi Electric CorporationWoodwardORIENTAL MOTOR USA CORP.Moog Inc.General ElectricMaxon Motor AG PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 13:26:14 Blowout Preventers (BOPs) are huge sized specialized valves or mechanical devices installed on stacks to control, monitor and seal the leakage of fluids from oil and gas wells in order to prevent a blowout. Blowout preventers are heavy and bulky in design and act as a defense against the runaway oil and gas wells. Blowout preventers can be used at the offshore wells and onshore wells. Nowadays, the major oil and gas exploration companies are focussing on ensuring the safety of the devices and equipment owing to the various oil spill incidents happened at various regions of the world such as Exxon Valdez oil spill and deepwater-horizon oil spill. Blowout preventers are available in the market in various sizes, style and pressure ratings. BOPs offer a wide range of functions such as confinement of well fluid to wellbore, provide the means to add fluid to the wellbore, monitor and regulate wellbore pressure and so on. Installing blowout preventers are essential for the safety of a crew, rig and the environment.Majorly, there are two types of blowout preventers available in the market, which includes Annular (also called as spherical) and RAM. The RAM type blowout preventers utilize a pair of steel plungers, RAM is further divided into four types namely, blind, shear, pipe and blind shear. On the other hand, annular blowout preventers are mainly utilized and designed in such a way that they can seal the space between the drill pipes and wellbore.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4655 Global Blowout Preventers Market: DynamicsRising subsea drilling activities and the necessity for effective oil and gas production propel the demand for blowout preventers systems. Growing demand for hydrocarbons accelerates the drilling activities, which in turn leads to the increasing demand for blowout preventers and drilling equipment. In order to optimize the extra expenditures and costs, efficient production of oil and gas is utmost important at the onshore and offshore fields. Growing number of safety regulations and attention towards the efficiency of the end-products play a vital role in the growth of the blowout preventers. The aforementioned reasons are expected to boost the demand for blowout preventers and thus in turn pushing the growth of the global blowout preventers market.Global Blowout Preventers Market: SegmentationGlobally, the Blowout Preventers market can be segmented on the basis of type and location.Based on the type, the global blowout preventers market can be segmented into;Annular Blowout PreventerRAM Blowout PreventerBased on the location, the global blowout preventers market can be segmented into;OnshoreOffshoreGlobal Blowout Preventers Market: Region-wise OutlookWhen the region-wise segmentation of the market is considered, the blowout preventers market is mainly dominated by the regions where the extraction of oil and gas is done at a large level. Middle East & Africa holds the major market share in the market owing to the rising drilling, onshore and offshore activities in the region. Middle East & Africa is followed by the Asia Pacific region in the market in terms of number of installations of blowout preventers. Malaysia and China are estimated to be the major producers of hydrocarbons from the offshore fields. Hence, Asia Pacific can be projected as a highly attractive market for the installation of blowout preventers in the coming years. Asia Pacific is followed by North America in the global blowout preventers market.Moreover, countries such as Gulf of Mexico, U.S. and Brazil are some of the key markets for blowout preventers owing to the reason that offshore and onshore drilling activities are done on large scale in these regions.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-46553 Global Blowout Preventers Market: Market ParticipantsSome of the examples of the market participants in the Blowout Preventers Market identified across the value chain include Cameron International Corporation (schlumberger limited), National Oilwell Varco, Control Flow Inc., General Electric Oil and Gas, Proserv Group Inc., UZTEL S.A., Rongsheng Machinery Manufacture Ltd., Greenes Energy Group, LLC and Rigmanufacturer, among others. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the "Global Automotive Wires Market Value Expected to Increase at a CAGR of 6% During the Forecast Period 2017-2027" report to their offering PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 13:27:51 FMI delivers key insights on the global automotive wires market in its latest report titled Automotive Wires Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015-2025. The long-term outlook on the global automotive wires market remains positive with the market value expected to increase at a CAGR of 6% during the forecast period (2017-2027). Among material types, the copper segment is expected to expand at a significant CAGR, in terms of value, over the forecast period. The global automotive wires market for conventional fuel vehicles is estimated to hold more than 90% share throughout the forecast period. Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) is estimated to have accounted for a value share of 53.2% in the global automotive wires market by 2017 end and Asia Pacific is projected to be the most prominent region throughout the forecast period. In this report, FMI throws light on drivers and restraints likely to impact the global automotive wires market during this period.Growing Vehicle Production and Changing Consumer Preferences Will Drive the Automotive Wires MarketRise in the production of vehicles, especially passenger vehicles, has boosted the demand for automotive wires. In 2017, more than 97 million vehicles were produced, of which more than 73 million were passenger cars, the prime application area of automotive wires. Along with this, growing production and sales of hybrid & electric vehicles has also augmented the market for automotive wires. Increasing fuel cost and stringent government regulations regarding CO2 emissions will also fuel the demand for hybrid & electric vehicles during the forecast period.Growing demand for connectivity and car digitization is an emerging trend in the market. Increase in demand for high-end electronic and safety features in vehicles, particularly passenger cars, and cost reduction and enhanced reliability has led to rising demand for innovative wire & cable solutions. Installation of advanced active safety (accident prevention) technologies in both passenger as well as commercial vehicles has significantly increased the demand for wiring solutions.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5334 Segmentation Analysis of the Automotive Wires MarketThe Automotive Wires market is segmented on the basis of material type, vehicle type and application.The conventional passenger vehicle segment is projected to continue to lead the market in terms of value over the forecast period. The conventional passenger vehicle segment of the automotive wires market is estimated to grow at a significant CAGR over the forecast period. It is expected to represent a total incremental opportunity of US$ 6.9 Bn between 2017 and 2027. The electric vehicle segment is projected to grow at a relatively high CAGR as compared to other vehicle types over the forecast periodCopper wires are projected to be most prominent material type in the automotive wires market. The copper automotive wires segment is estimated to grow at a significant CAGR of 5.2%, in terms of value, over the forecast periodThe market for automotive wires is estimated to be dominated by chassis & safety application, which is expected to grow at a significant CAGR during the forecast period. However, the market for HVAC application segment is growing at a relatively higher rate of 7.3%, in terms of value, during the forecast period.Regional Market Projections of Automotive WiresThe automotive wires market in APEJ is expected to represent significantly high incremental opportunity between 2017 and 2027. The market of automotive wires in APEJ is expected to represent total incremental opportunity of US$ 4.8 Bn between 2017 and 2027.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-5334 Automotive Wires Market CompaniesThe report highlights some of the top companies operating in the automotive wires market, such as LEONI AG, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., Fujikura Ltd., Delphi Automotive Plc, PKC Group, Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd, Yazaki Corporation, General Cable, Lear Corporation, Draka, Samvardhana Motherson Group, Allied Wire & Cable, Inc., Coroplast Fritz Muller GmbH & Co. KG., Kromberg & Schubert, Acome, Yura Corporation, and Kyungshin Corporation. Vinton, IA (52349) Today Mostly clear. Low 49F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph, becoming SW and decreasing to less than 5 mph.. Tonight Mostly clear. Low 49F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph, becoming SW and decreasing to less than 5 mph. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Automotive Start-Stop Battery Market: Global Industry Analysis 2013 - 2017 and Opportunity Assessment; 2018 - 2028" report to their offering. Automotive Start-Stop Battery Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 11:44:41 Automotive start-stop battery is a kind of rechargeable battery that is working on a start-stop mechanism. By the principle of operation, an Automotive start-stop battery shut offs the engine automatically when the vehicle comes to a halt. Although, the automotive start-stop battery still powers all the other electrical systems and devices like as AC and the radio till the engine starts again. The engine gets started automatically by the automotive start-stop battery within a fraction of second when the brakes are released. Therefore Automotive Start-Stop Battery helps in reduction of total fuel consumption and enhancing the efficiency of the vehicle.Additionally, the growing demand for automotive start stop technology by the automobile manufacturers in order to decrease CO2 emission and meet regulatory norms related to emission standards is accelerating the need for start stop technology. Hence, increasing adaptation of this technology is expected the boost the global automotive start stop battery demand.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-7660 Automotive Start-Stop Battery Market: DynamicsGrowing automotive production and increasing adoption of start-stop technology by automotive OEMs is expected to drive the automotive start stop battery market in the future. Additionally, the growing fleet of electric and hybrid electric vehicles, with the constituent battery being the key source of power is also identified as significant growth provider of automotive start-stop battery. Moreover, with the growing prices of crude oil coupled the demand for more energy efficient automobiles, the global market for automotive start-stop battery market is expected to grow with healthy CAGR during the forecast period.Moreover, the manufacturers of automotive start-stop battery are highly focused toward innovations and up gradations in order to differentiate themselves from others. For an instance the introduction of moldable and smart batteries took place in the recent past years and had provided a different way to the automotive start-stop battery manufacturers.Automotive Start-Stop Battery Market: SegmentationGlobal market of automotive start-stop battery market can be segmented on the basis of battery type, application and region.On the basis of battery type, the global market for automotive start-stop battery is segmented as:Lead-acid BatteriesEnhanced Flooded BatteriesAbsorbent Glass Mat BatteriesLi-ion BatteriesOn the basis of application, the global market for automotive start-stop battery is segmented as:Conventional VehicleElectric VehicleAutomotive Start-Stop Battery Market: Regional OutlookAsia Pacific is expected to be the most prominent market in the global automotive start stop battery market and is projected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. This can be attributed to the growing demand and sales of automobiles with respect to conventional as well as electric vehicles. Moreover, fuel efficacy & cost reduction provided by the automotive start-stop battery is making them as a preferred option to be used in automobiles from the Asia Pacific region. China India & Japan are the key growth engines responsible for healthy growth of the regional Automotive Start-Stop Battery market.The North America & European regions have been the early adopters of automotive start-stop battery. North America & Europe regions currently have a noteworthy share in the global market but are projected to grow at a relatively slower pace compared to Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific automotive start-stop battery market is anticipated to register the most significant growth during the forecast period.Request Report for TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-7660 Automotive Start-Stop Battery Market: Market ParticipantsNames of some of the manufacturers involved in the manufacturing, sales & development of automotive start-stop battery are:Johnson Controls Inc.Century BatteriesA123 System LLCATLASBX Co., LtdGS Yuasa CorporationExide TechnologiesEast Penn ManufacturingMAXWELL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.PLATINUM INTERNATIONAL LIMITEDLeoch BatteryPowerGenix PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 17:54:30 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 # 631 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 Engine oil used in the automotive sector vary by their volume, the engine size, and viscosity index. Certain added substances are added to keep up and enhance the engine oils viscosity index. Utilizing engine oil gives various long-haul advantages to the end-user, the reduced friction amid automotive engine components because of utilizing engine oil limits wear and tears of the vehicle components. It likewise lessens the unfavorable effect of accumulated dust on the engine parts. Aside from these advantages it additionally seals holes and counteracts corrosion.The indicators driving the automotive engine oil market are expanding middle-class populace, infrastructural expansion, expanding portability because of urbanization along with the advancement of satellite towns, megacities, and township projects, rising disposable income, increasing the desire of having a vehicle along with the requirement for goods carrier from medium and small-sized enterprises.Rising mobility as a result of the progress of satellite township near megacities, growing surface transportation infrastructure, are a few indicators that are considered to fuel the automotive engine oil market in Asia Pacific region. Rising automotive aftermarket as well as DIY (do it yourself) culture in Europe and North America is fuelling the expansion of automotive engine oil in this two region particularly in the retail industry.The market growth of automotive engine oil is likely to be hindered by the rising provision of counterfeit motor oil products.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124685/Automotive-Engine-Oil-Market The engine oil makers expend large amounts on establishing their brand identity; in turn, this brand identity is utilized by counterfeiters to trade forge products. The rising supply of forge goods in the market hinders the brand image as well as the revenue of reliable engine oil producers.The automotive engine oil market is controlled by strict regulations and rules concerned with the transfer of utilized oil. As indicated by the EPA under the Federal Standards for Management of Used Oil, utilized oil ought to be burned or recycled for the energy restoration. Utilized automotive engine oil market presents dangerous environmental threats because of the existence of petroleum base stocks which are poisonous and hard to discard after usage.Universal Lubricants, LLC, headquartered in Kansas, U.S., manufactures and distributes a product called as ECOULTRA (re-refined flagship product) a synthetic blend motor oil, in a simple to pour, uncompromising, flex-pack pockets that have earned enormous acknowledgment in different nations and prospering in the U.S. As it offers the purchasers a speedier, simpler and cleaner approach to replace the oil and as the utilized oil is refined, it is foreseen that the requirement for packaged engine oils would rise over the approaching years.Request Report For Toc: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124685/Automotive-Engine-Oil-Market Few of the prominent players active in the automotive engine oil market, globally comprises Total S.A, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., Gazprom, LUKOIL oil company, ROSNEFT, Royal Dutch Shell plc, BP p.l.c, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Statoil, Sinopec Lubricant Company, Chevron Corporation., JIANGSU LOPAL TECH. CO., LTD. along with Ashland Inc.Currently, in the foreign industrial emerged nations the automotive engine oil sector is for the most part at a further advanced level, the world's big enterprises are essentially amassed in Japan, Europe, the United States, and so forth. In the meantime, foreign organizations have further progressed equipment, strong D and R ability, the technical level is in a prominent position. On the other hand, foreign organizations' production cost has taken a toll and is moderately high, in contrast to the Chinese organizations, this production cost is a competitive disadvantage, as the Chinese automotive engine oil production enterprise innovation keeps on enhancing, their share in the worldwide market as well as is expanding, competitiveness in the worldwide market gradually.Report Analysis: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124685/Automotive-Engine-Oil-Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 17:38:54 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 # 654 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 automatic barriers help to a great level in keeping up congested traffic rapidly by limiting access to the authorized workforce as it were. In addition, these automatic barriers are combined with different kinds of access control systems, for example, keypads, contactless smart cards, hands-free access systems, intercom call routing, amid others, to make the access simpler. Expanding requirement, as well as utilization of automatic barriers all over residential areas as well as transportation hubs to improve security in addition to safety all over the region, is assessed to fuel the expansion of the automatic barriers and along these lines, automatic gate opening systems over the years to come.All over each industry, the launch of cutting-edge technology and equipment has prompted industrial upgrading, prompting towards various benefits, for example, superior product consistency, higher door surface smoothness along with more exact size. In addition, the gate sector is believed to move in the direction of intelligent improvement course as a result of the integrated access control system with multi-button design, battery backup option, and mechanical locks, amid others.Rising industrialization in developing nations, for example, South Africa, Brazil, and China are reckoned to fuel requirement for automatic gates all around the world for security and safety associated concerns over the years to come. The support from the government combined with expanding outsourcing of production endeavours from emerged countries has pushed industrialization in these developing economies.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124683/Automatic-Gate-Opening-Systems-Market In the present situation, the worldwide market is foreseeing expansion in construction exercises as well as rising infrastructure investments which is also the main indicator driving the market. Upgradation of manufacturing innovation for these gates, set up of automatic bollards and simplicity of handle, rising requirement for automatic barriers all over residential and transportation applications are different indicators anticipated that would help the market development.The market is likewise anticipated that would confront a few challenges. The establishment of these gates isn't especially simple also owners decide on various styles of gates - automation type gates, gates built of various materials with various manners for the opening. The automatic gates, when contrasted with basic gates, have complex designs so as to work productively and efficiently in each way. Then again, automatic gates necessitate noteworthy investments when contrasted with basic ones, inferable from the different electronic, electrical and mechanical components coordinated with earlier gates. The best possible investigation of the site where the gates should be set up alongside the need for competent labors are the foremost evaluating indicators that prompt the staggering expense of gates.Request Report For Toc: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124683/Automatic-Gate-Opening-Systems-Market Manufacturing more intelligent linked devices, it requires a level of software and hardware technology adoption and innovation never been observed, and a lot of it has its underlying foundations in different businesses. That is why a majority of the companies are seen embracing organic business methodologies whereas level I and II organizations are highlighting on the inorganic business methodologies to accomplish their objectives and to reduce the competition and extend their regional footprint. Technological progressions have been boosting the sector that is going towards new prospects and pulls in new contestants or new companies. Recently in August 2018, Accenture (US) set in motion defense innovation hub together with the co-design office characteristics the blockchain, artificial intelligence, IoT demo space, and robotics, in Canberra (Australia), to provide a co-design functioning space for the Department of Defence and security organizations.Among the other major market players active in the market globally are Nice S.p.A., The Chamberlain Group Inc., TiSO Company, CAME BPT UK, PILOMAT s.r.l., Macs Automated Bollard Systems Ltd, RIB srl, Gandhi Automations Pvt Ltd, CASIT s.n.c. di C.C.Ramella & C., FAAC Group, PROTECO Srl, Ditec Entrematic, S M Dooromatics, Zhejiang Xianfeng Machinery Co., Ltd. along with Others.Report Analysis: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124683/Automatic-Gate-Opening-Systems-Market Future Market Insights PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 15:24:51 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 Abhishek Budholiya Manager 3479183531 email http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ # 659 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 The automatic capping machine is manufactured with a high quality of raw materials and by using the latest technology. The automatic capping machine is durable, flexible and works with different types of containers and caps. The automatic capping machine provides durable finish standards, rust proof, and flawlessly finished packaging. The automatic capping machine has a wide range of applications in several industries. The automatic capping machine is used in plastic and metal threaded caps, plastic snap caps and also used in some types of plugs and corks. The automatic capping machine caps is used for packaging of different varieties of bottles includes Glass and plastic bottles. Moreover, the global automatic capping machine is used in packaging of a variety of caps such as Ropp, screw, crown, corks and Snap-On-caps. The automatic capping machine saves the time of manufacturers for capping of the bottles of the product. The automatic capping machine has dual servo driven system control for bottles capping functions to ensure that caps are properly tightened so that product meet perfection when it is sent to the market for salesGlobal Automatic capping machine: Market Dynamics:The global automatic capping machine market is mainly driven by a rise in food and beverage industry. An increase in demand for packaged foods leads to rising in automatic capping machine market. The automatic machine capping has a wide range of applications in many industries further leads to the growth of the market. The manufacturers of different industries use automatic capping machine which helps in reducing the time of packaging of capping for the products leads to a growth of automatic capping machine market Moreover rise in disposable income, a rapid rate of urbanization, adoption of different culture leads to rising in the automatic capping machine market. Developing regions such as Asia-Pacific leads to has a significant opportunity in the expected year owing to changes in food and beverage industries and pharmaceutical industry. Further, the capping is a usually difficult aspect in liquid packaging line due to several reasons includes a range of sizes of caps and bottles; therefore automatic capping machine components become expensive in the specific type of capping machines which increases the capital cost of machinery leads to restraining the growth of automatic capping machine. Owing to rise in the capital cost of machinery manufacturers prefer less of automatic capping machine.Request Sample Report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4181 Global Automatic capping machine: Segmentation:The global automatic capping machine market is segmented on the basis of material, cap, and end-use types.Based on material types of bottle capping, global automatic capping machine market is segmented into:Glass BottlesPlastic BottlesBased on cap types, global automatic capping machine market is segmented into:Ropp CapsScrew CapsSnap-on-CapsCrown CapsCorksBased on end-use types, global automotive capping machine market is segmented into:Pharmaceutical IndustryCosmetic IndustryFood and beverageConsumer productsChemical productsAutomotive fluidGlobal Automatic capping machine: Regional Outlook:Based on the geographic region, global automatic capping machine market is segmented into seven regions includes North America, Latin America, Japan, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, and the Middle East and Africa. The North America region has high CAGR in automatic capping machine market owing to technological advancement and demand of packaged food and beverages followed by Europe, Japan. Developing regions such as Asia-Pacific region leads to has an opportunity in forecasted period owing to changes in pharmaceutical and food and beverages industry which leads to a growth of automatic capping machine market in an anticipated year.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4181 Global Automatic capping machine: Key Players:Some prominent key players of global automatic capping machine market are:Busch Machinery, Inc.Meena Pharma EquipmentsAPACSE-PAK Machinery, Inc.Crown Holdings Inc.Krones AgClosure System InternationalTecnocap GroupFederal Mfg. Co.Karmelle Liquid Filling & Capping Solutions LimitedAccutek Packaging Equipment Companies, Inc.Kulp MakineAVS Pack-TechVeerKrupa Engineering Aluminium Aerosol Cans Consumption to Cross US$ 3.5 Billion in 2019 fmi PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 11:20:49 In a new intelligence study, Future Market Insights projects the global sales of aluminium aerosol cans to exceed the valuation of US$ 3.5 Bn in 2019. The yearly revenue growth of aluminium aerosol cans market in 2019 is estimated at a promising rate of 5.3%, reports the FMI analyst.As indicated by the British Aerosol Manufacturers' Association (BAMA), the US and China remain the top producers of aerosols worldwide. Europe alone has witnessed around 5 billion aerosol products in 2017, where the UK is the most significantly contributing market.Europe remains the top consumer of aerosol containers owing to briskly expanding application base across multiple end use verticals. Russias thriving agricultural market is especially raising substantial demand for aluminium aerosol cans for pesticides and insecticides, in recent past. Towards the end of 2019, Europes aluminium aerosol cans landscape is projected to account for over 1/3rd of the global market revenue, says the analyst.Aluminium aerosol cans, lightweight and economical, constitute the most popularly sought after aerosol container across a range of verticals. There are nearly 200 distinct end uses of aerosols, prominently including personal care, furnishing, painting, cleaning, household, medical and pharmaceutical products, inhalers, and automotive products.Request more information of Report with table of contents and Figures @The analyst quickly explains market taxonomy, Consistently improving lifestyle, robust demand for convenience products, and growing affordability continue to foster the prospects of aluminium aerosol cans at a global level. While Necked-In aluminium aerosol cans are likely to be the most popular type globally, more than 500ml capacity containers remain the most preferred among consumers. Moreover, household cleaning, cosmetics, and personal care are projected for higher yearly growth rates in 2019 and beyond.Competition Tracking & Key Players Trend AnalysisExpansionExpansion of aluminium aerosol cans production as well as aerosol filling has been among the key strategies of leading market companies, of late. Aryum Aerosol Cans Ltd. recently established a new aerosol filling facility in Turkey and looks forward to lead the chunk of aluminium aerosol cans manufacturers based across Middle East and Eastern Europe.SustainabilityFollowing the no-coating aluminium aerosol cans introduced by Tubex that heavily contribute to reduced ecological footprint, a number of companies are focusing on catering to ecofriendly production, packaging, and disposal. Ball Corporation is focusing on the supply of sustainable and innovative F&B and household product packaging solutions, besides expanding the capacity expansion for extruded aluminium aerosol cans production. Teaming up with Unilever, Ball is likely to add to the sustainability quotient of aluminium aerosol cans by manufacturing recyclable and lightweight containers, with ReAl technology.Ask a question to Analyst @Advanced TechnologyBall Corporation has become the first brand to debut in the incorporation of photorealistic printing technology in aerosol packaging. Balls Aerosol Packaging Division recently announced the companys entry into this 'unparalleled' next-generation HD photorealistic printing technology on aluminium aerosol cans. The company explains that this technology allows printing over 3600 degrees, without digital printing. Though currently available only across North American, European, and Indian markets, the company is strategizing the release of these aluminium aerosol cans across the globe.Aluminium Supply AgreementsMarket players are also signing long-term supply agreements with leading aluminium producing brands. The proprietary aluminium alloy of Constellium N.V., the aluminium production giant, will be now supplied to Czech-based aluminium aerosol cans producer. The latter will dedicate this supply for Unilevers Dove antiperspirants line.Some of the prominent competitors actively operating in the global aluminium aerosol cans landscape, include TUBEX GmbH, Casablanca Industries Pvt. Ltd., Exal Corporation, Crown Holdings, Inc., Euro Asia Packaging (EAP), Ardagh Group S.A., Bharat Containers, and a few others. The report presents an extensive attempt of profiling a broad list of prominent players in the aluminium aerosol cans market covering their key developmental strategies.Customize your report @ PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 18:21:59 EMMEN, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2019 / ALSO Holding AG (SIX: ALSN):The aim is to strengthen cooperation with local resellers. On 1 February 2019, Guillaume du Roure took over as Managing Director and Chief Customer Officer (CCO) of ALSO France. As Senior Vice President Mergers & Acquisitions, Laurent Mitais, the former Managing Director of ALSO France, is now responsible for M&A projects at Group level - from negotiation to integration. Marc Hia Baile will succeed Guillaume du Roure as Managing Director of the French ALSO subsidiary LAFI. He will drive the development of innovative technological solutions for LAFI customers such as Internet of Things, as-a-Service and 3D printing."For us, France is an important market in which we want to grow sustainably with our ICT services in the coming years. That's why we are reshaping our organization," says Gustavo Moller-Hergt, CEO of ALSO Holding AG. "In particular, we want to continuously expand our business activities in cooperation with our resellers in order to serve existing and new customers even more efficiently." As part of the new organization, Guillaume du Roure took over as Managing Director of ALSO France on 1 February 2019. In this function, he will report directly to ALSO Holding AG. With this move, ALSO strengthens the relationship between the local branch and the holding company on the one hand and the partnership with the resellers on the other. As former Managing Director of the French ICT reseller LAFI, Guillaume du Roure has many years of industry experience and first-hand knowledge of the current challenges facing the industry.LAFI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ALSO, will in future also report directly to ALSO Holding AG in Switzerland. Marc Hia Baile became the new Managing Director of LAFI with effect from 11 February 2019. He has many years of experience in various areas of the IT sector such as telecoms, manufacturing and distribution. In his new role he will be responsible for the development of innovative technological solutions such as Internet of Things, as-a-Service or 3D printing to meet the future needs of LAFI's customers.Laurent Mitais, the current Managing Director of ALSO France, was appointed Senior Vice President Mergers & Acquisitions effective 1 February 2019 and will play a key role in the expansion of ALSO Holding AG. In his new function, Laurent Mitais will lead a large number of M&A projects within the Group - from initial negotiations through to integration."In my function as Managing Director of ALSO France, I would like to strengthen the cooperation with resellers and support them with tailor-made offers and services", says Guillaume du Roure. "With our team, we will develop solutions that not only cover the transactional but also the consumptional business. We are convinced that the French market offers ALSO great opportunities to deliver end-to-end financing, pre-sales and services to our resellers".Direct link to the media release: https://also.com/goto/20190204en For investors and financial media:Alexandre Muller, Dynamics Group+41 43 268 32 32investor-relations@ also.com ALSO Holding AG ( ALSN.SW) (Emmen/Switzerland) brings providers and buyers of the ICT industry together. The company offers services at all levels of the ICT value chain from a single source. In the European B2B marketplace, ALSO bundles logistics services, financial services, supply services, solution services, digital services, and IT services together into individual service packages. ALSO's portfolio contains more than 250 000 articles from some 525 vendors. The Group has 4 058 employees throughout Europe. In fiscal year 2017 (closing on December 31), the company generated net sales of 8.9 billion euros. The majority shareholder of ALSO Holding AG is the Droege Group, Dusseldorf, Germany. Further information is available at http://www.also.com Droege GroupDroege Group (founded in 1988) is an independent advisory and investment company under full family ownership. The company acts as a specialist for tailor-made transformation programs aiming to enhance corporate value. Droege Group combines its corporate family-run structure and capital strength into a family-equity business model. The group carries out direct investments with its own equity in corporate spin-offs and medium-sized companies in "special situations". With the guiding principle "execution - following the rules of art", the group is a pioneer in execution-oriented corporate development. Droege Group follows a focused investment strategy based on current megatrends (knowledge, connectivity, prevention, demography, specialization, future work, shopping 4.0). Enthusiasm for quality, innovation and speed determines the company's actions. In recent years Droege Group has successfully positioned itself in domestic and international markets and operates in 30 countries. More information: https://www.droege-group.com DisclaimerThis press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current assumptions and forecasts of the ALSO management. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could lead to material differences between the forward-looking statements made here and the actual development, in particular the results, financial situation, and performance of our Group. The Group accepts no responsibility for updating these forward-looking statements or adapting them to future events or developments.SOURCE: ALSO Holding AG PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 23:46:30 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2019 / Alchemist Mining Inc. (CSE: AMS) ("Alchemist" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Mr. Rascan, a director of the Company, and CEO of Liberty Leaf Holdings, has decided to take payment of the $80,000 in consulting fees that he has accrued, in the form of the Company's common shares. Under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Rascan will receive 1,600,000 common shares of Alchemist at a deemed value of $0.05 per share."Mr. Rascan's decision to take payment in stock is a great testament to what we are doing and what we have achieved in the last few months, and we thank Will for his on-going support and confidence in the Company and our roadmap," said CEO, Paul Mann.Mr. Rascan stated: "I am excited to be a part of this Company's current trajectory and business plan and I am very positive about its future growth." The closing of the debt settlement is subject to the approval of the CSE Exchange and all common shares issued to Mr. Rascan will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day.On Behalf of the Board,Paul Mann, CEOFor further information on this release, please contact:Sukh Sandhu. V.P. Investor RelationsInvestors@ alchemistinc.ca 604-601-2093About Alchemist Inc.Upon affecting the Fundamental Change as announced on September 25, 2018, Alchemist's goal is to be a global provider of technology solutions to the cannabis sector. It will be primarily focused on investing and building a sustainable portfolio of business entities, by actively identifying opportunities in the developing global cannabis market, through a combination of acquisitions, incubations and investments, with a goal to create shareholder value.NoticeRegarding Forward Looking StatementsNeither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update such statements.SOURCE: Alchemist Mining Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-04 13:21:02 BASEL, Switzerland, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A team of Professors, Psychologists, Doctors and Therapists from many countries have launched The Plus Minus Code Program, an advanced online platform for children, teenagers and university students who seek to develop their Emotional Intelligence (EQ). This game-based online program has been designed to help develop discernment, perceive beyond the facade, and foster peoples ability to decode fake news, facial micro-expressions, attitudes and emotions. Professor Francis Lavergne explains: Our brain is like a computer and records information like the binary code of a computer system, excepts the brain has amazing quantum abilities through emotions. Emotions can distort our vision and understanding if they are not processed and understood well in our brain. We encounter so many problems in our society with the Internet, where new generations can be easily manipulated by all kinds of information. Humanity, and especially the youth, need to learn how to apply deeper discernment in life. Our team has been working for many years to create this unique program that explains through the evaluation of images the pluses, minuses and tendencies (meaning a mixture of both) in our daily life. Emotional intelligence (EQ) has become an important field of education because it provides a multidimensional approach to better understanding ones environment. The Plus Minus Code program is unique in that it reveals the positive and the negative aspects of life in general. Therefore, using the code increases our awareness of the subtleties of relationships and situations, while developing global vision. Having global vision is the key to positive leadership and decision making it allows us to build a successful life with consciousness. Developed by the non-profit Source Code Technology (SCT) Foundation, The Plus Minus Code was first presented in multiple schools and countries, and is now available online internationally on home computers, smartphones, or tablets. EQ tests are available as part of The +|- Code Program for individuals and families to start discovering more about emotional intelligence. More info: www.plusminuscode.com Media page link: www.plusminuscode.com/en/media Contact: Alexis Mercier Email: media@plusminuscode.com Abbie Hoffman used to tell the story of his appearance on the David Susskind program. Susskind was, among other things, a talk show host a precursor of Larry King and even more annoying. He invited Hoffman on his show to inform him about Yippies, the left-wing counter-culturalists of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Instead of explaining Yippies to Susskind, Hoffman said he would demonstrate. Heres how a Yippie scratches his ear, said Hoffman as he scratched. Heres how a Yippie blows his nose, said Hoffman, blowing. (Hoffman also brought a live duck on Susskinds set, but the duck was edited out) This op-ed by Jill Abramson reminds me of Hoffmans story. Abramson wants the media to develop a better understanding of a new tribe (she uses the word), one even stranger than the Yippies of old the Trump supporter. To this end, she argues that reporters for the big coastal newspapers need to go out among this species in its natural habitat. Not just for a couple of days, but for an extended period. As an example, Abramson cites Robert Caro, Lyndon Johnsons biographer. He moved to Texas Hill Country for three years to better understand his subjects background and upbringing. But extended excursions to the heartland ought not be necessary to understand Trump supporters. Anyone not blinded by ideology should understand why middle America doesnt like the mass influx of illegal immigrants, especially when many end up on welfare and some sell drugs and join gangs. Anyone not blinded by ideology should understand why folks in towns whose factories have been closed arent fond of trade deals that hurt U.S. industries. Anyone not blinded by ideology should understand why white Americans are tired of hearing about how racist America is (and they are) when they have never discriminated against anyone on the basis of race and when they know that, if their kids apply to college, they will be at a disadvantage because they are white. And if big city reporters have any appreciation of patriotism, they will understand why many Americans are tired of having leaders apologize for America. And why some people like to wear Make America Great Again hats. Finally, if big city reporters have any self-awareness, they will understand why Trump voters, roughly half the voting population, are disgusted with the medias coverage of the president. Many Trump voters understand the mans flaws. Some may have buyers remorse. But its nauseating to see the president bashed incessantly in the press and on television. Reporters shouldnt have to move to Columbus, Nebraska or Bristol, Tennessee to understand this. Its telling that Abramson calls for improving coverage of Trump supporters, not Trump. Indeed, she calls the coverage of the president excellent on the whole. Im tempted to recommend that Abramson move to Enid, Oklahoma. But it wouldnt help. If the mainstream media wants better to cover Trump supporters, it should hire reporters who arent blinded by ideology and who have a modicum of self-awareness. For Harris, identity is simply American.' Thats the title (print edition) of a gushing article about Kamala Harris in todays Washington Post. The Posts Kevin Sullivan then rambles on for paragraphs discussing Harris multi-racial, multi-ethnic background. Simply American or not, Harris isnt above discussing it, either. When she decided to run for president, she wrote a book about her heritage. Heres what Id like to know. When Harris applied to law school, did she identify herself as an African-American? As an Asian-American? Or did she decline to identify herself as a minority on the theory that shes simply American. Harris might not have needed to identify herself as African-American because she attended Howard University as an undergraduate. Still, Id be interested to know whether she identified herself as such. Im told that when he attended Harvard Law School, Barack Obama made a point of telling people he did not check the African-American box on his law school application. With a name like Barack Obama, I dont suppose he needed to. Kamala Harris is no Barack Obama. However, they have in common not just their mixed-race background but also their eagerness to play that card while pretending not to. "I can't use my back yard. My shed is ready to float away. We've never had it before and I've been here for 30 years." -- Darlene Eisenhard Pull Quote 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. Looking at specific Medicaid waiver options to be considered by House The following is a look at specific Medicaid waiver options being considered by a group of House Republicans: A mandatory work requirement: This would include participation in a work or training program, as well as having a job, or some combination of the two. Right now were talking about 20 hours per week, Rep. Brian Zollinger, R-Idaho Falls said. Rep. Caroline Troy, R-Genesee, noted that most people who would qualify for Medicaid expansion are already the working poor. Having a formal requirement seems kind of redundant, she said. Co-pay requirements: The group has discussed three different co-pays, each of which would be $10 to $20. The first would penalize Medicaid recipients who make a doctors appointment and then fail to show up. A second would apply in situations where someone goes to the emergency room for a non-emergency condition. We dont want people going to the most expensive place to get treatment if they could be going to a primary care doctor, said Rep. John Vander Woude R-Nampa. If theres no co-pay, then theres no disincentive. We have to start changing the thought process. A third co-pay would apply to Medicaid recipients who earn between 100 and 138 percent of poverty. Vander Woude said many of these individuals already have co-pay requirements, if theyre buying private health insurance through the state exchange. The intent of this third co-pay, he said, is to develop the habit and condition them to go back on the state exchange once their financial situation improves. Lifetime limits: This would restrict the amount of time someone could remain on the Medicaid system. Were looking at four or five years, Vander Woude said. The idea is that people should be moving through the program. Two-year review: Rather than qualify for Medicaid once and just sit there, Vander Woude said, this proposal would require recipients to re-apply for the program every two years. Private mental hospital waiver: Seth Grigg, executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties, noted that private mental hospitals are prohibited from accepting Medicaid payments. Consequently, whenever the court orders someone committed for treatment or evaluation, counties typically bear the full brunt of that cost. We pay about $8.5 million per year for mental health treatment, and Im guessing most of that is for involuntary commitments, Grigg said. There are only a couple of private mental facilities in the state. This waiver would allow them to qualify for Medicaid payments. Claw-back limitation: For newly qualified Medicaid recipients, the program retroactively covers treatment costs incurred as many as three months before they enroll. In order to limit the states financial exposure, conservatives want to limit this claw-back provision to one month, if not less. We really want zero months, but no other state has been able to do that, Vander Woude said. The intent of this waiver is to discourage people from waiting until they have a medical emergency before they enroll in the program. Sunset option: The federal government picks up 90 percent of the cost for expanded Medicaid, while states are responsible for the other 10 percent. That 10 percent match is expected to cost Idaho about $40 million per year. If the federal matching rate ever changes, this sunset waiver would give lawmakers an opportunity to review the new funding level and decide if they want to continue with the program. If not, the eligibility rules would revert to current levels. Drug screening: Vander Woude said he hasnt discussed this with the entire group, but hed like to have see a drug-screening requirement for new enrollees. If we screen them, then maybe we can direct them to proper care, if they have substance abuse issues, he said. This would be an initial screening, not ongoing drug testing. Delayed implementation: Finally, the group wants an answer from the federal government on all of these waiver requirements, before the state actually implements Medicaid expansion. The Work Zone My son and I were running errands on a recent day, when he said, Dad, did you ever think about suicide? Read more The Leon Guerrero administration has appointed Mary Cruz and John F. Reyes Jr. to serve on the Commission on Decolonization, according to a news release from the governor's office. Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, who serves as the commission chairperson, last week announced the nomination of Melvin Won Pat-Borja as the commission's executive director. The commission will hold its first meeting at 3 p.m. today in the large conference room at the Ricardo J. Bordallo Governors Complex in Adelup. Cruz is a scholar and writer who specializes in CHamoru identity, Leon Guerrero said. She has a prominent, respected voice in the self-determination conversation," the governor said. Cruz offers a wealth of knowledge and will be important in the commissions agenda to inform the people of Guam on the various political status options in advance of a future vote. Lt. Gov. Joshua Tenorio commended the appointment of Reyes. John Reyes is invested in our island, evidenced by his active leadership roles in a number of local nonprofits. His background in telecommunications and banking will offer a fresh perspective to the Commission on Decolonization, he said. Cruz has a doctorate and is an assistant professor of political science, CHamoru studies and Micronesian studies at the University of Guam, where she has taught since 2006. She received her master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She has made more than a dozen presentations at conferences across the world, including in England, France, Tokyo and the Pacific region on CHamoru identity and self-determination. She is involved with the New Zealand Studies Association, Pacific History Association, Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, and Upsilon Nu - the Guam Chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha - National Political Science Honor Society. Reyes is the vice president and business intelligence manager for Bank of Guam. He is responsible for the bank's Oracle applications management and implementation, data analytics and reporting. Before moving back to Guam in 2015, Reyes worked as the vice president of operations and human resources at Cloudbilt Inc., based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He also has 10 years of experience in telecommunications with Sprint in Las Vegas and three years in health care informatics with Inovalon Inc. in Maryland. He graduated magna cum laude from Regis University in Colorado with a masters degree in business administration. He also attended UOG. He serves as president and chairman of the board of the Guam Girl Scouts and is chairman of the Board of Mercy Action Marianas Ltd. A 35-year-old Georgia man has been identified as the person found fatally shot in Awendaw early Sunday. The Charleston County Coroner's Office said Monday that Jeremy Aboko-Cole died of a gunshot wound. His death is being investigated as a homicide, said Sheriff's Office Capt. Roger Antonio, a spokesman for the agency. Aboko-Cole's body was found in the area of 7633 U.S. Highway 17, authorities said, after deputies responded to a report of a shooting around midnight. No additional information related to the circumstances surrounding the slaying were immediately available, and no arrests have been announced. Anybody with information is asked to call the Sheriffs Office at 843-202-1700 or Crime Stoppers of the Lowcountry at 843-554-1111. Aboko-Cole's death marks the first homicide investigated by Charleston deputies in 2019. To date, there have been seven homicides recorded across the tri-county area, according to a Post and Courier database. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low around 75F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low around 75F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%. 441 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising Two experts from Princeton University published an article this morning in USA Today saying that Democrats must immediately take action to impeach Donald Trump. If they dont, they wrote, the president may do irreparable harm to our democracy. Princeton professors Kevin Kruse and Julian Zelizer want to send this message to Democrats: they should not care about the political controversy they may cause by impeaching Trump. According to them, Democrats must act now or risk letting the president destroy our country. The historians basic argument is that Trump must be held accountable now if the United States is to remain a true, functioning democracy. Advertising On this point they wrote: Accountability is essential to the long-term health of our democracy, more important than even healing the nations partisan divisions. The United States learned this lesson 45 years ago. In August 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned from office in disgrace as soon as it became clear that the House would vote to impeach him for obstructing justice in the Watergate scandal and, moreover, that the Senate would likely vote to remove him from office. Kruse and Zelizer then argued that President Gerald Fords decision to give Nixon a full pardon as a way to heal the nation actually damaged faith in American institutions. The damage, they said, was caused when Ford put Nixon above the law, sending a message to average Americans that political elites would not be held accountable under our legal and political systems. They made the important point that the United States has continued to suffer the consequences of Fords pardon, even to this day, writing: The nation has continued to pay for its failure to hold Nixon accountable. The divisions that Ford had hoped to paper over with his pardon have only continued to widen. Moreover, the general trend toward a vague sense of healing instead of holding specific wrongdoers accountable has only continued to erode the publics faith in government over the ensuing decades. The writers concluded their op-ed by asking that Democrats take immediate steps to right decades of historical wrongs. They could do this by drawing a line at Trumps illegal and treasonous behavior. They should do everything in their power to prevent Trump from escaping justice. As evidence continues to mount about all that President Trump and his advisers have done to violate the public trust, Democrats wont have much choice, they wrote. If they want to heal the nation, not just for whats happened under Trump but also for whats happened in the decades before, they should make sure that wrongdoing is set right. The truth is that Donald Trump, his children, and his cronies and business associates are elites who have escaped justice for years. If Trump is not held accountable for his crimes, then Vladimir Putin will have succeeded in his primary goal: to undermine faith in American democracy. Democrats in Congress are now in a position to prevent this from happening, and they must be sure that everything they do is focused on this number one goal: saving the country from the damage done by Donald Trump. 207 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising A new poll released this morning by POLITICO shows that former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz might disrupt the 2020 race for president if he decides to run as an independent candidate. The poll gives credibility to the opinion of many Democrats who have been saying that a Schultz candidacy could help re-elect Donald Trump as president. The major finding of the POLITICO/Morning Consult poll is that Democratic voters are more open to supporting third-party candidates than Republicans. Which means that someone like Schultz would likely siphon more votes from a Democratic presidential candidate than from a Republican candidate. Given that in recent elections the margins of victory especially for Republican presidents have been very thin, taking away even a small number of votes from Democrats could assure a Republican victory. The poll for the first time provides statistical evidence supporting the conclusion that an independent candidate may greatly increase Donald Trumps chances of winning the presidency again in 2020. Advertising Just 26 percent of poll participants who approve of Trumps job performance are very or somewhat likely to consider a third-party candidate such as Schultz. But among those who do NOT approve of Trump, and are most likely to vote against him in 2020, fully 41 percent say they are very or somewhat likely to consider a third-party candidate. And thats where the problem lies for Democrats. If the anti-Trump vote is split among different candidates then Trumps core base of voters may provide enough of a plurality for him to win again. When broken down by party, 31 percent of Democrats say they would consider a third-party candidate while just 25 percent of Republicans say they would. Independents (49 percent are very or somewhat likely to consider an independent candidate) and self-described moderates (42 percent) are also more likely to consider voting for a candidate outside of the two major parties. Younger voters are more likely to vote third party than older voters. The poll also shows that voters most likely to vote for an independent candidate are not necessarily moderates, which Schultz has maintained. According to Dan Schnur, a strategist for the late Sen. John McCain: Theres a common misperception that independents are moderate. Most independents arent any more centrist than traditional partisans. Rather, theyve made the decision to switch because of a hostility or disdain for the way politics is practiced. Schultz has said that he will run as a centrist independent outside of the two-party system. He believes that he will appeal to those who dont identify with either party. Experts, however, say a down-the-middle moderate candidate is unlikely to win much support from independent voters. Yanna Krupnikov, a professor and author of Independent Politics: How American Disdain for Parties Leads to Political Inaction, said We found no evidence that independents are any more moderate than the people who call themselves partisans. But Schultz could still play a role in deciding the winner in 2020, even if he has no chance of winning himself. According to a POLITICO analysis, an independent candidate is most likely to swing the outcome in states such as Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and New Mexico, all of which are likely necessary for a Democratic presidential candidate to win. So Democrats are right to panic about a possible Schultz candidacy in 2020. And we can expect to see them exert a lot of energy over the next several months to try to convince the billionaire former CEO not to run for president. 355 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising Democrats are now casting themselves as the party of national security since Donald Trump cannot be trusted and is probably committing treason. By cozying up to Vladimir Putin, and attacking U.S. intelligence agencies, Donald Trump has proven that he cannot be trusted. He clearly cares about his personal business interests more than he cares about the security of the country he is sworn to protect. He has even attacked key U.S. allies. Last week Trump made clear that he cant be trusted when he called his intelligence leaders passive and naive after seeing media reports about their testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. CIA Director Gina Haspel and Direction of National Intelligence (DNI) Dan Coats expressed their disagreements with Trump on several key foreign policy issues, such as North Korea, ISIS, Irans nuclear activities and Russia. This led Trump to publicly attack them, which is unprecedented. These intelligence officials have great integrity and knowledge about what is really happening with our foreign enemies. They should be supported 100% by the president, not attacked. Advertising Yet Donald Trump has a history of attacking the CIA and the FBI since becoming president. He does this in order to further his own political agenda. In the past he has even said that believes what Putin says more than he believes his own intelligence agencies (especially on the topic of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election). Trumps actions could be classified as as treasonous, and they strengthen the arguments of Democrats in Congress that they should now be acting as a check on Trumps power in the area of foreign policy. Since taking control of the House of Representatives, key Democrats have become more vocal in asserting their proper role under the U.S. Constitution. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said: What I worry about is if the president is going to so obviously and plainly and publicly disavow his own intelligence agencies, then if there is a real crisis who is going to believe the president? He has so impeached his own credibility that few Americans have confidence in what he does or what he says. With their newfound power, and after Trumps detrimental comments, Democrats are now talking about funding areas of security that they think should be priorities. And they are stressing that their priorities closely match priorities that were expressed in the public remarks made by Haspel, Coats, and other U.S. intelligence officials. For example, Democrats have stressed comments by DNI Coats where he expressed doubts about North Koreas willingness to give up its nuclear arsenal. Coats also warned of the continued threat from ISIS, which Democrats also agree with. Trump pronounced ISIS as having been destroyed and is bullish on his ability to denuclearize North Korea through talks with that countrys leader, Kim Jong Un. But almost nobody else in Washington agrees with him. DNI Coats addressed these issues in his testimony, saying: We currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its WMD (weapons of mass destruction) capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capability because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival. Democrats also point out that none of the intelligence officials mention a crisis at the southern border. Which is because they know that there is no crisis there. And they know that there are other real emergencies that the U.S. government must deal with in order to protect our national security. Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell from California, also a member of the House Intelligence Committee, expressed Democrats view when he said: We can fund where the threats really are, not where he tells us the threats are. Democrats in Congress including those who will be running for president in 2020 want to make sure the public sees that the current president must be replaced in order to strengthen our national security. They are seeking a political edge on the issue, and it is possible that they will be successful. So they are trying to make sure the public understands the risks we face with our current president, who may be sharing classified secrets with Vladimir Putin. Democrats say Trumps public criticisms of the CIA and other intelligence agencies help our foreign enemies, and threaten national security. Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, talked about the dangers posed by Trump; It is one more card that our antagonists have: that our president doesnt trust his 80 billion dollar a year intelligence operation. That is a huge card in a poker game for our opponents. That is a terribly dangerous thing. These are dangerous times and the United States cannot afford to be undermined by our own president. There is a void in leadership on national security, and Democrats in Congress have decided that they must now step forward and try to save the country from further harm caused by Donald Trump. Advertising A coalition of civil rights organizations has come together to sue Texas officials for trying to purge 100,000 legal voters with inaccurate data. Read the lawsuit that was filed by The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the national ACLU, the Texas Civil Rights Project, Demos, and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: This exercise is a thinly veiled attempt to advance the voter fraud myth to justify restrictive voter requirements and suppress voting rights, said Sophia Lakin, staff attorney with the ACLUs Voting Rights Project. Were suing Texas for rolling out this error-ridden voter purge program that unlawfully targets and threatens the voting rights of eligible and duly registered naturalized citizens. Texas Republicans used Trumps immigrant lies as a cover for a voter purge Texas is stirring up anti-immigrant sentiment, undermining the publics faith in our democracy, and preparing to purge thousands of eligible citizens from the rolls, said Chiraag Bains, Director of Legal Strategies at Demos. The Secretary of State is relying on information he knows to be out-of-date and unreliable. He is intentionally targeting new Americans and people of color in order to decrease minority voter participation, in flagrant violation of the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act. Were asking the federal court to stop the state from undermining the fundamental right to vote. Advertising It is not a coincidence that after former Rep. Beto ORourke came close to knocking off Ted Cruz and winning a seat in the US Senate, state and local Republican officials responded by trying decrease the eligible minority voting population in Texas. As the Texas Tribune noted, Republicans in the state went looking for voter fraud, but then everything fell apart. Republicans cant win elections based on their ideas, so they try to shape the electorate in their favor by using voter fraud as a cover for voter purges. It speaks volumes about the weakness of the Republican Party under Trump that the GOP is reduced to pulling this stunt in their biggest reddest state of Texas. If Republicans are that worried about Texas falling, the rest of the party cant be far behind. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 5.3k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising Longtime CIA agent Steven Hall is very unhappy that President Donald Trump is continuing to attack United States intelligence agencies. In an opinion piece in this mornings Washington Post, Hall said that never before in U.S. history has a president been so openly and aggressively hostile to his own intelligence community. Hall also said that he believes that Trumps open hostility is severely harming the national security of the United States. A president, after taking the oath of office, is sworn to preserve, protect and defend the United States and its legal system, not undermine it. But according to Hall, Trumps actions, such as possibly sharing information with Russian President Vladimir Putin, have had a very negative, and possibly long lasting, effect on the country. In particular, Hall writes in his op-ed that Trumps severely strained relationship with the CIA is damaging Americas important intelligence and military partnerships with key allies around the world. Advertising He said: Many allied nations have already taken note of Trumps cavalier attitude toward sensitive information, as well as his apparent failure to understand the basic rules of intelligence sharing. Recall when our president shared sensitive intelligence obtained from one of our foreign partners with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for example. In addition to that, Hall says that Americas key allies are now very reluctant to share sensitive information with the CIA or other U.S. intelligence agencies. From now on, they will be extremely hesitant to share intelligence due to worries about what Trump will do with the classified information. Hall wrote: I would be deeply surprised if many of our best intelligence allies were not already holding back information they would normally pass to their U.S. counterparts, for fear Trump might not be able to keep a secret. Their concerns might even be darker when they consider the possibility that our president has reportedly discussed sensitive matters with Russian President Vladimir Putin behind closed doors with no record of the conversation. Trump has had several meetings with Vladimir Putin, and he has kept these discussions secret. So the president may be committing treason and sharing classified information with the leader of a foreign enemy. Trump may even be committing espionage, by spying for Russia and passing on information that only he has access to. Treason and espionage against the United States are not just serious crimes, they also carry the possibility of the death penalty under federal law. We may never know the details of what Donald Trump said to Putin in their secret meetings, but we do know that Trumps actions have severely harmed U.S. relations with foreign allies, and have undermined the national security of the United States. It is time for Donald Trump to leave office before he can do further harm to our country. It is also time for him to be held accountable for his crimes. Advertising By Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump said military intervention in Venezuela was an option as Western nations boost pressure on socialist leader Nicolas Maduro to step down, while the troubled OPEC nations ally Russia warned against destructive meddling. The United States, Canada and several Latin American countries have disavowed Maduro over his disputed re-election last year and recognized self-proclaimed President Juan Guaido as the countrys rightful leader. Trump said U.S. military intervention was under consideration in an interview with CBS aired on Sunday. Advertising Certainly, its something thats on the its an option, Trump said, adding that Maduro requested a meeting months ago. Ive turned it down because were very far along in the process, he said in a Face the Nation interview. So, I think the process is playing out. The Trump administration last week issued crippling sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA, a key source of revenue for the country, which is experiencing medicine shortages and malnutrition. Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse and the exodus of millions of Venezuelans, maintains the backing of Russia, China and Turkey, and the critical support of the military. Russia, a major creditor to Venezuela in recent years, urged restraint. The international communitys goal should be to help (Venezuela), without destructive meddling from beyond its borders, Alexander Shchetinin, head of the Latin America department at Russias Foreign Ministry, told Interfax. France and Austria said they would recognize Guaido if Maduro did not respond to the European Unions call for a free and fair presidential election by Sunday night. We dont accept ultimatums from anyone, Maduro said in a defiant interview with Spanish television channel Antena 3 carried out last week and broadcast on Sunday. I refuse to call for elections now there will be elections in 2024. We dont care what Europe says. EMBOLDENED OPPOSITION The 35-year-old Guaido, head of the countrys National Assembly, has breathed new life into a previously fractured and weary opposition. Tens of thousands of people thronged the streets of various Venezuelan cities on Saturday to protest Maduros government. Guaido allies plan to take a large quantity of food and medicine donated by the United States, multilateral organizations and non-profit groups across the Colombian border into the Venezuelan state of Tachira this week, according to a person directly involved in the effort. The group has not yet determined which border point it will cross, said the person, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the issue. It is unclear whether Maduros government, which denies the country is suffering a humanitarian crisis, will let any foreign aid through. The embattled president on Sunday promised peace for Venezuela without specifically responding to Trump. In Venezuela, there will be peace, and we will guarantee this peace with the civil military union, he told state television, in the company of khaki and black-clad soldiers who were earlier shown carrying guns and jumping from helicopters into the sea. Maduro has overseen several such military drills since Guaido declared himself president to display he has the backing of the military, and that Venezuelas armed forces are ready to defend the country. Air Force General Francisco Yanez disavowed Maduro in a video this weekend, calling on members of the military to defect. But there were no signs the armed forces were turning against Maduro. Venezuela has as many as 2,000 generals, according to unofficial estimates, many of whom do not command troops and whose defection would not necessarily weaken the ruling socialists. The police have also fallen in line with Maduro. A special forces unit called FAES led home raids following unrest associated with opposition protests in January, killing as many as 10 people in a single operation in a hillside slum of Caracas. Venezuelas ambassador to Iraq, Jonathan Velasco, became the latest official to recognize opposition leader Guaido this weekend. (Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Brian Ellsworth and Sarah Marsh; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Peter Cooney) Advertising By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) Senior General Motors Co executives met this week with Ohios two senators and other lawmakers on Capitol Hill after African American employees sued the automaker accusing it of allowing a racially hostile work atmosphere. The lawsuits, which were first filed in April, got wide attention after CNN reported on them in last month. The suits said numerous nooses were found in 2017 at a GM plant in Toledo that makes transmissions and listed other conduct, including drawings of stick figures on bathroom walls with nooses around their necks and that racially-charged comments were directed at black employees. Advertising Alicia Boler Davis, GMs executive vice president for global manufacturing, and Gerald Johnson, vice president for GMs North America Manufacturing and Labor Relations, met on Tuesday with Ohio Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown and held meetings with other lawmakers, the senators offices confirmed on Friday. Brown and Portman had written to GM last month seeking answers to additional questions about the racism allegations at the plant. Johnson, in a statement, said he was outraged that any of our employees would be subjected to harassment. My heart goes out to anyone touched by this bigotry. GMs stand is clear: We have zero tolerance for racist or discriminatory behavior. This behavior is unacceptable and were going to drive it out of the workplace, the statement said. Brown said the senators met jointly with GM to share our outrage about the pattern of racist incidents reported by workers at the Toledo Powertrain plant. We expressed our disgust that the racist behavior went unaddressed for more than a year. Portman spokeswoman Emily Benavides said Portman made clear that GM must address this issue more forcefully and do so very quickly. The fact that it is still going on at the GM plant in Toledo is outrageous and unacceptable. The suit alleges that GM failed to take prompt corrective action at the plant with 1,700 employees, creating an atmosphere whereby the hate-driven employees felt free to hang nooses, display racist graffiti, and verbally attack and racially insult African-Americans. A GM spokeswoman confirmed the previously unreported meetings with lawmakers. GM also said it referred the issue to police to investigate and that after its own investigation it disciplined some employees and fired others, but did not identify how many personnel were impacted. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bill Berkrot) Sunday Briefing: Online Festivals Create Massive Scores February 04, 2019 Matthew Pitt Dozens of online poker players won big on Feb. 3 thanks to the 888poker RakeLESS promotion, partypoker KO Series, PokerStars Turbo Series, and Natural8 running some big buy-in events that attracted players in droves. Lets take a look at some of the biggest online poker tournament scores from Feb. 3. PokerStars Turbo Series 01: $215 NLHE PKO Date February 3rd Buy-in $215 Guarantee $1,000,000 Entrants 6,282 Prize pool $1,256,400 ITM 881 The PokerStars Turbo Series 01: $215 NLHE PKO attracted a massive field of 6,282 entrants who helped create a mammoth-sized $1,256,400 prize pool that was shared among the top 881 finishers and with whoever managed to eliminate an opponent. At least $4,698, plus any bounties, was guaranteed for each of the nine final table members, the sum awarded to 5692262 of China; the Chinese player banked $11,031 when bounties were added to their score. Mr Meykes, despedespi33, Hytuio and khch all crashed out to bank between $7,613 and $29,788 in total, with fourth-place finisher patabdd collecting a combined $31,823. Third-place and a total of $51,379 was awarded to Thomas198713 of Belgium, leaving atanas_1980 and FrCnntn1960 to play heads-up for the title and a considerable difference in prize money. No deal was struck despite this now essentially being a heads-up sit & go for more than $70,000, meaning when Bulgarian atanas_1980 busted in second-place, they netted $71,226 in total, leaving the British FrCnnctn to walk away $144,652 richer. Place Player Country Prize Bounty Prize Total Prize 1 FrCnnctn1960 United Kingdom $89,275 $55,377 $144,652 2 atanas_1980 Bulgaria $61,783 $9,443 $71,226 3 Thomas198713 Belgium $42,758 $8,621 $51,379 4 patabdd Finland $29,592 $2,231 $31,823 5 khch Denmark $20,480 $9,308 $29,788 6 Hytuio Denmark $14,173 $3,669 $17,842 7 despedespi33 United Kingdom $9,809 $5,037 $14,846 8 Mr Meykes Belgium $6,788 $825 $7,613 9 5692262 China $4,698 $6,333 $11,031 PokerStars Sunday Million Date February 3rd Buy-in $109 Guarantee $1,000,000 Entrants 13,228 Prize pool $1,322,800 ITM 2,366 The new $109 buy-in for the PokerStars Sunday Million continued to remain popular with 13,228 players entering this weekends tournament. Eight of the nine players who reached the final table locked up a five-figure score, although ninth-place finisher parisjoe came close with $9,938 awarded to them. Lithuanias Benas "benasg" Gudelis banked 13-times more than ninth-place when they defeated BarkieBoy NL of the Netherlands heads-up for the lions share of the prize. The Lithuanian secured a $129,213 prize, which we would guess would be their largest-ever. BarkieBoy NL didnt do too badly for their runner-up finish; their $109 investment was now worth a cool $93,762. Place Player Country Prize 1 Benas "benasg" Gudelis Lithuania $129,213 2 BarkieBoy NL Netherlands $93,762 3 pharaohus Romania $68,043 4 verkannt Brazil $49,379 5 XuYandex Russia $35,834 6 Japa Bill Brazil $26,005 7 FiltrMan Russia $18,871 8 Fieldmice1 Austria $13,695 9 parisjoe Hungary $9,938 partypoker KO Series #01-HR: $300K Gtd 8-Max Date February 3rd Buy-in $1,050 Guarantee $300,000 Entrants 399 Prize pool $406,980 ITM 56 partypokers KO Series got off to a flying start with several of its bigger buy-in events smashing their guarantee. One such event was the KO Series #01-HR: $300K Gtd 8-Max won by fizzygypsy of Canada. partypoker recently took steps to make their PKO events a bit more fair. They did this by making first and second-place pay almost the same, leaving the heads-up duo to fight for the usually substantial final bounty payment. fizzygypsy walked away with $65,906 and fumateotro of the United Kingdom $53,821 after both players collected $29,998 and $29,958 from the main prize pool, but fizzygypsy scooped more than $12,000 extra from the bounty prize pool. Place Player Country Prize Bounty Prize Total Prize 1 fizzygypsy Canada $29,998 $35,908 $65,906 2 fumateotro United Kingdom $29,958 $23,863 $53,821 3 backdrunk Sweden $20,569 $3,855 $24,424 4 j2805667 Malta $14,442 $2,811 $17,253 5 ucantrybut Ukraine $10,328 $1,868 $12,196 6 SeuOnofre Brazil $7,527 $2,990 $10,517 7 BuyThaPot Sweden $5,317 $3,111 $8,428 8 LordPuasonG United Kingdom $3,873 $1,657 $5,330 partypoker KO Series #02-HR: $300K Gtd 8-Max Date February 3rd Buy-in $530 Guarantee $300,000 Entrants 748 Prize pool $383,350 ITM 104 It was a similar story in the KO Series #02-HR: $300K Gtd 8-Max where 748 players exchanged $530 for the chance to become a KO Series champion. First-place in this exciting event weighed in at $26,199 with second-place locked in at $26,162. The difference between the first-place bounty and runner-up was a massive $24,743 thanks to dean23pricel having a sizeable bounty on their heads. This meant when dean23pricel defeated sanguenuzoio heads-up, their bankroll was boosted by a combined $54,436 with the second-place finisher netting $29,656 in total. Place Player Country Prize Bounty Prize Total Prize 1 dean23priceI Netherlands $26,199 $28,237 $54,436 2 sanguenuzoio Brazil $26,162 $3,494 $29,656 3 pendall Russia $17,584 $4,577 $22,161 4 ojanOmaha Sweden $11,915 $9,554 $21,469 5 HyphMngo Poland $8,410 $5,069 $13,479 6 LordBoris82 Denmark $6,060 $4,093 $10,153 7 phbbc Brazil $4,329 $1,903 $6,232 8 HiSoka_18 Russia $3,009 $2,825 $5,834 888poker $100,000 RakeLESS Sunday Main Event Date February 3rd Buy-in $300 Guarantee $100,000 Entrants 441 Prize pool $132,300 ITM 63 The 888poker RakeLESS promotion went down a storm with the two biggest tournaments each surpassing their $100,000 guarantees. The $100,000 RakeLESS Sunday Main Event saw $132,300 distributed among the top 63 finishers, with the eight-handed final table all securing almost $3,000. Joao joaobarb Barbosa, mrsmith78 and Finlands dmg36 were the first casualties of the final table, walking away with prizes worth between $2,976 and $5,622. Fifth-place finisher Lannovar10 of the United Kingdom banked $7,276 and was the last player in this tournament to not scoop five-figures. Germanys t8ofdiamonds busted in fourth-place for $10,319 and was joined as a spectator by easylimp888 of the UK who netted $13,560 for their third-place exit. Long-time grinder Michael wywrotx Wywrot triumphed over the 441-strong field, securing $25,137 for his efforts and leaving Jans Graftekkel Arends to collect the $18,522 consolation prize. Place Player Country Prize 1 Michael wywrotx Wywrot Canada $25,137 2 Jans Graftekkel Arends $18,522 3 easylimp888 United Kingdom $13,560 4 t8ofdiamonds Germany $10,319 5 Lannovar101 United Kingdom $7,276 6 dmg36 Finland $5,622 7 mrsmith78 United Kingdom $4,299 8 Joao joaobarb Barbosa $2,976 888poker $100,000 RakeLESS Sunday Mega Deep Date February 3rd Buy-in $200 Guarantee $100,000 Entrants 773 Prize pool $154,600 ITM 72 The $100,000 RakeLESS Sunday Mega Deep saw 773 players create a $154,600 prize pool and the lions share is now nestled in the 888poker account of Tedson89 of the UK, namely $29,219. The British player defeated nixokofits of Greece heads-up to secure the biggest prize of the tournament, which left the Greek grinder to bank $21,412 for their second-place finish. Only two other 888poker players netted more than $10,000 from the RakeLESS Sunday Mega Deep. Fourth-place GramNaKartke was awarded $11,904 with sblanch259 of Canada busting one place later for $15,769. Sam sammygrinder Grafton bubbled the final table; he finished ninth for $2,365.38. Place Player Country Prize 1 Tedson89 United Kingdom $29,219 2 nixokofits Greece $21,412 3 sblanch259 Canada $15,769 4 GramNaKartke $11,904 5 Gugulehtu Malta $8,348 6 byyyyy Sweden $6,570 7 MR.Sadball Ireland $5,024 8 Ivan F1SHRAP1ST Gacina Croatia $3,478 Natural8 Sunday Blade $5k Date February 3rd Buy-in $5,000 Guarantee $75,000 Entrants 43 Prize pool $204,250 ITM 5 A new addition to the Sunday Briefing this week are a couple of results from Natural8 on the GGNetwork, and it is easy to see why. The Sunday Blade $5K isnt a $5K guaranteed affair; its a $5,000 buy-in event! Five of the 43 starters banked some of the $204,250 prize pool; oviens22 netting $12,838 for their fifth-place finish. HONEYDETECTED of the UK finished in fourth-place for $20,396; it would not be the Brits only big score of the night. Pihler13 of the Ukraine busted in third-place for $32,404 to leave chapdelaine and SasukeUchiha to play one-on-one for the title and the huge $87,129 top prize. It was the latter who emerged victorious, meaning the runner-up had to lick their wounds with a $51,480 score heading to their Natural8 poker account. Place Player Country Prize 1 SasukeUchiha Canada $87,129 2 chapdelaine Canada $51,480 3 pihler13 Ukraine $32,404 4 HONEYDETECTED United Kingdom $20,396 5 oviens22 Canada $12,838 Natural8 Sunday Blade 500 Date February 3rd Buy-in $500 Guarantee $100,000 Entrants 191 Prize pool $100,000 ITM 26 HONEYDETECTED finished fourth in the Blade $5K event and followed that up with another fourth-place finish, this time in the Sunday Blade 500, a $500 buy-in tournament that attracted 191 entrants. The Brit netted an additional $8,711 for this fourth-place bust out and was the last player in this event not to win at least $10,000. Mexicos oldzet was the third-place finisher and saw $11,463 added to their account. Croatias OutlawStar and HFNMWH2U were the last two players standing, and they struck a deal that saw the former win $17,968 and the latter $16,698, although HFNMWH2U was confirmed as the tournaments champion. Place Player Country Prize 1 HFNMWH2U Croatia $16,698* 2 OutlawStar Canada $17,968* 3 oldzet Mexico $11,463 4 HONEYDETECTED United Kingdom $8,711 5 elchobi Uruguay $6,619 6 jutrack Germany $5,030 7 2high2bet Japan $3,822 8 peroni Grenada $2,905 The Stars Group is a majority shareholder in iBus Media Bryn Kenney Wins 2019 Aussie Millions Main Event After Three-Way Deal, Del Vecchio Second February 03, 2019 Will Shillibier In the largest Aussie Millions Main Event in history, Bryn Kenney defeated a field of 822 players and walked away with AU$1,272,598 (US$923,269) after a three-handed deal between him, fellow American Mike Del Vecchio and Australian Andrew Hinrichsen. Coming into the final table as the short stack, Kenney scored two doubles within the first 50 hands of the day to steady the ship and when play was down to the final three players, Kenney scored another timely double to stay alive. After over 100 hands of three-handed play, the trio returned from break and agreed to look at the numbers, with Kenney taking home the biggest slice of the remaining prize pool and with it the title, trophy and ANTON Jewelry bracelet. Here are the revised payouts following the three-handed deal: 2019 Aussie Millions Main Event Final Table Payouts Place Winner Country Prize ( in AUD) Prize (in USD) 1 Bryn Kenney United States AU$1,272,598* $923,269* 2 Mike Del Vecchio United States AU$1,272,162* $922,953* 3 Andrew Hinrichsen Australia AU$1,097,739* $796,410* 4 Clinton Taylor Australia AU$483,000 $350,417 5 Matthew Wakeman Australia AU$380,300 $275,908 6 Gyeong Byeong Lee Korea AU$309,000 $224,180 7 Hamish Crawshaw New Zealand AU$242,000 $175,571 *denotes amount determined in three-way deal "I said that I wasn't interested in a deal unless I was going to win," Kenney told PokerNews. "If we were going to play to win, then I'm happy to play to win. But if I'm going to make a deal then I feel like the tournament is sort of over. They were big pay jumps; I've played for this much before, but this must have been the biggest pay jump that they've both ever been involved in." Kenney: "I said that I wasn't interested in a deal unless I was going to win." "It's strange for things sinking in. A lot of times I'll do some incredible feats and I won't think of it as incredible because I judge myself so harshly about playing the best and doing the best I can in every scenario. "Now it'll be nice to relax, have a week's vacation and just relax a little bit. Just be the champion and not think about poker!" Runner-up Mike Del Vecchio. Runner-up Mike Del Vecchio picked up second place in the deal despite holding the chip lead three-handed, and adds AU$1,272,162 to the AU$370,000 he won for his fifth place finish in the Aussie Millions Main Event last year. "It's bittersweet," admitted Del Vecchio. "I wanted that trophy more than anything in the world. When we were doing the deal negotiations, he wanted the win and the money. I was like I'm not giving you both. So, in the end, I didn't give him a cent, but it feels bittersweet. I wanted the trophy really badly." Third-place finisher Andrew Hinrichsen. Finishing in third place was the best-performing Australian at this year's final table Andrew Hinrichsen who rounded out the top three with a seven-figure score of his own, taking home AU$1,097,739, over AU$400,000 more than third place. "I'm not sure it's sunk in yet. Coming back from break I was expecting to continue battling three-handed. But when it comes to a complete halt like that, there's a bit of you that has this flat feeling. "But I was very happy to lock up almost second place money as the short stack. I've not played many AU$500,000 poker games before and I don't plan on any time soon!" Aussie Millions Final Table Recap 2019 Aussie Millions Final Table group photo. The seven players resumed play today with Mike Del Vecchio holding the chip lead following a big double late on Day 4. However, his lead was under threat as soon as the first orbit as qualifier Clinton Taylor pulled a ballsy check-shove with bottom pair forcing Del Vecchio to fold top pair. Taylor was the player catching the eye early on, telling Del Vecchio that he would see the hand later on the stream and that he would find it "very entertaining." He also enjoyed chatting with Bryn Kenney at the table. "I like to talk with people who I don't know about," said Kenney. "We've kind of been going in the wrong direction with players taking it too seriously and making it not fun for people who are here to have fun. Del Vecchio: "It's bittersweet. I wanted that trophy more than anything in the world. "All poker players have the same kind of lifestyle, just poker, poker, poker. I find it interesting talking with guys who can play for fun because maybe they didn't do the same route as us professionals. They have different skills, but a poker player is still a gamble. They're interesting people who play for fun." This pot for Taylor shunted the Del Vecchio back into the middle of the pack, and it got worse for Del Vecchio when he ran ace-king into Gyeong Byeong Lee's pocket kings which saw the Korean double back into contention. With Del Vecchio falling back, the position of chip leader was taken up by Andrew Hinrichsen who was also responsible for the first elimination of the day. The sole Kiwi at the final table was Hamish Crawshaw who called off a four-bet shove holding pocket queens against Hinrichsen who had ace-jack. An ace on the flop was a disaster and Crawshaw had to settle for seventh place and AU$242,000 in prize money. "It would have been nice to take it down," said Crawshaw. "Sometimes you've just got to get it in and flip for your tournament life with huge amounts of money at stake. It was a surreal experience. Just happy to get this far. Unfortunately, the final table didn't go so well but that's how it is. You've just got to take what's given to you." Hamish Crawshaw, Gyeong Byeong Lee, Matthew Wakeman (left to right) Kenney had enjoyed a quiet beginning to the tournament, and after laddering up one spot, he got his chips in the middle with pocket jacks and held against the ace-king of Lee leaving the Korean with four big blinds. They went in against Hinrichsen two hands later with Lee holding ace-king and looking in good shape against Hinrichsen's jack-ten. That was until a ten appeared on the flop and with no further help, Lee was eliminated in sixth place for AU$309,000. Crawshaw: "It was a surreal experience. Just happy to get this far." This stretched Hinrichsen's chip lead to over ten million, as the other players battled for position. One of those players was Matthew Wakeman who was on the bad end of a couple of hands to drop down the counts. But when he picked up queens he probably saw a route back into the tournament. That was until his shove was called by Clinton Taylor who had picked up aces. No help for Wakeman saw him eliminated in fifth for AU$380,300. Four-handed it was Del Vecchio occupying the bottom rung on the chip counts, but he would score a fortuitous double through Taylor. Holding pocket deuces against pocket fours, Del Vecchio flopped a two to double up and send Taylor tumbling down the counts. Clinton Taylor was eliminated in fourth place. Taylor spied a way back into the contest when his ace-king came up against Hinrichsen's pocket nines, but the chip leader turned a straight to eliminate Taylor in fourth place for AU$483,000. With Taylor's elimination coming in Hand #99 and over one hundred hands remaining until the players agreed to a deal, there was still a lot of poker to play despite Hinrichsen holding almost two-thirds of the chips in play. Down to Three "Three-handed you start feeling more emotions," explained Kenney. "You don't wanna come in third once the pay jumps start to get really big." And boy were the pay jumps big, with almost AU$1,200,000 difference between first and third. But there was no rush to look at the numbers as the players seemed content to play it out. The three-handed play was a masterclass both in limped pots and "taking it to the streets." Kenney scored a simple double through Del Veccio ace-five vs. king-seven as the two tussled for control between runaway chip leader Hinrichsen. Kenney: "I've had bigger wins than this. But it's amazing to do it in this city." The runaway Australian was finally pegged back in an exciting hand which saw Del Vecchio turn quads but Hinrichsen river the nut straight and pay off Del Vecchio to earn the American a full double, flattening the chip counts somewhat as the American found himself in the chip lead. There was another level of play with no real breakthrough for any player, and after the trio returned from break, they agreed a deal which handed Kenney the win. "I've had bigger wins than this," said Kenney, "But it's amazing to do it in this city. I've been having a good time with these people. It's by far the most I've ever been asked to take a picture. During the whole tournament every time I'm on a break maybe 2-3 people want to take a picture. That's how poker should be, watching and having a good time. "It's the best tournament stop in the world. During the summer here you just walk outside on break and it's just nice here. I don't have a complaint about it so I'd recommend anyone to come here next year - every year! It's just a great stop!" Staff reports The Petoskey News-Review When it comes to stories about the southern border theres always the photo shoots and commentary by border ranchers, but as Arizona Daily Star columnist Tim Steller notes, they are not a monolithic group if you meet them. As he noted in a recent column, Jim and Sue Chilton have received a ton of coverage but they are not a typical ranch family. Theyve had their spread for about 30 years, a far cry from families who have lived along the border for generations. And Jim and Sue are no political neophytes; shes served on the Arizona Fish and Game Commission, he was a staffer for Sen. Carl Hayden. In other words, they know how the system works. The Chiltons are Trump supporters on the wall and Jim has been to the White House. They are a favorite go-to for journalists writing about the border and a possible border wall. But Steller notes that other neighbors are not thrilled with the idea of the wall, even though drug traffickers and some immigrants cross through their territory. As is the case in general, most of the ranchers own little land outright but lease large tracts of land from the federal government. There is no border fencing from Nogales to Sasabe but ranchers differ on how to make things better. They also differ from their neighbors in Nogales, Douglas and Bisbee as to solutions. What Steller found was a diversity of views that is seldom told. Chilton notes that drug couriers use his land to move drugs north. He said the cartels control his ranch. I asked what he meant by control, Steller wrote. He said they use mountaintop spotters and satellite phones to avoid detection by American authorities. The idea that this means the cartels control the area has become a common argument over the years, but I dont see it that way. Even if they can move their loads, no one controls the area. And thats the real problem in my view. But it isnt a problem that a wall would solve, at least not a wall or fence alone. Even the Chiltons recognize that. The Chiltons and other ranchers are frustrated by the fact that border patrol agents have to spend 90 minutes to two hours to get to the border from their headquarters in midtown Tucson. The ranchers agree some wall or fence, with a road running along the border for border patrol agents to use, would be a help. Last year five ranching families, including the Chiltons, signed a resolution that asked for a border fence, improved roads to and along the border, flood gates at water crossings on the border, surveillance technology and other improvements. It that sounds reasonable its because it is. Steller noted journalists and politicians tend to look for the cowboy hat-wearing, angry ranches about the border issues and they find them. But there are others who dont share those views who are seldom heard. Until now with Stellers reporting. And by the way, those of us who live (at least for a few months) in border areas are not in fear of our lives and an abundance of crime in our communities. Just not happening, period. And the winners are How did the 435 members of the House of Representatives get to Washington? And who are they? The New York Times did a dive into the 116th Congress, checking on the route each representative took in becoming a member of Congress. As a whole they are an educated bunch, with many going to elite colleges and then for many, to law school. Of the elite colleges, 11 reps graduated from Harvard. Only two members do not have a college degree. Of those who went to law school, most went into private law practices. They are grossly over represented only 1 percent of the voting age population are lawyers but more than one-third of the House are lawyers. Also over-represented are business leaders, who can also tap into their networks to raises funds for campaign and have the time to conduct a campaign. Not surprisingly, those from a blue-collar background are almost non-existent. The flow chart accompanying the article shows that a large percentage of Democrats come to Congress through education, non-profits and unions. For Republicans its the military, real estate and farming. The bulk though are lawyers. The two parties converge at business or management, with almost 40 percent of House members, about half Republican, citing business experience. Finally, previously 20 percent of the House members didnt hold a political office before their election, whereas 40 percent of the new reps in the novice class have never held public office. Take a peek here to see how the new House looks: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/01/26/opinion/sunday/paths-to-congress.html. Staff reports The Petoskey News-Review Some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2 A chat with a former co-worker brought to mind three ordinary people we worked with at the University of Colorado Medical Center: Dr. F. Owen Black was a young professor of otolaryngology who hired me as a research secretary. Among other tasks I typed and retyped manuscripts until they were ready for publication in professional journals. After Dr. Black was drafted as a combat surgeon in Vietnam, I continued to assist with his writing. His obituary tells of his distinguished career as a neurotologist who worked with NASA and wrote professional articles and textbooks. We also worked with Marion Downs, who, after raising her children, had begun a career in audiology. She had recently returned from lecturing in Vietnam where her habitual lateness had saved her from a car bombing. Her grit and buoyant nature were apparent as I rode with her from Denver to a workshop at Vail. During her career, Marion developed methods for testing infants hearing still used in hospitals so babies with hearing loss could be treated early and achieve their developmental milestones. Marion became known as the Mother of Pediatric Audiology and did audiology workshops around the world some in Northern Michigan. She lived 10 months past 100 years of age. While at UCMC I had dental work done by a young Dr. Gordon Christensen who was setting up the universitys dental school. He did one of my two tiny gold foil fillings in his office so I could be patient/assistant for the other at his state board exams. Dr. Christensen is now a renowned consultant who still practices dentistry and does workshops around the country including some in Northern Michigan. These three, who seemed ordinary when we worked with them, have made extraordinary contributions to health care for all. If not angels, they are at least very shining examples. Jim Abbey Tip of the Mitt SCORE columnist The U.S. government buys $400-$500 billion (thats with a b) of products and services a year to run its offices, buildings, etc. More than $1 billion in contracts is available per DAY, and 10 million contracts per year! But, you say, Im only a small business. How can I sell my products or services to the U.S. government? In 2017, it was a statutory goal that at least 23 percent of this $400-$500 billion goes to small business, that is $90-$100 billion or more every year. So, what steps do I need to take? How does government contracting benefit a business? First, lets talk about what selling to the government can do for your business. It can diversify your customer base, it can help spread some of your fixed costs like overhead and general and administrative cost, and it helps you even out your cash flow you WILL get paid. However, there are some things selling to the government cannot do for your business: it cannot jump-start your business, it cannot save your business, and it cannot be the sole source of your business, especially for startups. Ill talk about how you can get involved as a new business later. How do I become eligible to sell to the government? The General Services Administration (GSA) plays a vital role in connecting the private sector with federal agencies fulfilling their business needs. The GSA offers to agencies: professional services equipment supplies telecommunications information technology How does the government buy products and services? The primary contract vehicle is the GSA Schedule (12 million products and services per year). In order to get your business on the GSA Schedule, certain minimum requirements are necessary: your business must be in business two-plus years your business must have annual revenue of $25,000 or greater you must register in the System for Awards Management (SAM) As you can see Ive used a lot of acronyms in this column already. If you are going to deal with the U.S. government, get used to using acronyms. There is a website available that lists these acronyms: www.sam.gov/sam/SAM_Guide/SAM_User_Guide.htm#_Entity_Management_Content. Remember the 23 percent of government purchases for small businesses mentioned above? To help you get some of these contracts there are contracting assistance programs and set-asides (specific business categories). Of this 23 percent, the goals for set-asides are: 3 percent for Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) 5 percent for 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) 5 percent for Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) 3 percent for HUBZone (most of the Tip of the Mitt counties are HUBZone areas) Additional set-asides for small businesses selling natural resources (another topic for another article) As I mentioned there are several ways a new business can get involved. One is through being a subcontractor to a large business. By being associated with a large business you can take advantage of these contracts and the large business also gets to take advantage of some of this 23 percent of purchases. There is also a mentor-protege program where you can get assistance working through this process. Ill provide a link later for this program. What preparations are necessary for selling? A firm must have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. The DUNS Number is assigned by Dun & Bradstreet Inc. (D&B) to identify unique business entities. Its website (non-governmental) is at www.dnb.com, and there may be some fee involved. You must register with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) system (www.sam.gov/SAM/), the primary database for contractors working with the federal government. Visit the Small Business Administration (sba.gov) website to identify the size of your business. For complete information about what size qualifies a business as small and therefore eligible for federal programs and assistance see www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/contracting/contracting-officials/eligibility-size-standards. If you dont have one, get a NAICS code (www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/). This is a business classification identification obtained from the North American Industry Classification System, which defines the business classification schema used by the federal government. Also, be sure to have your Federal Tax Identification Number. Sources of help You may be a bit taken aback with some of the complexity with the whole process, but there are lots of sites to assist you and to research opportunities for you business: visit FedBizOpps often and register there to be notified of newly posted opportunities, www.fbo.gov browse the GSA Subcontracting Directory for opportunities to subcontract with existing GSA Prime Contractors, www.gsa.gov/subdirectory visit the GSA Forecast of Contracting Opportunities to see upcoming contract awards, www.gsa.gov/smbusforecast Small businesses are the backbone of American commerce. The federal government is mandated to provide an array of programs and services especially for small businesses. In GSA, these are coordinated and overseen by the Office of Small Business Utilization (OSBU). OSBUs small business outreach activities include: training; counseling; set-aside opportunities; subcontracting opportunities; trade missions; and roundtables and procurement conferences. Finally, work with your local Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC). For more information about these centers, see www.aptac-us.org/. SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentorship. We have been doing this for more than 50 years. SCORE is associated with the Small Business Administration (SBA) and has 11,000 volunteers nationwide. SCORE.org has some wonderful resources available to everyone. Tip of the Mitt SCORE is partnered with the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce and mentors there on Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon. We mentor in pairs and if the scheduled times dont work for you, we will schedule a meeting outside of those hours at various locations such as the library in Petoskey, the library in Boyne City and various coffee shops. To make an appointment with SCORE in Petoskey, just call (231) 347-4150. We have 20 mentors between Petoskey and our branch in Gaylord. At the Gaylord branch we partner with the Otsego County Economic Alliance and meet with clients 5-7 p.m. on Tuesdays and 9 a.m.-noon on Thursdays. Call (989) 731-0287 to make an appointment in Gaylord. Arielle Breen (989) 732-1111 GRAYLING Northeast Michigan Council of Governments (NEMCOG) leaders are moving forward with the development of Joint Land Use Study plans for the Grayling and Alpena areas after a Jan. 24 meeting with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). Denise Cline, NEMCOG deputy director, said a DOD representative reviewed the types of Joint Land Use Study projects it would fund. It was more of a brainstorming session, Cline said in an email. It was decided that we would put a survey out to the members of the Policy Committee that have regularly attended meetings to find out everyones top three issues to address first. She said the representative also gave examples of projects that have been funded by the DOD. According to a previous Herald Times story, NEMCOG is leading the planning process for the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center and Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center through a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment with matching funds from the State of Michigan. The Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) process started in 2017 with discussions and a draft public participation plan that gathered committee input and public feedback. Northern Michigan residents from areas around Alpena, Crawford and Otsego counties attended meetings and gave feedback on noise, military operations, environmental impacts, transportation, infrastructure, community partnerships and economic development. Cline said while the Grayling and Alpena areas had been addressed together until this point of the studys planning process, both areas will be considered separately moving forward. And now well start meeting with the groups separately and apply for funding for each, Cline said. Community councils from each area are in the process of forming and it is these groups that will be involved in the final decision of what type of funding to apply for in order to start implementing. According to the JLUS description, the plan aims to ensure military training, testing and operational missions are compatible with community development. The final JLUS report identified ways to manage impacts of local military missions on public health, safety and welfare of people living, working and recreating near the military installations. The final plan is available at discovernortheastmichigan.org/jlus.asp. Cline said an update on the studys results will likely be released this week. Cline said she is making a standalone website for the JLUS where people can track each activity in the Joint Land Use Study. Cline said she hopes to have the website complete by the end of this month. Arielle Breen (989) 732-1111 OTSEGO COUNTY Samantha Peterson is from Wyoming, a suburb of Grand Rapids. She is a conservation program developer serving at the Department of Natural Resources Pigeon River Country headquarters. Peterson graduated from Lake Superior State University in May with a degree in fisheries and wildlife management with a concentration in wildlife. Growing up I spent a ton of my time with family in the outdoors hunting, fishing, exploring and traveling through most of Michigan, Petersons AmeriCorps bio reads. She has also worked at the Allegan State Game Area and Mackinac Island State Park. I am extremely excited to learn and experience all sorts of new things with the Pigeon River Country throughout the next 10 months of service, Peterson said. AmeriCorps members with Huron Pines are paired with host sites around the state to focus on enhancing Michigans natural resources and foster environmental stewardship through November. The 10-month program emphasizes on-the-ground conservation work and engaging local volunteers, community groups and schools in service projects, hands-on learning opportunities and educational workshops. Since 2007, Huron Pines AmeriCorps has been a program of Huron Pines that is partly supported by the Corporation for National and Community Service, Michigan Community Service Commission, Huron Pines and contributions from host sites. More information on Huron Pines and AmeriCorps is available at huronpines.org/americorps. Steve Foley (231) 439-9397 As the calendar has flipped to February, gas prices may begin to show an upward trend in price. According to Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, motorists should expect to see gas prices hike back up around late February and early March. While oil prices have risen to their highest in months on the instability in Venezuelas political situation, gasoline demand has remained weak and supply strong, thus keeping increases firmly in check, DeHaan said. As the record gasoline supply continues to overshadow markets ahead of the road to summer gasoline, any updrafts at the pump will be small and limited for now, but once the transition begins, the supply overhang will be drawn down in short order as refiners liquidate winter gasoline, ushering in eventually higher prices come late February and early March. According to GasBuddys daily survey of 4,913 stations in Michigan, gas prices in Michigan fell 1.2 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.13 a gallon Monday morning. Locally, many outlets in Petoskey and Harbor Springs were selling regular unleaded above the state average at $2.25. In Charlevoix, prices ranged between $2.25 and $2.27 a gallon, while in Boyne City most outlets were priced at $2.25. The cheapest gas in the area could be found Monday morning in the East Jordan area, where several retailers were priced at $2.23 a gallon. Michigans average price of $2.13 a gallon compares with the national average which fell .8 cents per gallon last week to $2.25 a gallon, GasBuddy reports. Including the change in prices across the state last week, the average price Monday morning was 55.1 cents per gallon lower than a year ago and 1.8 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average increased 1.1 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 34.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The average price of regular unleaded on Feb. 4 in Michigan has ranged widely over the last five years, including $2.68 in 2018, $2.23 in 2017, $1.58 in 2016, $2.22 in 2015 and $3.30 in 2014. According to the Dearborn-based auto group AAA Michigan, Michigan drivers enjoyed the cheapest January at the pump in three years as the state averaged $2.11 a gallon during the month. That price was 54 cents less than the monthly average in January 2018, and 26 cents less than January 2017. Motorists have benefited from strong global crude oil supplies, which have kept gas prices low so far this year, said Nancy Cain, spokesperson for AAA Michigan. Last month, oil prices averaged about $10 less than in January 2018, However, oil prices are beginning to rise, as OPEC cuts and sanctions against Venezuela weight on the market. These factors, in addition to rising demand, refinery maintenance season and the switch to summer-blend gasoline will eventually boost prices at the pump in the coming months, Cain added. AAA still expects the national average to peak around $2.75 per gallon before Memorial Day weekend. AAA Michigan also reports the most expensive metro gas price average in the state is currently in the Marquette area, where the fuel averages $2.24 a gallon. The least expensive gas price average can be found in the Flint area, where its $2.10. The nation's top intelligence officials told Congress last week that President Donald Trump is wrong about the success of his diplomacy with North Korea, that Iran is not attempting to manufacture a nuclear bomb and that the Islamic State is unlikely to be destroyed as quickly as the president claims. And they barely mentioned, in an annual report to Congress on the threats facing the United States, the "crisis" on the U.S.-Mexico border that Trump says is a national emergency. But it was Trumps response to the Worldwide Threat Assessment that shocked me, a veteran of more than 30 years working in the CIAs Clandestine Service \. "Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!" Trump declared Wednesday morning. "The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong!" Trump's public criticism of his senior intelligence leadership will damage morale in the U.S. intelligence community, as well as our security services' relationships with their foreign counterparts. Inside the CIA (and, I would imagine, also in other intelligence agencies), there is a well-respected tradition of encouraging the workforce to ignore politics. CIA officers are hired or fired not for their political beliefs but for their competence and, in the case of more junior officers, their potential. Integrity is the key factor in hiring and retention; I never saw a case in which personal politics played a role in hiring or firing. Nor did I ever witness politics playing a role in operational or analytical decisions. For decades, CIA leaders as well as front-line managers have counseled patience, suggesting that officers don professional blinders when it comes to public pronouncements regarding the arcane work of intelligence. "Ignore it," I used to tell junior officers. "Just focus on your work, which has not changed and will not change regardless of who is in the Oval Office or which party is in the majority. Remember, your job is to collect intelligence securely and disseminate it to policymakers, whether or not they like the information you give them. Speak truth to power." Usually, just as in the military, the men and women of the CIA, FBI, NSA and other intelligence agencies are professionals focused first and foremost on their mission. They are more interested in facing the unique challenges of clandestinely collecting intelligence, and they view politics and those who practice it as largely irrelevant to their craft. But most intelligence officers I know are also inherently loyal to the consumers of intelligence. The Holy Grail of intelligence professionals is knowing that the information they helped collect, analyze and disseminate went straight to the president, the commander - and intelligence consumer - in chief. This is not because they like or even voted for any specific president, but rather because that is the whole point of intelligence work: to provide the best information to the highest levels of government. But there is a limit to everything. And despite the apolitical work ethic of intelligence professionals, being called passive, naive and uneducated will sting. It will sting officers serving abroad in war zones and other places where they and their families are at risk. It will sting those officers who have personally sacrificed to serve, but who know (or at least thought they knew) that at the end of the day, it was worth it because their work was important to protect our democracy and highly valued by policymakers and elected officials. I am not predicting a mass exodus of intelligence officers from federal service. Intelligence work is some of the most fascinating, complex and rewarding work that our government does, and its practitioners are dedicated and thick-skinned. But they're not used to sophomoric public criticism from an impulsive, angry president, and they may eventually decide that it's just not worth it. It's hard not to wonder why Trump continues his unprofessional personal attacks on the intelligence community, when he could instead simply fire those who so irritated him in the first place. The director of national intelligence, the CIA director and the director of the FBI all serve at the pleasure of the president. Trump appointed each of these officials, and indeed, he's spoken highly of them in the past. Until, that is, they provided facts Trump did not want to hear regarding several of the president's overseas pet projects for which he is claiming (largely without evidence) great success. Not accepting bad news is a significant flaw in a president, or any leader; publicly throwing the bearer of the news under the bus is even worse. Of course, the president has the right to formulate his own foreign policy. While policymaking is usually done with the assistance of an experienced national security team, the process should be informed, not driven, by intelligence. Plenty of presidents have listened to the information provided by intelligence professionals, have then gone on to formulate policies at odds with what the intelligence suggested. President John F. Kennedy decided against, for example, using the CIA's preferred invasion site in Cuba and asked the agency to find a less-populated landing location (which turned out to be the Bay of Pigs). That is healthy. But in this case, Trump reacted as if the intelligence community's threat assessment was a threat to him. Presidents are certainly entitled to their own policies, but they are not, as the saying goes, entitled to their own facts. Trump's inappropriate public criticisms will also have a chilling effect on one of the United States' most potent intelligence force multipliers: our relationships with allied foreign intelligence agencies. Indeed, the president's comments are uniquely self-defeating, in that our best hope for monitoring and perhaps modifying the behavior of rogue states such as Iran, North Korea and Russia is working in unison with our partners. Many have already taken note of Trump's cavalier attitude toward sensitive information, as well as his apparent failure to understand the basic rules of intelligence sharing. Recall when our president shared sensitive intelligence obtained from one of our foreign partners with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for example. I would be deeply surprised if many of our best intelligence allies were not already holding back information they would normally pass to their U.S. counterparts, for fear Trump might not be able to keep a secret. (Their concerns might even be darker when they consider the possibility that our president has reportedly discussed sensitive matters with Russian President Vladimir Putin behind closed doors with no record of the conversation). At its heart, intelligence is about protecting our national security and values by informing foreign policy. You can certainly criticize the performance of U.S. intelligence agencies; any large organization should be looking for better ways to be effective. You can encourage the intelligence community to improve by learning from past experiences, taking those lessons and translating them into the new, ever-changing modern information era (as the Russians have done using hybrid warfare). We can and should have high expectations of our intelligence agencies, because so much rides on their work. But we are well past the point where we can write off the president's public criticisms of the intelligence community as those of a political outsider, who despite his constant missteps has a heart of gold and the best of intentions. We are now at the point where Trump's actions are making us all less safe. -- Hall retired from the CIA in 2015 after 30 years of running and managing Russian operations. People often quit their New Years resolutions by the third week of January. So far, Im holding strong on a recent life change that was less motivated by the turn of the calendar. I deleted my Facebook account. Matt Rousu, dean of the Sigmund Weis School of Business at Susquehanna University, recently published an economics study that determined the average Facebook user would need an incentive of a $1,000 to give up his or her account. That is a strong hold. I was a very early adopter of Facebook. In its nascent days, one needed an edu email address to create an account, and nearly all initially were undergraduates. During the first weeks that the paradigmatic social media site was opened to users outside of Harvard, it was embraced by students at Sweet Briar College where I was then dean. They encouraged me to check it out. I created an account to see what the fuss was about and, frankly, was underwhelmed. As I was about to delete my new account, I noticed three friend requests. It seemed insensitive to ignore them and, in my own way, I was hooked. Fifteen years later, I had accumulated about 2,500 friends ranging from real friends to my mother to students whom I knew passingly. Initially, it was remarkably useful for connecting names and faces, a feature that now exists within university computing systems. Its unlikely then-student Mark Zuckerberg meant to create an aid for college administrators. In the past few years, there have been increasing reports about the deleterious impact of social media Facebook in particular upon our society. News stories have shed light on foreign powers attempting to manipulate elections through erroneous postings or hackers malevolently mining insecure user data. Beyond those headlines, the greater harm may be the nature of contemporary social medias adverse effects on young people. In her book, iGen , Jean Twenge draws convincing correlations between the rise of anxiety and depression among teenagers with the emergence of smartphones, their interference with sleep patterns, and their impact on social norms and behaviors. In a recent presentation, Jonathan Haidt, founder of the Heterodox Academy , shared data that showed a significant escalation of anxiety and depression, specifically among girls, who are more prone to bully each other through social media than boys who tend to use physical aggression to bully. More broadly, the fixation on social media is impeding social development. Over the course of my career in higher education, I have lamented seeing campus behaviors shift from students once actively engaging with one another on the quad to contemporary sightings of them walking silently together while busily thumbing devices. They are doing a variety of tasks, though frequently trawling social media. I realized that maintaining an account and accepting friend requests signaled an endorsement of these behaviors to my students, so I decided to delete my account. I dont miss it. My online disappearance has gone unnoticed by most (except my mom). Maybe a few will follow suit. I am adding the few minutes I save to my morning exercise, so quitting Facebook really will be good for me, but most importantly, it provides me an opportunity to model positive habits for our students. Thats worth much more than a grand. -- Jonathan D. Green is president of Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania. State Sen. Daylin Leach announced Monday that he would be stepping down from his role as minority chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee after a new sexual misconduct allegation became public last month. In December 2017, several women accused the Montgomery County Democrat of unwanted physical contact and sex talk. Last month, another woman delivered a private criminal complaint to dozens of Leachs colleagues, alleging that in 1991 he coerced her to perform oral sex. Leach denied the allegations. Leach and Senate Democratic leadership faced criticism after he was reappointed to a leadership role on the committee which could decide, among other things, changes to the statutes of limitation governing how long victims of sexual assault have to file criminal charges and pursue civil litigation. I have always believed that as elected officials we should always avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, Leach said, in a written statement. Given that the Judiciary Committee will potentially be taking up legislation that could theoretically be relevant to the battle I am fighting, I thought it was best that I allow the debates on such issues to play out without the distraction of such an appearance. Leach added that he will continue to try to clear his name. Last week, he filed a defamation suit against the most recent accuser, Cara Taylor, and two #MeToo activists whod openly discussed the allegations. The lawmaker has denied all of Taylors allegations, which would have occurred when she was 17 and Leach was a 30-year-old attorney defending her mother against an attempted homicide charge. According to Leach, he plans to transfer to a leadership position on a different committee without any appearance of a conflict. It was not clear Monday morning which committee that would be. Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, of Allegheny County, said Monday that nothing has been decided about what committee Leach could be moved to, whether he would still have a leadership role or who would take over as minority chair of the Judiciary Committee. For the time being, Costa has appointed Montgomery County Sen. Maria Collett to that committee as a member. Republican chairpeople, who represent the majority party, generally have final say over which bills are taken up by a committee but they do consult with the minority chair. Legislation is considered by the committees before the full Senate takes them up for a vote and eventually final passage. This article was updated to include comment from Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa. Wallace McKelvey may be reached at wmckelvey@pennlive.com. Follow him on Twitter @wjmckelvey. Find PennLive on Facebook. Read the TAPPED OUT special investigation of drinking water. Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is looking into whether there are better alternatives to using live pigs to teach emergency medicine doctors to do things such as inserting breathing and chest tubes. It comes as the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine claims the medical centers use of pigs is unnecessarily cruel to the animals and also a substandard way to prepare doctors to deal with human injuries. Medical center spokesman Scott Gilbert said We feel they raise a fair question. In light of that, Dr. Craig Hillemeier, the CEO of the medical center, has directed training program leaders to review available training methods, Gilbert said. Gilbert said its too early to know whether the medical center will discontinue use of the pigs, and first we need to ensure that appropriate training methods are in place to maintain the quality of the training program. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine contends modern training tools such as high-tech dummies are anatomically closer to humans and provide more realistic training. The committee further says that, based on its own surveys, the medical center is one of only 16 of 265 programs in the United States and Canada using live pigs to train emergency medicine residents. Emergency medicine residents are new doctors being trained to specialize in emergency medicine. Its a curiosity to us that Penn State Hershey would continue to do this in light of that fact, said Dr. John Pippin, the committees director of academic affairs. Pippin, based in Texas, said he is a cardiologist who no longer treats patients. The committee has put out news releases calling attention to the medical centers use of live pigs and taken out advertisements. The committee also wrote to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates use of animals for medical purposes, saying Penn State Hershey is violating the Animal Welfare Act. In an interview, Pippin acknowledged using live pigs for medical training purposes is not by itself illegal. However, he said the law requires training programs to consider alternatives and, if they exist, to use them. Pippin contends better alternatives exist and therefore Penn State Hershey is breaking the law. Gilbert said the medical center has heard nothing from the USDA regarding the committees complaint. He said the USDA last visited the medical center in August and found no problems with its use of animals. The committee said the medical center uses live pigs to teach doctors to do things such as making an incision between the ribs and inserting a tube into the chest to drain fluids, making an incision and using a rib spreader to expose the heart and lungs, and making an incision in the throat and inserting a breathing tube. Gilbert said such training is held once per year and last took place in July. He said eight pigs were used, with more than one resident being trained on each pig. The pigs are anesthetized to prevent them from feeling pain and are euthanized afterward, Gilbert said. On its website, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine said its vision involves Creating a healthier world through a new emphasis on plant-based nutrition and scientific research conducted ethically, without using animals. The committee regularly calls attention to medical facilities it believes are using animals inappropriately. In an interview, Pippin said the committees main purpose in focusing on the medical center is to spur improved training methods and results, which he said are less than the people of Pennsylvania deserve. According to the committee, well-known hospitals including Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Minnesota and Naval Medical Center in Virginia are among those still using live pigs to train emergency medicine doctors. The Pennsylvania Society for Biomedical Research is a non-profit organization devoted to informing the public about medical research and the vital role the responsible use of animals plays in improving the quality of both human and animal health. Thomas Leach, the executive director, characterized the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine as an animal rights group which puts animals ahead of scientific advancement. If their calls regarding animal use were fully heeded, it would be far more devastating to public health, he said. Still, Leach predicted technological advances in training tools will eventually make them the clear-cut choice. I am not aware of any institution that would prefer to use animals, he said. Gov. Tom Wolf is the governor we thought he was. Meaning, as the governor fine-tunes a budget address that amounts to the unofficial kick-off to his second-term policy-making / legacy-building, he will double down on a bunch of issue favorites: a big minimum wage increase, more public school funding, and a new tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas production. The big unknown is, will Wolf seek any other tax increases that he never quite took off the table during his run for a second term last fall? Well find out Tuesday, when the governor introduces his spending plan to a joint session of the General Assembly. In each of the last two years, by this time in the run-up to the annual address, it was widely known that the governor was not seeking an increase in either the states 3.07 percent income tax or the 6 percent sales tax. Wolf has made no such declarations this year. Closest weve seen were some mid-campaign statements last fall, usually in response to GOP challenger Scott Wagner, that he has no plans to increase taxes. Doesnt mean he will. In fact, the governor who used to deride GOP lawmakers for budgeting gimmicks that put hard choices off till later has reached a certain comfort level with those same practices over the last two years. And the reality is, in an $85 billion operation like state government is - including federal funds and special accounts - there are almost always at least a couple of hundred million dollars that can be shifted to patch holes here and there. But some independent observers dont see how the governor can accomplish his goals without some kind of new revenue, and two of the most-obvious solutions - expanded gambling, a borrowing against future revenues - have already been used. I do believe we have a structural issue we need to solve in this years budget, said Drew Crompton, chief of staff and counsel to Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County. The biggest unanswered question for me is how does the governor propose to balance the books? Wolfs Press Secretary J.J. Abbott had no answers for anyone asking last week, saying only that: We are not discussing revenue until Tuesday." Heres what we do know so far about the governors plan. Wolf and his Democratic allies in the state legislature are going to make what feels like their biggest push yet for an increase in the current $7.25-per-hour minimum wage. The proposal put forth Wednesday would take the minimum wage to $12 per hour effective July 1, then see it raised by an additional 50 cents per hour through the next six years until it hits $15 per hour in 2025. For supporters, its a big social justice issue that will also help the states bottom line. They contend that more workers making more money will increase state tax collections, reduce some reliance on social safety net programs and juice the overall economy. That is off-set, of course, by the just as impassioned arguments from many in the business community that this is an unnecessary cost to employers that will actually cause some to shed jobs. It would be far smarter, they suggest, to take other moves to improve the the states economic climate. Wolf is also continuing his quest for a severance tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction. But this time that debate will occur as a side-car to the states roughly $35 billion general fund budget, as Wolf has proposed to use shale tax revenues as collateral for a broad, $4.5 billion borrowing package that would speed up work on a wide menu of infrastructure projects across the state. This is an interesting new tack that could help build support for the shale tax from a variety of new constituencies, but the carrot of a new shower of public works projects seemed to get Wolf nowhere for now with House Republican leaders who have led the legislative opposition to a shale tax. Severance tax opponents have long held fast to the belief that existing impact fees on new well development are enough of a tax on the natural gas drillers. Most Democrats and some moderate Republicans have argued the gas companies should pay more. In a joint statement Thursday, the House leaders said Wolfs proposal "includes three of the worst ways to grow an economy: taxing, borrowing and uncontrolled government spending. While saying they share the goal of attacking infrastructure needs, GOP leaders said if Wolf had consulted them "he would know that there are not enough votes to enact a new energy tax, borrow billions of dollars and spend monies on more government programs. Whats unclear is how much spending the new program, if adopted, would skim out of the general fund budget, potentially helping it to come into balance without other taxes. The biggest cost-driver this year is expected to be in costs associated with medical assistance and other safety net programs due to increased program costs and the disappearance of some one-time revenue sources that had been tapped for the current fiscal year. Wolf, Abbott said Friday, will also spend time talking about new plans to help Pennsylvanians improve career readiness from birth to retirement. Heres what we expect to hear. Wolf has always insisted on raising state funding for public schools, and this year he will seek one of the biggest increases yet in Tuesdays address, according to several sources who have been briefed on the budget. All asked not to be named for this story so as not to get out in front of the governor. The school funding package will include more than $300 million in new money for k-12 education, with draft proposals breaking that down like this: $200 million more for districts to apply to their general operating funds; $50 million more for special education costs; $20 million in new funding for career and technical schools; and $45 million in a set-aside for school safety projects that can range from counseling services to physical security upgrades. This is still a catch-up area for Pennsylvania because of the states public pension problem, but it is an area where Wolf has usually been able to find agreement with the GOP legislators. A recent report by state public school administrators noted that from 2011 through 2017, increases in state support for public schools has risen by less than half of a total $4 billion increase in costs for pension fund payments, special education and charter schools. One new element to the school funding plan that surfaced last week is a proposed linkage of some of the new funds to a higher minimum starting wage for teachers in Pennsylvania. It was not clear at weeks end whether that had made the final cut for Tuesdays address. Current law sets that salary floor at $18,500, a number that has been unchanged since 1989. Re-setting the minimum is a priority of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the states largest teachers' union and one of Wolfs biggest sources of campaign cash. The sources also described boosts in in the forthcoming budget in funding for the states public colleges and universities, and for pre-k programs. Here are the open questions. What the administration has been most tight-lipped about in the budget run-up is just exactly how much of a deficit they need to fill, and where that money is going to come from? Through January, overall tax revenue is running $957.1 million, or 5.7 percent, higher than was collected in the same period of the last fiscal year. Even nicer for the states budget-builders, overall revenues are running $290 million ahead of estimate. Some additional revenue could roll in next year from taxes on new gambling ventures approved in 2017 and set to take effect later this year. Still, you cant really call these flush times for state government. Last years election-year spending plan relied heavily on one-time revenue sources to balance, including a $1.5 billion borrowing against Pennsylvanias future payments from the 1999 multi-state tobacco settlement, leaving the state facing a sizable gap between projected expenses and revenues for 2019-20. Several sources have placed that gap at $1.5 billion or more, if current programs and services are maintained with a modest bump in school spending. Just as a reminder, some tax proposals considered in the recent past, but not enacted, were extending the states 6 percent sales to basic television cable services, the same for commercial warehousing services, an excise tax on natural gas consumption, and a short-lived proposal to place a 5 percent surcharge on hotel room rates. Wolf, in each of the last two years, has also proposed a change in the states corporate net income tax structure that would have the effect of imposing the tax on more business activity, while gradually reducing the current 9.99 percent rate, which is currently the nations second-highest. Republicans, you should know, have already staked out their early opposition to balancing the budget through new taxes, arguing the key for them will finding ways for state government to live within its means. In comments at a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon last week, new House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster County, said, referring to this years revenue surpluses, When you are $400 million ahead, Im not sure you need new revenue. At the end of the day, its not how much money we necessarily bring in. We have to focus on how were spending it. Wheres the efficiencies? By any standard, the Healys were an impressive family. Michael, the father, was an Irish immigrant who became a successful Georgia planter. His children included two nuns, a Coast Guard captain, a bishop, and two priests (one of them a university president). They seemed the quintessential Irish Catholic clan. But they harbored a secret, one that by 19th-century white Americas standards was considered terrible. Their mother, Eliza Clark, had been a slave on their fathers plantation. Although Michael and Eliza had a committed, exclusive relationship, Georgia banned interracial marriage and defined their children as slaves. So Michael sent them North. The girls boarded with family friends in Boston, and the boys enrolled at Holy Cross College, a Jesuit school in nearby Worcester. Boston Bishop John Fitzpatrick, a friend of Michael, looked after them. The boys all found Holy Cross a positive experience. For James (1830-1900), Patrick (1834-1910), and Sherwood (1836-1875), it was where they decided to become priests. It wouldnt be easy, because many white Catholics, clergy included, shared the prejudices of the day. But Bishop Fitzpatrick and the Holy Cross Jesuits did all they could to help the Healys. The bishop sponsored James and Sherwood for his diocese, and Patrick joined the Jesuits. In a shameful reflection of the era, no American seminary would take them, so the brothers were forced to study abroad, in Canada and Europe. Their sisters had to travel to Canada to find a religious community that would accept them. In June 1854, James became Americas first Black priest, but this information was never made public. Boston priests knew and commented on it among themselves, but Bishop Fitzpatrick supported Healy, placing him in key administrative roles such as chancellor (a sort of chief operating officer) and his personal secretary. As Jamess ability became evident, comments became fewer. He also served as pastor of St. James Church, one of Bostons largest parishes. In 1875, he became Bishop of Portland, Maine. For twenty-five years, he provided capable, quiet leadership. Initially some priests objected to what they called his indelicate blood, but the people knew little of it. In 1900, a Portland paper wrote that he enjoyed the esteem and respect of the community. A Jesuits formation program can last for well over a decade. Patrick Healys began in 1850, and it took him back to Holy Cross as a teacher. Students there remembered him, and not always favorably. He wrote a friend that remarks are sometimes made . . . which wound my very heart. You know to what I refer. Later he studied in Europe, earning a doctorate in philosophy, and he was ordained in Belgium in 1864. (The ordination ritual included the words, I no longer call you slaves but friends.) Back in America, he was assigned to Georgetown University. Many alumni, some from slaveholding families, recalled his brilliance. They didnt know his story, but his fellow Jesuits were aware of what they called the problem related to his background. Nevertheless, in 1873, he was named president of the largest Catholic college in the United States. Over nine years, he modernized the curriculum, expanded the law and medical schools, started a campus building spree, and traveled nationwide on fundraising projects. Today Georgetown remembers him as its second founder. Sherwood was perhaps the most brilliant of the three. After being ordained in Paris in 1858, he earned a doctorate in Canon Law at Rome. An accomplished theologian, he spoke several languages and specialized in church music. In 1859, he was a leading candidate to head the North American College, a prestigious Roman seminary where American bishops sent their best students. Fitzpatrick wrote a fellow bishop that Sherwood would be an ideal nominee, except for the fact that He has African blood and it shows distinctly in his exterior. This, in a large number of American youths, might lessen the respect they ought to feel for the first superior in a house. Fitzpatrick wasnt abandoning Sherwood; he just realized the limits of what he could do for him. Sadly, the young priest died at 39 in 1875, as pastor of a large Boston parish. Over 150 priests and several bishops attended his funeral. In a country where the smallest amount of African ancestry defines one as Black, the Healys biographer James O Toole writes, these outstanding individuals had to spend their lives passing for white. One can only imagine the toll it exacted. James was subject to bouts of depression, and Patrick was physically and emotionally burned-out before age 50. Perhaps the saddest part of their story is that they not only accommodated themselves to American racism, they internalized it. In time, they stopped thinking of themselves as anything but white, and so did their peers. But when news of their background was made public in the 1950s, a Georgetown student defaced the portrait of Patrick Healy hanging on the all-white campus. It would be another decade before the university admitted African-American students. Today the university celebrates Healys heritage as a symbol of its commitment to diversity. At the same time, it overlooks the fact that during his lifetime, great pains were taken to keep that information from ever reaching the public. The Healy story mixes triumph with tragedy: triumph over the odds, tragedy in that they had to suppress aspects of their very selves in the process. To overlook this fact ultimately does them a disservice, and offers an incomplete portrait of the African-American Catholic experience. To deny the Healy family history its full richness is also to deny the very meaning of the word that defines Roman Catholics, universal. (The above article was originally printed in Patheos in February 2011, and I am reissuing it in connection with the celebration of Black History Month. The drawings of the Healy brothers are by Pat McNamara.) Heres a piece that my friend Bill Hamblin and I published in the Deseret News back on 28 November 2015: The Spanish city of Cordoba powerfully reminds us that Judaism, Christianity and Islam havent always been at war. Nestled beneath the Sierra Morena mountains in a region called Andalucia, the Roman settlement of Corduba was founded in 206 B.C. on the northern bank of the Guadalquivir River (from Arabic al-wadi al-kabir, meaning the big riverbed). Rich agricultural lands stretching southward produce wheat and olives in abundance. From its earliest days, Cordoba played a significant role in history. In 45 B.C., Julius Caesar is said to have killed many in the city because of their opposition to him in the Roman Civil War. On a more positive note, the Stoic philosopher, statesman and dramatist Seneca was born in Roman Corduba around 4 B.C., and his nephew Lucan, among the greatest Latin poets, was born there in A.D. 39. Unfortunately, both Seneca and Lucan were accused of conspiracy against the tyrannous Emperor Nero in A.D. 65 and forced to commit suicide about the time that Nero executed the apostles Peter and Paul. (Lucan was just 25 years old.) With the decline and fall of Rome, Cordoba was virtually destroyed in the fifth century by barbarian attackers from the north. Conditions improved only when Arabs invaded from North Africa in A.D. 711, ousting a weakened Visigothic monarchy. A Catholic church dedicated to St. Vincent stood in the city at the Muslim conquest; under the terms of surrender, Muslim and Christian worshipers shared the building. The citys importance surged when the imperial Umayyad dynasty in Damascus was overthrown in 750 by the Abbasid Revolution. The last survivor of the Umayyads, Abd al-Rahman I, made his way to Spain, where he founded an independent emirate and, in 756, made Cordoba his capital. Eventually, he purchased the Christian half of St. Vincents church, paying a generous sum and permitting Cordobas Christian community to build other churches elsewhere. Then he razed the church and, in its place, began to construct the Great Mosque of Cordoba an iconic building that still stands today as a remarkable monument of Spanish and Islamic architecture. (After Christian forces took the city as part of the Spanish Reconquista in 1236, though, it was converted into a cathedral.) But Cordobas most remarkable contributions to world culture have been literary and philosophical, extending long after Seneca and Lucan. Born in Cordoba in 994, Ibn Hazm ranks among the most prolific authors in the history of Islamic civilization, making important contributions in jurisprudence, medicine and science. Hes most famous, though, for a treatise on love titled The Doves Neckring and for a path-breaking work that made him, arguably, the founder of the study of comparative religions. And he also wrote on ethics. For example, his book In Pursuit of Virtue advises his readers, Do not use your energy except for a cause more noble than yourself. Such a cause cannot be found except in Almighty God Himself: to preach the truth, to defend womanhood, to repel humiliation that your creator has not imposed upon you, to help the oppressed. Anyone who uses his energy for the sake of the vanities of the world is like someone who exchanges gemstones for gravel. More illustrious still, however, are the two native Cordobans Ibn Rushd (born 1126) and Musa b. Maymun (born 1135 or 1138), also known, respectively, as Averroes and Moses Maimonides. The first, a Muslim jurist and philosopher, may still count as the greatest commentator on Aristotle; the Christian poet Dante honored Averroes by placing him in the highest circle of hell, along with Plato, Aristotle, Virgil and Homer whose only sin was being unbaptized. The physician, rabbi and philosopher Moses Maimonides is widely considered the greatest Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages. His 14-volume Mishneh Toreh holds significant authority still today as a codification of rabbinic law, and his Guide of the Perplexed, written in Arabic, is perhaps the most important single book of Jewish philosophy. From Moses (of the Bible) to Moses (Maimonides), goes an old Jewish saying, there was none like Moses. (Brigham Young Universitys Middle Eastern Texts Initiative has published dual-language editions of several books by the two eminent writers.) Averroes and Maimonides influenced not only subsequent Muslim and Jewish thinkers but such significant Christian philosophers as Duns Scotus and St. Thomas Aquinas, all of them participating in a civil, respectful conversation across cultures that once flourished in (and because of) Cordoba and that, we can hope, will someday resume. *** Top cleric urges Middle Easts Muslims to embrace Christians: The head of Sunni Islams highest seat of learning has urged the Middle Easts Muslims to embrace local Christians. *** Slightly old news, but important nonetheless: Pakistans top court upholds Asia Bibi blasphemy acquittal; Christian woman expected to seek asylum abroad *** Dont try this at home: Terrorism: Radical Islam vs Radical Christianity (Social Experiment) *** Egypt mummies: New tombs found in Minya It seems to me an appropriate time, yet again, to call attention to just one of the many contributions of my friend and esteemed colleague Dr. John Gee to the defense of the claims of Joseph Smith and the Restoration. This is a column that I published in the Deseret News on 30 November 2017: Many papyri from ancient Egypt have been recovered and, by and large, only a handful of specialists pay much attention to them. In June 1835, a small collection of such papyri reached the American frontier town of Kirtland, Ohio. That would have remained merely a slightly surprising historical footnote had they not caught the attention of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who was living there at the time. The Book of Abraham has been controversial in some quarters since it was canonized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1880, and it has long been a favorite target of critics. While many believers (very much including myself) esteem it highly for the doctrinal richness of its short text for, among other things, its invaluable disclosures about the pre-existence of all humanity with God detractors of Joseph Smith have often sought to depict the Book of Abraham as the smoking gun, the decisive and irrefutable evidence that demonstrates his prophetic claims false, and, specifically, discredits his claim to have had revelatory access to ancient documents. If the Book of Abraham falls, some have argued, so too must the Book of Mormon, the keystone of Latter-day Saint faith. I myself have occasionally waded into the debate. In January 1994, for example, I published an article in the Ensign magazine under the title News from Antiquity. It was subtitled Evidence supporting the book of Abraham continues to turn up in a wide variety of sources. Later, with John Gee and William Hamblin, I published a 2005 article bearing the title And I Saw the Stars The Book of Abraham and Ancient Geocentric Astronomy, available online at publications.mi.byu.edu. I stand by both of these articles still today. But nobody has devoted more time, expertise and effort over the past quarter of a century to the study of the Book of Abraham in all its aspects than the aforementioned John Gee. Trained in ancient studies at Brigham Young University and Berkeley and equipped with a doctorate in Egyptology from Yale, he holds the William Bill Gay Research Chair at BYU. From that position, he has contributed prolifically to international Egyptological journals and conferences while also researching the 19th-century background story to our English Book of Abraham and keeping an eye on the often-intense debates concerning it. In 2000, Gee published a short Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri, offering general readers what was, nearly 18 years ago, an up-to-date primer on many of the basic issues. Now, recently returned from a year-long research leave in Heidelberg, Germany, Gee has issued An Introduction to the Book of Abraham (Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center and Deseret Book, 2017). It replaces the earlier Guide Gee describes this new book as having been rewritten from the ground up and provides a superb overview of the best information currently available. Moreover, compared to the earlier volume, it considerably expands the range of subjects covered. In calm, lucid, irenic and accessible style, Gees new book methodically leads readers to the basic facts that they need to know and guides them through the arguments with which they may well be confronted. The goal with the Introduction to the Book of Abraham, he explains, is to make reliable information about the Book of Abraham accessible to the general reader. Although based on extensive academic research, it is not primarily an academic work. The book is divided into 17 concise and clearly written chapters, covering such topics as Joseph Smith and the Papyri, The Contents of the Book of Abraham, The Ancient Owners of the Papyri, The Egyptian View of Abraham, The Contents of the Joseph Smith Papyri, The Relationship of the Book of Abraham Text to the Papyri, Historical Authenticity, Abrahamic Astronomy, and The Facsimiles. In the last chapter, Gee responds to a number of Frequently Asked Questions. An Introduction to the Book of Abraham engages virtually every significant issue raised by and connected with this important part of the Pearl of Great Price. Further, its elegantly (and often usefully) illustrated, and, beyond footnoted references, each chapter concludes with an annotated guide to further reading citing not only relevant Latter-day Saint literature and some of Gees own academic writing in non-Mormon publications but several works by non-LDS scholars. This is an admirable book. For any who are interested in deepening their knowledge about the historical background of the Book of Abraham, Gees new Introduction is indispensable. Last week Patently Apple posted a report titled "A Second Chinese National Working on Project Titan has been Arrested by the FBI for Stealing Company Secrets." Apple began investigating Jizhong Chen, who worked as a hardware engineer and optics on Project Titan, when another project employee reported seeing the engineer taking photographs in a sensitive work space. The formal complaint filed by the FBI with the court on January 22, 2019 reveals full details of the basic case against Chen. The FBI lays out exactly what "Theft of Trade Secrets" means by law and confirmed that Chen's activities rose to the level needed to charge him with theft of Apple Inc. trade secrets relating to the development of an autonomous vehicle. The complaint goes into detail about Apple's trade secret program to inform employees about the dangers of revealing trade secrets and provides thousands of specific engineers wiith detailed activities not allowed by Apple. Apple's In-Depth Confidentiality Program for Project Titan To maintain confidentiality, the court document reveals that "Apple limits the number of employees with knowledge about the Project. Specifically, Apple grants employees 'disclosure' for the Project. Disclosure status allows an employee to receive information for the Project and is solely granted on a strict "need to know" basis. Only around 5,000 of Apple's over 140,000 full time employees are disclosed on the Project. Of those 5,000, approximately 1,200 are "core" employees, described as the employees that are directly working on the development of the Project. In addition, Apple limits access to the building where the Project is developed (the "Building"). Access to the Building is limited to core Project employees. As a result, about 1,200 Apple employees have access to the Building. Physical access to the Building is limited by badge access. Further, even within Apple's operations, the Project's development in the Building is not listed; accordingly, only disclosed employees know about the Project's development in the Building. Apple also goes to great lengths to communicate the importance of confidentiality in all aspects of Apple's business as it relates to its employees. Before starting at Apple, employees must sign an Intellectual Property Agreement ("IPA"). The IPA specifies that an employee may not use Apple's intellectual property except as authorized by Apple, including a prohibition against transfer and transmission of intellectual property without Apple's consent. Chen signed an IPA in 2018. Employees disclosed on the Project must also attend an in-person secrecy training for the Project. Chen attended the secrecy training on June 13, 2018. The training covered the importance of keeping the nature and the details of the Project secret and avoiding intentional or unintentional information leaks. During the investigation, Apple's review of Chen's personally-owned hard-drive showed that Chen conducted a backup of his entire work computer onto a personally-owned hard-drive, in violation of Apple policy, since Chen's Apple work computer had Apple's confidential and proprietary materials. In addition, Chen's personally-owned computer had over two thousand files containing confidential and proprietary Apple material, including manuals, schematics, and diagrams. Chen's Reasoning for the Theft of Trade Secrets When asked by Apple, Chen stated that he downloaded the work computer onto his personally-owned hard-drive as an "insurance policy" to support his job applications after being placed on a PIP (A performance improvement plan). Chen told Apple that he was applying for jobs within Apple. However, Apple subsequently learned that Chen had applied for two external jobs, including one at a China-based autonomous vehicle company - a direct competitor of the Project. Chen Attempted to Flee the Country The complaint goes on to say that Chen was trying to find a way out of the country after Apple told Chen to not leave the U.S. Chen used the excuse that his dad was sick and had to leave. More than likely at this time Chen knew that Apple had enough to charge him with trade secret violations and wanted out of the US as soon as possible. Once Chen informed Apple he was leaving for China on January 23, 2019, the FBI arrested Chen knowing he was attempting to flee the country. Various documents related to the FBI's complaint are under seal. For more on this interesting case, see the formal complaint in full here. In light of the DOJ dropping the hammer on Huawei recently for conspiracy, the topic of Chinese nationals spying on top US companies has been a hot topic. It just so happens that the U.S. is demanding that China stop their strategic behavior regarding IP theft of US companies in their trade negotiations. The current US administration is the only administration that has ever taken this stance firmly against the Chinese. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. Its always reassuring to hear that the president of the United States may have a more lax schedule than the rest of us. After all, how much do you actually need to do if youre the so-called leader of the free world? You just kiss some babies and call it a day. Almost every day of President Donald Trumps private schedule for the last three months was leaked to Axios via a White House source, revealing a schedule comparable to some college students (no disrespect to college students, we are just jealous of your freedom). The info dump shows that approximately 60 percent (297 hours and 15 minutes of the total 502 hours and 55 minutes detailed) of Trumps schedule is devoted to Executive Time. Only 77 hours were scheduled for meetings on subjects like policy and legislation. And what is Executive Time, exactly? Apparently its highly unstructured, an idea cooked up by former chief of staff John Kelly because the poor president found sticking to a schedule so loathsome. In fact, usually the first five hours of the day (Trump often wakes up before 6 a.m.) are allotted to Executive Time, which is basically code for Trump watching TV in the residence, reading newspapers, and calling various aides, members of Congress and associates in response to whatever particular bee the news has put in his bonnet. While the schedule lists the president as being in the Oval Office from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., six sources said hes typically in the residence during that time. His first meeting of the day, usually an intelligence briefing or a half-hour spent with the chief of staff, doesnt kick off until 11 or 11:30 a.m. For comparison, Barack Obama arrived in the Oval between 9 and 10 a.m. after a morning workout and George W. Bush came to work at 6:45 a.m. There are even days where Executive Time overwhelming eats up the schedule. For example, on Jan. 18, Trump only had one hour of scheduled meetings and a whole seven hours of Executive Time. Apparently, though, many of his meetings are spontaneous and theres a more detailed schedule that only a small circle of people are privy to, containing one or two more meetings than listed on the private schedule. Trump, ever-paranoid, conducts some meetings during Executive Time that he doesnt want West Wing staffers to know about in case of leaks. Executive Time is also sometimes spent calling heads of state. Needless to say, this sort of schedule is unprecedented. Chris Whipple, author of The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency and presidential schedule-whiz, told Axios, The most important asset in any presidency is the presidents time. And Trump is a guy who gives new meaning to the notion of an unstructured presidency. In response to Axios analysis of the schedules, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders emailed a statement reading, While [Trump] spends much of his average day in scheduled meetings, events and calls, there is time to allow for a more creative environment that has helped make him the most productive President in modern history. If this is what productivity looks like, we have good news for procrastinators everywhere. For those of you who feel like doing a deep-dive on the presidential schedules, Axios has published every page of them here. 100 years ago Feb. 4, 1919: At the appointed hour of regular services, worshippers at the M.E. Church in LeRoy held a memorial for Ruel Neal, who was killed in the recent war. Like so many other local boys, he gave his life in France. 75 years ago Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Feb. 4, 1944: The Bloomington school board rejected a proposal that nondenominational religious classes be taught during school hours. The request came from the council of churches. Board members said they might be open to religious courses during non-school hours. 50 years ago Feb. 4, 1969: The first urgent 911 call was logged this morning when a woman reported a pill stuck in her throat. But she wasnt taken to a hospital because she swallowed the pill before the ambulance arrived. Prior to this call, authorities say there were 350 false alarms. 25 years ago Feb. 4, 1994: Sam Leman, well-known car dealer, was killed in an auto accident near his home outside Eureka. State police said the Leman car crossed the center line on Route 117 and hit a van. The driver was critically injured, and seven others were treated for lesser injuries. Compiled by Jack Keefe; jkeefe@coldwellhomes.com. SPRINGFIELD With the 2020 U.S. Census looming, time is short for a group of Illinois lawmakers and activists who want voters to support a new way of drawing the states political maps. One coalition of interest groups proposes no longer allowing politicians to decide the boundaries of districts. Instead, those decisions would be made by a commission that demographically, politically and geographically represents the Prairie State. Current law allows the General Assembly to draw, and the governor to approve, political districts that are compact, contiguous and substantially equal in population. Getting there, however, is often a complicated process that invariably favors the party in power. A constitutional amendment written by CHANGE Illinois the Coalition for Honest and New Government Ethics would change that. The group has been working since 2012 to get a redistricting measure on the ballot. I think politicians willingly changing the law so they give up authority on this issue would restore some public trust and integrity in this process and show that they can be full-time legislators, as opposed to drawing maps to ensure a certain electoral outcome, said Jeff Raines, communications and engagement director for CHANGE Illinois. The groups twin measures instead place map-drawing powers under the purview of the state Supreme Court. The chief justice and most senior justice who is not elected from the same political party would together select 16 citizens to form a commission seven Democrats, seven Republicans and two independents. 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}} All the groups actions are meant to be transparent documents, meetings and materials would be available to the public, and the proposal mandates at least 30 public hearings. The proposal is sponsored by Julie Morrison, a Democrat from Deerfield, in the Senate and Ryan Spain, a Republican from Peoria, in the House. Its almost identical to one the same sponsors introduced in the previous legislative session. One of the concerns CHANGE Illinois addressed was the rate of pay for each commission member. In the former iteration, members would get $300 per day, which one lawmaker said could stick the state with a large bill. Now, each member would be paid $37.50 per hour of work. A glaring hurdle created by this effort is that it would require state Supreme Court justices to have political affiliations. Raines said CHANGE Illinois never approached representatives from the states highest court about whether they would be interested in assuming the responsibility of overseeing Illinois redistricting process every 10 years, but assigning the role to the branch of government seen as the least partisan makes the most sense. The redistricting revamp would require a constitutional amendment, which carries a high burden of approval to be successful. Both chambers of the General Assembly must give their support by a three-fifths majority before it can go to voters. Then, 60 percent approval by voters is needed. Although Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office did not respond to a request for comment about the proposal, he said last week that he would veto an unfairly drawn map. The constitutionally set deadline for one of these proposals to be successful is the beginning of May 2020. That would give the General Assembly six months to approve a redistricting amendment before it would go on the ballot in November 2020. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 CHICAGO -- Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has joined the chorus of lawmakers calling on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to resign following the discovery of a photo of a person in blackface standing next to someone dressed in a Ku Klux Klan robe on Northam's medical school yearbook page. On Saturday morning, Pritzker tweeted a link to an editorial published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch titled "Northam must resign" along with his view on the scandal. "I agree @GovernorVA must resign immediately," Pritzker's tweet read. Since Friday, when the yearbook photo first emerged on conservative news website Big League Politics, Northam, a Democrat elected in 2017, has been the target of bipartisan castigation and demands for him to leave office. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. surfaced Saturday morning as one of Northam's many detractors. "The Virginia Governor has acknowledged his actions were wrong&racist&apologized," a social media post on Jackson's Twitter read. "However,because of the depth of the offense,as a practical matter &under the avalanche of criticism,it will be virtually impossible for him to govern.Therefore it would be wise for him to resign." Initially, Northam acknowledged he appeared in the photo and apologized, though he didn't say whether he was the person wearing blackface or in the Klansman robe. He also said he planned to finish his term as governor. However, at a Saturday afternoon news conference, Northam reversed course and insisted he wasn't either of the people in the racially insensitive yearbook photo. David Axelrod, director of the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago, appeared to take issue with the conflicting statements. "I don't understand," Axelrod said in a Twitter post. "If Northam WASN'T in the photo, why was it on HIS yearbook page? Did he select it? If so, isn't that just as bad?" Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 PONTIAC OSF HealthCare Saint James-John W. Albrecht Medical Center is the latest Central Illinois hospital to enact visitor restrictions because of an increase in seasonal flu and other upper respiratory illnesses. Saint James announced Monday that, effective immediately, visitors would be limited as a precaution to limit the spread of flu. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reports seasonal influenza is widespread throughout Illinois at this time. Hospital visitor restrictions generally are enacted when flu becomes widespread in an area and are lifted in the spring when flu activity declines. Saint James is limiting inpatient hospital visitors to people age 18 and older. "This will minimize exposure of patients to children, who are known to be high risk for transmission of viral infections, and will protect children from contracting an illness while visiting the hospital," the hospital said in a statement. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Also, people who are not feeling well should stay away, especially people who have had a fever of 100 degrees or higher, a cough or sore throat within the previous seven days, said the hospital. Hospital visitors are asked to wash their hands with water and soap or use alcohol-based hand gel when entering and leaving a patient's room. According to IDPH, as of Jan. 26, 304 people in Illinois had been admitted to hospital intensive care units for flu this season and two children had died. While most people who get the flu recover in a week or two, life-threatening complications, such as pneumonia, do happen. IDPH estimates about 3,500 people in Illinois die each year of flu and pneumonia. Other area hospitals that previously enacted visitor restrictions include Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington, Advocate BroMenn Medical Center in Normal, Advocate Eureka Hospital in Eureka, Hopedale Medical Complex in Hopedale, and hospitals in Decatur, Peoria and Champaign-Urbana. Linda Stein, Advocate Aurora vice president of infection prevention, said in a statement last month, "As a reminder, it is never too late to get a flu vaccine during flu season and we encourage anyone 6 months or older, including pregnant mothers, to get a shot." Contact Paul Swiech at (309) 820-3275. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_swiech Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 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. NORMAL The owners of a Normal shopping center will get less back in taxes this year under an economic development agreement. M&J Wilkow, the Chicago real estate firm that owns the Shoppes at College Hills, will receive a $173,000 property tax abatement down from $210,000 in 2018 and $213,000 in 2017 under an arrangement that first diverts sales tax revenue to repay bonds that helped build the development. The Normal City Council will consider that abatement Monday. "We abate as much of it as we can, which is a function of how much has been collected in sales tax," said Normal Finance Director Andrew Huhn. He noted losing Gordmans clothing store may have impacted sales tax receipts. Torrid, a women's clothing store, and Comcast joined the Shoppes at College Hills last year. Hobby Lobby moved into the former Gordmans, and Marshalls and Old Navy could be coming to the former Hobby Lobby space, according to marketing materials released by M&J Wilkow. The town took out the bonds in 2004 to pay for the transition from the enclosed College Hills Mall to the outdoor Shoppes at College Hills. The $5.5 million bond issue paid for demolition of the mall, installing parking lots, engineering and other costs; it's set to be repaid in late 2024. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Huhn said he's not aware of any arrangements similar to the Shoppes deal it's called a "special service area" in the town. Officials have sometimes promised sales tax rebates for economic development projects, including Portillo's, the Radisson Hotel and two connected shopping centers on Veterans Parkway, and town property tax abatements, including one given to Rivian. The town also has several tax increment financing districts, which redirect property tax revenue generated by improvements from taxing bodies to fund economic development, including for uptown and Main Street. The Normal City Council meets 7 p.m. Monday on the fourth floor at Uptown Station. In other business, the council will consider selling two garbage trucks to the city of Kewanee for $260,000. That's part of a plan to replace four trucks for $1.27 million approved last May. "Typically, the town will take vehicles of this type to a public auction, but has on occasion authorized the purchase of town vehicles by another governmental agency," according to a memo from Public Works Director Wayne Aldrich. "Code allows the town council to ... authorize the sale of property to a specific buyer if the property has a fair cash market value of more than 25 percent of the original purchase price." The town bought the trucks in 2012 for $287,000 each. Contact Derek Beigh at (309) 820-3234. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_beigh Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 3 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our 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 First we had loads of snow. Then record-breaking cold followed by above-normal temperatures. What's next? A potential coating of ice. Winter weather advisories for freezing rain were issued Monday by the National Weather Service offices in Lincoln and Chicago, in effect from 6 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday. The advisory includes McLean, Livingston, LaSalle and Woodford counties in The Pantagraph area. Scott Baker, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Lincoln, said Monday afternoon that Bloomington can expect about 0.1 of an inch of ice. Areas farther north, and in the Peoria area, could receive as much as 0.2 of an inch of ice, he said. Areas to the south, including Decatur, Lincoln and Springfield, should get only rain, said Baker. The freezing rain is expected to cause slippery roads as the surface temperature hovers around freezing. By 9 or 10 in the morning (Wednesday), there should be no issue of icy roads as the temperature rises above freezing, Baker said. Salt will be able to effectively work at these temperatures to lessen the risk on treated roads. The key factors are the surface temperature and the temperature just above the surface. Surface temperatures are expected to be close to freezing, with areas to the north falling into the upper 20s. A shift in the system could move the freezing rain farther north, but most of the models are showing Bloomington-Normal to be within the freezing rain area, said Baker. The latest road conditions can be found at www.gettingaroundillinois.com. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Wild fluctuations in the weather do happen frequently, especially in the winter time, noted Baker. But the area's recent peaks and valleys were more extreme than normal, thanks to a polar jet stream arriving from the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, allowing cold temperatures to dive in, then a more tropical jet stream taking its place, he explained. The polar jet stream has pushed back up and the area has entered a moist weather pattern, said Baker. We'll still have our cold temperatures slide through, said Baker, but forecasters are not expecting anything like arctic, subzero conditions experienced last week. But it will get much colder. After a high of 48 on Thursday, temperatures are expected to fall to 11 degrees overnight and only reach 19 on Friday before starting a slow warm-up. The forecast is similar for the Decatur area, including a rainy pattern, with a high Tuesday of 39, but the low remaining above freezing at 36. Wednesday and Thursday will see highs of 51, then a forecast low of 13 on Thursday night and a high on Friday of 22. The rainfall this week and recent snow melt also are causing area creeks, streams and rivers to rise. The NWS is advising people living along a river or in other flood-prone locations to keep up with the latest forecast. Photos: Commuters brave winter Monday morning in Bloomington Contact Lenore Sobota at (309) 820-3240. Follow her on Twitter: @Pg_Sobota 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-Normal Galleries, museums ISU University Galleries; noon-4 p.m. Mon., 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Tue., 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun., Uptown Station, 11 Uptown Circle, Normal; rotating exhibits in three galleries; free; 309-438-8321. IWU Merwin and Wakeley Galleries; school hours, noon-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun., 7-9 p.m. Tue.; 302 E. Graham St., Bloomington; rotating exhibits; free; 309-556-3391. Jan Brandt Gallery; 1305 Morrissey Drive, Bloomington; janbrandtgallery@gmail.com. McLean County Arts Center; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tue., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat.; 601 N. East St., Bloomington; rotating exhibits, sales, rentals, art classes and lectures; free; 309-829-0011. McLean County Museum of History; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. (until 9 p.m. Tue.), 200 N. Main St., Bloomington; permanent and rotating exhibits; adults $5, seniors $4, students, children under 12 and members free; 309-827-0428. Prairie Aviation Museum; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thu.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun., 2929 E. Empire St., Bloomington; permanent and rotating exhibits and displays with aerial history themes; adults $5, ages 6-11 $3, 5 and under free; 309-663-7632. Exhibits "Native Voices: Native Peoples' Concepts of Health and Illness"; through Feb. 14, Illinois Wesleyan University Ames Library, Bloomington; traveling exhibit. Megan Kathol Bersett and Tyler Lotz; through Feb. 15, Brandt Gallery, Bloomington. Jeff Bess; through Feb. 15, Armstrong Gallery, Bloomington. Mandy Roeing Fine Art; through February, IAA Credit Union main lobby, 808 IAA Drive, Bloomington; pastel pet portraits. Sheila Allen paintings; through March 31, Normal Public Library. "Leaving Home"; LizBeth Ogiela-Scheck, Dreams 2 Create Art House, 903 S. Allin St., Bloomington. Pedal Power!; through spring 2020, McLean County Museum of History; exhibit of vintage pedal cars from the collection of Bruce Callis. ImagineAir; Children's Discovery Museum, uptown Normal; permanent exhibit shows power of wind, wind energy, aerodynamics, fluid dynamics; $7 for age 2 and older, $3 for Museums for All passholders; free, CDM members. Challenges, Choices & Change: Working for a Living; McLean County Museum of History; highlights more than 80 local workers and their daily on-the-job experiences. Challenges, Choices and Change: Making a Home; McLean County Museum of History; permanent exhibit exploring experiences of people from around the world who made McLean County their home. Abraham Lincoln in McLean County; McLean County Museum of History; permanent exhibit on Lincoln's life in Bloomington. Challenges, Choices and Change: Farming in the Great Corn Belt; McLean County Museum of History; permanent exhibit on McLean County's agricultural history. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. TWOgether; Jan Brandt Gallery, opening reception 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 10; exhibit runs March 30; viewed by appointment; artwork pairs artists working together in various collaborative mediums. Central Illinois Galleries, museums Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sun., 212 N. Sixth St., Springfield; Lincoln-themed exhibits, historical displays, special events, more; adults $12, seniors and students $9, ages 5-15 $5, under 5 free; 217-558-8844. Amity Township Museum; 1-3 p.m. first Sunday of month or by appointment, 510 Main St., Cornell; displays and artifacts relating to history of Cornell and Amity Township; free; 815-358-2973. Contemporary Art Center of Peoria; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., Riverfront Arts Center, 305 S.W. Water St., Peoria; rotating exhibits in two galleries; free; 309-674-6822. Dickson Mounds Museum; 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, 10956 N. Dickson Mounds Road, Lewistown; displays, special exhibits; free; 309-547-3721. Eureka College Burgess Hall Art Gallery; 9 a.m.-9 p.m. weekdays and by appointment on weekends, third floor of Burgess Hall, Eureka College, Eureka; rotating exhibits; free; 309-467-6866. Lincoln Heritage Museum; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat., Lincoln Center at Lincoln College, 300 Keokuk St., Lincoln; Lincoln-era items, audiovisual displays, tours, exhibits, more; adults $7, children/tours $4; 217-735-7399. Museum of the Gilding Arts; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sun., April-Oct., and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sun., Nov.-March, 217 N. Mill St., Pontiac; displays, history and hands-on exhibits dedicated to the art of gilding and gold leafing; free (donations welcome); 815-842-1848. Peoria Art Guild; Foster Arts Center, Harrison and Washington streets, Peoria; rotating exhibits, gift shop; free; 309-637-2787. Peoria Riverfront Museum; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Wed. and Sat., 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thu.-Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sun., downtown riverfront Peoria; permanent and rotating exhibits, planetarium shows, Giant Screen Theater and events; $9-$11 (free parking in museum garage); 309-686-7000. Pontiac Community Art Center; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun., 209 W. Madison St., Pontiac; rotating exhibits; 815-419-2472. Simpkins Military History Museum; 1-5 p.m. Tue., Thu., Sat., or by appointment; 605 E. Cole St., Heyworth; permanent and rotating military history exhibits; free (donations accepted); 309-319-3413. Time Gallery; Fondulac Bank, 201 Clock Tower Drive, East Peoria; 309-467-2331 U of I Krannert Art Museum; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. (until 9 p.m. Thu. during fall and spring semesters), closed Sun., 500 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign; paintings, porcelain, historical artifacts, traveling art exhibits; $3 donation suggested; 217-333-1861. Exhibits ExIconoclast: ReMaking Myth; an exhibit of assemblage art with found objects that connect with mythologies and classic literature, and photography exhibits emphasizing the Mackinaw River and rural America; Time Gallery, Fondulac Bank, East Peoria; exhibits open through March 30; gallery talks, 10-11 am. March 2, What is found object art?; and 10-11 a.m. March 23, One view, two perspectives. American Decoy: The Invention and 10 Medical Inventions That Changed the World; opens Feb. 9, Peoria Riverfront Museum. "The Art of the Brick," opens May 25, Peoria Riverfront Museum; LEGO art exhibition. Da Vinci the Genius with The Secrets of Mona Lisa; opens Nov. 16, Peoria Riverfront Museum. Trinseo has announced that Frank A. Bozich has been named president and chief executive officer, effective March 4. He replaces Christopher D. Pappas, who recently announced his plans to retire following his tenure as president and CEO of Trinseo since 2010. Pappas will transition to the role of special adviser to the CEO effective March 4, in support of a smooth transition. The global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber is a spinoff company of The Dow Chemical Co. It has operations in five locations, including downtown Midland. Trinseo announced in July 2018 that it would be adding about 40 new employees to its Midland location and would probably relocate its downtown office that is currently at 409 Ashman St. Stephen M. Zide, chairman of the Board of Directors, said in a prepared statement, "Frank Bozich is an accomplished CEO known for his strong personal leadership and track record of driving business growth and corporate transformation. His breadth of experience in leading businesses in diverse and dynamic global markets is an ideal fit with Trinseo's strategic priorities, and we look forward to him leading the company in its next phase of growth." "In addition, we thank Chris Pappas for his nearly nine years of exemplary leadership," Zide said. "Chris was the principal architect of Trinseo's culture and strategy, and during his tenure, EBITDA grew three fold, while the company's EH&S performance improved as well. All of us wish him the very best in his well-deserved retirement." Pappas added: "In the time I've gotten to know Frank Bozich, I've been impressed with his knowledge of our industry and his strong leadership capabilities. I'm confident that he will lead Trinseo very effectively for the future, and I'm committed to support him in a smooth and seamless transition." Bozich was most recently president and CEO of SI Group, a global specialty chemical company, from 2013-2019. SI Group is headquartered in Schenectady, New York, and operates more than 30 manufacturing facilities on five continents, with more than $2 billion in annual sales and more than 3,000 employees worldwide. At SI Group, Bozich grew the company's chemical intermediates and specialty resins businesses in serving a wide range of market segments including industrial and consumer goods, rubber resins, plastic additives, adhesives, and engineering plastics. During his tenure, SI Group completed an acquisition of businesses from Albemarle Corp., expanded operations in Brazil, China and the U.S., and was recognized for accomplishments in corporate social responsibility, Responsible Care, and employee engagement. In 2018, SI Group was acquired by SK Capital Partners and merged with Addivant, another portfolio company of SK Capital. Prior to joining SI Group, Bozich held several executive management positions at BASF, where he served as president of BASF's Catalysts Division; group vice president of Precious and Base Metal Services; and group vice president of the Integration Management Office. Prior to BASF, Bozich was Group Vice President, Enterprise Technologies and Ventures at Engelhard Corp., which was acquired by BASF in 2006. He has also held leadership positions at Rohm and Haas; Croda Adhesives Inc.; and Apex Adhesives, which he founded in 1986. Bozich serves as a director of OGE Energy Corp. an Oklahoma-based gas and electric utility company. He previously served on the Board of Trustees of Ellis Medicine, a hospital in Schenectady, New York. Bozich holds a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago, as well as a master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Illinois. He will be based at Trinseo's global operations center in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. Trinseo had about $4.4 billion in net sales in 2017, with 16 manufacturing sites around the world, and about 2,200 employees. For more information visit www.trinseo.com. Goose Creek, SC (29445) Today Mostly cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low near 75F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low near 75F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Arriving on campus for the first time as a freshman can be stressful for a multitude of reasons, so keeping yourself busy is key to settling into a healthy routine. In order to get into this new college lifestyle, Virginia Tech provides its students with plenty of opportunities outside the c I dont know about you, but I am tired of sitting around feeling depressed about the myriad challenges were facing in these unprecedented times of reality TV presidents, crippling inequality, devastating mass migration and seemingly endless war -- all exacerbated by a world teetering on the edge of ecological collapse. Im in graduate school right now studying to become a high school social studies teacher, and I believe more with each class and reading that true power has always and will always lie with the people. Its time for us to exercise our people power. Heres a way you can start: Oregon legislators are preparing to pass a potentially very exciting Clean Energy Jobs bill that could put a limit and price on climate pollution from the largest polluters in the state. It has the potential to not only reduce our scary-world-ending greenhouse gas emissions, but reinvest this money into green jobs, a thriving economy and justice for communities ransacked by decades of environmental racism. The bill hasnt officially dropped, but rumor has it that its language is pretty weak. To get the necessary bill, we need to use our organized people power to embolden legislators to stand up to industry. Drastically limit free allowances and offsets. Invest the money where its needed. Head over to the 350PDX website to join us in getting off our phones and getting into some real-world change-making. See you at the Feb. 6 Lobby Day. -- Suzie Kassouf, Portland One of the few wolves that has taken up residence near Mount Hood has died, wildlife officials confirmed Monday. The wolf was found in November near U.S. 26 and its cause of death was unknown, said Elizabeth Materna, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency responsible for wolf management in most of western Oregon. A necropsy revealed no gunshot wounds nor poison, but the 1.5 year old male had an injury to its front paw, which could have occurred when the animal was captured and fitted with a radio collar for tracking, and it was quite skinny, Materna said. The wolfs death was first reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting. Wolves are a relatively new presence the Northern Cascades, at least in recent times. In early 2018, two grainy pictures marked the first confirmed sighting of multiple wolves in this area of the Cascade Mountains since the predators started returning to Oregon earlier this century. They had been eradicated in the 1940s. In August, pictures captured by a trail camera confirmed that the wolves near Mount Hood had produced a litter of at least two pups. Wildlife officials said the wolf that died recently is not thought to be the breeding male. At last count, Oregon had at least 124 wolves, mostly concentrated around Oregon's epicenter of wolf activity in Wallowa, Umatilla, Union and Baker counties. The wolfs death comes as negotiations over the states wolf management plan have fallen apart. In January, environmental groups pulled out of talks before the last stakeholder meeting, saying that their proposals hadnt been fairly considered and that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which manages wolves in the eastern part of the state where the animals dont enjoy protection under the Endangered Species Act, had acted improperly. Wolf recovery in Oregon continues to be two steps forward, one step back, Arran Robertson, a spokesman for Oregon Wild, said in a statement. The loss of this wolf is more significant as it is from one of only two known packs outside of (Northeast) Oregon. Oregon Wild is one of the conservation groups that pulled out of management negotiations. It emphasizes that this is still a small, fragile population, Robertson continued, something Governor Kate Brown and the ODFW Commission must keep in mind as they consider a wolf plan that diminishes protections for this native species. The wolf management plan is set to come before the agencys commissioners for a vote in March. -- Kale Williams kwilliams@oregonian.com 503-294-4048 @sfkale Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. A man was assaulted with a knife in a disturbance with another man on the Portland Streetcar around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, the Portland Police Bureau said. Police responded to a report of a stabbing in the 500 block of Southwest Mill Street, near the Portland State University campus. A man at the scene was taken to a hospital by ambulance with a non-life-threatening injury, police said. Police are in contact with both men and are investigating the exact circumstances of the assault. Theres no immediate threat to the public, police said. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the bureaus non-emergency line at 503-823-3333. -- The Oregonian/OregonLive A convicted child molester and registered sex offender was ordered Monday to return to prison, sentenced to 18 years and four months after he admitted to enticing girls from multiple states to send him sexually explicit photos after contacting them online. Larry Lewis Hudson, 46, of Sandy, claimed he was 22 when he connected with a 13-year-old girl in Louisiana and a 16-year-old developmentally disabled girl in Illinois. Each time, he used a false name of Brian Johnson, according to court records. He later engaged in sexually explicit conversation with two undercover officers who posed as teenage girls from Arizona and Georgia, according to the FBI. In July, Hudson pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland to attempted online enticement, distributing child pornography and possession of child pornography. He was previously convicted in Clackamas County in 2001 of attempted first-degree sexual penetration with a foreign object stemming from the sexual abuse of a 5-year-old girl and sentenced to three years in prison, according to court records. Hudson was arrested in 2005 for failure to register as a sex offender and in 2007 and 2008 for parole violations, according to an FBI agents affidavit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Sussman told a judge that it was clear Hudson wasnt deterred by his earlier prison term and is still preying on children. Id like to apologize to my family and people that I hurt who I dont know, Hudson said. Hudson requested a sentence of 15 years, asking for a chance to improve his life and still be somewhat of a father to his now 5-year-old son when he gets out of custody. Judge Michael W. Mosman said he finds federal sentencing guidelines are scaled too high for classic possession and distribution of pornography cases. But Hudsons case wasnt typical, considering his repeat conduct and his criminal record, the judge said. Hudsons 18-year-and-four-month sentence is to be followed by 20 years of supervised release, Mosman ordered. Hudsons communications with a 13-year-old girl in Louisiana occurred between June 27, 2015, and July 26, 2015, a federal affidavit said. At his request, she sent him photos of her breasts and he asked her if her 6-year-old sister knew what sex was, according to court records. The following year, police in LaGrange, Illinois, took a report from a mother of a developmentally delayed 16-year-old girl who had the cognitive ability of a fourth-grader. The mother found photos of her daughters breasts and genitals on her daughters phone and discovered that she had been using a Kik messaging application to communicate with someone named "Brian Johnson,'' the affidavit said. An investigation revealed the subscriber information for "Brian Johnson'' on the Kik site included an email account that used the name "bigtlarry,'' FBI special agent June Piniewski wrote in a court affidavit. Members of the FBIs Child Exploitation Task Force, along with Sandy police, handled the investigation. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Ride-hailing giant Lyft drew criticism Monday from Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Chloe Eudaly for what they described as a puzzling and dismaying attempt to subvert the citys regulations through the halls of Salem. Wheeler and Eudaly, the citys transportation commissioner, said Lyft is behind a proposed bill the city says would eliminate local consumer, safety and disability-access protections for riders who use Lyft or other ride-hailing companies like Uber. In a letter to Anthony Foxx, Lyfts chief policy officer and a former secretary of transportation under President Obama, the Portland politicians said such legislation could potentially undercut the citys efforts to collect data and analyze ride-hailing companies effect on congestion and climate change, charge fees to add services for vulnerable users, and a number of other regulatory measures. This proposed legislation is contrary to this bedrock philosophy that the best oversight of the transportation system and the private-for-hire industry is local," Wheeler and Eudaly wrote. Not only that, but it is a disservice to passengers, drivers and the general public who expect safe and reliable service and who are expecting you to stand by your climate commitments. Lauren Alexander, a Lyft spokeswoman, said the company is committed to working collaboratively with policymakers and regulators," and she noted 45 states have legislation similar to the bill under consideration in Oregon. Discussion about state wide ride-sharing legislation is in its early stages, and we look forward to ongoing dialogue to ensure we can continue to provide reliable, efficient transportation options for passengers and flexible earning opportunities for drivers, she said in an email. Lyft officials said the company has always sought statewide regulations rather than being overseen by big cities only. They note they currently operate in just six Oregon cities, because of the lack of statewide legislation. The letter is in response to draft legislation sponsored by Rep. Susan McLain, D-Hillsboro. Willamette Week reported on the bill on Saturday. Nathan Hambley, Ubers spokesman in the region, said the company supports consistent rideshare regulations that would make affordable, reliable transportation more accessible to all Oregonians, and acknowledge there is still work to be done on this issue in the legislature. In an interview, McLain said she disagrees with the citys stance that Lyft is behind the effort. McLain said she is also working with the League of Oregon Cities on the issue and said shed been discussing it since 2015. I havent dropped the bill, she said. McLain said shes interested in the issue because Oregons regulations for the ride-hailing industry is patchwork, and she said thats not helpful to riders or drivers. Its good policy to make sure that weve got some sort of a statewide framework, she said. McLain said the 20-page draft legislation, which is dated Jan. 10 and was provided to the Oregonian/OregonLive, is designed to be a starting point. She said technology has changed a lot in the five years or so since Uber and Lyft arrived in Oregon. When asked whether a bill would give cities like Portland an exception to allow for more regulations or if it would apply a one-size fits all approach, McLain said thats not been determined. Both of those are possibilities, she said. -- Andrew Theen atheen@oregonian.com 503-294-4026 @andrewtheen Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Dr. Richard Leman of the Oregon Health Authority discusses vaccinations and the Vancouver-area measles outbreak. Posted by The Oregonian on Tuesday, January 22, 2019 The number of people with measles rose two more cases Monday to 49, according to Clark County Public Health. One person who is between 30 and 40 years old has measles -- the oldest person so far. Theres only one other adult who has been diagnosed with measles. Nine people are suspected of having measles and await test results before theyre announced. The highly contagious virus spreads through the air and can linger for up to two hours in an isolated space. People who have never received a measles vaccine are susceptible to the disease, which can be deadly. Washington health officials urge anyone who hasnt received the vaccine or needs the second dose to get it now. The vaccine is 97 percent effective and can limit the severity or fight off the virus if its administered within 72 hours after exposure. To further limit the spread of the virus, health officials ask that people who think they might have measles call their doctor or health care provider before visiting a hospital or doctors office. Washington State Department of Health keeps track of residents immunization status so people can see if they need shots. Clark County Public Health also now maintains a daily call center for questions about the outbreak at 360-397-8021. Steve Bryant carries containers of his family's belongings from his tiny house to a larger home he owns on his property on Friday, Jan. 25, 2019, in Bend. Bryant, his wife, and two daughters have been living in the tiny home while renting out the main house. Recently, Bryant received a notice from the City of Bend that his family could not live in the tiny home or they would face fines. (Joe Kline/The Bulletin) The home a cozy, custom-built, 272-square-foot space was a dream Steve and Krissy Bryant nurtured for years. But on a recent sunny Friday, Steve Bryant was stuck moving everything his four-person family owns into the single bedroom theyll now share. The Bryants have lived for nearly four years in a tiny wooden home on a gooseneck trailer. They towed it from El Paso, Texas, to Bend in late 2015 after Steve Bryant got out of the Army and lived in an RV park for a year before buying property in 2017 that gave their young daughters space to play outside. For the last 12 months, their set-up seemed perfect. The Bryants had their small home, a large yard and a four-bedroom house on the same property. They rented rooms to veterans at affordable rates for Bend. Then, in mid-January, everything started to fall apart. The family received a letter from Bends code enforcement division giving them 10 days to move out of their tiny, 32-foot-long house, which is considered illegal under Bend code. If they didnt get out in time, they could face fines of up to $750 every day they remained. It doesnt make sense, Steve Bryant said. Its currently an illegal house here that Ive been living in for four years. Dreaming of a tiny home Tiny houses, typically defined as homes less than 400 square feet, have grown in popularity over the last several years. They generally cost much less than larger, traditional homes, are less expensive to maintain and, if theyre built with wheels, can be moved. For the Bryants, a tiny home was a way to save money and be ready to move wherever the Army sent Steve Bryant next. An architect friend worked with them to design the house, and they helped build it, moving in in 2015. From the outside, the home looks like an upscale RV with wood siding. Inside, its an 8.5-feet-wide rustic cabin, with custom-built features including a bathtub and bunk bed for the two girls and tall kitchen counters that Krissy Bryant, who is 5-foot-9, can use comfortably. It was our dream, she said. The family and the house moved to Bend because Central Oregon Community Colleges aviation program is one of the few in the country that accepts the GI bill. In December 2017, they purchased a 2.3-acre lot with a four-bed, three-bath home just north of Cooley Road and next to U.S. Highway 97. They just wanted the land for their tiny home, but rooms in the home could be rented out at $600 a month, bills included, to others in Bend looking for affordable housing. One of those roommates moved out just before the Bryants received their letter from the city, so for now, Steve, Krissy and daughters Odyn, 3, and Keeley, 5, are living in the vacated bedroom. While its about the same size as the tiny house they had to leave, Steve Bryant said it feels a lot more cramped. Giving up the opportunity to rent out one of the rooms also hurts financially, he said. Both parents work part time, and, like many in Bend, theyre paying exorbitant sums for child care. Its throwing us into jeopardy because its $600 more a month, he said. Its crazy. How does anybody work here and live here and be able to afford it? City says no to tiny homes City code doesnt allow most tiny homes. An exception is Bends cottage code, created in 2015, which allows homes with no minimum size but only in clusters. The code requires at least four but no more than 12 homes in a cluster around shared open space. Cottages wouldnt be allowed on the Bryants property, which is zoned for low-density residential development. Unless theyre in RV parks and intended for temporary stays, tiny houses in Bend are required to have foundations. That means homes like the Bryants that can be transported on wheels dont fit the code. James Goff, Bends code enforcement manager, said his department sees cases like the Bryants once every four to six months. Wheeled tiny homes were a fad several years ago, Goff said, but theyve been less common recently because people have learned most places in Oregon dont allow them. Sometimes, people will build the tiny homes and keep them as an RV and not live in them, he said. Where it becomes an issue is when they live in them. Usually, the people living in the tiny homes dont own the property theyre on, Goff said. He said his department tries to work with people who receive code enforcement letters, including by giving extra time to comply with city code. People are allowed to park RVs on their property, but the city prohibits living in them. While sleeping overnight in RVs is technically prohibited, the code enforcement department wont issue citations until its a regular occurrence, Goff said. Were not getting excited about prosecuting if grandpa and grandma pull up in an RV and stay there for a couple nights, Goff said. Its a violation of our development code, but were not being heavy-handed with it. Steve Bryant and his family moved out of their home in time to avoid enforcement, but he said hes not giving up on getting back into the home. Changes to city development code that would allow tiny houses like his arent among the updates the citys senior code planner is working on, but Bryant said he intends to press the city to make those changes. I will be bothering everyone I can who is administrative in nature on a daily basis until I can move back into my home, he wrote in an email to city planners. If it takes me driving to City Hall on Mondays with my 3- and 5-year-old daughters with a sign that says, Homeless Veteran, thanks city of Bend, so I can look each of you in the eyes as you desperately search for something to preoccupy yourselves with to avoid eye contact on the way in to work, I will. Reporter: 541-633-2160; jshumway@bendbulletin.com Vancouver-based DiscoverOrg said Monday it has bought a rival in Massachusetts, creating a combined company with more than $250 million in annual revenue. Both DiscoverOrg and ZoomInfo provide business data to marketers to help them identify sales targets within other companies. They provide names, job titles and information about organizational structure so that sales personnel can identify prospective clients and tailor their pitch. DiscoverOrg didnt report sale terms, but ZoomInfo sold less than two years ago for $240 million. DiscoverOrg said it paid more than that in Mondays deal. It nearly doubles the size of the company, said Henry Schuck, DiscoverOrgs co-founder and chief executive. He said it also doubles the companys potential market. The combined business will have more than 1,000 employees, including 470 at DiscoverOrgs headquarters in downtown Vancouver. Schuck said DiscoverOrg will retain the companies existing sites. Founded in 2007, Schuck said DiscoverOrg has focused on developing a deep reservoir of information about select companies. He said ZoomInfo has information on a broader range of businesses, but with less detail. DiscoverOrg is now among the biggest privately held companies in the metro area. It has raised millions of dollars though hasnt disclosed how much from prominent venture capital firms The Carlyle Group and TA Associates. We are a company that by purely financial metrics could IPO today, Schuck said. But he said DiscoverOrgs backers arent pushing for an immediate return on their investment, so a public offering is likely at least a few years off. They do see an incredible opportunity here, Schuck said. -- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699 Oregons much-criticized system for delivering health care to the poor received a big vote of confidence from the private sector this week when 24 organizations notified the state, that they hope to get into the coordinated care organization business. Coordinated care organizations, or CCOs, oversee, coordinate and in many cases provide health care for nearly 900,000 Oregonians on the Oregon Health Plan, the states version of Medicaid. The new bidders for that role include subsidiaries of health care giants Kaiser and Providence. The Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest hopes to serve the tri-county metro area. Providence wants to operate in the metro area as well as Hood River, Clatsop and Jackson counties, according to state filings. Providence and Kaiser already are partners in Health Share, a Portland-based CCO. Officials with both companies say they want to continue that relationship. They filed their own letters of intent with the state primarily to keep their options open in case Health Share doesnt get renewed by the state. Health insurer Moda also hopes to significantly expand its presence in the CCO niche. Now running a single coordinating organization in eastern Oregon, Moda filed letters of intent to run three others in the Portland metro area, in Clatsop, Tillamook and Columbia counties, and in Lane County. The new contracts with CCOs represent the largest procurement in state history, totaling more than $5 billion for the 2020 contract year. The state gives CCOs money on a per-patient basis and charges them with finding a cost-effective, medically effective way of keeping those patients healthy. CCOs are rewarded for achieving specific health outcomes and quality measures. Some people had questioned the viability of the system after Portland-based FamilyCare folded. Pat Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, on Monday said the bidders strong interest is a vindication of the CCO system. FamilyCare got into an acrimonious legal battle with the state that is still being waged in state court. FamilyCare insists that it didnt get fair treatment or adequate compensation from the health authority. The beef fueled talk that the coordinated care model was not performing as promised. It raised questions about whether the whole system was in trouble. I think this much interest in serving Oregons Medicaid customers answers that question definitely, Allen said. Medicaid is largely paid for by the federal government. But the states share is increasing, which has led to an enormous $800 million budget gap. Gov. Kate Brown has proposed new or larger taxes on hospitals, health insurers and smokers to fill that gap. Lane County may become one of the most hotly contested territories. Three major players, Moda, the Umpqua Health Alliance in Roseburg and PacificSource Community Services, all have given notice they want to serve the county. Theyll have to compete with the incumbent CCO, Trillium Community Health Plans. Trillium made headlines in 2015 when the original owners sold the organization. Centene Corp., a national insurance company, paid $109 million. The purchase led to questions about whether windfall profits for shareholders are appropriate for an organization using largely taxpayer money to serve the poor. The deadline to submit letters of intent was Monday Complete applications will be due to the state by April 22. Only organizations that submitted letters of intent may submit applications at that point. Organizations that submitted a letter of intent are not obliged to follow through with a complete application. Awards for the CCO contracts are expected to be announced in July. Oregon first established the coordinated care organization in 2012. They were an integral part of Gov. John Kitzhabers bold plan to transform health care delivery in the state. The Oregon State Beavers dont have many spots available for the 2019 recruiting class, but are still in search of an offensive lineman to add to the talent collection. Over the weekend, Oregon State hosted 247Sports three-star offensive linemen Thomas Sio and Clayton Ingram, the latter of which has a partial scholarship offer from the Beavers. Ingram enjoyed the trip and has a tough decision to make. It went great, he said. I really got a chance to see what being a Oregon State player is all about. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound offensive lineman, out of De La Salle High School (Concord, California), is down to a final two and expects to announce his commitment soon. My finalists are Oregon State and Northern Arizona, Ingram said. Northern Arizona is a full ride. I will announce my decision (by Tuesday morning)." The Beavers have commitments from two offensive linemen so far - junior college product Robin Vanderlaan and North Bend standout Jacob Ferenczi. Adding a third is a priority, and it could be Ingram in the near future. 4th Feb, 19, Ahmedabad : World Cancer Day is celebrated every year on the 4th Feb to raise cancer awareness. To support this special day, HCG Cancer Centre, Ahmedabad organized a Bike Rally event on the 3rd Feb, Sunday. Our Chief Guest DCP -Zone II Ahmedabad, Ms. Panna N Momaya flagged off the mass awareness rally from HCG Cancer Center. Around 100 people participated in this rally including cancer survivors, What is life without passion. A pretty sad life. Passion drives us as human beings and this is one of the many reasons why people are following their hearts when it comes to investing and building wealth for themselves and their families. Looking beyond the sheep, there is a lot more investment opportunities out in the world than real estate and stock markets. The number of super-rich individuals is slated Europe Residential Boiler Market Comprehensive Analysis | Key Players - NIBE, BDR, Viessmann, Groupe Atlantic, Bosch, Hoval Daikin, Ariston, Immergas, Siemens, Weishaupt, Fondital, Navien, Vaillant, Lennox, Ferroli, ACV, Wolf https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1212655?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=PC https://www.marketstudyreport.com/enquiry-before-buying/1212655?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=PC https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1212655?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=PC The Europe Residential Boiler market study formulated by Market Study Report, LLC, offers an in-depth analysis of the current market trends influencing this business vertical. The study also includes market valuation, market size, revenue forecasts, geographical spectrum and SWOT Analysis of the industry. In addition, the report depicts key challenges and growth opportunities faced by the industry bigwigs, in consort with their product offerings and business strategies.Europe Residential Boiler Market is set to reach over USD 6 Billion by 2024. Growing focus toward reduction of carbon footprint and resource optimization along with growing demand for efficient space heating system will drive the business growth. In line with the global initiative to limit GHG emissions, the EU in 2015, enforced Eco-design Directive related to solid fuel boilers with an objective to limit the acute effects of CO2 emissions.Request a sample Report of Europe Residential Boiler Market at:Eminent players operating in the Europe residential boiler market are NIBE, BDR, Viessmann, Groupe Atlantic, Bosch, Hoval Daikin, Ariston, Immergas, Siemens, Weishaupt, Fondital, Navien, Vaillant, Lennox, Ferroli, ACV, Wolf, amongst others.Expansion of gas pipeline infrastructure along with shifting trends toward adoption of advanced space heating systems will drive the gas fired residential boiler market growth. Natural gas is the primary source of fuel, among the variety of others being used for residential space heating. As per the European Commission, natural gas delivered 37% of total energy consumed by Europe residential sector. Reducing fuel prices along with the investment toward development of gas supply network will further complement the business landscape.Shifting trends toward nuclear families coupled with growing investments toward residential construction will further drive the industry growth. In 2017, as per the European Commission, single family houses were reported to occupy over 30% of the residential establishments.France residential boiler market, in 2017 was valued over USD 600 million. As a result of re-emerging economic growth after 2008 recessions, the industry has witnessed a rise in demand of HVAC systems comprising residential boilers. Growing investments toward infrastructure development along with increasing migrant population will further propel the product demand.Enquiry about Europe Residential Boiler market report before Buying at:Rising adoption of energy efficient and sustainable technologies coupled with the expansion and upgradation of extant residential facilities will boost the product penetration across the Europe residential boiler market. In 2013, The government of Germany introduced a norm-based regulatory framework; the German Energy Saving Ordinance, aiming to achieve ecologically neutral log of existing building infrastructure by 2050. The law further lays down heating system and efficiency standards for new constructions and refurbishment of existing buildings.Condensing residential boiler market is predicted to grow over 2% by 2024. Growing awareness toward efficient heating units along with introduction of stringent government legislatives toward reduction of GHG emissions from residential sector will positively influence the business landscape.Water-tube residential boiler market is anticipated to expand over 2% by 2024. Low radiation losses, ability to handle high pressure, and quick response are some of the features that will boost the product penetration across the sector.Ask for Discount on Europe Residential Boiler Market Report at:Some of the Major Highlights of TOC covers:Chapter 1: Methodology & ScopeDefinition and forecast parametersMethodology and forecast parametersData SourcesChapter 2: Executive SummaryBusiness trendsRegional trendsProduct trendsEnd-use trendsChapter 3: Europe Residential Boiler Industry InsightsIndustry segmentationIndustry landscapeVendor matrixTechnological and innovation landscapeChapter 4: Europe Residential Boiler Market, By RegionChapter 5: Company ProfileBusiness OverviewFinancial DataProduct LandscapeStrategic OutlookSWOT AnalysisAbout Us:Marketstudyreport LLC 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 LLCPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.com Payments Landscape in Australia: Opportunities and Risks to 2022 | Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Bank, National Australia Bank, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Citibank, Tyro, etc Payments Landscape in Australia Market https://bit.ly/2RFKw3f https://bit.ly/2S8dUnG https://bit.ly/2I0PasG Publishers "Payments Landscape in Australia: Opportunities and Risks to 2022", report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the Australian cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including cards, cash, direct debit, credit transfers, and cheques during the review-period (2014-18e).Payments Landscape in Australia Market research report is being presented with a motive to enrich readers by offering an extensive and explicit analysis of Payments Landscape in Australia industry. The report covers each characteristic of the Payments Landscape in Australia industry including market growth.Top Key Players:Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Bank, National Australia Bank, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Citibank, Tyro, eftpos, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners Club.Get Sample Copy of this Report atThe report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, transaction values and volumes during the review-period and over the forecast-period (2018e-22f). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including market shares of issuers and schemes.This report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the Australian cards and payments industry, including--Current and forecast values for each market in the Australian cards and payments industry, including debit, credit, and charge cards.-Detailed insights into payment instruments including cards, cash, direct debit, credit transfers, and cheques. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments.-E-commerce market analysis and payment methods.-Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the Australian cards and payments industry.-Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit, credit, and charge cardsReasons to buy-Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to the Australian cards and payments industry and each market within it.-Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in the Australian cards and payments industry.-Assess the competitive dynamics in the Australian cards and payments industry.-Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in Australia.-Gain insights into key regulations governing the Australian cards and payments industry.Get discount on Purchase report @Scope-To offer enhanced convenience and encourage electronic payments for even low-value transactions, in February 2018 the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and its Payments System Board rolled out a new payments infrastructure known as the New Payments Platform (NPP) that allows customers with accounts with different banks to make payments and transfer funds in real-time. It is available 24/7, 365 days a year. Developed by SWIFT in collaboration between 13 members of Australias financial services industry, the platform provides an addressing service known as PayID, which allows users to enter only the recipients mobile phone number or email address to transfer the money.-The advent of digital-only banks is likely to stir competition in the Australian banking sector over the coming years. Volt Bank received a Restricted ADI (RADI) license from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) in May 2018, enabling it to offer a limited number of products and services, before a full banking license is given. Fintech startup Xinja is also seeking a full banking license and hopes to break into mainstream banking. Other challenger banks named 86 400 and Up are to be launched soon.-Growth in the Australian credit card market is likely to slow in the coming years in the wake of several regulatory overhauls by the government. In February 2018 the Australian parliament passed a new bill that aims to crack down on credit card providers unfair practices. As a result, from July 2018 financial services providers are required to analyze the affordability of a credit card based on a consumers capability to repay the limit within a reasonable duration. The bill also calls for additional reforms from January 2019, including a ban on unsolicited invitations from banks to increase credit limits, and simplified interest calculation. In addition, banks will be mandated to offer the option to cancel a card or reduce the credit limit online. Previously, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) banned all businesses, including large and small merchants, from collecting excessive surcharges on credit and debit card payments. The new rule, which is effective from September 1, 2017, is applicable to all businesses based in Australia or that use an Australian bank.Table of Contents:Market OverviewExecutive SummaryCard-based PaymentsMerchant AcquiringE-commerce PaymentsMobile Proximity PaymentsP2P PaymentsAlternative PaymentsPayment InnovationsPayments Infrastructure & RegulationAppendixPurchase a Copy of Report atAbout UsReportsWeb 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.The market research industry has changed in last decade. As corporate focus has shifted to niche markets and emerging countries, a number of publishers have stepped in to fulfil these information needs. We have experienced and trained staff that helps you navigate different options and lets you choose best research solution at most effective cost.Contact UsPhone : +1-646-491-9876E-Mail : sales@reportsweb.com Green Cement Market Outlook to 2025 - Anhui Conch Cement Company, CEMEX, S.A.B. DE C.V., China National Building Material, China Resources Cement Holdings, HEIDELBERGCEMENT AG, LAFARGEHOLCIM Green Cement Market http://bit.ly/2MH4Tfd http://bit.ly/2DLMnjd The global Green Cement Market was valued at US$ 15,552.7 Mn in 2017 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.3% during the forecast period 2018 2025, to account to US$ 42,731.2 Mn by 2025.Green cement is one type of cementitious product which is a key replacement of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). This is due to the capabilities of the material which surpasses the abilities of Ordinary Portland Cement by optimizing and incorporating various by products and recycled materials from thermal power plants, blast furnaces, steel plants, and construction and demolition waste among others.Get Sample Copy of this Report atKey Benefits-*To provide detailed information regarding the major factors (drivers, restraints, opportunities, challenges, and trends) influencing the growth of the global Green Cement 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)Increasing environmental concerns and rising prices of fossil fuels across geographies have led the concrete mixers or builders to shift from the traditional concrete concept to the robust green cement concept, thereby, bolstering the green cement market. In the present market, several leading cement manufacturers are venturing into the green cement manufacturing, which is increasing the proliferation of green cement market.Leading Key Players1. Anhui Conch Cement Company Limited2. CEMEX, S.A.B. DE C.V.3. China National Building Material Co., Ltd.4. China Resources Cement Holdings Limited5. HEIDELBERGCEMENT AG6. LafargeHolcim Ltd7. TAIWAN CEMENT CORPORATION8. Votorantim Cimentos9. Ecocem10. Taiheiyo Cement CorporationThe global green cement market is a highly fragmented and evolving market worldwide. Leading players in the global green cement market capture merely >35% of the market, whereas the rest of the market is occupied by regional players including tier-2 and tier-3 companies in respective regions. The green cement market operates in a highly competitive marketplace.As leading companies in the green cement market continue to broaden their addressable market, by expanding its current product portfolio, diversifying its client base, and developing new products and markets, all the prominent players face an increasing level of competition, both from start-ups as well the leading global industrial companies in the world.The rising penetration of green cement market in the developing economies of Middle East and Africa, and Asia coupled with the rapidly developing commercial, residential and industrial infrastructures in these regions are proving to be the major drivers for the growth in the adoption of green cement market in the present scenario and the trend is expected to boost the market to propel in the coming years.Additionally, with an objective to reuse and complete utilization of the fly ash and slag, various governments and private organizations are undertaking initiatives to set up cement factories near respective plants. These initiatives help the country and the government to increase industries as well as utilize the residuals of thermal power plants and steel plants, thereby, propelling the fly ash cement segment and slag cement segment in the industrial sector.The global green cement market is segmented on basis of types, and end users. The slag segment is the most prominent green cement across geographies, pertaining to the increased strength, workability enhancement, permeability reduction, improved performance, and increased durability among others. These advantages of the segment are the major drivers for the segment to exhibit a prime growth rate during the forecast period from 2018 2025.Geographically, the market for green cement is largely dominated by Asia Pacific region, owing to the huge availability of raw materials required for preparing green cement. Another factor boosting the market for green cement in the region is the rise in population in Asia Pacific countries, which demands more residential areas. However, the market for green cement is foreseen to be tending towards the European market during the forecast period, due to various government initiatives and an increase in manufacturing facilities.Buy this Report atTable of Content: -1. INTRODUCTION 131.1 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 131.2 THE INSIGHT PARTNERS RESEARCH REPORT GUIDANCE 132. KEY TAKEAWAYS 143. GREEN CEMENT MARKET LANDSCAPE 173.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 173.2 MARKET SEGMENTATION 183.2.1 Global Green Cement Market By Types 19Reason to Buy Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the global Green Cement 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 Green Cement 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.About Us:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense.Contact info:Contact Us: Call: +1-646-491-9876Email:sales@theinsightpartners.com Comprehensive Analysis on Vacuum Coating Equipment Market with Key Players: Buhler AG, PVD Products Inc, BCI Blosch group, Applied Materials Inc, Singulus Technologies AG, and Kolzer SRL https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/312361/?utm_source=open&utm_medium=Razz https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/312361/?utm_source=open&utm_medium=Razz https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/vacuum-coating-equipment-market/?utm_source=open&utm_medium=Razz www.marketstudyreport.com www.marketstudyreport.com/blog The Vacuum Coating Equipment Market research report assembled by Market Study Report, LLC, delivers a comprehensive analysis on the newest market drivers. The report also offers extracts regarding statistics, market valuation and revenue estimates, which further strengthens its status in the competitive spectrum and growth trends embraced by leading manufacturers in the business.Vacuum Coating Equipment Market size will cross USD 47 billion by 2024 according to a new research report.The industry has recorded substantial growth in past few years with varied applications in electronics, power generation, automotive sector etc. It is commonly used in the electronics industry for integrated circuits, photovoltaic devices and microelectronics. Global consumer electronics market will record a CAGR of 4% till 2024.Industrial automation and manufacturing of high-end vehicles have increased adoption of integrated circuits in these fields. Escalating electrical & electronics industry will ramp up vacuum coating equipment market demand.Request a sample of this premium report at:PVD coating is applied on engine parts such as valve train components, drive train components, piston pins, piston rings, and gears. In 2013, over 21 million units of commercial vehicles were manufactured and in 2016, manufacturing crossed 22.8 million units. Global passenger vehicles sales registered a growth of 7.2% between March 2015 to March 2016. Increasing adoption of this coating in automobile industry and other industrial applications will strengthen vacuum coating equipment market in future. It is specifically replacing chrome plating, as chromium is carcinogenic in nature and is getting ban in many regions. On the other hand, complex machinery requirements and the need for skilled operators etc. are some of the factors that will hinder growth PVD coating penetration.PVD coating accounted for significant share of around 39% in vacuum coating equipment market in 2015. It has an edge over traditional coating methods (electroplating and painting) of providing longer shelf life, bright colors, and scratch resistant surface to the product. It provides a coating to engine components that reduces friction and wear between the parts, resulting in better efficiency and performance of the engine.Magnetron sputtering has wide and diversified applications such as in gas sensors, corrosion-resistant films, magnetic films, metallizing for microelectronic circuits and chip carriers. Metallizing is an innovative technology replacing electroplating in electronics industry. Magnetron sputtering application will grow above 9% CAGR in global vacuum coating equipment market till 2024.Asia Pacific contributes significantly in the market with nearly 50% share in revenue generation. Rapid industrialization has increased energy requirements of this region and boosted power generation industry significantly. Leading players of smartphone are foraying into manufacturing of premium smartphones category which requires luxurious external body display this in turn will stimulate vacuum coating equipment market demand.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:Positive outlook of automobile market in Germany, makes Europe a significant region in global vacuum coating equipment market. The market revenues in Germany crossed USD 910 million 2015. Vacuum coating equipment market is consolidated with few major manufacturers mainly such as Buhler AG, PVD Products Inc, BCI Blosch group, Applied Materials Inc, Singulus Technologies AG, and Kolzer SRL.These equipment's are cost-intensive, so most of the companies have their own extensive distribution network and sales offices across different regions. For instance, Buhler AG develops vacuum coating equipment and distributes through its own shipping and transportation services.More Details on this Report;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: Statoil, LUKOIL Profiled in GCC Natural Gas Market Comprehensive Study 2024 by ADNOC Group, Saudi Aramco, Eni, Dana Gas, ConocoPhillips, Gazprom Neft GCC Natural Gas Market https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2636 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2636 https://www.gminsights.com http://global4energy.com GCC natural gas market has been a recipient of the concerns related to energy security and climatic changes due to increasing fossil fuel consumption. In a bid to strengthen the regional sustainable energy scenario, GCC countries including Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman have been planning to increase the dependency on sustainable energy sources for curbing carbon footprints. In accordance, they have apparently set long-term goals that are certain to favorably stimulate GCC natural gas industry.Request for a sample of research report @Aimed toward encouraging foreign as well as local investors to contribute to the development of sustainable energy projects, member states of GCC have compiled a set of stringent regulatory norms. With more and more regulatory policies concerning energy transition becoming commonplace, GCC natural gas market outlook is likely to undergo a transformation in the years to come. The UAE for example, has initiated a policy called Energy Strategy 2050 that targets carbon footprint reduction by 70% while simultaneously increasing the share of clean energy in the overall energy mix to 50% by 2050.Speaking more about the O&G exploration and excavation programs, many foreign investors have depicted their interest in the Omani gas fields owing to the rise in gas production across this region. Validating the aforementioned fact, UK based petroleum company, BP has signed a deal with the Oman Oil Company to enhance gas production. This collaborative approach of the company to escalate gas exploration activities has been touted to reduce the economic dependency of the country on oil revenues. In fact, the Oman government is also looking forward to supplying natural gas to domestic energy-intensive companies and power generation plants, diversifying the countrys economy away from oil.Unconventional natural gas market is anticipated to witness growth over 9% by 2024. Growing demand for clean fuel from power plant and water desalination industry will stimulate the industry landscape. Ability to offer greater efficiency, less carbon emissions and non-toxins are some of the features which will enhance the product penetration across the region.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @As of now, heavy investments by the Gulf countries on oil and gas projects have been making a remarkable impact on GCC natural gas market trends. The growth strategies adopted by regional governments to promote energy-intensive and petrochemical industries to use natural gas for accomplishing their energy needs is also poised to propel the product demand. As the growing energy need for domestic industries reduces the economic dependency of most of the Gulf countries on oil exports, owing to the increasing gas production, GCC natural gas industry is certain to observe an upsurge. Powered by regulatory support and growing gas exploration activities, GCC natural gas market is expected to register a CAGR of more than 4% over 2018-2024.GCC Natural Gas Market key Players Total Saudi Aramco Petroleum Development Oman Eni ONGC Videsh Ltd Rosneft Petrobras Dana Gas ConocoPhillips Gazprom NeftAbout 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: 11.2% CAGR growth by 2023 in Smart Water Meter Market| Key Players - SENSUS USA INC., AICHI TOKEI DENKI, BADGER METER INC, AZBIL KIMMON CO. LTD, ARAD GROUP, among others. https://marketprognosis.com/sample-request/17432 https://marketprognosis.com/discount-request/17432 https://marketprognosis.com/enquiry/17432 Market Analysis:North America is the Largest MarketWater scarcity in the western region, along with the ageing infrastructure in the Mid-West and East, has helped underpin the requirement to tackle efficient remote meter reading that can help benefit revenue generation and improve consumer service. Moreover, as North America is a more developed market, the utility base is in harmony with the smart meter technology and is starting to take on advanced data solutions.Detailed Sample Copy of Updated Analysis @Note: If this link doesnt work in Internet Explorer, kindly try pasting it in other browsers.With increasing pressure on water utilities, owing to the growing demand, increasing water stress, rising energy prices, and aging water systems, the smart water meter has emerged with significant benefits. Increase in Billing revenue and accuracy to drive the demand of smart water meter. Smart water meters in industries are utmost useful in handling the heating and cooling systems and enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system employed by the utilities this is expected to drive the market.Request Discount on this report @Note: If this link doesnt work in Internet Explorer, kindly try pasting it in other browsers.Market Segments:Smart Water Meter Market is segmented by:1. End User: Commercial, Industrial, Residential2. Geography: North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & AfricaKey Developments in the Market October 2017: Kamstrups MULTICAL 21 water meter was made available with integrated Sigfox communication that allows utilities to utilize an already-installed communication infrastructure, rather than investing in a new one. June 2017: Mueller Systems collaborated with Senet to deliver metering infrastructure to water utilities across North America. Senet is the first and a growing North American provider of public, low-power, wide-area networks (LPWANS) for long-range Internet of Things (IoT).Enquiry before Buying @Note: If this link doesnt work in Internet Explorer, kindly try pasting it in other browsers.About Market PrognosisWe at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in today's 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 11% CAGR growth by 2023 in Building Automation System Market| Major Players - EMERSON ELECTRIC CO., ABB LTD, SIEMENS AG, EMERSON ELECTRIC CO., INGERSOLL-RAND PLC, amongst others https://marketprognosis.com/sample-request/17428 https://marketprognosis.com/discount-request/17428 https://marketprognosis.com/enquiry/17428 Market Analysis:Germany expected to hold the Largest Market Share in EuropeGermany has been a leader on the technological front in Europe, owing to government regulations, which are encouraging the adoption of smart services. This is expected to drive the growth of the smart office and smart homes market in the country. Developing economies, such as Brazil, China, and India are also expected to show growth because of the growth in business and emerging business opportunitiesDetailed Sample Copy of Updated Analysis @Note: If this link doesnt work in Internet Explorer, kindly try pasting it in other browsers.Building automation solutions are emerging as cost-effective tools for essentially all forms of buildings, regardless of energy costs, usage, or climatic conditions. The measures taken by government organizations for the implementation of standards, such as ISO 50001 (energy-management-system standard) in the building sector, have the potential to stimulate the integration of building automation systems.Request Discount on this report @Note: If this link doesnt work in Internet Explorer, kindly try pasting it in other browsers.Market Segments:Building Automation System Market is segmented by:1. Type: Building Management Software, Environmental Control & Lighting Management, Energy Management, Facility Management Systems (FMS), Security Access Control, Others2. End User: Commercial, Residential, 5.2.3 Government, Others3. Geography: North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & AfricaKey Developments in the Market November 2017 - Ingersoll Rand acquired CALMAC Corporation, a privately held company specializing in cool energy technologies, including IceBank storage tanks. CALMAC has more than 4,000 businesses and institutions in 60 countries. This helped Ingersoll to expand its thermal energy storage solutions portfolio and reinforce the companys climate commitment. August 2017 - Ingersoll Rand PLC acquired the business of Thermocold Costruzioni Srl, a manufacturer and distributer of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and solutions. The acquisition is expected to provide the company with opportunities to expand in Europe and other parts of the world.Enquiry before Buying @Note: If this link doesnt work in Internet Explorer, kindly try pasting it in other browsers.About Market PrognosisWe at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in today's 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 Refrigerators Market Size and Volume 2019 | Worldwide Industry Forecast by Top Players as Samsung, Electrolux, LG, GE, Siemens, Amana Corporation & Frigidaire Refrigerators Market https://www.supplydemandmarketresearch.com/home/contact/118501?ref=Sample-and-Brochure&toccode=SDMRMA118501 https://www.supplydemandmarketresearch.com/home/toc_publisher/118501?code=SDMRMA118501#Report_Highlights The Global Refrigerators Market was valued at million US$ in 2018 and will reach million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of during 2019-2025.This report focuses on Refrigerators volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall Refrigerators market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect.Regionally, this report categorizes the production, apparent consumption, export and import of Refrigerators in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India.For each manufacturer covered, this report analyzes their Refrigerators manufacturing sites, capacity, production, ex-factory price, revenue and market share in global market.Request a Free Sample Report atThe following manufacturers are covered:WhirlpoolSamsungElectroluxLGGESiemensAmana CorporationFrigidaireKitchenaidHaierMideaBoschSharp CorporationHitachiPanasonicTCLThermadorKenmoreSub-ZeroWaltonRefrigerators Market Segment by RegionsNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaRefrigerators Market Segment by TypeTop FreezerBottom FreezerSide-by-side Type Built-in TypeCompact TypeOtherRefrigerators Market Segment by ApplicationHouseholdCommercial UseIndustrial UseBrowse Full Report Details atMajor Table of Contents:Executive Summary1 Industry Overview of Refrigerators1.1 Definition of Refrigerators1.2 Refrigerators Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Refrigerators Production Growth Rate Comparison by Types (2014-2025)1.2.2 Top Freezer1.2.3 Bottom Freezer1.2.4 Side-by-side Type Built-in Type1.2.5 Compact Type1.2.6 Other1.3 Refrigerators Segment by Applications1.3.1 Global Refrigerators Consumption Comparison by Applications (2014-2025)1.3.2 Household1.3.3 Commercial Use1.3.4 Industrial Use1.4 Global Refrigerators Overall Market1.4.1 Global Refrigerators Revenue (2014-2025)1.4.2 Global Refrigerators Production (2014-2025)1.4.3 North America Refrigerators Status and Prospect (2014-2025)1.4.4 Europe Refrigerators Status and Prospect (2014-2025)1.4.5 China Refrigerators Status and Prospect (2014-2025)1.4.6 Japan Refrigerators Status and Prospect (2014-2025)1.4.7 Southeast Asia Refrigerators Status and Prospect (2014-2025)1.4.8 India Refrigerators Status and Prospect (2014-2025)2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Refrigerators2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Refrigerators2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Refrigerators3 Development and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Refrigerators3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date3.2 Global Refrigerators Manufacturing Plants Distribution3.3 Major Manufacturers Technology Source and Market Position of Refrigerators3.4 Recent Development and Expansion PlansTOC Continued!About us:SupplyDemandMarketResearch.com have a strong network of high powered and experienced global consultants who have about 10+ years of experience in the specific industry to deliver quality research and analysis.Having such an experienced network, our services not only cater to the client who wants the basic reference of market numbers and related high growth areas in the demand side, but also we provide detailed and granular information using which the client can definitely plan the strategies with respect to both supply and demand side.Canada Office: 302-20 Misssisauga Valley Blvd,Missisauga, L5A 3S1, TorontoGlobal - +1-276-477-5910Email - info@supplydemandmarketresearch.com Aerospace 3D Printing Market Size 2019 by Top Key Players: GE, Stratasys, 3D Systems, Arcam Group, Renishaw, ExOne, Optomec, SLM Solutions, EnvisionTEC, VoxelJet AG, Sciaky Inc, EOS e-Manufacturing Solutions, Aerospace 3D Printing Market https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1130693?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=Abhijeet https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1130693?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=Abhijeet https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-north-america-europe-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-aerospace-3d-printing-market-2018-forecast-to-2023?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=Abhijeet https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog Market Study Report, LLCs latest research report on Aerospace 3D Printing Market delivers a comprehensive study on current market trends. The outcome also includes revenue forecasts, statistics, market valuations which illustrates its growth trends and competitive landscape as well as the key players in the business.The worldwide market for Aerospace 3D Printing is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 36.5% over the next five years, will reach 6240 million US$ in 2023, from 960 million US$ in 2017, according to a new study.Request a sample of this premium report atMarket Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversStratasys, 3D Systems, Arcam Group, Renishaw, ExOne, Optomec, SLM Solutions, EnvisionTEC, VoxelJet AG, Sciaky Inc, EOS e-Manufacturing Solutions, GE3D Printing is a layer-by-layer process of producing 3D objects directly from a digital model. 3D Printing produces functional parts and discussed benefits that have been realized in the medical, aerospace & defense sectors, and aerospace field is mainly discussed in this report.This report focuses on the Aerospace 3D Printing 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.At present, in the foreign industrial developed countries the Aerospace 3D Printing industry is generally at a more advanced level, the world's large enterprises are mainly concentrated in USA and Europe. Meanwhile, these companies have more advanced equipment, strong R & D capability, the technical level is in a leading position.Stratasys, 3D Systems, EOS e-Manufacturing Solutions captured the top three revenue share spots in the Aerospace 3D Printing market in 2016. Stratasys dominated with 23.63% revenue share, followed by 3D Systems with 19.05% revenue share and EOS e-Manufacturing Solutions with 21.85% revenue share.Despite the presence of competition problems, due to the clear global recovery trend, investors are still optimistic about this area and in future still more new investment will enter into the field. Technology and cost are two major problems.5. Although sales of Aerospace 3D Printing brought a lot of opportunities, for the new entrants with only advantage in capital without sufficient support in technology and downstream channels, the research group did not recommend taking risk to enter this market.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report atMarket 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, coversPlastics MaterialCeramics MaterialMetals MaterialOther MaterialMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoCivil AviationMilitary AviationSpacecraftOthersThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Aerospace 3D Printing market.Chapter 1, to describe Aerospace 3D Printing Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Aerospace 3D Printing, with sales, revenue, and price of Aerospace 3D Printing, 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 Aerospace 3D Printing, 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, Aerospace 3D Printing market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2018 to 2023;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Aerospace 3D Printing sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceTable of Contents1 Market Overview2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Stratasys2.2 3D Systems2.3 Arcam Group2.4 Renishaw2.5 ExOne2.6 Optomec2.7 SLM Solutions2.8 EnvisionTEC2.9 VoxelJet AG2.10 Sciaky Inc2.11 EOS e-Manufacturing Solutions2.12 GE3 Global Aerospace 3D Printing Market Competition, by Manufacturer4 Global Aerospace 3D Printing Market Analysis by Regions5 North America Aerospace 3D Printing by Countries, Type, Application and Manufacturers6 Europe Aerospace 3D Printing by Countries, Type, Application and Manufacturers7 Asia-Pacific Aerospace 3D Printing by Countries, Type, Application and Manufacturers8 South America Aerospace 3D Printing by Countries, Type, Application and Manufacturers9 Middle East and Africa Aerospace 3D Printing by Countries, Type, Application and Manufacturers10 Global Aerospace 3D Printing Market Segment by Type11 Global Aerospace 3D Printing Market Segment by Application12 Aerospace 3D Printing Market Forecast (2018-2023)13 Sales Channel, Distributors, Traders and Dealers14 Research Findings and Conclusion15 AppendixComplete report atAbout 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: Global Radiant Floor Heating Market - In-Depth Analysis with Booming Trends Supporting Growth and Forecast till 2024 Key Players - Nuheat, SunTouch, Warmup, Watts Radiant, Warmboard, Heavenly Heat, Warmtech Radiant Floor Heating https://www.researchreportsinc.com/sample-request?id=255201 https://www.researchreportsinc.com/check-discount?id=255201 https://researchreportsinc.com/enquiry?id=255201 https://researchreportsinc.com/checkout/?add-to-cart=255201&&attribute_pa_choose-license=single-user&&quantity=1 A fresh report titled Radiant Floor Heating Market By Component, By Type, By Enterprise, By End-users and Global Region Market Size, Share, Trends & Forecast 2018-2024 has been presented by Research Reports Inc.. 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In particular, this report presents the global revenue market share of key companies in Radiant Floor Heating business.This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares and growth opportunities of Radiant Floor Heating market by product type, application, key companies and key regions.Grab Discount For Radiant Floor Heating :The report also presents the market competition landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the major vendor/manufacturers in the market.Nuheat, SunTouch, Warmup, Watts Radiant, Warmboard, Heavenly Heat, Warmtech.This study considers the Radiant Floor Heating value generated from the sales of the following segments:Segmentation by product type:ElectricHydronicMake An Enquiry Now :Segmentation by application:CommercialResidentialThis report also splits the market by region:Americas, United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, APAC, China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, India, Australia, Europe, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Spain, Middle East & Africa, Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Turkey, GCC Countries.In addition, this report discusses the key drivers influencing market growth, opportunities, the challenges and the risks faced by key players and the market as a whole. It also analyzes key emerging trends and their impact on present and future development.Purchase Report Now :Research objectives To study and analyze the global Radiant Floor Heating 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 Radiant Floor Heating market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global Radiant Floor Heating 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 Radiant Floor Heating 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 Radiant Floor Heating 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.We also can offer customised report to fulfill special requirements of our clients.Research Reports Inc. is one of the leading destinations for market research reports across all industries, companies, and technologies. Our repository features an exhaustive list of market research reports from thousands of publishers worldwide. We take pride in curating a database covering virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories. We are one of the premier sources for such reports & report customization services.Research Reports Inc.#766, 99 Wall Street, New YorkNY 10005, United StatesUS / Canada Toll Free: +18554192424,UK :+4403308087757Email: info@researchreportsinc.com Ceramic Coatings Market 2025 Top Companies - Bodycote PLC, Praxair Surface Technologies Inc., Ultramet, APS Materials Inc., Kernite Group Ltd., Kurt J. Lesker Co., Aremco Products, Inc Ceramic Coatings https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2842816/?utm_source=OPR&utm_medium=SBL https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-for-discount/2842816/?utm_source=OPR&utm_medium=SBL https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/global-ceramic-coatings-market-size-study-by-type-oxide-coatings-carbide-coatings-nitride-coatings-by-technology-thermal-spray-pvd-cvd-by-application-transportation-and-automotive-energy-aerospace-and-defense-industrial-goods-healthcare-and-regional-forecasts-2017-2025-usd-billionmillion-market Global Ceramic Coatings Market industry valued approximately USD 7.12 billion in 2016 is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than 7.34% over the forecast period 2017-2025. The major factors driving the growth are escalating usage in aerospace & defense industry, and automobile engines components.The objective of the study is to define market sizes of different segments & countries in previous years and to forecast the values to the next eight years. The report is designed to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the industry with respect to each of the regions and countries involved in the study. Furthermore, the report also caters the detailed information about the crucial aspects such as drivers & restraining factors which will define the future growth of the market. Additionally, it will also incorporate the opportunities available in micro markets for stakeholders to invest, detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product offerings of key players. The detailed segments and sub-segment of the market are explained below:Request a sample of this report at:Competitive Outlook and Trend AnalysisThe global market is fairly fused as major five competitors are accountable for around 40% of the global market share. Key companies have initiated the expansion in Asia Pacific region to furnish to the rising demand for alternative energy in this region. The major market participants are Bodycote PLC, Praxair Surface Technologies Inc., Ultramet, APS Materials Inc., Kernite Group Ltd., Kurt J. Lesker Co., Aremco Products, Inc., and Element 119.Type:Oxide CoatingsCarbide CoatingsNitride CoatingsTechnology:Thermal SprayPhysical Vapor Deposition (PVD)Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)Application:Transportation & AutomotiveEnergyAerospace & DefenseIndustrial GoodsHealthcareRegions:North America: U.S., Canada, Europe, UK, Germany.Asia Pacific: China, India, Japan.Latin America: Brazil, MexicoRest of the WorldFurthermore, years considered for the study are as follows:Historical year 2015Base year 2016Forecast period 2017 to 2025Target Audience of the Ceramic Coatings Market Study:Key Consulting Companies & AdvisorsLarge, medium-sized, and small enterprisesVenture capitalistsValue-Added Resellers (VARs)Third-party knowledge providersInvestment bankersInvestorsRequest a discount of this report at:Table of Contents2017-2025 Global Ceramic Coatings Consumption Market ReportChapter 1. Research Methodology1.1. Research Process1.1.1. Data Mining1.1.2. Analysis1.1.3. Market Estimation1.1.4. Validation1.1.5. Publishing1.2. Research AssumptionChapter 2. Global Ceramic Coatings Market Definition & Scope2.1. Objective of The Study2.2. Market Definition2.3. Scope of The Study2.4. Years Considered for The Study2.5. Currency Conversion Rates2.6. Report LimitationChapter 3. Executive Summary3.1. Key Trends3.2. Global & Segmental Market Estimates & Forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion/Million)Access Full Summery @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.Contact 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 Ability to perform efficiently in hazardous conditions with low fuel consumption dominating sliding vane air motor market & expected to reach $3,677.7 million in 2025 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/4781?utm_source=OP&utm_medium=Pra https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/4781?utm_source=OP&utm_medium=Pra https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com The global sliding vane air motor market size is expected to reach $3,677.7 million in 2025, from $2,575.8 million in 2017 growing at a CAGR of 4.61% from 2018 to 2025. Sliding vane air motor is also known as rotary vane air motor or pneumatic vane air motor, which consists of slotted rotor with sliding vanes mounted on a drive shaft.Sliding vane air motor are air motors that constitute multiple vanes fitted on slotted rotor. These motors utilize the energy stored in form of compressed air to exert pressure on vanes, which convert the potential energy into mechanical work by providing rotational motion to the central shaft. Moreover, increase in investment toward superior industrial tools and systems and the ability to perform efficiently in hazardous conditions with low fuel consumption boost the growth of the sliding vane air motor market. However, high energy consumption and low demand in heavy duty applications are expected to hamper the market growth.Get Sample Report@The products segment accounted for the highest market share of about 74.00% in 2017 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.34% during the forecast period. Among end-user industries, the others sector is expected to be the leading revenue contributor in rotary vane air motor market in the coming years. The industrial equipment segment accounted for a major share of about 75.00% in 2017, owing to increase in demand for tools with variable torque, speed, and fastening capabilities.Asia-Pacific is one of the fastest growing regions in the global sliding vane air motor market. It is expected to witness higher growth rate during the forecast period, owing to increase in demand for sliding vane air motor in industrial equipment used in automotive and manufacturing industries.Sliding Vane Air Motor Market Key Segments:By Offering Product ComponentBy Application Tool Industrial Equipment OthersBy End-user Industry Automotive Manufacturing Healthcare OthersKey Benefits for Stakeholders The report provides an extensive analysis of the current and emerging market trends and dynamics in the global sliding vane air motor market. In-depth analysis is conducted by constructing market estimations for the key market segments between 2018 and 2025. Extensive analysis of the market is conducted by following key product positioning and monitoring of the top competitors within the market framework. A comprehensive analysis of all regions is provided to determine the prevailing opportunities in these geographies. Key market players within the sliding vane air motor market are profiled in this report and their strategies are analyzed thoroughly, which help understand the competitive outlook of the global sliding vane air motor market.Send Purchase Inquiry@Prominent players, such as Atlas Copco, Parker Hannifin Corporation, SANEI Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand, Bibus AG, FIAM, Desoutter Industrial Tools, Globe Airmotors, Sommer-Technik, and Ferry Produits, have focused on developing new products and components to sustain the competition and expand their market presence.About Allied Market ResearchAllied Market Research, a market research and advisory company of Allied Analytics LLP, provides business insights and market research reports to large as well as small & medium enterprises. The company assists its clients to strategize business policies and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.Allied Market Research provides one stop solution from the beginning of data collection to investment advice. The analysts at Allied Market Research dig out factors that help clients to understand the significance and impact of market dynamics. The company amplies clients insight on the factors, such as strategies, future estimations, growth or fall forecasting, opportunity analysis, and consumer surveys among others. As follows, the company offers consistent business intelligent support to aid the clients to turn into prominent business firm.Contact: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: Crude Oil Carrier Market to Witness Huge Growth by 2023: Latest Analysis by Top Key Vendors - Maersk Tankers, China Shipping Tanker, Essar Shipping, Kuwait Oil Tankers, OSG Ship Management, Keystone Alaska Crude Oil Carrier Market https://www.businessindustryreports.com/sample-request/133316 https://www.businessindustryreports.com/buy-now/133316/single https://www.businessindustryreports.com/check-discount/133316 Global Crude Oil Carrier Market Report 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 Crude Oil Carrier Market Overview:The report spread across 125 pages is an overview of the Global Crude Oil Carrier Market Report 2019. The Global Crude Oil Carrier Market is projected to grow at a healthy growth rate from 2019 to 2023 according to new research. The study focuses on market trends, leading players, supply chain trends, technological innovations, key developments, and future strategies.Available Exclusive Sample Copy of this Report @This report studies the Global Crude Oil Carrier Market over the forecast period of 2019 to 2023. The Global Crude Oil Carrier Market is expected to witness a moderate growth over the forecast period (2019 - 2023).As per the market research analysis, the optimistic carrier fleet rudiments in comparison to historical averages, paired with elevated stockpiling of crude oil due to low costs in non-OECD and OECD areas is expected to boost the demand in the Global Crude Oil Carrier Market. Reduced bunker fuel costs are expected to stimulate augmented earnings, resulting in better carrier demand and application all over the world in the Global Crude Oil Carrier Market. The requirement for crude oil carrier has stayed sturdy in spite of cyclic fluctuations due to the holdup of other vessels in specific areas because of swarming onshore storage tanks and weather.The Global Crude Oil Carrier Market is segmented on the basis of Type, Application and Region. Based on the Type, the Global Crude Oil Carrier Market is sub-segmented into Ultra Large Crude Carriers, Very Large Crude Carriers, Suezmax Tankers, Aframax Tankers and Panamax Tankers. On the basis of Application, the Global Crude Oil Carrier Market is sub-segmented into Transportation.APAC added up for a considerable share. This is due to the fact that most of the nations in the APAC, specifically China, South Korea, Japan, and Malaysia, operate and own most of the carriers for crude oil. Crude oil from South America and West Africa is majorly transferred to the APAC, due to fewer requirements from the United States that has been seeing a bang in gas and shale oil and hence needs less crude oil. Europe is one more major market in the Global Crude Oil Carrier Market, in which Greece is claimed to have operated and owned a good contribution to the Global Crude Oil Carrier Market.Purchase this report online with 125 Pages, List of Tables & Figures and in-depth Table of Contents on Global Crude Oil Carrier Market Report 2019 @Major Key Players:1 Maersk Tankers2 China Shipping Tanker3 Essar Shipping4 Kuwait Oil Tankers5 OSG Ship Management6 Keystone Alaska7 Shipping Corporation of India and More..................Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers1 North America Country (United States, Canada)2 South America3 Asia Country (China, Japan, India, Korea)4 Europe Country (Germany, UK, France, Italy)5 Other Country (Middle East, Africa, GCC)Grab Your Report at an Impressive Discount @What Information does this report contain?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 2023?3 What are the technologies & innovation trends, how will they evolve by 2023?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 data and information on capacity and production overview, production, market share analysis, sales overview, supply, sales, and shortage, import, export and consumption as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin of Crude Oil Carrier Market.Major Points in Table of Contents:Global Crude Oil Carrier Market Report 20191 Crude Oil Carrier Product Definition2 Global Crude Oil Carrier Market Manufacturer Share and Market Overview3 Manufacturer Crude Oil Carrier Business Introduction4 Global Crude Oil Carrier Market Segmentation (Region Level)5 Global Crude Oil Carrier Market Segmentation (Product Type Level)6 Global Crude Oil Carrier Market Segmentation (Industry Level)7 Global Crude Oil Carrier Market Segmentation (Channel Level)8 Crude Oil Carrier Market Forecast 2019-20239 Crude Oil Carrier Segmentation Product Type10 Crude Oil Carrier Segmentation Industry11 Crude Oil Carrier Cost of Production Analysis12 ConclusionAbout usBusinessindustryReports.com is digital database of comprehensive market reports for global industries. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Media ContactBusiness Industry ReportsPune Indiasales@businessindustryreports.com+19376349940 Key Insights of Global Adhesive Tapes Market Covering Prime Factors and Competitive Outlook Till 2024 - NICHIBAN, Saint-Gobain, CSHyde, Henkel, Tape-Rite Adhesive Tapes Market https://www.businessindustryreports.com/sample-request/125242 https://www.businessindustryreports.com/buy-now/125242/single https://www.businessindustryreports.com/check-discount/125242 Adhesive Tapes Market report includes - Industry Future Trends, Growth Opportunity, Experts reviews and forecast period (2019-2024). A wide range of Applications, Utilization Ratio, Supply and Demand analysis are also consist in the Report. At the end report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis.Global Adhesive Tapes Market overview:Detailed Study on Adhesive Tapes Market is growing at a CAGR during Forecasts year 2024. This Report covers the Major Players data, including: shipment, revenue, gross profit, interview record, business distribution etc., these data help the consumer know about the competitors better. This report also covers all the regions and countries of the world, which shows a regional development status, including market size.Request Here for Sample of Global Market Research Report Now@The rising demand for Adhesive Tapes Market across various Applications, such as Packaging, Healthcare, Electrical & Electronics, Building & Construction, White Goods and Paper & Printing is expected to drive the growth of the Adhesive Tapes Market.The adhesives tapes market has been segmented on the basis of Product Type, Backing Substrate, Technology, Category, Application and Region. Based on Product Type Segment, Market Can Sub segmented into Single-sided Adhesive Tape, Double-sided Adhesive Tape and others. On the basis Technology segment, the Adhesives Tapes Market has been segmented into Solvent-Based, Water-Based and Hot-Melt. The Hot-Melt segment is expected to grow at the highest Compound Annual Growth Rate during the forecast period. Hot-Melt Technology provides the advantage of high strength and immediate bond, which makes them ideal for a variety of Applications, such as Building and Construction, Automotive, White Goods and Electrical & Electronics. Benefits of using Hot-Melt Technology include excellent adhesion, quick set and ease of use, and fast processing.On the basis Application segment, the Adhesives Tapes Market has been segmented into Packaging, Masking, Consumer & Office, Healthcare, Electrical & Electronics, Automotive, White Goods, Paper & Printing, Building & Construction, Retail and others. The Healthcare segment is expected to grow at the highest Compound Annual Growth Rate during the forecast period. In the Healthcare industry, specialty tapes are applied on surgical Containers, Monitoring Electrodes and other Medical Devices. Currently, Medical Tapes are used in hospitals to cover wounds, for fixing cover shields during surgeries, and for cleaning purposes in antiseptic rooms. Adhesive tapes are also used in the manufacture of disposable infant diapers and adult incontinence products.In terms of the geographic analysis the Adhesives Tapes Market in the APAC region is expected to grow at the highest Compound Annual Growth Rate during the forecast period. The rising demand for Adhesives Tapes from countries, such as India, China, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Singapore, is projected to drive the growth of the Adhesives Tapes Market in the APAC region. China is expected to lead the demand for adhesives tapes in the APAC region.Purchase this report online with 111 Pages, List of Tables & Figures and in-depth Table of Contents on Global Adhesive Tapes Market Report 2019 @Major Key Players:1 K.L. & Ling2 Royal Adhesives & Sealants3 NICHIBAN CO., LTD4 Saint-Gobain5 Scapa Group Plc6 Evans Adhesive7 CSHyde8 Henkel9 Lohmann GmbH & Co.KG10 Advance Tapes International11 Tape-Rite12 Lintec Corporation and MoreMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers:1 North America2 Europe3 China4 Japan5 Middle East & Africa6 India7 South America and Others.Grab Your Report at an Impressive Discount @Table of Contents:Global Adhesive Tapes Market Report 20191 Adhesive Tapes Introduction and Market Overview2 Industry Chain Analysis3 Global Adhesive Tapes Market, by Type4 Adhesive Tapes Market, by Application5 Global Adhesive Tapes Production, Value ($) by Region (2014-2019)6 Global Adhesive Tapes Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2014-2019)7 Global Adhesive Tapes Market Status and SWOT Analysis by Regions8 Competitive Landscape9 Global Adhesive Tapes Market Analysis and Forecast by Type and Application10 Adhesive Tapes 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 Low-Calorie Sweeteners Market Research Report, Global Forecast 2018-2025: Top Key Players | Tate & Lyle, DowDupont, Cargill, Ingredion, Celanese, NutraSweet Low-Calorie Sweeteners https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/27027 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/27027 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/request_for_discount/27027 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/27027 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/27027 www.upmarketresearch.com UpMarketResearch offers a latest published report on Global Low-Calorie Sweeteners Market Analysis and Forecast 2018-2025 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report focuses on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Get Free Exclusive PDF Sample Copy of This Report @Low-Calorie Sweeteners Market research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period. It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Low-Calorie Sweeteners 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.The generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.The report for Low-Calorie Sweeteners Market analysis & forecast 2018-2025 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.For more information on this report, please visit:The following manufacturers are covered in this report: Archer Daniels Midland Tate & Lyle DowDupont Cargill Ingredion Celanese NutraSweetLow-Calorie Sweeteners Production by Region North America Asia-Pacific Europe Central & South America Middle East & AfricaGet Best Discount On This Report @Global Low-Calorie Sweeteners Market: Product Segment Analysisby Type Artificial Naturalby Distribution Channel Store Based Non-Store BasedLow-Calorie Sweeteners Breakdown Data by Application Food & Beverage Pharmaceutical Personal Care Products OthersLow-Calorie Sweeteners 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.Get Free Exclusive PDF Sample Copy of This Report @In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Low-Calorie Sweeteners 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 Low-Calorie Sweeteners Industry Analysis and Forecast 2018-2025 and its commercial landscape Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations To understand the future outlook and prospects for Low-Calorie Sweeteners market analysis and forecast 2018-2025.Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.For more information on this report, please visit:You can also ask for region wise market research report, as below: Low-Calorie Sweeteners - Global Market Status & Trend Report 2013- 2025 Top 20 Countries Data Low-Calorie Sweeteners - North America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Low-Calorie Sweeteners - South America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Low-Calorie Sweeteners - Europe Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Low-Calorie Sweeteners - EMEA Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Low-Calorie Sweeteners - Asia Pacific Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Low-Calorie Sweeteners - China Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Low-Calorie Sweeteners - India Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Low-Calorie Sweeteners - United States Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025About UpMarketResearch:UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States U.S. Electric Commercial Vehicles Market 2018 Analysis By Top Key Vendors Tesla, Fisker Automotive Inc., American Honda Motor Co., Myers Motors LLC, Aptera, etc U.S. Electric Commercial Vehicles Market https://bit.ly/2S8dsWp https://www.blueweaveconsulting.com/u-s-electric-commercial-vehicles/ https://www.blueweaveconsulting.com U.S. Electric Commercial Vehicles market report provides analysis for the period 2014 2024, wherein the period from 2018 to 2024 is the forecast period and 2017 as base year. The report covers all the major trends and technologies playing an influential role in the markets growth over the estimated period. It also highlights the drivers, restraints, and opportunities for the analysis of market growth during the period. The market study reveals that the U.S. Electric Commercial Vehicles market is expected to grow at a CAGR over 11% during the forecast period in terms of value.The market overview section of the report demonstrates market dynamics such as trends, drivers, restraints, and opportunities that talks about the current nature and future scenario of the U.S. Electric Commercial Vehicles market, key market indicators, end-user adoption analysis. Further, key market indicators included in the report provide the significant factors which are capable to define the market position of U.S. electric commercial product.Download Sample PDF of this Research Report@Scope Of The ReportThe electric commercial vehicle market can be segmented on the basis of propulsion type, vehicle type, component, and region. Based on propulsion type, the U.S. electric commercial vehicle market is further classified into battery electric vehicle (BEV), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). The battery electric vehicle segment dominates the market due to government initiatives to promote green transportation across the globe. Based on electric vehicle type, the U.S. electric commercial vehicle market can be fragmented into bus, truck, vans and others. Based on components, the electric commercial vehicle market can be segmented into motors, electric batteries, and others.The report also highlights the competitive landscape of the U.S. electric commercial vehicles market, positioning all the major players according to their presence in different regions and recent key developments initiated by them in the industry.This report provides all the essential information required to understand the key developments in the electric commercial vehicles market, growth trends of each segment and region. It also includes strategies of companies, financial information, SWOT analysis, and developments under the company profile section. Also, the report provides insights related to trends and their impact on the market.Key Findings Of The ReportAccording to BlueWeave Consulting, the key findings of the report U.S. Electric Commercial Vehicles Market Size, Share, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast to 2024 are:U.S. electrical commercial vehicle market is expected to witness owing to the factor that the government has enforced stringent rules and regulations for vehicular emission control. Rising transportation infrastructural spending owing to strong economic growth is anticipated to remain a key driving factor for industry growth over the forecast periodThe electric vehicles are becoming increasingly cheaper in U.S. which is anticipated to boost market growth. The change of lifestyle in U.S. which is increasingly shifting towards eco-friendly environment is another key factor driving industry growth over forthcoming years.Market DynamicsThe demand for the commercial electric vehicles is governed by increase in demand for fuel-efficient, high-performance and low-emission vehicles. Moreover, it is also been influenced by the trend of reduction in vehicular emission due to stringent rules & regulations by the U.S. government and growth of public charging infrastructure. However, technological advancements in electric vehicles and proactive government initiatives are expected to unfold various opportunities for the growth of the stakeholders of the U.S. Electric Vehicles market, such as system integrators, vehicle manufacturers, engine manufactures, and component providers. Though electric vehicles have proven to be advantageous over conventional vehicles, the market is not without restraints hindering the growth of the market over the forecast period. Electric vehicles come along with a high price tag which might evoke customer apathy towards this market. Scarcity of charging points within major cities is a massive hurdle in the growth of the U.S. Electric Vehicles market.Research MethodologyExtensive secondary research was conducted using paid data sources including Bloomberg, Factiva, Capital IQ, OneSource, and Hoovers. Additionally, several publicly-available data sources were used including journals, statistics articles, and industry associations. These data sources were used to gather relevant information to develop an understanding on the U.S. Electric Vehicles market. The research was conducted covering the desk research and primary research. Data sources used for primary research included online forums and blogs, CATI/CAWI, CAPI interviews, and video conferences. Additionally, interviews were conducted through connecting with various industry respondents including C-level executives, directors, divisional heads, regional heads, expert consultants, and independent consultants. The primary research was conducted to gain market insights from industry respondents and validate the gathered information through desk research.Competitive DynamicsThe research study includes profiles of leading companies operating in the U.S. electric commercial vehicles market. Some of the key players profiled in the report include Tesla, Fisker Automotive Inc., American Honda Motor Co., Myers Motors LLC, Aptera, etc.Access Full Research Report@Contact Us:info@blueweaveconsulting.comGlobal Contacts: +18666586826About BlueWeave Consulting & Research Pvt Ltd.BlueWeave Consulting provides a full scope of business intelligence solution for solving your toughest challenges. BWC is an emerging global expert & pioneer in the market research and provision of exclusive market INTEL. We optimize your decision making by equipping your industry with an accurate & better market research according to your industry demands through our professionally designed qualitative & quantitative research methods. Our trendy & efficient sample collection methods, integrated data solutions as well as methodologies certainly make us a better partner that you can rely on. With collective experience in the varied fields of retail, market research and reporting, we provide the business insight and business practices that would give the required impetus for your companys growth.GD-69, Sector G, East kolkata Twp,Kolkata, West Bengal Forklift Truck Global Market 2018: Key Players Toyota Industries Corporation, KION Group AG, Jungheinrich AG, and Mitsubishi Logisnext Co., Ltd. https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3450843-global-forklift-truck-market-industry-analysis-outlook-2018-2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3450843-global-forklift-truck-market-industry-analysis-outlook-2018-2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=3450843 https://www.wiseguyreports.com Forklift Truck IndustryDescriptionWiseguyreports.Com Adds Forklift Truck -Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities and Analysis Of Top Key Player Forecast To 2024 To Its Research DatabaseForklift trucks are small industrial vehicles with power operated forked platform attached at the front that can be raised and lowered for insertion under a cargo to lift or move it. Forklifts are used in various industries including warehouse and other large storage facilities. Forklifts are powered by electric battery or combustion engines. There are various classes of forklift that are classified on the basis of fuel options and the use.Rapid infrastructural developments and technological advancements are the factors contributing to forklift market growth. Asian market has a major share in the forklift volume owing to high demand for these trucks in emerging nations such as China and India. There has been increasing growth in the shipment volume of forklift worldwide and it is expected to show further growth in coming years, representing a positive outlook for the market.Increasing forklift volume is mainly driven by the e-commerce growth globally. There is need of warehouse and distribution centers in the e-commerce market and e-commerce warehouses need to operate much more efficiently than bulk warehouses. One of the recent developments made in this market is hydrogen and lithium batteries to save cost and increase productivity. Class III type of forklift trucks are expected to register the highest growth in coming years due to increasing demand for electric trucks for manufacturing and warehouse activities.The report Global Forklift Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2018-2022) by Koncept Analytics provides an extensive research and detailed analysis of the present market along with future outlook. The report discusses the major growth drivers and challenges of the market, covering Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania regions along with the global market. The report profiles the key players of the market including Toyota Industries Corporation, KION Group AG, Jungheinrich AG, and Mitsubishi Logisnext Co., Ltd.Request for Sample Report @Table of Content1. Market Overview1.1 Forklifts1.2 Working of Forklifts1.3 Industrial Uses of Forklift1.4 Classification of Forklift Trucks2. Global Market2.1 Global Forklift Market by Value2.2 Global Forklift Market Forecast by Value2.3 Global Forklift Market by Volume2.4 Global Forklift Market Forecast by Volume2.5 Global Forklift Market Volume by Region2.6 Global Forklift Market Volume Share by Class2.7 Global Forklift Market Volume by Class2.7.1 Global Forklift Market Volume Forecast by Class2.8 Global Forklift Market Volume Share by Type2.9 Global Forklift Market Volume by Type2.9.1 Global Forklift Market Volume Forecast by Type3. Regional Markets3.1 Europe3.1.1 Europe Forklift Market by Volume3.1.2 Europe Forklift Market Forecast by Volume3.1.3 Europe Forklift Market Volume Share by Class3.1.4 Europe Forklift Market Volume Forecast by Class3.2 Americas3.2.1 Americas Forklift Market by Volume3.2.2 Americas Forklift Market Forecast by Volume3.2.3 Americas Forklift Market Volume Share by Class3.2.4 Americas Forklift Market Volume Forecast by Class3.3 Asia3.3.1 Asia Forklift Market by Volume3.3.2 Asia Forklift Market Forecast by Volume3.3.3 Asia Forklift Market Volume Share by Class3.3.4 Asia Forklift Market Volume Forecast by Class3.4 Africa3.4.1 Africa Forklift Market by Volume3.4.2 Africa Forklift Market Forecast by Volume3.4.3 Africa Forklift Market Volume Share by Class3.4.4 Africa Forklift Market Volume Forecast by Class3.5 Oceania3.5.1 Oceania Forklift Market by Volume3.5.2 Oceania Forklift Market Forecast by Volume3.5.3 Oceania Forklift Market Volume Share by Class3.5.4 Oceania Forklift Market Volume Forecast by ClassLeave a Query @4. Market Dynamics4.1 Growth Drivers4.1.1 Rising E-commerce Growth4.1.2 Growing Construction Sector Spending4.1.3 Expansion of Warehouse Space4.1.4 Upsurge in Industrialization and Economic Growth4.1.5 Expansion of Logistics Industry4.1.6 Rising Application in Manufacturing Industries4.2 Key Trends & Developments4.2.1 Rising M-Commerce4.2.2 Increasing Penetration of Internet of Things (IoT)4.2.3 Rising Technological Advancement4.2.4 Increased Automation of Entire Material Flow4.2.5 Rising Demand for Environmental Friendly Vehicles4.2.6 Purchase of Low-Cost Forklift Trucks in Emerging Markets4.3 Challenges4.3.1 Specialized Operator Training Requirement4.3.2 Need of Continuous Support and Maintenance5. Competitive Landscape5.1 Global Market5.1.1 Revenue and Market Cap Comparison6. Company Profiles6.1 Toyota Industries Corporation6.1.1 Business Overview6.1.2 Financial Overview6.1.3 Business Strategies6.2 KION Group AG6.2.1 Business Overview6.2.2 Financial Overview6.2.3 Business Strategies6.3 Jungheinrich AG6.3.1 Business Overview6.3.2 Financial Overview6.3.3 Business Strategies6.4 Mitsubishi Logisnext Co., Ltd.6.4.1 Business Overview6.4.2 Financial Overview6.4.3 Business StrategiesBuy Now @Continued...Contact Us: Sales@Wiseguyreports.Com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (Us) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (Uk)About Us: Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres: Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt Ltd Pune 411028 Maharashtra, Global Ph: +91 841 198 5042 The Renaissance of Advertising Networks https://buff.ly/2MLUD5o Programmatic, called a few years ago as the apex of advertising technologies, is a rapidly growing market expanding 20% a year on average. eMarketer forecasts its growth will reach $68 billion by 2020.But, despite irresistible market growth, the participants of the programmatic ecosystem face multiple problems, which may lead to new market configuration and combined selling models sooner or later.What goes wrong?Programmatic bottlenecks are lying on the surface for content producers which attract end-users. In this the article well consider all issues from the publishers point of view.Programmatic advertising has grown from a tiny part of a publishers advertising activity. Just a couple of years ago top publishers received from programmatic advertising only 10% of their total digital ad revenues, according to Operative survey.This brings us to the most natural publishers desire: to sell inventory (especially premium inventory) on much more fair conditions. And programmatic can offer it for now.Programmatic is not automaticTo avoid selling premium inventory via Open auctions for non-predictable results most publishers are now setting up programmatic direct or private marketplaces (PMP deals).From a technical point of view, publishers have two main options to join and operate at the programmatic ecosystem. Both of them are, again, far from ideal:- To sell independently to numerous demand sources (DSPs)- To join some SSPs and rely on their decencySummarizing all programmatic bottlenecks above, here are approaches letting publishers sale effectively in the new market reality:- shorten of the supply chain the closer advertiser is the better for all parts;- an effective combination of different selling models (direct, different programmatic models, Header Bidding);- financial transparency and reliable buying partners (less is better);- simplicity in execution and management;- wider use of non-standard creative ad formats.A way out?Technically, an effective combination of different selling models leads us back to not-quite-well forgotten waterfall model. The concept of the waterfall is in dividing publishers inventory into to multi-level slices, each of which then is sold for highest CPMs.To manage inventory this way, publishers, again, have two options:- To sell independently- To join some vendorIn any case, a publisher has to be armed with an effective ad serving solution allowing to build the new-waterfall of direct, RTBs, and Header Bidding. Perfectly if tech vendor provides publisher access to demand, guides and leads their monetization, and offers advancements, including:- the minimum supply chain with access to multiple demand sources- transparent financial conditions- different selling models: direct, RTBs (PMPs, guaranteed, open auction), Header Bidding, etc.- opportunity to optimize all demand from mentioned sources and models semi-automatically- support of all required media (desktop, apps, video, CTV, etc.)- premium ad formats- multiple targeting options- data management toolsNew ad networks approachBefore Programmatic Era, ad networks just connected the myriad of Advertisers and Publishers, acting as brokers between the supply and demand. Now, when this process was programmatically automated, some believe the role of ad networks has diminished.Heres what a modern model for ad networks is. The ad network is a combination of direct management and programmatic, having in its core technology, advanced waterfall model, and support for different selling options.For small and mid-size publishers it must become a one-stop shop, solving all their monetization issues. For top publishers, ad network becomes a provider of maximum possible services and technologies, also giving them a chance to participate effectively with their demand partners.To meet such market expectations, a modern ad network should provide the following must-haves:- Effective monetization- Transparent financial conditions- Support of all existing inventory types- Ad serving option for publishers- Own DMP- Brand/inventory protection- System accounts for supply-side and demand-side with detailed reports for performance control- And moreTo sum it upAd networks must adapt to the new market reality, using programmatic as an additional demand source. Their primary focus should stick to technology having optimization, customization, brand safety, and localization in its core. Also, an important role remains for personal assistance to participantsAnd dont let the tech-evangelists to scare you with global automation and overall programmatic-forces. There will always be businesses where a human and personalized approach is still required. Until AI will take care of everything, of courseRead in the original full article:Founded in 2008, Admixer Ltd. Group is an ad technology company that develops and maintains products and services in the field of digital advertising management.EC2R 8AY, Suite 319-3, 32 Threadneedle Street, London, United Kingdom Antibiotics Market Competitive Analysis to 2025: Pfizer, Janssen Inc., Abbott, GSK, Sanofi, Sanofi Genzyme, Novartis, Bayer, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly and Company Antibiotics Market https://www.researchformarkets.com/sample/global-antibiotics-market-147650 https://www.researchformarkets.com/reports/global-antibiotics-market-147650 https://www.researchformarkets.com/inquiry/global-antibiotics-market-147650 Antibiotics Market research report gives strength to any kind of business whether it is large, medium or small for surviving and succeeding in the market. This report presents you with broader perspective of the market place with its comprehensive market insights and analysis. The report gives CAGR (compound annual growth rate) values along with its fluctuations for the specific forecast period. The estimations of CAGR values are very important which helps businesses decide upon the investment value over the time period.Antibiotic also called an antibacterial is a type of antimicrobial drug used in the treatment and prevention of bacterial infections. They may either kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria. A limited number of antibiotics also possess antiprotozoal activity. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses such as the common cold or influenza; drugs which inhibit viruses are termed antiviral drugs or antivirals rather than antibiotics.More than 15.0% of the deaths, in children below the age of five, are estimated to be due to pneumonia and according to the statistics provided by the WHO about 9.2 million deaths were recorded in 2015. Similar to tuberculosis, the highest prevalence of the disease is identified to be in the South Asian and Sub-Saharan regions. Currently, the required antibiotic treatment is available only to one third of the infected population, thereby increasing the disease burden.Some Of The Key Players Of The Global Antibiotics Market Include: Pfizer Pfizer Italia Janssen Inc. Abbott Abbott Diagnostics Business Abbott Nutrition Health Institute (ANHI) GSK GlaxoSmithKline Pharma GmbH Sanofi Sanofi Genzyme Sanofi Polska Sanofi Belgium Novartis Novartis Oncology Bayer Bayer Pharmaceuticals Bristol-Myers Squibb Eli Lilly and Company Astellas Pharma USRequest Sample Copy of the Report @This report studies the global market size of Antibiotics in key regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa, focuses on the consumption of Antibiotics in these regions.This research report categorizes the global Antibiotics market by players/brands, region, type and application. This report also studies the global market status, competition landscape, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, sales channels, distributors and Porter's Five Forces Analysis.Market Size Split by Type: Antibiotics Cephalosporins Penicillins Fluoroquinolones Macrolides Carbapenems Aminoglycosides Sulfonamides OtherMarket Size Split by Application: Antibiotics Hospital Clinics OthersRequest for Report Brochure for Latest Industry Insights @Major Table of Contents: Antibiotics Market1 Study Coverage2 Executive Summary3 Breakdown Data by Manufacturers4 Breakdown Data by Type5 Breakdown Data by Application6 North America7 Europe8 Asia Pacific9 Central & South America10 Middle East and Africa11 Company Profiles12 Market Opportunities, Challenges, Risks and Influences Factors Analysis13 Value Chain and Sales Channels Analysis14 Research Findings and Conclusion15 AppendixInquire More or Share Questions if any before the Purchase on This Report @The Study Objectives Of This Report Are:To study and analyze the global Antibiotics market size (value & volume) by company, key regions/countries, products and application, history data from 2013 to 2017, and forecast to 2025.To understand the structure of Antibiotics market by identifying its various subsegments.To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).Focuses on the key global Antibiotics manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in next few years.To analyze the Antibiotics with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market.Note: Any special requirements about this report, please let us know and we can provide custom report.About Research for Markets:Research for Markets indulges in detailed and diligent research on different markets, trends and emerging opportunities in the successive direction to cater to your business needs. We have established the pillars of our flourishing institute on the grounds of Credibility and Reliability. RFM delve into the markets across Asia Pacific, North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa.Contact:Mr. A NaiduResearch for MarketsTel: +44 8000-4182-37 (UK)Email: alan.naidu@researchformarkets.com DeLaughter Bail Bonds Offers Different Kinds of Bail Bonds in Indiana https://delaughterbailbonds.com/ https://delaughterbailbonds.com/contact-us/ The company offers a wide range of bail bonds that help people get out of jail as quickly as possibleRochester, Indiana - Feb 4, 2019: DeLaughter Bail Bonds is a family-run business that has been serving residents of Indiana since 2010. The company offers multiple bail bond options and is committed to helping clients secure legal freedom.The personnel at the company take a lot of pride in responding and attending to their clients needs immediately. Their goal is to help their clients get out of jail as quickly as possible. The company is known for its high-quality services. They also offer different kinds of bail bonds.A spokesperson for the company stated, Although people have heard the term bail, they still dont know about its basics like how bail bonds work etc. A lot of people dont even know that there are different kinds of bail bonds and they work differently. For example, there are transfer bonds which are written for a person who is held in another state. Then there are surety bonds that are written by bail agents.Surety bonds consist of three parties: the indemnitor, jail, and client. The client can be either the accused or one of their loved ones. The indemnitor is the person who takes responsibility related to the bail process. They will pay the amount and take a percentage of the bail as a fee.The person will be released from jail on the condition that they show up for trial. If they fail to do so, the court will require the indemnitor to pay for the remaining amount.Transfer bonds on the other hand, allow the person to post bail through agents who can transfer the amount in locations where the person is currently being held.The spokesperson further stated, We strongly believe in the right of bail and work hard to make sure that your loved ones can get out of jail as hastily as possible. We focus on providing reliable services to our clients and in order to do so we offer both surety as well as transfer bail bonds.If you are located in Wabash County, Indiana and are in requirement of bail provision services for yourself or someone else, you may contact professionals from the company using details provided below for more information.DeLaughter Bail Bonds is a highly reputable family-run bail bond company based in Indiana. They offer reliable 24-hour bail bondsman services in the state of Indiana.Website:Web Contact:E-mail: info@delaughterbailbonds.comMailing Addresses:CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS201 North Mill Street,North Manchester, IN 46962Telephone: 260.578.0505ROCHESTER OFFICE109 East 9th Street,Rochester, IN 46975Telephone: 574.223.7505 Prebiotic Food Market www.qandqmarketresearch.com/reports/7463115/prebiotic-food-market-106 www.qandqmarketresearch.com/reports/7463115/prebiotic-food-market-106 www.qandqmarketresearch.com/reports/7463115/prebiotic-food-market-106 https://The global Prebiotic Food market is valued at million US$ in 2018 is expected to reach million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of during 20192025.This report focuses on Prebiotic Food volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall Prebiotic Food market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect. Regionally, this report focuses on several key regions: North America, Europe, China and Japan.At company level, this report focuses on the production capacity, exfactory price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer covered in this report.https://The following manufacturers are covered:DupontCargillBeneoFrieslandcampinaIngredionNexiraBeghin MeijiYakultSegment by RegionsNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSegment by TypeFunctional OligosaccharidesPolysaccharidesPolyolOthersSegment by ApplicationHouseholdMedicalOthershttps://QandQ Market Research is a Market aggregator brand owned solely by Megamind Research Pvt Ltd., an India based company. QandQ Market Research is an online marketplace of research report published by leading market research agencies by collecting their global and regional market reports on 100+ industry verticals.Our database includes 1,000,000+ market research reports from over 75 leading global publishers & in-depth market research studies of over 5000 micro markets. With vast years of experience in the research field and comprehensive information about the publishers and their respective industrial expertise, we have gained grass root knowledge about the gaps prevailing within the research industry. Using this, we enable our clients to compare comprehensive research studies of various publishers so that they can procure best researching solutions for their organization. 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So contact us anytime for your specific research needs and we will get in touch immediately to help you find a market research report you need.QandQ Market ResearchVia dell'Archeologia 29,Roma 00133,Italy.Call us : +1 833 267 4156Email : lokesh@qandqmarketresearch.com Luxury Furniture Market rising penetration of online retailing all across the world https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11614 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/11614 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com The global luxury market consist of nine segments including personal cars, personal luxury goods, luxury hospitality, luxury cruises, fine food, fine wine and spirits, luxury furniture, private jet and yachts. Out of these segments, luxury furniture has showcased boom all over the world. Luxury furniture enhances the artistic value of homes, offices, restaurants and hotels in addition to various outdoor and indoor spaces. Over the past few years, the significant growth in real estate industry fostered the growth of luxury furniture market. Movement of people from rural to urban areas, globalization and inclination in the personal disposable income is strengthening the growth of the global luxury furniture market. Rising environmental consciousness among people will lead to rising demand for eco-friendly luxury furniture all over the world till 2025. Besides this, rising penetration of online retailing all across the world is expected to further stimulate the global luxury furniture market. Change in the lifestyle along with rising disposable income would provide substantial opportunities in the global luxury furniture market over the period 2016-2024.Request for sample report:The global Luxury Furniture market is segmented on the basis of type of materials which include wood, metal, plastic, glass, leather and others. Wooden furniture segment contributed the highest share in the overall global luxury furniture market in 2014. Over the past few years, furniture manufacturers are introducing products including materials such as leather, metal, leather, glass in order to replace wood. The global luxury furniture market is also divided on the basis of end use which include commercial and domestic use. The commercial segment is further sub-segmented on the basis of hospitality, office and others. Whereas the domestic segment is sub-segmented by living and bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, lighting, outdoor and others. In 2014, the domestic luxury furniture segment contributed the highest share in the overall revenue of global luxury furniture market. Bedroom and living room segment marked substantial share in the global luxury furniture market in 2014. The global luxury furniture market is also segmented on the basis of unorganized and organized sector.Inclination in the online retailing and higher media penetration are some of the major factors driving the growth of global luxury furniture market. Apart from that, rising impact of globalization, organized retailing, and robust growth in real estate sector is anticipated to foster the growth of global luxury furniture market. Rising demand of eco-friendly luxury segment is also expected to bolster the growth of global luxury furniture market. Apart from this, rising trend of modular kitchen is also strengthening the demand for global luxury furniture market and will impel the market from the period 2016-2024.Request Report TOC @Geographically, the Global Luxury Furniture 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. Amongst all the regions, Europe captured the highest share in the global luxury furniture market in 2014. China is expected to be the biggest and rapidly growing furniture market in future which will drive the overall Asia luxury furniture market. Latin American region is also anticipated to showcase fast growth over the next few years till 2024. The requirement of luxury furniture especially in the hospitality sector in Middle East region and African region is expected to drive the market of this region in future.The major players identified across the value chain of global Luxury Furniture market include Muebles Pico, Valderamobili, Scavolini, Laura Ashley Folding Plc, Nella Vetrina, Henredon Furniture Industries Inc., and others. It has been noticed that furniture manufacturers are concerned about reduction in carbon footprints and initiated offering eco-friendly furniture. The global luxury furniture market is highly competitive with large number of players (both small and big) dominating the industry. In the next few years, various furniture manufacturers are anticipated to enter in this market.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 geographies, and applications.Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance. To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Patient Simulators Market 2025 led by Simulaids, Gaumard Scientific, Surgical Science, Limbs & Things, Surgical Science, Laerdal Medical, 3D Systems, CAE Healthcare, Kyoto Kagaku and Simulab Corporation Patient Simulators Market is expected to reach US$ 2,373.1 Mn in 2025 http://bit.ly/2Rw1UHA http://bit.ly/2GeV475 Key factors driving the market are increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, rising geriatric population and rising awareness regarding importance of fitness are key drivers for the growth of the market. The report would be of an interest to various stakeholders operating in the Patient Simulators market. These stakeholders include academic medical centres, government research organizations, hospitals & clinics, research & consulting firms, insurers, medical devices companies, and professional societies.The Global Patient Simulators Market is expected to reach US$ 2,373.1 Mn in 2025 from US$ 694.6 Mn in 2017 and estimated to grow with a CAGR of 16.8% from 2018-2025.The report also provide detailed information regarding the major factors influencing growth of the market. The report helps to analyze market with respect to individual growth trends, prospects, and contributions to the overall market.Get Sample PDF Copy @Increasing Demand for Minimally Invasive Treatment Methods Expected to Drive The Market Over The Forecast Period.Some of the prominent players operating in Patient Simulators market are- Simulaids- Surgical Science- Mentice AB- Limbs & Things LTD- CAE- Laerdal Medical- 3D Systems, Inc.- Gaumard Scientific- Kyoto Kagaku Co., Ltd.- Simulab CorporationGlobal patient simulators market, based on the product was segmented into adult patient simulator, infant simulator, and childbirth simulator. In 2017, the adult patient simulator segment held a largest market share of 50.3% of the patient simulators, by product. This segment is also expected to dominate the market in 2025. The growth of the market is primarily attributed to the use of adult patient simulators in various training programs across the globe and also the segment is expected to grow with the fastest growth rate of 16.8% during the forecast period, 2018 to 2025.The report enables you to- Formulate significant competitor information, analysis, and insights to improve R&D strategies Identify emerging players with potentially strong product portfolio and create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage Identify and understand important and diverse types of Patient Simulators under development Develop market entry and market expansion strategies Plan mergers and acquisitions effectively by identifying major players with the most promising pipeline In-depth analysis of the product's current stage of development, territory and estimated launch dateThe report analyzes factors affecting patient simulators market from both demand and supply side and further evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend. The report also provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all countries namely; Germany, France, UK, Italy and Spain after evaluating political, economic, social and technological factors effecting the market in these countries.The objectives of this report is as follows:- To provide overview of the global Patient Simulators market- To analyze and forecast the global Patient Simulators market on the basis of component, connectivity network and application- To provide market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Patient Simulators market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM), which is later sub-segmented by respective countries- To evaluate market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend- To provide exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions- To profile key Patient Simulators players influencing the market along with their SWOT analysis and market strategiesBuy this Report @Reason to Buy:-Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the Patient Simulators market.-Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.-The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the global Patient Simulators 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 security interest with respect to client products, segmentation, pricing and distribution.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 costContact usThe Insight partners,Phone: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.com Trump thought Nepal and Bhutan were part of India: US intelligence officers International oi-Shubham Ghosh Washington, Feb 4: It's more expected from filmstars and celebrities but when the most powerful man on earth - the president of the United States - makes a blunder of such proportion, it becomes far too serious an issue. On Saturday, February 2, TIME magazine reported that Donald Trump had the idea that the two Himalayan countries of Nepal and Bhutan are part of India. US suspends INF Treaty: Trump says will work on 'military response' options According to the report, the incident happened when Trump's advisors came up with a map of South Asia during a briefing of the region. The officials reportedly claimed that Trump pointed at the map and said that he knew Nepal was an Indian territory. When he was rectified and told Nepal stands as an independent nation, he said Bhutan was a part of India. "...Trump's advisors brought a map of the region from Afghanistan to Bangladesh, according to intelligence officers with knowledge of the meeting and congressional officials who were briefed on it. Trump, they said, pointed at the map and said he knew that Nepal was part of India, only to be told that it is an independent nation. When said he was familiar with Bhutan and knew it, too, was part of India, his briefers told him that Bhutan was an independent kingdom," the TIME report said. Last August, Politico had said in a report that Trump mispronounced Nepal as "Nipple" and Bhutan as "Button" during a briefing ahead of his meeting prior to his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017. US in serious negotiations on Afghanistan for first time: Trump Trump had lashed out at the US intelligence agencies last week accusing them of being "passive and naive" about Iran, which is perceived to be one of the major enemies of his administration. "The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran," Trump said in a tweet. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 6:53 [IST] COVID-19 origin: Either it is emerged naturally or it was laboratory accident, says US Intel community Polar vortex has left Elon Musks Tesla cars frozen, literally International oi-Shubham Ghosh Washington, Feb 4: The polar vortex that has floored the Midwest of the United States has found one easy victim and it is Tesla's electric vehicles (EVs). It's not only the batteries of the EVs that are facing an adverse effect because of the extreme weather conditions but also the physical features: the sleek door handles that are getting frozen disallowing people from getting into their vehicles. According to a report in Mashable, the drivers are getting screwed up by the plummeting abilities of their EV batteries that are also struggling to get warmed. The result is a far less mileage than what is expected. Tesla CEO Elon Musk had promised last week "ambiguous cold weather improvements coming in an upcoming computer update" but it is yet to happen as the polar vortex ran amok. "Tesla sent over its winter driving tips that acknowledge its cars will suffer from "increased range consumption" when it's cold out. Drivers certainly noticed the limited range in the negative temperatures. The Model X 100D normally has close to 290 miles of juice. In negative temps, one driver reported 120 miles listed as its range," the Mashable report said, explaining the ordeal of the Tesla car owners in the inclement weather. What has made Tesla's loss to polar vortex in the first round at least even more disappointing is that the company has a cold-weather testing side in Alaska. Here are some reactions on Twitter to Tesla cars' plight in the polar vortex: Theres no way @Tesla tested the #Model3 in cold weather. Doors wont open, and now they wont close. #strandedinmyowndriveway Steve Bailey (@baileydesign23) January 30, 2019 .@elonmusk .@Tesla I love you but can you hire a designer/engineer from places where the weather gets bad so that we dont have to deal with bad design like this again?? This is after 30+ minutes of preheating the car to 80 degrees. Also wipers and side mirrors were frozen too pic.twitter.com/HO8igw131x sa ra (@sarahthanif) January 30, 2019 Now this is really cold. It doesnt get any better that a good -7 degree morning in Central Indiana. Fortunately, my all-electric vehicle Nissan Leaf) continues to work well and the heat is on! pic.twitter.com/pwwfjk072d Marvin Blade (@blade_marvin) January 30, 2019 For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 15:35 [IST] Arun Jaitley framed bill on Art 370 nullification that can withstand legal challenge, says his wife Jaitley statue at Kotla: Angry Bedi asks DDCA to remove his name from stands, quits membership Why does Kharge dissent regularly. Jaitley explains India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, Feb 04: Accusing Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge of dissenting excessively, Union minister Arun Jaitley Sunday said he has made the appointment of CBI director look like a political battle which was never envisaged. Kharge on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving his dissent on the appointment of new CBI director Rishi Kumar Shukla, alleging that the officer did not have experience in handling anti-corruption cases and the criterion for selection was diluted in violation of law and Supreme Court judgments. 'Regular dissenter': Jaitley's dig at Mallikarjun Kharge over CBI chief's appointment In a blog, Jaitley said the leader of the largest party in Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Kharge, "dissented once again" in the appointment of the new CBI Director. "Kharge dissents regularly," the minister said. Jaitley recalled the Congress leader dissented when Alok Verma was appointed CBI Director, dissented when Verma was transferred and has now dissented when Shukla has been appointed. "The only thing constant in the High Powered Committee comprising of the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition which deals with the CBI Director's appointment and transfer, is the Kharge dissent," Jaitley said. Kharge had sent a two-page dissent note to the prime minister this evening after the government announced the name of the 1983-batch officer and former Madhya Pradesh Director General of Police as the new CBI director. Jaitley further said when the Leader of Opposition sits as a Member of the Collegium, he sheds off the political colour of his office as much as the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India shall both leave the authority of their respective domains and work exclusively towards appointing or transferring the Director on the criterion of merit or fairness. "The position of Shri Kharge as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, entitles him to sit in the Committee but the political colour of that office has to be left outside. "Shri Kharge then is a part of a Collegium, which discharges a governance function. Unfortunately, that does not seem to have happened," said the minister, who had last month flown to the US for treatment of an unstated illness. Dissents are a powerful instrument in democracy, he said, adding they are more commonly prevalent in judicial pronouncements. Dissents are also a part of the parliamentary system particularly in the Legislative Committees. The dissenter places an alternative view point. Where Monetary policy Committees exists, dissents are occasionally given by Members. "A dissenter challenges the majority. He does it on the basis of a call of conscience dictated by his fair mind. He puts his dissent on record so that it can be of value to the wisdom of the future generations. "A dissent should never be a political tool. The right to dissent is sacrosanct and has to be sparingly used. If a dissenter dissents on every conceivable occasion he comes out as a person either motivated by collateral reasons or as a person lacking objectivity," Jaitley. He further said using the instrument of dissent recklessly neutralises its value. "The perpetual dissenter in a Collegium meant for appointments sends a message that he was included as a Member because of his capacity of Leader of the Opposition but he hasn't been able to shed his role as an Opposition Member, even though now he is a part of a Government Committee. His dissent has diminished it value and credibility," the minister said. 'Economic absurdity' to say no creation of jobs with high GDP growth: Jaitley He said Kharge's dissent in the matter of the transfer of Alok Verma was coloured by his political views. He was a petitioner in the Supreme Court himself in support of Alok Verma. He should have "recused himself" from the Committee since his views were known, Jaitley said. "He suffered from a bias and conflict of interest. Yet he did not recuse himself," Jaitley said. Kharge, he said has dissented "a bit too frequently" and many may wonder if Collegium's are workable. "The appointment of a CBI Director was never envisaged to be a political battle. Shri Kharge has made it look like one," the minister said. During the panel meeting on Friday, Kharge had expressed his displeasure over the selection criterion adopted. In the note to the prime minister, the Congress leader said the three-member committee, chaired by Prime Minister Modi and in which he is a member along with Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, has violated the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DSPE) that governs the CBI and the Supreme Court judgements. He said the criterion in selecting the CBI director has been diluted to include investigation experience only and not experience in investigating anti-corruption cases. Two stories of fresh standoff between Mamata-Centre India oi-Hardeep Singh Bedi New Delhi, Feb 04: West Bengal has become a political hotbed just ahead of the upcoming Lok Saba elections after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Central Government and Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have once again locked horns. The state grabbed national headlines after a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team was detained by Kolkata Police on Sunday. The story so far A team of CBI officers was stopped from entering the residence of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar here on Sunday when they had gone to question him in connection with chit fund scam cases. A virtual showdown ensued as Kolkata Police personnel forcefully took away some of the CBI officers to a nearby police station amid commotion. CBI vs Bengal: Did Rajeev Kumar, withhold or destroy evidence? After the incident, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee swung into action and sat on an indefinite Save the Constitution' dharna at Kolkata's Metro Channel station. On Monday, the battle moved to the courts. While the CBI moved the Supreme Court, the West Bengal government moved the Calcutta High Court. The CBI moved a petition in the Supreme Court seeking initiation of contempt of court proceedings against the West Bengal Government officials and police for obstructing the Supreme Court directed the CBI probe in West Bengal chit fund cases. Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta alleged before a Bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjeev Khanna that Kolkatas top cop has destructed electronic evidence related to ponzi scams. The investigating agency also said that an unprecedented situation has arisen in Kolkata where top police officials are sitting on a dharna with a political party. The Bench asked the CBI to place all evidence before it by means of an affidavit and posted the matter for Tuesday. The apex court also said that if the CBI manages to present any evidence against to support its allegation then it would come down heavily on West Bengal government and police. Saradha, Rose Valley: Why Bengal is blocking the probe into a Rs 17,460 crore scam On the other hand, the West Bengal government filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court against the CBI's attempt to question Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar at his residence. The HC, however, refused an immediate hearing and listed the matter on Tuesday. The tussle also rocked Parliament on Monday. The opposition parties in Lok Sabha attacked the government over the alleged misuse of central agencies against political rivals, saying it was against democratic norms. Members from Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, NCP and Samajwadi Party spoke against the CBI move to question the Kolkata police chief. Home Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement in the Lok Sabha and said the prevailing situation in Kolkata is "unprecedented" and a threat to the federal political system of the country. "There may be a constitutional breakdown in West Bengal... under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country," he said. Meanwhile, the support continued to pour in from opposition leaders from across the country for Banerjee. From Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, all leaders expressed solidarity with 'Didi'. The Real Story Historically West Bengal has always been out of the reach of the BJP as it was first ruled by the Left for decades and now is being ruled by Trinamool Congress party. Since most of West Bengals population comprises of working class and farmers, it has been a political haven for the Left and TMC that cater to their psychological needs. Another reason for the Left and TMC rule in West Bengal is the Muslim population. According to 2011 Census of India, West Bengal has over 24.6 million Muslims, who form 27.1% of the state's population. From Deve Gowda to Kejriwal, what leaders said about Mamata-CBI tussle In Murshidabad district, the percentage of Muslim population is 66.28%, South 24 Parganas 35.57%, North 24 Parganas 25.82%, Malda 51.27%, Bardhaman 20.73%, Uttar Dinajpur 49.92%, Nadia 26.76%, Birbhum 37.06%, Howrah 26.20%, Kolkata 20.60%, Hooghly 15.77%, East Medinipur 24.59%, Cooch Behar 25.54%, West Medinipur 25.1%, Jalpaiguri 11.51%, South Dinajpur 24.63%, Bankura 8.08%, Purulia 7.76% and Darjeeling 5.69% of the total population in these districts. The Muslims are the deciding factor in any political battle in the state and the party that they support forms the government in the state. Therefore, the Muslims in West Bengal have always enjoyed patronage of the ruling party. Since both the Left and the TMC view Muslims as a vote bank, the state saw the maximum influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. With the historic tag of party of businessmen, which didnt suit majority working class, and anti-Muslim; the BJP could not get much political success in West Bengal. But, two underreported facts have provided the BJP the political way it has been looking for decades. First, the percentage of Muslims is very high in the category of those who are involved in illegal activities in West Bengal. Second, despite being involved in illegal activities, Muslims seldom face wrath of the police. A Kolkata resident, who didnt want to be quoted, told this scribe that West Bengal police think 100 times before taking action against a Muslim, who is found on the wrong side of the law. Moreover, acts of TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have given more political ground to the BJP. In 2017, for example, the Mamata Banerjee-led government had issued a notification prohibiting Durga idol immersion between September 30 and October 1 on account of Muharram, observed by Muslims as a day of mourning. The government said the immersion could continue on October 2. While hearing a plea of some Hindu organisations, the Calcutta High Court had slammed Mamata government for creating rift between the Hindu and Muslim communities and asked Mamata: Why can't two communities celebrate together. This partiality has been building resent in non-Muslim community since decades. When the BJP assumed power at the Centre in 2014, the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) started addressing the resent. As a result, the footprints of BJP and the RSS have increased manifold in West Bengal. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP secured 17% votes despite not having full-fledged organisational base in the state and won two seats. In 2016 Assembly elections, the BJP increased its vote share to 10.5% from 4.11% of 2011 assembly elections and won three assembly seats on its own. The RSS has also increased its footprints in West Bengal. Before 2014, the RSS used to run 700 shakas in south Bengal region and 300 shakas in north Bengal, but now the number has touched 1,200 and 400 shakas, respectively in south and north Bengal. According to RSS leader Jishnu Basu, the "position of Bengal in terms of people joining the Sangh is either second or third after Karnataka". BJP President Amit Shah has openly said that the party is hopeful of winning 22-23 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019. The gains of the BJP has perturbed Mamata Banerjee because she has sensed that the BJP and RSS cadre are not like the Left cadre who had shifted loyalty after the TMC assumed power. According to legal experts, Mamata Banerjees hue and cry over CBI action will not stand in the court of law. Last year West Bengal withdrew general consent given to the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe cases in the state. After this, the CBI needs state governments consent for any probe or raids in the state. But, the CBI teams action in Kolkata on Sunday doesnt fall under states withdrawal of general consent as it is relying on the verdict of the Supreme Court dated May 9, 2014. In the Subrata Chattoraj vs Union of India case, the court had transferred the probe into the chit fund scam to the CBI. In 1994, the Supreme Court in the Lhendup Dorji vs CBI case had said that the withdrawal of general consent would not be applicable to an ongoing case. Mamatas Save Constitution dharna is in fact Save TMC dharna. For, she has sensed that apart from polarising West Bengal voters in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the BJP will also leave no stone unturned to highlight corruption in the chit fund cases that also point fingers at some TMC leaders. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also arrested Madan Mitra of the TMC in connection with the Saradha scam. It was suspected that he may have played an alleged role in the Rose Valley scam as well. The name of TMC MP, Tapas Paul too had cropped up during investigations as he was the director in the company. Its notable that the political support that Mamata is receiving is coming from those political parties are also anti-BJP. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 20:45 [IST] Are the clean chits to politicians linked to an alliance with the BJP Saradha scam: Evidence linking the high and mighty may have been destroyed, CBI sources India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Kolkata, Feb 04: Amidst the drama that unfolded in Kolkata, the CBI says that there is crucial evidence that links the chit fund scams to influential people. In April 2013, a Special Investigation Team had collected crucial evidence in the Saradha Chit Fund Scam. The SIT was headed by Kolkata Police Commissioner, Rajeev Kumar and the team had collected crucial evidence that links influential people to the scam. There is an urgent need to question Kumar in connection with the evidence, he and his team had collected, a CBI source informed OneIndia. CBI vs Bengal police: As it happened Following a Supreme Court ruling in 2014, the case was handed over to the CBI. Once the probe by the CBI commenced, the evidence collected by the SIT was not handed over to the agency. We fear this evidence may have been destroyed, the CBI officer also said. In an unprecedented development, a number of CBI officers, who had gone to question Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scam cases, were bundled into police jeeps, whisked to a police station and detained, officials said. Amidst CBi VS Bengal police war, Mamata gives this certificate While the agency sources claimed that some of its men were forcibly taken away from Kumar's Loudon Street residence and arrested, a senior police officer denied the claim and said they have been taken to the police station to check if they had done required documents to question Kumar. In veiled reference to Pak, Rajnath Singh calls for strong action against those supporting terrorism Rajnath Singh warns of a possible constitutional breakdown in West Bengal India oi-Vikas SV New Delhi, Feb 4: Terming the West Bengal government's move to stop the CBI from performing its duty as "unprecedented", Union Home minister Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha on Monday that the incident in Kolkata is a threat to federal political system. An all-out war broke out between the Centre and the Mamata Banerjee government on Sunday over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams. In an unprecedented development, a number of CBI officers, who had gone to question Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scam cases, were bundled into police jeeps, whisked to a police station and detained on Sunday. CBI vs Bengal: Keep evidence ready says SC, posts matter to Tuesday "The Supreme Court in its earlier order on the CBI investigation of Saradha chit fund case had said that CBI in its investigation till now had found involvement of many political and influential persons," Rajnath Singh said in the Lower House. "The action was taken after SC had ordered an investigation into Saradha chit fund case. The Police Commissioner was summoned many times but he did not appear, which is why the CBI had to go to the police officers house," the Home Minister added. He added that it was chief minister Mamata Banerjee who was stopping CBI from investigating over the chit fund scam. "There may be constitutional breakdown in West Bengal... under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country," he said. Earlier, opposition parties in Lok Sabha attacked the government over the alleged misuse of central agencies against political rivals, saying it was against democratic norms. Members from Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, NCP and Samajwadi Party spoke against the CBI move to question the Kolkata police chief. A CPI-M member said both the Trinamool Congress and the Centre were at fault. CBI vs Bengal: Why Mamata's action is not legally tenable The CBI on Monday approached the Supreme Court and sought for an urgent hearing after its officers were detained by the West Bengal police. The Supreme Court will hear CBI's plea on Tuesday. Meanwhile, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is sitting on a dharna in Kolkata from Sunday evening to protest the move of the CBI to question Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar. OneIndia News with PTI inputs For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 16:46 [IST] Raj Thackeray meets Anna Hazare, asks anti-graft crusader not to trust PM Modi India oi-Vikas SV Ralegan Siddhi (Maharashtra), Feb 4: Urging social activist Anna Hazare to end his hunger strike, MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Monday asked the 81-year-old anti-graft crusader not to sacrifice his life for the "useless" government. Hazare has been sitting on an indefinite hunger strike over his demand for appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra. On the sixth day of Hazare's fast, Thackeray met the 81-year-old anti-graft crusader at his protest site in Ralegan Siddhi village of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra and extended his full support to his agitation. Will return Padma Bhushan if govt doesn't fulfil promises: Anna Hazare Thackeray, who was accompanied by noted water conservationist Rajendra Singh, asked anti-corruption crusader not to sacrifice his life for the "useless" government. He asked Hazare to end his protest and conduct a joint tour of the state with him to "bury" the BJP-led government. The MNS leader and Hazare held a closed door meeting at a room in the Yadavbaba temple premises for around 20 minutes. After the meeting, Thackeray addressed the gathering at Hazare's protest site and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "cheating" the nation and not following his party's own poll manifesto. He quoted some tweets and speeches of Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections campaign in which, Thackeray said, the prime minister had praised Hazare for his honesty and moral attitude. "I have appealed Anna not to sacrifice his life for these useless people. I have also asked him not to trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi and any of his promises," he said. Thackeray claimed that Modi had on December 18, 2013 tweeted in favour of the Lokpal Bill. "Now, almost five years of the Modi government is completed but no action has been taken so far. Today, the people in power are there because of Anna's agitation in 2013. They should not forget it," he said. Thackeray said he was surprised that even Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was part of Hazare's agitation some years back and came into national limelight from there, had not visited the activist or enquired about his health. "The entire country got to know Kejriwal because of Anna's agitation. Now, he (Kejriwal) is in power and not showing concern towards Anna's health," he said. The MNS leader said he had told Hazare that they are "dishonest" people. "You should quit the fast and we will jointly tour the state and bury this government. My party is extending support to Anna's cause," Thackeray said. Hazare has been on a hunger strike since last Wednesday, demanding appointment of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states where such statutory anti-corruption watchdogs do not exist, and resolution of farmers' issues. He has also been demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations on ways to address agrarian distress, besides electoral reforms. Earlier in the morning, water activist Rajendra Singh also met Hazare and expressed concern over the activist's health. Anna Hazare launches hunger strike from today over delay in appointing Lokpal Singh along with some social activists discussed the issues plaguing the farmers and "flaws" in the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act-2013. After the meeting, Singh said the central government will play the same "game" which it had played with activist G D Agarwal, who had sat on a huge protest in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand in support of his demand for a clean Ganga river last year and later died. He extended his support to Hazare and his agitation and said some NGOs would also be joining his protest in a day or two, as everybody has realised the "insensitivity and cruelty" of the Modi government. Singh, known as the 'Waterman of India', is credited with reviving rivers in his home state of Rajasthan and was conferred the Stockholm Water Prize for his work in 2015. He had also won the 2001 Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra, had on Sunday extended his support to Hazare, urging him to emulate socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and lead an agitation against corruption. Hazare had earlier warned that if the Modi government did not fulfil its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan award. OneIndia News with PTI inputs For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 17:43 [IST] Only one in BJP with some guts: Rahul Gandhi compliments Gadkari India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Feb 04: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Monday complimented Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for his remarks that "one who cannot take care of home, cannot manage the country", saying he has guts and should also comment on the Rafale deal, "farmers distress and destruction of institutions". Taking to Twitter, Rahul said, "Gadkari ji, compliments. You are the only one in the BJP with some guts. Please also comment on: The Rafale scam and Anil Ambani, farmers' distress and destruction of institutions." Nitin Gadkari meant Congress of course: BJP clarifies on 'dreams' remark Gadkari took to Twitter to reply to the Congress chief. "Rahul Gandhi ji, I do not need a certificate from you on my courage, but it is a matter of surprise that even after being the president of a national party you have to take the help of news twisted by the media to attack our government," Gadkari tweeted. On Sunday, Gadkari had said that party workers should fulfil their domestic responsibilities first because those who can not do that "cannot manage the country". "I meet many people who say we want to devote our lives for the BJP, for the country. I asked (one such person) what do you do, and who all are there in your family. He said I have closed my shop as it was not doing well....there is wife at home, children," Gadkari said. "I said (to him) first take care of your home, because one who can not manage his home can not manage the country. Hence first manage your home and look after your children properly, then work for the party and country," he added. Earlier, the ministers had warned that political leaders who sell dreams to people but fail to make them a reality get "beaten up" by the public. "Sapne dikhane waale neta logon ko acche lagte hain, par dikhaye hue sapne agar pure nahi kiye to janta unki pitayi bhi karti hai (People like political leaders who show them dreams. But if those dreams are not fulfilled, the people thrash these leaders)," Gadkari had said. Only 2 women entered Sabarimala temple, says Kerala govt in assembly India oi-Madhuri Adnal Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 04: Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Monday while informing the assembly said that only two women have entered the the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala after the Supreme Court overturned a traditional ban on the entry of women of menstruating age. The number, which was earlier stated to be 51, has now been revised to two. The figure is mentioned as per the report submitted by the Devaswom Executive Officer. The minister added that the Supreme Court had not suggested arranging additional security for female pilgrims visiting the temple. Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran made the revision while responding to questions raised by legislators K Muraleedharan, Eldhose P Kunnappillil, AC Balakrishnan and Anil Akkara in the Assembly on Monday. The state had witnessed widespread violent protests for several days from January 2 after the LDF government confirmed that two women in menstrual age entered the shrine following the September 28 apex court order allowing women of all ages into the shrine. Kanaka Duraga and Bindu, aged 44 and 42 respectively, had entered the temple in the wee hours of January 2.This was followed by a Sri Lankan woman Sasikala offering prayers at the temple. Chief Minister Pinarayi himself had confirmed the entry of the three women into the shrine. Earlier in January, the two women had stepped into the hallowed precincts guarded by the police, more than three months after the apex court's historic judgement lifting the ban on the entry of girls and women between 10 and 50 years of age into the shrine of Ayyappa, its "eternally celibate" deity. Following the entry of the women into the shrine, the chief priest had decided to close the sanctum sanctorum of the temple to perform the 'purification' ceremony. On September 28 last year, a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in a 4:1 verdict paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple, saying the ban amounted to gender discrimination. Not a bed of roses for Rishi Kumar Shukla, the new CBI chief India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 04: Rishi Kumar Shukla took charge as the new CBI director on Monday. He was appointed as the new CBI chief by a high powered panel on Saturday. Shukla takes charge on a day, when the agency he heads is at war with West Bengal over the probe into various chit fund scams. The challenge ahead for Shukla is immense. The CBI has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the past couple of months. The CBI mess that was started due to a public spat between Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana has dragged on for long. Rishi Kumar Shukla takes charge as CBI chief While he would have to restore the sanity within the CBI, he would also need to ensure that the Bengal problem is sorted out. A lot would depend on what the Supreme Court would have to say on the plea filed by the CBI. The court would hear a CBI plea on Tuesday which challenged the action by the West Bengal government. It may be recalled that officers of the CBI were detained by the Bengal police, while they were attempting to probe the chit fund cases. CBI officers tell OneIndia that Shukla taking charge is a big relief. He will help restore order in the CBI. The first few months in particular would be challenging considering the fact that the CBI has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, the officer also said. Shukla is the former DGP of Madhya Pradesh and was chosen by the panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India. He will head the CBI for a period of two years. Shukla is a 1983 batch Indian Police Service officer. He was previously the Director General of the Madhya Pradesh police. Hailing from Gwalior, he was first posted as the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Raipur. He later went on to become the SP in Damoh, Shivpuri and Mandsaur districts. He was on central deputation between 1992 and 1996 and served as ADG, Intelligence. In all there were 75 names, but during the meeting on Friday, the list was brought down to five. Shukla's name featured along with that of R R Bhatnagar, CRPF chief, Sudeep Lakhtakia, NSG chief, Javeed Ahmed, National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences director and A P Maheshwari, BPR&D chief. The development assumes significance as earlier in the day, the Supreme Court said it was "averse" to the arrangement of an interim CBI Director and the Centre should "immediately" appoint a regular chief of the probe agency. Congress opposes Rishi Kumar Shukla's appointment as CBI director; Govt hits back The post of CBI Director is "sensitive" and "important", and it is not good to keep an interim director of the agency for longer period, the top court observed and sought to know as to why the government has not made the appointment yet. The post of the CBI chief had been lying vacant since January 10 after the unceremonious exit of Alok Verma, who had been engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges. Both Verma and Asthana had accused each other of corruption. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 12:33 [IST] Carpinteria, CA (93013) Today A mix of clouds and sun. High near 65F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low 58F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Kashmir only an excuse for Pak army to remain in control, former R&AW chief Non-bailable warrants against two Pak army officials in 26/11 case India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Mumbai, Feb 04: A sessions court here has issued non-bailable warrants against two Pakistan Army officials - Major Abdul Rehman Pasha and Major Iqbal - in connection with the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case. While Major Pasha has retired, the prosecution believes Major Iqbal is still serving as an ISI official in Pakistan, as disclosed by US born Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist David Coleman Headley, an approver in the case here. Diplomatic victory in sight: How India is ensuring 26/11 accused Rana is extradited Both Major Iqbal and Major Pasha are shown as wanted accused in the charge sheet filed by the city police's crime branch in the case. Additional Sessions Judge S V Yarlagadda on January 21 allowed an application filed by special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam. The application was filed before the court which is presently conducting trial against alleged LeT operative Sayyed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case. Nikam said in the application that the role of the two Pakistani Army officials was revealed further during the testimony of Headley on the conspiracy hatched in the case. Headley, who is presently lodged in a US jail, turned approver in the case and his testimony was recorded via video conference in 2016. "David Headley's testimony has vindicated the stand of India that the terror attacks of November 26, 2008 were not only sponsored by militant groups of Pakistan but were, in fact, actively supported by Pakistan Army officials," Nikam told PTI. Judge Yarlagadda, after perusing the application, supplementary charge sheet filed by the crime branch and hearing brief arguments from Nikam, said he was allowing the application. "The application filed by the prosecution for issuance of non-bailable warrant against the two persons (Pasha and Iqbal) is allowed. These two persons are shown as wanted suspects. The approver, David Headley, has named them in his evidence," the court said. "Hence, issue non-bailable warrants against both the accused persons," the court ordered and posted the matter for further hearing on February 6. Headley in his testimony before the court here had claimed that during the conspiracy to commit the terror attacks in Mumbai, Major Iqbal and Major Pasha were present in the meetings during which targets were selected. LeT operatives Sajeed Mir, Abu Kaahfa and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi were also present in the meetings, Headley had said. India, US authorities working frantically to expedite Tahawwur Rana's extradition Nikam said Headley's oral testimony is not the only evidence against these two persons (Pasha and Iqbal) and that the prosecution also has in its possession corroborative documentary evidence. Headley had visited Mumbai in September 2006 and informed Major Iqbal about his surveillance of Hotel Taj in south Mumbai and on his return to Pakistan, he had handed over photographs and videos of the same. He also said that Major Iqbal gave him USD 25,000 to do intelligence work in India. Headley further claimed that Major Iqbal had asked him to also get classified information about Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) here and of political party Shiv Sena's office, 'Sena Bhawan', located in central Mumbai. He said he had also received Rs 80,000 from Major Pasha for carrying out surveillance work in India. According to Nikam, Headley had been in regular contact with Major Pasha during the course of the conspiracy, planning and execution of the attack. "It is pertinent to note that Headley in his testimony had said Pasha wanted the National Defence College in New Delhi also to be included in the target list and had, in fact, told Headley that if the attack on the army college was successful then they would be able to kill more brigadiers and generals than they have in the past," Nikam said. On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores. The attacks lasted three days. The places that were attacked included south Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station, the Taj Hotel, the Trident Hotel, Cafe Leopold and Chabad House. While nine of the terrorists were killed during the siege, Ajmal Kasab was caught alive by Mumbai Police and later awarded death sentence. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 7:14 [IST] Ayodhya land deal: Rahul Gandhi slams BJP, says betrayal in name of Lord Ram is unrighteous No permission for BJP choppers in WB: 'TMC doesn't believe in democracy,' says Defence Minister India oi-Chennabasaveshwar P New Delhi, Feb 4: The BJP delegation led by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met with Election Commissionner on Monday to raise the issue of West Bengal government's decision to bar their party choppers. BJP delegation including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi & Bhupendra Yadav met Election Commission. After the meet, Nirmala Sitharaman said, "In the interest of wanting free and fair environment in which Lok Sabha polls can be conducted, we have come to bring to the notice of EC certain happenings in West bengal which has complete cooperation of TMC. Instances we highlighted to point out that TMC doesn't believe in democracy." CBI vs Bengal: Why Mamata's action is not legally tenable Denied permission to land his helicopter for a rally in West Bengal on Sunday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath lashed out at the "anti-people" Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, saying the days of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee''s rule are "numbered". Addressing the rally via phone, Adityanath urged the leaders, who had attended the Trinamool Congress's January 19 opposition rally in Kolkata, to introspect on how democratic rights were being scuttled by the state government. This was after the local administration in West Bengal allegedly denied permission for his helicopter to land in Balurghat area of South Dinapur district, where Yogi Adityanath was scheduled to address a rally. Naidu keeps switching loyalties, Doors of NDA permanently closed for TDP: Amit Shah India pti-PTI Amaravati, Feb 04: Dubbing Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu as the 'U-turn CM of the country", BJP president Amit Shah on Monday asserted that the doors of the NDA were permanently closed for him and that the TDP would never ever be allowed into the alliance. Shah, who inaugurated the state-wide bus yatra of BJP state president Kanna Lakshminarayana at Palasa in Srikakulam district, hit back strongly at the Chief Minister, saying he was known as the U-turn CM of the country as he changed his stand on everything countless times. "He was elected as Congress MLA (in 1978) and later jumped into TDP (in 1983). Amit Shah urges people to oust BJD from Odisha To enjoy power, he joined the NDA in 1998 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the Prime Minister. In 2004, he jumped the ship when BJP lost and bit the dust for 10 years, Shah said. Seeing the huge popularity of Narendra Modi, Chandrababu fell on Modis feet in 2014 and returned to the NDA, the BJP chief said. When he realised that people of AP were deeply angry with his 'corruption' and 'misrule', Chandrababu walked out of the NDA and started lashing out at the BJP leadership, Shah said. "People of AP are vexed with your corruption.They are not willing to make your son your successor (as Chief Minister). So, only to hoodwink the people, you left the NDA," Shah said. Uttarakhand a priority for PM says Amit Shah "Now, he has aligned with Congress and fought the recent elections in Telangana. As their alliance was wiped out in Telangana, he deserted the Congress, but is now seeking to become a leader of the so-called 'mahagathbandhan,' Shah said. Chandrababu is selling TDPs and Telugus self-respect in the power market only to further his political vested interests, Shah said. He appealed to the people to vote the BJP to power and said he would 'never ever allow' Chandrababu Naidu into the NDA. "Our doors are permanently closed for him, Shah stressed. Listing out what all the Modi government did for the development of the state since the bifurcation in 2014, the BJP chief noted that AP government got 'ten times more' than what the Congress governments gave during their 55-year rule. "Out of the 14 main promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, that were to be completed in 10 years, 10 were completed by the NDA govt in only five years. The state got 22 national institutes and lakhs of crores of Rupees investments (for development). Chandrababu should disclose the accounts to people of AP on the sums he got for the state when he was in the NDA," the BJP chief and Rajya Sabha member said. "We gave a sum of Rs 5.56 lakh crore to AP. Chandrababu gave only his son Nara Lokesh and nothing else to the state," Shah alleged. He termed the ruling TDP as well as the principal opposition YSR Congress as 'corrupt and dynastic parties' and asked people to make BJP the 'kingmaker' in the 2019 elections so as to bring a non-corrupt dispensation to power in AP. Referring to the Special Category Status, the BJP chief pointed out that the TDP used it only as a ruse to pull out of the NDA, whereas the Centre granted 1.5 times more benefit (through a special economic package) to the state. The BJP chief also did not spare the YSRC, saying a 'corrupt party' like it would not do any good to the state. BJP Rajya Sabha member G V L Narasimha Rao, Visakhapatnam MP Kambhampati Hari Babu, legislators and other leaders attended the event. PTI Who is Subodh Kumar Jaiswal? Former Maharashtra IPS officer apointed as new CBI Director West Bengal Governor has summoned Chief Secretary, DGP: Rajnath Singh India oi-Chennabasaveshwar P New Delhi, Feb 4: The CBI action in Saradha chit fund case and the following stand-off between the West Bengal Police and CBI officials was discussed in the Lok Sabha on Monday. Union Home Minister Rajnatah Singh said West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has summoned Chief Secretary and Director General of Police and has asked them to take immediate action to resolve crisis in the state. On the CBI action in Saradha chit fund case, Rajnatah Singh said, "The action was taken after SC had ordered an investigation into Saradha chit fund case . The Police Commissioner was summoned many times but he did not appear." Opposition leaders have extended their support to Mamata Banerjee over the alleged misuse of CBI by the Central government. A memorandum has been signed by all the opposition parties and it will be submitted to the Election Commission AAP MP Sanjay Singh has given notice in Rajya Sabha under rule 267 for suspension of business, demanding discussion on 'misuse of CBI'. CBI vs Bengal: Why Mamata's action is not legally tenable Andhra Pradesh CMand TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu, " We will hold discussions with opposition party leaders in Delhi today and draft an action plan on a nation-wide movement. TDP MPs will strongly protest along with other opposition leaders today." Meanwhile, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Raj Thackeray in a statement said, "We applaud and support the stand taken by Mamata Banerjee against the autocracy and tyranny of the Central govt. We firmly stand behind her & the fight against this tyranny." West Bengal Chief Minister continued dharna over CBI issue after a short break early morning. She began the 'Save the Constitution' dharna last night. In an unprecedented development, a number of CBI officers, who had gone to question Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scam cases, were bundled into police jeeps, whisked to a police station and detained. Amid escalating tension between West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the Centre, Loudon Street in central Kolkata witnessed a virtual showdown between the state police and the CBI. Abhishek Banerjee gets key role in TMC; young leader says humbled by new role Mamata vs CBI escalates into Opposition against Modi govt; BJP calls it 'alliance of corrupt' India pti-PTI Kolkata, Feb 04: A political firestorm raged on Monday as Mamata Banerjee's sit-in protest against Central Bureau of Investigation's bid to question Kolkata police chief in chit fund scam cases entered the second day, with the West Bengal Chief Minister declaring her agitation to save the "Constitution and country" will go on and she was ready to face the consequences. Virtually all opposition parties rallied behind Banerjee's direct confrontation with the Modi government, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party called it an "alliance of corrupt" and Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that developments in West Bengal were indicative of a "breakdown of the Constitution". Trinamool workers took to streets burning effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and blocked trains, while the BJP lined up its top leaders to step up the counter-offensive against Banerjee and other opposition leaders. Saradha, Rose Valley: Why Bengal is blocking the probe into a Rs 17,460 crore scam The ripple effect of political tremors in West Bengal were felt in several state capitals, as Banerjee's combative posturing on the issue drew support from several regional satraps trying to sew up an anti-BJP alliance ahead of Lok Sabha polls, expected in April-May. "This is a satyagraha and I'll continue (it) till the country is saved... Constitution is saved," the firebrand Trinamool Congress boss said at the protest site. She added that her dharna against the CBI's attempt to grill the Kolkata Police chief in the chit fund scam cases will continue till Friday in view of the upcoming boards examinations. Banerjee is sitting on a dharna at the Metro Channel in Esplanade area in the heart of the city, the same spot she had sat on a 26-day fast in 2006 against the acquisition of farmland at Singur for the Tata Motors factory. "This demonstration will continue till February 8. Because the board examinations will be starting soon and we will not be playing the loudspeakers," she said. The tense standoff between the CBI and the Kolkata police for the second day echoed in Parliament and led to a washout of the proceedings following opposition protests. "There may be breakdown of Constitution in West Bengal...under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country," Singh told Lok Sabha. Two stories of fresh standoff between Mamata-Centre "Whatever happened on Sunday indicates constitutional breakdown," he said. Singh also sought a report from Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi which was promptly sent by Raj Bhavan. "I do not have any grudge against any individual. But I am angry over the way institutions are being destroyed and misused," Banerjee told the gathering at the protest venue. She said it was her government that arrested Saradha chairman Sudipta Sen and claimed Rs 250-300 crore was returned to the duped depositors. The alleged ponzi scams at Saradha and Rose Valley groups are at the centre of what has become a major political controversy now, as the BJP leaders have alleged that the ruling party leaders in West Bengal have been among major beneficiaries of fraudulent collection of money. Allegedly, these schemes were being run without necessary regulatory approvals and collected nearly Rs 20,000 crore from lakhs of investors in West Bengal and neighbouring states, through what is commonly known as 'chit funds'. Several TMC leaders including parliamentarians like Kunal Ghosh, Srinjay Bose, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal, and state minister Madan Mitra were arrested for their alleged links with the two groups. "Today you are labelling those who helped arrest the culprits as thieves. You are calling Rajeev Kumar (Kolkata Police Commissioner) a thief! Whose money has he taken? You are calling me a thief! Whose money have I taken? "If you are labelling people who are honest as thieves without any evidence, then I will definitely stand by their side. And for that if I need to give up my life, then I am ready to do that but I will not compromise," she asserted. Claiming that the CBI team had knocked on Kumar's door without a warrant, Banerjee said, "I have fought all through my life but never given up. I am ready to face any consequences." The failed attempt by the CBI to question Kumar in connection with the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams on Sunday became the latest flashpoint between the BJP-led Centre and Banerjee, one of its bitter critics. The CBI has accused Kumar of destroying evidence related to the two fraud cases. A CBI team was bodily prevented from entering Kumar's residence by police personnel, bundled into vehicles, and detained. Police contingents also descended on CBI premises in Kolkata, as a furious Banerjee rushed to Kumar's residence before beginning a dharna opposite landmark Metro Cinema. Support for her poured in from far off leaders - Dravida Munnetra Kazagham chief M K Stalin in Chennai, Andhra chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Amravati and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda in Bengaluru. The BJP and the RSS "believe in divisive politics and in order to oust BJP, we should work together", she said. Banerjee, while thanking both the leaders, said all the opposition parties are united and will fight "till Modi is ousted from power". "If we have to save India we have to oust Modi (Desh ko Bachana hain toh Modi toh Bhagana hain)," she said. Odisha's ruling party Biju Janata Dal, which had hitherto kept silent over the development, also threw its weight behind Banerjee. "We are not a banana republic...," BJD leader B Mahtab said, adding the CBI was becoming a "political stooge and political weapon" in the Centre's hand. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge charged that the government was using the CBI as a weapon to finish the Opposition and put in place an autocratic regime. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged the "Modi-Shah duo" were trying to "murder" democracy. Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar, at whose residence leaders of opposition parties met, said what has happened to Mamata has happened in Delhi to Kejriwal also. Mamata vs CBI: Congresss contradictory takes not helping it ahead of LS polls India oi-Shubham Ghosh Kolkata, Feb 4: The unprecedented tussle between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over questioning Kolkata's Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection to the Saradha chit fund scam, in which several people had lost their money, had taken an ugly political turn. The incident, dubbed as one of the lowest points in the history of India's federal functioning owing to the state-Centre clash, also saw the Kolkata Police detaining quite a few officials of the CBI when they wanted to examine Kumar. With just months to go before the Lok Sabha election, both the ruling parties at the state (Trinamool Congress) and the Centre (BJP) have termed this as murder of democracy. TMC supremo Banerjee took to a dharna in protest against the CBI's action and termed it as an "emergency" while the BJP countered said the "emergency" was rather in force in Bengal and asked who the chief minister was trying to protect. Mamata vs CBI tussle might have just settled Mahagathbandhan's prime ministerial face The Congress's stand on the issue is confusing people While the stance of the regional parties in this episode is understandable as they have called it as an attack by the BJP on the country's federal functioning, that of the Congress has left people confused. The Grand-Old Party's top leadership has shown its intent towards joining hands with the regional parties ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP even if the regional parties have lacked consensus on making Rahul Gandhi's party a party to their alliance. Banerjee and her TMC have also not been in favour of backing Rahul as the prime ministerial face in the upcoming elections while DMK leader Stalin has preferred so. Strong regional outfits like Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav have not taken the Congress on board in their alliance in Uttar Pradesh to take on the BJP. Against this backdrop, when Rahul Gandhi has extended solidarity to Banerjee saying what happened in Kolkata constituted "unrelenting attack on India's institutions by Mr Modi & the BJP", the Congress's dilemma gets exposed. Rahul Gandhi himself has taken a stand in 2019 that contradicts that of 2014 Firstly, there is a dilemma at the level of the top leadership itself. The tech-savvy BJP did not delay in bringing out some old tweets made by Rahul posted during the 2014 Lok Sabha election targeting Banerjee over the same Saradha chit fund scam. I spoke with Mamata Di tonight and told her we stand shoulder to shoulder with her. The happenings in Bengal are a part of the unrelenting attack on Indias institutions by Mr Modi & the BJP. The entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 3, 2019 It termed Rahul's contradictory stands in 2014 when he criticised the TMC chief over the scam and the one now when he is standing by her as traits of "Multiple Personality Disorder" and wished that the Congress got well soon. The Congress's top brass certainly has to find an explanation for the inconsistency. Is it doing it just for the sake of defeating Modi? Former Congress chief of Bengal speaks in BJP's language, attacks Mamata The second dilemma involves the Congress leaderships at the state and Centre. Former Congress chief of Bengal and a former Union minister Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury took a sharp dig at Banerjee over the latest squabble asking why was she doing dharna to protect a top police official? He suspected that it was being done so that Rajeev Kumar did not reveal anything to the CBI officials that could land the chief minister in trouble. He said there was no party official involved in this but yet Banerjee was so agitated. Known to be a staunch critic of the TMC supremo, Chowdhury called what she was indulging in was nothing but "nautanki". The stands of Rahul Gandhi and Chowdhury, who was removed from the top position in the state a few months back reportedly to make possible reconciliation between the TMC and Congress in state smooth, reveal the inner contradictions of the Congress and it doesn't convey a convincing message to the voters. If Rahul Gandhi is against corruption, then why is he standing by the TMC chief over a scam-related investigation? And when a former leader of the party in the state also speaks in the language that the BJP is doing, then it certainly makes the party president's position all the more vulnerable. Kharge hits out at those 'weakening' Congress from within by attacking leadership CBI row: 'Value of PMO brought down', Kharge returns Arun Jaitley barb India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Feb 04: On a day new CBI director Rishi Kumar Shukla took charge of the probe agency, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Modi government of devaluing the Prime Minister's Office by 'mishandling the CBI Director. In a letter to Jaitley after his blog --"Has Mr. Kharge Brought Down the Value of Dissent?", the Congress leader in Lok Sabha demanded that the government put in public domain the minutes of the meeting of the panel headed by the prime minister on the CBI Director's appointment. Kharge said he "is pained to say the value of the Prime Minister's Office has been brought down" by the way the government has conducted itself in the matter of CBI Director's appointment. The Congress leader said Jaitley had himself penned "the strongest dissent note" against the CBI and its functioning after which the agency transferred its officers and stopped investigations, an apparent reference to the minister's remarks on the CBI investigation in the case against former ICICI bank CEO Chanda Kochhar. 'Regular dissenter': Jaitley's dig at Mallikarjun Kharge over CBI chief's appointment In his two-page letter, Kharge also expressed the hope that the new Director's "lack of experience" in CBI would not hamper his ability to rebuild institution "this government has destroyed". Jaitley had on Sunday accused Kharge of dissenting excessively, saying he has made the appointment of CBI director look like a political battle which was never envisaged. He was referring to Kharge writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express his dissent on the appointment of new CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla, alleging that the officer did not have experience in handling anti-corruption cases and the criterion for selection was diluted in violation of law and Supreme Court judgements. In the blog, Jaitley said the leader of the largest party in opposition in Lok Sabha, Kharge, "dissented once again" in the appointment of the new CBI Director. Maharashtra Cabinet approves 10% quota for economically weaker sections of General category India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Feb 04: Maharashtra Cabinet on Monday approved 10% reservation in education and employment opportunities for economically weaker sections. Earlier in November, the Maharashtra state Assembly had unanimously passed a Bill proposing 16 per cent reservation under Socially and Educationally Backward Class of citizens (SEBC) category. This decision paved way for reservation to Marathas in the state. Maharashtra has now become the seventh state in India to give reservation to weaker sections of general category. Earlier on February 1, the Bihar cabinet passed the bill to implement the 10 percent reservation given by the Central government to the economically weaker section in the general category. Apart from Maharashtra, other states including Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam have approved the bill to implement the reservation. On January 7, the Union Cabinet had approved a 10 percent reservation for economically backward upper castes in government jobs. The move has been aimed to benefit those whose family income is under Rs 8 lakh per annum. According to reports, the 10 per cent reservation will be available to those who meet a certain standard qualifying them as economically backward. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 11:53 [IST] Former PM HD Deve Gowda Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has said the standoff between the Centre and the West Bengal government reminded him of the Emergency days. The JD(S) patriarch sympathised with the Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee and said he was shocked to learn about the CBI rushing to arrest the Kolkata Police Commissioner and the subsequent developments. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal "Whatever central government did in West Bengal is very dangerous, against constitution and democracy...Every state has an elected govt, if the Prime Minister sends CBI and ED like this and try to scare the officers then this country will not be safe," said Kejriwal, according to ANI. "Spoke to Mamta didi and expressed solidarity. Modi-Shah duo's action is completely bizarre and anti-democracy," a tweet by Kejriwal said. AAP MP Sanjay Singh said he had given a notice in the Rajya Sabha for suspension of business and demanded discussion on the "misuse of the CBI". Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar "These things can only be explained by people who are doing it. I don't react to such things. CBI and the government in question will explain. Until the Election Commission announces the date of elections, anything can happen in the country," Kumar reportedly said. 'Taking investigating team into custody is murder of democracy,' says Javadekar 'We stand with Mamata ji', says Mehbooba Mufti "Manner in which constitutional institutions in this country, like CBI, are being misused to settle scores with opponents is unfortunate...We stand with Mamata ji. If institutions continue being discredited like this federal structure will be fractured," ANI quoted Mehbooba Mufti as saying. Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy "This isn't a good development. I think central govt must behave properly and take confidence of state govts. Central govt is misusing constitutional institutions. It's not good for future. How central government is behaving with opposition leaders is disastrous," Kumaraswamy told ANI. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters that he will hold discussions with opposition party leaders in Delhi on Monday and draft an action plan on a nation-wide movement. "TDP MPs will strongly protest along with other opposition leaders today on the CBI issue," he said. Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy also extended support to his West Bengal counterpart Banerjee. "The Bharatiya Janata Party is using the CBI by filing false cases against officers. It is a clear case of political vendetta. We all stand with the Chief Minister of West Bengal," he tweeted. The senior Congress leader, who has been criticising the NDA government at the Centre for not earmarking sufficient funds and also for excluding Puducherry from the ambit of the Central Finance Commission all along, said, "Time has come for the Narendra Modi-led Central government to go." Akhilesh Yadav "I spoke to Mamata ji and assured her we are with her in this battle. Not just West Bengal, the center is misusing CBI as the elections are coming near. Along with Bengal, many other states have been misusing CBI especially around elections," said former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav. Yogi in Delhi: Change in guard in UP baseless say sources 'Daughter of Ganga': Newborn girl found in wooden box floating in river, gets UP CM Yogi Adityanath's help Denied permission to land chopper, Adityanath plans road trip for Bengal rally today India oi-Deepika S Lucknow, Feb 05: After being denied permission to land chopper in West Bengal's South Dinajpur district, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is set to take the road to Bengal. The BJP has planned a rally by Adityanath in Purulia on Tuesday for which the UP chief minister would enter Bengal through BJP-ruled Jharkhand. The UP CM will be accompanied by BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha and national executive committee member Mukul Roy. On Sunday, after being denied landing permission, Adityanath had addressed his two rallies in Bengal on phone. No permission for BJP choppers in WB: 'TMC doesn't believe in democracy,' says Defence Minister "The TMC government didn't allow me to come and meet you all. That is why I had to resort to Digital India of Modi-ji to address you. This TMC government is anti-people, anti-democratic and have compromised with national security," Adityanath said while addressing the rally via the audio link. The TMC government is afraid of the BJP as it very well knows that its days in Bengal are numbered, he said. Alleging that the TMC government had tried to stop Durga Puja in West Bengal in order to pursue its appeasement policy, Adityanath urged BJP workers to fight hard in order to ensure that the party forms the next government in the state. "Mamata Banerjee should remember that she can not misuse the government and its agencies in the state. It is shameful that government officials are acting as TMC cadres in the state," he said. Earlier on Tuesday, a delegation of senior BJP leaders met the Chief Election Commissioner to complain about the West Bengal government blocking rallies of senior BJP leaders. The Bharatiya Janata Party has been continuously accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of obstructing it to hold rallies in the state. The West Bengal government denied permission to other BJP leaders including party president Amit Shah and Union minister Smriti Irani to conduct rallies, ahead of the Lok Sabha election. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, February 5, 2019, 1:36 [IST] Abhishek Banerjee gets key role in TMC; young leader says humbled by new role CBI vs Bengal: Tejashwi Yadav, Kanimozhi visit Mamata at dharna site, express solidarity India oi-Deepika S Kolkata, Feb 04: Expressing solidarity, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and DMK leader Kanimozhi met Mamata Banerjee at the stage where she has been sitting on 'Save the Constitution' dharna since 9 pm last night. Tejashwi and Kanimozhi spoke with Banerjee and enquired about the incidents since Sunday evening. Both of them also expressed solidarity with Banerjee. The development comes against the backdrop of Banerjee beginning a sit-in protest at a Kolkata landmark on Sunday night over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, insisting it stifled the spirit of "Constitution and federalism". Two stories of fresh standoff between Mamata-Centre "It is political conspiracy to use the CBI against political opponents. Narendra Modi is elder to us and he should understand that PM comes and goes but the institutions of this great country remains. Whoever will not compromise with BJP they will be harassed by the CBI and other agencies," Yadav said. He said if all political parties don't unite then the people of this country "will not forgive" them. DMK leader Kanimozhi while expressing solidarity with Banerjee, said all the opposition parties should work towards staying united and work towards ensuring "that BJP's dream of returning to power" doesn't get fulfilled. "I would say that this episode was Modiji's pre-election gift to Mamata Banerjee as the BJP has realised after January 19 rally that they won't return to power after Lok Sabha polls," she said. The BJP and the RSS "believe in divisive politics and in order to oust BJP, we should work together", she said. Banerjee, while thanking both the leaders, said all the opposition parties are united and will fight "till Modi is ousted from power". "If we have to save India we have to oust Modi (Desh ko Bachana hain toh Modi toh Bhagana hain)," she said. TMC spokesperson Derek O'Brien said that 22 parties have extended their support to the protest against the Centre. Anything can happen until polls are announced: Nitish Kumar on Mamata Banerjee dharna "Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu, RJD's Tejaswi Yadav, DMK's Kanimozhi have expressed their desire to join the protest and are going to Kolkata. Others like Samajwadi Party's leader Kiranmay Nanda have already visited the protest site," said Derek. The chief minister has been sitting on a dharna since 8.30pm from February 3 against the CBI's attempts to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with multi-crore chit fund scams. "It is not a TMC dharna. There is not even a single TMC flag at the protest site. The CM has received overwhelming support from opposition leaders. Between 8 pm and 11 pm, the CM received calls from so many of them. "Congress President Rahul Gandhi, BSP supremo Mayawati, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, RJD's Tejaswi Yadav, TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu, DMK chief MK Stalin and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal have all supported the protest and spoken to the CM," he told reporters on Parliament premises. On the controversy over the presence of the Kolkata police commissioner at the protest site, Derek said Kumar was present to show solidarity with other officers, as the dharna aimed at strengthening the administration. Who is Subodh Kumar Jaiswal? Former Maharashtra IPS officer apointed as new CBI Director CBI vs Bengal police: As it happened India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa Kolkata, Feb 04: In an unprecedented development, a number of CBI officers, who had gone to question Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scam cases, were bundled into police jeeps, whisked to a police station and detained, officials said. Amid escalating tension between West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the Centre, Loudon Street in central Kolkata witnessed a virtual showdown between the state police and the CBI. CBI-police Showdown: Detained probe agency officials released; Mamata launches dharna There were conflicting reports about some CBI officers being arrested. While the agency sources claimed that some of its men were forcibly taken away from Kumar's Loudon Street residence and arrested, a senior police officer denied the claim and said they have been taken to the police station to check if they had done required documents to question Kumar. As politics played out on the street, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the spot. She had earlier extended her support to Kumar and alleged that the BJP was "misusing power to take control of the police and all other institutions". Party spokesperson Derek O' Brien tweeted, "BJP planning a constitutional coup ? 40 CBI officials surround Kolkata Police Commissioner's home. Destruction of institutions goes on unabated. Our demand in #Parliament on Mon. Modi has to go. We are reaching out and sharing this with all Oppn parties who want to #SaveDemocracy." West Bengal DGP Virendra and ADG (Law and order) Anuj Sharma too reached Kumar's residence. In a tit-for-tat move, a team of Kolkata Police officials reached the CGO Complex- the state headquarters of CBI. The fast-paced development started unfolding as soon as a team of 40-odd agency officers arrived at Kumar's residence this evening, but were stopped by sentries and officials. A day earlier, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed that Kumar had been "absconding" and "being looked for" in connection with Saradha and Rose Valley ponzi scam cases. Soon, a team of Kolkata Police officers rushed to the spot to speak to the CBI officials and tried to inquire whether they had required documents to question Kumar. "We don't want to speak on this issue as of now. Let's see what happens. Please wait for sometime," a senior CBI official standing outside the Police commissioner's house told reporters. Later on, a small team of CBI officials was taken to Shakespeare Sarani police station for further discussions. Thereafter, more men arrived at the spot and a commotion ensued. Some CBI officers were then forcibly bundled into police jeeps and taken to a police station. According to the CBI, IPS officer Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal Police probing the scams, needs to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he has not responded to notices to appear before the agency. CBI to move Supreme Court against detention of agency officials by Kolkata Police Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre, did not even attend a meeting with Election Commission officials who had gone to Kolkata to review election preparedness, sources said. A statement was issued Sunday from Kolkata Police, dismissing reports of him being missing from work. "Please take note that not only is the CP Kolkata available in the city, but has also been attending office on a regular basis, with the exception of January 31, 2019, when he was on leave for a day. All concerned may please take note that if any news is spread without proper verification, Kolkata Police will initiate strict legal action against defamation of both the CP Kolkata and Kolkata Police," the police said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 5:48 [IST] Ayodhya land deal: Rahul Gandhi slams BJP, says betrayal in name of Lord Ram is unrighteous BJP calls Mamata fascist and undemocratic India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa Kolkata, Feb 04: The BJP Sunday hit out at West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her TMC saying the state government denying permission to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath's chopper to land in the state was a glaring case of "undemocratic and fascist behaviour". Senior BJP leader and Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said his party would urge the Election Commission to take notice of this issue since Adityanath, being the chief minister of one the largest state of the country in terms of population, was not allowed to hold public meetings in West Bengal. "It is deeply regrettable and condemnable and true to the undemocratic record of Mamata Ji and TMC. It is a glaring case of undemocratic and fascist behaviour. The only reason behind preventing Yogi Adityanath's chopper from landing is panic and a sense of fear as Bengalis are yearning for change," he said. "We would urge the Election Commission to take due notice of it as a popular chief minister of country's largest state (in terms of population) was not allowed to hold a public meeting," he said. Prasad mentioned that BJP president Amit Shah was also not allowed to hold a rally in West Bengal and there were attempts to disrupt the prime minister's rally there as well. Amidst CBi VS Bengal police war, Mamata gives this certificate BJP sources said they would make the West Bengal government's "attack" on the saffron party's democratic rights a big issue and will approach various Institutions. A BJP delegation will meet the Election Commission Monday, they said, adding the party will also raise the issue in the state through several media conferences. Adityanath and West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh were scheduled to address "Ganatantra Bacaho Rallies" at Balurghat in South Dinajpur district and Raiganj in North Dinajpur district. Adityanath addressed the rallies there telephonically and lashed out at the "anti-people" Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in the state, saying the days of chief minister Mamata Banerjee's rule are "numbered". Though the BJP had been allowed to organise the rallies, the district administration denied permission for Adityanath's chopper to land at both the places, party leaders said. Following denial of permission to land his chopper, Adityanath decided not to attend either of the rallies and instead addressed them telephonically. "This is nothing new. Whenever we try to organise any rally, they create hurdles. This is shameful. But the TMC is mistaken if it thinks it can stop us by not giving us permission for holding rallies or landing chopper," Ghosh told PTI. Addressing both the rallies through audio link, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, "The TMC government didn't allow me to come and meet you all. That is why I had to resort to the Digital India of Modi Ji to address you." Lashing out at the Mamata Banerjee government, the UP chief minister said, "This TMC government is anti-people and anti-democratic and has compromised with the national security." "The TMC government is afraid of the BJP as it very well knows its days in the state are numbered," he said. Alleging that the Banerjee government had tried to "stop" Durga Puja in West Bengal to pursue its appeasement policy, Adityanath urged BJP workers to fight vigorously and ensure that the party forms the next government in the state. "Mamata Banerjee should remember that she cannot misuse the government and its agencies in the state. It is shameful that the government officials are acting as TMC cadres in the state," he said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 6:00 [IST] Anything can happen until polls are announced: Nitish Kumar on Mamata Banerjee dharna India oi-Deepika S Patna, Feb 04: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday refused to make a direct comment on the stand-off in West Bengal. "What is happening between the CBI and the West Bengal government is for them to explain. I am not in the habit of commenting on others. But this is all a matter of a month or so, until the Election Commission comes out with the poll schedule and model code of conduct comes into force," PTI quoted him as saying. Nitish Kumar known for making stinging attacks on his opponents took a dig at Banerjee when he was asked how he would have reacted if he was involved in a similar controversy. "Do you think I will have a DGP with such a record?" he quipped. Mamata vs CBI: Why KCR is silent about what is happening in WB? The CBI wants to question the Kolkata Police Commissioner over missing documents linked to an investigation into the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams. The agency says Rajeev Kumar -- who headed a Special Investigation Team probing the scams--had ignored several summons and had been missing. Nitish Kumar ruled out the possibility of the Modi government dismissing Banerjee's government in Bengal. He said unlike in the past, "when Congress governments at the centre used to clamp President's rule at will," now there were clear guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. The JDU leader also made a strong statement when he was asked if the ongoing standoff was detrimental to the integrity of the country. "Nobody is concerned about the country. All are interested in votes. But our country is a great one. And it has weathered many odds," he told PTI. A team of CBI officers Sunday reached Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar's house to question him on two ponzi scams. The police whisked the officers away and briefly detained them. Riled with the development, Banerjee started an indefinite sit-in protest in central Kolkata. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 23:12 [IST] Abhishek Banerjee gets key role in TMC; young leader says humbled by new role Amidst CBi VS Bengal police war, Mamata gives this certificate India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa Kolkata, Feb 04: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday extended her support to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who has been summoned by the CBI in connection with Rose Valley and Saradha ponzi scams, accusing the BJP leadership of pursuing political vendetta. "The highest levels of the BJP leadership are doing the worst kind of political vendetta. Not only are political parties their targets, they are misusing power to take control of the police and destroy all institutions. We condemn this," Banerjee tweeted. CBI vs Bengal police: As it happened The CBI has been trying to locate Kumar to question him in connection with the scams, with officials in the central investigating agency stating Saturday that they might arrest the Kolkata police chief as a last resort. The IPS officer, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal Police probing the scams, is not responding to notices to appear before the agency, they said. "The Kolkata Police Commissioner is among the best in the world. His integrity, bravery and honesty are unquestioned. He is working 24x7, and was on leave for only one day recently. When you spread lies, the lies will always remain lies," Banerjee added. CBI-police Showdown: Detained probe agency officials released; Mamata launches dharna Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre, had also skipped a meeting with Election Commission officials last week. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 5:54 [IST] AgustaWestland: After saying witness may have died, ED cites a little birdie to say he is alive AgustaWestland scam co-accused Rajiv Saxena's ED custody extended by four days India oi-Vikas SV New Delhi, Feb 4: Delhi's Patiala House Court on Monday extended Dubai-based businessman and co-accused in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case, Rajiv Saxena's, Enforcement Directorate custody by four more days. Saxena was deported from Dubai on January 31 and sent to 4-day ED custody the same day. The court had allowed his custodial interrogation after the agency alleged that he and another accused provided global corporate structure to launder money. AgustaWestland: The importance of Rajeev Saxena and how he will help crack the money trail The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday (February 2) opposed the petition of Saxena seeking to meet his lawyer in private, saying it may hamper the probe. The ED had then made the submission in response to the plea moved by Saxena, who was in the agency's custody. Special judge Arvind Kumar on Saturday directed the agency to file a detailed reply by Monday, when Saxena's custody was to end. Saxena's counsel had sought access to him without the presence of ED officials. He had said that he was not being allowed to speak to his client without ED's interference. Opposing the request, advocates D P Singh and N K Matta, appearing for ED, said allowing Saxena's counsel such access could be misused and hamper investigation in the case. The agency had alleged that in connivance with another accused, Guatam Khaitan, a Delhi based lawyer, Saxena provided a global corporate structure for laundering illegal proceeds of the crime for payment to various political persons, bureaucrats and Air Force officials to influence the contract to supply 12 VVIP helicopters in favour of AgustaWestland. The CBI and the ED have registered cases in the VVIP chopper case in which former Air Force chief S P Tyagi is one of the accused. Saxena was picked up by Dubai authorities in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers money laundering case and deported to India. Co-accused in AgustaWestland case Gautam Khaitan arrested on black money charges A director of two Dubai-based firms - UHY Saxena and Matrix Holdings, Saxena was residing in Palm Jumeriah, Dubai, and had been living in the UAE for 26 years, said a PTI report. Maintaining that AgustaWestland had paid euro 58 million as kickbacks through two Tunisia-based firms, ED's advocate Samvedna Verma alleged that "these companies further siphoned off the said money in the name of consultancy contracts to M/s Interstellar Technologies Limited, Mauritius and others which were further transferred to M/s UHY Saxena and M/s Matrix Holdings Ltd, Dubai and others". Saxena is one of the accused named in the chargesheet filed by ED. Christian Michel, former AgustaWestland and Finmeccanica directors Giuseppe Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini, Tyagi and Saxena's wife Shivani were also named by the agency. It alleged that the two Dubai-based firms were the entities "through which the proceeds of crime have been routed and further layered and integrated in buying the immovable properties/shares, among others" in this case. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 4, 2019, 18:13 [IST] Can men get arrested for sporting long hair: Apparently in Pakistan YES! 26/11 attack: The Pakistani Major who got away India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Mumbai, Feb 04: The non-bailable warrant that was issued against two Pakistan officials- Major Pasha and Major Iqbal in connection with the 26/11 attack case may be a mere formality. For one Pakistan has denied the existence of both these officers, who played a crucial role in the Mumbai 26/11 attacks. The Indian prosecution says Major Pasha has retired, but Major Iqbal continues to work in the ISI. It was Iqbal who in fact was the handler for David Coleman Headley and with his expertise in the Pakistan spy agency, he managed to help survey the targets that were hit on that fateful night. While Pakistan denied the existence of these two persons, who are shown as wanted accused in the chargesheet filed by the NIA, it was David Headley who spilled the beans on the two. In his testimony before a court in the United States, Headley identified Major Iqbal as Choudhary Khan. However the court in Chicago turned a complete blind eye where the case relating to Major Iqbal was concerned. His name cropped up several times in the trial, but he got away in the US court. Non-bailable warrants against two Pak army officials in 26/11 case The National Investigation Agency feels that the Iqbal-Headley link is a crucial one. It was Iqbal, who guided Headley all through the operation. Despite being part of the Pakistan establishment, he moved the money to Headley via a hawala transaction. Investigations showed that Iqbal had handed Headley 25,000 USD for his expenses in India. Further it was also found that Iqbal had moved fake currency to the tune of Rs 12 lakh. This money was sent to a tout, who in turn exchanged the same for real currency and handed out the same to Headley. Headley in his testimony before the court here had claimed that during the conspiracy to commit the terror attacks in Mumbai, Major Iqbal and Major Pasha were present in the meetings during which targets were selected. LeT operatives Sajeed Mir, Abu Kaahfa and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi were also present in the meetings, Headley had said. Headley had visited Mumbai in September 2006 and informed Major Iqbal about his surveillance of Hotel Taj in south Mumbai and on his return to Pakistan, he had handed over photographs and videos of the same. He also said that Major Iqbal gave him USD 25,000 to do intelligence work in India. Headley further claimed that Major Iqbal had asked him to also get classified information about Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) here and of political party Shiv Sena's office, 'Sena Bhawan', located in central Mumbai. He said he had also received Rs 80,000 from Major Pasha for carrying out surveillance work in India. LINCOLN Attention crane-iacs: The annual arrival of sandhill cranes in central Nebraska has begun. The first cranes of the year were spotted Sunday at Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon and in a farm field near Wood River. Its the second straight year that the cranes have landed earlier than their normal, mid-February arrival date, according to Anne Winkel, a spokeswoman for Audubon Nebraska, which operates the bird-watching sanctuary on the Platte River. Its exciting when they come back. Its a little homecoming party, Winkel said. About 600,000 sandhill cranes stop along the central Platte River to feed and rest before continuing their migration northward as far as Canada and Siberia. It is considered the one of the worlds last great migrations and is the largest gathering on the planet of the 4-foot-tall gray birds, known for their dancing and trumpeting calls. The prime season for watching cranes is March 1 to April 10, drawing tens of thousands of crane-iacs lovers of the big birds to Nebraska. The writers are professors of public administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This commentary reflects their views and does not necessarily represent the views of the university. In the State of State address on Jan. 15, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts offered his vision for reining in property taxes. His proposal consists of a two-pronged strategy: Increase the property tax credit and add a constitutional amendment imposing stricter caps on property tax growth. The evidence suggests that this proposal will not succeed. Nebraska has had limits on property taxes for all local governments since the late 1990s. What makes this proposal different is that current law limits tax rates, whereas the proposed amendment limits property tax collections. Research on these limits in other states finds that while they are effective in limiting property taxes, they do not limit spending, consequently other sources of revenue, such as local sales taxes or user fees, fill the gap. The property tax credit is flawed for two reasons. First, it goes to all property owners, many of whom are not residents. Second, it provides an incentive for local governments to increase property taxes because the state is paying part of the bill. President Donald Trump acted rashly in December when he made an off-the-cuff decision to pull U.S. forces completely and swiftly out of Syria. The U.S. Senate sent the right message last week by voting 68 to 23 for a measure saying that a precipitous withdrawal from Syria would undercut our security interests. All four Midlands senators voted for the amendment. An administration needs to make security issues through careful deliberation. The president, in contrast, made the withdrawal decision unilaterally after a phone conversation with the president of Turkey, and the administration has been issuing clarifications ever since. U.S. forces in Syria have provided crucial support not only in coordinating the fight against the Islamic State but also in working to restrain Iran, which has taken advantage of the tumult by greatly strengthening its military presence and logistical capabilities in Syria. That move heightens the threat to Israel and strengthens Irans support for Hezbollah radicals in Lebanon. Major national security decisions need to be made with appropriate prudence. The Senate is right to underscore that timeless principle. 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. The 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force carries out vital national security missions around the globe, often under challenging conditions. All elements of these missions need to be up to the proper standard, including the condition of the planes and the training of the crews. This requirement needs to apply to the aging Offutt runway itself. But its poor condition has been a major source of concern in recent years. The runway, patched repeatedly over the decades, is the worst of any in the Air Combat Command, Col. Matt Joganich, then commander of the 55th Mission Support Group, said in 2015. Indeed, much of the original concrete from the 1940s is still in place, and more than half of the runway is at least 40 years old, The World-Heralds Steve Liewer reports. Nebraskas congressional delegation began pushing for major runway improvements in the wake of those comments. The Air Forces announcement last week that the entire runway will be completely rebuilt is greatly encouraging, demonstrating proper priority-setting. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. Former HUD Secretary Julian Castro. Sen. Kamala Harris. Every day, it seems, another candidate enters the Democratic race. Every week, theres a new poll, most showing former Vice President Joe Biden as the partys early presidential leader. The highly respected Cook Political Report even put out its first estimate of the 2020 electoral map, showing the Democrats with 232, the Republicans with 220 and the remaining 86 as tossups. But with all due deference to my old friend Charlie Cook, stop already! There is no way to have any real idea at this early date who will be the Democratic nominee, let alone how the electoral votes will likely end up. (Well, not totally true the Democrats will win DCs 3, the GOP Wyomings 3, and a few others are predictable.) But not even President Donald Trumps re-nomination is certain now, given the plethora of investigations and the potentiality of impeachment. So lets look at 2020 by raising some questions that will be answered over the next two years. Who are the most important Democratic players? Omahas Infusion Brewing Co. is planning to open a new taproom in the former Bohemian Cafe building. The new Infusion Little Bohemia Beer Hall will be located in the north section of the building, 1406 S. 13th St., next door to Fizzys Fountain & Liquors, which is due to open in the building later this year. Owners hope to open the new Infusion location in late summer. We are beyond excited to be part of the rebirth of this great neighborhood, Infusion owner Bill Baburek said in a press release. My grandparents emigrated from Bohemia around the turn of the 20th century and settled in this area of Omaha. And, growing up in this neighborhood, I spent many evenings dining at the Bohemian Cafe. The 2,000-square-foot taproom will host special events, including live music on weekends. The brewery plans to periodically offer catered Bohemian dinners along with live polka music. The taproom itself will not have a kitchen, but will offer local meats, cheeses and warm pretzels. Customers will be encouraged to bring food from neighboring restaurants. Julian also was involved in youth football, Hoesing said. "I'm sure, over the next few days, we'll learn more about this family outside of school," he said. For now, he said, school officials are focused on "how do we deal with the issue and do a good job of managing this thing with some kind of sympathy and empathy." Maria Cristina Menjivar, who was born in California and graduated in 2004 from Schuyler Central High School, worked at Henningsen Foods in David City as a safety coordinator. She is survived by her father, Carlos Alberto; mother, Rosa Flores, and stepfather, Jose Antonio Ortega; sister, Abigail Ortega; and brothers, Joseph Ortega and Carlos Menjivar. Julian is survived by his father, Francisco Moreno Martinez, according to the familys obituary. Adrian, Angel and their unborn sister, Luna, are survived by their father, Leobardo Saldana. The joint family funeral service is being handled by Svoboda Funeral Home of Schuyler. The funeral Mass will be 10 a.m. Feb. 14 at St. Augustines Catholic Church in Schuyler. Visitation will be at the church from 4 to 7 p.m. on Feb. 13, followed by a rosary at 7 p.m. Another visitation will be held immediately prior to the funeral, from 9 to 10 a.m. on Feb. 14. McCOOL JUNCTION, Nebraska The letter arrived, promising cash. It had to be a scam. Stuff like this doesnt just happen out of nowhere. Despite her suspicions, McCool Junction Public Schools art teacher and librarian Marcia Clark took the professional-looking letter to McCool Junction Public Schools Superintendent Curtis Cogswell. Cogswell called the number on the letterhead to verify that it was legit. It was. I filled out the paperwork and sent it to the law firm, Clark said. When I received the check in the mail, I could not believe it, Clark said. I said to the secretary, Get this in the bank so we know its real. The check, from the estate of Waldo A. Johnson, was in the amount of $47,933.29. Johnson died in 2017 at age 104. This is by far the most exciting thing that has happened to me in my 42 years of teaching, Clark said. Waldo Anderson Johnson was born in McCool in 1913, eventually graduating from McCool Junction Public School. Clark and Cogswell found a photo of Johnson in high school, circa 1930s. Alums and supporters of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are encouraged to flaunt their red more than ever beginning Feb. 11 during the universitys weeklong celebration of its 150th anniversary. That means setting out red lights, wearing red, putting up Husker flags or thinking good thoughts of Nebraskas flagship university. NU, now UNL, was chartered on Feb. 16, 1869, as a land-grant university that would provide higher education to the masses. Among many activities will be Glow Big Red, starting Feb. 14 and running through the weekend. Memorial Stadium and many other UNL buildings will be lighted red, as will the State Capitol. UNL asks Husker alums and supporters to red out with lights, gear or flags on Feb. 14 and 15. Organizers also hope that 1,500 donors will contribute to the university from noon Feb. 14 to noon Feb. 15 through https://huskersgive.unl.edu. Other Charter Week events include a lecture on early UNL architecture by Kay Logan-Peters, professor of libraries, at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Nebraska Champions Club; a university anniversary party with UNL artifacts displayed Feb. 15 at the Wick Alumni Center; and a musical celebration at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. The airport could see 5.4 million passengers this year, the next trigger for the renovation project. Eppley is seeking bids for that phase of the renovation, an overhaul of the terminal the place where you print out boarding passes, check and pick up luggage. By the end of the year, the public should have a rendering of what the updated Eppley terminal could look like. The $400 million to $500 million project could be complete within five years. And as Eppley bumps up against even higher figures 7 million passengers is the next target plans to renovate and expand the concourses will be solidified. Those are the areas where you actually board and disembark from flights. Those could be on the table as early as the end of this decade, according to the airports projections of passenger counts, which of course could change. The projects are to be paid for by grants from the Federal Aviation Administration, airport revenue, bonds and new passenger and customer facility charges. On March 28, 1934, a short story, dripping with irony, ran on page 3 of The World-Herald: Entry on Central police station blotter Tuesday night: Louise Vinciquerra, 2002 North Forty-eighth street; unlawful possession of liquor. Released on $105 cash bond. Eleven years previously, the newspaper account continued, a young and vivacious Louise Vinciquerra had called reporters to a luxuriously-furnished home on Forest Avenue and announced that she was retiring from the illegal liquor trade. She had made $45,000 in 17 months in the liquor business, she then boasted, and she was calling it quits for the sake of her two young sons. But in the decade since, Vinciquerras life had been anything but quiet. Far from retiring, she had ruthlessly pursued the booze business, serving time in jail, embroiling herself in a murder case, divorcing a violent husband, wedding an ex-Prohibition agent, earning a fortune and going broke, all the while making headlines as the reigning bootlegging queen of Nebraska. Now, in 1934 months before Nebraska would finally repeal its state Prohibition law Vinciquerra was once again running afoul of it. Bootlegging, the newspaper noted, had brought her poverty and death, but still, she cant quit it. *** The Prohibition era, roughly 1919 to 1933, was packed with colorful characters, and chief among them were bootleggers. We imagine gangsters in pinstripe suits with determined lawmen in hot pursuit. In our minds and in fiction, theyre almost always male. To be sure, there were other women bootleggers during Prohibition. But Omahas Queen Louise, as the newspapers quickly dubbed her, was unique. Like her, many were wives and mothers. But they were often portrayed as desperate members of the working class, reluctantly breaking the law to scrape together cash to buy their children Easter clothes. Or they were unwitting accomplices to husbands, brothers and sons, who law enforcement considered the real criminals, according to Bootlegging Mothers and Drinking Daughters, research conducted by Montana State University. Vinciquerras exploits were almost always on her own terms at least they were presented that way. She used her bootlegging money to buy expensive things, and openly boasted about it. She liked the business, and she was good at it. There were other cases of women who sold alcohol to benefit their families or doing it at the support of, usually, a spouse, said Kylie Kinley, a former assistant editor at Nebraska History, a magazine published by the state historical society. (Vinciquerra) was like wait, I can do this to benefit me. And she did. Kinley, who spent two years researching Vinciquerra for Louise Vinciquerra: Nebraskas Bootlegging Queen, a story that ran in the magazine last summer, said Queen Louise has become a complicated figure in the decades since her death. On the one hand, shes an example of a powerful, courageous woman living at a time when women were often marginalized. On the other, she was a ruthless outlaw. She made her own rules at a time when the rules were very strict for women, Kinley said. She was an awesome and terrible person. *** Born in Sicily around 1900, Louise Pirruccello came to Omaha about 1910, one of a great many Italian immigrants who came to the city near the turn of the 20th century. At 13, she married a man named Sebastiano Vinciquerra. By 15, she had two sons Carl and Sam. She (and likely her husband) became involved in the bootleg booze business at some point before November 1922. That month, her name appeared for the first time in The World-Herald as one of many people fined for liquor offenses. The following year would mark her public debut. In April of that year, Vinciquerra and her husband were accused of selling liquor to high school and young college students. According to news coverage of the case, Vinciquerra would distribute cards advertising their alcohol to students, who would then purchase it at the family home. Sebastiano pleaded guilty and was fined $100. Though Vinciquerra was not in court with her husband, she soon made herself the star of the show. The following day, on April 4, she called reporters to her home. The house, The World-Herald reported, was furnished with mahogany tables, upholstered chairs and a $1,000 electric player piano. The 23-year-old Vinciquerra, dressed in a handsome sealskin coat, was determined to set the record straight: She did not knowingly distribute business cards to high school students, she said. And moreover, she, not her husband, was the brains behind the bootlegging operation. I managed the place more than three-fourths of the time, she said. Her customers included Omaha professionals: Doctors, bankers, lawyers. Since October 1921, she had made more than $45,000 (more than $850,000 today), and spent two-thirds of it, she told the newspaper. But even so, she was through bootlegging for the sake of her sons, Carl, 7, and Sam, 8. The episode proved to be a massive blunder. Within a day, Omaha police were at her door, and the newspaper caught wind: When the officers arrived at Mrs. Vinciquerras residence, she was with her two children. Informed that they had a warrant for her arrest, she asked permission to doll up Oh, you look all right, suggested (Prohibition agent Bob) Samardick. No ones going to see you in jail. Officers allowed her to ask the neighbors to watch the boys, and then took her to jail. On the way, Vinciquerra asked them to stop: This way please, said Mrs. Vinciquerra. I want to go out to my uncles place and have him go on my bond. Im not a chauffeur, said (Samardick) as he stepped on the gas. *** Vinciquerra would later express regret for the episode: I am sorry I talked too much about the money I made bootlegging for it has done nothing but get me in trouble ever since. But she couldnt have been that sorry for the crime itself. Her retirement proved to be anything but. Now, her name was synonymous with bootlegging, and for the next several years, the newspapers would cover Queen Louises seemingly endless run-ins with the law. She broke the law in bad ways and in good ways, Kinley said. I just think its remarkable that she did it in her time. In 1924, Vinciquerra became involved in a murder of man named Peter Sferas. In January 1924, Vinciquerras cousin, Louise Salerno, shot and killed Sferas, Salernos uncle by marriage. The man had sexually assaulted Salerno when she was young, she later explained to police. Salerno was emboldened to take action against Sferas after Vinciquerra told her a story: On New Years Eve 1923, Sferas was driving with Vinciquerra to Council Bluffs, when he told her that he had got Salerno when she was a child, the newspaper reported. He threatened to kill Vinciquerra if she told Salerno he had said anything. But I was not afraid, Vinciquerra later said. I told my cousin all about it. Salerno and Vinciquerra then asked Salernos two young sisters if Sferas had ever tried anything with them. Upon learning he had, Salerno, became enraged, Vinciquerra said. She called Sferas to meet her, prepared two revolvers, and when he arrived, she started shooting, the newspaper reported. As the only eyewitness to the shooting, Vinciquerra was called to testify at Salernos trial in May 1924. But by then, Vinciquerra, having narrowly escaped a 60-day jail sentence for bootlegging, was nowhere to be found, though it was rumored she had conveniently left for Oklahoma immediately before the trial. Salerno was acquitted. *** By this time, Vinciquerra had become involved with a Prohibition agent named Earl Haning. In September 1923, The World-Herald reported that when undercover agents showed up at Vinciquerras house looking to purchase liquor, Vinciquerra dispatched Haning to pick it up for her. When agents later raided Vinciquerras home, they found Haning a block away leading Vinciquerras sons away from the scene, The World-Herald reported. Haning had a very successful career as a Prohibition agent, and he threw it all away for her, Kinley said. I really think he loved her. Haning became part of the Vinciquerra bootlegging ring, and he and Louise grew closer. Tensions between the ex lawman, Vinciquerra and Sebastiano would boil over very publicly more than once in the years to follow. Sebastiano was reportedly a cruel and violent man who, like his wife, was often in and out of jail. In March 1926, Vinciquerra asked Sebastiano for a divorce. As the newspaper reported at the time, as Louise slept one night: (Sebastiano) crept stealthily into the household, snapped on the lights in the former queens room, and emptied his revolver at her. The bullets zipped about the womans head. Two ripped into the pillow at her left, two more at the right, while a fifth hit in the wall above her head ... As she heard the click of an empty chamber in the gun, Louise leaped from bed, seized a revolver and began a counter attack. Her first shot missed and crashed into a mirror. As Sebastian dodged and ran, she pursued him out of the house and two blocks away, firing at him as he ran. She was clad only in a nightgown, and was barefooted. He gained a waiting automobile, however, and escaped. Louise explained to the newspaper that she was through with her first husband. She wanted him out of her life for good. Im not afraid of him though, she said. No man can make me run. Vinciquerra would eventually divorce Sebastiano, on a charge of cruelty. Haning, meanwhile, received his own divorce, having been arrested on a charge of wife desertion, the newspaper reported. In 1928, Vinciquerra and Haning married. As usual, the press smelled a story: Both have served jail terms several times ... Haning being released from Leavenworth penitentiary a few months ago. At her home, 2002 North Forty-eighth street, Monday night, the new Mrs. Haning said she had nothing to say. One night, in 1932, Sebastiano came to Vinciquerras home and the two argued. Haning stepped in to defend his wife, and, at some point, shots were fired. Carl and Sam rushed inside to find their father seriously wounded. Haning suffered a wound to his elbow. In the hospital, Sebastiano defended himself, saying the duel was Hanings fault. I have had plenty of excuses to kill him if I had wanted to, he said. How about the time when he broke up my home, when he came in and took my wife, with the authority of the government back of him? If I had wanted to kill him I would have done it then. Sebastiano survived, and the two men would have one last encounter a year later. Vinciquerra had filed for divorce from Haning, but the two were evidently still close. One night in July 1933, Haning was drinking beer with friends in Vinciquerras basement when three bullets pierced a basement window, hitting Haning in his chest and abdomen. In the hospital, Haning immediately named Sebastiano as his attacker. When police caught up with Sebastiano, they brought him to the hospital: As they entered, Haning said: Well, you finally did it. (Sebastiano) Vinciquerra didnt answer. (Police sergeant) Brigham asked Haning if Vinciquerra shot him. Yes, Haning replied. Not me, Haning, Vinciquerra asserted. Haning died of his wounds. Sebastiano was eventually convicted of his murder, but the conviction was later overturned for lack of evidence. *** Federal Prohibition ended with the ratification of the 21st Amendment in 1933. In November 1934, Nebraska repealed its own dry laws, meaning alcohol was now legal within the state. The former Queen Louise was a widow, left to figure out how to make a living in a world without bootlegging. She was never really able to find her place in that world, Kinley said. Vinciquerra attempted to make a fresh start of it in Hastings with her son, Sam. She opened a roadhouse and displayed her especially fine Italian handiwork in a textile exhibit. But her new neighbors were immediately suspicious of the woman whos life had been front-page news for more than a decade. And the authorities continued to pursue her: The World-Herald reported that her roadhouse had been the target of repeated raids because Vinciquerra had never received a liquor license from the Hastings City Council. Vinciquerra took comfort in her sons. In 1936, Carl, a rising boxer, made the U.S. Olympic team. His mother beamed: Carl has lifted the name of Vinciquerra to a high level. Louise Vinciquerra eventually left Hastings, returning to Omaha for a few years. She married for a third time to a man she later divorced after he was sent to prison. In the early 1940s, she left Nebraska for good, moving to Bisbee, Arizona. One evening, in September 1948, she left her apartment with a young man and wound up dead, shot with a 0.45-caliber bullet, near a highway between Bisbee and Tombstone. It was one final shocking headline to conclude a life filled with them. But despite the many words written about Vinciquerra during her lifetime and since her death, many parts of her remain a mystery, Kinley said. What drove her to keep going through it all, through the court battles and jail sentences and shootings? And was it all worth it? On that last point, we have a clue in something Vinciquerra said in 1928, after filing an affidavit asserting she had less than $20 to her name, and couldnt pay her latest liquor fine. The racket doesnt pay, she said. It breaks you in the end. Trebbien said, I was walking alongside Johnson on his way to his next class on that cold winter day we first met. We were talking about each of our lifes experiences. Suddenly, as Johnson talked, it struck me that he had been penalized so much more than myself for offenses that werent nearly as bad as what I had done at the same age. Why? I thought. The only conclusion I could come to was he is black, and I am white. Johnson had thoughts of his own, as a young black man. I had come to believe that this was just how things were. Things that were normal to me were abnormal to Trebbien. I accepted it as it was because I had not known anything else from my childhood to my adulthood. After certain experiences, including a negative experience I had when my mentor and I were stopped by a police officer, these experiences solidified to me how much easier it is to be white. Trebbien said, I now have the opinion that perhaps a form of the mindset that brought about slavery, along with the lack of understanding about what is meant by the words, white privilege, have left generations without a proper understanding of the issues. Understanding this would be a start toward giving everyone equal opportunities. The former pharmacy director for Childrens Hospital & Medical Center accused of embezzling more than $4.6 million from the hospital pleaded guilty to wire fraud Monday in U.S. District Court. Lisa Kwapniowski could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. As part of her sentence, Kwapniowski will be ordered to repay the money she was accused of embezzling. She also has agreed to forfeit her interest in a residence she owns in the Elkhorn area. Kwapniowski is scheduled to be sentenced in late April by senior U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp. Kwapniowski, 49, could not be reached Monday for comment. Information filed in federal court alleges that Kwapniowski defrauded the hospital between 2010 and 2018. The case was investigated by the FBI. Sometime before 2010, according to the federal court filing, Kwapniowski began submitting to the hospital fraudulent invoices from legitimate pharmaceutical companies. In early 2012, she set up a business she named RxSynergy. She was previously identified as the president and sole member of RxSynergy. WASHINGTON Sen. Ben Sasse was blocked Monday night in an effort to swiftly pass his proposal to protect infants born alive during an abortion. The Nebraska Republican asked unanimous consent on the Senate floor that his legislation be approved. There are only two sides of the debate on the floor tonight, Sasse said. Youre either for babies or youre defending infanticide. Often used to pass noncontroversial measures, the process of unanimous consent can be derailed by a single senator opposing it. Sasse made his request following a couple of roll call votes, and by that time most of his fellow senators had already left the chamber. Several of his Republican colleagues remained on the floor in support. The only Democrat on the floor, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, stood listening to Sasses remarks and then objected to his request. We have laws against infanticide in this country, Murray said. This is a gross misinterpretation of the actual language of the bill that is being asked to be considered and therefore I object. Murray then walked off the floor without elaborating. Jordan Peeles follow-up to Get Out is arriving in March. The second trailer for Us has been released. The minute-long trailer offers more of a glimpse at The Tethered, the twisted doppelgangers of the Wilson family. READ: Jordan Peele On Kanye Wests Sunken Place Comments: Hes Trying To Tell His Own Truth You know how sometimes things line up? Lupita Nyongos Adelaide Wilson asks in the spot. Coincidences? Since weve been up here, theyve been happening more and more. Its like theres this black cloud hanging over us. The trailer ends with the Wilson family coming face to face with their doppelgangers. What are you people? Winston Dukes Gabe Wilson asks to The Tethered, only for Evan Alex, who plays the familys son Jason Wilson, to respond: Theyre us. The first trailer introduced viewers to the Wilson family accompanied by a very terrifying rendition of Lunizs I Got 5 On It. Us will premiere at South by Southwest on March 8 before being released throughout the United States on March 22. Peele previously discussed how Us and Get Out are different even though theyre both horror films, describing the former as a horror film without any caveats. There hasnt been a horror film about a black family, that I can remember. I think thats an important thing to note. We have a lot of films in this genre where a family meets a monster, but the fact weve never seen a black family in that situation is a problem to me, Peele said. Theres a presumption in the industry that if black people are the leads in a film it has to be in some way about race. I wanted to show that we can push past that. Please Enable Cookies www.ogj.com is using a security service for protection against online attacks. The service requires full cookie support in order to view this website. Please enable cookies on your browser and try again. Six students from Oaklands Community College in Edenderry are packing their bags this evening as they prepare to fly to the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida to participate in the Student Astronaut Challenge this week. There was huge interest in the 5th year group when the trip was proposed last year. Students applied to participate and the team were all selected based on their strong applications and Junior Cert results in Maths and Science in particular. The students selected are Abdullah Butt, Rory Egan, Alan Harte, Katie Lawlor, Leanne Mallen and Thomas McAuliffe. They will travel to Florida on Tuesday, February 5 with their teacher, Ms Guinan. They have been working hard over the past few months, staying after school to prepare their lab challenge and practice the simulator. There are four parts to the competition; a lab challenge, engineering challenge, landing challenge and a simulator challenge. This will be the third time that Oaklands have had a team in the competition. Once again, they will be the only Irish and international team to participate in the competition. The first team won the lab challenge, came second in the simulator and finished in 4th place overall. The 2017 team won the landing challenge, came second in the lab challenge and finished in third place overall. The school are hoping for similar success this time around. For the lab challenge, the 2019 bunch had to select an aspect of weather that could use an improvement and devise an experiment which could provide a solution to improve the aspect. For their topic they are looking at rainfall in Ireland and focusing on flooding. They hope their proposed solution will ease flooding and alleviate potential flood damage. This draws on geographical, scientific and engineering knowledge. Their aim is that their solution will also be environmentally friendly and reduce costs and damage to property and roads. They have already submitted their proposal to the organisers and they will present their proposal to NASA judges in the Kennedy Space Centre during the competition. They will also participate in an engineering challenge. This will require the students to work as a team and draw on their mathematical and engineering skills to solve the posed question. NASA engineers will again judge their performance. The next two challenges are based on simulators. For the main simulator challenge, three students will be in the simulator and three will be in Mission Control. Again, teamwork and communication skills are vital in order to successfully launch the shuttle, orbit earth and land safely back on the runway. For the simulator, Abdullah Butt will assume the role of Mission Commander assisted by Pilot Thomas McAuliffe and Flight Engineer Leanne Mallen. In Mission Control, Katie Lawlor, Rory Egan and Alan Harte will communicate with the shuttle and talk them through their launch and, orbit and landing. The second simulator challenge will require two students from Mission Control to land the shuttle. One will land while the other talks them through the landing and then they will reverse roles and the second person will land the shuttle. The team also have a logo which was designed by Katie Lawlor and represents the challenge ahead and all the members of the team. It also contains the school and Irish colours. They will wear this with pride over in Florida "We would like to thank our main sponsors Bord na Mona Powergen, including Edenderry Power Station and Mountlucas Wind Farm, and all the sponsors who have come on board to help make this trip a possibility," the school said in a statement. "These are Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, TK Building Services, Collen Construction, Gemfler, Polar Ice, Kaideen & Co, OGrady Cranes and Cafe India." "We really appreciate your support, without it the trip would not be possible. We hope to do our school proud at the Kennedy Space Centre." You can follow the Oaklands Community College students and their progress in Florida on their Facebook page or @OaklandsCC on Twitter. The University of Kentucky is seeking a multi-disciplinary agency that can update its branding and advertising strategy in a bid to attract future students and faculty, increase alumni support and help drive its philanthropy efforts. Finn Partners is helping Turkish Airlines get additional publicity mileage for its The Journey commercial by acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott that ran during the Super Bowl. The 30-second spot paid tribute to Turkish Airs hub city of Istanbul and the opening of Istanbul Airport, which will be the No. 1 aviation hub with an annual capacity of 200M passengers. In conjunction with the ad, Turkish Air has a six-minute film running on YouTube featuring Sylvia Hoeks, star of Blade Runner 2049, with Istanbul sights such as Ciragan Palace, Basilica Cistern, Ortakoy Square and Istanbul Airport. Scott directed films such as Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, Gladiator, and The Martian. Produced by RSA Films, the Turkish Air commercial is the first one directed by Scott in 15 years. Turkish Air is the first Turkish brand to run during the Super Bowl. Most people cant go a week without washing their hair, but one real-life Rapunzel from Britain claims she has never washed her six-foot long locks in the last 20 years and that she only needs to comb her hair thoroughly to keep it in pristine condition. 32-year-old Frankie Cluney, an artist from Brighton, in the UK, started growing her hair long when she was six-years-old, and by age 13, it already reached down to her waist. She used to hate washing her hair because getting all the shampoo and conditioner out of it with the shower and then drying it took so long, so when a friend of her mother suggested she simply stop washing it, she decided to do just that. The first few months her long hair was very greasy and her scalp was a bit itchy, but all those problems eventually went away, and she has reportedly done nothing but comb it thoroughly ever since. Photo: Ryan McGuire/Pixabay It was one of my mums friends who actually mentioned this idea of not washing your hair at all and so I thought why not give it a go and I think for the first couple of months it was very greasy, my scalp was a bit itchy, Cluney told Barcroft Media. Its strangely very low maintenance. People think it must take a lot but because I dont use any products on it. All I do really is comb it and I do that not even every single day. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Francesca Cluney (@floorlengthfrankie) on Aug 12, 2018 at 1:17am PDT One thing Frankie tends to struggle with from time to time because of her no-washing regimen is tangling, but luckily for her, she doesnt mind spending half-an-hour to an hour detangling all the little knots in her long hair, and actually calls it a meditative process. As for the advantages of never washing her hair, the English artist says that it absorbs scents, so it kind of acts as a reminder of where shes been and who shes been with. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Francesca Cluney (@floorlengthfrankie) on Jul 7, 2018 at 5:37am PDT This real-life Rapunzel hasnt had her hair trimmed since she was 18 and it now reaches down past her feet. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Francesca Cluney (@floorlengthfrankie) on Jun 6, 2018 at 9:54am PDT Posted Monday, February 4, 2019 9:05 am School resource officers, threat assessments, and statewide school safety best practices are all topics of proposed legislation this year, however, none of the five bills are scheduled for further hearings that could lead to a vote. The Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee heard public testimony on five school safety bills Wednesday. I worked with the House very carefully on this and with others, (to) not do an omnibus bill with everything packed in but to do a number of different bills addressing, you know, different elements, said committee chairwoman, Lisa Wellman D- Mercer Island. Senate Bill 5052 would add training requirements for school resource officers to be drafted by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and paid for by a grant program. The resource officers are also the subject of SB 5141, which emphasizes that the state does not require police officers in schools but that if the district chooses to have one, the district must adhere to the statewide training requirements. Proposed training topics would include the rights of children in schools, child and adolescent development, recognition and response to youth mental health issues, and the education rights of students with disabilities, among other things. I didnt want my daughter to become another statistic in the school to prison pipeline, said Cory Walster, expressing concern over the law enforcement aspects of the bill. Walster said he is a single parent to daughter diagnosed with severe anxiety disorder and cannot always control her reactions. He is also a volunteer for the non-profit Civil Survival, which advocates and organizes people directly impacted by the criminal justice system. Threat assessment processes would be required to be developed by all school districts in the state under proposed SB 5216. The process to identify worrisome behaviors in students would include four components it must be based on behaviors, be incorporated into the school districts system of student supports, districts must engage with families whenever possible, and it should address the needs of students with special needs. SB 5317 would establish a Washington school safety center and a network of school safety coordinators stationed around the state. This is putting in place the structure that can really support the program, said Wellman, noting that SB 5317 has companion legislation in the House of Representatives HB 1216. The bill would establish the School Safety and Student Well-Being Advisory Committee, located in the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Greg Lynch, Superintendent of the Bremerton Educational District, spoke in support of the bill, mentioning that 65 percent of Washington school districts, are small school districts that struggle mightily in these areas. Lynch hopes SB 5317 would build a network foundation that a variety of resources could be added to as they become available. This bill systems wide focuses around building a foundation of supports through a state-wide network, from OSPI (Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction) through regional school safety centers and then to school districts and then to our schools, said Lynch. It remains a critical shortfall in our state. The fifth bill discussed would change first responder requirements to notify schools in a lockdown or evacuation situation. SB 5514 would require first responders to determine whether other schools in the area, including private schools, should be notified as well. Authorities in Tehran, the capital city of Iran, have enforced a ban on dog walking in public places like streets and parks. The bizarre measure is part of a long-standing effort to discourage dog ownership in the Islamic country. Tehrans police chief, Hossein Rahimi, recently announced that he has received permission from the Tehran Prosecutors Office to take measures against people walking dogs in public spaces, such as parks. These measures include fines and confiscation. Apparently, dogs create fear and anxiety among members of the public, but many consider this recent ban to be yet another effort by Iranian authorities to discourage dog ownership. Canines are considered unclean or impure by the countrys religious leaders, and a symbol of the pro-Western policy adopted by the old Monarchy dethroned during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Photo: 12019/Pixabay Certain people who bring their dogs to public places cause panic and anxiety among the public, General Rahimi told the Young Journalist Club agency. The police will take measures against the owners. People who walk their dogs in public places shall be dealt with severely. But it gets worse for dog owners in Irans capital. Rahimi added that apart from punishing those people who walk their pets in public places, the police will also act against those who transport them in their cars. It is forbidden to drive dogs around in cars and, if this is observed, serious police action will be taken against the car-owners in question, he told YJC. The recent measure echo the growing number of complaints from both hard-line politicians and overzealous members of the public. For example, Hamidreza Taraghi, a conservative politician, said that it is impossible for people to pray in places where dogs are present, and that their owners spend more money on them than on other more important things. Photo: RitaE/Pixabay Religiously speaking, wherever a dog sits or walks, we cannot pray, said in an interview. We are experiencing economic difficulties but the dog lovers are spending billions of dollars each year for dog food. We need that money for more important things. Dog owners ignore the commands of Islam, and influenced by western satellite channels bring their pets to the park causing distress for the other visitors, a religious person told Irans Fars news agency. We call upon the authorities to firmly deal with these dogs. As previously mentioned, the ban on dog walking is seen as another effort to discourage ownership of canines in Iran. In 2010, a senior Iranian cleric issued a fatwa (religious ruling) that dogs were not to be kept as pets because they are considered unclean. But despite such measures, dog ownership remains very popular in cities like Tehran, with many owners saying theyd rather pay fines or even go to jail than part with their pets. Tallulahs mother died weeks after giving birth to her, so Tallulah and her older sister, Eugenia, spent a lot of time with their paternal grandmother in Jasper, Alabama. She also spent time with her aunt in Montgomery, where she was childhood friends with Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tallulahs father was active in the Democratic Party of the South and was Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1936 to 1940. She had different views from her father and campaigned for Harry Trumans re-election. She went on to win many awards throughout her acting career in both film and plays. The show she played in during 1924, They Knew What They Wanted, won a Pulitzer in 1925. She won the New York Film Critics Circle award for her role in Alfred Hitchcooks 1944 film, Lifeboat. A woman ahead of her time, Tallulah wasnt just famous for being an actress, she was known for her scandalous personal life and compelling personality, Robb said. Robb and her husband became interested in Tallulah because of a musical play written about her. Latest News Property market reforms push borrowers towards non-banks As regulation increases, we see more people going into this space South Taranaki: Increase in new homes delays consent process Process should be completed in 21 working days but takes nearly double that, it is alleged ASB has appointed Lohit Kalburgi as its new executive general manager, corporate strategy and customer experience. Kalburgi joins ASBs executive leadership team from global financial services group BBVA, where he was managing director, global head of customer experience. He holds extensive knowledge base about customer-centric digital transformation working in the United Kingdom, Spain, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. He has held roles at British Telecom, Barclays and Vodafone. Lohit brings a diverse skill-set to the role and a deep experience in delivering uniquely different customer propositions, ASB chief executive Vittoria Shortt said. He has a track record as a commercial thought leader and his thinking is acutely centred on outcomes and experiences for customers. Previously based in the US, Kalburgi is returning home to New Zealand with his family and join ASB. Im looking forward to working with the ASB team focussed on delivering the best outcomes for customers, Kalburgi added. Posted Monday, February 4, 2019 9:58 am A northeast Washington politician has introduced a bill that would move wolves onto Bainbridge Island. HB 1639 was introduced by Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda in response to HB 1045 which would make it illegal to kill wolves. That legislation was introduced by Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Bainbridge Island. Kretz' bill is described as an act "ensuring that all Washingtonians share in the benefits of an expanding wolf population." The majority of Washington's wolves live in northeast Washington, including Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties. Kretz has introduced similar legislation in the past as a from of protest. In an email to his constituents Kretz wrote, "I sponsored legislation to make the state's first Gray Wolf Sanctuary in the lovely island confines of Bainbridge Island. I'm sure this apex predator will get along fine with the pets, animals and people of that place. Now, I'm not completely heartless. My bill would allow for the lethal removal of gray wolves on the island if four dogs, four cats, or two children were killed, to illustrate the insanity of someone who would place a higher value on wolves than on children." He added in a phone conversation, "My thought is if they are going to throw out ignorant ideas maybe they should get to know wolves a little better." Neither Appleton or Kretz' bills are likely to move forward. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates there are a minimum of 122 wolves, 22 packs and 14 successful breeding pairs statewide. That estimate was reported nearly a year ago. Most of those wolves are concentrated in northeast Washington. However, University of Washington researchers, using scat-sniffing dogs, reported that the population is likely closer to 200 individual wolves on Jan. 22. Wolves are a state endangered species throughout Washington. In the western two-thirds of the state, they're federally endangered. The majority of the documented packs are in Eastern Washington. The agency and the Wolf Advisory Group are both considering delisting wolves at the state level once recovery goals are met. Additionally, WDFW is conducting a state environmental review of a plan that would relocate some wolves from northeast Washington and distribute them more evenly throughout the state. "I don't know how realistic it is, to be honest," said WDFW Director Kelly Susewind in a previous interview. "We'll give it a fair shot to see if its realistic." Posted Monday, February 4, 2019 9:50 am They call them nonmedical exemptions, and the resurgent measles virus loves them. Measles, a disease that was essentially eradicated in the U.S. less than two decades ago, has stormed back to prominence, thanks to an outbreak in Clark County -- the neighbor to Portland that has one of the highest levels of unvaccinated kids in the state. It's just the latest crack in our weakening bulwark against communicable diseases, one of a series of cracks that is driven in part by fear and ignorance and fake science. It's got public health officials scrambling to contact schools and encourage families whose kids aren't immunized to encourage them to do so, and it's putting the state on a course for an important and difficult policy debate -- whether we should curtail nonmedical exemptions for vaccination requirements for people who put their kids into the public schools. Whether we should effectively force people to vaccinate or stay out of the public schools. A proposal in the Legislature would eliminate the personal exemption for the measles, mumps and rubella immunization, and the measure is sure to draw opposition on the personal freedom front, as well as the whole phalanx of anti-vaxxer arguments. The tensions between public safety and individual freedom won't be easy to resolve. But there's a personal freedom issue on the other side of the matter, too: Those who vaccinate their kids are not free from the consequences imposed by those who do not. Put another way, the people in Clark County who vaccinated their kids against measles are now living in a community where their chances of coming down with the measles, though much lower than those who are unvaccinated, are a lot higher than they used to be. Vaccines are highly -- but not entirely -- effective against measles. That's why health officials spend so much time emphasizing the importance of immunizations. Getting both MMR shots is 97 percent effective against the disease, but to really banish it from the community almost everyone needs to get those shots. Health officials believe that a 95 percent immunization rate is required to protect everyone from measles; in Clark County, the vaccination rate for kindergartners has plummeted from more than 90 percent in 2005 to 77 percent today. "The thing that keeps me up at night is that we could end up seeing a severe complication or even death from this, and it's completely and utterly preventable," Clark County Health Officer Dr. Alan Melnick told King 5 News in a recent interview. Measles came storming into Washington as the new year began, with 43 confirmed cases in Clark County so far, 8 suspected cases, and the expectation that it's just getting started. Most of the cases involved children; 37 of the cases are known to involve nonvaccinated individuals, and the vaccination status of the others is unknown. One case has been reported in King County. Spokane has not had a reported case of measles yet, but health officials worry that our immunization rates -- like those all across Washington -- aren't high enough to protect the community from disease. The number of Spokane County kids who have received both MMR immunizations is 74 percent. The outbreak provides local officials the chance to encourage unvaccinated families to reconsider, said Susan Sjoberg, a program manager in disease prevention and response for the Spokane Regional Health District. "It's an opportunity for us to get the message out to the public," Sjoberg said. That message is clear and simple: Immunization "is an amazing way to prevent disease and protect the community in a very safe, well-proven, well-studied manner," Sjoberg said. In Spokane County during the 2017-18 school year, 8 percent of students had been granted exemptions, almost all of which were considered "personal," rather than religious or medical, according to the Department of Health. Washington schools require students to prove they've received a range of vaccinations -- or to apply for an exemption. Exemptions have grown and grown in some pockets of Washington. Conspiratorial anti-vaxxer arguments used to be mostly a province of the religious right; these days, it comes just as often from the natural medicine left, and the movement is flourishing online with a big assist from lots of pseudoscience. In any case, vaccination rates have been weakening, and the Clark County measles outbreak is our latest alert. And though the outbreak is occurring hundreds of miles away, it doesn't mean that it won't make its way to other communities, Sjoberg said. "Measles is considered the most communicable disease known to humans," she said. Sjoberg noted that measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000. For a few years thereafter, there were 40-something cases per year in the country; most were travel-related. In subsequent years, the number of cases -- along with the increase in people taking a pass on vaccines -- began to rise. In 2013, there were more than 600 cases nationally. Who knows how this year will stack up. We know how to get rid of the measles. We've done it once already. The only question now is how many painful reminders it will take for us to wake up and do it again. MELBOURNE, Australia After weeks of unrelenting heat and bushfires across the continent, torrential rain and flooding in northern Australia have forced hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes in what weather officials describe as an unprecedented event. Between Jan. 26 and the morning of Feb. 4, there was close to four feet of rain in Townsville, a coastal city in the state of Queensland, eclipsing records set in 1998 during a flood known as the Night of Noah. In seven days, weve received our annual total rainfall, said Jenny Hill, the mayor of Townsville. Weve never seen weather like this. Posted Monday, February 4, 2019 10:02 am John Snaza was on a motorcycle trip through Montana when he made plans to meet up with a friend. The dinner spot was only 10 miles away, so Snaza opted to forgo his helmet since it's not required in that state for adult motorcyclists. The ride wasn't as smooth as planned for the vacationing Thurston County sheriff. Snaza lost control from a "high speed wobble" while driving around a curve, and ended up going over a 60-foot cliff with his bike flew about 500 feet before it came to a stop, he said. That August 2016 crash led to numerous surgeries, continuing physical therapy and a personal reason for Snaza to speak on the value of helmets. Snaza was one of several to speak to the Washington state Senate Transportation Committee about Senate Bill 5007. The bill -- along with companion House Bill 1125 -- seeks to do a three-year pilot project on helmet use. Currently, anyone driving or riding on a motorcycle, moped or motor-driven cycle in Washington must wear a helmet. During the pilot period, only riders under the age of 21 would have to wear wear one. However, people who choose to go helmetless must be insured under a vehicle liability policy, carry self-insurance, or be covered by a certificate of deposit or a liability bond, according to the bill. Failing to provide proof of insurance would be a traffic infraction. Motorcycle fatality data Tri-City state Sen. Sharon Brown, a co-sponsor, emphasizes it would not be a permanent change to the law, at least not yet. She isn't even sure if Gov. Jay Inslee would sign off on the pilot project, or veto it. The pilot would run from Sept. 1 through Sept. 1, 2022. The intent is to see what happens over three years if riders are given the option. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission would be required to collect statistics from local and state agencies on motorcyclist fatalities, and report back to the Legislature. Brown said she wants to see that data. "Personally I just see it as a freedom of choice," she told the Herald. "These are people over the age of 21 and, if they have insurance, it's a choice. It's not mandating anybody ride without a helmet." Sheriff Snaza said he likes the idea of everybody being responsible, but he can't explain the stress and grief his near-fatal crash caused his family, friends, co-workers and community. He believes he personally let all of them down because of his judgment that day. "The fact is that I do appreciate everybody that is a very responsible rider, a very good rider. ... We don't ever expect bad things to happen," he said. "Unfortunately, I am one of those guys. I was in a state where I didn't have to wear a helmet, and it happened to me." Snaza says he was lucky. "I do have insurance, but that didn't help me from suffering a traumatic brain injury, breaking all the ribs on my left side and breaking my neck," he testified. "I'm very blessed," he said. Not a first-timer in Legislature The helmet study is being led by State Sen. Christine Rolfes, D-Bainbridge Island, but SB 5007 has 10 co-sponsors, including Brown, R-Kennewick, and Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake. This isn't the first time the Legislature has taken up the helmet requirement. But this time it has drawn some strong opinions. One side argues they should have the freedom to choose and make decisions about their own personal safety. Others say their tax dollars shouldn't be used to cover long-term care costs for people who choose not to protect their brains at high speeds. Brown said that's why it is critically important people understand the bill has a provision about requiring insurance, so that a potential injured rider would not become the responsibility of the state. However, Kenton Brine, president of NW Insurance Council, points out that liability insurance coverage only pays for the other party that is injured in an accident, not the first party -- in this case, the injured motorcyclist. "So if there is a mandate in there for this coverage, it provides no protection for the helmetless rider," Brine said. "I just want to make sure that is clear." 'They just would like the choice' Brown does not ride motorcycles. But she's backing the bill because she has a lot of constituents in the Tri-Cities who do ride, "and this bill is important to them." "I've heard from both sides ... since there has been so much interest generated in this subject matter. But I am hearing more in favor of the freedom of choice," she said. "Some of them have said to me they may choose to ride with a helmet, but they just would like the choice." Washington's helmet law was first enacted in 1967. It was repealed 10 years later, followed by a new law a decade later requiring helmets for riders age 17 and younger. The current universal law was passed in 1990. Nineteen states and Washington, D.C., have a universal helmet law, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Another 28 states have laws requiring only some riders to wear a helmet, usually based on age. And three states have no helmet requirement. "I'm wondering who's right and who's wrong and, if there's an argument on both sides, why not let somebody have the choice that they want," said Sen. Dean Takko, D-Longview. "I guess it's more about the statistics than the choice." Educate people so they can choose Kaden is a career firefighter with a Tri-City agency, volunteer firefighter with another area department and a part-time employee of a Pasco motorcycle shop. He didn't want to give his full name for this story. As someone who started riding dirt bikes at age 3 and is now at 21, this change would directly affect him. He's had his share of crashes, resulting in several concussions including one that had lingering effects for months. He acknowledges that one time the helmet definitely saved his life. "Honestly, I believe that protection is the most important thing, even if it just blocks a head injury," he said. People who have been in wrecks and slid across the road will bring their helmet into the store, and sometimes it is worn down to the inner shell, Kaden said. "If that were your head, that would be past your skull. That would be brain matter coming out," he said. "So I definitely understand it from the safety point of view." But Kaden said he also understands the right to choose for adults who make so many other important life decisions. "We can just educate people and hope that they make the right choice," he said. 75 deadly crashes in 2018 Capt. Monica Alexander, with the Washington State Patrol's government and media relations office, told members of the Senate Transportation Committee that the agency opposes the bill. There were 75 deaths in 2,082 motorcycle-involved crashes in Washington state in 2018, she said. "The bottom line is that bad crashes happen all the time, right?" said Alexander. "We know they're going to happen, but it's our job to try and prevent those collisions from occurring." But Brian Lange, the legislative affairs officer for ABATE of Washington, testified that studies have shown lower collision rates, lower fatality rates and lower head-injury rates on-average in states with a helmet choice. Scott Robinson is Washington's senior deputy coordinator for ABATE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the freedom of the road. Robinson said he's been a registered motorcycle rider for 40 years, has ridden in almost every state and numerous countries and is an Army veteran, including two years in Afghanistan wearing helmet and body armor every day. "In Washington state, the motorcycle riders do not have this choice," Robinson told the committee. "Someone says they are trying to keep us safe. If I wanted to be safe, I would not be on a motorcycle." "Many other veterans (who are) motorcycle riders feel the same way," he added. "We put our lives on the line to fight for our freedom. We did not go to war to be safe, we went there so we could be free to make a personal choice in how we would live our life. We are denied over and over." SYDNEY, Australia They charged their clients fees as they gave bad advice. They charged their clients fees for doing nothing at all. Sometimes, they kept charging the fees after their customers had died. A royal commission appointed by the Australian government released a stinging report on Monday that criticized the countrys powerful banking and financial service industry for bilking consumers, and called for tougher regulations. Loan officers, mortgage brokers and many others acted to line their own pockets rather than helping customers, said the report, which urged the government to rein in an industry that it said too often operated with a cavalier disregard for the welfare of the Australian people. The damage done by that conduct to individuals and to the overall health and reputation of the financial services industry has been large, said Kenneth Hayne, who headed the government commission into the financial sectors misconduct. Xinjiang has become an open-air prison a place where Orwellian high-tech surveillance, political indoctrination, forced cultural assimilation, arbitrary arrests and disappearances have turned ethnic minorities into strangers in their own land, Kumi Naidoo, secretary-general of Amnesty International, said in a video statement. Chinas mission to the United Nations in Geneva could not immediately be contacted for comment. Many Chinese government offices have closed in celebration of the Lunar New Year. China initially responded to reports of mass incarceration of Muslims by issuing blanket denials, but its position changed after a United Nations panel monitoring religious equality expressed its alarm in August. Defending its record at the Human Rights Council in November, China brushed aside allegations of mass detentions and abuses as politically motivated, presenting its camps as vocational training centers designed to improve the economic prospects and living standards of Chinas minorities. China has sought to reinforce the official narrative this year by taking small groups of diplomats and journalists on carefully arranged visits to Xinjiang, but journalists trying to make independent visits have faced obstacles. The European Union said last week that a visit by three of its diplomats to sites carefully selected by the Chinese authorities had provided insight into Chinas official thinking, but does not invalidate the E.U.s view of the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including in relation to mass detention, political re-education, religious freedom and sinicization policies. With their call for an international investigation on Monday, the human rights groups sought to ratchet up pressure for action not only by the United Nations but also by its member states, including members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which remained conspicuously silent during Novembers review of Chinas record. NEW DELHI Rising temperatures in the Himalayas, home to most of the worlds tallest mountains, will melt at least one-third of the regions glaciers by the end of the century even if the worlds most ambitious climate change targets are met, according to a report released Monday. If those goals are not achieved, and global warming and greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rates, the Himalayas could lose two-thirds of its glaciers by 2100, according to the report, the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment. Under those more dire circumstances, the Himalayas could heat up by 8 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 degrees Celsius) by centurys end, bringing radical disruptions to food and water supplies, and mass population displacement. Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region, which spans over 2,000 miles of Asia, provide water resources to around a quarter of the worlds population. CARACAS, Venezuela The world is increasingly taking sides on who should be the rightful leader of Venezuela. On one side is President Nicolas Maduro, whose socialist government is seen as increasingly corrupt, inept and repressive. On the other is the opposition led by Juan Guaido, the 35-year-old National Assembly leader who declared himself interim president last month during a mass demonstration against the government. At least seven European countries threw their weight behind Mr. Guaido on Monday, raising pressure on Mr. Maduro. The crisis, years in the making, has left many of Venezuelas roughly 31 million people destitute and hungry, sent more than two million people into neighboring countries as refugees and created a new source of instability in Latin America. The outcome of the struggle will determine who controls not only Venezuelas government but also its proven oil reserves, which by some estimates are the worlds largest. Here are the basics on who is with Mr. Maduro, who has turned against him and what to expect in the next turbulent weeks: Mr. Maduro still has powerful backers at home and abroad. Russia in particular has propped up Mr. Maduros government with billions of dollars in loans, and Cuba has provided intelligence support. While Venezuelas poorest people may be suffering the most as the economy stagnates and institutions crumble, many remain loyal to Mr. Maduro as the heir to Hugo Chavez, the longtime socialist leader who commanded an enormous following. And one of Mr. Maduros firmest pillars of support, the military, remains officially on his side although critics say cracks are showing. In early January, the National Assembly labeled Mr. Maduro an illegitimate usurper, and on Jan. 23, Mr. Guaido, the leader of the assembly, had himself sworn in as interim president. A group of European countries had given Mr. Maduro until midnight Sunday to schedule a new, free and fair presidential election, and several explicitly warned that they would withdraw recognition if he did not. Mr. Maduro refused to order the new elections, and on Monday, the European countries followed through on the threat. Venezuelans have the right to express themselves freely and democratically, President Emmanuel Macron of France wrote on Twitter, adding that his government recognized Mr. Guaido as president in charge, to carry out elections. The British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said on Twitter that Mr. Guaido was being acknowledged as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held. WASHINGTON The voters of Utah and Idaho, two deeply Republican states, defied the will of their political leaders in November and voted to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Now those leaders are striking back, moving to roll back the expansions with encouragement, they say, from the Trump administration. Utahs ballot measure, approved with support from 53 percent of voters, would expand Medicaid to cover people with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level up to about $16,750 a year for an individual and pay the states share with a small increase of the sales tax. Under the ballot initiative, 150,000 people are expected to gain coverage, starting April 1. In Idaho, more than 60 percent of voters supported a ballot measure to expand Medicaid. But in both states, the Republican Legislatures are looking for ways to roll back those votes. The bill barreling through the Utah Legislature was an effort to override the will of the people, said Matthew Slonaker, the executive director of the Utah Health Policy Project, a nonprofit group that supported the full expansion of Medicaid. It will also be the first Trump State of the Union address with Representative Nancy Pelosi presiding as speaker. Ms. Pelosi, Democrat of California, an institutionalist and a stickler for decorum, is unlikely to look kindly on any outbursts from her members. She will introduce him as the president of the United States, released by custom from having to utter his name. Congress-watchers are already wondering what the dynamic will be like between her and Mr. Trump and what messages her body language and expressions will convey when she stands behind him, captured on television cameras, during the speech. That photograph is worth the price of admission, said Representative Gerald E. Connolly, Democrat of Virginia, who is bringing Amer Al-Mudallal, an Iraq-born chemist who was furloughed from the Environmental Protection Agency during the record-breaking shutdown, along with his wife. This is a president I cant even say he struggles with empathy; he lacks any signs of an empathic capacity to understand the suffering or plight of other people, Mr. Connolly said, adding, I want my guest to give witness, by virtue of being here, to the president that real human beings were negatively affected by your shutdown. Members of Congress each get one ticket to bring a guest to the State of the Union address; sometimes they invite family members, but more often they use their tickets to make a point. Addressing gun violence is high on the agendas of several Democrats. Representative Lucy McBath, Democrat of Georgia, whose son Jordan Davis, 17, was shot to death in 2012 by a man upset that he was playing loud music, is bringing Jeff Binkley, the father of Maura Binkley, 21, who was killed last year in a shooting at a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Fla. Representative Ted Deutch, Democrat of Florida, is bringing Manny Oliver, whose son Joaquin Oliver was killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., during the massacre there last year. Stacey Abramss defeat in the Georgia governors race was only a few weeks old when she arrived in New York in December to meet with campaign donors and political allies. At a reception in Manhattans Chelsea neighborhood, a supporter asked her what she would do next. Ms. Abrams, attendees recalled, said she was undecided, except on one point: She was determined to seek high office again. Since that meeting, Ms. Abramss next political moment has arrived with startling speed. She is set to give the Democratic response to President Trumps State of the Union address on Tuesday night, a task of extraordinary prominence and an unheard-of distinction for a candidate who fell short of victory in the midterms. But Ms. Abramss planned rebuttal to Mr. Trump is only one element of the role she is positioned to play in national politics: Democratic Party leaders are already imploring her to put her name back on the ballot, this time as a challenger to Senator David Perdue, a Georgia Republican who is loyally aligned with Mr. Trump. Democrats believe that by challenging Mr. Perdue in 2020, Ms. Abrams could help break the Republican Partys near-monopoly on Southern power in the Senate, and perhaps help make Georgia competitive in the presidential race. WASHINGTON The federal judiciary has built an imposing pay wall around its court filings, charging a preposterous 10 cents a page for electronic access to what are meant to be public records. A pending lawsuit could help tear that wall down. The costs of storing and transmitting data have plunged, approaching zero. By one estimate, the actual cost of retrieving court documents, including secure storage, is about one half of one ten-thousandth of a penny per page. But the federal judiciary charges a dime a page to use its service, called Pacer (for Public Access to Court Electronic Records). The National Veterans Legal Services Program and two other nonprofit groups filed a class action in 2016 seeking to recover what they said were systemic overcharges. Excessive Pacer fees inhibit public understanding of the courts and thwart equal access to justice, erecting a financial barrier that many ordinary citizens are unable to clear, they wrote. The suit accuses the judicial system of using the fees it charges as a kind of slush fund, spending the money to buy flat-screen televisions for jurors, to finance a study of the Mississippi court system and to send notices in bankruptcy proceedings. Posted Monday, February 4, 2019 9:59 am A woman survived 35 minutes underwater in her car in Everett because she had been trapped in an air pocket, allowing her to breathe, authorities said. Fire departments from Everett, Marysville, Lake Stevens and Snohomish County responded to the overturned vehicle in a ditch along Home Acres Road just after 5 a.m. Saturday. Photos from the scene show the front of the car was fully submerged in the mud and water while the back end was largely underwater, as well. Firefighters went into the water and were able to rescue the woman inside the car after 35 minutes of submersion, and took her to a local hospital, according to the Everett Fire Department. It's not clear how she ended up in the ditch. The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office is investigating. [Make sense of the people, issues and ideas shaping American politics with our newsletter.] Mr. Northam told his cabinet members that he wanted time to clear his name and would remain in office for now, according to a Democrat familiar with the meeting. And the governors chief of staff told other aides that they owed it to Mr. Northam to remain with him, at least for the moment, according to a second Democrat briefed on the conversation. Still, Mr. Northam was bracing for resignations from his cabinet, which his advisers expected to come before the end of the week. But a state that prides itself on its decorum was thrown into further chaos when Mr. Fairfax emphatically denied a womans claim that he had sexually assaulted her in 2004, and indicated that Mr. Northams allies were plotting against him to keep him from assuming the governors post if Mr. Northam resigned. Does anybody think its any coincidence that on the eve of potentially my being elevated that thats when this uncorroborated smear comes out? Mr. Fairfax told a group of reporters surrounding him in the rotunda of the State Capitol Monday afternoon, when asked whether Mr. Northam was responsible for the accusations becoming public. Speaking to reporters outside the Capitol on Monday evening, Mr. Fairfax adjusted his stance slightly, saying he had no indication that Mr. Northam himself was behind the publication of the sexual assault allegations but still decrying the sneaky tactics that he said were being employed against him. Then Mr. Fairfax shifted targets and hinted that Mayor Levar Stoney of Richmond, a would-be rival to the lieutenant governor for the 2021 Democratic nomination for governor, may have played a role praising the acumen of a reporter who inquired whether Mr. Stoney might have been responsible. Asked if he had any involvement in leaking the claims of assault, which first surfaced Sunday night on a right-wing website, Mr. Stoney said, The insinuation is 100 percent not true, and frankly its offensive. A small plane crashed into a Southern California home on Sunday, killing five people, injuring two others and spraying debris across several residential blocks that temporarily became a site of chaos. The crash, which occurred around 2 p.m., killed four people inside the Yorba Linda home two men and two women as well as the planes male pilot, Lt. Cory Martino of the Orange County Sheriffs Department said at a news conference on Sunday. Officials said the pilot had been the only person on the aircraft; the relationship between the four people inside the home was not clear. An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, Eliott Simpson, said the plane left Fullerton Airport at 1:35 p.m. It traveled about 10 miles and had climbed to about 7,800 feet, he said, before making a rapid descent into Yorba Linda, a sleepy suburban city 10 miles northeast of Disneyland. On Monday, the authorities identified the pilot as Antonio Pastini, 75, of Gardnerville, Nev. a retired Chicago police officer. They did not release the names of the four other people who were killed or disclose the exact cause of their deaths. Mr. Greenspan defended the deal by saying his company was forcing law enforcement agencies to be transparent, unlike other DNA testing companies. Law enforcement has the ability to test DNA samples from crime scenes and upload the results into databases, like any other customer can, and it appears they have been doing it at other companies for the past year, he said. The distinction is that, according to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, we expect the FBI and law enforcement agencies to let us know when they submit something to our database. A company spokesman said late Monday that the F.B.I. is only able to see other DNA profiles on FamilyTreeDNA that share some of the same genetic profile. Users can disable the matching option in their account settings, which would prevent the F.B.I., as well as ordinary users, from seeing their information, the spokesman said. Unless a valid court order is issued, such as a subpoena or search warrant, with which FamilyTreeDNA would have no choice but to comply, there is no difference in the level of database access provided to law enforcement than to an ordinary user of FamilyTreeDNA, the spokesman, Patrick W. Murphy, said in an email. The F.B.I. declined to comment. After Buzzfeed reported on the arrangement, genealogists revolted. Some discussed creating a petition to encourage FamilyTreeDNA to reverse its decision, while others threatened to delete their profiles. Not being upfront about what it wanted to do and quietly changing its terms with no notice to current customers is a big no no, Rachel King, the founder of Toll Genealogy, a resource for genealogists, said in an email. At the end of the day, this is valuable work. Anything that helps put a name to unidentified body, potentially enabling their loved ones to finally know what happened to them, is a good thing. More than 15 million people have submitted their DNA to companies like FamilyTreeDNA in recent years. While they represent a small fraction of all people, the pool of profiles is large enough to allow 60 percent of white Americans the primary users of DNA sites in the United States to be identified through the databases, according to researchers. But there has been progress in the fight against some other major killers. Ashish Jha, a physician with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said there have been major drops in the mortality of children under 5 (down more than 50 percent in the last three decades), and he pointed to other encouraging advancements: the halving of deaths of women at childbirth significant decreases in death from malaria a turnaround in the H.I.V. epidemic increased life expectancy in every country Funding science research has led to new therapies, and global funding programs like Pepfar in the United States have made those medicines widely available, Dr. Jha said. Pepfar, begun under the administration of George W. Bush to combat the H.I.V. epidemic, says it has saved more than 16 million lives, primarily in Africa. Establishing regional organizations to respond to outbreaks is also important, as the 2014 to 2015 West African Ebola epidemic taught us, said Peter Piot, a physician and director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The introduction of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2017 marks an important step toward strengthening capacity and preparedness across the continent, he said. Some investments may not even seem to focus on health. Dr. Jha singled out girls education as the thing hed invest in first. Beyond its big effects on economic prosperity, it also leads to smaller family sizes, lower infant mortality, more stable families and communities, and likely lower levels of disease burdens like H.I.V. Improving health care systems can be crucial. Shoddy ones can actually cause harm never mind failing to heal the sick. A 2012 study in Health Affairs showed that in rural areas of India, two-thirds of health professionals had no medical qualifications whatsoever. Incorrect diagnoses and treatments were more common than correct ones. Prabal Gurung, a New York-based fashion designer, was born in Singapore and raised in Nepal. He has also lived in India both Delhi and Bombay London and Australia. A life spent traveling to the far reaches of the globe has influenced not only his brands philosophy but its aesthetics as well. Mr. Gurungs politics are woven into the fabric of his label. He consistently considers diversity when casting the models who appear in his fashion shows, in advertising campaigns and on his website. And though his luxury womens wear is a red-carpet favorite, he has also collaborated on a collection with Lane Bryant, a plus-size retailer. He makes statements with the clothes he sells, producing T-shirts emblazoned with phrases like I am an immigrant, Girls just want to have fundamental rights, and We will not be silenced. And he has been outspoken in what he sees as the need for the fashion industry to take sexual assault more seriously. In 2011, Mr. Gurung, 39, and his siblings started the Shikshya Foundation Nepal, which financially supports the efforts of local organizations providing education to underserved children. What is a person of principle to do when the ruler he serves is consumed with reckless vanity? For Sir Thomas More, the sharp-witted chancellor at the center of Robert Bolts A Man for All Seasons, there is no question of following along. Even when hes sent to the Tower, his life in peril, he remains a quietly intransigent dissenter to the rampaging egomania of King Henry VIII. This is not the stuff of which martyrs are made, More says of himself to his wife, Lady Alice. But hell prove that assurance wrong, and when he does in Christa Scott-Reeds fitful production in the Acorn Theater at Theater Row the forced sundering of their bond will genuinely sting. With Michael Countryman as a mild, sweet More and Carolyn McCormick as a fiery, steely Alice, the fond tenderness between them is the anchor of the play. The king (Trent Dawson) is not that kind of husband, of course. Hes determined to trade his queen for a newer model, and if that means breaking with the pope and declaring himself the head of a new church, so be it. Viewing this course as a violation of divine law, More refuses to endorse it and is charged with treason. A Man for All Seasons won the Tony Award for best play in 1962, and its revival by Fellowship for Performing Arts would appear to be well timed. Mr. Bolts text ponders issues that gain urgency in any politically tumultuous moment: the conscience and courage of the powerful, and the impact of ordinary people. (The narrator, played too heavy-handedly by Harry Bouvy, is called the Common Man.) The north magnetic pole is restless. Distinct from the geographic North Pole, where all the lines of longitude meet at the top of the world, the magnetic pole is the point that a compass recognizes as north. At the moment, its located four degrees south of the geographic North Pole, which lies in the Arctic Ocean at 90 degrees north. But that wasnt always the case. In the mid-19th century, the north magnetic pole floated much further south, roaming around Canada. For the past 150 years, however, the pole has been sprinting away from Canada and toward Siberia. That change of address cannot be ignored, given that magnetic compasses still underpin modern navigation, from the systems used by civilian and military airplanes to those that orient your iPhone. In 1965, scientists launched a data-based, mathematical representation of Earths magnetic field in order to better keep track of the poles ever-changing home. The World Magnetic Model is updated every five years most recently in 2015 because the magnetic field is constantly shifting. President Vladimir Putin of Russia celebrated the New Year by having an American tourist, Paul Whelan, arrested as a spy. Mr. Whelan was in Moscow to attend a wedding. But Mr. Putin needed a hostage as a potential trade for a Russian woman with Kremlin connections Maria Butina, who had pleaded guilty of conspiring with a Russian official to establish unofficial lines of communication with Americans having power and influence over U.S. politics. So Mr. Putin grabbed Mr. Whelan, who has not been released. Of course Mr. Putin did that. Ive known him since the early 1990s. As a businessman in St. Petersburg, I spent scores of hours with Volodya, as he was known in those days, while he was the citys deputy mayor. He sat in my headquarters on Stone Island as we conversed, in the almost-perfect German he likes to speak, over beer and Bavarian food. My trust in those early days was based on the fact that he acted rationally and appeared to be sincere in his interest in St. Petersburg. He didnt take bribes, but he did cover for those who did, including his bosses Mayor Anatoly Sobchak and later President Boris Yeltsin. Mr. Putin signed the registration papers for my security company and personally registered them. He advised and counseled me. He helped me expand my business. And at his request, I built, trained and equipped St. Petersburgs first Western-style K.G.B. SWAT team, in preparation for the 1994 Goodwill Games there. From our conversations in 1992, I realized that Mr. Putin understood that it was not the West, but the Soviet socialist system that was responsible for the social and economic downfall of the Soviet Union. Indeed, when we spoke about my native Germany, there was every indication that he had accepted German reunification as inevitable once the Berlin Wall came down. It was after he became president in 2000 that he worried increasingly about Russias political and economic failures and bemoaned a lack of what he considered proper respect from the West and turned Russia inward with ideology and religion as tools. For me, a different moment of change came in 1996, when my company and the headquarters in which Id invested more than $1 million was expropriated by President Yeltsin. Volodya shrugged and told me there was nothing he could to do to help. And I began watching him metamorphose from a minor bureaucrat into the authoritarian four-times-elected president of Russia. I can tell you the Mr. Putin that Americans read about today is nothing like either the Mr. Putin I knew at first or the one I know now. To the Editor: Like many, I believe that Gov. Ralph Northam needs to step down the sooner the better. Similarly, so should Representative Steve King, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and President Trump, to name a few. The outrage about this Northam matter on the part of the Republicans is so glaringly hypocritical. He (like Al Franken) will leave, and Republicans will continue to enable their own to escape similar scrutiny and action to remove them from office for their own despicable behavior. Jane Carlin Stamford, Conn. To the Editor: Gov . Ralph Northam lacks any credibility. First, he apologized for being either the Klansman figure or the student in blackface shown on his Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page. Then he claimed upon closer examination that he was neither. Mr. Northam went on to say he never purchased or viewed his graduation yearbook until this issue came to light several days ago . Is it credible to believe that no classmate ever brought his yearbook page photo to his attention? If Mr. Northam were a Republican, he would have been political roadkill and would have already resigned. Let us see if Democrats practice what they preach. Larry Penner Great Neck, N.Y. To the Editor: Why would a professional school allow such pictures to be posted in the yearbook representing its graduates? [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] In January, a sleeping rider was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver on New York Citys subway. A month before that, a police officer fended off five homeless men who attacked him on a train platform. And on Sunday afternoon, a man was fatally shot at a subway station in Queens, the first recorded murder on the system in six months. The subway has come a long way since the dark days of the 1980s and 1990s when violence was rampant and riders felt constant dread. The system has become very safe, with just one murder on the subway last year compared with 26 in 1990. But lately, riders are starting to feel less safe on the subway, a belief that is often reinforced by a flood of complaints about the transit system, doled out in real time on social media. The shooting in Queens on Sunday was captured on Twitter in a graphic video showing a struggle between several men who had stepped out of a southbound 7 train at the 90th Street-Elmhurst Avenue station around 12:45 p.m. Posted Monday, February 4, 2019 9:46 am An Oregon girl killed in a wreck on Interstate 5 in Olympia was 16, according to updated information released late Saturday by the Washington State Patrol about the crash. Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock said Sunday he expects to release the girl's name on Monday. He wants to give the girl's immediately family more time to contact other family members about what happened. About 1:45 p.m. Saturday, a 40-year-old Poulsbo man was headed north on I-5 in a Ford Focus when he crashed into a Nissan Altima. The Altima, according to the state patrol, had stopped behind a disabled vehicle on the right shoulder of northbound I-5 near milepost 107. After the collision, the Ford Focus rolled and came to a stop in lanes one and four. The Altima came to a stop in lane one. A Hermiston, Oregon, family, including the 16-year-old girl, was in the Nissan. She died at the scene, according to the state patrol. A 42-year-old woman was injured and taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital. The 48-year-old man driving the car was not injured and neither was a 14-year-old boy. The Poulsbo man also was injured and so was his passenger: An eight-year-old Shelton girl. Both were taken to Providence. The Poulsbo man faces possible charges of vehicular homicide and reckless endangerment. Although suspected of being impaired, information released late Saturday said whether drugs or alcohol were involved was an unknown. Northbound traffic was delayed for more than three hours on Saturday. But though the crime rate in the subways remains much lower than it was in the 1980s and 90s, a story by my colleagues Emma Fitzsimmons and Edgar Sandoval found that many riders are concerned that crime and disorder may be heading in the wrong direction. [Read their story about the uptick in subway crime.] A retired legal secretary said that when she takes the train, she makes sure theres nothing valuable in her purse. A woman in Brooklyn said she accompanies her 10-year-old grandson on the subway, for security. Even an M.T.A. dispatcher, Lora Hinds, said she takes precautions. She avoids wearing jewelry on the trains, and, she said, I try not to travel at night if I dont have to. For longtime residents, the subways are much safer than they used to be. Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller, said that when he was growing up, the A train was a rolling crime scene. Hardly anyone would describe it like that today. Still, transit crimes were up 3.8 percent last year, and have been increasing since 2014. And a series of high profile incidents including video of a police officer fighting several men in a subway in December has brought more attention to the issue. Walking in the Rain Dear Diary: On weekends, I try to allow extra time to get from Queens to Manhattan by subway. But on this particular day I had not realized how far I would have to walk from the station to the West Village theater where I was going. It began to pour as I started across town. I had neither an umbrella nor a rain hat and was holding a magazine over my small wool hat to try to keep myself dry. As I approached Seventh Avenue, I decided to double-check that I was headed in the right direction so I wouldnt go out of my way so close to curtain time. I stopped a man walking toward me, pointed in what I thought was the direction of Christopher Street and asked for confirmation. [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] The crisis at a troubled Brooklyn federal jail has drawn the attention of more than a half-dozen judges, with one planning to tour the jail on Tuesday to investigate complaints of freezing temperatures and darkness that followed a heating system breakdown and power failure in the facility. Another judge ordered the jail, known as the Metropolitan Detention Center, to allow inmates to begin meeting with their lawyers. Legal visits were canceled last week, leading to claims that inmates constitutional rights to counsel were being violated. At least four other federal judges, in Brooklyn and Manhattan, were said to be calling hearings to examine complaints of deteriorating conditions at the jail, which holds more than 1,600 federal inmates, most of whom are awaiting trial and have not been convicted of a crime. The judges concerns came after reports that inmates had been locked down in frigid and dark cells, huddling under blankets, in the jail, which sits along the waterfront in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. [Update: Amazon said that it was canceling plans to build a corporate campus in New York City.] Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and newly emboldened Democrats in the State Senate appeared headed for open warfare on Monday over a plan to bring Amazon to New York City after the Senate leader named a critic of the $3 billion deal to a state board that could scuttle it. The decision to choose the critic, Senator Michael Gianaris, for the board immediately presented a direct political challenge for Mr. Cuomo who must decide whether to refuse the Senates selection. And it demonstrated the ability of the Democrat-led State Legislature to call into question the governors control over the kinds of state boards that, in recent years, he had been mostly able to bend to his will. In November, Democrats reclaimed control of the Assembly and the Senate for the first time in a decade, radically shifting the dynamics of power in Albany and making it easier for the Legislature to resist Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat. The governor can no longer point to Republicans to avoid legislation he disliked, or use the G.O.P. majority in the Senate as leverage with recalcitrant members of his own party. Mr. Cuomo could reject the pick, though doing so could create a protracted standoff with the Senate leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and her fellow Democrats. Already, the battle lines were hardening on Monday as Mr. Cuomos office reacted angrily to Mr. Gianariss appointment. Fashion may be a sprawling global industry but in many ways it can feel a lot like a high school, with its own cliques, pecking order, hangouts and cafeteria. For years, the last role has been played in Paris by LAvenue, a brasserie on Avenue Montaigne cater-corner from Diors warren of dove gray salons and just down the street from the headquarters of Diors parent company, Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and the star-magnet hotel that is the Plaza Athenee. Run by the Costes family, owners of the Beaumarly hospitality group, it has made something of an art out of catering to the style/celebrity industrial complex in the sort of offhand way that requires enormous amounts of care and concentration. Go for tea and look, Sidney Toledano, head of the LVMH Fashion Group! Head upstairs to the bathroom and hey, the supermodel Joan Smalls! Turn your head and oh, Delphine Arnault, executive vice president of Louis Vuitton and LVMH heir. Order a spritz and hello, Rihanna. And now LAvenue has come to New York. In November 2016, when the cookbook author Yasmin Khan returned to her home in London after the olive harvest in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, she faced a problem: No matter how strenuously she tried, she could not write. Her manuscript for a book on Palestinian cooking was due the next spring. But images of the Israeli military checkpoints and soldiers shed seen throughout her travels in the West Bank and Gaza crowded her head. As a writer, she felt uncharacteristically timid, fighting an impulse to self-censor before her words reached the page. I felt really disturbed by what I saw, she recalled recently in New York. I also felt , What on earth am I doing, writing a cookbook? Isnt this really frivolous? She worked through the impasse by revisiting the writing of Anthony Bourdain, whose bracing words energized her. She gave herself a pep talk: Stop trying to sanitize, or make something pretty, when its painful. We now return you to your regular Wine School programming. No place is more famous for its nebbiolo wines than the Langhe in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, home to Barolo and Barbaresco. But the Langhe is far from the only place in which nebbiolo prospers. To the north, in the foothills of the Alps, nebbiolo makes wonderful wines in appellations like Ghemme, Gattinara, Bramaterra and Carema, reminiscent of Barolo and Barbaresco but distinctive as well. East of the Piedmont in Lombardy, northeast of Milan almost at the Swiss border, is Valtellina, where nebbiolo, known there locally as chiavennasca, makes remarkable wines. Valtellina is also Alpine, but the grapes are planted on south-facing slopes that trap the sunlight, which helps them ripen sufficiently to make rich wines. This month we will explore Valtellina. Just a reminder: I will suggest three bottles. You find one or more to drink over the course of the month, with food and company, noting your reactions to the wines in the comments. We will regroup next month to discuss them. Want climate news in your inbox? Sign up here for Climate Fwd:, our email newsletter. WASHINGTON President Trump on Monday announced he would nominate David Bernhardt, a former oil lobbyist and current deputy chief of the Interior Department, to succeed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who resigned amid allegations of ethical missteps. In a message on Twitter, Mr. Trump wrote, David has done a fantastic job from the day he arrived, and we look forward to having his nomination officially confirmed! While Mr. Zinke had been the public face of some of the largest rollbacks of public-land protections in the nations history, Mr. Bernhardt was the one quietly pulling the levers to carry them out, opening millions of acres of land and water to oil, gas and coal companies. He is described by allies and opponents alike as having played a crucial role in advancing what Mr. Trump has described as an energy dominance agenda for the country. Bernhardt has really been running the show, directing the policy shop in a very strong way, said Mark Squillace, an expert on environmental law at the University of Colorado Law School. Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and more than 100 other newspapers across nearly three dozen states, rejected a hostile takeover bid from a hedge fund-backed newspaper group on Monday, kicking off a battle for shareholder votes to determine the future of the company. In a statement, Gannetts board said it had turned down a $1.3 billion buyout offer, or $12 per share, from MNG Enterprises, which is controlled by the New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital. It concluded that the proposal undervalues Gannett and is not in the best interests of Gannett and its shareholders and called it not credible. The bid was made last month, amid a hollowing out of local newspapers across the country. Broader shifts in the media industry have devastated smaller publications over the past decade, with many closing and others reducing newsroom staffs and the number of times a week they are printed. Gannett recently laid off workers and has been steadily reducing its work force since 2015, when its television stations were cleaved into a separate company. If MNG purchased Gannett, it would create the largest newspaper publisher in the nation, adding Gannetts lineup to a stable of 200 papers that include The Denver Post and The San Jose Mercury News. But media watchers have worried how such a merger could affect the already weakened local media landscape. Critics have derided Alden as a destroyer of newspapers, prone to savage layoffs and one of the most ruthless of the corporate strip miners seemingly intent on destroying local journalism. If youre concerned about the nutritional value of your beer and none of it is particularly healthy theres no need to focus on the sugars used during fermentation. You can just look at the label: The main considerations are the alcohol content and the final carbohydrate content. If a beer company were to add corn syrup to the finished product, after the fermentation process, it would potentially be cause for concern, Dr. Ludwig said. Sugary beverages and too many processed carbohydrates are a major problem with the food supply, he said, and they promote weight gain while also increasing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. High-fructose corn syrup, a sweeter variant that is commonly added to processed food and beverages, has often been linked to obesity. Health professionals tend to suggest that there is little evidence high-fructose corn syrup is less healthy than other artificial sweeteners, but that most people would benefit by cutting down on it along with all other forms of sugar. (Corn syrup is made entirely of glucose, while both high-fructose corn syrup and white sugar contain glucose and fructose.) While Bud Light sought to portray corn syrup as a nutritional boogeyman, several beverages produced by its parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, use corn syrup, including Bud Ice, Natural Ice and Rolling Rock, according to the companys nutritional data. MillerCoors, which makes Miller Lite and Coors Light, volleyed back on Twitter, shifting the focus from corn syrup to high-fructose corn syrup. It wrote that it was proud that none of our products include any high fructose corn syrup, while a number of Anheuser-Busch products do. Get the DealBook newsletter to make sense of major business and policy headlines and the power-brokers who shape them. __________ It is unusual for American criminal laws to be used as tools of global trade policy. But that is what has happened these past few months, as the United States has confronted Chinese companies accused of stealing technology and violating economic sanctions laws. At the center of the controversy: Huawei. The Justice Department has unsealed two indictments against the Chinese technology company and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. Both are accused of a long-running scheme to steal trade secrets and conduct business with Iranian companies in violation of economic sanctions against the country. But can the Justice Department actually obtain convictions that will dissuade Chinese companies from stealing intellectual property? Bond investors are receiving almost nothing for their money, and the situation is getting worse and worse, he said. But theyve gotten used to it. They dont realize how bad it is. And before they know it, well, theyll be cooked. His utterances in those days often moved markets, and his early-morning yoga ritual at Newport Beach, Calif., was widely chronicled. Early in his tenure at Pimco, Mr. Gross was known as a skillful bond trader who pioneered the use of mathematical models to eke out steady profits. He also gained fame as an analyst of broad economic trends, which he used to inform the firms investment strategy. He had a homespun style that he used in books aimed at a popular audience, like Everything Youve Heard About Investing Is Wrong!: How to Profit in the Coming Post-Bull Markets. In that 1997 book, he said the solid returns produced by bonds would shield investors from the disappointments of the busts that inevitably followed boom markets in stocks. But Mr. Gross has not been a dominant figure in finance since he was forced out of Pimco amid accusations that he had mismanaged the firm, where he was a co-chief investment officer. Mr. Gross and Pimco settled a lawsuit over the dispute in 2017. Australia: After weeks of unrelenting heat, record-breaking rain and catastrophic floods in the northern part of the country have forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes. The downpour forced open the floodgates of a nearby dam and some residents reported seeing snakes and crocodiles roaming the streets. Pope Francis in Abu Dhabi: In exceptionally candid remarks on the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula, Francis lamented the fateful consequences of war in Yemen and urged the Persian Gulf region to extend citizenship rights to religious minorities, a group that includes Christians. State of the Union: As President Trump prepares to deliver his second address on Tuesday night in Washington, our fact check looks at his progress on the promises he made last year. Missing plane found: Video footage of the aircraft, which was carrying the Argentine soccer star Emiliano Sala before it crashed in the English Channel, showed the body of one of the victims and the planes registration number. The north magnetic pole: The point on Earth that helps compasses determine direction is constantly shifting, thanks to the liquid iron sloshing within our planets outer core. Its accelerating movement toward Siberia has rendered navigation systems incorrect, but a new World Magnetic Model should fix the problem. AN INDEFINITE SENTENCE A Personal History of Outlawed Love and Sex By Siddharth Dube In 1988, when Siddharth Dube was a deeply in love 26-year-old, the majority of gay men in India concealed their sexual orientation. A colonial-era law, Section 377, criminalized homosexuality, which was defined as an unnatural offense. To protect themselves from arrest, many gay men socialized in public parks and toilets under the cover of darkness. As an Americanized journalist just in from New York, Dube was often shielded from the accumulation of traumas that defined the lives of others. With his partner, a Parisian Bharatanatyam dancer, the cool Delhi nights passed in idyllic fashion. Until the night the police called them in. The man sitting behind the desk in the muddy-brown uniform of the Delhi police looked at me with such aggressive loathing, Dube writes in An Indefinite Sentence, his heart-stopping memoir of being gay in India and the world. I thought, momentarily, that he had mistaken me for someone else. He burst out angrily, almost as if in a rage. You are a homo! You have naked men dancing at your house, exposing themselves. Go back to America! If you want to live here, you will live as an Indian, not like an American! Dube fled. A scholarship at Harvard put him on the path to a career in global health policy, with a special focus on AIDS. In every way, this was a disease about me, he explains. This virus that was intertwined with our essential human longing for sex and love, and with being outlawed, shamed and persecuted. From that distance it was easier to assess the things beautiful and terrible that had defined life in India. There was the magical childhood in Calcutta with loving parents, private yoga lessons and bedtime stories. But then, from the age of 11, there were the seven years at the Doon School, the elite public school in the Himalayan foothills, where sexual abuse by older students flourished and headmasters cruelly advised victims to become tougher. It speaks to the authors transcendental capacity for forgiveness that he was later able to harness the memories of his abuse into fighting for the human rights of others. My own suffering seemed less random and unfair, he writes, now that I could see so many other people who had also been wrongfully cast out by society. That autism explodes the conventional American nuclear family narrative makes it irresistible as a metaphor for the stresses of life under late-stage capitalism. In Helen Schulmans A Day at the Beach (2007), a wealthy Manhattan couple navigate the worst day of their lives: the 9/11 disaster, which causes them to flee their swank downtown home (to the Hamptons) and strains their marriage already at the breaking point owing to a son who shows clear signs of autism. In Gary Shteyngarts Lake Success (2018), a sons autism diagnosis similarly destroys an elite Manhattan familys dreams. The high-living protagonist leaves the scene of an altercation with his wife and nanny over his son and heads straight to the Greyhound station to start a picaresque journey to the other end of the country a journey in search of an old girlfriend and, one surmises, an autism-less American dream. Like TB and cancer before it, autism can accumulate moral weight. In Louise Erdrichs Four Souls (2004), a white settler who has despoiled the Minnesota pine forests and cheated its Ojibwe inhabitants subsequently endures the immolation of his business empire as well as the birth of a son with vacant eyes, the very picture of idiocy, who makes hideous sounds and cannot be soothed out of his gross repetition. Here is the transfiguration of a neurobiological disease into one that lays waste to the mind, taking along with it all the qualities that make us human. In Lake Success, the protagonist eventually returns home to his son, and just as Little Evas beautiful tubercular fade in Uncle Toms Cabin spurs her father to promise to free his slaves in Shteyngarts novel, autism becomes a vehicle for the fathers spiritual growth. I ask myself why using autism the way these books do feels wrong. As a child who was disappointed to find the only Asian characters in any book in the library to be the Japanese-American family in Farewell to Manzanar, I am acutely aware of the importance of feeling represented in literature. And yet, when it comes to autism appearing in literary fiction, I instinctively feel a need to protect my son from these portrayals. Hes not an Ojibwe curse, a savant or an alien. Nor is he an emotionless cipher with no inner life. As a writer, I understand the absurdity of trying to place restrictions on what can and cant be written about. Keats defined negative capability as an artists ability to transmute an experience or idea into art even if she hasnt experienced it herself; without it, wed have no historical fiction, no Madame Bovary, no Martian Chronicles. The crux of the issue is that with autism there is often, not metaphorically but literally, a lack of voice, which renders the person a tabula rasa on which a writer can inscribe and project almost anything: Autism is a gift, a curse, super intelligence, mental retardation, mystical, repellent, morally edifying, a parents worst nightmare. As a writer, I say go ahead and write what you want. As a parent, I find this terrifying, given the way neurotypical people project false motives and feelings onto the actions of others every day. With this divided consciousness, I am endlessly appreciative of The Reason I Jump (2013), a book by Naoki Higashida, a Japanese man with autism who is nonverbal and beset by behaviors that would, by conventional standards, cause him to be labeled, like my son, low-functioning. Higashidas mother created a special alphabet grid that eventually allowed her son to communicate by pointing. While still a teenager, he wrote The Reason I Jump, describing what it feels like to have autism. Some of the adult mummies still had painted fragments of cartonnage at the base of their feet which were used for decoration and, in the Ptolemaic era, were made of old papyrus scrolls. Some of the children were wrapped in linen decorated with ancient Egyptian script. The ministry also displayed bowls and other items and found family artifacts from the Roman and Byzantine eras. The site was excavated by the ministry and archaeologists from nearby Minya University. Wagdi Ramadan, who the ministry said headed the mission, said Saturday that some of the sarcophagi were tucked into niches in one large chamber, a burial style common at Tuna el-Gebel. Bodies were encased in wooden or stone sarcophagi, while others were tucked in sand or laid on the floor, wrapped in linen. The tomb was first discovered in February 2018 and, according to Dr. El-Enany, the first announced discovery this year. He said he expected to announce more finds in the coming months. The actor Liam Neeson said in an interview with a British newspaper last month that he once spent a week walking the streets with a club looking for a black man to kill after a woman close to him was raped by someone she said was black. She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way, Mr. Neeson said of the episode, which he said happened years ago. But my immediate reaction was, did she know who it was? No. What color were they? She said it was a black person. I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping Id be approached by somebody, the Northern Ireland-born Mr. Neeson said, using a British word that describes a clublike weapon. Im ashamed to say that, and I did it for maybe a week hoping some black bastard would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him. Mr. Neeson made the comments, which were published in The Independent on Monday with an audio recording of the interview, during a press event to promote his new film, Cold Pursuit. The remarks were immediately met with public outrage. A boat smuggling Haitian migrants has sunk off the Bahamas, leaving at least 28 dead and 17 others in police custody, officials said on Sunday. Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Rolle of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force said that residents of the island of Abaco had found four bodies and at least 15 survivors off the Bahamian coast on Saturday, The Associated Press reported. Mr. Rolle said the ship appeared to be an American vessel engaged in people-smuggling. By Sunday afternoon, local forces and the United States Coast Guard had found 28 bodies in and around a sunken ship, The A.P. said. The number of total rescued had risen to 17. The boats final destination was unclear. The American Embassy in Haiti described the accident in a tweet early on Monday morning as another tragic loss of life and said the vessel had been trafficking people out of Haiti. His success would be all the more remarkable considering the scrappy operation Mr. Guaido and his allies have mounted, seemingly overnight, to take down a heavily armed authoritarian government whose leaders stand accused of turning the state into a vast criminal enterprise. As he tries to rally domestic and international backing, Mr. Guaido has been crisscrossing Caracas with minimal security, at times weaving through traffic on the back of a motorcycle. He fields the calls from world leaders, as well as diplomats and Venezuelan politicians, on a cellphone that gets a torrent of text messages, and his phones battery seems always on the verge of dying. If his sudden rise has been overwhelming, Mr. Guaido shows no sign of feeling frazzled. His demeanor is calm as a volunteer team of aides dart around him frantically. The only outward sign that this tumultuous new life is getting to Mr. Guaido is the hoarseness in his voice. At night, when he stops taking calls and visits, Mr. Guaido said, he has no trouble falling asleep. I sleep placidly, Mr. Guaido said in an interview as his car stealthily moved through Caracas traffic, adding that he had learned to sleep soundly under trying conditions when he and other opposition leaders staged a 15-day hunger strike in 2015, sleeping on cots on the street, to pressure the government to set a date for legislative elections. Its an advantage. But Mr. Guaido realizes the path hes on is full of hazards. Opposition leaders had hoped that when Mr. Guaido proclaimed himself the countrys legitimate leader at a huge street rally, the chiefs of the armed forces would turn on Mr. Maduro in short order. While there have been a handful of high-profile defections, the top military brass has publicly rallied behind Mr. Maduro, which may portend a protracted standoff. New rules for automakers in the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement would require automakers to eventually produce 75 percent up from 62.5 percent of a vehicles content in North America to qualify for zero tariffs. But the deal still awaits congressional ratification. And the changes would do little to encourage investment in the United States since most vehicles are going to be able to get over those new thresholds pretty easily, said Kristin Dziczek, vice president for industry, labor and economics at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. Even if the administration raised tariffs on foreign car imports, spurring investment in the United States, automakers would still be mindful of the volatility of Mr. Trumps trade policies and investment would sit on the sidelines, Ms. Dziczek said. Employment in the auto industry has increased slightly under Mr. Trumps watch, to about one million in November 2018 from 955,800 in January 2017. The number of vehicles manufactured in the United States has continued to decline, even after a slight uptick last summer. According to the Reshoring Initiative, announcements to increase investment or move companies back to the United States peaked in 2016. The promise We will work to fix bad trade deals and negotiate new ones. And we will protect American workers and American intellectual property, through strong enforcement of our trade rules. Status: Fulfilled. Mr. Trump has renegotiated Nafta and a bilateral trade deal with South Korea. While the changes to the South Korea agreement were modest, the revised Nafta strengthens intellectual property rights in Canada. An investigation into Chinas trade practices concluded that Beijing had, among other unfair trade practices, violated American intellectual property rights. As a result, the Trump administration imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese products. The two sides are in talks over a trade deal to resolve the dispute. Health care The promise People who are terminally ill should not have to go from country to country to seek a cure I want to give them a chance right here at home. It is time for the Congress to give these wonderful Americans the right to try. Status: Fulfilled. Mr. Trump signed Right to Try legislation into law in May, allowing terminally ill patients to seek access to experimental medicine that is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. A similar program known as compassionate use, or expanded access, has been in place since the 1970s, and the F.D.A. says it authorizes 99 percent of the requests it receives. The new law allows patients, with the approval of their doctor, to ask drug companies directly for access, rather than wait for approval by the agency. 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. What can a remote outpost tell us about how the U.S. got pulled so deep into Syrias war? The answer might be easiest to understand if we start out small. In March of 2016 a series of victories in a desolate patch of the Syrian desert. A band of rebels captures a border crossing. And then they move and capture a rectangular compound thats been in the hands of the Islamic State. Now, like a lot of forces in Syria, big and small, these guys want to be known. Theyd sent out promotional videos. Theyd made the TV news. Theyd even made a YouTube page, and asked visitors to subscribe, to follow along while they go fight ISIS. But all these videos, they tell us something else. American weapon. American weapon. American weapon. And all this propaganda? Behind the scenes are coalition advisers. Theyre coaching the rebels with how to introduce themselves to the world. Theyre backing the rebels because, at the time, this was part of Americas big plan for defeating the Islamic State in Syria: Train and equip local rebels to do the fighting. We will advise, and we will assist. These rebels are called the New Syrian Army. And that compound they captured? That rectangle in the desert? It turned into a small military base called Al-Tanf. Thats far away from all other U.S. and coalition bases in Syria. In the years to come, the base will be attacked by ISIS, threatened by Iranian proxies and become the subject of Russian conspiracy theories. This base will illustrate how it can be easy to get involved in a war This is a transnational long-term threat. but much harder to get out of one. Senator, that would have to be provided in a different setting. Wait a minute. Why cant you Wait. Wait a minute. How the mission can change in unexpected ways. But the original mission, of course, was to defeat the Islamic State. The choice of Al-Tanf as a base was a good one. Right off the bat, the rebels build a couple walls. And this gives them control of a major road. That lets them disrupt the Islamic States ability to move between Syria and Iraq, and to stop them from entering Jordan, which is an important American ally. But the rebels main objective is to use Al-Tanf as a staging ground to seize the region back from ISIS. In their first year, the rebels have some failures and they have some successes. American and coalition soldiers are there with them doing the training. The rebels managed to recapture a good amount of land, along with other rebel groups in the area. Thats seen in blue. But heres where Al-Tanf is forced to take on an entirely new, entirely unexpected role, an example of Americas expanding mission in Syria Iran. See, when the American-backed rebels capture land from ISIS remember, that was their original mission theyre also capturing land that President Bashar al-Assad wants back, after losing it earlier in the civil war that began in 2011. So the regimes coming after them, like it or not. Irans been supporting the regime, and has its own reasons for wanting control of this rebel area. See this road that Al-Tanfs on? It leads all the way to Iran. Iran wants to be the dominant player in the region. Do you think it wants a little U.S. base blocking a valuable supply route that carries Iranian influence and materiel all the way to the Mediterranean? No. So in the spring of 2017, the Syrian army and Iranian-backed militias decide to take the region back with an offensive. Their objective is to reach the Jordanian and Iraqi borders. In the way is Al-Tanf. And by this time, the U.S. has established a protective circle around the base thats called a deconfliction zone. Basically, it means cross into that circle uninvited and you risk an American attack. But the pro-regime forces advance anyway. The Americans strike, saying its in self-defense. [explosion] These videos claim to show the strikes on pro-regime forces. [Arabic shouting, in reaction to blast] Then the Americans drop leaflets warning the oncoming forces to stay away from the deconfliction zone. But they keep coming. [explosion] And the U.S. keeps striking. And heres where our story comes to a pivotal moment that shows just how messy it can be when you get involved in a civil war. The U.S. told the world that it was in Syria to fight the Islamic State. Tonight, on my orders, Americas armed forces began strikes against ISIL targets in Syria. And now, its attacking Syrians and Iranian proxies. It was necessitated by offensive movement I dont know there were Iranians on the ground but by Iranian-directed forces. So now we get more American hardware coming in. Meanwhile, the base that looked like this when the rebels took over has now grown to look like this. But if Iran has become a factor in the U.S. mission in Syria, heres an example of how the government doesnt want to publicly admit that this has expanded the mission. So lets head to Washington for a second. Dont click away. I know congressional hearings arent always a thrill a minute, but this one stand. gets interesting. So let me so what is the A senator asks a high-ranking State Department official what U.S. troops will do in Syria once ISIS is defeated non-ISIS priorities. but question seems to strike a nerve. Senator, that would have to be provided in a different setting. He doesnt want to say that Irans part of the Syrian strategy now. Um. Why not? Wait a minute. Why cant you Wait. Wait a minute. That wont pass muster. So he relents, just a bit. We are deeply concerned with the activities of Iran, with the ability of Iran to enhance those activities through a greater ability to move materiel into Syria. And I would rather leave the discussion at that point. The Iranian threat came just up the road from Al-Tanf. But Americas mission in Syria is also growing beyond ISIS because of what lies just 12 miles to the south Trapped in a no mans land, but still the numbers grow. the lives of 50,000 refugees. 50,000. They live in a camp called Rukban. Many of them have fled the Syrian regime and the Islamic State. The camp is so close to Al-Tanf that its protected by the bases deconfliction zone. And were going to be present at Al-Tanf to make sure ISIS cannot return and also to manage this difficult humanitarian situation. Hear that? Yet another reason to stay in Syria protect the refugees. But these refugees serve another purpose [Russian speech] as props for Russian misinformation. See, Russias got bases in Syria, too. It wants to secure its own influence in the region. But the American presence in Syria, including at Al-Tanf, is getting in the way. So the Russians try to make the Americans and rebels at Al-Tanf look so bad that theyll be forced to give it up. [Russian speech] They often claim that the Americans and rebels at Al-Tanf block aid shipments to the Rukban refugees, creating a humanitarian crisis. But the internet is also full of conspiracy theories about the base. Some seem to have been influenced by Russias statements. Take Al-Tanfs Wikipedia page. The original entry smears the Al-Tanf rebels by calling them armed gangs and militants that are training terrorists, who the U.S. helps transport. The user who wrote all this has uploaded photos elsewhere that show a Russia connection. How? Well, one, they show a city Russian advisers were in at the time. Two, the file names are all in Russian. And, three, one is taken from the inside of a Russian military vehicle, like the one seen here elsewhere in Syria. Al-Tanf is just one example of how Russias presence in Syria has contributed to yet another reason the U.S. mission has expanded preventing unchecked Russian influence. After more recent Russian threats, the U.S. sends Marines to Al-Tanf as a show of force. [gunfire] The base that looked like this after those airstrikes against pro-regime forces, has grown even bigger. And soon after, a top general arrives, stressing Americas support for the base. Construction on a new expansion begins three weeks later. I dont want to be in Syria forever. Its sand. And its death. President Trump reverses course, and orders a troop pullout from Syria. But theres an ongoing debate in the government about whether to make Al-Tanf the exception, to keep troops there even after all other U.S. troops in the country have left. Will the bases story end with the rebels and refugees left to fend for themselves, or will the U.S. decide to stay put to counter its rivals and small pockets of ISIS in a mission that has no end in sight? Whatever happens, remember: This is all taking place in just one small, remote corner of Syria, a country thats in conflict from end to end. So 23 seconds into this video, I mentioned a border crossing, the one the rebels use to cross into Syria. Turns out, the Syrian civil war isnt the only time conflict touched this crossing. I found these images from the Iraq war from 2007. These are refugees flooding the Al-Tanf crossing, trying to get out of Iraq. Back then, Syria was far safer. For us to be critical of the president and not be willing to stand up to one of our own would be hypocritical, said Representative Donald McEachin of Virginia, who on Friday night called for the resignation of Mr. Northam, his classmate in the State Senate. As we distinguish ourselves from the Trump Republican Party, we really need to be careful as to what we do. Further, Mr. Trumps willingness to wield race as a political weapon portraying undocumented immigrants as murderers, for example has also amplified the expectations of what Democratic activists expect from their own candidates. The party rank-and-file and leadership alike are eager to hear the female and nonwhite presidential candidates talk about their identities and backgrounds and how those have shaped their lives, which is strikingly different from the 2008 Democratic primary, when some Democrats counseled Hillary Clinton to downplay her gender and Barack Obama to avoid emphasizing his race. The backlash against Trumps hate has created more space and openness about issues of race and gender, at least in circles that are open to having those conversations, said Gina Hinojosa, a Democratic state representative in Texas. But the expectations on the 2020 hopefuls to talk candidly about their own experiences, and how they relate to some of the countrys thorniest and deep-seated challenges, are not only being placed on the shoulders of the women and racial minorities in the field. We need to hear from the white candidates about their whiteness and how white privilege has affected their lives, said Brittany Packnett, a racial justice activist, adding: Not only is it politically safe, its politically necessary to have this conversation. My middle name is the name of a Confederate soldier. Before that it was Scottish, the name of an indentured servant who came here when America wasnt a country, when he was just one of many who were brought over. The name stayed on the Atlantic coast, passing through my Confederate ancestors, onto my loving grandmother who taught me how to birdwatch, finally landing on me, a mixed-race woman with a Jewish partner living in New York City. Somehow I dont think that soldier would be too happy about that. In America, the question of Where am I from? usually means, Where did my family live before they arrived/were forcibly shipped to America? Recently, theres been a push to answer that question through DNA tests Ancestry.com sold 1.5 million kits on Black Friday in 2017 which claim they can tell us exactly what percentage Norwegian or Nigerian we are. But there are catches. The tests can compromise our privacy, with the possibility that our genetic information would be sold to third parties without our knowledge, and they dont truly reveal our origins so much as reveal who has similar DNA right now. Also, and perhaps more important: Culture does not come from DNA. It comes from lived experience, traditions and stories passed down, from actual people who shape our perceptions of the world. This is why Ive enjoyed learning about my family through good old-fashioned genealogy research. Scrolling through pages of old newspapers or deciphering handwriting on a census is how I found out Im descended, on my white side, both from Union and Confederate soldiers, from slave-owners and abolitionists, and possibly from witches (Im still trying to verify that one). And it was in doing this I learned that, on my Indian side, Yeats wrote a very patronizing poem inspired by my third great-uncle. These are more than facts. Theyre the myths that are a part of the story of yourself, whether you like them or not. Learning your history is forced reckoning, asking you to consider whose stories you carry with you and which ones you want to carry forward. On many occasions I have experienced inappropriate behavior by V.A. personnel because I am a woman. I still get mistaken for a wife or caretaker of a male veteran. I still have to remind medical staff to close curtains so I do not have to be subjected to the gaze of male patients and so they dont have to be subjected to mine. And just a few months ago, I reported sexual harassment by a male doctor who I felt was inappropriately personal with me in an initial clinical assessment. He then not only walked in on an acupuncture appointment while I was in my underwear but stayed and stared awhile until, aghast, I told him that he needed to leave. For many veterans who have experienced sexual or gender-based trauma, a simple appointment at a V.A. hospital leads to intensive re-traumatization for me, hypervigilance, panic attacks and emotional meltdowns are normal. Many of us bring battle buddies to our hospital visits so these symptoms wont crush us. I now bring my certified service dog. As a woman veteran, I try to ignore the shameless stares. I look down, or away, so as to avoid unwanted conversations. I make myself as small and invisible as possible. Ive gotten these skills down to a science. But it is still exhausting. And more to the point, veterans shouldnt have to run a gauntlet of inappropriate behavior before seeing a nurse or a doctor. We shouldnt be surprised by these problems. V.A. staff whether civilian or former military largely take their cues from hypermasculine military culture. Critics of the administration often cite veterans comfort level with military culture as the main reason we should support the status quo. Even the current secretary of veterans affairs, Robert Wilkie, said that veterans want to go places where people speak the language and understand the culture. But for those of us for whom military culture itself is the source of trauma, the V.A. is the last place one can expect positive outcomes. The veterans service organizations that are largely resisting privatizing the V.A. may also be out of touch with the needs of a younger and more diverse veterans population. Most patients are older men whose cultural norms regarding gender are becoming increasingly obsolete. #MeToo may have hit many institutions across the nation, but it seems to have barely made a dent at the V.A. and among many veterans groups. In the face of these trends, the radical response is to do nothing or to make inequality even worse, as President Trumps policies have. Its radical because soaring inequality is starting to threaten the basic fabric of American life. Many people have grown frustrated and cynical. Average life expectancy, amazingly, has fallen over the past few years. Over the sweep of history, the main reason that societies have declined, as the scholars Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson have written, is domination by a narrow elite that have organized society for their own benefit at the expense of the vast mass of people. The name of Acemoglus and Robinsons book on this phenomenon is, Why Nations Fail. Its worth keeping all of this in mind when you hear critics (or journalists) describe the economic proposals of the Democratic presidential candidates as radical. Theyre not radical, for the most part. The proposals are instead efforts to undo some of the extreme economic changes of recent decades and to ensure that most Americans workers not just a narrow elite fully benefit from economic growth. The proposals also happen to be popular, broadly speaking. On social issues, like abortion and immigration, the country is deeply divided. But clear majorities support higher taxes on the wealthy, higher taxes on corporations, more education funding and expanded government health insurance. No wonder: Americans dont resent success, but they do resent not receiving their fair share of economic growth. The coming primary campaign will be a good time for the candidates to hash out which specific ideas make sense and which dont. So far, the agenda looks pretty good. Elizabeth Warren has a plan to increase workers power within companies and help them get larger pre-tax raises. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris want to lift the after-tax pay of the middle class and poor. Kirsten Gillibrand and others support reducing major living costs, like child care and education. Perhaps most important, some Democrats have begun pushing for a wealth tax to reverse the upward redistribution of the past 40 years. Warren has proposed an annual 2 or 3 percent tax on large fortunes. Bernie Sanders has proposed a big increase in the inheritance tax. These wealth taxes are a classic example of policies that are less radical than their opponents claim. Do you know who already pays a wealth tax? Middle-class Americans. Its called the property tax, as Noah Smith of Bloomberg Opinion has noted. Every year, homeowners pay a percentage of their house value in tax. A house, of course, is the biggest asset that most families own. If middle-class families can pay an annual tax on their main source of wealth, wealthy families can, too. Walking away from a war is not a strategy. But an orderly withdrawal of NATO forces can be organized and executed before the year is out and more lives are lost to a lost cause. Two Americans have been killed in combat already in 2019. No American soldiers should be fighting and dying in Afghanistan in 2020. Recent talks between the United States and the Taliban appear to have made encouraging progress. Those talks might be most accurately described as a negotiated capitulation by the international forces. The Afghan government hasnt been party to the discussions because the Taliban doesnt consider it a legitimate entity just a puppet of the United States. In any case, once NATO forces leave, any treaty with the Taliban would be difficult to enforce. But as part of any withdrawal discussions, it should be made clear to the Taliban, the Afghan government and neighboring nations that if the country is allowed to again become a base for international terrorism, the United States will return to eradicate that threat. The Taliban have paid a very high price for harboring Bin Laden and whatever their role in the future of the country are unlikely to trigger a return of American forces by making a similar mistake in the future. The eventual withdrawal of American forces might be the only thing that all the parties to the conflict want to see happen. A majority of Americans want an end to the war. If Mr. Trump doesnt end the war by the end of the year, Congress can repeal the 2001 authorization of military force. Congress needs, in any event, to reconsider its blank check. Congress should also make it easier for Afghans who worked with NATO forces and want to immigrate to the United States to do so. Many have already been waiting for years. No one can pretend that a withdrawal, even with an agreement, is likely to make life better for the Afghan people in the short term. Thats an agonizing consequence that anyone who supports withdrawal must acknowledge. Some experts predict an even fiercer civil war as the Kabul government and its army weaken and warlords gain new power. That could mean more deaths, new refugee flows and cuts in international aid that could cripple the Afghan military . The plight of women and girls in Afghanistan has been perilous in wartime, and it could become far bleaker if the Taliban topple the current government and reimpose their barbaric pre-2001 regime. [Read our latest story on the conviction of El Chapo. He was found guilty on all 10 counts.] After a lengthy 11-week trial, a jury on Tuesday convicted Joaquin Guzman Loera, the Mexican drug kingpin known as El Chapo. Mr. Guzman, 61, faced 10 charges, including leading a criminal enterprise and the importation and sales of large amounts of narcotics into the United States. He now will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. The trial allowed prosecutors to extensively detail the inner workings of Mr. Guzmans Sinaloa cartel, providing unparalleled insight into international drug trafficking. Here are 11 of the most important takeaways, in no particular order. Corruption in Mexico is worse than you think During the trial, nearly every level of Mexican government was implicated in bribes, including the presidency. One witness testified that El Chapo paid Enrique Pena Nieto, when he was president in 2012, $100 million in exchange for allowing the kingpin to come out of hiding. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors top security official was said by one witness and federal prosecutors to have accepted a multimillion-dollar bribe from the Sinaloa cartel in 2005. [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] From the depths of a federal jail on the Brooklyn waterfront, the sound reverberated: a polyrhythmic pounding like a hailstorm on the roof of a shed. It was the sound of hundreds of men in freezing cells at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park, a jail that was virtually without electricity and largely without heat for over a week. With the jail on partial lockdown, inmates were unable to use phones to call their loved ones, but their percussive banging could be clearly heard to those outside, and to the world beyond. The inmates banged anything they could shoes, their fists against any surface they met: the walls and windows and bars of the jail that holds them. Sunday morning, when protesters unfurled a long paper banner across the street from the jail that said You are heard you are loved, the inmates banged their approval. "Any precipitation coming in could bring river levels up," Birk said. "But, it doesn't look like it will be an overly heavy precipitation event." Lincoln said the high water this week has been caused by rain, snow melt and water backed up from ice jams that have formed in several locations along a 50-mile stretch of the river between Shelby and Wilmington, Illinois. The ice prevents the rain and meltwater from flowing freely westward into the Mississippi River. Lincoln said if the river's height at Shelby reaches 11 feet, some floodwaters may cover low-lying agricultural land or county highways south of Hebron and scattered houses around Newton County's Sumava Resorts. However, the river should crest in Shelby by Friday, he said. "The temperatures will start falling from 50 degrees this afternoon (Monday) over the next several days to somewhere between the 30s and mid-40s and on and off chances of rain will only amount to about 1 inch over the next three days," Lincoln said Monday. He said an earlier forecast had the Little Calumet River getting up to minor flood stage. "But updated information on new modeling indicates it will only rise a couple more feet from where we are now. We are certainly nowhere close to rainfall like last year," Lincoln said. I remember Larry riding on top of the horse-drawn hearse, Hawes said. The Geisens were a big part of all of that. Special touch With every service, Larry said he challenges his staff to add something unexpected to help bring a smile to families celebrating a life. Before the funeral, we heard that the lady owned a Dairy Queen, so we all got Dixie Cups of ice cream and handed them out to the family as they went through the chapel to leave, Larry said. We didnt tell the family what it was. We just said, There is a little item out in the hallway for you to remember Mary. It was very special. The National Funeral Directors Association awarded Geisen Funeral Homes the 2018 Pursuit of Excellence Award. The award is given to firms that demonstrate funeral service excellence and outstanding service to families and communities. From attending church to volunteering for nonprofits, the Geisen family and staff have continued to stay active in their community over the years something that set the funeral business apart from the rest. Black Leader Day Gardner Slams Virginia Governor Ralph 'Coonman' Northam as He and Fellow Democrats Continue to Run Their Plantation Contact: Day Gardner, 202-834-0844 WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- The following is submitted by Day Gardner, President of National Black Pro-Life Union: Governor Ralph Northam refuses to step down, despite a flood of calls for his resignation for a racist and offensive photo in his medical school year book. In the photo Northam is seen wearing blackface standing along side a hooded Klan figure. It's ironic how Dems are outraged and angry at anyone, even children, wearing a "we the people," America loving MAGA hat but are almost sympathetic when it comes to Democrat Northam standing in a blackface/Klan photo. In 1865, the Civil War ended and the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution officially abolished slavery. That same year, a group of Democrat ex-Confederate soldiers formed the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Unlike MAGA hat wearers, they were domestic terrorists that donned white hoods to conceal their identities as they destroyed property, assaulted, tortured, and killed black people to prevent them from voting, getting an education, competing for jobs, and owning property. Think about it, Democrats were so upset they lost the war, that they sought to overthrow the Republican state governments in the South during the Reconstruction Era by using violence and intimidation against freed former slaves and their white supporters. Hmmmsound familiar? Today Democrats are still sore losers who have no problem with blacks voting, as long as their votes stay within the Democratic Party, that is. For more than 50 years, Democrat controlled cities have been and still are struggling with the same old (very old) problems. Urban areas with large black populations are still impoverished, ridden with drugs, failing schools, abortion, and rampant black on black crime. Yet, Democrats dangle a golden carrot of freebies and programs that promise to keep blacks poor and dependent on the government plantation dole. When the news story broke about Governor Northam, the infamous fake-news CNN tried to throw shade on the situation by implying Virginia Governor Ralph Northam was Republican. He's not, Northam is a staunch DEMOCRAT. Governor Northam even held a news conference stating proudly how several friends referred to him as "coonman." Wait...wasn't coon another derogatory word used especially by KKK in place of n***er? He also admitted to slopping shoe polish on his face to portray Michael Jackson. Huh? Then, in an effort to lighten things up (I guess?) he stupidly mentioned he knows how to moonwalk. I guess he figured if Bill Clinton could smooth his disgusting antics over with a saxophone maybe a little moonwalk might be just what the doctor ordered in this case. Are you kidding me? What's next from Governor Northam, a full blown minstrel show? Bottom line is Democrats founded the KKK, that's the truth and there's no white-washing it. Governor Ralph Northam continues to insert foot-in-mouth fitting the mold of racist rather squarely, even though some of his best friends may be black. Share Tweet "It's easy to tell somebody, 'Oh, just put money in the piggy bank each month to cover a problem.' We all know how difficult that is," Tallian said. "That's why we have insurance. It's the concept of pooled risk." Many of the specific details of the program still would need to be worked out by the state insurance department, which would have until mid-2020 to launch the program either itself or through a private vendor, according to the legislation. Ruckelshaus said he supports the plan because "as a pro-life Republican" it aligns perfectly with his values. "This is a pro-family piece of legislation that really could help a lot of families out, and it could have helped my family out," he said. Ambre Marr, state legislative director at AARP, said as Indiana's population ages in coming years, the need for workers to take time off to care for an ailing relative will increase, and everyone will be better off if those workers are able to maintain their incomes. "The reality is that this issue is something that our state can no longer ignore," Marr said. "From health care to economic development, this issue is one that connects to others that are dealt with at the Statehouse every session." INDIANAPOLIS The right of women to vote in the United States only was guaranteed 99 years ago when the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1920 by a sufficient number of state legislatures. Last Thursday, the women and men currently serving in the Indiana House unanimously agreed the state next year should celebrate the centennial of women's suffrage. House Bill 1394, which now goes to the Senate, establishes a 17-member Indiana Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission to organize events and activities that explain the women's suffrage movement in the United States and commemorate ratification of the 19th Amendment. Particular focus is expected to be paid to Hoosier suffragettes and Indiana's place as the 26th state out of the 36 needed to ratify the amendment. Illinois was the first state to approve the amendment. "I'm a 10th-generation American, but only the third generation of women in my family to be born in a country where women have the right to vote," said state Rep. Christy Stutzman, R-Middlebury. The women's suffrage commission is project of Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch's office. Though there currently is no funding for the effort in the proposed 2020 state budget. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. VALPARAISO Claims by a Westville woman that she is not to blame in a fatal drunken driving crash in 2016 are being challenged by evidence recently obtained by her defense team. Defense attorney John Vouga told the court Monday that after a prolonged period of seeking the accident reconstruction records and photographs of the crash scene, he was shown them last week by prosecutors and it now jeopardizes the defense of Rachel Dover. The defense had been that the other motorist in the case caused the crash, he said. At Vouga's request, Monday's pre-trial conference was continued until Feb. 18 for the possibility of a nontrial disposition of the case. Dover is scheduled to go to trial Feb. 26 on two felony counts of drunken driving resulting in a death and two felony counts of drunken driving causing serious bodily injury, according to court records. She also is charged with misdemeanor drunken driving. Dover reportedly told police she was driving south at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5, 2016, on County Road 550 East approaching U.S. 6 in Jackson Township when she saw two motorcycles driving west, according to charging documents. She turned east once the bikes passed and said she did not see a motorcycle that struck her vehicle. CROWN POINT A Hobart man targeted in a botched attempted robbery that led to his girlfriend's homicide last month will remain in jail as he awaits trial on separate charges. William Michael Hawkins, 18, had been seeking a bond reduction on charges alleging he was dealing marijuana Jan. 13 when police found about 14 pounds of marijuana and 172 grams of THC vape sticks at his Hobart home. The Lake County prosecutor's office had asked Lake Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell to revoke Hawkins' bond in a separate case in which he is alleged to have robbed a former employer and sexually battered a 16-year-old girl Sept. 16 in the 400 block of Henry Street in Gary. Deputy Lake County Prosecutor Maureen Koonce said Hawkins poses a flight risk because he admitted to a Hobart detective he travels to California to buy marijuana. Hawkins also referred to himself as a "dead man" because someone in California fronted him 30 pounds of marijuana and police seized more than half of it, Koonce said. Hawkins has a total of five pending cases, including two in which he's charged with level 2 felonies, she said. Hawkins' attorney, Sean Mullins, said Hawkins poses no flight risk, because he remained in the area despite an attempt on his life. VALPARAISO An early morning text that read, "dad please be awake," resulted in the arrest of a 41-year-old Highland man on accusations of fondling a girl during a birthday sleepover at a friend's house. Joshua Johnson was charged Monday with felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, child solicitation and sexual battery, according to court records. The 14-year-old girl told police she was sleeping at 6 a.m. Saturday on a basement couch at her friend's house in Washington Township when she was awakened by Johnson fondling her and trying to kiss her, police said. The girl said she rolled over and pretended to go back asleep in an attempt to make it stop, but sat up when the abuse progressed. "I'm sorry, I'm attracted to you," Johnson reportedly told the girl. "You're so (expletive) cute." Johnson then proposed to perform a sex act on the girl, police said. When the girl refused, Johnson reportedly apologized for being drunk and offered to let her punch him in the head. The girl left the room and sent text messages to her father asking for him to pick her up, police said. "this guy josh. He's um drunk and he woke me up. And he was trying to do something bad," the texts read, according to charging documents. Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a joint enterprise between the United Steelworkers union and industry, said more still needs to be done, such as by strengthening Buy American laws in Congress and requiring federal agencies to apply them to any and all areas where they do not currently apply. "The president should take the next step and use his executive powers to actually require agencies to apply Buy America rules where they do not currently apply," Paul said. "And, he should work with lawmakers to strengthen Buy America as Congress develops an infrastructure package. There is already strong bipartisan congressional backing and overwhelming voter support for these policies, making it the perfect issue for the president and Congress to work on together." The federal government can wield its sheer size and scope to better support manufacturing in this country, Paul said. cookiescookiesPrivacy Policy Franciscan Sisters Invite Young Women to 'Design Your Own Discernment Retreat' Contact: Sr. Julie Ann Sheahan, OSF, 920-323-9632, sjulieann@fscc-calledtobe.org GREEN BAY, Wis., Feb. 4, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity offer single Catholic women 22-32 discerning consecrated life to customize a retreat experience or vocation visit in Winter or Spring 2019. Women who are discerning or beginning to explore Catholic religious life can arrange a visit to the Sisters' N.E. Wisconsin Motherhouse at their convenience for a few hours, a day or a weekend. Contact the Sisters with your questions, hopes, preferences, and expectations for your own 'Vocation Visit' or a Discernment Experience Designed for You (and your friends). You can informally tour their historic Motherhouse; witness daily community life; see firsthand how Sisters serve in education, music, health care and parish ministries and/or shadow a Sister in her daily ministry. Or contact a sister nearby you for a vocation conversation. Visit FSCC-Calledtobe.org for sisters ministry sites. Other Retreats include February 22-24 "Come and See Our Lives, Our Home" with Focus Missionaries from St Albert Campus Ministry and Michigan college students. This Wisconsin Motherhouse weekend includes visits to ministry locations, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. March 22 or 29 or April 19 or 26 Young Catholic Professional Women's Friday Lenten Retreats. Arrive in time for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Evening Prayer or at our Motherhouse at 5:30 p.m. for dinner with postulant and novice Sisters. A Discernment of Spirits talk follows with 7:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross. Overnight or weekend stays until Sunday are optional. "A young professional is at a different point in her life than someone in the first years of college. We respect your experience." Observes Sr. Julie Ann Sheahan, OSF Vocation Directress May 24-26 Introducing Meditation and Contemplation: Franciscan Sister Jacqueline Spaniola, OSF guides single, young adult women through prayer times with insights about how to meditate and how to grow in contemplative prayer - essential guides for discernment. "At the end of our lives, all that matters is how we served our God and others, faithful to our call, and how well we respond generously to the inheritance that has been given to us." Sr. Leonette Kochan, OSF Retreats and Visits are free but require registration. Call or text Sister Julie Ann 920-323-9632 for more information. Or visit fscc-calledtobe.org God Calls You. We Invite You. Catholic Vocations. sjulieann@fscc-calledtobe.org FACEBOOK: Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity FACEBOOK: FSCC Calledtobe FACEBOOK: Julie Ann Sheahan Linked In: SisterJulieAnn Sheahan Twitter: calledtobefscc Instagram: franciscansisters Our content is free, but our journalists work hard. 100% of your contribution to NorthcentralPa.com goes directly toward helping us cover the important news and events in our region. Thank you for saying that local news matters! Donate Today Visitation and funeral service details have been announced for a Council Bluffs man whose death is being investigated as a homicide. The body of Adam Angeroth, 38, was discovered on Jan. 24. A celebration of his life will be held Saturday at 3 p.m. at Cutler-O'Neill-Meyer-Woodring Bayliss Park Chapel, 545 Willow Ave. Angeroth was found dead in his apartment at 35 N. First St., and authorities were called to investigate. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Details of his death have not been disclosed by authorities, who are investigating the incident as a homicide. The family asked that memorials be sent to the Council Bluffs Public Library. Angeroth was preceded in death by his grandparents, Francis and Lucy Farrell and Bill and Doris Angeroth. Adam is survived by his mother, Maryann Farrell; father, Don Angeroth and wife Marilynn, all Council Bluffs; and a brother, Michael, of Coralville, Iowa. There was no time to make it back to the hospital. Cassy Abram, who was 37 weeks pregnant, and her husband, Scotty, had spent the night in a hospital in Iowa, but by Monday morning, the physicians had concluded it was simply not time for her to deliver the baby, she said. The couple, from Cedar Rapids, fought freezing cold temperatures and snow-covered roads to get back home. Minutes later, the baby was on the way. Cassy told her husband to call for an ambulance, but before he could make the call, she had delivered their son on the living room floor. "It was crazy," Cassy, 28, told The Washington Post. "I don't know how else to explain it." It had been a joyous - albeit stressful - morning, but the Abrams said that when Cedar Rapids firefighters arrived, they made it even more special. While several of them tended to the mother and baby inside, two others responded to the scene in their personal vehicles and shoveled snow from the couple's driveway so Cassy and her baby could be taken to the hospital. Cassy's aunt, Larissa Ruffin, was on the phone for the birth. It was about 6:30 a.m. when Cassy started to deliver and told her husband to get help. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} He called Ruffin. A mistrial was declared in the trial of former DEA agent Chad Scott on Monday (Feb. 4), after a jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on allegations that Scott abused his power in office by eliciting false testimony from witnesses and getting a drug dealer to buy him a truck, the New Orleans Advocate reported. Now, federal prosecutors will have to determine whether to retry Scott on those charges, as well as whether to move forward with a second, separate trial that was expected later this year. Scott faced two counts of falsification of government records, related to a Ford pickup truck the prosecutors said was a gift ... from a dope dealer, three counts of obstruction of justice -- related to accusations Scott induced false testimony at a hearing and trial for an alleged drug supplier, Jorge Perralta -- and two counts of perjury, related to Scotts testimony in the Perralta case. Scott worked as a DEA agent since 1997 and led a New Orleans area task force whose members are accused of selling narcotics and tampering with witnesses. In Perraltas case, prosecutors said, Scott got a man to testify that he saw Perralta at a drug deal, when in fact the two had never met. Prosecutors said Scott implied to the man, Frederick Brown, that Browns own legal troubles would go away if he testified for the government in the Perralta case, prosecutors said. Scott also testified twice, at a hearing and at Perraltas trial, that Brown volunteered to him that he knew who Perralta was and that he saw him at the drug deal, prosecutors say. Ex-DEA agent on trial got a dope dealer to buy him a truck, prosecutors say 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 He betrayed his duties and abused his power by lying, cheating and manipulating so he could get what he wanted, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Duree told the jury in opening statements for the two-week trial on Jan. 22. Scotts defense lawyer, Matt Comen, a former longtime prosecutor in the U.S. Attorneys Office based in Louisiana, told the jury in his opening statements that many of the witnesses against Scott could get their sentences reduced by cooperating with the prosecution. Scott pleaded not guilty in Oct. 13, 2017, shortly following his indictment. He had been suspended from his job earlier that year, and the indictment prompted his firing. A DEA investigation of the task force began in 2016, and two other members were accused of dealing narcotics. Karl Newman, a Tangipahoa sheriffs deputy, was arrested in February 2017 and charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and abuse of office. Johnny Domingue was booked January of that year on charges of principal to distribute schedule I drugs and conspiracy to distribute schedule I drugs. Newman and Domingue have pleaded guilty but have not yet been sentenced. Scotts indictment says the conspiracy started around July 2014, when Scott convinced Brown to give him a truck. Scott got Newman, who Duree described as both a dirty cop, and Scotts go-to guy, to falsely say he was present when the truck was seized from Brown. DEA rules require more than one agent to communicate with a confidential source, Duree explained. They also falsified paperwork by saying the truck was seized in Metairie, which is within their jurisdiction, when they actually picked up the truck in Houston. Agents cant strong-arm drug dealers into buying them trucks, Duree said. But thats exactly what they did. Sasse to Force Debate on Infanticide Contact: James Wegmann, Press Office , U.S. Senator for Nebraska Ben Sasse, 202-224-4224 WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2019 / Christian Newswire / -- Following tonight's scheduled roll call votes, U.S. Senator Ben Sasse will ask unanimous consent to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Last Thursday, Senator Sasse announced his plan to force a debate on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in the wake of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's comments and New York's repeal of state-level protections for abortion survivors. "Everyone in this Senate ought to be able to say unequivocally that killing that little baby is wrong," said Sasse on Thursday . "I'm going to ask all 100 Senators to come to the floor and be against infanticide. This shouldn't be complicated." Schedule Details: WHAT: Unanimous consent request to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act WHEN: Today, February 4, 2019, after the 5:30pm (EST) vote series. WHERE: Senate floor. Livestream available here Additional Background: The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act would protect newborns that survive abortions by requiring appropriate care and admission to a hospital. Sasse's legislation requires that, when an abortion results in the live birth of an infant, health care practitioners must exercise the same degree of professional skill and care to protect the newborn as would be offered to any other child born alive at the same gestational age. It also requires that the living child, after appropriate care has been given, be immediately transported and admitted to a hospital. Currently federal law does not adequately protect a born child who survives an abortion. On January 22, 2019, New York repealed protections (section 4164 of the state's public health law) for an infant born alive during an abortion. On January 30, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam endorsed infanticide while discussing an extreme late-term abortion bill being considered in the state House of Delegates. After trying to walk-back his comments, Governor Northam doubled-down on January 31, declaring "I don't have any regrets." A Louisiana State Police trooper was taken to the hospital for minor injuries after a speeding car hit his vehicle on Interstate 10 West on the the Bonnet Carre Spillway on Sunday morning (Feb. 3), police said. The trooper was monitoring drivers' speeds while parked in the right shoulder of the interstate when a 2008 Hyundai Sonata, driving at 115 mph in a 60 mph zone, hit the right guard rail, police said. The trooper had his hazard lights on. The Hyundai Sonata then hit the left rear quarter panel of the troopers 2018 Dodge Charger, as well as its tire well. The 22-year-old driver, Gregory Rickerson of New Orleans, was arrested and faces charges of speeding, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, second offense of marijuana, suspended drivers license and vehicular negligent injuring, which includes a DWI, police said. He was booked into the St. Charles Parish jail. According to Louisiana law, motorists must changes lanes or slow down when a vehicle is on the shoulder of the road with hazard lights activated. UPDATE (Monday, 2:25 p.m.): Fancreds Jon Heyman reports at least eight teams are checking in on Bryce Harper while Manny Machado might still be holding out hope the Yankees jump into the mix. Hear at least 8 teams are still checking in on Harper, though at least a couple/few of them are likely thinking short-term Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 4, 2019 Keep hearing in Miami circles that Machado isnt thrilled with his offers, and may still have long-shot hopes for the preferred Yankees (unlikely to happen now). Anyway @Joelsherman1 has another idea for him. https://t.co/jUXImGBJgo Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 4, 2019 UPDATE (Monday, 11:36 a.m.): The Athletics Jim Bowden reports there is a mystery team in the mix for Bryce Harper. According to multiple sources there are indeed mystery team(s) in on Bryce Harper that the public is not aware ofand as many texts/emails & phone calls Ive madeI still cant find them..#Braves ? #Cardinals ? #Astros ? #Giants ? #Angels ? #Yankees ? #BlueJays ? I give up Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenGM) February 4, 2019 The Oakland As are the first MLB team to report for spring training. They will do so on Monday, February 11. Thats one week from today. One can only wonder if free agents Manny Machado and Bryce Harper will be signed by then. Heres the latest on the perennial All-Stars as they search for $300 million contracts. Fancreds Jon Heyman reports the Philadelphia Phillies remain in the mix for both sluggers. Even with weeks going by and more teams checking in on the two mega star free agents Bryce Harper and Manny Machado the Phillies still believe they will land one of the 2 superstars. They do have financial clout. #stupidmoney Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 3, 2019 Machado visited the Phillies, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees in December. The White Sox have been considered the front-runners for Machado, based on their offseason moves: Signing free-agent outfielder Jon Jay and trading for first baseman Yonder Alonso, who is Machados brother-in-law. Jay trains during the offseason with Machado and Alonso. Chicago reportedly made Machado a seven or eight-year contract offer worth around $175 million. Thats far less than the $300 million he was hoping for, and the $325 million Giancarlo Stanton received from the Marlins before being traded to the Yankees. New York is not expected to sign Machado, after picking up free-agent infielders Troy Tulowitzki and DJ LeMahieu. However The New York Daily News' Wallace Matthews reported last week that when it comes to the Yankees, "you never say never. As for Harper, members of the Phillies' front office flew to Las Vegas in January to meet with Harper. The San Diego Padres jumped into the mix last week when they made their own visit to Harper in Sin City. The Nationals are believed to have made Harper a 10-year, $300 million offer before the end of the 2018 season. MLB.coms Jon Morosi reports the White Sox are also in the running for Harper. Bryce Harper has four active suitors as February nears, source confirms: #Nationals, #Phillies, #WhiteSox, and now #Padres. At least one other team remains involved on periphery, but overwhelming likelihood is he will sign with one of those four clubs. @MLB @MLBNetwork Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 31, 2019 I read columnist Tom Morans recent background article about U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-.NJ., who just announced that he will be a 2020 presidential candidate. The article seemed to be even handed. Moran even mentioned Bookers past campaign money trail to Big Pharma and Wall Street as a possible source of 30-second attack ads against the senator. Moran was quite correct to point this out. The America that elected Donald Trump is upset with what it sees as a rigged economy that protects the rich, something that is easily accomplished with election cash that buys influence and access. The article states that Booker recently co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, to enable consumers to import lower-priced prescription drugs from Canada. Thats a good idea. The problem is that Booker as recently as 2017 voted against an amendment to another bill that would done have the same thing. On that vote, Booker abandoned Sanders, most Democrats, and 10 Republicans who supported the amendment. With Bookers help, the amendment failed. His excuse at the time was that Canadian imports might not meet U.S. safety standards. That is mostly fiction, since Canada imports many drugs from America or manufactures them there to U.S. standards. For Booker's lame excuse to stand up, he'll have to show me all the dead Canadians who have succumbed to the same dangerous" drugs that we, as citizens, are forbidden to re-import in this low-wage economy. Maybe Booker can change, but maybe he's like Barack Obama, whose administration could find no wrongdoing by the Wall Street banksters he relied on for plenty of re-election cash in 2012. This time, lets find a candidate who will work for us, with zero connections to the donor class. Roy Lehman, Woolwich Township More respect for animals than humans Do you believe it is a crime to abuse a dog, but OK to abort a baby close to birth? That is like saying, Infanticide is good, but dont you dare harm a dog. Some people who would take in a stray dog would also walk past a homeless human being, apparently believing that the animal has more value than the person. I ask you: Is this what Jesus, Jehovah or Muhammad professed? No. They valued humanity, and valued the golden-rule phrase Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I am saddened at how human life is being trashed. Dominick A. Ruggiero Jr., Sewell Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com In the fallout of a State Police drug lab scandal, authorities in New Jersey overhauled how they test marijuana evidence, moving to dismiss more than 1,700 drug cases. They are among the more than 7,000 cases called into question when a lab technician was accused of falsifying test results from a single marijuana sample in 2015 a legal mess still being untangled by a judge appointed by the Supreme Court to handle the glut of legal challenges. But the technician at the center of the ordeal, Kamalkant Shah, now says it was all based on a lie, alleging in a lawsuit that the accusations were drummed up by his superiors as he grappled with a mental illness for which he was actively seeking treatment. State authorities said at the time they were re-testing Shahs work out of an abundance of caution" and a spokesman for the Attorney Generals Office said prosecutors were in the process of dismissing 1,711 cases in which the drug evidence had been destroyed before it could be retested. While the state is seeking to dismiss the drug charges in those circumstances, any other criminal charges that may apply are unaffected, the spokesman said. The lawsuit adds new details to a controversy that led to major reforms in how authorities in New Jersey handle marijuana evidence at a time when lawmakers are debating legalization. It also raises questions about state oversight of the laboratories where key drug evidence is tested. The actions of the state destroyed his life," said his attorney, Brian Curley. "Hes been living in constant fear that hes going to be criminally prosecuted. Ultimately, he was never charged with a crime. And to date, NJ Advance Media has learned, state authorities have retested 1,644 cases Shah handled and have yet to find a single sample he got wrong. The suit claims the states handling of the case violated Shahs civil rights. A spokesman for the state Attorney Generals Office, which represents the State Police in court, declined to comment on the allegations in the suit. Shah claims he was subjected to racial harassment from coworkers and pressured to retire before he was accused of deliberately mis-recording test results and threatened with criminal prosecution. While he made minor mistakes, Shah concedes, he never falsified test results and was never issued any official written reprimand for his work performance. According to his lawsuit, Shah worked for the State Police as a lab technician since 1989. After he began working at the North Regional Laboratory in Little Falls in 2005, the suit claims, Shah was consistently subjected to a work environment and climate that was hostile to his Indian ethnicity and his Hindu religion" and was singled out and subjected to disparate scrutiny in his testing work compared to his white coworkers. The technician claims he suffered from depression that began to affect his performance and after an unspecified incident at work arranged through his supervisors to see a counselor in November 2015. But citing two other cases in which older lab workers were allegedly forced into retirement, the lawsuit claims Shahs superiors were already looking to oust him. In December of that year, a coworker secretly recorded a 26-second video of Shah rolling into the frame on his desk chair, putting a sample under a microscope and quickly wheeling himself off screen. The coworker gave this video to supervisors, who claimed it showed Shah was dry-labbing a marijuana sample, a term that means recording a positive result without checking to make sure. Shah says the video doesnt show the whole story, claiming he returned to the sample after the camera stopped recording. The video led to a cascade of events: Lab supervisors notified state officials, who raised the alarm to county prosecutors. Word got out to defense attorneys, and then the media. By March 2016, the issue had become a scandal, and state prosecutors soon requested the Supreme Court appoint a special master to handle the fallout. In early 2017, the Attorney Generals Office agreed to move to a more reliable form of drug testing to prevent future problems. In letters obtained by NJ Advance Media after the scandal became public, county prosecutors noted there were other errors Shah had made in drug test results that had raised questions. The technicians lawsuit notes that supervisors found he was distracted and unfocused." But the lawsuit alleges Shah was never formally reprimanded for his performance and he was entitled to reasonable accommodation of his psychological issues while he sought assistance. Instead, the suit claims, Shahs supervisors urged him to retire immediately, and even accused him of stealing drugs from the lab, a charge he denied completely. The employee who recorded the video, the suit claims, was one of Shahs tormentors who had demonstrated extreme prejudice against him, frequently mocking his religion and his accent. A spokeswoman for the state judiciary said the special master, Judge Edward Jerejian, is still reviewing legal challenges raised as a result of the controversy, which includes 7,827 cases connected to Shah. S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. WASHINGTON An automatic speed control system that might have prevented an Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia and a crash at the Hoboken Terminal still is not completely in place along the nations railroads almost a half-century after the National Transportation Safety Board first recommended it. Even as Gov. Phil Murphy celebrated New Jersey Transit reaching a milestone in December, that only meant the commuter railroad qualified for a two-year extension. It did not mean the the safety measure known as positive train control is in place. The risk today for a PTC accident is the same as it was 50 years ago," board member Jennifer Homendy said. Positive train control remained on the list as the NTSB on Monday issued its most-wanted safety improvements for 2019-2020. It has been a repeated subject of board recommendations ever since four people were killed and more than 40 injured when two commuter trains collided near Darien, Connecticut, in August 1969. In determining the cause of the October 2016 accident at the Hoboken Terminal, the NTSB noted the absence of a speed control system. Ditto the May 2015 fatal crash of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia. There has been delay after delay in fully implementing this life-saving technology, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said. Congress gave railroads until Dec. 31, 2015, to install automatic speed control systems in their engines and their tracks, then provided a two-year extension with the possibility of taking yet another two years to finish the work. We are closer to installation but theres a big difference between installation and being operative, Homendy said. In the last 50 years, Homendy said, there were 150 accidents that could have been prevented by positive train control, which killed 303 people and injured 6,800. The safety board said the probable cause of the Hoboken crash, which killed one person and injured 108 others, was the engineers fatigue due to undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea. Contributing factors included NJ Transits failure to adequately screen and treat employees for sleep apnea and the Federal Railroad Administrations refusal to impose rules requiring such testing. Since the accident, NJ Transit began requiring mandatory sleep disorder testing for engineers and conductors, and removed those with sleep apnea from duty until treated. The FRA and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in March 2016 proposed requiring such testing, but the agencies dropped their efforts after President Donald Trump took office. That is unacceptable, Sumwalt said. People will continue to die. Also on the list was an ongoing request to reduce driver fatigue, blamed for the June 2014 fatal crash on the New Jersey Turnpike in Cranbury that seriously injured comedian Tracy Morgan and killed fellow comedian James McNair. The other most-wanted improvements were: -- Eliminate distractions, such as using cell phones while driving. -- End drinking and driving, and establish drug testing standards -- Ensure the safe shipment of hazardous materials via railroad and pipeline. -- Reduce speed-related crashes. -- Improve the safety of smaller passenger planes such as air taxis, sightseeing flights and air charters. -- Make collision avoidance systems standard on vehicles. -- Strengthen protection for occupants in vehicles. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. 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. The pension fund for public workers in New Jersey paid more than $400 million in fees and $268 million in bonuses to investment managers in the fiscal year that ended in June, according to an annual report of the State Investment Council. The pension funds payments to outside investment managers and in particular those who manage the states alternative investments have drawn lots of attention in recent years. In 2015 and 2016, rising costs ignited a hot debate within the council, which manages the states $72.1 billion pension fund. Labor leaders argued the pension system overpaid for not-so-remarkable investment returns while professional investors said the fund would be worse off without their work. The council slashed its stake in hedge funds as a step toward compromise and the state improved its reporting of these fees and bonuses. This latest report shows the fund spent $670.3 million on fees and performance allocation bonuses in the fiscal year that began on July 1, 2017, and ended on June 30, 2018. The pension system paid just $11.6 million for the investments managed in-house by staff at the Division of Investment. The pension fund returned 9.06 percent during that fiscal year. Nine out of 10 dollars of management fees and expenses stem from the states $24.4 billion alternative investment program. Alternative investments include private equity funds, real estate funds, real asset funds, opportunistic funds, hedge funds and diversified global credit funds. That $363.1 million in alternative investment expenses is $29.1 million less than the fund paid out the prior year. Bonuses paid to alternative investment managers were down slightly year-over-year, too. Investment managers earn bonuses when their investments perform better than a predetermined target. The higher the return, the higher the bonus. These bonuses were $267.9 million last fiscal year, down $5.9 million from the year before. Alternatives returned 11.9 percent and generated $2.7 billion for the pension fund in the last fiscal year, with the strongest returns in private equity and real assets, according to the report. Bonuses paid to private equity managers $145.6 million accounted for 54 percent of all bonuses, which the report says is a reflection of the strong performance. Cory Amon, deputy director of the Division of Investment, cautioned at a State Investment Council meeting last week against comparing New Jerseys reported figures against other state. Both the division and the council have shown a strong commitment to transparency in reporting fees ... From out our experience, we tend to show more detail than many of our peers. We still very much think that thats the right thing to do, but at times it can be frustrating when our information to compared to some other funds that dont necessarily include the same details that we do. Acting council Chairman Adam Liebtag, who helped the charge for a reduction in alternative investments, thanked the Division of Investment on Wednesday for heeding members' concerns about transparent reporting of fees and bonuses. Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. State lawmakers have heard hours of sworn testimony from some of Gov. Phil Murphys top aides, yet they dont have an answer to a simple but crucial question: Who hired Albert J. Alvarez, the former top state official whom Katie Brennan accused of raping her? Now the special legislative committee investigating how the Murphy administration responded to Brennans allegation is making a direct appeal for the governors office to reveal this information, NJ Advance Media has learned. The panel sent a letter last week asking Murphys office directly to identify who gave Alvarez a senior job in the administration and make that person available to testify at the panels next hearing on Tuesday. One of the committees lawyers, Joseph Hayden, sent the letter Jan. 28, to Christopher Porrino, an attorney overseeing the issue for Murphys office. We thought wed just ask directly," state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, the committees co-chair, told NJ Advance Media on Monday. It would seem to me that the governor could tell his staff to please let us know. The letter the special legislative committee sent to Gov. Phil Murphy's attorney. Weinberg said Murphys office has not replied to the letter. She believes the panel is unlikely to have a response in the 24 hours before its next hearing Tuesday. Its not going to be a big unveiling of the wizard, Weinberg said. Porrino, Murphys attorney, said he received the letter and will respond this week. Murphys spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment. Brennan, also a staff official, accused Alvarez of raping her after a Murphy campaign gathering in April 2017, when she was a Murphy supporter and he was a campaign official. Alvarez was hired to be chief of staff of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority and remained in that job for months even though Brennan repeatedly told Murphys team about her allegations. Alvarez has denied the allegations and two county prosecutors offices have declined to charge him with a crime. Murphys inner circle says Alvarez was hired only after a background check showed he had no criminal charges against him. But multiple officials from Murphys campaign, transition, and administration including his former chief of staff, his chief counsel, and his transition team chair have testified to the committee that they dont know who hired lvarez. Murphy himself has refused refused in recent weeks to answer questions about Alvarezs hiring. In addition to examining how Murphys team responded to Brennans allegations, the committee is tasked with creating policy to improve the states hiring practices and procedures for how to respond to allegations of sexual assault. That, lawmakers say, is why its critical to find out how Alvarez was hired. A source familiar with the situation said Alvarez had been around Murphys team for a long time, serving in the campaign and the transition, and it was expected hed get a job in the administration. But the source said its not surprising no one could recall who signed off on Alvarezs hiring since the transition was a hectic time and the conversation would have been a short one. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the matter. Even without an answer to the letter, Weinberg said she hopes Tuesdays hearing will help shed light on the mystery. Expected to testify is Lynn Haynes, Murphys former deputy chief of staff and director of personnel for the governors transition team. Haynes' name was on the paperwork related to Alvarezs hiring. Weinberg said Pete Cammarano, Murphys chief of staff, also will return Tuesday to finish his testimony. Cammarano appeared twice before the panel, but the committee had more questions. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.comFollow him on Twitter @johnsb01 Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. I hope you are reading this because you like unusual legal questions and not because you really need to know whether blood taken from an unconscious person can prove DUI. A question the US Supreme Court agreed to resolve this session is a sticky one, but I suppose if it had had an easy answer it wouldn't have made it all the way to the Supreme Court. We'll have to wait to see how it turns out, but here's the situation. In Wisconsin Gerald P. Mitchell was driving when another motorist called the sheriff to report Mitchell was swerving all over the road. Sheriff's officers contacted Mitchell's mother who confirmed he was disoriented and staggering when he left her house. Half an hour later officers found him walking. He was wet, shirtless, covered in sand, slurring his words, staggering and nearly falling. He admitted he'd been drinking. He said he'd gone from his apartment to the beach. His nearby car showed recent damage. His record showed several previous DUI convictions. Since he was unable to stand, routine field tests couldn't be administered, but a preliminary breathalyzer test showed a blood alcohol concentration of .24. Officers arrested him. But he was in such bad shape, they decided to have him checked out at a hospital first. In the back of the patrol car, his condition really deteriorated, officers noted. By the time they arrived at the ER, Mitchell couldn't seem to wake up and almost fell out of the wheelchair. He was admitted to ICU. During the admitting process, the unconscious Mitchell was given a blood test which showed his blood alcohol level to be .222. The officer who requested the test didn't get a warrant for it, but since Wisconsin is an "implied consent" state, he didn't think it was necessary. New Jersey is an "implied consent" state, too. That means when you apply for a driver's license, you agree someday you might have to be tested, usually via blood, urine or breath, to determine whether you've been driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Of course, when you're stopped you can refuse to take the test. Doing so will almost certainly result in a conviction for DUI anyway and you'll lose your license for several months just for refusing. But it is important to note you can refuse. And there's the sticky part. Mitchell and his lawyers argue he was unconscious, so he wasn't able to refuse. The law requires suspects be advised of their implied consent for the test, their right of refusal and penalties they face if they do refuse. Mitchell, being completely out of it, wasn't advised and couldn't say no. Mitchell isn't the first guy to try out this argument. In fact, a North Dakota court did rule that a warrant would have to be obtained before blood could be drawn from an unconscious person. But all other courts disagreed. The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that by drinking himself into oblivion, Mitchell had voluntarily consented to a blood draw and forfeited his right to withdraw consent. While most of the Wisconsin justices upheld the actions of the sheriff's officers on constitutional grounds, one went further. One justice said it was only reasonable that the blood draw had to happen quickly because during the time a warrant could be sought and obtained, the alcohol in Mitchell's blood would dissipate, thus destroying proof of drunkenness. He noted no less intrusive method of obtaining evidence was available. Mitchell's lawyers say just the opposite. Citing the Fourth Amendment, unreasonable search, they argue the search was not reasonable without a warrant. A former assemblywoman from Jersey City, Joan Quigley is the president and CEO of North Hudson Community Action Corp. Submit letters to the editor and guest columns at jjletters@jjournal.com By Raymond Lesniak and Morgan Thompson New Jersey is making a monumental effort to stop the mounting rates of overdose deaths in the state. However, a key element of an effective strategy to end the crisis continues to go overlooked: young people. The Center on Addiction reports that 9 out of 10 people who develop a substance use disorder began using substances before they were 18 years old. Like other chronic illnesses, the earlier we effectively intervene in the progression of a substance use disorder, the better the prognosis. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the outcomes of those treated for substance use remains dismal. The national average shows that within two years of completing treatment, 70 percent of clients are reengaging in use. Education, however, is the great equalizer. Education fosters self-esteem, purpose, worth, as well as opens doors for employment. Studies show that 70 percent of individuals who go to treatment and then return to school (high school, college or vocational training), dont using drugs again. Students who go to a Recovery High School fare even better, with 90 percent in long-term recovery. For many families, the only system they are familiar with in terms of accessing support and resources is the educational system. As such, reaching out to their school student assistance counselor (SAC) or classroom teacher is often the first attempt a family may make to find help when substance use becomes an issue of concern with their loved one. It is so easy for parents to get lost in the very complicated maze of systems. Having the Department of Education as an integral collaborator in the states multifaceted coordinated effort to combat this epidemic is key. What does effective intervention look like for an adolescent with a substance use disorder? The Recovery Research Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital recently advised that an effective continuum of care for adolescents includes the following: Education and support Clinical intervention Alternative peer groups Recovery high schools Sober living Collegiate recovery There are gaping holes in services where a substantial need exists for adolescents. Each year, for the last four years, an adolescent residential treatment program has closed in New Jersey, leaving only three programs remaining and all of them clustered in one geographic region. Why, during the height of the addiction crisis, are we seeing this trend? We believe its because youth needing treatment are not being identified by their public schools. Only recently has the Department of Education been a key player in adolescent substance use prevention, intervention, and recovery support, become a part of the conversation. The Department of Education has committed $2.5 million to support three recovery high schools in the state for the 2018-2019 school year. Continued and sustained funding for this life-saving service is essential. More collaboration between state departments that touch youth and families, including the Department of Education and the Department of Children and Families and Department of Human Services, is paramount to a successful and sustainable response to the addiction crisis. Together, these commissioners could find innovative solutions to the following dilemmas, and more: How can we identify substance use disorder among youth earlier and intervene in non-punitive ways that promote wellness and recovery? How can we get more adolescents with substance use disorders to use available services in New Jersey? How can we integrate and sustainably fund innovative and effective services, like recovery high schools and alternative peer groups, throughout the state? Our public education system is the first line of defense to combat the opioid addiction crisis. It needs to be paramount in the states efforts to stem the mounting rates of overdose deaths in the state. Former Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, Co-Founder Raymond J Lesniak Experience Strength and Hope Recovery High School; Morgan Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, Prevention Links; Pamela Capaci, CEO Hope Sheds Light, Co-Founder Raymond J Lesniak Experience Strength and Hope Recovery High School; Mariel S. Hufnagel, Executive Director, The Ammon Foundation A wise man of dubious character once said that People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Four decades later, it has been established that the best way for any president to educate the masses on that matter is by releasing his tax returns. Congress once performed a tax audit on that same man, and determined that Richard Nixon owed $476,000 to the government he had been elected to rule. Every president since has volunteered his tax returns, and almost everyone agrees that this is a good practice. Except for one. Donald Trump doesnt agree that its important to establish how the international scope of a presidents holdings might cause a conflict, or reveal how his business relationships might dictate American foreign policy. Or whether he is a crook. In his case, theres enough smoke to suggest an inferno. Think back to records obtained by the New York Times in October: When Trumps father was alive, they claimed a group of buildings was worth $90 million when they converted them into co-ops, then valued them at $13 million on their tax return. Another time, Trump and his siblings valued a building in Queens at $17 million, but subsequently listed it as worth $2.9 million on a tax return. All this makes Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-9th Dist.) very suspicious. The 11-term Democrat can use the authority of the House Ways and Means Committee to obtain the presidents tax returns and scrutinize the alleged frauds. But he also believes he may find an answer to Speaker Nancy Pelosis disturbing proposition: What does Vladimir Putin have on the president, politically, personally or financially? Its absolutely a pertinent question, said Pascrell. My president may be held hostage in any number of decisions he makes because of financial dealings he has in another country. If youre in deep with a dictator, thats their leverage. His returns can show whether he is compromised. Americans agree oversight has been delayed long enough. By a whopping 60-35 margin, they want Trump to release his returns, according to a new Washington Post poll. For nearly four years, Trump has used weasel-speak to explain why he wont comply. He says his taxes cant be released while under IRS audit, which is untrue. He has stated that they are too complex for Americans to understand. He has even said that they are irrelevant because I won. Besides, he adds, we can learn enough from his financial disclosure forms. Disclosure forms do now show how much he pays in taxes, or how much he personally benefitted from the tax reform bill. It provides no information about how he has complied with tax laws or how his businesses are structured. Only his tax returns can how much Trump makes from his holdings overseas which is useful, given the symbiosis between his campaign and Russia and his persistent effort to remain pals with Putin and the oligarchs he wishes to unshackle from sanctions. They would also determine whether he is receiving financial benefits from foreign governments while he holds office, which would have impact on the lawsuit hes facing over the Emoluments Clause. His taxes also could clarify any connections he has with Saudi Arabia, China, or Turkey. Pascrell has a bill that requires all presidential candidates to release 10 years of taxes, and it will be debated Thursday. But Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) will use his existing power to request Trumps returns. If Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin refuses to hand them over, he can be held in contempt of Congress. From there, it escalates to a subpoena, and if Mnuchin continues to refuse, it gets kicked into court. For now, however, it is clear that Trump has made the political calculation that hiding his tax records is less damaging to his presidency than being transparent. There should be some damaging secrets in those records. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. A 53-year-old man jumped to his death from a bridge over the Raritan River on Monday morning and his wife was found dead in the house they owned on a quiet street in Freehold Township, authorities said. The body of Kenneth Bartone was pulled from the river late Monday afternoon, hours after the body of his wife, Denise, a 48-year-old employee of Rutgers University who was the former chairwoman of the townships educational foundation, was discovered, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said. The prosecutors office said Denise Bartone was the victim of a homicide, but the circumstances surrounding her death were not released Monday. Authorities said that they did not believe there was a danger to the public, raising the likelihood that the death was the result of a murder-suicide. The State Police marine unit spent much of the day searching the waters beneath the Thomas A. Edison Bridge, which carries Route 9 over the river between Woodbridge and Sayreville. A State Police spokesman confirmed troopers responded to a call around 7 a.m. about a person possibly jumping from the span. The couple and their children lived in a multi-story home on Koster Driver in Freehold Township. School officials there identified the woman as Denise Bartone, who was a former chairwoman of the Freehold Township Education Foundation, a fundraising group. The couples three daughters attended township schools. The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the suspicious death of a woman in Freehold Township. (Sophie Nieto-Munoz | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) The district has made arrangements for additional counselors and child study team members to be available tomorrow at the schools most impacted by this loss, Superintendent Neal Dickstein said in a letter to parents obtained by NJ Advance Media. My thoughts and prayers are with the Bartone girls and their extended family. A vigil was planned for 7 p.m. Monday at the Co-Cathedral of Saint Robert Bellarmine at 61 Georgia Road, Dickstein said. Denise Bartone Bartone worked at the Rutgers Food Innovation Center, according to a director with the center. "They are a very quiet family, a normal family, " said neighbor Amy Kurczesk. This is obviously very upsetting for this neighborhood. Its very alarming. I didnt know them well enough but they seemed like a normal family. Kurczesk said she heard helicopters around 7:30 a.m. The Edison bridge is about 20 miles north of the Freehold Township house. NJ Advance Media staff writer Jeff Goldman contributed to this report. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The murder convictions of two Trenton men who authorities believe killed a drug dealer during a failed home invasion were overturned by the New Jersey State Supreme Court Monday because prosecutors failed to hand over 19 pieces of evidence until after their trial started. William Paperboy Brown, 34, and Nigil Youngin Dawson, 35, are getting a new trial in the 2008 killing of Tracy Crews, who was shot in the neck in his home in Trentons Chambersburg neighborhood. Brown and Dawson are currently serving 50-year prison terms. The states high court found that withholding the evidence violated Brady vs Maryland, a landmark, 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision that says prosecutors must disclose to the defense evidence that might exonerate defendants. The evidence was provided to defense attorneys a week after testimony started against Brown and Dawson, in 2015. In this case, the court also found the trial judge made errors once the material was turned over by excluding admissible, exculpatory evidence. The high court said theres no evidence or allegation that the Mercer County Prosecutors Office acted in bad faith or intentionally withheld the materials, but the prosecutors and trial judges actions deprived Brown and Dawson of a fair trial. Former Assistant Prosecutor Al Garcia led the prosecution of Brown and Dawson, who were represented by Edward J. Hesketh and Steven C. Lember, respectively. They were tried in early 2015 before Mercer County Judge Andrew Smithson, and sentenced a few months later. During their sentencings, the defense attorneys argued for a new trial, citing irregularities and evidence gathered by prosecutors that wasnt shared with the defense until late in the trial. Smith denied that motion and sent the young men to prison. The New Jersey Public Defenders Office filed and handled the Supreme Court appeal. A prosecutors office spokeswoman said Monday only that the office intends to retry Brown and Dawson. A New Jersey appeals court had upheld their convictions in 2017, but sent the case back to Superior Court in Mercer County so their sentences could be adjusted after a conviction for both men on a gun charge was merged with their murder convictions. Crews was a known gang drug dealer wanted by state parole authorities when he was fatally wounded by two men looking to rob him of $40,000 in his house, officials have said. The 23-year-old was accosted as he went upstairs to tuck his 2-year-old daughter in to bed. Among the evidence cited in the decision are two reports investigators wrote about statements from Crews wife, Sheena Robinson-Crews. Her statements were key to the prosecutions case. As her husband lay mortally wounded in the street outside their home, she reportedly ran to him, cradled him and asked, Who did this to you? She reported that in a dying declaration, he identified Brown and Dawson, using their street names, Paperboy and Youngin. And, at the scene that night, a detective apparently overheard Robinson-Crews on a cellphone talking to, who(m)ever shot the victim. She told the person on the phone, You got what you came for, you did not need to shoot him, and then, she made a second call, in which she said, Those boys did not have to shoot him. Robinson-Crews also called Crewss mother that night, Barbara Portis, and told her that Crews said, Paperboy and Youngin had shot her son. This was all memorialized in an investigators report. Another report, from prison officials in Pennsylvania, where Robinson-Crews was incarcerated three years after the killing, reported that her husband only identified Paperboy as his killer, and she just added Youngin to her report to police that night. The defense, though, had learned that neither of the defendants cell phones received a call from Robinson-Crews the night of the murder. The court found that the information in both reports was favorable to the defense, as it allowed lawyers to challenge the prosecutions theories. Moreover, once the reports and other evidence were turned over to the defense, a week into the trial, four police officers had already taken the stand and testified about information in them. And, the report about Robinson-Crews comments and calls at the scene, which was excluded at trial by the judge, contained information that was used to support four search warrants in the case. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The case of a 23-month-old girl found dead in a suitcase near Journal Square heaps tragedy upon tragedy. While TeMyah Plummers father, Travis Plummer, has been charged with dumping her body beside railroad tracks last year, uncertainty of where and when the girl died has prevented any further charges from being filed. Plummer, 38, is charged with desecrating human remains after the toddlers body was found April 11 alongside train tacks just outside Journal Square. The charge carries a possible sentence of five to 10 years, but Plummer could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted due to his priors, which include a conviction for child abuse after his 8-month-old son drowned in a bathtub in Virginia in 2005. The tragic case of TeMyahs death began in Virginia when the father and daughter were reported missing in March. At the time, the Richmond Police Department indicated Plummer and the girl may have gone to the Charlotte, North Carolina area or Jersey City. Since then, an autopsy on TeMyahs decomposed body revealed she died of cocaine intoxication and unspecified violence, and ruled her death a homicide. However, the report did not determine the time of her death or the location. That has made it impossible for prosecutors to claim they have jurisdiction and file homicide charges, a source with knowledge of the investigation said. Meanwhile, a former law enforcement official said that prosecutors would need evidence outside the scope of the autopsy to determine which agency has jurisdiction in the case. During a court hearing in July, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Lynne Seborowski said investigators believe he traveled to New Jersey with the decomposing body of TeMyah wrapped in multiple bags in a suitcase and left the suitcase in his friends garage. But Richmond Police Department spokesman James Mercante said Monday the departments Major Crimes Unit opened a missing persons investigation into the childs whereabouts in 2018 and referred any further queries to the Hudson County Prosecutors Office. At a plea cutoff hearing Monday morning, Seborowski said the state has no plea offer for Plummer. As a result, Hudson County Superior Court Judge Patrick Arre set April 1 for the start of jury selection for Plummers trial, which is expected to last less than two weeks. After TeMyahs body was found, the FBI issued a warrant for Plummers arrest on the charge of unlawful flight and he was arrested by federal agents in Puerto Rico on April 19. On Monday morning, Arre also ruled that a four-hour statement Plummer gave to authorities in Puerto Rico will be admissible at trial. He made the statement while being interview by an FBI agent, a Port Authority police officer and a homicide detective from the Hudson County Prosecutors Office. While arguing that Plummers rights may have been violated and that his statement should be suppressed, defense attorney Andre Vitale noted Monday that during the interview in Puerto Rico, his client said, I really didnt want to talk to you, but I just had to get this off my chest. A judge has ordered Plummer detained through the course of his prosecution and he is being housed at the Hudson County jail in Kearny. The man who authorities say shot a 5-year-old girl while she was walking home with her father from a Fourth of July fireworks display in Newark last year is looking at as much as 10 years in prison after a jury convicted him on a weapons charge Friday. Authorities have maintained that Jamar Loose Battle, 31, of Newark, shot the girl unintentionally while firing six shots at a departing car in which his girlfriend was riding. The little girls father rushed her to the hospital, initially not realizing she had been shot. The bullet broke her leg, according to court documents. After a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Newark, Battle was convicted Friday of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for New Jersey. Its not his first time being convicted of that charge. He served a 5-year sentence on two gun charges and had only been released from prison six weeks before the July 4, 2018 shooting. The U.S. Attorneys Office had on evidence including recovered spent shell casings and text messages between Battle and his girlfriend to make their case that he was shooter. But, perhaps because police never recovered the gun and had limited witness testimony about the shooting itself, according to court records, Battle was never charged with actual shooting by either federal or local authorities. The jury deliberated two hours before returning the verdict, a U.S. Attorneys statement said. Battles attorney, Michael P. Koribanics, filed a motion Monday asking Judge William J. Martini for a new trial. His sentencing is scheduled for June 21. Koribanics had previously argued that the girls medical records and her fathers testimony should not be allowed as evidence at trial because, since neither person could identify Battle as being the person possessing the gun, the evidence was irrelevant and prejudicial. Martini ruled that to prevent any prejudice, the medical records could not be presented to the jury and no one, including the father, could testify to the girls age. Battles criminal history includes six felony convictions, including the previous gun charges from 2013 and 2014, according to authorities and court records. If he loses his bid for a new trial, Battle faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The U.S. Attorneys Office had assistance on the case from Newark police, the Department of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, and the Essex County Prosecutors Office. Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. 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 Newark-bound American Airlines flight had to return to Miami on Monday morning after an odor in the cockpit forced the plane to turn around so crew members could seek medical attention, officials said. The Boeing 737 aircraft landed safely in Miami with 149 passengers and six crew members on board, according to a statement from American Airlines. The flight, AA1060, left Miami at 8:35 a.m. and landed back at the airport at 9:10 a.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. No passengers were injured, but two pilots and three flight attendants requested medical attention, according to the airline. One flight attendant was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure. A maintenance crew is continuing to examine the aircraft, and passengers are preparing to board a different plane for the flight to Newark, officials said. Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Niagara Falls, NY (14301) Today Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 52F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 52F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. ANSONIA Is there enough diversity in the Ansonia schools? Thats what Superintendent of Schools Carol Merlone and the Board of Education are asking of the community when they hold a program this week called An Honest Conversation about Diversity in Our Schools. The program is scheduled for 5 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Boys & Girls Club, 28 Howard Ave. Dinner will be provided. Residents interested in attending should contact Dorca Rodriguez, family engagement coordinator, at 203-736-5095, ext. 1016. The event is being facilitated by Dr. John Ramos, founder and president of the Equity and Excellence Imperative, and Dr. Mary Broderick, consultant with the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education. Equity (and) Excellence brings transparency to the table, Merlone said . It also brings a broader representation of individuals working together to come up with solutions. I hope that the people who attend will walk away with specific solutions that we can work on in order to make Excellence (and) Equity a reality. Board of Education Chairman Bill Nimons echoed similar sentiments. This program reinforces our efforts to service our clients the children we educate, Nimons said. We strive to do our best with limited financial resources. Ramos, a former Bridgeport superintendent of schools who led a major transformation in the citys schools which nabbed several excellence awards, will team up with Broderick as consultants, in implementing CABEs initiatives for diversity in the schools. The initiative strives to ensure that every student has the opportunity to thrive. The purpose of this community conversation is to create a rich, productive dialogue among a broad cross-section of the community regarding diversity in the Ansonia schools, Ramos said Monday. This is an undertaking that can be healthy for any Connecticut community. Ramos goal is to have residents leave the discussion armed with several things. We hope that participants leave the meeting assured that they have been heard, more informed about what the community collectively wants to see in the schools and the influence of race on educational outcomes and committed to new, effective community actions on behalf of students and families, said Ramos. jean.sos@snet.net Getty Images Israels Declaration of Independence says: The State of Israel shall maintain equal political rights amongst all its citizens, without any difference between religions, race and sex. Israel wasnt living up to this principle, so Israeli MP Mossi Raz from the Meretz party asked for enactment of a Basic Law to formally endorse equality. Its tragic that in December, the month of Hanukkah and Christmas, the Israeli Knesset voted down the bill for equal rights for all its citizens Christians, Muslims, Druse, as well as Jews. Many provisions in Israeli law show failure to be a democratic state with rights for all. According to a groundbreaking poll from the University of Maryland published in December, Americans support one democratic state in Israel as much as they support a two-state solution even if granting equality to Arabs and Jews means Israel will no longer be a politically Jewish theocratic state. WEST HAVEN University of New Haven police Officer Lars Vallin is being praised by law enforcement leaders for recently stopping a felony in progress in the off-campus community, highlighting the crucial connection between UNH and city officers. UNH Police Chief Tracy Mooney said for any good police officer, a crime in progress, especially a felony, thats a good day in their life. It is also a risky one. Vallin, a 23-year member of the New Haven Police Department before joining the UNH force eight months ago, was flagged down on Jan. 13 after 10 p.m. by a passing motorist who told him a man had broken the glass of a nearby gas station door and was inside. Vallin, who is used to high-risk, dangerous calls having spent the most recent years in New Haven as a K-9 officer with partner Xander drove to the closest gas station, Green Fuel, at 540 Boston Post Road, and saw the broken glass and suspect inside. This was among his first big calls since joining UNH, he said. In the minutes that followed, Vallin had to draw his gun and make that split decision about whether to use it and wound up instead bringing the suspect to the ground until backup arrived. Vallins biggest worry was that the suspect would run into a residential community and present a threat. That was my big concern, Vallin said. I let every second play out. When Vallin arrived on scene, he and the suspect spotted one another and the suspect tried to exit through the broken glass. Vallin tried to block the front door with his car. Things got tense. The suspect, later identified as Robert Hallett, 48, of New Haven, managed to get through the glass, past the vehicle, with his left hand in his coat pocket, and a bulge in his waistband that could have been a weapon. Vallin drew his pistol and gave several orders for Hallett to stop, but to no avail. It was a moment when Vallin said he drew on his years of experience and made that split-second decision not to fire his weapon. You have to be clearheaded, he said. Vallin said he didnt use his firearm because he didnt feel his life was in danger, even though it appeared Hallett could have had a gun in his jacket. He did the experienced police officer math in reaching that conclusion, he said. Vallin was determined, he said, because he feared Hallett running into a residential area he might encounter someone emptying the garbage or doing something else outside. Police later learned that Hallett allegedly had been on a spree of smashing windows and stealing on his way to the gas station. Despite being followed at gunpoint and being given several orders to stop, Mr. Hallett would not comply and walked quickly, eastbound, along the Post Road, with Vallin following, the police report states. Vallin called for backup, gave a description and grabbed the suspects coat, telling Hallett to stop, getting only, What, what, in response, the report states. Hallett grabbed Vallins hand the one holding the coat and in response, Vallin did a leg sweep, bringing Hallett to the ground. Thats when Vallin heard the sweet sound of backup arriving. It was the best feeling in the world, Vallin said. With assistance from responding backup units from both the West Haven Police Department and UNH department, Hallett was taken into custody and charged with third-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief, sixth-degree larceny and interfering with an office. Multiple items taken from the gas station where found concealed inside the suspects clothing, police said. The suspect has an extensive criminal record, police said, inluding pending trespassing and larceny charges at Yale University in New Haven. In the West Haven case, he is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail and is due back in Milford court on Feb. 13, judicial records show. Vallin, also one of several officers to save an overdose victim in the old Shoprite parking lot, will receive a commendation for both that and stopping the burglary in progress, Mooney said. Lars is very talented; he comes from a strong background, Mooney said. He did what any other objective police officer would have done (in not firing his weapon). Mooney said while the departments first duty is to the UNH campus, Its our duty and responsibility to extend our law enforcement to the city of West Haven. She said Vallin is very active with motor vehicle stops because he understands there are students using the crosswalk. West Haven Deputy Police Chief Joseph Perno said the connection between the two departments is a great perk. West Haven Police also offer backup for UNH as needed. The cooperation between both agencies is a tool that both agencies benefit from. Having a police force like UNH in town is immeasurable, especially within the police experience on that force, Perno said. Ronald M. Quagliani, associate vice-president of the Department of Public Safety and Administrative Services, said of the case, I am very proud of Officer Vallins exceptional work and the work and commitment of this entire group of professionals who strive to keep our campus and the greater West Haven community safe every day. University of New Haven President Steve Kaplan commended Vallin. The University of New Haven is fortunate to have such a professional and well-trained police force overseeing not only the safety of our campus, but also that of our neighbors, Kaplan said. A Super Bowl LIII commercial about supposedly terrible things has some people criticizing an automaker. Hyundai's commercial, featuring Jason Bateman, of "Horrible Bosses" and "Arrested Development," showed people in an elevator presented with different situations, such as root canals and jury duty, on each "floor." But one situation, a vegan dinner party, which included an actor suggesting he was throwing up, quickly drew reactions on social media. Many people voiced complaints about the issue, calling it everything from "offensive" to "unnecessarily mean." Some users showed support. Dan Spencer said he's vegan but thought the commercial was funny. "It's a stereotype," he wrote. "We'll knock your socks off with our cooking in reality." Contributed / A 32-year-old Cheshire man who was arrested Friday on sexual assault, strangulation and other charges during an incident in his home has had his case transferred to the court in New Haven where more serious cases are handled. Mark Lacy was arraigned Monday at Superior Court in Meriden but his case was transferred to Superior Court in New Haven, where the Part A cases in the judicial district are heard. Lacys next court appearance is set for Feb. 16 and his bail was raised from $500,000 to $1 million, according to the court clerks office in Meriden. School districts across the state have protocols for what to do if an active shooter forces his way into their buildings. But under the chaos of gunfire, everything gets a lot more complicated. The goal should be to ensure teachers and students are equipped to quickly react to any circumstance, said Greg Crane, founder of the ALICE Training Institute, which teaches civilians how to respond in active shooter situations Having a predetermined plan of action is just really not acceptable, Crane said. Because it never really can take into consideration all of the dynamics of the event, the chaos of the event, the variables of the event. Local school districts recognize this and have been training students and staff to respond under various scenarios. We want to teach our kids situational awareness, Bethel Superintendent Christine Carver said. In any situation, it might be different how you react. This is a change from the philosophy after the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, she said. Carver recalled schools conducted drills in the classroom, where teachers would shut the shades and turn off the lights and students would stay put. Unfortunately, its not that clean, she said, pointing out that last years shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., occurred during dismissal. Research suggests the traditional lockdown alone is not the most effective way to protect students during school shootings. The Journal of School Violence released a study in the fall that compared traditional lockdowns to a multi-option approach, where students and teachers evacuate an area, form barricades and, as a last resort, resist the gunman. In simulations of that response, the situation ended sooner and fewer people were shot, compared to traditional lockdowns, according to the study. Superintendents declined to get into specifics on their security procedures, citing safety reasons. But area districts uses cameras and other measures to protect the buildings, while working closely with local police departments during emergencies. Were always trying to train and communicate with the school teachers and administration and make sure were on the same page with things, said Bethel Police Capt. Stephen Pugner. Connecticut also requires districts annually to review and if necessary improve their security plans and submit them to the state. Many districts formed committees after last years shooting in Parkland to examine upgrading emergency protocols. Were always updating and refining our practice and keeping people apprised of whats going on, Brookfield Superintendent John Barile said. In New Fairfield, the district this year started conducting drills at inopportune times, such as lunch or between class periods, said Richard Sanzo, director of business operations. Lockdown, evacuation, fire and shelter-in-place drills are held multiple times a month, he said. It helps us to plan and be able to problem solve around different scenarios that can occur, he said. Joel Barlow High School in Redding held a lockdown this week during passing time, said Thomas McMorran, superintendent of Easton, Redding and Region 9. The district plans again to conduct drills at odd times. The drills prevent students and staff from panicking in an emergency because they know what to do, Carver said. That helps keep people feel calm if, God forbid, there is a crisis, she said. Newtown heightened its security measures after the Sandy Hook tragedy, where 26 children and educators were massacred in the elementary school. The buildings are protected by surveillance cameras and access card systems, said Mark Pompano, director of security. Newtown holds drills once a month, in addition to drill week, where emergency drills are practiced. Afterward, the district surveys students and staff on how these protocols could be improved, Pompano said. Weve always had emergency response procedures, he said. Even on the day of the tragedy, those procedures were put into place. Weve practiced them. Weve continued to practice them. Aside from drills, Pompano or principals train new hires on security protocols. Pompano also speaks at faculty meetings and to various unions. In New Fairfield and Brookfield, the districts have held tabletop exercises with staff where participants are given scenarios to practice what they would do in various scenarios. Each of us have different roles in responding to a crisis or event, Sanzo said. It helps us to think through the steps we would be taking. Staff in Easton, Redding and Region 9 have teamed up with Bethel schools and the local police departments for similar exercises, McMorran said. He said this has been instrumental in figuring out little details, such as that certain staff members need walkie talkies or where administrators should keep their emergency vests. The important thing is when youre in an actual crisis to be able to rely on training and previous thinking, McMorran said. Because when you're in a crisis, your body responds, your heart rate goes up, your sweat glands turn on. You want to make sure you have pre-positioned the places people will go, the things theyll do. New Milford has not conducted these exercises yet, but hopes to do so in the spring after updating its security protocols, said Stephen Tracy, interim superintendent. He said this method has been effective in other districts he has worked for. They are worthy exercises because you really walk through the process and you throw a few curveballs in to see how people respond, Tracy said. After all, there is no step-by-step protocol students and staff can follow to protect themselves, Crane said. What we need to do is tell people what all these options are and then give them the training, the confidence, the skill set, so they can make a decision in the moment, he said. Some area school districts said they use pieces of the ALICE method, but havent been trained specifically through the institute. But Shelton High School conducted an ALICE drill a couple years ago. Bethel considered this year reading a book to elementary-school students based on its teachings. The picture book, Im not Scared...Im Prepared! Because I Know all about ALICE, encourages students to listen to their teacher during emergencies, while also teaching them to run, hide and fight if an active shooter comes into the building. The book suggests students throw objects at the attacker and run in a zig-zaggy formation while waving their arms and making strange noises. Crane said these methods distract and delay the attacker. If students simply hide under their desks, they could still be found, he said. I dont want them to be calm, he said. I want chaos. Chaos is bad for the bad guy, too. After backlash from parents over the book, Carver said the district is reevaluating whether teachers will read the text in class. We were looking for a way to have a conversation with kids that is developmentally appropriate and not make them afraid, Carver said, She said these discussions about how to respond during emergencies would still happen, even without the book. Surveys of Bethel students have shown they feel safe from bullying and emergencies at the schools, Carver said. Part of it is because they do understand we do take it seriously, and we want to make sure were giving them the proper drilling and procedures, so they know what to do in an emergency situation, she said. 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 HARTFORD Passing paid family and medical leave legislation tops the list of Connecticut Democrats list of priorities for 2019. It is one of the issues on which House and Senate Democrats have early consensus, said Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven. Also on the list is raising the minimum wage, making prescription drugs more affordable, improving job development and training, allowing early voting and passing a green new deal to fund renewable energy and sustainability efforts. Those are the values that we fought for on the campaign trail, said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. We are keeping our promises. We want to fight hard to grow this economy and make sure we grow the state of Connecticut in a way that brings people to this state. Legalizing recreational marijuana was not on the list of priorities, which Democrats unveiled Monday afternoon, because some Democrats oppose the idea, Looney said. Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, as well as a Democratic governor, means these consensus items are likely to pass, if Democrats can agree on the specifics. They will spend the next few months negotiating and debating the exact language of each bill. Some of these policies may have merit, but we need to see the details, said Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, in a written statement. Once those details are made known, Im interested in knowing how they can be enacted in a way which doesnt hurt Connecticut businesses. And how much do they cost? And how would they impact peoples paychecks? State Rep. Robyn Porter, D-New Haven, who chairs the Labor and Public Employees Committee, said Democrats are currently considering a family and medical leave plan in which all workers in the state automatically contribute 0.5 percent of their paycheck to a family and medical leave fund administered by the state Department of Labor. Workers could then access the fund to receive pay for up to 12 weeks while on leave to care for newborn babies, recover from a serious illness, or care for a sick family member, for example. Employees on leave would receive 100 percent of their weekly earnings, up to $1,000 per week. New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Jersey have passed legislation for public family and medical leave programs, as well as California, Washington state and the District of Columbia. I think we can look at whats been done and learn from it and make our bill even stronger and better for working families, said Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, who chairs the Labor Committee with Porter, in an interview Thursday. I think it will be one of those flagship bills that really publicizes that this is a great place to live and work and raise your family. Looney observed that while he hopes Connecticuts bill is a model, it may not be the strongest of all states because their proposal would not require employer contributions into the fund. He called that a concession. Republican Rep. Jason Perillo of Shelton, who attended the news conference Monday, called paid family and medical leave bill a payroll tax. Everybody is going to have to take a chunk out of their paycheck to pay into this proposal, said Perillo. What Republicans proposed last year would actually be a tax credit for those employers who want to implement paid family and medical leave. It would be optional, but they would get a benefit. Democrats also hope that Connecticut can catch up to other New England states by raising the minimum wage. Looney said he wants to see the states minimum wage, now $10.10 per hour, rise to $11.25 in Jan. 2020, $12.50 in 2021, $13.75 in 2022 and $15 in 2023. Democrats still need to decide whether and how they would then index the minimum wage, Looney added. We need to be very careful not to pass policies which could obliterate our current economic momentum, Fasano responded. An onslaught of economic wrecking ball legislation would put Connecticut into freefall. emunson@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson The Trump administration says it would require extraordinary effort to reunite what may be thousands of migrant children who have been separated from their parents and, even if it could, the children would likely be emotionally harmed. Jonathan White, who leads the Health and Human Services Department's efforts to reunite migrant children with their parents, said removing children from "sponsor" homes to rejoin their parents "would present grave child welfare concerns." He said the government should focus on reuniting children currently in its custody, not those who have already been released to sponsors. "It would destabilize the permanency of their existing home environment, and could be traumatic to the children," White said in a court filing late Friday, citing his years of experience working with unaccompanied migrant children and background as a social worker. The administration outlined its position in a court-ordered response to a government watchdog report last month that found many more migrant children may have been split from their families than previously reported. The government didn't adequately track separated children before a federal judge in San Diego ruled in June that children in its custody be reunited with their parents. It is unknown how many families were split under a longstanding policy that allows separation under certain circumstances, such as serious criminal charges against a parent, concerns over the health and welfare of a child or medical concerns. Ann Maxwell, Health and Human Services' assistant inspector general for evaluations, said last month that the number of separated children was certainly larger than the 2,737 listed by the government in court documents. The department's inspector general report didn't have a precise count, but Maxwell said staff estimated it to be in the thousands. The American Civil Liberties Union, which wants U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw's order to apply to children who were released to sponsors before his June 26 ruling, criticized the government's position. A hearing is scheduled Feb. 21. "The Trump administration's response is a shocking concession that it can't easily find thousands of children it ripped from parents, and doesn't even think it's worth the time to locate each of them," said Lee Gelernt, the lead ACLU attorney. Last spring, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said anyone crossing the border illegally would be criminally prosecuted, leading to widespread family separations. President Donald Trump retreated amid an international outcry, days before the San Diego judge ordered that families be reunited Jallyn Sualog, deputy director of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, said in Friday's filing that it would take up to eight hours to review each of its 47,083 cases between July 1, 2017, and Sabraw's June order, which translates to 100 employees working up to 471 days. Such an assignment would "substantially imperil" operations without a "rapid, dramatic expansion" in staffing. The vast majority of children are released to relatives, but many of them are not parents. Of children released to sponsors in the 2017 fiscal year, 49 percent went to parents, 41 percent to close relatives like an aunt, uncle, grandparent or adult sibling and 10 percent to distant relatives, family friends and others. Sualog, echoing White's concerns, said the government would lack legal authority to take children from their sponsors and "doing so would be so disruptive and harmful to the child." "Disrupting the family relationship is not a recommended child welfare practice," Sualog wrote. Evelyn Stauffer, a Health and Human Services spokeswoman, said Saturday that the department does not comment on ongoing litigation. BETHEL The building committee will meet Tuesday evening to discuss the budget for the renovations to Rockwell and Johnson elementary schools. Overall, the project is within the $65.8 million budget approved by voters in October 2017, but Rockwell is about $1 million over budget and Johnson is $1.7 million under budget, said Bob Tripi, of Rizzo Construction. Rockwell is over budget because of environmental issues, including PCBs, in the school that need to be abated, Superintendent Christine Carver said. Rockwell is an older building, she said. There were some issues that were discovered that were just more significant than Johnson. Carver said the town will need to decide whether it can move money from the Johnson project to Rockwell. Using money in the contingency fund is also an option, she said. They still have a healthy contingency to go to, Carver said. First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker said the town attorney told him Bethel should be permitted to transfer money from one project to the other. But the attorney is researching whether the building committee or the Board of Selectmen would vote to do this, Knickerbocker said. The total of both projects is in fine shape, he said. We just have to make an adjustment. Rizzo will present Tuesday a proposal for the guaranteed maximum price for construction. The Public Site and Building Committee has 10 days to approve the proposal, Knickerbocker said. Josh Adams, chair of the Public Site and Building Committee, said working with the construction company is going well. We feel our voices are being heard, Adams said. The meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Meeting Room B of town hall. Construction is expected to start in the spring. DANBURY Three months before graduation, Joan Butler Kayser dropped out of high school to support her family financially. She promised her mother she would one day earn her degree, but then she got married and had five kids, then three grandchildren and then three great-grandchildren. Every time I saw a graduation, including my grandchildren and my own, I felt I was missing something, Kayser said. But now the 84-year-old has earned her GED certificate, passing four tests with a 70 percent or higher. It made her life complete, her daughter Katheryn Cumming said Kayser told her family she was working on a secret project, but her family thought it would be something like a puzzle or photo collage. She literally waited until she had the diploma in hand because I dont think she honestly believed that it was actually happening, Cumming said. The only person who knew Kayser was working on her degree was her home aide, Carol Thibodeau, a retired teacher, who researched how Kayser, who has visual, hearing and mobility impairments, could earn the diploma. Thibodeau administered the English, reading comprehension, math and social studies tests at Kaysers Danbury home between May through December. Kayser said she was doubtful she could pass the tests. She hadnt been in a classroom for decades. But she made it through the first three tests. The final exam, however, was on social studies. It was my worst nightmare, Kayser said. I hated history. I couldnt think for beans. But in December, Thibodeau handed Kayser a wrapped package. Kayser thought it would be a picture of Thibodeau with her kids and dog. She opened it, turned it over and saw the certificate. Oh my God, I did (it), she exclaimed before staring to cry. When her family found out, they were stunned and proud. It was a crying train, her granddaughter Katrina Savaglio said. The state does not track the ages of residents who have earned their GED diplomas specifically, but statistics suggest it is relatively rare for senior citizens to strive for this achievement. Last year, 1,040 people 60 and over were enrolled in a GED, citizenship, adult high school credit diploma, English as a second language or national external diploma programs. The largest cohort of people who were in these programs were ages 25 to 44, according to the state Department of Education. Im very proud of her accomplishment and happy to help her achieve this goal, Thibodeau said. Joan is an inspiration, a role model for others to never give up on your dream. Kayser was born in Michigan and moved to Danbury at 7. She quit Danbury High School in 1954 for a full-time job at the citys A&P grocery store to bring her family extra income. My parents needed me and I felt they brought me into the world and they raised me, Kayser said. Its only proper that I help them. Kayser married Bernard Kayser, a Korean war veteran, in 1955. The two were married for 35 years until he died. Kayser is the only one of her five siblings to earn a high school diploma. She said she always felt guilty that she hadnt kept her promise to her mother to graduate. I wish she could have been here and saw the diploma, Kayser said. She was my inspiration from the time I was little. Her own kids motivated her to get her diploma, Kayser said. I wanted to prove to my kids I wasnt a loser, she said, a notion her family admonished her for having. Kayser always instilled in her kids the value of education. She always talked about the importance of us going to school, Cumming said. Kayser said she also wanted to prove to herself that she could earn her degree, even after all that time. I just feel overwhelmed because now I feel I had a very good life, she said. I have a fantastic family, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. I was given every single dream I ever wanted in my whole life and Im just so grateful. New Delhi: What can be termed as a big victory for the Narendra Modi government in the Vijay Mallya case, UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday signed the order to extradite him to India. The 63-year-old businessman had lost a legal challenge against his extradition in a British court in December. Under the Extradition Treaty procedures, the Chief Magistrate's verdict was sent to the Home Secretary because only he is authorised to order Mallya's extradition. Mallya is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017 after the Indian authorities brought fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crores against the former Kingfisher Airlines boss. The UK court had said it was satisfied with the various assurances provided by the Indian government, including a video of the jail cell, which had not only been recently redecorated but was also far larger than the minimum requirement threshold. These are the legal options left for the liquor baron: Vijay Mallya now has a 14-day window to appeal to a higher court. The UK high court will hear both his appeals, against the Secretarys decision as well as the decision of the Magistrate to send his case to the Secretary in the first place. During these appeals, Vijay Mallya will get to argue all aspects of the cases, including whether his guilt has been prima facie established, as well as his arguments on jail conditions and fair trial. The appeals are only likely to be heard after several months, subject to the High Courts schedule, and could take a further few months for the hearings to be completed. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday slammed the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal for bodily preventing a CBI team from entering Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumars residence by police personnel. In an exclusive interview with News Nation, Goyal said Banerjee was scared of the CBI investigation into alleged ponzi scams at Saradha and Rose Valley groups. Goyal said the situation in West Bengal is "unfortunate". A political firestorm raged on Monday as Banerjee's sit-in protest against CBI's bid to question Kolkata police chief in chit fund scam cases entered the second day, with the West Bengal Chief Minister declaring her agitation to save the "Constitution and country" will go on and she was ready to face the consequences. Virtually all opposition parties rallied behind Banerjee's direct confrontation with the Modi government, even as the BJP called it an "alliance of corrupt" and Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that developments in West Bengal were indicative of a "breakdown of the Constitution". We (the Centre) never interferred in the CBIs work. Prime Minister Narendra Modi always wanted to let the ED and CBI work independently. But the way things are unfolding in West Bengal, its really unfortunate, the finance minister said. Goyal said Banerjee has every right to protest, but when a chief minister sits on a dharna, the law and order situation gets affected. This is probably the time a central investigating agency is being barred from doing its work by a state government, added Goyal. Goyal said the action by the Bengal government shows the Trinamool Congress was worried about the growing popularity of PM Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah in the state. The BJP may repeat the Tripura magic in West Bengal as well. The Trinamool Congress is worried about that, said Goyal. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that her dharna against the CBI's attempt to grill the Kolkata Police chief in the chit fund scam cases will continue till Friday in view of the upcoming boards examinations. Banerjee is sitting on a dharna at the Metro Channel in Esplanade area in the heart of the city, the same spot she had sat on a 26-day fast in 2006 against the acquisition of farmland at Singur for the Tata Motors factory. What led to the showdown: A CBI team came to the Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar's Loudon Street residence to question him in connection with ponzi scam cases --- Rose Valley and Saradha. The team was detained by the state police but was later released. Mamata Banerjee alleged that the PM Narendra Mod and BJP chief Amit Shah are playing vindictive politics and this is the outcome of the very successful opposition rally organised by her on January 19. The TMC chief has garnered support from Congress President Rahul Gandhi and several other opposition leaders such as Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, N Chandrababu Naidu, Arvind Kejriwal extended their full support to Mamata on Sunday. Here are the highlights: 8.46 pm: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and DMK leader Kanimozhi arrive dharna site to meet West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. 7.38 pm: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav lands in Kolkata to meet Mamata Banerjee at dharna site. 7.05 pm: Three-judge SC bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta & Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear CBIs pleas tomorrow against Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar & West Bengal govt for alleged non-cooperation in a case connected with Saradha chit fund scam 6.15 pm: CBI has filed a contempt plea in the Supreme Court against West Bengal's Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and Kolkata Police Commissioner for wilful and deliberate violation of apex court's orders. 6.12 pm: CBI moves a contempt petition against West Bengal Chief Secretary Malay De, DGP Virendra Kumar and Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar in the Supreme Court. 6.00 pm: BJP is destroying every constitutional institute, says Tejashwi Yadav. 5.37 pm: I am ready to give my life but not compromise. I did not take to the streets when you touched TMC leaders. But I am angry when they tried to insult the chair of the Kolkata Police Commissioner, he is leading the organisation, says Mamata Banerjee. 5.00 pm: We are proud of our forces, says West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. 4.55 pm: Mamata Banerjee attends West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police event. Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar also present. 4.30 pm: .@mamataofficials goons have vandalised the BJP party office in Bhawanipore, South Kolkata. Mamata represents the Bhawanipore constituency. Law and order has completely collapsed! No one is safe under TMC. #MamataFreeBengal pic.twitter.com/v28er7Sb80 BJP Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) February 4, 2019 4.27 pm: BJP office in Mamata Banerjee constituency Bhawanipore vandalised, allegedly by TMC workers. 4.00 pm: In 2014 Congress tweeted Rahul Gandhi's statement that 20 lakh people lost their money in chit fund scam in West Bengal. We took oath on 26 May 2014 so all these inquiries in Narada, Saradha scams started before us, says Ravi Shankar Prasad. 3.46 pm: Is it a crime to investigate scams? The fundamental question today is that this is not a gathbandhan, we call it an opportunistic alliance, Ravi Shankar Prasad. 3.45 pm: In 2014 Congress tweeted Rahul Gandhi's statement that 20 lakh ppl lost their money in chit fund scam in West Bengal. We took oath on May 26,2014 so all these inquiries in Narada, Saradha scams started before us, says Ravi Shankar Prasad. 3.15 pm: What is happening? A Police Commissioner is sitting on a dharna with politicians? What is the meaning of this? By sitting on dharna West Bengal CM is following the footsteps of Arvind Kejriwal, says Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. 3.00 pm: Piyush Goyal attacks Mamata, says denying permission for Yogi Adityanath's helicopter to land unfortunate. 2.45 pm: A confidential report prepared by West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs. 1.52 pm: "These things can only be explained by people who are doing it. I dont react to such things. The CBI and the government in question will explain. Until the Election Commission announces the date of elections, anything can happen in the country," says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on CBI action in West Bengal:These things can only be explained by people who are doing it. I dont react to such things.CBI&the govt in question will explain. Until the Election Commission announces the date of elections, anything can happen in the country. pic.twitter.com/kvAvBWrBku ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 1.42 pm: "The manner in which constitutional institutions in this country, like CBI, are being misused to settle scores with opponents is unfortunate... We stand with Mamata ji. If institutions continue being discredited like this federal structure will be fractured," says former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. Former J&K CM M Mufti: Manner in which constitutional institutions in this country, like CBI, are being misused to settle scores with opponents is unfortunate...We stand with Mamata ji. If institutions continue being discredited like this federal structure will be fractured. pic.twitter.com/BJaa0c18AD ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 1.35 pm: The CBI was sleeping for 4 years. When Modi attacked Mamata Banerjee, next day 40 officers go there. Modi himself created ample scope for the machinery to be used by the government. I have never used the CBI to harm anyone in this country, though I was the head of a coalition. I never took any decision to take revenge, says former prime minister HD Deve Gowda. 1.30 pm: "This isn't a good development. I think the central government must behave the properly and take the state governments in confidence. The central government is misusing the constitutional institutions. It's not good for the future. How the central government is behaving with opposition leaders is disastrous," says HD Kumaraswamy, Karnataka CM. Karnataka CM on CBI issue: This isn't a good development. I think central govt must behave properly&take confidence of state govts. Central govt is misusing constitutional institutions. It's not good for future. How central govt is behaving with opposition leaders is disastrous. pic.twitter.com/VoSVl0fng8 ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 1.25 pm: BJP delegation comprising Nirmala Sitharaman, Bhupendra Yadav, Mukul Roy, Kailash Vijayvargia, MA Naqvi, SS Ahluwalia meets Election Commission. 12.58 pm: Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's mother says that her son is innocent. 12.56 pm: Mamata Banerjee goes through documents continuing her routine work as the Chief Minister, at 'Save the Constitution' dharna in Kolkata. #ModiVsDidi | @MamataOfficial goes through documents continuing her routine work as the Chief Minister, at 'Save the Constitution' dharna in Kolkata : ANI Follow LIVE updates: https://t.co/m0BK5G9CbR pic.twitter.com/tuox6FuADM News Nation (@NewsNationTV) February 4, 2019 12.47 pm: West Bengal to move Calcutta High Court against the CBI. 12.39 pm: MK Stalin and Chandrababu Naidu have spoken to Mamata Banerjee over the phone and extended support. 12.35 pm: BJP delegation comprising Nirmala Sitharaman, Bhupendra Yadav, Mukul Roy, Kailash Vijayvargia, MA Naqvi, SS Ahluwalia reaches Election Commission. 12.30 pm: Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 pm amid Opposition protest. 12.25 pm: Mamata violating Supreme Court order. The situation in Kolkata had gone out of hand, had to call CRPF, says the home minister. 12.22 pm: Opposition parties indulge in massive sloganeering in the Lok Sabha. Calls of 'CBI tota hai' reverberates. 12.20 pm: Mamata is stopping CBI from probe in chit fund scam. It is an unprecedented situation in Kolkata, says Home Minister Rajnath Singh. 12.13 pm: Opposition parties have supported Mamata Banerjee. Who are these people? They are out on bail. Such people are standing together. This is not Mahagathbandhan, they are divided by a vision and united by corruption. The corrupt are standing together, says Javadekar. #ModiVsDidi | Whatever is happening in Kolkata and West Bengal is one of a kind. Never before was an investigating team taken into custody by police. It's a murder of democracy: @PrakashJavdekar LIVE updates: https://t.co/E0senLd2S1 pic.twitter.com/HeLSkQJzxZ News Nation (@NewsNationTV) February 4, 2019 12.12 pm: "Whatever is happening in Kolkata&WB is one of a kind. Never before was an investigating team taken into custody by police. It's a murder of democracy. We want to ask Mamata Banerjee why is she staging dharna, who does she want to shield? Police Commissioner or herself?" asks BJP leader Prakash Javadekar. 11.55 am: If CM of a big state as WB,is sitting on dharna, then it is a serious matter. Is this CBI vs Mamata Banerjee or Mamata Banerjee vs BJP, we'll find out soon. If CBI is being misused, it's a matter of dignity of the nation, and prestige of the agency (CBI), says Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena. Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena: If CM of a big state as WB,is sitting on dharna, then it is a serious matter. Is this CBI vs Mamata Banerjee or Mamata Banerjee vs BJP, we'll find out soon. If CBI is being misused, it's a matter of dignity of the nation, and prestige of the agency (CBI). pic.twitter.com/LggpODHxzw ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 11.50 am: Besides West Bengal, such things have been heard from other states too. BJPral govt have started misusing CBI as elections are approaching. Not only I, not only Samajwadi Party, but all political parties are saying this, says Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Akhilesh Yadav, SP chief on CBI issue in West Bengal: There was CBI row, centre was scared of a CBI director, now they are trying to scare everyone using CBI. Who has misused the institutions? If someone has politicised the institutions, it is BJP. https://t.co/OxsIQqDk6E ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 4, 2019 11.48 am: From the day BJP has come to power at the Centre, they have paid very less attention towards working for the country but towards eliminating opposition parties, this has been their focus for the past 5 years.There is no other party more corrupt than BJ, says Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad. Ghulam Nabi Azad,Congress: From the day BJP has come to power at the Centre, they have paid very less attention towards working for the country but towards eliminating opposition parties, this has been their focus for the past 5 years.There is no other party more corrupt than BJP pic.twitter.com/Zhae2bFrH2 ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 11.47 am: Mamata apologises to farmers for not attending protest rally. 11.46 am: Modi government playing politics o vendetta. 11.45 am: Farmers troubled by demonetisation. 11.42 am: Centre afraid of Trinamool's policies. Modi government scared of our policies for welfare of farmers. 11 am: Karnataka Deputy chief minister G Parameshwara tweeted in support of Mamata Banerjee. In complete solidarity with @MamataOfficial led West Bengal for standing up to a government which has made a habit out of bulldozing institutions and constitutional principle of federalism. It seems the PM has completely forgotten what he was talking day in and day out as CM! Dr. G Parameshwara (@DrParameshwara) February 4, 2019 10.50 am: SC to hear tomorrow CBI plea seeking directions to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to cooperate with the investigation in Saradha chit fund case. 10.40 am: Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar "potential accused" in chit fund probe, should surrender evidence, CBI tells Supreme Court amid showdown. The agency said Rajeev Kumar should surrender evidence. The top court will take up the case tomorrow morning. 10.11 am: "What is Mamata scared of?" asks BJP leader Nalin Kohli. 10.07 am: Traffic restrictions imposed in the Metro Cinema area where the chief minister is on a sit-in protest. 10 am: Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar met CM Mamata Banerjee at dharna site. The CM has resumed the dharna after taking a short break earlier this morning. The dharna began last night. West Bengal: Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar (in grey shirt) leaves from the site of CM Mamata Banerjee's 'Save the Constitution' dharna after meeting her. The CM has been back at the dharna after taking a short break earlier this morning. The dharna began last night. pic.twitter.com/Jhuptj8IOh ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 9.45 am: "We will hold discussions with opposition party leaders in Delhi today and draft an action plan on a nation-wide movement. TDP MPs will strongly protest along with other opposition leaders today," says Andhra Pradesh CM&TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu on CBI issue in West Bengal. 9.40 am: TMC to go to the Election Commission over the EVM matter today. 9.38 am: CBI SP, DSP reach Kolkata from Delhi. 9.37 am: Samajwadi Party leader Kiranmoy Nanda reaches dharna venue. 9.30 am: A memorandum has been signed by all the opposition parties and it will be submitted to the Election Commission. 9.25 am: TMC workers are holding protests across the state. Several trains affected due to this. 9.22 am: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta will appear for the CBI. While senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi will represent the West Bengal government in the Supreme Court. 9.20 am: Mamata, who is sitting on a dharna, should be reminded of how she sacked RK Pachnanda, the police commissioner in 2013, just because he arrested a TMC cadre for killing a cop. Constitution was not in danger then and is now in peril just because the CBI on the instruction of the Supreme Court investigating police chief Rajeev Kumar for corruption in the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams, a Bengal BJP leader said. 9.15 am: CBI will seek contempt proceedings against West Bengal chief secretary, State DGP and Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. The CBI will also seek a directive for Kumar to join the probe. 9.14 am: "I will not hamper any administrative work of my government and there will be smooth functioning of all work. I do not know who all (leaders from other states) are coming to meet me. I have not been informed. I will hold a meeting with all my ministers here behind the dharna manch before the Assembly Session begins today," says Mamata Banerjee from Dharna spot. 9 am: Mamata Banerjee will hold meetings at dharna spot before going to Assembly to present Budget. Bengal Cabinet to meet at dharna spot. 8.50 am: Latest visuals of Mamata Banerjee who has been sitting on a dharna since 8.30 am on Sunday. 8.40 am: A high-level BJP delegation including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Bhupendra Yadav to meet Election Commission today on West Bengal issue. 8.10 am: TMC leader Derek O'Brien tweeted and thanked opposition leaders for extending support. 7 am: Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav, N Chandrababu Naidu extend support to Mamata. I spoke with Mamata Di tonight and told her we stand shoulder to shoulder with her. The happenings in Bengal are a part of the unrelenting attack on Indias institutions by Mr Modi & the BJP. The entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 3, 2019 6.40 am: Latest visuals from near Metro Channel where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is holding her 'Save the Constitution' dharna over the ongoing CBI issue. 11:34 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Farooq Abdullah, National Conference on CBI issue in West Bengal: Her (Mamata Banerjee) allegation is right. This country is in danger as its becoming dictatorial. They (Central govt) are not masters of this country, people are. Farooq Abdullah, National Conference on CBI issue in West Bengal: Her (Mamata Banerjee) allegation is right. This country is in danger as its becoming dictatorial. They (Central govt) are not masters of this country, people are. pic.twitter.com/uVbAFdiSXf ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is sitting on an overnight dharna since 8.30 pm on Sunday in the ongoing CBI vs Kolkata Police showdown and has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of plotting a coup. According to the latest reports, the Centre will move the Supreme Court against the Trinamool Congress government. Opposition leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, Arvind Kejriwal, Chandrababu Naidu have shown solidarity with the TMC chief and said that they are united against the fascist forces at the Centre. On the other hand, the BJP says President Rule should be imposed in the state. Today is Mauni Amavasya and lakhs of devotees are expected to take the holy dip on the day of the second shahi snan at the Kumbh 2019. Incidentally, it is also a Monday, which only adds to the sacredness of Mauni Amavasya. Pope Francis landed in UAE for a historic visit. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has flatly rejected a call by European countries to call snap elections after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the Latin American country's interim leader. 21:14 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Priyanka Gandhi Vadra meets Congress President Rahul Gandhi at his residence in Delhi. KC Venugopal and Jyotiraditya Scindia were also present in the meeting: Sources 20:06 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Veteran Marathi film actor and stage artist Ramesh Bhatkar died in Mumbai today. He was suffering from cancer. 19:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In MoS Defence Subhash Bhamre reaches Ralegan Siddhi to meet Anna Hazare. 19:14 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress President Rahul Gandhi will meet Pradesh Congress Committee Presidents on February 9. 17:03 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Enforcement directorate (ED)custody of AgustaWestland case accused Rajeev Saxena extended by four days. He was extradited from Dubai on January 31. 15:47 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP has also issued whip for its Lok Sabha MPs, asking them to be present in the House on February 5 and 7. 15:47 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP issues a whip for its Rajya Sabha MPs, asking them to be present in the House from 5-8 February. 15:11 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In A plea filed in Supreme Court challenging the Constitutional validity of 'The Acquisition of Certain Area At Ayodhya Act, 1993'. 14:23 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Sunanda Pushkar death case: Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court commits the case to Sessions Court. Court also dismisses Subramanian Swamy's plea seeking to assist the court in the case. Next date of hearing is 21st February. 14:17 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Shiromani Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal on SAD-NDA alliance: Sukhbir Badal and BJP chief have had a talk and everything is clear now. Shiromani Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal on SAD-NDA alliance: Sukhbir Badal and BJP chief have had a talk and everything is clear now. pic.twitter.com/soxYOQ78NT ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 14:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Bus accident in Nalanda: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announces compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the deceased and free medical treatment for all the injured. 14:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Sunanda Pushkar death case: Shashi Tharoor sent to the Sessions court for further proceedings. 13:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP President Amit Shah in Vizianagaram,Andhra Pradesh: When he (N Chandrababu Naidu) felt that people are angry with the way he is running the govt & with his efforts to try to make his son the CM. To try to gain sympathy, he put the entire blame on BJP&distanced himself from us. BJP President Amit Shah in Vizianagaram,Andhra Pradesh: When he (N Chandrababu Naidu) felt that people are angry with the way he is running the govt & with his efforts to try to make his son the CM. To try to gain sympathy, he put the entire blame on BJP&distanced himself from us pic.twitter.com/KJUDQB5VKJ ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 13:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Tamil Nadu: Animal lovers and social activists protest in front of Coimbatore District Collectorate demanding the forest department to bring back Chinna Thambi, the wild Jumbo which was captured few days ago from Thadagam village, Coimbatore. Tamil Nadu: Animal lovers and social activists protest in front of Coimbatore District Collectorate demanding the forest department to bring back Chinna Thambi, the wild Jumbo which was captured few days ago from Thadagam village, Coimbatore. pic.twitter.com/YNVUYrZ9wF ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 13:30 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress National Spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill applies for ticket at Punjab Pradesh Congress Bhavan, Chandigarh, to contest from Lok Sabha seat Sri Anandpur Sahib, Punjab. Congress National Spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill applies for ticket at Punjab Pradesh Congress Bhavan, Chandigarh, to contest from Lok Sabha seat Sri Anandpur Sahib, Punjab. pic.twitter.com/20QMSwmlNG ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 11:28 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Maharashtra Cabinet approves 10% reservation in education and employment opportunities for economically weaker sections. 09:41 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The mother of the minor girl had lodged police complaint on January 24 alleging that her daughter had been held captive at actress' Bhanupriya's house and sexually abused. 09:41 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Tamil Nadu, Chennai: A woman was arrested&her 16-yr-old daughter, working as domestic help at actress Bhanupriya's house, was sent to a govt home after the actress' brother lodged a police complaint alleging that the girl used to steal things from the house&give it to her mother. 07:50 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Another foggy morning i Delhi-NCR, air quality remains in 'poor' category 07:47 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Jharkhand: Naxals torched 10 road construction vehicles in Honhe village of Ramgarh on Sunday. Jharkhand: Naxals torched 10 road construction vehicles in Honhe village of Ramgarh yesterday pic.twitter.com/z1V4GOIvME ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2019 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A Delhi Police constable, identified as Suresh, committed suicide by shooting himself with his service pistol while he was on duty at a police control room in Dayalpur on Monday. According to news agency ANI, the constable has left behind a suicide note. A preliminary inquiry by the police revealed that the 30-year-old Delhi Police constable was suffering from depression after his father's death. He hailed from Jaipur and currently stayed at Babarpur in the city, the police said. The incident took place at around 6 pm, the police added. Suresh, after shooting himself in the head, was rushed to the Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital where he was declared brought dead, Atul Kumar Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast), said. He has been serving in the Delhi Police since 2010 and was currently posted in the Police Control Room (PCR) department, police said. (With agency inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Centre's writ petition seeking permission from the top court to return all 67-acre surplus land at the disputed Ayodhya site was challenged on Monday. The Centre on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court on the disputed Ram Mandir dispute in the Ayodhya matter. The government has sought permission from the top court to return all 67-acre surplus land at the site. The government asked the Supreme Court to lift status quo on non-disputed land. The government asked the top court to allow it to hand over part of land that is not under dispute to Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas. The government's petition comes a day after the Ayodhya case hearing was cancelled because of the non-availability of Justice SA Bobde. The hearing was scheduled to start from today. The new date for the Ayodhya case hearing has not been decided yet. Fourteen appeals have been filed in the top court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land be partitioned equally among three parties - the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. In the last September verdict of 2:1, a three-judge bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had said the civil suit has to be decided on the basis of evidence, adding that the previous verdict has no relevance on this issue. However, the Supreme Court is yet to announce the next date for hearing the politically sensitive Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute in Ayodhya. On January 25, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had reconstituted the Ayodhya bench where he inducted Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Abdul Nazeer. The case was scheduled to be heard today. Earlier, the Supreme Court decided to constitute afresh the five-judge Constitution bench to hear on January 29 the politically-sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute in Ayodhya after a judge, Justice UU Lalit, recused himself from the hearing. Justice Lalit, who was part of the five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, "expressed his disinclination to participate in the hearing any further" and opted himself out of the contentious matter. The apex court had said since Justice Lalit has opted out of the hearing in the matter, there was no option left but to adjourn the case "to fix a date of hearing and to draw up a time schedule for hearing of the case". Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for a Muslim party, said Justice Lalit had appeared as a lawyer for former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh in a connected matter "sometime in the year 1997". Dhavan, who was appearing for lead petitioner M Siddiq (since dead) and now represented by his legal heirs, pointed to the September 27, 2018 judgment, by which the top court had refused to refer the 1994 verdict in Ismail Faruqui case to a five-judge constitution bench to examine the observation that a mosque was not integral to Islam. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to cooperate with it in the investigation of the Saradha chit fund scam. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the matter will be heard on Tuesday. The CBI in its petition said that Rajeev Kumar was summoned multiple times but he failed to cooperate and also created hurdles in the investigation. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta representing the CBI submitted before the Supreme Court said, Our team was arrested and kept in alleged custody. Kolkata Police Commissioner should immediately surrender." The central probe agency also alleged the destruction of electronic evidence related to Saradha chit fund scam. The CBI had submitted before the top court that Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, a 'potential accused' should surrender evidence. The Chief Justice of India said, "If the CBI brings a single piece of evidence or any material to show that any authority in WB or any police officer is engaged in tampering with chit fund scam, we will come down so heavily on them that they will regret it. All material, evidence has to be placed by means of affidavit. The solicitor general also alleged that senior policemen in uniform sat on dharna with political leaders in Kolkata last night. The Kolkata Police had on Sunday detained the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team which had reached the house of Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to question him in connection with Rose Valley and Saradha ponzi scams. The team was earlier denied entry by the cops into the house of Kolkata Police chief. The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also reached Kumar's house. According to our sources, the CBI team is in Shakespeare police station under whose aegis commissioner's house comes. The CBI is trying to locate Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar to question him in connection with Rose Valley and Saradha ponzi scams and it might arrest him as the last resort, officials said. The IPS officer, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal Police probing the scams, has to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he is not responding to notices to appear before the agency, they said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Amid all the showdown that is taking place between the West Bengal government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Kolkata, the new chief of the investigating agency, Rishi Kumar Shukla, is likely to assume office on Monday. The arrival of 58-year old Shukla, a 1983-batch IPS officer, former DGP of the Madhya Pradesh Police and Intelligence Bureau veteran, as a full-fledged director is likely to bring some sort of order in the agency as it moves to the Supreme Court to challenge the action of the West Bengal government in ponzi scam cases. Shukla was appointed the CBI director for a fixed tenure of two years. The post of the CBI chief has been lying vacant since January 10 after the unceremonious exit of Alok Kumar Verma, who had been engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer and former CBI special director Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges. Both Verma and Asthana had accused each other of corruption. Heres all you need to know about Rishi Kumar Shukla: # Shukla was Director General of Police of Madhya Pradesh for nearly two-and-a-half years. He is known for ensuring quick investigations into cases of rape in the state during his tenure as the police chief, leading to a substantial decrease in such a heinous crime. # A post-graduate in Philosophy and a native of Gwalior, Shukla ensured that charge sheets in criminal cases were filed at the earliest to ensure timely start of trial so that delay in delivery of justice could be minimised. # Although he has not served in the CBI, he was in the Intelligence Bureau where he handled several sensitive matters, officials said. # After passing out from the National Police Academy, Shukla served in Raipur, Damoh, Shivpuri and Mandsaur districts in different capacities, before taking over as DGP. # He was recently transferred from the post of DGP to the Madhya Pradesh Police Housing Corporation in Bhopal as chairman. # He underwent training in the USA for crisis management and hostage negotiations, besides another stint of training in London. # Shukla takes charge of the country's premier investigation agency at a time it has been grappled with controversies. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday ordered the extradition of Vijay Mallya to India, in a major blow to the embattled liquor baron. The 63-year-old businessman had lost a legal challenge against his extradition in a British court in December. Under the Extradition Treaty procedures, the Chief Magistrate's verdict was sent to the Home Secretary because only he is authorised to order Mallya's extradition. Mallya is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017 after the Indian authorities brought fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crores against the former Kingfisher Airlines boss. The UK court had said it was satisfied with the various assurances provided by the Indian government, including a video of the jail cell, which had not only been recently redecorated but was also far larger than the minimum requirement threshold. Javid, the UK's senior-most Pakistani-origin minister, had two months from that date to sign off on that order. UK Home Office confirmed on Monday that after considering all matters, the minister had signed Mallya's extradition order on Sunday. "On February 3 the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India," a Home Office spokesperson said. "Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences," the spokesperson added. Reacting to the news, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley tweeted: "Modi Government clears one more step to get Mallya extradited while Opposition rallies around the Saradha Scamsters." Modi Government clears one more step to get Mallya extradited while Opposition rallies around the Saradha Scamsters. Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) February 4, 2019 Mallya is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017 after the Indian authorities brought fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crores against the former Kingfisher Airlines boss. He now has 14 days from February 4 to apply for leave to appeal to the UK High Court. The former Kingfisher Airlines' boss has earlier indicated that he intends to file an application to appeal against the Westminster Magistrates' Court verdict in favour of his extradition to India. The businessman had told reporters soon after the ruling by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot in London in December 2018 that he would consider the verdict in detail and decide his next course of action. His legal team later confirmed that he will seek leave to appeal against the court order. "Dr Mallya has now been able to consider the court's decision and intends to file an application for permission to appeal at the appropriate time," said Anand Doobay, Partner at UK-based Boutique Law LLP, who has been Mallya's solicitor through the extradition process. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Bharati Ghosh, former IPS officer of West Bengal, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday. Ghosh, who was the West Midnapore superintendent of police for more than six years, was transferred as commandant of the third battalion of the state armed police on December 26 last year. She resigned from service two days later. She was once considered close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and was also awarded a service medal on August 15, 2014. Ghosh was transferred twice, once by the Election Commission before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and the second time by the state itself before the 2016 Assembly elections. She was, however, reinstated as West Midnapore SP as soon as the elections got over on both occasions. An arrest warrant was also issued against Ghosh in connection with an extortion case registered at Daspur police station in West Midnapore district, following her resignation. The CID, probing cases relating to alleged extortion and misconduct against Ghosh, had also conducted raids at various properties, including a house in Kolkata that belongs to her husband Raju. In August least year, the West Bengal CID arrested MAV Raju, Ghosh, after the Calcutta High Court rejected his anticipatory prayer.Raju had been given interim respite by another division bench in February when he moved the court with his prayer. The court had then restrained CID from arresting him till disposal of his anticipatory bail plea and had directed him to cooperate with the investigators. Raju's counsel had earlier submitted that he was being harassed as he was the husband of Ghosh. The CID, probing cases relating to alleged extortion and misconduct against Ghosh, had also conducted raids at various properties, including a house in Kolkata that belongs to her husband Raju. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Narendra Modi Government has cleared one more step to get Vijay Mallya extradited while Opposition rallies around the Saradha Scamsters, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tweeted, barely moments after UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid approved the extradition of the 63-year-old business tycoon on the charges of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offences. "Modi Government clears one more step to get Mallya extradited while Opposition rallies around the Saradha Scamsters," Jaitley wrote on Twitter. Modi Government clears one more step to get Mallya extradited while Opposition rallies around the Saradha Scamsters. Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) February 4, 2019 The UK Home Office confirmed the news on Mallya's extradiiton case this evening and said, "On February 3 the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India". "Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences," a Home Office spokesperson added. Mallya is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017 after the Indian authorities brought fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crores against the former Kingfisher Airlines boss. However, Mallya has now 14 days time starting from February 4 to apply for leave to appeal to the UK High Court. (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Month after the speculations of her quitting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in December, party legislator Alka Lamba on Monday claimed that Delhi Chief Minister and AAP president Arvind Kejriwal has just unfollowed her on Twiiter. Taking to the micro-blogging site, Lamba on Sunday dropped hints about the same, saying "He has unfollowed me on Twitter". Speaking to the reporters, Lamba later clarified that she was referring to none other than Arvind Kejriwal in her tweet. "Just Noticed, "HE has unfollowed me on Twitter . How should I take this now ???," the AAP MLA wrote on Twitter. Just Noticed, #HE has unfollowed me on Twitter . How should I take this now ??? Alka Lamba (@LambaAlka) February 3, 2019 The tussle between Lamba and the Aam Aadmi Party started back in December over a proposed amendment in Delhi Legislative Assembly seeking to withdraw former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's Bharat Ratna award. While Lamba alleged that the AAP had asked her to resign on the charges of protesting against the resolution, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had rubbished her claims. In the wake of this prevailing situation, Lamba has expressed her displeasure to the AAP leadership, asking them to clear their stand on her position in the party. Speaking to the news agency PTI, Lamba said removing her from WhatsApp groups, unfollowing on Twitter and not inviting in party meetings have made it very diifficult for her to continue. "I cannot compromise my self respect," she added. However, Lamba, who is the AAP MLA from Chandni Chowk, promised to continue serving the people of her constituency. The legislator further said she was actively involved in campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections for Chandni Chowk constituency, but now will focus on her work as a MLA. "I have a strong feeling that the party does not need my services at all. But till I am an MLA, I will continue serving the people of my constituency," PTI quoted Lamba as saying. Being asked about the reports of her cozying up to the Congress, Lamba said, "It is being assumed that I am going to join the Congress though I have not uttered a word against the AAP or its leaders. But on the other hand, efforts to ally with the Congress through a 'Mahagathbandhan' are considered okay by them". The AAP legislators have been accusing Gandhi of justifying the killing of innocent Sikhs in the 1984 riots. However, the passed resolution available on the Delhi assemblys website has no mention about Gandhi. The 1984 anti-Sikh riots, or what the Sikh community calls genocide, erupted in India with thousands of Sikhs being killed following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi's mother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In a dramatic turn of events, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath is all set to reach West Bengal today to address a public rally in Purulia at 3.30 pm. Yesterday, the Bengal government denied permission to Yogis chopper to land in Bengal where he was scheduled to address rallies. According to the sources, this time, Yogi Adityanaths chopper will land in Jharkhand from where the UP CM will be taking roadway to reach Purulia. Yesterday, the UP chief minister who was scheduled to address the "Ganatantra Bachao Rally" at Balurghat in South Dinajpur district Sunday could not attend the rally after permission was denied for his chopper to land near the venue. "The TMC government didn't allow me to come and meet you all. That is why I had to resort to Digital India of Modi-ji to address you. This TMC government is anti-people, anti-democratic and have compromised with national security," Adityanath said while addressing the rally via the audio link. The TMC government is afraid of the BJP as it very well knows that its days in Bengal are numbered, he said. Alleging that the TMC government had tried to stop Durga Puja in West Bengal in order to pursue its appeasement policy, Adityanath urged BJP workers to fight hard in order to ensure that the party forms the next government in the state. "Mamata Banerjee should remember that she can not misuse the government and its agencies in the state. It is shameful that government officials are acting as TMC cadres in the state," he said. According to news agency ANI, Mritunjay Kumar, the Information Advisor to CM Yogi Adityanath said, "Ye UP CM ki lokpriyata ka hi asar hai ki Mamata Banerjee [West Bengal CM] ne helicopter landing ka permission tak nahi diya [It is because of UP CM Yogi Adityanath's popularity that Mamata Banerjee even denied his helicopter from landing in West Bengal]." New Delhi: An inter-ministerial committee has been set up to enhance the fellowship of PhD students and workout the incentives for research scholars within two months, a senior official said Thursday. Apprising about the empowered committee, Department of Science and Technology Secretary Ashutosh Sharma said it will have officials from various ministries, who will examine all fellowship related matters that have a bearing on enhancing the value, quality and experience of doctoral research, including the quantum of fellowship. "We want to look at the value of PhD in a holistic way. PhD students are the backbone in progress of a country as they strongly contribute to various fields. An empowered committee has been formed to bring all ministries together to periodically visit the quantum of fellowship and incentivise research," Sharma said, adding that the committee is likely to take a call on the incentivisation of top class research within a month or two. He was speaking at a press conference held at the CSIR Science Centre, which was also attended by Renu Swarup, the secretary of the Department of Biotechnology (DST), and Shekhar C Mande, the director general of CSIR and secretary of the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research. Union minister Harsh Vardhan, who could not attend the conference, later in an official statement said that he was happy about the initiative to provide financial and academic incentives to recognise performance of research fellows. In the statement, the minister for Environment, Forests and Climate change, said "science and technology is a fast moving area in which a dynamic and holistic vision is required to secure the future of the nation and this will be a performance based addition to the enhanced fellowship." The government had on Wednesday announced a hike in fellowships which will directly benefit 60,000 research fellows. Sharma said that there was a need to reduce the gap between the quantity of research and its quality. "Sometimes quantity of research gets marred by the quality of research which may not be up to the mark. This gap needs to be reduced and quality of research can be improved by improving the incentives for it," he said. "We will consider what and how much incentive is to be given after the full budget comes," he added. He said there are various schemes to promote global exchange of researchers, including 'VAJRA'-Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty Scheme, a dedicated programme exclusively for overseas scientists and academicians with emphasis on NRIs and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO)/ Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to work as adjunct/visiting faculty for a specific period of time in public funded academic and research institutions. According to the statement released by the ministry, there is a substantial 30-35 per cent enhancement in the financial rewards for the scientists involved in the research and development (R&D) projects as research associates and the top bracket of research associateship is fixed at Rs 54,000. All the research fellows are also entitled to house rent allowance as per the central government norms. Fellowship of the Junior Research Fellows (JRF) in the first two years of the PhD programme has been increased from Rs 25,000 to Rs 31,000 per month. Similarly, in the remaining tenure of PhD, a senior research fellow will get Rs 35,000 per month, instead of the current Rs 28,000. This is effective from January 1, the statement had said. New Delhi: The IGNOU has announced the term end exam result for December 2018. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has released the IGNOU Term End Exam (TEE) December 2018 result before than the expected date. The candidates who had appeared for the examination can now visit the official website of the university i.e. ignou.ac.in For the convenience of the students, we have mentioned the steps through which the candidates can download the results: 1) Open the official website of the IGNOU - ignou.ac.in 2) On the homepage, you will find a link that reads, "Early declaration December 2018 Exam Result (New)" 3) Click on the IGNOU TEE December 2018 Result link 4) It will redirect to result page 5) Now, enter your 9-digit enrolment number and click on submit button 6) Your term end exam result for December 2018 exam will be displayed on the screen The candidates must note that the varsity will not issue the original marksheet soon after the declaration of the result. Hence, we request the students to save the PDF copy of the result and take some printout of the same for future references. New Delhi: The Andhra Pradesh Police are suspecting that the priests of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) temple to be involved in the robbery of three gold crowns of the temple. Special teams were formed to trace the ornaments that went missing on Saturday evening. The cops interrogated the two priests who were on duty at the sub-temple from where the crowns went missing. According to ToI, a TTD official said that the priests work in shifts. When one of them takes charge from the other, he checks all the jewellery of the deities. The police are investigating the case and also looking for a possibility if an internal quarrel between the priests led to the robbery. The golden crowns adorning the deities Lord Govinda Raja Swamy and his consorts Bhudevi and Sri Devi were found missing. TTD assistant executive officer Kola Bhaskar said the theft was noticed around 10.30 pm on Saturday and the TTDs vigilance wing immediately informed the police, as reported by the Hindustan Times. The police are investigating the exact of the cause of events. According to TTD Joint Executive Officer, P Bhaskar, priests at one of the 18 sub-temples in Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple noticed that the three diamond-studded golden crowns missing. The main doors of the temple were closed after the evening ritual of naivedyam (offering to God) was offered to the deities. When the doors were re-opened half-an-hour later, the crowns were found missing, he said. The crown adorning deity Govinda Raja Swamy weighs 528 grams while those of Sri Devi and Bhu Devi weigh 528 grams and 408 grams, respectively. As there were no visitors after naivedyam, the police are suspecting one of the temple staffers to be involved in the theft, Bhaskar said as quoted by the daily. For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Please purchase a subscription read this premium content. If you have a subscription, please sign up for a digital website account or log in. US President Donald Trump says sending the military to Venezuela is "an option" and that he has turned down President Nicolas Maduro's request for a meeting. "Certainly, it's something that's on the - it's an option," Mr Trump said in an interview with CBS to be broadcast on Sunday. Mr Trump said Mr Maduro requested a meeting months ago and he turned down the Venezuelan leader. "I've turned it down because we're very far along in the process," he said in excerpts from a CBS Face the Nation interview. "So, I think the process is playing out - very, very big tremendous protests." Tens of thousands of people have thronged the streets to protest the Maduro government, wearing the yellow, red and blue of the Venezuelan flag. As domestic and international pressure mounts on Mr Maduro to step down, a senior air force general disavowed him in a video that circulated earlier on Saturday, expressing his allegiance to parliament head and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido. Reuters Jacinda Ardern believes it's unfair to compare New Zealand's cancer drug purchasing to that of Australia. The Prime Minister was responding to backlash from cancer sufferers who feel let down by the Government's drug-buying agency Pharmac, which takes significantly longer to approve new drugs than Australia. On Monday, host of The AM Show Duncan Garner, called on the Prime Minister to back an independent inquiry into Pharmac, initiated by cancer sufferer Wiki Mulholland. "In the time Australia has approved 24 new cancer drugs, we have approved, wait for this: none," Garner said. Ms Ardern responded on Tuesday saying: "We spend almost a billion dollars making purchases on behalf of New Zealand. Some of the comparisons I've seen with Australia aren't necessarily fair." Women stood on the steps of Parliament in October last year to present petitions to MPs calling for two important breast cancer medicines to be funded by the agency. The women who protested in October, representing the group Metavivors, desperately needed funding and access for Ibrance and Kadcyla - life-extending drugs in the fight against advanced breast cancer. A ceremony celebrating the first two examples of written Te Reo has sparked debate about whether there should be more emphasis placed on teaching Maori culture. It came hours after Prime Minister Jacinda Arden was stumped when asked to name Article One and Two of the Treaty of Waitangi, despite saying she learnt it in school. The two faintly written notes are a remarkable example of New Zealand documentary heritage. Around 70 words etched into slate with a nail marked the first known chapter in Maori literacy. "They celebrate the transition of Maori Taonga Te Reo in to a written form, and that's a very profound thing," said Claire Craig acting chief executive of Heritage New Zealand. One author signed the bottom "Na Rongo Hongi aged 16". She was the daughter of the famous Ngapuhi chief Hongi Hika and wife of Hone Heke. "She became profoundly significant in her own right as a leader of Maoridom," Ms Craig says. Both slates went undiscovered at New Zealand's oldest house for more than a century, buried beneath the floorboards where the two teens took their lessons. Today there's debate about whether language and lessons about the Treaty of Waitangi should be compulsorily taught in schools. Ms Ardern learnt about the Treaty at school - but speaking to press on Monday, the Prime Minister was asked by a reporter what Article 1 of the Treaty of Waitangi says. "Article 1? On the spot? Kawanatanga," she replied, when helped out by Willie Jackson and other ministers standing behind her. Asked what Article 2 says, Ms Ardern said, "Tino Rangatiratanga," which is the name of the name of Article 2, but again she did not provide further insight. "Look, I know the principles of Waitangi, I know our obligations," she said. But at Waitangi where the Treaty was signed, just knowing the basic principles isn't enough. Multiple people say knowing our history and language should be compulsory. A language and lesson that many don't want to go missing as these precious pieces of history did for almost 200 years. Newshub. Waitangi Day is an important celebration of New Zealands cultural history, but over the years has also provided a platform for protesters to air their grievances towards politicians and other high-profile figures. With celebrations just two days away, some politicians (and their security teams) will be preparing for whatever mud may get thrown their way at Waitangi. Newshub has compiled a history of four memorable modern-day protests on Waitangi Day, some heated, others hilarious. Queen Elizabeth and the wet t-shirt In 1990 Queen Elizabeth II was in the middle of a visit to New Zealand on Waitangi Day. The British monarch was sat in a car, waving at the crowds when a wet t-shirt was flung at her. While it didn't hit its intended target, reports from the time say Queen Elizabeth was startled by the projectile. It landed in her car, right behind where she was sitting, and police were quick to catch and arrest Henearoahuea Tepou, who was sentenced to five months detention. Tears as Helen Clark denied the right to speak In 1998 then-Prime Minister Helen Clark was reduced to tears as her speaking rights were revoked at the marae. Her right to speak was challenged by Titewhai Harawira and the PM broke into tears. She was comforted by several members of her visiting party. The following year, Ms Clark didn't return to Te Tii for Waitangi Day. Don Brash gets covered in mud In 2004, Dr Don Brash was the leader of the opposition National Party, and travelled to Te Tii to ask about why media weren't allowed onto the marae. On his way into the gate, Brash was pelted by mud from a young protester inside the marae grounds. He was speaking to media at an impromptu press conference when the clump of mud hit his face, and said that it was "not a bad shot." John Key jostled by two men at Te Tii In 2009, then Prime Minister John Key was confronted by two angry protestors as he was entering Te Tii marae. At the time Mr Key had a broken arm, and was unable to push away as two men grabbed his jacket and yelled that he would not be going on to the marae. Dr Pita Sharples, Maori Affairs Minister at the time was also hit during the scrap, and then-education minister Anne Tolley was pushed. Two Northland men were charged with assault over the incident, and it was later found out that they were the nephews of then-Maori Party MP Hone Harawira, though he said publically he did not condone their actions. Steven Joyce and 'dildo-gate' It was 2016 when Steven Joyce, then the Minister of Finance, was attending Waitangi celebrations at Te Tii marae. In what has become a New Zealand icon for modern-day protest, Joyce was standing outside a hotel conference room speaking to media when a woman yelled "thanks for raping our sovereignty" and threw a large, pink sex toy at his face. It made headlines around the world, video of the incident was played on television in America, and more recently a whole episode of New Zealand show Get it to Te Papa was dedicated to the dildo throw. Newshub. The Royal Commission's damning report on Australian banks, including the parent companies of four major New Zealand banks, is a warning for New Zealand, experts say. "They're saying they need to put the customers' interests first which seems extraordinary because you'd assume that would be the case anyway," money expert David Boyle told The AM Show. The Royal Commission found 24 instances of potentially criminal corporate behaviour in Australia's banking sector. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne has made 76 recommendations in the damning report, which are likely to drastically change the country's financial services sector. "It's going to take everyone a bit of time to understand exactly what the recommendations mean and the ramifications it will have, not just in the banking sector, but the overall financial services sector," Mr Boyle said. The Royal Commission has recommended radical changes to Australia's superannuation and home loan sectors. Mr Boyle said there could be up to $2 billion in compensation for fees being paid with no service provided. "The financial services industry has not had a shakeup like this ever, that I can remember." All the new X-Men comics, graphic novels, collections from Marvel arriving in 2021 and beyond Every single new X-Men comics arriving in the next few months that you need to get excited about GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more Gilbert F. Kraemer, 74 years of age, passed away on Monday, May 31, 2021. He was born on November 9, 1946 in New Albany, Indiana to the late Edward and Henrietta (Renn) Kraemer. Gilbert was an Army Veteran serving in the 24th Infantry and was a 1965 graduate of Providence High School. Along Torres said Marshall stays on top of the things that affect the organization and the services it provides such as laws, news media, trends and more. She impresses me every time she speaks on our behalf and I'm very proud that she is representing us as our executive director, she said. Marshall said there is no typical domestic violence victim and just as there are some struggling with job insecurities and homelessness, others who live in a comfortable community with a well-paying job could just as likely be a victim. Keep your eyes open, she said. Anyone can call and express concern for a friend or family member and YWCA will walk them through how to help. Victims dont just look like one thing. It could be anyone. A male, female, a senior, someone who just graduated from high school, it could be a child. Marshall said she wants to help prepare the community to be as vigilant as it can be. Domestic violence isnt something you can pin on a geography or community, it really is absolutely universal, she said. YWCA Board President Stephanie Andrews said Marshall has a strong voice and has the ability to empower others with her drive and focus on clients. Women could join the Daughters of Samaria sister group, and there were Good Samaritan youth lodges as well, Kubota said. Melissa Vandiver, a museum employee who curated the exhibit, said the fraternity collaborated with local organizations like the YMCA, but a large focus of their work was collecting dues from members and distributing that money to those who needed it. Mostly what they were focused on was the betterment of their members and charity work, she said. They were there to take care of each other as an African American order, one of the largest ones that we know to exist. They were looking after each other at a time when no one was really looking after them. Kubota said the fraternity required members to abstain from alcohol even before prohibition was instated. The exhibit on Lynchburg Museums main floor includes photographs of who museum staff believes to be Good Samaritans, regalia and group documents. Patricia Ferguson Bolling stopped by the museum Sunday to see if her father, Harry Ferguson, might be among the Good Samaritans in the photos on display. He was grand sire of the Union Pilgrim Lodge #150, which Bolling said met regularly at the Grace Street Good Samaritans hall when her father was active in the group during the 1960s. A Bedford County man has won a $1 million prize from Virginia Lottery. Marquis Foxx purchased the winning 20X the Money scratcher ticket at the Speedy Mart on Blue Ridge Avenue in Bedford on his way to work, according to a news release from Virginia Lottery. Foxx had the choice of taking the full $1 million prize over 30 years or a one-time cash option of $610,874 before taxes. He chose the cash option. The store where he purchased the ticket receives a $10,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the winning ticket. He is the third person to claim the top prize in 20X the Money, which means one more top-prize ticket remains unclaimed in this game. The chances of winning the $1 million top prize are 1 in 1,224,000. Foxx lives in Bedford County which received more than $4.1 million in Lottery funds for K-12 education last fiscal year. For more information and a complete list of Lottery funds distributed to Virginia school districts, visit the Virginia Lotterys Giving Back page. Contact Amy Trent at (434) 385-5543 or atrent@newsadvance.com. Find her on Twitter: @amylynnetrent. 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. Its been 10 years since Virginias oldest beer trail The Brew Ridge Trail was founded in Nelson County by five breweries and the Nelson County Department of Economic Development and Tourism. Since then, the number of breweries, wineries and cideries along Virginia 151 has exploded. On Feb. 9, the breweries along the Brew Ridge Trail will kick off a weeklong celebration of the 10-year anniversary with the Brew Ridge Trail Festival. Mandi Smack, co-founder of Blue Mountain Brewery and Barrel House, said when she and her husband, Taylor, first founded the brewery in Afton, they were the only one on Virginia 151. When we first bought the land to build on, everyone thought we were crazy, she said. Mandi Smack said the wineries in the area have always helped business, but when other breweries like Devils Backbone Brewing Company came along in 2008, they gained more traction with tourists. It was rough here. There just wasnt the big beer scene there is now, she said. Now, 10 years later, its obvious to the Smacks and other members of the Brew Ridge Trail they made the right move developing along Virginia 151. New Delhi: On day two of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees sit-in protest against CBIs bid to question Kolkata Police chief in chit fund scams, Opposition leaders Tejashwi Yadav and Kanimozhi landed in Kolkata to lend support to the firebrand leader. Speaking in support of Banerjee, DMK leader Kanimozhi said that the Bengal CM has once again made sure that the country stops and turns back to look at her. "I would say that this episode was Modiji's pre-election gift to Mamata Banerjee as the BJP has realised after January 19 rally that they won't return to power after Lok Sabha polls," she said. "The BJP and the RSS believe in divisive politics and in order to oust BJP, we should work together," she said. Joining Kanimozhi was RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav who too rallied behind Mamata. "It is political conspiracy to use the CBI against political opponents. Narendra Modi is elder to us and he should understand that PM comes and goes but the institutions of this great country remain. Whoever will not compromise with BJP they will be harassed by the CBI and other agencies," Tejashwi Yadav said. He said if all political parties don't unite then the people of this country "will not forgive" them. Banerjee, while thanking both the leaders, said all the opposition parties are united and will fight "till Modi is ousted from power". Virtually all opposition parties rallied behind Banerjee's direct confrontation with the Modi government, even as the BJP called it an "alliance of corrupt" and Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that developments in West Bengal were indicative of a "breakdown of the Constitution". Banerjee is on dharna against the CBI for attempting to question police chief Rajeev Kumar without completing required formalities. She has accused the CBI of destroying the federal structure of the state. "My police force is my pride, will give my life but won't compromise," West Bengal chief minister said. The protest, she said, will go on till February 8. The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear applications moved by the CBI alleging destruction of electronic evidence related to the Saradha chit fund scam case by the Kolkata Police commissioner.The CBI alleged that it has moved the application as an extraordinary situation has arisen in which the top police officials of the West Bengal Police are sitting on a dharna along with a political party in Kolkata. Meanwhile, Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has sent a confidential report on Sundays showdown between policemen and CBI officers, who had come to question Rajeev Kumar. Finding the right dose of medication by trial and error can be a painful experience for patients who are already suffering because of their disease. Artificial intelligence can greatly accelerate this process thanks to a new algorithm created by Adrien Coulet, lecturer at the Universite de Lorraine and researcher in a joint Inria and Loria team, in collaboration with researchers from Stanford University. By analyzing patients' digital data, this innovative tool can predict in advance whether patients will need a lower dose of medication thus reducing the suffering caused by side effects. This result was published in Nature Scientific Reports. Using artificial intelligence as a tool to help prescribe treatment Using electronic patients' data from Stanford University Hospital, the team of researchers was able to identify those who required a lower dose than the standard one for certain drugs, even before treatment started. They used an automatic learning method called "Random Forest Classifier"; this algorithm combines the results of decision trees based on slightly different subsets of data. The method was already known, so the innovative side of this project lies in the preparation and selection of the data used. Scientists compiled information from very different sources (analysis results, notes, prescriptions, etc.) on groups of patients who needed to have their dosage of drugs changed or not. Patients' data from Stanford University Hospitals has been computerized for years so the algorithm had multiple data on the highly variable responses of patients to their treatments. This computerization of the health system allowed the algorithm to learn and then predict whether patients who had never taken the drugs in question at the time would need a lower dosage. Refined predictions about complex drugs Adrien Coulet and his collaborators were particularly interested in drugs that interact with the family of the P450 enzymes. Malfunctions of this enzyme family are linked to adverse reactions to several types of medications, including some anti-cancer drugs. These adverse reactions can be limited when the dosage of the anti-cancer drugs prescribed as part of a chemotherapy are adjusted to each individual patient according to his or her needs. Traditionally these dosages are very difficult to adjust because the activity of the P450 family of enzymes is highly dependent on the individual characteristics of the patients. Thus the effects felt by patients taking these drugs, whether positive or negative, can vary greatly depending on their genes, their personal history or their way of life. The precision and completeness of the algorithm have made it possible to take this multitude of possibilities into account to apply it to new patients and make accurate predictions. Researchers now wish to adapt this technology to the data and the scientific, social and legal environment of French hospitals. The computerization of the health system can provide valuable support to health personnel and avoid unnecessary inconvenience and suffering for patients. When a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, both the patient and their family go through a very difficult time. It is important to know that support is available and that it is OK to feel a range of emotions. A vaccine against the biggest bacterial killer on the planet is a step closer to being available with funding secured for preclinical trials. Professor James Paton, Director of the University of Adelaide's Research Centre for Infectious Diseases and his team have been working on a vaccine for Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) that could save two million lives globally a year and address the overuse of antibiotics that leads to resistance. "The pneumococcus is the biggest bacterial killer on the planet. It's the most common cause of pneumonia, which is responsible for about 20 per cent of deaths from all causes in children under 5 years in developing countries. Globally, the pneumococcus accounts for about two million deaths a year," says Professor Paton. Streptococcus pneumoniae, which is principally spread through close contact with infected but asymptomatic carriers, is the leading cause of sinus and ear infections, meningitis, sepsis and pneumonia. Ear infections are one of the most common childhood illnesses that are habitually treated with antibiotics, contributing to increasing bacterial resistance. "Vaccinating people against Streptococcus pneumoniae would help to ameliorate the global challenge of increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics," says Professor Paton. "The problem with the existing pneumococcal vaccine is that it targets the outside coat of complex carbohydrates - of which there are 98 structurally distinct types. The current vaccine costs about $150 a dose and only covers 13 types. "What we have done is to remove this coat to expose all the surface proteins that are common to all pneumococcal types. The body mounts an immune response to these surface proteins if previously exposed or vaccinated." Sixteen months ago, Adelaide-based GPN Vaccines Pty Ltd was created to develop this novel "whole bacterial" vaccine (Gamma-PNTM) against Streptococcus pneumoniae. The company has already secured investment from local angel investors as well as a major grant from the National Health & Medical Research Council and a Commercialisation grant from the South Australian Government. GPN Vaccines has now raised a further AUS$1.1 million from international and Australian-based investors that will be used for preclinical evaluation of the Gamma-PNTM vaccine. Toxicity tests will be carried out as well as the scale-up clinical grade manufacture of the vaccine in readiness for testing in a first-in-human clinical trial. Dr Tim Hirst, Chairman & CEO of GPN Vaccines said "We are delighted by the rapid progress being made by GPN since its incorporation, which is testament to the capabilities of our partnership with the University of Adelaide. This capital raising puts GPN in a very strong position, enabling us to rapidly move forward our vaccine development program". The immune system is the body's best defense in fighting diseases like HIV and cancer. Now, an international team of researchers is harnessing the immune system to reveal new clues that may help in efforts to produce an HIV vaccine. SFU professor Mark Brockman and co-authors from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa have identified a connection between infection control and how well antiviral T cells respond to diverse HIV sequences. Brockman explains that HIV adapts to the human immune system by altering its sequence to evade helpful antiviral T cells. "So to develop an effective HIV vaccine, we need to generate host immune responses that the virus cannot easily evade," he says. Brockman's team has developed new laboratory-based methods for identifying antiviral T cells and assessing their ability to recognize diverse HIV sequences. "T cells are white blood cells that can recognize foreign particles called peptide antigens," says Brockman. "There are two major types of T cells--those that 'help' other cells of the immune system, and those that kill infected cells and tumours." Identifying the T cells that attack HIV antigens sounds simple, but Brockman says three biological factors are critical to a T cell-mediated immune response. And in HIV infection, all three are highly genetically diverse. He explains that for a T cell to recognize a peptide antigen, the antigen must first be presented on the cell surface by human leukocyte antigen proteins (HLA), which are are inherited. And since many thousands of possible HLA variants exist in the human population, every person responds differently to infection. In addition, since HIV is highly diverse and evolves constantly during untreated infection, the peptide antigen sequence also changes. Matching T cells against the HLA variants and HIV peptide antigens expressed in an individual is a critical step in the routine research process. But, says Brockman, "our understanding of T cell responses will be incomplete until we know more about the antiviral activity of individual T cells that contribute to this response." It is estimated that a person's T cell "repertoire" is made up of a possible 20-100 million unique lineages of cells that can be distinguished by their T cell receptors (TCR), of which only a few will be important in responding to a specific antigen. So to reduce the study's complexity, the team examined two highly related HLA variants (B81 and B42) that recognize the same HIV peptide antigen (TL9) but are associated with different clinical outcomes following infection. By looking at how well individual T cells recognized TL9 and diverse TL9 sequence variants that occur in circulating HIV strains, the researchers found that T cells from people who expressed HLA B81 recognized more TL9 variants compared to T cells from people who expressed HLA B42. Notably, a group of T cells in some B42-expressing individuals displayed a greater ability to recognize TL9 sequence variants. The presence of these T cells was associated with better control of HIV infection. This study demonstrates that individual T cells differ widely in their ability to recognize peptide variants and suggests that these differences may be clinically significant in the context of a diverse or rapidly evolving pathogen such as HIV. Much work needs to be done to create an effective vaccine. However, says Brockman, "Comprehensive methods to assess the ability of T cells to recognize diverse HIV sequences, such as those reported in this study, provide critical information to help design and test new vaccine strategies." Mutations that cause esophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) have been mapped in unprecedented detail - unveiling that more than half could be targeted by drugs currently in trials for other cancer types. This research, published today in Nature Genetics, could help stratify esophageal cancer patients to give them more personalized therapies. This could provide options not currently available to patients beyond standard chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery. Cancer Research UK researchers at the University of Cambridge used whole genome sequencing and whole exome sequencing to map mutations in OAC, the main subtype of esophageal cancer in England. In the study, driver mutations for OAC were found in 99% of patients and more than 50% were sensitive to drugs (CDK4/6 inhibitors) already in clinical trials for breast cancer. This means phase II/III clinical trials to treat esophageal cancer could be feasible in one to two years. Interestingly, women were found to have more KRAS mutations than men. These mutations are often seen in other cancer types, but are rarely found in esophageal cancer. This could indicate a different sub-type of the disease in women and suggest they may have a different prognosis or be eligible for other treatments. Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald, Cancer Research UK funded scientist and lead researcher at the MRC Cancer Unit, said: "This research could completely shift the paradigm from giving esophageal cancer patients the same chemotherapy that we know doesn't always work, to more targeted treatments based on individual characteristics of a patient's cancer. "We are now designing clinical trials that provide real-time analysis of patients' genes to offer patients the best treatment based on their own genome. "This research could also provide better options for older patients, who are more likely to develop esophageal cancer, and who are often not fit enough for current treatment options." Only around 12% of patients survive esophageal cancer for 10 years or more. This is partly due to late diagnosis, as symptoms often do not present until the cancer is advanced, and partly due to limited treatment options. Scientists have found that more people are developing OAC in several countries in Western Europe, including the UK - risk factors include obesity and smoking. Professor Karen Vousden, Cancer Research UK's chief scientist, said: "Research like this is crucial to improve treatment options and survival for patients facing a hard-to-treat cancer, such as esophageal cancer. "Understanding which mutations are causing the disease could lead to targeted treatments and earlier detection. This is something that would never have been possible without huge advances in technology." Cancer Research UK is committed to funding more research on hard to treat cancers like esophageal cancer, increasing spending from 5 million four years ago, to 16 million this year. In the UK, esophageal cancer is the 13th most common cancer and the seventh most common cause of cancer death in the UK. Thought Leaders Professor Attila Lorincz Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) An interview with Professor Attila Lorincz from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), discussing the development of a new cervical cancer test that is able to identify cervical cancer and pre-cancer in 100% cases. How do we currently screen for cervical cancer in the UK? The main method of cervical cancer screening is the Pap cytology (smear) test, however, we are now slowly transitioning to HPV screening. The cytology test is gradually being replaced and transitioned to a follow-up, or triage test. Komsan Loonprom | Shutterstock What are the limitations of the Pap smear and HPV-based cervical cancer screening? The Pap smear has a poor ability to detect cervical cancer and pre-cancer. The sensitivity of the cytology test is in the range of 50 to 60%, therefore the cytology test produces a lot of false negatives. The HPV test has a very good detection ability with a sensitivity for picking up 90 to 95% of cervical cancers and pre-cancers. However, very few women with HPV infection develop cervical cancer, therefore the HPV test produces a lot of false positives. Please describe the cervical cancer test you recently developed. My new test measures DNA methylation, which is a chemical change on one of the four base letters that make up the human genetic code. These base letters are A C T G. Methylation adds a methyl group (CH3) to the cytosine or C base, a change that has profound effects on the way the DNA is decoded. The variable presence of a methyl group on C can be imagined as a set of punctuation marks that tell how to interpret the genetic code. For example, if every word in a dictionary was run together into one very long string it would be difficult to interpret what was there. By adding spaces, periods and commas etc. the words become interpretable. Similarly, methylation on C provides the interpretational guidelines for the human genome. My test detects the levels of methylation in specific target regions of human and HPV DNA, which is an indicator of disease state. For example, the genes in my test that are measured start out with very low levels of methylation in normal people and as the methylation increases so too does the risk of cancer. What are the major benefits of this test? The DNA methylation test is more accurate than the cytology test or the HPV test for identifying women at risk of cervical cancer. It can detect all cervical cancers and can predict the development of the cancers up to five years in advance. The cytology test misses most of the cancers and is very poor at predicting cervical cancers. The HPV test is better at predicting the cancers but because so many women are infected by HPV it is difficult to know which ones will develop the cancer. A big downside of HPV testing is that a huge number of women are alarmed by being told they are carrying a cancer-causing virus, when in fact very few of them are actually at risk of cancer. The methylation test is easy to do, is less error-prone, is fully molecular and suffers much less from problems of human errors or inaccuracies. It will also be less expensive than either cytology or HPV testing when fully established in large volumes. Kateryna Kon | Shutterstock Do you think that epigenetic profiling will become a routine part of cancer screening? Yes. Epigenetic profiling is one of the most important discoveries of the decade and it will revolutionize the way we understand and the way we detect and treat cancers. Abnormal epigenetic patterns appear to be the drivers of pre-cancers and early cancers at many body sites, with cervical cancer being a prime example. It is likely that researchers will discover a major role of epigenetic changes in almost all human cancers. Epigenetic changes can be detected in a variety of bodily fluids including blood which will further expand the use of DNA methylation testing into a major and perhaps a universal diagnostic modality. What are the next steps for your research? I am in the process of helping to make my DNA methylation test routinely available to women worldwide. I am also looking to make new methylation tests for other cancers. Additionally, I am doing studies to further validate my tests and identify new uses for DNA methylation testing beyond cancer. Where can readers find more information? About Professor Attila Lorincz Professor Attila Lorincz is a molecular biologist and epidemiologist with formal training in genetics, microbiology, and diverse aspects of human disease. Professor Lorincz has made many seminal discoveries that have been published in leading journals. His scientific career spans 35 years, with ~300 published papers. He was also the Winner of THE TIMES Award for Research Project of the Year UK in 2012. In his current research studies, Professor Lorincz is focusing on the role of epigenetics in cancer. He recently discovered and developed a new DNA methylation test for cervical cancer. This novel test is simple to run and has remarkable clinical performance, it is likely to substantially improve screening for cervical cancer in the next 5 to 10 years in places where barriers are not imposed by the existence of entrenched systems. The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has announced the 2019 recipients of the annual recognition awards, given in honor of outstanding contributions and achievements in gastroenterology. "AGA members honor their colleagues and peers for outstanding contributions to the field of gastroenterology by nominating them for the AGA Recognition Awards," said David A. Lieberman, MD, AGAF, president of the AGA Institute. "We are proud to announce the 2019 AGA Recognition Prize winners, who are just a few of the distinguished and talented members who help make AGA such an accomplished organization. We are honored that such esteemed individuals are representative of AGA." The AGA Recognition Awards will be presented during Digestive Disease Week 2019, May 18-21, 2019, in San Diego. Julius Friedenwald Medal AGA bequeaths its highest honor, the Julius Friedenwald Medal, to John I. Allen, MD, MBA, AGAF, for his incredible contributions to the field of gastroenterology and AGA over several decades. The Julius Friedenwald Medal, presented annually since 1941, recognizes a physician for lifelong contributions to the field of gastroenterology. Dr. Allen is internationally-renowned for bringing unique and critical knowledge about health care delivery and health care economics to the field of gastroenterology, as well as for his decades of AGA leadership. His experience is unique within the national gastroenterology community, encompassing private practice, non-academic health systems and leadership within two academic medical centers. As AGA Institute President, he led the development of AGA's five-year strategic plan and made AGA a national player at the federal, state and local levels during a time of massive health care delivery transformation. Dr. Allen is a clinical professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology and chief clinical officer of the University of Michigan Medical Group at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor. Distinguished Achievement Award in Basic Science AGA honors Harry B. Greenberg, MD, with the AGA Distinguished Achievement Award in Basic Science, for his major accomplishments in basic science research, which have significantly advanced the science and practice of gastroenterology. Throughout his career, Dr. Greenberg's incredible contributions over several decades contributed to the development of rotavirus vaccines and increased physicians' understanding of viral pathogenesis, particularly rotavirus, norovirus and hepatitis. Dr. Greenberg is an associate dean for research at Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California. William Beaumont Prize AGA honors Timothy C. Wang, MD, AGAF, with the William Beaumont Prize in Gastroenterology, which recognizes an individual who has made a unique, outstanding contribution of major importance to the field of gastroenterology. Dr. Wang's extraordinary contribution to the understanding and practice of modern gastroenterology and digestive science are exemplified through his work, which includes defining the mechanisms and cellular origins of Barrett's esophagus and gastroesophageal cancer. Dr. Wang, who has served AGA in numerous positions, including as president of the AGA Institute, is currently chief of the division of digestive and liver diseases at Columbia University Medical Center and the Dorothy L. and Daniel H. Silberberg Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York. Distinguished Educator Award AGA recognizes and honors Deborah D. Proctor, MD, AGAF, with the Distinguished Educator Award, which recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions as an educator in gastroenterology on both local and national levels, over a lifelong career. Dr. Proctor is a national expert in gastroenterology training and education who has taught and inspired generations of future gastroenterologists, nurses and physician assistants. Currently serving as the AGA Institute Education & Training Councillor, Dr. Proctor is a professor of medicine, and the medical director of the inflammatory bowel disease program, at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. Distinguished Clinician Awards The AGA Distinguished Clinician Award recognizes members of the practicing community who, by example, combine the art of medicine with the skills demanded by the scientific body of knowledge in service to their patients. AGA presents the Distinguished Clinician Award, Private Practice, to Naresh T. Gunaratnam, MD, AGAF. Dr. Gunaratnam has made a huge impact on patient care in his community and improved gastroenterology-oncology care by starting the endoscopic ultrasound & interventional GI program at St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Dr. Gunaratnam is a director of research and obesity management at Huron Gastro. AGA is honored to present the Distinguished Clinician Award, Clinical Academic Practice, to Edward V. Loftus Jr., MD, AGAF. Dr. Loftus is an outstanding role model in practice, an effective researcher and a recognized leader who is devoted to treating patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease with quality clinical care, including understanding the predictors of treatment response. Dr. Loftus is a practicing gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic and a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, Minnesota. Distinguished Mentor Award AGA bestows the Distinguished Mentor Award to Fred S. Gorelick, MD, which recognizes an individual who has made a lifelong effort dedicated to the mentoring of trainees in the field of gastroenterology and for achievements as outstanding mentors throughout their careers. Dr. Gorelick has been an inspiration to generations of trainees, many of whom have gone on to successful academic careers as faculty members, section chiefs, program directors, department chairs, and institute directors. Dr. Gorelick is a professor of medicine and cell biology at Yale School of Medicine, and deputy director of the Yale MD - PhD Program, New Haven, Connecticut. Research Service Award AGA honors Ann G. Zauber, PhD, with the Research Service Award, which recognizes individuals whose work has significantly advanced gastroenterogical science and research. Dr. Zauber's accomplishments have changed and advanced the practice of gastroenterology. Her work involving colorectal cancer screening and surveillance studies has had far-reaching effects on public policy. She is well-known for her leadership role in the development of colorectal cancer screening guidelines in the U.S., which has significantly reduced mortality and incidence rates. Dr. Zauber is a member and an attending biostatistician in the department of epidemiology & biostatistics at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York. Young Investigator Awards The AGA Young Investigator Award recognizes two young investigators, one in basic science and one in clinical science, for outstanding research achievements. AGA honors Sonia S. Kupfer, MD, with the Young Investigator Award in Clinical Science. Dr. Kupfer is nationally and internationally recognized as an expert in colorectal cancer in high risk populations including individuals with hereditary cancer syndromes and African-Americans. During her clinical and translational research to better understand factors that increase the risk of colorectal cancer, Dr. Kupfer identified distinctions in the African-American population compared with Caucasians. Dr. Kupfer is an associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, and director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk and Prevention Clinic, Illinois. AGA honors Costas A. Lyssiotis, PhD, with the Young Investigator Award in Basic Science. His research, work ethic and innovative approaches have made Dr. Lyssiotis a distinguished leader in pancreatic cancer. His work has broad implications for harnessing the power of the immune system to treat the disease and his laboratory is working to develop new drug therapies that target a pancreatic cancer metabolism-specific enzyme. Dr. Lyssiotis is an assistant professor in the department of molecular and integrative physiology in the division of gastroenterology at University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor. According to a report from the Israel Cancer Association yesterday (3rd February 2019), there has been a significant fall in the number of Israeli men getting cancers over that last decade. The decline has been seen since 2007 for Jewish men and since 2005 among Arab men, the report says. Jewish women on the other hand have similar and unaltered cancer incidence level, the report says and among Arab women, there has been an increase in incidence of cancer between 1990 and 2016. The report adds that in 2016, there have been 30,569 new cases of cancer what were diagnosed in Israel. Of these 10,566 were men (47 percent) and 14,380 were women (53 percent). By end of 2015, there were 90,661 people in Israel living with cancer who were diagnosed between 2012 and 2015 (39,971 men and 50,690 women, respectively). In 2016 there have been 11,077 deaths due to cancer. Some of the common cancers that kill Israelis are lung, colon and rectal cancers, pancreatic, prostate and bladder cancers. Commonly diagnosed cancers among those aged 44 years or younger are breast cancers among women, Hodgkins and non-Hodgkins lymphomas, melanoma, sarcoma, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, colorectal cancer, leukemia and brain and central nervous system tumours. According gender the cancer incidence was as follows Among Israeli Jewish men, common cancers were prostate (17 percent), lung (12.4 percent), colon (12 percent), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (6.22 percent), urinary bladder (5.5 percent) and melanoma (5.2 percent). Among Arab men common cancers were lung (21.7 percent), colon (13.2 percent), prostate (9.1 percent), urinary bladder (5.1 percent) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (5 percent). Among Jewish women common cancers were, breast (33.1 percent), colon (10.2 percent), lung (7 percent), uterus (5.4 percent) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (5.3 percent). Among Israeli Arab women common cancers were breast (34.5 percent), colon (9.1 percent), glands (7.7 percent), uterus (5.7 percent) and non Hodgkin lymphoma (5.1 percent). Deaths due to cancer have declined for Jewish men (263.5 per 100,000 people in 1990 compared to 236.8 cases per 100,000 in 2016). The rates among Jewish women were 280.9 deaths per 100,000 people from cancer in 1990 to 256.4 per 100,000 people in 2016. Miri Ziv, the director general of the Israel Cancer Association, in a statement said, Israel is in 90th place in the world in cancer mortality, even though it has relatively high morbidity, ranking 50th in the world, because of the high public awareness that the association has instilled as to the importance of prevention and early detection, and also due to the dramatic improvements in treatment and therapies. Today (4th of February) being World Cancer Day, the report marks the day, says the Association. Prof. Lital Keinan Boker, deputy director of the Israel Center for Disease Control in the Health Ministry added that commonest association with cancer is advancing age. She explained that most cancers are diagnosed in older adults compared to younger people or children. She added, The causes of cancer in younger people are in most cases unknown. Were talking about a disease thats caused by a series of mutations in the cellular genetic material, which leads to uncontrolled cell division. While in adults these mutations develop over ones life, younger people are more likely to have congenital mutations. She explained, In addition, exposure to known risk factors contributes to the incidence of cancer in younger people, like ionizing radiation from the sun or tanning beds, as well as diagnostic and therapeutic radiation, or infectious agents like the papilloma virus (HPV) or the AIDS virus, obesity and smoking. For preparing this report, Keinan Boker and Dr. Barbara Silverman, the director of the Israel National Cancer Registry in the Health Ministry, collaborated and looked at the cancer scenario in Israel between 1990 and 2015. They looked at invasive tumours between ages of 0 to 44 years. They noted that among people of this age group, rates of cancers rose among the adults (ages 20 to 44 years). This could be due to rise in the populations of this age group, they explain. Cancer risk in this age group however has risen for women, they explain. The experts and health organizations have all emphasized upon adopting a healthy lifestyle and reduce the exposure to cancer-causing risks such as smoking, alcohol, excessive sun exposure and obesity. The Cancer Association said that as per the data from the Union for International Cancer Control, over one third of all cancers could be preventable and one third of the cancers could be treated and cured if detected early. The UICC adds that around 9.6 million people die of cancer globally in a year and cost of treating cancer is around $1.66 trillion dollars annually. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading. To subscribe, click here. Already a subscriber? Click here. The City of Wickliffe has put forth legislation in an attempt to levy a special assessment to pay for electric street lighting. Free access for current print subscribers As a home delivery subscriber, you get free unlimited digital access to news-daily.com including stories, photos, obituaries, e-edition and more on your computer, tablet or phone. All you need is your print subscription account number and your last name. Don't know your subscription number? Email access@news-daily.com with your delivery address. Activate your account now. Help support your local hometown newspaper/website. Independent local news reporting matters. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription, for as little as $3, so we can continue to provide independent local reporting on our communities. Steve Coogan and John C Reilly a dream team in the Laurel & Hardy biopic Stan & Ollie. Stan & Ollie (PG) Running time 1hr 37min Rating **** CAN you tell your Laurel from your Hardy? Given the double act seem like ancient history now, it might surprise modern viewers to learn that Stan and Oliver did not die at the top of their game by the mid-20th century, the kings of screen comedy were struggling for relevance in a drabber, more cynical world than they had taken on in their 30s heyday. A career as long and distinguished as theirs probably requires a miniseries treatment; this biopic is that rarest of things, a modern film which knows its limits, and which is willing to make fireworks with minimal material. Paradoxically, this actually does much to broaden its appeal and thematic scope its as much a movie about art and friendship as it is a profile of the Way Out West stars. Never losing itself in the glitz of yesteryear, its a refreshingly sobering depiction of fading celebrity, driven by transatlantic comic maestros Steve Coogan (who plays Laurel) and John C Reilly (who plays Hardy). No holistic document of their illustrious career, Stan & Ollie centres upon the veteran jokesters disastrous British tour of 1953, which coincided with the twilight of the music hall as a popular venue. Rather than fleshing out their story, the films flashbacks fulfil a strictly expository function, showing the performers as they were prior to their decline its opening scene sees them carouse about a soundstage in an Edenic 30s Hollywood. What sticks out in both these segments and in the present-day arc which forms the dramatic meat of the picture is Laurel and Hardys humility glamorous and dynamic an act as they were, theres something pleasantly workmanlike about their demeanour on and off screen, as they deftly navigate a host of crewmen, admirers and meddlesome execs. This only renders their fall a more solemn, affecting affair, as the bowler-hatted duo are reduced to anonymity on the streets of a miserable (albeit gorgeously realised) post-war England. Reilly and Coogan capture their civilian lives with the same subtlety and physical meticulousness that makes their theatrical personas so compelling. Their efforts to make the best of the tour are jeopardised by the interventions of their wives (portrayed by Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda); devoted as they are to their husbands, its clear that both have their doubts as to why the men have kept going this long. It must not be forgotten that Laurel and Hardy were masters in the art of comedy-by-committee, churning out more than100 movies over the course of their partnership; what elevated these pictures above mere populist fodder was the telekinetic bond they refined together. For all their squabbling here (Stan feels Ollie to have ridden the coattails of his talent; Ollie finds Stan a shade of his former self), some arcane force of nature refuses to let them part ways. We are teased with hints of that very force in scenes of slapstick theatrical japery though they now find themselves playing to half-empty auditoriums, the aging Laurel and Hardy lack for little of their comic vitality. At the end of the day, these guys loved each other and Coogan and Reilly love them too. 'fun show for people living depression and their mates that don't really believe depression is a thing' THE award-winning comedy musical A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad), which sends the message that its OK not to be OK, comes to the Corn Exchange Newbury on Wednesday, March 6. Written by Olivier award-winner Jon Brittain (Rotterdam, Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho), with music by Matthew Floyd Jones (of Frisky and Mannish), A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) is a hilarious cabaret musical that follows the story of Sally and her battle with depression. Produced by Silent Uproar, the show was shortlisted for the Mental Health Foundations first ever Mental Health Fringe Award at Edinburgh Fringe last year. It is influenced by the companys personal experiences as well as people living with mental health problems and medical professionals.The team spent a year researching for the show, interviewing 50 people living with depression, speaking to psychiatrists, the NHS, mental health nurses, Mind charity and psychologists. The cast and crew have also had mental health awareness training from Hull and East Yorkshire Mind, organised by NHS Hull Clinical Commissioning Group and they will be available for a post-show discussion. The company has also arranged for mental healthcare volunteers to be on hand after the performance to signpost audience members to the help available. Silent Uproar artistic director Alex Mitchell said: We wanted to create something that challenged the notion that depression is just being a bit sad. We wanted to create a fun show for people who are living with it, but also for their mate that doesn't really believe that depression is a thing. NHS Hull Clinical Commissioning Group chairman Dan Roper said: Approximately one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year, yet too often people are afraid to talk about their experiences because they fear it will affect their jobs or relationships. The arts can be an incredibly powerful way to understand what mental illness is, how it can affect people and, most importantly, that it can affect anyone. Simply talking about mental illness can help break down stereotypes and take the taboo out of something that can affect all of us. Co-produced by Hull UK City of Culture 2017, the tour has been made possible with the support of Arts Council England, house touring network, Hull City Council, New Diorama Theatre, Hull NHS Clinical Commissioning Group and Hull Truck Theatre. Tickets 15 (13 concessions). Age guide 14+. To book, please visit the Corn Exchange website, www.cornexchangenew.com Newburyport, MA (01950) Today Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. It was a busy week for Intel as it announced the promotion of CFO Bob Swan to CEO, ending a seven-month search, set a deadline for the life of its ill-fated Itanium processor, and is now reportedly in the running to buy Mellanox. I dont think for a second these are unrelated. Swan is a money guy. Ending the life of Itanium and making a strategic acquisition are right in his wheelhouse. Swans elevation is just what analyst Jim McGregor called for a few weeks ago when I asked what was taking so long in the CEO search. Swan, 58, who joined Intel as CFO in October 2016, becomes Intels seventh CEO and only its second non-engineer. The first was the late Paul Otellini, and he worked out very well. In mid-January, The Oregonian reported that Intel Chairman Andy Bryant, who was once CFO, had said Intel was looking to go with a non-traditional candidate, suggesting a CEO from outside the company or a woman or both were a possibility. In a statement announcing Swans promotion, Bryant noted: Important in the board's decision was the outstanding job Bob did as interim CEO for the past seven months, as reflected in Intel's outstanding results in 2018. Intel has slowly gotten its act together after the mismanagement of Brian Krzanich, but it also warned that 2019 sales might be down due to weakening data center server chip demand in China and a slowdown in purchasing by major public cloud providers. Intel Itanium processor ending Second up is the news that the Itanium has finally reached the end of the line. Intel sent a notice (pdf) to vendors earlier this week stating that the company would take its final order for the Itanium 9700 series on January 30, 2020, with the final shipment date to take place on July 29, 2021. HPE, the only real champion the Itanium ever had (because it used a lot of HPs PA-RISC technology), said it would support the doomed processor until the end of 2025. Intel reportedly makes bid for Mellanox As for Mellanox, the company has had a number of suitors and reportedly has offered itself up for sale as far back as 2017. The most recent suitor was Microsoft, which would have been a bit of a mismatch a software company buying a silicon company. Intel makes much more sense, and according to the Israeli publication Calcalist (article in Hebrew, have your translator ready), Intel has made a $6 billion mostly cash offer for the company. The news was met with skepticism from the Susquehanna Financial Group, which cited Intels lack of a CEO. The investor site Seeking Alpha ran an article citing Susquehannas concerns, and one day later Intel solved that problem. Intel has a sizable development team in Israel, and this wouldnt be the first Israeli company Intel bought. In 2017, it bought MobileEye, a maker of artificial intelligence (AI) sensor technology, for $15 billion. More than a few people told me they thought Intel grossly overpaid, but that was a Krzanich deal. Good luck, Swan. Rwandan genocide survivor Marie-Lyse Numuhoza has been made an MBE for services to human rights and the community in Thetford. Rwandan genocide survivor Marie-Lyse Numuhoza has been made an MBE for services to human rights and the community in Thetford. YMCA Norfolk Supported Lodgings and Nightstop Hosts YMCA Norfolk is looking for hosts for vulnerable young people and has both paid and volunteer opportunities, from just one night up to two years. Read more Norwich FGB announces first dinner event of year Norwich FGB has announced its first dinner event of 2021, at the Mercure Hotel in Norwich, on Friday September 10 with special guest Kit Brinkley. Read more Dippy the dinosaur Norwich visit details revealed With Dippy the dinosaurs visit to Norwich Cathedral only a few weeks away, more details have been being revealed for what visitors can expect from the exhibition. Read more Youth and Schools Worker needed in South Norfolk Integrate Youth for Christ is looking for kingdom and mission-minded people with a heart for young people to join its team and to work with local churches to run youth cafes and grow its work with local schools in Thetford and surrounding areas. Read more YMCA Norfolk needs Bank Nursery Staff YMCA Norfolk needs Bank Nursery Staff to work ad hoc shifts at its Muddy Puddles Nursery near Norwich city centre. Read more Norfolk church to showcase 1.7m village hub plan Ambitious plans by All Saints Church in Poringland to build a new 1.7m community hub in the South Norfolk village are to go on show to the public next month. Read more Matthew Project needs a Development and Marketing Manager The Matthew Project needs a Development and Marketing Manager, based in Norwich. Read more Matthew Project needs a Workshop Co-ordinator The Matthew Project needs a part-time Workshop Co-ordinator based at the Next Steps centre in Norwich. Read more Why dont we declare the certainty of our faith? Regular columnist James Knight explores why we sometimes hesitate to declare our faith, even when we are confident in our own belief. Read more Watton church needs Families Matter Keyworker Employed by St Marys Church Watton, the Families Matter Keyworker (FMK) part-time post is in partnership with church and community, working with clergy and volunteers to provide positive spiritual and physical wellbeing for families across Watton. Read more SOUL Church in Norwich needs financial manager SOUL Church in Norwich is seeking to employ an enthusiastic full-time Financial Manager to take the lead in the financial management of the Soul Church Group with direction from the Board Finance Director. Read more Rock legend Rick made CBE in Queen's honours Norfolk-based rock star and keyboard legend Rick Wakeman has been awarded a CBE in the Queens honours list. Read more YMCA Norfolk needs SOS Bus Driver YMCA Norfolk is seeking an SOS Bus Driver in King's Lynn to drive the SOS Project Safe Haven vehicle. Read more Two Recovery Workers needed by Matthew Project The Matthew Project is advertising two exciting full time opportunities as Recovery Workers, to support people in the community delivering 1:1 and group work. The roles will be centred in either Great Yarmouth or Kings Lynn and Thetford. Read more Norwich FGB planning to restart dinner events The Norwich FGB branch has announced it is planning to restart its in-person dinner events in September and is holding a social event event near Norwich later in June. Read more Yare Valley Churches now up and running! A running club set up during pandemic restrictions at three churches in the Brundall area has now started running together as a group. Read more 2,000-mile cycle challenge reaches Norwich Pedal power took centre stage outside Norwich Anglican Cathedral this week as the nationwide Cathedrals Cycle Route reached the city. Read more Following in the footsteps of the U.S., Russia will abandon a centerpiece nuclear arms treaty but will only deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles if Washington does so, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday. President Donald Trump accused Moscow on Friday of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with "impunity" by deploying banned missiles. Trump said in a statement that the U.S. will "move forward" with developing its own military response options to Russia's new land-based cruise missiles that could target Western Europe. Moscow has strongly denied any breaches and accused Washington of making false accusations in order to justify its pullout. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in explaining that Washington on Saturday formally suspended its treaty obligations, said in a statement that Russia's "continued noncompliance has jeopardized the United States' supreme interests." He said the treaty will terminate in six months unless Moscow returns to "full and verifiable compliance." The collapse of the INF Treaty has raised fears of a repeat of a Cold War showdown in the 1980s, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union both deployed intermediate-range missiles on the continent. Such weapons were seen as particularly destabilizing as they only take a few minutes to reach their targets, leaving no time for decision-makers and raising the likelihood of a global nuclear conflict over a false launch warning. After the U.S. gave notice of its intention to withdraw, Putin said Russia would do the same. He ordered the development of new land-based intermediate-range weapons, but emphasized that Russia won't deploy them in the European part of the country or elsewhere unless the U.S. does so. "We will respond quid pro quo," Putin said. "Our American partners have announced they were suspending their participation in the treaty, and we will do the same. They have announced they will conduct research and development, and we will act accordingly." The U.S. has accused Russia of developing and deploying a cruise missile that violates provisions of the pact that ban production, testing and deployment of land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,410 miles). Trump's move also reflected his administration's view that the pact was an obstacle to efforts needed to counter intermediate-range missiles deployed by China, which isn't part of the treaty. NATO allies have strongly backed Washington and urged Moscow to save the treaty by returning to compliance. Russia has rejected the U.S. claims of violation, charging that the missile, which is part of the Iskander-M missile system, has a maximum range of 480 kilometers (298 miles). Russian officials claimed the U.S. assertions about the alleged breach of the pact by Moscow were intended to shift the blame for the pact's demise to Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry on Saturday released a satellite image of what it described as new production facilities at the U.S. missile maker Raytheon's plant in Tucson, Arizona, noting that their expansion began in 2017 as the Congress authorized spending for the development of intermediate-range missiles. "The character and the timing of the works provide an irrefutable proof that the U.S. administration had decided to pull out of the INF treaty years before making unfounded claims of Russian violations," it said. Putin has argued it makes no sense for Russia to deploy a ground-based cruise missile violating the treaty because it has such weapons on ships and aircraft, which aren't banned by the pact. Speaking Saturday in a televised meeting with his foreign and defense ministers, Putin instructed the military to work on developing new land-based weapons that were previously forbidden by the INF treaty. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that they would include a land-based version of the Kalibr ship-based cruise missile and a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile. Putin emphasized that such new weapons won't be deployed unless the U.S. does so. "Russia will not station intermediate-range weapons in Europe or other regions until similar U.S. weapons appear in those regions," he said. The Russian leader said Moscow remains open to talks with Washington, but added it would be up to the U.S. to take the first step. "Let's wait until our partners are mature enough to conduct an equal and substantive dialogue on those issues," he said. At the same time, Putin told his ministers that he would like to review the progress on building other prospective weapons that don't fall under the INF treaty, including the intercontinental Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle and the Poseidon underwater nuclear-powered drone. He noted Shoigu's report that a key stage in testing of the Poseidon was completed several days ago. The drone is designed to carry a heavy nuclear weapon that could cause a devastating tsunami wave. The Russian leader last year unveiled an array of new nuclear weapons, including the Avangard and the Poseidon, saying that they can't be intercepted. Putin also noted during Saturday's meeting that he would like the military to prepare a response to the possible deployment of weapons in space. The Pentagon's new strategy unveiled last month calls for a new array of space-based sensors and other high-tech systems to more quickly detect and shoot down incoming missiles. Putin instructed the military to make sure the research and development works on new weapons don't swell military spending. He said the military must reconfigure the existing defense budget to find money for the new weapons. "We must not and will not be drawn into a costly arms race," he said. Deb Riechmann, Robert Burns, Matthew Lee and Lynn Berry contributed to this report. An elementary school has cancelled preschool classes Monday as it creates a plan for removing old asbestos building materials in the school. Superintendent Robert Gerardi released a statement Sunday night that preschool classes at Green Meadow Elementary School in Maynard, Massachusetts, will be cancelled Monday for planning purposes. On Friday, Maynard Public Schools announced it would temporarily close a wing of the elementary school for the remainder of the school year so that a licensed environmental contractor can completely remove old asbestos building materials. The asbestos was caused by a roof leak that damaged ceiling titles in the oldest wing of the school, officials said. One classroom has been shut down, and the district made the decision to remove all of the old ceiling titles in that wing and install a modern drop ceiling. Originally, officials planned to close the wing over February vacation. But, after receiving feedback from parents and the community, the district decided to close the wing immediately. The work will begin over February break and continue into the summer, the statement said. "Closing the preschool tomorrow will allow faculty and staff to facilitate the move to a new location in the building for the remainder of the year," Gerardi said in the statement. The superintendent also thanked the families who provided feedback. Kindergarten students and staff will be relocated into existing rooms temporarily until a long-term plan is established, the statement said. Their classes are not cancelled Monday. The statement also added that the district is not currently considering moving students to other buildings. The town made initial repairs to the roof last year, and the school district will be seeking additional funding for roof repairs at the May Town Meeting. Massachusetts police are asking for the public's help in finding a man they say is wanted in connection with an armed home invasion Sunday night in Concord. Julian Field, 24, of Bedford, is wanted for armed home invasion, kidnapping, armed assault on a person 60 years of age or older, armed assault in a dwelling, and armed burglary with assault on occupants. Police said a victim called for help at 3:45 a.m. Sunday saying that hours earlier, a man entered his home and held him at knifepoint. That man, identified by police as Field, forced him to drive to locations in western Massachusetts and southern Connecticut. At about midnight, the suspect got out of the victim's vehicle in New Haven, Connecticut. The victim then drove back to his home in Concord and called police. He was not hurt. Police said Field had been wanted by Bedford Police earlier Sunday in connection with a disturbance. Officers recovered a knife from the victim's vehicle but said Field still should be considered armed and dangerous. An arrest warrant has been obtained for Field's arrest. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Concord Police at 978-318-3400 or the Concord Police Departments Anonymous Tip Line at 978-318-3407. A former Connecticut Boy Scout leader already behind bars in Massachusetts for child rape is back in Connecticut to face related charges. The Norwich Bulletin reports that 57-year-old David Kress was transported from a Massachusetts prison to a Connecticut jail recently ahead of a court appearance Feb. 14 to face several counts of employing a minor in an obscene performance. Kress in December 2016 pleaded guilty to seven counts of child rape for assaulting members of his troop and was sentenced to up to seven years in prison. Kress was a scout leader in Thompson, Connecticut, but pleaded guilty to assaulting the boys in Massachusetts in the 1990s. Connecticut police say Kress provided the victims with alcohol and pornography before molesting them. His lawyer did not respond to a message Sunday. Two people have been arrested after authorities found drugs, cash and drug manufacturing equipment in a hotel room in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. According to police, John M. Morrison and Amanda Watson have been arrested and charged with trafficking Oxycodone, crack cocaine and concaine and possessing with intent to distribute class A, B and E drugs. The arrests come after a police officer was performing a security check of the Wilbraham Inn on Jan. 18 at about 2:30 a.m. and located a vehicle reported stolen from Holyoke. Officers then began to check the area and speak with the Inn's management in an attempt to locate the operator of the stolen vehicle, police said. During the check and investigation, officers gained access to a room at the Inn based on information from a witness. Officers say they found a large amount of illegal drugs, cash and drug manufacturing equipment including grinders, scales, cutting agents and pill presses in plain view. Officers then secured the room and obtained a search warrant. They executed the warrant and seized Oxycodone, crack cocaine, heroine, Suboxone, marijuana, over 3,000 manufactured pills and various over the counter pain medications and prescription Narcotics. It is unclear whether Morrison and Watson have attorneys. Authorities say anyone with questions can contact Sgt. Shawn Baldwin at 413-596-3837. Two bombs minutes apart tore through a Roman Catholic cathedral on a southern Philippine island where Muslim militants are active, killing at least 20 people and wounding 111 others during a Sunday Mass, officials said. Witnesses said the first blast inside the Jolo cathedral in the provincial capital sent churchgoers, some of them wounded, to stampede out of the main door. Army troops and police posted outside were rushing in when the second bomb went off about one minute later near the main entrance, causing more deaths and injuries. The military was checking a report that the second explosive device may have been attached to a parked motorcycle. The initial explosion scattered the wooden pews inside the main hall and blasted window glass panels, and the second bomb hurled human remains and debris across a town square fronting the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, witnesses said. Cellphone signal was cut off in the first hours after the attack. The witnesses who spoke to The Associated Press refused to give their names or were busy at the scene of the blasts. Police said at least 20 people died and 111 were wounded, correcting an earlier toll due to double counting. The fatalities included 15 civilians and five troops. Among the wounded were 17 troops, two police, two coast guard and 90 civilians. Troops in armored carriers sealed off the main road leading to the church while vehicles transported the dead and wounded to the town hospital. Some casualties were evacuated by air to nearby Zamboanga city. "I have directed our troops to heighten their alert level, secure all places of worships and public places at once, and initiate pro-active security measures to thwart hostile plans," said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in a statement. "We will pursue to the ends of the earth the ruthless perpetrators behind this dastardly crime until every killer is brought to justice and put behind bars. The law will give them no mercy," the office of President Rodrigo Duterte said in Manila. It said that "the enemies of the state boldly challenged the government's capability to secure the safety of citizens in that region. The (Armed Forces of the Philippines) will rise to the challenge and crush these godless criminals." Jolo island has long been troubled by the presence of Abu Sayyaf militants, who are blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization because of years of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings. A Catholic bishop, Benjamin de Jesus, was gunned down by suspected militants outside the cathedral in 1997. No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack. It came nearly a week after minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation endorsed a new autonomous region in the southern Philippines in hopes of ending nearly five decades of a separatist rebellion that has left 150,000 people dead. Although most of the Muslim areas approved the autonomy deal, voters in Sulu province, where Jolo is located, rejected it. The province is home to a rival rebel faction that's opposed to the deal as well as smaller militant cells that are not part of any peace process. Western governments have welcomed the autonomy pact. They worry that small numbers of Islamic State-linked militants from the Middle East and Southeast Asia could forge an alliance with Filipino insurgents and turn the south into a breeding ground for extremists. "This bomb attack was done in a place of peace and worship, and it comes at a time when we are preparing for another stage of the peace process in Mindanao," said Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. "Human lives are irreplaceable," he added, calling on Jolo residents to cooperate with authorities to find the perpetrators of this "atrocity." Security officials were looking "at different threat groups and they still can't say if this has something to do with the just concluded plebiscite," Oscar Albayalde, the national police chief, told ABS-CBN TV network. Hermogenes Esperon, the national security adviser, said that the new autonomous region, called Bangsamoro, "signifies the end of war for secession. It stands for peace in Mindanao." Aside from the small but brutal Abu Sayyaf group, other militant groups in Sulu include a small band of young jihadis aligned with the Islamic State group, which has also carried out assaults, including ransom kidnappings and beheadings. Abu Sayyaf militants are still holding at least five hostages a Dutch national, two Malaysians, an Indonesian and a Filipino in their jungle bases mostly near Sulu's Patikul town, not far from Jolo. Government forces have pressed on sporadic offensives to crush the militants, including those in Jolo, a poverty-wracked island of more than 700,000 people. A few thousand Catholics live mostly in the capital of Jolo. There have been speculations that the bombings may be a diversionary move by Muslim militants after troops recently carried out an offensive that killed a number of IS-linked extremists in an encampment in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur province, also in the south. The area is near Marawi, a Muslim city that was besieged for five months by hundreds of IS-aligned militants, including foreign fighters, in 2017. Troops quelled the insurrection, which left more 1,100 mostly militants dead and the heartland of the mosque-studded city in ruins. Duterte declared martial law in the entire southern third of the country to deal with the Marawi siege, his worst security crisis. His martial law declaration has been extended to allow troops to finish off radical Muslim groups and other insurgents but bombings and other attacks have continued. Associated Press writer Jim Gomez contributed to this report. Virginia's Democratic governor, Ralph Northam, convened an "urgent meeting" Sunday night with top staff and administration officials of color to discuss his next steps, amid intense pressure from within his own party to resign over a photo of someone in an offensive costume in his 1984 medical school yearbook, a source told NBC News. Northam denies being in the yearbook photo even though he had apologized for it Friday and said previously that he was in it. A source connected with the Democratic leadership in Virginia told News4 that the meeting with Northam started at 6 p.m. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax was not present at the meeting, sources told News4 and NBC News. UPDATE 2: Source says @LGJustinFairfax was not part of urgent gathering. Second source w/ Dem leadership tells me they were told to expect an announcement soon. Did not specify what will be announced nor what soon implies. Im told unlikely anything will happen tonight. David Culver (@David_Culver) February 4, 2019 Fairfax would succeed Northam as governor should he resign, and would complete the rest of Northam's term which is set to end in 2022. Ed Gillespie, who ran for Governor of the Great State of Virginia against Ralph Northam, must now be thinking Malpractice and Dereliction of Duty with regard to his Opposition Research Staff. If they find that terrible picture before the election, he wins by 20 points! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2019 Democrat Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia just stated, I believe that I am not either of the people in that photo. This was 24 hours after apologizing for appearing in the picture and after making the most horrible statement on super late term abortion. Unforgivable! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2019 This has gone on too long. There is nothing to debate. He must resign. https://t.co/TjfS3vbcws Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 3, 2019 My statement with Senators @timkaine and @MarkWarner urging Governor Northam to resign. pic.twitter.com/caAx6Im0Ga Rep. Bobby Scott (@BobbyScott) February 2, 2019 There is no place for racism in America. Governor Northam has lost all moral authority and should resign immediately, Justin Fairfax is the leader Virginia needs now. Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 2, 2019 This has been a heartbreaking day. Ralph Northam is my friend and he served well as my Lt. Governor and as Governor. His actions on display in this photo were racist, unacceptable and inexcusable at any age and any time. Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) February 2, 2019 What Ralph Northam did was unforgivable. Given his statements on the right to life coupled with the most recent revelations, he has lost the moral authority to continue to govern and should resign immediately. Virginia GOP (RPV) (@VA_GOP) February 1, 2019 If Governor Northam loves Virginia the way I know he does, he will resign to allow the Commonwealth to focus on its place in addressing the history of slavery and racism in America. Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) February 3, 2019 These images arouse centuries of anger, anguish, and racist violence and theyve eroded all confidence in Gov. Northams ability to lead. We should expect more from our elected officials. He should resign. Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) February 2, 2019 Leaders are called to a higher standard, and the stain of racism should have no place in the halls of government. The Governor of Virginia should step aside so the public can heal and move forward together. Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 2, 2019 Earlier Sunday, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus said Sunday that Northam "still does not understand the seriousness of his actions." California Rep. Karen Bass, a fellow Democrat, said she thinks Northam is being "dishonest." She told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the Virginia governor knew this picture was there and could've been open about it decades ago with African-Americans that he's close to. Northam worshipped Sunday at his home church, the predominantly black First Baptist in Capeville, but otherwise kept out of sight as calls intensified for him to step down. Northam faces an overwhelming number of calls to resign, including from the state's attorney general Mark Herring, both of the state's Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the Republican Party of Virginia and both Democratic caucuses in the state house and senate. National figures, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Joe Biden, as well as Democratic presidential hopefuls including former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and Democratic Sens. Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, have all called for Northam to resign. Stay with News4 for more details on this developing story. Pope Francis called Sunday for a "just and peaceful solution" to Venezuela's political crisis as he wrapped up a visit to Panama for a World Youth Day rally that was overshadowed by the upheaval unfolding nearby. Francis refused again to say if the Holy See would recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido in his claim for the presidency, which has been backed by the United States and other regional leaders. The Vatican years ago was frustrated in its attempt to mediate between socialist President Nicolas Maduro and Venezuela's opposition, which has the backing of many Venezuelan bishops. Speaking off-the-cuff at his Sunday blessing, Francis said he felt particularly close to Venezuelans while he was in Panama. He "asked the Lord to seek and find a just and peaceful solution to overcome the crisis that respects human rights and exclusively seeks the good of all people." The Venezuela crisis has dominated Francis' visit to Panama, both behind the scenes and in public, with the pope at one point asking out loud if any Venezuelan bishops were on hand at the end of an event. The Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was former ambassador to Venezuela so he knows the situation well. Francis made the Venezuela comments after he closed out World Youth Day with a Mass in a Panama City field before an estimated 700,000 people and presidents from across the region: Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Portugal. "You dear people are not the future but the now of God," Francis told the pilgrims draped in flags from across the Americas. At the end of the service, the Vatican announced the next edition of World Youth Day would be in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2022. "Our trip was very long but it was worth it because we came here to Panama City because of our faith, our Christian faith," said pilgrim Sawadogo Kiswensidad, who travelled from Burkina Faso. After Mass, Francis visited a church-run home for people infected with HIV, sending a strong message of acceptance in Panama, where AIDS carries a stigma. "Many of the people we help here have been rejected by their families, by people in the street," said the Rev. Domingo Escobar, director of the Casa Hogar El Buen Samaritano. "But here they receive Christian help, as the church wants." Using the parable of the Good Samaritan, who tended to a stranger in need, Francis called for an end to the indifference that society treats the poor and the sick. "For indifference can also wound and kill. Some for a few miserable coins, others for fear of becoming unclean," he said. "The Good Samaritan, whether in the parable or in all of your homes, shows us that our neighbor is first of all a person, someone with a real, particular face, not something to avoid or ignore, whatever his or her situation may be." Francis used his visit to the home to issue a string of appeals, beyond Venezuela. He appealed for peace in Colombia following a car bombing at a police academy that killed 21 people earlier this month. He denounced the bombing of a cathedral in the Philippines earlier Sunday. And he added his voice to the chorus of solidarity on Holocaust Remembrance day. After meeting with World Youth Day volunteers, Francis was heading back to Rome to prepare for another trip next weekend to Abu Dhabi, the first by a pope to the Arabian Peninsula. President Donald Trump said Monday that he is nominating David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist for oil and gas companies and other industries, to head the Interior Department despite objections from environmental groups that Bernhardt already was making regulatory decisions on the country's natural resources to benefit industries. Trump tweeted his intention to nominate Bernhardt, now the Interior Department's acting head, to replace former Secretary Ryan Zinke. Zinke resigned in December amid ethics investigations. "David has done a fantastic job from the day he arrived," Trump tweeted. In a statement, Bernhardt called it a "humbling privilege to be nominated to lead a department whose mission I love, to accomplish the balanced, commonsense vision of our president." Bernhardt's reputation as a technocrat working efficiently behind the scenes stands as a 180-degree turn from that of his flamboyant predecessor. Zinke grabbed attention when he rode a horse to his first day at Interior. Zinke soon was garnering headlines over allegations involving travel and allegations of possible conflicts of interest. Bernhardt has remained low-profile as Trump weighed him and a half-dozen other reported contenders chiefly, Western lawmakers as successors to Zinke. As acting secretary, Bernhardt drew criticism in recent weeks from environmental groups, tribes and others for continuing to process paperwork for oil and gas projects while other agencies were closed for routine work during this winter's partial government shutdown. The Interior Department called its effort important to bolstering U.S. energy independence. "Bernhardt got this nomination as a reward for months of work cramming America's natural heritage into a wood chipper," said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity advocacy group, one of many environmental organizations condemning Trump's intended nomination. "Confirming him as Interior secretary would be a boon to polluters and a colossal disaster for our public lands and endangered species." Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said lawmakers would be watching to see whether Bernhardt's former industry ties were influencing his policy decisions. "David Bernhardt spent much of his career lobbying for fossil fuel and agricultural interests, and the president putting him in charge of regulating his former clients is a perfect example of everything wrong with this administration," Grijalva said in a statement. Republican lawmakers praised Trump's pick. "David Bernhardt ... brings tremendous leadership with him from our home state of #Colorado and I look forward to a swift confirmation process," Rep. Ken Buck tweeted. Bernhardt, who is from Colorado, first served in Interior as a political appointee under President George W. Bush, becoming the agency's top lawyer. After his first round at Interior, Bernhardt worked at a Washington law and lobbying firm on behalf of mining companies, oil and gas giants, a politically powerful Western water agency and other groups that have business before the Interior Department. Coming back to Interior as Zinke's deputy, Bernhardt recused himself from decisions involving a long list of former industry clients to avoid conflicts of interest under ethics rules. Republicans say Bernhardt's revolving-door experience makes him an informed regulator in matters before the agency. Democrats and environmental groups say he's vulnerable to conflicts of interest. Under leadership of Zinke and Bernhardt, the Interior Department has pushed to open more Alaskan wilderness and offshore waters to oil and gas development. At least 28 Haitians drowned Saturday morning after they were trying to leave Haiti in a migrant smuggling operation, officials said. According to the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, 28 Haitians drowned, and 17 survived. They were found in the northern Bahamas. Another tragic loss of life, as 17 Haitians drown and 30 more just rescued from a vessel trafficking people out of Haiti. No journey is worth risking lives - please urge families and communities: Illegal migrant & smuggling operations are dangerous and frequently end in tragedy. pic.twitter.com/3DHH29z976 U.S. Embassy Haiti (@USEmbassyHaiti) February 3, 2019 It all happened after the Haitians were on a vessel and were being trafficked out of Haiti. Please urge families and communities: Illegal migrant and smuggling operations are dangerous and frequently end in tragedy, said the U.S. Embassy on their Twitter account. Two others people were rescued Sunday morning near Fish Hawk Cay near The Bahamas. The survivors were taken to a clinic for evaluation and were eventually handed over to immigration and police officials. According to Bahamian officials, 300 Haitians have been apprehended for illegal entry during four separate incidents. A former school principal has been sentenced to probation for stealing around $13,000 from a now-dead Maryland delegate's campaign fund. Ronald Chesek pleaded guilty on Friday to writing and cashing unauthorized checks from Joseph J. "Sonny" Minnick's campaign bank account to cover personal expenses, news outlets report. Chesek was the treasurer of the campaign fund. Prosecutors say the thefts took place between July 2013 and September 2017. Minnick died in October 2015. An attorney for Chesek says he had paid back the money before he was charged. The remaining campaign funds have since been distributed to four charities. Chesek was sentenced to a suspended three-year prison term, community service and 18 months of probation. Chesek was the principal of the Marley Glen Special School. He retired Jan. 1. The retired Vatican diplomat who accused Pope Francis of turning a blind eye to the alleged sexual misconduct of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is begging the American to publicly repent for his crimes for the good of the Catholic Church. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano wrote a letter to McCarrick that was published Monday on an Italian blog, Vigano's way of communicating after he went into hiding following his bombshell accusations against the pope in August. In the letter, Vigano noted the Vatican is expected to shortly deliver its verdict against McCarrick after gathering testimony from at least three men who accused him of misconduct when they were young. Vigano said a public show of repentance would be a "gift" to the church to help it heal from the sex abuse crisis. Authorities on Sunday are looking for an inmate who walked away from a community re-entry program Saturday evening, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced. Cory Lamont Henley, 47, removed his GPS ankle bracelet around 5:35 p.m. Saturday in the downtown San Diego area and walked away from the San Diego Male Community Reentry Program. Within minutes of Henley removing his ankle monitor, agents from CDCRs Office of Correctional Safety were dispatched to find and catch Henley but they werent able to find him, the agency said. Henley is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 270 pounds. He was sentenced to five years in 2018 for transportation and sales of a controlled substance and transferred to the CDCR's custody in May 2018, the agency said. The re-entry program is a voluntary program for inmates with around 12 months left on their sentence. The program allows inmates to serve the end of the sentence in a re-entry center that helps them readjust to society. Anyone who sees or knows the whereabouts of Henley was urged to contact police or call 911, the CDCR said. Any male inmate who has ever walked away from the re-entry program was eventually recaptured, the CDCR said. What to Know As Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam faces pressure to resign over a racist photo, his deputy denied an allegation of a 2004 sexual assault. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax said the claim of an assault at the Democratic National Convention is false. He said he had a consensual encounter. The same conservative website that published a photo of Northam's 1984 yearbook page was first to post about the woman's allegation. As Virginia's governor faces calls to resign over a racist photo, the man who would succeed him is denying an allegation of a 2004 sex assault. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax denied a sexual assault allegation on Monday that was reported on the same conservative website that first posted a racist photo found in Gov. Ralph Northam's 1984 yearbook. Fairfax told reporters on Monday afternoon that the media report alleging an assault in 2004 was false and unsubstantiated. "It's not only from left field. It's from planet Mars, because it didn't happen," he said. Fairfax who would become governor if Northam resigned said he had never assaulted anyone. The website Big League Politics published a story late Sunday with an image of a woman's Facebook post about being sexually assaulted at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. In the post, the woman said the perpetrator was a man who won statewide office in 2017 and "seems increasingly likely" to get a "very big promotion." In the Facebook post, the woman did not specifically name Fairfax as the perpetrator. Fairfax, a married, 39-year-old father of two, said Monday that when he was 25, he had a "100 percent consensual" encounter in a hotel room with a woman he met at the convention. He said he spoke with The Washington Post about the woman's allegation after she contacted the paper more than a year ago. The Post said they chose not publish a story after being unable to find anyone who could corroborate the accounts of either Fairfax or the woman, according to a Post article published Monday afternoon. Also, the paper said they chose not to publish after finding no similar complaints of sexual misconduct against Fairfax. According to the Post's article Monday, the woman described an encounter that began consensually and ended with a forced sexual act. Fairfax called the re-emergence of the allegation a smear. "Does anybody think it's any coincidence that on the eve of, potentially, my being elevated that that's when this uncorroborated smear comes out?" he said. "It goes away for a year and then it crops up at just this moment," he continued. If Northam resigned, Fairfax would be in line to become the second African-American governor in the state's history. He stopped short of calling for Northam's departure but said he "cannot condone actions" from Northam's past that "suggest a comfort with Virginia's darker history of white supremacy, racial stereotyping and intimidation." Northam faces pressure to resign after a photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook surfaced Friday. The photo shows someone in blackface and another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. Northam said Friday that he did appear in the photo. On Saturday, he said he was not in the photo but did once put on blackface to imitate Michael Jackson in a dance contest. After Fairfax, Democratic State Attorney General Mark Herring is next in line for the governorship. Fairfax has experienced a brief, meteoric rise through Virginia politics. His supporters have touted him as a fresh face whose charisma has allowed him to connect with voters. His detractors suggest he is unproven and inexperienced. The lieutenant governor has held elected office for only one year. A descendant of slaves, he carried a copy of his ancestor's manumission papers with him as he was sworn in. Since then, he has become best known in Virginia for refusing to preside over the Senate chamber as lawmakers offered tributes to Confederate leaders on Virginia's Lee-Jackson Day, in January. He said he stepped off the dais to honor his family. Before entering politics, Fairfax served for two years as a federal prosecutor in Alexandria, a prestigious outpost within the Department of Justice that handles numerous high-profile cases. He did not work on any of those cases, however. Fairfax graduated from Duke University and Columbia Law School. He worked for Tipper Gore during Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign. He also worked for former Sen. John Edwards. Political observers say Fairfax would have an enormous learning curve ahead of him as Virginia's governor. His biggest challenge would be building effective relationships with the legislature, something it took Northam years to do before he was able to achieve such accomplishments as passing Medicaid expansion last year. "Is he capable of doing this? Yes, he's a smart person and organized, has some good people around him," Quentin Kidd, a political science professor at Christopher Newport University, said of Fairfax. "But this is an enormous job. A large part of the job is building relationship over time." The Pentagon said Sunday it will send 3,750 more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to put up another 150 miles of concertina wire and provide other support for Customs and Border Protection. The additions will bring the total number of active-duty troops on the border to 4,350. The announcement is in line with what Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan had said on Tuesday when he provided estimates for the next phase of a military mission that has grown in size and length. Critics have derided it as a political ploy by the White House as President Donald Trump seeks billions to build a border wall. Shanahan said on Tuesday that several thousand more troops would be sent mainly to install additional wire barriers and provide a large new system of mobile surveillance and monitoring of the border area. Sunday's announcement said the mobile surveillance mission would last through Sept. 30. Members of Congress have question whether the border mission is distracting troops from their main work of fighting extremists abroad and training for combat. The first active-duty troops were sent to the border on about Oct. 30 for a mission that was to end Dec. 15. It has since been extended twice. "What impact does it have to readiness to send several thousand troops down to the Southern border? It interrupts their training. It interrupts their dwell time," Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said at a hearing on Tuesday. Vice Adm. Mike Gilday, the director of operations for the Joint Staff, told the panel that he does not believe military readiness has been significantly affected. He said some units have missed training opportunities because of the deployment and others have seen less time at home between deployments than the military likes to provide. But he said there is an effort to rotate service members in and out of the mission every six to eight weeks in order to minimize any impact. Worried about a potential Republican primary challenge, President Donald Trump's campaign has launched a state-by-state effort to prevent an intraparty fight that could spill over into the general-election campaign. The nascent initiative has been an intense focus in recent weeks and includes taking steps to change state party rules, crowd out potential rivals and quell any early signs of opposition that could embarrass the president. It is an acknowledgment that Trump, who effectively hijacked the Republican Party in 2016, hasn't completely cemented his grip on the GOP and, in any event, is not likely to coast to the 2020 GOP nomination without some form of opposition. While any primary challenge would almost certainly be unsuccessful, Trump aides are looking to prevent a repeat of the convention discord that highlighted the electoral weaknesses of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter in their failed re-election campaigns. To defend against that prospect, Trump's campaign has deployed what it calls an unprecedented effort to monitor and influence local party operations. It has used endorsements, lobbying and rule changes to increase the likelihood that only loyal Trump activists make it to the Republican nominating convention in August 2020. Bill Stepien, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, calls it all a "process of ensuring that the national convention is a television commercial for the president for an audience of 300 million and not an internal fight." One early success for Trump's campaign was in Massachusetts, where Trump backer and former state Rep. Jim Lyons last month defeated the candidate backed by Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, a Trump critic, to serve as the state party chairman. "We have a constant focus on tracking everything regarding this process," Stepien said. "Who's running, what their level of support for the president is and what their vote counts are." The campaign's work extends beyond state party leadership races, which are taking place in many key states in the coming weeks. Trump's team plans to organize at county and state caucuses and conventions over the next 18 months to elevate pro-Trump leaders and potential delegates. Ahead of the convention, it aims to have complete control of the convention agenda, rules and platform and to identify any potential trouble-makers well in advance. That sort of organization is a leap from Trump's 2016 delegate operation, which faced challenges by anti-Trump activists in the party. Trump aides say it's the most aggressive effort ever launched to protect an incumbent. Nick Trainer, a White House veteran named last month as the campaign's director of delegates and party organization, is leading a team of three to coordinate with state and local parties in the run-up to the convention. Yet the efforts to protect Trump simply highlight his vulnerability, said an adviser to one potential Republican opponent. "They're not talented, but they're not idiotic. They rightfully understand that he could be badly damaged or lose in a nomination battle. They're doing too much. It looks weak," said John Weaver, a senior adviser to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, one of the few high-profile Republicans seriously contemplating a primary challenge. Trump's campaign is closely monitoring the intentions of Kasich and other potential primary challengers, and aides said they expect someone to mount a campaign for the nomination. But they insist their efforts are not borne out of fear that Trump is vulnerable. Primary challenges against incumbent presidents have never been successful in the modern era. And Trump's poll numbers among Republican voters have proven to be resilient. Still, his aides said they are taking lessons from one-term leaders who lost their re-elections after embarrassing nominating fights. Those in the past who challenged a president both distracted the incumbent from the November campaign and offered a voice to intraparty discontent, seeding weaknesses that were exploited by a general-election rival. Pat Buchanan's campaign against Bush in 1992 focused in part on highlighting Bush's broken pledge not to raise taxes, a vulnerability that dogged Bush throughout the campaign. In a show of party unity Buchanan was awarded the opening night keynote at that year's GOP convention. He delivered a "culture war" speech that Bush loyalists believed contributed to his loss. As an incumbent, Trump already wields control over the Republican National Committee, which voted last month to express its "undivided support" for Trump and his "effective presidency." But he's getting a boost from well-placed allies at the state level. In Iowa, the state Republican Party adopted new rules more than a year ago to seize control of the delegate selection process in direct response to the messy convention floor fight in Cleveland in 2016. Virtually all of Iowa's delegates had preferred Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and they fought unsuccessfully to oppose Trump at the convention. "It was embarrassing. It was troubling. To be honest with you, it made me mad," said Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufman, a strong Trump supporter. "Donald Trump won the Republican nomination fair and square. That was about people not accepting a loss." The new rules, made in consultation with the White House, would make it much more difficult for a Trump challenger to install anti-Trump delegates after the caucuses. Smart campaigns with energized activists, like Cruz's and Ron Paul's before him, had been able to send their own loyalists to the national convention regardless of the wishes of party leaders or caucus voters. No more. Going forward, a nominating committee that's already been named by the pro-Trump state central committee will control the delegate selection process. Kaufman said that technically, he and the rest of the state GOP would be neutral should Trump face a primary challenge. He makes clear, however, that he's been a strong supporter of the president and doesn't see a serious primary challenge on the horizon. It's much the same in New Hampshire, where party leaders must technically remain neutral to preserve their status as the first-in-the-nation primary. But the Trump campaign backed Saturday's election of new state GOP Chairman Stephen Stepanek, who served as Trump's state co-chairman in 2016. Stepanek was viewed as decidedly more supportive of the president than former state chairwoman Jennifer Horn, who emerged as an outspoken Trump critic since leaving the position after the 2016 election. Meanwhile, states like South Carolina and Kansas are openly discussing canceling their primaries and caucuses, but the Trump campaign insists it is staying out of those discussions, noting that state parties in some states are required to foot the bill for nominating contests. President Donald Trump weighed in on the controversy over Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and a racist photo by linking the image to abortion and electoral politics as well as bigotry. Democratic officials in Virginia and nationally urged Northam to resign after news reports of the photo, which appeared in Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook and showed a person in blackface and a person in Klan regalia. Northam refused to resign, however, and said Saturday that he was not either of the people pictured. In tweets Saturday night, Trump criticized Northam over his recent comments on late-term abortion. He also said that Northam's Republican opponent in the 2017 gubernatorial election, Ed Gillespie, would have won had the photo turned up during their campaign. Earlier this week, abortion opponents accused Northam of supporting infanticide. In a radio interview, the governor described a hypothetical situation in which an infant who is severely deformed or unable to survive after birth is left to die. Trump tweeted after those comments that "Democrats are becoming the Party of late term abortion." As calls mounted Saturday for Northam to resign because of the photo, Trump tweeted: "Democrat Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia just stated, 'I believe that I am not either of the people in that photo.' This was 24 hours after apologizing for appearing in the picture and after making the most horrible statement on 'super' late term abortion. Unforgivable!" In a second tweet, Trump wrote: "Ed Gillespie, who ran for Governor of the Great State of Virginia against Ralph Northam, must now be thinking Malpractice and Dereliction of Duty with regard to his Opposition Research Staff. If they find that terrible picture before the election, he wins by 20 points!" The tweets came hours after Del. Kathy Tran, who sponsored a Virginia bill that Northam defended on the radio, canceled a town hall meeting due to "safety concerns" as the governor dealt with calls to resign. A group of anti-abortion activists continued to demonstrate against the bill. What to Know A federal detention center in Brooklyn had lost heat and electricity last week The U.S. Department of Justice said it will work with the Bureau of Prisons to examine what happened at the faculty Protesters gathered outside the facility in recent days following news reports those housed there have largely been without heat or power The U.S. Department of Justice said Sunday it will work with the Bureau of Prisons to examine what happened at a federal detention center in Brooklyn that had lost heat and electricity last week and to ensure that it has a backup system in place. "In the coming days, the Department will work with the Bureau of Prisons to examine what happened and ensure the facility has the power, heat and backup systems in place to prevent the problem from re-occurring," said Wyn Hornbuckle, deputy director of public affairs for the Justice Department. Electrical power was finally restored at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Hornbuckle said. Protesters have gathered outside the facility in recent days following news reports that those housed there have largely been without heat or power for the past week and also haven't been able to communicate with lawyers or loved ones. Outdoor temperatures have been well below freezing on some recent days, though Sunday was warmer. "With the heat and hot water operational, and the restoration of electrical power, the facility can now begin to return to regular operations," Hornbuckle said. Earlier Sunday, some demonstrators attempted to enter the facility, and guards drove them back with pushes and shoves. Witnesses said they also used pepper spray. A reporter and photographer for The Associated Press were at the facility when a woman, whose son is being detained, tried to get into the jail. On Sunday, an inmate was able to call through the window of his cell, which faces out to the street, to his mother below. The woman, Yvonne Murchison, was crying and upset and tried to get into the facility, where visits have been stopped. "I'd trade places with him any day, that's my child," she said. She was followed by activists and media into the lobby, where visitors have to pass through metal detectors. Witnesses said officers used significant force to push the people out, with some of those attempting to come in being pushed to the ground. The AP photographer felt some type of spray, and began to have trouble breathing. Those affected were seen washing out their eyes with water or milk. The Bureau of Prisons has acknowledged that the jail "experienced a partial power outage due to a fire in the switch gear room." The bureau had said a new electrical panel was being installed by an outside contractor. The agency insisted that inmates had hot water for showers and sinks, and were getting medications as needed. The jail administration did not return an email seeking comment on the clash Sunday. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for an investigation of the circumstances of the loss of heat and electricity by the federal Department of Justice, saying the situation was "a violation of human decency and dignity" and also raises "questions of potential violations of law." The Democrat said he wanted answers, and those responsible held accountable. "Prisoners in New York are human beings," Cuomo said. "Let's treat them that way." The New York Civil Liberties Union released a statement Sunday calling on the Bureau of Prisons to "ensure that no detainee be subjected to retaliation for peacefully protesting." "Today's confrontation between the Bureau of Prisons and family members of people jailed at MDC highlights the desperate need to address the dangerous, inhumane and unlawful conditions inside the facility," NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman said. What to Know Marijuana legalization is probably coming to NY, NJ and CT soon, but there are many questions about the impact Colorado, where pot has been legal for years, offers a number of real-world lessons for the tri-state "Pot's Real Pirice" is a five-part series looking at Colorado's example and what it may mean locally The cannabis craze has caught fire across the country, with ten states already passing recreational marijuana laws. Now, with legalization on the horizon for the tri-state, Colorado may offer a good example of what life can be like with legal weed. Marijuana has sparked profitable opportunities for large-scale growers, producers and retail distributors in the Rocky Mountain state. Colorados Department of Revenue reported more than $266 million in revenue since recreational marijuana became available for consumption in 2014. Retail pot in Colorado is generating hundreds of millions of dollars, but at what price? Sarah Wallace goes in a private marijuana club outside Denver to see how pot is proving a boon for some, and then undercover with police during drug raids to see how its straining their resources and what that could all mean for the tri-state... NBC New York went there for a five-part series, "Pot's Real Price," examining both the opportunities and the risks in legalization. Medicine Man is one of Colorados most successful cultivation companies. The cannabis industry has created 20,000 direct jobs and probably just as many indirect jobs," operator Andy Williams said. But the potent profits havent just caught the eye of legitimate businesses, theyve also sparked black-market investment. Could legalizing pot in the tri-state lead to more instances of driving under the influence, and more teens using it? Sarah Wallace reports. See the entire Pots Real Price series here. A ride-along with Aurora police offered a first-hand look at an illegal grow house, when SWAT officers raided a home in an upscale housing development. Colorado allows residents to grow up to 12 plants for personal use. In this Aurora home, officers seized more than 740. Statewide, between 2016 and 2017 marijuana seizures double from 3.5 tons to 7.3 tons. Is legal marijuana actually the cash cow it promised to be for Colorado? Businesses say yes, schools say no. And then there are the complications of dealing with banks, forcing risky cash-only operations. There are lessons for the tri-state in the legalization of pot. Sarah Wallace reports. Its fueling an underground pot pipeline, moving Colorado-grown product to states where it is still illegal. State police officials cite hazy perception and lax laws as the incentive for black-market growers. One school district in Colorado Springs expressed their concern over the accessibility of marijuana. Despite the fact that there has been no significant increase in youth using marijuana, parental pot use has become a problem for schools to manage. New York is on a fast track to legalize marijuana, and growers and entrepreneurs are excited. But not everyone is on board, especially after seeing whats happened in states like Colorado and California. Sarah Wallace reports. See the full Pots Real Price series here. That question and many others weigh on the mind of legislators in the tri-state, as New York, New Jersey and Connecticut all look at slightly different ways to regulate the product. There is talk that New York wont allow people to grow plants for personal use in an attempt to curb black market production. Some local municipalities are moving to make recreational marijuana illegal and head off state plans. 5 years after the Centennial State legalized recreational pot, the black market is booming. Sarah Wallace joins police on a raid, and shares their message for the tri-state. Want to know more? Reporter Sarah Wallace took listeners behind-the-scenes of covering this story in NBC 4's weekly podcast The Debrief. Listen to the episode below. The Treasury Department appears set to lift sanctions on three companies connected to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska despite concerns from lawmakers in both parties who say the Trump administration should be tougher on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies. Treasury's decision to ease the sanctions narrowly survived a Senate vote Wednesday when Democrats failed to win the 60 votes needed to block it. Still, 11 Republicans joined with the Democrats as some voiced concerns that lifting the financial penalties would send the wrong message to Russia. On Thursday in the House, 136 Republicans joined Democrats to disapprove of the Treasury deal. The vote was only symbolic, given the outcome in the Senate, but it sent a strong message to President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who had traveled twice to Capitol Hill to explain his department's decision. Congress had until Friday to vote to block the sanctions relief. The votes are the latest signal that congressional Republicans are willing to split with the White House on national security matters. Lawmakers in both parties have protested Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria, and the Senate passed measures in December 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. As with Mnuchin on the Russia sanctions, visits from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis to Capitol Hill failed to convince many Republicans that they should stick with the administration's position on Yemen. Pompeo and Mattis argued for maintaining the U.S. assistance to Saudi Arabia, but several Republicans defected, some angered by what they said was Trump's lackluster response to Khashoggi's killing. The two Saudi measures were never considered by the House, then led by Republicans, and expired at the end of the congressional session. On the Russian sanctions, at issue is a December announcement from the Treasury Department that the U.S. would lift financial penalties on the companies linked to Deripaska Russian aluminum manufacturing giant 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 target tycoons close to the Kremlin. Treasury has warned that keeping the sanctions in place could upset global aluminum markets or even prompt the Russian government to nationalize the company, thus shutting it out from any outside control. Mnuchin briefed House members on the decision last week and Senate Republicans on Tuesday, all behind closed doors. Speaking after the Senate meeting, he said the sanctions "shouldn't be a political issue." Mnuchin's House briefing came after seven new committee chairmen demanded he hold a briefing in the Capitol, one of the first moves of the new Democratic House to scrutinize Trump's actions related to Russia. Democrats had asked Mnuchin to delay the sanctions decision until the end of February, but he would not agree. Lawmakers in both parties said they had concerns that the Treasury agreement didn't go far enough to sever Deripaska's control. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said before Thursday's vote that Mnuchin's answers in the briefing were inadequate. "With the threat that Russia poses to the United States, to our friends and allies around the world, Congress cannot just look the other way," Engel said. House Financial Services Chairman Maxine Waters said the United States needs to make sure "we don't align ourselves with the people who are undermining this democracy." No Republicans spoke on the House floor in favor of the Trump administration's decision. Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, voted for the Democratic resolution. "Bottom line, Putin's Russia is an adversary, and should be treated as one," McCaul said before the vote. He said he had concerns about how the U.S. could adequately monitor Deripaska's control of the companies. "Because we cannot be sure that we have removed the heavy hand of this Russian oligarch, I cannot support the delisting of these sanctioned entities at this point in time," McCaul said. U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard kicked off her presidential campaign with a rally in her home state of Hawaii on Saturday. "We must stand against powerful politicians from both parties who sit in ivory towers thinking up new wars to wage and new places for people to die," she told a small gathering of supporters. "Wasting trillions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives, undermining our economy and security, and destroying our middle class." The Democratic congresswoman's first rally came a month after she formally launched her effort with an online video and declaration on CNN. Her nascent campaign swiftly ran into trouble as critics pounced on her efforts to block the legalization of same-sex marriage in Hawaii and a meeting she held with Syrian President Bashar Assad. She released a video apologizing for advocating against gay rights. State Sen. Kai Kahele, a Democrat, then announced he would run for Gabbard's congressional seat in 2020. Gabbard hasn't said whether she plans to run for re-election as a congresswoman while simultaneously seeking the presidency. Politico reported this week Gabbard campaign manager Rania Batrice was leaving. The rally will be held on a lawn at a sprawling Hilton hotel complex in Waikiki. Gabbard, 37, has said she's running for president because U.S. military action in Iraq, Libya and Syria has destabilized the Middle East, made the U.S. less safe and cost thousands of American lives. She says terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group are stronger than before the Sept.11 terrorist attacks. She was a fierce opponent of same-sex marriage when she served in the state Legislature in her 20s. But she has since disavowed those views and professes her support for LGBTQ rights. Gabbard has represented Honolulu's 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. Police in Pembroke Pines are looking for a mother who disappeared with her 4-year-old son after the boy was ordered to be removed from her custody. Michael Ramsey was last seen on Jan. 28 with his mother, 43-year-old Nicole Rosenthal, Pembroke Pines Police officials said. Police said Rosenthal left a voluntary program she was participating in at the Susan B. Anthony Center, which offers addiction therapy services. When Rosenthal failed to comply with the program, the Florida Department of Children and Families obtained a court order to remove her son from her custody. Police said all attempts to locate them have been unsuccessful. They said no criminal charges are pending in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 954-431-2200. A Florida stripper has been charged with threatening a mass shooting. Lakeland Police say 31-year-old Brien Basarich, an exotic dancer at at Showgirls Mens Club in Plant City, posted about her homicidal urges on social media under the username "taking-lives." According to an arrest affidavit, she said she had a vision of a bar or club with only one entrance and exit and that she planned to purchase an AR-15 "soonish." Bay News 9 reports she described herself as a great admirer of serial killers and mass murderers. She was charged this week with written threat to kill or injure and arrested at home. It's unclear if she had retained an attorney who could comment on the charges. Senate leaders agreed to hold votes this week on dueling proposals to reopen shuttered federal agencies, forcing a political reckoning for senators grappling with the longest shutdown in U.S. history: Side with President Donald Trump or vote to temporarily end the shutdown and keep negotiating. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. set up the two showdown votes for Thursday, a day before some 800,000 federal workers are due to miss a second paycheck. One vote will be on his own measure, which reflects Trump's offer to trade border wall funding for temporary protections for some immigrants. It was quickly rejected by Democrats. The second vote is set for a bill approved by the Democratic-controlled House reopening government through Feb. 8, with no wall money, to give bargainers time to talk. Both measures are expected fall short of the 60 votes need to pass, leaving little hope they represent the clear path out of the mess. But the plan represents the first test of Senate Republicans' resolve behind Trump's insistence that agencies remain closed until Congress approves $5.7 billion to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. For Democrats, the votes will show whether there are any cracks in the so-far unified rejection of Trump's demand. Democrats on Tuesday ridiculed McConnell's bill, which included temporarily extended protections for "Dreamer" immigrants, but also harsh new curbs on Central Americans seeking safe haven in the U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the GOP plan's immigration proposals were "even more radical" than their past positions. "The president's proposal is just wrapping paper on the same partisan package and hostage taking tactics," offering to temporarily restore programs Trump himself tried to end in exchange for wall funding, Schumer said. McConnell accused Democrats of preferring "political combat with the president" to resolving the 32-day partial federal shutdown. He said Democrats were prepared to abandon federal workers, migrants and all Americans "just to extend this run of political theater so they can look like champions of the so-called resistance" against Trump. The confrontational tone underscored that there remained no clear end in sight to the closure. Amid cascading tales of civil servants facing increasingly dire financial tribulations from the longest federal shutdown in history, the Senate chaplain nudged his flock. "As hundreds of thousands of federal workers brace for another painful payday, remind our lawmakers they can ease the pain," Chaplain Barry Black intoned as the Senate convened. The upcoming vote on the Democratic plan marked a departure for McConnell, who had vowed to allow no votes on shutdown measures unless Trump would sign them. The White House views its latest offer as a test of whether Democratic leaders can hold their members together in opposition, said a person familiar with White House thinking who was not authorized to speak publicly. The administration also wants to show they are willing to negotiate, hoping it will push more blame onto Democrats, who are opposing negotiations until the government reopens. Public polls show Trump is taking the brunt of the blame from voters so far. "How long are they going to continue to be obstructionists and not solve the problem and not reopen the government?" White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of Democrats. One freshman, Democrat Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia, a state that's home to many federal workers, was circulating a draft letter Tuesday urging Pelosi to propose a deal that would reopen the government and then consider border security legislation including holding votes on Trump's demand for wall money by the end of February. A similar effort was under way last week by a bipartisan group of senators. As the stalemate grinded on, Alaska Airlines said the closure would cause at least a three-week delay in its plan to start new passenger flights from Everett, Washington. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said the shutdown could slow home sales by 1 percent in coming months. And a restaurant in Red Bank, New Jersey, owned by musician Jon Bon Jovi joined the list of establishments serving free meals to furloughed federal workers. McConnell's bill largely reflects the proposal Trump described to the nation in a brief address Saturday. It would reopen federal agencies, revamp immigration laws and provide $5.7 billion to start building his prized border wall with Mexico a project Democrats consider an ineffective, wasteful monument to a ridiculous Trump campaign promise. Republicans posted the 1,301-page measure online late Monday. Its details provoked Democrats, particularly immigration provisions Trump hadn't mentioned during his speech. The measure would provide a three-year extension of protections against deportation for 700,000 people covered by the Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Democrats want far more to be protected Trump last year proposed extending the safeguards to 1.8 million people, including many who'd not yet applied and want the program's coverage for so-called "Dreamers" to be permanent. Trump has tried terminating the Obama-era DACA program, which shields people brought to the U.S. illegally as children, but has been blocked so far by federal judges. The GOP bill would revive, for three years, protections for people from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua who fled natural disasters or violence in their countries. Trump has ended that Temporary Protected Status program for those and several other countries. Republicans estimated the proposal would let 325,000 people remain in the U.S. But the GOP proposal contains new curbs, providing those protections only to those who are already in the U.S. legally and who earn at least 125 percent of the federal poverty limit. The bill would also, for the first time, require minors seeking asylum from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to process their applications at facilities the State Department is to establish in several Central American countries. Other new conditions include a limit of 15,000 of these minors who could be granted asylum. Currently, many asylum seekers apply as they're entering the U.S. and can remain here as judges decide their request, which can take several years. As a sweetener, the Republican measure also contains $12.7 billion for regions hit by hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters. The Democratic bill also includes the disaster aid. One White House official said Trump was open to counter-offers from Democrats. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, said Trump was also willing to use his proposed temporary extensions for "Dreamers" as a way to seek long-term deal. The official said Trump would be willing to seek at least permanent legal status for "Dreamers," but probably not a path to citizenship. Democrats have refused to negotiate until Trump reopens the government. Trump is worried Democrats won't agree to a wall compromise if he relents, while Democrats say Trump would use the shutdown tactic again if it works. "If we hold the employees hostage now, they're hostage forever," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters. Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Jill Colvin, Catherine Lucey, Kevin Freking, Matthew Daly and Laurie Kellman contributed. A racist photo tied to Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam spurred the first major test for how Democratic presidential hopefuls will address racial tensions that have polarized American life. Nearly every major declared and potential Democratic candidate called for Northam's resignation after disclosure of the photo, which shows one person in blackface and another hooded in white Klan regalia. Their reactions came before Northam, 59, who is white, said during a news conference Saturday that he was not in the photo on his page of the 1984 yearbook. He acknowledged using blackface when he dressed as pop icon Michael Jackson for a dance contest, also in 1984. That leaves Democrats running for president or considering bids to navigate an explosive and embarrassing story as they mount campaigns intended to serve as a contrast with racial divisions that have intensified under the presidency of Donald Trump. "The candidates were right on this, but this one was easy; the questions and issues on race will only get harder," said Symone Sanders, one of the Democratic Party's most visible black strategists and an aide to Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign. Northam's refusal to step down, Sanders added, threatens to "bring down the Democratic ecosystem" when candidates already face challenges explaining their own records on racially fraught matters. "How do you tell black, brown and young disillusioned voters who didn't vote in 2016 to come out and take on Donald Trump and take America with this in the party?" she said. "It's a real concern." That means more potential pitfalls for candidates as varied as California Sen. Kamala Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, and former Vice President Joe Biden, a white man who prides himself on his working-class heritage. Harris touts her record as a prosecutor but faces critiques from the left for her role in a system that has for decades disproportionately imprisoned young men of color. Biden, a longtime senator before he was President Barack Obama's political partner, recently expressed regret for supporting a 1994 crime bill that toughened sentencing laws. He had defended the vote for years. Antjuan Seawright, a veteran of campaigns in South Carolina, which hosts the first presidential primary with a large black vote, said candidates must explain their pasts and use them and Northam to talk about institutional racism. "There's a larger discussion here about the poisonous effects of racism on the country and how these things really serve a hindrance for all of us moving forward," he said. Harris and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro were the first declared candidates to call for Northam to step down. Among the party's most prominent Latino figures, Castro called the photo "racist and unconscionable." Harris wrote on Twitter that "the stain of racism should have no place in the halls of government." Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has faced her own troubles over her claims of Native American heritage, followed suit. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a black man who launched his campaign Friday, the first day of Black History Month, put the incident into historical perspective. "These images arouse centuries of anger, anguish and racist violence," he wrote on Twitter. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, campaigning in the first primary state of New Hampshire, initially stopped short of calling for resignation, telling reporters she'd not seen the picture that she still called "very racist." She later issued a statement saying she'd seen the image for herself and believed Northam should step down. "There aren't two sets of rules for our friends and our foes: Right is right and wrong is wrong ... and racism cannot be excused in our government or anywhere else," she wrote. Gillibrand helped lead calls for Minnesota Sen. Al Franken to resign after he was accused in 2017 of sexual harassment. Most of the presidential hopefuls sidestepped what would happen should Northam resign: A black man, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, would become the state's second black chief executive. The most prominent white men in the potential Democratic field, Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, both waited until Saturday morning to issue resignation calls. Biden has deep ties in the black community, both from two unsuccessful presidential campaigns but also from two terms as the top lieutenant to the nation's first black president. Sanders, who represents a state that is almost 95 percent white and less than 2 percent African-American, has tried to expand his relationships in the black community after his gaps proved a major liability in his 2016 presidential nominating fight against Hillary Clinton. Sanders, who hasn't said whether he'll run again, did well in much whiter states, but Clinton dominated him in states where black voters held strong sway, building an early delegate lead Sanders couldn't reverse. Seawright, the South Carolina Democrat, dismissed any concerns over comparing candidates' response times over less than 24 hours. He said Republican leaders had ignored years of racist comments from Iowa Rep. Steve King before finally issuing a condemnation and ousting him from House committees in January after he questioned why "white supremacy" is considered offensive. "We just can't be the party of hypocrisy ... and direction is more important than immediate timing," Seawright said. North Carolina NAACP leader William Barber, a minister who has spoken at Democratic National Conventions, said he is keeping no scorecard on who has called on Northam to step down. "People calling for his resignation, or Steve King's for that matter, they have a right to do so," Barber said. But "to simply have all this discussion about racism when we have some pictures and some words, as ugly and grotesque as they are, but not call out the structural racism that is often presented in more genteel ways by denying health care, by gerrymandering unconstitutional legislatures, by a prison system that is the new Jim Crow to do that is not to deal with what racism actually is." ___ Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Jupiter, Florida, and Alan Suderman in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report. Sheriff's deputies in Mississippi arrested a Texas man and seized more than $1 million in cocaine during a traffic stop. News outlets reported that a Rankin County deputy made the stop in Interstate-20 on Saturday afternoon. A search of the car found 75 pounds of cocaine. The driver, 46-year-old Luis Carlos Alvarado of Odessa, Texas, has been arrested and charged with aggravated trafficking of cocaine. Alvarado is being held in the Rankin County jail in Brandon. Carlos has not yet appeared in court and there is no word of an attorney for him as of this writing. The Mississippi Highway Patrol assisted in the drug bust. A billboard on a highway near Galveston is bringing attention to the city's rift with its police union, criticizing the town as "Home of the Worst Police Retirement in Texas." The Galveston Municipal Police Association recently leased the billboard along Interstate-45, where it'll stand for the next month. The association functions separately from the police department, but represents police interests. City officials and the police pension board held several discussions about fixing the officers' ailing pension system last year, but seem no closer to a deal, the Galveston County Daily News reported. The pension plan's unfunded liabilities grew from $29 million in 2017 to $32 million in May, according to actuarial reports. A state pension review panel last year released a report that found Galveston has been underfunding the city's police pension for more than 15 years. Police officers are contributing more to the plan than they'll ultimately review, according to the Texas Pension Review Board's report. The board determined that the fund's issues stem from inadequate contributions, poor investment returns, increased payments to beneficiaries and uneven ratio of those paying into the plan versus those receiving from it. City officials are calling for changes to the pension board and raising officers' retirement age above 50 years old. The city has expressed doubt that Galveston's police pension plan is the worst in the state. "What is beyond a doubt is that the state of the plan is the product of a board mostly comprised of plan beneficiaries and is in desperate need of repair," city officials said. The billboard was put up while the city's police department works to recruit more experienced officers by offering higher pay for skilled applicants. "It's certainly going to be impressionable for potential applicants," said Vernon Hale, the city's police chief. Clint Stevens, the association's PAC chairman, said he hopes the billboard sparks dialogue. "I don't think that the average member of the public realizes when we say it's the worst police retirement for public safety plans, we're not being dramatic," Stevens said. Four people, including a father and his twin young sons, were found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in a Dallas home Sunday morning. According to Dallas Fire-Rescue, two adult men and two children, both under the age of two, were sleeping in a home under construction on the 1400 block of Owega Avenue in East Oak Cliff. The owner said he allowed two of his employees to stay in the home, which had no electricity. At about 9:30 a.m. Sunday, the homeowner found the employees and the children dead inside with a gas-powered generator running in another room. A bar in the Knox-Henderson neighborhood of Dallas is changing its name, and its decor, to transform into the tavern from the hit show Family Guy. "Even though they put it in a separate room from where they were sleeping, it ran long enough that the level was built up in the house and proved to be fatal to all the people," according to Dallas Fire-Rescue Public Information Officer Jason Evans. Evans said the men were using the generator to charge mobile phones and heating equipment and that they may have brought the generator inside after someone tried to steal it. Generators are not safe to use indoors or in improperly ventilated areas. Four people were found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning Sunday morning. The mother of the toddlers, Esmeralda Gonzalez, identified the children to NBC 5 as 19-month-old twins Elijah and Josiah Martinez. Their father, Nestor Martinez, was one of the workers in the house. The identity of the second adult male, who worked with the boys' father, has not been confirmed. Gonzales said the children were staying with their father for the weekend. She told NBC 5 she believed they were staying in a hotel after Martinez told her he had to leave another home where he had been staying. She later learned he was staying in the unfinished home. Gonzales said rescuers called her on Sunday from Martinez's cell phone and asked to come speak to her in person. "I couldn't believe it. I was waiting for me to wake up, that's all I could think about," Gonzales said. "Wake up, wake up, wake up. This is not happening." She said Martinez is originally from Honduras, but grew up in the Houston area. His family was on their way to North Texas after they learned of his death Sunday. "He loved his kids. Those were his first kids," Gonzales said. The family has launched a Go Fund Me campaign to help pay for the children's funeral. Esmeralda Gonzales The owner of the house said it is unknown how long the generator was running inside the home. Firefighters located all four victims in a rear bedroom while the gas-powered generator was in a separate room. Dallas Fire-Rescue was unaware of whether or not the victims understood the dangers of carbon monoxide exposure. "Known as the Invisible Killer, CO has no color or odor and is virtually undetectable without the use of a hand-held or in-home CO detector/alarm," according to the Dallas Fire-Rescue website. Neighbors in the area that spoke to NBC 5 did not personally know the victims. "I mean anytime you hear something like that with a family and then with children involved ... its very sad," said Andrea Gonzales, who was sleeping in a home directly behind where the incident happened. The UConn Board of Trustees has voted and chosen the universitys next president. During a special meeting Tuesday morning, Thomas Katsouleas, the provost and executive vice president of the University of Virginia, was unanimously approved as UConn's 16th president. He will succeed President Susan Herbst, who has been in the position for eight years and announced in May that she will return to the faculty this summer as a political science professor at the Stamford campus. The 60-year-old Katsouleas, an electrical engineer and physicist who studies plasma, has served as provost at Virginia since 2015. Prior to that, he was the dean of Duke University's engineering school. He has a PhD in physics from UCLA. Katsouleas was chosen for the job by a 44-member search committee that was set up after Herbst announced that she would step down, the Associated Press reports. A man faces animal cruelty charges after a goat wandering the streets of Hartford led police to a collection of farm animals in a utility trailer Thursday night. Court documents note the poor conditions police described when they found the animals. According to the police report, officers first responded to a report of a loose goat trying to attack people on Blue Hills Avenue. Officers found the goat chasing children around the area. They tracked the goat back to 31 Blue Hills Ave. and found over a dozen other goats, roosters and chickens in a utility trailer in back of the home. According to court documents, there were 15 goats, eight roosters, one hen and two ducks in the 4 by 8-foot utility trailer. The trailer was not properly heated or insulated and there was no water for the animals, the documents said. Responding officers noted the goats the trailer smelled like urine and there were feces mixed in with the birds' food. Kenya Miller, 41, was arrested and charged with 27 counts of animal cruelty. He appeared in court Monday and is next due in court on March 4. Miller told police he had been keeping the goats in the basement and that he'd moved them into the trailer because a friend was coming to pick them up. The animals were relocated to a farm in Harwinton. According to the documents, three roosters had frostbite on their crowns one of the goats was found dead before they took the animals to the farm. A West Side Chicago student is accused of attacking two officers this week forcing them to deploy tasers on her, authorities said. But the student tells NBC 5 cell phone video--which only captured a portion of the incident--proves the officers used excessive force. The 16-year-old student is charged with two counts of aggravated battery against the officerswho were transported to the hospital after the altercation with the student. Both the student and her father believe the officers could have handled the incident differently, they said in an interview Friday evening. On Tuesday morning at Marshall High School, 11th-grade student Dnigma Howard says she was tased three times by two Chicago police officers. Cellphone video was captured by another student after police say Howard and an officer fell down a flight of stairs when they tried to escort her out of the building. "He forcibly put his hand, like pushed me toward the stairs, causing me to fall down the stairs," Howard said. "Which I reacted by pulling his vest." In the video Howard is seen kicking one of the officers. Police say she also bit and punched them sending both to the hospital with multiple injuries. Howardseen with a visible injury on her face--was also sent to the hospital. She says it started when she refused to give up her cell phone to the schools assistant principal. "If they escorted me out the school the right way with handcuffs or something, I would have went," Howard said. "But you tried to push me down the stairs." Howards father Laurentio--stood by her in juvenile court Friday as a judge demanded she wear an electronic monitoring device and stay away from the school for at least two weeks. Her father says he plans to help her fight the charges and hold CPD accountable for the incident. "Its their word against our word," he said. "So, right now, Im glad we have part of the video." Chicago police would only provide details of the incidentopting not to comment further. Chicago Public Schools also declined to provide a statement. So far the Howards havent filed any complaints against the city. Vanuatu turns the Corner LETS USE THIS AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR THE FUTURE A judge set bail to $1 million for a woman accused of drunken driving, assaulting a police officer and then crashing through a wall of a CVS store in north suburban Zion. Nina Allen, 57, was charged Saturday with aggravated DUI, assaulting a police officer, criminal damage to property and traffic violations, according to the Lake County sheriffs office. Police were called Friday evening for a possibly intoxicated woman weaving between lanes on Sheridan Road, Zion Police Chief Steve Dumyahn said. The caller told police the woman nearly drove into a snowbank. Officers found Allen stopped in a CVS parking lot in the 4500 block of Route 173, Dumyahn said. They pulled up and ordered her out of the vehicle. Allen refused to step out and then revved her engine, Dumyahn said. She drove forward, nearly missing the officers who moved out of the way, and then rammed a squad car about eight or nine times, Dumyahn said. Allen drove over the curb and into a wall, but did not crash through until she rammed it another two times, Dumyahn said. The car stopped about 35 feet within the CVS, Dumyahn said. No one inside was hit or injured. Allen was taken with minor injuries to Vista East Medical Center in Waukegan, where she was arrested, Dumyahn said. Dumyahn said she was already due to report to Kenosha County Jail the next day to serve 80 days for a previous drunk driving conviction. She is due in court again on Feb. 25, according to the Lake County sheriffs office. Police said Allen lived in Zion and was already known to the police officers involved. The sheriffs office listed Allens address in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. The planned U.S. troop withdrawal opens up a void in the north and east of Syria, and the conflicts and rivalries among all the powers in the Middle East are converging to fill it. The American decision to pull out its 2,000 troops has forced a reassessment of old alliances and partnerships. The Syrian government, the Kurds, Russia, Iran, Israel and Turkey have all had a hand in the country's nearly eight-year war each in a way, fighting its own war for its own reasons within Syria. Now all of those conflicts play out in the territory being abandoned by the Americans, creating new tensions, potential chaos and bloodshed. To reassure jittery allies, Washington sent national security adviser John Bolton to Israel on Sunday, where he said U.S. troops will not leave northeastern Syria until ISIS militants are defeated and American-allied Kurdish fighters are protected. The comments put the brakes on a withdrawal abruptly announced last month and initially expected to be completed within weeks. The announcement upset regional allies and Pentagon officials who disagreed with the assessment that ISIS was defeated. "We're going to be removing our troops. I never said we're doing it that quickly," Trump told reporters in Washington Sunday. Here is a look at what's at stake. THE TERRITORY The area up for grabs is around a third of Syria, forming a rough triangle. To the north is the border with Turkey, to the east the border with Iraq, and the third side is the Euphrates River. This was the heart of the Islamic State group's foothold in Syria until the United States partnered with a Kurdish militia, creating a force of some 60,000 fighters including some Syrian Arabs and Christian Assyrians that wrested it away from the militants. The territory is strategically important. For the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad and its allies Russia and Iran, regaining it means re-establishing sovereignty. The territory was once the source of Syria's wheat and barley, its dams generated electricity and it holds some of Syria's richest oil resources. Without it, Assad will have a harder time with reconstruction and operating long term. For the same reasons, it's been a source of income for the Kurdish militia. For the Kurds, their hold gave weight to their long-sought goal of autonomy. For the U.S., the troop presence ensured American influence. Turkey sees Kurdish autonomy on its border as an existential threat and has vowed to prevent this, accusing the U.S. of empowering the militia Ankara says is linked to Kurdish insurgents in Turkey. ASSAD and RUSSIA Without the Americans, the door opens for Assad and his Russian backers to move in. "The only obstacle preventing Assad from gaining control of the east was the U.S. presence and the cover that it provided to the (Kurdish militia). With that gone ... there is simply no real challenge that would prevent the regime from re-establishing control over those areas," said Ayham Kamel, of the Eurasia group. Abandoned by the U.S., the Kurdish fighters are forced to move toward Russia and Assad for protection against their more feared enemy, Turkey. Their force, armed and equipped by the U.S.-led coalition, is unlikely to disappear. Instead, it is seeking an arrangement with Assad to continue operating as the government extends control over the territory. Syrian officials boast that the withdrawal is a defeat to America. Controlling the east would help seal Assad's victory in the civil war. The American move also accelerates a trend by Arab states to normalize relations with Assad, whom they shunned for years. The United Arab Emirates, a close U.S. and Saudi ally, recently reopened its embassy in Damascus. TURKEY vs. KURDS, RUSSIA and ASSAD Turkey's military, along with some 15,000 allied Syrian rebel fighters, is poised to launch an offensive in the east to break Kurdish control over the border. But an offensive risks creating friction with Russia. In particular, it could wreck a cease-fire agreement the two reached over Idlib, the northwestern province held by rebels and Islamic militants where Turkey has influence enabling a Syrian government assault on the province. Russian and Turkish officials have been holding talks, trying to avert tensions. "A massive Turkish operation is not in Russia's interest. It destabilizes the situation, risks undermining Idlib agreements and talks on reconstruction. Plus, if Turkey decides to capture all of the Kurdish areas it will inevitably clash with Russia and Iran," said Yury Barmin, a Russia analyst. Turkey is equally concerned over the prospect of Syrian government control over the east. In the past, Damascus has used the Kurdish militia as leverage against Ankara and could do so again. For nearly 20 years, Syria hosted the main Kurdish leader until he was captured in 1998, now imprisoned in Turkey. IRAN and ISRAEL A Syrian government move east means the spread of Iran as well. It will dramatically widen the land corridor where Iran enjoys free rein for its allied fighters, weapons and supplies across Iraq and Syria to Lebanon. Already, Iranian-backed militias have expanded control over areas near Syria's border with Iraq and freely cross back and forth. That has alarmed Israel. The likely result will be increased Israeli airstrikes against suspected Iranian-linked targets in Syria. THE U.S., TURKEY and the ISLAMIC STATE GROUP President Donald Trump dismissed the idea that the U.S. needs influence in the conflict, saying Syria was nothing but "sand and death." He claims the U.S. mission there to fight IS has largely been completed. But IS still holds pockets and U.S.-led coalition officials warn it could surge again. Bolton told reporters in Jerusalem that the conditions for a U.S. troop withdrawal include the defeat of remnants of ISIS in Syria, and protections for Kurdish militias who have fought alongside U.S. troops against the extremist group. There has also been growing unrest among Arab tribes in the east, disgruntled by the Kurdish-led administration. They too are likely to be a source of tension and may be leveraged by the different players for their own advantages. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Trump his forces could take over fighting ISIS. In two previous offensives, Turkish forces and their Syrian allies retook territory in the northwest from ISIS and Kurdish fighters. But their track record of abuses, forced displacement of Kurds and lawlessness raises concern over whether they can exercise authority in the east. "The force that Erdogan has to offer Trump to replace the (Kurdish militia) in eastern Syria is not large enough, locally legitimate enough, and quite frankly not vettable enough, for the standards of the U.S. military," said Nick Heras, a Syria expert with the Center for a New American Security. Massachusetts State Police announced Monday that they have begun a 6-month body camera pilot program. The program consists of devices from several vendors which will be tested by 100 state troopers. The purpose of the cameras is to provide accountability and accuracy for troopers during public interactions and increase trooper safety. "Body cameras offer the potential to bring a new level of officer safety, transparency, and accurate documentation to the tens of thousands of interactions our personnel have with the public every year," said Col. Kerry A. Gilpin, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police. Mark Lynch, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, said his members were looking forward to working with state officials to "employ new technologies." "(The union) supports the administrations body-worn camera pilot program and looks forward to examining the perceived benefits and potential improvements with the use of these technologies," Lynch said. The program is among the latest operational and fiscal reforms Gilpin and state police command staff have undertaken in the past 10 months. Following a scandal where eight state troopers at the now-defunct Troop E were arrested and charged with embezzlement as part of an ongoing overtime abuse scandal, the department has also installed automated vehicle locator systems in all patrol cruisers, conducts quarterly audits of the department's top 50 earners and contracts with a major audit firm to review payroll functions. The city of Boston expanded its body camera program last summer following the release of a report that found the pilot program generated "meaningful benefits" between encounters of officers and residents. Former Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said the study showed there was a positive impact to using the cameras. In the same Brooklyn courthouse where jurors have heard testimony about Mexican politicians protecting Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's drug empire, a former Mexican state attorney general pleaded guilty last month to taking bribes from narcotraffickers. The juxtaposition underscored a recurring theme of Guzman's New York trial: how pervasive official corruption in Mexico complicates American authorities' efforts to investigate and apprehend those involved in the drug trade. Jurors are expected to begin deliberating Monday after 11 weeks of testimony that included a parade of Guzman's former associates who told of massive bribes paid to high-level officials. One testified that the Sinaloa cartel paid $10 million, twice, to a top commander in the Mexican Federal Police. Another said Mexico's former federal security chief got a $6 million payoff while a general got $100,000. Witnesses testified about Guzman getting a police escort after a prison escape and politicians who asked for help shipping 100 tons of cocaine in an oil tanker. In the most sensational claim, one of Guzman's former aides said he'd heard him boast about having paid former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto $100 million. "The corruption has been rampant, and it's systemic," said Arturo Fontes, a former FBI agent who spent years investigating Guzman's drug syndicate. "We always knew there was a risk of information getting to the wrong people." The accused Mexican leaders have all denied the bribery allegations as the fabrications of criminals. And the corruption allegations have been mostly a sideshow in the trial of Guzman, who is charged with leading a cartel that smuggled tons of cocaine to the U.S. His lawyers have said he was not the real boss and that its true head is still at large in Mexico, protected by a web of bribes. But colorful testimony about graft provided a window into the challenges U.S. law enforcement agents face when working with Mexican partners and the great lengths they went to in the Guzman case to ensure it wasn't compromised. Underscoring the risks of sharing information with Mexican law enforcement, several months ago, a former Mexican intelligence-unit commander was sentenced to three years in a U.S. federal prison for leaking American investigative secrets to cartel bosses. Last month, Edgar Veytia, the former attorney general of the Mexican coastal state of Nayarit who is known as "Diablo," admitted to using his badge to help drug-trafficking organizations smuggling narcotics into the U.S., according to the Justice Department. Mike Vigil, who was a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent for many years, said not even Mexico's military or federal police will work with authorities at the state and municipal level due to their "cancerous" propensity for being on the take. "They are squarely in the pockets of the drug cartels, to the point that they engage in the smuggling and transportation of drugs and the killing of cartel enemies," Vigil told The Associated Press, referring to local police forces. "If you can't work with them it, it makes it really hard to carry out some of the missions." But during the trial, jurors heard testimony about one successful partnership between U.S. and Mexican authorities: the operation that led to Guzman's capture in 2014 after he escaped from a Mexican prison for the second time. DEA operations are restricted in foreign countries, but the agency trains "vetted units" of Mexican federal police officers to conduct American-led operations. Members of the units are subjected to polygraph exams and required to pass background checks and urinalysis tests. The DEA taps these officers to conduct surveillance and interdict drug shipments, among other tasks. DEA agent Victor Vazquez told jurors he would only work with the Mexican marines when trying to capture Guzman and other leaders of the Sinaloa cartel because that wing of the armed forces is viewed as less susceptible to corruption. He testified that the marines operated from a base outside Mexico's Sinaloa region because the assumption was that everyone there, including police, were eyes for the cartel. "You're driving around in a lion's den, and you really can't trust anybody," Vazquez said. After a first near-miss, where Guzman escaped by fleeing through a tunnel, Mexican marines finally captured him at a hotel in Miramar. Supporters of Pena Nieto have pointed to the capture as proof that he was hunting Guzman, not protecting him. Pena Nieto's former chief of staff, Francisco Guzman, said in a Twitter message that the bribery allegation, made by a Colombian former aide to Guzman, was "false, defamatory and absurd." Guzman's lawyers have also denied that he paid off Pena Nieto but nevertheless have called the Mexican government "crooked." During the trial, U.S. prosecutors sought to limit testimony about the alleged bribes to Mexican officials, citing the potential to harm relations between the two countries and also foreign governments' willingness to extradite defendants to the U.S. Mexico got a new president while the trial was underway who has vowed to make battling corruption a central part of his administration. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has proposed creating a 50,000-member national guard, initially composed of members of the military and federal police, that would fight the drug cartels in the place of local police forces deemed too corrupt to be trusted. Lopez Obrador has said he isn't interested in punishing past governments for corruption but has promised zero tolerance for corruption at all levels of government going forward. While corruption is widespread, Jeronimo Cortina, associate director of the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston, said testimony from drug traffickers should be taken "with a grain of salt." If Guzman really paid a $100 million bribe, Cortina said, "it was a bad business decision considering he was nevertheless extradited to the United States." A four-year-old boy shot his pregnant mother in the face in Seattle on Saturday after finding a gun under a mattress, authorities said. King County Sheriffs Office spokesman Sgt. Ryan Abbott described the shooting on Sunday as unintentional, NBC News reported. Abbott said the mother, who is eight months pregnant, was in stable condition after being rushed to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. Authorities did not identify the couple. The boy had been in the couples bedroom on Saturday afternoon when he found a loaded, unsecured handgun between the beds box spring and the mattress, Abbott said. What to Know Trisha Pesiri-Dybvik, air traffic control specialist, lost her home in the 2017 Thomas Fire and was laid off during the government shutdown. Pesiri-Dybvik and her family have since moved to a rental property in Camarillo, but have had to evacuate due to the recent rain storms. The 2019 State of the Union address will be Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris has invited Trisha Pesiri-Dybvik, an air traffic control specialist who lost her home in the 2017 Thomas Fire and who was furloughed throughout the 35-day long government shutdown, to be her guest at Tuesday's State of the Union address. Pesiri-Dybvik's husband, Jed, is a Navy veteran and air traffic controller with close to 25 years of experience who worked without pay throughout the shutdown. "Since the tragic loss of their home, Trisha, Jed and their three children have worked diligently to bounce back and reestablish a sense of normalcy in their lives, even amidst an unnecessary government shutdown that caused both of them to miss their paychecks for over a month," Harris said. "Trisha's story is just one of many stories I heard during the shutdown of Americans whose lives were upended and who faced those difficult days with strength and resilience." Pesiri-Dybvik blames both parties for the recent government shutdown and urges them to put aside politics for the good of the country. "Every day of the last shutdown," Pesiri-Dybvik said, "the system was less safe than it was prior to, so these critical layers of safety are being stripped away." During the government shutdown, Pesiri-Dybvik's job was deemed non-essential and her husband's workload was increased to compensate for the furloughed personnel and 30-year low staffing shortage of air traffic controllers. "As my family and I have begun to rebuild after losing our home in the Thomas Fire, the hardship we faced during the government shutdown and the looming uncertainty of another potential shutdown have added a further layer of stress to our already challenging situation," said Pesiri-Dybvik. "Further, as an air traffic control specialist I know that the shutdown eroded critical layers of safety within the National Airspace System and forced my NATCA brothers and sisters to show up at work with the burden of not knowing when their next paycheck would come." On the evening of Dec. 4, 2017, Trisha and Jed were both at work when they began to hear news of a wildfire spreading towards their home in Ventura. The Thomas fire would become one of largest and most destructive wildfires in state history. While still at work, the couple asked their nanny to evacuate the house with their children. Ultimately, Trisha and Jed never returned to their home, which was destroyed in the fire. Harris has previously shared the family's story on the floor of the U.S. Senate. They have since moved to a rental property in Camarillo, which they were recently forced to evacuate when heavy rain sweeping across Southern California threatened floods and mudslides in burn areas left by the 2018 Woolsey and Hill fires. NBC4's Ted Chan contributed to this report. Explore Our Investment Capabilities We offer clients investment solutions across asset classes, styles, capitalizations and geographies in both public and private markets, as well as multi-asset class solutions that bring them all together. Florida State University researchers have found that abrupt variations in the seafloor can cause dangerous ocean waves known as rogue or freak waves -- waves so catastrophic that they were once thought to be the figments of seafarers' imaginations. "These are huge waves that can cause massive destruction to ships or infrastructure, but they are not precisely understood," said Nick Moore, assistant professor of mathematics at Florida State and author of a new study on rogue waves. The study is published in the journal Physical Review Fluids, Rapid Communication. Once regarded as a myth, these waves have stumped the scientific community for several decades. Over the years, researchers across the globe have examined a number of different factors they thought might contribute to these waves, including the seafloor, wind excitation and a phenomenon called Benjamin-Feir where deviations from a periodic waveform are reinforced by nonlinearity. Most of the studies that focused on the seafloor considered only gentle slopes, and the few studies that pushed the slopes to greater extremes relied primarily on computer simulations. "There was a relative underrepresentation of real-world data that you can get from laboratory experiments, where you can carefully control the various factors," Moore said. "Often you need this real-world data to see whether the computer simulations are giving you sensible predictions at all." Moore's laboratory experiments were the first to examine the effect of abrupt seafloor variations on wave statistics. Along with FSU's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Institute Director Kevin Speer and now-former FSU student Tyler Bolles, Moore created a long chamber with a variable bottom. Using a motor to generate randomized waves, the research team tracked thousands of waves to see if any patterns emerged. After the waves passed through several feet of a constant depth, they encountered a step in the bottom of the tank that represented an abrupt change in the seafloor. Moore and his colleagues found that initially the waves appeared normal, following a traditional bell curve. But when they passed over the step, the structures of the waves significantly changed. The altered waves followed what's called a gamma distribution, a mathematics function describing certain patterns that defy the bell curve in a particular way. "It is surprising how well the gamma distribution describes the waves measured in our experiments," Moore said. "As a mathematician, that is screaming to me that there is something fundamental to understand." The experiments and the emergence of this gamma distribution have spurred new investigations into the origin of rogue waves. "We have to understand them on a fundamental level first by developing new mathematics," Moore said. "The next step is to use that new mathematics to try to predict where and when these extreme events will occur." (Natural News) Its been a little more than a week since political operative Roger Stone, a well-known association of POTUS Donald Trump, was inappropriately arrested by platoons of FBI agents armed with automatic weapons and sporting body armor. We know that Stone has been accused of lying to Congress, of obstruction, and witness tampering. We also know he was targeted by special counsel Robert Muellers Democrat and Hillary Clinton donors because he allegedly sought to discover what damaging emails and documents WikiLeaks may have had on the twice-failed presidential contender, which is no different from every other mainstream media (MSM) reporter at the time. We also know that Stone is the latest GOP operative/political figure/supporter of the president to be indicted by Mueller, though not a single one of them has been implicated, much less charged, in connection to the special counsels original mandate: Americans are no closer to learning about how all of these indictments by Mueller fit into the Lefts narrative of Russian collusion during the 2016 election cycle. Thats because there was no Trump-Russia collusion to steal the election from Hillary. There was, however, plenty of collusion with Russian sources by Democrats and Clintons campaign. Consider: A Democrat-aligned opposition research firm, Fusion GPS, was involved from the beginning. Fusion GPS hired Christopher Steele, an anti-Trump former British spy who relied on Russian sources for his bogus dossier. Fusion was paid by Democrat-aligned legal firm Perkins Coie. Perkins Coie was paid by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. And yet, youll notice, not a single Democrat has been indicted by Mueller. Oh, there have been some Democratic Deep State figures fired from the Justice Department and FBI Peter Strzok, Andrew McCabe, and James Comey, to begin with but none of them have been charged for committing some of the exact same process crimes as Stone and former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn: Lying to federal investigators or lying to Congress. (Related: BOMBSHELL: Christopher Steele admits he wrote Russia dossier so Hillary could challenge 2016 election results: PROOF Deep State is real.) There arent any serious efforts to charge Democrats at all As William L. Gensert, writing at American Thinker, noted of the Stone arrest: Another Trump figure has fallen the end is near, and the noose is tightening. All Trump associates now fear for their lives and freedom. Yet some people who have committed crimes much more serious than any of the Mueller indictments remain, as always, unafraid. That list, by no means comprehensive, includes, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, [James] Clapper, [John] Brennen, Steele, Strzok, [Lisa] Page, McCabe, Ohr (Mr. and Mrs.), [Susan] Rice, and [Sally] Yates. Some are guilty of lying to Congress or the FBI, mishandling classified information, obstruction, conspiracy, destroying evidence, and much more. A case could be made that the Mueller investigation itself destroyed evidence when it wiped clean the Strzok and Page cellphones to delete text messages requested by IG Horowitz. Yet being a Democrat means never having to say youre sorry because the rule of law only applies to Republicans and conservatives. There are no pre-dawn, guns-drawn raids to arrest Democrats. More to the point, there arent even any efforts to arrest Democrats by any means. Hillary herself is probably the most guilty of actual crimes, while many of the other Democrat-aligned figures Comey, Clapper, Brennan, Rice are guilty of covering for her. She and hubby Bill pimped out the Clinton Foundation to the tune of $140 million in donations by foreign governments and interests in the expectation that she would become president. The roundabout payments to Steele were overt violations of campaign finance law: Paying a foreign national to use his connections with a foreign government to interfere in a U.S. election. The list of violations by Democrats goes on and on. But not the list of arrests. At this point, barring a complete dismantling of the Justice Department and FBI, it seems impossible for those two government institutions to regain the trust of the bulk of Americans. Read more about the corrupt nature of Robert Muellers investigation at RobertMueller.news. Sources include: AmericanThinker.com NationalReview.com TheNationalSentinel.com (Natural News) In the past few weeks, there has been a lot of media hype about the measles outbreak which has left 48 people ill in Washington State. Although measles can cause serious complications in rare cases, for the vast majority of people it is a relatively harmless viral infection that results in fever, coughing, sore eyes, a runny nose and a rash. There is another illness that has reached epidemic proportions on the U.S. west coast, however, which surprisingly has barely created a whisper among mainstream media outlets: an outbreak of typhus fever in Los Angeles, California. While measles is a viral infection which a strong immune system can fend off, typhus is a bacterial infection which, left untreated, can cause serious complications and results in death in at least 40 percent of cases. There is no vaccine against typhus, which perhaps explains why the media is largely ignoring this story. Ironically, while vaccines have a sketchy track record at best at preventing diseases like measles, typhus can be eliminated easily through simple hygiene practices. And yet it continues to spread across the city of Los Angeles. The return of a medieval disease Typhus is virtually unheard of in most modern western societies because it is strongly associated with large volumes of people living in unsanitary conditions overrun with flea-ridden rats (think New York City, circa 1840 to 1875). But those are exactly the unhealthy conditions in which thousands of homeless people live in L.A., creating a breeding ground for a disease which causes symptoms that include high fever and chills, headaches, rapid breathing, body pain, coughing, nausea, a rash, vomiting and confusion. What is typhus fever? HealthLine explains: Typhus is a disease caused by infection with one or more rickettsial bacteria. Fleas, mites (chiggers), lice, or ticks transmit it when they bite you. Fleas, mites, lice, and ticks are types of invertebrate animals known as arthropods. When arthropods carrying around rickettsial bacteria bite someone, they transmit the bacteria that causes typhus. Scratching the bite further opens the skin and allows the bacteria greater access to the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, the bacteria continue to reproduce and grow. Early treatment is essential if a typhus victim is to beat the disease, but diagnosis is difficult and can be delayed because symptoms are so similar to those of other infectious diseases, including dengue fever, malaria and brucellosis. (Related: 10 diseases that will become far more common after the collapse.) Although most of the typhus cases in L.A. have been diagnosed among homeless people who live in the area known as Skid Row, the disease has started spreading to other parts of the city. As reported by The Gateway Pundit, Liz Greenwood, a deputy city attorney based at City Hall, was also recently diagnosed. Greenwood told NBC 4 that it felt like railroad stakes were being driven through her eyes and out the back of her neck. She believes that she contracted the disease from the enormous rats that have infested City Hall East. What is the city doing about the problem? City Mayor Eric Garcetti has allocated millions of dollars to cleaning up L.A, in particular Skid Row, which has come to be known as The Typhus Zone. A statement by the mayors office noted: Last fall we directed multiple City departments to begin a coordinated and comprehensive effort to improve cleanliness and protect public health in the Civic Center, including City Hall and City Hall East. In addition to increased trash collection and cleanings, aggressive action has been taken to address pests both in the buildings and in the surrounding outside areas including abatement treatments and the filling of 60 rodent burrows and 114 tree wells. This work in busy and highly populated public buildings is executed carefully to protect workers and visitors, and the scheduling of extermination activities takes these factors into consideration. Despite these efforts, 2018 was a record-breaking year, with 124 cases of typhus fever documented by the California Department of Public Health. Learn more at Outbreak.news. Sources include: TheGatewayPundit.com NBCLosAngeles.com NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov HealthLine.com (Natural News) Snopes has announced that it is giving up fact checking for Facebook as controversy swirls over its handling of the Nathan Phillips case and other high-profile blunders. Of course, thats not the official reason theyre throwing in the towel. In a statement, they cited limited resources as their primary motivation, saying that manually flagging false info was simply too big of a task for its team of 16 people. The site partnered with Facebook in December 2016 on the pretense of cracking down on fake news like that seen during the presidential election of that year; they made $100,000 for their efforts last year. Facebook uses Snopes fact checks to change how its algorithm presents stories to users. Two former workers of Snopes, ex-Managing Editor Brooke Binkowski and ex-Fact Checker Kim La Capria, told The Guardian that they got the impression the company did not care about its fact checking partners. Binkowski said: Theyve essentially used us for crisis PR. Theyre not taking anything seriously. They are more interested in making themselves look good and passing the buck They clearly dont care. String of high-profile incidents highlights incompetence of fact checkers Snopes has been caught in a few unflattering incidents recently. In one high-profile case, they blatantly lied about an American Indian activist named Nathan Phillips. Phillips was thrust in the spotlight after a confrontation between himself and some high school boys went viral. It was said that the boys mobbed him and harassed him when he tried to leave the Indigenous Peoples March, even though video evidence shows otherwise. Some media outlets reported that the man was a Vietnam veteran, but military records proved he was never deployed to Vietnam. Yet somehow Snopes team of fact checkers decided to label the idea of Philips falsely claiming to be a Vietnam vet as unproven. Even when video evidence proved that Phillips was the instigator of the confrontation, beyond a doubt, they still refused to change their stance. They also botched a fact check of a viral meme depicting a picture of President Trump surrounded by lawmakers and others in his administration after the House voted to repeal Obamacare. In the photo, a red X is stamped across 33 people, along with a caption saying, Everyone with an X has since been voted out of Congress. The photo, which was shared by a former campaign staffer for Hillary Clinton, was immediately mocked, with Politicos Jake Sherman calling it more incorrect than correct. Even though the Clinton staffer ultimately acknowledged its inaccuracy, a Snopes fact checker somehow reached the conclusion that it was true. The truth is that not everyone with an X was a lawmaker to begin with, but many of those who did have the X on their face did, in fact, win re-election after all. On another occasion, they labeled a story by a Christian satire site false despite it being an obvious joke; the piece was in the style of The Onion and talked about CNN purchasing washing machines to spin the news. This prompted Facebook to threaten the site by reducing its distribution and removing its ability to monetize and advertise. Snopes was caught lying and helping cover for fake news media several times, but theyre not the only ones jumping ship at Facebook. The AP, another fact-checking partner of Facebook, is also reportedly pulling out, with the firm confirming it has stopped checking articles and its future relationship is up in the air. See Snopes.news for more news about Snopes. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com DailyCaller.com BBC.com (Natural News) One of the latest assaults against online free speech is a new Microsoft product known as NewsGuard that the company has branded as a helpful tool for internet users to discern fake news from credible news. But the browser plug-in actually functions completely contrary to this, classifying all independent news as fake while propping up mainstream media propaganda as fact. In partnership with Google, NewsGuard reportedly places a tiny insignia next to every link thats pulled up in queries either a green shield bearing a checkmark for approved content, or a red shield bearing an exclamation point for unapproved content. And as to be expected, the only content that gets a green insignia from NewsGuard is that which has been approved by the establishment. A prominent example of this is a fake news story published by The Huffington Post about the gang rape hoax that Rolling Stone originally reported on back in 2014. Though Rolling Stone was eventually forced to retract the story and hand over millions of dollars to the students who were falsely accused, NewsGuard has given this story a green check mark and this is just one example among many that reveal NewsGuard as just another fake news tool of deception. You see, when you do a Google search of stories, NewsGuard and Microsoft use the green checkmark to tell you what is and is not credible, what is and is not blacklisted, and this is NewsGuard giving the green light to a story that was so fake, it had to be retracted, writes John Nolte for Breitbart News. For more news about the establishments endless assault against online truth, be sure to check out Faked.news. NewsGuard labels Breitbart story fake news simply for being Breitbart even though the original story was simply aggregated from the Associated Press! On the other hand, NewsGuard gave a red unapproved shield to a story published by Breitbart News that discussed President Trumps efforts to build a wall at the southern border. As Nolte explains, the original story actually came from the Associated Press (AP) but because it was Breitbart News that republished it, NewsGuard automatically labeled it as fake. Why is NewsGuard labeling that fake news? Simply because Breitbart News published it, Nolte writes. We didnt even write that story. The AP did. We are simply aggregating the AP. On and on goes the charade, with all sorts of independent content thats actually true but unapproved by the establishment bearing red shields under NewsGuard Ministry of Truth guidelines, revealing once again just how sinister the deep state has become in censoring the truth while promoting its lying propaganda. Be sure to check out Noltes roundup of many more fake news stories that NewsGuard has labeled as truth at Breitbart News. As laughable as the situation might be to those like our readers who are in the know about whats going on, the sad reality is that many brainwashed Americans are likely to put their trust in something like NewsGuard, believing it to be an official stamp of whats true and what isnt. This is why we added NewsGuard to TruthWiki.org: NewsGuard is a propaganda and fake-ratings research firm that uses pseudo-journalists to create new fake news filters as further promotion of misinformation and disinformation coming from todays top 7,500 news sources, explains the NewsGuard page at TruthWiki.org. Their trained analysts review online news brands to help propaganda mass media rule the internet by censoring, banning, abolishing, and bankrupting legitimate journalism that supports and propels healthy eating, natural medicine, sustainable farming practices, critical thinking, individualism, self-reliance, and of course, the Constitution. Be sure to check out the full entry for NewsGuard at TruthWiki.org. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com TruthWiki.org NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller traveled to Oslo on Monday (4 February 2019), to participate in the Leangkollen Security Conference organized by the Norwegian Atlantic Committee. She delivered a keynote address on The Future of Transatlantic Relations: Security, Policy and Technology, which was followed by a panel discussion with the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ine Eriksen Sreide. The Deputy Secretary General and the foreign minister had a short pull aside at the conference, discussing the upcoming Foreign Ministers Meeting in Washington in April and burden sharing within the Alliance. During her visit, Ms. Gottemoeller also had a meeting with the Minister of Defence, Mr Frank Bakke-Jensen. She commended Norway for its continuous strong commitment to NATO missions, including their long-term engagement to the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, to NRF and to the enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup in Lithuania. Ms. Gottemoeller reiterated the importance of the Wales pledge on defence investment, agreed by all Allies in September 2014. They also discussed the upcoming Meeting of Defence Ministers being held in Brussels later this month. Hour: 11:00 11:45 Location: NATO Headquarters, Brussels (Press Theatre) Access to NATO premises as of 9:00 Note The press conference will be available live on the NATO website and on satellite. Photos, video as well as English, French and Russian audio files will be available after the event on the NATO website and via the NATO Channel portal. Professional-quality videos and b-roll will be available for download from www.natomultimedia.tv. Please register for access. This material is free of rights and free of charge Language feeds on the website The press conference will be available during live transmission in original sound, English, French, and Russian. Accreditation and access The same media accreditation procedure applies as for the meeting of NATO Defence Ministers. Accreditation requests must be introduced online here: https://my.hq.nato.int/ Annex 1. Confirmations will not be sent. Deadline for accreditation requests is no later than Tuesday 05 February 2019 at 23:59 (Brussels Time) . After that, requests are considered late; they will be delayed and may be refused. Media representatives who have submitted a request for accreditation are encouraged to bring a print-out of the request confirmation. Late applications will not be taken into consideration for pool access. Journalists in possession of a valid NATO permanent media pass do not need to request accreditation. Media passes will not be mailed to applicants; they must be collected in person upon presentation of an ID card or passport and a valid national press pass (or assignment letter from a recognized media organization). Passes must be worn visibly at all times, and security personnel may ask to see another form of ID at any time. Security personnel will examine and may test equipment and personal effects carried onto the site. Please plan your visit to arrive with sufficient lead time to clear security checks. CONTACT POINTS Overall Coordination Mr Jean-Philippe Juneau juneau.jean-philippe@hq.nato.int General queries Front Office Telephone: +32 (0)2 707 50 41 Accreditation Mr. Angelo Pacifico NatoAccreditations@hq.nato.int Tel: +32 (0)2 707 83 46 TV & Radio arrangements on site and via satellite Mr. Henk Dekens dekens.henk@hq.nato.int Tel: +32 (0)2 707 50 51 Mr. Serge Bosmans bosmans.serge@hq.nato.int Tel: +32 (0)2 707 50 03 Mr. Eric Morel morel.eric@hq.nato.int Tel: +32 (0)2 707 12 87 NATO Video on demand NATOChannel content@natochannel.tv +32 (0)2 707 12 27 +32 (0)2 707 12 27 Follow us on Twitter @NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited the Pentagon in Washington D.C. on Monday (28 January 2019) for talks with Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan. Calling US leadership key for the Alliance, the Secretary General highlighted the real results seen over the past few years, including higher readiness, stepping up in the fight against terrorism, and better burden-sharing. He recalled that since 2016, European Allies and Canada have spent an extra 41 billion US dollars in real terms, and that by 2020, this figure is expected to increase to $100 billion. Ahead of next months meeting of Allied Defence Ministers in Brussels, Mr. Stoltenberg and Mr. Shanahan also exchanged views on a range of issues, including Russias violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. They agreed to continue working together to implement the decisions made at the NATO Summit in July 2018. The implementation of summit decisions, as well as other issues related to Allied security, were also on the agenda of Mr. Stoltenberg's meetings with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the National Security Advisor of the United States, Ambassador John R. Bolton. By Lambert Strether of Corrente. This piece will be a little disjointed, Im afraid, because saving the biosphere is a large topic, larger even than the aircraft industry, and I dont feel Ive quite mastered the material. Note that although the tone will be polemic, this is not a Modest Proposal; if indeed the problem is as dire as much of the science suggests, the policies must match the rhetoric, and that must include measures like that of the headline, and many more. So, consider this post a forcing device for further discussion. Ill take a brief tour of the private jet aircraft industry Im mostly talking your basic Gulfstream rendition jet, not your Third World dictator Airbus or Boeing, and not your Piper Cub, or hospital helicopter followed by discussion of the industrys impact on the biosphere. From there, Ill discuss how to get rid of them. Finally, Ill deal with possible objections from the high net worth-owners of private jets. But first, Ill answer the question in the title, aesthetically: Figure 1: Luxe Interior I submit that no artifact so symbolic of the costly bad taste and wretched excess of the rich should be permitted to exist. (Sadly, I cant find an image of the interior of Jeffrey Epsteins Lolita Express that I can use. But its equally horrid, and so it should be.) Second, logically, I suggest that those who can afford to own and run private jets should get rid of them, in their own best interests, as todays equivalent of a wartime sacrifice in the fight to save the biosphere from cooking itself and everything in it. Basically, its the least they could do (Paris Climate Accord Backers Wont Say if They Support Ban on Private Jets). The Windsors, after all, subsisted or were said to subsist on ration cards during World War II, and very successful propaganda it was for them, too. So much better than peasants burning the land records, eh? And what followed? * * * Now to the private aircraft industry. First, how many private jets are there? From Statista (2017), a handy chart 20,978 private aircraft, then, in the United States. (Im going to assume that the Third World DIctatory-style private jets are a small fraction of this number, and that most are Gulfstreams, Bombardiers, Embraers, etc.). Of these, 13,392 (63%) are owned by Ultra High Net Worth Individuals. The balance would break down to corporations, and various forms of rental or fractional ownership. This breakdown is confirmed by departures. CNBC, citing to Knight Franks 2018 Wealth Report: In the U.S. private ownership continues to lead the way with 62 percent of departures, charters in second place with 27 percent and fractional with 11 percent. The Sherpa Report discusses costs: The costs of buying and owning a plane vary by aircraft model. In very simple terms, the bigger the plane, the more it will cost to both buy and maintain. Age and usage also make a big difference to the initial cost of a plane. For instance, you can find 30+ year old light jets (such as a Learjet or a smaller Cessna) for well under $1m, whereas a brand new large, heavy jet (such as a big, long range Gulfstream) can cost over $70m, or over $100m if you want a custom fitted Airbus or Boeing. Interestingly, millennial squillionaires are less interested in owning private jets. Aviation Pros: There was a day when the super-rich bought a private jet to travel alone in peace or with the family. Those winds are shifting fast with the competitiveness of the charter segment, which hampers the attractiveness that owning a jet once had. Owners keep owning, but the new potential buyers are moving away from the high annual costs of owning their own aircraft and investing in the cost-efficiency that comes with renting one, thus avoiding the piling maintenance [?], insurance and hangarage costs. If you dont fly more that 250 hours a year, then the private aviation standard calls for not buying. Be that as it may, the biosphere cares about greenhouse gases (and probably other things), and not about financial engineering. So lets turn to the effects on the biosphere of private jets. From Triple Pundit: According to the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), the global aviation industry accounts for 2 percent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions (some put the number at closer to 3 percent). General aviation, including aircraft used for business, represents only 0.20 percent of the 36 giga-tons of global annual CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels (and making cement). That tiny percentage is understandably how industry prefers to portray its contribution to climate change, but aviation is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions contributing about 13 percent of all emissions from the transportation sector. Theres more to the story than just aggregate percentages.[1] Now, 0.20 percent is not very much (actually less, since though the US has most of the jets, it doesnt have all of them). If we think of tranches of CO2 that we want to reduce, this is a pretty thin tranche. On the other hand, we have pitchfork-worthy headlines like this: (And all of those planes look like Figure 1 on the inside. Or worse.) ~0.2% is small, its true, but political support (leaving aside lobbyists) for this squillionaire banditry you saw what happened to Howard Schultz last week cannot be high. Claiming this ~0.2% tranche to save the biosphere ought to be a reasonably unheavy lift. If we cant deal with a mere 20,978 machines, 13,392 of which owned by individuals with names and addresses[2], what can we do? (Caveat that what follows will be extremely crude; general aviation is a big field, and I dont intend to get rid of tiny propellor aircraft like Piper Cubs, or hospital helicopters, or fire planes. I do want to get rid of any jet aircraft that has, had, or could have an interior like that in Figure 1.) So, to get rid of private jets , so loosely defined, and claim our ~0.2% tranche of C02, what would we have to do? Spitballing here: 1) Mothball all private jets in the Airplane Graveyard in the Mojave desert. 2) Invalidate all private jet permitting to take off or land, at any airport in the United States (This should also apply to international private jets attempting to land here.) I dont know how this would be done bureaucratically; perhaps by de-accessioning the tail numbers? 3) As with the UKs Slave Compensation Act of 1837, compensate the owners as opposed to burning the land records using whatever the equivalent of Blue Book Value might be. (Say, 20,978 * $3,000,000 = $62,934,000,000, call it $63 billion if my math is correct, which is real money, but not compared to one-third of the economy, and anyhow, the compensation might be stretched out. Or perhaps we could let them write the planes off on their taxes. If they have not already done so.) The goal is to get the private jet aircraft out of the sky, because thats the simplest and least game-able way to claim our ~0.2% tranche of C02.[3] * * * Some may think my methods are unsound. There will be objections: (1) We wont be able to escape to our bunker in New Zealand! I thought you were raising an objection? (2) We wont be able to visit our trans-Pacific suppliers! Teleconference. (3) Wed have to fly commercial and use ordinary airports.. Perhaps that will help with your empathy problems. (4) We value our privacy. Fly less. (5) Our time is valuable. Im not no sure. Thorstein Veblen makes the following distinction between business and industry: In proportion as the machine industry gained ground, and as the modern concatenation of industrial processes and of markets developed, the conjunctures of business grew more varied and of larger scope at the same time that they became more amenable to shrewd manipulation. The pecuniary side of the enterprise came to require more unremitting attention, as the chances for gain or loss through business relations simply, aside from mere industrial efficiency, grew greater in number and magnitude. The same circumstances also provoked a spirit of business enterprise, and brought on a systematic investment for gain. With a fuller development of the modern close-knit and comprehensive industrial system, the point of chief attention for the business man has shifted from the old-fashioned surveillance and regulation of a given industrial process, with which his livelihood was once bound up, to an alert redistribution of investments from less to more gainful ventures, and to a strategic control of the conjunctures of business through shrewd investments and coalitions with other business men. How much of this valuable time is taken up with strategic control of the conjunctures of business which some might put under the heading of The Bezzle as opposed to the socially valuable work of industrial production? I would bet a lot. (Financial time is quicker than industrial time, perhaps.) Maybe this whole program would pay for itself by eliminating a ton of useless mergers and acquisition deals, and a lot of fraud. In any case, the Captains of Industry in the Nineteenth Century used to ride the rails in luxury sleeping cars. Add connectivity, and do that. If its good enough for Andrew Carnegie, its good enough for you! And although this one is highly unlikely, at least from the squillionaires: (6) But what about the workers? Well, in the worst case, thats why were going to need a Jobs Guarantee, to handle the dislocations. Sadly, jobs in the aircraft industry are very well-paying, as they should be. But since this proposal is part of mobilizing the country and putting it on a war-time footing, its very hard for me to imagine that the industrys engineering and manufacturing skills cant be repurposed for some other, better purpose (like Ford making tanks during World War II). * * * Rough and ready though this example of government assisted creative destruction, as Yves calls it, may be, I think we need a lot more examples like it though better! At least I have pointed out to a tranche of CO2 to reclaim, and put forward a method for doing that, however much of a forcing device it may be. I wonder how many other (relatively) low-hanging fruit there may be? NOTES [1] Carbon is not the only issue with aircraft. More from Triple Pundit: The impact of CO2 emissions on climate is the same irrespective of its source. For NOx and H2O emissions, climate impact is localized and amplified at high altitude. Nitrogen oxides chemically react with light to form ozone (O3). The higher intensity of light in the upper atmosphere produces more ozone from NOx emissions, and these emissions have more influence on climate than those same emissions at ground level. Water vapor is a potent and short-lived greenhouse gas, present mostly at lower altitudes. Introducing H2O into the normally dry air of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere create the condensation trails weve all seen and possibly the formation of cirrus clouds. Since cirrus clouds dont typically form in the upper atmosphere, there remains uncertainty as to the impact on climate, though studies suggest that these high-altitude clouds have an insulating effect, trapping heat. In the report Aviation and the Global Atmosphere, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) determined that aviation emissions have about two times the impact as ground-based emissions. [2] Im leaving out the world of rendition, the Lolita Express, and every other world that might come into being in a lawless environment high up in the sky. William Gibson gives a vivid picture of this world in Spook Country. I dont think getting rid of those worlds would be any great loss. [3] Get them out of the sky as opposed to some screwed-together, ObamaCare-like, public relations-driven, and eminently game-able policy like carbon offsets. Lambert here: Since Im a meliorist, this piece appeals to me. It also occurs to me that many of are already exactly where we should be. Anyhow, the earth is round. By Eve Andrews, who writes Ask Umbra, Grists civic advice vertical. Originally published at Grist. Q. I am not giving up but if I were to move, where in the United States could I go to minimize climate disruption? Uneasy in a U-Haul A. Dear Uneasy, So you want to escape climate change. Thats a reasonable impulse climate change rivals nuclear war for the greatest threat to human life in the history of our species existence. Every survival instinct weve cultivated to date should, understandably, make us want to get away from it. Lets start by evaluating regions of the U.S. based on the basics of what we expect climate change to bring. We know that the seas will swell and temperatures will go up. So that particularly endangers a host of coastal cities with relatively warm climates, especially in the summer so Miami, New Orleans, Norfolk, Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles. A 2017 paper in Nature Climate Change estimated that the 13.1 million people displaced from those cities by sea level rise could head for more inland locales like Atlanta, Houston, and Phoenix. So there you have it, Uneasy! Lets all head to Atlanta, Houston, and Phoenix. But wait a second: Hurricane Harvey gave an alarming preview of how Houston will fare in a climate-changed future. Phoenix is in the middle of a desert with no reliable water source, where temperatures can surge to 120 degrees F in the summer. And Atlanta is the third fastest-warming metropolitan region in the country. Forget about those cities. Whats a nice, temperate place? Never gets too hot or too cold, has lots of water? Aha the Pacific Northwest. Umbras home! Its part-rainforest, after all. But its a rainforest thats seen bigger, hotter, deadlier, and more unpredictable wildfires in recent memory. Even a small increase in temperature has detrimental effects on plant and soil moisture, which will dry out forests and make them into true tinderboxes. And weve had warmer winters, which means less snowpack on the mountains and thus a less reliable water source for the region. (Oh, and were overdue for a truly devastating earthquake, but thats separate from climate change.) Hmmm how about Alaska? Tons of snow. Really cold. Well, except an increase in average temperatures has already begun to displace thousands of the states Native inhabitants along the coast. On top of that, millions of ancient viruses and bacteria to which humans have lost immunity will be unearthed as the permafrost becomes, well, less permanent. This is hard math. Or maybe hard geography? I called Jesse Keenan, climate-adaptation specialist and a faculty member at Harvards Graduate School of Design, to get a more informed perspective on where one could limit their exposure to climate change. His suggestion: places that arent dependent on snowpack, ground-level aquifers, or reservoirs for their water. More specifically, that tends to be rural, wooded, northern areas with lots of clean water wells so the Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan), and maybe parts of Montana. Justin Timberlake was on to something! But if everyone moves to rural areas, altering the wooded landscape and taxing all those pristine wells, they wont last long as climate strongholds. Well, exactly, Keenan said. Theres nowhere you can hide. I think you need to come to terms with what you think youre running from. Are you trying to beat people to something? Are you trying to run because theres a hazard and youre at risk? Are you running because of your health or welfare? Then you need to come to terms with the fact that youre trying to make an economic investment decision of where youre trying to put your limited resources. Resources, limited or vast, are the crucial factor here. I imagine if youre posing this question, you have some means to pick up and move. Thats not the case for many people one might say most people, considering that nearly two-thirds of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings and the average long-distance move costs about $5,000. But even putting the money aside, moving isnt a small change. You have to start an entirely new life, build a new social circle. You can try to move to one of these places, Keenan said, but you need to learn the position youre putting yourself in, and youll have to become a part of these new communities. Keenan said he gets versions of your question almost daily usually from people at big institutional real estate funds, rich people who want to buy land or already own land, or survivalist types. And acquiring the ability to answer the question what land will survive climate change? is already a lucrative endeavor. Not to wealth-shame you, but the fact that the unholy trifecta of insurance companies, real estate investors, and Silicon Valley is mobilizing on these concerns should give you a bit of pause. If you recognize that climate change is a huge, terrifying problem, and you have the means to at least try to escape it why wouldnt you devote those means to trying to fix it instead, especially if you know its impossible to escape? By fix it, I mean try to make the place you live, where youve made your home, where you have some sense of ownership and responsibility and oh, lets call it investment more resilient to climate change. Maybe agitate for more storm-resistant infrastructure, mass transit, green spaces. Because the future isnt for sure, but running away from the problem ensures that it will be. Permanently, Umbra P.S. If you want a preview of how climate change will affect every region of the United States, check out the map my colleagues put together here. By Walter E. Fluker, Professor of Ethical Leadership, Boston University. Originally published at The Conversation Director Martin Doblmeiers new documentary, Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story,is scheduled for release on public television in February. Thurman played an important role in the civil rights struggle as a key mentor tomanyleadersof the movement, including Martin Luther King Jr., amongothers. I have been a scholar of Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King Jr.for over 30 years and I serve as the editor of Thurmans papers. Thurmans influence on King Jr. was critical in shaping the civil rights struggle as a nonviolent movement. Thurman was deeply influenced by how Gandhi used nonviolence in Indias struggle for independence from British rule. Visit to India Born in 1899, Howard Washington Thurmanwas raised by his formerly enslaved grandmother. He grew up to be an ordained Baptist minister and a leading religious figure of 20th-century America. In 1936 Thurman led a four-member delegationto India, Burma (Myanmar), and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), known as the pilgrimage of friendship. It was during this visit that he would meet Mahatma Gandhi, who at the time was leading a nonviolent struggle of independence from British rule. The delegation had been sponsored by the Student Christian Movement in India who wanted to explore the political connections between the oppression of blacks in the United States and the freedom struggles of the people of India. The general secretary of the Indian Student Christian Movement, A. Ralla Ram, had argued for inviting a Negro delegation. He saidthat since Christianity in India is the oppressors religion, there would be a unique value in having representatives of another oppressed group speak on the validity and contribution of Christianity. Between October 1935 to April 1936, Thurman gave at least 135 lectures in over 50 cities, to a variety of audiences and important Indian leaders, including the Bengali poet and Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, who also played a key role in Indias independence movement. Throughout the journey, the issue of segregation within the Christian church and its inability to address color consciousness, a social and political system based upon discrimination against blacks and other nonwhite people, was raised by many of the people he met. Thurman and Gandhi The delegation met with Gandhi towards the end of their tour in Bardoli, a small town in Indias western state of Gujarat. Gandhi, an admirer of Booker T. Washington, the prominent African-American educator, was no stranger to the struggles of African-Americans. He had been in correspondence with prominent black leadersbefore the meeting with the delegation. As early as May 1, 1929, Gandhi had written a Message to the American Negroaddressed to W.E.B. DuBois to be published in The Crisis. Founded in 1910 by DuBois, The Crisis was the official publication of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Gandhis message stated, Let not the 12 million Negroes be ashamed of the fact that they are the grandchildren of slaves. There is no dishonour in being slaves. There is dishonour in being slave-owners. But let us not think of honour or dishonour in connection with the past. Let us realise that the future is with those who would be truthful, pure and loving. Understanding the Idea of Nonviolence In a conversation lasting about three hours, published in The Papers of Howard Washington Thurman, Gandhi engaged his guests with questions about racial segregation, lynching, African-American history, and religion. Gandhi was puzzled as to why African-Americans adopted the religion of their masters, Christianity. He reasoned that at least in religions like Islam, all were considered equal. Gandhi declared, For the moment a slave accepts Islam he obtains equality with his master, and there are several instances of this in history. But he did not think that was true for Christianity. Thurman asked what was the greatest obstacle to Christianity in India. Gandhi replied that Christianity as practiced and identified with Western culture and colonialism was the greatest enemy to Jesus Christ in India. The delegation used the limited time that was left to interrogate Gandhi on matters of ahimsa,or nonviolence, and his perspective on the struggle of African-Americans in the United States. According to Mahadev Desai, Gandhis personal secretary, Thurman was fascinated with the discussion on the redemptive power of ahimsa in a life committed to the practice of nonviolent resistance. Gandhi explained that though ahimsa is technically defined as non-injury or nonviolence, it is not a negative force, rather it is a force more positive than electricity and more powerful than even ether. In its most practical terms, it is love that is self-acting, but even more and when embodied by a single individual, it bears a force more powerful than hate and violence and can transform the world. Towards the end of the meeting, Gandhi proclaimed, It may be through the Negroes that the unadulterated message of nonviolence will be delivered to the world. Search for an American Gandhi Indeed, Gandhis views would leave a deep impression on Thurmans own interpretation of nonviolence. They would later be influential in developing Martin Luther King Jr.s philosophy of nonviolent resistance. It would go on to shape the thinking of a generation of civil rights activists. In his book, Jesus and the Disinherited,Thurman addresses the negative forces of fear, deception and hatred as forms of violence that ensnare and entrap the oppressed. But he also counsels that through love and the willingness to nonviolently engage the adversary, the committed individual creates the possibility of community. As he explains, the act of love as redemptive suffering is not contingent on the others response. Love, rather, is unsolicited and self-giving. It transcends merit and demerit. It simply loves. A growing number of African-American leaders closely followed Gandhis campaigns of satyagraha, or what he termed as nonresistance to evil against British colonialism. Black newspapers and magazines announced the need for an American Gandhi. Upon his return, some African-American leaders thought that Howard Thurman would fulfill that role. In 1942, for example, Peter Dana of the Pittsburgh Courier, wrotethat Thurman was one of the few black men in the country around whom a great, conscious movement of Negroes could be built, not unlike the great Indian independence movement. King, Love and Nonviolence Thurman, however, chose a less direct path as an interpreter of nonviolence and a resource for activists who were on the front lines of the struggle. As he wrote, It was my conviction and determination that the church would be a resource for activists a mission fundamentally perceived. To me it was important that the individual who was in the thick of the struggle for social change would be able to find renewal and fresh courage in the spiritual resources of the church. There must be provided a place, a moment, when a person could declare, I choose. Indeed, leaders like Martin Luther King did choose to live out the gospel of peace, justice and love that Thurman so eloquently proclaimed in writing and the spoken word, even though it came with an exacting price. In his last letter to Martin Luther King, dated May 13, 1966, Thurman expressed his regret for the time that had elapsed since he and King last spoke. He ended the short note with a rather foreboding quotefrom the American naturalist and essayist Loren Eiseley, Those as hunts treasure must go alone, at night, and when they find it they have to leave a little of their blood behind them. King, like Gandhi 70 years ago, fell to an assassins bullet on April 4, 1968. Even though Theresa May appears to be playing a remarkably high-stakes game of chicken with Brexit, most readers know all too well that her gamble to get her deal or her fantasy of a revised version approved are far more likely to precipitate a crash-out than any other outcome. This weekend has produced yet another round of mind-boggling developments in the form of dueling op-eds. In the Telegraph, May gave a rousing rendition of how she was still going to deliver a Glorious Brexit, and by March 29 on top of thatand no one believes her. Simon Coveney, Irelands foreign minister, issued a reply of sorts via an op ed in The Times, which politely pointed out that it was Brexit that upset the delicate balance achieved through the Good Friday Agreement, that the backstop was a hard-negotiated solution to the thorny problem of how to achieve a Brexit while preserving peace between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and, no, the Withdrawal Agreement would not be renegotiated. Even with the plot overview, one is left wondering how May can possibly think this will work out. Some snippets from her Telegraph article: And when we said no one believes her, that includes Telegraph readers who are presumably Tory voters. Clive sent along this sample: Even here, theres plenty of Brexit delusion on display, that the UK had negotiating leverage. May has neverhteless taken the remarkably cheeky step of not scheduling her report to Parliament on her clearly silly effort to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement until February 13.when Donald Tusks spokesperson tweeted it was a non-starter seven minutes after the vote. How is she managing to chew up that much time? By creating a Tory busywork committee to draw new, better unicorns, From the Independent, Brexit: Theresa May accused of wasting valuable time as she launches group to find Irish backstop alternatives: Theresa May has been accused of wasting valuable time in the countdown to Britains exit from the EU as she announced plans to establish a Commons group probing alternative plans for the Irish border post-Brexit. Despite the prime ministers hopes of reopening the withdrawal agreement already being dashed by EU leaders with just 53 days to go until Brexit, the new committee made up of senior Tory MPs will meet for the first time on Monday. Theresa May has been accused of wasting valuable time in the countdown to Britains exit from the EU as she announced plans to establish a Commons group probing alternative plans for the Irish border post-Brexit. Despite the prime ministers hopes of reopening the withdrawal agreement already being dashed by EU leaders with just 53 days to go until Brexit, the new committee made up of senior Tory MPs will meet for the first time on Monday. If nothing else, May is doing everything in her power to block consideration of revoking Article 50 or even a delay, despite ministers like Andrea Leadsom clearing their throats and saying the UK might need a wee delay to pass all the required legislation. If you didnt see this tweetstorm that Lambert featured yesterday in Links, please click through and read it in its entirety: We need to talk about the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement Implementation) Bill. Behind the scenes a constitutional outrage is brewing quietly. THREAD Paul Daly (@pauldalyesq) February 2, 2019 This is a critical issue that like so many aspects of Brexit, heretofore appears to have been ignored. First the Withdrawal Agreement Implementation bill is another hurdle to pass to get Mays Brexit done, and hence another point of failure. The more hurdles an initiative has to surmount in order to succeed, the greater the potential for failure. In addition, as Paul Daly points out, its debatable whether the provisions on citizens right are constitutional. In other words, the Withdrawal Agreement Implementation bill gives the Ultras two more chance to jam the controls and precipitate a crash-outand thats generously assuming Parliament passes Mays Withdrawal Act because it cant find another way to prevent a no-deal Brexit. Now we do have some efforts to steer the UK out of its nosedive. Nichola Sturgeon is expected to say that the UK isnt remotely prepared for Brexit. But Sturgeon is pushing her own unicorn, that of a second referendum. It was already too late at the never got off the ground Parliament revolt of January 29. Similarly, Heiko Maas, Germanys foreign minister, expressed his fond hope for an exit from Brexit, meaning an Article 50 revocation, but acknowledged the odds were extraordinarily low. But Robert Pestons update, based on conversations with Mays ministers, shows the continued fixation with internal politics: Here is what members of the cabinet said to me when I pointed them towards a statement made in the Sunday Telegraph by the prime minister that she is determined to deliver Brexit and determined to deliver on time on March 29 2019. Farcical said one. Total delusion said another. Verifiably untrue said a third. Its not that they doubt Theresa May is working to take the UK out of the EU. Its just they cannot see how it is remotely possible that departure can be achieved in the less than eight week remaining before the official leaving day. Far worse for most of them is that they are guessing at her real strategy, since they dont believe her official line that she believes the EU will move far enough, or at all, on the widely loathed backstop to secure a majority for a Brexit deal from the votes of Tory MPs and Northern Irelands 10 DUP MPs Some ministers are crossing their fingers that the next time parliament is allowed a vote on backbenchers Brexit-related amendments, on 14 February, at least one enterprising centreground Tory will table a call for a customs-union destination for the UK. That would flush out whether the PM will ever opt for the only practical compromise said one minister. Were May to relent and go with a customs-union-based Brexit, the resignation of the secretary of state for international trade, Liam Fox, would not be far behind, of course, since he would no longer be able to negotiate free trade deals under customs-union rules. But that would be trivial collateral damage, compared with the mass cabinet resignations were Theresa May to abandon all hope of a deal and instead make it official policy to go for a no-deal Brexit. And what a significant number of ministers tell me is that there will be mass government walkouts on or before 14 February to take advantage of that next available date to vote to rule out a no-deal Brexit unless before then the PM publicly announces an intention to negotiate with the EU a postponement of Brexit day of at least three months. Yves here. Maybe Ive seen May soldier on in the face of repeated defeats that Im becoming complacent as it is clear that a real crisis is on the verge of finally happening. May has survived waves of ministerial resignations before. Im skeptical that even mass resignations would deter her if she could manage to find replacements in a few days. May does not appear likely to go until a vote of no confidence forces her out. Even if some Tories defect, would the more alert Labour Party members recognize that it would take maneuvering that might not be viable to prevent a crash-out? May appears to think that her big leverage point is the fear of a crash out. But the EU is not moved, the Ultras keenly desire it, and Tory party members prefer it to no Brexit or Mays deal. As weve indicated, its not clear the EU will give an extension if the UK plans merely to thrash around some more. And there does not appear to be enough Parliamentary backing for a second referendum, even if the EU would go along, let alone an Article 50 revocation. So a blow up mid February now looks to be in store. But whether even a major eruption can change the trajectory May has set in motion remains to be seen. MDC secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora over the weekend said the persecution of party members by State security agents was ongoing and asked the international community to swiftly intervene. Mwonzora said a number of his partys leadership were still in detention and facing trumped-up charges while many others were on the police wanted list. The brutal crackdown on protesters claimed 12 lives, according to human rights organisations, while hundreds of people were left nursing various injuries, including bullet wounds. Several women were allegedly raped by some security personnel during the crackdown. Mwonzora said the onslaught was targeted at decimating their party. Several MPs, among them Mkoba legislator and party organising secretary Amos Chibaya, remain in custody over allegations of trying to subvert a constitutionally-elected government. Our leaders are in detention over trumped-up charges of treason while we have evidence that a number of our officials are on a wanted list, he said. We are still receiving reports of people being assaulted by State security agents and nobody is doing anything about it. We have written to the Zimbabwe Human Right Commission and copied the same letter to President [Emmerson] Mnangagwa, but we have not yet had the benefit of reply. The onslaught aimed at decimating the party is still on-going. Mwonzora called on the international community to urgently intervene. He described the Zanu PF regime as dangerous. The international community has to intervene, starting with Sadc. The Zimbabwean State has gone rogue and it has relapsed to be an extremely oppressive and dangerous regime. Many party activists and officials are in hiding following the State-sponsored crackdown. The party accused the security forces of wantonly targeting their members. National Transitional Justice Working Group Zimbabwe on Sunday raised a red flag, saying international intervention was required in Zimbabwe. The National Transitional Justice Working Group Zimbabwe is shocked at the horrific developments of the past weeks. We hereby raise the red flag that, unless urgent measures are taken, we may be on the brink, if not already of massive crimes against humanity as the military and the police continue with the violations against the civilian population, opposition activists, and civic society leaders since the January 15, 2019 fuel protests, the statement read. There is need for action. The world must condemn and stop the atrocities taking place in Zimbabwe. We argue that a critical threshold has been reached. The current events strongly suggest that crimes against humanity have been committed; the violations are widespread, systematic and in pursuance of a political objective, and demand both investigation and accountability. Watch video below NewsDay Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News CAESAR Zvayi, the Editor-at-Large in charge of special projects at the Government-controlled Zimpapers media group, has said the soldier beating women in a video that went viral on Sunday is actually not a soldier. Zvayi said: I suspect Selous Scout tactics. I do not believe these are real soldiers. Putting on military fatigues does not make one a soldier. The Zimbabwe Defence Forces should get to the bottom of this! Whoever these guys are, the law must take its course. https://twitter.com/caesarzvayi/status/1092274745637306368 The video which circulated widely yesterday, shows a soldier assaulting three women with a huge stick. It also shows two men being made to crawl on the ground on all fours to some place. Watch the video below: Pindula/ZoomZimbabwe Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News THE price of bread has gone up to $2,50 from $1,40 with millers saying the increase is not associated with the cost of flour as the price of the product has remained constant. Yesterday, bread, which has been in short supply in the country over the past few weeks, was being sold for $2,50 per loaf at most outlets in Bulawayo. However, some supermarkets that bake bread as well as small bakeries were selling it at $2 per loaf. Bakers Inn was giving its customers the option to buy in US$0,70 per loaf, while demanding $2,50 per loaf for those paying in bond notes. Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) media and public relations manager Mr Garikai Chaunza said even though the bread price has been increased, the price of flour has remained unchanged. The GMAZ has noted the recent increase in bread prices. These bread price increases are however not in any way associated with flour cost drivers as the product (flour) supply price to bakers has remained constant, he said. Flour supply to bakers has, however remained suppressed due to the non-availability of foreign currency to bring in imported wheat which is still held in Beira. Industry and Commerce Minister Cde Nqobizitha Ndlovu said he had not expected the price to go up adding he would comment more substantively today. Im in remote areas. I dont know that the price of bread has gone up. Ive just heard rumours on that. I wasnt expecting it to go up, said Cde Ndlovu. Members of public who spoke to The Chronicle said Government should intervene. The cost of living continues to go up. Today its bread that has gone up but tomorrow it would probably be something else. We appeal to Government to come up with measures that would ease the burden. Some of us have big families. We need more than one loaf and the new price means we wont be able to buy bread, said Mrs Monica Njiva. The bread price hike comes at a time when Government has revealed that it is working on safety nets to cushion citizens against price distortions on basic commodities. Addressing a Zanu-PF Thank-You Rally in Mt Darwin in Mashonaland Central on Saturday, Vice President Kembo Mohadi, said the Government will take care of its citizens. Basic commodities like cooking oil, sugar, salt, rice, mealie-meal, milk and flour; the prices are being looked into so that they become affordable to the generality of the public. Government is equally putting in place loan facilities for retailers who will maintain cheap prices. These will be supported by Government to make sure that their prices remain low, said VP Mohadi. As Government, we are engaged with industry for a more stable price regime. We are seized with this matter. We are a Government that is responsive to the peoples needs. We are concerned with overcharging of goods and the constant hikes of prices of basic commodities. We understand the struggles that you are facing and we will step in with corrective measures. Chronicle Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News FORMER President Robert Mugabe is free to return to active politics if he so wishes, his successor and long-time protege Emmerson Mnangagwa has said. Mnangagwa said during a rare briefing with private media journalists at State House, Wednesday. A visibly relaxed Mnangagwa poured his heart out, including frank talk on demands for dialogue from opposition leader Nelson Chamisa. Asked if he was fazed by reports that some ordinary Zimbabweans were yearning for his predecessor to return, Mnangagwa broke into a chuckle. When we came into office in 2017, we promised Zimbabweans democracy and claims that some of our citizens want him (Mugabe) to return actually show we have kept our word despite accusations to the contrary. After Independence some people yearned for Smith (Ian, late former Rhodesian Prime Minister). It is the same now, the Zanu-PF leader said. Mugabe was forced out of power through a military coup in November 2017, paving the way for his then estranged deputy to return from a brief exile in South Africa to take power. Mnangagwa went on to win elections in July last year, pipping Chamisa to strengthen his hold on power. During Wednesdays briefing, the Zanu-PF leader defended the use of force by the military to deal with unrest two weeks ago. Organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the protests left at least eight people dead according to the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission. Mnangagwa said authorities had been left with little choice. Surely, we could not have been expected to fold our hands while they burnt police stations and toll-gates. We regret the loss of life, but our aim was to restore order and nothing more, the President said. We have an obligation as a government to protect life, limb and property. That protest had gone beyond the lines of expression of a constitutional right. In expressing our rights, we must never tremble on other peoples rights. Its the duty of government to make sure those lines however blurred are respected by all. Western governments have accused Mnangagwas government of brutality, but the Zimbabwean leader pointed an accusing finger at his critics. The West does not care about human rights, he said. Im (certain that) the US is more worried about its interests in the region than anything else. They would accept a dictator as long as they are pliable and do their bidding. Our crime has been our insistence on equality of all nations. We are trying to build a democracy and must be given space to do that. We all know where we are coming from and it is my duty as a leader to make sure the country moves in the direction it ought to. He continued; Democracy needs time and Zimbabwe will require time. We are reforming and that is why we have set in motion plans to repeal the Public Order and Security Act, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act as well as the Indigenisation Act among others. Mnangagwa was also dismissive of MDC leader Chamisas calls for dialogue. In what capacity would I be talking to him (Chamisa) if he argues I am not legitimate? Logically it means the talks would not be legitimate because in his warped opinion I do not have locus standi to talk to him, Mnangagwa said. Chamisa however, argues Mnangagwas legitimacy should be the first order of business on the dialogue agenda. NewZimbabwe Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Legislation to help prevent deaths from underride crashes has stalled in the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. What is an Underride Crash? An underride crash is a severe accident when a vehicle slides underneath a large truck or semi-trailer. Head and neck injuries suffered as a result of an underride crash are often fatal. Information About the Stop Underrides Act of 2017 In 2017, a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers introduced a bill to prevent fatal underride crashes. According to RTV6 Indianapolis, the Stop Underrides Act of 2017 would require large trucks to have guards on the front and sides of the vehicle in addition to annual inspections. The legislation would also require the Department of Transportation to review underride standards every five years. According to current laws, guards are only required on the backs of trucks. The legislation has not advanced beyond the Senate Committee in the past year, leaving safety advocates frustrated with the slow process. Underride Crash Statistics Underride crashes make up half of all accidents between cars and trucks, resulting in 750 deaths in 2015 alone. A study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety determined that additional guards could reduce the severity of injuries in 90% of underride crashes. Contact an Experienced San Antonio Car Accident Lawyers If you or a loved one have been injured in a car crash, contact Thomas J. Henry. Our experienced San Antonio auto accident attorneys have experience handling a multitude of injury accidents, no matter how severe the crash or injury. You may be entitled to compensation for your damages if another driver acted negligently. Our firm has the experienced lawyers and financial resources that you need to achieve the real results you deserve. Our firm has offices in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, and Houston, serving clients across Texas and nationwide. Call us today for a free case review attorneys are available 24/7, nights and weekends. If you cannot make it to our office, we can visit you at your home, in the hospital, or at work. Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com. When a property owner fails to maintain their property or neglects to caution guests of potential dangers, it can prompt mishaps which are typically classified as slip and falls. Victims can sustain serious injuries in these falls and compensation may be recovered through premises liability lawsuits. More than one million people need emergency medical care each year in the United States for Slip and fall accidents, and the average hospital cost of a slip and fall is more than $30,000. Five percent of the cases have a broken bone and about 20-30 percent gets seriously injured. Nearly one-third of adults over 65 falls each year. Slip and fall accidents cost Americans more than $34 billion each year. Types of Slip and Fall Accidents The majority of slip and falls can be broken into the following two categories: how they occur and where they occur. Common locations where Slip and Fall Accidents typically occur are grocery stores, small businesses, private homes, hotels and resorts, and public places and parks. Typically, store owners and homeowners have insurance to cover these kinds of incidents. How many slip and falls occur include: Icy walkways. Cluttered floors. Inadequate lighting. Wet or slippery floors Ditches, trenches or potholes. Damaged sidewalks. Common Injuries The most common injuries in slip and fall accidents are cracks or broken bones. Every year, a considerable number of youngsters and older adults break bones in falls along with cracks to the legs, arms, ribs, and hands. Spinal cord damage. Is also possible. Premises Liability Law in Texas Premises liability law makes the owner of the premises responsible for injuries suffered by the injured persons on their property. To prove liability, the injured party needs to show that the danger was well known to the property owner but neglected to remove the threat. There are three categories of premises liability law cases in the State of Texas: Standard Premises Negligence Case, Negligent Activity and Negligent Undertaking. In Texas, its important to understand the difference between a standard premises liability case and a negligent activities case, because more elements need to be proven in a standard liability case than in a negligent activities case. In Texas, a negligent act occurs when there is an ongoing activity that caused injury to a plaintiff, but at the time of injury, if the act is not constant, it is considered a standard premises liability case. Suppose, for example, an employee spills water on the floor and then forgets to clean it up before he leaves. After that, a customer slipped and fell because of the spill and was injured Such a situation would be considered a standard liability case because the negligent act was not ongoing at the time of injury. What to Do After a Slip and Fall Accident If you are injured in a slip and fall, there are certain steps you should take immediately: First and foremost, seek medical treatment for any injuries you suffer. Visit a doctor immediately so that your injuries are properly recorded. Report the accident to the premises owner, manager or someone in charge of the business. Write the names and contact numbers of the people with whom you talked. Ask them to make a written report and ensure you receive a copy. If possible, take pictures or video of the place where you fell and also the surroundings. Identify any witnesses, if possible. You should try to limit your communication with the property owner or manager. Remain calm and decline to give any statement to the insurance company before you contact an attorney. Contact an experienced personal injury attorney. Injured in a Slip and Fall? Call Thomas J. Henry Today If youve been injured in an accident, dont fall for flashy gimmicks. At Thomas J. Henry, we let our results do the talking. Were the largest personal injury law firm in Texas, and have the experience, expertise, and determination to get their clients the large settlements and verdicts they deserve. Call us today at 361-221-5053 and see for yourself why were the largest and most successful personal injury firm in the Great State of Texas. Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com. (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) According to legend, if the groundhog sees his shadow on February 2nd, there will be six more weeks of winter; if not, an early spring is predicted. Of course groundhogs also known as woodchucks don't emerge at this time just to be furry weather predictors. So what's the real reason? Research into groundhog biology shows they have other priorities in early February than mingling with the people of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. It's Groundhog Day! Groundhog Day appears to have European roots. Early February is midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, and throughout history this seasonal crossroads has been celebrated. The ancient Greeks and Romans observed a mid-season festival on February 5th in anticipation of spring. In the Celtic tradition, this period was celebrated as the festival of Imbolog to mark the beginning of spring. Early Christians in Europe embraced this tradition and celebrated Candlemas Day on February 2nd, to commemorate the purification of the Virgin Mary. Customarily on this day, clergy would bless candles and distribute them to the people in the dark of winter in anticipation of spring. In northern Europe, farmers needed some indication when to start spring planting. They looked for the emergence of hibernators, such as the hedgehog or badger, to signal the coming of spring. Since their emergence occurred in early February, it was believed that if Candlemas Day was sunny, and the hibernator saw its shadow, more wintry weather was ahead. But if it rained or snowed on Candlemas Day, the rest of the winter would be mild. This tradition was brought to America by the Germans who migrated to eastern Pennsylvania. They found groundhogs in profusion in many parts of the state and decided this mammal was a perfect replacement for the hibernators they'd left behind in Europe. Thus, the tradition continued in America. Stam Zervanos, Author provided Hibernation helps survival In my study area in southeastern Pennsylvania, the average date groundhogs emerge from their burrows is February 4. This fits the folklore and the timing of Groundhog Day. However, predicting the weather is not their objective. The real reason is related to Darwinian fitness a measure of an organism's ability to contribute its genes to the next generation. The process defines natural selection and is based on an organism's ability to survive and to reproduce successfully. High Darwinian fitness suggests an individual will pass on its genes to many healthy offspring. Hibernation contributes to Darwinian fitness value. It enhances survival by saving energy during times of limited food availability. The ability to hibernate is found in several mammalian groups, including all marmots, many species of ground squirrels, chipmunks, hamsters, badgers, lemurs, bats and even some marsupials and echidnas. Curled up in their burrows, they pass the winter months, when food would be hard to come by Hibernation: alternating torpor and arousal Hibernation is characterized by a significant drop in body temperature and metabolic function. This process is commonly called torpor. During torpor, body functions including heart rate, breathing rate, and brain activity are reduced. The overall benefit for the animal is saving metabolic energy at a time when it isn't eating. Stam Zervanos, Author provided However, for some still unexplained reason, hibernators arouse periodically during their hibernating season. These arousals come at a great energy cost. Therefore, arousing must be critical to survival in some way or animals wouldn't waste the energy on it. Some possibilities include maintaining cellular functions or disposing of bodily wastes. In Pennsylvania, these bouts of torpor and arousal continue throughout the hibernation season, starting on average in mid-November and ending by the beginning of March; a total of about 110 days. In one study, an average of 15 bouts of torpor occurred during this period, with arousals in between. Groundhogs aroused for about 41 hours and then returned to torpor for about 128 hours for males and 153 hours for females. In a 2010 study, we determined that the hibernation periods for groundhogs increase in length with increasing latitude. The hibernation period matches winter's duration. The celebration of Groundhog Day would need to change by latitude in order to perfectly match groundhog emergence. Stam Zervanos, Author provided It all boils down to sex One of the drawbacks of hibernation is the reduced time available for reproduction. Thus, hibernators have developed mating strategies to maximize reproductive success. Groundhog mating strategies involve temporary emergence in early February, mating in early March during during their final arousal, and giving birth in early April. This behavior enhances reproductive success because young are born as early as possible (but not too early) and are able to start feeding in May when lots of food is available. That way they have enough time to gain sufficient weight to survive their first winter hibernation. But why do groundhogs emerge in February, when mating won't occur until next month? The answer lies in their social structure. Most of the year, male and female groundhogs are solitary and antagonistic against each other. They aggressively maintain a feeding territory around their burrows and rarely have any contact with each other. February is used to reestablish the bonds necessary for mating and ensures that mating can then proceed without delay in early March. So for the animals themselves, Groundhog Day is more like Valentine's Day. On February 2nd, groundhogs don't emerge to predict the weather, but to predict whether their own mating season will be a success! This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here. NASA postdoctoral fellows were paid for the time they were forced out of work during the 35-day federal government shutdown, several fellows reported. "We're getting full #shutdown backpay, even as contractors!" Ethan Kruse, a fellow at NASA's Goodard Spaceflight Center in Maryland, tweeted last week. "Major thanks to everyone involved for looking out for us and all the work behind the scenes to make this happen. I wish the same were true for ALL [government] contractors." UNCERTAIN: NASA workers relieved but wary as shutdown ends for now The shutdown ended Jan. 25 with a temporary agreement to reopen the government for three weeks. NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The 203 NASA fellows nationwide -- including four at Johnson Space Center in Houston -- learned Jan. 16 that their funding was the latest item to be axed because of the shutdown that began Dec. 22 as politicians battled over a border wall. The fellows initially were told the budgetary impasse would not affect them, Mohammed El-Shenawy, a Johnson fellow, previously told the Houston Chronicle. SPEECHLESS: Postdocs at NASA's Johnson Space Center latest to lose funding under shutdown About 94 percent of the 3,055 federal employees at the Houston center were forced out of work because of the shutdown. Johnson is home to the nation's astronaut corps, where human space flight research and training take place. It also is home to the International Space Station's mission operations and the Orion program. About 200 federal employees at Johnson were allowed to continue working without pay to ensure the astronauts aboard the International Space Station remain safe. NASA's postdoctoral program offers one- to-three year fellowships to individuals who then "conduct research of national importance" and make significant contributions to NASA's scientific efforts, according to the space agency's postdoctoral program website. NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Longer shutdown could have cost agency a lot of employees Federal employees received their back pay last week, but NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Tuesday that contractor back pay would be on a case-by-case basis, depending on the contract. He said he hopes to standardize this process more over time, and asked that federal employees be sensitive and understanding. "Every contract is different and so we're working through that right now, he said. "In the future, we'd like to standardize that more, but we're working with what we have right now." Bills have been filed in Congress to provide as much as $1,400 per week to contractors impacted by the shutdown. They have not yet been approved. Alex Stuckey writes about NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. She can be reached at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey. A driver was killed early Monday when they veered off a Northeast Side road into a ditch, causing their car to burst into flames, police said. Authorities responded to the crash at about 2:30 a.m. near Nacogdoches Road and Evans Road. When they arrived, the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames, and the driver was trapped inside. A 33-year-old man body slammed a female loss prevention officer after she caught him shoplifting, according to San Antonio police. Michael Wanaker was arrested Saturday on suspicion of robbery, jail records show. Wanaker was at a Macy's store in Ingram Park Mall on Thursday when he put merchandise inside a bag and tried to walk out of the store, according to his arrest affidavit. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox The loss prevention officer tried to stop him and retrieve the merchandise but Wanaker slammed the woman to the ground before fleeing in a silver Honda with the stolen items, police said. Investigators discovered Wanaker had also been caught shoplifting at another Macy's store at Rolling Oaks Mall, authorities said. In that incident his license plate information was obtained, which helped police identify Wanaker as the suspect, according to the affidavit. Wanaker's bail was set at $10,000, according to jail records. 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 An accused bank robber's decision to use a taxi as his getaway car led authorities straight to him, according to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. Charles Vera, 24, was arrested Friday after deputies surrounded his vehicle at a gas station at Loop 410 and Callaghan Road. He is charged with robbery, records show. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox According to his arrest affidavit, Vera walked into the IBC Bank located at 11002 Culebra Road on Jan. 24 and gave a clerk a hand-written note that read "this is a robbery." Vera used "explicit racial verbiage" while demanding money and reached into his pocket to indicate he had a weapon, the bank teller told deputies. The bank teller, fearing for his life, complied with Vera's demands and Vera fled with $3,200, according to Bexar County deputies. Deputies uncovered surveillance footage that showed Vera enter a taxi that was waiting for him in a Wendy's parking lot down the street, according to the affidavit. READ MORE: BCSO: Man held up San Antonio IBC bank for $3,000 Investigators obtained his trip ticket, along with a recording of Vera requesting the ride, according to the affidavit. The phone number he used was registered to his name. The cab driver identified Vera in a photo lineup, and images captured inside the taxi showed Vera in the same clothes the bank teller described to deputies, the affidavit says. At the time of his arrest, Vera had two pending unrelated warrants for a theft charge and a robbery charge from 2017. His bail was set at $48,500, 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 A woman accused of driving the wrong way on a Southwest Side highway and causing a wreck that injured six women early Monday has been identified by the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. Dulce Anto Cruz-Martinez, 27, is charged with intoxication assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Her bail totals $80,000 for both charges. Houston ISD trustees had a lot to say during and after their heated, seven-hour meeting in mid-October -- much more than the Houston Chronicle could document in a single story on Sunday. Below are some extended quotes and excerpts from comments made by trustees during the meeting, as well as interviews conducted with several board members in recent days. Trustees underscored the causes for distrust on the board, frustrations with matters surrounding the district's superintendents, their level of optimism about progress on board relations and much more. The full video can be watched here. Comments made during the meeting: Trustee Sue Deigaard: "I think the lack of trust probably existed before we were all even a board. I know I came in with those feelings, and therefore I think it's plausible that other people would have as well. ... What I hear outside of the room is that there's a board of five. And while there may be intention of wanting to build bridges, whether or not there's space for it, I think is where the struggle is." Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones, on her belief in a double standard for former superintendent Richard Carranza and current interim Grenita Lathan: "(Replacing Lathan) has all been in the works. Then, when I reflect on all the things that had been thrown at her, all of the expectations and accusatory things that had been piled up on this administration that was never required of our previous superintendent, never called out. ... He walked away, and that was all good too. We wanted to quietly just let it go. But let a pin drop on the floor and didn't get picked up in time, she was attacked. So for me, this had been in the works all along." Trustee Sergio Lira, on the vote to replace Lathan: "I had no idea it was going to get this bad, this painful. ... I kept looking at the dynamics of the district, looking at possibly someone that's been here before can perhaps bring us some stability and get the work done that needs it in our schools. As far as I see it, you (Lathan) are the front runner in the national search. That's my personal opinion. I don't even think others are going to come close to you, because you have done the work. But we needed that stability, and perhaps things that were going on, what I was hearing in my community, my individual area at that moment, it might be something that would stabilize what's going on out there." Trustee Diana Davila: "I think a shift and refocus is something I deeply need, and really sitting down with somebody that can help us with the process and procedures of how to do policy the right way, without feelings and emotions involved. Because, I tell you, when I sit down and want to do a policy, it's going to be based sometimes on anger, because that's usually the only feeling I have on this board, because I don't bring any other emotion in here." Trustee Anne Sung: "I have felt all year long that this is like an abusive marriage, an abusive relationship. And I've felt that way, it's the best analogy I can think of. At the meeting Thursday, what gave me the courage to push that button, I hadn't decided until I heard this was going to be a short-term decision that would allow us to move forward, that was my wish, was that something needed to change." Lathan: "I'm being blamed, that's been a whole series, about 6 to 8 months, of things they think is coming from me that's not coming from me. It's coming sometimes from other staff members that they get information. That's not my focus. ... I'm willing to move forward. Let's do what we need to do. But at the end of the day, I can't spend every day and that's what it's turned into is stop everything to cater to trustees when we need to be focusing on what happens for the children. Now, could I have done a better job of trying to foster the relationships more, maybe outside of the workday? I'll be very honest: when I'm here, I'm focused on what we need to do with working with staff." Comments made in recent interviews: Trustee Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca: "I think everything culminated into the need to have some kind of intervention, if you will. Self-induced one, actually, which is a good place to start. As far as being able to be honest, I think that was a place where we were actually able to be honest as far as what we were experiencing. .. For me, I did feel that it was a turning point, potentially, in being able to come to this space where it's like: You know what, we really have to really think about what we want to do next in a way that's needs to be more healthy." Trustee Jolanda Jones: "I stopped coming to meetings because it's like a hit job on Dr. Lathan. I would just not come to meetings because it's stupid, it's just a waste of my time. It's obvious if you pay attention to what's going on in HISD. ... To me, it's like junior high shit. Dude, we're elected. We're running schools and educating kids. If it weren't so serious, it would be a joke." Trustee Wanda Adams, on yelling at Trustee Elizabeth Santos during the meeting: "Unfortunately, Santos wasn't on the board yet, but some of the board members knew the attack I was getting as a president. It was very hard to take a lot of heat, with 'recapture,' people was coming at me left and right. So to say on your side, 'Well nobody ain't saying nothing about me having to be escorted by the police, nobody don't care,' I'm like, wait a minute, hold up, this is not about you. So, that's why I got upset. ... That was just a trigger that particular day that I'm not proud of. I'm not. But it just triggered something that happened a year before that I had to handle alone, and it just came out that day." Santos: "I believe people's personal agendas get in the way of the work that needs to be done for our students, and it has manifested itself with the obstruction of process and the obstruction of transparency. We started to scratch the surface on Oct. 14, but there still needs to be more work done. ... If it was drinking from a fire hydrant before, I don't know what it is now. Some things have changed for the better, and other things as far as our agreement to respect one another, I think that has gone out the window. I hope that we can return to that for the sake of our students." Sung: "In 2017, the HISD board passed major policy pieces: setting goals, a framework for the board's vision of how we would do public education. I think that in 2018, with (three) new trustees coming on board, we missed the opportunity to really engage with our colleagues on a deep dive into our governance framework, to make sure there was buy-in, to make the adjustments and updates. We've actually done some of that work since October. ... I wish that could have been done sooner." Davila, on whether she agreed with Lathan's comments about not getting a fair chance in the interim role: "She was able to rebuild her team. People that had been in the district for decades, she had the opportunity to move them all. For me, that's giving you the best opportunity, that's bringing the best team in to give you the results moving forward. If we had limited her power like that at any point, I would understand her way of thinking. ... This is a big district, and it's hard to run a big district this size when you've never done it. I actually don't put it all on our interim superintendent, because I feel like she was thrust into this role." Across Texas, thousands of iconic brown and yellow signs tell state park visitors where they are, where to go, what they're looking at and how to find the restrooms. The man behind all of them is Willie Steinhauser, the only sign maker employed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Since he began the job, based at Bastrop State Park, about four and a half years ago, Steinhauser guesses he has made somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 signs and probably has at least one sign in every one of the almost 100 state parks. "It's something I really enjoy," Steinhauser said. "It's kind of interesting to make these things and know they're going out there somewhere in Texas, which is a vast place, and families all over the place are going to see them. It's kind of fulfilling. You can go places and say 'I've made that one.'" Steinhauser had worked as a park ranger before becoming the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's sign shop manager and had some experience repairing the markers, but otherwise knew relatively little about the process. RELATED: Texas Parks and Wildlife opens new access points for fishing, kayaking at Llano River When the former sign shop manager decided to retire after decades in the position, Steinhauser applied for the job. "I wasn't quite sure I knew what I was getting into, I just knew it was the sign making," Steinhauser said. Jamie Creacy, superintendent of Bastrop and Buescher State Parks, said Steinhauser is a natural. "Willie is a great fit to manage the sign shop because he has a strong independent work ethic, values putting out a good product, holds a high regard for serving the state park system and is always willing to land a hand," Creacy said in a statement. The position has duties outside of sign making -- he steps in as needed to a variety of park ranger roles -- but when Steinhauser puts his other obligations aside and devotes a day to making signs only, he produces quite a few, he said. First, he sands and prepares the wood, spending about 15 minutes per board. He carefully double checks the spelling of the text requested by parks officials and then inputs it into a Computer Numeric Control machine, which carves the text onto the board in about three to five minutes. I truly dont think Ive ever made a spelling mistake, Steinhauser said in a video made about him by Texas Parks and Wildlife. When hes printing signs in Spanish, he consults an expert. I check it all the time just to make sure its spelled right," he said. State Park staff and volunteers paint the signs once they arrive, so once the machine is done, so is Steinhauser's job. Except he's almost never done. RELATED: Padre Island National Seashore's Kite Day canceled due to shutdown, annual clean-up to take place Steinhauser has caught up quite a bit on back orders in the past four years, thanks primarily to the new machine, which is significantly faster than a more labor-intensive method the state was using before he began. He's sped up turnaround time from about one year to one to four months. Even so, he's constantly trying to keep up with the slew of orders pouring in. "It's a big state. There are like 96 state parks in Texas," Steinhauser said. "They always need signs for trails, roads, warnings, different things. Some are just damaged through age. And they're not just for state parks, but also divisions like the Wildlife Division...and Fisheries Departments." Signs are broken through natural wear-and-tear, by being hit or by natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey. Occasionally, park staff will be able to repair damaged signs, but more often they replace them. Staff send orders of up to several hundred to Steinhauser, totaling an estimated 2,000 per year, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife Spokeswoman Stephanie Garcia. Requests already have words or phrasing included, so Steinhauser doesn't have to write anything unless the requested text doesn't fit the sign. Some requests are as simple as a number, while others are 12-foot long park names. He's been known to include park logos, handicap signs and even dinosaur tracks on the signs. His most unusual pair says "Nowhere" and "The other side of nowhere." The two signs sit back to back in Big Bend Ranch State Park. He's hoping to one day get a chance to make the "Morgue" sign that sits in another state park, he said. Another sign he made, for Caprock Canyons State Park, was nicknamed the official scratching post for the state bison herd. RELATED: Photos show Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's 'newest crown jewel' His professional budget of about $11,000 pays the cost of all the signs and is mostly used for timber, he said. One of the best parts of the job, he said, is seeing his signs and pointing them out to his children while traveling across the state. He can always tell which ones he made because the font is slightly different than under the previous sign maker. Steinhauser's signs are likely familiar to almost every Texan. But though his work is recognizable, many Texans know his name or the process. "Always wondered about the signs," one person commented on the Texas Parks and Wildlife YouTube video. The sentiment was echoed by multiple others. When he does meet people, he's easily remembered as "the sign shop guy." "Usually it's somewhere in a park where I start to run into people and they say 'Oh, you're the sign shop guy,'" Steinhauser said. "It's been kind of fun. I've met a whole lot of people in this state." 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 Caltrans Making Highway Repairs View Photos Caltrans urges motorists to use caution when driving by road projects this winter. Here is a list of their scheduled highway work for the first week of February. On Highway 49 at Jack Page Road, north of Sonora, all the way to the Tuolumne/Calaveras county line expect 10 minute delays for an area of one-way traffic control as Caltrans works on striping the road. The work is scheduled between 8PM and 6AM beginning Monday night and each evening, through Friday morning, weather permitting. From 6 AM to 7 PM on HWY 49 at the Montezuma junction 10 miles to Cattle Guard Road more road striping work will also cause 10 minute delays. There will also be shoulder work in the Chinese Camp area from 7:30 AM to 3:50 PM all this week. At the Yosemite Junction also look for Caltrans workers limiting traffic to one way to set up signs. The sign work is scheduled between 8 PM and 6 AM starting Sunday and each night through Friday morning. Those same nights and during the day as well, starting at the Stanislaus/Tuolumne County line, there will be areas of one-way traffic control to allow drainage and shoulder work along HWY 108/120. It may delay travelers 10 minutes. More areas of day-time drainage work will also delay traffic for 10 minutes on HWY 120 in the Mountain Bluff and Moccasin Creek Bridge area. Drainage cleaning and inspection half-way between Groveland and the Yosemite entrance on HWY 120 will cause 10 minute delays. Specifically the work will be in the area of Lost Claim Camp Ground to Sand House from 8 AM to 3 PM Tuesday through Friday. Chicagos most powerful alderman is out on bond. A years-long federal investigation brought forth one count of attempted extortion for Alderman Ed Burke in January. But reports this week detailed how the investigation that ensnared Burke also extended to the most powerful state lawmaker in Illinois, if not the nation. Someone was wearing a wire in a meeting with House Speaker Mike Madigan at his law firm. And there may be news of more secretly recorded conversations to come. Whats important for Illinoisans to know now is not just whether politically powerful people such as Burke and Madigan broke the law, but how the law itself encourages indecent behavior. Both men are borne of a structural problem in Chicago and Illinois government. The problem is concentrated power. Its on full display in Chicago City Council and it just reared its head in the Illinois House. Both bodies are national outliers in this respect. Were freakish. In his 1976 book Dont Make No Waves, Dont Back No Losers, Chicago political scientist Milton Rakove pointed to Burke and Madigan as two up-and-coming ward operatives in the Daley machine. No machine of that size and scope exists today. But the governance structure that fueled it remains largely intact. One part of this structure that played a major role in Burkes and Madigans brush with the federal government is the extraordinary privilege entrusted to Chicago aldermen. If a Chicago small-business owner wants to put up a sign, fence off a sidewalk cafe, run valet parking, excavate or build, she needs the stamp of approval from a politician: the alderman. Aldermen are administrative chokepoints where policy, politics and private interest intersect. Thats why so many have gone to jail over the years. Burke will be the 34th Chicago alderman since 1972 to go to prison for corruption if he is convicted, and hes not even the only council member currently facing a charge. Burkes attempted extortion charge comes from allegedly using his broad aldermanic power to pressure a Burger King franchise owner in his ward to hire Burkes property tax law firm. Madigan runs one of those firms, too. And according to an FBI affidavit obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, another alderman, Danny Solis, directed a developer who wanted to build on his turf to hire Madigans law firm. Solis was a chokepoint. Just as Burke was in his ward. An FBI agent explained the reasoning behind the meeting in the affidavit: I understand Solis to mean that by hiring Madigans private firm, [the developer] would ensure that Solis and Madigan would take official action benefiting [the developer] in their capacity as public officials. The developers associate recorded the meeting at Madigans law office. Were not interested in a quick killing here, Madigan said. Were interested in a long-term relationship. Madigan is not an alderman. But theres a reason Solis felt the need to direct business his way. There is no other state that grants as much power to one state lawmaker as Illinois gives Madigan. In fact, on Jan. 29, House members passed the rules that do just that. Because of these rules, like an alderman in his ward, Madigan can effectively stop any legislative action dead in its tracks. In addition to other unusual administrative powers, Madigan is able to control whether a bill lives or dies by appointing the majority of the members on the House Rules Committee the intake for every bill before its assigned to a substantive committee. It is effectively impossible for a rank-and-file lawmaker to discharge a bill from Rules for debate or a vote if Madigan wants it to stay there. He is a chokepoint. Just like Burke. Just like Solis. Fixing this problem means Illinoisans must lift up their heads, look beyond the state border, observe best practices and fight for them relentlessly. In every other major city in the nation, aldermen stopped being ombudsmen decades ago. Simple administrative duties such as business permitting are handled by bureaucrats, not politicians. In almost all big cities, a city charter clearly defines those responsibilities. Not Chicago. Meanwhile, the Illinois House is one of only two legislative chambers in the nation to place such undemocratic restrictions on whether a bill can be discharged by rank-and-file members for a fair hearing. Its always easy to focus on personalities when news breaks of another federal investigation into Illinois politicians. Especially Madigan and Burke, who have constructed larger-than-life personas. But to do so is to overlook the system that made them. When they leave office, however it may happen, Illinoisans must know what fixing the system looks like. Austin Berg is the co-author of The New Chicago Way: Lessons from Other Big Cities and writer of the documentary film Madigan: Power. Privilege. Politics. He wrote this column for the Illinois News Network. The Illinois School Board of Education is looking for sponsors for summer food programs in five counties through the region to help feed children once schools dismiss for the summer. There are 33 counties in the state that do not have a sponsor or sites for summer food programs that provide nutritious meals for children who typically rely on school lunch programs during the school year. Tim Murphy, a consultant for the Illinois School Board of Education Nutrition Program, said the students who receive free or reduced-cost lunches often rely on those meals during the school year and would not have access to adequate meals at home. When schools are closed there are a number of kids that dont have a place they can count on for a meal, Murphy said. The Illinois School Board of Education needs sponsors for Brown, Greene, Pike, Scott and Jersey counties. Sponsors range from schools, churches, parks departments and other organizations that will coordinate the production and distribution of meals. Also, Murphy said the programs need distribution sites that take the meals out to where the children are so they have access. We are going where the students are, Murphy said. Its important to make sure they have a reliable place to get a meal. Murphy said there are high numbers of students that receive free and reduced lunches. According to the Illinois School Board of Education, 496 students in Brown County were enrolled in the program last year. Cass County had 1,615 students registered, Greene County had 1,532, Morgan County had 3,173, Pike had 1,389, and Scott had 485. In each of those counties, more than 50 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches. Those willing to sponsor programs can contact the Illinois School Board of Education and attend a new sponsor training program. Only a fraction of students have access to a nutritious lunch during the summer, we want to get as many sites as possible, Murphy said. Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1233, or on Twitter @JCNews_samantha. There was general agreement at the Senate Education Committee meeting last week that the definition of a school day is changing, but the committee voted unanimously to reinstate an old definition of the term at least temporarily. If the bill, which passed on a 16-0 bipartisan vote, becomes law this session, it would reinstate a requirement of five hours of direct supervision by a teacher for a day to be considered an instruction day. Opponents of the mandate said it would limit flexibility for digital snow day alternatives and other opportunities such as apprenticeships or programs for students that have trouble in a classroom environment. State Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, D-Shorewood, the bills lead sponsor and Education Committee Chair, said she understood that more flexibility is needed for school districts and was committed to working toward it. But she warned of the wild, wild west created by the repeal of the five-hour mandate. Right now a district could choose to have four days of school in a year, she said. Illinois Education Association lobbyist Sean Denney, a proponent of the bill who represents Illinois teachers, said a trailer bill to last years education funding overhaul repealed the five-hour mandate, and it was rolled out without real oversight. Denney said teachers unions such as the IEA and Illinois Federation of Teachers need the bill to move forward as a negotiating point for future discussions about flexibility. Representatives of the Illinois State Board of Education, the Large Unit District Association and other public education advocacy groups were joined by Donn Mendoza, superintendent of Round Lake School District 116, in speaking against the bill. The groups said they had concerns that any step backward could tie up the negotiation process indefinitely, and the bills effective immediately clause would cause confusion for districts this year. Mendoza said his district used the flexibility of a state waiver to offer new e-learning capabilities and other innovative programs. I understand the request and the idea of having a minimum, but our position is learning shouldnt be tied to seat time, he said. The one thing Im worried about is we will lose the ability to take these next steps. As the committee met, Tri-Valley school district in Downs was using an e-learning day to replace what would have been a regular snow day due to the bitter cold. David Mouser, Tri-Valleys superintendent, has children in the district, and said they spent hours taking part in digital instruction that had been uploaded to the districts website. He said he received several emails or social media messages from parents of students participating in learning on their snow day. Theres no substitution to being at school and engaging kids in real time, Mouser said. But after seeing what my kids have experienced today and hearing from parents around the district, youd be hard-pressed to convince me that going backward is the right decision. Mouser said a district poll showed most students have internet or cellphone access, but instruction is formative, assignments are not graded and attendance is not taken on digital snow days, so those who lack access are not penalized. Mouser also noted there was discussion between the local teachers union and the district, and all of the district employees even hourly staff get paid as if it were a regular day. Despite the dialogue at Tri-Valley, statewide teachers unions fear the absence of the five-hour mandate will give districts uneven footing in negotiations with school boards. For Mouser, the concern is that days added to the end of the school year will delay a multimillion-dollar renovation project at the districts high school. It certainly seems that the learning our students experienced this week was much more effective than a day tacked on to the school year in July, he said. While there is no immediate clarity as to how long it will take for the bill reinstating the mandate to clear the legislative process, both sides agreed to start negotiations on greater flexibility as soon as possible. Its a new front line in making sure kids are safe in the classroom. Police and Decatur school district officials are monitoring social media, in all its expanding forms, and seeking input about signs of trouble and looking for solutions. A lot of people behind a computer; theyre pretty brave sometimes, said Fred Bouchard, assistant superintendent for the school district. They feel like theyre an arms length away from law enforcement. Those threats are taken very, very seriously by our district. Bouchard said the school districts approach to investigating and responding to social media threats is done on a case by case basis. There are some instances that the district is able to handle without a need to involve law enforcement, he said, while more serious situations require more thorough investigations with police assistance to ensure safety. Sometimes, there are people (online) who may be critical of a decision that the district made on something. Thats not the kind of thing that were talking about, Bouchard said. One persons opinion is not necessarily something that causes us concern. Anytime that it reaches that level of a threat, we automatically err on the side of caution. An example of such a situation happened on Jan. 15. Police were notified of a threat made against the safety of MacArthur High School students and faculty posted on Snapchat. It was eventually determined that the threat wasnt credible and school remained in session. Police Sgt. David Pruitt said a female MacArthur student was arrested. She faces a preliminary charge of disorderly conduct, which is subject to review by the Macon County States Attorneys Office. Tara Covington said her daughter, also a MacArthur student, took a screenshot of the social media post and shared it with her. Covington said she didnt send her daughter to school that Tuesday morning, because she didnt want to take any chances with her safety. What if it had been something real? the Decatur mother said. You see that stuff happen all over the news. Something very easily could have happened. Its like the worst nightmare. Pruitt said that in many instances, threats made against Decatur schools are usually made by young people that put their emotions out there. There are also times when thats not the case. In August, a 29-year-old man was arrested after the Macon County Sheriffs Office said he threatened to kill a man and his two children over a debt owed. Deputies say Ricardo Q. Holloway texted the man a picture of the playground at Durfee Technology Magnet School, where one of his children attends, and later texted a message that said keep on playing (and) watch how bad it get. As a result of this, Durfee and MacArthur were placed on a soft lockdown while police searched for Holloway. The threatened mans 17-year-old is a student at the high school. The affidavit said Holloway acknowledged calling and texting threats to the man over the debt, but denied saying that he would kill him or his children at the school. He also admitted to being at Durfee on Aug. 17 and texting the man a picture of children playing on the schools playground. Holloway has since posted bond and pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of harassment by phone with a threat to kill. He will appear in Macon County Circuit Court for a jury trial on Feb. 19, court records show. The FBI said that regardless of the circumstances, issuing a threat over social media or other electronic communication methods is a crime that can bear harsh consequences ranging from having to face local charges to receiving up to five years in a federal prison. Its a criminal act, said Donald Craven, a Springfield attorney who specializes in First Amendment issues and media law and advises the Illinois Press Association, of which the Herald & Review is a member. To make those sorts of threats against another person or against a governmental institution is a crime. Bouchard said the school district tries to encourage students to use social media responsibly in a society where they have an immense wealth of knowledge in the palms of their hands. Of all of the good things that social media can bring, theres also some ugliness, he said. Social media was the most common source of threats in the 2017-2018 academic year nationally, making up 39.2 percent of all threats, according to The Educators School Safety Network. Earlier this month, a threat on the Algonquin school districts students Instagram feed prompted an investigation, and Illinois schools from Columbia to Rochester have had similar incidents. A Riverton student was charged with a felony for a social media threat last year. Craven said that when it comes to saying something threatening on social media, many people might not understand the ramifications of their actions. I think its very apparent from looking at Facebook or other such sites that children and adults dont understand that once something is posted, its posted forever, he said. People do all kinds of silly (things) that wouldnt happen if they took the time to think about it. The FBI said that by making a thoughtless remark online, young people can risk risk starting out their adult lives in prison and forever being labeled a felon. As a way to educate young adults about the severity of sending threatening messages on social media, the bureau has since initiated a campaign called #ThinkBeforeYouPost. Hoax threats disrupt school, waste limited law enforcement resources and put first responders in unnecessary danger, said FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich in a statement. We also dont want to see a young person start out adulthood with a felony record over an impulsive social media post. Its not a joke; always think before you post, he said. Pruitt said that in Decatur, the police department gives presentations to students about safe internet use and has organized discussions with parents about the issue, too. Bouchard said the school district also stresses the concept of digital citizenship to its students and encourages them to always use information technology appropriately. It can be challenging to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of social media technology, he said, and the district has many students who learn how to utilize the technology in creative ways. But Bouchard said the district has a talented IT staff that can help faculty keep students safe online. Watching out for digital threats will also take some help from families, he said. We hope were also partnering with our parents, and we hope that they are monitoring (students) computer usage, Bouchard said. Thats always something thats important to us to be able to partner with our families. During a speech to U.S. Air Force personnel station in the United Kingdom recently, President Joe Biden warned that global warming is the greatest physical theat to the nations security. Biden has suggested that climate change poses a threat to U.S. military security on multiple occasions. In February, he noted that he had directed the Pentagon to reimagine the countrys strategy for dealing with the impact of climate change. Do you agree with the President that climate change is the great physical threat to the United States? Choices are: You voted: Jamison Jaron Weeden, 28, Okmulgee resident, left us June 5, 2021. Service of Remembrance will be Friday, 11:00 AM, The Chapel of Peace of the Keith D. Biglow Funeral Directors, Inc., of Okmulgee. biglowfunerals.com ABC/Lou Rocco Dolly Parton will take part in a special Town Hall Program lead by her recent collaborator on the Dumplin' soundtrack, producer and songwriter Linda Perry, Monday at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. The hour-long chat celebrates the exhibit Diamond in a Rhinestone World: The Costumes of Dolly Parton, which opens Tuesday at the museum. The collection of Dolly memorabilia will be on display through March 17. You can watch Monday's event live on Billboard's Facebook page, starting at 8 p.m. ET. Then on Friday, Parton will be honored as 2019's MusiCares Person of the Year during an all-star tribute at the Los Angeles Convention Center, ahead of the Grammys on Sunday, February 10. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Missionary entrepreneur Joshua MacLeod holds one of the photo books his Picture the Nations ministry produces highlighting residents of one nation, providing the proceeds to benefit charities in that nation. It is one of several ventures he runs to support missionary work. DESSA -- Close to 2,000 pounds of shrimp will be served at Shrimpfest, which is marking its 33rd year of helping fundraise for the Ellen Noel Art Museum on Feb. 25. Chef Gabe Grewell has been preparing shrimp for Shrimpfest the last 13 years. He cooks between 1,200 and 1,600 pounds every year. "I have a team of several different groups of men that helps," Grewell said. "It's quiet a team effort, for sure." The shrimp comes from the Gulf of Mexico. The H-E-B fish buyers negotiate price directly with the shrimp boats to help them get the best price, Grewell said. "My favorite (dish) to prepare and to eat is one of the ones I brought, which is called Shrimp Pontchartrain," Grewell said. "It's a tomato, horseradish, seasoned shrimp. It's my very favorite to make." Some of the shrimp dishes are more labor-intensive than others. Grewell said the Mexican Shrimp Cocktail takes a lot of preparation because of the amount of ingredients. It's a two-day process to prepare, marinate and cook 1,000 pounds of Shrimpfest recipe, he said. "I tell my family goodbye on Friday night and go to the Chuck Wagon Barn and stay there pretty much until Monday," Grewell said. President of the Ellen Noel Art Museum board, Liz Robertson, said the museum has become a love of hers ever since she started as an assistant chair for the museum. "It's a Monday night that we call 'lose your blues Monday,'" Robertson said. "It's all-you-can-eat shrimp, boiled potatoes, corn on the cob and bread. We have beer and wine and mixed drinks available." The Ellen Noel Art Museum relies on fundraisers such as Shrimpfest to help supplement the funding it receives through donations, memberships and grants, according to a press release. Profits from the event will help the museum to sustain programs such as like Art 2 Go for second-graders who don't have art in school; Free Community Art Days with activities for all ages; and Fine Arts Connection third-grade field trips. "We bring the third-grade ECISD students to come through," Robertson said. "We do a special exhibit where they get to do hands-on activities. It's a wonderful way to introduce children to museum without being intimidating." The event includes live and silent auctions, a raffle -- of a purse and rifle -- and live music. "It's a really nice way to spend a Monday evening," Robertson said. The event is $40 for individual tickets in advance or $45 at the door. General admission begins at 7 p.m. Sponsorship tables are also available and doors for the tables open at 5 p.m. To reserve tables or for more information call 432-550-9696. New American Funding has announced the appointment of Delaware native Jim Bromwell as area manager for the Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. regions. Bromwell will be based in Newark, Del., where he will focus on further expanding the team with new loan originators to continue the company's growth. A 23-year veteran of the housing industry, Bromwell began his tenure as a real estate agent before moving to the lending side as a broker. After eight years, he accepted a position as manager in the mortgage division of one of the country's largest banks, where he remained for almost a decade. Four years ago, he transitioned to work exclusively in the mortgage-banker space. Bromwell has also served on the board of the Delaware Mortgage Bankers Association for four years. John Roscoe has been appointed chief of staff by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Roscoe will report directly to the FHFAs acting director, Joseph Otting, effective Feb. 4. Roscoe currently serves as a special assistant to President Donald Trump in the Office of Presidential Personnel at the White House. His work has helped shape the economic, trade and regulatory arm of the Trump administration. Before joining the White House, Roscoe served in senior roles in the private sector and state government, including at the Ohio Treasurers office. In a statement, Otting praised Roscoes experience and judgement. John is a dynamic and collaborative leader with a track record of success, said Otting. He brings to the position the solid judgement that comes from working at a very high level across all branches of government. I look forward to working with John to carry out the mission of the FHFA. Reduce the systemic, too-big-to-fail risk posed by the current duopoly of mortgage guarantors; Preserve existing infrastructure in the housing finance system that works well, while significantly increasing the role of private risk-bearing capital; Establish several new layers of protection between mortgage credit risk and taxpayers; Ensure a level playing field for originators of all sizes and types, while also locking in uniform, responsible underwriting standards Promote broad accessibility to mortgage credit, including in underserved markets Background. We must expeditiously fix our flawed housing finance system, said Chairman Crapo. My priorities are to establish stronger levels of taxpayer protection, preserve the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, increase competition among mortgage guarantors, and promote access to affordable housing. I invite my Senate and House colleagues, the Administration and all interested stakeholders to work together to enact this critically needed reform. Stable market with government guarantee Among those who have welcomed the proposals is the Mortgage Bankers Associations Robert D. Broeksmit, CMB, President and CEO. "MBA welcomes the release of Chairman Crapo's principles for housing finance reform as a significant sign of his continued commitment to work toward finally ending the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and ensuring a stable and liquid market - with an explicit, paid-for government guarantee - for both single-family and multifamily mortgages." The chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, Randy Noel, added that Sen. Crapos plan would maintain a limited federal backstop to the housing finance system. This was a proposal the NAHB recommended as critical. Momentum on overhauling the housing finance system is clearly growing, as the administration is also looking to move forward on this issue, said Noel. While a legislative solution will ultimately be required to accomplish comprehensive housing finance reform, NAHB looks forward to working with all interested stakeholders to move this process forward. Rate of the day is what we consider the best value mortgage rate for a loan with a loan-to-value ratio below 80%, that is available to new and existing borrowers, and is not limited by the size of the loan. Today is the last day for Canadian Mortgage Awards nominations. Dont forget to nominate deserving colleagues for recognition of their contributions to the industry, and for helping make thousands of homeowners dreams come true each year. The black-tie event will be held at the capacious Liberty Grand in Toronto on April 26 and will celebrate outstanding achievements in what promises to be a night to remember! Without a doubt, last years winners will be eager to defend their awards. Clinton Wilkins of the Clinton Wilkins Mortgage Team with CENTUM Home Lenders Ltd. won the Award for Mortgage Broker of the Year (Fewer Than 25 Employees) for his 230 transactions in 2017 that totalled $50 million. The Halifax-based Wilkins says that since winning and advertising the award, business has surged. Since the win, Ive had the best year ever in the 12 years Ive been in the industry, said Wilkins. This year, Im up 80% over last year and I attribute that to the momentum that Ive had and winning a CMA is justification for what Im doing in the industry. Winning a CMA has 100% helped me increase business, especially as broker of the year. It really speaks to the good things going on in Halifax and its put me on the map on a national level. Upon winning the award, the Wilkins Team immediately put out a press release and emailed clients to break the good news. It essentially communicated to our customers and business partners that were the biggest game in town, said Wilkins. Being able to win the Broker of the Year Award goes to show that sometimes these small players, these underdogs, really have some heavy hitters on their rosters. At CENTUM, the leadership that Chris Turcotte has brought to the organization has helped us get to the next level and its incredible to be recognized by the CMAs for it. Farfetch (FTCH) is an online platform connecting sellers and buyers of luxury goods. The company partners with around 1,000 luxury goods sellers, including over 600 retailers and 375 brands, to offer their inventory on the platform. For making retailers stock available to a million active customers, the company charges a 30%-plus cut (third-party take rate). The business model is capital-light--the company carries only inventory associated with its physical Browns store ownership--so it can offer a significant number of products without incurring risk of excess inventory write-downs. Farfetch offered 3.9 million stock-keeping units at the end of 2017 and 5.7 million currently. The platform carries around 10 times more SKUs than the next-biggest player, according to Farfetchs initial public offering prospectus. Although Farfetch generates most sales through its marketplace platform, it has invested in retail operations, such as the Browns acquisition in 2015, and is working toward solutions for an integrated online and in-store experience through its connected retail project. It also provides white-label website services for luxury brands through its Black & White division. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Funeral arrangements for a firefighter who died last week have been announced. See video from last week when firefighters from around the county paid respects to him as he was brought back to Burke County after his autopsy in Winston-Salem. Chanon is married to the former Jane R. Early of Ahoskie, and they now reside in Chateau Village apartments in Morganton. AMONG US MORGANTONIANS; J. GORDON QUEEN City Briefs: Once upon a time, McDowell Street started at King Street and went to College Street, one block, then the Armory was built, and that was extended one block. A few of the thoroughfares were extended over the hill to South Green. It wasnt too long until the street crossed Breakneck and went to the intersection of White Street and Valdese Avenue. Now McDowell is six blocks long. It finally crawled as far as it could go. Come to think of it, some grading has been done on the site of the shopping center to be built sometime on S. Sterling St. below the depot. Speaking of growth, the Doblin Plant on Hwy 18 has really gone forward in the past few years. The 400 block of S. King St. is a rather busy spot, with drug stores and doctors offices galore. Here's to uptown business buildings that will be face-lifted this year. Lets do it before we have to. We hear of some things that will take place in our city this year. Possibly it will be something that will make us say,Morganton will grow whether we like it or not. This article is sponsored by the History Museum of Burke County, where the archives of The News Herald are stored. Jimmy Rhyne is the researcher of the archives. February 04, 2019 Syria Sitrep - Trump Says U.S. Will Leave But Pentagon Keeps Adding Forces The U.S. retreat from northeast Syria is still not happening. In yesterdays interview with CBS President Trump again said the troops would leave, but the the Pentagon is doing the opposite of retreating. (not current) bigger The Islamic State forces north of the Euphrates are left to holding some 4 square kilometer of ground near the border to Iraq. The few hundred ISIS fighters still alive could be killed in a day or two which would then be the right time for the U.S. to leave as President Trump announced two month ago. But the U.S. military keeps increasing its troop numbers and supplies in the area. During the last two month the number of U.S. soldiers in northeast Syria rose by nearly 50%. Instead of the officially acknowledged 2,000 there are now at least 3,000 U.S. soldiers in northeast Syria. New weapons and equipment arrive every day. Additionally, the Syrian Observatory reports, the U.S. is bringing in a significant number of TOW anti-tank missiles and heavy machine guns even though there is no longer an apparent use for these: [T]he International Coalition Forces brought quantities of anti-armor thermal missiles during the recent period, to their bases east of Euphrates area, in conjunction with bringing quantities of machineguns known as DShK, and the reliable sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that the range of the missiles reaches about 6 km, but the reasons for bringing these weapons was not known, especially as the Islamic State Organization in its last pocket at the east bank of Euphrates River is almost ended, .. ... [T]he Syrian Observatory has documented since the US presidents decision to withdraw until the 3rd of February 2018, the entry of 1130 trucks at least, carrying equipment, ammunition, weapons, military, and logistic equipment to bases of the International Coalition east of Euphrates, .. ... The process of entering the trucks also comes in conjunction with the arrival of hundreds of soldiers of the US Special Forces to the Syrian territory in a specific and special operation, the goal of which is to arrest the remaining leaders and members of the Islamic State Organization who are trapped in the remaining 4 kilometers for it east of Euphrates, .. Today the New York Times finally confirms the increased troop numbers the Observatory reported weeks ago: The American military has started withdrawing some equipment, but not yet troops, officials said on Sunday. The number of American troops in Syria has actually increased in recent weeks to more than 3,000 a standard practice to bring in additional security and logistics troops temporarily to help protect and carry out the process of pulling out three Defense Department officials said. The explanation makes little sense. One does not need 1,000 additional troops to secure and remove the stocks of a 2,000 strong force deployment in mostly friendly territory. The NYT also reveals that the U.S. wants to led the Kurdish PKK keep the arms it received: A meeting in late January of the National Security Councils deputies committee the No. 2 leaders of national security departments and agencies recommended allowing the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters, to keep the equipment the Pentagon has provided them and for an American-led air campaign to continue airstrikes to defend them against the Islamic State, according to two senior American officials. This breaks a promise the U.S. repeatedly made to Turkey and gives Ankara more reasons to threaten the Kurds. On Saturday a U.S. air attack targeted a Syrian army position south of the Euphrates near the border town al-Bukamal: A military source told SANA that the U.S.-led coalition warplanes carried out an air strike overnight Saturday on Syrian artillery position in Sokkariyeh village, west of al-Bukamal city. The source added that the attack resulted in destroying the artillery and injuring two soldiers. SANA reporter said that, in parallel with the coalitions aggression, Daesh terrorists attacked military points in the area, but the army units repelled the attack and killed and wounded most of the attacking terrorists. This is one of several incidents that lets one assume that the U.S. intentionally lets some ISIS fighters escape to bother the Syrian government. The U.S. military says it fears the ISIS would regrow should U.S. troops retreat. But that argument only holds when no other troops would replace them. The only viable solution to handle northeast Syria after the territorial defeat of the Islamic State is obviously to ask the Syrian government to retake control of its land. It could defeat remaining Islamic State sleeper cells, handle the prisoners the Kurds have taken, and keep the YPK/PKK and Turkey apart. But the U.S. foreign policy borg is still unwilling to concede that. James Jeffrey, the neoconservative U.S. special envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition, thought up an elaborate scheme to 'protect the Kurds' and to secure the borders to Turkey with the help of allied troops. Aaron Stein @aaronstein1 - 17:33 utc - 24 Jan 2019 The Jeffrey plan being carried to Ankara/Rojava is very complex, requires open-ended commitments from UK-France, Turkish patrols in rural areas, SDF acquiescence, 3rd party forces, and US top cover, perhaps including a US enforced NFZ (unclear if POTUS is on board with this bit) A week after that tweet the Wall Street Journal reported that the crazy scheme failed to win support from any of the relevant parties. The Kurds rejected it and Britain and France declined to send troops on a never ending mission between the waring Turkish and Kurdish sides. No news has been released of any different scheme. The YPK/PKK Kurds the U.S. used as proxy force against the Islamic State recently lobbied in Washington to keep some U.S. troops in the area: The groups message to Washington policymakers has centered around slowing the US withdrawal, and stopping Turkish plans to police a safe zone on the border of northern Syria, which the SDC sees as a potentially deadly repeat of the 2018 incursion into the Kurdish-held city of Afrin. The lobbying effort is likely to fail. The Kurds still demand a substantial autonomy in exchange for letting the Syrian army retake the control of the northeast. Damascus rejects any local autonomy that goes beyond cultural rights. The teaching of a Kurdish language in local schools will be allowed, but there will be no separate Kurdish administration. As the alternatives fail to evolve the Kurds will soon have to choose between agreeing to Damascus' conditions or getting slaughtered by a Turkish invasion force. Meanwhile Russia is working to reestablish the Adana Memorandum of 1998 between Turkey and Syria. In it Syria promised to hinder all Kurdish attacks from Syria on Turkey, while Turkey promised to refrained from anti-Kurdish engagements on Syrian grounds. The reviving of the agreement would require that Turkey gives up on the parts of Syria its forces and currently occupy and continue to turkify. There are already low level contacts between Turkey and Syria on the ground, but the Turkish President Erdogan is not yet willing to go further. A new meeting in the Astana format between Turkey, Russia and Iran is supposed to take place on February 14. It might come up with a new solution. In his Sunday interview with CBS President Trump again explained his position on the retreat. Asked about concern that the defeated ISIS might rise again should the U.S. move out he responded: PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And you know what we'll do? We'll come back if we have to. We have very fast airplanes. We have very good cargo planes. We can come back very quickly, and I'm not leaving. We have a base in Iraq and the base is a fantastic edifice. I mean, I was there recently. And I couldn't believe the money that was spent on these massive runways. And these-- I've-- I've rarely seen anything like it. And it's there. And we'll be there. And, frankly, we're hitting the caliphate from Iraq and as we slowly withdraw from Syria. Now the other thing after this-- MARGARET BRENNAN: How many troops are still in Syria? When are they coming home? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Two thousand troops. MARGARET BRENNAN: When are they coming home? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They are starting to, as we gain the remainder, the final remainder of the caliphate of the area, they'll be going to our base in Iraq. And, ultimately, some will be coming home. But we're going to be there and we're going to be staying-- MARGARET BRENNAN: So that's a matter of months? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have to protect Israel. We have to protect other things that we have. But we're-- yeah, they will be coming back in a matter of time. ... Trump's claim that there are only 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria shows that he apparently does not know what Pentagon is doing behind his back. He also has no idea of any real timeline for the retreat even as he continues to promote it. Trump believes that he can keep troops in Iraq and use that country as a base against Iran: MARGARET BRENNAN: But you want to keep troops [in Iraq] now? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: --but when it was chosen-- well, we-- we spent a fortune on building this incredible base. We might as well keep it. And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem. MARGARET BRENNAN: Whoa, that's news. You're keeping troops in Iraq because you want to be able to strike in Iran? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, because I want to be able to watch Iran. All I want to do is be able to watch. We have an unbelievable and expensive military base built in Iraq. It's perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East-- ... PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: --rather than pulling up. And this is what a lot of people don't understand. We're going to keep watching and we're going to keep seeing and if there's trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we're going to know it before they do. That the U.S. plans to stay in Iraq to "watch Iran" was news to the president of that country: Iraqi President Barham Salih said on Monday that President Donald Trump did not ask Iraqs permission for U.S. troops stationed there to watch Iran. ... Dont overburden Iraq with your own issues, Salih said. The U.S. is a major power ... but do not pursue your own policy priorities, we live here. ... It is of fundamental interest for Iraq to have good relations with Iran and other neighboring countries, Salih said. There are already moves underway in the Iraqi parliament to (again) kick the U.S. out of the country. The Sadr faction, the biggest one in parliament, is preparing legislation to achieve that. Other groups have threatened to use force to push the U.S. out. Back in December Elijah Magnier predicted that the U.S. would have either leave voluntarily or will be pushed out by force: The Iraqi parliament can exert pressure over the government of Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi to ask President Trump to pull out US troops before the end of his mandate in 2020. The US establishment and the Axis of the Resistance can both connive and plan, but the last word will belong to the people of Iraq and to those who reject US hegemony in the Middle East, .. Back to Syria. Idelb governorate continues to be the largest problem left in the receding war on Syria. It is ruled by the al-Qaeda aligned Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). bigger The Syrian military is waiting for orders to attack the enclave and is using artillery to 'soften up' the al-Qaeda positions near its lines. A new Bloomberg piece notes the contradiction in the argument of those who want the U.S. to stay in Syria because of ISIS. They never say a word about the much larger al-Qaeda force: Islamic extremism in that war-torn country, runs their argument, is nowhere near as extinct as the President claims. Theres plenty of evidence that the critics are right about that. But it doesnt necessarily translate into a case for staying in Syria. Because US troops arent even marginally involved in the fight against the biggest remaining jihadi force there which is al-Qaeda, not ISIS. ... After eight years of civil war, the biggest chunk of jihadi-held territory in Syria now belongs to al-Qaeda, Americas original enemy in the global war on terror. Almost two decades after the September 11 attacks, the groups Syrian affiliate has been on the march, seizing Idlib province in a dramatic advance last month. Its military strength is estimated to be in the tens of thousands, perhaps the largest concentration of armed jihadists ever assembled in one place. But the US military isnt fighting it and isn't likely to, even if Trump were to abandon his plan to withdraw. It will be Syrian, Russian and maybe some Iran supported forces that will have to clean up the mess the U.S. created by arming al-Qaeda. But they can only do so when their backs are not threatened by some new nefarious U.S. scheme. That the U.S. continues to supply dubious forces in the northeast, including with anti-tank weapons, increases the concern that Trump's repeated announcements of a retreat are not the last words spoken on that issue. Posted by b on February 4, 2019 at 18:09 UTC | Permalink Comments next page next page At the time of writing, shares of Hot Chilli Ltd [ASX:HCH] are up by 27.27% to 1.4 cents per share. Why did Hot Chilli Ltd share price re-rate? Hot Chilli Ltd signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for an option to acquire a major, privately-owned, copper-gold porphyry discovery named Cortadera. The project adjoins the companys Productora and El Fuego copper projects, located on the Chilean coastal range: Source: Hot Chilli Drill results from the Cortadera discovery have never been publicly released. They include numerous hits from over 23,000m of drilling to date, such as: 90 metres of ore, grading 1.0% copper and 0.4 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold from four metres below the ground. 52 metres of ore grading, 0.9% copper and 0.4g/t gold from six metres below the ground. 864 metres of ore, grading 0.4% copper and 0.1g/t gold from 62 metres below the ground. These are world-class copper intersections, despite the lack in grade. The Cortadera discovery could be a shallow and high tonnage system. Whats up next for Hot Chillis share price? The share price reacted positively to the news: Source: commsec Hot Chillis share price has been in a downtrend for most of the past year. That said, it started to level off around December and has jumped sharply today. Whether the share price runs more is questionable in the short-term. Remember, the company must sign a binding deal to own Cortadera. The options agreement is currently a MoU (non-binding). To date, Cortadera is merely a discovery with outstanding potential. A significant amount of work is still required to advance the project. Theres no JORC resources for example. That means, while highly attractive in nature, it requires a fair bit of drilling in the future. Thats before the company can start a pre-feasibility economic study, which takes several months. The costs are likely to add up for shareholders over the next two years. Hot Chillis share price has languished because it hasnt advanced its main project, Productora, in recent years. Productora needs US$725 million to get into production a hefty price tag and a US$3 per pound copper price to repay the cost within four years. From a risk-reward perspective, Productora also has a relatively low internal rate of return of 15%. That doesnt mean its not attractive, mind you. Hot Chilli is a pure play on the copper price. If that explodes in the future, Hot Chilli should do well. The bottom line today: the Cortadera discovery looks attractive for shareholders and could turn things around for the company it seems shallow and high tonnage. Thats why the company has agreed to spend US$30 million to acquire it. Once a binding deal is signed (likely a few months away) and the company formally owns the project, the share price might finally turn around. But theres a lot of work ahead, which is likely to take time. Jason Stevenson, Resources Analyst, Money Morning PS: Interested in mining stocks? My free new investor report, A Detailed Look into Australias Top 10 Mining Stocks, does exactly what it says in the name. I look at 10 companies that could make you huge money this year, and beyond. To download that report free, go here. Railways are the lifeline of our vast country. Apart from ever-increasing number of passengers, they provide livelihood for innumerable hawkers and vendors who cater to passengers needs. There are also thieves and crooks that enter the compartments unauthorised and make their living by cheating or robbing the passengers, taking advantage of their preoccupation or... Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, officially launched her presidential campaign from her home state Hawaii on Sunday, promising to bend "the arc of history away from war and toward peace". Taking a dig at America's foreign policy establishment in her campaign announcement, the four-time Democratic lawmaker in the US House of Representatives from Hawaii blamed politicians in "ivory towers" for US' involvement in costly armed conflicts abroad. "We must stand against powerful politicians from both parties who sit in ivory towers thinking up new wars to wage and new places for people to die. Wasting trillions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives, undermining our economy and security, and destroying our middle class," Gabbard said. "These powerful politicians dishonor the sacrifices made by every one of our service members, and their families - they are the ones who pay the price for these wars," she said. Asserting that the foreign policy is depleting US' resources and exhausting its military, the Hawaii lawmaker said she will work towards "bending the arc of history away from war and toward peace" and to achieve this it "will require every one of us to stand up against the military industrial complex and powerful, self-serving politicians who have a vested interest in perpetual war". Gabbard she will work towards building partnerships with other nations based on shared interests, leading with a foreign policy based not on conflict but on cooperation. Other policy positions that the White House hopeful discussed included Medicare for all, criminal justice reform, environmental advocacy and the need to combat privacy infringement by big tech companies. A former Iraq war veteran, 37-year-old Gabbard is a former Co-Chair of the powerful India Caucus in the House of Representatives. She is the youngest Democratic leader to enter the 2020 presidential race. The first ever Hindu lawmaker to be elected to the House of Representatives, Gabbard during her tenure in the Congress has established herself as an authority on national security and foreign policy issues. She is among the four women who have thrown their hat into the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race. The other three are Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris from California and Senators Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand from New York. Gabbard, who converted to Hinduism early in her life, is highly popular among Indian-Americans. If elected, she would be the youngest ever and first woman president of the US. She would also be the first non-Christian and first Hindu to occupy the top post. However, at this point of time, political pundits do not give her much chance. Hindus constitute less than one per cent of the American population, an overwhelming majority of whom are either from India or are people of Indian-origin. The lawmaker pointed to her service in the state's Army National Guard as a reason for her desire to seek public office. "It is this principle of service above self, that is at the heart of every soldier...it is in this spirit, that today I announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America," Gabbard told a cheering crowd. Attacking incumbent President Donald Trump, she said, "Instead of draining the swamp, our president has turned it into a cesspool of corruption." US President Donald Trump said it was important to keep a US military presence in Iraq so that Washington can keep a close eye on Iran "because Iran is a real problem," according to a CBS interview to be broadcast on February 3. The Republican president lamented "endless wars" in Syria and Afghanistan in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" and made clear he wants to reduce the costly US military presence in those countries despite warnings against such moves from his military advisers and spy chiefs. The United States could rely heavily on intelligence work in Afghanistan, he said, and respond to developments in Syria from US bases in neighboring Iraq. Iran's Revolutionary Guards have sent weapons and thousands of soldiers to Syria to help shore up the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a 7-year civil war there. Trump said the United States has spent a "fortune" on the Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq, which he visited in December, and that the United States should hold on to it. "One of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem," he said in the CBS interview. Asked if that meant he wanted to be able to strike against Iran, Trump said, "No, because I want to be able to watch Iran. All I want to do is be able to watch." The president defended his decision in December to withdraw troops from Syria but refused to provide a timetable for the pullout, which drew criticism from members of his own Republican Party and concerns among some allies. In a rebuke, the Republican-led US Senate advanced largely symbolic legislation on January 31 opposing plans for any abrupt withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan. Trump initially said the withdrawal from Syria should be immediate but he has since said it would be gradual. Some of the forces moving out of Syria will go to Iraq, where they can monitor any resurgence of Islamic State or other militant group and "ultimately some will be coming home," Trump said. He said US forces could be deployed again if there is a resurgence of militant groups like al Qaeda. "We'll come back if we have to," he said. Trump said on January 31 he would bring US troops home if a peace deal was reached to end 17 years of war in Afghanistan. He told CBS he would be open to keeping a small number of troops there as well as intelligence operations to monitor for "nests" of militant activity, according to the interview taped on Friday. Trump did not say whether he trusted Afghanistan's Taliban insurgent group but said he believed they want peace. "They're tired. Everybody's tired," Trump said. "I don't like endless wars." Eight European nations joined the United States in recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president on February 4 , heightening the global showdown over Nicolas Maduro's socialist rule. Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Germany's coordinated move came after the expiry of an eight-day deadline set last weekend for Maduro to call a new election. The Venezuelan leader, accused of running the OPEC nation of 30 million people like a dictatorship and wrecking its economy, has defied them, saying Europe's ruling elite are sycophantically following President Donald Trump's agenda. Guaido, who leads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself temporary leader last month in a move that has split international powers and brought Venezuelans onto the streets. Trump immediately recognised him but European Union nations were nervous over the global precedent of a self-declaration. Russia and China, who have poured billions of dollars of investment and loans into Venezuela, are supporting Maduro in an extension of a geopolitical tussle with the United States playing out across various global flashpoints. "I recognise the president of Venezuela's assembly, Mr Juan Guaido, as president in charge of Venezuela," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised statement, urging a free and fair election as soon as possible. "CREDIBLE ELECTIONS" "Venezuelans have the right to express themselves freely and democratically. France recognizes @jguaido as 'interim president' to implement an electoral process," President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said via social media. "UK alongside European allies now recognises @jguaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held." He added: "The oppression of the illegitimate, kleptocratic Maduro regime must end." Maduro, 56, a former union leader, bus driver and foreign leader, replaced former leader Hugo Chavez in 2013 after his death from cancer. But he has presided over an economic collapse and exodus of 3 million Venezuelans. He blames a US-led "economic war" and also accuses Washington of seeking a coup against him in order to get its hands on Venezuela's oil wealth. It has the largest reserves in the world, but production has plunged under Maduro. Critics say incompetent policies and corruption under both Maduro and Chavez have impoverished a once-wealthy nation while dissent has been brutally crushed. Responding to the EU nations' moves on Monday, Russia said it was foreign meddling and Venezuelans should be allowed to resolve their own domestic problems. The Maduro government is paying back both Russian and Chinese loans with oil. In addition to the European pressure, a major bloc of Latin American nations plus Canada were to meet on Monday seeking to maintain their pressure on Maduro. Maduro won re-election last year, but critics say it was a sham. Two opposition rivals with a good chance of winning were barred from standing, while food handouts and other subsidies to hungry Venezuelans were linked with political support. Non-EU member Switzerland expressed concern and urged a "constitutional solution" and protection for Guaido, but did not specifically recognise him as president. Iraqi President Barham Salih said on February 4 that President Donald Trump did not ask Iraq's permission for US troops stationed there to "watch Iran." Speaking at a forum in Baghdad, Salih was responding to a question about Trump's comments to CBS about how he would ask troops stationed in Iraq to "watch" Iran. US troops in Iraq are there as part of an agreement between the two countries with a specific mission of combating terrorism, Salih said, and that they should stick to that. Trump said it was important to keep a US military presence in Iraq so that Washington can keep a close eye on Iran "because Iran is a real problem," according to a CBS interview broadcast on Sunday. "Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues," Salih said. "The US is a major power ... but do not pursue your own policy priorities, we live here." Iraq is in a difficult position as tensions between its two biggest allies, the United States and Iran, increase. "It is of fundamental interest for Iraq to have good relations with Iran" and other neighbouring countries, Salih said. Huawei sub-brand Honor has announced plans to launch a 5G smartphone by the second half of 2019. Honors President, George Zhao had all but confirmed the news of the 5G supported phone in an interview with Android Authority. Zhao didnt really provide much in terms of details, apart from confirmation of the release. Zhao had talked-up the release of a 5G compatible device back in September 2018. Over the past few years, Honor has gained its own identity. The brand has become synonymous with the budget and mid-range market space. The Huawei sub-brand has often shied away from the flagship range, but with the recent release of the Honor View 20, is evidence enough of the winds of change. Also Read: Honor View 20 vs OnePlus 6T: Which smartphone should you buy? In the meantime, Huawei has wasted no time in getting their 5G masterstroke ready for the Mobile World Congress 2019. At a recent event at China, the companys Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu confirmed the smartphone giant's plans with launch a new 5G compatible smartphone based on Huaweis own Hisilicon Kirin 980 SoC and Balong 500. He further reiterated the capability of the Balong 5000 5G modem, stating that it could offer up to 6.5 GBps of 5G speeds. However, Honors plans could all be throttled by recent sanctions placed on its parent company. Huaweis relationship with the United States government is frosty, to say the least. The company faces 13-counts of indictment in the country, not to mention the ban of Huaweis telecommunications equipment for 5G networks in New Zealand and Australia. And, the companys problems could only worsen if neighbours Japan also decide to follow suit. Also Read: Verizon tests 5G with world's first '5G-upgradeable' smartphone Moto Z3 That being said, none of these sanctions or restrictions has impacted Huaweis business across European, Indian and Chinese markets. The company has grown significantly in the past few years and has shown no signs of slowing down, overtaking Apple as the second-largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world. And, unlike Huawei, the Honor brand has embedded itself in the budget and mid-range markets, a space that has seen considerable innovation and growth in the last couple of years. With Honor, it's best to expect the unexpected, which in this case could just be a 5G smartphone and ecosystem for the budget to mid-range market space. Now wouldnt that be something! Vijay Mallya UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has approved the extradition of fugitive economic offender Vijay Mallya. The Westminster Magistrates' Court on December 9, 2018, had ordered Mallya's extradition to India. Earlier, Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot had ruled there is strong enough reason for a decision to be taken by the Home Secretary of State on whether to order Vijay Mallya's extradition. Mallya is wanted in India for defaulting on loans worth Rs 9,000 crore taken against his failed Kingfisher Airlines. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had welcomed the court's ruling. Also Read | Vijay Mallya is India's first Fugitive Economic Offender: Timeline of the tycoon's fall The 62-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss has been on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April 2017. Modi Government clears one more step to get Mallya extradited while Opposition rallies around the Saradha Scamsters. Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) February 4, 2019 Reacting to the development, Union Minister Arun Jaitley tweeted that while "Modi government clears one more step to get Mallya extradited", the Opposition "rallies around the Saradha Scamsters." Mallya is expected to move the UK High Court and has 14 days to appeal against the extradition. Under the Extradition Treaty procedures, the Chief Magistrate's verdict was sent to the Home Secretary because only he is authorised to order Mallya's extradition. The UK court had said it was satisfied with the various assurances provided by the Indian government, including a video of the jail cell, which had not only been recently redecorated but was also far larger than the minimum requirement threshold. On January 5, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court had declared Vijay Mallya a fugitive economic offender. Mallya became the first person to be declared a fugitive economic offender under the new law. Sounak Mitra Last week, Apple announced plans to cut the prices of its flagship iPhones outside the US, the second time since it started selling these gadgets 12 years ago. The decision comes on the backdrop of falling sales in the worlds top two smartphone markets - China and India. But will Apple be able to revive sales by just cutting prices? A straight answer would be no. The reason why Apple is losing sales is not just because of the heavy premium it demands, but also because the devices it has launched during the past few years arent in sync with consumer needs. The companys formula of launching a handful of iPhones every September with a take-it-or-leave-it strategy does not work anymore. The failure to adapt is core to its problems in China and India. One may always argue about the cost factor. Apples iPhones come with a massive premium that the company believes it deserves for the experience, a closed ecosystem and the style statement it offers. But the premium segment has now been taken over by Chinese One Plus, at least in India, while the rest of the smartphone market is dominated by Chinese Xiaomi. And, in China, Huawei is the market leader. In quarter ended December 2018, OnePlus had about 36 percent market share (premium segment) in India, followed by Apple at 30 percent and Samsung at 26 percent, according to a report by Counterpoint research. Apples sales in Greater China fell 27 percent to $13.17 billion last quarter making the company change its revenue warnings early January. Apple needs to understand that one size does not fit all, neither does its Designed in California. Assembled in China. theme. One of the key issues that Apple failed to address in recent editions of iPhones for the Chinese market is that these gadgets does not come with seamless integration of local apps, key to the way the Chinese communicate. Thus, it failed to cash in on the users habits. This is where Chinese smartphone companies scored understanding the needs and habits of local people and offering them what they want. In India, the story is similar. While there are not too many Apps developed locally in India, the user habits of smartphones are almost similar to how Chinese people use smartphones, especially people living beyond the top metro cities. Localisation, including seamless integration of local languages, is key and thats where Chinese companies have the upper hand. If a user does not get at least what she needs, there is no reason why she would be inclined to pay a massive premium for iPhones. Apple needs to go through radical changes to get back on track. Otherwise, Apple loyalists in India, like in China, will soon move to alternative options. Last September, Apple introduced dual SIM, something that people in China and India prefer. But its too late. Dual SIM isnt the latest thing that consumers are looking for. Dual SIM was originally introduced by Nokia in 2010 in India, and HTC integrated dual SIM in smartphones back in 2012. Thus, dual SIM in iPhones did not serve any real consumer need. Theres more. Apples country specific plans are formulated in the headquarters in US, and local executives are not given much freedom to take care of issues in local markets. This is exactly the opposite of how Chinese companies, such as One Plus, Xiaomi or Huawei operate even if they get Chinese executives to head operations in non-China markets. To regain its charm, Apple should rethink and reinvent. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Mahindra & Mahindra, the biggest manufacturer of electric vehicles in India, is in talks with about 10 entities to supply 20,000 electric three- and four-wheelers, a top company official has said. We signed a MoU with the Thane Municipal Corporation. We are also in serious talks with at least 3-4 cities to set up fleet of electric vehicles. We will hopefully be announcing a project with Uber very soon and a pilot will be started later this month, said Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra. There are some private operators who are talking of ramping up their fleet to 2,000-3,000 cars in 3-4 months in Delhi," added Goenka. The high cost notwithstanding, several municipal corporations are adopting green mobility for the future. In addition, private transport companies that have got licence to operate in cities are also gradually shifting to zero emission vehicles. The company is also in talks with operators in cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune, each with potential order size of 2,000-3,000 electric three-wheelers. "We are ramping up production of three-wheelers, said Goenka. Mahindra has a plant capacity of producing 1,000 electric three-wheelers a month. However, the company feels constrained presently to ramp up freely because of limited supply from its parts suppliers. Goenka feels it will take 4-6 months to reach the optimum production capacity at the plant. In November last year, M&M launch four variants of lithium-ion battery powered three-wheeler under the brand Treo and Treo Yaari with prices starting at Rs 1.36 lakh. Goenka further added that the cities will add 40-50 units each of electric three- and four-wheelers with an option for a further ramp up. M&M is the second biggest beneficiary of the institutional order of 10,000 electric cars from Delhi-based state-owned company Energy Efficiency Service (EESL). But in terms of value the Mumbai-based companys order in higher than the order leader Tata Motors. M&M is committed to supply 4,950 units of the eVerito, the electric version of the Renault Logan-inspired sedan Verito. We are looking at a potential of ramping up (production) to 400-500 of eVeritos including the EESL order. We have several fleet application happening in Delhi. We have sold 10-20 vehicles to several fleet operators on trial basis and those who find it viable will put in more orders, Goenka said. To make electric cars more affordable a few state governments waived off road tax and registration fees. For instance, Maharashtra does not charge registration fee for electric three-wheelers. But this has not become a pan-India practice. To make matter worse, the central government last week raised customs duty on electric vehicle parts including on lithium-ion cells. There are several manufacturers in India who make lithium-ion batteries but nobody makes the cells. The government has imposed 5 percent duty on lithium-ion battery cells which were duty free until now. EV battery and EV cells were duty free. The eVerito which we sell will probably become Rs 16,000-17,000 more expensive. We will write to the government seeking a reversal of the duty, added Goenka. Budget 2019_Piyush Goyal live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The Centre has slashed subsidy on electric vehicles for the next financial year by 25 percent to Rs 195 crore, according to Union Budget 2019 documents. Subsidy for the current financial year stands at Rs 260 crore. This is the first such sequential drop in provision provided by the government since the scheme Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) was launched nearly four years ago. While the government had kept aside Rs 260 crore as subsidy for the current financial year (2018-19) it was revised downwards to Rs 145 crore. There has been a sequential growth in subsidy in the previous years. The actual subsidy in 2015-16 when the scheme was launched stood at Rs 74.99 crore. In 2016-17 government had budgeted Rs 122.90 crore. In 2017-18 the budget was for Rs 175 crore whereas the actual subsidy provided was Rs 165 crore. Only this year there was a significant drop in budget for subsidy. The revised budget of Rs 145 crore was 44 percent lower than the earlier budget of Rs 260 crore announced in the year 2017-18. The government provides subsidy on all class of electric and hybrid vehicles, ranging from two-wheelers to multi-seater buses. These cover scooters, vans, small cars, sedans, three wheelers, multi-utility vehicles and luxury buses. The subsidy amount ranges from Rs 7,500 to Rs 61 lakh. Subsidy provided by the government till date is Rs 316.46 crore as per the government website on FAME. On February 1, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal laid out a 10 point agenda for Vision 2030. Electric vehicles does get an important place in this vision. "India will lead the energy revolution in the world with electric vehicles," Goyal said. Because of their high cost of manufacturing electric and hybrid vehicles are priced substantially higher than their petrol and diesel-powered counterparts. For instance the ex-showroom Mumbai price of Tata Motors Tigor petrol is Rs 5.4 lakh. Mahindra & Mahindra is the largest electric vehicle manufacturer in the country. The fully electric version of the same sedan, which is sold to a government backed company, is priced at little under Rs 12 lakh. Subsidies are therefore essential to make such vehicles as affordable as possible. Government is also believed to be working on laying down an additional cess on petrol and diesel powered vehicles that would help fund the subsidy required to keep demand for electric vehicles healthy. While details are not out yet but the cess could be put on two-wheelers as well. In 2017-18 electric cars recorded a fall of 40 percent to 1200 units as against 2000 units sold in 2016-17, as per data supplied by the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles. Electric two-wheelers however saw a jump of 138 percent to 54,800 units in 2017-18 as compared to 23,000 units sold in 2016-17. HD Deve Gowda Janata Dal (Secular) JDS Karnataka's North Bangalore Parliamentary constituency might witness a high-voltage battle between two senior leaders, former External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, according to a report by The Hindu. While speculation is rife that Gowda might contest from the constituency, the report states that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is thinking of fielding Krishna to counter the Janata Dal (Secular) supremo. Sources told the newspaper that the move could be the saffron party's strategy to pre-empt Gowda's possible candidature, since BJP feels Gowda would be hesitant to take on Krishna in a direct battle. Both Gowda and Krishna are former chief ministers of Karnataka, and belong to the Vokkaliga community. However, they have never had a direct face-off with each other. According to the report, BJP feels that while Krishna has a positive image in Bengaluru for developing it as an Information Technology (IT) hub, the JD(S) is trying to make inroads there by fielding a tall leader like Gowda. JD(S) currently has two Lok Sabha members. According to the report, BJP insiders feel that fielding Krishna would help the BJP in retaining its Vokkaliga votes, which the party fears might get cut in the event of Gowda contesting from Bangalore North. Moreover, the report states that the saffron party is not averse to denying tickets to sitting legislators if they are not "winnable" candidates. "The BJP high commands instruction is clear: to fight for every seat and winnability is the only factor for ticket distribution," a senior party leader told the newspaper. Union Minister Sadanand Gowda currently represents the constituency. BJP has won all three Lok Sabha seats in Bengaluru since 2009. The development comes on the background of reports of in-fighting within Karnataka's Congress-JD(S) coalition government. The coalition had earlier also alleged that the BJP is launching ' Operation Lotus 2.0 ' to poach Congress legislators and engineer a fall in the state government. West Bengal Chief Minster Mamata Banerjee addresses during TMC mega rally 'Brigade Samavesh', in Kolkata Viju Cherian The reasons for the current flashpoint between the Narendra Modi-led Centre and the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal is the overlapping of administrative jurisdictions, judicial interpretations and political ambitions which is soon becoming a tangled mess of complex issues. On Sunday, February 3, a team of about 40 officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrived at the residence of Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar to question him in relation to the investigation into two Ponzi scams. The CBI team was arrested by the state police and released later. Protesting the CBIs overreach, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has gone on an indefinite dharna to Save the Constitution. On Monday, February 4, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre approached the Supreme Court with a plea that the state government was refusing to cooperate with its investigations into the scams particularly the refusal of Kumar. The court has set February 5 for hearing CBIs plea. A double-edged sword The fact that the state government is being investigated turns the heat on its actions. At the same time, the pressing hurry at which the CBI is operating, which many allege is under the instructions of the central government, points a needle of suspicion at the BJP. After all, a few years ago, wasnt it the Supreme Court that questioned the independence of the CBI saying that it was a caged parrot speaking in its master's voice. However, irrespective of the courts verdict on February 5, much will also depend on how each party takes forward the narrative to the people. Mamata Banerjee is no stranger to confrontations her political journey is a testimony of protests and dharnas. It is no coincidence that Banerjee is now protesting at the same venue where she sat in protest 13 years ago against the land acquisition in Singur. If Banerjee is in her elements as a protester, the BJP is a party that itches for a confrontation, especially in West Bengal. This means that the CMs dharna is a double-edged sword that could cut both ways. BJPs calculations By now it is clear that the BJP is betting big on West Bengal. There are reasons for this. With the once-powerful Left almost relegated to the margins and the Congress only cosmetically better off, the space for the primary Opposition in the state is up for grabs. Even if it does not make major gains in the upcoming general elections, the saffron party will have the 2021 assembly polls in sight. While the dharna theatre is underway, a BJP delegation has also met the Election Commission of India (ECI) to complain against being denied the right to campaign in Bengal. Clearly, the BJP is in it for the long haul. Another reason could be that if there is constant pressure on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Bengal, it will prevent Banerjee from being an active part of the anti-BJP bloc. The BJPs calculation could be that a preoccupied Banerjee would weaken the Mahagathbandhan. However, at the moment the TMC is the way ahead of the other political parties in West Bengal. Thus, even if this round of election results goes to the TMC, the BJP will have succeeded in upping the ante against the TMC and creating a narrative that Banerjee and her government are protecting scamsters. Advantage Mamata? Much of it depends on the courts ruling on Tuesday, but the dharna could also benefit Banerjee and her TMC. The anti-BJP grand alliance is a crowded place where it is still not clear what are the alliances and who is first among equals. Every regional leader with a fleeting chance and unbridled ambition has expressed willingness (or sounded it through the party cadre) to be Prime Minister. In such a scenario, Banerjee projecting her fight against the Centre as a fight to save the Constitution and the system will turn the lens on her. Such a protest also becomes a venue for further distilling the opposition brew. Most opposition parties have expressed their support and are standing behind Banerjee as she takes on Modi it is this perception that makes the dharna important. If the anti-BJP parties have a shot at forming a government after the polls and the TMC has a sizeable number of MPs, Banerjee could stand head and shoulders above the others. Thus, Mamata Banerjees current dharna is a high-stakes political game. They say that fortune favours the brave but in politics? For more Opinion pieces, click here india Lok Sabha polls 2019: Three women who could be PM Modi's biggest nightmare The other two women seen threatening PM Modi's grip on power have a lot more experience than Priyanka, and both could be seen as potential prime ministerial candidates in a coalition government. rajya sabha PTI1_4_2018_000050B rajya sabha Slogan shouting by Trinamool Congress members over alleged misuse of the CBI by the Centre led to adjournment of the Rajya Sabha till 2 PM on Monday. Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked agitated members to raise the issue during the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address but TMC members did not heed to the suggestion and started raising slogans like "Save the Constitution" and moved towards the Well. Naidu then adjourned the House till 2 pm. As soon as the ministers laid listed papers on the table of the House, some opposition members were on their feet. Naidu said he has received several notices, including from Derek O'Brien of the TMC on the CBI issue. "I have not admitted any one of them (notices)," Naidu said, adding members will get an opportunity to raise the "important matter at length" during the debate on the President's address. However, TMC started raising slogans and some members started moving towards the Well leading to adjournment. In an unprecedented development on Sunday evening, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna, protesting CBI's attempt to quiz Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams. A CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and were whisked to a police station. The CBI wants to quiz Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal Police probing the scams, regarding missing documents and files. Several political leaders, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and RJD national president Lalu Prasad came out in support of Banerjee. Gandhi called up Banerjee and extended support to her, saying the entire opposition is together and will defeat "fascist" forces.. BJP_bhartiya Janta party Assam government has registered a total of 251 sedition cases since the BJP-led alliance came to power in the state in 2016, the Assembly was informed on Monday. In a written reply, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said 251 sedition cases were filed against various individuals and banned organisations since May 26, 2016 when the present coalition government took charge. Replying to the query by Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia of the Congress, Patowary said sedition cases have been filed against militant groups such as ULFA(I), NDFB (S), NDFB(B), KLO, NSLA, NSLA(AT), UPLFS, DHD, DHNA, NSCN(IM), ZUF and ATF among others. Such cases were also registered against several individuals, Patowary said on behalf of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal who also holds the Home portfolio. Two sedition cases were slapped on RTI activist-cum- peasant leader Akihil Gogoi in Dibrugarh district and Guwahati city. Along with Gogoi, sedition cases were registered last month against eminent intellectual and Sahitya Akademi awardee Hiren Gohain and journalist Manjit Mahanta for their comments on the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. The Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims who fled religious persecution from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and entered India before December 31, 2014.. Moneycontrol Contributors Poet Kaifi Azmi once wrote, Aisa laga gareebi ki rekha se hoon buland, poocha kisi ne haal kuchh aisi adaa ke saath. (I rose above the poverty line for a momentwhen someone asked just how I was doing) He could have been speaking for all of India's poor who, as usual, in an election year are at the forefront of political debates. The annual Oxfam report has brought home the scale of inequality that exists in the country with statistics that have established what we have suspected all along that there is massive disparity in the distribution of wealth in the country, and that the chasm between the haves and the havenots is only widening. Just to refresh your memory a bit, the annual study by Oxfam has stated that the wealth of billionaires in India rose by a whopping Rs 2,200 crores a day in 2018. And the top one percent of Indias wealthiest got richer by 39 percent compared to 3 percent growth in the incomes of the bottom 50 percent. While political parties spar over who can finally eradicate this divide in the all important election year, the fact staring them and us in the face is that the wealth of the top nine billionaires in India is equivalent to the wealth of the bottom 50 percent of the population and 60 percent or the majority of the population own merely 4.8 percent of the national wealth. The Opposition, especially the Congress, once infamous for the gareebi hatao slogan that almost attracted as much derision as the by-now-discredited catchphrase India Shining, has accused the government of being anti-poor. The Congress, after winning a few recent key elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on the back of promised farm loan waivers, has proposed the implementation of the minimum guarantee scheme, theoretically known as the Universal Basic Income (UBI) scheme. And this idea of a Universal Basic Income is what we dig deep into on this edition of Digging Deeper with Moneycontrol with me Rakesh Sharma. Is Universal Basic Income a timely intervention? Let us try and understand at the onset why this idea is suddenly creating so many ripples. To begin with, the timing of the idea seems astute as it comes against the backdrop of rising discontent over banking scams that have brought home to us the porous system that facilitates the siphoning of public money. There is the obvious agrarian distress, and as per the recent explosive Business Standard report, rising unemployment figures that the National Sample Survey Offices Periodic Labour Force Survey has marked at a 45-year-high of 6.1 percent in 2017-18. (The NITI Aayog has refuted these claims.) According to News18, two independent members of the National Statistical Commission had resigned this week after the government allegedly failed to publish the report that was prepared last month. The report is still not public. This is the first survey on employment by a government agency after demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in November 2016. As reports by multiple news sources said, the Periodic Labour Force Survey is the first annual household survey of the National Sample Survey Office and data was collected between July 2017 and June 2018. News18 said, Documents reviewed by Business Standard showed that unemployment rate was at its highest since the 1972-73 period, from when the employment data is comparable. In comparison, the unemployment rate stood at 2.2% in 2011-12, during the United Progressive Alliances second term, according to the survey. The report showed that the unemployment rate among the youth was at a higher level compared to previous years and much higher compared to that in the overall population. According to the report, more among the educated were jobless in 2017-18 than they were in 2004-05. For educated women in rural areas, unemployment was at 17.3 percent in 2017-18 compared to 9.7 percent-15.2 percent during 2004-05 to 2011-12. For educated men in rural areas, the unemployment rate rose to 10.5 percent in 2017-18 compared to 3.5 percent to 4.4 percent during 2004-05 to 2011-12. Add to this, the points made by the Oxfam report according to which India's top 10 percent population holds 77.4 percent of the total national wealth. A deeper study of the data in the report shows the top one percent have cornered 51.53 percent of the national wealth, while the remaining 99 percent make do with only about 48 percent. Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar after the release of the report said, The survey reveals how governments are exacerbating inequality by underfunding public services, such as healthcare and education, on the one hand, while under-taxing corporations and the wealthy, and failing to clamp down on tax dodging on the other. And the shock and outrage over the latest report notwithstanding, Oxfam has always presented us with uncomfortable home truths. In January 2018, Oxfam had reported that 73 percent of the wealth generated in the year before had gone to the richest one percent, while 67 crore Indians who comprise the poorest half of the population saw one percent increase in their wealth. Their past reports have indicated, give or take a few marginal differences, that over the next 20 years, 500 of the worlds richest people will hand over $2.4 trillion to their heirs a sum larger than the GDP of India, a country of 1.3 billion people. We learnt that hard work is no guarantee for wealth generation and that in countries like India and the Philippines, at least one in every two workers in the garment sector is paid below the minimum wage. And that it would take 941 years for a minimum wage worker in rural India to earn what the top paid executive at a leading Indian garment company earns in a year. It would take around 17.5 days for the best paid executive at a top Indian garment company to earn what a minimum wage worker in rural India will earn in their lifetime (presuming 50 years at work). In 2018, Oxfam had also proposed a simple way to bridge this gap marginally. And stated that if we assume that in the next 20 years, at least Rs 10,544 billion will be passed on to the inheritors and on that if 30% inheritance tax is imposed, the Government can earn at least Rs 3176 billion. Rs 3176 billion is sufficient to finance six crucial services: Medical & Public Health, Family Welfare, Water & Sanitation, Housing, Urban Development and Labour & Labour Welfare in all States. The poor that went missing from our idea of India Economic inequality is never a sudden phenomenon and India has always been a country of extreme disparities, a feature seen prominently in the poetry of progressive, socialist Urdu poets like Kaifi and Sahir Ludhianvi in the fifties, in film songs, and even in cinematic narratives in almost every decade. The mazdoor, the kisaan, the taxi driver, the daily wage workers, the coal miners featured in the biggest blockbusters of the 50s, 60s and 70s. And even Manoj Kumar, the tireless nationalist exhausted with hope, and cognisant of the distance between aspiration and reality, made a film like Roti Kapda Aur Makaan in the seventies with a song damning the ever present 'mehengai' or the rising cost of living that made it impossible for the poor to live, eat and exist with dignity. Today of course, the country's poor feature rarely if ever in a cinema that largely caters to the idea of India as an omnificent global power, regardless of the alarming unemployment numbers, agrarian unrest, and the struggles faced by small businesses. In such a scenario, the idea of Universal Basic Income sounds like a compelling panacea. But is it a good idea? Nidhi Chugh wrote in CNBC recently that it might not be. For developed countries, says she, the scheme is simply to fix the hurdles that are blocking the economy to achieve optimal growth. But when it comes to implementing UBI in a developing country like India, it's a different ballgame altogether, she says. From CNBC: The UBI the unconditional cash transfer system requires the economy to be financially strong to fund the programme, making it the key reason for developed countries to have an upper hand in implementing the scheme. The UBI is one of the most debated topics, not only in India but across the globe. Some developed countries, including the Scandinavian countries, are running pilots and may eventually make it a social welfare norm. Jayati Ghosh, an Economics Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University describes three key problems in implementing UBI in developing countries. According to Ghosh, developing countries have to strengthen their fiscal policies and make them more people-friendly so that when the scheme is implemented, people are able to bear the fruits. She also says that because of the vast population and the existing social and class divide, it will be difficult for the government to cater to the needs of the people efficiently. The CNBC piece also cites The Economic Survey, an annual report on the state of Indias economy, which shows that there are only 7 taxpayers for every 100 voters in the country. So obviously, there is the question of insufficient funds that will make the implementation of UBI tough. UBI will also have to do away with the existing social welfare schemes. Is this then a utopian but ultimately false promise? Dissent, a left-leaning intellectual magazine published by the University of Pennsylvania Press on behalf of the Foundation for the Study of Independent Social Ideas, brings in a global perspective to the debate and discusses how Universal Basic Income, an idea long dismissed as utopian, is now gaining traction on both the right and the left. But it says that UBIs supporters on the left should proceed with caution. Could UBI be a part of a twenty-first-century vision for the labor movement? asks Alyssa Battistoni, a PhD candidate in political science at Yale University and an editor at Jacobin magazine. Well, the jury is out on that one. But as the piece points out, the idea has seen renewed interest since the 2008 financial crash: as millions of people lost their jobs and wondered whether theyd find new ones. Here it is important to interject that generations of conservative leaders in the US have cited novelist Ayn Rand's objectivist ideas to undermine the idea of the rich paying for the well-being of the poor while conveniently ignoring the atheistic, anti-establishment strains in her work. But with growing disillusion with crony capitalism and the rise in democratic ranks of young leaders like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the idea of higher taxes for the rich to fund social welfare is being increasingly mainstreamed. Moreover, Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts has been working with Cortez on a Green New Deal legislation that will be unveiled soon, and which according to CNN, will address issues such as job creation, emission reductions, greening infrastructure and a variety of principles that would come with a robust climate-change package. The idea is to make capitalist practices more responsible. And the normalisation of UBI as a political idea, as Dissent magazine points out, is becoming more widespread. UBI was recently endorsed by Movement for Black Lives while Canadas Leap Manifesto calls for consideration of UBI on the grounds of environmental sustainability. The piece also mentions Jeremy Corbyn as an important voice in the debate and he said last September that the Labour Party would investigate the prospects for basic income in the UK, and experiments are on the agenda in Scotland, backed by the left-wing Scottish National Party. We quote, Growing public discussion has been accompanied by a small but significant number of experimental programs, mostly in Europe. The United States is also home to the closest thing to a basic income program existing in the world today: the Alaska Permanent Fund. Since 1982, the fund has paid every Alaskan resident anywhere from a few hundred to $2,000 annually out of its oil revenues. But the most prominent supporters of UBI in the United States today are technocapitalists like Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen, and with the exception of Alaska, basic income experiments are being implemented not by the state but the private sector. Most notably, the seed accelerator Y Combinator is starting a basic income pilot program in Oakland, proposing to pay a hundred families between $1,000 and $2,000 each month, no strings attached. Two colliding worldviews UBI evokes two conflicting responses in those who speak against and for it. As Dissent says, one view functions as a kind of noblesse obligea handout to the unfortunates and another view-point version aspires to egalitarian universalism and challenges the legitimacy of privately accumulated wealth. The important thing to ascertain at this point is whether Universal Basic Income can become more than a political ploy for the Right and the Left to fight over in India and if it can go on to become a tool of social equity. There is something to be said about the potential of the idea and as Dissent says, capitalisms inability to provide a means of making a decent living for the over 7 billion people currently alive is one of its most glaring defectsand one of the most significant opportunities for the left to offer an alternative. A universal basic income, though not the only answer, might point us in the right direction. The piece also cites Andy Stern, the former head of the SEIU, whose 2016 book, Raising the Floor, explains why basic income is the way to invent a better future. There is also Dutch journalist and basic income advocate Rutger Bregman for whom basic income represents the way to true human fulfillmentthe post-work utopia that we need and that we can, in fact, achieve especially at a time when productivity gains have reaped profits for owners of capital and made life harder for those who are working harder than ever to cling to their jobs. Parsed in the context of these views, it seems easy to deduce that in a country like India, a universal basic income could reduce crime, child mortality, malnutrition, and teen pregnancy, and increase gender equality, educational outcomes, and economic growth. But the piece also cautions that for UBI to be a genuine step toward a post-work society, it has to be genuinely universal and unconditional, provide enough income to actually live on, and supplement rather than replace the welfare state. We quote, In recent years UBI pilot programs have rolled out in Namibia, Kenya, and Uganda, mostly funded by NGOs; more generally, cash transfer programs, which aim to diminish poverty by giving poor people moneythough often with specific criteria or restrictionsare the latest fad in development. The use of the word "Fads" trivialises the help the world's poor need to rise above their disadvantages but it also sums up how easy it to think of UBI as a passing political fancy rather than a real, practical solution to poverty. As the punchline of the piece says, Utopia is possible. If we want it, though, well need to make it a part of the demands and visions of the left movements we build over the next few years. Because we cant just invent the futurewere going to have to fight for it. The Indian perspective The Wire recently asked the question that we have been exploring in this podcast: Can Universal Basic Income Help Create an Equitable Society? Or could a variant of UBI, a negative income tax, likely be a better fit for India? In response, writer Nikhil George, a Research Assistant at the department of Economics at Monk Prayogshala, a not-for-profit academic research organisation based in Mumbai, cites the example of Scandinavian countries to prove that an equitable society is not only theoretically plausible but also practically feasible. But he also adds that the Nordic model cannot be implemented in India, owing to population levels and per-capita income. UBI, he points out is not a new fangled idea in the Indian context. The country has experimented with numerous poverty alleviation schemes over the decades and the government of India had even proposed the introduction of UBI in the Indian Economic Survey (2015-16). UBI in simple terms, as George explains, is a form of social security where all citizens receive an unconditional sum of money. It was originally considered for one of two reasons, says the piece, as we are moving towards a more technologically competent world, a large portion of the workforce in various sectors, such as agriculture, may become redundant. As a result, UBI would be granted in order to compensate for the losses to make ends meet. Whereas in a developing world, UBI was proposed to help reduce the overall inequality levels. UBI, if implemented, would cost the government around 4-5% of the GDP and would see 70% of the population receive Rs 650 per month according to the estimates done by the Indian Economic Survey. In this sense, India would implement a quasi-universal basic income. The Wire: Currently, there exist nearly 940 central sector and centrally-sponsored schemes, i.e. food and urea subsidies, where many of them are minute in terms of allocation and have existed for decades. The administrative costs alone for running these schemes are substantial, coupled with the leakages and the burden of identifying beneficiaries, which further places strain on governmental agencies that are often plagued with issues of inadequate capacity. If this is the case, why havent governments already introduced a scheme that reduces such burdens? With the introduction of UBI, subsidies such as kerosene and fertilisers will cease to exist, exposing various sections of the population to market risks. Along similar lines, this could possibly erode the pressures on the state to provide for health and education. These are significant problems that need to be considered. However, would the provision of Rs 650 per month help reduce inequality levels? The point is, says the writer, augmenting 70% of the population with fungible transfers does not create an equitable society. Therefore, as variants of the current model exist, the government should opt for an approach that brings about a greater balance to society. An alternative approach could include the introduction of a negative income tax (NIT) as a social policy. We quote, Currently, under 2% of the Indian population pays income tax. Simply put, as agricultural activity in the country is not taxable, a significant proportion of people are employed in the informal sector. As over 90% of Indians earn less than Rs 2.5 lakh annually and are hence exempt from paying income tax, a significant tax base doesnt exist. The lack of adherence from certain sections of the population due to tax morale also plays a vital role in creating the difference between the number of citizens registered under the taxable bracket and those who file for income tax. The introduction of NIT would register people under a tax bracket, even though they would not be liable to pay taxes. In order to avail accrued benefits, individuals will have to register their income levels. In this regard itself, an NIT is superior to a generic UBI. But in a country as unwieldy as India, the administrative costs associated with the creation of such a system will be considerable. We quote, As most people are not liable or do not pay taxes, it could be difficult to implement such a programme. Wholesale macroeconomic changes are associated with significant costs. As with other policy decisions, NIT will have its own set of problems that can only be solved with time. However, with the introduction of the NIT, we move one step closer in trying to bring about an equitable balance to society. Poverty cannot be wished away Brookings, an American thinktank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development, has deduced that based on current projections, the world will not end poverty by 2030. Poverty will likely be lower by about 200 million people, but 438 million people, or 5 percent of the worlds population, will still live in extreme poverty. So can the Universal Basic Income solve global inequalities? A February 2017 report by UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab, discussed how UBI is spreading and becoming front and centre in the public discussion. It asked, what if this idea, suggesting a flat income given to every citizen regardless of employment or social status, was part of the solution to todays inequalities? What about India specifically? Milan Vaishnav, a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, recently discussed in the Washington Post just how loaded this question is at a time when nearly 900 million Indians will be eligible to cast their votes in nationwide general elections. The point pits the ruling governments announcement that it would guarantee 10 percent of university seats and civil service posts for the economically weaker sections of the populace untouched by existing affirmative action programs against Congress president Rahul Gandhi's unveiling of what is likely to be his partys signature campaign priority: a universal basic income for poor families across the country. The official statement being, We cannot build a new India while millions of our brothers & sisters suffer the scourge of poverty. If voted to power in 2019, the Congress is committed to a Minimum Income Guarantee for every poor person, to help eradicate poverty & hunger. This is our vision & our promise. This was a political curveball right ahead of Friday's budget, though it offered no specifics, except an affirmation of intention. Milan Vaishnav also points out that two opposition-controlled states Telangana and Odisha have already implemented a partial income guarantee scheme squarely aimed at lifting farmers incomes. More recently, the ruling party in the state of Sikkim a BJP ally has announced it will unveil a comprehensive universal basic income by 2022. From the Post, "Implementing any large-scale income support program calls for two essential ingredients: state capacity and fiscal resources. Unfortunately, both are in short supply in India. The countrys social service plumbing is notoriously feeble: Indias welfare machinery suffers from endemic leakage (or corruption) and poor targeting (an inability to properly identify and deliver benefits to eligible recipients). Furthermore, Indias fiscal accounts are underwater. Last week, the International Monetary Funds chief economist flagged the countrys fiscal deficit as a major economic risk factor, especially in an election year prone to populist giveaways. The writer says that neither the Congress nor the BJP has grappled with the realities of implementing a universal basic income for 200 million rural households, but a proposal unveiled this week by a team led by Arvind Subramanian the former chief economic adviser to the Modi government provides a tantalizing blueprint for dispensing cash to Indias neediest citizens while potentially circumventing the countrys administrative infirmities. Subramanian, now a visiting lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School, and his co-authors have called for the next Indian government to implement what they call a QUBRI, or a quasi-universal basic rural income for India. We quote, The idea is simple enough: The government would provide an annual lump sum payment to every poor rural household in India no questions asked as a financial safety net. The proposal suggests an annual transfer of 18,000 rupees (1,500 rupees per month) to each eligible rural household about $250 annually. To target recipients effectively, the proposed QUBRI would exclude the richest 25 percent of households. Transfers would be sent electronically to recipient bank accounts, which are ubiquitous now even in remote areas thanks to a recent government effort to universalize banking access. The authors estimate the costs of the scheme would be around 1.3 percent of Indias gross domestic product a significant chunk of which would come from eliminating a raft of regressive agricultural subsidies. This sounds wonderful in practice, but the politics are not nearly as cut and dry. For starters, if eliminating farmer subsidies were painless, the government would have done it a long time ago. Research suggests that many Indians are leery of giving up existing subsidies in favor of uncertain cash transfers. Moreover, the existing debate is exclusively focused on Indias rural dwellers when it is Indias urban population that is burgeoning as migrants flock to cities in search of opportunity. The inadequacy of formal-sector jobs and the abysmal state of urban amenities suggest it is only a matter of time before urban residents demand their share of government largesse. And the last word? As Milan says, "For now, technical details will be left to the economists and opinion writers to debate. For Indias politicians, theres an election to be won. But the question remains: Will the Indian electorate really be wooed by a mere promise of easy cash? In 2014, voters were drawn to Modi like a moth to a flame, swayed by his pledge of ushering in acche din (good times) for the Indian economy, generating millions of jobs and reviving Indias moribund investment cycle. Five years later, his promises remain unfulfilled and voters, for their part, have begun to expect more. A complex idea simplified Prasanna Mohanty wrote in India Today this week, that Congress' promise to ensure minimum income guarantee for the poor has brought the UBI debate into the mainstream with the tempting prospect of a guaranteed, monthly basic income being dispensed to every single citizen of a country -- regardless of her social, educational or economic standing. But the piece tried to go beyond the broad strokes in which the idea of UBI is painted to understand the fine print. In 2016-17, as we pointed out earlier, the Economic Survey of India presented a model for UBI. The basic premise of the Economic Survey's UBI was: A just society needs to guarantee to each individual a minimum income which they can count on, and which provides the necessary material foundation for a life with access to basic goods and a life of dignity. The piece says that The Economic Survey of India's model of UBI suggested providing Rs 7,620 per annum to 75 percent of India's population. We quote, Now, Rahul Gandhi's plan seems to target only the poor. Rahul Gandhi has not said whether his proposed minimum income guarantee will cover 22 percent of the population or 29.5 percent. Also, Rahul Gandhi has not declared what the "minimum income" has would be." Unquote. So what is the essential difference between UBI and Minimum Income Guarantee? The answer is and we quote, A universal basic income provides a monthly stipend that would ensure that a person would be above the poverty line without any other source of income. (Thus, the Economic Survey of India suggested a UBI of Rs 7,620 per annum). A minimum income guarantee, on the other hand, is pretty much at the discretion of the government of the day -- it can be equal, more or less than the poverty line expenditure. A way to liberty and equality? basicincome.org lists the reasons that have all been invoked in Universal Basic Incomes favour, including liberty and equality, efficiency and community, common ownership of the Earth and equal sharing in the benefits of technical progress, the flexibility of the labour market and the dignity of the poor, the fight against inhumane working conditions, against the desertification of the countryside and against interregional inequalities, the viability of cooperatives and the promotion of adult education, autonomy from bosses, husbands and bureaucrats. We quote, The inability to tackle unemployment with conventional means has, in the last decade or so, become a major reason for the idea being taken seriously. Social policy and economic policy can no longer be conceived separately, and Basic Income is increasingly viewed as the only viable way of reconciling two of their respective central objectives: poverty relief and full employment. Grassroots activism for Basic Income has increased greatly since 2010. In addition, many prominent European social scientists have now come out in favour of it among them several Nobel laureates in economics. In a few countries some major politicians, including from parties in government, are also beginning to stick their necks out in support of it. At the same time, the relevant literature on the economic, ethical, political and legal aspects is gradually expanding and those promoting the idea, or just interested in it, in various European countries and across the world have started organizing into active networks. Yet, the proposal also receives strong political resistance in most countries. For now, as a well-known economist and a former Prime Minister said on the cusp of India's economic liberalisation, we are witnessing an idea whose time has come. The idea of UBI is however far more complex than it seems on paper. Its implementation will require more than just political grandstanding. As we have learnt over the years, promises are cheap in political lexicon. It is the implementation that is expensive and causes more harm that good when executed without enough rumination. IMA Ponzi scheme case: A multi-crore scheme run by Karnataka-based I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) and its group entities allegedly duped lakhs of people by promising higher returns using Islamic ways of investment. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is currently investigating the case and has filed at least three FIRs. (File image of the CBI headquarters) West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi is preparing a report on the prevailing situation in the state in the wake of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's dharna against CBI's attempt to grill Kolkata Police chief, according to a source in the Raj Bhavan. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had called up Tripathi on February 3 to take stock of the situation after a CBI team, which went to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's residence in the city to question him in connection with ponzi scams, was denied permission, bundled into jeeps and whisked to a police station. The chief minister has been sitting on a dharna since 8.30 pm from February 3 in protest against CBI action, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a coup in Bengal. According to officials, Tripathi told the Union home minister that he had summoned the chief secretary and director general of police (DGP) and asked them to take immediate action to resolve the situation. The source in the Raj Bhavan said that the Special Investigation Branch (SIB) submitted its findings to Tripathi, following which he has started compiling a report, meant to be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs. He also said that the governor was preparing the report after holding discussions with state Chief Secretary Malay De and other officials. Mamata Banerjee_TMC West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that her dharna against the CBI's attempt to grill the Kolkata Police chief in the chit fund scam cases will continue till Friday in view of the upcoming boards examinations. Banerjee is sitting on a dharna at the Metro Channel in Esplanade area in the heart of the city, the same spot she had sat on a 26-day fast in 2006 against the acquisition of farmland at Singur for the Tata Motors factory. She has termed her dharna as "satyagraha" against the CBI and the Centre, which she said was attempting a "coup" in Bengal. "This demonstration will continue till February 8. Because the boards examinations will be starting soon and we will not be playing the loudspeakers," she said. Earlier in the day, Banerjee had said she would continue her "satyagraha" till the country and its Constitution are "saved". A CBI team had gone to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's residence in the city on Sunday to question him in connection with multi-crore chit fund scams, but was denied permission, bundled into jeeps and whisked to a police station. The Trinamool Congress supremo has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a "coup" in the state and alleged that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is directing CBI to harass political opponents on the orders of the prime minister. Effigies of Modi and Shah were burnt in several parts of the state including Burdwan, Birbhum, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts. Trinamool activists also blocked trains in Howrah and Hooghly districts and put up blockades on the national highway in Bankura district. Vedanta | CRISIL downgraded long term credit rating to AA-/Stable from AA/Negative. (Image: PTI) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Indian miner Vedanta said on Monday that its foreign unit Cairn India Holdings Limited's investment in Anglo American Plc met all governance requirements. Vedanta's statement comes days after its shares plunged on Friday, as investors were skeptical of the merits of the investment and questioned the potential returns. The miner said on Thursday that Cairn India had paid $200 million to buy a stake in Anglo American from its parent Volcan Investments Ltd as part of its "cash management activities". The Ruias have opened a new front in the much contested Essar Steel. Prashant Ruia, along with Essar Steel directors have moved the Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on February 1, citing the January 31 order of the Supreme Court. The order states that directors of a company facing insolvency should be consulted by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) before arriving at a resolution. The CoC consists of lenders to the insolvent company. Basing their application on the order, the Essar Steel directors have made four demands: - To set aside the decision taken by the creditors to accept ArcelorMittal's offer;- To provide the applicants (the three directors) with all resolution plans submitted by potential applicants, which were considered and deliberated by the CoC;- To provide applicants "with such other documents required for proper deliberations of the resolution plans submitted by potential resolution applicants;" - and pass appropriate orders to direct the resolution professional to convene a meeting of the CoC and consider afresh resolution plans The two directors, who are part of the application along with Ruia are: Dilip Oommen, Managing Director and Deputy CEO, Essar Steel; and Rajiv Kumar Bhatnagar, Director (Projects), Essar Steel. The NCLT had in January turned down an application by Essar Steel Asia Holdings to submit ts plan to Essar Steel's creditors. While ArcelorMittal's bid of Rs 42,000 crore has the backing of lenders, the Ruias have proposed an offer of Rs 54,000 crore. Supreme Court's order The Apex Court was listening to the insolvency case of Ruchi Soya, the country's largest edible oil maker that is now in the insolvency courts. Even as its resolution case was in process, its director Vijay Kumar Jain, who alleged that he was not allowed to participate in the CoCo meetings. While the NCLAT dismissed his plea, Jain appealed to the Supreme Court. Though the lenders cited Section 21(2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which says that a "director who is also a financial creditor who is a related party of the corporate debtor shall not have any right of representation, participation, or voting in a meeting of the committee of creditors." But the Supreme Court said that the condition only applies to directors who are 'related' to the corporate debtor, who in this case are the promoters of Ruchi Soya. Giving the order, judges RF Nariman and Navin Sinha said: "The appellants (the director) will be given copies of all resolution plans submitted to the CoC within a period of two weeks from the date of this judgment. The resolution applicant in each of these cases will then convene a meeting of the CoC within two weeks thereafter, which will include the appellants as participants." The order then asked the CoC to deliberate the resolution plans afresh. Ruias' hope The order will now give more time in the hands of the Ruias, who are keen to retain Essar Steel, the crown jewel of their conglomerate. They are yet to challenge the NCLT's decision to turn down request to consider their proposal. Sources close to the development said that the promoters are waiting for the cases, related to operational creditors moving the NCLT, to be first sorted. Meanwhile, the NCLAT has directed the Ahmedabad bench of the NCLT to decide on the Essar Steel case by February 11. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Shares of Reliance Communications plunged 48 percent on Monday morning as investors reacted to developments around its debt resolution plan. The company has decided to file for bankruptcy in a bid to resolve matters related to its debt. The company that has over Rs 40,000 crore debt said this decision has been taken as their board has been unable to get a 100 percent approval of all 40 lenders on any matter. "Despite the passage of over 18 months, lenders have received zero proceeds from the proposed asset monetisation plans, and the overall debt resolution process is yet to make any headway," said RCom in a statement. The company told exchanges that it will seek fast-track resolution through National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai. They will implement the debt resolution plan through NCLT. RCom said it has been "impossible" to achieve an approval on the debt resolution matter despite having over 45 meetings with the lenders for over 12 months. "Recurring legal challenges by Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for spectrum monetisation and continuing litigation by other parties support the decision to opt for the NCLT resolution track," the company said. The company also pointed to the pendency of numerous legal issues at high courts, Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) and the Supreme Court impeding progress at various stages, as a reason for going to NCLT. Other Group companies of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance fell as well. Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Naval, among others, fell 5-10 percent as well. More than half of India's working-age population (those over 15 years but below 64 years) are not contributing to any economic activity. This is one of the controversial findings from the jobs survey carried out by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). The findings of this survey have been withheld by the government and two senior members of the Statistics Commission have quit in protest. The survey suggested that the labour force participation rate (LFPR), which determines the percentage of people who are either working or looking for work, was 49.8 percent in 2017-18, down from 55.9 percent in 2011-12 and 63.7 percent in 2004-05, Business Standard reported. "It's a serious cause of worry as you are unable to utilise the demographic dividend factor -- especially keeping in mind the fact that 65 percent of the population is in the working age group," Radhika Kapoor, Fellow, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, said. Between 2011-12 and 2017-18, active labour force for females declined by twice in the age group 15 years and above. In the same time period, the LFPR for females plunged around eight percentage points to 23.3 percent. In comparison, the LFPR for males was down four percentage points to 75.8 percent in 2017-18. This shows that only about 25 percent of India's females were actively working or seeking jobs in 2017-18. Rural areas saw a steeper fall in the LFPR than in urban areas, with the former falling from 67.7 percent to 58.7 percent and the latter falling from 49.3 percent to 47.6 percent in the period between 2011-12 to 2017-18. "Education plays a big role in the declining size of the labour force. But case studies and field reports also suggest that lack of suitable work, especially for women, is not readily available. Flexibility in work timings and proximity to their households are an important factor for females," said Amit Basole, Head of the Centre for Sustainable Employment at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. Female LFPR declined sharply by more than 11 percentage points in rural areas, while it remained almost the same in urban areas. The unemployment rate among the youth was in the range of 13.6-27.2 percent, up two-three times from 2011-12 levels. Members of the crowds cheer and take photographs as 'Turkish Stars', F-5 fighter airplanes, the aerobatic team of the Turkish Air Force, fly in formation over Istanbul's new airport, during the Teknofest aviation, space and technology fair in Istanbul, Turkey. (Image: AP/PTI) The government will soon invite bids for 21 new routes under the governments regional connectivity scheme, UDAN, to connect few left out places in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Bids on these routes will be invited on February 8-9, 2019, a senior aviation ministry told Moneycontrol. The official further said that the new routes will connect unserved areas of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, hilly regions of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and north-eastern states. UDAN, short for Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik, is a government sponsored scheme to connect tier-II and tier-III cities with tier-I or metro cities. The scheme aims to make air travel affordable for economically weaker citizens by capping fares, for every one hour flight, at Rs 2,500. Also read: UDAN 3: Centre announces regional connectivity for 235 routes The scheme, launched in 2016-17, is funded by the government through a Viability Gap Fund, where the government reimburses the airlines for subsidised pricing. Centre, on January 25, released 235 routes that were awarded under third phase of the scheme. Certain routes, however, were yet to be finalised in consultation with state governments and were withheld by the ministry. Ministry of civil aviation has already awarded 128 routes under the first phase of UDAN and 312 routes under the second phase. Of these, 76 routes are operational under the former and 60 are operational under the latter. India has close to 100 airports that are operational at the moment coupled with 31 helipads that are being prepared for operation. The 235 routes, under the third phase, will provide connectivity to 16 new airports, 17 under-served airports, 50 served airports and six aerodromes, taking the total connectivity to 89 airports under the this phase. Moneycontrol News After a three-month ordeal, the husband of former vice president (Corporations/PR) and secretary of Paytm Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Rupak Jain has been granted bail by the Allahabad High Court. The duo were arrested in an alleged extortion bid. "Bail was approved by the High Court on Jan 31st. We are expecting the order copy to come in a couple of days," Satish Kumar, their lawyer told Moneycontrol. "We had stressed upon the fact that no money transfer had happened into Rupak's bank account and he wan't even an employee of Paytm," he added. Dhawan was arrested on October 22 along with her husband and an admin resource of Paytm Devender Kumar for allegedly being part of the extortion bid. Ajay Shekhar Sharma, brother of Vijay Shekhar Sharma, had earlier told Moneycontrol that a person named Rohit Chomwal from Kolkata had tried to extort Rs 20 crore by threatening to leak "some photos and personal financial details" of his brother at the behest of Dhawan. Chomal had apparently taken the names of Dhawan, Jain and Kumar stating that they were the people behind the plot. The family had moved the high court seeking bail for Jain after the Surajpur District Court rejected his plea in November stating that the crime was of "serious nature". Jain is currently under judicial custody and bail will be processed once the family gets hold of the order copy. Dhawan too is in custody and her bail appeal is pending before the Surajpur District court. The case has seen multiple allegations and counter allegations. In October, the family had alleged that the promoters of Paytm were pressurising Dhawan to sell stake in the company and that she was being framed. Interestingly, their previous lawyer had stated that Dhawan and Jain had received an extortion call of Rs 5 crore on September 22, two days after Vijay Shekhar Sharma received a similar call. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on February 4 turned down Tata Steel's request to consider its bid as the 'most legitimate" one for Bhushan Power & Steel. It now makes JSW Steel the favourite to bag the insolvent company, cementing its position as the country's largest steelmaker. Bhushan Power has a capacity to make 3.5 million tons of steel a year. JSW Steel has a capacity to produce 19 million tons of steel a year as compared to Tata Steel's 18 million tons, in India. Tata Steel had moved the tribunal after Bhushan Power's lenders agreed to consider a competing bid by Liberty House, which the Tata company said had come into the race past the deadline. But the Tribunal, in its order, upheld the lenders' decision. JSW Steel had in August surprised everyone by upping its bid to Rs 19,700 crore against Tata Steel's Rs 17,000 crore and Liberty House's Rs 18,500 crore bids. Bhushan Power & Steel, which was owned by the Delhi-based Singhal family, has a debt of over Rs 45,000 crore. JSW Steel now needs to get the nod from NCLT for its bid. Tata Steel is yet to disclose if it will contest today's decision. Sanjay Singhal has also moved the courts, under section 12A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The section allows for the withdrawal of a resolution case from the courts if agreed to by 90 percent of the lenders. Singhal has promised to pay back Bhushan Power's Rs 47,000 crore debt. Auto major Honda Cars India plans to revamp its entire sales network over the next three years entailing an investment of up to Rs 270 crore in collaboration with dealer partners, a senior company official said on February 4. The adoption of a new corporate identity will cover over 400 dealerships which is expected to be completed in the next three years. "We have embarked on revamping all our dealerships and new outlets in the pipeline as per what we call as our new corporate identity of Honda on the retail front. In very simple terms we are changing the look and face of the dealerships," Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) Senior Vice President and Director Marketing & Sales Rajesh Goel told PTI in an interview. The idea is to improve the retail experience of customers and to make them identify with the premiumness of the Honda brand, he added. Elaborating on the exercise, Goel said the company started planning the process two-years ago and has now initiated it nationally. "It will take around three years to modernise the entire network... we will do it in a progressive manner and by the end of three years our entire 350 dealerships and another 70 odd outlets which we are planning to open will be revamped," he said. When asked about the planned investment on the initiative, he added, "Over the next three years, between Rs 250-270 crore is estimated to be spent towards this exercise." The investment per dealership would be in the range of Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1.10 crore per facility and would be put in by dealer partners with contribution from Honda, Goel noted. The company, which sells popular models like City and Amaze sedans, currently has 350 facilities in 239 cities spread across the country and plans to have another 70 odd outlets over the next two years. The company is initiating such an exercise after 8-10 years, necessitated by the change in customer behaviour over a period of time. "In retail and restaurants business you need to continue innovating and evolving... now the challenge is greater (for us), as customers already know about the product when they go into a showroom," Goel said. Customers now visit a showroom to touch and experience the product and take a final call because that is a trigger; so it is very important to provide them the right buying environment and ambience, he added. "To feel very nice and premium, but still warm and welcome; and not intimidating, that is the purpose of our moving into this new corporate identity," Goel said. As part of new corporate identity, the company will have new colour scheme at dealerships, interiors will be seamless and clutter free and futuristic with digital aspects brought in, he added. The company will use various things including 75 inch LED screen for video driven product explanation, accessory and colour configurators plus the iWorkshop would help provide real-time updates and a more holistic after sales experience, Goel said. March has been a tough month, not just for the auto industry but all over India, manufacturers have been shutting their doors thanks to the coronavirus outbreak. With this mind, while sales in the auto industry did happen, there were some losers. To keep things in perspective, here are the top losers when it comes to cars compared to February. Sounak Mitra Automobile companies did not have a good beginning to the year. Rising vehicle prices, lack of vehicle financing options, weak consumer sentiment and unstable fuel prices together affected sales of passenger vehicles in January. While numbers for two-wheelers are yet to come, most passenger vehicle makers reported a decline or a flat performance. This continues a trend that has now been visible for the past couple of years due to different reasons. It goes way back to when the aftershocks of demonetisation (November 2016) were felt. Even investor interest is down. During the past one year, the S&P BSE Auto Index fell by around 25 percent. The worst is not over. One more big challenge is lying in wait. By April 2020, automobile companies have to meet the Bharat Stage VI emission norms, which will see car prices increase. The silver lining is that prior to the implementation of BS-VI, there is likely to be a surge in sales of BS-IV vehicles as they are likely to be cheaper than the latest BS-VI vehicles. Besides, two-wheelers will have to comply with safety norms, including Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) and Combined Braking System (CBS) by April this year. This will also increase the price of two-wheelers. Globally, the auto industrys focus is on electric vehicles and autonomous cars. The Modi government has high hopes that electric vehicles will account for around 30 percent of total vehicle sales. Electric vehicles constitute a small fraction at present. In 2017-18, 56,000 electric vehicles were sold compared to 3.2 million passenger cars. But the government is yet to finalise a proper EV policy. Automakers had expected that the Interim Budget will clear clouds on EV policy but were disappointed. The only thing mentioned was that India will lead the transportation drive at the forefront with electric vehicles ensuring energy security and reducing import dependence on crude from Gulf countries. But, interim finance minister Piyush Goyal did not lay out measures to support the automobile industry. It has been pointed out by experts that proposed (Budget) sops --on rebate in income tax for people with income up to Rs 5 lakh, extension of tax deducted at source (threshold up from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000 on bank and post office deposits), increase in standard deduction, and proposed assured income support of Rs 6,000 a year to around 12 crore marginal farmers (with land holding of less than two hectares) will boost consumption, especially in rural India. While the aggregate amount is substantial, the cash in hand for individuals may prove too little even for small-ticket purchases. The only thing that looks realistic is smaller daily essential buys. The government did take one step related to electric vehicles, on 29 January. It reduced customs duty on import of parts and components for electric vehicles to 10 to 15 percent from 15 to 30 percent earlier, but increased duty on import of batteries to 5 percent from zero earlier. Automakers will have to be happy with this for now. While Yellow Vest protests continue against Macrons reforms, former IMF head Carto Cottarelli believes the new Italian government represents a populist anti-austerity sentiment, moving from the streets into the EU parliament. In an interview with RTs Sophie Shevardnadze, Cottarelli suggested that the Yellow Vests principles have now found expression on a parliamentary level in Italy. Italys new populist government promises sharp increases in public spending and offers harsh criticism of current EU leadership and French President Emmanuel Macron in particular. The yellow jackets are already in power in Italy, so I dont think there are going to be any demonstrations, he said noting that the Italian government sees Macrons weakness as their strength. Now Rome is looking for options to move beyond making criticisms, proposing a Euroskeptic alliance with the conservative Polish government to counter the Paris-Berlin axis. While Cottarelli doesnt believe that Italy and Poland will be able to make a major difference in the EU, the new alliance could impede the movement that France and Germany would like to have in another direction. The pro-austerity economist, who is less-than affectionately known as Mr Scissors for pushing radical cuts to state budgets, was hesitant about the new Italian governments dedication to heavy social spending. Cottarelli, who was appointed to prime minister for a few days amid political turmoil in 2018, criticized Romes impossible initial spending plans, emphasizing the crucial role scaled down funding activity and compromise had played in getting the states budget approved by Brussels. Watch the full interview with Carto Cottarellihere. US envoy discusses 2nd Trump-Kim summit with S. Korean officials US envoy discusses 2nd Trump-Kim summit with S. Korean officials The US special envoy for North Korea met with South Koreas national security adviser on Monday to discuss a planned second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Seouls presidential office said. Stephen Biegun explained to Chung Eui-yong Washingtons stance toward North Korea ahead of talks on setting up the summit, the presidential Blue House said. There is speculation that Biegun will meet his North Korean counterpart at the Korean border village of Panmunjom or in Pyongyang this week, AP reported. The Blue House said Chung told Biegun that Seoul hopes the planning talks between the US and North Korea will pave the way for a successful summit.Source : RT - Daily news Iraqs president resoundingly dismissed Trumps idea of a US vigil on his countrys border, stating he had not asked for permission to watch Iran. Barham Salih instead suggested the US stick to its mission fighting terrorism. Speaking to reporters at a forum in Baghdad on Monday, Salih was responding to a question about remarks made by the US president to television network CBS on Sunday. Expressing his desire to keep a military presence in Iraq, Trump told the Face the Nation program: All I want to do is be able to watch neighboring Iran. Also on rt.com US wants to keep troops in Iraq to watch Iran Trump At present, approximately 5,200 US troops are currently based in Iraq. Spread out across several bases, the majority are based at either Al Asad Airbase in western Iraq or in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues, Salih said of the US growing tensions with Iran. READ MORE: 1 killed, 5 wounded in terrorist attack on militia base in Iran While acknowledging that the US was a major power in the region he demanded: do not pursue your own policy priorities, we live here. An ally of the US in defeating remaining pockets of Islamic State terrorists in the country, Iraq has found itself under increased pressure as tensions between the Trump administration and Iran grow after the US claimed Tehran was not sticking to the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal. Stating that Iraq wanted to be on good terms with all of its neighbors, Salih stressed that it was in his countrys fundamental interest to have a cordial relationship with Iran. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! US Democrat hotshot Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn have taken to social media to talk about their wide-reaching phone call, prompting much excitement among British and American socialists. Could this meeting of progressive minds be the start of a beautiful new political love-in to take the US-UK special relation to the next level? Corbyn revealed on Sunday evening that he had spoken to Ocasio-Cortez, a newly-elected Democrat in the US Congress, who is commonly referred to as AOC. The Labour leader said that it had been great to exchange views with the young US politician, who, like he, is also a self-confessed democratic socialist. He committed to creating a new world with AOC, saying: Lets build a movement across borders to take on the billionaires, polluters and migrant baiters, and support a happier, freer and cleaner planet. The New York congresswoman who is causing a stir on the US political stage since being elected at the beginning of this year, claimed that it had been an honour to chat to the Labour leader and outline their shared hope for both nations and the wider world. Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: ...honored to share a great hope in the peace, prosperity, + justice that everyday people can create when we uplift one another across class, race, + identity both at home & abroad. The meeting of the two has prompted a deluge of responses on social media, with many, including prominent teenage Corbynista Hasan Patel, speculating on when they will meet face-to-face. Others suggested a US-UK alliance between progressives should be welcomed. However not everyone welcomed the news, with some warning Ocasio-Cortez that Corbyn was to be treated with caution when it came to the issue of anti-Semitism. The Democrat responded to the warnings by insisting her team would be reaching out to the Labour leader on the matter. Some political commentators have drawn comparisons between US democratic progressives led by Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders and UK Labour Party progressives led by Jeremy Corbyn. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media wont tell you. Venezuelans stay ready to repel a military assault whenever it comes, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has said. She was firing back at US President Donald Trumps remark that a military invasion is an option in Venezuela. Also on rt.com Latin America Great Again? On the REAL chances of the US invasion to Venezuela Speaking to the Russian media on Sunday, Rodriguez said Venezuela considers Trumps remark unacceptable. If an attack is mounted on the countrys sovereignty, its army and people are fully prepared to retaliate, she stressed, calling the matter of the nations independence non-negotiable. The sovereignty is not discussed, it is defended, she stressed. Rodriquez added that the people of Venezuela will be on standby to defend the countrys borders and wont allow any foreign interference, regardless of where it comes from. We are always ready to fend off an attack. Rodriguez did not specify whether Caracas had taken any extra steps to prepare the country for a potential military attack, such as reinforcing the border, noting that all such questions should be addressed to Columbia, a US ally in the region, which is doing that. Reports that Venezuelas western neighbor may serve as a trampoline for the US troops if the military option is enacted have been fueled by a notepad flashed by US National Security Adviser John Bolton last week that read 5,000 troops to Colombia. However, Bogota has since denied it had any knowledge of the implied deployment and said that Washington had not asked its permission to send in its troops. The Venezuelan minister pledged that her government is capable of defusing the political crisis by peaceful means, in strict compliance with the constitution. Of course, we call for solving all problems peacefully, by establishing dialogue and resolving issues at the electoral level, she said. Rodriguezs remarks were echoed by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, who tweeted on Sunday that Trump has confirmed he is at the forefront of the coup by floating the military option. Speaking to CBS on Saturday, Trump ruled out any negotiations with Venezuelas President Nicholas Maduro while saying that sending the US military to Venezuela was an option. He did not elaborate further, only noting that he would not speak with the Venezuelan leader because were very far along in the process. The US has recognized Guaido as legitimate head of the country, handing him over control of the countrys assets in the US. Several of its Latin American allies followed the lead shortly. Russia, China, Mexico and Turkey, along with other countries continue to stand behind Maduro and urge dialog to resolve the crisis. France, Germany and Spain have threatened to jump on the US bandwagon and recognize Guaido on Monday, when the 8-day ultimatum they gave to Maduro to call early presidential elections, expires. Venezuelan government alleges that the US is meddling in its affairs in hope of profiting from its vast oil reserves, the biggest in the world, and other natural riches. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Swedens first batch of new conscripts since the country brought back the military draft in 2017 have begun training exercises to fend off an invasion from Russia, in news that might come as a surprise to, wellRussia. Sweden's first new conscripts prepare to repel Russian invaders, claims a sensational headline in the UKs Telegraph newspaper a headline which would almost make you believe there was some fact-based reason to expect an imminent Russian invasion of Sweden. The Swedish parliament voted to reintroduce the draft in 2017, with the government citing a deteriorated security situation in Europe and admitting that the army had trouble staffing the military units on a voluntary basis. Also on rt.com Russia invades Norway in new Scandinavian TV series The Telegraph article quotes Colonel Bo Stennabb, the commanding officer of a regiment of fresh-faced 19 and 20-year old conscripts. Stennabb says that more aggressive behaviour by Russia in the Baltic Sea, including Russian incursions into Swedish airspace (which Russia has denied), has made Europe less safe. Of course, no mention was made in the article of US military and spy planes which frequently fly close to Russias own borders in exactly the same area. Anyway, aside from the usual tit-for-tat engagements between Russian and NATO planes over the Baltic, there has been no indication whatsoever that Moscow has any interest in invading Sweden a fact of which the Telegraph is likely well aware. Still, no point wasting an opportunity to fear-monger about the Russian bear, right? The news raised some eyebrows, however, with many surprised to learn of Russia's impending invasion of Sweden. Russian invasion hysteria in Sweden kicked off in 2014 when the countrys navy carried out a fruitless search for a Russian submarine, which had allegedly been spotted off the Swedish coast, until it later turned out that the vessel was a work boat. When a television mast came down in Sweden in 2016, some media immediately jumped to the conclusion that Russia could be the culprit. Like this story? Share it with a friend. Pope Francis became the first pontiff to set foot on the Arabian Peninsula on Monday, as he received a pompous welcome in the United Arab Emirates, just after he slammed the bloody Yemen war they help to spearhead. The Emirates have rolled out the welcome mat for Francis, who was greeted by Abu Dhabis Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and his entourage on Monday. The pontiff arrived with a delegation of clerics and was presented a bouquet of flowers. The papal visit, a first of its kind to the Islam-dominated Arabian Peninsula, will continue on Tuesday with a much-awaited mess for about 135,000 Catholics. Top UAE officials and Muslim religious leaders are expected to attend it. Speaking ahead of the visit, Francis said that he hopes to use an opportunity to write a new page in the history of relations between religious. The visit is overshadowed by the Yemen war, in which the UAE plays a significant part. The brutal conflict has put the war-ravaged country on the brink of total devastation, with over 60,000 reported killed as result of the hostilities and further 85,000 perished due to famine, epidemics and lack of basic medical care. While the UAEs involvement in the conflict has not been so high-profile as that of Saudi Arabia, which leads the coalition of Arab states against the Houthi rebels and in support of the ousted president Mansur Hadi, it has contributed both troops and warplanes. The kingdoms role in the almost a four-year-war was highlighted in the recent report that the American military have been training Emirati fighter pilots to be dispatched in Yemen. READ MORE: Yemen's true death toll has topped 60,000 but media too lazy to update body count NGO Before his departure for Abu Dhabi, Francis condemned the war, calling on all sides to stick to a shaky truce deal struck up in December. The truce has been repeatedly violated since. The UN this weekend hosted a meeting between the warring parties on a sheep in the Red Sea in an attempt to preserve it. The cry of these children and their parents rises up to God, Francis said during his customary Sunday address in Vatican. He urged to pray for the children who are hungry, who are thirsty, lack medicine and tread on a brink of death. Francis said he follows the humanitarian crisis in the country with great concern, pointing out, in particular, that despite acute food shortage, no access to food supplies is enabled. He was referring to the Arab coalition naval and air blockade of the country, which relied heavily on food import to feed itself even before the war broke out in 2015. Also on rt.com Saudi-led coalition accused of using Sudanese child mercenaries like firewood to fuel Yemen war I call on the concerned parties and the international community to assure the distribution of food and work for the well-bring of Yemeni people. The pontiff has often invoked the sufferings of civilians in Yemen in his public addresses, using his Christmas mess in December to endorse peace talks and express hopes that a UN-brokered ceasefire can finally bring relief to all those children and people exhausted by war and famine. The hopes that the truce agreement signed in Sweden would pave the way for a lasting peace were trumpeted after violence broke out again mid-January. Following a Houthi drone attack on a government military parade that killed six, the Saudi-led coalition carried massive airstrikes on the Yemeni capital, engaging both military and civilian targets. The Houthis called the bombing very violent, and said many civilians were targeted. The flare-up in tensions is feared to derail the talks. On Saturday, Jordan said it would host further negotiations, but fell short of announcing the date. The talks are expected to focus on a prisoner swap deal. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Rapper 21 Savage, who was long considered to be a homegrown Atlanta talent, has been arrested by the US immigration, which said he is a British citizen, who overstayed his visa by 13 years. The Atlanta-based rapper was arrested on Sunday morning after ICE agents pulled over a car, in which he and three other people were travelling. The agency described the op as a targeted law enforcement raid. He and his companions were arrested and 21 Savage was outed as being a UK citizen illegally staying in the US. In a statement, following the 26-year-olds arrest, the ICE said that the Grammy nominee, whose real name Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was taken into ICE custody as he is unlawfully present in the US and also a convicted felon. Also on rt.com Dont tip immigrants: Restaurant rages after couple leaves discriminatory message The ICE spokesman said that the rapper arrived into the US from the UK in July 2005 on non-immigrant visa and did not leave by July 2006, when his visa expired. In addition to being an illegal alien, the hip-hop star was swooped in 2014 on felony drug charges. The agency has initiated deportation proceedings against the rapper, who will now face an immigration court. The agency also alleged that the rapper has artificially crafted his image to appear a homegrown celebrity while actually being a foreigner. His whole public persona is false. He actually came to the U.S. from the U.K. as a teen and overstayed his visa, an ICE spokesman said, as reported by CNN correspondent Nick Valencia on Twitter. The news has come as a complete shock to the fans of the heavily-tattooed performer, who was widely presumed to have been born and bred in Atlanta. Twitter has immediately lost it, erupting in a storm of memes referencing the rappers noble origins. Londons iconic red telephone box, the famous double-decker and her Majesty the Queen all have come into action. Meaner commentators have been cracking up jokes as the expense of 21 Savages lyrics that now have obtained a whole new meaning. The rappers attorney, Dina LaPolt, described his client as a role model to the young people in the country especially in Atlanta, Georgia, adding that his defense team has been working to have ICE release the artist and clear up any misunderstandings. The rapper has been making an illustrious career in the US. His newest album, I Am > I Was was released in December 2018 and was number one on the Billboard 200 for two weeks. The album features Travis Scott, Childish Gambino and others. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Crude oil prices hit a 2019 high on Monday. The surge comes shortly after Washington slapped sanctions on the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA. Futures on US and global benchmarks, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude, rose to the highest level since late November 2018. Brent was up more than one percent and trading at $64.40 a barrel as of 10:49am GMT. Meanwhile US WTI crude rose to $55.53. READ MORE: US announces sanctions against Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA Oil prices have been on the rise since the US Treasury announced the seizure of $7 billion in assets of Venezuelas state oil firm PDVSA and its US subsidiary Citgo last week. The US sanctions against the Latin American country will also affect $11 billion worth of exports as Washington is waging a campaign to support Juan Guaido, who recently declared himself Venezuelas new leader. Also on rt.com Russia vows to defend its Venezuelan oil assets Another factor behind the oil market rally is the supply cuts imposed by the member-states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied oil producers. The cartel and the worlds biggest exporter, Saudi Arabia, slashed its output more than expected under the OPEC deal, to 10.2 million barrels a day in January and is aiming to pump around 100,000 barrels less in February. You have the sanctions on Venezuela, on top of the reduced supply from Saudi Arabia, Olivier Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix, said as cited by Reuters. Theres no sign of overhang in the crude oil markets. Also on rt.com Is a mystery plane heading to Russia loaded with Venezuelan gold? While OPEC and allied producers are slashing their output in an attempt to boost crude prices, which saw a rapid fall last year, the US has been opposing the measure and vowed to continue expanding its supply. A report published by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) last week showed that the countrys oil production averaged a record 11.9 million barrels a day in November, up 345,000 from October and up nearly 1.8 million compared with November 2017s average figures. For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section Up and coming MMA prospect Maurice Adorf bears an uncanny resemblance to notorious UFC star Conor McGregor at an event in Germany, even going so far as to employ some of McGregor's favorite techniques in his first-round win. We don't know just yet when former UFC 'champ champ' Conor McGregor will set foot in the Octagon again, but it appears that we might have the next best thing in Maurice Adorf, a 2-0 professional who fights of out Fight Club Gelsenkirchen in his native Germany. READ MORE: Conor McGregor posts vicious Khabib barb before mysteriously deleting tweet Adorf, complete with a McGregor-like haircut and trademark chest tattoo, needed little time to defeat Ridvan Nuka at Saturday's event in Hamburg but it wasn't so much the win that has got the MMA community talking but more so that manner in which he did it. The Irishman once boasted that he has 'every trick in the book' when it comes to his fight strategy, but if that is indeed the case, it appears that Adorf has already read the first few chapters. All of McGregor's movements were on display, from his entrance to the cage to the 'teep' kicks that McGregor used so effectively on Chad Mendes. The check-hook used by McGregor to defeat Jose Aldo to claim the UFC's featherweight crown in December 2015 was also on show. While it will take Adorf a long time to emulate the achievements of McGregor, perhaps for the first time we have a suitable riposte to the 'There's Only One Conor McGregor' chants which echo around the arenas in which the Irishman competes. "They don't move like I move?" We're not so sure about that one anymore. Some Swedish schools have almost exclusively either foreign-born or Swedish children, according to a recent study. The increasing segregation leads to lower education levels and missed opportunities for the kids, officials warn. Thousands of migrants children in Sweden are less and less likely to meet their Swedish classmates at school, according to a survey from the state-funded SVT TV channel. The study of 3,641 Swedish schools published last week shows four out of 10 schools have an imbalance in the ratio of migrant and Swedish children compared to the overall proportion in the given municipality. Officials say segregation is real and that it directly affects students performance. We get an increased concentration of students based on social background and thus differences in terms of school performance, Peter Fredriksson, chief of the Swedish National Agency for Education, said, commenting on the study. You should have the same opportunities to succeed regardless of which school you go to. But it is not the case today. A 2017 report showed a sharp increase in the performance gap between migrant students and Swedish-born children, with socio-economic background and neighborhood being the key factors in the division. Compulsory school education has been a crucial element of Swedens social welfare system since 1842. Every child was entitled to attend the nearest school to their place of residence. In the 1990s, private schools emerged and parents gained the right to choose the school. A 2018 report reveals that well-educated Swedish-born families tend to withdraw from schools where children of parents with low-level education and migrant backgrounds prevail. According to the SVTs survey, local government attempts to improve the situation including measures such as school redistricting or merging several schools have not led to the desired results, and the National Agency for Education statistics still shows uneven distribution of students within the same municipalities. The report was met with a number of harsh reactions on social media, with some users complaining about violations of childrens rights. Each student should be free to choose the school and should not pay the price for politicians and the medias failure, one person tweeted. Another user blasted the officials for incompetence and wasting taxpayer money. Sweden has faced a deluge of refugees and asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, and other states in recent years. In 2015, a record-breaking 162,877 migrants entered the country. The influx forced the Swedish authorities to introduce border controls and stiffen immigration policies. Migrants now constitute 25 percent of students at Swedish schools, according to local media. Similar issues hit Germany, which opened its doors to asylum seekers in 2015. Every 10th student in Germany is a foreigner, according to 2018 state statistics. Migrant children make up 90-100 percent of students in some schools in western Germany. Main suspect in the Philippines cathedral bombings surrenders Main suspect in the Philippines cathedral bombings surrenders Five people suspected of involvement in the January 27 twin bombing of a Catholic cathedral in Jolo, the Philippines, have surrendered to authorities, local police reported. One of them is Alias Kamah, the alleged leader of the group behind the attack, which claimed 20 lives and left dozens injured.Source : RT - Daily news A Labour MP who heads the group in charge of the UKs arms control policy has come under fire after suggesting NGO statistics on civilian deaths caused by the Saudi-led coalition bombing of Yemen are exaggerated. The comments come after a damning report by NGO Control Arms UK last week cast light on how the UKs arms export policy has fueled human rights abuses in countries like Yemen. Graham Jones, who oversees the Commons Committees on Arms Export Controls (CAEC), claimed that a constant stream of stories provided by British NGOs about coalition airstrikes in Yemen had turned out to be a gross exaggeration. The CAEC comprises of four government select committees including defense, foreign affairs, international development, and business. Part of its remit includes the oversight of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The examples they finally do get to attribute, you suddenly find after investigating they are inaccurate and grossly inaccurate, he claimed. Speaking to the Guardian newspaper on Monday, Jones added that it was disgraceful how NGOs and loony leftwing organisations have refused to back the UNs unanimous position. The problems in Yemen are not an airstrike problem, they are an economic collapse problem created by the mismanagement of the economy by violent illegal and occupying militia, he added. Rather than finding any issue with Riyadhs conduct in the near-four year campaign or Western arms sales to the Kingdom, Jones said the blame for what was going on in Yemen lay at the doors of Iran, who have been supporting Houthi rebels fighting the Coalition. These assessments were countered by Andrew Smith of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT). Speaking to RT, Smith said that the Saudi-led bombardment on Yemen had caused the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. There is no doubt that atrocities have been committed on all sides, but that can be no justification for the brutal bombing which has killed thousands of people and destroyed vital infrastructure across Yemen, he said. Disputing Jones with the UNs own statistics, Smith added that the majority of child deaths in Yemen have been caused by Saudi bombs. Many of the fighter jets, missiles and bombs being used are made here in the UK. Also on rt.com Docs claim US trained UAE pilots for combat in Yemen, signaling deeper involvement in conflict While Jones brought into question the NGOs attempts to give a more accurate count of the civilian death toll in Yemen, even the UN admits that its own count may be underestimated. By the world bodys official count of civilian deaths in Yemen there has been a total of 17,062 civilian casualties 6,592 dead and 10,470 injured. A more recent figure gathered by researchers at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), however, states that between January 2016 and October 2018, at least 60,000 have been as direct combat casualties. READ MORE: Pope Francis, who denounced Yemeni bloodshed, gets red carpet welcome in perpetrator UAE Questioning how Jones was still a Labour MP, the journalist and activist Owen Jones tweeted: While the Saudi dictatorship reduces Yemen to the world's worst humanitarian crisis and murders kids with British bombs, pro-Saudi shill @GrahamJones_MP attacks the integrity of NGOs on the ground who are reporting the truth. David Wearing, an international relations expert at Royal Holloway meanwhile questioned the MPs credibility while defending the NGOs watching Yemens integrity. As an academic specialist on this, I can confirm that NGOs report on Yemen with the utmost care, professionalism and integrity. To say that Graham Jones MP lacks credibility would be the pinnacle of understatement. to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media wont tell you. French forces launch airstrikes at armed Libyan group in Chad French forces launch airstrikes at armed Libyan group in Chad The French armed forces have intervened in northern Chad and launched airstrikes at an armed group coming in from Libya, according to Frances Defense Ministry. The operation took place on Sunday and was organized in cooperation with the Chadian Army. A patrol of Mirage 2000 airplanes hit a column of 40 pickups coming from Libya that penetrated deep into Chadian territory, AP reported. The intervention, in response to a request from Chadian authorities, helped hinder this hostile progression and disperse the column, the ministry said. French President Emmanuel Macron visited Chad in December and reaffirmed French backing for African anti-extremist forces amid international concern about the chaos in Libya. Macron also met with French soldiers deployed in the Sahel region with Operation Barkhane, Frances largest overseas military mission.Source : RT - Daily news Moscow slammed EU states for trying to legitimize an attempt to usurp power in Venezuela after a number of key European countries recognized opposition figure Juan Guaido as interim president. Imposing some decisions or trying to legitimize an attempt to usurp power, in our view, is both direct and indirect interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told the media on Monday, while commenting on the recognition of Guaido. Earlier the same day, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, and several other EU states officially labeled Guaido the legitimate leader of Venezuela. This came after President Nicolas Maduro failed to comply with an ultimatum from these nations to declare a new election within eight days. More European countries then followed suit and recognized Guaido. Rejecting the ultimatum, Maduro reaffirmed that the election will take place as scheduled, in 2025. Peskov said that backing the self-proclaimed interim president simply makes a peaceful, effective and viable settlement of the crisis more difficult to achieve. On Monday, Russian FM Sergei Lavrov lashed out at the EU for setting up a contact group on Venezuela and deciding on its members. The body includes several EU and Latin American countries, but neither Russia, the US, or China were invited to join. Meanwhile, the bloc hasnt officially recognized Guaido as interim president yet, due to internal issues. According to an RT source, Italy has announced its veto of recognition at an informal meeting of the blocs foreign ministers in Romania. Rome had already made clear earlier that it would not back Guaido. Also on rt.com 'US creating coup in Venezuela, backed by every MSM outlet from MSNBC to Fox News' Lee Camp The opposition leader proclaimed himself interim president on January 23 and almost immediately saw a chorus of support from Washington and its allies, including Canada and several Latin American countries. The Venezuelan government slammed the move as a coup attempt and cautioned against any meddling or potential military action. While tough-talking US President Donald Trump says a military option for Venezuela was among the options, Maduro warned that Venezuela will defend itself at any cost and that the potential conflict could result in a new Vietnam for the US. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! The EUs position on Venezuela amounts to an ultimatum, rather than a mediating effort, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said as he slammed the bloc for not including all parties in the settlement talks. The EU believes it has the right to dictate conditions for international mediation efforts, Lavrov said during his visit to Bishkek on Monday. It is not mediation. It is an ultimatum. The Russian foreign minister also criticized the bloc for setting up a contact group in Venezuela, which includes several EU and Latin American countries. Neither we, nor China, nor the United States were invited, he stated, calling for all parties to gather and negotiate first. Also on rt.com Sovereignty is not discussed, its defended: Venezuela slams Trump over military option On Monday, several EU countries, including the UK, France, and Spain, recognized Juan Guaido as the nations interim president after the current head of state, Nicolas Maduro, firmly rejected the demand from the EU to declare a snap election within eight days. Maduro has announced that the election will take place as scheduled, in 2025. Lavrov reiterated that Maduro is ready for talks with the opposition without preconditions for the sake of national peace, but Guaido, backed by the US and EU, refused the negotiations. Guaido declared that the upcoming month would be a breaking point in the oppositions struggle for power and called for massive protests on February 12. READ MORE: 'Professional' opposition figure: Can Juan Guaido offer a meaningful alternative for Venezuela? Meanwhile, both pro and anti-government rallies continue to rock Venezuelan cities. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Caracas on Saturday to join a pro-government demo to commemorate 20 years since the late Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, launched the Bolivarian revolution. In the eastern part of the capital, tens of thousands also gathered for a rally organized by the opposition. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! MUSKEGON, MI The most cruise ships yet will visit Muskegon this year. Since cruise ships began stopping in Muskegon on purpose in 2016 the first stop in 2015 was unplanned there have been no more than two ships and 11 total moorings each year. This year, the schedule includes three ships making a total of 13 stops. The Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce is determined to bring even more ships to the city, said President Cindy Larsen. Its in talks with at least three more companies that could bring ships carrying double the number of passengers than those coming this year. Le Champlain, a French ship, will dock at Muskegons Heritage Landing park for the first time this year, bringing 200 passengers two times in the fall. The Pearl Mist will return to Muskegon 10 times this year. It was the first ship to stop in Muskegon in 2015 when it was diverted from Holland due to a docking conflict. It has moored in Muskegon at least nine times every year since. Also returning this year is the Victory I, which made a test stop in 2017. There were plans for one docking in 2018 and five in 2019, but those were canceled prior to the start of the 2018 season. The ship will visit Muskegon one time this year. Le Champlain is expected to bring more international passengers, compared to the other two ships, Larsen said. Theyre very prominent people, and theyre world travelers, she said of Great Lakes cruise passengers in general. These people have been all over the world and they still are in awe of our beautiful community, beaches, vistas, and arts and culture. We just take some things for granted here. Travelers on the three 200-passenger ships coming to Muskegon this summer pay rates ranging from $4,000-$15,000 for seven- to 11-night cruises. Muskegons tourist offerings range from the Lakeshore Museum Center, Muskegon Heritage Museum and Muskegon Museum of Art to the Frauenthal Center, USS Silversides and USS LST 393. There also are the beaches of Pere Marquette Park; public art and architecture; and downtown restaurants, breweries and shopping. Among the most popular places to visit are the Muskegon Heritage Museum and the beach, Larsen said. They love the heritage museum its very popular, she said. Because theyve traveled a lot they are really interested in learning about our community, our history and our culture. Its very unique and different to them - that was something we didnt expect. And when they arrive at Pere Marquette, they are shocked by the beaches, Larsen said. The first modern cruise ship mooring in Muskegon was in 2015 when the Pearl Mist of Pearl Seas Cruises was diverted from Holland to Muskegon due to a docking conflict. That event set off a flurry of activity, including dock improvements at Heritage Landing park, that has led to a growing cruise ship presence. Since then, the Chamber of Commerce has been proactive in attracting ships that bring hundreds of travelers to the city. Muskegon is a member of the Great Lakes Cruise Coalition and representatives attend the Sea Trade Convention annually. The Chamber is in talks with three or four more cruise companies that are interested in Muskegon stops, but it could be a while before they come, Larsen said. The ships have to be designed for the St. Lawrence Seaway so they either have to find a ship and buy it or build a ship, she said. Thats why this is a long process. A couple of the ships would have 400 passengers instead of 200 passengers - we would really feel their presence in the downtown. Heres the schedule of this years cruise ship visits: MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI Two Muskegon area residents are wanted in connection to a double-murder and robbery in North Carolina. Rebecka Ellen Willard, 23, was arrested Sunday and is being held on $800,000 bail, according to the Muskegon County Jail web site. She was arrested and is being held on a fugitive warrant out of Greensboro, N.C., according to a spokesman for police there. Damian Roger Verway, 20, has been in the Muskegon County Jail since Jan. 31, and is serving time for obstruction of justice, according to the web site. Greensboro police have placed a hold on him, meaning they have a warrant for Verway and Muskegon authorities will not release him from custody before checking with police there first, said Capt. Shane Brown with the Muskegon County Sheriffs Office. Both are wanted in connection to a double-murder, robbery and arson fire that occurred in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Jan. 23, according to Officer Ronald Glenn with the Greensboro Police Department. An 18-year-old North Carolina man, Chris Adrean Collins, has been arrested and charged in connection to the case, Glenn said. Firefighters were called to an apartment fire in Greensboro on Jan. 23, Glenn said. They rescued Lewis Franklin Humphrey, 44, from the burning structure, but were unable to resuscitate him, he said. After the fire was extinguished, investigators found a second victim, who was deceased, Glenn said. He was identified as Kevin Hugh Moore, 55, of Greensboro, Glenn said. It was determined that both men were murdered and that the fire was intentionally set, he said. The men did not die as a result of the fire, but the causes of their deaths are not being released, Glenn said. Collins, of Youngsville, North Carolina, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, first-degree arson and kidnapping, Glenn said. Kidnapping can mean that the victims were held against their will. Charges against Verway and Willard are still being determined, Glenn said. ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MI A driver rammed two patrol cars in Constantine before leading police on a high-speed chase that ended with a crash in Indiana, police said. The incident began around 2:45 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3, when a Constantine police officer stopped a vehicle near the entrance of a trailer park, at 1200 S. Washington St., for a license-plate violation. The driver stopped, then backed into the patrol car, turned around and headed toward the exit, police said. He then rammed a St. Joseph County sheriffs patrol car as he arrived for backup. The suspect was trying to drive around the patrol car when the deputy used his gun to break the drivers window and reach inside the vehicle. The deputy was dragged for a distance before he could free himself. The Constantine police officer fired a shot at the suspect, who was not hit. After making sure the deputy was OK, the Constantine police officer gave chase. He pursued the suspect south on South Washington/U.S. 131 business loop, before the chase crossed into Indiana, where the LaGrange County Sheriffs Department got involved. The pursuit in Indiana began at State Road 9, just north of Howe, Indiana. The suspect, a 23-year-old Shipshewana man, stopped for a moment at CR 700 North and State Road 9 before he continued south on State Road 9. He turned west on State Road 120 at a high speed. During the pursuit, the suspect drove at several oncoming vehicles on state roads 9 and 120, putting others in danger. Sheriffs deputies executed a PIT maneuver (precision immobilization technique) by hitting the back of the vehicle, making it spin out and crash. Police arrested the suspect without incident. The vehicle he was driving was reported stolen in Colorado while the license plate was stolen from California, police said. The suspect is facing multiple charges in Michigan and Indiana. Other agencies involved included Indiana State Police, LaGrange Police Department, Sturgis Police Department and Indiana Conservation Department. KALAMAZOO, MI -- A school administrators report suggesting improvements in student behavior at Kalamazoo Public Schools does not reflect what teachers are experiencing inside their classrooms, the president of the districts teachers union says. Amanda Miller, president of the Kalamazoo Education Association, said behaviors among students are not getting better, despite the decrease in expulsions highlighted by district administration at a recent school board meeting. In fact, Miller said, behavior issues are getting worse, and teachers need help. District staff recently reported a decrease in expulsions over the last decade was a direct result of a shift toward restorative practices in the school discipline process. Nkenge Bergan, director of student services, and Rikki Saunders, director of special education, gave the report during the Board of Educations Thursday, Jan. 25, meeting. Restorative practices, like daily class meetings or conflict resolution meetings, allow students to remain in school and learn resolution skills, Bergan said. Students learn to resolve differences while considering the perspective of others using skills like peer mediation, peace circles and mentoring, she said. According to the report, no students were expelled during the 2017-18 school year, a continuation of a decade-long decline in expulsion numbers for the district. But Miller said, based on what she is hearing from the districts teachers, incidents of poor behavior are on the rise. Teachers have reported cases of students hitting teachers and other students, roaming hallways, attempting to leave the school building, fighting with each other, throwing items or refusing to sit down in class, Miller said. Theres only so many things (teachers) can manage before things become unmanageable, she said. Administrators declined to give specific statistics on the frequency of behavior issues or school incidents, but said the efforts toward restorative practices have decreased the number of students kept out of classrooms as a result of discipline, Bergan said. Obstacles such as the large size of the district, teacher turnover and funding make the implementation of a new discipline philosophy slower, but the goal remains to make it district-wide. This is a transformation, and this is the first step, Bergan said. Their report showed a decline in the total number of exclusions and expulsions in recent years. The district defines exclusions as suspensions longer than 10 days, but shorter than 180 days. From the 2010-11 school year through 2013-14 school year, the district averaged 66 exclusions or expulsions per year. From the 2014-15 school year to 2016-17 school year, the district averaged 47 exclusions or expulsions. For the 2017-18 school year, the district reports, it issued 13 exclusions and no expulsions. The total number of suspensions across the district has remained steady, the report said. A total of 2,447 students were suspended for at least one day in the 2017-18 school year. With 12,759 students enrolled last year, that means about 19 percent of the districts students received some sort of suspension. Miller said the report was not an accurate picture because restorative practice efforts are not yet district-wide, and said there is not enough support staff to help teachers achieve that goal. The success of restorative practices requires they are implemented in every building and with every staff member, she said. Smaller class sizes and more support staff would help teachers better manage students, Miller said. Theres a very big lack of support, she said. Training is ongoing, and the effort is a cultural shift that will take time for everyone to learn and believe in, Bergan said. The school offers teachers a variety of training, such as classroom management and verbal deescalation skills. All of the training, including restorative practices, work together to provide stability in the classroom, Bergan said. The district also leverages community partnerships with organizations like Gryphon Place and the Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to bring experts into the schools to help students. Maricela Alcala, CEO at Gryphon Place, said surveys taken by participants demonstrate the progress that restorative practices make in the schools. About 90 percent of those surveyed say they learned a new skill or feel more engaged in the classroom, Alcala said. Restorative justice practices, as defined by the state of Michigan, are encouraged by the state Board of Education and the Michigan Department of Educations model code of student conduct. Former Gov. Rick Synder signed a law in December 2016 giving individual districts more flexibility on whether or not to suspend or expel students. Prior zero tolerance policies meant students were automatically expelled if serious enough offenses were committed, like assaults against a teacher or when students come to school armed with a dangerous weapon. Under the new rules, school administrators and Board of Education trustees are required to consider seven factors, including restorative practices. Bergan said the districts move toward restorative practices was in place before the recommendation from the state. The districts rate of expulsions is tracked by the state, but she said her staff does not use that as a guiding post." We just want to do right by the children, Bergan said. About 80 to 90 percent of behavioral incidents are managed within the classroom, according to the report given by Bergan and Saunders. A much smaller portion of behavioral incidents, only 1 to 3 percent, are considered possibly illegal and cause a more substantial disruption to the safety and security of the classroom. Up to 10 percent of the incidents require the support of behavioral specialists. But those personnel are limited, Miller said. Teachers are asked to handle more poor behavior inside the classroom, she said, but can request assistance by pressing a button on the classroom wall or by phone. Sometimes we call for help and no one comes because of so many other things theyre doing," Miller said. Teachers see a clear need for more counselors, mental health therapists and behavioral specialists trained to handle tougher situations involving students, Miller said. It barely reaches of the surface of the kids that need it," she said of the resources currently available. Last year, three additional social workers and six new mental health therapists were added to the school district budget. The report presented by Bergan and Saunders looked at the topic from the perspective of policy, but the district also needs to consider the problem from a teachers lens, Miller said. What is happening at the building level is not being handled very well, she said. I dont think (the report) accurately portrays whats going on in the classroom for teachers and students. Not at all. Adverse childhood experiences impact students' ability to learn inside the classroom. The school offers many good resources to help meet basic needs like food pantries and the mobile medical unit. But truly solving the issue will require a community-wide understanding of trauma-informed care, Miller said. Students facing challenges like poverty or homelessness require more from the schools, but state funding has not increased to help the district meet those challenges, Superintendent Michael Rice said after the presentation to the school board last month. According to a recent report from Michigan State University, Michigan ranks last among 50 states in funding growth for public education. Under Proposal A, Michigan ranks last in funding growth for public schools, the MSU study says. Funding limitations mean programs from organizations like Gryphon Place and Communities in Schools of Kalamazoo are limited and cannot help every student, board member Tandy Moore said. She encouraged the administration take a deeper look into the use of restorative practices, and requested district staff be more clear on the limited scope of the programs. I think they are effective when we can get to students, Moore said. Its not something that is available to every student in every building." The philosophy of restorative practices has a lot of value, she said, but must be implemented completely. Were not going to see a huge change in our school culture unless we can do that, Moore said. One of the school boards newest members, Moore said she wants to implement the practice district-wide through policy and help administrators find the resources to better train staff. The board should be looking for ways to overcome obstacles like funding, she said. Its frustrating to me that we fall back onto our challenges, Moore said. Expelling students is not beneficial to their education, she said, but its not enough to simply keep them in the classroom without addressing the issue. We cant just keep them in school, Moore said. But while we have them, we need to do more. JACKSON, MI A parole absconder shot by police and his mother, who police say he allegedly stabbed and took hostage, are still hospitalized on Monday, Feb. 4, and recovering from their injuries, police said. Police were dispatched on Saturday, Feb. 2, to check on a home in the 100 block of W. Mansion Street where a man and woman were heard screaming inside, according to a statement from Jackson Director of Police and Fire Services Elmer Hitt. Before they entered the home, officers looked through a window and saw a man holding a woman in a headlock, police said. The 29-year-old man, armed with a knife, took the woman, later identified as his mother, hostage before an officer shot him in the neck allowing the woman to get away, police said. The woman had a stab wound believed to have been caused by her son in her back, police said. The incident has been turned over to the Michigan State Police, which will deliver its findings to the Jackson County Prosecutors Office, according to a statement from Michigan State Police Lt. Darren Green. The man and his mothers condition are unknown as Henry Ford Allegiance Heath has declined to release that information to police, Green said. Police are declining to release any names at this time as it is still an active investigation, police said. Police anticipate requesting criminal charges against the man, they said. Those charges will be determined by the Jackson County Prosecutors Office after the investigation is concluded, police said. Due to the mans status as a parole absconder, he is being watched at the hospital by Michigan Department of Corrections personnel, police said. This is the second officer-involved shooting in Jackson in less than a week. All officers involved in both shootings have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome their investigations, Hitt said. ANTRIM COUNTY, MI A snowmobiler was killed late Saturday, Feb. 2, in a rollover crash. Police identified Jeffery John Achinger, 51, of Holland, Ohio, as the victim. The incident was reported around 11:40 p.m. Saturday in Lakes of the North in Antrim Countys Star Township, sheriffs deputies said. The snowmobiler was riding on Hillview Drive near Sun Ridge Drive when his snowmobile struck a snowbank at the edge of the road and overturned. Achinger was riding a 2014 Polaris 800. He died at the scene. Police said speed is a suspected factor. An autopsy is pending. GRAND RAPIDS, MI HopCat, the popular restaurant and craft beer bar that started in Grand Rapids and eventually expanded to 17 locations throughout Michigan and the Midwest, has closed its Chicago restaurant. Company spokesperson Joe Sonheim said the restaurant, which opened in Chicagos Lincoln Park neighborhood in September 2016, was closed because it was not a viable location. This particular place in Chicago was simply not a good location for traffic, he said. If you look at it, there were several other restaurants that closed in that vicinity in the past recent months. HopCat announced the restaurants closure this afternoon on social media. Its located at 2577 N. Clark St. Sonheim says HopCat does not plan to open another Chicago location. Mondays announcement marks the first time a HopCat has closed. The restaurant is known for its large selection of craft beer and Crack Fries, which were recently renamed Cosmik Fries. Sonheim said HopCat absolutely has no plans to close any other locations. He said the restaurants locations in Michigan, in particular, are very healthy right now and doing very well. In Michigan, HopCat has restaurants in Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Detroit, Royal Oak, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. A location in Holland, at 84 W. Eighth St., is expected to open in April. HopCats are also located in Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Lexington, Kentucky; Louisville, Kentucky; Lincoln, Nebraska; Madison, Wisconsin; and Port St. Lucie, Florida. HopCat is part of Grand Rapids-based BarFly Ventures, which also owns Stellas Lounge, Grand Rapids Brewing Company and The Waldron Public House. The first HopCat, at 25 Ionia Ave. SW in downtown Grand Rapids, opened in 2008. The company has expanded steadily since then. By 2015, the chain had six locations, a number which grew to 17 last year, when HopCat opened a second Grand Rapids location at Knapps Crossing. The Chicago closure brings HopCats number of restaurants to 16. But the total will climb to 17 once the Holland location opens in April, Sonheim said. GRAND RAPIDS, MI Construction workers have finished demolishing a church on the 2200 block of Michigan Street NE, clearing the way for an 87-unit townhome development that will be built on the 18-acre property. Orion Construction expects to begin building the townhomes, known as Michigan Meadows, in April, said company spokesperson Jason Wheeler. The project is expected to cost more than $15 million. Rental prices for the townhomes will be made public in April. He said the townhomes are geared toward residents who want to be close to downtown but still enjoy the amenities that come with homeownership, such as a garage, a fireplace, a backyard, porch and patio. The units will be priced at the market rate. It offers that tranquility that people like in a townhome and accessibility to urban core amenities, Wheeler said. The townhomes are about 3 miles east of the corner of Michigan Street NW and Monroe Avenue. Orion purchased the 18-acre site, a portion of which sits atop a wetland, from the Wealthy Park Baptist Church for $1.2 million in April. The property is located at 2233 Michigan St. NE. Some neighbors opposed the project when it went before the Grand Rapids Planning Commission for approval in March. They said they were concerned with additional traffic the project will generate, that the development would hurt the wetland, and with the potential design of the townhomes. Commissioners approved the project, and granted a request by Orion to reduce the protection area for the wetland from 75 feet to 25 feet. Orions plans call for setting aside four wetland areas and three storm water detention ponds and developing other portions of the property. Wheeler said his company worked with neighbors to address concerns over the design of the project, including how close to the wetland and property lines the townhomes are located. The property has been owned by Wealthy Park Baptist Church since 1982. Founded as a Sunday School in 1875, the church was at its height when it was led by the late Rev. David Otis Fuller, a fundamentalist preacher who helped establish a childrens radio ministry and the Grand Rapids Baptist College and Seminary. Orion received $2 million Brownfield tax increment financing incentive for the project, Wheeler said. Those dollars are to be used for asbestos abatement, demolition, and site preparation due to unsuitable soils, he said. In March, Wealthy Parks pastor, William Swem, said the church would relocate to a yet-to-be determined location if the sale to Orion Construction was completed. Officials with the church could not immediately be reached for comment Monday morning. MANTON, MI -- A 32-year-old Wexford County man is facing felonious assault charges after he was accused of kicking, spitting on and threatening two Michigan State Police troopers in Northern Michigan. Justin Kangas, of Manton, was arraigned Monday, Feb. 4, on two counts of assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer, and one count of domestic assault, second offense. He was charged in Wexford County District Court. Police said they were dispatched around 9:55 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, to a report of a domestic violence situation at a residence in Manton. The 911 caller was a 56-year-old man at the residence. When officers arrived, they made contact with Kangas. Police said he walked toward one of the officers with his fists balled, ignored repeated commands to stop, and pushed the officer. Police said Kangas resisted arrest prior to being handcuffed, and later kicked a trooper in the torso as he was being placed into the back seat of a patrol vehicle. Once in the vehicle, he allegedly kicked the patrol cars interior, attempted to spit on a trooper, and continued to make physical threats. Preliminary investigation determined that alcohol is believed to have been a factor in Fridays incident. Kangas was booked into the Wexford County Jail, where he was being held Monday with bond set at $1,000. FLINT TWP, MI -- A missing Fling Township woman is back at home. Township police confirmed 37-year-old Lori Ann Hawkins was returned home safely around 4:45 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3. The department began an investigation on Saturday, Feb. 2 into her disappearance as a missing/endangered adult. Hawkins was described as cognitively impaired by township police. Shed last been seen walking in the area of Elms and Miller roads around 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon. No further information was immediately made available on where Hawkins was found. ANN ARBOR, MI - A new policy requires University of Michigan faculty, staff, student employees, volunteers and visiting scholars to disclose if theyve been charged with or convicted of a felony. The policy requires faculty and staff to inform the university within one week of a charge or conviction that occurs on or after Feb. 1. Currently, it does not apply to employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Once employees disclose the felony, UM Human Resources will assess the information on a case-by-case basis using similar criteria as the current background screening process. This includes the nature and gravity of the offense, the timeliness and accuracy of the disclosure and the relevancy to the persons role at the university. Disclosures are made using a secure online form on the University Human Resources website. Those who fail to disclose felony charges and convictions, fail to provide accurate details regarding felony charges and convictions or fail to consent to a background check are subject to disciplinary actions up to termination. Currently, all UM job applicants are required to answer criminal history questions on their applications, including convictions for felonies and misdemeanors. They also go through a background check before they begin employment. Self-disclosed felony charges and convictions will not be stored in personnel files, the policy notes. All information received in connection with a self-disclosure of felony charge and/or conviction is considered sensitive for purposes of university policies. PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - A man accused of assaulting a charter school bus driver who was dropping children off in Detroit has turned himself in to police. Reshawn Clark, 29, of Detroit, is charged with unarmed robbery and assault and battery for his alleged role in the Jan. 25 attack on Multicultural Academy bus driver Rebhi Mohammed, according to the Wayne County prosecutors office. He was expected to be arraigned Monday, Feb. 4. Clark turned himself in at a police station on Friday, according to Detroit police. The other suspect involved in the assault is still at large, police said Monday. Clark and another man boarded the school bus at 3:23 p.m. Jan. 25 when it was stopped at Asbury Park and Diversey Avenue in Detroit. Footage from the buss surveillance camera shows the two men repeatedly hitting Mohammed, 63, in the head and face. The suspects took Mohammeds phone and the bus keys, Mohammed said. About 10 students from the Pittsfield Township charter school were on the bus at the time, and none of them were harmed. Mohammed said his bus accidentally sideswiped the vehicle the two men were in, but that did not justify the attack. His eyes were still bruised a week later when Muslims of the World presented him with a check for $20,000 donated by people who wanted to show their support. I dont know why they would do that to anybody, Mohammed said of the assault. Im not their enemy. Im a human like them. Anyone with information on the remaining suspect still at large is asked to contact Detroit Police Department 6th precinct Investigative Unit at 313-596-5640 or CRIMESTOPPERS at 1-800-SPEAKUP. MLive reporter Gus Burns contributed to this report. WARREN, Mich. -- A 60-year-old man from Eastpointe was killed Sunday night when he was struck while riding a bicycle on Groesbeck near 10 Mile. Warren Police are now looking for a suspect who fled the scene after striking the man, according to WXYZ Detroit. Police say the driver was traveling northbound on Groesbeck at a high rate of speed when the man was hit. Police are now searching for a 2015-17 Dodge Charger, with heavy front end damage and possible damage to the windows of the car. A $1,000 reward has been offered for information that leads to an arrest and seizure of the vehicle. The incident occurred around 6:30 p.m. Sunday night. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact Warren police at 586-574-4700. LANSING, MI -- The Department of Environmental Quality dinged for its role in the Flint Water Crisis and overseeing identification of toxic chemicals like PFAS is transforming into the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the executive order making the switch on Monday in the office building of the current DEQ, surrounded by state employees watching from the buildings open walkways. She signed it along with another executive order and an executive directive that, combined, aim to protect the Great Lakes, clean up drinking water and combat climate change. This is about finding real solutions to clean up our drinking water so every Michigander can bathe their kids and give them a glass of water at the dinner table safely, Whitmer said in a statement. We have a chance to build a system that really works so we can protect our water and improve public health. Weve also go to take action to protect our state from the effects of climate change. The science is in, and its time we get to work to mitigate the impact of climate change for the sake of our kids and future generations in Michigan. One of the executive orders reorganized the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART), which works to identify contamination from per- and polyflouroalkyl chemicals to protect drinking water and public health. Originally created by former Gov. Rick Snyder in 2017, Whitmer made it a permanent advisory body within the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. It will recommend PFAS response actions, including by recommending changes in Michigan law, and report regularly to the governor. MPART will have the ability to hire contractors, accept donations, make inquiries and get free access to all books, records or documents from other departments related to MPARTs work. Last time MPART was an executive directive, explained Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy Director Liesl Clark, and this time it is an executive order. That is a significant difference because its in state government as opposed to laying on top of state government, she said. The MPART will also have a community advisory board in addition to its scientific advisory boards, Clark said. Another of the changes includes establishing an Interagency Environmental Justice Response Team to advise state departments and assure that all Michigan residents benefit from the same protections from environmental hazards, and adding an Office of the Environmental Justice Public Advocate. A local expert and a state commission cited the environmental injustice and racism as having contributed to the Flint Water Crisis. Decisions were made in a community that was voiceless, and that was a contributing factor to everything that happened in the city of Flint, Whitmer said. I believe that there is enormous work for us to do and thats why were identifying an advocate that people and communities across our state can reach out to to get the process of making sure that we dont ever have a situation like that again, Whimer said. Clark said the new department would initially shift, and not add, staff. Whitmer did not provide a cost estimate on re branding the department, but said any cost would be minimal compared to the benefits the move would precipitate. The orders and directive Whitmer signed Monday also: - Join Michigan into the U.S. Climate Alliance, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. It essentially says to the world that Michigan is going to live up to the promise that we as a country made at one point, Whitmer said. She said Michigan was the 20th state to join and she anticipated more joining. - Gets rid of the Environmental Rules Review Committee, Environmental Permit Review Commission and Environmental Science Advisory Board recently established by the legislature. Whitmer said the commissions created more bureaucracy, and the idea was to have those decisions made by people with accountability to the public. Were not going to have decisions be made by people that are overseen by the actions that happen, Whitmer said. - Creates the Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate, which is treated as its own agency. The advocate is appointed by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy director. - Establishes an Office of Climate and Energy within the department, which will take over duties transferred from the current Michigan Agency for Energy and coordinate state efforts on climate response. - Establishes a new Office of the Great Lakes within the department, transferring it from the Department of Natural Resources. - Allows the department to create science review boards to advise the department and governor on scientific issues related to the departments duties. - Gets rid of the Michigan Agency for Energy, Michigan Administrative Hearing System, Office of Good Government, Office of Reinventing Performance, Office of Interagency Initiatives, Office of Regulatory Reinvention and Office of Performance and Transformation, in some cases transferring their duties. General Motors has confirmed it will start the process of cutting about 4,000 white-collar positions from its payroll over the next two weeks on Monday, Feb. 4. The Detroit-based automaker first announced it would offer buyouts to 18,000 salaried employees in North America back in October. GM made the announcement after reporting an operating profit of $2.5 billion and a 10.2 percent profit margin in its third-quarter earnings. The automaker said in a statement at the time it was making the move while our company and economy are strong. GM called the decision proactive as it prepares to further invest in electric and autonomous technologies. Related: Canadian union airs Super Bowl ad calling for GM boycott despite pressure to pull Employees offered buyouts were given until Nov. 19 to make a decision, and CNBC reports that about 2,250 of those took the offer. On top of that, another some 1,500 contract jobs have been eliminated from the automakers payroll. Pat Morrissey, a spokesperson with the automaker, told the Detroit Free Press that these layoffs will be done staff-by-staff and location-by-location over the next few weeks. Were not going to get into which departments and when and where its happening, she told the newspaper. Some staffs have already implemented this over the last few weeks, but theres more of it this week and next week. The Free Press also reports that some non-union employees at GMs Tech Center in Warren were notified of the layoffs starting by officials at the facility. An employee said there was a line full of vehicles outside the center because a number of workers had to turn in company-issued vehicles. These white-collar cuts are not to be confused with GMs announced plans to close three assembly plants and two propulsion plants in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and Ontario by the end of 2019. This additional measure from the automaker is expected to result in the loss of about 14,700 jobs including 8,100 white-collar, salaried employees. GM CEO Mary Barra has said that these measures are helping GM transform into a highly agile, resilient and profitable company with some needed investment flexibility. The automaker says these measures are part of its plan to reduce its salaried workforce by 15 percent and its executives by 25 percent. Related: GM announces assistance program for affected workers in wide-ranging cuts Salaried employees impacted by the voluntary and involuntary severance programs will be provided outplacement services including job search assistance, career counseling, resume writing and interview skills, the automaker said of its affected white-collar workers in a previous statement. Many salaried employees at unallocated plants will have opportunities at other GM locations. A federal court rejected a proposed settlement to redraw at least 11 Michigan House districts by the 2020 election, setting the stage for a court battle on the states political districts this week. On Friday, federal judges rebuffed Secretary of State Jocelyn Bensons effort to settle an ongoing lawsuit alleging Michigans political districts are gerrymandered in favor of Republicans, finding that Benson lacks the authority to enter into such a settlement. That means the case is headed to trial and is scheduled to start Feb. 5, pending intervention from the nations highest court. Republicans intervening in the suit requested the U.S. Supreme Court stop the proceedings until similar redistricting cases involving redistricting in other states are resolved, but U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied that request Monday afternoon. Benson had attempted to stall the trial to work out the proposed settlement agreement, which if accepted would have stipulated 11 state House seats - the 24th, the 32nd, the 51st, the 55th, the 60th, the 63rd, the 76th, the 91st, the 92nd, the 94th and the 95th - were unconstitutional and would need to be redrawn by the legislature. Changes to the 11 districts named in the suit would have had implications on surrounding districts as well. The lawsuit, initially filed by the League of Women Voters in December 2017, claims Michigans 2011 redistricting process heavily favored Republicans and resulted in gerrymandered districts. Former Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, a Republican, was previously the defendant in the suit, but the case was rolled over to Benson after she took office this year. Benson, a Democrat, told reporters when announcing her settlement plan that she agreed the districts were unconstitutional. Republican officials have been strongly opposed to attempts by Benson to settle. Laura Cox, a former state representative running to be the next Michigan Republican Party chair, said Bensons efforts were a partisan power grab that was called out by the court. Several Republican lawmakers have also moved to intervene in the case. Quranic Encyclopedia launched in Jhelum The inaugural ceremony of the 8-volume Quranic Encyclopedia compiled by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri was held on February 2 in Jhelum under the banner of the Minhaj-ul-Quran International Jhelum. MQI President Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri was a special guest on the occasion. Those who addressed the ceremony included MPA Yawar Kamal, MPA Sabreena Javed, Prof Saleem Ahmad, Allama Rana Muhammad Idrees, Asmatullah Qadri, Prof Qudratullah Sialvi, Syed Ibrar Hussain Shah and Safia Riffat. A large number of people from different walks of life, including religious scholars, office bearers of MSM, MYL, and MWL, and leaders of lawyers community and civil society organizations also attended the ceremony and appreciated the scholarly effort. Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri said that knowledge without good deeds is of no use. He said that the holy Quran offers us guidance and the way to salvation. He said that pollution of sectarianism has hurt Islamic message of peace, love and knowledge. He said that the MQI is spreading the universal message of Islam based on love and reform of our lives to every nook and corner of the world. Talking to media after the ceremony, Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri said that the new PTI government is working on several fronts with sincerity. He said that the previous government left many political, administrative, and economic crises behind and the present government should get a full opportunity to work as per its mandate. He, however, added in the same breath that the reservations of the common man regarding hike in prices of electricity, gas and eatables are justified. He urged the government to undertake immediate steps to curb and control price hike. He said that the best of minds should be gathered to advise the government on tackling economic challenges. MPA Yawar Kamal said that Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri and his workers represent love and peace. He described the Quranic Encyclopedia as the greatest service of Islam. MPA Sabreena Javed said that Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri is an asset of Islam and Pakistan, adding that he is an identity of Islam and our homeland throughout the world. He said that he has particularly been focused on character building of the youth and it is not less than a Jihad. Prof Saleem Ahmad said that Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri rendered exemplary services for promotion of knowledge in his 68 years. His work on promoting the Quranic and Hadith sciences is a hugely scholarly contribution. Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri congratulated the MQI Jhelum on successfully arranging the inaugural ceremony of the Quranic Encyclopedia. How to use the mindat.org media viewer Click/touch this help panel to close it. Welcome to the mindat.org media viewer. Here is a quick guide to some of the options available to you. Different controls are available depending on the type of media being shown (photo, video, animation, 3d image) Controls - all media types Zoom in and out of media using your mousewheel or with a two-finger 'resize' action on a touch device. Use the mouse or your finger to drag the image or the view area of the image around the screen. < and > at the left and right hand side of the screen move forwards and backwards for the other images associated with the media you selected. Usually this is used for previous/next photo in a gallery, in an article or in search results. Keyboard shortcuts: use shift + the left and right arrow keys. < and > in the bottom center are used for switching between the photos of the same specimen. Keyboard shortcuts: use the left and right arrow keys. > in the bottom center, raises the information box giving details and further options for the media, < at the top of this box then hides it. Keyboard shortcuts: use the up and down arrow keys. ? opens this help window. Keyboard shortcuts: use the H key or the ? key. Other keyboard shortcuts: 1 Fit image to screen 2 Fill screen with image 5 Display at full resolution < Make background darker > Make background lighter space Hide/dim titles and buttons Scalebar If the field of view (FOV) is specified for the photo, the scalebar appears in the left bottom corner of the viewer. The scalebar is draggable and resizeable. Drag the right edge to resize it. Double click will reset the scalebar to it's default size and position. If the scalebar is in default position, double click will make it circular. Controls - Video Video files have a standard set of video controls: - Reset to start, - Skip back, - Play, - Pause, - Skip forwards. Keyboard shortcuts: You can stop/start video play with the P key. Controls - Animation (Spin Rotation) Animation (usually 360 degree spin rotations) have their own controls: - enable spin mode. Note that while images are loading this option will not be available but will be automatically activated when the animation has loaded. Once active you can spin the image/change the animation by moving your mouse or finger on the image left/right or by pressing the [ or ] keys. The button switches to move mode so that you can use your mouse/fingers to move the image around the screen as with other media types. The button, or the P key will start playing the animation directly, you can interrupt this by using the mouse or finger on the image to regain manual movement control. Controls - 3D Stereoscopic images If a stereoscopic 3D image is opened in the viewer, the 3D button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "3D settings" menu. The 3D images can be viewed in several ways: - without any special equipment using cross-eyed or parallel-eyed method - with stereoscope - with anaglyph glasses. - on a suitable 3D TV or monitor (passive 3D system) For details about 3D refer to: Mindat manuals: Mindat Media Viewer: 3D To enable/disable 3D stereo display of a compatible stereo pair image press the 3 key. If the left/right images are reversed on your display (this often happens in full-screen mode) press the 4 key to reverse them. Controls - photo comparison mode If a photo with activated comparison mode is opened in the viewer, the button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "Comparison mode settings" menu. Several layouts are supported: slider and side by-side comparison with up to 6 photos shown synchronously on the screen. On each of the compared photos a view selector is placed, e.g.: Longwave UV . It shows the name of currently selected view and allows to select a view for each placeholder. Summary of all keyboard shortcuts When it comes to Canadas All in One ETFs in 2021, deciding between Vanguard vs iShares vs BMO vs TD is no simple task. Vanguard was the first company to jump into Canadian all-in-one ETFs back in 2018. It should come as no surprise that the historical leader in low-cost investments was the first to roll out this superstar product. With their Vanguard Conservative Income ETF Portfolio (VCIP), Vanguard Conservative ETF Portfolio (VCNS), Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio (VBAL), Vanguard Growth ETF Portfolio (VGRO), and Vanguard All-Equity ETF Portfolio (VEQT), Vanguard basically created a one-stop shop for people looking to create a diversified ETF portfolio in the 2nd-easiest way possible (more on that later). The products have proven to be a hit with Canadian investors, as the Vanguard all-in-one ETF portfolios now have over $3 Billion worth of investment money in them! Of course, following Vanguards success, the other major dividend ETF providers in Canada quickly jumped into the fray. Canadian consumers were the big winners in 2020, as we saw the competition heat up and overall costs go down. Its hard to overstate what a game changer these products have become, as but Ill do my best to summarize in one sentence: For only $20 per $10,000 invested, every Canadian can now instantly invest in over 10,000 companies (94%+ of the worlds stock and bonds markets), and 900 bonds, in under 90 seconds. With brokers like Qtrade Canadians now have access to free ETF purchases and extremely discounted fees. Use our Table of Contents to jump to the part of the article youre most interested in. If you want to go even more in-depth into this topic and understand how to best incorporate all-in-one ETFs into your overall investing strategy, then download our free ebook. What is an All-in-One ETF or All-in-One Portfolio? If youre wondering what the heck an all-in-one ETF portfolio is, then youre not alone. Over the past six months, its been one of the most common questions that I get asked. The basic idea is that some of Canadas largest ETF providers decided that they didnt want the robo advisors having all the fun when it comes to super simple investing solutions for the average Canadian. One of the big value propositions of a robo advisor is the idea that a couch potato investor (aka index investor, passive investor, etc.) no longer had to worry about rebalancing their various types of ETFs. Gone were the days of doing a little math to figure out if you were still hitting your asset allocation targets when it came to bonds, Canadian equities, and international equities. It was the new era where you just put your money in one place, and let the automated solution do the work for you. So Vanguard, BMO, iShares, and most recently Horizons ETFs put together products that are basically a few different ETFs, inside of a big umbrella ETF. In order to understand what is actually inside these ETFs lets take an in-depth look at the Vanguard Growth ETF Portfolio (VGRO), one of the most popular of these new asset allocation all-in-one ETFs Picture from Vangaurd website. For more information visit here VGRO seeks to give Canadians a quick and easy way to invest for the long-term. Consequently, the asset mix skews towards the riskier side of the risk/return spectrum, with 80% of your money being invested in equities/stocks/shares and 20% being invested in bonds/fixed income. If you were to invest $1,000 in this all-in-one ETF, your thousand bucks would then roughly be automatically split up into the following investments (*all data as of December 2019*): $320 into the Vanguard US Total Market Index ETF $238 into the Vanguard FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF $182 into the Vanguard FTSE Developed All-Cap-ex-North America Index ETF $55 into the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets All-Cap Index ETF $117 into the Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF $46 into the Vanguard Global ex-US Aggregate Bond Index ETF CAD-hedged $37 into the Vanguard US Aggregate Bond Index ETF CAD Now, within those ETFs, there are obviously many different companies represented. Lets take a look at the ETF that makes up 32% of the portfolio, the Vanguard US Total Market Index ETF (VUN). Out of your initial $1,000, you now have $320 going into the massive world of the USA stock market. Heres a partial look at what your investment dollars will eventually end up purchasing: Microsoft Corp: $11.52 Apple Inc: $10.88 Alphabet Inc (Google): $8.00 Amazon Inc: $8.00 Facebook Inc: $4.80 Berkshire Hathaway Inc: $4.48 JP Morgan Chase & Co: $4.16 Johnson & Johnson: $3.84 Procter & Gamble Co. $3.20 Visa: $3.20 A pretty diverse group of companies, that ultimately only make up less than 20% of this specific ETF, which is only 32% of your overall all-in-one portfolio! You really do get almost everything in one package. Lets take a look at the fixed income portion of our asset allocation ETF and dive into the Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF (VAB). Out of your initial $1,000, $117 will be used to automatically purchase a wide variety of Canadian bonds that break down as follows: Provincial/Municipal Bonds in Canada: $45.75 Federal Government of Canada Bonds: $31.82 Bonds for Financial Institutions in Canada (such as TD Bank): $12.87 Bonds for Agencies (such as PSP Capital): $12.75 Bonds for Government-related Agencies (such as Hydro Quebec): $12.75 Bonds for private industrial companies (such as Apple Inc.): $3.20 Bonds for Utility Companies (such as Bell Canada): $2.70 Other Bonds/Cash Products: $1.17 To sum up your bond allocation: Your lending money mostly to Canadas provincial and federal governments, with a smattering of other large Canadian entities tossed in, and a very small percentage of large foreign owned entities. If you care about bond ratings, the average bond rating of this large collection (more than 900 separate bonds) is AA. As you can see, your $1,000 monthly investment (taking all of 90 seconds to make through your discount brokerage account) will instantly diversify your money into investments of more than 12,500 companies, and 900+ bonds. Not bad for 90 seconds of work Discount Broker Robo-Advisor Best For Best for DIY Investing Best for Passive Investing Fees FREE to buy and sell several all-in-one ETFs Charged as a percentage of your investment portfolio. In the .35% to .8% range once the underlying investments (ETFs) are taken into consideration. Style Hands on. Youre in the drivers seat. Hands off. You decide on a strategy (with the help of an automated survey and an advisor).Your investments will be re-balanced according to passive index investing principles. Services No one to ask for help. You are effectively on your own. General non-biased (no extra commissions) advice from knowledgeable people . Tax loss harvesting to save money at tax time. No need to worry about limit or no-limit orders, leftover cash, partial shares, or any other DIY stuff. User Friendliness As complicated as you want to make it. One-off index buy or a daily rebalance/trading - up to you. The easiest way to turn a part of your paycheque into an excellent investment portfolio. Simply setup an automatic contribution to your robo account, and then focus on your leisure time. RRSP + TFSA + RESP YES! YES! Sign Up Visit Qtrade Visit Wealthsimple Investors Do Better With All-in-One ETFs than Managing Their Own Portfolio Were going to get to our all-in-one ETF vs rebalancing individual ETFs vs robo advisors comparison in just a second, but first I wanted to draw your attention to a potentially much more important aspect of automated investing. Theres a key fact to understand when it comes to understanding human beings, basic math, and investment returns: We really suck at passively sticking to a simple index investing strategy. As Millionaire Teacher author Andrew Hallam recently pointed out in his Globe and Mail article, human beings are generally pretty good at sabotaging their investment returns EVEN AFTER they commit themselves to being couch potato investors. He sites US-based data from target-date funds in the USA, which are similar in many ways to our all-in-one ETF portfolios. If you want more evidence that were really bad at following the basic passive investing rules that we set out for ourselves, there was a report released in 2017 called Abusing ETFs that used German data to paint a picture of investors being tempted to overweight one index ETF over another. The temptation to try and bet a little more on your home countrys stock market, or emerging market stock markets, or to tweak your bond risk profile for example, is just a little too great. This is the logical extension of what weve seen for so many years with the mutual fund industry. Every single study Ive read on mutual fund investors shows that the average mutual fund investor routinely realizes returns that are roughly half of what their mutual funds returned over the past 10+ years. This seems impossible, right? I mean, if a person is invested in mutual funds, shouldnt they get the average return of those mutual funds? The problem is that people are tempted to put more money into funds when news reports tell them everything is great, and everyone is making money in the stock market. Then when those news reports turn negative, people either invest less, sell their mutual funds and go to cash, or decide to invest in a fund that is doing better right now. They often do this on the advice of their financial advisor. Of course, the end result of this strategy is that you end up buying most when the market is approaching or at peak, and then buying the least (or even cashing out) when the market is approaching or at a low point. While index ETFs offer a better overall product than mutual funds, they dont offer to cure your behavioural biases for you. Our brains are still wired the same way those mutual fund investors brains were. Were still tempted to think that we can skew our market returns just a bit higher by putting a little more here than there. Of course were wrong much more often than were right. The all-in-one ETF portfolios (and robo advisors for that matter) take this temptation out of our hands. This might be their most valuable feature! Note: If youre a little unsure about what active investing vs passive investing means, the basic idea is that passive investors believe that simply owning small pieces of every company or bond in a given market then cutting fees as low as possible is a much better bet than trying to pick which stocks/bonds will do better than others (which is called active investing). Pretty much every long-term mathematical study on investment returns agrees that the average investor is much better off with index investing than trying to pick their own stocks. Robo advisors, all-in-one ETFs, and DIY ETF portfolios, are all different ways of index investing. Index investing is often referred to as couch potato investing. All-in-One ETF MER Fee Comparison When we look at comparing the costs of all-in-one ETFs vs robo advisors vs DIY couch potato portfolios vs mutual funds we must first understand what the acronym MER means. A quick refresher: MER stands for Management Expense Ratio. It is usually shown as a percentage of between .05% and 3%. To understand how much an investment costs you to hold each year, you multiply this percentage by the amount of money that you have in that product. Its worth noting that while many of us math-challenged folks see the numbers .05% and 3% as both being small and relatively comparable to one another, 3% is actually sixty times more than .05%!!! If you are paying 60 times more for your investments than the person next to you, it doesnt take a genius to explain that youre going to have much less investment money in your pocket. Ok, so now that we have MER down, lets take a look at what the different types of investments will cost us to hold on to each year. 1) All-in-one ETF portfolios: .18%-.27% MER Well have a more precise all-in-one ETF comparison below, but generally youre looking at roughly a .25% MER in order to invest in these funds. That means that each year, youre paying $25 per $10,000 invested. 2) DIY Couch Potato Portfolios: .13%-.2% MER You might be asking yourself: Wait a second, if Vanguard or BMO just lets me see what is in their all-in-one portfolios, then why cant I just construct these portfolios on my own? Well, you can its just a pain in the butt, and you wont save a lot of money unless your portfolio is fairly large. To illustrate, lets take a look at our Vanguard Growth ETF Portfolio (VGRO) example. Here are the MERs of the respective underlying ETFs that make up the all-in-one product. Vanguard US Total Market Index ETF: MER of .16% Vanguard FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF: MER of .06% Vanguard FTSE Developed All-Cap-ex-North America Index ETF: MER of .23% Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets All-Cap Index ETF: MER of .24% Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF: MER of .09% Vanguard Global ex-US Aggregate Bond Index ETF CAD-hedged: MER of .38% Vanguard US Aggregate Bond Index ETF CAD: MER of .22% Not all of these ETFs are weighted evenly, so to create your own copy of VGRO, youd be paying about .15% MER. Of course this doesnt take into account transaction costs (well get there), behavioural considerations, and your time spent rebalancing the portfolio each year. To put it another way, if we ignore time cost, and transaction cost completely, on a $1 Million portfolio, the difference between creating your own identical index portfolio and investing your million bucks in VGRO would be about $1,000 per year. On a $100,000 portfolio, itd be about $100 per year. Note: For super detail-oriented investors, it might be worth looking into how foreign withholding taxes work in regards to ETFs. If you are willing to do some homework and hold specific individual ETFs in your RRSP, you may be able to reduce the small amount of tax that you will be paying on your USA dividends (not on USA capital gains) if you go with an all-in-one ETF. This is a relatively small consideration, and Ive only met a handful of folks willing to do this much math on an individual ETF level. 3) Robo Advisors: .4%-.8% MER Remember that when investing through a robo advisor you have to add their management fees, to the underlying MER of the funds themselves. So to compare to our example above, youre looking at the robo advisor charging you .3%-.6% for their services, PLUS the .15% that our underlying ETFs will charge you. Now remember, this isnt truly an apples-to-apples comparison. Robo advisors do things that your all-in-one portfolios dont, such as: No Transaction Costs Financial Advice Tax Loss Harvesting Loyalty Perks Automated Contribution Options Easier Account Opening BUT in exchange for those really nice features, youre going to pay about $60 per $10,000 that you have invested. On a $1 Million portfolio, that means you will pay $3,500 more per year with a robo advisor than you would with an all-in-one portfolio. With a $100,000 portfolio, that narrows to $350 per year difference (again, excluding transaction costs) 4) Mutual Funds: 1.5%-3.5% MER When comparing the mutual funds in Canada, its important to note that there is a large range, but overall, we have the highest mutual fund fees in the world! Lets compare our new favourite all-in-one-ETF (VGRO) to a similar big mutual fund portfolio in Canada say the Investors Growth Portfolio (Series A) from IG Wealth Management. As of November 24th, 2019, this portfolio had a MER of 2.75%, and invested in several different equity funds in order to get diversification to 423 companies from all around the world. That MER is more than TEN TIMES larger than the MER of our all-in-one portfolio! You would be paying $27,500 per year to hold this fund in your $1 Million portfolio versus the $2,500 you would be paying with VGRO. To be fair to the mutual fund world, part of this MER fee goes to pay a financial advisor. In theory, that financial advisor should be able to provide you with valued financial advice AND there is a chance that this mutual fund could have better returns than your index portfolio. In practice, we know that unless you have an investment portfolio larger than $1 Million, most large wealth management companies wont pay a ton of attention to you. We also know that only somewhere between .5% and 10% of mutual funds (depending on which study you read, and what asset class youre referring to) beat their comparable market index over the long-term AND we have very little idea of how to predict which of those mutual funds will be able to do that. You might take away from this that Im not big on mutual funds and think you can cut your MER costs down with index ETF investing. Youd be correct. Transaction Costs of All-in-One ETFs vs Robo Advisors vs Stock Picking vs Mutual Funds There is one more key consideration when it comes to comparing the costs of Canadian investment vehicles: Transaction costs to buy or sell the investment. Robo advisors and mutual funds do not have transaction costs. You do NOT pay a small amount each time you buy or sell investments with them. The same cannot be said for online discount brokerages such as Questrade, Qtrade Investor, or TD Direct Investing. See our full comparison of Canadian discount brokerages. Discount brokerages will usually charge a per-trade fee ranging from $4.95-$9.95. They may also include Electronic Communications Network (ECN) fees which are $0.01-$4.95. See our Questrade Review for a detailed look at ECN fees. What that means is that every time you buy or sell a share of a company, you have to pay that transaction fee. When you are managing a portfolio of $1 Million+ those five dollar fees represent a negligible overall percentage of your nest egg. When you are just getting your portfolio off the ground however, those trade costs can add up in a hurry, and end up costing you substantially more money than an extra percentage of your overall portfolio Now, to make matters even more confusing. When we look at the all-in-one ETFs specifically, two of our leading discount brokerage platforms, Wealthsimple Trade and Questrade allow you to purchase these ETFs without paying those transaction fees at all! This development over the last couple of years has really chipped away the advantage that mutual funds once held in Canada, as it is now essentially free to invest in broad-market index funds such as these all-in-one ETFs. Note: As we write this article, Wealthsimple Trade continues to evolve as a platform, and may represent the best path for cost-conscious ETF investors. They currently offer unlimited, no fee trades on both ETFs and stocks, as well as an exclusive sign up bonus available only to our readers. You can read my Wealthsimple review or sign up through this link to get $10 free on your first deposit. Canadas All-in-One ETFs vs Robo Advisors The best comparison when it comes to the Canadian market and of these new all-in-one ETFs are robo advisors. You can see in our above fee comparison, the dollar difference between building your own portfolio of index ETFs and purchasing an all-in-one Portfolio ETF. The only real difference there is your fees, and the amount of time you spend rebalancing your own portfolio. Its close to an apples-to-apples comparison. The same cant be said when we look at all-in-one ETFs vs robo advisors. By far the biggest advantage that robo advisors have is that they are the easiest possible way to take your paycheque and turn it into a diversified investment portfolio. You might not think thats a big advantage, but Ive helped enough people over the years to know that one of the biggest obstacles to getting people to actually invest their money, is the procrastination of setting up a discount brokerage account, and to actually purchase shares of stock or units of an ETF. If we are being completely vulnerable and honest, it can be very intimidating the first time you open that trading screen and realize you are about to click buy after doing the math on how many units of an ETF to purchase. Once you have done it a couple of times, and get used to sending money from your chequing account to your brokerage account, it gets much less intimidating but that initial obstacle is juuuuussssst enough to prevent 80-90% of the people I try to help from getting started with index investing. While all-in-one ETFs make investing easier, they dont get rid of this annoying obstacle. Robo advisors are great at getting rid of this obstacle! In one hour you can open a Wealthsimple account, set up an automatic contribution from your chequing account for the day after payday and boom you are set. Your money will be automatically invested month after month into a portfolio that looks very similar to the leading all-in-one ETFs. Here are a few more things that Wealthsimple (Canadas largest robo advisor) offers that all-in-one ETFs do not. Some of these features might be more valuable to you than others, but what each investor will ultimately have to decide is if these features are worth paying the extra .25%-ish MER on their portfolio as we illustrated above. HELP : Wealthsimple advisors are available to help online or on the phone from 8AM-8PM Monday-Friday. They will also respond promptly to email inquiries. : Wealthsimple advisors are available to help online or on the phone from 8AM-8PM Monday-Friday. They will also respond promptly to email inquiries. Tax-loss harvesting depending on how large your portfolio is, this feature could save you a substantial amount of money come tax season. The basic idea is that Wealthsimple will look at your portfolio and do some simple buying/selling that will save you tax dollars. No need to do the math on how many units to buy or worry about stuff like market vs limit orders. No left over cash in a robo advisor from partial unit purchases. Automatic dividend reinvesting (not that hard to do in a discount brokerage account, but still a nice automated feature). Cool perks such as VIP airline lounge access. Easy access to the Wealthsimple High Interest Savings Account option. Alright, so now that weve got a clear look at how Canadas all-one-ETFs compare with robo advisors, mutual funds, and DIY options, lets dive into the specific options that are available for your portfolio. Vanguard All-in-One ETFs The leader in low-cost index investing was the first company out of the gates, as the Vanguard all-in-one asset allocation ETFs were the first of their kind in Canada and charge a straight MER of .25% across all five of their all-in-one ETF options. Vanguard builds their portfolio ETFs by including specific weightings of their line of ETFs including: Vanguard US Total Market Index ETF (VUN) Vanguard FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF (VCN) Vanguard FTSE Developed All-Cap-ex-North America Index ETF (VIU) Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets All-Cap Index ETF (VEE) Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF (VAB) Vanguard Global ex-US Aggregate Bond Index ETF CAD-hedged (VBG) Vanguard US Aggregate Bond Index ETF CAD (VBU) The chart below illustrates the differences between the five Vanguard all-in-one portfolio options. ?Fund name Ticker Management fee MER Trailing Yield 12 months Annual return 1 year Vanguard All-Equity ETF Portfolio VEQT 0.22% Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio VBAL 0.22% 0.25% 2.20% 11.09% Vanguard Conservative ETF Portfolio VCNS 0.22% 0.25% 2.25% 10.67% Vanguard Conservative Income ETF Portfolio VCIP 0.22% Vanguard Growth ETF Portfolio VGRO 0.22% 0.25% 2.18% 11.52% Blackrock iShares All-in-One ETFs Shortly after Vanguard used their in-house ETFs to create a suite of all-in-one ETFs, Blackrock/iShares followed suit and released their two all-in-one portfolio ETFs: XGRO and XBAL. Technically these two products were reboots of older portfolio ETFs that had been around since 2007, but were not popular due to their high MER. They differ from Vanguards offerings in that they have a slightly lower MER, no international bond exposure, and slightly less exposure to Canadian equities vs their American counterparts. The two portfolio options are made up of the following ETFs: ISHARES CORE S&P TOTAL U.S. STOCK (ITOT) ISHARES MSCI EAFE IMI INDEX (XEF) ISHARES S&P/TSX CAPPED COMPOSITE (XIC) ISHARES CORE CAD UNIV BND IDX ETF (XBB) ISHARES CORE MSCI EMERGING MARKETS (IEMG) ISHARES CANADIAN SHORT TERM CORPOR (XSH) ISHARES BROAD USD INVESTMENT G (USIG) ISHARES US TREASURY BOND ETF (GOVT) Fund name Ticker Management Fee MER Trailing Yield 12 months YTD Return 2019 iShares Core Balanced ETF Portfolio XBAL 0.18% 0.20% 1.78% 12.51% iShares Core Growth ETF Portfolio AOM 0.18% 0.20% 1.66% 13.17% BMO All-in-One ETFs Not one to be left behind, the Bank of Montreal (BMO) wasted very little time in packaging their ETF offerings together to create three BMO all-in-one ETF portfolios. If price is your main comparison tool, then you might want to note that BMO has the cheapest Canadian all-in-one ETFs at only .20% MER across all three asset allocation ETF options. Heres a look at the underlying ETFs that BMO uses to make up their all-in-one ETFs. BMO Aggregate Bond Index ETF (ZAG) BMO S&P 500 Index ETF (ZSP) BMO Government Bond Index ETF (ZGB) BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (ZEA) BMO S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index ETF (ZCN) BMO Mid-Term US IG Corporate Bond Hedged to CAD Index ETF (ZMU) BMO MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF (ZEM) Fund name Ticker Management Fee MER BMO Conservative ETF ZCON 0.18% 0.20% BMO Balanced ETF ZBAL 0.18% 0.20% BMO Growth ETF ZGRO 0.18% 0.20% Horizons All-in-One ETFs The newest entry into the Canadian all-in-one ETF market is Horizons all-in-one-ETFs. Due to the unique swap-based structure of their ETFs, Horizons is able to keep fees relatively low. Heres a look at their current lineup of all-in-one-ETFs and their respective MERs (youll notice that, unlike the other three ETF providers in Canada, Horizons all-in-one ETFs differ in their respective MERs). Horizons Conservative TRI ETF Portfolio (HCON) .18% MER Horizons Balanced TRI ETF Portfolio (HBAL) .20% MER Horizons Growth TRI ETF Portfolio (HGRO) .28% MER The underlying ETFs that Horizons purchases in order to makeup their portfolio ETFs are: HORIZONS CDN SELECT UNIVERSE CL A UNIT HORIZONS S&P 500 INDEX ETF CL A UNIT HORIZONS US 7-10 YR TREAS BD CL A UNIT HORIZONS NASDAQ-100 INDEX ETF CL A UNIT HORIZONS INTL DEVELOPED MKT CL A UNIT HORIZONS S&P/TSX 60 INDEX ETF CL A UNIT HORIZONS EURO STOXX 50 INDEX CL A UNIT HORIZONS US 7-10 YR TREASR BD CL A UNIT HORIZONS S&P 500 CAD HEDGED CL A UNIT These ETFs are slightly more complex to understand due to their swap-based nature than the first three groups of all-in-one-ETFs that we looked at. Personally, due to their increased complexity, somewhat odd weighting of treasuries vs bonds, lack of exposure to developing markets, and just the relatively low volume traded daily, I dont see these current Horizons all-in-one-ETF asset allocation ETFs as a serious contender versus the other excellent options out there. Comparing iShares vs BMO vs Vanguard vs Horizons Canadian All In One ETFs When comparing the iShares vs Vanguard vs BMO vs Horizons all-in-one Portfolio ETFs, its important to understand this fact first and foremost: They are all excellent choices for your portfolio just choose one! If comparing these products is going to in anyway delay you from opening a discount brokerage account and get started investing, then just go with Vanguard, and get started today! Every single one of these all-in-one-ETFs offers the following: Instant diversification to thousands of companies and hundreds of bonds/treasuries Incredibly low costs Super stable, safe companies that have been around for decades Very high odds that your returns will beat those of actively managed mutual funds All of that said, if you really want to dive into choosing the absolute perfect all-in-one-ETF for you, Id look at the following areas to compare: MER The asset allocation percentages relative to your investing goals Home-country bias (might there be too much of a Canadian focus?) Great diversification vs Incredible diversification (some of these products offer slightly more exposure to developing countries, etc) TD One-Click ETF Portfolios In August of 2020, Canadas 2nd largest bank decided to join the all-in-one ETF party with their TD One-Click ETF Portfolios. While they are very solid products, Im not sure theyll move the needle as far as challenging the leaders that we noted above. However, one major positive that Im taking away from seeing yet another major financial player join the all-in-one ETF movement, is that these products arent just here to take part theyre here to take over. Fund name Ticker Management Fee MER TD One-Click Conservative ETF Portfolio TOCC 0.25 0.27 TD One-Click Moderate ETF Portfolio TOCM 0.25% 0.27% TD One-Click Aggressive ETF Portfolio TOCA 0.25 0.27% Much like the other all-in-one ETF competitors, the three TD One-Click options offer consumers an instant portfolio of assets from around the world. The ETFs that TD has chosen are: TD Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF (TDB) TD Global Technology Leaders Index ETF (TEC) TD International Equity Index ETF (TPE) TD U.S. Long Term Treasury Bond ETF (TULB) TD Select Short Term Corp Bond Ladder ETF (TCSB) TD U.S. Equity Index ETF (TPU) TD Active Global Income ETF (TGFI) TD Canadian Equity Index ETF (TTP) TD Canadian Long Term Federal Bond ETF (TCLB) TD Active U.S. High Yield Bond ETF (TUHY) TD Q Canadian Low Volatility ETF (TCLV) TD Q Global Dividend ETF (TQGD) TD Q Global Multifactor ETF (TQGM) TD Q U.S. Small-Mid-Cap Equity ETF (TQSM) And then those ETFs are obviously balanced differently depending on your desired asset allocation. For example, while the TD One-Click Conservative ETF Portfolio (TOCC) has you in 63% fixed income (with the majority of that in Canadian domestic bonds) and the remainder in stocks, the TD One-Click Aggressive ETF Portfolio (TOCA) will funnel you into only 5% fixed income, and 95% equities from around the world. Interestingly enough, that 5% bonds is all American treasuries. Overall, I honestly find the new TD all-in-one ETFs to be needlessly complicated, with up to 15 component ETF in each One-Click Portfolio. This is likely also the reason their slightly higher MERs. Theyre in no way a bad product in an absolute sense theyre much superior to the mutual fund options for instance its just that compared to the rest of Canadas all-in-one ETFs Id probably place TDs offerings at the bottom of the totem pole. The Best All-in-One ETFs for your TFSA and RRSP The ultimate question that most Canadians have when it comes to their investment choices is which is the best one for their TFSA or RRSP. Again, the rule of thumb here is: all of these products are better than the typical Canadian mutual fund! The real decision on which all-in-one ETF belongs in your portfolio has more to do with your specific risk profile, than the product itself. If you are tolerant of risk (not an easy question to answer), have a long investment window, and will not panic when your portfolios value goes down by 30% in a given year, then Id go with more of a growth portfolio. If youre approaching retirement or cant sleep at night if you lose more than 15% of your portfolio in a given year, then Id recommend more of a balanced or conservative portfolio. Heres a look at my current favourite asset allocation ETFs in each broad category. Best All-in-One Growth or Equity ETF VEQT (Vanguard All Equity ETF) I love what VEQT does for Canadians. Its a very simple all-equity ETF that instantly diversifies your investment dollars into thousands of small, medium, and large companies from around the world. Some might argue that the 30% allocation to Canadian stocks is a bit high for a home country bias, but Im fine with it. Heres a look at whats under the hood of the Vanguard All Equity ETF. Vanguard US Total Market Index ETF 40% Vanguard FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF 30% Vanguard FTSE Developed All Cap ex North America Index ETF 23% Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap Index ETF 7% I personally love this all-in-one ETF because I am fortunate enough to still have a relatively long investment horizon, and my pension is sufficient to represent a fixed-income part of my portfolio. If your appetite for risk is not the same as mine, one of the following ETFs might be a better option. Best All-in-One Balanced ETF VBAL (Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio) Admittedly this balanced (60% equities, 40% fixed income) all-in-one ETF comparison is more difficult for me than the growth one was. Truth be told, it is really hard to separate VBAL vs XBAL vs ZBAL. I default to Vanguards offerings (despite their slightly higher MER, that will cost you $5 more for every $10,000 invested) because I love supporting the company that has been there innovating on behalf of index investors for decades. I also prefer VBAL over XBAL and ZBAL because it has some global bond exposure that others dont have. That said, all three are excellent products. Best All-in-One Conservative ETF VCNS (Vanguard Conservative ETF Portfolio) There are even more income based conservative portfolios out there, such as the Vanguard Conservative Income ETF Portfolio, but if were comparing straight apples-to-apples 40/60 conservative portfolios (40% equities, 60% fixed income) then we have to look at VCNS vs ZCON vs HCON. The Blackrock iShares all-in-one ETF suite does not currently include a similar conservative portfolio. The argument here mirrors the one above. I again default to Vanguard for the exact same reasons as above. You could certainly go with either the Horizons or BMO offerings if you prefer to save a cup of coffee worth of fees, and dont see value in getting more bond diversification. Why All-In-One ETFs are Ideal for Young Investors All-in-one ETFs are a great option for investors of all ages and experience. However, they are particularly ideal for young investors, individuals in their 20s or even early 30s who are just starting to get into investing. Heres why. To start with, you dont have to have a lot to invest. Using an all-in-one-ETF you can create a pretty diverse portfolio with relatively low investment amounts. Many young investors are struggling with student debt, looking to buy a house, just starting out in the workforce etc. So knowing that you can begin to invest with smaller amounts of money makes all-in-one ETFs a very manageable option for anyone new to investing. Secondly, the low fees really come into play here. Ive mentioned earlier how all-in-one ETFs have much lower fees than the typical mutual fund. Granted, every investor would rather pay lower fees, however, this tends to be a more important factor among young investors who likely dont have as much money to invest/use as more mature investors. The lower fees make all-in-one ETFs less intimidating. Another point that makes all-in-one ETFs particularly attractive to young investors is the passive investing aspect. Investing can be daunting to those just starting out so the ability to just leave it to grow is an easy solution for many young Canadians. The Best All-in-One ETFs for Canadian Expat Investors As MDJs own Kyle Prevost decided to go overseas to begin his international teaching career, he wanted me to add a section about his findings for all-in-one ETFs in regards to non-resident Canadian expats. Essentially, he found that for Canadian expats, using the Horizons all-in-one ETFs (Horizons Conservative TRI ETF Portfolio, Horizons Balanced TRI ETF Portfolio, and Horizons Growth TRI ETF Portfolio) became a pretty big deal due to the fact that expatriate Canadians can get hit pretty hard on the dividend withholding tax side of things. By using Horizons unique swap-based ETFs, expat investors can magically turn their dividends into capital gains, and consequently get a solid chunk of their dividends back. If youre like Kyle and residing in a country that has not capital gains tax, you can efficiently build a non-registered investment portfolio that has absolutely no taxes owing on it. No taxes to the Canadian government (even though you are using Canadian ETFs and a Canadian brokerage account) and no taxes to your new home countrys government. If youre worried about owing taxes when you come home to Canada, then you will be happy to know that Canada will not tax your portfolios capital gains if you are a tax resident of another country. When you come home, the Canadian government will start keeping track of your non-registered portfolio from the date you arrive back in the country. Only growth in your ETFs and/or stocks from that point on will count as a capital gain. So if youre living and working outside of Canada, definitely give the Horizons all-in-one swap-based ETFs another look! All-in-One ETF Interviews with Dan Bortolotti and Andrew Hallam If youre hungry for even more all-one-ETF content then check out these two interviews that I did for the Canadian Financial Summit, where I go in-depth with two long-time passive investing experts! There was a spark in a moment in 2002 when I was celebrating having taken the GRE. I told the cute guy across from me my plan to go to grad school in Austin. He told me his plan was to join the Air Force and probably end up in San Antonio. My only experience with the military prior to visiting him on the Fourth of July during Officer Training School in Montgomery, Alabama, might have been a wedding reception at an armory gym when I was a kid. I think someone rolled over a toe with a keg. My family didn't even attend parades. The military seemed alien and intimidating. Soldiers. Guns. Bombs. Rules that couldn't be broken. He finished navigator training just as I earned my master's. We moved to Omaha, Nebraska together and soon married. Meanwhile, I started my own career and created a life of my own. He deployed; I worked and only visited base to send him off or welcome him home. I didn't feel like I belonged on the base, and my nerves electrified every time I pulled up to the armed guard at the gate. I didn't feel like the spouse group was for me, either. Those who grew up in military families will think I'm a fool. The military is perfectly natural to them. It has turned them into resilient, resourceful individuals. It's turning me into a resilient, resourceful individual. But for those of us who don't have that background, who just happened to fall in love with someone who decided to join the military? There are plenty of assumptions we can make that spoil the experience. Here are the top 5 mistakes I made in the early days. Top 5 New Military Spouse Mistakes 1. Assuming all military spouses are alike, which is to say, not like you. I have met some of the most interesting, passionate people through our military network and the places it has taken us. Artists, doctors, lawyers, scientists, teachers, nurses, entrepreneurs -- the list goes on. I've met people who share my interests, and people who have shown me how to be open and bring joy anywhere in the world. 2. Being intimidated by gate guards. Perhaps it's my age talking, but they're generally just bored kids. They've been trained how to use their weapons, and you aren't going to do anything so wrong that they'll have to use them. 3. Giving up agency. I used to assume there was someone out there making sure everything was being looked after for us. That everything runs smoothly as an integrated whole. Then we PCSed overseas. If you haven't learned yet, you are the one in charge of making sure everything happens as it should. You are the one to make calls to get the services you want, to ask questions, to look after your paperwork, to find the resources that work best for you or your family. 4. Refusing to accept the network of support that's there. There are dozens of offices and organizations that are designed to help military spouses. They totally get what it's like to be in your situation. Really, even if you rarely go to any of these spaces, you can use them. They're there for you. 5. Waiting for someone to reach out to you. This one is the hardest as an introvert. I kept assuming that if someone really wanted me at an event or an outing, someone would reach out and invite me personally. You guys? It's not that you aren't welcome if you don't receive a personal invitation. Organizers really, truly do want you to show up to the stuff they plan. Everyone there has been the new person before. Everyone there has a tie to the military. You never know who you'll meet if you do show up. Army Helicopters Installed in New Museum Two historic Army helicopters arrived on-site at the future National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia Jan. 31. An UH-1B Iroquois, known familiarly as the "Huey," and an R-4B "Sikorsky" helicopter, will be featured in the future museum. The Huey, a Vietnam-era chopper, survived combat missions in Vietnam for eight years prior to its installation in the museum, according to a release. The Sikorsky modeled to be installed in the museum features the markings of an R-4B flown in April 1944 in "the China-India-Burma theater" for the first-ever helicopter combat rescue mission. The R-4B was the first helicopter in the world to be mass-produced, according to the release. The 185,000-square foot museum is set to open to the public in 2020. The Army is the only military service currently without a national museum. For more military history features and resources, visit the Military.com History Center. Former troops who say they were sickened by the malaria drug Lariam, or mefloquine, and their advocates urged members of a scientific panel on Jan. 28 to talk to veterans and examine their medical records when considering the potential chronic health effects of malaria medications. A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee has started an 18-month review of all available scientific research on malaria drugs used to prevent the debilitating disease. Committee members are looking to see what role, if any, the medications have played in causing neurological and mental health symptoms, such as dizziness, vertigo, seizures, anxiety and psychosis, in some patients. The panel said it is looking particularly at mefloquine and a related new drug, tafenoquine, but will review all malaria medications to distinguish any relationship between the drugs and long-term health effects in adults. At the panel's opening meeting in Washington, D.C., several veterans urged it to "look at this very, very closely." Related content: Retired Col. Timothy Dunn described himself as a hard-charging, motivated Marine in perfect health before he took mefloquine in September 2006. But the first time he took it, he experienced nightmares and anxiety, he said, and the symptoms got worse with each subsequent dose. He stopped taking the medication after he returned home, but the symptoms still persist, 12 years later, including tinnitus, dizziness, anxiety and depression. "Ladies and gentlemen ... there probably are many veterans out there who think they are losing their minds or thought they were depressed and have never related it to this awful mefloquine drug," Dunn said. Retired Navy Cmdr. Bill Manofsky, the first veteran diagnosed by the Department of Veterans Affairs as having symptoms directly related to taking mefloquine, told the panel he has referred 280 veterans for medical care, including about 100 to the VA's War Related Illness and Injury Study Center for possible mefloquine poisoning. He asked the panel to look at all available information. "The medical records are not going to show up in the literature," Manofsky said. In most National Academies reviews, panelists interview subject-matter experts and review all available documentation on an issue, including federal government documents, academic reviews and previous studies. In earlier studies of military-related environmental exposures, National Academies panelists often were unable to draw any conclusions because the research or data on a topic simply doesn't exist. Dr. Remington Nevin, a former Army preventive medicine specialist who now serves as executive director of The Quinism Foundation, a non-profit organized to support research into the effects of mefloquine and tafenoquine, expressed concern that the VA requested the National Academies review knowing the panel's findings would prove inconclusive. "Your work of the next 18 months is premature ... certain powerful and entrenched interests would love nothing more than for the National Academies to conclude after 18 months that there is insufficient evidence for the existence of [mefloquine-related illnesses], or insufficient evidence to justify VA acting," Nevin said. An unknown number of U.S. troops, Peace Corps volunteers and some State Department employees have said they are permanently disabled from taking mefloquine, a once-a-week medication prescribed for personnel stationed in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq and parts of Africa. The Defense Department began phasing out its use in 2009 out of concern for possible neurological side effects. In 2013, the Food and Drug Administration placed a "black box" warning on mefloquine, saying the drug can cause ongoing or permanent neurological and psychiatric conditions, including dizziness, loss of balance, ringing in the ears, anxiety, depression, paranoia and hallucinations, even after discontinuing use. At their inaugural meeting, the National Academies members also heard from federal officials who set policy on medications and monitor their effects, including the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the FDA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During his presentation, Dr. Loren Erickson, a retired Army infectious disease specialist who now serves as the VA's chief consultant for post-deployment health, said the VA is "excited to [have] the academy review the issue," as it's one that has been a topic of consideration by the VA for years. "We all have an interest in seeking the truth." The VA contracted with the National Academies to conduct the review. Panel members noted that the final report will include observational findings but will not make any recommendations to the VA on how to handle disability claims or health benefits related to malaria drug exposure. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at patricia.kime@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. LYME The sinking of a sailing yacht in ice-locked Hamburg Cove has raised questions as to why a craft of that size was left to winter in the water. Visitors to yachting and other online forums to have speculated as to why the 52-foot boat captured on dramatic drone footage on the eweather Facebook page, which went viral late last month was allowed to sink. But the Lyme harbormaster said its more common than one might think. L. Thomas Reynolds knows the owner of the Ted Hood Little Harbor boat, dubbed Mazu, which is registered in Newport, R.I., but declined to give a name to guard the individuals privacy. Its quite common. Boats sink every day across the nation. Its a little uncommon because weve got ice to deal with, Reynolds said. With the areas boating community being relatively small, hes not surprised the incident has received so much attention. Although hes not sure of the exact cause, Reynolds believes the ships bilge pump could have failed. The fire department tried [on the 26th] to save it. The owner was involved, trying to figure out where the leak was from, he said, but it got too late in the day to continue work. Its probably the result of extreme changes in temperature. One thing we do know is the hull did not get crushed from the ice, Reynolds said. The protected anchorage of Hamburg Cove, about 7 miles up from the mouth of the Connecticut River, on the eastern shore, is a well-known sailing destination. In the summer, the fjord-like lagoon is dotted with beautiful sailing craft. East Haddam amateur photographer Frank DiNardi, who is employed by Novak Brothers Landscaping, was alerted to the mysterious boat moored in the cove on Jan. 16. He never leaves home without his camera and drone because a lot of his jobs take him to the scenic and historic area. His drone video, posted on Facebook and, to date, garnering nearly 142,000 views and more than 1,600 shares, shows images from all sides of the vessel , alone, amid deep blue water, surrounded by a field of ice. It also shows the vessels teak deck with polished mahogany trim and shiny footings. The eerie scene, set to music, was also captured from above, creating an otherworldly feel. Halfway through, while the ship is still afloat, the viewer hears the sound of wind, which sounds more like a deep exhale of breath . The second half of the film shows the yacht about 10 feet below water, listing to port , its form barely discernible in the dark water. Reynolds said the vessel will be recovered as soon as its safe to do so. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard will monitor the situation, he said. DiNardi received a Instagram message Jan. 27 from a friend while he was in Vermont, alerting him the vessel had sunk. He has become a sleuth of sorts on the circumstances surrounding the sinking. The fire department was on scene the day before, along with the owner, Reynolds said. Crews pumped the water out, got it to a safe level, but (nonetheless) it started to sink, he said. My first thought was sitting here I couldnt believe how strange it looked, but how beautiful it was, too, DiNardi said Monday. He has also filmed the Mazu in summer out on the water, as part of his photo taking year round. Im the type of person who comments back on every comment I get, but I literally could not keep up with it this time. It was overwhelming, Dinardo said in a subsequent video he posted Jan. 30 hoping to answer some questions. . The photographer is constantly on the lookout for something interesting to photograph for his next project, such as wildlife and other natural scenery. I was pretty much in shock everyone was just shocked to see the boat. I was definitely saddened, said DiNardi, who has also spent quite a few weekends with a friend who has 40-foot sailboat, visiting Montauk, Sag Harbor and other locales. As of last week, the owner and U.S. Coast Guard were working on a plan to raise the boat, according to Chris Collibee, director of communications for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The agency estimates there is between 80 and 100 gallons of diesel fuel on board, but nothing was released into the water. From an [Connecticut State Environmental Conservation Police] perspective, its not an issue. Its not an abandoned boat or a boat accident per se, he said. Editors note: This story has been updated to reflect that DiNardi does not own Novak Brothers Landscaping. He works for the company. Managing Editor Cassandra Day can be reached at cassandra.day@hearstmediact.com. Follow her on Twitter @cassandrasdis. STORRS A strategic thinker who one colleague said has superior analytical and organizational skills is expected to be introduced Tuesday as the University of Connecticuts 16th president. Thomas C. Katsouleas, 60, a physicist and inventor is currently the executive vice president and provost at the University of Virginia. He will take the helm of the states flagship university this summer when Susan Herbst steps down after eight years to return to teaching. Katsouleas, 60, rose to the top of a list assembled by a 44-member search committee and received the blessing of Gov. Ned Lamont. Lamont announced Monday he plans on attending the meeting which starts at 10 a.m. in the Wilbur Cross building on campus. Although UConn Trustees had not released specifics on the pick, Katsouleas has been widely named as the top candidate. Tarek Sobh, an executive vice president at the University of Bridgeport, calls Katsouleas a friend and good colleague. I believe he would be excellent, Sobh said. Beyond being an eminent scientist and engineer, Sobh said Katsouleas is a collaborative leader with great vision in STEM related fields. We worked together to establish a Grand challenges scholar program in UB since 2015, said Sobh, who is also an enegineer and computer scientist. On 67 college campuses, the only one approved in Connecticut is at UB. The program prepares students to solve problems and is part of the National Academy of Engineerings Grand Challenges program. In a nut shell, he is the kind of leader needed for public universities in the 21st century economy, Sobh said. An inventor and researcher, Katsouleas taught for 14 years at the University of Southern California before becoming dean of engineering at Duke University. He landed at the University of Virginia in 2015 but announced his intentions to leave when the president who hired him announced her intentions to step down. Katsouleas was a finalist last year for president of the University of Utah. That job when to someone internally. Katsouleas has two physics degrees from UCLA. He is considered a leading scholar of plasma science. A plasma is an ionized gas with enough energy to free electrons from atoms or molecules and to allow both to coexist. At UConn, officials are counting on Katsouleas to help the university grow the states economy. He is said to have met privately with Lamont on two occasions, the second time with invited business leaders. You are here: World Flash Nayib Bukele declared victory in El Salvador's presidential elections on Sunday after securing a decisive lead over his two main rivals. According to preliminary results from the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), with more than 87 percent of ballots counted, the 37-year-old former mayor of San Salvador garnered a commanding 53.8 percent of the votes, enough to win the first round. In second place was Carlos Calleja, candidate of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), with 31 percent of the votes. Hugo Martinez, candidate of the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), trailed in third place, with nearly 14 percent of the votes. "We have won in the first round, we made history," Bukele told supporters in a victory speech. The FMLN's Martinez promptly conceded defeat, tweeting: "We are democrats and we respect institutions and respect the people's verdict. We recognize the results." The president of the TSE, Julio Olivo, told the press "we have results that mark a definitive trend." Bukele, the presidential candidate of the right-of-center Grand Alliance for National Unity, recently parted ways with the FMLN. His mayoral race was under the FMLN banner. He went on to run a successful campaign as the anti-establishment alternative to the two main parties, namely the FMLN, which has governed the last two terms, and ARENA, which ruled for 20 years prior. Bukele has pledged to fight corruption and break the domination of the two-party system. More than 5.2 million Salvadorans were eligible to vote, including nearly 6,000 living abroad. Flash The United States and Russia both announced over the weekend that they will suspend a major nuclear weapons agreement, known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a decision that has triggered grave concerns over the possibility of a new arms race between the world's two largest nuclear powers. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, after accusing Russia of violating the treaty and not returning to compliance after a US ultimatum two months ago, said the US will suspend its obligations under the treaty effective Feb 2. "We will provide Russia and the other treaty parties with formal notice that the United States is withdrawing from the INF Treaty effective in six months, pursuant to Article 15 of the treaty," he said on Friday, indicating that the treaty could still be saved if Russia returns to full and verifiable compliance with the treaty within the next six months. Less than a day after the US announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed Russia's strong reaction in a televised meeting with his foreign and defense ministers. "The US partners have declared that they suspend their participation in the deal, we suspend it as well," Putin said, according to a Reuters report. Putin said Russia will start work on creating new missiles, including hypersonic ones, and told ministers not to initiate disarmament talks with Washington, accusing the US of being slow to respond to such moves. "We have repeatedly, during a number of years, and constantly raised a question about substantiative talks on the disarmament issue," Putin said. "We see that in the past few years the partners have not supported our initiatives." The INF Treaty was signed in 1987 by US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It bans the development and deployment of ground-launched nuclear missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. After Pompeo's announcement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called the US withdrawal "regrettable". He said China urges the US and Russia to properly resolve differences through constructive dialogue. Geng voiced China's opposition to the multilateralization of the treaty. "What is imperative at the moment is to uphold and implement the existing treaty instead of creating a new one," he said on Saturday. The withdrawal from the treaty has sparked concerns among nuclear experts. Axel Goethals, CEO of Brussels-based European Institute for Asian Studies, said it is clear that the US, in withdrawing from this treaty, wants to have its hands more free to deal with the new multilateral world order. "Let us not forget that this withdrawing is also part of the US strengthening its negotiating position in the proxy games of the new multilateral world order," he told China Daily on Sunday. "The loss of the treaty creates a real possibility of an unpredictable and unconstrained US-Russian arms race in Europe and, potentially, in Northeast Asia as well," said Alexander Vershbow, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former US ambassador to Russia, in an article posted on the council's website on Friday. Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign affairs and security policy chief, had earlier called on the US and Russia to stick to the treaty. "What we definitely don't want to see is our continent going back to being a battlefield or a place where other superpowers confront themselves," she said. Pompeo's posting of the decision on his Twitter account on Saturday has drawn sharp criticism, with some accusing him of representing the US military industrial complex and many questioning how a withdrawal would make things better. JOURNALIST: (Question on disagreements between EU and League of Arab States) G. KATROUGALOS: We have disagreements. I mentioned the necessity to reach a consensual statement. And I was referring exactly to the necessity for us Europeans to reconfirm our commitment to values, not just to policies. Because, some of the disagreements heard within our ranks of the Europeans I mean-, are not just a breach of policy. We consider them to be, lets say, a breach of values. And, by the way, I would like to say something regarding our position on Venezuela. Because, this is another issue on which we think that the EU has to act as a global player. That means, to have an autonomous and united position, based on its own principles of democracy, rule of law and human rights. What does that mean, regarding Venezuela? The necessity to ensure a democratic and peaceful outcome. Democratic signifies that only the people of Venezuela can have a say on their own future. Any kind of foreign interference should be excluded. This means that the only role for the international community is to intervene in order to de-escalate tensions and to ensure fair and impartial elections, which would result to making civil war impossible and to reunite a very polarized society and political system. In this framework, we acknowledge and respect the role of the National Assembly and its President in preparing the elections. But whats essential for us is the diplomatic initiative of the European Union to establish an International Contact Group comprising European countries but also, countries like Mexico, Bolivia, Uruguay, which are going to mediate through political dialogue in order to ensure fair and impartial elections. We look forward to the convening of this meeting in Montevideo on Thursday and we are sure that Europe can play a constructive role, conducive to what we all want, this peaceful and democratic outcome. Finally, I would like to commend Federica Mogherini on her role in trying to unify us, Europeans. As you know, we had a common statement by the 28 of us last week. We -as Greece- should continue to push for a united position of the European Union in conformity with our principles. JOURNALIST: You met the Egyptian Minister in the bilateral meeting, how did it go? Do you agree at some point? Did you talk over a specific point before the summit with the Egyptian Minister? G. KATROUGALOS: Egypt is for us a strategic partner on many issues, also issues related to energy security and diversification of resources. We had a very good discussion. We also had other meetings, including a trilateral with Cyprus and Lebanon - always in the same spirit. Greece is trying to be an exporter of stability in the area. JOURNALIST: Tell me about the two-state solution... [inaudible] G. KATROUGALOS: We fully support the two-state solution, exactly because we are -as Greece- always proponents of International Law and of the United Nations resolutions. And we think that there is no other solution for Palestine and Israel. Thank you. JOURNALIST: How will it be ensured that the Prespa Agreement will be implemented? Can another government in Athens or Skopje undermine it or implement it selectively? G. KATROUGALOS: All the legal provisions are in place so that the Agreement constitutes a permanent foundation in the new era of friendship and collaboration with North Macedonia, such as provisions for good offices and mediation by the UN Secretary-General. As for the name issue in particular, the constitutional revision is the biggest guarantee, as it ensures that the solution will stand the test of time and the rationale of rejecting irredentism will be integrated in the heart of the neighbouring country's institutional system. However, I believe that the foundation for the safe implementation of the Agreement lies elsewhere: once our peoples fully comprehend its content, i.e. a compromise that serves the core of national interests on both sides, the venom of suspicion, which fuels extreme nationalism both ways, shall cease. This shall constitute the greatest guarantee for a long-lasting Agreement. In any case, although I consider such an event unlikely, any violation of the terms of the Agreement shall constitute a gross violation of the good neighbourly obligations, as it would block any prospects of the neighbouring countrys accession to the European Union, which is its next significant target. JOURNALIST: The protocol for North Macedonias accession to NATO will soon be coming to the Parliament for ratification. Are you expecting a change in the stance of the forces that opposed the Prespa Agreement? G. KATROUGALOS: After Bucharest, the fixed stance of the countrys foreign policy has been that the neighbouring countrys accession to NATO provided it so wished would follow once our differences were resolved: solution first, accession later was what the New Democracy government officials were saying. Unfortunately, though, consistency is not a word that describes New Democracy today, as it remains deeply torn between its far-right and centre-right components. In the discussion about the Macedonian issue, they presented two fronts: the fixed national view of another country not monopolising the name, and the personal Samaras line that Macedonia is Greek. Mr Mitsotakis continues to be bound to the latter and to his Vice-President, a transfer from the LAOS party. Im afraid that my forecast for KINAL is similar. I see it lining up with New Democracy again, trapped in the barren anti-SYRIZA policy of its leadership. And a word for the criticism we have been getting from the left, i.e. that we have become friends of the Atlantic alliance: North Macedonias accession to NATO was not our choice; it was a choice that had been made by their government. JOURNALIST: The SYRIZA-ANEL divorce was not a smooth one. Mr Kammenos describes the Prespa Agreement as traitorous and is talking about a government of defection, while he continues to accuse Nikos Kotzias of suspicious relations with Mr Soros. The government has not given a clear answer yet. G. KATROUGALOS: The developments are demonstrating just how far from reality this was, when we heard New Democracy and not just them saying that it was an orchestrated divorce. It is true that our collaboration with ANEL, for as long as it lasted, was an honest one; we were both focused on the exit from the memorandums and the fight against corruption. However, in the new post-memorandum era of normalcy, the political conflicts are lining up along the Left-Right axis again and this is completely normal. As for the way ANEL expressed some of their recent controversial views, it is obvious that we will not follow suit. A conflict always has to have substance. And as far as substance is concerned, we have always been clear. Nikos Kotzias was not implementing his own policy, but the government policy. And this government bears no relation to economic interest hubs. Soros-fighting and shadow-fighting do not assist in political dialogue. JOURNALIST: The Prespa Agreement rearranged the political stage and SYRIZA has already made a new opening towards the centre-left. Do you believe that a coalition of wider forces, with SYRIZA at the core, is possible? And what form would it take? G. KATROUGALOS: Youre right. The political stage has been rearranged tectonically after the Prespa, but this way it essentially aligned accordingly with the European state of affairs. In the upcoming European elections, two complete opposite views for Europe will clash: one of them expresses a paradoxical marriage between neo-liberalism and the far-right, and the other the social Europe, the open societies, the freedoms and the rights. So the stakes, but also the political fronts in Greece, are being shaped in a respective, bipolar way. SYRIZA is the democratic and progressive side, expressing the largest part of the Left and the Centre-Left. We are also striving for including or forging an organic collaboration with any related forces or personalities that share our strategic choices, but also for starting a platform collaboration with parties from neighbouring political arenas. Naturally, this presupposes platform convergences, as well as clear answers and choices. Specifically, KINAL must answer loud and clear before the elections whether they are in favour of collaborations for a progressive administration or whether they will attempt anew an unnatural partnership with New Democracy. JOURNALIST: What is the government expecting from the PMs upcoming trip to Turkey? G. KATROUGALOS: We are aspiring to re-establish the communication channels at the highest level, with the short-term goal being to diffuse the tension in the Aegean Sea. We are also aspiring to commence essential dialogue on the serious issues that separate us. For this reason, obviously, it takes two to tango. JOURNALIST: The next few months are considered crucial for the South-eastern Mediterranean, given Ankaras stance regarding the Cypriot EEZ, but also the upcoming signing of the agreement for the East Med pipeline. How can the Republic of Cyprus be protected from possible Turkish aggression? G. KATROUGALOS: Our key weapon in all bilateral disputes has been our respect for international law and legality, and the international alliances we forge. We have always systematically coordinated, with sobriety and decisiveness, our action and the steps we shall take in this issue, as with all other issues, with the full support of the Republic of Cyprus. We have indeed jointly managed to support the self-evident sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus by the European Union and by other significant partners, such as the USA, for the first time so clearly and so strictly. Furthermore, the trilateral and other collaborations that we have developed in the region have especially strengthened our diplomatic and defence position. In this context, the role of the East Med stands out, not only from an economic, but also from a strategic point of view. Especially the addition of the USA in a 3+1 configuration in our trilateral cooperation with Israel and Cyprus, as well as the presence of their State Secretary at the signing of the relevant international agreement in Knossos, highlights the reach of this endeavour. JOURNALIST: New Democracy is accusing you of aligning politically with the Maduro administration, actually hinting at SYRIZA being secretly financed by Caracas. How do you respond to these allegations? What stance will we be adopting as an EU country with regard to the political crisis in Venezuela? G. KATROUGALOS: The defamatory statements about the alleged financing of SYRIZA are being spread underhandedly, with leaks and hints from New Democracy, just because they know very well that it is an utterly non-existent and fabricated matter. Rehashing it, in a hypocritical and Goebbelsian manner as a matter of fact, only serves to demonstrate the main opposition partys inability to debate about real political issues using political arguments. The essence of the matter is this: Since the very beginning I had stated that we believe it is pivotal for the European Union to present a joint stance on this matter, respecting the statutory principles of democracy, with the aim of finding a solution that would end the division of an extremely polarised society and would give the people of Venezuela the chance to decide about their future. To this end, right from the start we pushed the idea of establishing a team of countries that would organise a dialogue and would ensure the necessary conditions for carrying out honest and representative elections. This proposal of ours was unanimously accepted at the recent informal Foreign Affairs Council and an international contact team was formed, which included European countries, as well as Latin American countries, such as Bolivia and Mexico. Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Katrougalos will participate, on Monday 4 February, in the EU - Arab League Ministerial Meeting in Brussels, in view of the 1st Summit Meeting of the two organisations, which will take place on 24-25 February in Egypt. Talks between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs will focus on regional and international issues, such as the Middle East Peace Process as well as the situation in Libya and Yemen. The strengthening of cooperation between the EU and the Arab League will also be discussed, for tackling common challenges such as the threat of terrorism, climate change and migration, with a goal towards the consolidation of peace, security and common development in the wider region. On the margin of the Ministerial Meeting, the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs will hold bilateral meetings with counterparts. BORGHOLM TOWNSHIP MEETING DATE CHANGE NOTICE Borgholm Township regular Board Meeting of Monday, Oct 1, 2018, has been change to Monday, Oct. 8, 2018, 7 pm at Borgholm Town Hall. Trudy Wedell, Clerk Published in the Union-Times September 20, 27, 2018 859226 Ad details BORGHOLM TOWNSHIP MEETING DATE CHANGE NOTICE Borgholm Township regular Board Meeting of Monday, Oct 1, 2018, has been change to Monday, Oct. 8, 2018, 7 pm at Borgholm Town Hall. Trudy Wedell, Clerk Published in the Union-Times September 20, 27, 2018 859226 HOUSTON COUNTY PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Date: Tuesday, September 4, 2018 9:00 a.m. Place: Commissioners Room, Courthouse, Caledonia, MN Members Present: Jack Miller, Justin Zmyewski, Teresa Walter and Fred Arnold Presiding: Fred Arnold, Chairperson Call to order. Motion was made by Commissioner Walter, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously carried to approve the agenda as amended. Motion was made by Commissioner Walter, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the August 28, 2018 meeting. Motion was made by Commissioner Walter, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously carried to approve payment of the license center and Human Services disbursements and the following claims: County Revenue Fund $36,565.66 Road & Bridge Fund 5,868.85 ---------------- Total $42,434.51 ========== Motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Walter and unanimously carried to approve the draft Solid Waste Management Plan. At this time HS Director Pugleasa and PHN Director Marchel met with the Board to discuss the proposed Public Health and Human Services integration and staffing plan. Following discussion and on the recommendation of both PHN Director Marchel and HS Director Pugleasa, motion was made by Commissioner Miller, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to integrate the Public Health and Human Services Departments. Motion was made by Commissioner Walter, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to establish an implementation timeline to include formal resolution and initial implementation by December 31, 2018. Motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously carried to confirm the proposed integrated department organizational chart which includes the establishment of a single Director for the integrated department, a Public Health Supervisor, and Public Health and Human Services Finance Supervisor. Motion was made by Commissioner Walter, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to combine the public health accounts into human services fund 11 as of January 1, 2019. This will provide for a clean break. HR Director Arrick-Kruger requested approval of the Public Health Supervisor Job Description. Motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously carried to approve the same. HR Director Arrick-Kruger along with Recorder Bauer requested authorization to initiate a search for a 1 FTE Deputy Recorder. Motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Walter and unanimously carried to approve the same. Motion was made by Commissioner Miller, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to amend the hire date from September 5th to August 30, 2018 for Jeff Babinski. HR Director Arrick-Kruger and Assessor Cresswell-Hatleli recommend the classification of Lucas Onstad be changed to Certified Minnesota Assessor (non-income qualified)/B-23, step 1 effective immediately, contingent upon issuance of license by the Minnesota State Board of Assessors. Motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously carried to approve the same. On the recommendation of both HR Director Arrick-Kruger and Assessor Cresswell-Hatleli, motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Walter and unanimously carried to approve the classification of Michelle Quinn be changed to Certified Minnesota Assessor (non-income qualified)/B-23, step 3 effective September 4, 2018, contingent upon issuance of license by the Minnesota State Board of Assessors. It was noted Ms. Quinn is currently serving an interim appointment out of class. Motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Walter and unanimously carried to approve the same. HR Director Arrick-Kruger informed the Board that there has been a resignation of an Assistant County Attorney. The notification was provide to Attorney Jandt per Minnesota Statute and there is no need for Board action to accept the resignation. However, there is a request to initiate a search for an Assistant County Attorney to fill the resulting vacancy which does require Board action. Motion was made by Commissioner Walter, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to initiate a search for an Assistant County Attorney. Attorney Jandt reported civil type cases have increased and an ideal candidate would have good knowledge of contract law and broad civil experience. The time being 10:19 a.m., motion was made by Commissioner Miller, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to convene a closed session at the request of Attorney Jandt pursuant to M.S. 13D.05 subd 3(b) to discuss ongoing litigation. Motion was made by Commissioner Miller, seconded by Commissioner Walter and unanimously carried to return to open session at 10:31 a.m. Attorney Jandt stated the purpose of the closed session was related to Jennifer Egge versus Houston County and coverage information received from the Countys Insurance provider. No action was requested. There being no further business and the time being 10:47 a.m., motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously carried to adjourn the meeting, the next advertised meeting being Tuesday, September 18, 2018. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS HOUSTON COUNTY, MINNESOTA By: Fred Arnold, Chairperson Attest: Michelle Quinn, County Auditor THE ABOVE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COM-MISSIONERS IS ONLY A SUMMARY. THE FULL TEXT IS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION AT THE HOUSTON COUNTY AUDITORS OFFICE AS WELL AS ON THE HOUSTON COUNTY WEBSITE LOCATED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESS: http://www.co.houston.mn.us/ Published in The Caledonia Argus September 26, 2018 860506 Ad details HOUSTON COUNTY PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Date: Tuesday, September 4, 2018 9:00 a.m. Place: Commissioners Room, Courthouse, Caledonia, MN Members Present: Jack Miller, Justin Zmyewski, Teresa Walter and Fred Arnold Presiding: Fred Arnold, Chairperson Call to order. Motion was made by Commissioner Walter, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously carried to approve the agenda as amended. Motion was made by Commissioner Walter, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the August 28, 2018 meeting. Motion was made by Commissioner Walter, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously carried to approve payment of the license center and Human Services disbursements and the following claims: County Revenue Fund $36,565.66 Road & Bridge Fund 5,868.85 ---------------Total $42,434.51 ========== Motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Walter and unanimously carried to approve the draft Solid Waste Management Plan. At this time HS Director Pugleasa and PHN Director Marchel met with the Board to discuss the proposed Public Health and Human Services integration and staffing plan. Following discussion and on the recommendation of both PHN Director Marchel and HS Director Pugleasa, motion was made by Commissioner Miller, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to integrate the Public Health and Human Services Departments. Motion was made by Commissioner Walter, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to establish an implementation timeline to include formal resolution and initial implementation by December 31, 2018. Motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously carried to confirm the proposed integrated department organizational chart which includes the establishment of a single Director for the integrated department, a Public Health Supervisor, and Public Health and Human Services Finance Supervisor. Motion was made by Commissioner Walter, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to combine the public health accounts into human services fund 11 as of January 1, 2019. This will provide for a clean break. HR Director Arrick-Kruger requested approval of the Public Health Supervisor Job Description. Motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously carried to approve the same. HR Director Arrick-Kruger along with Recorder Bauer requested authorization to initiate a search for a 1 FTE Deputy Recorder. Motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Walter and unanimously carried to approve the same. Motion was made by Commissioner Miller, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to amend the hire date from September 5th to August 30, 2018 for Jeff Babinski. HR Director Arrick-Kruger and Assessor Cresswell-Hatleli recommend the classification of Lucas Onstad be changed to Certified Minnesota Assessor (non-income qualified)/B-23, step 1 effective immediately, contingent upon issuance of license by the Minnesota State Board of Assessors. Motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously carried to approve the same. On the recommendation of both HR Director Arrick-Kruger and Assessor Cresswell-Hatleli, motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Walter and unanimously carried to approve the classification of Michelle Quinn be changed to Certified Minnesota Assessor (non-income qualified)/B-23, step 3 effective September 4, 2018, contingent upon issuance of license by the Minnesota State Board of Assessors. It was noted Ms. Quinn is currently serving an interim appointment out of class. Motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Walter and unanimously carried to approve the same. HR Director Arrick-Kruger informed the Board that there has been a resignation of an Assistant County Attorney. The notification was provide to Attorney Jandt per Minnesota Statute and there is no need for Board action to accept the resignation. However, there is a request to initiate a search for an Assistant County Attorney to fill the resulting vacancy which does require Board action. Motion was made by Commissioner Walter, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to initiate a search for an Assistant County Attorney. Attorney Jandt reported civil type cases have increased and an ideal candidate would have good knowledge of contract law and broad civil experience. The time being 10:19 a.m., motion was made by Commissioner Miller, seconded by Commissioner Zmyewski and unanimously carried to convene a closed session at the request of Attorney Jandt pursuant to M.S. 13D.05 subd 3(b) to discuss ongoing litigation. Motion was made by Commissioner Miller, seconded by Commissioner Walter and unanimously carried to return to open session at 10:31 a.m. Attorney Jandt stated the purpose of the closed session was related to Jennifer Egge versus Houston County and coverage information received from the Countys Insurance provider. No action was requested. There being no further business and the time being 10:47 a.m., motion was made by Commissioner Zmyewski, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously carried to adjourn the meeting, the next advertised meeting being Tuesday, September 18, 2018. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS HOUSTON COUNTY, MINNESOTA By: Fred Arnold, Chairperson Attest: Michelle Quinn, County Auditor THE ABOVE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COM-MISSIONERS IS ONLY A SUMMARY. THE FULL TEXT IS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION AT THE HOUSTON COUNTY AUDITORS OFFICE AS WELL AS ON THE HOUSTON COUNTY WEBSITE LOCATED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESS: http://www. co.houston.mn.us/ Published in The Caledonia Argus September 26, 2018 860506 You have permission to edit this poll. Edit Close You have permission to edit this image. Edit Close Flash British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday she plans to return to Brussels to battle for Britain and Northern Ireland in her quest to secure a Brexit deal. With just eight weeks to go before Britain ends its membership of the European Union (EU), May issued a plea to lawmakers in the House of Commons to stand together to support a new deal. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, May said: "The clock is ticking, and negotiating the changes MPs want to see will not be easy. But if we stand together and speak with one voice, I believe we can find the right way forward." May will be heading to Brussels following her victory in the House of Commons earlier when MPs, by a majority of 16, backed her EU withdrawal deal providing she re-negotiates changes to the proposed arrangements over the Northern Ireland border issue. May said in her article: "When I return to Brussels, I will be battling for Britain and Northern Ireland. I will be armed with a fresh mandate, new ideas and a renewed determination to agree a pragmatic solution that delivers the Brexit the British people voted for, while ensuring there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. That is what Parliament instructed me to do." May said she was now confident there is a route that can secure a majority in the House of Commons for leaving the EU with a deal. "This represents a significant step towards delivering Brexit and fulfilling the instruction given to us by the British public. Now that same British public wants us to get on and finish the job," she added. No date has yet been announced when May will be heading to Brussels for talks on the Brexit deal. Continuing her "battling" mood, May concluded: "I'm determined to deliver Brexit, and determined to deliver on time -- on March 29, 2019." So far Brussels has insisted that its so-called backstop arrangement, aimed at ensuring there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, must stay as part of any deal. Meridian, MS (39302) Today Thunderstorms likely. Low near 70F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Low near 70F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Whether one has played on the Nintendo Switch, PC or Xbox; there's always been a desire to play those games with one's friends on different platforms. This is now set to become a reality for gamers as Microsoft will be adding Xbox Live cross-platform support for Android, iOS and Switch games. YouTube The news comes from a Microsoft session at the upcoming Game Developers Conference, as it was noticed by Avers that Xbox Live will now be expanding its services to as many as 2 billion devices. Xbox Live on different platforms will have achievements, clubs, friends lists and more If this isn't some form of typo this is HUGE NEWS and will change the industry going forward. Xbox Live coming to 2 billion (BILLION) devices with new cross-platform XDK/SDK. #XboxLive #GamePass #Xcloud pic.twitter.com/mjza0JKZRc Avers (@Avers_G4GMedia) February 2, 2019 Microsoft scheduled a session that will detail plans for the upcoming SDK or XDK. Currently, Xbox Live is already available on these platforms, however, the functionality is quite limited. You can use the app to chat with Xbox Live friends or keep tabs on what games they are playing. In games like Minecraft (Microsoft Owned), the app lets you sync your achievements as well. Microsoft has reserved cross-platform support for its own games, however, it looks like the new feature will be expanded to third-party titles. Microsoft Microsoft is now looking to shift to a strategy of games as a service, which is also in line with a next-generation Xbox, that will exclusively stream games. Other initiatives such as the Xbox Game Pass subscription service may also be available to play on these different devices. It may not matter in the future whether you are playing on a PC, smartphone or the Nintendo Switch. The cross-platform support may be possible thanks to Microsoft's Project xCloud that will let users stream games on any device if this Xbox Live SDK comes into fruition. Microsoft does not plan for cross-platform support on the PlayStation 4 due to Sony's bullish attitude towards cross-play. We do not live in the same city and yet manage to spend more time together than couples living in the same zip code. We end up flying almost every weekend to see each other, either in Mumbai or Delhi. All other times, we meet directly at the holiday destination (not in the same city to travel together for a holiday, we just land up there separately). In our two-and-a-half-year-old relationship, we would have taken a combined total of at least 150 flights, visited 8 countries and many cities in India just to spend time with each other- Gaurang (c)Instagram While every couple strives the hardest to make a relationship work, there are a few who go an extra mile to make sure their relationship is nothing short of extraordinary. And the couples who usually do that have a tough situation at hand and they certainly work towards the odds, to perceive it as nothing less than spectacular. For us, every relationship does circumvent its way around to make it spectacular. If you've made it long enough and are true to each other, then why shouldn't you brag about it? I mean that, in the most non-cynical banter ever. Today, relationships are moulded out of uncertainty, where a 'right swipe' takes you far away from basic reality of a relationship which should ideally be working on strong will and a lot of determination. And if there are couples making it work through the thick and thin of everything, without using distractions as a tool to temporarily sabotage an equation, then they're definitely worth a mention. (c)Instagram Meet one such couple, who has realised the importance of sticking together, even though they have miles between them, in a generation that thinks working extra-hard on a dynamic is rather redundant and superfluous, with frivolity ruling the roost, of every heart, today. Here's introducing Gaurang and Saachi, who defy that theory fairly often. The two met through a common friend, back in 2011, when they were still in college and when Blackberry phones were the endgame for a lot of couples back then. The first interaction was, of course, exchanging BBM pins. We actually lived through the "BBM age" in 2011. We used to chat for 7-8 hours every day till it got to a point where we risked finger tendonitis. - Gaurang (c)Instagram Favourite Memory So Far Both of them have been bitten by the travel bug and have made their favourite memories together from their indulgences in different places. The first time Saachi proclaimed her feelings for Gaurang was in Goa and when they were spending time together. Right when the sun came out, she looked at Gaurang and asked him if he wanted to go out. Little did Gaurang realise she's asking him out and in his innocent spree, he agreed to go outside to soak up some sun and enjoy some breakfast. (c)Instagram From thereon, their memories were filtered to either ticket cancellations and re-bookings or checking out a new place together or even making travel plans for their next birthdays, Valentine's Day and various relationships milestones. Took me to Prague for my birthday. Flew in to Mumbai to surprise me on Valentine's day, Jodhpur for our 2 years and now we're planning to bring in our birthdays at Scotland and USA respectively, this year, because we need new memories!- Saachi (c)Instagram This Is How You Tackle Distance Both the 'wanderers' have been together for a long while now and have opted through various things in life to stay together. By that I mean, Saachi and Gaurang realised that being physically together in one place, even though their relationship doesn't allow it, is a bare essential and they've done everything in their power to overcome the distance they go through, everyday. Couples living away from each other, making each day count, and not letting suppositions rule their relationship with the obscure distance they have to deal with, are an inspiration in today's day and age and we're glad we can count on them flawlessly to teach us how to strive towards keeping something so fragile, alive. (c)Instagram Gaurang and Saachi going through months of not seeing each other is not just commendable, it's the strongest aspect that builds the fundamentals of their relationship. From dealing with insecurities to earning each other's trust over time, while away from each other, is the strongest reinforcement of belief and love. And believe it or not, their long-distance relationship works from one suitcase to another. They both love travelling and have made that an eventuality in keeping their love alive. (c)Instagram When they decided to date, it was on a trip to Goa they'd taken with a few friends and now, every time they establish a new milestone in their relationship, it's overlooking a new city skyline, amidst local food and an adequate yet brand new start to a very old equation. We decided to date each other on a trip with friends to Goa. Our first date was on the beach drinking wine - Saachi Since then, instead of visiting each other in the city they both reside, they book tickets and explore new cities and spend time together. It helps them regain the moments they've lost in time and travel through different places, making indispensible memories their unbreakable timeline for the future. It was Gaurang's idea initially to make their life a lot more convenient since Saachi had a job that made her shift her base from time to time. The couple first travelled to Jodhpur to spend some quality time together and then made it mandatory to pick a city of their choice to meet at, whenever time allowed them to. Honestly, if long distance relationships worked this way, distance would just be a meagre resolve, as couples would pay more heed to planning the next trip and figuring out an active itinerary rather than brood over how far they are from one another. (c)Instagram She's a consultant and travels every week, so I end up living that lifestyle vicariously. We've met each other at Prague, Portugal, Budapest, Finland, Thailand, Vietnam, USA and Dubai , as far as I can remember - Gaurang Long distance relationships should be listed under survivor tools, because you're diligently doing anything to keep them intact, in order to survive a relationship crash. It's tough for sure but there are many things you learn with this association such as patience, faith, and trust. Gaurang and Saachi have been stuck with a conundrum of following through with long distance and they've been doing a mighty good job of it so far, by travelling away their woes. (c)Instagram There is never a decree of 'heartbreak' between these two, when they leave each other's company to pursue their lives in different cities. Because they know they've tackled the severest relationship downfall and have made it alive, with a lot of sparkle and fun, intact. They have mastered the art of making holiday plans, seeing each other whenever the need arises and saving money diligently to do so successfully, until the day they're married! Honestly, I have been blessed with more than I deserve. - Gaurang (c)Instagram At the end of the day, relationships that are fundamentally stable, can withstand any test they're put through, even the test of time. To end this beautiful story, I can't stress enough on how some couples have to part temporarily on a good note and carry forth their association in different places. I personally admire couples who have immense faith in each other to work through the distance and make every day a reason to point at the map and say 'Let's make this work and have fun while doing so'. WORTHINGTON, Ohio Feb. 4, 2019 Matt Erick North America Eric Schertel Linda Lehmkuhl Ohio State Capital University Alabama Idaho Indiana Illinois Kentucky Louisiana Michigan Ohio Pennsylvania Texas Utah Texas Carmin Gade /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- MedVet is pleased to announce thatwill join the organization as President, effective today.Erick's most recent role was President,for Mylan Pharmaceuticals. In his new role at MedVet, he will report directly to Dr., CEO of MedVet and work in close partnership with Dr., Chief Medical Officer."We are very excited to welcome Matt to the MedVet family. Leveraging his tremendous experience leading large healthcare-related organizations, we look forward to Matt's leadership of our key support services, including Operations, Finance, IT, and Experience/Marketing, as we expand our capabilities to support our continued growth," said Schertel. "Matt's expertise and alignment with our values and mission will further enhance our delivery of exceptional care and service while maintaining our commitment to Leading Specialty Healthcare for Pets."Prior to his role at Mylan Pharmaceuticals North America, Erick was Senior Vice President at Cardinal Health, where he was responsible for ensuring hospitals, alternate care settings, and retail pharmacies had the products they needed, at the right time. Matt also held roles of increasing scope and complexity at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and Drug Emporium retail pharmacy. He holds a BS in Pharmacy fromand a BA in Biology from"MedVet's dynamic veterinary organization, people, teamwork, culture, and exciting outlook for the future make this an exceptional opportunity," said Erick. "I look forward to joining MedVet's leadership team and working with Eric, Linda, and the entire MedVet team to bring value to the organization and contribute to its future success in providing Leading Specialty Healthcare for Pets."MedVet currently operates a network of 22 medical centers in, and, and is committed to delivering the highest quality, most compassionate specialty and emergency veterinary care available in the nation.About MedVet: Veterinarian-led and owned since 1988, MedVet is a growing nationwide network of hospitals delivering exceptional care and preserving the integrity of the profession. Over 2000 team members working in 22 hospitals throughout the Midwest, Gulf Coast,, and Mountain regions, are helping to advance our mission of Leading Specialty Healthcare for Pets. Through this effort, we help and serve over 200,000 pets and their families, and more than 7500 Referral Partners, each year. For more information, visit medvet.com.Media Inquiries: For photos and/or interviews, please contact:, Chief Experience Officer MedVet 614.505.7576 carmin.gade@medvet.comSOURCE MedVet LINDON, Utah Feb. 4, 2019 $63 $75 Joe Jensen Tuesday, February 5 12:00 PM EST Lindon, Utah Joe Jensen /PRNewswire/ -- ForeverGreen Worldwide Corporation (OTCQB: FVRG), a global direct marketing company and provider of health and wellness products, announces the Company prepares for its first product launch and expansion into the CBD market.Cannabidiol is understandably generating worldwide interest from both the scientific and investment communities. It's hard to ignore a market sector projected to nearly quadruple from about $16 billion last year to more thanbillionworldwide by 2024. In just the United States alone, the marijuana industry could create an economic tsunami estimated to surge pastbillion annually by 2022.Broad spectrum CBD hemp oil is the first CBD oil product to launch in the first quarter as it reaches the final stages of development. The product is described as being completely THC-free and gives way to a wide range of benefits such as calming the effects of pain and discomfort, inflammation, anxiety, and stress."We are particularly eager to expand our company products into the CBD industry. This is such a rapidly, growing market right now and we anticipate these CBD products are going to drive sales worldwide. The buzz for CBD hemp oil has been steadily increasing and goes along with our overall goal, to promote health and wellness. Capturing a small part of this booming industry is going to bring endless opportunities for ForeverGreen," stated, ForeverGreen's Executive Officer.The Company will hold a conference call to provide a business update, followed by a question & answer period. The conference call will be held on. The call can be accessed in the U.S. by dialing (530) 881-1212 and entering the pin code 615-253-385#.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. For more information, visit forevergreen.org. Welcome Home!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.(801) 655-5500 Investor.relations@forevergreen.orgBrokers and Analysts: Chesapeake Group+1-410-825-3930info@chesapeakegp.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/forevergreen-prepares-to-launch-its-first-of-many-products-featuring-cbd-oil-300788800.html SOURCE ForeverGreen Worldwide Corporation A protein that plays a key role in protecting the body against cancer also appears to have the opposite effect in some cancers. Share on Pinterest The tumor-suppressing protein p53 can sometimes drive the growth of cancer cells. New research from the University of California in San Diego demonstrates instances in which the tumor suppressor protein p53 can boost cancer metabolism. In a paper on the study, which now appears in the journal Cancer Cell, the authors write that the findings are instrumental for cancer drug discovery that aims to restore or activate p53. The widely accepted idea, says corresponding study author Yang Xu, a professor in the Division of Biological Sciences at the university, is that p53 suppresses cancer, but in our study, we would argue against that. In some cancers it would have the opposite effect by promoting cancer, he adds. Cancer and p53 The protein p53 helps regulate growth and proliferation of cells. It responds to cellular stress, such as that which results from DNA damage, by halting the cell cycle or inducing apoptosis, a form of cell death. Because it protects against the consequences of DNA damage, p53 has acquired the nickname the guardian of the genome. In this way, p53 can help prevent rogue cells from forming malignant tumors. It is part of the bodys natural defense against cancer. Conversely, mutations of p53 that disrupt this function can contribute to cancer. Scientists have found, for example, that the gene that codes for p53 is one of the most frequently mutated in human cancers, and that the p53 pathway is inactive in most human cancers. p53 is one of the most studied molecules in biotechnology. In fact, by 2010, it was a prominent topic in nearly 50,000 citations in PubMed, the search engine for life sciences and biomedical articles. p53, liver cancer, and mitochondria The study concerns the nonmutated type of p53 that is abundant in nature and which scientists call wild-type. It demonstrates instances in which wild-type p53, instead of protecting against cancer, can actually promote it. After 4 years of studying hepatocarcinoma which is the most common form of liver cancer the researchers discovered that wild-type p53 can promote tumor growth by helping cancer metabolism. The data for the study came from investigations of cells, mouse models, and humans. The finding could help explain a well-established paradox: that while most human cancers have mutated forms of p53, there are certain types such as liver cancer that retain the wild-type. Cells get most of their energy from internal compartments called mitochondria, which produce fuel for metabolism in the form of ATP molecules. Mitochondria typically use a process called oxidative phosphorylation to make ATP. However, in cancer cells, mitochondria favor a less efficient process called glycolysis, and they carry out less oxidative phosphorylation. The latest study to explore the impact of fasting on the human body concludes that it increases metabolic activity more than previously realized and may even impart anti-aging benefits. Share on Pinterest A recent study takes a look at how fasting influences metabolism. Studies have shown that intermittent fasting can help certain people lose weight. Although researchers are still debating exactly how effective fasting can be for weight loss, new research hints at other benefits. In rats, for instance, studies show that fasting can increase lifespan. Although exciting, evidence of this in humans has yet to be seen. The most recent study which the authors have now published in the journal Scientific Reports takes a fresh look at fasting in humans and provides new insight. Recent aging studies have shown that caloric restriction and fasting have a prolonging effect on lifespan in model animals, says first study author Dr. Takayuki Teruya, but the detailed mechanism has remained a mystery. In particular, scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University in Japan examined its impact on metabolism. By understanding the metabolic processes involved, the team hopes to find ways of harnessing the benefits of fasting without the need to go without food for prolonged periods. To investigate, they fasted four volunteers for 58 hours. Using metabolomics, or the measurement of metabolites, the researchers analyzed whole blood samples at intervals during the fasting period. What happens during fasting? As the human body is starved of food, there are a number of distinct metabolic changes that occur. Normally, when carbohydrates are readily available, the body will use them as fuel. But once they are gone, it looks elsewhere for energy. In a process called gluconeogenesis, the body derives glucose from noncarbohydrate sources, such as amino acids. Scientists can find evidence of gluconeogenesis by assessing the levels of certain metabolites in the blood, including carnitines, and butyrate. As expected, after fasting, levels of these metabolites had increased in the participants blood. However, the scientists also identified many more metabolic changes, some of which surprised them. For instance, they saw a marked increase in products of the citric acid cycle. The citric acid cycle happens in mitochondria, and its function is to release stored energy. The hike seen in the metabolites associated with this process means that the mitochondria, the fabled powerhouses of the cell, are thrust into overdrive. Another surprise finding was an increase in levels of purine and pyrimidine, which scientists had not yet linked to fasting. These chemicals are a sign of increased protein synthesis and gene expression. This suggests that fasting causes cells to switch up the type and quantity of proteins that they need to function. by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, February 4, 2019 Olay, a first-time Super Bowl advertiser, took the top spot in Merkles sixth annual Digital Bowl Report, which evaluates the marketing efforts of Super Bowl advertisers. The report evaluates how well Super Bowl advertisers supported their advertising campaigns across the main digital channels, from social media to paid search to SEO and other digital media. Olays ad landed in one of the top three spots in Google search results. The campaign supports a Super Bowl-focused landing page and an optimized YouTube video. After taking first place in 2018, Avocados from Mexico returned in the No. 2 spot for overall digital ads, earning the top score in search engine optimization (SEO) and excelling in real-time social engagement, according to Merkle. Expensify followed at No. 3, Stella Artois at No. 4, Sprint at No. 5, Budweiser at No. 6, Amazon at No. 7, Doritos at No. 8, and Verizon at No. 9. Mint Mobile rounds out the top 10. advertisement advertisement The Avocados From Mexico spot put dogs in charge of judging their humans whose dogs know will do Anything for Avos. It seems those searching for the ad, Anything for Avos, had an easy go at it with help from internal links from the brands home page, a searchable link from the commercials final card, and a landing page that targeted Big Game keywords in its URL, on-page elements, and content. Amazon was also pretty successful at creating a dedicated Big Game landing page. The landing page, rapid page-load time, and uploading the commercial to YouTube helped the companys SEO strategy. Merkle also provided strategies that Amazon could have used to better optimize the page title, H1, and meta description of its landing page to include additional Super Bowl and campaign-specific content to improve search engine visibility and drive more traffic to the page. In SEO, brands were graded on campaign landing-page optimization, meeting reasonable standards for site speed and security, discoverability, and YouTube optimization. The paid search team reviewed relevant keyword targeting, ad copy, and landing page experiences, along with visibility across device types. Flash Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani's recent visit to China has been welcomed by analysts and businessmen from both sides. "The visit to China by Emir Tamim opened a new era of cooperation between the two countries with impressive results," analyst Nabil al-Mrir told Xinhua. "A number of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed during the visit including one on strategic dialogue between the governments of Qatar and China," al-Mrir added. "The visit drew a roadmap to boost strategic partnership between the two countries in political, economic, investment, energy, technology and security cooperation domains," he said. The analyst noted that Qatar is one of the biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producers in the world, and China is one of the biggest importers of LNG. "The expansion of cooperation in production and consumption of LNG between the two countries will be beneficial for both of them," he said. Analyst Hassan al-Ali told Xinhua that the visit of the emir of Qatar to China is very important especially in the light of the ongoing blockade imposed on his country. In early June in 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain imposed a blockade on Qatar and cut all the diplomatic ties and transport links with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups. Qatar vehemently denied the accusations. "Doha needs to boost cooperation and trade exchange with various countries to change its economic development mode from reliance on oil and gas export to a diversified one," al-Ali said. He pointed out that Qatar needs technologies and experience of China which has great potentials in management and production. "The results of the visit will give a push to the economic development in Qatar quickly," the analyst added. by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, February 4, 2019 Lunya, the womens sleepwear brand, spends a lot of time in womens bedrooms. And it wants the world to know there just arent enough orgasms. So the company launched I come first with a full-page ad in the New York Times, a mural on its Los Angeles headquarters and out-of-home ads in New York and San Francisco. Founder and CEO Ashley Merrill says she is making womens pleasure part of its brand mission as a natural next step in the #MeToo movement. We are suddenly reevaluating gender dynamics in every context, she says. And since were looking at everything with fresh eyes, Id like this issue to be part of the conversation, too. She says the campaign is based on research that shows 75% of women dont orgasm during sexual intercourse, and that just 38% of women say theyve masturbated in the past year. advertisement advertisement More troubling is that 30% of women say sex is painful and that, on average, they wait up to 10 years before telling a doctor that sex hurts, she tells Marketing Daily. I just kept thinking, 'Why have we accepted this? Why is this OK? She says her brand is a good fit for climactic conversations because its emphatically not a lingerie brand, but one that strives to connect with women on a more intimate level. Lingerie is very much about looking at women from a male gaze, with lace and ties so you look like a present to be unwrapped, she says. Theres nothing wrong with that, but our product is actually for sleeping, for comfort. The companys sleepwear, much of it priced in the $180 range, tends to a very quiet color palette, for example, with few bright colors. We want our products to feel effortless, and there is something easy about putting on neutrals, she says. She says the campaign fits into the young brands broader mission, too. While primarily an online company, it has stores in Los Angeles and New York. To engage customers, it also links to womens causes, including Girls Inc. and breast-cancer awareness. And it hosts events, like a bi-partisan debate before the midterm elections. Shes hoping women, who have a long history of coming second, will start to see orgasms as part of self-care. Merrill, who declined to reveal the cost of the new ads, says she hopes to do for sleepwear what Lululemon has done for activewear. And she says she is not looking for any hard-and-fast metric to see if the campaign is successful. Again, I think this is similar to the #MeToo movement, she says. While no one may be able to quantify how many people are talking about it, its having ramifications. You can feel its impact. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, February 4, 2019 Maryland officials plan to ask a federal appellate court to reinstate an electioneering law that requires online publishers to post information about political ad buys. Late last week, the state officials, including five members of the Board of Elections, filed paperwork to officially initiate the appeal. They are expected to file their substantive arguments by March 18. A federal district court judge in Maryland blocked the electioneering law earlier this month at the request of The Washington Post, Baltimore Sun and other newspapers, which argued that the measure was unconstitutional. The "Online Electioneering and Transparency Act," which took effect July 1, imposes requirements on online news sites, social media services and other platforms with more than 100,000 unique monthly users. The measure requires those platforms to post -- on their own websites -- information about political ad buys, and to make records available to the state election board. advertisement advertisement Maryland enacted the measure in response to revelations that Russian operatives purchased ads on the major tech platforms in order to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Grimm in Maryland ruled that the provisions imposing obligations on news organizations violated the First Amendment. The judge said in the ruling that laws compelling publishers to post information on their own sites infringe on their right to control their content. There is simply no way the state can show its law is the least restrictive means of achieving its compelling interest in deterring or exposing foreign attempts to meddle in its elections, Grimm wrote in a 50-page ruling. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, February 4, 2019 Crunch Fitness is asking the Supreme Court to decide whether a former gym member can proceed with a lawsuit over a federal robo-texting law. The ex-member, Jordan Marks, alleged in a 2014 complaint that Crunch violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending him three text messages in an 11-month period. That law prohibits companies from using automated dialers to send messages to consumers without their permission. Crunch argued the lawsuit should be dismissed at an early stage because Marks hadn't shown the messages were sent via an automated dialer. A trial judge sided with Crunch, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the fitness company last year. The judges on court ruled that auto dialers could potentially include devices that stored lists of phone numbers to be called. Those judges stopped short of ruling either that Crunch's system is definitively an auto dialer, or that Crunch violated the law. Instead, they sent the case back to the district court for further proceedings. advertisement advertisement In papers filed with the Supreme Court late last week, Crunch argues that the 9th Circuit's definition potentially is so broad that it paves the way for robo-texting lawsuits against anyone who uses smartphones. The 9th Circuit's ruling massively increases exposure ... not only for businesses facing over 4,000 TCPA suits each year (often filed as putative class actions), but for over 300 million smartphone users when sending everyday texts or making calls, Crunch writes in a petition seeking a hearing at the Supreme Court. Crunch also points out that the 9th Circuit ruling is at odds with a recent ruling issued by a different appellate court -- the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, which recently ruled that Yahoo's texting system was not an autodialer. Crunch says the Supreme Court should review the case in order to resolve the conflict between the two appellate courts. The 3rd Circuit stemmed from a 2013 lawsuit by Philadelphia resident Bill Dominguez, who alleged that Yahoo sent him more than 27,000 text messages that were intended for the phone's previous owner. Last year, the 3rd Circuit upheld a trial judge's decision to dismiss the case. The trial judge had ruled that Dominguez didn't prove Yahoo's system was capable of both generating and calling random or sequential numbers. by Larissa Faw , February 4, 2019 The Effies is hoping to equip young marketing professionals with skills to better help them navigate long and successful careers. The 2019 Effie Academy, which debuted as a pilot program last year, serves as a four-day boot camp, bringing together a diverse group of marketers from major brands, tech companies, agencies and media organizations to collaborate with industry leaders and learn from each other. This years class will include 30 participants, with three to seven years of marketing experience, who are recognized as high performers and nominated by their companys leadership. Effie will select the final class in order to ensure a diversity of roles, backgrounds and company types. Beginning February 11 in New York City, invited participants will hear from leaders about their business challenges and their approaches to achieving marketing effectiveness, as well as learn key principles and tools. The session will run in partnership with Brand Learning, Accentures marketing and sales consultancy. advertisement advertisement Confirmed speakers for this years co-lab include Tom Gibson, group strategy director, Anomaly; Ricardo Fort, head of global sponsorships, Coca-Cola; and Ann Mukherjee, CMO, SC Johnson, all returning from last years pilot Academy. Additional speakers include Khartoon Weiss, global head of verticals, Spotify and Ori Camel, director, data products partnerships, Amex Advance. Following the Co-Lab, participants will then apply their learnings to an independent case study project relevant to their business (or their agencys business). Throughout the process, each professional will receive one-on-one mentoring from a network of executive marketers across brands, agencies and media. Following successful completion of the program, participants will earn the Effie Marketing Effectiveness Certificate and be recognized at an invitation-only Effie Summit on Learning in May 2019. More about the program can be found here. by Melynda Fuller , February 4, 2019 Email newsletter publisher Inside.com announced a slew of newly reached benchmarks. First, company has raised $2.6 million in funding to support the continued growth of its business after closing out 2018 with $1.1 million in annualized revenue. That number marked a 300% growth over 2017 numbers. Second, Inside.com recently launched 20 new titles that include Inside newsletters for New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Portland, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Austin, Denver and Pittsburgh. The new round of funding was raised from more than 900 investors and anchored by investments from the SeedInvest Fund and Jason Calacanis, who each invested $250,000. The funding round was also supported, in part, by hundreds of readers. The company, which reaches over 750,000 active subscribers, also launched a proprietary ad server that provides brands with the tools to run native ads directed at broad demographics, including developers, high-earning consumers and people who work in tech. The company stated in the announcement: Like podcasts, most email newsletters offer one option: pay to reach the entire audience, or none of it. Given we have 50 different newsletters and work with a wide array of advertisers, we wanted to offer something better, so we built it. Through surveys, newsletter subscriptions and tools like Clearbit, Inside.com has gleaned a comprehensive portrait of readers. It knows the jobs, industries, broad interests and rough locations of its users. That data allows Inside.com to connect sponsors with a target audience across an ever-expanding portfolio of newsletters. Other newly launched newsletters are geared to those in finance, such as CMOs, CFOs, CTO/CIOs, design, sales and founders. Transparency Market Research (TMR) has published a new report titled Hyperpigmentation Disorders Treatment Market Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 20182026. According to the report, the global hyperpigmentation disorders treatment market was valued at US$ 3,947.3 Mn in 2017 and is projected to reach US$ 7,225.6 Mn by 2026, expanding at a CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2026. The report suggests that augmented adoption of lasers in hyperpigmentation disorders treatment, decrease in social taboos boosting acceptance of pigmentation disorders treatment measures, increase in prevalence of pigmentation related disorders, rise in awareness about skin rejuvenation, improving lifestyle, and increasing disposable income are likely to drive the hyperpigmentation disorders treatment market from 2018 to 2026. Despite its considerable patient population globally, the hyperpigmentation disorders treatment market has often been overlooked and has remained stagnant for the past few decades, with no novel drugs entering the arena. The lack of dedicated research programs has been attributed to pharmaceutical companies viewing topicals, the mainstay of hyperpigmentation disorders treatment therapy, as being inexpensive with a poor return on investment. Instead, the market has shifted towards reformulations of existing products and/or fixed-dose combination therapies. Examples of the latter include combination products by key dermatology players, such as Galdermas Tri-Luma (fluocinolone acetonide/hydroquinone/tretinoin). Request a Sample of Report https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=46644 Innovative products in hyperpigmentation disorders should focus on cost-effectiveness, potential to improve compliance. The biggest unmet needs in hyperpigmentation disorders include the need for new and innovative products, for improved compliance, and for less expensive products relative to existing therapies. Historically, pharmaceutical companies have been reluctant to enter the hyperpigmentation disorders market due to the poor return on investment in this competitive landscape. This attitude has inhibited progress toward developing disease-modifying agents, and agents with more long-lasting effects. However, the hyperpigmentation disorders treatment landscape is expected to change in the near to long term, with the use of laser and phototherapy, and additional companies involved in research for innovative acne products. The report offers detailed segmentation of the global hyperpigmentation disorders treatment market based on treatment type, disease indication, end-user, and region. In terms of treatment type, the topical drugs segment is estimated to account for a large share of the market. An increasing number of patients with hyperpigmentation disorders are visiting dermatologists, and topical drugs are being prescribed to these patients. Request Brochure of Report https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=46644 Topical Drugs to Account for Major Share The topical drug segment is expected to account for a leading share of the market in 2026. The segment is also likely to expand at a rapid pace during the forecast period. Rapid growth in the incidence rate of hyperpigmentation disorders across the globe will lead to an increased number of patients who will undergo diagnosis in the form of topical drugs and chemical peel, as well as treatment using techniques such as laser and phototherapy. This will in turn increase the uptake of hyperpigmentation disorders treatment, thereby driving growth of the market. Market in Asia Pacific to Expand at a Significant Pace Asia Pacific held a prominent share of the global hyperpigmentation disorders treatment market in 2017. The hyperpigmentation disorders treatment market in Asia Pacific is expected to expand at a rapid pace mainly due to improving health care infrastructure, rising private and public investment in life science research, and technological advancements in countries such as China and India. Less competition in Asia Pacific is encouraging a large number of dermo-cosmetics companies to enter the market. U.S. market has witnessed significant technological advancements, as clinics come with laser and phototherapy treatment. In addition, a large number of market players in the U.S. are focusing on R&D to introduce improved products. Moreover, high awareness about latest health care technologies and high demand for safe and hyperpigmentation disorders products, services and devices to boost the hyperpigmentation disorders treatment market in North America. Favorable reimbursement policies in the region also enable patients to avail of the best of health care facilities. Request For Discount On This Report https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=46644 Key Players such as ALLERGAN, Galderma S.A., and SkinCeuticals to Lead the Market The report also provides profiles of leading players operating in the global hyperpigmentation disorders treatment market. They include include Bayer AG, ALLERGAN, Galderma S.A., SkinCeuticals, Pierre Fabre, EpiPharm AG, RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Obagi Cosmeceuticals LLC, and Vivier Pharma. Corporate trend is the strategic acquisition of key dermatology products by Big Pharma. A notable event in 2009 involved the acquisition of Stiefel, a leading dermatology company, by GSK for $3.6 billion. As we enter into the fifth week of the government shutdown, it appears there is no end in sight. Yet there could and should be, and the soluti Every Saturday and Sunday morning for the past three months, Wu Xiaodong has waited for her students at the ethnic primary school in Xunke county, Heihe, in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province. Wu Xiaodong, a 79-year-old retired kindergarten principal, teaches an Oroqen language class in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, in December. [Photo/China Daily] The retired kindergarten principal, whose name in the Oroqen language is Wucharkan Xiaodong, has been teaching the ethnic group's language to members of the public for free since late October. About 20 people, ranging in age from 3 to 60, attend each two-hour class. "Despite efforts by both government and some individuals to protect the language, it is in danger of disappearing due to modernization," the 79-year-old said. "I only hope what I do can slow down the process. "There are no limitations on the students who are interested in learning the ethnic language. My students include teachers, civil servants and housewives." The sixth national population census of 2010 found there were 8,659 Oroqen people in China, mainly living in Heilongjiang and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. About 3,90045 percent of the totalwere in Heilongjiang. Unlike some other minority languages, the Oroqen language is only spoken and it has no written form. That means Wu has to convert each word into pinyin or Chinese characters with similar pronunciation when writing on the blackboard in class. It is a creative solution to the problem, but not an easy one to master. Wu spent nearly six years finding Chinese characters or pinyin with same or similar pronunciations for about 5,000 Oroqen words, covering numbers, daily life and hunting. "There are about 1,300 Oroqen people in Xunke, but I know very few of them can speak the Oroqen language," Wu said. "Most people younger than 60 do not speak the language anymore. "Even though I can speak it fluently, I can't remember all the words due to my old age and lack of a language environment. To record some unfamiliar words, I have visited almost all the Oroqen seniors in the county." She has been working to preserve the language since 2016, when she began giving irregular Oroqen lessons to pupils at the ethnic primary school. "From that year, Heihe city began to organize an annual, province-level Oroqen language contest that aims to arouse the younger generation's interest in learning the language," Wu said. "Sometimes, before the contests or Oroqen festivals and performances, I would be invited to give the pupils some targeted lessons." Similar international competitions are held in the neighboring Russian city of Blagoveshchensk. Students attend Wu's class. [Photo/China Daily] "During these contests, I found that contestants from Xunke performed worse than those from other regions," she said. "The Oroqen people in Xunke moved out of the mountains earlier and had more opportunities to embrace modern culture, which hastened the extinction of ethnic culture in the county. Even though it means that we are more developed, I feel quite upset. "The pupils I taught also told me that they are interested in our ethnic culture, but few of their parents could speak the Oroqen language to them. Furthermore, all the young parents hope their children can speak standard Mandarin and fluent English, to help them enter good universities and then find decent jobs." She then had the idea of starting a class mainly for adults, hoping it would encourage young parents to pay attention to their own culture and provide their children with a better Oroqen language environment. During each class, she teaches her students 30 words, interspersed with instruction about traditional Oroqen culture, including clothing, singing, dancing and hunting. "I have received great support from my family members," Wu said. "My son, who is a teacher at the ethnic primary school, helped me apply for the classroom and also gives students in the school lessons on the Oroqen language every week. "My granddaughter keeps helping me collate my teaching materials on a computer, even though she cannot understand the Oroqen language spoken by the older generation. I often discuss the meaning of language inheritance with her. I am quite clear that despite the efforts, we are still facing the danger that the language of our people might fade into history, but I hope it can leave a mark." Mo Renjie, 23, a senior student at Wuhan University of Technology, attended Wu's class for the first time when he returned to the county after his final exam. "I am quite familiar with Wu, a respected senior in our Oroqen family," he said. "In the past, I often asked her questions about the Oroqen language and culture. The public class is of great significance for all the Oroqen people, especially for our young generation. "I can only speak a few words in Oroqen due to the lack of a language environment and good learning methods. My classmates (at the university) have shown great interest in my ethnic background but I am really ashamed every time they ask me to speak my ethnic language. "I also hope people like me, who are outside our hometown, can bring our culture to a wider platform, which may greatly help heighten our ethnic pride," Mo said. Hiram, GA (30141) Today Thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Hiram, GA (30141) Today Thunderstorms likely. Low 69F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Low 69F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. The fifth annual Poet Laureate Prize comes back to Milton High School for the second year in a row, by way of a poem by Junior Dagmawit Bessi Atlanta, GA (30320) Today Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low near 70F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low near 70F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Roswell, GA (30075) Today Thunderstorms likely. Low 68F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Low 68F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. For years, Taiwan resident Wu Chia-ying has hoped to see a bridge connecting the bustling mainland to Jinmen, an islet attached to Taiwan but lying off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian province. Taiwan compatriots arrive at Wutong in Xiamen, Fujian province, after taking a ferry from Jinmen, Taiwan, on Jan 21. [Photo/China Daily] "When the weather is fine, standing on the seaside of Xiamen, you can even see every inch of Jinmen, as if you could reach the other side by lifting your foot," said the 56-year-old, who started a trading business in Xiamen 20 years ago. Xiamen and Jinmen -- separated by a narrow stretch of water -- share geographical ties, dialect and customs. "Residents feel at home when visiting the other city," he said. Shipping is now the only mode of transportation between them. In 2018, passengers made 1.75 million trips between the two places, the largest since the route's inception in January 2001. A total of 1,420 vessel trips are scheduled between Xiamen and Jinmen during this year's Spring Festival travel rush, transporting 180,000 passengers, up 4.7 percent year-on-year, local authorities have estimated. However, although boats come back and forth every day, the waterway traffic is often suspended once typhoons and fog occur, said Wu, who is also president of the Taiwan Businessmen Association in Xiamen. "It greatly affects people's commuting and also restricts the development of Jinmen and exchanges between the two places," said Wu, a frequent commuter due to business. While addressing a gathering in Beijing to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan, President Xi Jinping called for closer cross-Straits ties, and proposed connecting Fujian to the islands of Jinmen and Matsu via water and gas pipelines, an electricity grid and road bridge. Wu said that Taiwan compatriots are hoping that these proposals could get realized "because they really benefit our lives". A bridge will make up for the deficiencies of water transport, but also promote the economic development of Jinmen and enable Taiwan compatriots to fully enjoy the dividends of the mainland's development, he said. From Jan 27 to 30, a Jinmen delegation led by county head Yang Cheng-wu paid a visit to Fujian to discuss the potential cooperation with the mainland. Fujian's Party chief Yu Weiguo said at a meeting with the delegation that Fujian aspires to contribute to peaceful cross-Straits reunification by leveraging its unique advantages with Taiwan. In August, a 28-kilometer pipelinedelivering 34,000 cubic meters of water from Fujian to Jinmenwent into operation to alleviate a water shortage on Jinmen. Yu said the province is exploring the potential for better cross-Straits connectivity in trade, infrastructure, resources and industry standards. He hoped that with joint efforts, a flow of electricity and gas, as well as a bridge to Jinmen and Matsu from Fujian, could be realized as soon as possible. "Building a bridge has been the wishes of generations of Taiwan businessmen," Wu said, "It will not only shorten the distance between the two cities, but also bring the hearts of compatriots on both sides closer." You dont have to look too long or hard to find examples of employers touting the positive impact that their wellness efforts have had on thei Childrens book author and illustrator Jonathan Miller dazzled West Marion students by sharing his series of stories about the adventures of a dachshund named Sammy. Miller spoke to all grade levels at the school about being an author, illustrator and getting published. He read his most recent book, A History of Wonder Dachshunds, which took him three years to complete. During his presentation, Miller pointed out certain hidden meanings in the illustrations. If you look at some of the spots on the dogs outfit, they are actually states. We have South Carolina, Nevada and Florida, Miller said to students. Miller creates the images for the books with paper by cutting out and layering thousands of pieces for one picture. One illustration can take him up to 40 hours, he said. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The cool thing about making my pictures this way is when you look at the books close up, you will see shadows in the art work and will help create depth, said Miller. When you see pictures in books, realize that illustrators put in a lot of hard work and a lot of time to make the pictures for people to enjoy. Students got a chance to ask questions during the last part of the presentation. The first question from a little girl was, Are you rich? RALEIGH Have you ever heard of Peter Weddick Moore, Operation Dixie or Omar Ibn Said? Particularly during Black History Month, you should know them. North Carolinas African American history spans the width and depth of the state and can be found on major highways and isolated byways. It is part of the collection of N.C. Highway Historical Markers fondly known as History on a stick. But if you dont want to travel the thousands of miles of roadways, just visit www.ncmarkers.com, enter African American in the search bar and hit search. There are more than enough facts there for this Black History Month and next 142 to be exact. For additional information call 919-814-6625. The N.C. Highway Marker program is administered the Office of Archives and History in the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources in partnership with the N.C. Department of Transportation. Raleigh The Come Hear NC campaign salutes the many African American musicians from North Carolina that made groundbreaking contributions to Americas most important musical genres as we celebrate Black History Month. Internationally renowned jazz pianists and composers Thelonious Monk and Billy Taylor were from Rocky Mount and Greenville, respectively. Theres also John Coltrane from Hamlet, Nina Simone from Tryon, and Max Roach from Newland. Other famous music greats include Piedmont blues musicians Elizabeth Cotten, Blind Boy Fuller, and Etta Baker; gospel titans Reverend Faircloth Barnes and Shirley Caesar; funk architects Maceo and Melvin Parker, Nat Jones, and George Clinton; pop artist Roberta Flack and American idol alum Fantasia Barrino, just to name a few. All have made outstanding contributions to our state and the nations musical legacy. Here are some fun facts to help us celebrate music and Black History Month: U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, pledged this week that he will no longer accept campaign contributions from corporate political action committees, arguing that special interests use such money and influence to try and "stack the deck for themselves. McGovern, who chairs the powerful U.S. House Rules Committee, announced his decision to reject lobbyist-driven PAC dollars during a Saturday town hall at the World War II Club in Northampton. Arguing that the current amount of money in politics isnt the system our founders envisioned, the congressman said hes proud to join the 50 other members of Congress who have also pledged to no longer accept corporate PAC dollars. I look forward to continuing the fight to get big money out of politics and restore power back to the American people where it belongs, he said. McGovern also touted his decision in a Saturday CNN op-ed. Taking aim at what he called the U.S. Supreme Courts disastrous Citizens United decision," the congressman raised concerns about the rise of dark money groups and super PACs -- particularly their influence in shaping policies. He, for example, offered that big corporate interests that donate generously to campaigns scored a huge tax break while middle class families were an afterthought in the 2017 Republican tax bill. McGovern further argued that while most climate scientists agree that global warming is caused by human activity, many members of Congress seem to listen to the fossil fuel industry that fund their campaigns instead of the facts. Although the Worcester Democrat acknowledged that it takes money to win elections, he offered that the never-ending fundraising required to win an election takes too much of our attention away from the real work of serving our constituents and our country. McGovern pointed to Democrat-backed legislation to address money in politics as one step lawmakers can take to fix the current campaign finance system. He, however, contended that he "must do more than just support legislation to end the dominance of big money in politics." I need to change the way I run my own campaign fundraising. ... Our system is rigged to favor those at the top. And I believe the perception of corruption, even where it doesnt exist, must be addressed if were going to restore faith in our government. My constituents want me to lead by example -- and I will, he wrote. I will no longer take corporate PAC money for my campaign. Its what the people of Massachusetts' 2nd Congressional District want. And its the right thing to do. End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller, who joined McGovern for the town hall, praised the Worcester Democrat for joining other members of the states congressional delegation -- including Elizabeth Warren, Ayanna Pressley and Lori Trahan -- in swearing off corporate PAC money. By rejecting corporate PAC money, hes proving that hes only accountable to Massachusetts families, not corporate special interests with business before Congress, she said in a statement. "End Citizens United thanks Rep. McGovern for his leadership, and were proud to stand with him in the fight to take back our democracy from the grips of special interests. PAC contributions -- including those from other candidate committees -- accounted for about half of the money McGoverns campaign raised ahead of the 2018 midterm election, according to Open Secrets, which analyzes campaign finance data. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren will kick off her expected 2020 White House bid with a series of organizing events across early primary states that are set to begin immediately after she makes a major announcement in Lawrence, Massachusetts on Saturday. The Massachusetts Democrat, who is expected to formally enter the presidential race at the late-morning event at Everett Mills, will embark on a seven-state organizing tour to drum up support for her campaign and take her message directly to early primary voters. Hours after her Lawrence announcement, Warren will be in New Hampshire for a 3:15 p.m. organizing event at Dover City Hall. The senator will then travel to Iowa Sunday, where she will hold a morning organizing event in Cedar Rapids, afternoon rally in Iowa City and evening roundtable discussion in Davenport, according to her exploratory committee. Warren is also expected to visit South Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and California in the coming weeks as part of her organizing tour, officials said. Details for that travel have yet to be announced. The seven-state organizing effort will mark Warrens latest travel across the United States since announcing her presidential exploratory committee on Dec. 31. The senator, who is one of nearly a dozen Democrats who have signaled they will run in 2020, has already met with voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Puerto Rico in recent weeks. The number of waterbirds arriving at central China's Dongting Lake for winter exceeded 240,000 this winter, up 6.3 percent year on year, according to a survey by lake protection authorities. The migratory birds in Dongting Lake, the country's second largest freshwater lake, increased by 14,257 year on year. Bean gooses, numbered 60,000, became the largest population of waterbirds wintering there. To restore the wetland ecosystem and supply more food for the birds, lake administration staff planted lots of aquatic plants in the reserve, said Yi Feiyue, an official with East Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve. Fifty-eight species of waterbirds were spotted in the lake, including red-breasted brants found for the first time in January. Since 1978, the area of Dongting Lake, which links with the Yangtze River, has increased by 779 square kilometers to 3,470 square kilometers thanks to continuous restoration efforts, said the Hunan provincial bureau of water resources in November. The U.S. economy began adding jobs in October 2010, and hasnt stopped since. That 100-month-long streak, a bit more than twice the length of the prior record, began in President Barack Obamas 22nd month in office, and is still going strong, two years after Obama handed the reins to President Donald Trump 25 months back. On the first day of February, the Labor Department reported that the economy had added a robust 304,000 jobs in the prior month. This would be a sterling number under any circumstances, but coming after 99 prior months, after the five-week partial government shutdown, with fears of a trade war with China still rampant -- it's truly awesome. Though everyone remembers the financial collapse that occurred in the summer of 2008, it can be easy to forget that the so-called Great Recession actually began the prior year, in December 2007, and ended 19 months later, in June 2009. The lingering effects, however -- slow growth, stagnant wages, high unemployment -- seemed at times to have become our new normal. Still, Obama administration policies, coupled with extraordinary efforts by the Federal Reserve, put the nation's economy back on solid footing. Those who are quick to criticize the slow growth under Obama are forgetting how deep and severe was the economic downturn he inherited. The president and the Fed set the right course, the right tone, and we were eventually off to the races. Enter Trump, his tariffs, his threats of trade wars, his go-it-alone rhetoric. Though one could easily have imagined that his America-first agenda would cause havoc with the overall economy, such fears have at least so far been unfounded. In our hyper-partisan era, Democrats can laud Obama, Republicans can hail Trump, but what's really deserving of praise is the stunning resilience of our nation's economy, steered through roiled waters by the steady hand of regulators at our nation's central bank. When the badly damaged economy was just getting going again in the early years of the Obama administration, no one would have forecast such a run of jobs growth. No one. The previous best streak? Forty-eight months of consecutive jobs growth, which ended all the way back in June 1990. Imagine how smooth would be the sailing if only the Trump administration could end its trade war with China, stop fighting with our allies, lower barriers rather than raising them. Maybe wed be adding jobs for another hundred months. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam consulted with top administration officials Monday about whether he should stay in office or resign amid an uproar over a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page. Practically all of the state's Democratic establishment -- and Republican leaders, too -- turned against the 59-year-old Democrat after the picture surfaced of someone in blackface next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. The sense of crisis deepened as the official next in line to be governor, Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, denied an uncorroborated allegation of sexual misconduct first reported by a conservative website. Fairfax told reporters that the 2004 encounter with a woman was consensual, and he called the accusation a "smear." Northam stayed out of sight as he met with his Cabinet and senior staff, following a meeting the night before with minority officials in his administration. The governor wanted to hear their assessment of whether it is feasible for him to stay in office, according to a top administration official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The meetings included frank conversations about the difficulties of governing under such circumstances, the person said. The state government was thrown into confusion by the scandal on what was already one of the legislature's busiest days of the session, with the House and Senate each seeking to complete legislation to send to the other chamber. Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne said he told Northam that the state cannot afford a prolonged period of uncertainty over his future. Northam's office is in the middle of negotiations with GOP lawmakers over a major tax overhaul and changes to the state budget. The Republican Party controls both houses of the legislature. "One way or the other, it needs to be resolved," Layne said. The furor over the picture erupted on Friday, when Northam first admitted he was in the picture without saying which costume he was wearing, and apologized. But a day later, he denied he was in the photo, while also acknowledging he once put on blackface to imitate Michael Jackson at a dance contest decades ago. The scandal threatens to cripple Northam's ability to govern. In another sign Monday of the challenges he could face if he tries to stay in office, Katherine Rowe, president of the College of William & Mary, canceled an appearance by Northam at an event this Friday because his presence would "fundamentally disrupt the sense of campus unity we aspire to." Northam, who is one year into his four-year term, has also lost the support of many declared and potential Democratic presidential candidates. The state's Republican House speaker said there is "a rightful hesitation" among lawmakers to seek Northam's impeachment or removal, and they are hoping he steps down instead. "Obviously on impeachment, that's a very high standard," Speaker Kirk Cox said. "And so I think that's why I think we have called for the resignation. We hope that's what the governor does. I think that would obviously be less pain for everyone." If Northam does resign, Fairfax will become the second African-American governor in Virginia history. Referring to the allegation against him, Fairfax said he was not surprised it came at a critical time for the office of governor: "It's at that point that they come out with the attacks and the smears. It is unfortunate. It really is, but it's sadly a part of our politics now." The Associated Press is not reporting the details of the accusation because AP has not been able to corroborate it. The Washington Post said Monday that it was approached by the woman in 2017 and carefully investigated but never published a story for lack of any independent evidence. The Post said the woman had not told anyone about it, the account could not be corroborated, Fairfax denied it, and the Post was unable to find other similar allegations against him among people who knew him in college, law school or in politics. The woman did not immediately respond Monday to a voicemail, text message or email from an AP reporter. The allegations were first reported by Big League Politics, the news outlet that first published the yearbook image. Northam, a pediatric neurologist who came to politics late in life, spent years courting the black community in the run-up to his 2017 race for governor. He recently came under fire from Republicans who have accused him of backing infanticide after he said he supported a bill loosening restrictions on late-term abortions. Late last month, Florida's secretary of state resigned after photos from a 2005 Halloween party showed him in blackface while dressed as a Hurricane Katrina victim. In many rural Massachusetts communities, the population is aging and declining. Fewer jobs are available to attract young people. We have to be looking at innovative new ways to bring some interest in the region, some interest in investing in these communities and creating jobs, said Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Sunderland. Blais and Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, are proposing a bill, the Rural Jobs Act, that would give state tax breaks to investors who invest in companies that create jobs in rural Massachusetts. Massachusetts in any given year gives $130 million in tax incentives in a range of industries, so one concern I have is whos getting them and where are they going? Hinds said. This is an effort to say lets add a program of tax incentives for investment in small businesses in small towns. Hinds and Blais represent some of the states smallest, most rural communities, which often face different challenges than other parts of the state. Hinds said many Western Massachusetts small towns have been slower to recover economically from the recession than towns in Greater Boston. The region also has low levels of investment in infrastructure. Some lack high-speed internet and many have little public transportation. This is a deliberate effort to say we cant continue to have a state with certain areas thriving and other areas suffering, Hinds said. The bill would create a Rural Jobs Fund, which would invest in small businesses in small towns. These are businesses with fewer than 250 employees and less than $10 million in revenue in the states 250 smallest towns. The fund would solicit money from private investors, who would receive tax credits for 15 percent of their investment. Investors would be required to keep their money in the fund for six years. Pew, a think tank that analyzes state programs, reported that 11 states were considering establishing these types of tax incentives in 2017. But the foundation found that similar programs elsewhere have generally failed to deliver promised jobs and tax revenue. Several states recommended shutting down their programs because they failed to deliver new jobs. Hinds said he would structure the program in a way that investors would only get the tax break once jobs are created. The Rural Jobs Act is one of several proposals Western Massachusetts lawmakers are making this year to help rural towns. The state today has a Rural Policy Advisory Commission, but it has no staff or budget. The commissions priority this year is to ask lawmakers to create an independent Office of Rural Policy with a full-time executive director. A bill to create the office was sponsored by Blais and Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru. Blais said she envisions an executive director whose only job is to look out for the best interests of rural Massachusetts, who would work across state government to advocate for the interests of rural communities. For example, Blais said when state officials rolled out a housing choice program to give grants to incentivize housing production, it was structured in a way that rural towns with declining populations and a lack of professional planners were unable to compete. Mark said currently, lawmakers who represent rural towns consider bills through the lens of rural policy. But a full-time staff member could undertake lobbying efforts and spend their day thinking about how do all of these bills affect rural communities, and are there interactions with regulatory agencies that should happen to make sure things are fair. Several other bills relate to land use in rural communities. Hinds wants to explore the possibility of creating a financial incentive for forest conservation. Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol, wants to re-examine the formula by which the state compensates communities with large amounts of state-owned land. Hinds last year pushed for the inclusion of $1.5 million in rural school aid in the state budget, money earmarked to help financially struggling rural schools with declining student populations. This year, Hinds said he hopes to increase that allocation to $9 million to assist more schools. This is one in an occasional series of stories about bills sponsored by Western Massachusetts lawmakers. Two 20-year-old men were arrested after a crowd at a popular off-campus housing complex near the University of Massachusetts Amherst celebrated the New England Patriots Super Bowl victory by gathering around a pile of burning furniture. One man also suffered a leg injury, fire officials said. Around 10:25 p.m., minutes after the Patriots completed their 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams, Amherst Fire Department firefighters received a call from Amherst Police. Someone had set some home furnishings on fire on the lawn of the Townhouse apartments in North Amherst. They decided to grab a couch and some other furniture and decided it would be a smart thing to burn it," Amherst Fire Chief W. Tim Nelson said in an interview. Video of the scene before it was broken up by police shows a group of men and women standing in a circle around the fire, cheering the Patriots' sixth Super Bowl title. Thank you, next! Lets go Celtics! one man can be heard yelling in the video. The crowd scattered when police arrived, but two 20-year-old men were arrested, the Massachusetts Daily Collegian reported. Michael Calnan of Amherst was charged with disorderly conduct and assault and battery on ambulance personnel and John Flynn of Braintree, was arrested for disorderly conduct. Firefighters extinguished the fire quickly. One man attempted to jump over the fire, misjudged his leap and cut his leg severely, Nelson said. A much larger celebration at UMass' Southwest Residential Area concluded without any arrests. Thousands of students gathered in the shadow of the Southwest dormitory towers, chanting, cheering and throwing toilet paper. Nelson said that it is not the first time his firefighters have had to extinguish household items at the Townehouses, an apartment complex popular among students and known as a UMass party hotspot. A similar fire broke out during last years Super Bowl, when the Patriots lost to the Philadelphia Eagles. Weve had issues there in the past," Nelson said. Theyll burn furniture just because. The only reported damage was to the furniture, which was resident property, Nelson said. Thats the thing that gets it. Youre burning up your own furniture. Come on," he said. A Springfield man is being held on $150,000 bail in Connecticut after he was charged with breaking into an East Windsor home in December and threatening residents with a knife, according to reports. The Journal-Enquirer of Manchester is reporting Desmond L. Hutchins, 34, broke into a womans home on the night of Dec. 8, and when confronted by a woman resident, he pulled out a knife and then made a stabbing motion toward her. Hutchins is charged with home invasion and two counts of threatening a child. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held on $125,000 bail. Hutchins is due in court again on Feb. 21, according to Connecticut court records. The Journal-Enquirer cites a police report that describes Hutchins as drunk and reeking of alcohol when he entered the house. After he threatened a resident with a knife, she responded by pushing him away with both hands and he stumbled out an open sliding-glass doorway. A 24-year-old Bedford man is accused of breaking into a Massachusetts home and forcing a resident to drive to Western Massachusetts and Connecticut at knifepoint. Concord Police Chief Joseph OConnor said authorities are searching for Julian Field on armed home invasion, assault and kidnapping charges. Field was reported missing from his Bedford home then allegedly broke into a Concord home Sunday night. Police received a call Monday around 3:45 a.m. for a report of a home invasion that took place earlier Sunday night. The victim reported that during the early evening, a man entered his home, held him at knifepoint and forced him to drive the suspect to locations in Western Massachusetts and Southern Connecticut, police said. Field was being sought by Bedford Police earlier Sunday connection with a disturbance. Authorities said around midnight, Field got out of the victims car in New Haven, Connecticut. The victim drove back to his Concord home and called police. He was not injured. Police obtained an arrest warrant for Field on Monday. He is wanted on charges of armed home invasion, kidnapping, armed assault on a person over 60, armed assault in a dwelling and armed burglary. Authorities believe Field is in the Connecticut or New York City area. A knife was found in the victims car, but police still consider Field to be armed and dangerous. Anyone with information is asked to call Concord Police Detectives at 978-318-3400 or the Concord Police Departments Anonymous Tip Line 978-318-3407. A national organization working to impeach President Donald Trump will be running 30-second television ads for the next two weeks in the Springfield market to pressure U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, to take action to oust the president. Need to Impeach is also planning to hold a town hall-style lobbying effort in Springfield on Feb. 12, where founder Tom Steyer, a hedge fund manager and billionaire, will speak about his campaign to throw Trump out of office. Dozens of volunteers will be hitting the streets during the two weeks and knock on doors in a grassroots effort to rally support for the cause, said Doug Rubin, senior adviser to Need to Impeach. Steyer, who began the Need to Impeach campaign shortly after Trump took office, recently announced he would not be running for president in 2020 and instead will spend as much as $40 million on his continued movement to unseat the president. The ads that target Neal are hyper local. They will air on Springfield TV stations and will cost about $109,000 over the two weeks, Rubin said. The ads target Neal because he was named chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee in December. In addition, more than 20,000 people in Neals congressional district, which includes Berkshire and Hampden County and parts of Franklin, Hampshire and Worcester counties, are among the more than 7.1 million people who have signed a petition calling for Trumps removal, Rubin said. "Neal can subpoena Trump's tax returns and vote to start impeachment hearings against the most lawless and corrupt president in American history," the ad says. It also asks people to call a number to let Neal know they want the president to be impeached. Those calls will be first filtered to Need to Impeach and then to the congressman, Rubin said. "It's time to hold Donald Trump accountable and we can do our part here in Massachusetts. All we need is our congressman Richard Neal to be with us," the ad says. The first three ads will target Neal, U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Rubin said. Similar town hall meetings will also be held in the districts in New York and Maryland, he said. The organization expects to run more ads in different congressional districts across the country in the future, Rubin said. The Massachusetts State Police announced Monday the beginning of a body camera pilot program as the law enforcement agency tests cameras from several vendors over the next six months. Roughly 100 troopers will use and test the cameras, State Police said. The agency believes the cameras will provide an additional level of accountability and accuracy for troopers during their interactions with the public. The cameras will increase officer safety and enhance the ability to accurately document the actions of criminal offenders, according to a statement. Body cameras offer the potential to bring a new level of officer safety, transparency, and accurate documentation to the tens of thousands of interactions our personnel have with the public every year, said Colonel Kerry Gilpin, head of the State Police. We are evaluating several different body camera platforms before selecting the best solution. My command staff and I are working collaboratively with the union that represents troopers and sergeants on this important new capability. In the statement, Mark Lynch, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts (SPAM), said the union is committed to working with the Baker-Polito Administration in employing the cameras. The cameras may help troopers and the public, he said. SPAM supports the administrations body-worn camera pilot program and looks forward to examining the perceived benefits and potential improvements with the use of these technologies, Lynch said. Details of the body camera pilot program are the following: Pilot program duration of six months involving approximately 100 participants from the State Police. Pilot participants will evaluate different vendor devices over this six-month period with the goal of identifying the best camera solution for the departments policing mission. The Massachusetts State Police and SPAM signed a MOU last week in which SPAM agreed to support the program. The pilot program will scale to 100 participants over the next two weeks. There have been several reforms in the State Police since April 2018, when Gov. Charlie Baker and Gilpin announced changes amid turmoil and scandals in the agency. Over the past 10 months there have been the installation of Automated Vehicle Locator systems in all patrol cruisers, with expansion to other cruisers planned; the elimination of the former Troop E with its duties of patrolling the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Metropolitan Tunnel System rolled into three separate geographic barracks; an increase in oversight and capabilities; quarterly audits of the departments top 50 earners to ensure adherence to relevant policies; rules and regulations; increased staff in the Internal Affairs and Staff Inspections Sections for increased accountability; and contracting with a major audit firm to review departmental payroll functions. Gilpin took over as the head of the State Police after Richard McKeon retired in late 2017 after controversy over disclosure that he ordered troopers to remove embarrassing details from an arrest report for a judges daughter. The agency has more than 40 troopers under investigation for alleged overtime fraud involving specialized patrols on the Mass. Pike and the Metropolitan Tunnels System. There are some troopers already facing state and federal charges in the case. A few of these troopers have pleaded guilty to federal charges in the overtime scandal. The troopers involved in the alleged overtime abuse were all part of Troop E, which was dissolved last year. Julian Edelman and the New England Patriots defense were not Bostons only heroes on Super Bowl Sunday. A Boston Fire Department technical rescue team saved a dog who became stranded 200 feet from shore in South Bostons Pleasure Bay on Sunday morning, the fire department said on Twitter. Kai, a 12-year-old golden retriever, swam out too far in the bay and was unable to return, the Boston Fire Department said. The rescue happened approximately 200 feet from shore, the department said on Twitter. The owner stated that Kai likes to swim but went out a little too far and wasnt able to swim back. Kai was in the water for between 30 and 40 minutes before divers with the departments technical rescue division arrived at the scene. A team of divers took a Zodiac inflatable boat out to where Kai was stranded and brought the dog on board. The golden retriever was wrapped in blankets and given an oxygen mask before being taken to a hospital with the owner, the Boston Fire Department said. A great job by all and a happy ending, the department said on Twitter. Should Republican-turned-Libertarian former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld run for president in 2020? One of his former political mentees now the number two official in Massachusetts isnt giving her opinion. Bill Weld can do anything he wants, said Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, a Republican. I think he tried that once before, and he may do it again. Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, was a cabinet secretary when Weld was governor. Bill Weld and (former Republican governor) Paul Cellucci are individuals that served as role models to both Gov. Baker and to me in our earlier days in public service, and if Bill Weld wants to run for president, thats his choice, and he may very well do that, Polito said. Weld is a former Republican governor of Massachusetts, who was the Libertarian Partys vice presidential nominee in 2016, on the ticket with former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. According to news reports, Weld is considering running for president in 2020 as either a Libertarian or a Republican, to challenge Republican President Donald Trump. Baker and Polito have said they did not support Trump for president, and they left their presidential ballots blank in 2016. Asked if she believes a Republican should challenge Trump, Polito did not answer directly, but reiterated that she and Baker did not support the presidents election. We were one of the first to state that we didnt feel he had the temperament to be both a candidate and to serve in that office, and we still feel that same way, Polito said. And I feel that others that might share our sentiment there might want to challenge him in a primary, and that would be the process. Polito spoke to reporters Monday after meeting with the House speaker and Senate president at the Statehouse. Baker, who is returning from attending the Super Bowl in Atlanta, called in to the meeting but did not attend in person. You are here: China Nanning Customs in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region seized eight ivory products, it announced Sunday. The eight ivory bracelets weighing a total 577.1 grams were found inside four coffee packages carried by a foreign passenger. Nanning Customs in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region seizes eight ivory products on Jan. 24, 2019. Weighing a total 577.1 grams, the eight ivory bracelets were found inside four coffee packages carried by a foreign passenger. [Photo/Chinanews.com] The customs handed over the items to the anti-smuggling department for further investigation. China banned all domestic ivory trade at the end of 2017 as part of its commitment to protecting wild animals. At a press conference held on Dec. 19, 2018, Nanning Customs announced it had investigated 83 smuggling cases involving endangered animal and plant species since 2016. Smuggled items included ivory, pangolins, rhinoceros horns, giant clams and hawksbill turtles, according to the press conference. As a frontline against smuggling of endangered species, Guangxi is unveiling various measures to crack down on such crimes. While strengthening investigation and supervision on customs entry and transaction procedures, Nanning Customs is making efforts to enhance regulation and risk monitoring in transportation, according to the conference. It has also vowed to cooperate with the Vietnamese customs and police force in this regard to consolidate the protection of endangered species and promote ecological development. Eight people were forced from their 22 Somerset St. home Sunday afternoon, when fire swept through the 2 -story, multi-family house. Dennis Leger, executive aide to Springfield Fire Commissioner Bernard Calvi, said the fire apparently started on the second floor of the building and spread upward to the third-floor attic space. The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Springfield Arson and Bomb Squad. Firefighters responded to the report of the fire at 2:04 p.m., and had the fire knocked down by 2:30 p.m., then started the process of overhauling the site to search for any extension of the fire into the structure. The house next to the primary fire scene suffered heat damage to the vinyl siding, and firefighters surveyed the home looking for possible extension of the into that building. None was found. Fire officials said five people living on the first floor of the fire site and three occupants on the second floor all evacuated the building and no injuries were reported. The American Red Cross was called in to assist the residents. Leger said the fire caused extension damage to the second and third floors of the house, while the first floor and the basement sustained water and smoke damage. A 23-year-old Massachusetts man is facing charges in a fatal drunken driving crash that killed his younger brother, authorities said. Norwood police said 22-year-old Tresor J. Wrensford died in a Sunday morning crash at Walpole Street and Davis Avenue. The driver of the car, 23-year-old Treorv J. Wrensford, was arrested and charged with motor vehicle homicide by driving under the influence of alcohol, drunken driving, speeding, driving negligently and failing to stay within marked lanes. He will be charged in Dedham District Court. The brothers are from 31 St. John Ave. in Norwood, police said. Tresor Wrensford died in a fatal crash in Norwood on Feb. 3, 2019. (GoFundMe) Police and firefighters were called to the intersection of Walpole Street (also known as Route 1A) and Davis Avenue around 3 a.m. Sunday for a single-vehicle crash. Treorv J. Wrensford was hospitalized after the crash. His brother, Tresor, died from his injuries. The crash remains under investigation. A GoFundMe page asking for help to pay for Tresors funeral said he was a sweet, funny and hard-working man. He was loved by many people and was always the life of the room. He never hesitated to help people when they needed it even if that meant sneaking people into his mothers house when they didnt have a place to lay for the night, the page said. He was genuine and will truly be missed. It's never aliens... until it is. I've read that, or something like it, more than a few times lately. It reminds us that this great big universe, which seems intent on reducing us to insignificance, is more mysterious a place, far stranger, and perhaps more fun than we can imagine. Just pick a mystery, any mystery. How did the universe begin? How will it end? What is dark matter? Dark energy? Where do cosmic rays come from? Where is everybody? They're all interesting, at least to some... except for that last one. It has special qualities. We are -- right now -- in a unique place in our history and the question of extraterrestrial life is bearing down hard. It doesn't matter what kind, big or small, simple or complex... we still don't know. But we could soon. That's my gut feeling. Gut feelings don't the answer questions, but the fact that we have them at all is what distinguishes this mystery from the others. It's an intellectual abstraction that reaches across time and space to speak to us. We feel invested. We are looking harder now, and with better tools, than any time in history. The answer seems within reach. Be it microbes or advanced civilizations, there can be only one answer. A "no" is impossible. That would require proving life does not exist anywhere else in the universe. We'll either know, or we won't. It's binary. When... if that "yes" finally comes, it'll mark the end of this era in human history. It's a page that can only be turned once, and I want to see it happen. How that might come about is anyone's guess, but two recent mysteries may shed light on how we see the evidence. These provoked debate over whether extraterrestrial biology or technology should be considered along with "natural" processes when looking for solutions to puzzling data. In other words, whether ET belongs in "proper" science. Surprised? These same cases also hint at a shift -- an expansion really -- in the culture of SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, with associated ramifications for the quest for life outside Earth in general. The first mystery might be called "the case of the alien megastructure." It erupted onto the scene in 2015 when astronomer Tabetha Boyajian and citizen scientists posted their article describing the curious dimming of light from the star designated KIC 8462852. Among the possible explanations they set forth, one in particular caught the public's attention, and mine. This was the idea was that the star itself might be partially encased in an artificial structure similar to a Dyson Swarm, whose shape would occasionally block the star's light in the unexpected ways they observed. It was a grand vision, equal parts frightening and weird, but also crazy fun. The concept of a shell half the size of our solar system constructed to harvest a star's energy output was a mental challenge. At "only" 1470 light years distance, should we be afraid if it turned out to be real? Probably not. I think. Originally described in a 1937 science fiction novel, physicist Freeman Dyson proposed in 1960 that such structures might be detected using various means, providing evidence of advanced, intelligent extraterrestrial life. Such minds. For Tabetha Boyajian and crew, it was just one of several ideas not yet ruled out. But when the "it's aliens" crowd lofted the article from obscurity, the story caught fire. Soon they were calling it Tabby's Star for the co-discoverer. For a short while, the evidence seemed like it might fill the bill until new information cast enough doubt on the idea to push it from the headlines. Questions remain, but Tabby's star has faded from the front page. The headlines it generated were among the reasons cited by many establishment figures who slammed Boyajian and company for daring to suggest that alien hardware might play a role. "It was unscientific" they said, and a bad influence on the gullible public. I disagree. Enter the strange case of 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar asteroid, discovered on October 19, 2017 as it passed closest to Earth. Precise measurement of its trajectory soon showed that it came from somewhere outside our solar system, and was now on its way back out in another direction. That alone was big news, and it was studied until it became too distant and faint. Then strange facts about this object started mounting. Astronomers had trouble classifying it as either asteroid or comet, but when light measurements indicated that it was elongated 10 to 1 like a cigar, it didn't take long before it was compared to cylindrical alien spaceship in Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendezvous with Rama." Whoa. The speculation slipped into overdrive when 'Oumuamua was found to be accelerating relative to its expected speed out of the Solar System. Cometary out-gassing could provide the needed push, but there was no evidence of that. The list of oddities is impressive. Last fall Avi Loeb, chairman of Harvard's Astronomy Department, and grad student Shmuel Bialy, published an "artificial origin" theory in a scientific paper that met with some derision, but continues fueling welcomed new speculation among scientists. In the paper, they calculate that the force exerted on 'Oumuamua by sunlight could produce the observed acceleration, but that 'Oumuamua would need to be less than a millimeter thick, at least 20 meters wide... and shiny. The suggestion that "it may be a light-sail produced by an alien civilization" promptly followed. So, what's new about this? Aside from the radical nature of the proposal, technology has now advanced to a point where we can actually investigate such insane possibilities, and some scientists actually seem more open to discussing such ideas. New technologies also promise to bring the search for chemicals associated with life (biosignatures) in the atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars into the mainstream along with the search for radio signals from far, far away. Artificial intelligence may even find new ways to identify hints in a star's light that indicate some alien influence... and so much more. Right now, radio searches still offer the most bang for the buck, so radio SETI may remain the method of choice for a long time, but the search for technosignatures -- evidence of artificial hardware and structures -- is gaining traction. This is a refreshing development, and it's about time. It is surprising that we still don't know whether life exists anywhere but Earth. I've felt that most of my life, but now it's 2019 and I'm on Medicare, so you'll forgive me for being antsy about this. Given how robust life is on Earth, and that earth-like conditions appear common on planets around other stars, so there's ample reason to suspect that life spans the universe. But we just don't know. Fox Mulder on the X-Files wanted to believe, but I have no interest in that. I need to know. Nothing less. So here we are, just little 'ole us and the big universe... ugh. Scientists argue over whether dead microbes found in meteorites came from space, and won't be persuaded that Mars has life until it's swimming around under their microscopes. That's fine. I probably won't be convinced until they are anyway. An abundance of caution is necessary. We have to be sure. In the meantime, we're like aborigines huddled around a campfire in the deep woods at night. Hypervigilant, we react to the slightest "snap" in the dark. Does that matter? Should we chase down every sound, or just relax and enjoy the show? These are the challenges of our Great Uncertainty, and they'll take a while to figure out. But I don't have forever, so can't we just "science the sh-- out of this" like Matt Damon in The Martian, and be done with it? No one I know, including those who've had fun with the idea, suggests that established burdens of proof be abandoned. The scientific process will filter out bias, and follow the evidence to wherever it leads, so why not dispense with the condescension, and give ET its due? * * * Find rise and set times for the sun and moon, and follow ever-changing celestial highlights in the Skywatch section of the Weather Almanac in The Republican and Sunday Republican. Patrick Rowan has written Skywatch for The Republican since 1987 and has been a Weather Almanac contributor since the mid 1990s. A native of Long Island, Rowan graduated from Northampton High School, studied astronomy at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in the '70s and was a research assistant for the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory. From 1981 to 1994, Rowan worked at the Springfield Science Museum's Seymour Planetarium, most of that time as planetarium manager. Rowan lives in the Florence section of Northampton with his wife, Clara. AQUAMAN - TWO STARS - (PG-13) Director James Wan helms the DC Comics tale of half-human, half-Atlantean Arthur Curry with Jason Momoa in the title role. Aquaman weighs in somewhere between the lugubrious Justice League and the less leaden Wonder Woman on the uneven scales of recent DC films. (143 min.) BUMBLEBEE - THREE STARS - (PG-13) Bumblebee of Transformers fame finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town in 1987. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug. (114 min.) COLD PURSUIT - THREE STARS - (R) A revenge thriller infused with irreverent humor with Liam Neeson as a family man whose quiet life with his wife is upended following the mysterious death of their son. His search for justice turns into a vengeful hunt for a drug lord he believes is connected to the death. (118 min.) A DOGs WAY HOME - TWO AND A HALF STARS - (PG) Separated from her owner, a dog sets off on an 400-mile journey to get back to the safety and security of the place she calls home. Along the way, she meets a series of new friends and manages to bring a little bit of comfort and joy to their lives. Although it might be a stretch to categorize this as a movie, A Dogs Way Home is harmless enough and a nice little adventure thats fit for the whole family. But you might want to have the tissues ready. (96 min.) ESCAPE ROOM - TWO STARS - (PG-13) A psychological thriller about six strangers who find themselves in circumstances beyond their control and must use their wits to find the clues or die. (109 min.) GLASS - TWO AND A HALF STARS - (PG-13) From Unbreakable, Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn as does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, known also by his pseudonym Mr. Glass. Joining from Split are James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities who reside within, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with The Beast. Following the conclusion of Split, director / writer M. Night Shyamalan has Dunn pursuing The Beast in a series of escalating encounters. (110 min.) THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING - THREE STARS - (PG) A modern day retelling of the legend of King Arthur as a young boy (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) pulls the sword Excalibur from a stone, assembles his school friends and knights and aides Merlin (Patrick Stewart) in battling the enchantress Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson). (132 min.) THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART - THREE STARS - (PG) While The LEGO Movie 2 is pretty darn good, you cant help shake the feeling that its just never going to live up to the exciting newness of the first. Its not entirely their fault, once the real world element was revealed in the first LEGO Movie, there are only so many directions you can go and the big stakes that all toys face being forgotten and the threat of being shoved away into storage. (106 min.) MARY POPPINS RETURNS - THREE AND A HALF STARS - (PG)Lets face it, there are times when a little sugar oh what the heck, lets say a spoonful is just what we need, if not for health then for happiness. So its sweet news indeed that Mary Poppins Returns, a sequel 54 years in coming, provides just that spoonful of happiness in the form of Emily Blunt, practically perfect in every way as the heir to Julie Andrews. (130 min.) RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET - THREE STARS - (PG) This animated effort levels up on its predecessor with a funny, heartwarming sequel that expands its colorful universe while focusing on core characters and relationships. (114 min.) SPIDER-MAN INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE - THREE STARS - (PG)Animated romp that introduces Brooklyn teen Miles Morales, and the limitless possibilities of the Spider-Verse, where more than one can wear the mask. (100 min.) STAN & OLLIE - THREE AND A HALF STARS - (PG) A Laurel and Hardy biopic that has allowed viewers to understand what made their characters so great, and so beloved, in a film that magnanimously invites us into a world no less recognizable for being almost entirely erased. (98 min.) A STAR IS BORN - FOUR STARS - (R) With appealing leads, deft direction, and an affecting love story, A Star Is Born is a remake done right -- and a reminder that some stories can be just as effective in the retelling. Stars Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. (135 min.) THE UPSIDE - TWO AND HALF STARS - (PG-13) Based on the hit 2011 French film The Intouchables, Kevin Hart stars as a recently paroled ex-convict who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a paralyzed billionaire (Bryan Cranston). (126 min.) VICE - TWO AND A HALF STARS - (R) Christian Bale shaved his head, bleached his eyebrows and put on 40 pounds to play Dick Cheney in the film by Adam McKay (The Big Short), which purports to tell the true story with McKays patented blend of deadpan humor and dead-serious drama of the former vice presidents role as the power behind the throne of the George W. Bush administration. Rockwell plays a good ol boyish Bush, with Carell impersonating Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield and Adams playing the former veeps wife, Lynne (132 min.) (Star ratings based on The Washington Post, Associated Press, Rotten Tomatoes aggregation and Advance Digital reviews) SPRINGFIELD Baystate Health, the regions largest health care provider, announced plans Monday to build and operate a new behavioral health hospital. Baystate said the joint venture, with partner US HealthVest, will increase capacity in its service area by more than 30 percent for inpatient behavioral health care for adults, children and adolescents in a dedicated, state-of-the-art hospital. The site has not yet been selected. Baystate said it is working on securing a location. Construction will take two years once the location is final. Behavioral health units at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Baystate Noble Hospital in Westfield, and Baystate Wing Hospital in Palmer will close when the new hospital opens. Baystate will still provide outpatient and partial hospitalization services at those community hospitals. Baystate now has 98 inpatient psychiatric beds: 28 at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, 22 in Greenfield, 28 in Palmer and 20 in Westfield. According to a statement from Baystate, those existing facilities are out-of-date and decentralized. The Baystate Medical Center Beds will remain. A 30 percent increase would mean a new hospital with about 130 beds potentially helping to alleviate the issue of people seeking inpatient psychiatric care ending up being boarded in emergency rooms. The announcement comes after Providence Behavioral Health in Holyoke announced layoffs in August. Providence, part of Trinity Health of New England, also closed 12 of its pediatric and adolescent inpatient beds about half its capacity. It said the payments it gets for mental health treatment dont keep up with expenses. US Health Vest has hospitals in Des Plaines, Illinois; Smyrna, Georgia; Monroe, Georgia; Marysville, Washington; Waukegan, Illinois; New Lenox, Illinois; and one under development in Lacey, Washington. The company is a partner in a 120-bed psychiatric hospital opening in early 2019 in Worcester. A 29-year-old Peabody man is facing a murder charge in a Boston court after authorities located a shooting victim Sunday morning in Mattapan. Officers were called to the Goodale Road area around 10 a.m. Sunday for a report of a person shot. Police located a male suffering from gunshot wounds, police said. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released. Police said they were able to identify John Patterson as the suspect in the shooting. He was arrested after the killing. Authorities did not release any further details about the shooting. It's no secret that the world often finds the good ol' Kiwi accent hard to understand, our slow, monotonous drawl has been the butt of many jokes. Two Porirua men have put that to the test by exposing Google's inability to understand the Kiwi accent. The two men, Adam Marshall and Josh Wickens, asked their Google Home speaker to play the iconic Maori anthem Poi E by the Patea Maori Club. Wickens initially uses his regular NZ accent, to which Google replies, "I looked for Boy by the Party Motor Club but it either isn't available or can't be played right now." But Wickens then switches it up by trying the same request with a Maori accent instead, announcing "I'm going to Maori that s**t up," to the camera. "Hey Google, play Poi E by the Patea Maori Club, g!" he asks before giving the hang ten hand gesture as his request is successful. Check the video out below: You are here: China A nurse accused of giving the wrong vaccines to 29 children, confessed to seeking monetary gain while working at a community clinic in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, local authorities said Sunday. The nurse surnamed Guan has been detained and confessed that she intentionally switched the vaccines administered to 29 children to HIB vaccines, which are around 500 yuan (about US$74) cheaper than the pentavalent vaccines. Wei Jingli, head of the community clinic, was detained by police on Friday. The practicing license of the community clinic, Wei's medical license and Guan's nurse license have been revoked, according to the health department of Shijiazhuang's Qiaoxi district. The 29 children concerned have been checked and received pentavalent vaccines, said an official with the district government. Two officials with the district's center for disease control have been fired and are under investigation for any malfeasance. featured Warren Man who impregnated daughter gets prison term above max Warren man who fathered daughter's child gets 27 years in prison Within the new thirty-seat Lebanese government formed on Thursday January 31st by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, four of the appointed ministers are female. While far from the 30% feminist campaigners were aiming for, it is still a record for a country that has never shone in terms of female representation in the cabinet. The importance of the portfolios is also a first, and while they have never had more than two ministerial seats in the same government, women now make up 13.33% of the cabinet. Better still, along with two state ministries, they hold the Ministry of Interior, a position seen as needing a manly figure, a first in Lebanon and the Arab world, as well as another key ministry, Energy and Water. Both ministries present important security, economic and social issues, and require vision, combativeness and a reform-minded leader. The progress is notable, compared to the derisory female representation in previous governments: there was a single woman (Inaya Ezzeddine), out of thirty ministers, in the outgoing government of Saad Hariri. In the previous government of twenty-four ministers formed by Tammam Salam in 2014, there was, again, only one, Alice Chaptini. There were none in the Nagib Mikati cabinet in 2011. Saad Hariri appointed two women, Raya el-Hassan and Mona Afeiche, in 2009. Again, only one woman, Nayla Moawad, was in the Siniora cabinet of 2005. And only two were included in Omar Karame's cabinet in 2004. These two women, Leila Solh Hamade, as Minister of Industry, and Wafa 'Diqa Hamza, as State Minister, made headlines at the time for being the first female ministers in Lebanon. Prime Minister Saad Hariri did not fail to address the matter in a tweet on Friday: "Proud of Lebanese women, proud of the four female ministers of the government, proud of the first female Minister of the Interior of the Arab world, proud of the future, proud of Lebanon, he wrote on his Twitter account. His words were immediately relayed and underscored by the resident coordinator of the United Nations and coordinator of humanitarian action in Lebanon, Philippe Lazzarini, in an enthusiastic post: "Mabrouk to Lebanon for having appointed the first female Minister of the Interior of the Arab world. The news was also welcomed by the co-founder of Women in Front, which advocates for women's participation in politics. Interviewed by LOrient-Le Jour, Joelle Abu Farhat Rizkallah praised "the politicians courage", stating that "the context was favorable" for better female representation in the Serail, given "the strong pressure exerted by the feminist associations to do this". "Mr. Hariri had no choice but to respond positively to the titanic work done for better participation of women in politics, she added, recalling "the high number of female candidates for last years legislative elections: 113 in total , to end up with only six in the end. Who are they? Raya Haffar al-Hassan was named to the Ministry of Interior. This Sunni Hariri supporter from Tripoli, born in 1967, and a graduate of George Washington University in finance and investment, is not a political novice. Particularly appreciated by feminist circles, respected by her male peers, she was the Minister of Finance between November 2009 and January 2011 in a previous government also headed by Saad Hariri. Despite her relative youth (she was born in 1983), Nada Boustani, a Maronite and a member of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), should do just as well as Minister of Energy and Water. Prior to her appointment, the graduate in business administration from a leading European school, the ESCP, was an organizational and strategic advisor to the outgoing Energy and Water Minister, Cesar Abi Khalil. She was also the coordinator of the advisory committee for energy and water. (Also : Power Relations in a Cabinet of Minorities) At first expected to be named Minister of Culture, the journalist May Chidiac, born in 1963, was eventually appointed Minister of State for Administrative Development. A Maronite close to the Lebanese Forces, Chidiac holds a doctorate in communication from Paris II Pantheon-Assas University. A few months after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, she was targeted in an attack on September 25th 2005 that deprived her of her left arm and leg. She has been actively campaigning for freedom of expression ever since. Finally, Violette Khairallah Safadi, wife of former Minister Mohammad Safadi, was appointed Minister of State for The Social and Economic Rehabilitation of Youth and Women. A ministry that was immediately renamed the State Ministry for Women and Youth Capacity Building, following the outcry provoked by the word "rehabilitation, that was deemed insulting by feminist activists. The former journalist and information consultant at the Ministry of Finance and the Economy, is a Harvard graduate in leadership, negotiations and decision-making, and represents the Greek-Orthodox community within the new cabinet. Born in 1981, she is engaged in humanitarian work with disadvantaged Lebanese citizens, Syrian refugees and children with chronic diseases. Parity in the line of sight These women are active, highly qualified and politically and economically involved in the country. Some are also committed to humanitarian causes. And, for once, the majority of these new ministers are not married or related to Lebanese political figures ... They have worked their way up within the political parties they represent, or the institutions in which they have distinguished themselves. This is already a breakthrough in itself, one that justifies the Prime Ministers choices. However, the road to better female representation remains obstacle-ridden. Neither the Shia nor the Druze communities named any women to their positions. "The lack of effort of the two political leaders Nabih Berri, leader of the Amal Movement, and Walid Jumblatt, leader of the PSP, is regrettable, said a representative of Women in Front, noting that Mr. Berri was among the precursors regarding female participation. But Lebanese women are not disheartened, according to Ms. Abou Farhat Rizkallah "Parity is now their next goal. And they intend to get it, "even if it means going through women's quotas". (This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 2nd of February) School & Education, Local News, Arts & Culture, Travel & Local Attractions, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: February 04 2019 Vehicle serves as a reminder of the sacrifice required to defend freedom and defeat the Nazi war machine, museum officials say. A replica Sturmgeschuz, a WW2 German assault vehicle, has been acquired by the The Museum of American Armor in Old Bethpage, NY. Old Bethpage, NY - February 4, 2019 - Mr. Lawrence Kadish, president and founder of Mr. Lawrence Kadish, president and founder of The Museum of American Armor , today announced the acquisition of a replica German armor vehicle designed to remind visitors and history students that Americas defense of freedom during World War II came with a heavy cost. The replica Sturmgeschuz (or StuG) is meant to represent a German assault weapon that placed a powerful gun on a tank-like chassis. Initially intended to destroy enemy bunkers and similar defensive positions, its low profile, 75 mm cannon and mobility were put to effective use as an ambush weapon as the Allies closed in on the Nazi Reich. A version of this weapon, the StuG III became Germanys most produced armored fighting vehicle during World War II, with some 10,000 produced. Mr. Kadish observed, Its acquisition is meant to represent the deadly challenges faced by the Allies as they fought to liberate the world from the murderous scourge of Nazism. It will be periodically displayed as part of the museums armor experience program and award-winning educational presentations. Michael Sapraicone, Armor Museum board member, and founder and president of Squad Security, said, The Armor Museum has a considerable array of Allied tanks, halftracks and artillery, allowing it to present a literal parade of American weapons. What it has not been able to do is remind the visitor just how formidable enemy defenses were, and the valor required to confront them. This vehicle allows us to reinforce the story of how we have heroes in our own families who have served, and continue to do so in the defense of our nation. Dr. Libby OConnell, History Channels Historian Emeritus, observed, With so little time devoted to teaching the events and lessons of World War II in our nations classrooms, it is easy to believe that Allied forces swept aside all opposition to end this conflict. Not only was that not the case, but the loss of life was considerable given the military skill and fierce determination of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. This replica will become an important teaching tool in the months and years to come. The Museum of American Armor has some 40 operational military vehicles under the roof of a 25,000 square-foot facility inside Old Bethpage Village Restoration in cooperation with the Administration of Nassau County Executive Laura Curran. Opened on the 70thH anniversary of D-Day, 2014, an average of 14,000 people visit every year with special weekends set aside to observe historic military anniversaries. The Museum of American Armor, 1303 Round Swamp Road, Old Bethpage , is inside the grounds of Old Bethpage Village Restoration and is open year around, Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission donations are $13 for adults, $8 for seniors and veterans and children between the ages of 5 and 12. Vaping and e-cigarettes are all the rage these days. These products are all over the news, and seemingly everyone from teenagers to the elderly enjoy the ease-of-use and reliability of these devices. While many enjoy these smoking devices, they are still smoking products and are extremely harmful to the health of those who use them. This is especially true when these devises malfunction and explode. Here is everything you need to know about a vape pen explosion and who is liable. How Common are Vape Pen Explosions? While vape pen explosions are relatively uncommon when they do happen the results can be catastrophic. Take, for example, the case of Florida man Tallmadge DElia, who died when his vape pen exploded and sent projectiles into his skull. He also suffered burns over 80-percent of his body. When Do Vape Pen Explosions Occur? According to data compiled by the U.S. Fire Administration, roughly 80-percent of all e-cigarette and vape pen explosions occur during the charging of the device. The remaining explosions or fires occurred when the devices were in the hand, mouth or pocket of users. What are the Leading Causes of Vape Pen Explosions? The leading causes of vape pen explosions are product malfunction, using an incorrect charging device, or defects to the lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Other common causes are manufacturing flaws, use of inferior-quality materials, poor production techniques, overheating batteries, or incorrect usage or handling. What Are Common Injuries in Vape Pen Explosions Some of the most common injuries associated with e-cigarette or vape pen explosions include: Severe burns Scarring Cuts or lacerations Bruising Permanent Disfigurement In addition, exploding vape pens may leave emotional scarring and damage which may require therapy or counseling services. Who Is Liable for Exploding Vape Pens? In the State of Texas, victims of exploding e-cigarettes and vape pens can hold the product retailers and manufacturers liable if they can prove the product was defective. If a vape pen was poorly built or designed or used inferior parts, you may be able to sue the manufacturer for their negligence. Even if the pen was designed, manufactured and marketed in a correct manner, you may still be able to seek compensation if the product caused an injury. If the pen was purchased from a site, such as eBay or Amazon, a skilled and knowledgeable defective product attorney can sue these websites, claiming they were liable for knowingly selling the defective product or battery which resulted in the injuries. What is the Statute of Limitations for Product Liability Cases in Texas? Texas Statute 16.003 states that there is a two-year statute of limitations on defective product claims. This means that any action an individual undertakes for the recovery of damages resulting from personal injury or death, as well as property damage caused by a defective product, must be begun no later than two years after the day the injury or damage occurred, or two years after the individual first realized they were injured. Injured By a Defective Product? Get Expert Legal Help Today If you have been injured by an exploding vape pen or e-cigarette, make sure you contact the largest and most successful personal injury firm in Texas. Thomas J. Henry has the experience, expertise, and determination to get their clients the large settlements and verdicts they deserve. This includes a $30.2 million verdict recently in a vehicle recall case. So, if youve been injured in an accident, dont fall for flashy gimmicks. Call Texas premier personal injury law firm. Call Thomas J. Henry today at 361-221-5053. Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com. President Xi Jinping extended greetings to Chinese people of all ethnic groups, compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and overseas Chinese on Sunday, ahead of the Spring Festival. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses a Spring Festival reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 3, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua] "In the past year... we have made efforts and achieved a lot," he said while addressing a festival reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, extended the greetings on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. Party and state leaders Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan attended the reception, with Li Keqiang presiding. In the speech, Xi noted that Chinese people had a hard but fulfilling year. The Chinese economy remained steady while making progress, with new steps taken in reform and opening-up, he said. The country actively pushed forward campaigns to defuse major risks, carry out targeted poverty alleviation and prevent and control pollution, with poverty alleviation projects achieving remarkable outcomes, he said. Defense and military reforms extended to a deeper level, major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics opened a new chapter and Party governance further improved, he said. "Chinese society has been stable, and the people have enjoyed a stronger sense of fulfillment, happiness and security." Xi spoke of the need in the new year to adhere to the new development philosophy, advance high-quality development, continue the earnest fight in the "three critical battles" against risks, poverty and pollution and take coordinated steps to ensure steady growth, advance reform, make structural adjustments, improve living standards and guard against risks. Xi called for efforts to create a growing sense of fulfillment, happiness and security in people, promote sustained and sound economic growth and maintain law and order to lay a crucial foundation for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China with great achievements. After working so hard for a whole year, it is time for family members to gather for New Year's Eve dinner and stay up all night to usher in the new year, Xi said. Xi spoke of the need to enhance people's love for the family and the country, nurture and practice core socialist values, promote the spirits of patriotism, collectivism and socialism and advocate combining the love for family with the love for the country so that every individual and every family can make contributions to the big family of the Chinese nation. Having become an aging society, China should make great efforts to ensure the elderly are well respected, taken care of, and supported, and promote programs for the elderly so that they can all enjoy a happy life, Xi said. He called for hard work to bring a happy life for the Chinese people and a great future for the Chinese nation as well as further efforts to work with the people of countries across the world to build a community with a shared future for humanity. 3 1 of 3 UTSA Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Tom Reel, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Show More Show Less 3 of 3 University of Texas at San Antonio officials are asking students to avoid the Ximenes Avenue Garage on the main campus after a small mechanical fire Monday morning. In a Facebook post, campus officials said the fire was reported in the South Thermal Energy Plant, and was quickly put out. Police said the fire affected the Ximenes Avenue Garage. The San Antonio-area law enforcement and first responders community, led by the Bexar County Sheriffs Office, will be giving full honors to Chucky, the police dog who was killed in the line of duty Jan. 26. Chucky died as a hero in every sense of the word, Sheriff Javier Salazar said. We all know that as an officer, we may not make it home at the end of the day. We owe it to them to give them a respectful send-off. The memorial service, which is open to the public, will be at 10 a.m. at Community Bible Church, 2477 N. Loop 1604 East. Chucky, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois, was shot twice by a suspect he was trying to take down on Loop 1604. Matthew Mireles, 38, is accused of leading officers on a multicounty chase that began in Karnes City when a local officer tried to pull him over for speeding. Hes accused of pointing his gun at officers and passing drivers during the chase. Mireles has been charged with attempted capital murder of a police officer, interference with a police service animal and evading arrest with a vehicle. The 5-year-old Belgian Malinois had worked with a deputy for the last two years. A procession honoring Chucky will leave the Alamodome parking lot at 9 a.m. today. It will go north on U.S. 281 and exit on Loop 1604 heading east to the church. Fire trucks will be parked at three overpasses along the procession route, including at Nakoma and Donella on U.S. 281 and on Gold Canyon on Loop 1604. At the church, Chucky will be in a horse-drawn carriage. The Pipe & Drum Corps will lead the honor walk, followed by Salazar and command staff, and then the carriage followed by the honor guard. The service will include the Rainbow Bridge poem, words of remembrance by his human family, the singing of Amazing Graze and God Bless America by the church choir, along with words by Senior Pastor Ed Newton, Salazar and the sheriffs chaplain. The committal service, also to take place at the church, will include volleys of gunfire, taps, presentation of flag and medals to Chuckys family, concluding with the traditional end of watch call, final bark, the riderless horse presentation and a flyover. Chucky is the first sheriffs service dog to receive a formal burial since June 27, 2007, when Andor, also a Belgian Malinois, had to be euthanized after complications of a cervical spinal cord compression. The K9 Memorial Cards website lists 36 retired and active law enforcement dogs who have died in the United States in 2019. Two were killed in the line of duty: K9 Haas from Duluth, Minn., and Chucky. For 50 years, Corene McDaniel has walked through the rows of graves at Mound City National Cemetery to visit her father, who lies in rest there alongside thousands of other veterans. But it was only a few years ago that she noticed an abbreviation chiseled into some of the oldest white headstones: USCT. It stands for United States Colored Troops, she learned the name given to about 200,000 black men who fought for the Union in the Civil War. Representing some 10 percent of the entire Union Army, and 25 percent of its Navy, the men played an instrumental role in preserving our nations unity and cementing the freedom promised to them by the Emancipation Proclamation. However, McDaniel discovered, very little is known about the USCT servicemen buried at Mound City. We know theyre here, but not necessarily where they are, or how many, McDaniel said. She spoke to Mound City Cemetery representative Alex Kment, who contacted the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C. They said the best way to start was to walk and document, McDaniel said. In the last year, McDaniel, walking alone or with friends and family, has identified 350 USCT graves. Its an experience that gives you goosebumps, McDaniel said. It is so wonderful to walk here peacefully and know that all of these soldiers have served this country. Shes got all the soldiers names written in a pocket-sized pink-and-blue notebook, plus the numbers on their headstones, which indicate their location in the cemetery. Felix Mattingly, 4497; Thomas Richardson, 4498; Calee Prewitt, 4452; Solomon Brooks, F4465. McDaniel, of Carbondale, hopes her records can be added to the directory at the cemetery museum, allowing future visitors to more easily find and visit the USCT graves. That could benefit history buffs, and even families, who frequently visit the cemetery in search of Civil War-veteran relatives, Kment said. But McDaniel has a second, more ambitious goal. She wants to tell the stories of these soldiers. Im interested in the contribution that was made, McDaniel said. There may be so many people that do not know the role they played. In the Civil War were thinking about slavery, and not necessarily the sacrifice these soldiers made. Their service was indispensable. Without the military help of the black freedmen, the war against the South could not have been won, President Abraham Lincoln said in 1865. Black soldiers were prohibited from joining the Union Army until about a year after the war began, when Congress passed the Militia Act of 1862 recognizing the urgent need for black soldiers. Freedmen from throughout the North enlisted at a staggering rate, with some even returning to the U.S. from Canada to serve. USCT recruitment intensified with the Emancipation Proclamation, issued on Jan. 1, 1863. The Proclamation freed slaves in secessionist Southern states and publicly announced that any who so desired would be welcomed into the Union military. Make no mistake, the Emancipation Proclamation was aimed at Southern slaves, said Frank Smith, director of the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum in Washington, D.C. But it came with an asterisk: youve got to put on a uniform and help us to win this war, otherwise this wont have any meaning. During the last two years of the war, from 1863 to 1865, black soldiers fought in every major campaign and battle, according to the museums website, earning 52 Medals of Honor, and helping to capture major strategic targets like Charleston, South Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy. Black women, including Harriet Tubman, worked as nurses, spies, and scouts to support the Union cause, although they couldnt enlist in the military. Because of the prejudice against them, many black soldiers were withheld from combat and instead were placed in support roles as carpenters, chaplains, cooks, and laborers, according to the National Archives. Still, nearly 40,000 black soldiers died over the course of the Civil War, and they endured some of the wars harshest and most dangerous conditions. They received lower pay, insufficient supplies, and often stronger punishments when captured by the Confederates. Their segregated regiments also received greatly inferior medical care, with many white physicians unwilling to treat black soldiers and just three black physicians serving the Union Armys 166 black regiments, according to the news website OZY. McDaniel, who comes from a proud military family, said she hadnt given much thought to the ugly truths her project might uncover in Southern Illinois. But shes prepared for them. What we have is a sign of the times, McDaniel said. This is the way it was then, its not the way it is now. Ill be looking for information without being judgmental about what I find. The goal is to be informed and help people be more informed. But researching the USCT soldiers at Mound City is going to take determination. Very few black soldiers originated in Southern Illinois, as the state had just one black regiment, said P. Michael Jones, director of the General John A. Logan Museum in Murphysboro. Both during and after the war, the USCT soldiers who ended up in the region came from far and wide. Now a town of just a few hundred people, Mound City was then home to a naval shipyard and one of the largest Civil War hospitals, serving thousands of wounded. It was one of the most strategically important locations in the Civil War, second only to the capital, Kment said. Wounded soldiers were brought to Southern Illinois by ship from all over the south and Midwest, via the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Those who died in treatment were buried at Mound City, and in many cases, the cemetery has no record of where the soldiers came from. After the war ended, thousands more soldiers came to Mound City, when the Army undertook a massive project to dig up soldiers lying in battlefield graves and transfer them to newly created national cemeteries like Mound City, Kment said. That led to another influx of soldiers about whom very little is known, disinterred from makeshift cemeteries near battles at Cairo, Illinois; Belmont, Missouri; and Paducah, Kentucky. Many of them were reburied as unknown soldiers Still, there are reasons to be hopeful. The growth of genealogical research and the digitization of government records continue to make it easier to find relevant information. Jones, the museum director and a former schoolteacher, has profiled almost 40 black veterans who moved to Elkville, De Soto, Murphysboro and other Southern Illinois towns after the Civil War. Hes used muster rolls and census and pension records to dig up their military histories and a surprising amount of biographical information. Particularly in the pension records, there is a wealth of information: where people were born, who they belonged to, when they were enslaved, who they married, who their children were, Jones said. While black Illinoisans still faced discrimination and violence after the war, Jones research indicates the USCT veterans received special respect. They got obituaries in the newspapers, which, back then, were usually reserved for people with some status, Jones said. You would see these obituaries mentioning how few old Civil War veterans were left. They may have called them black veterans, but there was respect for those men and what they did. The USCT soldiers service changed the image of black people in the world, Dr. Smith agreed. But it has often gone undervalued and under-recognized a historical neglect that, to Smith, exemplifies the unequal treatment black Americans still face today. McDaniel hopes continued research on the USCT troops buried at Mound City, most of whom died in wartime, will help set the record straight. And shes got a long list of interested helpers, from her fellow members of the local Zeta Phi Beta sorority, to area historical societies, to fellow volunteers at the African American Museum of Southern Illinois, which McDaniel co-founded with her husband. Shes certain the project will continue to grow. After all, you can Google anything these days, she said. When the weather gets nicer this spring, McDaniel will return to the cemetery to complete her walk and add the last few names to her notebook. Then shell reach out to her volunteers and figure out whats next. One thing shes sure of: Shell be getting young people involved. Each year, the African American Museum of Southern Illinois hosts a monthlong youth summer program, taking children on educational trips throughout the region. In future years, McDaniel hopes to have a new piece of the story to share with the students when she brings them to Mound City. I would hope when this is all done that we would have a great story to tell to our kids, grandkids, students, adults, to anybody that wants to listen, McDaniel said. And in telling the story there are going to be some things that arent so rosy, but thats life. Courtesy Photo Author and motivational speaker Shawn Elliott Russell recently visited Los Obispos and Washington Middle schools to make presentations based oh his book entitled Be Still, Little Tree, Be Still. The author wrote the book after overcoming anxiety and health issues that left him jobless, home-bound, and terrified. Nianhuo purchases by Chinese consumers, especially imported food products, have been increasing steadily as Spring Festival approaches. A saleswoman arranges imported snacks at a duty-free store in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/Xinhua] Nianhuo refers to special products often bought around Spring Festival, including not only gifts but also essentials needed for the holidays such as fresh produce, local delicacies, spirits, clothing and other wares. Though tastes of nianhuo have changed over the years with the rapid development of the retail sector, it is the advent of mobile internet technologies that has triggered demand for imported food products. Alaskan crab, French lobster, Argentine beef, Chilean cherries, fresh milk from Australia these are just some of the items that are now popular choices for special family dinners during the festival season. To cash in on growing demand for such products, an array of retailers and firms are offering special incentives and discounts to lure customers. Hou Enlong, president of online-to-offline retailer Suning Co that is based in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, believes rising demand for imported fresh produce will be one of the bright spots for retailers during this year's Spring Festival. "Suning is adopting a direct purchase system globally to cater to the growing demand and has already teamed up with large farms and suppliers of agricultural products from abroad," Hou said. The retailer has also strengthened its supply chain efforts to ensure adequate supplies of products, he said. Suning has formed alliances with more than 100 overseas production bases and has buyer teams in over 100 countries and regions to source and supply a wide range of imported fresh food products, including fruits, vegetables and seafood. It also has 45 cold-chain warehouses to serve 179 cities across the nation. The company said it will offer one-day delivery service in more than 300 cities in China in the future. In addition, Suning's nianhuo shopping festival will last longer than previous years, from Jan 18 to Feb 12, and will feature deep discounts and promotions to attract more shoppers. Cross-border sales have been brisk on other retail platforms too. Sam's Club, Walmart's high-end membership store, has witnessed a shopping spree since early January. Andrew Miles, president of Sam's Club China, said imported fresh food products are the top choice for many consumers who buy high-quality products during the celebrations. For instance, cherries from Chile are one of the best-selling imported goods in its offline stores. During a recent one-day offline promotion event, the sales volume of Member's Mark Chilean cherries amounted to nearly 150 tons, up by over 500 percent year-on-year. Sam's Club also saw the pre-order sales volume of imported cherries rise to more than 500 tons in three days on its online JD flagship store. Charif Christian Carvajal, marketing director for Europe and Asia at the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association, said while Chinese are bundled up for winter weather, it's actually warm in Chile. "Cherries from Chile not only have counter-seasonal advantages, but also suit Chinese new year culture for its red colorwhich denotes luck and happiness. We hope the Chilean cherries will imbibe happiness and add color to the Chinese New Year market," Carvajal said. Cherries are one of Chile's main exports, and the crop is usually harvested from November to February, making it one of the popular selections for Spring Festival shopping. Chile is the largest supplier of cherries to China, which buys more than 85 percent of its exports. Statistics from the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association showed that Chile exported more than 125,000 tons of cherries to China over the last two years. Carvajal claimed Chilean cherry producers and exporters are now working with Chinese e-commerce platforms to reach more shoppers in China, especially those living in the second-tier cities. John Marsh Jr., a conservative Virginia Democrat who interrupted his congressional career in the 1960s to serve his National Guard duty in Vietnam foxholes, became one of President Gerald Ford's closest advisers and spent eight years as Army secretary under President Ronald Reagan, died Feb. 4 at an assisted-living center in Raphine, Virginia. He was 92. Marsh had complications from a recent stroke, said his son Dr. John "Rob" Marsh III. Although not widely known outside the policymaking corridors of Washington - The New York Times called him one of the longest-serving but "least known" senior officials in the Defense Department - John Marsh Jr. was a powerful backstage player at the White House and the Pentagon during the 1970s and 1980s. He retained the demeanor of the folksy, soft-spoken country lawyer he had been during his early career. But he was also shrewd and subtle - a "careful, almost soulful political operative," as Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward once described him. After a hardscrabble upbringing in the Shenandoah Valley, Marsh became a commissioned Army officer by 19, trained as a paratrooper, served 25 years in the Virginia National Guard and devoted much of his adult life to military affairs. In late 1966, during his second term in Congress, he volunteered for a month-long stint in the Vietnam highlands, never revealing to other soldiers that he held national office. (He served under the command of then-Lt. Col. Alexander Haig Jr., the future four-star Army general who became chief of staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Ford and secretary of state under Reagan.) On Capitol Hill, Marsh was a solid supporter of the Vietnam War and co-sponsored the bill that created the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission in 1966. Increasingly ill at ease in a party that was tilting ever leftward, he declined to seek election to a fifth term in 1970. "They required candidates for office to sign an oath that they would support the national ticket, which I refused to do," he later told presidential historian Richard Norton Smith. "I was not putting up with that." In 1973, Nixon named Marsh assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs, essentially the Pentagon's chief lobbyist to Congress. The next year, he became a top assistant to then-Vice President Gerald Ford on national security matters. After Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974, amid the threat of impeachment for Watergate-related offenses, Marsh spent three years as a Cabinet-level counselor to President Ford. He was regarded as one of Ford's most influential aides - the president's "conscience," Smith said. "He was the wise man of the Ford administration," he added, "someone who was steeped in the traditions of the House, someone who enjoyed the confidence of both sides of the aisle, someone seen as not primarily thirsting in ambition. He'd walked away from the House." Marsh's designated duty was to act as a liaison with Capitol Hill, but he was in practice an ambassador without portfolio. Among other duties, Ford appointed Marsh to a commission that examined illegal domestic spying and other abuses by the CIA. But the crisis that most stood out - and defined the Ford White House - was the question of a full pardon for Nixon over his role in Watergate. The matter arose during Nixon's final week in office, when Ford's advisers learned that Haig had reached out to Ford about the possibility of a pardon. Ford said he had made no promises, but in Marsh's view, the mere perception of a backroom deal with Haig threatened Ford's reputation and legacy.The vice president's top counselors, chief among them Marsh, told him to call Haig immediately and make clear there would be no arrangement of a pardon. "I wanted the president to see the linkage" with the Haig visit, Marsh told author Barry Werth for the book "31 Days," about the pardon and its aftermath. "I know that Jerry Ford has a naive streak, and it is there because he trusts people and doesn't see motives that people have." Marsh and other aides went out for drinks that night, imagining they had forestalled a crisis. But a month into his presidency, on Sept. 8, Ford issued a full pardon, explaining to his staff - and later to the public - that he wanted to lance the boil of Watergate and move forward on legislative priorities. Instead, Ford faced a revolt among Democrats as well as many in his own party. His press secretary, Jerald F. terHorst, a respected journalist, resigned, saying he could not "credibly defend" the pardon. The pardon, along with deepening economic "stagflation," contributed to Ford's defeat in 1976 by former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter, a Democrat.. Marsh, who gradually came to call himself a Republican, spent four years in private practice until Reagan's presidential victory in 1980 returned the White House to GOP control. Over two terms, Marsh became the Army's longest-serving civilian administrative leader in modern times. Amid Reagan's arms build-up, Marsh played a major backstage role in persuading members of Congress to support deploying the Pershing II missile to Western Europe at a time of strong opposition in the United States and abroad. Some analysts later said the missiles, which could carry nuclear warheads, helped spur negotiations with the Soviets on a 1987 treaty that banned land-based American and Russian intermediate-range missiles - a landmark in Cold War de-escalation. Marsh was credited with increasing the Army's budget substantially and with using his authority to back the budding Special Operations forces (SOF). Many at the Pentagon - and their allies in Congress - supported big-fire weaponry and conventional fighting forces and were suspicious of covert activity by small, elite units. Withstanding intense pressure by the service chiefs to defund the units, Marsh took on the added role of acting assistant secretary of defense for special operations to signal his support at a time when the forces had not yet gained a reputation for excellence. Retired Army Col. Keith Nightingale, who was involved with the initial phases of the U.S. Special Operations program, said the 2011 raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, among other successful operations, "was a direct result of Marsh not allowing the Army to disband several crucial elements of the emerging SOF units." "Now," he added, "personalities and attitudes have dramatically changed to where SOF is now the darling child of all the services." John Otho Marsh Jr. was born in Winchester, Virginia, on Aug. 7, 1926, and grew up in Harrisonburg, Virginia. During the Depression, his family relied mostly on his mother's salary as a schoolteacher. His father had abandoned medical training after being diagnosed with tuberculosis and went on to run businesses including a gas station and a shoe store. Marsh's time in the Army included service with the post-World War II occupation forces in Germany. On the G.I. Bill, he received a law degree in 1951 from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., then commenced a career in law and local politics. With the backing of Sen. Harry Byrd Sr., who controlled a statewide political machine, Marsh won an open congressional seat in 1962. His wife of 65 years, the former Glenn Ann Patterson, died in 2015. In addition to his son, a combat surgeon for the Delta Force in Somalia, of Middlebrook, Virginia, survivors include two other children, Rebecca Whitener of Pulaski, Virginia, and Scot Marsh of Winchester; and seven grandchildren. Marsh retired from the National Guard in 1976 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. His honors included the Defense Department Distinguished Public Service Medal. In 2007, The Washington Post exposed decrepit conditions, systemic problems with patient care and leadership failures at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Soon afterward, Defense Secretary Robert Gates named Marsh and Togo West, who had been Army secretary under President Bill Clinton, to co-chair an independent review group to address The Post's findings. Among the panel's recommendations were shuttering Walter Reed as soon as possible and accelerating its move to the National Naval Medical Center campus in Bethesda, Maryland Marsh had made patriotism a hallmark of his public service, and one of his principal legacies as Army secretary was reinvigorating a sense of pride in a military still reeling from defeat in Vietnam. He spearheaded annual morale-building, values-based themes, including the spirit of victory at Yorktown, Virginia, physical fitness and the year of the noncommissioned officer. "I didn't become secretary of the Army," he told the Times, "to go around hangdog and half-ashamed, apologizing for the United States Army in Vietnam, because it needed no apologies." WASHINGTON - A racist photo in Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's yearbook entry has become a national political concern for Democrats, threatening to complicate their bid to draw a sharp contrast with President Donald Trump and the Republican Party on race ahead of the 2020 election. As Northam defied a nationwide chorus of fellow Democrats calling for him to resign on Sunday, party activists and officials struggled to move past the growing controversy. "Without question, the longer he stays in, the more of a distraction it becomes, and that's not good for Democrats," said Gilda Cobb-Hunter, the president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators and a veteran South Carolina Democrat. The revelation that Northam's medical school yearbook page includes a photo of a person in blackface next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan robe comes as perhaps the most diverse Democratic presidential primary in history is kicking off with a collective rebuke of Trump on issues involving race. The presidential hopefuls are openly campaigning against Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric, hard-line border policies and police violence against African-Americans, all of which have opened wide partisan and cultural divides during Trump's tenure. The Northam firestorm also came just days ahead of Trump's State of the Union address - an occasion Democrats are hoping to use to underscore their alternative vision of America. Stacey Abrams, who came close to being elected the first black female governor in the nation's history last year in Georgia, will deliver the Democratic response Tuesday night. For the moment, Democrats are grappling with a difficult situation involving race, a topic that has often put Republicans on defense. Democrats argued Sunday that the Northam episode has also highlighted an important difference between the two parties. They argued that their swift and widespread calls for Northam to step down stand in contrast with the way Republicans have handled recent racial controversies in their own ranks. They pointed to the response Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, received in the GOP after recently wondering aloud to The New York Times about when the terms "white nationalist" and "white supremacist" became offensive. While some Republican lawmakers have called for King to resign, he remains a member of Congress. "What you saw amongst the Democrats was an immediate response," said Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus. Bass said Northam should be impeached if he doesn't step down. "You didn't see any hesitation." But a Democratic member of Congress, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic, said the Northam revelation may potentially undercut the contrast Democrats are seeking in their messaging if he remains in office. "It could complicate the message," this Democrat said. The person added that Republicans have significant racially divisive rhetoric in their party to own up to, which will likely limit the amount that Northam's situation could taint the rest of the party. Northam's conduct was a dominant topic of discussion on the Sunday morning news shows. In one interview, Northam's predecessor, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, said he winced during Northam's Saturday news conference, a widely panned appearance in which Northam insisted he was not in the photo, reversing what he said the day before. Northam said he had once put dark shoe polish on his face to impersonate Michael Jackson as part of a dance contest in the 1980s, an admission that brought additional condemnation. "Once that picture with the blackface and the Klansman came out, there is no way you can continue to be the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia," McAuliffe, a potential presidential candidate, said on CNN's "State of the Union." Other current and potential Democratic presidential hopefuls - including Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro; and former Vice President Joe Biden - called for Northam's resignation. Many of them have built platforms around unity and the desire to dig out racial injustices from the economy, criminal justice system and other aspects of American society. In the early stage of her campaign, Harris has positioned herself as a unifying force, one willing to fight "systemic racism." She announced her candidacy on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and molded her logo and slogan color scheme as an homage to Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to run for president in a major party. "I'm running to fight for an America where no mother or father has to teach their young son that people may stop him, arrest him, chase him or kill him because of his race," Harris said in her launch speech. Booker's campaign launch video included footage of civil rights marches, along with the words "the only way we can make change is when people come together." The video also included Booker telling the story of his parents' fight against housing discrimination, which ended with white lawyers standing up to real estate agents to allow them to live there. "I believe that we can build a country," Booker says in the video, "where our criminal justice system keeps us safe, instead of shuffling more children into cages and coffins." When it comes to Northam, Republicans have also broadly condemned his conduct. Trump tweeted that his offense was "unforgivable." House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tweeted that Northam "staying in office only poisons efforts to grow together as one nation," and that "he should resign." But McCarthy took a different approach when it came to King, stripping him of his committee assignments but not calling on him to resign. King has a long history of incendiary rhetoric, including a suggestion that immigrants have calves the size of "cantaloupes" from carrying drugs. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., pushed back Sunday against comments from Democrats contrasting the way they responded to Northam with the way the GOP dealt with King. "Politically, when you're in one of these situations, you need to handle your mess and not point out, 'Well, but the other guys would have done worse or have done worse.' I don't see how that makes you look good," Cole said. As Democrats deal with the fallout from the photo on Northam's yearbook page, a long-circulated picture of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is getting renewed attention as some Democrats pointed to it as evidence that GOP leaders have not been held to account for past offensive statements or appearances. In the picture, McConnell is seen posing in front of a Confederate flag with another man. McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said "the picture is apparently from a Sons of Confederate Veterans event 30 years ago or so." Stewart defended McConnell's civil rights record, pointing to a 2015 statement in which he called the flag a "painful reminder of racial oppression to many," and arguing that "the time for a state to fly it has long since passed." Stewart did not provide more information about why McConnell was at the event. Trump received widespread criticism when he said there were "very fine people on both sides" of the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. But top Republicans did not call on him to resign. Then-House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Trump "messed up." McConnell said "there are no good neo-Nazis." No resignations from the Trump administration followed. The same was true when Trump called the widespread removal of Confederate statues "sad" and "so foolish" a few days later. Democrats are hoping the increasing pressure they are applying on Northam to step aside will yield a different outcome. "For the good of the larger cause, he should step aside," Cobb-Hunter said. New York In the same Brooklyn courthouse where jurors have heard testimony about Mexican politicians protecting Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's drug empire, a former Mexican state attorney general pleaded guilty last month to taking bribes from narcotraffickers. The juxtaposition underscored a recurring theme of Guzman's New York trial: how pervasive official corruption in Mexico complicates American authorities' efforts to investigate and apprehend those involved in the drug trade. Jurors are expected to begin deliberating Monday after 11 weeks of testimony that included a parade of Guzman's former associates who told of massive bribes paid to high-level officials. One testified that the Sinaloa cartel paid $10 million, twice, to a top commander in the Mexican Federal Police. Another said Mexico's former federal security chief got a $6 million payoff while a general got $100,000. Witnesses testified about Guzman getting a police escort after a prison escape and politicians who asked for help shipping 100 tons of cocaine in an oil tanker. In the most sensational claim, one of Guzman's former aides said he'd heard him boast about having paid former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto $100 million. The accused Mexican leaders have all denied the bribery allegations as the fabrications of criminals. And the corruption allegations have been mostly a sideshow in the trial of Guzman, who is charged with leading a cartel that smuggled tons of cocaine to the U.S. His lawyers have said he was not the real boss and that its true head is still at large in Mexico, protected by a web of bribes. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., responded Monday to President Donald Trump's assessment that he has "no chance" to be president, saying that the United States doesn't need a leader who's "going to put down or divide people." "I think every American knows about being underestimated, demeaned or just put down, and it's something I've faced all my political career," Booker, who served as mayor of Newark before joining the Senate in 2013, said during an appearance on "CBS This Morning." "We don't need a president that's going to put down people or divide people," Booker said. "This is really one of those times in American history, I think, we need a revival of civic grace and bringing people together, and that's going to be one of the major themes of my campaign." Trump was asked about Booker's candidacy on Friday shortly after Booker announced his White House bid. "He's got no chance," Trump told CBS News' Margaret Brennan in a "Face the Nation" interview that aired Sunday. Asked to explain, the Trump replied: "Because I know him. I don't think he has a chance." Trump added that he is not particularly worried about any of the growing number of Democrats stepping forward to challenge him in 2020. "So far, I don't see anybody," he said. "I'm not impressed with their group." During Monday's CBS interview, Booker also reiterated his call for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, D, to resign amid the controversy over a racist photo in his medical school yearbook. "He should step down and start his road to redemption," Booker said. "Being a governor of a state is not an entitlement." Northam has apologized for the 1984 photo but said neither of the two figures in the racist photo are him. One appears in blackface while the other is dressed in Ku Klux Klan garb. BURLINGTON, Vt. The Burlington Police Department says sub-zero temperatures and inadequate clothing likely contributed to the death of a 19-year-old University of Vermont first-year student found lying in a parking lot. Police say Connor Gage, of Little Falls, Herkimer County, was found just before 11 a.m. Saturday behind a Burlington business. Emergency crews unsuccessfully attempted to revive him. Cigarroa High School junior Ashly Torres has been selected as a Texas Department of Agriculture 2019-2020 health ambassador in the Health Ambassadors for a Ready Texas Initiative. Ashly is one of 26 students in Texas and the only student from Laredo to be selected as a health ambassador. I was shocked and surprised that I was selected a Texas Health Ambassador, said Torres. Im really excited, because I knew other students from across the state were applying as well. So, when I heard I was selected I was ecstatic. As a health ambassador, Torres will join high school students from across the state by promoting a healthy lifestyle and being a champion for good nutrition in Texas Schools. Ashly will have access to resources she can use to advance strong school wellness policies and promote TDA events such as Farm Fresh Fridays and the You Art What You Eat! Art contest. Torres, who likes to eat healthy and exercise, said she cant wait to help motivate other students in the district to have a healthy lifestyle. Eating habits need to change. I see too much junk food being eaten at school, said Torres. I want to promote healthy eating and a better lifestyle, advocate for more food options in our cafeterias, and make students feel better about themselves. Ashly is currently working on setting up Laredos newest organization The HART Starts Here. As she is the only ambassador in Laredo, the program will begin at Cigarroa High School. She hopes to reach out to the entire Laredo community in the near future. Her first project will be promoting TDAs You Are What You Eat Art Contest. Ashly will also have the opportunities to provide TDA with vital information and feedback regarding federal nutrition programs such as the National School Lunch Program and help establish a strong nutritional foundation for all Texans by advancing the 3Es of Healthy Living: education, exercise, and eating right. I see a lot of students who dont eat healthy. I want to encourage everyone to eat more fruits and vegetables and to exercise, said Torres. TDA Food and Nutrition created Health Ambassadors for a Ready Texas to provide the opportunity and encourage high school students to champion healthy eating and wellness within their schools and community. Health ambassadors will gain leadership skills as they engage with school staff, students, their school Health Advisory Committee, and other school partners to promote TDA Child Nutrition Programs, improve their school health environment, and provide feedback to TDA about food and nutrition programs. Ashly is a member of the Track and Cross Country team, Student Council, UIL, Library Club, Art Club, Student Health Advisory Committee , Secondary Menu Advisory Committee, and LISD Food Expo participant. She also volunteers at the animal shelter on her free time. A cross-border e-commerce pilot zone in south China started its first bonded import business on Sunday, a practice believed to benefit businesses in terms of lower logistics cost and provide consumers with cheap and fine products, local officials said. The comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zone in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, ushered in the new business hoping to give full play to the proximity of Hong Kong and Macao. Zhuhai is connected to the Hong Kong airport since the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge opened to traffic in October last year. The business model allows e-commerce platforms to purchase a large quantity of goods from overseas according to their market forecasts and consumer demands. The goods will be imported and stored in the special customs-supervised area before being delivered to consumers as personal items. Such practices enable e-commerce enterprises to buy quality products from around the world at a lower price with less logistic time, according to Lin Xibin, a local commerce official. The bonded import business program is expected to attract businesses from China's Hong Kong and Macao, as well as businesses from Portuguese and Spanish speaking countries and regions. Zhuhai is one of the 22 cities that was identified as a venue for comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zones by the State Council, or China's cabinet, in July last year. China's e-commerce market has developed at a double-digit pace for years. E-commerce transaction totaled 22.69 trillion yuan in the first three quarters of 2018, up 11.2 percent year on year. Charles Levesque of Colonie was quite busy during the United States attack on Okinawa. As a Navy ammunition handler of an anti-aircraft gun crew he helped feed 40 millimeter rounds used to ward off Japanese kamikaze attacks on his USS Teton, an amphibious force flagship during the invasion. His and other gun crews successfully countered the Japanese suicide bombers. Levesque and two other World War II veterans will be honored by the Capital District Patriot Flight at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Bethlehem Public Library, 451 Delaware Ave., Delmar. The others are Allan Atwell of Clifton Park and Bill Leunig of Latham, both Battle of the Bulge survivors. Patriot Flight, a hub of the National Honor Flight Network, provides World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans a free one-day excursion to and from the Albany International Airport to visit war monuments and other historic sites in Washington, D.C. Videos on past flights and others with patriotic themes will be shown. Levesque's mother allowed him to join the Navy at the age of 17. He survived more than 150 Kamikaze plane attacks. Levesque and his fellow crewmen were present on Sept. 2, 1945 during the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri. They were docked right next to the Missouri. Levesque had a ringside seat to witness history. The Teton transported many of the dignitaries to the Missouri for these ceremonies. He earned a World War II Victory Medal, an Asiatic-Pacific Victory Medal, a Philippines Liberation medal, and a Good Conduct Medal. After the war, he worked as a welder for McKinney Steel Co., in Albany. Atwell served as an infantryman and a military policeman with the Army's 28th Division in the war. He earned a Bronze Star Medal, a Purple Heart, a Good Conduct Medal, a Combat Infantry Badge and a French legion of Honor Medal before he left the Army as a private first class. The New York Telephone Co. retiree is a past president of the Hudson Valley Chapter of the Battle of the Bulge Association and past commander of the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Veterans of Foreign Wars. The New York State Senate Veterans' Hall of Fame inductee also has served with the Jonesville Volunteer Fire Department and the Clifton Park's Emergency Services Advisory Board. Leunig served as a tech sergeant and an instrument repairman with the Army's 285th Combat Engineers. He and his fellow soldiers were assigned to provide water for Battle of the Bulge and other troops, as well as repair vehicles and armored equipment. He earned three Bronze Star Medals, an American-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal, a Good Conduct Medal and a World War II Victory Medal. After the war, he served with the New York City Fire Department for 38 years before retirement. He is a member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Battle of Bulge Veterans Association. A number of seats are available for Patriot Flight's May 4 excursion. Veterans are free. Their guardians pay $380 each. Veteran and guardian applications will be available during the program or can be downloaded from PatriotFlight.com. For information, contact Director Frank DeSorbo at 518-439-9265 or fomservice@aol.com or Lois Wilson at 518-732-2793 or lwilson315@nycap.rr.com. New colonel Sondra Smith of Burnt Hills, an Iraq War veteran, has been promoted to colonel in the New York Army National Guard. Smith pinned on her new rank during a promotion ceremony held at the New York Army National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters in Latham. She serves as the staff judge advocate for the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters in Troy. Smith first enlisted in the Army Reserve as a civil affairs specialist in May 2001. She earned her commission as a Judge Advocate officer in December 2001. She has previously served as staff judge for the 53rd Troop Command, judge advocate for the New York Army National Guard Joint Force Headquarters, staff judge advocate for the Tennessee National Guard, staff judge advocate in the Office of the Judge Advocate General International and Operational Law Division at the Pentagon, brigade judge advocate and trial counsel in the 101st Airborne Division and as operational law attorney for the National Guard Bureau during Hurricane Katrina and Operation Jump Start. Smith deployed to Iraq in 2003. Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree in international business from Florida State University, a juris doctorate from the University of Florida and a master's in law with a specialty in administrative and civil law at the Army Judge Advocate General Legal Center and School, Charlottesville, Va. News of your troops and units can be sent to Duty Calls, Terry Brown, Times Union, Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212 or brownt@timesunion.com. The nation's longest government shutdown is behind us. But Tony's restaurant has not forgotten the sacrifices of furloughed federal workers. On Feb. 10, Tony's, one of the city's most exclusive restaurants, intends to treat federal employees who were affected by the government shutdown to a meal with the restaurant's signature brand of fine dining and exemplary service. Denham Springs, LA (70726) Today Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible. A fleet of floating robots has figured out why the Galapagos Islands exist. And, according to the robots' creators, the discovery could help explain why the Earth isn't a floating ball of ice. The Galapagos Islands are a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) off the coast of Ecuador. The islands are most famous as hosts to a large number of species not found anywhere else in the world, which helped the biologist Charles Darwin develop the theory of evolution. Now, according to an international team of researchers, we know that the islands were formed by a thin tunnel bringing magma up from a "mantle plume" 1,200 miles (1,900 km) below the surface. Scientists had suspected such a plume might exist before, but this is the most direct evidence yet that its down there. The researchers published their description of the mantle plume, and the floating robots that helped discover it, today (Feb. 4) in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. [The 10 Most Pristine Places on Earth] "Mantle plumes" are giant bubbles of very hot magma that sit much closer to the Earth's crust than usual. For decades, scientists have proposed that plumes like this could explain why certain regions of the planet are very volcanically active, even though they're far from the edges of tectonic plates where volcanism is more expected. (Hawaii is a famous example.) Not every volcanologist accepts this explanation, but those who do think it explains why the Earth hasn't run out of heat. While the planet has had temperature swings in its history significant enough to radically transform the climate (we're in the middle of an unnaturally sudden one right now), its temperature has remained fairly constant from a geological perspective. The planet hasn't cooled over time from its internal heat running out. And, according to the study authors, this requires some explanation. Earth could have only maintained its temperature, lead author Guust Nolet, a geoscientist at the University of Nice/Sophia Antipolis in France, said in a statement, "if some of the original heat from its accretion, and that created since by radioactive minerals, could stay locked inside the lower mantle. But most models of the Earth predict that the mantle should be [pushing heat up to the surface] and releasing this heat much more quickly. These results of the Galapagos experiment point to an alternative explanation: The lower mantle may well resist [transferring heat up through the body of the planet], and instead only bring heat to the surface in the form of mantle plumes such as the ones creating Galapagos and Hawaii." The result would be a kind of trickle effect, where the hot innards of the planet would release enough geothermal heat to keep the crust warm, but not so much that it burned itself out. To detect this possible mantle plume feeding the Galapagos, the researchers deployed nine robots called "MERMAIDS," which would float freely about a mile (1.6 km) under the ocean surface, listening for underwater earthquakes. Scientists figure out what's going on inside the planet by carefully studying how earthquakes move through it. It's a technology that's a bit like an ultrasound, but on a massive scale. The problem is, most earthquake data comes from land, which covers just a third of the planet's surface. The MERMAIDS are designed to fill in the gaps. [Channel Islands: Photos of North America's Galapagos] Whenever they hear an earthquake, according to the statement, the MERMAIDS rise to the ocean surface and use GPS data to figure out their location on Earth. Then they transmit home their GPS and seismic data. This is the sort of data the researchers used to reconstruct the plume under the Galapagos, which is the first published result from the MERMAIDs project. It's worth noting that not every seismologist accepts that mantle plumes really exist. As Sara Pratt reported in 2015 for Earth Magazine, some seismologists doubt that there's enough information in seismic waves to offer clear pictures of what's going on that far below the crust. Opponents of the theory point out that the various definitions of "mantle plume" are often so broad as to contradict one another, and that while many mantle plumes have been "discovered," no one's been able to produce a confirmed list of ones that really exist. These doubters offer alternative, modified theories of plate tectonics that explain volcanic hotspots like Hawaii and the Galapagos. Still, mantle plumes remain the dominant explanation in seismology for places on this planet like the Galapagos. And this plume discovered under those islands would be the first major discovery accomplished using free-floating seismometers. Scientists now have an exciting new method for peering deep into the planet. Originally published on Live Science. The structures come in various shapes and sizes, including one that curves off into the horizon (shown here). Hundreds of stone structures dating back thousands of years have been discovered in the Western Sahara, a territory in Africa little explored by archaeologists. The structures seem to come in all sizes and shapes, and archaeologists aren't sure what many of then were used for or when they were created, archaeologists report in the book "The Archaeology of Western Sahara: A Synthesis of Fieldwork, 2002 to 2009" (Oxbow Books, 2018). About 75 percent of the Western Saharan territory, including most of the coastline, is controlled by Morocco, while 25 percent is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Before 1991, the two governments were in a state of war. [See Photos of the Stone Structures in Western Sahara] Between 2002 and 2009, archaeologists worked in the field surveying the landscape and doing a small amount of excavation in the part of Western Sahara that is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. They also investigated satellite images on Google Earth, they wrote in the book. "Due to its history of conflict, detailed archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research in Western Sahara has been extremely limited," wrote Joanne Clarke, a senior lecturer at the University of East Anglia, and Nick Brooks, an independent researcher. "The archaeological map of Western Sahara remains literally and figuratively almost blank as far as the wider international archaeological research community is concerned, particularly away from the Atlantic coast," wrote Clarke and Brooks, noting that people living in the area know of the stone structures, and some work has been done by Spanish researchers on rock art in Western Sahara. Mysterious structures The stone structures are designed in a wide variety of ways. Some are shaped like crescents, others form circles, some are in straight lines, some in rectangular shapes that look like a platform; some structures consist of rocks that have been piled up into a heap. And some of the structures use a combination of these designs. For instance, one structure has a mix of straight lines, stone circles, a platform and rock piles that altogether form a complex about 2,066 feet (630 meters) long, the archaeologists noted in the book. Here, a type of stone structure known as a "dolmen." (Image credit: Copyright Nick Brooks and Joanne Clarke) Though the archaeologists are unsure of the purpose of many of the structures, they said some of them may mark the location of graves. Little excavation has been done on the structures, and archaeologists have found few artifacts that can be dated using a radiocarbon method. Among the few excavated sites are two "tumuli" (heaps of rock) that contain human burials dating back around 1,500 years. Research suggests that Western Sahara was once a wetter place that could sustain more animal life than it does today. Archaeologists documented rock art showing images of cattle, giraffe, oryx and Barbary sheep while environmental researchers found evidence for lakes and other water sources that dried up thousands of years ago. Security problems At present, security problems in the region mean that fieldwork has stopped, Clarke and Brooks told Live Science. The terrorist group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb operates in the desert regions near Western Sahara, and in 2013 they kidnapped two Spanish aid workers at a refugee camp in Tindouf, Algeria, just across the border from Western Sahara. While the Sahrawi people and Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic strongly oppose the terrorist group, it's extremely difficult for authorities to effectively patrol the vast desert areas where the stone structures are located, Clarke and Brooks said. This means archaeologists can't work there safely right now. This problem is not unique to Western Sahara, as the security risks posed by terrorist and extremist groups in the region mean that archaeologists can't work in much of North Africa right now, they said. Originally published on Live Science. Alexander the Great may have been killed by Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological condition in which a person's own immune system attacks them, says one medical researchers. The condition may have led to a mistaken declaration of the king's death and may explain the mysterious phenomenon in which his body didn't decay for seven days after his "death." Alexander the Great was king of Macedonia between 336 and 323 B.C. During that time, he conquered an empire that stretched from the Balkans to modern-day Pakistan. In June 323, he was living in Babylon when, after a brief illness that caused fever and paralysis, he died at age 32. His senior generals then fought each other to see who would succeed him. [Top 10 Reasons Alexander the Great Was, Well ... Great!] According to accounts left by ancient historians, after a night of drinking, the king experienced a fever and gradually became less and less able to move until he could no longer speak. One account, told by Quintus Curtius Rufus, who lived during the first century A.D., claims that Alexander the Great's body didn't decay for more than seven days after he was declared dead, and the embalmers were hesitant to work on his body. Ancient historians reported that many people believed that Alexander the Great was poisoned, possibly by someone working for Antipater, a senior official of Alexander's who was supposedly quarreling with the king. In 2014, a research team found that the medicinal plant white hellebore (Veratrum album) could have been used to poison Alexander. Guillain-Barre syndrome Based on the symptoms recorded by ancient historians, Katherine Hall, a senior lecturer in the Department of General Practice and Rural Health at the University of Otago in New Zealand, believes that it's possible that Alexander actually died of Guillain-Barre syndrome. The condition, Hall said, may have left Alexander in a deep coma that may have led doctors to declare, mistakenly, that he was dead, something that would explain why his corpse supposedly didn't decompose quickly, noted Hall in her paper published recently in the journal Ancient History Bulletin. [Family Ties: 8 Truly Dysfunctional Royal Families] The syndrome "is an autoimmune disorder where the patient's own immune system has become confused in differentiating between an invading organism, such as a bacteria, virus, or (very rarely) vaccine products, and the patient's own body," Hall wrote in her paper. While globally it occurs in, at most, one out of every 25,000 people per year, the incidence rate is higher in modern-day Iraq, particularly during spring and summer, Hall wrote in her paper, noting that Babylon is in modern-day Iraq and that Alexander died in June. There are several more clues that point to Guillain-Barre syndrome in Alexander's death, Hall wrote. "The most striking feature of Alexander the Great's death is that, despite being extremely unwell, he was reported to have remained compos mentis [sane] until just before his death," she wrote, noting that this is something seen in people suffering from Guillain-Barre . The gradual paralysis that Alexander supposedly experienced is also seen in patients with that syndrome. Reactions Live Science talked to several scientists not involved with the research who discussed their thoughts on Hall's claim. It's "an interesting idea" that Alexander was killed by Guillain-Barre syndrome said Hugh Willison, a professor at the University of Glasgow College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation. "Although from the historical evidence available, it is not possible to establish this with any degree of certainty," he added. Another professor, Michael Baker, said: "Based on a quick scan [of the article] I think the theory is quite plausible," Baker, a professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, told Live Science. To say anything more definitive, Baker said he'd need more time to review the paper. The theory is "very interesting," said Pat Wheatley, a professor of classics at the University of Otago. Hall took some of Wheatley's classes, and the two have been discussing the theory for about a year, Wheatley said. However, Wheatley urged caution when looking at the accounts left by ancient historians, noting that the surviving accounts date to well over a century after Alexander's death, and some of the details may be inaccurate. Still, the "the theory is certainly worth floating," Wheatley said. Originally published on Live Science. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. A museum was opened Saturday in east China's Jiangsu Province to showcase the history of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, the first domestically-designed and built modern bridge over the Yangtze. Built in 1968, the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge has a double layer structure. The upper layer is used for highway traffic while the lower layer is used for trains. Hailed an engineering miracle upon its completion, it is a landmark for the provincial capital of Nanjing. The museum was built on the basis of one of the bridgeheads. Inside the museum, there are introductions about the construction of the bridge, items that tell stories about the bridge, and equipment and tools for bridge maintenance. It took three years for the construction of the museum to be completed. The museum was jointly built by the Nanjing bridge management department of China Railway Shanghai Group company and Nanjing University. NEWS Pentagon transforms Campia Turzii unit into a NATO air hub at the Black Sea A former Soviet airbase in central Romania could become a hub for US Air Force operations in south-eastern Europe, where the Pentagon is seeking to Mai mult Nuclearelectrica shareholders approved to terminate negotiations with Chinese for building reactors 3 and 4 from Cernavoda Nuclearelectrica's Board of Directors has been mandated to initiate proceedings to terminate negotiations with China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), as well as legal effects Mai mult Renault holds expansion of its plant in Romania, 15,000 jobs cancelled at global level "Putting capacity growth projects planned in Morocco and Romania on hold" - is one of the measures included in the draft plan of Renault Group Mai mult Romania is a net importer of electricity in 2020 as well Romania imported an amount of electricity of almost 796 GWh in the first month of this year, by more than 36% above what it exported Mai mult Shareholders of Galati steel plant promise investments of one billion euros GFG Alliance has committed to invest one billion euros to upgrade Galati steel plant in order to reduce emissions and increase production. Another EUR 1 Mai mult Top 3 reasons why young people leave Romania Lack of trust in authorities, corruption and low living standards are the main reasons why young people leave Romania. The data is part of a Mai mult IMM Invest Romania program implementing rules have been published The Ministry of Public Finance announces that it has issued the methodological norms for the implementation of the Program for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises Mai mult Pollution import and car park expansion: comparisons with the other EU states Romania is the EU country with the fewest cars in terms of the number of inhabitants, according to data recently published by Eurostat. We appear Mai mult Laura Codruta Kovesi remains alone in the race for European Chief Prosecutor French Prosecutor Jean-Francois Bohnert will be appointed as head of the European Financial Prosecutor's Office, a position for which he was heard on Thursday, 11 Mai mult DAYS before the All-Ireland final, Bridget Harding, aged 101, sang Limerick Youre A Lady in a video that went viral to encourage the hurlers. Sadly, that true Limerick lady passed away at home in Dromlara, Pallasgreen on Sunday. As a thank you for her support, Ger OConnell, kitman and Pallasgreen resident, brought the Liam MacCarthy Cup to her home for a day in September that will live long in the memory. Bridget even donned a Limerick top for the occasion. Ger said Bridget was held in very high esteem in the community. Not alone for her longevity but for her personality and her gregarious and genial disposition. Whats truly remarkable about her is that she is well-known throughout the wider community and especially through her bingo attendances in Pallasgreen, Cappamore and Oola. She would be accompanied by her daughter Joan and up to lately was there marking her own book with no help, said Ger. Bridget will also be sadly missed by her friends and staff in St Michael's Day Care Centre in Cappamore. Ger said the visit of the cup was a lovely moment for someone who has supported the fortunes of Limerick all their lives. Finally, after a 45 year wait she got to see that shiny cup in her home. Im so glad that she got to see the cup and I was in a position to help out. It actually turned out to be a wonderful family reunion and many photos were taken. Not alone has she now left this world but also gone with her is a bit of history and so many memories. Her nephew, Michael Ryan did a fantastic interview with her in the 2016 Grean Magazine. It was the life story of someone who went through all aspects of life - some good, some tough and some bad but she never complained. She was a great woman, said Ger. Bridget was pre-deceased by her husband Patrick and son Seamus. She is sadly missed by her son Patrick; daughters Bernadette, Joan, Marian and Breda; sister Kathleen; brothers-in-law; sisters-in-law; sons in law; grandchildren; great grandchildren; nephews; nieces; relatives; neighbours and friends. Reposing at Ryans funeral home in Pallasgreen this Wednesday evening at 5pm with removal to Nicker church at 7pm. Requiem Mass on Thursday at 11.30am with burial afterwards in St Columba's Cemetery, Pallasgreen. AN INSPIRATIONAL University Hospital Limerick cancer patient has fronted World Health Organisation campaign on the importance of children availing of the HPV vaccine this Monday. Ennis woman Laura Brennan was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer when she was 25 in 2017. Since her diagnosis, Laura has been working with the HSE as a staunch advocate for the vaccine. As part of her European campaign encouraging parents to avail of the vaccine, a moving video that tells Lauras story has also been shared on social media. The video features Laura at home in Clare with her family and travelling to University Hospital Limerick for treatment, as well as on a trip to Copenhagen for meeting with the WHO. This illness is devastating and its going to take my life but the good news is theres a vaccine that you can get that prevents it. HPV caused my cancer. I just wanted parents to know there is an alternative, Laura said. Dr Brennan was too old to get the vaccine when it was first rolled out in Irish schools. I wish the vaccine had been available to me, of course I do. Dont get swayed by rumours about the vaccines safetyget the vaccine, she insisted. Dr Linda Coate, consultant medical oncologist at University Hospital Limerick said: All of the information we have is that the vaccine is safe and that it prevents a very difficult-to-treat form of cancer. So please, listen to Lauras story: get the facts and get the vaccine. For her work on the HPV vaccine, Laura Brennan has been awarded several honours including an honorary doctorate from UCD and the inaugural Patient Advocacy Medal from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. She is the Clare Person of the Year for 2019. THE GOVERNMENT has come under fire after it has emerged that capital funding has yet to be approved for the crucial 60-bed block at University Hospital Limerick. This important piece of infrastructure will act as an interim measure before a 96-bed block is delivered, sometime in the 2020s, in order to assuage Limericks overcrowding problem. On November 5 last, Minister Simon Harris announced in Limerick that funding had been committed for the project, which is expected to cost in the region of 19.5m. Senator Maria Byrne was one of many local politicians who welcomed Minister Harris announcement on the day, when he launched Milford Care Centres major expansion. Labour TD and Public Accounts Committee vice-chairperson Alan Kelly submitted a parliamentary query, asking when in 2019 the 60-bed modular unit would be open. Jim Curran, of head of estates at the HSE, wrote Deputy Kelly last Friday, informing him that the 60-bed block still awaits confirmation for capital funding. In the letter, Mr Curran stated: A proposal for the development of a 60-bed ward block at University Hospital Limerick is being considered for inclusion in the HSE Capital Plan along with other initiatives. The proposed project was approved by the National Capital & Property Steering Committee and awaits the confirmation of capital funding and will be assessed in the context of completing priorities. Reacting to the letter and its contents, former Clare TD Michael McNamara said it seems that the Mid-West and those who live here are again being put on hold. In a statement to the Limerick Leader, the former Labour TD said: Despite the announcement three months ago by the Minister for Health Simon Harris that 19.5m funding had been committed for the construction of a 60-bed modular block at University Hospital Limerick and confirmation as recently as last week by Fine Gael representatives in the region that the project was proceeding, it now appears from a reply by the HSE to a parliamentary question by Alan Kelly TD that funding has yet to be allocated and is being assessed in the context of completing priorities". Mr McNamara added: I can only assume this is due to the overspend and spiraling costs at the National Childrens Hospital in Dublin. What else has changed? The Minister would surely not have said it was funded in November if it wasnt and we have been told in recent days that the overspend would impact on other planned capital projects. It seems that the Mid-West and those who live here are again being put on hold." Mr Curran said in the response to Deupty Kelly that a fracture unit will be built in the old emergency department in 2019, and that UHL will be allocated funding to undertake high priority infrastructural risk projects. Last month, Labour TD Jan OSullivan raised concerns about the possibility of a delay in the 60-bed project due to the massive overspend in the childrens hospital. It was hoped that the project would open in 2019, however it is not likely to open before early 2020, as excavation works has yet to begin before a 300-day construction contract commences. The UL Hospitals Group was contacted in relation to the funding but did not issue a comment at the time of going to press. The Department of Health was also contacted about the matter in the context of Minister Harris announcement in November. Tom Costello, the chairman of the National Children's Hospital development board, stepped down on Saturday while Taoiseach Leo Varadkar insisted over the weekend that no capital projects would be cancelled because as a result of the rising costs of the National Children's Hospital. WOMENS achievements over the past century, including their successful campaign to win the right to vote, will be remembered and celebrated next week in Adare. On Saturday, February 9, an afternoon tea event is being organised by the Fine Gael party in the Limerick County constituency. But according to constituency party chairman, Jimmy Lee, the event is open to members of all parties and none. We are delighted to be hosting the event which is open to anyone and everyone with an interest in coming along, he said. The event is a celebration of the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote but also a celebration of the role women have played in Irish life over those 100 years, Mr Lee added. The event is scheduled for 3pm at the Dunraven Arms Hotel in Adare and the moderator for the afternoon will be Sheila ORegan, of West Limerick 102FM. Dr Theresa Reidy, a political scientist at UCC and a native of Kilmeedy, will open the event and give an historical account of the input of, and role played, by women in all facets of Irish life and Irish society: not just politics but also business, agriculture, education, tourism and so on, Mr Lee continued. This will be followed by an armchair discussion involving former Tanaiste, Frances Fitzgerald TD, journalist Mairead Lavery of the Farmers Journal, Helen ODonnell of the Hunt Museum Restaurant, Dee Ryan, CEO of the Limerick Chamber of Commerce and presided over by Sheila ORegan. Mr Lee said there would be an admission charge of 10 to cover the afternoon tea. He also stressed that advance booking was advised by contacting Kay Ryan on 086-8146848, Mary Danagher on 087-2450728 or constituency secretary Tom Hanley on 086-8518336. We're sorry that the ministry you were looking for is no longer available on LightSource.com. However, below are some great ministries that offer related content. Enjoy the inspiration, encouragement, and Biblical challenge from these LightSource.com ministry partners! An 18-year-old Naas student is raising funds for the homeless. Jamie Carroll, a volunteer with the charity Homeless Mobile Run, is appealing for donations to buy sleeping bags. Homeless Mobile Run are a voluntary, non-government funded organisation that provide hot dishes, snacks, tea, coffee, toiletries, clothes and sleeping bags to the homeless. Jamie, a legal studies student in Waterford, has been volunteering with the charity for a year. My mam seen it on Facebook at the start, and she asked me to come along and it kind of opened my eyes to reality, because you wouldnt see the graphic side to it on social media, Jamie told the Leader. Jamie said there are about 30-35 volunteers, who meet outside Dunnes Stores on Grafton Street every Wednesday and Sunday at 8pm. Wednesday we have about 200-250 people, and Sundays are busy, there could be up to 350 people that day, and that ranges from adults and kids. Jamie works in Tesco Extra Naas at the weekend, and leaves early on a Sunday to go to Dublin and help out with the charity. Jamie said there is a massive demand for the services, so much so that they are running out of supplies. Jamie then decided to set up the GoFundMe on January 16. We ran out of sleeping bags and people were asking for big coats to throw over them and keep them warm, so I started the GoFundMe fundraiser. Jamie was also involved in a Christmas fundraiser where local barbers Hawk & Blade and Naas band The Rush lent a hand. Jamie said he is taken aback by the support the fundraiser has gotten so far, with over 2,500 raised online alone. It doesnt have to money donations, it could be toiletries or clothes that they dont wear anymore, or if they want to go out and buy sleeping bags they can donate to us, Jamie added. On January 25, Jamie was honoured at the Kildare Garda Youth Awards which was held at Punchestown. The awards celebrate outstanding young people between the ages of 13 and 21 years, who are doing great work in their community. One of the teachers put me up for it so I wasnt expecting it, so I was a bit shook. To donate to Jamie's fundraiser, click HERE. SEE ALSO: New bus service operating from Naas to Dublin set to start this month Problems with reliability on Kilcocks Bus Eireann service have not been resolved, a public meeting heard. The Kildare County Council Maynooth Municipal District meeting (February 1) was told by Cllr Paul Ward that there are continuous problems with the 115 service. The committee now wants to holds meetings with Bus Eireann and the National Transport Authority (NTA). Cllr Ward told the meeting on February 1 that many services are either turning up late or not turning up at all. Dozens of people are being left behind every morning, he said. In recent times, he said, a bus scheduled for 10.30am did not arrive until 11.00am. A bus due at 9.00am did not arrive until 9.25pm. Cllr Ward said that one Monday, a 7.30am service left ten minutes early. He said Kilcock is a growing area with more houses and needs a reliable transport service. SEE ALSO: Division on council over site for north Kildare swimming pool Cllr Padraig McEvoy who second Cllr Wards motion to see an explanation from Bus Eireann said that they should contact the NTA which licences the services. Cllr Reada Cronin said the roads were clogging up due to poor services. Cllr Teresa Murray said was beyond frustrating when the bus services were being delayed and they were trying to encourage people to leave their cars at home. People will give up (using public transport) and just drive, she said. The committee is try and meet with the NTA and Bus Eireann. They also want some affected residents to attend. Senior official, Evelyn Wright, said a lot of authorities were seeking meetings with the NTA and that any meeting with it would be held in Dublin. Additionally, the suit requests the county be awarded damages caused by the opioid epidemic for providing medical care, additional therapeutic and prescription drug purchases, and other treatments for patients suffering from opioid-related addiction or disease, including overdoses and deaths; for providing treatment, counseling and rehabilitation services; for providing treatment for infants born with opioid-related medical conditions; costs for providing care for children whose parents suffer from opioid-related disability or incapacitation; and costs associated with law enforcement and public safety related to the drug epidemic. A huge crowd gathered in Newbridge this morning to pay their respects to the late Fr John Cummins who died in a freak car accident at his home in Laois last week. Read also:Overcrowding rises at Naas hospital Brenda Drumm, of the St Conleth Parish Council welcomed the large attendance to Newbridge parish church. She said, Abbeyleix and Ballyroan paid tribute to Fr John at a special Mass in remembrance of the late parish priest on Saturday. Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Denis Nulty, was chief celebrant of todays Requiem Mass for the priest who was killed in a freak car accident outside his home in Abbeyleix last Wednesday, January 30. Newbridge native, Fr Cummins served in Abbeyleix for the past 18 months and before that for four years in Naas. He had been a chaplain at Carlow IT and 12 years in Carlow Cathedral - 11 as administrator. Bishop Nulty told the gathering that Fr Cummins had spent a very fulfilled and fruitful 18 months as parish priest of Abbeyleix. The Bishop welcomed the community, family and friends and all Fr Johns colleagues. He said Fr John had been extraordinarily close to his colleagues. It was difficult to deal with the loss of one so gifted, so able and so talented, he said. In an emotional and funny applause raising tribute, Fr Ger Nash, Fr Johns long time friend, said that after the news of his death broke, he has been contacted by so many people who said, you dont know me but Fr Nash said he was both devastated and delighted to be speaking to everybody about his friend. They were a bit like Laurel and Hardy. The more he (Fr John) ate, the thinner he got. The less I ate.. Fr John, he said, was a proud Kildare man. He said he was proud of Kildare, its links with St Brigid and St Conleths and its deep historical roots. Fr Nash said that his friend was nurtured by a great family. "He loved his family, his beloved aunts and uncles, his cousins," he said. Fr John treasured links and connections including all the Cummins and Murtagh family links. He valued and knew all the links between them, he said. Fr Nash said he and Fr John traveled a lot together. I spent many holidays with him over 28 years. They were adventures rather than holidays. You would come across some church or statue in Europe and he would talking about their seed, breed and generation, all off the top of his head. Fr Nash said he could bring people on journeys with the telling of his stories. There was laughter when Fr Nash spoke of what happened in the countries to where Fr John had traveled. A lot of the places he visited experienced revolutions or economic collapses after he returned home. People said to him to stay away from a place before they visited it. Contemplating on Fr Johns departure, Fr Nash said: We are missing our navigator. We will be less able and less sure but the memory of a great man will sustain us in the dark days ahead. An exhibition called Ringing the Ogoni Bells: Ken Saro-Wiwa Travelling Exhibition was launched recently in Athy Community Library of the death-row correspondence of Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa to an Irish nun Sister Majella McClarron. The exhibition is a result of collaboration between Maynooth University Library and Kildare County Council Library Services. Mayor of Kildare, Councillor Sean Power officially launched an exhibition in Athy Community Library on Tuesday 22 January. Councillor Power welcomed the collaboration and thanked Sister Majella McCarron (OLA) for her involvement in the project and for making the journey to Athy. The letters, now held in Maynooth University library, were smuggled out of military detention in breadbaskets. This exhibition features a number of letters and poems written by Ken Saro-Wiwa and photographs and panels telling the story of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni issues. Helen Fallon, Deputy Librarian at Maynooth University spoke of the content of some of the letters and how the title Ringing the Ogoni Bells came about. She welcomed the opportunity for Maynooth Unversity to collaborate with Kildare Library Services. Sister Majella was the final speaker on the evening and she recounted to the audience her involvement in telling the Ogoni story which dates back more than 20 years. Athy Community Library is the first Irish library to host the exhibition outside of Maynooth University. It has previously been exhibited at Quinnipiac University, in theUnited States as part of a Maynooth University international collaboration. The exhibition runs in Athy Community Library until 2 March and it is envisaged that the exhibition will travel to a number of public libraries in Ireland, thus bringing the work of Ken Saro-Wiwa to a wide audience. A Brooklyn, New York, man who came to the Lehigh Valley three times to have sex with a then-11-year-old girl was sentenced Friday to life in federal prison. Sandro Zhinins attorney argued that the 35-year-old man didnt realize his victim was underage. He claims he thought she was 19, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Stephan. But that doesnt make sense, according to Stephan, because Zhinin created an account on the social media site MeetMe where he posed as a 15-year-old boy named Sam Gil to lure young victims. Sandro Zhinin posed as a 15-year-old boy named Sam Gil (Courtesy U.S. Attorney's office) Stephan called Zhinin methodical, sneaky, and goal driven in her memorandum. She said he hired psychologist Frank Dattilio to bolster his bogus claim. His attempts to minimize (his actions) and have his psychologist jump on board his minimization efforts, are nothing short of offensive, Stephan wrote. U.S. Attorneys office spokeswoman Michele Mucellin confirmed U.S. District Court Judge Edward G. Smith sentenced Zhinin to life in prison. Defense attorney Nancy MacEoin said she plans to appeal the sentence. She said Smiths only reason for the life sentence was the seriousness of the crime. It did not consider the fact that Mr. Zhinin has no prior contact with law enforcement. As such, he received the same sentence as someone who had done this several times before, MacEoin said in an email. Court records say Zhinin met the girl at a park in Northampton Borough on March 4, 2017, and again on March 11, 2017. Each time he took her to a different hotel in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, where he had sex with her, records say. Records say the girl told her parents March 11. A medical examination showed injuries consistent with sexual abuse. Records say police were waiting for Zhinin when he came to the park on March 25, 2017, to pick up the girl for sex again. The federal sentence will run concurrently to a 20- to 40-year state prison sentence hes serving in Lehigh County. Zhinin pleaded guilty in June in Lehigh County Court to rape of a child, a charge related to the incidents for which hes charged federally. Zhinin pleaded guilty Aug. 8 in federal court to three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor by crossing state lines to have sex with the child. Each charge comes with a mandatory minimum 30-year prison sentence. MacEoin said Smith didnt take into consideration Zhinins decision to forgo a trial, which saved the victim from having to testify in front of a jury. Stephan said the sentence was warranted. Zhinin also has demonstrated that he has no moral compass whatsoever," Stephan said in her memorandum. He was willing to sneak around, steal a child from the safety of her home and parents, take her to cheap hotel rooms and sexually abuse her. That is his history and character. ... He has not taken responsibility for his behaviors nor has he shown any remorse. He took away a young girls innocence and her first sexual experience. He has caused harm not only to his victim, but his victims family. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook. A traffic stop last week on Interstate 80 in Warren County netted $30,000 worth of heroin and cannabis wax, and one arrest, according to New Jersey State Police. Javier Cuevas, 41, of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, was driving the night of Jan. 28 westbound on I-80 in Allamuchy Township. Troopers stopped Cuevas for a traffic violation and determined Cuevas was driving under the influence, state police said. Cuevas was arrested for DWI, when troopers learned he had $30,000 worth of heroin and cannabis wax, according to state police. Cuevas was charged with possession of heroin, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and DWI. He was sent to Warren County Jail pending a bail hearing. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter@SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. As a result of contractual breach by Nigeria through three previous administrations of Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, a fine of $8.9 billion has been awarded against the country in favour of a British firm, Process and Industrial Developments Limited. London Arbitration Tribunal ruled that $6.6 billion damages and $2.3 billion uncollected interest (calculated at $1.2 million a day) should be paid by Nigeria, TVC reports. Legit.ng gathers that failure to pay the fine before February 15, Nigeria risks seizure of its assets in the United Kingdom as the British firm could enforce the award against the West African country. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda Report has it that there was a contractual obligations on gas supply and processing between Process and Industrial Developments Limited the federal ministry of petroleum resources. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday, January 15, ordered final forfeiture of N2.24 billion recovered from a former chief of air staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, to the federal government. Justice Mojisola Olatoregun gave the order following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on June 7, 2018. The EFCC had said that the sum was reasonably suspected to be proceeds of an unlawful activity. The judge also ordered final forfeiture of N190,828,978.15 recovered by EFCC from a former Nigeria Air Force (NAF) director of finance and budget, Air Commodore Olugbenga Gbadebo. Olatoregun further ordered final forfeiture of N101 million recovered from Solomon Enterprises, a company linked to Amosu. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The court had earlier granted an interim order of forfeiture of the sums. It directed the EFCC to publish the interim order in The Nation and Punch newspapers so that the respondents or anyone interested could show cause as to why the final order of forfeiture should not be made in favour of the federal government. Amosu and an interested party, Air Vice Marshal Bolaji Adigun, had filed counter-application, arguing that the funds were proceeds of their personal businesses and not from illegal activities. At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, January 15, Olatoregun dismissed the applications, saying that they failed to provide facts to ascertain if the funds were obtained unlawfully. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better The EFCC stage a walk against corruption - on Legit TV Source: Legit - PDP's presidential campaign spokesman, Buba Galadima, has alleged that the crowds that attended President Muhammadu Buhari's rallies were hired - He said that the APC paid not less than N20 million to the large people who attended President Buhari's rallies - He accused the Buhari-led federal government as an administration that operates on nepotism and corruption Buba Galadima, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s presidential campaign spokesman, on Sunday, February 3, alleged that the massive crowds that attended All Progressives Congress (APC) rallies were paid. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda Galadima claimed: Every campaign that Buhari goes to in an APC-controlled state, local governments are empowered with twenty to forty-five million naira to purchase people and bring them to these rallies, and suddenly Buhari starts addressing the crowd and they all disappear because they must fulfil the contract for which they were brought in." He further said: One Local Government rally by Kwankwaso is more than the global rally that was organised for Buhari after spending nearly one billion naira. He accused the Buhari-led administration as a government that operates on large scale nepotism and corruption, Channels TV reports. Galadima stated: It is shameful that somebody who rides on the issue of corruption will raise the hand of a thief, certified crook, and say this is our candidate. In Kano, you have seen the President raising the hand of a corrupt individual, a corrupt person that the whole nation has seen taking bribes, they are talking of corruption, that man belongs to them. They brought people from Niger, my good friend the Sultanate of Damagaram and two Governors from the Niger Republic, are already telling us that they will bring aliens to vote for them." PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! Moreover, Galadima said that the recent endorsement of Atiku Abubakar, PDP's flag bearer the Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Pan-Niger Delta forum (PANDEF) the Middle Belt Forum, and a faction of Afenifere clearly indicated unity among once rival ethnic groups. He said: I commend these Elders for coming out boldly to tell the world that in Atiku they have seen a candidate that will unite Nigeria. Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the governors of Zinder and Maradi from Niger Republic were among the dignitaries that attended the mega rally of President Buhari in Kano. This was revealed in a tweet by Salihu Tanko Yakasai, the media aide of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano on Thursday, January 31. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Between Buharis Next Level And Atikulate - Nigerians React| Legit TV Source: Legit Former British high commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin, has wished Ghanaian actor John Dumelo well on his birthday in a very uncharacteristic fashion. The celebrated actor turned 35 years old on Sunday, February 3, 2019. Many people including Dumelo's wife wished him well with sweet messages on his special occasion. One of the most notable messages came from the British diplomat who brought a message which could be described as a prophetic prediction about the actor. In a reply to photo Dumelo posted on Twitter to mark his birthday, Jon Benjamin predicted that the actor will become Ghana's president in about 10 years. READ ALSO: Wizkid meets with Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu A very happy birthday to my friend @johndumelo1.I hope this message is enough to score me an invitation to his inauguration as President in a decade or so," he tweeted. While it has often been reported that Dumelo has presidential ambitions, it is quite curious that the prediction is coming from the former British high commissioner. Known as an adversary of the actor on Twitter, Benjamin almost always disagrees with anything Dumelo says and finds every opportunity to troll him on social media. PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group Even on Dumelo's wedding day in May 2018, the diplomat who carved a name for himself as a controversial person while in Ghana did not cease fire as he trolled him very well with his message of congratulations. With such a history between them, many on social media have brushed off Benjamin's prediction saying it is sarcasm. Happy belated birthday, John. Meanwhile, Dumelo marked his birthday in a special way. 00The Ghanaian actor took to his social media page to share the unusual and emotional way he had celebrated the opportunity to witness another year on earth. He visited the Okponglo area of East Legon where he had met with some widows and joined them in celebrating the occasion of his 35th birthday. Did you know? NAIJ.com (naija.ng) is now-> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app Homosexuals in Nollywood: Myth or Reality? on Legit TV: Source: Legit Nigeria - Nollywood actor turned politician Desmond Elliot clocked a new age on February 4, and marked it in a big way - The 45-year-old actor marked his special day in style as he gifted household items to some of his constituents - Eliot expressed gladness and stated that he is blessed Birthday comes once in a year and each time, one is reminded of the abundance of life they are blessed with. Nollywood actor turned politician, Desmond Elliot, recently clocked a new age and decided to mark it in style. The state house of assembly member clocked 45 on February 4, and held a birthday party with his constituents. First, he shared photos of himself on his Instagram page and thanked God for life. He also stated that he is blessed and made sure to extend his blessings to some members of his constituents. The 45-year-old politician looked handsome as he gifted freezers, sewing machines, grinding machines, cameras and other household and business items to his people at his birthday party. Many fans poured in birthday wishes and also appreciated him for playing a huge role in significantly improving the lives of some members of his constituents READ ALSO: My house was searched by US police, I was the only African in the neighbourhood - Davido (video) Here are photos below: Desmond reveal that his 45th birthday ceremony was a gift-away celebration and he focused on his constituents especially those from Paddigton community. Some cash were also given out to some who needed it. Here are more photos below: PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group Happy birthday Desmond. Life is really worth celebrating, just recently, Desmond had to mourn a family member who died. His uncle, Papa Ezekiel Sunday Elliott who he often called Sunny Boy of Texas gave up the ghost and the politician wished him well on his sojourn to heaven. Did you know? NAIJ.com (naija.ng) is now-> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app Top 3 Nollywood Stars: Who Earns More Than Others? on Legit TV: Source: Legit - Residents of Kaduna state have been assured of peace during the forthcoming 2019 general elections - According to the Nigerian Army which gave the assurance on Sunday, February 3, those that have intention to create insecurity will be fished out - The Nigerian Army says appropriate security measures have been taken to guarantee a peaceful atmosphere for the smooth implementation of all aspects of the electoral process The Nigeria Army has assured residents of Kaduna that the state will be peaceful for the conduct of the February 16 and March 2 general elections. Major General Mohammed Mohammed, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division of the Nigeria Army, Kaduna, gave the assurance in Kotangora while briefing journalists on Sunday, February 3, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda Legit.ng gathers that Mohammed said that appropriate security measures had been taken to guarantee a peaceful atmosphere for the smooth implementation of all aspects of the electoral process. He said: We have identified hot spots and mapped out a comprehensive security network to enable residents to exercise their civic responsibilities without threats to lives and property." The GOC said that the Nigeria Army would not tolerate any act capable of disrupting peaceful coexistence among the residents during and after the elections. He said: The armys mandate is to ensure a peaceful conduct of the election. We will provide support troops to all security agencies to ensure that they discharge their duties and ensure conducive environment for every Nigerians to perform their civic responsibilities. A lot is being done; we have identified the flash points and stationed our troops to ensure that we first caution those living in those areas to be law-abiding. We will fish out those wanting to create insecurity in those areas." Mohammed added that the army had done a lot of sensitisation on the exercise and been integrating with the communities to ensure no one was hindered from performing his/her civic responsibilities. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Nigerian Army vowed not to tolerate undue interference by politicians in the conduct of its ongoing Exercise Egwu Eke III. Brigadier General Sani Usman, the army spokesman, gave the warning in a statement on Sunday, January 3, after troops arrested 16 suspected political thugs in Sokoto state. Egwu Eke III or Python Dance was launched nationwide on Saturday, January 2, to deal with criminal activities before, during and after the general elections. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Usman said the suspects were arrested armed with 27 axes and 16 customised sticks. He said they were arrested on Saturday, January 2, during joint stop and search patrol with other security agencies along Illela-Danfulani-Gwadabawa road. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better The Next President of Nigeria. Who Will Win the 2019 Elections? | Legit TV Source: Legit - A Lagos-based legislator, Gbolahan Yishawu, has asked Nigerians to vote APC in the next general elections - Yishawu said the APC is a party of repute and high integrity, adding that the party has performed well in government - The lawmaker said the party's candidates have a good level of passion and commitment towards helping the people A Lagos lawmaker, Gbolahan Yishawu, has urged Nigerians to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the upcoming general elections describing APC as a party of repute and integrity. Yishawu, representing Eti-Osa constituency II in the Lagos state House of Assembly made the plea on Saturday, January 2, at the launch of his re-election campaign in the constituency. He said: We are out to create awareness regarding the general elections. The mammoth crowd is as a result of what APC has done from federal to local governments levels. You can see that people are happy with the party and those are the electorate. I want to advise Nigerians in Lagos state and other states to vote only for a party of repute and integrity." Yishawu, the chairman, House committee on budget and economic planning commended the people for trooping out enmass to support the APC. READ ALSO: Governor Wike accuses Buhari govt of marking 200 judges for intimidation, false allegations In his remarks, Wale Edun, APC leader in Ikoyi-Obalende area of the constituency, said that the crowd was a signal for the admiration people had for the party. Edun said that Yishawu and other APC candidates had demonstrated passion and commitment to the needs of the people, urging the electorate to vote massively for APC candidates. According to him, votes for the the APC will bring development and progress to the nation. He added: I appeal to Nigerians to come out February 16 to vote for Buhari and other APC candidates." The executive chairman of Ikoyi Obalende local council development area, Fuad Atanda-Lawal, stressed that vote for APC was for development. He said: This is a walk for peace. We dont need to cajole people because what the party has done will speak for it during elections. The impact made by Gbolahan Yishawu brought out this mammoth crowd to support him and the party." Prince Abiodun Abu, another APC chieftain in Ikoyi Obalende, expressed confidence that APC would win all the seats in the forthcoming elections, saying Yishawu had done well. Abu, the APC chairman, Ikoyi Obalende, who noted that President Muhammadu Buhari's administration had positively affected all the states in the country, called on Nigerians to give their votes to all candidates of APC. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app The vice chairman, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Ikoyi Obalende, Chief Godwin Okeke said his people came out to support Yishawu for his developmental strides in the constituency. NAN reports that the lawmaker and his supporters went round Ikoyi Obalende including the residence of the National Leader of APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, on Bourdillon road. The team, which distributed fliers and stationery materials to people, sensitised them to the need to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and vote for APC. Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the secretary of the National Youth Campaign Committee of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APCPCC) urged Kwara youths to support the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari. Folayan said this in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, January 31, that the re-election of Buhari is tied to the liberation of the people of Kwara from a political dynasty. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Nigeria Latest News: Father Mbaka On Buhari, Atiku In Nigeria Election 2019 | Legit TV Source: Legit Witnesses inside the store at the time said they saw three men wearing masks and jackets come in the store, break glass display cases and put items in bags before fleeing, according to the affidavit. Two of the men ran across U.S. 30 while a third got in a minivan, the affidavit states. - Friends and family members of two Nigerian lecturers pay tribute to them on social media - The lecturers had passed away in a fatal accident after attending a friend's wedding in Jigawa - It was gathered that a third friend had been left with serious injuries Two Nigerian lecturers, Zaharadeen Hussaini Kaita and Saib Abbantea, have passed away in a fatal accident while they were on their way back home from a friend's wedding. The deceased were in the car alongside another friend identified as Yusuf Dot Java. It was reported that Java is currently hospitalised after he was left seriously injured. It was gathered that the three friends had attended a friend's wedding ceremony in Malam Madori local government area of Jigawa State. Two Nigerian lecturers reportedly passed away in a car crash Facebook source: Aminu A Bello Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Nigerian man dies in ghastly car accident 6 days to his wedding in Bauchi (photos) According to reports, the accident occurred along Ringim-Kano road. One of the deceased, Kaita, had been a lecturer at Isa Kaita Polytechnic in Katsina, while Java lectured at Nuhu Bakalli Polytechnic in Zaria. They both died after travelling to attend a friend's wedding Facebook source: Ibrahim Gambo Source: Facebook PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app Friends and family of the deceased paid their tribute in heartfelt messages on Facebook. Read their posts below: PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Dolapo, wife of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, had taken to social media to thank God for her husband's safety. The vice president had survived an accident after his helicopter crash landed. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better My life after the plane crash Nigerian plane crash survivor Kechi Okwuchi speaks to Legit TV Source: Legit - American rapper, 21 Savage, is currently in trouble with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for allegedly overstaying in the US - According to ICE, the rapper is actually a UK national who came into the US as a teen and remained in the country even after his visa expired - Reports reveal that the rapper is in ICE custody in Georgia and has been placed into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts Social media has been thrown into a frenzy after popular Atlanta rapper, 21 Savage, was arrested for "overstaying" in the US. What remains a shocker is that while everyone believed the rapper to be a citizen of the country, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has stated otherwise. 21 Savage whose given name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested at a traffic stop in Atlanta, along with three other people during which ICE discovered his immigration status. He was taken into custody by ICE who allege that the Atlanta rapper is a United Kingdom national who stayed in the US after his visa lapsed. According to an ICE spokesperson who spoke with CNN: His whole public persona is false. He actually came to the U.S. from the U.K. as a teen and overstayed his visa. READ ALSO: Personal letter from the Editor-in-Chief of Legit.ng (former NAIJ.com) Reports reveal that the rapper had received a one-year visa in July, 2005. If the timeline stated by immigration is correct, 21 Savage would have been 12 when he arrived in the United States. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on Legit.ng News App The rappers lawyer, Dina LaPolt revealed to TMZ that they are working towards getting him out of detention, describing the allegations as a misunderstanding. Get the hottest gist on Africa Love Aid He said: We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding. Mr. Abraham-Joseph is a role model to the young people in the country especially in Atlanta, Georgia and is actively working in the community leading programs to help underprivileged youths in financial literacy. HELLO! NAIJ.com (naija.ng) upgrades to Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better In My Feelings Drake - Nigeria Dance Challenge | In My Feelings | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - Nigerians have been urged to ensure they exercise their voting rights at the 2019 general election - The advise was given to all Nigerians by the archbishop of the Church of Nigerian Anglican Communion Nicholas Okoh - Okoh said Nigeria would only move forward when the citizens actively participate in the process leading to the choice of rightful leaders An archbishop of the Church of Nigerian Anglican Communion, Nicholas Okoh, on Sunday, February 3, called on Nigerians to exercise their civil rights at the forthcoming 2019 general elections. Okoh urged Nigerians to ensure competent politicians are voted into office for the advancement of the nation. Speaking while inaugurating the an ultra-modern bishop house, chapel and commemorating the 60th birthday of Geoffrey Okorafor, the bishop of Egbu diocese in Owerri north local council of Imo state, Okoh said Nigeria could only move forward when the citizens actively participated in the process leading to the choice of rightful leaders. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda He also called on politicians, stakeholders and the federal government to prioritise voting exercise. "You must take these elections seriously. They are very important. They will affect you, your children, grand children and great grand children. It is not funny at all. The polls are very important. Do not joke with them. We want successful and credible (elections) in 2019. May our country move forward in the mighty name of Jesus," Okoh said. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Reverend Mathew Sukada, the Catholic priest in charge of the Church of Nativity, Kangang, Jos, has cautioned citizens against killing each other over politicians. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Sukada said: Do not kill yourselves over politicians; they do not even know you and will reconcile with each other after the elections, long after you are gone, Sukada told the congregation during the Sunday, February 3 service. He said that no politician was worth dying for, adding that some of them were more concerned about their personal interests. The priest particularly cautioned youths in the church against being used as thugs to kill and destroy. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Cartoon Comedy: When politicians die, they go to hell - on Legit TV Source: Legit Newspaper The fresh graduate of University of Calabar, late Mary Owan who lost her life in a car accident few days to her wedding has been buried. Earlier on, Legit.ng reported the news of how a recent graduate of History and International Studies from Unical, Mary Owan died in a car accident, a few days to her wedding. Owan who had already picked out a beautiful dress for her big day, sadly did not get to use it for the purpose of her wedding ceremony. According to reports, Owan was buried in the wedding dress. READ ALSO: Personal letter from the Editor-in-Chief of Legit.ng (former NAIJ.com) See photos below: Owan who was a niece to University of Calabar Vice Chancellor, Prof. Zana Akpagu, was said to be on her way to her hometown for the traditional wedding rites when the tragic incident occurred. Reports show that the accident occurred in Edor, Ikom local government area of Cross River State. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on Legit.ng News App Mary Owan was engaged to her long time partner, Emma Source: Facebook Get the hottest gist on Africa Love Aid Mary Owan was engaged to her partner, Emma and their wedding was slated to hold today, February 2. So sad! In a similar story, a young lady on Friday, December 14, took to her Instagram handle to announce the death of her dear friend, Benson Ikani. According to Joseph Tina Ejuchegahi, the sad young lady disclosed that Ikani was involved in a fatal accident which took place in Kogi state. The deceased recently graduated from Kogi State University, he studied Fisheries and Aquaculture. HELLO! NAIJ.com (naija.ng) upgrades to Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better Fixing Nigeria in 4 years is very hard Ushbebe | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - Alhaji Aliyu Idris-Ibrahim, council chairman, Zaria local government of Kaduna state, says the electorates need to give Buhari a second tenure to enable him transform the country for a brighter future - Ibrahim notes that the Buhari administration has recorded successes in areas of security, fighting corruption and diversifying the economy through agriculture - The council chairman cautions against attacks on leaders, hate speech and the use of sentiments in the name of campaign Alhaji Aliyu Idris-Ibrahim, council chairman, Zaria local government of Kaduna state on Sunday, February 3, said re-electing President Muhammadu Buhari would guarantee brighter future for Nigeria. Idris-Ibrahim made the observation during the presentation of certificates to contractors awarded infrastructure projects in Tudun Wada ward of Zaria. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that community leaders in each unit were mobilised by the council to monitor the execution of the projects to ensure compliance to set standards. READ ALSO: President Buhari thanks God for sparing Osinbajos life in helicopter crash The council boss stressed the need for electorates to give President Buhari a second tenure to enable him transform the country for a brighter future. According to him, Buhari administration has recorded successes in areas of security, fighting corruption and diversifying the economy through agriculture. The council chairman also stressed the need for the electorate to re-elect Governor Nasiru El-Rufai to continue his laudable programmes across the state. Idris-Ibrahim cautioned against attacks on leaders, hate speech and the use of sentiments in the name of campaign. Our religion tells us to pray for our leaders, support them and encourage them where they do the right thing and advise them where they go wrong not uttering bad words not to talk of insulting them. In my own little knowledge, I have never seen a place in Islam where if a leader is doing well and ask for continuity will be turned down. READ ALSO: How APC thugs allegedly killed my brother in Kogi - SDP supporter narrates ordeal (photos) Therefore, we have no option than to support their continuity, we must tell our children, our wives, brothers and sisters to come out en mass to give Presdient Buhari, Gov. El-Rufai and all other APC contestants block votes, he pleaded. In his speech, the APC zonal chairman, Norther Kaduna senatorial district, Hussaini Zaria appreciated the council chairman for embarking on developmental projects. He said the party was proud to have him as a council chairman in view of his foresight, commitment and desire to lift the local government to greater heights. Abdu Ringo, the APC chairman, Zaria local government also lauded the gigantic efforts of the council chairman in touching the lives of citizens of the area. Ringo, who was represented by the vice chairman, Alhaji Buhari Musa-Bizara said in the history of local governments in Kaduna state, no council had ever award a contract worth N1 billion except Zaria under the present chairman. The member representing Zaria federal constituency also deserves a National Merit Award considering his track records in the House of Representatives. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda In their remarks, some community leaders in the area commended the chairman for executing people oriented projects. They pledged to give Buhari and APC the necessary support to succeed in the upcoming general elections. Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s presidential ambition in the forthcoming general election has received a huge boost as leaders of the Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, northern elders forum, Pan-Niger Delta forum, the Middle Belt Forum, and a faction of Afenifere have endorsed Atiku Abubakar as their presidential candidate. The group disclosed this at a meeting tagged: Summit of Nigerian leaders and elders. Channels TV reports that they arrived at the conclusion after series of meetings with the presidential candidates in the past months. 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 Dear friend, Thousand of Nigerian men and women, just like you, are now totally treating staphylococcus aureus, gonorrhea, syphilis and other drug resistant infections without taking antibiotics. And in just a minute, Ill show you their secret. Lets face it. 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Go here next to get the modern herbal remedy for staphylococcus aureus and other related infections - http://bit.ly/nadicapsforstaphinfection Solomon [Sponsored] Source: Legit Newspaper - NNPC has urged Nigerian not to expect an immediate exploration of crude oil in the northern region - The corporation said such discovery might take years or decades to achieve in the region - According to GMD of NNPC, oil was discovered in Niger Delta after 50 years of searching The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the weekend cautioned Nigerians against heightened expectation of crude oil discovery in some states in the northern part of the country. Vanguard reports that the group managing director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru, while speaking at the Presidential Spud-in (drilling) of Kolmani River II Well, in Barambu community in Alkaeri local government area, between Bauchi and Gombe states issued a caveat on oil exploration in the area. Baru warned that the expectations of an early find of crude oil and gas in the north might not be as immediate as expected by all. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda The NNPC GMD said such discovery might take years or decades to achieve in the region warning that oil was discovered in Niger Delta after 50 years of searching. He also advised President Muhammadu Buhari who gave the corporation a marching order to search for crude in the north. Baru said: It usually takes time for oil to be discovered. In Niger Delta basin, it took over 50 years for explorations to discover crude oil. Niger Republic drilled over 600 wells over many years before they discovered crude oil, therefore, Mr. President, patience is of essence here," Baru added. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday, February 2, in Bauchi state, instructed the NNPC to extend oil exploration activities to six basins in the country. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news updates The president gave the instruction at the Barambu town in Alkaleri local government area of the state while flagging off the drilling activities. Buhari asked that the activities be extended to the Chad, Gongola, Anambra, Sokoto , Dahomey, Bida basins and Benue trough. He emphasised that exploration in the frontier basins remains important to the economy of the country. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. What has changed in Nigeria since the last election? | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng The list of successful candidates of Nigerian army recruitment exercise has been released. If you are one of those who waited for this moment, we have interesting information for you! Photo: guardian.ng Source: UGC Nigerian army list of successful candidates Nigerian army recruitment office has released full and the final list of candidates for Short Service Commission (SSC) and Direct Short Service Commission (DSSC). Major General Faruk Yahaya who is the Secretary of the army released the list of accepted candidates on Nigerian Army official website. See also: Function and duties of Nigerian army Photo: nigeriashare.com Source: UGC READ ALSO: How to join Nigerian Army You can also visit the Nigerian Army recruitment portal to find out all the needed information about the method of application, requirements and other basic information related to Nigerian army recruitment. Note that the recruitment form is free. See also: Nigerian army ranks and their salaries This year, thousands of candidates applied to the recruitment program of the Nigerian army. Nigerian Air Force has also announced the start of its recruitment program for Airmen and Airwomen. READ ALSO: Nigerian army training: What are the stages? Source: Nigerian Army releases names of successful candidates for 2019 recruitment [Full list] Source: Legit In her written statement, Sparks-Wade said, I may be battered and bruised, but I am not broken. I have no idea what the path to healing holds, but in the words of Wess Morgan, God will get me through this, she said in reference to a gospel musician and pastor. It is a fantastic opportunity and we are super excited, Chipotle District Manager Robert DeLuca said. The community has welcomed us with open arms and we are excited to continue to make a positive impact and cultivate a better world out here. Kolkata, February 4: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi arrived here on Monday evening to show solidarity with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her sit-in demonstration and accused the Narendra Modi government at the centre of misusing the central agencies to intimidate opposition leaders. Expressing strong support towards Banerjee's strong anti-BJP stand, Tejashwi Yadav, also the former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, said all the opposition leaders should take such steps to save the nation and bring an end to the saffron outfit's oppression. "Everyone knows how strong Mamata Banerjee is. So BJP's strategy is to scare her, intimidate her. I congratulate Banerjee for the strong steps she has taken. If we want to save our country, then all the leaders must take such strong steps. Otherwise they (BJP) will try to oppress everybody," he said while standing beside Banerjee on the dais. CBI vs Mamata Banerjee: Civil War-Like Situation in India, Alleges CPI Over Misuse of Central Agencies by NDA Government. Kolkata: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and DMK leader Kanimozhi meet West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee at the stage where she has been sitting on 'Save the Constitution' dharna since 9 PM yesterday over CBI issue. pic.twitter.com/xHO611h2AZ ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 "They (Centre) are sending the CBI after Akhilesh Yadav and ED after Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh after their alliance was announced. They are also after Banerjee and (Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) Chandrababu Naidu. They put my father in jail as he did not compromise with communal forces and started police cases against our entire family," said the son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad. He accused the BJP-RSS of not having any regard for Indian constitution and said that the 2019 election will an ideological battle. "The people who are in power now, the BJP-RSS, had no contribution in India's freedom struggle. They always aided the British. They do not believe in our constitution. We do not have any personal fight with Narendra Modi. It is an ideological fight," Yadav said. DMK leader and party president MK Stalin's sister Kanimozhi also extended her support to Banerjee and claimed that the Trinamool chief is under attack by the BJP government for successfully conducting the anti-BJP rally in Kolkata last month. "We stand against the fascist BJP government. Today, this is a pre-election gift from the Modi and BJP government to her for having very successful rally on January 19. After the rally, they realised they are not going to win a single seat from West Bengal. We stand by her and say that we will be together," she said. Kanimozhi also claimed that the Modi government is mistaken if it thinks that it would be able to create a divide amid the opposition by trying to harass and intimidate them using the CBI. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 04, 2019 11:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Hyderabad, February 3: Mother of a Hyderabad resident has sought help from External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj to provide assistance to her daughter to return to India. The mother said her daughter, who was lured into a lucrative job offer in Oman, is being tortured and is currently stranded in the Gulf nation. According to a report by ANI, the woman said that an agent had approached her daughter and had offered a job in Oman for Rs 25000 per month. Sushma Swaraj to the Rescue, Again! EAM Helps Indian Man Who Lost His Passport in the US at the Wrong Time. Rasheeda Begum, the mother of the stranded woman, said, "An agent named Shaheeda, approached my daughter and offered a good job in Oman and said she will be paid a salary of Rs. 25,000 per month. Believing the agent, my daughter left for Oman on December 9, the mother added. Rasheeda further informed that after her daughter landed in Oman, she was kept in an office and the Oman agent is continuously shifting my daughter from one place to another place. Hyderabad: Muslim Woman Urges EAM Sushma Swaraj to Rescue Her Two Sisters Trafficked to Oman. Describing her ordeal, the mother informed that when she got to know about her daughter's condition, she approached Shaheeda, the agent who sent her daughter to Oman. Rasheeda said the agent asked for Rs 2 lakh to bring her daughter back to India. She (daughter) lives in horrible conditions in Oman. They make her work very hard. I request Sushma Swaraj to rescue my daughter and bring her back to India," Rasheeda added. The mother also claimed that her daughter has not been paid her dues ever since she worked there. Rasheeda further informed that the agent also locked her daughter in a room at times, adding that she has not been provided adequate food either. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 03, 2019 03:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Mexico City, Feb 4 (AFP) The death toll from a fiery pipeline explosion in central Mexico last month reached 125, the government has announced. Another 22 people remain in hospital, many of them with burns covering at least 80 percent of their bodies, the social security office IMSS reported on Sunday. On January 18, the fuel-line in Hidalgo state was deliberately punctured, drawing hundreds of people looking to gather gasoline before it ignited. The disaster occurred as the government wages a huge effort to clamp down on fuel theft, which costs Mexico an estimated three billion dollars in 2017. So-called "huachicol" - as the stolen fuel is known in Mexico - costs about half of market price. Mexico is regularly rocked by deadly explosions at illegal pipeline taps, a dangerous but lucrative business whose players include powerful drug cartels and corrupt Pemex insiders. (AFP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Milan, February 4 - An 81-year-old man was arrested with a 38-year-old accomplice for pushing drugs in Milan on Friday, police said Monday. Police seized weapons and 10 kg of drugs. Rome, February 4 - President Sergio Mattarella said Monday that Italy must show responsibility and clarity and find a common stance with its allies and European partners on Venezuela. "There can be no uncertainty or hesitation in the choice between the will of the people and the request for authentic democracy, on one hand, and the violence of force, on the other," the head of State said. Unlike the United States and other big EU states, the Italian government has not so far recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president. League party sources said Monday that they consider Nicolas Maduro to be one of the last leftwing dictators around and described him as someone who governs with force and is starving his people. The party of Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is hoping for free elections as soon as possible, the sources said. However, Alessandro Di Battista, a senior member of the 5-Star Movement (M5S), the other party in the ruling coalition, said that Italy should adopt a neutral stance on Venezuela. "The courage to maintain a neutral position is needed at the moment," Di Battista said via Facebook. "Italy is not used to doing this. "(In the past) we have always fallen into line with the 'exporters of democracy' in a cowardly way. Europe should stop obeying the orders of the United States once and for all. The world moves on. I propose courage and long-sightedness". Maduro, meanwhile, has said he has written to Pope Francis asking for an intervention for dialogue in Venezuela amid a challenge from self-proclaimed interim president Guaido. "I have sent a letter to Pope Francis," Maduro said in an exclusive interview with Sky TG24. "I hope it is on its way or has arrived in Rome, in the Vatican. It says that I'm at the service of the cause of Christ. "And in this spirit, I asked for help in the process of facilitating and reinforcing dialogue. "I ask the pope to give his best effort, his will to help us on the path of dialogue. "Let's hope we have a positive response". Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Maduro's letter "relaunches dialogue" in Venezuela. Parolin declined to comment further on the letter. Italy on Monday again blocked a joint EU statement on the Venezuela crisis, diplomatic sources said. At 10:00 Rome asked for time until 13:00, when i said it could not give its OK to the document, the sources said. The statement that was not approved read: "The EU reaffirms its support for the National Assembly and its President and, in line with their internal procedures and national prerogatives, individual EU States will recognise Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela to take the country towards democratic presidential elections". Rome, February 4 - Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio on Monday presented the first of three million cards for getting the government's new basic income and said "the State has become a friend of citizens once again" after the "pro-austerity blows". Premier Giuseppe Conte expressed pride on Monday as the government presented the website and card design for its 'citizenship wage' basic income programme. "We are all proud, the whole government is, but the important thing is that the Italian people are proud," Conte said. "It is a highly complex measure of social fairness that is the result of a team effort. We worked hard to produce this measure. "While we studied a great deal to create this reform, others will now study our reform". The card is yellow and looks similar to a post office cash card but doesn't have a name printed on it. Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio said the basic income will "allow the economy to grow because the money will be spent at merchants and businesses throughout the country". It is aimed at the poorest families and job seekers, who will be offered three jobs before losing the right to the 'citizenship wage'. The deadline to apply is March 6. Abud Dhabi, February 4 - Pope Francis said on his historic visit to Abu Dhabi Monday "in the eighth centenary of the meeting between St Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil, I took the opportunity to come her as a believer thirsty for peace, as a brother who seeks peace with his brothers". He said "wanting peace, promoting peace, being instruments of peace: we are here for this". Francis called on faiths to "enter together, as a single family, an ark that may tread the stormy seas of the world: 'the ark of fraternity'". The pope added that that it was a "serious profanation of the name of God to use it to justify hatred and violence against one's brothers". He said there was no violence that could be religiously justified. Rome, February 4 - The European Commission on Monday expressed concern about the amount of hate speech transmitted online in Italy. European Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova stressed, however, that hate speech against migrants "is not just widespread in Italy, but in other member States too". "We are following this with great concern and we are working actively to combat it," Jourova added as she presented the fourth evaluation of the EU Code of Conduct countering illegal hate speech online. Rome, February 4 - Nicolas Maduro has said he has written to Pope Francis asking for an intervention for dialogue in Venezuela amid a challenge from self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido. "I have sent a letter to Pope Francis," Maduro said in an exclusive interview with Sky TG24. "I hope it is on its way or has arrived in Rome, in the Vatican. It says that I'm at the service of the cause of Christ. "And in this spirit, I asked for help in the process of facilitating and reinforcing dialogue. "I ask the pope to give his best effort, his will to help us on the path of dialogue. "Let's hope we have a positive response". Rome, February 4 - President Sergio Mattarella said Monday that Italy must show responsibility and clarity and find a common stance with its allies and European partners on Venezuela. "There can be no uncertainty or hesitation in the choice between the will of the people and the request for authentic democracy, on one hand, and the violence of force, on the other," the head of State said. Unlike the United States and other big EU states, the Italian government has not so far recognised Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president. Rome, February 4 - The Italian government on Monday unveiled the website and card design for its 'citizenship wage' basic income programme. The card is yellow and looks similar to a post office cash card but doesn't have a name printed on it. Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio said the basic income will "allow the economy to grow because the money will be spent at merchants and businesses throughout the country". It is aimed at the poorest families and job seekers, who will be offered three jobs before losing the right to the 'citizenship wage'. The deadline to apply is March 6. Legend has it that William Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, was turned away when he showed up with his goat to a 1945 World Series game at Wrigley Field, prompting him to put a curse on the team. Now that things have loosened up with regard to the pandemic, are there precautions you are still practicing? Which have you relaxed? Merging the two systems will take months and should be completed by the fall, according to the intergovernmental agreement. The $3.3 million is what Mundelein will earn over the five-year deal, documents show. Its a tribute to the success of the volunteers of the Morton Grove Foundation and the Taste of Morton Grove Committee, Liston said. Since weve been keeping record, we have given away over $800,000 to local charities and civic organizations. We are all volunteers. We have very little overhead. Everything we raise, we put right back into the community. Were all very proud of that. Derek Roberts of Skokie escorted his daughters, Isis Roberts, 4, and Phoebe Roberts, a kindergartner. As they waited for their turn in the photo booth, he said he was, just hanging out with two beautiful little girls and enjoying life. UPDATE - Feb 4, 2019 - The FBI says they are no closer to identifying the human remains found on the Blackfeet Reservation in December 2018. When we asked the FBI point-blank, 'Is this Ashley?', the answer we received in December, January and today is, "It's still too early to tell and more tests are being run at the crime lab in Quantico, Virginia." Heavyrunner has been listed as 'Missing' since June 2017. There have been reported sightings since then but nothing has been confirmed. Ashley's sister, Kimberly, testified in front of Congress at the request of Senator Jon Tester, to further explain the epidemic surrounding Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). Since then, several bills have been drafted at both the state and federal level in hopes of bringing more funding and assistance to the MMIW movement. BROWNING - The FBI says it is investigating human remains discovered on the Blackfeet Reservation. An evidence response team is examining the remains where they were found. The FBI was alerted of the remains on Thursday, Dec. 13. On Monday, Dec. 17, the FBI issued an update to say that the remains have been sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, where experts will analyze them. From Sandra Barker, FBI: "On December 13th, 2018, the FBI was made aware of what appears to be human remains on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The FBI Salt Lake City Division's Evidence Response Team is working to recover the remains and process the location where they were found. We are working the case jointly with Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Glacier County Sheriffs Office. Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, no other information will be released at this time." The FBI declined to say whether the remains could be tied to the case of Ashley Loring Heavyrunner, a woman who went missing on the reservation more than a year ago. Ashley's case came to national prominence as part of the movement to spread awareness about missing and murdered indigenous women. She was last seen in June 2017. Just on Wednesday, her family testified before Congress about the need to amp up law enforcement priority for these cases. Ivy MacDonald, an advocate with the nonprofit Missing Flowers, says in 2018 alone, 30 women have gone missing, and she says the number could be upward of 50. "I think this crisis has been in the dark for way too long. I think it's time for people to just listen," MacDonald told a reporter earlier this week. A Missouri family is back together after an emotional reunion. The father left to serve his country in Afghanistan last year. Now he's back home -- and he couldn't wait to see his two daughters -- so he showed up at their schools. Sergeant Jerome Harvey left for Afghanistan on April 12th of last year. Sgt. Harvey said, "I got back on the 21st of January." He hasn't seen his daughters in over nine months. They have no idea he's home. "I sent them with my parents, so I just figured coming home surprising them would be awesome." To help with the surprise, Laquey Middle School allowed our news crew inside his 13-year-old daughter's classroom by saying we were working on a story about how hard it is on children with parents deployed in the army. Jasmine Harvey/Daughter said, "Sometimes I cry whenever he's on the phone, and especially when he says he has to deploy." That's when Jasmine's dad walked in. The surprises didn't end there. It was off to the elementary school to surprise Jasmine's 10-year-old sister Trinity. Harvey says his girls have wanted to video chat several times in the last 10 days but he kept telling them the internet wasn't strong enough for the call. In reality, he was just trying to not blow his cover. Jasmine said, "He lied to me but I'm not mad. Every time, he had always just go see him at the place where the plane flies in. But this time he did something elaborate." Trinity said, "I told him to do it. But I didn't know he was actually going to commit to it." Jasmine added, "And you even shaved." Trinity said, "He said that he couldn't because he wouldn't be here, and we'd probably be out of school." Overall, it was a surprise good enough to get out of school a little bit early. The first thing Harvey's daughters said they wanted to do with their father now that he is home is to get Chinese food. Students returned to class Feb. 4, 2019 at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire after being off days in the week prior due to snow and bitter cold weather. School officials said for two of the days students used e-learning, which counts as attending school under state law. (Mark Kodiak Ukena / Pioneer Press) Being proud of being an American Serving in the military or as a first responder Being an honorable citizen Freedom to speak your mind Vote View Results This has been a concern by a lot of school children and other pedestrians who have talked to me about this bridge, which is extremely narrow, OHara said. And when you are going on a bicycle, it becomes a little nerve wracking and it really can not have two going at once. Officers also reported seeing blood at the home and in the street. As officers continued to investigate, they were informed by an area hospital that two subjects walked in with severe stab wounds, Florip said. Stephen Biegun, the U.S. envoy for North Korea, arrives at Incheon International Airport, Saturday, to hold talks with his North Korean counterpart to prepare for a second summit between Washington and Pyongyang slated for late this month. Yonhap The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States held talks Sunday ahead of working-level negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang over a second summit between their leaders slated for late this month, Seoul's foreign ministry said. Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula and security affairs, met his U.S. counterpart, Stephen Biegun, hours after the latter arrived here for the meeting with his new dialogue partner, Kim Hyok-chol, apparently later this week. The ministry said that the two discussed the upcoming negotiations with Pyongyang aimed at fine-tuning details, including the agenda, for the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Biegun and Kim Hyok-chol are expected to meet on Tuesday at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom or in the North's capital of Pyongyang. On Monday, the U.S. envoy plans to visit the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae for a meeting with Chung Eui-yong, the national security advisor. Trump said that a date and venue for his summit with Kim will be announced this week. The summit will be held in late February, with Vietnam cited as the most likely venue. This week, Washington and Pyongyang are expected to discuss details of the denuclearization steps that the North should take and corresponding measures from the United States. The ministry indicated that Lee and Biegun will meet again after the working-level talks with North Korea. They plan to have "constant, additional discussions" going forward, it said. During Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's October trip to Pyongyang, the North's leader promised that the regime would dismantle and destroy all of its plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities in exchange for corresponding U.S. measures, Biegun said during a speech at Stanford University last week. Trump and Kim held their historic first summit in Singapore in June last year and agreed to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees for Pyongyang. But the denuclearization talks had been at an impasse, with the North calling for sanctions relief and corresponding measures by the U.S. for the denuclearization steps that it has taken so far, such as the dismantling of a nuclear test site. Washington, however, has insisted that sanctions and pressure will be maintained until North Korea implements sincere denuclearization measures, including declaring a list of its nuclear weapons. Biegun said last week that the North's full declaration of its nuclear and missile programs will be required for its complete denuclearization. (Yonhap) As part of the departments protocol, the police officer was also taken to an area hospital for a precautionary checkup, according to the statement. Investigators with the Illinois State Police District 1 are handling the case and will turn over the finished investigation to the Lake County States Attorney Office for review. The White House announced today that the President's former physician, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, will serve as assistant to the President and chief medical advisor. ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) Opening statements took place Monday morning in the trial of a man accused of murdering an on-duty St. Louis County officer in 2016. The jury in the case is comprised of six women and six men, 11 of which are white and one is African American. The two alternates are a white woman and white man. Judge unseals KMOV's request for jail phone calls of accused cop killer Wednesday, a judge unsealed documents filed by News 4 in a St. Louis County court, which attempted to seek jail phone call records for a man accused of killing a police officer Prosecutor Opening Statements During opening statements, prosecutors laid out that Trenton Forster was obsessed with getting guns and threatened to kill. They also said the suspect was high all of the time and repeatedly tried to buy guns at stores. According to prosecutors, Forster was angry about police and was looking for a confrontation with officers because he was suicidal. The day before Officer Blake Snyder was fatally shot, Forsters father called police and talked to an officer about his son, during which he called his son troubled and dangerous, according to prosecutors. Officer Becker took the call from Forsters father and was the one who reportedly shot Forster the next day. +2 St. Louis County Officer killed in line of duty The St. Louis County Police Department is investigating after an officer was injured Thursday morning. The day of the shooting, when Officer Becker approached Forster, prosecutors claim the suspect said, I have a gun. [Expletive] shoot me. Defense Opening Statements During their opening statement, Forsters defense team said he suffered from bipolar disorder and heavy drug use, which worked together to make things worse. They argued that when the jury sees the evidence of bipolar disorder they wont be able to find him guilty of first-degree murder. The defense continued, stating that Forster talked a lot about killing others, suicide and police killing him. A month before the crime, he was living in his car or couch surfing because no one wanted him to live with them because he was too much trouble. When Forster turned 18, he won a $10,000 settlement from an accident, which is how he had so much money for drugs. According to the defense, Forster also dealt drugs. Also mentioned in opening statements was that Forster had been hospitalized twice after suicide attempts in 2014 and 2015. +2 Trenton Forster talked about disgust for police on social media The man accused of killing Officer Blake Snyder is 18-year-old is Trenton Forster. On social media, Forster talked about killing people and about his disgust for the police. Witness Testimony Snyders widow, Elizabeth Snyder, was the first witness called to testify. She testified for four minutes and gave an overview of who her late husband was. She also explained how she was notified of his death. Elizabeth Snyder explained that her brother, who is in law enforcement, told her, "Something bad happened to Blake." He took Elizabeth to St. Anthony's Hospital, where she was informed that her husband had died. The second witness was a dispatch supervisor, who was the dispatcher on duty the morning Officer Snyder was shot and killed. The court played the 911 call from the woman complaining that Forster was beating on her door. The scanner call for when Officer Snyder was shot was also played to the courtroom. Elizabeth Snyder could be seen visibly shaken while the tape was played back. The third witness called to the stand was the mother of Forster's friend, who called 911 to report him banging on her door. She said she remembers Forster saying that he would shoot a cop before ever going to jail. She also told the courtroom that she saw Forster shoot Officer Snyder. Her daughter, who was a friend of Forster, also testified Monday afternoon. She spoke about Forster's alleged drug use. A man was found fatally shot in alley in the 4400 block of Michigan on Sunday night Sheriffs officials said in a statement that an inspection of the car revealed it had previously been driven by a woman reported missing from the Milwaukee area, but the identity of the body had not been confirmed as of Monday afternoon. The man connected to raping a 3-year-old girl back in June 1989 was arrested Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. A CODIS hit, matching DNA, identified 46-year-old Timothy Robinson as the offender. Robinson is charged with rape first degree. The Press editorial: We could all do with talking less and listening more. That is a good rule in life generally, but it is especially true in politics and the noisy subset of political thought and activism that occurs online. The most encouraging thing that former National Party leader Don Brash said during an interview with RNZs Guyon Espiner on Monday was that he was going to Waitangi to listen. Espiner was of course talking to Brash about his decision to speak at Te Tii Marae at Waitangi on Tuesday. Brash was invited by Ngapuhi member Reuben Taipari, who explained that Brash will be one of a group of speakers at a forum. You could expect that most of the speakers will have quite different views on Maori and the Treaty of Waitangi to Brash, whose infamous visit to Waitangi in 2004 led to mudslinging when protesters hurled dirt at him. It is of course fiercely ironic that Brash is permitted to relate views that some see as anti-Maori on a marae at Waitangi but was not allowed to speak to students at a New Zealand university, which should be a site for open discussion. Wayne Baker Brooks said he had been watching guitarists in the band for years, observing their fingers and listening to the riffs, so when his father gave him a guitar to see what he could do, Wayne said he was able to play some of the complicated runs right off. * Coordinated move comes after election ultimatum* Opposition head declared himself interim president* Major EU nations join Trump's stance against Maduro* Russia accuses EU of foreign meddling, Italy divided (Updates with Poland, Ireland, Venezuela reaction) By Gabriela Baczynska and Jose Elias Rodriguez BRUSSELS/MADRID, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Eleven European nations joined the United States in recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president on Monday, heightening a global showdown over Nicolas Maduro's socialist rule. The European Union members' coordinated move followed the expiry of an ultimatum for Maduro to call a new election and aligned them with Washington against Russia and China. The sitting Venezuelan leader, accused of running the OPEC nation of 30 million people like a dictatorship and wrecking its economy, has defied European heads of state and called them sycophants for following President Donald Trump. Guaido, who leads the National Assembly, declared himself caretaker leader last month in a move that has fed into a global geopolitical divide and brought Venezuelans onto the streets. Trump quickly recognised him, but Europe had been hesitant. "From today, we will spare no effort in helping all Venezuelans achieve freedom, prosperity and harmony," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, recognising Guaido. Another 10 EU nations followed suit: Austria, Britain, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden. In response, Caracas said it would revise its relations with Europe, while Maduro singled out "cowardly" Spain. "If one day there is a coup, if one day there is a gringo military intervention, your hands will be stained with blood, Mr. Pedro Sanchez," he said in a speech. Maduro, 56, a former union leader, bus driver and foreign minister, replaced former president Hugo Chavez in 2013 after his death from cancer. But he has presided over an economic collapse and exodus of 3 million Venezuelans. He accuses Washington of waging "economic war" on Venezuela and harbouring coup pretensions aimed at gaining control over its oil. Venezuela's oil reserves are the largest in the world but production has plunged under Maduro. "ILLEGITIMATE, KLEPTOCRATIC MADURO" Critics say incompetent policies and corruption have impoverished the once-wealthy nation while dissent has been brutally crushed. "The oppression of the illegitimate, kleptocratic Maduro regime must end," said British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Moscow and Beijing, which have poured billions of dollars of investment and loans into Venezuela, are supporting Maduro and warning of the dangers of foreign intervention. "Imposing some kind of decisions or trying to legitimise an attempt to usurp power is both direct and indirect interference," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Maduro won re-election last year, but critics say the vote was a sham. Two opposition rivals with a good chance of winning were barred, while food handouts to hungry Venezuelans were linked with political support. Italy, whose coalition government is divided over Venezuela, dissented from other major European powers and blocked a joint statement, saying that individual nations had the prerogative to recognise Guaido. Italy's 5-Star Movement says it cannot recognise self-appointed leaders. Ireland shared that reluctance and declined to recognise Guaido specifically, though it did back the EU stance of calling for a fair election. In addition to European pressure, a bloc of Latin American nations plus Canada were to meet on Monday seeking to maintain pressure on Maduro. "All these shameless people are clinging to power," said Luis, a 45-year-old Venezuelan outside the consulate in Madrid. "Let them hold elections so they see they won't get even 10 percent of the votes." Italy's SkyTG24 channel quoted Maduro as appealing to the Pope to help dialogue ahead of what he hoped would be a "peace conference" led by Mexico and others on Feb. 7. Conscious of the collapse of a past Vatican mediation bid, foes say Maduro uses dialogue to play for time and regroup when on the back foot. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Marine Pennetier in Paris; Guy Faulconbridge and Mike Holden in London; Jose Elias Rodriguez in Madrid; Andrew Osborn and Thomas Balmforth in Moscow; Andrei Khalip in Lisbon; Steve Scherer in Rome; Alissa de Carbonnel and Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Sarah Marsh in Caracas Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Raissa Kasolowsky) (Adds analyst comment, updates prices) Feb 4 (Reuters) - London's blue-chip stocks climbed to their highest in more than two months on Monday as gains in oil shares and consumer staples offset deep losses in miners, while airline Ryanair slumped after a disappointing quarterly report. The FTSE 100 index was up 0.3 percent at its highest since Dec. 4 at 1014 GMT, extending a five-day winning streak, after the U.S. Fed's cautious stance last week and consensus-busting U.S. jobs data boosted confidence. While FTSE 100 exporter stocks were aided by a weaker pound, the more domestically focussed mid-cap index handed back the day's gains as sterling lost ground, and was roughly flat. The FTSE 100 saw just around a tenth of its average volumes in the first two hours after the bell, as trading was muted with Chinese markets closed for the Lunar New Year. Elsewhere, Asian shares hovered near four-month highs after a mixed performance on Wall Street at the close of last week. Oil majors Shell and BP provided the most support for the main bourse with crude prices hitting their highest so far this year on OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions against Venezuela's petroleum industry. Cyclicals, such as miners and banks, led the falls while consumer staples and healthcare stocks such as Unilever and GlaxoSmithKline - which are considered safe havens in times of economic and geopolitical stress - were in favour. A 1.1 percent decline put miners on course for their worst one-day fall in more than ten days as copper prices fell on concerns about slowing factory activity in China, which is the world's biggest industrial metals consumer. London-listed shares in Ryanair slumped 4.5 percent after Europe's biggest budget airline blamed falling fares for its quarterly loss and warned that overcapacity was likely to continue to pressure prices. The report dragged rival easyJet down 1 percent. Flybe jumped 10 percent after it agreed to demands from its largest shareholder to call a general meeting to consider replacing Chairman Simon Laffin following the cut-price sale of the British regional airline. On the midcaps, iron ore pellet producer Ferrexpo slumped 9.4 percent after it said its auditors received bank statements from a charity, which was set up mainly to coordinate its corporate social responsibility programme, that contained "as yet unexplained discrepancies". Ferrexpo was the worst mid-cap faller and the losses placed it on track for steepest one-day declines in six months. In single stock moves, supermarket chain Morrisons advanced nearly 2 percent to be among top FTSE 100 gainers after Citigroup raised the rating to "neutral". A survey by accountants Deloitte found that major British businesses' appetite to take on financial risk has fallen to its lowest level in nearly a decade due to fears of "the hardest of Brexits" and rising U.S. protectionism. Worries about Brexit were exacerbated by Nissan's announcement over the weekend that it had scrapped plans to build its new X-Trail SUV in Britain, and its warning that uncertainty over Britain's departure was making it harder to plan for the future. "The Nissan cancellation was a blow and reflects the underlying reality that Brexit uncertainty inexorably impacts medium/longer-term business confidence and hence related investments," said Raymond James analyst Chris Bailey. (Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru Editing by Andrew Heavens) KINSHASA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congos outgoing government on Monday defended decrees granting former ministers lifetime salaries and other benefits following strong criticism in a country where most of the population lives in poverty. Prime Minster Bruno Tshibala, who is due to submit his governments resignation to new President Felix Tshisekedi in the coming days, signed the decrees last November, but they were only widely reported in the media last week. One provides for former prime ministers, starting with Tshibala, to receive a monthly salary equivalent to 30 percent of the current prime ministers, a monthly housing stipend of $5,000 and health care overseas. The other decree calls for former ministers to receive monthly salaries equal to 30 percent of the current ministers, a $1,000 monthly housing stipend and one international flight per year in business class. A typical ministers monthly salary is nearly $4,000. Reports of the decrees provisions drew outcry from across the political spectrum, with one human rights activist, George Kapiamba, labelling it an attempt to perpetuate a system of the pillage of public funds. Patrick Nkanga, an adviser to President Joseph Kabila who stepped down last month to make way for Tshisekedi, also criticized the measure. Granting so many lifetime privileges to an entire former government is not consistent with our socio-economic context, Nkanga wrote on Twitter. It is excessive and needlessly costly for the public treasury. Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Tshibangu Kalala, an adviser to Tshibala, said the decree was consistent with other laws granting benefits to retired officials, including former presidents and judges. The modest material advantages recognized for former high state officials...are not intended to enrich these officials but to grant them a vital minimum (salary) so they dont fall ... into indigence and precariousness, Kalala said. Congo is Africas leading copper producer and the worlds top miner of cobalt, which is essential to electric car batteries, but it remains one of the worlds least developed countries due largely to poor governance and corruption. Kabilas anti-corruption czar estimated in 2015 that Congo loses up to $15 billion a year due to fraud. The annual state budget is about $5 billion. Tshisekedi has promised to crack down on corruption, but critics question whether he will have the authority to tackle the well-entrenched networks that perpetuate it. BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has cast doubt over the governments already watered-down pledge to NATO allies of spending 1.5 percent of economic output on defense by 2024, a Finance Ministry document obtained by Reuters showed on Monday. Germany is under pressure from the United States and other NATO members to increase its military spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product, in line with a target agreed by NATO members in 2014 and reaffirmed in subsequent years. Military spending remains a source of great tension within Germanys ruling coalition, with Chancellor Angela Merkels conservatives pushing for quicker increases in defense budgets but Scholzs Social Democrats riding the brakes. The governments tax revenues are likely to rise less than expected in coming years due to a slowing economy which means that options for additional spending are exhausted, the 22-page ministry document said. The document, prepared for Scholz to present to cabinet members, said the finance ministry had earmarked 7.3 billion euros ($8.34 billion) for additional defense and development aid spending until 2022. However, it would require much higher spending to get close to the already reduced defense goal of 1.5 percent of GDP by 2024 as Chancellor Angela Merkel promised NATO allies last year, according to a separate graphic in the document. Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, a conservative, said during a visit to Latvia that negotiations about the 2020 budget had just begun, but stressed that the coalition partners had agreed to boost military spending to 1.5 percent of GDP. She said the issue would be discussed during talks on the budget, which is due to be finalised in late March. We have time until the end of March. Let us negotiate, von der Leyen told reporters in Riga. Military spending is expected to rise to 1.3 percent of GDP this year from just over 1.2 percent in 2018. Even stabilizing spending at the current level would require the government to shift money out of other programs which could prove politically tricky. BEIRUT, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Iran will build an oil refinery in Syria, the head of downstream technologies at Iran's Research Institute of the Petroleum Industry was quoted by Fars news agency as saying on Tuesday. The refinery, to be built near the city of Homs, will have a production capacity of 140,000 barrels per day, Akbar Zamanian reportedly said. The refinery project is one of a series of business deals the Islamic Republic has announced that point to a deepening economic role after years of fighting in the Syrian conflict. Syrian light and heavy crude will be processed at the plant. "This refinery will be built as a consortium with the participation of Iran, Venezuela and Syria," Zamanian said, according to Fars. The plant will be constructed after the conflict in Syria ends, Zamanian was quoted as saying. Iran will also rebuild two existing refineries. In mid-September, Iran signed deals with Damascus to repair Syria's power grid. A memorandum of understanding was inked which included building a power plant in the coastal province of Latakia with a capacity of 540 megawatts, Syrian state news agency SANA said. The agreement also involves restoring the main control centre for Syria's electricity grid in Damascus, it said. The electricity deals could be worth millions of euros, Iranian state media reported at the time. Iran will also rehabilitate a 90-megawatt power station in Deir al-Zor province, where the Syrian army and allied forces have made recent advances against Islamic State, as part of the agreement. Two contracts were also signed, including for Iran to supply power to Aleppo city, which the Syrian military and its allies fully regained last year in a major blow to rebels, SANA said. In January, Iran's government and entities close to the country's elite Revolutionary Guards signed major telecommunications and mining deals with Damascus. (Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Dale Hudson) Senior Producers, Larger-Cap Near-Term Production Aluminum Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 1-Feb-19 (MM) (US$MM) 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2018E % Alcoa Inc AA 2.0 US$28.60 186 $5,334 3.01 3.58 1.91 8.0 15.0 6.55 2.38 6.02 12.0 4.8 7.2 0.0% Alumina Ltd AWC 1.9 US$1.80 2880 $5,177 0.13 0.24 0.18 7.5 10.0 0.09 0.22 0.18 8.2 10.2 6.9 8.7% Aluminum Corp China Ltd (ADR) ACH 2.5 CNY$2.53 14904 $7,408 0.09 0.12 0.15 21.6 17.1 0.88 0.81 1.00 3.1 2.5 12.6 0.0% Century Aluminum CENX 2.7 US$9.00 88 $789 0.36 (0.22) 0.05 -- NM 0.59 (0.43) 0.94 -- 9.6 33.3 0.0% United Company Rusal Ltd (HK) 486 1.3 US$0.42 15193 $6,351 0.07 0.12 0.13 3.4 3.2 0.11 0.11 0.13 3.8 3.2 9.2 0.0% Average 10.1 11.3 6.8 6.1 13.9 Iron Ore Cliffs Natural Resources CLF 2.3 US$10.53 298 $3,138 0.43 2.06 1.64 5.1 6.4 1.15 1.82 2.28 5.8 4.6 12.7 0.0% Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (AU) FMG 2.5 US$4.15 3079 $12,789 0.51 0.37 0.39 11.1 10.7 0.94 0.63 0.73 6.6 5.7 4.0 5.4% Kumba Iron Ore Ltd (SA) KIO 4.0 ZAR$340.60 322 $8,281 30.26 28.29 27.59 12.0 12.3 52.91 44.60 46.71 7.6 7.3 5.9 10.0% Labrador Iron Ore Royalty (CN) LIF 2.5 C$30.11 64 $1,471 2.46 2.09 2.95 14.4 10.2 2.61 2.46 2.91 12.2 10.3 20.8 3.6% Mount Gibson Iron Limited (AU) MGX 2.5 AUD$0.65 1128 $528 0.03 0.03 0.03 21.7 19.1 0.05 0.06 0.02 10.5 27.4 12.8 6.9% Average 12.9 11.8 8.5 11.1 11.3 Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets. The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items. Thomson Consensus Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters. Base Metals & Diversified Large Cap Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 1-Feb-19 (MM) (US$MM) 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2018E % Anglo American PLC (UK) AAL 2.4 US$25.97 1405 $36,489 2.53 2.44 2.47 10.6 10.5 6.48 4.66 5.20 5.6 5.0 7.5 4.6% Antofagasta PLC (UK) ANTO 2.4 US$11.56 986 $11,394 0.76 0.55 0.69 21.0 16.7 2.12 1.66 2.00 6.9 5.8 9.4 3.6% BHP Billiton Ltd BHP 2.7 US$25.37 5058 $122,279 1.53 1.78 1.73 14.3 14.7 3.30 3.31 3.17 7.7 8.0 8.5 4.9% China Molybdenum Co Ltd (HK) 3993 2.5 CNY$2.75 21599 $11,822 0.14 0.24 0.23 11.3 11.9 0.36 0.42 0.39 6.5 7.0 39.0 0.0% Freeport McMoran C&G FCX 2.7 US$11.51 1449 $16,678 1.17 1.52 0.51 7.6 22.6 3.22 2.65 1.71 4.3 6.7 6.7 -- Glencore International PLC (UK) GLEN 2.0 US$4.01 13952 $55,891 0.39 0.45 0.42 8.9 9.6 0.82 0.79 0.85 5.1 4.7 8.5 2.1% Grupo Mexico (MX) GMEXICOB 2.7 US$2.39 7785 $18,568 0.20 0.21 0.25 11.5 9.6 0.43 0.31 0.35 7.8 6.8 7.7 4.2% Hindustan Zinc (IN) HZ 2.8 INR$254.70 4225 $15,168 20.96 20.51 21.85 12.4 11.7 21.92 24.17 26.67 10.5 9.6 7.9 2.2% MMC Norilsk Nickel (RU) GMKN 2.0 RU$5,429.84 158 $32,778 -- 899.94 1210.92 6.0 4.5 -- 689.72 1388.13 7.9 3.9 11.4 12.1% Rio Tinto PLC (UK) RIO 2.5 US$55.34 1642 $93,668 4.83 5.03 4.70 11.0 11.8 7.77 7.23 7.48 7.7 7.4 8.5 5.5% Sesa Sterlite Ltd (ADR) SSLT 2.4 INR$162.15 3702 $8,461 18.89 19.91 26.26 8.1 6.2 52.24 47.87 55.71 3.4 2.9 5.0 8.4% South32 Ltd (AU) S32 2.5 US$2.50 5051 $12,633 0.23 0.25 0.24 10.0 10.4 0.37 0.36 0.39 6.9 6.3 6.0 3.9% Southern Copper Corp SCCO 3.4 US$33.47 773 $25,874 0.94 2.10 2.27 16.0 14.8 2.62 3.02 3.02 11.1 11.1 13.9 2.9% Sumitomo Metal Mining (JP) 5713 2.4 JPY$3,126 291 $8,304 232.51 318.11 296.43 9.8 10.5 400.09 524.02 462.68 6.0 6.8 10.2 2.9% Teck Resources Ltd TCK 1.8 C$30.76 571 $13,402 4.45 4.31 3.79 7.1 8.1 8.84 7.79 7.47 4.0 4.1 6.3 0.6% Vale SA (ADR) VALE 2.5 US$46.00 5284 $67,073 4.39 4.90 6.46 9.4 7.1 7.79 8.93 8.42 5.2 5.5 9.1 3.4% Average 10.9 11.3 6.7 6.3 10.3 Mid Cap Assore Ltd (SA) ASR 3.3 ZAR$346.79 140 $3,655 50.01 51.65 48.39 6.7 7.2 14.92 23.15 18.97 15.0 18.3 13.8 7.5% Aurubis AG (GR) NDA 2.4 EUR$48.24 45 $2,484 5.38 5.64 5.02 8.6 9.6 9.13 5.15 7.24 9.4 6.7 5.8 2.6% Boliden AB (SW) BOL 2.3 SEK$228.20 274 $6,899 25.06 24.72 21.14 9.2 10.8 46.57 39.73 39.18 5.7 5.8 6.6 3.3% Eramet (FR) ERA 2.4 EUR$61.30 27 $1,868 7.03 9.96 8.65 6.2 7.1 23.79 16.01 21.19 3.8 2.9 5.9 2.0% Exxaro Resources Ltd (SA) EXX 1.7 ZAR$156.50 359 $4,238 4.50 26.92 27.44 5.8 5.7 9.80 16.19 23.26 9.7 6.7 10.0 7.4% First Quantum Minerals (CN) FM 1.8 US$11.31 689 $7,800 (0.16) 0.66 0.91 17.2 12.4 1.62 2.55 2.41 4.4 4.7 15.7 0.1% Iluka Resources Ltd (AU) ILU 1.9 AUD$8.68 422 $2,658 0.23 0.72 1.02 12.0 8.5 0.99 1.31 1.33 6.6 6.5 -- 3.1% Jiangxi Copper Co "H" (HK) 358 2.5 CNY$8.73 3463 $5,933 0.48 0.74 0.79 11.9 11.0 0.72 1.54 1.33 5.7 6.6 11.5 2.4% Kazakhmys PLC (UK) KAZ 2.5 US$8.10 471 $3,811 1.07 1.13 1.04 7.2 7.8 1.68 1.61 1.56 5.0 5.2 25.0 0.5% KGHM Polska Miedz (PO) KGH 3.4 PLN$95.90 200 $5,153 7.84 8.94 12.44 10.7 7.7 15.27 16.67 23.91 5.8 4.0 5.7 0.0% Lundin Mining Corp (CN) LUN 1.9 US$4.54 734 $3,326 0.56 0.27 0.29 16.5 15.5 1.14 0.70 0.80 6.5 5.7 4.7 0.0% MMG Ltd (HK) 1208 2.8 US$0.39 8052 $3,109 0.02 0.01 0.02 31.4 16.2 0.29 0.18 0.19 2.2 2.1 13.1 0.0% Turquoise Hill Resources TRQ 3.0 US$1.67 2012 $3,380 0.09 0.13 0.07 13.2 25.1 0.06 0.13 0.11 13.0 15.6 13.3 0.0% Vale Indonesia Tbk PT (ID) INCO 1.8 US$0.27 9936 $2,689 (0.00) 0.01 0.01 45.2 25.2 0.02 0.02 0.02 12.9 13.2 17.8 0.0% Vedanta Resources PLC (UK) VED -- US$10.85 285 $3,089 0.43 0.87 1.24 12.5 8.7 5.26 9.96 12.60 1.1 0.9 -- 6.6% Average 14.3 11.9 7.1 7.0 11.4 Small Cap Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 1-Feb-19 (MM) (US$MM) 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2018E % Capstone Mining Corp (CN) CS 2.0 US$0.44 400 $177 (0.02) 0.07 0.07 6.6 6.3 0.29 0.28 0.28 1.6 1.6 2.9 0.0% Hudbay Minerals HBM 2.2 US$5.99 261 $1,564 0.61 0.33 0.28 18.4 21.5 2.07 1.67 1.51 3.6 4.0 4.6 0.3% Independence Group NL (AU) IGO 2.4 AUD$4.43 590 $1,896 0.08 0.14 0.23 32.6 18.9 0.34 0.61 0.69 7.3 6.4 17.3 1.0% Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (CN) IVP 2.0 US$2.11 1015 $2,139 (0.14) (0.03) (0.03) -- -- (0.05) (0.03) (0.01) -- -- -- 0.0% Mechel OAO (ADR) MTL 4.0 RU$81.30 555 $743 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 8.3 0.0% Mineral Resources Ltd (AU) MIN 1.8 AUD$15.50 188 $2,112 1.15 0.95 1.06 16.3 14.6 1.89 1.60 1.49 9.7 10.4 7.4 0.0% Mitsui Mining & Smelting (JP) 5706 2.6 JPY$2,555 57 $1,337 72.45 169.78 312.56 15.0 8.2 532.87 674.21 848.83 3.8 3.0 6.1 2.1% Outokumpu (FN) OUT1V 2.6 EUR$3.81 416 $1,817 0.83 0.28 0.39 13.4 9.8 0.75 0.79 1.01 4.8 3.8 9.2 4.9% Oz Minerals (AU) OZL 2.1 AUD$9.80 324 $2,301 0.77 0.73 0.52 13.4 18.7 1.15 1.29 1.32 7.6 7.4 7.3 2.3% Philex Mining Corp (PH) PX 3.0 Php$4.17 4940 $394 0.34 0.27 0.16 15.4 26.1 -- -- -- -- -- 7.3 2.2% Sandfire Resources NL (AU) SFR 2.7 AUD$7.13 160 $825 0.64 0.74 0.94 9.6 7.6 1.46 1.52 1.80 4.7 4.0 4.4 2.9% Sherritt International (CN) S 2.5 C$0.43 397 $130 (1.07) (0.09) (0.07) -- -- (0.03) (0.04) 0.01 -- 34.4 16.5 0.0% Volcan Cia Ninera VOLABC1 2.0 US$0.23 4077 $2,273 (0.12) 0.02 0.03 11.3 9.0 -- -- -- -- -- 10.4 3.6% Western Areas NL (AU) WSA 2.3 AUD$2.41 273 $478 0.06 0.06 0.13 41.1 18.5 0.26 0.31 0.39 7.9 6.2 8.2 0.6% Average 17.6 14.5 5.7 8.1 8.5 Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets. The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items. Thomson Consensus Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters. Gold Large Cap Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 1-Feb-19 (MM) (US$MM) 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2018E % Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd AEM 2.0 US$43.27 235 $10,142 1.02 0.19 0.68 NM 63.5 3.30 2.69 3.35 16.1 12.9 12.8 1.3% Barrick Gold Corp ABX 2.7 US$13.26 1751 $23,171 0.75 0.37 0.46 36.0 28.6 1.77 1.73 1.59 7.7 8.3 7.6 1.1% Franco-Nevada FNV 2.1 US$76.78 186 $14,294 1.08 1.18 1.29 65.2 59.6 2.67 2.60 2.95 29.5 26.0 29.1 1.5% Goldcorp Inc GG 2.4 US$10.49 868 $9,551 0.40 0.04 0.36 NM 29.3 1.55 1.17 1.70 9.0 6.2 9.1 0.8% Newcrest Mining Ltd (AU) NCM 2.7 AUD$17.88 768 $13,733 0.57 0.64 0.78 27.9 23.0 1.88 1.72 1.71 10.4 10.5 11.0 1.1% Newmont Mining NEM 2.4 US$33.84 533 $18,025 1.46 1.15 1.21 29.3 28.0 4.39 3.66 3.92 9.3 8.6 8.5 1.6% Polyus Gold International (UK) PGIL 1.8 RU$5,521.50 134 $11,287 559.00 578.98 640.19 9.5 8.6 584.53 589.63 854.74 9.4 6.5 -- 6.7% Zijin Mining Group (HK) 2899 1.9 CNY$2.55 23031 $9,892 0.16 0.20 0.21 13.0 12.4 0.44 0.42 0.45 6.1 5.7 15.4 0.0% Average 30.2 31.6 12.2 10.6 13.3 Mid Cap Alamos Gold AGI 2.1 US$4.44 391 $1,738 0.13 0.05 0.13 95.1 33.9 0.53 0.54 0.63 8.2 7.1 10.1 0.7% AngloGold Ashanti Ltd AU 2.6 US$14.28 413 $5,920 0.02 0.58 0.89 24.7 16.0 2.40 1.98 2.80 7.2 5.1 5.0 0.7% B2Gold Corp BTG 1.7 US$3.15 990 $3,107 0.05 0.17 0.15 19.1 20.4 0.16 0.46 0.43 6.9 7.4 10.8 0.0% Buenaventura (ADR) BVN 2.4 US$15.70 276 $4,356 0.29 0.43 0.73 36.8 21.5 0.84 1.27 1.34 12.4 11.8 13.4 0.4% Evolution Mining Ltd (AU) EVN 2.9 AUD$3.96 1697 $4,872 0.14 0.14 0.17 28.2 24.0 0.41 0.40 0.41 9.9 9.7 10.3 2.1% Gold Fields Ltd (ADR) GFI 2.5 US$4.00 822 $3,334 0.24 0.09 0.21 46.2 19.0 1.01 0.85 1.10 4.7 3.7 3.9 2.0% Iamgold Corp IAG 1.9 US$3.74 468 $1,749 0.06 0.10 0.06 38.7 63.6 0.63 0.61 0.81 6.1 4.6 4.7 0.0% Kinross Gold Corp KGC 2.6 US$3.37 1250 $4,190 0.14 0.09 0.11 38.3 29.6 0.76 0.68 0.76 4.9 4.4 6.4 0.0% Kirkland Lake Gold (CN) KL 2.0 C$32.26 210 $6,767 0.72 1.27 1.47 25.4 21.9 1.42 2.31 2.44 13.9 13.2 37.1 0.4% Northern Star Resources (AU) NST 3.2 AUD$8.79 639 $4,075 0.33 0.38 0.54 23.2 16.3 0.58 0.65 0.86 13.5 10.2 12.0 1.3% Oceanagold Corp (AU) OGC 2.5 US$3.49 619 $2,196 0.30 0.22 0.18 16.2 19.5 0.57 0.55 0.48 6.3 7.3 8.1 0.8% Polymetal International PLC (UK) POLY 2.7 US$11.26 469 $5,287 0.88 0.88 1.12 12.8 10.1 1.22 1.27 1.59 8.9 7.1 9.1 -- Royal Gold Inc RGLD 2.1 US$86.87 66 $5,691 1.62 1.66 1.85 52.3 47.0 4.56 4.72 4.62 18.4 18.8 21.7 1.3% Sibanye Gold Ltd (SA) SGL 2.4 ZAR$12.10 2266 $2,070 (0.12) 0.28 1.21 42.9 10.0 3.53 2.67 3.98 4.5 3.0 5.1 0.0% Yamana Gold Inc AUY 2.4 US$2.83 949 $2,675 0.08 0.11 0.12 25.2 22.8 0.51 0.55 0.59 5.2 4.8 7.1 1.0% Zhaojin Mining Industry Co Ltd (HK) 1818 2.4 CNY$7.17 3221 $3,423 0.20 0.20 0.25 36.4 28.9 0.34 0.83 0.63 8.7 11.3 18.6 1.2% Average 35.1 25.3 8.7 8.1 11.5 Small Cap Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 1-Feb-19 (MM) (US$MM) 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2018E % Acacia Mining PLC (UK) ACAA 3.0 US$2.52 410 $1,034 0.36 0.14 0.20 17.8 12.4 (0.06) 0.37 0.50 6.8 5.0 2.4 0.0% Alacer Gold Corp (CN) ASR 2.4 US$2.37 294 $698 0.28 0.12 0.27 19.2 8.9 0.37 0.29 0.67 8.3 3.6 30.3 0.0% Argonaut Gold Ltd (CN) AR 1.9 US$1.35 178 $240 0.09 0.09 0.16 14.5 8.3 0.22 0.36 0.44 3.8 3.1 5.7 0.0% Centamin Egypt (CN) CEE 2.4 US$1.55 1155 $1,788 0.13 0.07 0.09 23.1 18.0 0.31 0.11 0.20 13.6 7.6 3.9 9.0% Centerra Gold (CN) CG 2.6 US$5.15 292 $1,505 0.93 0.40 0.45 13.0 11.4 1.71 1.10 1.25 4.7 4.1 4.7 0.0% Detour Gold Corp (CN) DGC 2.2 US$9.77 175 $1,711 0.66 0.36 0.29 26.8 33.7 1.65 1.55 1.40 6.3 7.0 6.9 0.0% Eldorado Gold Corp EGO 3.0 US$3.94 159 $633 0.10 (0.13) (0.07) -- -- 0.45 0.42 0.74 9.4 5.3 5.8 0.0% Endeavour Mining Corp (CN) EDV 1.8 US$16.99 109 $1,855 0.67 0.48 0.97 35.3 17.5 2.24 2.23 2.95 7.6 5.8 10.2 0.0% Guyana Goldfields Inc (CN) GUY 2.8 US$1.26 174 $218 0.15 0.07 0.18 18.5 6.9 0.38 0.27 0.44 4.6 2.9 1.8 0.0% Harmony Gold Mining Ltd HAR 3.3 ZAR$26.93 539 $1,096 2.24 2.59 3.97 10.4 6.8 8.32 8.73 9.62 3.1 2.8 4.4 0.0% Hecla Mining Co HL 2.8 US$2.64 480 $1,268 0.10 (0.07) (0.01) -- -- 0.29 0.25 0.36 10.8 7.4 7.3 0.4% Hochschild Mining PLC (UK) HOC 2.3 US$2.46 511 $1,257 0.08 0.03 0.09 71.6 26.5 0.45 0.40 0.48 6.2 5.1 4.3 1.6% McEwen Ming Inc. MUX 2.0 US$1.79 345 $618 (0.03) (0.11) 0.01 -- NM (0.05) (0.05) 0.07 -- 27.5 -- 0.5% New Gold Inc NGD 3.1 US$1.14 579 $657 0.09 (0.06) (0.04) -- -- 0.61 0.46 0.40 2.5 2.9 4.8 0.0% Pretium Resources PVG 2.0 US$7.80 184 $1,436 0.10 0.53 0.61 14.7 12.9 0.40 1.08 1.28 7.2 6.1 -- 0.0% Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd OR 2.0 C$12.85 156 $1,531 0.18 0.11 0.19 NM 67.5 0.38 0.51 0.61 25.0 21.1 54.2 2.0% Regis Resources Ltd (AU) RRL 3.1 AUD$5.29 508 $1,947 0.31 0.34 0.35 15.7 14.9 0.46 0.48 0.49 10.9 10.8 10.2 3.1% St Barbara Ltd (AU) SBM 2.8 AUD$5.02 524 $1,908 0.36 0.36 0.34 14.0 14.9 0.60 0.55 0.50 9.1 10.1 7.9 2.5% Semafo (CN) SMF 1.9 US$2.24 326 $731 0.00 0.03 0.28 85.6 8.1 0.23 0.34 0.68 6.7 3.3 5.5 0.0% SSR Mining SSRM 2.3 US$13.77 121 $1,664 0.34 0.24 0.25 58.0 54.3 1.21 0.84 1.41 16.3 9.7 7.2 0.0% Torex Gold Resources (CN) TXG 1.8 US$11.01 85 $935 (0.18) 0.43 0.63 25.9 17.6 0.92 2.13 2.55 5.2 4.3 7.2 0.0% Average 29.0 20.0 8.4 7.4 9.7 Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets. The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items. Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters. Silver Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 1-Feb-19 (MM) (US$MM) 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2018E % Americas Silver Corp (CN) USA 1.7 US$1.74 44 $76 (0.09) (0.02) 0.04 -- 43.5 0.04 0.27 0.35 6.5 5.0 0.0 0.0% Coeur Mining Corp CDE 1.9 US$5.06 203 $1,029 0.02 (0.18) 0.04 -- NM 1.08 0.44 0.84 11.6 6.0 6.3 0.0% Endeavour Silver Corp EXK 2.8 US$2.24 130 $290 0.08 (0.06) 0.04 -- 51.8 0.12 0.20 0.20 11.0 11.0 7.8 0.0% First Majestic Silver Corp AG 2.5 US$5.99 194 $1,158 (0.04) (0.21) 0.09 -- 64.8 0.43 0.32 0.53 18.8 11.3 10.9 0.0% Fortuna Silver Mines FSM 2.2 US$3.98 160 $636 0.28 0.21 0.32 18.7 12.6 0.44 0.50 0.67 7.9 6.0 6.1 0.0% Fresnillo (UK) FRES 2.2 US$12.70 737 $9,355 0.65 0.54 0.57 23.6 22.4 1.03 1.06 1.07 12.0 11.9 9.3 2.7% Mag Silver Corp MAG 1.9 US$8.93 86 $763 (0.08) (0.03) (0.05) -- -- (0.05) (0.04) (0.05) -- -- 83.0 0.0% Pan American Silver PAAS 2.6 US$14.76 153 $2,257 0.51 0.44 0.48 33.4 31.0 1.47 1.23 1.71 12.0 8.6 7.4 0.8% Wheaton Precious Metals WPM 1.8 US$21.10 444 $9,363 0.63 0.47 0.52 44.4 40.3 1.22 1.07 1.16 19.7 18.2 17.6 2.1% Silvercorp SVM 2.0 US$2.30 168 $386 0.26 0.20 0.23 11.5 9.9 0.42 0.37 0.41 6.2 5.6 -- 0.9% Average 26.3 34.5 11.8 9.3 16.5 Platinum Group Metals African Rainbow Minerals (SA) ARI 2.0 ZAR$147.32 222 $2,468 20.46 23.52 20.56 6.3 7.2 13.98 21.45 31.81 6.9 4.6 32.7 9.2% Anglo Platinum Ltd (SA) AMS 2.7 ZAR$636.02 270 $12,947 14.76 25.39 31.44 25.1 20.2 49.84 40.01 49.20 15.9 12.9 18.6 2.0% Impala Platinum (SA) IMP 2.5 ZAR$38.75 735 $2,384 (1.54) 0.21 2.56 NM 15.2 2.34 4.87 7.30 8.0 5.3 12.6 0.0% Lonmin PLC (UK) LMI 3.6 US$0.71 283 $201 (2.61) 0.13 0.07 5.7 10.9 0.17 0.29 0.22 2.5 3.3 -- 0.0% Northam Platinum Ltd (SA) NHM 2.2 ZAR$48.50 510 $1,866 (1.91) (1.04) 0.81 -- 59.9 0.91 3.91 9.21 12.4 5.3 40.5 0.0% Average 12.3 22.7 9.1 6.3 26.1 Diamonds & Gems Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 1-Feb-19 (MM) (US$MM) 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2018E % AK Alrosa PAO (RU) ALRS 2.2 RU$1.03 7365 $11,216 0.18 0.22 0.22 4.7 4.7 0.24 0.28 0.27 3.7 3.9 3.9 11.4% Lucara Diamond Corp (CN) LUC 1.7 US$1.23 397 $486 0.16 0.07 0.11 17.3 11.4 0.25 0.15 0.17 8.2 7.2 2.5 4.6% Mountain Province Diamonds (CN) MPVD 2.3 US$1.63 210 $261 0.11 0.13 0.18 12.5 9.1 0.26 0.69 0.58 2.4 2.8 -- 0.0% Petra Diamonds Ltd (UK) PDL 2.1 US$0.42 865 $363 0.02 0.02 0.06 17.5 7.2 0.18 0.12 0.14 3.5 3.0 5.6 0.0% Stornoway Diamond Corp (CN) SWY 2.8 C$0.20 923 $137 0.02 (0.10) (0.04) -- -- 0.08 (0.02) 0.07 -- 2.9 -- 0.0% Average 13.0 8.1 4.4 3.9 4.0 Fertilizers Arab Potash Co (JR) APOT -- JOD$17.50 83 $2,057 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 13.5 6.0% CF Industries CF 2.3 US$43.50 231 $10,039 (0.25) 1.45 2.57 29.9 17.0 6.97 5.75 6.52 7.6 6.7 19.2 2.2% Compass Minerals CMP 2.3 US$52.11 34 $1,764 2.75 2.23 3.47 23.4 15.0 4.34 4.89 8.02 10.7 6.5 11.2 4.3% Incitec Pivot Ltd (AU) IPL 2.4 AUD$3.35 1606 $3,900 0.19 0.22 0.24 15.5 13.7 0.39 0.41 0.45 8.2 7.4 10.3 2.7% Israel Chemical (IS) ICL 2.5 US$5.83 1280 $7,468 0.30 0.52 0.37 11.2 15.8 0.66 0.81 0.69 7.2 8.5 9.3 3.1% K & S Aktiengesellschaft (GR) SDF 2.3 EUR$17.07 191 $3,742 0.96 0.33 1.33 52.1 12.9 1.60 1.88 3.15 9.1 5.4 11.8 1.9% Mosaic Co MOS 2.3 US$32.60 385 $12,566 1.09 1.91 2.43 17.1 13.4 2.67 4.06 4.81 8.0 6.8 14.7 0.3% Sociedad Quimica Minera (ADR) SQM 2.2 US$42.49 263 $11,207 1.63 1.74 2.24 24.4 19.0 2.67 1.83 2.72 23.2 15.6 15.4 5.6% Yara International ASA (NO) YAR 2.7 NOK$40.84 273 $11,168 1.81 1.62 3.12 25.3 13.1 2.87 4.25 5.59 9.6 7.3 8.9 1.6% Average 24.9 15.0 10.4 8.0 12.7 Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets. The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items. Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters. Uranium Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 1-Feb-19 (MM) (US$MM) 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2018E % Cameco Corp CCJ 2.4 C$15.82 396 $4,780 0.15 0.25 0.15 63.9 NM 1.51 1.46 0.91 10.8 17.4 11.4 1.4% Denison Mines DNN 2.0 US$0.66 584 $294 (0.04) (0.04) (0.03) -- -- 0.03 (0.04) (0.02) -- -- -- 0.0% Energy Resources Australia (AU) ERA 4.0 AUD$0.32 518 $118 (0.04) 0.01 0.01 31.5 31.5 0.02 0.07 0.08 4.5 3.9 -- 0.0% Uranium Participation Corp (CN) U 2.2 C$4.70 138 $495 (0.03) 0.62 0.52 7.6 9.1 (0.03) (0.03) -- -- -- -- 0.0% Average 34.3 20.3 7.7 10.7 11.4 Coal Large - Mid Cap Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 1-Feb-19 (MM) (US$MM) 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2017 2018E 2019E 2018E 2019E 2018E % Adaro Energy TBK (ID) ADRO 1.9 US$0.10 31986 $3,148 0.01 0.01 0.01 7.3 8.2 0.03 0.03 0.03 3.7 3.8 5.1 5.8% Banpu Public Co Ltd (TH) BANPU 2.0 THB$0.53 5162 $2,746 0.07 0.08 0.07 6.8 7.3 0.13 0.08 0.10 6.6 5.5 18.2 3.6% China Coal Energy Co (HK) 1898 2.6 CNY$2.87 13259 $8,060 0.26 0.42 0.39 6.9 7.4 1.34 1.09 1.21 2.6 2.4 12.0 2.0% China Shenhua Energy Co (HK) 1088 1.9 CNY$16.88 19890 $57,447 2.40 2.32 2.26 7.3 7.5 4.78 4.11 4.13 4.1 4.1 5.9 6.0% Consol Energy CNX 2.4 US$11.16 198 $2,213 (0.04) 1.36 0.73 8.2 15.4 1.88 4.13 4.31 2.7 2.6 7.8 0.0% Whitehaven Coal Lyd (AU) WHC 2.1 AUD$4.87 1026 $3,622 0.45 0.59 0.57 8.3 8.5 0.72 0.88 0.79 5.5 6.2 0.0 0.0% Yancoal Australia Lyd YAL -- AUD$3.16 1320 $3,025 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0 0.0% Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd (HK) 1171 2.4 CNY$6.39 4912 $5,841 1.50 1.60 1.54 4.0 4.2 2.48 2.96 3.04 2.2 2.1 17.6 5.7% Average 7.0 8.3 3.9 3.8 8.3 Small Cap Cloud Peak Energy CLD 3.3 US$0.38 76 $29 (0.50) (0.57) (0.53) -- -- 0.71 0.27 0.30 1.4 1.3 3.4 0.0% Fushan Int'l Energy Group (HK) 639 2.3 HK$1.78 5302 $1,203 0.20 0.22 0.21 8.1 8.5 0.29 0.14 0.29 12.4 6.1 8.1 8.3% NLC India Ltd (IN) NLCINDIA -- INR$63.90 1387 $1,249 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 5.8 5.4% New Hope Corp Ltd (AU) NHC 2.3 AUD$4.03 831 $2,428 0.22 0.39 0.45 10.3 9.0 0.41 0.57 0.58 7.1 7.0 19.0 4.4% PT Tambang Batubara Bukit (ID) PTBA 2.5 IDR$4,320 11521 $3,563 425.00 472.45 436.51 9.1 9.9 229.16 532.89 469.33 8.1 9.2 15.5 7.4% PT Bumi Resources (ID) BUMI -- US$0.01 65476 $761 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0% Average 7.6 8.6 5.2 4.6 9.4 Limited Partnership Alliance Resource Partners LP ARLP 2.0 US$19.67 130 $2,561 2.80 2.99 2.92 6.6 6.7 5.63 5.31 3.82 3.7 5.1 4.4 11.9% Natural Resource Partners LP NRP 3.0 US$38.49 12 $471 3.43 4.72 4.37 8.2 8.8 6.67 6.95 16.07 5.5 2.4 5.3 5.8% Average 7.4 7.8 4.6 3.8 4.9 Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets. The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items. Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters. Recent and Forecast Commodity Prices Cash Price (1-Feb-19) Aluminum ($0.85 / lb) Cobalt ($15.42 / lb) Copper ($2.77 / lb) Lead ($0.95 / lb) Molybdenum ($11.79 / lb) Nickel ($5.65 / lb) Tin ($9.45 / lb) Zinc ($1.24 / lb) Palladium ($1335 / oz) Platinum ($821 / oz) Silver ($15.87 / oz) Uranium ($28.90 / lb) Who hasnt wanted to tell a scheming, incompetent manager or boss just what we think of them while clearing our desk and walking out of an office that had become toxic, emotional poison? If there were no consequences, giving them a piece of your mind might feel good, But the operative word here has only two letters and is the most powerful in any language, states Lyle Sussman, Ph.D., former Chairman and Professor Emeritus of Management, College of Business and Public Administration at the University of Louisville. That word is if. What if there had never been a Napoleon, a Hitler, a Stalin or Winston Churchill? How different would our world be, today? Especially now, Telling them what I think as I walk out has a greater potential for causing lasting harm than ever before, Sussman cautions. Will I Cross Paths with This Employer in the Future? Before saying anything of a critical nature, he underscores, ask yourself this question: How likely is it that I will cross paths with this employer in the future? If you can guarantee the probability is 100% that you never will, then being relatively candid is OK. So, if you think the person is a real jerk and that you have been treated as a second-class citizen, you can say it. But this is only if you are absolutely sure that you will never cross paths with that person in the future that you will never need them or their organization as a reference or want to work there again. Nothing Gets Deleted Anymore To Sussman, today we are living in a different world a world that doesnt forget, in large part due to social media. Five or six years ago I would have said that candor and honesty is good for the soul and might even help the other party. Now I am much more reluctant to recommend this because there are no secrets. We are living in a world where nothing gets deleted anymore. Sure, hit delete and you dont see it anymore, but it may still be out there, somewhere. We have all said things at some time in our lives which may have been justified and proper then or just plain silly which we have forgotten, but which have the power to come back and haunt us when taken out of context, especially by someone or some group with an agenda. As Google never forgets, a search may bring up old information from 10, 20, 30 years back events that are irrelevant to your life today and your accomplishments. And his conclusion about candor when leaving a job? Unless the person decides that they are going to sell seashells in Margaritaville and never return to society, youve got to be very cautions. Err on the side of disclosing less than more. Be civil and concentrate on moving forward with the assumption that you may need this person in the future again. Shake hands, smile and say, Thank you for the opportunity of working here and learning so much. Just ask Comedian/Actor Kevin Hart about the Power of the Past If you want an extreme case of how old words can come back to haunt you, take the example of comedian and actor Kevin Hart, says Dr. David D. Schein, Associate Professor at the Cameron School of Business of the University of St. Thomas in Houston and author of The Decline of America: 100 Years of Leadership Failures. Ten years ago, as part of Harts standup act, he made what were characterized as anti-gay statements. After he was named host of this years Oscars, videos of his act and anti-gay tweets circulated across the Web. He responded by saying that he is not homophobic and that this was part of his comedy act at that time. Yet, he still ended up declining to be the prestigious Master of Ceremonies. Schein sees, something dangerous happening to our country. We are losing our sense of humor and shoving freedom of speech into the freezer when we punish a comedian for his 10-year-old monologue. Think of Don Rickles, Joan Rivers and other amazing comics who found funny things about all of us. The public laughed with them and made them famous. It is important to grow up as a society and respect who people are today. To penalize someone for something they said 10 years ago as part of a nightclub act is more than unfair. It is dangerous. A tyranny of political correctness is suffocating common sense and free speech in America. While you may never be up for hosting the Oscars, remember that what you say can be held against you for years, and possibly even decades, to come. Keep that in mind the next time youre walking out the door on the last day of work. MASON CITY, Iowa - Its an exciting day for Mason City city leaders as they turned dirt on the site of the proposed multipurpose arena. This afternoon we break ground on the place marking the River City Renaissance Project, Mayor Bill Schickel said with dozens of cheers following. The Mayor and supports of the River City Renaissance Project touted job creation, businesses and progress. On display, renderings of the future of Mason City for people like Buck Lee to see. Been a long time coming, he said. Im glad to see it. Lee has been involved with Mason City Youth Hockey since the beginning. We opened our doors and would take in 1, 2 sometimes three players who would come to play in tournaments, he said. He sees this move as the next step for hockey in Mason City as well as moving the city forward. I think its one of the better things thats happened in the downtown area in a long time, Lee said. But the city isnt without worry. State funding totaling around $10 million hasnt been secured. Around half of that money would go towards the multipurpose arena project. City leaders said they plan to have the agreement with Gatehouse Capital, the developers of the hotel, by early this month. Mayor Schickel is confident they will have it in hand by the February 19th council meeting. I think we have a lot of momentum behind this project, Mayor Schickel explained. But those funds arent keeping hope from those supporting the project. I have an old saying, said Lee. Once my rich uncle gets out of the poorhouse Ill help him. The council will be voting to open up the bidding process for second phase of the arena portion of the project. What will Mason Citys new multipurpose arena look like? And what about the hotel and convention center that is planned? The city released renderings of both projects Monday during the groundbreaking of the new downtown multipurpose arena. Click through the gallery above to see the renderings. We will have more on the projects during our newscasts tonight. MASON CITY, Iowa - More than 2.5 pounds of marijuana and dozens of edibles were found when a search warrant was executed at a Mason City home. The search led to multiple arrests. The North Central Iowa Narcotics Task Force executed the search Jan. 30 at 1023 12th St. NW. The location had been watched for a period of time for people trafficking marijuana, according to Mason City police. The list of charges related to the search are as follows: Shavaughnta Carter, 22, of Mason City - He is facing two counts of failure to affix a drug tax stamp and two felony counts of controlled substance violations. Carter is accused of having more than 1200 grams (more than 2.5 pounds) of marijuana, 90 edibles, a digital scale and various drug packaging. Police said Carter admitted to possessing the marijuana with intent to deliver. Michael Payton, 21, of Mason City - He is facing two counts of failure to affix a drug tax stamp and three felony counts of controlled substance violations. Payton is accused of having more than 1200 grams (more than 2.5 pounds) of marijuana, 90 edibles, five vapor oil cartridges containing THC/cannabis oil, a digital scale and various drug packaging. Police said Carter admitted to possessing the marijuana with intent to deliver. Maranda Baseman, 22, of Mason City - She is facing two counts of failure to affix a drug tax stamp and two felony counts of controlled substance violations. ST. PAUL, Minn. A man sentenced to prison after failing 40 drug tests loses in the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Carl Lee Franklin, 51 of Owatonna, was arrested in August 2013 after Olmsted County law enforcement responding to a domestic violence call said they found heroin and cocaine in Franklins possession. He pleaded guilty to 2nd degree drug possession and was sentenced in March 2015 to a seven years and four months in prison. That sentence was suspended, however, and Franklin instead was given 20 years of supervised probation and allowed to participate in drug court. After five separate violations for drug use and failure to contact his probation officer from October 2017 until March 2018, Franklins probation was finally revoked and he was ordered to serve his prison sentence. Franklin appealed, arguing that his serious health problems justified keeping him on probation. Court records say Franklin is HIV positive and has a colloid brain cyst. The Minnesota Court of Appeals has rejected Franklins argument, noting that his drug use continued despite participating in seven treatment programs and failing dozens of drug tests, and affirmed his prison sentence. Musicologist-discovered bass lines in the music within the Codex Faenza were actually melodies from popular songs from the 15th century, she said. Above that line is a second line, a newly improvised independent line. Its like jazz in a way, she said. You take a jazz standard and you have someone doing a solo improvisation. ROCHESTER, Minn.- Over the weekend, the Rochester Police Department and Olmsted County Sheriffs Office were asking, Paper or plastic? instead of License and registration. They dedicated their weekend to bagging peoples groceries at Hy-Vee and selling coupon books. All of the funds made and donated will go to the Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation which is going to be built right in Rochester. If youd like to donate to the foundation, click here. Sheriff Kevin Torgerson says its a great experience to be having good interactions with people in the public so they can see that our local law enforcement are people too. It's a great interaction, they see us struggling to bag things and making sure that the eggs get on top and the bread is over here so its just the normal life things that we want them to see that hey, we're just normal people." MASON CITY, Iowa A man accused of having sex with an underage girl is now pleading guilty. Chance Ryan Manship, 20 of Forest City and formerly of Albert Lea, entered a guilty plea Monday to 3rd degree sexual abuse. Authorities say he committed a sexual act with a girl in Mason Citys East Park in April 2017, when the girl was 14 and Manship was 19. His sentencing is scheduled for March 18. ALBERT LEA, Minn. An overloaded electrical circuit is being blamed for a Friday garage fire. Albert Lea Fire Rescue says smoke and fire was reported coming from an attached garage in the 2200 block of Gene Avenue around 7:20 pm on February 1. The flames were quickly put out and fire damage was contained to the garage area. No injuries were reported. Damage to the garage and its contents is being estimated at $33,000. FILLMORE COUNTY, Minn. - A homicide investigation is underway as authorities said Monday that 49-year-old Gregory Davis, of rural Chatfield, was killed by multiple gunshot wounds on Jan. 30. Davis was found dead at his home west of Chatfield, located at 32573 Ninebark Rd. No persons have been arrested related to this incident and investigators believe that there is no danger to the public, the Sheriffs Office said Monday. Deputies responded to a 911 call for medical assistance for an unresponsive male at the residence at 7:23 p.m. on Wednesday. Minnesota statutes prohibit additional details about the incident from being released. The investigation by the Fillmore County Sheriffs Office and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is ongoing. BLUE EARTH COUNTY, Minn. One person is dead after a car/pickup collision in southern Minnesota. The Blue Earth County Sheriffs Office says Matthew Steven Ulmen, 44 of Mankato, was driving a car east on County Road 17 while Neil Kermit Grunzke, 62 of Wells, was driving west in a truck. The two crashed about 200 yards east of County Road 12 and Ulmen was pronounced dead at the scene. Grunzke was not injured. The Sheriffs Office says it appears Ulmen crossed the center line into oncoming traffic. Weather and icy road conditions are believed to have been a factor in the collision. Eagle Lake Police, Mankato Police, Eagle Lake Fire, the Minnesota State Patrol, and Gold Cross Ambulance assisted at the scene. The Holy Trinity is hosting the 7th annual spirit tasting event called Spirits of Mardi Gras. This will take place at Little America on March 2 starting at 6pm. Tickets start at $60, this is a fundraiser for the youth of Holy Trinity Catholic Church. With this fundraiser the church is able to give out scholarships and take kids on trips around the world. Tickets are for sale now and can be purchased at the Holy Trinity office or on Holy Trinity's website. For more information check out the interview from the morning show. NORTH BEND, Ore. -- Two are dead after two vehicles collided on Highway 101 near North Bend Monday morning, Oregon State Police said. Police said troopers responded to milepost 231, about three miles south of North Bend, at about 9:40 a.m. At the time of the crash, the road was slushy and it was snowing. Police said Jesse Praus, 36, of North Bend was headed northbound in the fast lane in a 1999 Ford F150 when he lost control and crossed the center line. Praus hit Susan Dixon, 58, of North Bend, who was headed southbound in a 2015 Ford CMAX. Dixon and a 10-year-old passenger from the Ford were pronounced dead at the scene. Praus and a 7-year-old passenger were taken to the Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay with serious injuries. Police said speed is being considered as a contributing factor due to the poor road conditions at the time of the crash. The Hauser Fire Department, North Bay Fire Department, Bay Cities Ambulance, Coos County Sheriffs Office, North Bend Police Department and Coos County District Attorneys Office assisted. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam remained in power Monday but is having a difficult time finding allies. The Democratic chief executive said at an all-staff meeting that he needs more time to decide his path forward after a decades-old racist photo surfaced on his yearbook page, a Virginia Democrat briefed by multiple officials who were in the meeting told CNN. Earlier in the day, Northam oversaw a regularly scheduled Cabinet meeting. At this point, there is no sign of a rallying around the embattled governor, something that will need to happen if he hopes to meet his own personal standard of staying on only if he can continue to effectively govern. Monday morning, protesters gathered outside the governor's mansion in Richmond. The Democratic governor hastily called a meeting of his top administration officials of color on Sunday night to see if anyone with deep ties to him would be willing to stand by him during a firestorm of controversy over a decades-old racist photo. The meeting did not go Northam's way. Not one person during the gathering told the governor that he should stay and fight, a source with knowledge of the conversation said. Despite calls for Northam's resignation from all sides, GOP Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Kirk Cox told reporters Monday morning that there is no will within the General Assembly to forcibly remove Northam from office and that the current situation does not fall within the two constitutional provisions that allow for a governor to be forcibly removed. After initially saying Friday night that he was in the photo that appeared on his page of his 1984 medical school yearbook which shows one person dressed in blackface and another in the KKK's signature white hood and robes, Northam is now insistent that he is not one of the two people pictured. He is hoping to convince those under his charge that he be given the opportunity to explain what happened and that the picture does not reflect the person he is. The governor had hoped a news conference on Saturday afternoon would turn the tide in his favor. He attempted to make the case that he was not the person in the photo, but did admit to appearing in blackface at another time that same year, at a dance competition in San Antonio. The fallout from the news conference was swift and damning. Many of the prominent leaders who had already called for his resignation renewed that call. The few that had held back then called for him to step down, including the state's two US senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, who had been privately encouraging him to resign. This story has been updated. I am writing you today to give you a quick update on what I have been doing since the 2019 legislative session began. This year my committee assignments were reshuffled a little bit. I am now serving on the General Affairs, Urban Affairs, and Government, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committees. I also was elected by the Third District Caucus to serve on the Executive Board of the Legislature. For this 2019 session, I have introduced nine pieces of legislation and co-sponsored several more. The nine bills that I have brought deal with a many different policy areas. LB54 is a repeat bill for me. We just barely ran out of time to have it discussed in 2018, so I wanted to bring it back this year. It clarifies language for transporting firearms. This bill is necessary following a decision by the Nebraska Supreme Court, which some believe created a gray area that needs clarification. My friend seemed to know everyone and began introducing me. "This is Bill Evans," he said, as I shook hands with a sturdy young man. "Bills a farm boy from Iowa. He led his unit onto Omaha Beach. He died there." "And this is Helen McCloskey. She died when hit by a stray bullet while binding up the wounds of a soldier from the other side on the battlefield at Gettysburg. And James Jeffers over there was with the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II, while the woman next to him is Maria Perez she drove a school bus for 40 years without an accident and while raising four children." I was amazed and confused, thinking this was surely a dream. But in due time I even met a few presidents, as well as some scout leaders, Billy Graham, and a former neighbor who volunteered at our local hospital. "How did all these people get here?" I asked. My friend smiled. "They followed their moral compass." As we resumed our walk, I asked my friend about this moral compass business. "Are you telling me that God is the glue that holds us together, that will bind up this deep and bitter divide that so deeply troubles us?" "Not exactly," he replied. "God is only a guide. He will point you in the right direction. But you have to keep in touch with him." The post also said Menjivar is being remembered as a positive, loving and hardworking mom. She did anything and everything to make sure her boys had all they needed and was always there for them, the post said. Her boys were three sweet little boys ages 7, 8 and 10. TOP ARTICLES 1/5 READ MORE Former Husker Rex Burkhead wins Super Bowl with New England Patriots Investigators said airbags deployed on the pickup and on the Taurus. Menjivar was not wearing a seat belt. All three children were in the back seat and two of them were wearing seat belts. Ford and his two male passengers, ages 16 and 17, were taken to the Fremont Health Medical Center and were expected to survive, according to a crash report from the Dodge County Sheriffs Office. Lopez Saenz was also taken to the Fremont hospital before being transferred to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where he was listed in serious condition Sunday, a hospital spokeswoman said. According to the crash report issued by Dodge County Sheriff Steve Hespen, alcohol is not believed to have been a factor in the wreck. No one delivers that authentic deli taste like the King, he said. Before becoming part of Little King family, Gooden gained experience managing and operating restaurants for various chains. He said when he was younger, he always wanted to be a teacher. We had quite a few teachers in our family, Gooden said. And while the classroom setting was something he wasnt interested in, he said he found another way to fulfill his desire to teach. I thought I could impact the lives of others as a business owner, Gooden said. To achieve that goal, he started Aequitas Management, LLC. Aequitas is Latin for fairness and equality. Gooden said he has found the perfect place to achieve his vision and practice his business philosophy. I have a lot more control at Little King than at other franchises, he said. I have had opportunities to buy a lot more businesses, but Little King was a good fit for me. It has a good culture and concept. The biggest thing I like about Little King is its history and heritage. His wife, Amanda, later saw the Red Cross phlebotomist who had encouraged Wilson to go to the doctor during another donation drive. She thanked Tammy Parker for saving her husbands life. Parker said she cant recall a similar situation in her 10 years with the Red Cross. That was very nice to hear, and I was glad to hear he addressed the issue and sought treatment, Parker said. Natarajan said finding cancer during the course of other medical procedures isnt a common thing, although he does have one other younger patient who was diagnosed in a similar way. Young patients often dont go to primary care doctors on a regular basis because theyre healthy. Wilson, of Omaha, said he was initially surprised at the low iron counts. He had blood work done the year before, and everything was fine. It stumped me a little bit, he said. The type of leukemia Wilson has is more typical of kids, teens and younger adults. The treatment path for that particular type is better mapped out and has a high cure rate. KEARNEY A record number of people plunged into frigid waters and donated funds Saturday to benefit the Nebraska Special Olympics. It was one of our highest years, said Jeff Boston, organizer of Kearneys Polar Plunge for Special Olympics. The event was Saturday at Yanney Heritage Park in southwest Kearney where 14 teams and 80 people raised more than $20,000. It was everything from a one-person team to a team with eight or 10 people, he said. Just good community support and people ready to come out, have some fun, check something off their bucket list and support Special Olympics. Despite the morning fog and 20 mph wind, Boston was pleased with the events turnout. The water temperature at the time of the plunge was in the 30s. According to the article, in 2017 there were 13,205 Dollar General locations, compared against Wal-Mart at 5,229, Target at 1,803 and their rival Family Dollar has 7,664 and Dollar Tree has 6,320. Dollar General is on track to have as many locations in the United States as McDonalds. According to reports from Dollar General, their model of a standard $7,300 square foot store costs around $250,000 to build and pays for itself in 1.7 years. This is done through a combination of low prices and convenience, it attracts enough shoppers necessary to produce the cash flow which in turn pays for the stores. The reason for this rapid growth is the customer base which Dollar General has served over the years, and this base continues to widen. Budget shoppers have long been the base of shoppers Dollar General relies on, but they are seeing more millennial and trade down shoppers coming through their doors, said a Retail Dive article. Its been pointed out, while other retailers are closing physical stores and ramping up online and digital operations, Dollar General has pushed forward with their discount retail model, according to a Robin Report article. January 31, 2019 Lincoln, Neb. Farm operators and agronomists from across the state are invited to attend a Nebraska On-Farm Research Network meeting at a location near them. Producers can gain valuable crop production-related information from more than 70 research projects conducted on Nebraska farms by Nebraska farmers in partnership with University of Nebraska faculty. These research projects cover products, practices and new technologies that impact farm productivity and profitability. Locations and times are: Feb. 18 Grand Island, Hall County Extension Office, College Park Campus, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m; Feb. 19 Norfolk, Lifelong Learning Center, Northeast Community College, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Feb. 20 Beatrice, Valentinos restaurant, 701 E. Court St., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Feb. 26 North Platte, West Central Research and Extension Center, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Feb. 27 Alliance, Knight Museum and Sandhills Center, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. MST. Check-in begins 30 minutes prior to the start times listed. Lunch will be served at all locations. Buffalo County, Nebraska, Case No. CI 18-2241, in which it seeks to obtain judgment against you for an account owed to the Plaintiff in the amount of $5,587.81, together with interest and costs as provided by law, and any other relief deemed just and equitable by this Court, plus publication costs. You are fur- ther notified that you will be con- sidered to be in default and the court will proceed accordingly to CENTRAL POINT, Ore. -- First responders are learning how to rescue large animals in the event that they are trapped. Jackson County Search and Rescue hosted its first Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue (TLAER) course. About 100 first responders and ordinary citizens participated in the class. It teaches them how to rescue livestock and other large animals in a variety of scenarios and conditions. "How do you handle a thousand pound animal that doesn't understand English, and has steel shoes on its feet? It might be in an overturned trailer. It might be trapped in the mud, said the primary instructor Dr. Rebecca Husted. "A huge number of people in Oregon own animals. We love animals and we want to help them. The thing is we want to make sure that when we're helping animals that you're not getting hurt. You can't help the animal if you get hurt and you end up going to the hospital." The course was taught over two days. Jackson County Search and Rescue said it gets about four calls a year to rescue a large, trapped animal. I got a couple of emails from parents who are teachers in Wilmette saying, Hey look at what we are doing. Could we do this?, McConnell said. I am just not convinced how a kindergartener could have the same experience through a computer or a worksheet packet as what they would have in a kindergarten classroom with a teacher and peers. Hes been in prison for 30 years for the killing of his wife, but now a family member fears he may have been wrongly convicted and thinks law enforcement got it wrong. After hours of searching, rescuers were not able to find a person who went missing at Smithville Lake. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says they started looking about 4 p.m. but couldn't find them KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- After years of complaints, demolition day is finally here for the vacant Hillside Motel that became a prime spot for illegal dumping. Crews began demolition about 9 a.m. Monday at the site of the former motel located at 6305 Blue Parkway. Large excavators tore down the wood and rock structures that once housed the motel. For the last five years, people who live and work in this neighborhood have reported vandalism, illegal dumping and squatters living inside the abandoned motel. City leaders say they tried to work with the out of state owner to get the building back into compliance. When that was not successful, they began the legal process to begin tearing the motel down. Monday's demolition has been years in the making and will cost the city about $30,000 to complete. "Suspected criminal activity going on. Just the blight that people see when they pass by. Its been unsightly for a long period of time. People are frustrated that the process took so long. With out of state owners and commercial property there are a lot of additional hurdles that go into the receivership process but we were finally able to get that done," Councilwoman Alissia Canady said. The city expects to have the motel demolished by the end of the day. The abandoned lounge right next to the motel is next. Weather permitting, crews hope to begin demolition on Tuesday. Neighbors relieved that Hillside Motel in KC will be demolished If youve ever had a vacant eyesore next door, you know how frustrating it can be to see trash and weeds pile up. Many people cant even remember the motel when it was an actual running business. Theyre glad to see it come down. Ive been over here about 10 years. Ive been around this area ever since I was a young, and I cant remember when it wasnt to be honest with you. I hope they get rid of it and bring some value up to the property around here, Caesar Adams said. There was a lot of litter, trash. People were doing a lot of illegal dumping, said Richard Brown, State Representative 27th District (D). Its just a big relief for everyone over here in the neighborhood, Willy Jones said. The city says it took several years to get to this point where they can tear it down. They had to seize ownership of the property from its owners in Texas. It doesnt always take five-plus years to get things done though. If you have a nuisance property, youre asked to call 311 and report it. Fun programs such as this one are informational and recreational, Kim said. The true measure of a successful program is how we engage with the community and get patrons so enthralled by what we present that they want to come back. [Such programs] rekindle something in patrons so they see the library anew as a resource to gain more knowledge. "We needed more beds, because we don't want to put people on a waiting list," she said, estimating that with an increase from 40 to 56 beds with the new unit, the SHARE program will serve approximately 192 more clients per year. The multi-billion-dollar US social media company Facebook has spent the last year being pilloried as the platform through which fake news has been spread and amplified, potentially altering election and referenda results worldwide. Apparently low on the list of international hashtag outrage though, is the way that the company has made mistakes as it has expanded and hoovered up millions of new users in fragile states. Especially in Myanmar, where an estimated 700,000 Rohingya Muslims were forced out of their homes, following a vicious hate speech campaign, in what the UN has described as a genocide. I wouldnt be surprised if relatively soon there are new regulatory frameworks put in place, to help clarify the very unknown space around the duty that platforms have Will Facebook ever truly be held to account for its (in-)actions in places like Myanmar? Emma Irving, Assistant Professor at Leiden University Law School, believes it is very unlikely. Theyve monopolized this public space, and they have control over it, with no accountability, she says. I think times may be changing, suggests Alexa Koenig, Director of the Human Rights Center (HRC) at Berkeley University. I wouldnt be surprised if relatively soon there [are] new regulatory frameworks put in place, to help clarify the very unknown space around the duty that platforms have ultimately to the populations that they serve in very different ways. The Myanmar Campaign Before discussing how those frameworks may lead towards accountability for crimes, its worth recounting what exactly has happened in Myanmar. Essentially, Facebook stands accused of being used to further hate speech. There appears to have been an orchestrated, concerted and military-controlled campaign to use the platform to misinform the public says Felim McMahon, Technology Director of the HRC. A journalist and investigator by trade, McMahon is currently on leave from his work at the International Criminal Court and is looking specifically at the nexus of social media and war crimes. A big Reuters investigation to which HRC contributed explains the context of a rapid spread of smartphones as democracy was re-introduced in Myanmar after 2011. By 2016, nearly half the population had mobile phone subscriptions Most purchased smartphones with internet access, the report noted. And with specific low cost packages, the Facebook app went viral. A New York Times investigation uncovered exactly how the propaganda campaign which was hidden behind fake names and sham [Facebook] accounts went undetected. The campaign, described by five people who asked for anonymity because they feared for their safety, included hundreds of military personnel who created troll accounts and news and celebrity pages on Facebook and then flooded them with incendiary comments and posts timed for peak viewership. We looked at hate speech in Myanmar for two years. Our teams were collecting instances of hate speech. It was apparent for anyone who cares to see it and collect it that there was a lot of negative sentiment being driven on the platform, confirms McMahon. The limits of the algorithm That Facebook was overwhelmed is evident. Efforts were made by the company at regulating content in Burmese, and offensive posts were taken down. But these efforts were both a struggle against a flood and limited by lack of deep cultural knowledge. An example outlined in the Reuters report is one particular racial slur kalar which can be a highly derogatory term used against Muslims, but can have a much more innocent meaning: chickpea. Banning the word on Facebook, by itself, makes no sense. The push towards a purely technologically-driven, automated response to solving these issues worries Koenig. She recognizes that the sheer scale of content delivered on the platforms means a technological approach will be needed. But until social media platforms do more sociological analysis, automated algorithms are going to continue to be a crude tool in light of very sensitive issues. Until social media platforms do more sociological analysis, automated algorithms are going to continue to be a crude tool in light of very sensitive issues. Finally, Facebook took down 18 accounts and 52 pages linked to Burmese officials in August 2018. The company said it had found evidence that many of these individuals and organizations committed or enabled serious human rights abuses in the country. A serious response to alleged genocide? The rhetorical responsibility The press release Facebook on taking down these accounts would indicate to me that at least they want the world to think they are taking it seriously, says Irving who also studies digital data and atrocity accountability. Koenig is more positive: I definitely feel that they do want to get it right. I do think we are seeing a movement from the highest levels of leadership policy development at all the platforms right now of kind of struggling with how to translate that into practice in digital space. The report does paint an extraordinary picture of a company that was apparently deeply unaware at the time of its own potential for doing harm. Further, the company commissioned an independent human rights report, based it says on the UNs Business and Human Rights Guiding Principles, which it made public in November 2018. The report admonished Facebook for failing to prevent its platform from being used to foment division and incite offline violence in Myanmar, admitted Facebook executive Alex Warofka. The report does paint an extraordinary picture of a company that was apparently deeply unaware at the time of its own potential for doing harm. It shows that Facebook leadership did little to figure out the facts on the ground. Irving describes such company-commissioned reports as part of the rhetoric of responsibility which she has seen increasingly being adopted by social media companies. Priya Pillai, senior consultant and researcher in international law who blogs at Opinio Juris, says she had expected more substance: Facebook needs to actually acknowledge its actions and potential impact in Myanmar in a more comprehensive way, which the report really did not do. Its essentially avoided a tough discussion. Proving intent So can will Facebook ever be held accountable for the way its platform was abused? It seems unlikely. As a business, Facebook was required to conduct due diligence, says Irving, and to know whether your business conduct is going to be a problem for human rights in that area. But ultimately those human rights principles are not binding. So you hit dead ends, to be honest. You could submit that because Facebook was the medium for dissemination of hate speech, that arguably created conditions for the commission of mass atrocities. Pillai suggests looking back to the example of how media-related individuals were prosecuted for incitement to genocide at the UN-backed Rwanda Tribunal, including top board members of the notorious radio station Mille Collines (RTLM). I do think there is a parallel, she says, arguing that even though it may not be exactly the same situation, you could submit that because Facebook was the medium for dissemination of hate speech, that arguably created conditions for the commission of mass atrocities. However, Irving points out that Facebook is a platform, not a media production house or broadcaster or an author. Contrary to Rwandan RTLM, its not that Facebook itself is generating content thats hateful and inciteful. But potentially, she continues, if you build your algorithms in such a way that it promotes hateful content and inciteful content to the top of someones news feed, youre doing more than being just a neutral hosting platform. Theres a lot of chatter right now around what are the different legal theories for holding platforms responsible, agrees Koenig, and one of the questions Ive been asking myself as a lawyer is: Is there something akin to the knew, or should have known, like in command responsibility [cases]?. Under International Humanitarian Law, commanders can be held responsible for war crimes committed by subordinates, in some circumstances, when they knew or should have known about the crimes committed and didnt do anything to prevent or punish them. But even though she recognizes the social media platforms have tremendous control over what comes into their communities, she doesnt see that it would be easy to find a suitable jurisdiction to hold them accountable. If you wanted to try to prosecute Mark Zuckerberg for crimes against humanity I think youd still have a hard time proving intent. Irving says flatly she believes its impossible, because of Facebooks identity as a company, not an individual. Ive looked in every nook and cranny that I can think of and from a strictly legal perspective, Facebook is a private company, and if you wanted to try to prosecute Mark Zuckerberg [Facebooks founder and chairman] for aiding and abetting genocide and crimes against humanity I think youd still have a hard time proving intent. Its sort of like the Wild West What now for Facebook? Its too late for the Myanmar situation, says McMahon. You cant mitigate the past, says Irving, but you can work out how not to commit that kind of harm again in the future. The social media behemoth is certainly engaging with civil society and academics to work out how to improve. And the pressure to reform fueled by pressure from critical investigative journalism reports continues. Fragile states like Myanmar, often with deeply divisive pasts, and lacking traditions of media literacy, have become the spaces in which a social media platform such as Facebook in fact IS the internet for most people. Irving likens Facebook to a public utility and if Facebook starts to equal the internet as a company there are corresponding sets of duties. Its sort of like the Wild West, suggests Koenig, where historically we populated the land, people staked their claim and the next evolution is really going to have to be the equivalent of a bill of rights or a constitution. What we are seeing is the company shifting from just shifting responsibility, avoiding regulation, now leaning in to the problem, and not just deny and disrupt, says McMahon. The question is going to be whether they are willing to pivot, agrees Koenig. In any institution or any field of practice theres usually a learning curve, a time period during which people are very willing to trade off responsibility for innovation, she continues. But I do think that now that social media companies like Facebook have matured there is less of a willingness to say anything goes. New approaches are needed with engagement from civil society, states and platforms, says McMahon. Its going to be an issue for leadership to decide if theyre willing to listen and to learn from communities that may not naturally seem to have an obvious technological expertise, says Koenig, but certainly have the social and cultural expertise. I think its highly possible. But listening is a very difficult skill. The danger of self-regulation Another danger is of potentially going too far the other way and regulating the space for freedom of speech banning everything to the detriment of all, including journalists and human rights investigators. The criticism by civil society [has been] pushing [Facebook] in the direction of becoming Big Brother and we dont want that, says McMahon. Irving agrees on the current risk: Essentially what youre doing is giving private companies the task of deciding what speech is hateful, what speech is permissible, what counts as incitement We are giving them the role of deciding what we as a society consider protected speech and what speech should be removed, and the policies for the way they do this are very un-transparent and unaccountable. Essentially what youre doing is giving private companies the role of deciding what we as a society consider protected speech. At fifteen years old, Facebook may act as an unaccountable hate speech platform or an equally unaccountable self-regulator. Or be a more responsible adult. MONTREAL, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amex Exploration Inc. (Amex or the Company) (AMX: TSX-V; FRA: MX0) is very pleased to announce that ongoing drilling of the Eastern Gold Zone (EGZ) at the Perron project (Perron) has successfully intersected additional high grade gold mineralization which verifies vertical continuity in the near-surface portion of the system. Drill hole PE2019-24 intersected 24.06 g/t over 5.85 m including 214.71 g/t Au over 0.65 metres at a vertical depth of ~235 m and drill hole PE2019-23 intersected 39.58 g/t Au over 0.75 metres at a vertical depth of ~135 m (see figure 1, 2 and 3). In addition to these results, the Company wishes to report that the first 25 metre step-out hole (X26) testing the lateral extent of the High Grade Zone has intersected visible gold. The Company is actively and aggressively advancing the exploration program on the EGZ and looks forward to the results from the ongoing drilling. The vertical continuity of the High Grade Zone is now confirmed with hole PE2019-23 and PE2019-24. The zone has been intersected in the same section over a vertical distance of approximately 150 metres pierce point to pierce point with a spacing varying from 25 to 50 metres. The High Grade Zone extends to a depth of approximately 275 metres below surface and remains open at depth and on strike. The Company has begun to test the lateral extent of the system with a 25 metre step-out program. Proposed drill hole X26 has been completed and the Company is now drilling X27 (see figure 3). All drill holes to date testing the High Grade Zone have successfully intersected visible gold mineralization. Victor Cantore President and Chief Executive Officer of Amex Exploration commented: Drilling at the Eastern Gold Zone has continually exceeded the Companys expectations. With these results we have confirmed the vertical continuity of what appears to be a robust high-grade gold system. We are very much looking forward to the ongoing step-out drilling which will test the lateral continuity and grade of the High Grade Zone of the EGZ. In addition, the Company is pleased to report the results of the balance of hole PE2019-22 which intersected a second Low Grade Zone (LG2) with 40 m of 0.50 g/t Au and the original Low Grade Zone (LG1) target with 11.45 m at 0.92 g/t Au. Visible gold was identified within this Low Grade Zone. Table 1: 2019 Winter Follow-up Drilling results on the EGZ from Hole PE2019-22, PE2019-23 and PE2019-24 Hole From To Length (m) Au (g/t) PE2019-22 225.85 227.55 1.70 393.33* PE2019-22 incl 225.85 226.40 0.55 236.51* PE2019-22 incl 226.40 226.90 0.50 677.62* PE2019-22 incl 226.90 227.55 0.65 307.33* PE2019-22 273.00 313.00 40.00 0.50 PE2019-22 incl 286.00 301.85 15.85 1.01 PE2019-22 incl 298.35 298.85 0.50 18.11* PE2019-22 369.80 370.30 0.50 2.13* PE2019-22 384.55 396.00 11.45 0.92 PE2019-22 incl 391.50 394.9 3.40 2.69 PE2019-22 incl 394.40 394.9 0.50 4.39* Hole From To Length (m) Au (g/t) PE2019-23 198.20 200.45 2.25 13.29 PE2019-23 incl 198.20 198.95 0.75 39.58* Hole From To Length (m) Au (g/t) PE2019-24 272.00 277.85 5.85 24.06 PE2019-24 incl 277.20 277.85 0.65 214.71* Interval intersected along the hole, undetermined true thickness. *VG: Visible Gold or Coarse gold grains About the Eastern Gold Zone The EGZ was discovered in December of 2017 during a regional exploration drilling campaign. The discovery hole, PE-17-03, identified two zones of near-surface mineralization, called the High Grade Zone and the Low Grade Zone, which returned values including 12.22 g/t Au over 4.66 metres and 0.81 g/t Au over 76.5 metres, respectively. Follow-up drilling in 2018 in drill hole PE2018-17 intersected values including 269.23 g/t Au over 1.35 metres and 0.74 g/t Au over 20.75 in the High Grade Zone and Low Grade Zone, respectively. Following this, an aggressive exploration program totalling approximately 2,100 metres targeting the High Grade Zone has begun, from which assays have returned grades including 393.33 g/t over 1.7 metres in PE2019-22, 39.58 g/t Au over 0.75 metres in PE2019-23, and 214.71 g/t Au over 0.65 metres in PE2019-24. Qualified Person Maxime Bouchard M.Sc.A, Geologist of Laurentia Exploration, a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian NI 43-101, reviewed and approved the geological information of the current drilling reported in this news release. The drilling campaign and the quality control program has been planned and supervised by Maxime Bouchard and Amexs management. The QAQC include insertion of blank or standard every 10 samples on average. The gold values are estimated by Fire Assay with finish by atomic absorption and value over 3 ppm Au are re-analysed by fire Assay with finish by gravimetry by Laboratoire Expert Inc, Rouyn-Noranda. For additional quality assurance and quality control, all samples were crushed to 90% less than 2mm and samples with visible gold were analyse by metallic sieve. Core Logging and sampling was realized by Maxime Bouchard and Alizee Lienard M.Sc.A, Geologist in training of Laurentia Exploration. About Amex Amex Exploration Inc. is a junior mining exploration company, the primary objective of which is to develop and bring into production viable gold and base metals deposits in mining-friendly jurisdictions. Amex has multiple highly prospective projects: the 100% owned Perron gold project located 110 kilometres north of Rouyn Noranda, Quebec, consisting of 116 adjacent claims covering 4518 hectares; the 100% owned Eastmain River gold properties consisting of 135 claims covering 7,102 hectares and the 100% owned Cameron project located in Lebel-sur-Quevillon, Quebec, comprising 263 claims covering 14,743 hectares. In addition, Amex has an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Gowan Property located near the Kidd Creek Mine. For further information please contact: Victor Cantore President and Chief Executive Officer Amex Exploration: 514-866-8209 Forward-looking statements: Except for statements of historical facts, all statements in this news release regarding, without limitation, future plans and objectives are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. 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. (All dollar amounts are in United States dollars unless otherwise indicated) VANCOUVER, Feb. 4, 2019 /CNW/ - Metalla Royalty & Streaming Ltd. ("Metalla" or the "Company") (TSXV: MTA) (OTCQX: MTAFF) (FRANKFURT: X9CP) is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a purchase and sale agreement (the "Royalty Purchase Agreement") to acquire from a third party (the "Seller") a 1.0% NSR royalty on Atlantic Gold Corporation's ("Atlantic Gold") (TSXV: AGB) Fifteen Mile Stream project (the "Royalty") for $4,000,000 (the "Royalty Transaction"). The purchase price will be satisfied by an upfront payment of $2,200,000 in cash and 2,619,000 common shares of the Company (the "Consideration Shares"). The Royalty is in connection with two claims formally held by the Seller which covers the Egerton-Maclean, Hudson, 149 East Zone, and the majority of the Plenty deposit which collectively comprise the Fifteen Mile Stream project ("FMS Project") located in Nova Scotia, Canada. The Royalty covers all products mined or otherwise recovered from the Project. Brett Heath, President, and CEO of Metalla commented, "Metalla is pleased to add another high-quality royalty on a growing deposit in Eastern Canada with emerging mid-tier operator Atlantic Gold. Fifteen Mile Stream represents the next leg in the growth at the Moose River Consolidated Gold Mine which has undergone extensive drilling aimed at expanding the resource." Mr. Heath continued, "Atlantic Gold has quickly established itself as one of Canada's premier operators through the successful commissioning of Moose River on time and within budget. This transaction is consistent with our long-stated strategy of acquiring existing royalties on quality assets with strong operators." FIFTEEN MILE STREAM Fifteen Mile Stream is a gold project located 57km northeast of Atlantic Gold's central milling facility at Touquoy and is readily accessible by highway. The project lies along the same geological trend as other related deposits Touquoy, Beaver Dam and Cochrane Hill and all are hosted within the same critical stratigraphy and structure, over a strike length of 80 km. The FMS Project is 100% owned by Atlantic Gold and is being developed as part of their multi-phase mine plan that was outlined in a pre-feasibility report disclosed on January 24, 2018 (see technical report titled "Moose River Consolidated Project, Nova Scotia, Canada NI 43-101 Technical Report on Moose River Consolidated Phase 1 and Phase 2 Expansion" dated January 24, 2018 and filed on Atlantic Gold's SEDAR profile, referred to herein as the "Technical Report"). The plan stipulates that following the commissioning of the Touquoy mine and mill, the FMS Project is to be put into production in 2021 for a total cost of C$123 million. The FMS Project will produce a concentrate that will be trucked and processed at the central milling facility at Touquoy. After the Technical Report was filed, Atlantic Gold declared commercial production at Touquoy effective on March 1, 2018 as a result of a successful ramp-up of mine and milling facilities at Touquoy on time and within budget. According to Atlantic Gold, the FMS Project is expected to produce approximately 80,000 ounces of gold in 2021 in its first year of production. Highlights of the life of mine plan at the FMS Project are for a 5-year mine life which will recover a total of 391,000 ounces of gold at a cash cost of C$561/Oz and generate a 60.9% pre-tax IRR (see the link to Atlantic Golds' press release dated January 29th, 2018) 1. The Technical Report discloses the following mineral reserve and resource estimate on the FMS Project : Reserves Tonnes Au grade Gold (kt) (g/t) (koz) Proven 2,890 1.25 116 Probable 7,910 1.24 316 Proven & Probable 10,800 1.24 432 Resources Tonnes Au grade Gold (kt) (g/t) (koz) Measured 2,710 1.33 116 Indicated 7,880 1.33 336 Measured & Indicated 10,590 1.33 452 Inferred 6,640 1.12 240 Mineral Resources have an effective date of July 20, 2017, and Mineral Reserves have an effective date of January 24, 2018. Atlantic Gold discloses Mineral Resources that are reported inclusive of those Mineral Resources that have been converted to Mineral Reserves. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability Since Atlantic Gold completed the resource and reserve estimate, they have drilled an additional 290 holes spanning over 35,000 meters at the FMS Project which will be included in an updated resource estimate expected to be released in the first half of 2019. ROYALTY PURCHASE AGREEMENT Pursuant to the Royalty Purchase Agreement, Metalla and the Seller will enter into an assignment and assumption agreement under which the Royalty will be transferred from the Seller to Metalla. Metalla expects to close the purchase of the Royalty on or about February 12, 2019 and closing of the Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receiving TSX Venture Exchange approval. The Seller also agreed to transfer restrictions by providing the Company with a right to place the Consideration Shares in the event the Seller wishes to sell 1.0% or more of the Consideration Shares issuable to them. The Consideration Shares issued to the Seller will be subject to a statutory four-month hold period from the date of their issuance. The agreement was negotiated at arm's length between Metalla and the Seller. No brokerage or finder's fees were paid in association with the acquisition of the Royalty. QUALIFIED PERSON The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Charles Beaudry, geologist M.Sc., member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario and the Ordre des Geologues du Quebec and a consultant to Metalla. Mr. Beaudry is a Qualified Person as defined in "National Instrument 43-101 Standards of disclosure for mineral projects". ABOUT METALLA Metalla is a precious metals royalty and streaming company. Metalla provides shareholders with leveraged precious metal exposure through a diversified and growing portfolio of royalties and streams. Our strong foundation of current and future cash-generating asset base, combined with an experienced team gives Metalla a path to become one of the leading gold and silver companies for the next commodities cycle. For further information, please visit our website at www.metallaroyalty.com ON BEHALF OF METALLA ROYALTY & STREAMING LTD. (signed) "Brett Heath" President and CEO Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Technical and Third-Party Information Note 1 The disclosure herein and relating to the Fifteen Mile Stream Property is based on information prepared and disclosed by Atlantic Gold Corporation and can be found in a news release filed on SEDAR by Atlantic Gold on March 15, 2018 and a technical report titled " Moose River Consolidated Project, Nova Scotia, Canada NI 43-101 Technical Report on Moose River Consolidated Phase 1 and Phase 2 Expansion" dated January 24, 2018 filed on SEDAR. The information and data are available in the public domain as at the date hereof, and none of this information has been independently verified by the Company or is supported by a technical report prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. While the Company will request additional information from Atlantic Gold once the Royalty Transaction is completed, it has not received access to the necessary data from Atlantic Gold and is not able to obtain the necessary information from the public domain to prepare a technical report and Atlantic Gold has not indicated the mineral resource and/or mineral reserve category, if any, on which the information above is based. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and by definition do not demonstrate economic viability. The Fifteen Mile Stream production contained herein may be based on mineral resource estimates that include inferred mineral resources, which are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is also no certainty that inferred mineral resources, if used by Atlantic Gold in preparing the production forecast, will be converted to the measured and indicated resource categories, or into mineral reserves, once economic considerations are applied. Readers are cautioned that inferred resources have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to whether they can be mined economically. As a result, the Company cautions readers that there is no certainty that the projected gold production will be realized. Specifically, as a royalty holder, the Company has limited, if any, access to the Fifteen Mile Stream Property. This news release also contains future-oriented financial information and financial outlook information (collectively, "FOFI") about the projected gold production from the Company's royalty on the Fifteen Mile Stream Property which is subject to the same assumptions, risk factors, limitations and qualifications as set forth in the below paragraphs. FOFI contained in this news release was made as of the date of this news release and was provided for the purpose of providing further information about Metalla's anticipated future business operations. Metalla disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any FOFI contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required pursuant to applicable law. FOFI contained in this news release should not be used for purposes other than for which it is disclosed herein. Such future-oriented production information is provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such outlook or information should not be used for purposes other than for which it is disclosed in this news release. The Company is dependent on, (i) Atlantic Gold and their qualified persons to provide information to the Company, or (ii) on publicly available information to prepare disclosure pertaining to the Fifteen Mile Stream Property and generally has limited or no ability to independently verify such information. Although the Company does not have any knowledge that such information may not be accurate, there can be no assurance that such third party information is complete or accurate. The disclosure in this press release relating to the Fifteen Mile Stream Property is based on information publicly disclosed by the owner or operator of this property and information/data available in the public domain as at the date hereof, and none of this information has been independently verified by Metalla. Specifically, as a royalty holder, Metalla has and will have limited, if any, access to the property subject to the Royalty. Although Metalla does not have any knowledge that such information may not be accurate, there can be no assurance that such third-party information is complete or accurate. Some information publicly reported by the operator may relate to a larger property than the area covered by Metalla's royalty interest. Metalla's royalty interests often cover less than 100% and sometimes only a portion of the publicly reported mineral reserves, mineral resources and production of a property. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation. The forward-looking statements herein are made as of the date of this press release only, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budgets", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "projects", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the transactions contemplated under the Royalty Purchase Agreement, anticipated cash flows and production upon completion of the Royalty Transaction, the completion of the Royalty Transaction, and proposed future transactions Metalla may undertake and their expected timing. Forward-looking statements and information are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that, while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties, and contingencies. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of Metalla to control or predict, that may cause Metalla's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, including but not limited to: the requirement for regulatory approvals and third party consents, the impact of general business and economic conditions, the absence of control over the mining operations from which Metalla will purchase gold and receive royalties, including risks related to international operations, government relations and environmental regulation, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties; the uncertainties involved in interpreting exploration data; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities; the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with Metalla's expectations; accidents, equipment breakdowns, title matters, labor disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions in operations; fluctuating metal prices; unanticipated costs and expenses; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations; currency fluctuations; regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions; liability, competition, loss of key employees and other related risks and uncertainties. Metalla undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. Some of the disclosure in this press release is based on information publicly disclosed by the owners or operators of these properties and information/data available in the public domain as at the date hereof, and none of this information has been independently verified by Metalla. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Summerville, SC (29483) Today Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 74F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 74F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. There was a window of time during which giving Trump a chance was justifiable out of a sense of duty to country. You might have been vindicated for doing so if Trump had surprised us all and made good on his boast that, "with the exception of the late, great Abraham Lincoln, I can be more presidential than any president that's ever held this office." But that window closed. You had ample opportunity to see, up close, the capriciousness, vainglory and allergic reaction to facts that the rest of us saw from afar. If you're just now disavowing Trump, or explaining away your support for him, don't bother. You own it. Leaving 2016 to 2019 blank on your LinkedIn page won't save you from disgrace. Sure, you might get a book deal. And you'll probably find private sector employment -- K Street is still a cozy hideout for plenty of Washington rejects. But history will remember you as an enabler, not a truth-teller. If you were still employed by the president or tap dancing on his behalf at any time in recent months, his stink is on you, and it won't wash off. Trump: Would you say more so now than over the last five years? AG: Yes. Trump: Right now? More so now than even a year ago? AG: Yes. Trump: I'm not happy to hear that. Trump seems dimly curious about the global impact of his rhetoric, and allows that is "not happy" to hear that "dictators and tyrants" are employing it to suppress the free press. That's a start, right? Sort of. Then comes this: AG: The United States and the occupants of your office have historically been the greatest defenders of the free press. Trump: And I think I am. too. I want to be. I want to be. Trump heard a variation on the word "great" applied to his predecessors, and his immediate instinct was to crave similar recognition. So he described himself as a great defender of the free press, before catching himself and remembering that he should make his defense conditional. After this, Sulzberger pressed Trump directly on whether he is "aware of these broad consequences" that his attacks on the press are having around the world. Trump questioned this premise, then continued: All of these choices and they were deliberate choices helped the richest households to accumulate more wealth and make that wealth more persistent across generations. They have also contributed to the governments growing revenue shortfall. As Willie Sutton could tell you, if you want to patch deficits, go where the money is increasingly, at the very top. While some may see a wealth tax as an attempt to act out the lefts pitchforkiest fantasies, we might instead think of it as a way to correct the mistakes of the past. Its hard to unwind 40 years of bad tax policy by jacking up marginal rates on ordinary income alone. The Trump family makes a good poster child for why: Adding a new 70 percent marginal tax rate on income above $10 million, for instance, would barely dent the accumulated wealth passed down much of it untaxed from Fred Trump to Donald to Ivanka and subsequent generations. There are some problems with a straightforward wealth tax, however. "March 15 is our 100-year birthday, and we're trying to get as many veterans and members from the community to be involved as we can," Horn said, adding they are members that will "propel us into the next 100 years." Appearing on local radio the next day, Northam, who supports the bill, appeared to take the third-trimester abortion a step further, to full-on infanticide. In response to Tran's comments, Northam explained, "If a mother is in labor ... the infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and mother." In his statements prior to that remark, Northam misrepresented the new bill, first stating that it would require more than one physician to sign off (the new bill requires only one, down from the previous law's requirement of three), and stated that it would apply only in cases where "there may be severe deformities, there may be a fetus that's nonviable." Northam appeared to be unfamiliar with Tran's own remarks the day prior, which clearly stated one physician could sign off on the third-trimester abortion of even a healthy fetus for the sake of the "mental health" of the mother alone. Northam's office issued a clarification later in the day Wednesday, explaining, "The governor's comments were limited to the actions physicians would take in the event that a woman (facing nonviable pregnancy or severe fetal abnormalities) went into labor," including assessing the baby's prognosis and possible courses of treatment. When I was a young fellow, right there in the short window between post-toddler and preschooler, I had an invisible pet squirrel I kept in my pocket. In my post-toddler/preschooler imagination, that invisible squirrel in my pocket was just as real as Bugs Bunny and Captain Kangaroo. I spent a good deal of time hanging out at a Shell service station on the hill above the oil company where my dad worked, scooting around on a mechanics creeper and standing on the counter near the cash register reciting the Pledge of Allegiance for anyone who would listen. And, of course, I showed off the invisible squirrel I kept in my pocket, pulling him out and opening my upturned palm for everyone to see. This is my pet squirrel, I would announce. The reply was usually, Thats nice, son. Is my car ready yet? or That boy up on the counter aint right. What I did not know at the time is I should have said, This is my support squirrel because that would have made it fine and proved that I was a visionary. Today, it seems nearly any animal can be a therapy/support animal, providing comfort in a world that is sometimes uncomfortable. We are excited to continue these conversations and build lasting partnerships to benefit North Carolinas most vulnerable citizens. Trey Sutten, Cardinal's chief executive, said the six regions don't currently match the maps of the state's eight behavioral health MCOs. "It doesnt mean that we will be losing or gaining counties as the standard plans go live," Sutten said. "As we continue to prepare to become a tailored pan, the finer details around counties, coverage areas and members will become clearer" by the time the plan launches in July 2021. "A portion of those we cover will now be covered by standard plans: people with mild to moderate mental health conditions," Sutten said. "We dont know more specifics beyond that at this point. "However, the folks that we really support, the ones that we really interact with, the ones that we review most authorization requests for, the ones we coordinate care for, and the ones for whom the vast majority of our care costs are dedicated to, will remain with us. In addition, we will be responsible for their physical health and pharmacy benefits." Just one provider-led entity Village staff members reached out to about 300 seniors in the Skokie Human Services Division database to see if anyone needed help, Tennes said. Only two were identified as possibly having concerns, and staff stopped by to check on them. In both cases the residents turned out to have enough food and supplies. Page Content The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) has welcomed 28 new sergeants into its ranks. The 24 female and four male JMPD officers were honoured officially with the rank of JMPD Sergeants at the Public Safety Headquarters in Martindale on Friday, 1 February. JMPD Chief David Tembe dressed the chevrons shields on the new sergeants, who were congratulated and welcomed into the force by the MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun. The sergeants will now be responsible for, amongst others, inspecting parades and ensuring their colleagues are properly dressed in uniform, and equipped for the operation ahead. They will also conduct quality control checks on the performance of their colleagues. The position is managerial in nature and comes with huge operational and management responsibilities. MMC Sun told the Sergeants that they were not only promoted in rank but also given more responsibilities to ensure residents of the City are safe. You have the responsibility to ensure members in your command perform their functions optimally. You need to ensure that your members return to the parade safely and you need to take care of yourself. We as the City are extremely proud of your well-earned achievement and wish you strength in your new appointment, the MMC said. Managing Editor Rebecca Huntington has worked for newspapers across the West. She hosts a rescue podcast, The Fine Line. Her family minivan doubles as her not-so-high-tech recording studio. A wrong turn sent two-time defending Pedigree Stage Stop champion Lina Streeper to the back of the pack today in Stage Six in Driggs. Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by subscribing or making a contribution today. Subscribe or contribute New Zealand telecommunications provider Chorus has announced that it will be running a trial of 10 gigabit per second and SME fibre broadband from mid-March. This widens the gap with what Australian broadband can offer, with the national broadband network only supporting 100Mbps over most of its rollout. Select areas that have received fibre-to-the-home can support this speed theoretically, but providers have not ventured that far, only offering 1Gbps. In a statement, Chorus said four retail service providers 2degrees, Kordia, Stuff Fibre and Trustpower had signed up to take part in the 10Gbps service, which will be offered in Wellington and Auckland, initially for 30 customers. The 10Gbps service has been built using Nokia's XGS-PON fibre solution and will offer the speed upstream and down, using the existing Chorus fibre broadband infrastructure. "Our 10 gigabit-per-second residential and SME trial will see New Zealanders accessing one of the fastest broadband services available on the planet", said Chorus chief customer cfficer, Ed Hyde. It also reinforces the ability to easily upgrade the world-class fibre infrastructure we have been building as the latest technologies become available. "In the last eight years, New Zealand has seen a meteoric progression in broadband capability. In 2011 the average broadband speed was just 10Mbps or so. "When Chorus fibre plans first launched in 2012 the top speed then available was 100Mbps. We were then the first to make gigabit fibre broadband available in 2014 and today this is the fastest growing plan on our network with more than 44,000 customers. We're truly thrilled to be trialling our 10Gbps fibre service, a service we know will underpin New Zealand's digital future and continue our decade-long commitment to innovation and keeping New Zealands broadband infrastructure at the cutting edge." Individuals interested in taking part in the trial have been asked to contact their broadband providers. They will need to: One of Australias largest construction companies, Probuild, has selected construction cloud-based applications provider Procore Technologies as its technology partner for quality & safety management on its construction projects. The deployment will see Procores quality and safety solution allow teams to continuously collect project data that can be used to mitigate risk, track performance, and continuously improve quality and safety processes. The solution offers teams the ability to log incidents and observations, track and standardise inspections, and streamline daily reporting. Procore is committed to helping Australian construction companies meet quality and safety objectives, with the continuous improvement of our platform in consultation with local industry, said Procores vice-president, Asia Pacific, Tom Karemacher. Probuild delivers some of the most significant construction projects in the country, and we are pleased they have selected Procores cloud based, mobile-first platform to manage quality and safety requirements on sites around Australia. Karemacher said Procore allowed construction companies to hand back time to their project delivery teams through the provision of in-field technology, the removal of unnecessary manual processes, and eliminating any double handling of data. Probuild has an increased focus on lean process, and it had become clear that our incumbent systems were not suited to the growing needs of the organisation, said Ross Murphy, group manager systems at Probuild. Procore offers unparalleled functionality and accessibility, and weve been really impressed with the Australian team and their commitment to innovation in consultation with the local market. Following the successful assessment and selection process, Probuild is currently implementing Procore for HSE and quality with project teams throughout Australia. Prosecutors said that as Williams was fleeing the scene, he was confronted by a police officer in the lobby of the apartment building who was responding to a 911 call. As the officer was attempting to arrest Williams, he struck the officer in the face, prosecutors said. Ithaca, NY (14850) Today Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers after midnight. Low 57F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers after midnight. Low 57F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Burma Police Arrest Dozens on Suspicion of Ties with AA in Northern Rakhine Residents of Shin Let Wa village in Chin States Paletwa Township take shelter after fleeing armed clashes between AA and government troops in 2017. In the early hours of Feb. 4, 2019, 24 people from the same village were arrested by authorities at a home in Rakhine States Kyauktaw Township, along with their hosts. YANGONPolice arrested 26 people in northern Rakhine States Kyauktaw Township early Monday morning on suspicion of having connections with the Arakan Army (AA), state legislator U Maung Than Sein said. He said authorities did not explain the reason for the arrests, but he inquired with Kyauktaw Township court and confirmed that Major Aung Naing Soe from Light Infantry Battalion No. 375 filed lawsuits against the villagers. Apart from one woman, the authorities transported all the detainees to Sittwe. Social activist Ko Zaw Win from Kyauktaw Township, who witnessed the polices initial questioning of villagers in the town on Sunday afternoon, said 24 displaced villagers from Shin Let Wa village, located in an active conflict zone in the upper Paletwa region in Chin State, were temporarily staying at a home in the town. He said the house belongs to married couple Ko Thein Soe and Daw Hla Hla Yee, who hosted the displaced villagers and had already reported to the ward administrative official about their guests. In the evening, more than a dozen fully equipped police and township administrative officials returned to question the villagers. Lawmaker U Maung Than Sein explained that many villagers were suffering due to the armed skirmishes between AA and government troops in rural areas of upper Paletwa, as artillery shells sometime landed near their villages. He said some of the suspects were aged between 40 and 50, and some of them frequently traveled from Shin Let Wa village to Kyauktaw to sell goods in the market. I have no idea why they sued these people under the Unlawful Association Acts Article 17 (1), said MP U Maung Than Sein. The authorities did not arrest the displaced villagers in the daytime, likely to avoid attracting public attention. They discreetly detained all 26 at about 1 a.m. on Monday. He explained that several villages from the upper Kyauktaw region have been facing a lack of food, as the Army had blocked aid shipments by relief workers since January and left the village for safer locations. Ko Zaw Win said more displaced villagers were believed to be on the way to urban areas from their villages on Monday. Despite the authorities arrest of more than two dozens residents, they declined to confirm the reasons. The Irrawaddy contacted police officer in charge U Soe Lwin and officer U Thant Zin for additional information but the calls went unanswered on Monday. Another Kyauktaw resident, Ko Kyaw Hla Myint, confirmed that the host family lives in Ywar Ma ward and was also detained by police. According to him, the displaced people had been staying there about three days and had officially informed the ward administrator. In January, about 30 village administrators in northern Rakhine submitted resignation letters to their local General Administration Department (GAD) offices for fear of being hit with Unlawful Association lawsuits. As of Monday, it was unclear whether the authorities had accepted the resignations. Local relief groups estimate that more than 6,000 people have been displaced by the recent violence between the AA and government troops in northern Rakhine. Including IDPs from Chin State, the actual number could be higher than 7,000. Burma Parliament to Debate Proposal to Form Charter-Amendment Panel Lawmakers attend the opening session of the Union Parliament on Jan. 29, 2019. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy YANGONMyanmars Union Parliament will debate a proposal to form a joint committee to work on amending the military-drafted 2008 Constitution on Tuesday. None of the military-appointed lawmakers in Parliamentall of whom boycotted last weeks vote to schedule the debateis scheduled to take part. According to the Union Parliament, a total of 36 lawmakers from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), the military-backed, formerly ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and some ethnic parties have registered to join the debate on Tuesday. No military representatives names appear on the list of those scheduled to participate in the discussion. The urgent proposal calling on Parliament to form the joint committee to facilitate attempts to amend the Constitution as soon as possible was put forward by NLD lawmaker U Aung Kyi Nyunt on Jan. 29. The unelected military lawmakerswho are appointed by the Army chief and hold one quarter of the seats in Parliament under the Constitutionobjected to the proposal. However, a majority of lawmakers voted to approve the debate, defeating the militarys boycott. Army chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing said on Jan. 31 that he had already made his view known that he is not opposed in principle to amending the Constitution. Nonetheless, the military MPs appointed by him sent a formal letter of complaint to the Union Parliament Speaker objecting to the proposal. Amending the charter requires approval from more than 75 percent of the total lawmakers in Parliament, effectively giving the military a veto over any proposed changes. U Aung Kyi Nyunt told The Irrawaddy that he proposed forming the committee as a first step, in order to work for constitutional reform transparently and systematically. The senior NLD member said the proposed committee would include lawmakers from all parties as well as the military representatives. On Sunday, thousands of people marched in Yangon to show their support for the military. The ultranationalist monk U Wirathu was among those joining the demonstration. In Person Private Equity Fund to Boost Myanmar Companies with up to $100M Mr. Lim Chong Chong, founder and managing partner of Ascent Capital Partners Pte. Ltd. at the Invest Myanmar Summit in Naypyitaw on January 28, 2019. / The Irrawaddy / Htet Naing Zaw NAYPYITAWSingapore-based Ascent Capital Partners Pte. Ltd. launched its first Myanmar-focused private equity fund backed by sovereign wealth fund Temasek and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in January. In December, ADB signed an agreement to provide a $10 million equity investment to the Myanmar-focused private equity fund to provide much-needed capital investment for the growth and expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The fund aims to support local companies, particularly SMEs led by women or with potential to make a significant contribution to inclusive and sustainable economic growth in Myanmar. The Irrawaddy spoke with founder and managing partner of Ascent Capital Partners Pte. Ltd., Mr. Lim Chong Chong, a man who has deep strategic and operational knowledge of Myanmars investment and business landscape, about the first Myanmar-focused fund, its key goals, potential for the foreign investment sector and whether the governments Look East policy can revive the decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) in Myanmar. Tell me about this Myanmar-focused private equity fund? We are Ascent Capital, a Singapore-registered fund management firm that announced a Myanmar- focused private equity fundAscent Myanmar Growth Fund I L.P. (AMGF). The Myanmar Growth Fund is managed by us independently. We have a few investors from Temasek in Singapore, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), JG Summit Holdings from Philippines,Myanmars U Aung Moe Kyaw and Singapores Tony Chew. But the fund is independently managed by usour investors dont participate in the management of the fund. The fund is supported by strategic institutional, corporate and individual investors with long, successful track records of investing and building businesses across sectors globally and in Myanmar. In terms of sectors, we will invest in any sector as long as it can help us achieve our investment target. But AMGF will mainly focus on companies in five sectorsconsumer, education, financial services, healthcare and technology. We are looking to invest at least $5 million in each Myanmar home-grown company. On average, we will invest between $5 million and $20 million in each company. We have the capital to invest more than $20 million in each company if bigger opportunities arise. Meanwhile, we are holding discussions with a few Myanmar companies. We dont set up the companies ourselves, we only invest in existing companies, so it takes time to talk to each other, to understanding each other. I have seen some quite interesting companies so far. What are the key goals of Ascent Myanmar Growth Fund? Not just myself, but our investors including ADB, are not just here to make money. We also focus on social goals that we call environmental, social and governance (ESG). We will help build the foundations of Myanmar companies which allow for sustainable growth, and we will work closely with the companies to advocate ESG objectives. One of our goals is to help [build] a sustainable economic environment that is in line with ADBs objectives, which includes creating opportunities and support for women entrepreneurs and women-led companies. We hope, through our investment, we can also make a positive impact on Myanmar and its people. ESG is a big part of our focus as well. We hope to create positive change in Myanmar. We also support the new Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan which is known in the private sector as the main engine for [driving] balanced and sustainable economic growth. Based on your experiences, which sector do you think has the most potential to attract foreign investment in Myanmar? This also is going back to our investment thesis. Our firms investment thesis has two factorsone is Myanmars growth story because Myanmar is at a very early stage of development so there is a lot of growth potential. We believe that any sector or company can rise according to the growth potential and will be able to do well. The second factor is Myanmars consumption story because Myanmar has a relatively large and young population of 53 or 54 million people. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi mentioned that half [of Myanmars population] is below 30 year olds and also has a rising income. So it is positive for the consumption story. Anything can have leverage in Myanmars consumer sectorit can be retail, food and beverages, fast-moving consumer goods, healthcare or education. As income goes up, as people get older, youd need more healthcare and more education. Myanmars foreign investment has declined for two consecutive years. You already know about Western sentiment towards Myanmar due to the Rakhine crisis. Why did Ascent Capital decide to investment millions of dollars in Myanmar this year? Our intention is quite simple. Let me first talk about your point that [investment in] Myanmar is declining for two years. I dont think that wayMyanmars average growth is 6 to 7 percent, so [overall] growth has not declined. Its just that Myanmar did not grow as fast as was expected. Despite all the challenges Myanmar has faced in the last two years, it still managed to achieve 6.5 percent [economic] growth. Just imagine if Myanmars government, private sector and everybody came together and gave more effort, focus, and energyit would be easy to achieve a lot more. We are long-term investors. We are not here to expect short-term profits or returns. Our investment period is between 10 and 15 years. We asked ourselves where will Myanmar be by 2030. If we look at that perspective instead of thinking where Myanmar will be in 2020, I think the conclusion is quite different. If investors only think about 2020 it may not be the right time for Myanmar. If investors think about 2030, it is the right time [to invest]. It is about being early movers. Myanmars government has adopted a new Look East economic strategy in an effort to revive the significant FDI decline. What do you think? Does it really have potential to revive the decline in FDI? Lets look at the facts. The fact is that if you look at the last eight or nine years since Myanmar opened up, look at where FDI was coming from, a lot of FDItangible concrete FDIwas from Asia. It is a fact. So if you ask me, the Look East strategy may have been there since 2011, not 2017 or 2018. I am not a politician. My personal view is that we should not choose whether to look east or west. I think maybe we should welcome whoever does want to invest in Myanmar and how to contribute to Myanmars long-term sustainable development. I say that because I have met a lot of European and US investors who the media says dont want to talk with Myanmar, that they want to stay away from Myanmar. It is not truethey do want to invest in Myanmar. They do want to support the long-term development of Myanmar; they do want to invest in Myanmar. As we all know, western companies and investors are more advanced in their focus on environmental and social [issues]. Their investments tend to bring higher levels of governance which can benefit Myanmar. I dont think we should think lets not talk to western investors or lets talk only with Asian investors. We dont have to draw a line in the centre. The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group says it killed the manager of a Dubai government-owned port operator in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland. P&O Ports has acknowledged that one of its employees was killed and three others injured in an "incident" on Monday at its operations in Bosaso Port. Miller donated hand-made hats and squares in addition to those she made, and agrees that knitting is relaxing. She said she practices and teaches yoga, and "they're both a form of meditation, or mindfulness," Miller said. With knitting, "You can use your skill to help others, and knit for people you don't even know." Suzanne Harrington talks us through BBB Brexit Bollocks Bingo. To distract ourselves from the prospect of wrestling each other to the ground in Tesco for the last bunch of post-Brexit bananas, and everything kicking off again in the North like the Good Friday Agreement never happened, lets play BBB Brexit Bollocks Bingo. Think of it as a form of occupational therapy. And spare a thought for we Irish and other long-suffering EU citizens who live in Brexitland, having to listen to this bullshit on a loop from every media outlet, every single day, forever and ever. Brexiteer:Sounds quite fun and swashbuckling, perhaps involving galloping horses, until you remember its a collection of wealthy men hellbent on furthering their own interests. See Dyson, Wetherspoons, Boris Johnson. Backstop: A made-up word that sounds useful, like something youd prop the door open with, except it isnt, and nobody knows what it really means, other than trouble. Red lines: What youd like to carve into Brexit instigator David Camerons face, although Harry Potter actor Miriam Margolyes favours boiling him in oil. We could do both. Chumocracy: The term used in a New York Times essay to describe the incestuous and self-serving ruling class of Brexits eternal schoolboys with their egoistic and destructive behaviour and arrogant obduracy as they seek a fantasy of imperial-era strength and self-sufficiency. See also: chumocrats, Bullingdon Club, top-hatted workhouse beadle Jacob Rees Mogg. CAPS LOCK RANT: Type of online communication favoured by a virulent strain of Brexit supporters for anyone who disagrees with them, ie Remoaners, Remaniacs. See also Liberal Elites, Metropolitan Marxists. Norway Plus: Not a 10-day fjord cruise for senior citizens, but something even duller about the UK joining the EFTA to access the EEA or some other dull, dull dullness. I just fell asleep there. Hard, soft, rough, smooth: Adjectives to describe not the latest Andrex product, but the type of Brexit being bandied about by wildly incompetent politicians desperate to save their own political party, led by a mad-eyed zombie who wont go away. Or the prime minister, as it still says on her office door. Taking back control: What pensioners in Sunderland and the unemployed of Cornwall think they did when they believed the lies printed on the side of a large red Brexit bus. Something about the NHS getting 350m a week. See also: the will of the people, the people have spoken, xenophobia. No deal: Second half of the name of a Noel Edmonds game show which ran from 2005 to 2016. Oh, and something terrifying which will result in ordinary commoners wrestling each other to the ground in Tesco if Teresa May doesnt stop playing (chlorinated) chicken with Brussels. Peoples vote: No, not the one that caused this mess in the first place. Another one which will ask us to paraphrase the Spice Girls what we want, what we really really want, now that we know what we dont want. Crash out: What the media is screaming will happen on March 29, thanks to the Tory ship of fools. If only. Tragically, Brexit Bollocks is not going away. And what a gigantic distraction it is. What a trick. What a con. A quarter of the countrys disabled population lives in poverty, while 42% of applications for disability allowance made in 2018 were rejected. Its unacceptable, writes Joan ODonnell. More than 140,000 people in Ireland now live on a disability allowance, equivalent to the entire population of Wicklow. These numbers are rising year on year, even though it is extremely tough to qualify and it almost guarantees a life of poverty. Take Michelle from Cork, who was turned down four times for disability allowance, despite being unable to walk, all because of her age. She says: its not like I could tell my spine, sorry, you cant fall apart because you are too young. I could honestly have killed myself with the stress. I cried constantly, I hope to never, ever have to repeat anything like it. In 11 months, I had seven medical assessments. "Not being believed was one of the hardest things. It took 16 months in total to get disability allowance it was so cruel. On my last ever assessment the lady doctor was actually horrified I had been turned down so often, she said she would fix everything, and she did. Michelle is just one of the 39,000 people who have no choice but to go through the hoops of applying for a social welfare payment that is means-tested. She is one of many habitually turned down on their first application. A quarter of the countrys disabled population lives in poverty. They often struggle to make ends meet or afford basic items. You could say we are lucky to live in a country where there is no fixed quota for the number of people on disability allowance. This means that if you need it, you should get it. So how is it that less than a year after Ireland signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities guaranteeing people the right to social protection, so many find themselves with no other option but to go through the arduous application process and added stress of being turned down when they first apply? The Department of Employment and Social Protection turned down 42% of all applications made in 2018, more than the rate of refusal in 2017. At a time when people are at their most fragile coming to terms with a new diagnosis or a deterioration in a chronic condition or suddenly having to give up work they are faced with additional stress, delays, and uncertainty about being able to eat and pay rent or mortgage. Pat from Donegal, who lives with chronic pain after an accident, says: I just know that I just didnt have the energy to keep phoning or sending emails. People with disabilities like me just dont have the energy to fight the system and keep appealing. All my time is taken up with managing my condition. It is unfair to have to keep fighting for entitlements. The department turned down over 12,500 applications for disability allowance in 2017. They made a decision on 4,468 appeals over the course of the same year and 70% of the people who appealed then got their payment. Ministers have continuously assured us we will not move towards the UK model of people having to prove they are unfit for work. This model has led to the deaths of 2,380 people between 2011 and 2014 alone. People cannot survive on nothing. Life becomes impossible, death inevitable. On the surface of things we have a robust social welfare system. When we scratch that surface, though, we discover many people are suffering not because of their disability, but due to inhumane systems. Where have the thousands of people who were turned down gone? And what kind of quality of life can people who have secured disability allowance come to expect? Ireland has committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: The first goal is to end poverty. Recent discussion on these goals in Dublin Castle was loaded towards climate action at the expense of the goal to end poverty. It seems hard to talk about more than one thing at a time, but this is no reason not to work towards creating a quality of life for everyone on this planet. We are also expecting a new national social inclusion strategy which will set out the Governments overarching commitment to tackling poverty and social inclusion. The last strategy ran out in 2017 and the poverty reduction targets were not reached. Even though this is a cross-government strategy, it sits within the Department of Employment and Social Protection. It must compete for space with departments whose agendas trump any attempts to put social goals at the top of this Governments agenda. This is a country with 5.3% unemployment, while people with disabilities leave our workplaces in droves and young people with disabilities struggle to get a start. More than half of people with disabilities on disability allowance would be interested in working or furthering their education. Some 11% of people in receipt of the allowance are in some kind of part-time work already. That leaves 60,000 people who are left with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Employment supports for people with disabilities sit within the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities, which works on the supply side of ensuring people who want to work are supported to do so. This strategy is the responsibility of the Department of Justice which sits quite far away from the main business of job creation. Job supply is managed by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation. People with disabilities are being left out of the conversation about the Future of Work, and the rich opportunities digital era brings. Funding for the Employer Disability Information Service that supported employers to take on people with disabilities came to an end in December. Fergus Finlay, chair of the strategy, admits a lack of progress demonstrate(s) ongoing inequality and discrimination. We will fail to address that discrimination if we continue to fail to get education right, to get services right, to get the infrastructure around employment right, and to get attitudes right. We need a whole-of-government approach to address the systemic discrimination experienced by people with disabilities in accessing their rights including their right to a basic income. And more than ever, we need to introduce cost-effective and efficient administrative systems. Because peoples lives are complex. And for people with disabilities who are dependent on the co-ordinated effort of multiple departments, it is even more complex. Right now, too many people are falling through the cracks: Cracks created by siloed working practices and inefficiencies. We have a sinkhole its the size of Co Wicklow and its growing. Joan ODonnell is the development manager at Disability Federation of Ireland Given the current impasse with the UK, Jean Pisani-Ferry suggests the best way forward for the European Union is to stand firm on principles but to soften its approach to the negotiated deal. After 31 months of the United Kingdom and the European Union arguing over Brexit, the truth is that neither side knows what it wants. This sad reality is most obvious in the case of the UK, whose ruling Conservative Party has consistently been at war with itself over the actual meaning of the June 2016 Brexit referendum. After a series of strategic mishaps and tactical blunders by Prime Minister Theresa May, the Tory infighting came to a head in mid-January, when parliament voted down her negotiated exit agreement. It made clear that May lacks support within her own party for a realistic compromise with the EU. At the same time, a majority of MPs and British voters oppose the no-deal exit advocated by hardline Tory Eurosceptics. That scenario would put the UK in breach of legally binding international commitments, jeopardise the 1998 agreement that ended violent sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland, and result in immediate economic costs and job losses. At a time when US president Donald Trump is hastening the demise of the post-war global order, it is frankly stunning that Brexiteers still believe in the fantasy of a thriving, free-trading Global Britain. And yet here we are. The EU finds itself in a rather different situation. Since the referendum, the 27 other member states have displayed impeccable unity; their chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has made skillful use of his mandate. The EU has steadfastly rejected Britains demand for an unbundling of the single market, as well as any scenario that could result in new customs checks on Irish soil. Throughout the negotiations, the contrast between the UKs amateurish muddling and the EUs show of clarity and consistency could not have been sharper. Still, the EU has demonstrated a remarkable lack of strategic perspective, focusing wholly on rules and processes instead of results. True, its steadfast rejection of a la carte solutions reflects the fear that a favourable deal for the UK will whet the appetites of other Euroskeptic member-state governments. But that does not excuse the failure to develop a strategy for structuring the future UK-EU relationship. Although Britain is a major European power whose global outlook, financial clout, and security capabilities remain unique, the EU has done very little to engage with British civil society, political constituencies, and businesses, or to foster a productive conversation about the future. This is especially unfortunate at a time when Europe, to which Britain still belongs, is facing proliferating economic and geopolitical threats. Last week, MPs from both the Conservative and Labour parties attempted to build an alliance and seize control of the Brexit process from May. In the event, their effort failed, and the prime minister successfully rallied her camp around an amendment giving her a mandate to go back to the EU and negotiate unspecified alternative arrangements for the Irish question. The EUs immediate and legitimate reaction was to refuse to re-open negotiations that had been concluded in November. But it should not wash its hands of Brexit. It is not for the EU to choose for the British people, but it cannot escape its responsibility for the choice they are being offered. The EU must now, de facto, decide whether to let the UK choose between the existing agreement and no deal, between no deal and a second referendum, or between no deal and a revised exit agreement. Whatever position it takes, will determine the binary question that the British must ultimately answer. The EUs first option is to stick to its guns. Many on the continent think that enough is enough, and that it is time for Britain to decide its fate. But if the EU does assume this uncompromising stance, it will further weaken May, embolden the hardline Brexiteers, limit the space for parliamentary initiatives, and leave no time for a second referendum. The UK will have to choose between crashing out and accepting the deal it rejected a few weeks ago. This hardball strategy might work, but it would also increase the risk of an acrimonious no-deal Brexit. The EUs second option is to remain firm on substance, but to accept an extension of the March 29 deadline if the UK holds another referendum. This would strengthen the position of those in Britain who are calling for a peoples vote on the countrys options. Remain would gain traction, and a no-deal scenario would become less likely. The EUs third option is to express openness to a marginally amended deal. It could either offer a concession that would help May save face on the Irish question, or reach out to the would-be alliance of Labour and Tory MPs who favour a soft Brexit by accepting a short extension of the March deadline in order to hold a substantive discussion on a future partnership agreement. Either option would foreclose a second referendum, and a revised deal would gain the edge over a hard Brexit. For Europeans who were rightly shocked by the demagogy and outright lies of the Leave campaign, creating the conditions for another referendum (the second option) is tempting. The problem here is not that Leave could win again, but that it could lose by so narrow a margin as to render the UK incapable of engaging with EU partners in any meaningful way. Such an outcome would only add to the danger of deeper paralysis for Europe, just when it needs to reinvent itself. Given the obvious economic and political costs of the first option, the third option now seems like the best way forward. The EU should stand firm on principles, but consider either a softening of the negotiated deal or a short deadline extension for talks about the future, if there is a bipartisan appetite for it. A partnership between Britain and the EU would preserve the close economic, political, and security links that have been built over decades. And the EU would be better able to address the challenges of its own differentiated integration. Perhaps in a decade or two, the EU and the UK will have undergone comprehensive reforms that put them on a new path toward convergence. Brexit should be managed in a way that makes such a future possible Jean Pisani-Ferry, a professor at the Hertie School of Governance (Berlin) and Sciences Po (Paris), holds the Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa chair at the European University Institute and is a senior fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank Noel Campion welcomes the arrival of Xiaomi to the Irish market, and likes the Chinese firms Mi Mix 2S phone. Chinese company Xiaomi makes great smartphones, among other things, but until recently they didnt sell them in Ireland. However, you can now buy a selection of their phones from Three Ireland as well as headphones, smartwatches, Bluetooth speaker, smart body scales, and even an eco-friendly electric scooter. Ive been testing the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S as well as the Redmi 6 and Redmi Note 5, which cost 459.99, 149.99, and 199.99 on prepay or free on bill pay respectively. Xiaomis Mi Mix 2S feels like a flagship with premium materials and looks gorgeous. It has a lot of flagship features including a black ceramic back that curves into the aluminium frame. You get a vertically stacked dual camera with LED flash in between on the top left with an accent of gold around it and a recessed fingerprint sensor. Directly beneath this is the text Mi Mix designed by Xiaomi in small gold lettering. On the front of the Mi Mix 2S is the notch-less display with distinctively rounded edges and an effort to push the boundaries of a bezel-less design with an LCD display and a front-facing selfie camera. Xiaomi has a unique twist in that instead of housing all of the usual sensors and camera in a notch or larger forehead, theyve put these into the chin, which is about half the size of the one found on the iPhone 8 Plus. Theres no home button so, instead, you have to use on-screen navigation buttons. The selfie camera is located on the bottom right of the chin and when you open the camera app to take a selfie, it will prompt you to rotate the phone although you actually dont have to. For someone like me who rarely takes selfies, this isnt a problem and I didnt find it much of an inconvenience. Like a lot of flagships, theres no 3.5mm headphone jack. You do get USB-C and a MicroSD card slot though. Theres only mono external speakers located on the bottom edge and sound quality is only fair at best. The 5.99-inch IPS LCD screen has a resolution of 2,160 x 1,080 pixels with an 18:9 aspect ratio. Everything is sharp, but the display lacks the high levels of brightness and colour saturation on the best LCD displays found on iPhones and other high-end Android devices. Under the hood, the Mi Mix 2S is a beast and comes with the latest Snapdragon 845 processor with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. This is the same specs found on the current flagships from the likes of Samsung. Games play buttery smooth, apps load fast, and the overall UI experience is silky slick. The Mi Mix 2S also comes with the latest version of Android 9 Pie on-board which is a bonus, but you get Xiaomis MIUI skin on top along with a lot of Xiaomi apps and services. I understand that in China they cant use a lot of the Google apps and this is why they have their own alternatives, but they should have removed these for the global market. Being new to MIUI, it took some getting used to, but overall, I didnt have any major issues with it. The dual rear cameras use two 12-megapixel sensors. The main one has an f/1.8 aperture, while the secondary lens has an f/2.4 aperture, and offer 1x and 2x zoom. Overall image quality is excellent for the most part and especially in good light. The camera works well and has an easy to use interface with options like short video, slow motion, video, photo, portrait, night, square, panorama, and manual modes. Although not necessarily a bad thing, its clear that Xiaomi took a lot of design cues from Apple in this app. Digging deeper for options reveals extras like burst mode, tap to focus and shoot, fingerprint shutter and watermarks, and timestamps. Low-light performance isnt fantastic, but then you get Night mode, which more than makes up for this. The front-facing camera is only 5MP, but does work in portrait mode and produces decent results. Video capture quality is good and you even get stabilised video in 4K 30fps. The camera, in general, isnt as good as the best out there like the Mate 20 Pro or iPhone XS, but for the money, it fairs well. The 3,400mAh is good enough to last a full day on a single charge with moderate use, but it wont compete with flagships that have over 4,000mAh batteries. However, you do get Qi wireless charging and support Quick Charge 3.0. The Xiaomi Mix 2S represents the fine balance between value for money and performance without sacrificing style and design. The Xiaomi Redmi 6 has a 4,000mAh battery, dual cameras as well as dual SIM support for an entry-level price. For 50 more than the Redmi 6 youll get a bigger screen, a faster processor, the same 4,000mAh battery, and a higher megapixel selfie camera in the Remi Note 5. All available now from three.ie. The official Prison Service line is that whistleblowers are welcomed, but the reality on the ground is very different, says Special Correspondent Michael Clifford. The Irish Prison Service (IPS) is adamant about where it stands on whistleblowers. Up-to-date procedures are in place. There are supports aplenty for anybody who comes forward with concerns about wrongdoing or malpractice. The prison service stands firm in welcoming internal criticism as it might contribute to improving the service. So goes the official line. This was articulated at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on January 17. Before the committee were the newish secretary general of the Department of Justice, Aidan ODriscoll, and the new director general of the IPS, Caron McCaffrey. The appearance before the committee of the top officials came two months after a whistleblower in the prison service gave evidence to the committee behind closed doors. Noel McGrees odyssey since he first made complaints is detailed elsewhere on these pages, but his evidence to the PAC is understood to have been forthright and open. On January 17, Ms McCaffrey delivered an opening statement that began with the IPS policy on protected disclosures, the tool used by whistleblowers to raise concerns. I would like to inform the committee that a review of the protected disclosures policy for the Irish Prison Service has taken place and a revised policy was introduced in July 2018, she said. The review was carried out to ensure that procedures regarding protected disclosures are up to date, in line with best practice, and to take into account any lessons learned from protected disclosures received to date. An assessment undertaken with Transparency International Ireland informed the review. Arising from the review, a number of new measures have been put in place in relation to the protected disclosure process. They include independent professional advice for staff in relation to the process and enhanced independent external assessment of disclosures, including all notifications of penalisation. Employees making disclosures are now also provided with periodic and confidential feedback regarding assessment, investigation or review. All of which sounds top notch. Except the lived experience begs to differ. Caron McCaffrey It is now widely acknowledged that the law on protected disclosures is potentially a valued weapon in highlighting wrongdoing and corruption. This reality is amplified when it comes to organisations that are removed from outside scrutiny. The IPS is one such organisation. The only instrument of scrutiny of the IPS is the Inspector of Prisons, an office that is understaffed and operating within a restricted remit. There is no ombudsman for prisons, and neither is there any oversight body such as exists for An Garda Siochana. As such, the flow of information from the inside, via whistleblowers, takes on a heightened significance. Yet a number of cases examined by the Irish Examiner suggest that the attitude towards such whistleblowers known as disclosers under the Protected Disclosures Act leaves much to be desired. One theme that runs through contacts with employees of the IPS at every level is that the driving ethic is to keep a lid on controversies or anything that might reflect badly on the IPS. This is denied by management in the service. Since the introduction of the Protected Disclosure Act in 2014, there have been 25 disclosures in the prison service, alleged wrongdoing of one sort or another. Of these, according to the Department of Justice, 11 were deemed not to constitute disclosures under the act. Once a complaint is categorised as a disclosure, it attracts protections for the discloser and an obligation to conduct a proper investigation. One protected disclosure that was deemed not to meet the standard was that of Noel McGree. He successfully appealed the decision. It is not known whether other disclosers appealed decisions on their complaints, nor on what basis decisions are made. The only encouraging note on the matter of decisions is that in the most recent figure, for 2018, only two of 11 disclosures were deemed not to meet the criteria for a protected disclosure. Gerard Butler The range of complaints is another issue. Over the last two years the Irish Examiner has reported on disclosures such as that from prison officer Gerard Butler, who claims with documentary evidence, that an assault on a prison officer was allegedly covered up for reasons of expediency. Noel McGrees complaints also include an incident where an assault was not fully investigated because of a failure to interview him, a central witness. Elsewhere, assistant chief officer David McDonald has alleged that deaths in custody are not handled properly. Another disclosure of which the Irish Examiner is aware, contains allegations of a cabal within the prison service which, without any evidence, alleged to gardai that other officers were bringing contraband into prisons. Earlier this month, the Irish Examiner reported on a disclosure that three managers were transferred inappropriately after over a dozen officers left a block with the most dangerous criminals in the State unattended. The discloser alleges that the managers were transferred instead of the officers who walked off the job in order to appease the Irish Prison Officers Association. The Irish Examiner has also followed the case of an alleged sexual harassment within the service of which the gardai were not informed. That incident led to an out-of-court settlement with public funds. Disclosures are only allegations unless and until an investigation confirms they are based on facts. There is a case to be made that investigations into protected disclosure in the prison service may be less than rigorous. Last year, as noted by Ms McCaffrey at the PAC, there has been a shift towards hiring external legal firms to investigate disclosures. The sexual harassment/settlement case featured here followed this route. The outcome of that has been kept within a tight circle. It took a year to complete and the only public utterance on it was that undertakings have been given to follow policy in future. Ms McCaffrey was appointed as director general of the IPS in December. She has been working in the IPS since 2006. She succeeded Michael Donnellan, who announced in October last that he was stepping down two years into his second five-year term in office. Whether change at the top will prompt any change in the culture of responding to internal criticism remains to be seen. Harassment claims: Sluggish response to claims about managers sexual act On September 20, 2017, four Government departments received a copy of a protected disclosure alleging serious malpractice in the Irish Prison Service (IPS). The protected disclosure, which was anonymous, made a series of allegations. These included: A manager in the prison service engaged in sexual acts in front of a female employee in around 2012; The incidents had a detrimental effect on the health of the female employee; The woman brought the matter to the attention of the IPS but no investigation took place; The prison service did not inform An Garda Siochana; The woman then initiated a legal action which was settled with an award of compensation just short of 100,000 in 2016; The male manager subsequently left the service but has since been re-employed by the state in a capacity in which he works with minors; Management at the facility where the male manager is now employed were unaware of the previous incidents. The protected disclosure detailed how the manager and the woman had previously been involved in a relationship, a fact that led the woman to believe that management did not treat her sensitively and failed to treat her allegations seriously. The disclosure raised issues around whether the gardai should have been contacted, how management in the IPS had treated a female employee with a harassment complaint, and whether the public money used to settle the claim was properly spent. Nothing was done about the protected disclosure for over two months. In early December 2017, this newspaper ran a story about it. A query was put to the Department of Justice as to whether any outside agency had been appointed to investigate the matter. No answer was forthcoming, but a reply stated: Action is being taken in relation to this correspondence in line with the proper procedures. Last week, a statement by the department said a private law firm was appointed in December 2017. The firm in question was McCann Fitzgerald, one of the so-called big five legal firms in Dublin. Thereafter, a relatively straightforward matter took nearly a year to investigate and report on. This was not rocket science. All of the records about the matter, including sworn affidavits, were readily available. Around half a dozen people might have been required to be interviewed. A source has confirmed to this newspaper that representatives of the legal firm visited Portlaoise Garda Station early last year in connection with the investigation. A statement from the Department of Justice last week confirmed that co- operation was forthcoming from anybody who was asked for it. The department also revealed the cost of the investigation, 74,773. The going rate for the major legal firms involved in state work is somewhere north of 300 per hour and often as high as 500. At the lower rate, the bill for this investigation would come in at somewhere around 250 hours. There was no explanation from the department as to why the investigation took so long. Last November, in response to a query from this newspaper, the Department of Justice stated that the investigation was complete but the report on the investigation had not yet been completed. The statement last week said the report was received on November 27. This was five days after the Irish Examiner query. No statement was issued by the department, the Irish Prison Service, or the minister, following receipt of the report into a serious matter, that took nearly a year to investigate. The first indication that it had even been received came in the course of a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting on January 17. The secretary general of the department, Aidan ODriscoll, was responding to a question from Independent TD Catherine Connolly. There was one anonymous protected disclosure on sexual harassment, he said. Again a private law firm was engaged to examine the case. That report was received in November and shared with the Prison Service. As a result, certain undertakings have been given to the department about procedures in the prison service, especially under the new dignity at work policy. This, thrown out in the course of a long session at the PAC, was the only indication that the case was effectively closed. Following that contribution, the Irish Examiner submitted a number of questions about the case to the department. The response came in the form of a statement. Nowhere in the response is there any suggestion that the allegations within the protected disclosure were unfounded. Yet the response does not address what in the first instance was an alleged criminal act. It makes no mention of any wrongdoing, which is the basis for making a protected disclosure under the Protected Disclosure Act. The response also states that, as there are no negative findings relevant to the work of any other organisations, sharing the report is not necessary and would risk undermining the confidentiality at the heart of the protected disclosures process. That passage is inexplicable. If an alleged criminal act occurred, surely that impinges on the work of the gardai. If the alleged perpetrator of the harassment has been re-employed by that state surely that impacts on the agency employing him. And the statement that confidentiality at the heart of the protected disclosure policy is laughable. The confidentiality is for the discloser, who in this case is anonymous. Sharing the outcome of the protected disclosure has no impact on the disclosers anonymity. Some observers are convinced that rooting out wrongdoing and instilling accountability are lesser priorities in areas like justice than keeping controversy at bay. The manner in which the department has handled this matter would do little to dispel any such notions. Surveillance: Inspector lacked powers to head inquiry On November 22, 2018, the Irish Examiner published a front page story about serious claims of malpractice being made in an affidavit by a serving prison officer. Among the claims are: A private investigations firm was hired to conduct illegal covert surveillance on a number of prison officers; The private detective agency was employed to install listening and tracking devices in order to shield the prison service from any legal repercussions that would attach if it had been done directly; The private detective agency placed tracking devices on a number of prison service vehicles and in the private cars of prison officers; The drivers of the prison vehicles, and the prison officers whose private cars were tracked, were unaware of the surveillance. Some of these devices remained in place over a long period and intelligence gathered passed onto An Garda Siochana. Personnel from the private detective agency were provided with false identities to enter the prison and install covert surveillance cameras. The images from the cameras were beamed outside the prison to another location despite obvious security concerns about them falling into the hands of criminals; Listening devices were placed in the visitor area of the one prison to gather information; These devices were in situ for extended periods. In some instances, these devices were in place when prisoners had conversations with their solicitors. He also claimed that the handling of investigations into deaths in custody was seriously flawed. In this regard, he claims to have conducted a number of meetings with the late Judge Michael Reilly, formerly the Inspector of Prisons, to discuss his concerns. On the day the Examiner story was published, Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan issued a statement saying he was aware of the claims and was asking the Inspector of Prisons to conduct an urgent preliminary investigation. Charlie Flanagan He did not state when he became aware of the claims or why an investigation was only being initiated when the information came into the public domain. He appointed the Inspector to investigate under the 2007 Prison Act. The following morning, the prison officer who made the claims contacted the office of the Inspector of Prisons. Assistant chief officer David McDonald, a veteran officer of nearly 30 years, is, along with a number of colleagues, now in dispute with the Irish Prison Service. He told the office of the Inspector that he was available for interview. They said they would get back to him. The inspector is Patricia Gilheaney, a public servant with a background in the area of mental health. Her appointment to this task is curious. Under the act which the Minister appointed her, she does not have the power to investigate the claims. She has the power to order the production of documents held in the states prisons and to interview serving prison officers. Mr McDonalds claims centre on the employment of a private firm. Patricia Gilheaney Any payment to such a firm would not be recorded in a prison, but most likely in the IPS headquarters in Longford, a domain beyond the inspectors powers. She does not have the power to order the production of documents or to demand an interview from any element of An Garda Siochana. Mr McDonald claims the gardai were aware of the illegal surveillance as they received intelligence from it. Ms Gilheaney does not have the power to interview anyone who has left the prison service since the matters alleged of some of the allegations date from 2015. As such, any investigation she conducts will, through no fault of her own, be less than rigorous. If the Minister had asked, for instance, a senior counsel to conduct this preliminary investigation, awkward questions might have arisen. Lawyers are understandably wedded to the law. Any self-respecting SC would have told the minister that the power required to investigate the actual allegations was woefully lacking. A public servant does not have that luxury. Despite the urgency of the investigation, the inspector did not make direct contact with Mr McDonald until January 23, two months after Mr Flanagan ordered it. Prior to that contact, Ms Gilheaney did contact Mr McDonalds solicitor, rather than approach the man himself. The solicitor replied to her by pointing out that she did not have the power to investigate the claims. The investigation is due to be completed by the end of this month. Why the minister ordered the Inspector of Prisons to head an inquiry, the nature of which is way beyond the scope of routine duties for the inspector, remains a mystery. Why the minister told her to do so without assigning the proper power to carry out the procedure is baffling. Noel McGree case: Veteran officer feels he was targeted by system for raising concerns In September 2013, Noel McGree began raising concerns about the use of resources at Midlands Prison. By then, he had been a prison officer for more than 20 years. His concerns centred on resources in the catering area of the prison and the use of untrained personnel. His complaints did not go anywhere. He approached the secretary general of the Department of Justice who passed on the complaints to the departments internal audit unit in March 2016. Midlands Prison By then, Mr McGree believed that he was being targeted within the system because he had raised concerns. In February 2015, he had reason to believe that he might be the subject of a security threat. This kind of issue arises for many prison officers periodically. The threat was assessed by gardai, who concluded that whatever threat there had been was now negligible. The result was conveyed to prison management in April 2015. Yet, for some reason, Mr McGree was not informed that the threat had passed. He would not be officially informed for another 14 months, and only then because he chased the issue. Believing that the threat still existed during those 14 months took a toll on his family. The failure to inform Mr McGree of the lifting of the threat would in time be regarded by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) as a form of reprisal against the prison officer. Last year, the WRC awarded Mr McGree 30,000 over the incident in the first ruling of its kind related to the Protected Disclosure Act. The WRC ruled that the failure of management to inform the complainant, despite his very clear, cogent descriptions of the effects of the matter on his family, constituted unfair treatment under the act. That was not all. In February 2015, he witnessed an assault on a colleague by an inmate in the prison. Yet he was never interviewed about the incident. The DPP would conclude that the incident did not merit a prosecution, which greatly aggrieved the victim of the assault, who was baffled as to why Mr McGree had not been interviewed as a witness. Later, in assessing Mr McGrees complaints, Judge William Early touched on this incident. The discloser was the officer in charge of the area where the incident occurred and participated in the restraint of the violent prisoners, he said. An explanation for failing to interview the discloser is that there was excellent CCTV film of the events. However, the judge was not impressed. The incident of March 2015 suggests a serious criminal offence was committed it is quite extraordinary that a primary witness to a serious assault was not interviewed. Meanwhile, Mr McGrees complaints were considered by the departments internal unit which concluded that they didnt constitute a protected disclosure. Among other things, this would deprive the discloser of protections under the Protected Disclosures Act. Mr McGree appealed and retired district court judge William Early upheld his appeal in February 2017. He found that the Internal audit unit report into Mr McGrees complaints was inadequate and that its conclusions were not in conformity with the preponderance of the evidence. Following the judges ruling, the department and the IPS both offered apologies to Mr McGree. Yet, a few months later, the IPS refused to recognise the complaint as a PD at a WRC hearing. Eventually, the IPS conceded the point. As noted above, Mr McGrees complaint was upheld at the commission resulting in the 30,000 award. Currently, McCann Fitzgerald is examining further complaints of whistleblower reprisal made by Mr McGree since 2017. That process began early last year and is yet to conclude. Late last year, Mr McGree appeared in private session before the Public Accounts Committee to relate his experiences of how his complaints, and he himself, were dealt with by the IPS and the department. Following that appearance, the secretary general of the department and the director of the IPS appeared before the committee on 17 January last, although they refused to answer any direct questions about Mr McGree because of the ongoing investigation. What leaps from the narrative of Mr McGrees experience over the last five years is the amount of time, money and energy that has been spent fighting him. He made complaints in good faith, but has been subjected to treatment which two outside agencies have determined was driven by this status as a whistleblower. In a properly functioning organisation his complaints would have been welcomed, acted upon, and his status as a conscientious employee enhanced. Instead, it would appear that he rendered himself a persona non grata by his actions, and suffered the consequences of breaking from the herd. Spending: Nobody audits that money. Nobody knows where it goes and what it is used for Marc McSharry lobbed a grenade into the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting hearing about prison spending. What was the story with the mess committees, he wanted to know. It is yet another example of issues within the prison system. The mess committees organise feeding staff in nine of the States prisons. They buy the food, take in the cash, and cover the costs of providing decent canteen facilities for staff who work in a difficult environment. Prior to 2012, this was done by a private company which declined to renew its contract that year. At the PAC, TDs Catherine Murphy and Catherine Connolly enquired about governance of the mess committees, but Mr McSharry went further. He put together an estimate of costs and revenue for the committees. My research suggests that the mess committees typically buy meat and vegetables, he said. Ms McCaffrey said earlier that they pay for all their own food. My research indicates that a very substantial amount of the resourcing is subsidised from central prison stock. That routinely includes bread, milk, cheese, chips, cooking oil, gravy powder, curry powder, salt, tinfoil, pepper, and so on. Ms McCaffrey responded that, if that was so, it would be a matter of grave concern to me. Mr McSharry went on to project spending and costs figures, which he calculated to garner a profit of 1,715, 500 for a calendar year. We need to bear in mind that my information is that all these other things are routinely drawn from central prison stores, he said. We know they do not pay anything for heat or light. We know the chefs and prisoners who help are not paid from their funds; the Irish Prison Service pays them from the central funds. There is no rent and there are no staffing costs. Ms McCaffrey can correct me if I am wrong in this. My research indicates the mess committees have no memoranda of articles of association. They have no rules. They are not registered charities. They are not limited companies. The Comptroller and Auditor General, the top accountant in the State, is present. He can tell me if I am off the wall in my very crude calculation. "They may have at their disposal in the region of 1,715,500 in profit, subsidised by taxpayers payment of resources for the Irish Prison Services stores, staff costs, heat, and light. Nobody audits that money. Nobody knows where it goes and nobody knows what it is used for. The chair of the PAC, Sean Fleming, pointed out that the figures were speculative, but auditing of the mess committees may be worth pursuing. The Comptroller and Auditor General, Seamus McCarthy, said the model used in examining finances at the Garda training college in Templemore was a good example of how something like the mess committees should be audited. I have been through the Templemore inquiry and this matter puts Templemore into the hapenny place, Mr McSharry said, referencing the scandal of mismanagement of finances in Templemore exposed last year. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr McSharry said his research came from a number of sources, that he was continuing to gather information, and he would be pursuing the matter at the PAC. His comments and analysis of the figures didnt go down well with some elements of the Prison Officers Association (POA). Assistant secretary general of the POA, Gabriel Keaveny, told Ocean FM that the deputys comments could jeopardise, seriously damage, or dilute [canteen] service or prompt the prison service to close [canteens] down. Mr Keaveny said the deputy also raised issues with heat and light in relation to the mess committees. Does he expect us to live in a dark cave? Mr Keaveny said. The deputy denied that he wanted to deprive any prison officer of a hot meal and pointed out that prison officers were approaching him with information. If the PAC does decide to audit the mess committees, the results will be fascinating to observe, irrespective of the outcome. RP ODonnell is convinced the app-based taxi system would, as Jim Daly TD suggests, be a godsend for rural Ireland. Whenever I have a good idea, I like to broadcast it loudly and publicly, to as many people as possible. Then, if somebody else proposes the same idea at a later time, I can get my peerss admiration without any of the actual bother. I call this move the Patterson. The James Patterson, after the New York author and philanthropist. I enjoy a bit of Patterson at dinner parties. My partner, however, does not. When I start badgering our guests with ideas like, replacing all public hedgerow with broccoli, she will give me a series of stern looks. Failing this, if Im really immersed in the health benefits of easily accessible roadside vegetables, she will march me by the elbow to a small, quiet corner of the room. I never notice. This is how I found myself repeatedly pitching the idea that Uber would be a godsend for rural Ireland, to what I thought was a rapturous audience, but was in fact just a small houseplant. I cant begin to tell you how many times I proposed it. Now that Jim Daly TD has proposed the same, alas, Ive won only the admiration of a shrubbery. But still, its a great idea. Its a bit strange, however, that a TD is proposing an app. Shouldnt they be proposing legislation to combat the real problems behind rural isolation that draconian learner driver regulations are coupled with a three-month-long waiting list for full licence tests; that the price of car insurance for a young person is skyrocketing to the point of extortion; and that Shane Ross exists, and speaks? Why stop with just one app? Why not apps for all of our countrys problems? For example, a streaming app for church services call it NotAPriest. I have an idea for Simon Harris, to help solve the trolley crisis its a Tinder-style app, to free up beds. Hats off to Daly though; his Uber-style app is a realistic and clever solution to a serious problem. I lived in Boston, where Uber is massive. And not just in the city, but in the small surrounding towns. Compared to taxis, it was infinitely cheaper and more flexible. Jim Daly But there was a more important benefit. To get a taxi, you had to be where the taxis were. In my hometown, we were too small to have any. If you wanted a taxi and you really had to want one it would take ages and cost you your childrens inheritance. Uber solved all of these problems. Suddenly, people who never wouldve dreamed of taking a taxi were taking an Uber into town regularly. To go to the library, or to get drunk and frisky sometimes both. Sometimes simultaneously. But Uber is not without its problems. I myself have been chased down the street by a screaming Uber driver just because he, as the driver with a working satnav, got us lost. Bad experiences are not uncommon either. Ubers driver screening process is terrible. Another problem Uber relies on satnav, which relies on clearly defined roads. A bit of a wobble there for rural areas, Im afraid. Im not sure if youve been to the country recently, but out here, we like our evenings long and with a bit of a stretch in them, and we like our roads ambiguous and in the general shape of a horseshoe. Along with this, as Daly noted in his proposal, the existing legislation doesnt allow for the service anyway. But would it work to combat rural isolation, as Daly proposed? Daly thinks so. As he said, Its not just about drink-driving, its about people wanting to go to the shop, to the cinema, or to go anywhere. Thats what rural isolation is feeling helpless and alone because you cant take part in normal, daily life. Me? I must admit Im torn. Theres one major difference between mine and Dalys plans. I said Uber should come in, not an Uber-style app handled by the government. Ubers main benefit is its low rates. The Irish Government isnt exactly known for keeping costs down. This is the Government, after all, who spent 16m to rent an empty building, and are building a 1.5 billion monument to incompetence. (And spending another 450,000 to figure out how they managed that.) The Government should probably be focusing on curing the underlying problems of crises, instead of treating the symptoms But thats not going to happen. And anyway, its the Digital Age if progress cant be made through legislation, well, theres an app for that. Uber, Air BnB, and many other successful apps arose to fill a need that traditional businesses couldnt. In this age, we might as well get used to everyone trying their hand at apps, including the government. And, for what its worth, Dalys app is a great idea. Even my houseplant agrees. Its effective: it keeps pedestrians safe, reduces drink-driving and counters isolation all while putting a few quid in driverss pockets, so they can go a fraction less into catastrophic debt when they renew their insurance. Now, if youll excuse me, I have a Pokemon Go-style app to pitch to Eoghan Murphy. (If people arent in their houses, they cant notice that they havent got one.) Last weeks column on the impact of modern farming on wildlife brought reaction from a number of readers who also felt the Bride River Project, in east Cork that we mentioned might be a model for others, writes Donal Hickey. A man we met in Freemount, Co Cork, asked if we had recently seen that beautiful small bird, the yellowhammer, once widespread in Ireland. The answer was no, sadly. Aptly enough, Tom Lynch, a leading member of Clare Birdwatch, also instanced the plight of the same bird. Loss of farmland habitat is generally agreed to be the main cause of its decline in the last half-century. In a 2018 Birdwatch survey, Michael Bell used bird atlas maps to illustrate that decline. According to maps, the yellowhammer was to be found almost everywhere, around 1970, but is now largely confined to the eastern side of the country and is red-listed for conservation. In the Bride project, farmers are paid to maintain hedgerows, ditches and wildflowers and there would surely be support for extending this conservation template to other places. The yellowhammer does well in tillage areas and Ennis-based Tom suggests farmers should be encouraged to grow a little grain and leave winter stubble. The fact that a small number of farmers are growing barley to feed sheep, in the Tubber area of the Burren, is helping to maintain the only flock of yellowhammers in Clare, Limerick or Kerry, though a smallish number at 60 pairs or so, he says. Hard to believe that yellowhammers were as common as robins a few short years ago, says Toms. In these matters its always worth keeping an eye on whats happening in England where the Countryside Restoration Trust, a charity, is leading the way in promoting wildlife-friendly farming. Over the past 25 years, it has been gradually assembling arable farmland and its headquarters is Lark Rise Farm, in Cambridgeshire, where it has in the trusts own words transformed a wildlife desert into a productive, 400-acre arable farm which now teems with wildlife. Lark Rise now has many skylarks, as well as other breeding birds that are rare elsewhere, such as barn owls and grey partridges. Farmland flowers, including bee orchids, are evident once again; brown hares have returned and otters have recolonised the stream system. All this has been achieved using smaller field sizes, crop rotation, leaving over-wintering stubble, beetle banks, wildlife strips and planting almost 9km of new hedgerows, with the aid of numerous volunteers. In many parts of rural England, people take justifiable pride in their traditional hedge-laying skills. Any sightings of yellowhammers in Clare can be related to www.clarebirdwatching.com John Coffey runs Uneeda Bookshop at 71, Oliver Plunkett St in Cork. The shop sells second-hand books and also vinyl records, cassettes, CDs and DVDs, writes Marjorie Brennan. How long have you been in business? I was about 25 years across the road and Im here about 28. I had to leave the other place; this was an antique shop owned by the Crowley sisters and they had just put it on the market. How did you get into it? I went to school in the South Monastery. I left school, with no qualifications of any description but I loved books. I worked as a messenger boy, on a building site, in the IAWS [Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society], and Goodbodys on Andersons Quay. They made hessian bags, and I was in charge of the turner, you would turn them inside them out, clean them, and repair them for the farmers for the harvest. That all changed when the plastic took over. I started the bookselling up in Barrack Street, I had a shop up there when I was in my late 20s. Im 87 now so you can do the maths. It was a bit of a struggle. I had to buy all the books, no one would give you anything for nothing then. I went from the top of Barrack St to the bottom of Barrack St. Then the corporation threw us out of there. I went directly across the road. I was had three places on Barrack St, three on Oliver Plunkett St, one in MacCurtain St, one on Cornmarket St. How has business changed? Drastically. What is saving this shop is the return of vinyl. Vinyl is keeping my door open. Although there is something happening in the last six months or so, the sale of my books is going up. People are giving up the electronic readers and going back to the paper book in the hand. We have a saying in this trade that a house without books is like a room without windows. I have always loved books. I could read before I went to school. And I learned from the Dandy and the Beano. Lord Snooty, Desperate Dan, I know them all. What has helped you stay in the business for so long? My main rule has always been the same. If someone buys something, you have to stand over it. Its second-hand but if a customer brings something back I dont question it. I give them back the money, no argument. When I started in this business, second-hand book and record shops had a terrible reputation. They had this attitude that you were out to do them.I fought that all my life. If anyone I had a problem, I gave them their money back. I keep the people as customers then. I also know books. Theres nothing in that window thats not saleable. I have an innate understanding of what people will or wont buy. I get a few that are shelf-keepers but then I cut them down in price. A lot of people dont realise that all these shops like mine are gone. The Lee Bookstore, Connollys. when I started out, there were about 20 or 30 of them. Over the years, what closed them was the charity shops. You could go there and get three books for a euro. I cant compete against that. The only way I can compete against that is to have decent books. I know books so I can give people advice. Also, if you asked me for a particular book, Id know if it was on the shelf. I have a good memory, thank God. John Coffey. Picture: Larry Cummins. What genres are popular? Mills and Boon are my bestsellers. A lot of people think commerce runs the world it doesnt. Romance rules the world. Do you find being a bookseller rewarding? I love it. Whats the alternative to what Im doing here? Sitting home watching the gogglebox. Im here, meeting people, talking to people, I love it. Do you ever come across rare books or first editions? Not really. Although around Ireland, there is a bunch of people called twitchers. Most people think twitchers are birdwatchers but it also applies to book watchers. I can tell who they are when they come in. They go around Ireland and they know what the rare books are worth. Theyll be ten minutes going around the shop and theyll have anything rare picked out. But theyre nice people and they do know their books. Theres not many of them around now, they seem to be a dying breed. Picture: Larry Cummins. What books do you enjoy reading yourself? [Takes a book from out under the counter] This author, Fred Vargas, is actually a French lady. I have never read the likes of it in all my life. It was recommended by a lad who came in here who had all her books. He loans them to me. This is the third one [Seeking Whom He May Devour]. Theyre thrillers set in France, youd love it. I love science fiction as well, and the cowboys, especially Louis LAmour. Whats the secret of your success? A thick neck and durability. Jason Williamson may not want to be the spokesman of his generation, but Sleaford Mods still have more to say than most other bands, writes Ellie OByrne. When hes performing as part of post-austerity punk duo Sleaford Mods, Jason Williamson is a snarling, posturing creature, a conduit for rage and frustration. But over the phone, hes gentle and genuine, taking time to consider each question and his responses. Maybe the contrast is just the difference between real life and his stage persona or maybe just maybe hes mellowing a little? Yeah, well, theres only so much you can scream about, really, Williamson says, sighing. Eton Alive, the Nottingham duos latest album, certainly contains several songs that kick against the Mods usual minimalist formula of bass-heavy beats from Andrew Fearn, the other half of the outfit, overlaid with Williamsons trademark rants on the ugliness and injustices of modern Britain. Sleaford Mods distinctive self- described spitnsawdust aggro act first started making real waves in 2014. They generated a loyal following amongst fans in the UK and further afield in Europe, who, it seems, saw their lives reflected in the grimy mirror Williamsons lyrics held up. Its sweary, shouty, energising music but in another way, despair-laden. Although he had been in several bands, Williamson was in his forties and had worked a variety of dead-end jobs, including chicken factories and knicker-packaging warehouses, before teaming up with Fearn and starting to pen the gritty material that provides a rare commentary on austerity Britain. Pre Order Eton Alive The new album out February 22nd on Extreme Eating. Also check Flipside the album taster. https://t.co/DmSOonIUN0 pic.twitter.com/LM9DDRRj08 Sleaford Mods (@sleafordmods) December 24, 2018 PUNK POET As a lyricist, Williamson is inventive in his invective, almost aligned with punk poets like John Cooper Clarke or the current wave of spoken word artists like Kate Tempest; a published collection of Sleaford Mods lyrics, Grammar Wanker, reads like rough-hewn poetry. In a 2015 documentary on the band, Iggy Pop is featured reading aloud some of the lewder turns of phrase and chuckling to himself. Eton Alive, set for release in late February, has singles that remain true to form, but B-sides like Discourse and When You Come Up To Me are decidedly more introspective and musical and see Williamson wrap his vocal chords around a style that he describes as more singy. I was listening to a lot of 1980s soul and song-based stuff on tour. Alexander ONeill, Luther Vandross, Chaka Khan. The grime and the hiphop are still in there, but it was a definite decision. Sonically, too, the album stretches its wings, with Fearn incorporating everything from marimba-eque synths to a kazoo. Williamson says they are conscious of having to push the boundaries to keep their sound fresh. We certainly get the impression from some people that all we do is repeat ourselves, and it might feel to the uninterested that we sound the same all the time, but we dont; it moves with each album. Fearn and Williamson are prolific collaborators, releasing seven albums since they first joined forces in 2012. Onstage, theres a calculated theatrical element to Fearns presence. His sole job is to press play on his laptop, after which he normally slugs a can of beer and nods along to the music as Williamson contorts, twitches and roars: they are polar opposites, twin stars of calm and rage. Its such a marked contrast that when Williamson took a pot shot at Noel Gallagher in the press, calling him an elitist apologist, Gallagher responded by referring to them as two guys, one clearly mentally ill. INDIE AGAIN Having signed a deal with record label Rough Trade in 2015, the Mods have returned to their independent roots just one album and one EP later, forming their own label, Extreme Eating, for their forthcoming release. Williamson says there are no hard feelings over their split with Rough Trade. We just wanted to go independent again, so we just left. he says. I didnt want to upset them or piss them off, but some of us felt we operated better independently. PERSONAL TOUCH These days, Williamson lives in Sherwood with his wife Claire and their two children. With the heavy social commentary running through Williamsons lyrics, one might expect hed be happy to be described in the press as a sort of modern-day Robin Hood, robbing music from the rich to give to the poor, but he says hes not a mouthpiece for a class or a generation: his music is, he says, purely personal. At the same time, it is intensely political. Even the album title Eton Alive is a purposeful attack on Britains class structures, a reference to how Britains poor are at the mercy of the privileged in the climate of fear that has emerged after the Brexit referendum. These are ideas and policies shaped by people who have been educated in places like Eton, he says. Why is there a place where people go to be educated and they arent any more intelligent than you and me, and then they get into government and pass terrible policies? Its just insane. Sleaford Mods upcoming Irish dates are: February 7 in The Limelight in Belfast; February 8 in The Academy in Dublin; February 9 in The Roisin Dubh in Galway; and February 10 in Dolans Warehouse in Limerick. Five tracks to check out: Jolly F**ker A pacy rant from the duos 2014 Chubbed Up album that falls on the punk end of the bands sonic spectrum. Most of the lyrics are unquotable here, but it does include the memorable lines Baa baa crack sheep, have you any rock. Tweet Tweet Tweet From 2014s Divide and Exit, this track takes aim at the dual targets of the inanity of social media and Britains worsening race relations: This is the human race, UKIP and your disgrace, Chopped heads on London streets, All you zombies tweet, tweet, tweet. Jobseeker A song thats been doing the rounds since an earlier incarnation of Sleaford Mods without Andrew Hearn, Williamson charts the frustration of being a numbered jobseeker in the dole queue. B.H.S. From English Tapas, the only album to emerge from their stint with Rough Trade, B.H.S. nails the sinking-ship despair of the I, Daniel Blake generation. BHS was a chain of department stores that closed in 2016: Were going down like BHS, While the abled bodied vultures monitor and pick at us. Kebab Spider Andrew Fearn works his bass riff magic on the catchy freshly released single for their next album. Despite the slightly lower-key direction of the album as a whole, Kebab Spider is sure to go down well with original fans of the more angsty edge of their sound. Des O'Driscoll has you covered on things to do this week. THE IRISH REVOLUTION The first episode of the three-part Cillian Murphy-narrated documentary on the period from 1916-22 in Ireland. Tonight, RTE One, 9.35pm The Irish Revolution Cillian Murphy narrates a documentary marking the centenary of the Irish War of Independence Monday 9.35pm pic.twitter.com/z5tfSMANDJ RTE One (@RTEOne) February 1, 2019 GREEN BOOK Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen star in the Oscar-nominated true tale of a black musician being driven around by a white chauffeur in the Deep South in the 1950s. Cinemas nationwide AESYNTH Four-day festival exploring the world of synaesthesia and its links to creativity. In-spire Galerie, Dublin, Thurs-Sun DES BISHOP The Irish-American comedian returns to his old homeplace of Cork for two performances. Fri-Sat, Everyman QUARTER BLOCK PARTY The Cork festival based around North and South Main streets has been beefed up this year, with an eclectic mix of gigs and other arts events. Friday to Sunday, Cork Fresh attempts by British prime minister Theresa May to reopen the backstop agreement have been shot down by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar ahead of an expected show of solidarity from the EU this week. While open to listening to Ms Mays proposals over the Brexit standoff, Mr Varadkar again struck down claims that technology was a solution, warning that this would still create a hard border. Support for Irelands refusal to renegotiate the Brexit withdrawal agreement and the backstop clause preventing a border in the North will be stepped up this week. European Affairs Minister Helen McEntee will today accompany Dutch foreign affairs minister Stef Blok to the border region near Dundalk, Co Louth. This follows a similar visit here by the German justice minister Katarina Barley last week. Mr Varadkar will also discuss renewed support for Irelands position by member states with European Council president Donald Tusk in Brussels on Wednesday, as well as preparations for a no-deal scenario with commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. Other meetings could take place with EU figures. While support is strong for Dublins determination to hold the line on the backstop insurance policy to prevent a hard border, there is now growing talk in Government circles about how and when Brexit can be delayed. Mr Varadkar reiterated that Britain could remove the spectre of it crashing out of the union. They can take a no-deal off the table when they want, he told RTEs This Week. British foreign affairs minister Jeremy Hunt had hinted last Thursday, in addition to confirming there would be alternative proposals for the Irish border in the days ahead, that an extension to the Brexit process beyond March 29 might be required. Ms May is expected to seek alternatives from the EU this week, following a vote by MPs in Westminster last week to renegotiate terms around the backstop. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, she said she would be battling for Britain when she returns to Brussels to seek a pragmatic Brexit deal. She still insisted there would be no new hard border. Ms May is due to report back to the House of Commons on her negotiations with the EU on February 13, with a further series of votes by MPs expected the following day. Nonetheless, Mr Varadkar has insisted Ireland and the EU would not countenance any reopening of the existing divorce deal for Britain. Of course we will listen to the prime minister and the suggestions she will put forward, but my concern is when they talk about alternative arrangements, they are talking about revisiting things that have already been rejected and that is not going to work, he said. British home secretary Sajid Javid suggested that a technological solution could do away with the backstop with a bit of goodwill from Europe. Such plans were being worked on, Mr Javid said. Mr Varadkar immediately shot down fresh talk of technology preventing a hard border, an option rejected by the EU during the original Brexit talks. A doctor has gone on trial accused of sexually assaulting a teenage patient over 20 years ago. Kevin Mulcahy (aged 61) of Creggane, Lombardstown, Mallow, Co Cork, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to sexually assaulting a woman in his surgery in Mallow, Co Cork, on a date in 1995. He also denies a second count of sexual assault at the same location on a date between May 8, 1996, and December 31, 1996. The complainant, now aged 41, told Maddie Grant BL, prosecuting, that she was 17 in 1995 when her brother became worried about her after a death in the family and suggested she attend a doctor. She said she didn't really know what was wrong with her but she was asleep a lot. She said at the beginning of the check-up with Dr Mulcahy he asked her to take her clothes off. She hesitated but thought to herself he is a doctor and then stripped down to her underwear. I felt very naked and uncomfortable. He examined around my breasts. He felt around them. He pressed around them with his hands." Inside I felt it was inappropriate but I didn't say anything. I felt very uncomfortable, she testified. She told Ms Grant that she didn't recall if the doctor diagnosed her with anything. She said if he gave her a prescription she would have given it to her older brother, who had come to the surgery with her. The woman said that during subsequent visits Dr Mulcahy would sit with his legs apart and rock her back and forth while pressing into her. She said he would tell her it's what a loving dad does to a child. She said he would try to kiss her and she would resist. I didn't like it, didn't understand it. I would go out of my body, she said. The complainant said the last incident of assault took place when she attended Dr Mulcahy in the summer of 1996. He came around to my side. His penis was exposed. He brought my hand over to touch it. He said he'd teach me, she told the court. She said she just kept looking at the door to the surgery and wanted to get out of the room. The trial continues before Judge Pauline Codd and a jury of six men and six women and will run for a week. The Government was under pressure to curb citizenship rights for Irish-born children because of concerns over international terrorism, newly released cabinet records have revealed. In 2004, the Government held a referendum to end automatic citizenship rights to anyone born in Ireland, a decision that came under the spotlight in recent months. Cabinet records from the time now explain the precise thinking behind the referendum with the Department of Justice saying it would ease strains on hospitals and improve availability of services for legal residents. Citizenship ceremony. File photo. A secret nine-page memorandum for Government said granting citizenship to anybody born in Ireland irrespective of where their parents came from was unique in the European Union, and unusual world-wide. It said it made Ireland an attractive target destination for anybody looking for residency in the EU. The memorandum released following an FOI request also said that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Irelands law on citizenship for children born here was a major risk. It said: There are serious concerns that Irelands unique situation among EU member states in regard to citizenship could have serious implications for the integrity of our own immigration controls and for national and international security. [This] could make Ireland a target destination for those wishing, for whatever reason, to secure residence within the EU. In one section, the memo said the department wanted to eliminate the attractiveness of Ireland for migrants. It said that becoming a parent of an Irish-born child attracts greater entitlements than anywhere else in the European Union. This will inevitably remain an attraction for non-nationals to come to Ireland to give birth, placing strains on our hospital services, attracting illegal immigration and creating long-term commitments for the State, it said. The minister [it was then Michael McDowell] is of the view that this attraction must now be eliminated. The secret memorandum said that the issue would be better dealt with by a referendum and that any costs involved in holding a national vote were dwarfed by the money being spent on the asylum system. The documents said it cost more than 340m to process and maintain asylum seekers. The referendum has come into renewed focus over recent months as some of the children born in Ireland around the time have faced deportation. In one case, Eric Zhi Ying Xue a nine-year-old boy from Bray, Co Wicklow faced removal from the State despite having been here for his entire life. His case was taken on by Health Minister Simon Harris who said: The idea that a nine-year-old boy who is as much from Wicklow as I am would be told that he is going back to China, a country he had never been to, was simply ludicrous. A speed gene can be used to identify whether racehorses are better suited to short, middle or long distance races. The effects of the gene were tested by matching it to the race records of more than 1,700 thoroughbred horses in Britain and Ireland. Lead author of the study Professor Emmeline Hill, associate professor of Equine Science at UCD, said the research established a clear relationship between the speed gene and a horses career earnings by distance. The gene test enables an accurate prediction of a horse's optimal race distance by examining its DNA. Of the three possible test results, C:C horses are more suited to shorter races, C:T horses to middle distance races and T:T horses to longer distance races. "This research shows that racehorses overperformed in their optimum distance ranges and underperformed in races for which they were not genetically suited, she said. Furthermore, the performance among all Speed Gene types consistently deteriorated as the race distance diverged from the predicted optimal distance." Professor Hill said a random sampling of horses at each distance would be expected to win the equivalent percentage of available prize-money. But the reality is C:C horses disproportionately outperformed in terms of prize-money in races under one mile, C:T horses outperformed in 9 to 15 furlong races, while T:T horses excelled in longer distance races, she said. Some trainers may be missing a trick by competing horses over unsuitable distances. Many still rely on pedigree, which is not an accurate indicator, as middle distance horses can produce both sprinters and stayers. That is the nature of how genetic inheritance can work." In the study C:C horses represented 71% of three-year-old runners in five to six furlong races. However, these horses won 89% of the available prize money, representing a relative overperformance of 25%. By contrast 28% of the runners at this distance, 100 horses in total, were C:T type. However, these horses won just 11% of the prize money available, a relative underperformance of 61% and a considerable potential earnings loss for the owners and trainers of those 100 horses. Professor Hill said the key value of the speed gene test is that it provides a means to accurately predict a horse's optimal race distance as soon as the foal is born, independent of age or training status. This enables optimised training and race planning and we have now shown that this will have clear economic benefits for owners and trainers." A retired surgeon accused of groping a number of boys in his care said he had no memory whatsoever of any of the seven complainants, a jury has heard. Michael Shine (aged 86) of Ballsbridge, Dublin has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 13 charges of indecent assault allegedly committed during medical examinations at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth, and at two private clinics in Drogheda. On the thirteenth day of the trial, Mr Shine told Hugh Hartnett SC, defending, that he began working at Lourdes hospital in March of 1964 and continued to do so until 1995. Mr Shine said he had no memory whatsoever of ever treating any of the seven complainants in the case. He denied ever doing anything improper during examinations on any of the seven men. He said that he had written a paper with a colleague on the frequent misdiagnosis of infection in cases of testicular torsion. He said that when checking testicles for torsion or cancer, he examined patients as required, fully as required. Mr Shine said it is necessary to touch the testicles during an examination following surgery for testicular torsion. He said it is not necessary to touch the penis, but because it is beside the testicles a doctor cannot really avoid touching it. He said it was impossible that he masturbated a young patient in a hospital bed after operating on him, as he would have been in the children's ward and he would not see any child without a nurse being present. Mr Hartnett asked Mr Shine what he had to say about Bernadette Sullivan (of the patient advocacy group Dignity 4 Patients) and the campaign against him. Mr Shine said that he knew Ms Sullivan as she had been a nurse in the hospital almost all the time he had worked there. Mr Shine said that Ms Sullivan came to see him as a patient in the 1980s. He said that at that time insurance companies asked him to examine people injured in road traffic accidents. He said he tended to give them the benefit of every doubt, but that in cases involving complaints of whiplash he knew in his heart and soul that 90% were false. He said that Ms Sullivan's complaints were over, over the top. The trial continues tomorrow before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury. A lecturer at Cork Institute of Technology has brought a High Court challenge aimed at setting aside a decision by the college to dismiss him from his post. Brian McNamara has brought the proceedings against CIT, the Minister for Education and Skills, Ireland and the Attorney General over a decision to dismiss him from his post as a piano lecturer at the Cork School of Music, which became part of CIT. He claims that he has not been lawfully dismissed by CIT. Mr McNamara, who has taught piano in Ireland at the Royal Irish Academy, and the Dublin College of Music and France is concerned about the damage the purported dismissal will have on his reputation. He was suspended on pay from his position in 2012 following complaints of alleged gross misconduct from students. Following an internal inquiry, some of the allegations against him were deemed to be well founded, and it was recommended that he be dismissed from the post he had held since 1993. That decision was upheld following an appeal. Mr McNamara, represented in the High Court by Michael McGrath SC, claims the appeal hearing was unfair, and in breach of constitutional justice. Following the determination of the appeal, Mr McNamara sought to have his case heard by the Minister for Education over what he claims were defects in the disciplinary procedures adopted by CIT. Mr McNamara of The Heights, Broadale, Cork, claims he cannot be removed from his position without the Minister's consent. He also claims that under the 1930 and 1944 Vocational Education Acts he is entitled to an oral hearing before the Minister into the complaints he has about the CIT disciplinary process His lawyers furnished submissions to the Minister in March 2018. Last November Mr McNamara was informed the Minister was not in a position to grant or withhold consent in regards to CIT's decision to dismiss the lecturer due to the enactment of the 2018 Technological Universities Act. CIT had sought the Minister's consent for his client's dismissal, counsel said. As the Minister's consent was no longer required, CIT confirmed in its letter last month to Mr McNamara its decision to dismiss him. Arising out of that decision Mr McNamara seeks orders quashing the CIT's decision of January 25th last to dismiss him. He also seeks an order requiring the Minister for Education hold an inquiry and make a decision on the issues that resulted in his 2012 suspension. He further seeks a declaration that he cannot be lawfully dismissed without an order to that effect being made by the Minister for Education and damages. Permission to bring the proceedings against both CIT, the Minister and the State was granted, on an ex parte basis, by Mr Justice Seamus Noonan today. The Judge also placed a stay on the decision to dismiss Mr McNamara pending the outcome of the proceedings. The case was adjourned to a date in late March. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has said nurses must be prepared to dig in for the long haul, ahead of two further days of strikes this week. More than 30,000 members of the INMO will take to the picket lines again tomorrow and Thursday, when further services will be brought into the strike. The number of services affected has been increased from 80 to 240, with respite services in intellectual disability and care of the elderly now included. The INMO announced two additional strike dates at the weekend February 19 and 21, in addition to February 5 and 7, and February 12, 13 and 14. The fight to achieve parity of esteem with our peer group of degree-level health professionals is difficult and challenging and we must be prepared to dig in for the long haul, said INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha. Next Tuesday and Thursday (Feb 5 and 7) we will repeat the 24-hour strikes unless the Government come to the table and provide a negotiating platform from which a solution can be achieved, she said. Ms Ni Sheaghdha said the national rally to be held on Saturday in Dublin is to show the Government that the public stood with them. We know from polls that 74% of the public support our strike, she said. She also hit out at the Government for not engaging directly with them. Ministers regularly say in the media that they are available for talks, but the Government has still not taken any initiative to resolve this dispute. The Psychiatric Nurses Associations 6,000 nurse members will not be available to work overtime on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and plan to strike over three days next week. Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the pay issue could be looked at again, but he was not convinced it would produce a different outcome. Mr Varadkar said the nurses had technically breached the public service stability agreement by going on strike, but the Government was not planning to sanction them. The sense we have in Government is that it would make it provocative and make it harder to resolve this dispute, he said on RTE radio. At a certain point, we will have to treat the nurses the same as we treated the secondary school teachers. It would not be fair to treat the secondary school teachers differently than the nurses. Mr Varadkar said he knew that the nurses had enormous public support and did not think that support would diminish over the next couple of weeks, so the Government wanted a resolution. We have, through the Public Pay Commission, already examined nursing and midwifery pay and yes, we can do so again but I am not convinced it will produce a different outcome, he said. The HSE has warned that all out-patient, in-patient and day surgery appointments will be cancelled if tomorrows industrial action goes ahead. A spokesperson for the HSE said it remained available to engage in any efforts to avert industrial action. We are continuing to engage with the INMO to put in place arrangements for the safe provision of services in advance of Tuesdays strike. Meanwhile, the National Association of General Practitioners has warned there may be limited access to GP services on Wednesday when hundreds of GPs protest outside the Dail over cuts to the sector. Update 2.10pm: The Chairman of the Oireachtas health committee Dr Michael Harty is calling on the Minister for Health Simon Harris to step up and take political responsibility for the overrun of 450million in the cost of the national childrens hospital. There hasnt been responsibility or accountability by the Departments of Health and Public Expenditure and Reform, he told RTEs News at One. Dr Michael Harty We need to see what is happening with those departments. I am very anxious to talk to the secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to see how that decision was come to. Dr Harty said that the department would have had to approve the overrun of 450million, so there is a need to find out the level of its involvement. He said it seemed unbelievable that the departments representative on the hospital development board did not report what he knew (about the overrun) to the Minister. I cant understand that. Dr Harty also expressed amazement that both the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health were giving priority to projects in the constituencies of two Independent Alliance junior ministers. It seems extraordinary that they would be given priority. There were many other projects such as co-locating the two maternity hospitals, overcrowding at Limerick University Hospital, nursing homes and primary care centres. He called on the Government to just start getting Slaintecare off the ground. It was being put on the long finger and the knock-on effects were going to be even greater, he warned. 'Not on my watch': Health Minister will not pause building of National Children's Hospital Update 11.15am: The cost of not proceeding with the national childrens hospital would not be worth it is the opinion of the Minister for Health Simon Harris. He said he has every intention of taking political responsibility for the escalating costs, and will do anything, short of letting the project be jeopardised. Costs will be reined in, he told RTEs Today with Sean ORourke show, without having an impact on childrens safety. Yes, it is costing more than we would like, but not doing it would be worse. He said the PWC report will quickly determine where the weaknesses and where blame lies, the Government can then take action. PWC cannot sanction individuals, their job is to identify weaknesses, it is up to us to sanction. The Minister admitted that he had been surprised on Saturday when the Chair of the hospital development board, Tom Costello, announced he was stepping down from the position. He denied that he had anything to do with Mr Costellos decision even though they had met on Friday evening. I wasnt expecting it on Saturday. Tom made his own decision. Mr Harris said that he and Mr Costello had both been aware that his (Mr Costellos) name was being bandied about. A witch hunt was not desirable, he said. There needs to be due process, he added. Clearly something went wrong. Yes, basic things went wrong. Quantities were completely off. When questioned, the Minister said he had first known about a potential over run in August, but it was November before he was informed of the amount. Suggestions that the project should be paused would not happen, he said. Not on my watch. Members of the Opposition were duty bound to say what they would have done, he said. He remains determined to get the best possible deal for the Irish taxpayer. He rejected the suggestion that details of the escalation in costs had not been revealed sooner because of the threat of a general election. That is the most ridiculous charge. Mr Harris said it would be a scandal if the hospital did not go ahead. This hospital is underway. There are brick on bricks. The James site is the right site. Weve got to get this right, children have been waiting for generations. Labour party health spokesperson Alan Kelly said it was stretching incredulity to say that the government department representatives on the hospital development board did not notify the Minister sooner of escalating costs. Political accountability at the top is going to be questioned. There were protocols in place for public servants on boards, he said the Minister should read those guidelines. Mr Kelly said was surprised at the lack of oversight. The Minister took his eye off the ball. In the space of a few months the amount went up 450million. Both government departments were asleep at the wheel on this the biggest project ever undertaken in the State. Mr Kelly said the project had gone too far to change site. We need the hospital, I desperately want to see that. Earlier: Government urged to consider alternative sites for new National Children's Hospital Update 7.22am: Fianna Fails health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly wants the terms of reference for the PWC review of escalating costs for the National Childrens Hospital to be expanded to include the feasibility of moving the project to another site. It would be useful to address that aspect, if nothing else, but out of respect for those raising the issue, he told RTEs Morning Ireland. He repeated that he did not have confidence in the hospital development board after its chairman Tom Costello stepped down on Saturday citing concern for the reputational damage to the project. Mr Donnelly added that he would not be surprised to see more resignations from the board. On Sunday Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that the Government had looked at the terms of reference of the review currently being conducted by consultants PWC and decided to revise them to enable it to find individuals accountable for cost overruns, if this was the case. Mr Donnelly said that the escalating cost of the childrens hospital could have devastating knock-on effect on other health projects. In a normal hospital the cost is 1million per bed, for the childrens hospital it is currently at 3.7million per bed. He said that accountability is important, but what was more important was getting costs down. Mr Donnelly said he still believed that the St James hospital site was the wrong location. Trying to fit a major project on a six acre site when there were 90 acres available at the Connolly hospital was wrong. It would be useful for PWC to address this issue too. He welcomed the Taoiseachs announcement about culpability. You cant run a country where no one is held to account. People are scared of lawyers. Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe says he believes information on the escalating cost of the national childrens hospital should have been made available to the Government earlier. He told RTEs Morning Ireland that he first became aware of the scale of the increase last November despite the fact that an official from his department is a member of the hospital development board. The officials responsibility was to the board itself, he was a member of a separate governance structure, explained the Minister. Yes, things should have been done differently. The Minister said he knew all of the individuals on the board and he was sure they took their responsibility very seriously and they were aware of the national importance of the project. He rejected a call from Fianna Fails health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly for PWCs review to include the possibility of relocating the hospital. Relocation was not possible at this stage he said because of the amount of progress on the St James site. Otherwise were facing years of delays. I believe the location is right. It was the subject of many clinical reviews. Mr Donohoe said that next week he would announce a list of capital projects that may be delayed because of the escalating cost of the childrens hospital. The amount involved for 2019 is 100million out of a capital expenditure of 1.4billion. The cost of the project will be easily contained this year. He said he is gravely concerned at the escalating cost, but warned that as high as the cost is, what is the price of better health outcomes for children? Almost two-thirds of properties owned by IDA Ireland are lying idle. The figures were revealed to Fianna Fails spokesman on Business, Enterprise, and Innovation, Billy Kelleher, in a parliamentary question. The data showed that 98 of the 152 properties owned by the IDA nationwide are lying idle. The figures, which are accurate as of the end of 2018, show a regional imbalance in attracting overseas companies to Ireland, according to Mr Kelleher. Of the 98 idle sites, there are 18 different locations in Co Cork, totalling some 323.3077 hectares. These Cork sites include the 57.53ha Kilbarry Business and Technology Park in Blackpool, just north of Cork city centre, as well as 165.86ha of idle land in Ringaskiddy. There are also two significant sites in Carrigtwohill in East Cork, totalling almost 76ha. The report also shows that there are six sites in Co Donegal, including 19.33ha in Letterkenny Business and Technology Park, seven sites in Co Dublin, four sites in Co Kilkenny, and six sites in Co Leitrim. There are two idle sites in Co Limerick, including the 71ha National Technology Park in Plassey, and 11 in Co Galway, which includes 92.4351ha in Athenry. The majority of these 98 properties are in places outside of Dublin and tend to be located in parts of the country that are crying out for any degree of foreign direct investment in their own community, said Mr Kelleher. In my own region, Kilbarry Business and Technology Park has remained empty for many years and, all the while, an adjacent site that encompasses some 56 hectares is idle. We keep hearing of how this Government intends on spreading regional jobs, but the reality on the ground tells us a different story. This is a substantial number of unused commercial properties that could be the ideal location for an overseas company, big or small, to relocate, post-Brexit. That potential must be recognised if we have any hope of it being maximised on. In its annual report for 2018, IDA Ireland stated that the number of people employed in IDA client companies had increased by 7% and that all regions of Ireland saw a boost. The numbers employed in IDA Ireland clients in the west of Ireland increased by 8% and the Midlands by 14%. Dublin (7%), the mid-east (7%), the mid-west (6%), the south-east (7%), and the south-west (5%) all saw increases also. Minister for Business, Enterprise, and Innovation Heather Humphreys defended the volume of unused properties. She said it is essential to have unoccupied property in order to attract new clients. The availability of an adequate supply of marketable serviced land and buildings in advance of demand is a key element in the IDAs ability to compete for mobile foreign direct investment, said Ms Humphreys. That is because the availability of property solutions to potential investors allows projects to begin at an earlier date by diminishing much of the difficulties associated with land acquisition, planning, and construction. It remains, therefore, an important means by which the IDA can encourage and attract new investors to Ireland, particularly to the regions. Ms Humphreys added that it is also important to remember that the final decision as to where to invest always rests with the company concerned. There may be limited access to GP services on Wednesday. Hundreds of doctors are taking to the streets to march on the Dail in a demonstration over what they claim is the complete meltdown of the health service. Dr Matt O'Toole of the National Association of General Practitioners says they are calling on the Government to immediately reverse cuts that were introduced during the recession. "What we're seeing is the very rapid demise of general practice. "General practice is currently in crisis and that can't be prevented. The State data watchdog is investigating the refusal of public bodies and private companies to properly spell Irish names after a television producer being treated for cancer alleged a breach of strict EU rules. Ciaran O Cofaigh, 51, is taking on the State after medics at University Hospital Galway, where he is getting radiotherapy treatment, told him they could not include the fadas on his name. The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has confirmed it is fully examining a complaint lodged last July by Mr O Cofaigh brother of broadcaster Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh against the HSE. It is also handling two similar complaints by the filmmaker against Bank of Ireland and its subsidiary New Ireland Assurance. It is understood the DPC is speaking with its European counterparts as well as Irelands Language Commissioner in an attempt to determine an official stance on the sineadh fada. Mr O Cofaigh believes the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) a set of far-reaching privacy and data protection rules brought in by the European Union last year gives people a legal right to have their names spelt correctly. Article 16 of GDPR states that citizens have the right to have inaccurate personal data held by organisations to be corrected without undue delay. Companies can be fined up to 20m, or up to 4% of its turnover, for failing to adhere to the rule. The maximum fine for public bodies is 1m, under the Data Protection Act. Mr O Cofaigh said the HSE, Bank of Ireland and New Ireland Assurance have refused to correct his name on records and correspondence. Fadas on Irish names are not an optional extra or a pretentious affectation, he said. They are a central, functional element of a persons proper name. My name without a fada isnt my name. Mr O Cofaigh said it is ironic that he has to look to European rules to assert his Irish identity. Im tired and fed up with the hypocrisy of the State and its odd relationship with the language. They claim it is important yet when it comes to the nitty gritty, it is of no importance. Graham Doyle, head of communications for the Data Protection Commission, said Article 16 of the GDPR clearly sets out the rights of a person to have their records corrected. In the case of the omission of fadas, the DPC is currently fully examining this matter, he added. The HSE admitted some computer software used in various HSE locations wont accept fadas. A sineadh fada, which is necessary to spell words properly, is an integral part of a persons given name and surname in Irish. The HSE is taking steps to ensure that, where it is possible, new software will have the capability to input the sineadh fada, a spokesperson added. A Bank of Ireland spokesman said it supports Irish-speaking customers as much as possible but added: Unfortunately, however, we are unable to show the fada on our systems we know this is a source of frustration for some customers and apologise for this which is due to technical restrictions. Last month, the National Transport Authority came under attack after it blamed technical limitations for refusing to include the fada on names of commuters using Leap cards. Summonses alleging assault causing harm in Kenmare, Co Kerry, arising from an alleged late-night incident in December 2017, were served over the weekend on two sons of Independent TD Michael Healy Rae, it has been confirmed. A third person is also facing charges. One of the men, Jackie Healy Rae, aged 23, has been a parliamentary assistant for his father since the age of 18. In late 2018, it was announced that Jackie Healy-Rae is to contest the local elections in the new four-seat Castleisland area this May. He is facing a charge of assaulting Kieran James, causing him harm, an offence contrary to Section 3 of the Non-fatal Offences Against the Person Act. The incident is alleged to have occurred on December 28, 2017, at Main St, Kenmare. He also faces a charge of common or Section 2 assault of Mr James, at East Park Lane, Kenmare, on the same night. In a summons served on Kevin Healy Rae, aged 21, he is accused of assaulting Mr James, causing harm, at Main St, Kenmare. Both brothers have an address at the family home in Sandymount, Kilgarvan. A third man, Malachy Scannell, aged 34, of Inchinacoosh, Kilgarvan, is also facing a charge of a Section 3 assault against Mr James on the night at Main St, Kenmare, and of allegedly assaulting another man, Cornelius OSullivan, and allegedly damaging glasses belonging to Mr OSullivan. Solicitor for the three men, Padraig OConnell, confirmed that his clients attended the garda station in Kenmare over the weekend, on a voluntary basis, to collect the summonses. Mr OConnell also confirmed that the cases are listed for the April sitting of a monthly court in Kenmare. The first issue, he said, will be the matter of jurisdiction, based on the directions of the DPP. It is the DPP who will direct whether the matter can remain at district court level to be dealt with, or whether it will have to be sent to the higher Circuit Court. Mr OConnell said his clients are steadfastly maintaining their innocence. They will be pleading not guilty, he said. Complaints of bullying and sexual harassment by gardai against fellow members of the force is at a seven-year high, according to figures released to the Irish Examiner. Gardai made 14 complaints of bullying in 2018, up from nine in 2017, and the highest since 2012, according to data released under the Freedom of Information Act. There was one complaint of sexual harassment the fourth time such an allegation has been made by one garda against another since 2012. In total, there have been 55 bullying complaints made since 2012, with that year, 2014, and 2017 previously marking the years with the highest number of complaints at nine each. Responding to the figures, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice said the Garda commissioner is responsible for carrying out and managing and controlling generally the administration and business of An Garda Siochana including all personnel matters, and the minister has no involvement in these matters. It said: The Garda commissioner is currently carrying out a review of the policies for dealing with bullying and harassment with a view to developing an integrated policy for civilian Garda staff and Garda members. This will ensure that any members and staff experiencing bullying and/or harassment at work will receive the best possible organisational support in dealing with such issues. The department said the Government has endorsed the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, and accepted all 157 key recommendations, including those in relation to a new policing culture and valuing the people of An Garda Siochana. The Government has endorsed the commissions clear vision for a modern, highly professional police service which values the wellbeing of its staff. Many of the recommendations will lead to a healthier police culture, said the department. These include ways to make the police organisation less hierarchical, more encouraging of innovation and local initiatives. The Garda Representative Association declined to comment on the figures. Update, February 6: Roland Mitchell has been found safe and well. Gardai in Galway are appealing for help to find a man missing since Saturday. 26-year-old Roland Mitchell from Fr Griffin Road, Galway, was last seen at 7pm on Saturday and was reported missing by his family who are concerned for his wellbeing. He is described as five foot 11 inches tall, of slight build with brown/sandy hair. When last seen he was wearing a black denim jacket, blue jeans and black shoes. Anyone with information is asked to contact Galway Garda Station 091 576257 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111. The president of the High Court has said the Department of Health must urgently address the clear defects in the processes being used for recruiting junior hospital doctors in hospitals nationwide. The Department "must get a grip" on this pattern of defects, which has implications for patient safety, "sooner rather than later", Mr Justice Peter Kelly said. He made the comments after making orders striking off the medical register here a Pakistani doctor who worked in hospitals in Mullingar and Tallaght and was found to have forged three glowing references from consultants in those hospitals to help him get highly placed registrar positions in emergency medicine. The judge separately struck off a Romanian doctor recruited by Dublin's Rotunda Hospital as an anaesthetic registrar in late 2015 on foot of her 2002 qualification for anaesthesia in Romania. Following an adverse outcome for a patient in the Rotunda, anaesthetic consultants became concerned and they administered a competency test to the doctor, normally applied to first year trainee students in anaesthesia after their first 12 weeks, which she "spectacularly" failed, the judge noted. These were not the first such cases before the court to expose defects in recruitment processes and he had previously drawn attention to those defects, he said. The Department of Health must have a concern about the integrity of the recruitment process because it is simply not fair that patients going into hospitals cannot repose confidence in doctors, he said. There is "something seriously wrong" if references are not validated, he said. Noting there is a dispute whether a locum agency is required to verify the qualification of doctors on a hospital payroll as well as on the agency's books, the judge said, when it comes to responsibility for checking references, there is no distinction between doctors. If a hospital is going to use any doctor, they must verify their competency and references, he said. JP McDowell, solicitor for the Medical Council, who had asked the court to confirm the cancellation of both doctor's registrations, said the Council shared the judge's concerns, is in talks with the HSE about the matter, and would ensure the court's concerns are drawn to the Department's attention. The first case before the judge yesterday (Mon) concerned Dr Syed Basit Ahmed, a doctor from Pakistan with an address at College Hill, Mullingar. He had worked in hospitals in Mullingar and Tallaght and the Council sought to have him struck off after he was found guilty of professional misconduct following an inquiry of the Council's Fitness to Practice Committee over forging three references in his favour in the names of three different consultants, one at Mullingar, and two at Tallaght hospital. Dr Ahmed, who denied forgery, had not attended the inquiry after his request for being refused a private hearing of that. The first reference was dated September 2013 and the other two were dated December 2016. The forgeries came to light after Dr Ahmed applied to Letterkenny hospital for a position in 2017 and an "eagle-eyed" consultant there became suspicious about the terms of the references provided, the judge noted. All three consultants told the FTPC inquiry they had not provided any reference. All said they would have been prepared to give Dr Ahmed a reference but not in the "glowing" terms of the references at issue. The FTPC found the misconduct was aggravated by Dr Ahmed's denial he forged the references and his insistence his email containing the references was hacked into. The second case concerned Dr Eunicia Ursu, of Timisoara, Timis, Romania, who was also found guilty of professional misconduct following a separate FTPC inquiry held arising from complaints made in July 2016 by three consultants anaesthetists at the Rotunda Hospital. She did not attend the inquiry and is believed to be back in Romania. The Committee found she was guilty of poor professional peformance in that, while employed as a registrar in anaesthetics at the Rotunda between January and July 2016, she failed to demonstrate sufficient skill and/or knowledge as would be expected from a registrar in anaesthetics. It also found professional misconduct in that she, in applying for the position of registrar in anaesthetics in Cork University Hospital in September 2016, deliberately failed to refer to her period of employment at the Rotunda in circumstances where she knew, or should have known, she was unlikely to get any favourable reference from the Rotunda should it be contacted by CUH. In his ruling on Monday, Mr Justice Kelly said he fully endorsed the views of the FTPC that both doctors should have their registrations cancelled for reasons including protection of the public. Social Justice Ireland is calling on the Government to set a five-year plan to get rid of poverty in Ireland. It says it must protect the most vulnerable in Irish society given the uncertainty over Brexit and the potential impact it could have on our economy. Brexit has become more complicated, chaotic and disorderly. We can certainly add a disorderly Brexit to the long-used terms of hard Brexit and soft Brexit. It was unclear before the UK referendum in 2016 whether Brexit would be of the hard or soft varieties. It was also unclear what the UK parliament would eventually support because it leans more to the Remain side of the debate than the UK electorate. This complexity is not surprising because the referendum only asked voters whether they wanted to stay in the EU or to leave when there are various leave options and possibilities. Norway, Turkey, Switzerland, China, Canada, and Turkey are not members of the EU, but each has a distinct trading relationship with the EU. The majority of the UK electorate voted to leave but it is unclear what form of exit it favours. There are additional complexities. The possible impact of a hard Brexit on the peace process in Ireland was greatly unappreciated by many proposing Brexit. The Conservative Party is keen to avoid a split between its remainers and its large Brexit wing, which includes a smaller and very hard Brexit wing. The British Labour Party wants a soft Brexit which gets Britain in a customs union and a deal which includes a link to the single market that would nonetheless allow it negotiate trade deals with other countries. However, the leader of the Labour Party seems keen to force and win a general election rather than support a solution to the Brexit without an election. The Labour Party also has to take into account that many of its supporters voted to leave. It is always difficult to predict the outcome of a major negotiating process between two large and strong political entities and there is no guarantee that either party will secure its preferred position. It is not a surprise that striking a Brexit deal acceptable to the UK parliament and EU members has been a difficult process. However, it is wrong that the Brexit process has been allowed to run so close to March 29. This has increased uncertainty, damaged economic confidence, and runs the danger of a result that no one wants. The economic impact on the Irish economy of a crash-out Brexit was quantified last week by the Department of Finance. It predicted the effects would weigh significantly on economic growth and lead to a jump in unemployment by two percentage points. The UK and the rest of the EU would also suffer significantly from a disorderly Brexit. The failure to achieve a timely resolution is mainly due to the UK. The UK negotiated a deal which it failed to deliver. Of course, it may be the case that no amount of consensus-building efforts would have produced a desirable result in the UK. The final UK position, as opposed to UK government proposals, is still unknown. Recriminations will not solve the problem and we have to accept that a deal may not be possible. This is despite EU goodwill and the fact that a majority of MPs at Westminster want to avoid a no-deal outcome. In the event of a crash-out, the focus must be to aim for a phased transition to the new trading relationship. A no-deal Brexit will still be rules-based, but just with different and more costly rules. Such rules involve the World Trade Organisation, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, and the Universal Postal Union. Co-operation between the two sides can reduce uncertainty. The two parties should commit to an orderly transition to a no-deal Brexit trading relationship. Anthony Foley is emeritus associate professor of economics at Dublin City University The cooking competition was sponsored by Orland Township, and proceeds from the $5 admission fee were donated to the Orland Township Food Pantry. All people who partook in the contest also made an extra batch that was provided Saturday to the pantry. (CNN) Japanese car manufacturer Nissan has confirmed it is scrapping plans to build a new model in the English city of Sunderland, citing uncertainty over Brexit and further highlighting employers' fears of a no-deal departure by the UK from the European Union. The company had said in 2016 that it would produce the new X-Trail model at its Sunderland factory after getting reassurances from the government over Brexit -- an intervention hailed by Prime Minister Theresa May as a "vote of confidence" in British business after voters backed leaving the EU. Now it's reversed those plans and will instead continue to build the X-Trail in Japan, it confirmed on Sunday, dealing a major blow to the region's economy and underlining repeated concerns from the British automotive industry that a no-deal Brexit would damage the sector. "The continued uncertainty around the UK's future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future," Nissan's Europe chairman Gianluca de Ficchy said in a statement, after explaining that keeping production in Japan would reduce "upfront investment costs." The decision was quickly seized upon by anti-Brexit MPs and campaigners, and places further pressure on May as she seeks to salvage her withdrawal agreement with the EU and pass it through parliament. "This represents a serious blow to the communities that depend on the jobs Nissan creates and supports," Keir Starmer, the opposition Labour Party's Brexit spokesman, wrote on Twitter. "The Tories' chaotic handling of the Brexit negotiations is having a devastating impact on business investment. It's time ministers got a grip on this crisis," he added. Nissan's Sunderland facility is the largest car factory in the UK, employing more than 7,000 people. Plans for two future Nissan car models, the Juke and Qashqai, to be produced at the plant are "unaffected," the company's statement said. "We appreciate this will be disappointing for our UK team and partners. Our workforce in Sunderland has our full confidence, and will continue to benefit from the investment planned for Juke and Qashqai," de Ficchy said. During the 2016 referendum, Nissan said it opposed Brexit and that remaining in the EU would make "the most sense for jobs, trade and costs." Sunderland ultimately voted to leave by 61% -- making it one of the most pro-Brexit cities in the UK. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Nissan cites Brexit 'uncertainty' as it scraps plans to build model in Britain." Stobart Air has announced a deal with KLM Cityhopper to provide up to eight flights per day from Amsterdam. The agreement will see the Irish airline provide an E195 jet on contract and increase the number of flights from Amsterdam including Dublin to the Dutch city. Regional development will be key to the Irish economy in the future, especially in the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, President Michael D Higgins has said. Speaking at Cork Chambers annual dinner, Mr Higgins said the organisation had played a vital role in Corks economic history over many years. I know how important, vibrant and sustainable regions are for the health of our economy and the prosperity of our people. We perhaps need to rediscover some of the lessons of regional economic policy that we learned in our own past, President Higgins said. For the first century of independence, your chamber has been an important advocate for the economic and industrial development of Cork, from the modernisation of Cork Harbour and the construction of Cork Airport to the expansion of commercial education and support for new undersea cables. He told 1,000 business and political figures that real regionalism was needed as Brexit loomed. We need real regionalism with the capacity to ascertain possibilities and difficulties, establishing policy, make investment choices and be accountable to the people that will be all the more important as we confront the uncertainty caused by the decision of the UK to leave the EU. Though the outcome of events in Westminster remain in doubt, we can be sure our economic future will only be certain if it rests on a vision of balanced economic development, one conscious of, and capable of rising to, the ecological challenges presented by climate change and the loss of biodiversity. Cork Chamber president Bill OConnell said Cork needs absolute clarity and transparency on delivery timelines for all projects in the capital plan and Ireland 2040 as a matter of urgency. Todays best isnt good enough for tomorrow. The plans that are set out in Ireland 2040 offer a once in a lifetime opportunity to change Cork over the next 20 years but if they stay in print alone they are nothing but aspirations. [gallery]59[/gallery] "Reflecting on our history, it is clear that we must display both the vision of those who came before us but most critically their ability to deliver, Mr OConnell said. Mr OConnell pointed to Chamber campaigns such as the opening of Passage-Cork railway line in 1850, access to international mail routes in the late 1800s, and economic destination marketing in the 1960s as examples of initiatives that can be copied today. Technologies have changed yet the needs of business that enable a successful and prosperous Cork region remain the same, he said. From Blackrock trains to transatlantic planes, the changes in Irish life, business and society over 200 years are immeasurable. But their significance will be measured in the fullness of time relative to events that have yet to unfold, Relative to how we shape our city region physically, culturally, economically, environmentally and socially. Sofia, Bulgaria - February 4, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) ternity Ventures, the investment arm of decentralized smart contracts platform ternity, has opened applications for a new round of its Starfleet Accelerator Program. Following the considerable success of the first accelerator program in June 2018 - subsequent to which ternity Ventures is investing over $1 million USD in nine startups -Starfleet Accelerator will once again support seed stage projects utilising blockchain technology. Participating startups will have access to mentorship and support from leading blockchain and business experts. As part of the program, ternity Ventures will provide selected teams with funding of up to $100,000 in AE tokens or services. The closing date to apply is February 17, 2019 ;and the application process takes place on ternity Starfleet's official website: www.aeternitystarfleet.com. The program will commence March 11, 2019 in Sofia, Bulgaria with Genesis Week, during which startups will undergo mentoring in areas such as business models, token economics, ternity apps architecture, blockchain infrastructure and tooling, pitching to investors, and media relations from recognized experts. The mentoring program and daily workshops will be live-streamed globally, giving each team the opportunity to participate either on site or from the location in which they are based. The most promising startups will be invited to proceed to the Acceleration Stage - a four-week program of mentorships and further rigorous training. At the culmination of the program, on Starfleet Demo Day, selected teams will have the opportunity to present their projects to an audience of investors, thought leaders, media, and the global community of ternity. They will compete for funding to the value of $100,000 in AE tokens or services and the opportunity to build their products on the ternity blockchain. Nikola Stojanow, ternity's CBDO and ternity Ventures' CEO, said, "Last year, we were delighted to select nine cutting-edge projects for investment, who we believe have the potential to revolutionize a variety of sectors. As these projects continue to flourish this year, Starfleet Accelerator welcomes a new wave of participants from all over the world that share our vision for a future built on powerful, user-friendly decentralized applications." Following the launch of the first live implementation of the ternity mainnet in 2018, Starfleet Accelerator aims to attract promising startups that can utilise the main features of the ternity blockchain, including State Channels, Oracles, Governance and the Naming System. The accelerator is also interested in projects innovating in energy, data storage and sharing, insurance, finance, voting, exchanges, trade, and gaming. Stojanow added, "The blockchain sector is still in its infancy and ripe for development but, without the right support, brilliant ideas may never come to life. By opening the application process for Starfleet Accelerator 2019, we're calling on the next-generation of blockchain innovators to step forward." Nikola Stojanow, CBDO of ternity and CEO of ternity Ventures, is available for interview About ternity Ventures: ternity Ventures is company investing in Blockchain startups at every development stage. The company is part of ternity Blockchain and also operates the ternity Starfleet Accelerator Program. ternity Starfleet Accelerator is a global initiative focused on supporting seed stage blockchain startups by providing them funding, mentoring, product, marketing, and legal support. An extensive network of relevant advisors and mentors worldwide has been established in order to boost the process of evaluation and fine-tuning of early-stage ideas. For more information, visit: www.aeternity-ventures.com and www.aeternitystarfleet.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. 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Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Montana parents are demanding more information about high levels of asbestos found in a University of Montana building that housed a preschool. The Missoulian reports that the university moved the preschool students to another building on Tuesday after test results found unacceptable levels of asbestos. The building, McGill Hall, was closed entirely on Thursday. University officials say technicians believe the asbestos found in the preschool came through the air system as material in the building degraded over time. Vice President for Administration and Finance Paul Lasiter said that the building may remain closed for months at a meeting on Thursday. Lasiter said ensuring safety and security is the universitys top priority. A university spokeswoman says the school is working with experts to address the asbestos sources in the building. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Education Universities USG Insurance Services Inc. has named Jeremy Weyrauch a producer/broker in its satellite Oregon City, Ore. branch. Weyrauch has 13 years of experience. He started in the industry at Travelers Insurance, then moved to wholesale in 2017 with Scottish American and then RPS before joining USG. USG Insurance Services Inc. is a wholesaler and managing general agency. Topics Oregon Apparent Insurance, a new auto insurance company designed for parents by parents, has begun offering coverage in Texas. The company has been established to provide specialized coverage and services for parents at every stage of their lives. The plans, features, and discounts evolve alongside the families they protect. Coverage is now available throughout the Lone Star State. To shape our company, we collaborated directly with parents, creating an ongoing advisory panel, Colleen Benzin, managing director of Apparent Insurance, said in the companys announcement. We began by talking to parents about coverage challenges, and their expectations of an auto insurer. They told us they want an experience that evolves as their family does, we listened and worked with them to do just that. And were excited this same panel will continue to help us develop relevant features and services for Apparent. Apparent Insurance offers tailored features, discounts and services that are relevant to parents with children of all ages, including car seat and stroller replacement, family-size car rental after an accident, a teen driver app, smart roadside assistance, student-away-at-school and good-grade discounts, plus at-home mechanic services. The company is secured and backed by Admiral Group. Source: Apparent Insurance Topics Carriers Texas Auto New Markets Texas largest independent insurance agent association and the states leading workers compensation insurance carrier have formed a strategic partnership. The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) announced the partnership with Texas Mutual Insurance Co. at IIATs Joe Vincent Agency Management Seminar, held in Austin Jan. 27-29. Through the new development, Texas Mutual becomes IIATs endorsed workers compensation carrier for the associations 1,500 members. Texas Mutual also will work with the agent association to develop programs to support independent agents across Texas. Speaking at the seminar on Jan. 28, Texas Mutual President and CEO Rich Gergasko said the company does everything we can to help promote the independent agency system. Service to our agents and our policyholders is at the core of what we do. He said the company is proud to take the role as IIATs endorsed carrier. We currently protect over 70,000 Texas businesses and 1.4 million Texas workers. Our mission is to see that they get home safely to their families every day. We look forward to providing more of that service to your customers and clients as we move forward with this relationship. He added that in addition to developing programs, the company would be helping train agency employees, helping agents prepare for the future and helping them take care of their clients, In a media release announcing the partnership, IIAT noted Texas Mutuals industry safety groups and customized safety services aimed at helping businesses control their workers compensation costs. In addition, the association pointed out Texas Mutuals network discounts, dividend program and the fact that Texas business owners have received more than $2.5 billion in dividends over the last 20 years. IIAT and Texas Mutual share a vision of a strong, local independent agent distribution channel, IIAT Executive Director and President Marit Peters said in the release. Through this partnership we can empower agents to deliver the best in service and workers compensation to their clients. Topics Agencies Texas Workers' Compensation Merrill, Wisconsin-based Church Mutual Insurance Co. has promoted four individuals into new leadership roles. Janet Selnes is now vice president broker distribution. Selnes has a proven track record of leadership success, most recently serving as assistant vice president broker distribution. She has been in the insurance industry for more than 30 years, with the last 15 at Church Mutual. She also has earned many industry designations. Rick Schaber, has been promoted to vice president direct sales. In almost two decades of service to Church Mutual, Schaber has held leadership positions in corporate communications, risk control, administration and sales. He holds the CPCU and a variety of other industry designations. Dean Jarnow, who has served Church Mutual as an external consultant beginning in January 2018, has joined the company as assistant vice president, strategic resource management. Jarnow has more than 25 years of experience in product, project and program management, mainly in the financial services arena. Dale Brom has been promoted to assistant vice president, information technology. His IT career within the insurance industry surpasses 30 years, providing him with extensive experience managing the application portfolio of an insurance company. Church Mutual Insurance Co., founded in 1897, offers specialized insurance for religious organizations of all denominations, public and private K-12 schools, colleges and universities, senior living facilities, camps and conference centers, and nonprofit and human services organizations throughout the United States. Source: Church Mutual Insurance Co. Topics Leadership Wisconsin Church The Iowa Supreme Court says an insurance company doesnt have to pay for damages after a squirrel climbed onto an electrical transformer and triggered a high-voltage spark that damaged a citys power substation. The court ruled Friday that the city of West Liberty held an insurance policy from EMC Insurance that excluded damage caused by electrical arcs that arent related to lightning. The city argued that a squirrel caused the damage because the animal touched a 7,000-volt clamp and a grounded metal frame, which caused an electrical arc and shorted out the equipment. But the Supreme Court sided with lower courts that concluded the damage was caused by the electrical arc, not the squirrel. The city filed a lawsuit in January 2016 after EMC refused to pay the more than $213,000 in damage. An attorney for the city did not immediately respond to a message. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Carriers Iowa The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) declared a catastrophe for insurance policyholders who have been affected by torrential rain and flooding in the northeastern Australian state of Queensland. The Queensland government and emergency services have informed the Insurance Council that dozens of homes and businesses may have been affected by the downpour and resulting inundation of the past few days, said ICA CEO Rob Whelan. Many other properties, as well as private and commercial vehicles, may have also have been damaged, he added. As of 8 p.m. on Saturday [Feb. 2], insurers have received about 1900 claims, with insurance losses estimated at A$16.7 million [US$12.1 million], with many more claims expected, he said. Most of the rainfall and flooding has hit the coastal city of Townsville and is expected to continue, according to Australias Bureau of Meteorology. Whelan said the ICA has declared a catastrophe to help escalate the insurance industrys response. Under an ICA catastrophe declaration, claims from affected policyholders will be given priority by insurers. In addition, claims will also be triaged to direct urgent assistance to the worst-affected property owners. Source: Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and Bureau of Meteorology Related: Australia Sweltered in January Through Hottest Month on Record Topics Catastrophe Flood Australia Australia sweltered through its hottest month on record in January and the summer of extremes continued with wildfires razing the drought-parched south and flooding in expanses of the tropical north. Australias Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the January record on Friday as parts of the northern hemisphere had record cold. Australias scorching start to 2019 in which the mean temperature across the country for the first time exceeded 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) followed Australias third-hottest year on record. Only 2005 and 2013 were warmer than 2018, which ended with the hottest December on record. Heat-stressed bats dropped dead from trees by the thousands in Victoria state and bitumen roads melted in New South Wales during heatwaves last month. New South Wales officials say drought-breaking rains are needed to improve the water quality in a stretch of a major river system where hundreds of thousands of fish died in two mass deaths during January linked to excessive heat. A South Australia state government report on Thursday found that too much water had been drained from the river system for farming under a management plan that did not take into account the impact of climate change on the rivers health. The South Australian capital Adelaide on Jan. 24 recorded the hottest day ever for a major Australian city a searing 46.6 C (115.9 F). On the same day, the South Australian town of Port Augusta, population 15,000, recorded 49.5 C (121.1 F) the highest maximum anywhere in Australia last month. Bureau senior climatologist Andrew Watkins described Januarys heat as unprecedented. We saw heatwave conditions affect large parts of the country through most of the month, with records broken for both duration and also individual daily extremes, Watkins said in a statement. The main contributor to the heat was a persistent high-pressure system over the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand that blocked cold fronts from reaching southern Australia. Rainfall was below-average for most of the country, but the monsoonal trough has brought flooding rains to northern Queensland state in the past week, leading to a disaster declaration around the city of Townsville. Queenslands flooded Daintree River reached a 118-year high this week. Emergency services reported rescuing 28 people from floodwaters in the past week. The vast bulk of the population will not have experienced this type of event in their lifetime, State Disaster Coordinator Bob Gee told reporters, referring to the extraordinary flooding. Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill described the torrential rain as a one-in-100-year event that had forced authorities to release water from the city dam. The water release would worsen flooding in low-lying suburbs, but would prevent the Ross River from breaking its banks. In the southern island state of Tasmania, authorities are hoping rain will douse more than 40 fires that have razed more than 187,000 hectares (720 square miles) of forest and farmland by Friday [Feb 1]. Dozens of houses have been destroyed by fires and flooding in recent weeks. Milder weather since Thursday has lowered the fire danger but it was forecast to escalate again from Sunday. The Climate Council, an Australian independent organization formed to provide authoritative climate change information to the public, said the January heat record showed the government needed to curb Australias greenhouse gas emissions which have increased during each of the past four years. Climate change is cranking up the intensity of extreme heat, and Januarys record-breaking month is part of a sharp, long-term upswing in temperatures driven primarily from the burning of fossil fuels, the councils acting chief executive Martin Rice said in a statement. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Trends Flood Australia A Peabody, Mass.-based insurance agency has been ordered by a Massachusetts judge to pay more than $5 million in restitution to its small business customers after they were overcharged for insurance products. The final judgment, entered by Suffolk Superior Judge Robert Ullman on January 18, 2019, requires the Kilgore Insurance Agency, agent Andrew W. Crowther Jr. and agency owners Cyrus Kilgore and Jeffrey Kilgore, to pay nearly $5.2 million in restitution for overcharged clients primarily small business owners after insurance premiums were padded with hidden agency fees. Nearly 100 clients were negatively impacted by the scheme. Kilgore Insurance and its owners orchestrated a scheme to charge consumers millions in undisclosed, excessive and illegal agency fees, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a press release issued by her office. We are pleased that with this action, overcharged consumers will receive restitution. This most recent action comes after a partial judgment was issued by Superior Court Justice Carol Ball in December 2013, finding no evidence that the Kilgore defendants were aware of Crowthers active concealment of agency fees and were not directly liable. According to their attorney, the Kilgores and their agency had no knowledge of the overcharges made by the agent Crowther. The final judgment follows a 22-day trial and a subsequent appeal. The defendants sought further review by the Supreme Judicial Court, but their request was denied. According to the trial courts findings, the average hidden agency fee charged to customers was $5,471, or 47 percent of the insurance policy premium, with some fees reaching as high as 462 percent of the premium. Standard compensation for insurance agents selling these policies is around 10 percent. The initial complaint filed December 22, 2009, by then-Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, provided four examples of clients impacted by this scheme in which deceptive practices were used over a period of at least ten years. American Flagging & Signal Control Inc. (AFTC) is a family-owned business that engages in full service traffic control providing flagmen including work for both private and governmental Massachusetts entities. It is owned and run by Joseph Dunlap, his sister Kathleen MacPhee, and their mother, Mary Dunlap. Over a period of nine years, the initial complaint alleges AFTC was charged undisclosed and illegal agency fees totaling $81,475 fees which represent 79% of the actual policy premiums. AFTCs other company, Reliable, was also allegedly charged illegal and undisclosed agency fees during the same period. From the 2000-2001 policy year until the 2006-2007 policy year (during which Reliable was sold), it was charged undisclosed agency fees totaling nearly $260,000. Following the general liability and umbrella liability insurance policy placements for AFTC and Reliable, at different times, the bound actual insurance policies were not forwarded to the insured party and instead the relevant insurance policy was forwarded but with a declarations page that was altered to reflect its inflated premium, according to the complaint. In at least one policy year (2007-2008 general liability policy), AFTC was purportedly charged an additional premium for terrorism coverage, despite the fact that AFTC declined to purchase this coverage. For that general liability policy, a TRIA form was provided to the surplus lines broker indicating that AFTC elected to purchase terrorism coverage and including the forged signature of Dunlap. This additional terrorism coverage, charged to AFTC without the owners knowledge, cost $979.20, the complaint stated. Another client was faced with a similar experience, according to the complaint. Alliance Detective & Security Services Inc. is a Massachusetts family-owned business that provides guard patrol, alarm response and dispatch, as well as uniform security guard services to its clients. Alliance is owned and run by Marianne Jenkins, along with other members of her family. Over a period of seven years, the complaint alleged Alliance was charged undisclosed and illegal agency fees totaling $242,421 fees which represent 35% of the actual policy premiums. In many cases following the insurance policy placements for Alliance, the various insurance policies were allegedly forwarded with the declarations and ratings pages altered to reflect the inflated premium. As a third example, Security III Inc.- a small security business with approximately nine employees that provides unarmed patrols to small neighborhood associations in Bostons South End was a victim to the scheme, the complaint said. Security III is owned by Thomas Roche, who purchased the company from the prior owner in 2004 after working as a security guard there for 10 years. Over a period of six years, Security III was purportedly charged undisclosed and illegal agency fees totaling $46,161 fees which represent 91% of the actual policy premiums. In at least two policy years (2006-2007 and 2007-2008), the complaint alleged Security III was also charged the additional premium for terrorism coverage, despite the fact that Security III always declined to purchase this coverage. For these general liability policies, TRIA forms were provided to the surplus lines broker indicating that Security III elected to purchase terrorism coverage, which included the forged signature of Roche. This additional terrorism coverage, charged to Security III without Roches knowledge, cost $1,066 in 2006 and $1,120.08 in 2007, for a total of $2,186.08 in additional undisclosed charges, the complaint said. Finally, New World Security Associates Inc. a local business based in Roxbury, Mass. was cited in the complaint as a fourth example of a victim to this scheme. New World was the largest women/minority-owned security firm in Massachusetts prior to its sale in October 2005. Local business women Cassie Farmer and Roberta Adams founded the company in 1990. Over a period of two years, New World was allegedly charged undisclosed and illegal agency fees totaling $128,700 fees which represent 54% of the 31 actual policy premiums. On both of the commercial automobile policies for New World, a commission was paid by the insurance carrier, meaning the defendants were compensated twice on the same placements, the complaint stated. These examples concerning AFTC, Alliance, Security III and New World, represent four of approximately one hundred Kilgore Insurance clients to which undisclosed and illegal agency fees were repeatedly charged and rolled into the purported premium over numerous years, the initial complaint stated. Other clients were subjected to the same scheme, by which true premium figures were hidden from clients and agency fees were tacked on. These deceptions included a misleading invoicing system that set forth a purportedly inflated premium including an agency fee, the forgery of clients signatures on various insurance documents, alteration and/or failure to disclose parts of premium finance agreements, material alterations of actual policy documents and the failure to provide actual policies to clients in order to hide the true premium amount, according to the press release. The investigation into this matter found that extra fees were hidden from clients in a variety of ways, including by whiting out the actual premium figure on insurance policies and typing in an inflated figure that included the undisclosed agency fee. The last page of premium finance agreements was also withheld from clients, where the true premium, as set by the insurer, is typically disclosed, the press release stated. This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General M. Claire Masinton, with assistance from Insurance and Financial Services Deputy Director Arwen Thoman, Legal Analyst Jasmine Jean-Louis, and Analyst Erica Harmon, all of the Attorney Generals Insurance and Financial Services Division. Topics Agencies Abuse Molestation Massachusetts A Connecticut city says it has recovered more than half the nearly $1 million stolen from city accounts during a 2016 hacking scheme. An attorney for the city of Norwalk said Wednesday that by filing claims, complaints and a lawsuit against insurance companies, the city has been able to recoup $515,000 and is still pursuing the remaining $335,000 that was stolen. The Hour reports the city discovered in November 2016 that an $849,741.59 payment made to a vendor using the Automated Clearing Housing system had not been received. An investigation is ongoing into the hacking that targeted the vendors system. Norwalk police and the FBI are continuing to track down additional funds from the perpetrators. Information from: The Hour Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Cyber Connecticut After graduating college, Cavaness started working as a casualty underwriter before joining Gallagher in St. Louis in 1986. At Gallagher, he worked his way up from marketing representative to area vice president by 1990, a position he held until relocating to Gallaghers home office outside Chicago in 1996 to lead its international special risk services division. In 1997, Cavaness co-founded Risk Placement Services (RPS) from scratch in downtown Chicago. The firm started with four employees (one casualty broker, one property broker, and two assistants) and without a name or any market support. And their gamble certainly paid off. RPS is now one of the largest wholesale and specialty brokers, managing general agents and program managers in the US, currently employing more than 3,000 professionals across the nation. So, whats the secret behind RPSs significant growth story over the past 20-years? According to Cavaness, it has all been about grasping at opportunities to expand the business both organically and in-organically via mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and making the most of a little bit of luck. Weve done a significant number of M&A transactions over 20-years, said Cavaness. Weve merged with many fine companies and our success in those mergers has been remarkably good. Most of that has to do with the culture of our organization and our ability to assist new partners with things like market access, resources, training and development all things smaller firms may not be able to afford on their own. We strive for all of our mergers to make 1 + 1 add up to 4, 5, and 6. Its really fun to watch when it works. Market consolidation is the biggest change Cavaness has witnessed during his tenure in the E&S marketplace. He described the MGA and wholesale broker market as highly fragmented and overloaded when he first set up RPS. Now, the markets are more concentrated, which he said is partly due to necessity, partly due to resources and the services firms are expected to provide today, and partly due to the consolidation trend as baby boomers approach retirement and look for ways to monetize their life work. Ive also seen the professionalism of the industry improve enormously, Cavaness told Insurance Business. If you go back 20-years, there was a little bit of a Wild, Wild West mentality in the E&S marketplace. Thats now changed for the better and were more transparent and professional today than weve ever been. You cant get away with rounding the edges and cutting the corners today. As an industry, we hold ourselves to much higher standards than we did 20-years-ago. Part of that positive industry shift can be attributed to the hard work of the WSIA - a merger of the American Association of Managing General Agents (AAMGA) and the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices (NAPSLO) which represents the needs of E&S insurance professionals in the US. Cavaness has served as vice president of the WSIA board of directors, having been on the board since 2010, and, in February 2019, he will take the reins of the presidency position. Im really looking forward to the opportunity to serve the industry as president of the WSIA, Cavaness commented. Im also very enthused about the health of the industry and the way we all work together for its betterment. I continue to hear talk about the challenging rate environment. Weve actually been very fortunate that the surplus lines industry has performed quite healthily from a financial perspective. The E&S sector has performed better than other parts of the business. Were healthy, were growing, and I think were in a way better stock today than we have been in the past. The future looks very bright. Under Cavanesss leadership, the WSIA will continue to invest in the future, focusing on upcoming talent in the U40 Group and providing the networking opportunities needed to help the industry advance. The association also provides education resources from entry to executive level, legislative guidance, and up-to-date information about emerging industry trends, risk classes and products. I really cant stress enough how well-positioned, focused and dedicated the WSIA staff are to furthering the interests of the members, Cavaness added. Im very happy to represent the industry alongside such a professional team. To shape our company, we collaborated directly with parents, creating an ongoing advisory panel, explained Apparent Insurance managing director Colleen Benzin. We began by talking to parents about coverage challenges, and their expectations of an auto insurer. They told us they want an experience that evolves as their family does, we listened and worked with them to do just that. And were excited this same panel will continue to help us develop relevant features and services for Apparent, Benzin added. Currently, Apparent Insurance is available to customers across the state of Texas, with plans to extend availability to other states in the near future. A deeply experienced management team heads Apparent Insurance, secured and backed by Admiral Group, which covers over six million customers worldwide, a release said. While the extent of claims from the flooding is unknown, we expect the combination of Suncorp's quota share and natural hazard aggregate reinsurance cover will limit any material impact on earnings, S&P Global said, as it noted that the Brisbane-based insurance giant still has about $90m aggregate natural-hazard protection as of Dec. 31, as well as substantial capital buffer and strong balance sheet. IAG is likely to have only modest exposure to the event given it is underweight in the Queensland market and associated flood-cover exposures, S&P said. In our view, the scale of the event is unlikely to trigger the first layer of its 2019 catastrophe program where IAG retains the first $250 million of each event ($169 million post its 32.5% quota-share). S&P Global also said the floods will likely have a relatively minor effect on the state of Queenslands AA+/Stable/A-1+ rating and $65bn budget, with the states credit profile also enhanced by Australias AAA/Stable/A-1+ rating. The persistent cost of natural disasters is captured in our rating and forecasts, the ratings agency said. The state budget is likely to be affected with a temporary hit to revenues and the government announcing emergency financial assistance of up to $900 per affected family. The state will also undertake repairs to damaged public infrastructure. The floods are also likely to weigh on economic output in the third quarter of 2019 fiscal year. Gallagher Bassett has been named gold sponsor of the 2019 National Workers Compensation Summit, with one GB leader to attend the event as a speaker. The summit will be held on Feb. 18-19 at Crowne Melbourne, to offer perspectives from government representatives on such topics as current national legislative changes and future proposals, claims management, self-insurance, injury prevention and management, mental health, and well-being initiatives, and more. Woodbridge, VA (22192) Today Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. The Barchart Chart of the Day belongs to the plastic products company Deswell (NASDAQ: DSWL ). Readers are always asking me how to find stocks that are just beginning to trend before everyone else discovers them. One of the best ways is to look at Barchart's Strong Volume Gains preformatted screener. It identifies stocks... Read More There are so many different ways that you can hug a person. Obviously, each type of hug is going to have a little different meaning to it,... Indian businessman Vijay Mallya smokes during a break in his extradition ruling at Westminster Magistrates Court on Dec. 10, 2018 in London, England. India is seeking to extradite Mallya from Britain to face criminal action over loans taken out by his defunct Kingfisher Airlines and debts amounting to 1.1 billion pounds, which Indian authorities say Kingfisher owes. (Jack Taylor/Getty Images) Have you ever been stuck, not being able to use your smartphone while it updates over-the-air (OTA)? Thank your lucky stars that it was only your phone and not your car, as was the case with this unfortunate man in China who got stuck in the middle of a traffic jam in Beijing just because of an update. For those unaware, over-the-air-software updates are now being employed by the auto makers as well, for upgrading a vehicles tech without the need of going to a dealership. Agreed, it is a great technological advancement in the vehicles segment, but only as long as the users know how to go about it. Representative Image (Reuters) Also read: This Electric Dune Buggy Concept By Volkswagen Looks Straight Out Of A Hot Wheels Game! As per South China Morning Post, a man driving a Nio ES8 electric SUV was unaware of this and had to face some serious consequences. The man triggered an update for the car while in the middle of a traffic jam in Beijing. At the time, the driver was testing the car along with a Nio representative. The update resulted in the vehicle being completely in-operational, with the man and the company representative ending up stuck in the traffic jam for more than an hour. The Nio rep later posted on Weibo that they were visited by multiple groups of police officers, yet they could not even roll down the windows of the car. Nio ES8 Electric SUV Also read: In Mumbai, You Can Uber A Speedboat On The Sea For Rs 5,700 And Beat Rush Hour Traffic A Bloomberg report later mentioned that Nio apologised for the incident, while blaming the driver for it. It said that it would review the software to prevent any such mishaps in the future, but that the driver was at fault for activating the upgrade at the time. The company claimed that clear instructions are given to the drivers before an OTA upgrade begins, for triggering it only when the car is parked safely at a spot. Such incidents highlight the discrepancies, not in the technological evolution in vehicles, but the adoption of it by the humans. Similar incidents have been recorded with other new-age vehicle technologies. (Semi) Autonomous driving, for instance, has been observed to lead many drivers dozing off while on the go, which is strictly advised against under any circumstances. It is not only India where the CBI and other core government institutions are finding themselves at odds with the central governments policies. With Donald Trumps election to the White House as President, U.S Intelligence Community is also facing the same fate. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the domestic U.S intelligence and security agency has been receiving a lot of flak from the President, apparently for presenting analyses and reports that are not in line with Trumps beliefs. In an article published in TIME, the Presidents stance on a plethora of foreign policy issues were not acceptable to Directors of National Intelligence, the CIA and the FBI. In return, Trump called the intelligence chiefs passive and naive and suggested that they should go back to school. The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong! When I became President Iran was making trouble all over the Middle East, and beyond. Since ending the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, they are MUCH different, but.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2019 The article is based on in-depth interviews with multiple officials who have first hand knowledge of the episodes they describe, and multiple others who have been briefed on them. For instance, in one briefing, Trumps advisors showed him a map of South Asia particularly of the region from Afghanistan to Bangladesh. During the briefing, Trump pointed at the map and said that he was aware that Nepal was a part of India on which he was further told that Nepal was an independent nation. Then he said he was familiar with Bhutan too and knew that it was a part of India. The officials then told him that Bhutan was also an independent kingdom. Trumps obstinate nature and pea-sized knowledge of different countries often left his foreign officials perplexed. There were also reports that he wanted to call world leaders at awkward timings, for instance in middle of the night when it would still be afternoon in Washington D.C. Just concluded a great meeting with my Intel team in the Oval Office who told me that what they said on Tuesday at the Senate Hearing was mischaracterized by the media - and we are very much in agreement on Iran, ISIS, North Korea, etc. Their testimony was distorted press.... pic.twitter.com/Zl5aqBmpjF Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2019 Another international source, Politico had reported in August last year that before preparing for his meeting with PM Modi, he mispronounced Nepal as nipple and laughingly referred to Bhutan as button, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting. He has often offended the Africans by calling these countries as shithole countries. His apparent ignorance towards geography, world affairs and leaders have also emerged during internal meetings. Last month he took a jibe at India for building a library in Afghanistan. AFP reported that while stating that he got along with Modi, Trump said that Modi was constantly telling me he built a library in Afghanistan. You know what that is? Thats like five hours of what we spend, said Trump. A few days ago the Gujarat government issued circulars stating that all primary schools should ban mobile game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds popularly called PUBG because it was adversely affecting their studies. Now, to make sure that its students stay fit and healthy, a private university in Gujarat has banned petrol and diesel vehicles inside the college campus. The college administration has introduced the bicycle as the only means of transport. ANI reported that Parul university in Gujarat has taken this initiative to ensure that its teachers and students remain healthy. It has introduced 100 bicycles in the preliminary stage with four bicycle stands all across the campus. The students can even rent the cycles as per their convenience for days, weeks or months by paying a minimal amount. All students, teachers and other administrative members will have to walk all the way once inside the campus. The university which is spread over an area of 120 acres will deploy Hexi bikes to reach from one place to another. This decision was taken after teachers and students complained that it takes a lot of time to reach their respective locations. Last year, a village youth decided to ride a bicycle along with the baratis to his brides home to create awareness about environment conservation. In order to promote a cleaner and greener environment and at the same time reducing the cost of maintenance electric scooters and bicycle-sharing services have been finding increased use across cities. New Delhi is finally coming to terms with its deteriorating air quality. Pollution masks, screens flashing the Air Quality Index and a fresh pair of lungs installed at hospitals are becoming a common sight. People have grown sensitive to air pollution and have started to use air purifiers to prevent their immune system from further damage. The centre has also become aware of its responsibility and therefore, has decided to install 300 more real-time ambient air quality monitoring systems across the country by 2024. Photo: AP/Representative Image PTI reported that out of the 150 realtime and 731 manual stations that have been installed across 70 cities, 48 of these are in Delhi alone. Satyendra Kumar, deputy secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change said, "We aim to increase the realtime monitoring system to 450 and the manual stations to 1,500 before 2024." These installations, some of which are a part of the National Clean Air Programme will reduce pollution by almost 20 to 30 percent by 2024. According to the ministry's 2017-18 report, there were 28 CAAQMS (Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Systems) in the national capital and 86 realtime CAAQMS in 57 other cities. Twenty additional CAAQMS were proposed to be installed in Delhi, as per the news agency. Photo: Reuters/ Picture of Taj Mahal taken last month amid morning air pollution in Agra Kumar added that these are not pollution mitigating devices but will only evaluate the presence of particles in the air and the state of pollution. More and more devices are being installed to gather accurate information though an environment activist and lawyer Gaurav Bansal believed that unless these devices are upgraded to include several gases, obtaining accurate data is unlikely. Out of the 48 CAAQMS in New Delhi, 10 of these are operated manually. Meanwhile, ANI had reported that villages in Sonipat district of Haryana were facing life-threatening diseases due to industrial pollution in the area. Dense fog engulfs the national capital, air quality remains poor; Visuals from RK Puram pic.twitter.com/h4GGZQqZQs ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 The Air quality on Monday remained poor and a thick blanket of fog engulfed the capital. 27 trains were running late and flights were also delayed due to the dense fog. Herds of wild elephants in Assam's Numaligarh will now stroll freely in the Deopahar Reserve Forest, just like they have done for hundreds of years before it was taken away from them by humans, who constructed a wall around the forest. Now the Assam government has issued an order notifying Deopahar in Golaghat district as a Reserve Forest. The government's notification came on January 19, a day after the Supreme Court rejected the review petition of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) against a previous decision which upheld a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order to demolish a boundary wall and proposed township in the area, which falls in the middle of an elephant corridor. BCCL/ REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE State-run NRL has been engaged in a long-standing legal battle over its construction of a border wall for its township, which was blocking the elephant corridor. While the oil company argued that the wall was necessary to keep the residents safe from wild elephants. But environmentalist claimed that the concrete fencing is dangerous and that elephants are getting killed while trying to bring the wall down by pouncing on it with their heads. Despite the setback, the NRL continued to drag the case from one court to another until in January this year the SC made it clear that 'elephants have the first right to the forest' and ordered the demolition of the border wall. RTI Activist and Environmentalist Rohit Choudhury who had been fighting the case against NRL said it is a victory for the elephants. I am very happy that after 20 years the Assam government has notified Deopahar as Reserve Forest. I feel that this should have been done long back so that incidents like encroachments could have been avoided. But it is better late, than never," Choudhury told Indiatimes. BCCL/ REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE He also added that back in 2016 the NGT had directed that Deopahar should be declared a reserve forest at the earliest. "I still don't know what took them so long to issue this notification, when the NGT made it clear in 2016 itself. Even in 2018, the NGT had dismissed the review of NRL, but they did not take any steps to declare it as a reserve forest. Later on January 18, the SC rejected the plea of NRL and just one after that they have come up with the notification," he explained. He added that the new township which NRL had proposed in the area was in violation of the NoC of 1994. "The NoC of 1994 clearly stated that no forest area will be used, there will be no constructions on the hill slopes, and that the existing forest cover towards the west and north of the proposed colony site should not be disturbed," he said. BCCL/ REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE Choudhury also felt that declaring Deopahar as a reserve forest will help in repopulating the area with wild elephants as it will enable free movement for them. "There is a large elephant population in the area. Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve is just 20 km from Deopahar and connected to the Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve. So elephants keep moving from one place to another," he explained why the corridor is significant. The White Earth Band of Ojibwe Legally Recognized the Rights of Wild Rice. Heres Why Finally, plant species have rights, too.By Winona LaDukeYES! Magazine Manoomin (wild rice) now has legal rights. At the close of 2018, the White Earth band of Ojibwe passed a law formally recognizing the Rights of Manoomin. According to a resolution, these rights were recognized because it has become necessary to provide a legal basis to protect wild rice and fresh water resources as part of our primary treaty foods for future generations. This reflects traditional laws of Anishinaabe people, now codified by the tribal government. White Earths action follows a similar resolution by the 1855 Treaty Authority The law begins: Manoomin, or wild rice, within all the Chippewa ceded territories, possesses inherent rights to exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve, as well as inherent rights to restoration, recovery, and preservation. The Rights of Manoomin include: The right to clean water and freshwater habitat, the right to a natural environment free from industrial pollution, the right to a healthy, stable climate free from human-caused climate change impacts, the right to be free from patenting, the right to be free from contamination by genetically engineered organisms. The Rights of Manoomin are modeled after the Rights of Nature, recognized in courts and adopted internationally during the last decade. In 2008, Ecuador and Bolivia both added Rights of Nature clauses to their constitutions. In 2016, the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin became the first U.S. tribe to adopt the Rights of Nature , and in 2017 the Ponca Nation in Oklahoma became the second. Also in 2017, the New Zealand government granted the Whanganui River the full legal rights of a person as part of its settlement with the Whanganui iwi, a Maori people. Thats the third largest river in Aotearoa (New Zealand). India granted full legal rights to the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. The Himalayan Glaciers are also recognized as having rights to exist. Manoomin (wild rice) now has legal rights. Both the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and the 1855 Treaty Authority have... Posted by Stop Line 3 on Monday, January 14, 2019 This work internationally is intended to bring jurisprudence into accordance with ecological laws and address the protection of natural ecosystems, which has fallen short in most legal systems. As the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature explains on its website: Under the current system of law in almost every country, nature is considered to be property, a treatment which confers upon the property owner the right to destroy ecosystems and nature on that property. When we talk about the rights of nature, it means recognizing that ecosystems and natural communities are not merely property that can be owned, but are entities that have an independent right to exist and flourish. Laws recognizing the rights of nature thus change the status of natural communities and ecosystems to being recognized as rights-bearing entities with rights that can be enforced by people, governments, and communities. White Earths Rights of Manoomin is groundbreaking. This is a very important step forward in the Rights of Nature movement, Mari Margil, Associate Director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund explains. This would be the first law to recognize legal rights of plant species. White Earth and the 1855 Treaty Authority worked with CELDFs International Center for the Rights of Nature to develop the law. The Rights of Manoomin reaffirms the Anishinaabe relationship and responsibility to wild rice, its sacred landscape, and traditional laws. Wild rice is also the only grain explicitly listed in a treaty as a guarantee. Treaties are the supreme law of the land and we Chippewa have (U.S.) constitutionally protected, usufructuary property rights to hunt, fish, trap, and gather wild rice, explained Frank Bibeau, Executive Director of the 1855 Treaty Authority. We understand that it is the individual tribal members usufructuary rights to gather food and earn a modest living that are essential to our lives and important for the success of future generations ability to maintain our culture and traditions, essentially to be Anishinaabe, he added. We understand that water is life for all living creatures and protecting abundant, clean, fresh water is essential for our ecosystems and wildlife habitats to sustain all of us and the manoomin. The Rights of Manoomin also provides for enforcement. The law declares it illegal for any business or government to violate the rights of manoomin, and declares invalid any permit or authorization or activity that would allow those rights to be violated. Offenses will be punishable under tribal law and offenders will be held financially liable for any damages to the manoomin or its habitat. The law grants powers of enforcement to the White Earth Nation and the 1855 Treaty Authority, and prohibits law enforcement personnel from arresting or detaining those directly enforcing these rights. During the 165 years since the 1855 treaty, significant damage to Anishinaabe wild rice, waters, maple trees, and prairies has taken place due to state and federal mismanagement. Over 70 percent of the original wild rice territory is now damaged, and today proposals to change sulfate standards to accommodate mining projects and new pipeline projects threaten more wild rice. Ultimately these actions threaten the very existence of wild rice. In U.S. case law, corporations are considered natural persons and protected legally. In the meantime, much of the commons, or natural worldincluding water, sacred places, and sacred landscapeshave not been protected. This law begins to address that inequality, and challenges the inadequacy of U.S. and Canadian legal systems. Remember, at one time, neither an Indian nor a Black person was considered a human under the law, Bibeau reminds us. Legal systems can and will change, and in the meantime, the Ojibwe move forward. Winona LaDuke is an internationally renowned author, orator, and activist, and executive director of Honor the Earth , a national Native environmental organization based on the White Earth Reservation in Northern Minnesota. This article originally appeared on YES! Magazine . It is published under a Creative Commons license Join the Conversation The following is the text of a letter sent February 4, 2019, to President Donald J. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan and General Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was written by O.J. Semans , a U.S. Navy veteran from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Dear Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Mr. Secretary and Mr. Chairman: Last month, the President of the United States mentioned the Wounded Knee Massacre in a comment directed at a political opponent. This letter is not to explain the wrong done in invoking this horror . My United States Senators have already deemed the statement inappropriate. Instead, I write to call on you to right a much graver wrong. I formally request the removal of the Medals of Honor awarded to 20 soldiers of the 7th Cavalry Regiment for their participation in the Wounded Knee Massacre. Though this demand has been made previously, on behalf of the tens of millions of patriotic Americans who know what is right and just, I simply ask you use your authority to now, finally, correct this injustice. The Battle at Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890 was no battle. It was a massacre Remains of Lakota men, women and children who were massacred at Wounded Knee in South Dakota on December 29, 1890, are buried in a mass grave in January 1891. Image: Library of Congress United States soldiers murdered innocent women and children . Many of my ancestors were among the Lakota people murdered that chilling winter day. Those innocent Lakota people had committed no crime. They were making no war. Rather, they were seeking hope and refuge on the frozen Plains of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation while the United States continued to violate the Treaties of 1851 and 1868. The 7th Cavalry, which was obligated by treaty to protect my ancestors, instead hunted my ancestors, surrounded them and gunned hundreds of them down. This included terrified women and children who fled defenseless through the snow, forever stained by their blood. As told by Hugh McGinnis , All this happened 74 years ago at Wounded Knee Creek, where soldiers of the 7th Cavalry massacred in cold blood Indian men, women and children. I am now 94, the last surviving member of Troop K, 7th Cavalry. The 74 years have never completely erased the ghastly horror of that scene and I still awake at night from nightmarish dreams of that massacre. The news that I am the only surviving member of the 7th Cavalry at that massacre brings back many memories to me. For this atrocity, 20 soldiers of the 7th Cavalry Regiment received the highest honor awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for exceptional gallantry in battle. The murderers of Wounded Knee committed no gallantry. They committed an atrocity that stains the honor of the United States Armed Services to this day. In this time of duly heightened sensitivity to violence against women and children, in a political era where national leaders appear to be willing to bring front and center discussion of the history and current issues of Americas indigenous people, the Lakota people and all our Native American Indian brothers and sisters, the time is right to return to Wounded Knee. The time is right to hear the cries of my ancestors from that frozen and bloodied landscape. No earthly power can bring my ancestors back to life. But the United States can stop honoring the men who butchered those defenseless Lakota women and children in cold blood. Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Mr. Secretary and Mr. Chairman, remove the medals from the 20 soldiers of the 7th Cavalry Regiment. Take back honor wrongly bestowed. Restore honor to the Medal of Honor itself, to the brave soldiers who have earned that Medal in real wars, against real enemies. Restore some measure of justice to my people who suffered and died at the hands of those dishonorable murderers. Remove the 20 Medals of Honor issued to the perpetrators of the Wounded Knee Massacre and lead our great nation into a real conversation about doing right for the Americans who have been here since time immemorial. Our Nations honor demands it. Most respectfully, O.J. Semans, United States Navy VeteranCo-Executive Director, Four Directions Join the Conversation Related Stories Documenting colonialism: Millions killed, a changed climate & Europe gets rich Study raises questions about the impact of humans on nature and what that might mean for climate change in the futureBy Mark TrahantIndian Country Today The destruction of the Indigenous world has been chronicled ever since Bartolome de las Casas wrote A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies in 1552. He even described "more than thirty other islands in the vicinity of San Juan are for the most part and for the same reason depopulated, and the land laid waste. On these islands I estimate there are 2,100 leagues of land that have been ruined and depopulated, empty of people." Now a new study adds hard data, documenting the global cost of colonialism. Why does it matter? Because the invasion of the Americas changed everything on the planet. There was a death rate of more than 90 percent of the people, labeled "depopulation" in the scientific report. At that time, the Indigenous population of the Americas was 10 percent of the world's population and the home to the largest and most complex cities. The study also raises new questions about the anthropogenic or the impact of humans on nature and what that might mean for climate change policy in the decades ahead. The paper: Earth system impacts of the European arrival and Great Dying in the Americas after 1492 , was written by four geographers from University College London, Alexander Koch, Chris Brierley, Mark M. Maslin and Simon L. Lewis. The peer-reviewed article was published by Quaternary Science Reviews. Regions colored in orange show the areas where outbreaks of disease occurred following the arrival of Europeans in the America. Source: Earth system impacts of the European arrival and Great Dying in the Americas after 1492 The study shows how Europe thrived after the genocide. "The really weird thing is, the depopulation of the Americas may have inadvertently allowed the Europeans to dominate the world," coauthor Mark Maslin told CNN . "It also allowed for the Industrial Revolution and for Europeans to continue that domination." Human impacts prior to the Industrial Revolution are not well constrained, the authors wrote. We investigate whether the decline in global atmospheric CO2 concentration by 7 - 10 ppm in the late 1500s and early 1600s which globally lowered surface air temperatures by 0.15 C. Even though the global shift in temperature was tiny, only 15/100th of a degree, yet that was enough to lead to colder temperatures worldwide that resulted in crop failures and colder summers. The researchers examined ice cores from Antarctica which measures the atmospheric gases, including carbon dioxide, that were trapped centuries ago. The paper explores a big question: Did the invasion and depopulation of the Americas in the 16th and 17th century result in those decline in temperatures, the Little Ice Age? And was that a result of natural forces or because of the large-scale depopulation of the Americas after European arrival, subsequent land use change and secondary succession. Reports of destruction following the arrival of Europeans in the Americas are not new. A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies was written by Friar Bartolome de las Casas in 1542 and published in 1552. It documented the mistreatment of and atrocities against Indigenous peoples. The evidence is complicated. The Indigenous Americas went through a rapid and dramatic shift; a before contact and after contact story. But the problem is that the evidence was only documented in the decades after European contact. So the scientists looked at indirect methods to calculate a hemispheric estimate. The first problem was trying to figure out how many people lived in the Americas. In Mexico, for example, the Europeans first arrived in 1519 but the first census took place in 1568 and other documentary evidence starts around 1540. That population evidence includes tributes, the size of armies, and settlement infrastructure. So looking at all of the evidence available today the University College London team came to the conclusion that the Indigenous population reached more than 60 million people before contact. That would have been about 10 percent of the worlds population and the cities in the Americas would have been among the most populous on the planet. In less than a hundred years that Indigenous Americas population was reduced to 5 or 6 million people; a population decline that exceeded 90 percent, the Great Dying. The scientists calculated how such a rapid population decline would change agriculture (think of what it took to feed 60 million people) and land. This is what happened when farmland became forest and jungle. And the scale of regrowth was huge, roughly a land mass twice the size of Colorado. Remains of Lakota men, women and children who were massacred at Wounded Knee in South Dakota on December 29, 1890, are buried in a mass grave in January 1891. Image: Library of Congress The scale is significant because Indigenous land use was so widespread before European arrival, particularly in Mexico, Central America, Bolivia and the Andes where terraced fields and irrigated agriculture were common. The uptake of carbon on the abandoned anthropogenic lands after European contact may have been large enough to impact the atmospheric CO2 record, the study says. "To put that in the modern context, we basically burn (fossil fuels) and produce about 3 ppm per year. So, we're talking a large amount of carbon that's being sucked out of the atmosphere," Maslin told BBC . "There is a marked cooling around that time (1500s/1600s) which is called the Little Ice Age, and what's interesting is that we can see natural processes giving a little bit of cooling, but actually to get the full cooling -- double the natural processes -- you have to have this genocide-generated drop in CO." The authors say their study shows that the global carbon budget of the 1500s cannot be balanced until large-scale vegetation regeneration in the Americas is included. The Great Dying of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas resulted in a human-driven global impact on the Earth System in the two centuries prior to the Industrial Revolution. There are implications in this study for Indian Country beyond history. One problem is how to quantify the impact of climate change on tribal communities. As the most recent National Climate Assessment reports : The literature currently lacks studies that attempt to quantify and/or monetize climate impacts on Indigenous economies or economic activities. So, now, what if that thinking is too small? There is now scientific evidence that links climate change to the first encounter and the cumulative destruction of Indigenous societies. Should there be an accounting? How would that work? Would the balance of accounts be broadened to include other industrial societies in Europe as well as the United States itself? There are also questions raised in this study about climate change policy. As one of the authors, Chris Brierley told BBC , there is a lot of talk around negative emissions approaching and using tree-planting to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to mitigate climate change. And what we see from this study is the scale of whats required, because the Great Dying resulted in an area the size of France being reforested and that gave us only a few parts per million. This is useful; it shows us what reforestation can do. But at the same, that kind of reduction is worth perhaps just two years of fossil fuel emissions at the present rate. Indeed the scale of this report, of this history, is daunting. But like any important study, this one by University College London opens up more questions than answers. Mark Trahant is the editor of Indian Country Today . He is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes . Follow him on Twitter @TrahantReports This story originally appeared on Indian Country Today Join the Conversation India is becoming an increasingly big player in the international medical tourism industry, otherwise known as Medical Value Travel (MVT). By 2020, Indias MVT industry will more than double its current US$3 billion in revenue to US$8 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 15.6 percent. Indeed, foreign nationals in need of complicated treatment, surgeries, and operations are increasingly choosing India because of the countrys affordable, high quality medical care. In 2015 alone, 500,000 foreign nationals visited India for medical care. Indias rapidly growing MVT market offers huge potential for new investments in private medicine as well as value-added travel, which focuses on a patient-oriented business model. Medical tourism market: Why choose India India is one of the cheapest destinations in the world for most complicated surgeries and treatments. In India, a heart bypass surgery costs only US$5,200 compared to US$144,000 in the US, and US$15,121 in Thailand Indias biggest regional competitor for MVT. Despite these competitive prices, leading private hospitals in India deliver globally recognized standards of care. A 2013 study published in the Harvard Business Review found that the affordability of Indian healthcare has less to do with salary levels for its staff, and more to do with coordinated medical planning, which maximizes the use of expensive equipment and expertise, increasing productivity and reducing operational costs. Further, many hospitals that cater to foreign patients in India are staffed by doctors who have studied and practiced in Europe and North America. These hospitals also staff translators and stock international cuisines to make themselves appear more attractive to international patients. Currently, the majority of Indias medical tourists come from nearby South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Maldives as well as African countries like Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria. However, India is also becoming an increasingly attractive destination for patients from Russia and Central Asia as well. As Indias reputation as a global medical tourist hotspot grows, patients from Europe and North America are beginning to choose India as their destination for medical care. Indias ability to couple medical treatment with alternative forms of healing such as yoga, homeopathy, and ayurveda has helped increase the attractiveness of MVT in the country. Patient-oriented business model Medical tourists are often overwhelmed by both Indias bureaucratic procedures necessary in attaining a medical visa (or M-visa) and the unstructured nature of Indias medical tourism industry. There is great space for facilitating businesses that are competent in navigating the bureaucratic and cultural world of India for foreign patients. As the name Medical Value Travel implies, medical tourism is a value added service that incorporates everything from bureaucratic procedures, to travel, and accommodation. Most patients choose their medical tourist destination based on price, availability of knowledge, proximity, and ease of attaining proper paperwork. A patient-oriented business model puts the needs of the patient first, not just in medical care, but also in everything associated with the process. Pankaj Chandna, a representative of Vaidam Health, a growing player in Indias MVT industry, told India Briefing that businesses that work in MVT need to be facilitators and representatives of the patients needs and expectations. Facilitator companies working under a patient-oriented model are well positioned to create value-added services within Indias existing tourism industry. Indias tourism industry already accounts for over 6 percent of the countrys GDP; MVT offers value added services for an already enormous market. Investment needed to realize market potential Indias leading private medical institutions are efficient and affordable while maintaining a high standard of care. International patients visit India predominately for major treatments and operations. As an increasing number of foreign patients visit India for medical care, there is huge room for growth in the development of new, internationally accredited hospitals that focus on advanced operations. While leading Indian hospitals offer high quality, specialized care, there are not enough of these hospitals. The Joint Committee International (JCI), a globally recognized accreditation center for medical services, has only accredited 27 hospitals in India. Investments in already accredited hospitals opening more centers in the country will make the country more competitive as a medical tourism destination. In tandem with the need for more facilities, India must diversify its medical expertise. According to a paper co-written by IMS Health and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), India is a leader in cardiology and orthopedic treatments, but does not yet have credibility in other procedures, such as weight loss and cosmetic, spine surgery, and dentistry. More hospitals, and particularly, more specialized hospitals, will come up in India to facilitate this growing market. India allows 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the hospital sector, without the need of attaining approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). Another way of investing in the healthcare sector is through venture capital investments made with entitles registered with the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Beyond these options, important business support functions are also required by the industry: organizations must make contact with patients in their home countries through networks with local care providers and provide clear, streamlined information about processes. MVT-focused call centers could help provide proper information and increase Indias credibility as an MVT destination. The Indian government has already started promoting its medical tourism industry, and has announced plans to oversee its regulation. Though no regulation yet exists, investing in value added medical travel as well as hospitals that cater to foreign patients will situate current investors as major stakeholders in Indias growing MVT market. I spent a lot of time practicing especially when I was in high school. I would practice every day. Id go to school and build a project to practice for the masonry contest every single day. Sometimes Id build two or three a day. Id go to school and Id build one and sometimes two at school and then Id come home and build another one some days and it really pays off when you win." I am honored to have Marilyn Weisner join me as my guest for the State of the Union this year, Foster said in a press release. Her work as executive director of the Aurora food pantry is so important to our community and makes sure hardworking families do not go hungry. No one should have to choose between paying rent, purchasing life-saving medication and putting food on the table. Outsourcer Serco has inked a 560 million contract to provide health services to the Australia Defence Force in conjunction with Bupa. The firm will be responsible for providing essential defence support services across more than 50 bases in Australia as a sub-contractor to the private healthcare giant. Serco is also set to deliver recruitment, on-boarding, training, workforce management and various other employee lifecycle, account management and support functions. Serco boss Rupert Soames said: We are very excited to be supporting Bupa and the Australian Defence Force in delivering these essential services. Our solution draws upon Sercos international experience and expertise in workforce management, and the contract brings together the deep skills we have in our citizen services business, the commitment to patient-centred outcomes in our health business, and the strong relationships and operational delivery we have demonstrated in our defence businesses. The firms responsibilities will cover more than 1,000 professional staff who will support the delivery of an integrated health care system to over 80,000 Australia Defence Force members and reservists. The contract has up to four one-year extensions and full operational service will begin on July 1. Serco has bucked the wider woes in the outsourcing sector recently and in December confirmed it remains on track to hit recently raised profit forecasts for the year. Shares in the group jumped after it said profits had grown strongly on 2018 and predicted further improvement in 2019 amid an overhaul launched three years ago. Trip: US President Donald Trump and son Barron en route to Florida for the weekend. Photo: Susan Walsh/AP Photo The United States will keep troops in Iraq in order to "watch" Iran, Donald Trump said yesterday. Mr Trump said he wanted to maintain a military presence in the country even though he had repeatedly described the original decision to invade Iraq as one of the "greatest mistakes" ever made by the US. "We spent a fortune on building this incredible base. We might as well keep it," the US president said in a wide-ranging interview on 'Face the Nation', the CBS flagship political programme. "One of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem." The base, he said, was perfectly situated for looking across the whole of the Middle East. "We're going to keep watching and we're going to keep seeing and if there's trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we're going to know it before they do." Mr Trump has faced criticism over his foreign policy after alarming senior Republicans with his determination to disengage from the Middle East and Afghanistan. However, he reiterated his unhappiness with costly wars in Syria and Afghanistan as he sought to clarify and justify his approach. In December, he announced he was pulling 2,000 troops out of Syria against the wishes of James Mattis, his then defence secretary, who quit in protest. In the 'Face the Nation' interview, Mr Trump said he had asked for Mr Mattis to resign because he was unhappy with his performance. "He resigned because I was very nice to him. But I gave him big budgets and he didn't do well in Afghanistan," he said. He was non-committal over the timescale for withdrawing troops from Syria because of the US commitment to protecting Israel. Mr Trump, who has been a critic of America's involvement in Afghanistan, confirmed that some troops would remain, but did not state how many. "I'll leave intelligence there. Real intelligence, by the way. I'll leave intelligence there and if I see nests forming, I'll do something about it." At the same time, he hinted that he was hopeful a peace deal could be negotiated with the Taliban. "We've been there close to 19 years. And it's time. And we'll see what happens with the Taliban. They want peace. They're tired. Everybody's tired. "We'd like to have - I don't like endless wars. This war. What we're doing has got to stop at some point." Mr Trump's determination to reduce America's presence in the Middle East and Afghanistan and his scrapping of the Iran nuclear deal flies in the face of the advice he has been given by the US intelligence establishment. He was unrepentant over his decision to ignore his intelligence experts, who said Iran complied with the deal. "I disagree with them 100pc. It is a vicious country that kills many people," Mr Trump said. "So when my intelligence people tell me how wonderful Iran is - if you don't mind, I'm going to just go by my own counsel." He blamed the intelligence services for the US involvement in Iraq, claiming that they "didn't know what the hell they were doing". ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] The governor of a US state has refused to quit over a racist photo in his medical school yearbook, despite growing calls for him to resign. Virginia's Ralph Northam claims it is not him pictured, despite originally apologising on Friday for the photograph that featured a man in blackface and a second person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. In a video he posted on Twitter, the Democrat said he could not "undo the harm my behaviour caused then and today". But Mr Northam later said he was not in the picture after all, adding he had not seen the photo before Friday because he had never bought a copy of the 1984 yearbook or been involved in its preparation 35 years ago. "It has taken time for me to make sure that it's not me, but I am convinced, I am convinced that I am not in that picture," he said during a press conference in Richmond, the state capital. Calling the picture offensive and horrific, Mr Northam, who is one year into his four-year term, again rejected demands that he step down. The governor later admitted he once used shoe polish to put on blackface as part of a Michael Jackson costume for a 1984 dance contest in Texas while he was in the army. Legacy He said he regretted that he did not understand "the harmful legacy of an action like that". Asked by a reporter whether he could still do Jackson's famous moonwalk, Mr Northam paused before his wife Pamela interjected to say it was "inappropriate circumstances". The governor's shifting explanations did little to sway prominent Democrats and Republicans calling on him to resign. Both of Virginia's US senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, joined the dean of Virginia's congressional delegation, Representative Bobby Scott, in saying they no longer believe Mr Northam can serve effectively. Mr Northam was pushed repeatedly by reporters to explain why he had apologised if he was not in the photo. "My first intention ... was to reach out and apologise," he said, adding that he recognised that people would be offended by the photo. But after studying the picture and consulting classmates, Mr Northam said: "I am convinced that is not my picture." In a tweet on Saturday, President Donald Trump weighed in on proceedings, calling Mr Northam's actions related to the photo and abortion debate "unforgivable!" Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido reacts during a rally in Caracas, February 2, 2019. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares Spain, Britain, Austria, Sweden and Denmark have recognised Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela while France said he had the right to organise an election given the socialist government's refusal. The coordinated move from major European nations came after the expiry of an eight-day deadline they set last weekend for President Nicolas Maduro to call a new vote. The Venezuelan leader, accused of running the OPEC nation like a dictatorship and wrecking its economy, has defied that, saying Europe's ruling elite are sycophantically following US President Donald Trump's agenda. Guaido, who leads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself temporary leader last month in a move that has split global powers. Trump immediately recognised him and European Union nations back Guaido, though some have been nervous over the global precedent of a self-declaration. Russia and China, who have poured billions of dollars of investment and loans into the OPEC nation, are supporting Maduro. Expand Close Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro attends a military exercise in Turiamo, Venezuela February 3, 2019. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro attends a military exercise in Turiamo, Venezuela February 3, 2019. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS "I recognise the president of Venezuela's assembly, Mr Juan Guaido, as president in charge of Venezuela," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised statement, urging a free and fair election as soon as possible. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt followed suit. "Nicolas Maduro has not called presidential elections within eight-day limit we have set," Hunt said on Twitter. "So UK alongside European allies now recognises @jguaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held." French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Inter radio station Guaido has "the capacity and the legitimacy" to organise a presidential election. Le Drian said France would consult European partners over Venezuela, and that it was imperative the conflict was resolved peacefully and civil war avoided. Sweden, Austria and Denmark also said they recognised Guaido as interim leader of Venezuela. Expand Close A Venezuelan living in Costa Rica wearing a mask takes part in a rally in support of Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido, in San Jose, Costa Rica February 2, 2019. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Venezuelan living in Costa Rica wearing a mask takes part in a rally in support of Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido, in San Jose, Costa Rica February 2, 2019. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate Maduro (56), a former union leader, bus driver and foreign leader, replaced former leader Hugo Chavez in 2013 after his death from cancer. But he has presided over an economic collapse and exodus of 3 million Venezuelans. He blames a US-led "economic war" and also accuses Washington of seeking a coup against him. But critics say incompetent policies and corruption have gutted a once-wealthy nation while dissent has been brutally crushed. Russia said the coordinated European move was an attempt to legitimise Guaido's illegal attempt to seize power and amounted to foreign meddling. European countries issued a last-ditch warning to Nicolas Maduro yesterday that they would recognise Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president if he did not call elections, as the clock ticked down on their midnight deadline. Nathalie Loiseau, France's Europe minister, reiterated that the ultimatum issued by Paris, London and five other European governments eight days ago was about to expire. "If by tonight Mr Maduro does not commit to organising presidential elections, we will consider that Mr Guaido is legitimate to organise them in his place and we will consider [him] the interim president of Venezuela until legitimate elections." The vote Mr Maduro won last May had been a "farce" and a "fictitious election", she said. Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, said yesterday that his government would join the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium in recognising Mr Guaido as leader. Washington also turned up the heat on an increasingly isolated Mr Maduro, as US President Donald Trump again warned that military intervention in the oil-rich South American nation remained "an option". The US swiftly recognised Mr Guaido as interim president after the parliamentary speaker swore himself in before a rally in Caracas on January 23. Canada and a host of Latin American countries including Brazil, Colombia and Chile quickly followed suit. Meanwhile, long-time allies of Mr Maduro, such as Russia and Cuba, criticised what they described as imperialist interference. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman had sex with minors he called "vitamins", according to claims by witnesses in newly unsealed documents. The allegations come as a jury in New York is about to start deliberating in his US drug-trafficking case. According to papers made public at the weekend, a key government co-operator told authorities that Guzman had him drug girls as young as 13 before Guzman had sex with them at one of his Mexican hideouts in the late 2000s. One of Guzman's lawyers called the accusations "extremely salacious" and questioned the timing of the government filing. Guzman "denies the allegations, which lack any corroboration and were deemed too prejudicial and unreliable to be admitted at trial", lawyer Eduardo Balarezo said in a statement. "It is unfortunate that the material was publicly released just prior to the jury beginning deliberations." The jury is set to begin deliberations today after a nearly three-month trial on charges that as the head of the Sinaloa cartel, Guzman oversaw a drug-smuggling empire that flooded the US market with at least 180 tonnes of cocaine and made $14bn (12bn) from it. The defence says co-operating witnesses have made Guzman a scapegoat for their own crimes. The unsealing of the documents came at the request of the 'New York Times' and the Vice News website. US District Judge Brian Cogan had ordered prosecutors to review the material - originally sealed because it was deemed unrelated to the drug charges - and make portions of it public within four days after the government rested its case against Guzman. One document says Colombian drug trafficker Alex Cifuentes, while living with Guzman around 2007, told investigators someone known as Comadre Maria would offer photos of girls to Guzman. For $5,000, the girl of Guzman's choice would be sent to a secluded Sinaloa ranch, Cifuentes said, according to the papers. Guzman directed Cifuentes to put a "powdery substance" into the girls' drinks before sex, said Cifuentes. Guzman "called the youngest of the girls his 'vitamins' because he believed that sexual activity with young girls gave him 'life'", he added. Cifuentes also admitted having sex with minors but without drugging them. The document says other co-operating witnesses have backed up the claims about Guzman's interactions with underage girls. The documents also describe an interview with Guzman conducted by a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent in 1998 at a Mexican prison where Guzman escaped two years later. They say he allegedly asked whether he could avoid extradition to the US if he provided information to the DEA about the drug-running operations of rival cartels. Emmanuel Macron is reportedly considering holding France's first referendum in 14 years to try to quell 'yellow vest' protests, although opposition leaders have warned it is unlikely to defuse popular anger. The flagship demand of the gilets jaunes is for referendums to be held on major policy decisions, which they argue would introduce a broader form of democracy. But the president's new referendum would simply ask voters whether they wanted to reduce the number of MPs and limit the time they could serve, 'Le Journal du Dimanche' reported. The referendum would be held on the same day as European Parliament elections in May, according to the newspaper. France's last referendum, in 2005, shocked the political establishment because voters rejected a new EU constitution. French Eurosceptics were furious, however, when many of its provisions were subsequently introduced as part of the Lisbon Treaty. Interior ministry officials have been studying the practicalities of a May referendum for weeks, France Info radio reported. However, Nathalie Loiseau, the Europe minister, said: "The president isn't ruling anything out, but he hasn't yet made a decision." Asked whether a vote was on the way, Mr Macron said last week: "It's one of the things on the table." Violent protests by the gilets jaunes began over fuel prices and the cost of living in November. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Sympathy: A tribute show to Emiliano Sala on the big screen during Cardiffs game in the FA Cup at Swanseas stadium last week. Photo: Simon Galloway/PA Wire. The wreckage of the plane carrying the missing Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala has been found almost two weeks after it disappeared. Marine scientist David Mearns, who directed a privately funded search operation north of Guernsey on behalf of the Sala family, said the wreckage of the plane was "located earlier this morning". The Piper Malibu carrying 28-year-old Sala and pilot David Ibbotson (59) disappeared over the English Channel on January 21 after leaving Nantes in France for Cardiff. Two vessels, including one commissioned by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), using sonar had been taking part in a fresh search covering an area of around four square nautical miles. Mr Mearns, the director of Blue Water Recoveries, led a team on the search vessel FPV Morven while the AAIB also sent a team aboard the Geo Ocean III. "Wreckage of the plane carrying Emiliano Sala and piloted by David Ibbotson was located early this morning by the FPV Morven. As agreed with the AAIB they moved the GEO OCEAN III over the position we provided them to visually identify the plane by ROV," Mr Mearns tweeted. "The families of Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson have been notified by police. The AAIB will be making a statement tomorrow. Tonight our sole thoughts are with the families and friends of Emiliano and David." The privately funded operation on behalf of the Sala family was made possible after a campaign raised more than 260,000 (300,000) to fund it. Speaking to Sky News, Mr Mearns said: "This is about the best result we could have hoped for the families." The heaviest floods in a century in Queensland will worsen this week after weather forecasters warned of more torrential rain even as the south of Australia bakes in sizzling temperatures. Hundreds of residents have already been evacuated after days of monsoon rains lashed the region around the coastal city of Townsville in north Queensland. Adam Blazak, a forecaster with the Bureau of Meteorology said some areas had reached "major" flood levels. "Normally a monsoonal burst might last a few days, but this one's been going on over a week now and is set to continue for a few more days as well," he said. Between 150mm and 200mm of rain was expected across Townsville at the weekend - equal to about a month's average rainfall. Australia's tropical north expects heavy rains during the monsoon season at this time of the year, but the recent deluge has surged far above normal. Local authorities are deliberately flooding a number of areas after the record rainfall pushed a dam beyond capacity. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close An aerial view shows flood waters in the suburb of Hyde Park, Townsville, North Queensland, Australia, February 4, 2019. AAP Image/Dave Acree/via REUTERS An aerial view shows the flood-affected area in Townsville, Queensland, Australia February 3, 2019, in this still image from video obtained from social media. Queensland Government Air/via REUTERS A man reclines on a unicorn float in floodwater on Bowen Road in Rosslea district, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Feburary 3, 2019 in this still taken from social media video. Nathan Hughes via REUTERS Floodwater flows over the Aplins Weir Rotary Park footbridge in Mundingburra district, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Feburary 3, 2019 in this still taken from social media video. Nathan Hughes via REUTERS Ross River Dam releases water in Queensland, Australia, in this still photo from a February 3, 2019 video by Julia Hunt. Julia Hunt/Social Media/via REUTERS Flooding is seen in Bicentennial Park in Queensland, Australia, in this still photo from a February 3, 2019 drone video footage by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services. Queensland Fire and Emergency Services/Social Media/via REUTERS Floodwater flows by the Aplins Weir Rotary Park footbridge in Mundingburra district, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Feburary 3, 2019 in this still taken from social media video. Marissa Papageorge via REUTERS Floodwater flows by the Aplins Weir Rotary Park footbridge in Mundingburra district, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Feburary 3, 2019 in this still taken from social media video. Marissa Papageorge via REUTERS SES volunteers are seen rescuing residents in Rosslea, Townsville, Queensland, Australia February 2, 2019. Picture taken February 2, 2019. AAP Image/Andrew Rankin/via REUTERS Amelia Rankin stands in flooded waters in Hermit Park, Townsville, Queensland, Australia February 3, 2019. AAP Image/Andrew Rankin/via REUTERS Residents evacuating to higher ground in Hermit Park, Townsville, Queensland, Australia February 3, 2019. AAP Image/Andrew Rankin/via REUTERS Flooding is seen in Rosslea, Townsville, Queensland, Australia February 2, 2019. Picture taken February 2, 2019. AAP Image/Andrew Rankin/via REUTERS Rocks are seen blocking Muller Street in Wulguru, Townsville, as flooding continues in northern Queensland, Australia February 1, 2019 Local resident Paul Shafer and his daughter Lily stand in floodwaters near star pickets that show where the storm water cover has been removed in Hermit Park, Townsville, northern Queensland, Australia This handout from the Australia Department of Defence taken on February 2, 2019 and received on February 4, 2019 This handout from the Australia Department of Defence taken on February 2, 2019 and received on February 4, 2019 This handout photo from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) taken on February 3, 2019 and received on February 4, 2019 shows flooding in Townsville This handout photo from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) taken on February 3, 2019 and received on February 4, 2019 shows flooding in Townsville. This handout photo from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) taken on February 3, 2019 and received on February 4, 2019 shows flooding in Townsville.Photo by Handout / QUEENSLAND FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES / AFP A handout picture provided by Queensland Police Service, taken on February 2, 2019 and release on February 3 shows two police officers wading in flood waters in Townsville.Photo by Queensland Police Service A handout photo taken by Erin Hahn on February 3, 2019 and received on February 4, shows a crocodile during the floods in Townsville. A handout photo taken and recieved February 4, 2019, from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) shows the flooding in Townsville. Photo by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services A handout photo taken and recieved February 4, 2019, from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) shows the flooding in Townsville. Photo by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An aerial view shows flood waters in the suburb of Hyde Park, Townsville, North Queensland, Australia, February 4, 2019. AAP Image/Dave Acree/via REUTERS Residents in Townsville have been warned there is a "risk to life" amid "unprecedented flooding" that could damage up to 20,000 homes. Local authorities issued a number of flood warnings and told residents to avoid using roads and consider moving to higher ground if conditions worsen. Crocodiles and snakes have been spotted int he water as troops and police in boats have been searching for residents in need of help. "It's basically not just a one in 20-year event, it's a one in 100-year event," said Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. North Queensland has significant zinc reserves as well as major deposits of silver, lead, copper and iron ore, with Townsville a major processing centre for the region's base metals. In stark contrast, wildfires in the southern island state of Tasmania have burnt through close to 190,000 hectares of land. Chris Arnold, the chief officer of the Tasmania Fire Service, said nearly 600 personnel were working to contain the fires, some of which have been burning for weeks and have destroyed homes. Mr Arnold said that while the last few days had produced favourable conditions for battling the blazes, communities in part of the state were still under threat as expected hot and dry weather could see bushfires escalate again. Expand Close Damp: Residents evacuate to higher ground in Townsville, Queensland. Photo: Andrew Rankin/AAP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Damp: Residents evacuate to higher ground in Townsville, Queensland. Photo: Andrew Rankin/AAP Australia endured its hottest month on record in January, with sweltering conditions expected to persist through April. That scorching weather triggered power outages in some areas and sent electricity prices soaring. Are we losing our world-famous gift of the gab? In an attempt to save our traditional national pastime, a pub in west Cork has banned people from using mobile phones. Billy Fleming, owner of the Anchor Bar, in Courtmacsherry, has said that the locals who drink in his pub support his decision and that mobile phones have gradually killed conversation over the last few years. Its true, they have and they do. Any night out these days is interrupted by phones ringing, beeping or vibrating. Even meeting a friend for coffee will be disturbed by noise coming from the phone. Phones are ruining the art of conversation. Will the Anchor Bar open the floodgates for all pubs to ban phone use? Padraig Cribben, chief executive of the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), says that each publican will have to make up their own mind. Its up to individual publicans to decide what works best for their pub and customers. Clearly, there is a groundswell of support for some publicans who want to ban mobile phones but what works for one pub does not necessarily work for another. It is the ugliest word coined in recent years and represents a wearying head-wreck which has sickened people across 28 nations and beyond. But most Irish people still get the reality that Brexit is about the wages, the mortgage, the kids' shoes and all of the rest. Many Irish people talk about it with a surprising level of knowledge for something so dreary and technical. All of us are trying to figure out where - if anywhere - this dreadful thing is going to land. So, let's stand back and try once again - and answer seven key questions as seven weeks stand between us and B-Day on March 29. 1. Where does the European Union stand right now? It is sticking to the EU-UK divorce deal of November 25. It is prepared to offer "explanations" to help UK parliament ratification - but insists the deal itself is closed. It is obliged, however, to admit the Irish Border must have some form of controls if there's a no-deal Brexit. It is low on patience with UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who last week advised her own MPs to effectively vote against the draft deal. It will stand by Ireland - but that does not mean all is safe for this country as the threat of a no-deal Brexit grows. The EU insists that the deal "remains the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal". German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said yesterday that "if the British want to avoid a disorderly Brexit, our offer is on the table". 2. Where is UK government on all this? Mrs May, despite her crushing defeat on January 15, still believes UK parliament ratification can happen. But last week she successfully advised her own party's eurosceptics and the DUP to vote for an EU-UK divorce deal without the Border backstop. Mrs May still, formally at least, refuses a deadline extension and keeps the dangerous threat of a no-deal Brexit to push her case. For her, it is all about trying to keep a semblance of unity in her riven cabinet and party and somehow placate the DUP - rather than anything else. The prime minister continues to rule out a second referendum, insisting that the June 2016 result, which saw UK voters opt by 52pc to 48pc to quit the EU, must be implemented. A second referendum cannot be ruled out but it remains some distance away even as a likely option. A general election, with a Brexit theme, could happen sooner. Mrs May is back in Europe this week. "I am now confident there is a route that can secure a majority in the House of Commons for leaving the EU with a deal," she wrote in a British Sunday newspaper yesterday. "When I return to Brussels I will be battling for Britain and Northern Ireland, I will be armed with a fresh mandate, new ideas and a renewed determination to agree a pragmatic solution," she added airily. Expect a continued large 'Non' to come her way, sending her back to Westminster to think again. 3. And the UK Labour Party and/or the Scottish National Party? Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is still pushing against the odds for a general election. He is demanding an end to a no-deal Brexit as the price of talking about co-operation with Mrs May. But he remains under serious internal pressure to back a second referendum. A change in Labour's approach could really unlock this one and deliver a good outcome for Ireland. But there is no tradition of such levels of cross-party co-operation in Britain and Mr Corbyn is himself no fan of the European Union. There are 35 SNP MPs who could also help shift things in a positive direction. But they are playing for a new referendum on an independent Scotland within the EU. They are also miffed that Scotland did not get the special Brexit status accorded Northern Ireland. We can expect no joy there either. 4. So what about the Irish Government? The pressure is increasing and continued anti-Irish propaganda in some sections of UK politics and media will heighten this. It is still hoping that UK MPs might somehow ratify the EU-UK deal which guarantees special status for the North and ongoing UK trade. Failing that, it is still insisting that, whatever happens, the Border backstop must stand. Otherwise it is still hoping enough UK MPs will back a soft Brexit. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is due back in Brussels on Wednesday and is still trying to shore up Irish-EU support. Dublin has really managed well so far. But after months of paralysis, this one appears to be slipping towards a very dangerous point with a no-deal Brexit an increasing risk. Pressure will build and, as Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney was overheard to say, it could be the Irish Government obliged to bring back the Border if there is a no-deal outcome. This one is not of Ireland's making - but it could backfire badly on Leo Varadkar and company. 5. And so what are the next moves? Theresa May goes back to the EU with the latest proposals. This may involve a compromise plan cooked up by a former Tory minister called Christopher Malthouse, known to his buddies as Kit. This is mainly focused on using technology to avoid Border controls in Ireland. But that suggestion has already been junked by the EU for the good reason that the necessary technology is not in existence as of yet. The next date with Brexit fate at Westminster is fixed for Wednesday of next week. Unless something unforeseen happens, it will likely involve more fact-finding MP votes. It might even lead to a vote obliging Mrs May to formally ask for a Brexit extension which requires unanimous backing of the other 27 EU states. Listen for that can beating its way down the road again. 6. Will Brexit be extended beyond the March 29 deadline? That is looking increasingly likely for a number of reasons. But even that brings complications and problems - not least the timing and organisation of European Parliament elections in late May. This can be overcome if there is political will. The bigger impediment is a view in Europe that the UK would need a plan to justify a deadline extension. If it's more of the same, the view might be that the worst should be done sooner rather later. The length of any such extension and how and when it would be granted could become a row within a row. 7. Are we still talking about the risk of a no-deal Brexit? Sadly, yes. You will hear much more talk about this in the coming days as a high-powered EU Commission delegation is due in Dublin to meet the Irish Government about how to manage such an outcome. The tough reality is that - if nothing else is put in place - a no-deal crash is where this one is headed. The country is now in no doubt about the scale of frustration and discontent among our nurses. Last week's all-out strike threatens to be repeated tomorrow and on Thursday, along with several more days of planned action later this month. The nurses know better than any of us the negative impact it is having on patients and vulnerable people in the community - but they feel forced into taking the drastic step of withdrawing labour. The same nurses who are on the picket line will go back to their wards and probably end up working three times harder to make up for their absence because they have such a sense of caring and duty towards their patients. So why is such a respected and essential part of our health workforce having to take to the streets on a grim winter's day? The arguments are now well-aired and so far they have ended in deadlock. The nurses say there is a recruitment and retention crisis that can only be sorted by higher wages. The Government insists they are already in line for a pay rise under the national wage agreement and any special deals would lead to knock-on demands from other unions. Unfortunately, the opposing arguments are going nowhere and bringing misery to all concerned, including the unfortunate patients caught in the middle. If there was ever a need for compromise on both sides, it is now. It surely cannot be beyond the best inventive minds of the leaders in our industrial relations machinery to get both sides together to work out some agreement. The message to the nurses is clear. The Government is not going to break the wage agreement and grant a pay rise now. It will not borrow money. That surely does not exclude the potential for a pay rise in the future, based on some form of review of the nurses' workloads, responsibilities and duties. That review could have a strong focus on staff nurses who make up most of the ranks of the profession and are the vital footsoldiers who keep hospitals afloat. Rather than the broad summary which was arrived at in the Public Service Pay Commission report, that there is no nursing crisis except in certain specialist areas, there is surely a need for a deeper analysis of where there are shortages and in what kind of hospitals or health facilities. Apart from the other roadblocks faced by nurses at this point, the looming dark cloud of Brexit and what it could do to damage our economy makes the timing of this strike particularly unfortunate. It's too late now to stop tomorrow's hospital and community health cancellations. It should never have come to this, of course, but the Government cannot ignore the wrath and the fire of the nurses. The nursing unions may also have to learn that compromise does not mean giving in - but taking a longer route to meet their aim. Kwoklyn Wan grew up in the kitchens of Chinese takeaways and restaurants with his brother Gok, now a style guru. Kwoklyns Chinese Takeaway Cookbook is the holy grail of trade-secret recipes, so you can create your favourite Chinese takeaway and Cantonese restaurant dishes. Wonton soup Expand Close Wonton Soup / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Wonton Soup If one dish summed up our family's food history, this would be the dish. As a teen, Dad worked in a wonton bar in Sha-Tau-Kok, in the New Territories of Hong Kong, which borders China. This is where Dad first learnt his trade and skill, a skill that would be later passed to me. Won-ton translated literally means 'swallow cloud' because after the wontons have been cooked, the dumplings float in the soup, resembling small clouds. Prep: 15 minutes. Cooking: 10 minutes. Serves 4 Ingredients For the wontons: 100g (3oz) minced pork 100g (3oz) raw king prawns (tiger shrimp), peeled, de-veined and finely chopped 1cm (in) piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped tbsp light soy sauce 1 tsp rice vinegar tsp salt tsp white pepper 1 tsp sesame oil 1-2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch), only if mixture is too wet 1 egg 24 wonton wrappers For the soup: 3cm (1in) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced 1 tbsp soy sauce 800ml (3 cups) chicken stock tsp white pepper 1 tsp salt To serve: 1 spring onion (scallion), finely sliced 1 tsp sesame oil Method 1. First make the wontons. In a large mixing bowl, combine the minced pork, chopped prawns, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper and sesame oil and thoroughly mix all of the ingredients together. The filling should be slightly sticky but if it seems too wet, mix in 1-2 teaspoons of cornflour to thicken it. 2. Crack the egg into a bowl and beat with a fork. 3. Place a wonton wrapper on a chopping board and position it so that it faces you like a diamond. With your fingertips or a spoon, spread a thin layer of the egg wash along the top two edges of the wrapper. 4. Place a quarter of a teaspoon of filling in the centre of the wrapper, fold the bottom tip to the top tip to form a triangle and pinch along the edge of the filling to seal the wonton, squeezing out the air. 5. Wet the tip of one of the long ends of the triangle tips and fold into the centre, then fold the other tip into the centre and join the two together. Repeat until you've filled all the wrappers and used up the filling. 6. Now make the soup. Put all the soup ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to simmer for 5-8 minutes. 7. Fill another large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. 8. Carefully drop the wontons into the boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes. Once the wontons float to the surface they should be cooked thoroughly but please check before eating. There should be no pink meat. 9. Divide the wontons between four soup bowls and sprinkle with chopped spring onions and a drizzle of sesame oil. Pour over the soup and serve. Steamed Bao buns The history of Chinese steamed buns goes back to the eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-255BC). According to Ming Dynasty scholars, the original name for these buns, 'mantou', meant 'barbarian's head'! These steamed, soft white buns are often served with Chinese tea. Prep: 1 hour 15 minutes. Cooking: 9 minutes. Makes 6 Ingredients 20ml ( cup) warm full-fat milk 10g (oz) caster sugar 5g (oz) dried yeast 200g (1 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour 5g (oz) baking powder (baking soda) 1 tsp olive oil For the pork filling: 80g (3oz) Chinese Roast BBQ Pork (see panel left) tbsp sugar 1 tbsp hoisin sauce 1 tbsp yellow bean sauce 1 tsp Chinese five spice 2-3 tbsp water Natural red food colouring tbsp vegetable oil Method 1. Measure the milk in a jug and add the sugar and yeast. Stir and leave to ferment for 5 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and baking powder, make a well in the centre, then pour in the yeast mixture and mix thoroughly to form a dough. Knead for 5 minutes. 2. Lightly rub teaspoon of olive oil over the surface of the dough and leave in the bowl, covered with a damp cloth or cling film to prove for 30 minutes, until doubled in size. 3. Meanwhile, chop the pork into 5mm (in) cubes. Mix the remaining ingredients (except the oil) in a bowl and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok and fry the pork for 30 seconds. Add the sauce mixture and stir vigorously for 2-3 minutes. Tip the filling back into the bowl and leave to cool. 4. Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and knead the air bubbles out of the dough, keeping your work surface dusted with flour. 5. Roll the dough with your hands to form a long sausage shape, then divide into 6 equal pieces. Using your fingers, form each piece into a 7cm (2in) flat disc. Add a tablespoon of filling into the centre of each disc and gather up the edges to form a round parcel, twisting the top to form a seal. 6. Place the filled dough balls onto perforated baking parchment in a bamboo steamer with a lid, cover with a damp cloth and leave to prove again for 30 minutes. 7. When you're ready to cook, place the bamboo steamer over a pan of boiling water and steam the buns for 9 minutes. Serve while still hot. 8. Unfilled buns can be made by placing the equally cut pieces of dough directly into a lined steamer and cooking as for the filled bao. 9. Other popular fillings are lotus seed paste and custard & red bean paste - not overly sweet but very moreish! Happy family Expand Close Happy Family / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Happy Family A mixture of char siu pork, chicken, beef and seafood served with mixed vegetables in a rich, aromatic gravy, this is an American-Chinese recipe founded in Chinatown, San Francisco, by Chinese immigrants who had moved to the USA to work in the mines and on the railways. Prep: 5 minutes. Cooking: 7 minutes. Serves 4 Ingredients 2 tbsp groundnut oil 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 onion, diced 40g (1oz) chicken breast fillet, sliced 1 red (bell) pepper, de-seeded and diced 1 carrot, sliced 40g ( cup) small broccoli florets 40g ( cup) sugar snap peas, cut into bite-sized pieces 30g ( cup) tinned bamboo shoots 3 baby corn cobs, halved lengthways 40g ( cup) tinned water chestnuts, cut into bite-sized slices 8 king prawns (tiger shrimp), shelled and de-veined 40g (1oz) Chinese Roast BBQ Pork cut into bite-sized slices (see panel below) 40g (1oz) fillet steak, sliced 1 tbsp light soy sauce tbsp dark soy sauce 2 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp granulated sugar tsp salt tsp white pepper 120ml ( cup) chicken stock 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with 2 tbsp water 1 tsp sesame oil Method 1. Heat the groundnut oil in a wok over a medium-high heat, add the garlic and onion and fry for 1 minute. Add the chicken and fry for 2 minutes, then add the remainder of the vegetables and stir-fry for 2 minutes. 2. Add the prawns, pork and the beef, stir-fry for a minute and then add the soy sauces, oyster sauce, sugar, salt, pepper and stock. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. 3. Stir in the cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce, then remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve. Expand Close Kwoklyn Wan . / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kwoklyn Wan . Chinese Roast BBQ pork In Hong Kong, char siu is usually purchased from a Siu Mei establishment, which specialises in meat dishes - char siu (BBQ pork), soy-sauce chicken, roast goose, crispy belly pork. These shops usually display their merchandise by hanging them in the window and, as a result, char siu is often eaten with one of these other meat dishes in a 'rice box' meal. Prep: 2 hours. Marinade: 2+ hours. Cooking: 1 hour. Serves 4 Ingredients 800g (1lb 12oz) pork shoulder or loin 1 tbsp Chinese five spice 2 tbsp Chinese rice wine 2 slices of fresh ginger 2 garlic cloves, crushed 3 tbsp yellow bean sauce 3 tbsp hoisin sauce 3 tbsp white sugar 2 star anise 1 cinnamon stick 1 tbsp honey, plus 2 tbsp mixed with 2 tbsp hot water for glazing Method 1. Put the pork into a large bowl, add the remaining ingredients (except the honey-water glaze) and massage the ingredients into the pork. 2. Cover, transfer to the fridge and leave to marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight. 3. The next day, remove the pork from the fridge and allow to come back up to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). 4. Sit the pork on a baking tray (reserving the marinade separately), cover in foil and cook in the oven for 20 minutes. Turn and baste with marinade, then cook for a further 10 minutes, covered. Check the pork is cooked by inserting a skewer to ensure the juices run clear. Baste the pork with the marinade for a second time and return to the oven to cook, uncovered, for a further 20 minutes. You want the pork to be a deep amber colour and the marinade should be sticky and dry. 5. Remove the pork from the oven and brush with the honey and water mixture to glaze, then flash under the grill for 2-3 minutes or until the edges have scorched. Leave the pork to cool to room temperature, then slice and serve. Extracted from The Chinese Takeaway Cookbook by Kwoklyn Wan (Quadrille 15) Photography: Sam Folan A young woman has revealed her father's persistence saved her life after medics deemed she was too young to have a stroke. Claire Tollerton, from Belfast, began to experience a headache and her speech was affected, but paramedics ruled out a stroke due to the fact she was only 30. Doctors in the emergency department put her symptoms down to a migraine, but dad Gerry (55) insisted something was seriously wrong. It was only after two days and a raft of tests that Claire, a software tester, was diagnosed with a stroke. Now 31, she said: "I am so lucky my dad was there. My grandparents had had strokes so he recognised the signs and insisted I go to hospital. "I thought it was over-reacting but I just didn't realise how sick I was. You just never expect a stroke to happen to a younger person like me." Claire was at home alone when she fell ill in January last year. She recalled: "It was such a strange experience. I was trying to text mum but I couldn't figure out what I was trying to say or how to send the text message. "My dad rang and he noticed that my speech was very slow and slurred. Luckily he lives close by and was around at my house within minutes. "He said: 'Do you realise you're speaking very slowly?'. But I really didn't know what was going on. Dad knew something was wrong and rang an ambulance. "The rapid response medic that came to the house did a few tests and said I was too young for a stroke but dad insisted on taking me to the Ulster Hospital to get checked out. At first the doctors thought I was having a migraine but after two days of tests they realised there was a bleed on my brain and I was admitted to the stroke unit. "It was such a shock to hear I had had a stroke. I had my bags packed to go home when they came and told me I wasn't going anywhere. It was a really bizarre and scary experience." Claire spent a week in hospital and was subsequently diagnosed with a hole in her heart, which had caused the stroke. One in four people has such a hole in their heart and most live a normal life without it ever being detected. Before her illness Claire was being treated for a blood clot and the undiagnosed hole allowed the clot to travel to her brain. She underwent a ground-breaking procedure to close the hole in October. "Normally they put in a device which opens like an umbrella over the hole but with me they did this stitch and I think I was one of the first people in Northern Ireland to have it done," she said. "I feel like one of the lucky ones because my dad saved my life but I know it's going to take a while to fully recover." Claire is speaking out to coincide with a Stroke Association campaign to raise awareness of the symptoms of stroke. Brenda Maguire from the charity said: "Every second counts when you are having a stroke, so if you see any of the signs of stroke always call 999 immediately. The sooner somebody who is having a stroke gets urgent medical attention, the better their chances of a good recovery." Wexford camogie is said to be in "dire straits" following a humiliating 45-point defeat to Galway yesterday. Wexford could only find 13 players to take part in the Littlewoods Ireland Camogie National League Division 1 game, which ended 9-23 to 1-2. In a sporting gesture, Galway - who were leading 8-10 to 0-2 at the break - levelled things up for the second half by withdrawing two players. Last month, the Model Ladies were forced to hand a walkover to Cork in their Division 1 encounter due to insufficient numbers. College and work commitments were cited as the main reasons behind the dwindling numbers. However, according to a prominent club member who wished to remain anonymous, the county board is at fault. "It's true that a lot of girls have been leaving the country for the summer and missing matches due to college commitments. But it's not the girls' fault and it's not like the board couldn't increase the numbers if they really wanted to. "The intermediates have a full panel and there are some very talented players in the minor league. "There should be more focus on getting the minors and intermediates onto the senior team. This seems like the logical thing to do, but it's obviously not happening. Golden "Some people are saying that the players aren't available because St Martin's Club are involved in the All-Ireland. However, for years we were able to have full league fixtures while winning All-Ireland titles. They're in dire straits at the moment." The source added that funding is not an issue for the county. A golden generation of Wexford players, like Ursula Jacob, Kate Kelly and Mags D'Arcy, helped to secure four All-Ireland titles in 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012. But the county has seen a massive decline in its fortunes since then. Martin Carey, brother of Kilkenny great DJ, had been at the helm throughout the 2018 season but his reign has now ended. County Board chairperson Jacinta Roche told the Irish Independent that although the team is struggling, she believes they will bounce back to their former glory. "We'll get there again, please God," she said. "College commitments continue to be a big issue at the moment and since St Martin's is involved in the All-Ireland we can't seem to get the numbers. We've no manager at the minute, but we're trying to find someone new, but I won't mention any names until we get one." Warning: Fine Gael Senator Catherine Noone said we are going to miss our anti-smoking targets. Photo: Frank McGrath Ireland is falling behind in the war against smoking - so it is time to use vaping as a helpful "quitting tool", the Government has been told. Fine Gael Senator Catherine Noone said Ireland is at serious risk of not achieving its target of getting tobacco smoking below 5pc in the next six years. She said that anti-smoking campaigners are reluctantly accepting that vaping or e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking. She said that Cancer Research UK suggests that studies so far have shown that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking conventional cigarettes. They do not contain tobacco, which causes the damage from smoking, but usually contain nicotine, which while addictive does not cause cancer. "For some, e-cigarettes could be an option to help them stop smoking tobacco," the organisation states on its website. Ms Noone, a senator since 2011 who is standing for the Dail in the Dublin Bay North constituency next time out, argued that Public Health England has adopted vaping as a help for people quitting smoking. This strategy has proved helpful, with smoking falling below 15pc of the population - while Ireland is still around 20pc. "We are currently on track to miss our smoke-free deadlines in Ireland and I believe that we can correct this course by potentially incorporating e-cigarettes in our policies. In an ideal world none of these products would be necessary, however, we must recognise the challenges in front of us and do everything we can to tackle smoking," she told the Irish Independent. Health Department officials have said more research is required on e-cigarettes and vaping. Opinion is divided in the public health world, with some critics arguing that many people who use e-cigarettes also smoke conventional cigarettes. Transport Minister Shane Ross has hit out at the "big hotel price-gouging brigade" after remarks he made about the 50pc Vat hike for the tourism sector were met with a frosty reception at an industry awards night. Mr Ross raised the issue of the Vat increase during a speech at the Irish Tourism Awards on Friday, where airline boss Willie Walsh was being honoured for his contribution to the industry. Representatives of hotels and restaurants were left furious when the hike was announced in last October's Budget in a bid to raise 466m. Mr Ross praised those present at the event on Friday for using the reduced 9pc Vat rate, introduced during the economic crash, to the benefit of the industry and jobs. The rate has now been raised to 13.5pc - a hike of 50pc - and Mr Ross said: "Your greatest success will be proven when you can - and you will - cope with the Vat increase." In remarks greeted with vocal disapproval by many in the room, he argued the hike was "a vote of confidence in yourselves rather than anything else". Last night, Mr Ross said his remarks resulted in a "buzz of barracking from the big hotel price-gouging brigade at the dinner". He blamed them for provoking the Vat changes "by their opportunist high charges", arguing Ireland's reputation had suffered as a result. He said "it is a pity that small tourist enterprises have been caught in the same net". At the event, Mr Walsh said he disagreed with Mr Ross on the tax increase. He relayed an anecdote about a linguistics professor telling students that there is "no known language in the world where a double positive made a negative until the Irish guy at the back stood up and said 'Yeah, right'." Mr Walsh added: "So I feel like I'm speaking on behalf of everyone in the room when I say, minister: 'Yeah, right'." Mr Ross told the Irish Independent that Mr Walsh's point was "humorous, after-dinner banter and well made". He suggested Mr Walsh didn't know that he himself had opposed the Vat increase. A mother of four recovering from cancer has been warned her life is in danger after her address was used by criminal John Gilligan to get bail. Michelle Carson (35) - who lives in the home with her four children - said she was shocked when she was advised a protest was going to take place outside her home. Convicted drug dealer Gilligan - who was previously named in court as the man who ordered the murder of 'Sunday Independent' journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996 - was granted bail by a Belfast court last week. He provided an address at the Springhill estate in Ballymurphy, west Belfast. However, Ms Carson says she doesn't know Gilligan and he is not living there. "I didn't even know who John Gilligan was until the PSNI came and gave me advice about my safety and security," she told the 'Sunday World' newspaper. "He gave my address in court and now the whole of Belfast thinks he is here, that I am harbouring him. He isn't here and he never will be." Locals in the area said Gilligan was not welcome in their community after the bail hearing. "I don't know John Gilligan. I don't want people thinking I do, or that I have got money from him or anything like that," Ms Carson added. She said she had been in and out of hospital and has been given the all-clear from the cancer now, adding: "I'm still on medicine so I really haven't been paying much heed to things." She said she got caught up in the drama after a relative told her that a friend of his, "a frail pensioner", had been wrongly thrown into jail by the PSNI and was desperate to get out. She was asked if the pensioner could use her address. Gilligan was arrested with 23,000 in a suitcase at Belfast Airport last August, and was in custody until last week. The 66-year-old claimed the cash was his "life savings" and not linked to crime. He was charged with attempting to remove criminal property from Northern Ireland, and had appeared at Coleraine Magistrates Court via video link from Maghaberry Prison last Monday. He remained in prison until Friday when he was finally released to a new address, which was agreed with the PSNI. A Dublin drug dealer whose body was found in Spain last week owed over 200,000 to one of Ireland's most prolific drug gangs. Last night it remained unclear whether this was the actual motive for the savage murder of Carl Carr (38), with local reports suggesting the Marino man was killed as part of a 'love triangle' dispute. A Kilkenny man aged in his late 30s is one of four people being held by Spanish authorities in relation to the murder. Sources revealed that Carr was in "huge debt" to the crime organisation headed by UK-based Paul 'Burger' Walsh. "More junior dealers in Dublin who he was supplying with kilos of weed were ripping him off and he ended up owing huge money while he continued to enjoy the high life in Spain," a source said. "It may well be true that he was beaten to death over a personal matter in Spain but all the information that had been coming in since he disappeared was that he was killed by the drugs mob." Walsh was targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in 2007 when the agency confiscated property and cash valued at almost 600,000 from him. He had begun to build a property portfolio in Dublin, Laois and Wexford when his drug-dealing activities came to the attention of CAB, but he has been out of the country for almost a decade. It is understood that Carr was sourcing his drugs from Walsh's gang. Police found Carr's body last week - nearly five months after he went missing - after arresting four suspects who include at least one British woman and an Irishman. His body was found buried beside a motorway between Benijofar and Algorfa, a 20-minute drive north from where he was last seen. Two men and two women, who have not been named, were remanded in custody on Saturday following a behind-closed-doors court appearance in the Costa Blanca town of Torrevieja. Court sources said they included Carr's suspected killer - an Irishman believed to be in his late thirties who Carr met after completing an eight-year jail sentence and moving to Spain three years ago. The other three - a Spanish man and two women whose nationalities have not been disclosed but are understood to be British - are being investigated on suspicion of concealing a crime. One of the women is also being probed on suspicion of illegal weapons possession. A third woman remains under investigation but was freed on Saturday after questioning by police and a judge. Carr's mother Marie confirmed on Saturday that police had told her the body found by Spanish police was that of her son. She insisted his killing had nothing to do with drugs and claimed it was due to a "romantic triangle". "The Spanish police have told me his death has nothing to do with drugs. "I believe he was killed because of a romantic triangle, by a man he knew who accused him of dating one of his girlfriends," she said. Carr was jailed for eight years in December 2008 after he and three other men were caught with cocaine and heroin valued at 1.4m in Raheny. Health Minister Simon Harris has denied that he encouraged the chairman of the controversial National Childrens Hospitals (NCH) development board to resign. He was speaking as he continues to face massive pressure over the spiralling costs of the project which is now set to cost 1.7bn for construction and fit-out. The chairman of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB), Tom Costello resigned on Saturday. He said he was concerned about "reputational damage" commentary on the increased costs is having on this "critically important project". Mr Costello insisted he acted with "professionalism and integrity" during his time as chairman. Mr Harris told RTE Radio One's Sean O'Rourke this morning that he met Mr Costello in the Department of Health on Friday evening and they "had a good and a long conversation about the project". Expand Close Big project: The site for National Childrens Hospital in Dublin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Big project: The site for National Childrens Hospital in Dublin He said they were both aware his name was being speculated on in the media and Opposition politicians had called for his resignation. Mr Harris said: "He agreed that he was going to need to reflect on that further and he took the decision on Saturday." He added that in his involvement in the NCH project Mr Costello "was motivated only by good and by public service". "But he was the chair of the board and he obviously took the decision [to resign] in the interests of the project." RTE Radio One's Sean ORourke asked if Mr Harris encouraged Mr Costello to make the decision. Mr Harris replied: "No. We had a conversation. Tom Costello made his own decision." Mr Harris also said that the costs of the NCH are being talked about constantly, adding: "Were not talking about the cost of not proceeding and the cost of not proceeding would have been an absolute scandal". He said what would have happened if the project had been halted was "for the sake of a political row and a bit of a barney and scoring a few points off the Government, we would have been jeopardising childrens health". It was put to Mr Harris that he left the goverance board to oversee the project and he has no intention of taking political responsibility or conisdering his own position. Mr Harris said: "I have every intention of taking political responsibility and accountability very seriously, in making sure that those that I appointed to roles carried out those jobs right." Mr O'Rourke said: "Youd do anything short of resign though in terms of political accountability." Mr Harris replied: "No, excuse me. Ill do anything short of letting this project be jeopardised..." Asked if there was any responsibility on his part for letting the situation get to this stag, Mr Harris said: "The responsibility on my part is to make sure the project is delivered, to make sure costs are reigned in where possible without compromising the integrity of the project and to make sure we get to the bottom of what went wrong." It was put to him that he was saying 'Its my job to close the stable door now that the horse has bolted'. Mr Harris said: "No, its my job to deliver for the children of Ireland, where others have failed to deliver in terms of a new childrens hospital." Mother and full-time carer to two sons with autism Jane Johnstone relies on daycare to fulfil her eldest son's social needs and for her to have a life outside the home. Jane, from Bridgetown, Co Wexford, is one of the many carers across Ireland who could be affected by the nurses' strike this week. Last night, she was still uncertain as to whether Evan could attend his day care centre. She expects to be told today whether the centre will be shut on strike days. "I have a great respect for the work nurses do with my boys - both Evan and Daniel (14), who's still in school. "I get where the nurses are because they need the Government to sit down and talk with them and I say to Government and the HSE 'sit down with the nurses, or this will escalate things and affect people like me'. "Carers are the first people who should be kept informed of what's happening with the daycare services we rely on because we have to sort out plan B, if there's a plan B. "Evan has an intellectual disability, autism, he's non-verbal and partially sighted. "My son's whole understanding of the world is based on routine and it's not good for him or me when something is changed out of the blue. "He's used to routine and he's 6ft 3ins and double my weight. He can get angry when routine is changed because he doesn't understand. "I try to minimise that by preparing ahead for any changes, so that I can talk him through it in advance, over time. "But information needs to come to us, to be able to do that. "However I support the nurses in their campaign. "They're amazing people, devoted to their jobs, but they need the Government to listen to them." Members of the INMO during their 24-hour stoppage at Crumlin Childrens Hospital. Photo: Mark Condren THE nurses' union has rejected the Government's proposal to meet for more talks to avoid strike action, calling it spin masquerading as substance. Earlier this evening the Ministers for Health and Finance said they are seeking immediate talks to end a row with nurses who are going on strike for a second time tomorrow. In a joint statement, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Minister for Health Simon Harris said they continue to be willing to engage in talks at the Workplace Relations Commission. However, they will only discuss workplace issues other than pay. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has declined the offer as they say they haven't received any proposals or offers to avert their strike action. INMO General Secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said in a statement: This is spin masquerading as substance. Government by press release is unfair and confusing to patients and insulting to nurses and midwives on the picket lines. Expand Close Members of the INMO during their 24-hour stoppage at Crumlin Childrens Hospital. Photo: Mark Condren / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Members of the INMO during their 24-hour stoppage at Crumlin Childrens Hospital. Photo: Mark Condren Recycling broken promises is no way to build good-faith negotiations. The governments press release refers to non-pay issues which are already agreed since 2017. The INMO previously referred the government to the Workplace Relations Commission to try and find a solution to this dispute, but the government failed to engage or make any proposals. Talks at the Labour Court sadly produced similar results. Ms Ni Sheaghdha also said that the INMO has identified excessive costs and wastage in the HSE, which could be used to address the pay issues at the heart of the recruitment and retention crisis. But the government simply will not listen. Their suggestions on how the public health service could save money if more nurses and midwives could be attracted into the sector are: Over 100m spent in 2018 on agency nurses, used to fill gaps left by vacant posts 10,000 - 20,000 spent per nurse or midwife recruited by overseas agencies educed durations of stay for patients associated with safer staffing levels In their statement earlier this evening, the ministers said they noted with disappointment that further strike action is going ahead. The ministers call for immediate engagement in the context of the current dispute with relevant union interests, they said. Expand Close Protest: Nurses Clodagh OSullivan and Deirdre McDonald at the Mater in Dublin. Photo: Mark Condren / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protest: Nurses Clodagh OSullivan and Deirdre McDonald at the Mater in Dublin. Photo: Mark Condren They said the Workplace Relations Commission is available to facilitate them. The Government has always listened to the concerns expressed by nurses in relation to working conditions and job satisfaction as well as the patient experience, they said. It said that an initiative to examine workplace issues could focus on the contribution and arrangements for the further roll out of a Safe Staffing Framework. The ministers said this would improve staff and patient outcomes and reduce reliance on agency staffing in our hospitals. Expand Close Patients branded Irelands nurses strike a dark day for all and urged swift resolution of a dispute which risks paralysing the health system (Niall Carson/PA). / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Patients branded Irelands nurses strike a dark day for all and urged swift resolution of a dispute which risks paralysing the health system (Niall Carson/PA). In addition, this engagement would encompass other relevant organisational issues appropriate to supporting quality and efficiency in the provision of patient service delivery in an integrated way, they said. A spokesperson for the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said it has not received an invitation from the Workplace Relations Commission yet. More than 100,000 hospital patients are at risk of having their surgery or outpatient appointment cancelled as nurses escalate their strike action. Expand Close Heavy heart: Cork nurse Margaret Keohane (46) doesnt know one nurse who wanted to be on strike / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Heavy heart: Cork nurse Margaret Keohane (46) doesnt know one nurse who wanted to be on strike The 35,000 nurses have warned they will take to the picket line tomorrow and Thursday and also strike on February 12, 13, 14, 19 and 21. It will mean 15,000 hospital appointments will have to be dropped each day, causing a huge backlog and leaving patients waiting weeks or months for their care to be re-scheduled. At least 10,400 people in the community who rely on nursing services will also face a shutdown each strike day. The INMO will now withdraw labour from day centres for the intellectually disabled as part of an extension of its action. Run by disability organisations such as the Brothers of Charity around the country, the day centres cater for thousands of people with an intellectual disability. They also allow families who provide round-the-clock care for loved ones with a disability the chance of vital respite. Sarah Lennon of Inclusion Ireland, which advocates for people with an intellectual disability, said last night: "Day centres provide an important lifeline and outlet for people with an intellectual disability. I would ask everyone to be aware of their importance." The INMO is also planning to extend the strike to more day centres for the elderly which were not included in last week's action. Announcing the two additional strike days on February 19 and 21, the INMO executive, which met on Saturday, said it was announcing the escalation and additional dates for the nurses' and midwives' strike "in the face of the Government's refusal to meaningfully engage with the union". The INMO will also be organising a national rally next Saturday. Read More General secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said: "Everybody - except the Government - recognises that there is a serious understaffing problem in our health services. The public support for the strike on Wednesday showed that the Irish people stand with nurses and midwives. "Our message is clear. We will not be going away - resolving this dispute requires direct engagement from the Government, recognising the real recruitment and retention problems in Irish nursing and midwifery. "We simply want to be able to do our jobs, but our health service cannot hire enough nurses and midwives on these uncompetitive wages. As ever, we remain available for talks with the Government for any realistic proposals." Psychiatric nurses are set to ramp up industrial action as nurses take to the picket lines for two more 24-hour strikes this week. Members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association will extend a daytime ban on working overtime overnight from Wednesday and Thursday this week. During tomorrows nurses strike they will refuse to work overtime during daytime hours due to a row with the government over their pay. However, a union spokesperson said they will escalate the industrial action by extending the ban to night shifts on Wednesday and Thursday. This will coincide with a third 24-hour strike by nurses on Thursday. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar moved yesterday to quell fears the nurses would face financial penalties as a result of the strike, similarly to what happened to members of teachers' union ASTI when they took industrial action. "We're not planning on doing that (implementing pay sanctions). "The sense that we have in Government is that that would be provocative and might make it harder to resolve this dispute," Mr Varadkar told RTE's 'This Week' programme yesterday. But he also added: "At a certain point we will have to treat the nurses the same as we treat the secondary teachers. "It wouldn't be fair to treat the secondary teachers differently than the nurses but our judgment at the moment is that withdrawing the benefits of the agreement would be provocative, would be an escalation and might make it more difficult at this stage to resolve this." He said he regrets the "enormous inconvenience" and "disruption" being caused to patients who are having appointments and operations cancelled. The Taoiseach said even if the renewed action was called off today it was "too late now to reschedule all of the operations and appointments that are happening [tomorrow]". Mr Varadkar said the industrial action is "technically" a breach of the public service stability agreement. Read More "I understand that nurses are very aggrieved about their pay and conditions and the conditions that they have to work in sometimes," he said. "I know they have enormous public support and I don't think that public support will diminish over the next couple of weeks. "So Government wants to resolve this and we can resolve it but it can only be resolved within certain parameters." The HSE said "efforts are continuing to try to avert" tomorrow's action. "We are continuing to work with the INMO on arrangements for the day to ensure safe service provision, particularly in the area of urgent care and cancer services." If a patient's procedure is going ahead, the hospital will be in contact directly to let them know. At this stage it is expected that all out-patient, in-patient and day surgery appointments will be cancelled. Injury units will be closed, routine community nursing services and health centre nurse clinics will be cancelled. Public day centres and day hospitals for older people or people with disabilities will close. All planned admissions, including respite and rehabilitation, to public community nursing units and specified centres for people with intellectual disability will be cancelled. Construction works at the site of the new hospital A probe into the soaring costs of the National Children's Hospital (NCH) will now hold individuals accountable if errors were made, after the Government performed a U-turn on the terms of a review of the controversy. It comes as Health Minister Simon Harris faced mounting Opposition pressure over his involvement in the NCH saga. Construction costs for the hospital have rocketed from 983m to more than 1.4bn. When the cost of fitting out the hospital is included, the bill will come to 1.7bn. The chairman of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, Tom Costello, resigned on Saturday. He said he was concerned about "reputational damage" commentary on the increased costs was having on the "critically important project". Mr Costello insisted he acted with "professionalism and integrity" during his time as chairman. Finding a replacement was last night said to be a priority for Mr Harris. It was Taoiseach Leo Varadkar who confirmed a review of the rising costs by PWC will now probe if any individuals were responsible for the soaring costs. Critical The Opposition had been highly critical of the original terms of reference for the review which stopped short of doing this. Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar also expressed confidence in his under-fire health minister to manage the NCH project into the future, during an interview with RTE Radio. The Taoiseach predicted the project would be "dogged by controversy" but claimed that, like Dublin Airport's Terminal Two or the Port Tunnel, "nobody's going to regret that it was built". However, the Opposition continued their attacks on Mr Harris. Fianna Fail TD Michael McGrath claimed Mr Harris was "not in the clear" and questions needed to be answered on how the overspend happened. Sinn Fein's Louise O'Reilly said Mr Harris needed to explain what he was doing "while the costs were escalating out of control". Mr Harris last night defended his involvement in the project. A spokesperson said he had answered questions on the issue at the Oireachtas Health Committee and would do so again this week. She said he had outlined his knowledge of the overrun, how he was first told of the potential for it to happen in August last year but had not learned the final figure until November. She said there had been three options - to pause the project, re-tender it and face extra costs and delays, or to proceed. The Government decided to proceed because it was "so badly needed in terms of the infrastructure for our children", she said. "It was one of the hardest decisions the Government has made." There are fears that a new 19.5m, 60-bed hospital unit will be delayed due to the cost overrun at the National Children's Hospital (NCH). The Labour Party has challenged Health Minister Simon Harris to honour a commitment to fund the unit at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). It comes after the party got confirmation from the HSE that the cash for the project has yet to be approved. There is concern at delays in the delivery of infrastructure projects around the country due to the increasing costs of the NCH. The Department of Health has to find an extra 50m to fund the NCH this year while other departments have to contribute another 50m. Labour TD Alan Kelly pointed to reports from last November outlining how Mr Harris had confirmed funding for the unit at UHL. Mr Kelly got a letter from the HSE in recent days saying funding for the project is still being awaited and "will be assessed in the context of competing priorities". Mr Kelly said the beds are "desperately needed", and added: "The people of the mid-west deserve to know if he [Mr Harris] will honour his commitment." Party colleague, former Clare TD Michael McNamara, said of the lack of confirmation of the funding: "I can only assume this is due to the overspend and spiralling costs at the National Children's Hospital... What else has changed?" Mr Harris's spokesperson said he intended to "fully honour" his commitment and that building the unit is "a priority". "That has not changed. The HSE is currently finalising the capital plan and funding will be provided for this important project to progress." Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said infrastructure projects won't be cancelled as a result of the NCH cost overrun but some might be "deferred by weeks or months". PHOTOS Steps recent college grads can take to build credit Youve graduated from college, secured that first full-time job and are ready to move out of your parents home. But before you move into that new apartment or buy a new car, you should probably start thinking about your credit. There are many misconceptions about credit and for recent college graduates, you might not know where to start when it comes to building it. Here are some of the steps you should take after you graduate from college. (Noah McGee, The Active Times) A Fine Gael councillor and constituency ally of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is suing a Sinn Fein activist over what the High Court heard was a defamatory statement on Facebook. Cllr Ted Leddy (32), who holds the council seat in Castleknock once held by Mr Varadkar, claims activist Alan Donnelly defamed him in in a Facebook post which he says led to a death threat and other "odious matters". Mr Donnelly, a brother of Sinn Fein Dublin West Dail candidate and Mulhuddart councillor Paul Donnelly, denies the claims. Mr Donnelly brought an application before Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds requiring Mr Leddy to provide a statutory declaration that he (Leddy) had been fully advised of his option to have the matter resolved by mediation. The judge dismissed the application saying it was "premature and heavy handed". John J Morrissey BL, for Mr Donnelly, said his side asked the Leddy side to consider mediation under the 2017 Mediation Act, requiring a solicitor to advise a client to consider the option as an alternative to much more expensive court proceedings. The Act requires the solicitor, among other things, to provide a client with information about the advantages and benefits of mediation are. Mr Morrissey said, despite correspondence before Christmas, his side had only learned on Monday morning that Mr Leddy's client had been so advised. However, it was still his case the Leddy side had not complied with the requirement to provide a statutory declaration as also required. Willam Maher BL, for Mr Leddy, said before Christmas the Donnelly side had been advised Mr Leddy was in the process of filing the statutory declaration. But within a few days into the New Year, this court application, which also sought a strike out of the proceedings, was brought, counsel said. This was "very curious" in circumstances where the other side were seeking settlement talks over a statement on Facebook by a known political activist against a known councillor in which he was defamed, he said. Yet no defence to the defamatory statement had yet been filed and this was of particular concern given "what has been visited on Mr Leddy, up to and including a death threat and other odious matters". Ms Justice Reynolds said the purpose of mediation is to achieve a resolution of a dispute. "It is quite clear this motion is premature and heavy handed". She struck it out with no order as to costs and gave seven days for the statutory declaration under the Mediation Act to be provided. A murder trial witness has said that she heard someone shout "Smiley I think you killed him" the night a former soldier was stabbed to death on a roadway in north Dublin. The witness also told the jury that her friend's house party was not "chaotic" and there was "absolutely no loud music" being played. Emma Cooney was giving evidence today in the Central Criminal Court trial of Gary Watson (35), who is charged with murdering Warren OConnor (24) nine years ago. Mr Watson, with an address at Millbrook Avenue, Kilbarrack, Dublin 13 has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr OConnor at Hole in the Wall Road, Donaghmede, Dublin 13 on January 16, 2010. Mr Watson also denies assaulting Philip Woodcock (34) causing him harm on the same occasion and producing a knife to intimidate another person in the course of a dispute. The trial has previously heard that a fight ensued between two groups of men after Mr Woodcock removed the fuse and cut power to his neighbours apartment so a noisy house party would end and the occupants would leave. Giving evidence today, Ms Cooney told prosecution counsel James Dwyer SC that she was in a restaurant in Swords on the evening of January 15 with her friends Louise Kinsella, Amy Kinsella and Carol Murray. Ms Cooney and her friends met up with Gary Watson and Jonathan Coyle after their meal and she drove the three girls to Louise Kinsella's apartment at The Beech, Grattan Wood on Hole in the Wall Road in Donaghmede, she said. Ms Cooney said the two men drove a black Honda Civic car to Ms Kinsella's apartment that night. The witness said she "distinctively" remembered seeing Mr Woodcock, his partner Suzanne Martin and their son going into the next-door apartment with a take-away on the night. "They were going into their apartment at the same time as us," she commented. Ms Cooney said her group were "having a laugh" in Ms Kinsella's apartment and told the court that there was "no loud music whatsoever". "I believe the guy next door [Mr Woodcock] witnessed who was going into our apartment and he rang his friends to start an argument," explained Ms Cooney, adding that the suggestion of loud music was "nonsense". Ms Cooney testified that there was drink involved but said that it was not a chaotic party. The court heard that two other men later arrived at the house party and one of these was in a wheelchair. She said the eight of them were "having a laugh" when suddenly "the fuse went out" in the apartment, she said, adding that they were all "bewildered" as to why this had happened. Ms Cooney remembered that there were "knick-knacks" on Ms Kinsella's apartment door so she went downstairs to see what was going on. Mr Woodcock and Mr O'Connor were at her friend's apartment door when she returned. Ms Cooney said there was an argument between the two groups but it was not over the music. Knives were being waved around and "digs" were being thrown which resulted in a scuffle, she said. "I remember one person at the door saying 'I told you I would get you'," she added. The witness said that her group decided to leave the building after the scuffle came to an end and Mr O'Connor helped the man in a wheelchair down the stairs. Words were being exchanged between the two groups of men in the carpark. The other group left the apartment building in a Ford Focus car and the three men from her group left in the Honda Civic, she stated. Ms Cooney alleged she heard "a bang" a few minutes later and someone shout "Smiley I think you killed him". Ms Cooney said she saw the three men who had left in the black Honda Civic come through the gate of the car park and get into another car. The witness said she drove to the scene and asked gardai what had happened before she went home that night. The trial continues on Wednesday before Mr Justice Michael White and a jury of seven men and five women. A retired surgeon accused of groping a number of boys in his care said he had no memory whatsoever of any of the seven complainants, a jury has heard. Michael Shine (86) of Ballsbridge, Dublin has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 13 charges of indecent assault allegedly committed during medical examinations at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth and at two private clinics in Drogheda. On the 13th day of the trial, Mr Shine told Hugh Hartnett SC, defending, that he began working at Lourdes hospital in March of 1964 and continued to do so until 1995. Mr Shine said he had no memory whatsoever of ever treating any of the seven complainants in the case. He denied ever doing anything improper during examinations on any of the seven men. He said that he had written a paper with a colleague on the frequent mis-diagnosis of infection in cases of testicular torsion. He said that when checking testicles for torsion or cancer, he examined patients as required, fully as required. Mr Shine said it is necessary to touch the testicles during an examination following surgery for testicular torsion. He said it is not necessary to touch the penis, but because it is beside the testicles a doctor cannot really avoid touching it. He said it was impossible that he masturbated a young patient in a hospital bed after operating on him, as he would have been in the children's ward and he would not see any child without a nurse being present. Mr Hartnett asked Mr Shine what he had to say about Bernadette Sullivan (of the patient advocacy group Dignity 4 Patients) and the campaign against him. Mr Shine said that he knew Ms Sullivan as she had been a nurse in the hospital almost all the time he had worked there. Mr Shine said that Ms Sullivan came to see him as a patient in the 1980s. He said that at that time insurance companies asked me to examine people injured in road traffic accidents. He said he tended to give them the benefit of every doubt, but that in cases involving complaints of whiplash he knew in his heart and soul that 90 per cent were false. He said that Ms Sullivan's complaints were over, over the top. The trial continues tomorrow before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury. Best foot forward: Darren Kennedy and Karen Byrne dancing during the fifth live show. Photo: Kobpix Stylist Darren Kennedy relived painful childhood memories on 'Dancing With the Stars', but failed to evoke an emotional reaction from the TV audience as he was voted off the show. The RTE presenter and stylist danced a salsa with partner Karen Byrne to 'Maria' by Ricky Martin. Reliving hard memories from 1996, when Darren was just 15, he told how Martin's music helped him during a time when he was "struggling". "In 1996, I was 15 and struggling. I didn't fit in and felt isolated," Darren said. In tears, the presenter added that it was "the year Ricky Martin burst on to the scene and opened my world". The broadcaster dedicated his dance to "Anyone struggling", adding: "Tomorrow is a new day, be proud of who you are." The couple scored 18 but failed to win the support of the audience at home. Darren said: "I've had an amazing journey. I've done something I never thought I'd do but tomorrow it's back to Kennedy and Co, selling grooming products. "It's been so much fun, it's a great group of people - it's a competition, it was never perfect but I think to learn a skill, it was a full-time job and it was amazing." Actress Demi Isaac Oviawe and pro dance partner Kai Widdrington gave the most emotional performance of the show, yet failed to hit the top of the leader board despite the 18-year-old actress dancing in memory to her father. She said that "2016 is the year my dad passed away, he died from complications of a brain tumour he had. "He was our rock, there are no words to describe how great my dad was." Despite the heartfelt performance and Demi breaking down as she completed the rumba, the pair only scored 16 points. Judge Loraine Barry said: "Your father lives on in you, you've created another memory that will be on film forever." Judge Brian Redmond told the student that she was "brave" for telling the nation about her dad. RTE presenter Mairead Ronan dedicated her dance, a contemporary ballroom to Take That's 'Rule The World', to her son Dara. Mairead and her pro dance partner, John Nolan, danced in memory of Dara's birth in 2007 and the proud mother told how it was her "most memorable year, the year I became a mum". LIAM NEESON has admitted his shame that he harboured violent thoughts about killing a black person after someone close to him was raped. The actor, who is from Ballymena in Northern Ireland, said he walked the streets armed with a weapon hoping he would be approached by someone so that he could kill them. The actor shared the previously undisclosed story with The London Independent during a press junket for his new film, Cold Pursuit, admitting that he is now ashamed of his past awful behaviour. Mr Neeson was discussing how his character turns to anger when he told the Independent: "There's something primal - God forbid you've ever had a member of your family hurt under criminal conditions. I'll tell you a story. This is true." He said the rape happened some time ago and he found out about it after he came back from a trip abroad. He said of his friend: "She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way. "But my immediate reaction was... I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person. "I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I'd be approached by somebody - I'm ashamed to say that - and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some black b*****d would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him. "It took me a week, maybe a week and a half, to go through that. She would say, 'where are you going?' and I would say, 'I'm just going out for a walk'. You know? 'What's wrong?' 'No no, nothing's wrong.' "It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that. And I've never admitted that, and I'm saying it to a journalist. God forbid. "It's awful. But I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, 'What the f*** are you doing,' you know? "I come from a society - I grew up in Northern Ireland in the Troubles - and, you know, I knew a couple of guys that died on hunger strike, and I had acquaintances who were very caught up in the Troubles, and I understand that need for revenge, but it just leads to more revenge, to more killing and more killing, and Northern Ireland's proof of that. "All this stuff that's happening in the world, the violence, is proof of that, you know. But that primal need, I understand." Representatives for Mr Neeson and film studio Lionsgate have been contacted for comment. His comments - published on Monday afternoon - have already provoked a strong, and critical, reaction on social media. The star is best known for strong performances in Schindler's List and Micheal Collins, but has also achieved cult status in recent years for a series of 'revenge thrillers' including Taken. Nissan's decision to scrap plans to build its next-generation X-Trail model in northern England is "very disappointing", Theresa May's spokesman said on Monday. The carmaker says falling demand for diesel cars in Europe had forced it to invest in other technologies as the segment is hit by levies and crackdowns, warning two months before Brexit that uncertainty is also making plans harder. "It's obviously very disappointing. The company has confirmed that no jobs will be lost and they remain committed to the UK," the spokesman told reporters. The company said it will produce it solely in Japan, warning two months before Brexit that uncertainty over Britain's departure was making it harder to plan for the future. Falling demand for diesel cars in Europe has forced Nissan to invest in other technologies and save costs. It cut hundreds of jobs at its Sunderland factory in the north of England, Britain's biggest car plant, last year as output slumped 11pc, hit by levies and crackdowns on diesel. "Nissan has increased its investments in new powertrains and technology for its future European vehicles," the firm said. Read More "Therefore the company has decided to optimise its investments in Europe by consolidating X-Trail production in Kyushu." "While we have taken this decision for business reasons, the continued uncertainty around the UK's future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future," said Nissan Europe Chairman Gianluca de Ficchy. In a letter to workers, de Ficchy said Nissan has a task force that reports to him and is "considering all of the possible scenarios and the potential impact on the business." Nissan builds roughly 30pc of the country's 1.52 million cars and exports the vast majority to the continent It said four months after Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016 that it would manufacture the new X-Trail in Britain - a major vote of confidence in the country and May, shortly after she took office. The new X-Trail could have created hundreds of jobs. Fifty credit unions are set to launch current accounts in the coming months. This means they will become a viable alternative to banks for day-to-day financial transactions. The new account will include a debit card, have an overdraft facility and allow for direct debits to be paid. Credit unions set to launch the new offering include Sligo, People First in Portlaoise, St Canice's in Kilkenny, and Progressive in North Dublin. Plans for the current account have been in gestation for years, but 50 credit unions have now been approved by the Central Bank. There are 264 active credit unions in the State. Back in 2016, the Central Bank queried moves to launch an alternative to bank current accounts by 11 credit unions, despite the initiative being announced. Many of those 11 are now set to launch the Central Bank-approved current account this year. Registrar of credit unions in the Central Bank, Patrick Casey, told a Credit Unions Development Association conference that having a current account would be a huge move for the sector. "This will be a significant development for the credit unions concerned, and is likely to be a central tenet of their aspiration to be a primary financial service provider for members," he said. According to the regulator, the new account will work on mobile phones and online, with the debit card operating as an ATM card. It is understood most credit unions will have a debit card that will have the facility for contactless payments. Manager of Sligo Credit Union, Barry O'Flynn, said the lender had been approved by the Central Bank to offer a current account to its 22,000 members. It expects to offer the account, which will have a contactless Mastercard, by the end of the year. "If we are to be relevant to the next generation of credit union members, it is essential we offer, at a minimum, a debit card," he said. "Our online access and mobile app provide an element of this but we can no longer expect our next generation of members to walk into our offices to withdraw their funds or make a payment." An Irish League of Credit Unions spokesperson said: "This will be a significant and welcome development for members who wish to transact all their business through their credit union rather than through one of the main banks." Some credit unions already offer debit cards. But these tend to be operated off share accounts and do not always offer the full functionality of a standard current account. It comes as An Post is making a strong play with its new Smart Account. It is offering 30 free for each new account by the end of March with a minimum deposit of 30. And thousands of younger people are using fintech competitors N26 and Revolut, which operate using mobile apps. Revolut already has more than 200,000 Irish users. Last week, Permanent TSB said it was changing the rules for its older current accounts, meaning thousands of customers will have to pay fees. Ryanair has reported a 20m loss for the three months to 31 December 2018. The loss was driven by a 6pc decline in average fares, according to a trading update from the group. During the period the low-fares airline also experienced higher fuel, staff and EU261 costs. However ancillary revenue, that is revenue from non-ticket items such as baggage fees and in-flight sales, grew 26pc during the three months. Meanwhile, Michael O'Leary has agreed a new five year contract with the airline, which will see him remain as chief executive until at least 2024. Under a new group structure Mr O'Leary will oversee the development of Ryanair Holdings, and its four airline subsidiaries, Ryanair DAC, Laudamotion, Ryanair Sun and Ryanair UK. Both Ryanair's chairman, David Bonderman, and independent director Kyran McLaughlin will spent down at the group's AGM next year. Former Kerry Group CEO Stan McCarthy, who joined the board in May 2017, is to take up the position of deputy chairman from April 2019, and will transition to chairman of the board in summer 2020. Overall and revenue was up 9pc to 1.53bn, equating to a revenue increase of 1pc per passenger. Ryanairs Michael OLeary said: "While a 20m loss in Q3 was disappointing, we take comfort that this was entirely due to weaker than expected air fares so our customers are enjoying record low prices, which is good for current and future traffic growth." "While ancillary revenues performed strongly, up 26pc in Q3, this was offset by higher fuel, staff and EU261 costs." Passenger growth increased 8pc during the period, while the airline's load factor was 96pc. The airline added that priority boarding and reserved seating grew strongly during the three months. Elsewhere, it said that a "transformational improvement" to its digital platform is underway and would be completed before year-end. "This will further improve personalisation, and triple capacity, as we grow to 200 million guests per annum and welcome over 1bn platform visits each year." In an analyst call this morning, Mr OLeary said the new company structure would see a small senior management team oversee the development of four airline subsidiaries; Ryanair DAC, based in Ireland, Laudamotion, Ryanair Sun and Ryanair UK. This senior management team will consist of him, group legal, and group finance, with the structure evolving over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, the four airlines will each compete against each other in areas such as airline allocation and cost cutting. The key challenge, Mr OLeary said, would be to get the right CEO in Ryanir and hold his or her hand over the next 12 months. A lot of group services, such as Ryanair Laboratories, would continue to be operated out of Ryanair DAC, however procurement would be moving to Ryanair Sun in Poland. He added that Ryanair would be encouraging more Eastern and Central European pilot recruitment. Elsewhere, and he said he was taken aback by recent comments from competitors, which he said brushed over poor results. He urged caution in respect of ticket pricing this summer. Confirming Ryanair had sold 18pc of summer seats so far this year, at an average price 1pc lower than last year, he said it was far too early to be guiding optimistically. Mr OLeary added that airlines should be more cautious that Easyjet and Wizz were on their analyst calls. Its not that Im pessimist for pricing this summer, but I am more conservative than competitor airlines, Mr OLeary said. On the subject of a share buyback programme, Mr OLeary said the airline would like to do another buyback, however this would depend on how Brexit played out over the next few months. Deep down, we all knew that Michael OLeary was never going anywhere anytime soon. For years, hes been telling everyone that he was almost ready to hang up his spurs, that Ryanair would need a different kind of leader as it cemented its position as Europes biggest low-cost carrier. He turns 58 next month, and his latest contract extension will bring him to 63 when it expires. Dont be surprised if hes still there when hes 70, and even longer. But this mornings announcement still heralds a big change for the carrier. Mr OLeary will become group chief executive of the airline group, with Ryanair actually having its own, separate boss. The coveted position of Ryanairs chief executive will be filled later this year, the group said this morning. Ryanair now owns Austria-based Laudamotion, which already has its own chief executive, as does Ryanair Sun its Polish charter arm. Ryanair is moving to a management system similar to that operated by IAG, whose chief executive is Willie Walsh. IAG owns Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Level, each with their own chief executives. As group CEO, Mr OLeary will concentrate on development of the group, backed up by a small team of legal and finance personnel. Michael OLeary is known for his forensic knowledge of Ryanair and everything thats happening at every level. Will adopting that IAG structure see him loosen the reins a little? The transition to the new structure will take place over the next 12 months. It might take at least another 12 before we can see how it has paid off. But investors will be grateful that the airline boss will be staying to pilot the group through turbulent times, however. In the past 17 months, the carrier has undergone significant transformation. Its decision to recognise trade unions was unexpected, and the jury is still out on how its long-term relationship with unions will develop. The outspoken Mr OLeary has frequently said how theres no other executive role he would probably take, and that he wouldnt be the type of person to take non-executive roles on other company boards. In 2016, he insisted he didnt want to be running Ryanair when he was 75. I'll only stay if the board wants me to stay, he said at the time. I'm not wedded to this place that I want to stay here until I'm 75. He added: "One of the challenges for me here in Ryanair, is to step downand have the next generation of management coming in. It's easy to be the guy who's been here for 20 years or 25 years. "The acid test of a really good company like Tesco, Lidl and Aldi has been where to get the next management group to come through. I think that's something that's a challenge facing me and the rest of the management team here over the next five years." Even last September, after the airlines annual general meeting, he told reporters that he would probably prefer to return to the 12-month rolling contracts he had been on before he signed his first five-year contract in 2014. I have no idea when I'll have had enough," said Mr O'Leary after the shareholder meeting. "I like this company. I like working for this company. I don't do it for the pay I get. But as long as it remains interesting and fun and challenging, I see no reason not to continue to try to lead it and lead it forward positively." Anna Scally, a partner and head of technology and media at KPMG Ireland Irish-based companies raised $655m (571m) in venture capital funding last year, the second best yearly performance on record, according to KPMG. But with Brexit looming and continuing uncertainty for the global economy, matching that figure this year will be difficult, KPMG said. The 2018 figure was fuelled by investments in pharma and biotech companies, said Anna Scally, a partner and head of technology and media at KPMG Ireland. "Companies in these sectors tend to require considerable funding to grow and scale," Ms Scally said. "Well-funded Irish pharma and biotech companies are competing impressively on the global stage." Some of the notable deals included Inflazome, a company looking to treat inflammatory conditions, raising 40m. Pointy, a software company aiming to help bricks and mortar retailers with ecommerce, completed a $12m fundraising. Data for the report came from Pitchbook, a data and research company, which defines venture capital deals as equity investments made into startups. A $125m fundraising by Irish-founded Intercom was included in the figures for the US. Intercom, which makes software that businesses use to communicate with their customers, has its headquarters in San Francisco. KPMG said artificial intelligence and self-driving vehicles are among sectors likely to see significant venture capital interest this year. We asked the main farming organisations where they stand on EU proposals to cut large farm payments. Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed Expand Close Agriculture Minister Michael Creed. Photo: Arthur Carron / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Agriculture Minister Michael Creed. Photo: Arthur Carron Agriculture Minister Michael Creed has said his Department would engage with all of the farm organisations on all the issues relating to CAP, including whether it takes into account salaries and the convergence issue. In addition, he said they would be anxious to get written submissions on their opinions on proposals such as those relating to genuine farmers. However, Mr Creed said they believe including salaries would be unworkable based on the materials they have seen from the Commission. It is not a defence of one farmer or another, it is the practicalities of it, he said as he attended the ICSA AGM in Portlaoise. IFA According to IFA President Joe Healy, convergence (to even out payments) is a type of capping. He also said that if there was a cut off at 70,000 it would mean an extra 170 approximately for every farmer. "The views weve got from farmers is that the whole area of the genuine farmer and convergence, if thats going to create more unviable farmers, we think it should only be upwards convergence." But he said the organisation has not taken a line on the 100,000 capping of payments. "We are not saying we were in favour or not in favour." He said that recent farmer meetings the IFA has held has heard that many farms have two families trying to make a living. "Farmers should be able to pay 60,000 for labour units and after that make sure it goes to a genuine farmer who is depending on the land to live." Healy said it is more important that farm subsidies go to what he called "genuine farmers", rather than beef barons or sheiks. INHFA Expand Close Colm O'Donnell, of the INHFA chairman at a previous protest in Castlebar, Co Mayo. Photo: Michael McLaughlin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Colm O'Donnell, of the INHFA chairman at a previous protest in Castlebar, Co Mayo. Photo: Michael McLaughlin INHFA says its position is for a maximum payment in Pillar 1 of 60,000 with no allowance for labour units to be used to bring up the payment. It says the European Commission's proposals talks of a 60,000 limit but it's really a 100,000 limit as the proposals envisages a degressive cut to payments that stand between 60,000 and 100,000. "This is further complicated by an allowance of labour units which will limit any potential cut." The INHFA says its position is very simple - it believes no farmer should receive in excess of 60,000 in Pillar one payments and that there should be full convergence by 2026. ICMSA Expand Close Pat McCormack President of the ICMSA. Photo: Kyran O'Brien / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pat McCormack President of the ICMSA. Photo: Kyran O'Brien The President of ICMSA Pat McCormack said his organisation supports the cap proposed by the Commission but not the salary exemption. In relation to the capping of payments, ICMSA supports the principle of the cap in payments proposed by the EU Commission and we are clear that exemptions to such a cap should only be considered in very specific and justifiable cases - if ever. "The idea of a salary exemption is, in ICMSAs opinion, unworkable and would be open to manipulation thus making it unfair. The key point in relation to payments, and the one to which every other consideration is secondary, is that going forward - they must actually benefit the person farming the land. "That is most certainly not the case at present where the value of entitlements is built into the price of rented land, a distortion that is simply unsustainable, said Pat McCormack. ICSA Expand Close Eddie Punch (left) pictured with Patrick Kent at the 2016 ICSA Annual Conference. Photo: Michael Donnelly. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Eddie Punch (left) pictured with Patrick Kent at the 2016 ICSA Annual Conference. Photo: Michael Donnelly. General Secretary of the ICSA Eddie Punch said there should be no salary exemption. "It would be absurd if the average farmer continues to get 9,000 and they are continuing to be cut when someone could avoid a 100,000 cap by saying they have a few guys working for them, so they should get 160,000. "We dont have enough money to pay a wage to self employed farmer out of CAP and in the drystock sector it is a wage. "With convergence people who got 25,000 10 years ago are getting around 18,000/19,000 as they are converged downwards. "If they want to hire on extra labour, hurrah but it cant be taken out of pot that cant even pay a self employed farmer more than 9,000," he said. Department of Agriculture Colm Hayes, Assistant Secretary at the Department of Agriculture recently told a meeting of the Oireachtas Agriculture Coommittee that while the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, has said we are open to the capping of direct payments, it does not agree with the mandatory requirement to deduct salaries and labour as part of this process as we outlined previously to this committee. "We believe it will create an unnecessary and significant administrative burden on member states that goes against the spirit of modernising and simplifying the CAP. "Our priority every year, particularly when it comes to Pillar 1 payments, is to get them out at the earliest possible date. We always do the usual 16 October deadline. "If we must start factoring in individual P60s, P45s and all sorts of other factors, it will bring about a complexity nobody wants to see," he said. Huge payments of farm subsidies to individuals from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has long been a cause of outrage to farmers. Just last week, IFA President Joe Healy said CAP should be used to fund genuine farmers, not the likes of Larry Goodman, Coolmore or Sheiks. On average, at EU level, half of the direct payments beneficiaries receive less than 1,250 per year (around 100/month), corresponding to 4.5pc of the total direct payments envelope. What is less evident is that just 2pc of beneficiaries (121,000 farms) receive 30pc of the total direct payments envelope (those receiving more than 50,000 in total). In Ireland in 2017, 37 farms and businesses shared a subsidies pot of almost 7m, while 85,000 of the country's 120,000 farmers receive individual payments of less than 10,000. Recently, the EU has made efforts to tackle the issue and capping was first introduced in the 2013 CAP reform but it was a voluntary basis by Member States to bring in. In the final regulations of the 2013 CAP, the EU also ruled that basic payments above 150,000 would be reduced by at least 5pc. Member States could increase this percentage up to 100pc, which would, in effect, introduce a cap of 150,000. Commission Proposal In its most recent CAP proposals, which would govern the CAP from 2020, the European Commission is proposing a reduction of payments above 60,000, with compulsory capping for payments above 100,000. This, it says, is designed to ensure a fairer distribution of payments, with the saved monies being used to fund small and medium-sized farmers. However, the move has been slammed by some commentators and farmers, who say this claim is misleading and disingenuous, as it ignores what is likely to be the fine-print in the Commission proposal. The crux of the issue is that under the proposals the Commission says all Member States must allow for labour costs to be taken fully into account. The effect of this proposal is that farmers receiving large payments can deduct the value of salaries or on-farm labour from the direct payments received before the cap is applied. The draft Regulation states that: To calculate the amounts referred to in points a) and b) [where (a) refers to the deduction for wages paid by the farmer to hired labour, and (b) refers to the deduction for unpaid labour contributed by persons who do not receive a salary], Member States shall use the average standard salaries linked to an agricultural activity at national or regional level multiplied by the number of annual work units declared by the farmer concerned. This would mean that the Department would come up with a standardised rate (which would be linked to average standard wages rates paid) and would then have to determine, or estimate, the number of labour units supplied. In the case of a husband-wife run farm, both would qualify, so the total family labour deduction could reach 60,000 even if the standardised rate would be closer to the minimum rate set for agricultural workers. Under the proposal, those in receipt of large payments can also include the imputed value of own family labour engaged on the farm, such as themselves the farmer or a family member. According to Professor Alan Matthews of Trinity College Dublin, the effect of these rules makes the proposed capping meaningless. "The general conclusion that capping is not likely to release significant amounts of funding for the redistributive payment or other purposes is likely to remain valid as long as salaries and the implicit cost of family labour can be deducted from the payment before the cap is applied." He also has said that capping large payments might encourage large farms to adopt more labour-intensive enterprises as part of their product mix in response to the cap. "In effect, if they are capped, these farms could increase their labour use at effectively zero cost (their higher wage bill would be offset by an equivalent increase in their direct payment income)." The argument in favour of allowing the deduction of labour costs is that capping penalises farms providing numerous jobs. Capping and the reduction of payments in the current CAP programming period mainly affects Eastern European bloc countries. In these countries, the capped farms have close to 50 employees on average. The Department of Agriculture in Ireland has also voiced concerns over the proposal to deduct salaries. Assistant Secretary, Colm Hayes told a recent meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture that it will create an unnecessary and significant administrative burden on member states that goes against the spirit of modernising and simplifying the CAP. "If we must start factoring in individual P60s, P45s and all sorts of other factors, it will bring about a complexity nobody wants to see." Farm Organisations React All of the major farm organisations are in favour of capping the CAP, but there are some differences as to how it should be carried out. IFA is not opposed to the capping proposal from the Commission and says it is in favour of the salary exemption if there is more than one member of the family working on the farm. This is in stark contrast to the to the INHFA, which says the maximum direct payment should be capped at 60,000 with no allowance for labour units to be used to "bring up payments". The President of ICMSA, Pat McCormack said his organisation supported the cap proposed by the Commission. In relation to the capping of payments, ICMSA supports the principle of the cap in payments proposed by the EU Commission and we are clear that exemptions to such a cap should only be considered in very specific and justifiable cases - if ever. The idea of a salary exemption is...unworkable and would be open to manipulation, thus making it unfair." The ICSA also state that there should be no exemption for salaries. "It would be absurd if the average farmer continues to get 9,000 and they are continuing to be cut when someone could avoid a 100,000 cap by saying they have a few guys working for them, so they should get 160,000," said its General Secretary Eddie Punch. Professor Matthews has accused President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan of being 'downright mischievous' in talking up the capping of payments at 60,000 per farm as a way to target support to small and medium-sized farms. "They must be well aware that the small print of the Commission proposal (allowing the deduction of labour costs including unpaid labour from the amount of direct payments before capping is implemented) means that the proposal will have absolutely no impact in the great majority of, if not all, Member States," he said. CAP reform timeline The new draft CAP regulations were launched on June 1, 2018. A position on the draft regulations must be agreed by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. Then, Trilogues between the Council, Parliament and Commission take place in order to reach overall agreement by the co-regulators on the Regulations. As the CAP regulations contain financial references, agreement on the overall EU budget, which is a matter for unanimous agreement by Heads of State and Government, must also take place to allow final conclusion on the CAP regulations. The draft proposals require Member States to submit their CAP Strategic plans to cover all schemes by January 1, 2020. The Commissions objective is to have the proposals adopted by the co-legislators in spring 2019, prior to European Parliament Elections in May of that year. The CAP draft legislative proposals are intrinsically linked to the recent proposals for the next European Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027. The MFF proposes a 5pc cut to the overall CAP budget. EU leaders have called for more work in the coming months, with a view to achieving an agreement in the European Council in autumn 2019. The MFF runs for seven years and will need to be in place in time to replace the current budget programme, which ends in December 2020. Based on the new agreed Regulations, DAFM will have to draw up a national CAP Strategic Plan which will require approval by the European Commission prior to national implementation. This process will involve ongoing consultation with national stakeholders. Reports that the European Commission has agreed compensation for Irish farmers of a collapse in prices, has been dismissed by senior EU officials. According to reports over the weekend, the European Commission has agreed to compensate Irish farmers for a collapse in beef and dairy prices in the event of a no-deal Brexit. However, senior EU sources confirmed to FarmIreland that no such deal or arrangement has been agreed. It's understood that there was no 'definite agreement' between the Irish Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed and the EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan last week, only that the EU would look at ways it could help Ireland. Irish beef farmers, in particular, face decimation in the case of a no-deal Brexit Minister Creed told his Government counterparts on last week. However, the probability of EU aid remains unclear and according to one source "the issue will be if the money is in the kitty" to help Irish farmers. It's understood that last week's meeting between the two Irishmen centered around political exchanges and to "ensure that everyone was on the same page" another source said. In a statement, the minister said he had stressed the need to deploy market response measures, including exceptional aid, and that Commissioner Hogan reiterated the EUs readiness to respond and support Ireland. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said last week he had alerted the commission that Dublin would seek aid for firms if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal next month, alongside other potential emergency EU and domestic funding. Additional reporting Reuters. Meath-based agritech firm Hexafly is looking to raise 10m this year. The company uses insects to turn waste into material that can be used in animal feed ingredients, fertilisers and a range of other industries. Flies consume the waste, and as they grow they shed their skins, from which the valuable material is produced. Hexafly, based in Ashbourne, has just closed a 1.1m funding round and is now seeking 10m to help build a larger production facility to fuel expansion. "Our goal is to educate people about the benefits of insect-derived protein, how sustainable it is and essentially find smart ways to feed the growing global population," Hexafly chief executive Alvan Hunt said. Hexafly was first established in 2016 by Alvan Hunt and John Lynam in response to the growing issue of the global food shortage. The co-founders developed technology to breed flies on an industrial scale, converting low value waste streams using black soldier flies into a food source for the animal feed industry, and that can also be used for human consumption. The agritech company has raised 2.2m to date, which includes 900,000 in angel funding. That's the largest investment in the agritech sector that has come out of the Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) - an umbrella group looking to increase the number of angel investors in Ireland. Other Hexafly backers include Enterprise Ireland and SOS Ventures. The company exports more than 90pc of its insect-based products and is seeing growing demand in the US and the Far East. "It's fantastic to be able to provide our alternative feed sources to sectors that need them, but we also want to have a long-term presence and become part of the food chain solution on a global level," Mr Hunt said. Under the current Fair Deal Scheme, in effect, when somebody decides to go to a nursing home, 7.5pc of his or her farm or business can be deducted indefinitely. Farm families face months of continued uncertainty around the Fair Deal scheme as legislation which is expected to reduce the burden of nursing home fees may not be approved until the autumn. An announcement on changes to the scheme had been expected in the Budget last October. It was expected changes to the scheme and the heads of bill would be announced before Christmas - but this is now understood to be months away. It's understood fears about the potential for family feuds delayed changes to the scheme. "We have yet to see the heads of bill, let alone the full bill. It will take a significant number of months to have it passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas and signed into law by the President," said Fianna Fail TD and spokesperson for older people Mary Butler. "During that period, hundreds of farm families will be locked into the old Fair Deal scheme and will miss out on the benefits of these changes." One key concern officials have is that an elderly farmer or business owner could move into a nursing home on the understanding that one child would take over the business - but ultimately it could be bequeathed to another child. Officials are concerned that such a scenario could result in a dispute over who pays the nursing home bill, with the potential to end up in court. Under the current regime, farming families and small business owners are required to set aside 7.5pc of the value of their property annually in order to fund a place in a nursing home. If someone ended up staying in a nursing home for 10 years, potentially 75pc of the assets would go back to the State. The overhaul will see this bill capped at three years. Choose your fortune for the New Year based on the special dishes you order at the River North restaurant through Feb. 7. For an increase in prosperity, try the crispy Cantonese cod cooked with scallions, Fresno peppers, and black bean sauce ($17.95) and live the sweet life by following it with molasses spice cake with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream ($5.95). Oranges are said to bring wealth and good luck in the New Year, so get yours in the form of blood orange sangria served by the glass for $7.50 or pitcher for $28. The offending chicken slices, made by Denny which is owned by Kerry Foods, were highlighted by food writer Katy McGuinness Hundreds of consumers have voiced their anger online over Irish food labelling laws that allow Brazilian chicken to be labelled as 'made in Wicklow'. The offending chicken slices, made by Denny which is owned by Kerry Foods, were highlighted by food writer Katy McGuinness. "No mention of where the chicken 'Made in Co Wicklow' in this package comes from. I asked Denny and they told me Brazil," she tweeted. According to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), this product falls under general labelling rules, and is not required to give the origin of the meat. "I understand that it complies, but I think that consumers might legitimately have an expectation that the chicken was of Irish origin," said Ms McGuinness. "It might be legal but it's deliberately misleading, suggesting Irish-reared chicken. That this is legal is outrageous." On the packaging, it advises consumers to visit the company's website for sourcing information. When Ms McGuinness looked, there was none to be found. "So I emailed them via an enquiry form and got a reply saying the chicken comes from Brazil," she said. It says on the label that it is 'formed' chicken, but according to Ms McGuinness, it's unclear whether Denny imported whole chickens or bits of chickens. "The 'made in' just means cooked and sliced in Wicklow, but you don't know if the chicken was moulded together and then sliced from bits of chicken or if it was fresh or frozen chicken". The FSAI said: "We appreciate where consumers are coming from when it comes to country of origin labelling and acknowledge that the information on the label can seem misleading. "This has also been acknowledged at European level and changes to legislation have been made and will come into force from April 1 next year." Under these changes, the country of origin of the primary ingredient must be given. A spokesperson for Kerry Food refused to say if the chicken it imports is whole chickens or in pieces. They also declined to comment on the claim that its labelling was misleading. "Kerry Foods is one of the largest purchasers of meat in Ireland and the UK and we only use industry-trusted, approved suppliers," a statement said. "Each supplier meets our strict quality criteria and we regularly audit every supplier to ensure the highest standards of quality. "Our Denny Chicken is fully prepared and packaged on our Shillelagh site, Co Wicklow." Have you got a food labelling issue to share with us? Email: editor@farmireland.ie A week is a lifetime in politics, they say, and a lot has changed in the past three years for the IFA. Back then, the association was still reeling from a pay scandal, we had a rural Taoiseach running the country and Brexit was a still a distant improbability. Yesterday, there wasn't as much as a whisper about money, namely the IFA accounts, during lunch at its AGM. Senior IFA members instead, while mulling over the lunch choice in the Farm Centre's canteen of bacon, chicken and beef in the form of cottage pie, were more interested in what the 'I'm trying to eat less meat' Taoiseach might say or do when he addressed them at dinner that evening. After all, the dinner was always going to have beef. IFA president Joe Healy had spoken earlier in the day of 'loose commentary' of late, no doubt meaning the Taoiseach's recent statement that he was planning on reducing the amount of meat he eats. The Taoiseach could eat what he liked, Mr Healy said, but he should continue to show support for the top quality products the Irish agri-sector had to offer. "We won't be driven off the land by keyboard warriors, quacks or lifestyle gurus," Mr Healy said. Varadkar, in turn, when he addressed the farmers said politicians should be careful about what they eat and they have to be careful about what they say they eat. He drew comparison with the late George HW Bush, who said he hated broccoli and had it banned from the White House, only for outraged farmers to send him 10 tonnes of the vegetable. In fairness, according to Healy, Irish farmers will judge the Taoiseach and his Government on their delivery of the big ticket items, such as Brexit, CAP, climate change and trade deals. Regardless, the Taoiseach didn't disappoint the farmers and had the beef. He had no real choice, though, it was beef or beef in a room full of farmers. But he did have some words to share with farmers about climate change. He asked them to be aware of the science and said his Government needs their advice on climate action, and what they can do to reduce emissions without reducing their incomes but might increase them instead. Difficult words, no doubt, for the farmers to stomach. After all they had just listened to their president speak of a Brexit Armageddon as our largest market for beef, the UK, looks likely to leave the EU with no deal and leave us with no market for over 50pc of our beef export, worth over 1.2bn. Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed brought little cheer to events yesterday. He warned beef farmers that they face a tougher time than they are currently experiencing if there is a no-deal Brexit and WTO tariffs hit our exports. His affirmation that there would be no new direct financial supports between now and March 29 did not go down well with the room, who were only too quick to remind him that millions were found in Europe for dairy farmers in recent years. Twelve months is a long time and one wonders whether the Taoiseach's words yesterday and his actions over the coming weeks will be enough for farmers to continue backing the traditional farmers' party. It remains to be seen. There is only one thing we can be certain about in 12 months' time - beef will most certainly still be on the menu in Farm Centre. How high it will be piled up remains to be seen. German Chancellor Angela Merkel shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the end of a joint press conference following their meeting at Abe's official residence in Tokyo on February 4, 2019. (Photo by Toshifumi KITAMURA / POOL / AFP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel has offered a way to break the Brexit deadlock, calling for a creative compromise to allay concerns over the future of Irish border arrangements. The United Kingdom is due to leave the EU in just 53 days' time yet Prime Minister Theresa May wants last-minute changes to a divorce deal agreed last November. Mrs May is seeking legally binding changes to the deal to replace the backstop. This is the insurance policy that aims to prevent the reintroduction of a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. While Mrs Merkel said she did not want the so-called Withdrawal Agreement renegotiated, she added that difficult questions could be resolved with creativity, the strongest hint to date that the EU's most powerful leader could be prepared to compromise. "There are definitely options for preserving the integrity of the single market even when Northern Ireland isn't part of it because it is part of Britain while at the same time meeting the desire to have, if possible, no border controls," Ms Merkel said. "To solve this point you have to be creative and listen to each other, and such discussions can and must be conducted," Ms Merkel said at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo. Ms Merkel said the backstop issue could be solved as part of a discussion over a separate agreement on the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom. This could offer Mrs May a potential way out of the deadlock. Ms Merkel's stance on Brexit is driven by an eagerness to preserve the integrity of the EU and its internal market, which are crucial to Germany's post-war identity and prosperity, while also keeping Britain close to the bloc even after it leaves. Disruption Keen to avoid the economic disruption a no-deal Brexit would bring to Germany's economy, which slowed sharply last year, Ms Merkel also values Britain as a like-minded partner and wants to keep its security expertise close at hand. "We can still use the time to perhaps reach an agreement if everyone shows good will," Ms Merkel said. The United Kingdoms labyrinthine crisis over EU membership is approaching its finale with an array of options including no-deal Brexit, a last-minute deal, a snap election or a delay. Mrs May said on Sunday she would seek a "pragmatic solution" when she tries to reopen talks with Brussels. "I will be battling for Britain and Northern Ireland, I will be armed with a fresh mandate, new ideas and a renewed determination to agree a pragmatic solution that delivers the Brexit the British people voted for," said May, who will visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday. Brexit-supporting lawmakers in the Conservative Party have warned they will vote against her deal unless there are substantial changes. While the United Kingdom is divided over EU membership, most agree the world's fifth largest economy is at a crossroads and that Brexit will shape the countrys prosperity for generations. Brexit supporters accept there will be some short-term economic pain but say the United Kingdom will thrive if cut loose from what they see as a doomed experiment in German-dominated unity that is falling far behind the United States and China. Pro-Europeans fear Brexit will undermine Londons position as a global financial capital and weaken the West as it grapples with Donald Trumps unpredictable US presidency and growing assertiveness from Russia and China. Many company chiefs are aghast at the Brexit uncertainty which they say has damaged Britains reputation as Europes pre-eminent destination for foreign investment. Carmaker Nissan has scrapped plans to build its new X-Trail SUV in Britain and will produce it solely in Japan, warning uncertainty over Britain's departure from the EU was making it harder to plan for the future. The UK request that Ireland help them replace the border backstop with technological devices doing checks is wishful thinking, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said. Mr Coveney welcomed news that UK Prime Minister Theresa May will visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday - but he said that her efforts to get changes to the main EU-UK divorce deal are not possible. I think the people in Northern Ireland need a lot of reassurance from the British government right now, Mr Coveney said welcoming news of the visit. The Tanaiste was speaking after talks in Brussels and he banished speculation that Ireland and or the EU are ready to offer a change to London on the border backstop. The arrangement which guarantees no return of the border in Ireland by keeping the North inside the EU customs union and close to single market product rules is a major obstacle to the EU-UK draft divorce deal getting the necessary ratification in the London parliament. UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, is expected to begin lobbying Brussels and the other EU capitals seeking backing for proposals on deploying technology to minimise border controls. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has held out hopes of more reassurances for Mrs May but also ruled out any re-opening of the main Brexit deal as sought by London. In Brussels the Tanaiste said the backstop arrangement took many hours of talks over a period of a year to complete. And it was legally credible and workable, though it could be replaced if something better was later agreed. I have yet to hear of any new thinking which goes beyond what has already been tested, Mr Coveney said. The Tanaiste said the real issue was that many MPs at Westminster were trying to replace an agreement with wishful thinking. Mr Coveney again said that Brexit backstop provisions can be replaced by other devices in upcoming talks on a future EU-UK relationship after Brexit provided those measures work. New ideas: British Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip leave church near Maidenhead, England, yesterday. Photo: Reuters/Henry Nicholls Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has rowed back on plans for a Cabinet reshuffle, giving Brexit as a reason for putting off decisions on who will be hired and fired. It comes just weeks after Mr Varadkar put ministers on notice that a shake-up was planned for after the local and European elections. He publicly said it would be a "logical time" for it to take place. Now Mr Varadkar has said: "At a time when we need to get through Brexit, I need ministers focused on their jobs, not reading into a new job." Brexit is set to once again dominate the political agenda in the week ahead as Mr Varadkar travels to Brussels on Wednesday for talks on no-deal planning with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk. It is understood Mr Varadkar will also meet Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan to discuss EU aid for vulnerable Irish farmers in the case of a crash-out Brexit. The prospect of hundreds of millions of euro in aid was revealed by the Irish Independent last month. Any such aid would be available to farmers in other Brexit-hit EU countries as well. British Prime Minister Theresa May also has plans to return to Brussels to seek changes to the so-called backstop to avoid a hard Border in Ireland. Her government last week rejected the backstop it had previously agreed to, and backed a Westminster vote to dump it in favour of undefined "alternative arrangements". The Irish Government and the EU have been adamant the Withdrawal Agreement - including the backstop - will not be renegotiated. Mrs May said she would return to Brussels "armed with a fresh mandate, new ideas and a renewed determination to agree a pragmatic solution". Meanwhile, UK Trade Secretary Liam Fox warned if Ireland and the EU weren't prepared to negotiate on the backstop, the likely outcome would be a no-deal Brexit. Home Secretary Sajid Javid said officials told him existing technology can avoid a hard Border and "the only thing missing is a bit of goodwill on the EU side". The EU has repeatedly said the technology does not exist to avoid Border infrastructure and, speaking on RTE Radio, Mr Varadkar said it was "very frustrating" British politicians are returning to the idea. Separately, Mr Varadkar was asked if under-fire ministers Eoghan Murphy and Simon Harris may be in line for the chop in any upcoming reshuffle. He replied "not necessarily" and insisted there was progress in both areas. Mr Murphy's housing policy today faced renewed criticism as Social Justice Ireland claimed it is not working. A spokesman for Mr Murphy said it was "factually incorrect" to say the Rebuilding Ireland plan had failed, adding that up to 19,000 new homes will be built this year. Meanwhile, appearing on the BBC's 'Andrew Marr Show', Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald was asked about the issue of a Border poll and said her party would "prepare for the worst scenario and protect our national interest". Her comments yesterday were made less than 24 hours after she told a gathering of party activists in Dublin that the unionist community needed to start "preparing for Irish unity". Last night a spokesman for Mr Varadkar said: "The Taoiseach has made it clear on numerous occasions this is not the right time for a Border poll." A no-deal Brexit could push Ireland into a recession within 18 months, analysts have warned. Ireland's robust economic performance faces an 'existential threat' from a no-deal Brexit, stockbroking firm Goodbody warned in its latest quarterly 'health check' on the Irish economy. "We assume that the UK will leave the EU in an orderly manner on March 29, or more likely later, but the risks have risen over recent weeks of disorderly exit. A game of chicken is now in train between the UK and the EU," Goodbody said. "How this game plays out will determine whether the Irish economy continues to grow healthily over the next 18 months or potentially falls into recession." A no-deal Brexit would damage the economy by hitting our exporters with new trade barriers including tariffs, Goodbody said. It said there could also be a tightening of financial conditions (ie lending) which would remove fuel from the economy. Confidence would likely be hit too, putting downward pressure on spending. It said, however, that this could be counteracted somewhat by British-based firms relocating here. Separately, Goodbody said fears that US tax reforms introduced at the start of last year could hit foreign direct investment (FDI) have not been realised. But it warned that rapidly growing FDI firms are competing hard for talent, pushing up labour costs and potentially damaging Ireland's overall competitiveness. Accountancy firm EY also released its 'Economic Eye' report on the Irish economy, cutting its forecast for growth this year to 3.9pc. It said, however, that if a no-deal Brexit materialises it would reduce the forecast further to 2.5pc. Professor Neil Gibson, chief economist for EY Ireland, said that although a no-deal Brexit would be damaging, Ireland's economy would at least be approaching it from a position of relative strength. A no-deal Brexit could push Ireland into a recession within 18 months, Goodbody has warned. Ireland's robust economic performance faces an 'existential threat' from a no-deal Brexit, the stockbroking firm warned in its latest quarterly 'health check' on the Irish economy. "We assume that the UK will leave the EU in an orderly manner on March 29, or more likely later, but the risks have risen over recent weeks of disorderly exit. A game of chicken is now in train between the UK and the EU," Goodbody said. "How this game plays out will determine whether the Irish economy continues to grow healthily over the next 18 months or potentially falls into recession." A no-deal Brexit would damage the economy by hitting our exporters with new trade barriers including tariffs, Goodbody said. It said there could also be a tightening of financial conditions (ie lending) which would remove fuel from the economy. Confidence would likely be hit too, putting downward pressure on spending. It said, however, that this could be counteracted somewhat by British-based firms relocating here. Separately, Goodbody said fears that US tax reforms introduced at the start of last year could hit foreign direct investment (FDI) have not been realised. But it warned that rapidly growing FDI firms are competing hard for talent, pushing up labour costs and potentially damaging Ireland's overall competitiveness. Accountancy firm EY also released its 'Economic Eye' report on the Irish economy, cutting its forecast for growth this year to 3.9pc. It said, however, that if a no-deal Brexit materialises it would reduce the forecast further to 2.5pc. Professor Neil Gibson, chief economist for EY Ireland, said that although a no-deal Brexit would be damaging, Ireland's economy would at least be approaching it from a position of relative strength. Japanese carmaker Nissan said on Thursday there will be "serious implications" for Britain's manufacturing industry if the United Kingdom fails to secure a trade deal with the European Union. With less than six months until Britain is due to exit the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May has yet to find a proposal to maintain economic ties with the bloc that pleases both sides of her divided Conservative party and is acceptable to negotiators in Brussels. The government has stepped up planning for a so-called no-deal Brexit when the worlds fifth-largest economy leaves the EU on March 29, 2019, a step that could spook financial markets and dislocate trade flows across Europe and beyond. Nissan, which built nearly a third of Britain's 1.67 million cars last year, operates the country's largest automotive factory. "Today we are among those companies with major investments in the UK who are still waiting for clarity on what the future trading relationship between the UK and the EU will look like," Nissan said in a statement. "As a sudden change from those rules to the rules of the WTO (World Trade Organisation) will have serious implications for British industry, we urge UK and EU negotiators to work collaboratively towards an orderly balanced Brexit that will continue to encourage mutually beneficial trade." If Britain fails to agree a deal with the EU then the country would move from seamless trade with the world's largest trading bloc to customs arrangements set by the World Trade Organisation for external states with no preferential deals. Britain's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said last month that tariffs of 10 percent under WTO rules would add an average of 3,000 euros to the cost of British-built cars sold in the EU if fully passed on to buyers. Carmakers are worried that port and road delays could slow the movement of finished cars and parts, crippling output and adding costs, if Britain fails to reach agreement with the EU over its departure. Nissan announced in 2016 that it would build its next generation Qashqai SUV and a new X-Trail model at its Sunderland plant in northern England, in a major boost to Prime Minister Theresa May just a few months after Britain voted to leave the EU. A source told Reuters that the company had received a letter from the British government promising Nissan extra support in the event that Britain's departure from the EU hit the competitiveness of the plant. Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip leave after attending a church service near her Maidenhead constituency. Steve Parsons/PA Wire Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip arrive to attend a church service near her Maidenhead constituency. Steve Parsons/PA Wire Prime Minister Theresa May will travel to Northern Ireland to make a speech on Brexit and meet political parties at Stormont. Mrs May will insist that she can secure a Commons majority for a Brexit deal that "commands broad support" in Northern Ireland as efforts continue to find an alternative to the controversial backstop. The Prime Minister will use a speech to acknowledge that it is a "concerning time" but "we will find a way to deliver Brexit" that honours commitments including avoiding a hard border with Ireland. On Wednesday Mrs May will hold talks with political leaders including the DUP's Arlene Foster, who has promised to tell the Prime Minister the proposed border backstop "drives a coach and horses through the Belfast Agreement's principle of consent" and would effectively create a new border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Meanwhile in Westminster, the working group bringing together senior Eurosceptic and former Remain-supporting Tories will continue efforts to agree alternatives to the backstop along the lines of the Malthouse Compromise. Talks involving Conservatives including Brexiteers Iain Duncan Smith, Theresa Villiers, Steve Baker and Owen Paterson along with former Remainers Nicky Morgan and Damian Green will continue in Whitehall, chaired by Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay. Expand Close Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip leave after attending a church service near her Maidenhead constituency. Steve Parsons/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip leave after attending a church service near her Maidenhead constituency. Steve Parsons/PA Wire The first meeting on Monday was described as "detailed and constructive" by the Brexit department. But Brussels has restated its opposition to any attempt to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement, insisting the backstop was the "only operational solution" to the border question. In her speech, Mrs May will say: "I know this is a concerning time for many people here in Northern Ireland. "But we will find a way to deliver Brexit that honours our commitments to Northern Ireland." The backstop is effectively an insurance arrangement required by the EU to ensure the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic remains open if no wider deal is agreed on future UK/EU trade. It would see the UK enter into a temporary customs union with the EU if no trade deal is sealed by the end of a transition period after Brexit, which lasts until December 2020 and could be extended to the end of 2022. Northern Ireland would also abide by EU single market rules on goods, to avoid any need for regulatory checks of products crossing the border. But critics fear the arrangements could lead to the UK being trapped indefinitely in a customs union, scuppering future trade deals with markets around the world. And the DUP strongly rejects any measure which could lead to divergence between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, effectively creating a regulatory border in the Irish Sea. MPs voted last week to say they would only back Mrs May's Withdrawal Agreement if the backstop was replaced by "alternative arrangements". In her speech, Mrs May will say she will find a solution "that commands broad support across the community in Northern Ireland" and "secures a majority in the Westminster Parliament, which is the best way to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland". And she will call for "steps to move towards the restoration of devolution" so that Northern Ireland's politicians "can get back to work on the issues that matter to the people they represent". Mrs May will say: "The measure of this moment in Northern Ireland's history must be more than whether we avoid a return to the challenges of the past. "It must be how, together, we move forwards to shape the opportunities of the future." Senior European Union figures have strongly rejected calls for the Withdrawal Agreement to be rewritten to remove the backstop. Brussels' chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the deal agreed by Mrs May and the leaders of the 27 other EU members "cannot be reopened". He said the EU was "ready to work on alternative solutions during transition", restating Brussels' position that the backstop had to remain in place unless and until a replacement could be agreed. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was ready to listen to proposals to solve the border "riddle", but needs to hear from Britain how it thinks it can be done. Tanaiste Simon Coveney said alternatives to the backstop were "wishful thinking". He said: "The Irish protocol in the Withdrawal Agreement already allows for alternative arrangements or alternative solutions to the backstop and if they're there they can replace the backstop. "The problem is that none of those ideas around alternative arrangements stand up to scrutiny, we have certainly not seen any that have." The EU will stay united on Brexit and will not meet UK demands to re-open the Withdrawal Agreement which contains the Irish border backstop. That was the strong message from the Dutch Foreign Minister, Stef Blok, as he stood with Irish EU affairs Minister, Helen McEntee, right on the border between the Republic and the North at Carrickarnon, Co Louth. Im quite confident the EU unity will be there at the end. By staying united is the only way we can get agreement with the UK, Mr Blok told reporters. He was speaking amid speculation in London that Ireland is coming under EU pressure to make big concessions on the border backstop, which is designed to prevent a return of the border in Ireland after Brexit. The Dutch minister was asked, why given long-standing friendship and EU alliances between UK and Netherlands, his government was not ready to make a gesture of help to Theresa May and her London government. Weve been negotiating for two years and after such a long time its not reasonable to expect a totally different outcome. We do greatly value our relationship with the United Kingdom as we do our relationship with the Irish Republic, Mr Blok told Independent.ie. In a good relationship it sometimes pays to be blunt. And after such long negotiations you cant expect a new result, the Dutch minister insisted. The EU affairs minister, Ms McEntee, brushed aside suggestions that the Dublin government was scaremongering over the threats to the Norths fragile peace from a return of the border. Ms McEntee said the Irish Government believed that the peace brought about by the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 had taken over 20 years to build. We need to protect the peace on this island and where possible we need to protect the all-island economy, the EU affairs minister said. She said the UK government and Theresa May engaged in two years of negotiations to find a solution made more difficult by their insistence on leaving the EU single market and customs union. Those two years of talks delivered the Withdrawal Agreement with border backstop to resolve that particular problem. This is not about scaremongering. Its about protecting a peace that took 20 years to build, Ms McEntee told reporters. The only way the status quo wins in this city is when they convince you that you do not have power, when they pull out the mythology that the way things are the way things have to be, when they tell you messages over and over, that you are too young, that youre black, that youre not a multimillionaire, Enyia said from the edge of a dimly lit stage at the Emporium Arcade Bar in Logan Square as supporters cheered. They want to see your taxes, so they can judge you based on income. (CNN) Nigeria's Vice President Yemi Osinbajo escaped unhurt after his helicopter crash-landed on Saturday, his spokesman said. Pictures from the scene showed the helicopter on its side after the incident in Kabba, a town in Kogi State in the central region of Nigeria. Osinbajo was on the campaign trail for his All Progressives Congress (APC) party ahead of this month's general elections, and delivered a speech as planned shortly after the crash. "We are extremely grateful to the Lord for preserving our lives from the incident that just happened. Everyone of us is safe and no one is maimed," Osinbajo said in the speech, according to spokesman Laolu Akande. "God has kept us safe and alive, delivered us from death so we can do more for our people and country," he said.. Osinbajo also tweeted a video of him campaigning, thanking the crew and his well-wishers. "We are safe and sound! Thank you to everyone who has expressed concern and thank you to the crew who managed the situation well," he wrote on Twitter. Nigeria's general elections are scheduled for February 16. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Nigeria's Vice President 'safe and sound' after helicopter crash on campaign trail." Brussels has stepped up its opposition to attempts to reopen Theresa May's Brexit deal as senior Conservatives began talks on alternatives to the Irish backstop. The European Union's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said the backstop was the "only operational solution" to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. And senior Brussels official Martin Selmayr insisted there were no plans to offer legally binding assurances to help Mrs May get her deal through Parliament. The EU's refusal to give ground came as senior Conservatives from both wings of the party met in Whitehall for talks aimed at finding a solution to the Irish border issue following last week's House of Commons vote calling for "alternative arrangements" to replace the backstop. In another headache for the Prime Minister, former first minister of Northern Ireland Lord Trimble threatened to take the UK government to court over the backstop, arguing it breaches the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. The alternative arrangements working group, made up of senior Leave and Remain-leaning Conservatives, held its first talks in Whitehall with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay. After more than two hours of discussions, former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, a leading Brexiteer, said "all sides of this debate" were "coming together to find a solution", while ex-education secretary Nicky Morgan said the talks were "very constructive". Meanwhile the cross-party House of Commons Brexit Committee was in Brussels for talks with senior figures including Mr Selmayr, the European Commission general secretary viewed as Jean-Claude Juncker's right-hand man. In response to reports that he had told the Brexit Committee that the EU would be ready to consider legally binding assurances, Mr Selmayr tweeted: "On the EU side, nobody is considering this. "Asked whether any assurance would help to get the Withdrawal Agreement through the House of Commons, the answers of MPs were ... inconclusive. "The meeting confirmed that the EU did well to start its no deal preparations in December 2017." Mr Barnier held talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and said there was "full agreement that (the) Withdrawal Agreement cannot be reopened". He said the EU was "ready to work on alternative solutions during transition", restating Brussels' position that the backstop had to remain in place unless and until a replacement could be agreed. Mr Rutte said: "The Withdrawal Agreement remains the only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. "We continue to urge the UK government to clarify its intentions with respect to its next steps." Mrs May will visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday for a speech in which she is expected to confirm her government's "absolute commitment" to avoiding a hard border with the Republic after Brexit. Downing Street has indicated potential solutions could revolve around a time limit or unilateral break clause on the backstop or new technologies to make it unnecessary. But Mrs May's official spokesman declined to say whether Home Secretary Sajid Javid was right to suggest that the UK Border Force had identified "existing technologies" to do the job. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was ready to listen to proposals to solve the border "riddle", but needs to hear from Britain how it thinks it can be done. Speaking during a trip to Japan, Mrs Merkel said: "To solve this riddle, you have to be creative and you have to listen to one another. "We can have those conversations, so we can use the remaining time to perhaps remove the obstacles that have so far stood in the way and find an agreement if everyone is willing. "But we must hear from Great Britain how they want to do it." Mrs Merkel's visit for talks with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe came soon after a new EU-Japan trade deal came into force and a day after Nissan confirmed it was ditching plans to build its X-Trail SUV in Sunderland. The company said the decision was largely driven by changing demand for diesel models but added that "uncertainty around the UK's future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future". The chairman of the Brexit Committee, Hilary Benn, voiced scepticism about the prospects for a technological solution to the border issue, telling reporters: "Personally, I don't see how it can work - particularly in the very short amount of time that there is left." Speaking after the committee's meeting with Mr Selmayr, Mr Benn said the UK government and EU had already put a great deal of effort into exploring a technological solution, only to conclude that: "It's not going to work." Meanwhile, Downing Street poured cold water on speculation over an early election, saying that Mrs May was "absolutely not" considering a vote on June 6. The comments came as Justice Secretary David Gauke became the latest Cabinet minister to suggest that Brexit might have to be delayed beyond the scheduled date of March 29, telling the BBC that the "key" was achieving a "smooth and orderly departure". Ireland has resisted attempts by the British government to open up bilateral talks in relation to the use of technology to keep the border open after Brexit, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said. Mr Donohoe also dismissed claims by Britain's interior minister Sajid Javid on Sunday that it was possible to use existing technology to solve the issue of post-Brexit arrangements for the border between the United Kingdom and Ireland. "If he has been shown this, I think we'd all love to see it. I don't see any evidence for it," Mr Donohoe told RTE. He insisted that the Government here will not engage in any process that leads to a hard border and would enter into negotiations with London and Brussels on its management in a no deal Brexit. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid had suggested there are viable alternative arrangements to the backstop that would avoid the need for a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. He revealed Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay was looking at such arrangements - raised in the Brady amendment passed by MPs on Tuesday last week which demanded alternatives to the backstop. UK Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is looking into whether a time limit or "exit mechanism" can be added to the backstop to make it more palatable to Parliament. Mr Javid told Andrew Marr on Sunday: "In terms of an alternative arrangement it can be done. "In my own department I have got Border Force and I asked Border Force months ago to advise me to look at what alternative arrangements were possible. "They have shown me quite clearly you can have no hard border on the island of Ireland and you can use existing technology. Expand Close British home secretary Sajid Javid. Photo: PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp British home secretary Sajid Javid. Photo: PA "It is perfectly possible, the only thing missing is a bit of goodwill on the EU side." But Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald told Marr that anyone gambling with peace on the island of Ireland is acting recklessly. "One of the biggest symbols of success of the peace process is that people can travel unimpeded over the border "Any controls or checks or security checks, any question of British soldiers at the border - the Taoiseach has been clear there will be no Irish soldiers on the border - no one will accept the hardening of the border on our island. "The peace process is very solid, very robust, we are only going forward and we are not going back, it would be grossly reckless and irresponsible of the Tories to play a game of chicken with that progress. "Peace on this island is a precious thing, shame on anybody who would play games with that." International consultancy Pharmalex has seen a major jump in the number of drug manufacturers moving parts of their business from Britain to Ireland. The volume of transfers in the industry between the two countries is putting the capacity of the Irish pharmaceutical industry under pressure, said John Cahill, a director at the company's Irish office. In the past year it has been involved in more than 30 individual Brexit-related projects involving a transfer of operations from entities in the UK to Ireland, said Cahill. The projects have included the transfer of manufacturing, testing, batch release responsibilities and marketing authorisation responsibilities between the two countries. Prior to Brexit, Pharmalex had not been requested to handle any such projects but it has now become a key part of its business in Ireland. Other projects have included distribution support for pharma companies relocating from the UK to Ireland, as well as Brexit contingency planning and readiness checks for Irish and multinational companies preparing for March 29. "While this operational shift by these UK businesses has been welcomed, it is a challenge to find the capacity and resources in the Irish pharma sector to sustain this transfer," said Cahill. "In particular, the ability to attract and retain critical personnel, with suitable qualifications to support these operations, is becoming a challenge nationally." Pharmalex, which has offices in 14 countries, had "observed an increasing urgency in 2018 of companies in the UK transferring responsibilities into the Republic of Ireland to ensure their operations are compliant with EU regulations post Brexit", said Cahill. A group of protesters wearing rat masks gathered outside the Department of Health on Dublins Baggot Street (Michelle Devane/PA) An external investigation needs to be conducted into alleged abortion data breaches, the Workers Party has said. It comes after the personal details of a patient were allegedly leaked following an abortion at a Dublin hospital. A group of protesters wearing symbolic rat masks held a demonstration outside the Department of Health on Dublins Baggot Street on Monday to highlight the issue. The Health Minister Simon Harris has asked the HSE to conduct an internal investigation into the matter. But the Workers Party says the review does not go far enough they want an external examination into the alleged patient information breach. A group of protesters donning rat masks held a demonstration outside the Dept of Health calling for Health Minister Simon Harris to conduct an external review into alleged abortion data breaches @PA pic.twitter.com/trWQC8E4rQ Michelle Devane (@michelledevane) February 4, 2019 Councillor Eilis Ryan said they dont trust the HSE to conduct an internal investigation. We believe an external investigation is warranted, Ms Ryan said. We also think given this woman was actually targeted that it warrants speaking to the Gardai about what the appropriate procedure is there. Seamus McDonagh from Kells, Co Meath, who attended the protest, said he was very concerned about the alleged breaches. Its a very important issue, he said. Somebody has to be held to account over this. We cant allow this to escalate and get out of hand. What happens in the long term if it escalates and it breaks out and is happening in Limerick, Cork and elsewhere? It would make a shambles of the whole thing. The vote was taken, more than 64% of the people voted for abortion. We have to respect the democratic rights of people. A message posted on Twitter last week claimed that a woman who had a medical abortion in a maternity hospital in the capital was contacted days later by a man asking her to re-book a scan. The woman claimed the man who contacted her told her she was disgusting for having an abortion. The person was using a phone number linked to a rogue abortion counselling service and an anonymous Twitter account. A spokeswoman for Mr Harris last week said he has been quite clear abortion services should be viewed as a normalised part of the health service and that women accessing that service should not be subjected to any intimidation or harassment. Mum of seven Margaret Cash at a protest over the housing crisis Pic Steve Humphreys Homeless mother-of-seven Margaret Cash has claimed she was refused entry to her local pub at the weekend, saying the incident left her feeling "angry and upset". Ms Cash, who came to national prominence after photos of her children sleeping in a garda station went viral, posted a video on her Facebook page relaying what happened. The Dublin mother said she arrived at the venue with a Traveller female friend on Saturday night. She claims a member of staff said they couldn't let them in or serve them. "To say I'm angry and I'm upset is an understatement," she said in the video. "I don't know whether I am ashamed or angry, I don't know what I am. To be refused by your local pub for no good reason..." Ms Cash said she was asked for ID at the door and gave this to the bouncer. She claims he then asked when was the last time she was in the pub. "I said about two or three weeks ago, I said 'I'm not sure, it's the last time I got a babysitter obviously'. "They then said 'I'm sorry we can't serve you, we can't let you in'". Ms Cash said her and her friend weren't dressed up and didn't have make-up on. "Now I won't lie, we were not dressed up... we didn't have mini-dresses on or anything like that, we went the way we were because we weren't planning on going out. "We said we'd go down the pub for a drink, have a pint or two and go home, that was it, do you know what I mean, we were going to go home for the children". She also posted a video of her confronting a member of staff at the pub, asking why they were being refused entry. Independent.ie contacted the bar for comment. Ms Cash is currently living in b&b accommodation. In October, she was ordered to enter into a probation bond for one year after stealing more than 300 worth of clothing from Penney's in Nutgrove Shopping Centre, Rathfarnham last February. The judge warned Cash not to give into "temptation" and to stay out of trouble asking her "where will your children be if you end up in prison". The advert said you could buy 1/4 of the apartment for 57,000 An advertisement stating one quarter of a Dublin apartment is up for sale has been removed from a website - but such an arrangement is legally possible, according to a leading solicitor's firm. The advert featured on Adverts.ie, a site which enables people to buy and sell various products. It said anyone interested could buy 25pc of an apartment in Balgriffin - worth 230,000 overall - for 57,000. The seller said the prospective buyer could move in at the end of summer and live in the apartment for five years. The advert outlined there would be a mortgage of 900 per month. "You move in end of summer '19 and can live in it for five years. I will be moving to Spain," it stated. "After five years, I have choice to either live in or rent for five years. If I decide to live in it, I will pay you rent for your 1/4. Approx 300 per month. "After 10 years is up. We can sell apt and take whatever profits is made or we can continue to rent if we both agree. Interested people. Message me and we can set up a viewing." The advert was published on the website over the weekend and was still online this morning. When contacted for comment, Adverts.ie said: "The ad was removed as Adverts.ie does not allow property listings." Independent.ie contacted a leading property law firm to see if such an arrangement is legally possible. Susan Cosgrove of Cosgrove Gaynard Solicitors says it can be done, but it would be "very risky". "Looking at the ad it appears the person owns 100pc of it and so is looking to give a share in the property," she said. "This can be done i.e. they can sell 25pc of the property and it can be formally registered. The problem is the mortgage. They will have to get the consent of the bank to sell 25pc of the property. It is very unlikely. "Alternatively a remortgage could be obtained in both names however a mortgage is nearly always joint and several between all parties meaning you would become liable for a lot more that 25pc. If the bank would agree to limit your exposure to 25pc then perhaps it would be possible. "The last comment I would make would be on the arrangements on renting as mentioned a formal co-ownership agreement would have to be entered into between the two parties to agree on the repayments to be paid , by whom and the occupancy of the property. "Overall my advice would be that it can be done but it is risky," she added. Independent.ie has contacted the person who advertised one quarter of the property for comment. Mick Doyle, his wife Rachel and their three kids An Irish family forced to abandon their Australia home due to severe flooding fear they will be unable to get medication for their son, who suffers from epilepsy, as there's no road access within five miles. Father-of-three Mick Doyle, originally from Saggart, Dublin described how crocodiles are climbing trees to escape the gushing waters in Townsville, Queensland. Expand Close A crocodile climbing a tree in Queensland Photo: Mick Doyle / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A crocodile climbing a tree in Queensland Photo: Mick Doyle "We've never seen anything like this before," he said. He and his wife Rachel have been living in Australia for over seven years and bought their first family home two years ago. Now the Dubliner fears their house will be completely destroyed after they had to evacuate on Sunday. His eldest child suffers from epilepsy and autism and they are worried about getting access to medication. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close An aerial view shows flood waters in the suburb of Hyde Park, Townsville, North Queensland, Australia, February 4, 2019. AAP Image/Dave Acree/via REUTERS An aerial view shows the flood-affected area in Townsville, Queensland, Australia February 3, 2019, in this still image from video obtained from social media. Queensland Government Air/via REUTERS A man reclines on a unicorn float in floodwater on Bowen Road in Rosslea district, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Feburary 3, 2019 in this still taken from social media video. Nathan Hughes via REUTERS Floodwater flows over the Aplins Weir Rotary Park footbridge in Mundingburra district, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Feburary 3, 2019 in this still taken from social media video. Nathan Hughes via REUTERS Ross River Dam releases water in Queensland, Australia, in this still photo from a February 3, 2019 video by Julia Hunt. Julia Hunt/Social Media/via REUTERS Flooding is seen in Bicentennial Park in Queensland, Australia, in this still photo from a February 3, 2019 drone video footage by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services. Queensland Fire and Emergency Services/Social Media/via REUTERS Floodwater flows by the Aplins Weir Rotary Park footbridge in Mundingburra district, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Feburary 3, 2019 in this still taken from social media video. Marissa Papageorge via REUTERS Floodwater flows by the Aplins Weir Rotary Park footbridge in Mundingburra district, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Feburary 3, 2019 in this still taken from social media video. Marissa Papageorge via REUTERS SES volunteers are seen rescuing residents in Rosslea, Townsville, Queensland, Australia February 2, 2019. Picture taken February 2, 2019. AAP Image/Andrew Rankin/via REUTERS Amelia Rankin stands in flooded waters in Hermit Park, Townsville, Queensland, Australia February 3, 2019. AAP Image/Andrew Rankin/via REUTERS Residents evacuating to higher ground in Hermit Park, Townsville, Queensland, Australia February 3, 2019. AAP Image/Andrew Rankin/via REUTERS Flooding is seen in Rosslea, Townsville, Queensland, Australia February 2, 2019. Picture taken February 2, 2019. AAP Image/Andrew Rankin/via REUTERS Rocks are seen blocking Muller Street in Wulguru, Townsville, as flooding continues in northern Queensland, Australia February 1, 2019 Local resident Paul Shafer and his daughter Lily stand in floodwaters near star pickets that show where the storm water cover has been removed in Hermit Park, Townsville, northern Queensland, Australia This handout from the Australia Department of Defence taken on February 2, 2019 and received on February 4, 2019 This handout from the Australia Department of Defence taken on February 2, 2019 and received on February 4, 2019 This handout photo from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) taken on February 3, 2019 and received on February 4, 2019 shows flooding in Townsville This handout photo from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) taken on February 3, 2019 and received on February 4, 2019 shows flooding in Townsville. This handout photo from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) taken on February 3, 2019 and received on February 4, 2019 shows flooding in Townsville.Photo by Handout / QUEENSLAND FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES / AFP A handout picture provided by Queensland Police Service, taken on February 2, 2019 and release on February 3 shows two police officers wading in flood waters in Townsville.Photo by Queensland Police Service A handout photo taken by Erin Hahn on February 3, 2019 and received on February 4, shows a crocodile during the floods in Townsville. A handout photo taken and recieved February 4, 2019, from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) shows the flooding in Townsville. Photo by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services A handout photo taken and recieved February 4, 2019, from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) shows the flooding in Townsville. Photo by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An aerial view shows flood waters in the suburb of Hyde Park, Townsville, North Queensland, Australia, February 4, 2019. AAP Image/Dave Acree/via REUTERS "We got no warning at all to leave... everything happened so quickly," Mr Doyle told Independent.ie. "If we had left it another 20 minutes yesterday we wouldn't have made it out of our house. "It's been really stressful. We fear everything will be destroyed when we go back. We brought the things that mean most to us but had to leave so much of our belongings behind. "We've got three small kids, aged nine, four and two. Our eldest has epilepsy and it has been a massive upheaval for him. The other two kids think we're on holidays as we're staying with friends. "The hospitals are closed and are only opening for emergency cases and there's no road access within five miles of where we are now. We're running low on medication for our son but we hope it will be okay and the rain will stop." Queensland has been hit with its heaviest floods in a century after torrential rain poured over the weekend, while the south of Australia bakes in sizzling temperatures. Expand Close Floodwater flows by the Aplins Weir Rotary Park footbridge in Mundingburra district, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Feburary 3, 2019 in this still taken from social media video. Marissa Papageorge via REUTERS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Floodwater flows by the Aplins Weir Rotary Park footbridge in Mundingburra district, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Feburary 3, 2019 in this still taken from social media video. Marissa Papageorge via REUTERS Hundreds of residents have already been evacuated after days of monsoon rains lashed on the region. Crocodiles and snakes have been spotted in the water and people's driveways as army troops and police in boats have been searching for residents in need of help. "The crocodiles don't like fast moving water so they've been climbing up trees," Mr Doyle said. "We've never seen anything like this... we fear our cars are going to be gone when we get back. We haven't been able to get any sleep at all. I work as an electrician and was on call all week so it has been a difficult time. Expand Close Local resident Paul Shafer and his daughter Lily stand in floodwaters near star pickets that show where the storm water cover has been removed in Hermit Park, Townsville, northern Queensland, Australia / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Local resident Paul Shafer and his daughter Lily stand in floodwaters near star pickets that show where the storm water cover has been removed in Hermit Park, Townsville, northern Queensland, Australia "Because of the heat and the humidity we're worried our house will be covered in mould from the floor to the ceiling. "We found out the hard way when we moved to Australia about rainy season and lost a lot of valuable stuff in our first year... we got things to dehumidify the rooms but we're worried that the dehumidifiers won't work this time round." He said they had to leave family photographs behind and other "invaluable items". Between 150mm and 200mm of rain fell across the weekend - equal to about a month's average rainfall. Australia's tropical north expects heavy rains during the monsoon season at this time of the year, but the recent rainfall was far above normal. Local authorities are deliberately flooding a number of areas after the record rainfall pushed a dam beyond capacity. Expand Close Photo Vincent Meehan / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Photo Vincent Meehan Dave Cullen of the North Queensland Irish Association said the rain "just hasn't stopped". "The problem its just kept on raining... water is just gushing out as they had to open the floodgates of the dam." Mr Cullen said the crocodiles in the water aren't the main fear. "They are warning people about snakes and to be careful in pools of water, that's what's a danger for people," he said. Vincent Meehan, from Co Leitrim, owns a Specsavers branch in the local Townsville shopping centre. He had to send staff home after the centre was evacuated over the weekend. Mr Meehan, who moved to Queensland in 2015 with his wife, described the chaos as he tried to stock up on food. "We knew things were starting to get serious because the floods weren't going away," he said. "We started to go down to the shops to try and get some food. There was barely anything left on the shelves. No meat, no bread, no bottled water. I was in the st ore for ten minutes and next minute there was an announcement asking all shoppers to leave. I couldn't even pay for the groceries... I went to another shop and the only meat left was dog meat." Mr Meehan's house has luckily been unaffected but some of his friends haven't been so lucky. "At least two of my friends had 20cm of water in their house. People might find it hard to believe that it comes on quickly but it does. It was raining the same level all week and there was nothing different and then all of a sudden it started to overspill. "We're suffering a big loss of earnings now as we haven't been able to open Specsavers since Saturday morning. We have insurance but these things take a long time to pan out. We closed early on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and now we can't open as there's no power and we can't get an electrician to fix it". Is Donald Trump about to launch a war against Venezuela? Judging from the president and his supporters recent rhetoric it appears that they are laying the ground for such a possibility. In a CBS interview on Sunday Trump said that sending US troops to crisis-ridden Venezuela is an option. He also affirmed that he had rejected a request from Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro for talks. Trump, his close supporters in the White House and now European leaders have recognised Juan Guaido as Venezuelas interim president. This is despite the inauguration of Maduro for his second term as president on 10 January. The pretext is the grave crisis afflicting Venezuela, where around 3 million people have fled the country over the last four years, as a consequence of economic collapse and Maduros increasingly authoritarian tendencies. The US might not intervene directly. It could foment a proxy war waged by the mini-Trumps of the region, Brazils Jair Bolsonaro and Colombias Ivan Duque Marquez. Both have publicly stated their wish to bring down Maduros government. A war in the region would be a humanitarian disaster. All parties directly involved Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia and of course the US have strong militaries, capable of inflicting massive civilian casualties and infrastructural damage. It is tempting to interpret this slide towards conflict as another example of Trumps know-nothing approach to world politics, backed by his team of morons. But such interpretations hide a two-centuries-long US project of carving out and maintaining Latin America as its backyard. Trump certainly deployed anti-interventionist rhetoric during his 2016 election campaign. But his America First agenda is based on re-positioning the US internationally, which, by definition, requires a re-shaping global geopolitics. Far from Trump being advised by morons, two of his closest allies, Vice president Mike Pence and Bolton are both guided by the principles of the Monroe Doctrine. The doctrine, articulated by President James Monroe in 1823, stated that the US would guarantee the new-found sovereignty of its Latin American neighbours. Its underlying objectives were to establish the region as its economic backyard. Through a combination of gunboat and dollar diplomacy real or threatened force combined with loans the US facilitated the emergence of agro and mineral exporting ruling classes across the region. These supplied cheap raw materials, produced by impoverished labouring classes, to the industrialising north of the US and provided markets for manufactured goods. Monroe doctrine principles informed US support for dictatorships and counter-insurgent movements up to the present day. From backing the Argentinian Juntas dirty war in during the 1970s and early 1980s (30,000 dead) to direct intervention in El Salvador in the 1980s (75,000 dead), US intervention was explained as an essential counter to the threat of Communism and the protection of Latin American sovereignty. 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 Following the collapse of Communist Russia in 1991 it looked as if Latin America was now firmly under US influence, with free-market, export-orientated regimes in place across the continent. But from the early 2000s onwards, US authority in the region suffered death by a thousand cuts. One regime after another shifted leftwards, and embraced social democratic and even socialist principles. Nowhere was this movement stronger than in Venezuela under Hugo Chavez. His socialist agenda was based on pumping receipts from oil revenues into the social economy via the so-called Misiones social programmes dedicated to fighting poverty and increasing literacy through mass democratic participation. Minimum wages were increased and land redistributed to the rural poor. Initially, these objectives were more successful than any other social programme in the countrys history. But this strategy offered diminishing returns before turning into a vicious downward spiral. Chavezs oil-financed socialism was beset by a dual contradiction. First, without a strategy for non oil-based wealth, the edifice was built on high world oil prices. In the late 1990s 67 per cent of Venezuelas external income came from oil; by 2017 the figure was 95 per cent. And when oil prices fell, which they did precipitously in 2014, the strategy was undermined fatally. The channelling of oil wealth through social programmes did initially serve to draw hundreds of thousands behind Chavez. But the Misiones dependence on state funds gradually transformed these potential hubs of social transformation into units competing for government money. When it dried up, not only did the objective of improving social conditions of the masses falter, but so too did its popular support base. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Without an upsurge in oil finances, Chavezs successor Maduro has presided over a declining economy and a rising social crisis. Short of a mass democratic counter-movement from below, he has been able to use diminishing oil receipts to buy off elements of the state bureaucracy and military and to deploy increasingly authoritarian means to maintain control. The attempts by Guaido, supported by the Trump administration, to proclaim himself interim president of Venezuela offers no hope to the countrys increasingly desperate masses. US intervention in Latin America over the last two centuries has been driven by its own perceived self-interest. It has occurred in collaboration with local elites who are happy to dip their beaks into the proceeds of US-orientated low-wage export economies. The Achilles heel of the Monroe Doctrine, despite overwhelming US power, has always been its America First mentality at the expense of the Latin American masses. The attempt to install Guaido may or may not be successful but it will not solve the social crisis gripping Venezuela. That can only come from within the country, by a social and political force capable of putting the needs of its population first. Benjamin Selwyn is Professor of International Development at the University of Sussex, and author of The Struggle for Development Money doesnt talk, it swears, sang Bob Dylan. And liberal billionaires in the US are certainly not being polite about the latest policy ideas emanating from Americas Democratic Party. Howard Schultz, the billionaire founder of the Starbucks coffee chain who is considering running for president in 2020, last week condemned universal health care and higher rates of income tax on the super-rich, as proposed by the new Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as un-American. It concerns me that so many voices within the Democratic Party are going so far to the left, Schultz lamented. If I ran as a Democrat, I would have to say things that I know in my heart I do not believe. 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 Meanwhile Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York and billionaire head of the financial terminal business, also last week warned that a wealth tax, as proposed by Senator Elizabeth Warren, another Democrat presidential hopeful, is potentially unconstitutional and risks turning the US into Venezuela. The historical solecism of saying that high taxes on the super-rich are unknown in American history has been widely noted (the top marginal rate of tax between the 1940s and 1970s was well over 70 per cent). But just as important is the question of what the impact of such progressive, inequality reducing, changes to US taxation would be now. Would overall growth suffer? Would the pie of prosperity be smaller, as the likes of Shultz and Bloomberg suggest? A new book by three International Monetary Fund economists, Jonathan Ostry, Prakash Loungani and Andrew Berg, attempts to provide some answers to those questions. And their answer is that redistribution, unless it was extreme, would be unlikely to hurt growth and could actually sustain it. Inequality undercuts the sustainability of economic growth. More unequal societies tend to experience more fragile growth, said Ostry at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington last week. There is too much caution about using redistributive fiscal tools in terms of their possible disincentive effects. On the whole, the macro data strongly suggests redistributive policies have done more good than harm ... Going for growth while assuming that inequality takes care of itself seems to us to be a dangerous gamble. In other words, Ocasio-Cortez and Warren are thinking along the right lines (although the devil will be in the detail of any policies) while those anti-redistribution liberal billionaires are essentially wrong. Two other economists who specialise in tax research Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman advanced a subtly different argument in favour of higher US top tax rates and wealth taxes last month. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events An extreme concentration of wealth means an extreme concentration of economic and political power, the pair wrote in The New York Times. Progressive income taxation cannot solve all our injustices. But if history is any guide, it can help stir the country in the right direction. The prospect of Schulz running as a well-funded independent candidate, splitting the anti-Trump vote and handing the property magnate the keys to the White House for another four years, seems to illustrate beautifully this argument about the distorting influence of massive wealth on politics. Its often asserted that mainstream economists are all shills for neoliberal politicians and that its practitioners ignore issues of inequality. The fact that Ostry, Loungani and Berg are thoroughly mainstream economists and all work at that supposedly neoliberal death star, the IMF, shows what a crude caricature this is. One can say the same of the ideas and arguments of Saez and Zucman, who are both based at the University of California, Berkeley and who have both published in the most prestigious mainstream economics journals. The fact is that the thrust of mainstream economic research on inequality and policy development among Democrats are moving in the same direction. And the old road of the anti-redistribution billionaires? Well, it appears to be rapidly ageing. It is possible, though, that we have lost our bearing a bit in judgment of past events. It was 1984. Is it really so shocking to think that this could have happened? Would people at the time really have been uber-offended? There is no implication from anyone that he was aligning himself with the KKK. He was, however, allegedly dressing in costume as a cartoonish representation of a bygone era. Its never the lie, its always the cover-up, and so, in fact, we must applaud Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynskis inventive approach to having been caught so transparently red-handed. If you need the background, on Saturday Kawczynski claimed that, after the Second World War, there had been no Marshall Plan for us, only for Germany, referring to the vast grants given by the US to European nations to rebuild after the Second World War. Forty-eight hours and counting later, by my estimation Mr Kawczynski has been told upwards of 10,000 times the niggling little fact that, rather than there having been no Marshall Plan for us, the UK in fact received more Marshall Plan money than any other nation some $2.7bn to Germanys $1.7bn. Kawczynskis response to this has been to tell such people that they need to get out more, to pull up former Newsnight presenter Gavin Esler on the spelling of his name, and to agree to go on talk radio on Sunday and, when the subject was raised, hang up. So this is not, strictly speaking, a cover-up, but in fact a pioneering extension of truth boundaries beyond the limits once set by the Shaggy school of denialism. This is not so much a case of Kawczynski being caught banging on the bathroom floor and saying it wasnt him, but instead closing his eyes, continuing in the act and choosing to decide that the interloping third party is in fact not there. Still, this is precisely the kind of bold new thinking that will be required should the no-deal Brexit Kawczynski continues to agitate for finally arrive. In the midst of the food-and-medicine-shortage-induced riots for which the civil service remains deep in contingency planning, there, we assume, will be Kawczynski. Hell be quietly pushing his trolley around the supermarket as it is looted all around him, gathering up his imaginary lemons and carrying them to the abandoned checkouts, before opening up his wallet and paying for his non-existent goods with the pretend cash he patiently queued up to withdraw from the out-of-service cashpoint. Such a devotion to meta-reality is, you might think, surprising for one whose other interests are so firmly bound up in more material matters. The mystery is that Kawczynski has become such a firm advocate of no-deal Brexit, and an even firmer advocate of people ignoring the constant warnings of its risks, right at the same time as receiving a 6,000-a-month payment from a company called the Electrum Group, which is heavily invested in the go-to economic-disaster safe haven of the gold market. Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Show all 12 1 /12 Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Middlesbrough After midnight, New Years Eve. A girl looks at her phone and smokes, framed against a line-up of antiquated postcard features of Britain. Shes the most authentic part of the scene, however, a glimpse of modern Britain, while the red phone box belongs to the past Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Middlesbrough I walk through a field by the industrial estate where several horses live chained to the ground. They feed on thinning grass. The Transporter Bridge lies in the background: an emblem of movement and motion and crossing divides, like a cruel joke played on the animals, stuck and fixed and static Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Middlesbrough The first second of 2019, welcomed with with a kiss, a hug, with stares and smiles, with a shot thrown down a throat, with phones and photos and forgetting Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Middlesbrough Shoes hang from lines of communication, sagging between houses, pulling down on the words and silences that somehow run through these black wires. It reminded me of the view from my bedroom window in Poland Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Middlesbrough A queue to keep going, into the night, further into 2019 before sleeping. Vape rises distinctly, a new sight on the street in the last few years, bringing atmospheric emissions to the image. Theres sweat and purpose and promise Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Middlesbrough Im struck by this naming and shaming, by the identification of supposed disloyalty, clearly marking the public space of the city for all to see, whether they care or not, whether they know or not Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Hartlepool A view from inside the Market Hall, looking out, onto another person sitting on the street and another person faced with the experience of walking by. Both lower their heads, as if in acknowledgement of the difficulty of the situation Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Hartlepool I walk to the end of a long jetty by the marina. Fisherman stand at the furthest tip, waiting for a bite, looking to the horizon where faint puffs of smoke appear and vanish from factories further down the east coast Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Seaham Dwelling spaces of the dead and the living, closer than usual, occupying the same public space, both observable in one view, the burial ground of the local church acting as a garden for the housing estate behind Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Sunderland A walk by the River Wear is comically framed from the Wearmouth Bridge, a view unavailable to the couple, who probably have no idea theyre walking into shot. Some things just cannot be appreciated at ground level and can only be seen from above Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Sunderland Somebody once wrote this on a wall. Thats all. But now its part of the scene, part of the view, part of the experience of walking up High Street West into town. Its tiny and anonymous, but noticeable and affecting Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northeast England Sunderland Three elements of the city: a flapping pigeon; an austere grey tower block; purchasable sex Richard Morgan/The Independent But Kawczynskis performance-art-level truth avoidance also speaks to what might currently be the deepest problem in British politics. Kawczynski is a member of parliament. These things, parliaments, in which the French word, parler, to speak, features prominently, remain the cornerstones of liberal democracies. The idea, lost though it almost is, is that the people who sit within it speak, but also listen. It is of sacred importance that participants both be ready to listen to arguments and this is the key bit to change their minds. Both in parliaments and in liberal democracies at large, minority opinions are safeguarded from majoritarian tyranny precisely because they might, one day, become majority opinions. To be an elected representative of such a place and state an utterly blatant falsehood and then wilfully refuse to correct the record is an act of democratic vandalism. To undermine not just whatever faith people might theoretically have in you, but in the entire system. One source of the growing despair in liberal democracies is the entirely well-placed fear that this system is breaking down that so-called bad-faith actors have worked out that there is very little downside in simply lying, and transmitting falsehoods to the isolated echo chambers of the information ecosystem where they can reap their benefit, places where the exposure of said lies do not penetrate. It is worth noting that Kawczynski has now been on BBC radio, in which he has expounded upon his entirely wrong thesis, to claim that Germany received aid, whereas Britain received only loans, which it had not finished repaying until 2006. Again, this is untrue. Yes, Britain, France and others were lent money to pay for the war effort by the US under the Lend-Lease programme, and it is true this money was not repaid until 2006. But Britains Marshall Plan funds were a gift, gratefully received and never repaid. Indeed, many historians are damning of the squandering of those funds on seeking to keep up appearances as a global superpower, while France and Germany invested theirs in rebuilding vital industries. All of which leads us to where we are today: Britain, still with the wrong idea about its place in the world, being generally let down by its politicians. A Southwest flight in the US was aborted when at least one passenger started bleeding from the ears while others complained of pain and discomfort. The flight from Connecticuts Bradley International Airport to Tampa, Florida, on 1 February was forced to turn back after a cabin pressure issue caused travellers to feel unwell, reports the Hartford Courant. The pilot requested to land back in Hartford, Connecticut, due to the pressurisation fault, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. About an hour after setting off, the Boeing 737 returned and landed at Bradley just after 9pm. Medical staff were on hand to treat passengers, but no severe injuries were reported. Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall? Show all 3 1 /3 Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall? Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall? 273484.bin JOHN LAWRENCE Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall? 273485.bin JOHN LAWRENCE Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall? 273486.bin JOHN LAWRENCE The aircraft has since been removed from service, according to Southwest. Recommended Southwest Airlines flight turns around after human heart left onboard The incident comes after The Independent reported that dozens of Ryanair passengers were left bleeding from the ears after a flight to Croatia plunged 37,000ft for an emergency landing in Germany. Thirty-three people were treated in hospital following the controlled descent in July 2018, due to a loss of cabin pressure 80 minutes into the journey. Oxygen masks were deployed while the plane dropped 27,000ft in around seven minutes, as flight FR7312 from Dublin to Zadar was diverted to Frankfurt Hahn airport. Turkmenistan Airlines was placed on the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)s blacklist on 4 February, meaning its now banned from flying in the EU. But its far from the only carrier to be struck off the EUs approved list. Some 116 airlines around the world are currently prohibited, including 21 of the Democratic Republic of Congos carriers and all carriers in Liberia. Some of the airlines are small domestic brands with few aircraft, while others are flag carriers for particular countries. The majority of the banned airlines are based in Africa and the Middle East. The world's 10 worst airlines Show all 10 1 /10 The world's 10 worst airlines The world's 10 worst airlines 10. Jet AirHelp, has assessed more than 30 airlines using scores for quality of service, on-time performance and responses to claims for compensation. Here follows the lowest ranked airlines, starting with Jet Airways, 35% of whose flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 9. Aerolineas Argentinas 15% of Aerolineas Argentinas flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 8. Iberia 16% of Iberia flights were delayed in 2018 Getty Images The world's 10 worst airlines 7. Korean Air 36% of Korean Air flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 6. Ryanair 14% of Ryanair flights were delayed in 2018 EPA The world's 10 worst airlines 5. Air Mauritius 31% of Air Mauritius flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 4. easyJet 21% of easyJet flights were delayed in 2018 AFP/Getty Images The world's 10 worst airlines 3. Pakistan International Airlines 39% of Pakistan International Airlines were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 2. Royal Jordanian Airlines 13% of Royal Jordanian Airlines flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 1. WOW Air 25% of WOW Air flights were delayed in 2018 Getty Blacklisted airlines are those that fall foul of the regulatory oversight standards of the EASA, and are therefore forbidden from entering the airspace of any EU member state. Recommended Stranded Turkmenistan Airlines customers may need to make own way home Airlines may be put on the list for a number of reasons, according to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). There may be issues with the overall management of the airline and general non-compliance with international regulations and standards; specific safety concerns with some or all of an airlines aircraft; or issues with the national regulator in a certain country leading to all airlines based in that country being excluded from EU airspace. Sometimes specific aircraft are banned from the EU but not airlines that operate those aircraft. Once the UK leaves the EU, technically it will fall outside the control of the EASA; however, its unlikely the rules will change in terms of banned airlines. 10 flag carriers currently banned by the EU Congo Airways (flag carrier of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) Eritrean Airlines (flag carrier of Eritrea) Iraqi Airways (flag carrier of Iraq) Ariana Afghan Airlines (flag carrier of Afghanistan) Air Kyrgyzstan (flag carrier of Kyrgyzstan) All carriers in Liberia Nepal Airlines Corporation (flag carrier of Nepal) Sudan Airways (flag carrier of Sudan) STP Airways (flag carrier of Sao Tome and Principe) Air Zimbabwe (flag carrier of Zimbabwe) On Tuesday, Moscow will begin hosting peace talks that have sparked controversy before they have even begun. There is anger over the two-day intra-Afghan dialogue, both from the Taliban, who will be attending, and the marginalised administration of President Ashraf Ghani. On Monday, representatives of the radical Islamic group founded on anti-Soviet resistance confirmed a delegation would travel to the land of their once-sworn enemy. They will join several dozen prominent opposition figures, including former president Hamid Karzai and Hanif Atmar, who is running against Mr Ghani in this years presidential elections. The snubbed Afghan government have reacted angrily to the prospect of talks, describing them as an attempt to gain power, and not in the interests of Afghanistan. The Taliban, for their part, have long refused to engage with the Ghani government, calling it a puppet of the United States. Officially, Russia claims the talks are being organised by an obscure group of Afghan refugees ... This seems unlikely. The strains and controversies might explain why the Kremlin is distancing itself from an event that very clearly retains its fingerprints. Officially, Russia claims the talks are being organised by an obscure group of Afghan refugees called the Moscow-based Council for the Afghan Community, and not under the auspices of the foreign ministry, or the Kremlin, or even an associated platform. However, it would be difficult for an event of this type to go ahead without the organisational, visa and security support of the Russian authorities. Taliban representatives would find it hard to get past passport control given the fact their group remains on the list of terrorist organisations. This particular detail has been magnified to absurdity in the Russian media, which is still obliged to refer to the Talibans banned status when reporting about the invitation to Moscow. The US-led Afghan conflict is now in its 18th year. For a long time, Russia was not keen to get involved. Few in Moscow relished the prospect of another drawn-out battle in the Afghan mountains, the memories of the Soviet Unions disastrous campaign in the 1980s still fresh in the mind. But in the conflicts later stages, as the Taliban strengthened their position, and the US weakened theirs, Russia looked to regain a foothold, and cultivate a close relationship with the the Islamic radical group. Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Show all 16 1 /16 Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2001 Afghans at the Killi Faizo refugee camp desperately reach for bags of rice being handed out to the thousands who escaped the bombardment in southern Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. (Chaman, Pakistan, December 4, 2001) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2002 Mahbooba stands against a bullet-ridden wall, waiting to be seen at a medical clinic. The seven-year-old girl suffers from leishmaniasis, a parasitical infection. (Kabul, March 1, 2002) All photos Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2003 A mother and her two children look out from their cave dwelling. Many families who, fleeing the Taliban, took refuge inside caves adjacent to Bamiyans destroyed ancient Buddha statues now have nowhere else to live. (Bamiyan, November 19, 2003) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Students recite prayers in a makeshift outdoor classroom in the Wakhan Corridor, a mountainous region in northeastern Afghanistan that extends to China and separates Tajikistan from India and Pakistan. (Northeastern Afghanistan, September 2, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Bodybuilders in the 55-60 kg category square off during a regional bodybuilding competition. Many Afghan men, like others around the world, feel that a macho image of physical strength is important. (Kabul, August 6, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2008 A woman in a white burqa enjoys an afternoon with her family feeding the white pigeons at the Blue Mosque. (Mazar-e-Sharif, March 8, 2008) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Addicts inject heroin while trying to keep warm inside the abandoned Russian Cultural Center, which the capital citys addicts use as a common gathering point. Heroin is readily available, costing about one dollar a hit. (Kabul, February 9, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 An elderly man holds his granddaughter in their tent at a refugee camp after they were forced to flee their village, which US and NATO forces had bombed because, they claimed, it was a Taliban hideout. (Surobi, Nangarhar Province, February 7, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Seven-year-old Attiullah, a patient at Mirwais Hospital, stands alongside an X ray showing the bullet that entered his back, nearly killing him. Attiullah was shot by US forces when he was caught in a crossfire as he was herding sheep. (Kandahar, October 13, 2009). Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 US Army Sargeant Jay Kenney (right), with Task Force Destiny, helps wounded Afghan National Army soldiers exit a Blackhawk helicopter after they have been rescued in an air mission. (Kandahar, December 12, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 An Afghan National Army battalion marches back to barracks at the Kabul Military Training Center. (Kabul, October 4, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Eid Muhammad, seventy, lives in a house with a view overlooking the hills of Kabul. He and millions of other Afghans occupy land and housing without possessing formal deeds to them. (Kabul, November 21, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Razima holds her two-year-old son, Malik, while waiting for medical attention at the Boost Hospital emergency room. (Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, June 23, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Young women cheer as they attend a rally for the Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani. (Kabul, April 1, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Burqa-clad women wait to vote after a polling station runs out of ballots. (Kabul, April 5, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2015 Relatives, friends, and womens rights activists grieve at the home of Farkhunda Malikzada, who was killed by a mob in the center of Kabul. Farkhunda was violently beaten and set on fire after a local cleric accused her of burning a Quran. (Kabul, March 22, 2015) Paula Bronstein According to a number of reports, that relationship now has a military dimension. In 2017, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson openly accused the Kremlin of arming the Taliban as it fought US troops. The following March, the claim was repeated by Gen John Nicholson, head of US forces in Afghanistan. There has been no direct proof of arms transfers, but there is probably some truth to the rumour, says Artemy Kalinovsky, author of A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan, and senior lecturer at the University of Amsterdam. Nothing has been definitely documented, but Russia has made little secret of where it thinks its interests lie, he told The Independent. It sees the Taliban as part of a future government, and would want to show commitment, to gain goodwill. Moscows interests in the region are twofold, the expert says. On one hand, rivalry with the US is never far away any attempt that makes the US look weak makes Russia happy. But the major consideration is the legitimate security concern of stemming the threat from Islamic terrorism near Russia. The Taliban never really had ambitions beyond its borders, he says. Isis is another thing. It has ways to strike in Russia through radicalisation and more. The Taliban has been fighting Isis, and Moscow believes there is plenty of room for further collaboration. In this, Russian and US priorities are more closely aligned than ever. In talks last week in Doha, US and Taliban officials reportedly signed up to the outlines of a peace deal that would see US troops leave in exchange for a commitment not to host al-Qaeda again. Many obstacles to a deal remain not least the facilitation of direct negotiations between the Taliban and the government but US chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad described significant progress. With upwards of 14,000 pairs of American boots still on the ground, no amount of Russian networking is likely to undermine the US-led talks. But for two days at least, Moscow will be the focus of attention and anger. A French politician is taking six women who accused him of sexual misconduct to court on Monday amid what some are characterising as a backlash against the #MeToo movement. In May 2016, investigative news website Mediapart and radio station France Inter published and broadcast accounts from 14 women who alleged Denis Baupin had groped, sexted and otherwise harassed them. Mr Baupin, a prominent Green Party member and former Paris city official, is also launching the defamation lawsuit against four journalists who reported the allegations. He resigned as vice president of the lower house of parliament when the reports surfaced, denying all the allegations against him. The next month, Mr Baupin sued the journalists, the six accusers who agreed to be named in the news reports and two men who were quoted corroborating some of the alleged misbehaviour. 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 Mr Baupins lawyer, Emmanuel Pierrat, said his client did nothing illegal and now wants to fully clear his name. Mr Pierrat said the lawsuits main goal is to prove the investigative website and radio station were not fair in their coverage. The lawyer told the Associated Press his reputation, his family, his life were broken by the allegations. Most of the women who spoke about Mr Baupins alleged behaviour from 1998 to 2013 were fellow Green Party members and their descriptions sparking outrage. Four filed criminal complaints for sexual harassment. A nine-month judicial investigation ended without charges. Prosecutors said the three-year statute of limitations had expired, but released a statement saying the womens measured, constant statements and witness corroboration created a set of facts to support allegations of actions that may for some of them be classified as criminal. Journalists and individuals need to show they acted in good faith or prove they told the truth as a defence against defamation under French law. A conviction is punishable by a maximum fine of 45,000 (39,000). Media reports are also assessed by the additional criteria of the legitimacy of journalists goals in producing a story, whether they demonstrate an absence of personal animosity, prudence and balance, and the quality of the investigation. Mr Pierrat said none of them is fulfilled in the Mediapart and France Inter pieces on Mr Baupin. Three defendants in the defamation trial said they also plan to speak in a Paris courtroom for other women who requested anonymity or did not air their experiences. Sandrine Rousseau, a former Green Party spokeswoman who accused Mr Baupin of grabbing her breast at a 2011 meeting, said: The question is: will justice send the message that women must remain silent? Its an important message, a message saying that women can speak out or not. Annie Lahmer, another Green who serves on the Paris regional council said she deems it to be her duty to speak out. Ms Lahmer alleges Mr Baupin chased her around an office desk while she tried to escape his grasp in 1999, when she was a Green Party employee and he was national party spokesperson. Ms Lahmer alleges Mr Baupin told her she would not be able to have a career in the party after she made it clear she would not tolerate such behaviour. In court, Im going to say its inadmissible that some men who hold power consider that kind of behaviour as normal. It is not, she said. Isabelle Attard, a former politician, alleged he sexually harassed her with dozens of inappropriate text messages in 2012 and 2013. Ms Attard said it has been difficult for her to break years of silence and hopes growing awareness and support from the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault gives other women more courage to say no and speak out. I was just an activist who then became a lawmaker facing someone very prominent in the party, Ms Attard said of how she felt when the alleged misconduct happened. I did not feel on an equal footing with him. Frances secretary of state for womens rights, Marlene Schiappa, said there has been an enormous backlash to the #MeToo movement which challenges a sexism very deeply anchored in our society. She said: What I deplore is that in a general way, whenever a woman talks about sexual or sexist assault, you start to dig into the womans life and put this woman into a position of being accused. Ms Schiappa said she would not specifically comment on the Baupin case because it is going to court. She said a very little bit of progress has been made in France since 2016 via new laws aimed at better protecting victims of sexual violence and pushing gender equality. French politicians passed a bill that extended the three-year statute of limitations on sexual harassment claims to six years. Last month, a report found more than a million French women were forced to endure sexist insults in 2017 with only four convictions for breaches of sexual harassment laws. The report by Frances High Council for Gender Equality was the major first investigation into sexism to be carried out in France. Sexist insults are described in the research as daily violence faced by women. The most frequently reported insults were salope (slut), pute (whore) and connasse (bitch). Last year politicians approved legislation which introduced fines of up to 750 for wolf-whistling or sexual harassment on the street. Additional reporting by Associated Press A koala "looking for a drink" has drowned in a swimming pool amid a record-breaking heatwave in Australia. Animal rescuers responded to a call on Sunday by a homeowner on the Gold Coast who had found the animal at the bottom of their pool. Wildcare Australia, an animal charity, said the koala, named Summer by the rescue team, was likely dehydrated and looking for a drink, which is usually why koalas lose their lives to pool drownings". Australia endured its hottest month on record in January, with temperatures soaring above 40C for several days straight in some areas. 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 With the scorching conditions expected to persist through April, Wildcare Australia urged locals to take measures to protect wildlife. Residents were urged to consider covering their pools when not in use, or putting a flotation device on the water and tying it by thick rope to a tree. If there are no assisted ways for a koala to climb out they will eventually drown," the charity wrote on Facebook. It added: With this terrible summer heat and no rain that we are experiencing in so many parts of the country, please help keep wildlife safe with little things you can do." The decision to share the image of the dead marsupial on social media prompted a strong response from the online community. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Thank you for posting even though it is distressing to see it makes people aware," one person said. Another post read: Oh my gosh, this is heartbreaking. Snakes and crocodiles have been spotted on residential roads in Australia after devastating floods hit the northern state of Queensland, following eight days of monsoon-level rain. Environment minister Leeanne Enoch issued a statement warning residents that the reptiles could turn up in unexpected places due to extreme weather conditions. Crocodiles prefer calmer waters and they may move around in search of a quiet place to wait for floodwaters to recede, she said. [They] may be seen crossing roads, and when flooding recedes, crocodiles can turn up in unusual places such as farm dams or waterholes where they have not been seen before. Similarly, snakes are very good swimmers and they too may turn up unexpectedly. Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Show all 29 1 /29 Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Evacuations under way in Townsville on February 4 AFP/Getty Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Army vehicles enter Townsville to help evacuate people on February 4 AFP/Getty Townsville, Australia - Monsoon A major intersection in the flooded Townsville suburb of Idalia on February 4 Getty Townsville, Australia - Monsoon An Australian soldier helps a Townsville resident evacuate her home as the military is deployed to tackle the floods on February 4 AFP/Getty Townsville, Australia - Monsoon A boat steers down a flooded road in Townsville on February 4 Getty Townsville, Australia - Monsoon A flooded neighbourhood in Townsville on February 4 EPA Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Rosslea residents Stephen Jubbs, Stacie Little and Stephen Dobbs take their boat around floodwaters in Rosslea, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 02 February 2019. Thousands of residents downstream from the Ross River dam were evacuated after flash floods hit the region following heavy rains, media reported. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon A child is seen playing in floodwater in the suburb of Idalia in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon A resident rides his bicycle in floodwaters in the suburb of Idalia in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Townsville Residents are seen watching the raging floodwaters of the Ross River in the suburb of Douglas on February 01, 2019 in Townsville, Australia. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has declared Townsville a disaster area and has ordered school closures today after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in the area. The bureau of meteorology is predicting 400mm of rain to fall over the weekend and into next week. Ian Hitchcock/Getty Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Seen is a lone tree in raging floodwaters of the Ross River on February 01, 2019 in Townsville, Australia. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has declared Townsville a disaster area and has ordered school closures today after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in the area. The bureau of meteorology is predicting 400mm of rain to fall over the weekend and into next week. Ian Hitchcock/Getty Townsville, Australia - Monsoon An Australian soldier from 3CER helps sandbag a home in the suburb of Railway Estate on February 01, 2019 in Townsville, Australia. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has declared Townsville a disaster area and has ordered school closures today after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in the area. The bureau of meteorology is predicting 400mm of rain to fall over the weekend and into next week. Ian Hitchcock/Getty Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Seen is a flooded street in the suburb of Railway Estate on February 01, 2019 in Townsville, Australia. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has declared Townsville a disaster area and has ordered school closures today after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in the area. The bureau of meteorology is predicting 400mm of rain to fall over the weekend and into next week. Ian Hitchcock/Getty Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Seen is a 4WD vehicle in a flooded street in the suburb of Railway Estate on February 01, 2019 in Townsville, Australia. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has declared Townsville a disaster area and has ordered school closures today after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in the area. The bureau of meteorology is predicting 400mm of rain to fall over the weekend and into next week. Ian Hitchcock/Getty Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Warning signs are seen on a flooded road in the suburb of Railway Estate on February 01, 2019 in Townsville, Australia. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has declared Townsville a disaster area and has ordered school closures today after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in the area. The bureau of meteorology is predicting 400mm of rain to fall over the weekend and into next week. Ian Hitchcock/Getty Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Residents are seen in floodwaters in the suburb of Idalia in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Locals are seen filling sand bags supplied by the Townsville City Council at Hermit Park in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Kyle Konings, Courtney Turner and Luke Eketone walk through floodwaters in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Floodwaters across Ross River in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Wayne Clayton with Cooper walk through floodwaters in Mundingburra, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Courtney Turner and Luke Eketone walk through floodwaters in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Rocks are seen blocking Muller Street in Wulguru, in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Floodwaters are seen at Aplins Weir in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Residents Kerry and Josephine Guinea observe rocks blocking Muller Street in Wulguru, in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Floodwaters at Alpins Weir along Ross River in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Residents of the suburb of Idalia are seen playing in floodwaters in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Wayne Clayton with Cooper walk through floodwaters in Mundingburra, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 01 February 2019. Authorities asked Townsville residents downstream from the Ross River dam to evacuate an emergency measure after high-risk that up to 100 homes could be flooded. EPA/Andrew Rankin Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Rocks are seen blocking Muller Street in Wulguru, Townsville, as flooding continues in northern Queensland, Australia February 1, 2019. AAP Image/Andrew Rankin via Reuters Townsville, Australia - Monsoon Local resident Paul Shafer and his daughter Lily stand in floodwaters near star pickets that show where the storm water cover has been removed in Hermit Park, Townsville, northern Queensland, Australia February 2, 2019. AAP Image/Andrew Rankin via Reuters Ms Enoch also told residents to resist the urge to go near the creatures, telling them instead to report it as soon as possible to the Department of Environment and Science. Images posted to social media showed homes and cars submerged in waist-deep floodwaters, with crocodiles turning up in cul-de-sacs and snakes in trees. Croc out the front of my dads place in Mundingburra, OReilly Street, Ross River Road end. Cannot stress it enough to stay out of the water, Erin Hahn said in a Facebook post. Authorities were forced to open floodgates on the Ross River Dam in Townsville to relieve pressure on Sunday as unprecedented monsoon rains caused landslides and power blackouts. Some 1,900 cubic metres of water was sent gushing into the already inundated town. The Queensland Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement: Dangerous and high-velocity flows will occur in the Ross River Sunday night into Monday. Unprecedented areas of flooding will occur in Townsville. Expect access routes to be cut. Australias military deployed boats and helicopters to rescue people from their homes on Sunday and rescue efforts continue. Many people have sought shelter at nearby Lavarack military barracks and the Red Cross is also assisting with the response and recovery effort. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Queensland state premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned more heavy rainfall is expected in Townsville and the surrounding area over the next two days, which could cause flash flooding and put up to 20,000 properties at risk. Its basically not just a one-in-20-year event, its a one-in-100-year event, she said. The discovery of growing numbers of colossal oarfish in fishermens nets in Japan have raised fears of an impending natural disaster as the appearance of the usually deep-sea-dwelling species has long been considered a harbinger of earthquakes and tsunamis. One specimen measuring just under 4m was accidentally caught in a fixed net about 1km off Imizu, in Toyama Bay, off Japans north coast, on Monday. At least three others have been found over the past week, and two were found earlier in January. According to the Uozu Aquarium in Toyama bay the first confirmed oarfish sighting in the area came in 2009, since then 20 have been found with four of those in 2015. The appearance of the distinctive species, which is distinguished by a long silvery body and red fins, has reportedly left marine biologists perplexed. Oarfish are a relatively rare bycatch, as they live between 200m and 1,000m (650ft to 3,200ft) below the surface. Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Show all 6 1 /6 Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Scalloped hammerhead shark Scalloped hammerhead shark fins were among those found being sold by an Asian food retailer in the UK. These sharks are endangered, and in parts of the Atlantic Ocean, their populations have declined by over 95% in the past 30 years. Istock/Janos Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Spiny dogfish In the samples of takeaway fish and chips sampled, spiny dogfish made up 90% of those sold under the names huss, rock salmon and rock eel. Doug Costa, NOAA/SBNMS Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Shortfin mako shark Another vulnerable species found in the dried shark fins tested in the British Asian wholefood retailer was the shortfin mako shark. Istock/Alessandro De Maddalena Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Blue shark Blue shark was also found on sale in UK shops. This species is not as vulnerable as the others but is still listed as "Near Threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Istock/Howard Chen Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Nursehound Around a quarter of the sharks being sold in UK fishmongers were nursehounds, another relatively safe species that is nevertheless classified as near threatened. Mario Antonio Pena Zapateria Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Misleading names in fish shops The scientists behind the study investigating the prevalence of endangered shark meat on sale concluded that shops must stop selling these species under "umbrella terms" that hide their true origin. Istock But finding several of the creatures, which are known as Ryugu no tsukai in Japanese, or the Messenger from the Sea Gods Palace, has long been believed to be an omen of natural disasters including earthquakes and tsunamis. According to the regions Fisheries Research Institute, the water temperature at the surface in Toyama Bay is several degrees higher than average, while at deeper depths between 200m and 300m, the water is cooler than usual. Speaking to the Straits Times, Satoshi Kusama of Uozo Aquarium said: [Finding several in a row] is said to be the forerunner of an earthquake or to be influenced by ocean temperatures, but research is scarce and we dont know the cause. The myth that sightings of the fish are a forerunner to disaster gained currency following the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami, when more than a dozen oarfish washed up in the preceding year, the Japan Times reports. Yoshiaki Kai, assistant professor at Kyoto Universitys Maizuru Fisheries Research Station, told the paper: I have never heard of so many of them coming up like this. There have been occurrences of fishermen releasing them into the sea after catching them in stationary nets because they couldnt sell them on the market. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Support free-thinking journalism and subscribe to Independent Minds The most recent fishs carcass was on display at Uozu Aquarium over the weekend. A man who moved into his new home in India reportedly found a corpse hidden in a box underneath the bed. Ramvir Singh Rajput bought a third-floor flat in the city of Bhopal in July 2018, but had not been able to gain access until Sunday, when he made the gruesome discovery, the Hindustan Times reported. He told authorities he had bought the property from a government worker and her son. After the sale the pair asked for extra time to vacate the property and he complied, according to the report. Later he could not contact them and whenever he went to the flat, he found it locked. Mr Rajpuyt eventually had a duplicate key made to gain entry. He hired cleaners to prepare his new home and it was during this process that the body was found. 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 mummified corpse had been kept on a mattress and wrapped with a cotton blanket, among other clothes inside the bed box. Apart from the arms and legs, no other body parts were intact. Neighbours said the previous owners have not been seen since June 2018. It is not certain whether the recovered body belongs to a man or a woman. Police superintendent Sampat Upadhyay told the Hindustan Times an investigation was underway. Everything will become clear after the post-mortem and DNA test. We are searching for the flat owners as only they will be able to reveal how the body reached here, he said. Prima facie it appears to be a case of murder. The body had long hair, so we are suspecting it to be that of a woman. European and Muslim nations should take the lead in setting up a UN investigation into the detention of up to one million ethnic Uighurs in China, say campaigners. Leading human rights organisations including Amnesty International have called for an international fact-finding mission to the political education camps in the northeastern province of Xinjiang. They want the UN Human Rights Council, whose members include the UK, to adopt a resolution on the issue when it opens its main annual session on 25 February. China initially denied the existence of the camps before describing them as voluntary vocational training centres. It claims its Strike Hard Campaign in Xinjiang is tackling terrorism and religious extremism. Former inmates have reported that Muslims are denied contact with family members, forced to denounce Islam and profess loyalty to the Communist Party and in some cases subjected to torture. 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 abuse in Xinjiang today is so severe that it cries out for international action, said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. The purpose of this detention is to erase the ethnic and religious identities of Turkic Muslims and ensure their loyalty to only the Chinese government, the Communist Party and the would-be leader for life, President Xi Jinping. Mr Roth said the situation called for cooperation between the European Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, who jointly set up a UN investigation into crimes against Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar in September. In our view Xinjiang demands a similar response, he added. Kumi Naidoo, secretary general of Amnesty International, said that UN member states must not be cowed by Chinas economic and political clout. Today Xinjiang has become an open-air prison, he added. A place where Orwellian high-tech surveillance, political indoctrination, forced cultural assimilation, arbitrary arrests and disappearances have turned ethnic minorities into strangers in their own land. Last month British MPs heard the detention of Uighur Muslims in China amounted to human rights abuse on a scale not seen since the era of Chairman Mao, when an estimated 45 million people were worked, starved or beaten to death. The authorities have imposed an increasingly strict security regime in the region since 2017, including armed checkpoints and streets lined with facial recognition-equipped CCTV. In one city, Hami, Uighurs were ordered to hand themselves in if they followed problematic Islamic practices such as abstention from alcohol. Support free-thinking journalism and subscribe to Independent Minds Michael Ineichen of the International Service for Human Rights said: It is really a test of the credibility of the Human Rights Council. We think it is time that membership also comes with scrutiny. Additional reporting by Reuters The inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services reported that thousands more migrant children were separated from their families by the Trump administration than previously known. As we call on the administration to reunite all the children separated from their parents at the border, we must also ensure that the administration gives children and families due process. Proposing to reunite children with their families and then imprisoning them for months or years is no solution, nor is forcing them to return to the violence and danger they risked their lives to flee. A fleet of drones sprayed water over Bangkok last week after unprecedented levels of pollution forced schools to close and left residents reportedly sneezing blood. Thailand's public health ministry advised residents to avoid outdoor activities as the health crisis continues to escalate. People who did venture outdoors frequently wore masks. Asawin Kwanmuang, the city's governor, accepted that drones were not a long term solution to Bangkok's pollution levels but invited academics and private sector workers to contribute ideas to end the crisis. "Those who are knowledgeable on this issue, don't give opinions to others, tell me. I am the one who is working on the issue, please give me advice," he said. The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Show all 10 1 /10 The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Ukraine The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Bulgaria Rex Features The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Belarus The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Russia The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Armenia The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Bosnia and Herzegovina REUTERS The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Georgia The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Hungary DigitalGlobe The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths China The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Moldova Critics have said that the water will not reduce air pollution levels. "Do I know everything? No, I don't," the politician said. "Because I do not know everything, that's why I will hold a meeting. Please join us in brainstorming." The governor has declared the city a "pollution control zone", enforcing road closures and limits on outdoor burning, construction and diesel exhaust. The proposed measures tackle the perceived causes of Bangkok's pollution, particularly in the form of vehicle emissions. Some Bangkok residents took to social media to share photographs of the pollution's apparent physical impact. Nutthawut Sirichainarumit, an office worker in the Thai capital, shared a photo of what appears to be blood in his hand. I was totally shocked because I never sneezed blood before in my entire life," he wrote on Facebook. Meteorological events that trap noxious pollution in Bangkok have exacerbated the pollution crisis. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events These include a thermal inversion, which traps particles close to the ground, combined with weak winds which fail to blow them away. Thailand's prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, ordered inspections of factories to measure how much pollution they were emitting. Additional reporting by agencies Russia has warned against destructive meddling in Venezuela as Britain recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president. The US, Canada and several Latin American and European countries have disavowed Nicolas Maduro over his disputed re-election last year and recognised Mr Guaido, the national assembly president, as the countrys rightful leader. The international communitys goal should be to help [Venezuela], without destructive meddling from beyond its borders, Alexander Shchetinin, head of the Latin America department at Russias foreign ministry, told the Interfax news agency. Britains foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said the UK and its European allies recognised Mr Guaido following Mr Maduros decision not to call new presidential elections following a collective ultimatum. Nicolas Maduro has not called presidential elections within eight-day limit we have set, Mr Hunt tweeted. So UK alongside European allies now recognises Juan Guaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held. Lets hope this takes us closer to ending humanitarian crisis. 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 It came after Donald Trump said military intervention in Venezuela was an option. Last week his administration issued crippling sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA, a key source of revenue for the troubled Opec nation, whose population is experiencing malnutrition and medicine shortages. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau promised $53m (30.8m) in aid to address the most pressing needs of Venezuelans on the ground. Mr Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse and the exodus of millions of Venezuelans, is still backed by Russia, China and Turkey, and has the critical support of the military. We dont accept ultimatums from anyone, Mr Maduro said in a defiant interview with Spanish TV channel Antena 3 carried out last week and broadcast on Sunday. I refuse to call for elections now there will be elections in 2024. We dont care what Europe says. In another interview with Spanish broadcaster Salvados TV, he warned Mr Trump to hold it right there. He told the US president: You are making mistakes that will leave your hands covered in blood and you will leave the presidency stained with blood. US national security advisor John Bolton announces Venezuela sanctions Mr Guaido proclaimed himself interim leader on 23 January amid mass protests against the Maduro regime. He argued Mr Maduros re-election in May was fraudulent and said, as head of Venezuelas congress, that the countrys constitution gave him power to be interim president. After Mr Maduro warned he could not rule out civil war if the protests continued, Mr Hunt cautioned that those responsible for human rights violations would be held to account. The people of Venezuela have suffered enough. It is time for a new start, with free and fair elections in accordance with international democratic standards, he said in a statement. The oppression of the illegitimate, kleptocratic Maduro regime must end. Those who continue to violate the human rights of ordinary Venezuelans under an illegitimate regime will be called to account. The Venezuelan people deserve a better future. Additional reporting by agencies Donald Trump has spent nearly 60 per cent of his scheduled time in the White House over the last three months enjoying unstructured executive time, the presidents leaked schedule has revealed. The daily schedule, leaked by a White House source and uploaded online by Axios, showed clear discrepancies in what the president was said to be doing with his time on paper compared to his reported reality. While Mr Trump is listed as being in the Oval Office nearly each day from 8.00am to 11.00am, numerous reports including the Axios story accompanying the presidents schedule, which featured six sources with direct knowledge of the presidents schedule have said he is actually in the residency during those hours. The president has been said to spend his early mornings watching cable news networks, calling his aides on the phone in response to his news coverage and calling members of Congress, among other activities to kick off his days. Its unclear whether the presidents aides are fully aware of what hes doing during his scheduled executive time, with White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders telling the news outlet in a statement there is time to allow for a more creative environment that has helped make him the most productive President in modern history. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty A White House official who spoke anonymously to Axios also said the president was unique in his approach to scheduling and structuring the job of the presidency. Hes always calling people, talking to people, the senior official said. Hes always up to something; its just not what you would consider typical structure. Recommended Trump refuses to say if Mueller report will be made public The leaked schedule provides insight into the presidents daily activities over the past three months. It sheds light on how Mr Trump has sought to govern in the wake of the 2018 midterm elections, in which Republicans lost the US House of Representatives. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events While the majority of his time is spent in unstructured executive time, his second-most frequent scheduled activity is meetings, followed by travel, lunch and events. Whereas Mr Trump spent more than 297 of his 502 total scheduled hours in executive time over the last three month, just over 77 hours were spent in meetings with the likes of lawmakers, administration officials and others. Donald Trumps presidency has been marked by historically low approval ratings and other grim polls but the latest figures might be his most damning yet. While nearly seven in 10 Americans said the federal government is not doing a good job of governing under Mr Trump in the latest survey, a whopping 43 per cent of respondents said its the worst governance they have experienced in their lifetimes. Only 19 per cent of those surveyed said the federal government was doing a good job of governing. Thats according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS and published on Monday, providing insight on US attitudes towards the president and federal government a day before Mr Trump is scheduled to provide his State of the Union address. The poll also surveyed Americans on their thoughts surrounding the recent federal government shutdown and whether they believed negotiations between lawmakers would prevent another from occurring at the end of a three-week deadline. 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 majority of those surveyed said they did not believe an agreement would be reached in time, with 64 per cent saying negotiations would not yield a compromise by the deadline. Meanwhile, the presidents approval rating has hovered at 40 per cent, while his disapproval rating stands at 55 per cent in the latest polling. Recommended Trump refuses to say if Mueller report will be made public A majority of Americans also opposed the presidents handling of immigration, the CNN poll said. The new figures arrived a week after the end of the longest government shutdown in US history, triggered by Mr Trumps demands for $5.7bn to be included in the next federal spending bill towards building a wall along the US-Mexico border. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events He has refused to take another shutdown off the table if lawmakers are unable to reach a compromise he supports, and has warned he may even declare a national emergency in order to build the wall a move that would likely face a lengthy legal battle. If Mr Trump refuses to support a bipartisan agreement and allows for another shutdown, it does not appear the numbers are in his favour: 53 per cent of Americans said they support legislation that would prevent future shutdowns from ever happening again, according to the poll. Donald Trump would not commit in an interview aired on Sunday to making public the results of the special counsels investigation into Russias ties to his campaign, adding that it was time to get rid of the inquiry. In the interview on CBS Face the Nation, Mr Trump reiterated his belief that the attorney general would determine whether the public would see the results of the inquiry by special counsel Robert Mueller. But he would not say whether he would be comfortable with the results being made public. I dont know, the president said. It depends. I have no idea what its going to say. The law does not require the Justice Department to release a report, and Mr Mueller has been silent on the issue. Last month, Trump advisers were pleased William Barr, Mr Trumps nominee for attorney general, opened the door to the possibility that the special counsels report could be shielded from the public during a Senate confirmation hearing. Mr Trumps wide-ranging interview with Margaret Brennan, the shows host, was conducted days after acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker said the investigation was nearing its end, and amid stagnant negotiations with Democrats over Mr Trumps demand for a border wall. Mr Trump indicated at various points in the interview he would use the power of his office to solve that matter and others facing his presidency. 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 Among those matters, the president appeared to suggest, are national security and the military. He called the use of military force against Venezuela an option. And he indicated he would like to keep troops in Iraq a striking departure from his push to withdraw from Afghanistan and Syria to keep an eye on Iran. Its perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East rather than pulling up, Mr Trump said. Were going to keep watching and were going to keep seeing, and if theres trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, were going to know it before they do. On the border wall fight, the president reiterated his belief we have now set the table to take action after a short-term deal to fund part of the government a deal struck to end the longest government shutdown in history expires on 15 February. In an interview with The New York Times on Thursday, Mr Trump suggested he had successfully made the case to Americans that the problem at the border was enough to constitute declaring a national emergency, and Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, was doing a disservice to the country both points he again made on Sunday. People that didnt have any idea, Mr Trump said. They didnt have a clue as to what was happening. They now know exactly whats happening. Mr Trump is expected to make immigration a cornerstone of his State of the Union speech, which is scheduled for Tuesday. In the interview with CBS, Mr Trump once again accused Democrats, in particular Ms Pelosi, of ignoring urgent problems at the border, which included human trafficking and what Mr Trump called an invasion of human traffickers into the country. Though Mr Trump seems intent on ignoring congressional negotiations, lawmakers insisted on Sunday they were trying. Senator Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a member of the committee working to reach a deal, admitted it was too early to say whether the negotiations could be successful. I think that the president is dead set on keeping his campaign promise, Mr Shelby, R-Ala, said on CNNs State of the Union. He acknowledged Mr Trump probably had some legal merits for declaring a national emergency over the border wall, but he pleaded for the committee to be allowed to do its work. If people leave us alone, Mr Shelby added, well get this done by Wednesday night. Mick Mulvaney says Donald Trump is prepared to shut down the government again He said the committee had invited experts with knowledge of the south-western border to testify this week on exactly what is needed for border security. Mr Shelby expressed optimism that hearing from those experts could move us off the semantic debate over a wall or fencing. Its a question of how do we get off the politics and on to the substance, he said. Other members of the bipartisan committee Representative Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Senator John Hoeven, R-ND doubled down on their respective partys positions on Fox News Sunday. Mr Cuellar, who represents parts of the border, dismissed the presidents reasoning for the wall as built on a false premise. In the CBS interview, Mr Trump fought back against criticism of his wall and other policies. He responded to warnings his administration was risking a resurgence of terrorist groups by promising the rapid withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan by saying he ran against 17 Republicans and won. Ill leave intelligence there, Mr Trump said, and if I see nests forming, Ill do something about it. Last week, Mr Trump showed similar defiance in suggesting his intelligence chiefs go back to school for issuing a threat assessment saying North Korea was unlikely to give up its nuclear programme and Iran is not, for now, taking steps necessary to make a bomb. Mr Trump said he would ultimately rely on his own counsel if he disagreed with intelligence assessments. The president also indicated the power of his affectionate letter-writing with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, might persuade Mr Kim to drop his nuclear plans. Mr Trump has at least six letters from Mr Kim he enjoys sharing with people who visit him in the Oval Office. We have had tremendous correspondence that some people have seen and cant even believe it, Mr Trump said. Now that doesnt mean were going to make a deal. But certainly I think we have a very good chance of making a deal. The New York Times The Pentagon is to send 3,750 US troops to the border with Mexico for three months to provide additional support to border agents, the Department of Defense said on Sunday. The deployment will raise the total number of active-duty forces supporting Customs and Border Protection agents there to approximately 4,350, according to the department. The additional units will be deployed for 90 days. The Pentagon first approved the high-profile deployment of active-duty US troops to the Mexico border in October, before the US midterm congressional elections. The move was embraced by Donald Trumps supporters, including fellow Republicans in Congress. 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 Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan approved the deployment on 11 January, according to the statement. US Representative Adam Smith, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, first disclosed plans to send more troops on Thursday. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Mr Smith criticised senior Pentagon officials for failing to disclose the information during a hearing before his committee in Congress on the issue just two days earlier. Additional reporting by Reuters A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Florida had to make an emergency landing due to a cabin pressure related-injury. Flight 1694, departing from Hartford to Tampa, turned around mid-flight around to return to Connecticuts Bradley International Airport, after several passengers complained about feeling pain and discomfort. Moe than one passenger were reportedly bleeding from their ears. The pilot of the Boeing 737 aircraft reported a potential pressurisation issue and requested to make the emergency landing, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Several customers among the 139 on board are being treated for injuries and discomfort by local paramedics, the airline said in a statement. We have removed the aircraft from service and will accommodate those wishing to continue their travel with another aircraft. The plane returned to Hartford a little after 9pm after an hour of heading towards Tampa International Airport. 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 Once the plane landed, emergency medical personnel treated several passengers. There are no reports indicating any of the injuries were severe. Recommended Southwest Airlines flight turns back after human heart found on board Southwest Airlines reported that it removed the aircraft from service. A pregnant mother has been shot in the face by her 4-year-old son in the US state of Washington. The child found a loaded unsecured gun under a mattress in the house after his father hid it there because he was afraid of a recent crime in the neighbourhood. The mother, 27, and her partner, the boy's father, were in bed watching television when their child found the gun. He then shot his mother unintentionally, King County Sheriffs Office spokesman Sergeant Ryan Abbott said. "We don't ever want to see something like this, he added. 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 mother, who is eight-months pregnant, has been taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, the King County Sheriff's Office said. Her condition has improved and she has been transferred to another hospital, according to the Washington Post. Under a new state law gun owners could face criminal charges for not safely storing a gun. Detectives will be looking into the case on 4 February to see if any charges should be filed, according to KOMO-TV. It is unclear who the gun is registered to. Additional reporting by agencies Maeen Ali remembers the worry he felt when he first spotted the Punish a Muslim Day screed online. The letter, mailed last spring throughout England, encouraged violence that ranged from pulling off a womans head scarf to bombing mosques. Each attack, the letter instructed, would be rewarded with points. The hate campaign prompted the police in New York and other big cities to expand patrols around mosques and Islamic centres on the specified day. Mr Ali, who lives in downtown Brooklyn, said he was consumed by thoughts of his four childrens safety. That just boiled inside of me, said Mr Ali, who moved to the United States from Yemen in 1990. Thats when I said to myself that it was really important to come out and protect Muslims in the community. He added, I have to stand up. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty As it turns out, he will spend most of his time sitting in a white Ford Taurus that is detailed to look like a police squad car with red and white emergency lights. Mr Ali is among the first 30 members of the all-volunteer Muslim Community Patrol & Services that is preparing to operate in neighbourhoods in Brooklyn, with a goal of growing its fleet of two cars to five by the end of the month and eventually expanding citywide. The group recently held a training led by off-duty officers from the police departments 72nd precinct. Its like a neighbourhood watch but on steroids, said Noor Rabah, the groups 31-year-old vice president who lives in Sunset Park. As word of the new patrol has begun to spread, the backlash has been swift, even among some members of the Muslim community who have criticised the lack of information, and questioned the need for the patrol. Like the Shomrim that patrols largely Hasidic neighbourhoods in Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Asian Safety Patrol that operates mainly in Sunset Park, the new group believed to be the first of its kind in the country hopes to function as extra sets of eyes and ears for the police. The unarmed civilian patrol will offer translation services its members are fluent in any of seven languages explain cultural nuances, report suspicious activity, respond to traffic accidents and even help in searches for the missing. The patrol has the support of Brooklyns borough president, Eric L Adams, and assistant chief Brian J Conroy, the commanding officer of patrol borough Brooklyn South. More than buildings went down in 9/11. Trust between communities went down, Mr Adams said. We are building it back one brick at a time, and this patrol is one of those bricks. Leaders said the group is self-funded and used donations to purchase the cars and navy blue uniforms for its members, many of whom are involved with the Muslim Community Centre in Sunset Park. Volunteers plan to work in shifts, watching over arrival and dismissal times at three Islamic schools in Brooklyn and conducting patrols from 5pm to 11pm, mostly near mosques and bus and subway stops in Bay Ridge and Sunset Park, where there are large Muslim populations. It will also link residents to food pantries, mentorship programs and counselling services. It aims to serve anyone who needs help, Mr Rabah said, not just Muslims. Presence is prevention, Mr Rabah said. Just us being around should deter the average criminal mind of doing something to harm another person. But in a world where far-right conspiracy theories have inspired terror plots against an Islamic enclave in upstate New York, and a travel ban has blocked residents of predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States, nothing, it seems, is that simple. Organisers said they were prepared for sceptics. But they did not expect the vitriol unleashed when a photo of their new, double-parked patrol cars on Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge turned up 21 December on Facebook, and later on Instagram. The hostility spread after a far-right Canadian website, Rebel Media, posted a snippet on YouTube. The ugly online comments included accusations that the group was a stalking horse for sharia law, and worse. I expected some sort of, Wait, what is that? but not, Wait, what the hell is that? Mr Rabah said. Theres a big difference. Some in the Muslim community were equally startled, but for a different reason: the cars resemblance to New York City police cruisers stoked anxieties rather than allayed them. Muslim youth group clean up national parks during government shutdown Somia Elrowmeim, the adult education and womens empowerment manager at the Arab American Association of New York, based in Bay Ridge, said a single misstep from the patrol could reflect poorly on the citys entire Muslim community. She said more outreach to community leaders was essential before patrols began operating. Until then, Ms Elrowmeim offered this message: We dont want you near our community. Community patrols work in concert with the police, but are not sanctioned or regulated by the police department. Safety is a shared responsibility with the community, so this is an opportunity for the community to help out and work together with the police, Mr Conroy said in an interview. Mr Rabah, a funeral organiser for the Janazah Project, said the Muslim Community Patrol had been a long-held dream of his and others. A series of sensational 2016 attacks, including the murder of an imam and his assistant in Queens and an arson attack on a Muslim woman dressed in traditional garb in Manhattan, gave energy to their cause, he said. New York City is home to an estimated 769,000 Muslims. They make up about 9 per cent of the citys population, but represent 22 per cent of all Muslims living in the United States, according to Muslims for American Progress. In 2017 in the city, there were 14 reported anti-Muslim bias incidents, according to the police departments annual report. Last year, there were 14 bias-crime incidents recorded against Muslims during the first three quarters of the year, the most recent data available. Huda Quhshi, the owner of LeJemalik Salon & Boutique in Bay Ridge, said she felt a spark of happiness when she saw a video of the patrol car on Instagram. The extra protection is welcome, she said, especially for women who wear hijabs walking billboards of a Muslim and are particularly vulnerable to harassment. Ms Quhshi, a native of Brooklyn who now lives in Queens, said she has not had problems while wearing a hijab, but her teenage daughter has. With everything going on, you sort of feel like the whole world is against Muslims, she said. So it feels good to know that there is someone there, watching out. The New York Times A 37-year-old man has been sentenced to 60 years in prison without the possibility of parole after impregnating an 11-year-old girl. Roli Aroldo Lopez-Sanchez of Plano, Texas, was found guilty of sexual abuse of a child by a Collin County jury this week. According to the Dallas Morning News, medical workers raised the alarm in February 2018 after the victim came to their office and revealed Lopez-Sanchez had raped her. After reporting the crime she detailed the sexual abuse in an interview at the Children's Advocacy Center of Collin County. A police investigation prompted Child Protective Services to remove the girl and her siblings from their home. Lopez-Sanchez, who had ongoing access to the girl at the time, was later arrested and remained in custody until his trial. The girl gave birth last summer at the age of 12 and a DNA test confirmed that Lopez-Sanchez was the infant's father, authorities 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 Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said the innocent girl showed remarkable courage by naming the "monster" who sexually assaulted her; "He will never harm another child again," Mr Willis added. Lopez-Sanchez will not be eligible for parole or good-behaviour credit. I would like to thank my beautiful First Lady, who has done so much in the past year with her Be Best campaign. Be Best. Yes, that is how we should all be, no doubt. So very best. And the work she has done to stop bullying is amazing theres literally no more bullying, you never hear about it anymore and the only people saying otherwise are Lying, Disgusting, Un-American Morons. Lets have a round of applause for the First Lady. Where are you Melanie? Is she there? Somebody find her. A pregnant woman was fatally stabbed in the lobby of her New York apartment. Jennifer Irigoyen, 35, was dragged screaming from her apartment and then stabbed to death in the vestibule of her building as she pleaded for the life of her unborn baby, witnesses and police said. The Sunday morning killing was caught on camera. The building super Lisa Raymos watched the surveillance footage and said the attacker targeted Ms Irigoyens stomach. Hes got a knife! Hes going to kill the baby! Ms Irigoyen, who was five-months pregnant, shouted around 1 am as the suspect dragged her from her third-floor walk-up building and down the buildings entranceway. The New York Police Department is investigating the killing as a domestic incident and are looking for Ms Irigoyens boyfriend for questioning. 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 Maurice Roman Zereoue, a resident living in the same floor as Ms Irigoyen, said he peeked out of his door when he heard the pregnant woman screaming. He told the New York Post that suspect covered his head with a hoodie and that it looked like he had a butter knife in his hands. I seen him dragging her down the stairs, Mr Zereoue said. I seen her hands hanging on to a hallway wall for dear life. As Mr Zereoues girlfriend called 911, the horrified witness ran down to the lobby where he found Ms Irigoyen gasping for air and her dog loyally sitting by her side. She was at the bottom of the stairs bleeding out, Mr Zereoue added. She had a little dog with her, a pug, I think. Its feet were soaked in blood. The authorities said Ms Irigoyen had defensive wounds on her hands. She was fighting for her life, an officer said. Ms Irigoyen tried to name her killer, but didnt have the strength to do so from the blood pooling her throat. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events I asked, Do you know who he was? And she kept nodding yes and waving her arm, Mr Zereoue said. She couldnt speak. I kept telling her, Hang on, hang on, help is coming. She was rushed to Wyckoff Hospital, but neither she or her unborn child survived. The killer fled the scene, but the police say the boyfriend is definitely a person of interest. Dont you think if your girlfriend got stabbed, youd go to the police and say, What happened?? Well, he hasnt come to us yet, a police source said. Ms Raymos, the super of the apartment building, said Ms Irigoyen was a quiet tenant living alone and often kept to herself. She described her as kind and a sweetheart. Ms Irigoyen was classically trained as a pianist. For a living, she sold luxury hopes all over Manhattan and worked as a professional Latin ballroom dancer and Zumba instructor. She leaves behind a 12-year-old son. The father of her son is not suspected in her killing. Nearly one year on, police have filed charges in relation to the death of a seven-year-old Wisconsin boy who was buried alive in snow as a part of grueling punishment for not being able to recite 13 bible verses. The death of Ethan Hauschultz has led to the arrest of three, including a teenager and Ethan's court appointed guardians Timothy Hauschultz and Tina McKeever-Hauschultz. The Manitowoc County Sheriffs Office also arrested a 15-year-old, who allegedly oversaw Ethan's torture in the hours leading up to his death. The sheriffs office released the following statement after the arrests: Ethan had been performing punishment ordered by Timothy which required Ethan to carry a heavy wooden log, weighing approximately two-thirds his body weight, while being monitored by Timothys 15-year-old son. Over the course of 1-1.5 hours, the 15-year-old hit, kicked, struck and poked Ethan numerous times. He repeatedly shoved Ethan to the ground and rolled the heavy log across Ethans chest, the release continued. He stood on his body and head while Ethan was face-down in a puddle. He ultimately buried Ethan completely in snow. Timothy and Tina eventually transported Ethan to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. 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 Mr Hauschultz has been charged with felony murder, and five other charges. Ms McKeever-Hauchultz has been charged with failing to prevent bodily harm, and intentionally contributing to the delinquency of a child. The 15-year-old has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide and six other charges. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events In an interview with police, local media reports the teenager told authorities that he did not do anything that would have cause bodily harm to his Ethan, but he did say that he struck him around 100 times. He also admitted to burying Ethan in his own little coffin of snow. Mexican drug lord Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, known as El Chapo, has been accused of raping girls as young as 13 on multiple occasions at one of his properties. Court documents revealed for the first time last week say Guzman paid an associate $5,000 for each girl, and called the youngest among them his vitamins, as they gave him life. The allegations are made by a person referred to in the documents as cooperating witness No 1, understood to be Alex Cifuentes one of Guzmans former close associates and who testified that the drug baron boasted of paying former Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto a bribe of $100m. Cifuentes said a person named Commadre Maria, sent photographs of underage girls to Guzman, so he could select them and they would be taken to one of his ranches in Sinaloa on the west coast of Mexico. The release of the documents which reveal the alleged sex lives and also beliefs in alternative medicine among gang members, come as the jury in New York are beginning deliberations after Guzmans two-month trial. Inside Mexicos top drug lord El Chapos hideout Show all 4 1 /4 Inside Mexicos top drug lord El Chapos hideout Inside Mexicos top drug lord El Chapos hideout Inside El Chapo's hideout Pictures reveal how the Mexican drug lord had been living since his escape Getty Inside Mexicos top drug lord El Chapos hideout Inside El Chapo's hideout The inside of a house searched by marine special forces where Guzman was hiding Getty Inside Mexicos top drug lord El Chapos hideout Inside El Chapo's hideout Inside a house searched by marine special forces during the military operation to recapture Guzman Getty Inside Mexicos top drug lord El Chapos hideout El Chapo's attempted escape A marine stands guard next to a manhole of the sewer system through which drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman tried to escape Getty One of Guzmans lawyers described the rape allegations as extremely salacious, and questioned the timing of the documents release. The details had remained hidden during the trial as prosecutors did not believe they were relevant to Guzmans drug trafficking charges, according to The Washington Post. But the documents were unsealed following letters from media organisations including The New York Times and Vice News complaining about the opacity of the trial. Prosecutors said there was no longer a requirement to keep the documents secret because the identities of cooperating witnesses mentioned in the records have been made public. The documents also reveal Cifuentes beliefs and his relationship with Guzman. Cifuentes said he lived with Guzman from 2007 2008, and they had both raped underage girls. He told officials he had helped Guzman drug some of the girls. Intercepted phone calls revealed Cifuentes bought snake oil from witch doctors, and had interests in the Illuminati, Freemasonry and UFOs, the documents say. Guzman denies the allegations, which lack any corroboration and were deemed too prejudicial and unreliable to be admitted at trial, his attorney Eduardo Balarezo said in a statement. He added: It is unfortunate that the material was publicly released just prior to the jury beginning deliberations. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Guzman is charged with heading a drug smuggling empire which flooded the US with hundreds of tonnes of cocaine and made $14bn. He faces life in prison. Police have re-captured an MMA fighter who officers say is facing multiple murder charges, after he escaped a prison van during a stop at McDonalds and hid in a bin. Cedric Marks, 44, who is suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend Jenna Scott and her friend Michael Swearingin, escaped on Sunday morning in Conroe, Texas, about 40 miles north of Houston. Following a public appeal and a nine-hour manhunt, he was found hiding in a bin and surrendered without incident, Montgomery County sheriffs office said on its Facebook page. The force said in a statement: After an exhausting nine-hour manhunt involving multiple Montgomery County, state and federal law enforcement agencies, Cedric Joseph Marks has been captured. Conroe Police located him still within the city and the community can relax as he is now safely in custody. 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 Marks was arrested in Michigan in January after being charged with breaking into Scotts house, in another part of Texas, last August. Authorities said he escaped custody while being driven to face those charges. On Sunday murder warrants for Mr Marks were issued over the deaths of Scott, 28, and Swearingin, 32, whose bodies had been discovered in a shallow grave in Oklahoma on 15 January 11 days after they disappeared. Scott had requested a protective order against her former partner in July 2018, claiming she feared for her life after he allegedly choked her unconscious twice. Each time he allowed me to regain consciousness and then he choked me out again, Scott told authorities in an affidavit. The protective order request was denied. She also reported the August break-in to police, saying her nine-year-old daughter had been present. She claimed Mr Marks took her mobile phone to prevent her from calling 911. Mr Marks also remains a person of interest in the 2009 disappearance of April Pease, who was the mother of one of his children and involved in a fierce custody dispute with him, police in Minnesota said. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Montgomery County sherrifs office had described Mr Marks as extremely dangerous with three pending murder charges in an appeal on Twitter, but did not immediately respond to requests for further information about those charges. Mr Marks is a middleweight fighter known professionally as Spider Man. Since making his MMA debut in 1999 he has notched 31 wins. Additional reporting by AP US farmers are criticising Bud Light, after the beer company declared that its products were "brewed with no corn syrup" in an advert aired during the Super Bowl. In the medieval-themed clip, a king declares to his subjects Bud Light does not use the ingredient. The advert pointedly refers to rival companies Miller Lite and Coors Light, which both use corn syrup. "To be clear, Bud Light is not brewed with corn syrup, and Miller Lite and Coors Light are," Bud Light added on Twitter. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is widely used as an artificial sweetener in the US food industry and is made from corn starch. The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Show all 60 1 /60 The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 USA TODAY Sports The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 USA TODAY Sports The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 REUTERS The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 USA TODAY Sports The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 USA TODAY Sports The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 AP The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 REUTERS The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 REUTERS The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 USA TODAY Sports The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 AP The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 USA TODAY Sports The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 REUTERS The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 AP The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 AP The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 EPA The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 EPA The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 EPA The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 EPA The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 AFP/Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 USA TODAY Sports The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 EPA The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 EPA The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 AP The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 USA TODAY Sports The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 USA TODAY Sports The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 AP The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 AP The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 EPA The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 REUTERS The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 AP The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 EPA The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 AP The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 Getty Images The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 USA TODAY Sports The best pictures from Super Bowl 53 Super Bowl 53 USA TODAY Sports Multiple studies have linked the ingredient to a rise in obesity in the US. Bud Light's latest advert also continues its campaign to become fully transparent about the ingredients used in its products. But the new advert proved to be a source of irritation within the US corn lobby. "Americas corn farmers are disappointed in you," the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) said online, shortly after the Super Bowl advert aired. "We would love to discuss with you the many benefits of corn!" Kevin Ross, a Twitter user who appears to be a farmer from Iowa, also described himself as "thoroughly disappointed" by the advert and posted a clip of himself pouring Bud Light down the sink. "We couldn't say it better," the NCGA wrote. "The fact that Bud Light isnt made with corn isnt an issue. Most of us already knew that," said Matt Boucher, a farmer from Illinois. "Its the fact that Bud Light, and now MillerCoors advertised it in a way that insinuates that corn is bad when in fact it isnt." Miller Lite's social media team also responded to the advert on Twitter. "Hey Bud Light, thanks for including us in our first Super Bowl ad in over 20 years," the brand said. "You forgot two things though... we have more taste and half the carbs!" Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Bud Light aired other Middle Ages-inspired adverts during the Super Bowl, including one that drew inspiration from Game of Thrones. Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL best known as the founder of the security contractor formerly known as Blackwater, has made it clear he considers China a priority. He partnered with one of Chinas biggest conglomerates and set up a company that would help Chinese companies overseas. But Mr Prince scrambled to distance himself from the latest announcement: That his company, Frontier Services Group, had struck a deal to build a training camp in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang, where hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been detained in indoctrination camps that have drawn condemnation in Washington and abroad. Mr Princes current company, Frontier Services Group, said in January that it had reached an agreement with officials and an industrial park in Tumxuk, a city in western Xinjiang, to build a training facility there. A statement announcing the agreement provided few details about what kind of training would take place there, though the company cast the project as a move to help upgrade the city through tourism and infrastructure projects. Chinese media later reported FSG would invest about $600,000 (459,624) into the camp and train about 8,000 people a year. But in a statement provided by a spokesperson last week, Mr Prince said he had no knowledge or involvement whatsoever of what he called a preliminary memorandum. He added, Any potential investment of this nature would require the knowledge and input of each FSG board member and a formal board resolution. The statement announcing the deal had been also been removed from the FSG website. Mr Prince, who is the brother of US education secretary Betsy DeVos, has long courted controversy, most recently when he laid out a plan for President Donald Trump to privatise the war in Afghanistan. Blackwater, a US military contractor in two Asian conflicts, became a symbol of unchecked US power in the Iraq War after its employees killed 17 unarmed civilians in Baghdad in 2007. Frontier Services Group has expressed interest in western China before. Two years ago, it said it would set up an office in Xinjiang, where Chinese authorities have taken an increasingly hard line on the local population, citing concerns about terrorism. Xinjiang is home to a largely Muslim ethnic minority group called Uighurs. Since then, a fuller, more disturbing picture has emerged. Officials in Xinjiang have rounded up ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in huge numbers, putting them into re-education camps where they are subjected to a severe indoctrination program to remove any devotion to Islam and make them obedient to the Chinese Communist Party. Experts, human rights groups and officials in the United States and elsewhere estimate hundreds of thousands of people have been caught up in the campaign, part of an expansive crackdown Beijing has put in place in the name of fighting extremism and separatism. Xinjiang is a region where we have documented severe human rights abuses both by the police and ordinary officials, said Maya Wang, a researcher for Human Rights Watch. Anything that would involve training government officials involved in this repression would be contributing to human rights abuses. US officials have taken notice. Politicians have introduced bipartisan bills that urge the Trump administration to punish Chinese officials and to prevent sales of some US equipment to some Chinese state agencies. Officials at the White House and in the State and Treasury departments have been discussing whether to impose economic sanctions on Chinese officials who oversee the system of repression in Xinjiang. Mr Prince made a name for himself as the founder of Blackwater, a private military contractor that did business in Iraq. After Blackwater employees were held responsible for civilian deaths in Baghdad, Mr Prince sold the company and set up FSG, turning his sights to the growing demand from Chinese companies moving into countries and regions with ethnic strife. FSG, which is listed in Hong Kong, has unabashedly courted Chinese officialdom. Citic Group, one of Chinas biggest state-owned conglomerates, owns a quarter of FSGs stock. A security and logistics company, FSG has tied itself to Chinas sprawling Belt and Road Initiative, a major campaign by China's president Xi Jinping to develop geopolitical ties by building bridges, trains and ports through Asia. China considers Xinjiang, which borders Kazakhstan and several other Central Asian countries, a gateway to a strategically important region. The city of Tumxuk lies between Kashgar and Aksu, larger settlements that have been a focus of the Chinese governments drive to stifle anti-government sentiment. The city comes under the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a sprawling organisation run along military lines founded in the 1950s to bring security, development and Han Chinese settlers members of Chinas largest ethnic group to the region. Even now, the corps acts as a kind of parallel administration in Xinjiang, holding vast areas of land and operating its own schools, courts and other institutions. But Tumxuk has also been drawn into the region-wide drive to transform Uighur society through indoctrination camps. The government says the camps wean Uighurs and other Muslim minorities from religious extremism, while teaching them Chinese language and job skills. But former inmates have described harsh, even brutal treatment, and United Nations human rights committees and experts have condemned the camps for holding people in the camps without legal appeal. Tumxuk has more than 160,000 inhabitants, nearly two-thirds of them Uighur, according to official population estimates, and government reports and records show that the city has built at least one camp, as well as other specialised schools, to deradicalise minority residents. The New York Times A Maltese port manager has been shot dead by militants posing as fishermen in Somalias semi-autonomous Puntland state. Islamist terror group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for killing Paul Anthony Formosa in the attack in Bosaso, on the Gulf of Aden. Three other people were injured. The militants said they had targeted Mr Formosa because he works for P&O Ports, a Dubai government-owned company which operates Bosasos docks. Yusuf Mohamed, governor of Puntlands Bari region, said the construction project manager had been shot dead by two men in a fish market as he was going to Bosaso port this morning. He added: The men armed with pistols hit him [with] several bullets in the head." 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 One of the attackers was shot dead by security forces and the other has been arrested. Puntland, an arid region in northeast Somalia, has enjoyed relative peace since declaring itself an autonomous state in 1998. It provides a refuge to many Somalis fleeing violence elsewhere in the country. Al-Shabaab accused DP World, the parent company of P&O Ports, of occupying Bosaso and looting Somalias resources. The militant group accused Mr Formosa of being in the country illegally. We had warned him but he turned deaf ear, it said in a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. The United Arab Emirates has been rapidly expanding its port operations and military presence in Somalia, as well as other at sites elsewhere in East Africa which lie on a crucial trade route. Recommended We ignore Islamist terrorism in Africa at our peril P&O Ports signed a 30-year, $336m (257m) deal in 2017 to develop the Bosaso port. DP World is also operating a major port in Somalias breakaway territory of Somaliland. The company acknowledged one of its employees had been killed and three others injured in an incident at Bosaso port, providing no further details. Malta Freeport Terminals named the man killed as Formosa, a former employee. Paul was a hardworking employee, lively, open-minded and loved by his colleagues, chief executive Alex Montebello said in a statement. We are extremely shocked to learn of this attack and our thoughts are with his family during this most difficult time. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Al-Shabaab, is a Sunni Islamic extremist group, was born out of years of anarchy following Somalia's 1991 civil war. The al-Qaeda-linked group is fighting to topple Somalia's Western-backed central government and install its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islam's sharia law. It has launched attacks across Somalia, as well as in Uganda and Kenya. At least seven people were killed in a suspected al-Shabaab car bombing in Mogadishu earlier this week. Ministers have been condemned for keeping secret a 61m aid package for Nissan to build new cars in the UK after Brexit, after insisting there had been no special deal. Greg Clark, the business secretary, came under fire as he announced the Japanese giant would have to reapply for the cash, after its shock decision to abandon production of the X-Trail SUV at its Sunderland plant. A letter revealing the package originally set to be up to 80m was finally released, but only after the press had got hold of it, senior Conservative MP Nicky Morgan protested. Yet, when rumours of a sweetheart deal first broke in October 2016, Theresa Mays deputy spokesperson had insisted there was no special deal for Nissan. Labour said the letter also revealed strong assurances that manufacturers would still be able to trade without barriers pledges broken, it said, by the prime ministers determination to leave the EU customs union. Eloise Todd, the head of the anti-Brexit group Best for Britain, said: This Brexit bribe has come back to bite the government. Ms Morgan, writing in her capacity as the Conservative chairwoman of the Treasury select committee, demanded to know why Mr Clark had kept secret direct financial assistance from the government to Nissan. How much of the 61m is not going to be paid over? she asked, during a Commons statement on the controversy. Ms Morgan also demanded to know why Nissan had apparently been allowed to decide that something is still commercially sensitive, two years after the event. 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 In response, Mr Clark revealed that only 2.6m had been paid out so far about half for training of the workforce and half for environmental improvements to the plant. And he told MPs: Of course, the company will need to resubmit on the grounds of the new information that it has. That new information, which emerged over the weekend, is that production of the X-Trail will be moved back to Japan, a decision partly caused by the Brexit crisis, the company said. The decision is a further blow to the UK car industry, following recent moves by Ford, Jaguar Land Rover and Honda to reduce their workforces and cut costs. Mr Clark said the decision meant that 741 planned extra jobs would no longer be created at Sunderland although there were no implications for existing jobs. And he admitted: They [Nissan] also pointed out what theyve said consistently since 2016, that a risk of a no-deal Brexit is a source of damaging uncertainty. Mr Clark, who has hinted he will resign if the UK looks like crashing out of the EU without an agreement, added: No deal is fully acknowledged, certainly by me and the industry, as being ruinous for our prospects. The controversy blew up on a day when: * It was announced that UK ports will wave through goods from the EU without checks if there is a no-deal Brexit, to avoid huge traffic jams. * It was revealed that the prime minister will hold talks with business leaders in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, and its political leaders the following day. * Lord Trimble, the former Northern Ireland first minister threatened to take the government to court over the Irish backstop, claiming a breach of the Good Friday Agreement. * Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, raised hopes in Downing Street by saying a Brexit deal could be agreed if people were creative and if theres enough good will. * A poll found that 45 per cent of voters back delaying Brexit beyond the scheduled date of 29 March to allow time to negotiate a better deal. Mr Clark defended the secrecy on the grounds that Nissan had been promised the aid would only be revealed when the company said it was no longer commercially sensitive. It was offered in return for a decision to build the Qashqhai and X-Trail models at the flagship northeast plant. The first car will still be built there. At the time, Mr Clark had said: There is no question of financial compensation over tariffs because we have said that what is necessary is that we are going to maintain the competitiveness of the sector, and we are going to get the best deal possible. Rebecca Long-Bailey, Labours shadow business secretary, accused the government of planning managed decline, saying: Of course Brexit was not the only reason but it was pretty prominent in Nissans decision. She said Mr Clarks quiet opposition to no-deal Brexit is of course well known, but still the juggernaut of government chaos hurtles on. The row over antisemitism in the Labour Party has reignited after furious MPs condemned party leaders for their unacceptable response to anti-Jewish abuse. During a heated showdown between MPs and senior officials, the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) unanimously passed a motion calling on the leadership to adequately tackle antisemitism and said it was very concerned that disciplinary action against a number of individuals has been dropped. MPs and peers warned that failure to address the issue risked anti-Jewish sentiment in the party appearing normalised and giving the impression of Labour being institutionally antisemitic. The vote, at the PLPs weekly meeting, followed a number of cases in which high-profile Labour members accused of antisemitism were let off without punishment. Former MP Jim Sheridan, now a councillor in Scotland, was suspended by the party last year after saying he had lost respect and empathy for the Jewish community. He was reinstated last week, with no further action taken. In another case, Bristol University professor David Miller was found not to have broken any party rules despite claiming the creation of Israel was a racist endeavour and insisting that most of the allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party have been false. The PLP motion called on party officials to release figures on how it is dealing with cases of antisemitism, including data on how many reports are being investigated, which Jewish groups are being consulted and how many members have received antisemitism training. However, Labour general secretary Jennie Formby told the meeting that she would not be providing the information, saying she was accountable to the partys National Executive Committee and not its MPs. In a heated exchange, Labour grandee Dame Margaret Hodge, who has faced antisemitic abuse, told Ms Formby that transparency was needed to tackle the terrible, terrible cancer of antisemitism and end the impression that the party was institutionally antisemitic. Speaking afterwards, Dame Margaret said: The resolution was unanimously supported by the Parliamentary Labour Party and the general secretary of the Labour Party basically said she wasnt prepared to give us the information that was required in the resolution. For me if you want to get rid of the cancer of antisemitism in the Labour Party, you have to have complete transparency, and shes refusing to do that. Thats why Im angry. Protests against Labour antisemitism Show all 14 1 /14 Protests against Labour antisemitism Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters clashed during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of the Jewish community hold a protest against Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and antisemitism in the Labour Party AFP/Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters hold placards and flags during a demonstration, organised by the British Board of Jewish Deputies for those who oppose antisemitism, in Parliament Square Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Hundreds of people gathered in Parliament Square to protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP Luciana Berger speaks during the protest PA Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester blows through a shofar during the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of London's Jewish community protest in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn outside parliament EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP John Mann speaks during a protest against antisemitism PA Protests against Labour antisemitism People protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party as Jewish community leaders have launched a scathing attack on Jeremy Corbyn, claiming he has sided with antisemites again and again PA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour politicians Stella Creasy and Chuka Umunna leave after attending the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A pro-Jeremy Corbyn protester holds a placard during a counter-protest Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A support of the Labour Party hold up a placard during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Jeremy Corbyn supporters during the demo Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester holds up a sign reading For the many, not the Jew AFP Ilford North MP Wes Streeting described Ms Formbys report as platitudinous, dismissive and far from acceptable. He said: In not giving us data, shes ruled out any possibility of Jewish members and Jewish constituents having confidence in the Labour Partys ability to tackle [antisemitism] and is also falling considerably short of the standards that we expect from government. Ms Formby also sparked fury after telling MPs that she would not be able to fully eradicate antisemitism in the Labour Party. Labour MP Luciana Berger, another victim of antisemitic abuse, said: We have a responsibility as a party, if were true to the values of equality and anti-racism against all, to root this out. One antisemite in our ranks is one too many for a party that is supposed to pride itself on having equality at its core, and yet we were told by the general secretary today that she cannot eradicate antisemitism. Frankly thats not good enough. For a party that is supposed to have [equality] as one of its central values, at its core, that we all hold dear, on the membership cards that we carry in our wallets, that is not acceptable. The PLP motion was tabled by Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell and Stoke-on-Trent North MP Ruth Smeeth. It read: In the months that have followed the PLP is dismayed that there remains such a backlog of antisemitism cases that are still to be investigated and a decision reached in particular the high-profile cases that it was promised would be concluded by July 2018. The PLP is very concerned by recent reports that a number of cases of alleged antisemitic activity from high-profile members have been dropped. The PLP calls on the party leadership to adequately tackle cases of antisemitism, as a failure to do so seriously risks antisemitism in the party appearing normalised and the party seeming to be institutionally antisemitic. Writing for Jewish News, Ms McKinnell said: Despite the warm words and promises of action, far too many cases of antisemitism remain unresolved, whilst often serious complaints are apparently being concluded with letters simply reminding perpetrators of what is appropriate behaviour with no further sanction beyond that. Only recently we learnt on the Friday evening before Holocaust Memorial Day of all times that a number of high profile cases had apparently been concluded in this way. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events However, Ms Formby insisted that significant progress has been made in tackling antisemitism in recent months. In an email to Labour MPs shortly before the PLP meeting, she wrote: I am proud of the progress that has been made but Im not complacent. Fundamental change takes time, in particular in a democratic, member-led organisation like the Labour Party, where rule changes must be approved at our annual party conference. However, wide-ranging changes are already in place. There is more work to be done to ensure all cases are dealt with quickly and fairly, and to eliminate the evil of antisemitism from our movement once and for all. I am personally committed to ensuring that Jewish members feel safe and welcome in our party, and in reassuring the Jewish community that we stand with them against oppression and prejudice. That is my mission. That is what I as general secretary, our staff and our whole party must work towards and be committed to achieving together. A Labour spokesperson said: Jennie Formby gave a comprehensive update on the significant work thats been done to strengthen and speed up procedures and addressed the points in the motion. Complaints processes are confidential and the party has a responsibility to protect members data. A Conservative MP who wrongly suggested that the UK missed out on US aid in the wake of the Second World War has refused to back down, despite being widely criticised over the claim. Daniel Kawczynski, a vocal Brexiteer, triggered an angry backlash after claiming that the UK had not received any money from the $12bn "Marshall Plan" in 1948. He suggested the funding, designed to help European countries rebuild after the war, was "only for Germany". In fact, the UK received 20 per cent of the Marshall Plan money - more than any other country. Despite being criticised over the false claim, Mr Kawczynski refused to delete the comment, which was posted on Twitter. Instead, he told the Shropshire Star newspaper: "There are many people in this country who want to whitewash the sacrifice that Britain has made over generations for Europe. "They say it is not appropriate to look at a country's history to understand her credentials. "Those affiliated to Europe in this country hate any challenge to their point of view. "The furore I can deal with." Speaking to the BBC, he added: "The tweet was actually talking about all the things that Britain has done for Europe. Let's not forget we liberated part of Europe in the Second World War. "Unfortunately, many European countries are not treating us as fairly as Britain has treated Europe over centuries. "I was trying to get across that Britain has been very fair and very generous." 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 Conservative Party did not respond to questions on whether any disciplinary action will be taken against the Shrewsbury MP. His initial tweet, posted as a critique of the EU, read: "Britain helped to liberate half of Europe. She mortgaged herself up to eye balls in process. No Marshall Plan for us only for Germany. We gave up war reparations in 1990. We put 370 billion into EU since we joined. Watch the way ungrateful EU treats us now. We will remember." The claim was widely criticised on social media. Labour MP David Lammy wrote: "Is this a parody account? "Britain received billions from the Marshall Plan and significantly more than West Germany or any other nation. Pick up a history book and you will learn that this brand of jingoistic nationalism is what tore our continent apart twice in one century." 15th Ward: In 2015 we were so impressed by Raymond Lopezs zeal to solve community problems that we endorsed the Southwest Airlines skycap over a highly-pedigreed attorney we twice had endorsed in other races. Lopez won and made us proud in May 2017 with his courageous call for victimized but frightened residents to help police end gang warfare in the Brighton Park and Back of the Yards neighborhoods. "We need the people who live here to stand up and help us stop what's going on," Lopez said after a week that left several dead and many wounded, including two cops injured when their unmarked van was raked by high-powered rifle fire. "If you are hanging out with people who are recruiting 12- and 13-year-olds to join gangs and sell drugs, then you are part of the problem in this community. Lopez also posted what he says are drug and gang houses on social media. Hes also outspoken on Chicagos finances: When I was a teen, the City Council at the behest of the mayor punted its responsibilities to address pensions and taxes. Their inaction forced me to address these issues two decades later. I will not do the same to future generations. We wish Lopez was more independent from the mayors office when he casts votes. But wed hate to lose an alderman who has risked his safety to fight the violent bloodshed in his ward. Lopez is endorsed. UK ports will wave through goods from the EU without checks if there is a no-deal Brexit to avoid huge traffic jams, it has been announced. Tax chiefs have told 145,000 businesses they will be allowed to make declarations later and postpone paying any import duties to calm fears of border chaos. The temporary period will last for up to one year at 20 of the busiest ports, says a letter from HM Revenue and Customs. Geraint Davies, a Labour supporter of the anti-Brexit Best for Britain group, said the move raised immediate questions about security. They said we would take back control of our borders but now the plan is to wave things through irrespective of our safety, he said. Well have no idea what is coming into our ports. Recommended Government promised to protect Nissan from Brexit fallout in 2016 Hauliers have been protesting for months that customs checks at the Channel would take many hours, under existing plans for if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal. They were faced with submitting a 40-answer declaration form for every consignment before entering Britain, taking an estimated 10 minutes to fill in. The Road Haulage Association had warned that, given the average trailer has 400 consignments, it would take nine people eight hours to process it. 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 There was particular concern about the situation at Dover, the UKs busiest port, which is used to 11,000 trucks each day triple the amount before the single market was created in 1993. Todays updated guidance warns that anyone importing into Britain after Brexit will have to fill out a customs form before checking goods onto a ferry or train on the EU side. But it adds: For a temporary period, HMRC will allow most goods moving from the listed roll-on roll-off locations to leave the UK port or train station before youve told us that the goods have arrived. Firms will be allowed to defer paying any duty until the month after import, by setting up a direct debit arrangement. The transitional simplified procedures are expected to remain in place for more than a year to give businesses time to prepare to use full customs processes. Ferry operators and Eurotunnel have been ordered to have reasonable belief customers have made the appropriate customs declarations. The HMRC letter adds: You can do this through your terms and conditions that your customers use when booking their transport. Mel Stride MP, a Treasury minister, said: Leaving the EU with a deal remains the governments top priority. This has not changed. However, a responsible government must plan for every eventuality, including a no-deal scenario. HMRC is helping businesses get prepared. Close What does a no-deal Brexit mean? Downing Street has admitted there are no imminent meetings planned between Theresa May and EU leaders, despite the prime minister hoping to secure concessions on the Northern Ireland border by next week. Ms May's spokesman said there had been no further talks between the prime minister and her counterparts since last week, as the EU continues to insist that negotiations on the withdrawal agreement cannot be reopened. The prime minister will travel to Northern Ireland on Tuesday to reassure businesses that the government is committed to maintaining an open border after Brexit. It comes after she meets with Tory Brexit rebels in Whitehall later today to hammer out proposed changes to her exit deal despite fierce opposition from Brussels to changing the plan. See below for live updates Jacob Rees-Mogg and several Conservative MPs have been criticised for supporting a new right-wing group vowing to target British students. Turning Point UK is an offshoot of American organisation Turning Point USA, which has links to Donald Trumps administration and became notorious for creating a watchlist of leftist university professors that has drawn comparisons with McCarthyism. Claiming to be the biggest and most far-reaching youth organisation in America, it says it espouses freedom, free markets and limited government and runs events sponsored by the National Rifle Association. It has repeatedly denied racism accusations by former staff, and ejected several members following scandals over racial slurs. But a report by counter-extremism group Hope Not Hate said Turning Point USA was mainstreaming extreme views, including the white genocide conspiracy theory and Islamophobia. Recommended How a student in a diaper caused an eruption at Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk is a prominent supporter of Mr Trump and has been photographed with Donald Trump Jr and other relatives of the president. He is scheduled to visit British universities at a series of Turning Point UK events starting next month, which spokeswoman Candace Owens said would cause a disruption in socialist ideology. The group says it aims to educate students and other young people on the values of free markets, limited government and personal responsibility. Its chairman is George Farmer, a former member of Oxford Universitys Bullingdon Club and the son of former Conservative treasurer Lord Farmer. Public records show that Mr Farmer donated a total of more than 30,000 to the party in January and March 2018, and attended an elite leaders group dinner with Theresa May, Boris Johnson and other Conservative ministers as a major donor. Jacob Rees-Mogg supports the idea of a second referendum in 2011 speech to the Commons Mr Farmer is engaged to Turning Point USA communications director Ms Owens, who is a high-profile supporter of the US president and critic of the Black Lives Matter movement. The Independent understands that Turning Point UK is not affiliated with the Conservative Party, but several MPs have voiced their support for the group since it launched on Friday. Sharing a recruitment video, Jacob Rees-Mogg wrote: People of all ages make up their own minds. The left has no monopoly on the young. Former international development secretary Priti Patel said the group represented a new generation of Conservative values and fellow Tory MP Chris Green wrote: Choose your side and Im with Turning Point UK. Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP said it was great to hear the voices of young voters with right-wing views finding a new outlet and Steve Baker MP claimed Turning Point UK could be huge. Critics accused the MPs of supporting a group with far-right connections in the US, where Turning Point has been active since 2012. Labour MP David Lammy wrote: Sinister forces are taking hold of our country. The groups social media launch swiftly degenerated into a trolling war as parody accounts and a fake website sprung up claiming to represent chapters across the UK. 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 Its website lists Mr Farmer as chairman and Ollie Anisfeld, the founder of YouTube channel J-TV, as CEO. Other members include BeLeave and BrexitCentral founder Darren Grimes, who was fined 20,000 for breaking EU referendum spending laws last year. Tom Harwood, a Guido Fawkes reporter who ran the student wing of the Vote Leave campaign, is also in the group alongside Leave Means Leave digital strategist Steve Edginton. Mr Edginton also directs the pro-Brexit Politics UK YouTube channel and writes for the Westmonster website, which is co-owned by Arron Banks and Nigel Farages former press adviser Michael Heaver. A launch event held for Turning Point UK in London last month was reportedly attended by right-wing figures including Leave.EU campaigner Andy Wigmore, InfoWars editor-at-large Paul Joseph Watson and Breitbart London editor James Delingpole. A mission statement says Turning Point UK opposes the dogmatic left-wing political climate, education system and radical Labour Party. It was criticised for using the name of a pre-existing charity that works to help people overcome drug and alcohol abuse, mental health and other issues. A spokesperson for the Turning Point charity said it had no connection to the group or any other political movements. Many people are concerned about the confusion, the spokesperson added. We would like to thank all the members of the public who have highlighted this issue and the support they have given to us as an organisation. Turning Point UK has not responded to The Independents request for comment. A cross-party group of British MPs has accused the Saudi government of subjecting female activists being held in prison to torture and warned that the detainees may suffer serious long-term health problems unless they receive urgent medical care. A Detention Review Panel (DRP) of MPs and human rights groups claim in a highly critical report that Saudi officials at the highest levels could be held culpable for abuse meeting the threshold for the crime of torture under both Saudi and international law, enabling prosecution to take place under the principles of universal jurisdiction. The MPs hold that the detainees have been subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment including assault, sleep deprivation, threats to life and solitary confinement. They are passing on their report to the office of the UNs special rapporteur with an official request that the abuse allegations are fully investigated. The DRP called, in the document, on the Saudi government to end the mistreatment and for the immediate release of the women detainees and an investigation, by the authorities in Riyadh, into the allegations of abuse. Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, the DRP chair, said: Our conclusions are stark. The Saudi women activist detainees have been treated so badly as to sustain an international investigation for torture. Denied proper access to medical care, legal advice or visits from their families, their solitary confinement and mistreatment are severe enough to meet the international definition of torture. The supervisory chain of command up to the highest levels of Saudi authority would be responsible for this. Saudi Women celebrate their freedom to drive Show all 8 1 /8 Saudi Women celebrate their freedom to drive Saudi Women celebrate their freedom to drive A Saudi woman gestures while driving in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Reuters Saudi Women celebrate their freedom to drive A Saudi woman drives at night in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia Reuters Saudi Women celebrate their freedom to drive Saudi women embrace as they celebrate the lift of the female driving ban in Saudi Arabia Reuters Saudi Women celebrate their freedom to drive A Saudi woman straps in Reuters Saudi Women celebrate their freedom to drive A Saudi woman drives to work in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Reuters Saudi Women celebrate their freedom to drive Fadya Fahad is one of the first female drivers for Careem, a ride sharing company in Saudi Arabia Getty Saudi Women celebrate their freedom to drive A Saudi woman stops at a petrol station while driving to work in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Reuters Saudi Women celebrate their freedom to drive A Saudi woman waits for coffee on the commute in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Reuters Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran said: When I heard of the arrests, I was, like many people, shocked that it had happened at all. The torture, in particular allegations of sexual harassment and threats of rape, are inexcusable. Labour MP Paul Williams, a member of the Health and Social Care Committee, added: The allegations of mistreatment faced by the detainees have shocked the international community. We are open to discussing our report with the Saudi authorities and to receiving any evidence they have so we can assess our conclusions on the basis of the fullest information available. Tayab Ali, partner at ITN Solicitors, who acts as the DRP legal secretariat and rapporteur, said: In light of the serious allegations of torture we have heard and the Saudi authorities continuing failure to respond to us, my client will now be working with the international community to ensure that the mistreatment of the detainees does not continue. My client will be referring the DRPs findings, along with a complaint to the United Nations to request that the special rapporteur on torture and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention fully investigate the detention conditions faced by the Saudi women activist detainees. The DRP had asked for, and been denied, access to the detainees by the Saudi government. Riyadh was told that their report would be published from accounts compiled by human rights organisations and activists unless the MPs were allowed into the country to carry out their own investigation. 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, Mohammad bin Salman, last year. Urging the Saudi authorities to allow access, Mr Blunt said last month: 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. Following the reports publication, Mr Blunt said: Saudi Arabia stands on the brink. It is not too late to alter course and avert the spiral downwards to catastrophe that the detention of these activists represents. We continue to hope that the Saudi authorities see this as an opportunity to recognise and address the contradictions in the treatment of the detainees and claimed aspirations for the future of Saudi Arabia. Vision 2030 will never be delivered if the people who could help deliver it are treated in this appalling manner. Vision 2030 was unveiled by the crown prince three years ago as a programme to reduce dependence on oil and diversify the economy while carrying out sweeping modernisation of government policy; it was viewed as a major reforming step. The Saudi government has repeatedly denied that the women activists are being abused in prison. Increasing numbers of public sector workers are being forced to turn to sex work due to austerity measures and welfare cuts, campaigners have warned. A leading campaigning group, which supports the decriminalisation of prostitution, says more women in public sector roles are doing sex work to top up their income due to employers making no allowances for the fact they have children. The warning comes as the organisation, the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), releases a new report comparing sex work with other jobs commonly done by women. The report found sex workers earn significantly more per hour than women working in the other jobs including those in public sector positions such as nurses and midwives. Women cited higher wages as their primary reason for entering the sex industry. Womens March bread and roses rally in London Show all 70 1 /70 Womens March bread and roses rally in London Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London A protester with a banner chants slogans as she takes part in the Women's March calling for equality, justice and an end to austerity in London Reuters Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Reuters Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London A girl holds a rose as protesters take part in the Women's March calling for equality, justice and an end to austerity Reuters Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Reuters Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent Womens March bread and roses rally in London Reuters Womens March bread and roses rally in London A woman dressed as suffragette gestures Reuters Womens March bread and roses rally in London Reuters Because of austerity there is an increase in prostitution in many sectors including public sector workers. It is mostly women, a spokesperson for the ECP said. It is difficult to collate official figures on the number of sex workers because many are concerned they will face negative repercussions by becoming visible. However, a 2015 report by Leeds University and funded by the Wellcome Trust found more than 70 per cent of UK sex workers had previously worked in healthcare, education or for charities. A teacher, who chose to remain anonymous, told The Independent she turned to sex work due to rising living costs and low wages. She said she did three days of supply teaching a week but her wages did not reflect the huge amount of extra work she was expected to do outside of school hours. She said she had two children to support and a partner who did not earn a great deal. Everything, especially food and bills have shot up, she said. It has got terrible in the last few years. Our rent is crazy as we are in London. I am really the main earner. So now, one evening a week I work in a flat with another girl. My partner hates it but it means were not worried all the time about money. She said she felt safe because she is never on her own and the women look out for each other. We keep our fingers crossed that we dont get a visit from the police. So far I have been able to earn enough to just about cover the rent which is a big thing, so Im not running around worrying about money all the time. "Of course, Im more tired at home but we can get the food we want and decent shoes for the kids. In a way, I feel more normal now. We are all mostly in second-hand clothes but as children get older they need new stuff and Im sure it will get more expensive. Im sure things will change when the kids are older I hope they do. But I have to say Im not holding my breath about how long I shall have to keep doing the hooking job. A nurse, who chose to remain anonymous, said she had also turned to sex work to supplement her income. Im a nurse in outpatients," she said. "It is not quite full time. We are supposed to be caring angels but the pay is bad. I take home around 250 a week but then I have to pay rent, feed and clothe myself, have a bit of a social life and I would even like to take a holiday. For that it is nothing. She said a couple of years ago she decided she needed to find a way to use the time she was free evenings and weekends to make more money. She did not want to do bar work or waitressing, she said, because the employers expect you to be at their beck and call even if they know you work a second job. Recommended Student who did sugar baby work reveals dark side of university life My friends tell me they get ill with the shifts and get molested by customers, she said. Why not do sex work, what is the big deal? I thought I would give it a try. "I started off working in a parlour but now have some regulars who I visit I get a couple a week maybe and it just takes me to where I have some money in my hands and even save a bit. It has given me more confidence in myself and with people. So far I havent had any real trouble, Im very careful. It is all worth it for the money. I have my other friends at the hospital but none of them know what I do. They would be shocked out of their ears if they did I guess - but then again, I suppose someone else there may be doing this job too. The ECPs new report found that while sex workers are deprived of employment rights because their job is criminalised, in practice many other women workers were too, particularly those on zero hours contracts. Discrimination, sexual harassment, and workplace injury were found to be common across all the jobs in the study. The organisation argued endemic low pay and exploitative working conditions had been exacerbated by austerity measures implemented by the government. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Just under half the women interviewed were mothers whose wages had fallen once they had children. They reported receiving little consideration for their caring responsibilities from employers - saying the cost of childcare was prohibitively high. Some 90 per cent of sex workers in the UK are women with the majority being mothers. The small-scale qualitative study, whose key findings were corroborated by other studies, found the most significant difference between sex work and other jobs was that criminalisation made the job more dangerous by stopping women working together and being able to report violence. It also prevented women from taking action against employment rights violations or exploitation and abuse. It is not illegal for individuals to buy or sell sex from each other in the UK but soliciting and sex workers working together as a group are illegal. Women weigh up the illegality, stigma and discrimination of sex work against the higher pay and greater flexibility, a spokesperson for the ECP said. At a time of brutal cuts and rising poverty when over four million children are living in poverty, our so-called choices increasingly come down to a decision between prostitution and destitution. Sex work has always been about poverty and lack of economic choices. First, they make us poor and then they criminalise us for the ways we find to survive." Christina McAnea, of Unison, said: It is a sad reflection of the low pay endemic to so much of the public sector, particularly social care. If services were better funded, and the jobs and skills traditionally seen as womens work more highly valued, people would not need to supplement their income with undertaking high-risk, dangerous work in the sex industry. Ryanair swung to a 20m (17.5m) loss in the third quarter, blaming low air fares. The budget airline reported an 8 per cent year-on-year increase in passengers, while revenue also rose by 9 per cent to hit 1.5bn. Ryanair previously warned that profits would be around 100m lower for the current financial year. The company also reported that ancillary revenues, such as checked bag fees, had risen 26 per cent in the third quarter, although this was offset by higher staff and fuel costs. The group was hit by a series of strikes by pilots and cabin crew which grounded hundreds of flights last summer, and was forced to increase wages. Statista Chief executive Michael OLeary said that while the loss was disappointing, we take comfort that this was entirely due to weaker than expected air fares so our customers are enjoying record low prices, which is good for current and future traffic growth. The airline said the risk of a no-deal Brexit remains worryingly high, and added: While we hope that common sense will prevail, and lead to either a delay in Brexit, or agreement on the 21 month transition deal currently on the table, we have taken all necessary steps to protect Ryanairs business in a no-deal environment. George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: Ryanair is licking its wounds after a difficult 2018 that saw extra competition drive down prices and higher staff and compensation costs push expenses up. Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Show all 20 1 /20 Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos EPA Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Ryanair airline workers shout slogans during a small protest during the first of two days of a cabin crew strike at Adolfo Suarez-Barajas international airport in Madrid in July AP Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Empty Ryanair check-in counter at El Prat airport in Barcelona AFP/Getty Images Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Ryanair employees hold up signs in English and Spanish on the first day of a cabin crew strike in Palma de Mallorca REUTERS Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Ryanair airplanes stand idle on the tarmac EPA Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Irish Ryanair pilots outside the company headquarters at Swords in Dublin, as they stage their fourth one-day strike with their union, Forsa PA Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos A woman sits at a Ryanair airline check-in desk after her flight to Pisa, Italy, was cancelled AP Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Ryanair employees protest at the entrance of the airport in Malaga REUTERS Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Stranded Ryanair passengers line up for information at the airport in Valencia REUTERS Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Employees of Ryanair's customer service department wear T-shirts with a slogan 'Ryanair Must Change' during the first day of strike of the company's cabin crew members at Brussels South airport in Charleroi, Belgium, in 25 EPA Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Cabin crew workers for low-cost airline Ryanair went on strike in four European countries over working conditions in July, forcing thousands of passengers to make last-minute travel adjustments at the peak of the summer holiday season REUTERS Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary addresses a news conference in Schwechat, Austria Reuters Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Ryanair employees hold up signs at the airport in Palma de Mallorca REUTERS Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos REUTERS Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos People queue at the Ryanair airline customer service desk during the first of two days cabin crew strike AP Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Ryanair personnel stand at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, during a strike of cabin personnel AFP/Getty Images Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Ryanair's customer service department gather behind a banner reading: 'Ryanair On Strike - Respect Us! Ryanair must change' at Brussels South airport, in Charleroi, Belgium EPA Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Passengers wait in line in front of Ryanair's desks EPA Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos Ryanair planes at Valencia airport, during a protest on the first day of a cabin crew strike held in several European countries REUTERS Ryanair: strikes and cancellations cause travel chaos A passenger tries to get informations on Ryanair flights EPA Brexit uncertainty continues to weigh on the company, but the most interesting news in these numbers is the fact the group doesnt share the more upbeat outlook of competitors. Ryanair has said pricing pressure will continue into summer 2019. Lower profitability has seen net debt tick up past 1bn, but the balance sheet remains strong especially since Ryanair owns over half its planes outright. He added: This sure footing and a dominant market share means Ryanair should come out of the current turbulence on top, but its weaker outlook on pricing suggests things could get worse before they get better. Meanwhile, the firm is changing its group structure to a setup it says is not dissimilar to that of British Airways owner International Airlines Group. Mr OLeary will become group chief executive of Ryanair Holdings, overseeing four subsidiaries: Ryanair DAC, Laudamotion, Ryanair Sun and Ryanair UK, which will each have their own management teams. Mr OLeary has signed a five-year contract for the new role. Britains richest man has demanded that the government relaxes earthquake restrictions around fracking or ban the controversial oil-drilling practice altogether. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder of petrochemicals giant Ineos, accused ministers of lacking a basic understanding of the Richter scale and implementing unworkable rules that are hampering his fracking ambitions. The entrepreneur stands to increase his 21bn fortune if fracking can become successful in the UK as his company owns more shale drilling licences than any other firm. Current rules state that drilling must be brought to a halt if any seismic activity near a site exceeds 0.5 on the Richter scale, a level Ineos described as absurd. The company accused the government of using politically expedient, slippery back-door manoeuvres to end shale. Environment news in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 Environment news in pictures Environment news in pictures Davos 2019: David Attenborough issues stark warning about future of civilisation as he demands practical solutions to combat climate change Sir David Attenborough has issued a stark warning about climate change to business figures gathered in Davos, telling them that "what we do now...will profoundly affect the next few thousand years". On the eve of this year's World Economic Forum, the renowned naturalist told the audience that the worlds of business and politics should "get on with the practical solutions" needed to prevent environmental damage. "As a species we are expert problem solvers. But we've not yet applied ourselves to this problem with the focus it requires. "We can create a world with clean air and water, unlimited energy, and fish stocks that will sustain us well into the future. But to do that, we need a plan," he said. The broadcaster made his speech after receiving a Crystal Award, which is awarded by the forum to "exceptional cultural leaders". AFP/Getty Environment news in pictures At least 60% of wild coffee species face extinction triggered by climate change and disease Two decades of research have revealed that 60 per cent of the worlds coffee species face extinction due to the combined threats of deforestation, disease and climate change. The wild strain of arabica, the most widely consumed coffee on the planet, is among those now recognised as endangered, raising concerns about its long-term survival. These results are worrying for the millions of farmers around the world who depend on the continued survival of coffee for their livelihoods. As conditions for coffee farming become tougher, scientists predict the industry will need to rely on wild varieties to develop more resilient strains Alan Schaller Environment news in pictures Warming Antarctic waters are speeding the rate at which glaciers are melting The Antarctic ice sheet is losing six times as much ice each year as it was in the 1980s and the pace is accelerating, one of the most comprehensive studies of climate change effects on the continent has shown. More than half an inch has been added to global sea levels since 1979, but if current trends continue it will be responsible for metres more in future, the Nasa-funded study found. The international effort used aerial photos, satellite data and climate models dating back to the 1970s across18 Antarctic regions to get the most complete picture to date on the impacts of the changing climate. It found that between 1979 and 1990 Antarctica lost an average of 40 gigatonnes (40 billion tonnes) of its mass each year. Between 2009 and 2017 it lost an average 252 gigatonnes a year. This has added 3.6mm per decade to sea levels, or around 14mm since 1979, the study shows Nasa/Getty Environment news in pictures Greater Manchester to ban fracking, paving way for confrontation with government over controversial industry Greater Manchester is to effectively ban fracking, raising the prospect of fresh confrontation with the government over the controversial industry. All of the regions 10 councils are to implement planning policies which create a presumption against drilling for shale gas in their areas, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has announced. Campaigners said the move was the latest sign that the tide was turning against fracking, which has been the subject of multiple legal battles across the country. Critics of fracking say it poses environmental and health risks. Drilling at the UKs only operational fracking site, run by Cuadrilla in Lancashire, has repeatedly been halted due to earth tremors. But ministers support the industry and last year unveiled plans to accelerate the development of new drilling sites Ross Wills Environment news in pictures Japan confirms plan to resume commercial whaling in its waters from next year Japan will resume commercial whaling next year for the first time in more than three decades, in a move that has provoked strong criticism from campaigners and the international community. Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said his nation would leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to resume hunting the marine mammals in Japanese waters. However, he stated the activity would be limited to Japans territory and the 200 mile exclusive economic zone along its coasts. This means controversial scientific trips to Antarctica in which Japanese vessels killed hundreds of whales, as well as activity in the northwest Pacific, will stop in 2019 AP Environment news in pictures COP24: Environmental groups criticise morally unacceptable climate deal reached after major Poland summit Diplomats from around the world have agreed a major climate deal after two weeks of United Nations talks in Poland. But climate campaigners warned the deal effectively a set of rules for how to govern the 2015 Paris climate accord agreed between almost 200 countries lacked ambition or a clear promise of enhanced climate action. Activists cautiously welcomed elements of the plan, saying important progress had been made on ensuring that efforts to tackle climate change by individual nations can be measured and compared. But environmental groups were also highly critical of the agreement, warning it lacked ambition and clarity on key issues, including financing for climate projects for developing countries. The COP24 deal, which is aimed at providing firm guidelines for countries on how to transparently report their greenhouse gas emissions and their efforts to reduce them, was confirmed on 15 December, after talks overran Reuters Environment news in pictures Unprecedented changes needed to stop global warming as UN report reveals islands starting to vanish and coral reefs dying Greenhouse gas emissions must be cut almost in half by 2030 to avert global environmental catastrophe, including the total loss of every coral reef, the disappearance of Arctic ice and the destruction of island communities, a landmark UN report has concluded. Drawing on more than 6,000 scientific studies and compiled over two years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings, released this morning, warn enormous and rapid changes to the way everyone on Earth eats, travels and produces energy need to be brought in immediately. Though the scientists behind the report said there is cause for optimism, they recognised the grim reality that nations are currently nowhere near on track to avert disaster AFP/Getty Environment news in pictures Africas three biggest elephant poaching cartels exposed using DNA from illegal ivory shipments DNA taken from massive shipments of ivory has been used to identify the three largest wildlife trafficking gangs operating at the height of Africas elephant poaching epidemic. Ivory tends to be shipped around the world from African ports in bulk, and scientists have used genetic evidence gleaned from intercepted batches to reveal their origins. Led by Dr Samuel Wasser from the University of Washington, they traced a number of these shipments to three cartels operating out of Kenya, Uganda and Togo. Evidence collected by Dr Wasser has already helped convict ivory kingpin Feisal Mohamed Ali, and as his team joins the dots between shipments they plan to shore up the cases against more of the continents most prolific smugglers Art Wolfe Ministers have championed controversial shale gas extraction, and in 2018 gave the green light to a site in Lancashire, the first fracking operation in the UK for seven years. However, business at the Preston New Road site has been repeatedly put on hold by Cuadrilla a fossil fuel exploration company due to minor earth tremors. Fracking involves pumping jets of high-pressure water into gaps between rock formations in order to extract oil and gas. The process is known to cause minor earthquakes. But Sir Jim pointed to more permissive regulation in the US which allows quakes to measure up to 4.0 before drilling is stopped. To put that into perspective, magnitude 4.0 is 3,162 times higher than 0.5 and 177,827 times stronger in terms of energy release, he said. Environmental groups condemned the companys claims on Monday. Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist for Greenpeace UK said fracking companies have sought to reassure the public that the procedure is safe because rules are tougher here than in the US. Now that the industry is having trouble sticking to UK regulations, were assured US regulations are perfectly adequate and should be copied here, Dr Parr said. We do not feel reassured. The first well to be fracked in the UK had to be abandoned because it suffered deformation from tremors of less than 2.3 on the Richter scale. But now Ineos are telling us that tremors many times stronger than this are completely safe. What this really means is that Ineos have discovered that it is impossible to frack safely in the UK, and so they want permission to frack unsafely. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Ineos said the availability of clean and abundant gas has rejuvenated manufacturing in North America and could have a similar effect here. Several studies have found that shale gas extraction is more environmentally damaging than traditional methods Sir Jim accused the government of playing politics with the future of the country. He added: We have a non-existent energy strategy and are heading towards an energy crisis that will do long-term and irreparable damage to the economy and the government needs to decide whether they are finally going to put the country first and develop a workable UK onshore gas industry. Meghan Markle has won praise for sending inspirational notes to sex workers in Bristol. The Duchess of Sussex wrote phrases such as you are brave and you are strong on bananas as part of food packages that would be distributed to workers by the One25 charity, which she visited on Friday with the Duke of Sussex. One25 specialises in helping women break free from street sex work through various initiatives, one of which is a drop-in service that provides 150 sex workers with nightly food bags. The pregnant royal made an impromptu visit to the charitys headquarters to help compile the bags and declared herself in charge of the banana messaging before asking for a Sharpie pen to write with. Other messages written on the fruit included: "You are loved" and "You are special". The affirmations were well-received by the charitys volunteers, with one telling HELLO Magazine, "It sounds really cheesy, but little things like that when you are out, especially tonight, just to get that little thing that Meghan took her time out to write that one, it's lush. Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Show all 16 1 /16 Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen PA Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen REUTERS Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen REUTERS Meghan Markle returns to Grenfell Tower community kitchen Getty Images They added that the couple's decision to visit One25 was "heartwarming". (AP (AP) Speaking about the notes on Good Morning Britain, journalist Rebecca Reid concurred, telling hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid: I accept that its not necessarily going to pay your heating bill or help you buy shoes for your kids [...] but when you work in a job that is ignored, judged and stigmatised, being told that you are valid and important is a nice thing. Fans of the 37-year-old wrote praiseworthy messages on Twitter, saying that Markles notes were the perfect example of a simple but thoughtful act of kindness. The nice thing about the Meghan Markles banana messaging is that its an example of a simple act of kindness that anyone can do, even if they only have little, wrote one person. Another added: Have to give Meghan Markle credit, not sure any other royals would write messages on bananas that are donated (amongst other food items and needs) to sex workers. But one former sex worker criticised Markles notes, telling The Sun People out here struggle to eat and sleep and she gifts us some words on a piece of fruit. She has the means to help us more than that. Its offensive, you know. This was not the view shared by an anonymous volunteer for One25, who told the newspaper that the Duchess gesture would have meant a lot to the women receiving the packages. The messages were lovely and sensitive, they said. I think the women who would have received them would have appreciated it. Knowing theres someone supporting them would mean a lot." Lauren Mahon, BBC co-host of podcast You, Me and the Big C, has launched a new range of T-shirts to help raise funds for cancer charities. With one in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK, its a disease that has touched many peoples lives, including that of blogger Mahon. In 2016, the now 32-year-old was diagnosed with a cancerous lump in her right breast and she began documenting her journey under the hashtag #girlvscancer on both her blog and Instagram. GirlvsCancer went on to launch three ranges of T-shirts dedicated to breast cancer patients and survivors. Continuing on from the success of previous launches, GirlvsCancer announced its latest range of T-shirts on Instagram. Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Show all 13 1 /13 Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Joanna, Newcastle (Image: Ami Barwell) Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Mel, Merseyside (Image: Ami Barwell) Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Lucy, Wakefield (Image: Ami Barwell) Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Sharon, Bath (Image: Ami Barwell) Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Jan, Hereford (Image: Ami Barwell) Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Gillian, London (Image: Ami Barwell) Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Fiona, Northampton (Image: Ami Barwell) Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Anon S, West Midlands (Image: Ami Barwell) Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Debbie W, Worcestershire (Image: Ami Barwell) Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Debbie B, York (Image: Ami Barwell) Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Clare, North Lincolnshire (Image: Ami Barwell) Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Caroline, Brancaster (Image: Ami Barwell) Mastectomy: Stand Up To Cancer launches powerful photo campaign Anon (Image: Ami Barwell) New #GIRLvsCANCER collection is now LIVE, the caption reads. Today is #WorldCancerDay. A day to impact change. Here At GIRLvsCANCER that comes in the form of three new tees. Designed by artist and fellow-blogger Vickie, otherwise known as In No Particular Order, the new T-shirts are each emblazoned with a positive affirmation and tongue-in cheek alliteration including, Keep Your Cool, Hope is Dope and Fierce as F***. Just like previous launches, 25 per cent of profits from two of the T-shirts will be distributed equally between four charities Coppafeel!, Trekstock, Future Dreams and Look Good Feel Better to ensure they continue to beat the cancer taboo. However, the Keep Your Cool version will see 25 per cent of its sales awarded to Paxman Scalp Cooling an organisation which has developed a treatment that can prevent hair loss caused by certain chemotherapy drugs. Mahon decided to donate the proceeds from this specific T-shirt to the charity in memory of her podcast co-host Rachel Bland, who died in September 2018 after suffering from breast cancer, aged 40. This special edition style will be rising funds for Rachs cause of choice. The Pioneering gang at @ScalpCooling, Mahon writes on Instagram. Paxmans FDA approved Cold Cap System is major. It saved Rachs mane during months of chemo. It saved 100,000 others hair too. The T-shirts launched today to coincide with World Cancer Day and can be purchased from GirlvsCancer for 28 each. At least a third of the ice in the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush will thaw this century as temperatures rise, disrupting river flows vital for growing crops from China to India, scientists have said. Vast glaciers make the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region - home to the world's highest peaks, including Mount Everest and K2 - a "third pole" behind Antarctica and the Arctic region. Philippus Wester, of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), who led the report, said: "This is the climate crisis you haven't heard of. "Global warming is on track to transform the frigid, glacier-covered mountain peaks of the HKH cutting across eight countries to bare rocks in a little less than a century." The report, by 210 authors, said more than a third of the ice in the region will melt by 2100 even if governments take tough action to limit global warming under the 2015 Paris climate agreement. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Two-thirds of the ice could also vanish if governments fail to rein in greenhouse gas emissions this century. "To me, this is the biggest worrying thing, Mr Wester told Reuters at an event to launch the report in Kathmandu. Glaciers have thinned and retreated across most parts of the region since the 1970s. Ice in the HKH region would push up sea levels by 1.5 metres if it all melted, Eklabya Sharma, deputy director general of ICIMOD, told Reuters. Mountain Climate Hotspots The region stretches 2,175 miles across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. The study said the thaw will disrupt rivers including the Yangtze, Mekong, Indus and Ganges, where farmers rely on glacier melt water in the dry season. About 250 million people live in the mountains and 1.65 billion people in river valleys below. Changes in river flows could also harm hydropower production and cause more erosion and landslides in the mountains. But more research is needed to gauge exactly how glaciers affect distant crops, said Wouter Buytaert of Imperial College in London, who was not involved in the study. "While glacier meltwater propagates downstream, it mixes with water from other sources such as direct rainfall, wetlands, and groundwater, up to a point where the impact of glacier melting may become negligible," he said. The authors said people living in small island states were often viewed as the most vulnerable to climate change because of rising sea levels. "It's not just occupants of the world's islands that are suffering," said Dasho Rinzin Dorji, an ICIMOD board member from Bhutan. He said in a statement mountain regions were also extremely vulnerable as "climate hotspots". Reuters Peter was a very curious person and would go looking for mines and graphite deposits around the world to see if they could do something, said Craig Lofgren, managing director of Carney Management, the familys investment office. He always had a curious mind for graphite and that mineral how it reacted and what you could do with it. Liam Neeson has revealed he once walked the streets with a cosh for days looking to kill a black bastard after someone close to him was raped many years ago. The actor shared the previously undisclosed story with The Independent during a press junket for his new film, Cold Pursuit, admitting that he is now ashamed of his past awful behaviour. Neeson, who has starred in films such as Taken and Non-Stop, recalled being told about the rape after he returned from a trip overseas. She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way, Neeson said during the interview, which can be read in full here. But my immediate reaction was ... did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person. I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping Id be approached by somebody. Im ashamed to say that, and I did it for maybe a week hoping some [Neeson gestures air quotes with his fingers] black bastard would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him. Liam Neeson through the years Show all 23 1 /23 Liam Neeson through the years Liam Neeson through the years March 1995 Liam Neeson stars In the movie Rob Roy Getty Liam Neeson through the years October 1996 Neeson poses with co-star Aidan Quinn (right) and director Neil Jordan (left) at the Los Angeles premiere of their new movie Michael Collins AFP/Getty Liam Neeson through the years March 2001 Neeson poses with the lightsaber he used in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace at the Movie Action for Children auction AFP/Getty Liam Neeson through the years May 2002 Liam Neeson attends the Tony Award nominees brunch Getty Liam Neeson through the years July 2002 Neeson attends the world premiere of K-19: The Widowmaker in Westwood, California Getty Liam Neeson through the years August 2003 Neeson films scenes from Kinsey at Grand Central Station, New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2004 Neeson after a press conference for the movie Kinsey during the Toronto International Film Festival Getty Liam Neeson through the years May 2005 Samuel L Jackson (left) and Neeson (right) pose with Chewbacca at the premiere of Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith Getty Liam Neeson through the years June 2005 Gary Oldman, Sir Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman and Neeson arrive at the premiere of Batman Begins at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2006 Pierce Brosnan (left) and Neeson attend the Seraphim Falls press conference during the Toronto International Film Festival Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2008 Neeson poses by the river Thames before a screening of the action movie Taken Getty Liam Neeson through the years June 2010 Neeson, Quinton Rampage Jackson, director Joe Carnahan, Sharlto Copley, and Bradley Cooper arrive at the premiere of their movie The A-Team Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2011 Neeson at the premiere of The Grey in Los Angeles Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2012 Neeson poses next to the beach closet dedicated to him on the Promenade des Planches for the movie Taken 2 Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2013 Neeson presents an award at the Oscars Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2014 Neeson holds his character from The Lego Movie as he attends the premiere in New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2014 Actors Michelle Dockery, Lupita Nyongo, Neeson and Julianne Moore attend the premiere of their movie Non-Stop Getty Liam Neeson through the years November 2014 Maureen OHara accepts an Honorary Oscar from Clint Eastwood and Neeson Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2015 Neeson signs posters as he attends a Taken 3 fan screening Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2017 Neeson reprises his role from Love Actually alongside Thomas Brodie-Sangster for Comic Reliefs Red Nose Day Actually Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2017 Neeson appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2018 Neeson attends the premiere of The Commuter in New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2018 Neeson speaks after receiving an award for his career during the Golden Camera awards ceremony in Hamburg AFP/Getty Neeson said it took him about a week or a week and a half to process what had happened. It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that, he said. And Ive never admitted that, and Im saying it to a journalist. God forbid. He added: Its awful. But I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, What the fuck are you doing, you know? Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime VideoSign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up I understand that need for revenge, but it just leads to more revenge, to more killing and more killing. Neeson shared the personal story after being asked to give more insight into his Cold Pursuit character Nels Coxmans need for revenge after his son is killed by a drug gang. I think audience members live to see that, Neeson said of onscreen violence. They can kind of live vicariously through it. People say, Yeah but violence in films makes people want to go out and kill people. I dont believe that at all. I think the average moviegoer thinks, Yeah, punch him. Punch him. And they get a satisfaction out of seeing somebody else enact it, and they leave the theatre and they feel satiated in some way. The Independent contacted Neesons publicist for further comment but he declined. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Cold Pursuit is released in UK cinemas on Friday 22 February Liam Neeson is sitting in an armchair with a flask of tea at his side. We are in the sprawling suite of a Manhattan hotel to talk about his latest film, Cold Pursuit. Just as he has in a number of roles since he became an action hero in his fifties, Neeson plays an everyman hell-bent on revenge. Yet here in the rigid, conveyor-belt atmosphere of the celebrity junket, the 66-year-old star of Taken is about to recount a disturbing incident from his past, a confession that hes never made before. It will involve how he learnt about the rape of someone close to him many years ago, how he roamed the streets for a week afterwards carrying with him a cosh and brutal, racist thoughts, and how this taught him that violence and revenge do not work. It begins as an explanation of how his latest character turns to anger. Theres something primal God forbid youve ever had a member of your family hurt under criminal conditions, he begins, hesitantly but thoughtfully. Ill tell you a story. This is true. It was some time ago. Neeson had just come back from overseas to find out about the rape. She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way, Neeson says. But my immediate reaction was Theres a pause. I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person. I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping Id be approached by somebody Im ashamed to say that and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some [Neeson gestures air quotes with his fingers] black bastard would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could, another pause, kill him. Neeson clearly knows what hes saying, and how shocking it is, how appalling. It took me a week, maybe a week and a half, to go through that. She would say, Where are you going? and I would say, Im just going out for a walk. You know? Whats wrong? No no, nothings wrong. He deliberately withholds details to protect the identity of the victim. It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that, he says. And Ive never admitted that, and Im saying it to a journalist. God forbid. Holy shit, says Tom Bateman, his co-star, who is sitting beside him. Its awful, Neeson continues, a tremble in his breath. But I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, What the fuck are you doing, you know? Neeson seeks revenge against the drug dealers that killed his son in Cold Pursuit (Lionsgate) All three of us know Neeson, Bateman and I that this is a distressing admission. I come from a society I grew up in Northern Ireland in the Troubles and, you know, I knew a couple of guys that died on hunger strike, and I had acquaintances who were very caught up in the Troubles, and I understand that need for revenge, but it just leads to more revenge, to more killing and more killing, and Northern Irelands proof of that. All this stuff thats happening in the world, the violence, is proof of that, you know. But that primal need, I understand. He continues, more generally, about violence on screen. His tone changes. Were back, suddenly, to a normal junket interview. But this had not been the average confession to make. As he had admitted, its horrible, awful. Is it possible to hear that said out loud or to read those words and not judge? Then again, think of the circumstance he had learnt someone close to him had been raped. No one would ever want to have to confront that in their own life. Do other people react that way? Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Liam Neeson through the years Show all 23 1 /23 Liam Neeson through the years Liam Neeson through the years March 1995 Liam Neeson stars In the movie Rob Roy Getty Liam Neeson through the years October 1996 Neeson poses with co-star Aidan Quinn (right) and director Neil Jordan (left) at the Los Angeles premiere of their new movie Michael Collins AFP/Getty Liam Neeson through the years March 2001 Neeson poses with the lightsaber he used in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace at the Movie Action for Children auction AFP/Getty Liam Neeson through the years May 2002 Liam Neeson attends the Tony Award nominees brunch Getty Liam Neeson through the years July 2002 Neeson attends the world premiere of K-19: The Widowmaker in Westwood, California Getty Liam Neeson through the years August 2003 Neeson films scenes from Kinsey at Grand Central Station, New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2004 Neeson after a press conference for the movie Kinsey during the Toronto International Film Festival Getty Liam Neeson through the years May 2005 Samuel L Jackson (left) and Neeson (right) pose with Chewbacca at the premiere of Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith Getty Liam Neeson through the years June 2005 Gary Oldman, Sir Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman and Neeson arrive at the premiere of Batman Begins at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2006 Pierce Brosnan (left) and Neeson attend the Seraphim Falls press conference during the Toronto International Film Festival Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2008 Neeson poses by the river Thames before a screening of the action movie Taken Getty Liam Neeson through the years June 2010 Neeson, Quinton Rampage Jackson, director Joe Carnahan, Sharlto Copley, and Bradley Cooper arrive at the premiere of their movie The A-Team Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2011 Neeson at the premiere of The Grey in Los Angeles Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2012 Neeson poses next to the beach closet dedicated to him on the Promenade des Planches for the movie Taken 2 Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2013 Neeson presents an award at the Oscars Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2014 Neeson holds his character from The Lego Movie as he attends the premiere in New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2014 Actors Michelle Dockery, Lupita Nyongo, Neeson and Julianne Moore attend the premiere of their movie Non-Stop Getty Liam Neeson through the years November 2014 Maureen OHara accepts an Honorary Oscar from Clint Eastwood and Neeson Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2015 Neeson signs posters as he attends a Taken 3 fan screening Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2017 Neeson reprises his role from Love Actually alongside Thomas Brodie-Sangster for Comic Reliefs Red Nose Day Actually Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2017 Neeson appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2018 Neeson attends the premiere of The Commuter in New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2018 Neeson speaks after receiving an award for his career during the Golden Camera awards ceremony in Hamburg AFP/Getty In Cold Pursuit, the son of his character, Nels Coxman, is killed by a drug gang, sparking the desire for revenge. I think audience members live to see [that violence on screen], Neeson continues. They can kind of live vicariously through it. People say, Yeah but violence in films makes people want to go out and kill people. I dont believe that at all. I think the average moviegoer thinks, Yeah, punch him. Punch him. And they get a satisfaction out of seeing somebody else enact it, and they leave the theatre and they feel satiated in some way. In the real world, there are, of course, many different triggers behind that awful desire for violence. Neesons own story cant be separated from the circumstances of the rape of someone close to him, can it? It is not uncommon for people to experience a desire for revenge after a sexual assault. I contacted Laura Palumbo, from the National Sexual Violence Resource Centre, a non-profit based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to talk about this without revealing Neesons name. Such incidents, she says, can lead to a variety of emotions ranging from shock to the shame of not being able to prevent the attack from happening. Often it is less obvious to the loved ones of survivors that they might actually need support in dealing with their emotions themselves, just like the survivors, says Palumbo. They experience a secondary form of trauma, she explains. Some start thinking about what they could have done differently, and they may contemplate seeking retribution. Gender stereotypes can reinforce those feelings. Palumbo says men face a number of pressures due to the way theyre typically socialised, which usually sends them the message that they should be protectors. When an attack does happen, they can feel powerless, which in turn can trigger a desire for control. They want to harm the person who did this to their loved one. They want them to face the consequence. Theres that strong desire to redeem power, to redeem control, Palumbo says. But the victim of a sexual assault must, of course, take priority, she continues and the hope is that by receiving counselling and addressing their own feelings, loved ones can in turn focus on the survivors needs. Neesons brief desire for such random, violent revenge is all the more alarming for the racial dimension to his confession. Lasana Harris is an associate professor of experimental psychology at University College London. Again, nothing of Neesons identity was revealed when I contacted him to discuss this following the interview, so he was not commenting on Neeson but on his more general experience and knowledge. Incidents as abhorrent as rape can, he says, shape the way someone thinks about a specific community. And this is not just relevant to race for example, the thoughts one might harbour about young people, or old people as well as black people. Taken kickstarted his action-movie career in 2008 (Fox) I think it may have something to do with the pre-existing biases, says Harris, though remember this cannot be taken as a judgement on Neeson himself nor this specific incident. He explains how our minds can generalise a negative experience with a person by categorising them in a way that may be flawed. Was that what was happening when Neeson walked the streets looking for a random person on whom to exact his revenge? Harris acknowledges that there is an unjustifiable prejudice when it comes to black people being perceived as perpetrators of sexual assault. You can control it if youre aware of the stereotype, if youre aware of the fact that you have these stereotypes and these biases, he says. Some days after that short, 17-minute interview in a New York City hotel, I contacted Neesons publicist again to see if he would discuss his story further. He declined. But as Neeson said, the story has now been told for the first time. Perhaps thats enough. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Cold Pursuit is released in UK cinemas on Friday 22 February You might associate Albert Einstein first with his theory of relativity, but the frazzle-haired genius was also a voracious reader, being particularly fond of works by Johann von Goethe. Out of all the titles that could have caught his eye, though, just one earned a place on Einstein's nightstand--Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes. If you've never read the story, beware, I'm about to give some spoilers. The title character, Don Quixote of Spain, becomes enraptured with the ideals of chivalry he reads about in books, and endeavors to keep these ideals alive by becoming a knight. He becomes obsessed with defending the honor of a peasant woman, Dulcinea del Toboso, and embarks on multiple journeys with his squire, Sancho Panza. Along the way, just about everyone thinks he's crazy, but Don Quixote doesn't give up his beliefs until the very end of his life. Cervantes remarked that he wrote Don Quixote as a parody of the books of romantic chivalry being written at the time, volumes he considered to be "vain and empty." The bigger point was an acknowledgement that Spain's society was, in fact, dramatically shifting away from older concepts. Nevertheless, the story has multiple points that likely endeared it to Einstein. A defense of morals. Don Quixote embarks on his quests in part because he's bored and lonely, but also because he believes--perhaps because of his madness, or in spite of it--that the world is in real need of a defender of truth. Einstein too spent considerable time contemplating the junctures of science, philosophy, and justness, especially as the Nazis rose to power. In fact, one of his other favorite books was Benedict de Spinoza's Ethics, which seeks to unpack the meaning of moral life. And as an entrepreneur, like Don Quixote, you should know what you stand for and stay steadfast in your ideals to gain the trust and loyalty of those around you. Persistence in the face of doubters. Others mistreat Don Quixote on his quests because they think he's lost his mind. But he doesn't let them break his spirit. He continues to work toward his goals and fight "battles" he sees as being filled with valor. Einstein likewise had to work against critics, such as Arthur Patschke--these critics found fault not only with Einstein's theories, but with Einstein himself as a Jewish person. As an innovator, you'll have persist even if others initially mock what you're doing. Being willing to tackle big problems. Even though Don Quixote has multiple battles, the most famous is his bout with a field of windmills. He charges at the towering structures bravely despite their Goliath status, convincing himself they are actually bewitched giants. Similarly, Einstein's theories were no small feat to develop, taking years to work out (the theory of relativity took a full decade). Good entrepreneurs also don't shy away from big ideas just because they are time consuming, complex, or resource-intensive. They work little by little, step by step, to figure out processes and solutions. Accepting help. Don Quixote doesn't go through his quests alone. He enlists the help of Sancho Panza through everything, finding high value in his service and friendship. Einstein relied on others too, such as Michele Angelo Besso, Neils Bohr, and Max Born. Great leaders also do best when they find mentors and mentees. Five-year-old startup Mighty AI built a platform that uses input from everyday people to train computer vision systems, often on behalf of self-driving car companies. Today, the 74-employee startup has $27 million in funding from investors including GV, Alphabet's venture capital arm. In July 2017, Mighty AI was scaling quickly when 44-year-old CEO Matt Bencke received a devastating diagnosis. It thrust the company into a scary new world: one without Bencke at the helm. Co-founder and then-CTO Daryn Nakhuda tells the story of how he and the company dealt with, and eventually overcame, tragedy. --As told to Kevin J. Ryan All four of us co-founders got recruited by Madrona, a venture capital firm here in Seattle that had developed the idea for Mighty AI. Three of us all knew each other from the local startup world. Matt was kind of a big-company guy; he had spent a decade each at Microsoft and Boeing. It made for a good balance of different kinds of experiences. Matt was the kind of leader who would jump up on the table on Monday morning and give inspirational speeches with metaphors about climbing mountains and enjoying the views along the way. He was an incredibly fit guy. He rode his bike into work every day. For the month or so leading up to his diagnosis, he'd had some back problems. Everybody was just kind of laughing about it: "Well, he's finally getting old. I guess he is human after all." He called me early one morning, earlier than we would usually talk. He said, "You know, something's wrong. I had to go to the ER last night. I'm in the hospital right now and they're running some tests." Twenty minutes later he called me again and said, "I've got bad news. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I've got to deal with this, so I'm going to step down, and I'd like you to be CEO." He had already talked to the board and made sure they were supportive of it. I always wanted to be a CEO, but I wasn't expecting to drop right into a company with $20-plus million raised and 40 employees. It was like plunging right into the deep end. In the early months there was always this big hole. At every meeting, we were waiting for that voice that wasn't there anymore. We all spent a lot of time talking about the situation and trying to support each other. We had just been getting some real traction as a company, so we were all very, very busy. Even after Matt stepped down, we would talk with him very regularly. He would offer some ideas--things we should be doing and things we should be thinking about. He and I had a good, healthy relationship. He was helping me step into this new role. Initially, we were all hoping that he would have a recovery at some point. After a few months, it became clear that wasn't going to be the case. He did as much as he could for the company before he became too sick to help. I was in Detroit, speaking at an event that Matt was supposed to speak at, when I got the news. At first my response was very reactionary: making calls and sending texts, telling the people you need to tell. Then, before I left Detroit that day, I got on one of those public rental bikes and rode along the riverwalk there, since Matt was an avid cyclist. That was when it really hit me. I thought about my friend Matt and his family. I thought about my own life, all the things I was looking forward to, and the reality that you never know what's waiting around the corner. And I thought about Mighty AI, and how it was on me to take the reins and make our collective vision a reality, without my partner by my side. Within the company, it was all about supporting each other. We told everybody: If you need to take a day off, if you want to grieve in your own way or grieve with your co-workers, we're here to support that. There were people who had been here for multiple years with Matt and people who had started after he had gotten ill. Everybody was going to have to deal with his death in their own way, and we wanted to give them room for that. When Matt first got sick, we would ask ourselves, what can we do to help? Obviously we couldn't make him better. But we said the No. 1 thing we have control over is making this company a huge success, for all of us and for Matt and for his family. We said, "Let's make him proud. Let's make his family proud. Let's do something for his legacy." Moving forward, one of the tougher things for me was trying to learn to be me and not trying to be Matt. He was a very outgoing, extroverted, inspirational leader. I was always the engineer, a little quieter, a little more reserved, a little less flowery in the way I talked. But that's one thing I think that has changed over time. There's certainly a need for inspiration, but I've learned I can do it in my own way. That means not trying to talk like Matt or reference things he would reference, but taking my own stories and figuring out how I can apply them and hopefully find a way to excite the team. Matt lived a very big, well-rounded life, between his family and his music and his company. This was his first startup. It was of huge importance to him. He did so much for this company in the three years he was here. Whenever we talk about decisions we need to make as a company, we always come back to: What are our values and where do we stand? And most of those things were driven early on by Matt. There's not a day that goes by without someone referencing him in one way or another. We have photos with him all around the office. We have a blood-orange tree in the lounge in his honor that we raised from a scrawny little sapling. I guess it's still pretty small. (The Center Square) High school students may soon be able to take financial literacy courses as part of their required two years of social studies with a measure awaiting the governors approval. Betsy Z. Russell is the Boise bureau chief and state capitol reporter for the Idaho Press and Adams Publishing Group. Follow her on Twitter at @BetsyZRussell. Betsy Z. Russell is the Boise bureau chief and state capitol reporter for the Idaho Press and Adams Publishing Group. Follow her on Twitter at @BetsyZRussell. 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 circulation2@journalnet.com for help creating one. Community Information If you would like to submit an upcoming event or community announcement, please contact our staff at 208-232-4161 or send an email to cjohnson@journalnet.com. We will also accept news from local clubs and engagement, wedding and anniversary announcements. You can post your community or club events on our calendar. Obituaries Submit an obituary/notice All obituaries must be placed by your mortuary or onlineDeadline is 3 p.m. for publication the next day. The ISJ is not responsible for spelling, grammar, or basic mistakes. 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@idahopress.com for help creating one. The Associated Press is not reporting the details of the accusation because AP has not been able to corroborate it. The Washington Post said Monday that it was approached by the woman in 2017 and carefully investigated but never published a story for lack of any independent evidence. The Post said the woman had not told anyone about it, the account could not be corroborated, Fairfax denied it, and the Post was unable to find other similar allegations against him among people who knew him in college, law school or in politics. Foreign Stream-Ripping Site Beats Labels, For Now In the long-running industry-led crusade against stream ripping and torrent sites, the labels have typically come out on top in most battles, with the offending sites usually getting shuttered as a result. Not this time, however, with a foreign stream-ripping site chalking up a win against labels on jurisdictional grounds. ___________________________ [The RIAA has promised to appeal.] Guest post by Timothy Geigner of Techdirt It's been quite frustrating to watch the music industry continually turn its legal gaze to whatever it insists is the "new" threat. From the traditional piratey-scapegoats like Napster, to torrent sites, and on to file-lockers, before finally moving over to stream-ripping sites it's been quite predictable, if a bit silly. As with so many industry-led crusades against technology tools, this attack on these types of sites carries with it the misguided notion that because a site or tool can be used to infringe on music copyrights, it therefore is an enemy and must be shut down entirely. We've seen this same tactic used against tons of technology tools that have had perfectly legal uses in the past, but in the case of stream-ripping sites, most have decided to simply fold. Which makes it somewhat noteworthy that one foreign site is fighting back and winning against a legal challenge in the US, if only on jurisdictional grounds. FLVTO.biz and 2conv.com, owned by Russian developer Tofig Kurbanov, remained online despite being sued by several record labels last August. Where other site owners often prefer to remain in the shadows, Kurbanov filed a motion to dismiss the case. According to the defense, the court has no jurisdiction over the matter. Only a small fraction of the visitors come from the US, and the site is managed entirely from Russia, it argued. The RIAA labels involved in the suit disagreed, of course. As with all lawsuits of this kind, the labels merely see a tool that American users can get to, and can use to infringe, therefore it must be killed off. FLVTO pointing out that it doesn't do anything to entice American users to its site, nor does it engage in any commercial activity on the site other than displaying advertisements, did nothing to keep the RIAA from suing. It did, however, convince the judge to toss the case on jurisdictional grounds. Even if the Websites servers knew exactly where the users were located, any interaction would still be in the unilateral control of the users as they initiate the contacts, Judge Hiltons opinion reads. There could be personal jurisdiction if theres a commercial contract involved. However, thats not the case here. The site generates revenue from users through advertisements, but thats not seen as a basis for a commercial contract, the court concludes. In other words, an American company can't sue a foreign operator in the US simply because the internet works as intended. While this is a good ruling generally, it might be nice to get the courts to establish some clarity on the legal status of stream-ripping sites. Again, these are essentially dumb sites that don't care whether the rip is infringing or not. They are a tool, nothing more. Given that, the fact that these sites are shutting themselves down under the mere threat of lawsuits represents a pretty clear chilling effect on the dissemination of otherwise legal tools and technology to the internet writ large. This is especially true given that we already have a pretty clear precedent for this issue. Stream ripping is little different from the VCR in effect. It is taking a "stream" of live content, and "recording" it for personal use and storage. Thirty-five years ago, the Supreme Court made it clear that this was perfectly legal in the famous Sony Betamax case. In that case, the court found that there were substantial non-infringing uses of the technology as is true of stream rippers and that "time shifting" of content that was being streamed live was a perfectly legitimate use. As the ruling in the Betamax case found: The question is thus whether the Betamax is capable of commercially significant noninfringing uses. In order to resolve that question, we need not explore all the different potential uses of the machine and determine whether or not they would constitute infringement. Rather, we need only consider whether, on the basis of the facts as found by the District Court, a significant number of them would be noninfringing. Moreover, in order to resolve this case, we need not give precise content to the question of how much use is commercially significant. For one potential use of the Betamax plainly satisfies this standard, however it is understood: private, noncommercial time-shifting in the home. It does so both (A) because respondents have no right to prevent other copyright holders from authorizing it for their programs, and (B) because the District Court's factual findings reveal that even the unauthorized home time-shifting of respondents' programs is legitimate fair use. It is difficult to see how that same standard does not apply to stream ripping as well but so far, the RIAA (in particular) is acting as if the Supreme Court ruled the opposite way in the Betamax case, and because many of these sites are small, they have little desire to actually fight a huge, costly legal battle. And thus, the RIAA has mostly been able to kill off the modern VCR. This case turned on jurisdiction issues, which is a good start, but a clear ruling that stream ripping is legal, a la the Betamax, would be even better. Share on: At the United Nations climate talks last week, we heard a loud and clear message from science: global warming is moving at an alarming rate, faster than predicted. The scenarios are very worrisome, with the melting of glaciers, more frequent super storms and other extreme climate events. These have been responsible for huge waves of human migration to cities with low capacity to absorb them, resulting in conflicts, civil war and even the collapse of societies as a whole as we have seen in Syria. The commitments made by countries in the Paris Agreement, if fully implemented, can reduce current trends by half. However, this is not enough. We need to multiply those commitments by two. This requires new approaches and innovative thinking now. Brazil could position itself as a leader in the development of a low carbon economy. Reducing deforestation is the key to meeting the massive short-term emission reductions that science is demanding. It can be reduced rapidly, as the case of the Brazilian Amazon well illustrates. Deforestation went from 27,000 square kilometres to 6,000 square kilometres in the 2005-2015 period, resulting in emission reductions of 5.6 billion tons of CO2 -- more than the European Trade Scheme has achieved. The problem is that reducing deforestation costs money - it is not a matter of simply enforcing the law. Moving from an era of agricultural expansion as means for economic development, to one where forests are worth more standing than cut down is extremely costly. Tens of billions of dollars are pumped into cattle rearing and agriculture every year. Yet, for the forest's part, extremely poor populations need to improve their livelihoods, especially in terms of education and health. We need to place a value on the ecosystem services provided by forests, including their ability to capture and store the carbon that is warming our planet. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, plus forest conservation and the enhancement of carbon stocks, is referred to in the UN system as REDD+. REDD+ projects prevent deforestation from happening where the trend of land clearing for agriculture is apparent. Investing in protecting forests has been proven to be much more advantageous for the planet and for people than other approaches. For example, REDD+ projects help maintain rainfall regimes, conserve biological diversity and generate income opportunities for local populations, improving their access to healthcare and education resources. REDD+ thus is a driver of sustainable development in forested areas. We work with thousands of indigenous people whose lives have been transformed since they have been trained to conserve the forest and earn money from sustainable farming. In addition, these emission reductions can happen much faster and at lower costs than any other alternative. The challenge is how to unlock private finance for REDD+ activities. The largest operational fund for REDD+ is the Amazon Fund (US$1.8 billion), financed mostly by Norway, with additional support from Germany and Petrobras. The Amazon Fund has captured some six per cent of the total emissions verified by Brazil. But it is unlikely that many other "Norways" will come on board to fill the funding gap. That is why we cannot ignore the potential that a well-set carbon trading scheme can have for financing these vital conservation projects in the Amazon, Central Africa and Southeast Asia. Our neighbours with whom we share the Amazon rainforest recognise the importance of this financing mechanism. Brazil cannot meet its climate pledges without it. And that is also why the Sustainable Amazonas Foundation, State of Amazonas and BV Rio launched a new online registry of REDD+ projects for Amazonas. The platform also includes a trading platform for carbon emission reductions, which could generate the financing that forest conservation projects desperately need. We took the opportunity at the UN climate talks to urge the Brazilian government to change its position and allowing broader market mechanisms for REDD+, in an open letter, signed by many organisations such as FAS, the Institute for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon (IDESAM), SOS Mata Atlantica Foundation, and research institute IPAM among others. Investing in forest mitigation through REDD+ can serve as a major contributor to closing the gap between national commitments to emission reductions and those required by science. REDD+ should be seen as a complementary way for all sectors to move towards deep decarbonisation. To ensure effective reductions, it must be carried out with technical and scientific rigor, to avoid double counting. It should be targeted at specific sectors, such as aviation, and should have both social and environmental safeguards, so that the greatest benefits go properly to indigenous people, the guardians of the forest. In contrast to other options, REDD+ also offers co-benefits that are much needed to boost ecosystem resilience and reduce social inequalities worldwide. Greening the energy sector will not be enough and takes too long. We must take bold and innovative action now while there is still time. And Brazil should take the lead on this green economy transition as the largest and most biodiverse country in the world. 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. The Jesuit pope capitalized on his relationship with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar, the revered 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni learning, to make the historic trip. They found welcome in the Emirates, which prides itself on its tolerance in a region known for severely restricting religious freedom and is home to a remarkably vibrant Catholic community that by some estimates numbers 1 million faithful in a federation of 9 million. (CNN) Witnesses in the case against Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman told authorities the drug lord had sex with young girls he called "vitamins" that gave him "life," according to court documents unsealed late Friday. The allegation comes as a federal jury is set to begin deliberations Monday in Guzman's high-profile drug conspiracy trial in US District Court in Brooklyn. A cooperating witness who testified at trial told investigators that around 2007 he helped Guzman drug girls as young as 13 by placing a "powdery substance" in their drinks before the defendant had sex with them, according to the documents. Eduardo Balarezo, one of Guzman's attorneys, said his client denies the "extremely salacious" allegations that "lack any corroboration and were deemed too prejudicial and unreliable to be admitted at trial." "It is unfortunate that the material was publicly released just prior to the jury beginning deliberations," Balarezo said in a statement, declining further comment. The documents were ordered unsealed by US District Judge Brian Cogan at the request of The New York Times and Vice News. The documents had been sealed because prosecutors had convinced the court that the allegations were "irrelevant" to the drug conspiracy charges against Guzman. The cooperating witness, who lived with Guzman, told investigators that an associate of El Chapo known as "Commadre Maria" regularly sent the defendant photos of girls as young as 13, the documents said. For about $5,000, the girl of Guzman's choice was delivered to one of El Chapo's ranches in his home state of Sinaloa. The witness told investigators that Guzman called "the youngest of the girls his 'vitamins' because he believed that sexual activity with young girls gave him 'life,'" according to the document. The document said other government witnesses corroborated the allegations. The cooperating witness told investigators that he also had sex with minors without drugging them. Guzman, 61, faces 10 federal counts, including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to launder narcotics proceeds, international distribution of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and other drugs, and use of firearms. He has pleaded not guilty. He could be sentenced to life in prison if found guilty on the top charge of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. This story was first published on CNN.com, "'El Chapo' Guzman accused in court documents of having sex with young girls." 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. The Missouri State Highway Patrol were called at about 9:48 p.m. Sunday to a crash at Highway B and 137 at Raymondville. A free chance to win $1 million or more in lottery Free tickets to sporting events A paid day off work I'm anti-vax and think incentives are a distraction Vote View Results Its a TV image so common we barely pause to look up: a hive of uniformed law enforcement officers swarming onto a crime scene. But the target of this SWAT-type strike was groundbreaking. Unfolding on air over a developing story banner in November, the surprise targeted the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Instead of contraband or drugs, law enforcers were seeking records linked to a diocese priest, recently released on bond, accused of sexually abusing children. While the optics of a police raid on a church were unusual, the crime allegation behind it is by now familiar. The world has been aware of systemic sexual abuse in the U.S. Catholic Church since 2002, when the Boston Globes Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation exposed the breadth of this crime epidemic. Catholics [CK1] might reasonably have assumed then their church would tackle the crisis swiftly and forcefully. Instead, new revelations of crimes by priests against children continue year after year, in stunning lists of dozens, hundreds and thousands. In recent months, in the wake of federal and state investigations nationwide, some dioceses have begun releasing lists of priests accused of child abuse without waiting for the Vaticans green light. During Christmas weekend, Pope Francis implored predator priests to turn themselves in, swearing the church would bring the guilty to justice. Yet in the very same month, revelations about church sex crimes against children were breaking out in Illinois, California, and New York. As a scholar of scandals and reputation management, I have spent more than a decade analyzing the child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, looking at how such events affect organizations and their members. Based on similar cases of institutional crisis, I believe the Churchs slow action during its sexual abuse crisis indicates that someone within the hierarchy conducted a cost-benefit analysis: weighing the pros and cons of addressing institutional child abuse all at once versus slamming the lid on it, facing cases only if they became public - and outside forces insisted on asking questions. In my field, questions are a powerful tool. The right questions can be transformative for church members confronting the sex abuse epidemic in their trusted, and beloved, institution. Painful as it may be, they should be bold about posing these difficult queries to religious leaders. According to organizational research, churchgoing Catholics experience a spectrum of reactions when church sexual abuse is exposed. Some people leave the Catholic Church altogether, seeking spiritual refuge in different denominations. Some abandon organized religion entirely. But many actually become more religious, reaffirming their commitment to the Roman Catholic Church, and vowing to help fight the problem. For parishioners who are now making this decision, here are a series of questions I suggest asking priests, church leaders, and finally themselves. Added to data from outside sources including scholarship and investigative journalism, the answers may offer guidance on how, or whether, to engage with the Church at a devastating time. Q: Have Catholics been too eager to forgive, and if so, what has been the price of that forgiveness? A: In 2005, after a horrifying Philadelphia Grand Jury Report became public, Temple Universitys Institute of Public Affairs and The Philadelphia Inquirer polled, among others, Catholics who attended church regularly. Asked whether the Church had prioritized protecting its reputation or preventing abuse, more than 80 percent responded that in the past, the Church prioritized its reputation. The answers changed, however, regarding the Churchs current motives: only 37 percent believed the church still prioritized its image over protecting children. Yet just last August, the Pennsylvania attorney generals office released documentation of sexual abuse of more than 1,000 individuals by hundreds of priests. Was church members forgiveness premature? Q: Why is the proportion of Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse of children almost triple that of the general population? A: According to BishopAccountability.org, which tracks sexual abuse against children within the Catholic Church, 5.8 percent of priests active in the United States between 1950 and 2016 have been accused of sexual abuse. Research on pedophilia estimates that the number of child abusers within the general population totals 2 percent. This disparity suggests some self-selection going on. Q: Does the power structure within the Catholic Church enable the abuse? A: Data collected by BishopAccountability.org shows that approximately two-thirds of sitting U.S. bishops were alleged in 2002 to have kept accused priests in ministry or moved accused priests to new assignments. Because these are not likely choices that would be made by parishioners, power seems to be concentrated in too few hands. Even when church hierarchy takes abuse charges seriously, those in power consistently protect their own. In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the 2005 Grand Jury Report revealed, the harshest punishment any accused priest had to face was a supervised life of penance and prayer. Now is the time for law enforcement, religious leaders and the faithful themselves to ask and answer these difficult questions. While I know the answers I would want to hear, matters of faith are deeply personal. Here, too, asking questions can strengthen the decision-making process. If you stay, can you make a difference? Does staying make you an enabler? What should you do when a presumed moral authority turns out to be corrupt, even evil? Is it more important to protect the church or to protect children? What does the church owe the victims? And finally, if redemption is an option, what are the practical steps toward making it real? Zavyalova is an assistant professor of strategic management at Rice Universitys Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University. WASHINGTON Rhonda Hart, the mother of a Santa Fe High School shooting victim, will be the guest of Houston U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher at President Donald Trump's State of the Union address next Tuesday. Another congressional freshman, San Antonio Republican Chip Roy, is inviting Brandon Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council and an outspoken supporter of Trump's hard line on illegal immigration. The more things change in the capital, the more they stay the same. It's become a time-honored ritual of the annual State of the Union speech: Guests whose appearances give new breath to issues such as immigration, gun safety, or, in 2019, the government shutdown. The guests are not always ideological. Last year, Republican Kevin Brady of The Woodlands brought along Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, who opened his Gallery Furniture stores to victims of Hurricane Harvey. But this year's presidential address, coming after a 35-day partial government shutdown over border wall funding, appears to be extra ripe for political messaging. Some Democrats are inviting federal workers who were affected by the shutdown and who could again be furloughed or forced to work without pay if House and Senate negotiators don't strike a funding deal by February 15. Also among the Democratic guests will be Central American immigrants who worked on Trump properties in New York and New Jersey without legal papers. Dreamers - young immigrants brought into the country illegally as children - are also expected on the invite lists. White House officials, briefing reporters Friday on Trump's speech, signaled that he will seek to strike a conciliatory tone, with phrases about "bridging old divisions" and "healing old wounds." But the opposition party is always a tough audience. As Trump gives his second State of the Union speech, many female lawmakers also will be seen in the House chamber wearing white, a symbol of the early 20th century women's suffrage movement. With lawmakers, members of the Supreme Court and cabinet officials all gathered in one place, guests take their place on the second-floor gallery overlooking the spectacle, often attracting the attention of news cameras. Some Texans in Congress will be satisfied with small, personal gestures, resisting the increasingly polarized mood of Congress. Houston Republican Dan Crenshaw, a freshman who has vowed to bring civility to politics, is bringing along his wife. Laredo Democrat Henry Cuellar one of the negotiators on border security conference committee tasked with averting another shutdown invited San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. Others are adopting a similarly regional, if topical approach. Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a top Republican, is inviting former Border Patrol Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Manny Padilla, now director of the Border Patrol's Joint Task Force-West in San Antonio. Austin Democrat Lloyd Doggett will bring Richard Perez, President and CEO of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. Meanwhile, Sugar Land Republican Pete Olson is inviting Brij Agarwal, a Houston-area entrepreneur who came to the United States legally, starting out in factory work. "Brij represents the diverse business owners in our community and the importance of small businesses who are the backbone of growth and opportunity for our hard-working families," an Olson spokeswoman said. But Roy's and Fletcher's guests will likely make more of a media splash. Brandon Judd, the Border Patrol union president invited by Roy, is a frequent guest on Fox News, where he is a vocal defender of the Trump administration's border policies. He has also taken aim at Democrats on Twitter. "Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release," he wrote last year. "Getting more dangerous. 'Caravans' coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW." Then there's Fletcher's guest, Rhonda Hart, an Army veteran whose 14-year-old daughter Kimberly was among the 10 students and teachers shot and killed at Santa Fe High School last year outside Houston. The loss turned Hart into a gun safety activist, leading her to volunteer for Beto O'Rourke's Senate campaign and crashing a campaign rally last September for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican incumbent. "Don't disrespect my daughter. My daughter died. My daughter died," Hart said, standing on a chair, while accusing Cruz of inaction on gun reform. She has since become the most outspoken of the Santa Fe victims' families. "Rhonda has suffered through the unimaginable loss of her child with poise and resilience," Fletcher said in a statement Friday. "She's taken her pain and focused it toward advocating for others whose lives are threatened by gun violence. And through it all, she's worn a smile on her face and her trademark red cape." Cruz, for his part, is inviting his father, Rafael Cruz, an evangelical preacher from Cuba who often served as surrogate on his campaigns, including his 2016 campaign for president. Austin Jones enjoyed a particularly 21st century kind of stardom. A baby-faced 20-something with his blond hair swooped into the helmet cut of an early-period Justin Bieber, Jones has used YouTube to beam out hundreds of videos featuring his own idiosyncratic takes on popular songs since 2007. His clips featured multiple tracks of Jones's own voice, creating a one-man a cappella chorus belting out tween ear candy, from emo staples by acts like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy to pop hits by Rihanna and Bieber. The Bloomingdale, Illinois, native racked up more than 40 million views for his videos, and his YouTube channel counted more than 500,000 devoted subscribers. But there was a much darker side to Jones's Internet teen idol status. In June 2017, Jones was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, it was reported at the time. A federal indictment would later charge Jones with leveraging his star power to coerce lewd sexual material from underage fans. He faced two counts of felony child pornography. On Friday, Jones, 26, pleaded guilty to one count in the case. Jones acknowledged in his 27-page plea agreement that he had conversations online with six teenage girls, ages 14 and 15, from 2010 to 2017. In the chats, he encouraged his teenage fans to send him sexually explicit videos. In one exchange, Jones allegedly told the minor that a sexually explicit video was a way to "prove" she was his biggest fan. Sentencing has been set for May 3. Jones could face five to 20 years in prison. Jones's tumble from the heights of Internet stardom underscores how the intimacy of a YouTube celebrity's relationship with fans can quickly turn criminal. Rumors about Jones's behavior surfaced long before his 2017 arrest. As his online popularity was blooming, Jones turned the clicks into a real-world opportunity by joining the 2015 Vans Warped Tour. But in spring of that year, an anonymous 15-year-old girl started a Change.org petition asking that Jones be removed from the lineup. "Austin Jones is now taking advantage of his fame. On numerous accounts, he has pressured girls as young as 13 into sending him videos of them twerking. As a 15-year-old girl, I find this disgusting," the petition founder wrote. "These kind of actions are NOT okay and should not be taken lightly." Jones ended up leaving the tour as the petition pulled in 9,076 of the requested 10,000 supporters. In a video Jones posted to his YouTube account in June 2015, the Internet celebrity admitted making mistakes but defended himself against serious charges. "I used to ask fans for twerking videos - yes, twerking the dance move. It's not something I'm proud of, it's not something I think is right, and I shouldn't have done it," Jones said in the clip. "Nothing went further than twerking videos. There were never any nudes, never any physical contact. It never happened. " But Jones's behavior only kicked into higher gear later, his plea agreement states. According to the federal indictment filed against Jones, Facebook and Apple's iMessage were his preferred methods for communicating with his fans. In August 2016, Jones began chatting on Facebook with a 14-year-old girl. "Wait . . . you're 14?" Jones wrote to the girl, according to a transcript contained in the federal indictment. "Yea I'm, a youngster," the girl replied. "[D]o you realize how lucky you are?!?!" Jones wrote. "I seriously shouldn't even be talking to you." "Why," the girl messaged back. "Because you're young," Jones answered. "You're young too tho," the girl replied. In the chat, Jones said he knew the 14-year-old was his biggest fan but that she would "have to keep proving your [sic] my biggest fan though!!!" This meant the girl was supposed to send Jones videos of herself dancing provocatively to music, as well as showing her genitalia on camera. "I guess you really aren't my biggest fan," Jones said when the girl hesitated. "I know you're trying hardest to prove you're my biggest fan. And I don't want to have to find someone else." According to the indictment, the girl sent 25 videos to Jones. In eight of the clips, she pulled off her underwear and exposed her genitals. Jones followed similar scripts in his interactions with a different 14-year-old girl in May 2017. According to the indictment, the YouTuber told this girl the videos were a "try out" and an "opportunity." Again, he asked the girl to film a provocative dance, and Jones directed her movements - including where she should place her cellphone and to tell the camera she was only 14 years old. According to documents filed in federal court by his attorneys, after his arrest in June 2017, Jones entered into "treatment to better understand the root of inappropriate, negative behaviors he had engaged in as well as to process underlying traumas that he had yet to address in any healthy, complete way," one of his doctors wrote in a letter to the court. Court documents reveal Jones was sexually abused by a close relative, and also dealt with the unexpected death of a sibling at an early age. Following his guilty plea last Friday, prosecutors asked that Jones be immediately taken into custody, the Tribune reported. U.S. District Judge John Lee, however, ruled the YouTuber can remain free on bail until his sentencing to continue his mental health treatment. Jones's YouTube channel remains online, although he has not posted new content since a month before his arrest. CONCORD, N.H. - How far have vegan alternatives come to tasting like the real thing? Not far enough, according to a panel that tasted some options. "Noxious" and "kind of not natural" were among the reactions to some of the meatless alternatives being pushed by a new generation of vegan food makers that want to revolutionize the way Americans eat. Rice University professor Michael Deem was named as an author on an academic article about the controversial experiment in China that produced the worlds first gene-edited babies, an online publication reported Thursday, the latest evidence to suggest he had a prominent role in the research. Deem, whose exact role is under investigation by Rice, was listed last among authors on the paper, which was submitted to the journal Nature in November, according to emails obtained by Stat, a health news website affiliated with the Boston Globe. The last author on a life sciences paper is typically a senior researcher who oversees a study. The experiment, led by Chinese scientist He Jiankui, triggered global outrage because the changes made by altering embryos can be inherited. Such experimentation is banned in the United States. Following a Chinese investigation that found the experiment violated government rules, He was fired Jan. 21 by the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen. He reportedly is still likely to face criminal charges. Experts said involvement by Deem, a well-regarded Rice bioengineering and physics professor, would have lent credibility to the research and Hes attempt to get it published in one of the worlds most influential journals. Still, Stat reported that Nature quickly decided not to proceed with peer review of the paper and rejected it. A spokeswoman for Nature told the Chronicle on Friday that the journal does not confirm or deny reports of submissions that may or may not have been made to the journal. She said all correspondence with authors or potential authors is confidential. In a statement, a lawyer for Deem acknowledged the Rice professors name was on the study at one point, but suggested it didnt emanate from him. Dr. Deem did not authorize submission of manuscripts related to (the gene-editing work) with any journal, and he was not the lead, last or corresponding author on any such manuscript, wrote Matt Hennessy, a Houston lawyer representing Deem. The statement said Deem instructed Nature to remove his name before the review was concluded, but its not clear exactly when that was. The Nature spokeswoman said an automated email is sent to notify co-authors when the first version of a manuscript is submitted to the journal. Early drafts of the paper listed He as the last author and Deem as the second-to-last author, according to the excerpts provided to Stat. But it said the order was changed in the final version submitted, with He first and Deem last. The first person listed is typically the researcher who does the most hands-on work. Stat provided no link to the paper or excerpts. In a previous story, it linked to an unpublished paper involving gene-editing in embryos that listed Deem as the penultimate author and He as the last author. Deem requested his name be taken off that paper the day he learned of its submission, Hennessy said in his statement. The paper did not report a pregnancy. Authorship of journal articles is considered strong evidence of research participation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors says four criteria must be met to merit authorship: substantial contributions to the works design or data acquisition or analysis; drafting the work or revising it for important intellectual content; final approval of the version to be published; and agreement to be accountable for all aspects to ensure questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. The forging of an authors name on a submission is considered career suicide if discovered, but it does happen. Retraction Watch, an online publication that tracks academic misconduct, has documented more than 300 cases in the last decade. But Ivan Oransky, founder of Retraction Watch, said its part of the narrative for researchers to allow the use of their names on papers they havent carefully reviewed. Dont prominent researchers realize theyre being asked to sign on to papers just to give them credibility? Oransky asked rhetorically. Theres a long history of this dating back to the 2005 Korean research that claimed to clone humans. The disclosure that Deem was listed as an author on the paper submitted to Nature follows a number of other indications he was prominently involved in the research. When the Associated Press first broke the story in late November, Deem was the only scientist with firsthand knowledge of the experiment quoted besides He. Referring to the couple whose twin daughters genes were edited as embryos by He, the AP quoted Deem as saying, I met the parents. I was there for the informed consent of the parents. He was also quoted saying he absolutely thinks they were able to understand the risks and called one experts questioning of whether the claim could be a hoax ridiculous. Rice promptly launched its investigation into Deems role following publication of the AP story. Deem was Hes doctoral adviser when He was a graduate student at Rice between 2007 and 2010. Deem hasnt spoken about the matter since the AP report, but Hennessy last week doubled down on his denial of any role by the Rice professor. During the informed consent of the parents, Dr. Deem was not in China, did not meet with the parents and did not participate, Hennessy said in a statement. A spokesman for the AP reiterated Friday that its story is accurate. In its story Thursday, Stat reported that a Chinese scientist who worked on the project called Deem more than a bystander and said he helped recruit volunteers as they went through the informed-consent process. Stat wrote that the scientist asked not to be identified because he or she was not authorized to speak to a reporter. Leigh Turner, a University of Minnesota bioethicist, said its hard to know what to conclude in the absence of more information about the matter. Maybe Deem was senior author, maybe his name was placed there to increase the odds of Nature accepting the paper, said Turner. However we read the tea leaves, it looks as though he has a lot of explaining to do. todd.ackerman@chron.com twitter.com/chronmed Cheryl Hunter was not entirely surprised to read her priests name on the list of those credibly accused of child abuse, because shed heard his version of the story in the pews a few months back. Father John Keller of Prince of Peace Catholic Community Church one of the 42 priests named by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on Thursday had told the story at mass several months ago, she said. In the version Hunter heard, hed been falsely accused and undergone an extensive investigation and been vindicated. He was very believable, said Hunter, 68. He got a large ovation and support from the congregation. Keller gave one final mass Thursday, the day the archdiocese released the list that spanned decades. On the first Sunday since dioceses across Texas named nearly 300 clergymen as credibly accused of sexual abuse, the Prince of Peace parking lot was so full that congregants parked in fire lanes and on side streets. RELATED LINKS: Revealing the names of Houston-area priests 'credibly accused' of child sexual abuse Auxiliary Bishop George Sheltz addressed the congregation during its 10:45 a.m. Mass, acknowledging the hurt in the church and promising the archdiocese would take special care of Prince of Peace. Father has only been alleged he did something, he said of Keller. The system has to work itself out. Sheltz received applause from the pews. Priests across Texas addressed the list of alleged abusers from the pulpit with a similar message: Pray for the victims, pray for the priests and dont leave the Catholic Church because of the abuse allegations. We know the church has had far more difficult things in its history, said Joseph Fiorenza, an emeritus archbishop, at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Hearts 9 a.m. mass. I ask you to remember that Jesus established this church in accordance with his nature, both heavenly and divine. We are quite familiar with the human part of the church. Before mass, parishioners paging through the weekly bulletin paused on a message from Father Lawrence Jozwiak about the accusations. Contrary to the public perception, it is a very small number of clergy who are guilty of such evil acts, especially as compared to other denominations or other professions, he wrote. But the Catholic clergy seems to get most of the publicity. He concluded his letter by urging parishioners not to stop giving money to the church. As ushers passed the wicker baskets around Sacred Heart, people dropped in everything from checks to crumpled bills. RELATED LINKS: Accused Houston-area priest was allowed to celebrate Mass before abuse list was released. Texas is just the latest state to turn the spotlight on the Catholics. A scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report from August 2018 revealed not only 300 abusive priests with over 1,000 child victims, but the men who protected the abusers. In December, the Illinois attorney general discovered 690 accused clergymen. The Church had failed to disclose about 500. The church is like a cup of wine, said Alex Traxler, 51, standing outside Sacred Heart after mass. A lot of people are looking at the cup criticizing the cup, and forgetting what we came for is the wine. And other denominations have grappled with their own sexual abuse scandals in the past year. The Southern Baptists formed a sexual abuse study committee after a seminar leader resigned for allegedly covering up a rape and a woman came forward to say the denominations mission arm knew about one of its then-leaders molesting her as a teen 10 years before she filed a police report. The independent fundamental Baptists have been accused of covering up sexual abuse and shuffling perpetrators between churches. The Jehovahs Witnesses had to pay a $35 million settlement to an abuse survivor in September 2018. One of the most revered rabbis in Baltimores Orthodox Jewish community was accused of sexual abuse in 2018 just the latest in a series of abuse allegations against Orthodox Jews. It is the devils work to divide the Church, said Father Biju Mathew at Prince of Peace. He told the churchs members to pray daily for their priests. You have the power to protect our clergy from the clutches of dark forces. Prince of Peace members scuttled by after the service, not ready yet to talk about the allegations. Still processing, one congregant said before hurrying out the door. One woman started crying, reeling because her pastor had been named but still strong in her faith. Another woman said Keller had been her husbands favorite priest and he was left questioning his faith. He wasnt at church with her. It would probably, she said, take time for him to heal. As for Hunter a Catholic convert after 50 years spent bouncing between Protestant denominations she prays nightly for the victims. As a psychiatric social worker, she understands the trauma of what they went through. She also prays for the clergy. The priests involved some have been wrongly accused and I feel for them, she said. As for those who are guilty: Nobody likes a pedophile, but we need to pray for them. 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. sarah.smith@chron.com Beside a table piled high with bags of white powder, representatives from Customs and Border Protection on Thursday announced the largest seizure of fentanyl in the department's history. Late last month, a 26-year-old Mexican national driving a trailer full of cucumbers was stopped as he tried to enter the U.S. at a border checkpoint near Nogales, Arizona. The trailer contained a false bottom; beneath it, hundreds of pounds of both fentanyl and meth with a street value of more than $4.5 million, authorities said. The drugs were seized, and the driver arrested and charged with two federal charges. All in all, a success story for the department. Notice the details, though: The drugs were hidden in a vehicle passing through a border checkpoint, not driving wildly through barren desert thanks to the lack of a wall on the border. A few hours after the CBP announcement, President Donald Trump told reporters from The New York Times that the sort of apprehension his Department of Homeland Security had just celebrated didn't really exist. LOOKING FOR TRUTH: Trump presses border crisis in McAllen, but reality is different "[U]nlike what the Democrats say, they don't, you don't bring trucks of drugs through the checkpoints," Trump told the Times. "You bring trucks of drugs by making a right 20 miles, and a left into the country. They're not bringing, you know, they bring massive amounts of drugs, and they do it because there's no barrier, there's no hardened wall that you can't knock down with your breath." He's made this assertion before, that drug smugglers simply drive across empty desert in what he at one point described as "unbelievable vehicles" that are "stronger, bigger and faster vehicles than our police have and than ICE has, and the Border Patrol have." (We reviewed the vehicles that had been seized at the southern border for smuggling; most were sedans or crossovers.) Incidents of smugglers avoiding checkpoints do occur. In December, near an immigration checkpoint in Arizona - that is, at a location within the United States - CBP officers spotted a vehicle that appeared to be attempting to avoid the stop. They pursued; the vehicle allegedly held 65 pounds of meth and the driver was arrested. The event actually spawned two separate news releases, neither of which described the vehicle as unusual in any way. Only at HoustonChronicle.com: Border security debates should be grounded in reality Trump's assertion that most of the drugs that enter the United States come in vehicles that speed across unblocked border areas is undercut by testimony from members of his own administration. We've noted before that various agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security have reported - since Trump took office - that most drugs that cross the border come through existing ports of entry. The best example of such testimony probably comes from Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly, who testified before Congress while still Homeland Security secretary in 2017. "Another metric would be the amount of - and it mostly comes through ports of entry, which is another discussion that we can certainly have here, but the amount of drugs that come through," Kelly said. Shortly after Trump was inaugurated, the CBP's Paul Beeson offered similar testimony. "The Southwest land border POEs are the major points of entry for illegal drugs, where smugglers use a wide variety of tactics and techniques for concealing drugs," Beeson said, referring to ports of entry. That is bolstered by the CBP's own news releases. We reviewed every news release touting a drug seizure since Nov. 1, 2018. Of the 120 seizures included in those releases, 82 occurred at ports of entry. Another 14 occurred at or near immigration checkpoints like the one near Yuma listed above. The rest, 24 of them, happened between ports of entry. Almost all of those shared similar characteristics: They were seizures of marijuana by agents in the CBP's Rio Grande Valley sector in Texas. Usually, the seizure involved agents spotting people carrying bundles of marijuana across the river into the United States who then dropped the packages and fled south upon being confronted. There was one noteworthy exception. On Dec. 6, agents spotted an ultralight aircraft flying across the border into California. They watched as it descended in altitude, later finding that it had dropped 129 pounds of meth near Calexico. The drugs were seized. Most of the seizures including in the CBP's releases were similar in nature to the Nogales and Yuma stops: A vehicle pulled over for inspection that was found to have drugs either hidden in the vehicle or, in some cases, sitting within view. Often, the drugs were detected by drug-sniffing dogs. Harder drugs like cocaine, heroin and fentanyl were generally captured in smaller amounts than marijuana. In total, more than 25,000 pounds of drugs, mostly marijuana, were seized at ports of entry. About 7,600 pounds - nearly all of it marijuana - were seized between ports of entry. About 400 pounds of drugs, mostly not marijuana, was seized at checkpoints. (These data exclude bulk reports of seizures without identified individual dates.) More interestingly, the plurality of those who were arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs into the United States were identified either explicitly as U.S. citizens or identified as residents of the United States. Such individuals made up 41 of the 79 incidents in which a suspect's identity was known. Another 31 were identified as Mexican nationals. A few, like the man stopped near the Yuma immigration checkpoint, were legal permanent U.S. residents. None of those identified as having being arrested for attempting to smuggle drugs were described as having originated from any country other than the United States or Mexico. That smugglers would use American citizens to drive vehicles with hidden drug packages across the border makes intuitive sense. Why build a giant Mad-Max-mobile to go bounding over sand dunes in the middle of nowhere when there are decent odds that you can get through a checkpoint near a major U.S. city simply by driving a regular car down a regular road? In fact, as USA Today reported in 2017, agents on the border have about 40 seconds to spot signs of smuggling before letting cars progress into the United States. The paper also noted that existing fencing had the desired effect of preventing the scenarios Trump proposes. The fencing around existing ports of entry has the effect of pushing smugglers toward the ports of entry, where they can more easily be detected. Below, the 120 incidents documented in the CBP's news releases. These reports alone, from an agency under Trump's management, indicate that the president's disparagement of the idea that smugglers try to sneak meth and heroin into the country using vehicles at ports of entry is incorrect. - - - Seizures identified in CBP news releases since Nov. 1, 2018 Nov. 1, 2018. Port of entry near Pharr International Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 24 pounds of cocaine. - Nov. 2, 2018. Port of entry near San Luis, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 118 pounds of meth. - Nov. 3, 2018. Port of entry near Lukeville, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 28 pounds of meth. - Nov. 4, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect attempted to smuggle 50 pounds of meth. - Nov. 5, 2018. Port of entry near Raul Hector Castro, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 315 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 5, 2018. Port of entry near World Trade Bridge, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 260 pounds of cocaine. - Nov. 5, 2018. Port of entry near Calexico East, Calif. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 50 pounds of meth. - Nov. 6, 2018. Port of entry near Hidalgo International Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 14 pounds of heroin. - Nov. 6, 2018. Port of entry near El Paso, Texas. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 1.5 pounds of meth. - Nov. 6, 2018. Port of entry near Raul Hector Castro, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 69 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 7, 2018. Port of entry near Lukeville, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 190 pounds of meth. - Nov. 7, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Yuma, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 30 pounds of meth. - Nov. 8, 2018. Between ports of entry near Grande City, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 225 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 8, 2018. Port of entry near Pharr International Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 24 pounds of cocaine. - Nov. 9, 2018. Port of entry near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 0.5 pounds of heroin. - Nov. 9, 2018. Port of entry near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 3 pounds of heroin. - Nov. 9, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Yuma, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 62 pounds of meth. - Nov. 10, 2018. Port of entry near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 1.5 pounds of fentanyl. - Nov. 10, 2018. Port of entry near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 17 pounds of cocaine. - Nov. 10, 2018. Port of entry near San Luis, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 99 pounds of meth. - Nov. 10, 2018. Between ports of entry near Roma, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 95 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 10, 2018. Port of entry near Hidalgo International Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 18 pounds of cocaine. - Nov. 11, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 40 pounds of cocaine. - Nov. 11, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Kingsville, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 3 pounds of marijuana, heroin. - Nov. 13, 2018. Port of entry near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 2 pounds of meth. - Nov. 14, 2018. Port of entry near Anzaldus-Reynosa International Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 156 pounds of meth. - Nov. 16, 2018. Port of entry near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 66 pounds of heroin, meth. - Nov. 16, 2018. Port of entry near Hidalgo International Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 36 pounds of cocaine. - Nov. 16, 2018. Port of entry near Dennis DeConcini Crossing, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 26 pounds of meth. - Nov. 16, 2018. Port of entry near Dennis DeConcini Crossing, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 39 pounds of heroin, meth. - Nov. 18, 2018. Port of entry near Hidalgo, Texas. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 12 pounds of meth, cocaine. - Nov. 18, 2018. Port of entry near Hidalgo International Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 13 pounds of meth, cocaine. - Nov. 18, 2018. Port of entry near Dennis DeConcini Crossing, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 19 pounds of meth. - Nov. 19, 2018. Port of entry near Pharr International Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 55 pounds of meth, cocaine. - Nov. 20, 2018. Port of entry near Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 21 pounds of meth. - Nov. 22, 2018. Port of entry near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 20 pounds of cocaine. - Nov. 23, 2018. Port of entry near Lukeville, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 112 pounds of meth. - Nov. 23, 2018. Port of entry near Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 62 pounds of cocaine. - Nov. 23, 2018. Port of entry near Raul Hector Castro, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 100 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 23, 2018. Between ports of entry near Donna, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 330 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 24, 2018. Port of entry near San Diego Suspect is a Multiple national who attempted to smuggle 625 pounds of various. - Nov. 24, 2018. Port of entry near Raul Hector Castro, Ariz. Suspect is a Multiple national who attempted to smuggle 182 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 24, 2018. Port of entry near Raul Hector Castro, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 82 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 24, 2018. Between ports of entry near Rio Grande City, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 235 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 26, 2018. Port of entry near Lukeville, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 1 pounds of meth. - Nov. 27, 2018. Port of entry near World Trade Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 18 pounds of meth. - Nov. 27, 2018. Port of entry near Calexico East, Calif. Suspect is a legal permanent U.S. resident who attempted to smuggle 65 pounds of meth. - Nov. 27, 2018. Port of entry near San Ysidro, Calif. Suspect is a legal permanent U.S. resident who attempted to smuggle 170 pounds of meth. - Nov. 27, 2018. Between ports of entry near Rio Grande City, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 230 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 27, 2018. Between ports of entry near Rio Grande City, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 300 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 27, 2018. Between ports of entry near Garceno, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 465 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 28, 2018. Port of entry near World Trade Bridge, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 54 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 28, 2018. Port of entry near World Trade Bridge, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 2885 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 28, 2018. Between ports of entry near La Grulla, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 235 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 28, 2018. Between ports of entry near Fort Brown, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 540 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 29, 2018. Port of entry near Douglas, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 250 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 29, 2018. Port of entry near Raul Hector Castro, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 253 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 30, 2018. Port of entry near Naco, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 75 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 30, 2018. Port of entry near World Trade Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 4239 pounds of marijuana. - Nov. 30, 2018. Port of entry near World Trade Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 36 pounds of meth. - Dec. 1, 2018. Port of entry near World Trade Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 4275 pounds of marijuana, meth. - Dec. 1, 2018. Between ports of entry near Rio Grande City, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 230 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 1, 2018. Between ports of entry near Mission, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 770 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 3, 2018. Port of entry near Calexico, Calif. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 51 pounds of meth. - Dec. 5, 2018. Port of entry near Dennis DeConcini Crossing, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 92.25 pounds of meth, heroin, fentanyl. - Dec. 5, 2018. Port of entry near Dennis DeConcini Crossing, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 129 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 5, 2018. Port of entry near Hidalgo International Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 24 pounds of cocaine. - Dec. 5, 2018. Between ports of entry near Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 722 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 5, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Yuma, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 59 pounds of meth. - Dec. 5, 2018. Port of entry near Tucson Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 118 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 6, 2018. Port of entry near Dennis DeConcini Crossing, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 23 pounds of cocaine. - Dec. 6, 2018. Port of entry near San Luis, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 66 pounds of meth. - Dec. 6, 2018. Port of entry near Raul Hector Castro, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 270 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 6, 2018. Between ports of entry near Brownsville, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 80 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 6, 2018. Between ports of entry near Brownsville, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 100 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 6, 2018. Port of entry near San Luis, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 60 pounds of meth. - Dec. 7, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Yuma, Ariz. Suspect is a legal permanent U.S. resident who attempted to smuggle 65 pounds of meth. - Dec. 7, 2018. Between ports of entry near Mission, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 945 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 7, 2018. Between ports of entry near Roma, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 160 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 7, 2018. Port of entry near Otay Mesa, Calif. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 1000 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 8, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Salton City, Calif. Suspect attempted to smuggle 4 pounds of meth. - Dec. 8, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Salton City, Calif. Suspect attempted to smuggle 22 pounds of meth. - Dec. 8, 2018. Port of entry near Laredo, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 49 pounds of meth. - Dec. 9, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Salton City, Calif. Suspect attempted to smuggle 57 pounds of meth. - Dec. 9, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Salton City, Calif. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 3 pounds of meth. - Dec. 10, 2018. Port of entry near Lukeville, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 208 pounds of heroin, meth. - Dec. 10, 2018. Port of entry near Laredo, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 37 pounds of cocaine. - Dec. 10, 2018. Port of entry near Pharr International Bridge, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 367 pounds of meth, cocaine, heroin. - Dec. 11, 2018. Port of entry near San Luis, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 85 pounds of meth. - Dec. 11, 2018. Between ports of entry near Brownsville, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 370 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 12, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Yuma, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 2 pounds of heroin. - Dec. 12, 2018. Port of entry near Veterans International Bridge, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 3919 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 13, 2018. Port of entry near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 1 pounds of heroin. - Dec. 13, 2018. Port of entry near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 13 pounds of cocaine. - Dec. 13, 2018. Port of entry near Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge, Texas. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 94 pounds of meth. - Dec. 14, 2018. Port of entry near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a legal permanent U.S. resident who attempted to smuggle 5 pounds of cocaine. - Dec. 14, 2018. Port of entry near World Trade Bridge, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 210 pounds of meth. - Dec. 14, 2018. Port of entry near Laredo, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 39 pounds of meth. - Dec. 15, 2018. Between ports of entry near Los Ebanos, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 320 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 15, 2018. Port of entry near Gateway to the Americas Bridge, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 38 pounds of meth. - Dec. 16, 2018. Port of entry near Dennis DeConcini Crossing, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 11 pounds of meth. - Dec. 16, 2018. Port of entry near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 1 pounds of heroin. - Dec. 16, 2018. Port of entry near Eagle Pass, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 12.5 pounds of cocaine. - Dec. 16, 2018. Immigration checkpoint near Falfurrias, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle marijuana. - Dec. 16, 2018. Between ports of entry near Calaboz, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 94 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 16, 2018. Between ports of entry near Calexico, Calif. Suspect attempted to smuggle 129 pounds of meth. - Dec. 17, 2018. Between ports of entry near Bluetown, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 190 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 18, 2018. Port of entry near San Luis, Ariz. Suspect is a Multiple national who attempted to smuggle heroin. - Dec. 18, 2018. Port of entry near Dennis DeConcini Crossing, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 0.5 pounds of heroin. - Dec. 18, 2018. Between ports of entry near Brownsville, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 360 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 19, 2018. Port of entry near San Luis, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 0.5 pounds of meth. - Dec. 19, 2018. Port of entry near Roma International Bridge, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 2149 pounds of marijuana. - Dec. 19, 2018. Between ports of entry near Rio Grande City, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 230 pounds of marijuana. (Gap due to the shutdown.) - Jan. 25, 2019. Port of entry near San Luis, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 28 pounds of meth. - Jan. 25, 2019. Port of entry near Presidio, Texas. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 216 pounds of marijuana. - Jan. 26, 2019. Port of entry near Nogales, Ariz. Suspect is a Mexican national who attempted to smuggle 649 pounds of fentanyl, meth. - Jan. 26, 2019. Port of entry near Laredo, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 28 pounds of heroin. - Jan. 27, 2019. Port of entry near San Luis, Ariz. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 62 pounds of meth. - Jan. 27, 2019. Immigration checkpoint near Salton City, Calif. Suspect is a U.S. national who attempted to smuggle 75 pounds of meth. - Jan. 27, 2019. Between ports of entry near Edinburg, Texas. Suspect attempted to smuggle 230 pounds of marijuana. I recently tasted a burger made of plant-based meat and didnt hate it. Thats not exactly high praise, Ill admit. But I was surprised at how closely it mimicked the flavor and texture of real meat. I think most carnivores will admit to sampling meat-substitute products for research purposes. Weve all seen those tofu-based hot dogs at the supermarket and furtively placed them in our cart under the beer brats and pork chops. Theres that twinge of fear as we approach the checkout lane and envision the cashier yelling into a microphone for the whole store to hear: Weve got a guy here buying fake hot dogs! Need a price check on tofu dogs! If your experience is anything like mine, the tofu dogs are mostly unpalatable, as are other plant-based meat substitutes such as veggie burgers. On a trip to Portland, Ore., I even tried vegan barbecue, which was as bland and tasteless as you might imagine. But in the past few years, the meat-substitute industry has evolved dramatically thanks to the marketing and technology wizards in Silicon Valley that high-tech area near San Francisco thats home to Google and Apple. Love the smell of wood smoke in the morning? Join J.C. Reid, Alison Cook and Greg Morago as they discuss barbecue culture with special guests by subscribing to the Chronicle's BBQ State of Mind podcast on Apple's Podcasts, or visit houstonchronicle.com/ bbqpodcast. See More Collapse A company called Impossible Foods introduced a product called the Impossible Burger a little while back, which it claims closely imitates the taste and texture of real meat using only plant-based ingredients. Amazingly, it mostly succeeds. I tried the Impossible Burger at a local outlet of the Hopdoddy Burger Bar chain. I was expecting the tasteless mush associated with veggie burgers. But this had the texture of ground meat and that rich, savory flavor (often referred to as umami) associated with the fat and blood of animal flesh. It wasnt a perfect copy, however. It lacked the juiciness of a beef-based burger. The flavor and appearance were actually closer to a pre-formed, ground turkey patty. Notably, Chronicle restaurant critic Alison Cook had a less-than-satisfying experience when she tried the burger, though I suspect the version she sampled may have been cooked too rare. The Impossible Burger is the result of clever food engineering by the Impossible Foods team. It identified the savory, umami flavor of meat as coming from a molecule called heme, which is present in animal blood (hemoglobin). The team then looked for a plant-based equivalent and found it in the roots of soybean plants, where its called leghemoglobin. Through genetic modification, they then extract the leghemoglobin, grow it in a lab and combine it with other plant-based ingredients including wheat and potato protein to add texture. Why go to such great lengths to invent a credible meat substitute? The argument is mainly environmental. Producing real meat, especially beef cattle, is taxing to the environment in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions, waste and resource usage. Plant-based products are arguably more sustainable. Another argument is human health. The ill effects of meat consumption are well documented in terms of possible links to heart disease and cancer. But the health effects of highly processed and engineered plant-based meat are still unclear, even though Impossible Foods has produced numerous studies concluding that it is safe to eat. Not surprisingly, the success of this new generation of plant-based meats has garnered the attention of the American beef industry. The U.S. Cattlemens Association is lobbying the Department of Agriculture to restrict the use of the word meat to animal products exclusively. The state of Missouri has already passed legislation of this type. So what is the future or, more specifically, what is the market for plant-based meat? For myself, if I have the choice between eating real meat and plant-based meat, Ill always choose the real deal. I expect this will be the case for most consumers. Admittedly, the production of beef cattle is environmentally unsustainable, but the industry claims it is addressing those inefficiencies. For those consumers who are particularly concerned with the current environmental impact of real meat production, plant-based meat such as the Impossible Burger is a worthy substitute. jcreid@jcreidtx.com twitter.com/jcreidtx Who: Neera Patidar, owner of Ruggles Black Background: Patidar was born in England as the youngest of six children and landed in Texas as a child when her father moved the family first to Port Aransas and then to Houston, where he became successful in the hospitality business. She has a diversified background in marketing and international commerce but inherited a love of creative cooking from her mother. Patidar would eventually open Nosh Bistro in the space just north of the Southwest Freeway that became Ruggles Black in 2014, with chef Bruce Molzan running the kitchen. Her go-to wines are big cabs and great bubbles. What: Juve & Camps Pinot Noir Brut Rose, an exuberant, versatile bottle of bubbles from a family-run winery in Sant Sadurni dAnoia, a small town near Barcelona. The business agricultural roots go back more than 200 years, but the modern winery was founded in 1921. This sparkler is made in the metodo tradicional, meaning a secondary, in-bottle fermentation is started by the addition of yeast and sugar. Prior to bottling, the pinot noir juice undergoes a cold-soak maceration followed by fermentation in stainless steel. The grapes, from 25-year-old vines, are estate grown. Why: This sparkling pinot noir deftly handles the restaurants intensely flavored Indian-Asian-influenced dishes. Dont let the deep cherry color fool you, Patidar says. The deep, balanced flavors are bold but not at all sweet (in a cloying way). I love the strong personality of this beautiful bottle of bubbles. She recommends pairing it with our Angry Shrimp, mussels, Indian-spiced salmon and the lamb flatbread. (Robert Parkers Wine Advocate awarded a score of 91, saying it feels like a quite good red sparkling wine and recommends pairing with a charcuterie plate.) Price: $12 for a glass, $30 for a bottle at Ruggles Black, 3963 Kirby Early last year, Trump was having problems with his legal team and was casting about for new representation. In March, after word got out that the presidents campaign tried to hire Webb and one of the firms Washington-based attorneys, the firms public relations team issued a statement: President Trump reached out to Dan Webb and Tom Buchanan to provide legal representation. They were unable to take on the representation due to business conflicts. However they consider the opportunity to represent the President to be the highest honor and they sincerely regret that they cannot do so. The oil and natural gas industry is coming to terms with losing its energy monopoly, and while consumers will benefit from lower prices as companies compete for market share, the resulting damage to the planet could be irreversible. Oil and gas producers are turning North America into a net exporter of energy that will dominate global markets, the Energy Information Administration predicts. Not only will the U.S. achieve net exporter status in 2020, but analysts at Rystad Energy predict America will produce more hydrocarbon liquids than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined by 2025. 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, EIA Administrator Linda Capuano said in a statement. 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. This is the energy dominance that President Donald Trump promised, and the massive increase in U.S. production will surely keep prices low as supply continues to exceed demand. The problem with the EIAs Annual Energy Outlook and Rystads predictions, though, is that they are often very, very wrong. Last year, the government-run EIA predicted that U.S. oil output would peak at 11.95 million barrels a day in 2042. Yet companies that hydraulically fracture shale to produce oil will exceed that tally this year. On HoustonChronicle.com: Bolting from petrol-fueled vehicles In 2017, Rystad analyst Sonia Mlada Passos warned of a coming shortage of oil that would create an energy crisis because companies were not discovering and developing new supplies fast enough. Today the world is awash in oil, and no one is predicting a shortfall. The EIA and Rystad are not alone in failed prophecies. BP, Exxon Mobil and other major oil companies routinely roll out annual industry projections that promote the industrys agenda, downplay renewable energy sources and are typically proven wrong in time. Making predictions is difficult, especially about the future, as the old Danish proverb observes. (No, New York Yankees manager Yogi Berra did not coin the phrase.) A key wild card that flummoxes analysts with surprising frequency is consumer behavior. Consumers ultimately decide long-term prices by how much they demand, and to be honest, few of them love the oil industry. Analysts have consistently underestimated the adoption of alternatives to oil and natural gas, particularly renewable energy and electric vehicles. The EIA predicts, for example, that electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles will only make up 8 percent of new-vehicle sales in 2025. Sales will rise to just 25 percent of the market share in 2050. If this is true, the oil and gas industry has nothing to worry about. On HoustonChronicle.com: Tesla and oil companies lose market share as luxury brands roll out electric cars Auto manufacturers, though, tell a different story. From GM to Ford, from Volkswagen to Daimler, from Toyota to Nissan, these companies expect electric vehicles to surpass liquid-fueled vehicles by 2030. The main reason is China and the eight other nations that plan to ban internal combustion engines by 2050. There is also the question of economics. The cost of electric vehicles is plummeting, and most analysts believe they will be cheaper than regular cars by 2025. The next generation of electric vehicles will be as transformative to the energy industry as the shale revolution. Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which also makes predictions, expects electric vehicles will make up 64 percent of the new-vehicle market by 2040. Shell, BP and Chevron seem to think so, too. The first three have already invested in electric car charging businesses, and Exxon Mobil is considering a similar investment, according to a report by The Atlantic Council. Smart oil and natural gas executives understand the risk electric vehicles pose to their fossil fuel businesses, which is why they are keeping costs low to make a profit at $50 crude. If they allow prices to rise, electric vehicles will become cost-competitive sooner. Unfortunately, delaying the advent of electric vehicles and slowing the phase-out of fossil fuels will lead to more emissions and faster climate change. And as more consumers come to this understanding, the industry must ask itself how much longer their customers will stand by them. Youll find none of these questions asked or answered in the oil and natural gas industrys forecasts, and yet they are the most important factors determining how much oil the U.S. will produce in 2030. Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and policy. chris.tomlinson@chron.com twitter.com/cltomlinson Just a few weeks after Rihanna reportedly sued her father for using her brand name to fund his own business (without her permission) her younger brother is now dealing with some court issues of his own. According to Barbados Today, the 29-year-old recently pleaded not guilty to two assault charges. The publication details how the two assaults took place on January 20th when Rorrey Ronald Fenty allegedly assaulted Lee-Ann Lingo while on a boat called the MV Dream Chaser and the next incident took place when he caused "bodily harm" to a man named Andrew Thorton. Rorrey was granted $1,000 bail and must return to court on June 6th. Bennett Raglin/Getty Images In other Rihanna news, her upcoming (and very anticipated) album is said to be finished. [Rihannas team] have, no lie, 500 records for this project [from] different producers and writers, a dancehall producer, who remained anonymous, stated. Theyre only choosing 10 records. Theyve been having writing camps and trying to keep them quiet for almost a year and a half now. Ive been flying to Miami, flying to L.A., cutting records nonstop for this project" Another source added: "Every artist, every producer, every songwriter in Jamaica or of Jamaican descent has been working on [Rihannas album] and has little snippets of publishing or production credits on it." We're ready when you are, Rihanna. A new petition has been launched in opposition to Nike's AIR MAX 720 sneakers' logo with customers claiming that the design is offensive to Muslims. According to peititoners, the logo looks like it says "Allah" in Arabic writing. In Islam, "Allah" is the Aramaic word that translates to "God," and shoppers allege that the use is disrespectful to the faith by suggesting that God can be stepped on. "It is outrageous and appalling of Nike to allow the name of God on a shoe," Saiqa Noreen, who launched the petition writes. "This is disrespectful and extremely offensive to Muslims and insulting to Islam." "After recalling trainers in 1997, which had a similar logo depicting the word Allah, Nike claimed to have tighten scrutiny on logo design. So why has a similar design been approved?" Noreen added. Image via Change.org A Nike spokesperson addressed the petition and consumers' concerns, explaining that the logo was simply an updated version of the AIR MAX trademark for the 720 silhouettes. "Nike respects all religions and we take concerns of this nature seriously, the spokesperson says. "The AIR MAX logo was designed to be a stylized representation of Nikes AIR MAX trademark. It is intended to reflect the AIR MAX brand only. Any other perceived meaning or representation is unintentional." Currently, the petition has reached over 30,000 signatures and is moving toward a goal of 35,000 Blac Chyna and her former beau Kid Buu got into a violent fight in Hawaii a couple weeks ago. Allegedly Blac confronted Kid about cheating which led him to become physical. Kid has since denied all allegations against his name, stating that he was "raised better than that." "In fact, I was raised that if you ever feel like it had to get there with a woman, leave her. Dump her. Dump her son," he said. "Don't you ever put your hands on her. You dump that woman before it ever gets there." New reports from TMZ detail an aggressive past by Kid Buu, born Markquez Santiago. The publication details how he was once arrested and charged with child abuse after he punched his baby mother in the face, in front of his two-year-old child. The incident happened in 2008 when Kid was 19 and his girlfriend at the time wanted to cash a cheque but he took it away from her. When he returned to the apartment, she allegedly threatened to call 911 but Kid punched her in the face. The woman told police that Kid threatened her with a gun but no gun was found when he was arrested. Per documents obtained by the publication, Kid pleaded guilty to "charges of child abuse (without causing great bodily harm), intimidation, robbery by sudden snatching, and criminal mischief." He was sentenced to two years probation which he completed in 2010. Many 21 Savage fans were surprised when the rapper's British nationality was revealed by ICE officials and Azealia Banks is part of this group. The Brooklyn native headed to Instagram to share her reaction to the news. In her IG stories, Banks expressed how she had originally perceived the American experiences shared by 21 during interviews. At the time, she related to his narrative. Since his ICE arrest, however, his authenticity as an Atlanta rapper is being questioned. Kevin Winter/Getty Images "Yo they're saying he was really from the UK this whole time. That's some serious acting," she mused. "That's the best performance piece we've seen in like...forever. We should give this man an Oscar." All jokes aside, this realization prompted her to reflect on how easy it is to portray a false persona through media. She recalled seeing his interview on The Breakfast Club and thinking he was a "really cool guy," and now realizes "he's not even that person." "It's really a testament to how gullible we are as Americans," she added. "How did I not see this?" 21 Savage's biographies list Atlanta, Georgia as his birthplace. While some die-hard fans were aware of his ties to the UK, they were never informed of his British nationality. The online community entered into reaction mode ever since Tekashi 6ix9ine made headlines with the development of his federal case. The DUMMY BOY rapper reportedly struck a deal with the prosecutors of his case, seemingly in exchange for information on one of his associates who was indicted in another legal matter. 21 Savage came through with his stance in terms of this type of cooperation with legal authorities in what appears to be a response to the situation. He posted up on Instagram Live to school his following on the "snitches get stitches" aphorism. He does not, however, condone violent retaliation for those who cross the line by telling on their homies. The culprits can simply expect to lose any respect the rapper may have held for them before. "I despise you n*gg*s....telling on every gotdam body. If you a rat I don't respect you," 21 stated. "You are a rodent. I don't respect you in no type way." He goes on to say that the wealthy are not exempt from this classification. "I don't care how much money you got, how many n*gg*s y'all put on...How many cars you got, how many chains y'all got," he specifies. "If you're a f*cking rat...you a rat. R-A-T." This comes after Snoop Dogg expressed similar sentiments while naming Tekashi directly. YOTEL opens first West Coast property in the historic Grant Building YOTEL last week officially opened its first West Coast hotel in the heart of San Francisco. The property is YOTEL's eighth hotel under operation or development in the United States, joining a lineup of Boston, Miami, New York, Park City, Mammoth, and Long Island City. Located at 1095 Market Street, YOTEL San Francisco is situated in the historic Grant Building, restored to creatively leverage its unique features throughout the property. A global hub for business and the epicentre for innovation, San Francisco is a natural fit for the tech-forward YOTEL brand. The reinvigorated Mid-Market neighbourhood - flanked by the financial district and City Hall - is known for its expanding technology scene, music venues, and dining destinations. YOTEL San Francisco is a short walk from the Moscone Center and the famous Powell and Market Cable Car turnaround and is within a 15 minute rideshare of Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the forthcoming Warriors arena. Mid-Market borders SoMa's bustling neighbourhood, allowing easy access to shops, museums and Michelin-star restaurants. "San Francisco is a city that not only features amazing landmarks, but also embraces technology and change. We've always felt this will be a great fit for us and today we are absolutely thrilled to open the doors of our first West Coast hotel, YOTEL San Francisco," said Hubert Viriot, YOTEL CEO. "Known for its vibrancy, the city attracts millions of visitors each year and we feel our clever design and technology driven concept, offering guests extraordinary value and convenience in the heart of the city, will fit in just perfectly," concluded Viriot. YOTEL San Francisco is the brand's first adaptive re-use office conversion project. Constructed in 1905, the Grant Building is one of three that survived both the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes in San Francisco. Blending the old and new, YOTEL incorporated tech-forward amenities such as self-check-in kiosks, whilst also maintaining the building's historic charm, incorporating many original features into the hotel design, from exposed brick walls to arched windows and its original marble staircase. The property has 203 rooms (or cabins as they are known at YOTEL), each with distinct floor plans to accommodate the building's original layout and frame. YOTEL's first-ever Sky Cabins make up almost half of the San Francisco property, featuring mezzanine-level sleeping accommodations accessed by a staircase and perfect for the solo traveller. Cabins are equipped with YOTEL's signature features, including the space-saving adjustable SmartBed in Premium Cabins, luxury amenities from Urban Skincare, rejuvenating rain showers and heated towel racks, multiple power and USB charging ports, free super-fast WiFi, HD SMART TVs and more. While staying on-property, guests can seamlessly switch from work to play with access to KOMYUNITI, a public area that includes co-working and informal meeting spaces, an 'always-open' fully-equipped gym, and top-notch food and beverage offerings slated to open in conjunction with award winning celebrity chef, Daniel Patterson this summer. Ideal for happy hour or a night out on the town, this offering will also include a rooftop bar - "The Grant" - which will offer outdoor seating and stunning 360-degree views of the San Francisco skyline with unobstructed views of City Hall. YOTEL San Francisco's ground floor will feature an all-day restaurant and bar with a carefully curated menu that celebrates the best of California's diverse ingredients and cultures. YOTEL San Francisco is owned by a joint-venture between Synapse Development Group (SDG), AQARAT (Kuwait Real Estate Company) and GreenOak Real Estate. Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource I was pulled aside by a reporter at City Hall who told me, I just want to let you know as a courtesy that this alderman is putting you out there as the next shoe to drop in the federal investigation, said an alderman, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Since I was made aware of that, other colleagues have said theyre aware of similar situations playing out, where aldermen are simply putting forward names of people they dont like for one reason or another. Sheila Hession, executive director of sales at the MGM National Harbor resort in Oxon Hill, Maryland, will serve as advisory board chair joined by the chair-elect, Leticia Proctor, senior vice president of sales, marketing & revenue management for Donohoe Hospitality Services, Bethesda, Maryland, and two new board members, Vanessa Wilson, director of sales & marketing for the Hilton Washington DC National Mall, and Lajja Ashar, PS area manager for Booking.com (USA) Inc., both in Washington. HSMAI Washington DC Chapter, which serves hospitality professionals throughout the Washington metropolitan area, today announced the appointment of a new chair, chair-elect and two members to its advisory board. Sheila Hession, executive director of sales at the MGM National Harbor resort in Oxon Hill, Maryland, will serve as advisory board chair joined by the chair-elect, Leticia Proctor, senior vice president of sales, marketing & revenue management for Donohoe Hospitality Services, Bethesda, Maryland, and two new board members, Vanessa Wilson, director of sales & marketing for the Hilton Washington DC National Mall, and Lajja Ashar, PS area manager for Booking.com (USA) Inc., both in Washington. Sheila Hession, Leticia Proctor, Vanessa Wilson and Lajja Ashar are talented and accomplished leaders with extensive hospitality sales and operations experience, said Ellen Wilson, managing director of the HSMAI Washington DC Chapter. We are fortunate to have their insights and vision on our board. Hession, a 30-year hospitality industry veteran, joined HSMAI Washington DC Chapters advisory board in September 2017. Before joining MGM National Harbor, she was director of sales and marketing at the Willard InterContinental hotel in Washington, regional director of sales with Davidson Hotels & Resorts and director of sales and marketing for the LEnfant Plaza Hotel and Washington Court Hotel on Capitol Hill, both in Washington. Prior to that, she served in leadership roles at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, and Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Proctor, who joined the advisory board in 2017, is responsible for the development and implementation of Donohoe Hospitality Services sales, marketing and revenue management efforts at the national, regional and property levels. During her career of more than 20 years, she served as senior vice president of sales, revenue management & digital strategies for PM Hotel Group, Washington; regional director of sales for Hersha Hospitality Management; area director of sales and marketing for Kimpton Hotels; and director of sales and marketing for Crestline Hotels and Resorts, Remington Hotels and Resorts and the former Holiday Inn Select Bethesda. Wilson, a 20-year hospitality veteran, previously was director of sales & marketing for the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Virginia, the Hilton Washington DC North/Gaithersburg hotel in Maryland, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Washington DC and the Churchill Hotel Near Embassy Row in Washington. Ashar, who has worked in sales and marketing for more than 14 years, is responsible for leading Booking.coms multiple account management teams that oversee the accommodations in Washington, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Delaware. Earlier in her career, she served InterContinental Hotels Group, was area revenue director and sales director for hotel management companies and worked in product marketing and merchandising for Johnson & Johnson and Kraft Foods. Other HSMAI Washington DC Chapter board members include Iman Butler, director of group sales for the Washington Marriott Wardman Park; Linda Caruso, director of sales & marketing for the Hyatt Centric Arlington in Virginia; Jennifer Hill, vice president of client engagement for Kalibri Labs in Washington; Carol Motley, director of convention sales for Destination DC; Jennifer Phillips, area director of revenue management for Marriott International in Bethesda, Maryland; and Suzanne Shogren, regional director, ownership group services, for Cvent in Tysons Corner, Virginia. About HSMAI Washington DC Chapter HSMAI Washington DC Chapter is an affiliate of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International, an individual membership organization based in McLean, Virginia, composed of more than 7,000 members worldwide, with 40 chapters in the Americas Region. HSMAI is committed to growing business for hotels and their partners and is the industry's leading advocate for intelligent, sustainable hotel revenue growth. The association provides hotel professionals and their partners with tools, insights and expertise to fuel sales, inspire marketing and optimize revenue through programs including the Adrian Awards and Revenue Optimization Conference. Click HERE to join HSMAI. For more information, go to www.hsmaidc.org. Click HERE to download high-resolution images CONTACT: Ellen Wilson Managing Director HSMAI Washington DC Chapter ewilson@hsmai.org 571-442-8489 Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource New hotels planned in London and Bath under three brands: Curio Collection by Hilton, Hampton by Hilton and Motto by Hilton Hilton (NYSE: HLT) and Dominvs Group last week announced plans to extend their partnership with new hotels planned in Bath and London. The news follows confirmation that the first hotel under Motto by Hilton - Hiltons new urban lifestyle brand - is under construction with Dominvs Group in Marylebone, Central London. St Pauls Creed Court Hotel London, Curio Collection by Hilton, Hampton by Hilton London City, and Hampton by Hilton Bath will join Motto by Hilton London Marylebone, adding more than 500 new hotel rooms to the UK market. Patrick Fitzgibbon, senior vice president, development, EMEA, Hilton, said: Hiltons brands are growing rapidly in the UK, with more than 180 hotels trading or under development. Were seeing growing consumer demand at every price point, and these hotels will add exceptional new rooms in prestigious urban locations. Dominvs Group is a key partner and has the vision and expertise to bring these projects to fruition. We look forward to welcoming guests to the new hotels. Sukhpal Ahluwalia, Founder and Chairman of Dominvs Group, said: As we continue to grow our presence in prime UK destinations, were pleased to extend our partnership with Hilton. In addition to the worlds first Motto by Hilton hotel, our planned properties in London and Bath under Curio Collection by Hilton and Hampton by Hilton will be important additions to our portfolio. Dominvs Group, a real estate and private equity principal, has over 22 projects at various stages of development throughout the UK. St Pauls Creed Court Hotel London, Curio Collection by Hilton With commanding views to St Pauls Cathedral opposite, the 145-guest-room hotel will be a stunning arrival to the London market when it opens at 3 Ludgate Hill in 2022. Construction is already under way, with the propertys Grade II listed facade undergoing extensive refurbishment to preserve its architectural heritage. The upper upscale hotel includes a ground-floor restaurant and bar, as well as a barista cafe. Hampton by Hilton London City Expected to open in in 2021, Hampton by Hilton London City is situated in Aldgate, on the fringe of the city of London. Close to Whitechapel Station, the hotel is in a prime location to benefit from the arrival of the new London Underground Elizabeth Line when it opens as part of the Crossrail infrastructure project, which is also due for completion in 2019. The hotel will be converted from an existing hotel following extensive refurbishment works and will include 120 guest rooms at 12-20 Osborne Street, London. Hampton by Hilton Bath The 206 guest-room Hampton by Hilton Bath will be one of the few internationally branded hotels in central Bath. An UNESCO World Heritage Site, Bath is one of the most recognisable and most visited cities in the UK. The new-build hotel, which is due to open in 2022, will be located on James Street, in close proximity to the citys major attractions including The Roman Baths, Pulteney Bridge, Theatre Royal and The Jane Austen Centre. Hilton currently operates more than 145 hotels in the UK under seven brands. It is set to open more than 35 hotels in the next two years in locations such as Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and London. Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource The property to mark the first Hyatt Centric branded hotel in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the second in the Middle East Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with Jabal Omar Development Company, a leading developer in the Middle East, for a Hyatt Centric hotel in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, as part of the Jabal Omar integrated real estate development. Jabal Omar Hyatt Centric Makkah Hotel and Residences will boast a prime location in close proximity to the Grand Mosque of Makkah, ideally positioned within one of the fastest growing religious tourism markets in the world. "We're honored to work together again with Jabal Omar Development Company on the second Hyatt hotel in the holy city of Makkah," said Peter Fulton, group president Europe, Africa, Middle East and Southwest Asia, Hyatt. "Together, we hope to strive towards the Kingdom's goal to attract more than 30 million tourists by 2030. The Jabal Omar Hyatt Centric Makkah is being designed to accommodate the unique needs of both visitors and pilgrims and will offer a contemporary hospitality experience connecting guests to the heart of this cultural and religious destination." Slated to open in 2023 as a launch pad for exploration, the hotel will feature 196 guestrooms and suites as well as 200 residences supported by a passionately engaged team providing local expertise. Both the hotel and residences will offer modern design elements skillfully blended with touches of local art and culture. Guests will also enjoy state-of-the-art facilities and experiential offers that are synonymous with the Hyatt Centric brand. "We anticipate an immensely positive reception to the new Jabal Omar Hyatt Centric Makkah, which will stem from our strong relationship with the Hyatt brand and its success in the region," said Yasser Faisal Al-Sharif, CEO of Jabal Omar Development Company. "The hotel will further contribute to our prestigious development project with unique propositions that meet the needs of our growth. We are confident in delivering a unique hospitality experience that will support the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to promote religious, social and commercial activities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource Radisson Hotel Group announced the signing of two new hotels in Saudi Arabia: the Radisson Hotel, Makkah Al Rahma and the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel, Makkah Al Rahma. Radisson Hotel Group announced the signing of two new hotels in Saudi Arabia: the Radisson Hotel, Makkah Al Rahma and the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel, Makkah Al Rahma. The new agreement extends an existing partnership with renowned Saudi real estate developer and investor Sulaiman Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi and his real estate development company, Al-Rajhi Investments. The agreement increases Radisson Hotel Group's portfolio in Saudi Arabia to 43 hotels and more than 10,000 rooms in operation and under development. Both the Radisson Hotel, Makkah Al Rahma and the Park Inn by Radisson, Makkah Al Rahma are scheduled to open in Q2, 2021. Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Radisson Hotel Group, said: "We're pleased to strengthen our relationship with our esteemed partner Al-Rajhi Investments with the addition of two new hotels in Makkah. Through Vision 2030, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to make significant investments in mega projects to enhance its infrastructure and accessibility. The country remains a focus market for our growth which we are committed to deliver with our local partners" Khalid Saud Abu Haimed, Chief Executive Officer of Al-Rajhi Investments, said: "We are pleased to grow our relationship with Radisson Hotel Group, one of the world's largest hotel groups. The growth of religious tourism is a key pillar of our country's Vision 2030 plan and we are committed to supporting this goal. We are privileged to be playing a leading role in the evolution of the tourism sector and look forward to continuing our journey with Radisson Hotel Group." Both hotels will be located in the Mahbas Al-Jin district of Makkah and situated just 2km from the Haram. The King Abdul Aziz Road Tunnel provides direct access by road to the Haram, while the nearest railway station is just 2km away from the hotels. Jamaraat Bridge is also within convenient reach of the hotels. Radisson Hotel, Makkah Al Rahma will feature 190 rooms and an all-day-dining restaurant that will serve both local and international cuisine, buffet-style. The hotel will have one meeting room, male and female gyms as well as individual male and female prayer rooms. Park Inn by Radisson Hotel, Makkah Al Rahma, will feature 150 Standard rooms. The upper midscale hotel will feature an all-day-dining restaurant and will also include one meeting room, male and female gyms as well as individual male and female prayer rooms. Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource In todayAs competitive hospitality business, as a hotelier, it is quite important for you to get more traffic from Google in order to generate more direct bookings. Apart from helping you decrease your OTA dependency, it also helps you save on commission amount. Yes, we are talking about the importance of Google Hotel Ads (GHA) here. And to achieve this, you must increase your hotelAs visibility on Google Ads. In todays competitive hospitality business, as a hotelier, it is quite important for you to get more traffic from Google in order to generate more direct bookings. Apart from helping you decrease your OTA dependency, it also helps you save on commission amount. Yes, we are talking about the importance of Google Hotel Ads (GHA) here. And to achieve this, you must increase your hotels visibility on Google Ads. What are Google Hotel Ads? In 2010, Google started showing hotel information with sponsored hotel prices in Google Maps. Since then, the company has expanded Google Hotel ads to more than 150 countries on Google.com and Google Maps, helping travelers browse hotels on mobile devices and spot hotel deals. According to Google, in the first six months of 2018, this has helped its hotel ad partners (participant hotels) across the globe receive 65% more leads year over year. With Google Hotel Ads metasearch platform, you can display your hotel rates on Google across desktops, tablets and mobile phones. Most importantly, potential bookers can see your hotel rates in direct comparison to OTAs on their Google search page. If your rates are attractive enough, they will book directly with you. Now, you may ask how is this different from other metasearch platforms. Here is the answer around 4.5 billion searches are made on Google per day, accounting to around 77% of the worlds total search traffic. Even though searches for hotels is just a small percentage of the total search volume, the number is still overwhelming. Here are some important stats to consider - - Google Hotel Ads, that distributes hotel prices in real time, now represents 65% of hotel bookings coming from metasearch engines. - In 2018, with a 150% growth compared to the 26% penetration in 2017, Google Hotel Ads has now emerged as the most profitable metasearch platform for hoteliers, above Trivago and others. Thats how Google outsmarts other metasearch sites and thats why you must increase your hotel visibility on Google Ads. How does this whole thing work? When travelers look for hotels on Google by keying in Hotel in New York, they will get to see a search result page provided by Google, which would include several hotels. They need to use filters to set check-in date, checkout date, number of occupants, and most importantly the price range they prefer. Plus, they also need to filter guest rating and amenities. Once, they are done with setting filters, Google will then redirect them to another page - a list of hotels matching with their selection criteria. Now here, if you have done your bidding properly, they will get to see your hotels name along with other available hotels in the same area. If they find your pricing attractive, they will click on your hotel. From here, they will be taken to a page where they can find your propertys description, images, amenities, services and guest reviews, etc. Most importantly, they will also be able to compare your hotel prices that are mentioned on your brand website with OTAs. Ultimately, if you offer them lower rates and extra amenities, they will click on the website icon and will land on your website booking engine to book directly with you. Benefits for you You get to increase your hotels online visibility to a wide range of audience. People will be able to find you while doing their initial round of research on Google. And then, you stand a chance to generate more direct booking, with less commission pay-out. Increased direct traffic and revenue Google Hotel Ads Commission Program (GHACP) runs on cost-per-acquisition (CPA) model. Booking commission is somewhere between 10% to 15% to Google per every confirmed booking, which is much less when compared to OTA commission. Moreover, booking cancellation ratio through GHA is around 13%. This is far below compared to around 20% to 40% cancellations that happen with OTA booking. All these add up to more room revenue and increased profitability. How to start? First, you need to create your hotels account (free listing) on Google My Business page. Provide all the information that potential guests might look for including room types, amenities, images, description, etc. This is important as GHA pulls all this information from your page to show them to your audience during their research phase. Once, you are done with this initial page setup, work on your Google reviews. Because reviews do influence a potential guest booking decision. Then comes the challenge with maintaining rate parity. Do take a look at your competitors pricing and how your OTA partners are selling your rooms before you tweak your pricing. Now, is that enough? No, clearly not. With GHA, you can go ahead and bid to get ranked in Google search. But what about attracting guests to your website? What about direct booking. Because ultimately, you want to generate more bookings? This cant be done unless you have the right combination of hospitality technology solutions like a smart cloud-based Hotel PMS that comes integrated with a booking engine which is a certified Google Hotel Ads Commission Program partner. Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource 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 4 February 2019 Bonotel Exclusive Travel is the leading inbound tour operator in North America and a wholesale distributor of curated, exclusive luxury hotel rooms to a longstanding base of wholesale clients. The company provides seamless electronic distribution, with in-house expert marketing and distribution specialists, to thousands of international tour operators and travel agencies through the Bonotel booking platform. Their API is key to their business operations - currently distributing over 1.25 million room nights annually and representing some of the most luxurious properties to be found anywhere in the world. Bonotel's success is built on nurturing their reputation for being highly responsive in terms of speed, relevance of product offering and quality of service. These are the hallmarks of their business proposition which are underpinned by their choice of technology to make sure they stay ahead. Bonotel first started benfiting from using the Triometric platform in 2011 within their core system to obtain deep and actionalble insight for their distribution. Advertisements Bonotel's platform already handles hundreds of millions of online transactions every day and that number is always growing. To accommodate their impressive growth with infrastructure flexibility, three years ago the hotel distributor decided to move their core system and operations to the cloud, in order to get a smarter, more agile and flexible solution for their geographically dispersed business. They migrated collaboratively with existing tried and tested technology partners, including Triometric who understands and appreciates the dynamics behind the wholesale distribution challenges. Triometric's technology is used in two ways: Firstly, it provides the IT level performance monitoring of Bonotel's web services infrastructure to ensure that the web services are kept optimised for the customer base. Having this real-time operational visibility is critical when relying on third party delivered services. Secondly, the Trio platform provides deeper analysis of the API traffic to get core insights into Bonotel's distribution activities from its cloud hosted servers providing the online booking platform. Both the Triometric analytics platform and the booking platform were successfully migrated into Bonotel's cloud architecture, so from a user experience perspective the migration was fairly seamless. The migration did have some interesting challenges along the way, including the development and deployment by Triometric of new software based network packet capture technology. This was essential to continue capturing the raw API traffic in the cloud and it requires a significantly different technical approach. Bonotel's move to the cloud has more than fulfilled expectations on a number of levels, both in terms of operational performance and distribution capabilities. The cloud platform gives them the business agility they need. This includes the ability to rapidly scale up capacity while at the same time keeping the environment highly resilient and customer data highly secure. They are benefitting from being able to focus on core business activities including innovating and rolling out new products and features and upholding quality customer service and satisfaction. Importantly, Bonotel were able to retain all the critical real-time performance metrics and intelligence of their API traffic. These distribution insights play a key role in the on-going service optimisation central to the customer satisfaction ethos at Bonotel, enabling them to understand customers' experience, and through the flexible, scalable Cloud environment, respond and deliver to their needs. Learn more from case studies and use cases about the benefits of using the Trio platform for getting deep operational and business intelligence from APis. Press Release 4 February 2019 Brussels/ Dubai - Radisson Hospitality AB, publicly listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Sweden and part of Radisson Hotel Group, is proud to announce the signing of two new hotels in Saudi Arabia: the Radisson Hotel, Makkah Al Rahma and the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel, Makkah Al Rahma. The new agreement extends an existing partnership with renowned Saudi real estate developer and investor Sulaiman Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi and his real estate development company, Al-Rajhi Investments. The agreement increases Radisson Hotel Group's portfolio in Saudi Arabia to 43 hotels and more than 10,000 rooms in operation and under development. Both the Radisson Hotel, Makkah Al Rahma and the Park Inn by Radisson, Makkah Al Rahma are scheduled to open in Q2, 2021. Advertisements Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Radisson Hotel Group, said: "We're pleased to strengthen our relationship with our esteemed partner Al-Rajhi Investments with the addition of two new hotels in Makkah. Through Vision 2030, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to make significant investments in mega projects to enhance its infrastructure and accessibility. The country remains a focus market for our growth which we are committed to deliver with our local partners" Khalid Saud Abu Haimed, Chief Executive Officer of Al-Rajhi Investments, said: "We are pleased to grow our relationship with Radisson Hotel Group, one of the world's largest hotel groups. The growth of religious tourism is a key pillar of our country's Vision 2030 plan and we are committed to supporting this goal. We are privileged to be playing a leading role in the evolution of the tourism sector and look forward to continuing our journey with Radisson Hotel Group." Both hotels will be located in the Mahbas Al-Jin district of Makkah and situated just 2km from the Haram. The King Abdul Aziz Road Tunnel provides direct access by road to the Haram, while the nearest railway station is just 2km away from the hotels. Jamaraat Bridge is also within convenient reach of the hotels. Radisson Hotel, Makkah Al Rahma will feature 190 rooms and an all-day-dining restaurant that will serve both local and international cuisine, buffet-style. The hotel will have one meeting room, male and female gyms as well as individual male and female prayer rooms. Park Inn by Radisson Hotel, Makkah Al Rahma, will feature 150 Standard rooms. The upper midscale hotel will feature an all-day-dining restaurant and will also include one meeting room, male and female gyms as well as individual male and female prayer rooms. Press Release 4 February 2019 While global in scale, Andaz hotels and resorts weave the sights, sounds, scents, tastes and textures of the surroundings into each property for an experience that truly immerses guests in the eclectic culture of each destination. Today, the brand announced a new collaboration with The Society of Scent, an olfactory collective which includes a proprietary fragrance creation laboratory led by Jean Claude Delville. Delville, who first began studying perfumery at age 17, has developed fragrances with several major designers including Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Joe Malone and Vera Wang. Through this collaboration, the sense of scent will be brought to life at all Andaz properties worldwide in highly immersive and unexpected ways. Advertisements Together, the Andaz brand and The Society of Scent will create a series of individual scents based on elements of each property and locale that are most resonant. The Society of Scent is visiting Andaz hotels to experience firsthand what makes each property truly distinctive. While immersing in the culture and guest experience, the collective is meeting with local purveyors and partners and the greatest influencers on the guest experience, Andaz hotel colleagues - from chefs and spa directors, to general managers and resident experts. Based on their findings, the Andaz brand and The Society of Scent will develop a custom scent for each individual property along with a unique "scent story" and related experiences and/or amenities throughout 2019. "Scent is one of the most powerful senses because of its connection to memory. This link is what we seek to capitalize on for Andaz hotels," said Heather Geisler, vice president, global brands, Hyatt. "Our collaboration with The Society of Scent is aimed at not only creating scents that convey the unique guest experience at each hotel, but more importantly, to continue to evoke memories of the experience through scent long after the guest departs." "The Society of Scent was built by and for a community of fragrance enthusiasts," said Jean Claude Delville. "We know that scent can be a powerful way to communicate the unique story of each locale, and these custom scents will be developed with that in mind. We are truly excited to work with the Andaz brand on capturing the culture of each hotel's surroundings into a scent experience." Distinctively Local, in Every Sense Since the brand's inception, Andaz hotels and resorts have been distinctively local. Every Andaz hotel takes its cue from the neighborhood and delivers on the senses in a truly unique way. SIGHT celebrates each destination's visual surroundings through interior furnishings, mood lighting and decor authentic to the area. SOUND highlights the aural environment including carefully curated music selections, local accents and dialects, urban clamor and unadulterated nature. TASTE takes you through a culinary adventure through the many diverse flavors seen in the property's restaurant menus and surprising beverage/cocktail selections. TOUCH provides a tactile engagement with the textures of Andaz hotel architecture, furnishings, linens and unexpected elements of serveware. SCENT offers a one-of-a-kind olfactory mood combining a hotel's fresh air, aromas of food, relaxing candles or the familiar smell of coffee. And for the Andaz brand, COMMUNITY is important and deemed the brand's "sixth sense." Andaz hotels and resorts give special attention to how they engage with and care for surrounding communities and beyond, through the (ANDAZ)RED collaboration to support (RED)'s fight to end AIDS. For more information on the Andaz brand, visit Andaz.com. Press Release 4 February 2019 Hotels in Europe suffered a 2.7-percent year-on-year decline in profit per room in December, yet still, annual GOPPAR rose 9.2 percent, marking a second consecutive year of large gains, according to the latest data tracking full-service hotels from HotStats. Advertisements December was only the second month in 2018 to record a YOY drop in GOPPAR, in what has been another year of strong profit performance following the 8.9-percent increase in 2017. The month was especially hit by declines across non-rooms departments, including Food & Beverage (down 0.9 percent), Conference & Banqueting (down 3.7 percent) and Leisure (down 4.5 percent), on a per-available-room basis. As a result of the movement in departmental revenues, TRevPAR growth was relatively muted at 0.3 percent to 144.49. This is, however, typical for the time of year, as demand from the corporate segment wanes toward year-end. Profit & Loss Key Performance Indicators - Europe (in EUR) December 2018 v. December 2017 RevPAR: +1.4% to 88.50 TRevPAR: +0.2% to 144.49 Payroll % Rev.: -0.2 pts to 38.5% GOPPAR: -2.7% to 36.11 Payroll levels as a percentage of total revenue fell by 0.2 percentage points to 38.5 percent. However, this was countered by an increase in overheads as a percentage of total revenue, which grew by 0.2 percentage points to 25.9 percent. Expectedly, profit conversion was a challenge in the month and was recorded at 25 percent of total revenue, well below the annual contribution of 36 percent. "Despite the slow period of trading in December, hotel owners and operators across Europe will be delighted to record a second consecutive year of strong profit growth in the face of a challenging operating climate," said Michael Grove, Director of Intelligence and Customer Solutions, EMEA, at HotStats. The strong performance across Europe this year was led by Vienna, which recorded a YOY GOPPAR increase of 24.2 percent in 2018, including YOY growth of 27.5 percent in December, a product of a 25.5-percent increase in RevPAR to 191.35, which was fuelled by a 5.8-percentage-point increase in room occupancy and a 17.3-percent increase in achieved average room rate, which hit 217.28. This was a RevPAR high for the year, and almost 55 above the YTD figure. Profits were further boosted by cost savings, which were led by a reduction in payroll as a percentage of total revenue, which fell by 2.9 percentage points to 30.8 percent. Profit & Loss Key Performance Indicators - Vienna (in EUR) December 2018 v. December 2017 RevPAR: +25.5% to 191.35 TRevPAR: +15.1% to 291.58 Payroll % Rev.: -2.9 pts. to 30.8% GOPPAR: +27.5% to 106.74 In contrast to Vienna, Paris GOPPAR levels in December plunged by 60.9 percent YOY to 32.79, in part due to the disruption caused by the yellow vests movement, which forced the closure of businesses and tourist attractions in the city. December was the only month in 2018 in which hotels in the French capital suffered a YOY decline in profit, with the prior 11 months of consecutive growth contributing to the 28-percent YOY increase in profit per room. Profit levels fell as room occupancy dropped by 9.5 percentage points YOY to 54.5 percent, a low for the year. The impact from the significant drop in demand was a decline across all revenue centres, which contributed to a 13.0-percent decrease in TRevPAR in December to 330.32. Profit & Loss Key Performance Indicators - Paris (in EUR) And one recently put Schmidt in the middle of a national controversy involving Catholic students from Kentucky. I would just like to say that I approve of and defend the actions of the boys from Covington High School, the tweet last month read from the account username @SisterJean98. Press Release 4 February 2019 Last week at FITUR, Melia Hotels International presented the latest innovations in its mobile MeliaApp to improve user experience and offer services throughout the customer journey. The app received the prize for "Best Tourism Services App" yesterday at the AppTourism Awards 2019 organised by Segittur (State Organisation for Innovation and Tourism Technology Management) to acknowledge the best mobile solutions in the tourism industry. The new MeliaApp aims to accompany travellers in each of the different stages of the customer journey, allowing them to search and book hotels, check in online and get a mobile digital key (in participating hotels), make bookings at hotel restaurants or spas and request room service or bathroom amenities, among many other options. Guests can also chat with the hotel team until several days after their stay if they need to resolve any issue at any time. The app also allows members of the MeliaRewards loyalty programme to enjoy all the programme benefits, redeem points quickly and easily and also save their usual payment methods in a secure environment to make it even easier to pay using the app. As it made clear during FITUR, Melia Hotels International is strongly focused on becoming an industry leader in innovation, with the modernisation of its brand portfolio and hotel renovations having been key in recent years. The latest acknowledgement of this effort also came yesterday at the Vocento Business Awards in Madrid, with the successful ME by Melia brand winning the award for innovation. The brand is renowned internationally for its innovative vision of luxury, with hotels inspired by contemporary cultural and located in happening destinations, combining cutting-edge design, exclusive service and lifestyle attributes to create a unique experience for travellers. After a recent review of brand standards to ensure alignment with contemporary vogue, ME by Melia hotels have become spaces where artists and designers are able to share their creations with guests. They offer design, technology, music, fashion, culture and cuisine to make them essential meeting points with the most cosmopolitan ambience and spaces such as the Radio ME rooftop bars becoming the places to be in each of the hotel destinations. Press Release 4 February 2019 User reviews have become incredibly influential. What past customers say about your hotel, both on TripAdvisor and on Online Travel Agency pages, can make or break your business. However, responding to such criticism is challenging, resulting in sullied reputations and lower revenues. Advertisements Thankfully help is at hand! Reviewed! The hotelier's unofficial guide to managing your online reputation on TripAdvisor, Online Travel Agencies, Google and elsewhere, by Essec Business School Professor Peter O'Connor, has just been published in both paper and electronic formats. Based on techniques gleaned from working with both independent and chain hotels, this new guidewill help you in defending, controlling and enhancing your property's reputation. Using a highly practical approach, it provides precise, detailed, step-by-step solutions, tactics and suggestions to help hoteliers to: Better understand the role and importance of user reviews in today's highly competitive online booking environment Manage your hotel's pre-purchase image so you can more easily exceed guest expectations and drive better user reviews Use proven strategies to respond to reviews, both positive and negative Challenge and remove suspicious or unwarranted reviews Appreciate how the main review channels work and how best to manage their idiosyncrasies and requirements Assess which software tools to use to assist in online reputation management Understand how you can drive additional favourable reviews to increase your rating scores and positioning Use reviews as free corporate intelligence tool to better understand your, and your competitors', relative strengths and weaknesses. Paper copies of the book can be ordered from Amazon, or electronic copies, using an innovative name-your-own-price model, can be ordered from Leanpub. About the author Peter O'Connor is Chaired Professor of Digital Disruption at ESSEC Business School, France, where he also serves as Academic Director of the specialized courses in Hospitality Management. Peter's research, teaching and consulting interests focus on the use of technology in online retailing, distribution and electronic marketing for hotels across the globe. In parallel to working at Essec, Peter also consults with internet analyst firm PhoCusWright Inc. as a senior analyst. In 2015, he launched ESSEC's first MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) on Coursera focused on hotel distribution, which currently has over 12,000 active learners. Press Release 4 February 2019 Marriott International has today announced it raised 400,000 last year to support youth employability charities across Europe, taking the total amount raised since 2012 to 2.5 million. Advertisements The money, raised through its restaurant promotion, You Eat, We Give, saw the company donate a pound or euro for every lunch and dinner served in its restaurants throughout September and October. The initiative is part of Marriott's wider World of Opportunity programme, which aims to find and nurture the wealth of talent that currently lies untapped in 15-24 year olds throughout Europe. Reiner Sachau, Chief Operations Officer for Marriott International in Europe, commented: "Marriott has a long history of investing in programmes that help young people. It's been amazing to see the results of our You Eat, We Give fundraising campaign and we look forward to supporting young people as they move into the world of work. Since 2012, our associates have volunteered over 70,000 hours of their time and we're proud of their commitment to helping young people in Europe realise their full potential and open the doors to meaningful employment." Marriott will use the money to support two charitable partners: In the UK, the money will be donated to The Prince's Trust to fund employability programmes such as Get into Hospitality. Across Continental Europe, funds donated will be used by SOS Children's Villages International to support young people in their programmes into independent life and careers. Working in partnership with both organizations, Marriott's World of Opportunity training courses develop employment skills and "life skills" that help young adults from challenging backgrounds take their first step into work and independent living. This initiative supports the company's sustainability and social impact platform, Serve 360: Doing Good in Every Direction, and its commitment to Empower Through Opportunity. Patricia Molano, head of International Corporate Partnerships and Philanthropy at SOS Children's Villages International said: "A core part of our work at SOS Children's Villages is to support young people on their journey to self-reliance and finding decent work. Corporate partners such as Marriott International are invaluable in helping us to ensure that young people in our care have the skills and knowledge they need as they launch their careers and follow their dreams. Since 2012, Marriott International has shown an important commitment to the young people in our care, for which we are profoundly grateful." About The Prince's Trust Youth charity The Prince's Trust helps young people to develop the confidence and skills they need to realise their ambitions, so that they can live, learn and earn. Founded by The Prince of Wales in 1976, the charity supports 11 to 30-year-olds who are unemployed, struggling at school and at risk of exclusion. Many of the young people helped by The Trust are in or leaving care, facing issues such as homelessness, mental health problems, or have been in trouble with the law. The programmes offered by the charity give vulnerable young people the practical and financial support needed to stabilise their lives, helping develop self-esteem and skills for work. Three in four young people supported by The Prince's Trust move into work, education or training. The Trust has helped over 900,000 young people to date and supports over 100 more each day. Further information about The Prince's Trust is available at princes-trust.org.uk or on 0800 842 842. About SOS Children's Villages SOS Children's Villages is the largest non-governmental organisation focused on supporting children without parental care and families at risk. Founded in 1949, the organisation today runs 2,300 programmes reaching more than a million children and adults in 135 countries and territories. We adhere to the principle that every child grows best in a family environment, with loving parents or caregivers, living together with their siblings, in a place they can call home. We work with communities, local partners and authorities to support disadvantaged families to prevent family breakdown. We aim to influence decision-makers to promote the well-being of children, especially of those without parental care. We also help care for and protect at-risk children and families in more than 20 humanitarian emergencies. More information on SOS Children's Villages can be found at www.sos-childrensvillages.org Appointment 4 February 2019 The Chatwal New York, a Luxury Collection Hotel, announces the appointment and promotion of Yina Javier as Director of Sales & Marketing for the 76-key luxury boutique property often referred to as 'The Jewel of Manhattan' located in the heart of Manhattan. In her new capacity, Ms. Javier will now be responsible for the iconic hotel's all sales initiatives by guiding efforts for leisure, groups, and corporate segments as well as leading all its marketing and public relations strategy. Ms. Javier joined The Chatwal, New York in 2016 as Director of Corporate Sales & Marketing. In addition to her focus on the corporate segment, she was responsible for all marketing efforts which included creating and implementing exciting new strategic partnerships and collaborations to develop The Chatwal brand identity and integrity across all platforms. A native of the Dominican Republic, Ms. Javier earned a Bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management from APEC University in Santo Domingo and a Hospitality Marketing Certificate from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Prior to joining The Chatwal, New York, Ms. Javier has a proven record of having served successfully as Director of Sales & Marketing for the famous Eden Roc at Cap Cana, a Relais & Chateaux property and as Director of Sales for the exquisite Zoetry Agua Punta Cana, both in the Dominican Republic. Appointment 4 February 2019 Stephan is a highly accomplished veteran of hospitality industry appointments across Asia, the Middle East and Europe in which he has consistently excelled. Before joining Asset World Corporation, Stephan was Area Manager for Marriott International in Dubai & Northern Emirates, overseeing a large portfolio of hotels in the United Arab Emirates and chair ing the Dubai Business Council. His 30 years of hospitality experience includes several hotel openings, re-positionings and brand launches. In his new appointment, Stephan will lead AWC's hospitality group as it expands and transforms projects involving globally-recognised hotel operators across Thailand. A Belgian national with a bachelor's degree in hospitality from the prestigious Erasmus Institute and diplomas in Management from the renowned INSEAD University, Stephan has lectured at major hotel events and regularly contributes to hospitality trade public ations. Asset World Corporation is a leading and innovative real estate development company with a diverse portfolio of iconic and award winning retail, commercial and hotel properties all across Thailand. AWC is proud to be a member of the prominent TCC Group in Thailand which has business interests across Beverages, FMCG & Retail, Insurance & Finance, Manufacturing, Real Estate & Hospitality, and Agrobusiness. AWC's portfolio includes world class hotels operated under 10 leading international brands such as The Athenee Hotel, A Luxury Collection Hotel Bangkok, Marriott Marquis Queens Park Bangkok, The Okura Prestige Bangkok and Banyan Tree Koh Samui. Along with the existing properties, AWC is at the helm of many new exciting projects and current developments in the pipeline. Renovation 4 February 2019 JW Marriott, part of Marriott International, Inc., today announced the completion of JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa's highly anticipated renovation, which includes an extensive transformation to all 447 lavish ocean-facing guestrooms and suites. The hotel's multi-million dollar restoration will provide travelers with the highest degree of luxury service, embracing its ideal beachfront location and introducing modern elements complemented by local Mayan flair. Martha Gaos and Claudia Gonzalez of G+G Interiorismo re-envisioned the interiors of JW Marriott Cancun using a combination of modern techniques, traditional elements, and a vibrant color palette. Warm sand tones are punctuated with pops of bright turquoise that reflect the cerulean waters of the Mexican Caribbean, creating a sense of harmony with the hotel's idyllic surroundings. Influenced by the rich culture of the destination, the hotel is furnished with pieces that incorporate traditional Mayan designs, including authentic Mexican textiles and reclaimed wood accents adorned with meticulously carved drawings, paying homage to the cross-stitched embroidery typically found in garments worn by the ancient Yucatan people. A closer look reveals intricate designs embellished with native symbols, including hummingbirds (sacred in Mayan mythology), quetzals(local birds), four-petal flowers, snail fossils, amate bark paintings derived from Mexican folk art, and other emblems common in knitting patterns of local huipiles(indigenous garments). Local artisans created the herringbone-patterned floors using traditional materials, while the hotel's redesigned bedrooms and bathrooms feature marbled, aerial-view images indicative of the Mexican cenotes(natural sinkholes) as a striking focal point. The 74 redesigned suites incorporate 'wood screw ', a type of indigenous wood commonly used in the Yucatan Peninsula, along with architectural light fixtures, sand-colored curtains, and textured rugs in muted tones, reminiscent of the coral reefs. Additional renovation highlights include modern, oversized bathrooms with freestanding soaking tubs, luxurious rainfall showers, dual sinks, and granite vanity tops featuring chrome detailing that deliver an elevated look and feel. JW Marriott Cancun's impressive 4,000 square-foot Presidential Suite is flooded with light and features floor-to-ceiling windows, a full kitchen and airy dining room, and is complete with beautiful oak detailing and ceramic tiles curated by renowned Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola. Designed to meet the expectations of next-generation leisure travelers, the hotel's exclusive and updated Club 91, located on the 14thfloor, evokes a mod-style that sets the scene for relaxation and socializing. The inviting new space boasts navy blue and olive-hued chairs in combination with coral reef ceiling decor, providing guests with a glimpse into what lies beyond the hotel's shores. Club 91 also showcases exciting new interactive culinary experiences and open communal table concepts, encouraging guests to mix and mingle. JW Marriott Cancun is shaking things up with the recently debuted '150 Margaritas' menu at the JW Lobby Bar. A passion project for the t eam's expert mixologists and skilled tequila connoisseurs, the menu features 150 Instagram-worthy margaritas, subdivided into four categories: Classic, Modern, Fusion and Exotic. Cocktails are crafted using silver, reposado and anejo varieties of tequila, as well as mescal, with special varieties infused with exotic ingredients such as black tea, beetroot, and serrano chili peppers. Pipeline 4 February 2019 Dusit International, one of Thailand's foremost hotel and property development companies, has signed a hotel management agreement with Sanya Taihua Industry Development Co., Ltd to manage Dusit Thani Wuzhishan, Hainan, a luxury international resort on Hainan Island, known as 'China's Hawaii', in the southernmost part of China. Located in Wuzhishan, a scenic town in the island's central highlands, Dusit Thani Resort Wuzhishan, Hainan is approximately one hour by car from Sanya Phoenix International Airport, and two hours and thirty minutes from Haikou Meilan International Airport. Designed to provide the utmost in comfort and convenience for travellers seeking to explore the area's outstanding natural beauty and various cultural attractions, the resort will comprise 625 well-appointed rooms, suites and villas. Resort offerings will include an All-Day-Dining restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, a speciality restaurant, a swimming pool, a fully equipped gym, and a spa. Expansive meeting rooms featuring the latest audio-visual facilities will cater to the island's growing meetings business. As the central transportation hub of Hainan, Wuzhishan puts guests within easy reach of the island's many natural attractions, including stunning waterfalls, tranquil lakes, and pristine rainforest. The renowned Mount Wuzhi (Five Finger Mountain), whose peaks extend like five fingers, has a wealth of hiking trails for visitors to explore. Guests can also discover the local customs and traditions of the ethnic groups which populate the surrounding hills. Represented in China by Dusit Fudu Hotels and Resorts, Dusit International currently operates six hotels in China and has 28 properties in the pipeline. Three new hotels are set to open in 2019, including Dusit Thani Sandalwoods Resort Huizhou Shuangyue Bay, Guangdong; Dusit Thani Wetland Park Resort, Nanjing, Jiangsu; and Dusit Thani Wellness Resort, Suzhou, Jiangsu. Now Open 4 February 2019 YOTEL , the innovative global hospitality brand, today officially opened its first West Coast hotel in the heart of San Francisco. The property is YOTEL's eighth hotel under operation or development in the United States, joining a lineup of Boston, Miami, New York, Park City, Mammoth, and Long Island City. Located at 1095 Market Street, YOTEL San Francisco is situated in the historic Grant Building, restored to creatively leverage its unique features throughout the property. A global hub for business and the epicentre for innovation, San Francisco is a natural fit for the tech-forward YOTEL brand. The reinvigorated Mid-Market neighbourhood - flanked by the financial district and City Hall - is known for its expanding technology scene, music venues, and dining destinations. YOTEL San Francisco is a short walk from the Moscone Center and the famous Powell and Market Cable Car turnaround and is within a 15 minute rideshare of Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the forthcoming Warriors arena. Mid-Market borders SoMa's bustling neighbourhood, allowing easy access to shops, museums and Michelin-star restaurants. YOTEL San Francisco is the brand's first adaptive re-use office conversion project. Constructed in 1905, the Grant Building is one of three that survived both the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes in San Francisco. Blending the old and new, YOTEL incorporated tech-forward amenities such as self-check-in kiosks, whilst also maintaining the building's historic charm, incorporating many original features into the hotel design, from exposed brick walls to arched windows and its original marble staircase. The property has 203 rooms (or cabins as they are known at YOTEL), each with distinct floor plans to accommodate the building's original layout and frame. YOTEL's first-ever Sky Cabins make up almost half of the San Francisco property, featuring mezzanine-level sleeping accommodations accessed by a staircase and perfect for the solo traveller. Cabins are equipped with YOTEL's signature features, including the space-saving adjustable SmartBed in Premium Cabins, luxury amenities from Urban Skincare, rejuvenating rain showers and heated towel racks, multiple power and USB charging ports, free super-fast WiFi, HD SMART TVs and more. While staying on-property, guests can seamlessly switch from work to play with access to KOMYUNITI, a public area that includes co-working and informal meeting spaces, an 'always-open' fully-equipped gym, and top-notch food and beverage offerings slated to open in conjunction with award winning celebrity chef, Daniel Patterson this summer. Ideal for happy hour or a night out on the town, this offering will also include a rooftop bar - "The Grant"- which will offer outdoor seating and stunning 360-degree views of the San Francisco skyline with unobstructed views of City Hall. YOTEL San Francisco's ground floor will feature an all-day restaurant and bar with a carefully curated menu that celebrates the best of California's diverse ingredients and cultures. Pipeline 4 February 2019 Hilton signed a franchise agreement with Center Coruna Hoteles S.L. to bring DoubleTree by Hilton to the Galicia region of Spain. The 59-guest-room property, including a number of suites, is set to open next year in the historical city centre of La Coruna, and will feature design-led interiors. DoubleTree by Hilton La Coruna's location in the heart of the city makes it an ideal base for both business and leisure travellers. The hotel will be situated only a few steps from major tourist attractions, including the Plaza de Maria Pita, Museo Bellas Artes - Casa Museo Picasso and the famous Tower of Hercules. The region is now home to a number of established international businesses, including Inditex, one of the largest textile manufacturers in the world. The hotel will feature 59 modern guest rooms and suites, as well as a bar and dining outlet, which will offer terrace seating. Other amenities will include a fitness centre, flexible meeting space and a library. Pipeline 4 February 2019 Hyatt announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with Jabal Omar Development Company, a leading developer in the Middle East, for a Hyatt Centric hotel in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, as part of the Jabal Omar integrated real estate development. Jabal Omar Hyatt Centric Makkah Hotel and Residences will boast a prime location in close proximity to the Grand Mosque of Makkah, ideally positioned within one of the fastest growing religious tourism markets in the world. Slated to open in 2023 as a launch pad for exploration, the hotel will feature 196 guestrooms and suites as well as 200 residences supported by a passionately engaged team providing local expertise. Both the hotel and residences will offer modern design elements skillfully blended with touches of local art and culture. Guests will also enjoy state-of-the-art facilities and experiential offers that are synonymous with the Hyatt Centric brand. Since the hotel is about half a mile from the hospital, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana is helping families with Uber and Lyft rides, according to Chief Operating Officer Holly Buckendahl. It will take two to three months to repair the home, so the organization is seeking donations to provide the families with food, transportation and other costs during their stay at the hotel. Enter the Once Upon A Child Spring Style Sweepstakes today for the chance to WIN! Refresh your child's wardrobe! You could be the LUCKY WINNER of $200 in Store Cash! Click here to find out where to get a COVID-19 vaccine or test. To find out how many local residents have been vaccinated for COVID-19, click here. Use the map to find numbers for individual counties. Find detailed statistics about COVID-19 tests, cases and deaths by county and for the state as a whole on the Indiana State Department of Health's online dashboard. Lima, OH (45805) Today Mostly cloudy. Isolated shower possible. High around 77F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening will become mostly clear late. Low 49F. Winds NW at 5 to 15 mph. Detectives have checked more than a dozen cameras in the Streeterville area but had yet to find any footage of an attack. They have been able to track stretches of Smolletts walk between the Subway shop and his apartment building and have spotted two other people in the area at the time. But the images are dark and blurry. Copyright 2018 at Sun Newspapers/ APG Media of East Central Minnesota. Digital dissemination of this content without prior written consent is a violation of federal law and may be subject to legal action. Copyright 2019 at Sun Newspapers/ APG Media of East Central Minnesota. Digital dissemination of this content without prior written consent is a violation of federal law and may be subject to legal action. The son of a sharecropper, Mississippi-born Jesse Leroy Brown would do whatever it took to become a pilot and break the navys color barrier Jesse Leroy Brown set his sights on flying when he was just a youngster working in Mississippis corn and cotton fields. Growing up as the son of a sharecropper, whenever he spotted an airplane overhead, young Jesse would declare that someday he was going to be a pilot. His family always laughed good-naturedly at what they thought of as a joke. But this gifted student and athlete made good his promise soon after World War II ended, becoming the U.S. Navys first black flier. Brown was born in Hattiesburg, Miss., on October 13, 1926. While attending Eureka High School he made a name for himself as a runner and long jumper. He was also the top math student in his junior class. When he graduated in 1944, he chose to attend a predominantly white college rather than Hampton or Howard as his counselors had suggested. Warned of the prejudice he would encounter, Jesse explained that he wanted to study architectural engineering at Ohio Stateand he didnt plan to let any such obstacles get in his way. That fall he became the only black student enrolled in the universitys College of Engineering. To make ends meet he had to work part-time as a janitor at a department store and also load boxcars during the night shift for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Jesse hadnt forgotten his dream of flying. When he saw a poster announcing a new Navy flight training program called V-5, he rushed to the recruiting office and asked to be admitted into the program. The somewhat stunned recruiting officer, a Lieutenant Dawkins, told him that he wouldnt be able to pass the written exam, adding that even if he did, there was no way Jesse would ever get to sit in a Navy cockpit since there had never been a black Navy aviator. Brown responded that he would like to be the first. Eventually the recruiter ran out of excuses and let him take the examactually several written tests. The young man from Mississippi passed them all with flying colors, also acing the physical. In 1947 Midshipman Brown became the first black man accepted into Navy flight school. Next came Selective Flight Training at the naval air station in Glenview, Ill., where he had to prove he could fly or be washed out. Upon Jesses arrival his roommate stuck out his hand, smiled and did not appear uncomfortable, but other midshipmen were considerably less cordial. Some classmates relentlessly harassed him, using every cruel tactic they could imagine to force him to resign. Even the black stewards in the mess hall were offended by his presence. On weekends, when other midshipmen spent time with their parents or girlfriends, Brown generally remained in his room. Jesse was nervous when he first reported to Lt. j.g. Roland Christensen in the ready room, but Christensen welcomed him, saying: Youll be flying with me while youre here. Just relax and concentrate on doing the job. His first flight in a Stearman biplane apparently went well. Brown spent an hour doing maneuvers and thought he was in heaven. He went on to complete the selection process by soloing, and 10 days later reported for preflight training in Iowa. During the next 16 weeks at Naval Air Station Ottumwa, the instructors did their best to weed out cadets who did not measure up to Navy standards. In June 1947, 36 out of 66 midshipmen in Browns class graduated from preflight. Jesse was among the group flown to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., to begin flight training. On October 1, he took his first flight in a North American SNJ. Three days later Brown made a brash move that could have ended his dream of flight: He got married. At the time, Navy regulations stated that an aviation cadet must remain single until graduation or be dropped from the program. But Jesse, no longer able to stand being away from his long-time girlfriend Daisy, rushed home on Saturday and exchanged vows with her the next day. He was back in the cockpit on Monday morning. The final test all the cadets had to pass in Pensacola was to land on an aircraft carrier. Browns five traps were flawless. On October 21, 1948, eight days after he turned 22, Ensign Brown was designated a naval aviator, becoming the first black man to wear wings of gold. Jesse was subsequently assigned to fighter squadron VF-32 aboard the light carrier Wright (CVL-49). In October 1950, his squadron transferred to the fleet carrier Leyte (CV-32), which joined Fast Carrier Task Force 77, on its way to assist United Nations forces in Korea. Now a section leader, Brown flew a Vought F4U-4 Corsair, providing air support for allied ground troops. On December 4, 1950, Jesses section headed for the Chosin Reservoir to support the embattled U.N. troops there. No targets were available, but a Chinese anti-aircraft gunner apparently got lucky. I think I may have been hit, Brown announced over the radio. Ive lost my oil pressure. He guided his crippled Corsair down, pancaking onto the side of a mountain. The fuselage buckled at the cockpit, and the instrument panel slammed into his right leg, trapping him. Squadron Commander Lt. j.g. Thomas J. Hudner Jr., who had followed him down, realized something was wrong when Brown didnt climb out of the cockpit. Hudner then made a move that could have earned him a court-martial, belly-landing his own plane about 100 yards from the downed Corsair. Struggling valiantly to extricate his squadron mate, Hudner quickly realized it was impossible to pull him out of the cockpit. He radioed for a rescue helicopter, but by that time Brown was fading fast from loss of blood and the frigid temperatures on the mountain. He looked at Hudner and said, Tell Daisy how much I love her. I will, replied the lieutenant, who watched as Jesses head slumped onto his chest. When the chopper arrived, Hudner and the pilot again tried to free Browns now-limp body from the Corsair, to no avail. Hudners return to the carrier was met with shock among the crew. Leytes skipper, Captain Thomas U. Sisson, discussed sending a team to recover Browns body, but everyone agreed it was impractical due to the proximity of enemy troops. Sisson then decided to give Jesse a warriors funeral. Seven fighters loaded with napalm took off from the carrier and flew to the crash site. They made a wide circle, then draped Jesses Corsair with a shroud of flames. After rocking their wings in a final salute, they sped away from the glowing funeral pyre. Far from being court-martialed, Hudner received the first Navy Medal of Honor of the Korean War for his efforts to save Brown (who was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross). Daisy Brown and her daughter Pamela were on hand at the White House when President Harry Truman made the presentation. In March 1972, the Navy launched USS Jesse L. Brown (DE- 1089), the first U.S. Navy vessel named for an African American aviator. Originally published in the May 2010 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here. The Trump administration ratcheted up the rhetoric and action on immigration on the eve of the US presidents State of the Union address by sending additional troops to the southern border with Mexico. In a Twitter post, Donald Trump told Republicans to be prepared to do whatever is necessary. The Pentagon announced on Sunday that an additional 3,750 troops were being sent to the border. Additional units are being deployed for 90 days, and we will continue to evaluate the force composition required to meet the mission to protect and secure the southern border, it said in a statement. About 2,400 active-duty troops are already posted along the US-Mexico border. The additional deployment comes amid a standoff between Trump and Congressional Democrats over funding for a border wall. Trump has repeatedly threatened to declare a national emergency to find the money for it and hinted that a decision could come after Tuesdays State of the Union speech. On Sunday, Trump had tweeted, With Caravans marching through Mexico and toward our Country, Republicans must be prepared to do whatever is necessary for STRONG Border Security. Dems do nothing. Immigration is expected to be one of the five major areas the US president is expected to focus on in his address. Asked by reporters last week about declaring national emergency, he had said that youll see what happens right after the address. Its a national emergency... you know there have been plenty of national emergencies called. And this really is an invasion of our country by human traffickers, Trump said in a CBS interview on Sunday. He has sought $5.7 billion for the wall, a campaign promise that his supporters are pressuring him to deliver on. Negotiations are on with Democrats, who have been firm in their resolve to not yield ground on their refusal to fund the wall. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called it immoral. Indian students of a fake university run by undercover US agents to expose immigration fraud have been leaving the country even as many, 129 by the last count made available by authorities, remain in custody. Some have been released reportedly with electronic monitors around their ankles. The number of those who have left the United States on their own could not be immediately ascertained but Indian officials monitoring the situation said they have heard credibly from the Indian American community that students not in custody have been in leaving, sometimes in groups. US immigration and customs enforcement, which is the agency that detects and deports undocumented foreigners, has said individuals not in custody administrative arrest and who have not been served with Notice to Appear before an immigration court do not have court proceedings. A response was awaited from ICE to questions about electronic trackers, which is used to monitor the presence of those who law enforcement officers fear are flight-risks, and about the current number of Indians in custody and those that have been released. Lawyers advising the students have said they have told them to leave as soon as can on their own. Challenging their deportation is not going to go well, in my opinion, said one Atlanta-based immigration attorney, who did not wish to be identified. Indian embassy in DC and its consulates have been in touch the students, those in custody and free. It has started a telephone helpline, which has received more than 100 responses so far and has offered them legal help from a panel of its attorneys. The embassy is also in contact with the US department of homeland security, which has overarching control over immigration, and the state department and sought consular access to the students. We have so far either met or are scheduled to meet shortly a majority of students that are under detention, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Indian ambassador to the US told ANI. We have had our people go to each and every center whether its in Salt Lake city, whether its in Seattle, whether its in Miami, or its in Phoenix people have gone to different parts of the country to access our citizens and to ensure the students are okay, and what they have to say about this. By Monday we will have access to almost all our students. India doesnt have the total number of those in custody, as it changes because of releases and more arrests. ICE told Hindustan Times last week, the number of Indian students arrested was 129. Eight persons, of Indian origin, were arrested and criminally charged, separately, for recruiting students for the University of Farmington in Michigan state which was run by undercover US agents to expose a pay-to-stay immigration scam that allowed enrolled students to stay on foreign students visa and work for a fee that was much lower than what US universities charge usually. An estimated 600 students were enrolled at the time of the filing of indictments last week. None of them had used the enrollment to enter the United States, according to lawyers, officials and Indian Americans in touch with the students. Most of them were students who were already in the US and had completed their studies and enrolled at Farmington to extend their stay while they looked for a job on H-1B visa for high skilled foreigners. Others were students who were enrolled at other universities, and switched to Farmington because of its low fee and permission to work from Day 1 in school, under CPT (curricular practical training, temporary work authorization for international students). Some of them were genuine students who wanted to study and one of them had even reached out to US authorities to ascertain if the university was legitimate, said a person who is closely involved with the process of helping the students. That student was sent in return a link to a list of legitimate universities and Farmington was among them. Others had also said to have reached out to Farmington University about classes and course work, but had come up blank despite many attempts. This is a case of entrapment which is not acceptable in Indian courts, said an official in India. The argument is that an individual cannot be made to commit an offense through an offer of inducements or other benefits and then be criminally charged for it. US prosecutors have alleged the student knew what they were getting into. Each of the foreign citizens who enrolled and made tuition payments to the University knew that they would not attend any actual classes, earn credits, or make academic progress toward an actual degree in a particular field of study- a pay to stay scheme, they said in an indictment. Rather, their intent was to fraudulently maintain their student visa status and to obtain work authorization under the CPT. Hot on the heels of Sundays episode of Koffee with Karan, which featured Sidharth Malhotra and Aditya Roy Kapur, a teaser for next weeks episode has been released online. The next episode will feature Luka Chhupi duo Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon. In the 40-second teaser shared on the Star World social media pages, host Karan Johar points out that not many people know that Kartik was studying to become an engineer, but quit to pursue a career in acting. At this point Kriti raises her hand and informs Karan that she, too, is an engineer. The clip then moves on to the rapid fire round, in which Karan asks Kartik to name one recent film he feels he could have done a better job in. Kartik responds with AndhaDhun, one of the most acclaimed Hindi films of 2018, directed by Sriram Raghavan and starring Ayushmann Khurrana in the lead role. In his next question, Karan asks Kartik to reveal, A lie you can say without batting an eyelid. Kartik replies, That I could have done a better role in AndhaDhun. Ayushmann has already appeared on Koffee with Karan this season. He shared the couch with Uri star Vicky Kaushal. Also read: Koffee With Karan 6 recap: Sidharth Malhotra reveals how his friends pranked him when he brought a date home Bollywood Hungama had previously reported that Karan had offered Kartik the option of sharing the couch with Vicky, but the actor had turned him down. The report quoted a source as saying, Karan Johar wanted Kartik Aaryan and Vicky Kaushal together on his show as the two upcoming male stars of Bollywood. But Kartik Aaryan didnt feel comfortable sharing the couch with Vicky. Karan was stunned when he got to know this. The teaser ends with Karan informing a shocked Kartik that the rapper Badshah, on the same couch, said that he finds Kartik overrated. The episode will air on Sunday on Star World at 9 pm. Follow @htshowbiz for more With the support of Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, the measure is expected to pass this spring and take effect by next year. That follows growing public support for legalization, which has been approved in 10 states so far, though it remains illegal under federal law. The Bihar police arrested a BJP worker on Sunday in Katihar for allegedly posting a vulgar message on social media against newly inducted Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Yogi Sanjay Nath, a resident of Binodpur in Katihar, was arrested on the directive of cyber crime investigation department, Patna. He was later sent to judicial custody for 14 daya. Ranjan Kumar, station house officer of Town police station said a case had been lodged against Yogi on the basis of the statement of social activist Shaheen Syed, who took up the matter with the economic offence unit (EoU) through an email and also shared Yogis Twitter link with the authority concerned. Following her email, Town police station lodged a case on February 2 under Sections 420/29 (A) and IT Act 67 against Yogi. The Congress party had on January 23 announced induction of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh which boosted the confidence of party workers. However, ever since her entry, Priyanka has faced a barrage of misogynistic attacks and sexist remarks from prominent politicians as well workers of rival parties, particularly the BJP. As is known, Star Superior gave race-horse owner and chairman of the Serum Institute of India, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla his fifth Indian Derby and the family-owned Poonawalla Studs, its 10th Derby success at The Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby this Sunday at the Royal Western India Turf Club. The success of Star Superior is said to hold special delight for him as the billionaire had gone on record before the race, predicting its win against the favourite Sir Cecil, believed to be a super horse and the sure winner of this years Derby. No surprises then that its win at nourishing odds of 8 to 1 had many a delighted punter chanting Poonawallas name when the results were announced, inform sources. Having read the patriarchs tip in the local papers on Sunday morning, they had followed his advice and put their money on the winning horse reaping rich returns. And how did Poonawalla, widely believed to be the father of Indian racing, celebrate his victory? According to sources, that evening, eschewing the expected star-spangled party, he chose to spend it with a group of some of his oldest and closest friends, at his mansion in SoBo which features wall-to-wall Renoirs, Van Goghs and Chagalls from his collection of European Masters. The group had included Poonawallas old school friend Solomon Sopher, a prominent member of the citys Baghdadi Jew community; legal eagle Satish Maneshinde; his bloodstock consultant Gautam Kotwal (once the racing correspondent at the now defunct Bombay Magazine); Feroze Vazifdar, owner of Royal China from where dinner was catered for the occasion, and the citys leading antique dealers, brothers Munchi and Dinsha Shroff. It was here, within this cozy group of his inner circle, over flutes of Dom Perignon, that Poonawalla is said to have allowed himself bragging rights. When asked how hed arrived at his accurate prediction, he is reported to have quipped, I always maintained, I know my horses better than anything else in life. Every Day Beauty The Blue Door (Chirodeep Chaudhuri) Recently, photographer Chirodeep Chaudhuri, whose fine eye for quotidian delights has featured on these pages before, was on his way to see the Fort Bassein at Vasai, along with his wife, the creator of bespoke meals for homes, Rohini Bhowmick. As the couple followed google maps, making their way and missing turns, in their discovery of the areas large industrial belt, Bhowmick spotted a striking example of aam artist creativity, a blue door outside an industrial unit featuring a Helper Wanted sign, along with a demon mask to keep the evil eye at bay and images of assorted gods from the Hindu pantheon. It was early morning and so the unit was still shut. There was just so much happening on this lovely blue surface, said the photographer, who put his camera to good use. I especially love the strategic placement of the red palm impressions, he says. Chirodeep is quick to give credit for the documentation of everyday and anonymous art, to his friend Gopal M Sukumara, who he says is famous on Instagram, where he posts a diverse range of paintings, murals, designs, typography created by the common man, all of which turns the city into an ever-metamorphosing public art gallery. Its the kind of stuff which would often be sniggered at for its lack of sophistication or called as kitsch by many of us, but always displays a unique vernacular aesthetic, he says. The ethereal beauty of quotidian objects expressive of the anonymous universal artist so removed from the pretension and rank commerce of gallerists and sundry culture vultures? We like. WTSWTM What They Say You cannot commit some crime and run away from the country, and think wed allow you to revoke your citizenship. That would look really stupid. - Venkatachalam Mahalingam the Indian High Commissioner to Guyana and non-resident High Commissioner of Antigua and Barbuda commenting on fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi, who is fighting extradition charges to India for allegedly defrauding a bank of thousands of crores. What They Mean After all, even if we want to allow the biggest fraudster in Indian banking history to escape the long arm of the law, we would have to make it seem plausible. Daddy Cool Ravi Krishnan with his daughter and her friends. By any account, erstwhile head of IMG and once high-profile IPL honcho and now wellness entrepreneur, Ravi Krishnan is a doting dad to his talented musician-daughter, currently at school in Indonesia. The sharp-stepping import from Australia, who rolled in to Mumbai on one of the first waves of liberalisation epitomizes, a new age-progressive parent, dividing his time between Bali and Mumbai and missing no opportunity to post pictures of father and daughter bonding, with the hashtag #prouddad frequently. But fatherhood has its fringe benefits too as Krishnans tongue-in-cheek recent post, featuring himself as a kind of latter day James Bond along with his daughter and a bevvy of her international friends, each more beautiful than the other, demonstrates. Unsurprisingly, his droll send up of every guys fantasy was met with much good humoured teasing from envious pals along the lines of Whoa, lucky man and My hero!. But Krishnans message, of course, lay in the legend scrawled across his tee, which proudly stated his feminist world view. And to shore up the message and communicate exactly where he stands, he added hashtags #matriarchy and #womenempowerment for good measure. On June 9, 2013, Narendra Modi was appointed chairperson of the campaign committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and tasked with steering the electoral battle against the Congress. On that very day, the campaign to wrest power began, said a party functionary who has worked closely with Modi, and who asked not to be identified. What followed was a high-octane campaign, planned with surgical precision, high on technology and innovation, but married to the traditional door-to-door canvassing that is the hallmark of the BJP and its ideological fount, the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Peppy slogans, catchy songs and an avalanche of advertising across platforms came next. The countdown to the 2019 general election has begun and all eyes are on the campaign, which is expected to be a notch higher in decibels, optics and substance. Theres one difference, though. In 2014, reams were written about the campaign and the strategy: how it was buttressed by the spin doctors at the partys war room at its then headquarters in Delhis Ashoka Road; and how the message reached masses through offices at as many as 5,000 districts and through mobile phones and digital platforms. This time, there is a shroud of mystery on the operations so far. Sure, some efforts have been launched and publicised, but these are largely in the form of support groups that drum up support for the Prime Minister online, such as ModiForPM, ModiOnceMore and IITiansforModi. Most of these have a mix of volunteers as well as party functionaries in an advisory capacity. Also read: AIADMK hints at alliance with BJP for Lok Sabha polls According to people who are part of the campaign strategy, some of whom were involved in the 2014 campaign as well, there are two aspects that stand out: several people who played a critical role are no longer part of the mammoth exercise; and the campaign itself has been tailored to fit the partys changed position from that of the opposition to the ruling party. None of these people wished to be identified. One big change this time is that the campaign in-charge is the party president, Amit Shah, who has his own style of functioning. He may borrow from the template that was set by Modi, or plan afresh, but so far, things are yet to take shape, said the functionary cited above. Shah was involved in the campaign back then, but was not the party president at the time. Recently, the party announced 17 committees under the leadership of senior leaders such as Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari to prepare the manifesto, reach out to the beneficiaries and make contact with the electorate, but there is no clarity on who the backroom men and women anchoring the campaign will be. The people involved in the campaign, as well as other functionaries, say that work is yet to pick up pace, but that the focus will clearly be on the achievements of the Modi government. Also read: In poll season, Rahul Gandhi, 3 Congress CMs fly cattle class to Patna for rally The BJP is now on the defensive, it has to go all out to protect its record and present its credentials to the voters. So while the government will mount a blitzkrieg to advertise its achievements, the party will have to not only defend its positions against the allegations of the opposition, but will also have to go to people with an idea that will again pitch BJP as the only credible option, a second party functionary, who was also part of the 2014 campaign, said on condition of anonymity. Among the faces missing from the campaign this time are Prashant Kishor, Ajay Singh, Rajesh Jain, and Arvind Gupta. Kishor hit the headlines after his Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG) was credited for coming up with the hugely popular interaction, Chai Pe Charcha, and the Modi Hologram. The former was in response to a jibe by Congressman, Mani Shankar Aiyar, whose scurrilous comment about Modi being a chaiwallah set off a storm. He is now the vice president of the BJP ally, JDU, and according to those aware of the developments, is maintaining a distance from the campaign. Even though he is with a party that is an ally, there is no contact on the strategy front, said the second functionary. Gupta, now the head of MyGov, a government-run platform for interaction between the citizens and the administration, was the key functionary who ran the IT cell. It was under his charge that the party came up with technological intervention to bridge the gap between Modi and the electorate. A mobile or the humble radio, were used to relay the messages in the 160 Lok Sabha seats where elections were fought using digital technology and social media. Jain, Gupta and Kishore declined comments. Ajay Singh, the big boss of SpiceJet, has moved on too. Credited for coining the slogan Abki Baar Modi Sarkar, Singh was one of the core members of BJPs campaign team and, according to those who worked with him in the past, honed his skills under Pramod Mahajan, known for his dexterity in organisational tasks. It is not known whether he will be on board. Rajesh Jain and BG Mahesh, the brains behind Niti Central, a news and views website, and India-272, that was aimed at encouraging and persuading the youth to register as voters, and vote for the party. The duo, key resources in galvanising support for Modi online, is also not part of the campaign so far. Both Jain and Mahesh strategised to bolster support through the digital outreach, since the young and media savvy were an important constituency that the party was trying to reach, said a former team member, who has now been given a berth in one of the 17 committees. Consultancy firms, marketing communications agencies, such as Madison, and advertising gurus, such as Piyush Pande and Prasoon Joshi, were also drafted for the high-voltage outreach in 2014. That may happen again this time, although no announcements on that front have been made so far. A BJP leader who asked not to be identified said not much should be read into the relatively subdued atmosphere at the party office. The second party functionary denied that there has been a decline in the number of volunteers signing up to be part of the campaign. Political analyst, Sanjay Kumar, of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, said the buzz around the partys campaign in 2014, which was marked by a high turnout of volunteers, could be attributed to the political situation, where the Congresss image was at an all time low and the sentiment was in the BJPs favour. Before 2014, people were very angry with the Congress; and many people wanted to campaign for Modi. What has changed is that the hype has gone down though Modis charm has not faded, he said. From dhols to Rath Yatra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has planned elaborate campaigns in Delhis slums and unauthorised colonies, which are considered an Aam Aadmi Party votebank, to expose the ruling party in Delhi. On Sunday, Union minister Vijay Goel, a former member of Parliament (MP) from Chandni Chowk, held a dhol andolan in Daya Basti in Inderlok (near Shastri Park in the Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency) to highlight the failure of the AAP government in providing essential services to people living in slums. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari plans to start a rath yatra in all 70 assembly constituencies to inform people of the ruling partys failure to deliver on the 70 promises it made in its 2015 election manifesto. While addressing the crowd at Daya Basti, Goel said, Kejriwal is misleading slum dwellers on electricity and water. Before Kejriwal came into the power, slum dwellers used to get water from tankers and didnt have to pay for it. Now, due to this government, residents of slums are being forced to pay high electricity and water bills. Hoping to make a dent in the AAPs votebank slums and unauthorised colonies were considered the Congress vote bank, which, in 2015, shifted en masse to AAP -- the BJP plans to step up its campaign in slums. With Delhi heading for a triangular fight, a split in slum votes, BJP members say, will help the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Tiwari is planning more night-stays in slums, which he started doing last year. We will expose them (AAP). We are doing a reality check of all their 70 promises, of which the check of 40 is complete. The rest will be completed soon, and we plan to show them to people of Delhi, Tiwari said. The rath yatra will highlight the achievements of the Modi government and failures of the AAP government. The specially designed rath will have LED screens, where we will show short video clips we have made to highlight the failure of this government to deliver on its promises, Neelkant Bakshi, co-incharge of media, Delhi BJP, said. Party members also said they are going to highlight how the AAP government has deprived lakhs of Delhi residents from benefiting from central government schemes such as Ayushman Bharat. The government is stalling benefits extended by the Centre from reaching the people of Delhi. We will go to all the slums and tell people about it, Goel said. Dilip Pandey, senior AAP leader and the partys Lok Sabha candidate from northeast Delhi, said, The Delhi government, under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, is Indias most popular government. BJP-led civic bodies did nothing except corruption. Vijay Goel should ask the BJP leadership in the state to start fulfilling promises made before the MCD elections. The state BJP president (Manoj Tiwari) had promised they will get funds from the central government by bypassing Delhis government, and will make Delhi clean within three months. They cleaned funds of the civic bodies through corruption and nothing is brought by the leadership from the central government. Amit Shah lists out govts successes Thousands of youth benefitted through Mudra yojana. Six crore poor women given LPG connection, lakhs in AP also benefitted. One lakh poor given electricity connection through Saubhagya scheme. Eight crore toilets, of which 45 lakh in AP, constructed by Modi govt: Amit Shah Dynastic Chandrababu cant do welfare of AP: Amit Shah Chandrababu even welcomed the announcement. Jagan Reddys corrupt party cannot give justice to AP. Dynastic Chandrababu cant do welfare of AP. Only BJP led by Modi can do it: Amit Shah Modi govt gave to AP much more than what was mentioned in special status; Amit Shah Rs 5,56,985 crore given to AP for development under various projects. What has Chandrababu given apart from Nara Lokesh (his son)? Chandrababu was lying when he said he quit NDA because of special status. Due to the intervention of Hari Babu (Vizag MP) and Venkaiah Naidu, Modi govt gave to AP much more than what was mentioned in special status; Amit Shah We have given 22 institutes to AP, what has Chandrababu given: Amit Shah We have given 22 institutes to AP. I would like to ask Chandrababu what he had given to AP when he was in NDA? Did he bring one irrigation project in Rayalaseema: Amit Shah Modi govt gifted many prestigious institutes to AP: Amit Shah IIT in Tirupati, IIM in Vizag, IISER in Tirupati, IIIT in Chitoor, AIIMS and agricultural university in Guntoor, and various other institutes were given to Andhra Pradesh by Modi. Chandrababu always worked against interests of Telugus for his political benefit: Amit Shah Chandrababu Naidu has always worked against the interests of Telugus for his political benefit. We will not take him back into NDA. When he became unpopular due to corruption, he started levelling allegations against Modi that he did nothing for Andhra Pradesh: Amit Shah Seeing Modi jis popularity, Chandrababu fell at his feet and returned to NDA: Amit Shah Seeing Modi jis popularity, Chandrababu Naidu fell at his feet and returned to NDA. He has now returned to Congress, against whom NTR waged a battle to uphold Telugu pride. After the experiment in Telangana failed, he left Congress and returned to mahagathbandhan: Amit Shah Work hard, ensure that no one forms govt without BJPs help: Amit Shah to BJP workers Both TDP and YSRC are promoting family rule, they are both corrupt. BJP workers should work hard in polls to ensure that no party forms a government without BJPs help. To gain peoples sympathy, Naidu began blaming BJP: Amit Shah When he (N Chandrababu Naidu) felt that people are angry with the way he is running the govt & with his efforts to try to make his son the CM. To try to gain sympathy, he put the entire blame on BJP and distanced himself from us, said Amit Shah in Andhra Pradesh. 10 of 14 tasks already completed in 5 years of Modi government: Amit Shah 14 important tasks of Andhra Reorganization Act were to be completed in 10 years. Out of those 14, 10 tasks have already been completed in 5 years of Modi government, said Amit Shah in Andhra Pradesh. NDA governments support to Andhra, ten times more than Congress: Shah NDA governments support for the development of Andhra Pradesh is ten times more than what was provided during the 55 years of Congress government This time, NDAs doors closed for Naidu: Amit Shah in Andhra Again in 2014, when Narendra Modi became the PM, he chose to be part and of the NDA govt but later began bad-mouthing Modi. I can guarantee when BJP comes to power in 2019, Naidu will again try to be part of teh NDA givernment, but this time the doors are closed for him. Naidu seeks ruling govts support: Amit Shah in Andhra Chandrababu Naidu started his political career with Congress, and then joined NTRs TDP party and enjoyed being in the ruling party. However, he later betrayed NTR and took over the entire party under his control and enjoyed power. After that, when Atal Bihari Vijpayee became the PM, he chose to become part of the NDA govt so as to enjoy being in power, and then later left it too. U-turn chief minister, an apt description of Naidu, says Amit Shah U-turn chief minister, is a perfectly appropriate description of Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, he has misguided the people of Andhra Pradesh says Amit Shah. Amit Shah to address Shakti Kendra Pramukh Sammelan Amit Shah will shortly address Shakti Kendra Pramukh Sammelan in Masonic Temple Ground, Andhra Pradesh. Amit Shah to begin poll campaign in Andhra BJP chief Amit Shah will today begin the partys poll campaign in Andhra Pradesh Monday. Its well established by now that the Mumbai Police Twitter handle does a great job of sharing important messages through quirky tweets. And their recent tweet on cyber security is just another stellar example. In the hilarious post, Mumbai Police used Andaz Apna Apna to put across a message and needless to say, it has resonated with many. Posted on February 2, Mumbai Police shared a still of Aamir Khan and Salman Khan from the film, along with an iconic dialogue from the movie. Do dost ek cup mein chai piyenge isse dosti badhti hai, says the image. It goes on add a little message about passwords. Dont be a Kaccha Khiladi! Keep your passwords to yourself #PasswordApnaApna pic.twitter.com/AStBYBtI5q Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) February 2, 2019 #PasswordApnaApna does have a ring to it, right? The tweet, not unlike many of Mumbai Polices tweets, has won praise on Twitter. Since being shared, the tweet has collected over 1,600 likes and more than 300 retweets. Otherwise Inspector Goga ayega. Aaya hu. Kuch to lekar jaunga! jokes one Twitter user in response to the tweet. Kamal hai... koi @MumbaiPolice ko award do for awesome creativity, says another. Another recent tweet by a police Twitter handle has won Twitters attention. This one is by Nagpur Police. The handle posted about road safety and Valentines Day in one tweet. Valentine's day alentine's day lentine's day entine's day ntine's day tine's day ine's day ne's day e's day 's day day ay Bhai Zara Dekhke Chalo !!#DriveSafe NagpurCityPolice (@NagpurPolice) February 3, 2019 Tweeted on February 3, this post has collected over 400 likes so far. So what do you think about these quirky tweets? Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday launched 80 motorised chariots for its Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat, Modi ke Saath campaign in Uttar Pradesh as a part of the BJPs public outreach campaign ahead of the general election this year. Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the state leg of the Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat, Modi ke Saath campaign after BJP president Amit Shah and Union home minister Rajnath Singh kicked off the drive centrally in Delhi on Sunday. The Bharatiya Janata Party is hoping to seek suggestions directly from the people to prepare its sankalp patra or the election manifesto for the 2019 election through the month long-campaign across the country, including the politically-crucial northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Union minister and the BJPs in-charge of the state JP Nadda and deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma were also present at the event in state capital Lucknow. Also read | Will break backbone of terror in Jammu and Kashmir: PM Modis stern message in Srinagar A five-minute video film on the achievements of the Narendra Modi government was screened during the event. Kaam kare jo, ummeed ussi se ho (Rely on those who work), the opening line of the song in the video said. The motorised chariots would travel across the state with a tablet where people can record their suggestions through a video. These chariots would also have a drop box where people can drop their suggestions, which would be included in the partys sankalp patra. Other public outreach initiatives as part of the partys crowdsourcing suggestions include urging people to give a missed call on 6357171717 and record their concerns. A website www.bharatkemannkibaat.com has also been launched where people can post suggestions as texts or videos. People can also send in their suggestions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram using the hashtag #BharatKeMannKiBaat. Your voice is of utmost importance. Urging you all to take part in Bharat ke Mann ki Baat, Modi ke Saath, a unique effort by @BJP4India to get citizen feedback. What you all share will form the blueprint of our Sankalp Patra for the 2019 elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted after the Delhi launch of the campaign. Participative democracy is an article of faith for our party. We have always worked to be an effective voice for rights and well-being of each and every Indian and to build a strong and prosperous India.#BharatKeMannKiBaat, he said in another tweet. The main opposition party Congress had also launched a similar campaign during the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Congress president Rahul Gandhi had recorded a video message for party workers during the process to choose the chief ministers of these states in December last year. Also read | Weve left the culture of delays behind, says PM Modi at Leh event The Elmhurst officers said they were doing plainclothes surveillance on a suspected drug dealer when one of them spotted Auterberry in his car, which was parked in a handicapped spot at a supermarket on York Road. Auterberry was wanted on a warrant for a retail theft in Elmhurst that had taken place the previous month, said the officers, who followed Auterberry south on York Road The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will not welcome Chandrababu Naidu back into its fold after the 2019 election results come out. This was the refrain of BJP president Amit Shah who was addressing a gathering of booth workers at Vizianagaram, in Andhra Pradesh. Referring to Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu as the U-turn chief minister, Amit Shah recounted the Telugu Desam Party chiefs political career. Amit Shah said that Naidu had begun his career with the Congress when it was in power. But when the Congress lost, he joined NT Ramaraos TDP. But at the opportune moment, he stabbed NTR in the back and stole his party. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the prime minister, Naidu joined the NDA, but left it soon after the NDA government fell in 2004, Shah said. Also read | A PM a day if opposition wins, says Amit Shah Naidu spent nearly 10 years without being part of any major political organisation, Shah said. But when he realised that he couldnt come to power without Narendra Modi, he joined the NDA, which he had once opposed, Shah said. Just before the Telangana elections, he left the NDA and joined the Congress, which had once insulted the Telugu people, Shah said. But, Naidu did not stay on with the Congress for very long, he said. When he lost in Telangana, he left the Congress and joined the Mahagathbandhan, Shah said. Shah went on to say that as soon as the counting for the upcoming elections ends, he will again try and return to the BJP fold. But this time, all doors to the NDA are closed for Naidu. We will not take him back, Shah said. Also read | Congresss OROP is Only Rahul Only Priyanka: Amit Shah in Una Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday his party will give loan waivers to farmers across the country if voted to power, as he launched an election pitch from Patnas Gandhi Maidan and called for like-minded Opposition parties to unite against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Addressing the Congresss first rally at Patnas Gandhi Maidan in about three decades, Gandhi criticised announcements made in the interim budget and praised Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav for his dynamism. The Congress presidents father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had addressed a rally at the venue in 1989. Gandhi said the Centres announcement of providing a direct income of Rs 6,000 to marginalised farmers families every year was an insult as it translated to only Rs 3.5 per day to individuals in such households. We will together fight the Lok Sabha elections and then install a Grand Alliance (GA) government in Bihar also. There is not much time left for Nitish Kumar, as the Opposition is ready to replace him, Gandhi said at the Jan Akanksha rally. He said Yadav was a young politician who led by example and delivered on his promises. The remarks came after Yadav praised the 48-year-old and said he had all the qualities to be the next Prime Minister of the country. The RJD leader, however, added that it was important for the Congress to take all allies along for the general elections. About two dozen Opposition parties plan to hold joint symposiums on key issues such as jobs and farmers plight across the country in their latest campaign against the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after Parliaments budget session ends on February 13. We will deliver what we promise, as our partys track record vouches for, Gandhi said. Union minister Smriti Irani Sunday said she would leave politics the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to hang his boots, though she asserted that he would be around for long years. She was speaking at the Words Count festival here in a discussion titled Scripting Her Story, From Star to Star Campaigner. A member of the audience asked her when would one see her as a pradhan sevak (prime servant), a title often used by Modi to describe his role as the head of the Union government. Never. I entered politics to work under charismatic leaders. I was very lucky to work under the leadership of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee and I am currently serving under Modi ji, Irani replied. The day pradhan sevak Narendra Modi decides to hang his boots, I will also leave Indian politics, she said. I decide for myself how much of my life I will give for my country, my society. In an independent country, if I cannot take a decision for myself, what is the use of that independence? she said. On whether she did not wish to serve under leaders other than Modi, the textile minister said, Am I not currently working under leaders like Rajnath Singh ji, Nitin Gadkari ji? There are leaders with whom I have worked within the organisation for the last 18 years. I also had the opportunity to work under leaders like Vajpayee and L K Advani. You are presuming Modi wont be there for long, but let me tell you, he is going to be around for very, very long years, she told the audience. The BJP leader was also asked whether she would contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from Amethi against Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. She said the decision would be taken by her party and its chief Amit Shah. In 2014, when I fought the election, they were asking who is Smriti. In 2019, they know who I am, she asserted. Irani had lost to Gandhi in the 2014 general elections from Amethi. Speaking on the menace of trolling on social media platforms, the actor-turned-politician said she had been trolled by celebrated journalists and politicians and not just by anonymous netizens. I might be one of the few people who have been equally trolled by celebrated journalists and politicians and by anonymous trolls, she said. Talking about the women politicians she admired, Irani named Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Lok Sabha Speaker and Indore MP Sumitra Mahajan. When they began their journey, it was comparatively tougher. They have made a difference in Indian politics without any additional support. I look up to them as my source of inspiration, she added. Rajeev Kumar, the man at the centre of the stand-off between the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government and the CBI, is a 1989 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. The former Bidhannagar police commissioner and the head of a special task force to probe the 2013 Saradha ponzi scam, Kumar has been the commissioner of Kolkata Police since May 2016. He is known for his proximity to Banerjee and for his deft use of technology to catch criminals. Bureaucrats recall that the commissioner was initially disliked by Mamata, possibly on the suspicion that Kumar, a favourite of her predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), tapped telephones on behalf of the Left regime. But they say Banerjee gradually came to admire his efficiency. As soon as the Saradha scam came to light in April 2013, Mamata set up a special investigation team under Rajeev Kumar and also a four-member judicial inquiry commission. It was as the commissioner of Bidhannagar police and the SIT chief probing the Saradha scam that involved deposits of Rs 2,460 crore (as later quantified by the Enforcement Directorate) that Kumar has come under the CBIs scanner. Follow live updates here: Tejashwi Yadav, Kanimozhi join West Bengal CM at protest against CBI and Centre CBI, which was ordered by the Supreme Court to take over the Saradha probe in May 2014, alleged that the SIT led by Kumar had in 2013 seized various items from Saradhas Midland Park office, including a red diary and a pen drive containing details, including pay-offs to influential people. Incidentally, the Midland Park office falls under the jurisdiction of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate. Former Saradha executive director Debjani Mukherjee too, allegedly told the CBI that these documents were seized but the CBI said the same were never made available to them. Oppositions leaders have alleged that Mamata Banerjee is defending Kumar since he is in possession of crucial documents that are likely to incriminate the CM in the Ponzi scam. When the SIT was formed (in 2013), all scam-related documents that point to the involvement of Mamata Banerjee...went in possession of Rajeev Kumar. They are still in Kumars custody, alleged BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya. If he has nothing to hide, why is Rajeev Kumar avoiding the CBI that is investigating under orders from the Supreme Court ? It is evident that he is.. protecting the ruling party, said CPI(M) leader Rabin Deb. Meanwhile, Mamata continued to defend Kumar. On Sunday evening, while lashing out at the Centre outside Kumars residence, she said, Why would we hand over whatever we found in the investigation? UK home secretary Sajid Javid has signed an order to extradite Vijay Mallya, who is wanted in India to face charges of financial irregularities running into thousands of crores of rupees, even as those with knowledge of the developments said on Monday the beleaguered liquor tycoon had 14 days to appeal the decision. The UK governments order comes almost two months after the Westminster Magistrates Court upheld Indias evidence against Mallya and cleared his extradition. Delivering the verdict on December 10, the judge in the case said it was the start of a long process. The UK home secretary had two months from the date of the ruling to sign Mallyas extradition order. On Monday, the home office in London confirmed that Javid signed Mallyas extradition order on Sunday. On February 3 the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallyas extradition to India, a UK home office spokesperson said. Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences, the spokesperson added. Shortly after the statement was released, Union home minister Arun Jaitley welcomed the UK order. Modi Government clears one more step to get Mallya extradited while Opposition rallies around the Saradha Scamsters, he tweeted. An Indian official familiar with the developments said India has taken note of UKs decision. While we welcome the UK governments decision in the matter, we await the early completion of the legal process for his extradition, the official said on condition of anonymity. Mallya has 14 days from the date of signing of the order to appeal in UKs high court, a senior Enforcement Directorate (ED) said, asking not to be named. The 63-year-old is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017 after Indian authorities brought fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crore against the former Kingfisher Airlines boss. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED have launched probes against him over allegations levelled by a consortium of 17 banks that provided loans to the now-defunct airline. It is good news, a victory for the industry This will send a strong message that one can no longer befool banks and abscond. Credit goes to the Indian government, a senior executive at a Delhi-based bank that was one of the members of the consortium said, requesting anonymity. Mark Summers, the lawyer representing India at last years court hearing, accused the 63-year-old of three chapters of dishonesty in previous hearings: misrepresentations made to banks to secure loans, what was done with the loans, and what he and his companies did when banks recalled the loans. Mallya said soon after the ruling by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot in London that he would consider the verdict in detail and decide his next course of action. His legal team later said he was planning to file an appeal against the court order. Delivering a summary of the 74-page judgment, Arbuthnot had highlighted the failings of Indian banks while lending to Mallya and his companies, and said the four grounds on which the businessman opposed the extradition had failed. The four grounds were lack of a prima facie case, risk to human rights in Indian jails, abuse of process, and extraneous considerations. There was no evidence which allowed me to find that if extradited Mallya was at real risk of suffering a flagrant denial of justice, the judgment said. In the light of the decisions outlined above, I am sending Mallyas case to the Home Secretary of State for a decision to be taken on whether to order his extradition, it concluded. According to British law, the home secretary needs to grant approval for all extradition requests. Sarosh Zaiwalla, founder of leading British legal firm Zaiwalla & Co, said after the verdict that the process in the court of appeals alone could take five or six months. Should this also go against him, he could apply for the right to appeal to the Supreme Court, which would involve at least another six weeks, and if he won the right to do so, that could take more months, even up to a year, he said. He added that ultimately the case was with the government but it would not be able to overturn a court judgment on the extradition. (With inputs from agencies) The British government has cleared the extradition process of businessman Vijay Mallya, wanted in multi-crore loan recovery cases by several banks, to India. Home Secretary Sajid Javid formally signed the extradition order for Mallya. Mallya has two weeks to appeal the government order, which came after the Westminster magistrates court on December 10 allowed his extradition to India to face legal proceedings in the cases. On 3 February, the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallyas extradition to India. Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences, a home office spokesperson said. Mallya said he intends to appeal the decision. After decision was handed down on Dec 10,2018 by Westminster Magistrates Court, I stated my intention to appeal. I couldnt initiate appeal process before a decision by Home Secretary. Now Ill initiate the appeal process, he was quoted by ANI as saying. People familiar with developments in India said New Delhi had taken note of the decision of the UK Home Secretary to sign on the order for Mallyas extradition to India. While we welcome the UK governments decision in the matter, we await the early completion of the legal process for his extradition, one of them said. Mallya, 63 a former Rajya Sabha member of parliament in India is fighting multiple lawsuits after defaulting on bank loans worth about Rs 9,000 crore that he had taken for the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, which he founded in 2005. Disputes over the loans led to civil lawsuits in India and the UK as well as criminal fraud charges. Mallya has been presenting his version of the charges on Twitter and before television cameras outside the court to counter the narrative that he ran away with banks money. In June 2018, he released on Twitter letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley dated 2016, seeking fair play and justice. Recently he had taken to social media to question the narrative that he ran away with Rs 9,000 crore from banks, asking if it is justified when his assets worth Rs 13,000 crore had been reportedly seized. Banks are eyeing two superyachts and a collection of valuable cars that they believe he may own. On January 5, Vijay Mallya became the first Indian businessman to be declared a fugitive economic offender by a special court in Mumbai. In separate legal proceedings, Mallya is also set for a trial in May next year to prevent his posh London home, overlooking Regents Park, from foreclosure by Swiss Bank UBS. BJPs rebel leader Shatrughan Sinha came out in support of Mamata Banerjee on Monday as the West Bengal chief minister started another confrontation with the Centre over CBIs attempt to question the chief of Kolkata Police. Sinha has already backed Mamata Banerjee in the past when he attended the mega opposition rally called by the Trinamool Congress leader in Kolkata last month and also endorsed her name for the post of the countrys Prime Minister. Also read: Narendra Modi a real action hero, Mamata Banerjee perfect for PM: Shatrughan Sinha Sirji, whats happening? Why are we playing with fire through the much maligned, disgraced and condemned govt institutions? That too when the elections are around the corner... By targeting the tried and tested mass leader with impeccable image, Bengal Tigress @MamataOfficial (sic), Sinha tweeted. Watch : BJP misusing power ahead of polls: Opposition leaders back Mamata Banerjee the lady who is identified with hawai chappal and cotton saris. We have almost lost our credibility and people are not accepting whatever we are saying. Lets not get into knee jerk panic action reaction. Jai Hind ! (sic), the actor-turned-politician wrote. Mamata Banerjee is protesting to Save the Constitution in Kolkata against what she says is the coup of the BJP-led central government. Her sit-protest came after the Central Bureau of Investigation moved to arrest Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Sunday evening in connection with the Sarada scam. The five-member CBI team was denied entry to the Kolkata Police chiefs residence and then detained inside a police station. Also read: To save democracy: Shatrughan Sinhas reason for attending Mamatas mega opposition rally More than 100 users liked the tweets and were retweeted nearly 500 times. Sinha has in the past lashed out at his own party leaders on national and state issues, often from public platforms. He has also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on issues like rising fuel prices, demonetisation, Rafale deal and the Vijay Mallya case. Sinha has been friendly to opposition parties such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress and also has visited opposition leaders, including Lalu Prasad, embarrassing the BJP. He has praised RJDs Tejashwi Yadav, calling him a very mature leader and Lalu Prasads son reciprocated the gesture at an iftar party last year. Chacha (Shatrughan Sinha) is with us, he said, fuelling speculation that Sinha could be the RJD candidate for the Patna Sahib seat in 2019. The two-time Lok Sabha MP from Patna Sahib has also openly praised Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. He has recently been advised by Bihars deputy CM and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi to leave the party. Modi said Sinha had fallen into bad company of Yashwant Sinha. Also read: BJP finally tells off Shatrughan: Quit if you dont like it here Rishi Kumar Shukla took over as the chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday. A 1983-batch IPS officer, Shukla took charge at a time when the agency is busy in a turf war with the Kolkata Police which has spiralled into a political slugfest between the Centre and West Bengal Government. A perplexed interim CBI chief M Nageswara Rao was seen scrambling resources to counter the West Bengal Polices action that not only detained a CBI team, which went to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, but also cordoned off the agencys office at the CGO complex in Salt Lake city. The arrival of 58-year old Shukla, a former DGP of the Madhya Pradesh Police and an Intelligence Bureau veteran, as a full-fledged director is likely to bring some sort of order in the agency as it moves to the Supreme Court to challenge the action of the West Bengal government in ponzi scam cases. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had started a dharna on Sunday evening to protest against the alleged highhandedness of the Centre and insults meted out to her by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. The issues were triggered when a team of CBI officials arrived unannounced at the doors of Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar to question him in connection with Saradha and Rose Valley scam. The investigations in these cases have been sped up in the run up to the general elections with the agency recently questioning a close aide of Banerjee at his residence. The team was stopped by West Bengal Police personnel and they were bundled into a police vehicle and taken to a police station. The West Bengal Police took the action as the agencys officials had failed to produce any warrant, state police officials had said. Rajeev Kumar, the commissioner of Kolkata Police, is the man in the eye of the storm as the tussle between the Mamata Banerjee government and the NDA regime at the Centre intensifies. A 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre, Kumar took over police commissioner in January, 2016. He made his name while he was the commissioner of Bidhannagar. Kumar had headed the special investigation team (SIT) probing the Saradha and Rose Valley scams before the CBI took over the probe. The CBI wants to question the top cop on the investigation into the scams and some missing documents. Rajeev Kumar is believed to be close to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. When there were reports in the media that the CBI may question the police chief, Mamata came to his support.The Kolkata Police Commissioner is among the best in the world. His integrity, bravery and honesty are unquestioned. He is working 24x7, and was on leave for only one day recently. When you spread lies, the lies will always remain lies, she said. Fifty-three-year old Rajeev Kumar is a computer science graduate from IIT Roorke. He was known for his prowess in electronic surveillance when he was the chief of the special task force. The BJP has attacked Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee for throwing her weight behind the police commissioner. Senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said that it was strange that the CM was sitting on a protest to protect a police officer from whom the CBI only wants to ask a few questions. It is unprecedented that a chief minister should sit on a dharna to protect a police officer, Javadekar said. The showdown began on Sunday when a CBI team reached Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumars house to question him over the Saradha scam. In retaliation, Kolkata Police also sent its teams to the CBI offices in the the city and the residence of CBIs West Bengal unit chief Pankaj Srivastava. Describing her sit-in over the CBIs attempt to question Kolkata Police chief as a non-political protest, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday said support has poured in for her from different quarters of the country. The chief minister, who has been sitting on a dharna since 8.30pm Sunday on a makeshift dais at Metro Channel here, said she will continue her satyagraha till the country and its Constitution are saved. Banerjee also asked his party members to ensure that the protest was peaceful. The unprecedented development came after the CBIs attempt to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with multi-crore chit fund scams. The CBI team, which went to Kumars residence in the citys Loudon Street area Sunday, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and whisked to a police station. Also read | In CBI vs Kolkata Police face-off, Rajnath Singh delivers a sharp warning Welcoming support for her dharna, Banerjee said, Its not a political programme. But all political parties can join us in our protest. Banerjee maintained that Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, DMK president MK Stalin and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti were among those who called up to express solidarity to her protest. The TMC chief Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a coup in the state. She also alleged that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was directing the CBI to harass political opponents, as per orders of the prime minister. Addressing her party workers, who raised slogans against Modi near her dais, Banerjee said, We want a peaceful demonstration. Please do not burn any effigies here. The dias displayed a banner saying Save the constitution, save the federal structure, save the police force, save the Indian Administrative Service and all ranks of civil service from disaster. The CM skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on the dais here along with some senior ministers and party members. Criticising reports that questioned the presence of senior police officers at the demonstration, Banerjee said, Its a programme of the government and thats why police officers are here. The TMC supremo had earlier said she would not attend the Assembly, where the state budget would be placed by Finance Minister Amit Mitra, on Monday. Prior to that, a cabinet meeting would be held inside a makeshift room set up behind the stage. Also read | Wont take back Chandrababu Naidu in NDA: Amit Shah slams Andhra CM on his turf Meanwhile, party workers hit the streets from morning in Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura, Burdwan East, Purulia, Birbhum and North 24 Parganas districts, officials said. Effigies of Modi and BJP national President Amit Shah were also burnt by them. In Howrah and Hooghly districts, TMC activists obstructed train movement while they put up blockades on national highway in Bankura district. Shouting slogans against the CBI, the TMC cadres vowed to continue their fight till the Narendra Modi government is defeated in the next Lok Sabha polls. Banerjee had also directed party leaders to organise protest marches across the state on Monday between 2 pm and 4 pm without inconveniencing the people. In a tweet, the CM had earlier asserted that the Kolkata Police Commissioner was among the best in the world and that his integrity, bravery and honesty are unquestioned. Also read | Behind Mamatas dharna, red diary and a pen drive with masala details: BJP The victim then made eye contact with Barnes but continued driving. The victim then heard three gunshots and felt pain in her leg, Assistant States Attorney Luis Muniz said. Realizing that shed been struck in the leg, the victim noticed the Grand Prix immediately exit at 75th Street. The victim continued on, exiting at 79th Street, where she reported the shooting and passed along the description, Muniz said. Goa will plunge into a political crisis the day Manohar Parrikar steps down as chief minister, BJP legislator and deputy speaker of the legislative assembly Michael Lobo warned on Monday. Lobo, who was full of praise for Congress president Rahul Gandhi for calling on Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar also said that Parrikar is surviving on Gods blessings in combating the ailment that has got no cure. As long as Manohar Parrikar is the Chief Minister there will be no crisis. The day Manohar Parrikar steps down as chief minister or if something happens, the day he leaves the job, there will be a political crisis, Lobo told reporters at a function. He is very unwell, people have to understand that hes sick. His ailment has go no cure. With Gods blessings hes still living, Lobo said. Parrikar who is currently admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi for what his office described as a routine medical check-up tweeted a combative message on the occasion of World Cancer Day. Human mind can overcome any disease, Parrikar said. With the BJP in Goa dependent on the support of allies and independents and unable to agree on an alternative leader, Parrikar has ploughed on despite initially agreeing to shed his workload if not his post. Late last week, the Congress leader Reginaldo Lourenco called on Parrikar to gracefully step aside. The Chief Minister should honourably resign or give charge to somebody. Im not here to dictate terms to him, his party will dictate terms to him, but as a leader who has some class he should take care of his health. I feel Manohar Parrikar has lost out on the opportunity, Lourenco said. The Congress has also said that they anticipated the government would make an attempt to dissolve the Goa Legislative Assembly pointing to the fact that the government only sought a vote-on-account when it could have sought a full budget. However, the Chief Minister has told the alliance partners that there will be no premature dissolution of the house with the ruling party saying that the government is stable and faced no threats. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjees latest tirade against the Narendra Modi government this time over the Central Bureau of Investigations alleged attempts to arrest Kolkata police chief appears to be a politically calculated move ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. For the first time, all opposition parties have stood by her over an issue related to the 2013 Saradha chit fund case a major shift from the early days of the case when the Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress was left to fend for itself. In Lok Sabha, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday described the incident as an effort to terminate all opposition parties to bring an autocratic government. Biju Janata Dals Lok Sabha floor leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said, The manner in which the CBI officers wanted to barge into Kolkata Police Commissioners residence, that too, with 40 personnel was unheard of. We are not a Banana republic. Minutes after Banerjee sat on a dharna in the heart of Kolkata, top Opposition leaders including Congress president Rahul Gandhi reached out to her and offered support. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray also supported Banerjee. We applaud & support the stand taken by Mamata Banerjee against the autocracy & tyranny of the Central govt., Thackeray tweeted. Follow live updates here: Tejashwi Yadav, Kanimozhi join West Bengal CM at protest against CBI and Centre Even her arch-rival CPI(M), which wants to oust Banerjee from Bengal, had to take a calibrated stand. Its MP Badaruddoza Khan dubbed the CBI raid as a drama to divert peoples attention from CPI(M)s successful rally on Sunday even as he criticised Banerjees politics. Shiv Senas Sanjay Raut said that if CM of a big state as WB, is sitting on dharna, then it is a serious matter. Is this CBI vs Mamata Banerjee or Mamata Banerjee vs BJP, well find out soon. If CBI is being misused, its a matter of dignity of the nation, and prestige of the agency (CBI). For Banerjee, who was quick to give the episode a political twist, the developments comes when the CBI is facing credibility crisis after its recent internal squabbling. Ahead of the polls, the Centres attempt to undermine the Bengal government is surely a favourite theme for Banerjee to rake up the old political allegations of Centres conspiracy to her Bengal audience. The BJP, however, hit out at the Bengal CM. He also pointed out at old statements and tweets of Gandhi and other Congress leaders criticising Banerjee over Saradha chit fund case. Prasad indicated that Banerjee is possibly afraid of the officers arrest as it might lead to leakage of information. Another Union minister, Prakash Javadekar, said that the CBI investigation in the Saradha chit fund case was not started by the Modi government but by the Supreme Court. We want to know why the chief minister is running away from investigation? We want to ask Mamata Banerjee why is she staging dharna, who does she want to shield? Police Commissioner or herself? Javadekar said at a press conference. For Banerjee, this seems to be yet another opportunity to get other opposition parties rallying around her ahead of the election. Although the support doesnt cement her position as the leader of any anti-BJP coalition, the Trinamool expects that this helps to bolster Banerjees image with elections due in less than two months. The opposition parties came together to support West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her sit-in against the Centre. Mamata said the incidents in Bengal were part of the BJP governments attack on institutions. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, Telugu Desam Party boss N Chandrababu Naidu, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and DMK chief MK Stalin were among leaders who expressed their solidarity with the West Bengal chief minister. The CPM wasnt convinced though. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury attacked both Mamata Banerjee and the BJP. Yechury said the corruption cases against Trinamool government in chit fund scam have been public for years but the Modi government chose to stay quiet as top mastermind of the scam joined BJP. (Follow live updates) This drama in Kolkata by BJP and TMC is not a fight for any principle but only to save their corrupt and hide their corruption. CPM has fought both these undemocratic, corrupt, communal and dictatorial regimes in the Centre and the state and will continue to do so, Sitaram Yechury said. Also read: Will come down heavily: Supreme Courts stern warning to Kolkata top cop on CBI plea The showdown between the West Bengal government and the Centre erupted after CBI moved to arrest Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Sunday evening. The CBI team was denied entry to Kolkata Police chiefs residence and then detained. Mamata Banerjee started a sit-in protest on Sunday night against the Narendra Modi governments coup. The issue was also raised in Parliament with opposition raising slogans of BJP hatao against the government. Home Minister Rajnath Singh warned there may be a constitutional breakdown in West Bengal and asserted that the Centre has power to take action. Congress president Rahul Gandhi described Union Minister Nitin Gadkari as the only person in the BJP having guts, after the Union minister told former ABVP workers to fulfil their domestic responsibilities before working for the party or the country. Addressing former workers of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), student wing of RSS, Gadkari had said that those who cannot do deliver at home, cannot manage the country. I meet many people who say we want to devote our lives for the BJP, for the country. I asked (one such person) what do you do, and who all are there in your family. He said I have closed my shop as it was not doing well... there is wife at home, children. I said (to him) first take care of your home, because one who cannot manage his home cannot manage the country, Gadkari had said. Rahul Gandhi tagged a media report on the ministers remark on Twitter, praised his courage and came up with a list of three topics that he wanted the minister to speak about. The Rafale fighter jet deal was on the top of this list. Gadkari Ji, compliments! You are the only one in the BJP with some guts. Please also comment on: 1. The #RafaleScam & Anil Ambani 2. Farmers Distress 3. Destruction of Institutionshttps://t.co/x8BDj1Zloa Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 4, 2019 Rahul Gandhi and his party have been attacking the Modi government over the deal, accusing the Centre of going for an overpriced jet and giving the offset contract to businessman Anil Ambanis Reliance Defence. French aviation firm Dassault Aviation, Reliance Defence and the governments in Delhi and France have consistently denied the allegations. The Congress leader has also criticised the ruling partys alleged neglect of farmers and for allegedly controlling institutions of the government. This isnt the first time that Gadkaris comments have been used by the BJPs rivals to target the party. Like when the minister told his audience at an event by a Pune cooperative bank on the importance of taking responsibility. The responsibility of the failures should be taken by the leadership and in absence of such owning of the failure their loyalty and commitment towards the organisation, the minister said. It was a statement that was immediately linked to the BJPs stunning loss of power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in the state elections in December, given that there had been no unequivocal statement from the BJP brass taking responsibility for the defeat. Gadkari later issued a formal statement to underscore that his comments had been twisted to create a wedge between me and the BJP leadership. On another occasion, Gadkari left red faces in the party when he stressed on the futility of Maratha community demanding reservations last year. The minister reasoned that this would not help because employment opportunities in the country are shrinking rapidly, a remark that appeared to back the opposition narrative that the BJP-led national coalition had not delivered on its election promise of generating jobs. Thirty two-year-old Indian Air Force (IAF) squadron leader Samir Abrol had a special liking for the French aircraft Mirage 2000, which is flown by the IAF. Abrol, with co-pilot squadron leader Siddharth Negi, 31, were killed as their Mirage 2000 aircraft crashed Friday morning while on a test sortie at the old Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Airport in Bengaluru. Samir, who is from Ghaziabad, was cremated with full honours at the Hindon cremation ground on Sunday morning. His father, Sanjeev Abrol, who runs a water purifier business in the city, said his family is not from a defence background but his son had shown an inclination to join the defence forces ever since he was a child. The family resides in Gandhi Nagar. Samir was very interested in fighter planes and their acrobatics ever since he was a child. He had filled up admission forms for the National Defence Academy (NDA), engineering and other services even before he had appeared for his class 12 examinations. He cleared the NDA first and the entrance exam results were declared three days after his class 12 result was announced, in May, 2004, he said. A student of Ryan International School in Ghaziabad, Samir went on to join the NDA. We asked him if he can wait for results of other entrance exams but he was adamant on joining the NDA. He had a special liking for the aircraft, which is a single-seater one. He used to tell me that he wishes to fly alone and measure the skies in his Mirage. He had said it was a wonderful feeling to be in a Mirage 2000, flying above the skies, Sushma Abrol, Samirs mother, said. His family said he had flown several aircraft such as Sukhoi-30, Tejas, Hawks and Jaguars, but the Mirage 2000 was special to him. It was the best of the lot which he loved. He would hardly be off from work and resumed office midway even as his younger brothers wedding ceremonies were underway in December, 2017. My last dialogue, a video chat, with him was on the evening of January 30. He told me that he had been concentrating on his work and had no time to visit home. He was so attached to his work that on an earlier occasion, he came to Delhi twice but went without meeting us here in Ghaziabad, his father said. Samir was the elder of two brothers. His younger brother Sushant is a fashion designer. Through a friend, Samir had met Garima and both had tied the knot in 2015. Garima is from Punjab. She is a physiotherapist. Samir always motivated her to make a name for herself. She is also a Zumba instructor now, Sushant said. However, things went wrong for the happy family as a newly upgraded IAF Mirage 2000 TI aircraft (2-seater) crashed, killing both pilots on a test sortie. They both were attached to the aircraft and systems testing establishment and the crash occurred during a take off roll within the periphery of the HAL airport. The Mirage 2000 has time and again proved its mettle, especially during the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan. The aircraft, with Abrol and Negi on-board, was an upgraded version. Read | IAF, HAL to jointly probe Mirage crash in Bengaluru A stand-off between the Kolkata Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that began over the weekend exploded into a controversy that reached Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Calcutta high court on Monday, raising political tensions as Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee while at a sit-in she began the night before and Prime Minister Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) traded sharp allegations. The confrontation was triggered by a CBI teams attempts to question commissioner of police, Kolkata, Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam on Sunday evening a move that Banerjee said was out of vendetta. The local police took the unusual step of briefly detaining the federal agencys officials, and by the end of the day, the CBIs headquarters in Kolkata was secured by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) that report to the Union home ministry in New Delhi. A clash like this, between law enforcement agencies, is not only unfortunate but is also dangerous for the countrys federal and political system, Union home minister Rajnath Singh said amid loud jeers by Opposition MPs in Lok Sabha. Singhs comments came minutes after Trinamools Saugata Roy said the Union government was misusing the CBI to frame opponents. Read more| Mamata makes history with cabinet meeting in traffic outpost Singh is also believed to have received a report from Bengal governor KN Tripathi over Sunday evenings development. There may be breakdown of Constitution in West Bengal... under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country, Singh said in Parliament. Earlier, the CBI approached the Supreme Court saying Kolkata Police commissioner Kumar was a potential accused in the Saradha chit fund scam and claimed the local police could be destroying crucial evidence. If you have some material evidence that the commissioner of police was even remotely thinking of destroying evidence, we will come down so heavily on him, he will regret it, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi told solicitor general Tushar Mehta, the lawyer for the agency. The court scheduled the matter for hearing on Tuesday. In Kolkata, the state police issued summons to CBI joint director Pankaj Srivastava, asking him to appear as a witness in a police complaint related to a little-known ponzi scam complaint filed in 2017. Banerjee, meanwhile, stayed put at the sit-in that she began around 9pm on Sunday in the heart of Kolkata using the day to hold meetings and even clear the states budget. All Opposition leaders from Arvind Kejriwal to MK Stalin, Chandrababu Naidu to Naveen Patnaik, called me and expressed their concern about the situation in the country and have supported our stand, Banerjee said from a stage at the protest venue. Read more| Mamata Banerjee vows to save Constitution, Rajnath Singh cautions against its breakdown Trinamool Congress supporters organised rallies against the BJP all over the state, at some places even blocking key highways and railways links. In addition to Singh, a bevy of Union ministers and BJP leaders attacked the Trinamool chief for her protest. The CM is protesting because Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar seems to be aware of many secrets and needed to be saved, said Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at a press conference. His Cabinet colleague, Prakash Javadekar, too attacked Banerjee during a press meeting, while a third BJP minister, Smriti Irani, said the Bengal chief minister must answer why she stands with scamsters. Banerjee said the Save Democracy dharna would continue indefinitely but protest rallies will end on February 8, after which the administration will ban the use of speakers across the state due to school examinations that start from February 12. Bengals advocate general Kishore Dutta approached the Calcutta high court and said the CBI had violated a stay the court gave on proceedings against summoning witnesses till February 13. While the state government counsel cited the stay on notices against police officers, CBI counsel Kaushik Chanda (additional solicitor general of India) argued the stay was specifically in relation to interrogation of four officers, not including the police commissioner. Dutta argued against it, saying the order contained a sentence that read Notices issued to the witnesses be kept in abeyance for the time being and argued that Kumar was covered under the same order as he was being summoned as a witness (like the other four). The Saradha scam relates to a ponzi scheme in which at least a million depositors were duped of their savings after being promised unrealistic returns. The scam has involved several names from the ruling government, including Mukul Roy who is now in the BJP. A political firestorm raged Monday as Mamata Banerjees sit-in protest against CBIs bid to question Kolkata police chief in chit fund scam cases entered the second day, with the West Bengal Chief Minister declaring her agitation to save the Constitution and country will go on till the goal is achieved. The ripple effect of political tremors in West Bengal were felt in New Delhi and several state capitals, as Banerjees combative posturing on the issue drew support from several regional leaders trying to sew up an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. This is a satyagraha and Ill continue (it) till the country is saved...Constitution is saved, the firebrand TMC boss told reporters at the protest site, as she escalated her confrontation with the Modi government, a day after an all-out war broke out between the two. As Trinamool Congress workers took to streets burning effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called the developments in West Bengal unfortunate and unprecedented and indicative of a breakdown of the Constitution. There may be breakdown of Constitution in West Bengal...under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country, Singh told the Lok Sabha. Whatever happened on Sunday indicates constitutional breakdown, he said as a host of opposition parties threw their weight behind the feisty West Bengal leader. Singh also sought a report from Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi which was promptly sent by Raj Bhavan. Its contents were, however, not immediately known. The failed attempt by the CBI to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams on Sunday became the latest flashpoint between the BJP-led Centre and Banerjee, one of its bitter critics. The CBI has accused Kumar of destroying evidence related to the two fraud cases. A CBI team was bodily prevented from entering the residence of Kumar by Kolkata police personnel, bundled into vehicles, and detained. Contingents of West Bengal police also descended on CBI premises in the city, as a furious Banerjee rushed to Kumars residence before beginning a dharna opposite Metro Cinema, one of Kolkatas landmarks. Lakhs of depositors in several eastern states including West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand were duped by the promoters of Saradha and Rose Valley groups of their hard earned money. The size of the Saradha swindle is pegged at roughly Rs 4,000 crore and that of Rose Valley a staggering Rs 15,000 crore. Several TMC leaders including parliamentarians like Kunal Ghosh, Srinjay Bose, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Tapas Pal, besides state minister Madan Mitra were arrested for their alleged links with the two chit fund companies. As the political temperature soared, with TMC workers and supporters blocking trains and holding protests, Banerjee said, We want a peaceful demonstration. Please do not burn any effigies here. Save the Constitution, save the federal structure, save the police force, save the Indian Administrative Service and all ranks of civil service from disaster, read the banner that fluttered on the dais Banerjee has made her home since Sunday night. Support for the West Bengal leader poured in from far off Chennai, Amaravati and Bengaluru, with regional satraps backing her in her fight against the Centre. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged in Amaravati that the BJP government was acting with vengeance against Banerjee as the opposition parties rally in the West Bengal capital on January 19 was a great success. Expressing solidarity with Banerjee, the TDP supremo said, Cases against those who surrender to the BJP are being lifted. They are digging out old cases against those who oppose the BJP. The recent Kolkata rally was successful, hence the vengeance against Mamata Banerjee. The BJP is deriving pleasure by foisting cases against opposition leaders. They are destroying constitutional institutions, he alleged. Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda said in Bengaluru the face-off reminded him of the Emergency days. I am shocked to learn about the CBI rushing to arrest the Police Commissioner and subsequent developments in West Bengal. The country has faced similar kind of unconstitutional methods during the Emergency. Situation in WB is similar to that of the Emergency days. #SaveDemocracy, the JD(S) national president tweeted. DMK chief M K Stalin also lent support to Banerjee in her endeavour to save democracy. The independence of every institution has been compromised under this fascist BJP Government. I stand with @MamataOfficial Didi in her fight to protect the federal structure of this country and to save democracy. #SaveDemocracy, Stalin, who had attended Banerjees Kolkata rally last month, said in a tweet. The Modi government also came under heavy opposition fire in the Lok Sabha where the BJD, which had hitherto kept silent over the development, threw its weight behind the West Bengal chief minister. BJD leader B Mahtab said the development smacked of impropriety and also raised questions about the integrity of the CBI. We are not a banana republic..., he said, adding the CBI was becoming a political stooge and political weapon in the Centres hand. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge charged that the government was using the CBI as a weapon to finish the Opposition and put in place an autocratic regime. The fight also resonated in the courtrooms in New Delhi and Kolkata. The CBI moved the Supreme Court accusing the Kolkata police chief of destroying evidence in the chit fund scam cases and the top court decided to hear the matter on Tuesday. The apex court said it will be open for the solicitor general or any other party to lay before it any material or evidence to show any West Bengal authority or police official was planning or trying to destroy evidence in the Saradha case. On the other hand, the West Bengal government moved the Kolkata High Court against the CBIs attempt to question the city police chief and sought immediate hearing. The court, however, declined its prayer. Sometime between 4 and 5 am on Monday morning, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee stepped off the stage and left Esplanade, where shes holding a protest against the CBI, to freshen up. About three hours later, she was back to resume her protest which began around 8.30pm on Sunday evening. The firebrand leader, who turned 64 on January 5 this year, clad in a thin elaborately embroidered kantha shawl to protect herself from the winter chill, kept herself busy through the night holding telephonic conversations with various political leaders who kept calling her to extend their support to her, and checking her messages and news sites, all the while intermittently interacting with Firhad Hakim, the Kolkata Mayor and the states urban development minister and Arup Biswas, minister for north Bengal affairs. Sipping water off and on, and brimming with energy, the Trinamool Congress chief stayed up as she pulled an all nighter, after asking her supporters gathered at Esplanade to go home with the assurance that she would hold fort herself and that they would find her there in the morning when they returned. A few dozen policemen stayed by her side to ensure her security through the night. Watch: Mamata Banerjees dharna continues, Opposition signs memorandum to give to EC Early in the morning, instead of heading to her home about 3 kilometres away, Mamata left the stage and headed to a traffic police outpost to freshen up and presumably to have a cup of tea and a bite to eat. Click here for live updates on Mamata Banerjees protest She returned to the protest venue around 7 am, even as Esplanade, in the heart of Kolkata, began filling up with her supporters from all over the city as well as nearby towns. Back at the protest site and still brimming with energy, Mamata paced the stage restlessly, all the while keeping an eye on her supporters as well as interacting with the mediapersons gathered there. Mamata was scheduled to address a gathering at a stadium close to Esplanade where shes holding her protest. With her protest continuing, arrangements are being made for her to address the farmers gathering via video conferencing. Some political leaders who attended her United India rally are also expected to arrive at the protest venue, or send emissaries, to personally express their support to Mamatas protest. The West Bengal chief minister began her protest against the CBI action in Kolkata around 8:45 pm on Sunday night. She was protesting the CBIs attempt to question Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with the chit fund scams. Beginning her protest, she said she would continue her Satyagraha till the country and its Constitution are saved. This is a Satyagraha and I will continue till the country is saved, Banerjee told reporters who had accompanied on Sunday evening. During the course of her protest, she received calls from politicians including former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamalnath, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani. Late on Sunday evening, a CBI team which had arrived at Kumars residence in Kolkatas Loudon Street area was denied permission and bundled into jeeps and taken to a police station from where they were released later. The CBI wants to quiz Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal police probing the scams, regarding missing documents and files. Also read | Will continue Satyagraha till country is saved, says Mamata Banerjee as dharna enters day 2 West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday handed over awards to police officers at her Save Democracy dharna site. The function was the Investiture ceremony of annual awards for the state and Kolkata police. The ceremony was originally scheduled to be held in Alipur. Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar who was the catalyst in Mamata Banerjees decision to launch a dharna after a CBI team wanted to question him on the chit fund cases, was also present. The Calcutta High Court on Monday refused immediate hearing on the West Bengal governments plea against the CBIs attempt to question Kumar at his residence and listed it for Tuesday. The Kerala police on Sunday arrested a 25-year-old woman from Kalady (Ernakulam) for allegedly sexually assaulting a nine-year-old boy who is suffering from blood cancer. Police said parents of the victim approached them after the boy revealed his ordeal during a counselling session in the school. The boys mother is a friend of the accused. The victim is said to have been abused multiple times. Police said parents of the victim approached them after the boy revealed his ordeal during a counselling session in his school. Police claimed that the boy told them that he was being abused for more than four months. Police said Raji Roy (25) was arrested after preliminary investigation and later medical examination confirmed sexual assault of the victim. There are many loose ends in the claims of both. But we took action after medical test reports confirmed assault on the boy. The accused has been sent to a womens jail, said a senior police officer of the district. He said the accused had claimed she was a victim of sexual assault four years ago and recently gave an undertaking in the court that she did not want to pursue the case. She will be booked under provisions of the protection of children from sexual offences act (POCSO). However, Roys husband said his wife was innocent and she had some unsettled financial deals with the boys mother. My wife worked as a maid in several houses to raise money for the treatment of the boy. When she asked to return some of the money she was implicated in the case, he said. Police said though victims mother filed a complaint on January 12 they acted only after getting two medical reports that confirmed assault on the boy. There are conflicting versions in statements of both. We have to take the statement of the boy in detail but since hes undergoing treatment we have to wait. We have to find out if more persons were involved in the crime, said the officer. He said the mother had told police that she met Raji during one of her trips to the hospital. From the Tribunes Mary Wisniewski: With the mayoral election looming at the end of the month, time is running out for the Emanuel administration to reach a contract with Elon Musk to build a high-tech rapid transit system between the Loop and OHare International Airport. Most candidates to replace Emanuel for mayor are either lukewarm about the project or hostile to it. If the city does not get a contract with the billionaire entrepreneur soon and elects a mayor who does not support the project, plans for the transit system are unlikely to move forward. Read the story here. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) Filipino-Chinese businessman Kenneth Dong, one of the suspects in the smuggling of 6.4 billion worth of shabu shipment from China in May 2017, was arrested on Monday. This was confirmed by National Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin in a text message. Lavin said Dong, whose real name is Dong Yi Shen, was arrested by agents of the Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division in Katarungan Village in Muntinlupa City at 2 p.m. Lavin refused to disclose more details on the arrest. The arrest is in line with the drug case filed against Dong and 11 others in January last year for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. Dong, along with Manny Li, was tagged as the middleman of Richard Tan, owner of Hong Fei Logistics warehouse in Valenzuela City where the drug shipment was found. Among those charged were Tan, fixer Mark Taguba II, import company owner Eirene May Tatad, Customs broker Teejay Marcellana, and Taiwanese businessmen Chen I-Min, Jhu Ming Jhun and Chen Rong Huan. The 604-kilogram shabu shipment, one of the biggest hauls of smuggled drugs in the country, passed through the Bureau of Customs as kitchenware on May 17, 2017. The Department of Justice said the suspects conspired with each other to "jointly, knowingly, willfully and feloniously and without authority of law transport, convey and deliver 602.279 kilograms of shabu" between May 23 and 24, 2017. In August 2017, Dong was arrested for allegedly raping a 33-year-old woman in Paranaque City. He was released in November of that year after the complainant refused to pursue the case. Two days after he was denied landing permission in West Bengals South Dinjapur district for addressing political rallies in Balurghat and Raiganj, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has decided to take the road to Bengal. The BJP has planned a rally by Adityanath in Purulia on Tuesday for which the UP chief minister would enter Bengal through BJP-ruled Jharkhand. The chief ministers office confirmed that Adityanath would leave Lucknow by a special plane for Ranchi on Tuesday. From there, he is scheduled to take a helicopter till Bokaro before taking the road to Bengal. Tuesdays visit was planned earlier but after Sunday, the route was hastily rethought to ensure that the chief minister gets to enter West Bengal where the party is looking to make inroads in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He could easily have taken a chopper till Purulia, which is adjacent to Bokaro but because of the Trinamool governments decision to deny landing permission to him on Sunday, it has been decided that he would travel to West Bengal by road. Lets see how what the terrified didi does now, a senior BJP leader privy to Adityanaths plan said. Mamata Banerjee is popularly referred to as didi in West Bengal and has come under attack from the BJP which claimed that denial of permission for a helicopter landing reflected that she was scared of Yogi. Asked if they thought that her government could still stop Yogi from entering Bengal, a senior BJP leader said, Let her do whatever she wants. We arent complaining. By her acts, she is merely helping our cause of making BJP more popular in Bengal. The BJP unit in Purulia has been asked to ensure good attendance for Adityanaths rally which party leaders estimate would now be even more keenly heard due to the needless controversy generated by the Bengal government. On Sunday, after being denied landing permission, Adityanath had addressed his two rallies in Bengal on phone. During his telephonic address, he claimed the Mamata Banerjee government was afraid of the BJP as it very well knows that its days in Bengal are numbered. He had also told the cadre in West Bengal to democratically fight the undemocratic Trinamool Congress government and promised to return to West Bengal soon. Mohsin Raza, the UP governments lone Muslim minister, tweaked a popular dialogue in the film Uri - a movie that is based on surgical strike carried by India on Pakistan under Modi government - asked Mamata Banerjee, How is the khauf (fear). Apart from West Bengal, Adityanath is also scheduled to address party cadres in Bihar (February 7), Uttarakhand (February 9), Kerala (February 12 and 14) and Odisha (February 20), Adityanaths advisor Mrityunjay Kumar confirmed. Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are likely to receive heavy to very heavy snowfall later this week, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday, issuing a red-category warning for civic agencies and people in affected areas to be cautious. The warning is due to a new intense western disturbance approaching the region, the IMD said, referring to winds from over the Arabian Sea region that bring in moisture and cause rain and snow. While snowfall in the upper Himalayan region in February and March is not uncommon, the influence of the western disturbances is unusually prolonged this time due to another factor: the Siberian High weather pattern a collection of cold, dry air that accumulates around northeastern Siberia in the winter months. The arctic air outflow is dominating towards the south causing freezing temperatures in North America and parts of Europe. Further, mid-level westerlies are weakening, which causes an increased outflow from the Siberian High. This cold air is pushing towards tropical Asia including north India, said Charan Singh, scientist at IMD, explaining why the winter chill has lasted longer this year. Uttarakhand has received the highest snowfall in five years this January, while Jammu and Kashmir region has received 47% excess rainfall. IMD scientists said these figures will change vastly by the end of February if there are more western disturbances. Till January 31 this year, there have been eight western disturbances (WDs) influencing snowfall and rainfall pattern and temperature in north India. This weeks will western disturbance will make it a total of nine, as against the normal of 5-6 each year. The mid-latitude westerlies are weaker than normal for more than a month now across the globe due to weakening of polar vortex. This causes westerly waves to form which leads to formation of WDs. These WDs are also affecting northern India and bringing colder air from the north, said DS Pai, head of climate research at Pune. Krishna Achuta Rao, climate scientist from IIT Delhi, described the number of WDs as quite high but said the link between polar vortex and WDs need to be understood better. As a result of the snow in the four states, all of north-western India will experience the chill. Hailstorm and rain is expected in Delhi and NCR during February 5 and 7. The effects will stretch to Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and as far as north Madhya Pradesh, north Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim. The national capital has seen the longest cold spell in at least 13 years, and, according to the World Meteorological Organization, this has been in keeping with a global weather anomaly. The month of January, the WMO said, has been a period of extremes, with unusually cold temperatures in the northern hemisphere and warm temperatures in the southern. The tussle between the Mamata Banerjee government and the Centre has snowballed into an opposition versus BJP fight. Home minister Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha on Monday that the incident in Kolkata is a threat to the federal structure of the country. Rajnath Singh said the Kolkata Police-CBI face-off was unfortunate. The incident in Kolkata is threat to federal political system of country. There may be constitutional breakdown in West Bengal, he said. (Follow Live Updates here) The showdown began on Sunday when a CBI team reached Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumars house to question him over the Saradha scam. In retaliation, Kolkata Police also sent its teams to the CBI offices in the the city and the residence of CBIs West Bengal unit chief Pankaj Srivastava. Rajnath, who was addressing the House amid slogans by opposition members, said the Centre has power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country. His reply came after the Trinamool Congress raised the issue in Parliament. Watch : BJP misusing power ahead of polls: Opposition leaders back Mamata Banerjee The Kolkata police commissioner was not cooperating in the CBI probe into the ponzi scam cases. Several summons were issued to him, the home minister said. Both the Houses of ParliamentLok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were rocked by bopposition protests against the NDA government. After repeated adjournments, both the Houses were adjourned for the day. Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said there is a crisis in Bengal and the central government was misusing the CBI to politically capture the state. The Centre is constantly using the CBI to throttle the opposition, Roy said. Also read: Rajeev Kumar: The Kolkata police commissioner at the centre of Mamata, Centre tussle The CBI moved the Supreme Court on Monday seeking directions to Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar to cooperate with the investigation in Saradha chit fund case. The CBI told the court that Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar had not cooperated with its probe and was suspected to have attempted to destroy evidence. If Kolkata Police Commissioner even remotely thinks of destroying evidence, bring the material before this Court. We will come down so heavily on him that he will regret, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said. The court will hear the matter on Tuesday and has asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to file an affidavit listing all its points. West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi has submitted a report to Rajnath Singh on the situation that unfolded in Kolkata on Sunday night. Rajnath Singh had called up the governor to know the facts of the incident. Tripathi had last night summoned the state chief secretary and state director general of police and asked them to take immediate action to resolve the situation. Distancing himself from the continuing CBI controversy in West Bengal, Bihar chief minister has said that whatever is happening is because people are not concerned about the country, they are only concerned about votes. However, he refused to be drawn into the controversy and said that whatever is happening in Kolkata will be best explained by those involved in it. These things can only be explained by people who are doing it. I dont react to such things. CBI and the govt in question will explain, Nitish said in an interaction with mediapersons. At the same time, he said that the situation in Kolkata was a temporary one and that it wouldnt last too long. He said that such things will continue till the Election Commission announces the dates for the Lok Sabha elections and the model code of conduct is enforced. Read more| Almost lost our credibility: Shatrughan Sinha aims at BJP on Mamata row Until the Election Commission announces the date of elections, anything can happen in the country, he said. Whatever is happening is temporary. Once the dates for the Lok Sabha elections are announced in March and the model code of conduct comes into force, all such things will end. Such things usually die as quickly as they crop up, he said. However, he said, In this atmosphere of bitterness and tension, anything can can happen, he said, refusing to elaborate any further. He said once the election dates are announced, the politicians tune towards the people will change. Read more| In CBI vs Kolkata Police face-off, Rajnath Singh delivers a sharp warning The BJP has attacked Rahul Gandhi after the Congress president extended his support to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjees unprecedented protest over the showdown between the CBI and Kolkata Police. Rahul Gandhi had called Mamata Banerjee, saying the entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces in her protest against the Centre. He had tweeted on Sunday. I spoke with Mamata Di tonight and told her we stand shoulder to shoulder with her. The happenings in Bengal are a part of the unrelenting attack on Indias institutions by Mr Modi & the BJP. The entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 3, 2019 Mamata Banerjee has started a sit-in protest to Save the Constitution in Kolkata against what she says is the coup of the BJP-led central government. Follow live updates here. It started after the Central Bureau of Investigation moved to arrest Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Sunday evening in connection with the Sarada scam. The five-member CBI team was denied entry to the Kolkata Police chiefs residence and then detained inside a police station. Also read: Mamata Banerjees all-nighter: Phone calls, sips of water and a 3-hour break Watch | All opposition parties united against BJP: TMC leader Derek OBrien on CBI face off The BJP and Mamata Banerjees Trinamool Congress have been on collision course for some time, over refusal of the Bengal government to allow top BJP leaders to hold rallies and yatras. So when Rahul Gandhi tweeted his support to Mamata Banerjee, the BJP quickly pulled out his speech from 2016 when Rahul Gandhi too had attacked the Bengal chief minister. In this, Rahul Gandhi questioned Mamata Banerjees stand on the Sarada chit fund scam that ended up protecting those looting Bengal. Diagnosed: Multiple Personality Disorder is characterized by at least two distinct and enduring personality states - there is trouble remembering certain events, beyond ordinary forgetfulness. These states alternately show in persons behavior. Get well soon, Rahul ji (sic), the BJP tweeted on Monday. Diagnosed: Multiple Personality Disorder is characterized by atleast two distinct and enduring personality states - there is trouble remembering certain events, beyond ordinary forgetfulness. These states alternately show in person's behavior. Get well soon, Rahul ji. pic.twitter.com/lMBQqijfcY BJP (@BJP4India) February 4, 2019 The investigative agency approached the Supreme Court on Monday , accusing Kolkata top cop Rajeev Kumar of not cooperating with the CBI probe into the Ponzi scandals. CBI interim director Nageswara Rao has accused Rajeev Kumar of destroying evidence in the chit fund cases. In the Supreme Court, the Centres senior lawyer Tushar Mehta said there was an apprehension that the police officer could destroy evidence. The Supreme Court will hear CBIs plea on Tuesday. Also read | Behind Mamatas dharna, red diary and a pen drive with masala details: BJP The father of Army jawan Aurangzeb, who was abducted and brutally killed by militants last year in Pulwama, Sunday joined BJP in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a public rally here. Rifleman Aurangzebs father Mohammad Hanief, a resident of Rajauri, joined the BJP along with former Army officer, Lt Gen (Retd) Rakesh Kumar Sharma. Hanief, along with Sharma, handed over a portrait of his martyred son to the prime minister as he welcomed them to the party. Rifleman Aurangzeb of 44 Rashtriya Rifles was abducted and killed by terrorists in Pulwama district when he was on his way home to celebrate Eid on June 14. He was awarded Shaurya Chakra posthumously. I have joined the BJP for its pro-poor policies. Modi government is the best in the country which thinks about the poor unlike the previous governments, Hanief said. Also read | Surgical strikes showed the world a new India: PM Modi After the martyrdom of Aurangzeb, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Chief of Army Staff Gen Bipin Rawat had separately visited the family to express their condolences. Earlier, state president of BJP Ravinder Raina announced the decision of Hanief and Sharma to join the party which was welcomed by the people with pro-party sloganeering. Almost all senior BJP leaders including former Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta and national vice president BJP Avinash Rai Khanna were present at the dias. Also read | Video of militants interrogating Aurangzeb emerges as body of rifleman brought to village in Poonch For Prime Minister Narendra Modis mother, it was enough that her son was going to live close to her after he became the chief minister of Gujarat. Heeraben Modi also had a bit of advice for her son when she met him in 2001 before he took up the top job in the western state. A lot of people ask me how my mother felt when I became PM, but by then the name Modi was in the air, my photos were being printed and there was a lot of excitement all over. But I think the bigger milestone for her, was when I became CM, Prime Minister Modi said in his fourth interaction with Humans of Bombay. In his last interactions with the popular Facebook page, Modi has talked about his childhood, association with the RSS, his Bharatiya Janata Partys ideological mentor, his visit to the Himalayas. Also read: I used to live in a jungle alone for 5 days every year, says PM Modi Modi said used to live in Delhi when his name for the post of Gujarats chief minister, which he held for 13 years, was announced. He went to meet his mother in Ahmedabad, where she lives with his brother, before the oath-taking ceremony as his family was celebrating his success. By then she had already found out that I had become the CM, but to be honest I dont think she knew what the post was about. When I reached, the atmosphere was festive and celebrations had begun. But my mother just looked at me, hugged me and said, The best thing is that you will be back in Gujarat now! -- such is a mothers nature, that no matter whats going on around her, she wants to be close to her children, he said. Heeraben, who brought up her children under difficult circumstances, also said something that the Prime Minister has followed all his life. For his nearly 99-year-old mother, Modi said, it was never an issue of her son holding an important post. Dekh bhai, I dont understand what you do, but promise me you will never take a bribe -- dont ever commit that sin. Those words really impacted me and Ill tell you why. A woman who has lived in poverty her entire life and who has never had material comforts, during an abundant and celebratory time, asked me to not take a bribe, he said. So, even after Ive become Prime Minister, my roots remain strong and relentless. Back in the day, even if someone told my mother that I got an ordinary job somewhere, she would have distributed mithai to the entire village. So CM-VM nothing matters to her -- as long as the human in the Chair strives to be honest and absolute for the country. The attorney general of India, KK Venugopal, filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court on Monday against advocate Prashant Bhushan for his February 1 statements made on social media platform Twitter that accused Venugopal of misleading the court on the appointment of M Nageswara Rao as the interim Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director. On February 1, Venugopal, during the course of hearing on a petition challenging Rao as the interim CBI director, told the court that the appointment was cleared by a high-powered committee (HPC) of the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Hours after the hearing in the court of Justice Arun Mishra and Navin Sinha, Bhushan tweeted, I have just confirmed personally from the Leader of Opposition Mr [Mallikarjun] Kharge that no discussion or decision in HPC meet was taken re appt of Nageswara Rao as interim Director CBI. The govt appears to have misled the court and perhaps submitted fabricated minutes of the HPC meeting! In his petition, Venugopal said Bhushan, through his tweets, had not just scandalised and lowered the authority of the court but also tried to interfere and obstructed the administration of justice. He junked Bhushans assertions and sought from the court that Bhushan be suitability punished for contempt of court. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the West Bengal police communicated more than 20 times with regard to questioning of around two dozen state police officials in connection with the agencys probe into the 2013 chit fund scams, according to documents seen by HT. But in most of the cases, the questioning of Bengal police officials is yet to take place. The Saradha and Rose Valley chit funds scams rocked West Bengal, Assam and Odisha in 2013. The questioning of police officials, including Kolkata police commissioner Rajiv Kumar, was required as they investigated the chit fund cases before the Supreme Court handed over probes in all these matters to the central agency, say CBI officials. Some of the Bengal police officials who the CBI wants to question have even retired now. All these officials were associated with the special investigation team (SIT) formed by the state police to look into chit fund cases. In the first round, the CBI questioned then inspector rank officials Shankar Bhattacharya and Dilip Hazra on September 15 and 18, 2017. Follow live updates here: Tejashwi Yadav, Kanimozhi join West Bengal CM at protest against CBI and Centre The documents show, following the examination of two inspectors, the CBI sent its first summons to Rajiv Kumar under section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code on October 18, 2017, seeking his appearance the next day. Kumar informed the CBI that due to his engagements of law and order during festivals, he would not be able to appear on October 19. On October 23, 2017 a second notice was sent to Kumar seeking his appearance on October 27 but he didnt turn up. Instead he sent a demi-official letter to the then CBI chief Alok Verma in which he questioned the need to serve notice under section 160 of the CrPC and said if commissioners were to be served notice like this for cases supervised by them, it will open Pandoras Box. He suggested that first basic facts should be ascertained in the form of questionnaire sent to him and if not satisfied, the agencys right to serve notice for questioning always exists. After Kumars letter to Verma, there was no communication between the CBI and Bengal police for the next eight months. Then on June 27, 2018, the CBI sought presence of retired inspector, Debabrata Banerjee, in another chit fund case who on July 3 told the agency that he was unable to move because of age-related issues and therefore, the he can be sent a questionnaire. On July 10, the CBI wrote to the Bengal police asking for presence of 10 investigating officers (IOs) of 10 cases related to the Saradha chit fund scam. The police replied that all these IOs were either transferred or retired so CBI can approach them at their new postings or places of residence. On August 18, 2018, the CBI wrote to the Bengal police director general and asked for presence of Rajiv Kumar and other officials such as then special inspector general Vineet Goyal, then joint commissioner (crime) of Kolkata police Pallab Kanti Ghosh and then additional deputy commissioner of police Arnab Ghosh at a mutually convenient date and place. Besides, on the same day the CBI also asked for presence of four IOs on August 27 and 28. In reply, the WB police reiterated their proposal of arranging a meeting between the CBI and these officials. On August 23, the CBI asked for date and place of meeting and but the agency was informed that the state police chief has written a letter to the then CBI director proposing that all these officials should be sent queries first. On November 30, the CBI again sought appearance of inspectors Shankar Bhattacharya and Dilip Hazra and Arnab Ghosh but none of them appeared before the agency. Instead, the state government moved the Calcutta High Court claiming, notices for appearance were being sent with mala fide intention. On December 8, the CBI again focused on Rajiv Kumar and sought his appearance on December 18, but he didnt appear. Instead, the state police chief sent another letter to the CBI saying written questions can be sent to him and later if there was any need, a meeting with the CBI and the state police SIT members can be arranged.But when Kumar didnt appear, finally the CBI reached at his door step on Sunday leading to unprecedented showdown between the agency and the Mamata Banerjee government. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a connectivity project linked to Chinese president Xi Jinping, is facing a push back, especially in Indias immediate neighbourhood, according to a study by the Union ministry of external affairs (MEA), at a time when Beijing is getting ready to hold the 2nd Belt and Road forum meeting this April. Launched five years ago, BRI is spread over 80 countries across Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, and the Arctic, with an apparent aim to re-energise trade through investments in ports and power plants. The project, billed at about $900 billion, will enhance Chinas influence and is seen as a key to its global ambitions. India has refused to participate in BRI citing sovereignty issues because the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). The MEA study, seen by HT, says that unacceptable conditions imposed on countries is leading to a severe push back. BRI was as much about China getting a foothold across the world, projecting itself globally, as it was shovelling excess Chinese capacity, said a senior official familiar with the matter who asked not to be named. We are expecting that there will be a major tweaking of policy in the April BRI meeting, he added. The first BRI meeting was held in May 2017. The study points out that Pakistan withdrew the Diamer-Bhasha dam project because unacceptable conditions of ownership and finance [were] imposed by China. The BRI projects in Pakistan alone cost $62 billion. The Pakistani leadership is split and differences are manifesting in several forums, including senate committee hearings, the study says, adding that additional burden on Pakistan because of the BRI amounting to $3.5 billion is causing concern. Citing another example, the study talks about the Western Seti Hydropower project in Nepal. Kathmandu was asked for a guarantee of 17% of the cost besides a sovereign guarantee since Beijing was not satisfied with the Nepal investment board, the study says, leading to the hydropower project being cancelled by the KP Oli government. The Three Gorges Corporation, which in 2012 undertook the execution of the project, told the Nepalese authorities in 2018 that the 750MW project was proving to be financially unfeasible because of the steep resettlement and rehabilitation costs. The study says that projects in Bangladesh are facing serious opposition as well. It cites the blacklisting of the China Harbour Engineering Company for offering bribes to government officials in Bangladesh. The company was hired to expand the Dhaka-Sylhet highway, the study notes, and adds, the cost, especially of road contracts quoted by the Chinese are 5-10 times the cost in China and more than 10-15 times that in India. This along with wider conditions imposed by China is causing concern in Bangladesh. In Myanmar, too, BRI projects are being opposed vigorously, the study says. The Kyaukphyu-Kunming gas pipeline is facing serious opposition, the study says, because of insensitivity to locals through irresponsible restrictions on movement of people and waste disposal practices. Will China provide more loans to tide over already cashed-strapped countries that are unable to repay the debts? Earlier, it was believed the BRI projects will make money, but many have turned out to be financially unviable. Importantly, since most of these countries do not export much to China, the option of paying back loans is difficult, Dr Sujit Dutta, senior VIF fellow and former professor at the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia university, said. Charlton worked for the South Loop-based Studio ARQ and was a member of the American Institute of Architects Chicago's Young Architects Forum, Kutnick told the court. The AIA described the forum as a network of up-and-coming architects and designers. An employee at ARQ who asked not to be identified late Sunday said Charlton worked as a project coordinator for more than a year with the firm but is no longer employed there. Sundays unprecedented showdown between Kolkata Police and the CBI started at around 5pm when the federal anti-corruption agencys team reached the residence of city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, said officials familiar with the development. (Follow live updates here) And in retaliation against the action by the Central Bureau of Investigation at Kumars residence, Kolkata Police also sent its teams at the offices of the agency in the city and the residence of CBIs West Bengal unit chief Pankaj Srivastava forcing him to lock himself up for more than three hours. Shrivastava apprehended his arrest by the city police, added officials. The Hindustan Times spoke to around half a dozen key officials who had direct knowledge of the incident or were a witness to the chaotic scenes in Kolkata on Sunday. The Supreme Court had asked CBI in May 2014 to probe all the chit fund scams and look into the larger conspiracy in the matter. The CBI suspected that Kolkata Police and West Bengal government were deliberately delaying the investigation. Rajeev Kumar headed the special investigation team (SIT) of West Bengal police when it was probing the chit fund scams of the state before the top court asked the CBI to step in, a central government official, who is familiar with the developments, said. The CBI officials alleged that Kumar was not handing them over material evidence in the case like laptops, mobile and phones and documents the SIT picked up during its investigation and thus creating hurdles in the agencys probe, the official said. Also read: Rahul Gandhi dials Mamata Banerjee, Oppn accuses Centre of misusing CBI He added the CBI had sent several summons to Kumar, directly as well as through the state police chief and the WB government, in the last two years but he kept evading and the situation reached to the boiling point on Sunday. A second person, a witness to the chaos in Kolkata, said as the CBI team reached Kumars house to question him and if necessary, arrest him, it was confronted by the guards deployed there. The guards asked the CBI team to go to the local police station instead but when they said they had come to see Kumar, they were taken to the Shakespeare Sarani police station. In a tit for tat scenario, armed teams of Kolkata Police reached the CBI offices in Nizam Palace and CGO Complex by 6pm. The CBI officers alleged that the city police teams laid a siege of the CBI offices and didnt allow anyone to go in or outside the offices, said the second person, who was a witness to what was happening at Srivastavas house. Also read: Mamata Banerjees all-nighter: Phone calls, sips of water and a 3-hour break Another city police team reached the residence of Srivastava who stays there with his wife and 13-year-old daughter. The Kolkata Police team sent at the residence of Srivastava had female police personnel too, which the CBI official thought might be there to pick his wife and daughter too, he said. On the other side, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee reached Kumars house and told reporters there that the CBI was working at the behest of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. She also alleged that the agencys officials had come to arrest Kumar, who had done no wrong. She decided to sit on protest and support started pouring in for the chief minister from top opposition leaders in the country who called her. Kolkata Police and WB government obstructed the CBI in conducting its investigation handed over to it by the Supreme Court. The city police also tried to terrorise those who carrying out investigation also terrorised those involved in the investigation, said a CBI official in a counter-allegation. The officer spoke on the condition of anonymity. Srivastava was holding a small get-together with an additional director general rank official of a paramilitary force, an intelligence bureau official and an Orissa cadre Indian Police Service official, who is posted in Kolkata. As the city police team arrived at the residence of Srivastava, he shut the doors of accommodation from inside. Srivastava and all his guests remained locked inside the house till around 9pm, said a woman who was inside his house when the police reached there. Kolkata Police personnel were knocking on the entrance of the accommodation to gain entry into the house. Maybe the presence of other senior officials deterred them. It looked as if they had come to arrest Srivastava, she said. It was a traumatic experience for Srivastava and his family. Srivastava immediately got in touch with his boss and the agencys acting director M Nageswara Rao explaining the situation. Rao, in turn, asked the Centre to rescue Srivastava and his family, said a person who is also a witness to what happened at the senior CBI officials residence. A CRPF contingent deployed in Kolkata was immediately asked to move to Srivastavas residence. Other CRPF units were asked to secure the CBIs offices. The CRPF took more than one hour to reach there and it was a terrible time till the central force arrived at the residence of Srivastava, the officer said. A central government official posted in Kolkata said after the SOS from Srivastava, Union home ministry officials called senior state administration officials and told them to defuse the situation immediately. The Kolkata Police team at the residence of Srivastava and CBI offices were withdrawn only after that. In Delhi, the acting CBI chief sought a legal opinion on the next course of action. The agency officials met government lawyers to decide whether to move the Supreme Court on Sunday night or Monday morning. It was decided that the agency will approach the top court on Monday morning, said a CBI official in Delhi. The Calcutta High Court Monday refused immediate hearing on the West Bengal governments plea against the CBIs attempt to question city police chief Rajeev Kumar at his residence in connection with chit fund scam cases. Following objection by the Union government, Justice Shivakant Prasad refused to give the matter an immediate hearing and listed it for Tuesday. State Advocate General Kishore Dutta submitted that despite a stay by the high court on steps regarding notice to state police officials, the CBI sought to enter Kumars residence on Sunday and question him. He submitted that the court is scheduled to hear the matter on February 13 and as such, the CBIs attempt to enter Kumars official residence was in violation of its order. Additional Solicitor General Kaushik Chanda submitted that the stay was on a CBI notice to only Arnab Ghosh, the then deputy commissioner (detective department) of Bidhannagar Police, which initially investigated the chit fund case, and two other police officials - Dilip Hazra and Sankar Bhattacharya. He further told the court that the CBI has already moved the Supreme Court, on the order of which the central agency is investigating the chit fund cases, and as such the hearing on the states prayer be adjourned. He submitted that the Supreme Court has fixed hearing on CBIs plea on Tuesday. The AG then prayed that the CBI be directed not to take steps with regard to its notice to Kumar till the matter is heard by it Tuesday, but Justice Prasad refused to give any such direction. Leaders of 22 Opposition parties marched to the Election Commissions office on Monday, demanding that at least 50% of electronic voting machine results should be cross-checked with voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) before declaring the Lok Sabha election outcome. The poll panel also received a petition from the Centres ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the Trinamool Congress for not allowing party leaders to hold contact programmes in West Bengal. For their part, the opposition parties told EC that cross-checking of paper trail results with that of EVMs must be mandatorily carried out for at least 50% of the electronic machines, if not 100%. At present, EC does this exercise in just one booth per constituency. The parties also said a delay in the announcement of results should not be the only reason for not increasing the scope for this kind of tallying. If there is a difference in the counting of votes between the EVM and VPPAT, then results in counting from VVPAT should prevail, the petition said. The poll panel is awaiting a report from the Indian Statistical Institute on what would be the most scientific sample size for tallying votes. In a statement, EC said it heard the concerns of the representatives regarding the demands related to the counting of VVPAT slips, and assured parties that issues raised by them would be deliberated and examined. Meanwhile, the BJP petitioned the poll panel to ensure that elections are held in fair manner in West Bengal, where the state government has not given permission to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to attend a rally. A delegation, led by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, told media the Trinamool is rattled by BJPs growth in that state. The YSR Congresss Jagan Mohan Reddy, too, reached the commission on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modis government will return to power in the 2019 national elections but it will close the doors on Andhra Pradeshs ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) even if it reaches out for an alliance, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah said on Monday, launching a scathing attack on ally-turned-rival Chandrababu Naidu. Addressing a rally in Vizianagaram district, Shah said Andhra chief minister Naidu was known for deception and rank opportunism. Last year, Naidus TDP severed ties with the BJP and the Centres ruling NDA, demanding a special status for Andhra Pradesh. He has since launched a sustained attack on the central government and is now a prominent face in the Opposition bloc. Shah said Naidu began his political innings in the Congress; switched to his father-in-law and actor-turned-politician NT Rama Raos TDP; then aligned with the BJP-led NDA during 1999-2004 only to part ways after the 2004 elections; and again realigned with the same coalition in 2014. Chandrababu sensed the prospects of Atalji (former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee) coming to power in 1999 and joined NDA. After NDA lost power in 2004, he discarded it. After 10 years in Opposition, Naidu realised there is a Modi wave sweeping the country and returned to NDA again..., Shah said. He alleged that Naidu initially welcomed a special package for Andhra as a substitute to the special category status, but later played to gallery for poll gains. Dokka Manikyavara Prasad, TDP spokesperson and a member of the legislative council, said the prospect of Naidu trying to forge a post-poll alliance with the NDA will not arise. Our mission is to send Modi home. There is no question of aligning with him, Varaprasad said. A serving army man and his five aides attacked an assistant sub-inspector with swords and rods following an argument over traffic at Amritsars Gehri Mandi chowk on Sunday. On Saturday, the victim ASI Jassa Singh, who is in-charge of Gehri Mandi police post, was on his way to work around 8pm, when he noticed a traffic jam around the Gehri Mandi chowk and began managing the traffic. Jassa observed that the accused Gurpreet Singh of Khela village, who is posted as an army jawan at Chandimandir cantonment, was drunk and asked him to park his motorcycle on the side. Gurpreet began arguing with Jassa and drew out a sword. Five of his aides also joined in the attack and began thrashing Jassa with swords and rods, police said. When ASI Balwinder Singh and his team reached the spot, they saw the accused attacking Jassa. The accused were unrelenting in their attack and let go of Jassa only after Balwinder fired in the air, the SSP Parampal Singh. The accused intended to kill him. Gurpreet and his aide Sukhjinder Singh of Bhangwan village were arrested while the others fled the spot. Jassa was rushed to a hospital and doctors say he is out of danger. A case was registered under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 353 (assaulting a public servant), 186 (obstructing a public servant), 332 (voluntarily hurting a public servant to deter him from performing his duty), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs 50), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The incident took place around 8pm on Saturday when the ASI was controlling traffic at Gehri Mandi Chowk. The victim is ASI Jassa Singh, who is posted as the in-charge of Gehri Mandi police post, while the accused are Gurpreet Singh of Khela village, who is posted as an Army jawan at Chandimandir Cantonment, and his aide Sukhjinder Singh of Bhangwan village. However, the identity of four other accused, who are said to be the aides of Gurpreet, yet to be ascertained by the police. Senior superintendent of police (SSP-rural) Parampal Singh said, On Saturday, ASI Jassa Singh was on his way to Gehri Mandi police post. When he reached near Gehri Mandi Chowk, he saw a traffic jam there. He started controlling traffic in the roundabout. Meanwhile, the accused who were also present in the Chowk started arguing with the ASI. Later on, the accused attacked on the cop with rods and swords with an intention to kill. He said, When ASI Balwinder Singh and other policemen, who were present in Gehri Mandi police post, got information about the incident, they, immediately, rushed to the spot and saw the ASI Jassa Singh was still being thrashed by the accused. Since the accused were not letting the ASI go, ASI Balwinder Singh had to open a shot in the air to rescue Jassa Singh. Later, the police team arrested Gurpreet Singh and Sukhjinder Singh on the spot while four of their aides were managed to flee from the spot. He said ASI Jassa Singh was admitted to a hospital in Amritsar and his condition is stated to be out of danger now. Deputy superintendent of police (DSP-Jandiala) Gurmeet Singh Cheema said, Gurpreet Singh along with his aides was in an inebriated state. When the ASI asked Gurpreet to aside his motorcycle from the road, the duo entered into a brawl. Soon after this, the ASI was brutally attacked by the accused. The SSP said they have registered a case under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Jandiala police station. The ongoing face-off between Kolkata Police and the CBI has once again united the opposition in its war against the BJP as West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee vowed to continue her satyagraha against the Centre. The showdown between the West Bengal government and the Centre erupted after CBI moved to arrest Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Sunday evening. The CBI team was denied entry to Kolkata Police chiefs residence and then detained. Escalating her confrontation with the Centre, Banerjee started a sit-in protest on Sunday night against the Narendra Modi governments coup. Also read: Will continue Satyagraha till country is saved, says Mamata Banerjee as dharna enters day 2 Senior Trinamool Congress leader Derek O-Brien tweeted that his party has the support of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh chief minister M Chandrababu Naidu, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, BSPs Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav of the SP and former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha among others. Rahul Gandhi has called Mamata Banerjee, who is on her Save the Constitution sit-in protest, saying the entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces. I spoke with Mamata Di tonight and told her we stand shoulder to shoulder with her. The happenings in Bengal are a part of the unrelenting attack on Indias institutions by Mr Modi & the BJP. The entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 3, 2019 And Delhi chief minister Kejriwal and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav are slated to visit Mamata Banerjee later in the day. Also read: Mamata Banerjees all-nighter: Phone calls, sips of water and a 3-hour break The Aam Aadmi Partys member of Parliament Sanjay Singh has also given a notice in the Rajya Sabha under rule 267 for suspension of business, demanding discussion on the misuse of CBI. Akhilesh Yadav has already deputed his Samajwadi Party leader Kiranmoy Nanda, who met Mamata Banerjee at her Save the Constitution protest in Kolkata, earlier in the day. (Follow live updates here) The CBI went to arrest Kolkata Police commissioner yesterday, this is a misuse of CBI. It is much worse than Emergency. The way the events have unfolded (in West Bengal) since last night shows the PM has overacted by using the CBI. This wont help him, Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Deve Gowda was quoted as saying by ANI. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Raj Thackeray also issued a statement in support of Mamata Banerjee. We applaud and support the stand taken by Mamata Banerjee against the autocracy and tyranny of the central government. We firmly stand behind her and the fight against this tyranny, he said on Sunday. On its part, the Bharatiya Janata Party has launched a multi-pronged approach to handle the situation. Union home minister Rajnath Singh called up Governor of West Bengal Keshari Nath Tripathi to apprise him of the facts of the unfortunate and unprecedented situation of officers of a Central Investigating Agency being manhandled, detained, intimidated and obstructed, news agency ANI reported. Tripathi, the agency said, told Singh that he had summoned the chief secretary and director general of police and asked them to take immediate action to resolve the situation. A high-level delegation comprising Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajya Sabha MP Bhupender Yadav, national vice-president of BJP SS Ahluwalia, and Anil Baluni are likely to visit the Election Commission over the midnight drama that unfolded in West Bengal. The BJP also tweeted its reaction to Congress president Rahul Gandhis support to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Diagnosed: Multiple Personality Disorder is characterized by atleast two distinct and enduring personality states - there is trouble remembering certain events, beyond ordinary forgetfulness. These states alternately show in persons behavior. Get well soon, Rahul ji (sic), the ruling party tweeted on Monday. Meanwhile, the federal investigative agency approached the Supreme Court on the matter, alleging non-cooperation by Kolkata Police. The CBI moved the top court seeking directions to Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar to cooperate with the investigation in Sarada chit fund case. CBI interim director Nageswara Rao has accused Rajeev Kumar of destroying evidence in the chit fund cases. If Kolkata Police Commissioner even remotely thinks of destroying evidence, bring the material before this Court. We will come down so heavily on him that he will regret, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi was quoted as saying by ANI. The Supreme Court will hear CBIs plea on Tuesday. The agency approached the Supreme Court following the showdown on Sunday with Kolkata Police which detained a five-man CBI team which had gone to question Rajeev Kumar. The unprecedented chain of events also witnessed chief minister Mamata Banerjee rushing to Kumars residence. As many as 245 cases of deshdroh or offences against the state, which also includes sedition, have been registered in Assam since the BJP-led government came to power in 2016. Cabinet minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, in a written reply in the Assam assembly, gave out details of such cases on Monday, in a response to a question by Debabrata Saikia, the leader of opposition. The response did not have specific sections of the IPC under which these cases were registered. Patowary was responding on behalf of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal who also holds the home portfolio. According to National Crime Records Bureaus annual report, in 2015, only 22 cases of offences against the state which include sections 121, 121 (A), 122, 123 and 124 (A) of the IPC, were registered in Assam. In January, the Assam Police booked public intellectual Hiren Gohain, activist Akhil Gogoi and journalist Manjit Mahanta on charges of sedition for their remarks in a public meeting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. This seems to be the only case of offences against the state registered in Guwahati. According to Patowarys response, 88 cases, the highest in the state have been registered in Kokrajhar in Bodo Territotial Administrative districts where insurgent outfit, the NDFB(S) is still active. Another 40 cases have been registered in Tinsukia in Upper Assam, a district which shares a border with Arunachal Pradesh and falls on the route frequented by insurgent outfits like the ULFA(I), the NDFB(S), the NSCN(Khaplang), NSCN(I-M), among others. Even as their activities have come down, multiple insurgent outfits operate in the state, many of whom, including the ULFA(I), the NDFB (S), the NDFB(B) among others, feature in Patowarys response. Kuladhar Saikia, director general of police, Assam, refused to comment. Debabrata Saikia said, The ruling party is harassing people by slapping such charges. It is undeclared emergency. A delegation of leaders from 21 opposition parties met the Election Commission of India on Monday on the alleged tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs). The opposition told the poll panel that there are concerns among the public over EVMs. If votes polled to one goes to another, its against democracy. We told the commission that 50% of counting should be through EVMs and 50% through VVPATs (voter verifiable paper audit trails). Then they should be cross-checked before declaration of results, said senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu said the election process for 2019 polls should completely go back to paper ballot. Due to time constraint, we are demanding that 50% of VVPATs should be counted at random and be tallied with EVMs, said Naidu. The delegation met the Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and other members of the panel. The opposition parties had earlier sought moving back to the ballot paper system, but changed their strategy when chief election commissioner Sunil Arora made it clear that the election body is not going back to the of ballot papers. In the days following a claim made by a US-based cyber expert that the EVMs were tampered with in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, many opposition parties demanded that the Election Commission should go back to the old practice of conducting elections through ballot papers. However, CEC Sunil Arora had rejected the demands. We will continue to use EVMs and VVPATs. We are open to any criticism and 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 had said. The delegation that met the Election Commission on Monday included Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel and Anand Sharma of the Congress, TDP boss Chandrababu Naidu , NCPs Majid Menon, Derek OBrien of the Trinamool Congress, Ramgopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Partys Satish Chandra Misra and others. Velvet Buzzsaw Director - Dan Gilroy Cast - Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, Zawe Ashton, Tom Sturridge, Natalia Dyer, Daveed Diggs, Billy Magnussen, John Malkovich Rating - 4.5/5 To vent his frustration at the several poor reviews hed received at the hands of celebrated critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, director Roland Emmerich came up with the most childish revenge strategy possible. For his 1998 film, Godzilla, he created characters meant as a very direct takedown of them. And displaying the sort of imagination that defines his movies, he named them Ebert and Gene, and made them first-class idiots. Ebert in his (negative) review of the film took it as a compliment, and offering solid critique, wondered why Emmerich hadnt done the obvious and had Godzilla squish his namesake like a bug. Fortunately, director Dan Gilroys disdain for critics manifests with far more wit, humour and intelligence, although with less subtlety than Ruben Ostlunds recent, similarly themed film, The Square. Played by Jake Gyllenhaal in one of his all-time great performances, his art critic in Gilroys new film, Velvet Buzzsaw, isnt quite as detestable as Mayor Ebert from Godzilla, but hes right up there. Watch the Velvet Buzzsaw trailer here Gyllenhaals character, the wonderfully named Morf Vandewalt - other characters in Velvet Buzzsaw have equally excellent names, such as Rhodora Haze, Jon Dondon, Coco and Damrish - is the sort of person who takes particular pleasure in a poetic takedown, and isnt above letting personal biases muddy his professional opinions. At a funeral, he cant help himself from critiquing the casket. Imagine having to spend an eternity in that, he says, expressing his dissatisfaction at the colour the bereaved have chosen. In another scene, he provides valuable clues about his cold thought process: A bad review is better than sinking into the great glut of anonymity, he says, with the conviction of a man who has often repeated this mantra to himself - perhaps to convince himself of its worth. Theres an element of truth in what he says. Velvet Buzzsaw is Gyllenhaals second film with Gilroy after the tremendous Nightcrawler, for which he was robbed an Oscar nomination. His performance here is just as fully realised - like Lou Bloom, his Nightcrawler creep, and his Detective Loki from Prisoners and Johnny Wilcox from Okja, Gyllenhaal gives Morf everything hes got. He walks with a ridiculously exaggerated gait, and his outward appearance is in complete disconnect to the sort of wimp Morf really is. In a couple of scenes, it seems as if Gyllenhaal has been possessed by the spirit of Nicolas Cage in one of his moods, such is the level of lunacy at which he is operating here. Gilroy surrounds him with a supporting cast of characters that is just as fleshed out, and is as morally and ethically dubious as the men and women of Nightcrawler, and to a lesser extent, the middle film in Gilroys unconnected Los Angeles trilogy, Roman J Israel, Esq. When one of them stumbles upon the works of a recently deceased, reclusive and unheralded artist named Vetril Dease, our story kicks into gear. Velvet Buzzsaw is a deliriously entertaining and frighteningly pulpy movie, in which Gilroy attempts to understand the co-dependent relationship between critic and creator, and between art and commerce. Each of these absurd characters - Morf and Rhodora, an icy gallery owner played by Rene Russo; Jon, her rival; and Josephina, her business partner - find that their selfish and narcissistic decision to profit from Deases art has come to bite them in the butt. In one of the films best tonal turns, it turns into a slasher movie midway through when this ensemble of bumbling idiots realises that theyre being hunted, one by one, by the same art with which they are obsessed. Gilroy, as youd agree, paints his satire with quite the broad strokes. Through all the bloodshed and gore, Gilroys message is clear: art will always win in its endless battle against the forces of commerce. And the critics will be subjected to the mental and physical torture that they deserve. Yikes. But in fairness, he isnt restricting his contempt to Morf. Velvet Buzzsaw is, in a way, also a form of criticism. It arrives in the middle of a very strong streak of prestige pictures produced by Netflix, which includes films by directors such as Paul Greengrass, the Coen Brothers, Alfonso Cuaron, Susanne Bier, Andy Serkis and David Mackenzie, and will continue next week with the new Steven Soderbergh movie. Not bound by the restrictions that would typically be imposed on them by studios, these filmmakers have been allowed to flourish. Velvet Buzzsaw is a great example of just how kooky some directors can get, if given the opportunity. Follow @htshowbiz for more The author tweets @RohanNaahar SSC GD Admit Card: Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has released the admit cards for the GD constable recruitment 2018 on the regional website of SSC. SSC has started releasing the admit cards for GD constable recruitment 2018 exams on its various regional websites. Currently, the eastern region, the central region, the north western region Chandigarh, the southern, western and Madhya Pradesh regions have uploaded the admit cards on their websites. Admit cards for other regions will also be uploaded soon. Constables (GD) in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), NIA & SSF and Rifleman (GD) in Assam Rifles (AR) Examination, 2018 will be held from February 11, 2019 to March 11, 2019 SSC Admit card for G D Constable Recruitment 2018: Steps to check Visit the official websites of the respective SSC regions Under the notice section or candidates alert section, find the link to download e-admit card for SSC GD recruitment 2018 Key in your roll number or registration ID number, date of birth and exam centre code and submit Your admit card will be displayed Download and take its print out. Direct link to download SSC GD constable recruitment exam admit card for North western region Chandigarh Direct link to download SSC GD constable recruitment exam admit card for Central region Direct link to download SSC GD constable recruitment exam admit card for Southern Region Direct link to download SSC GD constable recruitment exam admit card for Western Region Direct link to download SSC GD constable recruitment exam admit card for Madhya Pradesh Region Direct link to download SSC GD constable recruitment exam admit card for Eastern region 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 (1/8come 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 it they're raising money for people to pay rent, mortgages, car payments while the government isn't. Alphabet Inc.s Google became the most-profitable internet company by recruiting talented technologists and inspiring them enough to keep them around. That advantage may be slipping as some workers increasingly doubt the leadership and vision of Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai, according to recent results from an employee survey. The annual internal poll, known as Googlegeist, asked workers whether Pichais vision of what the company can achieve inspires them. In response, 78 percent indicated yes, down 10 percentage points from the previous year. Another question asked if employees have confidence in Pichai and his management team to effectively lead Google in the future. Positive responses represented 74 percent of the total, an 18 point decline from a year earlier. There were similar declines for questions about Pichais decisions and strategies, his commitment to diversity and inclusion, and the compensation the company pays, according the results, which were viewed by Bloomberg News. Google shares the results with all employees to make sure concerns are heard. This time, 89 percent of workers took the survey. Wired reported some of the Googlegeist results earlier on Friday. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment. While the survey findings are still mostly positive, the declines are a worrying shift for Google, which prides itself on high employee morale, luxurious working conditions and high pay. If these things are beginning to erode, the company could lose talent to other technology companies, undermining its ability to build new services that drive its profitable advertising business. Last year, tension between the company and employees exploded into the public realm. Workers clashed with management on a range of issues, including a lack of benefits for contract staff and the ethical use of artificial intelligence. Thousands of Google staff staged a walkout after a report that the company gave large exit payments to executives accused of sexual harassment. Google added new questions to the latest survey, highlighting potential management concerns. Employees were asked if Google responds quickly and consistently to verified cases of proven misconduct. 53 percent responded positively. Staff were also asked if they understand how their compensation is determined, and 56 percent indicated yes. Still, most Googlers arent leaving any time soon, with 82 percent of survey respondents saying they plan to be working at Google one year from now. That was down just 1 percentage point from the previous year. And 86 percent said they would recommend the company as a place to work. Here are some of the other results from the Googlegeist employee survey: Pichais decisions and strategies help Google do excellent work -- 75 percent positive, down 13 percentage points from the previous year. Pichai demonstrates a visible commitment to diversity and inclusion -- 79 percent positive, down 12 points. Google has the right priorities -- 66 percent positive, down 13 points. Im excited about Googles future -- 78 percent positive, down 11 points. Overall, my total compensation is fair and equitable -- 59 percent positive, down 11 points. My total compensation is competitive compared to compensation for similar jobs at other companies. 54 positive, down 11 points. At the present time, I am not seriously considering leaving Google -- 74 positive, down 2 points. Two weeks ago, I wrote a column on these pages about the bigotry and myths that have come to characterise our attitudes to food. I was gratified by the response that the piece generated on social media. But one aspect of the reaction struck me as particularly interesting. Many people treated the piece only as one that distinguished between khichri and biryani. Which is not that surprising because any time I write anything about biryani, it gets an enormous response. Social media loves biryani and on Twitter, the debate about whether a biryani can be vegetarian just runs and runs. India has gone biryani crazy. The responses to that column made me wonder how much we really know about the origin of biryani and its ancestor, pulao. Abhijit Iyer-Mitra tweeted to say that while he liked the piece, I should remember that pulao has been around in Tamil Nadu for centuries. I checked my copy of K. T. Achayas A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food. Achaya walks a careful middle path: The word is ascribed to the Persian and Arabic pilav, pulao and pallao, yet it would appear to have found its way long ago into both Sanskrit and early Tamil literature of the third to sixth centuries. But Abhijit went beyond linguistic similarity to argue that in ancient Sangam literature, there were references to a dish that involved the cooking of rice in meat stock. The dish was called Onnu Soru. I asked Shri Bala, the Chennai-based food historian, if she agreed. Sangam literature is her speciality. Well, she said, there was a one-pot dish called Kottan Soru. Soru means rice and Kottan meant a collection of things. She also pointed to Perun Soru, which was meat and rice, and corresponded roughly to what we call pulao today. So was this an ancestor of the pulao? Or did the two dishes develop independently? These are hard questions to answer. The Manasollasa (12th century) has a recipe for a dish in which pieces of meat were marinated in fruit juice, threaded on to skewers and then cooked on hot coals. Another recipe involved pounding pieces of meat till they became thin before cooking them with yoghurt. There are basic differences between a biryani and pulao, so clearly they are different dishes Though the Manasollasa is a South Indian text, todays North Indians will have no difficulty in recognising these dishes as kebabs and pasanda. So, were they really developed in North India as is generally believed? Did the kebab really come to us from central Asia? There are no clear answers. It is the same with ancient India. We know that the chicken was first domesticated during the Indus Valley Civilisation from where it went to Europe. But archaeologists have found ovens that look a lot like tandoors in Indus Valley sites. So did we send an early version of the tandoor to Central Asia? Or even: is tandoori chicken much older than we think? The Manasollasa, a South Indian text from the 12th century, has a recipe in which pieces of meat were cooked on coal (iStock) When it comes to pulao, we must remember that until Alexander the Great arrived in India around 326 BC, nobody in Europe had heard of rice. It was Alexanders Greek (or Macedonian, if you like) army that found rice in India and introduced it to the Western world. But while the rice tradition in the rest of the world is relatively well documented, India has few records of how our great rice dishes developed. The Western view is that Arabs took rice all over the world. There is evidence for this. Paella comes from the rice dishes of Arab cuisine, and the Arabs planted rice in Spain. Even the Italians got their rice from Muslim travellers and traders, which is one reason why it only features in a few dishes (risotto, for example). K.T. Achayas book takes a middle path on the subject But where did the Arabs learn about rice from? Anissa Helou in her definitive Feast: Food of the Islamic World, offers two possibilities. Muslims may have first learned about rice from the Persians of the Sasanian Empire when they defeated them in 635 AD, she says. The Sassanids were Zoroastrians (like our Parsis) and claim to have invented pulao and other rice dishes, which the Muslim conquerors made their own. But there is another possibility, says Helou They could have learned about rice in the Sind Province of India, which they conquered in 711 AD. If she is right about the Sind connection, then perhaps the traditional view that Muslim kings came to India with pulao from Persia or Central Asia may have to be reconsidered. They cooked pulao at the Delhi Sultanate but this could have come from merging their style of cooking with an Indian rice tradition. It is a moot point because I have never seen any research on that subject. As for biryani, we have a recipe from Akbars court so we know that it was current then. But was it invented earlier? And was it created in India? Those who ascribe a Persian origin to the dish focus on linguistics; on what birinj means in Farsi, etc. I am never fully convinced by linguistic explanations because Farsi was the court language those days and even if a dish was invented in old Delhi, it would still be given a Farsi name. Chef Imtiaz Qureshi, is the Avadhi cuisine expert while Food historian Sri Balas speciality is Sangam Literature There are basic differences between a pulao and a biryani (the principal ones being that in a biryani, the meat and rice are cooked separately and then layered; a biryani is wetter and spicier, it is a main dish to be eaten on its own, etc.) so clearly they are two different dishes. Nor was our kind of biryani (wet meat cooked separately from the rice) found in the Arab world or Persia in that era. (Though Mohammed Althaf with whom I had a long Twitter exchange about this says that in Yemen, meat and rice are cooked separately and then assembled.) All this suggests that biryani was created in Delhi. So, how did it travel all over India? The usual explanation is that as the Mughal empire spread, biryani travelled with the army. It went to Avadh, where the cooks made it more aromatic and a little drier. And it went to Hyderabad where the sour flavourings of the Deccan were added. So far so good. But even then, there are problems. Why is it called a pulao in Lucknow when it is clearly a biryani? Nobody has ever given me a good answer. The chef Imtiaz Qureshi was dismissive of the distinction. We call it pulao, he said. Hotels call it biryani. This doesnt quite wash as an explanation. Paella comes from the rice dishes of Arab cuisine, and the Arabs planted rice in Spain (Shutterstock) If any place has the right to call it a pulao, it is Hyderabad, where they make a version in which the meat and the rice are cooked together. But no, they insist that it is a biryani. And how did the biryani reach the rest of India? One of the countrys best biryanis is made on the Malabar Coast. It has very little in common with Avadh or Delhi biryani. It tastes different and it looks different (no basmati). But it is recognisably a biryani meat and rice cooked separately. The standard theory is that biryani travelled to such places as Calicut from Delhi. But did it, really? And why is the rest of the cuisine relatively uninfluenced by North Indian flavours? Why did they only adopt biryani? Ask a local and he will tell you that his ancestors have been making this biryani for centuries, long before they had heard of the Delhi Sultanate, let alone the Mughals. One of Indias best biryanis is made on the Malabar coast and tastes different from Delhi or Avadh biryani (Shutterstock) This may or may not be true, but Malayalis are hard pressed to explain why, if it is their own dish, they use the term biryani. And yet, it is true that they had few contacts with Delhi. In fact, they had much more to do with the Middle East because of ancient trading sea routes dating back to before the birth of the Prophet. Honestly, I have no answers, just lots of questions. I am not entirely convinced by the pulao-came-with-the Delhi-Sultanate theory and I am even less convinced that every regional Indian biryani is descended from the biryani of the Mughal court. Could it be that Indians have a tradition of cooking meat and rice together and that, at some point in time, we began to club all these different dishes together and used pulao and biryani as generic terms? Now that India has gone biryani mad, some food historian should find us the answer. From HT Brunch, February 3, 2019 Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch Actor Varun Dhawan has moved on from Karan Johars Kalank to Remo DSouzas dance film, ABCD 3. On Monday, the actor shared a new poster of the film with a hashtag which said #3 is coming. ABCD 3 will be a sequel to ABCD and ABCD 2, the latter starring Varun and Shraddha Kapoor in lead roles along with a host of other young faces. Also read: Its our duty to do different roles or else acting will become a 9 to 5 job, says Varun Dhawan Sharing the picture, Varun wrote: One step closer to the name. The rule breakers of 2k19 are here? #3IsComing. In the picture, we cant see his face; he is seen mid-jump in the air. His toned torso and six pack abs are visible. The poster reads Rule Breakers. It also announces that the film will release on November 8, 2019. Varun suffered a knee rupture while shooting for a song in Amritsar. For the song, he was expected to jump and land on his knee, which he reportedly did as many as 15 times. According to a report in Mumbai Mirror he was canning a celebratory song with Punjabi actor Sonam Bajwa when the incident happened. The team was shooting a celebratory song with Sonam Bajwa in Amritsar. On the final day which began at 7 am and ended at 2 pm, Varun was required to shoot three dance pieces with three different dance crews - V unbeatable, Urban crew and N house crew, a source from the sets told Mumbai Mirror. The team of ABCD 3 will move to London for another shoot schedule from February 8. Before that, Varun has flown back to Mumbai to give his knee some rest. In the film, Varun plays a dancer from Punjab while Shraddha plays a dance from Pakistan. Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor Sonali Bendre, one of most visible faces of cancer survivors in India today, took to Instagram to post a powerful message on battling the disease with caution, awareness and wisdom. She began her post by saying that because cancer was such a dreaded word, it was important to designate a day for it so as to help people deal with this disease. She wrote: And just the mere mention of the C word brings dread in the hearts of anyone who hears it. We fear it so much that wed rather not talk about it... which is why its important to have a day where we pull out the band aid and help us deal with this disease. Also read: Sonali Bendre returns to work after cancer treatment, posts emotional message, shares pic and video She mentioned how she too was scared but realised soon enough that resigning to her fate would not help. She continued, I was scared too, but soon realised that burying my head in the sand was not the way to deal with this. She goes on to say that from whatever little experience she has had, she would like all to know that getting emotional and weak was not going to help. It was important to understand cancer, to see what works best for a person, be positive and most importantly, stay diligent about the treatment. And so... with the little experience I have had, I urge you all to take the time to understand it. Theres more to cancer than being emotional or weak or even being called a fighter or a survivor. It requires you to study it, find out what works for you and to be diligent about your treatment. It requires days of strongly believing in oneself, of knowing that tomorrow will be better than today. It is not a fight against negative thoughts. Its taking a stand to not give in, no matter what. Most importantly, it is about living every day, and not just surviving. Also read: Sonali Bendre rediscovers simple joys of life as she returns home after cancer treatment in New York It may be recalled that in July last year, Sonali broke the news about her cancer to the world and her intention to tackle the disease head on. Thereafter, Sonali would keep the world abreast with her journey; the initial doubts, the chemotherapy sessions, the pain thereafter, the hair loss, exploring New York City with a brave and cheerful face, meeting all her celeb friends on their various visits to the Big Apple and many more such moments. In many of these posts, she was found to be introspecting on the meaning of life relationships, bonds, positivity and emotions. Through these, Sonali has become a shining example of courage under fire, inspiring many patients across the world to carry on the fight. In early December, after six months in the US, she returned home to Mumbai with husband Goldie Behl. On February 3, she put up an Instagram post, declaring that she was getting back to work after a major sabbatical. See the full post here: Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor Anil Kapoor became a part of history when the Indian cast-led Slumdog Millionaire swept the Oscars in 2009 but the actor remembers the eve of the ceremony for being scolded by his wife. Directed by Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire received 10 nominations at the 81st Academy Awards, out of which the film bagged eight trophies. Anil played the role of a slimy game show host in the movie. For family, Oscar doesnt matter. My wife and I were discussing Sonam the night before Oscar! I said let me sleep now and she said leave Oscar, listen to me first. So even then, family was my priority. I got a lot of firing from Sunita the night before Oscar ceremony, Anil told PTI. The actor was speaking at a special ceremony in Mumbai to celebrate ten years of the iconic win, along with Gulzar and AR Rahman. Dev Patel and Anil Kapoor in Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman made history by becoming the first Indian to bag two Oscars the same night for his score and song (Jai Ho) along with Gulzar in the film. The movie also won the Oscar for best film, direction, adapted screenplay, cinematography, editing and sound mixing for Resul Pookutty. Anil said the moment Slumdog Millionaire was announced as the best film, he had a massive temptation to break into his famous Ram Lakhan dance step. But I thought if I do it, Ill break the protocol and they might arrest me! Had it been India, I wouldve done it. I was dying to dance. When the dancers were dancing on Jai Ho, imagine how much I had to control myself to not dance. Also read: Katrina Kaif drops a bomb on Instagram in a bikini. Check out the picture Looking back, the 62-year-old actor said winning the Oscar was phenomenal and a moment the entire country was proud of. Post his international debut, Anil worked in Mission Impossible. He also produced and starred in the Indian version of terrorism drama 24. Whatever Ive done, it has been fantastic and Im very proud. 24, Mission Impossible and Slumdog Millionaire, they have all been critically-acclaimed and hugely successful. I did get a lot of offers from big directors and production houses. But nothing was exciting enough for me, I had to raise my own bar. It has to be worth my wait. Youll be surprisedI dont want to take namesthe film in which directors or producers had considered me. But I was not happy with what I was being offered. With a screenplay written by Simon Beaufoy, the film was inspired by the novel Q & A by author Vikas Swarup and featured Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irrfan Khan among others. Follow @htshowbiz for more When Woodson completed his rebuttal, Tobias and Moorland backed out. It is likely that Woodson decided not to publish the manuscript because he did not want to anger financial backers. Scott's rediscovery of the manuscript, which was published in 2009 by ASALH press with the title "Carter G. Woodson's Appeal," was applauded by scholars and students of Woodson's work. In the book "African American History Reconsidered," Pero Dagbovie argues that "The Case of the Negro" was an important precursor to the classic "Mis-Education of the Negro," written 13 years later. "The Case of the Negro," Dagbovie argues, is a clear "expression of Woodson's early radicalism" and should be considered "an important document of early twentieth-century African-American intellectual history." Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, chair of the history department at Harvard, said Woodson "found his voice in 1933 with 'The Mis-Education of the Negro.' That is a more sophisticated critique. ... It was a critique of white historians who were racist and African-Americans who did not think African-American history was important in the first place." "The Mis-Education of the Negro" points to the proud heritage of black people in the country, said Higginbotham, who called it "the evolution of 'The Case of the Negro.'" Still, when Richardson was in her 20s, she decided she wanted to know more about her familys origins. Her mother, who had died of breast cancer when Richardson was 16, came from a family that Richardson had been told was mostly German, but was that the whole story? She also was interested in learning more about her biological dad, who was located by one of Richardsons half siblings last month with the aid of the DNA search. Uniontown, PA (15401) Today Showers and thundershowers early, then overcast overnight with occasional rain. Low 59F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers early, then overcast overnight with occasional rain. Low 59F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. In this exceptionally well-cast ensemble, Pratt also voices a second character, Rex Dangervest, conceived by Lord and Miller as a mixture of every action hit Pratt himself has starred in lately, from Jurassic World to Guardians of the Galaxy. (One of the better notions: giving Rexs dinosaur cohorts subtitled dialogue.) Emmet sees Rex as everything he wants to be, and what Lucy has hinted at desiring herself: a tough guy, with stubble and an advanced degree in brooding. Staff reports The Herald-Mail Arrest a member of Congress?: If Congress can impeach a duly elected president, can the commander-in-chief arrest a member of Congress for impeding the presidents commitment to the Constitution, which he swore to uphold? Ben Haldeman, Greencastle, Pa. Name bridge after the late Donald Anderson: Lets name the Raleigh Street Extension bridge in Martinsburg after the late Donald Anderson. He was a very good educator, public servant and a very good man. Peter Miller, Martinsburg, W.Va. Disgusted with Congress: Im so disgusted with this American Congress that we have. Id like to know why the employee, which is Congress, gets paid when the employer, all of the people in the United States, dont get a thing. ... I am so angry. Ed Kendall, Hagerstown Action needs to be taken: Here you have a group from a high school looking forward to taking a trip to Washington, D.C., for participation in the March for Life. This group was taunted and called names. Action needs to be taken. Elaine Smith, Frederick, Md. Pelosis trip to Afghanistan: Im very upset with President Trump canceling Speaker Pelosis trip to Afghanistan with the Democratic Congressman. Mr. President, what you should have done was let her go over there and then cancel the flight for her to come back. That way, you wouldnt have to put up with this woman. Well, maybe next time, Mr. President. Kirk Blenard, Hagerstown Get rid of them: Victory! For takeover of the government in 2020, the Democrats wont even have to campaign. The Republicans are taking care of that for them. Trump and his buddies in the Senate are doing a fine job of letting the people know how much they care about them. If the board of directors were destroying the company, what are the stockholders going to do? Get rid of them and find someone new. Don Degraw, Hagerstown Staff reports The Herald-Mail MARTINSBURG, W.Va. As the weather becomes colder, those who cant afford to keep their homes heated due to financial reasons suffer. Families struggling to pay bills often need to make tough choices on what to prioritize related to food, needed medications, reliable transportation, and housing costs such as rent and utilities. United Way of the Eastern Panhandles Warming Hands and Hearts Initiative, which runs through April 30, aims to encourage donations to assist families in paying their heating bills this winter. The initiative is sponsored by Roach Energy and Rocs convenience stores. Rocs will offer a One-Cent Wednesday promotion, through which each Rocs location in West Virginia will donate 1 cent per gallon of gasoline sold. Roach Energy also will contribute 1 cent per gallon of oil or propane that its customers purchase when requesting a delivery from Roachs Warming Hands and Hearts truck. Knowing you can give a family a warm home during the cold winter months is rewarding for those who are willing to donate, Heather Polinik, director of resource development and marketing for United Way of the Eastern Panhandle, said in a news release. We are proud to once again partner with Roach Energy and ROCS convenience stores for this important initiative. I encourage everyone to follow their lead and consider giving to this years Warming Hands and Hearts campaign. Every donation, no matter the size, impacts so many in our community. A total of $6,019 was raised last year for the initiative, and United Way of the Eastern Panhandle allocated an additional $4,286 to provide families assistance with heating bills, totaling more than $10,000 throughout Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties. Applications for heating assistance through Warming Hands and Hearts are screened by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and the Regional Resource Connection, which is a partnership between DHHR, Telamon and United Way of the Eastern Panhandle. With the coordinated efforts, the initiative also provides case managers who contact utility companies on behalf of the clients. Negotiated payment arrangements and financial-management information also are provided. To donate, mail checks payable to United Way of the Eastern Panhandle to 24 District Way, Suite 201, Martinsburg, WV 25404; or donate at www.uwayep.org/warming handsandhearts. For more information about the program, call 304-263-0603 or go to uwayep.org. Jenni Vincent jvincent@herald-mail.com HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. Spring Mills (W.Va.) High School senior Brian Stahli knows from personal experience how much work it takes to be part of Tri-County Robotics. But he also knows how much the after-school program sponsored by James Rumsey Technical Institute offers. Now in his second year in the program, Stahli said it has helped sharpen his critical-thinking skills while working with other students, who have become good friends along the way. He also is excited to see younger local students getting involved in the program because this is the kind of experience, especially the teamwork, that will be good as they get older. That kind of praise is heartening to program adviser Jessie Butcher, a robotics teacher at James Rumsey who devotes many extra hours to the after-school effort. She credited fellow staff member Chuck McClain with organizing the effort about six years ago, and she praised his vision for creating an activity that incorporates STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) learning. McClain still helps with the high school teams, but Butcher oversees all grade levels, which is becoming increasingly time-consuming. The programs popularity continues to grow, and middle school students became part of the program last year, Butcher said. Two younger students one each from a local intermediate and elementary school now are on a team, and Butcher hopes it is a trend for the future. Since James Rumsey serves students in Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties, those areas are also represented in the program, Butcher said. About 20 students now are participating and they represent eight schools Hedgesville Elementary, Hedgesville High, Hedgesville Middle, Spring Mills Middle, Spring Mills High, Tomahawk Intermediate in Hedgesville and Washington High School in Charles Town, W.Va. It really is an exciting and busy time because of all the activities students compete in, along with the fact that we span so many ages, Butcher said. Most participants spend 10 or more hours per week working on their projects, and they participate in out-of-town competitions, including a December event in Fairmont, W.Va. A Feb. 9 event at the school will include its middle- and high-school teams, Butcher said, noting that the goal is to advance to state and national competitions. We also do a fun competition at Shepherd University in the spring, she said. We never really stop. We do summer camps, travel over breaks and its just constant. Butchers son, Colton, 9, a third-grader at Tomahawk Intermediate, successfully teamed with Hedgesville Elementary School second-grader Lilly VanMetre, 8, daughter of James Rumsey Principal Donna VanMetre. Theres a place for everyone in our program, Butcher said. Although the younger students dont compete, they field a robotics project and use that experience to make needed changes to improve it not unlike the middle- and high-school students, she said. At this age, it is more like an exploration, and there are no winners, she said. At expos, we celebrate what the young team members have learned in their session. The duo was chosen from a lottery drawing to be one of two teams representing West Virginia at the first Lego League Jr. World Expo, which will be April 24 to 27 in Detroit and feature teams from all over the world. Matthew Umstead mumstead@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. A plea agreement has been reached in the case of a former Eastern Regional Jail correctional officer charged last year with bribery and several other counts in connection with an apparent smuggling operation involving at least nine inmates, attorneys said Monday in Berkeley County (W.Va.) Circuit Court. Matthew K. Cook, 19, of Hedgesville, W.Va., was charged with five counts of bribery (accepting bribe), four counts each of conspiracy to violate possession of contraband in jail by an inmate and delivery of buprenorphine, three counts of transporting a controlled substance into jail, two counts of transporting a telecommunications device into jail, and conspiracy to possession of a telecommunications device in jail, court records said. The plea agreement, which wasnt disclosed Monday, was placed under seal by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Michael D. Lorensen at the request of Berkeley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Watson. The judge ordered that a report about Cook be completed in advance of a plea-and-sentencing hearing that Lorensen set for April 8. The bribery charges are, at least in part, connected to Cooks alleged acceptance of cash and/or marijuana as bribes for transporting contraband into the jail in August and September and allowing inmates to have items not allowed in a state correctional facility, court records said. In one instance, Cook is accused of accepting $280 in August from one inmate, records said. The statuses of the prosecutions cases against the inmates vary, with at least three of the defendants Hunter Jessup, Michael R. McGillick and Sharnett Singh set to go to trial May 14. Lorensen was advised Monday that plea agreements were reached, at least in principle, in cases against Mark Blue, Ashley Butts and Terry Mason Jr. The terms of those agreements also werent disclosed. The prosecutions case against Marcus Benn was resolved, and cases against David Brown and Ryan Jackson are pending, court records said. Police said in a complaint that two cellphones were recovered from Eastern Regional Jail inmates after correctional officers noticed apparent Facebook posts from Benn and Blue, court records said. The cellphones were found within individually wrapped snack cakes and a charging cord was found in a bag of Doritos all of which were in a bag of commissary items, records said. A spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety said in October it was his understanding that Cook was employed by the state for less than six months. Julie E. Greene julieg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. Martinsburg Police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred during an attempted home invasion on South Raleigh Street on Sunday afternoon, according to a news release from the police department. The shooter has not been found. Police responded to the 400 block of South Raleigh Street at approximately 4:03 p.m. for a report of a male shot in the chest, the release states. Officers found Corey Barkhamer, 26, inside his home with two gunshot wounds, according to news releases from the police department. Police and an emergency medical crew responded. Barkhamer was taken to WVU Medicine Berkeley Medical Center, where he died from his injuries, police said. Detectives said Barkhamer was shot during an attempted home invasion by an unknown person, police wrote. Police were not releasing any more information as of Monday morning. Anyone with information about the shooting was asked to contact Martinsburg Police Detective Jonathan Smith at 304-264-2100. Julie E. Greene julieg@herald-mail.com Another historical advocacy group has spoken up about a Fairplay property owners desire to demolish a roughly 208-year-old stone house. The Washington County Historical Advisory Committee recently presented the county commissioners with a letter listing several recommendations, including that the county adopt a delayed demolition ordinance. The committee specifically suggests the commissioners delay a decision, for one to three months, regarding a demolition permit for 18461 Manor Church Road. The delay would permit the preservation community time to develop and offer possible alternatives to permanent demolition, the letter states. I think we really need to be concerned about the fact that any one of our historical gems can be randomly destroyed and theres very little we can do about it, historian Tom Clemens told the county board during the citizens participation portion of Tuesdays commissioners meeting. Clemens is a member of the advisory committee. He also is chairman of the Historic District Commission, which voted 5-0 on Jan. 16 to deny the requested demolition permit. On Monday night, the county planning commission will consider whether to recommend the demolition permit be granted for the Emmert-Wingert House. The commission is meeting at 7 p.m. at the Washington County Administrative Complex in downtown Hagerstown. Planning and Zoning Director Stephen Goodrich has said the county permitting office still could issue the demolition permit, regardless of the recommendations from the advisory board and planning commission. The historic district commission also is tentatively scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday with county planning staff to discuss the matter further, Clemens said Sunday. Robert Householder told the historic district commission that he bought the 132-acre property in October with the intention of tearing the home down. He told the panel the stone house would block the view I want from the home he plans to build on higher ground. Householder reiterated Sunday that he still wants to demolish the house. He has no plans to develop or subdivide the property, but wants to use it to raise cattle. He said he has demolition equipment at the property and was planning to have someone start razing the barn and wagon shed Monday. But the county planning department informed him the barn and wagon shed are tied to the permit to demolish the house, and he cant demolish them yet. Sooner or later, Ill pay the fine and it will come down. Its my right, Householder said. Among the advisory committees recommendations is to beef up the penalty for demolition without authorization, for which there is a $100 fine. Denying a building permit for three to five years would dramatically curb willful disregard of the demolition ordinance, the letter states. Householder, who has 40 years in construction, said the house, barn and shed are in bad shape. He has previously mentioned the house has issues including mold, bent floorboards and eroding mortar joints. Historic district commission member Gary Rohrer said earlier this month he also has structural experience. He said he thinks the homes issues can be addressed, though it will be costly. The stone house is a significant example of the countys vernacular architecture, according to a Washington County inventory of historic properties document prepared in 1975. Vernacular architecture meets basic needs and is constructed in the local custom style. The advisory committees letter also states the Emmert family served in the Revolutionary War. Clemens told the commissioners that historical tourism is one of the biggest industries in the county. We have an incredible collection of what I consider to be historic gems in this county, Clemens told them. Unfortunately, we carry them around in a paper bag. We do almost nothing to protect them. And when theyre gone, you cant get them back. None of the county commissioners commented on the letter after Clemens addressed the board Tuesday. Commissioners President Jeff Cline texted Sunday that the matter is not on the agenda for Tuesdays commissioners meeting. But he wrote that more might develop after the planning commission meeting. Hagerstown, MD (21740) Today Thunderstorms, some with heavy rain this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low around 65F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms, some with heavy rain this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low around 65F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. The banks whose loan clients might have been injured made it clear in statements that they had no direct involvement in the data breach because they neither own nor service the mortgages. Nonetheless, a Citibank spokesman said it is "working to identify potentially affected customers" and has "instituted a forensic investigation." A spokeswoman for Wells Fargo told me, "We have no indication that any Wells systems or service providers were compromised," and the bank views the "security of our customers' personal information" as "our priority." Industry experts were aghast at the breach. Paul Benda, senior vice president for risk and cybersecurity at the American Bankers Association, said "banks have strict data security protocols in place ... and protect their (own) data well." So, too, should companies that acquire mortgages originated by banks and resold in the secondary market. "If you receive this loan data, well gosh darn it you need to protect it," Benda added. Mike Lewis mlewis@herald-mail.com Edward Weidenfeld got interested in medical cannabis as a patient before he got into the business, and now part of his business is coming to Hagerstown. Were producing a quality product that I personally take, he said. Weidenfeld and his business partner, Andras Kirschner, have an established Washington, D.C., cultivation facility, Phyto Management LLC, which produces and sells its products under the District Cannabis brand. We plan to bring that same quality and commitment to purity to the Hagerstown facility and the dispensaries in Maryland. ... Were planning on marketing under the District Cannabis brand, Weidenfeld said in a telephone interview last week. Weidenfeld and Kirschner also are the founders of Maryland Cultivation and Processing, which acquired property at 560 Western Maryland Parkway. There is a 35,900-square-foot warehouse on the property. Earlier this month, MCP received unanimous approval from the citys planning commission for a preliminary site plan to add a 46,500-square-foot greenhouse and a 13,000-square-foot pond to harvest rainwater and reuse runoff from the facilitys roof. We hope to have plants in the ground by late spring and to harvest about 3 1/2 months thereafter, Weidenfeld said in the telephone interview. Kirschner, who holds a degree in sustainable agriculture, represented the company before the planning commission. Weidenfeld is an estate and asset-protection lawyer who served as general counsel to Ronald Reagans 1980 presidential campaign. A source of relief Weidenfeld, now in his 70s, turned to medical cannabis for his health. I have a condition called Parkinsons disease. Parkinsons affects the neurotransmitters of the brain, he said. Theres no known cure for Parkinsons disease. Its symptoms can range from tremors and rigid muscles to problems with balance or speech. The symptoms get worse over time as the disease progresses. Once I was diagnosed with Parkinsons, I pursued every avenue of hope that it might somehow be curable, or at least its rate of progression could be slowed down, he said. He read that medical cannabis offered some promise of dealing with symptoms like his. In addition to more traditional medications, he said hes been using medical cannabis for about seven years. The effort is to treat symptom by symptom, and cannabis affects a number of symptoms, he said. While stressing that people should consult their doctors about their conditions, Weidenfeld said cannabis has helped him with what he called constant muscle cramping and inflammation. I use cannabis both as an external salve and occasionally, in the evening, for anti-inflammatory relief, he said. But the single greatest benefit, he said, is relief from ever-present anxiety. When one has a degenerative disease, it is very hard to focus in the moment because youre always, in the back of your mind, thinking, What next? There is something unique about cannabis that puts you in the moment and lets you stay in the moment, he said. Weidenfeld consistently referred to the substance as cannabis. He also drew a distinction between THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the substance that gives people a high, and CBD (cannabidiol), which can be beneficial without being mind-altering. THC and CBD products will be produced in Hagerstown, he said. A welcoming community He credited his business partner, Kirschner, with finding the site on Western Maryland Parkway. Andras turned over every stone possible, he said. We also had a broker engaged to search for property. They were looking for a facility that was suitable and a community that was welcoming. There are lots of places people can and did go in Maryland, but our philosophy is its not enough to be legally welcome. We want people who see a future in the industry and an opportunity to make a role for themselves in a newly developing business, he said. He said he and Kirschner found that in Hagerstown. The company issued a news release to announce its acquisition of the Western Maryland Parkway property. The release quotes Jill Thompson, director of community and economic development for the city. We welcome this new investment to the city of Hagerstown and the new jobs the company will bring to our community, Thompson said in the release. The company has a demonstrated reputation in its industry and will be a perfect addition to our business community. Julie E. Greene julieg@herald-mail.com A North End house fire that displaced a family of five on Saturday has been ruled accidental, Hagerstown Fire Marshal Doug DeHaven said Monday. DeHaven said he was not releasing details until the insurance company does its own investigation. The fire at 1100 Fairview Road, off Pennsylvania Avenue, was reported at 8:42 a.m. Saturday. When firefighters arrived, there was heavy fire showing from second-floor windows, DeHaven has said. The residents discovered the fire in a second-floor bedroom before the smoke detectors went off and they escaped, he said. The fire was pretty well contained to one room, DeHaven has said. There was smoke damage throughout the house and the home could not be occupied. The American Red Cross was assisting the family. A Hagerstown firefighter had a minor burn, DeHaven said. DeHaven said 34 firefighters responded. Hagerstown, Longmeadow and Funkstown fire companies; Community Rescue Service; the Washington County Division of Emergency Services; Washington County Special Operations; the air unit and the rehab unit responded. The house was owner-occupied, DeHaven said. C.J. Lovelace cj.lovelace@herald-mail.com Scott LoBaido is a lifelong artist who discovered his calling for patriotic artwork several decades ago. Art has taken the New York City native all around the U.S., and in late March he will be making a stop in Hagerstown as part of his latest traveling art installation tour. His creation, titled 22-13, will be traveling to cities and towns across the countrys 13 original colonies to raise awareness about the issue of military veteran suicide in America, a troubling trend that LoBaido said he hopes to help bring to an end. According to a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs study, over 20 veterans take their own lives every day. Many suffer from conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, effects from a traumatic brain injury or other combat-related issues. Lets take care of this right away, LoBaido told Herald-Mail Media in a telephone interview last week. This has been going on for too long. The Hagerstown City Council on Tuesday voted to approve a license agreement to permit LoBaidos temporary art installation, which will be on display in a public right of way at the corner of Maryland Avenue and Downsville Road in the citys South End. The lighted exhibit, depicting 22 human figures and the number 22 with one number reversed to form a heart surrounded by 22 pairs of boots, will be viewable during the evening hours of March 22 and March 23. Lobaido, 53, has gained notoriety for his paintings depicting the American flag, often gracing buildings like fire or police stations, but every four or five years he develops a patriotic project that he takes around the country to raise awareness for veteran-related causes. This upcoming tour will be his fourth since 2006. It will begin on March 6 in LoBaidos hometown of Staten Island, N.Y., before he heads south. Hagerstown will be his only stop in Maryland. Once its all set up and the sun goes down and it starts to light up, its going to be so moving, no matter who you are, he said. Its really going to change your life and bring you into the element. To help pay for the journey, LoBaido has been fundraising through a GoFundMe page and is seeking sponsorships from local organizations and businesses. His page can be found at www.gofund me.com/battle-to- preserve-patriotism. How did he settle on Hagerstown? That decision came with the help of local resident Darren Hawkins, who said LoBaido owed him a painting from when the two met back in 2013 after a devastating tornado in Oklahoma. After the powerful EF5 tornado ripped through Moore, Okla., LoBaido packed up his truck and drove down to see how he could help. He decided on turning an intact rooftop into a canvas to paint a flag as a way to bring people together and lift spirits during the difficult time. I never really seen anybody do something like that, Hawkins said of his painting. And the causes that he does it for. It was never for himself. ... I just like how it changed people when they looked at it. That feeling is what Hawkins hopes Hagerstown residents experience when they see LoBaidos most recent artwork in Hagerstown. I want to revive my community, united people, he said. And bring a new type of revitalization amongst people. Hawkins approached Hagerstown City Councilwoman Shelley McIntire about helping to bring the exhibit to the city. She obliged his request. McIntire said she initially had some reservations about LoBaidos work, given some of the controversial work he has done in the past, but LoBaido agreed that the project would not be political and focus solely on the issue of veteran suicide. I dont think enough people realize that there are three times as many suicides than homicides each year; and furthermore, the suicide rate is 1.5 times greater for veterans, she said in an email. I think we need more awareness on this issue. Growing up in a blue-collar neighborhood, LoBaido grew up in a family that loved the stars and stripes. His grandmother flew the flag in her yard every day. LoBaido discovered his calling for patriotic art in the 1990s, a time when patriotism was taboo. He wanted to bring the nations colors back to life. Then, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, a groundswell of patriotism swept the country and Lobaidos services were in high demand. He painted flag designs on schools, fire houses, police stations. As an artist, LoBaido said his primary goal is to create art that unites people and triggers an emotional response. His following has grown, but LoBaido has never lost sight of what drives him. (Veterans) made the sacrifice so I could be an artist, he said. ... I will spend my life celebrating everything thats great about America, and they are the celebrities. You have permission to edit this collection. Edit Close My heart is filled with gratitude for everyone who supported me and supported the First Step Act. Every week, I hear about more people leaving prison because of the new law. Overall, more than 150,000 people in the long term will benefit from the laws sentencing and prison reforms. The First Step Act was a great start, but we have to do more. I got a second chance and so should so many others. Since leaving prison, I have looked for ways to serve the poor and to advocate on behalf of those I left behind. This week, I went to Washington to thank lawmakers for supporting prison reform and to ask that they consider more reforms that will recognize that people can change. In the year and a half that I was home, people saw that I was not the same person who was convicted of selling crack as a young man. There are many people still serving decades-long sentences who have rehabilitated themselves, like I did. Unfortunately, most Americans do not see or hear from them, and they are not given a real opportunity to demonstrate that they have changed. And yet Northam, as of Saturday morning at least, appears to be trying to find a way to make the McDonnell strategy work, gut this thing out and somehow finish his term in office. Thats magical political thinking. With the General Assembly session not yet at its midpoint, and with major issues such as tax reform still to be decided, the ascendant Democrats cant afford a diminished and isolated governor. Worse, Northam as governor would be such a political liability that he could not appear with House or Senate candidates on the stump this November. They would not be able to accept whatever money he might raise on their behalf. Northam has to know this. He also knows that that photograph encapsulates the barely contained hate still lurking in Virginia. The ironic twist in the Northam story is that it broke on the website Big League Politics, an outlet that has past ties to tarnished GOP candidates Roy Moore and Corey Stewart, according to reporting by the Daily Beast. Stewart, whose U.S. Senate campaign in Virginia was embraced by white nationalists, made no secret of his desire to protect and defend the images and sanitized narrative of Virginias Confederate past. BRISTOL, Va. The developer of the Mendota Trail received a $25,000 grant to assist with locating a trailhead in Bristol, Virginia. The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, which administers the fund, awarded the grant to Mountain Heritage, a St. Paul-based nonprofit agency that is overseeing development of the 12.5-mile trail between Bristol and Mendota, according to a written statement. The preliminary engineering grant comes through the departments Recreational Trails Program and reimburses Mountain Heritage for developing a trailhead along Island Road, just inside the city limits. It is expected to evolve into much more in the projects next phase. The award comes after the Bristol Virginia City Council, last year, approved providing some in-kind engineering services for the trailhead site. Mountain Heritage applied for the grant last July, with the city acting as sponsor. Mountain Heritage acquired the land for the trailhead in December and hopes to open trail sections leading out of Bristol later this year, according to the statement. This first phase is expected to cost more than $31,000, and the grant would reimburse Mountain Heritage up to 80 percent of that amount specifically $25,092 as tasks are completed. Legislation that would allow for a local referendum on allowing a casino in Bristol passed the Virginia Senate Monday by a vote of 28-12 and is headed to the House. Last Wednesday, Virginias Senate Finance Committee voted 12-4 to approve substitute gaming legislation that could ultimately delay action until next year. Language in the revised bill would direct the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission rather than the Virginia Lottery Board to review casino gaming laws in other states and assess impacts on Virginia. It would mean no referenda could occur before the General Assembly digests that study, and it would also prohibit the Lottery Board from issuing any license to operate a gaming operation before July 1, 2020. The legislation passed with 28 yes votes and 12 no votes. It now moves to the House. Backers of the proposed $250 million Bristol Resort and Casino at the former Bristol Mall were hoping a public referendum could occur this fall. Twin City businessmen Jim McGlothlin and Clyde Stacy announced the project last August. And this year, Brachs candy has cornered this piece of the confectionery market. New England Confectionery Co., more widely known as Necco, is out of business and Spangler Candy Co., which bought the competing Sweethearts brand along with Necco wafers, couldnt restart production in time for Valentines Day. Support local journalism We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story. 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 customercare@heraldandnews.com for help creating one. To submit comments The Notice of Availability and Draft EIR are available at: https://bit.ly/2TcxefF. Additional information related to the Lower Klamath Project water quality certification and California Environmental Quality Act process can be found at: https://bit.ly/2jwgIcL. Comments on the draft EIR are due by noon, Feb. 26, and can be sent to wr401program@waterboards.ca.gov, or Ms. Michelle Siebal, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights Water Quality Certification Program, P.O. Box 2000, Sacramento, CA 95812-2000. A teenager who underwent groundbreaking cancer treatment in the US cried herself to sleep when doctors said her illness had spread. The family of brave Dublin girl Robyn Smith has been left devastated after recent scans showed her treatment is not working. Robyn Smyth (14), from Whitehall, has been fighting the aggressive neuroblastoma for 12 years and had received four of seven pioneering vaccines at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. But a new black spot noticed in tests before Christmas showed US-based doctors that her cancer has not only returned to her spine, but also to her jaw and now the family will have to endure an agonising few days waiting for news on whether it has spread to her bones. "Unfortunately the vaccine trial Robyn was on has not worked as we had hoped," said Robyn's mother Bernadette. Horrible "We don't regret doing the vaccine as we believe it did something. It is [now] in her jaw and spine and we are waiting for results on her bone marrow. "Robyn was screaming until she couldn't breathe and she then cried herself to sleep when she was told the bad news. It was so horrible and I never want to experience that pain and horror of my little girl's reaction. "We are devastated as the hope was to keep it away. We are talking to neuroblastoma experts globally and there are still several options in America and Germany that can get her back in remission and keep her there. "Robyn has more fight in her; I will keep fighting for her. I'm just a mammy, just like most of you, who was dealt a brutal card. I'm just trying to do the best for my little girl. I'm trying to save her life. "Robyn is very well in herself. She's eating, she's happy and she's hanging out with her cousins now that we are back home from New York. "I hate begging but I have no choice. Please help. If you can do anything to raise funds please get in touch." The second-year student at Whitehall Secondary School has been bravely dealing with the side effects of the new treatment, which involves a constant battery of scans and blood tests. Bernadette's fundraising had stalled at 70,000 but following her appeal, UFC fighter Conor McGregor's sister Erin started a floss dance challenge in a desperate bid to help save Robyn's life. The public donated thousands as a result. Further donations can be made on idonate.ie/robynslife and gofundme.com/robynslife. Irish nurses working abroad say the Government here does not respect the workforce and gives emigrants no reason to come home. On Saturday, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) announced two additional strike dates in the con- tinuing row over pay and staffing. The walkouts will take place on February 19 and 21 in addition to action tomorrow and and on February 7 and 12 to 14. Anna Enright, from Tralee, Co Kerry, who has lived and worked as a nurse in Melbourne, Australia, for five years, said: "When I first started I worked in hospitals in the midlands on three-month contracts for 13.60 an hour. "We were worked to the bone in unsafe conditions because of under-staffing. There was no support, no job growth, not to mention the salary. "There are amazing nurses in Ireland. They work so hard considering what they're put through. "I'm very angry over it. I've been speaking to the girls at home who are striking. My heart breaks for them. I honestly feel bad and kind of guilty at how good we have it over here. "We make money that allows us to have a great lifestyle. We enjoy work and are so supported to grow in our field. Greedy "Nursing is highly respected over here, whereas I feel in Ireland it never will be, to be honest. "I can't see a change happening. The Government don't respect nursing as a profession to increase our pay. It's not that we're greedy for money - we need to be able to live." More than 30,000 nurses took to picket lines in freezing conditions outside hospitals across the country last week after talks aimed at resolving the dispute failed. Nurses are calling for a pay increase of about 12pc, but the Government has said it is not in a position to borrow money. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said: "The nursing unions are seeking a significant increase in pay over and above all the benefits of the current agreement, seeking parity with other health professionals. "Concession of this pay claim, even if possible, would have serious consequences for the public finances and for public pay policy generally, with estimated costs of 300m annually based on a 12pc claim. "It would not end there. It would generate knock-on claims from the rest of the public service workforce, where there are already other well-aired pay grievances." Last week, protests were organised in Melbourne, Sydney and London by Irish nurses to show solidarity. A mother-of-four who is recovering from cancer has been left terrified after the PSNI warned her that there was a threat against her life - because criminal John Gilligan gave her address to a judge so he could get out of jail. Gilligan was granted bail last Monday after providing the address at Springhill estate in the heart of republican Ballymurphy in west Belfast. However, Michelle Carson (35), who lives in the small terraced property with her four children, said she was shocked when her home became the centre of a storm and locals threatened to protest outside. "I didn't even know who John Gilligan was until the PSNI came and gave me advice about my safety and security," she told the Sunday World. "He gave my address in court and now the whole of Belfast thinks he is here, that I am harbouring him. He isn't here and he never will be." Locals in the area said that Gilligan was not welcome in their community after the bail hearing on Monday. But it was Michelle who found herself in fear for her life after the pint-sized thug gave her address as his bolthole - and she was subsequently visited by police officers with official advice on how to "protect" herself. "He is not here and that is as simple as that. I don't want anyone thinking I'm guilty of anything. I'm recovering from cancer. I still have a feeding tube. I want you to show everyone that he is not here. "That is why I invited you in here so you can see for yourself. I don't know John Gilligan. I don't want people thinking I do, or that I have got money from him or anything like that." Michelle said she had been in and out of hospital and has been given the all-clear from the cancer now, adding: "I'm still on medicine so I really haven't been paying much heed to things." Frail She said she got caught up in the drama after she was sold a sob story by a relative who told her that a friend of his, "a frail pensioner", had been wrongly thrown into jail by the PSNI and was desperate to get out. Gilligan had been picked up with 23,000 in a suitcase at Belfast Airport last August. The crime boss, whose gang murdered journalist Veronica Guerin, has completed a 22-year battle with the Criminal Assets Bureau and had claimed he was broke. The 66-year-old claimed the cash was his "life savings" and was not linked to crime. He has been charged with attempting to remove criminal property from Northern Ireland, and had appeared at Coleraine Magistrates Court via video link from Maghaberry Prison last Monday. He remained in prison until Friday when he was finally released to a new address, which was agreed with the PSNI. A gambler punched another man in the face with a car key in his fist, knocking out two of his teeth and cutting his lip in a row outside a Dublin casino. Crolls Ferguson (33) attacked the victim when a disagreement they had inside led to a confrontation on the street. Ferguson, a jobless software engineer, claimed he lashed out in self-defence, but Judge Mary Cashin found him guilty and adjourned the case for a pre-sentence probation report. Father-of-one Ferguson, of Jamestown Square, Jamestown Road, Inchicore, had denied assaulting Altaeb Abbashar outside Funland on O'Connell Street Upper on December 28, 2017. The pair only knew each other from going to the casino, where they were regulars. Mr Abbashar told Dublin District Court he was outside, asking Ferguson to come out because he wanted to talk to him. He put his hand on Fergus- on's shoulder and "all of a sudden he struck me with his right hand, with all his power", the victim said. Stitches Ferguson had car keys in his hand and broke his teeth. He swallowed half a tooth and two were "on the floor" and he was "looking for them". He had to get six stitches to his lip. In cross-examination by defence solicitor Matthew De Courcy, the victim denied threatening the accused or being aggressive or violent. Gda Sandip Shrestha saw Mr Abbashar in an "angry and agitated state" shouting at the accused to come out before putting an arm around him. "All of a sudden," Ferguson punched the victim, Gda Shrestha said. A security guard said he thought the accused had acted in self-defence. Ferguson told the court he was grabbed by Mr Abbashar with both hands and "couldn't breathe". "I hit him because I couldn't catch my breath," he said. "He was trying to bring me down." He denied there was a key in his hand. Judge Cashin said that while the victim had been aggressive, his version of the assault was supported by CCTV and Fergus- on's reaction was disproportionate. 'Dublin District Court heard gardai were called to Grafton Street at 11.15am last September 27 after a report of a drunk man.' (stock photo) A drunken barber arrested for "randomly shouting" at passers-by in the city centre had nine stolen bandanas on him when searched. Des Rogers (33) was jailed for two months for the incident that happened "the morning after the night before". Rogers, of St Bricin's Military Hospital, Infirmary Road, Arbour Hill, pleaded guilty to theft, public intoxication and threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour. Dublin District Court heard gardai were called to Grafton Street at 11.15am last September 27 after a report of a drunk man. Vodka Rogers was found drinking from a bottle of vodka and shouting. It was "the usual verbals", a garda sergeant told Judge Michael Walsh. Rogers had nine bandanas worth 53 that had been stolen from nearby Claire's Accessories. He had moved to Austria last year and was in a relationship there, but when that ended he got a flight home, with nowhere to stay. having "burned a lot of bridges", his solicitor Stephen O'Mahony said. He did not like living in hostels, so had been on the streets, drinking a bottle of vodka or more every day. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low near 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low near 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Free access for current print subscribers As a home delivery subscriber, you get free unlimited digital access to premium content on HenryHerald.com, including local news, local sports, obituaries, legal notices, local features, and the e-edition. All you need is your print subscription account number and your last name. Don't know your subscription number? Email access@henryherald.com with your delivery address. Activate your account now. A MAN who managed Henleys old Regal cinema for more than three decades and helped to shape its replacement has died. Gordon Mintern, a widower who lived in The Close, off Greys Road, Henley, passed away on December 16, aged 96. Before he came to Henley Mr Mintern had been working for the Regals former owner Odeon at another cinema in the Midlands but didnt enjoy this because of the distance from his native Bristol. He was then offered a job in Jersey but this did not last as the work was seasonal. He then learned of the vacancy at the cinema in Bell Street, Henley, and was attracted by its 1,000-seat capacity. He was appointed in 1952 and remained in post until the cinemas closure in 1986. Mr Mintern and his wife Dorothy, who died in February 2016, moved to the town to run the cinema together. The couple also organised and hosted the annual Henley Midnight Matinee screenings for charity. The cinema, which was built in 1937, shut because Waitrose wanted to knock it down and build a larger supermarket to replace its premises next door. Mr Mintern was set to retire by then as he had reached the age of 65 but he continued to show films at the Kenton Theatre in New Street using a single projector. Waitrose agreed to change its plans in 1992 amid public outcry including a campaign supported by George and Olivia Harrison, of the Friar Park estate, who joined a protest against the demolition. The company proposed building a two-screen complex in Boroma Way with shops on the ground floor and Mr Mintern advised adding a third screen after the shops were removed from the scheme. The old cinema was knocked down in 1993 and its replacement opened in 1997 with a gala showing of The Crucible followed by screenings of Jerry Maguire, Mars Attacks! and Matilda. Speaking to the Henley Standard in 2017 to mark the 25th anniversary of the campaigners victory, Mr Mintern said: It was all very sad when it closed, very sad. I think it was a question of money. Waitrose made a big offer for the site so the company decided to sell. It was a fantastic old building but things change, dont they? People used to come to the cinema every week but now they shop for a film they want to see. The Minterns also hosted the popular Sunday afternoon organ concerts at the cinema and at Henley town hall after the closure. They founded the Henley and District Theatre Organ Trust in 1971 and Mr Mintern served as chairman with his wife as secretary. The couple brought many high-profile organists to the town, including Reginald Dixon, a former theatre organist at the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool. When the Regal shut, they persuaded the town council to install a dual-purpose organ in Queen Elizabeth II Hall at the town hall. The trusts concerts continue to this day and the organ is regularly used at fund-raising events and civic functions. Former Henley town councillor Elizabeth Hodgkin, who was mayor in 2009/10 and 2012/13, met Mr Mintern when she joined the Regal as a teenage usherette in the Sixties and the pair stayed in touch. She attended several organ concerts in her two mayoral years and regularly spoke of their benefit to the community. She said: I remember him and his wife very well from working at the Regal in the school holidays. He would wear a dinner jacket every single night while greeting visitors because in those days going to the cinema was a special occasion and you were expected to dress accordingly. He was very old-fashioned that way and I remember him being very strict you turned up on time and you made sure you did your job properly. I did several jobs at the Regal and depending on how much ice cream I sold he might let me have 10 per cent of the money. He had very high standards and I think the world is very different now. He always called me Elizabeth, never Liz, and would always tell people Id been an usherette even when I was mayor! He was also instrumental in keeping the organ concerts going and I tried to promote them as much as possible. I was very sad to hear of his passing as Henley has lost another real character but I am pleased that he lived a good, long life and left a legacy for the community. The couple had three children, two of whom now live in Canada, as well as eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Mr Minterns funeral will be held at Reading Crematorium at 9.45am on February 22. Tribal Council directed policy analyst Jami Pluff to facilitate meetings each week during the month of February to gather considerations from the communities on how to tackle the issue. A DEVELOPER has suffered another setback in its bid to build 245 new homes. Gladman Homes has applied to the High Court to challenge a planning inspectors decision to uphold the decision of South Oxfordshire District Council to refuse permission for the development on three fields north of Emmer Green. But now a government lawyer has condemned this companys move, saying it is totally without merit. The land between Peppard Road and Kiln Road is part of the Phillimore estate and in Eye and Dunsden parish. Gladmans application was turned down amid objections from residents and several neighbouring parish councils, which claimed the development would put nearby villages at risk of being engulfed by the urban boundary of Reading. The company appealed but planning inspector Nick Palmer backed the councils decision. Gladman argues that Mr Palmer underestimated the districts future housing requirements by not considering the extra homes it will have to take from Oxford, which is behind on its housing quotas. It says the need to meet this demand outweighs any concerns about the developments impact on views of the neighbouring Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. But now the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government has said the companys argument is academic as the site wasnt earmarked for development in the districts local plan and the council could show a housing land supply of more than three years. Barrister Emma Dring said: On any view, even if the inspector made the errors asserted by the claimant, they made no difference whatsoever to the outcome. It was inevitable that planning permission would be refused. For the purposes of decision making, local housing need should not include any allowance for unmet need [from neighbouring areas]. Unmet need is recognised as being different from, and additional to, local housing need. It is relevant to the assessment of how much housing should be planned for in a local plan and, as such, is an aspect of plan-making and not decision-taking. For this reason, unmet need should not be included in the assessment of local housing need and so the inspector was right to refer to land supply figures reached without consideration of unmet need. The court is respectfully invited to refuse permission and to certify this claim as being totally without merit. The High Court cant grant planning permission but can quash the inspectors decision and order a fresh hearing if it finds the correct procedures werent followed. Sonning Common parish councillor Leigh Rawlins, who is also a member of Campaign Against Gladman in Eye and Dunsden pressure group, said: I am advised that it is exceptionally rare for the Secretary of States barrister to conclude in such ringing terms. This would suggest that the Secretary of State expects this matter to be viewed by the court to be vexatious and thus denied court time for a substantive hearing. It is being pushed because of the scale and value of land at stake. When agricultural land in this area gets planning permission it multiplies in value about 100 times from about 25,000 per hectare to 2.5 million. David Woodward, chairman of Eye and Dunsden Parish Council, said: Its apparently pretty unusual for a Government barrister to issue such a strong condemnation so we are very encouraged by that. We havent been given a timeframe for the court to decide whether it will allow a hearing so we can only wait and see. The latest revamp of the paid sick leave policy is Walmarts latest attempt to improve relations with its workers, Bloomberg reported. Were thrilled that the company has stepped up and appears to be making major improvements to its policy, said Dina Bakst, co-president of workers rights group A Better Balance and a critic of Walmarts labour practices. At the same time, we urge Walmart to reconsider aspects of the policy that may be even more harsh on workers. The new benefit, however, also makes it easier for the company to dismiss employees who miss too many work days. Workers will now be allowed only half the number of absences they once were given before being terminated. The company has also changed its quarterly bonus scheme, factoring in attendance when calculating rates. Employees who miss even a couple of shifts could receive only half of their bonus, while those who have flawless attendance records could see their bonus increase by as much as 25%. The opportunity to meet the employee in person prior to hiring Maintaining supervisory control over the work produced Immediate remedying of questions and concerns over the direction of the work assigned An environment that promotes team building Creative solutions to obstacles and problems solved amongst the employees and management with expediency Overview of ethical and confidentiality issues Control over the quality of the work produced However, there are costs associated with in-house employees that do not exist when contracting work to outside talent. These costs include; Consistent wages paid either via salary or hourly rates Health insurance/Disability Insurance/Workers Compensation Insurance Availability of retirement savings and matching plans Significant infrastructure to house all employees Support staff As a result of cheaper labor overseas, many employers are turning to the idea of outsourcing some of their projects to contract employees for lesser wages. Currently, there are no national laws that prevent employers from taking steps to hire workers from other countries. However, there are certain industries that do regulate their own with regard to outsourcing contracts. Those industries include the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. The APRA oversees the rules and regulations pertaining to financial services and health insurance. The positive aspects of outsourcing employment opportunities to workers around the world include; Savings on the cost of wages due to lesser wage requirements in countries such as India, China, the Philippines and South Africa Work can be produced twenty-four hours a day Savings on the cost of health insurance/disability insurance and workers compensation insurance No additional benefits need be provided Labor law issues do not apply thereby eliminating the chance of such types of claims against the business Business expansion with fewer associated costs The negative impact of outsourcing can include; Companies, therefore, have the right to keep a close watch on workplace communications. Its no longer a question of whether employers have access to employee emails and chats but of how and to what extent. How work emails are monitored Surveillance is typically done by reviewing server logs and monitoring user activity. Some employers instruct IT personnel to perform audits manually by pulling up the history and, in some cases, even the contents of an individual mailbox. This is mostly done, however, when there is already a suspicious pattern of activity emerging. Most companies, on the other hand, implement automated software that can do any of the following: We finished up the month of January and the fourth week of the 66th legislative session. This week, one of the things we worked on in Tax Committee was extending the qualified endowment tax credit program. This tax credit has been in place for a number of years and had a sunset that needed to be extended. In our Education Committee a bill was presented that is designed to make a college student aware of the risks and consequences of student loans. It asks the university system to counsel the students on the loan and such aspects as, the amount of interest, the payment and an estimate o... Press release HELENA The Office of Public Instruction announced today that nomination and application forms are available for the 2020 Montana Teacher of the Year Program. As a teacher blessed to have spent 23 years in Billings classrooms, I know how crucial it is to celebrate high-quality educators who promote student success, State Superintendent Elsie Arntzen said Thursday. I encourage all Montana communities to join me in elevating their exceptional teachers. Members of the public can fill out a simple form to nominate a teacher. Teachers can self-nominate by fill... During a teleconference in Havre with local legislators, Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, said he favors the Democratic bill that would continue Medicaid expansion over the Republicans proposed plan. Windy Boy said he prefers the bill written by Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, draft to extend the sunset for Medicaid over what Rep. Edward Buttrey, R-Great Falls, plans to propose. Rep. Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, said Buttreys plan would include a work requirement as well as requiring people on Medicaid to list their assets. Windy Boy and Bachmeier were the only legislators participati... Press release GREAT FALLS Havre resident Charly McLain Rosette was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison and three years of supervised for conspiring to distribute prescription pain pills on Rocky Boys Indian Reservation, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said in a press release Thursday. Rosette, 26, pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute Oxycodone. U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. Prosecutors presented evidence that Rosette, and two co-defendants, Isaiah Starr Standingrock and Devon Draper, conspired to sell Oxycodone pills on Rocky Boys Reservation in 2017 and 2018. During the investigation, law enforcement used confidential sources to buy pills from Rosette. A task force agent pulled over Standingrocks and Rosettes vehicle in December 2017 in Havre. The agent had information that the two were selling Oxycodone on the reservation. The agent found pills and currency in the vehicle. Standingrocks and Rosettes phones were seized during the search and a search warrant was obtained for the phones. Rosettes phone contained drug-related messages between her, Standingrock and Draper. In an August text message to Draper, Rosette asked for a half pack, which agents believed referred to a pre-set amount of Oxycodone. In another text message to Draper, Rosette stated she would sell the pills on the reservation for $45 a pill. Rosette also asked Draper to fly to Great Falls, where she would pick him up and take him to the reservation. Draper messaged Rosette and Standingrock that he would bring 120 pills to Montana. Rosette and Standingrock said they would be able to sell the pills for $60 to $65 each on the reservation within a couple of hours. Standingrock and Draper pleaded guilty to charges in the case and is awaiting sentencing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan McCarthy prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Tri-Agency Task Force. Havre Police Department Officers at 11:29 p.m. Friday assisted the Hill County Sheriff's deputies with a vehicle stop on U.S. Highway 2 West. -- Tori Jean Snell of Havre, 19, was arrested on a Justice or City court warrant and a charge of minor in possession, during a vehicle stop at 22nd Avenue West and County Road 650 West Saturday at 3:39 p.m. -- Wendell Harlan Haakanson of Hays, 37, was arrested on charges of driving under the influence, driving without a driver's license and expired vehicle registration, during a vehicle stop on 13th Avenue Satueday at 6:29 a.m. -- Chance Edward Williams of Havre, 28, was arrested on a charge of aggravated DUI after a caller at a First Street business reported suspicious activity at 9:04 a.m. Saturday. -- A caller on Ninth Street reported damage to a vehicle parked on the side of the road Saturday at 9:15 a.m. -- A vehicle crash involving a pickup and a Jeep was reported Saturday at 9:23 a.m. on First Street West. -- Saturday at 9:42 a.m. a Sixth Street caller reported a vehicle had been egged. -- A Second Street caller reported Saturday at 10:05 a.m. that a window to a residence had been broken. -- Two arrests were made when officers served warrants on Fifth Avenue Saturday at 10:59 a.m. No details on the charges was provided. -- A caller at a U.S. Highway 2 Northwest business reported at 11:06 a.m. Saturday a woman had stolen jewelry from the store. -- A caller asked Saturday at 2:56 p.m. for assistance with an email. -- A 16-year-old was issued a summons on charges of obstructing a peace officer or other public servant, possession of drug paraphernalia and endangering the welfare of children, after a caller on 10th Street West reported a marijuana smell coming from a building Saturday at 3:47 p.m. -- A Juniper Drive caller reported finding a chainsaw Saturday at 4:03 p.m. -- A caller on 11th Street reported Saturday at 4:34 p.m. getting a call from an unknown caller who was yelling profanities. -- Betty Bailey Ranes of Havre, 58, was arrested on a charge of aggravated DUI after a caller at a First Street business reported a woman was acting suspiciously Saturday at 6:56 p.m. -- Officers assisted county deputies on the south end of Havre Saturday at 11;59 p.m. -- Sarah Katherine Morgan of Havre, 19, was issued a summons on an MIP charge and Jett Robert Robertson was issued a summons on a social host charge after a call at a Montana State University-Northern residence hall Sunday at 12:47 a.m. reported possible underage drinkers. -- A Child Abuse Hotline caller reported a child was buying dangerous drugs Sunday at 8:05 a.m. -- A caller asked Sunday at 12:06 p.m. for sand to be put down at a stop sign on 11th Street West. -- Sunday at 12:32 p.m. a caller at a First Street business reported someone stole alcohol. -- A First Street caller reported a possibly drunk man walking in winter conditions Sunday at 1:57 p.m. -- An arrest was made after a caller at the S-curve on 11th Street reported a hit and run between a pickup truck and a car Sunday at 2:42 p.m. No details about the charges were provided. -- Sunday at 5:51 p.m. a caller at a First Street business reported a vehicle hit a sign on the business' property. -- Someone stopped at the police station reported a suspicious text message Sunday at 10:11 p.m. -- Chase Aaron Merchant of Havre, 26, was arrested on a Justice or City court warrant and a state District Court warrant on Ninth Avenue Sunday at 10:14 p.m. -- Officers invesitgate a domestic disturbance at 4:04 a.m. today. Hill County Sheriff's Office Deputies investigated a Friday 8:10 a.m. report from the Child Abuse Hotline of possible child abuse in the county. -- Marcia Ann Morsette of Rocky Boy, 58, was arrested on a Justice or City court warrant Friday at 12:25 p.m. at Hill County Detention Center. -- Two callers, one 9:08 p.m. and one at 10:48 p.m., Friday asked deputies to be on alert for stolen vehicles, a truck and a Nissan Altima. -- McKayla Gayle White of Box Eder, 27, was arrested on charges of unauthorized use of a vehicle, obstructing a peace officer or other public servant, expired registration and driving without a driver's license during a vehicle stop on U.S. Highway 2 West Friday at 11:28 p.m. -- A caller reported Saturday at 8:10 a.m. her vehicle had died at Kiehns Bay on Fresno Reservoir and asked for assistance getting a ride to town. -- A caller reported a single vehicle driving into the ditch Saturday at 8:54 a.m. and the call was referred to another agency. -- A Gilford caller reported a truck was stalled on the railroad track Sunday at 5:27 p.m. -- Saturday at 5:30 p.m. a 911 call about a stolen van in Box Elder was transferred to Rocky Boy Police Department. -- Joshua Robert Monroe Guyton of Havre, 22, was arrested on a charge od obstructing a peace officer or other public servant and Jacquline Colleen Chiefstick of Havre, 39, was arrested on a Justice or City court warrant and on a charge of obstructing a peace officer or other public servant, after a caller reported Sunday at 3:06 a.m. a possible domestic disturbance in progress on U.S. Highway 87. Havre Fire Department Emergency medical personnel responded to three calls Friday, two calls Saturday and two calls Sunday. -- Firefighters working a training drill Friday at 12:09 p.m. smelled a gas leak on the 1200 Block of Fourth Street North. Gas was detected and NorthWestern Energy was called to the scene and their crew found and repaired a leaking valve. -- Firefighters were called Friday at 7:26 p.m. to the 2400 Block of Fifth Avenue to assist NWE finding a reported gas leak. No gas smell was detected by either crew. Havre Animal Shelter The Havre shelter this morning held one medium-hair cat, one short-hair cat, one long-hair 9-month-old kitten and two long-hair 6-month-old kittens all of unknown gender, two medium-hair female cats and four medium-hair male cats, as well as two cats for its trap-spay/neuter-release program. -- The Havre shelter also held this morning a male miniature pinscher dog, two female mixed-breed dogs, a female shepherd-Labrador retriever dog, a male shepherd dog, a male border collie dog, a female Anatolian shepherd-husky 10-month-old puppy, a female pug-Chihuahua dog and a male mixed-breed 21-week-old puppy. Another three female mixed-breed 13-week-old puppies were being fostered. Births A boy was born Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, to Sophia Guzman and Kenneth Senigal of Havre. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) Over a dozen local government officials have been killed since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in July 2016. The Interior Department on Monday said that according to police data, 12 mayors and seven vice mayors have been killed from July 1, 2016 to January 2019. They, however, were not yet able to determine how many village chiefs and aspirants were killed. This data was provided during the Senate Committee on Public Order's probe into political killings. In the resolution filed by Senate President Tito Sotto and Senate Public Order Committee Chairman Ping Lacson, they said cases of election-related violence is becoming a disturbing trend every election period despite the implementation of stricter security measures. Because of this, they said there is a need to investigate and review existing rules and regulations related to law enforcement and election offenses in order to ensure a more peaceful and orderly election. The senators looked into the killing of Richard Santillan, the security aide of lawyer and former congressman Glenn Chong, on December 12. The police earlier said Santillan has been involved in the illegal drug trade, but Chong believes the operation was politically-motivated, insisting he was the target of the police operation. Chong claimed his aide was tortured, saying there were 63 gunshot wounds on his body, as compared to the 21 gunshot wounds seen by doctors during the autopsy. However, the Public Attorney's Office's forensics chief Dr. Erwin Erfe said Santillan sustained 21 gunshots. Erfe added that based on their autopsy findings, Santillan was tortured, which was denied by the police. "Our impression is that the manner of death is intentional killing... Majority of the gunshot wounds sustained were of trajectories inconsistent with the shootout scenario," the forensics doctor said. Chong said the killing of his aide was possibly politically motivated because Santillan was killed when he filed his certificate of candidacy for senator. The Senate panel will also look into the killing of Mayor Antonio Halili of Tanauan City, Batangas, who was shot dead during the flag raising ceremony in front of the city hall; the ambush of Mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija; and the killing of Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Rodel Batocabe just three days before Christmas. Dr_Microbe/iStock(HOUSTON) -- Three new cases of measles were confirmed by health officials in Houston on Monday, making it the latest city to have the once-eliminated disease appear in recent weeks. The Houston outbreak comes as new cases of measles are being confirmed in Washington state on a daily basis, and other cases have been confirmed in Oregon, Georgia, and New York. The new measles cases in Houston bring the total number of cases in Texas to six so far in 2019. A number of specific details about the cases in Houston have not been publicly disclosed, including how it is believed that the individuals contracted the disease and if they were previously vaccinated. The only details about the three infected individuals that have been released is that two are young boys under the age of 2 and the third is a woman between the ages of 25 and 35 years old. All three individuals live in northwest Harris County, according to Harris County Public Health. "Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus, which spreads to others through coughing and sneezing," Umair Shah, the executive director of Harris County Public Health said in a statement confirming the new cases in Houston. "However, it is easily preventable. Parents and caregivers have the power to protect their children and themselves from this disease by getting vaccinated." The outbreak in Clark County, Washington, involves 49 confirmed cases of measles and nine suspected cases, according to local public health officials. New York has also seen an outbreak that started in the fall of 2018 and has continued into 2019. A New York Department of Health official confirmed to ABC News last week that there were 30 confirmed cases to date in New York so far this year, and 122 confirmed cases in 2018. Those cases are mostly located in Rockland and Orange counties, about an hour and a half drive north of Manhattan. Experts attribute the spread of measles in part to lower vaccination rates in certain communities, making more people vulnerable to the disease and lowering the level of herd immunity that protects large groups from becoming infected. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Editor: The decline of American culture can be seen clearly in the self-absorbed c We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Submit Nicole is the Editor-in-Chief of Hamptons.com where she focuses on lifestyle, nightlife, and mixology. She grew up in the Hamptons and currently resides in Water Mill. www.hamptons.com NicoleBarylski NicoleBarylski The New York State Companion Animal Capital Fund has awarded a $500,000 grant to the North Fork Animal Welfare League (NFAWL), which operates the Southold Animal Shelter and Riverhead Animal Shelter.The funding will be used towards the newly purchased Riverhead Animal Shelter, allowing the non-profit to upgrade the space to adhere to the strict Association of Shelter Veterinarian's Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters. NFAWL has held the Town of Riverhead's animal control contract since 2013 and in 2018 NFAWL purchased a new facility for the Riverhead Animal Shelter. The previous building, situated next to a garbage dump and waste processing plant, was in great disrepair."Receiving this grant is a huge vote of confidence from New York State regarding the level of quality care provided by the North Fork Animal Welfare League to the homeless animals of Riverhead," expressed Gillian Pultz, NFAWL Executive Director.NFAWL is one of just six municipal shelters in the state that has been bestowed $500,000 from the fund, which was originally championed by New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick (D-NYC) and State Senator Phil Boyle (R-Suffolk County). It is overseen by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.The grant will greatly assist NFAWL with Phase One of the $2.8 million dollar project that revolves around establishing high volume shelter industry standards - such as isolation care units and adoption suites."We believe in saving more animals' lives in Riverhead, our elected officials believe in saving more lives, and our community believes in it too," explained Pultz. "In addition to creating a safer and healthier environment to rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home more dogs, we're committed to working more closely with the area's community cat caregivers - in the last month alone we have been alerted to two separate unmanaged feral cat colonies with over 350 intact cats. The funding will go a long way towards solving the issues some of Riverhead's most underserved communities are facing."Once completed, NFAWL's new state-of-the-art animal shelter will offer a range of exciting amenities including, "adequate kennels for dogs, space for group housing and individual spaces for cats, comfortable bonding rooms for families to become acquainted with shelter pets, dedicated areas for dog training, as well as orientation classes for volunteers and the public, a clean and safe setting to walk dogs, the ability to expand animal welfare related services for our community, space for staff and volunteers, as well as storage of supplies, energy efficiency, with proper ventilation and lighting, ample parking for visitors and staff, quiet space for outdoor exercise pens," and more.NFAWL has an open door policy for the area's homeless dogs and cats. The new location will allow the Shelter to aid even more animals in need."The North Fork Animal Welfare League sponsors an indispensable local Trap-Neuter-Return program that's been running successfully for over a decade," Donna Baldridge, a community cat caregiver, relayed. "The fact that the Riverhead Animal Shelter will be able to act as a community resource for the un-owned cats of the area is paramount to realizing our goal of no more homeless cats on the North Fork. This money will ensure that the stray cats will continue to get the same quality care as owned cats, while we work on diminishing the numbers of unwanted litters born on the streets."In addition to rescuing and offering a place for animals to stay while they await adoption, NFAWL also offers a variety of programs to the public, including spay and neuter clinics, microchip clinics, and Feral cat spay and Neuter programs."The Companion Animal Capital Fund is the first state-funded program of its kind in the nation," noted Libby Post, New York State Animal Protection Federation (NYSAPF) Executive Director. "Our goal is to create a permanent funding stream to assist shelters across New York improve their existing buildings or build new ones. Better facilities equal more community support and more adoptions. We see this funding as essential to moving the state's animal shelters forward."Pultz, who is one of the founding members of the NYSAPF, believes the grant is a positive step in the awareness of companion animal welfare. "The Riverhead Animal Shelter was once a few makeshift trailers behind the waste transfer station, today it is in a new building quickly on its way to being a state-of-the-art facility, saving cats for the first time, and serving both the animals and the people who love them with quality care," she explained. "We are elated that our local and state elected officials recognize that companion animals are a growing priority to their constituents and this grant reflects their commitment."For more information, call 631-765-1811 or visit nfawl.org Haiti - News : Zapping... "This country is not governed" dixit Kesner Pharel Reacting to the publication of the partial report of the Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Litigation (CSC/CA) on the management of PetrCaribe funds https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/PETROCARIBE-31-01-2019.pdf, economist Kesner Pharel said, "This country is not governed, it is a sick country [...] This report opens our eyes to the sorry state of public financial management. See also : B> https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26812-haiti-flash-the-court-of-auditors-delivers-its-first-report-on-the-management-of-petrocaribe-funds.html Shipwreck : Words of Sympathy "Se avek tristes pou m ap tande ak gade Frem ak Sem kap mouri nan kondisyon sa yo nan lanme. Nan moman sa ampil fanmi plonje nan lapen. Mwen ap kembe yo nan pansem" reacted Bocchit Edmond following the sinking of a boat loaded with Haitian migrants Saturday morning off the islands of Abaco north of the archipelago of the Bahamas where 28 Haitians have lost their lives and 17 have been rescued https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26837-haiti-flash-toll-rising-at-least-28-haitians-die-drowned-off-the-bahamas-update.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26829-haiti-flash-shipwreck-off-the-islands-of-abaco-16-dead-and-15-haitian-survivors.html "February began with another tragic loss in human life : at least 28 Haitians drowned and 17 others were rescued from a shipwreck [...] No trip is worth the risk of life, contact families and communities : The adventures of illegal migrants are dangerous and often lead to tragedy," advises the US Embassy in Haiti. Cap-Haitien Carnival Committee Sunday, the City of Cap-Haitien and Commission 350th https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-26714-icihaiti-350th-of-cap-members-of-the-organizing-committee-responsible-for-events.html presented to the media, the Inter-institutional Committee responsible for carrying out the carnival festivities in the second city of the country under the theme "Tet Ansanm Pou Yon Lot Okap". The Committee is made up of the following institutions : Patrick Almonor, Chamber of Commerce; David Toussaint Ministry of Culture; Ronel Marcellus Ministry of Tourism; Michel Saint-Croix Civil Society; Luly Menard, cultural press; Nelson Deshommes Town Hall of Cap-Haitien; Bradley Moncoeur, Youth; B. Charles, Destination Management Organization North of Haiti; Katiana Monfort, University. Food support to isolated populations 3,000 thousand hot dishes, 1,500 baskets of solidarity and 500 bags of rice were distributed to the inhabitants of Naubert in the commune of Chansolme by the Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES) which continues to provide assistance to the population in more remote localities. Budget Carnival Croix-des Bouquets The estimated budget of the carnival of Croix-des-Bouquets scheduled for 22, 23 and 24 February is estimated at 15 million gourdes. Health : Towards standardized training The Ministry of Public Health has initiated the process of validating the profiles of the health professions in the perspective of standardized training and in line with the needs of Haiti. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - FLASH : The State signs a new pact of economic governance with the BRH Despite a record deficit of more than 10 billion Gourdes in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (2018-2019) and taking into account the cash flow difficulties of the Government https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26814-haiti-economy-the-economist-eddy-labossiere-sounds-the-alarm.html , on Friday, Ronald Gray Decembre the Minister of Finance and Jean Baden Dubois, Governor of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) signed an Economic and Financial Governance Compact Memorandum of Understanding on cash advances and the settlement mechanism of the Haitian State's oil bill, which we reproduce in full for your information: Economic and Financial Governance Pact : "BETWEEN : The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) represented by its owner, Mr Ronald Gray DECEMBRE, Minister, owner, residing and domiciled in Port-au-Prince, identified by his TIN: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx hereinafter referred to as the MEF, of one hand ; AND The Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH), a public body, with legal personality and financial autonomy, created by the law of August 17, 1979, with headquarters in Port-au-Prince, represented by its Governor Mr Jean Baden DUBOIS, owner, residing and domiciled in Port-au-Prince, identified by his TIN: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx hereinafter referred to as the BRH, on the other hand; Considering the need to contain State spending within the limits of available resources; Considering the need to avoid the accumulation of arrears likely to affect the sound management of Public Finance; Considering the opportunity for the Haitian State to facilitate the supply of petroleum products to the country; Considering the need to ensure the continuity of Treasury operations; Considering that it is necessary to establish, between the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of the Republic of Haiti, a mechanism for better management of the financing of public expenditure; IT HAS BEEN ARRESTED AND AGREED AS FOLLOWS Article 1. - The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to determine the conditions under which the MEF and the BRH undertake to ensure the efficient management of the execution of public expenditure and means of payment of the oil bill. Article 2. - In the framework of the present protocol, the MEF undertakes to ensure the maintenance of a good adequacy between the available resources and the expenses of the Central Administration of the State. Article 3. - When the available resources are declared insufficient, the MEF may request from BRH an advance, on a monthly basis, strictly limited to the amount of funds needed to cover essential expenses, in particular those relating to staff costs. Thus, the parties agree that the BRH will not have to honor the other expenses ordered in the form of check or transfer. Article 4. - At the end of each quarter, the total advances must be compatible with the level of monetary financing as at 31 January 2019. However, when circumstances so require, additional advances may be granted on a temporary basis by BRH at the market rate, which must be repaid before the end of the current fiscal year. Article 5. - The Ministry of Economy and Finance undertakes to draw up a cash flow plan on the basis of a quarterly program of expenditures drawn up jointly with the other ministries in accordance with the provisions of Article 59 of the Law of May 4, 2016 on the development and execution of the finance laws. Article 6. - In view of the strategic nature of petroleum products, BRH, together with the MEF, undertakes to work with local financial system actors to set up a currency acquisition mechanism exclusively used to pay the CIF-PAP oil bill (excluding any other fees), after examining the invoices previously submitted to the MEF one working day following the award by the Bureau for Monetization of Development Assistance Programs (BMPAD). Article 7. - The BRH will provide each week to the MEF the estimated amount of funding from the Central Administration of the State, according to the methodology decided by the parties. Article 8. - In order to facilitate the operations mentioned in this Memorandum of Understanding, the MEF will transmit on a weekly basis to the BRH a summary schedule of the expenditure to be executed. Article 9. - This Memorandum of Understanding is binding upon the parties immediately after the signing of their signature. It is concluded for a period of eight (8) months beginning on February 1, 2019 and ending on September 30, 2019. Article 10. - The parties undertake to meet each other on a monthly basis in order to adapt the terms of this Memorandum of Understanding to the possible amendments to the Finance Act, to the evolution of the economic situation, and to the commitments made towards international donors. Article 11. - The parties declare to amicably resolve any dispute that may arise from the interpretation or execution of this Memorandum of Understanding. Article 12. - For the execution of this Memorandum of Understanding, the MEF shall elect domicile at its headquarters at 5 Avenue Charles Summer, Port-au-Prince and the BRH at its seat at the corner of Pavee Streets and du Quai, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Done in Port-au-Prince, in duplicate and in good faith, on January 31, 2019. Ronald Gray December Minister Ministry of Economy and Finance Jean Baden Dubois Governor Bank of the Republic of Haiti" See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26814-haiti-economy-the-economist-eddy-labossiere-sounds-the-alarm.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-26743-haiti-politic-the-2018-2019-budget-returned-to-jovenel-moise.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26501-haiti-economy-poor-performance-of-the-haitian-economy-in-2018.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26376-haiti-flash-tabling-of-the-draft-budget-law-2018-2019-of-1728-billion.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26308-haiti-flash-the-next-budget-up-26-billion.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - NOTICE : Denial of the Ministry of Defense "The Defense Ministry condemns with the greatest firmness the aggression against the probity, integrity and honor of the Minister of Defense, Dr. Enold Joseph by the dissemination on social networks of a falsified video attempting to get Minister Joseph to act as the actor of a degrading pornographic scene. There is no doubt that this act perpetrated against Minister Joseph is the work of malicious individuals who swearonly by instability, confusion and disorder. The Ministry recalls that the citizen Enold Joseph is a respectable father, an indefectible patriot whose reputation is in no way comparable to such practices and calls on Haitian justice to crack down on the perpetrators of such ignominious acts for the prejudices caused by their act for the honor and integrity of the Minister. The Ministry invites users of social networks to serenity and urges them to verify the authenticity of information before dissemination in order to limit the adverse effects sought by fishermen in troubled waters." HL/ HaitiLibre Introduction The Xiaomi Mi 8 was launched to mark the company's eight-year anniversary and named accordingly. Still, while a ten-year anniversary may hold more significance in the western world (see Apple's iPhone X), for the Chinese 8 seems to be it. The number 8 is quite interesting. It's perceived to be the luckiest number in Chinese culture. It's because saying it in Chinese sounds really similar to the word that means "to generate wealth", as a Wikipedia article would readily tell you. Hence, people are used to paying skyrocketing amounts of money for anything from car license plates that feature at least one 8, to phone numbers that get progressively more expensive the more eights they incorporate. So is the Mi 8 worthy of proudly wearing the lucky number on its sleeve? It was the company's top of the line offering when it launched in the first half of last year (2018, what a nice coincidence), but it's still very interesting to take a look at because thanks to a bunch of price drops it is now one of the most affordable smartphones you can buy with a Snapdragon 845 inside - still Qualcomm's latest and greatest for at least a few more weeks. As with every other Xiaomi phone that isn't part of the Android One program, the Mi 8 runs MIUI, but it has been updated to MIUI 10 and Android 9 Pie since its release. We wanted to take an in-depth look at what it's like to actually use the Mi 8 as our one and only smartphone for an extended period of time. Is it still a good buy in early 2019, with the onslaught of new, Snapdragon 855-powered flagships fast approaching? Is this Xiaomi's best achievement so far, as the number 8 in its name implies? Let's take a look. Join us over the next few pages of this long-term review to find out everything there is to know about living with the Mi 8 day in and day out. As usual, we'll tell you what's great but also where it comes short, and in the end you can hopefully make a more informed decision if you were considering buying one at this point in time. As January ended, Samsung introduced its latest entry-level phones and it certainly managed to gather a lot of attention. The Galaxy M20 came just short of dethroning the Redmi Note 7 and ended up with the silver medeal, while the Galaxy M10 took ninth. And while the Redmi Note 7 kept its lead the third spot went to another Samsung phone - the upcoming Galaxy S10+ flagship. Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) follows in fourth, ahead of the Redmi Note 6 Pro and another phone yet to be announced - the Redmi Note 7 Pro. Huawei Y9 (2019) slipped to seventh, and in eight we have the fourth new entry by Samsung this week - the Galaxy S10. The last available position went to the Xiaomi Pocophone F1, while the list of relegated phones includes Samsung galaxy S8, Honor View 20, Huawei nova 4 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro. It seems the successor to the Oppo Find X will be called the Oppo Find Z. Oppo trademarked the name with the European Union's Intellectual Property Office. Add to that a Geekbench sighting of the Oppo Find Z with a Snapdragon 855 chipset on board things are starting to clear out. Since the use of a Snapdragon 855 also means support for Qualcomm's X50 5G modem, we could be looking at Oppo's first 5G device. It's widely expected the Find Z to incorporate Oppo's new 10x camera and bigger under-display fingerprint scanner. The 10x camera combines Oppo's 5x periscope-style camera along with an ultra-wide angle secondary camera to achieve the total 10 times magnifaction figure. The new under-display fingerprint scanner has a larger surface area and can recognize up to 2 fingerprints simultaneously. The Find Z is expected to have a triple camera with the third sensor being a 3D ToF unit dedicated to AR. Finally the Oppo Find Z will use Oppo's 50W Super VOOC. It's unlikely that Oppo will have finished the Find Z in time for the Mobile World Congress, which kicks off at the end of this month. It's more likely we'll see a special event dedicated to the Find Z a bit later on. Source | Via (In Dutch) The Samsung Galaxy S10's launch day is nearing and a quick search in our news section will tell you that a lot of info on it (or, rather, the three of them) has already come to light. Until we get to hold one in our hands, however, every extra detail is welcome and the latest bit is a GeekBench score of the Exynos 9820 version of the S10+. It's not the first GeekBench listing to come out, you'll quickly note - there was the initial one of a Snapdragon S10+ and then an Exynos S10 was also spotted a couple of weeks ago. This latest entry shows improved performance, however, which is only natural as the software is approaching its final state. GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core) Higher is better Apple iPhone XS Max 11432 Samsung Galaxy S10+ (E9820) 10387 Samsung Galaxy S10+ (S855) 10256 Huawei Mate 20 9793 Huawei Mate 20 Pro 9712 Samsung Galaxy S10 (E9820) 9570 Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 9065 Samsung Galaxy Note9 9026 OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition 9005 Samsung Galaxy S9+ 8883 A quick comparison shows that this S10+ posts some 9% better multi-core results than the S10 before it. This lets the Exynos version not only catch up with the Snapdragon one, but even pass it by about 100pts - a generally meaningless difference, but one that will please Exynos fans. The Exynos version was already significantly more powerful in the single-core test than the Snapdragon one, but the latest result is also ever so slightly better too. GeekBench 4.1 (single-core) Higher is better Apple iPhone XS Max 4777 Samsung Galaxy S10+ (E9820) 4472 Samsung Galaxy S10 (E9820) 4382 Samsung Galaxy S9+ 3771 Samsung Galaxy Note9 3642 Samsung Galaxy S10+ (S855) 3413 Huawei Mate 20 Pro 3291 Huawei Mate 20 3284 Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 2429 OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition 2376 With so little time left until the Galaxy S10 goes official, we can expect that these results will be the ones we'd get out of final units. Even so, it wouldn't hurt to wait a few more weeks before passing judgment. Source | Via HARTFORD A vote by the full House of Representatives on whether or not to hold a new election in Stratfords 120th District is expected soon, according to House leadership. The Democratic majority in the House is likely oppose a new election, allowing state Rep. Phil Young, D-Stratford, to keep his seat despite a ballot mix-up at Bunnell High School. For up-to-date information on public policy issues, sign up for the CT Politics newsletter. On Monday morning, the rarely convened Committee on Contested Elections, which was charged with reviewing the disputed election, issued two sets of recommendations because it was split down party lines over ordering a new election. There is little precedent for determining what happens next, said House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford. Lawmakers believe the four-member Committee on Contested Elections, last convened in 1985, has never previously been divided in its recommendations. We will have some meetings over the next few days to determine the next steps, said Ritter Monday afternoon. We do anticipate a vote of some kind in the House. Young was certified the winner in the 120th District by 13 votes and was sworn in on Jan. 9 with other legislators. But Republican challenger Jim Feehan has argued for a new election in court and before the committee because some voters were given the wrong ballot in the November election. Although the committee agreed in its final report that 75 Stratford voters were issued the incorrect ballot, the two Democrats and two Republicans on the committee were divided over a new election was warranted. Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, who has the ultimate authority over what bills and resolutions get a vote on the House floor, sided with the Democrats Monday, saying a new election is not needed. The committee did a thorough job dissecting the issue at hand, and I didnt hear of any evidence that was uncovered, or brought forth, that the result of the election would have changed, Aresimowicz said in a written statement. It is clear a poll error occurred and we need to take proactive steps to ensure this doesnt happen again, but based on the correct high standard established by Congressional precedent, I think a district-wide re-vote would invalidate and disenfranchise thousands of Election Day voters who exercised their constitutional rights. In the committees report, Republicans Rep. Vincent Candelora of North Branford and Rep. Jason Perillo of Shelton argued for a new election because they believe the results of this election will always be in doubt. Leaning on Connecticut precedents, they said they had seen enough evidence that the reliability of the election outcome was in jeopardy. It is impossible to ascertain given this evidence who won the election, said Candelora. Democrats DAgostino and Rep. Gregory Haddad of Storrs recommended that no new election should be ordered in the 120th because that would disenfranchise about 10,000 voters who properly cast ballots. They argued, based on state and federal case law, that Feehan, the complainant, had not proved the election result would have changed but for the ballot error; therefore a new election should not be held. At the end of the day, Rep. Haddad and I are uncomfortable with disenfranchising 10,000 people using a calculator and elementary math skills, said DAgostino. And that was all we were left with in this case. Candelora criticized the Democrats as importing standards from federal cases to prevent a new election. Haddad suggested the Republican standards were so low and at times, inconsistent. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the House has exclusive jurisdiction over this election contest. The committee received hours of testimony from nine subpoenaed witnesses who were involved in supervising the election and the Bunnell High School polling place. They also received written and oral arguments from attorneys representing Feehan and Young and reviewed physical evidence, including ballots. When the Committee on Contested Elections was last formed in 1985, the Democratic winner, Joan Hartley of Waterbury, was allowed to keep her seat. Hartley is now a longtime state Senator. emunson@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson In the 1990s, when the Clintons were in the White House, the Democratic Party got into the habit of making compromises, both personal and political. President Bill Clinton was determined to show he was not a typical "liberal," a term that had become an epithet. As governor of Arkansas and candidate for president, he denounced hip-hop artist Sister Souljah for justifying black-on-white violence and refused to grant clemency to cop-killer Ricky Ray Rector, who was executed despite his mental incompetence. As president, he signed a welfare-reform bill over the anguished protests of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., and balanced the budget while proclaiming that "the era of big government is over." Many Democrats were unhappy with this "triangulation," but they gritted their teeth because Clinton also attempted to expand health care coverage and keep abortion legal - and he was better than the Republicans. For the same reasons, Democrats overcame their qualms over the Clintons' personal conduct, ranging from dodgy financial deals (cattle futures, Whitewater) to his treatment of women, which led to credible accusations of sexual harassment and even rape. Democrats were the feminist party, but they made excuses for Clinton that they would never have made for a Republican. You can argue that in 2016, Democrats paid a heavy price for years of compromises. Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump because her image was already so tarnished. Trump could get away with calling her "Crooked Hillary," unfair as the charge was, because she had violated government regulations by using a private email server and she had tolerated the appearance of conflicts of interest among Clinton Foundation donors. Hillary Clinton, for her part, had to pull her punches on Trump's alleged sexual misconduct because she had spent decades excusing her own husband's peccadillos. After the "Access Hollywood" tape came out, Trump even fought back by appearing with Bill Clinton's female accusers. Well, those days are gone. Now, for better or worse, Democrats are in an uncompromising mood, both on ideology and ethics. The party has shifted sharply leftward since 2016. All of its presidential contenders in the Senate - Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders, I.-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts - voted against a resolution warning against the "precipitous withdrawal" of U.S. forces from Syria and Afghanistan. Save for Klobuchar, they are all championing "Medicare-for-all," free college tuition, a Green New Deal and other expensive programs. When asked how to pay for this wish list, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., advocated hiking the top marginal income tax rate to 70 percent - and received a largely positive reaction from a party that had spent decades trying to shake its "tax and spend" image. Axios reports that polling of the Democratic electorate in Iowa "found that 'socialism' had a net positive rating, while 'capitalism' had a net negative rating." In this progressive environment, Axios notes, moderates such as former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and former Vice President Joe Biden are questioning whether they can compete for the nomination. And even the progressive candidates have to make abject apologies for offenses such as being pro-Wall Street or tough on crime. Along with intolerance of centrist policies has come intolerance of personal misconduct by politicians. BuzzFeed revealed on Nov. 20, 2017, that Rep. John Conyers, D.-Mich., had been accused of sexual harassment. Within a few weeks, the longest-serving member of Congress was forced to resign. Sen. Al Franken, D.-Minn., left two days later after he had been accused by several women of touching and kissing them without their consent, even though his alleged behavior fell short of the sort of charges made against Harvey Weinstein. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman lasted all of three hours after The New Yorker ran an article accusing him of physically abusing women. Gov. Ralph Northam, D-Va., has now discovered for himself how unforgiving Democrats have become. On Friday, news broke that his 1984 medical-school yearbook featured a photo of a man in blackface next to a man in a Ku Klux Klan robe. Northam at first admitted that he was in the photo before, bizarrely, denying it the next day. It didn't matter: Virtually the entire Democratic Party establishment, both nationally and in Virginia, had already called on him to resign. It's true that Democrats' speed in ejecting errant officeholders risks miscarriages of justice - something that some Democrats think may have happened with Franken, who was forced out before the Ethics Committee could complete its investigation. But, on balance, Democrats' willingness to hold their politicians to a high standard is a welcome change from the hypocrisy of the Clinton era - and compares favorably with the GOP's support for the likes of Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Rep. Steve King of Iowa and President Donald Trump despite evidence of their racism (and, in Trump's case, numerous other ethical lapses, including (hash)MeToo issues). Democrats' rejection of Clinton-style centrism in favor of progressive purity is more problematic. Their left turn risks alienating the independents and moderates whose support they need to defeat Trump - and to govern effectively. The United States already has one extremist party; it doesn't need another. I recently met a business owner who made 100 percent of her decisions based on how it impacts the immediate cash flow of the business. And I mean every decision -- from which accountant or lawyer to advise the business, what marketing could drive revenue this minute, all the way down to minute things like figuring out which credit card would yield immediate cash back rewards on expenses. Some of this is admirable but mostly it is completely short-sighted and hurting her business long term. I get it. Most entrepreneurs are cash starved and looking to save every penny they can. But, in this case study post, you are going to learn that cutting pennies today, could be costing you millions of dollars tomorrow. Allow me to explain. Related: Lean Startups Need Business Plans, Too Don't make short term decisions that hurt long term growth. This entrepreneur only invested in marketing to drive an immediate sale and immediate return on marketing investment. The problem is she is running a B2B business where the highest ROI spend this minute may not be the best tactic for maximizing long term sales, given the long sales cycle lead time of B2B. For example, if you focus on driving sales, profits and returns today, you would most likely select Google as your primary marketing channel. And that will most likely result in lower ticket transactions, where the client budget is already in place and can be spent today. If she was focused on the long term, perhaps she should have invested in big trade shows in her industry, where very large ticket orders could be secured, albeit on a slower and more patient timeline. Trying to drive an immediate return is nice, but not if you are sacrificing 10x that amount of sales and profits down the road. It would be better to focus on the biggest long term ROI opportunities, even if it requires some short-term working capital to bridge the gap. Related: 12 Ways to Actually Get an ROI Using Influencer Marketing Don't be cheap on strategic issues -- you get what you pay for. I presented this client with at least 10 accountants and 10 lawyers to consider to help her business. I gave her a complete picture of the strengths and weaknesses of each and recommended which ones I thought best to help with her desired roll up strategy. She focused only on price and picked the cheapest lawyer and accountant on this list. Neither had the M&A experience she was going to need, which came at a slightly higher hourly rate. That is like cutting off your nose to spite your face! You need advisors who know your business needs or industry. With human talent, you really do get what you pay for, based on their expertise. Don't pick the cheapest solution, pick the best solution. Then I was helping this client with setting up various off-the-shelf technologies, service providers or other point solutions for her business. This included things like her advertising agency, her CRM software, her SEO firm, etc. Again, like with the lawyers and the accountants, she ignored the strengths or weaknesses of those solutions and focused only on price. All she cared about was how the investment would impact todays cash flow. Stop the madness! Price is a major consideration but not the only driver. It is much more important you find solutions that offer the most advantages and fewest disadvantages at an acceptable price -- which is not necessarily the cheapest price. Related: How Our Brains Trick Us Into Choosing Instant Gratification Over Long-term Goals Don't allow short-term decisions to ruin your customer experience. One of the short-term decisions she made was in picking her shipping provider to move goods from her warehouse to her customers. She considered at least five solutions, and again picked the cheapest to maximize gross margin. The problem was, she didnt investigate other important data points, like the percentage of successful online deliveries of each vendor. It turned out the cheapest shipping vendor also had the highest instances of late deliveries to customers. Guess what happened next? Customers started complaining about missing shipments and they started to lose repeat sales. Again, vendor decisions should be much more than simply a price-based decision, to avoid customer facing situations like the above. Related: 10 Ways to Trim Shipping Costs Don't get lost in the weeds and lose focus on your goal. This entrepreneur's obsessive focus on short-term cash flow consumed all of her attention. She would pull out her monthly income statement, run through every expense item, line by line, and figure out how to drive down the cost of each item. She put hours and hours of work into that sole goal. Congrats, you saved a few bucks, but shame on you for not putting those same hours into figuring out how to propel your revenues to new heights. To me, that is more important and required her attention. You may have save $10K in monthly expenses, but you probably hurt your revenues by $100K per month had you focused your energies there. The point here: you need to prioritize your time and invest it in the best ways possible. So, the moral of this story here: dont be cheap! Yes, you want to keep your expenses low, but you dont want to make cash flow driven decisions that end up slicing your own throat. Each business decision needs to do what is right for the business for the long term, not simply what is best for the bottom line in the immediate term. Make sure your business is properly capitalized to allow it to afford the right solution that will give the business the best odds of long-term success. Remember, it is impossible to maximize long term growth and short term profitability at the same time. You have to pick one or the other. Related: How to Cut Costs Without Cutting Staff This 29-Year-Old Entrepreneur Discovered, Then Bought, a Small Jerky Brand in 2011. It Brought in $33 Million Last Year. How to Translate Your Real-Life Social Network Into a Social Media Following Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved The cannabis industry competes in a very crowded market that will only get more crowded as states like Missouri and Michigan join the fray in coming years. This presents a major challenge for cannabis companies and brands working to distinguish themselves. In an increasingly crowded market, how can cannabis companies stand apart and distinguish themselves? The answer is by building reputational capital. What is reputational capital? Reputational capital is the sum of how both your customers and employees perceive you and your company. However, this concept is more than just a binary opinion of good or bad -- it is a measure of your actions, their outcomes and how willing someone is to trust or help you. The best way to view reputational capital is as if it is a real-world currency. Every positive action your company takes, every promise kept and every satisfied customer increases the value of your reputational capital. Conversely, every angry customer, broken promise and bad move made by your company depletes your reputational capital. In that way, cannabis business owners need to jealously guard and constantly build upon their reputational capital. The more you develop this reputational capital, the more your company will stand out and the more likely you are to build a successful business. A company with strong reputational capital is much better suited to weather a crisis or an egregious mistake. Building reputational capital is a process that takes time -- it does not happen overnight. Building a good reputation takes years to solidify, but it is worth the effort. Conversely, while it may take years to accumulate a fair amount of reputational capital, there are some things you can do to hasten the process. Related: Top 10 Tools for Reputation Marketing Behave ethically. Behaving ethically is a rule that should go without saying, but ethical behavior is not always a valued virtue in the world of business. Acting ethically is both the morally correct thing to do and good for business. No one wants to work with a company that lies and steals. No one wants to work with people who cheat and behave opportunistically. No customer wants to purchase goods and services from a company that cheats its customers. Aside from basic human decency, ethical behavior also extends to other kinds of business practices. People value companies that care about the environment, pursue gender/racial equity and tirelessly strive to improve their community. There are investment funds that specifically look to invest in ethical companies. Related: Only Ethical Marketing Will Stand the Test of Time Deliver on your promises. It is not enough to simply behave ethically; one must also be able to deliver on their promises. You can have the best products and services in the cannabis industry, but if people dont get what they expect from you, it doesnt matter. To use an extreme example, if you purchased a soda and instead got a bottle of antifreeze, it wouldnt matter if it was the worlds top brand of antifreeze or how friendly the sales associate was. Odds are, you probably wouldnt go back to that brand ever again. Similarly, your brand needs to follow-through with everything it promises. Every fulfilled promise represents a little bit more trust from your customers, and every broken promise (no matter how small) chips away at your credibility and reputation. Related: Your Business Brand Is An Extension Of Your Personal Brand Establish thought leadership. For many people, the term thought leader is a wishy-washy phrase that gets thrown around way too much. However, establishing yourself as thought leader is one of the most effective ways to build your reputational capital. Simply put, becoming a thought leader means that your peers and customers regard you as an expert in your field. Your voice is respected and your opinions matter. Much like building your reputational capital, becoming a thought leader takes time and effort. One way to establish thought leadership is by interacting with your business community by writing articles and blog posts about your area of expertise. If your company distributes cannabis, start writing about the issues facing distribution companies. Reach out to prominent publications and see if you can submit a story. The more you get your voice out there, the more people will start to listen to you. In the world of business, reputations are earned, not given. Although it takes time to build up reputational capital, time is not always on your side in a nascent industry like cannabis. It is paramount that entrepreneurs take concerted steps towards building their reputation. By using the methods outlined above, creating a strong and reliable reputation is an attainable goal for almost anyone willing to put in the time and effort. Related: Building Reputational Capital Is a Must for Succeeding as a Cannabis Brand Your Reputation is a Measurable and Valuable Asset 7 Ways to Recover After a Reputation Crisis Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved WALLINGFORD For a town of 40,000 people, Wallingford has quite a few restaurants. And over the last six months, there were 26 food service establishments out of 279 overall that had failing scores during inspections conducted by the town Health Department. The total number of food service establishments in town includes fast-food and sit-down restaurants, delis, schools, grocery stores and convenience stores. The scoring system for restaurants is from 1 to 100, with 80 and above counting as a passing grade. Read more about Connecticut restaurant inspection regulations here. Most Wallingford establishments that received failing scores corrected any violations with a single follow-up visit, health records show. But the health code violations at three of those businesses were deemed serious enough that inspectors made two or more follow-up visits in an effort to help bring the establishments into compliance. The three businesses with violations deemed serious enough to warrant quick follow-ups were: Pacific Buffet & Grill, 20 Ives Road Pacific Buffet & Grill had the lowest score of all the food service establishments inspected during the six-month period reviewed by the New Haven Register. The restaurant got a 52 out of a possible 100 during an inspection on Sept. 20, 2018. The restaurants file with the health department included four complaints from consumers. Although health inspectors ultimately were not able to corroborate the behavior observed by consumers, Pacific Buffet & Grill drew attention from the department. The restaurant was inspected five times between Sept. 20 and Dec. 28, 2018, and twice failed to get a passing grade; the second on Dec. 3, when it received a score of 70 from inspectors. Among violations cited when the restaurant failed inspection were: Failure of employees to wash their hands at appropriate intervals during the food preparation process; failure to place wiping cloths in a sanitizer between uses; and food equipment and utensils found to be unclean. The management of Pacific Buffet & Grill was not available for comment for this story. Roodle Rice and Noodle Bar, 1283 South Broad St. Roodle Rice and Noodle Bar on South Broad Street was the subject of five inspections, between July 26, 2018, and Jan. 7 of this year. Following the July 26 visit, inspectors returned the following day and Roodle Rice and Noodle Bar got a score of 99. But the next inspection, which occurred Oct. 24, resulted in the restaurant getting a score of 77. Food not covered properly, food containers stored on the floor and an inadequate number of utensils for serving food and ice for drinks were among violations health inspectors cited in the Oct. 24 visit. During a follow-up visit a week after that that inspection, Roodle Rice and Noodle Bar got a score of 100. Attempts to reach the restaurants owner were unsuccessful. A worker who answered the phone at the business said the owners dont come here very often, and hung up. Ferraulos Place, 314 Main St. Ferraulos Place was visited three times during the final four months of last year, including a pair of inspections at the end of August. Raw meat stored or prepared next to ready-to-eat food and unnecessary handling of cooked items with bare hands were among violations found in an Aug. 28 inspection that the restaurant failed with a score of 78. Two days later, health inspectors returned to Ferraulos Place and the compliance level had improved dramatically, earning the restaurant a score of 99. Ferraulos Place was visited again by health inspectors Dec. 20 and had a score of 92. Attempts to reach the restaurants owner were unsuccessful. Though restaurants can be fined for repeat health code violations, Health Director Stephen A. Civitelli said he doesnt think monetary penalties are an effective tool to bring a restaurant into compliance after it has received a failing grade. They pay the fine and then keep on doing what theyre doing, Civitelli said. The key (to compliance) is follow-up visits. Our goal is not to punish, its to educate. To that end, the department holds regular training programs to educate food service workers and has multilingual presentations for those kitchen employees that dont speak English, he said. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com FAIRFIELD Two days before Catherine Taylors ex-husband allegedly shot her to death inside a Catamount Road home, police were called to resolve a dispute the two were having over vehicles. As a result of the argument, Catherine moved into her sons home, about 500 feet away. While there, police said, she was using an app on her iPad to track ex-husband James Taylors movements when, about 9:30 Sunday night, it showed that he was walking around the building. Catherine Taylor asked her son to call police. Moments later, police said, he heard glass breaking, his mother screaming for help, a gunshot and a body thudding to the floor. Police said the son ran into his living room to find James Taylor, 75, holding a .22 rifle and standing over 70-year-old Catherine, who was bleeding from the head and motionless. Police said Taylor then tried loading another round into the rifle and leveling it at his stepson. But the stepson tackled him and struck Taylor several times in self-defense while calling 911, according to a police report written by Fairfield Detective Kerry Dalling. Fairfield cops said they found Taylors stepson pinning him to the living room floor next to Catherines body. They charged James Taylor with murder, home invasion, attempted murder, first-degree burglary, illegal discharge of a firearm and third-degree assault. He was arraigned Monday in Bridgeport, where Judge Tracy Lee Dayton set his bond at $2 million and continued the case to Feb. 19 after noting the seriousness of the charges. One victim is dead and the allegation (is that) Mr. Taylor broke into the home where the deceased victim was with her son, and there was an assault on him as well and, it appears, an attempt to actually, possibly shoot him as well, the judge said. Tracking by iPad According to the police report, James and Catherine Taylor divorced 25 years ago, but continued to live together at a Redding Road property in Fairfield until last May, when he told her to move out. They reportedly reconciled three months later, but Catherine did not move back into the house, instead living in a cottage on the property. Then, on Friday, Taylor got into an argument with his ex-wife and her son, and told them things were going to get bad for her, police said. The police report says Taylor took several vehicles belonging to his ex-wife and stepson, after which the police were called and one of the vehicles was returned to her. Meanwhile Catherine moved to her sons house on Catamount Road. Over the weekend, the police report says, she found out she could use the find my phone app on her iPad to track Taylor because they shared a family plan for their cell phone service. She monitored his whereabouts, thinking he might reveal where a missing vehicle was. The police report says she realized Taylor was approaching her sons home moments before he allegedly broke in and shot her to death. Police questioned Taylor after taking him to St. Vincents Hospital for treatment of injuries he sustained during the struggle with his stepson. The police report quotes Taylor as telling police I cant understand how I got here and I cant make sense of anything. When it came to providing specific details about what happened, Taylor either did not recall or could not recall, the report says. He stated that he didnt have a conceptual memory of what happened but he did remember being there. Taylor stated that I think trying to justify things like this is horrible. In court Monday, Taylor stood in blue scrubs and answered questions from the judge calmly as she explained a protective order barring him from having any contact with his stepson. $2 million bond Senior Assistant States Attorney Kevin Dunn asked the judge to set Taylors bond at $3 million because of the threat he would pose if released. This is a very strong case for the state, Dunn said. A bail commissioner said Taylor had a record dating back to the 1960s, including a 2014 conviction for disorderly conduct and a 2009 domestic violence case that was dismissed. The 2009 case did not involve his ex-wife, Dunn said. The prosecutor said authorities believe Taylor could try fleeing to Costa Rica, but did not elaborate. A public defender representing Taylor, Joanna Carloni, asked the judge to set bond at $500,000. He cant make any bond, she said. After setting bond at $2 million, the judge said that if Taylor is able to post it, he must return to court to be fitted with a GPS device so officials can monitor his whereabouts. Catherine Taylors death marks the first domestic violence death in the state this year, according to Karen Jarmoc, executive director of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence. There were 18 such fatalities last year, after eight in 2017. Jarmoc said the state averages around 14 domestic violence deaths a year, and that this was the third fatal domestic incident in Fairfield since 2000. What we know is that serious domestic violence incidents are predictable and preventable, Jarmoc said. The most dangerous time is when one of the partners is leaving a relationship. The Coalition took 33,625 calls last year, served 38,192 victims, and housed 2,247 victims, of which 1,137 were adults. Domestic violence is really serious behavior and victims have to be aware it can turn lethal, Jarmoc said. We encourage anyone in such a relationship not to hesitate to reach out for our help. (Anyone seeking help with a domestic violence matter can contact the Connecticut Coalition Domestic Violence hotline at 1-888-774-2900). Humberto Juarez and Michael P. Mayko also contributed to this story. / Ansonia Police Department contributed photo ANSONIA-Mauredson Chaves had his suitcased packed and his passport ready to take him out of the county when police arrested him Friday for having sex with a minor relative. Bridgeport police assisted Ansonia cops in stopping the car containing Mauredson Chaves, 38. of High Street, on southbound I-95 Friday. He was taken into custody without incident.. Joe Lieberman: Connecticut son, candidate for vice president, senator, state attorney general. Lightning rod? Yes, Joe Lieberman who was Al Gores running mate in 2000 and would have been vice president if not for those pesky hanging chads has more than once raised a few eyebrows. Lieberman ran on the Democratic ticket, but raised the ire of more than a few Democrats more than a few times. Here are nine times Joe Lieberman did or said things everyone hated. 1. He supported Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam Lets get the latest news out of the way. The Virginia governor both apologized for a photo in his 1984 medical school yearbook in which one man appears in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan outfit but said neither man is him. Northam has resisted calls for his resignation, mostly from Democrats, but Lieberman has supported him. I think theres a rush to judgment that is unfair to him, Lieberman said of Northam on CNN. One, he says he wasnt in that picture. Two, I think we ought to fairly ask him, Did he know the picture was on his page of that yearbook? And then three, really, he ought to be judged on the context of his whole life. 2. He endorsed John McCain for president McCain considered the senator from Arizona a friend, but many democrats couldnt forgive him when, at the 2008 Republican National Convention, he came in full-throated support of the Republican candidate. I'm here tonight because John McCain is the best choice to bring our country together and lead our country forward, Lieberman said then. After that, Lieberman began calling himself an Independent Democrat, and though he caucused with Democrats occasionally, he changed the D after his name to an I. 3. He endorsed Sarah Palin There were some who said that Liebermans support of McCain was due to their long friendship, or that Lieberman was angling for a second chance at the second spot. "I suppose if Senator McCain is going to be nominated, and he asks me, I will go," Lieberman told The New York Times. McCain later said he regretted choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin over Lieberman. But whatever the motivations, Liebermans speech offered support not only for McCain but for Palin, too, who he called a reformer who has taken on the special interests and reached across party lines. She is a leader we can count on to help John shake up Washington, he said. 4. Supporting Donald Trump Lieberman speculated on a Trump presidency as far back as 1999. The Donald is quite a ladies man, Lieberman said at a Washington event, as Newsweek reported. Hes going to have, if elected, an all-female cabinet. Secretary of Energy Carmen Electra, Secretary of Defense Xena the Warrior Princess. His praise of Trump became more serious in more recent years. Lieberman said he agreed with Trumps decision to move the American embassy in Israel, and of Trumps policies on Iran. Lieberman was reportedly being considered for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Lieberman went so far as to criticize Democrats for their handling of the president. I hope the Democrats will get over that soon, he told ABC News. It takes two to tango. 5. He joked about torture At a private event, a roast, for Dick Cheney in 2013, Lieberman was caught making light about torture. Lieberman said something to the effect that its nice that were all here at the Plaza instead of in cages after some war crimes trial, one attendee told BuzzFeed. Cheney, too, told a real side-splitter about waterboarding, but torture jokes were over-the-top, even for some hawks. There were some waterboarding jokes that were really tasteless," one guest told Buzzfeed. "I can see the case for enhanced interrogation techniques after Sept. 11 but I can't really endorse sitting there drinking wine and fancy dinner at the Plaza laughing uproariously about it. 6. He advocated for the Iraq War The former senator from Connecticut was one of the most hawkish voices during debates about the invasion of Iraq. Lieberman was actually the sponsor of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, which ultimately sent troops overseas. Later, in 2005, McCain defended his position, and argued that troops had to stay on the ground. As he told The Wall Street Journal, I am disappointed by Democrats who are more focused on how President Bush took America into the war in Iraq almost three years ago, and by Republicans who are more worried about whether the war will bring them down in next November's elections, than they are concerned about how we continue the progress in Iraq in the months and years ahead. 7. He wanted The New York Times investigated for spying When WikiLeaks handed news agencies U.S. embassy cables, Lieberman suggested that news organizations should be investigated for espionage. The New York Times and other news organisations publishing the US embassy cables being released by WikiLeaks could be investigated for breaking US espionage laws, he told Fox News. To me the New York Times has committed at least an act of, at best, bad citizenship, but whether they have committed a crime is a matter of discussion for the justice department." 8. He criticized Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal Lieberman was yet to be the Democratic nominee for vice president when, in 1998, he took a stab at President Bill Clinton. "I was disappointed because the president of the United States had just confessed to engaging in an extramarital affair with a young woman in his employ and to willfully deceiving the nation about his conduct, Lieberman told CNN then. He called Clintons actions immoral, and said Clinton had put Democrats in jeopardy. "I was personally angry because President Clinton had, by his disgraceful behavior, jeopardized his administration's historic record of accomplishment, much of which grew out of the principles and programs that he and I and many others had worked on together in the new Democratic movement, he said. 9. He killed the public option When the Affordable Care Act was being debated Lieberman killed the so-called public option, almost single-handedly. Then Sen. Harry Reid was trying to build a coalition and needed Lieberman, then an independent, for the 60th vote. But Lieberman demurred, saying he would filibuster any bill that contained a public option. The final bill excluded a public option. jordan.fenster@hearstmediact.com If Mitch McConnell and the Republicans can locate some courage, threats of a wall, or another government shutdown, can easily be held at bay. If Congress can come up with a plan that the Senate and House can live with, it will be sent to President Trump for his signature. If it is vetoed, it can be overridden by those same individuals, who could agree to something reasonable. The special counsels investigation may be wrapping up shortly. There is a bipartisan piece of legislation, sponsored by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., that requires that the special counsels report be shared with Congress and the American people. Full transparency is absolutely critical to ensure that there will be closure and acceptance of this critical investigation by the American people. Our country was attacked by a foreign government to disrupt our elections. The special counsels findings need to be made available to the people. The public has the right to know. Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content. Protesters outside the Executive Mansion on Monday again called on Gov. Ralph Northam to resign after a racist photo was discovered on his medical school yearbook page. About 100 people, gathered on the north side of the mansion near the Patrick Henry Building, urged the governor to step down from the state's highest office, a call consistent with what most national and local politicians have made. We want him to leave today, said Hilda Espinosa in a speech that was spoken in Spanish but translated to English. Not a single day more. A photo surfaced last Friday showing one person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan outfit on Northams page in the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. The governor originally apologized for the photo but backtracked at a press conference a day later, saying it wasnt him in the photo. He did say he used blackface in another situation that year. The morning after the photo was revealed, about 50 people protested the photo and called on Northam to resign outside the mansion. The protesters on Monday chanted, held signs and marched around the Patrick Henry Building, saying the governor should take the advice of both Democrats and Republicans and resign. However, the fact HB13 has been placed on Tuesdays agenda for the House Committee on Education K-12 could signal a thawing in how legislators view the school calendar bills. In fact, if the bills advance, they could spur a flood of similar local school calendar bills on behalf of other school boards. There is a limit of approving 15 local bills with the same or very similar proposed legislation since the governor cant veto a local bill. At that point, the bills would be considered as a public bill with statewide implications and being considered that way. Mark Jewell, president of the N.C. Association of Educators, said school calendar legislation has been its top priority since the state law was passed. We believe that with the breaking of the super-majorities in both chambers that there could be more room for reaching across the aisles on issues that have bipartisan support, Jewell said. Many of the new legislators were endorsed by the association for being pro-education. Flexibility Rep. Julia Howard, R-Davie, said Friday she submitted HB13 with the support of Davie County Schools and DCCC. "We did not find any evidence of a conspiracy among or between police, administrators, and demonstrators to topple the statue that evening. Instead, we found that the protesters were infinitely more well-organized and prepared than originally expected," the report said. Before the rally, police monitored social media but felt the hundreds of online RSVP's were inflated. They also didn't think the demonstration would be restive because pro-Confederate groups didn't plan to attend. "In hindsight, many of these predictions fell short of reality," the report's authors wrote. The campus police force deployed 22 officers around 6 p.m., before the protest. Later, after a call for assistance, the town of Chapel Hill sent six of its officers. No more than the 28 officers were close by when the statue fell, the report said. Chancellor Carol Folt's office expressed misgivings about putting up barricades on the first weekend of the academic year, but said the decision was ultimately up to police, the report said. Still, Derek Kemp, the vice chancellor for campus safety, told the police chief that Folt "did not want barricades to be used on August 20, 2018 because of what it would look like to students and their parents," the report said. In 1861, delegates from six Southern states that had recently seceded from the Union met in Montgomery, Ala., to form the Confederate States of America. In 1938, the Thornton Wilder play Our Town opened on Broadway. Walt Disneys animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs opened in general U.S. release. In 1944, the Bronze Star Medal, honoring heroic or meritorious achievement or service, was authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1997, a civil jury in Santa Monica, Calif., found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. In 1999, Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant, was shot and killed in front of his Bronx home by four plainclothes New York City police officers. (The officers were acquitted at trial.) In 2004, the social networking website Facebook had its beginnings as Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched Thefacebook. In 2009, President Barack Obama imposed a $500,000 cap on executive pay for companies receiving federal bailout money; the president also signed a bill extending health coverage to 4 million uninsured children. For other highlights from this date, see On This Day in the gallery area of greensboro.com. You can search the News & Record Historical Archive at greensboro.com/archive. It is troubling ... that an administration that pledges to put America first is targeting legal, American-made products instead of focusing its attention on states that flout federal drug laws, the senators wrote. Surgeon General Jerome Adams has issued an advisory to parents, teachers, health care and government officials encouraging them to stop children and teens from using e-cigs. I am emphasizing the importance of protecting our children from a lifetime of nicotine addiction and associated health risks by immediately addressing the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use, Adams said. Extreme policies The coalition claims the FDA is currently pursuing several policies that are more extreme than those contemplated by the Obama administration. They question why Gottlieb and the FDA appear to be dismissing scientific studies that show e-cigs can be up to 95 percent less harmful to consume than a traditional cigarette. One of the latest studies on the subject was released last week in the New England Journal of Medicine. Q: I love reading and watching documentaries about archeology, but not when they belittle the religions of previous civilizations as pagan. This gives us airs that we are more civilized than earlier cultures. A: Its true that pagan is a negative term in that it has always defined people as what they are not, rather than what they are. So it carries a connotation of not like us. The word (both noun and adjective) has been part of English since the 1400s, and historically its been used to dismiss or even condemn people. But today pagan has four principal meanings, not all of them derogatory. Heres what it means in modern English, according to standard dictionaries. In speaking of past civilizations, pagan refers to the polytheistic people and religions of ancient times, before the Judeo-Christian era. This is how archeologists and historians use the term. And in our opinion, this isnt a demeaning usageor at least it isnt labeled as such in standard dictionaries. In speaking of the present, pagan is used for believers and beliefs that fall outside the mainstream religions, as in contemporary Druidism, nature worship, and such (more on this later). That use isnt considered demeaning either. However, many dictionaries say that pagan is disparaging, derogatory, or offensive when used in reference to contemporaries who are neither Christian, Jewish, nor Muslimthat is, heathen in the missionarys sense of the word. This use of pagan, however, is labeled dated or historical in some dictionaries. And pagan is derogatory when it refers to someone who behaves in an irreligious, unorthodox, or uncultivated way. As some dictionaries note, this usage can be meant humorously. Ultimately, of course, any word can be taken amiss, since offense is in the eye (or ear) of the beholder. And certainly pagan has been used disparagingly in past centuriesespecially in Christian religious tracts. Interestingly, the ancestral roots of pagan have nothing to do with religion. The ultimate source of pagan is the classical Latin pagus, meaning a rural district (its also the source of peasant). From pagus were derived the classical Latin noun and adjective paganus, which had two meanings to the Romans, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. It originally referred to country dwellers (that is, rustics as opposed to city dwellers), but in later classical Latin it more commonly referred to civilians (as opposed to soldiers). Religion entered the picture in early Christian times, when paganus acquired a new meaning. In post-classical Latin, probably in the fourth century, the OED says it came to mean heathen, as opposed to Christian or Jewish. So how did a word for a rustic or a civilian come to mean a heathen in the later Latin of the early Christian era? The development isnt clear, but there are competing theories, according to the OED. Well condense them here: (1) The earlier country dweller meaning may be responsible, because the towns and cities of the Roman Empire accepted Christianity before the rural villages and hamlets. Or it may be that the country dweller meaning was interpreted as not of the city, and thus came to mean an outsider. (2) The later civilian meaning may be the key, since Christians called themselves milites enrolled soldiers of Christ, members of his militant church, Oxford says. So non-Christians were those not enrolled in the army. The OED doesnt take sides here, and neither does the Chambers Dictionary of Etymology. But John Ayto, in his Dictionary of Word Origins, comes down on the side of #2. The post-classical sense of paganus as a heathen, he says, arose from its civilian meaning, based on the early Christian notion that all members of the church were soldiers of Christ. Regardless of how its heathen sense developed, paganus was adopted into English in the early 1400s as pagan. This is the OEDs earliest known use of the noun: I sall euer pursue the payganys at my pople distroyede (I shall ever pursue the pagans that destroyed my people). From a manuscript, dated circa 1440, of Morte Arthure, a medieval poem that was probably composed some time before 1400. And this is Oxfords earliest use of the adjective: More deppyr in the turmentis of helle shall bene the crystyn Prynces than the Pagan Pryncis, yf they do not ryght to al men (More deeper in the torments of hell shall be the Christian princes than the pagan princes, if they do not do right by all men). From a manuscript, dated sometime before 1500, of James Yonges 1422 translation of the Secreta Secretorum (The Secret of Secrets). In its entries for pagan, the OED, an etymological dictionary based on historical evidence, doesnt differentiate between two of the uses given in standard dictionariesthe neutral, pre-Christian sense used in reference to antiquity, versus the outdated, pejorative use of the term for religions other than ones own. This is the OED definition of the noun (the one for the adjective is similar): A person not subscribing to any major or recognized religion, esp. the dominant religion of a particular society; spec. a heathen, a non-Christian, esp. considered as savage, uncivilized, etc. The dictionary says this use of pagan is now chiefly historical, meaning that it refers to people and cultures of the past, not the present. Here, for example, is a modern citation: Religion helped structure the networks of power that shaped or informed the relationships between pagans, Jews, and Christians in the Greek East (from Douglas R. Edwardss book Religion and Power, 1996). However, the OED does have entries for the other two definitions found in standard dictionariesreferring (sometimes humorously) to the uncultivated, and to modern religions that are outside the mainstream. This is how Oxford defines the uncultivated sense of the noun pagan (the adjective closely corresponds): A person of unorthodox, uncultivated or backward beliefs, tastes, etc.; a person who has not been converted to the current dominant views of a society, group, etc.; an uncivilized or unsocialized person, esp. a child. Some of the dictionarys examples, which date from the mid-16th century, are almost affectionate, like these: Said twas a pagan plant, a prophane weede / And a most sinful smoke (a reference to tobacco, from George Chapmans 1606 play Monsieur DOlive). That bloodless old Pagan, her father (from Macleod of Dare, an 1879 novel by William Black). So much like wild beasts are baby boys, little fighting, biting, climbing pagans (from The Story of My Boyhood and Youth, John Muirs 1913 memoir). Finally, the dictionarys definition for the modern religious use is a follower of a pantheistic or nature-worshipping religion; esp. a neopagan, and the adjectives definition is similar. Heres the latest OED example for the noun: Paganism is a belief in which nature is revered and its views on ecology are very attractive to teenagers. Pagans and witches recycle, are against GM foods and are likely to be vegetarian (from the Express on Sunday, London, Feb. 4, 2001). A final word about modern paganism (or neopaganism), which is more widespread than you might think and which some standard dictionaries define more specifically than the OED. For example, Oxford Dictionaries Online defines todays pagan as a member of a modern religious movement which seeks to incorporate beliefs or practices from outside the main world religions, especially nature worship. The phrase outside the main world religions would mean principally a faith that is not among the Abrahamic (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Bahai), the Dharmic (Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Jain), or the East Asian families of religions (Taoist, Confucian, Shinto, and others). These newer pagan religions are very diverse (ranging from Wicca and Neo-Druidism to Goddess worship and varieties of religious naturalism), and they often defy definitions. But scholars of religion generally categorize them under the umbrella of Contemporary Pagan or Neopagan. And adherents generally do not feel belittled by such labels. For instance, the current president of Latvia, the Green Party member Raimonds Vejonis, identifies himself as a Baltic Neopagan. Help support the Grammarphobia Blog with your donation. And check out our books about the English language. 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@skagitpublishing.com for help creating one. TOPEKA [mdash] Edna E. Yoder, 75, of Topeka, died at 1 a.m. Saturday, June 19, 2021, at her residence. She was born Oct. 3, 1945, in LaGrange, to Emmery and Mary (Chupp) Miller. On Oct. 15, 1964, in Topeka, she married Raymond M. Yoder. He survives. Survivors in addition to her husband are t GRETNA Cruising down Industrial Street on Thursday afternoon, Lou Davis gestured to the areas a local organization plans to construct a walking trail by the start of the fall. Were hoping to have it come just across that ridge there, she said as she drove, pointing out the window. Revitalization for a Greater Gretna, a volunteer organization dedicated to assist with rejuvenate the town, has had this plan in the works for more than five years, said Harris, who chairs the committee in charge of the project. In that time, theyve finished smaller projects like helping the town secure a Virginia Department of Transportation grant to fix some paving and planting trees, but nothing has risen to this scale. This is our big project, said Harris. Though they had been fundraising for the project during that five-year period with various events and GoFundMe campaigns, the recent award of $20,000 grant from the Community Foundation of the Dan River Region was the boost needed to clear the way. In a news release on Jan. 17, the Community Foundation said the $20,000 grant will be used for phase one of the Gretna organizations project. A Saturday night fire that caused $500,000 in damage to equipment a Mountain Valley Pipeline construction site is being investigated as arson, the Pittsylvania County Sheriffs Office reports. The fire in the 2900 block of Grassland Drive is in the Smith Mountain community of northern Pittsylvania County, the sheriffs office reported. On Friday, a protester was arrested at a pipeline site on Oxford Road in Climax after she locked herself to a piece of equipment. A passerby spotted the fire at about 11 p.m. Saturday and called 911. When emergency crews and sheriffs deputies arrived they found the earth-moving equipment referred to as a Caterpillar PL 87 ablaze. It was located on the site of the Mountain Valley Pipeline construction right-of-way, according to the sheriffs office. The Pittsylvania County fire marshals office determined the fire was intentionally set. There were no injures reported and no other equipment was damaged. Anyone with information concerning the arson is asked to call the Pittsylvania County Sheriffs Office. Callers may be eligible for a reward. You wonder if thats a reflection of his deeply-held values, she said. If so, he should resign, Royston said. Northams ability to govern is pretty well over, said Roy Ford, chairman of the Pittsylvania County Democratic Committee. I dont know that theres a way for him to continue to serve, Ford said Sunday. His explanation yesterday did not add up. Its hard to believe Northam didnt know about the yearbook photos, he added. He should have brought up the photos himself earlier to avoid being hit with the story, Ford said. But there is another issue, as well, Royston said. Whoever was charge of approving the photos for publication needs to be dealt with, she added. That tells me something about the college, at least then, Royston said. Marshall added that Northams statements in support of late-term abortion earlier last week was just as big of an issue as the racist photo. During an interview with WTOP Radio on Wednesday, Northam made the following statement: "When we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of obviously the mother, with the consent of the physicians, more than one physician, by the way," Northam said. "And it's done in cases where there may be severe deformities, there may be a fetus that's non-viable. So in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother. So I think this was really blown out of proportion." John Crane reports for the Danville Register & Bee. Contact him at jcrane@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7987. 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. Gloucester, MA (01930) Today Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Ukrainian Orthodox Church Enthrones Epifaniy As Leader By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service February 03, 2019 KYIV -- The new Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) has installed its first metropolitan, Epifaniy, at a ceremony in Kyiv on February 3, in a process that further establishes the new church body's independence. The enthronement ceremony for Epifaniy was held in a packed St. Sophia's Cathedral in the Ukrainian capital. It was attended by dozens of Ukrainian and foreign church officials. Also in attendance were hundreds of well-wishers and President Petro Poroshenko. Poroshenko, who had promised the establishment of an independent church for Ukraine, described the ceremony as the "completion" of the process. Ukraine in October secured approval from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople -- the spiritual head of Orthodoxy -- to set up an independent Orthodox church. The move was fiercely opposed by Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church, under which many Orthodox parishes in Ukraine have pledged allegiance to for centuries. Bartholomew handed over a document establishing the OCU's independence, known as a "tomos," to Epifaniy at a ceremony in Istanbul on January 6. Epifaniy, 40, is now tasked with trying to unite the divergent Orthodox church bodies in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church says more than 100 parishes have already joined the newly established church. "While up until now our task was to unite in a local church and receive a tomos on autocephaly, now we need to confirm the achieved unity, and continue to build and strengthen the church," Epifaniy said after the enthronement ceremony. "We believe that when the appropriate time comes in the future, all these efforts will also be crowned with the confirmation of the status of patriarchate for our church," he added. In an interview with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service published on February 2, Epifaniy said he hopes that the process of parishes converting to the OCU should be smooth and that the goal was for it to be "peaceful, calm, and voluntary." He warned that Moscow "has certain visions to create a confrontation" in Ukraine when churches or property belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church come under the control of the OCU. Epifaniy said the few cases of confrontation between the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches that have occurred in Ukraine were "provoked by the Moscow Patriarchate." He added that the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine "is the last outpost of Putin." Epifaniy said the OCU is hopeful of gaining recognition from several foreign Orthodox churches, naming the Greek and Cypriot Orthodox churches as ones he expected to be among the first to offer such recognition. Efipaniy admitted to RFE/RL that he no longer has time -- as head of the new church -- to write posts for his Twitter and Facebook pages, but that it is now done by an assistant. With reporting by AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukrainian-orthodox-church-enthrones- epifaniy-as-leader/29748596.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. May Vows to 'Battle for Britain and N Ireland' in Brussels to Avoid Hard Border Sputnik News 13:21 03.02.2019 Earlier, EU leaders ruled out further Brexit talks, with the European Council insisting that Brussels' current deal with London on the UK's withdrawal from the bloc remains the "best and only way" for an orderly Brexit. In an article published by The Telegraph on Sunday, UK Prime Minister Theresa May signalled her readiness to return to negotiations with Brussels to "battle for Britain and Northern Ireland". "I will be armed with a fresh mandate, new ideas and a renewed determination to agree a pragmatic solution that delivers the Brexit the British people voted for, while ensuring there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland," she stressed. May expressed hope that "the right way forward" will finally be found despite the fact that "the clock is ticking" and that "negotiating the changes MPs want to see will not be easy". "I'm determined to deliver Brexit, and determined to deliver on time on 29 March 2019. So let's put aside our differences and focus on getting the deal over the line. Brexit offers great opportunities for our country. It's up to all of us at Westminster to make it work," she said. May's remarks came as Downing Street denied media reports of UK Prime Minister Theresa May's team wanting to secure the backing of parliament for a new Brexit deal in April before calling a general election in June as "completely untrue". The Daily Mail quoted sources as saying that the plan aims to protect May from being ousted by MPs who want negotiations on Brexit's second stage related to a new trade deal. May is due to report back to parliament on her negotiations with the EU on 13 February, a few weeks after she secured MPs' support to go back to Brussels. The goal is to hammer out a new agreement that doesn't include an Irish border backstop, the mechanism to ensure that there will be no hard border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland if the sides failed to agree on all the terms of their relationship by the end of the Brexit transition period. The backstop specifically stipulates that the UK and the EU would form a single customs territory, which would ensure tariff-free trade. Earlier, the European Council described the current EU-UK deal as the "best and only way" for an orderly Brexit. French President Emmanuel Macron, in turn, said that the agreement "is the best accord possible", adding that it is "not re-negotiable". Sputnik UK accuses EU of acting irresponsibly on Brexit Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 03:02PM UK trade secretary Liam Fox says the European Union's refusal to renegotiate a divorce agreement is a sign the bloc is becoming "irresponsible" in its way of treating the issue of Brexit. "It is in all our interests to get to that agreement and for the EU to say we are not going to even discuss it seems to me to be quite irresponsible," Fox told Sky News in an interview aired on Sunday. Fox, who has been regarded as a key ally of Prime Minister Theresa May in her efforts to secure a Brexit deal in the parliament, said the EU would be to blame if Britain crashes out of the bloc at the end of March with no agreement. "Are they really saying that they would rather not negotiate and end up in a 'no-deal' position?" he said. The trade minister also accepted the idea that Britain could consider a short delay in its EU departure to enable the government to obtain the required legislation from the parliament if there is a Brexit deal available by March 29. Fox, however, refused proposals for delaying the exit date simply because there would be no divorce deal available by that time. "I think to extend simply because we hadn't reached an agreement would not provide any impetus for that agreement to be reached," said Fox, adding, "There is a big difference between if we had an agreement and we need some time to get the legalities done, that is one thing." May determined to leave EU on time After suffering a historic defeat in the Commons on her Brexit deal on January 15, May was allowed by lawmakers to go to Brussels and renegotiate a controversial clause in the agreement which sets out rules for future administration of the Irish border. Critics say if May manages to remove or drastically modify the so-called backstop, she would certainly go through the parliament with the agreement she signed with the EU in November. May's government has reiterated time and again that the country would leave the EU at the end of March no matter if the House of Commons agrees to a revised version of the Brexit deal in the upcoming weeks. In a Sunday article in The Telegraph, May said the departure date will not change and she was determined to "deliver Brexit on time". Senior PKK militant captured in anti-terror operation in Turkey's Adana Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 01:48PM Turkish security forces have arrested a high-ranking member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during a counterterrorism operation in the country's southern province of Adana. Turkish judicial sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Davut Baghestani was captured along with three other people. The sources added that police seized six mobile phones, including three belonging to the senior PKK member and other digital documents from their hideout. Baghestani is suspected of spreading propaganda for the Kurdish militant group on various social media accounts. He was apparently conducting activities on behalf of the PKK in the southern Turkish provinces of Adana and Mersin using a fake identity. Baghestani was a member of the so-called executive council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an alliance of pro-Kurdish groups, in addition to various organizations that were either armed or led by youth and women. He also served as the chairman of a Kurdish institute in Israel, where he spread PKK propaganda. He purportedly served as an intermediary between the militant group, the Tel Aviv regime and Washington. PKK militants regularly clash with Turkish forces in the Kurdish-dominated southeast of Turkey attached to northern Iraq. Turkey, along with the European Union and the United States, has declared the PKK a terrorist group and blacklisted it. The group has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region since 1984. A shaky ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015. Attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since. Over the past few months, Turkish ground and air forces have been carrying out operations against PKK positions in the country as well as in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria. More than 40,000 people have been killed during the three-decade conflict between Turkey and the autonomy-seeking militant group. Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front member nabbed in Istanbul Separately, a senior member of the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) was captured following an operation in Istanbul. Counterterrorism units in Istanbul and members of the Turkish Intelligence Organization (MIT) held a joint operation on Saturday, and managed to arrest Hatice Ruken Kilic. The DHKP/C is an outlawed militant group blamed for a wave of terror attacks and bombings across Turkey since 1990. Syria Will Return to Arab League, 'Not Surrender to Blackmail' - Damascus Sputnik News 01:37 04.02.2019(updated 01:53 04.02.2019) DAMASCUS (Sputnik) - Those who attempt to impose conditions upon Syria for the nation's eventual return to the Arab League will not succeed, as Damascus will never surrender to blackmail, according to a statement from Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad. "Those who are trying to ignore Syria or to impose on it conditions for its return to the Arab League will not succeed in it, since Syria does not surrender to blackmail and [does not react to] disregard in anything that concerns its domestic problems," Mekdad said late on Sunday at a meeting of The British Syrian Society in Damascus, as quoted by the country's Foreign Ministry. He added that decisions damaging to Syria, particularly those made by other Arab countries, have been made upon the instructions of foreign states. "We follow all developments related to Syria's return to the Arab League and to the resumption of [foreign] embassies' operation [in Syria]. However, pressure that we face on the regional level and in the international arena challenges this process," Mekdad said, adding that Damascus was "always optimistic" anyway, given the significant success reached in the process of its return to the Arab League. Earlier, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit asserted that Syria would be allowed to return to the Arab League if all other Arab states give their consent. "It will not be difficult for Syria as a founder state [of the Arab League] to include the issue [of reinstatement] to the agenda of the Arab intergovernmental council if there is a pan-Arabic consensus and there are no objections. If the Arab states reach consensus on calling Syria to return to its seat, we, on behalf of Secretariat, are ready to give it such an opportunity," Gheit said. The most recent Arab League summit took place in Beirut, Lebanon, in late January 2019. The 22-nation Arab League suspended Syria's membership in 2011 after a civil war broke out in the country. Several member states then pulled their ambassadors from Damascus. Syria, one of the founding states of the bloc, condemned the decision, considering the move illegal. Since that time, Damascus has not participated in the work of the organization. In 2018, Arab League member states began making steps to re-engage Damascus and reopen embassies. In December 2018, United Arab Emirates, a league member, became the first gulf country to reopen its embassy in the Syrian capital. Immediately afterward, Bahrain, another Arab League state, announced that it too would restore its diplomatic mission in Syria. Sputnik Erdogan: Turkey Has Maintained Contacts With Damascus By VOA News February 03, 2019 Turkey has maintained low-level contact with the Syrian government, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, even though Ankara has supported rebels who fought for years to topple President Bashar Assad. Erdogan has described Assad as a terrorist and said several times during Syria's eight-year conflict that the Syrian leader must go. But with support from Russia and Iran, Assad had recaptured large parts of Syria from rebel fighters, driving them from most of their former strongholds. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in December Turkey and other countries would consider working with Assad if he won a democratic election, and last month said Ankara was in indirect contact with Damascus via Russia and Iran. Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey also had direct contacts with the Syrian government. "Foreign policy with Syria continues at a lower level," he told broadcaster TRT in an interview, adding that intelligence services operated differently to political leaders. "Leaders may be cut out. But intelligence units can communicate for their interests," Erdogan said. "Even if you have an enemy, you should not break ties. You may need that later." Daesh Attacks Syrian Army Positions After International Coalition Raid Report Sputnik News 10:05 03.02.2019(updated 10:09 03.02.2019) Saturday evening, at least two Syrian Army servicemen were injured after the US-led international coalition conducted an airstrike on a Syrian Armed Forces artillery mount in the country's northeast. Daesh* terrorists attacked the Syrian Army positions shortly after a coalition airstrike in north-eastern Deir ez-Zor province on Saturday, Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reports. According to SANA, most of the terrorists who launched the attack were fleeing the village of Baguz, which was destroyed by the Syrian Army. The attack came hours after a Syrian military source told Sputnik on Sunday that the US-led international coalition had carried out an airstrike on an army artillery mount located near the eastern Syrian city of Abu Kamal. "At around 23:30 local time [Saturday, 21:30 Saturday GMT] the aircraft of the international coalition conducted an airstrike on the artillery mount of our forces operating in As Sukkariya region to the west of Abu Kamal As a result of the airstrike, the mount was destroyed and two servicemen were injured," the source said. In June 2018, SANA reported that the international coalition's air force had bombed Syrian Army positions in the settlement of al-Hari in Deir ez-Zor province, south-east of Al-Bukemal. The Pentagon rejected the report. The Saturday strike was launched as the US was preparing to withdraw its ground forces from Syria, a move that was announced in December by US President Donald Trump, who claimed that Daesh had been defeated in the Arab country. The US-led coalition of more than 70 countries has been conducting airstrikes on Daesh positions since 2014, in a mission that was authorised neither by the Syrian government nor the UN Security Council. *Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries. Sputnik 2 servicemen injured in US-led attack on Syrian artillery Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 12:50AM Syrian military forces stationed east of the country have come under renewed attack by US-led forces operating in the region. A Syrian military source said on Sunday that two servicemen had been injured in the coalition air strike on an army artillery position near the city of Abu Kamal in Dair al-Zawr province. "At around 23:30 local time (late on Saturday) the aviation of the international coalition conducted an airstrike on the artillery mount of our forces operating in As Sukkariya region to the west of Abu Kamal," said the source, adding that the air strike led to the destruction of the Syrian artillery mount. The Syrian government has repeatedly condemned coalition air strikes, allegedly carried out to target terrorists in Syria, on civilian and military positions in the country. Since it was expanded from neighboring Iraq in 2015, Syria has regarded the US-led campaign as a violation of its territorial integrity. The coalition said on Thursday that nearly 1,200 civilians had been killed in its air strikes over the past three and a half years. The renewed wave of attacks by the coalition comes amid reports of an imminent US withdrawal from Syria. US President Donald Trump said two months ago that US forces should leave Syria now that the Daesh has been almost defeated. However, coalition commanders said last Wednesday that a total of 645 air strikes had been carried out in Syria only between 13 and 26 January. They claimed that many of those had resulted in significant damage to Daesh positions in the country. Syrian officials are suspicious of those claims, saying many of the airstrikes target civilians living in rural areas in north and east of the Arab country. US coalition targets Syrian positions in Abu Kamal IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Feb 3, IRNA -- A Syrian military force announced that US jet fighters targeted Syrian army positions in Abu Kamal, Deir ez-Zor province, eastern Syria. According to Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), a military source said that the American coalition targeted Syrian artillery units in Sokkariyeh village. The source added that the US attack resulted in annihilating the artillery and injuring three soldiers. No reports have yet been released on the details of the attack. Under the pretext of fighting the terrorist group Daesh (ISIS), US together with some allies have established a so-called international coalition out of the framework of the United Nations since August 2014. The innocent Syrian civilians have so far been killed in Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Al-Hasakah and Aleppo. The coalition has also destroyed Raqqa almost completely. This is while, the United Nations Security Council has so far taken no firm action against such attacks. Earlier, the US-led coalition in an air attack on Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria killed some civilians and injured a number of others who were escaping from ISIS enclaves. 9376**1771 UN believes MbS prime suspect in Khashoggi murder: Turkish official Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 10:22AM An investigative team led by the United Nations (UN) believes Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the prime suspect in the state-sponsored assassination of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says. Yasin Aktay made the remark on Friday following a meeting with the UN investigative team that is probing the brutal murder of Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul last October. The team, led by Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, arrived in Turkey on Monday to probe Khashoggi's killing. She held talks with Turkish foreign and justice ministers and the prosecutor in the case. "The UN team considers the crown prince of Saudi Arabia the main person responsible for the killing of Khashoggi. The team held a number of meetings in Turkey, including with Khashoggi's fiance, and she (Callamard) also intends to listen to the audio recordings related to the crime," Aktay, the Turkish presidential adviser, told the Turkish NTV broadcaster. Callamard has been barred from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where she had requested access to as part of the investigation. Omer Celik, a spokesman for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, has denounced the Saudi move to prevent the UN team's entry into the consulate as "a scandal." Khashoggi a late but vocal critic of Crown Prince Mohammed was killed and his body was dismembered by a Saudi hit squad after being lured into the consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. Turkey, which said it was in possession of audio evidence of Khashoggi's murder soon after he failed to exit the consulate, has indirectly suggested that Mohammed ordered his killing. The Washington Post, for which Khashoggi was a columnist, reported in November last year that the CIA had also concluded that Mohammed ordered his killing. After weeks of outright denial, the Riyadh regime eventually acknowledged the murder but has attempted to shift the blame to Mohammed's underlings and away from the prince himself. International suspicion, however, remains largely directed at Mohammed. Ankara has demanded that Riyadh extradite the suspects in the case to stand trial in Turkey. Saudi Arabia has refused to do so. Riyadh has not yet produced Khashoggi's body, either. Callamard's findings and recommendations are expected to be reported to the UN Human Rights Council at a June 2019 session. As repression rises, Saudis pack up and leave Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 05:02PM Increasingly more Saudi Arabians are leaving their home country and filing for asylum abroad in recent years, as repression rises in the kingdom, especially under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a report says. In a report on Sunday, CNN used data from the United Nations (UN)'s Refugee Agency, the UNHCR, to show how the number of Saudi Arabians leaving their country and seeking asylum abroad rose from a mere seven in 1993 to 2,392 in 2017. That figure took a dramatically steeper rise in 2015, when King Salman ascended to the throne and, over a short period of time, gave his son Mohammed carte blanche to effectively run the country. To interpret the numbers, CNN cited "activists and analysts," who pointed to a combination of medieval social practices against women, domestic abuse, and, most prominently, state repression of dissent as the reasons for the sharp rise in the number of the Saudi Arabians choosing to live elsewhere under asylum. The report in particular highlighted "Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's campaign to stamp out dissent in the kingdom." Ali Shihabi, a supporter of Mohammed and the founder of The Arabia Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, said, "Certainly, the political space and the space for freedoms were already very tight, and it's gotten much tighter over the last two years. So, certainly, the environment would provoke more Saudis to go abroad." The report said, "The trend of Saudis seeking refuge has grown despite risks of interception by Saudi authorities," a risk that has grown stronger in the wake of the state-sponsored murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul in October last year. "It's absolutely impossible that I would ever go to the Saudi Embassy," the London-based Saudi dissident Yahya Assiri told CNN shortly after news of Khashoggi's initial disappearance broke. "I refused to go before, and the Khashoggi situation has made my decision even clearer." Nourah, a 20-year-old Saudi asylum seeker in Australia who declined to reveal her full name for security reasons, said that the ongoing crackdown by the Riyadh regime made asylum "a very popular idea in Saudi Arabia." The domestic abuse of women in Saudi Arabia attracted international attention when Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun fled her family on a trip and locked herself in a hotel room in Thailand until she was granted asylum in Canada last month. According to the UNHCR figures, between 2015 and 2016, the number of Saudi refugees and asylum seekers rose by 52% to 1,936, compared to an average year-on-year increase of around 13% over the preceding decade. In 2017, the number increased 23.55% to 2,392. Human Rights Watch Middle East researcher Adam Coogle said that the sharpest rise in Saudi refugees occurred after 2015, the year Mohammed emerged in the kingdom's political scene. "You have people fleeing political repression, and that's very easily tied to MbS and what he's done. And I think that the number (of asylum-seekers) you're seeing here is indicative of that," Coogle said, using Mohammed's initials. Last year, Mohammed ordered the jailing of high-profile princes, clerics, analysts, and businessmen in a crackdown that he attempted to portray as an "anti-corruption" fight but that was widely seen as a repression of political dissent. Torture and various forms of ill-treatment have been routinely reported over the past years in Saudi prisons and detention centers. Russian gov't says to provide funds for development of new weapons People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 08:24, February 03, 2019 The Russian government will provide necessary mechanisms to finance the development of new weapons, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday, in response to Washington's withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). "Given the U.S. withdrawal from the INF Treaty and the response steps announced by the President of Russia, the government of the Russian Federation will provide the necessary means and mechanisms to finance the development of new types of weapons," Medvedev said on Twitter. The "unilateral, unprovoked" U.S. withdrawal from the INF Treaty worsens the situation around international security and strategic stability, which will definitely meet an effective response from the Russian side, he said. The Trump administration announced on Friday that the United States is withdrawing from the INF Treaty with Russia within six months, starting from Feb. 2. Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would suspend its participation in the INF Treaty in a mirror response to the United States' decision. At a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Putin backed Shoigu's proposal to develop new arms including ground-based complexes of hypersonic medium- and shorter-range ballistic missiles. "They announced that they (the United States) are engaged in research and development work, and we will do the same," Putin said. The INF Treaty was signed in 1987 between the Soviet Union and the United States on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles. Moscow and Washington have been accusing each other of violating the agreement in recent years amid increasing tension between the two countries. "We will wait until our partners are ripe for dialogue": Russia suspends participation in the INF Treaty in response to US actions February 2, 2019, 16:13 Georgy Mosalov, Anna Lushnikova Russia suspends participation in the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF) following a similar step by the United States. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The head of state stressed that all attempts to reach an agreement with Washington were not crowned with success, and warned that the Russian side would not initiate negotiations, although all proposals to resolve the situation remain in force. In addition, the Ministry of Defense published data indicating the start of development in the United States of weapons prohibited by the agreement back in 2017. So, it became known that the Congress in November 2017 allocated $ 58 million for these purposes. Russia, in response to a similar decision by the United States, suspends participation in the Treaty on the Elimination of Medium and Short Range Missiles. This was announced at a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said President Vladimir Putin. "We will proceed as follows. Our answer will be a mirror. The American partners have announced that they are suspending their participation in the contract - and we are suspending. They announced that they are engaged in R & D, and R & D (development. - RT ), and development work - and we will do the same, "he said. "We have repeatedly for many years constantly raised the issue of conducting meaningful disarmament negotiations, and in almost all its aspects. And in recent years, we see that our initiatives are not supported by partners, "Putin said. The head of state noted that, despite the task of developing a new weapon, Russia should not "be drawn into the costly arms race." Shoigu said that the Ministry of Defense will be able to allocate funds for the development of missiles in the framework of the current state order for 2019. "We have examined in detail this issue in the coming days will offer the budget adjustments in 2019 that will allow us, within and SAP (state armaments program -. RT ), and the state defense order for 2019 to do the job in the volume of those funds, which are provided on this year, without any increase, "said Shoigu. At the same time, Putin stressed that Russia will not deploy medium-range or shorter-range missiles in any region of the world until the United States begins to do this. "We presume that Russia will not place if such weapons appear, either in Europe or in other regions of the world, medium and shorter range weapons until such weapons of American manufacture appear in their respective regions of the world," the head noted. of the state. "Real violation of the positions of the agreement" Since 1999, the United States has violated the INF Treaty, said Lavrov in a conversation with Putin. Among the violations of the treaty by the Americans were testing combat UAVs with characteristics similar to prohibited weapons, target missiles, including ballistic missiles, the minister said. "And in 2014, they began to deploy launchers for Europe, again, their positional areas of missile defense - Mk 41 launchers, which are absolutely suitable without any changes and for launching Tomahawk medium-range attack missiles," the head added. Russian Foreign Ministry. In addition, the United States has already begun to manufacture medium-range and shorter-range missiles, Shoigu said. "Despite the vagueness of the wording, it is obvious to us that, in addition to the open-ended research work on the production of medium and shorter-range missiles, we have been seeing for a number of years the real violation of the positions of the treaty. Simply put, the United States has begun to manufacture and manufacture these missiles, "the minister stressed. As the Russian Defense Ministry reported, the production of banned DRSMD medium-range and shorter-range missiles in the United States began two years before they began to publicly accuse Russia of violating the agreement. "According to irrefutable data at the Russian Defense Ministry, since June 2017, the enterprise of the military-industrial corporation Raytheon in the city of Tucson, Arizona has launched a program to expand and modernize production capacities in order to create medium-range and shorter-range missiles prohibited by the INF Treaty. defense department. The ministry also talked about funding that was allocated directly for the production of banned PRSMD missiles. "Almost simultaneously with the beginning of the expansion of production capacity of the plant, the American congress in November 2017 allocated the Pentagon with the first tranche of $ 58 million, directly indicating:" the development of a medium-range ground-launched missile, "explained the Defense Ministry. "Thus, the nature and timing of the work carried out irrefutably testifies that the US administration decided to withdraw from the INF mode a few years before the unsubstantiated accusations were leveled at Russia for breach of contract," the agency concluded. As measures taken in response to the actions of the United States, the Minister of Defense of Russia proposed developing possibilities for using land-based missiles Caliber in the ground version, as well as creating ground-based complexes of hypersonic medium-range and short-range ballistic missiles. Vladimir Putin endorsed these initiatives. Recall that during the presidential address to the Federal Assembly on March 1, 2018, he spoke about promising weapons, which are not only being developed, but also being supplied to the army. In particular, they talked about the rocket complex with the Sarmat heavy intercontinental rocket, the nuclear power installation for the X-101 missiles and the Dagger hypersonic rocket. "The most important stage of modern weapons systems was the creation of a high-precision hypersonic aviation-missile complex, also, as you already understood, which has no world analogues. His tests have been successfully completed, and, moreover, since December 1 of last year, the complex has begun to carry out operational combat duty at the airfields of the Southern Military District, "said Putin. In addition, a new intercontinental hypersonic Avangard rocket was developed, capable of flying in dense layers of the atmosphere more than 20 times higher than the speed of sound. Putin emphasized that this rocket is "absolutely invulnerable to any air defense and anti-missile defense." "Nobody essentially wanted to talk to us, no one listened to us. Listen now, "the president added. "We sought to do everything to save the agreement" Lavrov noted that Moscow has repeatedly put forward initiatives to preserve the INF Treaty, including making concessions in order to agree with Washington on the preservation of the agreement. "In October, the United States officially announced that they were going to withdraw from the Treaty on Medium and Short Range Missiles. We sought to do everything to save this treaty, given the importance it has for maintaining strategic stability both in Europe and in the world as a whole, "the diplomat said. "No reaction followed": the Defense Ministry announced that the Pentagon did not respond to Shoigu's proposal to discuss the INF Treaty Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu invited the head of the Pentagon, James Mattis, to discuss disagreements related to the Treaty on the Elimination ... So, in December 2018, Shoigu sent a letter to James Mattis, then head of the Pentagon, with a proposal to discuss disagreements on the INF Treaty, but the US did not respond to it. Later, the United States stated that the Russian rocket 9M729 allegedly violated the terms of the agreement. On January 15, Russian-American talks on the INF Treaty were held in Geneva, during which Moscow provided information on the 9M729 missile. However, Washington refused to cooperate, Lavrov noted. "Our questions about why the Americans do not want to get acquainted with our proposals and with the specific parameters of this rocket live, remained unheard. Our proposals also remained unheard in response to the actions we are ready to take to dispel American fears, and to gain access to information concerning the problems we are experiencing with respect to compliance by the Americans with this treaty. It was all swept away, "he said on January 16th. Later, on January 23, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation organized a briefing to which foreign military attaches, including from the United States and its NATO allies, were invited. Representatives of the defense department showed documentation, talking about the compliance of the INF range missiles. However, neither the American attache, nor the majority of representatives of NATO countries at the briefing was not . In the Kremlin, this decision of the western countries was condemned, noting the refusal of dialogue on the INF. "Of course, this is more than indicative, because it says that there is still no mood to discuss the issues of the INF Committee," said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian president. Due to the fact that the American side refused to all Russian proposals to conduct a dialogue on the INF Treaty, Moscow will no longer come up with new initiatives, Putin said. "All our proposals, as before, in this area remain on the table, the doors for negotiations are open. At the same time, I ask both departments to continue not to initiate any negotiations on this issue. We will wait until our partners are ripe in order to conduct with us an equal, meaningful dialogue on this important topic for both us and our partners, and for the whole world, "the president emphasized. "Americans took a tough stance" Returning to the dialogue on the INF Treaty appealed not only to Russia, but also to European countries, but the United States continued to take a tough stance. This was recalled in a conversation with RT member of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Sergey Tsekov. "Russia is doing everything to negotiate, explaining its position, saying that it is interested in maintaining the contract. European countries also supported our position . The Americans, on the other hand, took a tough stance, came forward with unsubstantiated accusations. In this situation, it was necessary to do exactly as our president, "- said the senator. At the same time, Russia's decision to give exactly the mirror response to the actions of the United States will simultaneously demonstrate to the American politicians the danger of the launching of the destruction of the INF Treaty and prevent the arms race, believes Yury Shvytkin, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense and Security. "Russian President Vladimir Putin made an absolutely informed decision that fits the realities of the times. It will sober up US politicians and pro-Western politicians who are trying to impose an arms race on us and destroy the security system in the world, "he told RT. At the same time, it is unlikely that US President Donald Trump will go into new negotiations on the question of the INF Committee, says political scientist Sergei Sudakov, corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences. "Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia does not want an arms race. He absolutely correctly urged Americans to think. But we see that Donald Trump is the leader who is beginning to destroy the system of international relations for so long and hard to create, "the expert said in an interview with RT. Netanyahu: Israel to Keep Countering Iran After Tehran Unveiled New Missile Sputnik News 18:18 03.02.2019(updated 20:21 03.02.2019) TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - Israel will do everything possible to counter Tehran's hostile actions for the sake of the country's security as Iran has overtly demonstrated its intention to destroy Israel when unveiling its new cruise missile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. "In Iran today they are trying to boast about the new missile. Iran openly declares its intention to destroy the State of Israel. I have a clear message to the tyrants of Tehran: We know what you are doing and where you are doing it. We will continue to take action against Iran with all the tools at our disposal in order to ensure the security and future of Israel," the prime minister said at a cabinet meeting, as quoted by his press service. On the same day, the Israeli Prime Minister commented on the new Lebanese government saying that it was under Iran's control through the Shiite Hezbollah movement. "Iran has proxies. One of them is Hezbollah. Hezbollah just joined the government of Lebanon. That's a misnomer; they actually control the government of Lebanon. It means that Iran controls the government of Lebanon," Netanyahu said at a meeting with a delegation of foreign ambassadors to the UN. It was the first time he publicly commented on the formation of the Lebanese government. Netanyahu's statement comes after media reported on Saturday that the Iranian Armed Forces had successfully tested the country's new cruise missile with a range of over 1,350 kilometres (about 840 miles) on the occasion of celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel has been accusing Tehran of conducting a secret weapons program and trying to establish a military foothold in Syria, right on Israel's doorstep, with the Israeli armed forces carry out regular airstrikes against Iran's military targets in Syria. Sputnik Iraq to Adopt Bill Ending US, Foreign Adviser Presence in Country - Statement Sputnik News 23:04 03.02.2019(updated 01:13 04.02.2019) Iraqi lawmakers are mulling legislation to terminate the security agreement with the United States, according to the First Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Hassan Karim. "During the next session, the parliament will work on the bill that would include the end of the security agreement with the United States, as well as the end of the presence of the US and other foreign military trainers and advisers in Iraq", Kaabi said in a statement released on the parliament website. The statement comes amid US President Donald Trump's recent comment on the situation in the country. In particular, the US president said that Washington wants to keep its forces in Iraq so that the US could keep a close eye on Iran, "because Iran is a real problem," according to an excerpt from a CBS interview with Trump that will be aired later on Sunday. "One of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem", Trump said in the interview. However, the Iraqi deputy speaker went on to slam Trump's "provocative" statement, saying that it grossly violates Iraq's sovereignty and constitution. "All parties need, as soon as possible, to stop the US presence and not allow Iraq to be used as a springboard for aggression or surveillance of any state", Kaabi stressed. On Wednesday, Trump slammed US intelligence as "extremely passive and naive", claiming that Tehran is destabilizing the Middle East and continuing to test banned missiles. In particular, Trump mentioned an Iran missile test last week and made an oblique reference to Tehran "coming very close to the edge". The Trump administration reinstated sanctions against Iran following the former's withdrawal from the 2015 JCPOA treaty in May. The first round of sanctions came into force in August, followed by a second round on November 5, 2018. All other parties to the nuclear deal have disagreed with the US decision. A December 2018 announcement by Trump that all US troops deployed in Syria would be coming home and reports of plans to cut the US Afghan deployment in half has prompted efforts by Trump's inner circle and Republicans in Congress to delay any withdrawal. Members of Congress and Trump's White House advisers have attempted to walk back the presidential announcement that some 2,000 US troops in Syria would come home within a month, claiming that Daesh is not yet defeated. According to the CBS interview, some of the forces moving out of Syria will go to Iraq, where they can monitor any resurgence of Daesh or other militant group and "ultimately some will be coming home", Trump said. However, the Iraqi Defense Ministry told Sputnik in January that Baghdad did not need foreign troops on its territory and assured that US forces currently deployed in the country are there in an advisory capacity only. The US-led international coalition in Syria conducts strikes against Daesh without the authorization of Damascus or the UN Security Council, while Baghdad has given its consent for operations on Iraqi territory. *Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries. Sputnik IRGC Warns Iran Will Have 'No Option' But to Grow Missile Might if Pressed by EU Sputnik News 14:24 03.02.2019(updated 14:45 03.02.2019) Earlier, Iran unveiled a new medium-range surface-to-surface cruise missile amid ongoing US and European concerns about Iran's arsenal of rockets and missile testing activity. Iran's policy of limiting the capabilities of its missile forces will change if European powers and others continue to try to force the country to leave itself defenceless, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps second-in-command Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami has warned, PressTV reports. "If the Europeans and others want to pursue the missile disarmament of the Islamic Republic of Iran based on a conspiracy, we will have no option but to resort to a strategic leap," Salami said. "Our defence strategy can change commensurate with the conditions and changes in the behaviour of the players," Salami added. According to the officer, Iran is maintaining a cap on the range and power of its missiles based on the country's defensive strategy, even though technically, it does not face any limitations in terms of improving its arsenal. "All that hear me today, come to terms with the new reality of Iran's missile might: there are no obstacles or technical limitations to us increasing [the missiles'] range," he said. In recent months, the US and several of its European allies, including France, have voiced concerns over Iran's arsenal of rockets and missile testing activity, threatening sanctions against the country and claiming that the testing activity violates the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal. Tehran has denied the claims, arguing that its missile testing activities are in full compliance with international treaties, including the nuclear deal, and stressing that Iran's possession of a "defensive" missile capability was "not negotiable." Last week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Paris would impose fresh sanctions against Tehran if talks over Iran's missile program don't pan out. Earlier, the US, which withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal last May, warned of new sanctions against Iran over its missile capabilities. Iran has a large arsenal of domestically developed conventional short-, medium- and long-range missile systems, including the Shahab and Zelzal series and the Fateh-110, among others. The US, the European Union, Saudi Arabia and Israel have argued that these weapons pose a threat to regional security. Sputnik Iran Warns Europe Not To Force 'Strategic Leap' On Missile Range February 03, 2019 A top official of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said Tehran would be forced to make a "strategic leap" in boosting the range of its missiles if Western countries try to limit them. "If the Europeans, or anyone else, want to conspire to disarm Iran of missiles, we will be forced to make a strategic leap," said the IRGC's deputy commander, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, on state-run Press TV on February 2. He warned "the Europeans and others" that they should "come to terms with the new reality of Iran's missile might: there are no obstacles or technical limitations to us increasing [their] range." Salami said Iran develops its missile technology according to a "defensive strategy." His statements came shortly after Iran announced the "successful test" of a new cruise missile that has a range of more than 1,350 kilometers. The test launch came on the anniversary of the Islamic republic's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Defense Minister Amir Hatami said the Hoveizeh missile -- which he called the "long arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran" -- had successfully hit its targets. The test's success could not be independently verified, and Iran frequently overstates the capabilities of its weaponry. One of the reasons that the United States gave for withdrawing from a landmark 2015 agreement that restricted Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief was that it did not prevent Iran from developing missiles that could threaten Israel. UN Security Council Resolution 2231, adopted in 2015, "calls upon" Tehran to refrain from developing nuclear-capable missiles for a period of eight years. Tehran says its missiles cannot carry nuclear warheads. Based on reporting by AFP and TASS Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-warns- europe-not-to-force-strategic-leap-on-missile -range/29748810.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. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) A lawmaker pushing to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility clarified a key point in the proposed bill Monday, specifically jail time for children in conflict with the law. Senator Richard Gordon, the bill's sponsor in the Senate, said that while he is seeking to lower the minimum age to 12 from the current 15, it does not mean youth offenders will be jailed. He said, "Wala pong ikukulong na bata. 'Yan ho ang batas na ating nilalabas. At wala pa ring nakulong, in fairness to the other laws wala pang nakulong at wala ring ikukulong ngayon... At kung hindi ka titino by 18, baka ipasok ka sa kulungan 'pag hindi ka tumino in the next six years, or ikaw ay napasok - pumatay ka, nanggahasa ka - ay pagdating ng oras, ikaw ay lilitisan, at pag ikaw ay 18 years old hindi ka tumino, ipapasok ka sa Muntinlupa." [Translation: No child will be jailed. That is the law we're pushing for. And, in fairness to the other laws, no child was jailed then and no child will be jailed now... And if you don't shape up by the time you are 18, you might be sent to jail or if you kill someone or commit rape, when time comes, you will be investigated, and if you are 18 and do not straighten yourself out, you will go to Muntinlupa.] Gordon also laid out some changes in the bill, including assigning truant officers for every 100 barangay residents to ensure children go to school, having additional guidance counselors, and to have children younger than 12 years old go through community-based counseling. Gordon also stressed the government's responsibility to safeguard children's welfare. Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III presented several examples of youth offenders who were not made accountable for their crimes. He said lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility would only mean the government and state could intervene in conflict situations involving children, adding the end result would be guidance and a chance to reform. Under the proposed law, youth offenders aged 12 to 17 will be sent to reformatory centers. Senator Risa Hontiveros expressed her dissenting vote, saying the new law is unnecessary as the current one has not been enforced to its maximum capacity. Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, the author of the current juvenile delinquency law, manifested that he has not received a copy of the proposed bill, but had he been given one, he would have opposed it as well. Meanwhile, a group of children from Tondo and a children's rights organization gave flowers to senators before plenary started Monday afternoon in hopes to convince them to vote against the lowering the criminal age of responsibility. Key school leaders, government officials and other personalities were also present during the plenary. Several groups opposing the measure also rallied outside Senate grounds. Iran to increase missile power if pressured into disarmament: IRGC commander Iran Press TV Sat Feb 2, 2019 10:36PM Deputy Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says if Western powers seek to limit Iran's missile power, the country will have no option but to expand its potentials in the strategically important field. Brigadier General Hossein Salami said late on Saturday that Iran's strategy to maintain a cap on its missile power will change if the European Union and others seek to force the country into disarmament. "If the Europeans and others want to pursue the missile disarmament of the Islamic Republic of Iran based on a conspiracy, we will have no option but to resort to a strategic leap," said Salami while speaking to the Iranian television. The commander said Iran had no technical limits to expand the range, the destructive power and the propulsion system of its missiles, adding that it was Tehran's policy to maintain a certain cap on the range of the missiles based on its own defensive strategy. Salami said, however, that cap could be removed if others decide to pressure Iran into dismantling its long-range missile arsenal. "Our defense strategy can change commensurate with the conditions and changes in the behavior of role-players," said the IRGC commander. The remarks come amid statements by certain EU governments about the need for Iran to avoid long-range missile tests in order for the country to enjoy the economic benefits of a nuclear agreement it signed in July 2015 with world powers. Iran has repeatedly dismissed the statements, saying its missile program is not up for negotiation as part of efforts to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an international deal on the country's nuclear activities which has suffered as a result of a decision last year by the United States to unilaterally withdraw from the agreement. Iran on Saturday unveiled a surface-to-surface missile with a range of more than 1,350 kilometers during celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution. The missile, named Hoveyzeh after a city in southwest Iran known for its resistance during the 1980s Iraqi war, was showcased at an exhibition of defense achievements in Tehran on Saturday. Iran seeks no permission to boost defense capabilities: Military official Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 01:59PM The senior spokesman of the Iranian Armed Forces has once again reiterated Iran's message of peace and friendship to the world, emphasizing that the country seeks no one's permission to boost its defense capabilities. "The Islamic Republic of Iran manufactures any equipment it requires to defend the country and will not ask for anybody's permission in this regard," Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi told IRNA on Sunday. He added that Iran has been enhancing its power since the victory of the Islamic Revolution some 40 years ago, and currently enjoys high capabilities in defense and security sectors. The military official emphasized that the Islamic Republic continues to play its role as a powerful country in both regional and global spheres. "The Islamic Republic of Iran's defense equipment, capabilities and power are meant for deterrence. However, if any country sought aggression ... against this land, it would be given such a strong response that it would regret what it has done," Shekarchi added. The military official said the Iranian Armed Forces are capable of "easily" defending the country's interests, adding, "We are saying to the whole world that Iran's message is not war and bloodshed but peace and friendship." Over the past years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing military equipment and hardware despite sanctions and economic pressures on the country. The Islamic Republic maintains that its military power poses no threat to other countries and is based on its military doctrine of deterrence. Back in December, Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said the Islamic Republic is currently one of the world's topmost missile powers despite being subject to severe sanctions during the past 40 years. "Today, Iran is among the world's topmost powers in building missiles, radars, armored vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)," the Iranian defense minister said, emphasizing that Iran's defense power is meant to send the message of peace and friendship to other nations. The Iranian defense chief's remarks came after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Iran is not seeking war with any country, but the Armed Forces should develop their capabilities to deter any potential aggressor. "That reality along with the need for the country to address the areas where it is lagging behind necessitates additional and extraordinary diligence in all spheres, including naval power," the Leader said. Iran's ministries of defense, roads to produce 44 marine vessels ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 3 February 2019 / 15:20 Tehran (ISNA) Iran's ministries of Defense and Roads and Urban Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding for producing 44 marine vessels in 9 brigades on Sunday, within implementation of a national plan to advance capacity of production and repair of marine vessels. Iran's Defense Minister, Brigadier General Amir Hatami and Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Mohammad Eslami signed the cooperation document in the building of defense ministry's Marine Industries Organization. During the meeting, General Hatami said, "The Memorandum of Understanding will lead to a great step in cutting our dependence on foreign countries in supplying operational demands of Ports and Maritime Organization by using our capacities in marine industries". Under the cooperation document, the Defense Ministry will manufacture various types of vessels with civil application, including rescue and relief vessels, dredging ships, fireboats, marine pollution skimmers, as well as passenger boats for promoting the tourism industry. The Memorandum of Understanding follows the purpose of advancing domestic capability, localizing the provision of needs in shipbuilding, creating job opportunities and reducing outflow of foreign currency, as well as avoiding marine accidents. End Item Iran unveils, successfully tests new long-range cruise missile 2 Feb, 2019 17:49 Tehran has showcased a new, long-range cruise missile, capable of covering over 1,350 kilometers. The munition has been already successfully tested, according to the country's military. The missile, dubbed Hoveyzeh, was shown to the general public for the very first time in Tehran on Saturday, amid celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. "This cruise missile needs a very short time for its preparedness and can fly at a low altitude," Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said while unveiling the munition. Apart from being revealed to the public at the presentation, a Hoveyzeh-type missile has already been successfully tested, flying 1,200km (745 miles) and accurately hitting a dummy target, the minister said. The missile has a range of over 1,350 kilometers, the official revealed, yet the exact maximum range of the brand new munition remains a mystery. The new munition belongs to the Soumar family of cruise missiles. The original Soumar missile was unveiled in 2015, and it is said to be capable of flying 700km. Iranian officials have reiterated that the ongoing buildup of missile capabilities is solely defensive in nature and used only to deter any potential adversaries from taking military action against the country. Tehran's missile program has drawn much ire in the West in the US in particular with Washington trying to link the issue with the Iranian nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). US President Donald Trump officially walked away from the multinational agreement last May, after repeatedly blasting it as the "worst deal ever." While Washington has begun re-imposing sanctions on Iran, the latter has vehemently refused to renegotiate anything or bring the missile program into the nuclear deal in any fashion. US Special Envoy Holds Talks With South Korean Official in Seoul - Reports Sputnik News 01:47 04.02.2019 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun held talks on Sunday with South Korean Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon, local media reported, citing the South Korean Foreign Ministry. Biegun arrived in Seoul earlier in the day to first meet with South Korea's envoy, while a meeting with North Korea's envoy Kim Hyok Chol will take place on Tuesday at the border village of Panmunjom or in Pyongyang, the Yonhap news agency reported. The talks between Biegun and Lee were focused on the upcoming summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to the media outlet. The US leader said Thursday that he would announce the date and location of the new summit with Kim next week. The meetings are expected to prepare grounds for the new summit between Trump and Kim that is expected to take place in late February. Pyongyang has been subject to numerous Washington's and UN sanctions over the past 10 years for its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The sanctions target North Korea's exports of natural resources, such as coal, imports of weapons, oil, petroleum products and any financial and material support that could contribute to the development of the country's missile or nuclear programs. Moreover, Tokyo has repeatedly claimed that it allegedly witnessed suspicious ship-to-ship transfers of goods to North Korea that may be coming in violation of the UN sanctions. However, the situation on the Korean Peninsula has improved since beginning of 2018 during which time North and South Korea concluded important agreements. In early January, Trump told reporters that the negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang were going well, adding that the parties were also discussing the venue for a second US-North Korea summit. The Korean nuclear stockpile will be the main focus of an upcoming summit. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said he had expected that more progress would be made along the way toward achieving the full denuclearization. The first historic talks between Trump and Kim took place in Singapore last June. The two leaders concluded an agreement stipulating that North Korea would make efforts to promote the complete denuclearization of the peninsula in exchange for the United States and South Korea freezing their military exercise and a potential lifting of US sanctions. Sputnik Maduro Rejects EU Ultimatum to Call Snap Elections in Venezuela - Reports Sputnik News 02:11 04.02.2019(updated 02:44 04.02.2019) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rejected on Sunday a call by the European Union to organize a snap presidential election after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country's interim head of state, AFP reported, citing an excerpt from an interview with Spanish broadcaster La Sexta. "We don't accept ultimatums from anyone [] It is as if I have told the European Union: I give them seven days to recognize the Republic of Catalonia or otherwise we are not going to take action", Maduro was quoted as saying in an interview given to the Salvados program, broadcast by the Spanish channel La Sexta. On January 26, European countries issued an ultimatum to the constitutionally-elected Venezuelan President Maduro, saying that he had eight days to organize an election or they would recognize opposition leader Guaido as the country's interim president. Maduro called Guaido a "US puppet" and accused Washington, which has stated that it has all options including the use of its military on the table to respond to the crisis, of organizing a coup in the South American country. Maduro told Sputnik, however, that he would welcome snap parliamentary elections in the country as this would be a "very good form of political discussion". On Saturday, Maduro confirmed his previously-voiced support for early elections to the opposition-controlled National Assembly. On January 23, Guaido, the head of the opposition-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly, proclaimed himself the country's interim president and was immediately recognized by the administration of US President Donald Trump as well as a number of other countries. Maduro has accused Guaido of acting at the instruction of Washington and claims that the Trump administration was plotting together with the opposition to overthrow him. On Monday, the US blocked all assets of Petroleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA) the state-owned oil firm, within its jurisdiction amid the ongoing political crisis. The US also imposed a ban on deals with the company, claiming that it was acting in the interests of the people of Venezuela. Maduro slammed the move as unlawful and accused Washington of attempts to "steal" the nation's resources. Earlier this week, the European parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the self-proclaimed president, Guaido, as the Venezuelan leader, urging EU member states to follow suit. However, EU Foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the right to recognize or not recognize Venezuelan leadership lies with individual member states of the bloc and not within the EU's administrative institutions. Russia, China, Mexico, Iran, Turkey and several other nations have consistently backed the current president, Nicolas Maduro. Maduro has repeatedly blamed Washington for attempting to stage a coup in the nation. Sputnik Pompeo to Take Part in Lima Group Ministerial Meeting on Venezuelan Crisis Sputnik News 02:58 04.02.2019(updated 03:10 04.02.2019) OTTAWA/MOSCOW (Sputnik) - According to the US Department of State, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will take part in Ottawa's event via video conferencing. "11:15 a.m. [16:15 GMT] Secretary Pompeo participates in the 10th Ministerial Meeting of Lima Group in Ottawa, Canada via video conference, from the Department of State", the Public Schedule of the US Department of State read. The top diplomats of the Lima Group will come together at the 10th ministerial meeting in Ottawa, Canada, on Monday to address the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on 28 January that the participants of an urgent Lima Group meeting would discuss what steps they could take "to support interim President Juan Guaido and the people of Venezuela". On 23 January, Guaido, the head of the Venezuelan opposition-led National Assembly, proclaimed himself the country's interim president. The move was supported by the United States and a number of other countries. The European Parliament also adopted a resolution recognizing Guaido as Venezuela's interim president. Russia, China, Mexico, Iran, Turkey and several other states backed constitutionally elected Maduro as Venezuela's only president. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has slammed Guaido's move calling him a "puppet" of Washington. Guaido announced Tuesday he would appoint diplomatic representatives in a number of countries, including the United States, Canada, Argentina, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Chile, Honduras, Peru, and the Lima Group. The countries listed by Guaido are all those recognizing him as the interim president of Venezuela. On Monday, the United States accepted Guaido's designation of Carlos Alfredo Vecchio as the charge d'affaires of the Venezuelan government in the United States. Opposition envoy to the Lima Group Julio Borges told Sputnik on Wednesday that the Lima Group of countries would like to establish contact with Russia and China to discuss the crisis in Venezuela. Borges also stressed that Venezuela's opposition is aware that the United States has a military option for the country but would like to see a peaceful transition of power. Borges' comments echoed Peruvian Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio statements on Wednesday. Popolizio said that the Lima Group does not support any military intervention in Venezuela. US President Donald Trump reiterated on Sunday that US military action in Venezuela was an option. US National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Friday the United States had no plans for an imminent military intervention in Venezuela, but all options remain on the table. Bolton added that the Trump administration had a range of economic and political measures for Venezuela. On 28 January, the United States blocked all of PDVSA's assets in its jurisdiction and imposed a ban on making deals with the company. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that by blocking PDVSA's assets, the United States was taking care of this company in the interests of the people of Venezuela and also protecting its own market. Incumbent Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro said in an interview to Sputnik this week that the United States had thrown its weight behind opposition leader Juan Guaido in the hope of getting its hands on Venezuelan oil reserves. The international community has taken action to settle the crisis. Particularly, the European Union initiated the establishment of a temporary International Contact group to normalize the situation and lead Venezuela to the presidential election. Moreover, Mexico and Uruguay have called an international conference on the Venezuelan crisis, while the Lima Group agreed to gather in Canada for discussing the situation. Sputnik Salvadorans Casting Votes for New President By VOA News February 03, 2019 Turnout is reported to be heavy as El Salvador votes for a new president. Polls leading up to Sunday's election favored the former mayor of San Salvador, Nayib Bukele. All four candidates are promising the same things to voters, including more economic opportunities and efforts to tackle gangs and crime. El Salvador has one of the world's highest murder rates. But Bukele, who has always considered himself to be a liberal, has been critical of the ruling leftists. He is running as a candidate with the newly-formed conservative Grand Alliance for National Unity. Two parties - the left-leaning FMLN and conservative ARENA party - have dominated Salvadoran politics since the end of the civil war in 1992. But neither party has been able to successfully neutralize gangs or revitalize the economy. Many voters say both traditional parties are corrupt and say they are more than ready for change. About a third of Salvadorans live in poverty and the country has a murder rate of 51 per 100,000 people. Many Salvadorans joined the Central American caravans to the U.S.-Mexican border to seek a better life in the United States. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote Sunday, the two front-runners will compete in a runoff in March. Trump: US Military Intervention in Venezuela 'an Option' By VOA News February 03, 2019 President Donald Trump said in comments broadcast Sunday that U.S. military intervention in Venezuela is "an option." Trump declined, in an interview with CBS News, to give any specifics of what might prompt him to order U.S. forces into the South American country as the U.S. and other countries ramp up pressure to oust President Nicolas Maduro and support opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's interim president. Trump said that "a number of months ago," he turned down Maduro's request to meet with him, because "we're very far along in the process...really democracy in action" for Guaido to assume power. The United States and other countries have recognized Guaido as the acting Venezuelan president. "I decided at the time, "no" because so many really horrible things have been happening in Venezuela when you look at that country," Trump said of possible talks with Maduro. "That was the wealthiest country of all in that part of the world which is a very important part of the world," Trump said in the interview that was taped Friday. "And now you look at the poverty and you look at the anguish and you look at the crime and you look at all of the things happening. So, I think the process is playing out - very, very big tremendous protests." Trump's comments came as the late Sunday deadline approached for an ultimatum from several European countries for Maduro's government to call new presidential elections. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Twitter he talked with Guaido, telling him "he has our full support to restore democracy." Kurz said that "should Maduro not respond to the EU's call for free & fair presidential elections, we will acknowledge and support Juan Guaido as President ad interim." Maduro has called for early National Assembly elections. Guaido, as head of Congress, has standing to claim he is the country's legitimate leader. Guaido was set to announce when humanitarian aid will be delivered to the crisis-ridden country. He told supporters Saturday the opposition would start collecting humanitarian aid in Brazil, Colombia and an unnamed Caribbean island and called on the military to allow the aid into the country. The United States has said it would transport aid to Venezuela at Guaido's request. But Maduro has refused to accept aid because he believes it opens the way for a U.S.-led military intervention. Defections Two military leaders and an ambassador defected Saturday from Maduro's government and instead recognized Guaido as the acting president. Early Saturday, General Francisco Yanez called on other members of the military to defect as he announced his own defection in a social media video. He rejected Maduro's "dictatorial" authority and recognized Guaido as the acting president. Major General Jorge Oropeza, former air force general commander, said later Saturday that he also recognized Guaido as acting president. Top military leaders have helped Maduro survive mass demonstrations in recent years by jailing activists and repressing opposition protestors. Guaido said in an interview with VOA Noticias he has offered "amnesty and guarantees" to high-ranking military officials as part of a broader effort to get "this usurpation to end." It remains unclear how much military support there is for Guaido. Jonathan Velasco, Venezuela's ambassador in Iraq, also joined the defectors Saturday. Supporters of opposition leader Guaido and President Maduro participated in rival demonstrations in Caracas Saturday. Thousands of Guaido's supporters, carrying flags and blowing horns, converged on a handful of locations around Caracas in support of his call for early elections and the establishment of a transitional government amid mounting global pressure for Maduro to step down. Guaido arrived at one of the rallies with his wife, Fabiana, and was quickly surrounded by exuberant supporters. Pro-Maduro demonstrators took to the streets on the western side of Caracas to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Bolivarian revolution that led to the rise of socialist Hugo Chavez, Maduro's deceased predecessor. Maduro addressed the crowd, the first time he has appeared at a public rally since August 4. Maduro called for parliamentary elections earlier than planned, repeated that he is the country's legitimate president and told the crowd, "I am very ashamed to see this group of opposition coup perpetrators" take orders from Washington. Colombia Kills Dissident Militant Leader By VOA News February 03, 2019 Colombia's military says it has killed a militant leader who refused to adhere to a peace accord his rebel group and the government agreed to in 2016. "Today in a seamless operation the criminal known as Rodrigo Cadete, one of the most feared figures of terrorism in our country, was neutralized," Colombian President Ivan Duque said Saturday. Cadete, who was 52, had been a leader of FARC, the country's former leftist guerilla group that has put down its arms and transformed into a political party, holding 10 seats in Congress. Defense Minister Guillermo Botero said nine other guerillas were killed and some other rebels were captured in the same operation in the Caqueta region that brought down Cadete. The minister said Cadete had been trying to unite other insurgents to form a new rebel group. Cadete participated in the yearslong peace negotiations that resulted in FARC giving up its arms, but he refused to accept the deal. Taliban, Afghan Opposition to Meet in Moscow; Kabul Not Attending By Ayaz Gul February 03, 2019 Taliban representatives will meet influential Afghan opposition leaders in Moscow for two days of peace building discussions starting Tuesday, but envoys from the Kabul government will not be in attendance. The controversial meeting, critics say, underscores a deepening political divide in Afghanistan and would further weaken President Ashraf Ghani's National Unity government. The so-called "intra-Afghan peace meeting" in Russia comes just days after the United States reported "significant" progress in ongoing talks with Taliban insurgents, though they also excluded the Afghan government. The Taliban refuses to engage in direct or indirect talks with the Ghani administration, branding them American "puppets." A Taliban spokesman confirmed to VOA Sunday a delegation from its Qatar-based "political office" will participate in the Moscow talks under the leadership of senior insurgent negotiator, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai. Russia has distanced itself from the upcoming meeting after criticism from the Afghan government. Critics suggested the disputed Afghan talks could have stemmed from Moscow's deepening rivalry with Washington. But the Russian embassy in Kabul has clarified in a statement that the meeting is being arranged by a Russia-based "Council of Afghans Society" to promote peace in Afghanistan. A 38-member Afghan political delegation, including several women, consists of prominent former leaders, presidential candidates, lawmakers, tribal elders, all of them highly critical of Ghani's beleaguered National Unity government. 'First step towards intra-Afghan peace talks' Former president, Hamid Karzai, former national security adviser, Haneef Atmar who is running against Ghani in the July presidential elections Mohammad Mohaqiq, former governors Mohammad Ismail Khan and Atta Mohammad Noor, who fought against the Soviets after their 1979 invasion of Afghanistan are part of the delegation. A joint statement issued on behalf of the Afghan delegation described Tuesday's meeting in Russia as "the first step towards intra-Afghan peace talks" in the peace process. "We hope that the Moscow meeting will prove helpful and complementary for encouraging a national and regional consensus and for supporting the U.S. efforts for Afghan peace," the statement noted. It urged the Afghan government to play "its constructive role" for achieving a sustainable peace in the country. "Holding such meetings will not help us in reaching peace at all, so it's little more than a political drama," Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebghat Ahmadi told reporters in Kabul when asked for his reaction to the Moscow talks. U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban negotiators are due to hold another round of peace talks in Doha on February 25. At the end of their six days of uninterrupted talks in the Qatari capital last month, Khalilzad and chief Taliban negotiator Stanekzai, in separate statements announced they are close to a deal on a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in exchange for assurances from the Taliban they will not to allow terrorists to use Afghan soil for future attacks against America and its allies. But Khalilzad has underscored the need for a comprehensive cease-fire and the Taliban's engagement in intra-Afghan national peace negotiations for further progress. Israel Starts Building New Wall Along Border With Gaza Strip Prime Minister Sputnik News 16:11 03.02.2019(updated 16:12 03.02.2019) TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - Israel has begun to construct a new "barrier" along the border with the Gaza Strip in order to prevent illegal crossings of Palestinian militants, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday at a Cabinet meeting. "Over the weekend we began building the above-ground barrier along the Gaza border. The barrier will prevent terrorists from Gaza from penetrating into our territory on the ground. I would also like to make it clear: if the quiet is not maintained in Gaza, we will make the decisions even in the elections period and will not hesitate to act," Netanyahu said, as quoted in the statement of his press service. According to the Jerusalem Post, the wall will replace metal mesh fencing that has proved vulnerable to regular breakthroughs. The new wall will be 65 kilometres long, made from galvanised steel and will be around six-metres-high. Tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians near the Gaza border have been mounting since late March, which marked the beginning of the Great March of Return. Over 220 Palestinians, including children and media workers, have been killed by Israeli troops since then. The Israeli military says one soldier was killed. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been ongoing for decades and is rooted in the Israeli government refusal to recognize Palestine as an independent state in the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel has imposed an over decade-long air, land and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip, justifying the decision by saying it needs to protect its citizens from terrorism. Sputnik Afghan Security Forces to Reject Transient Peace Deal With Taliban - President Sputnik News 16:36 03.02.2019(updated 16:37 03.02.2019) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has stressed that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces would reject a transient peace agreement with the Taliban movement, Khaama Press news agency reported on Sunday. The president said that any peace agreement should be permanent and clearly outline the role of the national defense and security forces, according to the Khaama Press news agency. The issue of reaching a peace deal between opposing forces in Afghanistan is being discussed in various formats, including one in Moscow. The first round of Moscow talks on Afghanistan was held in April 2017. The Russian capital hosted the most recent meeting in this format on November 9. The negotiations consisted of a closed-door meeting between the Afghanistan High Peace Council and the political office of the Taliban movement in Doha, which took part in this kind of meeting for the first time. In January, US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said in an interview with The New York Times that US and Taliban officials during talks in Doha had agreed in principle on the framework of an agreement "that would prevent Afghanistan from ever becoming a platform for international terrorist groups or individuals" in exchange for the withdrawal of US troops and a ceasefire. However, a spokesman for the Afghanistan High Peace Council, Sayed Ihsan Taheri, told Sputnik on Wednesday that there was no draft agreement on peace in Afghanistan at this point, it will be prepared after the start of direct negotiations between the Kabul government and the radical Taliban movement. Sputnik Trump Has No Plans on Withdrawal of US Troops From South Korea Sputnik News 17:56 03.02.2019 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he had not discussed the withdrawal of US troops from South Korea with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in light of the upcoming summit between the leaders. "Yeah, I mean we haven't talked about anything else. Maybe someday. I mean who knows. But you know it's very expensive to keep troops there. You do know that. We have 40,000 troops in South Korea, it's very expensive. But I have no plans, I've never even discussed removing them," Trump told the CBS broadcaster, when asked whether Washington plans to keep US troops in South Korea. The US president also noted that there was a "good chance" of achieving a deal with North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un at the upcoming second US-North Korea summit. "But there's also a very good chance that we will make a deal. I think he's also tired of going through what he's going through," Trump told CBS News. This comes after the US leader said on Thursday that he would announce the date and location of the new summit with Kim next week. Sputnik Trump Wants to Keep US Military Presence in Iraq to Monitor Iran Sputnik News 18:23 03.02.2019 During a surprise visit to Iraq late last year, President Donald Trump said that he has "no plans at all" to remove US troops from the Middle Eastern country, stressing his interest in wanting more soldiers deployed there from Syria. He announced the withdrawal of US forces from Syria in December 2018. In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, President Donald Trump specifically signalled his readiness to keep US troops in Iraq to keep an eagle eye on Iran. Referring to the huge sums of money that are being spent on the US military base in Iraq, Trump made clear that one of the reasons he wants to keep it is "to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem". He also described Iran as a "vicious country that kills many people". When asked if he meant that he wanted to launch a strike on Iran, Trump said, "No, because I want to be able to watch Iran." "All I want to do is be able to watch. We have an unbelievable and expensive military base built in Iraq. It's perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East rather than pulling up," he underscored. During the interview, Trump also defied previous US intelligence conclusions that Tehran actually complies with the Iran nuclear deal. "I disagree with them. I have intel people, but that doesn't mean I have to agree," Trump said. The interview came after his surprise visit to Iraq late last year during which he said he has no plans to withdraw US troops from Iraq, as military facilities there could be used to stage attacks on Daesh* militants. Earlier, the POTUS said that some US forces moving out of Syria will go to the base in Iraq and "ultimately some will be coming home." The US troops' withdrawal from Syria was announced by Trump in December 2018. Tensions between Iran and the US heightened after Washington reinstated a spate of economic sanctions against Tehran following Washington's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The White House's move to leave the JCPOA was not supported by other signatories to the deal China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the European Union which insisted that Iran was holding up its part of the deal. *Daesh (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries. Sputnik Venezuela's Money in Guaido's Hands: The Great Loser Will Be the People Sputnik News 22:36 03.02.2019(updated 22:37 03.02.2019) The transfer of Venezuela's foreign-held assets by the US and UK to the opposition has been a subject of great controversy, both inside and outside the Latin American country. Earlier, Washington announced the freezing of Venezuela's US-registered government accounts and their transfer to the hands of the country's opposition. Britain did the same with Venezuelan gold reserves, but do these decisions really help the Venezuelan people? So far, Juan Guaido, the self-proclaimed interim president, hasn't revealed his plans for the money that's been handed to him, although analysts believe his goal is to reinforce a "parallel" government structure. International analyst Arturo Lopez-Levy explained to Sputnik how these measures represent an adjustment to the situation in the Latin American nation, where "the great loser will be the Venezuelan people." According to the analyst, "nobody knows what he's going to do with that money. What is clear is that it won't be used to improve the country's economic situation. As long as the opposition doesn't have control over public order, it can be said that the absence of that money will aggravate the economic situation." Arturo Lopez-Levy believes that Guaido's "parallel structure" could benefit from this situation. He may use it to sustain his own affairs, paying foreign embassies, "or to lobby his position in the European Union, the US and some Latin American countries." However, Venezuela's economic situation could be adversely affected, worsening "the situation in the country." Lopez-Levy pointed out that many governments, instead of seeking dialogue, have illegally expressed support for Guaido, showing total disregard for international law. "It's one thing not to recognise the government of Nicolas Maduro, but it's quite another to recognise as the parallel structure of Guaido," he said. The professor appreciated the proposal of Uruguay and Mexico, whose governments have offered to mediate in order to achieve a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis. "I insist on the importance of the Uruguayan-Mexican proposal, which was made during the search for a negotiated solution. It will always be more difficult and it will take more time to find such a solution, but it doesn't include an ultimatum for any of the parties," Lopez-Levy explained. "For their part, the United States and the United Kingdom have stepped across line with the backing of the insurgents," the expert said. In the midst of this chaos, the analyst pointed out the position of regional institutions, such as the Organisation of American States (OAS), saying that instead of mitigating the conflict and promoting dialogue they have taken a hard line with regard to the crisis. "There're completely paralysed institutions, such as UNASUR (the Union of South American Nations, La Union de Naciones Suramericanas) or CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, La Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribenos), which no one remembers," Lopez-Levy said. Therefore, the position of the United States and Britain goes far beyond the non-recognition of the legality of the Maduro government, and "incites to add fuel to the fire and come over to the opposition's side". However, according to the professor, apparently "it's too late and no one can say for sure who is going to win in this conflict. But surely, the great loser will the Venezuelan people," Lopez-Levy concluded. The views and opinions expressed by the speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik. Sputnik Trump Says Wants To Keep U.S. Base In Iraq To 'Watch Iran' By RFE/RL February 03, 2019 President Donald Trump made clear in a television interview that he wants to reduce U.S. military engagement in Syria and Afghanistan, but said he was willing to keep a U.S. military base in Iraq so that Washington can keep a close eye on Iran. "I don't like endless wars," Trump said in a CBS Face the Nation interview on February 3, after he surprised U.S. lawmakers and international allies last month by announcing he was withdrawing all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. U.S. officials have said Trump was also in the "process of evaluating" whether to withdraw some troops from Afghanistan, where they have been since 2001. The moves were criticized by members of his Republican Party and caused concern among the U.S. allies. In the CBS interview, conducted on February 1, Trump said U.S. troops have been in Afghanistan for nearly 19 years, and, while the outcome of ongoing peace talks with the Afghan Taliban remains to be seen, "They want peace. They're tired. Everybody's tired." The president said he planned to keep a small contingent of troops in Afghanistan for "real intelligence" purposes and said U.S. forces would return to that country if necessary. "I'll leave intelligence there and if I see nests forming, I'll do something about it," he said. Critics have said that a vacuum left by the departure of U.S. troops from Syria, where they are assisting a Syrian Arab and Kurdish alliance fighting against fighters of the extremist group Islamic State (IS) and other forces, could result in a resurgence of the IS and Al-Qaeda in the war-torn country or neighboring Iraq. But Trump told CBS that the United States could respond to developments in Syria from neighboring Iraq. "We have very fast airplanes, we have very good cargo planes. We can come back very quickly, and I'm not leaving. We have a base in Iraq and the base is a fantastic edifice," he said. Trump said the United States had spent " a fortune on the Al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq, and added: "We might as well keep it. One of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem." The president added: "We're going to keep watching and we're going to keep seeing and if there's trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we're going to know it before they do." Trump said that the U.S. troops in Syria were starting to come home, as they push out the "final remainder of the [IS] caliphate." Afterward, "they will be going to our base in Iraq, and ultimately, some will be coming home," he added. Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been high since Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, and imposed crippling economic sanctions against Tehran last year. Trump has looked to increase pressure on Iran to bring about what his administration has called a "change in behavior" regarding its weapons programs and its "destabilizing" activities in the region, accusations Tehran denies. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-says -wants-to-keep-u-s-base-in-iraq-to-watch -iran-/29748919.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. CAR signs deal for 'new era' but France's specter looms Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 06:21AM The Central African Republic has taken a major step toward peace and stability with a landmark peace agreement signed between the government and 14 armed groups. The country has been wracked by the worst violence since 2013 when then president Francois Bozize was ousted, prompting reprisals from mostly Christian militias. More than one million people have been displaced, but peace talks started by the United Nations and the African Union in the Sudanese capital in Jan. 28 have kindled hopes of stability. "We have finalized a peace agreement in Khartoum, enabling the people of Central African Republic to embark on a path of reconciliation, agreement and development," the African Union's Commissioner for Peace and Security Smail Chergui said in a tweet on Saturday. While the terms of the peace deal were not immediately released, a government spokesman said the deal heralded a "new era" for the country and armed groups also expressed optimism. "We were able to agree on what is essential for the Central African: peace. We hope this agreement will bring back social cohesion to the country," Abakar Sabom, a spokesman for the FPRC, one of the main groups, said. However, similar deals in 2014, 2015 and 2017 have all failed, raising doubts about the success of the new deal. Complicating the situation in the mineral-rich country is meddling by its former colonial master, France, which decided to push the Muslim Seleka group out and install the anti-Balaka militia comprised of Christians. Some 11,000 UN peacekeepers are deployed to the country since 2014 within the framework of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). Despite the intervention of foreign troops, violence continues to wreak havoc in different provinces and armed groups remain in control in most parts of the country. Yemen's Houthis, ex-govt. representatives meet aboard UN ship Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 07:00AM A United Nations-appointed committee tasked with monitoring a ceasefire in the Yemeni city of Hudaydah has started its new meeting aboard a ship anchored off the key port city because representatives of forces running Yemen have refused to enter areas controlled by Saudi-led aggressor forces. The Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC), which is chaired by retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert, gathers members of Yemen's former regime and the country's popular Houthi Ansarullah movement. According to a UN statement, Cammaert boarded the vessel on Saturday and picked up representatives of the former regime at a rendezvous in the Red Sea before returning to Hudaydah to await Houthi envoys, who arrived later on Sunday. RCC meetings have so far been held on Houthi-held territory in Yemen. The latest meeting, which is the third, is now being held on the vessel because the Houthis have refused to attend any gathering on territory controlled by Saudi-led forces, who have invaded Yemen in support of the former regime. Saudi Arabia and some of its vassal states invaded Yemen four years ago to restore a Riyadh-aligned regime that had resigned and fled the country. The Houthis and their allies who have since been running state affairs have been defending the country against the Saudi-led invasion. The onslaught has killed tens of thousands of people and driven the entire Yemen close to the edge of famine. The RCC was formed on the back of an agreement reached under the auspices of the UN in Sweden last December. The breakthrough deal calls for a ceasefire in Hudaydah which has been under a Saudi-led siege the withdrawal of both Saudi-backed forces and the Yemeni defense units from the city, and the deployment of UN observers there. The warring sides disagree over who should control Hudaydah once combat forces withdraw. The Houthis also say the other side has repeatedly violated the truce agreement. A former regime official anonymously told AFP that the meeting on the ship would address the implementation of the Sweden agreement. Bolton calls on Venezuelan military, central bank to join Guaido Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 02:53PM US National Security Adviser John Bolton has called on the Venezuelan military and central bank to line up behind Juan Guaido, the self-proclaimed president of the South American country who is challenging the legal government of President Nicolas Maduro. Following the twitter diplomacy of his boss, President Donald Trump, Bolton wrote in multiple posts on Saturday that the troops and other government officials had better use Guaido's "amnesty" and join him camp. "Another Venezuelan military officer recognizes the legitimate President of VZ. The US calls on all military members to follow General Yanez's lead, and to protect the peaceful protestors supporting democracy," Bolton wrote after Yanez, an air force general, defected from Maduro's side. Guaido has been in talks with military officials in Venezuela to convince them to defect. He published an open letter this week, calling on the military to abandon Maduro and join him. After months of clashes over economic and political issues, Venezuela further plunged into crisis last month when Guaido, who served as the president of the national assembly of Venezuela, declared himself "interim" president and urged Maduro to resign. The Trump administration rushed to support the opposition leader and introduced sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry to give Guaido a boost. American officials refused to rule out military action and insisted that Washington kept "all options" on the table, including military intervention in the Latin American country. At one point, Bolton was photographed holding seemingly confidential notes that pointed to a possible deployment of 5,000 troops to Colombia. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said recently Trump had brought up the idea of military action in Venezuela in a conversation they had in January. "Well, you need to go slow on that, that could be problematic," Graham recalled telling Trump who replied, "Well, I'm surprised! You want to invade everybody." Bolton, however, played down speculations about possible US military plans in support of Guaido. Reiterating that all options were on the table, he told reporters on Friday that an intervention was not imminent and Washington looked forward to a peaceful transition of power. "The president said all options are on the table. But our objective is a peaceful transfer of power," Bolton said. Last Tuesday, Venezuela's Supreme Court imposed a travel ban and freeze on Guaido's bank accounts despite Washington's warning of "serious consequences." According to the Associated Press, Guaido had quietly traveled to Washington, Colombia and Brazil months ago to brief officials on his strategy of holding mass demonstrations in January, as Maduro prepared to officially begin his second six-year term in office. In a separate interview on Friday, Bolton warned Maduro that he should choose between retirement or possible imprisonment in the US military's notorious detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "I wish him [Maduro] a long, quiet retirement on a pretty beach far from Venezuela. And the sooner he takes advantage of that, the sooner he's likely to have a nice, quiet retirement on a pretty beach rather than being in some other beach area like Guantanamo," Bolton .told a radio interview on Friday. Trump says military action in Venezuela 'an option' Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 03:26PM US President Donald Trump says sending military forces to Venezuela is "an option," amid attempts by the US-backed opposition in the Latin American country to topple the democratically-elected government of President Nicolas Maduro. "Certainly, it's something that's on the - it's an option," Trump said in an interview with CBS to be broadcast on Sunday. The American head of state claimed he had turned down Maduro's request for meeting months ago, when Venezuela was the scene of protests over economic and political issues. "I've turned it down, because we're very far along in the process," he said in excerpts from the interview, adding, "So, I think the process is playing out - very, very big tremendous protests." Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have thronged the streets of Venezuela, holding rallies in support and against Maduro, who began his second six-year term in office last month. The clashes began after Juan Guaido, the opposition leader in the country's National Assembly, proclaimed himself as the "interim president" and urged Maduro to resign. The US rushed to support Guaido, announcing sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry. Russia: Help Venezuela, do not meddle Meanwhile, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said on Sunday that the international community must concentrate its efforts on helping to solve Venezuela's economic and social problems while refraining from any "destructive" interference. "The international community's goal should be to help (Venezuela solve its socio-economic problems), without destructive meddling from beyond its borders," Alexander Shchetinin, head of the Foreign Ministry's Latin American Department, was cited by Interfax as saying. 'No time for dialogue' US Vice President Mike Pence doubled down on Washington's support for Guaido on Saturday, saying the Trump administration will forgo "dialogue" and consider "all options" to help him against Maduro. "The United States will continue to assert all diplomatic pressure to bring about a peaceful transition to democracy, but those looking on should know this: All options are on the table," Pence told a crowd of Venezuelans in the state of Florida on Friday. Trump's remarks about possible intervention in Venezuela come after John Bolton, his hawkish national security adviser, played down speculations about military action in support of Guaido. Reiterating that all options were on the table, Bolton told reporters on Friday that an intervention was not imminent and Washington looked forward to a peaceful transition of power. Bolton has been linked with the possible deployment of around 5,000 US troops to Colombia amid the ongoing unrest in the neighboring Venezuela. He was photographed earlier this week holding confidential notes that pointed to such plans. Colombia, however, says it is unaware of an upcoming deployment and doesn't know the "importance and reason" for Bolton's note. Back in fall, the US Navy sent its hospital ship USNS Comfort to the Colombian port of Riohacha on a declared mission to treat Venezuelan migrants. The ship has since returned to its base. Israel begins construction of new barrier along Gaza border Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 03:40PM The Israeli ministry for military affairs says it has begun the construction of an upgraded barrier along the Gaza Strip amid mounting tensions near the fence separating the impoverished Palestinian enclave from the occupied territories. "On Thursday, we began working on the final component of the barrier project along the Gaza border," Brigadier-General Eran Ophir, head of the Israeli military's fence-building administration, said on Sunday. The official said the barrier was "unique." He claimed the project was aimed at dealing with "threats from the Gaza Strip and will provide a maximum response to prevent entry" into the Israeli-occupied land. The barrier is set to stand six meters (20 feet) off the ground, and will be 65 kilometers long. It will be made from galvanized steel, and will weigh about 20,000 tons. The smart fence is the above-ground part of an underground barrier, which has a system of advanced sensors and monitoring devices to detect cross-border tunnels built by Gaza-based resistance fighters. "At the end of last week, we began the construction of the barrier on the Gaza border," Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister and minister for military affairs, told journalists in Hebrew before the weekly cabinet meeting. He added, "The barrier will prevent infiltration from Gaza into our territory. Those in Gaza have to understand that if they do not keep quiet, we will not hesitate to act." 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 were forcibly expelled from 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 eight 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." Senior Hadi loyalist dies of wounds sustained in Houthi drone strike Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 04:57PM A top-brass military commander loyal to Yemen's former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, has succumbed to wounds he sustained during a drone strike carried out by Yemeni forces against Saudi-paid militiamen at an air base in the country's southwestern province of Lahij last month. An informed source, requesting anonymity, said General Saleh Zindani, died of his wounds at a hospital in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday evening. The slain pro-Hadi deputy chief of staff was among several senior Saudi-sponsored commanders who were injured on January 10, when Yemeni forces and Popular Committees fighters attacked Saudi Arabia's mercenaries at Anad Air Base with the new domestically-developed Qasef K2 (Striker K2) combat drone. Speaking during a press conference in the capital Sana'a on the same day, spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the unmanned aerial vehicle could strike its designated targets from 20 meters away. On January 13, Chief of Yemen's pro-Hadi military intelligence agency, Brigadier General Saleh Tamah, succumbed to injuries he had sustained in the same drone strike. 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 Ansarullah. 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. 'Taliban to meet Afghan opposition leaders in Moscow' Iran Press TV Sun Feb 3, 2019 07:23PM The Taliban will reportedly hold a meeting with some Afghan opposition leaders in Moscow, in a move likely to alienate the Afghan government, which is already excluded from talks between the militant group and the United States. Media reports said on Sunday that the two-day meeting in the Russian capital would start on Tuesday and would be attended by some of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's chief political rivals. Speaking to AFP, a "senior Taliban official" described the meeting as non-political and "arranged by some organizations based in Moscow." Late on Saturday, the Russian Embassy in Kabul issued a statement on behalf of the "Afghan Society of Russia," which said the group had invited "influential figures" to dialog in the President Hotel in Moscow. "We are ready to play our role in bringing peace to Afghanistan," the statement read. Among those who have confirmed their attendance is Haneef Atmar, who is running against Ghani in elections slated for July. Former warlord Atta Muhammad Noor and former Afghan President Hamid Karzai will also be attending the talks, according to AFP. Noor said the meeting was "a pathway toward strengthening the peace efforts led by the US" while Atmar described it as "an important step toward intra-Afghan peace talks." A government-appointed council tasked to engage the Taliban said it was not invited to Moscow. Amrullah Saleh, who is running as vice-president on Ghani's ticket in elections, voiced frustration in a post on his Facebook page. "It shows the peak of depression, and begging to terrorists," Saleh said, adding, "A smile to the enemy is a blow to the national spirit." Sebghat Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Afghan Foreign Ministry said, "At this moment, we do not see the need for such a meeting." "We know it will not help Afghanistan toward reaching peace at all, so it's little more than a political drama," he added. Ghani's government has already been frozen out of the talks between the US and the Taliban, including six days of discussions in Doha last month. The Taliban are scheduled to hold another round of peace talks with the US in Doha on February 25. The Taliban militant group said earlier that the administration of US President Donald Trump "appears" to be "serious" in its negotiations with the group on bringing an end to the war in the Asian country. President Ghani said in Kabul on Sunday that he would not accept a "temporary peace deal." "Even if I have one drop of blood in my body, I am not going to surrender to a temporary peace deal," he said. "Our goal is to have a peace that comes with dignity." Saudi air attacks kill, injure 205 Yemeni civilians in one month IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Feb 3, IRNA -- Saudi coalition air strikes killed or injured 205 Yemeni civilians in January, Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman said. According to the Yemeni media 'Al-Masirah', Brigadier General Yahya Saree said 88 civilians including 22 kids and 8 women were killed and 117 more were injured. He added that Saudi's crimes against Yemeni children uncover the false claims made by the international community and the so-called defenders of human rights. Referring to at least 30 air attacks every day in Yemen, he said Saudi coalition and its allies have violated the truce agreement 4,621 times since the ceasefire was declared. Sweden agreement does not need more observers, he said, adding that Yemeni forces have fully implemented the agreement and have so far been committed top it. The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2451 to support the Stockholm Agreement on deployment of a team in order to facilitate monitoring and implementing the Agreement and establishing truce in important Yemeni ports. The resolution mainly focuses on sending essential commodities to the Yemeni people, supporting the Stockholm Agreement, assigning the Secretary-General of the United Nations to implement it and observing the ceasefire. The fourth round of Yemen peace talks kicked off in Stockholm, Sweden on December 6 with the attendance of the UN special envoy Martin Griffith and the government representatives. It agreed to establish truce in Yemeni ports of al-Hudaydah, al-Salif and Ayn Issa. Saudi Arabia and its regional allies attacked Yemen in March 2015 to bring back to power the deposed president of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Since then, the invaders have committed horrible war crimes against Yemeni civilians. 9376**1771 USS South Dakota (SSN 790) Commissioned Navy News Service Story Number: NNS190202-06 Release Date: 2/2/2019 9:13:00 PM From Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic Public Affairs GROTON, Conn. (NNS) -- NEW LONDON, Conn. USS South Dakota (SSN 790) became the newest and 17th Virginia-class fast-attack submarine in the U.S. Navy during her commissioning ceremony at Naval Submarine Base New London, February 2, 2019. The U.S. Navy, with assistance from Mrs. Deanie Dempsey, the ship's sponsor, gave the command, "Man our ship and bring her to life!" spurring the crew into action and all ship's systems to be tested, including alarms, bells, radars, and scopes. USS South Dakota's Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Craig Litty, highlighted South Dakota's capability to dominate the undersea domain and enable military success in any engagement. "South Dakota was built to be on scene and unseen, forward deployed and ready to take the fight to our adversaries and protect our shores here," said Litty. "We do that through executing the seven mission areas that the United States Submarine Force, which focus primarily on anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare, but we are also very capable of reconnaissance operations and operations in littoral waters. As the commissioning crew, we've developed a special bond with the ship itself, which we will use to maximize our capability on our first deployment." Commander of the Submarine Forces, Vice Adm. Chas Richard underscored Litty's remarks. "South Dakota will soon enter the fleet with stealth, flexibility and endurance," said Richard, addressing the crew and attendees. "Traveling silently through the world's oceans undetected, collecting information, preparing for battle, and if necessary, striking from the deep swiftly without warning; answering the nation's call. To the south Dakota crew, as your motto attests, 'Under The Sea, We Rule' because the nation the navy and the Mt. Rushmore state are depending on you." Dempsey expressed what the moment and her role as the ship's sponsor means to her. "It is my privilege to be the sponsor of USS South Dakota," said Dempsey. "I've been here from the very beginning, watching both the boat and her crew grow and that gives me a tremendous sense of pride. When I said those words and the Sailors responded 'Aye, Aye, Ma'am!', it gave me goosebumps." The first South Dakota (ACR 9) a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser, laid down on 30 September 1902 by the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, and launched on 21 July 1904 was sponsored by Grace Herreid, daughter of Charles N. Herreid, Governor of South Dakota. The second South Dakota's (BB 57) keel was laid down on 5 July 1939, at Camden, New Jersey, by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She was launched on 7 June 1941, sponsored by Mrs. Harlan J. Bushfield, wife of the Governor of South Dakota. The lead ship of her class, South Dakota was considered to be the most efficient battleship designed under the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty during World War II. Though in their nineties, some of the Sailors from the submarine's namesake made it out to the event to see that the history and traditions were passed on to the next generation. "It is very impressive and I am very honored to be a part of this," said Richard Hackley, a seaman 1 st Class (Radar Striker) aboard the battleship USS South Dakota during World War II. "I've got fond memories from serving on South Dakota and to be included in the new South Dakota is quite an honor for me." South Dakota is the seventh of eight Block III Virginia-class submarines to be built. The Block III submarines are made with the new Virginia Payload Tubes designed to lower costs and increase missile-firing payload possibilities. The first 10 Block I and Block II Virginia-class submarines have 12 individual 21-inch diameter vertical launch tubes able to fire Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMS). The Block III submarines are built with two-larger 87-inch diameter tubes able to house six TLAMS each. "It is flattering to be chosen to a part of this tradition," said Sonar Technician (Submarines) 2nd Class Casey Strickland, a South Dakota Plankowner. "It sets us aside from other boat crews and I think it is an honor to be part of this." South Dakota is a flexible, multi-mission platform designed to carry out the seven core competencies of the submarine force: anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare; delivery of special operations forces; strike warfare; irregular warfare; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and mine warfare. The submarine is 377 feet long, has a 34-foot beam, and will be able to dive to depths greater than 800 feet and operate at speeds in excess of 25 knots submerged. It will operate for over 30 years without ever refueling. Construction on South Dakota began 2013; the submarine's keel was authenticated during a ceremony on April 4, 2016; and the submarine was christened during a ceremony Oct. 14, 2017. Trump's Intel Briefers Told Not to Contradict His Past Public Claims - Reports Sputnik News 14:17 03.02.2019(updated 14:18 03.02.2019) Top intelligence officials this week challenged Donald Trump in their assessment of foreign threats to US security, warning about the looming resurgence of Daesh* and North Korea's unwillingness to completely commit to denuclearisation, as well as praising Iran for its compliance with the nuclear deal. Donald Trump's intelligence briefers have trouble communicating their assessments to the US president, according to a report by Time magazine. US intelligence officials, who spoke out on the condition of anonymity, revealed that they had been told to avoid giving Trump information that is at odds with his public statements. Sources told the magazine that Trump usually reacts angrily when briefings contain information that conflict with his stances and beliefs. In the most recent example, the president hit out at heads of major intelligence agencies over their threat assessment of North Korea and Iran. Earlier this week, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told Congress that the Islamic Republic continues to comply with the 2015 nuclear deal and that it has effectively curbed its nuclear program. Donald Trump, who withdrew the US from the agreement last May, slammed the deal as "deeply flawed", insisting that it doesn't stop Iran from obtaining nuclear arms. In another statement in contradiction to Trump's stance, Coats suggested that North Korea was "unlikely" to dismantle its nuclear arsenal. "Our assessment is bolstered by our observations of some activity that is inconsistent with full denuclearisation," he added. Trump reportedly plans to hold a second meeting with Kim Jong-un in late February. Last year, they sat down at a landmark summit in Singapore where they committed to the "complete denuclearisation" of the Korean peninsula. Coats also told Congress that Daesh is likely to regroup and that Washington has to continue to "keep an eye" on it. Moreover, he said Daesh "returned to its guerrilla warfare roots while continuing to plot attacks and direct its supporters worldwide" and is "intent on resurging and still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria". In December, Donald Trump famously claimed that the United States defeated Daesh in Syria and announced the pull-out of US troops from the war-thorn country, saying Turkey and Syria could finish them off on their own. This announcement was followed by the resignation of Jim Mattis, who had served as US defence secretary since Trump was sworn into office. In his resignation letter, Mattis pointed to stark disagreements with Donald Trump over foreign policy, stirring speculation that the US withdrawal from Syria was the last straw that led to his departure from Pentagon. *Daesh (also known as ISIS/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries Sputnik If you are old enough to remember the hit comedy movie of 1980, Caddy Shack, then you will recall that a gopher infestation was threatening a golf course in Nebraska. The somewhat deranged groundskeeper was tasked with getting rid of the pest. His efforts at eradication include shooting, f Samsung Galaxy S9+ offline price slashed, new price starts from Rs. 57,900 News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Samsung Galaxy S9+ has received a price cut of Rs. 6,000 in the offline market. It's time for the upgraded flagship smartphones of 2019. And, Samsung has already announced that it will host the Unpacked event on February 20 in San Francisco to unveil the Galaxy S10 series smartphones. While the announcement of the next generation models in the Galaxy S series is just a few weeks from now, the company appears to have slashed the cost of the yesteryear model Galaxy S9+. A recent report by 91mobiles citing retail chain sources suggest that the Samsung Galaxy S9+ price has been slashed only in the offline market. Going by the same, all the three storage variants of the device have received new pricing. On the other hand, online retailers such as Flipkart and Amazon offer these phones at similar pricing to the customers. Samsung Galaxy S9+ price cut As per the report, all the variants of this Samsung smartphone have received a price cut of Rs. 6,000. The base variant with 64GB storage space is priced at Rs. 57,900 instead of Rs. 63,900, the mid-variant with 128GB storage space is priced at Rs. 61,900 instead of Rs. 67,900 and the high-end variant with 256GB storage space priced at Rs. 71,900 is now available for Rs. 65,900. The report does not reveal anything regarding the prices of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note9, the other flagship smartphones launched in 2018. Android Pie update Given that these are flagship smartphones from the company, Samsung rolled out the Android 9 Pie update topped with One UI for both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. Even the units of these phones in India received the update sometime recently bringing in many new features that we see in the other devices running this OS. Samsung Galaxy S10 variants At the Unpacked event later this month, Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ as usual. Also, it is likely to bring an affordable variant for the consumers and this one is allegedly dubbed Galaxy S10 Lite or Galaxy S10e. Besides these, we can also expect a 5G smartphone. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Samsung Galaxy A90 will feature a Popup selfie camera similar to the Vivo NEX News oi-Vivek Samsung Galaxy A90 is most likely to offer up to 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage Samsung recently launched the Samsung Galaxy M10 and the Samsung Galaxy M20, the first set of smartphones from the Korean smartphone giant with a notch display design. Similarly, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A90 is expected to come with a popup-selfie camera with a bezel-less display similar to the Vivo NEX. Samsung is catching up with other smartphone brands by launching different style notch-smartphones to compete against the Chinese OEMs. With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy A90, the company also foray in the popup camera territory. According to Ice Universe, the Samsung Galaxy A90 will feature no-notch, no-hole display, offering higher screen-to-body ratio compared to other Samsung smartphones. The Galaxy A series is a tier-2 smartphone series from Samsung, where the company implements many futuristic technologies like punch-hole display, four-camera setup, and much more. Why do I say that the A90 is perfect? The answer is that the Galaxy A90 will be Samsung's first pop-up front camera phone, so its screen is perfect, there is no Notch, no Hole. pic.twitter.com/j01WWtPzh8 Ice universe (@UniverseIce) February 2, 2019 Samsung Galaxy A90 specifications We haven't heard much about the Samsung Galaxy A90. According to speculations, the Samsung Galaxy A90 will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC, the first SoC from Qualcomm with 11nm lithography. The smartphone is also expected to offer up to 8 GB of RAM (on the high-end variant) with 128 GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot for additional storage expansion. Do note that, Vivo is all set to launch a new smartphone in India (Vivo V15 Pro), which is also expected to come with a popup selfie camera and an in-display fingerprint sensor at an affordable price tag. The Vivo V15 Pro will be the successor to the Vivo V11 Pro, the most affordable smartphone with an in-display fingerprint sensor. Considering the price of the Samsung Galaxy A9 (2019) (Rs 33,990), the Samsung Galaxy A90 is expected to cost anywhere between Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000. The Galaxy A90 will compete against the likes of the HonorView 20, OnePlus 6T, and other affordable flagship smartphones. 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 to launch a flagship smartphone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC: Confirmed News oi-Vivek Redmi is now an independent smartphone brand by Xiaomi Xiaomi's sub smartphone brand, Redmi is known for offering budget smartphones with best-in-class specifications, especially under Rs 20,000 price tag. The Redmi Note 7 is the first smartphone from the company after the separation of the Redmi brand from Xiaomi and is also the most affordable smartphone with a 48 MP camera. The Redmi Note 7 is enormously successful in China, and the company is also gearing up for the launch of the Redmi Note 7 in India in the coming days. Considering the amount of success the Redmi Note 7 has received, the company reportedly is all set to make a flagship Redmi smartphone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC. Inspired by HONOR? The Xiaomi Mi-series of smartphones does offer a humongous value for money. However, with the Redmi branding, the company will be able to provide similar features at a much lower price. This move seems to be inspired by HONOR's recent success with the entry-level, mid-tier, and flagship smartphones. Lu Weibing, General manager of Redmi smartphones, has officially confirmed that the company is indeed working on a flagship smartphone with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC. The upcoming flagship smartphone from Redmi is most likely to compete against the HONOR View20. As of now, there is no additional information on the upcoming flagship Redmi smartphone. Xiaomi is also most likely to launch the Xiaomi Mi 9 in the next few weeks, which will be the first smartphone from the company with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC. Compared to the Xiaomi Mi series flagship smartphones, the Redmi devices will have some corner cuts to reduce the overall cost of manufacturing. The flagship Redmi smartphone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC is expected to launch after a few weeks of the Xiaomi Mi 9 launch. The upcoming flagship Redmi smartphone is most likely to retail under $400 (Rs 25,000) for the base variant and is expected to offer features similar to the Poco F1, the most affordable smartphone in India with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC. 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 Realme U1 now available in offline markets with some exciting offers News oi-Rohit Arora Realme U1 will be available in 2500 stores in 30 cities eventually reaching 100 cities by March 2019 Realme U1 budget smartphone will now be available in the offline stores across India. The company shared the news today and announced some exciting offers for Indian consumers using Jio network. As per the information shared by Realme, customers will receive benefits worth Rs. 5,750, up to 4.2TB of Jio 4G data, only applicable to the Rs. 198 and Rs. 299 prepaid plans. Importantly, Realme U1 will start selling in 2,500 stores in 30 cities across India and will later be made available to 100 cities by March 2019. Realme U1 is essentially a selfie-centric smartphone and is powered by the AI master MediaTek Helio P70 processor. The smartphone boasts an AI 25MP front camera and features a dual-lens camera setup at back comprising of a 13 MP primary RGB sensor and a 2 MP depth sensor to create the bokeh effect. To recall, the device was launched in November last year with two variants; 3 GB RAM + 32 GB ROM at Rs. 11,999, and 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM priced at Rs. 14,499. It was made available online via Amazon.in in three colors, Fiery Gold, Ambitious Black and Brave Blue. Realme U1 is a feature-packed offering from the brand and was quite well-received by the budget smartphone buyers in India. Seeing the good response from consumers for its products, the brand even signed for an exclusive partnership with Reliance stores for offline sales of the products. Realme smartphones have been getting sold at more than 130 cities across 1300+ Reliance Digital & My Jio stores. Now with more stores joining in across the country, we expect Realme to sell a huge number of company's budget smartphones in India. The China-based handset maker recently announced that it would partner with 20,000 retail outlets in India to expand its offline sales to 150 cities in 2019. The offline retailers will be known as Real Partners and will have all the models of the smartphones introduced by the Chinese brand. The brand will start with top cities of the country, gradually moving towards 150 cities phase by phase. Realme smartphones rival the Redmi Note series from Xiaomi, Honor's budget smartphones and the recently launched Galaxy M10 and M20. As Samsung holds a strong brand position in the Indian offline market, it will be interesting to see which brand is preferred by Indian consumers. We would like to know from you that which brand and its respective products make for better purchase in the budget price-point. Let us know in comments. 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 How to download Google Plus data before it shuts down How To oi-Karan Sharma Google recently announced that it is going to shut down its Google Plus account from April 2. Here's how you can save your precious data. Last week search giant Google has officially announced that the company was shutting down the Google Plus accounts on April 2, 2019. Google suggests that consumers should download all their Google data before April because the company is going to delete everything from all the accounts. "On April 2nd, your Google+ account and any Google+ pages you created will be shut down and we will begin deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts," Google said in a blog post. However, the company assured that the photos and video will be backed up on Google photos automatically. From February 4 no one will be able to create a new account on Google Plus. Here's how you can download your Google+ data First, you need to log in to your Google+ account, then go to the 'Download your data' page from where the Google+ data will be pre-selected. Click on the Next button, then choose a file type. Then you have to choose how you want your data delivered to you. Then you need to click on Click 'Create archive'. Steps to download specific Google+ data Sign in to your Google+ account Go to the 'Download your data' page. Click the 'Down' arrow () next to the type of content you want to download - Google+ Stream etc. Click 'Select specific data'. Select what you want to download. Click OK. Click Next. Choose a type of file. Select how you want your data delivered. Click 'Create archive'. In case you have deleted your Google+ account of the page, the photos and videos will be still there in your Album Archive. You can still download this content from the above-given steps. "If you sign in to sites and apps using the Google+ Sign-In button, these buttons will stop working in the coming weeks but, in some cases, may be replaced by a Google Sign-In button. You'll still be able to sign in with your Google Account wherever you see Google Sign-In buttons," according to Google blog post. Source 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 Making a strong pitch for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday his government would stand with the children of "Maa Bharti" who have faced persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Addressing a rally in Vijaypur in Jammu region, PM Modi said "there are many children of Maa Bharti who have faced persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh...We will stand with those who were part of India at one time, but got separated from us" due to the Partition in 1947. Targeting the Congress for its opposition to the piece of legislation, he said that party, when it was in power, did not pay "attention of the pain of our brothers and sisters". "But we have brought the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill with a commitment... If they are discriminated on the basis of faith, the country will stand up with them," the prime minister said. He also referred to the Kartarpur Corridor issue to target the Congress. "The previous governments had the tendency to ignore the necessities and sentiments of the country. You are well aware of that. Take Kartarpur corridor issue for instance. Had they paid attention, then the land of Guru Nanak Dev would have been a part of India," PM Modi said, referring to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan where Sikhism founder Guru Nanak had settled. PM Modi addressed public meetings in Leh and Vijaypur in Jammu, after inaugurating several development projects in Jammu and Kashmir. He said the BJP-led government at the Centre was dedicated to the causes of Kashmiri Pandits, who had to abandon their homes in Kashmir Valley in the wake of spread of terrorism. "They had to leave their homeland, the pain that they had to undergo, I have never said this but their pain is within me too," PM Modi said. -PTI No rapid breakthrough in cargo turnover between Georgia and Russia - Grigory Karasin - GeorgianJournal 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. Photo: CTV News Environment Canada has now rescinded a special weather statement issued Monday morning for Metro Vancouver. The warning was for cold and blustery winds throughout the day, but Environment Canada has now ended that statement. But high winds are causing sailing difficulties with BC Ferries. Early morning sailings on The Queen of Capilano were halted due to high winds. The 5:20 a.m. and 6:20 a.m. departures from Snug Cove and the 5:50 a.m. departure from Horseshoe Bay were canceled as well as the 8:00 a.m. and 8:35 a.m. departing Snug Cove. BC Ferries says more sailings may also be canceled depending on the winds. If you're heading to the Island you're advised to check with BC Ferries for the latest sailing information. A Jan. 25 newspaper article reporting 26 nonfatal measles cases in Washington measured 37 percent more column inches than two pieces below, combined one covering a fatal shooting In Washington, the second a Portland lawyer firing at another lawyers office. Which is more dangerous, Americans wielding weapons or scientific knowledge that vaccines increase chronic illnesses long-term by 77 percent? Turns out the answer would have to be the guns and state of mind (plus physiology) of people using them, or vaccines themselves, since 108 kids have died from MMR vaccinations since 2005 according to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Compare that to no child dying from measles since 2005 (Vaxopedia, vaccine-friendly website). In all, 108 deaths from the latest MMR vaccines, Pro-Quad or whatever, is way more dangerous than measles itself. A person who is today working in an entry level production job at one of our facilities has the opportunity to achieve trade certifications or earn an Associates Degree at our expense to qualify for a job that could pay up to twice as much. Thats life-changing. We are fortunate to be able to support our employees in this way, but many smaller businesses are not able to do so. For people in entry or near-entry-level jobs, every dollar spent on school is a trade off: Perhaps put off new clothes for a child (one in six community college students is a single parent), or replacing an old, unreliable car. Its critical to keep tuition as low as possible. The Legislative session that has just convened offers a great opportunity for our state to provide more students recent high-school grads and older students alike a quick start or a second chance at a family wage job. We need the Legislature to back its kind words about the value of career and technical education with the action of appropriating enough funds to allow community colleges to keep tuition levels almost flat. Jim Merryman is president of OFD Foods, an Albany based maker of freeze-dried foods for the outdoors and the military under Mountain House and other brands. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Ohlhauser is a lifelong resident of Albany, and is working alongside Dave Pautsch of RE/MAX Integrity as a buyers broker for The Foundation Group. His knowledge of the area will allow him to guide his clients through the ever-changing market. He looks forward to working with first-time home buyers and those relocating to the area. Ohlhauser can be reached at 541-990-5603 or lee.ohlhauser@remax.net. LBCC Extended Learning wins OSU award Linn-Benton Community Colleges Extended Learning and Benton Center received the honor of Oregon State University Extension Cooperator for their collaboration and facilitation of the 2018 Better Bones and Balance instructor training event that served 35 participants. The Better Bones and Balance program was researched and developed by Oregon State, designed to reduce the rate of hip bone loss and risk of falls in aging populations. The program's exercises have proven to have a positive impact on research-based balance and strength exercises. Last September, Extended Learning and OSU Extension organized the annual instructor training event at LBCCs Benton Center. Participants came from throughout Oregon to become certified as a new instructor or recertify as an existing instructor. Photo: The Canadian Press UPDATE: 4:40 p.m. Canadian Pacific has identified three crew members who were killed when a freight train derailed early today near the Alberta-British Columbia boundary. The railway says in a statement that conductor Dylan Paradis, engineer Andrew Dockrell and trainee Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer were killed in the derailment. President and CEO Keith Creel says he learned of the deaths of the three men with "deep sadness" and the tragedy will have a long-lasting impact on CP's family of railroaders. Creel says a westbound grain train was making its way toward Vancouver at around 1 a.m. when it derailed just east of Field, B.C.. He says the railway remains focused on employee safety and the safety of its first responders, in addition to working closely with the families of the deceased. Creel adds that the incident is under investigation and the railway will not speculate on its cause as it "owes it to those involved to get it right." UPDATE: 2:50 p.m. Greg Edwards with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference says the workers killed in a major derailment near Field had just taken over the train east of the town. "Everybody I've spoken with both within the company and within the union is just devastated by this," he said. "It's just terrible, terrible news." Two of the men were found outside and the other was still inside. "I got the call in the middle of the night, and it's one of the worst calls that you want to take." The union said the crew a locomotive engineer, a conductor and a conductor trainee was based out of Calgary. Edwards said the engineer had more than two decades of railroad experience. The train had three locomotives and 112 cars and was carrying grain to Vancouver. Edwards said it would be tough for equipment and recovery crews to get access to the ravine near the Spiral Tunnels where the accident happened. The tunnels were built 110 years ago to help trains traverse the treacherously steep Kicking Horse Pass. UPDATE 11:02 a.m. A British Columbia Environment Ministry spokesman says between 30 and 40 grain cars left the tracks in the derailment. David Karn said the ministry has been told the train's locomotive is in the Kicking Horse River. He said the situation is being monitored and there is no immediate word of fuel or other contaminants entering the water. Three crew members died in the crash Salem Woodrow said in a statement Monday that there will be a full investigation to determine what caused the derailment. "It is with great sadness that CP reports that three crew members on board were fatally injured in the incident. Our condolences and prayers go out to their families, friends and colleagues." UPDATE: 9 a.m. Three crew members of a Canadian Pacific freight train have died in a derailment near the Alberta-British Columbia boundary. A spokesman with the railway confirms the crew members died when the westbound freight jumped the tracks at about 1 a.m. MT near Field, B.C. Salem Woodrow says there will be a full investigation to determine what caused the derailment. British Columbia's Environment Ministry confirms between 30 and 40 grain cars are off the tracks David Karn also says the ministry has been told the locomotive is in the Kicking Horse River. He says the situation is being monitored and there is no immediate word of fuel or other contaminants entering the water. The Canadian Press UPDATE: 8:45 a.m. Three people are now confirmed dead after the CP Rail derailment near Field British Columbia. Transportation Safety crews have been dispatched to investigate. The train left the tracks sometime Sunday night. ORIGINAL: 7:20 a.m. Photo: Twitter A Transportation Safety Board of Canada team has been sent to Field, British Columbia to investigate a train derailment that happened overnight. The TSB says a Canadian Pacific train derailed near the community and that a crew has been sent to gather information and assess the situation. Fort Wayne, IN (46808) Today Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 47F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 47F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Have any questions? Please give us a call at 907-352-2250 If Northam resigns, it would mark a new and unexpected twist in Virginia's long and troubled history with race. Northam would be replaced by Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, a black Democrat who is the great-great-great-grandson of a slave, and who held a copy of the paper that in 1798 freed his ancestor, tucked into his coat pocket, on the day he was inaugurated. Fairfax, a 39-year-old attorney first elected in 2017, may be best known for his silent protests, stepping off his spot on the dais in the state Senate during the annual tribute to Confederate leaders. "It's almost a historic benediction," said Cornell William Brooks, a longtime Virginian, professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and former CEO of the NAACP. "To have someone who is a descendent of the people who were maligned and demeaned and dehumanized by those pictures ascend to the office would be a historic benediction - good words at the end of a very bad story." Brooks was one of many black leaders across the state calling on Northam to resign. Others included black lawmakers, activists and leaders of several NAACP chapters. Lawmakers are working on the state budget in a somber climate of rumors and dismay. Northam is liked by Republicans and Democrats and had compiled a glittering list of accomplishments in his first year in office, but sentiment around the legislature was almost universal that he should step down. Northam initially apologized Friday night after the racist image surfaced on the conservative website Big League Politics but reversed himself Saturday at a nationally televised news conference and insisted he was not in the photo. After the news conference, in which he disclosed another incident in which he wore blackface to imitate Michael Jackson at a dance contest in 1984, Democrats in the General Assembly and in Virginia's congressional delegation intensified their calls for him to resign. Northam stood his ground in calls to longtime friends and colleagues Saturday night, saying he intended to stay and fight, according to three people who received those calls. Among them was state Sen. Richard Stuart, R, a close friend and fishing buddy. Stuart did not want to disclose what the governor told him. "But I can tell you I firmly believe that he is going to do everything he can to clear his name and do what he thinks is right in the face of this. I don't think he's going anywhere," Stuart said. But it isn't clear how many more vacancies Trump will get a chance to fill because openings turn on judges retiring, resigning or otherwise leaving. Judges nominated by Democratic presidents may be less inclined to step down if it means giving Trump an opportunity to name their successor. "Especially given the intensity of opposition in many quarters to President Trump, it's even less likely than usual that you would expect voluntary retirements from Democratic appointees," said conservative legal commentator Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Remaking the appeals courts is a long game. "It takes more than two years of strong appointments to begin to transform the courts," Whelan said. There is no shortage of jurists who could leave or create an opening by shifting to a lighter workload known as "senior status." At least 60 of the 167 circuit judges are eligible because of a combination of their age - at least 65 - and years of service on the bench, according to Wheeler's analysis of Federal Judicial Center data. But the decision to step down is highly personal and hard to predict. The party of the president in power may be one among many considerations. Photo: CTV News The deputy mayor of a Norwegian town says she may be coming to Saskatchewan to discuss a possible truce in an ongoing battle over the world's tallest moose sculpture. Linda Otnes Henriksen says she has been following efforts by people in Moose Jaw to raise funds to boost the height of the community's beloved Mac the Moose. The rivalry started when it was revealed that her town of Stor-Elvdal had a silvery moose sculpture that was taller than Mac by 30 centimetres. Moose Jaw Mayor Fraser Tolmie told CKRM radio that he's open to conversations about twinning the communities and building relations over the sculptures, but says plans still involve making Mac taller. Otnes Henriksen says Stor-Elvdal doesn't have the kind of money to keep building bigger sculptures to compete with Moose Jaw. She suggests the Saskatchewan city raises Mac's height to be equal to the Norwegian moose. "Maybe, you know, we could get out of this by making the moose the same height," Otnes Henriksen told The Canadian Press in an interview on Sunday. Last week, Moosehead Breweries donated $25,000 towards making Mac the tallest moose statue in the world again. A GoFundMe campaign has also been launched to support the campaign, with the goal of raising $50,000. Some ideas proposed for raising the statue's height include bigger antlers, although adding an RCMP Stetson hat or stilettos have also been proposed. Mac weighs 9,000 kilograms and has been welcoming visitors from his perch along the Trans-Canada Highway since 1984. Tolmie says the people of Canada want to have the bigger moose. "To be quite honest with you, I think our plans are still going to be that we're going to be making Mac the tallest moose and regaining that crown," the Moose Jaw mayor told CKRM on the weekend. The rivalry has gained international media attention, including a segment on "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert. A Stafford man was charged with multiple offenses after driving a car into a pool and residence not far from his own home in southern Stafford In September, Stjepanovic filed a motion for the release of seized and restrained money needed to support his family.In an affidavit filed with the motion, Stjepanovic said he also needed the funds to pay a lawyer to represent him in the federal criminal case, as well as before the Virginia Board of Medicine and at an unspecified juvenile and domestic relations court over arrears in paying child support. U.S. Magistrate Judge David J. Novak denied the motion in November, but said it could be renewed when Stjepanovic got a new lawyer. Stjepanovic could not be reached for comment. He reported in his affidavit that he came to the U.S. as a refugee from Yugoslavia in 1999 and became a U.S. citizen in 2004. Court records show that he is free pending further proceedings. The next step would be an indictment and then an arraignment. His lawyers said he will plead not guilty but could not comment further. In an unrelated case involving a physician, Dr. Claudine H. DuPont, 44, a Fredericksburg-area podiatrist, pleaded guilty last month to fraudulently obtaining controlled substances including hydromorphone, tramadol and alprazolam. We welcome your letters and columns! Use the button below to send us your thoughts. Remember: Letters must include your real name, town of residence and daytime phone number, which we use for verification. We do not accept anonymous letters or letters written under a pseudonym. Letters should be no more than about 400 words. Those of no more than 200 to 300 words are more likely to be published. Submit Transworld Business Advisors Celebrates Four Decades of Service Company Grows into Award-Winning Global Franchise Industry Leader WEST PALM BEACH, FL - February 04, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ - Transworld Business Advisors, the world's leading business brokerage and development franchise, celebrates its 40th year of service to the domestic and global business community in 2019, a landmark anniversary for the company. Transworld Business Advisors was formed by Sidney Bleich in the early 1980s. In fact, Transworld's business brokerage entity was officially formed at that time from its original form as a real estate company. An acute and astute businessman, Bleich was a dominant, guiding force behind the company's early success, and after his passing in 1991, Don and Bonnie Parish assumed ownership, bringing with them team members from a previous brokerage firm. A new era was about to begin. Andy Cagnetta, Chief Executive Officer of Transworld Business Advisors, walked into the company as a customer in 1994 and was ultimately recruited by the new co-owners. In the mid-90s, he acquired the 18-year-old company. "At that time, we had a staff of only seven and 35 businesses for sale, we shared one computer, and we thought we were cutting edge because we had a fax machine," said Cagnetta. The CEO recalls that client contact was once limited to classified ads, landline telephones, and pagers, but that has since been replaced by email, online advertising, and social media - forums that increase the company's ability to remain in constant contact with sellers, buyers, advisors, and partners. "Web advertising and social media bring in clients from around the world," said Cagnetta. "I believe today's technology makes buyers much more knowledgeable about their ability to compare deals and make informed decisions about purchases." Throughout Transworld's four decades of business, multiple companies have had to rebrand and literally recreate themselves in order to stay ahead of the competition in a technology-driven environment. "Despite those changes, the trend of a seller's market has been fairly consistent," said Cagnetta. "The few exceptions were the months following 9/11 and the economic recession in 2009 and 2010." The Transworld business model has been consistent year after year because its approach is unwavering. "We rely on good people to make good deals. That's the bottom line, and that's why we are successful," commented Cory Hibbard, Director of Operations for Transworld Business Advisors. In 1999, $3.5 million in Capco Funds were awarded from a company that eventually became Newtek Financial. Transworld became one of its most successful investments in Florida. That capital sparked company growth, enabling 9 offices to open within the state, and in 2003, a group of internal shareholders formed to buy the equity held by Newtek. Among that original group are current associates Peter Borg, Tom Jones, Don Parrish, Carl Handwerker, Ray Copell, Randy Bring, and Marty Fishman. Seeking to further expand, the group considered franchising as a strategy, and in 2010, formed a joint venture with United Franchise Group to franchise the company brand worldwide. Through its relationship with United Franchise Group, Transworld has expanded its domestic and global footprint. Today, the company boasts of having 500 associates, 180 offices, and more than 4,000 listings. Brokers in 15 countries, and currently, offices in Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, France, Middle East, and New Zealand are in various stages of development. "I am honored to see the growth of our company through the years, and it all begins with our ability to recruit incredibly talented people who commit themselves each day toward professional excellence," said Bill Luce, President of Transworld Business Advisors. "This is an amazing company, and we look forward to great things in the future." Chief Executive Officer of United Franchise Group, Ray Titus, says that Transworld offers excellent training on growing a business through franchising and how to work closely with interested franchisees. "The company has the ability to match a person with the ideal business franchise based on experience, investment, and interests," he said. "We certainly congratulate Andy and his entire team for their extraordinary accomplishments and unparalleled dedication to their clients." Cagnetta and the entire Transworld Business Advisors team look toward the future with great anticipation. "With our expanded footprint and expertise in all aspects of marketing and advertising, we can deliver deals that work for both buyers and sellers," said Cagnetta. "This focus on goal congruency is why I believe we have so many serial entrepreneurs use us time and time again to help them expand their portfolios and to help them build wealth for themselves and their families." About Transworld Business Advisors Led by CEO, Andy Cagnetta, Transworld Business Advisors is a member of United Franchise Group, a successful group of franchise systems with 1,600 franchisees in 80 countries. Formerly Transworld Business Brokers, the company has 40 years of brokerage experience, and represents acquisition-minded corporations and individuals interested in owning their own company, or in franchising. With more than 500 brokers in nearly 200 franchised offices worldwide, Transworld offers the professional services that successfully bring buyers and sellers together. From business brokerage to mergers and acquisitions, Transworld Business Advisors are business sale specialists. For more information on buying or selling, visit www.tworld.com. About United Franchise Group Led by CEO Ray Titus, United Franchise Group is home to a variety of internationally recognized brands including Signarama, Fully Promoted, Experimax, Jon Smith Subs, Network Lead Exchange, Venture X, SuperGreen Solutions, Transworld Business Advisors, Accurate Franchising, and The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill. With more than three decades in the franchising industry, and 1,600 franchisees in 80 countries throughout the world, United Franchise Group offers unprecedented leadership and solid business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Media Contact: Jessica Chacoff Ink Link Marketing Voice: 305-631-2283 SOURCE Transworld Business Advisors ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus Fall in Love at First Bite with the Heart-Shaped Pizza from Jet's Pizza Jet's Pizza will be selling heart-shaped pizzas this Valentine's day STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. - Feb. 1, 2019 // PRNewswire // - Share a pizza your heart with a heart-shaped pizza from Jet's Pizza this Valentine's Day. On Thursday, February 14 all Jet's Pizza locations nationwide will be selling 6-slice heart-shaped pizzas while supplies last. The base price in all markets include premium mozzarella and one topping but can also be prepared as any of the specialty pizzas. Heart-shaped Jet's Bread and Cinnamon Stix are available for order as well. "We know we're going to put a smile on your loved one's face this Valentine's Day," says John Jetts, president and co-founder of Jet's Pizza. "You never know what you're going to get when you open up a box of chocolates, but when you order from Jet's pizza, you know you're going to be opening up a delicious, made-from-scratch, heart-shaped pizza." Jet's places a special emphasis on the quality of their ingredients and the way they prepare their pizzas to ensure that the products continue to live up to customers' expectations. Every morning dough is prepared by hand, premium mozzarella is grated, vegetables are hand cut and sauce is made with fresh vine-ripened tomatoes mixed with Jet's proprietary spice and herb blend. Jet's Pizza is better because it has to be. To order online or find a Jet's Pizza near you, visit www.jetspizza.com. Available for carry out or delivery. Jet's Pizza, based in Sterling Heights, Michigan, is one of the most rapidly expanding pizza franchises in the country. Since its founding in 1978, Jet's has grown to more than 400 stores in 20 states. The company ranked 13th in Pizza Today's 2018 list of the top 100 pizza companies in the U.S. by gross sales. Jet's America, Inc. 37501 Mound Road Sterling Heights, MI 48310 586.268.5870 www.jetspizza.com SOURCE Jets Pizza ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina)- The Greenville City Police Department says they arrested a suspect after one person was killed during a fatal shooting on Saturday on Jenkins Street. ANDERSON, SC (FOX CAROLINA) -The Anderson County Sheriff's Office says a man threw about 80 grams of meth out of the window while he was trying to flee from deputies during a traffic stop. During Super Bowl Sunday, 22 drivers were arrested for impaired driving at a DUI checkpoint in the west valley. Homicide detectives from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police were investigating a "suspicious death" in the northeast valley on Jan. 27, 2019. Nine children and one adult were killed in an accident on Interstate 65 in Butler County, Alabama, on Saturday, according to Butler County Coroner Wayne Garlock. Officials with St. Paul's Episcopal School have confirmed a heavier police presence on campus following a threat to a student. According to a school official, a student received a threatening phone call from another student. The call prompted school officials to request additional police patrols for Monday. Below is a release sent out by the school: Dear St. Pauls Community, I am writing to inform you of an unfolding situation on campus today. This morning, a student reported having received a phone call in which an unknown individual threatened the school. We immediately notified the Mobile Police Department, and they responded quickly. While there is no indication of any actual credible threat, detectives are conducting an investigation to determine the origin of the call. Unfortunately, such events are distressingly common; the Mobile Police Department receives multiple such calls about various schools each year. Out of an abundance of caution and because student safety is our first priority, we have asked for, and received, additional police presence on both campuses; that presence will remain until the investigation concludes and a resolution is reached. The senior leadership team has also met to ensure that we are adhering closely to our internal security protocols. Upon the recommendation of the police, the school will continue normal operations; the campus is calm and learning is ongoing. We will keep you posted as the investigation continues and upon its resolution. Sincerely, N. Blair Fisher Head of School If your portfolio includes mining stocks in general, or Vale SA (NYSE:VALE) specifically, you may be rethinking it in the wake of the Jan. 25 Brumadinho dam disaster, which spilled 3 million gallons of contaminated mining waste, destroyed a town, and killed at least 65 people in Brazil. (The death toll is uncertain, but hundreds are still missing.) As the largest iron ore extractor in the world, Vale has many, many similar tailings dams at its mines across Brazil, and this one -- like the others -- had been inspected and certified as safe. In this segment of the MarketFoolery podcast, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool director of small-cap research Bill Mann address a listener's question: Is this going to lead to serious long-term troubles for Vale? A full transcript follows the video. Check out the latest earnings call transcripts for companies we cover. This video was recorded on Jan. 29, 2019. Chris Hill: Before I get to the email, this requires some setup. Some listeners may have seen the news out of Brazil from last weekend. A terrible story of a mining dam bursting, which triggered a deadly mudslide. Somewhere in the neighborhood of at least 60 people confirmed dead. Bill Mann: Three hundred missing. Hill: Hundreds more missing, probably presumed dead at this point. It's a tragic story. One of our listeners, looking at it through the lens of investing -- and we've seen this play out before -- an email from David, who asked, "I was wondering how the dam burst in Brazil affects Vale in the long term." Vale, the company attached to this. "BP's stock still hasn't recovered from its pre-2010 disaster levels. Does this dam spell doom for the world's largest iron ore company?" Vale, probably not well known to a lot of listeners just because we don't really focus on commodity stocks all that much. Mann: No, but touch something metal to your left or your right, and most likely Vale produced some of the metal that's in it. It's a foundationally important company to the global economy. It's very, very important to the Brazilian economy. And therein lies a little bit of the rub. Vale has been sued by the Brazilian government for a 2015 disaster that happened about 80 miles up the road from this dam, in which 10 people were killed. The government sued for $5.3 billion U.S. dollars. That was a much smaller accident. After that accident, Vale and all of the Brazilian miners went through a process of verifying the safety of all of their dams. According to the Brazilian National Water Agency, there are 600 -- this is called a tailings dam, it's part of the mining process. There are 600 of them in Brazil, and 144 of them are big enough to cause catastrophic environmental damage. The fact is, they've gone through the process to verify these dams. In fact, this dam was 28 stories high. To me, that's an interesting balance between -- there's no such thing as a story as a precise amount of measurement, but there was 28 of them. It's a huge dam. The dam itself basically is made out of mud. What happened, they believe, is that the mud literally liquefied in place. So it looks like it's in good shape until suddenly, it fails. There are 144 dams just like this. Vale owns a large number of them. I'm not saying that this is a no-touch company, but I am saying that they don't really have the ability to either replace the dams or to say for sure that these dams are safe. I'm relatively sure they had $5.3 billion worth of interest last time in making sure this didn't happen again, and it happened again. Hill: It seems like, if you're an owner of this stock, you might want to start looking at what's on your watchlist. Mann: Yeah. It's interesting, because in the same way that the state of New York is so careful with its Wall Street firms -- Wall Street is worth 25% of the tax base of New York State, there's only so much they're going to do to punish them. We look back at the financial crisis, the answer was basically nothing. Brazil is in the same boat. Brazil gets a huge amount of its tax base from its largest mining companies, in particular Vale. So, I don't think that Brazil will do anything that is existentially threatening to Vale. They just can't. Hill: You think back to the recent scandal involving Volkswagen and getting around the emissions test, all that sort of thing. Somewhat analogous in that, at that moment in time, you can look at that and say, "Boy, they're really going to get punished." And then, you start to look at how crucial Volkswagen and the automotive industry is to the German economy, and then you go, "Oh, OK. They can't. That's a really bad idea, to punish Volkswagen to the point where it goes out of business." Mann: Right. They can't leave a crater where Volkswagen was. The other thing for Vale that's interesting is, there's a brand-new government in Brazil, and he's a populist. I think you could see a scenario where he comes down really, really hard on them in ways that are visible, like, "I'm here to protect the people of Brazil," but in invisible ways, Vale will ultimately be allowed to continue to exist. Now, the question that's being asked is, "What do I do with the equity?" And I think you've got to see what the lawsuits look like before you touch. Just because they lost 25% doesn't mean that it's not going to get much, much worse for them. The rock was about the size of a school bus. Thats a pebble compared to a meteor believed to have exploded over remote Siberia in 1908, flattening hundreds of square miles of forests. Researchers estimate that fireball equaled 185 Hiroshima bombs and heated the air to near 50,000 degrees. If the Tunguska meteor had arrived, say, three hours later, it could have obliterated Moscow, said Lindley Johnson, whose title with NASA is planetary defense officer. Yes, it's the right time No, the state should have waited a while longer The economy should have been reopened a long time ago Vote View Results According to security researchers, several beauty camera apps on Google Play are capable of accessing remote ad configuration servers that can be used for malicious purposes. Whats not surprising is that some of these apps have millions of downloads given the popularity. A large number of the download counts originated from Asia, particularly in India. A user cant suspect any one of these apps immediately after downloading until after they decide to delete the app. These apps usually create a shortcut after being launched. However, it will hide its icon from the application list, making it more difficult for users to uninstall the app since it is hidden. Furthermore, these apps use packers to prevent them from being analyzed. Not stopping there, these apps push several full-screen ads when users unlock their devices, including malicious ads (such as fraudulent content and pornography) that will pop up via the users browser. The analysis found that a paid pornography player detected as AndroidOS_PornPlayer.UHRXA that was downloaded when clicking the pop-up. None of these apps give any indication that they are the ones behind the ads, thus users might find it difficult to determine where theyre coming from. Some of these apps redirect to phishing websites that ask the user for personal information, such as addresses and phone numbers. The app will download an ad configuration from the remote servers and external URLs, which will analyze the target device to determine the advertisements behavior. The background service is then scheduled to parse the configuration and call the device browser. Further investigation also led to another batch of photo filter-related apps that share similar behavior on Google Play. These apps seemingly allow users to beautify their pictures by uploading them to the designated server. However, instead of getting a final result with the edited photo, the user gets a picture with a fake update prompt in nine different languages. All the photos uploaded are collected by the apps and possibly use them for malicious purposes. However, Google has already taken down these apps. Source There have not been the horrible mishaps described by those against this freedom. It is a mystery to me how it has not already become law here in our state, enlightened as it has been on other issues facing her citizens. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) President Rodrigo Duterte is dismayed at lawmakers over the delay in the passage of the proposed 2019 budget, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said Monday. "I am sure he is dismayed at the legislators' inaction which will delay his infrastructure projects," Medialdea said in a text message. Malacanang, however, remains confident that Congress will pass the budget this week. "We're still confident that it will be passed," Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a media briefing in Malacanang. "We eagerly await the passage of that bill. They known that it will bring adverse consequences if we have a reenacted budget." Senate Finance Committee Chair Loren Legarda also said she and House Appropriations Committee Chair Rolando Andaya Jr.have agreed to hold the last bicameral conference committee meeting to finalize the 2019 budget on Wednesday. During the Senate plenary session, Legarda said they can finalize the budget and have it ready for ratification by Friday at the latest. Meanwhile, House Deputy Speaker Prospero Pichay is also positive that the national budget will be ratified before Congress goes on break. "I'm very confident na matatapos 'yan by Wednesday... Maipapasa talaga 'yang budget kasi gusto namin ng eleksyon," he said. Pichay added that members of the bicameral committee on the national budget are keen to resolve issues about their respective chambers' amendments, which some call insertions. However, the Deputy Speaker said senators must itemize the amendments they are making to the budget just like House members did. "We itemized our allocations. Dapat mag-itemize din sila. Ngayon kung ayaw nilang mag-itemize, may tinatago sila," he said. Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source, House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro believes there is a 70 percent chance for Congress to pass the budget before they go on break. Castro added that if the legislature fails to pass it by Wednesday, it is possible for them to convene a special session to tackle and pass the budget. Congress will hold its last plenary session on Wednesday, February 6, although the legislative calendar states the session is until February 8. Lawmaker will go on break on February 9 to May 19 for the midterm election. The remaining sessions days after that are on May 20 to June 7. The bicameral conference committee on the 2019 budget bill is still reconciling the differing versions of the Senate and House of Representatives. The budget deliberations has been delayed mainly largely due to allegations of "insertions" and other questionable practices such as the supposed existence of "pork" or discretionary lump sum funds for lawmakers even if it had been outlawed in 2013. Meanwhile, House Appropriations committee chair Rolando Andaya is calling on Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno to release the national government's 2018 savings report, or else he would hold the 2019 national budget. Malacanang said it is up to Diokno to decide on the matter. Economic managers have repeatedly warned that a reenacted budget may lead to a slowdown in economic growth as this would delay government projects. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) plans to resolve this by exempting big ticket infrastructure projects from the procurement ban during election season. The Comelec has also warned that a reenacted budget may leave teachers on poll duty for the midterm election without pay. CNN Philippines' Ina Andolong and Xianne Arcangel contributed to this report. Police contacted a victim in 1997 after Key School headmaster Ronald Goldblatt sent a letter to the county Department of Social Services reporting that she was a possible victim of child sexual abuse, according to the police report. A report by Baltimore law firm Kramon & Graham, hired by Key School to investigate the allegations, said Goldblatt's report included multiple faculty members and students from the 1970s. | BY Lynchy | Last August, Tay Guan Hin announced he was leaving J. Walter Thompson to join APAC Global Advisory where he is one of six Creative Change Catalysts. Tay (pictured left) spent 13 years at J. Walter Thompson most recently as Global Executive Creative Director, based in Singapore. He now leads his own consultancy, TGH COLLECTIVE and its just been announced he will join ADFEST 2019 as Principal of the festivals TMRRW Biz School. TMRRW Biz School is a creative business school for marketing leaders and CMOs. It runs from 20th to 23rd March during ADFEST 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand. Tay has been working closely with Jimmy Lam, President of ADFEST, to shape the schools itinerary and recruit a team of creative, data and digital experts to share their tactics and techniques. Why did you agree to help launch TMRRW Biz School as its inaugural school principal? Jimmy Lam and I are passionate about grooming the next generation of creative talent. ADFEST has always played an essential role in educating creative minds in the Asia Pacific. Over the years, I had the privilege of hosting a few of the ADFEST Young Lotus workshops, which proved to be immensely inspiring and enriching both for the young creatives and the industry teachers. For the first time, ADFEST will dedicate a unique school to educating clients: clients who have the passion for upgrading their skillsets, while learning all about the future of branding in this data-driven world. Its a school that combines the best of creativity, data and technology, and business. Jimmy always says: Good clients make great agencies. I am certain marketers who enter this school will leave more inspired to make a massive difference to their brands by collaborating with their agencies as equal partners. Do you think theres a gap in the market for a creative-focussed business leadership course for marketers? Many education programs teach you just about digital technology using data. Other schools are better at creative brand ideas, while many teach creative leadership. But no school combines it all. For this reason, ADFEST is launching a creative business school thats designed to educate and inspire marketers to think creatively. The idea is to go beyond theory by bringing together a collective group of award-winning industry leaders. Everything designed for this school is to inspire the next generation of marketers to solve business challenges for their brands and organization by being as innovative as possible. You left JWT in August to join APAC Global Advisory. How is it going so far? Its been a refreshing change. I am one of six Creative Change Catalysts at APAC Global Advisory. Ive always wanted to take this step to be able to experience another side of the business. The other five Change Catalysts are diverse industry leaders who bring almost one century of combined change experience, thought leadership, entrepreneurship and industry expertise in their respective fields led by Ms. Wong Mei Wai whos the founder. I am learning from the lens of a consultant that todays leaders in organizations require innovation to stay ahead during this age of constant transformation. I am collaborating with CMOs who evolve business models of the future that unleash the full potential of their brands. Coming from a creative background, its quite challenging but rewarding to initiate, facilitate, design and navigate change to accelerate the process in specific areas for my clients. Working in network agencies has been fantastic, but I felt its time to start something I can call my own: TGH Collective. By the way, TGH is not named after the initials of my name but a passion Im trying to emulate when providing creative, digital and innovative solutions for clients the Gung Ho spirit of passion. Theres lots of debate as to whether creative jobs will be taken over by big data. Why do you think creativity remains an essential skill for marketers of the future? John Hegarty says: Human beings are not a collection of algorithms. Yes, big data are essential. This includes all data points like Social Data. Digital Data. Media Data. Customer Data. Sales Data. These can all uncover unique insights about people and culture. Great creativity comes from unique insights. Data can be a tool that steers us in the right direction toward inspiring ideas. But its our creative passion that drives us to get to the big ideas. Brands still need a big idea once the message is delivered to consumers. A big idea thats surprising, exciting and engaging. Having the right data is key to unlocking rich insights to unleash the power of creativity. Is creative thinking a skill that can be taught and harnessed? I was born into a family of doctors. My parents pressure to follow their footsteps was impossible. My brain wasnt wired to focus and study in the conventional educational system, so I failed miserably. Fortunately, I loved to draw and grew a passion for the arts. Was I stupid just because I couldnt study? Can creative intelligence be taught? In 1968, George Land conducted a research study to test the creativity of 1,600 children. He first tested on 3-5 year-olds, then re-tested the same children at 10 years of age, and again at 15 years of age. The results were amazing. The test showed that amongst 5-year-olds they were 98% creative. This dropped to 30% amongst 10-year-olds and 12% amongst 15-year-olds. When the same test is given to 280,000 adults the rate is just 2%. This clearly shows that we are all born creative, but after years of rules and regulations, our education system trains us to follow the rules and try and push us inside a box instead of freeing our imagination. I believe creativity can be taught. I am a product of it. We cant study to be creative, we learn creativity through actions and changing ourselves through immersive experiences. All it takes to spark passion is a creative change from within. To take a risk and not be afraid to fail. By surrounding yourself with inspiring creative people who dared to dream big. I believe creativity for those who want it badly can be achieved. Geneva, NY (14456) Today Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 56F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 56F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Venezuela slammed United States President Donald Trump for saying that US military intervention was under consideration to oust Nicolas Maduro Caracas: Venezuela on Sunday slammed United States President Donald Trump for saying that US military intervention was under consideration to oust the President Nicolas Maduro regime. TASS news agency quoted Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez while addressing the media, as saying, "We dont accept these statements by the US president," she said at a briefing for Russian journalists. "The hidden motive behind them is the desire to get hold of Venezuelas rich resources," Rodriguez added. The remarks by the Venezuelan Vice President came after Trump in an interview to CBS News stated that deploying US armed forces was an "option" to put a quick end to the ongoing political crisis in Venezuela. "Certainly, it's something that's on the - it's an option," Trump said. Terming the 2018 Presidential elections in Venezuela as rigged and blaming Maduro for initiating a humanitarian crisis in the nation, Trump said he had declined a meeting with the Venezuelan leader "a number of months ago." "I've turned it down because we're very far along in the process," he said. "I would say this. I decided at the time, no, because so many really horrible things have been happening in Venezuela when you look at that country." "That was the wealthiest country of all in that part of the world, which is a very important part of the world. And now you look at the poverty, and you look at the anguish, and you look at the crime and you look at all of the things happening," Trump added. Meanwhile, Rodriguez said that Venezuela is capable enough in dealing with the current political crisis and it will end the turmoil soon without seeking any foreign interference within its state affairs. "Sovereignty is not a subject for discussion, sovereignty is what must be defended," she said. The ongoing political turmoil in the country began after opposition candidate and National Assembly leader Jaun Guaido declared himself to be interim head of the country. Many countries, especially the European Union, have demanded that Maduro call for early re-election in the country; or in either case, Guaido would be declared the legitimate head of the state. Galagodaatte Gnanasara has long been accused of instigating hate crimes against minority Muslims in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka. Since December, 2018 he has been serving concurrent jail sentences over disruptive behaviour in court and intimidating a woman litigant Colombo: Sri Lanka's president resisted calls from the island's Buddhist hierarchy to release a jailed firebrand monk on Monday, even as 518 other convicts were released to mark the island nation's Independence Day. Galagodaatte Gnanasara has long been accused of instigating hate crimes against minority Muslims in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka. Since December, 2018 he has been serving concurrent jail sentences over disruptive behaviour in court and intimidating a woman litigant. Sri Lanka's Buddhist hierarchy had pressed President Maithripala Sirisena to grant an independence day reprieve but this was rejected. "The Independence Day amnesty applied to those serving short periods of time and only those convicted for minor offences," prisons spokesman Thusahra Upuldeniya said. An association of lawyers had warned that releasing Gnanasara would amount to a snub of the judiciary. The monk has denied involvement in anti-Muslim riots in 2014 that left four people dead. Gnanasara maintains close ties with Wirathu, an extremist monk based in Myanmar, whose hate speech has stoked religious tensions in that country. Wirathu visited Sri Lanka as a guest of Gnanasara shortly after the 2014 violence and the duo vowed to fight what they called the threat to Buddhism from Islamic jihadists. Pope Francis said all religious leaders had a 'duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war'. Abu Dhabi: Pope Francis on Monday called for an end to wars in the West Asia during the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the birthplace of Islam - the Arabian Peninsula. Francis, who has made outreach to Muslim communities a cornerstone of his papacy, is on an historic three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates. He is scheduled to hold an open-air mass on Tuesday for 1,35,000 of the Muslim country's million Catholic residents, set to be the largest ever public gathering in the Gulf state. On Monday, the Pope held talks in Abu Dhabi with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb - imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's prestigious seat of learning - before delivering an address at an interfaith meeting. In his address, the pontiff pushed the need for justice, equality of citizens' rights and an end to all wars, including in Yemen. The UAE and neighbouring Saudi Arabia are key allies of the Yemeni government, which is locked in a war against Iran-backed rebels that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. The Pope said all religious leaders had a "duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war". "I am thinking in particular of Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya," he said at the interfaith meeting attended by Sheikh Ahmed and UAE leaders. Yemen is the scene of what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, triggered by the intervention of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies in a war between the government and Huthi rebels. More than 10 million Yemenis now risk imminent starvation. The UAE, which prides itself on its religious diversity in the Gulf, is also a member of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State (IS) group in both Syria and Iraq. Sheikh Ahmed, who stressed in a speech that religion must never be used to justify violence, and the Pope signed on Monday a document that Al-Azhar and the Vatican will work together to fight extremism. Citizenship rights Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, one of the most powerful rulers in the seven emirates, on Monday gifted the Pope a deed for the plot of land on which the first church in the UAE was built. Pope Francis in turn gave the crown prince a framed medallion of the meeting between St Francis Assisi - the Pope's namesake - and the Sultan of Egypt Malek al-Kamel, in 1219. While the Pope did not openly discuss politics, he called for "the full recognition" of rights for people across West Asia, a potential reference to communities including Shiites in Saudi Arabia, refugees and migrants, stateless peoples and other minorities. The pontiff called for "concrete opportunities for (interfaith) meeting, not only here but in the entire beloved region, a focal point of the West Asia". "I look forward to societies where people of different beliefs have the same right of citizenship and where only in the case of violence in any of its forms is that right removed," he said. Year of tolerance The UAE has dubbed 2019 its "year of tolerance", but rights groups have criticised the country for its role in Yemen, where an estimated 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-led alliance including the UAE joined the government's fight against the Huthis in 2015. Rights groups, which have slammed the UAE over its intolerance of dissent, have also urged the Pope to raise the issue of Ahmed Mansoor, an Emirati activist serving a 10-year prison term. Muslims make up nearly four fifths of the UAE's population, but the country is also home to nearly a million Catholics, according to the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Migrants from Asian countries make up about 65 percent of the population. The UAE has pushed itself as an open society in a conservative region. The country is home to churches, Hindu temples and a place of prayer that serves as a synagogue. Bahrain, the only Gulf state with a Shiite majority, has been gripped by protests demanding an elected government. It has been ruled for more than two centuries by the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty. Hundreds of protestors have been arrested, jailed and had their citizenship revoked over what the government says is "terrorism" linked to Iran. Bahrain and Qatar are home to one Catholic church each while Oman, Kuwait and Yemen each have four and the UAE has eight Catholic churches. Ultra-conservative Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia bans all non-Muslim places of worship. By Saad Sayeed ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Authorities in Pakistan's Baluchistan province said on Sunday they had launched an investigation into the death of a regional leader of a Pakistani civil rights group, who died in what his movement called a 'targeted attack' by police at a sit-in. Arman Loni died on Saturday after police tried to break up a four-day demonstration in the city of Loralai by the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), which stages demonstrations nationwide against violence and disappearances carried out by the state. A police spokesman said Loni had died of a heart attack following clashes between protesters and police. By Saad Sayeed ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Authorities in Pakistan's Baluchistan province said on Sunday they had launched an investigation into the death of a regional leader of a Pakistani civil rights group, who died in what his movement called a "targeted attack" by police at a sit-in. Arman Loni died on Saturday after police tried to break up a four-day demonstration in the city of Loralai by the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), which stages demonstrations nationwide against violence and disappearances carried out by the state. A police spokesman said Loni had died of a heart attack following clashes between protesters and police. But Mohsin Dawar, a member of parliament and founding member of PTM, said the police had singled Loni out and deliberately beat him to death because of his role as a leader of the group. "It was a targeted attack on him by police, I think his neck was broken and this was confirmed in the postmortem," Dawar told Reuters, adding that he was killed for his "association with PTM". The group, which was founded a year ago to protest against the death of a Pashtun man killed by police in the southern port of Karachi, regularly draws thousands of protesters to its demonstrations against state violence. It has called nationwide protests for Tuesday to highlight the killing of Loni. The Baluchistan chief minister has ordered an inquiry into the killing. Both the Baluchistan home minister and information minister said they had no knowledge of how he died. PTM blames the Pakistani military and other state organs for what it says are forced disappearances resulting in thousands of unresolved missing persons cases, primarily from the ethnic Pashtun region bordering Afghanistan. Dawar and fellow lawmaker Ali Wazir, both PTM founders who were elected to parliament in July, were initially barred from entering Baluchistan by security officials and had to use "alternate routes" to make it to Loni's funeral, Dawar said. A notification from the provincial home department reviewed by Reuters said Dawar and Wazir were barred from entering the province for 90 days in "the best interest of peace and security". Provincial Home Minister Agha Umer Bangulzai confirmed that PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen had been barred from the province but said he knew nothing about movement restrictions on the two lawmakers Dawar and Wazir. Last month Alamzeb Mehsud, another senior PTM leader, was arrested in Karachi, causing a social media outcry. He has been charged under anti-terrorism and public order laws. Supporters say he has been targeted for protesting against abuses by the military. (Additional reporting by Gul Yousafzai in Quetta; Writing by Saad Sayeed; Editing by Peter Graff) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The Donald Trump governments Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials remain firm that that the intent of the 129 students arrested in the ICE fake university sting operation was to fraudulently maintain their student visa status and to obtain work authorization. New York: The Donald Trump governments Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials remain firm that that the intent of students arrested in the ICE fake university sting operation was to fraudulently maintain their student visa status and to obtain work authorization. Without going into the particular circumstances of the 129 students arrested, Cyrus Mehta, immigration attorney based in New York, explains that students who have "accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence will face a 3 year bar if s/he departs after February 5. This comes even as the Indian government told the US Embassy in New Delhi that these students may have been "duped" into enrolling and should be treated differently from recruiters who have duped them - also in custody. We have urged the U.S. side to share full details and regular updates of the students with the Government, to release them from detention at the earliest and not to resort to deportation against their will says a Ministry of External Affairs update. So far, Indian consulates have been able to contact "about 30 Indian students" with efforts continuing throughout a bitterly cold weekend in many US states. On 9 August, 2018, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum changing how the agency calculates unlawful presence for students and exchange visitors in F, J, and M nonimmigrant status, including F-2, J-2, and M-2 dependents, who fail to maintain status in the United States. According to the USCIS, the 3 year bar applies in these scenarios: "You accrued more than 180 days but less than 1 year of unlawful presence during a single stay in the United States on or after April 1, 1997; and You voluntarily departed the United States before DHS initiated either expedited removal proceedings under INA 235(b)(1) or removal proceedings before an immigration judge under INA 240. This 3-year inadmissibility period starts when you depart or are removed from the United States. During this 3-year inadmissibility period, you are not eligible to: Receive an immigrant (permanent) visa or a nonimmigrant (temporary) visa to come to the United States; Adjust your status in the United States to that of a lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder); or Be admitted to the United States at a port of entry." We still dont know if any of the 129 students arrested were on first time visas where the visa was based specifically on admission into the ICE fake university named Farmington University. Khaalid Walls, Northeast Regional Communications Director and Spokesman for ICE sent us this reply based on a query: Each of the foreign citizens who enrolled and made tuition payments to the University knew that they would not attend any actual classes, earn credits, or make academic progress toward an actual degree in a particular field of study a pay to stay scheme. Rather, their intent was to fraudulently maintain their student visa status and to obtain work authorization under the CPT program. Each student knew that the Universitys program was not approved by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was illegal, and that discretion should be used when discussing the program with others. the fact that The 129 students arrested in the US and placed in removal proceedings knew that they would not attend any actual classes, earn credits, or make academic progress toward an actual degree in a particular field of study a pay to stay scheme (Corrects to attribute quote in paragraph 10 to the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, not the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications.) By Suzannah Gonzales CHICAGO (Reuters) - Blanca Rodriguez, a 52-year-old homeless woman, spent a night at one of the warming centers Chicago set up ahead of the Arctic-like weather that froze a large swath of the United States this week. But then Rodriguez, who was born in Monterrey, Mexico, went back to the homeless encampment on the North Side of Chicago where she had been staying the past couple of months, complaining the shelter took away her medications for high blood pressure and 'a bad kidney'. (Corrects to attribute quote in paragraph 10 to the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, not the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications.) By Suzannah Gonzales CHICAGO (Reuters) - Blanca Rodriguez, a 52-year-old homeless woman, spent a night at one of the warming centers Chicago set up ahead of the Arctic-like weather that froze a large swath of the United States this week. But then Rodriguez, who was born in Monterrey, Mexico, went back to the homeless encampment on the North Side of Chicago where she had been staying the past couple of months, complaining the shelter took away her medications for high blood pressure and "a bad kidney". Reuters accompanied Salvation Army personnel as they conducted welfare checks on homeless encampments on Thursday night, providing them sandwiches, water, warm clothing and blankets. When volunteers asked Rodriguez if she wanted to go to a shelter rather than spend the bitter night in a tent, I said no, forget it. WARMING CENTERS Homeless people in the U.S. Midwest are used to cold winters. But a displacement of the polar vortex this week sent temperatures as low as minus 22 Fahrenheit (minus 30 Celsius) earlier this week. Forecasters had warned of the dangers of spending too long outside - frostbite could start within minutes. Over 80,000 people are considered homeless in Chicago, according to the Chicago Coalition of the Homeless. Around 80 percent of them "live doubled-up in the homes of others due to hardship." The remainder are in shelters or sleep outside, it says. Chicago opened two 24-hour warming centers and extended hours for two more. It designated five city buses to act as overnight warming centers for the homeless. The city already had a network of warming centers that includes libraries, police stations and park district facilities. Although some homeless people like Rodriguez chose to stay in their downtown encampments, the city said their efforts were largely successful. "Last night, our usual shelter beds were at 99 percent capacity," Cristina Villarreal, Chicago Department of Family and Support Services spokeswoman, said in an email. She said 175 of the 500 extra beds they added were used. In Chicago, the police are not empowered to force homeless people off the streets. Many of the citys homeless would rather take their chances outdoors in subzero conditions than submit to the rules that are in place at the shelters, Chicago police officer Michelle Tannehill said. 'POINT-IN-TIME' COUNT The Salvation Army in Chicago, along with other volunteer groups, had participated in the annual "point-in-time" count of the homeless on Jan. 24. The count, done by cities across the nation in January, provides a snapshot of homelessness in the United States to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which determines how to disburse funds based on the data. Pittsburgh did its point-in-time count on Wednesday on one of the coldest nights in decades. Volunteers from the Northside Homeless Alliance handed out hats, gloves and blankets to some of the city's estimated 1,200 homeless people, said its director, Charles Chapman. They were one of several organizations that fanned out across the city of 300,000 people for the count, which asks the homeless a series of questions in a survey. The January count last year across the nation found roughly 553,000 people experienced homelessness in the United States, a HUD report released in December said. About two-thirds were staying in shelters, and the remainder in unsheltered locations such as on the street or in abandoned buildings. The unsheltered population increased by 2 percent between 2017 and 2018, the HUD report said, partly due to a decline in homeless people staying in shelters. Underneath an Interstate 90 overpass on the North Side of Chicago, Alvin Henry was another one eschewing the idea of staying in a shelter. He had been asked to go to a shelter, but declined. I dont do shelters. I just dont. They not clean enough for me, Henry said on Thursday night, adding people smell at shelters. Henry spent the last couple of cold nights under 12 blankets in a tent. I just gotta get up under there and Im good, said Henry, a Chicago native. It was all right for me. (Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales; additional reporting by Chriss Swaney in Pittsburgh and Barbara Goldberg in New York; writing by Bill Tarrant; editing by Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. tech2 News Staff After a two-week siesta during the first extremely cold night on the moon, China's Chang'e-4 rover and lander have been awakened by sunlight, the China National Space Administration announced. The Chang'e-4 probe awoke from its hibernation to temperatures on colder than ever recorded before negative 190 degrees, the space agency said. The temperature readings were "colder than scientists expected," CNSA told Xinhua news. The night-time temperature was recorded by the probe after it turned on following its long slumber, on Wednesday. "That's probably due to the difference in lunar soil composition between the two sides of the moon," Zhang He, director of the Chang'e-4 mission, told Xinhua news. Named after a Chinese moon goddess, the Chang'e-4 spacecraft made the first ever successful soft landing on the far side of the moon on 3 January. This is a big step towards China's plans to grow as a superpower in space. The rover released from the probe called Yutu-2 or Jade Rabbit-2, after the moon goddess Chang'e's pet also got back on 29 January to studying the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the landing site of the spacecraft, the statement said. Currently, the rover is about 18 meters northwest of the lander and communicating with ground control and the Chang'e-4 probe via a relay satellite called Queqiao, which is in a stable orbit between the Earth and Moon. The Chang'e-4 mission has instruments developed by Swedish, German as well as Chinese scientists to study different aspects of the moon. The lunar environment, radiation and effects of solar wind on the moon's surface are some of the key objectives. Instruments on China's previous moon mission Chang'e-3, back in 2013, survived all of 60 lunar nights and continue to be in operation, Xinhua said. During the first lunar day, the lander and the rover photographed each other, and a camera installed on the top of the lander took 360-degree panoramic photos on the surrounding of the probe. "From the panorama, we could see the probe was surrounded by many small craters. It was really thrilling," said Li Chunlai, deputy director of the National Astronomical Observatories of China and commander-in-chief of the ground application system of Chang'e-4. What this also means is that in the near future, rover Yutu-2 is up against testing terrain, said scientists. With inputs from AFP | BY Lynchy | AdFest has launched TMRRW Biz School, a creative business school for a new generation of marketing leaders, which runs from 20th to 23rd March during AdFest 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand. I have always believed that good clients make great agencies. TMRRW Biz School fills a gap in the market for a creatively-led dedicated business school for the regions CMOs and marketing leaders. Over four days during AdFestT 2019, theyll learn practical creative skills and tactics they can apply to their own brands and organizations, says Jimmy Lam, President of AdFest. According to a recent survey of 1,500 chief executives conducted by IBMs Institute for Business Value, CEOs identify creativity as the most important leadership competency for the successful enterprise of the future. Many Fortune 500 companies place creativity as their number one priority, and are already using creativity as strategic leverage to form a competitive edge. But according to Guan Hin Tay, Founder of TGH COLLECTIVE and a Creative Change Catalyst at APAC Global Advisory, most business schools fail to teach marketers how to apply the essential tools, techniques, and processes of innovation. Many education programs focus solely on digital technology using data. Other schools are better at teaching brand ideas or leadership skills. But no school combines them all, said Tay, who is joining TMRRW Biz School as its inaugural Principal. I am certain marketers who enter this school will leave more inspired to make a massive difference to their brands by thinking strategically and tactically using creativity. TMRRW Biz School has recruited a team of creative, data and digital experts to share their tactics and techniques: Anthony James, Executive Director at Trinity Consulting Services (Sydney, Australia) Richard Lee, former Chief Marketing Officer of PepsiCo Greater China and Co-Founder & Chairman at Frontier Communications (Shanghai, China) Christine Wang, General Manager, E-Commerce at Publicis China (Shanghai, China) Kenny Blumenschein, Creative Strategist, Greater China Region at Facebook (Hong Kong, China) Pinit Chantaprateep, Vice President of Global Branding at Double A (Bangkok, Thailand) Jax Jung, Global Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide (Seoul, South Korea) Natalie Lam, International Creative Director (New York, USA) Mitsuyuki Nakamura, Global President, dentsu X (London, UK) Participants at TMRRW Biz School will be given tasks and challenges designed to accelerate their progress and maximize their knowledge. Every marketer will leave the school with practical techniques and tactics that they can apply soon after in the workplace. All lecturers have been handpicked according to their industry expertise. From cutting-edge digital experts to successful CMOs from blue-chip brands and leading business influencers, they will present real-life case studies that show different ways of solving real business challenges through creativity. AdFests TMRRW Biz School runs from 20th March to 23rd March 2019. The school is open to registered delegates of AdFest 2019 who work client-side. Enrolment is free but space is limited to 50 participants. Register here or contact Betty@ADFEST.com for more information. AdFest 2019 also runs from 20th March to 23rd March at PEACH Royal Cliff Hotels Group, Pattaya, Thailand with the theme TMRRW.TDAY. For the latest news and program announcements, visit www.ADFEST.com Press Trust of India Heavy bombardment of Earth by asteroids from space over 3.8 billion years ago contributed to the formation of the early crust on our planet, which later gave rise to continents, a study has found. In a time period called the Hadean eon, our planet Earth was constantly bombarded by asteroids, which caused the large-scale melting of its surface rocks, said researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa said in a statement. Most of these surface rocks were basalts, and the asteroid impacts produced large pools of superheated impact melt of such composition. These basaltic pools were tens of kilometres thick, and thousands of kilometres in diameter, according to the research published in the journal Nature Communications. "If you want to get an idea of what the surface of Earth looked like at that time, you can just look at the surface of the Moon which is covered by a vast amount of large impact craters," said Professor Rais Latypov from the University of the Witwatersrand. The subsequent fate of these ancient, giant melt sheet remains, however, highly debatable. By studying the younger impact melt sheet of the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) in Canada, the team inferred that ancient asteroid impacts were capable of producing various rock types from the earlier Earth's basaltic crust. Most importantly, these impacts may have made the crust compositionally more evolved, i.e silica-rich in composition. The SIC is the largest, best exposed and accessible asteroid impact melt sheet on Earth, which has resulted from a large asteroid impact 1.85 billion years ago, researchers said. This impact produced a superheated melt sheet of up to five kilometres thick. The SIC now shows a remarkable magmatic stratigraphy, with various layers of igneous rocks. "Our field and geochemical observations especially the discovery of large discrete bodies of melanorites throughout the entire stratigraphy of the SIC allowed us to reassess current models for the formation of the SIC and firmly conclude that its conspicuous magmatic stratigraphy is the result of large-scale fractional crystallisation," said Latypov. An important implication is that more ancient and primitive Hadean impact melt sheets on the early Earth and other terrestrial planets would also have undergone near-surface, large-volume differentiation to produce compositionally stratified bodies. The detachment of dense primitive layers from these bodies and their sinking into the mantle would leave behind substantial volumes of evolved rocks (buoyant crustal blocks) in the Hadean crust. This would make the crust compositionally layered and increasingly more evolved from its base towards the Earth's surface. "These impacts made the crust compositionally more evolved in other words, silica-rich in composition," said Latypov. "Traditionally, researchers believe that such silica-rich evolved rocks which are essentially building buoyant blocks of our continents can only be generated deep in the Earth, but we now argue that such blocks can be produced at new-surface conditions within impact melt pools," Latypov said. Tech2 News Staff We are still a good few months away from seeing OnePlus next major release this year, but the rumour mill began churning out details even before the new year. Solid details are sparse right now, but leaks suggested that the upcoming OnePlus 7 might not hold the budget flagship tagline. Although the Chinese OEM is mum about its 2019 flagship model (at the moment), OnePlus last year confirmed the development of a OnePlus 5G phone. OnePlus is expected to offer similar treatment to its new flagship smartphone like the previous iteration in terms of internal hardware. While iPhones notch-style design was severely criticized, OnePlus 6 with open arms embraced the controversial notch last year. But while the notch evolved into a small dewdrop on the OnePlus 6T, reports speculate that its successor might see a major overhaul on the design front. In case you want to know more about the OnePlus 7, here is a roundup of leaks and rumours we have heard so far. OnePlus 7: Design and display While the smartphone manufacturers are treading a race to offer the best possible minimum-to-zero bezel display smartphone, OnePlus is supposedly working to deliver a full-faced screen device as well. As per a render shared by SlashLeaks last month, the supposed OnePlus 7 could be seen featuring a sleek bezel display. Unlike hole-punch adopted by a few leading OEMs like Samsung and Honor, OnePlus seems to have dropped off the cutout entirely. The tipster Ben Geskin tip off a few bespoke concept renders which showed the OnePlus 7 featuring a slider similar to the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3. As seen on the renders, the sliding mechanism slides up the back panel and reveals the front-facing camera. While the OnePlus 7 could likely adopt Mi Mix 3s slider mechanism, a leaked image from the Indian tipster @ishanagarwal24 reveals that the upcoming OnePlus flagship might feature circular-shaped camera module at the back just like the Nokia Lumia 1020. Theres no specific detail on whether this is the OnePlus 7 or a prototype but if OnePlus is likely planning to implement it, it will be a major shift in the companys design philosophy. OnePlus has long been stuck with full HD panel, but a Quad HD panel for the OnePlus 7 is due on the wishlist. Another feature that OnePlus users long sought for is HDR streaming support on their smartphones. The wait might soon end with the OnePlus 7 as the company is reportedly seeking feedback from users about HDR streaming. As spotted by PiunikaWeb, the companys co-founder Carl Pei in the OnePlus Community Forum posted a thread and mentioned about an app stub for HDR streaming support. While the app stub is a popular method of distributing bloatware, Carl noting it as a con said an app stub for HDR streaming will be preloaded and it cannot be uninstalled. A OnePlus executive in the same thread added, HDR streaming requires support both from hardware side and content providers side. Here we are talking about whether our future smartphone should support HDR streaming in this popular app. OnePlus 7: Processing hardware and OS OnePlus is best known for offering the latest hardware and this year will mark the same. As cited by Engadget, the company in the Snapdragon Summit last year confirmed that the next OnePlus flagship will equip the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset. As for the operating system, the upcoming OnePlus 7 is expected to run the latest Google Android OS, Android Pie and gradually upgraded to Android Q when the final build gets released. OnePlus 7: Camera While Ben Geskins concept render gave an insight into the OnePlus 7s front-facing camera, Forbes points out that the phone might sport a 48 MP camera sensor within a dual lens setup. The dual- camera setup on both the OnePlus 6 and 6T was identical and to ones dismay, both the devices didnt offer enhanced zoom capability. However, this might change with the OnePlus 7 as the report suggest the company might borrow Oppo's 10x optical zoom technology for its next flagship phone. #OnePlus7 - Slider | Render based on leaked image pic.twitter.com/PwslLWKnEp Ben Geskin (@VenyaGeskin1) January 12, 2019 OnePlus 7: Battery capacity, 5G variant Details about OnePlus 7 battery capacity has not surfaced yet but leaks on the line suggest that the smartphone might come with Warp Charge 30, the ultra-fast technology that was introduced on the OnePlus McLaren Edition. OnePlus claimed that Warp Charge 30 offers a day's power in just 20 minutes. Notably, OnePlus at Qualcomm 4G/5G summit last year confirmed that will be one of the first companies to release a 5G phone. While reports back then predicted that it could be the OnePlus 6Ts successor, a new report now suggest that it will be a different variant altogether. As per a CNET (en Espanol) report, OnePlus said that its first 5G phone wont be a successor to the OnePlus 6T, however, the 5G smartphone will likely be revealed at the beginning of 2019. Tech2 News Staff Motorolas RAZR phone was one of the iconic models of its time, courtesy of the sleek clamshell design. As this years leading OEMs battle to offer neat innovations, the foldable display trend seems to be in the highlights. And from what it looks like Motorola is joining the bandwagon too. Previous reports have clearly indicated that Moto RAZR flip might debut this year as a foldable phone. That means, nostalgia of the Moto Razr, and the hype of the foldable display, put in one phone. And now, the latest leak gives us a sneak peek of how the rebooted RAZR phone could look like. Yanko Design has shared concept renders of the RAZR 2019 foldable phone, which are said to be created by designer Sarang Seth based on patent images of the phone. The 3D concept renders of the phone shows off the front and rear side. From the back side, the purported RAZR 2019 appears similar to the original Moto RAZR V3 clamshell phone. However, while flipping up the phone, it reveals a long foldable display with the hinge present at the centre below the screen. The display has a cutout on top that accommodates a front-camera lens. There is a small screen at the back side which when closed will pop-up notification. The concept render doesnt show the volume keys and power button, however, a concept video of the purported RAZR phone last year showed the buttons on the left side. The video shared by TechConfigurations revealed the phone featuring a fingerprint sensor embedded on the chin. While foldable display phone is something new on the table, these smartphones are expected to be inevitably expensive than the standard premium lot. Royole Flexpai, the worlds first foldable phone was announced for a hefty price of 8,999 Yuan (around Rs 95,700). And as per reports, Motorolas upcoming foldable phone is said to carry a price tag of $1,500 (around Rs 1,07,600). As for the debut, The Wall Street Journal last month said that the Moto RAZR 2019 phone could be launch as early as February. While Motorola is planning to bring back the RAZR brand and play on the nostalgic factor, its not the only company who is prepping to introduce a foldable phone. Samsung is widely anticipated to showcase a foldable phone dubbed as Galaxy X at its Galaxy Unpacked event this month. Chinese OEM, Huawei has also hinted of a possible folding smartphone debut at MWC 2019 on 24 February. Reuters Mobile communications industry body GSMA has proposed a crisis meeting to discuss a plan to ban Huawei 5G equipment in the European Union amid mounting industry concerns that such a move could set operators back by years. The European Commission is weighing a de-facto ban on Huaweis 5G network equipment for next-generation mobile networks due to security concerns, sources told Reuters. Some Western countries, including the United States and Australia, have restricted Huawei from building next-generation mobile networks and Germany is considering whether to do so. GSMA Director General, Mats Granryd, had written to members proposing to put the debate around Huawei onto the agenda of its next board meeting, a spokesman for the federation told Reuters on Saturday. The meeting will be held in late February on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress, the industrys biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona. It is to be confirmed for now, he said. As many operators are relying on Huawei to build out 5G networks, a de-facto ban would be a considerable setback for Europes efforts to stay competitive in communications, with implications for connected factories, self-driving cars and medical technology. Deutsche Telekom has said it would set its plans to roll out the new services back by two years. From Rahul Gandhi to Omar Abdullah, from Arvind Kejriwal to Sharad Pawar, the length and breadth of India's regional political forces seem to have latched on to the lucrative pre-poll situation presented by Mamata's protests following a CBI team's visit to question the Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar for his alleged involvement in a chit fund scam. Each time Mamata Banerjee protests, shifts occur in the political dimension of Bengal that have changed entire discourses. This time, as she sits at the crossroads of central Kolkata, she also heralds the possibility of an Opposition united against the Bharatiya Janata Party like never before. One has only to look at those tagged in Derek O'Brien's tweets to gauge the amount of support drummed up by the Bengal ruling party. From Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to National Conference's Omar Abdullah, from Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal to National Congress Party's Sharad Pawar, the length and breadth of India's regional political forces seem to have latched on to the lucrative pre-poll situation presented by the Central Bureau of Investigation team going to question the Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar for his alleged involvement in a chit fund scam. Mamata's rallies are invariably high on optics and charged with emotion. In 1991, attacked by CPM leader Lalu Alam, she fractured her head at the busy Hazra crossing in Kolkata, while leading a Congress rally, reported India Today. The incident is still mentioned in Trinamool Congress rallies. In 1993, photos of Mamata being physically dragged out of the state secretariat Writers' Building for protesting appeared on every daily. In 2006, Mamata sat in a dharna at the same Metro Channel where she is seated now, in a hunger strike that ended up not just ensuring that the Tatas do not set up a factory on agricultural land at Singur but also that two years later, the 34-year-old Left Front government would fall. Mamata sits once again, at a site which is impossible to miss, a street fighter reborn, as The Hindu has called her. Winter and a state budget notwithstanding, the image of a lone woman fighting a ruling dispensation and its crime watchdog is enough for all political hopefuls to not skip a beat while announcing support to her. The show of support, of course, is a public affair. Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Omar Abdullah all tweeted of telephone calls between themselves and "Mamata didi", respectively. Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said the BJP was "so scared of losing that CBI is being used as election agents." In one succinct tweet, Rashtriya Janata Dal scion Tejashwi Yadav, not only spoke of a telephone call to Mamata and his disdain for BJP's "nefarious" agenda, but he also voiced plans to visit Kolkata on Monday. Among others to have voiced support, on and off Twitter, are Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy, Rashtriya Lok Dal vice-president Jayant Chaudhary, Jignesh Mevani, Hardik Patel, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Stalin, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Andhra chief minister and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu. With the exception of Rahul, who sent his party leader Mallikarjun Kharge, all of these leaders were seen and heard at the Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata on 19 January, the day of the mega rally by 23 Opposition parties. Yet this protest not staged on a dais which took weeks to construct but on a sidewalk across the road from the Brigade achieves much more than the grand show on the 19th. And that is because it gives these parties something they did not have earlier in January: one, solid rallying point against the BJP. The protest by Mamata ostensibly focuses on "saving the Constitution" and blaming the BJP for its role in using it to do the Centre's bidding. But for many political leaders, there is an incentive too in slamming the CBI itself and positing it as a discreditable organisation. Not only is the CBI, with its hierarchy in tumult, a worthy target for the opposition now, leaders in charge of state government, especially, have suffered thanks to the CBI's industriousness at striking non-BJP governments before poll time. Many Trinamool Congress leaders like Kunal Ghosh, Srinjoy Bose, Madan Mitra, Sudip Bandopadhyay and Tapas Pal have been held in connection with scams. Congress leader P Chidambaram's wife Nalini is among several high profile people named by the CBI in connection with the Saradha case which led the CBI to Rajeev Kumar's door, thus setting off the chain of events leading to Mamata's protest. The fact that this momentary opportunity to slam the Centre is one that cannot be ignored is apparent from the fact that even the Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal which has until now been reluctant to openly align itself with any opposition movement, spoke in favour of restoring "institutional integrity." "Even in Odisha, (the) sudden action of CBI just before panchayat and general elections smacks of unprofessional conduct and political motives," the party's official handle tweeted. The Saradha and Rose Valley scams have affected Odisha as well, with the BJD expelling a handful of its leaders for alleged involvement in these and other chit fund scams. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti also expressed solidarity, saying "history stands testament" to how her state has faced the wrath of central agencies. With the CBI proving to be the common enemy, it remains to be seen how the opposition parties choose to harness the power of the situation now. Catch LIVE updates of the Mamata versus CBI saga As the threat of CBI engaging itself in hot pursuit at the slightest notice, Himanta and Roy have little choice but to perform like warhorses to make the lotus bloom in the upcoming poll. For two BJP leaders Himanta Biswa Sarma and Mukul Roy both questioned in the multi-crore Saradha Ponzi scam life have some unmissable similarities. Known for their political acumen, both the leaders have joined the BJP when the heat of the Saradha scam probe was increasingly becoming too hot to handle. Similarly, both of them were quite close to their chief ministers in their earlier parties and acted as the go-to man in all circumstances be it polls or other crises. With the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's Save the Constitution sit-down protest in Kolkata alleging Centre's highhandedness with the Central Bureau of Investigation's attempt to arrest Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar from his residence on Sunday has thrown up references which the BJP might not be very comfortable with ahead of the Lok Sabha polls due in a couple of months. That the CBI team got detained and then got let off later instead is, of course, another example of political brinkmanship. "I have enough evidence against the Assam deputy chief minister (Himanta). I dare Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to have him arrested. The CBI has already questioned him before," Mamata said while addressing the crowd at the sit-in venue on Sunday night. Himanta's name has been cropping up in the Saradha Ponzi scheme scam running into thousands of crores for years now with the CBI raiding his residence and a regional news channel owned by his wife in August 2014. According to a report in The Economic Times, Himanta "is accused of receiving Rs 20 lakh per month from Saradha boss Sudipta Sen for helping him run his business in Assam without hassles." This happened at a time when the present Assam finance and health minister, then part of the Congress, was struggling to be in the good books of his boss then chief minister Tarun Gogoi. It turned out to be irreparable and the Himanta was forced to quit the Congress to remain politically significant. Worse, the heat of the Saradha probe soon gathered steam and Himanta realised that unless drastic measures are not taken his career was at stake. It was on 23 August 2015 when a few video journalists from various regional channels in Assam were curiously waiting in front of Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah's residence in New Delhi for a vehicle to arrive around dusk. Soon after the vehicle reached the location with two key people inside former Assam BJP state president Siddhartha Bhattacharya and former Assam Congress leader Himanta. The meeting was a precursor to Himanta's grand entering into the BJP a week later on 28 August, 2015 after a huge roadshow in Guwahati. For the BJP to have a person in their ranks, who was with the Congress for 23 years and was considered former chief minister Tarun Gogoi's Man Friday, it was the acquisition of a massive asset when it came to politics. Results did indeed show up later as the BJP formed the state government in Assam in May 2016 for the first time ever with Sarbananda Sonowal as the chief minister. Himanta has so far played a crucial role in ensuring BJP's inroads into the North East with the party's participation in governance in all the states either partially or completely. With Himanta joining the BJP, the CBI probe against him on the Saradha scam slowed down considerably and apart from minor flutters, nothing major has happened that threatens his career. It is unlikely that the CBI would jump to act against Himanta despite the claims made by Mamata. The BJP can hardly afford to get Sarma distracted at this juncture when the General Election is due soon. Besides, there is also the grapevine that with the CBI probe hanging like a Damocles' Sword on the Assam finance minister, it also helps the party to rein him if he possesses any immediate chief ministerial ambitions at all. For now, Sarma needs the BJP as much the party needs him. Like Himanta, Roy was a senior leader of the Trinamool Congress and was quite close to Mamata. After joining the BJP, the former Trinamool man will face his first litmus test when the country votes for a new Lok Sabha in April-May. Out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, Trinamool Congress had won 34 in 2014 while Darjeeling and Asansol went to the BJP. Roy has a formidable task of turning the table. The former railway minister was quizzed by the CBI in January 2015 regarding the Ponzi scheme scam, following which, he lost the party post of all-India general secretary and other positions that he held in his capacity although he continued to be a Trinamool member. "Known as the partys (Trinamool) chief poll strategist and often referred to as Chanakya in internal circles, Roy was instrumental in securing the TMCs victory in 2011," a report said and the BJP hopes Roy would replicate the same in the coming General Elections. The former Trinamool leader, who was, in fact, the founder member of the party, found himself increasingly sidelined after the CBI questioning ultimately leading to a fallout with the chief minister. Soon after, Roy joined the BJP he trained his guns on the TMC even alleging that Mamata had met Saradha boss Sen many a time. It's no brainer that the BJP would keep the heat on the TMC as the Lok Sabha poll approaches and Roy has his task cut out. By keeping the TMC leaders busy with the scam, the BJP hopes to leverage in the chaos that might ensue for the regional outfit and this is when Mukul Roy must prove his mettle. As the threat of CBI engaging itself in hot pursuit at the slightest notice is always there, Himanta and Roy have little choice but to perform like warhorses to make the lotus bloom in the upcoming poll. Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said his party would waive farm loans and give a big push to the food processing industry if voted to power in the Lok Sabha elections. Patna: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said his party would waive farm loans and give a big push to the food processing industry if voted to power in the Lok Sabha elections. Alleging that the Centre's crop insurance scheme is "aimed at taking away the hard-earned money of farmers to fill up the pockets of big businessmen", he promised that the Congress would initiate a number of steps to deal with farmers' distress and unemployment. Rahul said his party's governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh waived farm loans within a few days of coming to power. The Congress president, who was addressing the party's first rally in the city in about three decades at the Gandhi Maidan, repeated his slogan 'chowkidaar hi chor hai' (the watchman is the thief) in an allusion to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rahul said that he had already told the chief ministers of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh that these states should take the lead in ushering in the second Green Revolution. "We will do what is needed for providing relief to farmers and jobs to youths. We will waive their debts and give a major boost to the food processing industry. "I have told the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh that these states should take the lead in ushering in the second Green Revolution," he said. "We fulfilled our promises in the three states within weeks of coming to power. We will do so across the country once elected at the Centre," the Congress president said. He said the Congress will also ensure a minimum income for every poor person unlike the "false promise" of Rs 15 lakh to all made by Modi ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls that was never fulfilled. "The winds of change are blowing. The Congress will win the next Lok Sabha polls with the help of allies and our alliance will also win the next Assembly polls in Bihar," Rahul claimed. After the rally, in a moving Facebook post in Hindi, he said, "Bihar has been the land of peace but when the time comes, it transforms into a land of revolution. Today, millions lent their voice to the call for change at Gandhi Maidan. We have to strengthen the hope it has roused. We have to build an India of the aspirations of Indians." Addressing the rally, Rahul accused the NDA government at the Centre of committing irregularities in the Rafale deal. He said when the Congress was in power, it had started negotiating the Rafale deal, insisting that aircraft be manufactured at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru. This would have benefitted jobless youths from Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, but Modi changed all that, the Congress president said. "He (Modi) undertook tours of various countries and came up with defence deals which would benefit only a private person like Anil Ambani. Manohar Parrikar, who was formerly the defence minister, expressed his disapproval and so did officers of the Indian Air Force, but Modi went on to have his way," Rahul charged. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot were also present at the rally. Alliance partners like RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, former Union minister Sharad Yadav and ex-Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi were present at the rally. Lamenting that Bihar has become "a centre of unemployment" unlike the centre of learning in the ancient times, Rahul promised that in the event of his party coming to power at the Centre, Patna University would be granted central status. It may be noted that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had made a fervent request for grant of central status to the university at its centenary celebrations in 2017 which was attended by Modi. The prime minister had virtually rebuffed the plea stating that the system of granting central status had become outdated. "Modi failed the youths of Bihar as he was unable to provide them with jobs. When they went to BJP-ruled states like Maharashtra and Gujarat in search of livelihood, they faced physical assault and insults," the Congress president said. Support from opposition leaders like N Chandrababu Naidu, Jayant Chaudhury and Manoj Jha poured in for West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee whose sit-in over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams continued on Monday. New Delhi: Support from opposition leaders poured in for West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee whose sit-in over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams continued on Monday. On Sunday, an all-out war broke out between the Centre and the Mamata Banerjee government, with the feisty West Bengal leader beginning her dharna in front of Metro Cinema in Kolkata over the issue. Support for Banerjee, who also the Trinamool Congress chief, poured in even as the CBI moved the Supreme Court accusing Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar of destroying evidence related to the case and him of indulging in contempt of court. "Distressed by the news out of Bengal. A complete breakdown of trust in institutions under an authoritarian Modi government obsessed with regaining power at all costs. Mamata ji is resisting and has the support of all those who understand the agenda behind these moves," tweeted Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) vice-president Jayant Chaudhary. Speaking to reporters, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh said he had given a notice in the Rajya Sabha for suspension of business and demanded discussion on the "misuse of the CBI". TMC spokesperson Derek O' Brien said all opposition parties will go to the Election Commission later on Monday over the issue in Bengal. "Inside the House (Parliament) and outside the House we will all move together. Whatever action we take will do together. This is not the CBI, its the parrot of Amit Shah and Modi. "We have to save the Constitution, the country and the federal structure. Later today, all opposition parties will go to the Election Commission," O' Brien said. Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters that he will hold discussions with opposition party leaders in Delhi on Monday and draft an action plan on a nation-wide movement. "TDP MPs will strongly protest along with other opposition leaders today on the CBI issue," he said. Rashtriya Janata Dal's Manoj Jha said the opposition's protest was against the pride of the Modi government. "After the Alok Verma incident CBI does not have any credibility. After the elections, we will see who will go to jail," said Jha. "What happened in West Bengal is an attack on a state's federal rights guaranteed by our constitution. We stand with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee," Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy tweeted this morning. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's indefinite dharna against the Centre, in Kolkata, kept political participants busy through Monday as effects rippled through the Parliament, the Election Commission of India's office, the Kolkata High Court and even the Supreme Court. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's indefinite dharna against the Centre, in Kolkata, kept political participants busy through Monday as effects rippled through the Parliament, the Election Commission of India's office, the Kolkata High Court and even the Supreme Court. Her decision to protest came after the CBI's attempt to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams. The CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area Sunday, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and whisked to a police station. Describing her sit-in over the CBI's attempt to question Kolkata Police chief as a "non-political" protest, Mamata on Monday said support has poured in for her from different quarters of the country. The chief minister, who has been sitting on a dharna since 8.30pm Sunday on a makeshift dais at Metro Channel in Kolkata, said she will continue her "satyagraha" till the country and its Constitution are "saved". Mamata also addressed a state conference of farmers over phone, which the participants at the Netaji Indoor Stadium heard over loudspeakers. Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham president MK Stalin and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti were among those who called up to express solidarity to her protest. The TMC chief accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a coup in the state. The BJP has retaliated in the form of a press conference organised by Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who said Mamata was leading "a coalition of corruption". Criticising reports that questioned the presence of senior police officers at the demonstration, Mamata said, "It's a programme of the government and that's why police officers are here." TMC organises protests across Bengal Trinamool Congress workers hit the streets from Monday morning in Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura, Burdwan East, Purulia, Birbhum and North 24 Parganas districts, officials said. Effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national President Amit Shah were also burnt by them. In Howrah and Hooghly districts, TMC activists obstructed train movement while they put up blockades on national highway in Bankura district. Shouting slogans against the CBI, the TMC cadres vowed to continue their fight till the Narendra Modi government is defeated in the next Lok Sabha polls. Banerjee had also directed party leaders to organise protest marches across the state on Monday between 2 pm and 4 pm without inconveniencing the people. Meanwhile, the BJP's Bengal unit tweeted that Trinamool leaders have allegedly vandalised the saffron party's offices at Bhawanipore in South Kolkata. Supreme Court rejects urgent hearing plea The Supreme Court rejected the CBI plea to conduct an urgent hearing on the investigation in the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scam. The apex court bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said that it did not find anything in the application regarding destruction of evidence. The bench posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi posted the matter for hearing at 10.30 am on Tuesday. The CBI approached the Supreme Court against the "non-cooperation" of the West Bengal government after the Kolkata Police detained and then released CBI officials who visited Kolkata to question Rajeev Kumar. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who is representing CBI in the court that these were "some extraordinary circumstances". Calcutta High Court refuses immediate hearing to Bengal government The Calcutta High Court on Monday refused immediate hearing on the West Bengal government's plea against the CBI's attempt to question city police chief Rajeev Kumar at his residence in connection with chit fund scam cases. Following objection by the Union government, Justice Shivakant Prasad refused to give the matter an immediate hearing and listed it for Tuesday. State Advocate General Kishore Dutta submitted that despite a stay by the high court on steps regarding notice to state police officials, the CBI sought to enter Kumar's residence on Sunday and question him. He submitted that the court is scheduled to hear the matter on 13 February and as such, the CBI's attempt to enter Kumar's official residence was in violation of its order. West Bengal governor KN Tripathi, meanwhile, submitted a confidential report to Union home minister Rajnath Singh on the situation that unfolded in the city. Ruckus at the Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, meanwhile, was not allowed to function amidst opposition parties' shouting "CBI totah hai" ("the CBI is a caged parrot") following the high political face-off between the Centre and the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh defended the move by CBI saying Rajeev Kumar was not cooperating in the investigation in the case. "Detaining CBI officials from performing their duties is unprecedented. The action was taken after the Supreme Court had ordered an investigation into Saradha chit fund case," Rajnath said in the Lok Sabha. "The Police Commissioner was summoned many times before but he did not appear. Hence, CBI was forced to take this action. He was not cooperating in the investigation," he added. Soon after his speech, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the Lok Sabha till 2 pm. When the House resumed later, it was again adjourned for the entire day as the Opposition protests continued over the issue. BJP goes to Election Commission of India The BJP on Monday accused the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal of not allowing its political programmes in the state and sought the Election Commission's intervention so that the Lok Sabha polls can be held in a "free and fair" manner, reported News18. A high-level BJP delegation submitted a memorandum to the poll panel to highlight instances that show that the TMC does not "believe" in democracy, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was also a member of the group, told reporters. Besides Sitharaman, the other members of the delegation included Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and S S Ahluwalia, and BJP leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya, Bhupender Yadav, Anil Baluni and Mukul Roy. With inputs from agencies | BY Ricki Green | CHE Proximity has welcomed Vanessa Nicol back to Australia as managing director of its Sydney office. As a single agency across two locations, Nicol will also be a member of the agencys leadership team, responsible for all aspects of its operation. A key focus of her role will be leading CHEPs Telstra relationship, which spans across Melbourne and Sydney. Nicol is no stranger to executive roles and is an expert in telecommunications. Prior to joining CHEP, Nicols career has spanned both client and agency sides in business, creative and media roles. Most recently Nicol led Spark relationship for Clemenger Group in Auckland. And prior to this OMDs Telstra relationship and M&C Saatchis Optus relationship. Says Chris Howatson, CEO, CHE Proximity: Vanessa is intelligent, charismatic and full of energy. She brings a balanced perspective thanks to her creative, media and client side experience, making her a perfect leader at CHEP, as we transform more business with our connected creativity offer. Says Ant White, CCO, CHE Proximity: Vanessas reputation for understanding the value of ideas in solving real client problems is well recognised. The conversations we are already having promises a great year ahead. Mamata vs CBI updates: Trinamool Congress Party leader Derek O'Brien said on Monday that the most corrupt people in this country are Amit Shah and Narendra Modi. 'Corruption will never stick to the white saree that Mamata Banerjee wears,' he said. Auto refresh feeds The chief minister skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on a makeshift dais here along with some senior ministers and party members. "This is a Satyagraha and I'll continue till the country is saved," Mamata told reporters who accompanied her at the place of dharna. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who began a sit-in protest over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, said on Monday she will continue her "Satyagraha" till the country and its Constitution are "saved". The fast-paced development started unfolding as soon as a team of 40-odd agency officers arrived at Kumar's residence at Loudon Street in central Kolkata on Sunday afternoon, but they were stopped by sentries and officials. While calls and messages to interim CBI chief M Nageswar Rao, whose appointment is under challenge in the Supreme Court, remained unanswered, sources confirmed that the agency will move the Supreme Court on Monday to present their case. After an all-out war broke out between Centre and the Mamata Banerjee government, CBI sources said the agency will move the Supreme Court on Monday, claiming its probe in ponzi scams was being obstructed by the West Bengal government and the state police. Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday called up West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and extended support to her, saying the entire opposition is together and it will defeat the fascist forces. Both the leaders had on Sunday attacked the BJP on Twitter over the functioning of the CBI. CNN-News18 reported that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will reach Kolkata at 12 pm to show AAP's support to Mamata Banerjee, while RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will arrive in the city at 2 pm. "The independence of every institution has been compromised under this fascist BJP government. I stand with Mamata in her fight to protect the federal structure of this country and to save democracy," wrote Stalin. Several leaders of Opposition parties on Sunday night expressed solidarity with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is on a sit-in protest over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams. While JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock over CBI's move, RJD's Lalu Prasad and DMK president MK Stalin took on the "fascist" BJP government. After their conversation, Abdullah tweeted, "The use of the CBI as a political tool has crossed all limits as has the Narendra Modi governments misuse of institutions. A former chief minister (Modi) having such little regard for Indias federalism is shocking." Congress president Rahul Gandhi, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu, BSP leader Mayawati, NCP's Sharad Pawar, and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal were among the several Opposition leaders who spoke to Mamata Banerjee on Sunday over phone to express solidarity. As she hit out at the Narendra Modi government, she told her supporters: "Organise rallies tomorrow between 2-4 pm in every block of the state. Wear black badges and carry black flags to register your protest. We are not afraid. If he wants to impose Presidents Rule, we will see. We have to ensure Modi is ousted from power in 2019." After Mamata Banerjee began her sit-in on Sunday, she claimed that she was being targetted because she had organised the United India rally in January. Addressing a press conference here on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, the defence minister said, "The CBI has got to do its job or not? When CBI does its job, the Opposition parties call it a political vendetta, when it doesn't, they call it a caged parrot. Let them make up their (Opposition) minds." Taking a dig at the Opposition, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that when the Central Bureau of Investigation does its job, the Opposition parties call it a political vendetta and when it doesn't, they call it a caged parrot. CBI has got to do its job or not?: Sitharaman Amid the controversy around CBI, a BJP delegation is likely to meet the Election Commission at 12.30 pm to protest West Bengal's government "move" to to bar party choppers. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will lead the delegation, CNN-News18 reported. As Mamata Banerjee's dharna continues in Kolkata, about 15 parties are expected to raise the issue in Lok Sabha on Monday. The West Bengal chief minister will also hold a cabinet meeting at the sit-in site, CNN-News18 reported. The CBI will seek contempt proceedings against West Bengal chief secretary, DGP and Kolkata commissioner Rajeev Kumar. It will also seek a directive for Kumar to join probe. Advocate and Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi will represent the West Bengal government in Supreme Court. "Only the gullible, or the faithful will believe it suddenly woke up to Saradha scam and went straight to grab a states DGP weeks before polls," senior journalist Shekhar Gupta wrote on Twitter. Andhra chief minister Chandrababu Naidu lashed out at the BJP for targetting Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal. "BJP is worried after successful Opppostion rally... After Akhilesh, Mayawati, the BJP-led government is now after Mamata," he was quoted as saying by CNN-News18. BJP leader Nalin Kohli hit out at the Opposition parties on Monday for extending support to TMC. "It is ironically to know their (Opposition) leaders are being investigated for mega scams or are out of bail," he said while addressing reporters. Meanwhile, the BJD will meet in Parliament to decide and issue clarity on its stand on the CBI issue. AAP MP Sanjay Singh has given notice in Rajya Sabha under rule 267 for suspension of business, demanding discussion on 'misuse of CBI'. The Supreme Court posted for Tuesday a CBI plea seeking directions to Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar to cooperate with the investigation in Saradha chit fund case. CJI Ranjan Gogoi asked what the urgency was and then posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday at 10.30 am. Gogoi said, "If Kolkata Police commissioner even remotely thinks of destroying evidence, bring the material before this court. We will come down so heavily on him that he will regret." Representing the CBI, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said before the Supreme Court: "Our team was arrested and kept in alleged custody. Kolkata Police Commissioner should immediately surrender." West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been staging a dharna in Dharamtala since 8.45 pm on Sunday. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal is expected to meet her at 12 pm. West Bengal governor Keshav Nath Tripathi has apprised the Ministry of Home Affairs of the situation in the state, according to CNN-News18. Tripathi has also summoned the chief secretary. The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm after TMC MPs disrupted proceedings on Monday and rushed to the Well. The MPs were demanding discussion on the situation in West Bengal. JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda said, "The CBI went to arrest Kolkata Police commissioner on Sunday. This is a misuse of CBI. It is much worse than Emergency." Addressing the 'Krishak Samabesh' via video conferencing, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee targetted the NDA government and accused,"People are unable to speak out of fear. Their democratic rights have been stolen. (TMC leaders) Becharam Manna, Purnendu Bose, Subrata Bakshi... you are all here. You know what is happening. The BJP government led by Modi have stolen our night's sleep." Speaking about the West Bengal government's efforts for farmers, Chief Minster Mamata Banerjee said, "The farmers receive aid from the state. Though the Centre contributes a little bit, the farmer bears the most of the burden. My government has brought in many measures to ensure that farmers live comfortably. I have instituted awards, festivals, etc aimed at fortifying the security of farmers' lives." "We won't take money from the Centre for farmers. We have tripled farmers income. A farmer from age 18-60 years will get pension under the scheme. We had announced this scheme in January in the state Secretariat," she said. "Rs. 5,000 per farmer per year has been announced (proposed in the Budget). Demonetisation has been the biggest silent killer," Mamata said during the farmers' rally. The Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a report on the role of IPS officers on allegations of obstructing investigation and violation of Service Conduct Rules in Sunday's incident in Kolkata. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Monday, "If the chief minister of a state like West Bengal is sitting on dharna, then it is a serious matter. Whether this is CBI vs Mamata Banerjee or Mamata Banerjee vs BJP, we'll find out soon. If CBI is being misused, it's a matter of dignity of the nation, and prestige of the agency." "BJP and central govt have started misusing CBI as elections are approaching. Not only I, not only Samajwadi Party, but all political parties are saying this," Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said. Addressing a press conference, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said, "Why is Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee protesting for a police commissioner? Why is she running away from an inquiry? What is she trying to hide." Hitting out at the West Bengal government, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said at the BJP press conference, "The constitutional mechanism on Bengal has completely collapsed. I am surprised that she (Mamata) is targetting the Modi government. It has never happened so that a state has completely stopped the CBI from entering. Even when Narendra Modi was the chief minister, the erstwhile Congress government at the Centre tried to put him in jail. Even then, Modi allowed an enquiry against him. This is a Rs 40,000 crore chit fund scam. Mamata is staging a dharna to save herself." He further said that the Supreme Court had told CBI to investigate the chit fund matter "fairly" so there is "nothing unconstitutional" in what happened on Sunday. The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2pm over uproar by Opposition parties, following Rajnath's speech. Amid growing ruckus in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, "The CBI was compelled to take this action as Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar was not cooperating in the investigation. The police commissioner was summoned many times but he did not appear." CBI team has landed at Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumars residence, reports have said. Kolkata Police detain some members of the CBI team after a scuffle and, later on, surround their office. Central forces deployed outside CBI office. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, after meeting Rajeev Kumar, sits on an indefinite dharna in protest against the Centre. These were the sequence of bizarre events that played out on Sunday evening in Kolkata. Asserting that allegations by Mamata Banerjee are right, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah said that the country is in danger as its becoming dictatorial. "Her (Mamata Banerjee) allegation is right. They (central government) are not masters of this country, people are." Country is in danger of becoming dictatorial, Mamata is right: Farooq Abdullah Akhilesh Yadav says, I spoke to Mamata ji and assured her we are with her in this battle. Not just West Bengal, the center is misusing CBI as the elections are coming near. Along with Bengal, many other states have been misusing CBI especially around elections." In a series of tweets, TMC leader and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien thanked all the leaders, including HD Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy, Yashwant Sinha, Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi, Mayawati, and other regional leaders for standing by Mamata. Speaking to reporters, Sitharaman said, "In the interest of wanting to have a free and fair environment in which elections can be conducted, weve come to bring to the notice of Election Commission certain happenings in West Bengal, which has complete cooperation of TMC. Instances we highlighted point out that TMC doesn't believe in democracy." The Kolkata Police moved Calcutta High Court against the CBI action on Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. The plea sought urgent hearing today. However, the court said that the matter wasn't urgent and will be heard tomorrow, reports CNN-News18. The 1989-batch IPS officer was heading an SIT on the Saradha and Rose Valley scams. The CBI wanted the top officer to hand over the seizure list made during his probe. The top cop was to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he hadn't been responding to notices to appear before the agency. According to News18 , Kumar is originally from Uttar Pradesh, and holds a degree in computer science from the erstwhile University of Roorkee (now IIT Roorkee). Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar is currently in the centre of an unprecedented standoff between the CBI and the West Bengal government. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar refused to comment on the issue on Monday. "These things can only be explained by people who are doing it. I dont react to such things; the CBI and the government in question will explain. Until the Election Commission announces the date of elections, anything can happen in the country." The Ministry of Home Affairs had sought a report on the role of IPS officers on allegations of obstructing investigation and violation of Service Conduct Rules in Sunday's incident in Kolkata. Union home minister Rajnath Singh earlier in the day spoke to West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to take stock of the situation in the wake of a CBI team being allegedly obstructed by the state police to grill the Kolkata Police commissioner in the Saradha ponzi scam case. The West Bengal hasn't received the application filed by the CBI in the Supreme Court, CNN-News18 reported. The state lawyers are now in a state of confusion as CJI Ranjan Gogoi had posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday. "The Modi government woke up when we organised a mass rally on 19 January. An effort began from that day to finish the Opposition. But we will continue this protest. We will sing celebrating our fighting spirit," said Mamata at the protest venue, the Metro Channel in Kolkata. Meanwhile, the BJP too has tweeted through the party's official handle, saying "Why are you so petrified of CBI investigation when you have done no wrong, Mamata Didi?" Much of the pitched battle fought by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been playing out on Twitter, with Opposition leaders tweeting support for her through Sunday and Monday. BJP asks Mamata why she is 'petrified' if she is 'innocent' BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab had criticised the CBI's conduct in Kolkata in the Parliament, earlier on Monday. "Based on media reports on the CBI issue, BJD would like to clarify that the statement by BJD on CBI is in relation to Odisha and the overall issues confronting the CBI at a national level. Grouping BJD with some political parties because of this statement is incorrect and misleading," ANI quoted the party has having said. "They have emerged as a coalition of the corrupt to save each other," he said, adding, "I have never seen a policeman sit in a dharna." Calling Mamata Banerjee and her supporters an "alliance of corrupt people", Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a press conference that it was not a "crime" to lead an investigation into corruption. Prasad said all fingers point to the fact that, "this police commissioner knows a lot, and has to be saved," Mamata, who has remained silent over the arrest of two of the Trinamool Congress Party's MPs, Madan Mitra and Sudip Bandopadhyay, is now worried about a 1989-batch IPS officer, why? "The power of the Opposition rally drove the BJP to take this measure. The officer (Rajeev Kumar) is honest and upright and has integrity. There is not a single Trinamool logo in sight. This is a chief minister giving a strong message to the people of the state that we are Bengal and we will stand proud," he added. "The most corrupt people in this country are Amit Shah and Narendra Modi. Corruption will never stick to the white saree that Mamata Banerjee wears," said Trinamool Congress Party leader Derek O'Brien to News18. The Ministry of Home Affairs had sought a report on the role of IPS officers on allegations of obstructing investigation and violation of Service Conduct Rules in Sunday's incident in Kolkata. Union home minister Rajnath Singh earlier in the day spoke to West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to take stock of the situation in the wake of a CBI team being allegedly obstructed by the state police to grill the Kolkata Police commissioner in the Saradha ponzi scam case. The West Bengal hasn't received the application filed by the CBI in the Supreme Court, CNN-News18 reported. The state lawyers are now in a state of confusion as CJI Ranjan Gogoi had posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday. "The Modi government woke up when we organised a mass rally on 19 January. An effort began from that day to finish the Opposition. But we will continue this protest. We will sing celebrating our fighting spirit," said Mamata at the protest venue, the Metro Channel in Kolkata. Why are you so petrified of CBI investigation when you have done no wrong, Mamata Didi? PM Modi has waged a decisive war against corruption and black money. That is why he is constantly abused and attacked by those at the receiving end of the clean-up process. pic.twitter.com/I8jp3nNZIv Meanwhile, the BJP too has tweeted through the party's official handle, saying "Why are you so petrified of CBI investigation when you have done no wrong, Mamata Didi?" Much of the pitched battle fought by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been playing out on Twitter, with Opposition leaders tweeting support for her through Sunday and Monday. BJP asks Mamata why she is 'petrified' if she is 'innocent' BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab had criticised the CBI's conduct in Kolkata in the Parliament, earlier on Monday. "Based on media reports on the CBI issue, BJD would like to clarify that the statement by BJD on CBI is in relation to Odisha and the overall issues confronting the CBI at a national level. Grouping BJD with some political parties because of this statement is incorrect and misleading," ANI quoted the party has having said. The CBI justified this raid on the pretext that they had issued two notices to Kumar, who was in charge of the investigation into the Saradha scam as the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the West Bengal government, before the case was handed over to it by an order of the Supreme Court. Before and after the aborted raid, the CBI also said that Kumar faced arrest since he was a suspect in the case. In addition, the CBI had claimed on Saturday that he was absconding and was being looked for. "They have emerged as a coalition of the corrupt to save each other," he said, adding, "I have never seen a policeman sit in a dharna." Calling Mamata Banerjee and her supporters an "alliance of corrupt people", Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a press conference that it was not a "crime" to lead an investigation into corruption. The Twitterati had a field day over a 2014 tweet posted by Congress. The tweet mentioned Congress president Rahul Gandhi's quote on victims of the Saradha chit fund scam. Prasad said all fingers point to the fact that, "this police commissioner knows a lot, and has to be saved," Mamata, who has remained silent over the arrest of two of the Trinamool Congress Party's MPs, Madan Mitra and Sudip Bandopadhyay, is now worried about a 1989-batch IPS officer, why? "The power of the Opposition rally drove the BJP to take this measure. The officer (Rajeev Kumar) is honest and upright and has integrity. There is not a single Trinamool logo in sight. This is a chief minister giving a strong message to the people of the state that we are Bengal and we will stand proud," he added. "The most corrupt people in this country are Amit Shah and Narendra Modi. Corruption will never stick to the white saree that Mamata Banerjee wears," said Trinamool Congress Party leader Derek O'Brien to News18. Mamata vs CBI LATEST updates: Trinamool Congress Party leader Derek O'Brien said on Monday that the most corrupt people in this country are Amit Shah and Narendra Modi. "Corruption will never stick to the white saree that Mamata Banerjee wears," he said. "The power of the Opposition rally drove the BJP to take this measure. The officer (Rajeev Kumar) is honest and upright and has integrity. There is not a single Trinamool logo in sight. This is a chief minister giving a strong message to the people of the state that we are Bengal and we will stand proud," O'Brien added. Calling Mamata Banerjee and her supporters an "alliance of corrupt people", Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a press conference that it was not a "crime" to lead an investigation into corruption. "They have emerged as a coalition of the corrupt to save each other," he said, adding, "I have never seen a policeman sit in a dharna." Odisha's ruling party, the BJD, meanwhile sought to clear its stand. "Based on media reports on the CBI issue, BJD would like to clarify that the statement by BJD on CBI is in relation to Odisha and the overall issues confronting the CBI at a national level. Grouping BJD with some political parties because of this statement is incorrect and misleading," ANI quoted the party has having said. Speaking from the protest venue in Kolkata, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, "The Modi government woke up when we organised a mass rally on 19 January. An effort began from that day to finish the Opposition. But we will continue this protest. We will sing celebrating our fighting spirit." West Bengal governor Keshav Nath Tripathi submitted a report to the Minstry of Home Affairs on the situation in the state. Union home minister Rajnath Singh earlier in the day spoke to Tripathi to take stock of the situation in the wake of a CBI team being allegedly obstructed by the state police to grill the Kolkata Police commissioner in the Saradha ponzi scam case. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar refused to comment on the issue on Monday. "Until the Election Commission announces the date of elections, anything can happen in the country," he said. Meanwhile, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is holding a cabinet meeting in a place adjacent to the dharna venue. The Kolkata Police moved Calcutta High Court against the CBI action on Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. The plea sought urgent hearing on Monday. However, the court said that the matter wasn't urgent and will be heard on Tuesday. Asserting that allegations by Mamata Banerjee are right, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah said that the country is in danger as its becoming dictatorial. "Her (Mamata Banerjee) allegation is right. They (central government) are not masters of this country, people are." Union Minister Prakash Javadekar says, "Opposition parties have supported Mamata Banerjee. Who are these people? They are out on bail. Such people are standing together. This is not Mahagathbandhan, they are divided by vision and united by corruption. The corrupt are standing together. Whatever is happening in Kolkata is one of a kind. Never before was an investigating team taken into custody by police. It's murder of democracy. We want to ask Mamata Banerjee why is she staging dharna, who does she want to shield? Police Commissioner or herself?" As TMC MPs created ruckus in Lok Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, "The CBI was compelled to take this action as the Kolkata police commissioner was not cooperating in the investigation." The Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a report on the role of IPS officers on allegations of obstructing investigation and violation of Service Conduct Rules in Sunday's incident in Kolkata. Narendra Modi will meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, and Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday over West Bengal issue. Meanwhile, West Bengal governor Keshav Nath Tripathi earlier on Monday apprised the Ministry of Home Affairs of the situation in the state. Tripathi has also summoned the chief secretary. When Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the CBI's plea against Rajeev Kumar, CJI Ranjan Gogoi asked what the urgency was and then posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday at 10.30 am. Gogoi said, "If Kolkata Police commissioner even remotely thinks of destroying evidence, bring the material before this court. We will come down so heavily on him that he will regret." The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm after TMC MPs disrupted proceedings on Monday and rushed to the Well. The MPs were demanding discussion on the situation in West Bengal. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court rejected urgent hearing for a plea by CBI against Rajeev Kumar in chit funds cases. The matter will be heard tomorrow. According to reports, CRPF personnel have been deployed outside the CBI office in Kolkata. Meanwhile, AAP MP Sanjay Singh has given notice in Rajya Sabha under rule 267 for suspension of business, demanding discussion on 'misuse of CBI'. As Mamata Banerjee's dharna continues in Kolkata, about 15 parties are expected to raise the issue in Lok Sabha on Monday. Meanwhile, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu said that the Opposition parties will meet in Delhi on Monday and draft an action plan on a nationwide movement. The CBI will seek contempt proceedings against West Bengal chief secretary, DGP and Kolkata commissioner Rajeev Kumar. It will also seek a directive for Kumar to join probe. Advocate and Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi will represent the West Bengal government in Supreme Court. As Mamata Banerjee's dharna continues in Kolkata, about 15 parties are expected to raise the issue in Lok Sabha on Monday. The West Bengal chief minister will also hold a cabinet meeting at the sit-in site. A BJP delegation is likely to meet the Election Commission at 12.30 pm to protest West Bengal's government "move" to to bar party choppers. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will lead the delegation. After Mamata Banerjee began her sit-in on Sunday, she claimed that she was being targetted because she had organised the United India rally in January. As she hit out at the Narendra Modi government, she told her supporters: "Organise rallies tomorrow (Monday) between 2-4 pm in every block of the state. Wear black badges and carry black flags to register your protest. We are not afraid. If he wants to impose Presidents Rule, we will see. We have to ensure Modi is ousted from power in 2019." Congress president Rahul Gandhi, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu, BSP leader Mayawati, NCP's Sharad Pawar, and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal were among the several Opposition leaders who spoke to Mamata Banerjee on Sunday over phone to express solidarity. In an unprecedented development on Sunday evening, Mamata sat on a dharna, protesting CBI's attempt to quiz Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams. The chief minister stayed the night on a makeshift dais along with some senior ministers and party members. Mamata said she will continue her Satyagraha till the country and its Constitution are "saved". Opposition parties late Sunday night expressed solidarity with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who began a sit-in protest over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, as the Congress termed it "mala fide" and an "assault" on the federal polity. Congress president Rahul Gandhi called up Banerjee and extended support to her, saying the entire opposition is together and it will defeat the fascist forces. He alleged the events in West Bengal were part of an unrelenting attack on India's institutions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. He said the Congress stood shoulder to shoulder with Banerjee who is on an overnight dharna. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister M Chandrababu Naidu said it was a glaring example of how "Modi-Shah duo are destroying the institutions". "Attacking political opponents in different States, few days before the Parliament elections commence, will have disastrous consequences in the country," he said. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also came out in support of the TMC chief. "Spoke to Mamta didi and expressed solidarity. Modi-Shah duo's action is completely bizarre and anti-democracy," he tweeted. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav termed the CBI's action undemocratic and against the spirit of the Constitution. "The BJP wants to stay in power by hook or by crook. They are so scared of losing that CBI is being used as election agents. This is undemocratic and against spirit of the constitution. We demand due process be followed so that CBI is not used as a tool of political interference," he said on Twitter. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the CBI action in Kolkata is clearly "mala fide" and an "assault" on the federal polity, which has come within 48 hours of Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah's public "threat" to him. He alleged that the BJP and the prime minister are desperate to create a controversy in the state for "cheap publicity and divisiveness" to get some space in 2019 elections. He claimed the Modi government has ensured a non-functional and non-productive Parliament session going by such assaults on the federal polity on a Sunday evening. Congress leader Ahmed Patel said, "Investigative agencies are constitutional bodies and need to operate within the parameters of law. "They cannot act at the behest of any political party or any extra constitutional authority." Rashtriya Janata Dal national president Lalu Prasad said the Constitution and constitutional institutions in the country were facing an "unprecedented crisis" and alleged that there were "attempts to plunge the country into a civil war". "The common public of the country is against the BJP and its coalition partner - a partisan CBI. We stand with @MamataBanerjeeOfficial. There is a brazen display of dictatorship. "It is the greatest danger to democracy. The Constitution and constitutional institutions are facing an unprecedented crisis. Attempts are being made to plunge the country into a civil war for electoral gains," Prasad tweeted in Hindi. Prasad's official twitter handle is operated by people close to him as he is serving sentences in connection with fodder scam cases and admitted at a hospital in Ranchi for treatment of multiple ailments. Incidentally, the fodder scam conviction which led to the imprisonment of Prasad and rendered him disqualified from contesting polls, was also investigated by the CBI. According to party sources, the RJD supremo's younger son and political heir Tejashwi Yadav has spoken to Banerjee over phone and he might visit Kolkata on Monday in a show of solidarity. "State governments will be compelled to take such steps in view of political decisions taken by the CBI in the last few months under pressure from the BJP. The CBI may have to face the wrath of the public if it continues to act as a coalition partner of the BJP. Nobody is mightier than the public in a democracy," Tejashwi Yadav tweeted. NCP president Sharad Pawar wrote on the micro-blogging site," #Assualtondemocracy - blatant misuse of CBI in #WestBengal to intimidate the opposition and settle political scores." National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also threw his weight behind Banerjee, saying the use of the agency as a political tool has crossed all limits. "Just spoke to @MamataOfficial didi to convey the support of @JKNC_ as she sits in dharna. The use of the CBI as a political tool has crossed all limits as has the Modi government's misuse of institutions. A former CM having such little regard for India's federalism is shocking," Omar tweeted. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti also expressed solidarity with Banerjee, saying history stands testament to how JK has faced the wrath of central agencies. She said, "Its disheartening to see how institutions are being hijacked only to discredit political opponents. Doesn't bode well for the Centre-State relationship." In a dramatic showdown with the Modi government, a furious Banerjee, wrapped in a brown woollen shawl, began a sit-in right in front of the Metro Cinema to protest "insults" she faced at the hands of the prime minister and Shah, hours after a CBI team that had gone to question Kumar was detained in a rare face-off between the police establishments of the Centre and the state. Mamata Banerjee has accused the Centre of attempting a 'constitutional coup' against the West Bengal government and has sat on an 'indefinite dharna' ostensibly against the 'Gabbar-style' attitude of the CBI and the Narendra Modi government. This reference to 'Gabbar' the reel bandit from the iconic film Sholay tells us a lot about Mamata's style of politics and her calculation behind the dharna, which she has meaningfully termed a 'Satyagraha'. Let's cut through the clutter of debates and noise. Mamata Banerjee has accused the Centre of attempting a "constitutional coup" against the West Bengal government and has sat on an "indefinite dharna" ostensibly against the "Gabbar-style" attitude of the CBI and the Narendra Modi government. This reference to "Gabbar" the reel bandit from the iconic film Sholay tells us a lot about Mamata's style of politics and her calculation behind the dharna, which she has meaningfully termed a "Satyagraha". More on that later. What we should concentrate on is the use of terms such as "constitutional crisis", "attempt at coup", "democracy in danger", "worse than the Emergency" and "Super Emergency". These are some of the words used by a furious West Bengal chief minister who took umbrage at the CBI officers landing up at the home of Kolkata's top cop. One of the more serious charges Mamata levelled against the Centre was that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was "giving instructions" to the CBI and the prime minister "to take action against Trinamool Congress leaders and policemen", and that a "secret meeting" took place at Modi's home recently where the prime minister apparently urged the officers to "do something!" According to the Bengal chief minister, the CBI is working at the behest of Doval and Modi, and the agency's attempt to question Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar at his house on Sunday in connection with chit fund scams is part of the Centre's larger plan to "forcibly destroy Bengal". The prime minister, she claimed, was restoring to these desperate measures because he had understood that his time is up and he was now trying to intimidate her and the people of the state by misusing the CBI. As CBI officers had turned up at the doorstep of the "world's best cop" "unannounced" and "without any search warrant", Mamata was forced to step in to protect "her forces" and "save democracy" through a "Satyagraha dharna". Incidentally, the Election Commission had removed Kumar from the post on 12 April, 2016, ahead of the West Bengal Assembly polls under pressure from Opposition parties who had accused him of being partial and a "TMC stooge". The allegations against Kumar who had led the West Bengal Police investigation into the Saradha chit fund scam as the chief of the Bidhan Nagar Police in 2014 include that he had destroyed crucial evidence and made it difficult for the CBI to nail the culprits in the case. It was alleged that there was enough evidence to nab a few top TMC leaders. The Election Commission removed Kumar, but Mamata reinstated her trusted cop immediately after being voted back to power. Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal and the current Commissioner of Police, was seen sharing the dais with Mamata on Sunday when she started the dharna. It is not clear where Mamata learned that Doval and Modi were orchestrating the CBI operation. She didn't provide any proof beyond claiming that she is "in possession of such information". M Nageshwar Rao, the interim CBI chief, told the media on Sunday that the CBI investigation against Kumar in connection with the Saradha scam was being carried out on the Supreme Court's order, and the agency does not need any permission (under Section 156 (1) of Code of Criminal Procedure that empowers central investigative agencies to act without a warrant from the magistrate) from the state government to carry out its job. Rao said Kolkata's top cop was a suspect in the case and has been refusing to cooperate with the CBI and impeding investigation into the chit fund scams. As the chief of the state's Special Investigation Team (SIT) that looked into the Saradha, Rose Valley and other chit fund scams, Kumar's position was sensitive. Rao said the Kolkata police commissioner had not been cooperating with the investigation for the "past 2-3 years", and his policemen had been harassing CBI officers in various ways during this period. "Kumar is a suspect as there were irregularities in the investigation conducted by the West Bengal SIT. Our team had gone to his house on Sunday to record his statement, but they were taken away by the police. In fact, I have been told that civilians have surrounded the Salt Lake and Nizam Palace offices of the CBI, as well as the residence of Joint Director Pankaj Srivastava. They are banging his doors," the interim CBI chief, according to reports. Rao is apprehensive that crucial evidence in the case may be, or have been, destroyed. Interim CBI chief M Nageshwar Rao to ANI: They have taken charge of all the evidence, seized all the documents. They have not been cooperating with us in handing over all the documents and a lot of evidence has been destroyed or caused to disappear. https://t.co/c2bDy5ExAL ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2019 On the Bengal chief minister's allegation that the CBI had turned up at Kumar's doorstep unannounced, Rao claimed the CBI had "informed the West Bengal Police on Sunday before going to Rajeev Kumar's house" and had also written to the Chief Minister's Office seeking permission. The CBI officers, who were detained briefly by the Kolkata Police and taken to the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station, were seen brandishing documents before the camera to support their claim. A report in The Indian Express, quoting a CBI source, claimed that the CBI had summoned Kumar "earlier to talk to him regarding chit fund investigation. He, however, failed to turn up. That is why our team went to his residence to talk to him and record his statement." When the CBI team reached Kumar's house, the officers were surrounded by the police, dragged into a police jeep and taken to the police station. The Kolkata Police claimed that the CBI had come with no documents or warrants. Media reports say otherwise. Detained CBI officials say they had all required documents, show them to Media. Heres their side of story https://t.co/JvCHbAcFn2 Manak Gupta (@manakgupta) February 3, 2019 The highest levels of the BJP leadership are doing the worst kind of political vendetta. Not only are political parties their targets, they are misusing power to take control of the police and destroy all institutions. We condemn this 1/2 Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) February 3, 2019 The basis of Mamata's charge is not clear. The CBI was acting under instructions from the Supreme Court. By obstructing the CBI officers from doing their job, it is the state government and its police force that are seemingly impeding a court-directed investigation into chit fund scams that defrauded Bengal residents of lakhs of crores. Therefore, if anyone is obstructing justice and not letting a judiciary-backed probe to be carried out, it appears to be the West Bengal government. Mamata's allegation seems not only baseless but pure theatrics aimed at obfuscating the state's heavy-handed approach. Mamata's second charge is that the CBI had appeared unannounced at Kumar's doorstep. There are two different versions here. The CBI said it had summoned the top cop, requested permission from the Chief Minister's Office and had the relevant documents with them when they had reached Kumar's house even though, according to the interim CBI chief, it does not need permission from the state government. The West Bengal government counters this. In 2010, the CBI had arrested Amit Shah, then a minister in Narendra Modi's Gujarat cabinet, and sent him to jail in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. Shah, in reply to a reporter's query during his arrest, had said: "There is no need to drag the chief minister into this issue." Modi has sought to make political gains out of Mamata's decision to "ban" the CBI from entering the state, pointing out at several recent rallies that as the Gujarat chief minister, even when he was questioned and investigated, he had never decided to "ban the CBI" since he had nothing to hide. Mamata's high-octane drama might be a ploy to ramp up political support, but the optics of a chief minister rushing to "protect" a police officer from being investigated by the CBI and that officer later sharing a political stage with her send the wrong message and do little to back Mamata's claim that she is "saving democracy". "I am ready to die, but I am not ready to bow down before the Modi government. We won't allow the imposition of another Emergency... Please save India, save democracy, save the Constitution," Mamata thundered at an impromptu press conference called hurriedly on Sunday night. These dramatic words and references to popular movies and Mahatma Gandhi's 'Satyagraha' struggle are the chief minister's attempt to shift the investigation onto a political turf where she is more comfortable and confident. Ever the street fighter, Mamata knows how to use emotive phrases and melodrama to shore up political and mass support. The entire dharna made for a TV audience that may lap up the pictures of a chief minister on a 'Satyagraha' trying to "protect democracy" is expected to solidify masses behind her and draw sympathetic support from Opposition leaders, many of whom since have joined ranks. Mamata knows she may technically be on a weak turf, which necessitates the need to create a dramatic 'Centre vs State' showdown that segues the dramatic developments into a larger political narrative ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. She has played her cards well, but this may backfire if the Supreme Court delivers an adversarial ruling. We will have to wait for that. When Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said they can raise the issue after Question Hour, TMC members rushed to the Well of the House and started raising slogans against the BJP. Members of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti TRS were also in the Well supporting the TMC New Delhi: The proceedings of Lok Sabha were adjourned for nearly 45 minutes on Monday morning amid protests by Trinamool Congress members over alleged "misuse" of the CBI by the central government. As soon as the House paid obituaries to former members who had died in the recent past, members of the TMC raised the issue, saying they have given notice for an adjournment motion to discuss the issue. When Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said they can raise the issue after Question Hour, TMC members rushed to the Well of the House and started raising slogans against the BJP. Members of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) were also in the Well supporting the TMC. Later, Congress members entered the Well holding placards about the Rafale jet deal and unemployment figures. They, however, did not shout slogans. The Speaker continued with the Question Hour for 15 minutes and later adjourned the House till noon. The treasury benches were largely empty with only a few members present in the House. West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee has begun a sit-in protest in Kolkata over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams. The chief minister skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on a makeshift dais here along with some senior ministers and party members. In an unprecedented development Sunday evening, Banerjee sat on a dharna, protesting CBI's attempt to quiz Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams. A CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and was whisked to a police station. The CBI wants to quiz Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal Police probing the scams, regarding missing documents and files. Several political leaders, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and RJD national president Lalu Prasad, came out in support of Banerjee. Mamata Banerjee is playing the victim card and trying to portray herself as the valiant fighter who is going all out in her fight against the Centre to establish herself as an alternative a national alternative to Narendra Modi "Save Constitution, save democracy, save federalism", these are the high sounding keywords which West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is using to justify a constitutional crisis which she is attempting to create in West Bengal. The West Bengal chief minister is sitting on an impromptu dharna in Kolkata since Sunday evening. It saw another bizarre situation where serving senior police officers, some in uniform and some in civil dresses, including Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar who CBI wanted to question in connection with Supreme Court-directed investigation on the Chit Fund scam, too sat on dharna with the chief minister. The incumbent chief minister on a dharna, acting as a shield against the potential arrest by the central investigative agency of a police officer, who is perceived close to her, was itself an unprecedented act in Independent India. By late night a tent was erected and other facilities were put up for a long drawn battle. The big banner in the backdrop extended the issue to include save Indian Police Service, save Indian administrative service, all ranks of civil services and so on. It seems that the idea was to have the officials serving in West Bengal, all India services and state services, side with Mamata Banerjee and by extension with ruling Trinamool Congress. In short give fillip to the idea of a committed bureaucracy. Another manifestation came when on Monday afternoon when top cops and some other officers landed at the dharna venue in full uniform and climbed onto the podium to receive awards at the same venue. This is all happening when the state Assembly is in session, and today, the budget was to be presented in the state. Ironically, the chief minister and leader of the House would be present in the House when the budget would be presented. But Mamata is happy to be in the role of an agitator than fulfilling a constitutional role that she is expected to perform as head of the government in the state. It is an unprecedented situation where the chief minister has gone to such extent to shield a police officer from interrogation by the CBI. From unfolding developments since Sunday afternoon, it is apparent that Mamata is the one who is creating chaos and a constitutional crisis but is preaching theme of "save democracy". Welcome to the Republic of West Bengal! Its a classic case of preaching what one does not practice. Mamata's actions suggest that she believes that she is a law unto herself in what one can say is the Republic of West Bengal. Its a state where someone like Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has difficulties in getting permission from the state authorities to hold public rally in a chosen venue; Amit Shah, the national president of the BJP, which is in power at the Centre, faces difficulties in getting his helicopter land to address a public meeting; chief minister of the biggest Indian state, Yogi Aditanath, is denied permission to land his helicopter at two places to address public rallies; the BJP is denied permission to hold a Rath Yatra for pre-poll campaigning in the state; the chief minister withdraws the consent to the CBI to operate in the territories of the state; the CBI is prevented from questioning a suspect Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar is suspected to have either concealed or destroyed evidence he recovered as SIT chief in the in Chit Fund scam in 2013 in an ongoing investigation that is being carried out under the directions of the Supreme Court; CBI officers are restrained from carrying out their duty by the local police and later detained at a police station; panchayat and local bodies elections are about violence; rival BJP office at Bhanipore in South Kolkata is vandalised while the Trinamool chief is leading save democracy protests. Yet in a polarised national politics divided into pro-Modi and anti-Modi camps, Mamata is playing the victim card and trying to portray herself as the valiant fighter who is going all out in her fight against the Centre and against Modi. She is pitching herself as a national alternative to Modi. She has prime ministerial ambitions, no doubt. Last month, Mamata had organised a rally of all anti-Modi forces and parties and got an endorsement as a prime ministerial contender from the likes of Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy. Now Mamata has pulled support of Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, MK Stalin, Tejashwi Yadav, Omar Abdullah, Arvind Kejriwal, Chandrababu Naidu and others. Support for her dharna is pouring from various quarters in the opposition. While Congress president Rahul Gandhi has gone all out in supporting her and taking on Modi, he has conveniently forgotten that it was his party sympathisers who had gone to the Supreme Court on the Chit Fund scam and it was on that plea the court had directed CBI to investigate the case. Rahul had also tweeted against Mamata in early May 2014. Senior West Bengal Congress leader and MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary is opposed to Mamatas politics and dharna, but the Congress central leadership position is the complete opposite to what Chowdhary and others in the state unit are openly saying. Mamata is on dharna but nobody is quite sure how will she end it. The earliest response on save her save democracy demand can come in mid-May 2019 when results of the parliamentary poll are announced. Previously, Mamata has registered landslide victories in Assembly elections on the back of her strong protests ans mobilised agitations. It has been long since Mamata Banerjee last sat on a dharna, 13 years to be precise, but memories of her historic 26-day fast to protest against the Tata Nano plant in Singur are still fresh in people's minds. Previously, Mamata had registered landslide victories in Assembly elections on the back of her strong protests and mobilised agitations. For instance, Mamata's comeback in 2011 West Benegal elections against the long-ruling Left government, rode on the successes of the anti-land acquisition movements in Nandigram and Singur in 2006, albeit with tacit Maoist backing at play. Therefore, her impromptu and overnight strike at the same ground (Metro Channel in Esplanade area) in Kolkata on Sunday night came as little surprise ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, wherein Mamata is spearheading the 'mahagathbandhan'. In January 2007, Mamata was quick to fuel the Nandigram issue. The movement gained momentum and culminated in the killing of 14 poor farmers in police firing which further helped Mamata in mobilising well-known writers, artists, poets and activists including, Mahasweta Devi, Aparna Sen and Medha Patkar against the forceful land acquisition. Similarly, in 2008 at Singur, Mamata played the role of a farmers' rights crusader while protesting against Tata Motor's "forceful" land acquisition for the Nano project at Singur. Mamata went on to stage an indefinite hunger strike which lasted 26 days to force Ratan Tata to withdraw his dream project in October 2008. However, despite her tendency to lock horns with the Central administration, Mamata has been particularly aggressive with the Narendra Modi-led government as the elections approach. She had organised the mega Opposition rally in Kolkata on 19 January which was attended by leaders such as former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, among others. Thereafter, Mamata was accused of "throttling" democracy when BJP chief Amit Shah's helicopter was refused permission to land in West Bengal's Malda. Later, Shah addressed a rally in the region but, Mamata's party Trinamool Congress (TMC) clashed with BJP workers leading to vandalism. Recently, the West Bengal administration also denied permission to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's chopper to land in the state ahead of his rally in the South Dinapur district. However, with the Opposition's backing this time, Mamata seems determined in her protest route to take on the Modi government. Though it remains to be seen if she would be able to come out victorious in this war, which Mamata claims is not political but an exercise to 'save the Constitution'. The BJP leader also defended himself in connection with the Saradha scam, a ponzi scheme through which lakhs of investors were duped of their savings, saying the CBI had failed to find any dirt on him. New Delhi: Mukul Roy, a former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP who was questioned in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam case, on Monday urged West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to allow the investigating agency to do its work. The BJP leader also defended himself in connection with the scam, a ponzi scheme through which lakhs of investors were duped of their savings, saying the CBI had failed to find any dirt on him. Mamata has been on a protest since Sunday evening against the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) attempt to quiz Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with the case. She has termed her sit-in outside Metro Cinema in Kolkata a "satyagraha" to save the country and the Constitution and warned it will continue indefinitely. The size of the Saradha financial scandal is pegged at an estimated Rs 4,000 crore. After being prevented from questioning the Kolkata police chief on Sunday evening, the CBI moved the Supreme Court on Monday morning, accusing Kumar of destroying evidence. The top court will hear the matter on Tuesday. "The investigation into the Saradha chit fund case has been going on since 2014. In 2015, the CBI called me for questioning and I was questioned by them for eight hours. After that, I was with TMC for two years. I conducted the 2016 Assembly election for the party. The CBI is an independent agency. It has called people from various parties for questioning at one point of time or the other. So, those who don't have anything to hide will comply. It had nothing against me. CBI is investigating according to the orders of the SC and Mamata should let it work," said Roy, once a close associate of the West Bengal chief minister. Roy, who was accompanied by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and SS Ahluwalia, and BJP leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya, Bhupender Yadav, Anil Baluni, submitted a memorandum to the poll panel to highlight instances of TMC disallowing BJP leaders from campaigning in the state. "The question is whether democracy will remain in Bengal or not. There is no space for any political opposition in the state," Roy told reporters. A tussle has been going on in West Bengal between the BJP and the TMC ahead of the general election, expected to be held in April-May. On Sunday, the state government denied permission to BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's chopper to land and let him address two scheduled rallies. He had to address the rallies via telephone. On Monday, the West Bengal BJP cancelled a public rally of Adityanath in Bankura scheduled for Tuesday, claiming the district administration was "dilly-dallying" on giving permission for the landing of his helicopter. The Congress' Mahila wing will file a complaint for a 'malicious' online campaign against general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Mumbai: The Congress' Mahila wing will on Monday file a complaint at the BKC Cyber Crime Police Station here for a 'malicious' online campaign against newly-appointed general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi "As we are witnessing that the entry of Priyanka Gandhi in politics has led to BJP leaders making misogynistic comments but since past few days a derogatory thread against her physical appearance is being unleashed into social media which is completely unacceptable," read a statement from the Mahila Congress. Last month, Priyanka was appointed as Congress party's general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh, an important battleground in general elections. Since then, she has been targeted by several leaders of the BJP. Surendra Singh a BJP legislator, had last week called Congress president Rahul Gandhi "Raavan" and Priyanka "Surpanakha"- the demons from Hindu epic Ramayana. According to party sources, the Congress high command has realised that the party's revival in Andhra Pradesh for the upcoming Assembly polls is not in the realm of possibility at least for 2019 With the possibility of a state-level alliance with TDP almost ruled out, senior leaders in Congress' Andhra Pradesh unit are looking for greener pastures elsewhere. While former Union minister and veteran tribal leader Kishore Chandra Deo has resigned from Congress, another former minister Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy is all set to join TDP. Moreover, with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi seemingly more keen on getting the support of maximum number of MPs from anti-BJP parties in the state (including TDP) at the national level rather than reviving the party ahead of the state Assembly polls, it seems Congress has accepted that it has no chance of making its presence felt in Andhra Pradesh politics at least for this term despite growing people's anger against Narendra Modi. Deo's exit should be seen as part of the political disaster Congress continues to confront in Andhra Pradesh due to the arbitrary bifurcation of the state. Deo is a six-time MP. He worked as Union minister for Tribal Welfare and Panchayat Raj in the UPA governments representing the Araku (ST) reserved Lok Sabha constituency of north coastal Andhra. In 2014, he lost to Kothapalli Geetha of YSR Congress owing to the Congress' disastrous performance in the elections held post-bifurcation. The strong sentiment in the people of Seemandhra region that now constitutes the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh caused the complete rout of the Congress in a state that catapulted the party-led UPA to power by sending over 30 seats in the Lok Sabha. The pathetic plight of Congress is evident from the fact that the party has no representation in Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly for the first time in history. As like any other politician, Deo while announcing his decision to leave Congress said that he would chalk out his future political course after discussing it with his followers. But, the political sources are agog with rumours that Deo is expected to join the TDP to contest from Araku Lok Sabha constituency though he is still exploring various other political options. Despite his popularity among the tribal population, Deo had to suffer a humiliating defeat in 2014 due to the outright rejection of the Congress party by the Andhra electorate as the UPA government divided the state against the wishes of the people of this region. It is significant that Deo defending his resignation from Congress accused that the grand old party has done injustice to Andhra Pradesh by enacting the bifurcation act that has several lapses. Not just Deo, every other Congress leader who left the party since 2014 has been maintaining that their decision to leave the party is the arbitrary bifurcation of the state. This only indicates how the politics of Andhra Pradesh, since 2014, is woven around the bifurcation narrative. Deo came down heavily on BJP indicating that he may join TDP as the latter's politics is built around the anti-Modi narrative. The TDP has a clear political strategy in luring Deo into the party. The TDP lost most of the Assembly segments in the Araku Lok Sabha seat. By inducting the veteran tribal leader into its fold, TDP would like to boost its chances in as many Assembly seats as possible. Besides, Deo has good contacts across the parties at the national level that can be an asset to TDP leadership at a time when N Chandrababu Naidu is pitching for space in national politics too. Meanwhile, Deo's exit from Congress is not an isolated political development. The Congress is decimated in Andhra Pradesh due to what people strongly believe a unilateral bifurcation aimed at winning seats in Telangana. Interestingly, with Modi denying special category status to Andhra Pradesh, the electorate of the state is overwhelmingly in favour of Rahul Gandhi as prime minister. This has been made evident from several internal surveys conducted by different political parties due to voters' disenchantment with Modi over a raw deal meted out to Andhra Pradesh. However, at the same time, they are in no mood to give Congress a chance. Sensing this, Naidu had mooted an alliance with Congress-led opposition at the national level. In the wake of Telangana Mahakutami experiment, fresh hopes arose in Andhra Pradesh Congress leaders that they would have political future, at least in the Lok Sabha election, as there would be an understanding with TDP. But, contrary to their hopes, the TDP-Congress alliance in Telangana proved to be a damp squib. This has strengthened the apprehensions in both TDP and Congress over the electoral implications of an alliance between the two parties that were traditional rivals for decades. Since 2014, Naidu has been promoting anti-bifurcation narrative to consolidate on the feelings of hurt of the people of this region. Thus, the alliance with Congress does not fit into his anti-bifurcation political narrative. Therefore, it is almost clear that Naidu may not embrace Congress at the state level though he is working with Congress to rally all the anti -BJP parties. The Congress and TDP may have a tacit and strategic understanding to frustrate the chances of YSR Congress. In any case, the Congress leaders find no future in the strategic manoeuvring by Naidu in league with Congress' all India leadership. The Congress high command, says party sources, has realised that the party's revival is not in the realm of possibility at least for 2019. Thus, the party leadership is keen on ensuring the maximum number of anti-BJP MPs from the state. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has been hostile to Congress and his political move triggers enough suspicion that YSR Congress is likely to be the post-poll ally of BJP. Thus, Congress is left with no alternative except to ally with TDP in national politics though the latter is not keen on roping in the party at the state level. This seems to be the emerging formula in West Bengal too. Given the emerging political landscape, Congress' senior leaders who still have some influence at the constituency level are looking towards other parties to eke out a political living. To break Jagan Mohan's stronghold of Rayalaseema, the TDP is keen on inducting another former union minister and Congress senior leader Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy, son of former chief minister Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy and field him from Kurnool Lok Sabha seat. Deo's political move falls in the same political pattern shaping up firmly and fastly in the state political landscape in the run-up to 2019 polls. The BJP on Sunday slammed the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal after Kolkata Police stopped the CBI from questioning its chief, accusing it of making a mockery of governance, democracy and constitutional propriety. New Delhi: The BJP on Sunday slammed the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal after Kolkata Police stopped the CBI from questioning its chief, accusing it of making a mockery of governance, democracy and constitutional propriety. The party said the state government's action is a direct assault on the constitutional scheme of things and reflects dictatorial streak of the chief minister. "The development in Kolkata and the resistance to the CBI investigation is bizarre, unprecedented and reflect Banerjee's dictatorial attitude. She has violated the very Constitution she had sworn by," party spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said. Noting that the CBI has been probing the chit fund scams on the Supreme Court's order, he said the city police's action amounts to disrespect and disobedience to the apex court. Nalin Kohli, another BJP spokesperson, described the situation in the state as unprecedented and said it is an indication of "total collapse" of law and order. Never before a premier investigation agency like the CBI has been stopped from doing its work, which is working under the court's direction. "It is clear that the state government under Mamata Banerjee has lost sight of all constitutional propriety. People can see what a mockery of governance, democracy and constitutional propriety taking place," he said. BJP leaders also spoke about how the state government "refused" its leaders from exercising their democratic rights by preventing them from attending rallies and other political programmes in the state. Rao said the state government has been indulging in undemocratic and unconstitutional action for long and the Sunday's action by the Kolkata Police is "an assault beyond all limitations". Anna Hazare, the face of the Lokpal movement, has been demanding the appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra and resolution of farmers' issue Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Monday appealed to the BJP-led government to save the life of social activist Anna Hazare whose hunger strike entered its sixth day. The 81-year-old anti-graft crusader has been on hunger strike in his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar, over 240 kilometres from Mumbai, since Wednesday. Hazare, the face of the Lokpal movement, has been demanding the appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra and resolution of farmers' issue. Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, the Sena said, "Anna faces criticism for being adamant and stubborn. It is said to be the trait of selfless people. Similar characteristics are found in Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well, but it is portrayed as his greatness," in its editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' on Monday, the Sena said, "First you should save Anna's life and then we can see what is to be done later." "If the government is wishful of Anna losing his life in this battle, then it is a sign of the state's culture getting morbid," the Sena editorial alleged. It also hit out at the Union government for the PMO's letter to the Gandhian which his supporters claimed was "terse" and amounted to giving him the cold shoulder. "Your letter was received, thank you and best wishes", read the letter, purportedly sent by the PMO, which was shown to some reporters by an aide of Hazare on 2 February. "His fast is for the Lokpal, appointment of Lokayukta and farmers' issues and the Prime Minister has sent a letter wishing him luck for his fast unto death," the Sena editorial claimed. The BJP's ally in Maharashtra and Union government also alleged that the ruling dispensation had "managed" the media at the national level to ensure coverage of Hazare's stir was kept at a "low level". "If Anna's agitation spreads across the country like last time, then there will be chaos in the country. The government is trying to keep the coverage at a low level," Sena alleged. | BY Kim Shaw | SunRice is celebrating Chinese New Year with a campaign via Identity Communications, Sydney, featuring an Asian-Australian family. SunRice is launching a national campaign depicting a new-migrant experience hosting their Australian neighbours for dinner for the first time. The initial dinner table awkwardness is immediately overcome when a steaming bowl of SunRice arrives, proving that SunRice is the ideal cultural rice breaker. The campaign will be rolled out on SBS TV and Chinese and Vietnamese channels including Pay TV, digital, print, Weibo and WeChat social media and bi-lingual out of home. Chinese New Year is the biggest cultural occasion for the community, and we wanted to be there to celebrate this special occasion with them, says Andrew Jeffrey, head of marketing at SunRice. As a proud Australian brand, we want to show our Asian consumers that we understand the aspirations of modern Asian-Australian families. Our Asian family is proud of their heritage, but they are also eager to be part of the Australian community. The campaign creative was developed by multicultural communications agency, Identity. Says managing director Thang Ngo: There are around one million Chinese speakers in Australia, making this audience highly attractive for brands. Just using red and gold colours or number 8s in creative doesnt cut-through anymore. Its not new, doesnt stand out and doesnt demonstrate an understanding beyond cultural cliches. Brands need to demonstrate more sophistication and deeper understanding if they want to build an authentic connection with this valuable audience. Agency: Identity Communications Creative Director: Yasmin Quemard Art Director: Rachel Liang Writers: Yasmin Quemard, Brenda Leung and Sean Zhu Translation Management: Brenda Leung, Albert Han Designer: Rachel Liang Head of Strategy: Thang Ngo Managing Director: Thang Ngo Head of Studio: Tobias Young Client Services Director: Angelica Naranjo Production Coordinator: Murray Wallace Lead Developer: Dipak Sadaula Production Company: Clockwork Film Client: SunRice Head of Marketing & Insights: Andrew Jeffrey Senior Marketing Manager: Shannon Cumberlidge Stating that the coalition Karnataka government was in a 'coma', BJP had expressed doubts whether chief minister HD Kumaraswamy would even present his government's second budget on 8 February. Bengaluru: Senior JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda Monday said he did not think Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished to destabilise the ruling coalition in Karnataka, but sought to know whether Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah was guiding the state unit to do so. "Whether the party President (Shah) is guiding them or...I dont think the Prime Minister wants to destabilise, he has got some responsibility," Gowda told reporters in Bengaluru. "However, attempts were being made by the BJP's state unit under the leadership of its chief BS Yeddyurappa. BJP is a national party, if the state party (unit) is moving forward, in other words it means they have the permission of the central party," the JD(S) supremo alleged. Speaking to reporters, he said, "the state unit normally...the leader of the Opposition and the party (state) president (Yeddyurapa) who was there for three days as chief minister, naturally he has been hurt, having lost the gaddi (seat) of Chief Minister in three days, so it is natural..." Yeddyurappa, the leader of the single largest party, took over as chief minister following the May, 2018 polls that threw up a hung verdict. But with defeat staring him in the face, he announced his decision to quit on the floor of the Assembly during the 19 May floor test. Gowda's comments gained significance as several coalition leaders, including Coordination Committee chief and former chief minister Siddaramaiah, had charged Modi along with Shah trying to destabilise the coalition government, as they fear getting just three or four seats in the coming Lok Sabha polls. "Not only state leaders of BJP, central leaders of the party, including Modi, Shah and central Ministers were involved in attempts to destabilise the coalition government," he had alleged soon after the recent Congress Legisltature Party meeting, amid alleged attempts by BJP to poach its MLAs. Stating that the coalition government was in a "coma", BJP had expressed doubts whether chief minister HD Kumaraswamy would even present his government's second budget on 8 February. Senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka had claimed that 20 to 25 disgruntled MLAs of the alliance were out of reach of their leaders. Alleging that duplicate voters list in Andhra Pradesh is on rise, YS Jaganmohan Reddy also the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly said out of 369 lakh voters here, nearly 60 lakh voters are invalid or duplicate at present and that need to be deleted to ensure fair election New Delhi: YSRCP President Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Monday urged Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora to conduct the parliamentary elections in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on the same day as many people are registered to votes in both the states. At the meeting, Reddy also sought deletion of about 60 lakh duplicate votes allegedly created by the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led government in Andhra Pradesh. He also complained to Arora that Chandrababu Naidu's government has allegedly parked Rs 4,000-5,000 crore ill-gotten money in all 175 constituencies in the state for distribution to voters during the elections due in April-May. "The TDP government is doing everything in its power to subvert democracy and steal the election. I met the CEC and informed him about the various ways in which the current government is undermining the electoral process. I requested him to intervene in the matter and ensure free and fair elections in the state," Reddy told reporters after the meeting. After the state bifurcation, many people still have their votes in both the states. The CEC or the Chief Election Commissioner has been requested to hold the elections in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on the same day so that such voters cast their vote in one state, he said. Alleging that the duplicate voters list in the state is on rise, Reddy also the Leader of Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly said out of 369 lakh voters in the state, nearly 60 lakh voters are invalid or duplicate at present and that need to be deleted to ensure fair election. "Not only this, a systematic approach is put in place to identify and delete the votes of YSRCP sympathisers," he said, alleging that the TDP through an 'app' is conducting a survey to collect the data of YSRCP sympathisers and then remove such voters from the list. He also alleged that data is being "unjustly collected" through the 'Praja Sadhikara Survey' via the Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) database, 'Parishkara Vedika' grievance collection and periodic surveys for political purposes. This is leading to "coercing, influencing and intimidating the voters to the extent of getting their names removed from the voter lists", he added. Moreover, the TDP has uploaded the entire voter list on a website with photographs of voters, which is a blatant infringements on privacy of voters and a highly unethical action by the party, he told the CEC. In the meeting, the YSRCP chief informed about the alleged misrule of the TDP government in the last 4 years and 8 months and how the state government has institutionalised corruption and misused the police force. "From this ill-gotton money, the TDP has parked around Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 crore in all 175 constituencies for spending and for distribution to the voters through select people including police personnel," he said. Reddy informed the CEC that the police officers belonging to a particular community who are the TDP supporters have been given out of the turn promotions, while others are being denied important posts. "Such favoured police officers are being used to illegally tap phones of political leaders, conduct caste-based census of serving police officers, gather political intelligence, booking illegal cases, harassing the opposition," he alleged. He also informed in the meeting that some of the senior officers are being removed from election duty. A former CBI officer BR Lall had noted that many of his colleagues in the police were overzealous to serve the state chiefs New Delhi: "Should the actions of the CBI swing this way or that depending on how various interest groups view the same matter, at a particular time? Should the process of collection of facts be determined by the interests or perceptions of any particular interest groups, who may be political or administrative masters?" These two pertinent questions were raised by a former CBI officer, who in the mid-1990s was chasing high profile white-collar criminals closely linked to the then decision-makers of the country. Years later, a wave of arguments has been unleashed by political leaders from Opposition parties that the CBI's move to grill Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar represents a vendetta against the state government headed by Mamata Banerjee. A certain section has also questioned the timing of the CBI action against Kumar. These arguments nevertheless seem juvenile due to a lack of credibility and at best appear to be a by-product of political opportunism. Although, these political leaders have not clarified on the link between Kumar and Mamata, the assertion automatically makes the police commissioner the 'secrets-keeper' of the chief minister. The tag may not go away easily no matter how hard Kumar tries, because his acts were unprecedented although not surprising. A former CBI officer BR Lall had noted that many of his colleagues in the police were overzealous to serve the state chiefs. Lall said he had witnessed a number of police officers swear that they would even kill someone if asked to do so by the chief minister. He claims to have also seen members of the administrative service saying that they would do anything the chief minister asked from dismissing a public servant to allotting some valuables in utter disregard of laws or rules, even if such manipulation led to murder. The Kolkata Police commissioner did not commit any murder. Instead he openly sat on dharna with Mamata to oppose the CBI investigation against him and did not flinch from targeting his IPS colleagues in the Central agency, even sending his cops to surround the house of the serving joint director of the investigating agency. Switching loyalty is a very delicate and complex affair. Kumar could deceive himself that he is serving the Constitution, but things won't be the same after a change of government either at the Centre or state. Kumar perhaps momentarily felt empowered as the chief minister not only drove to his residence during Sunday's chaos, but also offered protection by launching a scathing attack against the Central government. It is certain that when Kumar joined the IPS cadre in 1989, he must have taken an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of India and not to Mamata. "I XYZ do swear/solemnly affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to India and to the Constitution of India as by law established that i will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, and that I will carry out the duties of my office loyally, honestly and with impartiality." In his zest or nervousness, Kumar, it appears has shifted his loyalty to the chief minister. Even the political hue and cry is not about a scam and how the hard-earned money of thousands of poor was swindled by scamsters with the help of people in power. The questions regarding the timing of CBI action is not limited to the Saradha scam alone. These are being repeated to suit the political discourse since the days of Bofors and the Jain Hawala case. Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda compared the CBI action to the Emergency and expressed solidarity with the West Bengal chief minister. Interestingly, just as Deve Gowda in an internal CBI conference had warned investigating officers that things were moving outside the purview of the Constitution because of dirty politics and a variety of political ends, leaders are trying to demolish the image of CBI which upholds one of the highest reputations in the country. Even Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who joined the Opposition leaders in extending support to Mamata, had earlier criticised her for protecting the perpetrators of the Saradha scam. His U-turn just ahead of the Lok Sabha election is not surprising. It is also not surprising that not a single leader dialling the chief minister has spoken about the poor victims of the chit fund scam. It is important to note that Supreme Court in May 2014 directed the CBI to take over cases registered against the Saradha group of companies at different police stations in West Bengal. The court had also said that the CBI shall be free to conduct further investigation in terms of Section 173(8) of the CrPC in relation to any case where a chargesheet has already presented before the jurisdictional court against the companies involved in any chit fund scam. The CBI move in the Saradha scam came after the court order. While the debate has now shifted to Mamata versus Narendra Modi with Kumar emerging as a central figure, little is known about the victims of the Saradha scam. Mamata should know there is a Sushila Minj in Jalpaiguri, who had invested her pension benefit worth Rs.2.4 lakh and lost the money she had saved for rainy days. She is seriously ill and doesn't have money for medical treatment. Sushila is only an example of the sort of people being denied justice in Mamata's battle to stonewall the CBI in the state. Whether Mamata reaps political dividends from this entire controversy or the CBI has its credibility restored, the action of officers embedded in the state's political establishment has caused irreparable damage to the ethos of khaki. The CBI Monday morning moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to cooperate with the investigation in the Saradha chit fund case. New Delhi: Criticising the "harassment" of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Monday said the investigation agency should have first taken permission from the Calcutta High Court and also referred to the full SIT report in the Saradha chit fund scam case. Talking to ANI, Singhvi said, "I dont want to comment on what the Supreme Court will decide on this. The Calcutta High Court has clearly said that you cant do an investigation like this. You (CBI) should have first taken permission from the High Court. It is an old case. You can call on the full SIT and ask them. They are ready to answer your queries. But just for harassment, if you do this to humiliate the top police official then what will happen? The CBI on Monday morning moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to cooperate with the investigation in the Saradha chit fund case. The top court will hear the CBI plea on Tuesday. In April 2013, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee set up a high-level inquiry and also a SIT probe into the collapse of chit fund company Saradha Group that left thousands of investors in the lurch. The state high court in December, 2013 formed a three-member panel to study the SITs monthly report on the probe. In 2014, the Supreme Court transferred the Saradha case to CBI. A face-off between the Trinamool Congress-led Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal and the BJP-led Centre erupted on Sunday after a five-member CBI team moved to arrest Rajeev Kumar. They were denied entry to the Kolkata Police chief's residence and later detained. All the five CBI officers were later released. "Rajeev Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre was heading a SIT on the Saradha and Rose Valley scams. The CBI wanted the top officer to hand over the seizure list made during his probe," sources said. Reportedly, the top cop was to be questioned regarding missing documents and files, but he is not responding to notices to appear before the agency. BJP chief Amit Shah said people are angry about how Telugu Desam Party chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is running the state Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah slammed Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu for distancing himself from the BJP "to gain public sympathy". Shah is one of the first senior BJP leaders to openly attack Naidu for snapping ties with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance. Addressing a public meeting in Vizianagaram, Shah said people are angry with the way the Andhra government is being run. "When Naidu felt that the people are angry with the way he is running the Andhra government and (with) his efforts to make his son the (next) chief minister, he decided to snap ties with the NDA. He tried to gain sympathy by putting the entire blame on BJP and distancing himself from us," Shah said. The attack on Naidu comes at a time when West Bengal chief minister is fire-fighting in her own state. Mamata, who is sitting on dharna for the second day in support of Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar, got Naidu's support. Condemning the situation in West Bengal, Naidu said "revengeful actions" against Mamata are coming after a successful Unity rally. "Court cases are being lifted off on those submitting to BJP, but new cases are being put on those opposing BJP," he said citing the examples of recent cases against BSP chief Mayawati and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. While the Opposition parties are hinting at contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha polls by forming alliances, the BJP leaders are leaving no stone unturned to point out lapses on the part of their rivals. BJP MP and national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said in a tweet on 2 February that Naidu is now frustrated. "A frustrated, defeatist Chandrababu Naidu has threatened BJP MLAs Vishnu Kumar Raju and Manikyala Rao in Andhra assembly yesterday that Andhra BJP leaders will not be allowed to move in the state for exposing TDP," Rao tweeted. A frustrated, defeatist Chandrababu Naidu has threatened BJP MLAs Vishnu Kumar Raju & Manikyala Rao in Andhra assembly y'day that @BJP4Andhra leaders will not be allowed to move in the state for exposing TDP. BJP is planning privilege motion against @ncbn https://t.co/Py3PTKon91 GVL Narasimha Rao (@GVLNRAO) February 1, 2019 Speaking at an event on 22 December, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said that the TDP is the other side of the Congress raj. Adding that Naidu was acting like a dictator, he also criticised the TDP chief for propagating family raj in the state. Ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls in Telangana, BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao had slammed the TDP-Congress coalition in the state. Asserting that BJP wants a Chandrababu Naidu-mukt Telangana, Muralidhar said that the coalition will have serious implications. Naidu had allied with BJP as part of the NDA during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Cracks surfaced in this alliance early last year when the Union Budget 2018 presented by then finance minister Arun Jaitley did not address Andhra's needs, leading Naidu to allege 'step-motherly treatment' by the Centre towards the state. He later severed ties with the NDA over the Central Government for not accepting the demand for special category status to Andhra Pradesh. Chandrababu Naidu said the success of the Opposition rally last month has resulted in the Centre esorting to 'revengeful actions' against Mamata Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday said the success of the Opposition rally in Kolkata last month has resulted in the BJP-led central government resorting to "revengeful actions" against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Addressing party leaders via a teleconference, Naidu expressed solidarity with Mamata and said, "Everyone should condemn the incidents in West Bengal. The Kolkata rally was successful, that is why these revengeful actions are being done against Mamata Banerjee". His comments come in the wake of a full-blown faceoff between the Centre and the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal on Sunday, as a CBI team moved to arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. They were unceremoniously denied entry to the Kolkata Police chief's residence and then detained. Mamata started a 'Save the Constitution' dharna at Metro Channel in Kolkata, in which the city Police Commissioner was also present. A number of opposition leaders, including Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Deve Gowda, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Yadav, his son Tejashwi Yadav, National Conference chief Omar Abdullah, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, among others have expressed solidarity with Mamata. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief further stated that while court cases against BJP members and their associates are being lifted, new cases are being registered against those opposing the saffron party. Recently, cases have been registered against Akhilesh and Mayawati, and now revengeful action taken against Mamata Banerjee. Centre-state relations are deteriorating completely. BJP takes joy in opening new cases against all opposition leaders," Naidu said. He said the TDP is coordinating with a number of other parties to draft an action plan on a nation-wide movement and said he will discuss the subject with other opposition leaders during his visit to Delhi on Monday. "TDP MPs will stage a strong dharna along with other opposition leaders today," Naidu said. Mallikarjun Kharge said Arun Jaitley had himself penned 'the strongest dissent note' against the CBI and its functioning after which the agency transferred its officers and stopped investigations, an apparent reference to the minister's remarks on the CBI investigation in the case against former ICICI bank CEO Chanda Kochhar New Delhi: Criticised by Union Minister Arun Jaitley for his "dissent" note on appointment of CBI Director, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has written to the BJP leader that the objections raised by him were on the flouting of procedure and not on the integrity of the officer. In a letter to Jaitley after his blog "Has Mr Kharge Brought Down the Value of Dissent?", the Congress leader in Lok Sabha demanded that the government put in public domain the minutes of the meeting of the panel headed by the Prime Minister on the CBI Director's appointment. Kharge said he "is pained to say the value of the Prime Minister's Office has been brought down" by the way the government has conducted itself in the matter of CBI Director's appointment. The Congress leader said Jaitley had himself penned "the strongest dissent note" against the CBI and its functioning after which the agency transferred its officers and stopped investigations, an apparent reference to the minister's remarks on the CBI investigation in the case against former ICICI bank CEO Chanda Kochhar. In his two-page letter, Kharge also expressed the hope that the new Director's "lack of experience" in CBI would not hamper his ability to rebuild institution "this government has destroyed". Jaitley had on Sunday accused Kharge of dissenting excessively, saying he has made the appointment of CBI director look like a political battle which was never envisaged. He was referring to Kharge writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express his dissent on the appointment of new CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla, alleging that the officer did not have experience in handling anti-corruption cases and the criterion for selection was diluted in violation of law and Supreme Court judgements. In the blog, Jaitley said the leader of the largest party in opposition in Lok Sabha, Kharge, "dissented once again" in the appointment of the new CBI Director. "Kharge dissents regularly," the minister said. Jaitley is currently in the United States undergoing medical treatment. In a blistering attack on Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, BJP president Amit Shah on Monday termed the TDP supremo as a 'u-turn chief minister' and declared he will not be allowed to enter the NDA alliance again. Vizianagaram: In a blistering attack on Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, BJP president Amit Shah on Monday termed the TDP supremo as a "U-turn chief minister" and declared he will not be allowed to enter the NDA alliance again. Taking a jibe at the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister for switching parties when either the BJP or the Congress came to power at the Centre, Shah accused Naidu of misguiding the people of the state. "As soon as Atal Bihari Vajpayee government came to power, Chandrababu Naidu joined NDA and left the alliance in 2004 when Congress came to power. He is now supporting Congress party which insulted Andhra Pradesh. He fought the Telangana elections with the Congress, and when he lost, he joined the "mahagathbandhan" (grand alliance)," Shah said at a rally here. "I am sure once the counting for 2019 elections will be over and NDA government will come to power again, Chandrababu Naidu will make all the efforts to join the NDA back. Let me tell you that this time, the NDA's doors for him have been shut forever. He has misguided the people of the state. It is appropriate to call Chandrababu Naidu a U-turn chief minister," he added. The TDP, a ruling party of Andhra Pradesh, pulled out from the NDA last year over the demand of special category status which was promised during the bifurcation of the state in 2014. Continuing his attack on the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Shah said: "When he (Chandrababu Naidu) felt that people are angry with the way he is running the government and with his efforts to try to make his son as the Chief Minister, to try to gain sympathy, he put the entire blame on BJP and distanced himself from us." Shah claimed that Naidu snapped ties with the NDA to overcome corruption in the TDP government of the state. Trashing Naidu's allegations that the Centre did not focus more on Andhra Pradesh after bifurcation, the BJP chief remarked that the NDA governments support for the state's development is ten times more than what was provided during the Congress government in over 50 years. "Fourteen important tasks of Andhra Reorganisation Act were to be completed in 10 years. Out of those 14, 10 tasks have already been completed in five years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi government. He (Naidu) is lying that we have done nothing," he added. Talking about the steps taken by the central government for Andhra Pradesh's development, Shah underlined that the BJP opened more than 20 institutions of National Education and initiated several projects for AIIMS, IIT, and IIM in various regions of the state. Chandrababu Naidu has a direct link with corruption. Modi govt is ready to do much more than the special status for Andhra Pradesh, however, state govt is not reverting with a mechanism to receive the funds for development: Shri @AmitShah #BJP4BetterAndhra pic.twitter.com/Egcj5tRoBe BJP (@BJP4India) February 4, 2019 "Under Awas Yojana, more than 10 lakh houses have been constructed in Andhra Pradesh. 37 lakh toilets were constructed and more than 27 lakh youth received Mudra loans in Andhra Pradesh. Over 6 crore women received free gas cylinders under Ujjwala Yojana. Farmers across the country with up to five acres of land will be provided Rs 6,000 assistance directly into their account," he elaborated. Alleging a nexus between the TDP and Congress, Shah said: "I just want to ask Chandrababu Naidu, why did you leave NDA, which gave Rs 5,56,000 crores to the state of Andhra Pradesh? Why did you join hands with Congress which gave just Rs 1,17,000 crores?" He asserted that leaders of both Congress and TDP are corrupt and will not be able to take Andhra Pradesh to greater heights, and argued that only the NDA government can develop the state. Listing the names of Opposition leaders who were likely to join Mamata in Kolkata, TMC spokesperson Derek O'Brien said that 22 parties have extended their support to the protest against the Centre. New Delhi: Citing the support of various parties to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's protest against the Centre, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) Monday sought to project her as a leader who succeeded in uniting the entire Opposition against the alleged misuse of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Listing the names of Opposition leaders who were likely to join Mamata in Kolkata, TMC spokesperson Derek O'Brien said that 22 parties have extended their support to the protest against the Centre. "Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu, RJD's Tejaswi Yadav, DMK's Kanimozhi have expressed their desire to join the protest and are going to Kolkata. Others like Samajwadi Party's leader Kiranmay Nanda have already visited the protest site," said Derek. The chief minister has been sitting on a dharna since 8.30pm Sunday against the CBI's attempts to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with multi-crore chit fund scams. "It is not a TMC dharna. There is not even a single TMC flag at the protest site. The chief minister has received overwhelming support from Opposition leaders. Between 8 pm and 11 pm, Mamata Banerjee received calls from so many of them. "Congress president Rahul Gandhi, BSP supremo Mayawati, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, RJD's Tejaswi Yadav, TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu, DMK chief MK Stalin and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal have all supported the protest and spoken to the chief minister," he told reporters on Parliament premises. On the controversy over the presence of the Kolkata Police commissioner at the protest site, Derek said Kumar was present to show solidarity with other officers, as the dharna aimed at strengthening the administration. "The fact that the Biju Janata Dal raised the issue in the Lok Sabha to criticise the government's attitude shows how serious the matter is," he said. Kalyan Banerjee, a TMC member in the Lok Sabha, alleged that Home Minister Rajnath Singh was hiding facts from Parliament and said the Calcutta High Court had stayed the summons against Kumar till 13 February. "The CBI has violated the orders of the court by moving against Kumar. This is against the Constitution as well as the federal structure. As the head of the state, Mamata Banerjee has protested against this," said Banerjee. BJP cancelled a Yogi Adityanaths public rally in Bankura claiming that the administration was dilly-dallying on giving a nod for his helicopters landing Kolkata: The West Bengal BJP Monday cancelled a public rally of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Bankura scheduled for Tuesday claiming that the district administration was "dilly-dallying" on giving permission for the landing of his helicopter. "We have decided to cancel the Bankura rally of Yogi Adityanath tomorrow as the district administration is dilly-dallying on giving permission for the landing of his chopper. We didn't want to take any risk and so we cancelled it," West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said. Adityanath's rally in Purulia Tuesday will take place as per schedule as of now, Ghosh said. The tussle between the TMC and the BJP became uglier Sunday with the West Bengal government denying permission to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's chopper to land in the state and let him address two scheduled rallies in north Bengal. Adityanath had to address the rallies in Raigunj and Balurghat via telephone. He lashed out at the "anti-people" Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in the state, saying the days of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's rule were "numbered". | BY Ricki Green | GoDaddy Inc., the worlds largest technology provider dedicated to small businesses, has today launched a new national marketing campaign Raygrance, featuring TV legend Ray Meagher via WiTH Collective. The new campaign sees Ray Meagher return, trading in his Flamin Hot Sauce for the fashionable world of fragrance to launch his signature Eau de Toilette, or Eau de Entrepreneur, Raygrance Number 1. The 2019 campaign follows Rays journey as a fragrance entrepreneur, from concocting the product, to selling it online with the website he built using GoDaddy Website Builder. With new GoDaddy research showing that 59% of Aussie small businesses are still without a website, this years campaign seeks to again show that building a website with GoDaddy can be quick and easy, even if you are not tech savvy. The campaign forms part of a larger education program GoDaddy is rolling out throughout 2019, in an effort to support small business owners and entrepreneurs by raising awareness about the benefits of turning their ideas into reality online, and how GoDaddy can provide the tools and support to help grow their venture. Says Tara Commerford, vice president and managing director, Australia and New Zealand: Were delighted to again partner with TV legend Ray Meagher to show Australian small businesses and entrepreneurs just how easy it is to get online. You dont need complex coding know-how to build a great website and businesses can be up and running with the online tools they need to create their website in less than an hour. Says Tracy Hall, marketing director, GoDaddy ANZ: The 2019 campaign builds on Rays entrepreneurial journey and aims to continue inspiring Australian small businesses and entrepreneurs to create their own online presence. If Ray can do it not once, but twice, anyone can. GoDaddys Raygrance campaign is supported across multiple channels including TV, outdoor, radio, social, PR, digital and performance marketing channels. Raygrance Number 1 is available for purchase from raygrance.com.au, while stocks last. The fragrance will retail for $15 including postage, with all proceeds being donated to Cure Cancer, a charity that funds lifesaving cancer research from our brightest young scientists. Creative: WiTH Collective Director: Ariel Martin Production Company: AIRBAG Media: Avenue C Public Relations: The PR Group BJP said the UK govt's decision to extradite Vijay Mallya underlines the Narendra Modi govt's commitment to ensuring that every rupee looted of the public money is returned to the exchequer and the guilty brought to book New Delhi: The BJP Monday said the UK government's decision to extradite Vijay Mallya, who is accused of defrauding banks in India, underlines the Narendra Modi government's commitment to ensuring that every rupee looted of the public money is returned to the exchequer and the guilty brought to book. The extradition of Mallya has been approved by UK Home Secretary, in a major blow to the liquor baron and boosting India's efforts to bring back the fugitive businessman. "The extradition order is a result of persistent efforts by Indian authorities to ensure that fugitives like Vijay Mallya who fled the country after defrauding banks are brought to justice. It shows the Modi government's commitment to ensuring that every rupee of the public money looted is returned to the exchequer and the guilty brought to book," BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member GVL Narasimha Rao said. BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said the Modi government is delivering on its promise that those who looted public money will be brought to book. "This government is consistently delivering on the promise to ensure that probe agencies can investigate the accused and work towards taking the cases of scams and frauds to the logical conclusion," Kohli said. Rao also took a dig at the Congress, alleging that Mallya is a "textbook case of corruption" under its government when the "cronies" of the Gandhi family were extended huge loans through a "distorted Congress process" of sanctioning loans. "Through a combination of legislative measures and legal processes, the government has forced Mallya to face legal action under Indian law," Rao said. UK Home Secretary has ordered fugitive liquor baron Vijaya Mallya's extradition to India under the India-UK extradition treaty; Mallya is wanted in India for alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has ordered fugitive liquor baron Vijaya Mallya's extradition to India, PTI said. Mallya is wanted in India for alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores. Last year in December, Westminster Magistrates' Court Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot had ruled in favour of extradition of Mallya. The chief magistrate's verdict was then sent to UK home secretary because it is the minister who is authorised to order Mallya's extradition. Javid had two months to make that decision. The deadline was set to expire in five days. According to a UK Home office spokesperson, the UK Secretary of State signed on the Mallya's extradition to India on 3 February under the UK-India extradition treaty. However, with the UK Home Secretary signing on the extradition order, Mallya can finally make an appeal against the order. Mallaya, according to the UK Home Office spokesperson, has 14 days to apply for leave to appeal. Earlier, Mallya had claimed his group's properties worth over Rs 13,000 crore have been attached, more than the 'claimed' Rs 9,000 crore that he "ran away with" asking where is justice and how far will it go. In a series of tweets, Mallya had also claimed that the banks to which he owes money "have given an open licence to their Lawyers in England to pursue multiple frivolous litigations against" him questioning the "brazen" spending of "public money on legal fees". "Every morning I wake up to yet another attachment by the DRT (debt recovery tribunal) recovery officer. Value already crossed (Rs) 13,000 crore. Banks claim dues including all interest of (Rs) 9,000 crore which is subject to review. How far will this go and well beyond? Justified??", Mallya tweeted. He further said the DRT recovery officer recently attached his group's assets worth over Rs 13,000 crore in India on behalf of the consortium of banks. "Yet the narrative is that I ran away with the claimed amount of (Rs) 9,000 crore causing loss to the public sector banks. Where is Justice or fair play?" he asked. In the past, Mallya had stated that he intended to file an application to appeal against a British court's verdict. With inputs from PTI A Delhi court on Monday sent Sunanda Pushkar's death case against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor to the Sessions court for further proceedings. New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday sent Sunanda Pushkar's death case against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor to the Sessions court for further proceedings. Tharoor has been charged under Section 306 (abetment to suicide), which is triable by a Sessions judge. Hence, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal sent the case to the court of Additional Sessions judge Arun Bhardwaj. The Congress MP has also been charged under Sections 498-A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty), but has not been arrested in the case. The court also directed Delhi police to preserve vigilance report in the matter. The maximum punishment for the offence is 10 years of imprisonment. The court also dismissed BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's plea seeking to assist the court in the case, according to reports. Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in the city on the night of 17 January, 2014. The couple were staying in the hotel as the official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at that time. With inputs from agencies Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda has said the massive standoff between the Centre and the West Bengal government over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, reminded him of the Emergency days. Bengaluru: Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda has said the massive standoff between the Centre and the West Bengal government over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, reminded him of the Emergency days. The JD(S) patriarch sympathised with the Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee and said he was shocked to learn about the CBI rushing to arrest the Kolkata Police Commissioner and the subsequent developments. Banerjee heads the TMC, a key member of the 'Mahagathbandhan', the grand alliance, in which the JD(S) is also an active partner. "I am shocked to learn about the CBI rushing to arrest the Police Commissioner and subsequent developments in West Bengal. The country has faced similar kind of unconstitutional methods during the Emergency. Situation in West Bengal is similar to that of the Emergency days. Save Democracy," the JD(S) national president tweeted. The Congress' Karnataka unit too extended its support. It dubbed the Centre's action as anti-democratic and a threat to the federal system of the country. Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy also extended support to his West Bengal counterpart. "The Bharatiya Janata Party is using the CBI by filing false cases against officers. It is a clear case of political vendetta. We all stand with the Chief Minister of West Bengal," he tweeted. The senior Congress leader, who has been criticising the NDA government at the Centre for not earmarking sufficient funds and also for excluding Puducherry from the ambit of the Central Finance Commission all along, said, "Time has come for the Narendra Modi-led Central government to go." Dealing with a matter related to alleged illegal mining activities in the Aravalli range, the Supreme Court said the entire government machinery is 'rotten' in Rajasthan and the officials are 'hand in glove' with those who have been indulging in illegal mining. New Delhi: The entire government machinery is "rotten" in Rajasthan and the officials are "hand in glove" with those who have been indulging in illegal mining in Aravalli area of the state, the Supreme Court said on Monday. Expressing anguish over destruction of flora and fauna in the area, the apex court came down heavily on the Rajasthan government after it cited the recent Assembly elections and the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as the reasons for not completing ground truthing exercise to ascertain the area where illegal mining had allegedly been conducted. A bench comprising Justice Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta directed the chief secretary of the state to appear before it for an explanation. The bench referred to the 29 October 2018 order of the apex court which had noted the submissions of Rajasthan's chief secretary that approximately 27 percent ground truthing of the area was complete and remaining work would be done within three months. Ground truthing is conducted to ascertain the empirical evidence, in this case, of mining at an actual site. The top court is dealing with a matter related to alleged illegal mining activities in the Aravalli range. The bench asked the counsel appearing for Rajasthan about the status of ground truthing and he said that around 31 percent work was over. The counsel told the bench that due to Assembly elections in Rajasthan, the work was not complete and now Lok Sabha polls were also approaching. "What is this? Do not come to the court with this approach. Do not say this election and that election. You are not inclined to do it (ground truthing). "You are hand in glove and your officers are hand in glove with them (illegal miners). The entire Aravalli area is devastated and entire flora and fauna there has gone," the bench said. "What are you saying? As elections are there so illegal mining will go on till then? What is this? You do not want to do this because this suits you. The entire machinery is rotten," the bench told the state counsel, adding, "Are we at your mercy?". Rajasthan's counsel said the state wants to complete the exercise and so far 31 percent work was complete. While referring to the 29 October order, the bench said, "Three months period is over now. What have you done? You already knew that elections will be there. Why you have not completed the work? Call your chief secretary". When the counsel said he had taken instructions from the government authority on this issue on Monday itself, the bench said, "No instructions, we want compliance of our order. We want only compliance". The bench said after 29 October, only four percent work was done by the state despite the fact that chief secretary had told the court that work will be completed within three months. The state's counsel told the court that they needed some more time to complete the work. "How much more time you want? What have you done? What is this going on," the bench said. The bench observed that it was "sheer violation" of the top court's order as the state has not completed the work in time. "We are not happy with the way the state machinery has done this work," the bench said, adding that ground truthing should have been completed by now. It asked the chief secretary of Rajasthan to appear before it on February 8 to explain as to why order of the top court has not been complied with yet and why action has not been taken against erring officials. The Rajasthan government had last year told the apex court that no illegal mining was going on in 115.34 hectares of land in Aravalli area of the state. The court had, in October, expressed shock over 31 "vanished" hills or hillocks in Aravalli area and had asked the state to stop illegal mining in 115.34-hectare area. The court had referred to a report of central empowered committee (CEC) which had said that out of 128 samples taken by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), as many as 31 hills or hillocks have vanished. The state had earlier told the court that all the government departments concerned in Rajasthan were "on the job" to stop illegal mining. The Supreme Court turned down the CBI's plea to conduct an urgent hearing of the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund probes on Monday, after a dramatic showdown between West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and the Centre, hours after a CBI team had gone to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar and was detained. The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) plea to conduct an urgent hearing pertaining to investigation in the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scam. The apex court bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said that it did not find anything in the application regarding destruction of evidence. The bench posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday. The plea comes hours after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee took on the Centre following a visit by a CBI team to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's residence. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi posted the matter for hearing at 10.30 am tomorrow. The CBI approached the Supreme Court against the "non-cooperation" of the West Bengal government after the Kolkata Police detained and then released CBI officials who visited Kolkata to question Rajeev Kumar. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who is representing CBI in the court that these were "some extraordinary circumstances", reported Bar and Bench. Reports have said that the CBI will move the Supreme Court on Tuesday to seek contempt proceedings against West Bengal chief secretary Malay Kumar De, DGP Virendra and Rajeev Kumar. It will also seek a directive for the Kolkata Police Commissioner to join the investigation. "The CBI joint director was held hostage at the CBI office (in Kolkata's Salt Lake) on Sunday. We apprehend that electronic evidence might be destroyed," Bar and Bench quoted Mehta as having said. "When did you file your plea? This morning. And we've already read it. In fact, we were late to the court by a few minutes because we were reading your applications. And there's no evidence of what you're saying right now," said the Chief Justice. "Give us the evidence if you fear tampering," News18 reported Gogoi as having said to Mehta. The Supreme Court, in a 2014 order, reports Bar and Bench, had handed over the responsibility of probing the Saradha chit fund scam to the CBI and had directed the state government authorities to cooperate in the investigation. However, in November 2018, in the wake of the infighting within the CBI, West Bengal was one of several states to withdraw general consent for CBI investigations in the state without prior permission from the state government. Who is Rajeev Kumar? A 1989-batch IPS officer, Rajeev Kumar was heading the Special Investigation Team formed by the West Bengal government to look into the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams. He had been summoned for questioning by the CBI on four occasions after some documents related to the scams went missing. Kumar allegedly ignored these summons. The CBI has accused him of "destroying evidence against himself," reports say. He is the first Kolkata police chief who has an office at the Bengal secretariat, reported News18. Kumar is skilled in electronic surveillance. Pressing for the matter to be listed at 2 pm on Monday itself, Mehta added, "An uniformed officer sat on a dharna with a political party." Mehta may have been referring to Kumar's presence at the venue of Mamata Banerjee's dharna at the Metro Channel in Kolkata. West Bengal DGP Virendra and the state's security adviser Surajit Kar Purkayastha were also present at the location. The Chief Justice, however, asked what the "urgency" was and said that there was nothing in the Centre's interim application on destruction of evidence, reported News18. He then proceeded to list the matter for hearing on Tuesday morning. He also added a slight rebuke to Mehta over his urgency, adding, "Normally, the Solicitor General is the first to mention. Today, he will be the last. Please wait." Lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Mamata Banerjee government, was present as well. In #MamataVsCBI, both sides were ready to move the #SupremeCourt midnight.#CBI planned to come if its officers were arrested and #WestBengal Govt intended to come had the Union used central forces. Since none of these happened, they decided to wait till morning. Utkarsh Anand (@utkarsh_aanand) February 4, 2019 In the last few years, the CBI has arrested Trinamool Congress leaders Madan Mitra, Sudip Bandhopadhya and Tapas Pal in connection with their involvement with the scams. Catch LIVE updates of the Mamata vs CBI showdown The Kolkata Police commissioner also suggested that the notice to appear in person before the investigating officer was politically motivated. A letter written on 27 October, 2017 by incumbent Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to the then CBI director Alok Verma has resurfaced indicating that the probing agency may not have followed due protocol and has been operating cumbersomely while investigating the multi-crore Saradha Ponzi scam even linking it with political vendetta. On Sunday night, a CBI team was prevented by the Kolkata Police from arresting Kumar and members of the investigating agency got detained instead before they were allowed to leave. Kumar had written the letter to Verma objecting to the manner he was summoned by the investigating officer of the agency. Significantly, Kumar was heading the Bidhannagar Police Commissariat when its detective department was investigating the scam before it was taken over by the CBI upon orders from the Supreme Court. "No effort was made by investigating agency to seek answer to any doubt, which they might have had, about the role of investigation officer or supervising officers. It will not be out of place to mention that two Inspectors who were associated with investigation of this case were examined u/s 160 CrPc. Surprisingly no other senior officer has been sent such notice. Next notice has been sent to the undersigned," Kumar wrote in his letter. The Kolkata Police commissioner also suggested that the notice to appear in person before the investigating officer was politically motivated. "I would also like to bring to your notice the fact that about a year ago one public comment was made by one senior leader of a political party, against which a criminal and civil defamation was filed. There are strong reasons to believe that this is being done to satisfy the gentleman," he said in the letter. It may be noted that Kumar filed a defamation case against BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya in February 2017 for accusing him of destroying evidence in the Saradha chit fund scam. A 1989 batch IPS officer, Kumar further wrote, "You would appreciate that if Commissioners of Police are served notices under Section 160 of CrPC notices in c/w cases which were supervised by them without even trying to make basic correspondence or ascertaining the exact circumstances is like opening Pandora's Box. I am in no way suggesting that investigation in all aspects of case should not be done, but basic decorum of service needs to be maintained. In case, if the investigating agency is not satisfied with written reply given by the officer concerned, right to serve notice under Section 160 of CrPC always exists." Suspecting that the then team of the CBI was pursuing an agenda rather than investigating the case, Kumar said, "May I request you to kindly get the material/evidence collected by investigating officer on this case (RC04/S/2014 u/s 120B/420/406/409 IPC, against Sudipta Sen and others) by another senior officer who is not part of the present team, investigating the case, which am afraid, seems to be pursuing an agenda rather than carrying out unbiased investigation." How Verma responded to Kumar's letter is not know yet. In a bid to support his 'pro-people' image, Congress president Rahul Gandhi posted a picture on Instagram with the newly-elected chief ministers flying economy class to Patna. In a bid to support his "pro-people" image, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday shared a photograph of himself flying economy class with newly-elected party chief ministers, all on their way to Patna to address the party's rally in the city. The Instagram post got more than 80,000 likes in 20 hours. The photo features Rahul, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel flying 'cattle class'. "On our way to the Congress Rally at Gandhi Maidan in Bihar, with our new CMs and party treasurer. Tough getting all these gentlemen together in a single row, but we pulled it off!" Rahul's post read. At Sunday's rally, the party's first solo campaign in Patna in around three decades, Rahul said the Congress would waive farm loans and give a big push to the food processing industry if voted to power in the Lok Sabha elections. Alleging that the Centre's crop insurance scheme is "aimed at taking away the hard-earned money of farmers to fill up the pockets of big businessmen", he promised that the Congress would initiate a number of steps to deal with farmers' distress and unemployment. With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, the Congress president has been projecting himself and his party as 'pro-poor'. "Political analysts believe that by showing that he flies economy class, Rahul might be trying to emphasise that it is the Congress party that is standing for the poor as he repeatedly accuses Prime Minister Narendra Modi of building a coterie of rich and powerful around him. A few years ago, Rahul had referred to the Modi government as a 'suit-boot ka sarkar.'" News18 reported, With inputs from agencies Goals by Ruben Neves, Jimenez and Leander Dendoncker helped Wolves outclass Everton 3-1 on Saturday and equal their highest tally of 11 wins in a league campaign, going back to the 2010-2011 season. A steady run of three wins from as many Premier League matches has left promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers full of confidence and feeling unstoppable, top scorer Raul Jimenez has said. Goals by Ruben Neves, Jimenez and Leander Dendoncker helped Wolves outclass Everton 3-1 on Saturday and equal their highest tally of 11 wins in a league campaign, going back to the 2010-2011 season. Victory at Goodison Park followed home wins over Leicester City and West Ham United and pushed Wolves to seventh place on 38 points, four ahead of their nearest rivals Watford and firmly in contention for a place in European competition next season. With these results and all the confidence we have, we can be unstoppable, striker Jimenez, who has struck nine goals in the league, told the Express and Star. We know we have a good team with all of us doing the right things in our positions. Were enjoying our games, were happy, he added. In Portuguese manager Nuno Espirito Santo, Wolves have a manager who has helped polish their counter-attacking approach in the top flight and trouble the big teams. Wolves have drawn games with defending champions Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal while also securing famous wins over Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur this season. We want to win every game. Sometimes well lose, but we have to keep going and try to do what we did on Saturday, Mexico international Jimenez added, highlighting their philosophy under Santo. Wolves host 15th-placed Newcastle United in their next league match on 12 February. Comment Policy Calaveras Enterprise does not actively monitor comments. However, staff does read through to assess reader interest. When abusive or foul language is used or directed toward other commenters, those comments will be deleted. If a commenter continues to use such language, that person will be blocked from commenting. We wish to foster a community of communication and a sharing of ideas, and we truly value readers' input. Is it against the Constitution for the Kendriya Vidyalayas, institutes which are funded and managed by the government, to insist on students beginning their day with a Hindu prayer? Is it against the Constitution for the Kendriya Vidyalayas, institutes which are funded and managed by the government, to insist on students beginning their day with a Hindu prayer? Among the many burning questions concerning the relation between the Constitution and the religious practices of the followers, this one seems fairly innocuous. Men are being killed across North India for being Muslims (even though it is being dressed up as "cow protection" or "crime prevention"). Women are fighting for their right to enter a temple which, by law and the judgment of the Supreme Court, they are entitled to. The government of the day insists that it has the power to determine which refugees of which countries it can grant citizenship to based solely on their faith which says nothing about the debates over personal laws, triple talaq, and many, many more issues that have dominated discussions across the country. When seen in this context, it is tempting to trivialise the writ petition filed by advocate Veenayak Shah asking the Supreme Court direct the Union Government to stop the practice of prayer in Kendriya Vidyalayas. After all, where's the immediate harm here? It is not as if religious education is being offered to students in lieu of regular education. No one is required to renounce their previous religious affiliation in order to be part of this. And it is debatable, as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought to contend in court, whether simply because certain universal values happen to be mediated through Hindu religious texts, it would automatically become "religious instruction". A bench of Justice Rohinton Nariman and Justice Navin Sinha did not fully agree with Mehta, and have referred the matter to a Constitution bench holding that a substantial question for the interpretation of Article 28(1) of the Constitution has been raised by the petitioner. Clause (1) of Article 28, one thinks, is fairly clear : "No religion instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of State funds". Instruction on religion is prohibited in state run schools such as the KVs but the bare wording of this clause was somewhat contentious in the Constituent Assembly. On one hand were those such as Mohammad Ismail Khan and Shibban Lal Saxena who were quite disconcerted by the strict prohibition in the draft article and suggested weaker bans. On the other were Prof KT Shah and Sardar Bhopinder Singh who felt that the proposed draft article did not go far enough and ought to cover even more institutions than it intended to. After much debate, where Dr Ambedkar stuck to his guns about the content and shape of the article, contending that questions of interpretation as to its true scope should be left to courts, the article as we see it, was adopted. If there was any doubt as to what exactly was prohibited, just as Dr Ambedkar wished, the Supreme Court in Aruna Roy versus Union of India clarified that such a prohibition would extend to "teaching of customs, ways of worship, practices or rituals". This was a case where the National Education Policy 2002 issued by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government was challenged in the Supreme Court as being unconstitutional and upheld by the court. Given how categorically the Supreme Court has clarified the scope of Article 28 (1) one would think that the matter should rest there (notwithstanding some bizzare justifications offered in the judgement as to why learning about religions is good for students). But does it? While the Constituent Assembly and the Supreme Court spent much of their time on discussing syllabi, what the Supreme Court now faces is an out-of-syllabus question (pun-intended). Is the morning assembly routine part of the "education" that a school imparts? Would the content of the morning assembly routine fall within the scope of "instruction"? Is being compelled to recite a prayer part of one's "education"? No doubt, as Justice DM Dharmadhikari points out in Aruna Roy, secularism generally under the Indian Constitution is not the negation of religion in India but it also means that the Indian state cannot be seen to be favouring one religion over the other. If one were to take the line of reasoning taken by the US Supreme Court in Engel versus Vitale, any prayer in school would amount to this. Even making it optional would not meet the rigorous constitutional test in such a case. There are of course reasons not to adopt the US Supreme Court's approach on the matter in the context of India for one, the "Establishment Clause" in the US Constitution is quite different from the various articles dealing with secularism under the Indian constitution. For another, the Indian state runs temples, regulates wakfs, mediates disputes between warring factions of churches on principles of canon law, and recognises the rights of religious communities to be governed by their religious dictates on personal laws - all things unthinkable in the United States. What this case possibly calls for is an honest judicial and political examination of what is the nature of the Indian secularism. For one end of the political spectrum, it is a hateful word preventing, as they see it, the natural order of things: Hindu supremacy. For the other, it is a word that harks back to a certain Nehruvian aloofness from religion and embrace of atheism. At a time when the forces of Hindu supremacy are clearly on the ascendant, the constitutional position of secularism needs to be clearly and forcefully articulated. This is not just a matter of semantics or linguistic explanation - it is an articulation of what kind of India we want to live in. Even if the framers of the Constitution did not put the word "secular" into the document, they knew what kind of society and state they wanted India to be. The question that Veenayak Shah is asking through his petition, really is this: "Do we?" The answer may be mediated through constitutional law and principles, but perhaps Justices Nariman and Saran were acutely aware of this, and rightly referred it to a Constitution Bench. The Opposition demanded the poll panel to ensure that 50 percent of results on EVMs are matched and cross-checked with VVPATs before declaration of results in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. New Delhi: Leaders of several Opposition parties approached the Election Commission on Monday and sought redressal of the issue of alleged tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs). The Opposition leaders demanded the poll panel to ensure that 50 percent of EVM results are matched and cross-checked with voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) before declaration of results in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The leaders told the Election Commission that the people of the country doubted the efficacy of EVMs and this issue needs to be redressed. The Opposition delegation met the Chief Election Commissioner and other members of the panel. The Opposition parties had earlier sought moving back to the ballot paper system, but after the Election Commission made it clear that there was no possibility of going back to the old system, they changed their strategy and are now demanding matching of 50 percent EVMs with VVPATs. The leaders of various Opposition parties earlier met in Parliament and discussed their strategy on the issue. The delegation included Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel and Anand Sharma of the Congress, Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), Majid Menon (NCP), Derek O'Brien (Trinamool Congress), Ramgopal Yadav (SP), Satish Chandra Misra (BSP), Omar Abdullah (NC), Mohd Salim and TK Rangarajan (CPI-M), Manoj Jha (RJD), Sanjay Singh (AAP), D Raja (CPI), Danish Ali (JD-S), NK Premchandran (RSP), Badruddin Ajmal (AIUDF) and KG Kenye (NPF). The leaders of various parties had earlier met in Constitution Club on Friday and discussed their future strategy on the issue. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari had last week lauded Gadkari for his remarks that 'leaders who fail to fulfill promises get 'beaten up' by people'. New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday complimented Union minister Nitin Gadkari for his remarks that "one who cannot take care of home, cannot manage the country", saying he has guts and should also comment on the Rafale deal, "farmers distress and destruction of institutions". The Congress president cited a report quoting Gadkari as saying that party workers should first fulfill their domestic responsibilities as "those who cannot do that cannot manage the country". "Gadkariji, compliments. You are the only one in the BJP with some guts. Please also comment on: The Rafale scam and Anil Ambani, farmers' distress and destruction of institutions," he tweeted and tagged with it the report on Gadkari's comments. The Union minister had made the remarks on Saturday while addressing former workers of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the BJP's student wing, in Nagpur. The Congress chief's comments praising Gadkari came in the wake of various other Congress leaders lauding the Union minister for his recent statements they view as a swipe at the BJP leadership. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari had last week lauded Gadkari for his remarks that "leaders who fail to fulfill promises get 'beaten up' by people", but at the same time took a swipe at him saying his target was Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his eyes were on the prime minister's chair. In December, Gadkari had said at an event in Pune that leadership should have the tendency to own up defeat and failures. The remarks had come days after the BJP's loss in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assembly polls. Incidently, Rahul was seen exchanging notes with Gadkari while being seated along with him in the front row at the Republic Day parade at Rajpath. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Monday arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammad militant in connection with the attack on a CRPF camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Lethpora, according to an official statement. Srinagar/New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Monday arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammad militant in connection with the attack on a CRPF camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Lethpora, according to an official statement. The accused, Fayaz Ahmad Magray, is an active OGW (over ground worker) of the militant organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), it said. He is a key conspirator who provided logistical support such as providing shelter to the militants and conducting reconnaissance of the CRPF group centre in Lethpora before the militant attack, the NIA said in the statement. In 2001 also, he was detained under Public Safety Act (PSA) by Jammu and Kashmir Police and he remained under detention for 16 months, it said. The attack on the CRPF group centre in Lethpora was carried out in the intervening night of 30 and 31 December, 2017, by three of the proscribed militant organisation JeM, the NIA said. During investigation by the NIA, the militants were identified as Fardeen Ahmad Khandey and Manzoor Baba, both resident of district Pulwama, and Abdul Shakoor, a resident of Rawalakot area of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, it said. All the three militants were killed in the encounter. In the attack, five CRPF personnel died and three were grievously injured. At least 22 trans men featured in Nandini Krishnans recently released book, Invisible Men: Inside Indias Transmasculine Network, have accused the author of committing serious ethical transgressions At least 22 trans men featured in Nandini Krishnans recently released book, Invisible Men: Inside Indias Transmasculine Network, have accused the author of committing serious ethical transgressions and breach of trust in her portrayal of these individuals in particular, and the community in general. Their charges include the authors use of conversations that were off the record, her failure to provide them with a translated version of their interviews in the language in which those exchanges took place many of the trans men that appear in the book have little or no command over English; some of them are only lettered in their native tongue that they have been misgendered, and referred to by dead-names despite their express instructions against such labelling, and that email communication with one of them has been tampered with to suit the authors purpose. Six of these trans men (and a cis woman partner of one of them) have provided their testimonials by way of a video sent to Firstpost. The other 12, from several parts of the country, and all of whom also make an appearance in Krishnans book, spoke to this correspondent over the phone, and exchanged notes over email. Firstpost also reviewed a series of emails, text messages, and parsed certain sections of Invisible Men to verify charges made against the author, and her counterclaims. These individuals have demanded that the book be withdrawn from stores, and both the author and her publisher, Penguin Random House India, issue a public apology to the community. The first concerted opposition to the book came by way of a video testimonial, which was mailed to us on 28 January following an interview with Krishnan that Firstpost published in November, 2018. In this footage, six trans men and one woman voice disappointment at the transphobic ways in which they have been represented in the book. Those who make an appearance in the video are C Priyan, Kiran Nayak, Gayatri, Sunil Mohan, Rumi Harish, Gee Semmalar and Selvam. The footage was captured on camera by Christy Raj (a trans man and participant in the book). The full video is here: Both Krishnan and Penguin Random House India have denied all wrongdoing. The publisher told Firstpost in an email that it adhered to accepted industry practices in editing the book. This is their statement in full: Penguin Random House India follows extremely thorough editorial processes, in line with international standards of trade publishing. We work closely with our authors to ensure that the content of our books is valid and authentic. We strive to practise the most stringent due diligence required to publish books. Invisible Men by Nandini Krishnan has been treated no differently. We have followed established processes to ensure consent from all parties involved, and only approved and verified inputs from interviewees have been used. We aim to preserve the integrity of the content of our books alongside the authors own vision. As this did not fully answer the questions we put to the publisher, Firstpost sent Penguin Random House India a follow-up mail stating that we were in possession of video testimonies from trans men in which they alleged that they werent provided translations they could read and understand. The publisher wrote back: We would like to reiterate that all due diligence were met with in the publishing of Invisible Men by Nandini Krishnan, as per our statement. In order to ensure that all information in the book is valid and authentic, we confirmed that consent was obtained for all interviews, playbacks were shared with all interviewees in the book, and the author has evidence to support this. We are surprised to learn of the complaints received by First Post on this matter. We can confirm that no complaints have reached the author or us. Should we receive any, the redressal policies are in place which we will address directly with the complainants. Firstpost rang Krishnan on 29 January to obtain her response to the allegations. However, she was unable to talk on the phone as she was on her way back to Chennai from the Jaipur Literature Festival. We then mailed her questions based on the video testimonial and sought the authors reply. Krishnan recorded her response on video, in which she flatly denied all charges of misgendering or breach of ethics (and trust). Instead, she expressed surprise, claiming that these same people (in the video) had expressed appreciation about the book (to her). She also claimed to possess evidence that counters their accusations. She did not provide Firstpost this evidence in order for us to verify it. Her full, unedited testimonial is here: At the end of the video, Nandini Krishnan posed three questions to Firstpost: 1. Have you checked with all the trans men quoted in this statement whether they actually said this and of their free will? 2. Have you checked with the tens of other interviewees what their opinion of the book is? 3. This book looks at trans men across the country, of various religions, various ages, various ethnicities, do the people quoted in your statement represent those or are they part of a single organisation? We spoke to each of the six trans men featured in the video (all of whom are in the book), and asked them to qualify their allegations with proof. Apart from them, Firstpost attempted to get in touch with every other trans man identified in Invisible Men (there are 35 in all, of whom 22 have been named, and the remaining 13 are anonymous). This correspondent spoke to all 22. Firstpost also spoke to people quoted in the book who are not trans men: Santa Khurai, Sowmya, Subbalakshmi, Aarti, Gayatri (the cis woman partner in the video) and Kiran Nayaks partner (she does not want to be named). We then rang Living Smile Vidya, parts of whose book, I am Vidya: A Transgender's Journey, have been reproduced in Invisible Men. Some of the trans men quoted by the author in her book have already made public their disagreements with it. Vihaan Peethambar put out a note on Facebook, Bittu Karthik has written his critique for Firstpost, Gee Imaan Semmalar has reviewed the book for The News Minute and Jamal Siddiquis opinion is hosted on Feminism in India. All seven people in the video were appalled at being asked if they spoke against the book and its author of their free will, and denied being part of any single organisation, as Krishnan has suggested they are. If the author thinks a 35-year-old trans man cannot say something out of his own will, then that says something about the person in question, said C Priyan, who chose to remain faceless in the video out of fear that any visual markers revealing his identity would cost him his job. Does somebody who has written an entire book about us think we are not capable of speaking of our own volition? What does it say about her? Gee Semmalar said that to suggest members of the transmasculine community were not speaking of their free will was, in itself, transphobic. He said, When I wrote a detailed critique of her book, she responded that I only claimed to have read her book. When trans men speak against the book, she asks if they are speaking of their own free will. Does she assume we cannot read, think, speak or act and are abject victims waiting for her to speak for/about us? She tries to conjure up a conspiracy theory saying that we are part of a single organisation when this is an independently put together articulation of our issues with the book. Alleging that an organisation of trans men is ganging up on her is funny, said Kiran. Who are we and who is she? For a month, weve been crying ourselves hoarse about the gross mistakes in the book. Has the publishing house raised a finger? That is her privilege. Come see my house. You will understand. Priyan added that the author has refused to engage with any of them following the books release: Krishnan was invited to attend a panel discussion at The Indian Institute of Human Settlements in Bengaluru on 10 February, during which she was meant to share the stage with two trans men; she backed out citing safety reasons. She is telling the world that the people whom she interviewed have leaked her number and she is getting threat calls. I am a cab driver. She came to my house and ate food in my house. I dont even know where she lives. She cant allege victimhood and lie her way out of this, said Priyan. In Krishnans response to Firstpost against the charges made in the video, she denies misgendering and using off-the-record conversations in the book. Rumi Harish, who is seen in the video, was mailed a copy of portions pertaining to Harish in the book. I saw the portions where Nandini had referred to my dead-name over and over again. This triggered me as I had already told her not to do this. I stopped email interactions with her after this. This implies that I do not consent, not the other way around, said Harish, who does not subscribe to gender-normative pronouns. The book contains multiple mentions of Satya Rai Nagpaul, a cinematographer and founder of Sampoorna, a support group for trans and intersex Indians. Given my work schedule, I end up doing mostly email interviews and my only condition is that the final copy of my quotes be approved by me before publication. Without this condition being agreed to, I do not participate. I followed the same process with Nandini Krishnan, he said. No consent form from Penguin was signed. Neither was it brought up by Nandini Krishnan. He added that Krishnan had reproduced his quotes correctly. He went on: What I would like to share here is an incident around the book. One of the interviewees approached the Sampoorna Working Group, asking us to intervene on his behalf. He shared, via email, that he had not agreed for his story to be published anywhere other than the book, and despite that, his story was put up on a newspaper [The Indian Express] website. Nagpaul was referring to Priyan, who appears as a faceless voice in the video testimonial. The interviewee stated that this visibility would harm his livelihood and that on approaching Nandini, she told him that she had nothing to do with it and that it was a matter between the newspaper and Penguin. We wrote to The Indian Express (Nandini was copied in this email). The newspaper took down the article immediately. But there was not a single word from Nandini on the matter. This has left me really disturbed about Nandini's ethics. In her video, the author responded to his allegation thus: This is why a fact check is important. It was an excerpt from the book which was published and if Firstpost had gone to the link and checked what it said, they would have realised that it did say excerpted with permission from Invisible Men published by Penguin Random House India. While it is unclear as to the arrangement The Indian Express had with the publisher the newspaper took down the article before Firstpost could verify if it was indeed excerpted with permission from Penguin Random House India, Priyans fears remain unaddressed. A cached version of the article that was pulled down by the newspaper is readily available on Krishnans website (Firstpost has a time-stamped screenshot of the page.) Priyan says in the video: After Nandini Krishnan published my interview online in a newspaper without my permission, my employment is under risk. I might lose my job. When Firstpost rang him, he told us: The reason I agreed to be interviewed for the book was because I was under the impression that only a few would read an expensive book. But this changes when it is available for free circulation on an online website. I did not approve this. When I tried to contact Nandini about it, she alleged that the email she had sent me mentioned that my interview, after being published in the book, would be released to the media. I was sure I hadnt seen this in the email. As I couldnt pull out the email immediately, I asked her to forward the same email to me. Before I received her forward, I managed to fish out the mail she originally sent me. When I received the same email as a forward, I noticed that this email had been tampered with. She had added two lines at the end, one, offering translation which she didnt in her first email and two, mentioning that the book would be shared with print and digital media. I have a copy of the email I sent her with the identical time and date stamp without these two lines as is, in my inbox. Can she produce the same for this forwarded email that she sent me? Firstpost has copies of both emails (written in Tamil) with time-stamps and can confirm that the mail the author forwarded to Priyan contains two additional lines (in purple, as is the case when text is added to a message in Gmail). The first email, sent on 23 April, 2018, states: Dear Priyan and Gayatri, I have written down our conversations and notes about you in this document. I have also translated Priyan's poems into English. Read them and let me know if there are any changes. The second email, forwarded on 17 January, 2019, has these lines added: If you'd like, I can translate these into Tamil and read it out to you. Or you can show to your friends too. This book will be available in both paperback and electronic formats. (Name changed from the original email on request) Priyan and his partner allege in the video that intimate exchanges about their lives have been reproduced in the book. Some of these conversations, they say, took place off the record. To obtain their consent, Krishnan mailed Priyan a 47-page document on 23 April. Her message to him was composed in Tamil, a language that Priyan can read. The excerpts from the book that he was meant to scrutinise were in English, over which language Priyan has little facility. We asked him why he did not raise concerns when this document was mailed to him. He said: She seemed so friendly. Though we met only once, she used to send WhatsApp messages wishing us for festivals. We trusted her and didnt want to offend her. We told her, You have written well and thank you, without reading the copy. That was my mistake. The copy was in English and there were 47 pages. I read a few lines with great difficulty and then gave up. I have studied only till class 12 in Tamil medium. Only when my interview portions were circulated in audio and text form in social media websites did I begin to question my trust because I had already told her that I dont want this to be done. That is when I sought translations for my portions from friends. I was shocked to hear how she had written about me, especially about certain incidents in my life. My mistake is trusting her, I agree. But can a writer misuse the trust of somebody she interviews like this? Shouldnt she give me full knowledge of what was written in a language I could understand? Christy Raj, the video journalist from Bengaluru who compiled the seven testimonials, and who appears in the book, said he agreed to be interviewed by Krishnan after being told by Priyan about the authors research on the community. Raj told us Krishnan mailed him a copy of the chapter in which he features, in April, 2018. He didnt respond as the contents were in English, and the author had not translated the section to Kannada, a language Raj can read. It is her duty to send me a translation, not mine to ask for it. This is basic ethics that one should have if they are writing a book, he said. I didnt feel like telling her, I am unable to read what you sent. I just left it at that. The book talks of Raj, his partner Sowmya, who is an activist, and their roommate Subbalakshmi. Sowmya and Subbalakshmi, both trans women, told Firstpost that they were neither sent a translated version of portions that pertain to them nor were they contacted by the author following their only meeting, during which the author interviewed Raj. Kiran Nayak is one of the seven people in the video. Unlike many of them, he has had experience dealing with interviews and playbacks; he had multiple conversations with the writer and trans activist A Revathi for her book A Life in Trans Activism. Revathi amma has known me for a long time. But still, she did her interviews over a few months and then would visit me with her team to finalise my story. After this, a translation was given to me. I sat with her team, checked the translations and made corrections, Nayak said. This is the extent to which some writers go to ensure the stories they are telling are authentic. Meeting me once and then sending me a mail in a language I dont understand is not acceptable. That is insulting. He went on to add: What I absolutely cannot digest is how she [Krishnan] took the liberty of mentioning details about my partner without asking her permission. His partner, who prefers not be named, told us there was no form of communication between her and the author. We [my partner and I] live together. She is around all the time. She served Nandini food and interacted with her out of respect for a guest who is in the house. Does that mean she agreed to be in your book? Does that mean you can mention her real name without her consent in your book? asked Nayak. We also spoke to trans men who are not in the video, but are quoted in the book. Jovin, who lives with his single mother in Pondicherry, was one of them. He is out of work. Jovin doesnt recollect meeting Krishnan, though he says it is probably because he is forgetful and that many such researchers keep popping in and out. What he does remember is a phone call with Krishnan that lasted an hour. After this, he said the two did not speak. I dont know what details are there which are wrong but I dont have the time to get them verified. My mother has taken a loan and if I dont find work, I cant pay it back. Now this has come up, he said. As if we dont have enough to deal with, we have to bother about this book, which isnt even in a language I can read. Jovin knows no English and conducts all conversations in Tamil. Unlike most of the people Firstpost interviewed for this article, for Vihaan Peethambar, a media professional from Kerala who finds mention in the book and who posted his objections to it on Facebook, a playback wasnt the problem. He told us Krishnan conducted her interview over the phone, for an hour. This was just after I had publicly come out about my gender identity, he said, adding that the author mailed him a copy of the story following which he suggested changes. As far as my portion is concerned, there were no problems or misquotes, he said. But I can read English. My privilege sees to it that only what I want goes into the book. But this is not the case with my trans brothers, especially those who dont speak English. The manner in which she has gone into their personal lives and narrated their ordeal, without providing them with copies of the same in languages they can understand so that they can fully decide if they want to be portrayed this way or not, reeks of voyeurism. On 16 June, 2017, Krishnan circulated a message on the Sampoorna listserv; it has over 200 trans members. In it, she introduces herself as a journalist and writer. Semmalar, who is on the list said: She sought interviews from trans men on our stories or issues that we face including discrimination in healthcare, employment etc. In the email, she wrote, On my part, I can promise that the book will not be sensationalist. I want it to be a nuanced look at negotiating the world as a trans man. Confidentiality is assured where requested, and I will not reveal names, ages, locations or any other identifier if anonymity is requested. After pitching herself in this fashion, now she claims that the book is about her own prejudices. When did this shift happen? The most important questions is: is such a shift ethical, when she has pitched herself as somebody writing about the transmasculine community, which is the basis for which we opened up access to a group of 200, most of whom are still not open about their identity. Firstpost has reviewed Krishnans message on the listserv. Sunil Mohan, who is in the video, and who co-authored Towards Gender Inclusivity: A Study on Contemporary Concerns Around Gender with Rumi Harish, poses the following questions to the author: After these interviews, how have you translated what youve written back to them (those who speak only in their native tongues)? How have you explained it to them? How have they understood it? Have they understood it? Have they read it? He said marginalised communities are not very forthcoming in talking about their struggles and what goes on inside. But when they do so, they do it when the institution (or person) which accords its imprimatur to a particular project is credible and trustworthy. Nandini Krishnan used established support networks like Sampoorna to reach trans men. When she emailed me, she told me she got my reference from a mainstream feminist author. This is how she contacted others she interviewed. While she couldnt breach the trust of English speaking persons, it was the opposite for the rest. Invisible Men reproduces portions from another book, I am Vidya: A Transgender's Journey, by Living Smile Vidya. But the manner in which this was done, the author told us, was problematic. She didn't contact me even once to understand the context in which she has quoted me, Vidya said. Because the context is completely wrong. Apart from dead-naming and referring to Vidya by male pronouns while describing her past, the author quotes portions of the book in which Vidya refers to a colleague (who was not trans identified at the time) of hers at a bank in Madurai. Krishnan writes: Strangely, she (referring to Vidya) did not seem to sense he [the colleague] was a trans man, though she describes her colleague as a woman who would only wear pant-shirt and had a boy cut. In the book, she says Sairam [the trans man] planned to write the Indian Civil Services recruitment examination, and join the police. Sairam had ambitions of becoming a Kiran Bedi, she writes, and is, in all ways, the pudumai penn modern, empowered woman whom Bharathiyaar had envisioned in his poetry. Sairam had not always wanted to join the police, though. What does she mean that I couldnt sense that he was a trans man? Vidya said. When I am writing a book which will be in the public domain, should I write what I sense or how that individual is, to society at large? We rang Sairam, who told us Vidya wrote nothing wrong. At that point, I had never articulated my gender. It was something I hadnt understood. I didnt want to get into it as I was very focused on my career. As Kiran Bedi was well spoken about at that time and many called me Kiran Bedi, Vidya referred to me as Kiran Bedi, he said. He clarified that Krishnan mailed him portions of the book in English, which he read and approved. But they didnt contain these references to Vidya, he said. Of the multiple people we interviewed, two trans men were appreciative of Krishnans book. Both can read and write English. One was Aryan Pasha, a bodybuilder, model and trans rights activist. He said the author mailed him portions that pertained to their conversation and gave her consent to reproduce them in the book. Pasha is yet to read Invisible Men. The other trans man, Krithik Shiva, an engineering student, told us the author was very professional and sent him portions so he could suggest changes. I was mailed five pages initially. There were some bad experiences mentioned in it which I didnt want to put out there. So I requested her to remove them and she removed them promptly. She also changed the phrases wherever I wanted her to. Now if you see the book, it has only about two pages about me. She removed whatever I didnt want, he said. Shiva then offered his sense of why the book had created an uproar. Within the community, there are people who are from marginalised backgrounds and we are trying to help them. There is constant talk about upper caste domination. Unfortunately, Nandini was born in a Brahmin family. She is also a cis woman. I think this is why she is being attacked, he said. Others werent as forgiving. Invisible Men quotes 15 individuals from Manipur, almost all affiliated with Empowering Trans Ability (ETA), an organisation led by Hemabati Oinam. On 10 January, ETA, All Manipur Nupi Maanbi Association (AMANA), Socialist Students Union of Manipur (SSUM) and Manipur Students Association Delhi (MSAD) organised a protest against the book at DM University of Imphal, during which they burnt copies. The group was incensed by the authors attempts to replace the indigenous history of Meiteis with references from Hindu mythology. Hembati told Firstpost that the author visited them once. She did not have a Manipuri interpreter with her and most of us are not fluent in English, he said. Hembati put her in touch with a trans man named BD, who helped Nandini translate from Manipuri to English. None of the participants from Manipur were provided Manipuri translations of the sections pertaining to them. In April, BD and Hembati received a mail from the author with a PDF containing an English version of their interviews. She wanted me to check if the parts of close to 15 people interviewed was okay. How can I? I was there only for two days to help out with the translation, because of my organisation. The rest of the days, I dont know who said what. How can it be my responsibility to check with everybody? Isnt it the authors job? BD asked. Santa Khurai, A Meitei trans woman who was among those interviewed, told Firstpost that she was contacted by the author for permission to use her voice in a podcast. Khurai agreed. But she never shared anything with us which mentions that she will be using Hindu mythology, which has nothing to do with us, to introduce us, she said. We have our own indigenous history. We would have never consented to this if we knew this was going into the book. One of the trans men who plays an important part in Invisible Men is Selvam there are at least 150 references to him in the book. Krishnan writes (and has stated in interviews) that he is the first trans man she met in India. He is a well-known activist in Tamil Nadu. Selvam is also one the seven people who mailed Firstpost the video testimonial. He told us the two met for the first time in 2006. They next spoke 11 years later, when Krishnan contacted Selvam about a story she was doing on trans men. Following this chat, she told Selvam that she would be writing a book about the transmasculine community and that she wanted to include aspects from Selvams life. Selvam said this led to several interactions one or two a month during which he spoke of his life, with the author recording most portions of their conversations. She would also come home once in a while, he said. I trusted her with very personal details, like stuff about my surgery, and didnt enquire too much into what she was writing. She called me a few months before the book was published and said she has included portions from her recordings about me. I agreed verbally. Over a call, she read out some portions of the book. They seemed okay. This was the only phone call where she discussed what is in the book, Selvam said. He later attended the release of Invisible Men in Chennai, with Krithik Shiva by his side. A few weeks later, Selvam received calls from friends who had read the book. They told me that there were references to me as a corporation school student wearing khaki shorts and yellowed white shirt, he said. After this some of my trans brothers have been reading out portions of the book to me and I am disappointed that I was taken for granted. The worst of it all is that she has revealed certain details about my surgery. This broke me. The book references personal communication, to which Selvam is opposed. I didnt even imagine that she will use my personal WhatsApp voice notes or my interactions with her in the book. Only after people started criticising the book did she call and ask if I want everything about me to be read out, he said. It is too late now, isnt it? The book is already published, everything is already out there. He points to one such section in the book, which describes Selvam being kissed on the cheek by a trans woman named Sonia. This didn't happen. Nobody kissed me. I dont let anybody get this intimate with me and this definitely didnt happen, he said, adding that the person to whom Krishnan refers in this segment is not called Sonia. Her name is Trisha, he said. This episode takes place at the home of Aarti, a trans woman from Chennai, who gave Selvam refuge when he moved to the city. Krishnan quotes Aarti in the book. Firstpost asked Aarti if she recalled the episode. Enakku theriyadhe ma. Enna puthagam? Yaru Nandini Krishnan? Apdi yarum enakku theriyadu, she told us. (I dont know. What book? Who Nandini Krishnan? I dont know anybody like that). Update We asked Penguin Random House India if they wished to add to their statement following the publication of the seven testimonials. An official spokesperson sent us this response: Once again, we wish to confirm that we are in receipt of the necessary documentation from the author that she had the consent of the interviewees listed below. If, however, anyone would like to bring any specific grievances to our attention, they are free to contact us or the author directly. We believe that the editorial and legal diligence with which this book was undertaken is of the highest quality. Constructive feedback enhances our understanding of a complex issue, and we will continue to engage with an open mind. Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal has claimed that a 'motivated campaign' is going on surrounding the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to derail the pace of the development Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has claimed that a "motivated campaign" is going on surrounding the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to derail the pace of the development the state is witnessing in the BJP rule. Addressing the Asha and National Health Mission convention here, Sonowal assured the people that the land, culture, language of the indigenous people are fully safe in the hands of the present government. "This (protests against the Bill) is a motivated campaign to derail the pace of development of the state. I urge all people to stand united to thwart the evil design of divisive forces," he said Sunday. The chief minister alleged that a misinformation campaign has been launched by certain vested interest groups that 1.9 crore Bangladeshi immigrants would get settlement in Assam in the days to come if the Bill is implemented. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on 8 January, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims who fled religious persecution from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and entered India before 31 December, 2014. Protests against the bill have rocked the entire northeast over the past five weeks, with several organisations and political parties vehemently opposing it. The protesters claim that the bill will nullify the provisions of the Assam Accord of 1985, which fixed 24 March, 1971, as the cut-off date for deportation of illegal immigrants, irrespective of religion. According to a Migration Commission report, 734 revenue villages of Uttarakahnd have become 'ghost villages', putting a serious question mark on the relevance of the hilly state carved out of Uttar Pradesh. Editor's Note: The idea of a 'ghost village' is now a reality in Uttarakhand, where remote villages in the hills lack basic amenities like roadways, health centres and schools. This seven-part series will examine the root cause of this migration and the measures being taken to tackle the problem. Read the series here. *** Dehradun, Uttarakhand: For over 10 years, former army man Shyam Prasad was the last man standing at his Baluni village in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal district so it didn't turn into a 'ghost village'. But one day, the 69-year-old had to part ways with his land because of an illness. There are many Shyam Prasads in the hill state, where the concept of a 'ghost village' has become a reality today. The villages that wear a deserted look because of increasing migration from Uttarakhand became uninhabited due to lack of public amenities. According to a Migration Commission report, 734 revenue villages of the state have no residents, putting a serious question mark on the relevance of the hilly state carved out of Uttar Pradesh. Baluni, around 160 kilometers from state capital Dehradun, is one such village on the list. After its last inhabitant, Shyam Prasad, moved out, the village of the Sainar Gram Panchayat became absolutely devoid of population. Prasad, who retired from the Bengal Engineering Group of the Indian Army, lived there all alone for the past five years after his son joined the army. He was forced to leave his birthplace as there were neither any proper roads nor any healthcare facilities in the hills. "There were more than 15 to 20 families in the village about 10 years ago. But all of them shifted to urban areas one by one due to lack of opportunities to earn a livelihood and public amenities, such as education and healthcare facilities. After the last family left 10 years ago, it was only me and my son left in the village. I stayed there because of my love for farming. Unfortunately, my fondness died under the pressure of old age and poor health, and at last, I had to leave the village, as well," said Prasad, who moved to the district's Kotdwar tehsil for better medical aid. The absence of roads made life difficult for the villagers of Baluni as the nearest Primary Health Center was 5 kilometers away in Ghandiyal village. Similarly, to go to the closest primary school in Sainar village, children had to make their way through a jungle for over 5 kilometers. The situation in the remaining 733 deserted villages in Uttarakhand is no difference from Baluni's because of the absence of basic facilities. Ironically, just months after its last villager was forced to abandon his birthplace, road connectivity reached Baluni, only to be greeted by empty houses. The newly-laid road helped this reporter reach Baluni, but he had to find his own ways to look for people in this abandoned region. "After my wife died soon after our son's birth, I raised my five daughters and one son in the same village where scarcity of drinking water still exists. After my daughters got married and my son joined the Indian Army, I lived in Baluni all alone for five years. I am 69 now and have health issues that are increasing day by day," Shyam Prasad said. "My son suggested that I shift to an urban area as there is no medical facility at my native place. Right now, I live in a rented house in Kotdwar. I deeply miss my village, but I have no choice but to stay here. Once the climate becomes conducive, I would like to visit my village. But it is the bitter truth that I can't live in the only house I built for myself and my family," he added. Prem Singh Negi, Pradhan of the Sainar Gram Panchayat said Baluni village was empty now as Shyama Prasad had also migrated to Kotdwar. "I often travel to the village to examine opportunities of development work, but now the situation is such that there are only empty houses. This revenue village is a bunch of bushes and only a habitat of wild animals now. After Prasad left, a road and a drinking water line reached Baluni, but what's the use now?" Negi said. The District Magistrate of Paurim Dhiraj Garbyal, said: "I am not much aware of the ground reality since I took charge only a fortnight ago. Of course, migration is a sensitive issue. A commission has been constituted for an in-depth study by the Uttarakhand government. I will look into the case of Baluni village." However, there's one positive development in the context of these 'ghost villages'. Anil Baluni, BJP's Rajya Sabha MP from Uttarakhand, has adopted one of the abandoned villages Baur of the Yamkeshwar development block in Pauri district to make it habitable again. Anil Baluni said Union Minister of State for Rural Development Ram Kripal Yadav had assured him of bringing road connectivity to the region and Minister of State for Power RK Singh had promised electrification of the village. Teams of the Taj and Hyatt groups of hotels had also visited Baur. The BJP parliamentarian said authorities were gathering information on residents leaving the village as they plan to develop Baur as a model for rural tourism. "I hope this effort proves to be a milestone that paves the way for reverse migrations in the 'ghost villages' of Uttarakhand," he added. Local activist Ganesh Kala said lack of basic facilities in remote geographical regions is the primary reason behind such migrations in Uttarakhand. "Government policies, irrespective of which political party is in power, are also responsible for this situation, to an extent. The possibility of reverse migration is still a distant dream, but to contain the ongoing migration, some strong measures have to be taken on an urgent basis," he asserted. The author is a Dehradun-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com Mamata is right when she says, without prejudice to any other issues, that the Centre is trying to engineer a coup and using the CBI to undermine the federal structure, though the idea that it is trying to create the grounds for Presidents rule might be a trifle fanciful. The unseemly circumstances surrounding what we may call the aborted raid by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the residence of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar shines a powerful light on how far federal, indeed constitutional and political, conventions have been battered under Prime Minister Narendra Modis watch. Before we can even begin to arrive at a determination of who or what is responsible for this unfortunate state of affairs, in the context of Sundays events, we need to sort out some questions of jurisdiction and convention. But the facts first would be a good way to proceed. On Sunday evening, a team of seven CBI officers, later joined by a further 40-odd (a bit of an overkill if ever there was one), arrived at Kumars official residence to interrogate him about some documents relating to the Saradha Ponzi scheme investigation, which they felt ought to have been on their files. There seems to be a mere presumption that Kumar shredded them. The CBI justified this raid on the pretext that they had issued two notices to Kumar, who was in charge of the investigation into the Saradha scam as the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the West Bengal government, before the case was handed over to it by an order of the Supreme Court. Before and after the aborted raid, the CBI also said that Kumar faced arrest since he was a suspect in the case. In addition, the CBI had claimed on Saturday that he was absconding and was being looked for. The state government, through its home secretary and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, clarified that he had been attending office all along, with the sole exception of 31 January, when he had taken casual leave for personal reasons. That fact had, in fact, already been established in connection with Kumars absence from a meeting scheduled by the Election Commission, which had prompted a somewhat disgruntled Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora to seek an explanation. The explanation tendered was the one provided above that he had been on leave along with apologies from both Mamata and the home secretary. After the 40-member CBI team reached Kumars residence what ensued was basically a fracas. Kolkata Police personnel reached the spot and asked the CBI team whether they had the documents needed to question Kumar. According to some reports, a few members of the CBI team were bundled into a vehicle and taken to a police station. According to others, the were taken there to sort out the problem that had been created. At any rate, none of the CBI officers seem to have been detained. But later, Kolkata Police personnel surrounded two complexes housing the CBI offices. A senior CBI officer alleged that he had been detained, with police personnel posted outside his house. The Kolkata Police personnel vacated the CBI office complex after central forces arrived. Mamata, then, staged a sit-in at a spot in central Kolkata designated for such protests, saying that the CBI action had stifled the spirit of the Constitution and of the federal principle. Several opposition leaders, too, decried the CBI raid, making much the same point. Much of this could have been avoided, if only the Centre in point of fact, the minders of the CBI had kept in mind federal and political sensibilities, instead of insisting on matters of rights and jurisdictions. In other words, if the Department of Personnel and Training had cautioned the CBI brass to consult the state establishment, in this case, the West Bengal home department, matters could have been smoothed over. In fact, in July 2018, the Supreme Court had made deprecatory observations on being told that the Bengal SIT was obstructing the investigations of the CBI, but had also said that if it went into the records of the allegations of the two agencies it would leave a bitter taste and had urged them to work in tandem. If Kumar is held guilty of being uncooperative, the CBIs approach can hardly be held to be a model of reciprocality either. Take, to begin with, the allegation that Kumar was absconding. Quite clearly he wasnt. If he had been, the CBI would hardly have landed up at his doorstep expecting to question and, if need be, apprehend him. In any case, the Kolkata Police made it known that Kumar attended office all day on Saturday, attended an event at a hotel and was to flag off a vintage car rally on Sunday morning. Further, the CBIs extreme language that it would have rounded him up if he hadnt cooperated with us was not exactly conducive to elicit mutual courtesies. At the same time, it might well be said that Kumar should not have ignored the two notices the CBI claims to have sent. Here again, though, there is a matter of protocol. The CBI brass consists of IPS officers. Kumar, too, is one who has sufficient seniority and position to expect some form of courtesy from those of his service. Moreover, the CBI has not told the public what exactly the notices demanded and in what manner. We are not in a position to judge, therefore, how any self-respecting officer would have responded to them. If we take on board the proposition that legalities of jurisdiction are not the only determinants of a situation, it could well be said that a more collegial approach may have obviated these contretemps. Even if legalities and matters of jurisdiction are factored in, it is difficult to sustain the CBIs modus operandi, if what Pravin Tripathi, Bengals joint commissioner of police (crime), says is true: that the CBI officers just said they had come for a secret operation. We don't know what kind of operation it is. The CBI team was not conducting an operation against a terrorist outfit, it was about to question a commissioner of police. It had no right to play clandestine war games. There are other issues. The CBI claims it had all the papers it needed to question Kumar, while the state police and the chief minister says that it didnt have the necessary warrants. The CBI also points out that it is empowered to act without warrants if it has reasonable grounds. Kumar, on the other hand, has claimed that he had written to the CBI director in response to the notices that a witch-hunt was being carried out at the behest of a senior leader of a political party (no prizes for guessing) and the case ought to be transferred to another officer. The CBI might be right about its latitude to act, but the argument is probably infructuous given the fact that the Calcutta High Court has restrained the CBI from enforcing its summons. A hearing is scheduled for 13 February. The point, however, is that the whole thing is political. Mamata is right when she says, without prejudice to any other issues, that the Centre is trying to engineer a coup and using the CBI to undermine the federal structure, though the idea that it is trying to create the grounds for Presidents rule might be a trifle fanciful. Several circumstances point to the CBI action being motivated and specifically directed by the Central government. Mainly, it is a question of timing. The dates of the notices issued to Kumar are not in the public sphere. But it is known that by mid-2018 the CBI had told the Supreme Court that the state police were not cooperating in the ponzi probe. It is not unreasonable to assume that the notices had been issued by then (we must to an extent go out on a limb). The CBI could have acted much sooner. Instead it chose to act at a time when the Lok Sabha elections are virtually upon us. Moreover, the action comes days after Mamatas show of Opposition unity and even closer to the days on which BJP president Amit Shah and Modi talked up the issue of corruption around the Ponzi schemes at separate rallies in Bengal. Finally, a new director has been appointed to head the headless CBI. Why could the CBI not have waited for him to take charge in about a week or so before launching what has proved to be a misadventure. In any case, if memory serves, the Supreme Court had forbidden acting director Nageswara Rao from taking any major decisions relating to policy. A raid that has an impact on Centre-state relations can surely be construed as being implicated in policy matters. The entire exercise must finally be seen in the context of the relentless attack on institutions initiated by the Modi government and its determination to use every instrument at its disposal to harass and hamstring Opposition parties across the board. But once in a while the Modi-Shah duopoly does get it wrong. And this could just prove to be one of them. At a time when the Opposition is finding it difficult to string together a coherent united front, the CBI raids have brought a number of parties solidly behind Mamata. Among them are Rahul Gandhi and Ahmed Patel of the Congress, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, DMK boss MK Stalin, Rashtriya Janata Dals Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu Prasad, Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Deve Gowda, Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and BJP rebel Yashwant Sinha. And they are all singing from the same hymn-sheet. The burden of their song is that the federal structure is being destroyed and an undeclared Emergency is haunting India. The situation in West Bengal is an Emergency imposed by Mamata Banerjee, not by us, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday. Kolkata: The situation in West Bengal is an Emergency imposed by Mamata Banerjee, not by us, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Monday. "This is Mamata's Emergency in Bengal. This is not ours, it's Mamata," said Union human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar at a press conference. Javadekar's remark comes a day after Mamata sat on 'dharna' over the tussle between the state police and CBI. Terming the incident as "one of a kind", Javadekar said that never before a CBI investigating team was taken into custody by the state police and called the move as a "murder of democracy." "Whatever is happening in Kolkata and in West Bengal is one of a kind. Never before was an investigating team taken into custody by the police. It is a murder of democracy. We want to ask Mamata Banerjee why is she staging a dharna? Who does she want to shield? Police Commissioner (Rajeev Kumar) or herself?" Key leaders from a number of Opposition parties, including TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, AAP chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, NC leaders Farooq and Omar Abdullah, among others, extended support to Mamata. Commenting on this, Javadekar said: "Opposition parties have supported Mamata. Who are these people? They are out on bail. Such people are standing together. This is not Mahagathbandhan. It is divided by vision and united by corruption. The corrupt are standing together." Echoing similar views, Union minister Smriti Irani said: "The fact that paramilitary forces had to be deployed for the protection of those officers who were diligently doing their duty is for the first time an unprecedented view given to citizens with regards to the state of anarchy in West Bengal." A five-member CBI team moved to arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Sunday, but were denied entry to the Kolkata Police chief's residence and subsequently detained. Following the incident, Banerjee started a sit-in protest along with her ministers on Sunday night. Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre was heading a SIT on the Saradha and Rose Valley scams. The CBI wanted the top officer to hand over the seizure list made during his probe, sources said. Reportedly, the top cop was to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but was not responding to notices to appear before the agency. A trial court in Madhya Pradesh has issued a 'death warrant' against a school teacher who has been convicted of raping a four-year-old girl. Jabalpur: A trial court in Madhya Pradesh has issued a 'death warrant' against a school teacher who has been convicted of raping a four-year-old girl. The trial court in Satna district has sent the death warrant of Mahendra Singh Gond (28) to the Central Jail in Jabalpur, a prison official said on Monday. The rape convict's death warrant has been received from the trial court and he (Gond) is in the process of challenging his death penalty in the Supreme Court, Jabalpur Central Jail's law officer Ashok Singh told PTI. The trial court sent the death warrant through an e-mail to the Central Jail and Gond's execution date has been fixed for 2 March, 2019, he said. The convict has other remedies also as he can file a mercy petition before the President of India, he said. "The death warrant will be executed only after all the available legal remedies are exhausted," Singh said. The Madhya Pradesh High Court had on January 25 confirmed the death sentence awarded by the trial court to Gond. The trial court had convicted the school teacher on 19 September, 2018. According to the prosecution, Gond was convicted for raping a four-year-old girl at Parasmaniya village in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. The trial court had sentenced Gond to death under the recently-introduced Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 376(a)(b) (raping a minor under 12 years of age). Gond was also found guilty under IPC Section 363 (kidnapping), for which he was awarded seven years' rigorous imprisonment, besides being fined Rs 5,000, Singh said. The convict went to the girl's house on July 1, 2018 in an inebriated condition to meet her father. There, Gond saw the girl sleeping next to her father on a cot outside their house. He returned home after meeting the girl's father. After some time, Gond came back and spotted the girl alone on the cot as her father had gone to relieve himself. Taking advantage of the situation, he picked up the child and took her to a nearby agriculture field where he raped her and dumped her in the bushes, the prosecution said. When the girl's father returned and did not find his daughter, he raised an alarm and the family launched a search for her. Later, they found her lying in the thick bushes. The girl received severe injuries in the incident and was admitted to a Delhi-based hospital. Gond was later arrested by the police and a charge sheet was filed against him. Madhya Pradesh was the first state to enact a law in December 2017, providing for death penalty for rapists of girls below 12 years of age. The Centre had brought an amendment in the IPC to punish the rapists of girls below 12 years of age with death in 2018. Anna Hazare had earlier warned that if the Modi government did not fulfil its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan award. Mumbai: Under fire over indefinite fast of Anna Hazare for appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs, and in the wake of the Gandhian's warning to return his Padma Bhushan award, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis Monday requested the octogenarian to end his protest, saying the government has agreed to accept almost all of his demands. Taking a dig at his political opponents, particularly the Shiv Sena which has appealed to the state government to save the life of the 81-year-old, Fadnavis said Hazare should recall the comments made in the past by the people who have met him and extended their support. "We request Anna to call off fast. We have agreed to almost all of his demands, especially the one related to Lokayukta and formation of a joint committee. We have said yes to it," the chief minister told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai. The anti-graft crusader has been on hunger strike since 30 January in his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district, over 240 kilometres from Mumbai, for appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra. His other demand includes resolution of farmers' issues. As per doctors, Hazare has lost 4.25 kgs since last Wednesday. Earlier in Monday, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and noted water conservationist Rajendra Singh separately called on the Gandhian in his village. Thackeray asked Hazare not to sacrifice his life for the "useless" government. Fadnavis said, "Some people met Hazare and extended their support to his cause. Anna should remember the comments made by these people against him in the past". Hours after the Sena appealed to the government to save Hazare's life and took a swipe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on appointing anti-graft watchdogs, Fadnavis said some people are playing politics as Hazare's health is deteriorating. "The people who are meeting Anna nowadays actually do not have any concerns for his health," the chief minister said. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra, had Sunday extended his support to Hazare, asking him to emulate socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and lead an agitation against corruption. Hazare had earlier warned that if the Modi government did not fulfil its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan award. Fadnavis said he had sent a letter to Hazare requesting him to call off his fast. "We have also given an appropriate letter to him about the issues pertaining to the Central government. The Centre has taken steps on all the issues Anna has been demanding. He should withdraw his fast unto death without any hesitation. I have sent a letter making the similar request to him," the chief minister added. In an apparent bid to build the anti-corruption narrative ahead of elections, the state Cabinet last week decided to bring the office of Maharashtra Chief Minister under the jurisdiction of Lokayukta. The government also decided that ministers and Opposition leaders will also be brought under the ambit of Lokayukta- an anti-corruption ombudsman organisation in the States which mainly helps people publicise corruption among the politicians and government Officials. Newly-appointed CBI chief Rishi Kumar Shukla took over the reins of the probe agency on Monday New Delhi: Newly-appointed CBI chief Rishi Kumar Shukla took over the reins of the probe agency on Monday. A 1983-batch IPS officer, Shukla took charge at a time the agency is engaged in a turf war with the Kolkata Police which has spiralled into a political slugfest between the Centre and West Bengal government. A perplexed interim CBI chief M Nageswara Rao was seen scrambling resources to counter the West Bengal Police's action that not only detained a CBI team, which had gone to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, but also cordoned off the agency's office at the CGO complex. Delhi: Rishi Kumar Shukla takes charge as the Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). pic.twitter.com/9cM1gQK2kE ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 The arrival of 58-year-old Shukla, a former DGP of the Madhya Pradesh Police and an Intelligence Bureau veteran, as a full-fledged director is likely to bring some sort of order in the agency as it moved the Supreme Court to challenge the action of the West Bengal government in ponzi scam cases. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had started a dharna on Sunday evening to protest against the alleged highhandedness of the Centre and insults meted out to her by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. The issues were triggered when a team of CBI officials arrived unannounced at Kumar residence to question him in connection with Saradha and Rose Valley scam. The investigations in these cases have been sped up in the run up to the general elections with the agency recently questioning a close aide of Banerjee at his residence. The team was stopped by West Bengal Police personnel and they were taken in a police vehicle to a police station. The West Bengal Police took the action as the agency's officials had failed to produce any warrant, state police officials had said. The CBI has alleged that Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar is now destroying the evidence pertaining to the Saradha chit scam case. New Delhi: While the Ministry of Home Affairs is likely to seek a report on the violation of service conduct rules by the Indian Police Service officers who sat on protest with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials are in a huddle to deliberate on the next course of action in the case. The Ministry of Home Affairs is the cadre controlling authority of IPS officers and Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar sitting on protest along with the chief minister is against service rules and code of conduct. The ministry has powers to suspend and dismiss any IPS officer if found to be violating all India service rules. A senior officer, however, said the Mamata government may have played a clever trick by declaring the protest venue as her office and the police commissioner has every right to sit in her office. We will wait for the report before taking further action. But if the place is declared as a chief minister's office, then the whole thing would be complicated. As commissioner, then it would be his bounden duty to ensure the security of the chief minister, the officer said. The CBI has termed the event in Kolkata as undemocratic hooliganism where the chief minister along with the Director General of Police, Additional Director General of Police and the police commissioner sat on dharna on Sunday night. The agency said such conduct by the officials in uniform points to complete anarchy prevailing in the state capital, just outside the residence of Kumar, who is facing the heat in Saradha chit fund scam. The CBI, which has been conducting the investigation in the scam, has gathered substantial evidence against Kumar, who was earlier summoned by the agency. In October 2017, he tried to scuttle the probe against him by writing a missive to the then director Alok Verma, who allegedly obliged by delaying the probe. The CBI has alleged that Kumar is now destroying the evidence pertaining to the case. The agency has confirmed that the commissioner of police was served with many summons and despite the same, he had failed to respond and created obstacles in the investigation which is not only contemptuous but a criminal offence. The investigating agency officials are also going through the evidence that will be submitted in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. In an interim application on Monday, the agency told the apex court that CBI has substantial material to exercise its power of arrest without warrant and the Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar is bound to comply with the law of the land. It has sought courts direction to Kumar for immediately making himself available before the investigating agency. It is most unfortunate that the elected head of state, along with DGP and other officials of the state who were obliged to cooperate with the CBI, have openly flouted the orders passed by the Supreme Court. It is submitted that such conduct on part of the persons who were involved, defies the basic principles of rule of law and is completely directed towards illegally influencing the course of the investigation by the CBI as mandated by the apex court, the CBI application in Supreme Court said. The CBI application has also highlighted the trauma faced by agencys Joint Director Pankaj Shrivastava after the West Bengal Police surrounded the local office of the CBI and his official residence Sunday night. The CBI claimed 25 of its officials were held hostage in "flagrant and shameless defiance of the Constitution" and the authority of the apex court. The CBI said an atmosphere of terror was created and the whole event is a glaring example of the "breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state". The Bihar police cyber cell had received an emailed complaint from social activist Shahin Sayyad about Surajnath's tweet of 30 January that carried a morphed image of Priyanka Vadra, who was recently appointed the Congress party's general secretary for east Uttar Pradesh by her brother and the party president, Rahul Gandhi Katihar: Days after an obscene tweet with a morphed picture of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was posted on the social media platform, police said on Monday the accused person has been arrested and sent to jail. Yogi Surajnath, a resident of this north Bihar town who describes himself as a 'bhakt' (devotee) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the social media, was arrested from his residence in Binodpur locality, Town police station SHO Ranjan Kumar said. While Surajnath is said to be an avid follower of the 'BJP's Mission 2019' on Twitter, BJP's district president Manoj Rai asserted this person has no association with the party. Kumar said the Bihar police cyber cell had received an emailed complaint from social activist Shahin Sayyad about Surajnath's tweet of 30 January that carried a morphed image of Vadra, who was recently appointed the Congress party's general secretary for east Uttar Pradesh by her brother and the party president, Rahul Gandhi. The SHO said the cyber cell traced Surajnath's location to Katihar, after which the district police arrested him and a case has been filed against him. He was subsequently produced before court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate here, which remanded him to judicial custody. Social activist Anna Hazare, whose indefinite hunger strike entered the fifth day on Sunday, warned that if the Narendra Modi government did not fulfil its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan. Ralegan Siddhi: Social activist Anna Hazare, whose indefinite hunger strike entered the fifth day on Sunday, warned that if the Narendra Modi government did not fulfil its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan. Earlier on Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party ally Shiv Sena came out in Hazare's support, urging him to emulate socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and lead an agitation against corruption. Hazare has been on a hunger strike since last Wednesday at his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district, demanding appointments of Lokpal and Lokayuktas and resolution of farmers' issue. "If this government does not fulfil its promises made to the country in the next few days, I will return my Padma Bhushan," he told PTI on Sunday evening. "(The) Modi government has breached the faith of people. The 81-year-old was awarded the third-highest civilian honour of the country in 1992. Hazare's demands include immediate appointment of anti-corruption ombudsmen Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states, implementation of Swaminathan Commission's recommendations for tackling agrarian distress and electoral reforms. In the morning, in support of the Army man-turned-activist's demands, a group of farmers and youths blocked the Ahmednagar-Pune highway at Supa village in Parner tehsil, 38 kilometres. The police tried to pacify the protesters and asked them to end the blockade as vehicles had backed up for around six kilometres on both sides, Supa police station inspector Rajendra Bhosale said. As many as 110 protesters were detained in the afternoon and released after the traffic resumed, Bhosale said. Dr Dhananjay Pote, who checked Hazare in the morning, said he had lost 3.8 kilograms in the past five days and his blood pressure, blood sugar and creatinine level in the urine had gone up. Around 5,000 farmers from the district are likely to stage a protest outside the Ahmednagar collector's office on Monday to support Hazare's agitation, his associates said. The decision to hold the protest was taken at a gram sabha (village meeting) at Ralegan Siddhi on Saturday night. Leaders of various political parties from Parner tehsil were present at the meeting. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray appealed to the BJP-led state government of which his party is a part to intervene and asked it to not to "play" with Hazare's life. Thackeray also asked Hazare to take to the streets instead of "giving up" his life, and urged him to emulate the role played by Narayan in the 1970s when the socialist leader took on the Indira Gandhi government. Hazare should not meet the fate of activist GD Agrawal, who died during a fast for his campaign for clean Ganga, the Sena leader said. Hazare had earlier declined to meet state government envoy and minister Girish Mahajan for talks. The anti-corruption crusader had told PTI that he welcomed the Maharashtra cabinet's decision to bring the office of the chief minister under the ambit of the Lokayukta. "However, the strike will continue till the government fulfils promises they made before coming to power about passage of Lokayukta Act, appointment of Lokpal (at the Centre) and to tackle farmers' issues," he said. MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian telecoms company Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) will propose a plan to sell its telecom infrastructure assets, airwaves and real estate to resolve its debt, the firm said on Sunday. RCom, controlled by businessman Anil Ambani, last week said it will seek fast-track resolution through India's National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The company's current debt to lenders stands at 380 billion rupees ($5.32 billion) of which it owes 198 billion to local lenders and 182 billion rupees to foreign lenders, a spokesman for RCom told Reuters MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian telecoms company Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) will propose a plan to sell its telecom infrastructure assets, airwaves and real estate to resolve its debt, the firm said on Sunday. RCom, controlled by businessman Anil Ambani, last week said it will seek fast-track resolution through India's National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The company's current debt to lenders stands at 380 billion rupees ($5.32 billion) of which it owes 198 billion to local lenders and 182 billion rupees to foreign lenders, a spokesman for RCom told Reuters. The company said its new proposal resembles a previous plan, which was hampered however by a lack of regulatory approvals and legal battles. It expressed confidence on Sunday that its "substantial unsustainable debt and liabilities" would be extinguished under the NCLT process and it would be able to overcome challengesraised by minority lenders. RCom has reported a string of losses during a price war triggered by the market entry of Reliance Industries' telecoms venture Jio Infocomm, owned by Mukesh Ambani - Asia's richest person and Anil Ambani's older brother. ($1 = 71.4200 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; Editing by Alexandra Hudson) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. When rules are not followed by the government, e-commerce majors have found it convenient to sell through subsidiaries. The government revised guideline for e-commerce effective 1 February is pinching consumers and e-commerce majors. It is not apparels or the gadget that you can't buy at a discount as earlier from Amazon or Flipkart that is affecting people as much as convenience items like groceries, for instance. Amazon consumers are letting their grievances heard on Twitter. #AmazonIndia - How can you just stop the Super Value bazaar without any information. Senior citizens and kids buy loads of product and grocery on a monthly basis. Please be kind to people Varun Kohli (@VarunKo86211024) February 2, 2019 What happen to Amazon Pantry ? Plz fix it ...have to purchase Pantry Products ..!!#AmazonIndia Ashtag Ashish (@ashishbooms) February 1, 2019 Pantry products are temporarily unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience. Alternatively, groceries can be purchased from other sellers on the https://t.co/9ttWeOMbwq platform. ^HD Amazon Help (@AmazonHelp) February 3, 2019 Pantry, Amazon's grocery service, has been temporarily suspended, reported Bloomberg. Not just that, now even products bought from Cloudtail India, Appario -- Amazon's two largest sellers, won't be taken back. That was the convenience of online shopping, after allbuying products at a discount, delivered in the comforts of one's home and replaced if the customer is not happy with the purchase. However, Amazon has said that these changes are temporary". "Starting 1 February, 2019, FBA sellers such as Cloudtail India, Export LLC, Appario and Amazon Retail India (ARIPL) will temporarily be unavailable on the Amazon marketplace," reads a communication sent to a customer by Amazon, according to Moneycontrol. "Customers will no longer be eligible for replacements post-January 31, 2019 11:59 pm; if they have ordered from any of these sellers," it adds. Customers get the money refunded for the products purchased depending on their case, according to the report. In late December, the government came down heavily on online marketplaces banning them from selling products of the companies in which they have equity stakes or management control as well as getting into an agreement for exclusive deals. Like Cloudtail which is the joint venture of Amazon and Narayana Murthy's Catamaran Ventures, for instance. "An entity having equity participation by e-commerce marketplace entity or its group companies, or having control on its inventory by e-commerce marketplace entity or its group companies, will not be permitted to sell its products on the platform run by such marketplace entity," the commerce ministry said. To be fair, the e-commerce companies knew these restrictions. The government allows 100 percent FDI for those online stores that follow the marketplace model with zero inventory and provides up to 49 percent FDI for inventory-based e-commerce where the latter also sells its products. However, the distinction became increasingly blurred in India with Amazon selling through its subsidiaries like Cloudtail and Appario and Flipkart through RetailNet and Omnitech Retail which goes against the government policy. So there should not be a room for complaint for e-commerce players when viewed from the legal perspective. "The e-commerce players should have expected this and prepared for it. You were not allowed to have an inventory-based model," said Paula Mariwala, Executive Director at Seedfund, early-stage venture capital fund. When rules are not followed by the government, e-commerce majors have found it convenient to sell through subsidiaries. The 1 February deadline was too short to be complied with by e-commerce firms, said, analysts. "The government's 1 February deadline is a major jolt to the industry," said Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst, Founder and CEO of Greyhound Research, a technology and innovation research firm. He said that it was too short a deadline for the e-tail business to be organised. The government is partly to blame for the situation today where the customers are unhappy about groceries and other products being taken off the e-commerce sites online, said Arvind K Singhal, chairman and managing director, Technopak Advisors, a Delhi-based management consulting firm. Agreeing that the rules were always there, but since the government did not enforce it, it is to blame, he said. "I would fault the government. When Flipkart was started, it came out with creative solutions to circumvent this rule. Amazon's Jeff Bezos came to India with money to invest in e-commerce. When Walmart invested in India, the Competition Commission of India gave it clearance, The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) did not raise an issue over the deal. When there is no enforcement of rules, there is bound to be a sense of complacency in these players," said Singhal. The government should have enforced the rules when investments were being made in the sector, said Satish Meena, a senior research analyst at Forrester Research. When it decided to enforce the guidelines, "it could have given some more time to the e-commerce firms. Since the rules were not followed so far, the e-commerce majors were taken aback by the deadline," he said. There is a view is that the government has given in to the requests of small traders and traders' bodies like the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) with the general elections in mind. However, the customer/consumer has been given the go-by in the rush to please traders. Any policy impacting customers should be about giving them the best deals at the best prices, but the policy by the government did not even factor the customers, analysts said. The intent was to cater to wholesalers and traders only. The main issue with e-commerce marketplace is the discounts offered by online marketplaces. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) called the discounts 'predatory pricing' which upsets market dynamics. It claimed e-commerce marketplaces' indulged in "deep discounting and loss funding thereby violating FDI Policy 2016 of the Union government. These e-commerce companies claim to be a marketplace but mass scale public advertisements by them in the recent past is nothing but to solicit the consumers directly," the body had asked. Small traders do not have the bandwidth to sell across the country and e-commerce marketplaces have helped them do that. Currently, there is no big player in India like Amazon or Wal-mart who can provide space to small traders on their marketplaces. "No homegrown player has the technological know-how or the financial capability to be able to beat the giants," said an analyst. However, sector specialists and industry observers said that e-commerce majors will recover from this setback. However, the revenues will take a hit to the tune of 25-30 percent, they said. The immediate setback will be that the scaling down of any additional incremental investment planned for the coming quarters. The sector is poised for growth though. E-commerce market in India is expected to grow to $200 billion by 2026, according to a report by marketing research firm eMarketer. That growth is being fuelled by increasing internet and smartphone penetration. The ongoing digital transformation is expected to increase Indias total internet user base, from 445.96 million in 2017 to 829 million by 2021, according to the Indian Equity Brand Foundation (IBEF). India is the biggest market that no e-commerce firm will want to move away. No other market presents opportunities in this sector like India. It is only a matter of time before Walmart and Amazon negotiates with the government and works out a structure that is a win-win for both -- the business and the sector. The students were reportedly offered jobs in top four segmentsconsulting, finance, sales and marketing and business development, said a report. All the 460 students of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow got final placements in record three days. A total of 147 domestic and international companies including e-commerce majors such as Amazon and Flipkart thronged the campus to hire talents, said media reports. The students were reportedly offered jobs in the top four segments namely consulting, finance, sales and marketing and business development including some extremely sought after and niche profiles in the finance domain, said a report in the Hindustan Times. IIM-Lucknow, however, did not divulge the pay packages of the students, the report said. The top segments based on roles offered were consulting (32 percent), general management (14 percent), finance (16 percent), sales and marketing (16 percent), e-Commerce (15 percent) and systems/IT (10 percent), said a report in the Business Standard. Firms including Alvarez & Marsal, Aditya Birla Group (ABG), Bain & Co, Hindustan Unilever, JP Morgan Chase, MasterCard Advisors, McKinsey and Company and Boston Consulting Group (BCG, besides top recruiters across different sectors like Accenture, Amazon, Deloitte and Flipkart took part in the placement drive, said the report. Tech majors Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Wipro have been planning to increase their campus hiring figures this year, reports earlier said. TCS made offers to 30,000 campus recruits this fiscal from its previous number of 28,000, according to The Economic Times. The IT major made a net addition of 27,049 employees in the last four quarters (calendar year 2018) compared with 7,000 in 2017. It has 4.2 lakh employees now, said the report. Wipro is reportedly planning to double campus hiring, along with salary hikes for graduates with digital expertise such as in big data and analytics, said Business Insider, an American financial and business news website, citing a report by The Economic Times. The IT major decided to hike recruitment plans to meet the shortage of digital professionals for managing client orders efficiently. The high attrition rate in the company has reportedly disrupted its performance largely, said the report. Last week, TCS had ruled out chances of any layoffs at the company and exuded confidence about a strong growth this year especially when predictions paint a rosy picture for IT firms in 2019. On 26 January, Tech Mahindra's managing director and CEO CP Gurnani said that the Indian IT sector faced global headwinds like Brexit but developments around Globalisation 4.0 and 5G technology would bring growth for the industry this year, reported PTI. "Uncertainty and lack of clarity around the US shutdown and Brexit are risks for the IT industry. However, the IT sector is poised for future growth, with technology being the key enabler for Globalization 4.0," Gurnani said. In December 2018, TV Mohandas Pai, former chief financial officer of IT major Infosys, had said that India's IT services sector and startups together were expected to hire up to five lakh people in 2019 as demand for freshers was on the upswing. Pai said that entry-level packages in the industry went up by as much as 20 percent in 2018, after stagnation in salaries for the past seven years. "Growth is coming back to the Indian IT services industry," he said, talking about industry highlights in 2018 and prospects in the coming calendar year. With PTI inputs Ranjan said income tax officers have already been instructed not to enforce recovery of angel tax and dispose of their appeals on priority. New Delhi: The government has decided to form a small working group to look into the issue of angel tax being faced by startups and come out with a workable solution in 4-5 days, a top official said on Monday. The issue was discussed in a meeting convened by the department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). DPIIT secretary Ramesh Abhishek said many suggestions were flagged by startups in the meeting. "We had a roundtable on resolving the issue of angel tax. We have a number of suggestions. We will form a small working group and try to come out with some suggestions and solutions in the next 4-5 days," he told reporters after the meeting. He also said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has asked its officers not to take any coercive action against them. The meeting comes against the backdrop of various startups raising concerns on notices sent to them under Section 56(2) (viib) of I-T Act to pay taxes on angel funds. CBDT member Akhilesh Ranjan, who attended the meeting said, investors, entrepreneurs and founders have raised this issue and they were explained why this tax provision exists in statute. "We do not want to tax startups under that provision, (but) we want somebody to define what is a startup," he said adding there should be some parameters for startups. Ranjan further said income tax (I-T) officers have already been instructed not to enforce recovery of angel tax and dispose of their appeals on priority. "Number of notices is much less. Tax notices are also less in number," he said. Notices are sent on the basis of computerised process. Nikunj Bubna, founder of startup Whats Extra India said, the government should give them exemption from income tax. Bubna said he received a tax notice of Rs 50 lakh due to which he had no option but to close his venture. Sharing similar views, Monika Jain from Presto said the government should come out with a solution on angel tax issue as it is impacting the budding entrepreneurs. "We want them to do away this section for startups or find a suitable solution. Currently every time we get investments, we have to seek exemptions," she said. Last month, the government eased the procedure for seeking income tax exemption by startups on investments from angel funds and prescribed a 45-day deadline for a decision on such applications. The new procedure says that to seek exemption, a startup should apply, with all documents, to DPIIT. The application of the recognised startup shall then be moved to CBDT. A startup recognised by DPIIT would be eligible to seek exemption, subject to certain conditions. Startups will have to provide account details and return of income for last three years. Similarly, investors would also have to give their net worth details and return of income. Section 56(2) (viib) of the I-T Act provides that the amount raised in excess of a startup's fair market value is taxed at 30 percent as income of the firm from other sources. The government launched the Startup India initiative in January 2016 to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship. The customary post-Budget meeting with the RBI will take place against the backdrop slight deviation from fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal, tax rebate for income up to Rs 5 lakh and income support scheme for 12 crore farmers New Delhi: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal is scheduled to address the customary post-Budget meeting of the central board of Reserve Bank of India on 9 February and highlight the key points of the interim Budget. The meeting will take place two days after the sixth monetary policy review which is expected to take a call on policy rates. According to sources, the board meeting on 9 February would also take up request of the government for interim dividend for the current fiscal. The government expects Rs 28,000 crore from the RBI as interim dividend for the current fiscal based on the financial position of the first half of the central bank. The Reserve Bank, which follows July-June financial year, paid Rs 40,000 crore as dividend for the current fiscal. The customary post-Budget meeting will take place against the backdrop slight deviation from fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal, tax rebate for Income up to Rs 5 lakh and income support scheme for 12 crore farmers. The government announced 'Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi' (PM-KISAN) scheme under which Rs 6,000 per year would be provided to farmers holding cultivable land of up to 2 hectare. Apart from direct income support to farmers, Goyal, in the interim Budget for 2019-20, also announced extended interest subsidy on loans availed for animal husbandry and fishery as well as to those farmers affected by severe natural calamities. The government also decided to increase standard deduction from existing Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 and also raised TDS threshold on interest earned on bank/post office deposits from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000. Duluth, MN (55816) Today Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 48F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 48F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Reliance Communications is learnt to be under a debt of Rs 38,000 crore excluding interest which includes Rs 19,800 crore that it owes to Indian lenders and around Rs 18,200 crore debt from foreign lenders, a source said. New Delhi: Reliance Communications on Sunday said it will propose a similar debt resolution plan to the National Company Law Tribunal that it had been pursuing outside the court. The Anil Ambani-led company last week announced that it would file for bankruptcy proceedings as it failed to sell its assets for paying back its lenders. "RCom's management will propose a similar Debt Resolution Plan in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) process, as was earlier being pursued outside the NCLT. Key elements of the Debt Resolution Plan remain unchanged," the company said in a statement. Sources privy to the development told PTI that company is opting for debt resolution process to overcome the challenge of getting 100 percent lenders or creditors approval required for taking a decision around asset sale which has been hampering the process asset monetisation. "The Company has been faced with various mostly, untenable issues raised by the Department of Telecommunications. These issues inter alia resulted in numerous legal issues at High Courts, TDSAT and the Hon'ble Supreme Court, which frustrated the existing plan and can now be addressed/resolved under the NCLT process. "Further, challenges raised by unreasonable minority lenders can be now be overcome through the NCLT's 66 percent majority rule, against the 100 percent approvals rule outside NCLT," RCom said. The company is learnt to be under a debt of Rs 38,000 crore excluding interest which includes Rs 19,800 crore that it owes to Indian lenders and around Rs 18,200 crore debt from foreign lenders, a source said. The company has been trying to sell all telecom infrastructure assets and spectrum, monetise its submarine cable arm GCX, IDC and Indian Enterprise Business, develop 30 million square feet at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City complex and sale of other real estate assets to clear dues. However, despite the passage of over 18 months, lenders have received zero proceeds from the proposed asset monetisation plans, and the overall debt resolution process is yet to make any headway. RCom even failed to sell spectrum to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, a deal that was expected to bring some relief to the cash-strapped company. RCom was expecting to realise Rs 975 crore from sale of spectrum to Jio which it promised to use for paying dues of Rs 550 crore to Ericsson and Rs 230 crore to settle dues of minority stakeholder Reliance Infratel. Reliance Jio, however, declined to take over any past liability of RCom for which the Department of Telecom may raise demand in future. "The RCom Board, therefore, sees a fast-track NCLT resolution in 2019, free of all uncertainties and challenges. The Board remains confident on future prospects as a going concern under new ownership on completion of the NCLT resolution process," the statement said. TOKYO, February 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- QuEST Global, the pioneering engineering services provider, has appointed Arun Pai as President of New Business Development. In this role, he will be responsible for fuelling the company's next phase of growth across diverse industries - Aerospace & Defense, Aero Engines, Automotive, Rail, Medical Devices, Power, Oil & Gas, Industrial and Hi-Tech. Prior to joining QuEST, Arun was Corporate Vice President at HCL Technologies, where his charter was to grow the Commercial Industries Portfolio that includes Hi-Tech, Automotive, Manufacturing, Aerospace & Defense, Transportation, Energy & Utilities, Oil & Gas and Industrial. Arun joins QuEST with more than 30 years of progressive experience in Engineering and IT services industry. During his three decades of service in the industry, Arun was instrumental in providing strategic and transformational benefits to various customers by delivering tangible business value across different outsourcing services including Product Development, Production and Aftermarket Services along with Digital and Enterprise Solutions. He has deep experience of heading businesses ranging from USD 500 million to 1 billion and has led global sales in various markets across North America, Europe, Taiwan and India. Robert Harvey, President, Sales, QuEST Global said, "Arun brings invaluable experience and an excellent track record of building and scaling businesses globally. His deep experience in serving global customers, understanding of engineering operations and enterprise challenges across diverse industries will help us to further accelerate our growth plans and growing investments in new business development. Arun is also a great fit to our empowered, entrepreneurial, humble and hungry culture." Commenting on his appointment, Arun Pai said, "The engineering, product lifecycle and enterprise ecosystems are undergoing significant shifts due to digital disruptions and ever changing consumer needs. QuEST being a pioneer in the engineering services space is leading some of these disruptions. I am excited to be part of this successful team and look forward to contributing towards QuEST's next phase of growth." About QuEST Global QuEST Global is a leading engineering services and solutions partner to many of the world's most recognized Fortune 500 brands in aero engines, aerospace & defense, automotive, medical devices, oil & gas, power, hi-tech, industrial and rail with 11,000+ associates. For more than 20 years, QuEST has been a trusted partner providing comprehensive support across the complete engineering lifecycle to help our customers improve efficiency, increase quality, create new products and open new markets. Through a collaborative and customized approach, QuEST enables its customers to manage traditional engineering requirements as well as convergence of digital and mechanical technology to help them create safe, dependable and high quality products and services. CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2019 / Further to the press release dated May 29, 2018, Emerald Bay Energy Inc. (TSX Venture: EBY, OTC: EMBYF) (the "Corporation", the "Company" or "Emerald Bay") is pleased to announce that it has received final approval from the TSX Venture Exchange and has settled all amounts owing in connection with two separate loan/credit arrangements previously provided to the Corporation by Hillcrest Investments Ltd., a company controlled by Clarence Wagenaar (who currently controls, directly and indirectly, 10.43% of the outstanding common shares of the Corporation) via the issuance of an aggregate of 18,493,178 common shares of the Corporation at a price of $0.05 per share. The aggregate debt amounts settled is equal to $924,658.90, being the aggregate balance of the principal amounts owing on the two separate loan/credit arrangements between the parties plus all applicable interest. Mr. Wagenaar controls, directly and indirectly, an aggregate 31,537,000 common shares of the Corporation, or 10.43% of the outstanding common shares of the Corporation. All of the foregoing common shares are subject to a statutory four-month hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws. The settlement of the debt with Mr. Wagenaar's company may be considered a "Related Party Transactions" under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions, however the Corporation will rely upon available exemptions from the minority shareholder approval and valuation requirements set forth in that Instrument (the fair market value of this transaction/consideration received/debt amount is less than 25% of the Corporation's market capitalization (exemptions found in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions)). The actions disclosed herein were approved by the board of directors of Emerald Bay via written resolution, signed and approved by all directors. About Emerald Bay Emerald Bay Energy Inc. (TSX Venture: EBY, OTC: EMBYF) is an energy company with oil producing properties in southwest Texas as well as non-operated oil and natural gas interests in Central Alberta, Canada. EBY is the operator of the Wooden Horse and Nash Creek Projects in Guadeloupe, Texas, where the Company currently now owns a 50.00% working interest those projects. Additionally, the Company owns various working interests in the HugoCellR and MarPat partnerships. The Company also owns 75% of Production Resources Inc., a South Texas oil company. For all upcoming news releases, articles, comments and questions, to stay updated and speak with management about Emerald Bay Energy. Please JOIN our Investor Information Group at: http://bit.ly/8020EBY For further information, please contact: Emerald Bay President, Shelby D. Beattie, by telephone at (403) 262-6000 Email: info@ebyinc.com www.ebyinc.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Emerald Bay Energy Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/534431/Emerald-Bay-Energy-Settles-92465890-of-Debt-at-005-Per-Share SAN JOSE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2019 / Altigen Communications, Inc. (OTCQB: ATGN), a Silicon Valley based Microsoft ISV and Cloud Solutions provider, announces a strategic business partnership with Cisilion, a leading UK head quartered IT systems integrator and managed service provider specialising in enterprise networking, voice and collaboration, security, cloud & data centre and IT services. The focus of the partnership between the two companies will be on delivering and enhancing the value of Microsoft Teams Phone System and Skype for Business. Altigen's solutions include Teams Direct Routing, a new Intelligent Call Routing application, workgroup call routing and queuing, as well as enterprise contact center applications. The combination of the solutions developed by Altigen and Cisilion's Unified Communications expertise enable the delivery of world-class communications capabilities to mid-size and large enterprise customers globally. Cisilion has a proven track record of successfully implementing IT solutions for a global client base in over 70 countries. Cisilion design, implement, support and manage modern voice and collaboration solutions for more than 500 customers and have more than 250,000 supported users globally. Rob Quickenden, Cisilion's Chief Strategy Officer, said, "We have been working with Microsoft Voice for more than 8 years, since the days of Lync 2010. Today, Cisilion enables clients to leverage cloud or hybrid cloud communications to support agile and remote working. This connects their people, clients and customers through enterprise grade voice, video, mobile and meeting rooms experiences through solutions built upon Microsoft, Altigen, Polycom/Plantronics. We elected to partner with Altigen based on their unique ability to deliver value-add applications for both Skype for Business and Teams for both on premises and cloud customers." Altigen Communications, which has long been developing all software communications built on the Microsoft stack, delivers a suite of advanced applications for Skype for Business and Teams. Paul Fullman, Altigen's Vice President of Microsoft Solutions, said, "The momentum for Microsoft Teams has been steadily growing for the past year. With many organisations now in the process of evaluating Microsoft Teams Phone System, it was critical for us to work with a top-notch partner to deliver Altigen's solutions. We're extremely pleased with such a quality company as Cisilion." About Altigen Communications Altigen Communications, Inc. (OTCQB: ATGN), a leading Microsoft ISV and Cloud Solutions provider, delivers a fully managed portfolio of Unified Communications services, including Hosted Skype for Business, Advanced Private Cloud PBX, Innovative Cloud Contact Center applications, Web Chat, and SmartSIP Teams Direct Routing to enable SMBs and enterprises to seamlessly transition to the Modern Workplace. With thousands of customers around the world, Altigen solutions are designed for high reliability, ease of use, seamless integration to Microsoft infrastructure technologies, and are built on a scalable, open standards platform. Altigen's worldwide headquarters is in Silicon Valley, California. For more information, call 1-888- ALTIGEN or visit the web site at www.altigen.com. Trademarks Copyright 2014-2018 by Altigen Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks featured or referred to within this press release are the property of their respective trademark holders. Safe Harbor Statement The Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon the Company's views of future events and financial performances, current expectations, beliefs, plans and assumptions, which are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, without limitations, statements regarding the continued business opportunities with Microsoft Teams Phone System. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to unknown risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, risks related to Altigen's limited operating history. Please refer to Altigen's most recent Annual Report filed with the OTC Market for a further discussion of risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Altigen does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Company Contact: Paul Fullman Vice President of Microsoft Solutions Altigen Communications, Inc. Email: paul.fullman@altigen.com SOURCE: Altigen Communications, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/534430/Altigen-Communications-Inc-Announces-Business-Partnership-with-Cisilion 4 February 2019 Milamber Ventures Plc ("Milamber") Acquisition Milamber Ventures plc (NEX: MLVP) is delighted to announce that it has completed the acquisition of Astara Training Limited ("Astara") which was incorporated on 26 June 2013 by Victoria Smith who will remain with the company as Chief Learning Officer. Milamber has acquired 100% of Astara's equity paid for 16,666, comprising 185,178 Milamber Ordinary Shares, issued at 9 pence per share. The shares have been issued to the two Directors of Astara, Victoria Smith and Dave Henderson, and are covered by a two-year lock in agreement. Milamber will also provide loans to Astara totalling 50,000 to cover various working capital obligations. Andy Hasoon, Executive Chairman of Milamber commented, "We are delighted to have acquired Astara and welcome Victoria and Dave to the Milamber Education team, which is led by Rachael Cartwright." ABOUT ASTARA Astara was set up to provide training services and is on the UK Government Register of Learning Providers (UKPRN: 10042141) as a RoATP Prime Training Provider which means that it can deliver Apprenticeship Levy training services and is registered as a Social Enterprise Certified Member (number: 7693). Astara has a clear focus to provide opportunities for learners rather than generate pure profit. However, Astara has been profitable for the previous three years and has demonstrated year on year organic growth, as shown below: In late 2018, funding ceased for Astara's main training activities and the decision was taken to cease trading and close the company. Milamber's acquisition of Astara as a viable "shell" comes while the company is still active and with the ability to begin generating new revenues based on Astara's existing licences, which remain active, with Victoria Smith and support staff remaining in place. Astara was inspected in April 2018 by the ESFA and rated as a Grade A provider and its Financial Health, as classified by the ESFA, is "Good". Historically, the company has provided the bulk of its training services to HM Prisons. In 2018 Astara secured registration on the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) dynamic purchasing system, one of just 152 companies. This is in readiness for the new HM Prison Governors education contracting process which begins in April 2019. The company has delivered training to circa 40 Prisons historically and is also approved for DWP and NHS training delivery. Astara uses freelance Assessors for delivery of courses which include: Teacher Training; Spectator Safety level 2 & 3; Leadership and Management levels 3, 5, & 7, (BTEC and NVQ); Business Administration; Customer Service; Team Leading; Learning & Development and various others. Astara has Direct Claim Status with Pearson, can qualify Assessors, IQAs, and Managers up to level 7 and is a Platinum Partner with the YMCA which effectively gives the company Direct Claims Status across all YMCA awards. Some of the delivery via the YMCA Training Provider status includes Personal Wellbeing; Fitness and Physical Activity; Lifestyle Management; Instructing Exercise and Fitness (Certificate & Diploma); Personal Trainer; Assessor Awards; Education and Training and others on an ad hoc basis. Astara has an Adult Education Budget contract at this time with New College Swindon for 150,000 from 1 August 2018 to 31 July 2019, and talks are underway to recommence activities under this contract. -ends- ENQUIRIES: Milamber Ventures Plc Andy Hasoon T: 07768 875 681 E: andy.hasoon@milamber.co.uk www.milamber.co.uk First Sentinel Corporate Finance Limited (NEX Exchange Corporate Adviser) Brian Stockbridge T: 020 7469 0930 Leander (Financial PR) Christian Taylor-Wilkinson T: 07795 168 157 E: ctw@leanderPR.com The British Army has awarded a contract to Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim), a global developer of advanced military simulation and training software, to demonstrate the art of the possible using virtual reality, machine learning and cloud computing for the Army's Collective Training Transformation Programme (CTTP). The pilot has been made available through the Defence Innovation Fund, MOD investment into innovation. BISim will work under the VR In-Land Training (VRLT) Pilot Programme, a British Army CTTP initiative charged with exploring the use of VR for collective land warfare training and identifying the potential benefits and effectiveness of VR for military training and simulation. The VRLT Programme will help make recommendations on the impact, affordability, innovation and exploitation of VR for UK defence training. BISim will help deliver a series of training events for the pilot programme demonstrating VR and MR (mixed reality) capabilities using BISim products. The training events will use VBS3, BISim's flagship desktop training software, VBS Blue IG, the company's high-performance whole-earth image generation software, and VBS STE, a prototype whole-earth desktop trainer that combines the power of the VBS3 simulation engine with high-fidelity VBS Blue IG visuals. As part of the announcement of BISim being awarded the pilot contract, Brigadier Bobby Walton-Knight CBE, Head of Training Capability for the British Army and the Collective Training Transformation Programme Director, commented: 'The British Army is always looking to see how technology can support capability. Working with Bohemia Interactive Simulations, and their partner organisations, this is an exciting opportunity to see how we can take advantage of a blend of real and virtual training to better train and prepare our soldiers for current and future operations.' BISim has subcontracted Cervus Defence and Security Ltd, a UK company with expertise in capturing and leveraging defence training data, to illustrate the potential benefits of data capture and machine learning-driven analytics for military training. BISim will also demonstrate innovative technology to show how the cloud can be used and how BISim products and Army training systems can work from the cloud. "With BISim's strengths in virtual simulation, image generation, and VR, its knowledge of the British Army and defence domain, and its key role in the U.S. Army's STE (Synthetic Training Environment) programme, we are very well placed to work with the British Army to deliver VRLT and ensure that, should the technology show promise, it can be introduced coherently with other training and simulation systems," said Rusty Orwin, BISim's UK Head of Sales. "We're also pleased to work together with Cervus, a company that has considerable experience in data analysis and training event design and assessment through their national and international work, including the Army and Niteworks." Cervus Defence's HIVE Insight Engine will be configured to receive collective training data from VBS3, VBS Blue IG and VBS STE. HIVE is a COTS Training Measurement and Evaluation (TM&E) service that harvests and categorizes a large variety of individual and collective training data, processing this information and analyzing it before delivering insights using machine learning and visual reporting tools. "As a specialist company, we are bringing a set of innovative data capture and analysis techniques in support of this pilot. We are looking forward to demonstrating our TM&E credentials in a UK virtual environment and supporting the VRLT team in providing evidence-based insights into the impacts of Virtual Reality in training," said Alan Roan, Cervus' Managing Director. BISim began exploring the potential of VR for defence training in 2013 starting with the Oculus Rift DK1. By 2015, BISim's VBS3 offered out-of-the-box support for the Oculus Rift and HTC VIVE support was added in 2016 through the Open VR (OSVR) SDK. VBS Blue IG (a high-performance, CIGI-compliant, 3D whole-earth image generator) was introduced in 2018 and is ideally suited for VR applications. BISim started working on VR directly with military customers towards the end of 2015, most significantly with the U.S. Navy on a VR-based pilot training system that included virtual hand gestures generated through the Leap Motion system. BISim's work in this domain has expanded to evaluating and developing augmented (AR) and mixed reality (MR) systems for other military organisations. About Bohemia Interactive Simulations Founded in 2001, Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim) is a global software company at the forefront of simulation and training solutions for defence and civilian organizations. Our mission is to harness the explosive potential of technology to revolutionize training and simulation. BISim utilizes the latest game-based technology and a large, experienced in-house team of engineers to develop high-fidelity, cost-effective training and simulation software products and components for defence applications. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005481/en/ Contacts: BLASTmedia Hannah Goodwin, 513-508-4693 hannah@blastmedia.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- MYM Nutraceuticals Inc., (CSE: MYM) (OTCBB: MYMMF) ("MYM" or "The Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Howard Steinberg as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) replacing Rob Gietl as of February 1, 2019. In addition to his CEO duties he will remain Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Steinberg has more than 20 years investment experience as a senior executive, working within some of the largest financial institutions in the world. He has sat on over a dozen Boards including his current role as Executive Chairman of Parallax Developments Corp and as a board member of Trichome Financial, a specialty finance company focused on providing a range of credit-based capital solutions to the legal cannabis industry. He has invested personally and with global financial institutions in a wide range of industries in every area of the balance sheet. Mr. Steinberg has an MBA from the University of Western Ontario and is a CFA Charterholder. "MYM is fortunate to have attracted someone of Howard Steinberg's caliber to lead the Company forward. Our growth plan is aggressive, and we felt it best to reorganize our leadership to better address those challenges", said Erick Factor, Executive Chairman of MYM. "I am excited to join MYM Nutraceuticals as CEO and look forward to leading the team in the execution of our corporate strategy as a global player in the cannabis and hemp industries", said Mr. Steinberg. "It is with mixed emotions that I leave MYM. I have enjoyed working with the various teams and will miss being part of MYM's future, however, I fully support the change in leadership as it is time to bring in new thoughts and perspectives", said Rob Gietl former CEO MYM. As consideration for becoming CEO, Howard Steinberg was granted options to purchase 2,000,000 shares of the Company in accordance with the Company's stock option plan for a period of three years. The options are exercisable at a price of $.79 per share. 500,000 options will vest in a single tranche immediately with the balance vesting over the 12 months. The expire date of these options in February 1, 2022. About MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. is an innovative company focused on the global growth of Cannabis and hemp. To ensure a strong presence and growth potential within the industry, MYM is actively looking to acquire complementary businesses and assets in the technology, nutraceuticals and CBD sectors. MYM shares trade in Canada, Germany and the USA under the following symbols: (CSE:MYM) (OTC:MYMMF) (FRA:0MY) (DEU:0MY) (MUN:0MY) (STU:0MY). ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Howard Steinberg, CEO MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. www.mym.ca Investor Relations: Brian Tasker +1-403-616-1045 brian.tasker@mym.ca Keep up to date with MYM on our social media channels: Twitter: @mymnutra Facebook: @mymnutra Instagram: @mymnutra This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update such statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedar.com. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE or CNSX Markets), nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the CSE), accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities law and may not be offered or sold in the "United States", as such term is defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act, unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration requirements is available. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2019) - TransCanna Holdings Inc. (CSE: TCAN) (FSE: TH8) ("TransCanna" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that on February 1st the Company accepted an assignment of a real estate option agreement ("Option Agreement") from its CEO, Jim Pakulis, to acquire a land, building and asset package (the "Property") which includes an existing 196,000 square foot facility on 6.5 acres of land, as well as cannabis packaging and processing equipment. The purchase price for the Property, should the option for purchase be exercised, is an aggregate of US$15 million payable in cash. Approximately US$8 million in tenant improvements has been completed over the past two years creating a vertically integrated cannabis facility. The seller of the Property, who is at arm's length to the Company, specializes in building USDA grade, commercial HVAC facilities throughout the US. As a result, the seller performed all of the facility's tenant improvements, much of which were to USDA standards. The intended purpose of the facility includes divisions for transportation & distribution, extraction, manufacturing, bottling, nursery and growing. Conditional on the Property being acquired, the company expects to lease space to a third-party laboratory testing company. The facility will be able to employ up to approximately 500 staff members operating two, eight-hour shifts, predicated on demand. The facility is located in an area zoned for cannabis in northern California. Preliminary architectural drawings for the additional acreage includes approximately 400,000 square feet for a fully enclosed two story grow facility. Pending execution of definitive documents, the Company and the seller have reached an agreement in which the seller will become a consultant to the Company, which would include management of construction for the additional facility, should the Company determine to complete that facility. "With the recent $8 million of tenant improvements performed, this is one of the largest cannabis focused, vertically integrated facilities in California. The intended use of the facility will be to transfer branded companies that we acquire, or that we create, and bring them inhouse. This means we have complete control over our nursery, grow, manufacturing, extraction and distribution. We believe the consistency in our ecosystem that we can offer, and the scale that we can create, will result in TransCanna owning a portfolio of premium brands that will materially benefit the retailer and their customers," states Jim Pakulis, CEO of TransCanna. Mr. Pakulis paid a non-refundable US$250,000 deposit to the seller of the facility in order to secure the Option Agreement and pursuant to the assignment agreement entered into with the Company has been reimbursed for this cost. No other payments are due to Mr. Pakulis pursuant to the assignment. As Mr. Pakulis is the CEO and a director of the Company, the assignment of the Option Agreement to the Company constitutes a "related party transaction" as such term is defined in Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is relying on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements available under MI 61-101. The Company is relying on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements of MI 61- 101, specifically the exemptions as set forth sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the transaction, insofar as it involves interested parties, is not more than the 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The board of directors of the Company approved the assignment of the Option Agreement, with Mr. Pakulis having declared his interest in, and abstaining from voting on, the assignment. The facility is currently not licensed for cannabis, nor is the acquisition dependent on receiving those licenses. The Company intends to submit all appropriate licensing application to the appropriate regulatory bodies in February. Conditional on receiving the appropriate licensing approvals at the local level, the Company will submit licensing applications to the state. Pursuant to the Option Agreement, the Company has until March 15 to determine to exercise its option and complete the purchase. Acquisition financing is pending and will be announced by the Company once secured. The facility requires an approximately $1.5 million to finish tenant improvements and become operational. Should the Company complete the acquisition of the Property, a success fee of up to 2,000,000 common shares will be payable to Haywood Securities Inc. in consideration of financial advisory services being provided to the Company. In addition, the Company has entered into an agreement with Haywood Securities Inc. to settle an advisory fee of $110,000 payable in connection with the Company's initial public offering through the issuance of 56,266 common shares at a price of $1.955 per share. The shares will be subject to a four month hold period ending on June 2, 2019. About Transcanna Holdings Inc. TransCanna Holdings Inc. is a Canadian based company providing branding, transportation and distribution services, through its wholly-owned California subsidiaries, to a range of industries including the cannabis marketplace. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.transcanna.com or email the Company at info@transcanna.com. On behalf of the Board of Directors James Pakulis President and Chief Executive Officer Telephone: (604) 609-6199 The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to: the expected purchase of the facility, the terms of the facility acquisition, the payment of finders fees in relation thereto, the ability of the Company to secure financing and the acquisition of appropriate licenses for the facility,. Any number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward looking statements will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward looking statements or otherwise. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/42618 Q4 Revenue & Full Year Results 2018 Conference Call Nicolas Huss CEO is pleased to invite you to our Full Year Results 2018 earnings call on Tuesday, February 12th at 6pm (Paris time - CET) Please dial the following numbers to join the call: France Toll: +33 1 72 72 74 03 UK Toll: +44 20 7194 3759 USA Toll: +1 646 722 4916 Conference pin: 31784581# A press release and a presentation will be available on www.ingenico.com (http://www.ingenico.com) prior to the call at (5:45pm). About Ingenico Group Ingenico Group (Euronext: FR0000125346 - ING) is the global leader in seamless payment, providing smart, trusted and secure solutions to empower commerce across all channels, in-store, online and mobile. With the world's largest payment acceptance network, we deliver secure payment solutions with a local, national and international scope. We are the trusted world-class partner for financial institutions and retailers, from small merchants to several of the world's best known global brands. Our solutions enable merchants to simplify payment and deliver their brand promise. Stay in touch with us: www.ingenico.com (http://www.ingenico.com) twitter.com/ingenico (http://twitter.com/ingenico/) PDF VERSION (http://hugin.info/143483/R/2233100/878464.pdf) This announcement is distributed by West Corporation on behalf of West Corporation clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: INGENICO via Globenewswire DIDCOT, UK / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2019 / Altus Strategies Plc (AIM: ALS & TSX-V: ALTS), the Africa focused exploration project generator, announces that it has defined a series of drill targets to test the potential of expanding the Diba gold project ("Diba" or the "Project"). Diba is strategically located 13km south of the multi-million ounce Sadiola gold mine in the world renowned "Kenieba Window' gold belt in the west of the Republic of Mali ("Mali"). Highlights: Excellent historic drill intersections of 5.02g/t Au over 20.0m and 1.85g/t Au over 51.8m Further drill targets defined along strike, down dip and in new zones Diba has the potential to provide oxide feed to the adjacent Sadiola gold mine Diba hosts a historic near surface gold resource (see "Diba Project: Historic resource" and "Cautionary note regarding historic data"): 6,348,000 tonnes at 1.35 g/t for 275,200 ounces in the Indicated category 720,000 tonnes at 1.40 g/t for 32,500 ounces in the Inferred category Based on a 0.5 g/t cut off and gold price of US$1,200/oz Discussions are underway with a number of potential counterparties in respect of Diba Steven Poulton, Chief Executive of Altus, commented: "The Diba gold project is a highly strategic asset, located just 13km from the multi-million ounce Sadiola gold mine in western Mali. Our project hosts a near surface, shallow dipping, historic oxide resource with a number of exceptional drill intersects, including 5.02 g/t Au over 20.0m and 1.85 g/t Au over 51.8m. The adjacent Sadiola mine is reportedly for sale and is expected to have exhausted its oxide feed in the coming months. However, while we recognise that Diba may be a potential source of future oxide feed for Sadiola, we also consider it has significant standalone oxide potential." "Our detailed review of the historic data from Diba has defined a number of priority drill targets, which when tested have the potential to increase the existing historic resource. One of the targets, at Diba Northwest, is located within a 2.6km2soil anomaly immediately along strike and northwest of the current historic resource. Systematic air core drilling of this area only tested to an average depth of 14.7m. However, a number of the holes terminated in gold mineralisation. A second, 2km2target at Diba East is located immediately to the east of the historic resource and is defined by the results from geophysics, air core and reverse circulation drilling." "Altus is currently in discussion with a number of potential joint venture partners and other groups to advance the Diba project, as well as our other projects in western and southern Mali. We look forward to updating shareholders on these discussions in due course." An updated technical presentation on the Diba project has been prepared and can be downloaded from the following link: http://altus-strategies.com/site/assets/files/4250/altus_diba_project_review_-_q1_2019.pdf The following figures have been prepared and relate to the disclosures in this announcement and are visible in the version of this announcement on the Company's website (www.altus-strategies.com) or in PDF format by following this link: http://altus-strategies.com/site/assets/files/4514/altus_nr_-_diba_31_jan_2019.pdf Location of the Diba project in western Mali is shown in Figure 1. Satellite view illustrating Diba's proximity to Sadiola is shown in Figure 2. A schematic cross section through the Diba project is shown in Figure 3. A map highlighting drill results which post-date the 2013 historic resource is shown in Figure 4. A map of the soil auger anomaly in the target area is shown in Figure 5. A map of the Diba Northwest and Diba East Prospects is shown in Figure 6. A selection of Diba photos is shown in Figure 7. Figure 1. Location of Diba project in western Mali Figure 2. Aerial view illustrating Diba's proximity to Sadiola Figure 3. Schematic cross section through the Diba project Figure 4. Map highlighting drill results which post-date the 2013 historic resource Figure 5. Map of the soil auger anomaly in the target area Figure 6. Map of the Diba Northwest and Diba East Prospects Figure 7. Selection of Diba photos Diba Project: Location The 81km2 Diba ('Korali Sud') project is located in the Kayes region of western Mali, approximately 450km northwest of the capital city of Bamako. The project sits 5km west of the Company's Lakanfla gold project, approximately 13km south of the multi-million ounce Sadiola gold mine and 35km southeast of the multi-million ounce Yatela former gold mine. Diba is bounded by the Sadiola permit on its northern and eastern boundaries. Sadiola is owned by Anglogold Ashanti (JSE: ANG, NYSE: AU and ASX: AGG), IAMGOLD Corporation (TSX: IMG & NYSE: IAG) and the government of Mali. In November 2018 Anglogold and IAMGOLD disclosed that a process to identify a third party to buy the Sadiola mine had been initiated and that the oxide ore stockpiles at Sadiola were expected to be depleted in the first half of 2019. Diba Project: Drill targets defined Following the analysis of the historic data from Diba, the Company has prepared a phase one exploration programme which incorporates an initial 5,000m of drilling. Both diamond and reverse circulation methods are envisaged. The programme is designed to infill targets on the northern and eastern margins of the historic resource area, as well as test the Diba Northwest and Diba East prospects. The Diba Northwest prospect is approximately 1.85km long and 400m wide and is defined by a soil geochemical anomaly and shallow air core drill results. In total, 300 shallow air core holes were drilled by previous operators at Diba to an average depth of 14.7m. The majority of these holes were located in the Diba Northwest prospect, 14 of which terminated in mineralisation greater than 0.5g/t Au. The Diba East prospect is located approximately 400m east of the historic Diba resource and is approximately 500m long and 500m wide, as defined by geophysical and soil anomalies as well shallow air core drill results. Diba Project: Historic resource The Diba project hosts a historic gold resource (based on a 0.5 g/t cut off and a gold price of US$1,200/oz) comprised of 275,000 oz (6.34 million tonnes at 1.35 g/t) in the Indicated category and 32,500 oz (0.72 million tonnes at 1.40 g/t) in the Inferred category. An additional 97 AC and RC drill holes were completed at Diba by a previous operator in 2014 and these postdate the 2013 mineral resource estimate. Results from the 2014 drill programme include 5.36 g/t over 13m, 9.60g/t over 8m and 2.00 g/t over 21m. The historic resource was prepared by AMEC Americas Limited in a report entitled "Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate Diba Badiazila Gold Property Mali, West Africa", dated June 30, 2013 and filed on SEDAR on 20 September 2013 by Legend Gold Corp. The Company believes the estimate remains relevant and reliable but notes that the following work needs to be done to upgrade or verify the historical estimate as current mineral resources: Commission an independent Qualified Person to produce an updated mineral resource estimate for the Company, incorporating the exploration results received after 30 June 2013. A Qualified Person has not undertaken sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource and the Company is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources. Reference is made to the report for key assumptions, parameters, and methods used to prepare the historical estimate. The historic gold resource occurs in an area of elevated topography and comprises a series of stacked lenses that dip approximately 35-40 degrees to the south east. The Company considers that the morphology of Diba is favourable, with the potential for a low mining strip ratio, relatively limited overburden and a high proportion of the orebody being in the oxide zone. Deeper drilling at Diba targeting the sulphide zone intersected 1.32 g/t over 45m (from 93m), as such the historic resource remains open at depth. Diba Project: Exploration history Diba was originally discovered as part of a regional geochemical sampling programme conducted between 1987 and 1989. This programme reportedly also discovered the Sadiola gold mine and the former Yatela gold mine. A subsequent regional soil sampling programme at Diba completed by previous owners on a 500m x 250m (and in places 250m x 100m) grid identified a number of targets. This programme was completed between 2005 and 2007 and along with subsequent auger programmes, defined a 2.5km x 0.5km anomaly at Diba. A number of geophysical programmes have also been completed at Diba, including ground based induced polarisation, high resolution resistivity and magnetic surveys, as well as airborne VTEM. Historic drill results from Diba are presented in Table 1. The oxide gold mineralisation at Diba is predominantly found in saprolite within 50m of surface and across a compact 800m x 600m area which has been drilled to date. The deposit is considered to be controlled by a number of northwest and northeast orientated structures, with gold occurring as fine grained disseminations in localised high grade calcite-quartz veinlets. Alteration at Diba is typically albite-hematite+/-pyrite, although pyrite content is generally very low (<1%). Table 1: Selected Diba drilling intercepts from historic drilling (2006 - 2014) Intersections are calculated based on a greater than 0.5g/t Au cut-off grade, a 40g/t top-cap of grades above that grade and where there is <= 3m of consecutive internal waste. Hole ID From (m) To (m) Intersection (m) Grade (g/t Au) MIDH06-001 19.2 71.0 51.8 1.85 Including 34.0 38.0 4.0 12.65 Including (uncapped) 35.0 36.0 1.0 900.48 MIDH06-002 24.0 44.0 20.0 5.02 Including 26.0 31.0 5.0 7.35 Including 39.0 44.0 5.0 10.92 Including (uncapped) 42.0 43.0 1.0 49.48 MIDH06-004 36.0 74.0 38.0 2.08 Including 44.0 55.0 11.0 5.28 MIDH07-035 16.0 48.0 32.0 2.06 Including 20.0 24.0 4.0 7.70 MIDH07-057 32.0 62.0 30.0 2.15 Including 45.0 62.0 17.0 3.08 MIDH07-064 62.0 87.0 25.0 2.43 Including 78.0 79.0 1.0 36.70 DBRC-009 93.0 138.0 45.0 1.32 DBRC-023 47.0 55.0 8.0 9.60 Including 47.0 51.0 4.0 18.68 DBRC-055 11.0 32.0 21.0 2.00 Including 27.0 31.0 4.0 4.91 Cautionary note regarding historic data Readers are cautioned that the data on Diba as referred to in this written disclosure is historic exploration data that has not been verified by a Qualified Person. Not all historic samples are available and Altus does not have complete information on the quality assurance or quality control measures taken in connection with the historical exploration results, or other exploration or testing details regarding these results. The potential tonnages and grades described in this release are conceptual in nature and are based on previous drill results that defined the approximate length, thickness, depth and grade of the portion of the historic resource estimate. There has been insufficient exploration to define a current resource and the Company cautions that there is a risk further exploration will not result in the delineation of a current mineral resource. The historic data should therefore not be relied upon until the Company can confirm it. Qualified Person The technical disclosure in this regulatory announcement has been read and approved by Steven Poulton, Chief Executive of Altus. He has not verified the historical data disclosed in this regulatory announcement but has no reason to question its accuracy. A graduate of the University of Southampton in Geology (Hons), Steven Poulton also holds a Master's degree from the Camborne School of Mines (Exeter University) in Mining Geology. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and has over 20 years of experience in mineral exploration and is a Qualified Person under the AIM rules and National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators. Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure 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. For further information you are invited to visit the Company's website www.altus-strategies.com or contact: Glossary of Terms The following is a glossary of technical terms: "AC" means the Air Core drilling technique "Artisanal" means local people conducting mining, often with rudimentary equipment "Au" means gold "g/t" means grams per tonne "Grade(s)" means the quantity of ore or metal in a specified quantity of rock "m" means metres "RC" means the Reverse Circulation drilling technique "VTEM" means Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic geophysical survey Altus Strategies Plc Steven Poulton, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0) 1235 511 767 E: info@altus-strategies.com SP Angel (Nominated Adviser) Richard Morrison / Soltan Tagiev Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 SP Angel (Broker) Richard Parlons / Jonathan Williams Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0471 Blytheweigh (Financial PR) Tim Blythe / Camilla Horsfall / James Husband Tel: +44 (0) 20 7138 3204 About Altus Strategies Plc Altus is a London (AIM: ALS) and Toronto (TSX-V: ALTS) listed, diversified and Africa focused mineral exploration project generator. Through our subsidiaries we discover new projects and attract third party capital to fund their growth, development and ultimately exit optionality. This strategy enables Altus to remain focused on the acquisition of new opportunities to be fed into the project generation cycle and aims to minimise shareholder dilution. Our business model is designed to create a growing portfolio of well managed and high growth potential projects and royalties, diversified by commodity and by country. Altus currently has eighteen projects in six commodities across six countries. We aim to position our shareholders at the vanguard of value creation, but with significantly reduced risks traditionally associated with investments in the mineral exploration sector. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include without limitation the completion of planned expenditures, the ability to complete exploration programmes on schedule and the success of exploration programmes. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking information, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Altus Strategies Plc View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/534371/Drill-Targets-Defined-at-Diba-Gold-Project-Western-Mali Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) A bill which aims to legalize and regulate the use of motorcycles-for-hire hurdled the House of Representatives. House Bill 8959 or the proposed motorcycles-for-hire act earned the votes of 181 lawmakers on Monday. Under the bill, motorcycles can operate as public transport vehicles given they are issued with Certificates of Public Convenience by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). The LTFRB shall also be in charge of setting the fares and routes of the motorcycle taxis. Guidelines regarding road-worthiness, as well as driver qualifications, will be, meanwhile, handled by the Land Transportation Office. The development came over a month after the Supreme Court granted the petition of transport authorities for temporary restraining order on a court's decision that allowed ride-hailing service Angkas to operate late 2018. CNN Philippines Correspondent Xianne Arcangel contributed to this report. Hong Kongers have been promised a virtual banking revolution but they may have to wait a bit longer for it due to cyber-security concerns that could delay the awarding of new banking licenses. Local regulators have been working to a first-quarter deadline but it could now go down to the wire, a person familiar with the process has told FinanceAsia. So it is now entirely possible that a final decision on the new licenses could roll over into the second quarter, the person said. When asked specifically if there was a likelihood that the granting of the licenses could drag... Mohsin & Shivangi At 10 years celebration party, Mohsin looked dashing in grey coloured stripped coat, while Shivangi looked stunning in an orange-coloured dress. The couple looked adorable together. Bothe the actors shared a few pictures on their Instagram account. The Biggest #10YearChallenge Says Mohsin In a picture Mohsin, Shivangi and Rajan Shahi are seen all set to cut the cake! Mohsin captioned the picture as, "MashaAllah The biggest #10yearschallenge @starplus and @rajan.shahi.543 show us how to do it like A Boss !!!" Mohsin Writes... He further wrote, "Yeh rishta is as relevant today as it was a decade ago. Big thankyou to The entire team & Rajan sir for letting us be a part of this beautiful show. We are overwhelmed every single day with the love and support. JazakAllah :))" Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 10 Years Celebration Party Sharing another set of pictures and wrote, "Thanking each and everyone from every department associated with the show from the 1st day till now. InshaAllah ye journey aisehi chalti rahey....hope you guys r lyking the current track..big big twists comingup !!!" Shehzad Writes... Shehzad, who replaced Rishi Dev, shared a few pictures from the party. Sharing this picture, the actor wrote, "yeh rishta completes 10 years! so proud n happy to be a part of a legacy :) Thanku rajansir!! yes i know the eyes r closed lol #yrkkh #yehrishtakyakehlatahai #aboutlastnight #yehrishtaturns10." Rajan Shahi The producer of the show, Rajan Shahi too shared a few collages from the celebration and captioned them as, "YEH RISHTA KYA KEHLATA HAI 10 YEAR CELEBRATION PARTY BY STAR PLUS." Shivangi & Mohsin's Dance Video Goes Viral! There was cake cutting and the team danced their heart out! Shivangi and Mohsin interacted with media and the duo broke into a quick dance to the song 'Tareefan', which is already going viral on social media. Only two weeks ago, producer Muniratna was extremely adamant about not revealing any detail regarding Kurukshetra's release. And now, he's placed his film as a prize to one of the betting he's been involved in. you would be shocked to learn what made Muniratna go such extremes for a bet! On February 8, 2019, HD Kumarswamy will be announcing the state budget. However, BJP members are saying that the budget under Kumaraswamy's government will not be implemented. Muniratna who is a legislator of RR Nagar has placed a bet saying he'll sell Kurukshetra for Rs 5 Crores if the budget doesn't get implemented. Not only that, while discussing the bet, Muniratna also revealed that the budget of Kurukshetra is Rs 50 Crores. Talking about the release date, he said that they are expecting for it hit the theater screens on April 5, 2019. The film will be subbed in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Kurukshetra is a multi-starrer, which features many actors including Darshan, Arjun Sarja and Ravichandran. Recently, while talking to media, Crazy Star Ravichandran spoke about his drastic change of appearance in the film. MOST READ : Upendra's Daughter Is All Grown Up; Priyanka Shares UNSEEN PICTURES Of Aishwarya! Jokingly, he said, " The makers chose me to play Krishna's role as no other actor could suit the character. Also, my image is closely associated with Krishna's. However, unlike him, I haven't got to romance any lady in the film. I thought, they would at least put me up for a scene with grapes (the way media always portrays), but that hasn't happened either" We all know that Varun Dhawan is a fabulous dancer. After impressing us with his grooves in Remo D'Souza's ABCD 2, the actor is once again all set to hit the dance floor for the filmmaker's next film. While the title of the movie is yet to be announced, Dhawan Jr. has just revealed the release date of the film with a drool-worthy still from the flick. The actor took to his Twitter handle and wrote, "One "step" closer to the name. The rule breakers of 2k19 are here #3IsComing @ShraddhaKapoor @PDdancing @Norafatehi @Tseries @itsBhushanKumar @Lizelle1238 @remodsouza." Katrina Kaif was supposed to play Varun's leading lady in this film. However, the actress opted out of the film and Shraddha Kapoor stepped into her shoes. Later, Katrina opened up to a leading daily, "I believe that everything comes to you what is meant to come and everything happens for the right reasons. It wasn't possible for me to do the film because of the time constraints which they had. Also, Bharat needs an Eid release which is in June and that is very critical for the film. Unfortunately, we couldn't fit in the time for that one." The film also stars Nora Fatehi who will have a dance face-off with Shraddha in the film. A Mirror report earlier quoted a source, "Both Shraddha and Nora belong to opposing teams in the film and will be a part of an intense face-off in a street dance form that will be shot in London. All the actors have started rehearsing for their dance sets and the duo is looking forward to the sequence that is an important part of the story." Buzz is that Varun plays a Punjabi boy to Shraddha's Pakistani dancer with both their characters based in UK. Reportedly, the two team up to beat a common competitor in a dance-off. As a part of her prep, Shraddha is learning five different dance forms, including Krump and Animation Tutting. Meanwhile, Varun had bust his knee while he was trying to perfect a single step for the movie. The actor wrapped up the Punjab schedule of the film last week. Ranveer Singh's '83: Chirag Patil To Play His Father Sandeep Patil In This Film Happy Birthday Alena Priyanka Chopra wishes the sweet little Alena a very happy birthday and the young girl is all smiles with her uncles. We guess she'll remember this day for the rest of her life, folks! Priyanka Chopra With A Cute Baby Just a few days ago, the Internet was crushing about Priyanka Chopra cuddling babies and the images were all over social media. We guess nobody can keep their hands idle after seeing such a cute baby and will end up hugging it, peeps! NIck Jonas With Niece Valentina Nick Jonas hugs his niece Valentina and the little girl is Kevin and Danielle Jonas' youngest daughter. Looking at all these pictures, we guess it's about time for PeeCee and Nick to have their own kids! What do you think, folks? On The Work Front Priyanka Chopra will soon head to the Andaman Islands for the shoot of her upcoming movie The Sky Is Pink and is paired alongside Farhan Akhtar. The movie is scheduled to hit the theatres some time in 2019 and will be PeeCee's first release after her marriage. Nick Jonas wanted to accompany Priyanka Chopra to the Andamans, but it looks like he might have visa issues as he's an American citizen and the shoot will be held around the Restricted Permit Area (RPA) as there's tension in the region after the death of an American missionary who was killed by the Sentinelese people. Virushka Return To Mumbai! Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli were snapped at the airport on Monday morning as they returned to Mumbai. The couple had been spending quality time with each other in Australia and New Zealand between the Indian team's Test and ODI series in Australia, the past one month. Anushka looked classy in a long baby pink tunic paired with ripped white jeans and white sneakers. Hubby Virat sported a casual look in dark grey tee, black denims, and an acid wash denim jacket. He too twinned with Anushka and sported white sneakers. Don't they look lovely? Katrina Kaif Heads Out For Lunch Katrina Kaif was snapped at a popular restaurant in Mumbai as she headed in for lunch. Katrina looked totally chic in a lacy white top, beige pants and a crop light colored jacket. She raised the glam quotient of her outfit with beautiful studded golden pumps. On the work front, Katrina will next be seen in the Salman Khan starrer, Bharat, directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. The movie's cast also includes Tabu, Varun Dhawan, Disha Patani making cameo appearances. Bharat is scheduled for release on June 5th, 2019. Arjun Kapoor Snapped At Airport Arjun Kapoor was spotted at the airport on Monday afternoon. Arjun sported a casual look in a graphic white hoodie, black sweatpants, white sneakers, a hat and a snazzy pair of sunglasses. He has three movies up for release this year; Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, and India's Most Wanted have finished filming and are in post-production while Panipat is still being filmed. Our Daily Dose Of Taimur Picture Baby Nawab, Taimur was spotted by the paps today. He looked adorable in a light blue t-shirt, denim shorts and white sneakers as he looked straight into the cameras while being snapped. Kriti Sanon Poses For The Cameras Kriti Sanon was also papped today looking lovely in a blue dress and white kolhapuris. Kriti has been gearing up for the release of her movie Luka Chuppi, which is set to hit the theatres on March 1st, 2019. She will be starring opposite Kartik Aaryan in the movie. Anil Kapoor became a part of history when the Indian cast-led Slumdog Millionaire swept the Oscars in 2009 but the actor remembers the eve of the ceremony for being scolded by his wife. Directed by Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire received 10 nominations at the 81st Academy Awards, out of which the film bagged eight trophies. Anil played the role of a slimy game show host in the movie. "For family, Oscar doesn't matter. My wife and I were discussing (daughter) the night before Oscar! I said 'let me sleep now' and she said 'leave Oscar, listen to me first.' So even then, family was my priority. I got a lot of firing from Sunita the night before Oscar ceremony," Anil told PTI. The actor was speaking at a special ceremony here to celebrate ten years of the iconic win, along with Gulzar and AR Rahman. Rahman made history by becoming the first Indian to bag two oscars the same night for his score and song (Jai Ho) along with Gulzar in the film. The movie also won the Oscar for best film, direction, adapted screenplay, cinematography, editing and sound mixing for Resul Pookutty. Anil said the moment Slumdog Millionaire was announced as the best film, he had a massive temptation to break into his famous Ram Lakhan dance step. "But I thought if I do it, I'll break the protocol and they might arrest me! Had it been India, I would've done it. I was dying to dance. When the dancers were dancing on 'Jai Ho', imagine how much I had to control myself to not dance." Looking back, the 62-year-old actor said winning the Oscar was phenomenal and a moment the entire country was "proud" of. Post his international debut, Anil worked in Mission Impossible. He also produced and starred in the Indian version of terrorism drama 24. "Whatever I've done, it has been fantastic and I'm very proud. '24', 'Mission Impossible' and 'Slumdog Millionaire', they have all been critically-acclaimed and hugely successful. I did get a lot of offers from big directors and production houses. "But nothing was exciting enough for me; I had to raise my own bar. It has to be worth my wait. You'll be surprised. I don't want to take the names of the film in which directors or producers had considered me. But I was not happy with what I was being offered." With a screenplay written by Simon Beaufoy, the film was inspired by the novel "Q & A" by author Vikas Swarup and featured Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irrfan Khan among others. Credits - PTI 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. 2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning -- 4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS. We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover. We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come. Two of the country's biggest beef rearing businesses are throwing their support behind a campaign which aims to highlight the benefits of colostrum. The #ColostrumIsGold campaign, created by the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA), aims to underline that responsible use of antibiotics starts with newborn calves, lambs and piglets receiving the right amount of colostrum within a couple of hours of birth. The Livestock Auctioneers Association (LAA) and two of the UKs biggest integrated beef rearing businesses, ABP Blade Farming and Meadow Quality, have announced their support for the campaign. It is hoped that by promoting messages through their supply chains, at auction marts and in remittances, the three organisations will be able to encourage more dairy farmers especially as well as beef and sheep farmers to understand the benefits of getting colostrum management right in the first few hours of life. Cattle veterinary surgeon Tim Potter from Westpoint, who works with farms that rear calves for ABP Blade Farming, said: Born without an immune system, newborn animals need to take antibodies on board through their mothers colostrum. But with their stomachs only able to absorb these antibodies for a short period, its estimated that 95% of dairy farms dont manage to give that all-important feed within the ideal two-hour timeframe after birth. 'Sufficient immunity' He said a combination of this and poor quality colostrum means that less than a third of calves currently receive sufficient immunity, and the whole supply chain is losing out as a result. We have a great opportunity here to reduce the need for antibiotic treatments through improved health and immunity, but also to increase daily liveweight gain and reach service or finishing weights quicker, Mr Potter said. Matt Nightingale of Meadow Quality said that the dairy sector in particular has huge productivity gains to make by addressing an issue that most often just needs time and patience. The difference good colostrum management makes is startling. Calves that have had the right quantity of the right quality colostrum quickly enough are far more productive animals, he said. They put on weight better and have a far lower incidence of diseases such as scour or pneumonia. They also handle stress periods such as arrival on the farm and weaning far better, and thats a big win for rearers and the dairy beef sector as a whole. 'Healthier lives' Chris Dodds of the LAA is hoping his members can help get the message out through the posters and hand out leaflets in their 110 marts around England and Wales. He said: Giving calves the best start means they have better, healthier lives and they create more income in the enterprise, whether they are for breeding or for meat. Thats why well be encouraging our members to raise this issue with dairy and beef farmers, but also with sheep farmers as this issue very much affects lambs as well. The #ColostrumIsGold campaign will run throughout February and into March. This is the second time the campaign has run following its launch last year when it was widely adopted by the sheep sector. A new guide that sets out practical advice on how land owners can work together to make better and fairer decisions about land use in Scotland has been launched. The guide supports the Guidance on Engaging Communities in decisions relating to land, which was published by the Scottish government in April last year. It is the first in a series of Protocols that the Land Commission will produce to encourage practical implementation of the principles within the Scottish governments Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement (LRRS). The first Land Rights and Responsibilities Protocol focuses particularly on Principle 6: There should be greater collaboration and community engagement in decisions about land. It highlights the benefits for all parties: genuine engagement is good for land owners because it can reduce potential conflict, help make businesses more resilient and promote innovation. Meanwhile, communities will be better informed and people will have a better opportunity to engage, understand and influence potential change and opportunities. 'Decision map' The Commission has produced a toolkit to support land owners in engaging with communities to accompany the Protocol including a decision map detailing engagement methods and what is expected of land owners in different situations and a guide to engagement plans to support the community engagement process. Scottish Land Commissioner, Sally Reynolds explained that the guide defines standard good practice for engagement over land use and management. Early and open engagement by those who own or manage land with the local community should be part of normal business practice, she said. Everyone benefits from knowing about decisions that might affect them and by working together and engaging in a process, it is easier to make progress. We have devised the Protocol and the toolkit to clearly show the practical approach to engagement expected when changes to land use are being explored. We believe it will promote an open approach to decision making, all of which is a vital part of increasing the accountability of land ownership and making the most of opportunities, she said. 'Strong relationships' One initiative that illustrates good practice in terms of the principles of community engagement is the East Neuk Community Action Plan (ENCAP) Steering Group in Fife, which has successfully brought together landowners, community groups and others in to community-led planning. Partners include the East Neuk Estates Group which forged strong relationships with community groups, responded to the priorities they identified and integrated these into their own estate and land-use plans. The Land Commission will produce a series of Protocols on different subjects by working closely with stakeholders representing a range of interests. Ms Reynolds added: The Protocols will be short, clear, practical and fair to all parties, setting out clear expectations of what ought to happen in normal circumstances. European farmers are to benefit from a new free trade agreement between the EU and Japan, with 85 percent of agri-food exports to be liberalised over time. The Economic Partnership Agreement removes the vast majority of the 1 billion of duties paid annually by EU companies exporting to Japan. Once the agreement is fully implemented, Japan will have scrapped customs duties on 97% of goods imported from the EU. The agreement also breaks down barriers for key EU food and drink exporters to 127 million Japanese consumers. Annual trade between the EU and Japan could increase by nearly 36 billion once the agreement is implemented in full. With regards to agricultural exports from the EU, the agreement will, in particular, scrap Japanese duties on many cheeses such as Gouda and Cheddar as well as on wine exports. The agreement will allow the EU to increase its beef exports to Japan substantially, while on pork there will be duty-free trade in processed meat and almost duty-free trade for fresh meat. It will also ensure the protection in Japan of more than 200 high-quality European agricultural products, so called Geographical Indications (GIs), and the protection of a selection of Japanese GIs in the EU. The trade agreement follows news of Japan lifting its import restriction on UK beef three years earlier than planned following its 1996 BSE ban. Japans ministry of health said that, following discussions with the British government and inspections in the UK which took place last year, the import of British beef and bovine organs will restart. An import ban on British lamb will also be lifted. Japan is keen on striking up a deal with the UK after Brexit. Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said that Britain could retain its 'global strength' if it joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal after it leaves the EU. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. provides natural gas compression services and equipment to the energy industry in the United States. It fabricates, manufactures, rents, and sells natural gas compressors and related equipment. The company primarily engages in the rental of compression units that provide small, medium, and large horsepower applications for unconventional oil and natural gas production. As of December 31, 2020, the company had 2,224 natural gas compression units in its rental fleet with 438,524 horsepower. The company also engages in the design, fabrication, and assembly of compressor components into compressor units for rental or sale; engineers and fabricates natural gas compressors; and designs and manufactures a line of reciprocating compressor frames, cylinders, and parts. In addition, it is involved in the design, fabrication, sale, installation, and service of flare stacks and related ignition and control devices for the onshore and offshore incineration of gas compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gases. Further, the company offers customer support services for its compressor and flare sales business; an exchange and rebuild program for small horsepower screw compressors; and maintains an inventory of new and used compressors. Its primary customers are exploration and production(E&P) companies that utilize compressor units for artificial lift applications; E&P companies that focuses on natural gas-weighted production; and midstream companies. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas. Read More Wall Street analysts have given iShares Silver Trust a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but iShares Silver Trust wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. 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 Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company, through its subsidiaries, provides banking, financial, and insurance services to individuals, small and medium sized enterprises, and corporate customers. It offers current, savings, notice, instant access, and fixed term deposits; housing, student, consumer, business, syndicated, project, and shipping finance; and debit, credit, and prepaid cards. The company also provides hire purchase, factoring, guarantee, insurance, asset and wealth management, investment banking and brokerage, custody and depository, transfers and payment, and digital banking services. In addition, it is involved in property trading and development activities; land development and operation of a golf resort; management administration and safekeeping of UCITS units; administration of guarantees and holding of real estate properties; collection of the existing portfolio of receivables, including third party collections; and provision of card processing transaction, auction, and secretarial services. As of March 30, 2021, it operates through a network of 95 branches in Cyprus, as well as representative offices in Russia, Ukraine, and China. The company was formerly known as Bank of Cyprus Public Company Ltd and changed its name to Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company in January 2017. Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Nicosia, Cyprus. Read More Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI South Korea 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 South Korea ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. The Electric Vehicle boom is here! This upstart lithium developer is positioning to be a future supplier to Teslas Gigafactory in the Nevada desert. Best of all, its currently undiscovered by Wall Street below US$1 per share. Poxel S.A., a biopharmaceutical company, develops drugs for metabolic diseases with primary focus on type II diabetes. Its lead product is Imeglimin, an oral anti-diabetic candidate, which is in Phase III clinical development stage that targets the organs of diabetes, such as pancreas, liver, and muscles. The company is also developing PXL770, an adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase enzyme, which is in Phase IIa clinical trial that controls body energy metabolism and treats chronic metabolic diseases, such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). It has a licensing agreement with Enyo Pharma for the development of PXL007 (EYP001), an FXR agonist that is in Phase I study for the treatment of hepatitis B and NASH; and DeuteRx LLC for the development of PXL065, a mitochondrial pyruvate carrier inhibitor, which is in phase I clinical trials for the treatment of NASH. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Lyon, France. Read More BRIDGEPORT A popular Fairfield high school teacher was found not guilty Monday of twice exposing himself to a female student. More than a dozen supporters, many of them Fairfield teachers, cheered in the courtroom as the jury of five men and one woman in less than an hour of deliberations found Jeff Iwanicki not guilty of two counts of risk of injury to a child, public indecency and second-degree breach of peace. There were no facts to prove that he did it, said juror Andrew Mickool, of Trumbull. No evidence beyond a reasonable doubt and thats just the way it was. The 46-year-old Iwanicki, who teaches graphic arts at Fairfield Warde High School, burst into tears when the verdict was announced. This is a very emotional time, he said as he was embraced by his family and supporters. Mr. Iwanicki denied the allegations from day one, said his lawyer, Edward Gavin. He was dragged through the mud but kept his head high because he was confident the jury would arrive at the correct verdict. Iwanicki, who has taught at the high school seven years and before that at Fairfield Woods Middle School, was arrested after the then 15-year-old girl told school officials Iwanicki had twice exposed himself to her in his classroom in the high school. The teen claims both incidents occurred in 2016. Police said after the student complained, she sat down and wrote out three pages detailing what happened. Police said the student is known to spend all her free time in school in Iwanicki's classroom working on graphics projects like T-shirts for the school's bowling team. On Nov. 2, 2016, she had stayed after class to help clean up silk screening equipment with Iwanicki when he accidentally poured cleaning solution on his pants, she told police. "He said something like, 'Aw look what I've done,' " she told police. "I have a nervous habit of not looking people in the eye when I talk, I glanced down to my feet, but something caught my eye." She said he had exposed himself. On Dec. 6, 2016, she was discussing with Iwanicki the designs for some T-shirts when she said he exposed himself again. Under cross examination by Gavin, the girl, now 17, admitted that she waited a month to complain about Iwanickis alleged actions because she initially thought it was a joke. Students who had been in the classroom during the Dec. 6 alleged incident testified they didnt see Iwanicki expose himself. Superior Court Judge William Holden threw out two charges, second-degree breach of peace and public indecency regarding the Nov. 2 alleged incident, following the conclusion of the states case. Despite the arrest, Iwanicki kept his job. After charges were filed and following several hearings that were well-attended by students and parents supporting Iwanicki, Frederick Ward III, appointed by the Fairfield Board of Education, found the police investigation of the alleged incidents had not been sufficient and the complainant not credible, and recommended Iwanicki, not be fired. Happy Lunar New Years eve! For those who celebrate, what are you guys cooking up, and who ended up trying this recipe? ; ) Ive been MIA as we spent a few days in NYC before hosting my family for the holiday. Five months into motherhood and I still havent figured out how to blog and get things done while looking after Nori (girlfriend doesnt like to nap longer than 45 minutes), so hats off to all the multi-tasking mamas out there! When in NYC we always love eating our way around the city, but given the frosty weather and a teething baby on our hands, we traded sit-down restaurants for more casual grab-and-go fare this time. I recapped some tasty spots below, and please feel free to share your favorite restaurants and any unique desserts for us to bookmark and try next time! We were right near a Uniqlo, which was convenient for stocking up on their thermal pieces. I own a few different styles, but my favorite is still their thinner Heattech scoopneck tee which has a smooth finish, and layers inconspicuously under blouses and sweaters. I wore mine under this soft fleece zip up jacket then layered a wool coat over everything. The zip jacket is unlined but pretty warm for a fleece, and the extra cozy pockets are the best part. While at the store, I also tried on their 3D knits in this cocoon sweater silhouette. An XS was petite-friendly and a good length on me, and the knit felt medium to thicker in weight. I tried on a S as well for a more slouchy, oversized look, but the back part poofed out too much in a size up. Ive heard good things about Uniqlos support shapewear shorts so also picked up a pair to try. The size S is fitted on me and they feel lightweight and not too restricting, with what Id call a medium amount of shaping. I might try their smoothing shapewear shorts next to compare not sure why they dont have one style for both support AND smoothing? Someone enjoying our room with a view! In Hope & Henry baby knits with faux fur. We booked the Langham hotel which has good sized rooms (especially by NYC standards), and it felt kid-friendly thanks to their helpful service. The staff all know your name, they stock you up with bottled water & treats, and theres a courtesy car for guests to ride in. We were able to roll the hotel crib into a separate, roomy closet area, which spared us from eating quietly in the dark while the baby napped. We also loved being based between Koreatown and Bryant Park, and were able to walk to each of these spots below! Sushi donut from Poketeria; Tan tan & Tokyo tonkotsu ramen from Tonchin The Bryant Park rink was split into skating and bumper cars on ice (available until the end of February), which looked like a blast! We watched from inside the Lodge, a heated tent of food stalls, while sharing a beer and one of these decadent desserts. Poketeria Im still patiently waiting for Bostons poke scene to start catching up to options in SoCal or NYC! The bowls here were pretty good (loved their bomb sauce) but I came here for the sushi donuts. I expected it to be gimmicky, but it was actually tasty with a spicy crab filling (or avocado, upon request). They also make adorable mini donuts for catering, which Id be ordering all the time for parties or gatherings if I lived there! Tonchin New York We warmed up here with piping hot bowls of ramen, including their spicy peanut Tan-tan noodles and their pork-based Tokyo Tonkotsu ramen. I loved the springy noodle texture and how the flavorful broths were not too salty like many ramen spots, but they were a little too rich for me to finish (Totto might still be our favorite). Stackery Located inside the temporary Bryant Park Lodge, this spot makes Hungarian-inspired chimney cakes that have been all over Instagram. The employees were very friendly and the desserts are eye-catching, but it was a small challenge to eat and very sweet, so 1 of these is definitely enough for two to share! mango shaved ice & Korean donuts at Grace Street; takeout from Five Senses Grace Street Another one of our regular spots for dessert and a warm drink with friends. We usually split one of their fluffy shaved ices, the Korean donut/pancakes with ice cream, and hot milk teas or lattes. Five Senses One of our favorite dine-in Korean restaurants with flavorful hot pots / stews to share. For takeout, we got their squid & pork belly with udon, kimchee fried rice, stir fried fresh ramen, and ddukbokki spicy rice cakes which made for a satisfying night in with friends. Izakaya Mew (not pictured) A reasonably-priced Japanese tapas style restaurant on the same block as our hotel, with cocktails, sushi, and lots of small plates for sharing. I like their kimchee cream udon, uni (sea urchin) rolls, and seared sashimi / carpaccio. If youre dining in, definitely go early or during off hours to avoid a long wait! Chicken tikka masala + saffron rice + beet slaw at Indikitch; sesame & matcha swirl at Cafe Ziaya Indikitch (multiple locations) Fast casual indian food (think an Indian-style Chipotle) that was actually pretty good. You get to mix and match your choice of a main, sauce (tikka masala, vindaloo, korma, Kadai, or Saag) and a spice level and they fire it up in front of you, so it comes out nice and hot. Sure it may not be authentic, but Id love a chain like this in Boston to spice up our grab & go food scene! Cafe Zaiya An unassuming small bakery / cafe with prepared savory Asian foods, pastries and sweet treats. We usually grab bento boxes and onigiri (filled rice balls) from here or Sunrise Mart next door, and satisfy cravings for a soft serve cone. I prefer matcha only but Nicks a big sesame ice cream fan, so Cafe Zaiya is the spot to get both in one swirl! Nick was on a panel with Adobe Lightroom in NYC and they had the cutest photo setups! Too bad I was bundled up for the arctic freeze, otherwise wouldve gladly taken advantage of the backdrops. I stopped by with Nori and she was so stoked to see her papa and these balloons! WASHINGTON - Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro has laid groundwork in the new Congress for an offensive to aid tens of thousands of veterans with bronchial problems and other ailments they say were caused by breathing the toxic smoke of battlefield burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Castro, D-San Antonio, plans to file bipartisan legislation this week that would add severe bronchial disease to the list of health problems that would enable treatment at no cost and possibly provide disability benefits. Another Castro bill would change the Department of Veterans Affairs burn pits registry to allow participation of the family of survivors - a means to create a full picture of the harm burn pits caused before they were banned in 2010. Castro, who has more than 60,000 veterans in his district, has rounded up co-sponsors and sees broad support amid growing attention to problems from wartime exposure to toxic emissions. Last week, a federal appellate court ordered the VA to grant benefits to sailors stationed offshore who were exposed to the toxic defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War after denying them for decades. Expect a full court press from his office to get the legislation passed, Castro said. We should stand up for our veterans the way they stood up for us, especially veterans who went overseas to war. San Antonians appreciated that. Ours is a city that respects its veterans, he said. For subscribers: Charged by win in Agent Orange case, veterans groups pledge to press on Nearly 166,000 veterans and active duty service members have signed up for the VAs Airborne Hazards and Open Pit Registry and filled out government questionnaires. Roughly 10 percent are from Texas, twice the number from any other state. Many on the list report having lived or worked near several hundred open-air burn pits, some more than an acre in size, that incinerated chemicals, weapons, munitions, plastics and even body parts. The Department of Veterans Affairs said in an email that the agency had processed 11,581 claims related to burn pits in 11 years and granted disability claims in 2,318 of those cases. In addition, the agency is funding studies related to lung injuries and other pulmonary problems. "VA looks continually at medical research and follows trends related to medical conditions affecting veterans," the agency said. Critics contend that neither the VA nor the Pentagon has responded sufficiently to a health crisis. Congress also is considering legislation requiring the the Pentagon to determine if personnel leaving the military had been exposed to airborne poisons and then include the potential harm in periodic health assessments. The VA is conducting research but argues that theres no evidence of long-term health problems linked to the burn pits. Two years ago, the National Academy of Sciences found many shortcomings to the VA registry, including failure to gather relevant information about the problem. In Texas, Rosie Torres, who has been in the forefront of pressing for change, offered praise for the new legislation. She runs Burn Pits 360 just outside Corpus Christi, founded after her husband, LeRoy, returned home from his army service in Iraq suffering from a debilitating lung disease and neurological problems. Torres, who worked at the VA for 23 years, advises veterans and lobbies for them in Austin and Washington. Her organization was invited to brief members of Congress and staff in April about what she has experienced in Texas. Torres is dismayed by the VAs refusal in most cases to award compensation to veterans suffering from illnesses like constrictive bronchiolitis - which Castros legislation addresses. Veterans are dying and killing themselves, giving up on the VA because the VA has given up on them, she said. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Air Force veteran Wesley Archuleta, 47, of San Antonio, applauded the decision by Castro and others to take up the legislation. Part of his duty in Iraq was burning surgical waste and other refuse, which he believes led to his debilitating breathing problems. There are many illnesses that could be directly attributed to the burn pits, but they (the VA) are basically ignoring us, he said. Legal challenges are continuing to mount against state officials who said nearly 100,000 people on Texas voter rolls may not be citizens, a claim that met swift resistance from civil rights advocates. Luis Vera, national general counsel for the League of United Latin American Citizens, said he will file a motion for a more expedited injunction Monday in the organizations lawsuit against Secretary of State David Whitley and Attorney General Ken Paxton. Whitleys office asked counties to send notices to those identified, asking them to prove their citizenship. The injunction would block further action based on the advisory. LULACs lawsuit equated their actions to a witch hunt intended to intimidate voters especially naturalized citizens. A judge will likely set a hearing sometime in the next week, Vera said. On ExpressNews.com: State hedges on claim that 100,000 Texas voters arent citizens, faces federal lawsuit The request comes after the Campaign Legal Center joined the lawsuit on Friday, adding constitutional concerns and a class-action lawsuit to the initial allegation that the states advisory to county officials violated the federal Voting Rights Act. On the same day, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a separate suit in Corpus Christi, which contends that state officials singled out naturalized citizens because they were born outside the country. Whitleys office said it cant comment on pending litigation. LULACs class-action suit features Julie Hilberg, 54, who claims she was wrongly included on the states list. Hilbergs attorneys say her case illustrates the states failed methodology in compiling the list. The people the state identified had obtained drivers licenses or personal ID cards as far back as 23 years ago showing they were legal residents but not citizens. They also had current voter registrations, the state said. Critics said that approach didnt account for people who became naturalized citizens after obtaining their licenses. The lawsuit alleges it was specifically designed to target them. Hilberg, who lives in Poteet and chairs the Atascosa Democratic Party, is a United Kingdom native who received a drivers license in 2014 as a legal permanent resident. One year later, she became a citizen in a Bexar County naturalization ceremony, the lawsuit says. Her license does not expire until 2020, and she was not required to notify the Department of Public Safety of her new citizenship. After Defendant Whitley issued the Advisory, Ms. Hilberg became concerned she may appear on this list of alleged noncitizens and could be removed from the registration list, the lawsuit said. Atascosa County Elections Administrator Janice Ruple confirmed she was on the list, despite her citizenship, according to Hilberg and the lawsuit. Reached by phone Sunday night, Hilberg deferred to her attorneys. In a statement prepared last week, she said she never expected her voting rights would be jeopardized after becoming a citizen. I am passionate about democracy as an American and Texan, and hold my voting rights dear, she said. I want to stand up on behalf of the tens of thousands of people that may have been unfairly flagged by this flawed system and deprived of their constitutional rights. The attorneys in the case said others have reached out with similar concerns that they might be included on the list. Individual voters may have specific stories, but the ways in which they are impacted are very similar and arise from the nature of the program, which is to target people who at some point were not citizens, said Danielle Lang, a co-director of Campaign Legal Centers voting rights program. Vera, of LULAC, said other plaintiffs would be added to the class-action suit this week. On ExpressNews.com: Texas officials launched voter purge with big splash, little accuracy The states claim started unraveling within days of its announcement, as Whitleys office conceded that thousands of people were wrongly included on the list and county officials discovered other errors. Counties were asked to send notices to affected voters asking them to prove citizenship within 30 days or they would be removed from the rolls, though the states letter said it was up to local officials to determine whether the information provided enough reason to doubt the voters citizenship. At least one county had already sent notices to voters that shouldnt have received them. Most other county officials have said they would proceed with caution after thousands of people on the list were confirmed as citizens. On Friday, Whitleys office sent a follow-up advisory to counties. As you know, list maintenance activities are an ongoing process, and we thank you for your collaboration and feedback thus far, Keith Ingram, the state elections director, wrote to county officials. The data we provide to you is the starting point, and your data matches should be reviewed before you send out any Notices of Examination. 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 Bexar County sheriff's deputies and officers from other San Antonio-area law enforcement agencies came together Monday morning to bid farewell to Chucky, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office service dog killed in the line of duty last month. Chucky received the honors reserved for first responders, which included a procession that began at the Alamodome and took a winding route through the city before arriving at Community Bible Church for the memorial service. The procession started at 9 a.m. with a memorial service at 11 a.m. and a committal service at noon. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox At the final service, the K9 deputy will also receive the traditional end of watch call, a volley of gunfire and a presentation of flags and medals to his family. Chucky, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois, was trying to take down a suspect identified as 38-year-old Matthew Mireles when Mireles shot him twice, authorities said. One bullet pierced Chucky's aorta, while another grazed his face, Sheriff Javier Salazar previously said. READ MORE: Funeral services announced for slain Bexar County K9 Chucky Despite being mortally wounded, Chucky continued to try to bring Mireles down. "Chucky stayed in the fight," Salazar said previously. "You can't ask much more of any officer." Mireles was eventually taken into custody after he was shot multiple times by deputies. The sheriff and other law enforcement officers have hailed Chucky as a hero for his sacrifice. His ashes will remain with the family who cared for him. On the Express-News: Chucky represents every fallen officer in final sacrifice Check back to mySA.com for updates to this story from the memorial and committal services. 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 MISSION Heavy equipment has arrived at the National Butterfly Center, signaling the start of a border wall that will slice through the protected habitat. Congress approved funding for this section of the wall in last years federal budget, before the impasse between Democrats and President Donald Trump held up another round of wall funding and led to the recent 35-day partial government shutdown. As equipment for the construction was off-loaded Monday morning, a group of about 35 tribal members, including the Floresville-based Carrizo Comecrudo, marched in protest on the Rio Grande levee where the wall will be built. I didnt expect it this soon, said Juan Mancias, tribal chair of Carrizo Comecrudo, who led the protest with an eagle feather staff in hand. But theres a constant uneasiness. The wall will include a 150-foot-wide enforcement zone, according to federal documents, which could also destroy gravesites of Mancias ancestors at the Eli Jackson Cemetery in San Juan. Trump has demanded $5.7 billion in new wall spending, well beyond the $1.6 billion approved in the last budget. Government agencies were reopened under a temporary funding measure that is set to expire Feb. 15. A congressional committee is negotiating a solution to present to Trump before the deadline. The existing funding will pay for 33 miles of new fencing in the Rio Grande Valley, including 6 miles that are under contract near McAllen, including the stretch through the butterfly center. The steel-and-concrete bollard fencing will cut off 70 of the sanctuarys 100 acres, with gates for access. All along the levee, government surveyors have staked out a route for the wall. Acres of shrubs and trees span either side of the levee, where Border Patrol agents are on constant patrol. You come over here, you see the butterflies here, the animals here, and you also see gravesites that have been here since 1865, Mancias said. He feels a kinship with the butterfly center. He said that, in a sense, theyre both dedicated to saving that which is native to Texas be it butterflies or the history of its native people. We have an association with nature, we are a part of it, Mancias said. The protesters sang songs in the native Lakota language. A verse in one song says: We know that everything is sacred, so we walk with everything that is sacred. Lorri Burnett, a community organizer for Defenders of Wildlife, walked with them. She had spotted an earthmover near the center Sunday and raised an alarm on Facebook. Customs and Border Protection officials issued a public notice last week that heavy machinery would be delivered to the site as early as Monday. The Trump administration is waiving 28 environmental laws to build the wall, a decision that brought a lawsuit in November by Defenders of Wildlife, which asserts that the waivers exceed the governments authority. This isnt due process, Burnett said, because the butterfly center isnt on federal land. Im here for my grandchildren, she said. This is the most pristine, most beautiful area I have ever witnessed. This is gorgeous. And to know that my grandchildren will never be able to see this the damage that is going to be done by this wall is going to take centuries to rebuild, if it can. In a separate dispute, the government will argue in court Wednesday for access to survey land of the historic La Lomita Chapel, farther downriver in Mission. The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville has refused to provide access at the site, which would be stranded between the Rio Grande and the planned wall. On ExpressNews.com: Border wall will not hinder access to National Butterfly Center, agency says Top hits: Get San Antonio Express-News stories sent directly to your inbox Silvia Foster-Frau is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | sfosterfrau@express-news.net | Twitter: @SilviaElenaFF Chief Executive Magazine published an Article of Interest by John M. Collard, turnaround specialist, interim executive, outside independent director, and private equity advisor. www.StrategicMgtPartners.com www.StrategicMgtPartners.com/chiefexecutivemoney.pdf Formatted Version Article-of-Interest: I have yet to enter a turnaround situation that I didn't hear the owner or CEO or the board say that the answer to all of their problems is more money. While in some cases this is a real need, it is seldom the systemic problem within the company. Chances are that they have some work to do. Needing 'dollars' is one thing being ready to raise 'dollars' is another. There is an abundance of funding available in the marketplace for good deals. The key wording in this statement is of course "good deals." When a company is in trouble rarely is it considered a good deal without some fixing. Don't be surprised when you come to the realization that the company isn't attractive to investors or lenders. This means that you have the opportunity to rebuild the company, or parts of it, so that it can be considered a "good deal." Build a company that investors want to invest in. Buyers and Investors Look For: Businesses that create value. Consistency from period to period. High probability of future cash flows. History of performance and improvement, or the promise of cash. Troubled entities must be on the mend and making progress. Market-oriented management team. Focus on producing revenue. Cost cutting is only a temporary fix, you must generate revenue to make growth viable. Ability to sell and compete; develop, produce and distribute products; thrive and grow. Track record or demonstrated changes in the right direction. Make certain that the problems are fixed. Fair entry valuation. Realistic return potential is a must to attract investors. Exit options. Lenders want their interest and the repayment of principal. Investors want ROI multiples. Raising Capital Once the company is rebuilding and perhaps restructured you are ready to raise capital. With technology available today the internet can be a valuable resource to get in front of many interested investors. Approaching one investor at a time can be very time consuming. The risk of finding the right one early in the process is very high. Often the answer lies in casting a wide net to hundreds and thousands of investors to solicit interest. Private equity funds use a 'funnel approach' viewing 1,000 deals to find 100 worth a deeper review, which results in one or two worth their investment. Lenders go through a similar process. Be either #1 or #2. To present the company in the most favorable light the business operating plan must describe the opportunity to investors and what is in it for them. Why will they invest in you? To finance transition the plan must detail how you are fixing systemic problems and will use the funding for that purpose. Treat the potential investor as your audience, where the product is your company. The Business Operating Plan Includes: 1. Executive Summary. Catch the interest of prospective sources of financing. Position the company accurately and distinguish your concept from others competing for money. 2. Business History. Who founded the company, when, capital structure and progress to date. Openly discuss why the company was in trouble and how it is being fixed. What sound reasons support a change in performance for the better? 3. Product/Service. Define precisely what you develop and/or market. What customer need does your product satisfy and how? Why will customers buy from you? What distinct competencies do you offer? 4. Market. Who are your customers? Why will they buy the product? Trends in customer purchases? How will you sell to the market? What are critical product characteristics? 5. Competition. Identify specific competitors' strengths and weaknesses. Principal competitive factors in the marketplace? Where will your market share come from? How will you convince buyers that you are worthy of their trust? 6. Marketing. Define strategy and chart the marketing direction for your staff. Give prospective investors confidence that you can convert ideas and assets into a strong marketing position and stream of profits. Be prepared to market why customers should trust your recovery. Discuss distribution channels, pricing strategy, promotion and sales incentives. 7. Manufacturing and Operations. What is the nature, quality, extent and efficiency of production facilities? What is the capacity and utilization? 8. Management. Emphasize the experience and competence of the key management team members. What changes have been made, are planned and when? In a troubled company, changes are required. How are executives compensated and incentivized? 9. Financial Projections and Assumptions. Past, present and future balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statements. Most importantly, investors want to validate your assumptions. Make sure that the numbers tie together to tell the story. Your business plan is only as good as the intelligence and work you put into it and the uses that you make of it. The plan must persuade your team and prospective investors that your concept merits their consideration and buy-in. Think about it, no one wants their investment or loan to pay for past sins. The capital infusion must be used to take the company forward. Address in detail why the company got into trouble, how you are fixing the problems and how the new capital will be allocated to these efforts. How do you plan to handle, preferably avoid old obligations while rebuilding the company? Three Step Approach to Get Results and Money: 1. Send a personalized letter to solicit interest to many investors and lenders. Include a 2-3 page Overview of the transaction. This letter should go to 100s of potential investors. Email Merge works very well for this task. 2. When you receive responses of interest, immediately send a 10-12 page Executive Summary to detail the opportunity. 3. For those with continued interest, present them with a detailed Operating Plan including the assumptions and financial forecasts for use during due diligence. Be prepared for their detailed investigations. It is very important that the Overview, Executive Summary, Operating Plan and due diligence all be prepared and ready, subject to revisions, before the Emerge process begins. When you attract an interested investor, they will move very quickly. If you are not ready to respond immediately, they will move on to the next opportunity in their funnel. Dedicate executives' time and be prepared to schedule personal meetings to answer questions and close the deal. Most turnaround specialists will have a list of investors and lenders who are looking for deals. Some have longer, more quality lists than others. These specialists can help the process of preparing the solicitation documents, perform the Emerge to locate investors and negotiate the transaction, or help you along the way. The process of raising money is complex and time consuming. The Securities and Exchange Commission has rules governing how 'Finders' and 'Broker/Dealers' can operate, and what each can or cannot do. Working with a Broker is very expensive for small and mid-size companies and you lose some control. Working with a Finder is much less expensive; you maintain control, and prepare documents. An outside director, as part of the company, can be a Finder to introduce you to investors and /or lenders you then negotiate a deal that you can live with. When an outside director has a large database to utilize during this introduction process, measured in thousands of contacts, you can be in front of many investors. The key is to prioritize the flow of introductions and manage the diligence process. Compensation for the money raising process varies by specialist, but there will be retainer and fees for preparing the process and a Finder's Fee upon completion of the transaction. Most specialists will use a Modified Lehman Formula geared to the size of the deal. One example of a Modified Lehman Formula might be 7.5% fee for the first $1.5 million involved in the transaction, 6.0% for next $1.5 million, 4.5% for next $1.5 million, 3.0% for next $1.5 million, and a 1.5% fee for the remainder of the transaction. Because there is a similar amount of work to locating financing for smaller deals as there is for larger ones, expect the percentage fee to be higher for smaller deals. It is not hard to raise money if you put the right tools in place and the deal is investable. There is money available, just be the 'good deal' and you will raise capital. ### About the Author: John M. Collard John is Chairman of Strategic Management Partners, Inc. (410-263-9100, www.StrategicMgtPartners.com ) in Annapolis, Maryland. John is a Certified Turnaround Professional (CTP), and a Certified International Turnaround Manager (CITM), who brings over 35 years senior operating leadership, $85M+ asset and investment recovery, 45+ transactions worth $1.2B, and $80M fund management expertise to run troubled companies, serve on and advise company boards of directors, and raise capital. John has parachuted in as the Interim CEO, CRO or senior executive to turn around a trouble entity, and serves as an outside director. John is inducted into the Turnaround Management, Restructuring, and Distressed Investing Industry Hall Of Fame. John is Past Chairman of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA), Past Chairman of the Association of Interim Executives (AIE), and a Senior Fellow of the Turnaround Management Society. John is a Founder of TMA. John is Prince George's Business Leader of the Year. John is honored with the Interim Management Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Interim Executives. John is honored as Most Admired CEO in Maryland by Daily Record. John is honored with SmartCEO Distinguished Leadership Award. About the Firm: Strategic Management Partners, Inc. ( www.StrategicMgtPartners.com 410-263-9100) is a turnaround management firm specializing in interim management and executive CEO leadership, asset and investment recovery, board and private equity advisory, raising money, and investing in and rebuilding underperforming distressed troubled companies. The firm has been advisor to Presidents Bush (41 & 43), Clinton, Reagan, and Yeltsin, World Bank, EBRD, Company Boards, and Equity Capital Investors on leadership, rebuilding troubled companies, investment recovery, turnaround management and equity investing. SMP is celebrating 25 years of service to its clients. SMP was named Maryland's Small Business of the Year, and received the Governor's Citation, Governor Martin J. O'Malley, The State of Maryland as a special tribute to honor work in the areas of turning around troubled companies and saving jobs in Maryland. Turnarounds & Workouts Magazine has twice named SMP among the 'Top Outstanding Turnaround Management Firms'. American and Baltimore Business Journals named SMP among the Most Active Turnaround Management and Consulting Firms in Baltimore, Washington, and the Mid-Atlantic Region. Global M&A Network Turnaround Atlas Awards named SMP as Boutique Turnaround Consulting Firm of the Year. Strategic Management Partners, Inc.: turnaround managers ready to run troubled companies, recover assets from investments gone bad, advise boards of directors and investors on company viability in distressed situations. We provide strong interim and operational leadership, strategic planning, financial, defense conversion, sales and marketing acumen developed building organizations in large and small companies, including President of public & private middle-market companies providing solutions to Commercial, Federal Government, International markets. Enterprises range from start-up to $100+mil. Industry expertise: Manufacturing; Job Shop; Engineering Services; Computer Processing/Services/Software/Integration; Communications; Defense Electronics; Aerospace; Federal Government Contracting; Systems Integration; High-Tech; Finance; Marine Services; Real Estate Development; Construction; Fabrication; and Printing. End ### Reference: www.StrategicMgtPartners.com Turnaround Managers www.StrategistLibrary.com or www.StrategicMgtPartners.com/library/libindx.html See formatted version of Fixer-Uppers: Rebuilding Value article at: www.StrategicMgtPartners.com/fixeruppers.pdf> http://www.privatecompanydirector.com/news/fixer-uppers-re-building-company-value-prepare-sale Benefits of Outside Directors article at: www.StrategicMgtPartners.com/abfjod.pdf> Is Your Company in Trouble? Published by Corporate Board Magazine Managing Turnarounds in Times of Crisis Published by NACD Directorship Magazine Managing Turnarounds Phases and Actions Published by RMA Journal Collard on NewsReleaseWire https://chiefexecutive.net/the-money-is-out-there-keys-to-raising-capital-in-tough-times/ https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/fixer-uppers-re-building-company-value-to-prepare-it-forsale/ http://www.intlbm.com/Home/Outside_Directors_Bring_Change http://www.intlbm.com/Home/Deathbed_Businesses_Is_Your_Company_In_Trouble http://baltimore.citybizlist.com/article/493381/raising-capital-in-tough-times-easier-than-you-may-think https://thedailyrecord.com/2018/09/27/john-m-collard-the-case-for-hiring-outside-directors/ Social Media: John M. Collard on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/JohnMCollard John M. Collard on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/JohnMCollard John M. Collard on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JohnCollard Firm: www.StrategicMgtPartners.com Turnaround Management Experts End ### FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Commonly the liberals and the media blame the right wing supporters of President Trump and present them as redneck crazies. However, there is evidence that the left has played a major part in creating or exacerbating differences in America, according to criminal justice expert Paul Brakke, who has written the forthcoming book Fractured America as a follow-up to the Great National Divides. In the book he has looked closely at the many divisions and how they came to be. Besides his own observations, he points to a seminal article published in a British publication, of all things, "How America's Identity Politics Went from Inclusion to Division" by Amy Chua in a March 2018 issue of The Guardian. These are some of Brakke's key explanations for how identity politics in America changed from urging inclusion to promoting division. Then he recommends some fixes. First, Brakke points to the declining population of white Americans. While minority concerns about discrimination have been highlighted and shamed in the media, any protests by white Americans who are becoming a minority are met with charges of racism and white nationalism. Yet white Americans feel a tremendous loss of power because of what they feel is an influx of immigrants. At the same time, the higher birth rate among Latin Americans and blacks has decreased their relative percentage of the population. In fact, in her article, Chua cites a 2012 study which showed that more than half of white Americans believed that whites have become the primary victims of discrimination, rather than blacks. Under the circumstances, as a threatened group, many white Americans have felt mistreated and disrespected and have retreated into what social scientists call "tribalism", so they have "become more insular, more defensive, more punitive, more us-versus-them," to cite Chua. However, liberals and the media don't recognize this growing fear whites have of being eclipsed by other groups. Rather liberals and the media react to any white protests with derision, feeling their claims are unjustified, at a time when other minority group members feel they are individually and as a group being attacked. And it is true -- there are growing hate crimes and protests against Jews, Muslim, Latinos, gays, transgendered individuals, and others. But while these individuals and groups are embraced as victims by the media and liberals, any whites who come together to call attention to their own grievances are treated as attackers and labeled as "fascists" and "Nazis," which are terms associated with evil. Plus they are called "nationalists" and "white supremacists," who are considered evil, too, even when they are white. Brakke also points out how Martin Luther King's ideal that all individuals should be "guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", expressed in his famous "I have a dream" speech, was transformed. Initially his ideal was supposed to represent a call for universal human rights, based on the dignity of each individual providing the basis for a "just international order." So initially, the Left was especially concerned with the way minorities and disadvantaged groups were oppressed and denied rights, and they promoted the ideal of being blind to group differences. The ideal was bringing everyone together, regardless of ethnicity, race or gender, even when they are white. But after the Soviet Union collapsed, the Left shifted from being concerned with an unjust capitalist system to recognizing group differences and discrimination. Or to cite Chua's article, "the politics of redistribution was replaced by a 'politics of recognition.' Modern identity politics was born." According to Brakke, this shift in the Left's attitude was the turning point which led the way to singling out and demonizing white Americans. As Brakke points out, "Now, based on identity politics, the Left sought recognition for the demands of specific groups that were denied this, such as women, blacks, lesbians. The goal was to get respect for each individual as different, rather than to gain respect in spite of one's differences or to gain inclusion as part of universal humankind." At the same time, Brakke notes, the Left did not grant the same kind of recognition or respect to white Americans. Also, the Left claimed that anyone who tried to deny this recognition of the demands of different groups was guilty of group blindness or oppression of others. "Unfortunately," says Brakke, "this whole process of identity politics has resulted in more and more subdivisions of groups seeking recognition. And it's crazy. Facebook, for example, invites users to choose from over 50 gender designations, which include a variety of new terms to choose from, such as intersex and genderqueer." Moreover, Brakke complains, this emphasis on group identity means that individuals cannot even adopt the dress or ideas of other groups. "For instance, a white male who opens a restaurant serving Mexican food could be accused of appropriating that culture, rather than showing an appreciation for it." What Brakke objects to is the way the Left throws accusations around and ultimately presents the white American male and secondarily the white American female as the oppressor. Thus, any time whites have grievances, these are considered illegitimate or mocked by the media. Or the liberals and media argue that these difficulties are well-deserved, such as when white farmers in the South protested that they were losing income due to tariff wars. Often the liberals and media made fun of the white conservatives having financial problems, because "they had voted for Trump", so they deserved being victims. As Brakke observes, "A big problem is that the white Americans have legitimately come to see themselves as an endangered, discriminated group," because they are, as a result of attacks by liberals and the media who have shamed and berated them. The strident verbal attacks on them have become a form of bullying. But then that tactic is supported, because the liberals and the media don't recognize white Americans as victims. Instead, they have demonized them and downplayed their complaints about economic losses and losing their way of life as illegitimate. Moreover, when white Americans complain about illegal immigrants, they are accused of being racists. But they do have a real gripe, because they are losing their place and have a declining income in America." That's why, as Brakke says, the problem is exactly as Chua states in the conclusion of her article, "At its core, the problem is simple but fundamental. While black Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Jewish Americans, and many others are allowed -- indeed, encouraged -- to feel solidarity and take pride in their racial or ethnic identity, white Americans have for the last several decades (been told) they must never ever do so." And that, Brakke emphasizes, is not fair. So what's the solution? Brakke says a good starting point is to recognize and respect the legitimacy of the complaints of white Americans. Their complaints should be seen as equally valid as the claims of other groups. Then, with that understanding, there is a need to have discussions, perhaps with representatives of the different groups, and to issue a report to the media. As for what else, Brakke is working up a program of specific actions that can be taken by the government, the media, and different political groups to bring everyone together again. Brakke also points out how these divisions developed which led to this increasing tribalism based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and other characteristics, in his forthcoming book Fractured America. A chapter on this topic is also included in his recently published Crime in America. In writing his books and in working as a consultant, Brakke brings to the table a unique conservative approach to crime, criminal justice, and American society. That's because usually liberals discuss ways to reform the system through more of a social welfare approach. But Brakke's approach is based on an economic business model of doing what works most efficiently to both cut down costs and create more productive citizens. Since publishing Crime in America, Brakke has had 35 videos made featuring highlights from the book which are available on the American Leadership Books YouTube channel at https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCfHgXXiW3jgODnaypgcYZFw/videos/upload To learn more, you can get a copy of Fractured America when it is released and in Crime in America, with a chapter on these divisions in America. Both books are available through Amazon, Kindle, and major bookstores. Crime in America is currently available on Kindle at reduced price during its special KDP Select Promotion at https://www.amazon.com/Crime-America-Conservatives-Approaches-Criminals-ebook/dp/B07MKZG84Z. Also, free copies are available for government officials who are seeking ways to reduce crime and fix the criminal justice system and for members of the media at www.crimeinamericathebook.com. Fractured America will be published in early February. For media copies of the book, more information on American Leadership Books and Paul Brakke, and to set up interviews, please contact: Jana Collins Jones & O'Malley Toluca Lake, California jana@jonesomalley.com (818) 762-8353 UPDATE: The US Dollar to Canadian Dollar (USD/CAD) exchange rate traded sideways on Tuesday morning, holding around CA$1.3108 as the oil-sensitive Loonie found support thanks to a modest upturn in crude prices. However it remains to be seen whether the Canadian Dollar can hold its ground later in the session, should a robust ISM non-manufacturing PMI help to lift the US Dollar. UPDATE: After surging to a session high of CA$1.31475, the US to Canadian Dollar exchange rates dipped back towards the CA$1.31 level overnight before edging higher into Tuesdays session. The cross was last seen trading at CA$1.31188. The data schedule for the pair is relatively sparse with the notable exception of the US services and non-manufacturing PMI releases due later in the session (1445 & 1500, respectively). On the national emergency front, several Republican senators have spoken out in opposition to Trumps proposal to declare a state of national emergency in order to circumvent congress and secure funding for his US-Mexico border wall. Republican Senator, John Cornyn of Texas, said The whole idea that a president whether its President Trump or President Warren or President Sanders can declare an emergency and then somehow usurp the separation of powers and get into the business of appropriating money for specific projects without Congress getting involved is a serious constitutional question. USD/CAD Exchange Rate Steadies as Trump Readies for Next Confrontation with Democrats The US Dollar struggled to make any gains on the Canadian Dollar (CAD) as tensions between the White House and House of Representatives are once again set to flare up following US President Donald Trumps comments that he has set the table beautifully for the next confrontation with the Democrats. Trump said, I dont like to take things off the table. Its that alternative. Its national emergency know there have been plenty national emergencies called. And this really is an invasion of our country by human traffickers The US government is once again set to shut down next week on 15 February as temporary funding runs out for agencies, and with increasing tensions in the US weakening the economy, this is leaving many markets lacking confidence in USD. USD traders, meanwhile, will be looking ahead to todays publication of the US factory orders figures for November, which are expected to increase potentially providing some uplift for the Greenback. The Canadian Dollar, meanwhile, will remain sensitive to geopolitical developments with no notable Canadian data releases due out today. Canadian Dollar US Dollar (CAD/USD) Exchange Rate Steadies as Canada-China Tensions Worry Traders Political tensions between Canada and China remain fragile after the arrest of the Chinese tech giants Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, last year, with some headlines seeing China as attempting to aggravate divisions between the US and its allies. Samantha Hoffman, a Chinese security analyst, commented: One tactic the Chinese Communist party appears to be using is to attempt to drive wedges between the US and its allies, with the goal of forcing countries to make a choice between the US and China. CAD investors, however, are remaining cautious as these tensions between the US and China continued to loom large during trade talks last week, despite Trumps evasions on the issue, calling it a very small problem compared to the deal between the two nations. The Canadian Dollar has failed to recover from Fridays disappointing Markit manufacturing PMI for January. USD/CAD Outlook: Greenback could fluctuate on Signs of Further US Political Divide Canadian Dollar traders will be looking ahead to tomorrows publication of Canadian trade data, with any signs of a decrease potentially weakening the CAD/USD exchange rate. USD investors, meanwhile, will be awaiting the publication of tomorrows Markit services PMI figures for January which are expected to remain the same. These will be followed by the publication of US ISM non-manufacturing PMI figures for January, which are expected to decrease. The USD/CAD exchange rate will likely remain sensitive to any signs of a feud flaring up between Donald Trump and the Democrats this week, and with Trump continuing to put pressure on the House of Representatives as he prepares for next weeks partial Government shutdown the Greenback could fall. Reflecting mounting uncertainty over PM Mays ability to secure meaningful changes to the Irish backstop component of the EU withdrawal agreement and thus elevated prospects of a no-deal Brexit outcome, the Pound Sterling (GBP) remained subdued through Tuesday trading, slumping to two week lows against both the Euro (EUR) and US Dollar (USD). We examine what direction leading currency strategists predict the British pound will go in the near-term. Pound Sterling Exchange Rate Forecasts Remain Brexit-Contingent Last week saw the Pound Sterling (GBP) retreat against a basket of peer currencies as market participant optimism for a soft-Brexit pared in light of limited expectations of progress as PM May attempts to pressure the EU into renegotiating the Irish backstop arrangement and in lieu of the government seeking an extension to the article 50, March 29th, deadline. While expectations of a no-deal Brexit outcome were generally upped last week in the wake of parliamentary votes which saw MPs reject an amendment which would pressure the government to seek a Brexit delay in lieu of a deal by February 26th, the odds remain relatively low given expectations that a majority of MPs oppose such an outcome. Scotiabank Scotiabank chief FX strategist, Shaun Osborne, wrote, PM May will continue to try and rally the Tory party (and Northern Irelands DUP) behind her plans but the hardline Tory wing remain defiant on the backstop which they want to ditch in favour of some other arrangement, adding in relation to the Pound-to-Dollar, The pound closed the week out with a loss overall on Friday, the first weekly decline since mid-December. The GBP has had a nice rebound from the 1.25 area but gains may continue to consolidate. We see support at 1.3040/45 and resistance at 1.3150/60. Danske bank In their daily FX brief, chief analyst, Jakob Ekholdt Christensen of Danske Bank, wrote, GBP has been trading on a soft tone, as uncertainty remains intact whether the UKs Prime Minister Theresa May will be able to get concessions from the EU in order to secure backing for a Brexit in the House of Commons adding, We expect EUR/GBP to trade within the range of 0.86-0.89. Next key date could be 14 February where the parliament may vote on an amended deal after May has been to Brussels. ING Head of strategy, EMEA and LATAM research, Chris Turner of ING wrote, Prime Minister Theresa May is in Downing Street today, preparing a new Deal to take over to Brussels. Well probably see another week of intransigence out of Brussels, keeping those No Deal fears on the table. With regards to the GBP, Turner added, Sterling might stand a better chance of recovery when those amendments return for a vote in parliament i.e. a No Deal is formally taken off the table. Cable risks drifting to 1.2920. Hantec Markets Commenting on the Pound-to-Dollar exchange rate, Hantec Markets Richard Perry wrote, a decisive political shift on Brexit could be a game changer than needs to be watched for. Resistance initially at $1.3160 is weighing below the recent rally high of $1.3215. At the time of writing, the GBP/USD was last seen trading at $1.30515, southbound in the wake of a below forecast construction PMI release, printing 50.6 in contrast to an expected 52.6. ABN AMRO ABN-AMRO chief economist, Han de Jong, expects the Pound Sterling to appreciate versus the US Dollar, targeting $1.45 by the year end while the Pound-to-Euro (GBPEUR) exchange rate is expected to remain around 0.86/0.87 over the course of the year. Regarding Brexit, Jong wrote, We expect that some sort of agreement will develop among UK politicians to do a deal with the EU and avoid a hard Brexit. Above: ABN AMRO Main Economic / Financial Forecasts Goldman Sachs Investment commentary from Goldman Sachs maintained their base case expectation for a modified deal to eventually command a majority in the House of Commons, with the UK departing the EU and entering a status-quo transition period. Potential paths to this outcome include a codicil to the withdrawal agreement that details amendments to the backstop arrangements such as a time limit or optionality for the UK to withdraw from the arrangement. While specifics may differ between forecasts, they all highlight the fact that Brexit and the related political developments remain central to near-term Pound Sterling value. The coming days could see significant developments in this arena with a particular focus on the EU's response to PM May's requests to reopen negotiations. EU officials have thus far been obstinate in their objection to renegotiating the withdrawal agreement, a stance which if held could see the probability of a no deal outcome elevated further. RBC Wealth Management RBC strategists, Frederique Carrier and Thomas McGarrity, wrote, Tangible changes to the deal are very unlikely, in our view, and seem like a tactic to run down the clock In effect, the country is moving closer to the Article 50 deadline without a tangible agreement in sight. They added, GBP has rallied strongly against the USD and EUR since December as the market priced in a lower probability of a hard Brexit (currently just above 10%). We believe this is too low. The risk is that this possibility becomes more likely with the passage of time, which we view as negative for GBP and, conversely, positive for Gilts. ING INGs chief EMEA FX and IR strategist, Petr Krpata, commented on the banking and financial corporations Brexit-based outlook,we see it as unlikely that Prime Minister Theresa May will achieve any concessions on the backstop during the upcoming negotiations with the EU, with Parliament likely to propose further amendments next week, adding their near-term forecast of, "EUR/GBP testing the 0.8790 level. Reuters Monthly Strategist Poll Findings of Reuters monthly poll of strategist and economists suggested a unanimous expectation for the Pound Sterling to rise in the event a deal is struck between the UK and EU with strategists anticipating a 2% to 5% rise for GBP crosses. Conversely, strategists were in agreement that should a disorderly Brexit scenario come to fruition, the GBP would slide by 5% to 10% Investec Commenting on the perceived asymmetric downside potential for the GBP, Investecs George Brown, wrote, The rationale would be that markets are going to wait right up until the last possible moment to sell off in terms of how a no-deal might materialise. Markets will hold out for a last-minute breakthrough, adding, If that wasnt to materialise then you will see a big, sharp depreciation. this news is not available MORGANTOWN, W.Va.--A field trip to Namibia to study volcanic rocks led to an unexpected discovery by West Virginia University geologists Graham Andrews and Sarah Brown. While exploring the desert country in southern Africa, they stumbled upon a peculiar land formation--flat desert scattered with hundreds of long, steep hills. They quickly realized the bumpy landscape was shaped by drumlins, a type of hill often found in places once covered in glaciers, an abnormal characteristic for desert landscapes. "We quickly realized what we were looking at because we both grew up in areas of the world that had been under glaciers, me in Northern Ireland and Sarah in northern Illinois," said Andrews, an assistant professor of geology. "It's not like anything we see in West Virginia where we're used to flat areas and then gorges and steep-sided valleys down into hollows." After returning home from the trip, Andrews began researching the origins of the Namibian drumlins, only to learn they had never been studied. "The last rocks we were shown on the trip are from a time period when southern Africa was covered by ice," Andrews said. "People obviously knew that part of the world had been covered in ice at one time, but no one had ever mentioned anything about how the drumlins formed or that they were even there at all." Andrews teamed up with WVU geology senior Andy McGrady to use morphometrics, or measurements of shapes, to determine if the drumlins showed any patterns that would reflect regular behaviors as the ice carved them. While normal glaciers have sequential patterns of growing and melting, they do not move much, Andrews explained. However, they determined that the drumlins featured large grooves, which showed that the ice had to be moving at a fast pace to carve the grooves. These grooves demonstrated the first evidence of an ice stream in southern Africa in the late Paleozoic Age, which occurred about 300 million years ago. "The ice carved big, long grooves in the rock as it moved," Andrews said. "It wasn't just that there was ice there, but there was an ice stream. It was an area where the ice was really moving fast." McGrady used freely available information from Google Earth and Google Maps to measure their length, width and height. "This work is very important because not much has been published on these glacial features in Namibia," said McGrady, a senior geology student from Hamlin. "It's interesting to think that this was pioneer work in a sense, that this is one of the first papers to cover the characteristics of these features and gives some insight into how they were formed." Their findings also confirm that southern Africa was located over the South Pole during this period. "These features provide yet another tie between southern Africa and south America to show they were once joined," Andrews said. The study, "First description of subglacial megalineations from the late Paleozoic ice age in southern Africa" is published in the Public Library of Science's PLOS ONE journal. "This is a great example of a fundamental discovery and new insights into the climatic history of our world that remain to be discovered," said Tim Carr, chair of the Department of Geology and Geography. ### Scientists working on the gut microbiome* have discovered and isolated more than 100 completely new species of bacteria from healthy people's intestines. The study from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Australia, and EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute, has created the most comprehensive collection of human intestinal bacteria to date. This will help researchers worldwide to investigate how our microbiome keeps us healthy, and its role in disease. Reported today (4th February) in Nature Biotechnology, the new resource will allow scientists to detect which bacteria are present in the human gut, more accurately and faster than ever before. This will also provide the foundation to develop new ways of treating diseases such as gastrointestinal disorders, infections and immune conditions. About 2 per cent of a person's body weight is due to bacteria and the intestinal microbiome is a major bacterial site and an essential contributor to human health. Imbalances in our gut microbiome can contribute to diseases and complex conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome allergies and obesity. However, as many species of gut bacteria are extremely difficult to grow in the laboratory, there is a huge gap in our knowledge of them. In this study, researchers studied faecal samples from 20 people from the UK and Canada, and successfully grew and DNA sequenced 737 individual bacterial strains from these. Analysis of these isolates revealed 273 separate bacterial species, including 173 that had never previously been sequenced. Of these, 105 species had never even been isolated before. Dr Samuel Forster, first author on the paper from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Australia, said: "This study has led to the creation of the largest and most comprehensive public database of human health-associated intestinal bacteria. The gut microbiome plays a major in health and disease. This important resource will fundamentally change the way researchers study the microbiome." Standard methods to understand how the gut microbiome impacts on human health involves sequencing the DNA from mixed samples of gut bacteria to try to understand each component. However, these studies have been severely hampered by the lack of individually isolated bacteria and reference genomes from them. The new culture collection and reference genomes will make it much cheaper and easier for researchers to determine which bacteria are present within communities of people and research their role in disease. Dr Rob Finn, an author from EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute, said: "For researchers trying to find out which species of bacteria are present in a person's microbiome, the database of reference genomes from pure isolates of gut bacteria is crucial. Then if they want to test a hypothesis, for example that a particular species is enriched in a certain disease, they can get the isolate itself from the collection and physically test in the laboratory if this species seems to be important." Dr Trevor Lawley, Senior author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "This culture collection of individual bacteria will be a game-changer for basic and translational microbiome research. By culturing the unculturable, we have created a resource that will make microbiome analysis faster, cheaper and more accurate and will allow further study of their biology and functions. Ultimately, this will lead us towards developing new diagnostics and treatments for diseases such as gastrointestinal disorders, infections and immune conditions." ### Notes to editors: * There are trillions of microbes in the human intestine, which form a huge ecosystem known as the gut microbiome. These microbes are known to be important for health, and imbalances in the gut microbiome can contribute to complex conditions and diseases. Selected websites: Hudson Institute of Medical Research Hudson Institute is a leading Australian medical research institute recognised internationally for research into cancer, inflammation, reproduction and children's health. Our research spans discovery research, translational research and clinical trials - progressing scientific knowledge into new an innovative treatments and cures Hudson Institute is part of a major scientific and research medical innovation cluster in Melbourne, Australia. With our precinct partners, Monash Health and Monash University, our research is informed by clinical challenges and developed into clinics. Our precinct's Translational Research Facility accelerates the results of medical research by bringing together leading scientists and clinicians supported by state-of-the-art technologies clinical trials centre. A link bridge connects the facility to the Monash Medical Centre, providing a crucial flow between scientific discovery and health outcomes. More: https:/ / hudson. org. au , Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) is a global leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. EMBL-EBI helps scientists realise the potential of 'big data' by enhancing their ability to exploit complex information to make discoveries that benefit humankind. EMBL-EBI is at the forefront of computational biology research, with work spanning sequence analysis methods, multi-dimensional statistical analysis and data-driven biological discovery, from plant biology to mammalian development and disease. EMBL-EBI is part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), an international, innovative and interdisciplinary research organisation funded by 25 member states and two associate member states, and are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, one of the world's largest concentrations of scientific and technical expertise in genomics. http://www. ebi. ac. uk Wellcome Sanger Institute The Wellcome Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease. Find out more at http://www. sanger. ac. uk or follow @sangerinstitute on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and on our blog About Wellcome Wellcome exists to improve health by helping great ideas to thrive. We support researchers, we take on big health challenges, we campaign for better science, and we help everyone get involved with science and health research. Iridium - a rare metal on earth from the meteorite that wiped out dinosaurs - attached to albumin, a protein in our blood, can penetrate into the nucleus of cancer cells and destroy them when blasted with light, researchers at the University of Warwick have found It can be applied locally and in smaller doses, the next step is pre-clinical trials "It is amazing that this large protein can penetrate into cancer cells and deliver iridium which can kill them." says Professor Peter Sadler from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick A new compound based on Iridium, a rare metal which landed in the Gulf of Mexico 66 M years ago, hooked onto albumin, a protein in blood, can attack the nucleus of cancerous cells when switched on by light, University of Warwick researchers have found. The treatment of cancer using light, called Photodynamic therapy, is based on chemical compounds called photosensitizers, which can be switched on by light to produce oxidising species, able to kill cancer cells. Clinicians can activate these compounds selectively where the tumour is (using optical fibres) thus killing cancer cells and leaving healthy cells intact. Thanks to the special chemical coating they used, the Warwick group was able to hook up Iridium to the blood protein Albumin, which then glowed very brightly so they could track its passage into cancer cells, where it converted the cells' own oxygen to a lethal form which killed them. Not only is the newly formed molecule an excellent photosensitiser, but Albumin is able to deliver it into the nucleus inside cancer cells. The dormant compound can then be switched on by light irradiation and destroy the cancer cells from their very centre. The bright luminescence of the iridium photosensitiser allowed its accumulation in the nucleus of tumour cells and its activation leading to the cancer cell death to be followed in real time using a microscope. Professor Peter Sadler, from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick comments: "It is amazing that this large protein can penetrate into cancer cells and deliver iridium which can kill them selectively on activation with visible light. If this technology can be translated into the clinic, it might be effective against resistant cancers and reduce the side effects of chemotherapy" Dr Cinzia Imberti, from the University of Warwick comments: "It is fascinating how albumin can deliver our photosensitiser so specifically to the nucleus. We are at a very early stage, but we are looking forward to see where the preclinical development of this new compound can lead." "Our team is not only extremely multidisciplinary, including biologists, chemists and pharmacists, but also highly international, including young researchers from China, India and Italy supported by Royal Society Newton and Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowships." ### The paper 'Nucleus Targeted Organoiridium-Albumin Conjugate for Photodynamic Cancer Therapy' has been published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition is available to view here: https:/ / onlinelibrary. wiley. com/ doi/ full/ 10. 1002/ anie. 201813002 NOTES TO EDITORS High-res images available at: https:/ / warwick. ac. uk/ services/ communications/ medialibrary/ images/ january2019/ nuclei. jpg https:/ / warwick. ac. uk/ services/ communications/ medialibrary/ images/ january2019/ nuclei_overlay_. jpg https:/ / warwick. ac. uk/ services/ communications/ medialibrary/ images/ january2019/ nuclei_overlap_2_. jpg Find out more about the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick at: https:/ / warwick. ac. uk/ fac/ sci/ chemistry/ For further information contact: Alice Scott, Media Relations Managers - University of Warwick Tel: +44 (0) 2476574255 or +44 (0) 7920531221 E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk HOUSTON - (Under strict embargo until 11 a.m. ET Feb. 4, 2019) - Only 1 in 20 U.S. adolescents is meeting national recommendations for sleeping, physical activity, and screen time, according to new research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The study, published today in JAMA Pediatrics, also revealed differences in the findings between females and males, with just 3 percent of girls reaching all three guideline targets, compared to 7 percent of boys. "There is plenty of evidence to show how teenagers aren't getting enough physical activity, or sufficient sleep, or keeping their screen time in check. But this is the first time these three factors, which have a crucial bearing on a child's health, have been analyzed together among a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents," said first author Gregory Knell, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow at UTHealth School of Public Health in Dallas. "The results are a wake-up call for everyone who wants to make sure our children have a healthy future." It is recommended by the National Sleep Foundation that children ages 14-18 sleep eight to 10 hours a night. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least an hour of moderate or vigorous physical activity daily, and limiting screen time to less than two hours. The research involved nearly 60,000 American high school students, using data from the 2011-2017 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey. "By far the most startling finding was how few adolescents across the board are meeting all three recommendations," Knell said. "I expected the percentage of adolescents meeting all three requirements concurrently to be low, but not this low. The combined effect on children's overall health could be considerable in terms of their physical health, emotional well-being, and academic performance." The study further examined other attributes of the child - age, race or ethnicity, weight, and mental health - and how these were linked to sleep, physical activity, and screen time. Findings showed older teenagers, non-Hispanic black children, Asian children, those classified as obese, and those who showed signs of depression were the least likely to meet all recommendations when compared to their counterparts. The paper calls for more research to better understand the relationship among sleep, physical activity, and screen time by exploring the effect these behaviors have on each other and their wider implications over time. It also urged doctors to ask patients about these behaviors, provide them and their parents with advice, and make any necessary specialist referrals. "These findings are only scratching the surface and demonstrate a need to learn more about the role parenting style and home environment may play in increasing or curtailing these behaviors," Knell said. "Although the study confirms and further reveals how few children are leading optimal lifestyles, it also raises many questions about what can be done to reverse that trend and improve their health." ### UTHealth co-authors were Casey Durand, PhD; Harold Kohl, PhD; and Kelley Pettee Gabriel, PhD, who was senior author. Ivan Wu, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was also a co-author. PHILADELPHIA - Beatrice H. Hahn, MD, a professor of Medicine and Microbiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and her colleagues have been studying the origin of HIV-1 in non-human primates for decades. They previously discovered that simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) infecting wild-living chimpanzees and gorillas jumped the species barrier into humans on four occasions, one of which spawned the AIDS pandemic. Understanding how these viruses are transmitted within and between species may reveal clues for novel vaccine strategies in humans. HIV and SIV infect and kill immune cells called CD4 T cells, a process that ultimately leads to AIDS. Publishing this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Hahn's lab and an international team of collaborators, found that the CD4 surface protein, which is used by HIV and SIV as the receptor to enter immune cells, is highly variable among wild chimpanzees. Characterizing fecal samples from over 500 chimpanzees across sub-Saharan Africa, they found, to their surprise, nine CD4 variants. They went on to demonstrate that this diversity in CD4 protects chimpanzees from their own strain of SIV, as well as potentially dangerous SIVs carried by other monkey species on which they prey. SIVs infect over 40 primate species in sub-Saharan Africa and can be deadly. Hahn's group showed in previous studies that SIV-infected chimpanzees in the wild have a higher mortality than uninfected chimpanzees and can develop an AIDS-like disease, like that in humans. "CD4 is known to have evolved rapidly in primates, but the reason for this has remained unclear," said Hahn. "Now we find that mutations in the chimpanzee CD4 reduce susceptibility to SIV infection, which could provide a selective advantage to apes bearing these CD4 variants." To get into host cells, HIV and SIV use their outermost, or envelope, glycoprotein to bind to the outermost region of the CD4 receptor. "To counteract this, chimpanzees have evolved several mutations in this CD4 domain that blocks this interaction," said co-first author Ronnie Russell, a doctoral student in Hahn's lab. The team found that these mutations include amino acid changes in contact residues as well as the addition of bulky sugar molecules, called glycans, at the CD4-envelope binding interface. "Glycans on the chimpanzee CD4 clash with glycans on the SIV envelope, which impedes virus entry into the cell," said co-first author Frederic Bibollet-Ruche, PhD, a research assistant professor of Microbiology in Hahn's lab. This type of glycan-glycan interaction has not been seen before as an anti-viral mechanism. Unlike chimps, humans lack protective glycans on the virus-binding domain of the CD4 protein. "This may explain our relative susceptibility to SIV cross-species infection, which has occurred at least a dozen times within the last century or so," said co-author Paul Sharp, PhD, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Edinburgh. Although chimpanzee SIVs are highly divergent from their human counterparts, previous work by the Hahn group showed that they share unexpected antibody cross-reactivity with HIV at the very tip, or apex, of their envelope spike. This finding raised the possibility that HIV and SIV envelopes could be used in combination to focus a protective antibody response to this conserved epitope in a vaccine. "Understanding how the diversification of the chimpanzee CD4 affects the structure and function of the chimpanzee SIV envelope has practical implications for AIDS vaccine development," says co-author George Shaw, MD, PhD, a professor of Medicine and Microbiology at Penn. The research consortium that carried out this work included primatologists dedicated to the conservation of wild chimpanzees. "The many samples provided by our collaborators have been instrumental in uncovering the tricks that chimpanzees use to ward off SIV," said Hahn. "Ultimately, this may help in the design of better HIV vaccines. It's a long shot, but it has certainly brought all our work on the biology and evolution of the ape precursors of HIV full circle." ### This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01 AI120810, R01 AI091595, R37 AI050529, UM1 AI100645, UM1 AI26620, P30 AI045008, T32 AI 007632), the Yerkes National Primate Research Center (P51 RR-000165), the Southwest National Primate Research Center (P51 RR013986, P51 OD011133), and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Foundation (#352417). This study was completed in collaboration with researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, University of Edinburgh, University of Alabama at Birmingham, L'Universite de Montreal, Robert Koch Institute, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Chimbo Foundation, Projet Primates France, Centre de Conservation pour Chimpanzes, University of Zurich, Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, Drexel University, University of New Mexico, Washington University, Wildlife Conservation Society, Lincoln Park Zoo, The Jane Goodall Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, University of Kisangani, Franklin and Marshall College, and Duke University. Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $7.8 billion enterprise. The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top medical schools in the United States for more than 20 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $405 million awarded in the 2017 fiscal year. The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center -- which are recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report -- Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Medicine Princeton Health; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital - the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, a leading provider of highly skilled and compassionate behavioral healthcare. Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2017, Penn Medicine provided $500 million to benefit our community. Amprologix Limited, a University of Plymouth spinout company, has won a 1.2 million contract from the Department for Health and Social Care to accelerate development and scale up its lead antibiotic candidate to tackle antimicrobial resistant MRSA and related superbugs. Amprologix was established in 2018 to commercialise the work of Mathew Upton, Professor of Medical Microbiology in the University's Institute of Translational and Stratified Medicine (ITSMed). The company has now been awarded funding by the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), part of Innovate UK, to make its epidermicin NI01 antibiotic ready for the first phase of human clinical trials during early 2021. Amprologix's first product is expected to be a nasal cream containing epidermicin NI01 to prevent MRSA infections. Epidermicin is derived from bacteria found on human skin, and work conducted to date shows a single dose to be as effective as six doses of the current gold standard treatment in a relevant model of MRSA infection. Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria kill more than 25,000 people a year in Europe. The drug resistant 'superbug' MRSA was named last year as a "high priority" target for antibiotic research by the World Health Organisation and it is a leading cause of healthcare associated infection (HCAI). Professor Upton, chief scientific officer at Amprologix, initially developed the patented technology while at the University of Manchester, which owns an equity share in the company through UMI3 Ltd, its commercialisation arm. Frontier IP, the University's commercialisation partner, holds a 10 per cent stake in return for providing a range of commercialisation services. Professor Upton said: "I feel very strongly that epidermicin has excellent potential for use in nasal decolonisation to prevent skin and wound infections, like those caused by MRSA. Development of NI01 could have immense benefits for patients, so I'm genuinely excited about this work and generating the data needed to enter phase 1 trials." Dr Gordon Barker, chief executive officer of Amprologix, added: "Despite the urgent need for new antibiotics and new approaches to treatment, it remains extremely difficult to fund new drug discovery ventures in this space. The government-backed SBRI programme is a world-leading scheme to address this market failure and we're really grateful for their support, which will accelerate the development of next generation life-saving medicines like NI01." Amprologix has already secured industry involvement in its work through a strategic partnership with Ingenza Limited. Ingenza, a leader in industrial biotechnology and synthetic biology, is also a shareholder in Amprologix and has been developing a bespoke recombinant process for production of epidermicin. For the SBRI-funded project, Professor Upton will optimise the formulation of epidermicin and conduct a pre-clinical toxicology evaluation. Amprologix will license optimised microbial based production technology from Ingenza's biologics manufacturing platform to produce the new antibiotics at scale. Professor Upton is also working separately with Ingenza, IBM and the National Physical Laboratory, using Artificial Intelligence to create a portfolio of novel, adaptable antibiotic candidates for future exploitation. Dr Ian Fotheringham, managing director of Ingenza, said: "We are developing advanced biologics manufacturing technologies to address exactly this kind of critical unmet therapeutic need. Our platform will underpin the future success of this exciting new family of potent and selective antimicrobials." Neil Crabb, chief executive officer of Frontier IP, said: "We're delighted the SBRI is backing this programme, which validates the best approach to IP commercialisation. Through Amprologix and Professor Upton's ground-breaking science, there is huge potential to prove the efficacy of epidermicin and identify further new antibiotics that can be manufactured at scale." ### It's no accident that so much of the propaganda film, photography and artwork from the Nazi regime features automobiles, airplanes and other modes of movement. "They were obsessed," said Andrew Denning, assistant professor of history at the University of Kansas. In a recent article in the journal American Historical Review, Denning argues that by paying attention to the Nazis' obsession with mobility, we can deepen our understanding of how they manufactured and exploited the idea of race. Denning also explored this idea in a "Time to Eat the Dogs" podcast episode. "The Nazis put in lots of work funding biologists, anthropologists and a number of scientists to give an objective definition of race so they could tell people what it meant to be 'racially German,'" Denning said. "They tried to make objective what is fundamentally subjective." One previously understudied metric of "racial" Germanness became their unique balance of movement and rootedness. The Nazis contended alternatingly that Germans were by nature prone to voyage and conquest, and yet also deeply rooted to their homeland. By the early 1900s, 6 million Germans had already left the country for the Americas, and a 10-million-strong diaspora had spread throughout central and eastern Europe. "Germans of the time thought, 'I could be poor on my farm in Germany, or I could move to Chicago or Milwaukee or Buenos Aires,'" Denning said. The Nazi assertion that the German diaspora would return emerged first as a rhetorical tool, but grew into a justification for ethnic cleansing and eastward expansion so that there would be room for them in a united German state. "Race had to be manufactured in Germans' minds and everyday lives, and one of the ways they manufactured race was by celebrating this unique mix of movements that made them different from other people, and the actual movement of Germans themselves became a mechanism to get people to think in racial terms," Denning said. Take youth camps and regional rallies, he said. They drew Germans out of their hometowns and got them to think less about their class or religion and more about national identity and their ties to one another. Industrialized nations have long played mobility both ways, he said: Good for us, bad for others. One of the major undercurrents in global politics today, Denning said, is a shift away from those countries championing mobility as necessary for a global, capitalist system and a key metric of individual freedom. "In the last five to 10 years I think we've been seeing a much more complicated attitude toward movement in the developed world that suggests that we have the right to fly to China to conduct business, to take trips to Tahiti and move as we please," Denning said. "On the other hand, politicians and states have increasingly cast the movement of groups who are not citizens as dangerous, bringing terror to Europe or drugs into the United States." Denning is now writing a history of mobility politics and circulatory states in Europe's African colonies. ### From Brussels, China or Milan. "Surnames" aside, cabbages are grown nowadays all over the world. Like them, many other plants from the Brassicaceae family such as cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and even mustard -yes, strange as it may seem and though their tastes are very different, a Brussels sprout and a mustard seed belong to the same family- have a common enemy: white rust, or at least one kind of white rust. Specifically, cabbages are threatened by a disease caused by a pathogen called Albugo candida, which acts exactly like a fungus, though it is not actually a fungus. That is to say, it spreads under the right conditions of humidity and temperature and eats up the nutrients of the plants it attacks. Though not lethal, the disease is fairly common and can be identified by the appearance of white pustules on the plant's leaves that change color until they turn brown, damaging the affected part until it is no longer edible. The similarities it shares with fungi has facilitated the use of treatments for white rust being modeled on fungicides. Nevertheless, the need to find long-term solutions in order to curb low harvest yields has the international scientific community hard at work. Today, the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) has published the work of a team made up of researchers from eight European universities and research centers headed by Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, the U.K. Among these researchers is Amey Redkar, a researcher from the Genetics Department at the University of Cordoba. This research team has been able to identify multiple genes that are resistant to Albugo candida. These genes are nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeats (also known as NLR) and they have been identified by means of a plant model commonly used in plant biotechnology laboratories: Arabidopsis thaliana, which allows for extrapolating results to other crops. In fact, identifying these genes that become resistant to white rust allows for designing new genetic improvement strategies for different cultivated plant species. This is a new accomplishment in basic research with clear biotechnological applications. The research team, to which Amey Redkar belongs and the one University of Cordoba Genetics Professor Antonio Di Pietro heads, specializes in this line of work. Specifically, Redkar is part of the Foundation project, funded by the European Union's Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions program. This program aims to study the infection mechanisms of Fusarium oxysporum, an important fungus pathogen that causes vascular wilt in over a hundred crop species, including tomatoes and bananas. In particular, the University of Cordoba team aims to identify new infection mechanisms that will serve as targets in order to reduce the harm caused by this pathogenic species. ### Transgressive segregation reveals mechanisms of Arabidopsis immunity to Brassica-infecting races of white rust (Albugo candida) Volkan Cevik, Freddy Boutrot, WiebkeApel, Alexandre Robert-Seilaniantz, Oliver J. Furzer, AmeyRedkar, Baptiste Castel, Paula X. Kover, David C. Prince, Eric B. Holub, Jonathan D. G. Jones. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1812911116 The first production of an electron liquid at room temperature opens the way for new optoelectronic devices and basic physics studies RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- By bombarding an ultrathin semiconductor sandwich with powerful laser pulses, physicists at the University of California, Riverside, have created the first "electron liquid" at room temperature. The achievement opens a pathway for development of the first practical and efficient devices to generate and detect light at terahertz wavelengths -- between infrared light and microwaves. Such devices could be used in applications as diverse as communications in outer space, cancer detection, and scanning for concealed weapons. The research could also enable exploration of the basic physics of matter at infinitesimally small scales and help usher in an era of quantum metamaterials, whose structures are engineered at atomic dimensions. The UCR physicists published their findings online Feb. 4 in the journal Nature Photonics. They were led by Associate Professor of Physics Nathaniel Gabor, who directs the UCR Quantum Materials Optoelectronics Lab. Other co-authors were lab members Trevor Arp and Dennis Pleskot, and Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Vivek Aji. A video depicting the research is available here. In their experiments, the scientists constructed an ultrathin sandwich of the semiconductor molybdenum ditelluride between layers of carbon graphene. The layered structure was just slightly thicker than the width of a single DNA molecule. They then bombarded the material with superfast laser pulses, measured in quadrillionths of a second. "Normally, with such semiconductors as silicon, laser excitation creates electrons and their positively charged holes that diffuse and drift around in the material, which is how you define a gas," Gabor said. However, in their experiments, the researchers detected evidence of condensation into the equivalent of a liquid. Such a liquid would have properties resembling common liquids such as water, except that it would consist, not of molecules, but of electrons and holes within the semiconductor. "We were turning up the amount of energy being dumped into the system, and we saw nothing, nothing, nothing -- then suddenly we saw the formation of what we called an 'anomalous photocurrent ring' in the material," Gabor said. "We realized it was a liquid because it grew like a droplet, rather than behaving like a gas." "What really surprised us, though, was that it happened at room temperature," he said. "Previously, researchers who had created such electron-hole liquids had only been able to do so at temperatures colder than even in deep space." The electronic properties of such droplets would enable development of optoelectronic devices that operate with unprecedented efficiency in the terahertz region of the spectrum, Gabor said. Terahertz wavelengths are longer than infrared waves but shorter than microwaves, and there has existed a "terahertz gap" in the technology for utilizing such waves. Terahertz waves could be used to detect skin cancers and dental cavities because of their limited penetration and ability to resolve density differences. Similarly, the waves could be used to detect defects in products such as drug tablets and to discover weapons concealed beneath clothing. Terahertz transmitters and receivers could also be used for faster communication systems in outer space. And, the electron-hole liquid could be the basis for quantum computers, which offer the potential to be far smaller than silicon-based circuitry now in use, Gabor said. More generally, Gabor said, the technology used in his laboratory could be the basis for engineering "quantum metamaterials," with atom-scale dimensions that enable precise manipulation of electrons to cause them to behave in new ways. In further studies of the electron-hole "nanopuddles," the scientists will explore their liquid properties such as surface tension. "Right now, we don't have any idea how liquidy this liquid is, and it would be important to find out," Gabor said. Gabor also plans to use the technology to explore basic physical phenomena. For example, cooling the electron-hole liquid to ultra-low temperatures could cause it to transform into a "quantum fluid" with exotic physical properties that could reveal new fundamental principles of matter. In their experiments, the researchers used two key technologies. To construct the ultrathin sandwiches of molybdenum ditelluride and carbon graphene, they used a technique called "elastic stamping." In this method, a sticky polymer film is used to pick up and stack atom-thick layers of graphene and semiconductor. And to both pump energy into the semiconductor sandwich and image the effects, they used "multi-parameter dynamic photoresponse microscopy" developed by Gabor and Arp. In this technique, beams of ultrafast laser pulses are manipulated to scan a sample to optically map the current generated. ### The title of the paper is: "Electron-Hole Liquid in a Van Der Waals Heterostructure Photocell at Room Temperature." The research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research; the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences; the National Science Foundation; a Cottrell Scholar Award; the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; and NASA. Scientists have revealed the structure of a virus infecting bacteria that thrive in 160-degree hot springs in places like Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The discovery could lead to better targeted delivery of drugs into cells and new DNA sequencing technology, according to a study by Rutgers and other scientists in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The scientists studied a virus that infects bacteria (Thermus thermophilus) taken from a hot spring in Kamchatka, Russia. "We literally go 'hunting' for these viruses and bacteria they infect in hot springs in the United States, Chile, Russia, Italy and other countries," said study co-author Konstantin Severinov, a principal investigator at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology and professor of molecular biology and biochemistry at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Viruses that infect bacteria have a protein shell that forms a "head" shaped like a polyhedron with 20 triangular faces. Inside the head, the virus's DNA is packaged very tightly - almost as dense as a crystal - and under great pressure. When a virus binds to a cell that it infects, the pressure is released through a small hole, or portal, in the virus head. Then viral DNA is rapidly injected into the cell. In the course of infection, empty virus heads form inside a cell and then are filled with viral DNA through the portal using a special viral "packaging machine," Severinov said. The study showed how DNA can be packed into the head in a test tube. "The ability to pack DNA into viral heads and then release it under pressure through a portal in a controlled manner can be very important for the targeted delivery of molecules, including drugs, into various cells," he said. "It may also be a game changer for the development of new DNA sequencing technology, where single DNA molecules will be rapidly threaded through a membrane by a packaging machine." "The packaging machine of the virus that we studied is very robust, which should allow its further development for practical needs in drug discovery and biotechnology." Next steps include trying to figure out how to thread various DNA molecules through the portal while simultaneously reading the sequence of DNA that passes through it, he said. ### Leonid Minakhin, of the Waksman Institute of Microbiology, contributed to the study, along with scientists at the University of York in England, U.S. National Institute of Arthritis Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Russia, and University of Leeds in England. Seismologists use waves generated by earthquakes to scan the interior of our planet, much like doctors image their patients using medical tomography. Earth imaging has helped us track down the deep origins of volcanic islands such as Hawaii, and identify the source zones of deep earthquakes. "Imagine a radiologist forced to work with a CAT scanner that is missing two-thirds of its necessary sensors," said Frederik Simons, a professor of geosciences at Princeton. "Two-thirds is the fraction of the Earth that is covered by oceans and therefore lacking seismic recording stations. Such is the situation faced by seismologists attempting to sharpen their images of the inside of our planet." Some 15 years ago, when he was a postdoctoral researcher, Simons partnered with Guust Nolet, now the George J. Magee Professor of Geoscience and Geological Engineering, Emeritus, and they resolved to remediate this situation by building an undersea robot equipped with a hydrophone -- an underwater microphone that can pick up the sounds of distant earthquakes whose waves deliver acoustic energy into the oceans through the ocean floor. This week, Nolet, Simons and an international team of researchers published the first scientific results from the revolutionary seismic floats, dubbed MERMAIDs -- Mobile Earthquake Recording in Marine Areas by Independent Divers. The researchers, from institutions in the United States, France, Ecuador and China, found that the volcanoes on Galapagos are fed by a source 1,200 miles (1,900 km) deep, via a narrow conduit that is bringing hot rock to the surface. Such "mantle plumes" were first proposed in 1971 by one of the fathers of plate tectonics, Princeton geophysicist W. Jason Morgan, but they have resisted attempts at detailed seismic imaging because they are found in the oceans, rarely near any seismic stations. MERMAIDs drift passively, normally at a depth of 1,500 meters -- about a mile below the sea surface -- moving 2-3 miles per day. When one detects a possible incoming earthquake, it rises to the surface, usually within 95 minutes, to determine its position with GPS and transmit the seismic data. By letting their nine robots float freely for two years, the scientists created an artificial network of oceanic seismometers that could fill in one of the blank areas on the global geologic map, where otherwise no seismic information is available. The unexpectedly high temperature that their model shows in the Galapagos mantle plume "hints at the important role that plumes play in the mechanism that allows the Earth to keep itself warm," said Nolet. "Since the 19th century, when Lord Kelvin predicted that Earth should cool to be a dead planet within a hundred million years, geophysicists have struggled with the mystery that the Earth has kept a fairly constant temperature over more than 4.5 billion years," Nolet explained. "It could have done so only if some of the original heat from its accretion, and that created since by radioactive minerals, could stay locked inside the lower mantle. But most models of the Earth predict that the mantle should be convecting vigorously and releasing this heat much more quickly. These results of the Galapagos experiment point to an alternative explanation: the lower mantle may well resist convection, and instead only bring heat to the surface in the form of mantle plumes such as the ones creating Galapagos and Hawaii." To further answer questions on the heat budget of the Earth and the role that mantle plumes play in it, Simons and Nolet have teamed up with seismologists from the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China, and from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). Together, and with vessels provided by the French research fleet, they are in the process of launching some 50 MERMAIDs in the South Pacific to study the mantle plume region under the island of Tahiti. "Stay tuned! There are many more discoveries to come," said professor Yongshun (John) Chen, a 1989 Princeton graduate alumnus who is head of the Department of Ocean Science and Engineering at SUSTech, which is leading the next phase of what they and their international team have called EarthScope-Oceans. ### "Imaging the Galapagos mantle plume with an unconventional application of floating seismometers," by Guust Nolet, Yann Hello, Suzan van der Lee, Sebastien Bonnieux, Mario C. Ruiz, Nelson A. Pazmino, Anne Deschamps, Marc M. Regnier, Yvonne Font, Yongshun J. Chen and Frederik J. Simons Scientific Reports, 2019, doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-36835-w. The MERMAIDs and their development were financed by ERC Advanced Grant 226837 "Globalseis". The University of Nice (now: Universite? de la Co?te d'Azur) and the Observatoire de la Co?te d'Azur contributed additional funding and INOCAR provided the vessel that launched the MERMAIDs. CORVALLIS, Ore. - Twenty-five years into a 100-year federal strategy to protect older forests in the Pacific Northwest, forest losses to wildfire are up and declines in bird populations have not been reversed, new research shows. The findings, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underscore the importance of continuing to prioritize the safeguarding of older forests, the scientists say - forests characterized by a complex structure that includes multiple canopy layers, large trees, downed wood and snags. The researchers stress it's vital to remember that upon its adoption in 1994, the Northwest Forest Plan was conceived as a century-long plan, and was not expected to show significant positive impacts on biodiversity for 50 years. "Trees in the northwestern United States are some of the longest-lived and largest in the world," said Matt Betts of Oregon State University. "Douglas-fir can live to be more than 800 years old and grow to be more than 100 meters tall, so it shouldn't be surprising that it is hard to 'restore' this forest type, and that any plan to do so will take a long time. "The plan has been one of the most impressive forest conservation strategies in the world, and there is no doubt that it has had a strong positive impact on the conservation of old-growth forests, but our results show that even with these strong conservation measures, bird species living in this system still aren't doing too well." The NWFP, a series of federal policies put in place at the behest of then President Bill Clinton, encompasses 10 million hectares of land, including national forests, national parks, wilderness areas and Bureau of Land Management parcels, in Oregon, Washington and California. Betts and OSU research associate Ben Phalan led a collaboration that used region-wide bird surveys, forest data and land ownership maps to gauge the plan's effect on biodiversity so far. Birds are a key indicator of biodiversity. The researchers examined population trends for 24 widespread bird species for which the Pacific Northwest holds important populations - some associated with older forests, some with diverse early-seral ecosystems, and some with both. While there have been other detailed studies of threatened species such as spotted owls and marbled murrelets, this study focused on what populations of more-common birds can tell us about wider forest biodiversity. Populations of bird species associated with older forests - such as the varied thrush, golden-crowned kinglet, Pacific-slope flycatcher and Townsend's warbler - are continuing to struggle on both federal and private industrial land, the findings show. On private industrial land, that's likely due to ongoing timber harvesting, while on federal land it's due, at least in part, to the recent uptick in fires in the Northwest, in part because of drought. "All forests in the region evolved with fires to some degree, but now, at a time when old-growth forests are so depleted, stand-replacing fires have become an important cause of declines in bird populations in older forests," said Betts, professor of landscape ecology and the IWFL Professor of Forest Biodiversity Research in OSU's College of Forestry. "Evidence suggests that some of the increase in fires is climate related." Another important finding, notes Phalan, now based at the Institute of Biology at the Federal University of Bahia in Salvador, Brazil, is that the area of young, complex preforest vegetation - known as "diverse early-seral ecosystems" - isn't declining as much as the researchers expected, and had increased in some regions. "Again, that seems to be because new fires are creating quite a bit of early seral," Phalan said. "There are proposals that more of this vegetation type be promoted via forest management, but our results show that birds in older forests are more likely to be in decline than those in early-seral ecosystems, so we need to be very careful not to reduce our options for recovery of older forests - especially dense, moist forests." Diverse early-seral ecosystems support many broadleaf species, shrubs and herbs as well as young conifers, and are important habitats for some bird species. Bird species associated with these habitats that are showing ongoing declines include the rufous hummingbird, willow flycatcher and orange-crowned warbler. For most of these species, however, in contrast to birds of older forests, the declines have not gotten worse. Betts said that before launching into efforts to create these diverse early-seral ecosystems, more information is needed regarding how much of it there might have been historically in different areas, and how sensitive the associated species are to reduced habitat. Phalan emphasizes the findings show that efforts to maintain and restore old-growth forests are working, but that it's harder to prevent stand-replacing fires than to manage logging. "It was anticipated in the plan that species declines might take decades to arrest," he said. "It was surprising, though, to learn that species associated with older forests continued to decline much faster than those in early seral. We argue that, because forest regeneration is an inherently slow process, and because fires are going to become more frequent in most forest types, forest plans should continue to emphasize conservation of old-growth habitats." ### COLUMBUS, Ohio - It's about time for the annual mass migration of honeybees to California, and new research is helping lower the chances the pollinators and their offspring will die while they're visiting the West Coast. Each winter, professional beekeepers from around the nation stack hive upon hive on trucks destined for the Golden State, where February coaxes forward the sweet-smelling, pink and white blossoms of the Central Valley's almond trees. Almond growers rent upwards of 1.5 million colonies of honeybees a year, at a cost of around $300 million. Without the bees, there would be no almonds, and there are nowhere near enough native bees to take up the task of pollinating the trees responsible for more than 80 percent of the world's almonds. The trouble was, bees and larvae were dying while in California, and nobody was sure exactly why. The problem started in adults only, and beekeepers were most worried about loss of queens. Then in 2014, about 80,000 colonies - about 5 percent of bees brought in for pollination - experienced adult bee deaths or a dead and deformed brood. Some entire colonies died. With support from the Almond Board of California, an industry service agency, bee expert Reed Johnson of The Ohio State University took up the task of figuring out what was happening. Results from his earlier research had shown that some insecticides thought safe for bees were impacting larvae. Building on that, Johnson undertook a new study, newly published in the journal Insects, that details how combinations of insecticides and fungicides typically deemed individually "safe" for honeybees turn into lethal cocktails when mixed. Johnson, an associate professor of entomology, and his study co-authors were able to identify the chemicals commonly used in the almond groves during bloom because of California's robust and detailed system for tracking pesticide applications. Then, in a laboratory in Ohio, they tested combinations of these chemicals on honeybees and larvae. In the most extreme cases, combinations decreased the survival of larvae by more than 60 percent when compared to a control group of larvae unexposed to fungicides and insecticides. "Fungicides, often needed for crop protection, are routinely used during almond bloom, but in many cases growers were also adding insecticides to the mix. Our research shows that some combinations are deadly to the bees, and the simplest thing is to just take the insecticide out of the equation during almond bloom," he said. "It just doesn't make any sense to use an insecticide when you have 80 percent of the nation's honeybees sitting there exposed to it." The recommendation is already catching on and has been promoted through a wide array of presentations by almond industry leaders, beekeepers and other experts and has been included in the Almond Board's honeybee management practices. Many almond growers are rethinking their previous practices and are backing off insecticide use during almond bloom, Johnson said. That's good news for bees, and doesn't appear to be harming the crops either, he said, because there are better opportunities to control problematic insects when almonds are not in bloom. "I was surprised - even the experts in California were surprised - that they were using insecticides during pollination," Johnson said. While these products were considered "bee-safe," that was based on tests with adult bees that hadn't looked into the impact they had on larvae. "I think it was a situation where it wasn't disallowed. The products were thought to be bee-safe and you've got to spray a fungicide during bloom anyway, so why not put an insecticide in the tank, too?" Insecticides are fairly inexpensive, but the process of spraying is labor-intensive, so growers choosing to double up may have been looking to maximize their investment, he said. "The thing is, growers were using these insecticides to control a damaging insect - the peach twig borer - during this period, but they have other opportunities to do that before the bees enter the almond orchards or after they are gone," Johnson said. This research could open the door to more study of fungicide and pesticide use on other bee-dependent crops, including pumpkins and cucumbers, Johnson said. ### Other Ohio State researchers who worked on the study were Chia-Hua Lin and Colin Kurkul. Andrea Wade and Erzsebet Ravasz Regan of the College of Wooster were also co-authors. CONTACT: Reed Johnson, 330-202-3523; Johnson.5005@osu.edu Written by Misti Crane, 614-477-2964; Crane.11@osu.edu Medicare patients with multiple sclerosis face skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs for therapies due to complicated insurance rules that force them to pick up an increasing share of the cost, according to new research. Despite recent efforts to constrain escalating costs, researchers with OHSU and the OHSU/Oregon State University College of Pharmacy in Portland, Oregon, found trends in insurance coverage that restrict access and saddle patients with increasing patient costs. Medicare beneficiaries without low-income subsidies can expect to spend $6,894 a year out of pocket for treatment of MS, concludes a study published in the February issue of the journal Health Affairs. "It's a dysfunctional market that lacks the typical incentives for most other consumer products," said lead author Daniel Hartung, Pharm.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the OHSU/OSU College of Pharmacy. "Aside from the public optics, there are few incentives for companies not to raise prices. Most intermediaries in the drug distribution channel, including drug companies, benefit from higher prices." High prices negatively affect patients, even with insurance, because patient out-of-pocket costs are often directly tied to undiscounted drug list prices. Additionally, rising prices for MS therapies also seemed to correlate to increased use of restrictive policies by Medicare pharmacy plans. In one telling example, researchers documented how patients who are prescribed the only generic drug in one class - glatiramer acetate - will pay more out of pocket than patients using any of the other brand-name drugs in the same class. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 modified Medicare rules to reduce out-of-pocket costs for individuals through increased discounts provided by brand-name drug manufacturers. However, this change left individuals who use generic drugs with higher out-of-pocket costs for certain generic products. "This is a pernicious effect of the release of a generic and an unfortunate effect of Medicare rules," said co-author Dennis Bourdette, M.D., professor and chair of neurology in the OHSU School of Medicine. The authors noted that a proposal by the Trump administration would reduce this incentive disparity between brand-name and generic drugs. Depending on drug utilization patterns, the authors expect the administration's suggested changes would reduce total out-of-pocket spending for beneficiaries. The study follows on previous research into the high cost of MS drugs led by Hartung and Bourdette. "MS is emblematic of many chronic conditions whose treatment increasingly involves the use of high-cost specialty drugs that are often rigidly managed," the authors write. Researchers also examined changes in requirements for prior authorization, a common insurance company strategy intended to manage or limit access to certain drugs. The study noted that rates of pre-authorization have increased from 61 percent in 2007 to as high as 90 percent in 2016. Yet narrowing options doesn't necessarily work for MS patients, the authors write, noting American Academy of Neurology guidelines stress patients and providers should have access to all therapies because the effect varies from patient to patient. And, despite an increase in the number of therapies available to treat MS, the out-of-pocket cost to patients has continued to escalate. "Despite increases in the number and diversity of disease-modifying therapies for MS, prices have risen rapidly over the past two decades," the authors write. "The rise in high coinsurance cost-sharing models, coupled with escalating drug prices, means that patients will increasingly face prohibitive out-of-pocket spending." ### Funding for this research was supported by OHSU's Clinical and Translational Science Award Program, Grant No. UL1TR002369. Hartung, Bourdette and co-author Kirbee Johnston, M.P.H., are supported by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The North East of England's reputation for renewable energy research has received a major boost, with confirmation that the UK's next generation of doctoral researchers in this field will train in the region. In news announced today by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Monday 4 February), 5.2 million has been awarded to Northumbria, Newcastle and Durham Universities to open a new national Centre for Doctoral Training in renewable energies. Industry partners have contributed further, taking the total project value to approximately 11 million. The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities will be known as ReNU. It will train 65 PhD students across the three universities over the next five years. Although there has been a strong growth in the renewable energy sector in recent years, the next revolution within the energy sector will be in providing sustainable power sources for what is known as 'distributed devices'. It is estimated that more than 40 billion smart and interconnected devices, such as smartphones, tablets and Fitbits will be in use by 2024, all of which will need to be charged frequently. Further massive growth is expected in new devices, such new forms of unmanned electric transportation and medical technologies that can monitor and treat patients at home rather than in hospital. This makes it vital that renewable energy sources are used to charge and power them. Researchers at ReNU will be working to create and develop new materials and devices that will convert energy into power at the point of use. This could include automatically recharging the devices without the need to plug them in to be recharged every night. Their goal is to develop new materials that can be mass-produced, making them sustainable and inexpensive to use. One such example of this is work being undertaken by Dr Neil Beattie, who is leading the ReNU centre at Northumbria University. He is currently investigating how to produce a specialist form of paint that could be sprayed onto cars or rooftops to generate solar energy at any location. He said: "Global demand for electricity is constantly increasing and as a result, we need to find new, innovative ways to power our devices and vehicles using renewable and distributed energy technologies. Imagine a world in which there are billions of interconnected mobile devices - and a world with new modes of transportation, such as unmanned electric aerotaxis. Now imagine the challenge of providing power to these devices. It quickly becomes unmanageable. We need to find new ways to efficiently convert and store energy at the point of use." As well as receiving expert guidance from renowned academics at Northumbria, Newcastle and Durham universities, PhD students studying in the Centre for Doctoral Training in ReNU will also receive enhanced training to develop their business and innovation skills. The four-year course includes an in-built mini-MBA qualification, intellectual property training and a two-week placement in China studying renewable energy at a leading academic institution. Dr Libby Gibson will be leading ReNU at Newcastle University. Her work focuses on "artificial photosynthesis", which uses the energy from sunlight to generate fuel from water and carbon dioxide. She said: "The energy landscape is evolving rapidly as we discover more sustainable and versatile ways to power our devices and vehicles. We're excited to bring together expertise from across the science and engineering disciplines to work together both to tackle the challenges at this research frontier, and also to equip our doctoral candidates with the breadth of skills required to tackle the changing needs of the industry in the future. This region has a strong heritage for innovation in energy and we're delighted to play a part in its continuation." Dr Chris Groves, who will be leading ReNU at Durham University, undertakes research to understand how the movement of electrical current on the nano-scale influences the performance of solar cells. He said: "De-carbonisation of energy is one of the most fundamental challenges facing our society. Huge changes in how we generate, transport, store and use energy are needed to meet the expectations of the Paris agreement. We are excited to be playing a leading role in training the next-generation of engineers, chemists, physicists and materials scientists who will perform the research that enables this transition." The bid to run the centre received extensive backing from the industrial sector. Global businesses including Airbus, Siemens and Shell, regional SMEs and organisations such as the North East Local Enterprise Partnership all sent letters of support to EPSRC confirming their support for the research that will be undertaken. ReNU is backed by almost 40 external organisations that have confirmed that they will work in partnership with ReNU. In addition to a strong portfolio of industry partners these organisations include strategic networks, not-for-profit organisations and leading research institutions. They will provide support in a range of ways, including membership of a strategic advisory board, supporting individual projects and setting challenges for the doctoral candidates to work on. Northumbria, Newcastle and Durham universities already work in partnership on the 1.8 million North East Centre for Energy Materials (NECEM). Funded by EPSRC and the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, NECEM unites the broad range of expertise in engineering, chemistry, biology and physics to research and develop new high-performance materials that will improve efficiency in energy generation, storage and transmission. Professor Andrew Wathey, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Northumbria University said: "A key strength of this consortium of North East universities is the breadth of expertise across the energy sector. With complementary strengths in areas such as solar energy conversion, thin film technologies, wave and tidal energy, Northumbria, Newcastle and Durham have worked in partnership to develop this compelling doctoral training programme. Building on the success of our research through NECEM, ReNU will enable doctoral researchers to develop the entrepreneurial skills required to drive UK productivity in the area of Clean Growth, one of four grand challenges identified by the Government in its Industrial Strategy." Science and Innovation Minister, Chris Skidmore, said: "As we explore new research to boost our economy with an increase of over 7 billion invested in R&D over five years to 2021/22 - the highest increase for over 40 years - we will need skilled people to turn ideas into inventions that can have a positive impact on our daily lives. "The Centres for Doctoral Training at universities across the country will offer the next generation of PHD students the ability to get ahead of the curve. In addition, this has resulted in nearly 400 million being leveraged from industry partners. This is our modern Industrial Strategy in action, ensuring all corners of the UK thrive with the skills they need for the jobs of tomorrow. "As Science Minister, I'm delighted we're making this massive investment in postgraduate students as part of our increased investment in R&D." Anyone interested in finding out more about ReNU or who would like to apply for one of the PhD projects being funded by the Centre should visit http://www. northumbria. ac. uk/ renu ### Genetic studies of ancient populations in the Caucasus region testify to the complex interaction of populations from the Eurasian steppe and the Caucasus Mountains in the Bronze Age An international research team, coordinated by the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH) and the Eurasia Department of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in Berlin, is the first to carry out systematic genetic investigations in the Caucasus region. The study, published in Nature Communications, is based on analyses of genome-wide data from 45 individuals in the steppe and mountainous areas of the North Caucasus. The skeletal remains, which are between 6,500 and 3,500 years old, show that the groups living throughout the Caucasus region were genetically similar, despite the harsh mountain terrain, but that there was a sharp genetic boundary to the adjacent steppe areas in the north. The Caucasus, an area that today includes parts of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Iran and Turkey, is a crucial intersection for the history of Europe, both genetically and culturally. Today it is one of the regions of the world with the highest linguistic diversity, and in the past, populations from the Caucasus were instrumental in shaping the genetic components of today's Europeans. During the Bronze Age, important technological innovations, developed in the Caucasus and beyond, were transported to Europe through this region, such as the first highly effective metal weapons and the wheel and wagon. "We assume that in the wake of the Neolithic period, sometime before 5,000 BC when a more sedentary lifestyle with domesticated animals and plants was established, populations from the southern Caucasus spread over the mountains to the north and there met with nomadic populations from the Eurasian steppe," says Dr. Wolfgang Haak, group leader for molecular anthropology at the MPI-SHH and leader of the study. "The genetic boundary corresponds in principle to the ecological and geographical regions: the mountains and the steppe. Today, on the other hand, the Caucasus mountains themselves are more of a barrier to gene flow." Over the centuries, an interaction zone was formed, where the traditions of the Mesopotamian civilization and those of the Caucasus met with the cultures of the steppe. This intertwining is evident in the cultural exchange and transfer of technological and social innovations, as well as the occasional exchange of genes, which the study shows also took place between groups of quite distinct genetic backgrounds. Cultural contact zone, genetic border region The skeletal remains studied come from different Bronze Age cultures. The Maykop culture in particular, based on its spectacular grave goods, which had close parallels in the south, was long regarded as a population that had migrated to the North Caucasus from Mesopotamia. The current paleogenetic study paints a more nuanced picture of mobility during the Bronze Age. People with a distinct southern Caucasus ancestry were already north of the mountain ridges by the 5th millennium BC. It is highly likely that these groups formed the basis for the local Early Bronze Age Maykop culture of the 4th millennium BC. Intriguingly, the Maykop individuals tested are genetically distinct from the groups in the adjacent steppes to the north. "The genetic results do not support scenarios of large-scale migrations from the south during the Maykop period, or even from the northwest, as was postulated by some archaeologists. These findings have major implications for our understanding of the local development of North Caucasus cultures in the 4th millennium BC," explains Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Svend Hansen, Director of the DAI's Eurasia-Department. By the 3rd millennium BC, pastoralist groups from the steppe were bringing about a fundamental change in the population of Europe. The current study confirms parallel changes in the Caucasus along the southern border of the steppe zone. "During the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC, however, the people living in the Northern Caucasus all shared a similar genetic makeup even though they can be recognized (archaeologically) as different cultural groups," says Sabine Reinhold, co-director of the archaeological team. "Individuals belonging to Yamnaya or Catacomb cultural complexes, according to archaeological analyses of their graves, are genetically indistinguishable from individuals from the North Caucasian culture in the foothills and in the mountains. Local or global cultural attributions were apparently more important than common biological roots." Subtle gene flow from the west contributed to the formation of early Yamnaya groups The massive population shifts in the 3rd millennium BC, in connection with the expansion of the groups from the steppe who were part of what is known as the Yamnaya culture, have long been associated with the transfer of significant technological innovations from Mesopotamia to Europe. Recent studies at the DAI's Eurasia department on the spread of early wagons or metal weapons have shown, however, that an intensive exchange between Europe, the Caucasus and Mesopotamia began much earlier. However, can evidence of these technological exchanges also be provided by the genetic interactions revealed in the current study? And if so, in which direction do they point? The genomes of the Yamnaya individuals from the steppe bordering the Caucasus indeed show subtle genetic traces that are also characteristic of the neighboring farming populations of south-eastern Europe. Detailed analysis now shows that this subtle gene flow cannot be linked to the Maykop population, but could have come from the west. "These are exciting and surprising findings, which highlight the complexity of the processes that lead to the formation of Bronze Age steppe pastoralist," says Chuan-Chao Wang, population geneticist postdoc at the MPI-SHH and first author of the study, now professor at Xiamen University in China. Hansen adds, "These subtle genetic traces from the west are indeed remarkable and suggest contact between people in the steppes and western groups, such as the Globular Amphora culture, between the 4th and the 3rd millennium BC." It appears that the world of the 4th millennium BC was well-connected long before the major expansion of steppe pastoralist and related groups. In this wide-ranging network of contacts, people not only spread and exchanged know-how and technological innovations, but occasionally also exchanged genes, and not only in one direction. Indeed, individuals from the north-eastern dry steppes of the North Caucasus region show genetic traces that hint at a deep and far-reaching connection to people in Siberia, Northeast Asia, and the Americas. "This shows that Eurasia was the site of many exciting chapters in human prehistory that are still shrouded in mystery. Our aim is to investigate these in close collaboration with archaeologists and anthropologists," says Prof. Johannes Krause, Director of the MPI Archaeogenetics Department and co-leader of the study. ### A study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators finds evidence that the process of synaptic pruning, a normal part of brain development during adolescence, is excessive in individuals with schizophrenia. While previous studies have found structural abnormalities in the brains of people with schizophrenia that suggested a role for abnormal synaptic pruning, this study - published in Nature Neuroscience - is the first to directly observe excessive synaptic pruning using cells from patients with schizophrenia. "This approach lets us model at least one of the abnormalities of schizophrenia 'in a dish'," says Roy Perlis, MD, MSc, of the MGH Department of Psychiatry and the Center for Genomic Medicine, senior author of the report. "It is one of the first indications in cells from patients of what is contributing to the abnormalities in pruning that have been suspected. And we hope to use these cells to screen for new treatments that may ultimately address that abnormality." Studies in recent years have revealed that microglia, which are innate immune cells active within the central nervous system, play an important role in brain development by removing unneeded synapses - points of communication between brain cells - and other neural structures. This process is particularly active during adolescence and early adulthood, the time of life when symptoms of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses often first appear. A new system developed by Perlis's team has made it possible, for the first time, to study synaptic pruning in patient-derived human cells. In an earlier study the investigators described creating induced microglia-like (iMG) cells from monocytes derived from blood samples cultured under special conditions. They then developed a way to measure synaptic pruning by observing those cells devour synaptic structures called synaptosomes isolated from cultured neurons. In the current study they used iMG cells and synaptosomes obtained from men with schizophrenia and from healthy control participants to determine patient versus control differences in the model of synaptic pruning. In addition, they validated their findings in by growing microglia together with neurons, directly measuring the uptake by microglia of synaptic markers from the neurons. Their experiments showed that the engulfment and elimination of synapses by iMG cells was most rapid and extensive when both microglia and synapses were derived from men with schizophrenia. Microglia from patients with schizophrenia more extensively pruned synapses from either patients or controls, while control microglial cells ingested the fewest synapses of all. The results suggest that factors from both microglia and neurons contribute to increased synaptic pruning in people with schizophrenia. Several gene variants have been associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia, and one of those most strongly associated relates to the complement system, which contributes to the ability of immune cells to remove microbes and dying cells. The investigators found that increased expression in neurons of a specific complement protein variant was associated with increased synaptic uptake by iMG cells, although that variant is not the only contributor to increased microglial uptake. Since preclinical research has suggested that the antibiotic drug minocycline might have benefits against neurodegenerative diseases, although the mechanism is not known, the investigators pretreated microglial cell cultures with a range of minocycline doses before applying the cells to neurons derived from patients with schizophrenia and from controls. The highest minocycline doses almost totally eliminated synaptic engulfment. To investigate whether minocycline, which is often prescribed to treat acne, might also decrease schizophrenia risk in humans by reducing synaptic pruning during adolescence, the researchers analyzed data from up to 10 years of electronic health records from two academic medical centers. Of more than 22,000 individuals prescribed at least one of five common antibiotics between the ages of 10 and 18, 203 subsequently were diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. The more than 3,800 individuals who were treated with minocycline or the related antibiotic doxycycline for at least 90 days had a significantly reduced risk of a subsequent psychotic disorder diagnosis than did those receiving other antibiotics. "As encouraged as we are by these initial results, they represent a first step," says Perlis, a professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "Although we studied cells from more patients than any previous study we're aware of, we need even larger numbers to better understand what is different in cells from individuals with schizophrenia. There is reason to be hopeful that we are starting to understand what causes this devastating disorder as a first step towards developing strategies to prevent, not just treat it. But there is also much more work to be done." ### The lead author of the Nature Neuroscience paper, Carl Sellgren, MD, PhD, formerly a postdoctoral fellow on Perlis's team, is now at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. Another key contributor was Steven Sheridan, PhD, director of the cellular modeling platform in Perlis's lab at MGH. Support for the study includes National Institute of Mental Health/National Human Genome Research Institute grant P50 MH106933; Swedish Research Council grants 2017-02559 and MMW 2017.0118; and a National Institute of Mental Health Biobehavioral Research Award for Innovative New Scientists grant R01 MH113858. Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with an annual research budget of more than $900 million and major research centers in HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, genomic medicine, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, reproductive biology, systems biology, photomedicine and transplantation biology. The MGH topped the 2015 Nature Index list of health care organizations publishing in leading scientific journals and earned the prestigious 2015 Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service. In August 2018 the MGH was once again named to the Honor Roll in the U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals." [Background] It is known that in the space surrounding the Earth (the space up to the geostationary orbit altitude, called Geospace), there are natural trapped charged particles, Van Allen belts, that may affect commercial satellite services (meteorology, communication, GPS and others), and there is concern that astronauts would be exposed to these charged particles, for example in a manned mission to the moon. The high-energy electrons in the Earth's Van Allen belts are known to be generated by resonant interactions of electromagnetic chorus waves*1) evolving in the magnetosphere with energetic electrons; this phenomenon is called a chorus wave-particle interaction*2). It is known that the chorus wave-particle interactions accelerate electrons to relativistic energies and also precipitate energetic electrons from the magnetosphere into the Earth's atmosphere along geomagnetic field lines to cause special types of auroras. In addition, it is suggested that energetic electrons precipitating into the Earth's atmosphere along geomagnetic field lines not only generate auroras but change atmospheric composition. Thus, investigation of the magnetosphere, where the chorus wave-particle interactions are generated, should give clues to the electromagnetic environment in the magnetosphere and of its effects on the Earth's atmosphere. This field has received international attention for more than 50 years. However, since a single packet of chorus waves lasts for less than a second, and since it is almost impossible to investigate the vast magnetosphere using a limited number of scientific satellites, the spatial development, especially, of the magnetosphere has been poorly understood. [Results] The present international research team consists of researchers from Kanazawa University, Nagoya University, The University of Electro-Communications, National Institute of Polar Research, Kyoto University, Tohoku University, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of JAXA, University of Florida (USA), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Athabasca University (Canada) and 3 other institutions. Using the scientific satellite Arase (launched in 2016, which investigates dynamics of Van Allen belts as well as geospace storms), the team was successful for the first time in simultaneously capturing not only chorus wave packets in the magnetosphere but also transient auroral flashes (several hundred milliseconds) about 30 thousand kilometers distant from Arase, generated by chorus wave-particle interactions. In order to simultaneously capture aurorae and chorus wave-particle interactions, which are related to each other, a scientific satellite is required in an appropriate orbit as well as an observation network on the ground that realizes conjugate observations with the satellite. The research team developed a world-leading electromagnetic wave measurement system which was aboard the Arase satellite , and established PWING (study of dynamical variation of Particles and Waves in the INner magnetosphere using Ground-based network observations) covering the entire Earth (but mainly in the northern hemisphere) longitudinally along almost the same geomagnetic latitude*3). The research members actively traveled to each PWING international ground base to install new high-sensitivity cameras and other instruments (see"Observation News" in PWING web page). Thus it became possible to capture details of chorus waves by the Arase satellite as well as to capture related aurorae from any longitude and at any time (Figure 1). This enabled simultaneous observations with high time resolution (10 milliseconds). A flash aurora observed at Gakona, Alaska, USA, one of the PWING international bases, which is connected with the Arase satellite along the geomagnetic field line, showed spatial and intensity variations of the order of hundreds of milliseconds, which corresponded with those of chorus waves in the magnetosphere (Figure 2). This observation revealed that a flash aurora could become a display showing spatial developments of wave-particle interaction regions accompanying chorus waves. Intensity and spatial changes of aurorae captured on the ground have visualized details of wave-particle interaction regions, which could not be captured by point observations using a scientific satellite. The observation has confirmed the geomagnetic north-south asymmetry for the first time. The observed variations indicate not only spatial evolutions along geomagnetic field lines by effective resonance of electromagnetic waves and electrons (observable as time-dependent changes of auroral intensity) but also evolutions across geomagnetic field lines (observable as spatial changes of auroral morphology). The observation also suggests rapid precipitation, in hundreds of milliseconds, of energetic electrons into the atmosphere, which may bring about changes of the atmospheric composition. [Future prospects] The present study has revealed previously unknown spatial developments of wave-particle interaction regions across geomagnetic field lines. It presents analyses using a scientific satellite and a ground observation network. In future, more characteristics of a general nature should be revealed by analyzing a large number of flash auroras. However, there might be difficulties in analyzing the very big data sets by conventional visual observation, since it is now found that such special aurorae showing details of spatial developments of wave-particle interaction regions have a duration of only hundreds of milliseconds. Nonetheless, the present international research team could resolve this problem using artificial intelligence (AI). With AI technology, it should be possible to make hazard maps of the electromagnetic environment of the magnetosphere, which should contribute to safe and secure space exploration. It is also known that chorus wave-particle interactions take place on other magnetized planets. The scientific mission Mio (launched in 2018) for the magnetic field of Mercury that is equipped with a copy of the electromagnetic wave measurement system developed by the present team is expected to reveal their characteristics. ### [Glossary] *1) Electromagnetic chorus wave The electromagnetic waves accompanying cyclotron movements of electrons along magnetic field lines. Especially those which can be converted to sounds that resemble a birds' chorus are called electromagnetic chorus wave (the link includes sound file of chorus wave observed by the Arase satellite). *2) Wave-particle interaction Interaction of electromagnetic waves and electrons in collisionless plasmas. Through the interactions, energetic electrons are accelerated to a higher energy state and scattered. *3) Geomagnetic latitude Geomagnetic latitude is a parameter analogous to geographic latitude, defined by the axis of the geomagnetic dipole. The geographic North Pole and South Pole are not identical to the geomagnetic North Pole and South Pole. When referring to phenomena concerning geomagnetism, the geomagnetic reference field is used. [Related links] ERG Science Center operated by ISAS/JAXA and ISEE/Nagoya University PWING project Monday, February 4th, London, UK - Recent breakthroughs in diagnostics and therapeutics of age-related diseases and aging itself lead to the emergence of the longevity biotechnology industry with a number of credible companies and exponential business models. To accelerate this emerging trend a team of professional investors and biotechnology entrepreneurs created the Longevity Vision Fund, a new venture capital fund focused on early-stage technologies and life-science businesses. The Fund seeks to invest in companies that provide products, services, and technologies aimed to extend the period of healthy human life. "The Fund's mission is to lead the breakthrough in human longevity and to extend human lifespan worldwide allowing people to live longer, healthier lives", - said Sergey Young, the Founder of Longevity Vision Fund. Sergey Young is a visionary and investor with 20 years of experience in the field of human longevity and venture capital investing. Sergey is also development sponsor of Longevity XPRIZE and Innovation Board member at XPRIZE Foundation. Sergey is a Longevity Partner of Bold Capital Partners, and early-stage venture fund partnered with Singularity University and Peter Diamandis. Longevity Vision Fund team will be advised by leading life science experts and prominent venture investors. The Fund's goal is to support companies worldwide focused on translating groundbreaking innovation into the next generation of therapeutics increasing human longevity as well as complementary IT products, services, and infrastructure to accelerate innovation in life sciences. The Fund is Delaware based and has a size of $100m. The Fund cooperates with Bold Capital Partners - the investment vehicle of Peter H. Diamandis. Adding 20 to 30 healthy years on a person's life is likely to be the largest market opportunity on Earth. The convergence of Genome Sequencing, AI & Cellular Medicine will enable breakthroughs that will make 100 years old the new 60. I'm proud through our Bold Capital partnership to support Sergey Young and the Longevity Vision Fund", - said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis. ### About Longevity Vision Fund: Longevity Vision Fund, a new venture capital fund focused on early-stage technologies and life-science businesses. The Fund seeks to invest in companies that provide products, services, and technologies aimed to extend the period of healthy human life. Contacts info@lvf.vc About Insilico Medicine, Inc Insilico Medicine is an artificial intelligence company headquartered in Rockville, with R&D and management resources in Belgium, Russia, UK, Taiwan, and Korea sourced through hackathons and competitions. The company and its scientists are dedicated to extending human productive longevity and transforming every step of the drug discovery and drug development process through excellence in biomarker discovery, drug development, digital medicine, and aging research. Insilico pioneered the applications of the generative adversarial networks (GANs) and reinforcement learning for generation of novel molecular structures for the diseases with a known target and with no known targets. In addition to working collaborations with the large pharmaceutical companies, the company is pursuing internal drug discovery programs in cancer, dermatological diseases, fibrosis, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, ALS, diabetes, sarcopenia, and aging. Through a partnership with LifeExtension.com, the company launched a range of nutraceutical products compounded using the advanced bioinformatics techniques and deep learning approaches. It also provides a range of consumer-facing applications including Young.AI. Boston, February 4, 2019 - Why do some patients recover quickly after surgery, while others don't? That is an important question when treating older frail patients suffering from aortic stenosis. Lead author Dae Hyun Kim, M.D., M.P.H., Sc.D., and principle investigator Director Lewis A. Lipsitz in the Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife explore this question in a paper published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine. Aortic stenosis is a disease that more often than not develops late in life. It occurs in 2% of people over 65 and affects more men than women. The condition causes the aorta -the main artery that carries blood to the rest of the body - to constrict reducing blood flow from the heart. The disease poses a serious health threat to older adults, impacting function and quality of life at best, and at worse, threatening survival. With recent advances in surgical techniques, more patients are undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) to treat aortic stenosis. However, this study shows that serious risks of functional decline associated with surgery in older patients may well outweigh the benefits, and in particular, may not meet an individual's goals for treatment. Although outcomes have improved over time, older patients continue to experience high rates of functional decline, particularly if they are frail before surgery. Many older patients, given the option, would often choose quality of life over longevity when making choices about their care. Earlier clinical trials and observational studies demonstrated improvement in functional status after TAVR and SAVR. However, these studies' results may not be applicable to all patients. The studies also assessed functional limitations due to heart failure using disease-specific measures, rather than measures that looked at, for example, how patients were doing with activities of daily living, capturing a broader picture of how patients were fairing after surgery. As this study shows, the functional status of a patient before surgery impacts post-operative outcomes, including rates of recovery and long-range functional status. After heart valve replacement, five paths were identified that describe how much patients recover. After minimally invasive transcatheter replacement, many patients did not have improvement in functional status. In particular, patients who were very frail before their procedures tended to have the worst outcomes. Patients who are stronger generally get open heart surgery, and after surgical valve replacement, patients generally did better. Discussion of expected recovery can help to inform patient centered decision making. According to Dr. Kim, "Although older patients with severe aortic valve stenosis undergo these procedures with expectation that their functional status improves, those with severe frailty, have functional decline. We emphasize the various processes of "how" they get to where they are at 12 months, and identified preoperative frailty, postoperative complications and delirium as strong predictors of functional decline, which can be potential targets for intervention." ### Funding: The FRAILTY-AVR Functional Outcomes Study was conducted with the support of a KL2/Catalyst Medical Research Investigator Training award (an appointed KL2 award) and an additional support from Harvard Catalyst / The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center (National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health Award KL2 TR001100-01 and UL1 TR001102), National Institutes of Health. About the Hinda and Arthur Institute for Aging Research Scientists at the Marcus Institute seek to transform the human experience of aging by conducting research that will ensure a life of health, dignity and productivity into advanced age. The Marcus Institute carries out rigorous studies that discover the mechanisms of age-related disease and disability; lead to the prevention, treatment and cure of disease; advance the standard of care for older people; and inform public decision-making. About Hebrew SeniorLife No, molecules do not actually have hands. But scientists refer to them in this way when looking at asymmetric molecules that are mirror images of one another and therefore are not superimposable. Whether a molecule is a "lefty" or "righty" also influences how they behave -- critical information for researchers. Now a team of Florida State University researchers has found a way to turn a "left-handed" molecule into a "right-handed" one -- a process that could have important implications for drug development. In the journal Chemical Communications, Assistant Professor Ken Hanson and his team explain how a left-handed molecule could be turned into a right-handed one by way of a light-induced proton transfer. "This means we wouldn't have to throw half of a chemical solution away when we only want the right-handed molecules," said Hanson. The lack of understanding of chirality or the property of asymmetry in molecules has had severe consequences in the past. In the 1950s, a sedative called thalidomide was sold in Europe as a treatment for morning sickness. It was later discovered that while the right-handed molecule for thalidomide was effective, the left-handed one was toxic. Thousands of children of mothers who took the drug were born with severe birth defects. Because of this and other cases, pharmaceutical companies are hyper focused on the left-hand versus right issue in their drug screening process. "Since handedness matters in biology, it's very important in drug design and discovery," Hanson said. In this study, Hanson used an organic compound called BINOL and attached a left-handed amino acid to it. Then, the team shone light directly on the compound. This altered a 50-50 mixture of left and right-handed BINOL into a predominantly right-handed mixture. The right-handed BINOL can then be used as catalyst to generate a broad range of drugs with a specific handedness. Hanson said that his research team plans to follow up by refining the process and creating a purer sample. "This study was just a proof of concept to show that it could be done," Hanson said. ### The research effort was driven by FSU graduate student Suliman Ayad with support from postdoctoral researcher Anjan Das and undergraduate Victoria Posey. Professor Jason Montgomery from Florida Southern College also provide computational support by modeling the molecules. Children born after assisted reproductive technology (ART) do not appear to be at greater risk of developing cancer than other children, according to the first study to look at the long-term cancer risk in ART children compared to those in the general population or who were naturally conceived by subfertile women. The study of 47,690 children is published today (Monday) in Human Reproduction, one of the world's leading reproductive medicine journals, and is important because, until now, there has been conflicting evidence about whether or not ART children have an increased risk of cancer. The children in this study were followed for a median average of 21 years, which makes it the first study to compare outcomes in these children over such a long period of time. Lead researcher, Professor Flora van Leeuwen, Head of the Department of Epidemiology in The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam (The Netherlands), said: "This study, with a median follow-up of 21 years, is especially important because it includes a comparison group of naturally conceived children born to subfertile women; these women are different from the general population and it is possible that difficulty in conceiving could be a factor that influences the risk of cancer in their offspring." The first author of the study, Ms Mandy Spaan, a PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology, said: "We found that of the 47,690 children included in the analysis, 231 developed cancer. After adjusting for factors that could confound the results such as age and the parental cause of subfertility, the overall long-term risk for cancer was neither increased in the ART-conceived children compared with naturally conceived children from subfertile women, nor when compared with the general population. "However, cancer risk was somewhat increased, although not statistically significantly so, in children conceived after intracytoplasmic sperm injection [ICSI] or from embryos that had been frozen before being thawed and used for fertility treatment. These are two types of fertility treatments that are used more often nowadays. We also found a slightly increased, statistically insignificant risk of lymphoblastic leukaemia and melanoma. As the numbers of cancers in these groups were small, these findings may be due to chance and must be interpreted with caution." Researchers analysed data from a large, nationwide study of subfertile women (the OMEGA study) who were treated in one of 12 Dutch fertility clinics between 1980 and 2001. They also collected data on the offspring and the information was linked to data on the incidence of cancer from The Netherlands Cancer Registry between January 1989 and November 2016. Information on the method of conception and any confounding factors, such as the cause of the parents' subfertility, the mother's age, the child's birth year, birth weight, duration of pregnancy, and whether they were single or multiple births, was also collected from the mothers' completed questionnaires and medical records. Of the 47,690 children born alive, 24,269 were conceived by ART, 13,761 were naturally conceived and 9,660 were conceived naturally or with the help of fertility drugs, such as ovarian stimulation medication, but not by ART. Of the 231 cases of cancer occurring among all the offspring, there were 31 cases of lymphoblastic leukaemia and 26 cases of melanoma. Ms Spaan said: "There is no clear explanation for why there should be higher numbers of these cancers. It could be that some fertility treatments might induce heritable alterations in certain genes that increase the risk of melanoma and leukaemia; however, more research with larger numbers is needed to clarify this finding." Prof van Leeuwen concluded: "These results provide reassuring evidence that children conceived as a result of fertility treatments do not have an increased risk of cancer after a median follow-up of 21 years. They will enable physicians to better inform couples considering fertility treatment about its long-term safety for their children. "However, as ever more children are born through ICSI and cryopreservation of embryos, the long-term cancer risk should be investigated in larger numbers of children born as a result of these techniques. "We are currently expanding our study to include more than 30,000 ART-conceived children born in more recent years. It will include children born after ICSI and/or embryo cryopreservation of the embryo. We hope this will provide more evidence about the possible long-term risk of cancer for these children." Cancer in children and young adults is rare, occurring in less than one per cent worldwide, and so a limitation of this study is that the small number of cancers makes it difficult to produce reliable results from subgroup analyses. In addition, the method of conception could not be identified in 12% of children from the information in the mothers' questionnaires and medical records. A strength of the study is its large size, the long and complete follow-up, the comparison with naturally conceived children from subfertile women as well as the general population, and the detailed information on potential confounding factors. ### Mutations that cause oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) have been mapped in unprecedented detail - unveiling that more than half could be targeted by drugs currently in trials for other cancer types. This research, published today in Nature Genetics, could help stratify oesophageal cancer patients to give them more personalised therapies. This could provide options not currently available to patients beyond standard chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery. Cancer Research UK researchers at the University of Cambridge used whole genome sequencing and whole exome sequencing* to map mutations in OAC, the main subtype of oesophageal cancer in England. In the study, driver mutations for OAC were found in 99% of patients and more than 50% were sensitive to drugs (CDK4/6 inhibitors) already in clinical trials for breast cancer. This means phase II/III clinical trials to treat oesophageal cancer could be feasible in one to two years. Interestingly, women were found to have more KRAS** mutations than men. These mutations are often seen in other cancer types, but are rarely found in oesophageal cancer. This could indicate a different sub-type of the disease in women and suggest they may have a different prognosis or be eligible for other treatments. Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald, Cancer Research UK funded scientist and lead researcher at the MRC Cancer Unit, said: "This research could completely shift the paradigm from giving oesophageal cancer patients the same chemotherapy that we know doesn't always work, to more targeted treatments based on individual characteristics of a patient's cancer. "We are now designing clinical trials that provide real-time analysis of patients' genes to offer patients the best treatment based on their own genome. "This research could also provide better options for older patients, who are more likely to develop oesophageal cancer, and who are often not fit enough for current treatment options." Only around 12% of patients survive oesophageal cancer for 10 years or more***. This is partly due to late diagnosis, as symptoms often do not present until the cancer is advanced, and partly due to limited treatment options. Scientists have found that more people are developing OAC in several countries in Western Europe, including the UK - risk factors include obesity and smoking****. Professor Karen Vousden, Cancer Research UK's chief scientist, said: "Research like this is crucial to improve treatment options and survival for patients facing a hard-to-treat cancer, such as oesophageal cancer. "Understanding which mutations are causing the disease could lead to targeted treatments and earlier detection. This is something that would never have been possible without huge advances in technology." Cancer Research UK is committed to funding more research on hard to treat cancers like oesophageal cancer, increasing spending from 5 million four years ago, to 16 million this year*****. In the UK, oesophageal cancer is the 13th most common cancer and the seventh most common cause of cancer death in the UK******. ### For media enquiries contact Angharad Kolator Baldwin in the Cancer Research UK press office on 020 3469 8456 or, out of hours, on 07050 264 059. Notes to editor: Cancer Research UK's International Symposium on Oesophageal Cancer will take place in London 29-30 April 2019, Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald is the scientific lead for this event. Frankell, A., et al. The landscape of selection in 551 Esophageal Adenocarcinomas defines genomic biomarkers for the clinic. Nature Genetics * Whole genome sequencing is a method to determine the order of nucleotides in an organism's DNA, including chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA. Whole exome sequencing is a technique to sequence all the protein-coding genes in an individual's genome. ** KRAS is a gene involved in cell signalling and when functioning normally controls cell proliferation. OAC incidence is highest in those aged 85-89 (2013-15). Source: https:/ / www. cancerresearchuk. org/ health-professional/ cancer-statistics/ statistics-by-cancer-type/ oesophageal-cancer#heading-Zero *** People diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in England and Wales (2010-11). Source: https:/ / www. cancerresearchuk. org/ health-professional/ cancer-statistics/ statistics-by-cancer-type/ oesophageal-cancer#heading-Zero **** https:/ / www. sciencedirect. com/ science/ article/ pii/ S0140673612606436?via%3Dihub ***** Cancer Research UK annual report (2017-2018). ****** accounting for 5% of all cancer deaths (2016). Source: https:/ / www. cancerresearchuk. org/ health-professional/ cancer-statistics/ statistics-by-cancer-type/ oesophageal-cancer#heading-One This research was conducted as part of a multicentre consortium including the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), and the Oesophageal Cancer Clinical and Molecular Stratification study (OCCAMS) group. The project was funded by Cancer Research UK. About Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. Cancer Research UK's pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives. Cancer Research UK receives no funding from the UK government for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on vital donations from the public. Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years. Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK's ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, 3 in 4 people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses. Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. Electronic products, electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage closely related to human life create an ever-growing demand for rechargeable batteries. Lithium-ion batteries, which are currently widely used, do not perform well in terms of energy density and safety. As for rechargeable magnesium (Mg) metal batteries developed later, the lack of Mg electrolytes capable of effectively plating/stripping Mg has impeded its practical development. Recently, a research team led by Prof. CUI Guanglei from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences exploited a novel rigid-fexible coupling gel polymer electrolyte (PTB@GF-GPE) that coupled with significantly improved overall performance. It was synthesized via an in situ crosslinking reaction between magnesium borohydride and hydroxyl-terminated polytetrahydrofuran. Over the past few decades, although progress has been made in exploiting liquid Mg electrolytes capable of reversible Mg deposition, liquid electrolytes still pose the problem of being volatile and flammable. Compared with liquid electrolytes, polymer electrolytes have several advantages, including: no internal short circuit; no electrolyte leakage; ease of fabrication; and flexibility of structure. This gel polymer electrolyte exhibits reversible Mg plating/stripping performance, high Mg-ion conductivity, and a remarkable Mg-ion transfer number. The Mg batteries assembled with this gel polymer electrolyte not only work well at a wide temperature range (-20 to 60 C) but also display unprecedented improvements in safety issues without suffering from internal short-circuit failure even after a cutting test. This in situ crosslinking approach toward exploiting the Mg-polymer electrolyte provides a promising strategy for achieving large-scale application of Mg-metal batteries. ### These findings were published in Advanced Materials. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of China, the National Key R&D Program of China, the Programs of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Qingdao Science and Technology Program. Affecting an estimated one in eight people older than 75, aortic valve stenosis - a narrowing of the heart's main artery - makes the heart work harder to supply the body with blood, potentially limiting patient's activity levels an quality of life. Ultimately, aortic stenosis can lead to stroke, arrhythmia, heart failure and death. Expecting to improve longevity as well as restore quality of life, patients with aortic stenosis increasingly opt for one of two procedures to repair the aorta; surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), which requires opening up the chest cavity, or transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), an increasingly popular minimally-invasive procedure. However, while valve repair has been shown to increase longevity, many patients' quality of life continues to decline. In a paper published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine, leading gerontologists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) assessed the change in patients' functional status during the year following valve replacement procedure. The team, led by Dae Hyun Kim, MD, demonstrated that patient outcomes were tightly linked to patients' pre-operative health status, and were also associated with post-operative complications and delirium. "Quality of life can be more meaningful than longevity to older adults," said Kim, an assistant professor of medicine in BIDMC's Division of Gerontology. "Although procedural outcomes for TAVR and SAVR have improved over time, functional decline following the procedure is common. Information about the likelihood of seeing improvement after the procedure is essential for patient-centered decision-making and perioperative care to improve functional recovery." To glean that information, Kim and colleagues conducted comprehensive geriatric assessments for 246 patients older than 70 prior to undergoing TAVR or SAVR procedures. Next, the researchers calculated participants' functional status using a standard frailty index commonly used in geriatrics. After patients underwent valve repair procedures, researchers conducted telephone interviews to assess patients' self-reported ability to perform a range of daily mental and physical tasks - such as walking up a flight of stairs, handling small objects and managing money - one, three, six, nine and 12 months after the procedure. The team found that patients with high functional status and lower scores on the frailty index prior to valve replacement fared best after it. After SAVR - an open-heart procedure reserved for those well enough to tolerate the surgery - three quarters of patients experience functional improvement, with 19 percent remaining stable and just four percent experiencing a decline. Among those who underwent the minimally-invasive TAVR - by definition a frailer group - only 37 percent of patients' functional status improved. About the same amount of patients, 38 percent, saw no improvement, while nearly a quarter of patients continued to decline. Patients' frailty index scores prior to undergoing valve replacement procedures helped predict patients' chances of improvement, stability or decline. Post-operative delirium and major complications were also linked to declines in functional status following the procedures. The scientists note these data do not compare the effectiveness of SAVR versus TAVR, but can inform physician and patient decision making. "These most likely, best-case and worst case scenarios can be communicated to the patient," said senior investigator Lewis A. Lipsitz, professor of medicine in the Division of Gerontology at who is also director of the Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife. "For patients who are frail, we can consider certain interventions to optimize health prior to valve repair." ### The FRAILTY-AVR Functional Outcomes Study was conducted with the support of a KL2/Catalyst Medical Research Investigator Training award (an appointed KL2 award) and an additional support from Harvard Catalyst / The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center (National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health Award KL2 TR001100-01 and UL1 TR001102), National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of Harvard Catalyst, Harvard University and its affiliated academic healthcare centers, or the National Institutes of Health. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School and consistently ranks as a national leader among independent hospitals in National Institutes of Health funding. Experts know that in adults younger than 65, having high cholesterol levels in your blood can raise your risk for heart attacks and strokes. However, in adults 80 years old and older, researchers have not--until now--thoroughly studied high cholesterol's impact on heart disease, your ability to function well, or your risk for death. In fact, some research shows that a higher level of total cholesterol and a lower level of so-called "bad" cholesterol (also known as "low-density lipoprotein" or LDL cholesterol) might be helpful in protecting your ability to perform daily activities and preserving your life for longer. What's more, it appears that having low cholesterol is linked to a higher risk of death from cancer, respiratory disease, and accidents in adults aged 80 and older. It also appears that the benefits of taking medications known as statins, which lower cholesterol, may lessen as people age. Researchers even have a phrase for this phenomenon. They call it the "risk factor paradox." This describes the fact that for adults aged 80 and older, having some conditions that are considered health risks in younger adults predicts better survival. These conditions include having higher total cholesterol, higher blood pressure, and higher body mass index (BMI, a ratio of body weight to height that helps determine whether you are overweight or obese). "Triglycerides" are one type of blood fat that your body uses for energy. High levels of triglycerides can raise risks for heart disease in younger adults. However, we don't know as much about the risks to adults aged 80 and older, or whether high levels of triglycerides can affect their risks for disability or even death. A team of researchers in China decided to learn more about whether current triglyceride-level guidelines make sense for people aged 80 and older. To do so, the team explored links between triglyceride levels and the ability to perform daily self-care activities, cognitive function (the ability to think and make decisions), and frailty (a condition associated with aging that increases the risks of poor health, falls, disability, and death. Signs of frailty include weakness, weight loss, and low activity levels.). Researchers also looked at whether triglyceride levels had an impact on death in a group of 930 Chinese adults aged 80 or older. The researchers learned that for the oldest people in the study, having a higher triglyceride level was linked to a lower risk of cognitive decline, less of a reduction in the ability to perform daily tasks, less frailty, and lower risk for death. The researchers said their results challenge current thinking that having high triglyceride levels is a risk factor for age-related chronic disorders and death. The researchers said their study suggested that, after the age of 80, taking medication to lower cholesterol may not have much--or any--benefit. ### This summary is from "Triglycerides paradox among the oldest old: 'The lower the better?')" It appears online ahead of print in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study authors are Yue-Bin Lv, MD; Chen Mao, MD, PhD; Xiang Gao, MD, PhD; Zhao-Xue Yin, MD; Virginia Byers Kraus, MD, PhD; Jin-Qiu Yuan, MD, PhD; Juan Zhang, MD, PhD; Jie-Si Luo, MD; Yi Zeng, PhD; and Xiao-Ming Shi, MD, PhD. About the Health in Aging Foundation This research summary was developed as a public education tool by the Health in Aging Foundation. The Foundation is a national non-profit established in 1999 by the American Geriatrics Society to bring the knowledge and expertise of geriatrics healthcare professionals to the public. We are committed to ensuring that people are empowered to advocate for high-quality care by providing them with trustworthy information and reliable resources. Last year, we reached nearly 1 million people with our resources through HealthinAging.org. We also help nurture current and future geriatrics leaders by supporting opportunities to attend educational events and increase exposure to principles of excellence on caring for older adults. For more information or to support the Foundation's work, visit http://www. HealthinAgingFoundation. org . About the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Included in more than 9,000 library collections around the world, the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) highlights emerging insights on principles of aging, approaches to older patients, geriatric syndromes, geriatric psychiatry, and geriatric diseases and disorders. First published in 1953, JAGS is now one of the oldest and most impactful publications on gerontology and geriatrics, according to ISI Journal Citation Reports. Visit wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/JGS for more details. About the American Geriatrics Society Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide, not-for-profit society of geriatrics healthcare professionals that has--for 75 years--worked to improve the health, independence, and quality of life of older people. Its nearly 6,000 members include geriatricians, geriatric nurses, social workers, family practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and internists. The Society provides leadership to healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public by implementing and advocating for programs in patient care, research, professional and public education, and public policy. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org. Millennials have about double the risk of some cancers compared to Baby Boomers at same age A new study finds rates are increasing for six of 12 cancers related to obesity in younger adults in the United States, with steeper increases in progressively younger ages and successively younger generations. The study, appearing in The Lancet Public Health, also looked at rates for 18 cancers unrelated to obesity, and found rates increasing for only two. The obesity epidemic over the past 40 years has led to younger generations experiencing an earlier and longer lasting exposure to excess adiposity over their lifetime than previous generations. Excess body weight is a known carcinogen, associated with more than a dozen cancers and suspected in several more. Exposures to carcinogens during early life may have an even more important influence on cancer risk by acting during crucial developmental periods. Several years ago, the authors of the current study identified increases in early onset colorectal cancer in the U.S., a trend that has been observed in several high-income countries and could partly reflect the obesity epidemic. They extended that analysis by examining recent age-specific trends in 30 types of cancers, including 12 known to be associated with obesity. For the new study, investigators led by Hyuna Sung, Ph.D., analyzed twenty years of incidence data (1995-2014) for 30 cancers in 25 states from the Cancer in North America database provided by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, covering 67% of the population of the U.S. The authors say theirs is the first to systematically examine incidence trends for obesity-related cancers in young adults in the USA. Incidence increased for 6 of the 12 obesity-related cancers (colorectal, uterine corpus [endometrial], gallbladder, kidney, multiple myeloma, and pancreas) in young adults and in successively younger birth cohorts in a stepwise manner. For example, the risk of colorectal, uterine corpus [endometrial], pancreas, and gall bladder cancers in millennials is about double the rate baby boomers had at the same age. In contrast, rates in successive younger birth cohorts declined or stabilized in all but 2 of 18 other, non-obesity related cancers, including smoking-related and infection-related cancers. "Although the absolute risk of these cancers is small in younger adults, these findings have important public health implications," said Ahmedin Jemal, DVM Ph.D., scientific vice president of surveillance & health services research and senior/corresponding author of the paper. "Given the large increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among young people and increasing risks of obesity-related cancers in contemporary birth cohorts, the future burden of these cancers could worsen as younger cohorts age, potentially halting or reversing the progress achieved in reducing cancer mortality over the past several decades. Cancer trends in young adults often serve as a sentinel for the future disease burden in older adults, among whom most cancer occurs." The authors say innovative strategies are needed to mitigate morbidity and premature mortality associated with obesity-related diseases, primarily by health-care providers and policy makers. ### Article: Emerging cancer trends among young adults in the USA: analysis of a population-based cancer registry, The Lancet Public Health, Published Online February 4, 2019 doi: 10.1016/ S2468-2667(18)30267-6 BEER-SHEVA, Israel...February 4, 2019 - Humans, fish and, most likely, other species rely on identical visual features -- color, size, orientation, and motion -- to quickly search for objects, according to researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). The study published in the Journal of Vision involved target-training archerfish, a species with unique visual hunting skills that is widely used in experiments that evaluate visual perception. Click here to watch a video of the experiment. In their natural habitat, archerfish hunt by spitting a jet of water at insect prey on overhanging leaves to dislodge and eat them. BGU researchers trained the fish to distinguish between objects on a computer monitor above them and shoot at a desired target. By doing so, the fish were able to participate in a controlled experiment the same way humans do: simply by watching a computer screen and answering questions. "The experiments tested archerfish performance in visual-search tasks where a target was defined by color, size, orientation, or motion," says Professor Ronen Segev, head of the BGU Neural Code Lab, and a member of the Department of Life Sciences and Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience. "We found, for the first time, that archerfish process these four features in much the same way humans identify a target amidst distracting shapes and colors." Learning more about which features pop out for different species against distracting backgrounds and recognizing variabilities-- what is the same and what is different -- is important for understanding how animals target what they need to survive, reproduce and avoid predators. "There is extensive evidence that color, size, orientation, and motion are the most efficient features for guiding a human's attention. We found the same universal features will also make a target pop out against a busy background for animals with very different brain anatomies and living environments," says Professor Ohad Ben-Shahar, the chair of BGU's Department of Computer Science. While the researchers confirmed that the same four visual search cues work for humans and archerfish, they question whether this is also true for other vertebrates, birds and amphibians. In addition to pinpointing the most effective visual cues, the BGU researchers were also able to identify that both humans and fish find it more difficult to target an object with a different shape or juxtaposition within a busy background. "We can use these results to study the connection between a fish's decision making, the functional properties of its visual system and other parts of the brain," Segev says. "We recommend future studies delve into the evolutionary and developmental perspectives of what guides visual search in other species." ### The research team also included Adam Reichenthal, a graduate student in BGU's Department of Life Sciences and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, and Dr. Mor Ben-Tov, a BGU graduate who is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Duke University. Funding was provided by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant 211/15), the Binational Science Foundation (BSF; Grant 2011058), the Frankel Fund at BGU's Department of Computer Science, and the Helmsley Charitable Trust through the ABC Robotics Initiative of BGU. About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision: creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. As Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) looks ahead to turning 50 in 2020, AABGU imagines a future that goes beyond the walls of academia. It is a future where BGU invents a new world and inspires a vision for a stronger Israel and its next generation of leaders. Together with supporters, AABGU will help the University foster excellence in teaching, research and outreach to the communities of the Negev for the next 50 years and beyond. Visit vision.aabgu.org to learn more. If urgent steps are not taken, climate change will reverse decades of growth in the developing countries. Climate change is an emergency that has been affecting the planet and its inhabitants, human, plant, and animal, in big and small ways. However, it has affected the poor disproportionately and has had a greater impact on the poor and developing nations. The earlier widely held belief that climate change is a gradual, slow-moving phenomenon has been belied by an October 2018 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations, Global Warming of 1.5C. The report estimates that even a 1.5 degree increase could push tens of millions of people into poverty. Hawaii Five-0's Danny Williams will continue his sporadic absences through season 6. 'Hawaii Five-0' Season 6: Why Will Gabriel Torture Adam & Kono? EP Explains Baddies' Motives Five-0's detective has a bad habit of mysteriously disappearing for weeks at a time. For those who have pondered Danno's (Scott Caan) frequent absences, the actor has finally revealed the reason behind his characters seemingly random breaks. "I do five episodes less than [series star] Alex [O'Loughlin]," Caan said, according to Post-Gazzette. "I just do a couple episodes less so I can come home [to Los Angeles] to see my family and stuff. They were cool about it so we just all came to that." 'Hawaii Five-0' Season 6: Catherine Rollins Gone By Episode 3? Showrunner Teases McRollins' Future Don't worry - there will still be plenty of Danno to go around. With 25 episodes planed for season 6, Detective Williams will certainly have time to make his mark. Hawaii Five-0 will open its fall run with "Mai ho'oni I ka wai lana malie." Set to begin just hours after McGarrett's team averted a nuclear disaster, the premiere will follow the intrepid investigators as they track an art thief intent on unearthing pirate treasure. Kono (Grace Park) and Adam (Ian Anthony Dale), meanwhile, will have a hellish honeymoon once Gabriel comes to call. Hawaii Five-0 will return to CBS on Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. ET, See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles Turkey's presidency submits motion for Gulf of Aden Turkish parliament to debate motion extending the authorization of deployment until Feb. 10, 2020. Turkey's presidency on Monday submitted a motion extending the Turkish force deployment in the Gulf of Aden, Somalia, and the Arabian Sea. The parliament will debate the motion on Tuesday that extends the authorization of the deployment through Feb. 10, 2020. Since it was first approved by parliament in 2008, the motion for the deployment has been extended 11 times. The Gulf of Aden -- near Yemen and close to the world's fourth-biggest chokepoint for oil transit, the Bab el-Mandab strait -- is a strategic energy route for Middle Eastern crude oil. Qatar emir arrives in Kuwait for talks with counterpart Kuwait has tried with little success to mediate Gulfs ongoing political crisis. Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrived Monday in Kuwait for an official visit during which he will hold talks with Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al Sabah. The Kuwaiti emir, Crown Prince Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, and National Assembly Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim all reportedly received Al Thani at Kuwaits international airport. "WORST POLITICAL CRISIS" The Qatari emir's last visit to Kuwait was in May 2018, when he also held talks with his Kuwaiti counterpart. Since the crisis in inter-Arab relations erupted in the summer of 2017, Kuwait has attempted to mediate what has been described as the "worst political crisis in the Gulf's history. These efforts, however, have so far failed to yield any breakthroughs. Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid al-Jarallah said in a Monday statement that his country would nevertheless continue its efforts to mediate the crisis. "There are no new developments to report, but Kuwait is prepared to pursue any idea with a view to restoring the unity of the Gulf," he said. Since the summer of 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have all imposed "punitive measures" on Qatar, including the cutting of diplomatic ties and the imposition of an economic blockade. The Saudi-led axis accuses Qatar of supporting regional terrorist groups -- allegations Doha strenuously denies. . EU countries recognize putschist Guaido as president Nine European nations joined the US in recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuelas interim president on Monday, heightening a global showdown over Nicolas Maduros socialist rule. France, Spain, Germany, Britain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands coordinated move came after the expiry of an eight-day ultimatum for Maduro to call a new election. "WE ARE WITH VENEZUELA AGAINST MADURO" Juan Guaido, who leads the National Assembly, declared himself as interim leader last month in a move splitting international powers and bringing Venezuelans onto the streets. Russia and China, who have poured billions of dollars of investment and loans into Venezuela, are supporting Maduro in an extension of their geopolitical tussle with the United States. From today, we will spare no effort in helping all Venezuelans achieve freedom, prosperity and harmony, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, urging both fair elections and humanitarian aid. MADURO REGIME MUST END British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Venezuelans had suffered enough. The oppression of the illegitimate, kleptocratic Maduro regime must end, he said. Russia, on the other hand, accused European nations of foreign meddling. We think that imposing some kind of decisions or trying to legitimize an attempt to usurp power is both direct and indirect interference in Venezuelas internal affairs, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Italys 5-Star Movement, which makes up half of the ruling coalition, dissented from the European stance, saying it would never recognize self-appointed leaders. Handing out ultimatums, sanctions, freezing Venezuelan goods ... It would mean opening the road to a military intervention, Alessandro Di Battista, a prominent 5-Star figure, said on Sunday. But its governing partner, the League, has backed Guaido. Im with the Venezuelan people against regimes like that of Maduro, based on violence, fear and hunger, League leader, Matteo Salvini, said last month. 52 migrants rescued in western Turkey Rubber boat carrying irregular migrants was stranded in the Aegean Sea. Turkish coast guard units on Sunday rescued 52 irregular migrants, including 25 children, in the western province of Aydn. The units sprang to action after learning a rubber boat carrying the migrants was stranded in the Aegean Sea due to engine failure. The migrants included 45 Afghans, six Iranians, and a Gabonese. They were transferred to the provincial migration office. I am a retired Naval Officer and small business owner, outside of my work at the News & Eagle. My wife Tammy and I enjoy serving together at church and attending Gaslight and ESO. We have two daughters, three dogs and little free time. Follow James Neal | Religion/Health Reporter 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 The services celebrating and honoring the life of Loretta Ball, 91, of Enid are pending under the direction of Brown-Cummings Funeral Home. Condolences and special memories may be shared with the family online at WWW.Brown-Cummings.com. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) Amid an ongoing cleanup, both health and environment officials on Monday advised Filipinos to still avoid swimming in the Manila Bay. The Department of Health (DOH) warned the public not to dip in the bay waters until they are "deemed safe for recreational swimming." In a statement, DOH said the Manila Bay still needs to undergo testing for chemical and physical quality as well as coliform levels. "Waterborne gastrointestinal diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, dysentery, as well as skin diseases and eye infections may be acquired while swimming in polluted bodies of water. If not treated promptly, some of these diseases may lead to complications or death. Let us practice good hygiene and sanitation and continue to support the ongoing rehabilitation of Manila Bay," the statement read. READ: Health Department advises public to wait until waters in the Manila Bay 'are deemed safe for recreational swimming.' https://t.co/sDo55hwVGt pic.twitter.com/UsZc5seg6Z CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) February 4, 2019 Environment Undersecretary Benny Antiporda said the water's bacteria level is still beyond swimming standards. "About the water quality, mataas pa rin ang level ng pollutants," Antiporda said. "Wala kaming sinasabi na pwede na mag-swimming diyan." [Translation: About the water quality, the level of pollutants is still high. We didn't say that people could swim there already.] In a report released by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in January, coliform or E. coli bacteria levels in the Estero de San Antonio Abad which leads directly to the bay and the bay area near the Manila Yacht Club have decreased since environment authorities closed wastewater discharge points of some establishments dumping water to the bay. On January 24, coliform levels in Estero de San Antonio Abad were at 920 million most probable number (MPN) per 100 milliliters, then on January 28, it was at 54 million MPN. The Manila Yacht Club also registered at 920 million MPN on January 24, and went down to 35 million MPN on January 28. The numbers are still way above what are considered safe levels for leisure activities such as swimming, which is 100 MPN. Simply soaking in the waters of the Manila Bay or playing in the sand could also pose health risks such as rashes or fungal infections, especially among babies and children. The DENR will also put up fences and signs along the bay to discourage the public from swimming until clearance is given. Following the initial phase of cleanup, netizens have been sharing on social media platforms photos of a "cleaner" Manila Bay. The Manila Bay is one of the many locations in the Philippines that is being rehabilitated by President Rodrigo Duterte's administration. In April 2018, the world-famous Boracay island was closed off to tourists for six months for the cleanup. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources earlier confirmed the government allotted P47 billion to fund Manila Bay's rehabilitation. CNN Philippines Correspondent Carolyn Bonquin contributed to this report. Fayetteville, TN (37334) Today Thunderstorms this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low 63F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low 63F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Elkhart, IN (46516) Today Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 45F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 45F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. The MiR500 mobile transport robot introduced in the summer of 2018 has a payload of 500 kg. Here it can be seen at the Automatica 2018 trade fair. Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), manufacturer of autonomous mobile robot vehicles, has increased its turnover from 10 million euros in 2017 to 26 million euros in 2018. MiR aims to reach further companies with a leasing program in 2019 which is intended to enable further growth. MiR cites the demand of major international customers and the success of the new MiR500 model as reasons for the high increase in sales. "The strong growth is largely due to the international clientele," explains Thomas Visti, CEO of MiR. "Many large, internationally active companies invest in entire fleets for their various locations. It can happen that some companies acquire 15 to 25 MiR robots at the same time." These include, for example, Toyota Motor Corporation, which invests in mobile robot fleets in order to optimize its internal logistics. According to Visti, the market launch of the MiR500 model in the summer of 2018 also contributed to the increase in sales. The mobile transport robot has a payload of 500 kg and is also suitable for autonomous transport of heavy goods such as pallets. In the current year, MiR plans to introduce a leasing program, among other things. "With our leasing concept, we also want to reach companies via external partners that have hitherto leased equipment such as electric forklift trucks and driverless transport systems," explains Thomas Visti. "The option to lease our solution lowers both the inhibition threshold and the initial investment required to switch to our collaborating autonomous mobile robots. In addition to the product and service portfolio, the team at MiR is also developing: The workforce is expected to grow by 100 new employees this year. New branches are also planned in the USA, China, and Japan. According to Visti, MiR expects at least as much sales growth for the current year as for the previous one. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Verwandte Artikel Mobile Industrial Robots ApS Sao Paulo, Feb 4 (epa-efe).- Labeled "deserters" in their homeland and unable to practice medicine in Brazil, some 2,500 Cuban doctors are trying to survive after refusing to return to Cuba following the termination of the Mas Medicos (More Doctors) medical assistance program due to differences between President Jair Bolsonaro and Havana. Last November, Bolsonaro, then president-elect of Brazil, said that the Cuban doctors of Mas Medicos were the "slaves" of a "dictatorship," words that triggered a quick response from the Cuban government and led to the termination of the program. This chain of events turned the lives of 8,332 professionals upside down with many of them deciding to return to the island and stay there. Others returned fearing reprisals from the government if they did not but ended up traveling back to Brazil. Finally, another portion of these doctors decided never to go back to Cuba, and those in this cohort are the so-called "deserters." The situation completely disrupted the life of Cuban doctor Yennier Escobar, 33, who told EFE of his experience while standing outside the Basic Health Unit "Nova Bom Sucesso" in Guarulhos, in Sao Paulo state, where he used to work but has now been replaced. "I loved working in this place, I don't come here much though because I have mixed feelings," he said. November 14 should had been one of the best days of his life because, after two years of trying, he had managed to fulfill his "dream" of bringing his family to Brazil to live, but then the doctor received a call and was told he would be fired and repatriated to Cuba due to "political conflicts." Last December, Escobar traveled back to his country to visit his family but then went back to Brazil, and this move enabled him to avoid being labeled a "deserter" as punishment for those who did not return and, according to which, they are now banned from traveling to the island for eight years. "That's the word they use - 'deserters' - but we're not, we're free Cubans," the doctor said. Escobar and some of his compatriots are now considered "refugees" by the Brazilian authorities, a protocol that allowed them to maintain their status as residents and offers them the opportunity to obtain a work ID - a procedure that takes time during which they are not receiving any income. There is, however, a glimmer of hope for him and the more than 2,500 doctors expelled from the program "More Doctors" who stayed in Brazil: re-enter the program. But they must wait at the end of a long line because the procedure launched by the government to fill the posts gives Brazilian doctors priority. Despite the fact that the initial enrollment exceeded the 8,517 vacancies, there are still some 800 free spots because some of those selected to participate renounced their status due to the fact that they would be stationed in difficult-to-access areas or ones lacking adequate resources. In fact, the Mas Medicos program was created in 2013 by then President Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016) to guarantee care in these areas of Brazil. Meanwhile, the Cuban doctors who stayed in Brazil are eager to fill the 800 vacancies when the selection process resumes on Feb. 18 "if they don't delay it again," the doctor said. If he does not make it into the program, Escobar is willing to work at "whatever comes up, whatever is legal." Yet, he said he still hopes that his long-term dream can come true: taking a recertification exam that would put him on the same level as Brazilian doctors, although that has not been offered since 2017. Escobar defines himself as a "man of science and not of politics," but believes that Bolsonaro's statements "opened the eyes of the world" about the situation of Cuban doctors. Under this program, Cuban doctors received just 25 percent of their salary, about $800, and the rest was retained by the Havana regime. At the moment, Escobar does not plan on returning to his country and is asking the Brazilian government to show its "humanity." "I think we have been good to these people," he said, a statement that can be confirmed by listening to some of his patients' testimonies. Izabel Dias holds in her arms her granddaughter, Isabelle Vitoria, who at the age of 3 struggles with a rare disease, spinal muscular atrophy type 1. When the little girl was only 6 months old and could barely manage to move, some health professionals limited themselves to predicting her early death. It was Escobar who, after examining her, rejected that possibility, made a preliminary diagnosis and directed the family to a specialist who now, two-and-a-half years later, continues to treat the child. "We need a human being who doesn't work just for money but for people," Dias said. 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. Sponsored By: St Anthony's Hospital Data collection for the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment has just ended. When PISA scores are released later this year, they will attract attention across the globe. However, there are several flaws in PISA that need attending to. Getting PISA right is important because it is likely the worlds best-known education assessment. Coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, PISA has grown from testing students in 32 countries in the year 2000 to 80 countries and subnational entities (including some Chinese provinces) in 2018. Designed to monitor national education systems through regular assessments employing a common framework, PISA provides benchmarks against which countries can compare their own performance. The United States has supported PISA since its inception, but we in the U.S. Department of Education are now concerned that PISA is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. The United States sees two specific challenges potentially undermining the quality of PISA: First is PISAs lack of investment in the research and development needed to ensure the quality of such a complex, wide-ranging, and high-profile assessment program. Second is PISAs short, three-year testing cycle, which made sense in 2000 when PISA started, but, given new testing technologies, is expensive and unnecessary. We believe that action is needed now to safeguard the future of PISA. Every large-scale assessment program requires extensive, sustained research and development. For a program with the international visibility of PISA, R&D must be more than basic validation and testing; it should encompass a strategic approach that places R&D at the heart of future planning and creates an infrastructure for validating ideas. See also: If Students Arent Trying on International Tests, Can We Still Compare Countries Results? Rather than recognizing how much R&D is needed to get things right, PISA has been trying to roll out a new innovative domain every three years. The sad lesson from PISAs 2018 global competence assessment is that there is great risk in rushing to prepare an assessment for a brand new construct every three years without extensive research conducted over a reasonable time period. Indeed, the global-competence assessment was of such low quality that 40 of the countries taking the digitally based version of PISA simply refused to administer itthe United States among them. We believe that action is needed now to safeguard the future of PISA." A fully functioning R&D operation could help ensure quality, by conducting the work needed to validate or modify proposed changes to PISAs scale, scope, and design. It also could help turn investments in exploratory, one-time assessments of innovative domains into better-thought-out assessments. Clearly, this R&D function would have to have a large degree of independence from the OECD to resist political and competitive pressuresincluding the lure of innovationthat now buffet PISA. Development in PISA is not limited to the innovative domains. The three major domains of math, reading, and science literacy require constant research and updating. PISA essentially has two tasks: measure evolving forms of literacy to help assess the mastery of skills needed to prosper in the changing world and produce trend data on levels of skills across time. The first goal requires an assessment framework that constantly evolves; the second requires reliable measurement over time. Without sufficient development work, PISA is in danger of losing the capacity to address either task adequately. With proper R&D, PISA could measure trends against past performance, while letting the assessment framework evolve so that any changes in the nature of literacies needed could be taken into account. But meeting that challenge will require careful research and development conducted over more time than PISA now allows. The OECD also needs to reconsider its three-year testing cycle. This cycle made sense in the early days of PISA when countries were first learning about where their education systems stood relative to others, when there were only three subjects tested, and, perhaps most critically, when accurately measuring all subjects was not feasible on every cycle. Initially, PISA was designed to assess 15-year-old students in-depth in one of three core subjectsmathematics literacy, reading literacy, and scientific literacywith one of the three administered as the main domain and assessed much more accurately than the others. This meant that in-depth data on student performance in any single domain could be reported only every nine years, which was deemed adequate for countries to monitor their education systems. Assessment technologies have improved markedly since the launch of PISA in 2000. These improvements mean that PISA will be able to provide in-depth data for each of its core subjects after each administration, rather than waiting nine years. Today, a five-year testing cycle would produce the information countries need almost twice as often as originally envisioned in PISA, but with a lower financial burden and less strain on each countrys capacity to administer the tests. Most importantly, a longer cycle would allow more resources to be devoted to test development and analysis rather than test administration, allow more time to ensure that PISA reporting and the assessments themselves adhere to the highest quality standards, and give OECD more time to vet innovations. The PISA program is currently spending too much time and too much money on secondary innovative domains and a three-year survey cycle. Those resources should be redirected into research that extends the existing PISA program to investigate system-level educational interventions that can increase our understanding of what policies are associated with improvements in learning outcomes. OECD members and other PISA participants have long called for changes to safeguard and improve the quality of PISA . It is time for the OECD to acknowledge these calls and to recognize that it is time for a systematic reconsideration of PISAs design, periodicity, and quality control. A sea of students are taking part in climate strikes around the world, and on March 15, young activists in the U.S. will add their voices to the escalating #FridaysForFuture movement. Ever since 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg called for the first global climate strike last month, it has become a weekly routine for students to skip class on Fridays to march for their futures and those of future generations. Now, kids, teens and young adults in the U.S. will take their own action with support from environmental groups such 350.org, Extinction Rebellion and the Sunrise Movement, Earther reported. "If we're not going to have a future, then school won't matter any more," one of the organizers, 13-year-old New Yorker Alexandria Villasenor, told Earther about why American students should join the strike next month. Villasenor has been part of the youth-led strike for months and endured sit-in last weekend in New York City as a polar vortex brought bone-chilling cold to the Big Apple. "I prepared all week for this and realized climate change will force us to live differently and deal with more extreme weather. People are dying right now, and we need to #ActOnClimate!" she tweeted. Climate strikes have taken place in cities around Europe, Australia and elsewhere. The fourth straight rally in Brussels on Jan. 31 drew as many as 35,000 student participants. The youngsters are demanding their leaders and older generations take immediate climate action. Teen climate activist Jamie Margolin, the founder of This is Zero Hour, said on Twitter that youth across the U.S. will be taking to the streets on March 15 "to show our legislators that we need a Green New Deal," referring to the insurgent policy proposal to fight climate change and to move the U.S. to a sustainable future. Margolin also praised strike co-leaders such as Isra Hirsi and Haven Coleman for their work in bringing the climate revolution to American shores. "This #ClimateStrike is being organized by amazing young women like @israhirsi & @havenruthie + so many more! Young girls are leading the climate movement!" she wrote. According to Earther, strikers in Australia and Europe plan to join the U.S. contingent in solidarity, and action is also planned in Uganda and Thailand. For those of you who are interested in striking or if you'd like to lead your hometown in a strike, check out this link. By Rex Weyler The world's youth have finally seen and heard enough from the deplorable political process, from compromised delegates, corrupted political appointees, and criminal corporations who sabotage these critical international discussions. The truth of our ecological crisis is not difficult to see. Fragile ecosystems are unraveling all around us. We have been warned by scientists for two centuries: by the 1972 "Limits to Growth" study, William Catton's 1980 book Overshoot, by reliable scientists, and by millions of ecology activists. We were warned by the 2009 Nature article, "Planetary Boundaries" showing that humanity has breached seven critical tipping points; and by the 2012, Nature article, "Approaching a State Shift in Earth's Biosphere," by 22 international scientists warning of an "irreversible" planetary-scale transition, "unknown in human experience." And yet, politicians and delegates travel around the world, stay in luxury hotels and dither about our children's future, as carbon emissions rise, species blink from existence, rivers run dry and ancient forests burn. It is no wonder, and a welcome sight, that the world's youth have seen enough and are not impressed. Thirty Years of Pep Talks On Dec. 12 2018, at the COP 24 UN climate conference in Katowice, Poland, Swedish student Greta Thunberg finally said what the politicized delegates have failed to say. Thunberg is a direct descendant of Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius, who predicted global heating from carbon emissions in 1896. During this year's heat wave and wildfires in Sweden, Thunberg gained world attention by staging a school strike outside the Swedish Riksdag, holding a sign that read, "Skolstrejk for klimatet" (school strike for climate). She demanded that the Swedish government reduce carbon emissions. Her actions inspired student strikes in over 270 cities around the world. Greta Thunberg full speech at UN Climate Change COP24 Conference youtu.be Speaking on behalf of Climate Justice Now, Thunberg chastised the delegates and member nations for failing to take action appropriate to the climate crisis: "Until you start focusing on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible, there is no hope. We can't solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. We need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground." Thunberg pointed out that "if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, maybe we should change the system itself," and she spoke directly to the errors and injustice of our economic system. "Our biosphere is being sacrificed so that rich people in countries like mine can live in luxury. It is the sufferings of the many which pay for the luxuries of the few." She exposed the errors of convenient but false solutions that have displaced the genuine solutions to climate change and ecological collapse. "You only speak of green eternal economic growth because you are too scared of being unpopular," she said. "You only talk about moving forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess, even when the only sensible thing to do is pull the emergency brake." "We've had thirty years of pep-talking and selling positive ideas," she said in Stockholm prior to departing for Poland, "And I'm sorry, but it doesn't work. Because if it would have, the emissions would have gone down by nowthey haven't." Meanwhile, outside the conference, 330 organizations from 129 countries presented six "People's Demands for Climate Justice," beginning with "Keep fossil fuels in the ground and end subsidies to fossil fuel industry." The youth leaders urged nations to "reject false solutions"techno-fixes and offsetting schemesin favor of "real solutions that are just, feasible, and essential." They particularly called out corporations and rich nations, who use the excuse of carbon sinks to seize indigenous land. They called on the rich nations, whose historical carbon emissions have caused the climate crisis, to accept their fair share of climate reparation costs by honoring their Green Climate Fund obligations. Finally, the coalition demanded that UN conferences end "corporate interference" and sabotage of the climate talks. Extraction corporations "have been getting massively wealthy," said Sriram Madhusoodanan from Corporate Accountability. "They're in these talks, blocking real solutions and advancing false solutions that will continue to propagate their business model." Why Thunberg Is Correct Thunberg is correct about years, decades, of pep-talks and positive ideas that have failed to reduce carbon emissions. Scientists have known about the threat of global heating since Thunberg's ancestor, Arrhenius calculated the impact in the nineteenth century. The modern world has been meeting about the crisis for almost forty years, since the first World Climate Conference in Geneva in 1979. Since then, human carbon emissions have doubled from about 5 gigatonnes of carbon per year (GtC/yr) to 2018's record-breaking 10.88 GtC/yr. Meanwhile, CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has grown by 22 percent, from 337 parts per million (ppm) in 1979 to over 412 ppm today. These results represent an enormous failure on the part of world governments. Laser Projection on the COP24 Venue in Poland She is also correct about the unfulfilled promise of "green growth," a notion made popular in 2012, at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, by the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, both dedicated to industrial growth. However, recent studies show that "green" or "sustainable" growth are delusions. In 2018, anthropologist Jason Hickel reviewed recent data and wrote in Foreign Policy that "green growth ... is based more on wishful thinking than on evidence." A 2012 study by German resource economist Monika Dittrich and colleagues showed that even under optimum conditions, decoupling economic growth from resource use has not occurred. The United Nations Environment Programme came to similar conclusions in 2016 and 2017 studies. They predicted that by 2050, with continued growth, resource use would double to 180 billion metric tons per year (Gt/y). Ecological footprint data shows that a sustainable level of resource use is about 50 Gt/y, a limit breached in 2000. Studies have consistently and rigidly linked economic growth to energy. In a 2012 paper, "No way out? The double-bind in seeking global prosperity alongside mitigated climate change," T. J. Garrett, at the University of Utah, performed the calculations and determined that every single dollar (U.S. dollar, 1990) of global economic growth in recent decades required approximately 9.7 milliwatts of energy. "Global CO2 emission rates," wrote Garrett, "cannot be decoupled from wealth through efficiency gains." Wealthy nations, such as the UK and U.S., have claimed to "decouple" energy use from GDP, but only because they have exported energy-intensive industries and now import finished goodscars, computers, trinketswhich represent massive embedded energy. Based on recent data, Thunberg is entirely correct that "green growth" is a delusion. Pull the Break Finally, Thunberg is correct that the only paths out of our predicament require that we "change the system itself." Global heating, biodiversity loss, environmental toxins, nutrient cycle disruption and all other ecological challenges arise as symptoms of a single, larger biophysical reality. Humanity is in a state of ecological overshoot. There is no way to grow out of overshoot. All genuine solutions to overshoot require that the species contract, not grow. As Thunberg says, it is time to face these facts, to slow down, and to "pull the emergency brake" on economic growth. This is the reality that the climate conference delegates are too scared to voice. Our status quo economic systemindustrial capitalismrequires growth to survive. Without endless economic growth, the $250 trillion global debt to bankers and investors cannot be paid. As Thunberg says, "Our biosphere is being sacrificed so that rich people .. can live in luxury." The biosphere is being sacrificed so bankers can receive their interest payments, to keep stock prices up and to avoid facing reality. The current system is biased for the rich to get richer, as multitudes suffer, as the ecosystem collapses, and as other species disappear. Economist Jeremy Grantham concurs in "The Race for our Lives," when he states that "capitalism and mainstream economics simply cannot deal with these problems." Corporate sabotage of the climate talks is not new. In the 1920s and 30s, Standard Oil, General Motors and Firestone Tires acquired and sabotaged public transportation throughout North America for the purpose of replacing efficient public transport with gas-guzzling cars. Today in Nigeria, Ecuador, Canada, in the Arctic, around the world and at these UN conferences, oil companies are still sabotaging the public interest for profits. It gives us some measure of hope that young leaders appear to be among the few who have the courage and insight to speak the truth. Greta Thunberg closed her short talk by announcing, "We have not come here to beg world leaders to care We have come here to let you know that change is coming, whether you like it or not." Her speech stands as one of the most hopeful moments for ecological realism in recent years. Rex Weyler was a director of the original Greenpeace Foundation, the editor of the organization's first newsletter, and a co-founder of Greenpeace International in 1979. A once-in-a-century flooding disaster in northeast Queensland, Australia forced authorities in the city of Townsville to fully open the floodgates of the Ross River dam on Sunday night, causing nearly 2,000 cubic meters (approximately 70,629 cubic feet) of water to pour out of the dam every second from 9 p.m., News.com.au reported. "We've never seen anything like this before," Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told Today, according to News.com.au. "In Queensland, of course, we're used to seeing natural disasters, but Townsville has never seen the likes of this." Nearly 1,000 people in Townsville have sought refuge in relocation shelters, Australia's ABC News reported. Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said Monday it had carried out 18 rescues from swift water and 1,100 relocations in the past 24 hours. So far, around 500 homes in Townsville have been flooded, News.com.au reported, but that number could increase. "It could move up to the 10,000, 20,000 [mark]," district disaster coordinator Steve Munro said, according to News.com.au. "That's the worst case scenario we're looking at if things keep going pear-shaped. We don't want to get to that stage." Townsville has received more than 20 times its average rainfall for late January / early February at around 3.3 feet in the past week. This breaks the record previously set by the Night of Noah flood in 1998, BBC News reported. Climate change is expected to increase extreme rainfall events across Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology's (BOM) State of the Climate 2018 found. BOM meteorologists have said water spouts and tornadoes could form along parts of the Queensland coast, but the rain should move further south of Townsville, ABC News reported. However, another half-a-meter to meter (approximately 1.6 to 3.2 feet) of rain could fall in north and central Queensland in the next few days, according to News.com.au. "We don't know when this event will end," Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said, according to News.com.au. "We cannot give you any certainty about what we are going to need to do into the future." The onrush of rain and flood water has been a dramatic experience for residents. "I've never seen anything like this," Townsville resident Chris Brookehouse told ABC, according to News.com.au. "The volume of water is just incredible. Downstairs is gone, the fridge and freezer are floating. Another five or six steps and upstairs is gone too." Two policemen evacuating residents in a Townsville suburb were stranded themselves when the dam floodgates opened. Water swept their car away and they had to cling to trees for half an hour before being rescued themselves. However, the rain hasn't been a disaster for all of Queensland. In the west, it has helped counteract a drought. "It is a welcome relief, especially in our western communities, to not only get the rain but also to fill up their dams," Palaszczuk said Sunday, as News.com.au reported. WAKEFIELD How should denim be made in 2030 from an environmental and social perspective? What are the anticipated key technology breakthroughs that can make this happen? Can denim mills make a profit and be sustainable? And whats stopping the whole denim sector from changing sooner rather than later? These will be some of the key questions posed to panellists in a special breakout session at Planet Textiles 2019, which is being held during the giant ITMA exhibition on 22nd June in Barcelona with support from the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. Speakers include: Alberto Candiani, CEO of the Italian mill Candiani Denim which calls itself the greenest mill in the blue world. Noted for both its innovation, high quality fabrics and commitment to environmental issues, Candiani recycles 100 per cent of its waste, which goes back into new fabric. Also speaking is Sanjeev Bahl, founder and CEO of Saitex International, a unique Vietnam-based state-of-the-art denim producer that incorporates sustainability into product design from the very start of the process. The company recycles 98 per cent of the water from wet processing, uses jet washing to minimise consumption and his solar powered facility also uses biomass such as coconut husks and wood shavings for power generation to make denim for the likes of Tommy Hilfiger, Target, G-Star Raw, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. Reserve your place here. Also joining the panel are Miguel Sanchez, an independent expert who has been involved in the denim sector for 30 years at companies such as Archroma where he was involved in the development of the Advanced Denim sulphur dyeing process. Mike Kininmonth, project manager for denim at Lenzing, the maker of Tencel, which is widely used in denim especially for womens wear will also give practical advice on the implementation of new denim technology. The session will be moderated, by Andrew Olah, CEO of Olah Inc., the founder of Kingpins denim event, which takes place in Amsterdam, New York and Hong Kong and runs the Transformers event on sustainability. Its hoped that the outcomes of the discussion will provide the basis for a new, practical Blueprint for how the denim sector should operate in the next decade ahead. Planet Textiles 2019, which will take place on 22 June in Barcelona at the giant ITMA event, which every four years becomes the meeting point for the global textile industry. The textile industry Olympics, as its often known, was last held in Barcelona back in 2011 when it attracted over 100,000 visitors from 138 countries and is where the very latest advances in textile technology are revealed. The conference will be held in the CC5 convention centre inside the Fira Barcelona near to Hall 3 and visitors will benefit from a heavily discounted 7-day access to the ITMA exhibition through a joint ticketing scheme with the ITMA organisers. Supporters of Planet Textiles 2019 include: Sympatex, Lenzing, ZDHC, Kendor Textiles, Tox-Services, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, and Fashion for Good. Reserve your place at Planet Textiles 2019 HERE. 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! Facebook on Monday began rolling out a new feature that's bound to charm the political activists among its users. Called "Community Actions," it lets Facebook members create an action page where they can describe what they'd like done, and set up a button that like-minded members can click to show their support, TechCrunch reported Sunday. The page will show the government agencies and officials notified about the action, as well as the number of its supporters. When you support an action, you'll be able to see any of your friends who also support it, but no other names except the tagged public officials and agencies. Action pages also have discussion feeds, where people can leave comments, create fundraisers and organize Facebook Events or Call Your Rep campaigns. The feature will be rolled out gradually so that all Facebook members won't have immediate access to it. It will be limited initially to the United States. No Tagging Trump Facebook is trying to keep Community Actions focused on getting government to act so it won't be as freewheeling as some petition sites on the Web, wrote TechCrunch's Josh Constine. Change.org, for example, has petitions that range from urging Maroon 5 against performing at the Super Bowl to docking congressional pay during government shutdowns, to removing Holocaust denial pages from Facebook, to providing air conditioning for UPS drivers. Facebook also aims to tamp down controversy by blocking Community Actions activists from tagging President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence as targets for their petitions. Some sample Community Actions cited by Constine, who got a sneak peek at the feature, included a Colorado group calling for the governor to put a moratorium on oil and gas drilling, citizens asking for a performing arts center, and a Philadelphia neighborhood association requesting that the city put in crosswalks near the library. Going Viral Narrow or not, petitions arising in Community Actions probably have a better chance of capturing lots of eyeballs than competing petition sites. "Facebook activity has a lot better chance of going viral than a number of these do-gooder sites and would have a higher profile," said John Carroll, a media analyst for WBUR in Boston. "A Facebook user has 2 billion people as a potential audience," he told TechNewsWorld. "Change.org is a very active site, but it doesn't get a critical mass behind its petitions all that often and relies on the mainstream media to give it an extra boost." The media will play a role in the success of Community Actions petitions, maintained Karen North, director of the Annenberg Online Communities program at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. "The question is whether the media will deem Facebook petitions as newsworthy. If they do, then they become more relevant because they get broader attention," she told TechNewsWorld. "It's like Donald Trump's tweets," North added. "Most people don't see them on Twitter. They read them in the news." Staying Relevant Facebook's motives behind Community Actions may be more than the social network trying to be a good citizen. "Facebook is always in search for the next feature that will make them or keep them relevant," North said. "Right now, one of the things that's energizing to people around the country and around the world is political dispute," she continued. "We have a very polarized situation right now, and people are engaged in passionate political discussions. So it's not a surprise that Facebook would take that social activity and turn it into a Facebook feature," said North. For Facebook, everything is about public relations and marketing, maintained Carroll. "This Community Actions feature ticks both those boxes They're trying to look like good citizens and do good in the community, but this is a marketing gold mine for Facebook," he said. "They're going to know something that you're dedicated to. That's powerful information for their business, which is selling their users." Sandberg's Political DNA In addition to Community Actions, Facebook has launched a number of civic-minded projects in the past, such as Town Hall and Candidate Info. Town Hall gives Facebook members a convenient way to locate, follow and contact their local, state and federal government officials. Candidate Info offers thousands of vertical videos. Candidates look their constituents straight in the camera's eye and talk about themselves, their top policy priorities, and their biggest goal if they win office. "When you look at some of the things that have been rolled out in the last couple of years, they speak to Sheryl Sandberg's political DNA," North said. Facebook COO Sandberg worked in the administration of President Bill Clinton as chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. She was rumored to be a potential running mate for Hillary Clinton. "Facebook seems to be drawn to political activities and features. I don't know if it comes from user data or from Sheryl Sandberg, and maybe Mark Zuckerberg," said North. However, "Facebook needs to remember what draws people to Facebook is to share experiences and photos with friends and family, so it needs to be careful not to turn it into a hostile community," she cautioned. An Infrastructure for Community Community Actions appears to be part of a pledge made by Facebook two years ago to develop the social infrastructure for community. "For the past decade, Facebook has focused on connecting friends and families," wrote CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a 6,000-word manifesto posted on the social network. "With that foundation, our next focus will be developing the social infrastructure for community -- for supporting us, for keeping us safe, for informing us, for civic engagement, and for inclusion of all," he added. "Our job at Facebook is to help people make the greatest positive impact while mitigating areas where technology and social media can contribute to divisiveness and isolation. Facebook is a work in progress, and we are dedicated to learning and improving," Zuckerberg maintained. "We may not have the power to create the world we want immediately, but we can all start working on the long term today," he added. "In times like these, the most important thing we at Facebook can do is develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us." 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. What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 814-368-3173 or email nfinnerty@oleantimesherald.com. North Andover, MA (01845) Today Widely scattered showers and thunderstorms this evening. Clouds lingering later. Low around 70F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Widely scattered showers and thunderstorms this evening. Clouds lingering later. Low around 70F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Claremont, NH (03743) Today Scattered thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Readers Survey As our valued readers, we want to hear from you. Please take a moment to fill out the survey below. - Thank you, Eastern Arizona Courier Click Here Dutch water companies signed a Partnership Agreement with water companies in the Hau Giang, Soc Trang and Can Tho, in the South Western Mekong Delta on 23 January. The agreement is part of a Dutch WaterworX project - managed by VEI - to support the Vietnamese water companies in the river delta to maintain their future water supply in the view of upcoming climate change challenges. Can Tho has two companies that will join the projects first phase, while Hau Giang and Soc Trang also have one each. Water supply in the Mekong Delta is currently at a good level but soil subsidence threatens the fresh water resources that are currently used by the water companies. Upgrading supply schemes Although coverage and service levels are relatively good in Vietnam, serious challenges low lying river delta, including land subsidence, saline intrusion, reduced availability of groundwater and pollution of surface water pose heavy risks on the future water supply. A regional approach for upgrading, expansion and modification of supply schemes is necessary. The current institutional and legislative landscape is fragmented and not furnished to effectively cope with those upcoming climate challenges. Enhance operational capacity According to Folkert de Jager (fourth from the right on top photo) of VEI, the WaterworX project will help enhance the operational capacity of water supply firms, focusing on reducing revenue losses, as well as improving water quality and saving power. Also part of the project is the coordination to build resilient future plans. In the second and third phases, the project may expand the collaboration with other water firms in the Mekong Delta facing similar problems, such as Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, and Kien Giang. De Jager: "Hopefully, the project will contribute to promoting economic growth in the Mekong Delta region, where water plays a significant role in local agriculture." The intention for phase two and three of the WaterworX programme, which runs until 2030, is to scale up the project to the entire South Western Mekong Delta, improving water supply for 10 million people. WaterworX also conducts projects in Africa, such as here seen in Nairobi where pre-paid water meters are introduced. About WaterworX WaterworX is a public-private collaboration (2017-2030) between ten Dutch water companies and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs to increase sustainable access to drinking water to 10 million people in 2030 in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In the case of the Mekong Delta, the project covers a large area, with a total of about 10 million inhabitants for who the water supply can potentially be improved. The Mekong Delta projects also addresses the sustainability of the water supply, aiming to adjustment of the water companys operations to the effects of climate change, in this case soil subsidence. Without adjustments the water companies are expected to run out of business in about 30 years. WaterworX is preparing substantial financial investments. Involving the World Bank and the Vietnamese government. Both have acknowledged that the partnership can contribute to an effective absorption of such investments in the Vietnamese water supply companies. This news item was originally published on the website of VEI. (Photos: VEI) Read also on this website Vitens-Evides International to expand water connections in four Philippine cities, 29 January 2018 Dutch water utilities launch WaterWorX programme at celebration of World Water Day, 24 March 2017 VEI and Unesco-IHE support regional training of staff African water utilities, 15 February 2017 Expertise: Water for all Country: Vietnam More information VEI/WaterworX Utrecht, the Netherlands +31 88 884 79 91 www.vei.nl Louth girl Clodagh Young was on an Irish Girl Guides team that scooped first place in the research category of the first Lego League Leinster finals, which took place recently in Dublin City University (DCU). Clodagh (13) of Glyde Guides, Louth, spent several months working on the project, which explored how astronauts could grow vegetables in space. Her other team-mates, all members of the Irish Girl Guides, came from all around the country, which made working together challenging. They met five times for full day workshops in DCUs Lego Innovation Studio and, fittingly, chose the name Sparrots as their team name (sparrots = carrots & space)! As well as developing a research project based on identifying a human physical or social problem faced during long-duration space exploration and proposing a solution, the girls also had to design, build and programme a robot to undertake various challenges on a themed playing field during the finals. They named their robot Pablo! The first Lego League is an international competition involving children and young people from age 11 to 16 from 80 countries. The teams operate under a signature core set of values, which include teamwork, sharing of experience, discovery, the spirit of friendly competition and co-operation. Clodagh hugely enjoyed taking part in the competition and winning the research category was the icing on the cake. She felt honoured to be on Team Sparrots and says her favourite quote (from IGGs international camp in 2017) is girls with dreams become women with vision. IGG Chief Commissioner Helen Concannon said: "The girls have developed their STEM skills through this project and learned how to harness each persons individual skills so as to create amazing group projects. "Working together, they have valued each persons contribution and impressed us with their ingenuity. They are excellent role models for our younger members and prove the relevance of STEM to all - both boys and girls." Irish Girl Guides welcomes new members from age 5-30 and new volunteer leaders from age 18+. No previous Guiding experience is necessary. To find out more, see www.irishgirlguides.ie or tel: 01 6683898. ADA [ndash] Wanda Lee Brewer, 91, of Ada, Oklahoma passed away Sunday, June 13, 2021, in Ada. Services for Wanda will be held Thursday, June 17, 2021, at 10 a.m. at the Estes-Phillips Funeral Home Chapel, with Bro. Roger Arter officiating. Interment will follow at New Bethel Cemetery. For up A recent survey of Dothans city sidewalks revealed more than 76 percent of curb ramps do not meet Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines. The survey, which began in late 2017, also revealed 338 of the citys 624 sidewalks (54.2 percent) failed federal guidelines. Sidewalks and curb ramps can fail standards for a variety of reasons, including cracking and sloping issues, said Reginald Franklin, City of Dothan transportation planner. The city contracted with the Neel-Schaffer firm in November 2017 to conduct a survey of the sidewalks and curbs because evaluations are required in order to receive Federal Highway Administration funding for road projects, said Todd McDonald, Dothans planning director. To his knowledge, Franklin said this is the first evaluation of the citys sidewalks and curbs for ADA purposes since Congress passed the law in 1990. The survey revealed 1,124 of the 1,468 city-controlled curb ramps are noncompliant, according to a city document. Surveyors found the highest percentage of issues in District 5, where 295 of the 304 curb ramps (97 percent) failed guidelines. The largest amount of issues overall occurred in District 2, which has almost half of the city-controlled sidewalks. In that district, 454 of 601 curb ramps (75.5) did not meet ADA guidelines. The Feb. 4 trial date for a former childrens minister facing multiple sexual abuse charges will be rescheduled. William Wesley Williamson, 38, is charged with four counts of sexual abuse of a child. According to court documents, a member of Williamsons defense team, Shaun McGhee, has a capital murder trial scheduled for the week of Feb. 4, and it is expected to last all week. Williamson entered a not guilty plea during his arraignment hearing Nov. 14. According to Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza, the first three alleged incidents occurred at a summer camp in 2017. The fourth charge was filed by an additional victim and related to a different occasion between August and September of 2017, according to HCSO Maj. Bill Rafferty. Sexual abuse of a child less than 12 is a Class B felony, punishable by between two and 20 years in prison and a fine up to $30,000. Williamsons attorney Thomas Smith told the Dothan Eagle in an earlier interview that, from his understanding, information listed on the warrant states Williamson brushed his hand against the clothing in the genital area of the victims, but no specific sex act is alleged. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider subscribing to our ePaper and/or free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. The growing strength of the food sector in Donegal was demonstrated clearly again last week when almost 120 food producers, chefs and buyers attended a packed-out event hosted by the Donegal Food Coast Donegals Good Food Initiative. The meet the producer event in the Silver Tassie Hotel saw food business consultant James Burke joined on stage by Maurice McGeehan executive chef at Airbnb and by Bib Gourmande winner Conor Mee of the Courthouse Restaurant, Carrickmacross. Local producers, Hugh Wilhare of Mulroy Bay Mussels and Lee Gildea of Gildeas Farm Butchers later joined the panel for a discussion on how food producers and buyers could make the most of growing opportunities. Indeed, opportunities for collaboration and business to business cooperation was central to the event that saw almost 30 producers from across the county showcase their products. What we really want is to continue to provide opportunities for our Donegal food businesses to get to know each other, understand how they can benefit each other and ultimately continue to do business with each other. That will lead to benefits for the local economy and jobs for the region, said Eve Anne McCarron, Business Advisor with Local Enterprise Office, Donegal. Those in attendance were urged not to be shy about their offering, but also asked to make sure they followed up on any contacts made on the day. We would appeal to those who attended to follow the advice given on the day and keep the lines of communication they have built with their new contacts, Eve Anne said. Feedback from the event has been hugely positive, but the many more food businesses in Donegal who could be part of the Food Coast Network have also been urged to join. Eve Anne explained that the network is open to all food businesses in Donegal, while there is also an opportunity for businesses in the county to apply for certification. The Food Coast initiative certifies Donegal food producers and processors, as well as service and retail sector businesses that sell Donegal made produce. The Food Coast Brand is a mark of origin and allows consumers to identify food produced in Donegal or businesses that sell Donegal made produce. The LEO executive stressed however that applications for 2019 are now being accepted and she appealed for interested food businesses to get in touch with the Local Enterprise Office. Anyone seeking certification needs to apply by the 29th of March, but there is a process to go through for that to happen and with that in mind, I would urge anyone interested to get in touch as soon as possible. Those interested in finding out more should contact Margaret Campbell at the Local Enterprise Office margaret.campbell@leo. donegalcoco.ie or 0749160735. Local Enterprise Office Donegal is supported through co-funding from the Irish Government and the European Regional Development Fund 2014 2020. Study reveals wildlife is abundant in Chernobyl A scavenger study that used fish carcasses as bait provides additional evidence that wildlife is abundant in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, University of Georgia researchers said. The rarely seen Eurasian otter preparing to feast in the canal A one-month camera study prompted the sighting of 10 mammal and five bird species, according to James Beasley, associate professor at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. "These animals were photographed while scavenging fish carcasses placed on the shoreline of rivers and canals in the CEZ," he said. "We've seen evidence of a diversity of wildlife in the CEZ through our previous research, but this is the first time that we've seen white-tailed eagles, American mink and river otter on our cameras." Beasley is referring to a 2015 study that provided the first evidence that wildlife--including gray wolves--exists in abundance in this ecological zone of about 1,000 square miles that was abandoned by humans after the 1986 nuclear accident. The new results, published in the journal Food Webs, provide evidence that aquatic nutrient resources can flow to terrestrial landscapes and become available to terrestrial as well as semiaquatic wildlife, like otter and mink. Lead investigator Peter Schlichting, an SREL postdoctoral researcher at the time of the study, said previous studies reported that scavenging activity can connect various food webs, but scientists don't fully understand how this occurs. In the current study, fish carcasses were placed at the edge of open waters at the Pripyat River and in nearby irrigation canals, mimicking the natural activity that occurs when currents transport dead fish carcasses to the shore, according to Schlichting, now a postdoctoral research associate at Arizona State University. The results show that 98 percent of the fish carcasses were consumed within one week by a multitude of scavengers. "This is a high rate of scavenging, and given that all our carcasses were consumed by terrestrial or semi-aquatic species, it verifies that the movement of nutritional resources between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems occurs more frequently than often recognized," Beasley said. "We tend to think of fish and other aquatic animals as staying in the aquatic ecosystem. This research shows us that if a reasonable proportion of dead fish make it to shore, there is an entire group of terrestrial and semi-aquatic species that transfer those aquatic nutrients to the terrestrial landscape." The team compared scavenger activity at the river with scavenger activity at the canals, evaluating parameters including the percent of carcasses consumed and how quickly they were consumed; the number of species that showed up; and how frequently each species was detected. The team found that scavenger efficiency was higher in the river because the limited shoreline cover increased the visibility of the fish carcasses, making them easier to find. But, as the team predicted, richness was higher in the canals. "Many former agricultural areas within the CEZ were irrigated through the use of these small canals," Beasley said. "Most of them still hold water, but they are overgrown with vegetation that provides cover for wildlife, so they are used by a wider array of species." Climate change and infertility -- a ticking time bomb? Rising temperatures could make some species sterile and see them succumb to the effects of climate change earlier than currently thought, scientists at the University of Liverpool warn. "There is a risk that we are underestimating the impact of climate change on species survival because we have focused on the temperatures that are lethal to organisms, rather than the temperatures at which organisms can no longer breed," explains evolutionary biologist Dr Tom Price from the University's Institute of Integrative Biology. Currently, biologists and conservationists are trying to predict where species will be lost due to climate change, so they can build suitable reserves in the locations they will eventually need to move to. However, most of the data on when temperature will prevent species surviving in an area is based on the 'critical thermal limit' or CTL - the temperature at which they collapse, stop moving or die. In a new opinion article published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, the researchers highlight that extensive data from a wide variety of plants and animals suggests that organisms lose fertility at lower temperatures than their CTL. Certain groups are thought to be most vulnerable to climate-induced fertility loss, including cold-blooded animals and aquatic species. "Currently the information we have suggests this will be a serious issue for many organisms. But which ones are most at risk? Are fertility losses going to be enough to wipe out populations, or can just a few fertile individuals keep populations going? At the moment, we just don't know. We need more data," says Dr Price. To help address this, the researchers propose another measure of how organisms function at extreme temperatures that focuses on fertility, which they have called the Thermal Fertility Limit or 'TFL'. "We think that if biologists study TFLs as well as CTLs then we will be able to work out whether fertility losses due to climate change are something to worry about, which organisms are particularly vulnerable to these thermal fertility losses, and how to design conservation programmes that will allow species to survive our changing climate. "We need researchers across the world, working in very different systems, from fish, to coral, to flowers, to mammals and flies, to find a way to measure how temperature impacts fertility in that organism and compare it to estimates of the temperature at which they die or stop functioning," urges Dr Price. The work was carried out in collaboration with scientists from the University of Leeds, University of Melbourne and Stockholm University and was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Mamata's police arrest CBI team probing Sharda scam Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee took her showdown against the Narendra Modi-led government at the centre a step further by arresting a team of officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the Sharda Chit Fund scam. A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed that Kumar had been "absconding" and "being looked for" in connection with Saradha and Rose Valley ponzi scam cases, a CBI team landed at the city police chief's residence. A team of Kolkata Police personnel soon rushed to the spot and tried to enquire if the CBI team had the documents required for questioning Kumar. Later on, a small team of CBI officials was taken to Shakespeare Sarani police station for further questioning. Thereafter, more policemen arrived at the spot and a commotion ensued. Some CBI officers were then forcibly bundled into police jeeps and taken to the police station. Minutes after Kolkata police detained CBI officers outside police commissioner Rajeev Kumar's residence, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banejee rushed to Loudon Street and announced that she would sit on a dharna from Sunday evening against the "Gabbar style" attitude of the central investigating agency and the Modi-led government. Banerjee arrived at Kumars house around 7 PM. Soon, top police officers, including all the divisional DCs, ADG, Law and Order, Anuj Sharma, DGP Virender rushed and conducted a high level meeting. "Whatever happened today is worse than emergency. It was no less than a coup. CBI is harassing in Gabbar style (a reference to iconic bandit in the movie, Sholay)," she said. According to her, NSA chief Ajit Doval was "giving instructions" to CBI and PM Modi to take action against TMC leaders and policemen. "There are companies (chit fund) that are sponsored by PM Modi, Assam CM and BJP MP Babul Supriyo. Why they are roaming freely? Why haven't they been arrested. I will stick to my stand that Kolkata police commissioner is one of best officers in the world. Modi doesn't deserve to be a prime minister. Let them prove that Rajeev Kumar was involved in chit fund scam," Mamata said. The Trinamool Congress chief further said that it was her duty to protect her officers. "CBI came to Rajeev Kumar's house without a search warrant. How audacious it was? They are playing with the Constitution. I will not tolerate this," she said, while adding that she will sit on a dharna from Sunday evening at Esplanade. The entire area around Kumar's residence and the family quarters of IPS and IAS turned into a fortress. Meanwhile, a large team of policemen rushed to CBI office at Salt Lake and took their positions in front of CBI joint director's house in Kolkata. On the other hand, BJP leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy left for Delhi amidst reports that CBI has contacted union home ministry officials and West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi over the issue. The showdown led to a war of words between the BJP leaders and opposition. While TMC MP Derek O'Brien questioned if it was a "constitutional coup", UP CM Yogi called upon saffron party workers to fight against TMC's "hooliganism" in a "democratic manner". Banerjee received support from several leaders of the anti-Modi bloc, including Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav, MK Stalin, Sharad Pawar and HD Deve Gowda. Congress president Rahul Gandhi lent support saying the entire opposition will stand together and "defeat the fascist forces". Mamatas move follows the withdrawal of general consent to the CBI to exercise jurisdiction within West Bengal territory, which applies prospectively in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, both of which withdrew consent last year. The withdrawal of general consent means CBI officers lose police powers under the Criminal Procedure Code in the State concerned and for registering a case. The case should be allowed to reach its logical conclusion notwithstanding the withdrawal of consent during pendency of investigation, the Supreme Court had held in the Dorji case, which dealt with a notification issued by the Sikkim government withdrawing consent to the CBI to probe a corruption case against the then chief minister. In 1961, the Supreme Court in the Major E.G. Barsay judgment held that no member of the Establishment (CBI) can exercise powers and jurisdiction in any area in a state without the consent of the government of that state. The act of withdrawal of consent can be judicially reviewed. Besides, withdrawal of consent is no bar for a court to order a CBI probe. Subscriber content preview SEATTLE The Superior Auto Service property, at 4333 Leary Way N.W., has sold for almost $2.2 million, according to King County records. The seller was Bergie's Superior LLC, an entity of the Bergamini family, which acquired the property in 1997 for about $500,000. . . . AGC national VP looks at construction industry past, present and future Turmail AGC of Americas Brian Turmail was one of the featured speakers at Fridays annual meeting of the local chapter in Bellevue. Turmail, vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives, talked about the legacy of the national association and its future. He was joined by Jimmy Christianson, vice president of government relations. The DJC spoke with Turmail about whats going on at AGC of America and what the construction industry faces. His answers were edited for style and length. Q: How did AGC of America get started? A: By the end of World War I, there was a general move for industries to organize themselves via national associations. As part of that move, in the summer of 1918, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce attempted to organize a meeting of contractors. But the general contractors who attended the meeting in Atlantic City that summer felt that the meeting was over-represented by subcontractors. So, they organized their own meeting in the fall of 1918 in Chicago. During the Chicago meeting, a group of general contractors voted to establish the Associated General Contractors of America. After that, as part of our plan to grow, AGC incorporated several existing local and regional construction associations, which laid the foundation for our current chapter structure. AGC photos [enlarge] AGC of Americas headquarters have been in the Navy League Building in Arlington, Virginia, since 2005. Q: What are two big accomplishments by the AGC over the years? A: I think the first big accomplishment is that we have spent a century now as the voice of the commercial construction industry in Washington, D.C., and across the country. As that voice, we have amassed a long track record advocating for, educating and connecting the construction community. If I had to rate our second big accomplishment, it would have to be helping the commercial construction industry thrive and continue to expand during a century that has seen the way projects are designed, built and delivered change time and again. We helped our members figure out how to use new methods and materials, how to navigate ever-changing labor issues, cope with the massive growth in local, state and federal regulations, understand how to adopt new techniques and new technologies, and become safer and more efficient. We will rely on this experience significantly as the industry undergoes what we expect will be its most dramatic transformation yet, as the kind of forces that have disrupted so many other segments of the economy come to the construction industry. In particular, labor shortages and the introduction of increasingly affordable, and adaptable, technology, will fundamentally alter much of the way many firms do business. Q: How will technology shape the construction industry? A: Technology will shape the construction industry in fundamental ways. First, technology will enable firms to become even more efficient as it allows them to measure and evaluate every aspect of the construction process, from the movement of the workforce, utilization of equipment and tools, and the logistics of receiving, storing and installing materials. Indeed, we already see drone and laser scanning technology enabling firms to be more efficient in the way they survey sites, track progress and measure items like amount of aggregate delivered. Technology will also allow firms to operate more safely both by giving firms better insight into the kinds of situations where accidents occur, and by allowing workers to operate more safely. A great example of that is with exoskeletons, which many member firms are using to allow their workers to perform repetitive and potentially harmful motions more safely. Technology is also likely to lead to greater automation on jobsites reducing workers exposure to potentially dangerous conditions. Technology will also enable adoption of more efficient building techniques. For example, more accurate site surveys and measurements will make it easier and more cost-effective to perform off-site prefabrication and assemble projects in a modular fashion. And it will continue the advancements BIM has enabled in improving the quality and impact of the preconstruction process and the rapid and relatively painless changes to projects after construction has begun. [enlarge] AGC of Washington has its own building on the southwestern shore of Lake Union in Seattle. Q: In the long run, will technology reduce workforce demand? A: We think it will change workforce demand more than reduce it. Firms will need to hire more people with the skills needed to process and analyze data, code programs and operate and maintain remote-controlled equipment and autonomous gear. Firms will also be able to offer more craft worker positions in climate-controlled prefabrication facilities. In the end, we see an industry that continues to employ many people, but just in different types of positions than those that exist today. Q: What are the biggest challenges faced today by the industry? A: There is no doubt that the biggest challenge facing the construction industry today is the shortage of qualified workers available for firms to hire. Our members regularly rank workforce shortages as their single greatest worry, and more than two-thirds of them report they are having a hard time finding qualified workers. This is happening for three reasons: 1. Demographics. Like many other segments of the economy, we have a lot of aging workers who are retiring in large numbers. 2. Hangover from the Great Recession. The industry shed nearly one-third of its workers during the economic downturn and was one of the first to let folks go and the last to start hiring again. As a result, many of those displaced workers left for other professions, including the energy sector, and never returned. 3. Failure to invest in career and technical education. Simply put, our society no longer values craft professions like construction and we have expressed that by dismantling what was a once robust vocational education system in this country. As a result, relatively few young adults are even made aware that construction is a career worth considering. We have been working to address these problems by constantly pushing for the measures outlined in our workforce development plan including boosting federal funding for career and technical education, enacting comprehensive immigration reforms and improving federal adult workforce training programs. Q: How does AGC of Washington compare to other chapters? A: The AGC of Washington is a great chapter that does a tremendous amount for our industry and our national association. I cant think of another part of the country where you see so many AGC logos on display on construction sites and I think that is a real tribute to the strength of the chapter. And while we typically dont play favorites, I think it is safe to say the chapter has the most iconic of any of our chapters headquarters structures. You cant beat that Lake Union view. Seriously though, this is a very strong chapter that makes our industry and our national association better because of the work it and its members do. Other Stories: Subscriber content preview By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Thursday fulfilled a pair of promises in his State of the State speech by signing two executive orders he said will remove outdated or unneeded regulations that are obstacles to economic prosperity in Idaho. We need to assure that the cumulative effect of rules and licensing is as citizen-friendly as possible, Little declared, standing in front of a desk with three stacks of blank papers each approaching 2 feet tall he said represented more than 8,000 pages of state regulations containing some 72,000 restrictions. . . . 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. 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.. Spearfish, SD (57783) Today Some clouds. Low 53F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Low 53F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Highlights: Xbox Live services to get cross-platform support. This will be enabled via a new SDK that will be announced next month. Xbox will soon be releasing a new Software Development Kit (SDK) that will enable game developers to merge Xbox Live with any game title that runs on PC, Xbox, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch. First spotted by Windows Central, a peek into the upcoming Game Developer Conference session, which will be held from March 18-22, reveals that Microsoft will announce its cross-platform SDK for Xbox Live in March. This means that gamers with Xbox Live will now be able to retrieve their details like friends list, clubs, gaming achievement history, and more. As per the company, this will break down barriers for developers that want their communities to mingle more freely across platforms. Combined with PlayFab gaming services, this means less work for game developers and more time to focus on making games fun. Xbox Live is expanding from 400 million gaming devices and a reach to over 68 million active players to over 2 billion devices with the release of our new cross-platform XDK, the GDC listing states. This new integration will help the company extend its reach beyond PCs and consoles into other devices and rival platforms. The company is also working on a cloud-based game streaming service called Project xCloud, which is slated to enter public testing phase in 2019. Speaking of cloud-based game streaming service, Amazon is also reportedly working on something similar. The companys game streaming platform could be announced by 2020 and Amazon is currently hiring two engineers in Seattle and California specifically for working on Cloud Games. Additionally, if these two listings werent convincing enough, there is also a third job posting for a Lead Cross Platform Game Engineer and as per the report, the jobs description reads, This is a rare opportunity to take a technical leadership role to shape the foundation of an unannounced AAA games business. Related Reads: Amazon reportedly working on a cloud-based game streaming service Tanaiste & Minister of State McEntee welcome Dutch Foreign Minister Mr. Stef Blok Press release Tanaiste Simon Coveney and Minister of State for European Affairs Helen McEntee welcome Minsiter of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr. Stef Blok to Ireland The Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney T.D., and Minister of State for European Affairs, Helen McEntee, T.D., will today meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr. Stef Blok, who is visiting Ireland. The Tanaiste will host a bilateral dinner for Minister Blok at which they discuss Brexit and global issues such as the Middle East Peace Process and relations with Africa. In advance of the meeting, the Tanaiste said: Ireland and the Netherlands have an excellent bilateral relationship. We work together in the European Union, but also in international fora including the United Nations. I look forward to discussing our cooperation and shared agendas including the Middle East peace process and EU relations with Africa. Minister of State for European Affairs, Helen McEntee T.D. and representatives from InterTradeIreland and Cooperation Ireland will join Minister Blok on a visit to the border and host a working lunch. Ahead of the visit, Minister McEntee said: I welcome the visit of Minister Blok and look forward to joining him on his visit to the border where we will discuss the impact that Brexit could have on the border region. We appreciate the Dutch solidarity during the Brexit process. The Netherlands is a valued partner and we share similar views on many issues on the broader EU agenda. The visit will be a useful opportunity to exchange views on these matters. ENDS Press Office 4 February 2019 Previous Item | Next Item Mobile network users in Malaysia experience excellent network quality 57% of the time, while in the Philippines this falls to just 33%. This is according to a new report from mobile quality measurement company Tutela that examines the mobile experiences of users in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Some of the key findings from the report showed that: Malaysia had both the highest download speeds and the highest Excellent Consistent Quality score among the countries studied, with Maxis score of 69% the best of any operator in the region. Celcom scored 62%, placing it second overall. Filipinos consume the most data on their mobile devices but rely on WiFi more than anyone else, with only 23% of data usage over 3G and 4G connections, with PLDTs Smart taking the overall lead. In Indonesia, Telkomsels investment in 4G infrastructure is paying off. The network achieved the highest Excellent Consistent Quality score in the country, as well as third best for the region as a whole. Its users had the best coverage among Indonesia operators. In Thailand, TrueMove delivered the fastest average download speed and the highest Excellent Consistent Quality score - delivering HD video capable network performance in over 49% of tests. DTAC came in a close second at 45%. An Excellent Consistent Quality score demonstrates how often users experience a network capable of meeting more demanding use-cases such as HD video calling or 1080p video streaming. Tom Luke, Vice President, Tutela, said: In a region where 90% of internet access is via smartphone, wireless operators are under pressure to guarantee higher levels of performance. The benefit of the mass crowdsourced testing approach that we used for this report is that we have been able to analyse the mobile quality experienced across the entire region from big cities to small villages - giving a true and balanced picture of the experience that mobile users are getting. Tutela uses crowdsourcing to test mobile networks in a way that represents the day-to-day usage and experience of real-world mobile users, directly from the users handsets. Tutelas software runs in the background of over 3,000 diverse third-party mobile apps, which have partnered with Tutela to study network quality. This report used over 85 billion mobile network measurements, collected between December 1, 2018 and January 9, 2019. Reliance Communications (RCom) has stated that it will file for fast-track insolvency resolution with the Indian National Company Law Tribunal. The operator group has taken the decision following a board review of its 2017 debt resolution strategy which found that despite the passage of over 18 months, lenders have received zero proceeds from the proposed asset monetisation plans, and the overall debt resolution process is yet to make any headway. The board believes this course of action will be in the best interests of all stakeholders, ensuring comprehensive debt resolution in a final, transparent and time-bound manner within the prescribed 270 days, it said in a statement. A number of factors have prevented RCom from divesting assets that it agreed to sell in order to pay down its debts. The operator noted that it had failed to reach an agreement with its creditors and to resolve numerous legal issues at high courts, Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal and Supreme Court. The insolvency proceedings will only concern RCom and its Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel units, with all other subsidiaries and related firms to continue operations as usual. The filing follows a long-running legal dispute with Ericsson, with the vendor claiming that RCom owed $180 million in unpaid fees. RCom missed several repayment deadlines, but eventually the companies agreed a settlement of $75.3 million, with RCom making an upfront payment of $18.6 million and funding the remainder with the proceeds of an asset sale to Reliance Jio. However, this deal failed to procure the necessary approvals from the Department of Telecommunications. RComs net debt stood at INR465 billion ($7.1 billion) at the end of its last fiscal year, closing in March 2018. PARK CITY A routine traffic stop in Summit County turned into a big pot bust, according to charging documents. Kham M. Lee, 35, of Wausau, Wisconsin, was charged Monday in Summit County's 3rd District Court with possessing more than 100 pounds of marijuana, a second-degree felony; driving on a suspended license, a class C misdemeanor; and failing to stay in one lane, an infraction. According to charging documents, Lee was pulled over in a pickup truck on I-80 in Summit County on Wednesday for failing to signal while changing lanes. Lee then handed a Utah Highway Patrol trooper a Wisconsin driver's license that was void, and said he did not have the registration for the truck or proof of insurance, the charges state. When the trooper asked him directly if he had marijuana in the vehicle, Lee said, "yes," according to charging documents. "Lee informed him that he had approximately 100 pounds, and said he had no reason to lie," the charges state. Troopers searching the vehicle found 114 one-pound packages of raw marijuana, a vaccuum-sealed bag of marijuana wax and more than $9,000 cash, according to the charges. PROVO A Woods Cross man was charged Monday with intentionally hitting a police car twice and trying to run over officers before leading them on a chase. Jeffrey Kenneth Sudweeks, 35, is charged in 4th District Court with criminal mischief and five counts of assault on a police officer, second-degree felonies; theft by receiving stolen property and failing to stop for an officer, third-degree felonies; DUI, interfering with an arrest and leaving the scene of an accident, class B misdemeanors; plus giving false information to an officer and driving on a suspended license, class C misdemeanors. Provo police were called to investigate a suspicious vehicle on Jan. 28. "While officers were speaking with the driver, he turned the vehicle on and attempted to flee," according to charging documents. Sudweeks first hit a patrol car in front of him that was still occupied by an officer, then put his car in reverse and nearly ran over an officer who was trying to get Sudweeks out of the vehicle, the charges state. "The defendant continued to flee almost striking three more officers with the vehicle," according to the charges. Sudweeks then allegedly backed into a building before driving forward and hitting the same patrol car a second time. During the ensuing chase, Sudweeks "nearly hit multiple vehicles" before pulling over and being taken into custody, the charges state. Police say the vehicle he was driving was reported stolen out of Pleasant Grove. Sudweeks admitted to police he was under the influence of methamphetamine, according to charging documents. Sudweeks was convicted in September of unlawful acquisition of a bank card. A warrant was issued for his arrest on Jan. 23 for failing to show up to a court hearing in that case. CEDAR CITY Is Cedar High School's Redman mascot divisive or a unifying force? Should the Redmen, the school's mascot since the early 1940s, be retired or kept? These are just two questions the Iron County Board of Education is weighing after launching a review in November. The board will conduct a special meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the board chambers, 2077 W. Royal Hunte Drive, to discuss the mascot issue and vote. "It's been a great process," board President Stephen Allen said in an earlier interview. "There have been times I felt the weight of the world, where I felt I'm making the whole community angry. But I'm now at the point I'm really optimistic about the situation. I think it's been a healthy dialogue and something that's been needed to be discussed in our community." The board's next regularly scheduled meeting is Feb. 26, but Allen, as one member of the five-person board, said he wanted to address the issue sooner "because it is very divisive. I would like the community to heal from this process no matter what decision is made. We've had a lot of time to look at this over the years." Last month, the school board heard reports from a committee empaneled to study the issue and make recommendations to the board, one that supports change and the other that says the mascot should be retained. According to Powerpoint presentations presented to the board, committee members who support a change say it is time to "transition to a new mascot in a manner that promotes inclusivity and strengthens community connections." But supporters of the current mascot say: "Many in our community feel the push for change is coming from outside our community and is causing divisiveness. Many ask the question, 'When will this end?' 'What is next?'" Earlier, the mascot committee voted 17-7 recommending to change the mascot. The decision to form a study committee "is not a result of any specific incident, but rather a culmination of frequent concerns that have been brought forth," according to a press release issued by the school district in November. The Cedar Paiute Tribe did not request a name change but was supportive of the districts review, the release states. Members of the mascot committee gave presentations to the school board, with supporters of change asking the board to consider what's best for students. "This is about doing what's right not majority rule or popularity polls," the change advocates' presentation stated. The presentation included a quote by Cedar High School senior, who urges change. As a Cedar High School student and a Paiute member, I do not feel honored to be a 'Redmen.' Ive seen a lot of disrespect on my culture at the school. Im speaking for the students that feel pressured to speak up because they dont want to deal with the hate, bullying and judgment," said Thalia Guerrero. "I know Im not alone but I will stand alone if I have to. People who support retaining the Redmen mascot, meanwhile, cited tradition, expense of making the change and an "identifier" for current students and former alumni as a rationale for making no change. The presentation quotes an unnamed Cedar High alumnus who said: "I learned more about actual honor by becoming a Redmen than I ever learned from a textbook telling me of the Red Man's history. I know that symbolism can be sacred as I've seen the tile mosaic of the Cedar Redmen at CHS and have always known to never walk or lay a hand on it out of respect. I know that dances and singing can be prayers because I've been a part of them and also seen them take place. "I know that native people fight racism and bigoted commentary as I've experienced it while representing CHS and that taught me resilience, strength in numbers and pride in the face of adversity. I quite literally feel a connection to my native brothers and sisters because I was included rather than excluded from their traditions and allowed to celebrate their symbol and traditions. I was included and allowed to celebrate their symbols and history. "I was included and allowed to become part of a red and gold tribe that had my back. I was included and given a name that I will fight for! Redmen till the day I die." AMERICAN FORK Dell "Super Dell" Schanze is facing a criminal charge for allegedly target shooting too close to neighboring homes. Schanze was charged last month in Utah County Justice Court with discharging a firearm within 600 feet of a dwelling, a class B misdemeanor. The alleged incident occurred Jan. 2 at Schanze's home west of American Fork in unincorporated Utah County. According to state law, a person may not fire a weapon in that area within 600 feet of a house without written permission from neighbors. Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said three neighbors called the sheriff's office that day to report shots being fired. One neighboring house was about 300 feet away, and one person said he could hear bullets flying past his house, Cannon said. The deputy responding to the call also noted that he could hear shots while en route to Schanze's house. Once there, shell casings were found on Schanze's back deck and targets were set up, Cannon said. An arraignment originally scheduled for last week was continued until Feb. 19. Schanze, 49, wrote a letter to the court asking for a continuance because he had been out of state on business trips. "It is my every intention to comply with the court requirements as soon as possible," he wrote. Schanze founder of Totally Awesome Computers and Totally Awesome Guns and Range, a three-time candidate for Utah's governor, and known for his vociferous personality, particularly in his TV commercials has had a few public run-ins with the law over the past decade. In 2015, he pleaded guilty in federal court to using his motorized paraglider to harass wildlife and pursuing a migratory bird, both misdemeanors. The charges were sparked by a video posted to YouTube that showed Schanze chasing and kicking an owl while parasailing. He was sentenced to probation. During his federal court proceedings in that case, while pleading with the judge not to remove his guns from his house pending trial, Schanze contended that a human head had once been thrown through his window. Police said no reports consistent with such claims had been filed. Prosecutors also pointed to Schanze's arrest record during those same proceedings, noting that he had arrests for investigation of charges of concealed weapons violations dating back to 1992. His defense attorney countered that most, if not all, of those weapons charges were later dismissed in court. Schanze himself told a judge that his record reads like a "record of awesomeness" and the incidents cited by prosecutors showed he was "being a hero in the community" because he was defending either himself or his family in every situation. Schanze was sentenced to a year of probation. In 2006, he pleaded no-contest to creating a public nuisance for flying his motorized paraglider over I-15 in Draper. In 2005, Schanze was charged and accused of displaying a gun during a heated argument with neighbors upset that he was speeding through their neighborhood. He was acquitted of the gun charge but found guilty of giving false information to police. Schanze did not immediately return requests by the Deseret News for comment Monday. SALT LAKE CITY A Holladay man convicted of killing his father in an apparent assisted suicide was sentenced to prison Monday. Shane Paul Wright, 26, was originally charged with murder, a first-degree felony, in the death of 53-year-old Bryan Wright in 2016. He recently pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, a second-degree felony. Bryan Wright struggled with depression and had suicidal thoughts for many years, according to court documents. But family members say he couldn't bring himself to go through with the action due to his religious beliefs. On Oct. 1, 2016, Wright convinced his son to help him end his life, according to investigators. Shane Wright strangled his father with an extension cord and smothered his face with a pillow, charging documents state. A distraught Wright then called 911. "Im sorry. I just assisted my father with suicide so, I think, I think my dads dead. I put him on his bed. I dont know, he, Im sorry, (I'm) just shaking," he said in a transcript of the call. "I think Im going through a little bit of a panic attack here this is, this isnt something your father shouldnt ask his son to help kill him, that is not something that fathers do." Bryan Wright died four days later. Third District Judge Todd Shaughnessy took the weekend to consider Shane Wright's sentence and held a special hearing Monday to announce his decision. At issue was whether Wright should serve time in the Utah State Prison or remain in the Salt Lake County Jail where he has been since his arrest two years ago. Shaughnessy said it wasn't an easy decision as he explained the aggravating and mitigating factors that he considered. "There's really only one person who knows what happened that night," he said. The judge noted the support Wright had from his family and their testimony was "more persuasive than I thought it would be." "You are very lucky to have the family you do," Shaughnessy told Wright. Other mitigating factors included Wright's lack of a criminal history, his genuine remorse, a previously undiagnosed mental illness, and doctors saying he is a low risk to reoffend. There was also a lack of defensive wounds on Wright after the incident, supporting the notion that his father did not try to fight back or stop his son. But Shaughnessy said there were also aggravating factors, starting with, "This was a brutal, intentional killing of another human being with (your) bare hands." The judge also pointed out that a year earlier when his father expressed the same suicidal thoughts, Wright took his father to the mental health unit at University of Utah Hospital rather than helping him kill himself. Shaughnessy said prosecutors had also already shown him a great deal of leniency by reducing his crime to a second-degree felony, thereby dropping his potential sentence from a minimum of 15 years in prison to a maximum of 15 years. Furthermore, the judge said Wright would likely get better treatment for his mental health issues at the prison. Because of that, he ordered Wright to serve between one and 15 years at the state prison. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill called it an appropriate resolution to the case, noting that it took into consideration both Wright's mental illness and the seriousness of the crime. "Just because somebody is mentally ill is not a get-out-of-jail-free card, he said. The judge urged Wright to make good use of his time while in prison and to be productive. "I think you have great days ahead of you," he said. As Wright was being led out of the courtroom, a family member said "love you" and Wright turned his head and nodded in acknowledgment. SALT LAKE CITY A federal judge has dismissed a widow's bid to recover life insurance benefits after her husband was shot and killed by police. U.S. District Judge Dee Benson in a January order sided against Molly Farrand, who sued after her $500,000 insurance claim was denied. Her 38-year-old husband, Vincent John Farrand, was fatally shot April 13, 2014. Benson noted the American General Life Insurance policy doesn't cover injury or loss due to illegal activity, and Farrand broke Utah law by interfering with an officer seeking to detain him. The judge ruled that Farrand ignored officers' commands to drop the gun nine times, and an average person in the situation would expect a shooting or shootout. Molly Farrand's attorneys had argued that police body camera proved her husband had dropped the gun before he was shot, but the judge wrote than an officer testified the weapon remained in his hand on the ground after he had been shot. She had told police her husband, who was suicidal, took a handgun to confront a man had who had made advances toward her. But after he changed his mind and came home, officers went to their home even though she called to say they weren't needed. Police said Vincent Farrand came out of the house and ignored their commands. The Davis County Attorney's Office found the shooting legally justified. The city of Centerville paid Farrand $127,000 in a 2016 settlement but did not accept fault. SALT LAKE CITY Employees at the Salt Lake City Justice Court arrived at work Monday morning to discover someone had broken into the building. Two lobby areas, one on the first floor and one on the second floor, were vandalized sometime over the weekend, according to Salt Lake police. Detective Jess Perea said office furniture, ceiling tiles and ceiling lights were damaged. No vital court data or equipment was touched, he said. Investigators were still determining Monday if anything was stolen from the building, and were trying to determine how and when the person got in. After reviewing video from security surveillance cameras, police said investigators were looking for a man in connection with the break in. They released a security image of a dark-haired man with glasses and announced they were looking for Benjamin Bandfield, 26. By 10 a.m. the justice court had reopened for business. Anyone with information is asked to call Salt Lake police at 801-799-3000. Critics have recently rejected the idea that building, expanding or strengthening a barrier or wall along our southern border would do anything to combat sex trafficking. Though many of these critics do noble work in various capacities, even in the human trafficking space, they all have one thing in common: they have never utilized the wall to rescue sex trafficking victims and therefore they do not understand its power for good, its power to rescue trafficked children. In contrast to the critics, I worked 12 years as a special agent/undercover operator for Homeland Security Investigations, 10 of which included a tour combating sex trafficking on the southern border. Since that time I have continued the fight as CEO of the anti-trafficking organization Operation Underground Railroad, or O.U.R. Furthermore, I have worked closely with the heads of every U.S. agency whose job it is to find and rescue children being trafficked across the southern border. In fact, I was with them all in the White House just a few days ago discussing how border barriers help combat trafficking. Altogether, we are the ones and the only ones who have utilized or are utilizing the border wall to rescue children. We are the experts. And we all agree that the building, expansion and strengthening of the border wall has been one of many effective tools, and will continue to be an effective tool, in the rescuing of trafficked children. The United States is one of the highest consumers of child sex in the world. It is also one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Simple economics tells us what follows. Child traffickers, who currently control millions of enslaved children worldwide, want to get these children into the United States where they can force them into this lucrative illicit market. The State Department reports that around 10,000 children are smuggled into the U.S. annually and forced into the commercial sex trade. Add adults, and that number almost doubles. And when these evil actors act, we dont want to lose the opportunity to stop them and liberate their captives. The wall gives us an opportunity to do just that. The story of one survivor of this transaction lets call her Liliana illustrates the point. Liliana was kidnapped at age 11 from her village in Central America. After two years of grooming her for commercial sex, she was taken by her captors across the southern border at a location where no wall existed (approximately 70 percent of the border is wall-less). Her traffickers easily transported her to New York City, where she was raped for money up to 30-40 times a day for five years. She eventually escaped and my foundation is now caring for her as she prepares to testify in federal court against her captors. In accordance with U.S. laws, as a survivor of sex trafficking in America, Liliana has been granted legal status and will soon be a U.S. citizen. (The U.S. Attorneys Office has requested that we not share more details about this case until the trial is completed later this year). Having reflected on her tragic plight, Liliana has recently weighed in on the current national debate. Had there been a wall for me, she declared, my captors would have been forced to take me to a port of entry. A U.S. officer might have seen my distress. I might have yelled out to them. I am currently working with Homeland Security agents on my case. I love them. I think they would have rescued me at the port of entry. Which brings us to another confusing point the critics continue to make. The wall is insignificant, they say, because traffickers dont smuggle their children through wall-less sections of the border; rather, they take them through the ports of entry, for that is where the majority of arrests occur. (Do the critics also believe that drivers speed only in places where there happen to be great hiding places for police vehicles?) Their argument illustrates how poorly they understand border enforcement. They tend to see ports of entry and the wall as separate entities. As long as you have ports of entry, they declare, you dont need an extended wall. For those of us who have worked the border, we know that walls and ports of entry are not independent of each other. Rather, they act in tandem. If there were no walls, just stand-alone entry gates scattered every several hundred miles across the almost-2,000-mile border, do the critics really believe there would be as many arrests at these ports of entry? Do they believe traffickers would bring their enslaved children and their drugs to these small, stand-alone gates, while ignoring the vast, wide-open, unenforced space? Their arguments about arrests at ports of entry actually prove our model. We want to rescue kids at the ports of entry. We want to seize drugs there. That is our whole point. But we need a wall to force them there. We need the well-armed and well-equipped ports of entry to be their only option. This only-option approach, of course, requires more than a wall. It also requires border agents, drones, sensors and tunnel detection technology. The wall then, with its smart technology attached, becomes, in and of itself, an active law enforcement operation to facilitate arrests and rescues at the ports of entry. If the wall expanded the length of the southern border, imagine how many more children would be pushed through the ports of entry and subsequently rescued instead of being brought through where the rescuer cant see, where law enforcement cant easily intervene. (And if the critics are delusional enough to believe that the only children being trafficked into the United States are the ones we catch at the ports of entry, I will easily refute that idea below). Furthermore, the existence of a wall acts as a deterrent. It disincentivizes some traffickers from kidnapping and smuggling in the first place. If they cant get in easily, they wont try. That keeps kids safe. But for those who will still be kidnapped, smuggled and trafficked, the wall provides hope for them. For example, on July 3, 2006, my team and I rescued a 5 year-old boy. The boy had been kidnapped by American trafficker and child pornographer Earl Buchanan. Buchanan kidnapped and sexually abused his foreign-born victims, while filming his grotesque acts. Fortunately for this boy, and the 11 other children we subsequently rescued from his clutches, there is a significant border wall between Mexicali, Mexico (where he took the child) and Calexico, California. Buchanan was compelled to take his chances at the Calexico Port of Entry, which is armed with high-tech monitoring equipment and well-trained officers, who look into the eyes of every person seeking entry. Not surprisingly, Buchanan was singled out and arrested for kidnapping and trafficking. He was later convicted (Case 06CR1612-H). The boy is now breathing free with a loving family in America, thanks to the wall, which did its job. The critics try to distract from the horrific plight of trafficking victims brought through the southern border by pointing out the fact that many (they like to imply most or all) victims are trafficked through airports, their captors utilizing passports and visas and abusing immigration laws. I agree with the critics that this happens and I applaud their efforts to point out the incidences and the immigration loopholes (in guest-worker programs, for example) that need to be fixed. But why ignore the children suffering through the southern border? Why act as though traffickers only use the means the critics are comfortable talking about? Why ignore or minimize child victimhood anywhere? I know many girls who came in like me, Liliana says. Why are the people who claim to want to help victims ignoring me and girls like me? We know a wall could have saved us. We understand, why dont they? More kids will be hurt if we believe them. Liliana, who has met with and told her story to Ivanka Trump, as well as members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, is working on her autobiography, which will release once her case is closed. Paola Felix is a former Mexican congresswoman and current senior Mexican administration official working on anti-trafficking policies for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. After studying what the so-called experts have said about how a wall does little to stop child trafficking into the United States, Felix declared, It is very disappointing to me that people in the United States who claim to be anti-trafficking advocates would ignore or downplay the many Hispanic children being smuggled into the United States outside of legal ports of entry and forced into the hell of sex slavery. Mexican authorities have uncovered at least 19 different land-based smuggling routes where victims are taken and trafficked for sex in the United States. Downplaying the crisis with disinformation puts our children in grave danger. It discourages U.S. officials from employing every tactic available to rescue them during the small window of time that they can that is, while they are being crossed into the United States. After that they are gone, maybe forever. Why are the people who claim to want to help victims ignoring me and girls like me? We know a wall could have saved us. We understand, why dont they?" Liliana, a child trafficking survivor Former Mexican congresswoman and leading anti-trafficking advocate Rosie Orozco agrees. There is a horrific child trafficking ring from Tenancingo, Mexico, to New York City, explained Orozco. Please, America, she pleads, watch the documentary by Fusion productions called Tenancingo to New York. Please do not take the tools away that you need to rescue our children while they are smuggled into your country and placed into the evil hands of your pedophiles. Incidentally, just a few weeks ago, five members of a Tenancingo trafficking organization were sentenced in U.S. federal court to more than 20 years each for sex-trafficking children into the United States. During our briefing in the White House last week, HSI Special Agent Anthony Scandiffo testified that these gangs put their victims facedown on rafts and took them across the river, or drove them in the dead of night through the desert, taking them from safe house to safe house until they reached their final destination: sex slavery in Queens, New York. If the critics need further proof of the crisis flowing through the southern border, we would refer them to official DHS data. Of the migrant children who have passed illegally through the southern borders and ended up in the care of U.S. officials, 10,000 came alone. Which means, according to DHS Secretary Nielsen, 10,000 of those kids were sent here, without a parent, without a legal guardian, in the hands of smugglers, in the hands of traffickers. Several anti-trafficking cases I have personally worked along the border shine additional light on the issue. In March 2011, we obtained intelligence that U.S. resident Leonel Gonzalez was attempting to smuggle children into the United States from Mexicali, Mexico, for the purposes of selling them to Americans for sex. We learned that, because of the giant wall separating Mexicali and the United States, he was having a hard time figuring out a way to get them in. We preempted his actions by sending undercover operators posing as American traffickers to negotiate with him. I personally led the undercover team on this operation. Thanks to the wall in place, it bought us time to coordinate with Mexican authorities, who arrested the Mexican traffickers and liberated the children who were being held in a house near the border. The U.S. government arrested Gonzalez and charged him with 18 USC 1591(a) Sex Trafficking of Children (Case 11CR1192). He pled guilty and went to jail. In May 2012, our team at Homeland Security Investigation, along with local authorities, rescued a 14-year-old girl who had been smuggled into Texas outside of a port of entry. The American trafficker who kidnapped her and sold her for sex was later arrested and convicted (Case 12CR2259). Unfortunately, there was no significant wall or barrier that might have pushed the child to be brought through a port of entry, where her chances of being rescued before being sex trafficked inside the United States would have increased exponentially. In another case from March 2013, we learned about a group of traffickers near San Pedro Sula, Honduras (where the current caravan to the U.S. originated) that had kidnapped seven children and planned to smuggle them through the wall-less portion of the border and then sell them for sex in America. Since we knew we would easily lose them on their trafficking route, especially since there would be no wall to control their movements, we acted fast. Posing as an American buyer, I went undercover and met the traffickers in Puerto Cortes, Honduras. I accepted their offer to sell me the children then and there. (I told the traffickers I would fly the children into the United States via private airplane). With the deal made and the transfer of money complete, the traffickers were arrested by Honduran authorities. Convictions followed. The children were liberated. In this case, since there was no wall where they were planning on moving the kids into our country, we had to forward-deploy and, in essence, become the wall ourselves. Fortunately it worked, but it was very difficult to coordinate and execute, and we admit we were lucky to stumble upon the lead in the first place. Its like catching flies with chopsticks. We will get some, but we will miss the majority. If only we had a wall as a constant backup plan. Then there would always be that last hope that we could rescue the children at the ports of entry. Each of these cases demonstrate how the wall helped. When it was in play, we were able to preempt most of the abuse and make arrests quickly. When there was no wall, we werent able to rescue them in an easy or a timely manner, and unnecessary abuse followed. And of course, we cringe when we think of the thousands that nobody saw, that are living a life of sex slavery somewhere in our country right now amidst the millions upon millions of undocumented migrants. Children with no registered identity, easily manipulated, and always vulnerable to the black market of illicit sex. I could go on and on with cases my team and I have personally worked. (And I was just one agent of hundreds working these cases every day). But how many cases do the critics need before they realize the crisis? Frankly, for me, if only one child could be rescued from a life of rape, it would be worth the cost of every tactic and technique, to include a wall. Do the critics agree? Or do they believe that, though Ive demonstrated that the wall has helped rescue victims, whatever they dont like about the wall is more important than a number of children being raped for money in America? What is that number for them? We would remind the critics that the cost of the wall as part of the larger budget is the equivalent of asking for $57 out of an annual budget of $44,070. What is a childs life worth to the critic? If you paid attention to the dates associated with each case I described, you will also note that they spanned through three U.S. administrations, representing both major political parties. In each instance, with the changing of the guard, our efforts and strategies did not vary in the least. Our opinions and use of the wall and ports of entry as an enforcement and rescue tool was the same in 2006 as it was in 2012 and as it is now. This is not political in any way. It is simply a strategy one of many tools in our toolbox that we know has saved children. And we cannot abandon it or deny it, for if we do we are abandoning and denying those children who are relying on us, often as their last hope. We plead with those critics of the wall to consider their real, lived experiences. We ask them to honestly consider whether or not they have ever run rescue operations along the border and truly understand how the complexities of border operations function in the real world. We ask them to consider whether or not they have ever utilized the wall and accompanying ports of entry to rescue children. We ask them to consider why every agency and organization who has carried out child rescue operations at the border the experts support the building and construction of a wall or barrier. And finally, we ask them why though they may be great advocates for anti-trafficking efforts in areas that dont include border interdiction why they would gamble with the lives of children by assuming knowledge and experience they dont have and then actively work to deny law enforcement a powerful tool that demonstrably liberates captive children. Editor's note: A previous version of this piece was published by RBC. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF Treaty, signed in 1987, prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. In the early years of this historic treaty, both sides collectively destroyed more than 2,600 missiles. The INF Treaty represented a good-faith effort between two rivals to de-escalate the threat of nuclear war, particularly the risk of short-notice attacks. President Reagan described its elimination of an entire class of weapons as the realization of an impossible vision, and Mikhail Gorbachev said it had universal significance for mankind. Unfortunately, once one of historys most successful security agreements, now we must confront the fact that the Russian government has been cheating on this historic treaty: producing, flight-testing and fielding exactly the type of missile that the INF Treaty prohibits. As a result of Russias actions, the United States notified Russia that it was suspending its obligations under the treaty. The United States also announced that it would withdraw from the treaty in six months in accordance with the treatys terms. The United States retains the right to revoke its notice of withdrawal from the treaty before the end of this six-month period, and we would be prepared to consider doing so should Russia return to full and verifiable compliance. It is worth examining how Russias actions have led us to this point. As early as 2004, senior Russian officials were sounding out whether the United States wanted to mutually get out of the treaty. The United States assesses the Russian government began the covert development of a non-compliant missile known by the U.S. designator SSC-8 or Russian designator 9M729 in the mid-2000s. Russia flight tested the 9M729 to distances well over 500 kilometers. The United States has provided Moscow with substantial information about this systems violations, including geographic coordinates and dates for the tests, but Russia continues to deny any wrongdoing. The U.S. finding is not based on a misunderstanding of this system. The 9M729 represents a flagrant violation of the INF Treaty that Russias leaders intended to keep secret. Rather than rush to judgment, the United States pursued diplomacy for more than five years, first raising the issue with Russia in 2013. Since then, and under two different administrations, the United States has raised the topic on over thirty occasions with Russian officials, including at the highest levels, and participated in six meetings of technical experts in an effort to persuade Russia to return to compliance with the treaty. While Russia now acknowledges the existence of the 9M729, which it had denied until 2017, it continues to falsely assert that the missile is compliant with the INF Treaty, spreading false information about the missiles range, capability and testing history. Rather than addressing U.S. concerns, Russia chose to claim that U.S. ballistic missile defense targets, Aegis Ashore missile defense systems in Poland and Romania, and armed UAVs violate the treaty. In contrast, the United States has responded in detail to these false Russian claims, demonstrating that we diligently comply with our treaty obligations in full. When these diplomatic measures failed, on Dec. 4, all NATO Allies strongly supported the United States decision to find Russia in material breach of the INF Treaty for its production and fielding of the 9M729. That same day, the United States announced that it would suspend its obligations under the treaty in 60 days as a remedy for Russias material breach, unless Russia returned to full and verifiable compliance. Instead of using this opportunity to save the INF Treaty, the Russian government continued its denials and disinformation. As a ground-launched, mobile, intermediate-range cruise missile, the 9M729 system poses a direct threat to European and global security. Russias actions do not make it more secure; they make the security environment less stable. Notwithstanding Russias decision to suspend its participation in the treaty, our position remains the same: we continue to believe that an INF Treaty with which all parties comply contributes to global stability. An arms control treaty that one side violates is no longer effective at keeping the world safer. Only the verifiable destruction of all 9M729 missiles, launchers, and associated support equipment would allow Russia to return to compliance. When Russia signed the INF Treaty and agreed to eliminate its ground-launched intermediate-range missiles, it was because its leaders realized that the absence of such weapons would make Russia more secure, not less. We continue to believe this is the case. The reverse is also true: should Russia cause the demise of the INF Treaty, it will become less secure, not more. In light of our six-months notice of withdrawal, the Russian government has one last chance to save the INF Treaty by returning to full and verifiable compliance. We hope Russia will take that step. SANDY The American Red Cross is reporting it had a national shortage of blood this month, largely in part due to canceled blood drives from severe winter weather and the partial federal government shutdown. Nationwide, more than 4,600 Red Cross donations went uncollected as a result of the canceled blood drives, where 80 percent of the organization's donations come from. The Lewis and Clark Blood Services Region, which includes Utah, was short approximately 1,700 donations of what's needed to maintain the minimum blood supply, according to Samantha Pollard, Red Cross communications director. About 670 donations are needed daily for the region, which also includes Idaho, Montana and Las Vegas. Local blood centers are also struggling to keep donation numbers up. Lance Bradley, spokesperson for Utah's ARUP Blood Services, said in addition to decreased donor numbers, there has also been an increase in patients who need blood. The center is the sole blood provider for all University of Utah hospitals and Primary Children's Hospital, and it saw record-high numbers of patients in need of blood transfusions this month. Usually the center provides blood to about 50 to 55 patients per day, whereas in December and January those averages jumped to 65 to 75 daily, with a high of 81 in one day earlier this month a number never before seen at the center. "If you have a common blood type, you are greatly needed right now," he said. The center had a shortage of Type O-positive and O-negative blood types as of Tuesday, Bradley said. ARUP provides 25 percent of the state's blood transfusions and Red Cross provides the remaining 75 percent. However, all blood donations at ARUP are used locally at the hospitals the center serves, whereas blood donated through the Red Cross can be used out of state. Since Sunday, two pediatric burn patients required a total of 19 units of blood, a heart transplant patient received a transfusion of 21 units and a liver transplant patient was transfused 17 units. Each unit represents one blood donor, and all the patients were treated at hospitals where ARUP is the sole blood provider. "Four to six dozen people locally are going through the worst experience of their life," Bradley said. "It's 30 minutes of your time to donate." Leslie Howlett, a registered nurse who works for Mountain Point Medical Center in Lehi, took about a half hour Tuesday to donate blood at the ARUP center in Sandy. "It's one quick poke, and compared to people who need it, one quick poke isn't a big deal," she said. Howlett works on a nonemergency floor of the hospital but said she tranfuses blood to patients several times a month. While Howlett said she understands some people are afraid of needles, she said it's important for those who are eligible to try and donate. "Hopefully people who are resistant to it come in," Howlett said. "They might be recipients one day." SALT LAKE CITY A passel of bills in the mix in the Utah Legislature's 2019 edition are aiming to have positive impacts, should they pass, on a number of tech-centric and tech-related issues including computer science education, data privacy, digital autonomous vehicles and more. However, the state's long-running life sciences and biotech support effort the Utah Science, Technology and Research initiative, or USTAR may not survive the session as a decision on the agency's long-term fate, explored over the course of last summer's interim meetings, is likely to be made. Rep. Robert Spendlove, R-Sandy, has been working on smoothing the thoroughfare for autonomous vehicles in the state for the past couple of years and a bill that was delayed at the end of the interim session last year is ready for consideration by his colleagues. Spendlove's HB101 would allow for operation of driverless vehicles on Utah roads, create a pathway for titleing, licensing and registration of said vehicles and, perhaps most importantly, establish a protocol for assessing liability in the event of an accident. At a November interim legislative committee meeting, Spendlove said his effort was first and foremost about ensuring safe operations of high-tech, autonomous vehicles in the Beehive State. "(We're) sending the message to the people of Utah that we do care about safety and we are going to do what we can to make sure the implementation and rollout of this technology will be done in a way that these will be as safe as we can make them," Spendlove said. Major and well-publicized data breaches, as well as various misuses of private electronically stored information, have highlighted personal privacy concerns for anyone navigating the digital ether. A bill proposal from Rep. Craig Hall, R-West Valley City would provide some protections for an individual's data stored in a server owned by, say, a cellphone provider or other cloud-based software provider. According to an assessment from the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, Hall's bill "establishes that a person who transmits data to a third party (like a cell phone provider or cloud-based server) maintains ownership of their data and is entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy." The ACLU also notes HB57, if passed into law, would extend some of the same protections established by the U.S. Supreme Court in last year's Carpenter v. U.S. which said the government must obtain a search warrant to collect location information collected by cellphone towers to all digital information stored by third parties. Utah is lagging far behind the curve in creating computer science opportunities for students, with almost half the state's high schools, according to state data, currently offering no computer science classes whatsoever. That failing comes amid an employment world where computer and tech skills are increasingly in demand, with those jobs offering compensation that far outstrips general average salaries. Rep. John Knotwell, R-Herriman, who also runs the non-profit trade group Utah Technology Council, is aiming to address that with a $10 million grant program that would create a new funding stream for schools that want to add computer science curriculum. And, a just-announced challenge from Utah tech leaders could double the funding provided in HB227 in a novel public-private effort. Utah tech leader and founder/CEO of InsideSales, Dave Elkington said, should Knotwell's bill pass, the effort would put a stake in the ground marking Utah's committment to gifting the skills of tomorrow to the students of today. "Let's be the first state to do this," Elkington said. "Let's show the rest of the country and the rest of the world what it's like to empower our kids for the future." USTAR, the 12-year-old agency birthed and championed under the leadership of former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., has been under legislative seige. Last year, lawmakers cut the agency's budget by a third and severed the agency from its long-running connection to high-caliber researchers at both the University of Utah and Utah State University. In the last four months, USTAR has lost both its director and the acting director who followed. In October, Ivy Estabrooke, a neuroscientist with a long-running record of working in the public sector with the U.S. Department of Defense before taking over the helm of USTAR in 2014 via appointment by Gov. Gary Herbert, had this to say about the circumstances surrounding her resignation: "I truly believe that, as much as possible, the fundamental processes of discovery, invention and innovation should not be politically driven," Estabrooke said. "I think we've seen the outcomes of innovation efforts being driven by politics without expertise to screen and guide it and they are the Solyndras and perpetual motion machines of the world." During the interim meetings last summer, many lawmakers were critical of USTAR in spite of a recent third-party assessment that gave the agency stellar ratings for performance and efficiency. Other data reflected that $30 million invested through USTAR in Utah life science and biotech firms had drawn some $150 million in follow-on funding, a return one venture capitalist called "outstanding by anyone's measure." In the current session, Rep. Mike Winder, R-West Valley City, is running a bill he says would address issues raised by legislators, including potential overlap with other work being done by the Governor's Office of Economic Development, while keeping the agency intact. Winder acknowledged that past issues, like negative audit findings in the years before Estabrooke took over the agency, have worked against USTAR's reputation, but those issues had long been resolved. "As we look around the country, there is tremendous value in having a quasi-independent group like USTAR in place," Winder said. "And despite the hiccups that USTAR has had in years past, technology commercialization is more important to Utah's future than ever." Sen. Dan Hemmert, R-Orem, oversaw the interim review of USTAR. In October, after his legislative interim committee was unable to reach a conclusion, he pledged to address it in the current session. As of Friday, Hemmert had no bill file open focused on USTAR. He did tell the Deseret News that while he hadn't seen Winder's bill, he suspected that he would not be supporting it. While some state lawmakers may be unconvinced that support of Utah life science companies is the "highest and best use of taxpayer funding," one of the state's federal representatives, Sen. Mitt Romney, who is himself a former equity investor, weighed in on the matter last summer at Salt Lake business conference. "We've been fortunate with Silicon Slopes that we've attracted businesses in the areas of software and services that have been instant successes and are growing like crazy," Romney said. "But there are also, if you will, deep technology innovators that also need to be attracted to our state. You might say, 'Well, the venture capital guys will take care of that.' Well, about 90 percent of venture capital in our state over the last five years has gone to software and service businesses. Very little actually gets into some of the deep technologies that are so essential to our long-term growth." "And, these technologies typically take a long time to generate the kinds of returns that venture capitalists often want," he said. "And that's, of course, where USTAR fits in." On the recent anniversary of Roe v. Wade, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed that Freedom Tower, built to replace the Twin Towers, be lit pink to celebrate the states new legislation removing many restrictions on abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Proponents of the law fear the newly composed Supreme Court might reverse longstanding abortion precedent. Some are even pushing to remove New Yorks remaining restrictions, making it the eighth state with no restrictions whatsoever. New Yorks mandated celebration was starkly incongruous with the lack of public support for later-term abortions. Only 13 percent of Americans believe abortion should generally be legal during the third trimester. Decline in support for such abortions undoubtedly reflects medical advances that have enlightened our understanding of fetal development. At 24 weeks, an unborn child is viable outside the womb, has a fully formed face with eyelashes and eyebrows, can hear and recognize the voice of her mother and has all the neurological connections that make the experience of pain possible. Next to New Yorks Freedom Tower, the names of each of the innocent victims of 9/11 are inscribed around two pools of water. And beside 11 of those names, carved in stone, are the words, and her unborn child. Proponents of abortion once emphasized it should be safe, legal and rare. But in New York City, one in three babies are now aborted. And while later-term abortions comprise only 1 percent of all abortions, they are hardly rare in the U.S. there are approximately 15,000 each year, more than the number of gun homicides. Abortions, particularly later-term abortions, are also not safe. With close to a million abortions performed annually, thousands of women are at risk for bleeding, infection and damage to pelvic organs each year. And for each additional week of gestation, the risk of dying from abortion complications increases by 38 percent. There are also other long-term health risks, including pre-term labor in subsequent pregnancies, and psychological distress and mental disorders. Research continues to find a significant association between abortion and a range of difficulties including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, suicidality, substance abuse and most persistently, depression. Abortion advocates seldom acknowledge these realities. Instead, they tend to focus single-mindedly on the seemingly impossible circumstances some women face. They emphasize stories like that of Erika Christensen, who with her husband was thrilled about her pregnancy. But when they learned at 31 weeks that their baby would not survive outside the womb, they wanted to end the suffering of this child. Because New Yorks law banned abortion after 24 weeks, she flew to Colorado for her abortion, adding to the trauma she was already experiencing. And there are other stories of women in sad and difficult situations. While most women seeking later-term abortions are not doing so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment, their stories have made compelling narratives in support of loosening abortion restrictions. What has been missing in the debate is the experience of mothers who chose to continue their pregnancy after receiving a diagnosis of lethal fetal anomalies. Professor Christopher Kaczor recently summarized research on the experiences of mothers facing such heart-breaking diagnoses. Unsurprisingly, many have asked, why not perform an abortion to spare the mother the grief of having to continue a pregnancy and give birth? Yet research finds that 97.5 percent of mothers who decided to continue their pregnancy not only showed strong lack of regret for that decision, but experienced feelings of love, joy and peace. Summarizing multiple studies, Kaczor reported, Although emotionally difficult, parents articulated an empowering transformative experience that lingers over time. These are their words: I will always cherish the time I had with her. I got to hold my baby for an hour no regrets. I got the chance to see her, hold her and honor her sweet life. All my son knew was love. We are rich in love because of her. We would not trade those six hours for anything in the world. They spoke of the profound effect the experience had on their lives. This became perhaps the most profoundly positive experience our family has ever had. I think nothing else has ever strengthened our faith or drawn us closer together. Contrary to what researchers expected, the majority described the birth as joyful, while expressing thankfulness for any time they were able to spend with their baby. Kaczor contrasts these descriptions with those of mothers who chose to abort after a lethal diagnosis. Multiple studies referenced womens profound feelings of inner conflict. As one study concluded, women ultimately felt as if they were betraying themselves and their babies. In 2015, Duke Universitys exploration of the psychological impact of terminating versus continuing a pregnancy found that, Women who terminated reported significantly more despair, avoidance and depression than women who continued the pregnancy. Women who face difficult and uncertain pregnancies deserve our compassion. They also deserve alternatives that value the dignity of every life and affirm our faith in sustaining it. Xem them ... Tin bai cuoi cung Khong con du lieu e load SALT LAKE CITY Whether youre celebrating Valentines Day, Galentines Day, Singles Awareness Day or World Nutella Day (its on Feb. 5, and youre welcome), theres a lot of love going around in the month of February. Whether youre looking for a Valentines date idea or want to treat yourself to a night out, here are 10 theater productions opening this month that deal with love in its many forms. Comedy of Errors at BYU Is a list about love and theater complete without including the Bard? Thanks to the upcoming production of Comedy of Errors by Brigham Young Universitys Young Company, we dont have to wonder. Although its not necessarily the play that comes to mind when you think of William Shakespeares best-known love stories, Comedy of Errors nonetheless does have its dose of love along with ample doses of mistaken identities, farce and, of course, comedy. The Young Companys production will go on tour to local elementary schools, but before it does, audiences can catch the 1960s-themed production on BYUs campus, Feb. 6-16, dates and times vary with some matinees, Nelke Theatre, Franklin S. Harris Fine Arts Center, BYU, Provo, $6-8 (801-422-2981 or byuarts.com). Something Rotten Speaking of the Bard, lovers and haters of the playwright, as well as lovers and haters of musical theater, will all find plenty to laugh at as Something Rotten! makes a two-day stop at Logans Ellen Eccles Theatre. Something Rotten! premiered in April 2015 at Broadways St. James Theatre and tells the story of brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom, who aspire to be playwrights in the 1590s the same time as rock star" playwright Shakespeare writes hit after hit. When Nick visits a soothsayer who predicts that the next big thing in theater will be stories told by singing and dancing, Nick convinces his brother to help him write the first-ever musical. The national touring production of the show stopped at Salt Lakes Eccles Theater last January, and this month brings the same story but with a new cast back to the Beehive State, this time at the Ellen Eccles Theatre, 43 S. Main, Logan, Feb. 12-13, 7:30 p.m., $45-$65 (435-752-0026 or cachearts.org). First Date at Grand Theatre Is there anything more nerve-wracking than a blind date? Probably, but its definitely high up there on the list, and Grand Theatre is about to give audiences the chance to watch the squirming awkwardness in action with its upcoming First Date. When a blind date newbie meets up with a serial dater for a seemingly casual drink, the night quickly escalates into anything but casual. According to the musicals licensing company, in a delightful and unexpected twist, (the man and womans) inner critics take on a life of their own when other restaurant patrons transform into supportive best friends, manipulative exes and protective parents, who sing and dance them through ice-breakers, appetizers and potential conversational land mines. If youre looking to take a special someone on a date or, if youre feeling particularly daring, take a blind date on Valentines Day, Grand Theatre is happy to oblige as First Date opens on V-Day, Feb. 14, and runs through March 2, dates and times vary, Grand Theatre, 1575 S. State, $10-$20 (801-957-3322 or grandtheatrecompany.com). Jaks Theatre Companys The Little Mermaid A visit to the theater doesnt have to be just for Mom and Dad: Jaks Theatre Companys The Little Mermaid makes it a family affair. Although a youth version of The Little Mermaid is available for licensing, Jaks a local youth theater program is slated to stage the full-length Broadway version of the familiar Disney tale, according to the groups website. Hear familiar tunes such as Part of Your World, Kiss the Girl and Under the Sea and watch as the mermaid Ariel abandons her tail to seek true love on land. According to artsaltlake.org, infants under 13 months old do not need a ticket, and child prices are available in person and over the phone, which means this is a show the whole family can enjoy. Catch it at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Feb. 15-23, dates and times vary, $12 (801-355-2787 or artsaltlake.org). Once at Pioneer Theatre Company Even if you havent seen the musical Once, its likely that youve heard one of its love songs: Falling Slowly, which won an Oscar for its composers Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. The awards didnt stop there for the Sundance film-turned-musical. It won eight Tony Awards in 2012, including for best musical, and the cast album won the Grammy Award for best musical theater album. Once tells the story of a romance between a man and a woman, bonded by their love of music, and does so in a unique way as members of the cast play musical instruments live onstage. Pioneer Theatre Companys production opens Valentines Day weekend starting Feb. 15 and runs through March 2, Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. 1400 East, $44-$71 (801-581-6961 or pioneertheatre.org). An American in Paris at Hale Centre Theatre The City of Love makes its way to the Salt Lake Valley in the form of An American in Paris at Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy. Based on the 1951 film starring Gene Kelly and featuring the iconic music of the composing brother duo George and Ira Gershwin, An American in Paris follows an American World War II vet and aspiring artist named Jerry who makes Paris his home after the war, a choice that proves fortuitous when he runs into a beautiful young woman who quickly fills his heart and mind. The musical debuted on Broadway in 2015, featuring Utah native Robert Fairchild in the lead role of Jerry, and went on to win four Tony Awards. It sees its regional premiere this month at Hale Centre Theatres Centre Stage Theatre, 9900 S. Monroe St., Sandy, Feb. 18-April 6, $44-$48 for adults, $24 for youths ages 5-17 (801-984-9000 or hct.org). Plan-B Theatre Companys An Evening With Two Awful Men Sometimes, there are people society cant help but love to hate, and former Deseret News reporter-turned-playwright Elaine Jarvik wants to put audiences in a room with two such people. The world-premiere staging of Jarviks An Evening With Two Awful Men by Plan-B Theatre Company brings President James Buchanan the original worst-ever (and possibly first gay) president of the United States and John Wilkes Booth, President Abraham Lincolns assassin, to the stage to defend their (in)actions, according to Plan-Bs website. See it at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Feb. 21-March 3, dates and times vary, $22 (801-355-2787 or artsaltlake.org). Camelot at Brighams Playhouse Few things create as much drama as a love triangle, and Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewes Camelot delivers a doozy. Based on T.H. Whites book "The Once and Future King, Camelot tells the story of the legendary love triangle between King Arthur, Guinevere and Sir Lancelot, according to the shows licensing company. A young King Arthur maintains a deep love for two things: his kingdom and his wife, Guinevere. But his love and dreams for both hang in the balance when the queen falls in love with the knight Lancelot. Cue "If Ever I Would Leave You," I Loved You Once in Silence, "The Lusty Month of May and other well-known tunes. Catch it at Brighams Playhouse, 25 N. 300 West Building C1, Washington, Washington County, Feb. 22-March 23, dates and times vary, $23 for adults, $21 for seniors, $17 for children ages 5-17 (435-251-8000 or brighamsplayhouse.com). Newsies at Hale Center Theater Orem When the movie musical Newsies opened in theaters in 1992, it wasnt the King of New York or really the king of anything, anywhere. According to a previous Deseret News article, the film was widely recognized as one of Disneys biggest flops. Now, however, the story has reached cult status, both by way of the film and the Broadway musical. And Newsies love is alive and well here in Utah as evidenced by its many recent productions over the past few years, including two stops by the Newsies national tour in 2016 and stagings at Tuacahn Amphitheatre and Pioneer Theatre Company in 2017 and a production at Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy in 2018. Good thing theres no such thing as too much Newsies. Fans of the musical can rejoice in yet another local production, this time in Hale Center Theater Orems intimate theater-in-the-round, Feb. 22-April 20, dates and times vary, HCTO, 225 W. 400 North, Orem, $25-$27 for adults, $19-$21 for children ages 4-11 (801-226-8600 or haletheater.org). Urinetown at Terrace Plaza Playhouse Though it may be a bit of an unconventional type of love to highlight, love of basic human rights is nonetheless important and were not talking life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Think even more basic, and thats at the heart of Urinetown, Terrace Plaza Playhouses upcoming musical. When a water shortage hits a town and stays for 20 years, the government enforces a ban on one of humanitys most basic needs: going to the bathroom, according to the shows licensing company. Although satirical and comedic, the show brings up important themes, according to Terrace Plaza Playhouse. Replace the concept of a privilege to pee with any governmental issue and poignant lessons are learned, according to a news release from the theater. Urinetown plays Feb. 22-April 6, dates and times vary, at Terrace Plaza Playhouse, 99 E. 4700 South, Washington Terrace, Weber County, $15-$17 for adults; $14-$16 for seniors, military and students; $10-$12 for children (801-393-0070 or terraceplayhouse.com). SALT LAKE CITY Are you trying to be happier and healthier in 2019? Attending church could be a step in the right direction, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis. Actively religious adults, or people who affiliate with a faith group and attend religious services at least once a month, are more likely to be involved in their community and say they're very happy than those who are religiously inactive or unaffiliated, Pew reported, drawing on data from three cross-national surveys. "More than one-third of actively religious U.S. adults (36 percent) describe themselves as very happy, compared with just a quarter of both inactive and unaffiliated Americans," researchers noted. Among the more than two dozen countries surveyed, "there is no country in which the data show that actives are significantly less happy than others." Religious activity is also associated with some physical health benefits, like being less likely to smoke or drink, researchers noted. However, it doesn't seem to boost exercise frequency, reduce obesity rates or lead people to describes themselves as "very healthy." Pew doesn't claim that religious activity causes these positive health outcomes, said Joey Marshall, a research associate for the organization. The analysis just points out that religiously active adults stand out from others on some measures of well-being. "We can't prove that religion makes people happier or healthier. We can simply observe that people who are actively religious tend to be happier and, in some ways, they tend to be healthier," Marshall said. Even this less dramatic conclusion matters at a time when religious practice is shifting around the world, he added. "This report indicates that it's quite important for us to watch for changes around the world in the number of actively religious," Marshall said. Comparing those who are very committed to religious practice and the rest of the population, we see "big well-being gaps." Religion and health The relationship between religion and health has long been a source of fascination for researchers, faith leaders and everyday people. Famous scholars like Emile Durkheim, Sigmund Freud and Friedrich Nietzsche have tried to prove that religious practice holds consequences for mental health, but they were mostly hypothesizing instead of conducting rigorous surveys. More recently, scholars have looked at religion's influence on physical health, using newer survey techniques to draw interesting conclusions. "Many of the studies that have been published in the past 30 years have found that religious people tend to live longer, get sick less often and are better able to cope with stress," Pew reported. These efforts were and are complicated by a number of factors, including the diversity of religious traditions. Some faith groups outlaw smoking and drinking, while others discourage hospital visits. Some traditions emphasize forgiveness, which could ease anxiety, while others emphasize the threat of eternal punishment. Additionally, the actively religious "tend to be older, slightly less educated and more likely to be female and married" than their less active counterparts, demographic factors that may drive health-related outcomes, Pew reported. Researchers kept this in mind while working on the new report and ran tests to confirm that results were still statistically significant after controlling for age, gender, education, income and marital status. While drafting the report, they discussed how to fairly and appropriately frame the findings, Marshall said. "We wanted to treat the issue very carefully with an appropriate level of humility and communicate uncertainty as clearly as we can," he said. Key takeaways Pew's new analysis explores data from more than two dozens countries, drawing from surveys conducted by Pew, the World Values Survey Association and the International Social Survey Programme. It centers on eight health indicators, including exercise habits and self-assessed happiness levels. One of Pew's goals was to show how religiously active adults compared with those who affiliate with a faith group but rarely attend religious services, Marshall said. Researchers found that, on a number of factors, religiously inactive adults are more like religious "nones" than regular churchgoers. For example, in Australia, only around one-third of the religiously inactive (33 percent) or unaffiliated (32 percent) describe themselves as "very happy," compared to 45 percent of religious active adults, Pew reported. Similar gaps exist in Japan, Uruguay, New Zealand and the U.S. Religiously active adults also stand out in measures of civic engagement, which some scholars believe improves mental health. In many of the countries studied, the religiously active are more likely than other adults to be involved in nonreligious organizations and vote in national elections. "In the U.S., 58 percent of actively religious adults say they are also active in at least one other (nonreligious) kind of volunteer organization," Pew reported. "Only half of all inactively religious adults (51 percent) and fewer than half of the unaffiliated (39 percent) say the same." However, joining and then regularly attending a house of worship doesn't benefit people across the board. Religiously active adults are not more likely than others to exercise regularly or have a healthy weight. "While actively religious people in many countries are less likely than others to say they drink frequently or ever smoke, they are not more likely to exercise regularly or to have a (body mass index) of less than 30," Pew reported. "If anything, people who are not actively religious are more likely to say they exercise several times per week." Some faith leaders are already working to improve these results, the Deseret News reported in 2017. For example, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Salt Lake City offers a yoga-based exercise class around three times per week. "Few theologians read the Bible with the lens of bodies. However, if you read it closely, I think its so clear that both God and Jesus deeply believe in bodies and think that bodies matter," noted Ellie Roscher, director of youth and story development for Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, in that article. Next steps As Marshall noted, Pew did not prove that religious practice can replace vaccines or pills as a guard against bad health. More research is needed to prove causation. But researchers did reveal differences between people who regularly attend worship services and those who simply identify with a faith group on measures of well-being, which can guide future surveys and analyses. "One of the key takeaways from the report is that it's not enough to simply identify as religious" if you want health benefits stemming from increased social connections, Marshall said. Moving forward, those concerned with public health may want to focus more on actively religious adults instead of worrying about how many inactive adults become religious "nones," Pew reported. Trying to get people to worship services seems to be a better use of resources and energy than trying to ensure people still claim a religious identity. "It may be that the future size of actively religious populations will be more consequential for the outcomes considered in this report," researchers noted. Pew's new research also holds lessons for faith leaders, who want to remain relevant amid demographic shifts in the U.S. and around the world. Some churches have tried to expand their reach by streaming worship services online, as Laura Turner, a Christian commentator, observed in a recent column for The New York Times. "No longer will you have to leave your house to interact with fellow worshipers. You can do it all from the comfort, and isolation, of your own home," she wrote. This approach may weaken a faith group's ability to strengthen social connections, which is one of the health-related benefits highlighted in Pew's study. As Turner put it, "We need one another." Denton, TX (76205) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. NNE winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. NNE winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. The defense attorney, whom Mr. Vignarajah described with a backhanded compliment as one of Marylands most expensive and the kind of lawyer whose rates you pay to persuade a pliable district court judge to bend norms and do the unthinkable, was prepared and did a workmanlike job. First, the lawyer suggested that a witness photo identification (as history has shown) may have been faulty. Then he presented pay stubs showing Mr. West as a full-time employee holding two jobs, introduced family members who were there in court and presented eight separate properties that family members were prepared to post as security for ensuring his reappearance. Most importantly, and in response to the first degree murder charge, he told of two other clients charged with the same crime, whom two judges in Harford and Baltimore counties had released with GPS monitoring and had complied fully with the conditions of release. One of those clients was later found not guilty, and the second pled to a reduced manslaughter charge and received probation, underscoring the need for the presumption of innocence mandate. A student at Garrettford Elementary in Upper Darby has been diagnosed with the mumps. SMALLBIZ SMALL TALK Beyond social media, businesses find other ways to advertise Ahead of the Budget Session in Karnataka, the Congress high command has asked the state leadership to keep its MLAs together so that the government can pass the Finance Bill smoothly. The instructions from the party top brass came following an attempt by the BJP to topple the state government during the Budget Session that begins this week. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who was briefed by former chief minister Siddaramaiah, KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao and AICC in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal last week about the political developments in the state, told them that the party should not be blamed in case the BJP tries to topple the government. The legislature session begins on February 6 and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who also holds the finance portfolio, is slated to present the 2019-20 Budget on February 8. The state government is expected to pass the Finance Bill by February 14 or 15. The Congress is apprehensive that the BJP may try to lure some MLAs and ensure that they miss the session. If the BJP succeeds in its plan and the government fails to pass the Finance Bill, then the government will collapse, said a Congress leader. Rahul also asked the state leaders to talk to all rebel MLAs and try to fulfil their demands. The Congress top brass clearly directed the state leadership to ensure that no MLA skips the session. The party also asked both Siddaramaiah and Gundu Rao to take all steps to keep the MLAs together, said the Congress leader. With JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda threatening to take the extreme step unless the Congress keeps its motormouth MLAs under control, Rahul is also learnt to have instructed the state leadership to not create any trouble in the coalition government. Rahuls instructions came after some Congress leaders openly claimed that for them, Siddaramaiah is the chief minister. Indicating that the party may be forced to indulge in one or more rounds of resort politics, the Congress leader said: Till the passage of the Finance Bill, the party may keep its MLAs in one place. The BJP, which failed in its earlier attempt to lure Congress MLAs, may make another attempt during the Budget Session. The Congress will not allow the BJP to topple the government at any cost, the leader added. Expressing confidence that there will be no problems in the passage of the forthcoming state Budget, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday said the four Congress MLAs who have rebelled are in touch with him. I have seen media reports that these rebels will not attend the Assembly at the time of voting on Budget. I dont know if they are in touch with the Congress but they are in regular touch with me. I even spoke to them at 5 am today. They will come to the Assembly and the budget will be passed. Nothing to worry, the chief minister stated while speaking to a select media group. The issue of the four MLAs was not a big problem. There are local issues there. If issues come to a flashpoint and if there is a problem during voting on the budget, it is BJP legislators who will save me. Hence, I am cool. The chief minister added: I have no problem with these media reports (about the Congress-JD(S) coalition governments longevity). The publicity gives an impression that the government is unstable, that Congress rebels wont come to Assembly and the government will fall. It wont happen. He said the BJP was waiting with bated breath, trying to lure the vulnerable legislators, telling them that 15 MLAs are with them already, that this is their best chance etc. But they wont succeed. The BJP should know that every day is not Sunday. The BJP did succeed in Operation Kamala (luring the opposition MLAs to resign) earlier. That was because the BJP was in power then. It is not so now. No MLA will go now, Kumaraswamy said and added that he was not disturbed by reports that his government was unstable. I dont indulge in political management. That is not required. Ask my officers I have been working for the Budget for the last 15 days. I work since morning till late in the evening. Asked about some Congress MLAs depicting former chief minister Siddaramaiah as their CM, Kumaraswamy said the Congress leader himself has said the CMs chair was not vacant. Anybody can become CM but he should have numbers. Nothing wrong in what they said. I am not worried. I do my work. In any case, the Assembly election is four years away. I am planning for the next four years. Let them say what they want to say, I know how to take out the fuse. Asked about the sharing of seats with the Congress for the Lok Sabha elections, he said party president H D Deve Gowda will take a call on that. He, however, averred that the JD(S) would contest 2-3 seats in North Karnataka. As the number deaths due to swine flu touched 84 in Rajasthan, both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP have started blaming each of negligence. The total number of positive cases since the beginning of the year stood at 2,289. After the Congress came to power in Rajasthan, Swine Flu has become one of the major concerns, especially in Jodhpur, the home town of chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Jodhpur is at the top of the list with 25 deaths being reported in one month. The BJP has targeted the state government over the issue and alleged that within 45 days of the formation of the Ashok Gehlot government, law and order across Rajasthan has derailed. Earlier also swine flu rocked the Rajasthan Assembly after the House witnessed blame game between health minister Raghu Sharma and former health minister Kalicharan Saraf who accused each other of being careless in curbing the epidemic. In reply, Sharma blamed the previous government for being negligent in dealing with the scare even after BJP MLA, Kirti Kumari died of swine flu and BJP national president Amit Shah also caught swine flu. Inadequate testing centres However, according to experts, the outbreak in Rajasthan has happened because of inadequate diagnosis centres. The health department currently has 12 laboratories with swine flu testing facilities at hospitals under all seven medical colleges in Jaipur, Ajmer, Bikaner, Kota, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Jhalawar along with the Desert Medicine Research centre in Jodhpur and four other private laboratories. Moreover, district and primary health centres don't have the means to carry out swine flu tests and that is proving to be critical because swine flu, if not diagnosed in time, can be fatal. "Most patients who are suffering from severe swine flu are either those who delayed treatment or had pre-existing medical conditions. On an average people should come in within 2-3 days," Dr Raman Sharma, Professor of Medicine at the SMS hospital and the nodal officer for swine flu monitoring in the state told DH. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma has instructed officials to take action against staff absent from duty. In an attempt to control the menace, the medical and health department has also started a door-to-door survey to identify patients with swine flu-like symptoms. Worst affected Rajasthan is the worst affected in the country with at least 2,289 (40 per cent) of the total cases reported from the state till February 2. In comparison to 2018, 2,375 cases were detected out of which 221 scummed. Young and educated girls from Nepal are being trafficked to South East Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia via Manipurs border with Myanmar. NGOs working against human trafficking said this on Sunday following the rescue of 130 girls from Nepal near Indo-Myanmar border at Moreh and at Imphal airport in Manipur since Friday. The girls were rescued by police and Manipur social welfare department personnel with the help of two NGOs---Impulse NGO Network and New Life Foundation. The girls, aged between 25 to 30 years had reached Imphal either by air or by road and were likely to be taken out to Myanmar through Moreh border and then to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Hasina Kharbih, founder of Impulse NGO Network told DH that based on the information provided by Maiti Nepal, an NGO based in Nepal, 21 girls first were rescued on Friday near Moreh border. In another raid, 67 girls were rescued from hotels in Imphal, Manipur capital. Another 20 girls were rescued from Imphal airport on Saturday. According to information shared by NGOs in Nepal, 300 women have already crossed over to Myanmar through Manipur, although this has not been confirmed by officials in Myanmar yet. Trafficking of less educated and economically weaker girls has been a serious issue in the Northeast for a long time. However, we have observed in the past few years that even educated girls are also falling victim of traffickers. These girls are taken out by traffickers with the promise of jobs but many of them face exploitation there. Many end up in flesh trade or in bonded labour, which are the worst forms of exploitation, Kharbih said. Congress will stage a protest against a leader of Hindu Mahasabha, who had recreated Gandhis assassination by shooting at Gandhis effigy recently, on Monday in Bengaluru, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Dinesh Gundu Rao said. The protest will be held across the country. He was speaking to mediapersons here, on Sunday. In the name of protecting the religion, there is an increase in violence in the country. BJP is supporting communal forces in the country. The Centre should initiate strict action against Hindu Mahasabha, he said. Dinesh said that the seat sharing discussion between Congress and JD(S) had not yet commenced. The Congress High Command and JD(S) Supremo will take a final call on the seats to be shared between the two parties. All we want is candidates from the Congress and JD(S) win maximum seats to defeat communal BJP. He, further, said that there is good coordination between chief minister and Congress leaders. Minor differences of opinion may be present in the grassroot-level workers. All the 80 Congress MLAs will take part in the Budget session in Karnataka. On BJPs Operation Kamala, he said, Where does the BJP get money to offer to our MLAs? How many crores have they spent to lodge the BJP MLAs from Karnataka in a seven star resort? He accused MP Nalin Kumar Kateel of involving in horse-trading and corrupt activities. To a query on MLA J N Ganesh, he said that Ganesh was absconding. Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwar is heading a special committee to probe the incident involving two legislators Ganesh and Anand Singh. AICC General Secretary and in charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal and others were present. Pope Francis and Egypts Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb greet each other as they exchange documents during the Human Fraternity Meeting at the Founders Memorial in Abu Dhabi. (Photo:AFP) Abu Dhabi: Pope Francis on Monday called for the full recognition of rights for people of all faiths from the UAE, the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the Arabian Peninsula. The pope called for the full recognition of the other and his or her freedom in a meeting with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the top Sunni Muslim cleric. Religious freedom is not limited only to freedom of worship but sees in the other truly a brother or sister, a child of my own humanity whom God leaves free and whom, therefore, no human institution can coerce, not even in God's name", Pope Francis said. Pope rejected hatred and violence in the name of God. The pontiff, who met with the world's top Sunni Muslim cleric in Abu Dhabi, said every form of violence must be condemned without hesitation... No violence can be justified in the name of religion". The pope arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night for a three-day visit, during which he will lead a historical open-air mass for some 135,000 Catholics. Earlier, the pontiff arrived in a modest black Kia at Abu Dhabi's presidential palace, where he was welcomed with a lavish military parade. Officers fired 21 shots in the air, while jets flew overhead leaving white and yellow trails the colours of the Vatican City flag. The pope's highly publicised 48-hour visit to the United Arab Emirates will also include an open-air mass on Tuesday for 135,000 of the Muslim country's million Catholic residents, set to be the largest public gathering in country's history. The pope was expected to raise the issue of Yemen, devastated by a war in which the UAE is a key player, in talks with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. Yemen is the scene of what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, triggered by the intervention of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies in a war between the government and Huthi rebels. More than 10 million Yemenis now risk imminent starvation. Sheikh Mohammed said on Monday that UAE rulers were delighted to meet the pontiff in our homeland of tolerance. We discussed enhancing cooperation, consolidating dialogue, tolerance, human coexistence and important initiatives to achieve peace, stability and development for peoples and societies, he tweeted. Theresa May said on Sunday she will be "armed with a fresh mandate and new ideas" when she meets European Union negotiators over her Brexit deal (Photo: AP) London: British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday she will be "armed with a fresh mandate and new ideas" when she meets European Union negotiators over her Brexit deal. EU officials have insisted that the deal -- rejected by British lawmakers -- is not open for renegotiation. But Ms May wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that she would be "battling for Britain and Northern Ireland" in her efforts to get rid of the agreement's unpopular backstop provision. "If we stand together and speak with one voice, I believe we can find the right way forward," she said. The backstop is intended to ensure there is no return to a hard border with Ireland, but Brexit supporters fear it will keep Britain tied to the EU's customs rules. MPs voted last week to sends Ms May back in Brussels suggesting her deal would then be able to pass after it was roundly rejected in parliament last month. "I am now confident there is a route that can secure a majority in the House of Commons for leaving the EU with a deal," she wrote. "When I return to Brussels I will be battling for Britain and Northern Ireland, I will be armed with a fresh mandate, new ideas and a renewed determination to agree a pragmatic solution". The EU insists that the deal "remains the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal," but with the clock running down until the March 29 exit date the risks of a no-deal Brexit for both Britain and the bloc are coming into sharp focus. Car giant Nissan announced Sunday it was cancelling plans to build its X-Trail SUV at its plant in northeast England, saying that "the UK's future relationship with the EU is not helping." Ms May said opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn "also believes the potential indefinite nature of the backstop is an issue", and that the EU has "already accepted the principle of 'alternative arrangements' superseding the backstop should it ever be required." The backstop would kick in if Britain and the EU have not agreed a trade deal on their future relationship after a time-limited transition period of up to two years. Nissan Blow The prime minister rejected accusations that plans to reopen the backstop talks risked upsetting the Irish peace process. "Nor do I have time for those who believe the verdict passed by the British people in 2016 should be overturned before it is even implemented," she added, referring to the rump of MPs calling for a second referendum. "I'm determined to deliver Brexit, and determined to deliver on time -- on March 29, 2019," she wrote. May has promised MPs that she will bring any revised deal back to be voted on by MPs on February 13. Warnings of the consequences of a no-deal Brexit intensified last week as several multinational firms, including Airbus and Ford said jobs could suffer with an unfavourable negotiating outcome. Nissan dealt another blow on Sunday by announcing it was shifting future investment away from its largest European plant in Sunderland, north east England, which employs 7,000 people. The car giant announced in 2016 that it planned to build its X-Trail model in Sunderland, but will now assemble it instead at Nissan's global production hub in Kyushu, Japan. Queen Elizabeth II was even drawn into the fray, with the Sunday Times reporting that the civil service had drawn up plans to whisk away the royal family to a secret location if riots should break out due to no deal, with Buckingham Palace declining to comment on the report. The Brexit saga has driven a wedge in the heart of both major parties, pitting centrists against their more ideologically driven MPs. Several rebellious centrist Labour MPs, who want a soft Brexit or to stay in the EU, are mulling forming a new party, according to Sunday's Observer. They are disillusioned with the ambiguous stance taken by leftist leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has been a long-term eurosceptic but said he voted to Remain in 2016. Longtime associate Alex Cifuentes told authorities a woman would send Guzman photos of young girls to choose from, with a fee of $5,000 per girl (Photo:AP) New York: A witness in the trial of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman told the US government the Mexican drug kingpin drugged and raped girls as young as 13, according to court documents unsealed Saturday. Longtime associate Alex Cifuentes told authorities a woman would send Guzman photos of young girls to choose from, with a fee of $5,000 per girl. Cifuentes used this service himself three or four times, having sex with girls as young as 15-years-old, the government said in the documents, adding he witnessed the defendant do the same on multiple occasions, with girls as young as 13 years old. The former Sinaloa cartel leader, 61, would allegedly sometimes drug the girls with a powdery substance with Cifuentes help before raping them. But Cifuentes, who lived with Guzman in 2007 and 2008, did not mention any of this in four days of testimony during the trial, which ended on Thursday after three months of hearings. Joaquin denies the allegations, which lack any corroboration and were deemed too prejudicial and unreliable to be admitted at trial, Guzmans lawyer, Eduardo Balarezo, said in an emailed statement. It is unfortunate that the material was publicly released just prior to the jury beginning deliberations. On Monday, the jury will begin deliberating whether Guzman is guilty of trafficking hundreds of tons of drugs into the US. He faces a life sentence if convicted. The documents were published following a legal claim by US media, which throughout the trial fought the secrecy surrounding the case. Cifuentes, 50, was arrested in Mexico in 2013 then deported from Colombia to the US. Currently in prison, he is cooperating with the government in exchange for a reduced sentence. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam should listen to the growing chorus of people calling for his resignation. The bizarre press conference he held over the weekend to defend himself only made it more untenable for him to continue in office. Even if he didnt show outright racism by wearing blackface or the costume of a klansman as depicted in the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook (though we found his backtracking story hard to believe), he did in fact admit to wearing blackface. He had to have known it was was offensive, and saying it was part of a Michael Jackson costume doesnt make it better. The blase way he spoke about the get up and the familiarity he seemed to have with the practice (So its hard to remove black shoe polish, is it?), falls far short of repentance. Whatever questions emerged today after reports that a woman had accused Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault in a 2004 encounter (which have not been substantiated) dont change the fact that Mr. Northam has to go. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) Five suspects in the twin terrorist bombings that killed 23 people and injured more than 90 others in a church in Jolo, Sulu, have surrendered to authorities amid troops' massive hunt for perpetrators, the country's top cop said Monday. Philippine National Police Chief Dir. Gen. Oscar Albayalde announced that the five include Kammah L. Pae alias Kamah, described as a senior operative of Abu Sayyaf commander Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan and the one who escorted the Indonesian couple that conducted the January 27 suicide bombings. Kamah has also been identified as a brother of a slain Abu Sayyaf member. Police said Kamah and the four others who surrendered -- Albaji Kisae Gadjali alias Awag, Rajan Bakil Gadjali alias Radjan, Kaisar Bakil Gadjali alias Isal and Salit Alih alias Papong -- are part of Ajang Ajang, a support arm of the Abu Sayyaf group that has pledged allegiance to ISIS. Albayade said the five will be charged Monday with multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder before the Sulu provincial prosecutor. He clarified,however, that Kamah has not yet admitted his hand in the attack. "Forced surrender kasi [becasuse] he was being hunted down," he added. On Monday evening, Department of Justice Spokesperson Markk Perete said the prosecutor has "terminated the inquest proceedings and submitted for resolution the case against the five arrested suspects in the Jolo Cathedral bombings." Apart from the cases identified by Albayalde, an additional case of damage to property has been added. Perete added, "Seven other identified suspects and several John and Jane Does are still at large." Albayade said the five who surrendered were part of a group of 22 Abu Sayyaf personalities believed responsible and who conspired to carryout the attack at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral. He said 14 more suspects remain at large including the mastermind Sawadjaan, while three others including the two Indonesian suicide bombers had been killed. Sawadjaan reportedly succeeded Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, who was killed in 2017. Albayalde said Kamah has been a long-standing threat to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral. He surmised that the attack in the church took nearly a year of planning before it was carried out. "Matagal nang pinaplano 'yan . Almost a year already," the national police chief added. He said the group conspired with the Indonesian couple Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano earlier tagged as the suicide bombers who detonated the explosives. READ: Indonesian suicide bombers behind Jolo blasts - Ano Albayalde called the bombing an "act of terror", explaining that local terrorist groups perpetrate attacks to receive funds from ISIS. He added that the Jolo attack was possibly a means to sow discord between Muslims and Christians. "Isang [One] objective is targeting the church for Christians and Muslims to fight, to create chaos and terror," the chief said. On Saturday, the death toll for the Jolo blasts reached 23, after one of the injured victims died while confined in the Zamboanga City Medical Center. A recent police report also counted 95 wounded individuals - 14 soldiers, two police officers, two members of the Coast Guard and 77 civilians. In an interview with CNN Philippines News Night Monday, Sulu Provincial Police Director SSupt. Pablo Labra said Kamah has been one of the suspects in the attacks from the beginning. Labra cleared up confusion over how the suspect came to be under police custody, saying Kamah surrendered first to military authorities, who turned him over to Sulu police. "He showed up doon sa military counterpart natin [to our military counterpart], that's why he was brought to us," Labra told CNN Philippines. New York: 60-year-old Indian man has pleaded guilty to his role in a dangerous transnational human trafficking conspiracy by assisting around 400 people from India to unlawfully enter the US for profit, the US Justice Department said. Yadvinder Singh Bhamba pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy and 15 counts of smuggling aliens to the United States for profit before US Magistrate Judge Sivia Carreno-Coll of the District of Puerto Rico. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April. According to admissions in Bhamba's plea agreement, since 2013, Bhamba had a leadership role in a human smuggling conspiracy operating out of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, India and elsewhere. As part of the conspiracy, Bhamba personally assisted around 400 people to unlawfully enter the United States between 2013 and 2015. He also oversaw and directed co-conspirators operating out of the Caribbean, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said. Individuals paid between USD 30,000 and USD 85,000 to be smuggled from India to the United States and from at least 2013 to 2016, human smuggling was Bhamba's primary source of income, the Department said. Bhamba was arrested in the Dominican Republic in August 2017, and later transferred to Puerto Rico. Bhamba and other members of the conspiracy made flight arrangements for people to travel from India through other countries including Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Iran, Panama, Venezuela, Belize, and Haiti to the Dominican Republic, which was used as a staging area, where aliens were housed before being transported to the United States. The organisation brought groups of aliens from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico or Florida by boat and from there they were picked up by co-conspirators and taken to stash houses until flights could be arranged to California, New York, or elsewhere in the United States. Bhamba and others arranged for fraudulent identifications for some aliens to use in the United States. The Justice Department said that the boat trips organised by Bhamba and his co-conspirators were perilous. Boat captains used old, damaged, cracked, unlicensed, overcrowded, and unsafe boats to make the journey. In at least one instance, a person died in a boat on his way to the United States. At times, the smugglers would take passports from the aliens during their journeys, physically assault them, and threaten their families to collect money. Bhamba used fraudulent Indian, Dominican, and Jamaican identifications for travel and financial transactions related to the conspiracy. In some instances, he created and provided false employment documents on behalf of the aliens to authorities to obtain foreign visas. Bhamba also instructed aliens travelling through foreign airports how to find, and in some instances, pay cash to, corrupt immigration officials, passport control officers, or airport employees in order to bypass regular immigration and passport control procedures. In their first meeting North Korea's Kim pledged to work towards the denuclearization of Korean peninsula (File Photo) Washington: President Donald Trump said in remarks aired Sunday he saw a "good chance" of reaching deals on two key US foreign policy challenges: North Korean nuclear disarmament and trade relations with China. Interviewed on CBS's Face the Nation, Mr Trump said the date and venue of his upcoming second summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un had been agreed -- and would likely be announced before or during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. "The meeting is set," said the president. "He's looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it." Vietnam is seen as the most likely venue for the Trump-Kim summit, which is expected to take place late this month and follows on from a landmark first face-to-face last June. US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told Congress this week that "North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons and production capabilities." That analysis runs counter to the position of the president, who once more argued in Sunday's interview that "there's also a very good chance that we will make a deal." "I think he's also tired of going through what he's going through," said Trump, referring to the international sanctions pressing on Kim's regime. "He has a chance to have North Korea be a tremendous economic behemoth," Trump continued. "He can't do that with nuclear weapons and he can't do that on the path they're on now." "I like him. I get along with him great," the president added. "We have a fantastic chemistry." The two leaders' first meeting produced a vaguely-worded document in which Kim pledged to work towards "the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula". But progress has since stalled with the two sides disagreeing over what that means. Asked about the possibility of the United States pulling troops out of South Korea as it negotiates with Pyongyang, Trump doubled down on remarks by the US envoy on North Korea Stephen Biegun, who this week denied any such plans. "We have 40,000 troops in South Korea, it's very expensive. But I have no plans, I've never even discussed removing them," Trump said. The US president went on to praise China as having been "very helpful" with the North Korean dossier -- and voiced optimism about the prospect of a deal to end their trade war. "It looks like we're doing very well with making a deal with China," said Trump, who struck an upbeat note following two days of US-China trade talks at the White House this week. The two sides face a March 1 deadline to avert a sharp increase in US duties on $200 billion in Chinese exports. "I don't know that we're going to make one, but we have a good chance," Trump said. "And if it is a deal it's going to be a real deal. It's not going to be a stopgap." These recommendations are part of internet giant Googles campaign #Securi-tyCheckKiya that urges users to take control of their data. New Delhi: Securing the phone screen with a unique password and keeping a tab on the permissions given to apps are some steps smartphone users can take to keep themselves safe online, tech giant Google said on Monday. These recommendations are part of internet giant Googles campaign #Securi-tyCheckKiya that urges users to take control of their data. The campaign is being initiated ahead of Safer Internet Day on February 5. As technology continues to change the way we live, work, and play, users want to know how best to ensure their safety on the web. Helping people manage their privacy and security is integral to everything we do, Google India Director, Trust and Safety Sunita Mohanty said. She said Google builds products with strong security protections at their core to continuously and automatically detect and protect users data. We notify you when youve granted access to third-party sites or apps, but its really important for you to understand the information that you share with these apps or sites. A quick check on your phone tells you exactly what access including Calendar, Camera, Conta-cts, Location, Microphone, etc. you have shared with third party apps. So while you sip your morning coffee tomorrow, spend a minute to skim through app permissions on your phone, and choose the right settings for you, Ms Mohanty said. She explained that it is important that users also conduct a health checkup of their Google Account to ensure safety of their data. Overall there is growing interest among users to understand how they can make their online experience safer... while this is good, we believe there is still a need to improve user awareness, on how to stay safe online and protect their data, she said. She said providing simple actionable steps work best with users especially young and those coming online for the first time. This year, we will continue to educate users on the safety they can do, so they can take more control of their online security and privacy, Ms Mohanty added. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Honda provides scholarships to 14 aspiring Engineers and Scientists, gives opportunity for higher professional education in Japan. Honda provides scholarships to 14 aspiring Engineers and Scientists, gives opportunity for higher professional education in Japan. Honda Cars India Ltd. (HCIL) presented the 12th Edition of the Young Engineer and Scientists (Y-E-S) Award for 2018-19 to 14 students from Indias premium science and technology institute, the IITs, across India. The Y-E-S Award was instituted by the Honda Foundation in India in 2007 and is facilitated by Honda Cars India, to nurture young students who have excelled in the area of science and technology and aspire for higher academic achievement. With this program, Honda Foundation hopes to promote dissemination of eco-technology among the young generations and, at the same time, to strengthen interaction and exchange between Japanese & Indian youth expected to lead science, technology and industry. Y-E-S Award is bestowed every year, to bright students of the IITs after a rigorous evaluation by a panel of senior Honda executives and prominent Indian scientists. The Chief Guest H.E. Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Japan, presented the Award to the students in recognition of their outstanding all-round performance in academics. Also present on the occasion, were Hiroto Ishida, President, Honda Foundation and Dr. Kazuko Matsumoto, Director, Honda Foundation, who was also the Guest of Honor. A scholarship of cash equivalent of US $3000 each, was presented to 14 students selected from six IITs - Bombay, Madras, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Roorkee and Guwahati on the basis of their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA), Essays and 2 rounds of personal interviews with the selection committee of Senior Honda Executives and Shirish Garud, Director- TERI, the chief assessor of the selection committee. Hiramatsu congratulated all the students by saying I congratulate all the awardees of the Y-E-S Award. India and Japan enjoy a fulfilling bilateral relationship and I hope that through this opportunity you will experience Japans advanced technological system and enjoy research which is aimed at contributing to social causes. Talking about Y-E-S Award, Gaku Nakanishi, President & CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd. said, We are very pleased to announce the 12th edition of Y-E-S Award. The journey has been phenomenal and we have received tremendous response and enthusiasm from the IIT students who put in their best efforts to showcase their work. So far we have awarded 154 such students in 12 years. Such platform encourages young professionals to involve in higher research in the field of technology. We want to provide them the opportunity with Y-E-S Award so that they can fulfill their dreams. Sai Uttej Koduri, a student from IIT Madras and an Y-E-S Awardee said, My entire journey has been nothing short of unique, enriching and fulfilling. I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to Honda for investing in this powerful cause and for believing on me that I can make a contribution to the sphere of eco-technology. I thank the entire Honda Team for their seamless and meticulous planning of the entire process. The awardees for Y-E-S Award 2018-19 in India are: Aakila Rajan - IIT Madras Akash Bhardwaj -IIT Kanpur Alok Gupta - IIT Roorkee Khyati Kiyawat - IIT Roorkee Kinjal Saxena - IIT Bombay Lakshmi Vasanta Majety - IIT Kharagpur Mayur Joshi - IIT Madras Nirmalya Panigrahi - IIT Kharagpur Prateek Manocha - IIT Guwahati Pushkar Saraf - IIT Bombay Sabyasachi Sen - IIT Kharagpur Sai Uttej Koduri - IIT Madras Shubhanshi Singh - IIT Kanpur Soham Dibyachintan - IIT Bombay Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Hyderabad: In a surprise attack, Congress legislator T. Jayaprakash Reddy alias Jagga Reddy hailed TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao and described former minister T. Harish Rao as a blackmailer. Harish Rao sent me to jail, he said. He said he had no differences with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, whom he criticises bitterly. My allegations are always political, Mr Jagga Reddy said during a brief conversation with mediapersons who asked him about his recent jail experience in connection with alleged visa fraud. Harish Rao is the reason behind keeping me the jail. He did this for his political existence. I will meet Mr Chandrasekhar Rao and Mr Rama Rao for the development of my constituency, Mr Jagga Reddy said. Mr Harish Rao is a blackmailer and Mr Rama Rao is polite. He claimed that Mr Harish Rao had negotiated with Congress leader K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao in 2008 and tried to join the Congress. If Mr Harish Rao leaves the TRS then it will be the end of his political carrier, Mr Jagga Reddy said. He said Mr Chandrasekhar Rao had benefited him twice. Mr Jagga Reddy said he had won the election when Mr Chandrasekhar Rao launched the TRS. By keeping me in jail he gave political entry to my daughter, Mr Jagga Reddy said. When I was jailed, a few senior leader came to support me, except Mr V. Hanumantha Rao. TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has been a moral support, Mr Jagga Reddy said. I was deeply hurt that no other senior leader came to me, he said and added that he would not leave the party. Chennai: Terming the action of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in attempting to prevent the CBI from discharging its duty as undemocratic Union Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said the West Bengal Chief Minister had dealt a severe blow to democracy. Joining him, BJP State president Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan ridiculed Mamata saying the CM thought that she could stop a wedding by hiding the comb. Speaking to reporters at the airport here on Monday, the Central Minister said, Mamatas actions remind the public of the emergency period and was an assault on the rule of law. The news that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee staged a sit-in protest in an attempt to prevent the CBI from enquiring Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar (in connection with the chit fund scam) is a big blow to democracy. She has demonstrated that her rule is worse than the situation that had prevailed during the Emergency in the country, Mr. Radhakrishnan said. Hitting out at DMK president M. K. Stalin for being supportive of her actions, he said the DMK on the one hand talks about the excesses during emergency period but on the other hand shares platform with the TMC leader. The extent of freedom given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known to everybody. It is condemnable that the West Bengal government has violated the constitution, he added. Wondering if there was something to hide through Ms. Mamatas protest, Dr. Tamilisai questioned the need for the CM to prevent the CBI officials from executing the orders of the Supreme Court. The CBI officials had all the evidences with them and had gone to enquire... but she has created a worst situation in West Bengal for which Stalin is supporting her. Mamata is behaving like the proverbial saying that she could stop a wedding by hiding the comb, Dr. Tamilisai said. Shyna filed an appeal with the Madras High Court and a decision regarding this will be conveyed to her during the fourth week of this month. COIMBATORE: Former Maoist leader P.A Shyna, who currently has no substantial charges against her, has a bigger battle to fight. With 17 cases pending against her in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, she has applied for a fortnights leave to take care of her ailing mother who is counting her dying days in her hometown some 30-km away from Thrissur in Kerala. The application for leave was filed at the Madras High Court and the decision will be known on Monday or latest on Wednesday, she told DC. As the lower court rejected her appeal to have her bail condition relaxed, Shyna filed an appeal with the Madras High Court and a decision regarding this will be conveyed to her during the fourth week of this month. Having served three years in jail, the former Maoist leader is out on bail and is residing in the textile city in a friends home, as she is required to visit the Q-branch police station in Peelamedu here to sign the bail register everyday at 10: 30 am, as per her bail condition. She has been doing so since 16 August 2018. In November 2018, when my mothers health began to deteriorate, I applied to the Tirupur district and sessions court to have my bail condition relaxed to take care of my 77-year old mother who suffers from a heart disorder. However, both my appeals were rejected and I continue to religiously sign the register as per the bail condition, she said. Of the 17 pending cases against her, ten are in Kerala and another seven in Tamil Nadu. No charge-sheet is filed against me in any case in Tamil Nadu. I was falsely accused in the cases. In this backdrop and considering my mothers health condition on humanitarian grounds, I have requested the court to grant me permission to sign the bail register once a week instead of everyday, she sighs. AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu interacts with Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi during the inauguration of AP transit High Court at Nelapadu in Amaravati on Sunday (Photo: Ch Narayana Rao) Vijayawada: It was a historic moment in the timeline of new capital Amaravati on Sunday with the inauguration of Andhra Pradesh transit High Court and laying of the foundation stone for a permanent High Court at Nelapadu. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi inaugurated the transit High Court in the judicial complex at Nelapadu, accompanied by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and several judges of the Supreme Court and other courts. Speaking on the occasion, Justice Gogoi said that pendency of cases in India was alarmingly high at 3 crores, of which 81 lakh cases were a year old that cannot be treated as pending. He said 50 lakh cases were petty ones and appealed to chief justices of High Courts of all states to dispense with them. He said around 25 lakh cases were 10 years old, which was not a good sign. He said the long-pending cases are a black spot on the judiciary and should be wiped out as quickly as possible. Justice Gogoi said the Supreme Court recently took up the issue of 5,000 vacancies in district judiciaries along with provision for courtrooms. He said he was optimistic the vacancies of district and subordinate judges would be filled up soon. He said 75 per cent of the vacancies will be filled up by end of 2019. There are 400 vacancies among High Court judges, for which the courts are yet to make recommendation for 270 posts while filling up of the remaining 130 posts are in the pipeline. Justice Gogoi appealed to the high courts to make recommendations, immediately, to fill up the vacancies. He said 100 vacancies will be filled up in the next 2-3 weeks. The CJI said pendency and lack of judges made the justice dispensation system vulnerable. Referring to the new High Court building, Justice Gogoi said dispensation of justice had travelled a long way, not only in terms of progress of ideas but also in respect of physical surroundings. He said one must not view court buildings in terms of bricks, as it has a great symbolic value. He congratulated all judges and lawyers and people of Andhra Pradesh and officers who have tirelessly contributed for speedy completion of the buildings. He said he believes dispensation of justice and morality travel together. Justice Gogoi said members of the Bar have a greater role to play in making the judicial system dynamic. The Indian Embassy has no formal communication or an exact count of those who returned to Hyderabad on their own. Hyderabad: About two dozen students from Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh, who had overstayed their visas in the United States, returned to their homes on Monday. A senior officer with the ministry of external affairs said, The Embassy and consulates have contacted detained students and conveyed to their American counterparts not to treat those detained as criminal but victims. The officer said the embassy would not interfere with the legal proceedings involving eight students who have been charged by the ICE. The others were trapped by these eight accused, the US was told. The officer added, In every district where Indian students have been arrested, members of the local Indian community accompanied by an attorney have visited them. Those with active and legal visas have been asked not to hurry back but remain in the US. The Indian Embassy has no formal communication or an exact count of those who returned to Hyderabad on their own. Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has taken a stand to keep silent over the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) controversy between the Central government and the West Bengal government. While several political parties and Chief Ministers have reacted to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refusing to allow CBI officials to question the Kolkata police commissioner, TRS leaders and Telangana state Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao have not made any comment. In fact, when contacted, TRS senior leaders refused to comment on the matter. Sources said that Mr Rao has decided to take a neutral stand. The Central government says the CBI is investigating the alleged Saradha chit fund scam on the directions of the Supreme Court. Like Andhra Pradesh, the WB government has decided not to allow CBI officers into the state and had issued orders accordingly. The West Bengal governments argument is that the entry of CBI officials was banned because they came to arrest the police commissioner without taking prior permission from the state government. Though Ms Banerjee is projecting the confrontation as an assault on federalism, the TRS believes it is an issue between the Central government and West Bengal government and does not want to be involved. The main Opposition party in TS, the Congress, has criticised the CM for not reacting. This too has not elicited a response from the TRS. Sources said the TRS leadership has directed party leaders not to comment on the issue. A 24-year-old employee of the University of Maryland Medical School is in critical condition after being shot outside the University of Maryland Medical Center at about 7 a.m. Monday. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun video) This is the first batch to leave the country before the February 5 deadline for immigrants who were staying illegally in the US. Hyderabad: Over 20 students from Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh, who had overstayed their visas in the United States, returned to their homes on Monday. These students returned out of fear and due to family pressure. They were not part of the 600 detained or trapped by the US Homeland Security through the fake university scam. This is the first batch to leave the country before the February 5 deadline for immigrants who were staying illegally in the US. Their student visa, H1-B or Optional Practical Training had lapsed, a source said. No Indian has been deported so far from the US in the current round, nor has anyone been issued a notice to leave the country. Scores of students detained by the US Immigration Customs and Enforcement are yet to get a clearance in form of voluntary departure letter from the immigration judge. A senior officer with the ministry of external affairs told this newspaper, Students whose visas are still active have been advised by the Indian Embassy to remain in the US and the required consular help has been provided. Islamabad: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs troponin test determines that he did not suffer heart attack. Blood tests were conducted to profile his heart issues, a medical report said. Mr Sharif has been undergoing various medical tests at the Services Hospital in Lahore to ascertain severity of different diseases he has been suffering from. Besides, he also underwent CT scan and ultrasound to examine the level of his kidney problem. The tests found stones in his left kidney. A reexamination of his blood samples in the Jinnah Hospital determined that he has been facing earlier heart issues and not symptoms related to heart attack. He was shifted to the hospital from the Kot Lakhpat Jail. A six-member board of doctors from the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) has been conducting his medical procedures. Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) supporters have set a Quran Khawani (prayers) camp outside the hospital to offer special prayers for rehabilitation of Sharif. Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had approved shifting Mr Sharif from the jail to the hospital following recommendations of the medical board. Kolkata/New Delhi: Doing what she is best at, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday escalated her protest against the Centre and the CBI by vowing to continue her satyagraha to save the country and the Constitution till February 8 amid a tsunami of support from Opposition parties. Describing her stir as non-political, Ms Banerjee said, Its not a political programme. But all political parties can join us in our protest. In Delhi, Trinamul spokesperson Derek OBrien said that 22 parties have extended their support to the protest against the Centre. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, TDs N. Chandrababu Naidu, RJDs Tejashwi Yadav, DMKs Kanimozhi have expressed their desire to join the protest and are going to Kolkata. Others like Samajwadi Partys leader Kiranmay Nanda have already visited the protest site, said Mr OBrien. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has also extended his partys support to Ms Banerjee. The TMC chief is understood to have also got phone calls from SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati, Mr Kejriwal and Mr Naidu, he said. Pointing to the non-political nature of the dharna, Mr O Brien said, There is not even a single Trinamul flag at the protest site. TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee alleged that the home minister is hiding facts from Parliament. He claimed the Kolkata high court had stayed the summons issued by the probe agency to Kolkata police chief till February 13. Both the Houses were disrupted and eventually adjourned over the issue. Across West Bengal, Trinamul activists organised rallies and sit-in demonstrations to protest against the BJP-led Central government and stopped train movement in at least two districts. The ruling BJP, meanwhile, alleged that Ms Banerjee is on a dharna to save herself from the CBI which is probing the chit fund cases as per the orders of the Supreme Court. Union minister and Asansol MP Babul Supriyo demanded that Presidents rule be imposed in the state as he accused Ms Banerjee of aligning with those indulging in corruption. The TMC supremo had earlier said she would not attend the Assembly, where the state budget would be placed by Finance Minister Amit Mitra, on Monday. During the arrest made in Senegal, Pujari was in possession of a fake passport in the name of Anthony Fernandez. KOCHI: Ernakulam Range IG Vijay Sakhare said on Monday that the state police will seek the custody of Ravi Pujari, who was arrested from Senegal a few days ago, when he is extradited to India. "The arrest of Ravi Pujari in Senegal has been confirmed. As he is the prime accused in the beauty parlour firing case, the state police will seek his custody when he is brought to India. The extradition process is going on," Mr. Sakhare said. Police sources said that seeking custody will be a long process as Pujari has a number of cases registered against him in the country. "The Interpol has issued a Red Corner notice against him. As he is wanted in a number of cases, including extortion and threat calls to prominent personalities, getting him in custody in this case may take a long time," a source said. During the arrest made in Senegal, West Africa, Pujari was reportedly in possession of a fake passport in the name of Anthony Fernandez. It was on December 15 two bike-borne miscreants with their faces fully covered walked up to the Nail Artistry beauty salon owned by actress Leena Maria Paul at Panampilly Nagar and fired a few shots from the stairs and sped away. The police identified Pujari's connection to the incident from a paper left behind by the miscreants with the name of Ravi Pujari, an underworld gangster, written on it. The figures presented by the minister are based on the devaswom executive officer's report. Sources said the list provided in the apex court was of women who had registered online and there was no confirmation as to how many had darshan. Thiruvananthapuram: Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran admitted in the Assembly on Monday that only two young women had darshan at Sabariamla during this season. His statement in a written reply has raised eyebrows as the government had said in an affidavit submitted in the Supreme Court that 51 young women had climbed the hill shrine. The list had triggered a major controversy due to the discrepancies in it. Later the government reduced the number to 17. The two women are Bindu and Kanakadurga. There is no confirmation about the reports about Sri Lankan national Sasikala having drashan. The figures presented by the minister are based on the devaswom executive officer's report. Sources said the list provided in the apex court was of women who had registered online and there was no confirmation as to how many had darshan. The minister said the Supreme Court had not directed the government to provide special security to women going to Sabarimala. There is no provision in the devaswom manual to shut the temple and conduct purification ritual in the event of violation of customs, he said. The decisions regarding purification ceremony have to be taken by the devaswom officials, he added. Though Sabarimala tantri is not an employee of the devaswom board, he is bound to act in compliance with the manual, he said. He admitted that there was a dip in the offerings during the Mandala Makravilakku season. The offering stood at Rs 72.10 crore compared to Rs 97.52 crore in the last season. The total income of the temple too dropped by nearly Rs 100 crore. Hazare has lost 3.8 kg in the past five days and his blood pressure, blood sugar and creatinine level in the urine had gone up, a doctor said. (Photo: ANI) Ralegan Siddhi: Social activist Anna Hazare, whose indefinite hunger strike entered the fifth day on Sunday, warned that if the Narendra Modi government did not fulfill its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan. Earlier in the day, Bharatiya Janata Party ally Shiv Sena came out in Hazare's support, urging him to emulate socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and lead an agitation against corruption. Hazare has been on a hunger strike since last Wednesday at his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district, demanding appointments of Lokpal and Lokayuktas and resolution of farmers' issue. "If this government does not fulfil its promises made to the country in the next few days, I will return my Padma Bhushan," he told news agency PTI on Sunday evening. "(The) Modi government has breached the faith of people," he said. The 81-year-old was awarded the third-highest civilian honour of the country in 1992. Hazare's demands include immediate appointment of anti-corruption ombudsmen Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states, and the implementation of Swaminathan Commission's recommendations for tackling agrarian distress and electoral reforms. Hazare has lost 3.8 kg in the past five days and his blood pressure, blood sugar and creatinine level in the urine had gone up, a doctor said. Around 5,000 farmers from the district are likely to stage a protect outside the Ahmednagar collector's office on Monday to support Hazare's agitation, his associates said. The decision to hold the protest was taken at a gram sabha at Ralegan Siddhi on Saturday night. Leaders of various political parties from Parner tehsil were present at the meeting. The Union Minister further said that she admires Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. (Photo: ANI) Pune: Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani on Sunday said that she would stay in politics for long, however, she will quit politics the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hang his boots. Speaking at the Words Count Festival here in a discussion titled 'Scripting Her Story, From Star to Star Campaigner', Irani said: "I will never become the prime minister. I take pride in the fact that I got an opportunity to work with charismatic leaders like late Atal Bihari Bajpayee ji and Modi ji." "The day 'pradhan sevak' Narendra Modi ji decides to retire, I will also leave Indian politics," she added. "People have started presuming that Modi ji won't be there for long, but I can assure you that he is going to stay here for many years," Irani said when asked whether the BJP will come in power once again in 2019. The Union Minister further said that whether she would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Amethi against Congress president Rahul Gandhi or not, will be decided by BJP president Amit Shah, adding that "People were not able to recognise me in Amethi in 2014 but now they know who I am." Irani fought against Rahul in the 2014 general elections from Amethi. Talking about the menace of trolling on social media platforms, Irani asserted that she had been trolled not only by celebrated journalists and politicians but also by "anonymous denizens". The Union Minister further said that she admires Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. "Without any additional support, they both have made a difference in Indian politics. They truly inspire me," she added. On January 28, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre and the Meghalaya government to continue their efforts to rescue the miners. (Representational Image) New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear a PIL seeking continuation of the efforts to rescue 15 miners trapped in an illegal coal mine in Meghalayas East Jaintia Hills district for the past almost two months. A bench headed by Justice AK Sikri on Monday said that it seems to be certain that nobody is alive. On January 28, the court had asked the Centre and the Meghalaya government to continue their efforts to rescue the miners. On January 27, Navy divers recovered a second body from the flooded rat-hole coal mine in the state where the miners have been trapped since December 13 last year. According to the Navy officials, the second body was detected 280 feet inside the mine in East Jaintia Hills by its diving team. The first body was found on January 26. The miners were trapped in the illegal mine in Lumthari village when water from the nearby Lytein river flooded the mine. Since then, a multi-agency rescue operation has been underway to evacuate the miners. New Delhi: Leaders of various opposition parties on Sunday came out in support of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee after she began a dharna to protest a CBI raid on the Kolkata Police Commissioners residence in connection with chit fund cases. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi spoke to Banerjee and expressed solidarity with her. BSP President and NCP founder Sharad Pawar also spoke to the chief minister. I spoke with Mamata Di tonight and told her we stand shoulder to shoulder with her. The happenings in Bengal are a part of the unrelenting attack on Indias institutions by Mr Modi & the BJP. The entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 3, 2019 Opposition leaders took to Twitter to express their support for the Trinamool Congress chief and flay Prime Minister Narendra Modi for misusing the CBI. Just spoke to @MamataOfficial didi to convey the support of @JKNC_ as she sits in dharna. The use of the CBI as a political tool has crossed all limits as has the Modi governments misuse of institutions. A former CM having such little regard for Indias federalism is shocking Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) February 3, 2019 The BJP wants to stay in power by hook or by crook. They are so scared of losing that CBI is being used as election agents This is undemocratic and against spirit of the constitution. We demand due process be followed so that CBI is not used as a tool of political interference. Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) February 3, 2019 Spoke to Mamta didi and expressed solidarity. Modi-Shah duos action is completely bizarre and anti-democracy Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 3, 2019 This is shocking and we strongly condemn this. We stand by Chief Minister of West Bengal to preserve and protect constitution and spirit of federalism in the country, said Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Spoke to respected @MamataOfficial ji. Extended RJDs support, BJP has not only venomous & nefarious agenda against opposition leaders but Indian Administrative Service & Police Officers. Might visit Kolkata tomorrow Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) February 3, 2019 The independence of every institution has been compromised under this fascist BJP Government. I stand with @MamataOfficial Didi in her fight to protect the federal structure of this country and to save democracy.#SaveDemocracy M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) February 3, 2019 Mamata Banerjee last month organised a rally for the leaders of opposition parties. "Just because I organised a United India rally, they are doing all this. Amit Shah and PM Modi are doing all they can to target us," she said on Sunday. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee sits on her Save the Constitution dharna at Metro Channel, Kolkata. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a dharna on Sunday to protest the Central Bureau of Investigation's move to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar on his alleged role in two ponzi scams. Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of plotting a coup, Mamata Banerjee's police on Sunday evening stopped CBI officers from entering the commissioner's house and forcibly took them away to the nearest police station.. Mamata Banerjee soon began her sit-in at 8.30 pm, calling it a "satyagraha to save the Constitution" and rallying other parties around her agenda. Months before the general elections, this has become another flashpoint in the BJP versus Opposition bust-up with several leaders, from Rahul Gandhi to Chandrababu Naidu, Arvind Kejriwal and Tejashwi Yadav, pledging their support to Mamata Banerjee. 06:15 pm: CBI has filed a contempt plea in the Supreme Court against West Bengal's Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and Kolkata Police Commissioner for wilful and deliberate violation of apex court's orders. 04:05 pm: TMC workers protest against PM Narendra Modi and Central govt over CBI issue in Kolkata. West Bengal: TMC workers protest against PM Narendra Modi and Central govt over CBI issue in Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/gg7w2MLusR ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 03:20 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister said, "Our satyagraha is not against any agency, it is against Modi government's atrocities." 02:40 pm: A confidential report prepared by West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has been sent to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). 01:40 pm: Former J&K CM M Muft said, "Manner in which constitutional institutions in this country, like CBI, are being misused to settle scores with opponents is unfortunate...We stand with Mamata ji. If institutions continue being discredited like this federal structure will be fractured." Photo: ANI | Twitter 01:30 pm: "This isn't a good development. I think central govt must behave properly and take confidence of state govts. Central govt is misusing constitutional institutions. It's not good for future. How central govt is behaving with opposition leaders is disastrous," said HD Kumaraswamy. Photo: ANI | Twitter 01:20 pm: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha took out a rally in Darjeeling today in support of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Photo: ANI | Twitter 01:14 pm: "In interest of wanting free and fair environment in which Lok Sabha polls can be conducted, we have come to bring to the notice of Election Commission certain happenings in West Bengal which has complete cooperation of TMC. Instances we highlighted point out that TMC doesn't believe in democracy," said Nirmala Sitharaman. Photo: ANI | Twitter Delhi: BJP delegation including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi & Bhupendra Yadav met Election Commission today on West Bengal issue. pic.twitter.com/hYIbAyf6RI ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 01:00 pm: Additional Director Intelligence Bureau (SIB) West Bengal Manoj Lal, has met West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi at Raj Bhawan. 12:50 pm: Visuals from 'Save the Constitution' dharna in Kolkata, as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee goes through documents continuing her routine work as the CM. Photo: ANI | Twitter 12:20 pm: While addressing the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that stopping CBI from performing duty is unprecedented and the face-off is unfortunate. Singh said Centre has the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country and the incident in Kolkata is threat to federal political system of country. Rajnath addressed the Lok Sabha amid CBI tota hain (CBI is a caged parrot) slogans by opposition members. The action was taken after the Supreme Court had ordered an investigation into Saradha chit fund case, he said. Photo: ANI | Twitter 12:09 pm: Saugata Roy, TMC in Lok Sabha said, Satyagrah by West Bengal CM is against the misuse of CBI by central government. We strongly protest against the CBI and BJP leadership led by PM Modi and Amit Shah who have damaged the constitutional structure. The PM should answer in the House. Photo: ANI | Twitter 11:45 am: Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Part chief said, Besides West Bengal, such things have been heard from other states too. BJP and the Central government have started misusing CBI as elections are approaching. Not only I, not only Samajwadi Party, but all political parties are saying this. There was CBI row, centre was scared of a CBI director, now they are trying to scare everyone using CBI. Who has misused the institutions? If someone has politicised the institutions, it is BJP. Photo: ANI | Twitter 11:35 am: From the day BJP has come to power at the Centre, they have paid very less attention towards working for the country but towards eliminating opposition parties, this has been their focus for the past 5 years. There is no other party more corrupt than BJP, said Ghulam Nabi Azad. Photo: ANI | Twitter 11:30 am: Farooq Abdullah said, Her (Mamata Banerjee) allegation is right. This country is in danger as its becoming dictatorial. They (Central govt) are not masters of this country, people are. Photo: ANI | Twitter 11:20 am: Amid uproar by TMC members, Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day, while Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 12 noon. 11:00 am: Union Home Minister Rajanth Singh has spoken to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to take stock of the situation in the wake of a CBI team being allegedly obstructed by the state police. West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi apprised Home Minister Rajnath Singh that he had summoned Chief Secretary and Director General of Police and asked them to take immediate action to resolve the situation. 10:50 am: The Supreme Court will hear the matter on Tuesday. The Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said, "If Kolkata Police Commissioner even remotely thinks of destroying evidence, bring the material before this Court. We will come down so heavily on him that he will regret." Read: Will come down heavily: SC's stern warning to Kolkata top cop on CBI plea 10:34 am: Derek O'Brien said, "We have spoken to all opposition parties, we all will go forward. We have to save the Constitution, the country and the federal structure. Later today, all opposition parties will go to the Election Commission." Photo: ANI | Twitter 10:15 am: TMC including all 22 opposition parties to go the Election Commission today over the EVM issue. 10:00 am: Kolkata Commissioner Rajeev Kumar leaves from the sight of Mamata Banerjees Save the Constitution dharna. The CM is back at the dharna after taking a short break. Photo: ANI | Twitter 09:15 am: A memorandum has been signed by all the opposition parties and will be submitted to the Election Commission. Read: Oppn parties signed memorandum, will submit to EC: WB CM 08:45 am: Mamata Banerjee continues to sit on her dharna. Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continues her 'Save the Constitution' dharna with her supporters at Metro Channel, over the ongoing CBI issue. She is sitting there since 9 pm. pic.twitter.com/9nIflitip2 ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2019 08:30 am: The BJP high-level delegation includes Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Bhupender Yadav to meet Election Commission on West Bengal issue. 06:30 am: Visuals from near Metro Channel where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is holding her 'Save the Constitution' dharna over the ongoing CBI issue. Kolkata: Latest visuals from near Metro Channel where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is holding her 'Save the Constitution' dharna over the ongoing CBI issue pic.twitter.com/jNA3mTDb6N ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 11:45 pm: Mamata Banerjee continues her Save the Constitution dharna with her supporters at Metro channel. Photo: ANI | Twitter 11:10 pm: The Central Bureau of Investigation will approach the Supreme Court on the matter as the West Bengal government is not cooperating. 11:00 pm: Rahul Gandhi, Omar Abdullah, Tejashwi Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Chandrababu Naidu, Mayawati, Sharad Pawar and Arvind Kejriwal spoke to Mamata Banerjee over phone and expressed solidarity. Read: Kolkata Police-CBI face-off: Oppn unites behind WB CM on row with Centre 10:40 pm: Babul Supriyo tweets over the ongoing situation in West Bengal Presidents Rule should be imposed on West Bengal to control this Rogue #TMchhi Govt under a corrupt CM MamtaBanerjeeThis is a constitutional crisis created by Mamta to shield her corrupt & tainted accomplices Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) February 3, 2019 Read: Police-CBI face-off: BJP to address Kolkatapress conference today 10:30 pm: TMC workers stage a protest in Asansol over the ongoing CBI issue 09:20 pm: Interim CBI chief M Nageshwar Rao said that they are investigating these chit fund cases as per the directions of the Supreme Court. An SIT has been constituted by the West Bengal government prior to Supreme Court's direction under the chairmanship of Rajeev Kumar, who is currently the Kolkata police commissioner. They have taken charge of all the evidence, seized all the documents. They have not been cooperating with us in handing over all the documents and a lot of evidence has been destroyed or caused to disappear. 09:15 pm: All 5 CBI officers that were detained by police have been released 09:00 pm: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee sits on her Save the Constitution dharna at Metro Channel, Kolkata. After an investigation last year, state and federal authorities said they were confident Marylands voting system is well fortified against ongoing cyberthreats from foreign nations. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security wrote in a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan in the fall that its agents have found no evidence of an adversary presence in the networks. Speaking to ANI here, Babul said: 'The BJP will address a press conference in the state on Tuesday over the ongoing tussle between the Central Bureau of Investigation and state police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.' (Photo: ANI) Howrah: The Bharatiya Janata Party will address a press conference on Tuesday over the ongoing tussle between the Central Bureau of Investigation and state Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, said Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries Babul Supriyo. Speaking to ANI here, Babul said: "The BJP will address a press conference in the state on Tuesday over the ongoing tussle between the Central Bureau of Investigation and state police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar." "Why was the CBI stopped by police if Kumar has nothing to be afraid of? The CBI has the right to investigate the matter as they were asked to do so by the Supreme Court. Trinamool Congress (TMC) is deliberately blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah into the matter as they want to politicise the issue," said the Union Minister. Responding to TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's ongoing dharna at Metro Channel, Babul said, "There was no need to sit on a dharna. It is a political narrative of TMC to prepare a plan against the BJP and then follow it. Mamata is just trying to create a constitutional crisis in the state." "Rajiv has earlier headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the CBI has the proof that he had tampered electronic and paper evidence in the chit fund scam. All papers state that Rajeev has been absconding and not cooperating with the CBI. The CBI has a right to conduct surprise raids because warrant may breach secrecy," he added. The Union Minister earlier took the Twitter and wrote, "The desperation & fear of the TMC & Mamata Banerjee are clearly visible in this decision. The state govt is trying 2 blocks every programme of BJP, be it a rally, yatra or the landing of Yogi Adityanath Ji's chopper. This shows the undemocratic attitude of the government." "Presidents Rule should be imposed on West Bengal to control this Rogue TMchhi Govt under a corrupt CM Mamta Banerjee. This is a constitutional crisis created by Mamta to shield her corrupt & tainted accomplices," read another tweet of Babul. A full-blown face-off between West Bengal government and the Centre erupted as a CBI team moved to arrest Kumar, which in turn were unceremoniously denied entry to Kolkata Police chief's residence and then detained. Escalating her confrontation with the Centre, Banerjee started a sit-in on Sunday night to protest, in what her Trinamool Congress party called a "coup" by the Modi government. Extending support to Mamata, her party workers also staged a 'rail roko protest' in Rishra and Asansol over the ongoing issue. The TMC workers have also burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Asansol. CBI interim director M Nageshwar Rao has said that the CBI will approach the Supreme Court on Monday accusing the Bengal government of impeding the investigation of a court-ordered probe into the chit fund scams. Rajeev Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre was heading a SIT on the Saradha and Rose Valley scams. The CBI wanted the top officer to hand over the seizure list made during his probe, sources said. Reportedly, the top cop was to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he is not responding to notices to appear before the agency. Rajeev Kumar, according to media reports, became apprehensive of his arrest after Bengali film producer Shrikant Mohita was taken into custody. Ye Mamata ji ki emergency hai Bengal mein. Hamari nahi hai, Mamata ji ki hai (This is Mamatas emergency in West Bengal, and not the Centres), said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar as reported by news agency ANI. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) New Delhi: Hitting back at West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, Whatever is happening in Kolkata and West Bengal is one of a kind. Never before was an investigating team taken into custody by police. It's murder of democracy. We want to ask Mamata Banerjee why is she staging dharna, who does she want to shield? Police Commissioner or herself? Javadekar also hit out at the Opposition ledaers who have come out in support of Mamata Banerjee and her protest against the CBI. Javadekar said, Opposition parties have supported Mamata Banerjee. Who are these people? They are out on bail. Such people are standing together. This is not Mahagathbandhan, they are divided by vision and united by corruption. The corrupt are standing together. Ye Mamata ji ki emergency hai Bengal mein. Hamari nahi hai, Mamata ji ki hai (This is Mamatas emergency in West Bengal, and not the Centres), said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar as reported by news agency ANI. Echoing similar views, Union Minister Smriti Irani said: "The fact that paramilitary forces had to be deployed for the protection of those officers who were diligently doing their duty is for the first time an unprecedented view given to citizens with regards to the state of anarchy in West Bengal." A five-member CBI team moved to arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Sunday, but were denied entry to the Kolkata Police chief's residence and subsequently detained. Following the incident, Banerjee started a sit-in protest along with her ministers on Sunday night. Vijayawada: AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and opposition leader and YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will visit New Delhi on Monday separately to meet officials of the Election Commission of India. Mr Jagan Mohan will meet the EC officials at 11 am and apprise them of the illegalities in the voters registration in AP and removal of 50 lakh voters from the list by the Telugu Desam government. Accompanied by YSRC leaders, Mr Jagan will submit documents as proof of the removal of YSRC supporters and sympathisers from the voters list. Mr Naidu will meet EC officials in the evening. He is expected to ask the EC to stop the usage of EVMs in the elections in AP. He may also hold a meeting with TD MPs and leaders about the future course of action about the fight for Special Category Status. The CBI has accused the West Bengal government of impeding investigation of a Supreme Court-ordered probe into two Ponzi schemes and is expected to demand action against the state government and its police. (Photo: File) New Delhi: The CBI to approach the Supreme Court on Monday following a showdown on Sunday with the Kolkata Police which detained a five-man CBI team which had gone quiz the citys police commissioner Rajeev Kumar on the chit fund cases. Today the CBI will approach the Supreme Court on the matter as the West Bengal police is not cooperating, CBI interim chief M Nageshwar Rao said. According to sources, the agency will inform the Supreme Court about the non-cooperation of the Bengal government and its police, sources said. The CBI has accused the West Bengal government of impeding investigation of a Supreme Court-ordered probe into two Ponzi schemes and is expected to demand action against the state government and its police. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is sitting on dharna following a fierce attack on the centre, accusing it of orchestrating a CBI team's visit to the Kolkata top cop's home. The Kolkata police refused to let the CBI officers enter and temporarily detained them at a police station. The CBI team had come to question Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar after he allegedly ignored summons from the agency on two Ponzi schemes. Bengaluru: Hinting that Operation Lotus was still on the agenda of the BJP, Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda said that the party will, however, intervene only if Congress legislators back out from supporting the JD(S)-Congress coalition government. Speaking to reporters after a poll preparatory meeting of Bengaluru North LS constituency which he represents, Mr Gowda said that the BJP cannot be held responsible for any such development. People had voted to make the BJP the single largest party and it should have formed government but the BJP is sitting in the opposition. Now, Congress legislators do not want to support this government. In such circumstances, it becomes the duty of the BJP to take the responsibility of running the government, he said. Asked if Mr Kumaraswamy would present the budget, he said this too depends on Congress MLAs. Taking a dig at Mr Kumaraswamy for taking credit for the arrest of underworld don Ravi Poojari, he said the government should first trace its own MLAs as it had no information on 'missing' Congress MLAs. Mangaluru: The moment of reckoning has arrived for Kampli Congress MLA J.N. Ganesh with a panel headed by Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwar, which was set up to probe the alleged assault by Mr Ganesh on Hosapete MLA Anand Singh, likely to meet on Monday. Mr Ganesh allegedly attacked Anand Singh at Eagleton Resort in Bidadi on January 20. Following this, the Congress suspended Ganesh from the party and the police are still searching for him. A committee headed by Dr Parameshwar was formed to inquire into the matter and furnish a report to the party high command. Ganesh is absconding. Meanwhile, the panel headed by Dr Parameshwar is inquiring into the case. He wants to hold a meeting on Monday. Based on the panel report, we will take action against him, KPCC president Dinesh Gundurao told reporters. Even if he (Ganesh) does not appear before the panel, there are witnesses. Considering this, the panel will give a report, he said. Mr Gundurao denied allegations that Congress would suffer electorally due to the coalition with the JD(S) in the state. It is not true. In fact we have won the byelections in Jayanagar, Rajarajeshwari Nagar and the MLC election in Vijayapura. We also stood first in the municipality elections and won the Lok Sabha and Assembly byelection in Ballari and Jamkhandi respectively. Where have we suffered? he wondered. The KPCC president agreed that there might be problems in Mysuru, Mandya and Hassan Lok Sabha seats. In Mandya and Ramanagar byelections we co-operated. Our aim is to remove communal and publicity oriented rule," he said. Mr Gundurao declared that the party had always stressed on discipline. "We have asked party workers not to give any statement that would cause problems to the coalition government in the state. There is a good understanding at the top level. There could be some differences at the grassroot level, he added. Police said the husband, Pankaj, and his co-worker, Naseem Ahmed (39), were arrested on Sunday evening for allegedly planning the murder of Vanshika (Representational Image) Gurgaon: Tired of frequent insults and snide remarks from his wife, a 28-year-old man allegedly bludgeoned and stabbed his 23-year-old wife to death while she was asleep in Ashok Vihar, Sector 5 of Gurgaon, on Saturday. Police said the husband, Pankaj, and his co-worker, Naseem Ahmed (39), were arrested on Sunday evening for allegedly planning the murder of Vanshika, a homemaker, for the past two months. Vanshika Sharma was found dead on Saturday with over 40 stab injuries, PTI quoted Gurgaon Police PRO Subhash Bokan as saying. Bhardwaj was missing since the incident. He was our prime suspect. We arrested him with the help of technical surveillance on Sunday from Laxman Vihar area, he said. According to the police, she was allegedly hit on the head with a car wrench and stabbed multiple times in stomach, neck, chest and other parts of the body. Police said the stab wounds suggested that Vanshika had been stabbed through a quilt when she was asleep. Sumit Kumar, station house officer, (SHO), Sector 5 police station, said the couple had tied the knot on April 28, 2017, and fought frequently. During questioning, the husband said that he loathed her because she used to embarrass him on the behest of her family. He did not like her behaviour and said that she did not talk to him either. So, he decided to kill her and planned the crime with a co-worker, Naseem. Naseem helped him procure the weapons and advised him to commit the murder at his house when other family members were away. The duo were waiting for an opportunity and planning for over two months, SHO Kumar said. Police said Vanshika was murdered between 2pm and 6pm on Saturday. Her father, Mahesh Sharma, a grocery shop owner from Delhi, filed a police complaint on Saturday, alleging that she had been murdered. Sharma said a few hours before she died, she had called him on his phone informing that her husband was fighting with her and threatening to kill her. Around 1.30pm, I comforted her over the phone and told her that I would visit on Sunday to settle the matter. My daughter used to complain that her in-laws harassed her over dowry-related matters and chided her over trivial issues. I had intervened earlier also when she had returned to our house after a fight. On Saturday, I got a call around 7.30pm informing me that she had died, Sharma said. Police said the accused men would be produced in the district court on Monday and taken on remand to recover the knife and wrench used in the crime and to ascertain if other accomplices were involved. The husband and his family run a printing press in the city and had employed Naseem. A case was registered against the accused persons under sections 302 (murder), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code at Sector 5 police station, police said. Paris: A sharp increase in the rate of obesity-linked cancers among young adults in the United States could foreshadow a reversal in the overall decline in cancer mortality, researchers warned on Monday. In a sweeping study covering two-thirds of the US population, they showed that half a dozen cancers for which obesity is a known risk factor became more frequent from 1995 to 2015 among women and men under 50. The younger the age bracket, the more quickly these cancers gained ground, they reported in The Lancet, a medical journal. During the period examined, the incidence of pancreatic cancer, for example, increased by about one percent per year for adults aged 45 to 49. Among 30 to 34-year-olds, the average annual percent increase was more than twice that high. And among 25 to 29-year-olds, the rate jumped by 4.4 percent per year. Comparing five-year age brackets from 25 to 80, the annual hike was similarly highest among the 25 to 29 cohort for four other obesity-linked cancers: kidney (6.23 percent), gallbladder (3.71 percent), uterine (3.35 percent), and colon (2.41 percent). Our findings expose a recent change that could serve as a warning of an increased burden of obesity-related cancers to come in older adults, said co-author Ahmedin Jemal of the American Cancer Society, USA. Obesity has more than doubled in the United States over the last four decades. It has also risen sharply in other rich nations and, more recently, the developing world. Today, some two billion people are overweight or obese. With few exceptions, cancer has been seen as a disease of ageing. Indeed, the researchers note that the number of new cancer cases reported remains much higher in older age brackets, even if the rate of increase is now highest among young adults. Two pancreatic cancer cases, for example, were diagnosed among every 100,000 24 to 49-year-olds from 2010 to 2014, compared to 37 cases for every 100,000 people aged 50 to 84. Overall, the number of people in the United States who succumb to cancer has declined. India depicts a grim reality in cancer care as 50 per cent of patients pay out of their pockets for treatment. Hyderabad: The global burden of cancer is estimated to have risen by 18.1 million new cases and 9.6 million deaths in 2018 - and that number is likely to increase. The standard cancer treatment is very high due to which the financial burden has been increasing on the patients. Many of them are uninsured. Even the Aarogyasri Scheme has not helped cancer patients to a large extent. Many patients have applied for assistance from the Chief Ministers Relief Fund, according to doctors. Early detection can often help in decreasing the cost of treatment and increase the survival rate too. India depicts a grim reality in cancer care as 50 per cent of patients pay out of their pockets for treatment. A majority of oncologists say cancer incidences are likely to increase by about 25 per cent in the next 5 years. Dr T. Pratap Reddy, consultant radiation oncologist at KIMS Hospitals, Secunderabad, said, It is important for cancer patients to get proper treatment. Some cancers are curable while in others, life is prolonged and suffering is reduced. By undergoing cancer screening, some cancers can be detected in the early years. A standard cancer treatment for early and advanced stage costs about Rs 4.5 lakh. Metastatic stage cancer treatment costs about `6 lakh. The financial burden increases sharply if a patient opts for advanced therapy. Across all cancer types, advanced treatment is pegged at Rs 10 lakh for locally advanced stage and about 14 lakh for metastatic stage, according to a survey carried out by life insurance companies. Insurance companies conducted a study with 100 oncologists across 15 cities to assess the state of cancer care in India and its impact on patients. The study revealed a shocking picture as nearly 75 per cent patients were either uninsured or inadequately insured. Dr Sai Ram, an oncologist from MNJ Cancer Hospital, Hyderabad, said, If a patient is diagnosed with cancer and has the Aarogyasri card or health card or insurance, we do it here free-of-cost for the initial stages. For cancers in the second or third stage, the cost of treatment is very high. With Aarogyasri, only the first line of treatment can be afforded. After that the second line in Aarogyasri is not provided. Actor Sharwanand was disappointed as the film Padi Padi Leche Manasu did not fare well at the box-office. The actor had full faith in director Hanu Raghavapudi, but success was elusive. So, he took a small break and is now ready to resume work for his next film directed by Sudheer Varma. The team is leaving for Spain for a three-week schedule and with this the film is almost complete, says a source. Sharwa is playing two roles in this film one of them is a gangster. Kajal Agarwal and Kalyani Priyadarshan are the female leads in this action-period drama. Sharwa wants to complete this film now as early as possible and then move on to his next project, a remake of the Tamil hit 96, says the source. The language in the bill was problematic for MDE, according to a letter sent by Watson to the county. The department said a 500-year flood requirement is a higher standard and is used by neighboring Baltimore County, according to Watson's letter. Howard County regulations are now based on a "100-year" standard, according to Jim Irvin, director of the countys Department of Public Works. Pharma, engineering products, petroleum products, gems and jewellery, leather products and textiles would be among sectors that contribute to the growth in the exports. Hyderabad: The countrys merchandised exports are all set to surpass the peak of $314 billion recorded in 2013-14, said Union commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan. He attributed this to the changes made in policy and regulations, ease of doing business and simplification of procedures. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of 19th edition of IndiaSoft, an event organised by Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), Mr Wadhawan said For last three years, we are growing consistently in a very challenging environment. The downturn of 2008-09 when there was a financial crisis hit us quite badly but we recovered. We reached a peak figure of our exports in 2013-14 and then the global crisis got accentuated, the real economy got affected. Countries like China were also getting affected for the first time. Then again, there were a couple of years of slight downturn. Pharma, engineering products, petroleum products, gems and jewellery, leather products and textiles would be among sectors that contribute to the growth in the exports. The official was confident that despite the challenging global environment, the country would be able to set a new mark. During his keynote address, the secretary said, We are taking measures to give a boost to the hardware and electronics sector. We incentivised R&D and are encouraging setting up the incubators which will help us move up in domestic value chain and exports. Our domestic electronics production in 2017-18 stood at $49.5 billion which is higher than $43 billion spent on imports. The success of software side is being emulated by hardware and hope we can have better balance in this area in future. He pointed that the IT exports are growing steadily and will continue to achieve that growth. Dr Wadhawan added that very soon 60 per cent of Indias GDP would have to do something with artificial intelligence, robotics and IoTs and India. Speaking on the current account deficit, Mr Wadhwan said that it was under control due to growing exports and stabilisation of petroleum prices to an extent. I think the economy is in good shape, he said. About 400 delegates from 60 countries and 250 Indian exhibitors are participating in the two-day event being held for the sixth time in Hyderabad. New Delhi: The Niti Aayog is open to the idea of having a role in fund allocation to states for developmental expenditure and would discuss the matter with the 15th Finance Commission, the think tank's vice chairman Rajiv Kumar said Monday. Former chairman of the Finance Commission Vijay Kelkar recently suggested that the Aayog should be given financial powers to help address regional imbalances. The Aayog, unlike its predecessor Planning Commission, does not have financial powers nor any say in preparing annual plans of the states. "I have always respected Dr Kelkar and his views comes from a very long experience, both as finance secretary as well as chairman of the Finance Commission. "I having worked as the vice chairman of Niti Aayog for 16-17 months, what I do feel is that there needs to be some independent allocations for states to undertake their developmental expenditure," Kumar told PTI in an interview. He said that if the Aayog would be given some role in allocating development expenditure to states, then that would also "promote co-operative and competitive federalism". "And I can also say to you that we are going to be discussing this with the 15th Finance Commission...," the Aayog vice chairman said. In a recent research paper, Kelkar suggested setting up of 'Niti Aayog 2.0' that would have financial powers as part of efforts to address regional imbalances. Kelkar had also suggested that the vice-chairman of the new Aayog be made a permanent invitee of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). Socialist-era Planning Commission was replaced by the Aayog on January 1, 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the chairman of the Aayog.While the Aayog is open to the idea having a role in resource allocation to states, Kumar made it clear that he was not seeking revival of the Planning Commission. "But certainly we don't want to return to old days of the Planning Commission and have a huge expansion in the number of centrally sponsored schemes etc...," he noted. The Planning Commission used to play a key role in deciding the expenditure plans of central ministries as well as that of states. "I think the time has come to achieve a better balance between complete fiscal sovereignty and some allocation for targeted infrastructure in development-oriented expenditure across the states to ensure that there is a better convergence within the states. "And all those states that are now today have weaker infrastructure (and need to) catch up with the more forward states," Kumar said. Echoing similar views, former Union minister and noted economist Yoginder K Alagh said that in 2014, he had called for the new body to have powers to allocate funds as per transparent rules. "The government abolished the Planning Commission, started a large number of central schemes but resources (are allocated) by the finance or the ministry concerned. Some chief ministers' say this is arbitrary. Kelkar rightly wants a rule-based system,"Alagh told PTI. About the interim Budget for 2019-20, Kumar said it has achieved a very good balance between providing a growth stimulus and maintaining the fiscal discipline. On former finance minister P Chidambaram's criticism that the Budget was an 'account for votes' and not a 'vote on account', Kumar said, "you cannot expect a non-election budget in an election year". "... addressing some of the issues of some of the classes of the people is good political economy and only shows that the government is sensitive to the problems of the particular segments," Kumar said. Regarding the disinvestment target for 2019-20, he said the government when it comes back to the office would pursue the target much more efficiently. "We will make sure that this Rs 90,000 crore disinvestment target will be achieved through some strategic disinvestment of loss-making PSUs. The Interim Budget has set a target of Rs 90,000 crore to be mopped up from CPSE disinvestment in 2019-20 higher than Rs 80,000 crore in the current fiscal. Meanwhile, the Aayog vice chairman said there is now a need for re-establishing the quality of the India' statistical system. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation should not only come out as a collector of all data but also a quality regulator of all data, he opined. "What we have inherited is a relatively neglected statistical and data system in the country. I think, we now need to reverse that. "And there was a time when the Department of Statistics was also a part of the Ministry of Planning, and I think that particular co-ordination is required," he said. The Department of Statistics has now rechristened as the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The government has recently revised norms for e-commerce companies having foreign investments. (photo: file) New Delhi: A better enforcement of the FDI policy on e-commerce will contribute significantly to the growth of the sector, Parliament was informed on Monday. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary said the e-commerce sector is expected to keep growing in the future. "The FDI policy on e-commerce has remained unchanged. Better enforcement of this policy will contribute significantly to growth of this sector over medium and long term," he said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. The government has recently revised norms for e-commerce companies having foreign investments. In order to ensure due compliance with the FDI policy on e-commerce, the ministry has issued norms putting in place certain conditions. As per those conditions, an entity having equity participation by e-commerce marketplace firm or its group companies, will not be permitted to sell its products on the platform run by such marketplace entity. E-commerce marketplace entities will not mandate any seller to sell any product exclusively on its platform only, the minister said. These new guidelines have come into effect from February 1. Global firms like Flipkart and Amazon had sought extension of this deadline, but the government rejected that. The minister also said stakeholder consultations on creating a framework for National Policy on e-commerce were conducted with representatives from ministries, departments, RBI, industry bodies, online companies, telecom firms, IT and payment companies. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has been drafting an asset monetisation framework, which will lay down the procedures for the administrative ministries to follow in selling off CPSE assets. New Delhi: The government will start the process to sell non-core assets of state-owned companies, which have been identified for strategic disinvestment, next fiscal, an official said. The Cabinet has already approved strategic sale of about 2 dozen central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), including Air India, Dredging Corporation of India, and Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, for strategic sale. Out of this, the DIPAM has already identified 9 CPSEs for sale of land and other assets before they are put on the block for strategic sale. These include Scooters India, Air India, Bharat Pumps & Compressors Ltd, Project & Development India (PDIL), Hindustan Prefab, Hindustan Newsprint Ltd, Bridge and Roof Co and Hindustan Fluorocarbons. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has been drafting an asset monetisation framework, which will lay down the procedures for the administrative ministries to follow in selling off CPSE assets. "Asset monetisation framework will see the light of the day next fiscal. The framework and assets will get defined by the time we finish this fiscal. The actual process will start next fiscal. The framework would define the assets, define various models under which they can go for monetisation and also the process to follow," DIPAM Secretary Atanu Chakraborty told PTI in an interview. Monetisation of assets is among the slew of strategies that the DIPAM will follow to meet the Rs 90,000 crore disinvestment target set up for the next fiscal. This is higher than the Rs 80,000 crore the department is expected to raise this fiscal ending March. The DIPAM has already floated a draft Cabinet note on the guidelines, which would be applicable for those central public sector undertakings that are likely candidates for strategic disinvestment. However, any state-owned company which wants to sell its non-core assets too can follow the framework. The framework, among other things, will stipulate the quantum of funds that would accrue to the CPSEs following the sale of assets and how much would go into the exchequer, an official had said earlier. The government had already given in-principle approval for strategic sale of 24 state-owned companies. These include Dredging Corporation of India, HLL Lifecare, Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, Units/JVs of ITDC, Bhadrawati, Salem and Durgapur units of SAIL, Nagarnar Steel Plant of NMDC, Central Electronics and Ferro Scrap Nigam. With regard to Air India, the government has already initiated the process of selling its land and real estate properties -- including Airlines House in Mumbai, realty property in Delhi's Vasant Vihar and land on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, next to Connaught Place. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription and are still unable to access our content, please link your digital account to your print subscription If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. If you think meatballs are something round perched atop a plate of spaghetti with red sauce, think again. Those meatballs, specialty of our Sicilian nana, are one of our all-time favorite comfort foods. But lest we Italians think we can take all the credit, Sweden can also stake claim, as can Mexico and Indonesia, Brazil and Belgium. You get the idea. But now Darien stakes its own claim with a restaurant called, what else, Meatball & Co. In case you think this is just a gimmick, read on. Meatball & Co. is indeed dedicated to capturing your childhood favorite meatballs and spaghetti, but that is only the beginning of a menu that is all things directly related to meatballs -- except for the cookies, which we will get to later. The place is charming, with a small dining room with original artwork on the walls. Our waiter told us about it because the work is his, and he is friends with the owner. It's that kind of place, where you and your kids can feel welcome, but you will also feel happy with a grown-up meatball meal. We'd suggest you try the house sampler of five meatballs and the chef's choice of sauce pairings. These plump, generously sized balls arrive in a neat row on an oval plate, each in its own sauce and sprinkled with garnishes. Each is tender, juicy and hugely flavored. The beef version is classic, with herbs and light breading atop a vibrant tomato sauce. Kids will love this one over spaghetti or mashed potatoes. The herbed chicken meatball has a vibrant pesto sauce. Try it with soft, creamy polenta. Peppery pork meatballs are made even spicier with a hot chili sauce. Spicy, Middle Eastern-inspired eggplant meatballs are cooled with a gentle yogurt sauce. The fifth ball is the special of the day and ours was the "chicken and waffle," which turned out to be darn good and reminiscent of a Southern-diner special with a homey sage-imbued ground chicken ball over a tiny crisp waffle and ladled with a golden cream sauce. The folks at the next table told us that the Buffalo Chicken ball, available every day, is what brings them back every week to pair with a brew from the blackboard selection of wine and beer. If you want your meatball in a more creative setting, try it on the house salad with greens, red onion and apple. Don't laugh. It's good. The menu says you can even add a fried egg, but we stopped short of that. Or you could try the Arthur Avenue-made ravioli with any of the meatballs and sauces. We went for a zesty, very adult mushroom sauce. If tomato sauce and spaghetti sounds too ho-hum, try a spicy meat sauce over white beans and kale, cheese sauce over roasted vegetables or sauteed broccoli. Or go for broke and ladle spicy meat sauce over hand-cut french fries. More Information MEATBALL & CO. 20 Center St., Darien 203-399-5600, www.meatballandco.com. HOURS: Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday, Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday 4:30-9 p.m. RESERVATIONS: Accepted PRICES: Sliders and sandwiches, $9-$3; meatballs and sauce, $12-$8; salads and sides, $7-$6; desserts, $6-$2 See More Collapse The meatballs also build themselves into terrific sandwiches on crusty house-made bread, such as Buffalo chicken with homemade melted mozzarella and homemade blue cheese sauce, spicy pork balls with provolone or chicken parm with tomato sauce and melted mozzarella. Desserts are not meatballs, but follow a similar homemade, all-time favorite theme with Katy's cookies (a vibrant, young local baker who makes delectable sweets) in chocolate chip, peanut butter or gingersnap. You can have a plate plain or have the kitchen make you an ice cream cookie sandwich. Or, opt for an old-fashioned root beer or cream soda float with your choice of chocolate, vanilla, caramel or espresso flavors. It doesn't get much better than this, folks. Meatball & Co. has a small focus, but does it in a big way with quality, consistency, moderate prices and good spirits. That's a winning combo any day. 2. This tree is a Chinese chestnut, also in the Darlington area and privately owned. As the name suggests, these trees are not native to the United States. They were introduced to replace the American chestnut, which was killed off by the chestnut blight in the early part of the 1900s. This is the Harford County champion and the No. 3 chestnut in Maryland. It scored at 236 points. During their investigation, NOAA agents sent eight containers of Casey's Seafood crabmeat bought at stores in Delaware and Virginia to a laboratory in College Park for DNA testing. The results confirmed the tip: seven of the eight Casey's containers labeled as "Product of the USA" contained swimming crab found only outside U.S. waters, according to court documents. Harrison recently visited Baltimore to search for a home, and he sat down with some residents and others stakeholders. During the visit, Harrison met with department commanders and City Council President Jack Young, as well as community organizers. Harrison also met with U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar, who is overseeing the police consent decree. A: I've been teaching part-time for Johns Hopkins Advanced Academic Programs since 1994. I have taught freshwater ecology and restoration the most, but also taught a water quality assessment course for a number of years and more recently (beginning in 2013) I started teaching courses in applied sustainability, sustainability leadership and coastal ecology and management. And this summer I will start teaching a course in Great Lakes ecology and management. For my day job, most of my career at Maryland DNR was spent running the statewide stream survey (Maryland Biological Stream Survey or MBSS) and I also had stints in western Maryland working on the Highlands Action Program and for several years I oversaw water quality monitoring for Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund projects. Lt. Jason Etzler assumed command of the Police Department after Tyler was placed on leave, and he will continue to lead the department on an interim basis. Wieprecht previously told the Times that city officials are still developing a plan for replacing Tyler. Id love to see someone come in and look at how upper management is doing things, he said. Anytime you can try to improve something, why not go for it? Theres a lot of waste in the Fire Department, in the Police Department, a lot of waste everywhere. I'm unable to attend the lynching party for Gov. Ralph Northam. I'm 72. I grew up watching old movies like "The Eddie Cantor Story, in which the actor playing Cantor sang Mammy, movingly, in blackface. I was also a fan of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. They did several teenage Hey! Lets put on a show! films. In one of them, they did a minstrel number with the full cast in blackface. But when I saw that movie again a couple years ago, the minstrel number surprised me and struck me as inappropriate. When I was growing up, it didnt seem wrong, or even out of the ordinary. But now it was different. Things change. What once was ordinary has now become obscene. Wikipedia says that "an obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time." The "prevalent morality of the time" changes. What was commonplace and accepted when I was a child, like segregation and racial discrimination, are illegal and morally reprehensible today. Images recently made public on Ralph Northams page in the Eastern Virginia Medical School 1984 yearbook show two unidentified persons, one in a blackface and one in a Ku Klux Klan hood. At that time Northam was 25 years old. When I was 25 years old, I was pastor of a church in Montgomery, Alabama, and secretary of the Montgomery Improvement Association, which was founded four days after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give her bus seat to a white person, in order to conduct the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Martin Luther King Jr., a year older than myself, was president of the MIA. We were involved in undoing racist practices that were being promoted and enforced, sometimes with violence, by Ku Klux Klan advocates and their sympathizers. Their actions included bombing King's home and the church I served as pastor. At the very least, Northams cohorts [he claims he was not involved] were engaged in depicting the KKK and mocking African-Americans by wearing blackface. The Eastern Medical School also must bear blame for allowing images of blackface and Ku Klux Klan-hooded persons to be displayed in the school's yearbook. Of all the crackpots on social media, is any more untethered to reality than the president of the United States? Seriously, there are tinfoil-hatted lunatics yelling on street corners who make more sense than President Trump's increasingly loopy Twitter feed. Think about it: Most mornings, and some evenings as well, the most powerful man in the world rants and raves like someone you'd urgently tell the gate agent about if you were waiting to board the same airplane. This is not normal. This is alarming. I know, there's a school of thought that says Trump's tweets are nothing but weapons of mass distraction and should be ignored. But if you want to know the administration's policy on just about anything, what other reliable source is there? Surely not press secretary Sarah Sanders and the other White House mouthpieces, whose main job is to invent "evidence" to back up Trump's misstatements, distortions and pants-on-fire lies. And surely not Trump's own high-level appointees. After Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told Congress last week that North Korea is unlikely ever to give up its nuclear weapons, Trump tweeted that there is a "decent chance of Denuclearization ... Progress being made big difference." When the news of Kay Fryes death on Wednesday reached me, I was filled with sadness upon the passing of my friend and colleague. Two thoughts immediately filled my head: Hers was a life well lived and She made a difference. Charlottesville City Councilor Mike Signer tweeted Saturday morning that With sadness, I concur with the considered sentiments of Virginias Legislative Black Caucus and the Democratic Senate Caucus that my friend Governor Northam should step down for the good of the Commonwealth. We need to heal, and to move forward, under Governor @FairfaxJustin. On Saturday, before Northams press conference, Charlottesville City Councilor Wes Bellamy posted a statement on Facebook saying he too believed Northam should resign. I know firsthand what it feels like for something that you said in your younger years to come back and haunt you, Bellamy wrote, referencing misogynistic and anti-white tweets he wrote between 2009 and 2014 that resurfaced after he was elected in 2016. Its tough when people from the outside judge you by the things that youve done in your past, or while much younger, and you have since grown and matured to be a different person. Bellamy wrote that he considers Northam a friend and believes hes a good human being, but, given the public outcry, the governor needs to resign to allow Virginia to move forward with racial healing. Virginia acknowledges that it has been 400 years since the first group of enslaved Africans stepped foot on the soil of this state, he wrote. The city in which I currently govern, Charlottesville, just had white supremacists and KKK members march our streets with the sole intent of creating harm to our city. People as a whole in our nation are working diligently to do the difficult work of addressing the systemic, covert, and overt ills of racism in our society. Ruth Serven Smith is a reporter for The Daily Progress. Contact her at (434) 978-7254, rserven@dailyprogress.com or @RuthServen on Twitter. 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. About a dozen people joined in a prayer walk through neighborhoods in West Baltimore on Saturday morning to commemorate victims of gun violence during Baltimore's first Ceasefire weekend of the year. (Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun video) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro defended the lower chamber's move to tighten rules on obtaining the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) of House members, saying the new rules would prevent "fishing expeditions." While recognizing the people's right to information, Castro told CNN Philippines' The Source that the right guaranteed by the Constitution is also subject to limitations. House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro: Stronger SALN rules can prevent witch hunts | #TheSource https://t.co/sDo55hwVGt pic.twitter.com/I1oEtcuY80 CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) February 4, 2019 "Okay you exercise your right, but not to the extent that you damage someone in the exercise of your right," Castro said Monday. He said the stricter rules to obtain SALNs would prevent "unscrupulous people," like swindlers, syndicates, extortionists and terrorists from obtaining the documents. The House leader said terrorists may tamper with congressmen's SALNs and use this to blackmail them when bills on the matter of national security are being tackled. While he admitted that it would be easy for lawmakers to simply deny the figures in tampered SALNs, Castro said they would want to prevent this from happening in the first place. "They already did damage," he said. "We are only talking about curative. What is important is preventive, to prevent damage before you cure it." Under new rules adopted by the House last week, the House plenary has the final say on whether to approve or deny requests for the SALNs of congressmen. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a press briefing in Malacanang that this is an "additional burden" for people as they would have to pass through all House members before their request is approved with finality. "We hope the House deliberates more on this because it may be running the risk of being questioned later on. We want the SALN to be readily available to the public," Panelo said. The new House rules also require those who request SALNs to identify themselves and provide a justification for their request, which would be evaluated by the SALN Review and Compliance Committee for approval or rejection. It also states that each copy of congressmen's SALNs would cost 300 each, meaning one would need 87,300 to obtain all the SALNs of 291 lawmakers. But Castro said the fees may be adjusted by the House and people may obtain congressmen's SALNs for free as long as they bring their own paper. "One ream of bond paper is enough," he said. President Rodrigo Duterte signed in 2016 Executive Order No. 2 which ensures the public's free access to government information in the executive branch. Castro said the new House rules are in line with this order as it provides exceptions which he said would ensure the independence of the lower chamber, and the security and safety of its members. The Constitution requires public officers and employees to declare their wealth by annually filing SALNs. The incorrect declarations in the SALNs of former Chief Justice Renato Corona led to his impeachment. Maria Lourdes Sereno's appointment as chief justice was nullified due to her failure to file SALNs when she was teaching law at the University of the Philippines. CNN Philippines Digital Producer Alyssa Rola contributed to this report. Charlottesville could pay $3,265.28 to rename Preston Avenue to Preston Avenue. Its not quite that simple, but the City Council will discuss changing the roads namesake at its meeting Monday. Councilor Wes Bellamy first discussed changing the roads name in December. Last month, he instead advocated to keep the Preston name, but change the streets namesake. Currently, the street is named for Thomas Lewis Preston, a former Confederate officer and slave owner. He also owned the Wyndhurst farm, part of which still sits off Grady Avenue. He was rector of the University of Virginia from 1864 to 1865 and was among three faculty members to meet with Union Gen. Philip Sheridans troops, keeping the army from destroying the school as part of its total war strategy. Bellamy instead wants to name the road after Asalie Minor Preston. Preston taught in segregated schools throughout the area for all but three years from 1922 to 1969, according to the Minor-Preston Educational Fund, which bears her name. From 1933 to 1936, Preston studied for an education degree from St. Pauls College in Lawrenceville. Michael Gauss and Ted Hankle wanted third-graders in Laura Crotteaus class at Brownsville Elementary to choose their own adventure. The students voted on whether the main character in the pairs childrens book should fight or flee and on what weapon to use in battling a Roman soldier. Their book, which revolved around the Roman invasion of Athens, was the result of a class project at Western Albemarle High School, where Gauss and Hankle are freshmen. The assignment was to write a historically accurate story about a heros journey that was based in an ancient civilization. Wed thought it would stand out and be more engaging if they could affect the story, Gauss said of their approach. On Friday, they and other ninth-graders walked over to Brownsville to read their books to the third-graders. The freshmen wrote about ancient Greece, Egypt and India, as well as other civilizations. James Walsh, a history teacher at Western Albemarle, said the visit was an example of project-based learning, which is used division-wide. Orange Countys fourth annual Quad-County Business Summit will be held Oct. 2 at Madison at the Mill in Orange, county officials announced. The summit is the result of efforts by the Orange County Economic Development in collaboration with the Orange Chamber of Commerce, Central Virginia Small Business Development Center and peer organizations in Fluvanna, Greene and Louisa counties. The summit is intended to bring together businesses from the four-county region for a half-day of networking and educational programs. The free event will feature speakers on a variety of topics. For more information, call Rose Deal at (540) 672-1238. Send news tips to news@dailyprogress.com, call (434) 978-7264, tweet us @DailyProgress or send us a Facebook message here. 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. LYNCHBURG Its been 10 years since Virginias oldest beer trail the Brew Ridge Trail was founded in Nelson County by five breweries and the Nelson County Department of Economic Development and Tourism. Since then, the number of breweries, wineries and cideries along Route 151 has grown. On Saturday, the breweries along the Brew Ridge Trail will kick off a weeklong celebration of the 10-year anniversary with the Brew Ridge Trail Festival. Mandi Smack, co-founder of Blue Mountain Brewery and Barrel House, said that when she and her husband, Taylor, first founded the brewery in Afton, they were the only one on Route 151 for one or two years. When we first bought the land to build on, everyone thought we were crazy, she said. Smack said the wineries in the area always have helped business, but when breweries such as Devils Backbone Brewing Company came along in 2008, they gained more traction with tourists. It was rough here. There just wasnt the big beer scene there is now, she said. Now, 10 years later, its obvious to the Smacks and other members of the Brew Ridge Trail that they made the right move developing along Route 151. Zoetis Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and commercializes animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products in the United States and internationally. It commercializes products primarily across species, including livestock, such as cattle, swine, poultry, fish, and sheep; and companion animals comprising dogs, cats, and horses. The company offers vaccines, which are biological preparations to prevent diseases of the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and reproductive tracts or induce a specific immune response; anti-infectives that prevent, kill, or slow the growth of bacteria, fungi, or protozoa; and parasiticides that prevent or eliminate external and internal parasites that include fleas, ticks, and worms. It also provides other pharmaceutical products, which comprise pain and sedation, antiemetic, reproductive, and oncology products; Dermatology products for itch associated with allergic conditions and atopic dermatitis; and medicated feed additives that offer medicines to livestock. In addition, the company offers portable blood and urine analysis systems, and point-of-care diagnostic products, including instruments and reagents, rapid immunoassay tests, reference laboratory kits, and blood glucose monitors; and other non-pharmaceutical products, including nutritionals and agribusiness services, as well as products and services in areas, such as biodevices, genetics tests, and precision livestock farming. It markets its products to veterinarians, livestock producers, and retail outlets, as well as third-party veterinary distributors through its sales representatives, and technical and veterinary operations specialists. The company was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. Read More Wall Street analysts have given Vanguard Information Technology ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but Vanguard Information Technology ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Wall Street analysts have given Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Corrections officers at first did not know Stephenson was dead inside the cell, charging documents state, as they first were investigating Soules cell because the window had been covered during the evening, which is against the facilitys policy. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells petrochemical products in the People's Republic of China. It operates through five segments: Synthetic Fibers, Resins and Plastics, Intermediate Petrochemicals, Petroleum Products, and Trading of Petrochemical Products. The Synthetic Fibers segment produces polyesters, acrylic fibers, and carbon fibers that are primarily used in the textile and apparel industries. The Resins and Plastics segment produces polyester chips that are used to produce polyester fibers, coating, and containers; polyethylene resins and plastics, which are used to produce insulated cables and mulching films, as well as molded products, such as housewares and toys; and polypropylene resins that are used for films and sheets, as well as molded products, such as housewares, toys, consumer electronics, and automobile parts; and PVA granules. The Intermediate Petrochemicals segment produces p-xylene, benzene, and ethylene oxide, which are used as raw materials in the production of other petrochemicals, resins, plastics, and synthetic fibers. The Petroleum Products segment operates crude oil refinery facilities used to produce refined gasoline, fuel, diesel oil, heavy oil, and liquefied petroleum gas. The Trading of Petrochemical Products segment is involved in the import and export of petrochemical products. The company was founded in 1972 and is based in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited is a subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation. 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 Accenture: 2nd Road, 2nd Road Pty Ltd., ?What If!, ?What If! China Holdings Ltd, ?What If! Holdings Limited, ?What If! Innovation Singapore Holdings Pte, ?What If! Limited, ?What If! Shanghai Co. Ltd, ?What If! USA LLC, ACN Consulting Co Ltd, AD Dialeto Agencia de Publicidade SA, AD.Dialeto (Digital Agency acquired by Accenture), AGS Business and Technology Services Limited, ASM Research Inc., ASM Research LLC, ATAN, Accenture (Beijing) Mobile Technology Co Ltd, Accenture (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (China) Co Ltd, Accenture (Shenzhen) Technology Co. Ltd., Accenture (South Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (South Africa) Pty Limited, Accenture (UK) Ltd, Accenture 2 Business Process Services S.A., Accenture 2 LLC, Accenture A/S, Accenture AB, Accenture AG, Accenture AS, Accenture Africa Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Holding B.V., Accenture Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Azerbaijan Ltd, Accenture BPM Operations Support Services S.A., Accenture BPM S.C.R.L., Accenture BV, Accenture Branch Holdings B.V., Accenture Bulgaria EOOD, Accenture Business Services for Utilities Inc, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia Limited Partnership, Accenture Business and Technology Services LLC, Accenture C.A, Accenture CAS GmbH, Accenture Canada Holdings Inc., Accenture Capital DAC, Accenture Capital Inc, Accenture Central Europe B.V., Accenture Chile Asesorias y Servicios Ltda, Accenture Cloud Services GmbH, Accenture Cloud Software Solutions Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions LLC, Accenture Cloud Solutions Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd., Accenture Communications Infrastructure Solutions Ltd, Accenture Company Ltd, Accenture Consulting Services Ltd Tanzania, Accenture Consultores de Gestao S.A., Accenture Consultoria de Industria e Consumo Ltda, Accenture Consultoria de Recursos Naturais Ltda, Accenture Credit Services LLC, Accenture Customer Services Distribution SAS, Accenture Customer Services Limited, Accenture Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, Accenture Defined Benefit Pension Plan Trustees Ltd, Accenture Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Ltd, Accenture Delivery Poland sp. z o.o., Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH, Accenture Digital France Holdings SA, Accenture Digital Holdings GmbH, Accenture East Africa Limited, Accenture Ecuador S.A., Accenture Egypt LLC, Accenture Enterprise Development (Shanghai) Co Ltd., Accenture Federal Services LLC, Accenture Finance (Gibraltar) III Ltd, Accenture Finance GmbH, Accenture Finance GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Finance II GmbH, Accenture Finance II GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Finance II Ltd, Accenture Finance Limited, Accenture Finance and Accounting BPO Services S.p.A., Accenture Finance and Accounting Services Srl, Accenture Flex LLC, Accenture GP LLC, Accenture Ghana Limited, Accenture Global Holdings Ltd., Accenture Global Services Ltd, Accenture Global Solutions Ltd, Accenture GmbH, Accenture HR Services Ltd, Accenture HR Services S.p.A., Accenture Healthcare Processing Inc., Accenture Holding GmbH, Accenture Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Accenture Holding GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Holdings (Iberia) S.L., Accenture Holdings B.V., Accenture Holdings France SAS, Accenture Holdings plc, Accenture Hungary Holdings Kft, Accenture Inc, Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company (Accenture Endustriyel Yazylym Cozumleri Limited irketi), Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company (Accenture Endustriyel Yazlm Cozumleri Limited Sirketi), Accenture Industrial Software Solutions Kft, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions SA, Accenture Insurance Services LLC, Accenture Insurance Services SAS, Accenture Insurance Services SpA, Accenture International BV, Accenture International Capital SCA, Accenture International LLC, Accenture International Limited, Accenture International Sarl, Accenture Japan Ltd, Accenture Korea BV, Accenture LLC, Accenture LLP, Accenture Lanka (Private) Ltd, Accenture Limited, Accenture Ltd, Accenture Ltda, Accenture Maghreb S.a.r.l., Accenture Managed Services SRL, Accenture Managed Services SpA, Accenture Management GmbH, Accenture Middle East B.V, Accenture Middle East BV, Accenture Minority I BV, Accenture Minority III Ltd, Accenture Mozambique Limitada, Accenture Mzansi (Pty) Ltd, Accenture NV/SA, Accenture NZ Limited, Accenture Newco LLC, Accenture Nova Scotia Unlimited Liability Co., Accenture OOO, Accenture Operations Sp. z o.o., Accenture Outsourcing SRL, Accenture Outsourcing Services, Accenture Outsourcing Services S.A., Accenture Oy, Accenture Panama Inc, Accenture Participations BV, Accenture Participations II Limited, Accenture Peru S.R.L, Accenture Peru S.R.L., Accenture Post Trade Processing SAS, Accenture Post-Trade Processing Limited, Accenture Process Ltd, Accenture Product Lifecycle Services, Accenture Properties, Accenture Pte Ltd, Accenture Puerto Rico LLC, Accenture S.A., Accenture S.C., Accenture S.L., Accenture S.R.L., Accenture SAS, Accenture SG Services Pte Ltd, Accenture SRL, Accenture Saudi Arabia Limited, Accenture Sendirian Berhad, Accenture Service Center SRL, Accenture Services (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Services AB, Accenture Services AG, Accenture Services AS, Accenture Services GmbH, Accenture Services Ltd, Accenture Services Morocco SA, Accenture Services Oy, Accenture Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Services S.r.l., Accenture Services SRL, Accenture Services Sp. z o.o., Accenture Services Sp. z.o.o., Accenture Services and Technology Srl, Accenture Services fur Kreditinstitute GmbH, Accenture Services s.r.o., Accenture Servicos Administrativos Ltda, Accenture Servicos de Suporte de Negocios Ltda, Accenture Solutions Co Ltd, Accenture Solutions Private Limited, Accenture Solutions Pte Ltd, Accenture Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture Sp. z o.o., Accenture Sp. z.o.o., Accenture SpA, Accenture State Healthcare Services LLC, Accenture Sub II Inc., Accenture Sub Inc, Accenture Sub LLC, Accenture Systems Integration Limited, Accenture Sarl, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag KFT, Accenture Technologia, Accenture Technologia Consultoria e Outsourcing S.A., Accenture Technology Infrastructure Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions (Dalian) Co Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions (HK) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas S.A., Accenture Technology Solutions GmbH, Accenture Technology Solutions Oy, Accenture Technology Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions S.A. de C.V., Accenture Technology Solutions SAS, Accenture Technology Solutions SRL, Accenture Technology Solutions Sdn. Bhd., Accenture Technology Solutions Slovakia s.r.o., Accenture Technology Ventures BV, Accenture Technology Ventures S.P.R.L., Accenture Uruguay SRL, Accenture Vietnam Co., Accenture Vietnam Co. LTD, Accenture Zambia Limited, Accenture do Brasil Limitada, Accenture plc, Accenture s.r.o., Acceria, Acquity Customer Insight Limited, Acquity Group, Adaptly LLC, Adaptly UK Limited, AddVal Technology, Adqptly, Advantium Inc., Agave Consultants Limited, Agilex Technologies Inc., Allen International, Allen International Consulting Group Ltd, Alnova Technologies Corporation S.L., AlphaBeta Advisors, Altima, Altima Asia Ltd., Altima SAS, Altitude, Altitude LLC, Analytics 8 LP, Analytics 8 Pty Ltd, Analytics8, Aorui Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Apis, Appaloosa Technology SAS, Arca, Ariba - BPO, Arismore, Aspiro Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Avanade, Avanade (Guangzhou) Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd., Avanade (Thailand) Co Ltd, Avanade Asia Pte Ltd, Avanade Australia Pty Ltd, Avanade Belgium SPRL, Avanade Canada Inc., Avanade Denmark A/S, Avanade Denmark ApS, Avanade Deutschland GmbH, Avanade Europe Holdings Ltd, Avanade Europe Services Ltd, Avanade Federal Services LLC, Avanade Finland Oy, Avanade France SAS, Avanade GZ Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd. (SH), Avanade Guangzhou, Avanade Holdings LLC, Avanade Hong Kong Ltd, Avanade International Corporation, Avanade Ireland Limited, Avanade Italy SRL, Avanade KK, Avanade Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avanade Netherlands BV, Avanade Norway AS, Avanade Poland Sp. z o.o., Avanade Poland Sp. z.o.o., Avanade Schweiz GmbH, Avanade South Africa, Avanade South Africa Pty Ltd, Avanade Spain SL, Avanade Sweden AB, Avanade UK Ltd, Avanade do Brasil Limitada, Avanade Osterreich GmbH, AvantBiz Consulting Limited, Avenai, Axia Ltd., BABCN LLC, BCT Solutions, BCT Solutions Pty Ltd, BPO Servicos Administrativos Ltda, BRIDGE Energy Group, Beacon Consulting Group Inc., Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology Co. Ltd., Boomerang Pharmaceutical Communications, Boomerang Pharmaceuticals Communications Ireland Limited, Bow & Arrow, Brand Learning, Brand Learning Group Limited, Brand Learning LLC, Brand Learning Ltd, Brand Learning Partners Limited, Brand Learning Pte Limited, Bridge Energy Group LLC, Brightstep AB, Byte Prophecy, CAS, CRMWaypoint, CadenceQuest Inc., Capable Marketer Limited, Capgemini - North American health practice, Capital Consultancy Services Inc., Certus Solutions Consulting Services Ltd, Certus Solutions Ltd, ChangeTrack Research Pty Ltd., Chaotic Moon Studios, Chengdu Mensa Advertising Co. Ltd., Cimation, Cimation UK Limited, Cirruseo, Cirruseo SAS, Clarity Insights, Clearhead, Clearhead Group, Clearhead Group LLC, ClientHouse GmbH, Cloud Sherpas, Cloud Sherpas (GA) LLC, Cloud Sherpas (SN) (PTE.) Limited, Cloud Sherpas New Zealand Ltd., Cloud Talent Limited, Cloudsherpas, Cloudsherpas Inc., Codagenic Pty. Ltd., Computer Research and Telecommunications LLC, Concrete Desenvolvimento de Sistemas Ltda., Concrete Solutions, Concrete Solutions Ltda., Context Information Security, Coritel S.A., Corliant Inc., CreativeDrive, CustomerWorks Europe SL, Cutting Edge Solutions Ltd, D5 Global Holdings LLC, DAZ Systems Inc, DAZ Systems LLC, DAZSI Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd., DMA Solutions Limited, Davies Consulting, DayNine Consulting, DayNine Consulting (Australia) PTY LTD, DayNine Consulting (Deutschland) GmbH, DayNine Consulting (New Zealand) Limited, DayNine Consulting France SAS, DayNine Consulting Japan K.K., DayNine Consulting LLC, Declarative Holdings, Declarative Holdings LLC, Defense Point Security, Deja vu Security, Design Strategy and Research de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Designaffairs LLC, Digiplug S.A.S., Digiplug SAS, Digital Consulting & Software Services LLC, Droga5, Droga5 LLC, Droga5 Studios LLC, Droga5 UK Ltd., Duck Creek Technologies, Duck Creek Technologies LLC, Deja Vu Security LLC, ESR Labs, Elcurator SAS, Enaxis Consulting, Enaxis Consulting L.P., End-to-End Analytics, Energuia Web, Energuia Web S.A., Energy Management Brokers Ltd., Energy Quote Private Ltd., EnergyQuote JHA, EnergyQuote JHA Ltd., EnergyQuote Trading Ltd., Enimbos, Enkitec, Enterprise System Partners, Enterprise System Partners B.V. , Enterprise System Partners Bilisim Danismanlik Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Enterprise System Partners Global Corporation, Enterprise System Partners Limited, Enterprise System Partners PR LLC, Enterprise System Partners S.A.S., Epylon, Evopro Group, Exactside Limited, Fairway Technologies Inc, Fairway Technologies LLC, Filmproduction ApS, First Annapolis Consulting, First Annapolis Consulting Inc., First Annapolis Consulting LLC, First Annapolis International, Fjord, Focus Group Europe, Focus Group Europe Limited, Formicary, Formicary Holdings Limited, Formicary Limited, FusionX, FutureMove Automotive, Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Genfour, Genfour Limited, George Group Consulting L.P., Gestalt LLC, Gestion Altima Canada Inc., Global Public Firm S.L., GlobalView SAS, GoodFilm GmbH Filmproduktion Stuttgart, H.B. Maynard and Co. Inc., Hagberg Consulting Group, Hangzhou Aiyunzhe Technology Co. Ltd., Happen, Hjaltelin Stahl, Hjaltelin Stahl K/S, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Hytracc Consulting UK Limited, Hytracc Holding AS, I-Faber S.p.A., IBB Consulting, IMJ Corp, IMJ Corporation, INCAD, INSITUM, IT One Company Limited, ITBS Servicios Bancarios de Tecnologia de la Informacion SL, Icon Integration, Imagine Broadband (USA) Ltd, Imagine Broadband USA LLC, Imaginea Inc, Industrie&Co, Infoman AG, Infoman Schweiz AG, Informatica de Euskadi S.L., Infusion Development Inc., Infusion Development UK Limited, InfusionDev LLC, Innoveer Solutions India Pvt Ltd, Insitum Consultoria Argentina SRL, Insitum Consultoria Brasil LTDA, Insitum Consultoria Colombia SAS, Insitum Consultoria Europa SL, Insitum Consultoria Peru SAC, Insitum Consultoria S.A. de C.V., Intrepid, Intrigo Systems Inc, Intrigo Systems India Pvt. Limited, Intrigo Systems LLC, Inventor Advertisement (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inventor Technology Limited, InvestTech, Investtech Systems Consulting LLC, Javelin Group, Javelin Group (Bulgaria) EOOD, Javelin Group Limited (UK), Javelin Group SASU, K Comms Group Limited, KCS.net AG, KCS.net AG West, KCS.net Deutschland GmbH, KCS.net Holding AG, KCS.net Osterreich GmbH, Kaper Communications Limited, Karma Communications Debtco Limited, Karma Communications Group Limited, Karma Communications Holdings Limited, Karmarama, Karmarama Comms Limited, Karmarama Limited, Knowledge Rules Inc., Knowledgent, Knowledgent Group LLC, Kogentix, Kogentix LLC, Kogentix Ltd, Kogentix Singapore Pte. Ltd, Kogentix Technologies Private Limited, Kolle Rebbe, Kolle Rebbe GmbH, Kream Comms Limited, Kunstmaan, Kunstmaan NV, Kurt Salmon, Kurt Salmon Canada LTD, Kurt Salmon UKI, Kurt Salmon UKI Ltd., Kurt Salmon US LLC, LINKBYNET, LabAnswer, LabAnswer Government, LemonXL Limited, Logistics Market Place Limited (UK), Loud & Clear Creative Pty Ltd, MAXIM Systems Inc., MCG US Holdings LLC, Mackevision CG Technology and Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mackevision Corporation, Mackevision Japan Co. Ltd., Mackevision Korea Ltd, Mackevision Medien Design, Mackevision Medien Design GmbH, Mackevision Singapore Pte. Ltd., Mackevision UK Ltd, Maglan, Maglan Information Defense Technologies Research Ltd., Maihiro, Matter, Matter Llc, Maud Corp Pty Limited, Maxamine International, Media Audits Ltd., Media Hive, Mediasenz Pty Ltd., Meredith Specialty LLC, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing Corporation, Meridian Informed Purchasing Ltd., Mindtribe, Mindtribe Product Engineering LLC, MobGen, MobGen Technology S.L, Moonrise NV, Mortgage Cadence, Mortgage Cadence an Accenture Company, Most Champion Ltd, Mudano, N3 LLC, NBS Marketing Inc., NYTEC, Nanjing Demeng Advertising Co. Ltd., Nashco Consulting, NaviSys Inc., Neo Metrics Analytics S.L., Neo Metrics Chile, Neo Metrics Chile S.A., New Content, New Content Chile SpA, New Content Editora e Produtora Ltda., New Energy Aborda, New Energy Associates Ltd, New Energy Group, New Energy S.r.l., NewsPage, NewsPage (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, NewsPage China Ltd., NewsPage Pte Ltd, Nice Agency Limited, Northstream, Northstream AB, Northstream Holding AB, OCTO Technology, OPS Rules Management Consultants, Octagon Research Solutions Inc., Octo Technology LTDA, Octo Technology Pty Ltd, Octo Technology SA, Octo Technology SPRL, Octoman SAS, Odgaard ApS, Olikka, Operaciones Accenture S.A. de C.V., OpusLine, Orbium, Orbium Consulting Ltd, Orbium GmbH, Orbium Holding AG, Orbium Inc., Orbium International AG, Orbium International sp. z o.o., Orbium Licences AG, Orbium Limited, Orbium Pte. Ltd., Orbium Pty Ltd, Orbium Services sp. z o.o., Orbium Sarl, Origin Digital, PCO Innovation, PCO Innovation Canada Inc., PCO Innovation EURL, PIXO PUNCH Limited, PLM Systems S.r.l, POC Holdings, PRION GmbH, PT Accenture, PT Asta Catur Indra, PT Kogentix Teknologi Indonesia, Pach Invest SARL, Pach Invest SAS, PacificLink Group, PacificLink iMedia Ltd., Paja Finanssipalvelut Oy, Parker Fitzgerald Inc, Parker Fitzgerald Inc., Parker Fitzgerald International Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Limited, Parker Fitzgerald PTY Ltd, Parker Fitzgerald Services Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Solutions Limited, Partners Technology Mexico Holdings BV, Pecaso Ltd., Pegasus Production K/S, Perseroan Terbatas. Accenture, Phase One Consulting Group, Pillar Technology, Pollux, Pragsis Bidoop, Pragsis Bidoop UK Ltd, Pragsis Technologies S.L, PrimeQ, PrimeQ Australia Pty Ltd, PrimeQ Ltd, PrimeQ NZ Pty Ltd, Procurian Germany GmbH, Procurian Inc., Procurian International I LLC, Procurian International II LLC, Procurian LLC, Procurian Singapore Pte. Ltd., Procurian Switzerland GmbH, Procurian USA LLC, Proquire LLC, PureApps Ltd., Qi Jie Beijing Information Technologies Co Ltd, Radiant Services, Radiant Services LLC, Random Walk Computing Inc., Reactive Media Limited, Reactive Media Pty Ltd., Real Protect, Realworld OO Systems Ltd., Redcore, Redcore (Asia) Pte Ltd, Redcore (India) Private Limited (India), Redcore (New Zealand) Limited, Redcore Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Redcore Pty Ltd, Renacentis IT Services, Revolutionary Security, RiskControl, Rothco, Rothco Holdings Designated Activity Company, Rothco Unlimited Company, S.C. EnergyQuote S.r.l., S3 TV Technology Limited, S3 TV Technology Ltd., SALT Solutions GmbH, SEC Servizi, SEC Servizi S.p.A., SOPIA Corp., Sagacious Consultants, Sagacious Consultants LLC, Sanchez Capital Services Pvt Ltd, Schlumberger Business Consulting, Seabury Airline Planning Group, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace (UK) Limited, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace Asia (Hong Kong) Limited, Seabury Aviation Consulting LLC, Seabury Cargo Advisory B.V., Seabury Consulting, Seabury Corporate Advisors LLC, Seabury Human Capital LLC, Seabury Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Seabury Structured Finance LLC, Search Technologies BPO, Search Technologies BPO Inc., Search Technologies GmbH, Search Technologies International LLC, Search Technologies LATAM, Search Technologies LATAM S.A., Search Technologies LLC, Search Technologies Limited, Sente Partners LLC, Sentelis, Servicios Tecnicos de Programacion Accenture S.C., Shackleton, Shackleton Barcelona S.L., Shackleton Chile S.A., Shackleton Madrid S.L., Shackleton S.A., Shanghai Baiyue Advertising Co. Ltd., Shun Zhe Technology Development Co. Ltd., Silveo, Simian Pty Limited, SinnerSchrader AG, SinnerSchrader Commerce GmbH, SinnerSchrader Content GmbH, SinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH, SinnerSchrader Praha s.r.o., SinnerSchrader Swipe GmbH, Sinnerschrader, Sistemes Consulting S.L., Solutions IQ, Solutions IQ LLC, SolutionsIQ, SolutionsIQ India Consulting Services Private Limited, Storm Digital, Storm Digital B.V., Structure Consulting Group, Structure Consulting Group LLC, Sutter Mills, Systor AG, TQuila Limited (UK), Tadata Creative Unlimited Company, Tara Insurance DAC, Tara Risk DAC, TargetST8, TargetST8 Consulting LLC, Tech - Avanade Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Tecnilogica Ecosistemas S.A., Tecnilogica Ltd., Tecnilogica, The Brand Learning Partners Limited, The Callisto Integration Corporation, The Monkeys, The Monkeys Pty Limited, The Myrtle Group, Total Logistics, Total Logistics Supply Chain Consultants Limited, Tquila, Troop Studios Pty Ltd, VanBerlo, Verax Solutions, Verax Solutions Corporation, Vertical Retail Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd., Vertical Retail Consulting Hong Kong, Vertical Retail Consulting Hong Kong Ltd., Vertical Retail Consulting Ltd., Vivere Brasil Servicos e Solucoes SA, Vivere Brasil Solucoes De Credito Ltda., Weblinc Pty Ltd, Wire Stone, Wire Stone LLC, Wire Stone Sarl, Wolox, Yesler, Zag, Zenta, Zenta Global Philippines, Zenta Global Philippines Inc., Zenta Mortgage Services LLC, Zenta Recoveries Inc, Zenta US Holdings Inc., Zielpuls, Zielpuls (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zielpuls GmbH, avVenta, designaffairs, designaffairs Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., designaffairs GmbH, designaffairs group China Co. Ltd., dgroup, i4C Analytics, iDefense, and solid-serVision.com GmbH. $1.7 Trillion Clean Energy Mandate to Deliver Stock Gains in 2021 (Ad) Newly-minted stock market millionaires will be making a tour de force in 2021 by being early on select green energy stocks. This US$0.25 stock just seized control of an ultra-rare clean energy metal America needs to lead the green energy revolution. Smart investors will not be hesitating on this one. Some of the most serious allegations were brought against five male teachers. A woman told investigators she was 14 years old when one of the men got her pregnant, then paid for her abortion. Another said teachers kept photos of students in nude and sexual positions. Wall Street analysts have given Invesco BulletShares 2022 Corporate Bond ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but Invesco BulletShares 2022 Corporate Bond ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Imperial Brands PLC, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, imports, markets, and sells tobacco and tobacco-related products. It offers a range of cigarettes, fine cut and smokeless tobacco, papers, and cigars; and next generation product (NGP) portfolio, such as e-vapour products, as well as oral nicotine and heated tobacco products. The company sells its products under various brands, including Davidoff, Gauloises, JPS, West, L&B, Bastos, Fine, Winston, News, Parker & Simpson, blu, Kool, Horizon, Jade, Cohiba, Montecristo, Romeo Y Julieta, Backwoods, Skruf, Golden Virginia, Rizla, and Knox in approximately 160 countries worldwide. It also provides logistics services that include the distribution of tobacco and NGP products for tobacco and NGP product manufacturers; and various non-tobacco and NGP products and services. In addition, the company is involved in the management of a golf course; marketing of papers; restaurant business; distribution of pharmaceuticals, POS software, and published materials and other products; printing and publishing activities; and provision of long haul transportation, industrial parcel and express delivery, advertising, and support management services. Further, it owns the trademarks; and retails its products. The company was formerly known as Imperial Tobacco Group PLC and changed its name to Imperial Brands PLC in February 2016. Imperial Brands PLC was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Bristol, the United Kingdom. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of HCA Healthcare: 2490 Church LLC, 360 Community Alliance LLC, 4600 Waters Avenue Professional Building Condominium Association Inc., 52 Alderley Road LLP, AC Med LLC, ACH Inc., ADC Surgicenter LLC, AOGN LLC, AOSC Sports Medicine Inc., AR Holding 1 LLC, AR Holding 10 LLC, AR Holding 11 LLC, AR Holding 12 LLC, AR Holding 13 LLC, AR Holding 14 LLC, AR Holding 15 LLC, AR Holding 16 LLC, AR Holding 17 LLC, AR Holding 18 LLC, AR Holding 19 LLC, AR Holding 2 LLC, AR Holding 20 LLC, AR Holding 21 LLC, AR Holding 22 LLC, AR Holding 23 LLC, AR Holding 24 LLC, AR Holding 25 LLC, AR Holding 26 LLC, AR Holding 27 LLC, AR Holding 28 LLC, AR Holding 29 LLC, AR Holding 30 LLC, AR Holding 31 LLC, AR Holding 4 LLC, AR Holding 5 LLC, AR Holding 6 LLC, AR Holding 7 LLC, AR Holding 8 LLC, AR Holding 9 LLC, ASD Shared Services LLC, Acadiana Care Center Inc., Acadiana Practice Management Inc., Acadiana Regional Pharmacy Inc., Access 2 Health Care Physicians LLC, Access Health Care Physicians LLC, Access Management Co. 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Physical Therapy Centers Inc., EASTSIDE URGENT CARE LLC, EHCA Diagnostics LLC, EHCA Eastside Occupational Medicine Center LLC, EHCA LLC, EHCA Metropolitan LLC, EHCA Parkway LLC, EHCA Peachtree LLC, EHCA West Paces LLC, EIRMC Hospitalist Services LLC, EMMC LLC, EP Health LLC, EP Holdco LLC, EPIC Development Inc., EPIC Diagnostic Centers Inc., EPIC Healthcare Management Company, EPIC Properties Inc., EPIC Surgery Centers Inc., EPSC L.P., East Falls Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery LLC, East Falls Family Medicine LLC, East Falls Plastic Surgery LLC, East Florida - DMC Inc., East Florida Behavioral Health Network LLC, East Florida Cardiology Network LLC, East Florida CareNow Urgent Care LLC, East Florida Division Inc., East Florida Emergency Physician Group LLC, East Florida Healthcare LLC, East Florida Hospitalists LLC, East Florida Imaging Holdings LLC, East Florida Primary Care LLC, East Houston Primary Care PLLC, East Houston Specialists PLLC, East Layton Internal Medicine LLC, East Orthopedics PLLC, East Pointe Hospital Inc., Eastern Idaho Brachytherapy Equipment LLC, Eastern Idaho Brachytherapy Equipment Manager LLC, Eastern Idaho Care Partners ACO LLC, Eastern Idaho Care Partners Holdings LLC, Eastern Idaho Care Partners LLC, Eastern Idaho Health Services Inc., Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center Inpatient Services LLC, Eastside Behavioral Health Associates LLC, Eastside General Surgery LLC, Eastside Heart and Vascular LLC, Eastside Medical Center LLC, Eastside Surgery Center LLC, Edmond General Surgery LLC, Edmond Hospitalists LLC, Edmond Physician Hospital Organization Inc., Edward White Hospital Inc., El Paso CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, El Paso Healthcare Provider Network, El Paso Healthcare System Ltd., El Paso Healthcare System Physician Services LLC, El Paso Nurses Unlimited Inc., El Paso Primary Care PLLC, El Paso Surgery Centers L.P., El Paso Surgicenter Inc., Eldridge Family Practitioners PLLC, Elite Family Health of Plano PLLC, Elite OB-GYN Services of El Paso PLLC, Elite Orthopaedics of El Paso PLLC, Elite Orthopaedics of Irving PLLC, Elite Orthopaedics of Plano PLLC, Elstree Outpatient Centre LLP, Emergency Physicians at Wesley Medical Center LLC, Emergency Providers Group LLC, Emergency Psychiatric Medicine PLLC, Encino Hospital Corporation Inc., Endocrinology Associates of Lees Summit LLC, Endoscopy Surgicare of Plano LLC, Endoscopy of Plano L.P., Englewood Community Hospital Auxiliary Inc., Englewood Community Hospital Inc., Envision Stakes LLC, Eye Care Surgicare Ltd. a Missouri limited partnership, FHAL LLC, FMH Health Services LLC, Fairfax Surgical Center L.P., Fairview Medical Services LLC, Fairview Park GP LLC, Fairview Park Limited Partnership, Fairview Partner LLC, Family Care Partners LLC, Family Care of E. Jackson County LLC, Family First Medicine in Brownsville PLLC, Family Health Medical Group of Overland Park LLC, Family Health Specialists of Lees Summit LLC, Family Medicine of Blacksburg LLC, Family Practice at Forest Hill LLC, Family Practice at Retreat LLC, Family Practitioners of Montgomery PLLC, Family Practitioners of Pearland PLLC, Fannin MOB LLC, Fannin MOB Property Management LLC, Far West Division Inc., Fawcett Memorial Hospital Inc., Florida Care Partners LLC, Florida Care Partners Orlando LLC, Florida Home Health Services-Private Care Inc., Florida Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Flower Mound Surgery Center Ltd., Focus Hand Surgicenter LLC, Foot & Ankle Specialty Services LLC, Forest Park Surgery Pavilion Inc., Forest Park Surgery Pavilion L.P., Fort Bend Hospital Inc., Fort Chiswell Family Practice LLC, Fort Myers Market Inc., Fort Pierce Immediate Care Center Inc., Fort Pierce Orthopaedics LLC, Fort Pierce Surgery Center Ltd., Fort Walton Beach Medical Center Inc., Fort Worth Investments Inc., Forward Pathology Solutions LLC, Four Rivers Medical Center PHO Inc., Frankfort Hospital Inc., Frankfort Wound Care LLC, Freeport Family Medicine LLC, Fremont Womens Health LLC, Frisco Surgicare LLC, Frisco Warren Parkway 91 Inc., Frist Clinic Express LLC, Ft. 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Specialty Care LLC, Garden Park Physician Group Inc., Gardens EFL Imaging Center LLC, Gastroenterology Specialists of Middle Tennessee LLC, General Hospitals of Galen Inc., General Medical Clinics Limited, General Surgeons of Houston PLLC, General Surgeons of North Richland Hills PLLC, General Surgeons of Pasadena PLLC, General and Cardiovascular Surgeons of Conroe PLLC, Generations Family Practice Inc., GenoSpace LLC, Georgia Health Holdings Inc., Georgia L.P., Georgia Psychiatric Company Inc., Glemm SA, Good Samaritan Hospital L.P., Good Samaritan Hospital LLC, Good Samaritan Surgery Center L.P., Goppert-Trinity Family Care LLC, Grace Family Practice LLC, Gramercy Eye Surgicenter LLC, Gramercy Surgery Center Ltd., Grand Strand Regional Medical Center LLC, Grand Strand Senior Health Center LLC, Grand Strand Specialty Associates LLC, Grand Strand Surgical Specialists LLC, Grandview Health Care Clinic LLC, Grant Center Hospital of Ocala Inc., Grayson Primary Care LLC, Greater Gwinnett Internal Medicine Associates LLC, Greater Gwinnett Physician Corporation, Greater Houston Preferred Provider Option Inc., Greater Tampa Bay Physician Network LLC, Greater Tampa Bay Physician Specialists LLC, Greater Tampa Bay Physicians - Pinellas LLC, Green Oaks Hospital Subsidiary L.P., Greenview Hospital Inc., Greenview PrimeCare LLC, Greenview Specialty Associates LLC, Gulf Coast Division Inc., Gulf Coast Electrophysiology Associates PLLC, Gulf Coast Inpatient Specialists LLC, Gulf Coast Medical Center Primary Care LLC, Gulf Coast Medical Ventures Inc., Gulf Coast Multispecialty Services LLC, Gulf Coast Physician Administrators Inc., Gulf Coast Provider Network Inc., Gwinnett Community Hospital Inc., Gynecology Specialists of Utah LLC, H2U Wellness Centers - Del Sol Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers - Las Palmas Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers - Medical City Dallas PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers - St. Davids Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers LLC, H2U Wellness Centers Clear Lake Regional Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers Conroe ISD PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers Conroe Regional Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers Corpus Christi PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers El Paso PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers PISD PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers San Benito CISD PLLC, HBP Lone Star Inc., HCA - IT&S Field Operations Inc., HCA - IT&S Inventory Management Inc., HCA - IT&S PBS Field Operations Inc., HCA - IT&S TN Field Operations Inc., HCA - Information Technology & Services Inc., HCA - Raleigh Community Hospital Inc., HCA - Viera ALF LLC, HCA - WHS Progressive LLC, HCA - WHS Services LLC, HCA ASD Financial Operations LLC, HCA ASD Sales Services LLC, HCA American Finance LLC, HCA Carenow Limited, HCA Central Group Inc., HCA Central/West Texas Physicians Management LLC, HCA Chattanooga Market Inc., HCA Development Company Inc., HCA Eastern Group Inc., HCA Global Capital LLP, HCA Gulf Coast GME PLLC, HCA Health Services of California Inc., HCA Health Services of Florida Inc., HCA Health Services of Georgia Inc., HCA Health Services of Louisiana Inc., HCA Health Services of Miami Inc., HCA Health Services of Midwest Inc., HCA Health Services of New Hampshire Inc., HCA Health Services of Tennessee Inc., HCA Health Services of Texas Inc., HCA Health Services of Virginia Inc., HCA Health Services of West Virginia Inc., HCA Healthcare Mission Fund LLC, HCA Healthcare UK Limited, HCA Holdco LLC, HCA Human Resources LLC, HCA Imaging Services of North Florida Inc., HCA Inc., HCA International Holdings Limited, HCA International Limited, HCA LewisGale Regional Cancer Centers Clinical Co-Management Company LLC, HCA Long Term Health Services of Miami Inc., HCA Luxembourg 1 Sarl, HCA Luxembourg 2 Sarl, HCA Luxembourg Equities Sarl, HCA Luxembourg Finance Limited, HCA Luxembourg Investments Sarl, HCA Management Services L.P., HCA Medical City Limited, HCA Medical Services Inc., HCA Midwest Comprehensive Care Inc., HCA Outpatient Clinic Services of Miami Inc., HCA Outpatient Imaging Services Group Inc., HCA Patient Safety Organization LLC, HCA Pearland GP Inc., HCA Physician Services Inc., HCA Plano Imaging Inc., HCA Property GP LLC, HCA Psychiatric Company, HCA Purchasing Limited, HCA Realty Inc., HCA Richmond Cardiac Clinical Co-Management Company LLC, HCA SF LLC, HCA SFB 1 LLC, HCA Sarasota Orthopedic and Spine Clinical Co-Management Company LLC, HCA Squared LLC, HCA Staffing Limited, HCA Swiss Capital 1 LLP, HCA Swiss Capital 2 LLP, HCA Switzerland Finance GmbH, HCA Switzerland Holding GmbH, HCA Switzerland Limited, HCA UK Capital Limited, HCA UK Holdings Limited, HCA UK Investments Limited, HCA UK Limited, HCA UK Services Limited, HCA Wesley Rehabilitation Hospital Inc., HCA Western Group Inc., HCA-Access Healthcare Holdings LLC, HCA-Access Healthcare Partner Inc., HCA-California Urgent Care Holdings LLC, HCA-EMS Holdings LLC, HCA-EmCare Holdings LLC, HCA-Georgia Urgent Care Holdings LLC, HCA-HBPS Holdings LLC, HCA-HealthONE LLC, HCA-Solis Holdings Inc., HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of Continental LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of Gulf Coast LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of North Texas LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of TriStar LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Services LLC, HCA-Solis Master LLC, HCA-Urgent Care Holdings LLC, HCAPS Anesthesia Manager LLC, HCAPS Conroe Affiliation Inc., HCOL Inc., HD&S Corp. Successor Inc., HDH Thoracic Surgeons LLC, HHBY Holdings LLC, HHNC LLC, HICCH-SCL LLC, HM Acquisition LLC, HM OMCOS LLC, HMMG 1226 LLC, HPG Energy L.P., HPG Enterprises LLC, HPG GP LLC, HPG Solutions LLC, HSS Holdco LLC, HSS Systems LLC, HSS Virginia L.P., HTI Gulf Coast Inc., HTI Health Services of North Carolina Inc., HTI Hospital Holdings Inc., HTI MOB LLC, HTI MSO LLC, HTI Memorial Hospital Corporation, HTI Physician Services of Utah Inc., HWCA PLLC, Hamilton Memorial Hospital Inc., Hamsard 3160 Limited, Harley Street Clinic @ The Groves LLP, Hathor Chelsea Ltd., Healdsburg General Hospital Inc., Health Care Indemnity Inc., Health Insight Capital LLC, Health International Billing Partners Limited, Health Midwest Medical Group Inc., Health Midwest Office Facilities Corporation, Health Midwest Ventures Group Inc., Health Partners of Kansas Inc., Health Service Partners Inc., Health Services (Delaware) Inc., Health Services Merger Inc., Health to You LLC, HealthCoast Physician Group LLC, HealthONE Aurora Investment LLC, HealthONE Care Partners LLC, HealthONE CareNow Urgent Care LLC, HealthONE Clear Creek LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Bariatric Medicine LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Behavioral Health LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Cancer Care LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Cancer Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Cardiovascular LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Medical Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Neurosciences LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Occupational Medicine LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Oncology Hematology LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Orthopedic Specialists LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Otolaryngology Specialists LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Pediatric Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Primary Care LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Spine Specialists LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Spine Surgeons LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Surgery Neurological LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Surgical Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Transplant Services LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Womens Services LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Youth Rehabilitation LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services LLC, HealthONE High Street Primary Care Center LLC, HealthONE IRL Pathology Services LLC, HealthONE Institutes for Clinical Research LLC, HealthONE Lowry LLC, HealthONE Radiation Therapy at Red Rocks LLC, HealthONE Radiation Therapy at Thornton LLC, HealthONE Ridge View Endoscopy Center LLC, HealthONE Surgicare of Ridge View LLC, HealthONE Urologic LLC, HealthONE at Breckenridge LLC, HealthONE of Denver Inc., HealthOne Heart Care LLC, HealthOne Lincoln Investment LLC, HealthOne Westside Investment LLC, HealthTrust Europe Company Limited, HealthTrust Europe LLP, HealthTrust Locums Inc., HealthTrust Workforce Solutions LLC, Healthcare Oklahoma Inc., Healthcare Purchasing Alliance LLC, Healthcare Sales National Management Services Group LLC, Healthcare Technology Assessment Corporation, Healthco LLC, Healthnet of Kentucky LLC, Healthserv Acquisition LLC, Healthtrust Inc. - The Hospital Company, Healthtrust MOB Tennessee LLC, Healthtrust Purchasing Group L.P., Healthtrust Utah Management Services Inc., Healthy State Inc., Heart Specialist of North Texas PLLC, Heart of America ASC LLC, Heart of America Surgicenter LLC, Heartcare of Texas Ltd., Hearthstone Home Health Inc., Heartland Womens Group at Wesley LLC, Heathrow Imaging LLC, Heathrow Internal Medicine LLC, Hendersonville Hospital Corporation, Hendersonville Hospitalist Services Inc., Hendersonville OB/GYN LLC, Hendersonville ODC LLC, Hendersonville Primary Care LLC, Henrico Doctors Hospital - Forest Campus Property LLC, Henrico Doctors Neurology Associates LLC, Henrico Doctors OB GYN Specialists LLC, Henrico Surgical Specialists LLC, Heritage Family Care LLC, Heritage Hospital Inc., Heritage Medical Care LLC, Hermitage Primary Care LLC, Hidalgo County Family Practitioners PLLC, Hidden Lakes Health Center PLLC, Highlands Regional Medical Center, Hip & Joint Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Homecare North Inc., Hometrust Management Services Inc., Horizon Orthopedics LLC, Horizon Surgical LLC, Hospital Corp. LLC, Hospital Corporation of America, Hospital Corporation of Lake Worth, Hospital Corporation of Tennessee, Hospital Corporation of Utah, Hospital Development Properties Inc., Hospital Partners Merger LLC, Hospital Realty Corporation, Hospital-Based CRNA Services Inc., Hospitalists at Centennial Medical Center LLC, Hospitalists at Fairview Park LLC, Hospitalists at Greenview Regional Hospital LLC, Hospitalists at Horizon Medical Center LLC, Hospitalists at Parkridge LLC, Hospitalists at StoneCrest LLC, Hospitalists at Wesley Medical Center LLC, Hospitalists of the Wabash Valley LLC, Houston - PPH LLC, Houston CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, Houston Healthcare Holdings Inc., Houston NW Manager LLC, Houston Northwest Concessions L.L.C., Houston Northwest Operating Company L.L.C., Houston Northwest Surgical Partners Inc., Houston Obstetrics and Gynecology for Women PLLC, Houston Pediatric Specialty Group PLLC, Houston Urologic Surgicenter LLC, Houston Womans Hospital Partner LLC, ICU Associates of West Houston PLLC, IMX Holdings LLC, IRL Pathology Services MidAmerica LLC, Idaho Behavioral Health Services LLC, Idaho Physician Services Inc., Illinois Psychiatric Hospital Company Inc., Imaging Realty LLC, Imaging Services of Appomattox LLC, Imaging Services of Jacksonville LLC, Imaging Services of Louisiana LLC, Imaging Services of Louisiana Manager LLC, Imaging Services of Orlando LLC, Imaging Services of Richmond LLC, Imaging Services of Roanoke LLC, Imaging Services of West Boynton LLC, InVivoLink Inc., Independence Neurosurgery Services LLC, Independence Regional Medical Group LLC, Independence Surgicare Inc., Indian Path Hospital Inc., Indianapolis Hospital Partner LLC, Institute for Womens Health and Body LLC, Institute of Advanced ENT Surgery LLC, Integrated Regional Lab LLC, Integrated Regional Laboratories LLP, Integrated Regional Laboratories Pathology Services LLC, Intensive Care Consortium Inc., Internal Medicine Associates of Huntsville PLLC, Internal Medicine Associates of Southern Hills LLC, Internal Medicine of Blacksburg LLC, Internal Medicine of Pasadena PLLC, Internist Associates of Houston PLLC, Isleworth Partners Inc., J. M. Garcia M.D. PLLC, JCSH LLC, JDGC Management LLC, JFK Internal Medicine Faculty Practice LLC, JFK Medical Center Limited Partnership, JPM AA Housing LLC, Jackson County Medical Group LLC, Jackson County Pulmonary Medical Group LLC, Jacksonville CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Jacksonville Multispecialty Services LLC, Jacksonville Surgery Center Ltd., James River Internists LLC, John Randolph Family Practice LLC, John Randolph OB/GYN LLC, John Randolph Surgeons LLC, Johnson County Neurology LLC, Johnson County Surgery Center L.P., Johnson County Surgicenter L.L.C., Jordan Family Health L.L.C., Jupiter EFL Imaging Center LLC, KC Pain ASC LLC, KC Surgicare LLC, KPH-Consolidation Inc., Kansas CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Kansas City Cardiac Arrhythmia Research LLC, Kansas City Gastroenterology & Hepatology Physicians Group LLC, Kansas City Neurology Associates LLC, Kansas City Pulmonology Practice LLC, Kansas City Surgery Center Properties LLC, Kansas City Vascular & General Surgery Group LLC, Kansas City Womens Clinic Group LLC, Kansas Healthserv LLC, Kansas Pulmonary and Sleep Specialists LLC, Kansas Trauma and Critical Care Specialists LLC, Kathy L. Summers M.D. PLLC, Kendall Healthcare Group Ltd., Kendall Regional Medical Center LLC, Kendall Regional Urgent Care LLC, Kennedale Primary Care PLLC, Kingwood Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Kingwood Surgery Center LLC, Kingwood Surgicenter LLC, Kissimmee Surgicare Ltd., Kyle Primary Care PLLC, L E Corporation, LAD Imaging LLC, LGMC Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, LOC @ The Christie LLP, LOC @ The London Bridge Hospital LLP, LOC Partnership LLP, LPN TeleBehavioral Health PLLC, Lafayette OB Hospitalists LLC, Lafayette Urogynecology & Urology Center LLC, Lake City Imaging LLC, Lake City Regional Medical Group LLC, Lake Forest Family Health PLLC, Lakeside Radiology LLC, Lakeside Womens Services LLC, Lakeview Cardiology Specialists LLC, Lakeview Hospital Physician Services LLC, Lakeview Internal Medicine LLC, Lakeview Medical Center LLC, Lakeview Regional Medical Center Inpatient Services LLC, Lakeview Regional Physician Group LLC, Lakeview Urology & General Surgery LLC, Lakewood Surgicare Inc., Laredo Medco LLC, Largo Medical Center Inc., Largo Physician Group LLC, Las Colinas Primary Care PLLC, Las Colinas Surgery Center Ltd., Las Encinas Hospital, Las Palmas Del Sol Cardiology PLLC, Las Palmas Del Sol Internal Medicine PLLC, Las Palmas Del Sol Urgent Care PLLC, Las Vegas ASC LLC, Las Vegas Surgicare Inc., Las Vegas Surgicare Ltd. a Nevada Limited Partnership, Lawnwood Cardiovascular Surgery LLC, Lawnwood Healthcare Specialists LLC, Lawnwood Medical Center Inc., Layton Family Practice LLC, Leaders in Oncology Care Limited, Leadership Healthcare Holdings II L.P. L.L.P., Leadership Healthcare Holdings L.P. L.L.P., Lees Summit Family Care LLC, Leslie Cohan M.D. PLLC, Lewis-Gale Hospital Incorporated, Lewis-Gale Medical Center LLC, Lewis-Gale Physicians LLC, Lewisville Primary Care PLLC, Lewisville Surgicare LLC, Lincoln Surgery Center LLC, Live Oak Immediate Care Center LLC, London Oncology Clinic LLP, London Pathology Limited, London Radiography & Radiotherapy Services Limited, Lone Peak Hospital Inc., Lone Star Intensivists at Gulf Coast PLLC, Lonestar Provider Network, Longview Regional Physician Hospital Organization Inc., Lorain County Surgery Center Ltd., Los Gatos Surgical Center a California Limited Partnership, Los Robles Regional Medical Center, Los Robles Regional Medical Center MOB LLC, Los Robles SurgiCenter LLC, Loudoun Surgery Center LLC, Louisiana Psychiatric Company Inc., Loveland Surgicenter LLC, Low Country Health Services Inc. of the Southeast, Lowry Surgicenter LLC, M. Jamshidi D.O. PLLC, MCA Investment Company, MCA-CTMC Holdings LLC, MEC Endoscopy LLC, MFA G.P. LLC, MFM Fact PLLC, MGH Medical Inc., MH Anesthesiology Physicians LLC, MH Angel Medical Center LLLP, MH Asheville Specialty Hospital LLC, MH Blue Ridge Medical Center LLLP, MH Eckerd Living Center LLLP, MH Highlands-Cashiers Medical Center LLLP, MH Hospital Holdings Inc., MH Hospital Manager LLC, MH Master Holdings LLLP, MH Master LLC, MH McDowell Imaging LLLP, MH Mission Hospital LLLP, MH Mission Hospital McDowell LLLP, MH Mission Imaging LLLP, MH Physician Services LLC, MH Transylvania Imaging LLLP, MH Transylvania Regional Hospital LLLP, MHS Partnership Holdings JSC Inc., MHS Partnership Holdings SDS Inc., MHS SC Partner L.L.C., MHS Surgery Centers L.P., MMC Sleep Lab Management LLC, MOSC Sports Medicine Inc., MOVCO Inc., MP Management LLC, MRT&C Inc., MSL Acquisition LLC, MVH Professional Services LLC, Macon Healthcare LLC, Macon Northside Health Group LLC, Macon Northside Hospital LLC, Macon Psychiatric Hospitalists LLC, Madison Behavioral Health LLC, Mainland Family Medicine PLLC, Mainland Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Mainland Primary Care Physicians PLLC, Management Services Holdings Inc., Manatee Surgicare Ltd., Marietta Outpatient Medical Building Inc., Marietta Outpatient Surgery Ltd., Marietta Surgical Center Inc., Marion Community Hospital Inc., Mark Gottesman M.D. PLLC, Martin Fletcher & Associates L.P., Martin Fletcher Associates Holdings Inc., Mary Alice Cowan M.D. PLLC, Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialists of Corpus Christi PLLC, Maternal Fetal Services of Utah LLC, Maury County Behavioral Health LLC, Mayhill Cancer Center LLC, McAllen Comprehensive Upper Extremity Center PLLC, McKinney Surgeons PLLC, Mechanicsville Imaging LLC, Mecklenburg Surgical Land Development Ltd., Med City Dallas Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Med Corp. Inc., Med Group - Southern Hills Hospitalists LLC, Med-Center Hosp./Houston Inc., Med-Point of New Hampshire Inc., Medi Flight of Oklahoma LLC, MediCredit Inc., MediPurchase Inc., MediStone Healthcare Ventures Inc., MediVision Inc., MediVision of Mecklenburg County Inc., MediVision of Tampa Inc., Medical Arts Hospital of Texarkana Inc., Medical Associates of Ocala LLC, Medical Care America Colorado LLC, Medical Care America LLC, Medical Care Financial Services Corp., Medical Care Real Estate Finance Inc., Medical Care Surgery Center Inc., Medical Center - West Inc., Medical Center Imaging Inc., Medical Center Surgery Associates L.P., Medical Center of Baton Rouge Inc., Medical Center of Plano Partner LLC, Medical Center of Port St. Lucie Inc., Medical Center of Santa Rosa Inc., Medical Center of Southwest Florida LLC, Medical Centers of Oklahoma LLC, Medical City Dallas Hospital Inc., Medical City Dallas Partner LLC, Medical City Dallas Primary Care PLLC, Medical City Frisco, Medical City OB-GYN PLLC, Medical City Pediatrics PLLC, Medical City Specialty Surgicenter of Dallas LLC, Medical City Surgery Center of Alliance LLC, Medical City Surgery Center of Frisco LLC, Medical City Surgery Center of Lewisville LLC, Medical City Transplant PLLC, Medical Corporation of America, Medical Group - Dickson Inc., Medical Group - Southern Hills of Brentwood LLC, Medical Group - Southern Hills of Nolensville LLC, Medical Group - StoneCrest FP Inc., Medical Group - StoneCrest Inc., Medical Group - Stonecrest Pulmonology LLC, Medical Group - Summit Inc., Medical Imaging Inc., Medical Imaging of Colorado LLC, Medical Office Buildings of Kansas LLC, Medical Oncology Associates LLC, Medical Partners of North Florida LLC, Medical Plaza Ambulatory Surgery Center Associates L.P., Medical Specialties Inc., Memorial Family Practice Associates LLC, Memorial Health Primary Care at St. Johns Bluff LLC, Memorial Healthcare Group Inc., Memorial Neurosurgery Group LLC, Memorial Satilla Specialists LLC, Memorial University Medical Center, Menorah Medical Group LLC, Menorah Urgent Care LLC, Mercy ASC LLC, Metairie Primary Care Associates LLC, Methodist Ambulatory Surgery Center of Boerne LLC, Methodist Ambulatory Surgery Center of Landmark LLC, Methodist Cardiology Physicians, Methodist CareNow Physician Associates, Methodist CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, Methodist Healthcare System of San Antonio Ltd. L.L.P., Methodist Inpatient Management Group, Methodist Medical Center ASC L.P., Methodist Physician Alliance, Methodist Physician Practice Services LLC, Methodist Physician Practices PLLC, Metroplex Surgicenters Inc., Metropolitan Multispecialty Physicians Group Inc., Miami Beach EFL Imaging Center LLC, Miami Beach Healthcare Group Ltd., Miami Dade Surgical Specialists LLC, Miami Lakes Surgery Center Ltd., Miami-Dade Cardiology Consultants LLC, Michael Mann M.D. PLLC, Mid-America Surgery Center LLC, Mid-America Surgery Institute LLC, Mid-Cities Surgi-Center Inc., Mid-Continent Health Services Inc., MidAmerica Division Inc., MidAmerica Oncology LLC, Middle Georgia Hospital LLC, Middle Georgia Urgent Care Services LLC, Middle Tennessee Neurology LLC, Midtown Diagnostics LLC, Midwest Cardiology Specialists LLC, Midwest Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery LLC, Midwest Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Kansas LLC, Midwest Division - ACH LLC, Midwest Division - CMC LLC, Midwest Division - LRHC LLC, Midwest Division - LSH LLC, Midwest Division - MCI LLC, Midwest Division - MMC LLC, Midwest Division - OPRMC LLC, Midwest Division - RBH LLC, Midwest Division - RMC LLC, Midwest Division Spine Care LLC, Midwest Doctors Group LLC, Midwest Heart & Vascular Specialists LLC, Midwest Holdings Inc., Midwest Infectious Disease Specialists LLC, Midwest Medicine Associates LLC, Midwest Metropolitan Physicians Group LLC, Midwest Oncology Associates LLC, Midwest Trauma Services LLC, Midwest Womens Healthcare Specialists LLC, Mikrod Services Inc., Mill Creek Outpatient Services LLC, Millenium Health Care of Oklahoma Inc., Mission Bay Memorial Hospital Inc., Mission Community Anesthesiology Specialists LLC, Mission Employer Solutions LLC, Mission Health, Mission Health Partners Inc., Missouri Healthcare System L.P., Mobile Corps. Inc., Mobile Heartbeat, Mobile Heartbeat LLC, Montgomery Cancer Center LLC, Montgomery Hospitalists LLC, Montgomery Regional Hospital Inc., Montgomery Surgery Associates LLC, Mountain Division - CVH LLC, Mountain Division Inc., Mountain View Hospital Inc., Mountain View MRI Associates Ltd., Mountain West Surgery Center LLC, MountainStar Behavioral Health LLC, MountainStar Brigham General Surgery LLC, MountainStar Canyon Surgical Clinic LLC, MountainStar Cardiology Ogden Regional LLC, MountainStar Cardiology St. Marks LLC, MountainStar Intensivist Services LLC, MountainStar Medical Group - Cache Valley LLC, MountainStar Medical Group - Ogden Regional Medical Center LLC, MountainStar Medical Group - St. Marks Hospital LLC, MountainStar Medical Group Neurosurgery-St. Marks LLC, MountainStar Medical Group Timpanogos Primary Care LLC, MountainStar Medical Group Timpanogos Specialty Care LLC, MountainStar Specialty Services LLC, MountainStar Urgent Care LLC, MountainView GME Primary Care LLC, Mountainstar Brigham OBGYN LLC, Mountainstar Cardiovascular Services LLC, Mountainstar Ogden Pediatrics LLC, Movement Disorders of North Texas PLLC, Mt. Ogden Utah Surgical Center LLC, NPAS Inc., NPAS Solutions LLC, NT Urgent Care PLLC, NTGP LLC, NTMC Management Company, NTMC Venture Inc., NTX Pathology Program PLLC, Nashville Psychiatric Company Inc., Nashville Shared Services General Partnership, Nashville Surgicenter LLC, Natchez Medical Associates LLC, Natchez Surgery Center LLC, National Association of Senior Friends, National Contact Center Management Group LLC, National Patient Account Services Inc., National Transfer Center Management Services LLC, Navarro Memorial Hospital Inc., NeighborMD Management LLC, Network MS of Florida Inc., Network Management Services Inc., Neuro Affiliates Company, Neuro-Hospitalist of Clear Lake PLLC, NeuroHospitalist of McAllen PLLC, Neurological Eye Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Neurological Specialists PLLC, Neurological Specialists of McKinney PLLC, Neurology Associates of Hendersonville LLC, Neurology Associates of Kansas LLC, Neurosurgery Atlanta LLC, Neurosurgery of Kingwood PLLC, Neurosurgical Associates of North Texas PLLC, Neurosurgical Specialists of El Paso PLLC, Neurosurgical Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Nevada Surgery Center of Southern Hills L.P., Nevada Surgicare of Southern Hills LLC, Nevada Urgent Care Holdings Inc., New Iberia Healthcare LLC, New Iberia Holdings Inc., New Port Richey Hospital Inc., New Port Richey Surgery Center Ltd., New Rose Holding Company Inc., Niceville Family Practice LLC, North Augusta Imaging Management LLC, North Augusta Imaging Services LLC, North Augusta Rehab Health Center LLC, North Austin Plastic Surgery Associates PLLC, North Austin Surgery Center L.P., North Brandon Imaging LLC, North Central Florida Health System Inc., North Central Methodist ASC L.P., North Charleston Diagnostic Imaging Center LLC, North Florida Cancer Center Lake City LLC, North Florida Cancer Center Live Oak LLC, North Florida Cancer Center Tallahassee LLC, North Florida Division I Inc., North Florida Division Practice Inc., North Florida GI Center GP Inc., North Florida GI Center Ltd., North Florida Immediate Care Center Inc., North Florida Neurosurgery LLC, North Florida Outpatient Imaging Center Ltd., North Florida Physician Services Inc., North Florida Physicians LLC, North Florida Radiation Oncology LLC, North Florida Regional Company Care LLC, North Florida Regional Freestanding Surgery Center L.P., North Florida Regional Investments Inc., North Florida Regional Medical Center Inc., North Florida Regional Psychiatry LLC, North Florida Regional Trauma LLC, North Florida Rehab Investments LLC, North Florida Surgical Associates LLC, North Georgia Primary Care Group LLC, North Hills Cardiac Catheterization Center L.P., North Hills Catheterization Lab LLC, North Hills Orthopaedic Surgeons PLLC, North Hills Surgicare L.P., North Houston - TRMC LLC, North Miami Beach Surgery Center Limited Partnership, North Miami Beach Surgical Center LLC, North Palm Beach County Surgery Center LLC, North River Physician Network LLC, North Shore Specialists of Texas PLLC, North Suburban Spine Center L.P., North Tampa Imaging LLC, North Texas - MCA LLC, North Texas Cardiology PLLC, North Texas Craniofacial Fellowship Program PLLC, North Texas Division Inc., North Texas General L.P., North Texas Geriatrics PLLC, North Texas Heart Surgery Center PLLC, North Texas Internal Medicine Specialists PLLC, North Texas Medical Center Inc., North Texas Neuro Stroke OP PLLC, North Texas Pulmonary Critical Care PLLC, North Texas Sports and Orthopedics Center PLLC, North Texas Stroke Center PLLC, North Texas of Hope PLLC, North Transfer Center LLC, Northeast Florida Cancer Services LLC, Northeast Methodist Surgicare Ltd., Northeast PHO Inc., Northern Utah Healthcare Corporation, Northern Utah Healthcare Imaging Holdco LLC, Northern Utah Imaging LLC, Northern Virginia CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Northern Virginia Community Hospital LLC, Northern Virginia Hospital Corporation, Northern Virginia Surgicenter LLC, Northlake Medical Center LLC, Northlake Physician Practice Network Inc., Northlake Surgical Center L.P., Northlake Surgicare Inc., Northside MRI Inc., Northwest Fla. Home Health Agency Inc., Northwest Florida Healthcare Systems Inc., Northwest Florida Multispecialty Physicians LLC, Northwest Florida Primary Care LLC, Northwest Medical Center Inc., Notami (Opelousas) Inc., Notami Hospitals LLC, Notami Hospitals of Florida Inc., Notami Hospitals of Louisiana Inc., Notami Hospitals of Missouri Inc., Notami LLC, Notco LLC, Nuclear Diagnosis Inc., OB Hospitalists of Womans Hospital PLLC, OB/GYN of Brownsville PLLC, OB/Gyn Associates of Denton PLLC, OBS Diagnostic and Treatment Centre LLP, ODP Holdings LLC, ODP Manager LLC, ODP Properties LLC, OHH Imaging Services LLC, OPRMC-HBP LLC, Oak Hill Acquisition Inc., Oak Hill Family Care LLC, Oak Hill Hospitalists LLC, Oakwood Surgery Center Ltd. LLP, Ocala Health Company Care LLC, Ocala Health Imaging Services LLC, Ocala Health Primary Care LLC, Ocala Health Surgical Group LLC, Ocala Health Trauma LLC, Ocala Regional Outpatient Services Inc., Ocala Stereotactic Radiosurgery LLC, Ocala Stereotactic Radiosurgery Partner LLC, Occupational Health Services of PRH LLC, Occupational and Family Medicine of South Texas, Ogden Imaging LLC, Ogden Internal Medicine & Urology LLC, Ogden Regional Health Plan Inc., Ogden Regional Medical Center Professional Billing LLC, Ogden Senior Center LLC, Ogden Tomotherapy LLC, Ogden Tomotherapy Manager LLC, Okaloosa Hospital Inc., Okeechobee Hospital Inc., Oklahoma Holding Company LLC, Oklahoma Outpatient Surgery Limited Partnership, Oklahoma Physicians - Medical Specialties LLC, Oklahoma Physicians - Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, Oklahoma Physicians - Primary Care LLC, Oklahoma Physicians - Surgical Specialties LLC, Oklahoma Surgicare Inc., Old Fort Village LLC, On-Site Primary Care PLLC, Oncology Services of Corpus Christi LLC, Oncology Services of Corpus Christi Manager LLC, OneSourceMed Inc., Online Pathology Services Limited, Orange County Healthcare LLC, Orange Park Hospitalists LLC, Orange Park Medical Center Inc., Orlando CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Orlando Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Orlando Outpatient Surgical Center Ltd., Orlando Surgicare Ltd., Orthopaedic Specialty Associates L.P., Orthopaedic Sports Specialty Associates Inc., Orthopedic Hospital Ltd., Orthopedics Specialists LLC, Osceola Neurological Associates LLC, Osceola Physician Network LLC, Osceola Regional Hospital Inc., Osceola Regional Hospitalists LLC, Osceola Surgical Associates LLC, Outpatient Cardiovascular Center of Central Florida LLC, Outpatient GP LLC, Outpatient Services - LAD LLC, Outpatient Services Holdings Inc., Outpatient Surgical Services Ltd., Outpatient Womens and Childrens Surgery Center Ltd., Overland Park Cardiovascular Inc., Overland Park Medical Specialists LLC, Overland Park Orthopedics LLC, Overland Park Surgical Specialties LLC, Oviedo Medical Center LLC, Ozarks Medical Services Inc., P&L Associates, P/SL Hyperbaric Partnership, PET CT LLP, PMM Inc., POH Holdings LLC, PSG Delegated Services LLC, PTS Solutions LLC, Pacific Partners Management Services Inc., Palm Beach EFL Imaging Center LLC, Palm Beach General Surgery LLC, Palm Beach Healthcare System Inc., Palm Beach Hospitalists Program LLC, Palmer Medical Center LLC, Palms West Gastroenterology LLC, Palms West Hospital Limited Partnership, Palms West Surgery Center Ltd., Paragon Physicians Hospital Organization of South Texas Inc., Paragon SDS Inc., Paragon Surgery Centers of Texas Inc., Paragon WSC Inc., Paragon of Texas Health Properties Inc., Parallon Business Solutions LLC, Parallon Enterprises LLC, Parallon Health Information Solutions LLC, Parallon Holdings LLC, Parallon Payroll Solutions LLC, Parallon Physician Services LLC, Parallon Revenue Cycle Services Inc., Park Central Surgical Center Ltd., Park Ridge Surgery Center LLC, Park South Imaging Center Ltd., Park View Insurance Company, Parkersburg SJ Holdings Inc., Parkland Hospitalists Program LLC, Parkland Oncology LLC, Parkland Physician Services Inc., Parkridge East Specialty Associates LLC, Parkridge Hospitalists Inc., Parkridge Medical Associates LLC, Parkridge Medical Center Inc., Parkridge Professionals Inc., Parkside Surgery Center Inc., Parkway Cardiac Center Ltd., Parkway Hospital Inc., Parkway Surgery Services Ltd., Parthenon Insurance Company Limited, Pasadena Bayshore Hospital Inc., PatientKeeper, PatientKeeper Inc., Patients First Neurology LLC, Pavilion 2 Condominium Property LLC, Pavilion 2 Medical Office Building Condominium Association Inc., Pavilion Surgicenter LLC, Peach State Anesthesia Partners LLC, Pearland Institute for Womens Health PLLC, Pearland Partner LLC, Pediatric Anesthesia Consultants of San Antonio PLLC, Pediatric Cardiac Intensivists of North Texas PLLC, Pediatric Critical Care of Clear Lake PLLC, Pediatric Hospitalists of Conroe PLLC, Pediatric Intensivist Group LLC, Pediatric Intensivists of El Paso PLLC, Pediatric Intensivists of North Texas PLLC, Pediatric Specialists of Clear Lake PLLC, Pediatric Specialty Clinic LLC, Pediatric Surgicare Inc., Pediatrics of Greater Houston PLLC, Pensacola Primary Care Inc., Physician Associates of Corporate Woods LLC, Physicians Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Physicians West Surgicenter LLC, Pinellas Medical LLC, Pinnacle Physician Network LLC, Pioneer Medical LLC, Plains Healthcare System Inc., Plano Ambulatory Surgery Associates L.P., Plano Heart Institute L.P., Plano Heart Management LLC, Plano Surgery Center - GP LLC, Plano Surgery Center Real Estate LLC, Plano Surgicenter Real Estate Manager LLC, Plano Urology PLLC, Plantation General Hospital L.P., Plaza Medical Specialists PLLC, Plaza Primary Care PLLC, Plaza Transplant Center PLLC, Podiatry of Clear Lake PLLC, Poinciana Medical Center Inc., Port St. Lucie Surgery Center Ltd., Portland Primary Care LLC, Portsmouth Regional Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Portsmouth Surgicenter LLC, Preferred Hospitals Inc., Preferred Works WC LLC, Premier ASC LLC, Premier Medical Management Ltd., Primary Care Medical Associates Inc., Primary Care Plano PLLC, Primary Care Services of Orlando LLC, Primary Care South PLLC, Primary Care West PLLC, Primary Care of West End LLC, Primary Health Asset Holdings Ltd., Primary Health Group Inc., Primary Health Inc., Primary Health Network of South Texas, Primary Health Physicians PLLC, Primary Medical Management Inc., Proaxis Therapy HealthOne LLC, Provident Professional Building Condominium Association Inc., Psychiatry Services of Osceola LLC, Pulaski Community Hospital Inc., Pulaski Urology LLC, Pulmonary Renal Intensivist Group LLC, Putnam Community Medical Center of North Florida LLC, Putnam Hospital Inc., Putnam Radiation Oncology LLC, Putnam Radiation Oncology Manager LLC, Putnam Surgical Group LLC, Quantum/Bellaire Imaging Ltd., Quick Care Centers LLC, Quivira Internal Medicine Inc., RCH LLC, RMC - Pulmonary LLC, RMC Transplant Physicians LLC, RMCA Professionals Mgmt LLC, ROi CPS LLC, Radford Family Medicine LLC, Radiation Oncology Center of Thornton LLC, Radiation Oncology Manager LLC, Raleigh Community Medical Office Building Ltd., Rapides After Hours Clinic L.L.C., Rapides Healthcare System L.L.C., Rapides Regional Physician Group LLC, Rapides Regional Physician Group Primary Care LLC, Rapides Regional Physician Group Specialty Care LLC, Rapides Surgery Center LLC, Raulerson GYN LLC, Raulerson Gastroenterology LLC, Raulerson Primary Care LLC, Raymore Medical Group LLC, Red Rock Holdco LLC, Red Rock at Smoke Ranch LLC, Red Rocks Surgery Center LLC, Redmond Anesthesia Services LLC, Redmond Hospital Services LLC, Redmond Neurosurgery LLC, Redmond Park Health Services Inc., Redmond Park Hospital LLC, Redmond Physician Practice Company, Redmond Specialty Services LLC, Regional Hospital Healthcare Partners LLC, Research Cardiology Associates LLC, Research Family Physicians LLC, Research Internal Medicine LLC, Research Neurology Associates LLC, Research Neuroscience Institute LLC, Resource Optimization & Innovation L.L.C., Reston Hospital Center LLC, Reston Hospitalists LLC, Reston Surgery Center L.P., Retreat Cardiology LLC, Retreat Hospital LLC, Retreat Internal Medicine LLC, Retreat Surgical Associates LLC, Rhodes Limited-Liability Company, Richmond Imaging Employer Corp., Richmond Multi-Specialty LLC, Richmond Pediatric Surgeons LLC, Ridgeline Surgicenter LLC, Rim Building Partners L.P., Rio Grande Healthcare MSO Inc., Rio Grande NP Inc., Rio Grande Regional Hospital Inc., Rio Grande Valley Cardiology PLLC, Rio Grande Valley CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, Rio Grande Valley Urology PLLC, Riverside CyberKnife Manager LLC, Riverside Healthcare System L.P., Riverside Holdings Inc., Riverside Hospital Inc., Riverside Imaging LLC, Riverwalk ASC LLC, Roanoke Imaging LLC, Roanoke Neurosurgery LLC, Roanoke Surgery Center L.P., Roanoke Valley Gynecology LLC, Robotic Radiosurgery LLP, Rocky Mountain Pediatric Hematology Oncology LLC, Rocky Mountain Surgery Center LLC, Rome Imaging Center Limited Partnership, Roodlane Medical Limited, Rose Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Rose Health Partners LLC, Rose Medical Plaza Ltd., Rose POB Inc., Rosewood Medical Center Inc., Rosewood Professional Building Ltd., Round Rock Hospital Inc., Round Rock Trauma Surgeons PLLC, Royal Oaks Surgery Center L.P., S.A. Medical Center Inc., SAPN LLC, SCRI Global Services Limited, SCRI Holdings LLC, SCRI Scientifics LLC, SJMC LLC, SSHR Holdco LLC, SSJ St. Petersburg Holdings Inc., STPN Manager LLC, SWMC Inc., Sahara Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Salem Hospitalists LLC, Salem Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Salt Lake City Surgicare Inc., Samaritan LLC, San Antonio Division Inc., San Antonio Regional Hospital Inc., San Antonio Surgicenter LLC, San Bernardino Imaging LLC, San Joaquin Surgical Center Inc., San Jose Healthcare System LP, San Jose Hospital L.P., San Jose LLC, San Jose Medical Center LLC, San Jose Pathology Outreach LLC, San Marcos ASC LLC, San Marcos Surgicenter LLC, Sante Fe Family Practitioners PLLC, Sarah Cannon Development Innovations LLC, Sarah Cannon Research Institute LLC, Sarah Cannon Research Institute UK Limited, Sarasota Doctors Hospital Inc., Savannah Behavioral Health Associates LLC, Savannah Health Network LLC, Savannah Health Services LLC, Savannah Inpatient Services LLC, Savannah Multispecialty Associates LLC, Savannah Pediatric Care LLC, Savannah Primary Care Associates LLC, Sebring Health Services LLC, Selma Medical Center Hospital Inc., Senior Health Associates LLC, Short Pump Imaging LLC, Silicon Valley Health Holdings LLC, Silicon Valley Surgery Center L.P., Silicon Valley Surgicenter LLC, Sky Ridge Spine Manager LLC, Sky Ridge Surgery Center L.P., Skyline Medical Group LLC, Skyline Neuroscience Associates LLC, Skyline Rehab Associates LLC, Skyline Specialty Associates LLC, Smith Laboratories Inc., Solis Mammography at Bayshore Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Conroe Regional Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Denton Regional Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at HCA Houston Tomball LLC, Solis Mammography at Kingwood Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Las Colinas Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center Alliance LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center Arlington LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center of Lewisville LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center of McKinney LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center of Plano LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical City Dallas LLC, Solis Mammography at Pearland Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Rose Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Skyline Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at StoneCrest Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at West Houston Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Womans Hospital of Texas LLC, Solis Mammography of Cedar Hill LLC, Solis Mammography of CyFair LLC, Solis Mammography of Dallas LLC, Solis Mammography of Flower Mound LLC, Solis Mammography of Frisco LLC, Solis Mammography of Garland LLC, Solis Mammography of Grand Prairie LLC, Solis Mammography of Houston NW LLC, Solis Mammography of Katy LLC, Solis Mammography of Louetta/249 LLC, Solis Mammography of Mainland LLC, Solis Mammography of Mansfield LLC, Solis Mammography of Mesquite LLC, Solis Mammography of Montgomery LLC, Solis Mammography of North Cypress LLC, Solis Mammography of North Loop LLC, Solis Mammography of Sugar Land LLC, Solis Mammography of West Plano LLC, Solis Mammography of Womans Place LLC, South Atlantic Division Inc., South Austin Surgery Center Ltd., South Austin Surgical Management LLC, South Austin Surgicenter LLC, South Brandon Imaging LLC, South Florida Division Practice Inc., South Texas Surgicare Inc., South Transfer Center LLC, South Valley Hospital L.P., Southeast Georgia Health Services LLC, Southern Hills Medical Center LLC, Southern Hills Neurology Consultants LLC, Southern Kentucky Medicine Associates LLC, Southern Kentucky Surgicenter LLC, Southern Texas Physicians Network, Southpoint LLC, Southtown Womens Clinic LLC, Southwest Florida Health System Inc., Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center Inc., Southwest Medical Center Family Practice LLC, Southwest Medical Center Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Southwest Medical Center Surgical Group LLC, Southwest Medpro Ltd., Southwest Surgical Clinic Inc., Southwest Virginia Orthopedics and Spine LLC, Spalding Rehabilitation L.L.C., Specialists in Obstetrics and Gynecology PLLC, Specialty Associates of West Houston PLLC, Specialty Physicians of Northern Virginia LLC, Specialty Surgicare of Las Vegas LP, Spotsylvania Condominium Property LLC, Spotsylvania Medical Center Inc., Spotsylvania Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Spotsylvania Regional Surgery Center LLC, Spring Branch Family Practitioners PLLC, Spring Branch Medical Center Inc., Spring Hill Hospital Inc., Spring Hill Imaging LLC, Spring Hill Physicians LLC, Springview KY LLC, Spruce Pine Healthcare LLC, St. Davids Austin Area ASC LLC, St. Davids Cardiology PLLC, St. Davids CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, St. Davids Healthcare Partnership L.P. LLP, St. Davids Heart & Vascular PLLC, St. Davids Neurology PLLC, St. Davids OB Hospitalist PLLC, St. Davids Ortho Neuro and Rehab PLLC, St. Davids Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation PLLC, St. Davids Quality Alliance LLC, St. Davids Specialized Womens Services PLLC, St. Davids Trauma Surgeons PLLC, St. Lucie Hospitalists LLC, St. Lucie Medical Center Hyperbarics LLC, St. Lucie Medical Center Walk-In Clinic LLC, St. Lucie Medical Specialists LLC, St. Lucie West Primary Care LLC, St. Marks Ambulatory Surgery Associates L.P., St. Marks Gynecology Oncology Care LLC, St. Marks Investments Inc., St. Marks Physician Billing LLC, St. Marks Professional Services LLC, St. Marks South Jordan Family Practice LLC, St. Martins Healthcare Limited, St. Martins Ltd., St. Martins Medical Services Limited, St. Petersburg General Surgery LLC, Stafford Imaging LLC, Statland Medical Group LLC, Steamboat Springs Surgicenter LLC, Sterling Primary Care Associates LLC, Stiles Road Imaging LLC, StoneCrest Surgery Center LLC, StoneSprings Medical Office Building Property LLC, StoneSprings Surgicenter LLC, Stonecrest Medical Group - Family Practice of Murfreesboro LLC, Stonecrest Medical Group - SC Murfreesboro Family Practice LLC, Stones River Hospital LLC, Suburban Medical Center at Hoffman Estates Inc., Sugar Land Surgery Center Anesthesia LLC, Sugar Land Surgery Center Ltd., Sullins Surgical Center Inc., Summit Convenient Care at Lebanon LLC, Summit General Partner Inc., Summit Heart LLC, Summit Outpatient Diagnostic Center LLC, Summit Research Solutions LLC, Summit Surgery Center L.P., Summit Surgical Associates LLC, Summit Walk-in Clinic LLC, Sun Bay Medical Office Building Inc., Sun City Hospital Inc., Sun City Imaging LLC, Sun Towers/Vista Hills Holding Co., Sun-Med LLC, Sunrise Flamingo Holdings LLC, Sunrise Flamingo Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center LLC, Sunrise Mountainview Hospital Inc., Sunrise Mountainview Multi-Specialty Clinics LLC, Sunrise Outpatient Services Inc., Sunrise Physician Services LLC, Sunrise Trauma Services LLC, Surgery Associates of NTX PLLC, Surgery Center of Atlantis LLC, Surgery Center of Aventura Ltd., Surgery Center of Bay Area Houston LLC, Surgery Center of Greenview L.P., Surgery Center of Independence L.P., Surgery Center of Overland Park L.P., Surgery Center of Port Charlotte Ltd., Surgery Center of Rome L.P., Surgery Center of the Rockies LLC, Surgical Associates of Southwest Virginia LLC, Surgical Care Medical Group LLC, Surgical Center of Irving Inc., Surgical Facility of West Houston L.P., Surgical Park Center Ltd., Surgical Specialists of Clear Lake PLLC, Surgical Specialists of Conroe PLLC, Surgical Specialists of Corpus Christi PLLC, Surgicare America - Winter Park Inc., Surgicare Merger Company of Louisiana, Surgicare Outpatient Center of Baton Rouge Inc., Surgicare Outpatient Center of Jackson Inc., Surgicare of ADC LLC, Surgicare of AGI LLC, Surgicare of Alpine LLC, Surgicare of Altamonte Springs Inc., Surgicare of Anchorage LLC, Surgicare of Arapahoe LLC, Surgicare of Arlington LLC, Surgicare of Ashburn LLC, Surgicare of Augusta Inc., Surgicare of Aurora Endoscopy LLC, Surgicare of Aventura LLC, Surgicare of Bay Area Endoscopy LLC, Surgicare of Bay Area LLC, Surgicare of Bayonet Point Inc., Surgicare of Bayside LLC, Surgicare of Bountiful LLC, Surgicare of Brandon Inc., Surgicare of Brentwood LLC, Surgicare of Brighton LLC, Surgicare of Brooksville LLC, Surgicare of Brownsville LLC, Surgicare of Buckhead LLC, Surgicare of CAREOS LLC, Surgicare of Central Florida Inc., Surgicare of Central Park Surgery Center LLC, Surgicare of Central San Antonio Inc., Surgicare of Chattanooga LLC, Surgicare of Chippenham LLC, Surgicare of Citrus LLC, Surgicare of Clarksville LLC, Surgicare of Corpus Christi LLC, Surgicare of Countryside Inc., Surgicare of Dallas Specialty LLC, Surgicare of Denton Inc., Surgicare of Denver Clinic LLC, Surgicare of Denver LLC, Surgicare of Denver Mid-Town Inc., Surgicare of Dickson LLC, Surgicare of Eastside LLC, Surgicare of Evans Inc., Surgicare of Fairfax Inc., Surgicare of Florida Inc., Surgicare of Flower Mound Inc., Surgicare of Focus Hand LLC, Surgicare of Fort Worth Co-GP LLC, Surgicare of Fort Worth Inc., Surgicare of Ft. Pierce Inc., Surgicare of Good Samaritan LLC, Surgicare of Gramercy Inc., Surgicare of Greenview Inc., Surgicare of Hanover Inc., Surgicare of Houston Kingwood LLC, Surgicare of Houston LLC, Surgicare of Houston Womens Inc., Surgicare of Indianapolis Inc., Surgicare of Kansas City LLC, Surgicare of Kingwood LLC, Surgicare of Kissimmee Inc., Surgicare of Lakeview Inc., Surgicare of Las Vegas Inc., Surgicare of Laurel Grove LLC, Surgicare of Lorain County Inc., Surgicare of Los Gatos Inc., Surgicare of Los Robles LLC, Surgicare of Loveland LLC, Surgicare of Madison Inc., Surgicare of Manatee Inc., Surgicare of McKinney Inc., Surgicare of Medical City Dallas LLC, Surgicare of Memorial Endoscopy LLC, Surgicare of Merritt Island Inc., Surgicare of Miami Lakes LLC, Surgicare of Mountain West LLC, Surgicare of Mt. Ogden LLC, Surgicare of Nashville LLC, Surgicare of Natchez LLC, Surgicare of Newport Richey Inc., Surgicare of North Austin LLC, Surgicare of North San Antonio Inc., Surgicare of Northeast San Antonio Inc., Surgicare of Orange Park II LLC, Surgicare of Orange Park Inc., Surgicare of Orange Park Ltd., Surgicare of Orlando Inc., Surgicare of Overland Park LLC, Surgicare of Palms West LLC, Surgicare of Park Ridge LLC, Surgicare of Pasadena Inc., Surgicare of Pavilion LLC, Surgicare of Physicians West El Paso LLC, Surgicare of Pinellas Inc., Surgicare of Plano Inc., Surgicare of Plantation Inc., Surgicare of Port Charlotte LLC, Surgicare of Port St. Lucie Inc., Surgicare of Portsmouth LLC, Surgicare of Premier Orthopaedic LLC, Surgicare of Reston Inc., Surgicare of Ridgeline LLC, Surgicare of Riverside LLC, Surgicare of Riverwalk LLC, Surgicare of Roanoke LLC, Surgicare of Rome Inc., Surgicare of Rose LLC, Surgicare of Round Rock Inc., Surgicare of Royal Oaks LLC, Surgicare of Silicon Valley LLC, Surgicare of Sky Ridge LLC, Surgicare of Sky Ridge Womens Center LLC, Surgicare of South Austin Inc., Surgicare of Southeast Denver Inc., Surgicare of Southern Hills Inc., Surgicare of Southern Kentucky LLC, Surgicare of Southwest Houston LLC, Surgicare of Spotsylvania LLC, Surgicare of St. Andrews Inc., Surgicare of St. Andrews Ltd., Surgicare of St. Davids Austin LLC, Surgicare of Steamboat Springs LLC, Surgicare of StoneCrest LLC, Surgicare of StoneSprings LLC, Surgicare of Stuart Inc., Surgicare of Sugar Land Inc., Surgicare of Swedish LLC, Surgicare of Tallahassee Inc., Surgicare of Terre Haute LLC, Surgicare of Thornton LLC, Surgicare of Travis Center Inc., Surgicare of Tulsa Inc., Surgicare of Utah LLC, Surgicare of Wasatch Front LLC, Surgicare of West Hills Inc., Surgicare of Westlake Inc., Surgicare of Wichita Inc., Surgicare of Wichita LLC, Surgicare of Willis LLC, Surgicare of Wilson County LLC, Surgicare of Winchester LLC, Surgicenter of East Jefferson Inc., Surgicenter of Johnson County Ltd. a Kansas limited partnership, Surgicenter of Kansas City L.L.C., Surgico LLC, Swedish MOB Acquisition Inc., Swedish MOB I Ltd., Swedish MOB II Inc., Swedish MOB III Inc., Swedish MOB IV Inc., Swedish MOB LLC, Swedish Medpro Inc., TBHI Outpatient Services LLC, TCMC Madison-Portland Inc., THN Physicians Association Inc., TUHC Anesthesiology Group LLC, TUHC Hospitalist Group LLC, TUHC Physician Group LLC, TUHC Primary Care and Pediatrics Group LLC, TUHC Radiology Group LLC, Tallahassee Community Network Inc., Tallahassee Medical Center Inc., Tallahassee Orthopaedic Surgery Partners Ltd., Tampa Bay Health System Inc., Tampa Surgi-Centre Inc., Tarrant County Surgery Center L.P., Tchefuncte Cardiology Associates - Lakeview LLC, Teays Valley Health Services LLC, Telehealth Physician Services LLC, Tennessee Healthcare Management Inc., Tennessee Valley Outpatient Diagnostic Center LLC, Terre Haute Hospital GP Inc., Terre Haute Hospital Holdings Inc., Terre Haute MOB L.P., Terre Haute Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, Terre Haute Regional Hospital L.P., Texas CareNow Physician Associates, Texas HSS LLC, Texas Institute of Medicine and Surgery, Texas Psychiatric Company Inc., The Austin Diagnostic Clinic PLLC, The Cancer Care Center of North Florida LLC, The Cardiovascular Partnership for Quality LLC, The Charter Cypress Behavioral Health System L.L.C., The Christie Clinic LLP, The Glynne Medical Practice Limited, The Harley Street Cancer Clinic Limited, The London Breast Institute UK Ltd, The Medical Group of Kansas City LLC, The Neurohealth Sciences Center LLC, The Physicians Clinic Limited, The Prostate Centre Limited, The Rankin Foundation, The Regional Health System of Acadiana LLC, The Wasatch Endoscopy Center Ltd., The West Texas Division of Columbia Inc., Timpanogos Pain Specialists LLC, Timpanogos Regional Medical Services Inc., Total Imaging - Hudson LLC, Total Imaging - North St. Petersburg LLC, Total Imaging - Parsons LLC, Town Plaza Family Practice LLC, Travel Medicine and Infections LLC, Travis Surgery Center L.P., Tri Cities Health Services Corp., Tri-City Multi-Specialty LLC, Tri-County Community Hospital Inc., Tri-County Surgical Specialists LLC, TriStar Bone Marrow Transplant LLC, TriStar Cardiovascular Surgery LLC, TriStar Family Care LLC, TriStar Gynecology Oncology LLC, TriStar Health System Inc., TriStar Joint Replacement Institute LLC, TriStar Maury Behavioral Healthcare LLC, TriStar Medical Group - Centennial Primary Care LLC, TriStar Medical Group - Legacy Health LLC, TriStar Medical Network LLC, TriStar OB/GYN LLC, TriStar Orthopedics LLC, TriStar Physicians LLC, TriStar Radiation Oncology LLC, Trident Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Trident Behavioral Health Services LLC, Trident Eye Surgery Center L.P., Trident Medical Center LLC, Trident Medical Services Inc., Trident Neonatology Services LLC, Tulane Clinic LLC, Tulane Professionals Management L.L.C., Tuscan Imaging Center at Las Colinas LLC, U.S. Collections Inc., Ultra Imaging Management Services LLC, Ultra Imaging of Tampa LLC, University Healthcare Specialists LLC, University Healthcare System L.C., University Hospital Ltd., Uptown Primary Care Associates LLC, Urgent Care Enterprise LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Ann & Simmons LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Cactus & Southern Highlands LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Charleston & Decatur LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Charleston/Sloan LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Craig & Clayton LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Craig & Decatur LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Durango & Cheyenne LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Durango & Flamingo LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Eastern & Horizon Ridge LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Rainbow/Mardon LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Warm Springs & Green Valley LLC, Urgent Care Extra Silverado & Maryland LLC, Urgent Care Extra-Tropicana & Jones LLC, Urgent Care Nevada LLC, Urological Specialists of Arlington PLLC, Urology Associates (London) Limited, Urology Center of North Georgia LLC, Urology Services of El Paso PLLC, Urology Specialists Devonshire LLP, Urology Specialists London LLP, Urology Specialists of Kingwood PLLC, Urology Specialists of Richmond LLC, Urology Surgery Center of Colorado LLC, Utah CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Utah Imaging GP LLC, Utah Medco LLC, Utah Surgery Center L.P., VH Holdco Inc., VH Holdings Inc., VHSC Plantation LLC, VIP Inc., Valify, Valify Inc., Value Health Holdings Inc., Value Health Management Inc., Vascular and Endovascular Specialists LLC, Venture Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Venture Medical Management LLC, Village Oaks Medical Center Inc., Virginia Care Partners ACO LLC, Virginia Gynecologic Oncology LLC, Virginia Hematology & Oncology Associates Inc., Virginia Hospitalists Inc., Virginia Psychiatric Company Inc., Virginia Quality Care Partners LLC, Vision Consulting Group LLC, Vision Holdings LLC, W & C Hospital Inc., WCP Properties LLC, WHG Medical LLC, WHMC Inc., WJHC LLC, Walterboro Community Hospital Inc., Warren County Ambulance Service LLC, Wasatch Front Surgery Center LLC, Washington Holdco LLC, Waterway Primary Care LLC, Weatherford Health Services LLC, Weatherford Mammography JV LLC, Weatherford Regional Medical Center, Welbeck Street Diagnostic Centre LLP, Wellington Diagnostic Services LLP, Wesley Cath Lab LLC, Wesley Manager LLC, Wesley Medical Center LLC, Wesley Physician Services LLC, Wesley Physicians - Anesthesiologist LLC, Wesley Physicians - Cardiovascular LLC, Wesley Physicians - Medical Specialties LLC, Wesley Physicians - Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, Wesley Physicians - Primary Care LLC, Wesley Select Network LLC, Wesley Urgent Care LLC, West Boynton Beach Open Imaging Center LLC, West Creek Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, West Creek Medical Center Inc., West Florida - MHT LLC, West Florida - PPH LLC, West Florida Behavioral Health Inc., West Florida Cardiology Network LLC, West Florida Cardiology Physicians LLC, West Florida CareNow Urgent Care LLC, West Florida Division Inc., West Florida Gulf Coast Primary Care LLC, West Florida HealthWorks LLC, West Florida Imaging Services LLC, West Florida Internal Medicine LLC, West Florida PET Services LLC, West Florida Physician Network LLC, West Florida Professional Billing LLC, West Florida Regional Medical Center Inc., West Florida Specialty Physicians LLC, West Florida Trauma Network LLC, West Florida Urgent Care Network LLC, West Hills Hospital, West Hills Surgical Center Ltd., West Houston ASC Inc., West Houston Healthcare Group Ltd., West Houston Internal Specialists PLLC, West Houston LLC, West Houston Medical PLLC, West Houston Outpatient Medical Facility Inc., West Houston Surgicare Inc., West Jacksonville Medical Center Inc., West Jordan Hospital Corporation, West LPN Fort Worth Oncology PLLC, West LPN Inc., West Los Angeles Physicians Hospital Inc., West McKinney Imaging Services LLC, West Paces Services Inc., West Park Surgery Center L.P., West Valley Imaging LLC, West Valley Medical Center Inc., West Valley Medical Group LLC, West Valley Medical Group Specialty Services LLC, West Valley Therapy Services LLC, Westbury Hospital Inc., Western Plains Capital Inc., Westlake Surgicare L.P., Westminster Community Hospital, Westside Surgery Center Ltd., Wichita CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Wildwood Medical Center Inc., Willis Surgicenter LLC, Wilson County Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Womans Health Group PLLC, Womans Hospital Merger LLC, Womans Hospital of Texas Incorporated, Women Practitioners of Houston PLLC, Women Specialists of Bayshore PLLC, Women Specialists of Clear Lake PLLC, Women Specialists of Mainland PLLC, Womens & Childrens Center LLC, Womens & Childrens Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Center LLC, Womens & Childrens Pulmonology Clinic LLC, Womens Center at Brookside LLC, Womens Health Center of Central Florida LLC, Womens Health Center of SWVA LLC, Womens Hospital Indianapolis GP Inc., Womens Hospital Indianapolis L.P., Womens Link Specialty Obstetrical Referral Clinic PLLC, Womens Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Womens Surgical Specialists of Texas PLLC, Womens and Childrens Professional Management L.L.C., Womens and Childrens Specialists LLC, hInsight-Airstrip Holdings LLC, hInsight-BMA Holdings LLC, hInsight-Customer Care Holdings LLC, hInsight-Digital Reasoning Holdings LLC, hInsight-Healthbox Holdings LLC, hInsight-I2 Holdings LLC, hInsight-InVivoLink Holdings LLC, hInsight-LS Holdings LLC, hInsight-Loyale Healthcare Holdings LLC, hInsight-Mobile Heartbeat Holdings LLC, hInsight-NX LLC, hInsight-PWS I Holdings LLC, hInsight-Procured Holdings LLC, and hInsight-VAI Holdings LLC. SunTrust Banks, Inc. operates as the holding company for SunTrust Bank that provides various financial services for consumers, businesses, corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit entities in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer and Wholesale. The Consumer segment provides deposits and payments; home equity and personal credit lines; auto, student, and other lending products; credit cards; discount/online and full-service brokerage products; professional investment advisory products and services; and trust services, as well as family office solutions. This segment also offers residential mortgage products in the secondary market. The Wholesale segment provides capital markets solutions, including advisory, capital raising, and financial risk management; asset-based financing solutions, such as securitizations, asset-based lending, equipment financing, and structured real estate arrangements; cash management services and auto dealer financing solutions; investment banking solutions; and credit and deposit, fee-based product offering, multi-family agency lending, advisory, commercial mortgage brokerage, and tailored financing and equity investment solutions. This segment also offers treasury and payment solutions, such as operating various electronic and paper payment types, which comprise card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, check, and cash; and provides services clients to manage their accounts online. The company offers its products and services through a network of traditional and in-store branches, automated teller machines, Internet, mobile, and telephone banking channels. As of December 31, 2018, it operated 1,218 full-service banking offices located in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. SunTrust Banks, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Read More PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I don't I don't take anything off the table. I don't like to take things off the table. It's that alternative. It's national emergency, it's other things and you know there have been plenty national emergencies called. And this really is an invasion of our country by human traffickers. These are people that are horrible people bringing in women mostly, but bringing in women and children into our country. Human trafficking. And we're going to have a strong border. And the only way you have a strong border is you need a physical barrier. You need a wall. And anybody that says you don't, they're just playing games. TransUnion provides risk and information solutions. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Markets, International, and Consumer Interactive. The U.S. Markets segment provides consumer reports, actionable insights, and analytics, such as credit and other scores, as well as technology solutions for businesses. These businesses use its services to acquire new customers; assess consumer ability to pay for services; identify cross-selling opportunities; measure and manage debt portfolio risk; collect debt; verify consumer identities; and investigate potential fraud. This segment serves various industry vertical markets, including financial services, healthcare, insurance, tenant and employment, collections, public sector, media, and other markets. The International segment offers credit reports, analytics, technology solutions, and other value-added risk management services; consumer services, which help consumers to manage their personal finances; and consumer credit reporting, insurance and auto information solutions, and commercial credit information services. This segment serves customers in financial services, retail credit, insurance, automotive, collections, public sector, and communications industries through direct and indirect channels. The Consumer Interactive segment provides credit reports and scores, credit monitoring, fraud protection and resolution, and financial management solutions that enable consumers to manage their personal finances and take precautions against identity theft. This segment offers its products through online and mobile interfaces, as well as through direct and indirect channels. The company serves customers in approximately 30 countries and territories, including North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, India, and the Asia Pacific. The company was formerly known as TransUnion Holding Company, Inc. and changed its name to TransUnion in March 2015. TransUnion was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Read More Merck & Co., Inc. operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health segments. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, diabetes, and women's health, as well as vaccine products. The Animal Health segment provides discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets a range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and health management solutions and services, as well as a suite of digitally connected identification, traceability, and monitoring products. The company has collaborations with AstraZeneca PLC; Bayer AG; Eisai Co., Ltd.; and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. It serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, and government agencies; managed health care providers, such as health maintenance organizations, pharmacy benefit managers, and other institutions; and physicians and physician distributors, veterinarians, and animal producers. The company has an agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to co-develop and co-commercialize long-acting investigational treatment combinations of Lenacapavir and Islatravir in HIV; and a collaboration agreement with Amathus Therapeutics to develop treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. It also has a collaboration with Biomed X Gmbh for building on ongoing research projects in the fields of oncology (DNA damage response and RNA splicing) and autoimmunity (intestinal epithelial barrier in autoimmune diseases). Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey. Read More Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in integrated energy, chemicals, and petroleum operations worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as operates a gas-to-liquids plant. The Downstream segment engages in refining crude oil into petroleum products; marketing crude oil, refined products, and lubricants; transporting crude oil and refined products through pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacturing and marketing commodity petrochemicals, and fuel and lubricant additives, as well as plastics for industrial uses. Chevron Corporation is also involved in the cash management and debt financing activities; insurance operations; real estate activities; and technology businesses. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corporation and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is headquartered in San Ramon, California. 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 Wall Street analysts have given SPDR Gold Shares a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but SPDR Gold Shares wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Seasons 52 will offer five opportunities to celebrate the holiday: On Feb. 10, children under 12 will receive a complimentary mini dessert; on Feb. 11, enjoy a glass of wine and a flatbread for $15; on Feb. 13, go with your Galentines and get a mini bottle of Riondo Prosecco for $5 each; and on Feb. 14, add bottomless Riondo Prosecco for $14.95 with the purchase of an entree. And if you pop the question at the restaurant on Valentines Day you will receive a complimentary champagne toast at your special table every time you dine there for up to one year. (10300 Little Patuxent Parkway, Suite 3150, The Mall in Columbia; 410-715-1152.) Heres the Safest Way to Get Insanely Rich in the 2021 Gold Bull Market (Ad) Gold is screaming higher and smart investors are already cashing in on the #1 Gold Pick of 2021. Yet, you havent missed the boat. See how this newly-listed US$5 gold stock offers investors historic gains without mining a single ounce of the metal. Get the details here... Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services to institutional, retail, and high net worth investors. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, balance sheet management, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 1,400 bank branches and 4,800 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. The company was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc., ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics. Sub-$1 Uranium Stock Poised for Triple-Digit Gains as Prices Soar (Ad) The long-awaited Uranium Bull Market is here. Early indicators point to a surge toward all-time highs of $140. Weve done the heavy lifting for you by identifying the top uranium stock - trading well below $1 - and sitting on a key asset in the safest high-grade uranium district on the planet. Get the details here... CACI International Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides information solutions and services in North America and internationally. The company offers business systems solutions for financial, human capital, asset and materials, and administrative management; develops, integrates, and operates command and control solutions; and develops and integrates solutions that deliver multi-level unified communications from the enterprise directly to and from the tactical edge. It also provides cyber security solutions and supports cyber support to federal customers and the intelligence community (IC), as well as support to the IC and the department of defense. In addition, the company offers enterprise-wide information solutions and services to design, develop, integrate, deploy, operate and manage, sustain, and security of its customers' IT solutions; and supports federal civilian and military health missions that improve healthcare delivery systems, integrates electronic health records, and enhances the speed and efficiency of emergency responsiveness. Further, it provides intelligence services, such as intelligence analysis, operations and planning, policy, doctrine, and security support, as well as ground truth and intelligence gathering services; and designs, develops, integrates, deploys, and prototypes hardware-and software-enabled tools and applications, as well as provides signals intelligence and radio systems. Additionally, the company offers investigation and litigation support services; logistics and material readiness solutions, and professional services; space operations and resiliency support; and data and software products, as well as develops and integrates surveillance and reconnaissance technologies into platforms. It primarily serves the U.S. government, state and local governments, commercial enterprises, and foreign government agencies. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Read More 11 hours ago | June 21st | 2021 8:00 AM Why You Might Have to Retire Later Due to COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic in general increased retirement uncertainty. In fact, Lincoln Financial Group reported three different sentiments regarding the pandemic and specific age groups: Pre-retirees: The age group from 55 to 64 saw the biggest drop of retirement-ready confidence. Mid-career: Individuals between the ages of 35 and 54 saw a Avalanches in Alps kill at least 10 Rome: A series of avalanches in the Alps over the weekend killed at least 10 people, emergency services and media reported. The heaviest toll was in Italys northwestern Aosta Valley, with five people killed and one missing from three different avalanches. A search was launched above the resort of Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley for two French and two British nationals who failed to return to their hotel. Nine killed in Somali market car bombing Mogadishu: At least nine people were killed and several wounded when a car loaded with explosives blew up near a mall in a busy market in the Somali capital on Monday, police said. Lanka keeps Buddhist monk behind bars Colombo: Sri Lankas President resisted calls from the islands Buddhist hierarchy to release a jailed firebrand monk Monday, even as 518 other convicts were released to mark the island nations Independence Day. Galagodaatte Gnanasara has long been accused of instigating hate crimes against minority Muslims in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka. Since December he has been serving concurrent jail sentences over disruptive behaviour in court and intimidating a woman litigant. Sri Lankas Buddhist hierarchy had pressed President Maithripala Sirisena to grant an independence day reprieve but this was rejected. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is on a sit-in over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams, Monday said she will continue her "satyagraha" till the country and its Constitution are "saved". Trinamool Congress (TMC) activists organised rallies and sit-in demonstrations in various parts of the state to protest against the BJP-led central government and stopped train movement in at least two districts in West Bengal. Banerjee, who sat on a dharna around 8.30 pm Sunday to protest against "the attack on constitutional norms", skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on a makeshift dais at Metro Channel in the heart of the city along with some ministers and party members. The TMC chief had undertaken a 25-day fast at the same spot in December 2006 to protest the land acquisition in Singur by the erstwhile Left Front government to set up a car factory. The Singur movement catapulted her to power in 2011. The unprecedented development came after the CBI's attempt to question Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams. The CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and were whisked to a police station. "This is a satyagraha and I'll continue till the country is saved," Banerjee told reporters present at the protest site. Banerjee said she was getting calls from politicians across the country including former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamalnath, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani. Asked if any of the leaders would arrive in the city to meet her, Banerjee said, "I've no idea about that. If someone wants to come, we will welcome them. This fight is not by my party. It is for my government". Samajwadi Party leader Kiranmoy Nanda later reached the dharna venue to express his party's solidarity with Banerjee over the issue. Some road restrictions have been imposed at the spot where the dais was erected. Several party supporters from different districts thronged the area shouting slogans in support of Banerjee. The TMC supremo had said she would not attend the assembly, where the state budget would be placed by Finance Minister Amit Mitra, on Monday. Prior to that, a cabinet meeting would be held inside a makeshift room set up behind the stage. TMC sources said Banerjee was scheduled to attend a meeting of the party's farmers' wing in an indoor stadium here. However, she might not go there and other party leaders would address the meeting. Meanwhile, party workers hit the streets from morning in Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura, Burdwan East, Purulia, Birbhum and North 24 Parganas districts, officials said. Effigies of Prime minister Narendra Modi and BJP national President Amit Shah were also burnt by them. In Howrah and Hooghly districts, TMC activists obstructed train movements while they put up blockades on national highway in Bankura district. Shouting slogans against the CBI, the TMC cadres vowed to continue their fight till the Narendra Modi government is defeated in the next Lok Sabha polls. Banerjee had directed party leaders to organise protest marches across the state on Monday between 2 pm and 4 pm without inconveniencing the people. Insisting that the spirit of "Constitution and federalism" has been stifled, Banerjee had claimed that the CBI knocked on the doors of Kumar without a search warrant. Banerjee, one of the prime movers behind the effort to cobble together an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah want to impose President's rule in whatever states the opposition is in power. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev led a morning yoga session on the banks of the Sangam with Swami Chidanand Saraswati of Parmarth Niketan on the third day of the week-long Yog Kumbh during the Kumbh mela in Prayagraj. Both the ascetics spoke to the devotees who gathered there. Baba Ramdev said, The churning of the ocean is within you. The whole universe is within you. This is the nature of existence. Witness the whole universe and choose whether you want poison or the nectar. Yoga brings the nectar in life. On this Mauni Amavasya, let us all take a bath in this Yoga Sangam. He also invited participants to come forth for the service of the nation through renunciation. Swami Chidanand Saraswati said: Yoga guru Ramdev is a great inspiration to all the youngsters. Yoga fills the youth with energy. Notably Yog Kumbh is a first of its kind Yoga festival at the Parmarth Niketan camp at Kumbh Mela, jointly hosted by Parmarth Niketan and the Indian Yoga Association, in partnership with Incredible India, Ministry Tourism, Government of India and UP Tourism. It started on February 1 and would continue till February 7. It features yoga lessons from the masters of yoga in India while celebrating the rich Yogic traditions of India, said Swami Chidanand . Hourly sessions are being held throughout the day, concluding with Aarti and Satsang in the evening, he added. The Budget Session of Uttar Pradesh legislature begins on Tuesday with Governor Ram Naiks address to the joint sitting of its two Houses. The government will present its budget for fiscal 2019-20 on February 7, state Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal said on Monday. The Budget Session is likely to continue till February 22, he added. This will be the third budget of the Yogi Adityanath government. With the 2019 general elections barely a couple of months away, the budget is likely to focus on farmers and agriculture and job creation schemes. Like the Union governments interim budget, the UP budget will also focus on social and infrastructure sectors. The Budget Session is likely to be a stormy one with the opposition uniting against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party before the crucial Lok Sabha polls. The opposition parties have geared up to raise the law and order situation and other issues related to the common man and target the BJP government ahead of the coming parliamentary elections. The Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress have chalked out their strategies for nailing the government on major issues of public interest. The other issues to be raised by the opposition are farmers distress, delay in payment of sugarcane arrears, unemployment and stray cattle menace. The legislators of different parties met separately on Monday to chalk out their strategies while Speaker Hriday Narayan Dikshit convened an all-party meet and the business advisory committee met for smooth conduct of the House. Meanwhile, SP MLA Iqbal Mahmood, officiating as leader of opposition in place of Ram Govind Chaudhary, said the opposition would be united to nail the government for its failures. Rise in corruption, deteriorating law and order and the governments failure to provide relief to the people under various welfare schemes would be the main issues before the opposition, he said. We are in touch with other opposition parties for a better coordination on the floor of the House, he said. The SP and the BSP, who have forged an alliance for the Lok Sabha election, would try to corner the government in a united manner. BSP leader Lalji Verma and Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Kumar Lallu said their members were fully prepared to take on the government on all the issues. As per the agenda of the House approved by the Business Advisory Committee, four days have been kept for debate on the motion of thanks on the Governors address and thereafter the debate on the budget will start. The session will end on February 22 after the passage of the budgetary proposals. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said the government was ready to discuss and debate all issues to be raised by the opposition. The onus is on the opposition as it has to raise the issues properly as per the rules but if they create ruckus and block the functioning of the House, then the session would not be fruitful, he stated. Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday lambasted at SAD president Sukhbir Badal for rubbing salt on the wounds of the farmers with his demand to double the ludicrous relief given to them by the Centre. Lashing out at the former Deputy Chief Minister over his ridiculous statement, Capt Amarinder asked Sukhbir why he had not spoken up for the farmers all these years despite his Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) being a part of the ruling alliance at the Centre. The Central Government had already made a mockery of the farmers by announcing a meagre Rs 6,000 a year, which amounted to Rs 17 a day, to support them in their distress, said the Chief Minister, adding that the SAD president had added to the insult with his shameless demand. Did he really believe a thousand rupees a month would help the beleaguered farmers, many of whom were being driven to suicide as a result of their massive debts, running into lakhs of rupees in several cases, asked Capt Amarinder. He said that unlike the previous SAD-BJP Government, which had failed to give even a penny to the distressed farmers during 10 years of their rule, Congress-led Punjab Government had already waived off over Rs 4514 crore of loans of 5.63 lakhs small and marginal farmers in the State. Captain Amarinder Singh asked Sukhbir to stop misleading the people of Punjab, particularly the suffering farming community, by pretending to be concerned about their problems. The people will not forgive you, he warned the Akali leader. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat will arrive in Dehradun today on a visit that will last some days. Bhagwat will be in Dehradun from February 5 to 8 during which time he will interact with the intelligentsia and RSS volunteers. The visit of the RSS chief ahead of the Lok Sabha elections is being considered specially important though so far there is no official plan of him meeting leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party. According to official sources, the RSS chief will meet the intelligentsia in Dehradun to discuss the present situation in society and nation. In addition to this, he will also hold a meeting with RSS volunteers working in different areas. The purpose of his visit is to deliberate upon the condition of nation and society with prominent representatives from various sections of society and review the activities of the Sangh in the region. On his first day in Dehradun, he will interact with personalities linked with culture and literature and later interact with RSS functionaries of Dehradun. On the next day, he will interact with educationalists while on February 7 he will interact with principals of inter colleges and later with volunteers working among college students. On the last day of his visit, he will address the state executive meeting in which various issues are slated to be discussed. LPU students build Flying Farmer Jalandhar: The students of Lovely Professional University (LPU) have conceptualised and designed the Flying Farmer, a drone that can be exclusively deployed in farming and field survey. The Flying Farmer is a wireless, sensor device that can be used in mapping and survey of yields and biomass. It estimates the nutrient content of the soil to aid production growth and reduce crop damage. 45 students and 5 faculty members from the Electronics, Mechanical, and Agricultural Engineering department have been actively involved in developing this drone technology, said Chancellor of Lovely Professional University, Ashok Mittal. Training camp begins for Chinese in Yoga Solan: A Teachers Training Course in Yoga Science (TTCYSc) for Chinese delegates was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor, Shoolini University, Prof. PK Khosla in the University campus on Monday. The first of its kind, three week yoga and meditation programme aims to impart yogic training to the Chinese delegation from Yunnan Minzu University, Kunming and the Beijing Normal University. The delegates would be trained to be future yoga trainers in China. Sahayta Charitable Welfare Society releases financial aid Chandigarh: Sahayta Charitable Welfare Society celebrated World Cancer Day in a meaningful way in Sahayta Cancer Kendra, Sector 15 B here. "As part of our endeavour to provide holistic help to cancer patients, our patrons and supporters in the memory of their loved ones, gave the much needed financial help of Rs 10,000 to each of 25 needy patients and their families," said Ajay Tulli, Adminstrator, Sahayta Charitable Welfare Society. Three day Indo-French workshop began at PU Chandigarh: A three day Indo-French workshop commenced here at the Department of Physics, Panjab University. The event is sponsored by Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPRA). Prof RK Kohli, Vice Chancellor, Central University of Punjab was the chief guest of the event. He urged the students to adopt science and apply the same in their daily lives. He also gave details about facilities available at Central University of Punjab, Bhatinda. The Budget Session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha will commence from February 20. Haryana Cabinet which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal on Monday decided to convene the Budget Session of State Assembly from February 20. The Cabinet also gave nod to Haryana Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Policy 2019, Haryana Pharmaceutical Policy 2019 and approved another policy for allotment of Government land for social, religious, charitable or community purposes to the trusts or private institutions. The Budget Session commencing from February 20 would be BJP led Haryana Governments fifth and final budget. In view of upcoming Lok Sabha polls 2019, the State Government is likely to announce various populist schemes and projects in the budget 2019-20. The budget 2019-20 also assumes significance as the State Assembly polls are scheduled to be held later this year. There are 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana while the State Assembly has 90 members. Giving details of the decisions of Cabinet, Haryana Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Krishan Kumar Bedi while talking to the mediapersons said that the Cabinet has approved a policy for allotment of Government land for social, religious, charitable or community purposes to the trusts or private institutions. The policy has been framed to provide land of any Government department for social, religious, charitable trusts or institutions for the construction of worship places, Dharamshalas, Janjghars, Baratghar and community centres. Under the policy, the applicant agency should be a registered legal entity such as a Society registered under the Haryana Registration and Regulation of Societies Act, 2012 or a Trust registered under the Indian Trust Act or a not-for-profit company registered as such under the Indian Companies Act, 2013, Bedi said. The allottee agency will not transfer the site in favour of any third party in any manner and no permission would be granted for this purpose. This policy would be applicable only in respect of the land in the ownership of the State Government or its departments, the Minister said. The Government has also decided to reduce the stamp duty in case of transfer of land of charitable, religious, companies or socio cultural educational institutes to another charitable society, trust or companies so as to avoid closing down the educational institutions due to financial crisis, Bedi said. Apart from this, exemption has also been granted in whole stamp duty on gift deeds in favour of gaushalas run by registered Trusts, societies and not for profit companies, he added. Pharmaceutical Policy 2019 and MSMEs policy 2019 approved Aiming to attract investment in the pharmaceutical sector to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore and to generate Rs 25,000 new jobs, the cabinet approved the Haryana Pharmaceutical Policy 2019. The policy envisages to establish a state-of-the-art Pharma Park at Karnal and to develop Haryana into a hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing by facilitating and creating a holistic industry, academia and R and D ecosystem. Apart from this, Haryana Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Policy 2019 with an aim to create globally competitive MSMEs in the State was also approved. Special focus should be laid on the interests of the intended beneficiaries under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, said the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. He said this while addressing officials during a meeting held to review implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 here on Monday. Rawat said that forest dwelling scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers in Uttarakhand have been living in the forests for many generations. To honour their rights, the facilitation made for them under the Act should be specially focussed upon. Efforts should also be undertaken effectively to ensure that the difficulties faced by the people concerned are minimised. The directions issued by the Central Government in this regard from time to time should also be taken into cognisance, he said. Rawat directed that to expedite execution of plans related to development of infrastructural facilities and community services in various areas, a committee comprising officials of forest, revenue, law, social welfare and Udham Singh Nagar district magistrate should be formed. Along with MLA Kedar Singh, forest rights experts should also be included in this committee. This committee will study in detail the directions issued by Government of India and provisions of the Act, resolve the problems being faced at various levels and present its report. He also directed the additional chief secretary, forest and environment and the forest department to hold periodic video-conferences with district magistrates for resolution of the problems. Rawat further directed that meetings of committees formed for implementation of Forest Rights Act at the village and district levels along with the state level monitoring committee should be held periodically. Regular meetings of the committees formed at four levels from the village to State level will help in resolving the issues, he added. Soon, two employees of every Punjab Governments department would be trained as Sign Language Interpreters for assisting the Divyangs (persons with disabilities). Two employees per department would be trained as the Sign Language Interpreters to assist the divyang persons in the Government offices. The proposal has been sent to the Union Government for its approval, announced the State Social Security, Women and Child Development Minister, Aruna Chaudhary, while chairing a meeting of the State Advisory Board notified as per Section 66 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016, on Monday. Chaudhary maintained that the Persons with Disabilities (Divyang) were an inseparable part of the society and the Punjab Government considered it an article of faith to provide every amenity to this section of the society so as to enable them to live a dignified life. Emphasis is being laid on the sprucing up of the infrastructure at the four Community Homes for Mentally Retarded Persons situated at Ludhiana, Amritsar, Kapurthala and Rajpura, she said adding that the steps being contemplated include increase in staff especially special educators, medical facilities, easing the procedure for admission to these homes, segregation of children based on their IQ level. Coming to the implementation of the RPWD Act throughout the State, Chaudhary said that the support of all the departments is very necessary to ensure its successful implementation. The Minister said that preference to the Divyang people is a part of the transfer policy and instructions have been given to all the DEOs and also that the schools are being made barrier free with construction of ramps with handrails besides disabled friendly toilets and drinking water facilities. She declared that no student with disability would be denied admission in the schools. Stating that five percent seats would be reserved for the divyang students in the institutes of higher education, the Minister said that Guru Nanak Dev University-Amritsar, Punjabi University-Patiala, PAU-Ludhiana, Khalsa College-Amritsar and Rajiv Gandhi National University have implemented the measure. For the clinical assessment of newly registered disabilities, the training for specialists of the Punjab cadre has been planned at three state medical colleges and recruitment of Clinical Psychologists apart from Audiologists for hearing impaired people is underway. Chaudhary added that the Transport Department has been directed to make sure accessibility of the school buses to Divyang children. I would also ensure that the divyang friendly infrastructure is established at the 14 bus stands announced by the State Government, said Chaudhary, who is also the state Transport Minister. The Minister also batted for the need to have disabled-friendly features in all the parks and was apprised that work on disabled friendly parks is underway in Mohali and Amritsar. The Minister also released the Punjabi translation of the Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016. Notably, it is for the first time that the Act has been translated into a mother tongue. Following depression, a 30-year-old Delhi Police constable allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service pistol on Monday evening in northeast Delhi's Dayalpur area while he was on duty. The deceased has been identified as Suresh, a resident of Babarpur and belongs to Jaipur. According to Atul Kumar Thakur, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), North east district, the incident took place at around 6 pm. He was on duty at Police Control Room (PCR) van when he shot in his head. He was taken to Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital by other police personnel where doctors declared Suresh brought dead. A suicide note was also found where he stated that he was suffering from depression after his father's death, said the DCP. He has been serving in Delhi Police since 2010 and was currently posted in the Police Control Room (PCR) department, said a senior police official. Attacking the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday State Congress Committee criticized Hindu Mahasabha and said that they are trying to kill Mahatma Gandhis ideas and principles 70 years after his physical killing. The party held a Silent Fast protest against Hindu Mahasabhas programme of January 30 when the workers of the organization fire bullets on puppet of Mahatma Gandhi and Garlanded, Nathuram Godse killer of Mahatma Gandhi. Various wings of State Congress Committee including Ranchi City Congress, State Women Congress and others participated in the protest at Bapu Watika situated at Morabadi in the State Capital. Speaking on the issue Ranchi City Congress president Sanjay Pandey said, even after 70 years of death of Mahatma Gandhi, he is still in the heart of the people of the Country and RSS related people are trying mix poison of communalism through killing his thoughts. Hindu Mahasabhas activity clearly demonstrated that the opinion and principle of Mahatma Gandhi is still alive in the country and Godses followers are trying to spread instability in the Country. The ruling BJP government is supporting such kinds of communal forces to instabilise the Country, he added. Speaking on the issue Jharkhand Pradesh Mahila Congress president, Gunjan Singh said, such kind of incidents only taking place in BJP ruling states it clearly exhibits the BJP is instigating such kind of forces to instable the Country. If any person or organization will try to communalise the country then it will not be tolerated and the Congress party will strongly protest against it. Meanwhile, a numbers of Workers in leadership of Gunjan Singh filed complained against BJP leaders who allegedly makes some indecent comments on Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi. A delegation of workers of JPMS were held a march from the party headquarter to Kotwali Police Station in this regard. To mark the World Cancer Day, Resident Doctors Association, AIIMS Bhopal organised a Cancer Awareness Drive here on Monday. On the occasion, various programmes were conducted including poster competition, health talks, exhibition and awareness rally. The event was attended by the public including patients and their relatives and AIIMS administrative and non-medical staffs including Director, AIIMS, Dean (Academics), Medical Superintendent, Deputy Director (Administration), Financial Advisor and Administrative Officer and faculties of various departments. Prof Dr Sarman Singh, Director of AIIMS Bhopal addressed the general public in the hospital and said that such awareness programmes are the need of the hour. This initiative of Resident Doctors Association was highly appreciated by him and he has encouraged RDA to organize various awareness programs in future as well. Dr Arneet Arora, Dean (Academics) congratulated RDA for successful organization of such a motivational event. She also motivated RDA to keep organizing such events for the welfare of general public in future. Dr Manisha Shrivastava, Medical Superintendent was happy to see such an event happening in AIIMS campus. She encouraged RDA to conduct this event every year based on the theme decided by WHO which is I am and I will. Health Talks were delivered by Faculty Members of Radiotherapy and Dentistry AIIMS Bhopal. Dr Manish Gupta, Head, Department of Radiotherapy delivered a talk on warning signs of cancer diseases which will help general public to identify cancer in early stage and seek proper treatment in appropriate time. Dr. Saikat Das, Associate Professor, Department of Radiotherapy delivered a talk on importance of detecting cancer in early stages. Dr Anshul Rai, Associate Professor, Department of Dentistry addressed general public regarding adverse effect of tobacco and its association with oral cancer. He urged people to take an oath regarding quitting tobacco and asking other also to quit. Dr Anuj Jain, President, Resident Doctors Association, addressed the public and informed that approximately 14 million people are affected by cancer every year. He also said that RDA is committed to organize series of public awareness programs and this event was the first installment. Santosh Sohgaura, Deputy Director (Administration), AIIMS Bhopal propoed a vote of thanks to various Faculty Members, dignitaries and the patients attending the event and congratulated RDA for their hard work in making this event a success. After the health talks, a cancer awareness rally was conducted by Resident Doctors association in which members of RDA AIIMS Bhopal, faculties, nursing staffs and patients with their relatives took part. The rally was flagged off by Director, AIIMS Bhopal. Rally started from OPD entrance gate up to Sagar Public School, Saket Nagar and ended again at OPD gate of AIIMS Bhopal. At the end of the rally refreshments were arranged for the patients and relatives who participated in the event. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Monday that the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre had unleashed a reign of terror through central investigation agencies against opposition leaders ahead of the Lok Sabha elections with the ulterior motive of silencing them. He said the BJP wanted to stay in power by hook or by crook and was using the CBI as an election agent. Akhilesh Yadavs remarks came against the backdrop of West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjees sit-in over the CBIs attempt to question the Kolkata police commissioner in connection with the chit fund scam. The BJP wants to stay in power by hook or by crook and is using the CBI as an election agent. They (he BJP) are so scared of losing the Lok Sabha elections and the CBI is being used as election agents, Yadav tweeted on Sunday night. If I go to Kolkata to attend the rally, the Enforcement Directorate starts conducting raids in Lucknow and other places. If I meet Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati, then the CBI is unleashed against us. What the CBI has done in Kolkata is undemocratic and unconstitutional and come what may, the opposition leaders will not be deterred by such tactic and will continue to fight, the SP president said, addressing a meeting of the party legislators here on Monday. We demand due process be followed so that the CBI is not used as a tool of political interference, he said. An all-out war broke out between the Centre and the Mamata Banerjee government on Sunday with the feisty West Bengal leader beginning her sit-in protest in front of Metro Cinema in Kolkata to protest against the attack on constitutional norms. While Yadav spoke to Banerjee on Sunday night, SP leader Kiranmoy Nanda reached the protest venue on Monday morning to express his partys solidarity with Banerjee over the issue. Banerjee, who is one of the prime movers behind the effort to cobble an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, has alleged that Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah want to impose Presidents rule in states where non-BJP party is in power. After the arrest of Sanjay Sachdev, the chairman of Love Commandos, an non-governmental organisation (NGO), Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) has received a slew of written complaints and multiple calls in a span of four days. The complaints included a couple based in the United Kingdom who accused Sachdev of committing torture, extortion, confinement, seizing their documents and more. According to the Commission, in the last few days, they received numerous emails and calls from couples suffering at the hands of Sachdeva and his associates Harsh and Sonu. The complaints show that the pattern of torture was similar-extortion, confinement, seizure of documents, forceful consumption of liquor, mental torture through use of abusive language and demand for money, they said. The Commission is deeply shocked at the growing instances of complaints against the NGO Love Commando. The NGO owner Sachdev capitalised the popularity he gained through the television show 'Satyamev Jayate' and furthered his evil intentions. In the name of helping young couples, he ran an extortion racket and exploited their vulnerability. I hope that Delhi Police thoroughly investigates the matter and strongest action is taken against Sachdev and his cronies, DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal said. The couples allegedly told the commission that Sachdev seized their marriage certificates, date of birth certificates, college degrees, Adhaar and more. He made the women perform all the household activities while asking for money. The couples who were able to pay more money on demand got their papers back and were allowed to leave the Shelter. The rest were confined in the shelter and were abused, DCW spokesperson stated in their official release, adding that they have forwarded the complaints to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Mandeep Randhawa. In a moving tale of man-animal relationship, elephant Chinna Thambi has captured the heart of Tamil Nadu people even as politics and other issues have taken a back seat for the time being. The Madras High Court on Monday heard a petition by animal lover Arun Prasanna challenging the move by the AIADMK Government to catch and train the wild tusker as a Kumki saying that the Governments act violates animals rights. Kumki is a term used for an elephant specialised in controlling errant elephants. However, the Tamil Nadu Government told the court that it is not for training Chinna as a Kumki. Our first preference is to help him reach his original dwelling place and a group of forest officials are into the job, the Government informed the court. N Sadique Ali, a wildlife conservationist in Ootty, said that Chinna Thambi is the latest example of human-animal conflict in the region. The elephant is a peace-loving animal and there are no instances of him attacking anybody in Thadgam. The truth is that Chinna Thambi enjoys eating carrot, sugarcane and banana which are in abundance here. All these crops are cultivated in the encroached areas of the forest and we cannot blame the elephants for eating them, said Ali. Even as the arguments and counter-arguments were exchanged in the court, the elephant and the cavalcade of officials are on their way to Thadagam valley in Coimbatore district, the domain of Chinna Thambi. One of the forest officials told The Pioneer that a group of TV crew with satellite news gathering vehicles were also keeping track of the new star of Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile the walkathon by Chinna Thambi continues with the routine stopovers. Whenever he is thirsty, he stops at the nearby watering holes, quenches his thirst, takes rest and continues his journey in search of the comfort zone, said Ali. The forest watchers and guards accompanying him ensure that the pachyderm is kept out of human habitation. SC to hear today CBIs fear of proof destruction in Bengal; call on Kolkata top cop questioning A day after the high-tension drama following the CBIs attempt to quiz Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumars prompting Mamata Banerjee to embark on an indefinite dharna against the Centres alleged highhandedness, the Bengal Chief Minister on Monday launched a multi-pronged attack at the Centre. The Chief Minister accused the BJP Government of subverting the Constitution, and condemning anyone as anti-national who dares question BJP. The sit-in stage was turned into a makeshift office where Mamata held a Cabinet meeting ahead of the State Budget. Launching a blistering attack on the Modi Government for destroying democratic institutions, Mamata said she would prefer giving up her life to making immoral compromises with the current situation. Mamata said she had tolerated all that the CBI and through it the Centre did to her party leaders by framing them in false cases and torturing them. But this time they have targeted the head of an institution like the Kolkata police chief, she said. I will prefer giving up my life to making an insulting compromise with the situation, Mamata said from the dharna platform from where she also addressed a farmers meet of her party on telephone. In related development, the Supreme Court agreed to give an urgent hearing to the CBIs plea alleging destruction of electronic evidence related to the Saradha chit fund scam case by Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar and said it will come down heavily on him if police office even remotely tries to destroy the evidence. The apex court said it will hear on Tuesday the CBIs applications which alleged that an extraordinary situation has arisen in which the top police officials of the West Bengal Police are sitting on a dharna along with a political party in Kolkata. In another development, West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi has submitted a report to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the situation that unfolded in the city after a CBI team was allegedly obstructed by police from questioning Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha scam, Raj Bhavan sources said on Monday. The content of the report was, however, not immediately known. The report was prepared by combining the report of the Special Investigation Branch and the reports submitted to the Governor by the State Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary late on Sunday night, the sources said. A political firestorm started on Sunday evening after a team of CBI officers landed at the Kolkata CP Kumars residence in an apparent bid to interrogate him regarding his role as the chief of the SIT formed the State Government in 2013 to investigate the multi-crore Saradha chit fund case. The CBI claimed that despite repeated notices Kumar did not appear before the CBI for questioning, neither he had submitted the vital evidence that he and his team seized from various Saradha offices. Following the incident Mamata started a sit-in protest against the CBI action calling it a Modi Governments act of vendetta. The sit-in will continue till February 8, the Chief Minister said. Mamata said, If anyone destroys the pillars of democracy then democracy itself becomes threatened, adding she had no other way but to descend on the streets to save democracy reminding the entire Opposition parties of the country are with us. In a significant statement Mamata reminded of the States powers saying, If they (Delhi) have (Article) 356 (of the Constitution) we have Section 144, No entry board and so on. It is not so easy, not so simple. Mamatas reference of Article 356 came almost in tandem with reports that Bengal Governor KN Tripathi had mailed a report on the situations. Sources said the Governor had not spoken highly of the States law and order situation. Referring to the sit-in she said this dharna is not political. This is to save the honours of a constitutional institution. If someone insults the police force and targets them without any reason then I will protest. She said, My anger is not against CBI or any other police force but against these people who are trying to destroy the federal democratic norms. Sitting in Delhi they think that they can arrest the State leaders because they are raising their voices then I will definitely protest. On the chit fund cases, she said, A lot of lies are being peddled. We are not responsible. Chit funds came into existence in 1980. Why did investigations start after 2011 and not from the 1980s? It was our Government which arrested Sudipta Sen, not the previous Government. Weconstituted an SIT, we constituted the Shyamal Sen Commission and returned Rs 250-300 crore to the depositors. And they allege we are the thieves? Attacking the Modi Government for victimising the Opposition leaders if they dared raise their voices Banerjee said there is a conspiracy going on to destroy the democracy and gag opposition voice by condemning those who challenge them as anti-national and letting losecentral agencies against them. The country had taken not of the situation in Bengal and we have been supported by all the leaders from all States, said Mamata, adding hers was not an individual but a collective battle which wanted to fight with the help of one and all. In a novel way of protest and conducting State functions the Chief Minister presided over a police medal function honouring police personnel for their bravery while at the same time addressing a farmers rally over telephone. Mamata told the farmers how the BJP Government had usurped their rights and their sleep and how the tillers were committing suicide by the day. They have taken away the farmers sleep. It is for everyone to see how about 12,000 farmers have committed suicide in the country she said adding how after the humiliating defeat in the recently held Assembly elections the Modi Government was giving fake sops to them. They are cheating the farmers by announcing some schemes in Parliament, whereas her Government had undertaken better schemes than the Centre. Meanwhile, the BJP workers descended on the streets taking out rallies and blocking rail traffic at various places sources said. If CBI is being misused, it is a matter of grave concern, says Shiv Sena West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee fight against the Centre has galvanised the Opposition. Several top Opposition leaders have vowed to join Mamatas protest in Kolkata to express solidarity with the TMC supremo. Support from Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, N Chandrababu Naidu, Arvind Kejriwal poured in for Mamata, who began her sit-in protest in Kolkata on Sunday night over the CBIs attempt to question the city police chief in connection with chit fund scams. While the Shiv Sena, which is BJPs partner at Centre and State Government, said if a State as big as West Bengal can be targeted by the Centre then under federal structure it is a serious matter. If the CM of a big State as WB is sitting on dharna, then it is a serious matter. Is this CBI vs Mamata Banerjee or Mamata Banerjee vs BJP? Well find out soon. If CBI is being misused, its a matter of dignity of the nation, and prestige of the agency, said Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut. The BJD, which has often sided with the Modi Government, too backed Mamata over the alleged misuse of the CBI by the Centre and claimed that the federal probe agency was being used as a political weapon ahead of the general elections. The BJD in a statement said, Institutional integrity of the CBI has to be restored. We are a mature democracy and professionalism should be maintained. Congress president Rahul called up Mamata and extended support to her, saying the entire Opposition is together and it will defeat the fascist forces. He alleged the events in West Bengal were part of an unrelenting attack on Indias institutions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. While Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said it was a glaring example of how Modi-Shah duo are destroying the institutions, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal came out in support of the TMC chief. Spoke to Mamata didi and expressed solidarity. Modi-Shah duos action is completely bizarre and anti-democracy, he tweeted. Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh termed the CBIs action undemocratic and against the spirit of the Constitution. The BJP wants to stay in power by hook or by crook. They are so scared of losing that the CBI is being used as election agents. This is undemocratic and against spirit of the Constitution. We demand due process be followed so that the CBI is not used as a tool of political interference, he tweeted. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad said the Constitution and constitutional institutions in the country were facing an unprecedented crisis and alleged that there were attempts to plunge the country into a civil war. RJD supremos younger son Tejashwi Yadav called on Mamata over phone and announced to visit Kolkata soon to join her protest. NCP president Sharad Pawar wrote on the micro-blogging site, #Assualtondemocracy - blatant misuse of CBI in #WestBengal to intimidate the opposition and settle political scores. Former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir - National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti also threw their weight behind Banerjee, saying the use of agency as a political tool has crossed all limits. Officers told their bills can be processed after receipt of sufficient amount under relevant heads The day-to-day movement and functioning of Army officers to attend courses or crucial meetings may be hit due to cash crunch for meeting travel and accommodation expenses. Nearly Rs 4,000 crore is spent every year on these purposes. An order issued on Monday by Principal Controller of Defence Accounts, Pune said due to insufficient funds available under Temporary Duty and Permanent Duty heads of Army officers, no TA/DA advances and claims can be processed till receipt of sufficient funds under the relevant heads. However, facility for Leave Travel Concession (LTC) will continue. Explaining the implications of the order, officials said here at any given time more than 1,000 officers move to and fro on temporary duty. Earlier, while proceeding they could withdraw in advance more than 60 to 70 per cent of the likely total expenses and later submit the bills. That facility was withdrawn sometime back. Given the nature of job and discipline, the officers, however, used to travel on their own and later claim allowances. The latest order has put a stop to this also. Elaborating the concept of Temporary Duty, sources said an officer, for example, posted in a sensitive area, may be asked to report about certain security matters in person due to security reasons to the top most commanders at a different station or New Delhi. Moreover, any stint up to six months is treated as Temporary Duty and officers are paid allowances accordingly. Other functions under Temporary Duty include officers attending seminars, conferences, lectures, short term courses, liaison and joint planning conferences besides court martial and court of inquiry proceedings. All these are part of daily charter of the Army to function as well-oiled machinery, they said. Moreover, at least 50 per cent of officers on Temporary Duty are attending professional courses of various durations, officials added. This order comes months after the Army officers were directed to avoid staying in hotel and instead avail of Army guesthouses facilities while on temporary duty or official visits. Officers according to their respective ranks are entitled to stay in three star hotels and in some cases five star hotels and the directive to refrain from doing so was issued to bring down expenses. George Fernandes was a rare breed whose actions, even after having scaled the heights of political success, were geared towards selfless motives Abraham Lincolns famous observation, nearly every man can face adversity, to test a mans character, give him power, has stood the test of time and George Fernandes is one of the rare few who passed it with flying colours. My acquaintance with George sahab began with the Tehelka tapes controversy in the earlier part of 2001 (was his lawyer before the case went to the enquiry commission) and given the intensity of the circumstance and its contemporaneous impact, occasioned me to work with him rather closely. Having lived a full life in public glare and limelight and his role being examined, analysed and dissected copiously, my endeavour is to portray the man in terms of his simple human attributes. He was driven by three passions against corruption, against dynastic politics of the Congress and an unswerving commitment to fight for the rights of the poor and the under-privileged. These are platitudes typically mouthed by leaders but he actually lived upto them. A fierce loyalty to the poor and deprived was reflected in his instructions to have the gates of his official bungalow being removed when some visitors were turned away. This empathy extended to one and all. Coming back late one night he found his pet dog sleeping on his bed and rather than disturbing her, he simply laid a sheet on the floor and slept there. He believed in doing all his personal chores himself and was stickler for washing his own clothes. After I finished my work, when I went to his residence, we would be discussing issues while he washed his clothes in the bathroom even at 9:30 in the evening. He always admired the Chinese because they come down heavily on the corrupt and instituted death penalty for this crime and said unless we adopt strict measures ourselves, we would never be able to stamp out this menace. He had a rather dramatic manner of conveying how corruption flourished across parties and leaders in the system and which he described as the balance of blackmail. He would say that when two leaders of different parties met, one would say to the other, this is what I know of you and this is what you know of me, isiliye main bhi chup, tum bhi chup and dramatically closed his lips, putting his forefinger to them showing silence. His distaste and dislike for the Nehru-Gandhi family was not borne out of any personal like or dislike; rather it was the harm that he intensely believed that dynastic politics caused to the country. While propping up VP Singh as a prime ministerial candidate in 1998 elections, he famously said: Even if there were no VP Singh, we would have to create one. The first successful experiment of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), holding together a disparate coalition is a testimony to the respect he enjoyed among everyone, owing to his selfless commitment to the Opposition unity. In fact, even after losing the confidence vote in March 1999, he was able to persuade Mulayam Singh Yadav not to support a Sonia Gandhi-led Government. It is a natural propensity for any leader, particularly a prominent leader like him, to showcase their altruistic actions. He never made a song and dance about what he did. Every Christmas, sponsored by his brother in Canada, all the jawans in Siachen would get a plum cake each from Koshys bakery in Bengaluru and he himself would be with them. The various quarters adjacent to his bungalow provided refuge to Burmese political refugees and those in need, but again without any publicity. He shunned publicity as regards his private life to the extent that he never bothered to clarify or share with Press the true facts of the Tehelka sting, for which he was pilloried. The so-called Coffingate scam, the procurement of coffins on an emergent basis for transporting dead bodies for the Kargil dead, incurred an expenditure of less than `2 crores, the transaction being cleared by Joint Secretary official level and without any reference to the Minister. But the Opposition lit upon him like a pack of wolves and he never bothered to explain the true facts and on it fell upon his close friend RV Pandit to bring out the facts in a small booklet. He was a rare breed among leaders who, even after having scaled the heights of political success, was geared towards selfless motives. To quote Marcus Aurelius, His character challenged me to improve my own. (The writer is a Senior Advocate) The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has registered an impressive performance for the third quarter in financial year 2018-19. The companys turnover for the Q3 in FY 2018-19 has been recorded at Rs 3,649 crore, against Rs 2,469 crore, in 2017-18 (Q3), registering a growth of 48 per cent. The Profit Before Tax (PBT) has been recorded at Rs 2,211 crore against Rs 1,377 crore in 2017-18 (Q3), registering a growth of 61 per cent. The Profit After Tax (PAT) has been recorded at Rs 1,577 crore against Rs 887 crore in 2017-18 (Q3) registering growth of 78 per cent. NMDCs production of iron ore for Q3 in 2018-19 is 9.54 Million Tonnes (MT) and the sale of iron ore has been registered at 8.70 MT. Recently, the NMDC Board had approved the buyback of 10,20,40,815 equity shares of Rs 1 each at Rs 98 per share for an aggregate consideration not exceeding Rs 1,000 crore. The company has already initiated the process of buyback. The Q3 results for 2018-19 were approved by the Board of Directors of the company under the chairmanship of N Baijendra Kumar. Congratulating the employees and the Board Members of the company, Kumar stated, NMDC could achieve these encouraging results despite the challenges faced by the company at the Donimalai Sector in Karnataka and the evacuation challenge at the Bailadila Sector in Chhattisgarh. Labour has insisted that a Brexit withdrawal deal must include an Irish border backstop. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said that with the clock ticking down to the UKs departure from the EU, it was impossible to see a way forward without a backstop. During a visit to Belfast, Sir Keir said while Labour had difficulties with the form of the backstop in the current deal, he and colleagues acknowledged there was a need for such an insurance policy in principle, to ensure a free-flowing Irish border post-Brexit. From the Labour Party point of view, we obviously see that there are difficulties with the backstop, he said. There are features there that are going to cause concern. But we recognise there is a need for a backstop at this stage of the exercise. His comments come as Labour has faced calls to clarify its position on the contentious issue. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer in Belfast (David Young/PA) Last week, Labour MPs were whipped to vote against a Westminster amendment calling for alternative arrangements to replace the backstop. However, last week party leader Jeremy Corbyn also said he had a problem with the backstop proposal, insisting it was unacceptable that the UK could not unilaterally decide to withdraw from it. The purpose of the backstop arrangement is to ensure the Irish border remains open, even if a wider trade deal between the UK and EU fails to materialise at the end of the Brexit transition period. It would effectively see the whole UK continue to adhere to the customs union, while Northern Ireland would also align with EU single market regulations on goods, meaning it would operate under a differing legal framework to Great Britain. On Monday, Sir Keir met business and trade union leaders in Belfast, as well as leadership figures from Sinn Fein and the SDLP. He told the Press Association: The Prime Minister has effectively run down the clock and therefore it is impossible to see a way forward without a backstop. So, whilst we have got concerns that we have set out about the backstop, we do accept the principle that there has got to be a backstop. Sir Keir said he did not believe Theresa May would succeed in agreeing an alternative to the backstop with the EU, stating: The Prime Minister and her team have spent over 12 months trying to find an alternative to the backstop. We have only got the backstop because they couldnt find an alternative. So for her to go back now saying, I dont want the backstop, I want an alternative is to stand the last 12 months on its head. And I think thats what is causing the anxiety because nobody realistically thinks shes going to succeed in that objective. After the meeting with the shadow Brexit secretary at the Europa Hotel, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill said he had brought clarity to Labours position. She suggested that during their meeting Sir Keir acknowledged that Labour had previously not been clear and consistent on the need for a backstop. It was important today to put to Keir Starmer that we need to see clarity from the Labour Party on the backstop, she said. He did say in the meeting that the backstop is inevitable and that is the Labour position. Its their position because they understand the need to ensure theres no hard border on this island. She added: The words he used to ourselves in the meeting today were clearly that a backstop is inevitable that is the Labour position in order to protect or guard against a hard border and I can only say that thats what hes relayed to us. Ms ONeill said it was important that Sir Keir heard first hand very clearly and directly the need to protect the backstop. She described the backstop as the least worst option but nevertheless she said the Irish government and the EU needed to stand firm against the UK Governments attempts to alter the Withdrawal Agreement. The backstop is a legal guarantee, she said. Theres no-one here who trusts the word of the British Government at this moment in time. She added: It has to be legal guarantees. The backstop is the bottom line. The DUP claimed Sir Keirs comments on the backstop were evidence of an internal struggle on the issue within the Labour Party. DUP MP Gavin Robinson said: When he talks about a backstop being inevitable, it is code for keeping the UK fully inside the single market and customs union. Others in the Labour Party, including Jeremy Corbyn, seem to recognise that such an outcome would not reflect the referendum result. When he talks about Parliament asserting itself, he conveniently ignores last weeks vote where Parliament has set a course for what it wants to see from the Government in negotiations with the EU. Most concerning is that he has effectively said the only alternative to the current backstop is remaining inside the customs union and single market because the European Union havent offered anything else forward. For all Labours criticisms of the Governments negotiations, it seems Keir Starmer is prepared to accept defeat without even entering any negotiation. Whilst Keir Starmers attention seems to be fixed on the leadership of the Labour Party, the real focus should be on the European Union. They have already acknowledged that alternatives to the backstop will have to be found, but at the moment they refuse to negotiate until after 29th March. The focus should be on Brussels and starting meaningful negotiation immediately. Theresa May will invite rebel Tory MPs into the heart of Government on Monday to thrash out changes to her Brexit deal she hopes can overcome massive opposition in Brussels and Westminster. Hardline eurosceptics in the European Research Group and Remain-supporting former ministers will form the Alternative Arrangements Working Group (AAWG), which Downing Street said would meet regularly with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and senior officials. ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker, former Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson and Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh will join forces with former education secretary Nicky Morgan and ex-cabinet office minister Damian Green to examine the feasibility of the so-called Malthouse Compromise. The new grouping was announced as former foreign secretary Boris Johnson accused the party leadership of using rumours of a June general election, which appeared in Sunday newspapers, as a scare tactic to bounce exhausted Conservative MPs into backing her Withdrawal Agreement. (L-R) Brexiteers Owen Paterson and Steve baker will sit down with former remain backer Nicky Morgan to help find viable changes to the Irish backstop (Dominic Lipinski, Victoria Jones, Stefan Rousseau/PA) He used his regular Monday Telegraph column to suggest that if someone in Tory HQ thought a summer election was a good idea they should be dispatched on secondment to Venezuela or Zimbabwe or somewhere they can do less damage. Earlier, car giant Nissan hit out at Brexit uncertainty as it confirmed it would build its X-Trail 44 in Japan instead of at its Sunderland plant. In a letter to staff Gianluca de Ficchy, the Japanese firms Europe chairman blamed pressure on the diesel market for the U-turn, adding: We have taken this decision for the business reasons Ive explained, but clearly the uncertainty around the UKs future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future. The AAWG is due to meet at the Cabinet Office in Whitehall on Monday, with meetings also scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Mr Baker, a former Brexit minister who quit last year in protest at the Chequers agreement, and Ms Morgan were involved talks last week between MPs from the Remain and Brexiteer wings of the Conservative Party over the Malthouse compromise. It was supposed to be called the Room 34 proposal... https://t.co/p9LruiPEbP Kit Malthouse MP #StayAlertSaveLives (@kitmalthouse) February 3, 2019 Drawn up in meetings co-ordinated by housing minister Kit Malthouse, it recasts the backstop as a free trade agreement-lite, with a commitment on all sides there should be no hard border and an extended transition period to December 2021. It is seen as one of the main reasons the ERG changed its mind and backed an amendment last Tuesday tabled by Sir Graham Brady. It requires the PM to replace the Agreements controversial backstop with alternative arrangements to keep the Irish border open after Brexit. Mrs May told the Commons last week it was a serious proposal that we are engaging with sincerely and positively. Mr Baker told the Press Association on Sunday: After a positive conference call today running through the Governments questions, Im more confident than ever we can land the Malthouse compromise, including the indefinite Better Deal backstop protocol. I hope our meetings with Government are as constructive as they should be because Malthouse is the only game in town if we are to achieve a deal. I just hope engagement is as sincere as the PMs words at the despatch box led us to expect. Mr Johnson used his Telegraph column to heap scorn on the idea of a general election in a few months time. (PA Graphics) He attacked the idea not because he thought Jeremy Corbyns Labour Party might win but because if Tory MPs were asked to go into electoral battle in the next few months, there would be a hole in the heart of our manifesto. He added: I have no idea what we would say about the EU because after two-and-a-half years of dither the truly astonishing feature of the UK position is that the big questions have still not been answered. Earlier on Sunday, Home Secretary Sajid Javid suggested that Border Force figures believe there are viable alternative arrangements to the Irish border backstop that would avoid the need for a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Mr Javid told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show: They have shown me quite clearly you can have no hard border on the island of Ireland and you can use existing technology. It is perfectly possible, the only thing missing is a bit of goodwill on the EU side. However this was publicly questioned by Sabine Weyand, deputy to European Commission chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. She tweeted: That would not be goodwill but a dereliction of duty by public authorities in the EU that have a duty to ensure public health and safety of consumers, protect against unfair competition and enforce public policies and international agreements. CAIRO (AP) - U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths arrived in Yemen's rebel-held capital on Monday, as a U.N. agency said eight civilians were killed and 30 wounded in the shelling of a camp for displaced people over the weekend. The U.N. humanitarian coordinator said the attack occurred on Saturday in the northern province of Hajjah, a rebel stronghold, where dozens of civilians have been killed and hundreds of families have been displaced in the past two months. The U.N. said an attack earlier this month near the same camp killed six children and two women. "An attack like this cannot be justified - ever," said Lise Grande, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, in a statement late Sunday. She didn't identify the source of the shelling. The Yemeni government accused the rebels, known as Houthis, of attacking the camp, allegations denied by the rebels. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Sunday that over the past month at least 30 civilians have been killed and another 52 wounded by shelling and airstrikes in the area, including three children and two women. It said at least 300 families had been displaced in the last three weeks to a nearby district which is already hosting some 23,000 displaced families living in "dire conditions." Griffiths meanwhile arrived in Sanaa on an unannounced visit to discuss the situation in and around the coastal city of Hodeida, where Yemen's warring parties agreed to a cease-fire last month. The two sides also agreed to a prisoner exchange that has yet to take place. He met with the leader of the Shiite rebels, Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, in Sanaa. Al-Houthi stressed the rebels' commitment to implement agreements struck in Sweden last month, according to a rebel statement. Griffiths said there is a political will now more than ever to end the conflict in Yemen. "We are all on the same page that the way to do this is through the negotiations' table, and not the battlefield," he said in an exclusive interview with the pro-Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper published on Monday. Griffiths acknowledged the delays in the implementation of the Hodeida cease-fire and the prisoner exchange. "We have seen the timelines for implementation extended, both in Hodeida and the prisoner exchange agreement. Such changes in timelines are expected. The initial timelines were rather ambitious. We are dealing with a complex situation on the ground," he said. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Griffiths plans to go to Hodeida on Tuesday. "Mr. Griffiths has emphasized to the parties that the U.N. is committed to staying the course to help the parties implement the Stockholm agreement fully and rapidly," Dujarric said. Yemen was plunged into civil war in 2014 when the rebels captured Sanaa. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia entered the war on the side of the government in March 2015. The war has killed tens of thousands of people and has generated the world's worst humanitarian crisis. ___ Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed. Saudi prisoner Musa al-Awaji was the first detainee released under an exchange agreement between Yemen's government and Huthi rebels on January 29, 2019 Yemeni government delegates and Huthi rebels will reconvene in Jordan from Tuesday for a new round of talks to thrash out a deal on a prisoner exchange, the UN said. The swap, which could involve up to 15,000 detainees from each side, was agreed in principle as a confidence-building measure ahead of peace talks in Sweden in December. In mid-January, representatives of Yemen's warring parties held two days of talks in Amman during which they submitted lists of prisoners they wanted to see released to UN mediators. Those talks were also attended by representatives of the United Nations, which brokered the swap agreement, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which will supervise its implementation. On Tuesday government and rebel representatives would meet again in Amman for "technical" talks to "discuss the steps taken... (by both sides) to finalise the list of prisoners," a UN statement said. UN envoy Martin Griffiths and ICRC president Peter Maurer "are scheduled to take part in the first day" of the talks, the statement said without specifying how many days the meetings would last. It also described the Jordan talks as "important", and thanked the government in Amman for hosting them. At the end of January, the Iran-linked Huthi rebels released a Saudi soldier under the deal struck with the Saudi-backed government while Riyadh set free seven Huthi prisoners. That prisoner swap was the first to take place since Yemen's warring sides agreed in Sweden a deal that involved a ceasefire in the lifeline port city of Hodeida. For nearly four years, the Huthi rebels have been locked in a war with a regional pro-government military coalition led by Saudi Arabia. Some 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi coalition intervened in support of the beleaguered Yemeni government, according to the World Health Organization. Rights groups say the death toll could be five times higher. The Yemen conflict has triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with millions of people at risk of mass starvation. South Sudan has been rocked by conflict since 2013, when President Salva Kiir (pictured) accused his former deputy of plotting a coup A military court on Monday began hearing the trial of an army general charged with treason for allegedly plotting a rebellion against President Salva Kiir's government. Major General Stephen Buoy Rolnyang has been charged with "treason, offenses related to insecurity," as well as disobeying military orders, according to the army's deputy spokesman Brigadier General Santo Domic. He is being tried by a seven-member military court panel constituted by army chief General Jok Riak. Buoy was arrested in May last year in northern Mayom, after defying military orders to report to army headquarters in Juma, said Domic. The spokesman added that after he defied these orders, Buoy and the troops in his division unilaterally decided to move to Mayom -- a move interpreted as defection to wage rebellion. "It is the prerogative of the commander-in-chief and the chief of defence forces of the army to see to it that justice must be done in cases related to insecurity," said Domic. The court postponed the trial to next Thursday after Buoy's defence team complained the ranks of those on the court panel were inferior to their client. It is rare to see a general go on trial in the war-torn country, and Buoy's case is only the second involving senior military personnel since the conflict broke out in 2013. Fighting began when Kiir accused his former deputy, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup. Since then nearly 400,000 people have been killed and millions forced from their homes or to the brink of starvation. In early 2014 a high court in Juba tried four senior generals, who were also politicians, for treason. They were later pardoned and released without sentencing. They later named themselves the Former Detainees, and are now a signatory to a peace deal signed in September 2018 which is the latest effort to end the protracted conflict. While observers point to a drop in fighting since the deal was signed, there have been repeated reports of violations of the ceasefire, while armed groups not party to the agreement continue to clash, notably in the greater Equatoria region. Jussie Smollett was flanked by security as he made his return to the stage on Saturday following a brutal attack last week. The Empire star sang in front of a sold-out house at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, California in his first public appearance since he was the victim of a hate crime on Tuesday in Chicago. Police were stationed outside of the show where the 35-year-old performed and Jussie was escorted out of the venue by security. Safety: Jussie Smollett was flanked by security as he made his return to the stage on Saturday following a brutal attack last week Jussie was seen as he headed out into the rain following his emotional performance, protected by security guards. The star was joined by his family and Lee Daniels as they ducked out of the West Hollywood club. Jussie pulled the hood of a grey sweatshirt over his head as he departed into a waiting crowd. Armed officers stood watch at the entrance of the Troubadour and several patrol cars were spotted on the street. Back to work: The Empire star sang in front of a sold-out house at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, California in his first public appearance since he was the victim of a hate crime Support: Film producer Lee Daniels (back right) stuck close to Smollet's side as he left the venue During the performance, the Empire star was joined on the stage by his siblings, who introduced him and embraced him. 'My family and I have realized that tonight is an important part of Jussie's healing. You see, he's been a fighter since he was a baby,' his brother Joel Smollett Jr said. Before singing a note, Jussie teared up as he told the crowd he's not fully healed yet, but he will be, and his music will help him. Protection: Police were stationed outside of the show where the 35-year-old performed Cops: Several patrol cars were spotted parked outside of the Troubadour Keeping the peace: Armed officers were on hand to make sure the star and the crowd was safe 'I couldn't let the motherf**kers win,' he said, to loud screams from the audience. 'So I will always stand for love, I will never stand for anything other than that.' Last week Jussie reported to police in Chicago that two masked men attacked him and put a rope around his neck while using homophobic and racial slurs. Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, sat in the crowd with Smollett's family. Also in attendance were actor Jai Rodriguez and film producer Lee Daniels. Moving on: Jussie was seen as he headed out into the rain following his emotional performance, protected by security guards Together: The star was joined by his family and Lee Daniels as they ducked out of the West Hollywood club Daniels was later seen sticking close to Smollett as he left the club. During the performance, Smollett thanked his boyfriend for supporting him over the past four days, and sang as song he wrote for the boyfriend called Haha (I Love You). Smollett said he fought back against his attackers, and called himself the 'gay Tupac,' referring to the rapper who was gunned down in 1996. The actor said that his ribs had been bruised, but not broken as TMZ had previously reported. Family support: Jussie's mom Janet was spotted exiting the performance with her family 'My family and I have realized that tonight is an important part of Jussie's healing. You see, he's been a fighter since he was a baby,' his brother Joel Smollett Jr said 'Be as black, be as brown, be as gay as the f**k you want to be!' he said to end the set. On Tuesday, Jussie reported that he was attacked in Chicago as he walked home from a Subway restaurant. The actor, who is gay and black, said he was punched, had bleach poured on him and had noose put around his neck. Standing by: Jussie's brother was spotted leaving the Troubadour after the show Standing together: During the performance, the Empire star was joined on the stage by his siblings, who introduced him and embraced him Moments later, he was filmed walking into his building with a rope hanging loosely around his neck. On Friday, Smollett broke his silence to thank fans for the outpouring of support he has received since the alleged attack. The Empire star told Essence in a statement: 'Let me start by saying that I'm OK. Gratitude: During the performance, Smollett thanked his boyfriend for supporting him over the past four days, and sang as song he wrote for the boyfriend called Haha (I Love You) Performing: Smollett told the crowd 'I couldn't let these motherf**kers win' tho thunderous applause 'My body is strong but my soul is stronger. More importantly I want to say thank you. 'The outpouring of love and support from my village has meant more than I will ever be able to truly put into words.' He added that while he was 'frustrated' with 'certain inaccuracies and misrepresentations' about the case, he believes 'justice will be served.' Honesty: Smollett told the crowd that he hasn't fully healed yet but that he's on his way Tragic: On Tuesday, Jussie reported that he was attacked in Chicago as he walked home from a Subway restaurant ' 'I am working with authorities and have been 100% factual and consistent on every level. 'Despite my frustrations and deep concern with certain inaccuracies and misrepresentations that have been spread, I still believe that justice will be served. Jussie Smollett, pictured in the hospital hours after the attack on Tuesday, has returned to the stage in Los Angeles 'As my family stated, these types of cowardly attacks are happening to my sisters, brothers and non-gender conforming siblings daily. 'I am not and should not be looked upon as an isolated incident. 'We will talk soon and I will address all details of this horrific incident, but I need a moment to process.' 'Most importantly, during times of trauma, grief and pain, there is still a responsibility to lead with love. It's all I know. And that can't be kicked out of me. 'With Love, respect & honorJussie,' he said. It is the first time he has spoken since being targeted in downtown Chicago by two men who he said shouted 'this is MAGA country!' and attacked him as he walked home. A week before the attack, Smollett reportedly received a homophobic and racist death threat in the mail. 'Photos (pictured) of people of interest who were in area of the alleged assault & battery of Empire cast member,' police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted Wednesday evening It was sent to the studio where he films Empire and is said to have terrified staff. The letter was dated from January 18, and stated 'You will die black f*g' in cut out letters. Cops said the mail threat was laced with powder substance that turned out t but crushed Tylenol. Police are working to find two men they believe may be responsible and are appealing to the public for information. The attacks are believed to be premeditated as Smollett received a cut out letter, that appears to be dated from January 18, stating that 'You will die black f*g'. Fox Studio received the letter on the 22nd and cops said it was laced with powder Tylenol The attack has enraged the country and even caught the attention of the president who deemed it 'horrible' on Thursday. 'That's horrible....there is nothing worse, as far as I am concerned,' Trump said on when asked about the incident. The term MAGA, which was written on the threatening letter and allegedly yelled by the attackers, is an acronym for President Trump's Make America Great Again slogan and a moniker adopted by his supporters. Smollett's famous family released a statement abhorring the attack, and countless celebrities, including his Empire co-stars, have also spoken out to support him. Melissa McCarthy pulled off a very flattering look when she attended the Oscar lunch in Los Angeles on Monday as she has been nominated for an Academy Award for her work in Can You Ever Forgive Me? The 48-year-old actress looked slimmer than ever - in 2015 she lost 50lbs - in a V neck navy blue dress that went below her knees as she walked the carpet at The Beverly Hilton Hotel. The comedienne's date for the afternoon was her mother Sandra. She nailed it: Melissa McCarthy pulled off a very flattering look when she attended the Oscar lunch in Los Angeles on Monday as she has been nominated for an Academy Award for her work in Can You Ever Forgive Me? Fab n fit: The 48-year-old actress looked slimmer than ever - in 2017 she lost 50lbs - in a V neck navy blue dress that went below her knees The star added point and shiny red heels to her look. Her nails were painted a dark blue and she wore a large cocktail ring. The Heat actress wore her brunette hair down and parted on the side with subtle makeup. Her mother opted for a striped sweater over a white T-shirt and dark slacks with sneakers. She added a long necklace, watch and carried a clutch purse. I get by with a little help from my mom: The comedienne's date for the afternoon was her mother Sandra So chic: The star added point and shiny red heels to her look. Her nails were painted a dark blue and she wore a large cocktail ring McCarthy recently discussed her frustration with her size being an issue. When talking to InStyle magazine, the Spy actress revealed she was hurt when a journalist asked how she can get roles at her 'tremendous size.' 'I just remember all the blood drained out of me,' said the 48-year-old mother-of-two who is married to Ben Falcone. The journalist had asked, 'Are you shocked that you actually work in this business at your tremendous size?' Polished: The Heat actress wore her brunette hair down and parted on the side with subtle makeup A good break: This is a first Academy Award for Melissa. She is in the Best Actress category with Yalitza Aparicio for Roma, Glenn Close for The Wife, Olivia Colman for The Favourite and Lady Gaga for A Star Is Born Hanging with the big wigs: McCarthy and her mom with producer Scott Stuber who is wed to actress Molly Sims 'He was like, "Oh, your tremendous size, you can actually work?"' she said. 'I just remember all the blood drained out of me. I thought, "With my tremendous size, I could tackle you so quickly." He was looking around like, "She's crazy."' And she finds it weird that men are not asked that question. 'It's fascinating because they don't do it to men,' she noted. Ready for fun: Also at the lunch were Lady Gaga, left, who was nominated for A Star Is Born, and Rachel Weisz, right, who was nominated for The Favourite Her time: Diane Warren, left, holds a figurine of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she poses with Amy Pascal 'Not to be a jerk or single him out, but when John Goodman was heavier, did anybody ever talk about his girth?' Earlier, she was asked about being 'grotesque' in her movies. 'Years ago, I was at a press conference for either The Heat or Tammy and somebody from a very big organization kept asking me, 'Why do you always feel the need to be so grotesque?'' McCarthy said. 'It was a huge interview with maybe 100 people in the room and he was sneering.' Tough slam: She was also asked why she looked so 'grotesque' for her movies like Tammy; seen here with Susan Sarandon She said, 'What are we talking about? I can't answer your question because I don't understand it.' He goes, "You look sloppy, you're not wearing any makeup, your hair is not done, you're yelling at people."' 'I was like, "OK, so have you ever asked this of a guy? I'm playing a character. You need to get out more if you don't think there are real women like that,"' McCarthy explained. 'He goes, "Oh, fine, I'm aggressive, call it whatever you want. If you don't want to answer the questions, you shouldn't come to the panel."' She did not tell him off because they he would have won 'on every possible level.' On the talk show circuit: Here McCarthy is seen in 2013 during a Jay Leno interview 'I was like, "I really want to answer your questions. I'm sorry I didn't wear makeup in a part. I'm sorry I didn't look pleasant for you. But I also don't think you should be here writing about movies,"' she said. She told People in 2018 she knows how to deal with the rude people out there. 'Weirdly, instead of getting mad at them, I always feel like, "Oh, I hope you meet someone soon that you can talk to, someone that really makes you laugh,"' she said. 'I just root for that person to find a little joy.' Real Housewives Of New York City vet Bethenny Frankel has been dating Paul Bernon for the past few months. And it looks as if their relationship is still going very strong as they are nearly inseparable this year. On Monday the 48-year-old was spotted with the 41-year-old in New York City after a brief trip to Los Angeles together. So happy together: Bethenny Frankel was seen with her beau Paul Bernon in New York City on Monday afternoon Le look: Frankel had on a camo parka with a grey fur-trimmed collar over a grey short and colorful leggings Frankel had on a camo parka with a grey fur-trimmed collar over a grey short and colorful leggings. She also had on the type of pink flip flops that pedicurists give out for free. And she had her boots in her hand, another tell tale sign she was at the nail salon. And the Skinnygirl founder appeared to be makeup free with her hair windswept. Her beau wore a black hat and casual clothes as he exited the building after her. One step: Her younger boy kept his distance as she walked in front suggesting she may be the Alpha Dog in the relationship No shoes: She also had on the type of pink flip flops that pedicurists give out for free. And she had her boots in her hand, another tell tale sign she was at the nail salon A new look: Her beau wore a black hat and casual clothes as he exited the building after her The couple went public with their romance in October and enjoyed a vacation together in the Dominican Republic last month. Paul is a film producer from Boston and is dad to two children with ex-wife. Meanwhile Bethenny was forced to miss pal Andy Cohen's epic baby shower on Saturday due to a speaking engagement she committed to months prior. The reality star took to Twitter to explain to a fan why she was absent at the bash which was attended by most of the Real Housewives and took place at The Palm restaurant in Los Angeles. True love? The couple went public with their romance in October and enjoyed a vacation together in the Dominican Republic last month 'I had a speaking engagement at the same time :( ' she wrote. Missing out on the party, Bethenny was instead giving a keynote speech at the Nazarian Institute conference about her brand Skinnygirl. The brunette beauty was seen taking to the stage in Los Angeles wearing a blush pink pencil dress. Meanwhile, Bravo host Cohen will be welcoming a child any day now via surrogate. Sharing a snap of the epic baby shower to his Instagram the TV personality gushed: 'Im speechless. Every Housewife, featuring @JohnMayer.' Married At First Sight's Sam Ball has weighed in on his bride Elizabeth Sobinoff's hair extensions, after she was trolled on social media. Just days after complaining about her weight on their wedding day, the 26-year-old took another dig by saying he tried not to get 'too close' to her. During an appearance on the Kyle and Jackie O show on Tuesday, Sam said Elizabeth's hair is the result of a 'netting issue'. 'I didn't get too close to her': MAFS' Sam Ball (left) takes another swipe at his bride Elizabeth Soboniff (right) as he criticises her hair extensions... after complaining about her weight 'I didn't get too close to the hair extensions that's for sure,' he said. 'I got a close look, I think there's a netting issue there, there's something going on. I didn't ask any questions, but obviously there's the extensions and stuff like that... it's a different look.' The tattooed tradie added that it's not his intention to criticise her appearance: 'I didn't really go into [the show] to start picking her apart with her physical attributes.' Criticism: During an appearance on the Kyle and Jackie O show on Tuesday, Sam said Elizabeth's hair is the result of a 'netting issue' It comes after viewers were left outraged on Sunday over comments Sam made about Elizabeth's weight, after seeing her for the first time at the altar. 'I've never really dated girls as big as Elizabeth in the past,' he said in a piece to camera. He also told his groomsmen: 'She's a bit bigger... hopefully she's into running a lot. You know what I'm like,' he told one of his groomsmen at his wedding.' Candid: Sam said, 'I got a close look, I think there's a netting issue there, there's something going on. I didn't ask any questions, but obviously there's the extensions and stuff like that... it's a different look' Twitter trolls: Viewers criticised Elizabeth's hair on Twitter Not holding back: One viewers described her hair as 'cheap and nasty' Blunt: Another slammed her hairstyle as 'awful' On Monday, Elizabeth told Kyle and Jackie O that while she and Sam did not have sex on their wedding night, they spooned, however, he denied this. 'There was no spooning at all,' he said. His comments come after trolls slammed her hair after Monday night's episode. 'Elizabeth's fake hair looks like a dress up kmart elsa plait she attached to the back of her head,' one viewer tweeted. Cruel weight jibe: It comes after viewers were left outraged on Sunday over comments Sam made about Elizabeth's weight, after seeing her for the first time at the altar 'I can't deal with Elizabeth's hair extensions,' another tweet read. Another viewer wrote: 'Those hair extensions on Elizabeth are just cheap and nasty!' Elizabeth recently revealed that she suffers from a health condition which is why she wears hair extensions. Speaking to OK! Australia last week, Elizabeth said she suffers from an auto-immune condition that makes her sensitive to the sun. 'I'm basically allergic,' she confessed. 'I get burns on my body. I also have a really photosensitive scalp and ears, so I get a rash, which is why I wear hair extensions as a hat.' She stars as the fearless and rebellious late war correspondent Marie Colvin in her latest film, A Private War, alongside co-star Jamie Dornan. And Rosamund Pike, who has been blazing the promo trail for the film in recent weeks, looked incredible as she arrived at a screening in London on Monday. The 40-year-old actress opted for a cool and quirky vibe as she posed for snaps with Jamie, donning a crochet crop top under a pair of stylish leather braces. Glam: Rosamund Pike, who has been blazing the promo trail for the film in recent weeks, looked incredible as she arrived at a screening in London on Monday Rosamund's braces were attached to a statement tan leather skirt, which was clinched around her slim waist before flowing out into a full-length skirt. She added further flare to her look with a pair of chunky black heeled sandals, which were complete with gold studded detailing. The star tied her look together with a set of manicured black nails and a chunky silver watch, while otherwise keeping her accessories to a minimum. Casual: Meanwhile Jamie kept his look more casual, posing alongside Rosamund in a white T-shirt and slouchy jacket, which he teamed with a stylish grey scarf Cool: The 40-year-old actress opted for a cool and quirky vibe as she posed for snaps with Jamie, donning a crochet crop top under a pair of stylish leather braces Rosamund wore her blonde locks in loose beachy waves, opting for simple light touches of make-up in a neutral pallet. Meanwhile Jamie kept his look more casual, posing alongside Rosamund in a white T-shirt and slouchy jacket, which he teamed with a stylish grey scarf. Jamie, who plays Paul Conroy in the film, also donned a pair of grey trousers and white trainers, while sweeping his hair back off his handsome face. Au natural: Rosamund wore her blonde locks in loose beachy waves, opting for simple light touches of make-up in a neutral pallet Screening: Jamie, who plays Paul Conroy in the film, also donned a pair of grey trousers and white trainers, while sweeping his hair back off his handsome face The former Bond girl previously chatted about why she wanted to play a part in her latest movie A Private War. Rosamund transforms into war correspondent Marie who is driven to the frontline across the globe. The actress discussed struggling to detach herself from playing Colvin, who died aged 52 during a rocket strike in Syria in 2012. Speaking to Zoe, she said: 'Marie was a heroine to me, she had an uncanny ability to bring far away conflicts really close... she wanted to know what was happening to the people, the civilians and the casualties... All smiles: Rosamund's braces were attached to a statement tan leather skirt, which was clinched around her slim waist before flowing out into a full-length skirt Full of flare! She added further flare to her look with a pair of chunky black heeled sandals, which were complete with gold studded detailing 'She lost her eye and people thought she'd give up but she went back to the field with purpose. She was a huge romantic and a huge optimist. 'I wanted to introduce a whole generation to this person... I think with films if you have a clever woman she's not allowed to have a vibrant sexuality.. 'That's the thing with getting to know Marie I think knowing her friends and colleagues who have been supportive in helping me and I needed help.' A-list appearance: The star tied her look together with a set of manicured black nails and a chunky silver watch, while otherwise keeping her accessories to a minimum She previously told Town and Country: 'I wanted to capture her spirit of rebellion. But I also had to dive into Curies bitterness... 'I want people to care about journalism again.' Rosamund said she researched the role heavily, spending time with Colvin's close friends and watching videos of her. He celebrated his 70th birthday with a Roman-themed party at the Sandy Lane hotel in Barbados on Sunday. And the next day, Duncan Bannatyne looked fresh as he hit the beach with his glamorous wife Nigora Whitehorn, 38, who showcased her sizzling physique in a pretty pink bandeau bikini. The millionaire businessman couldn't keep his hands off his glamorous wife as they locked lips while enjoying a swim in the ocean together. Loved-up: Duncan Bannatyne, 70, couldn't keep his hands off his glamorous wife Nigora Whitehorn, 38, as they locked lips while enjoying a swim in the ocean together Soaking up the sun: Following their snogging fest, the loved-up couple waded through the azure waters hand-in-hand as they cooled off from the soaring temperatures Nigora passionately wrapped her arms around her husband, as she embraced him and planted a kiss on his lips - clearly unafraid to show their affection for one another. Following their snogging fest, the loved-up couple waded through the azure waters hand-in-hand as they cooled off from the soaring temperatures. After their dip Duncan donned fuchsia and turquoise swim-shorts and a light short-sleeved shirt for his time strolling along the white sand with his love. Passionate: Nigora passionately wrapped her arms around her husband, as she embraced him and planted a kiss on his lips - clearly unafraid to show their affection for one another Embrace: Duncan and his wife couldn't hide their love for one another as they smooched in the sea Sweet: Following their snogging fest, the loved-up couple waded through the azure waters hand-in-hand as they cooled off from the soaring temperatures Chatting away: Duncan and Nigora freshened up with a dip in the sea following a heavy night of partying Nigora looked every inch the fashionista in her eye-catching ruffle-edged bikini, with her washboard abs proudly on display. She accessorised her swimwear set with a smattering of jewellery, including silver bangles and statement earrings. Adding an extra dose of glamour, the brunette beauty shielded her eyes with over-sized shades and donned a raffia style cowboy hat, which featured gold embellishments. Nigora styled her long locks straight and sleek as the pair meandered barefoot along the water's edge. Wow: Duncan gazed intensely at his stunning wife who showcased her incredible frame in a pretty two-piece Fresh: Duncan looked fresh as he hit the beach with his glamorous wife who showcased her sizzling physique in a pretty pink bikini Stylish: The businessman donned fuchsia and turquoise swim-shorts and a light short-sleeved shirt for his time strolling along the white sand hand-in-hand with his love Glam: Nigora looked every inch the fashionista in her eye-catching ruffle-edged bikini, with her washboard abs proudly on display She accessorised her swimwear set with a smattering of jewellery, including silver bangles and statement earrings Gorgeous: Adding an extra dose of glamour, the brunette beauty shielded her eyes with over-sized shades and donned a raffia style cowboy hat, which featured gold embellishments Sizzling: Nigora commanded attention in her pretty pastel pink bikini Just the night before, the pair posed for photos while in fancy dress at Duncan's birthday bash, with the main man wearing a roman toga while Nigora was clad in a glittering gold gown. Duncan donned a gold crown atop his head to match his wife, while his toga was decorated with a red sash to mimic the ensemble that a Roman emperor would have worn in the past. The former Dragons Den presenter completed his look with a pair of brown gladiator sandals, and he wore gold gauntlets on each arm to give his costume a chic flourish. Preened to perfection: Nigora styled her long locks straight and sleek as the pair meandered barefoot along the water's edge Loved-up: The pair appeared relaxed as they took some time to themselves in the sunshine Cooling off: Nigora sashayed through the water, whilst Duncan kept his feet dry on the sand Having a splashing time: The stunner spent some time in the water, but was careful not to go too deep Nigora flaunted her incredible figure in her floor-length gold dress, which showed off a glimpse of her cleavage thanks to its plunging neckline. Adding a glittering touch to her look, she wore elaborate jewellery and a statement black and blue necklace which accentuated her opulent outfit at the glitzy event. Nigora also wore a slick of dark pink lipstick and smokey eye shadow to highlight her pretty features, while she brushed her luscious raven tresses into a straight, slicked-back style. Fabulous friends: After her stroll, Nigora met with an equally glamorous gal pal Ready or not: The stunning pair boarded a jet ski to pose for photos And relax: After their mini photo-shoot the pair reclined on the jet ski Sweet: Duncan looked loved-up with his wife Nigora as they celebrated his birthday with a Roman-themed party at the Sandy Lane hotel in Barbados on Sunday The couple celebrated the party with a large cake, and an array of smaller ones, which were half vanilla and half chocolate, and the main sweet treat was decorated with an array of fruit which surrounded a picture of the couple at the centre. Duncan and Nigora married in a lavish Portuguese wedding in 2017 after a two-year courtship. This is multimillionaire Duncan's third marriage after previously tying the knot with Gail Brodie and Joanne McCue, in 1987 and 2006 respectively. Give us a kiss: The couple shared a sweet smooch as they posed for photos at the event Gorgeous: Nigora flaunted her incredible figure in her gold gown, which showed off a glimpse of her cleavage thanks to its plunging neckline Stunning: Adding a glittering touch, she wore elaborate jewellery and a statement black and blue necklace to accentuate her opulent outfit for the glitzy event Thrice-wed Duncan has four children with his first wife Gail and two with his second wife Joanna. Since marrying Nigora, he has spoken about having children with her. Duncan's daughters Abigail, Eve, Jennifer, Hollie and Emily, as well as his son Thomas were in attendance at the party, as they posed for photos with their father. 'Of course we want children together,' Nigora proclaimed during an appearance on This Morning last year. Gorgeous: Nigora wore dark pink lipstick and smokey eye shadow to highlight her pretty features, while she brushed her luscious raven tresses into a straight, slicked-back style In good spirits: The happily married couple looked sweet as they wrapped their arms around each other for photos Loved-up: The pair looked smitten as they shared a kiss while Duncan wrapped his arm around her waist He continued: 'Well be planning the future family. I would like to have at least two boys. 'I cant wait to be a dad again,' Duncan added to the conversation, before Nigoria relayed the reason why she wants to expand her family with Duncan: 'Hes an amazing father. I'm proud of how he is with my daughter. 'She adores Duncan and couldnt ask for better stepfather. Hes going to be an amazing father to my future children.' Dancing On Ice professional skater Matt Evers has hit back at fix accusations. Viewers branded the ITV1 show a set-up after host Phillip Schofield told Gemma Collins 'we've got next week' before the voting lines had officially opened on Sunday night. The TOWIE star, 38, was put through to the next week's show while Loose Women's Saira Khan, 48, was eliminated. Speaking out: Dancing On Ice professional Matt Evers, 42, has hit back at fix accusations after his partner Gemma Collins remained in the show on Sunday night (pictured) Speaking on Heart Breakfast on Monday, Gemma's skating partner Matt, 42, insisted the show is not a fix and Phillip was simply trying to comfort Gemma as she was upset after her wobbly performance. He said: 'You know, he was consoling her. You know, its like when you have a cold, youll be like Oh, itll be alright, youll feel fine in a couple of days".' 'This show is not fixed, Ive done 11 series of this now, you know. We are checked by the government of all people, you know what I mean? 'Like, people spend their hard-earned money voting for us, there is no way the show is fixed. Its 50 per cent judges' votes, 50 per cent public. Period.' Sent home: The TOWIE star, 38, was put through to the next week's show while Loose Women's Saira Khan, 48, (pictured with partner Mark Hanretty) was eliminated When asked if Saira was the right celebrity to go home, Matt revealed Gemma approached the TV star after her elimination and apologised, saying she felt she should have gone home instead. He said: 'Basically, after the show, Gemma went up to Saira and she said you know what, Im sorry. It shouldve been me this week. 'So she really, she did feel bad cause she knew that Saira gave an incredible performance and then up against Ryan Sidebottom, Ryan just smashed that. 'So unfortunately for Saira, she got voted out last night but Ryan did do the better skate.' Not true: Speaking on Heart Breakfast on Monday (pictured), Gemma's skating partner Matt, 42, insisted the show is not a fix and Phillip was simply trying to comfort Gemma Much has been made of the difference between Gemma and her more outrageous alter-ego, 'The GC'. Matt thinks viewers are starting to see more of the real Gemma on the series as she has shown her vulnerability. He said: 'The tears, the emotional person, the low confidence. You are starting to see the real Gemma and that was part of my goal with when I found out I had the GC. 'I was like Mmm no, I want to see who the real Gemma is".' When asked if the GC was who viewers really wanted to see on the ice, Matt replied: 'Yes but I think, you know, the journey of what these celebrities go through. Alter ego: Matt thinks viewers are starting to see more of the real Gemma on the series as she has shown her vulnerability 'If we had the GC every week, people would get sick of the GC. Now that weve lost the GC, now people want the GC back.' When host Lucy Horobin said she believes Gemma is insecure 'underneath it all', Matt agreed. He said: 'I absolutely agree with you. You know, shes battled so much over the course of her career, over her life. 'You know, shes doing this for the plus size girls and its hard, its physically difficult for her and she knows that.' During Monday's appearance on Good Morning Britain, where she made her debut as the programme's showbiz reporter, Gemma explained that there is a difference between her regular self and GC. She said: 'GC is a brand, there's me and then there's the GC. When the GC is gone, then they miss her. 'The GC is a very outrageous person, she doesn't really care what she says or does. She says what people think but don't have the guts to say The TV star added that when the cameras are off, she prefers to be at home with her other half, James Argent, 31. She said: 'Gemma prefers to be there for her family, her nieces. GC is the alter-ego. When I'm Gemma, I like watching David Attenbourgh, I cook dinner for Arg and I just love life.' Tune in to Heart Breakfast with Jamie and Lucy, weekdays from 6am 9am. The movie star launched Goop, a lifestyle, health, food, beauty and fashion website in 2008. And 11 years later, Gwyneth Paltrow is taking Goop to Netflix, according to Variety. The 46-year-old actress and entrepreneur will premiere a docuseries on the streaming service this fall, consisting of 30-minute episodes hosted by Gwyneth and Elise Loehnen, her chief content officer. Gwyneth Paltrow is taking Goop to Netflix, according to Variety; pictured November 15, 2018 at the Guggenheim International Gala in New York City Gwyneth and Elise will use doctors, experts and researchers on their show to discuss issues in the field of spiritual and physical wellness, the outlet reported; the show is as of yet still untitled. 'We were speaking to the platform question, and where our people are. They're watching Netflix,' Elise told Variety. Adding to the outlet: 'Some of the more strategic, bigger stories we want to tell require a TV budget.' 'Obviously there's no better partner in that,' Elise said to Variety. Amazing: The 46-year-old actress and entrepreneur will premiere a docuseries on the streaming service this fall, consisting of 30-minute episodes hosted by Gwyneth and Elise Loehnen, her chief content officer; pictured November 13, 2018 in Laguna Beach Elise added to Variety: 'Gwyneth is a highly visual, tactile person. The quality of everything that we produce is very important to her. She's always looking for white space. Whether it's developing physical products or thinking of content.' 'With this show, I think she's only really interested in opportunities where we can uniquely be ourselves and do things potentially disruptive.' The outlet revealed that Elise will have 20 people work on shaping the new show on the content team. Rumors of a possible deal between Goop and Netflix broke in November. In addition to the new Netflix deal, Goop also has an exclusive podcast partnership with Delta Airlines and programming covering books, food and beauty, according to the outlet. Starting this month, eight episodes, including a one-on-one conversation between the Iron Man star and Oprah Winfrey, will stream on 600 Delta planes, Variety reported. Goop is also developing standalone podcasts with in-house beauty expert Jean Godfrey-June, a food show that will be hosted by an award-winning chef, and a Goop book club, which will include reviews and author interviews. Later this year, the In Goop Health Wellness Summit will take place in London for the first time, as well as return to both Los Angeles and New York. They will pause production of Goop's quarterly magazine and will resume after the Netflix show premieres. She's been enjoying some time off from her busy work schedule as she soaks up the sun in St Barts. And Devon Windsor sent temperatures soaring as she posed up a storm during her scenic break in the French West Indies on Sunday. The Victoria's Secret Angel, 24, ensured all eyes were on her as she slipped into a scanty grey bikini in a slew of sizzling Instagram snaps. Bikini-clad: Devon Windsor sent temperatures soaring in a series of sizzling Instagram snaps from her scenic break in St Barts on Sunday The model showed off her gym-honed physique in the light-coloured floral two-piece, which featured a tie-front top and matching briefs. Keeping accessories to a minimum, the catwalk queen complemented her outfit with a dainty silver necklace. The Model Squad star showed off her natural glow as she went make-up free for her beach day and wore her shoulder-length tresses in a straight fashion. She's got it! The Victoria's Secret Angel, 24, ensured all eyes were on her as she slipped into a scanty grey bikini in a slew of sizzling Instagram snaps Well-deserved break: The catwalk queen has been enjoying some time off from her busy work schedule as she soaks up the sun in French West Indies Devon returned to the Victoria's Secret catwalk, held in New York City, in November, where she dazzled in an ivory bodice and sparkling wings. In her personal life, the blonde beauty is engaged to Johnny Dex, who proposed to her in June after more than two years of dating. While taking a plane ride, the model saw 'Marry Me?' spelled out on the sand of a private beach in the Bahamas. She was conveniently wearing an all white ensemble for the special occasion. Wow-factor: The Model Squad star recently returned to the Victoria's Secret catwalk, held in New York City, in November, where she dazzled in an ivory bodice and sparkling wings Romantic: In her personal life, Devon is engaged to Johnny Dex, who proposed to her in June after more than two years of dating In an interview with The New Potato, the bombshell shared the tips behind maintaining her stunning figure. Devon said: 'I really love Pilates. It lengthens and strengthens without bulking the muscles. 'I also have a personal trainer that I love because he pushes me to work harder even when I dont want too', she added. She treated herself to a spot of winter sunshine while on holiday in Dubai in December. And Montana Brown seemed to be pining for the Middle Eastern rays as she shared a bikini-clad snap to her Instagram page on Sunday. The Love Island star, 23, displayed her toned abs as she slipped into a skimpy white two-piece and reclined on a sun lounger. Flashback: Montana Brown seemed to be pining for her recent Dubai holiday as she shared a bikini-clad snap to her Instagram page on Sunday The reality TV personality elegantly basked in the sunshine as she ran her hand through her brunette mane. Hinting that her throwback snap had a hidden message, Montana captioned the image: 'There is potentially a reason why Im uploading a lot of bikini pics recently and its not because Im being attention seeking or is it....' Montana has been sharing a number of bikini snaps online in recent days. Both of the previous snaps showed her in a black bikini as she relaxed at a spa with Love Island co-star Georgia Harrison. Bikini babe: The Love Island star, 23, has been sharing a number of swimwear snaps with her Instagram followers in recent days Montana is happily loved-up with boyfriend, model Elliott Reeder, who she sparked up a romance with in early 2018. The Love Island alumni and Elliott have been dating for a year after bonding over their shared loves of fitness and travelling. It appears to be a happy ending for the raven-haired beauty, after her Love Island romance with Alex Beattie failed to last more than a few weeks after leaving the villa. Montana recently said she '100 per cent' regrets having sex with Alex on TV during her stint on the ITV2 reality show. And relax: Both of the previous snaps showed Montana in a black bikini as she relaxed at a spa with Love Island co-star Georgia Harrison Speaking to Fubar Radio hosts Lizzie Cundy and Mark Byron about her decision to have sex on TV, Montana said: 'I 100 per cent wish I didn't do it. I wasn't in love and I didn't stay with him for very long.' The brunette also admitted she and former flame Alex don't keep in touch, adding: 'With him?! Absolutely no way!' Proving his model prowess, Elliott is on the books at W Model Management, which also boasts Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's brother Toby as a signing. Montana is also making a foray into high fashion modelling, having just signed with Select Model Management. On Wednesday, Kyle Richards claimed her Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills' co-star Lisa Vanderpump didn't attend Andy Cohen's baby shower because she wanted to 'get paid to attend' and that there 'was drama,' later clarifying her comments and saying she misunderstood the TMZ photog. And the outlet now reported that the source of the ongoing drama between Lisa and the rest of the RHOBH cast began over a dog - specifically Dorit Kemsley's. The Housewives claim Lisa 'planted a story' in September that accused Dorit of 'giving up' the dog that she adopted from the Vanderpump Dog Foundation, according to TMZ's source. Canine trouble: The outlet now reported that the source of the ongoing drama between Lisa and the rest of the RHOBH cast began over a dog - specifically Dorit Kemsley's; seen Thursday After the initial story came out in September, Lisa was quick to diffuse the situation by defending Dorit to TMZ and then said that Dorit did not drop the dog off to a shelter but gave it to someone who 'wanted the dog.' They believe she planted the story and then spoke out to deny the allegation that the dog was dropped off to the shelter by Dorit, then played 'peacemaker' and defended Dorit, the outlet reported. TMZ's sources said that Lisa denied having anything to do with Dorit's canine drama in September and still maintains that to this day. She decided to talk to TMZ in September about Dorit and the dog in question because she wanted to 'protect' her cast mate and clear up the rumors, the outlet reported. Drama: The Housewives claim Lisa planted a story that accused Dorit of giving up the dog that she adopted from the Vanderpump dog rescue, according to TMZ 's source Lisa's relationship with her RHOBH castmates went downhill from then, TMZ reported, with the drama unfolding on this season of the hit Bravo show. Lisa, who has been part of RHOBH since 2010, has not show up to shoot with the rest of the cast since September, Lisa Rinna has said publicly. A Bravo executive told Dailymail.com in October that she distanced herself from the cast after they accused her of being responsible for the Radar Online story, even though the outlet denied she was their source. According to Dailymail.com's report in October, Dorit had dumped not one but two dogs that she adopted from Vanderpump Dogs. The source said: ''She returned one to Lisa and then the next dog she was given was discovered in a kill shelter. A kill shelter!' The initial report in September by Radar Onilne was that Dorit adopted a dog from Lisa's rescue and then returned it to a shelter, which they claimed caused a 'rift and upset Lisa.' 'Lisa and her team tried to keep the story out of the press, but somehow it leaked to RadarOnline and Lisa even went so far as to do an interview with TMZ to defend Dorit even though Dorit was clearly in the wrong,' the source said to Dailymail.com. 'It's great drama for the show as, rather than the women turning on Dorit for abandoning two dogs, they've accused Lisa of leaking stories to the press about it and that's the storyline for the season.' 'It's beyond absurd - Dorit discards the dogs like trash, but the women shun Lisa and accuse her of leaking the story to the press. The women on our cast clearly have their priorities wrong.' 'Lisa has begged the women to believe her, but they won't. The boss of Radar even came out publicly and defended her saying she wasn't the source but the women still don't believe her.' She has distanced herself from the rest of the cast after their accusation that she 'planted' the Radar Online story. Radar Online's boss Dylan Howard said in a separate story: 'I can say unequivocally that Lisa has never been an anonymous source to the site' but the women still think she is the source. 'It's all-out war on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and we cannot get Lisa to film with the entire cast,' the Bravo executive told Dailymail.com. 'She's said enough of the b****iness and called time on filming with the other women. 'She will film at her home, restaurants, and charity endeavors and has filmed individually with some of the cast members, but as of now her future on the show is uncertain.' 'We'd like her to come back, work things out and film with the entire cast but she's said no.' Interesting: After the initial story came out in September, Lisa was quick to diffuse the situation by defending Dorit and then said that she did not drop the dog off to a shelter but gave it to someone who 'wanted the dog' However, People's source had said in September that the Radar story was false and that a dog they adopted from Vanderpump Dog Foundation had bit Dorit's daughter Phoenix and then Dorit and her husband Paul decided to find it a 'new loving home,' and that Dorit was 'heartbroken' about it. The source said that Dorit phoned Lisa and let her know the situation and asked for her blessing and that Lisa 'understood.' However, according to People, the new family decided to take the dog to a shelter -without letting Dorit know - and the microchip traced the pup back to Lisa's Vanderpump Dog Foundation, once the dog was at the shelter. When filming began, Lisa revealed to Dorit that the dog was dropped at the shelter, and the outlet's source had said that she 'had no idea' the dog was not with the new family. While People's source claims the Dorit was 'devastated' about the dog, Lisa thinks she did have good intentions but Dorit isn't convinced of Lisa's intentions. After the report of Dorit giving the dog away to a shelter, Lisa spoke to TMZ in September and cleared it all up and smoothed things over. The 58-year-old reality star said to the outlet at the time: 'She did not give it to a shelter. I'm going to set the record straight with that,' adding 'that's not true at all.' Lisa had said: 'She gave it to somebody who really wanted the dog, who assured her it was going to a loving home, and that's what Dorit thought. She would not drop the dog off at a shelter,' she said to TMZ. Adding: 'Dorit did nothing wrong. It didn't happen the way it's been reported and I won't have that said about my friend.' On Wednesday, Kyle had told TMZ that Lisa was absent from Andy Cohen's baby shower caused 'drama.' Asked 'Is there any drama?' she confirmed: 'Well yeah.' Kyle confirmed she wasn't there, and asked: 'Do we have to pay her to come to the shower? Maybe?' On Wednesday, Kyle had told TMZ that Lisa was absent from Andy Cohen's baby shower caused 'drama;' pictured iwth her husband Paul Kemsley at WWHL in February 2018 Hours later on Wednesday, Lisa chatted with TMZ over the incident. 'But what was it Kyle said? Something b**** right?' Lisa asked the news outlet. The restaurant entrepreneur said that she did in fact meet with Andy before the baby shower, and gave him a cashmere blue blanket and a teddy bear, and informed him that she would have to miss it as she would be in Vegas. By Friday, Kyle clarified her comments to TMZ. 'When I was asked if there was drama at Andy's shower I thought they were referring to something that happened at the shower. Nothing to do with Lisa,' began Kyle, as she attempted to clarify her comments. 'They [paparazzi] asked if Lisa was holding out for money to attend the shower. Obviously that is not true. I thought that was obvious so I joked.' She's taken a backseat from modelling to pursue her presenting and DJ career. Yet Lilah Parson proved she can still pose up a storm as she took to Instagram to share a slew of stunning bikini snaps from her holiday in Kenya. The presenter, 30, looked sensational in the snaps as she relaxed on the idyllic sandy beach before trying her hand at a bit of yoga. Beach babe: t Lilah Parson proved she can still pose up a storm as she took to Instagram to share a slew of stunning bikini snaps from her holiday in Kenya In one stunning snap, the model rocked a scarlet bandeau bikini that showcased her enviable physique whilst she posed with arms outstretched from bliss against a boat sail. Another shot highlighted Lilah's toned stomach and ample cleavage as she rocked a black two-piece whilst gazing coquettishly away from the lens. Lilah wasn't taking herself too seriously, however, as she also shared a snap of one of her yoga attempts in which she seemed dangerously close to face planting the sand. Racy in red: In one stunning snap, the model rocked a scarlet bandeau bikini that showcased her enviable physique whilst she posed with arms outstretched from bliss against a boat sail Lilah is a regular face on MTV, at parties across London and is another fashion one-to-watch. She was previously touted as one of the hottest upcoming models in British Vogue back in 2010, and her star is still on the rise. Lilah currently fronts her own Heart FM radio show and PopBuzz Presents. Life's a beach: Another shot highlighted Lilah's toned stomach and ample cleavage as she rocked a black two-piece whilst gazing coquettishly away from the lens The brunette beauty hit headlines last summer when it emerged that she had split from Laurence Fox after drifting apart due to their opposing career schedules. The actor's spokesperson told MailOnline: 'It was very much a mutual decision. Laurence works all week and Lilah works weekends, so its been difficult for them to spend any amount of time together.' A source then added to The Sun: 'Laurence and Lilah have been struggling to make it work over the past few months as they never spend any time together. Working it: The presenter, 30, looked sensational in the snaps as she relaxed on the idyllic sandy beach before trying her hand at a bit of yoga 'Laurence hardly sees Lilah, with filming for his new role in Victoria, writing music and being a dad, and Lilah has also been swamped with work at Heart Radio after stepping in for Sian Welby in the evening, and has been working all weekend too. 'Theyve kept things pretty amicable and are both hoping theyll be able to remain friends in the future.' The pair were believed to have been dating for 10 months following the actor's divorce from actress Billie Piper. He has been in the audience supporting Gemma Collins throughout her Dancing On Ice journey. And TOWIE's Bobby Norris, 32, told This Morning on Monday that he is convinced she has got what it takes to make it to the final. The Essex star appeared on the show alongside Dancing On Ice correspondent Kem Cetinay, where he claimed Gemma has been 'practising at the rink six times a week'. Hard working: Bobby Norris, 32, appeared on This Morning on Monday alongside Dancing On Ice correspondent Kem Cetinay to discuss Gemma Collins' journey on the skating show Sharing his thoughts, The Only Way Is Essex star said: I think she's gonna try and pull it out of the bag next week. She's gonna be in full GC mode and every week I just can't wait to see what her outfit is gonna be, what performance she's gonna put on. Speaking about her scooping up first place in the ITV skating show, he added: I really think she can. Believing in the power of the GCs fans, Bobby continued: She's got a really good shot at it if the public stay behind her and, touch wood they do. 'Social media is always blowing up when she's performed and yeah, I think she's got a really good chance. The TV personality also touched on Gemma's confidence taking a knock - firstly from her fall on the ice during the live show two weeks ago and then again after she scored a low score of 13.5 out of 40 on Sunday evening's show - which reduced her to tears. Winner: Speaking about Gemma scoping up first place in the ITV skating show, Bobby said 'I really think she can' He said: 'I spoke to her and she was so gutted and she cried because she knew she could have done better, but she's been in so much pain from the fall the week before and realistically it takes some confidence to get back on the ice after a fall like that. She's a brave girl.' Suggesting his pal will put mind over matter, Bobby said: 'With Gem, when she puts her mind to something, she really wanted to do well. So from October, when she found out, she was down the rink six days a week and really was taking it seriously. 'I think it shows the public are really behind her, she literally could go out there and sit on the ice and she would still get votes because Gemma's an entertainer and she might be at the bottom of the leader board but people are behind her, they are voting for her.' Downtrodden: The TV personality also touched on Gemma's confidence taking a knock - firstly from her fall on the ice during the live show two weeks ago and then again after she scored a low score of 13.5pts out of 40 on Sunday evening's show Bobby's words come as Gemma made her debut appearance on Good Morning Britain as the show's showbiz reporter. As well as her personal life, Gemma touched on her career goals, as talk turned to her current stint on ITV skating show, Dancing On Ice. The star recently suffered a shocking fall on the show when she landed face first on the ice, but Gemma quipped: 'Being nearly a pro skater, looking back, I was in shock, but I got overexcited. First time: Gemma Collins, 38, made her debut as a guest showbiz reporter on Monday's Good Morning Britain after weeks of anticipation, and didn't disappoint 'When you're performing on the ice, you have to keep your movements small. I thought this is over for me. I felt like I blacked out, but I didn't. I just went into this zone.' Despite being one of the most-talked about figures on the show, the Celebrity Big Brother star went on to reveal that she thinks former Strictly Come Dancing professional James Jordan will take home the crown. She said: 'You have to be honest, honesty its the best policy. 'I think James Jordan will win the show [DOI], he's trained but he hasn't put skates on before.' Gemma Atkinson and Gorka Marquez looked full of happiness as they were seen for the first time on Monday after announcing their pregnancy news. The Strictly Come Dancing couple clutched gifts and a huge bouquet of flowers as they left the Manchester studios for Hits Radio, where Gemma presents the morning show with Gethin Jones and Dave Vitty. Flashing a huge smile Gemma looked healthy and happy after revealing on Instagram the night before that she's been suffering from morning sickness. Expecting: Gemma Atkinson and Gorka Marquez looked full of happiness as they were seen for the first time on Monday after announcing their pregnancy news After her co-presenters threw her a mini baby shower on air, Gemma was helped by Gorka to carry all of her gifts to the car. The blonde hid any sign of a bump behind her huge flower bouquet, while dressed down in a pink hoodie and skinny jeans. Gorka meanwhile clutched a bag full of gifts as he walked alongside his gorgeous girlfriend with a huge smile on his face. Celebrating: The Strictly star clutched a huge bouquet of flowers as she left the Manchester studios for Hits Radio, where she presents the morning show with Gethin Jones and Dave Vitty The night before returning to work, Gemma posted a series of Instagram videos, revealing the physical changes she has been going through over the past few weeks. Revealing that she was heading for a session with her personal trainer in the morning, Gemma explained how she's scaled back her intense fitness regime, and has had to contend with morning sickness. 'I'm back training tomorrow. Loads of you have messaged me asking since I've been pregnant am I still training and the answer is yes,' she told the camera. Picking her up: After her co-presenters threw her a mini baby shower on air, Gemma was helped by Gorka to carry all of her gifts to the car 'Obviously I'm not doing the same kind of workouts as I was doing because you have to adjust and every pregnancy is different. The first few weeks I didn't really do anything because I didn't feel very well and I've just listened to my body.' 'I've started yoga which I'm really enjoying. The main thing is my food, I've wanted to eat more nutritious stuff than before because I'm just aware that it ain't just about me anymore. I'm just a kind of carrier for this little being and I need to keep healthy.' While she admitted some days she's been enjoying green juice and keen to get in the gym, most days she's been having strong cravings for carbs. Happy: The blonde hid any sign of a bump behind her huge flower bouquet, while dressed down in a pink hoodie and skinny jeans 'I am liking the bread at the minute, I'm eating a lot of bread. It's tough though, I take my hat off to women who have done this more than once because it's really hard at times but I am loving it.' 'Some days I'm like green juice and training and then others, mostly these days, where I've been sick in the morning I'm like "Gorka go get me some pasta, tiger bread, smother it in Lurpak, leave me on the couch, don't even look at me."' 'It's surprising how something so small can make you so poorly!' Changes: The night before returning to work, Gemma posted a series of Instagram videos, revealing the physical changes she has been going through over the past few weeks She added that she's no longer worried about beating personal bests during her workouts, instead it's 'literally it's about maintaining my health and hopefully please god have a healthy, healthy baby. ' Gemma told fans on Saturday that she is 'very much in love' as she thanked her followers for their messages following her pregnancy announcement. Gorka, 28, wrote an equally emotional post as he hailed their unborn baby as 'the greatest gift in life' when he thanked Gemma, 34, on Instagram on Friday. Tough: Revealing that she was heading for a session with her trainer, Gemma explained how she's scaled back on her intense fitness regime, and has had to contend with morning sickness Gemma wrote: 'Thank you all so much for your lovely messages. We're so excited for this journey ahead and feel very lucky and very much in love. Thank you. :)' (sic) Borrowing the snap of their black and white spaniels from Gemma's Instagram, Gorka posted a touching message about their baby news. Gorka responded: 'Thank you for the greatest gift in life. Myself and Gem are beyond thrilled to be welcoming our new family member later this year! 'Baby Marquez Norm and Ollie cant wait to start their big brother duties.' Hurrah! Gemma announced her pregnancy with a sweet photo of the couple's dogs on Instagram on Friday with signs around their necks Earlier in the day, Gemma announced she is expecting a baby with her Strictly Come Dancing beau after they met two years ago on the dancefloor. The couple, who met on Strictly in 2017 and went public in February last year, delightedly revealed the news on Friday by sharing a picture of her two dogs with signs around their necks, one of which read: 'Guess what... Mum's pregnant!'. With the other pup wearing a sign saying: 'We're going to be big brothers!', both Gemma and Gorka shared the same image while revealing their excitement. Happy days! The couple met on Strictly in 2017 and went public in February last year Gemma wrote: 'And what Amazing big brothers they will be! Myself & Gorks are beyond excited and happy and feel incredibly blessed to be meeting our new family member later this year. Baby Marquez!!! We love you loads already @gorka_marquez'. Rushing to celebrate with the stars was Gemma's Hits Radio co-host Gethin Jones, who wrote: 'So happy for you!!! @glouiseatkinson @gorka_marquez'. Speaking to Closer Magazine last year, Gemma confessed she was keen to start a family with the hunk, saying: Id love to have a baby in the next few years, Just one day before, Gorka paid Gemma a huge compliment after the actress admitted her healthy physique once earned her an unfortunate nickname. Overjoyed: The couple were celebrating in style as they shared the news on Instagram The former Hollyoaks star spoke out while giving fans an insight into the new home they share on Thrsday's episode of Lorraine, as she said: 'My nickname at school was thunder thighs. We've all got big legs in our family.' However Gorka insisted Gemma's physique was one of the attributes that caught his eye when he first met the actress during her appearance on Strictly in 2017. He said: 'Maybe because I'm Spanish I just want a curvy woman'. The couple also gave fans a teasing glimpse of their new home after taking their rapidly developing relationship to the next level by moving in together. The actress previously admitted Gorka had already laid down some firm rules of his own regarding where they can and can't go. Family: Speaking to Closer Magazine last year, Gemma confessed she was keen to start a family with the hunk, saying: Id love to have a baby in the next few years 'I've got two dogs and he said they shouldn't be on the bed, but within a few hours they were back in the bedroom,' she admitted. Despite Gorka's reluctance to let Norman and Ollie sleep with them, Gemma admitted he was hugely supportive of her career as an actress and presenter with Hits Radio, a role that requires her to get up at 4:15 in the morning. 'I'm very fortunate in that I've got a supportive partner in Gorks when it comes to my training and my work,' she conceded. 'They say happy wife happy life and all that don't they? And I think it's true as well, for girls.' They recently released their new single, Think About Us. Yet it seems Little Mix's Jesy Nelson hadn't been thinking about the weather as she joined her bandmates at KISS FM radio studios on Monday. The 27-year-old songstress looked sensational as she left the building with Leigh-Anne Pinnock, 27, in tow - but was no doubt feeling the chill as she donned just an oversized T-shirt dress. Chilly? It seems Little Mix's Jesy Nelson hadn't been thinking about the weather as she joined her bandmates - including Leigh-Anne Pinnock - at KISS FM radio studios on Monday Skimming over her incredible figure, the garment grazed her thighs to reveal a flash of her tanned and toned pins, whilst she accessorised with leather boots and an underlying mesh sleeve shirt. The radiant redhead wore her glossy auburn locks loose and poker straight for the outing, styling her tresses in a centre parting to frame her pretty features. Jesy finished off the look by donning a pair of oversized square sunglasses and a delicate gold pendant. Leggy lady! Skimming over her incredible figure, the garment grazed her thighs to reveal a flash of her tanned and toned pins, whilst she accessorised with leather boots Stunning: The radiant redhead wore her glossy auburn locks loose and poker straight for the outing, styling her tresses in a centre parting to frame her pretty features Two's company: Jesy - who was joined by hairdresser pal James - finished off the look by donning a pair of oversized square sunglasses and a delicate gold pendant Also looking chic for the outing, was Leigh-Anne, who opted for a neutral colour scheme by teaming a khaki cropped jacket with brown suede trousers and heeled boots. Following Leigh-Anne out of the building was Jade Thirlwall, 26, who dazzled in a black high-necked vest and flared jeans. Rounding off the group was Perrie Edwards, who seemed to be the cosiest of the lot in an oversized black furry cut, acid wash jeans and white boots. Bun's the word! Leigh-Anne showed off her flawless features by styling her glossy raven locks in a chic topknot, whilst she accessorised with an oversized striped handbag All-smiles: Jade Thirlwall seemed in high spirits as she flashed a broad grin whilst leaving Chic and cheerful: Following Leigh-Anne out of the building was Jade, 26, who dazzled in a black high-necked vest and flared jeans Low-key look: Rounding off the group was Perrie Edwards, who seemed to be the cosiest of the lot in an oversized black furry cut, acid wash jeans and white boots Listen out: The group recently released their new single, Think About Us, which is part of their new album, LM5 The outing comes days after Jade and Leigh-Anne had the first go at altitude training, as they prepare to trek up the epic Mount Kilimanjaro. Embarking on the challenge in aid of Comic Relief, the singing duo will join celebrities such as ex-politician Ed Balls and Strictly judge Shirley Ballas in jetting to Tanzania. Little Mix have regularly campaigned with Comic Relief in recent years, and even recorded a cover of the hit single Word Up! in 2014 for it's sister charity Sport Relief. As they make their way up the mountain, Jade and Leigh-Anne will be joined by Love Island winner Dani Dyer, who is the latest star to confirm her participation. Kilimanjaro: The Return takes place 10 years after the original excruciating 19,000 ft climb up Africa's highest mountain led by Gary Barlow, which raised 1.5 million for Comic Relief. Megan Barton Hanson looked like she didn't have a care in the world when she stepped out looking super glam on Monday. The 24-year-old Love Island star had a big smile on her face, wearing a furry snakeprint coat over a mini skirt, fishnet tights and chunky boots. Her hair was styled into blonde Hollywood style curls as she chatted away on her phone. Smiling: Megan Barton Hanson appeared upbeat as she stepped out in a furry coat and mini skirt... after slamming 'fame-hungry' ex Wes Nelson for not 'loving her back' Taking it all in her stride: The 24-year-old Love Island star had a big smile on her face wearing a mini skirt, fishnet tights and chunky boots Megan's outing comes after she accused her ex, Wes Nelson, 20, of being fame-hungry and claimed he had fallen out of love with her. The couple only announced their split last weekend, shocking their fans, after a seemingly loved-up seven month long romance. Megan has said she 'still loves Wes', but said he is 'wrapped up in the fame bubble' and 'doesn't love her back.' In happier times: The couple only announced their split last weekend, shocking their fans, after a seemingly loved-up seven month long romance 'Decided to separate' The star, who found herself embroiled in an ongoing feud with his DOI partner Vanessa Bauer, took to her Instagram Stories last week to confirm the news with a tongue in cheek statement in the style of Gwyneth Paltrow Speaking in an interview with this week's OK! magazine, the Love Island star also blasted Dancing On Ice bosses for 'deliberately stirring things up' by partnering Wes with professional German skater Vanessa Bauer. Speaking about why the pair split, Megan revealed: 'Our ambitions and goals in life are very different. 'Wes is younger than me and wrapped up in the fame bubble - but I still love him, which is why it hurts so much. Marilyn moment: Her hair was styled into blonde Hollywood style curls as she chatted away on her phone and got a little caught up in the wind Pain: Megan has said she 'still loves Wes', but said he is 'wrapped up in the fame bubble' and 'doesn't love her back' Getting on with it: Megan appeared to be moving on from the split as she went about her business Words: 'I fought and fought and fought for Wes but he doesn't love me back,' claimed the blonde bombshell 'I fought and fought and fought for Wes but he doesn't love me back,' claimed the blonde bombshell. Wes - who is currently competing in BBC's Dancing On Ice - was partnered with petite beauty Vanessa Bauer, and when talking to OK! Magazine, Megan didn't hide her annoyance over their partnership. She said: 'The fact that the producers deliberately stirred things up by partnering Wes with the youngest, hottest girl annoyed me.' Fuming: Speaking to OK! Magazine, Megan also blasted Dancing On Ice bosses for 'deliberately stirring things up' by partnering Wes with professional skater Vanessa Bauer Happier times: Speaking about why the pair split, Megan revealed: 'Our ambitions and goals in life are very different - Wes is younger than me and wrapped up in the fame bubble' In particular, she noted her 'frustration' with DOI judge Jason Gardiner who branded the skating duo a 'lovely couple.' Megan didn't hold back on the topic, reasserting her belief that Vanessa's break-up with her own boyfriend Louis Nathaniel was 'completely tactical.' And in regards to the hamster Jon Snow, which she shares with Wes, the former glamour model claimed that he 'hasn't even called' to check on their pet's well-being.' Megan also joked to the magazine that they would have to have a custody battle over the hamster. Read the full story in this week's OK! Magazine - out today. MailOnline have contacted Dancing On Ice, and Wes Nelson's representatives for comment. Uh oh: 'The fact that the producers deliberately stirred things up by partnering Wes with the youngest, hottest girl annoyed me' slammed Megan, in reference to Vanessa (pictured) Megan's comments come after Wes Nelson and Vanessa Bauer were praised for their sizzling onscreen chemistry by the judges on Dancing On Ice on Sunday. The newly-single Love Island hunk was told he 'flew' through his romantic routine to Rewrite The Stars by James Arthur after performing the iconic headbanger move with the pro skater. Recreating a scene from Peter Pan, Wes firmly put the heartache of his split from Megan Barton Hanson behind him and went on to receive his highest score of the series- 34 points out of 40. The judges were quick to commend their 'great and 'wonderful' partnership, after their dazzling performance on the ice. What about Jon Snow? In regards to the hamster Jon Show, which she shares with Wes, the former glamour model claimed that he 'hasn't even called' to check on their pet's well-being' Megan's problems with Vanessa started after Wes' debut performance on Dancing On Ice where she accused the skater of 'tactfully' breaking up with her boyfriend Louis Nathaniel to gain headlines. Megan caused their feud to spill over into the public sphere when she wrote on Instagram: 'Love that you decide to announce your break-up with your boyfriend on the night of your 1st performance with my boyfriend! 'You've never reached out to me once or invited me to watch you train, it pained you to introduce your self to me last night you didn't even look me in the eye LOL. Hope the tactical break-up got you the headlines you wanted babe.' [sic] And after Megan stood by her assertion that Vanessa's split was 'tactical' in subsequent interviews, she soon announced that her romance with Wes was over. Great partnership: Wes and Vanessa were praised for their sizzling onscreen chemistry by the judges on Dancing On Ice on Sunday Vanessa Bauer's parents recently hit back at such accusations, while also insisting the professional skater, 22, is 'rising above' the drama generated by her nemesis Megan. Megan and Wes had been dating for seven months since appearing on Love Island together, and had moved in with one another. The blonde Lover Islander struggled with Wes' relationship with his professional skating partner Vanessa, but has previously said she wasn't the cause of their split. She was mad that Vanessa didn't reach out to her, claiming she got the best of Wes due to his intense training schedule, and said SHE wanted to be on the ice with him. Break-up: German beauty Vanessa split with circus performer boyfriend Louis Nathaniel ahead of her Dancing On Ice debut with Wes, after a two year romance A source close to Megan claimed she and Wes split because 'their sex life was suffering' thanks to his gruelling Dancing On Ice rehearsal regime. Meanwhile, Megan said she had the 'worst day' of her life following the split, and has since admitted her anxiety has risen as a result of the break-up. Wes, on the other hand, appeared to not let their parting of ways get to him, as he shared a cryptic uplifting Instagram post about 'being happy' shortly after Megan announced their split. Sharing a snap of himself smiling at the beach, Wes wrote: 'Being happy is a way of life, not a destination.' His upbeat outlook came hot on the heels of Megan cancelling a scheduled radio appearance on Heart FM at the last minute. Opinions: Megan first shared this post about Vanessa on Instagram last month, which ignited their feud. She reiterated her thoughts on the skater in subsequent interviews Megan also shared several messages of support she had received from members of the public, commending her for being open about her prior battles with anxiety. She later shared another message thanking people again for their words. The star had a tough week, with burglars raiding her home stealing thousands of pounds worth of goods before her relationship with Wes broke down. Megan copied Gywneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's famous 2014 'conscious-uncoupling' announcement to reveal she had parted ways from her DOI beau. Fans took to Twitter in their droves, labelling the move as 'iconic', after Megan swapped Gwyneth and Chris' reference to their 'two incredibly wonderful children' to asking her 1.8 million followers to respect their hamster's privacy. 'Decided to separate' The star, who found herself embroiled in an ongoing feud with his DOI partner Vanessa Bauer, took to her Instagram Stories on Saturday morning to confirm the news She wrote: 'It is with hearts full of sadness that we decided to separate. 'We have been working hard for well under a year, some of it separated, to see what might have been possible between us and we have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much we will remain separate.' 'We are, however, and always will be a family and in many ways we are closer than we have ever been. We are parents first and foremost to one incredibly wonderful hamster and we ask for his and our space and privacy to be respected at this difficult time. 'We haven't really conducted our relationship that privately and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and co-parent we will be able to continue in the same manner. Love Megan and Wes,' she continued. Focused! Wes has been focused on Dancing On Ice training with skate partner Vanessa Bauer Megan's comments to OK Magazine come after she was accused of abducting the hamster she co-parents with her Love Island ex Wes Nelson. The former stripper denied she had stolen the furry critter as she finally broke her silence over the claims via her Instagram stories last week. The Love Island beauty admitted she was missing the 'chubby' hamster when she posted a clip of the pet in the home she once shared with her former flame. Missing my baby! Megan was accused of kidnapping the hamster she co-parents with Wes, but has denied the claims She freely shared on social media: 'Missing my baby look at that chubby face!' Wes has been pining for his hamster since Megan allegedly kidnapped the rodent. The hunk was reportedly alarmed when he returned home and did not hear the sound of the hamster, who was the focal point of the couple's break-up announcement which was released on Saturday afternoon. A source told The Sun: 'Wes knew something was wrong the moment he came home from a day on the ice and couldn't hear the squeak-squeak of Jon Snow's wheel. 'It turned out Megan had swiped the hamster and the cage and hit the road - days after asking for privacy for the hamster and promising they would be co-parenting the pet. 'Wes was shocked she'd just taken Jon Snow without saying anything after everything she promised.' Despite this it seems Wes understands the scenario and that he knows she will 'take good care of the pet as he hasn't got much time to play with him due to his Dancing On Ice training.' He's a renowned dog lover whose made headlines recently over a dog custody battle with his ex-wife. Yet Ant McPartlin turned his attention to two new puppies as he showed off Milo and Bumble - his two new Maltipoos - whilst on a romantic stroll with girlfriend Anne-Marie Corbett on Saturday. The Britain's Got Talent host, 42, is said to have bought the pups - which are a cross between a Maltese terrier and a poodle and typically cost 1,000 each - a few weeks ago, but has been keeping them inside prior to their vaccinations. Puppy love: Ant McPartlin turned his attention to two new puppies as he showed off Milo and Bumble - his two new Maltipoos - whilst on a stroll with Anne-Marie Corbett on Saturday Ant seemed in high spirits as he stepped out with the pooches under his arm, beaming broadly whilst strolling alongside Anne-Marie. Wrapped up in the cold, the I'm A Celebrity host donned a padded navy coat teamed with a checkered grey scarf. Anne-Marie also kept under wraps with a padded khaki jacket, whilst Milo and Bumble had also been kitted out for the cold. Expanding the family: Ant and Anne-Marie are now the proud owners of two new furry additions - the adorable Milo and Bumble The dog days are over: Ant is a renowned dog lover who has made headlines recently over a dog custody battle with his ex-wife Stepping out: The couple were joined by friends on the outing who also helped walk the puppies as they enjoyed some fresh air Keeping warm: Anne-Marie kept under wraps with a padded khaki jacket, whilst Milo and Bumble had also been kitted out for the cold A source told The Sun: 'Ant has not stop smiling since picking them up. He's in a really positive place.' They added: 'Ant is in no way replacing [his other dog] Hurley. He just really misses him when he's not around. 'He's also thought long and hard about expanding his pet family for quite some time.' Furry cute! The Britain's Got Talent host, 42, is said to have bought the pups a few weeks ago, but has been keeping them inside prior to their vaccinations Pricey pooches! The sweet puppies are a cross between a Maltese terrier and a poodle and typically cost 1,000 each Got his hands full! Ant seemed in high spirits as he stepped out with the pooches under his arm, beaming broadly whilst strolling alongside Anne-Marie Ant's love of dogs has been well-documented in the past, with one of the main bones of contention in his split from wife Lisa Armstrong said to be about the custody of their five-year-old chocolate Labrador. Amid ongoing reports that the custody battle was becoming a drawn-out process, Ant told The Sun last month: 'We still share quite evenly. Hurley's welfare comes first and we both love him very much. That's the way it is really.' Meanwhile, it emerged last month that Lisa had been left 'disgusted and devastated' after Ant credited Anne-Marie for 'saving his life'. Keeping warm: Wrapped up in the cold, the I'm A Celebrity host donned a padded navy coat teamed with a checkered grey scarf Perked up by a pooch: It's been reported that since the pooches were purchased, 'Ant has not stop smiling since picking them up. He's in a really positive place' Keeping himself busy: Whilst Ant is currently in a custody battle over his other dog, a source stressed 'Ant is in no way replacing Hurley. He just really misses him when he's not around' Frosty: Despite the lingering snow on the ground, the group all seemed in good spirits as they wrapped up for a walk around the common Doggy daddy-of-three: The source concluded 'Ant has thought long and hard about expanding his pet family for quite some time' She took to Twitter following another part of the interview by Ant where he gushed about 'his rock' Anne-Marie and how he disagreed with Lisa's decision to express her heartbreak on the social media platform. Venting she put up with the 'worst of him for years', the make-up artist liked a slew of tweets saying she has been hurt enough and didn't need to see Ant declaring his love to her former PA. Meanwhile, Ant has been hard at work of late after making his return to Britain's Got Talent to reunite with Declan Donnelly after taking a year off from TV to focus on recovering from his drug and alcohol addiction. The look of love: Ant looked delighted as he took his new pet pooches out for a stroll in the snow covered field Chatting away: Ant was seen catching up with a friend as the group went for a stroll around the common together with the dogs in tow Doggy day care: Ant lovingly cradled his pet pooches as they wandered around the field Dog lover: Ant's love of dogs is well-documented, with one of the main bones of contention in his split from wife Lisa Armstrong said to be about the custody of their Labrador The pair began filming the show at the London Palladium last month and Ant received a standing ovation when he first returned. Meanwhile, Lisa - who worked at a make-up artist on the show - is said to have been axed as it was untenable for the exes to work together. Ant split from Lisa in January last year after a rehab stint for painkiller addiction, and last April, he was fined 86,000 and disqualified from driving for 20 months after admitting to drink-driving. Last month, Ant and Dec won the Best Presenter NTA for the eighteenth year running, and the duo also won a Guinness World Record for how many times they have won an NTA. While Twitter was swarmed with reaction over their recent win, some hit out at his win due to the fact he had taken a break however others lauded the star for his win, with one user writing: 'We are all more than our mistakes or failures'. Jade Goody's mother Jackiey Budden appeared on This Morning on Monday to discuss the late star, ten years on from her tragic death from cancer. Breaking down in tears as she was shown a clip of Jade's best moments, she said her daughter's legacy is a 'kick in the teeth' and defended her ex, Jeff Brazier, who cares for their two children, Freddie and Bobby. She said: 'People say it gets easier, but it's the same every day. The hardest thing is that it doesn't go away, especially as she's very well-known. Sad: Jade Goody's mother Jackiey Budden broke down on This Morning on Monday as she said her daughter's legacy is a 'kick in the teeth' ten years on from her death Her legacy: When Jade first passed away from cervical cancer aged just 27, the amount of women having smear tests went up because of her story but is now at a 21-year-low (pictured in 2008) 'When she died, I bathed and washed her, I get that flashback all the time. You don't bury your son or daughter. To watch her disintegrate was the worst.' When Jade first passed away from cervical cancer aged just 27, a huge 400,000 women got their smear test done the year after she passed after hearing her story. But in January, Jos Cervical Cancer Trust revealed females attending cervical cancer screenings are at a 21-year low. She said: 'People say it gets easier, but it's the same every day. The hardest thing is that it doesn't go away, especially as she's very well-known' She said: 'When she died, I bathed and washed her, I get that flashback all the time. You don't bury your son or daughter. To watch her disintegrate was the worst' 'I don't get when people say they're embarrassed': Jackiey urged women to go for their smear tests as she doesn't want anyone else to suffer the same fate as Jade Urging women: Jackiey admitted she found this upsetting and said: 'Her legacy is a kick in the teeth because the amount of people having smear tests has decreased' Campaigning: Jackiey reasoned 'I don't get when people say they're embarrassed. We really need to get the figure back up' Jackiey admitted she found this upsetting and said: 'Her legacy is a kick in the teeth because the amount of people having smear tests has decreased. 'I don't get when people say they're embarrassed. We really need to get the figure back up. 'Jade's first smear test was at 16, and had another one at 18, which came back abnormal.' Her love: Jade and her husband Jack Tweed posing outside her home together back in February 2009 Jackiey praised Jeff and said the boys are doing 'so well'. She said: 'Fred grieves more, and the older one [Bobby] is a spitting image of her! 'Jeff [Brazier] is a good dad. Anything they need, the money and everything, they have.' Revealing how Jades fans still look out for her, Jackiey said, 'I get about 16 Mothers Day cards and gifts each year, and every year the Bolton Family do me a calendar of photos - so thank you, they really do look after me.' Vicky Pattison looked incredible when she stepped out wearing a neon green dress and killer heels on Monday. The 31-year-old posed for pictures outside the Charlotte St Hotel for the Goddiva clothing press day following a difficult time in her personal life. Vicky's fans were left in tears over her recent show, Vicky Pattison: The Break-Up in which she discussed her break-up from fiance John Noble. Radiant: Vicky Pattison, 31, stepped out for a work commitment at the Charlotte St Hotel for the Goddiva clothing brand press day on Monday wearing a neon green dress Looking bright! She ensured all eyes were on her in her ensemble after what has been a difficult time for her personally She was left devastated when John was photographed getting cosy with a group of women while out in Dubai on a lads' trip and they split up as a result. But on Monday, Vicky ensured all eyes were on her in her neon number, which featured two thigh high splits. The newly single brunette paired leopard print heels and a matching box bag to the outfit. To keep away the chill, the curvy beauty added a touch of edge to her look by sporting a black leather jacket. Neon vision: The fashionable star beamed as she stood and poses for pictures for the event Heartbroken: Vicky has been met with a plethora of support from loyal fans who were in tears after she opened up about the split on her break up show Looking as glamorous as ever, the I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here winner wore he long glossy locks down and smiled as she displayed her perfectly applied make-up. The Geordie native has a close relationship with the elegant dress brand, Goddiva, as she is fronting their latest range, which includes a Valentine's Day collection. Sharing her glee for being on the campaign imagery, the TV personality shared a image of herself modelling for the online retailer on her Instagram story. Collaboration: The Geordie native has a close relationship with the elegant dress brand, Goddiva, as she is fronting their latest range, which includes a Valentine's Day collection She added a bold GIF to the smouldering snap which read 'whoop whoop'. The photo showed her posing in a Bardot style, skin tight bodycon dress and pointy court shoes. Vicky's loyal fanbase will be glad to see her in high spirits after they were left inconsolable after watching her reality show that took them on her journey the days following the end of her relationship. Glamorous: the I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here winner wore he long glossy locks down and smiled as she glowed displaying her perfectly applied make-up Proud moment: The Geordie native has a close relationship with the elegant dress brand, Goddiva, as she is fronting their latest range, which includes a Valentine's Day collection Taking to social media to throw support behind Vicky, one fan wrote: 'Watching #VPTheBreakUp and literally crying my eyes out. My heart is literally breaking for you @VickyPattison ! Everything youve said so far is so relatable to me and I bet so many other people. Stay strong lovely.' Meanwhile, Vicky made light of her heartbreak as she turned her show into a drinking game as she knocked back booze every time she cried on-screen. She told cameras via her Instagram stories: 'Im playing a drinking game where I have to take a drink every time I cry on screen and Im f***ing mortal.' Vicky penned across her snap: 'God I hate what that man did.' Support: Fans flooded social media with their grievances for the star after she documented her heartbreaking split Fans flooded social media with their grievances for the star after she documented her heartbreaking split on national television for the one-off hour-long special. Others filed in: '@VickyPattison half way in and I was tearing up! You are amazing!' '@VickyPattison Show The Breakup must be the most heartbreaking, but strongest thing Ive ever seen a woman do!' 'I just want to give you a big hug and let you know it does get easier.' 'Overwhelmed by the backing from fans, Vicky rushed to Instagram to thank her admirers as she insisted she was 'a normal girl who refused to be beaten'. Thank you, next! Vicky is doing her best to move on from her split in a positive fashion She wrote on social media: 'Thanku, next... I cannot thank everyone enough for the overwhelming support Ive received after tonights show. 'I dont deserve it- Im nothing special- just a girl who refused to be beaten. To allow a couple of bad chapters to define my story 'What this experience has taught me is that there are so many women and men who have had similar heartbreak and all I wanted to do was show that there can be light at the end of the tunnel. That the pain will fade and make way for joy. 'Remember, if you can love the wrong one that much- imagine how much you will love the right one. 'THANKYOU for the kindness, support and positivity you have shown me. And now, I promise, Im putting it to bed- its done and I want to move on. Love to you all.' The Bachelor couple Sam Wood and Snezana Markoski have confirmed they are welcoming their second child together. Sam, 38, confirmed the happy news on Monday evening in a series of videos shared to Instagram stories. 'We are so happy and excited!' he wrote beneath a photo that showed Snezana, also 38, sporting a burgeoning baby bump. 'We are so happy and excited!'On Monday, Sam Wood and Snezana Markoski confirmed they are expecting their SECOND child together... 17 months after welcoming daughter Willow Bumping along! Sam excitedly shared this photo of Snezana to Instagram Stories, who is already sporting a burgeoning baby bump Sam also shared a series of videos on his Instagram Stories taken with Snezana inside their Melbourne home. The fitness guru stated in a piece to camera: 'I know that a lot of people do beautiful baby reveals. Don't get me wrong, I think that's really cute, but maybe because this is number 2, or really number 3, we're not going to as much effort anymore, so this is our reveal!' He flipped his phone to reveal Snezana inside a walk-in pantry near boxes of cereals. 'When she's pregnant all she eats is breakfast cereal!' Sam filmed Snezana inside a walk-in pantry, before he kissed the pregnant beauty 'When she's pregnant all she eats is breakfast cereal!' Sam giggled as Snezana looked at him disapprovingly. 'Anyway, we are very, very excited to announce in this very weird way that we are having another baby!' the former Bachelor continued, before kissing his pregnant ladylove on the lips. Sam later stated that he decided to announce the baby news because fans were beginning to speculate on Snezana's growing stomach in a recent photo. He then re-shared the snap, originally posted earlier in the day, which showed Snezana hanging out the side of a Mercedes-Benz. Baby on board! Sam later stated that he decided to announce the baby news because fans were beginning to speculate on Snezana's growing stomach in this photo In the image, the Macedonian brunette's baby bump is visible despite her best efforts to conceal it behind a car door. Sam and Snezana already share 17-month-old daughter, Willow Wendy, who was born in October 2017. They are also proud parents to Snezana's 13-year-old daughter Eve, from a previous relationship. The happy couple fell in love during the 2015 season of The Bachelor. She is no stranger to dazzling both on and off the red carpet. And Elizabeth Hurley looked nothing short of sensational as she shared a series of smouldering snaps on her Instagram page on Sunday evening. The actress, 53, glowed as she smiled for the camera, showing off her cleavage in a simple black top with a dramatically plunging neckline. Taking the plunge: Elizabeth Hurley looked nothing short of sensational as she shared a series of smouldering snaps on her Instagram page on Sunday evening The Royal star's blue eyes popped as she ran her hand through her tumbling brunette lcoks. The beauty highlighted her decolletage with a glittering, gemstone pendant on a silver chain. The swimwear designer followed up the first snap with an equally gorgeous image of herself looking over her shoulder. The series of images were shared with her 1.1 million followers after she posted a set of phenomenal holiday snaps. Smouldering: The actress, 53, glowed as she smiled for the camera, while turning heads in a black top with a plunging neckline She appeared in high spirits during her beach getaway as she smiled for the camera, whilst sporting a tiny gold bikini with chain detailing and a pair of oversized purple shades. Wearing her brunette locks hanging loose down her shoulders, the film star was wore one of her own bikinis from her beachwear line Elizabeth Hurley Beach. Elizabeth is mother to son Damian, 16, from her brief relationship with American businessman Steve Bing, 53. The mother and son were most recently in India, where they rang in the new year alongside several of the Bedazzled star's friends. Damian, who has six godfathers including actor Hugh Grant and Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish, is often rubbing shoulders with his mum's celebrity pals, as she insists she has an 'open house' policy in order for her son to meet her friends. Stunner: The Royals star posted a selection of holiday snaps from her winter sunshine break in India, where she rang in the new year Elizabeth has previously confessed she often ropes Damian into taking photographs of her - including her bikini-clad snaps she posts to social media. On their relationship, she told YOU magazine: 'Damian is a great photographer, and he instinctively knows what younger people want to see, but thats all... 'Our downtime together is usually spent watching something scary on Netflix or Vikings on Amazon Prime. By default we spend a lot of time together and we are utterly comfortable in each other's company.' Elizabeth also dismissed claims her only son was 'embarrassed' by his mother and 'wanted her to cover up a bit more', given the nature of her racy snaps, branding them 'absolutely rubbish'. 'He chooses clothes for me, he's my stylist,' she said. Elizabeth has been married once to textile heir Arun Nayar; the couple tied the knot in a lavish Indian ceremony in 2007, but later split in 2010 and divorced a year later. It has been reported that Blac Chyna's former flame Kid Buu was previously charged and convicted of child abuse in 2008. According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, Kid, real name Markquez Santiago, was arrested and charged by US authorities after he punched his ex-girlfriend and threatened her with a gun in front of their two-year-old daughter. The publication explained that an argument broke out between the musician, who was 19 at the time, and his ex-girlfriend over wanting to cash a cheque, which he subsequently grabbed out of her hand and ran out of their Florida apartment with. Reports: It has been reported that Blac Chyna's former flame Kid Buu (R) was previously charged and convicted of child abuse in 2008 His ex then claimed that Kid return to their home and 'punched her in the face with a closed fist' infront of their toddler after she threatened to call the authorities. According to legal documents, the rapper then pulled out a gun and told her he'd 'kill the cops' if they came to their home. Following the ordeal, his ex-girlfriend managed to flee the apartment and contact the police 'using a security guard's phone'. Kid was eventually arrested after previously refusing to cooperate. According to the publication, he denied the allegations and a gun was never recovered following the ordeal. Claims: The claims come after he denied assaulting Blac Chyna amid reports of an altercation that took place when the duo were in Honolulu last week Stated: According to legal documents obtained by TMZ , Kid, real name Markquez Santiago, was arrested and charged by US authorities after he punched his ex-girlfriend and threatened her with a gun in front of their two-year-old daughter TMZ stated: 'Per court records, he pleaded guilty to charges of child abuse (without causing great bodily harm), intimidation, robbery by sudden snatching, and criminal mischief. 'He said he pleaded guilty "for my own convenience and to move on with life." He was sentenced to two years probation, which he completed in 2010.' The claims come after he denied assaulting Blac Chyna amid reports of an altercation that took place when the duo were in Honolulu last week. The rapper took to Instagram to refute the claims in a now-deleted post: 'Every single body out there that's honestly feeding into this s*** and finding all this bulls***, entertaining all these lies, thinking they're cool and funny, you're sad.' Then: Kid was eventually arrested after previously refusing to cooperate. According to the publication, he denied the allegations and a gun was never recovered following the ordeal Record: TMZ stated: 'Per court records, he pled guilty to charges of child abuse (without causing great bodily harm), intimidation, robbery by sudden snatching, and criminal mischief. He said he pled guilty "for my own convenience and to move on with life." According to Complex, the artist continued, 'My mom raised me better than that. I would never put my hands on a woman never have I, never will I, ever in my fing life' Buu ended with a message about positive, telling his followers, 'We livin in a good world. We honestly are. But everybody believes we live in a fed up world because all you guys want to talk about is the negative. 'Stop with that, for real. Stop with that, and leave me out of it.' Last week, it was reported that police were called to the couple's Four Seasons hotel room in the early hours of that morning. Drama: Meanwhile, the police were called on Chyna and new boyfriend Kid Buu after a physical altercation - something Kid vehemently denies TMZ's source said that Chyna had accused Buu of cheating and just before 7AM it became physical. Chyna scratched the rapper and then he slammed her against the wall several times and choked her according to the insider. 'Someone from their group called 911,' a source told PEOPLE. 'Hotel security escorted police officers and paramedics to a suite, where Blac Chyna was with a group of people.' 'It was more of a 'he said, she said' situation. They both had complaints to the police, but in the end no one was arrested or taken to the hospital,' The source added that the couple 'were both intoxicated.' Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro confirmed that there is a proposal to allot congressmen 160 million each for projects in their districts. "There is a suggestion that each and every congressman be allocated 160 million," Castro told CNN Philippines' The Source on Monday. "Assuming further that congressmen approve this proposal, it's not pork - because everything is itemized, everything is accounted for." House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro: There is a suggestion that each congressman be allocated 160M | #TheSource https://t.co/sDo55hwVGt pic.twitter.com/38cBTW7eiE CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) February 4, 2019 However, Castro said congressmen do not yet have the proposed funding as it still needs to be approved by the bicameral conference committee reconciling differences in the budget bill passed by the House and the Senate. He added that the final amount could be lower or higher than 160 million, depending on the "agreement" of lawmakers in the bicameral conference committee. Senator Panfilo Lacson tweeted Thursday that each congressman got 160 million while "a few others" got billions more and some senators received 23 billion from the budget of the Public Works department alone. 160M pork for each congressman, and billions more for a few others plus 23B for some senators on the DPWH budget alone is too much and unacceptable. I may be outvoted eventually but Im willing to go down fighting, confident that some like-minded colleagues will do the same. PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) January 31, 2019 Following this, Castro lodged his own accusations against Lacson, saying that the "self-proclaimed anti-pork barrel crusader" introduced amendments to the proposed 2019 budget totalling 50 billion. READ: Frustrated Sotto calls for withdrawal of Senate budget bill Castro said Lacson made the amendments to provide additional funding for the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, but did not exactly detail where the funds would go. Speaking to The Source, Castro said this "violate[s] transparency and accountability in our General Appropriations Act" as the additional funds were supposedly not itemized. House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro: I'm not sure if Lacson submission will pass test of transparency | #TheSource https://t.co/sDo55hwVGt pic.twitter.com/GSV8RY0PNm CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) February 4, 2019 However, Lacson clarified to CNN Philippines in a text message that his amendments only totalled around 30.5 billion, nearly 4 billion of which were amendments made by the Senate Finance Subcommittee E, and nearly 27 billion of which were amendments made during the second reading of the budget bill. Lacson said these amendments were all official submissions to Senate Finance committee chair Loren Legarda. "All in writing. Walang ibinulong, walang isinulat sa napkin. [Not through whispers, not through notes on napkins,]" he said. The senator also dared Castro and other lawmakers to make public their amendments to the budget. Congress to pass budget The bicameral conference committee only has two days left to complete deliberations on the 2019 budget before Congress goes on break for the midterm elections in May. After it reconciles the differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget bill, both chambers of Congress would have to ratify the bicameral conference committee report before it is sent to President Rodrigo Duterte for his signature. Castro believes there is a good chance the legislature would pass the budget before the break. But even if Congress could not pass the budget bill on time, it can still hold special sessions for it to be tackled and ratified. "But the problem is the quorum. The problem is the attendance considering that it's already campaign period," Castro said. House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro: 70% chance of passing budget by Wednesday | #TheSource https://t.co/sDo55hwVGt pic.twitter.com/dgIODNhuVf CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) February 4, 2019 However, he suspects that congressmen would be more than willing to attend special sessions as a reenacted budget would prevent them from implementing projects for their constituents. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has warned that if Congress still fails to pass the budget in time for the polls, teachers who would serve as electoral board members may not get paid and some election paraphernalia like indelible ink may not be procured. While Legarda has vowed there would be enough funding for the elections even if there is no new budget for 2019, the Comelec said it would prefer that it be allocated a fresh budget for the elections instead of sourcing it from savings and the contingency fund. Congress failed to pass this year's budget before 2018 ended due to delays in the House over allegations of "insertions" in the budget bill, which government agencies are apparently clueless about. CNN Philippines Senior Anchor and Correspondent Pinky Webb contributed to this report. Advertisement They married in a lavish Portugese wedding in 2017 after a two-year courtship. And Duncan Bannatyne looked loved-up with his glamorous wife Nigora Whitehorn, 38, as they celebrated his 70th birthday with a Roman-themed party at the Sandy Lane hotel in Barbados on Sunday. The millionaire businessman kept a close arm on his spouse as they posed for photos while in fancy dress, with Duncan wearing a roman toga while Nigora was clad in a glittering gold gown. Sweet: Duncan Bannatyne, 70, looked loved-up with his wife Nigora Whitehorn, 38, as they celebrated his birthday with a Roman-themed party at the Sandy Lane hotel in Barbados on Sunday Duncan donned a gold crown atop his head to match his wife, while his toga was decorated with a red sash to mimic the ensemble that a Roman emperor would have worn in the past. He completed his look with a pair of brown gladiator sandals, and he wore gold gauntlets on each arm to give his costume a chic flourish. Nigora flaunted her incredible figure in her floor-length gold dress, which showed off a glimpse of her cleavage thanks to its plunging neckline. Give us a kiss: The couple shared a sweet smooch as they posed for photos at the event Gorgeous: Nigora flaunted her incredible figure in her gold gown, which showed off a glimpse of her cleavage thanks to its plunging neckline Stunning: Adding a glittering touch, she wore elaborate jewellery and a statement black and blue necklace to accentuate her opulent outfit for the glitzy event Gorgeous: Nigora wore dark pink lipstick and smokey eye shadow to highlight her pretty features, while she brushed her luscious raven tresses into a straight, slicked-back style Admiring the work: Duncan and Nigora took time to look at the different sweet treats that were available at the party In good spirits: The happily married couple looked sweet as they wrapped their arms around each other for photos Adding a glittering touch to her look, she wore elaborate jewellery and a statement black and blue necklace which accentuated her opulent outfit at the glitzy event. Nigora also wore a slick of dark pink lipstick and smokey eye shadow to highlight her pretty features, while she brushed her luscious raven tresses into a straight, slicked-back style. The couple celebrated the party with a large cake, and an array of smaller ones, which were half vanilla and half chocolate, and the main sweet treat was decorated with an array of fruit which surrounded a picture of the couple at the centre. Loved-up: The pair looked smitten as they shared a kiss while Duncan wrapped his arm around her waist Scrumptious: The couple celebrated the party with a large cake which was half vanilla and half chocolate, and was decorated with an array of fruit which surrounded a picture of the couple at the centre Powering through: Duncan and Nigora were joined at the party by a group of their friends and family, including Phones 4u co-founder John Caudwell who was also in attendance even as he wore a leg brace on his knee following a skiing accident Playing the part: Despite the injury, the 66-year-old was keen to join Duncan and the other guests in dressing up, as he wore an elaborately detailed black gladiator outfit, which he paired with flip-flops for comfort Chic: John matched his girlfriend Modesta Vzesniauskaite (L), 35, who wore a similar ensemble which had a plunging neckline to show off a glimpse of her cleavage Gorgeous goddesses: Nigora struck a pose with a gal pal, who wore an equally glamorous ensemble Strike a pose: Duncan, Nigora, John and Modesta posed up a storm together at the party Duncan and Nigora were joined at the party by a group of their friends and family, including Phones 4u co-founder John Caudwell who attended the party even though he wore a leg brace on his knee following a skiing accident. Despite the injury, the 66-year-old was keen to join Duncan and the other guests in dressing up by wearing a detailed black gladiator outfit, which he paired with flip-flops for comfort. He matched his girlfriend Modesta Vzesniauskaite, 35, who wore a similar ensemble which had a plunging neckline to show off a glimpse of her cleavage. Sweet treats: Duncan and Nigora admired a number of different cakes which were prepared for the millionaire's birthday Snapping away: Nigora took the chance to get as many photos as possible during the party Sweet: The married couple beamed as they took photos together while enjoying the event Time to boogie: Duncan and his wife stepped out onto the dance floor as they partied the night away with their friends Busting out the moves: Duncan and his guests showed off their dance moves at the party Stunning beauties: Nigora posed with a number of guests who were dressed in stylish ensembles The little details: The Uzbekistan beauty gave her look a glamorous flourish by wearing large drop earrings Wow! Nigora and other party guests enjoyed looking at the many different cakes that were on offer This is multimillionaire Duncan's third marriage after previously tying the knot with Gail Brodie and Joanne McCue, in 1987 and 2006 respectively. Thrice-wed Duncan has four children with his first wife Gail and two with his second wife Joanna. Since marrying Nigora, he has spoken about having children with her. Duncan's daughters Abigail, Eve, Jennifer, Hollie and Emily, as well as his son Thomas were in attendance at the party, as they posed for photos with their father. 'Of course we want children together,' Nigora proclaimed during an appearance on This Morning last year. He continued: 'Well be planning the future family. I would like to have at least two boys. 'I cant wait to be a dad again,' Duncan added to the conversation, before Nigoria relayed the reason why she wants to expand her family with Duncan: 'Hes an amazing father. I'm proud of how he is with my daughter. 'She adores Duncan and couldnt ask for better stepfather. Hes going to be an amazing father to my future children.' All dressed-up: Duncan and his daughters Abigail, Eve, Jennifer, Hollie and Emily, as well as his son Thomas, looked stylish in their Roman-inspired ensembles during the party Gracious hostess: Nigora spent time chatting away with a number of guests and posing for photos with them Having a great time: Duncan smiled as he posed with his guests who all seemed to be enjoying the party Looks good: Duncan and the other guests admired the handiwork that was displayed on the different cakes Chatting away: Nigora could be seen talking with a guest as they admired the different cakes All that glitters: Nigora looked stunning in her chic ensemble as she walked around the party Sensational: The raven-haired beauty's outfit was sure to turn heads as she glittered in gold Ready to eat: Duncan's many cakes each had photos printed across the top for a personal touch Victoria's Secret model Shanina Shaik has been spending time in Miami celebrating American model Jasmine Tookes' 28th birthday festivities. And on Saturday, the Australian beauty enjoyed a celebratory moment of her own by marking her upcoming 28th birthday early. Shanina's friends surprised her with an extravagant multi-tiered cake as they took to the town to party. Scroll down for video Party time! Victoria's Secret model Shanina Shaik kicked off her 28th birthday celebrations early on Saturday as her friends surprised her with an extravagant cake during a night out in Miami Shanina appeared completely in shock when the decadent dessert was placed in front of her at the table. Beaming widely, the catwalk queen dramatically blew on the candles as her friends shouted 'happy birthday'. The cake was festooned with purple flowers and a large gold topper emblazoned with her name. Surprise! Shanina appeared completely in shock when the decadent dessert was placed in front of her while out with her friends The supermodel appeared to be having the time of her life as she socialised and danced with her genetically-blessed friends on the night. Taking to Instagram to document the night out, Shanina was seen taking photos of posters dedicated to her birthday celebrations in LIV Miami. The guests appeared to all be dressed in bright clothing, as they traveled around town in a limousine. All smiles! Beaming with a large grin, Shanina comically blew on the sparkler candles as her friends shouted 'happy birthday' Where was her husband? DJ Ruckus - real name Gregory Andrews - was in Atlanta for the Super Bowl during the early festivities, but the model's actual birthday is on February 11 DJ Ruckus - real name Gregory Andrews - was in Atlanta for the Super Bowl during the early festivities, but the model's actual birthday is on February 11. Back in 2017, Shanina famously jumped out of a large cake for her now-husband DJ Ruckus' 34th birthday celebrations at Los Angeles club. The loved-up couple tied the knot in June 2018, after being engaged for two-and-a-half years. She's been absent from social media since her shock split from footy star husband Sam in December. But on Monday, Phoebe Burgess cut a glamorous figure as she made a triumphant return to Instagram. Seen cradling two-month old son Billy, the 29 year-old stunned in a navy check shirt dress. She's back! On Monday, Phoebe Burgess, 29, returned to social media for the first time since her split from husband Sam, sharing this sweet image of herself cradling newborn son Billy while sporting a ring on her wedding finger Wearing eye-catching retro sunglasses, Phoebe also wore a rose gold and diamond Cartier ring on her wedding finger in place of her diamond engagement ring. The striking ring only started appearing in her social media pictures in August. She briefly wore the band alongside her engagement ring, but hasn't posted images of herself wearing her engagement ring since October. The mother-of-two also took to Instagram Stories to share two black-and-white images of herself cradling the adorable newborn. A mother's love: The mother-of-two also took to Instagram Stories to share two black-and-white images of herself cradling the adorable newborn Phoebe and Sam's marriage collapse in December came just three weeks after she gave birth to their second child. The split news came as a shock to fans, as their three-year marriage was portrayed as a fairy-tale on social media. Last month, reports surfaced describing Phoebe and Sam's break-up as 'pretty messy'. Happier times: Phoebe and Sam's marriage collapse in December came just three weeks after she gave birth to their second child. Pictured here at the Dally M Awards in Sydney in 2017 A close friend told The Daily Telegraph that 'things [had] been bad for a while'. 'It would have been hard for Phoebe because [Sam's mum] Julie would have completely stuck by Sam... and there's talk she didn't offer Phoebe much support,' they claimed. Meanwhile, Sam, 30, is reportedly looking for a bachelor pad in Coogee following his split from estranged wife, Phoebe, 29. Moved out: Sam and Phoebe own a $3.8 million mansion in Maroubra where Phoebe is residing with the couple's two children Poppy, two, and newborn Billy According to The Sydney Morning Herald on Sunday, the Rabbitohs star has turned to real estate agent Beau Champion to help him find a new home. Sam was spotted moving out of the family's $3.8 million Maroubra mansion in December where Phoebe remains with their two children. Sam and Phoebe also share daughter, Poppy, two. She recently shut down claims she was 'drunk and unable to care for the children' earlier this month, branding the rumours 'entirely false'. And Blac Chyna appeared to brush aside the drama as she headed out for dinner with her kids King Cairo, six, and Dream, two, in Studio City, California, on Sunday night. The TV personality, 30, turned heads as she stepped out in a flashy checked jacket by luxury fashion house Burberry, retailing at $900. Family first: Blac Chyna headed out for dinner with her kids King Cairo, six, and Dream, two, in Studio City, California, on Sunday night Accentuating her curvaceous physique, the former stripper sported a pair of black Adidas leggings, featuring the brand's trendy white panels. The mother-of-two opted for comfort with her footwear as she rocked cosy sliders by Fendi. Displaying her naturally radiant complexion, Chyna went make-up free and covered her blonde tresses with a knitted beanie. The video vixen shares daughter Dream with former fiance Rob Kardashian, and son King Cairo with rapper Tyga. Designer things: The TV personality, 30, turned heads as she stepped out in a flashy checked jacket by luxury fashion house Burberry, retailing at $900 Chyna's display came after reports claimed Rob's family don't feel comfortable with the TV star, after she wanted to leave Dream with nannies as she partied at the Ritz Carlton in Honolulu, Hawaii with musician Kid Buu, 30, according to People. The source said: 'Rob's family always had issues with Chyna. Her public behavior in the past few days, certainly isn't going to give her a Mother of the Year award. Chyna has long acted like her number one priority isn't raising her kids. This is very hard for Rob's family. 'They don't feel like Dream is properly cared for when she is with Chyna. They find it to be a sad situation. Former lover: The video vixen shares daughter Dream with former fiance Rob Kardashian (pictured in May 2016) 'Dream is the cutest little girl. She is very happy and so much fun to be around. Rob's family just wants Dream to be raised in the best way possible', the insider added. The reality star's lawyer, Lisa Bloom, recently responded to claims the Washington native was 'drunk and unable to care for the children' earlier this month. She said in a statement: 'They were never in any danger and any reports to the contrary are entirely false. 'I remind the public that anyone who submits a knowingly false report to Child Protective Services may be subject to criminal and civil liability.' TMZ also reported that Rob and Chyna are close to reaching a new custody deal, which would reportedly see the KUWTK star pay significantly less than his current $20,000 a month in child support. MailOnline contacted representatives for Chyna and Rob for further comment at the time. She and her British racing driver beau Jenson Button revealed last month that they are expecting their first child. Despite the good news, Brittny Ward was forced to be sharp tongued on Friday, as she told an internet troll to 'f*** off' after he criticised her for 'calling herself fat' during her pregnancy. The Californian-born model, 28, shared the heated exchange on her Instagram stories with her followers, as she added the comment 'next please!' over the top. Blast: Jenson Button's fiancee Brittny Ward told an internet troll to 'f*** off' on Friday, after they criticised the pregnant model for joking about her weight (pictured in September 2018) Referring to a since deleted caption, the user told Brittny: 'Calling yourself fat when you look like that shames real women everywhere. 'I realize you're a model and you're used to being even skinnier but this is not fat. You're pregnant and you're skinnier than regular girls. You're part of the problem (sic).' But Brittny was not going to accept the remarks, as she blasted back: 'It's my body and I will say what i want about it! Have a dam sense of humor for god sake. She then concluded: 'Men like you telling me what i should and shouldn't say is the problem. How in the hell am I not a real woman? Now please go f*** off!' Trolling: Referring to a since deleted caption, the user told Brittny: 'Calling yourself fat when you look like that shames real women everywhere' Hitting back: Brittny (pictured with Jenson in September 2018) was not going to accept the remarks, as she blasted, 'It's my body and I will say what i want about it!' This comes after the couple revealed they are set to have their first child together, by sharing a sweet ultrasound picture in January. Jenson posted a gushing caption about the baby, as he wrote: 'Brittny & I are Delighted to announce the new edition to the family currently having his first seat! Look how comfy he looks! #babybutton'. While Brittny took to her own account to also share the news just minutes later with a picture of her baby scan, along with the caption: 'Baby couldnt wait for the wedding, hes decided to make an early appearance.' Parents-to-be: The comment comes after Brittny and Jenson revealed in January they were going to have a baby with a sweet ultrasound picture She added: '@jensonbutton_22 and I are very happy to announce baby button is coming this summer #babybutton.' Brittny and Jenson announced their engagement in June last year, following two years of dating. The model revealed the couple's big news by sharing a romantic snap of the pair looking deep into one another's eyes along with the caption 'soon to be Mrs Button' and a ring emoji. News: The couple announced their engagement in June last year, after two years of dating, and she joked: 'Baby couldnt wait for the wedding, hes decided to make an early appearance' The couple have been dating since March 2016, three months after his split from model wife Jessica Michibata was confirmed. Jenson and ex-wife Jessica - who tied the knot in a lavish Hawaiian ceremony in December 2014 - called time on their relationship just one year later but remain on good terms. A spokesperson for Jenson told MailOnline at the time: 'Jenson and Jessica have decided to go their separate ways and it is very amicable. There is no one else involved.' She's taking over the role of royalty wild child Princess Margaret in The Crown. And Helena Bonham Carter took inspiration from her latest character as she hit London's celeb-favourite venue 100 Wardour Street to party with her co-stars on Sunday night. Celebrating the end of a long stint of filming, Helena showed off her quirky sense of style as she left the venue, while her onscreen sister Olivia Colman, who plays Queen Elizabeth II, took a more low-key exit via the back door. Celebrating: Helena Bonham Carter hit London's 100 Wardour Street to party with her The Crown co-stars on Sunday night after wrapping a filming stint for series three Helena, 52, flashed her legs in her green and black floral maxi dress which featured daring splits as she left the bar followed by Josh OConnor who plays her nephew Prince Charles in The Crown. She added her own signature twist to the pretty dress by teaming it with black chunky boots. Adding a long black coat over the top to give her some warmth in the freezing London temperatures, Helena accessorised with bold metallic eyeshdow and ruby red lipstick while adding touches of glam with a pearl necklace and a sparkling bow in her hair. Flashing some leg: Helena showed off her quirky sense of style as she left the venue, while her onscreen sister Olivia Colman took a more lowkey exit via the back door Helena is taking over the role of Princess Margaret for series three of Netflix hit The Crown, after Vanessa Kirby's acclaimed portrayal for the first two series. When her casting as Princess Margaret was announced last year, Helena declared: 'Im not sure which Im more terrified about doing justice to the real Princess Margaret or following in the shoes of Vanessa Kirbys Princess Margaret.' 'The only thing I can guarantee is that Ill be shorter [than Vanessa].' Heading home: Helena, 52, flashed her legs in her green and black floral maxi dress which featured daring splits. She teamed the pretty dress with chunky black boots Coming soon: Helena has taken over the role of Princess Margaret for series three and four while Ben Daniels also joins the cast as her husband Lord Snowdon Drama: Fans will get to see the turbulent journey in the royal couple's marriage, eventually leading to their split in 1978 (Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon pictured in 1960) As the drama jumps forward into the 1960s and 1970s, Ben Daniels takes over from Matthew Goode for the role of Margaret's husband Lord Snowdon while Tobias Menzies plays Prince Philip, who was previously played by Matt Smith. The third and fourth series of The Crown will also see an older Prince Charles played by Bafta nominee Josh OConnor embark on the beginnings of romance between him and Princess Diana. Charles Dance will also make an appearance as Lord Mountbatten, who may be involved in huge storylines, including Prince Charles' and a young Camilla's (Duchess of Cornwall) love affair. The Crown series three will arrive on Netflix in 2019. Early romance: Princess Margaret's marriage to Lord Snowdon was seen in the show's second series, with Vanessa Kirby playing the royal while Matthew Goode portrayed the photographer Martha Kalifatidis made her debut on Monday night's episode of Married At First Sight. And while the 30-year-old looked lovely during her TV wedding to teacher Michael Brunelli, she appears completely different on the small screen than she does in photos on her Instagram account. Several snaps shared to social media show Martha looking far more glamorous and airbrushed, possibly the result of filters and photo editing apps. The magic of Instagram! Married At First Sight's Kim Kardashian look-a-like Martha Kalifatidis appears completely different on television (left) than she does on social media (right) When introduced to viewers on Monday night's episode of MAFS, Martha's look was more natural and low-key. The beauty, who is of Greek descent, wore minimal make-up and and dressed in a demure pink top as she told described her life as singleton. This TV image of Martha is contrasted with her sultry Instagram snaps, which show her with tousled hair, more contoured cheeks and far plumper lips. Is that really you? The TV image of Martha (left) is contrasted with her sultry Instagram snaps, which show her with tousled hair, heavier eyeliner, more contoured cheeks and far plumper lips (right) The Melbourne-based beauty has previously stated that she has not had lip fillers, so her plumper pout on social media may be down to photo editing, such as FaceTune. On Instagram, Martha's face also appears far more smooth and taut, making her look much younger than her 30 years of age. Meanwhile, the beauty hasn't been shy in admitting she has undergone cosmetic procedures in order to look more like her idol Kim Kardashian. Filters? On Instagram, Martha's face also appears far more smooth and taut, making her look much younger than her 30 years of age. She is pictured at left on MAFS, and at right in an Instagram snap Speaking to NW on Monday, she reportedly said she has had extensive surgery including a boob job, nose job, Botox and fillers. The magazine claims she also admitted to having rhinoplasty but denied having butt implants. She also told NW that she is planning even more plastic surgery, 'probably after I have kids' Married At First Sight's Ines Basic, 28, applied for the controversial reality series in hopes of finding a partner with which she could finally begin a family. But on Monday's episode, she was left fuming at the show's 'relationship experts' for pairing her with a former stripper. Shortly after saying 'I do' at her TV wedding, Ines' voiced her opinions of 'husband' Bronson Norrish's past: 'This is purely disgusting to me, an ex-stripper is not supporting my future babies. I will never have a family with him!' Scroll down for video 'Its disgusting. He will not be the father of my children': MAFS bride Ines Basic was left fuming after being paired with a former stripper on Monday night's episode Using the moniker Bronson Foxx, the now 34-year-old previously disrobed for Perth's All Hot Strippers and performed in an all-male burlesque show called 'Boylesque'. The Bosnian-beauty's bridesmaids made jokes about Bronson being a stripper and 'male entertainer', but the Perth-based male remained unaffected. 'It's in my past. I'm not ashamed that I used to be a stripper at all,' he told producers. Ines refused to kiss him during their newlywed photo shoot, and later pried him further on his decision to strip for a living. 'I will never get passed this. This is pure bottom of the barrel': Ines was not impressed by Bronson's former life as a stripper and 'male entertainer' 'It's in my past. I'm not ashamed': Using the moniker Bronson Foxx, the now 34-year-old previously disrobed for Perth's All Hot Strippers and performed in an all-male burlesque show When the legal assistant pressed Bronson on his career choice, he revealed it was his mother's dying wish for him to try stripping, but now is an entrepreneur and boat operator, Ines, unable to comprehend the conversation, said: 'I've been in some really bad situations in my life, but I've never taken my clothes off for money.' 'I will never get passed this. This is pure bottom of the barrel. Who I date and marry is a representation of myself - this is mortifying,' she exclaimed. 'I hate myself right now, because I have been a bit hard and mean to Bronson': After hearing about Bronson's heart-breaking past, Ines said she was willing to give Bronson a chance in the experiment as husband and wife However, Ines soon changed her stance after Bronson's father Neil held back tears detailing how the groom's mother and two brothers had died in an emotional speech wishing the couple well. 'I hate myself right now, because I have been a bit hard and mean to Bronson. When I found out he lost three of his family member in a short period of time, it makes me feel sad.' Wiping streaming tears from her face, she said she was willing to give Bronson a chance in the experiment as husband and wife, Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine She's set to become one of the most talked about women in Australia thanks to her starring role on Married at First Sight. But Ines Basic has revealed her father is still completely in the dark about her appearing on the hugely popular Nine reality series - and the legal secretary has no intention of telling him. 'My dad still has no idea I'm on the show,' she told Courier Mail. 'And I'm not going to tell him. 'My dad still has no idea I'm on the show!' Married At First Sight villain Ines Basic says her father is STILL completely in the dark about her starring role on the Nine reality smash hit The 28-year-old said her father 'thought she had moved to Sydney for a job' while she completed production. And the brunette also revealed no-one from her family attended her on-screen wedding to ex-stripper Bronson Norrish. 'I'm sort of glad they weren't there,' she told the publication. 'I didn't have to listen to their comments or judgments if they didn't approve or support it!' The brunette also revealed no-one from her family attended her on-screen wedding to ex-stripper Bronson Norrish (right) 'It means less pressure, and that I didn't have to listen to their comments or judgments if they didn't approve or support it.' Last week, Ines revealed she came dangerously close to being a 'runaway bride' after meeting Bronson, 34, at the altar. Speaking to Who magazine on Thursday, the Bosnian-born beauty explained she nearly quit the series when she discovered her 'husband' used to be a stripper. 'I didn't want to be there! Speaking to Who magazine on Thursday, the Bosnian-born beauty explained she nearly quit the series when she discovered her 'husband' used to be a stripper 'When taking the photographs, I was told my groom was a stripper I was like, "Oh my god, no!" I wanted to run away. I didn't want to be there,' she said. Meanwhile, Ines' happily ever after with Bronson is looking highly unlikely after she was caught out flirting with co-star Jessika Power's 'hot brother' Rhyce. In a playful exchange of comments discovered on Monday, the genetically-blessed pair recently planned to meet up in Melbourne and even penned heart-shaped emojis to one another. Ines has already been branded the show's 'villain' following her debut last week - and her wedding scenes haven't even aired yet. Advertisement Chris Hemsworth, 35, and Elsa Pataky's, 42, $9million Byron Bay mega-mansion is nearing completion, more than a year after construction began. The Hollywood power couple are expected to move their young family into the luxury property, which sits on 4.2 hectares at Broken Head and overlooks the Seven Mile Beach. Stunning new photos show a multi-level building surrounded by greenery with dirt trails that lead to the iconic beach. What an eye-Thor! Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky's controversial $9 million Byron Bay mega mansion nears completion... after frustrated locals likened the multi-level property to a shopping centre There's plenty of room for Thor hunk Chris and Elsa's children India Rose, six, and twin sons Tristan and Sasha, four, to play at the home, which has been likened to a shopping centre and office building. It's been claimed the property will feature a gym, steam room, infinity swimming pool, luxury spa, media room and game room, as well as six bedrooms and state-of-the-art appliances. Builders have worked hard to bring Chris and Elsa's vision of a dream home to life, since getting approved for the knockdown-rebuild by Byron Shire Council in March 2017. Dream home: The Hollywood power couple are expected to move their young family into the luxury property, which sits on 4.2 hectares at Broken Head and overlooks the iconic Seven Mile Beach The couple, who left California for Byron in 2015, have brought Hollywood-style living to the quiet coastal town - which has garnered mixed reactions from locals. Some critics previously condemned the construction in a Byron Bay community group on Facebook. 'Looks like the new Woolies,' one user wrote. Construction: Stunning new photos show a multi-level building surrounded by greenery with dirt trails that lead to the beach Hollywood living: It's been claimed the property will feature a gym, steam room, infinity swimming pool, luxury spa, media room and game room, as well as six bedrooms and state-of-the-art appliances Someoneelse sarcastically wrote: 'Way to live minimally. I wonder what the environmental footprint is like.' However, real estate expert Nerida Conisbee told news.com.au last month that the famous family are inadvertently boosting the local economy by attracting buyers to the area. 'There's always been a lot of celebrities who have loved living up in that area but they (the Hemsworths) are very high-profile and they are giving the area a very high profile as well,' she said. Picturesque: The home overlooks stunning hills on one side and the iconic Seven Mile Beach on the other 'This would definitely be pushing Byron Bay up the list in terms of international visibility.' The publication reports that, 'the median property price in Byron Bay recently reached $1.75 million' which is higher than many prices in Sydney. In September last year, an insider told Woman's Day that the couple feel disheartened by all the negativity after the property was likened to a 'prison' and a 'hospital' due to it's size. Stunning: The home is surrounded by nature and located just a few minutes walk to the beach Secluded: Chris and Elsa can enjoy peace and quiet in their spacious and very private area 'All the negativity is a real headache for Chris and Elsa because the last thing they want is to upset their neighbours,' a source told Woman's Day. 'They insist they went into this with every good intention, and they're not disturbing anybody by building themselves a dream home in the region they both love. 'It's a shame from their point of view that people are giving them a hard time and choosing to be negative, but they're going full-steam ahead and can't wait for it to be finished.' She's the daughter of one of America's most iconic swimsuit models, Christie Brinkley. And Sailor Brinkley Cook, 20, once again proved the apple doesn't fall far from the tree during a racy swimwear shoot in Sydney on Sunday. The blonde beauty looked flawless as she posed up a storm by the rocks at Watsons Bay, clad in a high-cut pink one piece. Scroll down for video She got it from her mama! Sailor Brinkley Cook, 20, flaunts her sensational figure in a skimpy pink swimsuit in behind-the-scenes footage of a Sydney photoshoot Sailor, who is Christie's daughter with architect Peter Cook, showed off her endless pins as she withered about on the sand in photos and video footage she posted on Instagram. On the day she wore her signature blonde hair out and minimal makeup. Showing that modelling is in the genes, Sailor shot the camera a number of sultry expressions, reminiscent of her ageless mother. Leggy: Sailor, who is Christie's daughter with architect Peter Cook, showed off her endless pins as she withered about on the sand in photos and video footage she posted on Instagram Meanwhile, Sailor gave fans a rare glimpse of her getting her makeup done in a second video. The blonde beauty is lapping-up her time Down Under, and has shared a number of images of herself visiting many of Sydney's beautiful beaches. She captioned one recent video of herself with the words: 'One happy cheeky monkey.' Glam girl: Sailor gave a rare glimpse of herself getting her make-up done in a second video She also shared a series of snaps of herself wearing a canary yellow bikini, featuring sexy cut-out details, writing: 'It's a scorcher.' Sailor previously told Att.net that she was coming Down Under for the first time, for a shoot and various other projects. She said: 'Ive always wanted to go. I want to expand out of New York and meet new people.' Mellow yellow: Sailor recently shared a series of snaps of herself wearing a canary yellow bikini, featuring sexy cut-out details, writing: 'It's a scorcher' Sailor really appears to be enjoying her time in Sydney and recently wrote: 'Greetings from Aus! 'Where I can work in a bustling city then take a 10 minute Uber [ride] to the most beautiful beach for a dip,' she wrote on Instagram on January 8. 'Three days into living here and I f***ing love it.' Having a ball! Sailor has been having a ball during her time Down Under In March last year, Sailor admitted that growing up in her mother Christie's shadow wasn't always easy. She previously told the Mail: 'I've never brought it upon myself that I have to be like her that's not possible. She's had a career for 50 years. 'I'm just trying to live my life. I want people to realise I have my own things going for me.' Married At First Sight's Sam Ball unexpectedly fled the country the morning after his wedding to Elizabeth Sobinoff. During Monday night's episode, the 26-year-old tradesman packed his bags and left the couple's hotel in Sydney to attend the funeral of his ex-girlfriend's mother in New Zealand. 'I feel bad because we just met and this has come up, but I can't disrespect them... I can't do it,' Sam told producers. 'I hope he is coming back': Married At First Sight's Sam Ball (right) fled the country after his wedding night - leaving his bride Elizabeth Sobinoff (left) devastated 'I can tell she [Elizabeth] is very frustrated but what do you do? I've only known her for a day,' he added. Before leaving the hotel, a nervous-looking Sam explained the situation to his confused bride. 'I've got to tell you, obviously. I can't pretend this hasn't happened. I've just... my ex-partner's mum has passed away and... she wants me to go to the funeral,' he said. Loss: During Monday night's episode, the 26-year-old tradesman packed his bags and left the couple's hotel in Sydney to attend the funeral of his ex-girlfriend's mother in New Zealand Sam told Elizabeth, 27, that the morning after their wedding he woke up to a text message saying his ex-girlfriend's mother had died. 'It's a massive shock, I've got a lot of history with my ex and we're very close,' he said. The part-time model then revealed the funeral would be taking place at the same time as their honeymoon. 'I can't pretend this hasn't happened': Before leaving the hotel, a nervous-looking Sam explained the situation to his confused bride He explained that because the funeral was taking place in New Zealand, he would be unable to go on their honeymoon. 'I'm quite stunned and I don't know what's going on,' Elizabeth said tearfully. 'This does make me worried about my experience with Sam. 'I've risked so much to be here in this experiment, I hope he is coming back.' Leaving the country: After their difficult conversation, Sam booked a last-minute flight before gathering his luggage and jumping into a taxi After their difficult conversation, Sam booked a last-minute flight before gathering his luggage and jumping into a taxi. It comes after Elizabeth revealed on Sunday's episode that she was eager to consummate her marriage to Sam - and even wore special lingerie for the occasion. 'So, my thoughts about sex on the first night - if you're feeling it, you're feeling it. I mean, I would not say no. I mean, it's my wedding night!' she said. And he's off! The tattooed tradesman was seen loading his luggage into a cab Glum: Sam (left) looked downcast as he left for the airport before boarding a flight bound for New Zealand. Meanwhile, Elizabeth (right) appeared pensive after he left However, the feeling was not mutual, as Sam repeatedly complained about Elizabeth's appearance and said he did not want to have sex with her. 'I don't know if she's going to want to go all the way. I actually hope she doesn't,' he confessed during the wedding. At the reception, Sam also made reference to Elizabeth's body size. 'She's a bit bigger... hopefully she's into running a lot. You know what I'm like,' he told one of his groomsmen. Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine No luck, Liz! It comes after Elizabeth revealed on Sunday's episode she was eager to consummate her marriage to Sam - and even wore special lingerie for the occasion Elisabeth Moss' character ominously warned American to 'wake up' in the first preview for season three of The Handmaid's Tale, which aired during CBS' Super Bowl LIII broadcast on Sunday. The 30-second teaser for the dystopian drama - adapted from Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel - appropriately sampled the 1984 Ronald Reagan re-election campaign ad 'Prouder, Stronger, Better.' 'It's morning again in America,' the narrator said. She's back! Elisabeth Moss' character ominously warned American to 'wake up' in the first preview for season three of The Handmaid's Tale, which aired during CBS' Super Bowl LIII broadcast on Sunday Reagan era: The 30-second teaser for the dystopian drama - adapted from Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel - appropriately sampled the 1984 Ronald Reagan re-election campaign ad 'Prouder, Stronger, Better' 'Today, more women will go to work than ever before in our country's history. This year, dozens of children will be born to happy and health families. It's morning again.' The 36-year-old actress could be seen donning the blue garb of the domestic servants known as 'Marthas' cooking and cleaning for the Republic of Gilead's highest-ranking homes. The two-time Golden Globe winner's character June Osborne/Offred was Gilead's most-wanted fertile slave deserter yet she still has to secretly retrieve her estranged daughter Hannah (Jordana Blake). 'She is staying to fight to save all the children of Gilead,' Moss told THR in July. The narrator said: 'It's morning again in America. Today, more women will go to work than ever before in our country's history. This year, dozens of children will be born to happy and health families. It's morning again' Hiding in plain sight: The 36-year-old actress could be seen donning the blue garb of the domestic servants known as 'Marthas' cooking and cleaning for the Republic of Gilead's highest-ranking homes 'She is staying to fight to save all the children of Gilead': Her character June Osborne/Offred was Gilead's most-wanted fertile slave deserter yet she still has to secretly retrieve her estranged daughter Hannah (Jordana Blake) Moss told THR in July: 'It's bigger than her now. It's bigger than her and Holly and Hannah. It's all about the sons and especially daughters of Gilead, and fighting for their lives. Seeing the Martha network and the commander have opened her eyes' 'It's bigger than her now. It's bigger than her and Holly and Hannah. It's all about the sons and especially daughters of Gilead, and fighting for their lives. Seeing the Martha network and the commander have opened her eyes. She is no longer alone. She has an army, and she's going to fight back.' The trailer ended with June back in her subservient red Handmaid's robe pushing back against the totalitarian regime. 'Wake up, America,' June announced at the national Mall where the Handmaids have assembled. 'Morning is over.' Season three of the Hulu hit series has no premiere date yet, but it most likely starts streaming in April. 'She is no longer alone. She has an army, and she's going to fight back': The trailer ended with June back in her subservient red Handmaid's robe pushing back against the totalitarian regime 'Wake up, America,' June announced at the national Mall where the Handmaids have assembled. 'Morning is over' She recently revealed that she has joined London's Heart Radio, to co-host the drive-time show alongside Jason 'JK' King. And on Sunday, Kelly Brook gushed about her new role, admitting that she feels as though she's been thrown a 'lifeline' by the radio gig. The former presenter of The Big Breakfast, 39, confessed that she had felt her time in the public eye was waning and she might not get another chance. New job: On Sunday, Kelly Brook, 39, gushed about her new role on Heart Radio, admitting that she feels as though she's been thrown a 'lifeline' by the radio gig Speaking to Hello! magazine, the model said that her slot on Heart is a dream job and has given her 'a new lease of life'. Kelly said: 'It's been really lovely because I feel like I have been given another lifeline. 'You think: "Oh, that's it, maybe I had my go and it's someone else's turn." When an opportunity like this comes along, all of a sudden you've got another shot.' Kelly has previously appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Juice, and had a successful career in modelling, but is delighted to be back working as a presenter. Co-hosts: She recently revealed that she has joined London's Heart Radio, to co-host the drive-time show alongside Jason 'JK' King (pictured) The end? The former presenter of The Big Breakfast, 39, confessed that she had felt her time in the public eye was waning and she might not get another chance She said: 'I think it's given me a new lease of life. To be doing something I love, making people feel good, is just the best. 'It's the best job I could ever want. I never want it to end.' Read the full article in Hello, out now. Meanwhile, Kelly has been on a health stint throughout January, trialling veganism and upping her fitness regime. Happy lady: Kelly said: 'It's been really lovely because I feel like I have been given another lifeline. You think: "Oh, that's it, maybe I had my go and it's someone else's turn"' New job: When an opportunity like this comes along, all of a sudden you've got another shot' And Kelly Brook showed off her extreme flexibility at Heart Radio on Thursday after feeling inspired by a morning yoga session. The model took to Instagram to share a clip of her performing the crab. Displaying her impressive hyper-extension, Kelly walked into the crab from a back-bend. When the television personality found herself in the crab position, she screamed ' oh my god, how do I get out of it?' before losing her balance when her co-host Jason King tried to distract her by putting his trainer in her face. On Wednesday, Kelly shared a snap from her morning flow with her personal trainer Jordan Stanford. Delighted: She said: 'I think it's given me a new lease of life. To be doing something I love, making people feel good, is just the best' Bendy: Kelly Brook showed off her extreme flexibility at Heart Radio on Thursday after feeling inspired by a morning yoga session The star told her 1million followers she was working on turning the foundational arm balance pose called the crow into a headstand. As well as her fitness regime, Kelly has been sharing clips and snapshots of a host of Vegan dishes and treats she has eaten throughout the month. It comes after she previously admitted she was body-shamed by a school teacher at the age of 11, as they accused her of wearing clothes that were too 'flirty'. She told The Mirror's Notebook magazine: 'The Head Of Year sent me to her office and said, 'You can't come to school looking the way you do, flirting with every boy that comes past.' I was 11. There she goes! Displaying her impressive hyper-extension, Kelly walked into the crab from a backbend Panicked: When the television personality found herself in the crab position, she screamed ' oh my god, how do I get out of it?' 'I didn't know what the word 'flirt' even meant. I dressed the same as everyone else, but my curves made me different. After that realisation I felt very uncomfortable with my looks.' During a recent interview with Femail, Kelly revealed that her weight started creeping on after she returned to the UK from a stint in Los Angeles two years ago. And resorting to using editing tools to change the way she looked in her Instagram photos helped her realise she wasn't happy. Opening up about her past weight loss struggles Kelly, who has always been renowned for her curves, explained: 'I'm a curvy girl and I like my natural shape. It's who I am after all. Toppling over: She lost her balance when her co-host Jason King tried to distract her by putting his trainer in her face Feeling inspired: On Wednesday, Kelly shared a snap from her morning flow with her personal trainer Jordan Stanford 'But I'm aware that over the last few years, I've been gradually gaining weight. It didn't really start to bother me until I couldn't get into my skinny jeans anymore.' She added: 'Suddenly I realised at aged 39, I was beyond my healthy BMI. My wardrobe had became very limited and I wasn't feeling at my best anymore.' Since starting her weight loss journey back in October, Kelly, who is dating Frenchman Jeremy Parisi, has lost 15lbs and 4 inches from her hips. Kelly's recently admitted she was body-shamed by a school teacher at the age of 11, as they accused her of wearing clothes that were too 'flirty'. It has never shied away from difficult topics. Now Call the Midwife has returned to the controversial subject of abortion in another harrowing storyline. After touching on backstreet terminations earlier in the series, last nights episode of the BBC drama featured the death of a woman who was forced into having the procedure illegally after being turned down by her doctor. The tragic storyline featured rousing pro-choice speeches by a number of characters as the programme set in 1964 explored the legalisation of abortion. Terminations were eventually legalised under the Abortion Act in 1967. In yesterdays episode, mother-of-two Jeannie, played by Molly Chesworth, was too scared to tell her husband and doctor she had visited an illegal abortionist. In harrowing scenes, she dies in an ambulance after catching an infection. Speaking to Nurse Trixie, played by Helen George, about her pregnancy, she said: It isnt what I wanted. Are women not allowed to want or not want things? I thought it was going to be different for us, that we were going to be able to choose. And what I dont want is to end up like my mother did, seven kids in 11 years and in and out of hospital with her head falling apart. Viewers were moved to tears earlier in the series when Cath, played by Emily Barber, had an illegal abortion in the first episode. She's known to hit back at her haters. And RHONY alum Carole Radziwill slam dunked a commentator who accused her of being attention-seeking, on her Instagram on Sunday. The 55-year-old reality television star shared images of her backside from the beach in Jamaica, in a white-hot swimsuit but found herself trolled on the comments. Life's a beach! RHONY alum Carole Radziwill slam dunked a commentator who accused her of being attention-seeking, on her Instagram on Sunday Slammed back: The 55-year-old reality television star found herself trolled on the comments 'Such a shame. Carol was not a media attention aholic when she started in RHONY,' wrote the commentator. 'Now it's pathetic. Wish she stayed intellectual Woman she first showed us,' they concluded. Carole couldn't resist replying, telling the writer to sit down. Cheeky: She had shared images of her backside from the beach in Jamaica, in a white-hot swimsuit 'Take a sit,' she snapped back,' I had an Instagram account since 2011. Just like everyone ekse (sic). And no I wasn't an attention ho on the show.' Carole - who left the show last year after six seasons - was parading on the beach as she enjoyed a Caribbean getaway and plugged the resort she was staying at as well as the bikini she was wearing. She captioned: 'Jamaica is so nice I posted it twice...or three times. Spending the weekend at @skylarknegril. The hotel is on 7 mile white sand beach, one of my top five spots for a quick getaway. My weight training is paying off. Parasailing optional. @gigicbikinis #skylarknegril Having fun: Carole - who left the show last year after six seasons - was parading on the beach as she enjoyed a Caribbean getaway Attention seeking? She plugged the resort she was staying at as well as the bikini she was wearing 'My weight training is paying off. Parasailing optional,' she joked in her caption Thrills: The reality star also shared a video which appeared to show her jumping from a low bridge Going down: She took the plunge into the turquoise waters Fun times: The star's pals gave whoops of delight as she made a splash Since leaving the show to 'concentrate on journalism,' Carole has been selling adult toys on a home shopping show. In December, she spoke to DailyMail.com about her decades using the devices. 'I'm the wholesome face of vibrators,' she laughed at the bash at the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York. 'I've been using them since I was 14. In fact I credit losing my virginity at such a late age due to the vibrators. All girls should be introduced early.' She is also writing a new memoir about her life, covering the years since her 2005 book What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love. And in it she will be dishing all about her six years on the Real Housewives. Katie Piper has revealed she ran into a burning block of flats to save trapped children while working as a volunteer police officer. The television personality and charity patron was filming a documentary, Famous and Fighting Crime alongside Made In Chelsea's Jamie Laing and Penny Lancaster when she noticed the blaze in Peterborough last May. Katie, 35, said she had to ignore her instinct to run after realising many of the flats' residents would be fast asleep, completely unaware the fire was tearing through the building. Katie Piper has revealed she ran into a burning block of flats to save trapped children while working as a volunteer police officer She told The Mirror: 'I had to go against every ounce of my body which was telling me to run, then it just hits you, there are children in there, people are asleep, we have to go in. I thought, "these people are going to get badly burned if we dont help them", you run the numbers in your head and realise if we dont go in, people could be killed or have their lives changed for ever. 'Me and my boss had to go in because there was no other choice, people were asleep, children were asleep, disabled people were asleep- I vowed I would never put myself in danger again and here I am.' Springing into action: The television personality was filming a documentary, Famous and Fighting Crime alongside when she noticed the blaze in Peterborough last May Terrified: Katie said she had to ignore her instinct to run after realising many of the flats' residents would be fast asleep, completely unaware the fire was ripping through the building Katie was initially hunting a fugitive drug addict when they discovered the fire. The Strictly star had to summon up the courage to join her senior officer in raising the alarm to help the 50 residents escape the blaze. Due to Katie and the team's swift actions nobody perished in the fire, but everybody needed to be rehomed. Ed Coulthard, the show's executive producer commended Katie for her bravery. 'She raced from floor to floor banging on doors to get the tenants out and on to the street. It was a frightening scene but she showed real courage,' he told the publication. Brave: She said: 'I had to go against every ounce of my body which was telling me to run, then it just hits you, there are children in there, Famous and Fighting: Katie joins comedian Marcus Brigstocke, Gogglebox star Sandi Bogle, Penny Lancaster, Jamie Laing (L-R) in the new documentary Katie also expressed her feelings of vulnerability after she had to investigate an acid attacker on the first day of the job. Back in March 2008, Katie was attacked by her ex-boyfriend Danny Lynch and accomplice Stefan Sylvestre, with the sulphuric acid causing major damage to her face and blindness in one eye. After a trial the following year, Lynch was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years at the age of 33. Sylvestre, then 20, received life with a minimum of six years. Personal: Katie also expressed her feelings of vulnerability after she had to investigate an acid attacker on the first day of her job Challenging: The celebrity crime fighters had to respond to real 999 calls, work in custody, and even CID Katie said at the thought of dealing with an acid attack incident 'terrifying' and she wanted to' cry, run away and hide in the loo.' However, the mother-of-two said she had to push aside her personal feelings and emotions and get on with the job at hand. Katie joins Penny and Jamie as well as Gogglebox star Sandi Bogle and comedian Marcus Brigstocke. The celebrity crime fighters had to respond to real 999 calls, work in custody, and even CID, as well as taking part in high risk drugs raids and keeping order in rowdy city centres at the weekend. Famous and Fighting Crime will air on Monday 11 February on Channel 4. Bethenny Frankel lived up to the name of her smash hit drinks brand Skinnygirl when she was glimpsed in Miami this Sunday. The 48-year-old Real Housewife Of New York was seen emerging from a pool in a colorful jungle-print backless one-piece. Her outfit's design included two orange crocodiles swimming toward each other and nearly touching snouts right over her derriere. A place in the sun: Bethenny Frankel lived up to the name of her smash hit drinks brand Skinnygirl when she was glimpsed in Miami this Sunday Bethenny was seen stretching out her shapely legs and shading her face with a peach hat as she lounged poolside across a deck chair. The former chat-show hostess added a splash of dazzle to her summery January ensemble by wearing a stack of bracelets at her left wrist. Once she was out of the swimming pool, Bethenny could be spotted layering up in a light V-neck caftan with a prowling tiger pattern. Bethenny shares her daughter Bryn, eight, with her second ex-husband Jason Hoppy, whom she married in March 2010, two months before their child was born. Hello, gorgeous: The 48-year-old Real Housewife Of New York was seen emerging from a pool in a colorful jungle-print backless one-piece Details: Her outfit's design included two orange crocodiles swimming toward each other and nearly touching snouts right over her derriere Relaxation: Bethenny was seen stretching out her shapely legs and shading her face with a peach hat as she lounged poolside across a deck chair Sleek and chic: The former chat-show hostess added a splash of dazzle to her summery January ensemble by wearing a stack of bracelets at her left wrist Family matters: Bethenny shares her daughter Bryn, eight, with her second ex-husband Jason Hoppy, whom she married in March 2010, two months before their child was born They split in 2012 and finalized the divorce in 2016, and though they initially had joint custody, Bethenny now wants full custody and is locked in a legal battle with him. This past August, Bethenny's on-off boyfriend Dennis Shields died at 51 at his residence in Manhattan's Trump Tower of a suspected overdose. The reality star, who also had a yearlong marriage to her friend Peter Sussman in the 1990s, put out a self-help book on love in 2016. What a time: They split in 2012 and finalized the divorce in 2016, and though they initially had joint custody, Bethenny now wants full custody and is locked in a legal battle with him Working it out: The reality star, who also had a yearlong marriage to her friend Peter Sussman in the 1990s, put out a self-help book on love in 2016 Co-written with Eve Adamson, it is charmingly titled I Suck At Relationships So You Don't Have To: 10 Rules For Not Screwing Up Your Happily Ever After. On Twitter this Sunday, Bethenny applied her romantic expertise to the rumors that Pete Davidson and Kate Beckinsale have become an item. 'So Pete Davidson was engaged to the sexy & talented @ArianaGrande and is now dating the beyond stunning @KateBeckinsale? So I guess its clear that he shoots diamonds out of his penis?' quipped Bethenny. Self-aware: Co-written with Eve Adamson, her book is charmingly titled I Suck At Relationships So You Don't Have To: 10 Rules For Not Screwing Up Your Happily Ever After Love guru: On Twitter this Sunday, Bethenny applied her romantic expertise to the rumors that Pete Davidson and Kate Beckinsale have become an item Elementary: 'So I guess its clear that he shoots diamonds out of his penis?' quipped Bethenny, marveling that he dated Kate so soon after his high-profile engagement to Ariana Grande One Twitter user commented: 'But for real.... how do these women keep falling for him?' adding an emoji of someone about to be sick. 'He is probably nice & funny & sensitive which women like. Cute and sweet. And the diamond D doesnt hurt I reckon,' Bethenny replied. She herself is now dating film producer Paul Bernon, who was on hand when she nearly died in December of what she described on Twitter as 'a rare fish allergy'. By her side: Bethenny herself is now dating film producer Paul Bernon, who was on hand when she nearly died in December of what she described on Twitter as 'a rare fish allergy' Trying time: Bethenny arrived at the hospital in the nick of time and was 'told if 5 mins later Id be dead,' she tweeted to her her 1.6 million followers Generous: She has since used Twitter to try and get 'approx 200 twin mattresses' and 'pillows & linens' for Newton-Wellesley Hospital, where she was treated Bethenny arrived at the hospital in the nick of time and was 'told if 5 mins later Id be dead,' she tweeted to her her 1.6 million followers. She has since used Twitter to try and get 'approx 200 twin mattresses' and 'pillows & linens' for Newton-Wellesley Hospital, where she was treated. The reality TV star and businesswoman wrote on Twitter that the Massachusetts facility 'have no budget for TVs or comfortable beds :( for really sick people.' Lending a hand: The reality TV star and businesswoman wrote on Twitter that the Massachusetts facility 'have no budget for TVs or comfortable beds :( for really sick people' Far from Miami: A week ago, Bethenny was in Los Angeles giving the keynote speech at the Nazarian Institute's conference about the luxury business A week ago, Bethenny was in Los Angeles giving the keynote speech at the Nazarian Institute's conference about the luxury business. It was her commitment to this conference that reportedly kept her from attending the baby shower of Real Housewives producer Andy Cohen. Although several of the other Real Housewives from various franchises were in attendance, an insider told People 'Everyone knew' Bethenny would not be there. 'The speaking engagement was booked way before Andys party and it was at the same time. All the Housewives knew she was not going to be at the party because of this,' the source explained to the magazine. Weekend excursions: It was her commitment to this conference that reportedly kept her from attending the baby shower of Real Housewives producer Andy Cohen To be clear: Although several of the other Real Housewives from various franchises were in attendance, an insider told People 'Everyone knew' Bethenny would not be there Getting the information out there: 'The speaking engagement was booked way before Andys party and it was at the same time,' gossiped the People source Common knowledge: 'All the Housewives knew she was not going to be at the party because of this,' the source explained to the magazine She has been considered a Hollywood sex symbol since her sexy dance with a python snake around her body in the crime-vampire film From Dusk Until Dawn in 1996. And the now 52-year old actress, has always been keenly aware that beauty starts from within. So it comes at no surprise that the Mexican-born star has embraced getting older with grace: '#proud of my white hair. #hair,' she captioned in an Instagram photo of her proudly displaying her grey hair. Aging with grace: Salma Hayek, 52, shared a selfie on Instagram and embraced her older self: '#proud of my white hair,' she shared in the caption In the selfie, Hayek looks straight into the camera with a big beaming smile and her dark long tresses prominently exposed. Sneaking through her lush locks: are a number of grey (white as Hayek calls them) stands of hair along each side of her face. It appears the Frida star is at a beach, she recently visited, dressed a white blouse with a mesh design around the top frontal region. She's still got it: The actress shared a photo of her on a beach last week Iconic: The Mexican-born star cemented her status as a sex symbol with her dance scene in From Dawn Until Dusk that starred George Clooney and writer Quentin Tarantino Hayek began her career as an actress and model in Mexico. She would get her big breakout role in the US in 1995 with Desperado alongside co-star Antonio Banderas. The following year she danced her way into the hearts of millions with her iconic scene in From Dusk Until Dawn, which starred George Clooney and writer Quentin Tarantino. Transformative: In the iconic scene Hayek's character seductively dances with a snake around her neck before she and others turn into vampires; the film was directed by Robert Rodriquez The actress has said in interviews that she has been aware that people have thought she is beautiful. But, at the same time, she also knows that beauty is inside of us all -- you just have to do some internal work and find it. 'You've got to take who you are and love who you are and do the best you can with what you've got,' she told InStyle. 'That goes for the figure, and it goes for everything else,' she added. 'You've got to have a sense of humor about who you are and give yourself a break. You've got to be kind to yourself. And it's not easy, you know?' In it for the long haul: Hayek still has a thriving career as an actress and producer; she is currently shooting Molly in the UK Hayek still has a thriving career as an actress and producer. She is currently filming her new drama, Molly, in the UK. The movie features an all-star cast including Elle Fanning, Laura Linney, Chris Rock and Javier Bardem. She'll also star in the comedies, Drunk Partners and Limited Partners. She has previously expressed her desire to move away from her typical girl-next-door demure characters. And, Lily James, 29, has now confessed that, whilst she thinks fondly of her experience portraying Cinderella in the live action version of the Disney classic, she wants to 'shed' the image of herself as a 'blonde, sweet thing,' because it's 'so not her.' The Harper's Bazaar UK cover star told the magazine that she is 'actively seeking' different characters, as she looks forward to turning 30 in April, after a 'chaotic' time in her twenties. Cover star: Lily James, 29, has confessed that, whilst she thinks fondly of her experience portraying Cinderella in the live action version of the Disney classic, she wants to 'shed' the image of herself as a 'blonde, sweet thing,' because it's 'so not her' Having enchanted viewers with her performances in Cinderella, Downton Abbey, Baby Driver and Mamma Mia! Lily has somewhat been typecast. She said: 'Cinderella was a gift, and I will treasure it for the rest of my life. But I wore a dress for the Mamma Mia! premiere that was blue and white and quite pouffy, and when I got out on the red carpet, all anyone said was 'Oh it's Cinderella! 'It's a happy association, but also something that you want to shed at some point The blonde, sweet thing is so not me. 'I'm actively seeking characters from now on that are different, who don't rely on charm or the qualities that I think I've explored quite a lot.' Branching Out: The actress told Harper's Bazaar UK that she is 'actively seeking' different characters, as she looks forward to turning 30 in April, after a 'chaotic' time in her twenties Not just a girl next door: Having enchanted viewers with her performances in Cinderella, Downton Abbey, Baby Driver and Mamma Mia! Lily has somewhat been typecast The actress - who has been in a relationship with Matt Smith since 2014 - also spoke positively about turning 30 later this year. She said: 'It is a real turning point. My twenties have been so chaotic, and I've always looked forward to 30 as being an anchor point. 'You stop caring so much about what other people think, and become more secure in your own life.' And it appears not caring less and becoming self-assured will have an extremely positive impact on Lily's life, as the actress admitted she doesn't cope well with stress, and can even have violent outbursts. Leading lady: She said: 'Cinderella was a gift, and I will treasure it for the rest of my life' (Pictured alongside Richard Madden in the 2015 version of the Disney classic) However: 'But I wore a dress for the Mamma Mia! premiere that was blue and white and quite pouffy, and when I got out on the red carpet, all anyone said was 'Oh it's Cinderella!'' said Lily She said: 'I don't always deal with pressure and stress well. I grew up in a house where tempers rose quickly I think the extremes live quite happily in me. 'I can be really happy and I can also be the opposite I throw things and shout. I've always been quite explosive.' Lily has just taken on a new leading role on stage, in On All About Eve, in which she stars alongside Gillian Anderson. Speaking about her character as the twisted protagonist in the play, Lily explained: 'She's definitely a pathological liar, and there's a lot of nastiness in her I can't wait. It will be good if I can really surprise the audience.' Shedding the image: 'It's a happy association, but also something that you want to shed at some point The blonde, sweet thing is so not me' admitted the star A change of pace: 'I'm actively seeking characters from now on that are different, who don't rely on charm or the qualities that I think I've explored quite a lot' asserted Lily (Pictured on the set of Downton Abbey in 2013) And the actress also gushed about her co-star, adding: 'She's a phenomenal actor I thought "I can't wait to spend time with you!" I like people who are direct and honest, and she seems funny and she's classy. 'But I hope our roles don't seep into real life. I did hear from someone who worked with Ivo [van Hove, the play's director] that he encouraged a sense of the character in their real relationships.' The March issue of Harper's Bazaar UK is on sale from 7 February 2019. All About Eve will run for 14 weeks from 2 February to 11 May 2019. One honeymoon on Married At First Sight is set to come to an abrupt end. An insider told Monday's NW magazine that a bride sensationally dumps her spouse before they return to Sydney - but she decides to stay in the experiment to steal another woman's husband. 'She's basically just hanging around to meet other guys at the dinner party,' the source claimed. Scroll down for video 'She's just hanging around to meet other guys': A Married At First Sight bride apparently dumps her husband on their honeymoon to STEAL another man at the dinner parties The insider added that the bride was 'hoping to hit it off with someone else there' by staying on the program. Although NW did not identify the bride, there are several possible candidates. Elizabeth Sobinoff could be looking elsewhere after her 'husband' Sam Ball made it clear on their wedding night he wasn't attracted to her. A possible candidate? Elizabeth Sobinoff (pictured) could be looking elsewhere after her 'husband' Sam Ball made it clear on their wedding night he wasn't attracted to her During Sunday's episode, Sam sparked a viewer backlash by saying that Elizabeth was 'bigger' than the women he usually dates. Furthermore, a source told Woman's Day on Monday that the pair had a shocking fight when the cameras stopped rolling after their wedding. 'She was furious, she threw herself against the wall and sulked,' the source claimed. Who could it be? Other brides who may be wishing to swap husbands include Ning Surasiang (left), who is unhappily paired with Mark Scrivens, and Melissa Lucarelli (right), who has expressed doubts over her partnership with Dino Hira Other brides who may be wishing to swap husbands include Ning Surasiang, who is unhappily paired with Mark Scrivens, and Melissa Lucarelli, who has expressed doubts over her partnership with Dino Hira. Jessika Power could also be considering her options, after clashing with Mick Gould while on their honeymoon. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment. Wes Nelson is reportedly struggling to concentrate on Dancing On Ice in the wake of his split from his ex-girlfriend Megan Barton Hanson. The heartbroken star, 20, is said to have found it difficult to learn that Megan, 24, has been partying hard with her Love Island pal Samira Mighty just a week after announcing their break-up. Despite his romantic woes, Wes stunned the judges on Sunday night as he performed the terrifying headbanger stunt with his pro skater Vanessa Bauer during his Peter Pan routine. Wes Nelson is reportedly struggling to concentrate on Dancing On Ice in the wake of his split from his ex-girlfriend Megan Barton Hanson A source told The Sun: 'Its been a difficult time for Wes after Megan announced their split last week. 'Just when he thought it would get easier after the drama with Vanessa Bauer ended, hes been faced with watching Megan go out and enjoy herself. 'Hes been keeping himself distracted with his mates, but friends fear his skating might have suffered this week.' Devastated: A source said: 'Its been a difficult time for Wes after Megan announced their split last week' Impressive: Wes' Love Island pal Josh Denzel commended him for pulling off the headbanger moved as he joked about him being hungover Upset: The heartbroken star, 20, is said to have found it difficult to learn Megan, 24, has been partying hard with Love Island pal Samira Mighty just a week after announcing their break-up MailOnline has contacted Wes' representatives for comment. The newly-single Love Island star was told he 'flew' through his romantic routine to Rewrite The Stars by the judges after performing the iconic headbanger move with the pro skater. Wes firmly put the heartache of his split behind him and went on to receive his highest score of the series- 34 points out of 40. After wowing the judges with a toe-loop, a lunging combination with knee slide, and the headbanger, Wes told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: 'That was incredible. Last week, I was so disappointed. I'm over the moon, that's the scariest thing I have ever done.' Great partnership: Wes Nelson and Vanessa Bauer were praised for their sizzling onscreen chemistry by the judges on Dancing On Ice on Sunday Phil said to Vanessa: 'To do a headbanger in week five, that's two weeks before you even tried with Jake Quickenden, you must really trust him.' To which the 22-year-old skater gushed: 'I knew he was ready and he is, it's great.' Wes' Love Island pal Josh Denzel also commended him for pulling off the headbanger move as he joked about him being hungover. Impressive: Wes, who forgot his choreography last week in the wake of his break-up, said in a video tape: ' I just forgot the start, we weren't the best but we will bounce back' On Saturday, the pair headed on a heavy night out with Jack Fowler, with the trio partying until the early hours at Sheesh in Essex. Watching Wes perform on the show from home, Josh shared a shot of the reality star on the show and captioned it: 'On the sauce then on the ice @wesnelson my absolute hero'. It comes as Megan has slammed Wes saying although she still loves him, he is 'wrapped up in the fame bubble' and 'doesn't love her back.' Speaking to OK! Magazine, the blonde beauty also blasted Dancing On Ice bosses for 'deliberately stirring things up' by partnering Wes with professional German skater Vanessa Bauer. Speaking about why the pair split, Megan revealed: 'Our ambitions and goals in life are very different - Wes is younger than me and wrapped up in the fame bubble - but I still love him, which is why it hurts so much. 'I fought and fought and fought for Wes but he doesn't love me back,' claimed the blonde bombshell. Bow Wow says he was 'wrongfully arrested' following a fight with a woman in Atlanta Saturday. 'Shad Bow Wow Moss was wrongfully arrested earlier this morning for the first time after being beaten by an out of control intoxicated female, Ms. Leslie Holden, in an Atlanta condominium,' his attorney Joe Habachy said in a statement, according to People. The 31-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Shad Gregory Moss, was taken into custody early Saturday after police were called to an address in Midtown Atlanta around 4:15 a.m., according to Atlanta police department spokesman Officer Jarius Daugherty. Arrested: Bow Wow has been arrested following a fight with a woman in Atlanta When they arrived, a woman named Leslie Holden - who has now been revealed to be the Ohio native's on-and-off girlfriend - told them she'd been assaulted by Moss; officers also spoke with Moss, who said Holden assaulted him with a lamp. The Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta personality and Holden had 'visible minor injuries,' according to police, adding that both were charged with battery after officers couldn't tell who was the primary aggressor. Police said both were processed and would be taken to the Fulton County jail. Bow Wow was charged in connection with battery substantial physical harm and Holden was charged with battery, inmate records indicated. In a mugshot, Moss can be seen with two large cuts on his forehead and injuries under his eyes. Same charge: The woman named Leslie Holden has been revealed as Bow Wow's on-off girlfriend. She goes by Kiyomi Leslie and is on Growing Up Hip Hop with the rapper Legal trouble: Officer Jarius Daugherty said in an email that the rapper, whose given name is Shad Moss, was arrested early Saturday; (pictured 2018) Both Bow Wow and Holden made their $8,000 bonds and were released from custody Saturday, according to officials. Bow Wow's attorney said that 'the only two independent witnesses both corroborated his version of events indicating that Ms. Holden was simply out of control and was without a doubt the primary aggressor.' Habachy continued: 'For no logical reason officers arrested both parties despite having clear-cut evidence that Bow Wow was the victim in the case. 'Ms. Holden beat him with a lamp, bit him on his side, and spit on him while Bow Wow continually made efforts to avoid her.' Police say the investigation is ongoing. Elizabeth Sobinoff's hair extensions have been a major talking point among Married At First Sight fans on social media. But the 27-year-old store manager has claimed they actually have health benefits and aren't just for aesthetic purposes. Speaking to OK! Australia last week, Elizabeth said she suffers from an auto-immune condition that makes her sensitive to the sun. Scroll down for video 'I have to do it': Married At First Sight bride Elizabeth Sobinoff (pictured) has revealed the REAL reason why she wears such long hair extensions 'I'm basically allergic,' she confessed. 'I get burns on my body. I also have a really photosensitive scalp and ears, so I get a rash, which is why I wear hair extensions as a hat.' Elizabeth, who is known for her dramatic style and heavy makeup, offered fans a rare glimpse of her natural appearance on Sunday's episode of MAFS. Medical condition: Speaking to OK! Australia last week, Elizabeth said she suffers from an auto-immune condition that makes her sensitive to the sun. She apparently wears hair extensions because they act 'as a hat'. Pictured on Sunday night's episode In scenes from before her wedding to Sam Ball, Elizabeth appeared without makeup and almost resembled a completely different person. Her typical look consists of a heavy coating of foundation, very defined eyebrows, winged eyeliner, false eyelashes and dark lipstick. Meanwhile, Elizabeth found herself at the centre of a body-shaming controversy after her nuptials aired on Sunday night. Awkward! Meanwhile, Elizabeth found herself at the centre of a body-shaming controversy after her nuptials aired on Sunday night. Her 'husband' Sam Ball sparked a viewer backlash by saying: 'I've never really dated girls as big as Elizabeth in the past' Sam sparked a viewer backlash by saying: 'I've never really dated girls as big as Elizabeth in the past.' The 26-year-old tradesman later suggested he could take his 'wife' out for a few morning runs so she could lose weight. Married At First Sight continues Monday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine Married At First Sight's Sam Ball, 26, sparked outrage among viewers on Sunday night, after he complained about his bride Elizabeth Sobinoff's weight. And the outspoken blonde has hit back at her disappointed groom by urging women not to feel pressured to conform to 'what a man tells you to look like'. Speaking to TV Week on Monday, the 27-year-old Sydney store manager revealed that Sam isn't the only one who has criticised her appearance as she has also been targeted by online trolls. 'You don't have to be what a man tells you to look like!' MAFS' Elizabeth Sobinoff hits back at 'husband' Sam Ball after he insisted she lose weight because she's 'bigger' than what he's used to 'I have extremely thick skin... But I feel it's very much [a case of] if a woman appears confident, bring her down,' she said. 'You don't have to be what magazines, Instagram or a man tells you to look like. 'Every woman is beautiful, no matter what shape or size. If it makes someone happy, go ahead.' Hitting back: Elizabeth told TV Week on Monday, 'You don't have to be what magazines, Instagram or a man tells you to look like.' Her comments come after Sam (right) complained about her weight Elizabeth's words of encouragement come after Sam revealed his plans to help her lose weight after seeing her at the altar. In a piece-to-camera, the tattooed tradie expressed his disappointment after seeing Elizabeth for the first time at their wedding at Hawkesbury River, in New South Wales. 'Straight away I noticed the blonde hair. [It's] not what I expected but [it's] okay,' he said. Not his type: Sam revealed that he's mostly dated slim brunettes in the past 'I've never really dated girls as big as Elizabeth to be honest. It's obviously a topic that's troubled her in the past. 'She's got a beautiful face... Maybe I'll get her running in the mornings.... but she'll be right. We'll get her going.' Married At First Sight continues on Monday at 7.30pm on the Nine Network She shocked fans last weekend, when she announced that her relationship with Wes Nelson had ended, after seven months together. And now, Megan Barton Hanson, 24, has spoken out about her ex-boyfriend, 20, claiming that, although she still loves him, he is 'wrapped up in the fame bubble' and 'doesn't love her back.' Speaking in an interview with this week's OK! magazine, the Love Island star also blasted Dancing On Ice bosses for 'deliberately stirring things up' by partnering Wes with professional German skater Vanessa Bauer. Candid: Megan Barton Hanson, 24, has spoken out about her ex Wes Nelson, 20, claiming that, although she still loves him, he is 'wrapped up in the fame bubble' and 'doesn't love her back' Speaking about why the pair split, Megan revealed: 'Our ambitions and goals in life are very different - Wes is younger than me and wrapped up in the fame bubble - but I still love him, which is why it hurts so much. 'I fought and fought and fought for Wes but he doesn't love me back,' claimed the blonde bombshell. Wes - who is currently competing in BBC's Dancing On Ice - was partnered with petite beauty Vanessa Bauer, and when talking to OK! Magazine, Megan didn't hide her annoyance over their partnership. She said: 'The fact that the producers deliberately stirred things up by partnering Wes with the youngest, hottest girl annoyed me.' Fuming: Speaking to OK! Magazine, Megan also blasted Dancing On Ice bosses for 'deliberately stirring things up' by partnering Wes with professional skater Vanessa Bauer Happier times: Speaking about why the pair split, Megan revealed: 'Our ambitions and goals in life are very different - Wes is younger than me and wrapped up in the fame bubble' In particular, she noted her 'frustration' with DOI judge Jason Gardiner who branded the skating duo a 'lovely couple.' Megan didn't hold back on the topic, reasserting her belief that Vanessa's break-up with her own boyfriend Louis Nathaniel was 'completely tactical.' And in regards to the hamster Jon Snow, which she shares with Wes, the former glamour model claimed that he 'hasn't even called' to check on their pet's well-being.' Megan also joked to the magazine that they would have to have a custody battle over the hamster. Read the full story in this week's OK! Magazine - out today. MailOnline have contacted Dancing On Ice, and Wes Nelson's representatives for comment. Uh oh: 'The fact that the producers deliberately stirred things up by partnering Wes with the youngest, hottest girl annoyed me' slammed Megan, in reference to Vanessa (pictured) Megan's comments come after Wes Nelson and Vanessa Bauer were praised for their sizzling onscreen chemistry by the judges on Dancing On Ice on Sunday. The newly-single Love Island hunk was told he 'flew' through his romantic routine to Rewrite The Stars by James Arthur after performing the iconic headbanger move with the pro skater. Recreating a scene from Peter Pan, Wes firmly put the heartache of his split from Megan Barton Hanson behind him and went on to receive his highest score of the series- 34 points out of 40. The judges were quick to commend their 'great and 'wonderful' partnership, after their dazzling performance on the ice. What about Jon Snow? In regards to the hamster Jon Show, which she shares with Wes, the former glamour model claimed that he 'hasn't even called' to check on their pet's well-being' Megan's problems with Vanessa started after Wes' debut performance on Dancing On Ice where she accused the skater of 'tactfully' breaking up with her boyfriend Louis Nathaniel to gain headlines. Megan caused their feud to spill over into the public sphere when she wrote on Instagram: 'Love that you decide to announce your break-up with your boyfriend on the night of your 1st performance with my boyfriend! 'You've never reached out to me once or invited me to watch you train, it pained you to introduce your self to me last night you didn't even look me in the eye LOL. Hope the tactical break-up got you the headlines you wanted babe.' [sic] And after Megan stood by her assertion that Vanessa's split was 'tactical' in subsequent interviews, she soon announced that her romance with Wes was over. Great partnership: Wes and Vanessa were praised for their sizzling onscreen chemistry by the judges on Dancing On Ice on Sunday Vanessa Bauer's parents recently hit back at such accusations, while also insisting the professional skater, 22, is 'rising above' the drama generated by her nemesis Megan. Megan and Wes had been dating for seven months since appearing on Love Island together, and had moved in with one another. The blonde Lover Islander struggled with Wes' relationship with his professional skating partner Vanessa, but has previously said she wasn't the cause of their split. She was mad that Vanessa didn't reach out to her, claiming she got the best of Wes due to his intense training schedule, and said SHE wanted to be on the ice with him. Break-up: German beauty Vanessa split with circus performer boyfriend Louis Nathaniel ahead of her Dancing On Ice debut with Wes, after a two year romance A source close to Megan claimed she and Wes split because 'their sex life was suffering' thanks to his gruelling Dancing On Ice rehearsal regime. Meanwhile, Megan said she had the 'worst day' of her life following the split, and has since admitted her anxiety has risen as a result of the break-up. Wes, on the other hand, appeared to not let their parting of ways get to him, as he shared a cryptic uplifting Instagram post about 'being happy' shortly after Megan announced their split. Sharing a snap of himself smiling at the beach, Wes wrote: 'Being happy is a way of life, not a destination.' His upbeat outlook came hot on the heels of Megan cancelling a scheduled radio appearance on Heart FM at the last minute. Opinions: Megan first shared this post about Vanessa on Instagram last month, which ignited their feud. She reiterated her thoughts on the skater in subsequent interviews Megan also shared several messages of support she had received from members of the public, commending her for being open about her prior battles with anxiety. She later shared another message thanking people again for their words. The star had a tough week, with burglars raiding her home stealing thousands of pounds worth of goods before her relationship with Wes broke down. Megan copied Gywneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's famous 2014 'conscious-uncoupling' announcement to reveal she had parted ways from her DOI beau. Fans took to Twitter in their droves, labelling the move as 'iconic', after Megan swapped Gwyneth and Chris' reference to their 'two incredibly wonderful children' to asking her 1.8 million followers to respect their hamster's privacy. 'Decided to separate' The star, who found herself embroiled in an ongoing feud with his DOI partner Vanessa Bauer, took to her Instagram Stories on Saturday morning to confirm the news She wrote: 'It is with hearts full of sadness that we decided to separate. 'We have been working hard for well under a year, some of it separated, to see what might have been possible between us and we have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much we will remain separate.' 'We are, however, and always will be a family and in many ways we are closer than we have ever been. We are parents first and foremost to one incredibly wonderful hamster and we ask for his and our space and privacy to be respected at this difficult time. 'We haven't really conducted our relationship that privately and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and co-parent we will be able to continue in the same manner. Love Megan and Wes,' she continued. Focused! Wes has been focused on Dancing On Ice training with skate partner Vanessa Bauer Megan's comments to OK Magazine come after she was accused of abducting the hamster she co-parents with her Love Island ex Wes Nelson. The former stripper denied she had stolen the furry critter as she finally broke her silence over the claims via her Instagram stories last week. The Love Island beauty admitted she was missing the 'chubby' hamster when she posted a clip of the pet in the home she once shared with her former flame. Missing my baby! Megan was accused of kidnapping the hamster she co-parents with Wes, but has denied the claims Read the full interview with Megan Barton Hanson in this week's OK! magazine, on sale now She freely shared on social media: 'Missing my baby look at that chubby face!' Wes has been pining for his hamster since Megan allegedly kidnapped the rodent. The hunk was reportedly alarmed when he returned home and did not hear the sound of the hamster, who was the focal point of the couple's break-up announcement which was released on Saturday afternoon. A source told The Sun: 'Wes knew something was wrong the moment he came home from a day on the ice and couldn't hear the squeak-squeak of Jon Snow's wheel. 'It turned out Megan had swiped the hamster and the cage and hit the road - days after asking for privacy for the hamster and promising they would be co-parenting the pet. 'Wes was shocked she'd just taken Jon Snow without saying anything after everything she promised.' Despite this it seems Wes understands the scenario and that he knows she will 'take good care of the pet as he hasn't got much time to play with him due to his Dancing On Ice training.' Jordan Banjo and Naomi Courts have revealed they are expecting their second child, nine months after welcoming son Cassius. Speaking to OK!, the happy couple admitted they were stunned to discover they were to be parents for a second time so soon. Naomi, 27, said: 'We always knew we wanted another baby fairly quickly as we want our children to be close in age, but we weren't expecting it to happen quite as quickly as it did!' Revealing all: The Greatest Dancer Host, 26, and his beau spoke to OK! Magazine about their shock in finding out they were to be parents for the second time so soon She added that after suffering from morning sickness with her first pregnancy she wasn't sure if she could commit to having the four children the couple previously said they wanted. Jordan added: 'I was hoping to propose before Naomi fell pregnant again but things haven't worked out that way. It's next on our agenda!' The pair, who met in 2013, also joked about Jordan's fellow BBC co-stars and in particular Cheryl, who Jordan admitted to having a crush on whilst a youngster. Big brother: In January Jordan took to Instagram with a sweet snap of son Cassius, nine months, holding up a scan of his soon-to-be sibling Co-stars: The host said his TGD co-stars were so happy for him and Naomi with Alesha adding: 'Bro, you don't mess around!' Read the full story in this week's OK! Magazine - out today Naomi said: 'Jordan is a bit obsessed with Cheryl!' But he clarified: 'We were talking about celebrity crushes and I said that Cheryl was mine when I was younger, and, as I was telling Naomi, a message popped up on my phone from Cheryl. Now it's a running joke that I fancy her.' Cheryl, 35, told the couple she was 'so happy' for them as they announced their 'cute news' with fellow TGD host Alesha Dixon saying: 'Bro, you don't mess around!'. And Jordan isn't the only Banjo brother to be preparing for a baby, his brother Ashley, 30, is set to welcome his first son later this year. Sweet: Baby Cassius' full name is Cassius Ashley Banjo as a tribute to the hosts's Diversity band mate and brother Jordan revealed to the publication that he thinks his older sibling will make a good dad because 'he reminds me of Mufasa in The Lion King because he's so wise.' Baby Cassius' full name is Cassius Ashley Banjo as a tribute to the hosts's Diversity band mate and brother. Jordan featured on the 2016 series of jungle reality show I'm A Celebrity, and confessed afterwards that distance definitely made the heart grow fonder. He explained: 'That show gives you a lot of time to think about things and it made me realise Naomi is the girl I want to marry.' Channel Nine promised this year's season Married At First Sight would be bigger and better than ever before. And now Daily Mail Australia can exclusively reveal there will be a 'wife swapping' storyline in the coming weeks that could be even more scandalous than Dean Wells and Davina Rankin's infamous 'affair'. Sam Ball will leave his 'wife' Elizabeth Sobinoff and move on with a fellow bride, multiple sources have confirmed. Scroll down for video Married At First Sight SPOILER ALERT: According to sources, Sam Ball 'cheats' on Elizabeth Sobinoff with another bride in upcoming episodes... in a similar story line to the Dean Wells and Davina Rankin saga According to sources, the tradesman, 26, thought going on the show 'was the biggest mistake and regrets it all.' According to a source close to production, Sam wanted to leave the experiment as soon as he 'married' Elizabeth and felt he was 'giving producers what they wanted' by turning his attention to another bride. 'He just felt trapped on the show and wasn't happy with Elizabeth,' they added. Drama! Upcoming episodes are said to show Sam Ball leaving his wife Elizabeth Sobinoff In the wake of the 'scandal', 'intruders' were then brought in half-way through filming after producers decided they needed more 'young, sexy' cast members. Meanwhile, since the show finished filming, it seems Sam has started a relationship with a woman outside of the program, named Akila Ahmunett. They have been pictured together on social media and are 'in a relationship' on Sam's secret Facebook account, where he goes by the name Roman Winston. 'They have been together since the start of December but have known each other for a year,' another source told Daily Mail Australia. Moved on? Meanwhile, since the show finished filming, it seems Sam has started a relationship with a woman outside of the program named Akila Ahmunett A photo has also surfaced of Sam and Akila cuddling at a house party on New Year's Eve. In the picture, he appears to be touching her breasts. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment. In a recent Facebook post, Sam thanked Akila for supporting him through a difficult few months, which included suffering a serious injury in December. Going incognito? Sam and Akila are 'in a relationship' on Sam's secret Facebook account, where he goes by the name Roman Winston Making it official! A photo has also surfaced of Sam and Akila cuddling at a house party on New Year's Eve. In the picture, he appears to be touching her breasts 'When you think the roller coaster has ended, yet it continues,' Sam wrote. 'Now I'm laying in a hospital bed, thinking how lucky a man I am to have a woman with such a heart that she comes to my aid with a caring, solicitous and genuine concern for my well being.' Married At First Sight continues Monday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine Hollyoaks star Sarah-Jayne Dunn has revealed Mandy Richardson will suffer 'huge guilty' as she battles with an impossible decision in an upcoming diversity special. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline the star, 37, teased that fans will need 'tissues at the ready' for the emotional episode, as Mandy decides whether to have an operation that could help her unborn baby - who has spina bifida. Sarah-Jayne added that her decision will put Mandy's relationship with Darren at risk as he does not agree with her having the operation, and that acting out the scenes helped broaden her perspectives on disabilities. Heart-breaking: Hollyoaks star Sarah-Jayne Dunn has revealed Mandy Richardson will suffer 'huge guilty' as she battles with an impossible decision in an upcoming diversity special She explained: 'Mandy and Darren have come to a point in Mandy's pregnancy where they've been given the option to have surgery, and it's a massive thing 'They're in a very privileged position, it's new to the UK and you can only have it at certain points in the pregnancy.' 'They're both trying to find whether this is the best thing to do for them, the baby, and the children they already have. 'This episode follows Mandy around the village, and there's a big charity concert with lots of children singing and signing.' Emotional: Speaking exclusively to MailOnline the star, 37, teased that fans will need 'tissues at the ready' for the episode, as Mandy decides whether to have an operation save her baby Important: The special episode will see Nancy host a Disability Awareness Day, which will see the children's choir deliver a performance in both song and sign Candid: Sarah-Jayne explained that the episode was 'eye-opening' in its portrayal of disability While Sarah-Jayne explained that Mandy would have encounters with numerous characters in the village, she would also have an emotional exchange with Brooke Hathaway (played by Talia Grant) who has autism. Praising co-star - who also has the condition in real life, Sarah-Jayne said the scenes made her re-asses how to address filming with someone who suffers from a mental health condition. 'Talia is just amazing, such a gorgeous girl and she's really come into the show and we were all given guidance on how to work with someone with autism and there's certainly things you need to be more aware of,' she said. 'She's come in and fit in, she's amazing and such a great actress, I love working with her but this is the biggest scene we've had together. Eye-opening: Sarah-Jayne also teased a special scene in the episode, where Mandy meets Brooke, who has autism - and it helps decide whether to go through with the operation 'It was a tough scene we were out in the rain and I remember saying ''Oh my goodness I'm freezing'' and I think I was moaning in the cold, then Talia was saying ''I'm really enjoying this.'' 'It's a pivotal moment in the episode for Mandy, she tells Brooke how wonderful and amazing she is, the condition she has and how she copes with it and how it makes her so special.' When asked how thinks Mandy is feeling about her impossible decision, the star added: 'I think she's struggling to come to terms with how she's going to cope with the idea of having a child with disabilities, Darren's feelings on whether to go through with the operation are very different. Touching: Praising co-star Talia Grant, Sarah-Jayne said she had to approach the scenes differently, as the actress also has autism in real life Touching: The episode will see Mandy battle with whether to have the operation, which will help her unborn son - who has spina bifida 'Mandy kind of gets different opinions and sees that everyone she speaks to, it's a nice eye-opening emotional episode that shows what they're going to do. 'She's so torn she feels huge guilt at the fact that the baby possibly could be Luke's [baby] and she's pregnant so she's already feeling so many different emotions. 'It's huge it's the biggest thing she's ever been through, but it's the biggest, most heartbreaking thing, she's previously lost a baby and she knows she couldnt go through that again, she's trying to make the best decisions for her unborn child really.' He's back! Ahead of the special episode, fans will also see Mandy pay a visit to her ex-husband Luke in prison - after actor Gary Lucy made a brief return to the soap for the stint Reunion? While Sarah-Jayne did insist the pair's bond will always be unique, she wouldn't rule out the fan favourite couple reuniting On whether Mandy and Darren can survive this clash of views, the actress said: 'I hope so, this is really testing them. 'So far they've stayed strong, they're at loggerheads and there's a lot of things they say that they probably shouldn't, how much they care for each other, the fun of the affair is over, this is a real relationship now. 'Everything happened quite quickly, it's definitely going to make or break them and hopefully it will be the making of them but time will tell really.' Ahead of the special episode, fans will also see Mandy pay a visit to her ex-husband Luke in prison - after actor Gary Lucy made a brief return to the soap for the stint. Diverse: The soap will show the members of his cast of had disabilities, and highlight their importance in the community Big moment: The show will revolve around the disability awareness day, and the characters involved in the event While Sarah-Jayne did insist the pair's bond will always be unique, she wouldn't rule out the fan favourite couple reuniting. She added: 'Mandy is always going to have feelings for Luke, they've been through so much together, not only in their relationship they've helped each other through so much. 'They were always a volatile couple, it never really worked, the whole time they were together, they just wanted it to work. They just knew it wasn't meant to be., whether that could be anything more, who knows.' Hollyoaks: Diversity Special will air on Monday 4th February at 7pm on E4, and Tuesday 5th February at 6:30pm on Channel 4. Justin Bieber flashed his pop star smile as he emerged, sweaty, from another invigorating spin session at SoulCycle in Beverly Hills on Wednesday. Curiously, the 24-year-old Grammy winner's blue Lamborghini Aventador was spray-painted with the phrase 'cash only' in black. Last Thursday, the Canadian crooner's gull wing door had no paint on it as he parked at Nobu Malibu, but the ankle hems on his khakis were marked with 'cash only.' Scroll down for video All puffed out: Justin Bieber flashed his pop star smile as he emerged, sweaty, from another invigorating spin session at SoulCycle in Beverly Hills on Wednesday Bieber was promoting the art of his longtime photographer pal Joe Termini, who tags existing art with 'cash only' under the name Joe's One Hour Photo. But the person who originally came up with the term was British artist Jane Gang; Cash Only was born out of her stripper series which ran from 1997 until 2003. Jane Gang went to The Slade School of Art and went on to become a very influential artist not just in London but also in New York City and Los Angeles. The tattoo-sleeved millennial was sporting head-to-toe athleisure including a grey Supreme hoodie, black Adidas x Alexander Wang shorts, orange Adidas x Alexander Wang sneakers, and Vans socks. The March For Our Lives activist also wore an orange bandana around his grown-out locks for his work-out. Graffiti: Curiously, the 24-year-old Grammy winner's blue Lamborghini Aventador was spray-painted with the phrase 'cash only' in black Recent ink: Last Thursday, the Canadian crooner's gull wing door had no paint on it as he parked at Nobu Malibu, but the ankle hems on his khakis were marked with 'cash only' Justin has kept a low profile focusing on his health and Christianity after canceling the remaining 14 concerts his 150-date, $256.3M-grossing Purpose World Tour on July 24 'due to unforseen circumstances.' The Friends hitmaker was joined at SoulCycle by Churchome Los Angeles leader Josh Mehl, whom Bieber called 'a true example of what following Jesus looks like' in a gushing October 26 post. Speaking of cash, the ex-boyfriend of Selena Gomez received a fake $1M bill from an older gentleman while leaving Adam Sandler's comedy show at the El Rey Theatre Tuesday night. Athleisure: The tattoo-sleeved millennial was sporting a grey Supreme hoodie, black Adidas x Alexander Wang shorts, orange Adidas x Alexander Wang sneakers, and Vans socks New look: The March For Our Lives activist also wore an orange bandana around his grown-out locks for his work-out Hiatus: Justin has kept a low profile focusing on his health and Christianity after canceling the remaining 14 concerts his Purpose World Tour on July 24 'due to unforseen circumstances' 'Im a better man because of you': The Friends hitmaker was joined at SoulCycle by Churchome Los Angeles leader Josh Mehl (R), whom Bieber called 'a true example of what following Jesus looks like' in a gushing October 26 post After Justin - who boasts a $225M fortune - told the man to 'get away' from him he tossed the bill out of his window and several fans lunged for the faux money. Careerwise, the former YouTube star and Jay Electronica are featured on Poo Bear's new track Hard 2 Face Reality, which dropped last Thursday. Speaking of cash: The ex-boyfriend of Selena Gomez received a fake $1M bill from an older gentleman while leaving Adam Sandler's comedy show at the El Rey Theatre Tuesday night Monopoly money: After Justin - who boasts a $225M fortune - told the man to 'get away' from him he tossed the bill out of his window and several fans lunged for the faux money Earths predicted overpopulation crisis might not be as dire as weve thought instead, a new book argues our numbers will soon start plummeting. The United Nations has long warned that the worlds population is fast approaching a point at which Earths resources may not be able to support humanity. There are currently 7.7 billion people living on the planet, and this is expected to climb to 9 billion by 2050. But, Canadian journalist John Ibbitson and political scientist Darrell Bricker have found that these predictions may have missed the mark completely. In Empty Planet, the pair re-examines the forecasting models to conclude that global population will start dropping in about 30 years, and warn once that decline begins, it will never end. Earths predicted overpopulation crisis might not be as dire as weve thought instead, a new book argues our numbers will soon start plummeting. File photo THE GREATEST THREATS TO HUMANKIND A 2017 survey of 50 Nobel laureates asked: 'What is the biggest threat to humankind, in your view? They said: Population rise/environmental degradation (34%, 18 respondents) Nuclear war (23%, 12 respondents) Infectious disease/drug resistance (8%, 4 respondents) Selfishness/dishonesty/loss of humanity (8%, 4 respondents) Donald Trump/ignorant leaders (6%, 3 respondents) Artificial Intelligence (4%, 2 respondents) Inequality (4%, 2 respondents) Drugs (2%, 1 respondent) Facebook (2%, 1 respondent) Fundamentalism/terrorism (6%, 3 respondents) Ignorance/distortion of truth (6%, 3 respondents Advertisement Empty Planet upends the long-held assumptions about global population, using statistics and interviews with people all around the world to paint a fuller picture of the issue. The UN forecasts rely on fertility rates, migration rates, and death rates, the authors explain in an interview with Wired. But, other factors such as urbanization speed and the expansion of women's education have been left out. Much of Africa, in particular, is experiencing both of these things. Taking improvements in female education into account causes the estimates to drop to 8-9 billion for the year 2100, from the currently predicted 11 billion, according to the researchers. And thats just one cultural variable, Bricker told Wired. So you can say that the old models always worked in the past, but what if the past is not prologue? What if were moving into a different cultural moment? What if its accelerating? And what if that cultural moment really is about the personal decisions women make about their lives? The team polled 26 countries to get a better idea of family plans around the world, and found that many people are choosing smaller families. Soon enough, the authors say, the number of young people will dwindle. A lot of people who are thinking about the future of the world, the future economy, the future of city planning, theyre basing their projections on that future size of the human population, Bricker told Wired. And people are actually making decisions based on this. 'If you dig in and see that there isnt going to be a lot of growth of young people coming into the population, a lot of growth is actually going to come from older people hanging around longer because were getting better every day at keeping them alive. Astronomers have uncovered the true twisted nature of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Until now, the galaxy was generally thought to be a flat spiral consisting of an estimated 250 billion stars. The sun and its planets, including the Earth, occupy an insignificant spot in one of the minor spiral arms. But a new study has shown that in reality the Milky Way is warped. It becomes increasingly twisted the further away stars are from the galactic centre. The warping is thought to be caused by torque from the spinning galaxy's densely packed inner disc of stars. Scroll down for video Astronomers have uncovered the true twisted nature of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Until now, the galaxy was generally thought to be a flat spiral consisting of an estimated 250 billion stars. But a new study has shown that in reality the Milky Way is warped (artist's impression) Professor Richard de Grijs, one of the astronomers from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, said: 'We usually think of spiral galaxies as being quite flat, like Andromeda, which you can easily see through a telescope.' The scientists updated a 3D map of the Milky Way using 1,339 large pulsating stars, each up to 100,000 times brighter than the sun. The so-called Cepheid stars are used as 'standard candles' by astronomers to estimate galaxy-wide distances. The Milky Way's twists are rare but not unique, say the scientists, whose findings are published in the journal Nature Astronomy. They have observed a dozen other galaxies which show similar progressively twisted spiral patterns in their outer regions. Classical Cepheids are young stars that are some four to 20 times as massive as our Sun and up to 100,000 times as bright. Such high stellar masses imply that they live fast and die young, burning through their nuclear fuel very quickly, sometimes in only a few million years. They show day- to month-long pulsations, which are observed as changes in their brightness. Combined with a Cepheid's observed brightness, its pulsation period can be used to obtain a highly reliable distance. Prof de Grijs said: 'Somewhat to our surprise, we found in 3D our collection of 1,339 Cepheid stars and the Milky Way's gas disc follow each other closely. 'This offers new insights into the formation of our home galaxy. 'Perhaps more importantly, in the Milky Way's outer regions, we found the S-like stellar disc is warped in a progressively twisted spiral pattern.' The map sheds fresh light on the evolution of the galaxy - and also shows the warped disc also contains young stars. The scientists updated a 3D map of the Milky Way using 1,339 large pulsating stars, each up to 100,000 times brighter than the sun. This graph represents those bright points in our galaxy Co-author Dr Licai Deng, also of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: 'This research provides a crucial updated map for studies of our galaxy's stellar motions and the origins of the Milky Way's disk.' A dozen other galaxies with similar progressively twisted spiral patterns in their outer regions have been observed - so the Milky Way's shape is rare but not unique. From a great distance our galaxy would look like a thin disk of stars that orbit once every few hundred million years around its central region. This is where hundreds of billions of stars can be found - together with a huge mass of dark matter. This is the mysterious invisible material that provides the gravitational 'glue' that holds galaxies together. The pull becomes weaker away from the inner regions. In the far outer disc hydrogen atoms making up most of the galaxy are no longer confined to a thin plane. This gives the Milky Way its warped appearance - similar to an S-shape. Co-author Dr Liu Chao, also of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: 'Combining our results with those other observations, we concluded the Milky Way's warped spiral pattern is most likely caused by 'torques' - or rotational forcing - by the massive inner disk.' Dr Deng said: 'This new morphology provides a crucial updated map for studies of our galaxy's stellar motions and the origins of the Milky Way's disk.' The full findings of the study were published in the journal Nature Astronomy. In the world of autonomous vehicles, Pittsburgh and Silicon Valley are bustling hubs of development and testing. But ask those involved in self-driving vehicles when we might actually see them carrying passengers in every city, and you'll get an almost universal answer: Not anytime soon. An optimistic assessment is 10 years. Many others say decades as researchers try to conquer a number of obstacles. The vehicles themselves will debut in limited, well-mapped areas within cities and spread outward. Above, one of the test vehicles from Argo AI, Ford's autonomous vehicle unit, navigates through the strip district near the company offices in Pittsburgh. Even the most optimistic experts say it will be 10 years before self-driving vehicles are everywhere The fatal crash in Arizona involving an Uber autonomous vehicle in March slowed progress, largely because it hurt the public's perception of the safety of vehicles. Companies slowed research to be more careful. Google's Waymo, for instance, decided not to launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in the Phoenix area and will rely on human backup drivers to ferry passengers, at least for now. Here are the problems that researchers must overcome to start giving rides without humans behind the wheel: SNOW AND WEATHER When it's heavy enough to cover the pavement, snow blocks the view of lane lines that vehicle cameras use to find their way. Researchers so far haven't figured out a way around this. That's why much of the testing is done in warm-weather climates such as Arizona and California. Heavy snow, rain, fog and sandstorms can obstruct the view of cameras. Light beams sent out by laser sensors can bounce off snowflakes and think they are obstacles. Radar can see through the weather, but it doesn't show the shape of an object needed for computers to figure out what it is. 'It's like losing part of your vision,' says Raj Rajkumar, an electrical and computer engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Camera and laser sensors, such as those seen on the Ford vehicle above, can't see through heavy snow or figure out where to go if lane lines are covered Researchers are working on laser sensors that use a different light beam wavelength to see through snowflakes, said Greg McGuire, director of the MCity autonomous vehicle testing lab at the University of Michigan. Software also is being developed so vehicles can differentiate between real obstacles and snowflakes, rain, fog, and other conditions. But many companies are still trying to master the difficult task of driving on a clear day with steady traction. 'Once we are able to have a system reliably perform in those, then we'll start working toward expanding to those more challenging conditions,' said Noah Zych, Uber's head of system safety for self-driving cars. PAVEMENT LINES AND CURBS Across the globe, roadway marking lines are different, or they may not even exist. Lane lines aren't standardized, so vehicles have to learn how to drive differently in each city. Sometimes there aren't any curbs to help vehicles judge lane width. For instance, in Pittsburgh's industrial 'Strip District,' where many self-driving vehicles are tested, the city draws lines across the narrow lanes to mark where vehicles should stop for stop signs. Sometimes the lines are so far back and buildings are so close to the street that autonomous cars can't see traffic on the cross street if they stop at the line. One workaround is to program vehicles to stop for the line and creep forward. 'Is it better to do a double stop?' asked Pete Rander, president of Argo AI, an autonomous vehicle company in which Ford has invested heavily. 'Since intersections vary, it's not that easy.' DEALING WITH HUMAN DRIVERS For many years, autonomous vehicles will have to deal with humans who don't always play by the rules. They double-park or walk in front of cars. Recently in Pittsburgh, an Argo backup driver had to take over when his car stopped during a right turn, blocking an intersection when it couldn't immediately decide whether to go around a double-parked delivery truck. 'Even if the car might eventually figure something out, it's shared space, and it's socially unacceptable' to block traffic, Rander said. A sensor and camera array can be seen above on top of one of the test vehicles from Argo AI, Ford's autonomous vehicle unit Deciding when to turn left in front of oncoming traffic without a green arrow is one of the more difficult tasks for human drivers and one that causes many crashes. Autonomous vehicles have the same trouble. File photo Humans also make eye contact with other drivers to make sure they're looking in the right direction, something still being developed for autonomous vehicles. Add to that the antagonism that some feel toward robots. People have reportedly been harassing Waymo's autonomous test vehicles near Phoenix. The Arizona Republic reported in December that police is suburban Chandler have documented at least 21 cases in the past two years, including a man waiving a gun at a Waymo van and people who slashed tires and threw rocks. One Jeep forced the vans off the road six times. LEFT TURNS Deciding when to turn left in front of oncoming traffic without a green arrow is one of the more difficult tasks for human drivers and one that causes many crashes. Autonomous vehicles have the same trouble. Waymo CEO John Krafcik said in a recent interview that his company's vehicles are still encountering occasional problems at intersections. 'I think the things that humans have challenges with, we're challenged with as well,' he said. 'So sometimes unprotected lefts are super challenging for a human, sometimes they're super challenging for us.' CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE The fatal Uber crash near Phoenix last year did more than push the pause button on testing. It also rattled consumers who someday will be asked to ride in self-driving vehicles. Surveys taken after the Uber crash showed that drivers are reluctant to give up control to a computer. Humans also make eye contact with other drivers to make sure they're looking in the right direction, something still being developed for autonomous vehicles. File photo One by AAA found that 73 percent of American drivers would be too fearful to ride in a fully self-driving vehicle. That's up from 63 percent in late 2017. Autonomous vehicle companies are showing test passengers information on screens about where the vehicles are headed and what its sensors are seeing. The more people ride, the more they trust the vehicles, says Waymo's Krafcik. 'After they become more and more confident they rarely look at the screens, and they're on their phones or relaxing or sleeping,' he said. Two-thirds of Himalayan glaciers, the world's 'Third Pole', could melt by 2100 if global emissions are not reduced, scientists warned in a major new study issued on Monday. And even if the 'most ambitious' Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is achieved, one-third of the glaciers would go, according to the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment. Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) region are a critical water source for some 250 million people in the mountains as well as to 1.65 billion others in the river valleys below, the report said. Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas region are a critical water source for more than a billion people. Even if the 'most ambitious' Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is achieved, one-third of the glaciers will go, study warns The glaciers feed 10 of the world's most important river systems, including the Ganges, Indus, Yellow, Mekong and Irrawaddy, and directly or indirectly supply billions of people with food, energy, clean air and income. Impacts on people from their melting will range from worsened air pollution to more extreme weather, while lower pre-monsoon river flows will throw urban water systems and food and energy production off-kilter, the study warned. It was published by the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Nepal, one of eight countries on the front line. Five years in the making, it involved more than 350 researchers and policy experts, 185 organisations, 210 authors, 20 review editors and 125 external reviewers. 'Global warming is on track to transform the frigid, glacier-covered mountain peaks... cutting across eight countries to bare rocks in a little less than a century,' Philippus Wester of ICIMOD said in a statement. 'This is the climate crisis you haven't heard of.' The 2015 Paris Agreement's central aim was to keep a global temperature rise this century well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In December, world leaders at the COP24 talks in Poland agreed on a common rule book to implement the accord, in which countries committed to limiting global temperature rises to well below two degrees Celsius. But major polluters, including the United States and Saudi Arabia, disputed a landmark scientific report released in October that suggested nations must slash fossil fuel use by nearly half in a little over a decade. The new report said that even if the 1.5-degrees target is achieved, it would mean a rise of 2.1 degrees in the Himalayas region. If emissions are not reduced, the rise would be five degrees. THE PARIS AGREEMENT: A GLOBAL ACCORD TO LIMIT TEMPERATURE RISES THROUGH CARBON EMISSION REDUCTION TARGETS The Paris Agreement, which was first signed in 2015, is an international agreement to control and limit climate change. It hopes to hold the increase in the global average temperature to below 2C (3.6F) 'and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C (2.7F)'. It seems the more ambitious goal of restricting global warming to 1.5C (2.7F) may be more important than ever, according to previous research which claims 25 per cent of the world could see a significant increase in drier conditions. In June 2017, President Trump announced his intention for the US, the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, to withdraw from the agreement. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change has four main goals with regards to reducing emissions: 1) A long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels 2) To aim to limit the increase to 1.5C, since this would significantly reduce risks and the impacts of climate change 3) Goverments agreed on the need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible, recognising that this will take longer for developing countries 4) To undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with the best available science Source: European Commission Advertisement The Himalayan glaciers, formed some 70 million years ago, are highly sensitive to changing temperatures. Since the 1970s, they have thinned and retreated, and areas covered by snow and snowfall have decreased. As the glaciers shrink, hundreds of risky glacial lakes can burst and unleash floods. Satellite data shows that numbers of such lakes in the region grew to 4,260 in a decade from 3,350 in 1990. Air pollution from the Indo-Gangetic Plains -- one of the world's most polluted regions -- also deposits black carbon and dust on the glaciers, hastening melting and changing monsoon circulation, the ICIMOD study said. The region would require up to $4.6 billion per year by 2030 to adapt to climate change, rising to as much as $7.8 billion per year by 2050, according to an estimate in the report. Global warming is changing the colour of the sea making it more blue or green, scientists warn. Climate-driven changes in phytoplankton communities, also known as algae, are intensifying the blue and green regions of the world's oceans This will visibly alter the shade of half of oceans by the end of the century, experts say. If we carry on 'business as usual' then the majority of water covering our planet will unnaturally become bluer and greener by the year 2100, researchers claim. Global warming is changing the colour of the sea making it more blue or green, scientists warned. Climate-driven changes in phytoplankton communities, also known as algae (pictured), will intensify the blue and green regions of the world's oceans (stock image) Predictions by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston warned the growth and behaviour of phytoplankton in the ocean will change as temperatures continue to soar. Such changes could have a deadly impact on marine ecosystems. The scientists have created a model to predict the shifts in colour but satellite imagery will be needed to detect potentially devastating changes to marine ecosystems. According to their model, climate change is already changing the makeup of phytoplankton and by extension, the colour of the oceans. By the end of the century, our blue planet may look visibly altered. Lead author Principal Research Scientist Dr Stephanie Dutkiewicz said: 'The model suggests the changes won't appear huge to the naked eye, and the ocean will still look like it has blue regions in the subtropics and greener regions near the equator and poles. 'That basic pattern will still be there. But it'll be enough different that it will affect the rest of the food web that phytoplankton supports. 'There will be a noticeable difference in the colour of 50 per cent of the ocean by the end of the 21st century. 'It could be potentially quite serious. 'Different types of phytoplankton absorb light differently, and if climate change shifts one community of phytoplankton to another, that will also change the types of food webs they can support.' Last year the world's oceans absorbed the same amount of heat as 150million Hiroshima bombs, a recent study found. Scientists also found 2018 was the worst year for ocean warming since the 1950s (stock image) Writing in Nature Communications, researchers examined the way algae absorbs and reflects light and how the changes due to global warming will effect the ocean's colour. According to the model, areas in the subtropics will become even more blue due to less algae - which could also mean less sea life as algae is the main meal for creatures in the ocean. Meanwhile, regions close the north and south poles is likely to turn to a deep green as warmer temperatures will brew large blooms of algae. While changes can occur naturally, such as during El Nino or La Nina, scientists hypothetically cranked up the temperature by three degrees - the predicted temperature of 2100 under a 'business as usual scenario'. It revealed that wavelengths of light absorbed and reflected changed, effecting the pigment inside algae called chlorophyll, at a faster rate than previously predicted. Dr Dutkiewicz at the university's Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, said: 'Chlorophyll is changing, but you can't really see it because of its incredible natural variability. 'But you can see a significant, climate-related shift in some of these wavebands, in the signal being sent out to the satellites. So that's where we should be looking in satellite measurements, for a real signal of change.' According to the model, some damage caused by global warming has already been done and the makeup of algae in our oceans has already began to change Microplastics are merging with bacteria and turning into large clumps in sea water, scientists have discovered. Glue-like molecules emitted by bacteria - called biopolymers - join with the plastic particles to form large masses. Clumps 'visible to the naked eye' formed within minutes of microplastics - particles 200 times smaller than a bacterial cell - being introduced into sea water in the lab. Scientists have warned that these 'complex' masses pose a threat to marine wildlife as they can easily mistake them for food. They also warn that this clumping could divert the flow of food from the surface to the seafloor, potentially causing deep sea creatures to starve. Scroll down for video Glue-like substances secreted by bacteria are sticking tiny particles of plastic together in the ocean to form larger masses, scientists have discovered. Pictured here: The large masses, or the clumps of nanoplastics and biopolymers, forming in the lab The researchers, from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, staged experiments by using tanks of seawater collected from the Faroe-Shetland Channel and the Firth of Forth for their experiments. Small pieces of plastics were added to the seawater and then incubated in conditions simulating the ocean's surface for seven days. The team said that within minutes, the minuscule pieces of plastic grouped together with the bacteria, algae and other organic particles. The scientists say they were surprised to discover large masses of biopolymers formed the bulk of these plastic agglomerates. Stephen Summers, a researcher on the project, said: 'This is a first step towards understanding how nanoplastics interact with natural biopolymers throughout the world's oceans. 'We found that the biopolymers envelope or engulf the nanoplastic particles, which caused the plastics to agglomerate into clumps. 'The nanoplastics, which are 100 to 200 times smaller than a bacterial cell, were actually incorporated into the agglomerates, which became visible to the naked eye in our lab experiments. 'The fact that these agglomerates become large enough to see raises concern, as they are likely to be seen as a food source by small marine animals.' Three different sizes of plastic particles, left to right. A is largest piece (20 microns, smaller than human hair). B is one micron. C is nano plastic. It is so small is has formed a green cloud with no individual pieces Dr Tony Gutierrez, the microbial ecologist who led the study, outlined the concerns about the potential impact on deep sea and geochemical cycles. 'The agglomerates form in something similar to marine snow, the shower of organic detritus that carries carbon and nutrients from the surface to the ocean floor and feeds deep-sea ecosystems,' he said. 'Heavier plastics could drive marine snow to fall at a faster rate to the sea floor, while the opposite could happen with lighter forms of plastics in making it more buoyant and to fall more slowly. Dr Gutierrez said that in that case, deep-sea ecosystems could become starved of food but to understand this scenario, they need more data on how abundant these invisible plastics are in the ocean. Microplastic agglomerates formed in natural seawater after a 7-day incubation seen through light microscopy. The microplastic particles stained with Alcian Blue (A) and Coomassie Brilliant Blue G (B), indicate the biopolymer is of glycoprotein composition Heriot-Watt Professor Ted Henry said the larger masses are 'much more complex than simple pieces of plastic'. 'Research like this is beginning to fill the gaps in scientists' knowledge, but we need more evidence in order to prioritise and manage plastic pollution effectively,' he said. The experiments were part of the Natural Environment Research Council's GBP1.1 million RealRiskNano project and the research was published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. The reinstalled original Magna Carta inside the medieval Chapter House at Salisbury Cathedral King John issued the Magna Carta after agreeing peace terms with a band of rebel barons and it is now one of the world's most celebrated legal documents. Many people believed King John to be one of the worst kings in history after he imprisoned his former wife, starved opponents to death and murdered his nephew. He also imposed heavy taxes on his barons for expensive wars and if they refused to pay he punished them. But the barons demanded he obey by the law and captured London so King John was forced to negotiate. The two sides met at Runnymede in June 1215 and they wrote the Magna Carter. It established for the first time that neither monarch nor government was above the law and set out principles of liberty which echoed through the centuries. The most famous clause, which is still the law today, gave all free men the right to justice and a fair trial. Two other clauses are still in force today - the freedom of the English Church and the ancient liberties of the City of London. King John died of dysentery in 1216 and nine year old Henry III took to the throne. Magna Carta was reissued several times during the 13th century, until it was finally made part of English law. The ancient document has lived on for 800 years, and is used in the United States Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Source: British Library The U.S. military believes ISIS could re-emerge in Syria within six to 12 months without any pressure to counter them, according to a new Department of Defense Inspector General report released Monday. 'Absent sustained [counterterrorism] pressure, ISIS could likely resurge in Syria within six to twelve months,' read the IG report on Operation Inherent Resolve, which is the name for U.S. operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The report does not name President Donald Trump directly but does - on multiple occasions - refer to the plan to withdraw America's 2,000 boots on the ground from region. President Donald Trump announced a plan to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria in December U.S army vehicles are pictured supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) That is the president's plan, as he announced in December the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria - a controversial move among his Pentagon chiefs and members of his own party. 'I don't like endless wars. This war. What we're doing is got to stop at some point,' Trump told CBS' 'Face the Nation' on Sunday. And, he said if al Qaeda and other terrorist groups grew in strength, U.S. forces would return to the region. 'We'll come back if we have to,' he said. 'We have very fast airplanes, we have very good cargo planes. We can come back very quickly.' Trump has continually argued the war on ISIS is over. He declared last month: 'We have won against ISIS; we've beaten them, and we've beaten them badly.' But the IG report out of the Pentagon warns ISIS 'remains a potent force of battle-hardened and well-disciplined fighters that 'could likely resurge in Syria' absent continued counterterrorism pressure.' And the report found ISIS leadership retains 'excellent command and control capability' in Syria. The report is the first of its kind since the president announced his plan to withdraw U.S. troops. Trump's move raised concerns among defense hawks that ISIS would take advantage of the absence of U.S. troops to strengthen its hand in the region. Then-Defense Secretary James Mattis offered his resignation after the president made his decision and, last month, a vast majority of Senate Republicans rebuked Trump's rationale for withdrawing U.S. troops when, in a vote, they backed a resolution that declared ISIS' presence and activity in both countries continue to pose a serious threat to the United States. The report was also notable for what questions it could not answer. The IG's office noted it asked about the ability to defeat ISIS in Syria given the plan to withdrawal the nearly 2,000 American forces and reported the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs was 'not yet prepared to provide an answer to the question.' However, U.S. CENTCOM did provide the following answer about the immediate impact a U.S. troop departure will have on the resurgence of ISIS in Syria: 'ISIS may conduct opportunistic attacks on U.S. personnel as they withdraw but will leverage the event as a 'victory' in its media.' A new Pentagon Inspector General report released Monday warned of the dangers ISIS could pose 'absent continued counterterrorism pressure' echoing concerns about President Trump's plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria An ISIS fighter waves a flag while standing on captured government fighter jet in Syria The IG report is not the only government assessment to raise concerns about the state of ISIS. In the annual 'Worldwide Threat Assessment' released last week stated ISIS 'remains a terrorist and insurgent threat' inside Iraq, where the government faces 'an increasingly disenchanted public. CIA director Gina Haspel told the Senate Intelligence Committee last week of ISIS: 'They're still dangerous,' adding that they still command 'thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria.' It is the icing on the cake for The Great British Spring Clean. Two of Britains best loved bakers have championed the Daily Mails support for Keep Britain Tidys anti-litter campaign. Both Mary Berry, former star of The Great British Bake Off, and Prue Leith, who presents the show now, are urging citizens across the land to join in picking up litter. The national campaign will wage war on the rubbish on our streets, beaches and countryside between March 22 and April 23. Already, 34,719 litter-pickers have heeded the call since the campaign began just a week ago. We hope many more of the Mails loyal, caring readers will join in. Last year, more than 370,000 took part, and this year we hope to sign up half a million, making it one of the biggest citizen-led environmental actions ever seen in the UK. Former star of The Great British Bake Off Mary Berry has urged citizens across the land to join in picking up litter Turning the tide on plastic and other litter helps protect animals and marine life from its horrific impact. The campaign has already been supported by Prince William, Prime Minister Theresa May, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, DJ Chris Evans and even the United Nations. Other luminaries to support cleaning up the environment include Sir David Attenborough and yesterday Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates praised the volunteer spirit. Mary Berry said: I think the Daily Mail has got it right and we must all support it. We really must get rid of all this litter pick it up around you. 'If you stop in a lay-by or you see litter, stop, put on a pair of Marigolds if you like and collect it, take it home and recycle it. Bake Off's Prue Leith has also championed the Daily Mails support for Keep Britain Tidys anti-litter campaign Prue Leith said: The Great British Spring Clean is a great idea. And a litter-free environment is possible. Tokyo is absolutely litter-free and there are no litter bins. Everyone takes their rubbish home. The stars were joined by more celebrity chefs. The Hairy Bikers, David Myers and Simon King, said: Its brilliant the Daily Mail is doing this, honestly its so good to do something about litter. 'Well done the Mail. From the bottom of our hearts we can say, please, please, please, everybody go out and pick up some litter. Keep our country clean, its beautiful. And Tom Kerridge says: Why would you throw things out the car window? Why wouldnt you want to treat our countryside the way youd want to live at home? The Daily Mail has long campaigned against the scourge of plastic in the environment. We helped put pressure on politicians and businesses which led to the introduction of charges on single-use plastic bags and the ban on toxic plastic microbeads in cosmetics. Last year, we helped to organise The Great Plastic Pick Up, in which more than 20,000 volunteers cleared litter over a single weekend. Its so easy to join in the Great British Spring Clean so sign up today on the website below. The mother of a soldier found hanged after serving in Afghanistan yesterday said he was let down by Army chiefs. Linda Ketcher said Lance Corporal James Ross felt dreadful and lonely after five of his comrades were blown up in the bloodiest summer of the military campaign. Speaking at an inquest into his death, she said the 30-year-old was traumatised but had no one to talk to about it. Losing his comrades was one of three harrowing ordeals he faced during two tours with 2 Rifles in the warzone. Linda Ketcher (pictured) said her son James Ross was traumatised after the Afghan war But when the soldier returned to the UK he was posted to an isolated barracks in a rural part of Northern Ireland, where he was later found dead. Mrs Ketcher told the opening of the inquest in Ballymena yesterday: You cant bring them back and put them into these situations and expect them to get on after what theyve seen. As his mum I dont see how you can see it is nothing to do with his service in Afghanistan. It comes after the Mail revealed how British veterans who served in Sangin the deadliest Afghan town for UK forces had been hit by a spate of suicides. The suicide rate for the men of L/Cpl Rosss unit, C Company, in 2009 about 80 soldiers is more than 200 times higher than the average rate for men in the UK, 15.5 per 100,000. L/Cpl Ross, from Leeds, was posted to Helmand in 2010 and in 2011 and had repeatedly told his mother about the battlefield traumas he had faced there. On July 10, 2009, five soldiers died and seven were wounded in a Taliban attack involving improvised explosive devices and an ambush on an armoured vehicle. A lockdown in the aftermath meant L/Cpl Ross felt dreadful and lonely because he could not speak to anyone about it, Mrs Ketcher said in a statement. On his second tour, he witnessed a child terribly injured by an explosion, and dealt with the aftermath of his sergeant being shot in the leg by a sniper. His sister, Helen Thomas, said L/Cpl Ross had been disturbed by the traumatic episode involving the child and said he had described his second tour as really s***. Three weeks before his death, a friend said he sounded distraught in a phone call. Mrs Ketcher said she had no idea anything was wrong with her son in Northern Ireland, adding he had even spoken of celebrating a late Christmas together. Lance Corporal James Ross felt dreadful and lonely after five of his comrades were blown up in the bloodiest summer of the military campaign. He is pictured in Helmand during the Afghan war But she said he was gutted to be posted there after his second tour of Afghanistan because it was isolated and cold. L/Cpl Ross died at the Abercorn Barracks in Ballykinler, Co Down, in December 2012. His inquest is being held jointly with that of Rifleman Darren Mitchell, 20, who was found dead there six weeks later and also served in C Company. Mrs Ketcher questioned why there were two incidents in which young men had apparently killed themselves within three months at Ballykinler. We are asking is there adequate care there? she said. She also claimed she was prevented from speaking to her sons soldier friends by more senior figures in the Army. During her sons funeral, she said whenever one of his friends came over to speak to her, they were interrupted. L/Cpl Ross, from Leeds, was posted to Sangin in 2009 and in 2011 and had repeatedly told his mother about the battlefield traumas he had faced there. A preliminary hearing was told Ballykinler barracks was even dubbed Bally Kill Yourself. C Company of 2 Rifles bore the brunt of the highest frontline casualties suffered by British forces in a single day since the Falklands War. Following the 2009 attack, three more young soldiers caught in the ambush or its immediate aftermath have since killed themselves, two in the last six months. The Mail revealed yesterday how at least three other servicemen who were with 2 Rifles in 2009 have been found dead in the UK, as have two other young soldiers who served with 2 Rifles on its next Afghan tour. Eight incidents of serious self-harm involving other soldiers in the unit were recorded over a six-month period within which the men died. The inquest continues. For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a Samaritans branch or see www.samaritans.org Digital minister Margot James will today accuse online giants of behaving as if they are above the law and creating an environment for bullying and abuse Social media firms will be forced by law to sign a code of conduct protecting young and vulnerable users. Announcing the crackdown, digital minister Margot James will today accuse online giants of behaving as if they are above the law and creating an environment for bullying and abuse. She will say voluntary codes have failed and firms should not be allowed to blame users for the damaging content posted on social media sites. Her comments follow the death of Molly Russell, 14, whose father said she took her own life after looking at self-harm posts on Instagram. As a study revealed one in three young people feel their emotional health suffers because they never switch off from social media: The minister for suicide prevention said harmful online content was at risk of becoming 'normalised'; Health Secretary Matt Hancock summoned the head of Instagram to Britain to order him to remove material relating to self-harm and suicide; The picture-sharing site's boss, Adam Mosseri, admitted it was 'not yet where it needed to be' in terms of handling damaging content. Speaking at a Safer Internet Day conference today, Miss James will warn that social media sites need to be better policed. She is expected to say: 'The tragic death of Molly Russell is the latest consequence of a social media world that behaves as if it is above the law. 'In America and Europe these companies have legal protection from liability for user-generated content. Too many of these companies have milked this privilege for all its worth. 'There is far too much bullying, abuse, misinformation as well as serious and organised crime online. For too long the response from many of the large platforms has fallen short. Ms James' comments follow the death of Molly Russell, 14, whose father said she took her own life after looking at self-harm posts on Instagram 'There have been no fewer than 15 voluntary codes of conduct agreed with platforms since 2008. 'Where we are now is an absolute indictment of a system that has relied far too little on the rule of law.' A Government white paper on online harms is to be published next month but the content of a planned compulsory code of conduct for technology firms has not been revealed. Miss James will point out that the Government has already banned under-18s from viewing pornography and brought in tougher laws. But she will say more progress is needed, adding: 'We are working towards the publication of the final policy paper, and consultation, before bringing in a new regulatory regime. 'We will introduce laws that force social media platforms to remove illegal content, and to prioritise the protection of users beyond their commercial interests.' The research into the negative impact of social media was carried out by Prince Charles's youth charity. Almost half of 16- to 25-year-olds said comparing their life to others on websites made them feel inadequate. Online addiction 'led to suicide' An autistic man's addiction to social media led to his suicide, his grieving parents have claimed. Anne and Mark Braithwaite say their son Jake entered into a rapid decline and became gaunt and depressed within six months. They said the 20-year-old had been independent and healthy before buying an iPad in October 2017 and creating accounts to try to make friends. He quickly became withdrawn and exhausted and was unable to disconnect from the virtual world to the 'point of obsession'. Mr and Mrs Braithwaite, who run an art gallery in York, told an inquest that social media had affected all aspects of his life. The hearing was told that local mental health chiefs have taken action to ensure patients with autism receive better care. They admitted shortcomings in the months before Jake's death last May. A coroner concluded that he had taken his own life. Advertisement The Prince's Trust eBay Youth Index found that 57 per cent thought Facebook, Twitter and Instagram created an 'overwhelming pressure' to succeed. It showed the wellbeing of young people was at its lowest since the study was launched a decade ago with 37 per cent feeling they can never escape from social media. And 38 per cent worry they will never be as happy as the people they see on social media while 16 per cent always or often feel 'panicked' when seeing the lives of their friends online. The minister for suicide prevention, Jackie Doyle-Price, will also warn today that legislation could be introduced to ensure that social media sites need to take responsibility. 'We must look at the impact of harmful suicide and self-harm content online,' she is expected to say at a conference. She will warn that, while smartphones have revolutionised the world, they bring 'danger' and a risk that harmful content online could become normalised. 'In normalising it, it has an effect akin to grooming,' she will say. 'Internet and social media providers must step up to their responsibilities to protect their users and where necessary, we will look at tougher regulation. If companies cannot behave responsibly and protect their users, we will legislate.' Mr Hancock will meet Mr Mosseri, the worldwide head of Instagram, in London on Thursday to demand he ensures the social network takes down controversial images. He will say Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, has made good progress on removing terrorism content, and should expand this to other damaging material. Mr Mosseri acknowledged that his company has failed to censor self-harm and suicide imagery, saying: 'The bottom line is we don't yet find enough of these images before they're seen by other people.' However he said Instagram did not want to 'stigmatise mental health by deleting images that reflect the very hard and sensitive issues people struggle with'. I won't let my children use Instagram, says 'left out' Kirstie By Jennifer Ruby, Senior Showbusiness Correspondent Kirstie Allsopp has insisted she will continue to resist her eldest son's desire for a smartphone in an attempt to keep him off Instagram. The TV presenter, 47, wrote on Twitter: 'Instagram makes me feel sad, inadequate, or left out more often than it cheers me up and I'm a pretty successful adult, so how much worse is it for kids? 'It's so hard to hold out against a 12-year-old longing for a smartphone, but I'm sticking with it.' Kirstie Allsopp (pictured with Bay and Oscar) has insisted she will continue to resist her child's desire for a smartphone in an attempt to keep him off Instagram Miss Allsopp has two sons Bay, 12, and Oscar, 10. She wants to make sure they are not on Instagram at least until they reach its age advisory limit of 13+. She tweeted: 'Instagram sets its minimum age at 13. It was never designed for use by anyone younger than that, and we can't expect them to protect our kids if we have allowed them to lie to access the site.' Miss Allsopp compared giving a child a smartphone to 'taking them to a sex shop' due to the availability of pornographic images. She wrote online that she is 'not entirely sure why everyone is so reluctant to discuss the porn aspect of Instagram'. She added: 'Just type 't**s' into search and see what comes up. Leaving a kid in a room with a smartphone is like taking them to a sex shop in Soho and saying take your pick. 'No one marches their 12 year old into WH Smith, scoops up the whole top shelf and says 'here you go'. But when you provide a smartphone and Instagram, you are doing just the same thing.' Responding to a number of her followers who said denying children smartphones could alienate them from their peers, Miss Allsopp said: 'We can't teach our kids that the only way to avoid being bullied is to conform to every trend. 'That's always been true of porn and violence, but with smartphones we fast forward our kids into a world they can never be prepared for at 8, 10 or even 12.' A Conservative councillor, who scarred a wedding guest for life after throwing a glass in his face and hitting him, has been spared jail. Jean-Jacques Ellis, 31, appeared at Derby Crown Court for sentencing today after he earlier pleaded guilty to wounding. The court heard how Ellis travelled to Derby to celebrate a wedding at The West Mill in Darley Abbey in August last year. But, during the reception, CCTV caught Ellis punching another guest before throwing a glass at him. Ellis, of Woodley, Reading, was given a 12-month suspended sentence for two years, 200 hours' unpaid work and 1,500 compensation. He is a Tory councillor for Woodley Town Council in Berkshire and also works for an organic drinks company. Jean-Jacques Ellis (far right) is pictured canvassing with British Prime Minister Theresa May (centre). His council profile has been removed Today, his council profile page had been taken down, as had images of him canvassing with Theresa May. Prosecuting, Luc Chignell, told the court how there was no obvious reason as to why Ellis lashed out in such a way. He said: 'It is inexplicable as to why the event happened. It seems there was a discussion between the two men that someone may have taken the wrong way. 'There was serious injury caused to the victim by Mr Ellis's actions. There appears to be a first blow that is struck followed by what appears to be a glass being thrown. 'In terms of how it adds up, it is not entirely clear what happened before what was said. Jean-Jacques Ellis appeared at Derby Crown Court for sentencing today after earlier pleading guilty to wounding 'It is fair to say a weapon was used and it appears to be a glassing.' The court was shown the CCTV footage of the attack by Ellis as well as a picture of the victim's injuries. A doctor's statement heard how the victim had suffered a large slash to his lips and a broken tooth. Mr Chignell told the court that there was no victim impact statement in relation to the attack. Defending Ellis, Drea Becker, told the court that Ellis admitted responsibility straight away when he was interviewed. She said: 'He had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and I hope the court will give him full credit for that. 'Mr Ellis admits full responsibility for throwing the glass. 'For many days afterwards, Mr Ellis tried to message the victim to apologise via text message. 'This is something that is out of character. 'He expressed remorse to those at the party, but also those who may not know this had happened. 'He said on many occasions that he will happily compensate the victim for what has happened.' Drea Becker, told the court that Mr Ellis (pictured left of centre) admittedresponsibility straight away when he was interviewed Sentencing Ellis, recorder Myles Watkins said even though the offence crossed the custody threshold, he would not be sending him to prison. He said: 'You came into my court to be sentenced having committed significant facial injuries to someone by throwing a glass. 'That is something that is going to leave a significant scar. The injuries are plain to see. 'You have no previous convictions apart from one in 2004 which was a long time ago and you have admitted guilt on the first occasion.' The council has been approached for comment. The housing price slump in Australia's biggest cities is scaring off developers from building new apartments and homes. Permits granted to build units and apartments in Sydney and Melbourne plunged by 18.8 per cent in December, making for a whopping 38 per cent drop compared with the same time in 2017. Dwelling approvals across the country have now dropped to a five-and-a-half year low. The house price slump in Australia's biggest cities is scaring off developers from building new apartments and homes. Pictured: Waterfront housing under construction in Sydney Permits granted to build units and apartments in Sydney (pictured) and Melbourne plunged by 18.8 per cent in December Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan said the lack of investment in property will harm Australia's economic growth. 'What's happening in housing will clearly have an effect on the wider economy this year,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald. House prices in Sydney have dropped by almost 10 per cent, while Melbourne's median property price is down more than eight per cent. Approvals for new properties in New South Wales have fallen for three months in a row. Construction was the third-biggest industry in Sydney last year, making up 7 per cent of the city's economic output. Australian house rules Sydney, down 10.9% to $902,786 Melbourne, down 10.6% to $740,425 Brisbane, up 0.1% to $540,750 Adelaide, up 0.9% to $464,584 Perth, down 5.3% to $465,120 Hobart, up 7% to $494,810 Darwin, up 2.3% to $502,023 Canberra, up 4.3% to $668,469 Source: CoreLogic detached median house prices in year to January 31 Advertisement Housing Industry Association economist Tim Reardon said the 'boom' in apartment approvals was over. Mr Reardon blamed high taxes on foreign investors, record supplies of new apartments and stricter lending conditions for the downturn. 'Policy makers and lenders alike need to be cognisant that ordinary home buyers are now facing blowouts in loan processing times and also much greater rates of flat-out loan rejection,' he said. BIS Oxford Economics managing director Robert Mellor blamed the major capital cities for the wider approvals slump during the three months to December, adding that regional Australia appeared to have bucked the trend. 'This clear divergence between metro and regional Australia is systematic of the sharp rise in new supply and falling house prices in Sydney and Melbourne compared with continued strength in surrounding region hubs,' he said. Last week, CoreLogic said house price falls in Sydney and Melbourne appear to be accelerating and the decline could now be larger than the one that followed the global financial crisis a decade ago. 'Tight credit conditions, weakening consumer sentiment, less domestic and foreign investment and higher levels of housing supply are the primary drivers of the worsening conditions,' CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said. A jilted businessman posted raunchy pictures of his ex-girlfriend on Facebook and bombarded her with over 500 text messages during a five-month period after they split. Sean Babbage, from the Gold Coast, harassed his former partner, who is a barrister, to the point where she was forced to pack up and leave town with her children, the Southport District Court heard on Monday. 'She had to move houses so he could not find her. She and her children had to go into therapy,' prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher told the court, The Gold Coast Bulletin reported. Ms Gallagher said Babbage, 45, shared pictures of the barrister in her underwear on social media and tagged bodies which represent legal professionals in an attempt to 'professionally embarrass' her. Sean Babbage (pictured) harassed his former partner to the point where she was forced to pack up and leave town with her children, the Southport District Court heard on Monday Babbage also turned up at Couran Cove, a lavish resort on South Stradbroke Island, after learning the woman was staying there, the court was told Ms Gallagher said the woman was subjected to Babbage's 'frightening' behaviour over a period spanning from April to September 2017. On one occasion, he tried to break into her apartment - and on another he saw her at a sporting event at Suncorp Stadium and began messaging her about her appearance, the court heard. When he spotted the woman at Brisbane Airport, Babbage grabbed her arm and kissed her shoulder. Babbage also turned up at Couran Cove, a lavish resort on South Stradbroke Island, after learning the woman was staying there, the court was told. Ms Gallagher said the woman was subjected to Babbage's 'frightening' behaviour over a period spanning from April to September 2017 Babbage arrived unannounced at the Gold Coast's Sheraton Mirage (pictured) when the woman was staying there He arrived at the Gold Coast's Sheraton Mirage when she was staying there - and also booked a flight to Melbourne on the same plane the woman was on. The prosecutor said Babbage sent 536 text messages to the woman over the five-month period. His defence lawyer said Babbage was remorseful and had no previous criminal history. 'He has moved on with his life and is now in a new relationship,' the lawyer said outside court. Babbage pleaded guilty to stalking and common assault, but walked free after the judge fully suspended his 15-month jail sentence. He was fined $1,000. A Tennessee mother has won her battle to have her day in court in a fight for justice for the daughter who she believes was murdered while camping with friends then thrown away like a piece of garbage. It has been three years since 21-year-old Lauren Agee was found floating face down in a cove on Center hill Lake in DeKalb County, Tennessee. Cops were quick to dismiss the death as accidental but mother Sherry Smith was so convinced that her daughter was murdered she launched her own investigation uncovering a litany of failures by officers on the scene and scientific proof that Laurens death was no accident. Now Nashville Court of Appeals has overturned a ruling that had threatened to derail the wrongful death suit that Sherry had brought against Laurens childhood friend Hannah Palmer, now 26. The unanimous decision by the three-judge-panel overturned a DeKalb County Court ruling that had dismissed Hannah Palmer from the case and excluded vital testimony from former police officers, current police officers, private detectives, a forensic specialist as well as Sherry herself. Palmer along with her boyfriend Aaron Lilly, 25 and friends Chris Stout, 26, and Brixner Gambrell was camping with Lauren on a cliff overlooking the lake the night she died. Lauren Agee, 21, was on a trip with friends when she was found floating face down in a cove on Center Hill Lake in DeKalb County, Tennessee on July 24, 2015 Lauren's mother Sherry Smith (pictured together) is convinced her daughter was murdered and has launched her own investigation and brought a $10m wrongful death lawsuit Sherrys suit against Palmer was the only remaining case she had after she dropped similar suits against the three boys when the judge hearing them threatened to only proceed if she submitted to a gag order. Speaking out, she reasoned, was more likely to lead her to the answers she so desperately sought. Last year, in an explosive interview with DailyMail.com, Sherry told of her anger over law enforcements failure to uncover the truth and frustration that her bid to seek justice in the civil court seemed thwarted at every turn. Now the appellate court decision has offered Sherry her first ray of hope as the case will proceed to a jury trial. In an explosive interview with DailyMailTV, Lauren's mother Sherry Smith, 51, has shared the shocking details she has uncovered about the botched investigation. She has told why she brought, and last month dropped, a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against the four 'friends' with her daughter that night and how they all pleaded the fifth. And Sherry has revealed her certainty that she is on the cusp of uncovering the truth of what happened to her beautiful, vivacious 'spitfire' of a daughter. Speaking to DailyMailTV, Sherry said: 'I have been portrayed as a crazy, hysterical mom who won't go away and can't accept it was an accident. 'It's been three years and there is always the hope in the back of my mind that somebody is going to tell the truth' Sherry said: 'I believe my daughter was murdered and I believe DeKalb County [investigators] did nothing. Their attitude was to get it done as quickly as possible and get on with their lives. 'I have been portrayed as a crazy, hysterical mom who won't go away and can't accept it was an accident. But it was not an accident and I will not go away and be quiet.' She admitted: 'It's been three years and there is always the hope in the back of my mind that somebody is going to tell the truth, somebody is going to have a conscience [and] do the right thing.' All Sherry ever wanted, she said, is for her daughter's death to have been properly investigated. Instead, when deposed under oath lead investigator, Jeremy Taylor, was forced to admit he had done 'nothing.' The crime scene was trampled and unprocessed, key texts were erased from Lauren's phone, 911 audio was lost, notes were not taken, recordings were never made of interviews with witnesses and not a single DNA test was conducted. Sherry had never heard of WakeFest until the day in July of 2015 when her daughter told her she was planning to attend - a weekend of wake boarding and partying on the lake at Pates Ford Marina some 80 miles southeast of Nashville. Lauren told her mother she was going with a group including her friend Hannah Palmer - a girl who lived two blocks away and whom she had known for a decade. Sherry admitted she had misgivings. She didn't view Hannah as a friend who had her daughter's best interests at heart. She said: 'But Lauren was 21 years old and she could make her own decisions. So I said, ''Okay'' against my better judgment.' Lauren had been sleeping in a hammock alongside Chris Stout (above), who claimed he hadn't felt her get up but she must have done so, drunkenly perhaps, needing to pee and fallen from the cliff and into the water below Lauren's friend Hannah Palmer (above) told a police officer that she had become concerned because Lauren's shoes, cellphone and purse were all still at the camp but there had been no sign of Lauren The group of friends told police they were all drunk when they returned to the campsite and Agee fell asleep in a hammock (above) close to the cliff edge with one of her male friends Lauren only intended to stay for one night, driving out to the lake on Friday, July 24th and returning to her home in Hendersonville the next day when she had plans with her boyfriend, Chase. Realtor Sherry came home that Friday just in time to cross paths with her daughter leaving. She recalled: 'We kind of stopped side-by-side and Lauren gets out and runs over and she gives me this giant bear hug. I said, ''Oh honey, be safe, have fun. See you tomorrow.'' 'And as she walked away she stopped and turned and goes, ''Well, one last hug mom.'' And she comes back and gave me another one and I just knew something was off. 'I said, ''I love you, I love you, I love you. Lauren be safe, make wise decisions.''' The next time Sherry saw her daughter it was in a casket. I woke up and I couldn't go back to sleep. I just had a feeling. It was almost like a panic attack. Exactly what happened between that last goodbye and the knock at the Smith's door by two Hendersonville Police Department officers early Sunday evening may never be known. Sherry texted Lauren several times on Friday - checking she had sunscreen and bug spray. Lauren stopped replying that night and Sherry suppressed any worries with the thought that reception out at the lake was poor and, besides, Lauren's phone may have died. When Lauren didn't return on Saturday and didn't call, Sherry and her husband Mike told themselves she must be having fun and decided to stay. But by Sunday afternoon, and with still no word to either Sherry, Mike or Lauren's biological father Brian Agee, panic began to set in. The night before, Sherry recalled, she had a terrible sense of foreboding. She said: 'From two o'clock to four o'clock in the morning I woke up and I couldn't go back to sleep. 'I just had a feeling. It was almost like a panic attack.' Sherry and Mike were about to drive out to the lake when the knock came. There had been an accident, they were told, and Lauren was in DeKalb County Hospital. They made the two hour drive in 90 minutes flat and after an agonizing wait, former DeKalb County officer Jeremy Taylor, who has since moved to nearby White County, delivered the news: 'Lauren didn't make it.' Detective Jeremy Taylor (left), the lead detective on the case admitted that he failed to talk to witnesses or look for DNA or blood evidence. Dekalb County Sheriff's Patrick Ray (right) conceded in July 2018 that former detective Taylor could have collected more information Agees family hired a hydrologist who determined that if the young woman fell from the cliff where she and her friends were camping, like Taylors report claimed, it would have been impossible for her body to float against the current (pictured) He said she had been cliff jumping earlier in the day and knocked her head. He said she maybe had a concussion. Taylor added that Lauren had been sleeping in a hammock alongside Chris Stout, who claimed he hadn't felt her get up but she must have done so, drunkenly perhaps, needing to pee and fallen from the cliff and into the water below. Today, Sherry is struck by the fact that Taylor recounted this scenario with such certainty when Lauren's body had only been found a couple of hours earlier. She said: 'He assumed it was an accident from the start - case closed before it began.' In her grief and shock, Sherry might have accepted that. But two days after she buried her daughter, she got a phone call that changed everything. Ryan Melanson, an officer with White County police department, told Sherry he was deeply troubled by the behavior they had witnessed of both the investigators and Lauren's friends It was from Ryan Melanson, an officer with White County police department. He had been working as security for Wakefest and was there when Lauren was found. Sherry said: 'He said he had been trying to reach me for days. He said, ''You don't know me but I need to tell you that your daughter's death investigation was not handled correctly. I want you to know that I think the people she was with are somehow involved in her death.'' 'He said I can meet you somewhere, we can talk and I can tell you what I witnessed.' Ultimately Sherry spoke with Melanson and Detective Chris Yarchuck, also a White County officer who was present that day. Both were deeply troubled by the behavior they had witnessed of both the investigators and Lauren's friends. Lauren had not been seen for more than 12 hours by the time her body was found around 4pm on Sunday July 26th. As news of the discovery broke, Hannah Palmer told Melanson that she had become concerned because Lauren's shoes, cellphone and purse were all still at the camp but there had been no sign of Lauren. Within minutes of Lauren's body being found by two fishermen in a secluded cove, Aaron Lilly and Chris Stout were there paddling towards the body, shouting that their friend was missing and asking if that was a woman's body. The fishermen were startled by their presence - the police officers both thought it was odd they were first on the scene and they were actively looking for (and apparently concerned about) a friend none of them had reported missing. Lauren's friends were interrogated, as DeKalb County officer Jeremy Taylor initially claimed. In fact only three brief statements were ever taken from Lilly, Palmer and Stout. None mentioned the fact Brix Gambrell was also there. Pictured: Hannah Palmer's statement Pictured: Christopher Stout's statement who referenced Lauren as 'the girl' Pictured: The statement Aaron Lilly gave to police Within minutes of Lauren's body being found by two fishermen in a secluded cove, Aaron Lilly and Chris Stout were there paddling towards the body, shouting that their friend was missing and asking if that was a woman's body. Pictured: Pates Ford Marina Officers Melanson was in the same boat as Lilly and Stout when Lauren's body was retrieved. He told Sherry they were acting suspiciously. He said that Lilly seemed to adopt the role of leader, telling Stout to be quiet. At one point Lilly told Stout to 'stick to the story', the officers recounted to Sherry. Melanson had shared this information with DeKalb County Sheriff Patrick Ray. When deposed in the civil suit Ray could not remember Melanson's name nor which boys he had been talking about, despite the fact that he interviewed him. He didn't write anything down, he said, because Melanson 'didn't have anything important to say.' Sherry listened in horror as she was told how DeKalb County investigators failed to tape off the camp and treat it as a possible crime scene. No evidence was numbered or bagged. There were no DNA samples taken from under Lauren's nails. There was no rape kit conducted. The list went on and on. Sherry said: 'They said the officers weren't taking pictures of the scene but they were taking selfies up there.' To this day Sherry does not know what happened to her daughter's backpack, sleeping bag or any of the clothes packed for that weekend. Most painful of all, she said: 'That was my baby in the water and they handled her like a piece of meat. They hauled her out with a hook and threw her on a boat like a piece of trash.' When Sherry started asking questions she learned Lauren's friends had never been interrogated, as DeKalb County officer Jeremy Taylor initially claimed. Sherry does not know what happened to her daughter's backpack, sleeping bag or any of her clothes. Most painful of all, she said: 'That was my baby in the water and they handled her like a piece of meat. They hauled her out with a hook and threw her on a boat like a piece of trash' The only statements taken were from Lilly, Palmer and Stout. None mentioned the fact Brixner Gambrell (above) was also there. Gambrell, who was four years older than Laura, wasn't really a friend according to Sherry - nor would she have wanted him to be Gambrell's Instagram account shows his fondness for German guns and his travels to Paraguay with his father, Michael, 66, (pictured together) where they have family. Descried as a white supremacists to DailyMailTV, Gambrell Sr has the Third Reich Eagle tattooed on his arm In fact only three brief statements were ever taken from Lilly, Palmer and Stout. None mentioned the fact Brix Gambrell was also there. Gambrell, who was four years older than Laura, wasn't really a friend according to Sherry - nor would she have wanted him to be. Gambrell's Instagram account shows his fondness for German guns and his travels to Paraguay with his father, Michael, 66, where they have family. Descried as a white supremacists to DailyMailTV, Gambrell Sr has the Third Reich Eagle tattooed on his arm, wears clothing emblazoned with the SS ensign and was convicted of shooting dead a black teenager in his youth. During his trial the jury heard how Gambrell Sr, then 22, picked up his shotgun with the words: 'I'm going to kill me a bunch of n*****s.' He was sentenced to 10 years. Brix describes his father as his 'best friend,' in an Instagram feed peppered with allusions to Nazi salutes and memorabilia. Sherry hired 'pit bull' private investigator Sheila Wysocki (above), who brought in expert witnesses who found that Lauren was murdered By the time Sherry had learned of Gambrell, he had lawyered up and moved out of the state. Within two months of Lauren's death, Taylor labeled her death accidental and closed the case. Sherry decided to take matters into her own hands. A friend recommended private investigator Sheila Wysocki, described as 'a pitbull' and her 'best bet.' Wysocki, also based in Tennessee, initially turned the case down but Sherry persisted. Today Wysocki admitted: 'I don't think I've ever seen anything as egregious as what has happened to this family and this girl. 'Lauren was let down by every single person who was supposed to be there to help her. There wasn't one person who did their job correctly or who looked out for her.' Wysocki brought in expert witnesses who found, beyond any doubt she said, that Lauren was murdered. A pathologist found blood in Lauren's throat consistent with choking not 'possible drowning,' as the DeKalb County Medical Examiner found. And Lauren had a broken nose and busted lip - suggestive of an altercation. And perhaps most damningly, the hydrologist brought in by Wysocki found that Lauren's body would have had to drift against the current to have fallen and been found where she was. Wysocki began a podcast, 'Without Warning' as an investigative tool detailing her findings and appealing for tips. In January 2016, Sherry brought a $10 million wrongful death suit against Aaron Lilly, Hannah Palmer, Chris Stout and Brixner Gambrell, in a similar bid to shake out the truth. She told DailyMailTV: 'I did it as away to subpoena evidence. It wasn't about the money. I just wanted the truth.' A pathologist found blood in Lauren's throat consistent with choking not 'possible drowning,' as the DeKalb County Medical Examiner found. And Lauren had a broken nose and busted lip - suggestive of an altercation In January 2016, Sherry brought a $10 million wrongful death suit against Aaron Lilly, Hannah Palmer, Chris Stout and Brixner Gambrell, in a similar bid to shake out the truth It has been a fraught process. She secured a court order to get audio of all the 911 calls made from the lake but when she arrived to collect the CD she was told they had been lost due to a 'computer glitch.' The possibility that her daughter had made a call or tried to reach out is one that haunts her to this day. Sherry said: 'We know from other friends she had messaged saying, ''Come get me, I'm not having fun, people are being mean to me.'' She didn't make a call from her phone but I know my daughter. I know she would have tried to call if she was in trouble.' Meanwhile all of the kids with her daughter that night pleaded the fifth. Sherry said: 'They threw her out like a piece of garbage - like a woman can die in the state of Tennessee and it doesn't matter. I owe it to Lauren to show that it does' During one hearing Hannah Palmer refused to answer direct questions including, 'Did you choke, strangle, or otherwise put your hands round Lauren Agee's throat between July 24, 2015 the evening you were together and the time of her death?' and,'Did you intentionally or accidentally kill Lauren Agee?' a total of 154 times. Sherry's attorney noted: 'Those aren't hard questions to answer if you're innocent.' Sherry dropped the suit last month when the judge passed an order banning her from speaking about it publicly. She said: 'It was never about the money and we were making more progress through tips from the podcast than I ever did in a courtroom.' Wysocki described the podcast as 'the greatest tool' she has ever used as an investigator. From numerous tips she now believes they have a 'pretty clear idea of what happened.' According to Wysocki: 'My job is to find out the truth. If Lauren was drunk and fell off a cliff that would be her story. But that's not her story.' Sherry knows that too much was lost or left undone all those years ago for there to be much chance of ever seeing anybody arrested or charged in connection with her daughter's death. That's not the point for her. She said: 'I owe it to Lauren to find the truth. That's all I want. Lauren was just at that time in her life when she had finally come into herself. 'She was 21 years old. She had a plan to finish college. She actually wanted to go into the CSI field or law enforcement.' In a bitter twist Sherry said: 'She had a knack for science and solving mysteries. She was very intuitive and she was just like a light in a dark room.an unstoppable energy. 'They threw her out like a piece of garbage - like a woman can die in the state of Tennessee and it doesn't matter. I owe it to Lauren to show that it does.' Listen to private investigator Sheila Wysocki's podcast Without Warning surrounding the death of Lauren Agee here. Author and journalist Barbara Ehrenreich is being branded a racist and xenophobic over a tweet which appeared to criticize Japanese consultant Marie Kondo for not speaking English. Ehrenreich tweeted Monday that Kondo's popularity through her new Netflix show Tidying Up is a sign of America's decline as a 'superpower', adding that she wished the 'de-cluttering guru' would 'learn to speak English.' The tweet quickly circulated before Ehrenreich deleted it. She offered a follow-up tweet which made matters even worse. 'I confess: I hate Marie Kondo because, aesthetically speaking, Im on the side of clutter,' the prominent liberal author wrote. 'As for her language: Its OK with me that she doesnt speak English to her huge American audience but it does suggest that America is in decline as a superpower.' Author and journalist Barbara Ehrenreich is condemned as racist and xenophobic for her tweets about Japanese 'de-clutter guru' Marie Condo (right) She tweeted that she saw Condo's popularity as a sign of America's decline and wished that the Japanese 'de-cluttering guru' would 'learn to speak English, and later deleted the tweet Enhrenreich replaced the original tweet with a follow-up that some said made matters worse She later tweeted that she was 'sorry' if she had offended anyone and called her previous comment a missed attempt at 'subtle humor' Ehrenreich, 77, is a liberal political activist who said she was trying to use subtle humor which was taken wrong Ehrenreich, 77, is a political activist who writes often about the working class, notably in the best-selling 'Nickel and Dimed'. Marie Kondo and her KonMari method of organization have become a US sensation starting with her 2014 bestselling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. On January 1, the Netflix show premiered, making Kondo a household name. Those who know of Ehrenreich's political views defended the author and her tweet as a tongue-in-cheek post. Ehrenreich later tweeted an apology for offending anyone, calling her previous comment a missed attempt at 'subtle humor'. 'Sorry to anyone offended by my tweet about Marie Kondo! Sometimes my attempts at subtle humor just dont work,' Ehrenreich wrote. She followed that tweet with another: 'Yikes! I do not mourn the decline of the American empire, and in fact have campaigned for it for much of my life. And I heartily encourage the use of languages other than English everywhere and at all times.' Twitter users pointed out that the follow-up tweets did not not necessarily help the author's case. Prize-winning novelist Rebecca Makkai was among those calling Ehrenreich's first tweet racist. She also lamented comments by such fellow liberals as Katha Pollitt, who cited Kondo's speaking Japanese as 'adding to her fairy-like delicacy and charm.' The author was deemed racist by Twitter users who pointed out her lack of 'subtle humor' One person on Twitter gave Ehrenreich the benefit of the doubt, offering a correction to her initial tweet which would have conveyed what she was trying to say more clearly. 'If the below edit is what you mean, I understand, but wow you really dropped the ball as a writer on this one,' they wrote. Another Twitter user wrote: 'It you're going to attempt subtle humour, you should include subtlety, and maybe even humour. Racism isn't a good substitute for either.' Podcaster Rick Savage encouraged her to delete the tweet with a meme from The Simpsons. 'I like how you deleted the first racist tweet and followed up with another racist tweet but this time with imperialism,' another man tweeted. Hundreds of families living in buildings lined with combustible cladding could be at risk as authorities choose to not name the flammable sites. The Victorian state government refuses to budge on the matter out of fear that revealing which buildings are affected would encourage arson attempts, The Australian reported. 'We have taken expert advice around this, and there are significant security concerns, meaning that there is advice overseas of some of these buildings being targeted,' Victorian Planning Minister Richard Wynne said. The state's building authority has already listed 60 buildings at the 'highest risk', while the Victorian Cladding Taskforce has identified hundreds more. Hundreds of families living in buildings lined with combustible cladding could be at risk (pictured, fire rips through Neo200 building on Spencer Street in Melbourne early on Monday morning) The Victorian state government refuses to name the buildings in case doing so encourages arson attempts (pictured, fire rips through Neo200 building on Spencer Street in Melbourne on Monday night) Of the 2,000 buildings inspected by the taskforce, 1,200 were deemed to be at enough risk to be forwarded to the body's full panel for consideration. 'And of those there are about 360 private buildings that are in the higher risk categories and they are receiving maximum attention from the VBA,' VCT chairman Ted Baillieu said. Early on Monday morning, a fire tore through a high-rise apartment block on Spencer Street in Melbourne. More than 200 residents were evacuated and one person was hospitalised for smoke inhalation. The fire jumped five storeys after it was started by a lit cigarette. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) fielded 15 trucks and 80 firefighters to tackle the large blaze. The building was found to have the same cladding as London's deadly Grenfell Tower, which went up in flames and killed 72 people in 2017. Although the MFB were aware of the type of cladding used in the premises, the Neo200 building was not on their enhanced response list. 'They were fortunate that the sprinkler systems stopped the fire from entering the apartments; firefighters were here within four minutes and intervened rapidly with firefighting hoses, so they were lucky in that sense,' the MFB said. Authorities will assess the Neo200 building and in the meantime its hundreds of residents will not be allowed to return to their homes for at least 48 hours. Victorian Building Authority's Sue Eddy said the Neo200 building was deemed a 'moderate risk' and that a compliance notice was issued last year. City of Melbourne said a 2015 inspection had driven it to ask building owners to improve fire safety measures. The City of Melbourne confirmed it had assessed the building for cladding in 2015 and had recently asked building owners to improve fire safety measures. Authorities will assess the Neo200 building and in the meantime its hundreds of residents (pictured, residents standing outside evacuated building) will not be allowed to return to their homes for at least 48 hours The Neo200 was built by LU Simon, the same builder involved in the Lacrosse building, which was devastated by fire in Melbourne's Docklands area in 2014. Builders LU Simon would not comment on the fire so soon after the incident. Ms Eddy said her organisation had worked alongside the owners' corporations after the dangerous buildings had been identified but that it was the corporations' job to pass the information on to tenants. 'We do ask the owners corporation to make sure they are informing the residents of that building in relation to the fire safety issues because thats their responsibility,' she said. A man accused of murdering his wife at a Perth apartment block has appeared in court. Upendra Ihalahewa, 44, was charged with the murder of his wife Darshika Nilmini Kudaligama Withana, aged in her 40s, on Sunday. Ihalahewa was refused bail and appeared before Perth Magistrates Court on Monday dressed in a police forensic jumpsuit, WA Today reported. Upendra Ihalahewa was charged with the murder of his wife Darshika Nilmini Kudaligama Withana, aged in her 40s (pictured: Ihalahewa with his wife) The man was refused bail and appeared before Perth Magistrates Court on Monday (pictured: Darshika Nilmini Kudaligama Withana) Paramedics found Ms Withana with life-threatening injuries and were unable to revive her (pictured: Ms Withana and Ihalahewa) Ihalahewa spoke only to confirm his name. The magistrate said the accused would undergo a psychiatric assessment while in custody at Graylands Hospital. His next court appearance is February 11. Paramedics were called to an apartment at Danehill Way in Balga in the city's north on Sunday morning to find Ms Withana with life-threatening injuries. The magistrate said Ihalahewa would undergo a psychiatric assessment while in custody at Graylands Hospital (pictured: Ms Withana) Homicide detectives and forensic officers (pictured) spent most of Sunday at the unit block scouring for clues and speaking to neighbours Paramedics were called to an apartment at Danehill Way in Balga in the north of Perth on Sunday morning They were unable to revive her. Homicide detectives and forensic officers spent most of Sunday at the unit block searching for clues and speaking to neighbours. Shocked residents told 7 News they were unaware of what had happened until they heard police cars and the ambulance. 'It was just quiet this morning, I didn't hear anything before that so it was just kind of out of the blue,' Patricia Wojcok said. A former police officer who was convicted of 76 child sex abuse-related charges has had another victim come forward. Manuel Gonzalo Pando Siguas, a Peruvian national who worked as a New South Wales policeman in the 1990s, was jailed for 16 years in 2017. A Brisbane court heard the horrific grooming and assaults made against six young boys, beginning in 1991 and spanning over nearly two decades. But on Monday, the now-65-year-old bowed his head as a seventh victim spoke out for the first time. A Peruvian national and former police officer, Manuel Gonzalo Pando Siguas (pictured) was sentenced in 2017 for 76 child sex assault-related charges 'It's gradually getting to the position that there's little he could do worse,' prosecutor Shauna Farrelly told the court, the Sunshine Coast Daily reported. She says Pando Siguas would tell the seventh boy, who was under the age of 12 at the time, nobody would believe him and his 'father would be angry' if he complained. Pando Siguas claimed he knew other children who would assault the victim if he raised the alarm, and also threatened to have his father arrested. The grooming and threats come after a court heard in 2017 that Pando Siguas would befriend his victim's families to get closer to their children. Pando Siguas has spent more than a year behind bars after being jailed for 76 charges in total, including 17 counts of rape, five counts of maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child and 34 counts of indecent treatment of a child under 12. As new charges of maintaining a sexual relationship and indecent treatment of a child under 12 were read in court on Monday, the accused mumbled 'guilty'. The former police officer would befriend his victims' families before threatening the child Pando Siguas was convicted for a further four years for the new charges. However, they will be served concurrently with the remainder of his original 16-year sentence, meaning he won't serve additional time in jail. The paedophile's defence council argued that he was already serving an 'extremely long sentence', but Justice Kerry O'Brien showed little sympathy. 'There is little that can be said in your favour beyond the fact you have pleaded guilty.' Pando Siguas will be eligible for parole on March 9, 2019. Five times the number of trains have been cancelled due to staff shortages over the last six years, figures reveal. Data from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) shows 35,030 services were cancelled in the 12 months up to October last year due to a lack of train crew. Of the total 157,917 passenger trains cancelled on the network up to October 2018, 35,030 did not run because of staff shortages, statistics show. This is a rise from 7,188 in the year up to October 2012 and represents nearly five times the number from last year and an increase of a third from the previous 12 months. Around 329,680 services were cancelled across the country during this period, which is 1.5 per cent of all trains planned. A train is classed as a full cancellation if it ran less than 50 per cent of its planned journey length, including trains that did not run at all. More than 35,000 train services were cancelled due to staff shortages, according to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) Train crew cancellations were around double the number of cancellations blamed on bad weather or signal failures. Cancellations increased last year for 17 out of 23 train operators, with crew cancellations up in five out of the past six recorded years. When a train is cancelled due to a 'crew shortage', it usually refers to a driver. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) that owns Southern Rail, suffered the most cancellations with 18,197 - up by 7.6 per cent in 12 months. 'Cancellations and significant lateness' attributed to GTR increased by 45 per cent compared with the same period the in 2017. A spokesman for Govia Thameslink told the Times that the company relies on drivers working on days off to cover for high levels of sickness. He added: 'As is standard across the industry, we rely on drivers working on rest days to cover high levels of absence for annual leave, short-term sickness and training. 'Unfortunately, in the extremely rare event that all these occur at once, there might not be enough drivers available at very short notice to cover every service.' Cancellations due to services not having enough crew rose by a third from last year and and went up by around 500 per cent from six years ago Arriva Trains Wales saw delays and cancellations attributed to train crew more than double with an increase of 58 per cent. TransPennine Express saw cancellations increase by 222 per cent and a 424 per cent rise in cancellations and serious lateness due to train crew. The GTR spokesman also told MailOnline that the spike in train crew problems peaked around the time of last May's timetable change and lead to the company having to alter routes at short notice. He added: 'The proportion of services cancelled because of train crew issues peaked sharply immediately after last May's timetable changes, at almost five per cent. 'This was because, given extremely short notice, we were unable to match our drivers' route knowledge and home depots to all of the new service patterns required. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) said the problems spiked around last May due to timetable changes and a reliance on drivers working overtime to cover short-term sickness 'This was reduced quickly by introducing the interim timetable in July, and has fallen steadily since to the previous year's level of around one per cent or less, with 400 more daily services now running. 'Thanks to the UK's largest ever recruitment and training programme, we now have over 2,000 qualified drivers and a further 300 in training, more than enough for our fleet of 535 trains in normal circumstances.' London Overground saw a 137 per cent rise for cancellations and a 221 per cent rise for punctuality problems related to train crew. Northern Rail saw cancellations rise by 261 per cent to 5,609 and Great Western went up by 141 per cent. Heathrow Express has no cancellations or punctuality problems due to train crew, compared with four the previous year. Francis visits the presidential palace. It is the first trip of a Pope to the United Arab Emirates and, more generally, to the Arabian peninsula. Gisotti: "an important opportunity to promote and strengthen interreligious dialogue". Abu Dhabi (AsiaNews) - With the visit, this morning, to the Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the official part of Pope Francis's visit to the Arab Emirates began. The pontiff arrived in the Gulf nation yesterday afternoon at 10 pm, local time, (17 , 50 GMT). During the flight, Francis greeted the journalists noting: "This morning I had the news that it was raining in Abu Dhabi and this in that place is thought of as a sign of blessing. We hope that everything goes this way ". It is the first trip of a Pope to the United Arab Emirates and, more generally, to the Arabian peninsula and has the motto "Make me an instrument of your peace". Alessandro Gisotti, interim director of the Vatican press office, defined it as "an important opportunity to promote and strengthen interreligious dialogue and to promote and strengthen a community, such as the Catholic one, which is extremely dynamic and formed above all by immigrants, in particular Asians, Filipinos but not only, who are in the United Arab Emirates for work". The visit to the Presidential Palace is also the official welcoming ceremony. Upon his arrival, the Pope's car was escorted by presidential guards on horseback to the main entrance of the Palace, where Francis was welcomed by the Crown Prince (pictured). After the military honors, the anthems were performed and the respective delegations presented. At 12.20 local (8.20 GMT) the private meeting took place, which lasted about 20 minutes, at the end of which there was the exchange of gifts . The Crown Prince gave the Pope the notarial deed of June 22, 1963, with the donation of the land for the construction of the first church in the United Arab Emirates, while Francis offered a medal that depicts the meeting between St. Francis and the Sultan Malek al-Kamel, in 1219. Accompanying Francis during his stay is the Great Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Muhammad Al-Tayyib, the highest spiritual authority in the Sunni world. he welcomed the Pope for the fifth time, at the airport. The Great Imam then accompanied Francis to the Mushrif Palace, a residence of honor available to distinguished guests, which will serve as accommodation for the entire stay of the Pope given that the United Arab Emirates does not have a nunciature. In the afternoon of today, the private meeting with members of the Muslim Council of Elders - the Council of the Muslim Sages, presided over by the great imam of al-Azhar - and following the great interreligious meeting at the Founder's Memorial, where the Pope will hold the first official speech. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would nominate David Bernhardt, a former energy lobbyist, to be secretary of the interior, the department that oversees U.S. public lands. Bernhardt, currently the acting secretary at the Interior Department, is widely expected to continue pushing the Trump administration's plan to boost domestic fossil fuels production, by opening more U.S. public lands to drilling and mining. 'I am pleased to announce that David Bernhardt, Acting Secretary of the Interior, will be nominated as Secretary of the Interior,' Trump wrote on Twitter. President Trump tweeted that acting U.S. Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt has done a 'fantastic job' 'David has done a fantastic job from the day he arrived, and we look forward to having his nomination officially confirmed!' the president added. Bernhardt would replace Ryan Zinke, who was under a cloud of ethics investigations and announced his resignation in December. Despite a letter from environmentalists calling him a 'walking conflict of interest', the Senate confirmed Bernhardt to be Zinke's deputy at Interior on a 53-43, mostly party line vote. He had strong support from Senators Lisa Murkowski and other lawmakers who have large areas of federal lands in their states. The Interior Department, which employs more than 70,000 people and oversees more than 20 percent of the U.S. land surface, has played a large role in Trump's 'energy dominance' policy of boosting energy production. Bernhardt worked to ease Obama-era protections on the greater sage grouse House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, alongside Native American leaders, speaks against drilling in the Arctic Refuge on the 58th anniversary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, during a press conference outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, December 11, 2018 In this aerial image, caribous are seen at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) on June 18, 2017 in Alaska, United States. In April 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to expand drilling in the Arctic Ocean just four months after his predecessor Barack Obama banned, as a part of 'America First Energy Plan' to reduce dependence on imported oil In this Jan. 2, 2019, file photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019, in Washington, as Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt listens. Trump says he's nominating Bernhardt, a Washington veteran with lobbying ties to U.S. energy companies, to lead the Interior Department As Zinke's deputy, Bernhardt played a role in efforts to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, ease Obama-era protections on a bird called the greater sage grouse to boost drilling and mining across the West, and open federal lands to leases for coal mining. He is likely to be careful to avoid the missteps that plagued Zinke. Ann Navaro, a former Department of Interior official who served in the Obama and Trump administrations and worked closely with Bernhardt, said he is a rare 'lawyer's lawyer' who prepares thoroughly for meetings, often being the only one in a room to have read full environmental assessments of projects and plans. Bernhardt, who prefers conservative suits to Zinke's cowboy hats and boots, also worked a series of jobs at the Interior Department under former President George W. Bush from 2001 to early 2009, including as the department's solicitor. After working under Bush, Bernhardt worked as a lawyer and lobbyist at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, for water and oil interests. He represented Noble Energy Co, Rosemont Copper Co, Sempra Energy, and California's Westlands Water District, among others. Critics say Bernhardt's previous work as a lobbyist could risk conflicts of interest, unless he recuses himself from certain issues, because he worked for companies that could benefit by opening up lands to development. His nomination requires Bernhardt to again be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. About 150 environmental groups in 2017, including the business-friendly Natural Resources Defense Council, urged senators to oppose Bernhardt in the confirmation vote for his deputy position saying his previous lobbyist work raised questions about his ability to act in the public interest. To her mother and father, she is of course priceless but as IVF babies go, they dont come much cheaper than this little cutie. Havanas parents Carly Bibby, 30, and Liam Nott, 32, had put their dream of a baby on hold after being turned down for IVF on the NHS and unable to afford private treatment. But then they saw a news report about a Harley Street clinic that claims to be the cheapest in the country. By streamlining everything from the admin to the fertility treatment itself, abc ivf has cut the cost to 2,500 a patient. This is half the 5,000 paid by the average private patient although some London clinics charge as much as 17,000. Cheap and cheerful: Carly Bibby pictured with baby Havana, who was born in July Miss Bibby, pictured with partner Liam Nott, was in her 20s when she was told she wasnt eligible for NHS treatment The couple, from Sherborne in Dorset, signed up for the treatment and Havana was born in July the first of 13 budget IVF babies so far. Miss Bibby, who works in a hospital pharmacy, said: It is fantastic to have the family I always wanted. She was in her 20s when she was told she wasnt eligible for NHS treatment because Mr Nott already had two children from a previous relationship. Consultant gynaecologist and IVF doctor Geeta Nargund said she set up abc ivf to allow more women to have the treatment. The new mother still has five embryos on ice and hopes eventually to use one to give Havana a little brother or sister To get the cost of treatment down to 2,500, abc ivf does not offer any add-ons and uses lower doses of fertility drugs, where appropriate The cash crisis in the NHS means just one clinical commissioning group (CCG) in eight offers the full three cycles of IVF recommended for women under 40, with many services heavily rationed. At least seven CCGs dont fund IVF at all. As a result, most IVF is done privately. But commercial interests, powerful fertility drugs and add-ons such as genetic tests and glues claimed to help the embryo implant in the womb all push up prices. To get the cost of treatment down to 2,500, abc ivf does not offer any add-ons and uses lower doses of fertility drugs, where appropriate. The company limits treatment to women under 38 who are not obese and have a good supply of eggs. This allows it to standardise treatment, making it easier to train staff and reducing expensive lab time. For women aged between 35 and 37, abcs figure is 37 per cent, against the national average of 26 per cent Almost 45 per cent of under-35s using its service become pregnant, compared with the national average of 33 per cent. For women aged between 35 and 37, abcs figure is 37 per cent, against the national average of 26 per cent. Professor Nargund said: IVF doesnt always work but giving people the chance to try is fundamental. Weve shown that by streamlining the IVF process and not offering add-ons, its possible to give affordable and successful IVF and thats something we are very proud of. Dr Jane Stewart, chairman of the British Fertility Society, said that while all efforts to offer more affordable treatment must be applauded, many NHS hospitals already offer close to cost price IVF to patients willing to pay for it themselves. She added that abcs policy of only treating certain patients means that only those most likely to become pregnant are getting the option to pay less. Miss Bibby still has five embryos on ice and hopes eventually to use one to give Havana a little brother or sister. But for now Im just really enjoying having Havana, she said. Cold calls to pressure vulnerable people into signing up for expensive life insurance and superannuation policies they don't need will be banned as part of the crackdown on banks following a scathing royal commission report. Retired High Court judge Kenneth Payne produced a damning report into the banking industry on Monday after carrying out a year-long royal commission, and he recommended drastic changes to a 'sales-driven' culture. Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg supported the proposed changes, saying banks and financial institutions should stop forcefully selling 'worthless insurance policies' over the phone. Cold calls to pressure vulnerable people into signing up for expensive life insurance and superannuation policies they don't need will be banned (stock image) As part of his response to Mr Payne's findings, Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg singled out the misconduct of an insurer which forcefully sold a $100,000 policy to a 26-year-old man with Down syndrome (stock image) As part of his response to Mr Payne's findings, Mr Frydenberg singled out the misconduct of an insurer that forcefully sold a $100,000 policy to a 26-year-old man with Down syndrome who did not want or need it. Insurance companies will now be banned from refusing to pay out policies because customers did not disclose their full information when taking them out, the Daily Telegraph reported. Under the new measures, customers will have to take 'reasonable care' when applying, rather than having a strict 'duty of disclosure' as was previously the case. Mr Hayne also recommended that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) should lower commissions for selling life insurance. After reviewing more than 10,000 submissions, his banking royal commission delivered its findings into Australia's banks, insurers and superannuation funds on Monday afternoon. Royal commission recommendations - Ban lenders from paying trailing commissions to mortgage brokers on new loans - Civil penalties for mortgage brokers who fail to act in best interest of borrowers - Capping commissions for add-on insurance products - Ban advice fees for default MySuper accounts - Ban the hawking of superannuation products - Stop charging default interest to farmers in distress - Introduction of a national farm debt mediation scheme Source: Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry final report Advertisement 'There can be no doubt that the primary responsibility for misconduct in the financial services industry lies with the entities concerned and those who managed and controlled those entities: their boards and senior management,' Mr Hayne's final report said. His royal commission made 76 recommendations to combat a culture of greed and misconduct, and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has promised to implement them so the banking sector can 'change forever'. The royal commission reserved particular criticism for National Australia Bank, slamming its chief executive Andrew Thorburn and chairman Dr Ken Henry, a former Treasury secretary. 'My fear - that there may be a wide gap between the public face NAB seeks to show and what it does in practice - remains,' Mr Hayne said. 'The amounts of money that just "fell into the pocket" of so many large and sophisticated financial entities, the number of times it happened, and the many years over which it happened, show that it cannot be swept aside as no more than bumbling incompetence or the product of poor computer systems.' Retired High Court judge Kenneth Hayne (left with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg) has savaged Australia's big banks for ripping off consumers and even charging fees to dead people Mr Hayne also slammed a culture of greed among Australia's big banks. 'In almost every case, the conduct in issue was driven not only by the relevant entity's pursuit of profit but also by individuals' pursuit of gain, whether in the form of remuneration for the individual or profit for the individual's business,' he said. 'Providing a service to customers was relegated to second place.' The report also recommended tougher criminal charges for financial firms that failed to report misconduct to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. President Trump will use his speech to a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday night to call out the 'resistance' opposing his agenda and ask for Democrat's cooperation on legislative initiatives from border security to infrastructure. 'We have a crisis on the Southern border and the Congress has failed to do its job this Congress, last Congress and for quite a while to make sure that we have what we need at the southern border, which of course the centerpiece is a physical barrier, wall, steel slats,' Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Monday afternoon. 'But at the same time this president is going to call for an end to the politics of resistance, retribution and call for more comity,' she added. The White House has been dribbling out tidbits of the hour-long address that Trump will give in primetime on Tuesday. According to Politico, Trump will announce a plan to significantly reduce or eliminate HIV transmissions by 2030. President Trump will use his speech to a Joint Session of Congress tomorrow night to call out the 'resistance' opposing his agenda and ask for Democrat's cooperation on legislative initiatives from border security to infrastructure Officials wouldn't confirm Trump's plan to reveal the initiative on Tuesday night, saying they didn't want to get ahead of anything he could announce. They declined on multiple occasions over the last week to get into the meat of of his announcements, even as Trump teased major declarations on border security and the location and timing of his next nuclear summit with Kim Jong-un. A senior official said Friday that the 2019 State of the Union address will have the theme 'choosing greatness' and Trump will seek to 'heal old wounds' in the speech to Congress. He will encourage all Americans to 'adopt a spirit of cooperation' in the remarks that the White House says is intended to be 'unifying,' in spite of the hostilities that have erupted between the president and Democratic lawmakers and led to a government shutdown. 'President Trump's a problem solver, and he will offer solutions that have bipartisan appeal, which are doable and practical,' a senior official, who briefed reporters on the remarks on Friday afternoon, said. He will spend time in the address pushing his trade deal with Mexico, highlighting his trade talks with China, promoting democracy in Venezuela, calling for the cessation of 'endless wars' and asking Congress to pass bills to improve America's infrastructure and lower the price of prescription drugs. The White House would neither comment on any new proposals the president could make nor shed additional light on Trump's suggestion that he could declare a national emergency on the border. Trump is seen here talking to his Homeland Security Secretary on Friday Notably, in a nod to the administration's pro-life agenda, the official said, 'He will talk about the fund importance of respecting human life.' Asked if the president's speech will address racial tension in America, the official pointedly told reporters, 'I think the president's going to cast an inspiring vision for all Americans.' The White House would neither comment on any new proposals the president could make nor shed additional light on Trump's suggestion that he could declare a national emergency on the border Immigration will be a major topic of the speech, the person indicated. But the White House official refused to go further than that. 'I think afterwards, you'll say, yeah, that's a top priority,' the person said as reporter after reporter pushed for more information on the immigration section. In the lengthy address that the White House says will be in keeping with a traditional State of the Union speeches, the official said that Trump will deliver a unifying, bipartisan, optimistic message. 'People will be reminded through the speech of the broad appeal of the president's agenda,' the official said. It will be, in a word, 'visionary,' the official told reporters on Friday. For instance, Trump is set to say: 'Together we can break decades of political stalemate, we can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds build new coalitions, forge new solutions and unlock the extraordinary promise of Americas future. The decision is ours to make.' President Trump hinted Friday that he could use his State of the Union address to announce a national emergency on the border. The action would be controversial and totally fly in the face of the outline White House provided for speech's goals and content. He told reporters he's 'certainly thinking about' making the declaration. 'I think theres a good chance well have to do that,' he said. Asked if he was suggesting he'll make the announcement on Tuesday night, Trump replied: 'What I'm saying is listen closely to the State of the Union. I think you'll find it very exciting.' President Donald Trump hinted Friday that he's leaning toward announcing a national emergency on the border during his State of the Union address He told reporters on Friday afternoon that he's 'certainly thinking about' making the declaration that would allow him to build his border wall Trump has been saying for weeks that he could declare a national emergency at the border to free up manpower and funds to build the border wall that Democrats' have steadfastly opposed. The order would almost immediately be challenged. Trump said Friday he believes it would be hard for the courts to keep him from exercising the authority, however. 'We have very, very strong legal standing, it would be very hard to do that. But they tend to go to the Ninth Circuit and when they go to the Ninth Circuit, things happen,' he said of the panel that's kept his other executive actions from going into immediate effect. President Trump said that he's already 'building a lot of wall' and will continue to do with 'funds on hand' that appropriators gave him for fencing. 'Were negotiating very tough prices, weve designed a much better looking wall that is also actually a better wall, which is actually an interesting combination - its far more beautiful and its better - its much more protective,' he revealed. He refused to say outright if he's planning to declare a national emergency, cryptically telling a reporter: 'I dont want to say, youll hear the State of the Union, and then youll see what happens right after the State of the Union.' If Trump declares a national emergency, it could scuttle a deal on Capitol Hill. A bipartisan panel of legislators are looking for ways to satisfy his request by Feb. 15 and demands from their own caucus that they withhold $5.7 billion in taxpayer funds that Trump says he needs to finish his border barrier. The president said repeatedly this week that they are 'wasting their time' on talks unless the proposal includes his border wall. 'We will be looking at a national emergency, because I dont think anythings going to happen. I dont think Democrats want border security. And when I hear them talk about the fact that walls are immoral and walls dont work - they know they work,' Trump contended. He introduced the mantra last week that America should 'build a wall' and 'crime will fall' as he tried to sell his border security package. 'The chant now should be "Finish the Wall!" because were building a lot of wall,' he claimed on Friday. 'I could see were getting nowhere with the Democrats, were not going to get anywhere with them, its going to be part of their campaign, but I dont think its good politically.' Trump said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 'should be ashamed of herself because shes hurting a lot of people' with her position that a wall is immoral. 'I think the Democrats should be ashamed of themselves. In all fairness to the Democrats, many of them want the wall, and I see it.' he insisted. 'Theyre just dying to say what they want to say, but they cant say it as well as they would be able to if they were allowed to do it.' Democrats who worry they're in for a border security lesson on Tuesday night, may want to prepare for a lecture on late-term abortion from the president, instead GOP lawmakers have joined their Democratic colleagues in saying that Trump should adhere by the legislative process rather than taking matters into his own hands with a national emergency declaration. Trump suggested Friday that it is his belief that by taking the wall off the table, he could move along immigration reform discussions. 'Actually having a national emergency does help the process. It would certainly help the process. What would help a lot is if the Democrats could actually be honest. Theyre not being honest,' Trump accused on Friday afternoon. 'I like to hear what they talk about in their rooms when they go back.' Democrats who worry they're in for a border security lesson on Tuesday night, may want to prepare for a lecture on late-term abortion from the president, as well. Trump is expected to rail against bills in Virginia and New York that would relax legal restrictions on the practice in his State of the Union address, the White House indicated on Friday. Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway suggested, in response to a question from DailyMail.com on the theme of Trump's speech, that the president would denounce the measures in the primetime address. 'Im not going to tell you whats in the speech Ive seen it but maybe hell ask Democrats, in view of the new news, why do you object to the Pain-Capable bill that non-partisan scientists say a baby can feel pain after the twentieth week,' Conway said. Politico also reported that White House sources were saying it would be a major topic. Conway said that Trump would be highlighting bipartisan efforts like criminal justice reform and praising the economic gains the nation has seen under his presidency. But she indicated that he'd also tackle the controversial issue of late-term abortion. Trump delivered his State of the Union address on January 30, 2018, speaking to a packed House chamber where every seat was filled and the galleries were at capacity 'Now weve got, weve got governors, and state legislators in many places, but most illustratively, and recently, in New York in Virginia, saying that a baby can have his or her life snuffed out of it, out of him or her... after 20 weeks. I mean this is who we are as Americans?' she asked. Trump said Thursday that a theme of his State of the Union address will be 'unity' and he will praise Republicans for sticking by him over the course of his last year in office. 'I think its unification, I think its industry, I think its about the people that you see right here,' he told reporters from the Oval Office. Trump quickly pivoted to an attack on Democrats for refusing his pleas for a border wall and then back to the topic of unity in the next sentence as he gave reporters their first look at the Tuesday speech. 'The problem is the Democrats, you know when they say, we don't want to build, as an example, we don't want to build a wall, because it doesn't work or because it's immoral,' he charged. Bringing up Pelosi's claim that a wall is 'immoral,' he said that allowing Americans to die at the hand of violent immigrants is also unacceptable. 'Well it's also immoral, the people that come into our country that shouldn't be here and kill people. That's immoral, too. That's a lot more immoral,' he claimed with no build-up. He added, as he got back on topic: 'But I really think it's going to be a speech that is going to cover a lot of territory but part of it is going to be unity.' Asked by DailyMail.com about the assault on the opposing party, seconds after he said he wanted to spark unity, Conway said Friday, 'Well the president, of course, is going to be a unifying figure. He is the leader of the country. 'And he is certainly the leader of the country at the State of the Union. Its his opportunity once a year to look the American people in the eye, cut out the middle man respectfully, until the panels talk afterwards to convey to them, many things they dont hear throughout the year.' She mentioned the January jobs report that dropped earlier on Friday. Companies created more jobs the first month of the year than forecasters expected. 'The record of accomplishment, the facts and figures of his great economy, today with 304,000 new jobs created, well above the line of 70,000 that were projected. So, he will say things like that, showing the economys strong,' she said. As part of his bid to spark 'unity' she said he will talk about criminal justice reform, prescription drug legislation and other issues on which 'Republicans and Democrats have proven they can come together and work toward a common purpose of serving the American people.' 'He believes border security is a non-partisan issue that should have bipartisan solutions,' she added. 'And I dont think that the speaker of the House, respectfully, sounds very unifying, most days she sounds like a cable news pundit ... She doesnt sound like a unifying figure.' Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam speaks to a crowd during a Women's Rights rally at the Capitol in Richmond earlier this month (left); Virginia Del. Kathy Tran presents HB2491, her bill dealing with eliminating some requirements for abortion inside the State Capitol in Richmond this week (right) Conway said that Pelosi, who represents liberal San Francisco in Congress should broaden her own message and 'get a little bit better control of her temper and her chamber.' 'And those who dont show up for the State of the Union, thats on them, not on the president. They need to explain to their constituents why they thought so little of the people they represent that they refused to sit in the hallowed chamber in the Capitol and listen to our president come forward and try to call for bipartisan action on any number of measures. Thats on them,thats not on him.' No Democrats have said so far that they are boycotting the speech, but many refused to sit in the chamber and listen to Trump in 2018 - some over comments he made about immigrants from 's***hole nations' seeking refuge in America. The president and Democrats are still clashing over the issue that looms large ahead of a Feb. 15 deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security and other major agencies. They're also butting heads on Trump's foreign policy. The Senate moved forward with legislation to rebuke his Middle East policy moves this week. They want a review of his troop withdrawal in Syria and an assessment of a possible pullout in Afghanistan. Conway said national security and foreign policy would be major pillars of Trump's address on Tuesday, as well. 'The president spends a good part of everyday thinking about the nations intelligence, security, foreign policy certainly, endless wars as he calls them in places like Syria and Afghanistan, where he thinks that we have spent enormous treasure, most of all, our young men and women who have perished there. And of course he will be addressing that in the State of the Union, as well as domestic issues,' she added. Democrats have selected former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams to give their response to Trump. He said he hopes she does a good job and has 'respect' for her on Thursday, despite referring to her as 'not qualified' to hold office last year as he tried to bring her down. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams will deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address next Tuesday Abrams said she was 'delighted' to have been chosen 'I respect her. I don't know her. I haven't met her, but I hope she does a good job,' Trump said of the Democratic politician. He mentioned that he doesn't the Georgian who he worked to to keep out of office on a personal level. 'I campaigned against Stacey Abrams, I know that President Obama campaigned for her. Michelle Obama campaigned for her, and Oprah campaigned for her, and all Brian [Kemp] had was me, and he won fairly easily, you know fairly easily. So, I hope that she does a good job.' Abrams garnered national attention in her bid to become the first female, African-American governor of Georgia in a contest that went down to the wire. Democratic star power flooded the state to support her, including Oprah Winfrey and former President Barack Obama. Abrams lost to Kemp by 1 percent of the vote. She is the first African-American woman to deliver a response to the State of the Union, a speech that has traditionally served as a springboard for higher office. Michael Joseph Jameson arriving at Mold courts. Jameson has to pay 639 compensation for the insurance cost and distress caused to Mr Jones, and 170 costs A pub owner stripped naked and simulated sex with the wheel of his BMW before laying face down on his bonnet in a 'bizarre' series of events that landed him in court. Michael Jameson, 37, of Islington, London, first tailed and bumped another car from behind before the naked escapade at the a wheel of his German 330-series saloon near Holywell in North Wales, magistrates at Mold were told. He admitted that on June 16 he outraged public decency by removing all his clothing and simulating the act of sexual intercourse, blaming stress for the 'breakdown'. He also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving in a BMW on the same occasion. Court chairwoman Joanna Lindfield told him: 'We feel that the offence of outraging public decency was a bizarre episode which neither you nor we can explain. We hope the order will assist you in obtaining the help that you need.' Prosecutor Robert Blakemore said David Jones had been driving a BMW X5 at 60mph on the A55 dual carriageway, with his wife Susan as passenger, when they saw Jameson driving close behind. The couple feared a collision and after a number of minutes there was a bump. Mr Jones turned off the A55 along a slip road and pulled in a lay-by. Mr Blakemore said the other BMW approached slowly and began shunting Mr Jones's vehicle with Mrs Jones still inside, causing 1,689 damage. Mrs Jones got out and her husband's car was pushed 15ft. The prosecutor said Jameson appeared 'vacant' and was sweating profusely. Michael Joseph Jameson leaving Mold courts after sentencing But he said : 'When the police took him into custody they took blood but the test showed no controlled drugs in the defendant's blood.' Jameson had stopped revving his BMW and he opened the driver's door. But he decided to climb through the open window and lay on the ground next to the side of his car and removed his clothing. He'd also been sprawled face down on his bonnet at one stage. Police body-cam footage was shown to the court to explain what happened. Mr Blakemore said Jameson told police he had left London that morning to catch a ferry from Holyhead to Ireland. He had business in Birmingham en route. 'He was apologetic for his actions,' the lawyer said. 'He had very little recollection of what had happened.' Probation officer Jonny Belbin told the magistrates : 'The defendant doesn't recall too much of the event. The defendant remembers driving on the A55, he was heading towards Holyhead port where he was taking the ferry to see family members. The next thing he can recall is being arrested. 'He can't recall any aspect of the dangerous driving or spitting or outraging public decency. He described it as a mental breakdown due to potential stress.' Single Jameson, who owns a pub in Islington, was 'greatly ashamed.' He had two previous drink-driving convictions. Defence solicitor Patrick Geddes said : 'It's a bizarre case.. It's very unusual for a dangerous driving and outraging public decency to come before you as part of the same case. Mr Jameson is at a loss to explain his behaviour. He was under an enormous amount of pressure from work.' Mr Geddes remarked : 'He seems to have simply lost the plot. He's appalled and grossly embarrassed.' He had a similar 'breakdown' a few years ago. A community order with 80 hours unpaid work, and rehabilitation, was imposed. The court also directed a twelve months driving ban with an extended test. Jameson has to pay 639 compensation for the insurance cost and distress caused to Mr Jones, and 170 costs. A woman had to have her finger amputated after she developed an infection during a visit to a nail salon. Stella Falcone caught the bacterial infection after getting a tiny cut during a manicure at a salon in Melbourne. She was told to go to hospital, where she endured days of operations before the top of her finger had to be cut off. Scroll down for video Stella Falcone caught the bacterial infection after getting a tiny cut during a manicure at a salon in Melbourne. Pictured: Her infected finger 'I had five operations in six days and I ended up losing the top of my finger,' she told A Current Affair. 'The equipment at the nail salon wasn't sterilised.' What is septic bursitis? A bursa is a fluid-filled sac or saclike cavity, especially one countering friction at a joint. Bursae near the surface of your skin, such as those near your elbow, can become infected if bacteria find their way into cuts and grazes and then move into a bursa. Bursitis caused by an infection is known as septic burstitis. Advertisement Ms Falcone's case came to light after A Current Affair reporter Alex Bernhardt suffered an infection in her elbow called septic bursitis after getting a cut at a nail salon. She had to spend three days in hospital on intravenous antibiotics and narrowly avoided surgery. Wentworth MP Professor Kerryn Phelps, the former boss of the Australian Medical Association, said the infection was likely caused by the nail salon. During an interview, she saw a cut on Ms Bernhardt's finger just after she had a manicure and told her to seek medical help. When Ms Bernhardt published her story, dozens of other women came forward to say they had experienced similar infections after manicures. Rita Pavlis, also from Melbourne, had to have part of her finger removed. She explained: 'I lost my nail and they had to slice my finger open lucky a plastic surgeon was available and they had to drain out all the poison that was in there.' There are now growing calls for tighter hygiene regulations at nail salons. The owner of the salon that Ms Bernhardt went to said her premises were clean and accused the reporter of 'making up a story.' CCTV captured the terrifying moment a would-be kidnapper tried to snatch a young woman off the street outside a train station in Mexico City. The victim is seen wandering along the middle of the dimly-lit road, apparently distracted by her cell phone, in the neighborhood of Coyoacan last Thursday night. An SUV in front of her abruptly brakes and tries to reverse to the other side of the sidewalk as she tries to walk around the vehicle. A woman (circled) fought off her would-be kidnapper last Thursday night after she had left a train station in Mexico City The suspect tried to block his victim's path as she walked along while looking at her cell phone A male suspect is spotted running towards a SUV after residents in the neighborhood of Coyoacan responded to a crying woman's call for help As she moves out of the SUV's path, a man appears in front of her and grabs her by force, knocking her to the floor. The pair wrestle on the ground as the suspect attempts to drag the woman into the vehicle, which is just a few feet away with its motor running. Horrified neighbors eventually responded to the unidentified woman's cries for help and race of out nearby buildings into the street. The suspect, however, runs to the SUV and pries open the left passenger door before the vehicle speeds away. A CCTV camera mounted near a train station exit captures the moment a man tried to force the young woman into an SUV In order to combat a wave of crimes against female public transit customers, the Mexico City mayor has set up five investigation centers at five different train stations Residents attempt to stop a potential kidnapping suspect from escaping after they hear a woman's pleading for help According to Mexican news outlet Heraldo de Mexico, there were eight kidnapping attempt cases reported through the end of January in the the Mexico City subway system. In all, there have been 131 incidents reported since 1997, Animal Politico reported. The Mexican capital city's metro system, the second largest in North America after the New York City subway system, is safeguarded by a 3,000 police officers. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum has deployed five investigation centers at five different stations with the end goal of having raising the amount of investigative units to 70 where women can report a crime to an on-site female lawyer. No arrests have been reported in regards to Thursday's foiled kidnapping attempt. A vehicle leaves the scene moments after a kidnapping was foiled. There were at least eight kidnapping attempts reported in the month of January Two Democratic lawmakers are calling on the acting White House chief of staff to revoke Jared Kushner's security clearance as a powerful new chairman begins his probe of Trump family members accessing 'sensitive secrets.' Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer and California Rep. Ted Lieu wrote acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney raising 'serious concerns about Kushner's clearance, citing his past omissions on federal disclosure forms and referencing his campaign and transition Russia contacts. 'We have held serious concerns about the implications of granting Jared Kushner a security clearance ... given [his] track record of omitting meetings, relationships and business interests that tie him to foreign officials from his SF-86 clearance application,' the lawmakers wrote, the Huffington Post reported. CARL CLEARANCE: Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner got his top-secret security clearance approved by a security supervisor after it was rejected by two career officials The letter highlights an NBC report on the suspension, and cites what they call the White House's 'pattern of hiding the truth and devious behavior with regard to Mr. Kushner's security clearance.' They cited an earlier letter seeking information about President Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump's security clearance, and referenced a media report that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is asking witnesses about her involvement in a Trump Moscow tower project from 2016. The letter follows an announcement by Oversight chair Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who wrote: 'The system is supposed to be a nonpartisan determination of an individuals fitness to hold a clearance, not an ad hoc approach that overrules career experts to to our nations most sensitive secrets.' They cited an 'intentional, concerted effort' to 'cover' for Kushner from within the Executive Office of the president. The public pressure and investigatory muscle comes after a 'whistleblower' was suspended from her position in a White House office that handles security approvals after it was revealed that her supervisor green-lighted Jared Kushner's top-secret clearance and overruled other officials. The specialist, Tricia Newbold, has denied there being any 'compromise' of sensitive information, following a published report about the Kushner episode. Her suspension letter cites 'defiance' and other alleged transgressions. Newbold has filed a complaint against the supervisor, Carl Kline, whom she alleges discriminated against her due to her height (she has a rare form of dwarfism), in part by relocating security files to a hard-to-reach place. Her lawyer is calling the suspension reprisal for her complaint. Newbold was suspended for defying authority, and a failure to supervise and follow instructions, NBC News reported. The network reported last week that Kline, the supervisor, had signed off on Kushner's top-secret clearance, after two other security officials declined to approve it. The report cited two anonymous sources. The approval came despite problems in Kushner's background check related to potential foreign influence. Kushner had to amend his financial disclosures on multiple occasions. Kushner Companies spend years looking for overseas partners to help finance a $1.4 billion mortgage on a Manhattan skyscraper. Security specialist Tricia Newbold, has denied there being any 'compromise' of sensitive information. She says her supervisor discriminated against her. The supervisor, Carl Kline, has been revealed to have approved Jared Kushner's security clearance Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump both work as senior advisors to the president without pay. The Washington Post last year reported that officials from multiple countries had been discussing ways to try take advantage of Kushner's potential vulnerabilities The Washington Post last year reported that officials from multiple countries had been discussing ways to try take advantage of Kushner's 'complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience,' citing officials familiar with intelligence reports. The countries were the United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and Mexico. The issue of security clearances became even more fraught after DailyMail.com reported that White House staff secretary Rob Porter faced allegations of abuse by two ex-wives. The notice of her suspension noted Newbold had faced no prior disciplinary action in her 18-year career. It cited her 'defiance,' without more explicit information about her offense. Her lawyer didn't immediately return a call from DailyMail.com seeking further explanation. Newbold's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint claims discrimination by Cline based on her height and says she has a rare form of dwarfism. She told the network: 'I confidently feel that this is completely unwarranted and I am also confident that I have done nothing wrong, every decision I and my team have made have always been in the best interest of the United States.' 'There is no compromise of personal identifiable information or sensitive information,' she said, in a comment that raised the prospect of unauthorized disclosure. Her complaint states that Kline moved security files to a location she had difficulty reaching because of her stature. She says Newbold told her: 'You have people, have them get you the files you need; or you can ask me.' An elderly man has been charged with murder after he walked into a police station and told officers his wife had been stabbed. After the 73-year-old spoke to police on Monday night, detectives went to a home in Merrylands in western Sydney where they found the body of a 63-year-old woman. She had a wound to her chest and died at the scene. The man was taken into custody and officers attended a home on Leigh Street in the western Sydney suburb of Merrylands (pictured) A crime scene was established with detectives from Cumberland Police Area Command commencing their investigation. The man was taken to Granville Police Station where he was later charged with his wife's murder. He was refused bail to appear at Fairfield Local Court on Tuesday. Sandra Lee (pictured) was chasing a male who was carrying a backpack down a street A foster mum was killed by a Good Samaritan who reversed her car to help save her from what she believed was a robbery. Sandra Lee was chasing a male who was carrying a backpack down a street in Batley, West Yorks, when passing driver Sian Humphrey lost control of her car and collided with the 56-year-old. Mrs Lee, who had three children, four foster children and a second grandchild on the way, was actually chasing her foster son and he now blames himself for running away, the court heard. Humphreys, 39, was described in court as an 'ordinarily cautious driver' who 'would have done anything for someone in need'. Michael Smith, prosecuting, described it as a 'highly unusual case'. Humphreys, of Birstall, West Yorkshire pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving in relation to the incident on March 13 last year and was given a suspended sentence. Leeds Crown Court was shown dashcam footage of Humphrey's view of the chase. She was on her way back from college when she reversed at a maximum speed of 18mph, lost control and collided with Mrs Lee, a fence and the wall of a house. Mrs Lee died in hospital two days later. In a victim personal statement read to the court, Mrs Lee's eldest son Ben said: 'It has broken our hearts into a million little pieces. 'Months have been spent crying ourselves to sleep and a pointlessness has crept into our lives. Sian Humphreys arrives at Kirklees Magistrates' Court were she was given a suspended sentence 'The three-bedroomed house that she had extended to seven [bedrooms] to accommodate many troubled children - a house that constantly buzzed with activity, or chaos as some would call it - is now empty, devoid of love and the silence is deafening.' Tom Gent, mitigating, said Humphreys had made an 'error of judgment' with 'good intentions' and 'catastrophic consequences'. The court heard Humphreys is a single mother-of-three who has served in the military in Afghanistan and Iraq, has no previous convictions or endorsements on her driving licence, works daily, studies a business management degree in Wakefield and does charity work for Help for Heroes and Marie Curie. The Lee family: Left-right: Son Ben Lee, Becki Lee, George Chadwick, mother Sandra Lee, Natalie McGuinness, Gary Lee, Shelley Lee Mr Gent said Humphreys was 'immediately remorseful', adding: 'If ever there was a case where mercy could - and should be - shown, it would be this case.' The court also heard that she felt 'devastated' by the collision and now takes anxiety medication, attends counselling and her children are being bullied in school and have become withdrawn and quiet. Judge Guy Kearl QC, the Recorder of Leeds, told Humphreys that she would have to live with her mistake for the rest of her life, adding: 'At the time, you were trying to do something instinctively good. 'You ended up being responsible for the death of another lady who herself was doing what came instinctively to her - namely caring for one of her foster children who was running away from her at that moment.' He added that she could have made 'different decisions', such as pulling over and turning the car around safely or braking when she realised she lost control of the car. The judge sentenced to Humphreys to 20 months' imprisonment, suspended for two years, and disqualified her from driving for three years. Members of the victim's family were present in court for the sentencing hearing. The historic document promotes "world peace and living together", dialogue and identity whilst rejecting violence and terrorism. Religion should not include any compulsion. The document calls for the promotion of the status of woman and respect for nature. Abu Dhabi (AsiaNews) Pope Francis and the Great Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Muhammad Al-Tayyib signed a document on human fraternity in favour of world peace and living together at the end of the interfaith meeting held in Abu Dhabi today. In it, the two religious leaders agreed to uphold, among others, the principle of dialogue and reject terrorism and all violence in the name of God, as well as express support for promoting the status of women and respect for nature. "Faith, the text reads, leads a believer to see in the other a brother or sister to be supported and loved. At the same time, religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood. Likewise, Freedom is a right of every person, whilst forcing people to adhere to a certain religion or culture must be rejected. Lastly, It is an essential requirement to recognize the right of women to education and employment, and to recognize their freedom to exercise their own political rights. The full text follows: A DOCUMENT ON HUMAN FRATERNITY FOR WORLD PEACE AND LIVING TOGETHER INTRODUCTION Faith leads a believer to see in the other a brother or sister to be supported and loved. Through faith in God, who has created the universe, creatures and all human beings (equal on account of his mercy), believers are called to express this human fraternity by safeguarding creation and the entire universe and supporting all persons, especially the poorest and those most in need. This transcendental value served as the starting point for several meetings characterized by a friendly and fraternal atmosphere where we shared the joys, sorrows and problems of our contemporary world. We did this by considering scientific and technical progress, therapeutic achievements, the digital era, the mass media and communications. We reflected also on the level of poverty, conflict and suffering of so many brothers and sisters in different parts of the world as a consequence of the arms race, social injustice, corruption, inequality, moral decline, terrorism, discrimination, extremism and many other causes. From our fraternal and open discussions, and from the meeting that expressed profound hope in a bright future for all human beings, the idea of this Document on Human Fraternity was conceived. It is a text that has been given honest and serious thought so as to be a joint declaration of good and heartfelt aspirations. It is a document that invites all persons who have faith in God and faith in human fraternity to unite and work together so that it may serve as a guide for future generations to advance a culture of mutual respect in the awareness of the great divine grace that makes all human beings brothers and sisters. In the name of God who has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and who has called them to live together as brothers and sisters, to fill the earth and make known the values of goodness, love and peace; In the name of innocent human life that God has forbidden to kill, affirming that whoever kills a person is like one who kills the whole of humanity, and that whoever saves a person is like one who saves the whole of humanity; In the name of the poor, the destitute, the marginalized and those most in need whom God has commanded us to help as a duty required of all persons, especially the wealthy and of means; In the name of orphans, widows, refugees and those exiled from their homes and their countries; in the name of all victims of wars, persecution and injustice; in the name of the weak, those who live in fear, prisoners of war and those tortured in any part of the world, without distinction; In the name of peoples who have lost their security, peace, and the possibility of living together, becoming victims of destruction, calamity and war; In the name of human fraternity that embraces all human beings, unites them and renders them equal; In the name of this fraternity torn apart by policies of extremism and division, by systems of unrestrained profit or by hateful ideological tendencies that manipulate the actions and the future of men and women; In the name of freedom, that God has given to all human beings creating them free and distinguishing them by this gift; In the name of justice and mercy, the foundations of prosperity and the cornerstone of faith; In the name of all persons of good will present in every part of the world; In the name of God and of everything stated thus far; Al-Azhar al-Sharif and the Muslims of the East and West, together with the Catholic Church and the Catholics of the East and West, declare the adoption of a culture of dialogue as the path; mutual cooperation as the code of conduct; reciprocal understanding as the method and standard. We, who believe in God and in the final meeting with Him and His judgment, on the basis of our religious and moral responsibility, and through this Document, call upon ourselves, upon the leaders of the world as well as the architects of international policy and world economy, to work strenuously to spread the culture of tolerance and of living together in peace; to intervene at the earliest opportunity to stop the shedding of innocent blood and bring an end to wars, conflicts, environmental decay and the moral and cultural decline that the world is presently experiencing. We call upon intellectuals, philosophers, religious figures, artists, media professionals and men and women of culture in every part of the world, to rediscover the values of peace, justice, goodness, beauty, human fraternity and coexistence in order to confirm the importance of these values as anchors of salvation for all, and to promote them everywhere. This Declaration, setting out from a profound consideration of our contemporary reality, valuing its successes and in solidarity with its suffering, disasters and calamities, believes firmly that among the most important causes of the crises of the modern world are a desensitized human conscience, a distancing from religious values and a prevailing individualism accompanied by materialistic philosophies that deify the human person and introduce worldly and material values in place of supreme and transcendental principles. While recognizing the positive steps taken by our modern civilization in the fields of science, technology, medicine, industry and welfare, especially in developed countries, we wish to emphasize that, associated with such historic advancements, great and valued as they are, there exists both a moral deterioration that influences international action and a weakening of spiritual values and responsibility. All this contributes to a general feeling of frustration, isolation and desperation leading many to fall either into a vortex of atheistic, agnostic or religious extremism, or into blind and fanatic extremism, which ultimately encourage forms of dependency and individual or collective self-destruction. History shows that religious extremism, national extremism and also intolerance have produced in the world, be it in the East or West, what might be referred to as signs of a third world war being fought piecemeal. In several parts of the world and in many tragic circumstances these signs have begun to be painfully apparent, as in those situations where the precise number of victims, widows and orphans is unknown. We see, in addition, other regions preparing to become theatres of new conflicts, with outbreaks of tension and a build-up of arms and ammunition, and all this in a global context overshadowed by uncertainty, disillusionment, fear of the future, and controlled by narrow-minded economic interests. We likewise affirm that major political crises, situations of injustice and lack of equitable distribution of natural resources which only a rich minority benefit from, to the detriment of the majority of the peoples of the earth have generated, and continue to generate, vast numbers of poor, infirm and deceased persons. This leads to catastrophic crises that various countries have fallen victim to despite their natural resources and the resourcefulness of young people which characterize these nations. In the face of such crises that result in the deaths of millions of children wasted away from poverty and hunger there is an unacceptable silence on the international level. It is clear in this context how the family as the fundamental nucleus of society and humanity is essential in bringing children into the world, raising them, educating them, and providing them with solid moral formation and domestic security. To attack the institution of the family, to regard it with contempt or to doubt its important role, is one of the most threatening evils of our era. We affirm also the importance of awakening religious awareness and the need to revive this awareness in the hearts of new generations through sound education and an adherence to moral values and upright religious teachings. In this way we can confront tendencies that are individualistic, selfish, conflicting, and also address radicalism and blind extremism in all its forms and expressions. The first and most important aim of religions is to believe in God, to honour Him and to invite all men and women to believe that this universe depends on a God who governs it. He is the Creator who has formed us with His divine wisdom and has granted us the gift of life to protect it. It is a gift that no one has the right to take away, threaten or manipulate to suit oneself. Indeed, everyone must safeguard this gift of life from its beginning up to its natural end. We therefore condemn all those practices that are a threat to life such as genocide, acts of terrorism, forced displacement, human trafficking, abortion and euthanasia. We likewise condemn the policies that promote these practices. Moreover, we resolutely declare that religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood. These tragic realities are the consequence of a deviation from religious teachings. They result from a political manipulation of religions and from interpretations made by religious groups who, in the course of history, have taken advantage of the power of religious sentiment in the hearts of men and women in order to make them act in a way that has nothing to do with the truth of religion. This is done for the purpose of achieving objectives that are political, economic, worldly and short-sighted. We thus call upon all concerned to stop using religions to incite hatred, violence, extremism and blind fanaticism, and to refrain from using the name of God to justify acts of murder, exile, terrorism and oppression. We ask this on the basis of our common belief in God who did not create men and women to be killed or to fight one another, nor to be tortured or humiliated in their lives and circumstances. God, the Almighty, has no need to be defended by anyone and does not want His name to be used to terrorize people This Document, in accordance with previous International Documents that have emphasized the importance of the role of religions in the construction of world peace, upholds the following: The firm conviction that authentic teachings of religions invite us to remain rooted in the values of peace; to defend the values of mutual understanding, human fraternity and harmonious coexistence; to re-establish wisdom, justice and love; and to reawaken religious awareness among young people so that future generations may be protected from the realm of materialistic thinking and from dangerous policies of unbridled greed and indifference that are based on the law of force and not on the force of law; Freedom is a right of every person: each individual enjoys the freedom of belief, thought, expression and action. The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings. This divine wisdom is the source from which the right to freedom of belief and the freedom to be different derives. Therefore, the fact that people are forced to adhere to a certain religion or culture must be rejected, as too the imposition of a cultural way of life that others do not accept; Justice based on mercy is the path to follow in order to achieve a dignified life to which every human being has a right; Dialogue, understanding and the widespread promotion of a culture of tolerance, acceptance of others and of living together peacefully would contribute significantly to reducing many economic, social, political and environmental problems that weigh so heavily on a large part of humanity; Dialogue among believers means coming together in the vast space of spiritual, human and shared social values and, from here, transmitting the highest moral virtues that religions aim for. It also means avoiding unproductive discussions; The protection of places of worship synagogues, churches and mosques is a duty guaranteed by religions, human values, laws and international agreements. Every attempt to attack places of worship or threaten them by violent assaults, bombings or destruction, is a deviation from the teachings of religions as well as a clear violation of international law; Terrorism is deplorable and threatens the security of people, be they in the East or the West, the North or the South, and disseminates panic, terror and pessimism, but this is not due to religion, even when terrorists instrumentalize it. It is due, rather, to an accumulation of incorrect interpretations of religious texts and to policies linked to hunger, poverty, injustice, oppression and pride. This is why it is so necessary to stop supporting terrorist movements fuelled by financing, the provision of weapons and strategy, and by attempts to justify these movements even using the media. All these must be regarded as international crimes that threaten security and world peace. Such terrorism must be condemned in all its forms and expressions; The concept of citizenship is based on the equality of rights and duties, under which all enjoy justice. It is therefore crucial to establish in our societies the concept of full citizenship and reject the discriminatory use of the term minorities which engenders feelings of isolation and inferiority. Its misuse paves the way for hostility and discord; it undoes any successes and takes away the religious and civil rights of some citizens who are thus discriminated against; Good relations between East and West are indisputably necessary for both. They must not be neglected, so that each can be enriched by the others culture through fruitful exchange and dialogue. The West can discover in the East remedies for those spiritual and religious maladies that are caused by a prevailing materialism. And the East can find in the West many elements that can help free it from weakness, division, conflict and scientific, technical and cultural decline. It is important to pay attention to religious, cultural and historical differences that are a vital component in shaping the character, culture and civilization of the East. It is likewise important to reinforce the bond of fundamental human rights in order to help ensure a dignified life for all the men and women of East and West, avoiding the politics of double standards; It is an essential requirement to recognize the right of women to education and employment, and to recognize their freedom to exercise their own political rights. Moreover, efforts must be made to free women from historical and social conditioning that runs contrary to the principles of their faith and dignity. It is also necessary to protect women from sexual exploitation and from being treated as merchandise or objects of pleasure or financial gain. Accordingly, an end must be brought to all those inhuman and vulgar practices that denigrate the dignity of women. Efforts must be made to modify those laws that prevent women from fully enjoying their rights; The protection of the fundamental rights of children to grow up in a family environment, to receive nutrition, education and support, are duties of the family and society. Such duties must be guaranteed and protected so that they are not overlooked or denied to any child in any part of the world. All those practices that violate the dignity and rights of children must be denounced. It is equally important to be vigilant against the dangers that they are exposed to, particularly in the digital world, and to consider as a crime the trafficking of their innocence and all violations of their youth; The protection of the rights of the elderly, the weak, the disabled, and the oppressed is a religious and social obligation that must be guaranteed and defended through strict legislation and the implementation of the relevant international agreements. To this end, by mutual cooperation, the Catholic Church and Al-Azhar announce and pledge to convey this Document to authorities, influential leaders, persons of religion all over the world, appropriate regional and international organizations, organizations within civil society, religious institutions and leading thinkers. They further pledge to make known the principles contained in this Declaration at all regional and international levels, while requesting that these principles be translated into policies, decisions, legislative texts, courses of study and materials to be circulated. Al-Azhar and the Catholic Church ask that this Document become the object of research and reflection in all schools, universities and institutes of formation, thus helping to educate new generations to bring goodness and peace to others, and to be defenders everywhere of the rights of the oppressed and of the least of our brothers and sisters. In conclusion, our aspiration is that: this Declaration may constitute an invitation to reconciliation and fraternity among all believers, indeed among believers and non-believers, and among all people of good will; this Declaration may be an appeal to every upright conscience that rejects deplorable violence and blind extremism; an appeal to those who cherish the values of tolerance and fraternity that are promoted and encouraged by religions; this Declaration may be a witness to the greatness of faith in God that unites divided hearts and elevates the human soul; this Declaration may be a sign of the closeness between East and West, between North and South, and between all who believe that God has created us to understand one another, cooperate with one another and live as brothers and sisters who love one another. This is what we hope and seek to achieve with the aim of finding a universal peace that all can enjoy in this life. Abu Dhabi, 4 February 2019 His Holiness Pope Francis Great Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyib A Florida police officer filmed the touching moment three young men gently helped an 89-year-old woman and her 100-year-old husband into their car at a gas station. Officer Kanesha Carnegie of the Levy County Sheriff's Office spotted the locals, Joc Koe Stoe, Marty and Freddy G, last Monday in Williston, Florida, assisting Rose Griest, who was with her husband, David, according to Yahoo Lifestyle. 'I look over and three men were assisting the couple it was a beautiful thing to see,' Carnegie said. In the video Carnegie took after asking permission to record, two of the men gently take a visibly shaking Rose by the arms helping her let go of her walker with her husband guiding her from the back with his hand. The young men were filmed assisting Rose Griest and her husband, David, into their car They slowly direct her to the passenger seat of the SUV as the third friend takes charge of the walker and warns David to watch his foot as the other two are still getting Rose situated. 'Thank you so much fellas,' David says to the Good Samaritans. 'I'm 100 years old.' '100 years old!' one of them exclaims. 'Yet, you're still moving! That's good.' David then takes the walker around the back of the car as the young men tell Rose to take it easy. The friends had been inside the gas station buying chips and soda when they spotted Rose and David through the window. The three rappers from Williston, Florida, did not hesitate to help Rose Griest, in the purple outfit, as she and her husband, David (with the white hair) were trying to leave the gas station Officer Kanesha Carnegie of the Levy County Sheriff's Office knew the young men who helped the Griests and decided to record their heartwarming act for posterity The exhausted Rose had difficulty being transferred into the passenger seat, and after it was done, the grateful David thanked the Good Samaritans 'We didn't even ask if they needed help we felt comfortable giving them a hand right away,' said the 30-year-old Marty. 'I kept thinking, 'She could have been my grandmother.'' The married couple of 20 years had stopped to use the restroom during a long drive back home after Rose had a medical appointment in Orlando, Florida. 'We seen an old couple having a hard time so we just assisted them,' 26-year-old Stoe told FOX 5 DC about the exhausted Griests. 'I know these men from the neighborhood, and I wanted them to have that moment to show who they really are,' Carnegie says about the trio of local rappers. She had initially walked over to help, but held off and ended up recording the three helpful men. The video posted on her Facebook account has been viewed more than 4.9 million times since it went up. 'I don't think they even know about the video,' said grandson Tommy Griest about his grandparents Rose and David who apparently do not use social media. 'It would make them happy.' A ski goggle-wearing man suspected of splashing white gloss paint over five memorials and statues in London has been caught on camera. The CCTV footage, released by Metropolitan Police, follows the man as he walks with a 'distinctive gait' along a busy route in the capital on Sunday, January 20. Damage had been caused to the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park earlier that evening - and four similar incidents were reported the next day. The CCTV footage, released by Metropolitan Police, follows the suspected vandal as he walks with a 'distinctive gait' along a busy route in the capital on Sunday, January 20 The 'Allies Statue' in New Bond Street, the Canada Memorial in Green Park, and the Royal Marines Graspan Memorial on The Mall were among those defaced in the 12-hour vandalism spree. The memorial to police officer Yvonne Fletcher, who was killed outside in the Libyan embassy in 1984, in St James's Square was also attacked. The tributes were all splattered and smeared with white paint. The man wore dark clothing, a black cap, and carried a plastic bag in the footage. He also appears to have white paint splashed on his trousers Detective Inspector David Watkinson, leading the investigation, asked the public to 'think carefully about whether they can identify' the suspect Scotland Yard believes the suspected vandal first targeted the Bomber Command memorial before walking along The Mall towards Trafalgar Square. He would then have passed Canada House, walking in the direction of St James's Square, before ending on Jermyn Street. White paint was also found on a shop window on Old Bond Street. The suspect wore dark clothing, a black cap, and carried a plastic bag in the footage. He also appears to have white paint splashed on his trousers and jacket. Specialist clean-up workers use high pressure steam to clean the paint a vandal squirted over the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park 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 Detective Inspector David Watkinson, leading the investigation, asked the public to 'think carefully about whether they can identify' him. He said: 'We have exhausted all operational lines of inquiry and have now released this footage as part of our sustained effort to identify the person responsible for this wanton vandalism. 'The route we believe was taken by the suspect is usually very busy and they are likely to have been seen by a number of people. 'If you were travelling on public transport and remember seeing someone with white paint on their clothes, please call us. It isn't too late to share information. White paint has been hurled across the Canada Memorial, which commemorates all Canadians killed during the First and Second World Wars The shrine in memory of PC Yvonne Fletcher, who was murdered outside the Libyan Embassy in 1984, was also targeted by vandals with white paint. Pictured: Stock image of the memorial in St James Square in central London 'People have had a strong reaction to the damage caused to these important memorials which are part of our culture and heritage.' Britain's last surviving Dambuster previously slammed the 'mindless vandalism' of the Bomber Command Memorial. George 'Johnny' Johnson, 97, said: 'What a disgrace, such mindless vandalism. 'How disrespectful to the nearly 58,000 people who gave their lives so that these thugs have the freedom to carry out such acts? I hope they are caught soon, and suitably punished.' General Motors Co said on Monday that it was starting to hand pink slips to about 4,000 salaried workers in the latest round of a restructuring announced in late November. GM tech centers in Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Michigan are expected to be hit hardest this time around, as the overall plan will ultimately cut a total of about 15,000 jobs and end production at five North American plants. That will include a reduction of GM's white-collar, salaried workforce in North America by 15 percent, which will mean a loss of about 8,100 jobs out of 54,000, and elimination of about one-fourth of its executive positions. GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra wrote last week: 'We are more convinced than ever that our strategy is sound in the long term,' as the company has said the layoffs are part of a restructuring plan that will add up to $2.5 billion to its bottom line this year. General Motors Co on Monday said it was starting to hand pink slips to about 4,000 salaried workers in the latest round of layoffs expected to add $2.5 billion in value this year. GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra (pictured) wrote last week: 'We are more convinced than ever that our strategy is sound in the long term,' as the company has said the layoffs are part of a restructuring plan that will add up to $2.5 billion to its bottom line this year 'These actions are necessary to secure the future of the company, including preserving thousands of jobs in the US and globally,' GM spokesperson Pat Morrissey said, adding that the bulk of the cuts should be completed within the next two weeks. 'We are taking action now while the overall economy and job market are strong, increasing the ability of impacted employees to continue to advance in their careers, should they choose to do so.' Two people briefed on the cuts said GM is cutting hundreds of jobs at its information technology centers in Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Michigan and more than 1,000 jobs at its Warren, Michigan Tech Center. Most of the employees who will be part of this round of cuts are responsible for components for internal combustion engines and discontinued car models. Te overall plan will ultimately cut a total of about 15,000 jobs and end production at five North American plants. Two people briefed on the cuts said GM is cutting hundreds of jobs at its information technology centers in Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Michigan and more than 1,000 jobs at its Warren, Michigan Tech Center (pictured) GM is filing new required mass layoff notices with state agencies and disclosed the cuts to lawmakers. GM cut about 1,500 contract workers in December and said at that time that about 2,300 salaried workers had accepted buyouts, officials said. Morrissey said GM would provide salaried workers with severance packages and job placement services. GM is also cutting its executive ranks by 25 percent. Last week the company laid off three senior people in its Washington office. Some other small salaried layoffs previously took place. President Donald Trump and US and Canadian lawmakers have blasted GM's plans to end production at plants in Ontario, Michigan, Ohio and Maryland. GM said in November it would end US and Canadian production of the Chevrolet Cruze, Volt, Impala, the Buick LaCrosse and the Cadillac XTS and CT6 sedans. Trump, who made a 2017 speech near GM's Lordstown Assembly plant in Ohio, said in November the company had 'better' find a new product for that plant. In January, Comprehensive Logistics said it would cease operations at its facility in Lordstown that provides logistics and warehousing, a move that impacts about 180 jobs. Magna International Inc is also laying off about 120 people at its Lordstown Seating Systems plant that makes seats for GM vehicles. An Ohio man who allegedly killed a Sheriff's deputy and injured another after luring them to his home by faking his own suicide has appeared in court. Wade Winn, 23, is charged with aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder over the death of Detective Bill Brewer and injury of Lt Nick DeRose. DeRose, who was shot in the ankle during Winn's 12-hour standoff with authorities at his Batavia home on Sunday, was in court for Winn's appearance. Winn was shackled and appeared to have bloody cuts on his face during the initial hearing at Clermont County Municipal Court on Monday. Wade Edward Winn, the 23-year-old man who allegedly killed one sheriff's deputy and injured another after luring them to his home with a fake suicide trap, appeared in court on Monday Winn has been charged with aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder in the death of Detective Bill Brewer (pictured) His lawyer said he was not injured or hurt. Bond was set at $10million. Prosecutors said Winn lured the officers to his home by threatening to kill himself. Brewer and DeRose arrived at the Royal Oaks Apartments in Pierce Township, about 20 miles east of Cincinnati, on Saturday at 7pm to carry out a welfare check. A man had called 911 to report that people were refusing to leave his home and that there were weapons inside. The caller then said that he was armed and eventually told the dispatcher he was suicidal. David O'Neil, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General's Office, said it has been confirmed that the caller was Winn. Winn was shackled and appeared to have bloody cuts on his face during the initial hearing at Clermont County Municipal Court on Monday Winn's lawyer said that he was not injured or hurt. Winn's bond was then set at $10million During the standoff Winn took to Instagram Live and posted footage of himself inside the apartment as the officers called for him to put his weapons down and surrender. 'Wade Winn. This is the Clermont County Sheriff's Office. Put your weapons down. Time to surrender,' officials are heard saying in the video. 'You need to pick up the phone, to speak with you. You can tell us what is on your mind, what's going on. But we want you to surrender. We want to get you the help you need. No one wants to harm you.' Shots were first fired from inside the apartment around 8.15pm. Police attempted to contact Winn but were unsuccessful, according to WKRC. More shots were fired at 8.25pm and the Strategic Response Team arrived at the scene. Prosecutors said Winn lured the two officers to his home by threatening to kill himself Winn allegedly fired at the officers through a wall, killing Brewer and striking Deputy Nick DeRose in the ankle Negotiations with Winn stretched into Sunday morning, with the Cincinnati SWAT team arriving around 4am to help. He was finally taken into custody around 6.30am During the standoff Winn took to Instagram Live and posted footage of himself inside the apartment as officers outside called for him to put his weapons down and surrender. Grabs from the video are seen above Shots were heard inside the apartment again at 10.37pm and Brewer and DeRose tried to enter the apartment to help Winn, who allegedly shot them through a wall. Police said the officers did not return fire during the standoff. Brewer, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds, was rushed to a hospital where he later died of his injuries. The 20-year Sheriff's Office veteran leaves behind a wife and a five-year-old son. DeRose, a 22-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, was shot in the ankle and treated at a nearby hospital. He was back in work the next day and in court on Monday. Negotiations with Winn stretched into Sunday morning, with the Cincinnati SWAT team arriving around 4am to help. DeRose (pictured center) is greeted by supporters following a hearing for Winn on Monday DeRose could be seen using crutches as he rose from the court on Monday. His son said DeRose returned to work after he was released from the hospital on Sunday The Clermont County Special Response Team and the Cincinnati Police Department's SWAT team finally took Winn into custody around 6.30am after officials 'endured a barrage of gunfire generated by' him, authorities said. A two-alarm fire also broke out at Winn's apartment complex around the time he was taken into custody. It remains unclear if the fire was started by Winn or officials who were trying to get him to surrender. The Ohio State Fire Marshal has been asked to investigate the cause of the blaze. Winn (pictured in an undated past mugshot) was arrested in May on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, drug possession, and driving with a suspended license. He was arrested again a month later for improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle On Sunday a police procession escorted Brewer's body from the Hamilton County Coroner's Office to Nurre Funeral Home. 'Deputy Brewer gave his life attempting to help a person who was admittedly suicidal,' Sheriff Steve Leahy said in a press release on Sunday. 'This will forever change the atmosphere of the Clermont County Sheriff's Office.' Prosecutors said they plan to seek the death penalty. Winn did not have to enter a plea on Monday, but his attorney Ravert Clark said it would have been a not guilty plea. A two-alarm fire also broke out at Winn's apartment complex (pictured on Monday) around the time he was taken into custody It remains unclear if the fire was started by Winn or officials who were trying to get him to surrender during the standoff The Ohio State Fire Marshal has since been asked to investigate the cause of the blaze 'We are where we are at this point due to the devastating effects of mental illness,' Clark told the Cincinnati Inquirer. Clark said Winn had struggled with mental health issues for 'several years' and was 'absolutely' remorseful. Winn was arrested in May on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, drug possession, and driving with a suspended license. The charges were dropped. He was arrested again a month later for improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle and was sentenced to five days in jail and one month of probation. A mysterious island that formed four years ago in the South Pacific island nation of Tonga doesn't look like it will be disappearing back under the ocean any time soon, according to NASA scientists. It's one of only three that has 'erupted in the last 150 years' to survive the ocean's eroding waves longer than a few months, NASA said in its blog. The new island was caused by a volcanic eruption near the nation of Tonga and sprung up between two older islands known as Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai in January 2015. It has no official name and is referred to using the combined names of the two islands its nestled between, Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai or HTHH. The new island was caused by a volcanic eruption near the nation of Tonga and sprung up in January 2015 The island has no official name and is referred to using the combined names of the two islands its nestled between, Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai or HTHH Scientists only recently set foot on the island. Dan Slayback of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, visited the island in October 2018 along with scientists and students with Woods Hole's Sea Education Association Semester's South Pacific cruise. The team took around 150 GPS measurements that narrow down each point's location and elevation to better than 10 centimeters. A drone was used to take an aerial survey of the island. All the data will be used to develop a realistic 3D model of the island. Dan Slayback (pictured above) of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, visited the island in October 2018 to collect samples and data 'It really surprised me how valuable it was to be there in person for some of this. It just really makes it obvious to you what is going on with the landscape,' Slayback said. Scientists believe the island will also give them clues about how volcanic landscapes interacted with water on ancient Mars. Most of the island is covered in 'pea sized' black gravel as opposed to sand. Light-colored clay was observed washing out of the island's cone. The mud is described as very sticky. 'Even though we'd seen it we didn't really know what it was, and I'm still a little baffled of where it's coming from. Because it's not ash,' Slayback said, referring to the clay. Vegetation is beginning to grow in the area connecting the island to its neighbor. A few animals have also taken up residence including a barn owl and hundreds of nesting sooty terns. The team visiting the island took around 150 GPS measurements that narrow down each point's location and elevation to better than 10 centimeters A drone was used to take an aerial survey of the island. All the data will be used to develop a realistic 3D model of the island Small samples have been collected for mineral analysis and will also be used by the team to try and work out just how long the island will survive. The scientists visit confirmed the island isn't as flat as it seems from satellite. Although still described by Slayback as 'pretty flat,' there are gradients and patterns caused by waves. Huge erosion gullies were also observed. A few animals are living on the island including a barn owl and hundreds of nesting sooty terns The island is described as 'pretty flat,' but there are gradients and patterns caused by waves Slayback said the team who came to the island felt giddy about the visit. 'Okay, this wasn't here three years ago, and now it's two meters deep,' Slayback said. Now back on the day job, Slayback and his colleagues will use the data collected to to figure out the island's volume and how much ash and volcanic material erupted from the vent. They'll also investigate if hydrothermal processes are occurring that may solidify the material and allow it to resist erosion for decades to come. Travis Reinking appears at a hearing in Nashville, accused of killing four people in a mass shooting at a Waffle House in Nashville The man accused of killing four people in a mass shooting at a Waffle House in Nashville last year now faces a 17-count indictment. A Davidson County Criminal Court document filed Friday says Travis Reinking was indicted on charges that include first-degree murder. Authorities say Reinking was nearly naked, wearing only a green jacket, when he opened fire outside the restaurant with an assault-style rifle and then stormed the business on April 22. Police have said a quick-thinking restaurant patron wrestled the rifle away from Reinking, likely preventing more deaths. Reinking was arrested in April after a 34-hour manhunt that started after police said he sprayed the Antioch diner with bullets and ran from the scene naked. In August, the case against Reinking was put on hold for months after a judge committed him for mental health treatment saying he suffered from untreated schizophrenia. De'Ebony Groves, 21, and Akilah Dasilva, 23, were killed when the gunman stormed in and opened fire with an assault rifle Restaurant worker Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29, and 20-year-old customer Joe R. Perez were among the four shot dead by a gunman at a Nashville Waffle House in April He was placed into a mental facility in hopes that he would become fit for trial. According to several incident reports, Reinking believed Taylor Swift was stalking and harassing him, including hacking into his computer and phone. He also believed the police and his family were part of the conspiracy, and his delusions went back to at least August 2014. In October, prosecutors said mental health officials deemed Reinking competent to face charges in court. Reinking is pictured during his arrest being placed in the back of a police car Reinking, left, is charged with killing four people during a shooting at a Waffle House restaurant in Nashville in April The truck of Travis Reinking is loaded on a trailer ready to be towed from the scene of a fatal shooting at a Waffle House restaurant near Nashville on April 22, 2018 Metro Davidson County Police at the scene of a fatal shooting at a Waffle House restaurant near Nashville, Tennessee, April 22, 2018 The Davidson County grand jury found the evidence against Reinking was strong enough to support four counts of premeditated first-degree murder, four counts of attempted first degree murder, and a slate of other charges. Reinking, 30, was charged in the deaths of Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29; Joe R. Perez, 20; DeEbony Groves, 21; and Akilah DaSilva, 23. He is expected to be arraigned on the charges in the coming days, when a judge will ask him for a plea. Other counts against Reinking include possession of a firearm with the intent to commit a dangerous felony and possession of a handgun. Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Monday that hundreds of White House aides got copies of the trimmed-down presidential daily schedules that were leaked to a news outlet over the weekend. The embarrassing and unprecedented return to the Trump administration's sieve-like information security had generated talk of a mole-hunt in the West Wing, a White House official said minutes later. But Conway insisted the administration isn't concerned enough to bother. Trump's personal secretary called the leak 'a disgraceful breach of trust.' But when reporters asked Conway after a television appearance whether there would be an investigation, she shrugged: 'No. ... for the obvious reasons. Nobody cares.' Conway said the leaked material didn't contain anything that worried the West Wing. The leaker did not appear to have access to Donald Trump's more detailed agenda, she said, which is a better indicator of how the president spends his days. 'Whoever leaked it doesn't know what he's doing during that block of time,' Conway said, referring to hours upon hour labeled 'Executive Time.' 'Three hundred eighty-eight people have access to that broader schedule, but very few have access to that other [more detailed] schedule,' she added. Senior counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway said Monday that 388 people at the White House get a generic presidential schedule each day matching versions that were leaked to a reporter over the weekend This page, purportedly Trump's internal schedule from last December 4, includes several blocks of 'Executive Time' Trump has a more complete schedule and call sheet that are fleshed out consistently throughout his days, and what is known abou tthem ahead of time goes to a very small group of senior aides A White House aide leaked months of the abbreviated daily schedules to Axios. Conway, one of Trump's most trusted advisers, insisted that the president consistently has more on his plate than what the leaked materials suggest. 'There are many, many different meetings that he's had,' she said. 'He's extending meetings that go longer.' 'He's a very active president and the results speak for themselves, Conway added. 'He does many different things here throughout the day. For example, the New York Times' 90-plus-minute interview. I didnt go back and look at that particular schedule, but it might have said meeting, engagement. It might have said "Executive Time," but you all know what happened.' Trump's personal secretary Madeleine Westerhout protested on Twitter that leaking his schedule was 'a disgraceful breach of trust. ... What these dont show are the hundreds of calls and meetings [Trump] takes everyday.' 'Nobody cares': Conway said the version of Trump's schedule that was leaked is a pared-down version, issued in a generic enough form that the leaker wasn't well-informed about the president's activities Trump, pictured Sunday aboard Air Force One, spends about 60 per cent of his work hours in nebulous 'Executive Time,' the schedules showed Madeleine Westerhout, Trump's personal secretary, tweeted in defense of the president Sunday saying he's 'working harder for the American people than anyone in recent history' The phrase 'Executive Time' has become online shorthand for bathrobed presidential leisure watching Fox News Channel programs and tweeting insults. In reality it largely consists of impromptu official activity and meetings too sensitive to advertise to a staff of hundreds. Presidential staffers from the Obama and George W. Bush administrations routinely put daily schedules into 'burn bags' used for permanently destroying classified documents, according to aides who served in both White House eras. The schedules published by Axios showed about 60 per cent of Trump's working hours consumed by 'Executive Time.' The news outlet describes that as Trump's hours 'in the residence, watching TV, reading the papers, and responding to what he sees and reads by phoning aides, members of Congress, friends, administration officials and informal advisers.' The White House is buzzing about a mole hunt, even though Conway says the leaked schedules didn't contain anything that worries the West Wing Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich defended President Donald Trump on Monday, saying even WInston Churchill needed daily naps during World War II Churchill was famous for napping every day, even as Germans bombed London in the Blitz White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders explained that Trump's 'executive' or unstructured time, was spent 'in scheduled meetings, events, and calls,' adding that 'there is time to allow for a more creative environment that has helped make him the most productive President in modern history.' Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich presumed the 'Executive Time' lore is more truth than fiction when he defended Trump on Monday, comparing his unstructured time to that of Winston Churchill, who famously napped every afternoon. 'The distortions of the hate Trump movement are never more obvious than in the reaction to the Presidents leaked schedule. The ignorance of history of the current elites is pathetic,' he tweeted. 'Churchill slept late, worked late, took a nap every afternoon (getting into his pajamas).' 'Presidential schedules (like all leaders) should be based on achievement not activity,' Gingrich continued. 'Reagan spent every August at the ranch. Washingtonians were appalled. Reagan came back refreshed and refocused. It made him more effective.' The son of a former federal prosecutor was issued a 30-year sentence on Friday, after he was found guilty of murdering his father by running him over and striking him 43 times with an ax. Frank Altimari, 32, claimed to be suffering from severe mental illness and delusions when attacked his father, Nicholas, on November 4, 2017. Nicholas, 61, and his wife Felipita had just returned from dinner on the fateful night in Chesterfield, Virginia when Altimari pulled into the driveway and rammed into the couple with his car. He then used a double-bladed ax to bludgeon a downed Nicholas 43 times as Felipita watched on in horror. Frank Altimari, 32, (left) pleaded no contest on Tuesday to second-degree murder and malicious wounding in the November 2017 slaying of 61-year-old Nicholas Altimari (right) Nicholas, 61, and his wife Felipita had just returned home (pictured) from dinner on the fateful night in Chesterfield, Virginia, when Altimari ran over the unsuspecting pair and launched a frenzied attack Nicholas was pronounced dead at the scene; Felipita escaped with a broken leg. Court testimony revealed the attack happened shortly after Altimari stopped taking his psychosis medication And despite prosecutors and defense attorneys agreeing Altimari was likely mentally ill at the time of the savage murder, Chesterfield County Judge David E. Johnson said claims of legal insanity couldn't be corroborated. 'This court finds the defendant's detailed delusions that his father wanted a mercy killing by an ax is not reliably substantiated by the evidence,' said Johnson. 'If the defendant viewed his ax as a mercy killing, he showed very little mercy.' He then sentenced the 32-year-old to 40 years in prison with 30 suspended for second-degree murder. He was issued an additional 20 with no suspension for maliciously wounding his step-mother. Video courtesy of WTVR Felipita says she's still haunted by the visions of Altimari striking her husband with the ax, thinking the same fate awaited her next. 'I still hear the sound of the ax pounding against Nick's head and chest as Frank asked me, "Do you think he's dead yet?",' she said in court on January 17. 'Nobody in this world loved Frank more than his father, and I remembered that as I screamed at Frank and watched him take his father's life.' In a prepared statement, Altimari - who is now medicated and stable - told the court he's remorseful for what he did. 'Because of my actions, I lost my best-friend, my dad. 'My dad and I were very close, talking almost every day. He was my rock and my support. I miss my dad so much and would do anything to undo what happened. 'Most painful of all is knowing how it was my actions that took my dad away from my family.' In a statement to the court, Altimari paid tribute to his father saying he deeply regrets his actions and really misses his 'best-friend' Nicholas Altimari served the eastern district of Virginia as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1992 to 2003. Frank Altimari was named after his grandfather, a former New York Supreme Court justice and federal judge. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 2010, worked as an analyst for law firm Brown and Greer from 2010-2012, then started as a project manager at Capital One in 2013. Neighbor Rob Carter said the Altimaris were close, and that the murder made no sense to him. 'I still find the whole thing bizarre and abstract,' he said. 'I can't really process it.' Todd Stone, a legal analyst for CBS 6, said that he met Frank around 1999, when he and Nicholas spent around a year prosecuting a case. 'He struck me as a very nice polite young man, but it was many years ago, that's what it's all the more shocking to me,' Stone said. He passed as his son Ryan was with him and his wife and daughter rushed to help A pastor praying with an east Belfast man as he was brutally murdered told how the victim 'willingly gave his life for others' and died with 'dignity'. Ian Ogle, 45, was stabbed and beaten in the street near his home in east Belfast, on Sunday 27 January. The father-of-two was attacked and stabbed 11 times as he prayed with pastor Kevin Sambrook. He passed away while his son Ryan was with him and his wife and daughter rushed to help, and today, more than 1,000 mourners lined the streets outside his home to pay their respects as the community worker's funeral procession passed. A murder investigation is under way after an attack on the 45-year-old man in east Belfast Ian Ogle's coffin is carried past the scene of his murder at Cluan Place in East Belfast ahead of his funeral Detectives - who described the attack as 'barbaric' - have linked the killing to people associated with the loyalist paramilitary group, Ulster Volunteer Force. Pastor Kevin Sambrook told of how he died protecting others who he believed were in danger, alluding to Ian's protection of his family whom he believed were in danger of a revenge attack after an incident at a bar over a year before. 'Savage, brutal, barbaric were words used to described Ian's violent murder but I want to introduce words that described Ian that night - courageous, fearless and utterly selfless,' he said at the funeral. Ian Ogle's wife Vera is comforted following his funeral at the Covenant Love Church in East Belfast Mourners attend the funeral of community worker and father-of-two Ian Ogle, who was murdered by a group of men near his home in Belfast Ian Ogle, 45, was stabbed and beaten in the street near his home in east Belfast Ian Ogle's coffin is carried past a sign close to the scene of his murder at Cluan Place in East Belfast 'He valued the lives of those he felt he needed to protect more than his own. 'Moments before the attack he reminisced about his Granny who was a strong Christian woman and he said how she would say 'you have got to turn the other cheek'. 'Moments later Ian was attacked and brutally murdered and I found myself kneeling beside him as he lay dying, praying that Lord would be with him.' The funeral procession passes Covenant Love Church in East Belfast, near the victim's home The pastor spoke of Ian's 'unparalleled bravery' in his death and lauded his selflessness, referring to the 45-year-old's protection of his family after an incident involving his son at a bar 18 months before that left him fearing a revenge attack on either his son or daughter. 'Ian met his end with unparalleled bravery and died protecting those he believed to be danger without a second thought for his own safety,' he said. Adding: 'What I witnessed that night will stay with me for the rest of my life but my strongest and most abiding memory will be not of Ian's murderers, but rather this brave and selfless man displaying supreme courage with a heart of a lion meeting lethal danger head on knowing he never stood a chance, but content to fulfil an obligation to protect others. Ian Ogle's wife Vera is comforted following his funeral at the Covenant Love Church in East Belfast Tributes left at the entrance to Cluan Place in East Belfast as mourners attend the funeral of the community worker 'I saw a man that night with dignity.' The PSNI said that he was attacked by a group of at least five men. The men savagely beat Mr Ogle and left him with a fractured skull and 11 stab wounds in the back. Speaking to BBC Northern Ireland, Ian's daughter, Toni Johnson alluded to the incident that involved her brother: 'My daddy, over the past 18 months, was expecting an attack on the house or an attack on my house. 'My daddy was living in fear that they were going to kill my brother. 'My daddy was saying to my mum, when they were just at home watching TV: 'They better not get my Ryan, they better not get my Ryan, they better get me before they get my kids.' 'And then they did. We were living in fear for 18 months and now the worst has happened. 'Until my last breath I will be fighting for justice for my daddy.' Two men aged 40 and 37 were arrested on Monday by detectives investigating the murder. A total of 11 people have been arrested. Jarmane Logan, 35, was shot by police on November 27 after attempting to assist a suspect in fleeing arrest. He later died in hospital from a critical bullet-wound injury A driver who tried to help a suspect evade arrest was shot and killed by a police officer who was being dragged down the road by his SUV. Dramatic body cam footage has now been released by the Kansas Highway Patrol documenting the November 27 altercation. The tape begins with two officers approaching the female driver of a car who police say attempted to evade arrest earlier in the day, in Topeka, Kansas. Later identified to be Chelsee Retana, 26, the suspect appeared to lunge for an item near the center control console - prompting one officer to hoist her out of the car and onto the ground. As the officers - who've not been named - attempted to handcuff her, a silver SUV driven by Jarmane Logan, 35, pulled up alongside them. Freeing herself from the officer's grip, Retana opened the SUV's passenger door and jumped inside as it started to drive off. Clinging onto the fleeing vehicle, one officer was dragged along the icy road for several steps before firing his weapon as he fell to the ground. Chelsee Retana, 26, had earlier attempted to avoid arrest, according to Kansas troopers. She jumped into Logan's SUV as he pulled alongside the officers. She fled the scene but was captured two weeks later The silver SUV driven by Logan (pictured) continued driving at speed for two blocks before coming to a halt The silver SUV carried on driving at speed for two blocks but suddenly ground to a halt in the distance. Jarmane Logan was critically injured by the bullet and was rushed to hospital where he later died. Neither of the officers involved in the incident suffered serious injury. Last month, Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said the Highway trooper was justified in fatally shooting Logan. Officers approached Retana's car who police say attempted to evade arrest earlier in the day, in Topeka A silver SUV, driven by Logan, pulls alongside the officers during the attempted arrest The unnamed officer will face no charges in relation to the incident. Retana fled the seen as the vehicle stopped but was recaptured by Kansas police two weeks later. She has been charged with interference with law enforcement and possession of methamphetamine. Retana is currently being detained at Shawnee County Jail, where she is being held on a bond of $150,000. A preliminary court date has been set for March 28. Vatican City (AsiaNews) - We publish below a note published yesterday on the Osservatore Romano which lists all the steps taken by the Holy See towards the Chinese Church following the China-Vatican agreement signed last September. The note says that this dialogue is continued to face further "problems still existing, starting with the civil recognition of the 'unofficial' clergy". On 22 September 2018 in Beijing, the Holy See and the Peoples Republic of China signed a Provisional Agreement on the appointment of Bishops. Previously, on 8 September 2018, after much reflection and prayer, the Successor of Peter magnanimously received into full ecclesial communion seven Chinese Bishops, consecrated without papal mandate. In this context, Pope Francis invited all the Bishops to renew their total adherence to Christ and to the Church. He also reminded them that, as members of the Chinese people, they are obliged to show respect and loyalty to the civil authorities, while, as Bishops, they are called to be faithful to the Gospel, in accordance with the teaching of Jesus himself: Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods (Mt 22:21). Furthermore, the Holy Father has given each Bishop a diocesan pastoral assignment, taking into due account specific complex local situations. The Most Reverend Joseph Guo Jincai has been called to carry out episcopal ministry as the first Bishop of Chengde; the Most Reverend Joseph Huang Bingzhang, as Bishop of Shantou; the Most Reverend Joseph Liu Xinhong, as Bishop in Anhui; the Most Reverend Joseph Ma Yinglin, as Bishop of Kunming; the Most Reverend Joseph Yue Fusheng, as Bishop in Heilongjiang; the Most Reverend Vincent Zhan Silu, as Bishop of Funing/Mindong; and the Most Reverend Paul Lei Shiyin, as Bishop of Leshan. Together with these provisions, the Most Reverend Vincent Guo Xijin has become Auxiliary Bishop of Funing/Mindong, and the Most Reverend Peter Zhuang Jianjian Bishop Emeritus of Shantou. As for their pastoral responsibilities, the nine Bishops received the announcement from the Holy See on 12 December 2018 in Beijing, in the context of a sober ceremony marked by intense ecclesial communion, concluding with the praying of the Our Father and the singing of the Hail Mary in a traditional Chinese melody. Finally, it is a matter of great ecclesial significance that the Most Reverend Anthony Tu Shihua, O.F.M., some months before his death on 4 January 2017, had asked to be readmitted to full communion with the Successor of Peter, who embraced him as Bishop Emeritus of Puqi. To better appreciate the ecclesial and pastoral significance of these events, it is fitting to recall what Pope Francis pointed out in his Message to the Catholics of China and to the Universal Church of 26 September 2018: Precisely for the sake of supporting and promoting the preaching of the Gospel in China and re-establishing full and visible unity in the Church, it was essential, before all else, to deal with the issue of the appointment of bishops. Regrettably, as we know, the recent history of the Catholic Church in China has been marked by deep and painful tensions, hurts and divisions, centred especially on the figure of the bishop as the guardian of the authenticity of the faith and as guarantor of ecclesial communion (No. 3). Now it is important to build unity among Catholics and begin a phase of greater fraternal cooperation, in order to renew our commitment to the mission of proclaiming the Gospel. For the Church exists for the sake of bearing witness to Jesus Christ and to the forgiving and saving love of the Father (Message, No. 4). The Holy See continues to be committed to following the path of dialogue, so as to resolve gradually, in a spirit of mutual understanding and far-sighted patience, the various problems that still exist, beginning with the civil recognition of the non-official clergy, with the aim of further normalizing the life of the Catholic Church in China. ___________________ Two elderly brothers from Kentucky froze to death after their vehicle broke down a half-mile from their home last week. The Boone County Sheriff's Office says in a statement that the bodies of 72-year-old Obie Fugate and 67-year-old Roy Fugate were found Saturday by a family member outside their home. The relative had arrived at the siblings' property in the 4900 block of Garrison Creek Road in Petersburg to bring them firewood. Obie Fugate, 72 (left), and his brother Roy Fugate, 67 (right), were found dead of hypothermia near their Petersburg, Kentucky, home Saturday morning The brothers' truck broke down and got stuck in the mud a half-mile from their home The Fugates' disabled truck was found stuck in the mud and blocking a long gravel driveway more than a half-mile from the home at 11.30am, reported WLWT. The body of Obie Fugate was discovered a third of a mile from his home. His younger brother was found deceased on his front porch. Deputies who were summoned to the scene located a McDonalds bag lying next to Obie that contained with a receipt dated January 29. Authorities say that was the last day family members had contact with the brothers. Autopsies were performed on the Fugates and the preliminary report from the Medical Examiners Office stated that the cause of death for both men was hypothermia. The results of toxicology tests are still pending. The National Weather Service says high temperatures in Boone County were below freezing from January 29-31. Tributes for the brothers flowed on social media, with many users writing that they were hard-working and kind. Roy and Obie were preceded in death by their older brother, Oakley, who passed away in 2017, aged 82. Seven environmental campaigners who were thrown in jail for protesting the cutting down of trees have been awarded more than 24,000 for wrongful arrest. The group of eco-warriors were chucked into police cells for protesting against a controversial tree felling scheme of thousands of trees including a 150-year-old Vernon Oak. But seven protesters who took to the streets of Sheffield between November 2016 and February 2017 were awarded 24,300 in an out of court settlement after South Yorkshire Police were found to have acted inappropriately and breached their human rights. Solicitors representing the campaigners today confirmed a total of 24,300 has been paid to the group. The settlement is the latest chapter in a bitter dispute over the removal of thousands of trees across Sheffield as part of a 2.2 billion highways improvement scheme by private contractors Amey working on behalf of Sheffield City Council. Protesters argued many of the 5,500 trees felled since 2012 have been removed unnecessarily, but town hall bosses claim the only health trees felled were damaging pavements and road surfaces. Seven of the protesters who were arrested in Sheffield were awarded a total of 24,300 for their wrongful arrest by South Yorkshire Police The campaigners argued around 2,000 'healthy' trees that were axed for being dangerous or causing damage. Co-ordinating over social media, the group followed the chain gangs on a daily basis to stop the the felling, and the local authority went to the High Court to get an injunction to prevent them climbing inside safety barriers. Following peace talks last month, the council agreed to save 87 of the remaining 305 trees due to be chopped under the first phase of the programme. Further investigations will be carried out on another 45 trees that could see many of them save, and on the remaining 173 are due to be felled over 10 years, with the possibility of some of these being saved too. Amey will move on to the remaining 35 per cent of the city's streets under the next phase and experts will carry out detailed work in the new year to try and save as many trees as possible. Campaigners who found themselves arrested over the peaceful protest say no one from the police has said sorry for the way they were treated. And they are demanding some form of inquiry into who was behind the decision to ramp up the dispute that has cost the taxpayers millions. Campaigners argued around 2,000 'healthy' trees were axed unnecessarily for being dangerous or causing damage Paul Brooke, Calvin Payne, Simon Crump, Jeremy Peace, Gemma Lock, Kate Billington and Margaret Mark were all arrested and charged. Mr Brooke said the arrests were a 'violation of our very basic rights'. He added: 'What I find astonishing is that South Yorkshire Police have not made any form of apology for our wrongful arrests. 'This was a deliberate act to prevent legitimate protest and was a violation of our very basic rights' The seven were arrested between November 2016 and February 2017 and were kept in custody for up to nine hours and charged under an obscure clause of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act, but proceedings were subsequently discontinued. The law was designed to ensure the lawful operation of trade unions yet was used against the Sheffield protesters to prevent them getting in the way of the workmens' chainsaws. Three months later the Independent Office for Police Conduct upheld their complaints and found the arrests were 'not appropriate'. The out of court settlement has now been reached with South Yorkshire Police in respect of the civil claims for damages. The force has admitted liability. Part of the claim involved a breach of the Human Rights Act 1998 which recognises protesters' right to peaceful protest. Campaigners (left to right) Paul Brooke, Simon Crump and Green councillor, Kate Billington, were protested against Sheffield Council's tree-felling programme Iftikhar Manzoor of Howells Solicitors specialist Civil Liberties department said of the settlement: 'I am pleased that South Yorkshire Police agreed to this settlement. 'The right to peaceful protest is fundamental in a democratic society. 'The recognition that this right was breached was central to the concerns of all the protesters in pursuing their complaints and damages claims. 'The importance of this outcome is a hope that lessons will be learnt by the police to avoid such unnecessary arrests in the future which were A spokesman for Howells said there are also 'a number of outstanding claims still to be resolved'. The bitter dispute appeared to have come to an end in December last year, when the council, Amey and campaigners reached a felling agreement, following months of talks. But leaders of Sheffield Trees Action Groups (STAG) said its members were not happy with the terms of the agreement and believed it would still result in the felling of too many healthy trees. Asked about the settlement Mr Brooke said: 'We absolutely regret the situation we are in, and that public money is being used for this purpose, but it was not of our own making. 'We have been in lengthy correspondence with the police asking for an apology, but there has been none. The removal of thousands of trees across Sheffield was part of a 2.2 billion highways improvement scheme by private contractors Amey working on behalf of Sheffield City Council 'We did not do this for the money, it was forced upon us. We did this just to see justice done.' So far no officers have been disciplined over the matter, although three involved in the arrests have been 'spoken to' about the way the situation was dealt with. But Calvin Payne, 45, who was handed a suspended jail sentence and ordered to pay 16,000 in costs for breaching an order banning people from trying to prevent the tree felling, said he believed some senior officers should face disciplinary action. 'These twentysomething officers were just the ones who had their names put on the pieces of the paper. The idea that the appropriateness of the arrest was anything to do with them is ludicrous,' he said. And Simon Crump, an author and university lecturer, added: 'There have been a long line of police breaking the law when they are supposed to uphold it.' The others who have received damages are Jeremy Peace, Gemma Lock, Kate Billington and Margaret Mark. Last year an IOPC spokeswoman said South Yorkshire Police had investigated complaints about arrests they made between November 2016 and February 2017. Calvin Payne was one of seven protesters thrown in cells by South Yorkshire Police in what was ruled a wrongful arrest by the police watchdog A spokesman for the IOPC said: 'Following the police's investigation, we received six appeals from complainants who were not satisfied with the force's investigation findings. 'After reviewing the police's investigation, we upheld the complaints in relation to the grounds on which the arrests were made. 'Though we found there was reasonable suspicion that an offence had been committed, the protesters were arrested for the prevention of harm and injury; there were no grounds for this as there was no risk of injury. 'We have recommended management action for the three officers who made the arrests.' In September 2017 environment secretary Michael Gove called the felling programme 'bonkers' and said the Government would examine 'legal or policy avenues' to end it. Paul Brooke said the arrests were a 'violation of our very basic rights' Sheffield city council paused the felling last March because of the 'actions of a handful of people unlawfully entering the safety zones where tree replacement work is being carried out'. Work has not resumed. A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police the court's decision was base don an error in law and so no officers face misconduct charges and no apology will be issued. She added: 'Following the Independent Office for Police Conduct's (IOPC) findings in relation to arrests made in connection with protests in Sheffield, South Yorkshire Police raised concerns over the final judgement. 'The upheld appeals were not based on an error in law and rightly, no officers were found to have a case to answer for misconduct. 'However, South Yorkshire Police took the view that as a result of the IOPC findings, and in order to minimise the potential further impact to the public purse, in addition to existing significant costs for policing the protests, with those individuals affected by this matter was agreed. 'The decision in respect of these cases does not bind SYP for any future claims it receives, and each claim will be subject to an individual assessment. 'No formal apology was requested as part of the civil claim.' A pro-wrestler who was wanted for brutally beating a New York shopkeeper to death ten years ago has been extradited from Australia to the U.S. to face murder charges. Abakar Gadiyev, 36, will appear in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Monday to face murder and robbery charges over the 2009 death of 35-year-old Vladimir Tolstykh. Gadiyev was extradited from Australia back to New York on Friday and taken into custody after a decade on the lam. The accused killer has been living openly in Sydney since the brutal killing and had been competing often in national wrestling competitions. Abakar Gadiyev, 36, will appear in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Monday to face murder and robbery charges over the 2009 death of 35-year-old Vladimir Tolstykh. He was extradited (pictured above) from Australia to the U.S. on Friday. Photo courtesy of 7News Gadiyev was initially arrested in 2014 but fought to remain in Australia. He was finally extradited back to the U.S. after the NYPD lobbied the State Department. Gadiyev and his alleged accomplice, Arsen Bashirov, are accused of beating the father in a parking garage near his Brighton Beach grocery store in Brooklyn back in March 2009. The masked men ambushed him as he was carrying his payroll bag containing $34,000 in cash. They used a hammer and hand axe to brutally beat Tolstykh before stealing the cash, two watches and a handful of Russian candy. Tolstykh later died in hospital. Brooklyn shopkeeper Vladimir Tolstykh was brutally beaten to death near his store in March 2009 by two masked men. They beat him with a hammer before stealing his payroll bag containing $34,000 in cash Gadiyev and his alleged accomplice, Arsen Bashirov, are accused of beating the father in a parking garage near his Brighton Beach grocery store (pictured) in Brooklyn in March 2009 Police said Gadiyev and Bashirov were identified as the suspects from surveillance footage in the months after the killing. But the two men had already fled to their native Turkmenistan, which does not have an extradition agreement with the U.S. Gadiyev eventually made his way to Australia where he sought refugee status claiming that he was fleeing persecution in his native country for being gay. NYPD detectives managed to track him down in 2010. In 2014, police in Sydney said they had linked him to the murder by using DNA from a drink can. Gadiyev was reportedly trying to officially change his name when he was arrested in 2014. He lost his fight to remain in Australia last month. His co-accused, Bashirov, remains in Turkmenistan. Police in New Jersey are investigating a woman's suspicious death that is possibly connected to the suicide of a man who jumped off a bridge into the Raritan River Monday. Kenneth Bartone, 53, allegedly killed his wife, 48-year-old Denise Bartone, inside their home on Koster Drive in Freehold sometime overnight, then drove to the Route 9 bridge spanning the river and leaped to his death. The husband's body was recovered from the water after a four-hour search. Scroll down for video Family tragedy: Kenneth Bartone, 53 (left), is suspected of killing his wife, Denise Bartone, 48 (right) and then himself in New Jersey. The couple's daughters (pictured) were unharmed Police were called Monday morning to this home on Koster Drive in Freehold, New Jersey, where Mrs Bartone was found dead under suspicious circumstances Later, the body of the Freehold victim's husband was pulled from the Raritan River The couple lived with their three teenage daughters inside their four-bedroom, single family home, which they bought in 2004, according to property records. The children were not harmed in the incident, NBC New York reported. The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office on Monday afternoon officially identified the man and woman at the center of the investigation. 'We do not believe there is any further danger to the public,' spokesman Chris Swendeman wrote in a statement sent to the DailyMail.com. Freehold Township Schools Superintendent Neal Dickstein earlier confirmed Denise Bartone's death in a letter to parents Monday. For the past nine months Mrs Bartone (left and right) has worked as project director at Rutgers Food Innovation Center The middle-aged couple lived in this four-bedroom home on Koster Drive with their three teen daughters, according to records The Bartones' three girls, pictured above with their mom and dad, have been orphaned According to her LinkedIn page, for the past nine months Mrs Bartone has worked as project director at Rutgers Food Innovation Center. DailyMail.com reached out to Rutgers Food Innovation Center seeking comment. Prior to that, she served as chairperson of the Freehold Township Education Foundation: an all-volunteer non-profit organization created to fund projects at local schools. 'My thoughts and prayers are with the Bartone girls and their extended family,' Dickstein wrote. Ed Coughlin, a neighbor of the Bartone family, told Asbury Park Press he saw police officers enter the house on Koster Drive when he left for work at 7.30am. For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255 Labour's general secretary provoked fury as she claimed it was impossible to stamp out anti-Semitism from the party. At a stormy meeting in Parliament, Jennie Formby a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn rejected MPs demands to say how many cases of anti-Semitism Labour is still dealing with. Angry Labour politicians said they had received threats but that the party had done nothing to deal with them. MPs said it was not acceptable for the party leadership to appear to have given up the fight against the cancer of anti-Semitism. The meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) unanimously passed a motion demanding details within a week of how officials are dealing with complaints. MPs asked to know how many outstanding cases of anti-Semitism Labour still needs to investigate and how many are due to be considered by its ruling National Executive Committee (NEC). They asked how many Labour officials are investigating complaints, the names of organisations lined up to provide anti-Semitism training, and how many members who have been through the disciplinary process are waiting to start such training. Labour MPs tonight demanded Jeremy Corbyn (pictured last week in Derbyshire) 'adequately tackle' anti-Semitism in the party's ranks amid growing frustration the problem has still not been tackled But Mrs Formby rejected the call, saying the NEC had decided not to publish the data. She said: I dont answer to the PLP. I answer to the NEC. And she added: It is impossible to eradicate anti-Semitism and it would be dishonest to claim to be able to do so. Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger, who needed a police escort at last years party conference, said: There is a community that are hurting and we have a responsibility as a party to root this out, and one anti-Semite in our ranks is one too many. And yet we were told by the general secretary today that we cannot eradicate anti-Semitism. Well frankly thats not good enough. Dame Margaret Hodge, who was threatened with disciplinary action for accusing Mr Corbyn of being an anti-Semite, said: If you want to get rid of the cancer of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party you have to have complete transparency and shes refusing to do that. Labour MP Wes Streeting said: In not giving us the data, shes ruled out any possibility of Jewish members and Jewish constituents having confidence in the Labour Partys ability to tackle this. Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, said: Jennie Formbys appalling rebuff to her own MPs shows once again that Labours leadership has no intention of tackling anti-Semitism. Mr Corbyn was not due to attend the meeting in Parliament but Labour's general secretary Mrs Formby promised MPs she was taking the problem seriously. Mrs Formby originally promised to deal with all outstanding cases by July, then by the party conference in September and then by Christmas. Yet still the promise has not been met. A Labour source said: Jennie Formby gave a comprehensive update on the significant work thats been done to strengthen and speed up procedures and addressed the points in the motion. Mrs Formby earlier told the Labour List website she was personally committed to ensuring Jewish members feel safe and welcome in our party. Labour MPs tonight also demanded Jeremy Corbyn 'adequately tackle' anti-Semitism in the party's ranks amid growing frustration the problem has still not been tackled. The Parliamentary Labour Party - including all MPs and peers - unanimously passed a motion accusing the party's ruling committee of treating cases 'leniently'. It demands answers from the 'party leadership' to 11 questions, including on how many cases are outstanding and when a promised anti-Semitism code will be delivered. The motion says: 'The PLP calls on the party leadership to adequately tackle cases of anti-Semitism, as a failure to do seriously risks anti-Semitism in the party appearing normalised and the party seeming to be institutionally anti-Semitic.' Following the meeting, MP Darren Jones said: 'Important to make it clear that zero tolerance is zero tolerance. 'Ill continue to refer any Labour Party member who is shown to be antisemitic and I expect my party to investigate and where appropriate expel. Not welcome in my Labour Party.' Labour MP, Luciana Berger, the Parliamentary chairwoman of Jewish Labour, said she was 'sick of being tainted by the stain of Labour antisemitism' Karen Buck added: 'Solidarity with our Jewish MPs and Jewish Labour pressing for faster, more effective action against this poison, and tragically, facing unacceptable levels of abuse as they do so. 'We must do much, much better.' Tonight's motion was tabled by Catherine McKinnell and signed by Jewish MP Ruth Smeeth. Writing in Jewish News today, Ms McKinnell said: 'I have watched with a growing sense of dismay the worrying and distressing reports which would suggest that rather than dealing with this issue, the rhetoric of zero tolerance to antisemitism doesn't appear to match up to reality. 'Questions I have asked time and again in private to the party leadership about how these issues and concerns are actually being addressed have been met with repeatedly vague responses.' She added: 'Despite the warm words and promises of action, far too many cases of antisemitism remain unresolved, whilst often serious complaints are apparently being concluded with letters simply 'reminding' perpetrators of what is appropriate behaviour with no further sanction beyond that.' Luciana Berger, the Parliamentary chairwoman of Jewish Labour, said in The Times today: 'I am sick of being tainted by the stain of Labour antisemitism. I am increasingly concerned that Labour's disciplinary committees are turning a blind eye to hatred towards Jews. 'It is so damaging to Labour's standing for the row over antisemitism to rumble on week after week. This is not the party I joined.' Tonight's motion was tabled by Catherine McKinnell and signed by Jewish MP Ruth Smeeth and demands answers to 11 questions by the Labour leader In a message to Labour MPs published by the Labour List site, Ms Formby said eliminating anti-Semitism from the party was her 'mission'. After setting out 'significant progress' made so far, she said: 'I am proud of the progress that has been made but Im not complacent. 'Fundamental change takes time, in particular in a democratic, member-led organisation like the Labour Party, where rule changes must be approved at our annual party conference. However, wide-ranging changes are already in place. 'There is more work to be done to ensure all cases are dealt with quickly and fairly, and to eliminate the evil of antisemitism from our movement once and for all. 'I am personally committed to ensuring that Jewish members feel safe and welcome in our party, and in reassuring the Jewish community that we stand with them against oppression and prejudice. 'That is my mission. That is what I as general secretary, our staff and our whole party must work towards and be committed to achieving together.' It comes after Jim Sheridan, a former Scottish Labour MP, had his party suspension lifted after an investigation into a Facebook post. He wrote: 'For all my adult life I have had the utmost respect and empathy for the Jewish community and their historic suffering. No longer due to what they and their Blairite plotters are doing to my party and the long-suffering people of Britain who need a radical Labour government.' Mr Sheridan has since apologised to the Jewish community, and said: 'My accusers were misguided and overreacted to what was intended to highlight my personal frustration and criticism of those intent on undermining our leadership.' When the motion was announced last week, a Labour spokesman said: 'Labour is committed to tackling anti-Semitism in all its forms wherever it arises, in our party and wider society. 'We have significantly sped up and strengthened our procedures for dealing with complaints about anti-Semitism.' Last night a Labour party source said: 'Jennie Formby gave a comprehensive update on the significant work that's been done to strengthen and speed up procedures and addressed the points in the motion. 'Complaints processes are confidential and the Party has a responsibility to protect members' data.' A blind 97-year-old World War Two veteran is battling to persuade a High Court judge to let him leave a care facility and end his life at home. Mr Justice Anthony Hayden began analysing evidence relating to former Royal Navy gunner Douglas Meyers, who lives near Southend, Essex, at a public hearing in the Family Division of the High Court on Monday. Widower Mr Meyers, who served in the Italian and north African theatres during the 1940s, arrived at today's hearing in a wheelchair and sat at the front of the court holding a row of campaign medals. Douglas Meyers, a blind 97-year-old Second World War veteran, is battling to persuade a High Court judge to let him leave a care facility and end his life at home (pictured outside court in Southend) The judge, who has described Mr Meyers as an 'extraordinary man', has left his base in London and is overseeing the hearing in a Southend courtroom normally used by magistrates so that Mr Meyers can attend. Mr Meyers had told Mr Justice Hayden: 'I am a veteran and I am due the respect of a veteran who wants to end his life in his home. 'I did six years in the Navy during the war. I think I deserve some respect at my age.' He added: 'I still have my senses. I know what I am doing. I am strong enough to look after myself.' Mr Meyers, who said he was unhappy at the care facility, also stressed that he was not 'a frail old man'. 'I can move around on my two legs. My arms are strong enough to carry things,' he said. Speaking of his life at the care home the veteran said: 'I sit in my room with only my radio to break the silence. 'Radio 4 is my radio station - when I wake up and when I go to bed.' He said he had been listening to 'what is happening with the Government about Brexit'. He has already lost two rounds of his fight. Mr Meyers told Mr Justice Hayden that he is a war veteran who deserves 'some respect at my age'. Mr Justice Hayden, who has overseen earlier hearings in London, refused to allow him to go home for Christmas. The judge said he had safety concerns and that the pensioner's life could be at risk. He said all evidence and care options had to be analysed before he would consider letting Mr Meyers leave the care facility. A judge refused to overturn that ruling at a subsequent Court of Appeal hearing in London. Social services bosses at Southend-on-Sea Borough Council have welfare responsibility for Mr Meyers and lawyers representing the council have asked the judge to make a decision about what is in the veteran's best interests. Two lawyers - barrister Parishil Patel QC and solicitor Laura Hobey-Hamsher, who works for law firm Bindmans - are representing the pensioner for free. Both sets of lawyers argue that Mr Meyers, a widower who turns 98 in March, has the mental capacity to make decisions. Mr Meyers has spoken to Mr Justice Hayden via a telephone link to the court room at earlier hearings. He told the judge that he wanted to end his life at home, adding that he could look after himself and that he would get help from a relative. Casey Smitherman, charged with fraud in her attempt to help a sick student, resigned from her job as Elwood Community Schools Superintendent on Friday A school superintendent who was charged with insurance fraud and identity deception after she sought medical treatment for a student using her son's name has resigned. Casey Smitherman, 48, who managed Elwood Community Schools in Elwood, Indiana, used her health insurance to get treatment for the 15-year-old who was suffering from strep throat. During a Friday meeting, the school board accepted her resignation after the charges against her were discussed in an executive session, to the relief of some in the community who believed her actions were wrong, even if her heart was in the right place. 'I have dedicated my entire professional career to children and ensuring they have the best possible chance of success. My record of accomplishments clearly shows I have been successful in doing that,' Smitherman wrote in a statement to WTTV news. 'Unfortunately, my recent lapse in judgment has brought negative attention to the community and myself. ' Indiana's Department of Education also opened a file regarding the possibility of taking away her educator license. The school board had made a statement two weeks ago supporting the superintendent, but despite the supportive stance, Smitherman announced her resignation. The Elwood, Indiana, school board discussed Casey Smitherman's actions before announcing her resignation at the meeting 'As most educators will attest, the board, community, teachers and students need to be in alignment for a school system to achieve its goals,' her statement said. 'I do not feel that alignment exists at this time nor could exist in the near future and therefore, effective 02/01/2019, I am resigning from my position as the Superintendent of Elwood Community Schools.' 'He didn't need for her to come get him and take him to the doctor. She took him to go eat, she took him to go get a hair cut. That wasn't needed., said Audra Rich, a woman who claims to be close to the teen's family, told WTTV. 'Nothing at home from her was needed and it was inappropriate.' The former superintendent's visited the teenager in question at his home after he failed to attend school on January 9. Upon finding out he had a sore throat, the educator took him to a medical center where he was refused treatment. Casey Smitherman used her health insurance to get treatment for the 15-year-old who attends Elwood Community High School Audra Rich, seen here, a family friend of the student who Smitherman claimed to have been helping, says that such help was not needed by the student Knowing the youngster didn't 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. Following this, Smitherman admitted to officers that she did use her son's name to get the prescription, revealing she also often bought clothes for the student. Smitherman was booked on January 23 before later being released on bail. 'It's hard not to want to help all of our kids,' the educator told CBS News. Casey Smitherman does admit to a 'lapse in judgment' but hopes her record reflects the totality of the good she has done for her students About 78 percent of the students in the Elwood school district qualifies for free or reduced-cost lunches, and the local teachers have identified students struggling with food and clothing to aid. While the Elwood, Indiana, community appear to be mixed on their opinion on Smitherman's actions, the former superintendent says the reactions across the country from her fellow educators have been largely empathetic. 'I've heard from Seattle to New Jersey, and it's been, "I recognize this, I've felt that way myself, I've helped kids myself," and so it's a plight educators across our country deal with,' she said to CBS. 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 is entering a diversion program, which would result in the dismissal of the charges if she avoids further arrests in the coming year. Police officers are accused of launching a cover up after the death of a musician who died in a police station without receiving treatment for 'mental illness'. Sean Rigg, 40, who had schizophrenia died at Brixton police station in 2008 - following reports he was aiming karate kicks at people on a London Street while semi-clothed, misconduct hearing heard. Metropolitan Police constables Andrew Birks, Richard Glasson, Matthew Forward and Mark Harratt and custody Sergeant Paul White are facing misconduct charges. Sean Rigg, 40, who had schizophrenia died at Brixton police station in 2008 - following reports he was aiming karate kicks at passers-by while semi-clothed, misconduct hearing heard Glasson, Forward, Harratt and White are accused of lying about events to mask their behaviour to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, or the jury at Mr Rigg's inquest. Gerard Boyle QC, representing the Metropolitan Police, said multiple witnesses claimed Mr Rigg was acting as if he was in the grips of a mental crisis. He claimed if officers searched the police records for the name on his passport they would have found his medical history. Mr Riggs was unjustifiably arrested on suspicion of stealing the passport, cuffed and held face-down in the prone position for an 'excessive' period, Mr Boyle told the hearing. He added: 'It was obvious Mr Rigg must have been suffering from mental health problems and that he should've been treated by the officers as a medical emergency. 'It's simply staggering that the officers did not consider the role of mental health issues.' They should have been aware that if there is 'any doubt' of such an issue that the detainee should have been taken to A&E and not the station, he added. Their 'egregious failure' to do anything for Mr Rigg became 'more unforgivable' when they failed to help him when he was slumped on the floor in the station, Mr Boyle said. Marcia Rigg and Wayne Rigg, brother and sister of Sean Rigg, speaking outside the coroner's court following their siblings inquest At the 2012 inquest into Mr Rigg's death, jurors found that officers had used 'unsuitable' force against Mr Rigg. The Crown Prosecution Service decided there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges against any of them, other than one count of perjury against Sgt White (pictured). White was cleared of the charge in 2016. Mr Boyle said White expressed a 'cavalier and lackadaisical' attitude to Rigg and even falsely assumed he was under the influence of drugs or 'feigning' his condition. Mr Boyle said: 'In an attempt to cover up their behaviour, Glasson, Harratt, Forward and White have lied to investigating officers and/or a jury.' Mr Rigg was arrested in Balham, south-west London, in August 2008 after he was aiming karate kicks at members of the public for no apparent reason. He was restrained in the prone position [when a person is lies flat on their chest and has their back up] by three officers for more than seven minutes. Rigg later died after suffering a heart attack. Glasson, Forward, Harratt and White are also accused of giving dishonest accounts of what happened. At the 2012 inquest into Mr Rigg's death, jurors found that officers had used 'unsuitable' force against him. The Crown Prosecution Service decided there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges against any of them, other than one count of perjury against Sgt White. He was cleared of the charge in 2016, having been accused of lying to the inquest into Mr Rigg's death. All five officers deny the misconduct charges. The hearing continues. Police in Yucca Valley, San Bernardino County braved 40 mph winds and skillfully avoided power lines to rescue an elderly man who'd become trapped in his car surrounded by rising flood water. The rescue was carried out by the desert patrol crew and a member of a swift water/dive team from San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department on Saturday in the Yucca Valley. The dramatic rescue was captured on camera and shows a sheriff's helicopter hovering over a car completely marooned and surrounded by a torrent of flood water. The elderly man was rescued out of the car's back window. The officer performing the rescue spends some time directing a rope hanging down from the helicopter into the right position to be able to winch the man to safety. Once the duo are airborne, their legs are seen to briefly dip in the fast-moving flood water before they reach the safety of the embankment. The rescued man was found to have hypothermia. Police in Yucca Valley, San Bernardino County, braved 40 mph winds and avoided power lines to rescue the man who's car was marooned and surrounded by fast moving flood water The man was winched to safety after the team rescued him through the back window of his car Heavy rain blighted San Bernardino County and other parts of Southern California over the weekend. In a rare move, Disneyland closed early on Saturday. Other rescue crews in San Bernardino were busy Saturday including undertaking a rescue operation at an overturned car in flood water that left one person unaccounted for. Following the elderly man's rescue, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department warned motorists to obey posted signs and not to attempt to drive through flooded roadways. 'It only takes 12 inches of fast-moving water to carry away a small car,' the warning read. Advertisement A US marine stands guard inside the home of a Vietnamese family, their possessions littered on the floor; a London street gang pose in the wreckage of a bombed-out building, showing off their Sunday best; a Londonderry man rounds a corner, hardly acknowledging the British soldier lying with his rifle. These are some of Don McCullin's most iconic photographs, among thousands that have provided an unflinching visual record of some of the most harrowing conflicts of the 20th century. The photographer, who is being honoured with a retrospective at Tate Britain opening this week, was named by Harper's Magazine as 'our era's greatest living war photographer'. He is 'the Goya of war photography,' it said, echoing a comparison made by renowned photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. The bleakness of McCullin's job was offset by his belief that his images could act as some bulwark against the world's forgetting or denying difficult events. 'Because there were photographs, you can't pretend that we didn't know that these things happened,' McCullin said in 2013, quoted in The New York Times. He wanted to show the eyes of his subjects, 'the eyes that are all telling, and the eyes that are all accusing,' he said in a BBC interview in 2015. The exhibition is from February 5 to May 6 at the Tate. Protester, Cuban Missile Crisis, Whitehall, London 1962: This image shows a solitary protester holding a banner at an anti-nuclear protest, as scores of police officers look on. The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was an escalation of tensions between the US and the Soviet Union during one of the major flash-points of the Cold War. Following the Bay of Pigs fiasco in which CIA backed anti-Castro paramilitaries tried to overthrow the communist government and American Jupiter missiles being moved to Italy and Turkey, Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to Cuba's request to base nuclear missiles on the Caribbean island, around 100 miles from the coast of the US. In retaliation the US blockaded Cuba to stop more weapons arriving and a US-Soviet agreement was reached Grenade Thrower, Hue, Vietnam 1968: An American Marine throws a grenade seconds before being shot through the hand. The Battle Hue has been described as the 'beginning of the end' of the Vietnam War. The Tet Offensive was a series of surprise attacks by the Vietcong - rebel forces sponsored by North Vietnam - on towns, cities and villages throughout South Vietnam Londonderry 1971: This iconic image shows a civilian rounding the corner and glancing down - apparently unconcerned - at a British soldier wielding a rifle. In July 1971 British soldiers shot dead two Catholic civilians, Desmond Beattie and Seamus Cusack, in Free Derry during a series of street disturbances. As a result, riots erupted in the city and the SDLP (Social Democratic and Labour Party) withdrew from Stormont in protest The Battle for the City of Hue, South Vietnam, US Marine Inside Civilian House 1968, printed 2013: This image shows a US marine standing guard inside the home of a Vietnamese family. One of their portraits is lying on the floor. The Battle of Hue was considered to be a turning point in the Vietnam War. The attacks began on January 31, 1968, and took weeks for US and South Vietnamese troops to retake all of the captured cities, including the former imperial capital of Hue Local Boys in Bradford 1972: This photo was taken during a time of racial tension in Bradford, northern England. As tensions increased, legislation was introduced to limit the numbers of people moving to Britain from the Commonwealth, even if they had British passports. A year later dictator Idi Amin expelled 80,000 African-Asians, Israelis and Britons from Uganda How Don McCullin became 'our era's greatest living war photographer' Don McCullin was born on October 9, 1935 in north London, and many of his most iconic images were taken in the UK capital. McCullin went on to cover many of the world's conflicts and tragedies including Cyprus, the Congo, Lebanon's Sabra and Shatila, Iraq's wars, famine in Africa, the AIDS crisis. He spent prolonged spells at British newspapers, notably The Observer and The Sunday Times. Although tormented by what he witnessed over the years McCullin openly admits that he became addicted to war. McCullin has not emerged unscathed from his war work. 'He has been shot and badly wounded in Cambodia, imprisoned in Uganda, expelled from Vietnam and had a bounty on his head in Lebanon,' says the biography on his official website. 'Sometimes it felt like I was carrying pieces of human flesh back home with me, not negatives. It's as if you are carrying the suffering of the people you have photographed,' he says on the website of London's Hamilton Gallery, which represents him. Describing his philosophy to The Economist in 2010, McCullin said: 'I took photographs which are about human beings suffering and I wanted you to look at those photographs and I wanted you to try and persuade yourself even if you didn't want to look at them that they had a purpose'. Advertisement The Guvnors in their Sunday Suits, Finsbury Park, London, 1958: McCullin worked in railway dining cars and at an animation studio before doing his national service with the Royal Air Force, where he was a photography assistant. When he returned to his home in Finsbury Park, he had a little camera bought with all his savings. In a derelict building at the end of his street on a Sunday afternoon in 1958, McCullin pictured - in one of his first images - a violent neighbourhood gang known as 'The Guvnors', its members in dark suits and with slicked-back hair For the Chaldean primate, persecution in the region is one of the pontiffs main concerns. Francis will try to turn the page in Christian-Muslim relations and renew the journey of peace. The visit could also help Iraqi Christians and give them new confidence in the future. Baghdad (AsiaNews) Anti-Christian persecution in the Middle East is a major concern, said Pope Francis in yesterdays Angelus before leaving for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he will remain until tomorrow, something Chaldean Patriarch Card Louis Raphael Sako stressed as he spoke about the first papal visit to a Gulf state. With persecution in Iraq, Syria and Yemen in his mind, the Pope will try to turn a page in Christian-Muslim relations in order to renew the journey of peace. The 70-year-old cardinal, originally from Zakho in northern Iraq, plays a leading role in interfaith dialogue in his country. "Pope Francis is saying that this is enough. Let us live in peace, love, tolerance and renounce violence and hatred," Card Sako noted, adding that in the UAE, the Pope will promote Christian-Muslim outreach, trying to oppose any fanatical, violent or hateful discourse. According to the prelate, the pontiff will raise awareness among the believers of various religions of the situation of Christians in the region and will refer to the values found in various sacred texts and scriptures, which call for human coexistence. "The UAE has become a role model for other countries with a flourishing economy, Mgr Sako noted. Our message to the Christians in the UAE is to hold on to that country, its traditions and to connect with Muslims. "People, he insisted, should live and develop a personal, deep and spiritual bond with God away from hatred, separation and threats, which are not related to faith in any way". The cardinal also pointed out that some 500,000 Christians still live in Iraq. "At one point, Christians represented 20 per cent of the Iraqi population, but the number dropped first to 10 per cent and it now stands at 2 per cent". For him, what happened in Iraq is a breach in international law, and the papal visit to the UAE could help Iraqi Christians by giving them new confidence in the future. In the recent past, "Christian homes were threatened, kidnappings took place," he said. Now, although the security is improving and a new government was formed, the status of Christians remains uncertain. "We have co-existed in peace with each other for 14 centuries. I wonder why people's mentality has changed driving Christians to believe that there's no future for them. Sweden's first military conscripts for a decade have begun training how to combat a Russian invasion amid fears that Putin could start a war in Europe. Dozens of 19 and 20-year-olds drafted last summer took part in a live-fire exercise at the Ravlunda firing range last week, designed to simulate a Russian attack from the sea and air. In total, 3,700 school leavers were called up to serve in summer 2018 after politicians voted to reintroduce national service the previous year. Sweden began conscripting citizens into the armed forces in 2017 after abandoning the practice in 2010, and the first recruits have now begun training (file image) Army chiefs say the youngsters - who are 19 or 20 years old, having left school last year - lack the physical fitness of years gone by, but say they are glad to have extra numbers (file) Captain Johan Strom told The Telegraph that the new recruits are not nearly as fit as the ones of yesteryear, but welcomed the extra numbers. Sweden first introduced mandatory national service in 1901 but scrapped it in 2010, saying the move would increase the quality of recruits in the armed forces. But in 2017 ministers reversed that decision, saying they had struggled to fill ranks amid increasingly aggressive Russian military drills in the Baltics. Sweden selected the 3,700 new recruits from a pool of 94,000 school leavers after they volunteered and completed a test. The first conscripts were operating CV9040 transport vehicles at the weekend, while identifying and firing at moving targets. Evelina Loof, 19, the commander of one of the vehicles, said her job gave her a lot to think about on the battlefield. 'You have to tell the driver where to drive and the gunner where to shoot, and at the same time, you have to report to the boss, so its a lot to think about,' she said. Sweden's new conscription law is gender-neutral, meaning both men and women can be called upon to serve. Describing the need for extra troops, Colonel Bo Stennabb added: When the wall came down, everybody thought we had entered an era of eternal peace. Not many people think that any more. 'We've seen that Russia is prepared to use military means to accomplish political objectives, not just in Crimea but in Syria. Conscription restarted amid fears of increased Russia aggression in Europe. Pictured, a Russian fighter jet 'pushes' an American jet out of the way above the Baltics Russia has spent years investing in its military, including building new tanks, nukes and fighter jets while the rest of Europe has largely been left behind 'We've seen a more aggressive behaviour by Russia in the Baltic. And theres the rearmament that Russia is engaged in.' Russia has invested a huge amount of money in updating its military in recent years, developing new tanks, nuclear missiles, and fighter jets. The country has increased military spending every year since 1998, and in 2016 it spent the most out of any European country on defence. In order to show off its new hardware it has held a series of elaborate training exercises, including the Zapad war games held in Belarus in 2017. NATO chiefs warned at the time that Zapad - which means 'west' - was a rehearsal for the invasion of Europe, and may even have provided cover for an actual invasion - though none materialised. Last year, Russia also held the Vostok games on its eastern border, coordinating with China to produce the largest games since the Soviet era. In total, 300,000 soldiers, 36,000 vehicles, 1,000 aircraft and 80 ships took part in the exercises. Meanwhile Russia has also been launching incursions into European airspace, while becoming ever-more bullish about defending its own. Just last week, a Russian Su-27 fighter was filmed 'pushing' an American F-15 out of the way as they patrolled over the Baltic Sea. The US-made plane has no choice but to move out of the way as the Russian jet came within feet of hitting it. The Pentagon said that a Russian jet came dangerously close to one of its fighters over the Black Sea on Monday. Jeremy Corbyn held talks with rising star of US Congress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - but his intervention prompted claims she is talking to an 'anti-Semite'. The Labour leader revealed the call with Ms Ocasio-Cortez last night, revealing the pair talked about tackling billionaires and spreading prosperity. She tweeted about the meeting to her 2.8million followers, insisting it was a 'wide-ranging conversation' about 'furthering peace, prosperity and justice'. Mr Corbyn and Ms Ocasio-Cortez - seen by some as a future presidential candidate for the Presidency - share a socialist platform and many Labour activists want to copy her grassroots campaign techniques in the UK. But the association with Mr Corbyn led to immediate criticism over the anti-Semitism crisis which has engulfed Labour since he became leader in 2015. Mr Corbyn has been personally accused of anti-Semitic remarks and of turning a blind eye to rampant abuse by some party members. Ms Ocasio-Cortez, 29, became the youngest woman ever elected to the US Congress when she held New York's 14th District at midterm elections in November. Scroll down for video Jeremy Corbyn held talks with rising star of US Congress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - but his intervention prompted claim she is talking to an 'anti-Semite' Corbyn himself earlier tweeted that it had been 'great to speak to Ocasio-Cortez' and praised her for 'challenging the status quo' Ocasio-Cortez said she and Corbyn had a 'wide-reaching conversation' as she praised the Labour leader Following yesterday's talks, Mr Corbyn tweeted: 'Great to speak to @AOC on the phone this evening and hear first hand how she's challenging the status quo. 'Let's build a movement across borders to take on the billionaires, polluters and migrant baiters, and support a happier, freer and cleaner planet.' Re-tweeting the message, she added: 'It was an honor to share such a lovely and wide-reaching conversation with you, @jeremycorbyn! 'Also honored to share a great hope in the peace, prosperity, + justice that everyday people can create when we uplift one another across class, race, + identity both at home & abroad.' Ocasio-Cortez has drawn an impressive Twitter following since being sworn in earlier this year Her followers slammed her for associating with Corbyn, who has been dogged by allegations of anti-semitism However, several of Ocasio-Cortez's followers were quick to point out the dangers of being associated with Corbyn, who has been dogged by allegations of anti-semitism in recent months. Elad Nehorai, creator of Jewish media platform Hevria, tweeted: 'I'm a huge huge fan of yours. 'I hope you'll take a look at the amount of Jews trying to call attention to Corbyn's long, documented history of anti-Semitism. 'The left's blind spot in this regard can still be fixed. But we need leaders like yourself to listen.' And Christina Sommers, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said: 'Dear Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Corbyn is anti-Semitic. 'You do not want to do to the Democratic Party what Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory did to the Women's March.' A schoolgirl who was found hanged in a hedgerow told a teacher how her stepfather had woken her at 1.30am to make her mop the floor, an inquest has heard. The hearing previously heard how Amber Peat fell out with her parents after rows over domestic chores and had struggled with the demands of growing up at home. Today, evidence was heard from staff at Queen Elizabeth School in Mansfield, which Amber was attending at the time of her death. Amber's form teacher, Rebecca Beard, described a series of incidents that the teenager had told her had happened at home with her stepfather Danny Peat. On one occasion, she claimed she had been been awoken by her stepfather at 1.30am and told to mop floors as a punishment for failing to fulfil domestic chores. Amber Peat (pictured) told a teacher how her stepfather Danny (right) had woken her at 1.30am to make her mop the floor, an inquest has heard She was also made to wear baggy jogging bottoms to school after forgetting to put her normal school trousers in the wash. Another time she lost her tie and as a punishment was told by her stepfather to carry her school items in a plastic shopping bag instead of her normal school bag. Mrs Beard told the inquest: 'Amber said her dad wanted to humiliate her and get every one to laugh at her.' The teacher added: 'I was extremely concerned that Amber was being emotionally abused by her father.' Amber, 13, at one time wrote a letter to her mother telling her she 'just wanted to be her little girl again', the hearing has also been told. Her body was discovered in June 2015, three days after she left the home in Mansfield, Notts, she shared with mother Kelly, stepfather Danny, and two siblings. Kelly Peat, mother of Amber, arrives at Nottingham Coroner's Court for a hearing earlier this month Her parents waited almost eight hours before they finally reported her missing in the early hours of the morning. Ellen Chapman, an inclusion support worker at Queen Elizabeth School, told the hearing that one of her role's was to help students with behavioural issues. Miss Chapman was asked by coroner Laurinda Bower about the issues over the jogging bottoms which Amber had been made to wear. She said: 'The jogging bottoms were over-sized. They didn't go with the school uniform. They looked very out of place. The students thought she looked ridiculous. 'She got a lot of stick for it. Amber was very upset and embarrassed by it. She was unhappy that she was wearing them.' The inquest, which is expected to last a month, continues. Michael Lee Hasson, 55, was arrested in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Thursday An oral surgeon in North Carolina is accused of sexually abusing at least four patients between the ages of 17 and 21 while they were under anesthesia. Michael Lee Hasson, 55, was arrested on Thursday on three counts of sexual battery and one count of second-degree forcible sexual offense. According to police, he abused at least four female patients at Wilmington Oral Surgery since 2017. All of the alleged victims were between 17 and 21 years old. It is not clear what alerted authorities to the allegations or if anyone else was in the room when the alleged assaults took place. Hasson and his wife broke up in 2014. On social media, she has accused him of being unfaithful to her and hinted that he left her for a younger woman after 29 years of marriage. He has three adult daughters including actress Maddie Hasson who starred with Tom Hiddleston in the film I Saw The Light. Prosecutors are continuing their investigation and expect to file more charges once the results of two sexual assault kits come back. 'This is a scenario where we have someone who has been exposed, through his position, to a very large number of women in our community, over a period of years, which we believe is happening. One woman has told already how he was 'odd' and tactile towards her during appointments. The surgeon, pictured here on a vacation with his ex-wife, was described as 'odd' and too friendly by some former female patients Hasson's daughter is the actress Maddie Hasson who starred with Tom Hiddleston in the film I Saw the Light Courtney Hewitt, 25, had her wisdom teeth taken out by Hassan two years ago. She told WECT that before she could ask him what he was doing, she had passed out from anesthesia. 'He came in started an IV and I was sedated before I even knew. Hasson is behind bars on a $600,000 bail. Prosecutors say they fear he may have more victims 'I went to ask him what he was doing and I was already out, it happened so fast, and they had a hard time waking me up,' she said, adding that there was a nurse in the room at the time. 'His demeanor was odd to me, he was too friendly he kept putting his hand on my shoulder when he was talking to me he would leave it there for awhile. 'It's concerning because I'll never know, I'm just left to wonder if he did something to me, I have so many questions. 'We may never know there could be so many other victims, we were vulnerable and sedated so we don't have any recollection,' she added. 'He is effectively incapacitating them and sexually assaulting them,' Assistant District Attorney Connie Jordan said at a hearing on Friday. A judge initially set Hasson's bail at $1.25million but it was reduced to $600,000 at the request of his attorney. 'Mr. Hasson graduated from Hoggard High School, he's 55 years old, he's run a business here for 22 years, he has a deep, deep root system in the community, and it goes without saying that he is presumed innocent of each and everything in these documents. 'We ask you adjust bond to accurately reflect what it is he is charged with,' his attorney Woody White said. Hasson describes himself as a a surgeon, 'surfer, tie dyer' and 'essential oil mad scientist'. He remained in police custody as of Monday afternoon. It was Prince Harrys condemned face that said it all. As his excited wife Meghan Markle exclaimed I have an idea! and loudly demanded a sharpie marker pen, poor Harry looked like a man on Death Row being told his execution date had finally arrived: momentarily stunned but resigned to his fate and the sickening realisation there was nothing he could do about it. After all, as he barked at Palace officials in the tempestuous build-up to their wedding last year: What Meghan wants, MEGHAN GETS! The Duchess of Sussex doesnt just wear the pants in this marriage, she wears the suit, tie and marching boots of Harrys old army uniform too. Prince Harrys condemned face that said it all. Pregnant Meghan, 37, wanted and got a marker to write messages onto bananas being bagged up for sex workers So when she hollered for her sharpie, her husband knew hed just have to fake grin and bear whatever was coming next. What did come next was almost beyond parody. The couple had travelled to the city of Bristol in the West of England, to visit a small charity, One25, that helps 150 or so street sex workers by running services from a fully-equipped truck offering food, first aid, warm clothing, condoms, safety alarms and a place to talk. It is perfectly laudable to shine a much-needed light on the plight of these poor women, who night after night go out late into the most violent area of a crime-ridden city, touting their bodies for sex. It is a hard, dangerous life for which they often have to endure abuse, serious injury and disease. Many of the women are drug addicts, and sell themselves both to feed their addiction and to meet the financial demands of vicious male pimps who often beat them into submission. So I have no problem in Meghan and Harry using their huge fame to promote the work One25 does to help these women. But I do have a big problem with how Meghan decided to manifest that help. I have an idea! she cried. And it turned out the idea involved bananas that were being given in small food parcels later to the sex workers. The other day, she said, I saw this project a woman had started in the States, a school lunchtime program, where on each of the bananas, she wrote an affirmation or something, to make the kids feel.like really empowered. As Meghan said this, she theatrically ruffled her hair, tenderly felt her pregnancy bump, and raised her hands up like Mother Teresa. I thought it was the most incredible idea, she sighed, benevolently, this small gesture. Then she took a sharpie, and ordered startled Harry to leave her to it, with the words: Im in charge of the banana messaging! (This was a fairly superfluous sentence since its become painfully obvious shes in charge of EVERYTHING in this relationship.) As the cameras craned in, Meghan studiously wrote immaculate ink messages she was once a professional calligrapher - of supposed empowerment on the bananas. She ordered startled Harry to leave her to it, with the words: Im in charge of the banana messaging! Meghan then studiously wrote these ink messages of supposed empowerment The messages included: You are strong, You are special, You are brave, and You are loved These included: You are strong, You are special, You are brave, and You are loved. I could barely believe what I was watching. Meghan Markle is not a stupid woman. So why did no part of her considerable brain realise that this gesture was, ironically, a massive banana skin to trip on? Giving schoolchildren an empowering banana with their lunch is one thing. Giving prostitutes an empowering banana after theyve spent the night subjecting their bodies to often vile, sexually depraved men, is quite another. There is no escaping the fact that bananas have long been the subject of ribald humour for their phallic shape. Meghan knows they're phallic. She used them as sexual props before, posting this photo to her old now deleted - Instagram account of two bananas spooning each other. Sleep tight was her accompanying message, which was later assumed to be a reference to secret lover Harry (Meghans even used them as sexual props before, posting a photo to her old now deleted - Instagram account of two bananas spooning each other, with human eyes, mouths and hands drawn on to portray lovers. Sleep tight was her accompanying message, which was later assumed to be a reference to her then secret lover, Harry.) Therefore, to sign them with the words YOU ARE LOVED and present them to women who sell loveless sex to men was guaranteed not to empower them but to subject them to widespread mockery which is exactly what happened as social media erupted with memes and cruel jokes. And what were they supposed to do with these signed bananas, exactly? Feel a moment of Meghans wondrously regal empowerment, then eat them and try to sell the skins on Ebay? Or perhaps keep them as a souvenir for a few days until they mould, blacken and stink? There are many things two members of the most privileged family in Britain could have done to help the lives of impoverished, desperate sex workers. Scrawling cheesy, cliche-ridden messages of LA-speak empowerment on a banana is about the least useful. As one of the sex workers due to receive a signed banana told The Sun newspaper: People out here struggle to eat and sleep and she gifts us some words on a piece of fruit? She has the means to help us more than that. Its offensive. I doubt any of this crossed Meghan Markles mind as she was whisked back to Kensington Palace in her luxury chauffeur-diven limousine. She will have seen all the fawning media coverage her bananas attracted, and like all good actresses, congratulated herself on a splendidly successful performance. She will have seen the fawning media coverage her bananas attracted and congratulated herself on a splendidly successful performance. But as so often with Meghan it was all about her, and not really about the sex workers But as so often with Meghan, sadly, it was all about her, and not really about the sex workers. And by putting herself first, in a deliberate, carefully planned effort to grab headlines for her caring, sharing nature, all she has actually achieved is make 150 sex workers the unfortunate butt of a million lame jokes about empowered bananas. The saddest part of all this is that the old, pre-royal Meghan Markle was an outspoken campaigner for womens rights who would have been very politically vociferous about the need to change laws and regulations to improve the health and safety of sex workers like this. But Meghans once strident feminist tongue has been voluntarily silenced by her decision to marry her Prince - so she is now reduced to writing patronising, meaningless, scorn-inducing guff on bananas for them instead. As for poor Prince Harry, hes been losing his hair at such a rapid rate since marrying Meghan that experts fear he will soon be as bald as his older brother Prince William. One reason for this may be down to the number of times he scratches his head in bemusement every time his woke wife announces: I have an idea! Jovonie Mclendon Jr. (pictured), 33, committed suicide live on Facebook, on Friday. He pulled the trigger shortly after killing a five-year-old boy and critically injuring his girlfriend, 27, in Ohio An army veteran who was thought to be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder executed himself on Facebook live after murdering a 5-year-old boy and seriously wounding his girlfriend on Friday. Jovonie Mclendon Jr., 33, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on February 3. Concerned family members dialed 911 saying Mclendon had told them he had killed his girlfriend, her son and was about to kill himself. 'He just called me a minute ago and said that he loved us and that he killed his girlfriend and her baby,' Mclendon's mother can be heard saying in the conversation. In another call received by authorities, Mclendon told dispatchers he spent three-and-a-half years serving overseas and was 'just tired'. The identity of the girlfriend and the 5-year-old (left) haven't yet been revealed by authorities He said 'I'm just saying I'm sorry' after telling the officers he'd killed both his girlfriend and her son. Mclendon live-streamed the moment he shot himself to friends on Facebook. 'It's been a long day,' he can be heard saying to those watching. He later says it's 'been nice knowing you' before pulling the trigger. Rushing to the Sagebrook Apartment complex in Miami Township, Ohio, a SWAT team found Mclendon and a 5-year-old child dead at the scene. His 27-year-old girlfriend was found seriously injured but alive. She was rushed to hospital and remains in a critical condition. He told viewers of the live stream it 'has been a long day' and that it was 'nice knowing you' before pulling the trigger Police arrived at the home in Miami Township and found Mclendon dead along with the five year old boy. His girlfriend was found alive and rushed to hospital 'This is tragic for everybody,' Miami TWP Police Chief Ron Hess said in a press conference on Monday. Hess refused to comment on details of the weapon used or how many times each victim was shot. The names of the two victims haven't yet been released. Jordan King, who served alongside Mclendon in the US Army, believes his friend was suffering from PTSD and lost control. 'That's my assumption,' he said to WHIOTV. 'I believe he lost control. He raged out and he did what he did...There was no coming back from that.' A sufferer of PTSD himself, King served alongside the 33-year-old in Germany in 2014. In a 911 call received by authorities, Mclendon told dispatchers he spent three-and-a-half years serving overseas and was 'just tired'. He apologized for his actions A former college of Mclendon believes he suffered from PTSD after serving in the army for nearly four years He described Mclendon as a 'likable' guy and said he was unrecognizable in the Facebook video. 'I was like wow, this is not normal. This is not him - this is not normal. 'I know there was an underlying cause. 'I'm sure he acted out of anger, because PTSD, you really can't control it.' Police haven't confirmed whether Mclendon struggled from PTSD. Hess described the incident as a 'fluid and on-going investigation'. For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255 A 100-year-old woman died after a mugger broke her neck as he snatched her handbag, a court heard. Artur Waszkiewicz allegedly grabbed Zofija Kaczan from behind and stole her handbag as she walked to a church service in Normanton, Derby. Waszkiewicz, 40, saw Mrs Kaczan as an 'easy target' so pounced on her as she walked along the street on her own on May 28 last year, jurors heard. The centenarian, who had celebrated her 100th birthday just one month earlier, was taken to hospital and was able to give police a description of her attacker before she died days after the attack, on June 6. Zofija Kaczan died in June 6 last year after she was mugged on her way to church The jury were shown CCTV stills of Ms Kaczan being followed by a grey Seat Leon Ms Kaczan, who had turned 100 on May 9, was attacked as she made her way to St Maksymilian Kolbe Polish Church at 8.30am. Prosecutor Kate Brunner QC said Mrs Kaczan 'was in remarkably good shape' and went to church every morning. Polish-born widow Ms Kaczan, who was held in a Nazi camp during the Second World War, suffered multiple injuries, including a fractured neck and cheekbone, before her condition deteriorated. She died from pneumonia in hospital on June 6 - a condition which would only have been brought on by the injuries sustained in the attack, the court was told. Derby Crown Court was told Waszkiewicz had been driving around quiet residential streets in a Seat Leon car insured in his father's name, and had slowed down as soon as he saw the easy target. The defendant's fingerprint had been found on a receipt from Ms Kaczan's handbag and no money was present when it was recovered, the court heard. A jury panel of seven men and five women was told the 40-year-old was so desperate for money that he had tried to sell his dog to neighbours before the incident. The prosecution said the force used in the attack was so great that the green handle on the victim's handbag was ripped off. The prosecution alleges that after the incident, the defendant changed his appearance and the insurance details of the car he was driving to distance himself from the attack. Opening the case against Waszkiewicz on Monday, Kate Brunner QC said: 'She was attacked, she was thrown to the ground and her handbag was snatched from her. 'The prosecution say it was this man in the dock who robbed her and whose actions led to her death. 'She was small, on her own, vulnerable - an easy target for a man desperate for money.' The junction in Normanton, Derby where Zofija Kaczan suffered a broken neck The court was told Waszkiewicz was questioned by police at his father's address in Shepherd's Bush, west London, where he admitted he had been driving the car on the day of the attack. Ms Brunner said the defendant was caught on CCTV disposing of the handbag in a well-known fly-tipping area. She continued: 'He attacked Ms Kaczan, yanking her handbag from her and leaving her injured in the road and driving off. 'The handbag was later found by street cleaners. What the prosecution say is this man took the money from the handbag and it was then of no use to him. 'It will be no surprise to you that no cash was found in the handbag.' Waszkiewicz, from Derby, denies robbery and manslaughter. The trial at Derby Crown Court (pictured), continues Describing what could be seen on CCTV in the moments leading up to the incident, Ms Brunner said: 'Part of what happened was caught on a reflection in a car window which was then recorded on a CCTV camera. 'A tall shape moved from the driver's side of the car to the pavement. The prosecution say that shape was this defendant.' Ms Brunner added: 'Moments after the attack two friends of Zofija Kaczan passed by and saw her getting to her feet and steadying herself on a car, she was bleeding. 'They noticed she didn't have her handbag and she was saying, 'keys, keys.'' Ms Brunner added: 'We say it must have been the robbery that caused the end of a 100-year-old life.' Waszkiewicz, from Derby, denies robbery and manslaughter. The trial, set to last two weeks, continues. Ana Maria Archila, the activist who berated Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake's during Brett Kavanaugh's tense Supreme Court confirmation process, will attend Tuesday's State of the Union as a guest of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ocasio-Cortez wrote Monday: 'Im proud to announce that my #StateOfTheUnion guest will be @AnaMariaArchil2,' and referenced her Ne wYork congressional district. 'Ana Maria is the NY14-er who famously jumped into the elevator with Sen. Flake to elevate the stories of survivors everywhere. Shes living proof that the courage within all of us can change the world,' Ocasio-Cortez wrote, using an emoji for the planet. The first-term lawmaker also tweeted out a video of herself sitting down with Archil and presenting her matching pins. The two women embrace. 'Well behaved women rarely make history that's right!' says Archil while the camera rolls. 'Let's not be well behaved ever,' she said. Ana Maria Archila confronted Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake during the saga over Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court Scroll down for video Then she told the lawmakers: 'Thank you for not being a well-behaved woman, ever.' Ocasio-Cortez gave a hint about her selection in advance on Saturday, tweeting an image of a pin she picked up that said 'Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History.' She hyped her choice, writing: 'Y'all aren't ready for NY-14's #StateOFTheUnion guest!' Archila said she would be 'honored' to attend and would sport the pin. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez tweeted a video of herself with Archila announcing she would accompany her to the Tuesday speech Both women will sport pins that say: ''Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History' during the Tuesday speech The Intercept reported she would be the guest of the Democratic socialist who has attracted a huge Twitter following. The Queens woman said she voted for Ocasio-Cortez and helped organize a protest of the Trump administration's child-separation policy. During the tense Brett Kavnanaugh confirmation process, Archil and Maria Gallagher, 23, tore into Kavanaugh and forced Flake to listen to their own stories of sexual assault, while the stone-faced senator repeatedly told them he had to go to a hearing. CNN broadcast the entire confrontation, and Flake ultimately joined a compromise that forced an FBI investigation into Kavanaugh's record. He ultimately voted to confirm Kavanaugh anyway. Archila, a longtime activist, told the publication: 'I just feel particularly moved that in her first participation in the State of the Union, she is inviting me to join and inviting that moment of the elevator, my confrontation with the men who do not understand the life of women and the lives of people who are not in power, that she's inviting that into the imagination of people again.' She said she wouldn't have confronted Flake 'had it not been for the courage that I watched, the courage of the people that had been protesting for weeks, the courage of women who were telling their stories' in congressional offices, to their families, and on social media. 'I would not have ever told my story otherwise I hadn't in 30 years,' Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has invited Archila to sit in the visitor's gallery during the State of the Union Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted an image of a pin she picked up that said 'Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History' During her televised stand-off with Flake, Archila, co-executive director of the nonprofit Center for Popular Democracy Action, pointed her finger at Flake while she appeared to keep the elevator door from closing and brought up Christine Blasey Ford's decades-old accusations against Kavanaugh. 'I told the story of my sexual assault. I told it because I recognized in Dr. Ford's story that she is telling the truth. What you are doing is allowing someone who actually violated a woman to sit on the Supreme Court.' In the same confrontation, while Flake stood nearly captive in the elevator elevator, Maria Gallagher, 23, shouted through tears: 'I was sexually assaulted and nobody believed me. 'I didn't tell anyone, and you're telling all women that they don't matter, that they should just stay quiet because if they tell you what happened to them you are going to ignore them.' 'That's what happened to me, and that's what you are telling all women in America, that they don't matter,' she said, sobbing. Ralph Northam's medical school roommate has backed his claimed that the Virginia governor was not in the racist photo that appeared in their 1984 yearbook - but contradicted the Democratic politician's claim that he was not at the Halloween party where it was taken. Rob Marsh, who attended Eastern Virginia Medical School with Northam, said he doesn't think it was the governor wearing blackface and standing next to a man dressed as a member of the KKK. 'No, I don't think it's him. I don't think it looks like him. Ralph is thinner than the people in the picture,' he told WWBT, an NBC station in Richmond, Va. Ralph Northam in a Saturday press conference denied being in a racist photograph in his 1984 school yearbook, said he didn't attend the party, and is refusing all calls to step down Rob Marsh, who attended Eastern Virginia Medical School with Ralph Northam, said it wasn't the Virginia governor in the racist yearbook photo Marsh said he was also at the Halloween party and he remembered Northam, a pediatric neurologist, dressed as a lawyer - complete with a suit and briefcase. 'I was at the Halloween party the governor went to and I know what he was wearing exactly,' he said. 'Ralph comes out and I remember he was dressed in a three-piece suit and he had a briefcase.' Marsh told the news station he saw the photo for the first time with the rest of the country on Friday. The photo shocked the Virginia political establishment when it appeared and led to several prominent Democrats - including Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former Attorney General Eric Holder, Sen. Cory Booker, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren - to call for his resignation. The Virginia governor has resisted those calls thus far. He is hunkered down in Richmond, fighting for his political survival and debating his next move. He met with his Cabinet early Monday morning, The Washington Post reported, and will meet with other officials as he weighs whether he should resign or battle it out. Democrats in the state legislature and both Democratic senators from Virginia have also called on Northam to step down. Republican state Speaker Kirk Cox, who would lead the impeachment process should it come to that, has also called for Northam's resignation. 'It had become clear to us by then, regardless of the veracity of the photograph, the governor's lost the confidence of the people and cannot effectively govern,' Cox told the Post. First lady Pam Northam is encouraging her husband to fight to clear his name, the paper reported. Marsh said he was 'stunned' when he saw the picture. 'I was truly stunned. One, I didn't recognize that picture, I didn't know anyone in it and didn't know where or when it was taken,' he said. He also told the news station he believes the photo could have been added to the yearbook as a prank. He said he's still in touch with his former roommate and he talked to Northam on Saturday. 'He's doing good. I think he was a little stunned. He's a little bit hurt,' said Marsh. Originally Northam apologized for the photo but a day later he denied it was him, saying he was sure he didn't wear that costume because he remembered wearing black face on another occasion - in a performance as Michael Jackson in a dance competition. A photo on Northam's yearbook page depicts a man in blackface and another in a KKK robe The yearbook page from Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook is seen above He also claimed in a press conference on Saturday he did not attend the party in question. 'My belief that I did not wear that costume or attend that party stems in part from my clear memory of other mistakes that I made in the same period of my life,' Northam explained. 'That same year, I did participate in a dance contest in San Antonio in which I darkened my face as part of a Michael Jackson costume.' Northam appeared to try to soften the offensive occasion by revealing he won the contest he did it for. Making his revelation worse, he told attendees the reason why he only wore a 'little bit' of shoe polish was because it's difficult to remove. 'I don't know if anybody's tried this...' he said to the shocked room. But it didn't explain why he was wearing blackface to show off his dance talent during the skit. Northam told the audience during question time: 'I have discussed this with a person of color. I apologized to him.' He said he felt sick after seeing the image of people wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe and blackface and would remember if he had done so. He made the contradictory statement to a room full of people eager to know why he admitted to something he claims now not to have done, but Northam didn't manage to provide a clear explanation. Northam originally apologized for the photo but then said it wasn't him 'When my staff showed me the photo in question I had seen it for the first time,' he claimed. 'I didn't purchase the yearbook and didn't know they appeared on my page. On a yearbook page that belongs to me. It is disgusting.' Northam added that his former classmates backed up his belief he was not in the photo but said he didn't ever see the offending photo. He jumped ahead of people being skeptical by adding: 'Many people will find this difficult to believe me.' EU goods will be waved through at UK ports to avoid huge queues if there is a no deal Brexit, it was revealed today. Most imports arriving at around 20 locations will be allowed into the country before companies confirm they are here, according to new guidance from HM Revenue & Customs. Instead firms will have around 24 hours to file a declaration for what has been brought into the UK. The move could help reduce pressures at key ports such as Dover and Folkestone, although importers will still need to declare what they are shipping in advance. Security checks are expected to remain in place. Most imports arriving at around 20 locations including Dover (pictured) will be allowed into the country before companies confirm they are here, according to new guidance from HM Revenue & Customs HMRC released its latest guidance as preparations are ramped up for the possibility that the UK leaves without a deal in less than eight weeks' time. There have been warnings of huge tailbacks at major ports and shortages of fresh produce due to the need for customs and other checks. HMRC outlined a plan for roll-on, roll-off locations that also include smaller ports like Heysham in Lancashire, Pembroke and Sheerness. 'For a temporary period, HMRC will allow most goods moving from the listed roll on roll off locations to leave the UK port or train station before you've told us that the goods have arrived,' the guidance said. 'If you've submitted either a full declaration or a simplified frontier declaration, you must tell us as soon as possible when the goods arrive in the UK. 'You tell us the goods have arrived by updating your declaration using your software application, or your agent can do this for you. You must do this no later than the end of the working day after the goods' arrival in the UK. 'If you've used an entry in your records, you must update your records to show the actual time the goods arrived in the UK. But you do not need to tell us about the arrival of the goods at roll on roll off locations.' The advice said firms should still make a more detailed customs declaration by the month after the goods' arrival in the UK. HMRC will then collect any duties or taxes by direct debit. Labour MP Geraint Davies, part of the anti-Brexit Best for Britain campaign, said: 'They said we would take back control of our borders but now the plan is to wave things through irrespective of our safety. 'We'll have no idea what is coming into our ports.' Theresa May will try to break the Brexit logjam with a speech in Northern Ireland tomorrow - after summoning Tory Eurosceptics and Remainers for crisis talks. The PM will underline her 'absolute commitment' to avoiding a hard Irish border during the visit, according to aides. Theresa May (pictured today arriving at Downing Street) has summoned Tory Eurosceptics and Remainers for crisis talks as she desperately struggles to find a Brexit strategy that does not tear her party to pieces The mission emerged as Mrs May invited rebels from both Conservative wings to join discussions on how to handle the UK's departure from the EU - which is now less than eight weeks away. But Cabinet ministers have voiced fears that there is 'nothing she can get' that will satisfy the hardline Brexiteers. One told MailOnline they seemed intent on forcing no deal, warning: 'She could get the backstop removed and even that wouldn't be enough. They would just find some other excuse.' Meanwhile, Brussels has ramped up the pressure by again flatly dismissing the idea that that Irish border issue can be resolved with technological fixes in the short term. Angela Merkel said changes to the Withdrawal Agreement were not 'on the agenda', and the commission's top official Martin Selmayr denied the EU was considering 'legally-binding' assurances. Vatican City (AsiaNews) While understanding and even at times sharing the perplexity expressed by many over the difficulties that still remain, the provisional China-Holy See agreement, signed last September 22, is of historical significance for the Church in China, states Card. Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, in a long interview with the Osservatore Romano, published yesterday and reproduced in full below. The Prefect of Propaganda Fide defends the agreement that will allow the Church in China to keep up with the "supersonic" times with which the Middle Empire moves, offering "spiritual and human values that give solid hope to people's lives and true cohesion to society ". At the same time he often repeats that he understands "the doubts" expressed on the agreement by the members of the underground community who feel "abandoned" and "almost betrayed". "I understand the perplexities; sometimes I share them ", says Card. Filoni, but "only with a superficial spirit or in bad faith could one imagine that Pope Francis and the Holy See would abandon the flock of Christ". The Cardinal, often citing the papal message to the Chinese and universal Church, published on the occasion of the agreement, pushes the two communities, official and underground, to reconciliation and evangelization of the country. With two very important underlining: at a certain point, in front of the underground communitys fear of "disappearing", Card. Filoni states that "The underground status will fade away, but not the people involved. Their faith, their traditions, and their spirituality remain, which are enjoyed by the entire Diocesan community". A second point is when he states that membership in the Patriotic Association (AP) is not mandatory: " I hope, therefore, not to hear or read about local situations in which the Agreement is exploited to compel people to do what is not even required by Chinese law, such as joining the Patriotic Association.". In reality, since the signing of the agreement, members of the United Front and the PA force and indoctrinate bishops, priests and underground faithful to join the PA, "because the Pope is with us". The interview does not deal with the question of belonging to the PA, whose statutes are - according to Benedict XVI - "incompatible" with Catholic doctrine. But the cardinal states that while the Church says no says no to a patriotism that would signify egoism, close-mindedness or control, it says says yes to a love of country meaning respect for ones roots, knowledge of the culture, protection of the common good, and the faithfulness of institutions towards its own Citizens. In the text there is never the word "persecution", but at a certain point when addressing what is holding back the proclamation of the Gospel mention is made of the "lack of true freedom" and "the temptations of comfort", perhaps referring to those that Benedict XVI defined as "opportunist" bishops. (BC) On the Catholic Church in China Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, has followed the delicate and complex journey of the Catholic Church in China since 1992, the year of his arrival in Hong Kong. In those years a diplomatic thaw began between the Peoples Republic of China and the Holy See, when initial contacts were made between representatives of the Secretariat of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing. 1) Q. Your Eminence, for several years now you have led the Dicastery of the Holy See responsible for evangelization, with particular reference to the so-called mission territories. What do you see as the pastoral significance of the Provisional Agreement on the Appointment of Bishops signed by the Holy See and the Chinese Government on 22 September 2018? A. Since the Dicastery that I oversee has a particular responsibility for accompanying the Church in China, I feel particularly called upon to speak about the pastoral significance of the Provisional Agreement. But I think Pope Francis said it best when, in his Message to the Catholics of China last September, he wrote: the Provisional Agreement [] is the result of a lengthy and complex institutional dialogue between the Holy See and the Chinese authorities initiated by Saint John Paul II and continued by Pope Benedict XVI. Through this process, the Holy See has desired and continues to desire only to attain the Churchs specific spiritual and pastoral aims, namely, to support and advance the preaching of the Gospel, and to reestablish and preserve the full and visible unity of the Catholic community in China (2). Furthermore, The Provisional Agreement signed with the Chinese authorities, while limited to certain aspects of the Churchs life and necessarily capable of improvement, can contribute for its part to writing this new chapter of the Catholic Church in China. For the first time, the Agreement sets out stable elements of cooperation between the state authorities and the Apostolic See, in the hope of providing the Catholic community with good shepherds (5). Ultimately, while sharing some of the concerns expressed by many parties because of the difficulties that still remain and of those that may arise on the journey, I feel that within the Catholic Church in China there is a great expectation of reconciliation, unity, and renewal for a more decisive revival of the work of evangelization. We cannot stay still in a world that, from many perspectives, is running at a supersonic pace, yet, at the same time, experiences the urgent need to rediscover the spiritual and human values that give firm hope to peoples lives and create a more cohesive society. In a word, this is what Christianity can offer to present-day China. I should add that in receiving much correspondence from Chinese clergy, as well meeting bishops, priests, religious women, and the laity, I have always observed their desire that the Church in China might return to a sense of normality within the Catholic Church. 2) Q. Your Eminence, you quoted the Message of Pope Francis to the Catholics of China and to the Universal Church of 26 September 2018. What differences or similarities are there between this Message and the Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the Catholics of China of 27 May 2007? And what has changed in the meantime? A. - Well, in the Letter of Pope Benedict XVI, which you appropriately mentioned, in addition to many other valuable teachings, two essential things are affirmed. The first is that the underground situation is justified in so far as the protection of life and the defense of the faith in adverse circumstances require it; for example, when attempts are made to impose ideologies that are not reconcilable with conscience and Catholic doctrine. The second is that in difficult and complex situations, decisions and choices can only be made to the extent that they do not diminish the capacity for pastoral discernment, which is the responsibility of the Bishop in view of the greater good of the diocesan community. In the Letter of Benedict XVI there is already the insight that history proceeds and evolves, and that, within the changing historical contexts in which individuals and groups interact amongst themselves, the organization of thought, the elaboration of concepts, and the interpretation of social formulations, which are at the basis of our life, also develop. Perhaps what the Message of Pope Francis adds to this still valid teaching of Benedict XVI is the attention to the healing of memory in order to move on. This is a view decisively directed to the future in order to inspire a pastoral vision for the Church in China. Obviously, none of this can be realized without the heartfelt unity of the Bishops and the full involvement of Chinese Catholics on the one hand, and the trust of the civil Authorities on the other, which is also carried out in dialogue with the Apostolic See. In order to arrive at this, precisely for the sake of supporting and promoting the preaching of the Gospel in China and reestablishing full and visible unity in the Church, it was essential, before all else, to deal with the issue of the appointment of bishops (3). Many things can be said about the Provisional Agreement on the Appointment of Bishops signed last September, but one cannot deny its historical significance for the Church in China. In light of the Agreement that recognizes the specific role of the Pope, the so-called principle of independence now needs to be reinterpreted in view of the relationship between the legitimate pastoral autonomy of the Church in China and the indispensable communion with the Successor of Peter. I hope, therefore, not to hear or read about local situations in which the Agreement is exploited to compel people to do what is not even required by Chinese law, such as joining the Patriotic Association. In fact, the Church says no to a patriotism that would signify egoism, close-mindedness or control, and says yes to a love of country meaning respect for ones roots, knowledge of the culture, protection of the common good, and the faithfulness of institutions towards its own citizens. We are working concretely and respectfully with the Chinese Authorities, and we are hopeful about what will take place from this point on and the good that may develop with Gods help and the contribution of everyone. 3) Q. Your Eminence, someone wrote that entrusting the Dioceses to previously excommunicated official Bishops will deprive the so-called underground communities in China of their Shepherds and force them to submit and adapt themselves to ideas, rules, and impositions that they cannot accept in conscience. Whereas others say that the fate of underground Catholics will be that they are absorbed into the official Community and disappear. What do you think about this? A. In Chinese culture, there is a love of employing images. I will try to offer a descriptive one, as I see it. The Church was born in China from a unique evangelization; a source of fresh water flowed and clearly left its mark. Then, because of historic events, it was as if a large boulder fell from a mountain and stopped the flow of water; one part of the water flowed underground, while the other part continued to twist and turn on the surface. In these past twenty-five to thirty years, we have begun to speak of a journey that could help us rediscover the unity of the two currents. Work has been done, prayers have been offered and there have been many initiatives and gestures that have contributed up to now, with various ups and downs, to promoting this unity. It was not easy and it is still not easy. The years of conflict and misunderstandings cannot be ignored. There is above-all the need to rebuild trust, perhaps the most difficult aspect, toward ecclesiastical and civil authorities entrusted with religious matters, as well as between the socalled official and unofficial Ecclesial currents. It is not about establishing who wins or who loses, who is right or wrong. In the sixty years since the creation of the Patriotic Association, everyone, in perhaps an unequal and dramatic way, has suffered, both in a physical and moral sense. Nor can we ignore the interior anguish of those who had adhered to or had been bound by the principle of independence and therefore brought about a rupturing of relations with the Apostolic See. How many times, when I was in Hong Kong, did I listen to clergy who spoke to me about their sufferings. It was in order to deal with such situations that John Paul II, after careful consideration, welcomed the cries of those who were seeking mercy and asking for their canonical recognition as Bishops in the Catholic Church. The Holy Sees position was different with regard to priests, towards whom the principle that the People of God have a right to the Sacraments prevailed. There was no talk of the illegitimacy of priests, but it was always recommended that ordinations be carried out by legitimate or legitimized Bishops. I realize that someone could think that, in this phase, the Apostolic See seems to be asking for a unilateral sacrifice, that is, only from the members of the underground community, who should, one might say, be made official, while nothing is requested of the official members. The issue should not be put in these terms; in fact, it is not about the underground surrendering to the official or to the civil authorities, regardless of the appearance, nor of a victory over the non-official community. From a more ecclesial perspective, we cannot speak about competition or who is right, but of brothers and sisters in the faith, who all find themselves in a common House. What the Holy See has strived to do for thirty years has been to foster reconciliation between the two communities by rediscovering and reinvigorating their properly Christian and Catholic identity through a common journey toward a greater realization of what it means to be Christs Church in China today. In the Holy Sees view, it has always been held that in China there are not two Churches, a patriotic Church and a faithful Church (as used in common parlance). In China the Church is one, and the wounds that were inflicted upon her come both from within and without. The sensus fidei of the People of God has saved the Church in China from schism. In the current context, we can say that efforts have been made to alleviate the sufferings. It is a challenging task and will require everyones contribution to achieve it fully. I continue to be struck by some of the recent expressions of Bishop Wei Jingyi (a Bishop not recognized by the civil authorities until now). He said in an interview: We must use concrete actions to heal the wounds that have for many years injured and divided the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church. He then added, No one is lost or abandoned on the Churchs journey. We all walk, hand in hand, with Mary. [] We also see that the many sufferings along the way have not been in vain. This journey will require some concessions and sacrifices from everyone, as well as the adoption of new and concrete responsibilities, as Pope Francis requests of all Christians without distinction. There is now the need for gestures of reconciliation and of communion in truth and trusting that the Holy Spirit accompanies the Church and does not abandon her. 4) Q. May we return to the initial question? A. Yes, since it is of the utmost importance to provide an answer. That is, what would be the fate of the so-called underground community? This is a question that is particularly close to the heart of the Holy See. I would like to be clear: first, there are only two Dioceses that have seen changes in their leadership thus far (Mindong and Shantou). The aim needs to be unity, which I hope is not only a formal unity, but also a real unity, yet without being forced. The underground status will fade away, but not the people involved. Their faith, their traditions, and their spirituality remain, which are enjoyed by the entire Diocesan community. The same Bishops will wisely take care of and be responsible for such a soul. They will do this as diocesan Bishops of the entire people of God, without giving preference to one or another community base d upon its origin. I understand that in the Diocese of Mindong they are working for unity. I hope that the local civil authorities will understand the need to act gradually, without forcing the matter. As the aforementioned Bishop Wei Jingyi wisely states, all (both the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, inside and outside of China) need to be psychologically prepared [] and walk step by step towards reconciliation with joy and gratitude. This is what our faith asks us to do. It is necessary to have a spirit of welcome, moderation, ecclesial inclusivity, and forgiveness in order not to lose the authentic and transcendent dimension of the life of the Church. This primarily involves the Bishops since, as Pope Francis stated, We are in great need of Pastors who embrace life with the vastness of Gods heart, who do not yield to earthly satisfactions, []; Pastors who are heralds of the Almighty, free from the temptation of staying under the radar, free from the restrictive measures of a lukewarm and habitual life; Pastors who are poor, not attached to money and luxury; in the midst of poor, suffering people, and consistent proclaimers of Paschal hope (Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Synod Assembly of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church, 12 February 2018). I repeat that we must not see this phase in terms of winners and losers. It would be mistaken and misleading! Look, putting things into perspective, without deceiving myself that this will happen in an automatic or easy way, nor ignoring the difficulties that will always be there, I see, it seems to me, a Church more united, more aware, more prepared, and more attentive to the world that she is called to serve by witnessing to the Gospel. I would also like to see a Church more in harmony with the times in which she lives, as well as freer and in a Country that wisely continues to update itself. In his Message, Pope Francis also spoke of the prophetic and constructive contribution, drawn from Gods plan for human life, that Chinese Catholics must know how to offer: this may also require of them the effort to offer a word of criticism, not out of sterile opposition, but for the sake of building a society that is more just, humane and respectful of the dignity of each person (6). 5) Q. Your Eminence, in China there are Catholics that, after having suffered greatly by remaining faithful to the Supreme Pontiff, now feel confused and, above all, experience the bitter sensation of having been practically betrayed and abandoned by the Holy See. What would you like to say to them? A. - To the Catholics who have witnessed to the faith, first of all, I would like to call to mind the consolation of Jesus who says: Well done, my good and faithful servant [] enter into your masters joy (Mt 25:23); this consolation is invaluable, it has no price! It is the most beautiful consolation that one can hear the Master say. In any case, on behalf of both the Holy See and myself personally, I would like to express sentiments of heartfelt thanks and admiration for your faithfulness and perseverance in trial and for your trust in Divine Providence even in the midst of difficulties and adversities. Many, over the course of these years, have been true martyrs or confessors of the faith! Only with a superficial spirit or in bad faith could one imagine that Pope Francis and the Holy See would abandon the flock of Christ, wherever or in whatever condition it finds itself in the world. Therefore, we must continue to work to improve the perception of the faithful, who are often influenced by media messages that are not altogether correct or balanced and find it difficult to understand the due discretion that surrounded the dialogue between the Holy See and the Peoples Republic of China. Greater respect is needed toward these brothers and sisters; nobody should take advantage of their situation. Nevertheless, I understand the doubts, I understand the perplexity, and at times, I even share them. However, I do not share the attitude of those who, while having their legitimate reservations, not only do not strive to understand others views, but most importantly run the risk of rowing out of sync within the ship of Peter. The Pope, together with his coworkers, has done, is doing, and will do all that is possible to be close to the Church in China. Our methods are not infallible, but we truly love the Church and the Chinese people. Work has been ongoing for many years and all of the circumstances are being studied. How many prayers have been offered in order to provide comfort with spiritual tenderness, to illuminate with the word of God, to encourage by means of stable guidance, and also to find solutions on the diplomatic level! I invite all possible collaborators to bring these sentiments and words to those who need them and feel abandoned. For the rest, what the Psalmist proclaimed will always remain true: He who sows in tears will reap in joy (Ps 126:5). 6) Q. Your Eminence, what are the plans for the Catholic Church in China? As you see it, what is the future of Christianity in that Country? A. I would distinguish between two aspects. About the first, the plan for the Church in China, I would say that she must seek to be even more aligned with the essence of the Church, always growing in the direction of faith, hope and charity, constantly working for the youth, new vocations, ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, the formation of clergy and remaining attentive to the needs of those who remain on the margins and are in need of growth. Additionally , she must work to discover and give shape to how this is done, adapting her means and methods, which is especially incumbent upon all Chinese Catholics. Even if the Church in China is still onlya small flock, the way forward is one of faithfulness which accompanies the sower who sows the good seed in the field: Fear not, little flock, for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Lk 12:32). The plan, therefore, is that which Jesus entrusts to the apostles: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven (Mt 5:16). In all this, then, a more profound view of the Documents of the Second Vatican Council and the Papal Magisterium that applied it and enriched it until the present day would certainly help. Regarding the second aspect, that is the future of Christianity in China, even though one may be pessimistic, I would say that the history of the Church in China speaks for itself. Here I would call to mind Xu Guangqi (Mandarin, appointed Minister of Rites of the Imperial Court at the time of Matteo Ricci), who described the richness of Gospel values and their divine origin to the emperor, who questioned him about becoming Christian. A faith that proclaims the forgiveness of ones enemies must have this divine origin. I am, therefore, realistically confident in the proclamation of the Gospel. I hold that only the lack of a true freedom and the temptation of comfort can suffocate a good part of that seed sown many centuries ago. In any case, the present situation charges us with the responsibility of proclaiming the Gospel and overcoming the temptations of our difficult times. 7) Q. Your Eminence, are there any particular wishes that you would like to extend, in this context, to the Catholics living in China and to the Chinese Catholics, who for various reasons of work or life circumstances are spread throughout the world. A. Yes. It is the Lord who guides history. Therefore, I would hope that, first of all, in dealing with any possible dilemmas, they would know always how to see the other with trust, even if some aspects of the current situation are perceived as injustices and with difficulty. I repeat, none should see an enemy in a reconciled brother, but rather a brother in whom to rejoice. The Lord has overwhelmed us with his forgiveness. As we know, the Chinese like images. To complete my thought, I would like to give them yet another one: In order to give stability to a tripod, three supports are needed. A tripod, in fact, does not rest upon two legs, that is, on the arrangement between the Holy See and the Chinese government. There needs to be a third support, namely the participation and the contribution of the faithful in China, as well as that of the Catholic community in the diaspora. Only with the contribution of all can the Church of tomorrow be built up, while respecting freedoms, also on the part of the civil Authorities, after sixty years of suffering, division, and misunderstandings within the Catholic community. The Church, therefore, needs the free and fruitful participation of all in order to construct civil, social, and religious harmony, as well as for the proclamation of the Gospel. God needs the Catholic Community in China! Never let us allow this opportunity to be taken from us, as Pope Francis might say in one of his happy expressions from Evangelii Gaudium. ___________________ This is the terrifying moment a brave mother holds onto her toddler while trying to fend off gunmen armed with assault rifles trying to break into her property. During the CCTV footage, captured in Pinetown, South Africa, the unnamed woman frantically tries to secure the gates outside her home as the gang break through. The three gunmen arrived at the mother's home on February 2 at 10.40pm as she was saying goodbye to guests. The brave mother holds onto her toddler while trying to fend off an armed gang forcing their way through her gate in Pinetown, South Africa The mother tries to close the gates as one of the gunmen rushes through with his assault rifle The mother holds onto her toddler as the gunmen open the gates and try and rush through Security expert Andreas Mathios said: 'The residents were busy saying goodbye to their friends, whose vehicles were still parked in the driveway, with the main driveway gate open because they were about to leave. 'The suspects spotted the opportunity and stopped outside the property. As they approached the victims, one of the women standing in the driveway screamed when she saw a suspect armed with a firearm.' Video footage shows the woman manually closing the gate on the gunmen as one of the departing vehicles rushes back inside the property and reportedly crashes into a garage door. A man in red shorts then attempts to help the mother close the gates but later drops to the floor after shots are fired. A man in red shorts rushes to the mother's aid and tries to secure the gates. He later falls to the ground as shots are fired The mother once again tries to secure the gates after the three gunmen leave the scene One of the gunmen rushes through the gate as the mother crouches down on the floor and cradles her toddler in her arms. The armed robber fires shots into the air before leaving the scene. After several moments, the man in red shorts then returns to secure the gate. According to Mr Mathios, one of the victims threw the group's mobile phones into a bush to prevent the robbers from taking them. However, one suspect managed to retrieve a phone from the bush before running off with it. No one was injured during the violent incident and the police have yet to confirm whether they are investigating the matter. An autistic man's addiction to social media sent him into a spiral of decline which eventually led to his suicide, an inquest heard. Jake Braithwaite bought an iPad in October 2017 and creating accounts on website including Facebook in a bid to make friends. An inquest into his death heard the 20-year-old entered into a 'rapid decline' and went from being an 'independent, healthy, successful young man to gaunt, depressed and suicidal.' He took his own life just six months after buying the gadget, an inquest has heard. Jake Braithwaite, 20, was found dead after developing an 'obsession' with social media Jake worked as an apprentice welder and did shifts in his local cafe at weekends. His parents Anne and Mark Braithwaite, spoke out about their son after a coroner concluded he took his own life. The couple said he went from being a hard-working young man who worked long hours to becoming became withdrawn and exhausted. The couple, who run the Braithwaite Gallery in York, said Jake became unable to disconnect from the virtual world to the 'point of obsession'. Mrs Braithwaite told the inquest how social media had affected Jake's sleep and his emotions, and later added: 'No matter how we tried to restrict the hours of his access to this online social world, he would find a way around it, getting little or no sleep, and becoming completely emotionally overwhelmed. 'He began having constant headaches, dissociative episodes and fits of shaking. 'His ensuing rapid decline from an independent, healthy, successful young man to the gaunt, depressed suicidal lad he became we attribute to his engagement with the digital world and social media. Within six months he was dead.' Mrs Braithwaite said that when Jake was younger, she and her husband restricted or carefully monitored his access to the internet, digital games and social media, because he 'found it difficult to disengage with the virtual world.' She added: 'Interpreting what's real, and not real, is difficult for most people - autistic people see things in black and white.' Mrs Braithwaite paid an emotional tribute to her son at the inquest, saying he was a 'big, kind-hearted lad with a loud laugh and an amazing, genuine smile'. Bosses from the local NHS trust admitted there were 'shortcomings in the care and support given to Jake in the months before his death last May' She added: 'He was gifted at making things and had a creative imagination and talent in that direction. He loved the outdoors and was never more happy than going out and getting covered in mud.' Managers from Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust admitted there were shortcomings in the care and support given to Jake in the months before his death last May. They said too many different members of staff were involved in Jake's care and communications between different departments and sections were not good enough. They revealed that after a 'serious incident review' examined what happened, an action plan was drawn up to improve staff training across the trust to ensure a better understanding of the condition. They also said an initial plan of care was now drawn up within 72 hours of a patient being referred to its crisis or home based treatment services. Jake worked as an apprentice welder and did shifts in his local cafe at weekends Tim Nicholls, head of policy at the National Autistic Society, said: 'Recent research suggests that suicide is one of the leading causes of early death for autistic people without a learning disability. 'As the inquest from this very sad case also highlights, if we're to change this shocking situation, potentially vulnerable autistic people need mental health support from professionals who understand autism.' A Facebook spokesperson said: 'We recognise that mental health is a complex and nuanced issue, which is why we work with experts - including The Samaritans in the UK - to guide us on our approach.' Almost half of people in France and Germany believe there is a fundamental clash between Islam and the values of their society, a poll has found. Around one in two French and Germans also said they would 'mind a little' or 'mind a lot' if one of their close relatives were to marry a Muslim. However, barely a quarter of people in either France or Germany said they were familiar with the teachings of Islam. The YouGov survey also polled Britons and Americans with only 13 per cent of people in the UK saying they had a 'favourable' view of Islam. Almost half of people in France and Germany believe there is a fundamental clash between Islam and the values of their society, a poll has found. Pictured: an anti-Islam demonstration in Dresden, eastern Germany, in January 2015 The poll also indicated that more than a quarter of people in Britain and Germany do not personally know any Muslims. In the survey of more than 1,000 voters in each country, people were asked if Islam was 'generally compatible with the values of society in your country' or whether there was a 'fundamental clash' between them. In Germany some 47 per cent chose 'fundamental clash', along with 46 per cent in France, 38 per cent in Britain and 36 per cent in the United States. Only 20 per cent of Germans and 22 per cent of French respondents said Islam was 'generally compatible'. YouGov's Joel Rogers de Waal said: 'Substantial portions of Western respondents in the survey perceived a clash between Islam and the values of society in their country. 'General impressions of Islam were comparatively less favourable than that of other world religions among significant numbers of Western respondents. 'For instance, all four Western samples had a discernibly higher number of respondents who felt unfavourable to Islam, compared with other religions.' In Germany eight per cent said they had a 'very favourable' or 'fairly favourable' view of Islam, compared to 53 per cent who had an unfavourable opinion. Some Britons and Americans expressed similar views, with only 13 per cent of people in the UK saying they had a 'favourable' view of Islam. Pictured: a mosque next to rooftops in Leeds The numbers were similar in France where 10 per cent expressed a favourable view of Islam, with 49 per cent unfavourable. For comparison, Christianity was seen favourably in Germany by 41 per cent to 16 per cent and in France by 35 per cent to 15 per cent, with many expressing no opinion. Some 59 per cent in France and 63 per cent in Germany told the pollster they were either 'not very familiar' or 'not at all familiar' with Islamic teaching. An equal number, 72 per cent in each country, said they were either 'very concerned' or 'fairly concerned' about the 'possible rise of extremism' in Islam. Asked about their relatives marrying a Muslim, the largest single group in each country - including Britain and the U.S. - said they would not mind. However 48 per cent of people in Germany and 47 per cent in France said they would either 'mind a lot' or 'mind a little', along with 33 per cent in the United States and 27 per cent in Britain. When asked whether they personally knew a Muslim, 41 per cent of Americans said they did not, compared to 27 per cent in Britain, 26 per cent in Germany and 17 per cent in France. Former primary school head Kevin Thomas, 49, allegedly attacked his wife after calling her a 'slut' and a 'slag' following a night out A shamed headteacher crushed his wife's phone with his bare hands while accusing her of having an affair, a court heard today. Former primary school head Kevin Thomas, 49, allegedly attacked his wife after calling her a 's**t' and a 's**g' following a night out. Thomas lost his 51,000-a-year job in October after being convicted of groping a mum at his school and buying her a pair of white knickers. Wife Donna stuck with him despite his conviction for sexual assault - but a month later he allegedly attacked her at their home in Fairwater, Cardiff. Cardiff Magistrates Court heard the couple had been to a pub together before Thomas accused his wife of having an affair with another man. Thomas grabbed his wife's phone and squeezed it with his bare hands in a fit of rage until the screen cracked, the court heard. Mr Thomas then punched his wife in the face causing her to 'black out' before he kicked her in the back. She told the court: 'It was getting heated and eventually when we got home I was trying to keep the peace. 'Kevin wanted to see my phone. I gave him my phone. The court heard Thomas grabbed his wife's phone and squeezed it with his bare hands until the screen cracked 'He was getting angry because it was PIN protected and he was getting really to the point where he was squeezing my phone and the phone screen cracked. 'He was saying I was sleeping around with people. He was calling me a "s**t" and a "s**g". 'All I remember is him punching me in the head and I remember grabbing his shirt and ripping it and then I remember falling and then my memory goes at that point. 'I was laid out on the floor in the dark and he came in and started kicking me in the back.' Thomas, now of Swansea, South Wales, denies assaulting his wife. A court heard he became 'infatuated' with the mum at his school and groped her in his office after he 'rocked his pelvis and clicked his fingers' at her He claims his wife headbutted him and she injured herself by falling into a door frame or wall. Shamed Thomas lost his job at the 200-pupil Glan-yr-Afon Primary school in Llanrumney, Cardiff, after he was found guilty of sexual assault. A court heard he became 'infatuated' with the mum at his school and groped her in his office after he 'rocked his pelvis and clicked his fingers' at her. Thomas also bought her a pair of knickers and told her: 'They will look lovely on you.' He told the mum he had a 'lovely dream' about her wearing the white knickers - leaving her in fear of being alone with him. The trial in front of by District Judge Bodfan Jenkins, continues. Shelby Svensen, 25, who also goes by Shelby Neary, is in custody on three murder charges. Police have not yet charged him in the death of his wife A man bludgeoned his ex-wife's family with a hammer after they became suspicious that she was dead and not missing as he had claimed, it has emerged. Shelby Svensen was arrested earlier this month after police found the decomposing bodies of his in-laws, 71-year-old Richard Louis Ivancic, 59-year-old Laura Ann Ivancic and 25-year-old Nicholas James Ivancic, in their home in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Police believe they were killed on December 15. The bodies were found on New Year's Day and Svensen, 25, was arrested in Ohio on January 3. Jamie had been missing for a year. Her body was found buried 12 miles from where her parents lived. It is unclear why Svensen, who also calls himself Shelby Neary, killed his ex-wife. The pair had a history of domestic violence and were both arrested over a 2016 incident. She vanished in January 2018 but kept up the pretense that she was alive by using her cell phone to text her parents and brothers, including photographs of the couple's young children. When her family became suspicious that they were only receiving text messages and had not heard her voice for 12 months, Svensen allegedly killed them. In court records obtained by The Tampa Bay Times on Monday, prosecutors described how he used a hammer that he bought at Home Depot to bludgeon the in-laws in their home. He confessed to the murders once in custody but has not yet been charged in Jamie's death. He was seen on surveillance camera videos buying the hammer at Home Depot before the murders. Laura Ann Ivancic, 59, and her husband 71-year-old Richard Louis Ivancic. Richard was killed first in the couple's home. Svensen then waited for his mother-in-law to get home for work and bludgeoned her too then rolled their bodies up in a rug and stashed them in their bedroom to wait for their son to get home Nicholas Ivancic, 25, was killed last. He was attacked as he slept on the couch in the early hours of December 16. Jamie Ivancic, 21, had been missing since January 2018. Her badly decomposed body was found buried 12 miles from where her family was killed First, he attacked his father-in-law. He then waited until his mother-in-law got home then using the same hammer to beat her to death. He killed her in the kitchen then wrapped both her body and her husband's in a rug and moved them into the bedroom of their home. He then waited for Nicholas to come home and fall asleep on the couch before attacking him in the early hours of December 16. Before fleeing in their car, Svensen also killed the couple's three dogs and stole jewelry and video games from the house. He was later seen on surveillance cameras selling the jewelry at pawn shops. Svensen made a full confession once in custody. He is awaiting his next court appearance He then drove to Ohio with his children who are two and three. Police believe he planned to go back to Florida to dispose of the bodies but did not make it before they were found. Officers visited the property on January 1 after Richard's son from a previous marriage contacted them to say he was worried that he had not heard from his father. Police found buzzing flies and a 'strong odor' at the home once they arrived. They put out an alert for Laura's missing car and traced Svensen to Ohio where he had just moved in to an apartment with a roommate. The roommate, 22-year-old Thomas Altenbernd, told police that he had shown up with his in-laws' wallets which he said he needed because he could not get a job because of his criminal record. Svensen remains in custody on three murder charges. He will be charged with his wife's death once authorities have conducted a full autopsy. His children have been placed in the care of the state. The woman allegedly at the centre of a 'love triangle' which saw a convicted Irish drugdealer killed in Alicante, southeastern Spain, is among four people arrested in connection with his death. Carl Carr, 38, from Dublin, was reported missing in September, and his body later found in a shallow grave by a Costa Blanca motorway. Mr Carr's flatmate Wayne Walsh, from Kilkenny, Ireland, appeared in court on Saturday on suspicion of killing him, and remain in jail. Two women are also in custody, however it is not known who is said to have been involved in the romantic triangle-drama that allegedly sparked the attack on Mr Carr. One of them, named only as a dual Irish-Spanish citizen Natalie, is being held on suspicion of concealment. Another, a British citizen named as Millie is also being held on suspicion of concealment. 'Millie' (left) and 'Natalie' (centre) are handcuffed following their arrest In the triangle: Wayne Walsh and his British partner Millie, are both in custody in connection with the killing Mr Carr was first reported missing by his British girlfriend Danielle Coupe, however family and friends say the couple were not together at the time of his death. Walsh on the other hand had recently ended his relationship with partner Millie, a British citizen and mother of his child, over an affair with Natalie. Both women were seen being led into court on Saturday, and are still in prison. One local said: 'He [Walsh] has a child with Millie and they were going to get married until he hooked up with the other woman. 'I've been told he was seeing both [Natalie and Millie] when Carl was killed.' Carl Carr, 38, was last seen in September on a night out at the Cabo Roig resort near Torrevieja Walsh had reportedly recently ended his relationship with partner Millie, a British citizen and mother of his child, over an affair with Natalie Walsh, 31, was one of Mr Carr's flatmates at a residential estate in Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca. Mr Carr had moved to Costa Blanca three years ago after completing an eight-year jail sentence. Mr Carr's mother Marie has insisted her son's death had nothing to do with drugs and said he was killed over a suspected 'love triangle' involving one of the two women arrested. The fourth man in custody is a Spaniard. The nationality of a fifth woman questioned by police, who remains under investigation but has been released on bail, has not been revealed. Investigators are expected to reveal more details about the case in the coming days following the removal of the secrecy order. Walsh, who recently organised an online fundraiser for the Irish Cancer Society, is thought to be at Fontcalent Prison near Alicante. Mr Carr's on-off partner Ms Coupe appealed for information on hiswhereabouts in a social media appeal shortly after his disappearance on September 16 last year, saying: 'We are just praying for good news.' Mr Carr was first reported missing by his British girlfriend Danielle Coupe, however family and friends say the couple were not together at the time of his death Revealing he was last seen at a dance event called Ambiguous in the Costa Blanca resort of Cabo Roig near Torrevieja, she begged friends: 'Has anybody seen Carl? He's been missing since Saturday. 'Me, his family and friends are going out of our minds with worry. 'Anyone who was at Ambiguous can you message with the last time you saw him please.' His body was found last week buried by the AP-7 motorway between Benijofar and Algorfa, a 20-minute drive north from where the Irishman was last seen. He is believed to have been beaten to death in the apartment where he lived. His heartbroken mum confirmed on Saturday police had told her her son was the man Spanish police had found dead as she insisted his killing had nothing to do with drugs and revealed it was down to a 'love triangle.' She said: 'The Spanish police have told me his death has nothing to do with drugs. I believe he was killed because of a romantic triangle, by a man he knew who accused him of dating one of his girlfriends.' Addressing his past, which included an eight-year prison sentence over a 2008 Dublin drugs bust, she added: 'Carl's been described as a drugs baron when nothing could be further from the truth. 'He was arrested in Ireland simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was told to pick up a locked bag he had no idea contained drugs. He only did it because he had just come back from Australia and he had no money and he was getting paid. 'Carl had been in a long-term relationship with a fiancee who was back in Ireland and who he had two children with, a daughter of twelve and a son aged three. The body was found buried by the AP-7 motorway between Benijofar and Algorfa, a 20-minute drive north from where the missing Irishman was last seen. 'They had been out to Spain to see him shortly before he died and he was trying to patch things up with her. They went out a couple of times a year to see him. He spoke to his children every night on the phone. 'He might have been with Danielle but he wasn't dating her when he died because they had had a fight and he'd finished with her. 'He moved to Spain three years ago for a fresh start and he was just trying to make ends meet. He didn't have any money, he was working in bars and doing odd jobs. 'I talked to Carl the day before he disappeared and he told me his phone had been stolen and it was like it was a set-up. 'He rang me from a friend's phone and promised to call me once he'd got a new one. 'I told him his grandmother was very sick and asked if he'd have time to talk to her when I was with her. He said he'd ring me the day after which was the Saturday he disappeared but that never happened. 'He told me twice in that last conversation he loved me. Those were his last words, 'I love you Mam.' Mr Carr had moved to Spain to start a new life after being released from prison where he served eight years for drug dealing 'We've had it confirmed it's Carl from tattoos and bars on his legs from a car crash he was in years ago. 'I was prepared for this sort of ending. On the Monday after he was last seen I had visions. I was lying on my bed and asking Carl to send me a message or a sign. 'I got a vision of him in his Communion suit straightaway and then his Confirmation suit. That's when I knew and I started to panic. 'I knew this was never a voluntary disappearance. He talked to his children every day and he talked to me every second day. 'Whoever did this to my son must pay the consequences.' Court sources have confirmed the ongoing judicial investigation is a murder or homicide probe. None of the four suspects remanded in custody on Saturday morning have yet been charged under Spanish law, as is normal in Spain where formal charges are only laid shortly before trial. Their status is that of 'investigados', a legal term in Spain which literally means 'under investigation.' The charge they eventually face will depend on the extra information investigators glean from the ongoing probe. The charge of 'homicidio 'in Spain is a halfway house between manslaughter and the more serious charge of 'asesinato' and carries a ten to 15-year prison sentence. Under Spanish law 'asesinato' - which at present in Spain can carry a life sentence following a controversial reform to the country's penal code - is also a wilful killing but involves aggravating factors. One is the killer making sure his victim does not have the chance to defend himself. Another is that the killer causes his victim unnecessary suffering. Carr was one of three men jailed in December 2008 in Ireland after being caught with 1.43 million euros (1.25million) of heroin and cocaine. Gardai pounced after mounting a surveillance operation at St Joseph's Hospital in the northern Dublin suburb of Raheny and seeing maintenance man Declan Broderick hand over the drugs to Carr. Broderick, from Coolock on Dublin City's Northside, and Carr, then 28, from the Dublin suburb of Marino, were both sentenced to eight years in prison by Judge Katherine Delahunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. A third man named as Graham Doyle, from Baldoyle, a coastal suburb of Dublin's northside, was sentenced to three years jail. Colorado officials have yet to find the body of Kelsey Berreth, but they have finally managed to secure a guilty plea in the case of the missing mom. ABC News reports that Krystal Lee, the Idaho nurse who has had a relationship with killer fiance Patrick Frazee for over a decade, will on Friday plead guilty to at least once charge relating to Berreth's death and disappearance. That information came from two of Lee's family members, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Teller County District Attorney's office and local officials would not comment on that report, but DailyMail.com as confirmed that Lee is scheduled to appear in court on Friday. Frazee meanwhile will appear in court on Thursday for a pre-trial custody hearing regarding his daughter with Berreth, Kaylee. Berreth's parents were awarded temporary custody by the state, but Frazee's mother and sister are challenging that ruling in court. Scroll down for video Duo: Patrick Frazee (left with Kelsey Berreth and their daughter Kaylee) and Krystal Lee (right) met when they were both 18, and Frazee was Lee's first love according to Patty Rockstahl, who is close to Lee's best friend Friends of Lee have claimed that she was under Frazee's spell, painting her as a helpless accomplice in interviews. 'She had known him since she was 18 years old, right out of high school. I think he had some type of hold on her,' said Patty Rockstahl in an interview with KMVT last month. Rockstahl, who employs one of Lee's best friends, also said that the pair owned horses together, and described Frazee as Lee's 'first love.' 'She was in love with him from a very young age,' claimed Patty, who has never met Lee but employed her best friend Michelle. 'She was very vulnerable and I think she cared for him, and he took advantage of that He was her first love, I understand, and he had a hold on her.' It was also the Rockstahls who informed authorities that Frazee had asked Lee to 'kill the mother of his child' on at least three occasions dating back to October. In the end, the Rockstahls believe that Lee disposed of Berreth's phone and carried out Frazee's orders because she was afraid of the man, who allegedly went so far as to threaten her children. 'Patrick told Krystal that little girls go missing off the playground all the time,' said Patty. 'Krystal was so scared, he was so angry that he said things that made Krystal think he had killed before. So of course, shes going to be terrified,' added her husband Joe. Patty also said that she did not believe that Lee was a killer or capable of murder. 'I think she maybe got in over her head, maybe used some bad judgment,' said Patty. 'If I were afraid for myself or for my children, I dont know what I would do.' The Rocktstahls also believed that this fear is why Lee disposed of Berreth's phone after sending texts to Frazee and the missing mom's employer which were meant to appear to be from Berreth. 'She had the phone,' said Patty. 'She was probably instructed to send those texts by Patrick but thats theres nobody else that couldve sent those texts to my knowledge.' It is unclear if Frazee was still with Berreth at the time of the murder. A friend of Frazee whose granddaughter was a frequent playmate of the accused killer's daughter Kaylee told CNN that Frazee and Berreth had split back on New Year's Day in 2018, just three months after the couple welcomed daughter Kaylee. That contradicts comments made by Berreth's aunt suggesting that her niece had broken up with Frazee on November 22, the day she was last seen in public. Authorities have since charged Frazee with first-degree murder despite the fact that Berreth's body and remains have yet to be found. Two individuals who worked with Lee - who is being investigated for disposing of Kelsey Berreth's cell phone - said that she and Frazee had been in a romantic relationship for months. DailyMail.com spoke with two people who know the nurse professionally, and they both said that they had been told that Frazee was having an affair with Lee. Lee divorced her husband a few years back and has two children. Revealing: 'She was very vulnerable and I think she cared for him, and he took advantage of that He was her first love, I understand, and he had a hold on her,' said Patty (above with her husband Joe) On trial: The two shared a love of rodeo and owned horses together, but Lee got married and had two children at the same time Frazee was first meeting Kelsey Berreth (Frazee leaving court last month) Neither of those individuals knew exactly when the relationship started, but they believed it could have been as early as 2016 - prior to the birth of Frazee's daughter with Berreth. That would have been the second time the pair dated after an earlier romance as teens. One of the the people DailyMail.com spoke with also said that Lee was in Colorado around Thanksgiving. That would explain how Frazee was able to get the cell phone to Idaho while never leaving the state. It was reported back in December that police in Idaho had discovered information pertaining to the missing mom's cell phone. The Twin Falls Police Department revealed that officers from the force played a role in the investigation by obtaining search warrants and examining evidence in the case. Berreth's cell phone pinged off a tower in Gooding, Idaho, on November 25, three days after she went missing and around the same time her employer received a text stating that she would not be in for work that week. The location it pinged is about 800 miles from where Berreth was last seen. The complaint that was filed in the case states that Frazee plotted the murder of Berreth with at least one other individual in the three months before she went missing. And while authorities have yet to discover a body or any of Berreth's remains at this time, prosecutors said the investigation has yielded enough evidence to suggest the two ways in which the 29-year-old mother was killed by her fiance. A Kansas judge is under fire after he called two girls aged 13 and 14 the 'aggressors' in the case of a 67-year-old man who solicited them for sex. Leavenworth County District Judge Michael Gibbens reduced the prison sentence for Raymond Soden, who was found guilty for paying the young girls for sex. Soden was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison, which was eight years less than what the state recommends in its sentencing guidelines. Gibbens claimed that the two girls were partially to blame for the incident because they went to Soden's house voluntarily and accepted payment for sex. 'I do find that the victims in this case, in particular, were more an aggressor than a participant in the criminal conduct,' he said before sentencing Soden. Kansas Judge Michael Gibbens (left) is under fire after he called two girls aged 13 and 14 the 'aggressors' in the case of 67-year-old Raymond Soden (right), who solicited them for sex 'They were certainly selling things monetarily that it's against the law for even an adult to sell.' Soden was charged last year with electronic solicitation after he exchanged Facebook messages with the 13-year-old girl, offering to pay for nude photos and sex acts from her and the 14-year-old. He later told police he knew the girl was 13 and that what he was doing was wrong, according to the Kansas City Star. Soden pleaded no contest to the solicitation charge and was found guilty in August. Due to his previous criminal convictions for battery and sexual battery, prosecutors asked that Soden be sentenced to 13 years in prison. Kansas law states that a judge must find 'substantial and compelling reasons' to depart from sentencing guidelines. Gibbens claimed that the two girls were partially to blame for the incident because they went to Soden's house voluntarily and accepted payment for sex Gibbens believed such a reason was the fact that the young girls had voluntarily gone to Soden's house and taken money for sex. Soden had known the girls' mother and paid her for chores around his house, according to the Kansas City Star. He then met her older daughter, who he described as the 'pimp' for her younger sisters. It was this older sister who arranged for the girls to meet with Sodden. Gibbens said he didn't believe the girls suffered much trauma as they hadn't appeared in court to speak at the sentencing The 13-year-old girl later told investigators she had been 'uncomfortable' during an incident that involved physical contact with Sodden. 'And so she's uncomfortable for something she voluntarily went to, voluntarily took her top off of, and was paid for?' Gibbens asked Deputy County Attorney Joan Lowdon during the trial. 'Yes, judge. She was also a 13-year-old who under our laws can't consent to anything,' she replied. 'I wonder what kind of trauma there really was to the victim under those peculiar circumstances,' Gibbens said. During the sentencing, Gibbens said he believed the girls might have tried to set Soden up to be robbed. He also said he didn't believe the girls suffered much trauma as they hadn't appeared in court to speak at the sentencing. 'I think that a 13-year-old who offered what she offered for money is certainly an aggressor, particularly since she's the one that had to travel to Mr Soden,' he said. Now prosecutors and child victim advocates are speaking out against Gibbens and looking into filing an appeal. 'These girls are minors and are the victims, not the aggressors,' said Michelle Herman, president and CEO of child advocacy center the Sunflower House. 'Sexual assault is never the victim's fault. It doesn't matter what the girls did or didn't do, he is still the adult and nobody deserves to be taken advantage of sexually.' Roli Lopez-Sanchez, 37, was found guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child on Friday for impregnating an 11-year-old girl in Texas last year An immigrant living in Texas has been sentenced to 60 years in prison after impregnating an 11-year-old girl. Roli Lopez-Sanchez, 37, was found guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child on Friday. He will not be eligible for parole or good time credit. Prosecutors in Collin County said medical workers notified police in February 2018 after the child came to their office when she was 19 weeks pregnant. The girl told authorities that Lopez-Sanchez had been sexually assaulting her. Lopez-Sanchez, of Plano, had ongoing access to the girl at the time. Child Protective Services investigated and removed her and her siblings from the home. Authorities said the girl was 12 when she gave birth over the summer. A DNA sample confirmed that Lopez-Sanchez was the infant's father. 'This innocent child showed remarkable courage by naming the monster who assaulted her,' Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said. 'He will never harm another child again.' Lopez-Sanchez has been in prison since his February 2018 arrest. He also faced a federal immigration detainer. This is the shocking moment a county lines drug dealer and four other teenagers mowed down an aspiring music producer in a stolen BMW before hacking him to death. Lord Promise Nkenda, 17, was with two friends when the stolen BMW roared towards them in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity. CCTV footage shows how his two friends managed to dive out of the way, but Promise was thrown up onto the bonnet as the black BMW ploughed into a wall. Despite the impact, the teenager was able to jump off the hood and run away and down the road in Canning Town, east London, the Old Bailey heard. Ephraim Idris (left) was among five teenagers found guilty of hacking Lord Promise Nkenda (right) to death in east London But the BMW followed him before four of those inside the car jumped out and chased Promise down an alley, stabbing him 15 times in the head, face, chest, arm and thigh. Ephraim Idris, Anton Muir, Ishaq Abdille, Shemar Dawes, all 18, and a 15-year-old who cannot be named, each denied murder but were all convicted after a six-week trial. Abdille and Dawes were detained for life with a minimum term of 18 years. Idris, who was cleared of the murder of another 17-year-old six months before, was handed a minimum term of 16 years. Muir was sentenced to at least 17 years and the 15-year-old, who was 14 at the time of the murder, was given a minimum of 14 years. It emerged today Idris stood trial for the murder of college student Duran Kajiama, 17, who was stabbed to death in Dagenham, east London, in November 2016. Idris was cleared of murder by a jury while another youth, 17, was convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and jailed for 12 years. As a result Idris was wearing an electronic monitoring tag at the time Mr Nkenda was killed. CCTV footage shows how his two friends managed to dive out of the way, but Promise was thrown up onto the bonnet Despite the impact, the teenager was able to jump off the hood and run away and down the road in Canning Town, east London , the Old Bailey heard Anton Muir (left) and Shemar Dawes (right) both denied murder but were all convicted after a six-week trial 'Idris became involved in selling drugs, he was convicted of what is now known as county lines supply of drugs down in Exeter,' said Alan Kent, prosecuting. 'He stood no chance against that car and equally he stood no chance against the four who chased him down the alleyway and stabbed him to death,' said Mr Kent. 'He would appear to have been a victim of mistaken identity because there is no evidence to connect him with any of these defendants at all. 'There would appears to be a significant degree of planning or pre-meditation. They turned off their mobile handsets in order to avoid detection by cell site data.' The prosecutor said the attackers had taken at least one knife to the scene and had worn disposable gloves in an attempt to hide their fingerprints and DNA. Ishaq Abdille (pictured) was one of five people convicted of murder Mr Nkenda's brother, Patrick Nkenda, told the court: 'He was my baby brother and a gift from God. 'I am still in a state of disbelief that this has happened - I keep expecting to wake up from this endless nightmare. 'This incident means that, not only have we had Promise taken from us, it has destroyed our family. 'Promise died in a sustained and frenzied knife attack - he died, cold and alone, in the street. 'We feel empty and numb, a part of us all died alone with Promise on that east London street.' Mr Nkenda told how his mother suffered a stroke shortly after hearing that her youngest child had been killed by 'a pack of animals'. Police and paramedics battled for half an hour to save him, but the teenager was pronounced dead at 8.38pm. After the ambush, the killers returned to the BMW, which had been stolen in a 'car-jacking' less than two hours before the murder, jumped in and sped off. When the car crashed a second time on Victoria Dock Road, the five ran off towards Tolgate Road and split off into two groups to continue their getaway. Idris admitted being in the vicinity of the murder scene after his tag was recorded in a nearby road but denied playing any part in the attack. But Idris' DNA was also found on a sheath matching a knife that bore another sample matching that of Promise. Muir was in phone contact with Idris and the youngest boy in the hours leading up to the killing and also admitted being at the scene after call records put him in the area. Shortly after the car hit a wall, it reversed and followed Promise to an alley, where those inside jumped out and stabbed him 15 times in the head, face, chest, arm and thigh A bag containing a quantity of cannabis, an Oyster Card registered to the 15-year-old and a drinks carton bearing his fingerprint were retrieved from the stolen car. He also admitted being present at the scene but similarly denied acting as part of the group which murdered Promise. Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams, from Scotland Yard, said: 'This group acted together from start to finish to execute this murder. 'They were ruthless in their determination to kill Promise and have refused to co-operate with police from the outset. 'Promise had his whole life ahead of him and wanted to pursue a career in the music industry. 'He stood no chance against the onslaught this group inflicted on him. 'The ages and determination of those involved - a boy who was 14 at the time of the attack and a group of other teenagers - is chilling.' Kammah Pae is one of the leaders of the terrorist organization. Four jihadists are also consigned by him. Kammah Pae provided logistical support to suicide bombers, a pair of Indonesians. 23 people died in the explosions. The Islamist leader denies any involvement but is nailed by eyewitnesses. In a shootout in Patikul (Sulu), three guerrillas and five Manila soldiers died. Manila (AsiaNews) - In the last two days, one of the leaders of Abu Sayyaf and four other militants of the jihadist group have surrendered to the Philippine authorities, accused of being involved in the attack on the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo (province of Sulu). The head of the National Police (Pnp), Oscar Albayalde, announced today. The highest profile arrest is that of Kammah Pae (photo). According to investigators, the terrorist provided logistical support to the Indonesian couple who blew themselves up 23 January and killed 23 people and wounded 112 others. "He was forced to surrender," says Albayalde. "Probably, he did not want to die during the military offensive." Two days ago, government troops killed three suspected Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in a gun fight in Patikul (Sulu), where five Manila soldiers lost their lives. Albayalde reports that Kammah has denied any involvement in the explosions of Jolo, but eyewitnesses say they saw him escorting the pair of suicide bombers. In the terrorist's home, security forces have also recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) and other components, adds Albayalde. The head of the PNP states that the five suspects will respond, among the various indictments, to the charge of multiple homicide. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) The bicameral conference committee on the 3.575-trillion proposed 2019 national budget is a step closer to crafting a common version for possible ratification by both houses of Congress on Friday, Senate finance committee chairperson Loren Legarda said Monday. During the Senate plenary session on Monday, Legarda said both chamber of Congress hope to ratify the 2019 General Appropriations Bill by "Friday at the latest." She said both the Senate and House technical staff are now working on the fine print and the details of the bicameral committee report. Legarda said she and her counterpart, House Appropriations Committee Chair Rolando Andaya Jr., have agreed to hold the last bicameral conference committee meeting on Wednesday. "We have a final bicam on Wedensday morning, which is our last day of session. But based on our legislative calendar, we may have a session for ratification until Friday," she said. This is the last week of session before Congress goes on a three-month break for the midterm election. Economic managers have repeatedly warned that a reenacted budget may lead to a slowdown in economic growth as this would delay government projects. The Commission on Elections has also said that a reenacted budget may leave teachers on poll duty without pay. CNN Philippines' Correspondent Joyce Ilas and Digital Producer Robert Vergara contributed to this report. A hunt is underway for a Mississippi man charged with child rape who is believed to have faked his own death on a sailing trip. Jackson County Prosecutors in Pascagoula had charged Jacob Blair Scott, 42, with 14 sex charges alleging he raped a 14-year-old Mississippi girl. Jacob Blair Scott (pictured above) was facing multiple charges after he was accused of raping a 14-year-old Mississippi girl Scott, of Moss Point, disappeared on July 30, 2018 from Orange Beach, Alabama, after agreeing to plead guilty to rape. He had been out on bond waiting for his case to move through the legal system. Initially, investigators thought Scott had killed himself on a sailing trip in the Gulf of Mexico. An empty dinghy was discovered floating in the ocean and a gun found tied to a nearby boat. There was also a 'suicide note' listing contact information for Scott's family. However, the apparent suicide raised red flags for investigators. Deputy U.S. Marshal Katrina Crouse told KMGH-TV that only a very small amount of blood was found on the dinghy. 'Normally in situations where somebody is shot, committed suicide, you're going to have other forensic-type evidence. For example, brain matter, hair, skin, bone,' she said. 'None of that was found,' Crouse said. Investigators also found a 'suicide note' listing contact information for Scott's family after his dinghy was found floating in the Gulf of Mexico. His body was never found A gun was found tied to a nearby boat. Investigators found it odd the gun would be left this way Investigators also found it odd that the gun was tied to the boat as though it was meant to be discovered. Scott's body has never been recovered. Scott also withdrew around $45,000 from his retirement account before vanishing, according to investigators. None of that money was given to family or friends. There was an apparent sighting of Scott in Denver, Colorado, where his mother and two siblings live, on December 26, 2018. U.S. Marshals went to the Golden Spike Apartments in Denver after a tip from a member of the public who said they had seen Scott on the 8th floor and 1st floor. Apartment management said they didn't recognize Scott's photo but a worker at the apartments said he'd seen Scott smoking nearby. Scott's mother maintains her son is dead. This is the entertaining moment a mother tells her son that she has accidentally frozen his expensive jumper after leaving it out on the washing line in freezing conditions. Dianne Melville, 49, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, had meant to leave her 18-year-old son David's garment outside for an hour to let it 'air' but realised it was still outside six hours later. Footage shows the jumper, worth 90, frozen completely solid with the arms in a 'hands up' posture and icicles hanging from the neck and cuffs. Temperatures that day had plummeted to as low as -8C in the area. Dianne Melville, 49, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, can't contain her laughter as her husband John brings in their son Daniel's jumper Mrs Melville had meant to leave David's garment outside for an hour to let it 'air' but realised it was still outside six hours later After being left outside in freezing conditions, the jumper's arms are completely solid in a 'hands up' position During the clip, Mrs Melville giggles as her husband John Melville, 63, walks into the room with the now solid jumper. As her husband displays the frozen garment to the camera, Mrs Melville admits: 'David this is your Abercrombie and Fitch pure wool jumper that I hung out.' John then moves his black glove behind one of the icicles, now stuck to the frozen jumper, so it can be clearly seen. Mrs Melville continues laughing at the frozen garment before adding: 'Supposed to be for an hour, to get a bit of air about it. Sorry pal.' The mother shared the clip on Facebook on January 31, the day of the disaster, with the caption: 'This really has not been my day lol.' John places his black glove behind one of the icicles so that it is clearly visible to his wife Mrs Melville posted the video on Facebook with the caption: 'This really has not been my day lol' In her post she explained: 'I washed it on the wool wash so the water was pouring out of it. Meant to hang it out for an hour, that was six hours ago.' The clip has already received more than 29,000 views and an array of comments. Gillian Ross wrote: 'Need to stick this on public so I can share it Im buckled here.' Another viewer, Lauren McComb, commented: 'Im crying laughing at this.' Two men are feared drowned as Townsville's flooding catastrophe continues. Hughie Morton, 21, and Troy Mathieson, 23, were last seen on Ross River Road near floodwaters in the suburb of Aitkenvale on Monday morning and were still missing that night. They were last seen running away from an area where a group of people were seen looting a Dan Murphy's bottle shop, police said. 'Extensive inquiries with family and friends have failed to locate the men,' a Queensland Police statement read. 'A water and land search has commenced of floodwaters and the general area as a precaution.' Vehicles were stranded by floodwaters at the intersection of Stuart Drive and the Bruce Highway in Townsville on Monday Anyone with information on the men's whereabouts is urged to contact Policelink on 131 444. While the rain eased off on Monday, parts of Townsville copped another soaking on Monday night and with more rain on the way on Tuesday, the possibility of further flooding remains. The upper Bluewater area received extremely high levels of rainfall in the early hours of Tuesday morning, which resulted in a significant flooding risk to residents, according to Townsville Local Disaster Management Group. 'Residents in the Bluewater area are warned they may experience flooding from rapid rises of Bluewater Creek, following recent high levels of rainfall over a short period in the catchment area,' the group posted on Facebook. 'This includes Bluewater Park, Bluewater, Toolakea Beach, Saunders Beach and surrounding areas. Residents in the area should move to higher ground if they are concerned about flooding in their home.'a significant flooding risk to residents.' One local commented: 'The Bluewater bridge Is now 1.5m under the bridge and rising fast, about 10 metres in 10 minutes.' Hughie Morton, 21, and Troy Mathieson, 23, were last seen near floodwaters on Monday morning, sparking fears they've been washed away The city has received more than one metre of rain in a week for the first time on record. The Bureau of Meteorology forecasts a 95 per cent chance of rain every day until at least Thursday, while there's a 90 per cent chance of rain on Friday. Townsville can expect up to 200mm over the next week with the likely possibility of thunderstorms on Wednesday and Thursday. 'We saw the worst of the rain over the weekend and Monday morning but we're still expecting heavy falls in the region the coming days,' Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jess Gardner told Daily Mail Australia on Monday night. 'Townsville isn't out of the woods yet in terms of further flooding. More rain is expected overnight with Townsville expected to receive 50-80mm on Tuesday.' Emergency workers used boats, choppers and tip-trucks to rescue more than 1000 residents from Townsville's flooded suburbs on Monday. They were helped by many other citizen heroes including some in an armada of fishermen's tinnies who braved the murky snake and croc-filled floodwaters to help their neighbours. Even NRL players from the North Queensland Cowboys pitched in to help rescue stranded residents and pets from rising floodwaters. Scenes from the floodwaters show grim-faced residents carrying pets and whatever they could as they waded to dry land. Parts of Townsville copped another soaking on Monday night and more rain the way on Tuesday, the possibility of further flooding remains These vehicles weren't going anywhere in Hermit Park near the centre of Townsville The vigorous monsoon trough dumping the rain has begun moving south but it is unpredictable and dangerous conditions are expected to continue for at least the next 24 hours. About 1000 people remain in six evacuation centres but some residents are refusing to leave their homes. In flooded Hermit Park, near the city centre, Andrew Roberts says he and his wife, Cass, have food, water, and a radio - and won't be leaving their two-storey home of 14 years. 'It's a little bit scary because when it floods in Townsville, the crocs get into the water,' Mr Roberts told AAP. North Queensland Cowboys NRL players John Asiata, Gavin Cooper and Antonio Winterstein spent the day rescuing Townsville residents and pets from flooded homes Motorists in the Queensland's north are urged to not drive through flooded roads 'My biggest concern is getting eaten.' It makes crossing the murky water in their house to refuel the generator a hair-raising experience, he said. Between 400 and 500 homes have been inundated by floodwaters in Townsville, although there are fears 2000 more may have been damaged by water. Authorities are monitoring rainfall every five minutes at sites across the city so they can issue new alerts if there's a new threat to public safety but so far no lives have been lost. Earlier, Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill batted away criticism from some residents that they were caught out by record water releases from the city's swollen Ross River Dam. Australia's biggest northern city remains under siege as once in a century monsoons continue to flood homes 'We door-knocked for three days. Some people were door-knocked twice. You can't say you weren't warned that something could happen,' she said. A severe weather warning remains in place from Ingham to Mackay and west to Cloncurry, although lower than expected rainfall throughout Monday eased conditions in Townsville. Water levels in the Ross River Dam dropped to 213 per cent of capacity late on Monday, down from 250 per cent earlier in the day. Warnings of heavy rain and flash flooding are also now in place further south with the region between Ingham to Mackay expected to cop a 150-200mm deluge on Tuesday. 'We're starting to see the monsoon shift south of Townsville where places such as Mackay can expect up to 150-200mm of rain on Tuesday,' Ms Gardner told Daily Mail Australia. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez staged discussions with British leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn - it has been revealed. The freshman congresswoman told her 2.8million Twitter followers on Sunday she had held a 'wide-reaching conversation' with the Labour Party leader over the weekend. Hardline socialist Ocasio-Cortez said items on the agenda during their chat included furthering 'peace, prosperity and justice' after Mr Corbyn earlier lauded her for 'challenging the status quo'. Scroll down for video Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez revealed she had held a phone conversation with Jeremy Corbyn over the weekend Ocasio-Cortez said she and Corbyn had a 'wide-reaching conversation' as she praised the Labour leader The conversation marks an unprecedented level of exposure for a newly sworn-in congresswoman, just weeks after Ocasio-Cortez caused national consternation with her calls for a 70 per cent income tax on America's multimillionaires. 'It was an honor to share such a lovely and wide-reaching conversation with you, @jeremycorbyn!' Ocasio-Cortez said. 'Also honored to share a great hope in the peace, prosperity, + justice that everyday people can create when we uplift one another across class, race, + identity both at home & abroad,' she added. The Labour leader himself earlier tweeted: 'Great to speak to @AOC on the phone this evening and hear first hand how shes challenging the status quo. 'Lets build a movement across borders to take on the billionaires, polluters and migrant baiters, and support a happier, freer and cleaner planet.' Ocasio-Cortez has drawn an impressive Twitter following since being sworn in earlier this year However, several of Ocasio-Cortez's followers were quick to point out the dangers of being associated with Corbyn, who has been dogged by allegations of anti-semitism in recent months. Elad Nehorai, creator of Jewish media platform Hevria, tweeted: 'Im a huge huge fan of yours. I hope youll take a look at the amount of Jews trying to call attention to Corbyns long, documented history of anti-Semitism. 'The lefts blind spot in this regard can still be fixed. But we need leaders like yourself to listen.' And Christina Sommers, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said: 'Dear Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Corbyn is anti-Semitic. You do not want to do to the Democratic Party what Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory did to the Women's March.' Her followers slammed her for associating with Corbyn, who has been dogged by allegations of anti-semitism Like many couples, Nathalie Guzman and Andres Flu chose to share their baby news with family and friends on Facebook. But theirs was an announcement with a difference - as they revealed they've chosen NEVER to be parents. The couple, from Medellin in Colombia, sparked furious debate after explaining their decision to pass on parenthood out of fear of what their children might encounter in a 'cruel' world. But they are all in when it comes supporting other couples wishing to become daddies and mommies because 'the human race needs to continue.' The pair, who got engaged in September 2015, shared a snap of Flu holding a ticket for a vasectomy on the morning of January 29. 'We want to share with you the great joy. WE WILL NEVER BE PARENTS,' Flu wrote on the social media site. Nathalie Guzman (left) and Andres Flu (right) posed with an appointment receipt for Flu's vasectomy after the Colombian couple decided that they didn't want to become parents because they don't want to 'bring another human to pollute' the world The couple's decision of surpassing parenthood rattled their followers on Facebook while others applauded their decision 'We accept a life in which we will eternally buy toys for ourselves, we will be able to travel without limitations, walk naked around the house and more.' Flu then switched to a much more serious tone. 'However, our main reason is not this, the most important is to contribute to the conservation of the planet that is so overpopulated and damaged. We are not going to bring another human to contaminate it.' Guzman and Flu were also surprised by how many other young couples had taken the similar step. 'I am aware that not everyone should think like us, that the human race should continue,' Guzman wrote. 'I admire the people who plan a child, who educate them with love every day, who care about [raising] a good human being who contributes to the planet.' The lovebirds were lauded for their life-changing decision which created an interesting, emotionally-charged thread. 'Everyone is free to do what seems best and if for them it's fabulous not to have children, great,' noted Mila Rodriguez's in her response. 'It's a good thing we all don't think the same way and we all see happiness from different perspectives!' Facebook user Javier Rangel also concurred with the couple's sentiment on foregoing parenthood. Guzman (left) and flu (right) have been engaged since September 2015 Facebook user Pily Tejada attacked the Colombian couple with a Spanish-written post in which she took them to task for the way they expressed their decision of not wanting to become parent, calling them 'very stupid' Many users on the social media platform backed Guzman's and Flu's decision to skip the patenting experiencing. Javier Rangel also had doubts about bringing a child 'into this world, to live this life of slavery' 'I dread the idea of bringing a human being into this world to live this life of slavery ...,' Rangel said. 'We live to maintain a decadent society and its large corporations while the planet dies! It is a beautifully responsible decision.' Guzman said one of the reasons why she and her fiance decided not to entertain the possibility of welcoming a child into their lives was because of the horrors they saw inflicted on children. 'Guys, children are beautiful to me,' she said. An engaged Colombian couple shared their 'great joy' of not wanting to become parents with a Facebook post January 29 Mila Rodriguez's applauded the controversial social media announcement while adding that 'it's a good thing we all don't think the same way and we all see happiness from different perspectives' Guzman and Flu have been dissuaded from ever becoming parents because of the 'drugs, violence and cruelty' that they've seen children deal with 'If I wasn't affected by what I see every day, because sometimes it hurts me to breathe, to see so many children suffering in the street, so many drugs, violence and cruelty. Believe me, I would consider having one.' A bevy of messages that streamed across Guzman's and Flu's Facebook feed attacked their judgement. A bewildered Pily Tejeda determined the young couple was 'very stupid' to even reach such conclusion. 'It seems to me that it's not an intelligent way to describe or explain why they don't want to have children,' Tejeda wrote. 'How are the children a contamination?' A man cheated death after a speeding car was sent flying into his second-floor bedroom as he slept. Victor Ramos Contreras, 39, escaped with a minor head injury when the vehicle crashed through the wall of his home in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, in the early hours of Saturday morning. A police report indicated Jose David del Toro Pedroza, 27, was traveling at high speed when he crashed his Nissan into a Porsche driven by a pregnant woman at about 1.40am local time, according to Telemundo Puerto Rico. Del Toro Pedroza hit the Porsche on the left side before he accelerated and knocked down a fence. The motorist then hit a slope of dirt on the side of the road but the forceful impact lifted his vehicle in the air and sent it barreling directly into Ramos Contreras' bedroom. Victor Ramos Contreras (left) is lucky to be alive after a car crashed through a wall and into a second floor bedroom at his Puerto Rico home The car (pictured) collided with another vehicle then hit a slope of dirt which sent it barreling directly into Ramos Contreras' bedroom The airborne auto completely destroyed the room and left huge shattered cement chunks on top of the bloody mattress. Ramos Contreras, who had arrived from work hours earlier, was found bleeding by his parents and was transported to a local hospital. He suffered a six-inch cut on the right side of his head and has been released from the hospital, his family said. According to police reports, the driver of the Nissan crashed into a Porsche being driven by a pregnant woman A pillow is seen soaked with blood and cement debris is littered on top of a bed moments after the car crashed in the early hours of Saturday morning The wrecked vehicle was found stationed on its four wheels. 'There was a loud boom,' said Ramos Contreras' daughter, Gianalee Ramos, 19. 'You are just thinking at that moment. I said it was a meteorite, an earthquake. I don't know. But he didn't respond to me when I spoke to him.' Incredibly, Del Toro Pedroza suffered only bruises from the impact of the horrifying crash. The driver has not yet been charged, but his family came forward quickly and offered to repair the damaged wall. A French man who was struck in the eye by a rubber bullet at a 'Yellow Vest' protest has revealed his life-changing injuries. Jean-Marc Michaud, a 41-year-old horticulturalist from Charente-Maritime on France's southwest coast, has just been released from hospital after having his right eye removed. He was hit the face by a rubber projectile fired by French police at a December anti-government demonstration in Bordeaux. Jean-Marc Michaud, 41, removes an eye patch to show his injury sustained by a rubber projectile in Bordeaux in December Michaud lost his right eye after he was injured by a rubber projectile fired by the French police as he participated in an anti-government demonstration called by the 'yellow vests' The rubber pellets are 40mm in diameter and are fired by 'defensive ball launchers' or 'LBD40s' at more than 300km/h. Although described as 'non lethal', their use is controversial and France's human rights chief Jacques Toubon has called for a ban. But the country's Council of State ruled on Friday that security forces have a right to use the controversial high-velocity rubber bullets for crowd control. Benjamin Cauchy, a yellow vest spokesman from southern France who came to the Paris protests, called that a 'regrettable decision.' The weapon 'is extremely harmful, imprecise and in the end is causing more sorrow than security,' he told BFM television. Around 2,000 'Yellow Vest' activists have been injured in protests since the movement began on November 17. Of those there are at least four serious eye injuries Former paratrooper Michaud (centre) says he is currently unable to continue his work as a horticulturalist and is no longer proud of his country The Council of State noted the frequency of violence and property destruction at the protests and concluded the devices are not a 'grave attack' on the freedom to demonstrate and are not inhumane treatment. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner tweeted Friday that 'if the law was respected, there would be no injured.' But Mr Michaud argues shooting protesters in the face amounts to excessive and unnecessary force. He must now wear an eye patch and says he is unable to work as a horticulturalist in case dust gets into the wound. 'If the police blamed me for something, all they had to do was shoot me in the legs to immobilise me and stop me,' Euro News quoted him as saying. Mr Michaud also said his arms were the air when he was shot. Jerome Rodrigues (pictured) also suffered an eye-injury, likely caused by a rubber projectile, on January 26 in Paris The former paratrooper said 20 years ago he had marched down the Champs-Elysees on Bastille Day with pride, but now he thinks of it as the place is where 'LBD shots hurt innocent people every Saturday,'. 'I don't know how I will pay for my reconstructive surgeries and I'm no longer proud of France,' he said. Jerome Rodrigues, one of the leading figures of the movement, called on protesters to peacefully demonstrate against police violence toward participants over the last three months in France Mr. Michaud now demonstrates against police violence as well as the economic factors, in particular fuel tax hikes, that were the catalyst for the original protests. The government says around 2,000 activists have been injured in protests since the 'Yellow Vest' movement began on November 17, including at least four serious eye injuries. Separately, 10 people have died in traffic accidents related to yellow vest actions and 1,000 law enforcement officers have been hurt. Jerome Rodrigues, a prominent member of the movement who suffered an eye injury last week, was widely applauded by the crowd Saturday. A French police investigation is still trying to determine how Rodrigues was injured. Video images show him collapsed on the ground last Saturday near the Bastille monument, where protesters throwing projectiles clashed with police. Rodrigues claimed he was hit by a rubber bullet during clashes at the Bastille square on January 26, but the French junior interior minister said there was 'no indication' that his facial injuries were caused by a rubber projectile. Rodrigues said he was also hit in the foot by a stun grenade. Protestors clash with riot police on December 8, 2018 in Bordeaux, southwestern France on the day that Jean-Marc Michaud was struck by a rubber bullet and consequently lost his right eye Franck Dideron, 20, said he was protesting peacefully, speaking on the phone to his mother, when his eye was injured by a rubber bullet fired by police during a Dec. 1 protest near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. 'The policeman shot me voluntarily. And I was just turning around - how was that violent behavior? How was I dangerous for him?' he asked. 'Today, I would like to see this policeman come and stand in front of me, look me in the eye and tell me why he shot me.' The 'Yellow Vest' protesters were back on the streets Saturday to keep up the pressure on President Emmanuel Macron's government. Multiple protests in Paris and other cities denounced Macron's economic policies, which they view as favoring the rich, for the 12th straight weekend of demonstrations. Most were peaceful. Riot police officers detain a 'Yellow Vest' activist on December 8, 2018 in Bordeaux. Renewed demonstrations took place last Saturday to protest the the number of protesters who have been injured in clashes with police since November Several competing groups of yellow vests are getting ready to present candidates for the European Parliament election in May, while other figures insist the movement must remain non-political. Around 69,000 people nationwide took part in French protests last week, down from more than 80,000 the previous two weekends, according to the French Interior Ministry. The yellow vests movement began in November and was named after the fluorescent safety vests that French motorists must carry. This shocking footage reveals how endangered parrots are poached and have their feathers hacked off as they are exported from the wild into the global pet trade. The African grey parrots suffer horrendous pain as they are tied up to act as bait for other birds and have their feathers sliced off to stop them escaping. An investigation by World Animal Protection found that around two-thirds of the parrots die before they can reach an owner. The endangered parrots have been transported from Nigeria, Mali and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to countries in the Middle East and Asia, they found. Footage filmed in Cameroon shows the forlorn-looking birds being torn from their natural homes in the wild and being tied up by poachers. The animal rights group said poachers relied on parrots 'sociable' to draw wild birds down into large nets or onto tree branches coated with a powerful glue. The birds are handled roughly by the poachers and held up by their wings or feet, leaving them in obvious pain. In another clip a man uses a sharp tool to hack at the bird's feathers and saw off its feathers, a cruel tactic to stop it from escaping. Large numbers of the parrots also die during transportation as they are kept in dirty and cramped conditions. World Animal Protection accused Turkish Airlines of allowing several shipments of the endangered birds to be carried on its flights. The group also blamed 'lack of staff training and insufficient checks' on the airline for allowing the pets to be transported. The airline was one of the carriers who signed a 2017 declaration at Buckingham Palace, backed by Prince William, promising to combat cargoes of illegal wildlife. MailOnline has approached Turkish Airlines to ask for a response. Rough handling: A poacher picks up one of the endangered African grey parrots in order to use it as bait to trap other birds, to be exported into the global pet trade Cruelty: A poacher uses a sharp tool to hack and then slice away the endangered bird's feathers to stop it from escaping captivity Cassandra Koenen of World Animal Protection said: 'Poaching animals for the exotic pet trade is happening on an industrial scale with devastating consequences. 'Worse still is that the illegal and illicit elements of the trade are often aided by government corruption and inadequate enforcement. 'Animals suffer at every step of the journey destined to people's homes: from capture to handling, transport, holding, breeding, sale and the lifetime of captivity in the home.' Some traffickers had boasted about their African grey parrot shipments on social media, according to World Animal Protection. One Democratic Republic of Congo-based exporter allegedly said the illegal birds were disguised as legal shipments of green parrots. Close-up: The animal's feathers are sawn off, condemning it to captivity if it survives the dangerous conditions in which it will be transported Picked up: A solitary African parrot lured into the trap is picked up by the wing as poachers prepare to sell it illegally In Ghana the wild population of African grey parrots has collapsed by 90 to 99 per cent in the last three decades, they said. The organisation said: 'Most people buy exotic pets because they love animals - but any wild animal in the exotic pet trade experiences suffering. 'African grey parrots are wild animals, not pets. 'They are very intelligent and sociable, and are not suited for a solitary life in a cage or home. Many become so distressed and bored they pull their feathers out and become ill. 'Once they are in people's homes, there is no realistic way to replicate the space and freedom these animals would have in the wild. 'It is estimated that there are well over one million wild animals kept as exotic pets in the UK, including reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals. 'Life in captivity limits the natural behaviour of an animal and places both their mental and physical wellbeing at risk.' Laying a trap: A poacher forces one of the African grey parrots under a net to lure other endangered birds into captivity Former gangster Terry Adams appearing at court today. He was jailed for 12 months Crime lord Terry Adams has been jailed for a year for failing to pay a 50,000 court bill he owed authorities. Adams, once head of the notorious 'Adams Family' crime syndicate from Clerkenwell, insisted he now lives in a council flat and can only afford 15 a week towards the huge bill - potentially taking him more than 60 years. A judge said Adams had led the court on a 'merry dance' over his finances and handed him a 12-month jail term. Adams, 64, was jailed for seven years in 2007 after a 10m police surveillance operation and ordered to pay nearly 750,000 of his ill-gotten gains to the state. The crime lord finally paid back more than 720,000 in 2017 to avoid being sent back to jail. But the Crown has been asking for 46,258 in costs from his original trial at the Old Bailey. Adams today told Westminster Magistrates' Court he had found it difficult to get a job. He said: 'I am living on handouts. I will pay as much as I could now. I can afford to pay what I do now, 10 to 15 pounds a week. That's what I can afford.' Terry Adams with his wife Ruth leaving the High Court in 2014 after claiming poverty over a 750,000 confiscation order imposed for money laundering Adams said his living costs such as rent and utilities are all in his wife's name. 'I had nothing then and I have nothing now.' He described his latest address as a 'small one bedroom council flat' in Bloomsbury where he lives with his wife. Adams was forced to sell his 1.6m mansion in Mill Hill, north London, to pay part of the original fine. His lawyer Stephen Gilchrist told the court the property was 'undervalued' when it was sold as a result of the credit crunch. Asked what assets he did have, Adams replied: 'Things my mum gave me, that's worth a few thousand pounds and my father's ring which I am wearing now, that's worth about a few hundred.' Mr Gilchrist told the court: 'Mr Adams has been the subject of litigation for 16 years and now the court still wants blood. Ruth Adams leaving Westminster Magistrates' Court today. A judge said her husband had led the court on a 'merry dance' over his finances and handed him a 12-month jail term 'The fact of the matter is you cannot get blood out of a stone.' Kennedy Talbot QC, prosecuting, said 'The Crown are not here to extract blood out of Mr Adams. 'He did not get near the burden of proof that he has no funds, and his lifestyle and expenditure was not comparable with someone who could not pay.' Mr Talbot added that during a previous hearing a series of witnesses were called to testify that they were funding the gangster's lifestyle following his release from prison. But Adams repeatedly refused to give the name of the man - described as a member of his extended family - who helped him pay the original confiscation order. Adams used to live in a 1.6m mansion in Mill Hill, north London, but he said he was forced to sell it to pay authorities He told the court the series of court battles had left him living in a central London council flat District Judge Michael Snow told Adams he had 'led us on a merry dance' after refusing to pay the cost order for 11 years. He said: 'I'm satisfied that he clearly has assets available, assets he does not wish to disclose to me. 'I am satisfied that he has has been aware of this order since 2007 and has made no effort to pay it, he has willfully refused to pay the order. 'I have no option but to order him to serve the default term of 12 months. 'But he doesn't have to spend a day in custody because if he settles the order in full he will be released immediately.' Shapati Hakili, 30, has been jailed for seven years A drug dealer was caught red handed after a receipt for underpants were found in the bottom of a Primark bag containing a kilo of pure cocaine. Shapati Hakili tried to deny any knowledge of the 92 per cent pure cocaine when he and two fellow dealers were pulled over by armed police in Kent. But the receipt showed the 30-year-old Albanian had bought the new pants a week before and detectives found the CCTV of him in the cut price clothing store. He had been with illegal immigrants Florenc Kola, 28, and Nasied Mitro, 24, when their Vauxhall Vectra was stopped in Rochester in August 2018. Hakili had 275 on him and three mobile phones while Mitro had 1,320 and two mobile phones and Kola had 400. Mitro also had a false Greek driving licence. The 92 per cent pure cocaine which was found stashed in a Primark bag He was jailed for seven years and Kola and Mitro for six years each at Maidstone Crown Court after admitting drug dealing at an earlier hearing. Mitro and Kola will be deported when they have served their sentence. The trio were arrested by officers from joint National Crime Agency and Met Police Organised Crime Partnership (OCP), with assistance from the NCA Armed Operations Unit. OCP's Matt McMillan said: 'We have successfully disrupted an organised crime network involved in supplying class A drugs. 'Two of those involved were in the UK illegally and will now be deported after serving their sentence. 'During interview Hakili initially denied any knowledge of the cocaine. The Primark receipt in the bag caught Hakili out and police found him buying the pants on CCTV 'However, the receipt found in the shopping bag and the CCTV evidence showed he was lying from the outset. 'We know that every organised crime group relies on cash flow. 'Disrupting their activity and confiscating the money that is so important to their business stops them from investing in other criminal activity. 'We will continue to do all we can to stop organised crime groups and will use all the tools available to us'. The 63-year-old businessman had lost a legal challenge against his extradition in a British court in December. London: UK home secretary Sajid Javid on Monday ordered the extradition of Vijay Mallya to India, in a blow to the embattled liquor baron. The 63-year-old businessman had lost a legal challenge against his extradition in a British court in December. Under the Extradition Treaty procedures, the chief magistrates verdict was sent to the home secretary because only he is authorised to order Mr Mallyas extradition. Mr Mallya is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017 after the Indian authorities brought fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crore against the former Kingfisher Airlines boss. The UK court had said it was satisfied with the various assurances provided by the Indian government, including a video of the jail cell, which had not only been recently redecorated but was also far larger than the minimum requirement threshold. India welcomed UK governments order and said, While we welcome the UK governments decision in the matter, we await the early completion of the legal process for his extradition, a top government source said. A top aide to Jean-Claude Juncker warned today the EU would not give the legal guarantees on the Irish border backstop demanded by Brexiteers. The EU commission's top official Martin Selmayr - whose nickname in Brussels is 'The Monster' - also delivered a thinly-veiled threat by boasting that Brussels had 'done well' to start its no deal preparations in December 2017. But in a sign of possible splits, Angela Merkel insisted the 'riddle' of the Irish border could be solved by compromise on both sides. The German Chancellor said she was determined to do 'everything' to avoid the UK crashing out, saying it could be done if 'everyone shows goodwill'. The latest signals from the EU came as it emerged the PM will deliver a speech in Northern Ireland tomorrow as she scrambles to find a way through the standoff. Mrs May will underline her 'absolute commitment' to avoiding a hard Irish border during the visit, according to aides. The EU commission's top official Martin Selmayr - whose nickname in Brussels is 'The Monster' - delivered a thinly-veiled threat by boasting that Brussels had 'done well' to start its no deal preparations in December 2017 Speaking alongside Japanese PM Shinzo Abe today, Angela Merkel (left) said 'we want to do everything to avoid a no deal because that would increase the uncertainty'. Martin Selmayr met MPs on the Commons Brexit Committee in Brussels this morning and delivered a tough message afterwards The Labour chairman of the Commons Brexit committee, Hilary Benn, dismissed the 'Plan C' ideas being cooked up between Tory Remainers and Brexiteers during a visit to Brussels today The premier has also invited rebels from both Conservative wings to join discussions on how to handle the UK's departure from the EU - which is now less than eight weeks away. But Cabinet ministers have voiced fears that there is 'nothing she can get' that will satisfy the hardline Brexiteers. One told MailOnline they seemed intent on forcing no deal, warning: 'She could get the backstop removed and even that wouldn't be enough. They would just find some other excuse.' Speaking alongside Japanese PM Shinzo Abe today, Mrs Merkel said 'we want to do everything to avoid a no deal because that would increase the uncertainty'. But she reiterated that the Withdrawal Agreement had been painstakingly negotiated and could not be reopened. 'This is not on the agenda,' she said. Instead Mrs Merkel repeated the EU line that concerns over the Irish backstop - the insurance policy designed to avoid a hard line between Northern Ireland and the Republic - could be dealt with in the political declaration on future trade terms. 'We need to show creativity, we need to listen to each other,' Mrs Merkel said. 'We can still use the time to come to an agreement over the things that are standing in our way, if everyone shows goodwill.' What is Plan C? Under Plan C, the UK would ask for the transition period to run for an extra year to the end of 2021 and EU citizens living in Britain would have their rights protected. There is then a two-pronged approach to the negotiations. First, the UK would demand the EU negotiates a new Irish border backstop that is acceptable to Brexiteers. They suggest a technology-based system for goods crossing the Irish border that has already been rejected by the EU. If this proves impossible, the group would then suggest a no deal exit based on keeping the transition period from the existing plan in return for paying some of the divorce bill. Both sides would then use the three year transition period to prepare for an exit on basic World Trade Organisation rules, while negotiating a final trade deal. If it went ahead, Brexiteers would get to remove the backstop they say is unacceptable while Remainers still get the transition period they say is essential. Advertisement Mr Abe said it was 'necessary to minimise the risk of Brexit on the European and World economy'. 'We must avoid a no-deal Brexit,' he added. Mr Selmayr met MPs on the Commons Brexit Committee in Brussels this morning. Afterwards he gave short shrift to claims on Twitter that legally-binding assurances could be given on the backstop in a bid to get the deal through Parliament. 'On the EU side. nobody is considering this. Asked whether any assurance would help to get the Withdrawal Agreement through the Commons, the answers of MPs were ... inconclusive .... The meeting confirmed that the EU did well to start its no deal preparations in December 2017,' he tweeted. Tory Brexiteers have repeated that tweaks to the political declaration will not be enough to satisfy them. Jacob Rees-Mogg told LBC Radio today that he could 'reluctantly swallow' the PM's Brexit deal if the backstop was replaced with a technological fix - something the EU regards as 'magical thinking'. Speaking after his meeting with Mr Selmayr, the Labour chairman of the Commons Brexit committee, Hilary Benn, dismissed the 'Plan C' ideas being cooked up between Tory Remainers and Brexiteers. He told reporters: 'A lot of it to me, I have to say, personally, looks very familiar if you go back to last summer when people looked at technology and trusted traders and all of that, and a great deal of effort was put into examining those as a possible way forward. 'The conclusion that was reached I think on behalf of the British Government and the European Union was that well, it's not going to work. 'And I personally, but others will have a different view, personally I don't see how it can work particularly in the very short amount of time that there is left.' Theresa May (pictured today arriving at Downing Street) has summoned Tory Eurosceptics and Remainers for crisis talks as she desperately struggles to find a Brexit strategy that does not tear her party to pieces A love-struck young man infatuated with a woman he briefly met in Bali has turned to social media in a bid to track her down. Arseniy Frolov met the 'beautiful' Australian woman he claims could be the 'love of his life', while visiting Aling-Aling Waterfall on the Indonesian island on February 2. The 23-year-old, from Russia, took to his Facebook page to pen a heartfelt plea for information on the unknown woman and implored his social media friends to help him find her. The 23-year-old (pictured) from Russia, took to his Facebook page to pen a heartfelt plea for information on the unknown woman 'If you see [this post], let me know. I fell in love. 'If your friend was there yesterday tell her that I am looking for her,' he wrote. Despite falling head over heels for the unidentified lady, Mr Frolov admits he didn't manage to get her mobile number or even her name. But he did know she was holidaying on the island for a short period of time. Arseniy Frolov (pictured) met a 'beautiful' Australian woman he claims could be the 'love of his life', while visiting Aling-Aling Waterfall in Bali (File picture) Mr Frolov said the brief encounter at Aling-Aling Waterfall was cut short due to the water levels rising 'I don't have her number and her name because I was in waterfall with my friends and I didn't bring phone to waterfall,' Mr Frolov told Daily Mail Australia. Mr Frolov, who has been in love twice before, continued to explain why the encounter was so short lived. 'The water level in the river began to rise and we had to leave and I lost her. 'I know only her nationality and that she is in Bali for few weeks,' he added. Mr Frolov, who now lives in Bali, described the woman as 'very beautiful' with dark hair and said she isn't very tall. Mr Frolov (pictured) implored his Facebook users to help him track down the unidentified woman Mr Frolov (pictured centre) said if the unknown woman were married he 'will not look for her for the rest of his life' 'She wears cute glasses and has cute smile,' he added. Explaining that he was overwhelmed by the sudden rush of feelings he said: 'I do not know the reason for my feelings but I was slightly knocked down by this sensation.' 'Is she the love of my [life]... I think so. But if I don't try to ask her, I will not know,' he added. However, if the mysterious woman were to already be in a relationship Mr Frolov vowed to leave her alone. 'If she sees this and she is married... write to me, so that I [will] not look for her for the rest of my life,' he said. Mr Frolov, who now lives in Bali, said the woman had dark hair, wasn't very tall and had a cute smile and wore cute glasses In another post Mr Frolov said he was overwhelmed by all the support he had received from social media users. 'I thought about how to find her [and posted] in various Australian Facebook group in Bali. 'And...I got more than 100 reposts, more than 1000 comments and a lot of likes! 'I [did] not expect to receive [so much] support. Thank you! it's cool,' he wrote. Sadly, Mr Frolov is yet to find the unidentified woman. A fighting-mad cow charged a police officer who shot the brazen bovine during its attempted escape from a slaughterhouse in Kansas. Police responded to a call in downtown Valley Center, Kansas, on Thursday of an escaped cow 'not in a mooood to be caught,' according to the Valley Center Department of Public Safety's Facebook post. The animal ended up on some train tracks as officers tried to keep it from disrupting traffic, and when an officer attempted to herd it off the railroad, the cow charged him leading the officer to shoot it in response. The officer was not hurt in the encounter, and the cow appeared to be 'unfazed' as it continued off into some fields. A cow evading slaughter took the fight to a Kansas police officer and was shot before it was recaptured on Thursday (File Photo) Richards Cold Storage in Valley Center, Kansas, was the processing plant the runaway cow fled before it turned on the police Eventually, the animal was caught about a mile from where it had escaped and was returned to Richards Cold Storage in Valley Center. 'The officer and cow are udderly ready to mooove on and put this incident behind them,' the Department of Public Safety wrote. A customer had brought the cow to be butchered when it took off, Brock Volkman of the processing plant told the Wichita Eagle. The Valley Center Department of Public Safety addressed the bovine escapades on its Facebook page on Thursday The cow had one gunshot wound when they brought it back to the butcher, but the meat remained undamaged, according to Volkman. Richards Cold Storage is a meat processing business that offers slaughtering, smoking and curing services in Valley Center, a town 15 miles north of Wichita in south-central Kansas. The father of Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaido says he hopes his son's recognition as interim president by the US and a host of EU nations will allow him to return to his home country. Wilmer Guaido, 60, left Venezuela for the Canary Islands 16 years ago during the reign of President Nicolas Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez, and has only been able to return a handful of times. Mr Guaido Snr is a trained pilot but currently works as a taxi driver in Tenerife, where he lives with his second wife and their two daughters. Exiled: Juan Guaido's father Wilmer, 60, left Venezuela for the Canary Islands 16 years ago during the reign of the late Hugo Chavez Speaking to a local paper on the Spanish island he said: 'I can't speak to my son but we talk on WhatsApp. 'What he's told me is, 'Dad whenever you want prepare your suitcases because you'll be seeing me soon. 'It's been four years since the last time I was in my home country and I would like to go.' On Saturday the father-of-seven took part in a mass demonstration in the Tenerife capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife to show his backing for his son as Venezuela's interim president. He said afterwards he felt proud of 'everything' the 35-year-old leader of the opposition-held National Assembly had done. Mr Guaido Snr said his son Juan, pictured, had told him to 'prepare is suitcases' so that he could go back to his home country Throwback: Mr Guaido is pictured with Juan and one of his brothers as a child On Monday, ten EU nations; France, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Austria and the Netherlands, announced they now recignise Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela pending elections. He was already recognised as such by the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina and Paraguay. Despite this, President Nicolas Maduro is refusing to hold a snap election, saying in an interview yesterday that he would not be pushed into decisions by other nations. 'I refuse to call for elections now - there will be elections in 2024,' he told Spanish TV channel Antena 3. Wilmer Guaido branded Maduro 'a usurper', saying he does not lead Venezuela. 'I want him to go now but things have to be taken step by step. 'My son believes there's a 90 per cent chance there won't be civil war in Venezuela.' Supported: A number of EU countries, including UK, France and Spain, announced Monday they recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president after the Sunday deadline was ignored by Maduro Holding on: President Nicolas Maduro has so far rejected calls by European countries to call an early election Two sides: Anti-government protesters wave Venezuelan national flags as they take part in a demonstration demanding Maduro's resignation in Caracas on Saturday Since emigrating to Spain, Mr Guaido has also been employed as a hotel receptionist and as a Ryanair ground staff worker in the Canary Islands. He lives near Tenerife South airport and spends a lot of his time ferrying British tourists to and from the airport, he says. Speaking of his decision to leave Venezuela in a recent interview with a Spanish newspaper, the 60-year-old said: 'When I came to Spain the situation with Chavez was bad politically speaking. 'I would listen to those ideas of his and think it was all very strange. It was very difficult to do a lot of things. 'I decided then it was time to leave. I was a commercial pilot and used to fly a lot to Spain which was another reason I came.' Four people, including two young children under the age of two, have died from carbon monoxide poisoning in a Dallas home. The two men and two young boys were found dead about 9.30am on Sunday inside a house that was under construction. A gas-powered generator that was still running was also discovered inside. Nestor Martinez died alongside his 19-month-old twin boys Elijah and Josiah Martinez. The name of the other man who died has not yet been released. Scroll down for video Nestor Martinez died alongside his 19-month-old twin boys Elijah and Josiah Martinez from carbon monoxide poisoning in a Dallas home on Sunday Martinez, his co-worker, and his two sons were found dead around 9.30am on Sunday morning inside the house (pictured), which was under construction Property owner Hector Medrano said that Martinez and the other man were construction workers who had been working on the house, which did not have electricity. The men recently had to move from their apartments so Medrano let them sleep in the home to stop anyone from vandalizing the property. Esmeralda Gonzales said her two children had been staying with their father for the weekend, she told NBC 5. Gonzales thought they were sleeping in a hotel after Martinez told her he had to leave another home that he had been staying in. 'I couldn't believe it, I was waiting for me to wake up,' Gonzales said of the moment she learned the tragic news. A gas-powered generator (pictured here) that was still running was also discovered inside Esmeralda Gonzales said her two children had been staying with their father for the weekend. She thought they were staying in a hotel 'That's all I could think about. Wake up, wake up, wake up. This is not happening.' Medrano went to check on the house on Sunday morning and forced his way inside when he didn't get an answer from the men, according to KDFW. He found all four of the victims inside a back bedroom and called 911. Dallas Fire-Rescue arrived at the scene and got a dangerous reading of carbon monoxide levels inside the house. The generator was powering a heater and cell phones inside the property and had run long enough for the carbon monoxide to reach fatal levels, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans. Evans said the men usually kept the generator outside but someone had recently tried to steal it. Property owner Hector Medrano said that Martinez and the other man were construction workers who had been working on the house, which did not have electricity The men recently had to move from their apartments so Medrano let them and Martinez's boys sleep in the home to stop anyone from vandalizing the property 'As a result, they took the generator inside to keep it safe,' Evans added. 'Unfortunately, they did so without realizing the consequences.' 'Even though they put it in a separate room from where they were sleeping, it ran long enough that the level was built up in the house and proved to be fatal to all the people.' It remains unknown how long the generator was inside the house. The four deaths are being treated as a tragic accident and no charges are expected to be filed. Gonzales said that Martinez was originally from Honduras but had grown up in Houston. Gonzales said that Martinez (pictured together) was originally from Honduras but had grown up in Houston 'Even though we weren't living together, we were having a bad time, I love him,' she said. 'He loved his kids. Those were his first kids' 'Even though we weren't living together, we were having a bad time, I love him,' she said. 'He loved his kids. Those were his first kids. They're with their dad. They're not alone.' Gas-powered generators are not considered safe to use indoors or even in garages due to the fact that they emit an exhaust that creates carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide - known as the 'Invisible Killer' - is colorless and odorless and can only be detected through carbon monoxide alarms. A 20-year-old man has been shot dead in broad daylight at a New York subway station with the horrifying gang-related killing captured on camera by fellow passengers. The victim, identified as Abel Mosso, and two other men were arguing on a Manhattan-bound 7 train on Sunday afternoon when the deadly fight spilled out onto the platform in Queens. Police said the fight appeared to be gang-related with the gunman being a member of MS-13 and the victim part of rival Queens gang 18th Street. The 26-year-old gunman was arrested on Monday but police have not yet released his name. NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said the gunman was known to police and had been arrested previously in New York. Graphic footage shows the three men fighting on the platform at the 90th Street-Elmhurst Avenue subway stop in Queens after the train doors opened. The three people standing up behind tried to intervene Graphic footage shows the three men fighting on the platform at the 90th Street-Elmhurst Avenue subway stop after the train doors opened at about 1pm Sunday. The victim was punched multiple times before one of the men, dressed in a gray jacket, stood up and pulled out a gun. He shot the victim - believed to be between 20-30 years old - in the head and the footage shows him dropping to the ground. An additional five gunshots were fired before the two men fled the scene. Terrified commuters, who had tried to intervene to break the fight up, were filmed screaming as they ran away from the gunfire. Police said the train and platform were crowded when the gunfire rang out. The victim died at the scene after suffering multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. The victim was punched multiple times before one of the men, dressed in a gray jacket, stood up and pulled out a gun (pictured right) He shot the victim - believed to be between 20-30 years old - in the head and the footage shows him dropping to the ground. An additional five gunshots were fired before the two men fled the scene. Terrified commuters were filmed screaming as they ran away from the gunfire The man with the gun was captured on surveillance cameras fleeing the subway station. He appears to be a heavy-set Hispanic man with facial hair and was wearing a gray jacket and a scarf. Investigators are still looking for the second attacker and have publicly released a surveillance image of him in a bid to track him down. Police are still trying to determine if the men knew each other prior to the fight or what sparked the incident. 'This incident is beyond horrifying,' MTA spokesman Max Young said. 'While our system and the city are safer than ever before, we have zero tolerance for any violence on our subways and buses, and the safety of our customers and employees will always be our number one priority.' Hunter Ray Denney-Wesley, age 12, has died in a Kentucky house fire after going back inside to try to save his dog, Pugley, who was also killed in what is believed to have been a tragic accident on Wednesday morning. Hunter is pictured with Pugley A 12-year-old boy has died in a Kentucky house fire after going back inside to try to save his dog, Pugley, who was also killed. The funeral for Hunter Ray Denney-Wesley, who his family called 'Hunter Bug,' is set for Thursday, just over a week after he died in the Science Hill fire. Hunter's parents, Ralph Tyrone and Ashley Denney Wesley, and his 5-year-old sister, Tylee, were able to escape the fire that broke out early on Wednesday and survived, the Pulaski County Coroner's Office said. The sixth-grader went back inside for his dog and couldn't get out, and the two 'went to be with Jesus together,' Hunter's obituary read. Officials believed the fire was the result of a tragic accident, while the official cause is still being investigated. A GoFundMe account has been set up by a cousin of the family with 'the long term goal of providing stability and possibly a new home in the end.' Scroll down for video Hunter's parents, Ralph Tyrone (back) and Ashley Denney Wesley (left), and his 5-year-old sister, Tylee (front), were able to escape the fire that broke out early on Wednesday and survived. Hunter is pictured in the sleeveless top with the Batman logo '[Hunter] always had a smile and loved to talk. He loved his dog Pugley, playing his favorite video game Fortnite and other video games. He was a loving, giving, very intelligent boy that had a great sense of humor and a heart of gold,' his obituary read. 'He loved picking on his little sister, Tylee and his cousin, Logan. Hunter was always joking and making people laugh. He was very special to everyone.' When emergency responders arrived on the scene, it was already too late for Hunter. His body was found in one of the bedrooms inside the home. In addition to Pugley, three other dogs perished in the fire. Hunter's mom, Ashley, was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. When emergency responders arrived on the scene, it was already too late for Hunter. His body was found in one of the bedrooms inside the home. In addition to Pugley, three other dogs perished in the fire. Hunter is pictured at right holding Pugley, with her sister, Tylee, holding another animal at left Hunter's mom, Ashley (left), was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. Hunter is pictured at right A funeral service will be held at 11am on Thursday at Morris & Hislope Funeral Home. Hunter's body will be buried in McKinney Cemetery. Hunter (front) is pictured with his father (left), mother (back, center) and sister (right) in a photo shared to social media Firefighters from Science Hill, Dabney, Somerset and Eubank battled the blaze on Keeney Road for six hours. Pulaski County Coroner Clyde Strunk arrived at 4.40am, the fire was still going, and the home 'was totally engulfed,' he said. The state fire marshal is investigating the incident, which may have been caused by a heat lamp on the back deck, which was left on for cats, officials told the Commonwealth Journal. 'It very possibly could have started there,' Science Hill Fire Chief Josh Chief Whitis said. 'High winds helped drive the fire this morning.' Video courtesy of WLEX Firefighters from Science Hill, Dabney, Somerset and Eubank battled the blaze on Keeney Road for six hours Pulaski County Coroner Clyde Strunk arrived at 4.40am, the fire was still going, and the home 'was totally engulfed,' he said The state fire marshal is investigating the incident, which may have been caused by a heat lamp on the back deck, which was left on for cats, officials said A funeral service will be held at 11am on Thursday at Morris & Hislope Funeral Home. Hunter's body will be buried in McKinney Cemetery. Visitation will begin after 4pm on Wednesday at Morris & Hislope Funeral Home. In addition to the GoFundMe account, donations may also be made directly to the Hunter Ray Denney-Wesley Memorial Fund, C/O Morris & Hislope Funeral Home, P.O. Box 159, Science Hill, KY 42553. The Pulaski County Circuit Clerk's Office has also been collecting clothing, hygiene and household items for the family. For those who would like to make clothing donations, Tyrone (adult male) wears a large shirt, 34/34 pants, and size 12 or 13 shoes; Ashley (adult female) wears a medium shirt, size 7 pants and size 7 shoes; and Tylee (5-year-old female) wears an extra small 4/5 shirt and pants and size 11 shoes. A childhood friend of the man who confessed to murdering JonBenet Ramsey in prison letters is opening up in an interview with Dr Oz that is set to air on Tuesday. DailyMail.com revealed last month that Gary Olivia had written about killing the pageant princess, 6, in prison letters, and now Vail is detailing some of the bizarre behaviors Olivia exhibited in high school. Olivia, 54, who is currently serving a 10-year sentence in a Colorado prison on child pornography charges, claims that he killed JonBenet by accident. Vail reveals however that Olivia has had an obsession with little girls ever since he was a teenager. Scroll down for videos Murder: Gary Olivia (left) confessed to killing JonBenet Ramsey (right) by accident and is currently serving a 10 years prison sentence on child pornography charges Killer friend: Michael Vail reveals that Olivia has had an obsession with little girls ever since they were teenagers in a preview obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com (friend Michael Vail above) In a preview of the interview obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com, Dr Oz asks Vail if he was ever suspicious of his friend due to any concerning behaviors exhibited by Olivia over the years. 'Are there things he has done with you in the past, outside of this case that made you suspicious of him. How did you come to learn that there was a potential connection?' asks Dr Oz. 'He was very disturbing in high school and we, after high school we went our separate ways,' says Vail. Dr Oz and special guest Nancy Grace then press Vail to explain more, and give them a better idea of what he means by 'disturbing' behavior. 'Well, he would make, create art and then he would destroy it and he would have these fits and go running down the street,' responds Vail. 'One time, he made this collage and we split our separate ways for making our collage. When I looked at his collage, it was all a little girls on it. I said, "You ruined your collage, you put little girls all over," I was angry with him.' Olivia would also make morbid drawings of 'things like eyeballs on a fork,' says Vail. Grace chimes in at that point and notes: 'Okay. I almost wish I hadn't asked but go ahead, okay.' Vail says that then, after going through the effort of creating these morbid pieces of art, Olivia would go and destroy them, noting he often became very 'mad.' 'He would either burn it or rip it up and tear it up and I'd be like, what are you doing? Very disturbing,' says Vail. In another clip from the episode, Vail reveals that Olivia also spoke of wanting to eat JonBenet. People eating: When asked by Nancy Grace (above) if Olivia ever expressed a desire seat his alleged victim, Vail replies: 'Yeah' The mind of a pedophile: The Dr Oz Show interview with Vail will air Tuesday, check local listings for station and time Dr Oz asks Vail and guest, commentator Nancy Grace: 'Are you concerned at all that because of a deeper mental illness or had she had another mental illness, Gary's obsessed with JonBenet could be confab leading all this making it up?' Vail thinks this over briefly before responding: 'It's possible. It is possible. However... He is cut off at that point by Grace, who quickly cuts to the chase. 'Did he say he wanted to eat, JonBenet?' asks Grace. 'Yeah,' responds Vail. That manages to stun Dr Oz, who looks at his guest and says: 'I'm sorry, say that again.' Grace again jumps in to say: 'That's right. Dr. Oz, you tell him.' Vail, who seems to be in disbelief himself, explains: 'Yeah. I know it's some pretty heavy duty stuff, he's just talking about cannibalism.' Grace then summarizes the segment with her trademark candor and brevity. 'He said he wanted to eat JonBenet,' says Grace. That is not the only alarming story to emerge however, with Vail telling one more secret about Olivia. 'Gary would break into the University of Boulder Colorado. There was a skeleton in there and he wanted to taste what human bones would taste like,' says Vail. 'So he tried biting the skeleton and he told me how disappointed it was that was covered with shellac, and he couldn't taste the bone.' Catch more when The Dr Oz Show airs this Tuesday. Check local listings for time. Private investigators have gone undercover to help dismantle what has been dubbed Manchester's 'counterfeit street.' Plain clothes ex-police officers posed as customers and bought bogus goods to infiltrate gangs and the impact has been dramatic. The number of stores in the Strangeways area, described as the 'fakes capital of the UK' last year has reduced to just over a dozen. The undercover private detectives, who work for TM Eye Limited, filmed and recorded test purchases of forged designer clothing and accessories and illegal cigarettes. Just last month knock-off Louis Vuitton bags, forged Michael Kors satchels, phoney Ralph Lauren boxers and dozens of boxes of cheap perfume were among the bogus goods found. Cash that was seized alongside fake designer goods in raids in the Strangeways area of Manchester Counterfeit items worth hundreds of thousands of pounds were seized during raids in Strangeways after private investigators went undercover TM Eye Ltd was set up by retired Detective Chief Inspector, David McKelvey, who served with the Metropolitan Police, and regional and national crime squads. The company are hired by designer brands and also receive legal costs from the court system. Mr McKelvey said: 'We have had about 500 prosecutions to date nationwide and all have been successful, only one went to trial, because the strength of evidence we collect is so strong. We have had 92 prosecutions from Manchester. 'Thirteen per cent of all of our prosecutions have resulted in people going to prison. 'We launched Operation Mordor in Manchester in 2015 and have been carrying it in phases. One of our covert operations officers lived and worked in Manchester for seven months - resulting in 29 convictions. 'Many of the properties from where these traders have operated from are actually owned by Manchester city council. 'We have worked very closely with the council to take back these properties. They are also using criminal behaviour orders to stop people from trading. 'We know have more intelligence about how Counterfeit Street operates than anybody. 'We have taken out a lot of the major players. The size of the area in terms of the volume of shops has changed completely - it was completely lawless. 'But we work with GMP and the council and there is now only 14 stores - which is a dramatic impact. It is the result of outstanding partnership work. We share intelligence with the police. 'We have the resources and time to do the covert work. Because police have to concentrate more on counter terrorism and organised crime their resources are finite and it leaves a vacuum for counterfeiters to flourish. 'In Strangeways stores they can make between 5,000 and 30,000 a day. You can buy anything there.' Counterfeit items worth hundreds of thousands of pounds were seized during raids in Strangeways There have been numerous raids by police and trading standards officers resulting in forged goods with a street value of several millions of pounds being seized from stores in the area. In one raid in Cheetham Hill in 2014, a million counterfeit cigarettes and 70 kilos of fake tobacco with an estimated value of over 5million was confiscated. While in 2013, 1million worth of fake designer clothes, handbags and footwear were intercepted. But Mr McKelvey said: 'It is a waste of time. This is organised crime in its purest form. They have storage units and can replace whatever is seized within a few weeks. It makes no difference to them. 'The only thing that does make a difference is catching them and convicting them. If they get a conviction they think twice about resuming the counterfeiting, because if they get caught again they go to prison. 'We will carry on until we smash them. We are all ex policemen and we are vocational, we are about catching the bad elements.' The firm uses the Prosecution of Offences Act to being cases and are able to recover reasonable expenses - for the hours worked on a case - and legal costs from defendants. It is also employed by designer brands to do undercover work. 'After the raids started to criminals just put in more sophisticated warning systems - they have two-way radios and system of whistles that would go round the shops,' said Mr McKelvey. The gangs also use 'spotters' to warn them of law enforcement activity. Steel shutters are fixed to all the premises and CCTV. Escape routes have been built within buildings to allow the 'principals' to avoid arrest. Shutters are pulled down at the merest hint of a raid - which has resulted in customers being locked inside. Mr McKelvey said: 'Despite 30 years of policing some of London's most dangerous and high crime areas I personally found Cheetham Hill one of the most challenging, lawless, and threatening areas to work in. 'To have obtained such overwhelming evidence to ensure convictions has been demanding and required dedication from TM Eye detectives.' In October four shops where counterfeit goods were being sold were shut down following raids in the Strangeways area. Four properties - consisting of eight rooms - were found to have contained large quantities of counterfeit items. Council chiefs believe the goods were worth around 2.5m - retail value - or 500,000 on the streets. Town hall bosses hit the businesses with 'Premises Closure Orders' to put an end to the 'anti-social and criminal behaviour' associated with the shops at 1 to 7 Harris Street. A busy Sydney motorway has been shutdown after a car caught fire in the middle of a tunnel. The M5 Motorway, in Sydney's south-west, was closed in an eastbound direction at about 10.45pm on Monday after the Toyota RAV4 four-wheel drive exploded in flames. Motorists were diverted via King Georges Road, Stoney Creek Road, Forest Road and Marsh Street. Scroll down for video A busy Sydney motorway has been shutdown after a car caught fire in the middle of a tunnel The M5 Motorway, in Sydney's south-west, was closed in an eastbound direction at about 10.45pm on Monday after the four wheel drive exploded in flames In a video shared to social media, a number of concerned motorists stood at a distance as they watch the car become consumed by the blaze. Thick smoke rose out of the vehicle and begun to consume the tunnel. Traffic chaos ensued as a number of motorists were forced to face lengthy delays. 'Been stuck in the M5 for nearly an hour now, I'm gonna die here,' one motorist wrote on Twitter. 'Been sitting in the M5 tunnel for over an hour. What a fun night,' tweeted another. Traffic chaos ensued as a number of motorists were forced to face lengthy delays Needing them as source of 'vitamin' the US government said the Mexican kingpin drugged and raped girls as young as 13. Longtime associate Alex Cifuentes told authorities a woman would send Guzman photos of young girls to choose from, with a fee of $5,000 per girl (Photo:AFP) New York: A witness in the trial of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman told the US government the Mexican drug kingpin drugged and raped girls as young as 13, according to court documents unsealed Saturday. Longtime associate Alex Cifuentes told authorities a woman would send Guzman photos of young girls to choose from, with a fee of $5,000 per girl. Cifuentes used this service himself three or four times, having sex with girls as young as 15-years-old, the government said in the documents, adding he witnessed the defendant do the same on multiple occasions, with girls as young as 13 years old. The former Sinaloa cartel leader, 61, would allegedly sometimes drug the girls with a powdery substance with Cifuentes help before raping them. But Cifuentes, who lived with Guzman in 2007 and 2008, did not mention any of this in four days of testimony during the trial, which ended on Thursday after three months of hearings. Joaquin denies the allegations, which lack any corroboration and were deemed too prejudicial and unreliable to be admitted at trial, Guzmans lawyer, Eduardo Balarezo, said in an emailed statement. It is unfortunate that the material was publicly released just prior to the jury beginning deliberations. On Monday, the jury will begin deliberating whether Guzman is guilty of trafficking hundreds of tons of drugs into the US. He faces a life sentence if convicted. The documents were published following a legal claim by US media, which throughout the trial fought the secrecy surrounding the case. Cifuentes, 50, was arrested in Mexico in 2013 then deported from Colombia to the US. Currently in prison, he is cooperating with the government in exchange for a reduced sentence. Almost half of all knife crime in London is carried out by children or teenagers, it has been revealed. Shocking new statistics from the Met show that 41 per cent of knife crime offenders are now aged between 15 and 19. Meanwhile, a further eight per cent of offenders are even younger, ranging in age from 10 to 14. The figures come as a popular online marketplace was slammed for offering customer razor-sharp zombie knives for as little as 19. Scores of knives, many at discount prices, are up for sale at any one time on Wish.com - including a 'Zombie Killer Machete'. The figures come as a popular online marketplace was slammed for offering customer razor-sharp zombie knives for as little as 19 (pictured) Last month, figures revealed that homicides have increased by 14 per cent in a year while offences involving a knife are up by 8 per cent One 17.5-inch knife comes in 'acid green' and comes splattered with imitation blood over the side. Its vendor commented on the knife, writing online that it was 'comfortable to use, perfectly sized and a strong razer sharp blade'. The site allows web users to set up their own stores showcasing items that can be bought by anyone with an account. Patrick Green, CEO of anti-knife charity The Ben Kinsella Trust, blasted the knives as 'reprehensible' and called for their removal. He said: 'These deadly weapons are clearly marketed to look like toys or fashions accessories. 'They are neither, these knives are responsible for bringing misery to more and more families every year. The site Wish.com allows web users to set up their own stores showcasing items that can be bought by anyone with an account Homicides increase by 14% as knife crime rises Homicides have increased by 14% in a year while offences involving a knife are up by 8%, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. Official data shows there were 90 more homicides recorded by the police in England and Wales in the year to September 2018, excluding victims of terror attacks, with the total number up from 649 to 739. It comes amid a 7% rise in overall police-recorded crime, with a total of 5,723,182 offences in the year to September 2018. This is the highest number in a 12-month period since the year ending March 2004, when there were 6.01 million offences recorded. The data published on Thursday shows an 8% increase in the number of offences involving knives or sharp instruments a figure which does not include Greater Manchester Police after an internal review revealed they were under-counting these offences. Figures released by the British Transport Police (BTP) this week suggest knife crime on Britains rail network has more than tripled in the last three years. Advertisement 'What is worse is that the branding on the knives are clearly designed to appeal to young people, many of whom will not understand the dangers that these knives pose to themselves and others. 'Wish.com's actions in allowing these knives to be advertised and purchased from their website is reprehensible and they should be removed immediately..' Other zombie knives currently up for sale on the US-based app's British marketplace include the 20-inch 'Bolo-Machete Messer' are available on the site, which also features painted-on blood stains. Other items on the site include cut-price samurai swords, knuckle-dusters, daggers, tasers and imitation firearms such as pistols. The app allows parents to sign their terms and conditions for children older than 13, and while it bans the sale of unwarranted pornography, does not appear to prevent users listing blades. It comes as Border Force officials have doubled the number of knives seized at UK borders in the past year, figures revealed. Officers seized 7,668 bladed items at the UK's borders in the year to September, compared with 3,800 in 2017. Wish.com were contacted for comment. What happened to a Saudi Arabian woman who was abducted and returned to her homeland against her will en route to seeking asylum in Australia two years ago remains a mystery. Dina Ali Lasloom, then 24, has not been heard since she was stopped by Filipino authorities and had her passport and documents confiscated during transit at Manila airport on her way to Australia in April 2017. She publicly pleaded for help through a social media video but was ultimately forced back on a plane home by her uncles, kicking and screaming and has never been heard from since. Dina Ali Lasloom (pictured) has not been seen in almost two years since she was forced back to Saudi Arabia against her will 'They beat her. They taped her mouth shut. They bound her arms and legs together, and dragged her onto a plane kicking and screaming, and nobody did anything,' US based social commentator and activist Mona Eltahawy told ABC's Four Corners. The Saudi embassy in Manila issued a statement at the time, calling the case a family matter and saying that Dina Ali had returned with her relatives to her homeland. According to Human Rights Watch Middle Eastern researcher Adam Coogle, she was taken to a women's shelter in Riyadh, where she was held there for some time. What happened to her after that is unknown. Ms Lasloom is one of many Saudi Arabian young women who tried to escape the country for a better life but failed. The issue of gender apartheid facing Saudi Arabian women was brought to world's attention in January when Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, fled her family to Bangkok and barricaded herself in an airport hotel room. She eventually gained refuge in Canada, where she is now enjoying her new freedom. But Ms al-Qunun is one of the lucky ones. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, (pictured) is now enjoying a new life in Canada after she fled her homeland last month. Other Saudi Arabian women weren't so lucky US based social commentator and activist Mona Eltahawy has vowed to continue to fight for the rights of Saudi women (stock image) At least two young Saudi Arabian women who arrived at Sydney Airport in the past two years were turned back after telling their asylum plans to Australian officials, according to Four Corners. Australia's immigration minister David Coleman declined to be interviewed for Four Corners and told the ABC's AM program that the government would not comment on individual cases. 'I will say that the issue of the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia is a concern,' he said. Meanwhile, Ms Eltahawy has vowed to continue to fight for the rights of Saudi women. 'To Dina Ali Lasloom & Saudi women who tried to escape but were forcibly returned: we remember you. I am sorry we let you down but I vow to continue yelling about gender apartheid until Saudi women can live freely & with dignity in their own country,' she tweeted on Monday night. A British advertising worker claims to be the man behind the Instagram Egg, the photo which 'broke the internet'. Chris Godfrey said he posted the image of an egg on the social media site which went on to garner more than 52 million likes and attract some 7.7 million followers on its account, @world_record_egg. The 29-year-old, who works as an advertising creative at the London-based agency The & Partnership, said he wanted to see if 'something as universal and simple as an egg' could surpass the record breaking image of Kylie Jenner's daughter Stormi. Chris Godfrey (centre) says he is the man behind the Instagram Egg, the photo which 'broke the internet' The viral post featured a stock image of an egg, and quickly garnered millions of likes from around the world Originally shared on January 4 on an anonymous UK-based Instagram account @world_record_egg, the simple photo of an ordinary, brown egg quickly gained the attention of social media users around the world. The viral post featured a stock image of an egg, originally photographed by Sergey Platonov. The photo was captioned: 'Lets set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this.' It managed to gather millions of likes in days, and has since made an appearance on the cover of a digital issue of Paper Magazine - the same publication that helped Kim Kardashian 'break the internet' with a semi-nude photo shoot in 2014. Mr Godfrey studied graphic design at Kingston University before going on to work for a number of advertising firms. He has worked at The & Partnership for three years. Mr Godfrey told the New York Times how he chose his subject. He said: 'An egg has no gender, race or religion. An egg is an egg, it's universal.' The egg has since made an appearance on the cover of a digital issue of Paper Magazine The egg on Paper Magazine - the same publication that helped Kim Kardashian 'break the internet' with a semi-nude photo shoot in 2014 He has now enlisted the help of two friends Alissa Khan-Whelan, 26 and CJ Brown, 29, to help run the egg account. The friends, who live in south east London, revealed their identifies after the egg featured in a commercial aired during the Super Bowl last night. Shown on the streaming service Hulu, the short animation showed the egg cracking under the pressure of being famous in an advert for Mental Health America. Companie can pay up to $10 million to display advertisements at the Super Bowl. The advert reads: 'Hi, I'm the world_record_egg. (You may have heard of me.) Recently I've started to crack. If you're struggling too, talk to someone.' In the past two weeks, several pictures of the egg with various cracks on it were posted to Instagram as a campaign teaser. Mr Godfrey added: 'It's not really about me. It's just about the egg and sort of where we can take it and what we can do with it. 'It's what you do with that attention that counts.' Advertisement Mystery surrounds a box of bizarre 50-year-old images found tucked away in a Texan loft - with one theory suggesting the perplexing shots were created by time-travellers. The origins of the mind-bending pictures, including a surreal photo of a pair of oversized children playing on tricycles in an abandoned room and a shot of a circus elephant, are shrouded in mystery. The startling cache of pictures was discovered by Arizonan photographer Dale O'Dell, 59, whilst he was clearing out his dead grandmother's house in Texas. 'It was a completely unexpected, out-of-the-blue discovery as I cleaned out the attic of my deceased grandmother's home,' O'Dell explained. 'Everything I found were things you'd expect, normal, usual kinds of things that are either distributed to remaining family members or tossed in the rubbish bin - except for a dusty, falling apart old envelope of weird pictures that shouldn't exist. 'The photos seemed to me to be out-of-time and out-of-place. I wasn't sure exactly what I had but it seemed important. Were the owners artists, or art-collectors, or perhaps, time-travellers?' Dressed in retro clothes on old fashioned trikes, out-of-scale children play in an eerie room in a sepia style photograph similar to the rest of the collection A circus elephant balances on top of a ball in the center of an old fashioned living room as a picture of Abraham Lincoln hangs in the background A nervous, crouching dog looks wary as the light reflects from its eyes. David O'Dell who found the pictures said the photos seemed 'out-of-time and out-of-place' A spring-loaded novelty figuring of Jesus Christ stands in the center of an eerily empty classrooom. O'Dell is now attempting to find out where the curious images came from but has had little luck so far. Bizarre images show dolphins floating over a classroom in what O'Dell said he believes could be the work of a time-traveller Misshapen cutlery bent into in various shapes lay scattered around in this eerie pic. O'Dell discovered the pictures inside 'a dusty, falling apart old envelope' Cowboys riding unicorns across a room with wallpaper peeling off the walls in one of the disturbing pictures recovered by O'Dell Lance Corporal James Ross (pictured), 30, from Leeds, was found hanged at Abercorn Army base in Ballykinler on December 8 2012 The mother of a soldier found hanged in a suspected suicide at an isolated barracks, where another solder is suspected to have killed himself months later, has spoken of her agony over his death. It comes as a Daily Mail investigation found men from their regiment, which took heavy losses in Helmand, are self-harming and taking their own lives at an alarming rate. Lance Corporal James Ross, 30, from Leeds, who served in Afghanistan, was found hanged at Abercorn Army base in Ballykinler, Northern Ireland, on December 8 2012. The inquest into his death, and the death by hanging of Rifleman Darren Mitchell, six weeks later at the same base, opened today. L/Cpl Ross's mother Linda Ketcher told the Co. Antrim inquest that she did not believe it was acceptable that young men who had served in Afghanistan were sent to 'isolated' barracks such as Ballykinler. Mrs Ketcher also questioned why there were two incidents where young men appeared to take their own lives within three months at Ballykinler. "We are asking is there adequate care there?" she said. She also said that during her son's funeral, whenever one of his friends came over to speak to her, they were interrupted by more senior people from the Army , which she thought was odd. She said James was 'gutted' to be posted there and not closer to home after his second tour of Afghanistan from October 2011 to April 2012. She said her son found Ballykinler to be a cold and isolated place, and tried to keep himself busy by keeping fit and taking a number of courses. But she said he was happy in his career and very pleased at his recent promotion to Lance Corporal. 'He found a career that he loved and was progressing well at it,' she said. Mrs Ketcher said her son had been making plans to come home for a late Christmas and spend New Year's Eve in Paris with his girlfriend. She told the inquest that he had cancelled leave for Christmas to allow others with families and children to get it instead, and allow him to catch up with administrative work. She said he told her to keep his presents under the tree so they could celebrate a late Christmas together. Inquests into the deaths of L/Cpl Ross and Rifleman Mitchell are taking place at Ballymena Courthouse in Co Antrim this week. They had previously been on active service with 2nd Battalion the Rifles. An additional eight incidents of serious self-harm involving other soldiers in the same unit were recorded over a six-month period within which the two men died. Mrs Ketcher said that army officials prevented her from speaking to soldiers from the barracks at her son's funeral. She said: 'A few of them [his friends from the Army] were visibly upset. 'If any of the guys who served with him [came to speak to me], within minutes, there would be someone ushering them away from me. 'It just felt really odd that I could not have a conversation of any kind with his friends from his regiment.' Linda Ketcher (pictured) told an inquest into his death that she was ushered away from speaking to her don's comrades Mrs Ketcher told the inquest that her son found Ballykinler - which a preliminary hearing heard was darkly nicknamed 'Bally Kill Yourself' by squaddies - to be a cold and isolated place. Ms Ketcher told the Mail: 'These boys suffer from a mental, physical and emotional illness. 'Yet the Army and Ministry of Defence still take the view they need to pull themselves together, to 'man up' in their parlance.' She told the inquest she did not consider it acceptable for young men who served with the Army in Afghanistan to have been sent to isolated barracks such as Ballykinler and said her son was 'gutted' to be posted there after his second tour of Afghanistan ended in April 2012. C Company of 2 Rifles saw five dead and seven wounded in a Taliban attack involving improvised explosive devices and an ambush on July 10, 2009. Three of the fatalities were teenagers. Three more young soldiers caught up in the attack or its immediate aftermath have since killed themselves, two in the past seven months. The suicide rate for the men of C Company who were in Sangin in July 2009, approximately 80 soldiers in total, is more than 200 times higher than the average rate for men in the UK 15.5 per 100,000 which stands at its lowest level since records began. At least three other servicemen who were with 2 Rifles in 2009 have also been found dead in the UK, as have two other young soldiers who served with 2 Rifles on its next Afghan tour. Others in the unit have carried out non-fatal self-harm. Both L/Cpl Ross and Rifleman Darren Mitchell, 20, from London, had previously been on active service with 2nd Battalion the Rifles. An additional eight incidents of serious self-harm involving other soldiers in the same unit were recorded over a six-month period within which the two men died. Lance Corporal Ross was found hanged at Abercorn Army base (left and right) in Ballykinler, Northern Ireland Soldier Darren Mitchell (pictured), 20, from London also died from suspected suicide three months later A Government spokesman said: 'Any suicide is a tragedy. We take the mental wellbeing of our serving and former personnel extremely seriously, and urge anyone struggling to come forward and access the care they deserve. 'The MoD has increased spending on mental health to 22million a year, and the NHS has committed to expanding specialist health support for veterans across the country.' A preliminary hearing of the inquest was told a colleague described Ballykinler barracks as 'Bally Kill Yourself'. Written evidence before counsel for the victims' families disclosed that L/Cpl Ross had discussed the loss of personnel during overseas combat. The last resident battalion moved out of Ballykinler in 2014. The inquest continues. For confidential support, log on to samaritans.org or call the Samaritans on 116123. Revealed: How Afghanistan's bloodiest summer is STILL claiming lives of British troops 10 years on as veterans are killing themselves in alarming numbers with the suicide rate in one army company a shocking 200 TIMES the average British military veterans are taking their own lives in alarming numbers The suicide rate of one army company is a staggering 200 times the average Grieving families have accused top brass of failing in their duty of care By RICHARD PENDLEBURY FOR THE DAILY MAIL British veterans who served in the deadliest Afghan town for UK forces are taking their own lives at an alarming rate, a Daily Mail investigation has found. Soldiers who survived the bloodiest summer in Afghanistan's most dangerous battleground a decade ago have been hit by a spate of recent suicides. Bereaved families have accused the military authorities of failing in their duty of care and obstructing justice. Inquest: Lance Corporal James Ross, 30, killed himself at the battalion's Northern Ireland base in December 2012 The Mail focused on one infantry company, which while serving in Sangin in the north of Helmand Province bore the brunt of the highest frontline casualty rate suffered by British forces in a single day since the Falklands War. C Company of 2 Rifles saw five dead and seven wounded in a Taliban attack involving improvised explosive devices and an ambush on July 10, 2009. Three of the fatalities were teenagers. Three more young soldiers caught up in the attack or its immediate aftermath have since killed themselves, two in the past seven months. The suicide rate for the men of C Company who were in Sangin in July 2009, approximately 80 soldiers in total, is more than 200 times higher than the average rate for men in the UK 15.5 per 100,000 which stands at its lowest level since records began. At least three other servicemen who were with 2 Rifles in 2009 have also been found dead in the UK, as have two other young soldiers who served with 2 Rifles on its next Afghan tour. Others in the unit have carried out non-fatal self-harm. The most recent veteran to die was father-of-two Corporal Jonny Cole, who made a number of suicide attempts before succeeding. Wounded in a Taliban rocket attack and evacuated to the UK, Cpl Cole was seen in hospital by Prince Charles, who shook his hand and said: 'Bloody good job.' He was also thanked by the former UK commander in Afghanistan, General Sir Nick Parker, for the kindness he showed Gen Parker's officer son, who was being treated in the next bed for severe IED injuries. Kevin WIlliams, left, and John Paul Finnigan both took their own lives (pictured with Iraqi security forces in 2007) Previously Cpl Cole had guarded the Queen at Windsor Castle and sounded the Last Post at the Tower of London. His father, a decorated British and US Army soldier who is now working for American veterans' charity Wounded Warrior Project, helped train staff at its British counterpart Help For Heroes. But speaking for the first time, Cpl Cole's widow told the Mail that the Army 'abandoned' her husband and his family when his mental health deteriorated as a result of combat trauma. Teresa Cole said: 'He fought for Queen and country. But when he was medically discharged we were escorted off base as if we were criminals. They told me, 'Don't worry, the Rifles will look after you'. But that is not what happened.' The inquest of another 2 Rifles veteran of the devastating 2009 Sangin tour begins today in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Lance Corporal James Ross, 30, killed himself at the battalion's Northern Ireland base in December 2012. His inquest will be held jointly with that of his colleague Rifleman Darren Mitchell, who took his own life at the same location six weeks later. Rfn Mitchell had served on a later tour of Helmand Province. Their inquests have been delayed for six years because of legal argument between the families and the MoD. The hearing is expected to examine the mental impact on soldiers returning from their Afghan 'hellhole' to a remote barracks in County Down. The threat of dissident IRA activity meant they were still not entirely secure. A number of incidents of self-harming by soldiers at the Ballykinler barracks have also been recorded. Linda Ketcher, L/Cpl Ross's mother, told the Mail: 'These boys suffer from a mental, physical and emotional illness. Yet the Army and Ministry of Defence still take the view they need to pull themselves together, to 'man up' in their parlance.' Emma Norton, head of legal casework at Liberty and Mrs Ketcher's solicitor, said: 'The Army has been at pains to promote itself as inclusive and caring. But the facts prove otherwise. Our soldiers deserve better.' A Government spokesman said: 'Any suicide is a tragedy. We take the mental wellbeing of our serving and former personnel extremely seriously, and urge anyone struggling to come forward and access the care they deserve. 'The MoD has increased spending on mental health to 22million a year, and the NHS has committed to expanding specialist health support for veterans across the country.' Additional reporting: Simon Trump The boss of Instagram has admitted the social media platform is 'not yet where it needs to be' on its handling of content around self-harm and suicide. Adam Mosseri said a comprehensive review had been launched amid accusations the firm was 'normalising' self-harm and risked the creation of a 'suicide generation'. Mr Mosseri said the recent case of 14-year-old Molly Russell, whose father said she took her own life after looking at self-harm posts, had left him 'deeply moved'. He added that Instagram was investing in technology to better identify inappropriate images and would also begin using sensitivity screens to hide images from view until users actively choose to look at them. Instagram boss Adam Mosseri (left) said the case of 14-year-old Molly Russell (right), whose father said she took her own life after looking at self-harm posts, had left him 'deeply moved' Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said: 'We need to do everything we can to keep the most vulnerable people who use our platform safe. 'To be very clear, we do not allow posts that promote or encourage suicide or self-harm. 'We rely heavily on our community to report this content, and remove it as soon as it's found. 'The bottom line is we do not yet find enough of these images before they're seen by other people.' His comments come as social media and technology firms face increasing scrutiny over their practices. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last week legislation may be needed to police disturbing content on social media. Mr Mosseri said a comprehensive review had been launched amid accusations the firm was 'normalising' self-harm and risked the creation of a 'suicide generation' Meanwhile, separate reports by the Children's Commissioner for England and the House of Commons called on firms to take more responsibility for their content. Algorithms on Instagram mean that youngsters who view one account glorifying self-harm and suicide can see recommendations to follow similar sites. Experts say some images on the website, which has a minimum joining age of 13, may act as an 'incitement' to self-harm. Instagram's guidelines say posts should not 'glorify self-injury' while searches using suspect words, such as 'self-harm', are met with a warning. But users are easily able to view the pictures by ignoring the offers of help. 'Instagram helped kill my daughter': Father of tragic Molly Russell, 14 Molly Russell, 14, was found dead in her bedroom in November 2017 after showing 'no obvious signs' of severe mental health issues. Her family, of Harrow, north west London, later found she had been viewing material on social media linked to anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide. The teenager's father Ian criticised Instagram and Pinterest for hosting 'harmful' images he said may have played a part in her death. He said: 'I have no doubt that Instagram helped kill my daughter. She had so much to offer and thats gone.' Molly, who went to Hatch End High School in Harrow, Middlesex, had started viewing disturbing posts on social networks without the family's knowledge. It was only after her death in 2017 that the teenager's parents delved into her social media accounts and realised she was viewing distressing images. Advertisement Mr Mosseri added: 'Starting this week we will be applying sensitivity screens to all content we review that contains cutting, as we still allow people to share that they are struggling even if that content no longer shows up in search, hashtags or account recommendations. 'These images will not be immediately visible, which will make it more difficult for people to see them. 'We want to better support people who post images indicating they might be struggling with self-harm or suicide. 'We already offer resources to people who search for hashtags, but we are working on more ways to help, such as connecting them with organisations we work with like Papyrus and Samaritans. 'We have worked with external experts for years to develop and refine our policies. One important piece of advice is that creating safe spaces for young people to talk about their mental health online is essential. 'Young people have also told us that this is important, and that when the space is safe, the therapeutic benefits are positive.' He said the site did not want to 'stigmatise mental health' by deleting images which reflect the issues people were struggling with, but would not stop recommending them in searches, via hashtags or the app's Explore tab. 'Suicide and self-harm are deeply complex and challenging issues that raise difficult questions for experts, governments and platforms like ours,' Mr Mosseri wrote. 'How do we balance supporting people seeking help and protecting the wider community? Do we allow people to post this content they say helps them or remove it in case others find it? 'This week we are meeting experts and academics, including Samaritans, Papyrus and Save.org, to talk through how we answer these questions. 'We are committed to publicly sharing what we learn. We deeply want to get this right and we will do everything we can to make that happen.' Ali Al-Hindawi, 23, shouted Allah is god at wheelchair-bound Claudio Bogge before threatening him and spitting at him. He is seen in an undated photo A Muslim who spat at a disabled Christian preacher has been jailed for more than four years for attacking volunteers as they gave out food to the homeless. Ali Al-Hindawi, 23, shouted Allah is god at wheelchair-bound Claudio Bogge before threatening him and spitting at him. The evangelical preacher, who was handing out leaflets for his local church, told the incensed Al-Hindawi: I love you because Jesus loves you. Al-Hindawi then carried out another vicious assault on a Christian volunteer who was helping the homelessness, several hours later on 11 June, 2018. He taunted Kayode Ogunleye, who was working with an outreach programme for the homeless on Victoria Street in Westminster, before flying into a rage biting his fingers. Al-Hindawi then beat the volunteer over the head with a metal bar taken from a bike lock until his victim was left bloodied and lying on the floor. After the cruel assault, Mr Ogunleye told police that he forgave Al-Hindawi, wishing him only Jesuss love. A fortnight later Al-Hindawi was asked to leave St Vincents homeless hostel following accusations of drug dealing. He then threatened to cut the throats of staff working at the Christian hostel before trying to burn the charity to the ground with a makeshift flamethrower. Prosecutor Suki Dhadda told how on the 1 June, within just a few hours of arriving in London from Coventry, Al-Hindawi was already causing carnage. On 1 June at approximately 1:20am, Mr Rob Baker was with his friend on Euston Road outside McDonalds. She told how the pair saw Al-Hindawi sleeping next to a branch of Barclays bank and Mr Baker turned to his friend and said: That could be me tomorrow night. Al-Hindawi leapt to his feet and shouted: Do you think thats funny? He turned round and said, No mate. Mr Baker and his friend offered the defendant their food but again that only seemed to make him angrier. He punched him in the side of his head at least twice. Ms Dhadda then told the court how Al-Hindawi shouted: Ive got a screwdriver, Im going to stick it in you. Mr Baker later told police: I have never experienced anything like this before, I give money to homeless people - I felt sorry for the male and the situation he was in. Al-Hindawi was arrested and he handed over the offending screwdriver to police before being released on bail. Describing the next attack, the prosecutor said: On the 11 June at approximately half past seven in the evening, Mr Boggi was giving out leaflets from his church. Ms Dhadda told how Al-Hindawi approached the disabled man shouting: Allah is god, Jesus was only a prophet. Youre in a wheelchair, youre lucky I dont hit you. The defendant then spat at him and that landed on him. Mr Boggi replied: Gods love covers multiple sins. I still love you because Jesus loves you. Later that day, Al-Hindawi approached Mr Ogunleye who was handing out food to homeless people. Al-Hindawi shouted at him: Hey big fella, what are you going to do? All of a sudden the defendant headbutted the victim, this he said glanced off his forehead, the defendant then bit his fingers. The defendant reached down in front of his trousers and he took out a metal object. Ms Dhadda told how Al-Hindawi managed to smash this item into the back of Mr Ogunleyes head. The victim then felt blood coming down the back of his neck and the police arrived a short time later. He forgave the male, wishing him Jesuss love and said he would continue his outreach work for the homeless. There was headbutting, a number of punches, the biting of fingers and then, your honour, the smashing of the metal pole on the back of the head. Paramedics later treated a one inch gash at the back of Mr Ogunleyes head. Turing to the final set of offences, Ms Dhadda said: This incident occurred on the 25 June at St Vincents centre on Carlisle Place. He was told by members of staff that they were withdrawing services because of allegations of drug dealing. The defendant spat at both the females. Al-Hindawi was sentenced at Southwark Crown court (pictured in a file photo) to four years and four months in prison The prosecutor told how the two women, Milita Raymond and Nora OKeefe, managed to escape the consultation room before Al-Hindawi began his rampage. She told how he broke into the main reception area, jumped on the counter and began kicking the glass while the horrified pair watched on from behind a protective door alongside the charitys director, Roger Clark. He then armed himself with a broken bottle, explained Ms Dhadda, adding, The defendant looked at him [Clark] holding the broken bottle and stated he would cut their throats. The prosecutor told how Al-Hindawi managed to smash over 3,000 worth of printing and computer equipment before he reached into his bag and produced a deodorant spray while grabbing a guillotine. Al-Hindawi then set light to the canister, creating a makeshift flamethrower, before pointing it at the frightened trio. He then stormed out of the centre, attempting to punch a number of passers-by and swinging the paper-cutting blade. He then walked back into the building and attacked the charitys director: He approached Mr Clark, still armed with the guillotine, and struck him across the back. Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said: So this was the director of the charity that was looking after him? Yes, replied Ms Dhadda, that caused a hairline fracture to his left shoulder. When police viewed the CCTV of the incident, they saw earlier clips of the defendant walking around the centre with bread knife that he had stolen from the kitchens. The judge said: He was accused of dealing drugs and they said he couldnt stay, so what did he do? He went on the rampage. These are clearly not the reactions of someone who behaves as people are normally expected to do. Avirup Chaudhuri, defending explained that the defendant suffers from drug problems and ADHD. He told the court that Al-Hindawi had moved to London looking for a better life and that his father had given him the money for a deposit so that he could rent somewhere on his arrival. Mr Chaudhuri said: His memory of the incidents, for reasons that I will come to, is hazy. Drugs, replied the judge. Judge Loraine-Smith said: Once you got here, to London, you revealed a volatile temper and a willingness to arm yourself and resort to violence at a moments notice. Most of these offences were committed against people trying to help you. Eleven very serious offences committed on three separate occasions. Al-Hindawi, of no fixed address, admitted four counts of common assault, threatening another with an offensive weapon, possession of an offensive weapon, actual bodily harm, two counts of criminal damage, possession of a bladed article and one count of grievous bodily harm. A further count of religiously aggravated assault was left to lie on file. He was sentenced at Southwark Crown court to four years and four months in prison. A woman who kept a Chinese vase in her attic for more than 20 years after her aunt brought it back from Shanghai has sold it for nearly 600,000. The blue and white porcelain piece had been given to the lucky owner in a box of antiques by an elderly auntie in the 1990s. The late Annie Glover had herself been gifted it when she worked as a teacher in Shanghai in the early 20th century. She used to keep it on a sideboard in her hallway. Her niece, who is not being named, had no idea of its worth until after she sent auctioneers an email with a photo of the box of antiques. The blue and white porcelain piece (pictured left) had been given to the lucky owner in a box of antiques by her late auntie Annie Glover (pictured right with her husband and son ) in the 1990s Expert Nic Sainty asked her to bring the 11 inches tall vase in and only then was he able to establish the item was made for the Chinese Emperor Qianlong between 1780 and 1790. His research also discovered the vessel, which has a chip in one of the handles, was a true one-off piece. It was given a pre-sale estimate of between 20,000 to 40,000 but the sale generated huge interest from China and eventually sold for a hammer price of 460,000. With auction fees added on the total price for the anonymous Chinese collector was 586,000. The price is a life-changing sum of money for the middle-aged woman, who is from Devon, and she went for a slap up meal with her family after the auction. The fee was also a record for any item ever sold at the provincial auction house Bearnes, Hampton and Littlewood of Exeter. The Qianlong Emperor date stamp. Annie Glover's niece, who is not being named, has now sold it through Devon auctioneers Bearnes, Hampton and Littlewood Auctioneer Mr Sainty said: 'The vase initially came to us via an email enquiry with photos attached. 'I couldn't give it a value without seeing it close up. 'Then three weeks later the lady just dropped in a box of China that had been in her attic for 20 odd years and this vase was among it. 'Some of the items were quite reasonable and worth a few hundred pounds and there was also some tatty bits. 'The vase was a very nice quality but when we tried to research it we couldn't find anything about it which was either a good or bad thing. 'In the run up to the sale it transpired that one just like it had appeared in multi colours before but not in blue and white this was the first. 'Then when the right sort of people started expressing an interest in it we thought we have probably got a very good vase here that is going to do very well.' The sinuous vase has symbolic peony flowers on and was made at the end of the reign of Emperor Qianlong for one of the imperial palaces. It is not known how and when it left the palace but Mrs Glover bright it back to Britain with her in 1922 after her husband's untimely death. Mr Sainty said: 'The lady who owned it had it in her hall of her house in Bath, just behind her front door. 'The vendor got it from her auntie and it had just been in the box in her attic for 20 odd years. 'It was in remarkably good condition save for a small chip on one of the handles. 'When the vendor realised it had potential she was equally content that it could sell for a relatively small sum or that it might just fly away. Anything to her was a bonus. 'She was in the room for the sale and she was very happy. She was with her family and they all went for a slap up lunch afterwards. 'It is life changing sum for her. She has a daughter who she is going to treat.' Advertisement These adorable pictures show a lion cub playfully biting on its mother's tail at a wildlife reserve in Kenya. The seven-week-old animal, one of three cubs seen in the photos, chases its mother's swishing tail and stands on its hind legs in a bid to reach high enough. The tail remains out of reach at first but eventually the cub grasp its mother's tail with its paws before trapping it in its mouth, while the parent growls but faces in the opposite direction. Wildlife photographer Paul Goldstein captured the cute pictures at the Olare Conservancy in western Kenya last month. He said: 'Right now this pride is very healthy with three of the females with very young cubs. The oldest are about seven weeks and include this particular miscreant, who appears much more mischievous than any of its siblings. 'All young cats (and indeed dogs) seem never to tire of this tail-grabbing sport. The mother is tolerant for a while, indulging her young charge but eventually loses patience. 'Sometimes the mother growled, sometimes she cuffed the tawny tot terrorising her, but it was done gently and the cub lived to tell the tale.' Bite me: The lion cub traps its mother's tail in its mouth in an adorable picture taken at the Olare Conservancy in Kenya Standing tall: The mother lion stands over three cubs, in what was described as a 'very' healthy pride at the Kenyan reserve Eyes on the prize: The lion cub follows its mother's tail with its eyes while the larger animal has its back turned Out of reach: The lion cub looks up towards the tail but the swishing body part is just too high for the small animal to reach Closer: The tail swings right above the lion cub's mouth, as the smaller cat refuses to give up on biting its target It's mine: The little lion cub stands upright and reaches out with its left paw to touch the tail of its mother in Kenya I've got it: The lion cub takes a firm hold of the tail, grabbing it with both paws while the mother continues to face away A piglet in the Phillippines has left villagers astounded after she was born with two heads, two snouts and three eyes. The footage, captured in the village of Calian, Sultan Kudarat, on January 31, shows the rare animal, who was the last to be born in a little of eight, being held by her owner Adelita Dalipe. The unusual piglet, who has been named 'Mara Clara', is being kept in a separate enclosure for her own safety and is being provided with constant care. The rare piglet is held in front of locals in the village of Calian, Sultan Kudarat, Phillippines Her owner Adelita Dalipe said the rare piglet was 'lucky' and has chosen to name her Mara Clara The little piglet was the last to be born from a litter of eight and has two heads, two snouts and three eyes In the clip, Mara Clara's owner holds her piglet in front of locals as the animal wriggles in her arms. She then places the piglet against its mother, who lies in another enclosure, where it can be seen suckling on her nipples. Despite her rare appearance, the piglet has two functioning snouts that allow it to latch onto her mother's nipples simultaneously. Following the piglet's birth, Ms Dalipe expressed that she was startled by its appearance but now deems the animal to be 'lucky'. She told Newsflare: 'I think that the piglet is lucky. This is so rare. It's amazing that she survived and that she is healthy. 'She has a lot of energy just like her brothers and sisters. I will take care of her and give her special treatment. 'Many people thought that she would not survive. But she is strong and has proved them wrong.' During the clip, Ms Dalipe places the piglet next to her mother and it suckles on her nipples The rare piglet was born with a rare genetic condition known as Polycephaly and is being cared for Local veterinarian Allan Alimajen Jr said that the animal has Polycephaly- a condition that results in livestock being born with more than one head. The rare genetic defect can affect a number of animals including humans. This is not the first time a pig has been documented with the condition. In 2016, locals were left baffled when a pig on a farm in Luzhou, south-west China's Sichuan province, was born with two heads, three eyes, two noses and two mouths. In 2015, a two-headed pig weighing 3.3 lbs was also born in Beiyan Village, Gaoguan, China. Yadvinder Singh Bhamba pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy and 15 counts of smuggling aliens to the United States. New York: 60-year-old Indian man has pleaded guilty to his role in a dangerous transnational human trafficking conspiracy by assisting around 400 people from India to unlawfully enter the US for profit, the US Justice Department said. Yadvinder Singh Bhamba pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy and 15 counts of smuggling aliens to the United States for profit before US Magistrate Judge Sivia Carreno-Coll of the District of Puerto Rico. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April. According to admissions in Bhamba's plea agreement, since 2013, Bhamba had a leadership role in a human smuggling conspiracy operating out of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, India and elsewhere. As part of the conspiracy, Bhamba personally assisted around 400 people to unlawfully enter the United States between 2013 and 2015. He also oversaw and directed co-conspirators operating out of the Caribbean, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said. Individuals paid between USD 30,000 and USD 85,000 to be smuggled from India to the United States and from at least 2013 to 2016, human smuggling was Bhamba's primary source of income, the Department said. Bhamba was arrested in the Dominican Republic in August 2017, and later transferred to Puerto Rico. Bhamba and other members of the conspiracy made flight arrangements for people to travel from India through other countries including Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Iran, Panama, Venezuela, Belize, and Haiti to the Dominican Republic, which was used as a staging area, where aliens were housed before being transported to the United States. The organisation brought groups of aliens from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico or Florida by boat and from there they were picked up by co-conspirators and taken to stash houses until flights could be arranged to California, New York, or elsewhere in the United States. Bhamba and others arranged for fraudulent identifications for some aliens to use in the United States. The Justice Department said that the boat trips organised by Bhamba and his co-conspirators were perilous. Boat captains used old, damaged, cracked, unlicensed, overcrowded, and unsafe boats to make the journey. In at least one instance, a person died in a boat on his way to the United States. At times, the smugglers would take passports from the aliens during their journeys, physically assault them, and threaten their families to collect money. Bhamba used fraudulent Indian, Dominican, and Jamaican identifications for travel and financial transactions related to the conspiracy. In some instances, he created and provided false employment documents on behalf of the aliens to authorities to obtain foreign visas. Bhamba also instructed aliens travelling through foreign airports how to find, and in some instances, pay cash to, corrupt immigration officials, passport control officers, or airport employees in order to bypass regular immigration and passport control procedures. A German man arrested on suspicion of the rape of 29 children over 1,000 times in a caravan park has been pictured for the first time - lying next to his foster daughter who he reportedly used as bait to prey on other children. Andreas V., 56, is said to have used his seven-year-old foster daughter to lure young girls and boys to his run-down holiday home at the Eichwald caravan park in Luegde, in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He is also said to have raped the girl, reportedly the daughter of his ex-wife who local youth welfare office trusted him to take care of after they split. The first photograph of the man accused of over 1000 instances of child rape, Andreas V., with his seven-year-old foster daughter. She was also reportedly raped by him and used as bait to lure in other young boys and girls According to the public prosecutor's office, Andreas V. committed more than 1,000 acts of rape over the past decade, despite the fact that police and youth welfare authorities received several warnings about his behaviour. According to German newspaper Bild, Andreas V. is alleged to have used his foster daughter to lure in more victims by making a 'comfortable' environment in which the children felt safe. He was also allegedly known locally as being 'overly friendly with children' and often took youngsters on day-trips he organised. Another 33-year-old man, whose name has not been reported, was arrested on suspicion of the mass rapes. Eichwald caravan park in Luegde, in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the alleged abuse took place Andreas V. and another 33-year-old man allegedly carried out more than 1000 rapes of 29 children at the campsite The pair allegedly got in contact a third man, 46, over the dark web, who has since been arrested on suspicion of ordering the abuse of the children. A police spokesman said that during raids of the suspects' homes the cops found more than 13,000 images of child pornography. At Andreas V's campsite - which was described as being piled high with waste and a dis-used caravan - they found more than 14 terabytes of material. The first warnings about the mass child abuse, which allegedly began in 2008 and lasted until Andreas V. was caught in December 2018, were passed on to the authorities in 2016. According to the public prosecutor's office, Andreas V. is accused of raping 29 children more than 1,000 times since 2008, despite the fact that police and youth welfare authorities received several warnings about his behaviour Even though the Hamelin youth office criticised the dire living conditions at the caravan park, they found that otherwise 'everything was alright' Since then, Jens Ruzsitska has come forward to say that his daughters were victims of Andreas V., and that he went to both the police and the Child Protection Association in 2016, but nothing was done. Ruzsitska said he saw Andreas V. grope some children at a birthday party in the town of Bad Pyrmont in the state of Lower Saxony, but nothing was done with his testimony. 'He often grabbed between the children's legs and said disgusting things,' the father-of-two said. Ruzsitska hit Andreas V. in the face and immediately left the party. However, when he reported what he saw to the police he said he was told it was better not to pursue it as he himself could be sued for slander. 'They assured me that everything was alright,' he added. Andreas V, 56, was arrested at this campsite in eastern Germany in December and accused of abusing around 29 children here over the last 10 years Officers have since arrested a 33-year-old man they accuse of participating in the abuse and a 46-year-old who they say bought videos of the attacks (pictured, Andreas's campsite) Police who raided the run-down campsite, where Andreas had lived for more than 30 years, say they found 14 terabytes of child porn, amounting to 13,000 videos The police forwarded the alert to the youth welfare office in Lippe and did not start an investigation. Chief prosecutor Ralf Vetter said: 'We are now investigating whether the police should have taken further steps.' The youth welfare office of Hamelin in Lower Saxony was also alerted to possible sexual abuse when workers from the local job centre called to ask for an investigation after Andreas V. visited with foster daughter because he needed money. One of the job centre workers reportedly found it suspicious that the girl had said she could no longer stand the smell of men. According to local media, in a joint meeting with job centre workers Andreas V. reportedly even said that his foster daughter would 'turn him on'. The local prosecutor's office has also announced an investigation into the police after it was discovered that a worried father reported the abuse in 2016, but nothing was done Police accuse Andreas of using his foster daughter to lure in more victims and of trying to create an environment where the children felt 'comfortable' so he could attack them He reportedly said that 'the girl would do everything' for sweets. Karl-Eitel John of the youth welfare office said that 'at the time no sexual abuse could be detected'. Even though the Hamelin youth office criticised the dire living conditions at the caravan park, they found that otherwise 'everything was alright'. The public prosecutor's office of Detmold has confirmed that both the police and two different youth welfare offices received tips about the alleged sexual abuse. The prosecutors started an official investigation into whether or not the massive child pornography ring could not have been stopped earlier. The entire property - which is littered with trash but includes several children's toys such as a trampoline and multiple bikes - has been cordoned off Andreas V, who is unemployed, moved to the campsite 30 years ago where he lived with his elderly mother for a time before she died. He was previously married, though it is not clear to whom, or when his ex-wife left him. The 46-year-old man who allegedly ordered the abuse of the children via the dark web has reportedly partially confessed to the crimes during interrogations, while the others have stayed silent. Investigations are ongoing. A bitter row has erupted at a Cambridge college after posters advertising women and non-binary only gym sessions were vandalised. Posters went up around Girton College introducing one hour sessions for women and those who identify as non-binary to have the gym and swimming pool to themselves. But the posters were defaced and the terms 'women/non-binary' were crossed out and replaced with 'everyone'. The poster read: 'Men, please be respectful and do not come in.' The posters were defaced and the terms 'women/non-binary' were crossed out and replaced with 'everyone' A male student reportedly waited outside the gym during the allotted period in protest against the session, according to the student news site The Tab. But organisers insisted the session was 'not a sanction against men'. The ancient college was the first women's college in Cambridge and was also become co-educational more than thirty years ago. The hour was originally initiated by the JCR Women's Officer and had the College Council support to run the session. But the organisers have since stated they were 'very disappointed' by the vandalism. A post on social media read: 'It has come to my attention that some students find it contentious that there is a women-only gym and swimming pool hour. In response to the backlash, Girton's Senior Tutor, Sandra Fulton, emailed students emphasising the College's support of the JCR's scheme 'This is not a sanction against men. This is to serve a community that is marginalised and does not necessarily feel safe or comfortable exercising with men. 'I want to stress that the fact that it is only for one hour a week, leaving about 83 additional daylight hours for men to use the facilities. 'This does not seem like a sacrifice. 'I ask you to consider this time and consider your own position and what privileges you have, and please respect this hour.' In response to the backlash, Girton's Senior Tutor, Sandra Fulton, emailed students emphasising the College's support of the JCR's scheme. Girton college was the first women's college in Cambridge and was also become co-educational more than thirty years ago The email read: 'It has come to my attention that some students find it contentious that there is a women-only gym and swimming pool hour. 'If anyone has issues with this channel they should make it known by an appropriate channel, which is via me or via your tutor.' On Facebook, however, the conflict has only intensified as students took to social media to debate the incident. Some Girton students questioned whether the woman and non-binary hour was an appropriate response to students' needs while others wanted to extend the length of the session. The college have since replaced the vandalised poster and are to continue their women and non-binary gym sessions. A spokesperson for Girton College said: 'Girton College is an inclusive community that aims to provide a welcoming and comfortable environment for students and staff. 'We do not tolerate acts of vandalism of any sort in College. We deplore the fact that a poster advertising access to the gym was defaced.' Savannah Spurlock, 22, has been missing since January 4 A 22-year-old mother who vanished last month, was taken to a home in Kentucky by the three men with whom she was last seen, police have revealed. Lt. Col Rodney Richardson, of the Richmond Police Department told Fox News on Sunday that mother-of-four Savannah Spurlock's last known location was a home in Garrard County. 'We know that she ended up at a home in Garrard County some time after leaving the bar with these three men,' Richardson said. 'They did not know Savannah prior to meeting her at the bar.' According to Richardson, Spurlock travelled to the home in the back of two of the the men's car, with another vehicle driven by the third man following along behind. Police confirmed they had forensically searched both of the vehicles but they refused to release the findings of the searches. Investigators have been unable to confirm whether Spurlock left the home, which is located in a rural area - despite one of the men involved claiming she left 'later that morning'. Scroll down for video Social media scammers have been claiming they have Savannah (pictured in an older photo), asking for $1,000, gift cards, or Bitcoin for her return Investigators said that Spurlock's phone, which they have not located, was turned off around 8:30 a.m. that morning. Meanwhile, Spurlock's mother issued a heartbreaking plea last week to her daughter to 'please come home'. Ellen Spurlock, who lives with her daughter in Richmond, believes the young mother-of-four was taken against her will. 'It's the worst nightmare, we're leaning on our faith in God and on each other, our family, our friends,' Ellen told ABC News. 'I would say to her please come home to your family and friends. We miss you and we love you more than you will ever know.' 'Please, please come home to us. Your babies need you.' Ellen also revealed that the last time she spoke to her daughter was on FaceTime around 3am on the morning she vanished. Ellen Spurlock, who lives with her daughter in Richmond, Kentucky, issued a heartbreaking plea to her daughter to 'please come home' 'She seemed okay,' Ellen recalled. 'She told me she was fine. When I asked her where she was, she said she was in Lexington. She promised she'd be home later that morning. She did not seem out of the ordinary.' Ellen said her daughter was in a car with at least three other people when they last spoke. 'I don't know anything about her relationship with the men that she was with,' she added. 'When she FaceTimed me, I did not recognize the gentleman driving the car. I had never seen him before. I could not see who was in the back of the car because it was so dark out.' Savannah went missing on January 4, just days after giving birth to twin boys (pictured) 'But I heard voices talking over each other - that's how I knew there were at least two individuals in the backseat of the vehicle.' Savannah vanished after leaving The Other Bar in Lexington just days after she gave birth to twins. Surveillance footage captured Savannah leaving the bar with two of the men. All three men that Savannah left the bar with have been identified and questioned, according to Richmond Assistant Chief of Police Rodney Richardson. Richardson said it remains unclear if the men Savannah left the bar with were the same people she was inside the car with while talking to Ellen. Last week, police searched the home of one of the two men she was spotted with and seized a car. 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 have not been charged The two men, along with a third, were located and questioned but not charged. One of the men drove away in a pickup truck (pictured) Shaquille Smith, Savannah's ex-boyfriend and the father of two of her children, 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.' Ellen said her daughter's disappearance has been especially hard on her toddler children, aged 2 and 4. Pictured is one of her children 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. No one has been charged in the case. Richardson said his focus is currently on the search for Savannah and that he believes she is in danger. There is no indication that the mother-of-four ran away and police have not ruled out the possibility of foul play, he added. 'Her kids were her priority,' Ellen said. 'So this is all just a big shock to her family and friends that she would not be here for over three weeks.' 'I miss her. It's very, very hard on us. We just want her back where she belongs with us and her four babies.' Ellen also revealed that social media scammers have been claiming they have her daughter, asking for $1,000, gift cards, or Bitcoin for her return. 'She's only worth a thousand dollars? At least make your story believable,' Ellen told WKYT. 'It's very cruel. If these people that are doing this would think about what they would be doing in my situation, they may stop.' Savannah is 5ft tall and weighs about 140lbs. She has shoulder-length brown and blond hair and several tattoos One of the scammers threatened to cut Savannah's finger off if they didn't receive the ransom in 12 hours. Another threatened that 'We will vanish and so will Spurlock' if they weren't paid. Ellen said the messages have been a distraction to investigators, who must check out every tip or lead 'no matter how silly it seems'. On Sunday, Savannah's family released a new image of the 22-year-old. Shaquille Smith, Spurlock's ex-boyfriend and the father of two of her children, said he believes the men know where she is The photo, which shows her with brown hair instead of blonde, is the most recent picture they have of the young mom. 'Because Savannah has so many different ''looks'' we ask if anyone has photos taken the six weeks prior to missing to please message to us,' a post on the page Missing Savannah read. 'As we receive them, we will share. This photo was newly found in her grandmother's digital camera.' The family also released images of the month-old twin boys who have now been without their mother for three weeks. Ellen told WKYT that her daughter's 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 when the search was reaching the two-week mark. '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.' The family has since created a GoFundMe to raise money for a reward for any information that could lead to Savannah. 'I would like for anyone that has anything that might help us in locating Savannah to please come forward and give that information,' Ellen said. 'No matter how insignificant you think it is, how minor, it could be the piece of the puzzle that brings Savannah back to us.' Savannah is 5ft tall and weighs about 140lbs. She was last seen wearing a black top and a red skirt with heels. 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'. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is urged to contact Lt. Col. Rodney Richardson with Richmond police at 859-624-4776. Anthony McErlean, 73, (seen in an undated police mug shot) obtained power of attorney over George Manwill and moved him into an old peoples residence A fraudster who once faked his own death in a 'Canoe Man'-style scam is back behind bars for posing as a will writer to swindle a 94-year-old man out of his home. Anthony McErlean, 73, obtained power of attorney over George Manwill and moved him into an old peoples residence after helping him sell his house in 2016. He tried to buy a 39,000 necklace with the pensioners money along with a 16,000 Audi, claiming he needed it to take the pensioner to his medical appointments. A Santander bond, worth 135,000, went straight into McErleans bank account. McErlean was convicted of fraud in 2011 after he faked his own death to pocket a 520,000 life insurance payout. He filled in documents under his wifes name and claimed that he had been hit and killed by a cabbage truck in Honduras. The fraudster invented a fake witness who had supposedly been travelling with him to take wildlife photos. He recounted taking McErlean's body to a nearby village. He was undone when his fingerprints were traced on his forged death certificate. Unrepentant McErlean appeared on ITVs Pensioners Behind Bars in December 2012. Speaking from his cell at HMP Elmley on the Isle of Sheppey, McErlean told the cameras: I was unlucky - I thought it was a bloody good scheme. He added sarcastically: But one mustnt go committing fraud against major insurance companies, because they really are such lovely people. The bespectacled pensioner has previous convictions including for robbery and possession of a firearm dating back to 1963. His sentence for faking his own death was reduced from six years to five years while inside due to ill-health. McErlean now claims he has a brain tumour. Woolwich Crown Court heard how Mr Manwill received a cold call in September 2015 from a will writing service and McErlean turned up at his front door shortly afterwards. Over the next eight months McErlean inveigled his way into every aspect of the elderly mans life - helping him with the sale of his house, gaining lasting power of attorney over him, linking his bank accounts to Mr Manwills and moving him out. He forged the signature of Constance Jessop, an elderly neighbour and friend of Mr Manwills on the documents giving him power of attorney. In a witness statement, Mr Manwill said: At first I didnt trust him, but I received a phone call from a lady stating he was qualified. He seemed genuine, I came to trust him and consider him a friend. In July 2016 my house was sold. He told me it had been put in a Lloyds bank account but I have never seen any evidence of that. McErlean was convicted of fraud in 2011 after he faked his death to pocket a 520,000 life insurance payout. Pictured is his death certificate, which was covered with his fingerprints Mr Manwill said that he had paid McErlean several thousand for his services. 'My will was split five ways with my family and neighbours,' he said. 'I have not given him any permission to take money from my accounts. He asked me to go to Spain but I dont want to go. I feel such a fool that he has taken my money when I trusted him. I never wished for Anthony or Sonya McErlean to be beneficiaries of my will. A signed and witnessed will naming them both as sole beneficiaries of Mr Manwills 800,000 was made but has never been found. McErlean visited Cousins jewellers in Canterbury on August 4 2016 to buy the necklace and claimed he had won 750,000 in the lottery He told the court: I have very little recollection of that. I was very inebriated. After McErlean was found guilty by unanimous verdict his lawyer told the court his client had a brain tumour and asked for bail. Judge Philip Shorrock refused and said: Had you not been arrested you would have milked that account for several hundred thousand pounds. You should come back expecting a very heavy sentence indeed. McErlean, from Canterbury, denied but was convicted of one count of dishonestly obtaining lasting power of attorney for gain. He was remanded in custody ahead of sentence on February 25. Advertisement These harrowing photographs illustrate the horrors faced by US soldiers during the Second World War's D-Day landings in France, on June 6, 1944. Towns reduced to rubble, wounded soldiers, and terrified troops making their way towards the Normandy shore, have all come to light in chilling images depicted for a new book The Americans on D-Day and in Normandy: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives by historian Brooke S. Blades. D-Day saw tens of thousands of courageous allied soldiers face the terrifying prospect of landing on Frances northern shoreline to liberate Europe from the Nazis. And given the incredible scale of the invasion, almost 2,500 Americans are thought to have died, as well as nearly 2,000 troops from the other Allied Nations. In the weeks after the landings, including D-Day itself, the Battle of Normandy saw over 425,000 Allied and German troops killed, wounded or missing. Taxis to Hell and Back Into the Jaws of Death (pictured) was taken on June 6 1944 by Robert F. Sargent, a chief photographers mate in the US Coast Guard. It depicts the US 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry, as they disembark at Omaha Beach. It is one of the most recognised photographs of the Normandy Landings and has been mirrored in such films as Tom Hank's Saving Private Ryan A D-Day casualty is shown lying next to a fallen tree. Soldiers talk in the background, as they are now use to seeing fallen comrades. It's believed the photograph was taken on June 7, the day after troops stormed the beaches A German soldier is partially buried in rock and soil after a trench collapsed following an artillery bombardment on June 9. The caption on the original photograph indicates he was freed by allied soldiers but taken prisoner Worried medics try to resuscitate an injured soldier on the Normandy beaches. The US National D-Day Memorial Foundation have so far verified 2,499 Americans dead during the 1944 invasion, with the other Allied nations losing 1,914 This is a rare soldier's perspective through a porthole on a ship during the D-Day landings. Troops wade towards the shore under a hail of gunfire, with barrage balloons flying high in the air. These defended against aircraft attack by raising cables to cause a collision risk for approaching pilots American troops receive medical care on June 6, getting bandaged up and taking the chance to have a smoke An American medical officer bandages the hand of a US soldier who was burned when a landing craft blew up after hitting a mine A German 47mm anti-tank gun blocks a narrow gap on the sand on the beach between Les Dunes and La Madeleine, in Normandy, on June 12. The machinery lies abandoned since six days after the original invasion, as the Allies cemented a solid offensive line along the region's beaches Members of a a US rifle squad grin as they pose with a captured Nazi flag. A German helmet with a pencilled inscription is also shown in the foreground Burning houses and rubble dominate this image on the left, following The Battle of Carentan, an engagement between US and German airborne forces during the Battle of Normandy, which lasted a week until June 13. Pictured right are US soldiers and prisoners at Pointe du Hoc on June 12 Soldiers from the 2nd Ranger Battalion look over the trenches, with one using a 30 calibre machine gun. The troops were at La Pointe du Hoc, in Normandy, but had arrived at the landing area on Omaha Beach, a two hour walk away. The image is one of the few to show troops in combat conditions during the historic invasion Soldiers brace themselves ahead of the bloody invasion, peering over the edges of their boat to see what lies ahead. The American forces landed 73,000: 23,250 on Utah Beach, 34,250 on Omaha Beach, and 15,500 airborne troops A soldier peers through the devastation in an unknown location. Vigilant about enemy fire, the man looks towards the rubble of town buildings behind the safety of a brick wall A murder investigation has been launched after a 46-year-old died in a fire on an NHS ward in north London. The fire broke out in a ground floor room in a medical facility just before 6.30am on Sunday. Staff had to evacuate 100 patients as firefighters arrived at Highgate Mental Health Centre on Dartmouth Park Hill. The man was pronounced dead just after 7am, no one else was reported injured. Two men aged 21 and 30 were arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder. Highgate Mental Health Centre on Dartmouth Park Hill in North London where a 46 year old man was found dead following a fire. Two men were arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder. Metropolitan Police have launched a murder investigation London Fire Brigade said: 'Firefighters were called to a fire at a medical health centre on Dartmouth Park Hill in Highgate. 'Part of a room on the ground floor was damaged by fire. 'Sadly a man was confirmed dead at the scene. 'Around 100 people were evacuated from the building by staff. 'The Brigade was called at 6.29am and the fire was under control by 7.19am. 'Fire crews from Kentish Town and Holloway fire stations were at the scene. 'The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Brigade and the Metropolitan Police Service.' Members of a police investigation team at the scene at Highgate Mental Health Centre on Dartmouth Park Hill in North London where a man was found dead following a fire Scotland Yard confirmed a murder investigation was now underway. A spokesman said: 'Police were called by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) at 6.34am on Sunday to a report of a fire at a medical facility in Dartmouth Park Hill, N19. 'Officers attended along with the London Fire Brigade who were already on scene. 'A 46-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene at 7.05am 'His next of kin have been informed. Formal identification and a post-mortem examination will be arranged in due course. 'Detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Command investigate. 'Enquiries are currently underway to establish the full circumstances and the cause of the fire. A crime scene remains in place at the medical facility. 'Nobody else was injured in the incident. 'Two men were arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder. Both men aged 21 and 30 remain in custody at London police stations.' The Duchess of Cambridge is launching a personal crusade to highlight the importance of children's mental health as teenage suicides in Britain hit a 35-year high. Tomorrow Kate will visit schools with the charity Place2Be that provides in-school support and counselling to students. Her intervention came after the grieving father of 14-year-old Molly Russell accused Instagram of 'helping to kill her' after the schoolgirl took her own life. The teenage suicide rate has almost doubled in eight years, it emerged yesterday, as ministers vowed to crack down on the internet giants accused of fuelling youngsters' distress. A palace source told the Mirror: 'She is passionate about children and their wellbeing, and this focus has already been shown to be a huge part of what she sees as her work. 'The Duchess believes the mental health of children and young people is one of the big challenges of our time.' Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, (pictured in Dundee last week) is continuing her personal battle to highlight the importance of protecting childrens mental health The younger royals have put mental health issues at the heart of their campaigning, pictured together at a Heads Together event last year The younger royals are crusading to banish the stigma of mental health problems among teenagers and young adults. The grieving father of 14-year-old Molly Russell (pictured) accused Instagram of 'helping to kill her' after the schoolgirl took her own life Her husband William and brother-in-law Harry have spoken about the devastation when their mother died caused as part of the Heads Together campaign started almost three years ago. William said he struggled and needed help after starting as an air ambulance pilot. He said: 'If I hadn't taken the action I did, I would have gone down a slippery slope and been dealing with mental illness on a different level.' Harry said that without help to cope with the loss of his mother he said: 'I have probably per cent of been close to a breakdown on numerous occasions.' Kate's own brother James Middleton, 31, has admitted he has battled depression. The Duchess believes the right support, from birth, can help disadvantaged youngsters reach their potential. She is bringing together experts from academia, education, health and other fields to work on how to help families tackle anti-social behaviour, addiction and mental health. The subject is politically fraught, with some blaming Broken Britain on parents and others blaming budget cuts. But sources say the 36-year-old duchess is determined to push ahead because she sees it as potentially as big an issue as climate change. This is a lifelong project, said one royal source. She is looking at what she can do over the next five, ten, 15, 20 years. She wants to be able to look back and see what difference has been made. Thats what her position in public life allows her to do. Ian Russell, 55, of Harrow, north-west London, said Molly had gone to bed in a good mood but decided to kill herself after looking at troubling images that night New figures show the rate among children aged between 15 and 19 has risen, despite falling for most other age groups. The provisional Office for National Statistics data for last year reveal that suicides are running at more than five in 100,000 among teenagers in England. In 2010, the rate was just over three in 100,000. Ian Russell, 55, of Harrow, north-west London, said his daughter Molly had gone to bed in a good mood but decided to kill herself after looking at troubling images that night. He added: 'I have no doubt that Instagram helped kill my daughter.' Father's anger at Instagram Molly Russell had shown no obvious signs of depression when she took her life at the age of 14 in 2017. It was later discovered she had been viewing content on Instagram which glorified self-harm and suicide. Last month, her TV director father Ian Russell, 55, accused the social media site of 'helping to kill her'. Molly was found dead just hours after handing in her homework at school and returning to her home. Mr Russell, of Harrow, north -west London, said she had gone to bed in a good mood but decided to kill herself after looking at troubling images that night. She used her phone to access Instagram in her room. One account she followed featured an image of a blindfolded girl, seemingly with bleeding eyes, hugging a teddy bear. The caption read: 'This world is so cruel and I don't wanna to see it any more.' Mr Russell said: 'I have no doubt that Instagram helped kill my daughter. She had so much to offer and that's gone.' Advertisement Education Secretary Damian Hinds yesterday said social media firms had a 'moral duty' to act on harmful images hosted by their sites. Pilot schemes to boost mental health will be launched in schools today, and Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer, will announce her findings that teenage suicides are linked with self-harm and spending more than four hours a day on social media apps. She will tell technology giants such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat that they have 'a duty of care', clearing the way for a new regulator to press the firms to remove the worst material. And she will call on parents to ban smartphones from the dinner table and before bedtime, and limit screen time to two hours at a time. Professor Louis Appleby, head of the national suicide prevention strategy, told The Sunday Times: 'The danger is that we are presiding over a suicidal generation of young people and that young people have learnt self-harm as a way of coping.' He said one in four teenage girls and one in ten boys were self-harming. Ministers will publish a White Paper at the end of the month setting out new demands for social media firms to protect young people. Online firms will be ordered to shield their users from images of suicide, self-harm and bullying and told to remove references to suicide and self-harm methods. Tech giants will have to sign up to new corporate social responsibility standards that will require them to remove material quickly and comprehensively. They will also face a new duty to set out how many complaints of online bullying, self-harm, trolling, rape and other threats they have received. If they refuse, or act too slowly, a new regulator will step in. Professor Appleby's three-year study into hundreds of youngsters who killed themselves found that a quarter had used the internet in a way that was suicide-related and one in 25 had visited websites where suicide was encouraged. He warned that government thinking lagged behind the reality of how teenagers were using social media. 'We have been looking at how much screen time youngsters have, which is a crude measure,' he said. 'It does not tell you anything about how young people are using screens.' Professor Appleby said parents should worry less about children spending time on phones and more about what they were doing online. 'One worrying example would be if they are sending each other self-harm images,' he said. 'That runs the risk of self-harm spreading as a kind of contagion. We should be worried about Instagram and the images that people pass to each other.' TV presenter Esther Rantzen, who set up the Childline charity, said her own research linked the rise in suicide and self-harm to children's use of the internet and social media. She added: 'I am very concerned about the calls we are receiving. So many of them talk about being suicidal. 'I am seeing a huge rise in unhappiness among our children and when I talk to our counsellors up and down the country and ask them why, they always say social media. 'Young people are looking for comfort on the internet where there are people who feel the way they do. Tragically they are finding them and the solutions they are offering are coping mechanisms which are self-harm, even to the point of suicide.' Facebook and Instagram said: 'We have a deep responsibility to make sure people on Instagram and Facebook are safe. We do not allow content that promotes or encourages suicide or self-injury, and we will remove it as soon as we are aware. 'We have started a full review of our policies, enforcement and technologies around suicide and self-injury content. While we conduct this review, over the past week we have had a team of engineers working round the clock to make changes to make it harder for people to search for and find self-harm content.' Google said: 'When people in need turn to the internet for advice and search for queries relating to suicide, we show the Samaritans' 24-hour helpline number to connect people who are depressed, suicidal or in distress with the help and advice they need.' For confidential support, log on to samaritans.org or call the Samaritans on 116123 Advertisement Homebuyers can get their hands on a piece of history after a flat in a converted church where gangster Reggie Kray got married has been put up for sale. The Church of St James the Great is where the notorious villain married Frances Shea in 1965 and also appeared in the 2015 Tom Hardy film Legend about the Kray twins. The magnificent building in Bethnal Green, in London's East End, was converted into apartments in 1991 and this one-bedroom flat is now on the market with online estate agent Sell My Home for 425,000. Despite the Kray twins being killers and criminals, they were treated like celebrities in the 1960s and Reggie's wedding was packed with high profile guests - including actress Diana Dors and photographed by David Bailey. The Church of St James the Great in Bethnal Green, in London's East End, was converted into apartments in 1991 and this one-bedroom flat is now on the market with online estate agent Sell My Home for 425,000 Notorious villain Reggie Kray (right) married Frances Shea (cnetre) in the church 1965 and it also appeared in the 2015 Tom Hardy film Legend about the Kray twins In total the flat is 575 sq ft and also has a bedroom and a shower room. Bethnall Green tube station is 500 yards away and Shoreditch high street is about a seven-minute walk The building was built in 1844 by Edward Blore, a master architect who also completed work on Buckingham Palace when it was expanded, restored Lambeth Palace and worked on Westminster Abbey It is on the south-eastern corner of the building, which maximises the early morning sunlight, and is beautifully presented with a 20ft double aspect lounge and a separate fully fitted kitchen Reggie married Frances in the church on April 19, 1965, and it was also sadly where her funeral was held two years later when she committed suicide at just 23. Ten black limousines that showed up to the funeral in 1967 and the many wreaths laid in tribute included one from Ronnie Kray - who was on the run from the police at the time. As the church had been converted into flats by the time the film Legend was filmed, starring Tom Hardy as both Krays, St Anne's Church was used for the wedding scenes. But the exterior of St James' can be seen in the film when the brothers sit in the famous Pellicci's Cafe opposite the church, a regular hang out for the brothers in real life. Reggie Kray showed promise of becoming a boxer until he turned to a life of crime with his twin brother when they built their own gang known as The Firm. In 1968 he was arrested on murder charges and spent the rest of his life in prison until his death in 2000. The building was built in 1844 by Edward Blore, a master architect who also completed work on Buckingham Palace when it was expanded, restored Lambeth Palace and worked on Westminster Abbey. It was the hub of the East End community in the late 19th and most of the 20th century and has retained its full height stained glass windows on the eastern facade and has lift access to all floors. Despite the Kray twins being killers and criminals, they were treated like celebrities in the 1960s and Reggie's wedding was packed with high profile guests - including actress Diana Dors and photographed by David Bailey Reggie Kray (left and right) showed promise of a boxer until he turned to a life of crime with his twin brother when they built their own gang known as The Firm. In 1968 he was arrested on murder charges and spent the rest of his life in prison until his death in 2000. The exterior of St James' can be seen in the film when the brothers sit in the famous Pellicci's Cafe opposite the church, a regular hang out for the brothers in real life. As the church had been converted into flats by the time the film Legend, starring Tom Hardy as both Krays, was filmed, a different church, St Anne's Church, was used for the wedding scenes The one-bedroom flat is a wonderful example of a property is 'loaded with history and character' This second-floor apartment within the Victorian church has been recently renovated with new flooring, kitchen and shower. It is on the south-eastern corner of the building, which maximises the early morning sunlight, and is beautifully presented with a 20ft double aspect lounge and a separate fully fitted kitchen. In total the flat is 575 sq ft and also has a bedroom and a shower room. Bethnall Green tube station is 500 yards away and Shoreditch high street is about a seven-minute walk. Will Clark, managing director of SellMyHome.co.uk said: 'Since the beginning of the 21st century Bethnal Green has undergone a dramatic process of gentrification. It is now a trendy and achingly cool pocket of London and this flat presents a pretty unique opportunity to purchase a slice of London's history. 'The Krays were synonymous with the East End of London and particularly Bethnal Green and this church played a seminal part of Reggie Kray's life. 'He was wed at the church and then just two years later Reggie tragically buried his wife here. Fast forward to 2015 and the church features in Legend, the biographical crime thriller featuring Tom Hardy playing both Reggie and Ronnie Kray. 'This one-bedroom flat is a wonderful example of a property loaded with history and character. 'The building still retains its full height stained glass window and this flat has three floor to ceiling windows in the reception room maximising the early morning sunlight. 'The flat is ready to move into and perfect for a first-time buyer, or as a lock up and leave thanks to the building's security.' Reggie married Frances in the church on April 19, 1965, and sadly it was also where her funeral was held two years later when she committed suicide at just 23 Reggie Kray attending his brother's funeral. The Krays were synonymous with the East End of London and particularly Bethnal Green and this church played a seminal part of the gangster's life The building still retains its full height stained glass window and this flat has three floor to ceiling windows in the reception room maximising the early morning sunlight A weathergirl was forced to confront a bystander in Argentina after her colleague noticed he was filming her from behind while she carried out a live broadcast. Sol Perez, 25, was reporting for the TV programme 'Gente Opinando' when presenter Pollo Alvarez stopped the discussion to point out the behaviour of the man in the crowd. In the footage, Perez is seen broadcasting from a coastal resort as Alvarez says: 'We are not going to have this discussion now and we'll let it go, but I did not like what he was doing.' Presenter Pollo Alvarez interrupted a weather broadcast by Sol Perez (centre) because he noticed the disturbing behaviour of a man behind her Perez then confronts the man, who is unapologetic and said he had been filming her 'to show his workmates' Some critics said Perez was wrong to criticise after posting photographs such as this online The weathergirl seems to understand who her colleague is referring to and immediately turns to confront the smirking man, asking: 'Sir, what are you filming?' Alvarez is heard saying: 'Oh no! Look, she is confronting him.' The man replies: 'I am sending this to my workmates.' Perez says: 'Okay, but what were you recording? Because I had my back turned. The guys there (in the studio) saw that you were filming things that were not okay to be filmed.' He responds: 'And are you going to let me stand over there to film?' The weather girl says: 'No, if you are recording general footage from here okay, but if you are recording my bottom...' Perez is a 25-year-old weathergirl, who reports for the TV programme 'Gente Opinando'. She also has almost four million followers on Instagram Not everyone online agreed with Perez and Alvarez, with 'Luis Paolo Rossi' asking: 'Why does she constantly promote her bottom (on social media) if she does not want it photographed? Or is he expected to pay her for copyright?' 'Neuquino Nyc' added: 'She is famous for showing off her bottom and is then bothered by something like that! 'It's like Lewis Hamilton complaining about speed.' However, 'MarulaMora' commented: 'The guy did wrong.' Three skiers, including a 43-year-old British man, have died in an avalanche in Courmayeur, northwest Italy. A fourth person, reportedly from France, remains missing following the incident which took place in the Alpine ski-resort in the Aosta Valley yesterday. Italian media claims that the other two victims are a 39-year-old New Zealand woman living in London, and a 36-year-old Frenchman. It has previously been reported that another British citizen was missing following the avalanche, but local media now says that this person is a Polish citizen, aged 38, living in France. Tragedy: Emergency services are seen in the Aosta Valley near Courmayeur where an avalanche killed three skiers, including one British citizen The victims were found wearing airbag backpacks, which are inflated in the event of an avalanche to help the wearer move to the top of the snowmass, according to Italian Insider. Recovery operations searching for the fourth member of the party are underway, but are being hampered due to risk of further avalanches. A search was launched on Sunday after the four failed to return to their hotel after skiing off-piste. The search was abandoned overnight Sunday and three bodies were found on Monday morning. A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said their staff is 'supporting the family of a British man who has been reported missing, and are in contact with the Italian search and rescue team.' The victims, who have not yet been named, are among ten people to die in avalanches in the Alps this weekend A search was launched after the two French and two British citizens failed to return to their hotel after an off-piste ski At least ten people have been killed in a series of avalanches in the Alps over the weekend, including another two in the Aosta Valley. An avalanche in Italy's Bolzano, near the Austrian border, killed an 18-year-old skier and another avalanche in neighbouring Lombardy killed a snowboarder. An avalanche in France's Savoie region killed an off-piste skier on Saturday. In Switzerland, an avalanche on Saturday swept away a man and a woman in the canton of Bern. The man was killed and the woman recovering in hospital. In Austria, an avalanche hit two men aged 30 and 52, in Carinthia, killing the older man and leaving the other one unscathed. In the Tyrol region, ten skiers aged 17 to 59 were rescued after being hit by an avalanche. The Soviet commitment to withdrawal was unequivocal; the American indications are reversible. The decision by the US to engage in direct dialogue with the Afghan Taliban and its willingness to pull out of Afghanistan has set off a new dynamic that has both promise and a deja vu quality. The Soviet commitment to withdrawal was unequivocal; the American indications are reversible. Then the issue was a broad-based government, now it is a sustainable political settlement. The Soviet withdrawal did not prevent continuation of the conflict; the same is feared if the Americans were to leave precipitously.? The US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has spoken of forward movement on a two-point framework, namely, the issue of withdrawal and the Taliban commitment not to allow extremists to find safe haven in territory under their control. There are other signs of hope. A Taliban spokesman in Qatar averred that the Taliban are not seeking a monopoly of power and have a vision of an inclusive Afghan world, something quite new in Taliban parlance. On the other hand, well-respected voices in the United States have dismissed any framework that excludes ceasefire and direct dialogue between the Taliban and the Kabul government as akin to surrender. And, that any hasty withdrawal risks escalation of the civil war. Meanwhile, the Taliban reject negotiations with the Kabul government. Kabul is fuming over its exclusion from the Qatar dialogue. Khalilzad has conceded that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and chided critics for having rushed to judgement. At best, the existing stalemate has given way to a situation in flux, with hopeful signs. The Afghan conflict is complex and Afghanistan is riven with deep schisms of a political, ethnic, sectarian and ideological character. Afghanistan is more than the Taliban or the Pakhtuns. To expect that peace is simply contingent on US withdrawal is to deny the Afghan history of conflict following the Soviet withdrawal three decades ago. Thanks to post-9/11 opportunities, the non-Pakhtun population is stronger than ever before. Similarly, there has been socioeconomic advancement for the educated class and women who had all been marginalised under Taliban rule. They will resist its return. Regionally, regardless of their reported support, Russia, China and Iran will be uneasy with Taliban control in Kabul. Today, the world, including erstwhile adversaries, has grudgingly recognised the Taliban as a powerful political entity. The US-Taliban dialogue is taking place when Afghan political factions are bracing themselves for the forthcoming presidential elections. Concomitantly, there is talk of an interim government to accommodate the Taliban and to push forward the peace process. What can propel the nascent peace process initiated by the Qatar dialogue is that the status quo is becoming increasingly untenable and that war fatigue has set in, at least among the Americans. All this may turn out to be a false dawn. The hope that this 40-year-old conflict has run its course depends on two trajectories: reduction in violence and some form of intra-Afghan dialogue for a political settlement. Reduction of violence will depend on a formal or informal ceasefire which is inextricably linked to the question of a timeline for withdrawal and a de facto acceptance of Taliban control over territories under their influence. If the Taliban reject talks with Kabul, they must agree to an intra-Afghan dialogue of Afghan parties that includes them and the government, for working out a political settlement or retooling the Bonn arrangement. The format can take any acceptable shape combining traditional procedures, such as the Loya Jirga. However, for any settlement to find traction, it must emerge from the Afghans themselves. In short, the peace process now perilously rests on the patience of the Trump administration with its new approach, and possible flexibility on the part of the Afghan leaders to measure up to the responsibility that this historical juncture imposes on them. Subversive Indian activities and the spectre of a two-front security threat have underpinned Pakistans concerns about Indias role. For arguments sake, a stable Afghanistan will diminish that possibility. We cannot object to Afghanistan and India having cooperation that is not at the cost of Pakistan especially in trade and the economic arena. In fact, we should positively look at measures, such as overland transit, that could create Indias stake in Afghanistans stability. Perhaps, Pakistan and India can also turn a new page in their relations. Much has been said about the enormous opportunities that a stable and peaceful Afghanistan can open for itself and for the region in areas of connectivity, communications and energy corridors, and commerce and economic cooperation. But it is pointless to count the chicks before they are hatched. By arrangement with Dawn A Swedish woman who blocked the deportation of an Afghan asylum-seeker by refusing to sit down on an airplane is facing two weeks in jail, following a one-day trial in Gothenburg today. Elin Ersson, 21, is accused of breaking aviation law when she failed to comply with orders from Turkish Airways crew at Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg in July 2018. She had purchased a ticket for the Istanbul flight with the intention of preventing the deportation of another Afghan man, however ended up stopping the expulsion of a 52-year-old convicted criminal. Prosecutor James von Reis asked the judge at Gothenburg District Court to jail Ersson for 14 days if she is found guilty, with the ruling set to come in two weeks' time. Viral: Elin Ersson, 21, staged a protest on an airplane as it was about to leave Sweden for Turkey, refusing to sit down until a 52-year-old Afghan man due to be deported was allowed off Ersson during her trial in the district court in Gothenburg, Sweden, today where the prosecutor asked for her to be jailed for 14 days Bismallah S. had served time for assault, but Swedish police said his denied asylum application had not been related to his crimes. Ersson's livestreamed video recording of her protest, which sees her argue with disgruntled passengers and staff ordering her to take her seat, went viral and generated millions of views worldwide. At one point in the video, a disgruntled fellow passenger tries to seize her phone, but she asks him: 'What is more important, a life, or your time?' 'All I want to do is stop the deportation and then I will comply with the rules here. This is all perfectly legal and I have not committed a crime.' However, prosecutors disagreed, and indicted her for breaking aviation laws in October last year. The trial, which is expected to last just half-a-day, is being held in Gothenburg District Court, and if convicted, she faces up to six months in jail as well as fines. Allegations: Ersson is accused of breaking aviation law when she failed to comply with orders from Turkish Airways crew at Landvetter Airport, and faces up to six months in jail if convicted Still happy: The 21-year-old said that finding out that the 52-year-old was a convicted criminal did not change her opinion about stopping his deportation as she claims being sent to Afghanistan amounts to a 'death sentence' Ersson had initially planned on stopping the deportation of a 21-year-old Afghan man whose asylum application had also been rejected. However, upon arrival at Landvetter Airport, she was told he had already been sent out of the country on another flight. When she heard that 52-year-old Bismallah S. was due to be deported on an upcoming flight, she bought a ticket. Her disruption of the flight severely delayed take-off and eventually saw her and the Afghan and his assigned security removed from the flight. Ersson said afterwards that she had not been aware that the 52-year-old was a convicted criminal, however said she still felt her protest was justified, as going to Afghanistan amounted to a 'death sentence'. Bismallah S. was deported to Afghanistan a few weeks later. Ersson's lawyer has maintained that his client is innocent, saying the aviation act only applies to actions taken whilst the plane is in the air. 'During the entire action she was prepared to follow the orders of the captain on board, and she left the plane as soon as the pilot decided that she should do so,' the lawyer, Thomas Fridh, said at the time of indictment in October. Restaurants are marketing grey squirrel meat as an ethical option for customers and serving it up as burgers and even lasagne. Proponents of the meat say the animals would be culled anyway as part of attempts to save the UK's native red squirrel population. They insist the meal is therefore 'cruelty-free' and has a lower carbon footprint than farmed or imported beef. Grey squirrels are now going on the menus of restaurants around the UK, with the meat being marketed as sustainable and ethical Native in London's Borough Market is one of the eateries offering the meat in pancakes Native, a restaurant in London's Borough Market is now serving the meat in pancakes and lasagne, while The Forest Side in Cumbria sells a so-called 'critter fritter', which is a grey squirrel croquette. Ivan Tisdall-Downes, who runs Native told The Sunday Telegraph that squirrel is 'one of the most sustainable proteins you can cook' and tastes very similar to rabbit. The meat is supplied by a company which helps with the culls of grey squirrels, which now outnumber red squirrels 30 to one in the UK. The numbers have fallen drastically in recent decades to around 120,000, with 75% of those now in Scotland. Their decline is largely due the spread of the non-native grey squirrel, which was first introduced from North America in the late 1800s. Grey squirrels carry squirrelpox, a virus that doesn't harm them but is deadly to reds. A 14-year-old boy found in possession of five deadly weapons has walked free from court in the same week the Home Secretary promised to get tougher on the scourge of knife crime on Britain's streets. This shocking picture shows the five huge combat knives police found when they stopped the teen, in north London last month. The child's arsenal of weapons included four knives with blades approximately a foot long, and three with the serrated rear edge which is the hallmark of so-called 'zombie knives'. Yet the boy escaped custody, instead being referred to a youth offending panel for ten months and being ordered to pay a 20 victim surcharge. When police stopped and searched the 14-year-old at two o'clock in the afternoon they found he was carrying these five huge combat knives His sentence was handed down in the same week Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced new Asbo-style orders designed to tackle spiralling knife violence. The new Knife Crime Prevention Orders could be issued to anyone aged 12 or over who is believed by police to routinely carry a blade and can impose curfews or even limit social media access. Anyone found in breach of the civil orders could be sentenced to up to two years in prison upon conviction. The slap-on-the-wrist sentence comes in the wake of new ONS figures which reveal offences involving bladed weapons have leapt eight percent in a year. Already this year eight people have been murdered in the capital including 14-year-old Jayden Moore who was stabbed seven times in the back Last year ended with more than 130 murders in the capital city, 70 of which involved a knife or blade. The total number of offences involving a knife or bladed instrument recorded by police in the year to March 2018 rose to 40,147, a seven-year-high. And there was 1,299 stabbings in London in the year to April 2018, according to the Met Police. The boy's cache of weapons was revealed as two more teens stabbed in London and a teen gang, one only 15, are due to be sentenced for the knife murder of 17 year old Lord Promise Nkenda. Officers were called to Highbury Quadrant, a low rise estate in Islington north London after a concerned member of the public saw the boy brandishing a knife one Sunday afternoon last month. The Highbury Quadrant low-rise in north London where the boy was spotted by a passer-by The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was stopped and searched and police made their shocking discovery. The youth was arrested following the search at 2pm on January 13 and appeared at Highbury Corner youth court on January 29. He pleaded guilty to five counts of possession of an offensive weapon, namely a combat knife. He was referred to Haringey youth offending panel for a 10 month contract and ordered to pay a 20 victim surcharge. The court also ordered destruction of the knives. A Scotland Yard spokesperson said: 'We were initially called by a member of the public who had seen the male with a knife. Knife crime has been increasing over recent years and police and politicians have promised a crackdown 'A stop and search followed by officers at around 2pm in Highbury Quadrant on Sunday 13 January. 'A 14 year old male from Haringey was charged with five counts of possession of an offensive weapon. 'He appeared on bail at Highbury Corner Magistrates court on January 29. 'He was referred to a Haringey youth offender panel for a contract having effect for 10 months and a victim surcharge of 20.' A court spokesperson added: 'He pleaded guilty. There was also a destruction order made for the knives.' Violence in 'Wild West' Britain has seen 69,000 children hurt Nearly 70,000 children have been wounded in stabbings and beatings in just one year as violence on the streets of 'Wild West' Britain continues to spiral. Jackie Sebire, assistant chief constable of Bedfordshire police, revealed the shocking statistic in October 2018 as she lamented the 'constant torrent' of murders and knife attacks unfolding in the UK. Mrs Sebire said police forces face a 'constant and sustained' demand, adding: 'Wild West? It can be... it's happening in broad daylight, they're in public spaces.' Stats released earlier this month showed a wide range of offences showing dramatic increases In the year to June there were 69,000 child woundings, where a youngster aged 10 to 15 was stabbed or seriously injured, a rise of 4,000 on the previous year. Mrs Sebire, the National Police Chiefs Council spokesman for serious violent crime, said: 'I've worked in some really challenging London boroughs. This is different, this level of violence, this constant torrent of every single day there is another stabbing, that we can't seem to get ahead of.' Police chiefs believe they are at a turning point, after years of struggling to meet high public expectations and soaring demand. Recorded crime has risen by 9 per cent including rocketing levels of knife crime and robbery as 22,000 officers were lost from the frontline. Statistics released earlier this month show the number of homicides nationwide is up from 630 to 719, with overall recorded crime up by almost 10%. The number of offences registered as involving a knife or sharp instrument, 39,332, was the highest since 2011, when comparable records started. Advertisement London's bloodiest year in a decade: 2018 ends with 134 murders - including 70 stab deaths and 24 young people killed London's bloodiest year in a decade ended with more than 130 people murdered in the capital over 12 months. Rising gun and knife crime brought the total 2018 figure of homicides being investigated by Scotland Yard to 134 - the highest since 2008 when there were 154. Police are battling against 180 violent gangs across London dragging children into crime, amid more than 70 deaths this year involving a knife, and a dozen with a gun. This map shows where the murders across London have happened over the past year Last year was the worst on record for the knife murders of young people - with 37 children and teenagers stabbed to death in Britain, including 24 in London. Murders in London peaked in February when the rate rose past that of New York, with Scotland Yard looking at 15 suspicious deaths and the NYPD investigating 11. The year of murders which was spread across the capital began on New Year's Eve 2017, with four people stabbed to death either side of midnight. Vijay Patel (left), 49, died on January 6 after being beaten in Mill Hill, while Hannah Leonard (right), 55, was stabbed in a flat in Camden a month later on February 8 Nikolai Glushkov (left), 68, died from compression to the neck in New Malden on March 13, while Tanesha Melbourne (right), 17, was shot on April 2 in a drive-by shooting in Tottenham Rosina Coleman (left), 85, was found battered to death at her home in Romford on May 15, while Katerina Makunova (right), 17, was stabbed to death in Camberwell on July 12 Jordan Douherty (left), 15, was stabbed to death after a birthday party in Romford on June 23, and Joel Urhie (right), seven, died in an arson attack on his Deptford home on August 7 Guled Farah (left), 19, was sitting in a car in Walthamstow when he was attacked on September 22, while Ian Tomlin (right), 46, was killed in Battersea on October 17 Ayodeji Azeez (left), 22, was killed after suffering stab wounds on a street in Anerley on November 4, while Aron Warren (right), 18, was stabbed to death in Greenwich on December 8 HOW THIS YEAR'S MURDER RATE COMPARES TO THE PAST DECADE YEAR LONDON MURDERS 2 008 154 2009 131 2010 124 2011 119 2012 105 2013 107 2014 94 2015 122 2016 111 2017 118 2018 134 Although not confined to certain areas, the boroughs of Greenwich and Southwark registered the highest murder rate, with three people killed per 100,000 population. The two bloodiest months, February and March, saw 16 and 21 people die - and the longest period without murder was just 16 days from September 25 until October 10. According to Home Office figures, the number of police-recorded homicides in London, for both the Metropolitan and City of London forces, was 118 last year. Similar murder figures of 111 and 122 were recorded in 2016 and 2015 respectively with just 94 in 2014, which was the lowest rate in the capital since 1990. In 2018 there were 72 deaths involving a knife, 13 involving a gun, one involving a knife and a gun and one a crossbow. Knives seized at ports and airports doubles The number of knives seized at UK ports and airports more than doubled in a year to almost 8,000, Government figures revealed last week Border Force officials confiscated 7,668 bladed items in the 12 months to September, up from 3,800 the year before. In the same period, there was also a 61 per cent increase in the number of other 'offensive weapons' seized, to 6,534 from 4,056. The combined haul of prohibited knives and offensive weapons found by the agency was 14,202, compared with 7,856 in the year before. Advertisement Just over a third of victims, 44, were aged 16 to 24, of whom 10 were shot, 32 were stabbed and one was killed in an attack involving a knife and gun. Earlier this month Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick insisted the tide was turning against knife and gun offences. This came after September to November this year saw 176 fewer victims of knife crime with injury aged under 25 than in the same three months in 2017. Scotland Yard has acknowledged the high numbers and said they are committed to tackling it, with special task forces in operation but insist numbers are 'stabilising'. Mayor Sadiq Khan has been under fire over the rise but said keeping Londoners safe is his 'number one priority' despite Government cuts limiting what he can do. In mid-November, the number of killings in London soared past the total in the whole of 2017, following a week of violence that brought the total to 121. In December Prince Charles called for action to combat spiralling knife crime in Britain, declaring: 'Enough is enough.' How it's not just London battling rise in murders National figures show forces in England and Wales have also registered a jump in recorded homicides and offences involving a knife or sharp instrument. Criminals using knives include ruthless county lines gangs which send young people out from large cities to smaller towns and villages to sell drugs. Some police forces outside London have experienced increases in knife crime of 150 per cent, linked to the spread of county lines gangs. One of the largest increases in blade-related incidents was in Hertfordshire - from 229 in 2014 to 573 in 2017. In West Mercia, it rose from 324 in 2015 to 470 in 2017. Advertisement He made the appeal with Prince Harry at a summit on youth violence at Clarence House. Two in five murders in London have been linked to gang violence on streets increasingly resembling the Wild West. Last month, it also emerged that the number of children being admitted to hospital with stab wounds has almost doubled in four years. A total of 573 under-18s were taken to A&E with potentially life-threatening knife injuries last year. This was up 86 per cent from 308 in 2014 to 2015. Around 50 who received treatment for wounds were aged ten to 14. Ministers have announced a number of measures designed to combat the rise in violent crime. A key plank of the crackdown is the Offensive Weapons Bill, which includes a proposed ban on delivering potentially dangerous bladed items to a buyer's home following warnings that age-verification checks can be sidestepped online. A Scotland Yard spokesman told MailOnline today: 'The total number of homicides in 2018 in London currently stands at 134. 'However, there are a number of these investigations that may be reclassified as not being homicides as our enquiries continue.' A puppet of Margaret Thatcher which featured on satirical series Spitting Image is among 40 grotesques of well-known public figures from Tom Hanks to Boy George now heading for auction. Spanning 18 series, the acerbic puppet show lampooned political and cultural figures from 1984 to 1996, with former prime minister Baroness Thatcher making a prominent target. Her less-than-flattering likeness is now up for auction and could fetch thousands alongside other puppets from the Bafta-winning show. Spitting Image spanned 18 series and regularly featured high-profile figures such as Baroness Thatcher and Salman Rushdie. Pictured are their puppets, which are going up for auction Other mocking marionettes include those of the then-PM's husband Denis Thatcher and novelist Salman Rushdie. The puppets have been acquired by collectors Prop Store and put up for auction, with around 40 going on sale. Prop Store chief executive Stephen Lane said: 'We're thrilled to be offering such a fantastic selection of puppets from the legendary British television series Spitting Image. 'Over 40 puppets and puppet heads are to be sold... including the iconic Margaret Thatcher puppet and many other famous faces, including Tom Hanks and Robbie Coltrane.' A puppet of former chancellor Nigel Lawson is also in the auction Spitting Image attracted enormous viewing figures in its 12-year run on ITV, with millions tuning in to see famous faces from the royal family to Hollywood stars being ridiculed. Chris Barrie and Steve Coogan were among the talents to lend their voices to the puppets, with the likes of Ben Elton and Private Eye editor Ian Hislop writing for the show. There have been rumours of the show returning to ITV to cover current politics. Baroness Thatcher's puppet is expected to sell for around 3,000, with the others expected to fetch between 400 and 800. Other puppets up for auction include former US vice president Dan Quayle, ex-chancellor Nigel Lawson, Scottish actor Coltrane, actress Tatum O'Neal and writer Alan Bennett. There are several Thatcher puppets in existence that are now housed in various locations across the UK. Last year, one of them was entrusted to the archives of Cambridge University. The auction begins on February 14. A panel of British lawmakers said Monday that 'Saudi authorities at the highest level' could be responsible for the torture of women activists in what is likely a violation of international law. Human rights charity Amnesty International said last month it had documented 10 cases of torture and abuse - including sexual harassment, electrocution, flogging and death threats - while the activists were held at an undisclosed location last summer. Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy where public protests and political parties are banned, says it does not have political prisoners and denies torture allegations. Officials have said monitoring of activists is needed to ensure social stability. Saudi Crown Prince and de facto ruler Mohammad bin Salman could be responsible for the torture of women activists, British lawmakers have concluded Yet British lawmakers Crispin Blunt, Layla Moran and Paul Williams said they found reports by international rights groups and news media to be credible, describing the detainees' treatment as 'cruel, inhuman and degrading'. The lawmakers, who formed a cross-party review panel with prominent lawyers, said the Saudi authorities had also violated international law by holding the detainees incommunicado and denying them access to legal advice. Culpability rests not only with direct perpetrators but also those who are responsible for or acquiesce to it, they added. 'The Saudi authorities at the highest levels could, in principle, be responsible for the crime of torture,' their final report said. Journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October - in what has been a turning-point in public opinion on the Gulf kingdom and its leadership The investigation by Amnesty International found a group of activists detained in the country since last May had reported being tortured and sexually abused repeatedly. In one case, an activist was allegedly told by an investigator his family had died and allowed to believe the lie for over a month. Another pair of demonstrators were reportedly forced to kiss one another while their interrogators watched. The activists also reported severe torture methods such as waterboarding and electric shocks. Some of the detained women's rights activists have been accused in Saudi media of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and supporting Qatar, which is locked in a dispute with Riyadh. The British lawmakers called on the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and review the allegations against them, and to prosecute those responsible for their mistreatment. They said requests to visit the detainees in Saudi Arabia have gone unanswered. 'The Saudi women activist detainees have been treated so badly as to sustain an international investigation for torture,' said Blunt, a Conservative MP. 'Saudi Arabia stands on the brink. It is not too late to alter course and avert the spiral downwards to catastrophe that the detention of these activists represents,' he said. The conclusions of the panel indicate growing uneasiness among Western allies with alleged rights abuses under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto leader who already facing criticism over last year's murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Reuters reported that an aide to Prince Mohammed who was fired for his role in the Khashoggi murder personally oversaw the torture of at least one of the women months earlier. A United Nations investigator is now leading an international inquiry into the journalist's murder, which has tarnished the crown prince's standing in the West after he won accolades for seeking to ease social restrictions and end the country's dependence on oil revenues. Those reforms have been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, including the arrest of over a dozen women's rights campaigners starting last May, most of whom had advocated for the right to drive and an end to the male guardianship system. Saudi women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, pictured, is being regularly beaten, whipped and tortured in a 'palace of terror', her brother revealed The brother of Saudi women's right activist Loujain al-Hathloul - who defied the kingdom's ban on women driving before it was lifted last year - wrote an opinion piece last week for CNN, in which he said she is being regularly beaten, whipped and tortured in a 'palace of terror'. Walid al-Hathloul said that on a recent visit to the prison where Loujain is being held, she told him that she was being tortured with electric shocks and sexually harassed. The Saudi government communications office did not reply to a request for comment on the Amnesty report, which came after similar testimonials in November last year of a group of women being repeatedly tortured by Saudi officials using electricity and flogging - leaving some unable to walk. After Amnesty and others reported on the claims of torture and sexual harassment in November, the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Media dismissed the claims as 'baseless'. A disgruntled takeaway customer was branded an 'overgrown Humpty Dumpty' who needed a 'facelift' by a restaurant boss's sons after she complained after portion sizes. Lauren Barrass, 25, blasted Eastend Diner in Blakelaw, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in an online review over their allegedly 'aggressive' manner when dealing with her complaint over 'small portions.' But she was stunned when Siffu Syed, 32, who lists himself as the takeaway's 'boss' on Facebook, appeared to respond by calling her a 'f****ng tramp' and an 'ugly b***h'. Takeaway customers Lauren Barrass, 25, who was victim of vile abuse, with fiance Jamie Palmer Lauren Barrass complained about the size of the munchie box (pictured top), she received. But did not expect the online abuse she was about to receive A comment appeared from Siffu Syed commenting on the complaint calling Lauren Barrass an 'ugly b****h' Lauren Barrass also received a message from Bahar Uddin Syed calling her a 'fat c**t After ignoring the abusive post, she says she was contacted directly by his 'brother' Bahar Uddin Syed, 26, who called her a 'fat c**t' and a 'Humpty Dumpty lookalike cow'. The takeaway claim that Siffu and Bahar are the sons of takeaway co-owner Ashraf Syed and no longer work at the outlet. Co-owner Ashraf apologised for their 'vile comments over the bad review' - however appears to have subsequently removed the apology. Lauren, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, slammed the 'half-hearted apology' after feeling Siffu's messages had been threatening since they goaded her to complain directly to him. The 25-year-old said: 'It's so ridiculous. I can't believe how personal and horrible they have been. 'I felt threatened by the wording and I thought I was more thick-skinned, but with people calling your personal appearance, it does get to you. 'I left work and I saw the owner's son Siffu had written above my review calling me an f****ng tramp and telling me to get in touch. 'It felt like a threat - I was gobsmacked. I couldn't comprehend it to be honest.' Siffu Syed, 32, (pictured left) who appears to have written vile messages to takeaway customer Lauren Barrass, 25 and brother Bahar Uddin Syed, 26 (pictured right) Siffu Syed also wrote another message accusing the 25-year-old of being 'stingy' and calling her a b***h The apology written by Ashraf Syed, the father of Siffu and Bahar, which was apparently later deleted Lauren and her partner Jamie Palmer, ordered a munchie box from the takeaway, however when it arrived they claim the portion size was 'really small'. When they called Eastend Diner to complain, they were denied a refund and were allegedly spoken to 'aggressively' by a manager. Lauren said: 'When our order came Jamie took it into the kitchen and I just heard 'are you joking?' 'The portion sizes were ridiculous so we rang the takeaway to say 'sorry, this isn't what we were expecting. It is really small - I'm wondering if you could come and pick it back up and give us a refund'. 'The person we initially spoke to said he wasn't going to pay to send a driver to pick it back up because they'd have to pay the driver. 'The manager came on and reiterated what his colleague had said and started getting quite aggressive on the phone. 'Jamie, out of sheer disgust, just ended the phone call.' A couple of days later, as Lauren left work she noticed one of the sons, Siffu, had appeared to comment on her post - swearing and mocking her appearance. Furious customers started commenting on the abuse Lauren Barrass was receiving and saying that would not go to the takeaway again The post, written publicly on Facebook and later deleted, read: 'You know what it is [my] dad's had his business in Blakelaw for over 20 years and had never had this problem. 'All of a sudden some stingy B***H start talking s**t about [my] dad's business...Well guess what B***H [my] dad's still laughing all the way to the bank every day. 'He still lives in a million pound house and drives the very best of cars and wears Rolex watches!! 'Everyone in Blakelaw knows who I am it's easy to get my number... if you have a f***in[g] problem ring me U F***IN[G] TRAMPS!' He then continued to comment on a photo of the food calling Lauren an 'ugly b***h' and telling her to 'get a f***in[g] face lift'. Lauren said: 'I didn't reply to the post because I wasn't going to go to his level. 'Then I received another message from his brother, Bahar. 'Me and my partner used to have a business and we couldn't believe it. We wouldn't dream of treating a customer like that. 'The reason I put the original post up was more about the customer service we'd received than it was about the portion size. 'There were a lot of people saying the way I was treated was a disgrace too. 'The portion size isn't the point - it's past that now. 'I've even had people from different cities messaging me asking if I'm okay..' Abusive messages aimed at Lauren Barrass Bahar wrote: 'Here you fat ugly [mess], talking shite on your Facebook about me take away putting Shan [sic] pics up and making it look like something it's not, you've f*n scranned it haven't you, you fat c**t. 'There's few containers missing what did you do? Scran them too? 'You overgrown Humpty Dumpty lookalike cow. Mooooo.' Siffu wrote: ' You know what it is, [my] dad's had his business in Blakelaw for over 20 years and had never had this problem. 'All of a sudden some stingy B***H start talking s**t about [my] dad's business...well guess what B***H me dad's still laughing all the way to the bank every day. 'He still lives in a million pound house and drives the very best of cars and wears Rolex watches!!! 'Everyone in Blakelaw knows who I am it's easy to get my number... if [you] have a f***in[g] problem ring me U F***IN[G] TRAMPS!!!' Siffu then commented on a picture posted by Lauren saying: 'The ugly b***h tryin[g] to put my hard work dad down!! 'I should lend her some money for a f***in face lift.' Advertisement Lauren claims the men's father, Ashraf, had written an apology on the takeaway's Facebook page, however this appears to have been deleted. Ashraf appeared to say in the apology: 'It has been brought to my attention the absolute chaos that has exploded over Facebook and I would like to publicly apologise for the utter disregard and lack of respect my sons have had in dealing with a bad review. 'I am mortified at the shame they have brought to my business and upon my family. 'Both of them no longer work for the business and I intend to keep it this way! 'This utter disregard and lack of respect should not be happening in this day and age. 'I'm truly sorry for the hurt, upset and vile comments made by them. 'Please accept my apology as a means to go on.' Lauren said: 'I did feel for the dad because it was his sons single-handedly ruining his business, but he put an apology up then took it down. 'The public were saying 'I hope to god you haven't put this half-hearted apology on Facebook without writing to her to apologise directly'. 'Because all the public said message her directly, he took it back down.' Ashraf, the owner of Eastend Diner, said: 'They haven't been working here for six or seven years and they don't live with me either. 'I wouldn't want anybody to write or say something like that to anybody else - especially something so vile and (in)sensitive. It's just not right. 'Whatever they've written or said is out of their own will. 'I haven't spoken to them but they know I'm angry about them doing something like that. 'I've told their mum to tell them not to come near me. I haven't been in contact with them for quite a while. 'I haven't told anybody to write that - if you go onto my Facebook I haven't written anything. My thinking was 'the customer has written something, fair enough'.' Ashraf's sons Siffu and Bahar failed to respond to requests for comment. Eastend Diner's manager, Kemran Qureshi, said: 'They are young lads, they don't know what they're doing. Why they did it I don't have a clue - it's beyond my belief. 'I'm in such a sticky situation. The owner wouldn't accept this behaviour from anybody either - they shouldn't have been writing anything like that. 'Because it's their father that owns the business, they jumped on the bandwagon, I can only assume.' Police in Hertfordshire are searching for missing 13-year-old, Megi Bukaci Police are searching for a 13-year-old girl who went missing in Hertfordshire three days ago. Megi Bukaci's distraught mother reported the schoolgirl missing in St Albans on Friday. As part of their investigation, police are appealing for a woman who helped Megi's mother and siblings to the police station to come forward. A police spokesman described Megi as 4ft 9in tall, with very long dark brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a grey top, black jeans, a dark blue jacket and small silver hoop earrings. She also has a small scar next to her right eye. Megi's mother and two children were seen on CCTV in the centre of St Albans after the schoolgirl went missing. Chief Inspector Neville Hanks said: 'This is very much an emerging enquiry and our investigations remain in the early stages. 'We are making arrangements for the [mother] to be formally interviewed with assistance from an interpreter, however she has disclosed to us that she is concerned for the welfare of her 13 year old daughter who is currently unaccounted for.' They are also appealing to a woman who helped Megi's mother and siblings (pictured in St Albans on Firday) to a police station to come forward 'We are making enquiries and are trying to establish where this lady [the mother] has been staying and how she came to be there. However, our main priority is to find her daughter safe and well,' Chief Inspector Hanks added. Officers are appealing to a woman who helped them get to the police station to reporti the youngster's disappearance. Chief Inspector Hanks said: 'We are also interested in speaking to anyone who saw the woman and her two youngest children in the St Albans area on Friday, February 1. Any information you can provide could prove vital to our investigation. 'We would also like to hear from any motorists who were driving in the vicinity of the London Road area on Friday and have a dash cam fitted to their vehicle. If you think you have footage that could help us, then please make contact with us as soon as possible.' Agreement to make new Qashqai and X-Trail SUVs in North East made in 2016 Nissan must reapply for 60million of Government investment in Sunderland after axing its plan to build a new SUV in Sunderland, the Business Secretary said tonight. Greg Clark told MPs the Japanese giant's decision changed an agreement first struck in 2016 to plough cash into the north east's car industry. The details of the secretive deal finally emerged for the first time today after a letter setting out assurances made in October 2016 was published. The deal was contingent on both the Qashqai and X-Trail models being made in Sunderland. The X-Trail will not now come to Sunderland, Nissan said last night. Ministers promised up to 80million of help and finalised a package of 61million last summer - but only 2.6million has actually been paid so far. Mr Clark told MPs tonight he was 'disappointed' the extra 740 jobs promised for the X-Trail will not come to Sunderland. Greg Clark told MPs the Japanese giant's decision changed an agreement first struck in 2016 to plough cash into the north east's car industry. The Nissan plant in Sunderland, pictured today, is a major employer for the North East He said: 'While I'm pleased the decision taken in 2016 to build the Qashqai and secure the Sunderland plant is unchanged, it's deeply disappointing to me and to the workforce that the extra jobs that would have come from the X-Trail will no longer be available. 'While the decision was made on broader business grounds, Nissan commented on the need for us to come together and to resolve the question of our future trading relationship with the EU.' Tory chair of the Treasury select committee Nicky Morgan asked how much of the 61million was not going to be paid over. Mr Clark replied: 'Because the terms of the application which is independently assessed and reviewed has now varied, then of course the company will need to re-submit on the grounds of the new information that it has. 'But this remains a programme that has been very effective in supporting the skills in the wider workforce, in supporting environmental improvements and supporting the research and development for which our automotive industry is now so renowned.' Earlier, Mrs May's spokesman said: 'It's obviously very disappointing. The company has confirmed that no jobs will be lost and they remain committed to the UK.' Nissan confirmed in a letter to workers yesterday that the next-generation X-Trail will instead be made in Japan - with the company's chairman saying slumping diesel sales in Europe and Brexit helped influence the decision. The move is another blow to the UK's car industry which has been facing huge structural problems over recent years. Although there are not expected to be job losses, the Sunderland plant's expansion is set to be curtailed. Theresa May (pictured today arriving at Downing Street) will face questions about the Government's role in supporting industry through Brexit Labour MP Bridget Phillipson, whose constituency is near the plant, condemned the suggestion support would be taken away from Nissan. The People's Vote supporter said: 'It beggars belief that government sources are now briefing the media saying they will demand money back from Nissan. What was in the deal for Nissan? The Government promised support for Nissan worth up to 80million in October 2016 to persuade the Japanese giant to stay in the UK after Brexit. The deal was finalised by last summer with specific grants worth a total of 61million. Details of the deal were made public for the first time today. Government help included: Support for skills, research and development, and innovation in Sunderland Cash for local redevelopment on a 'advanced manufacturing supply park', which is now home to smaller businesses making parts for Nissan Support through the tax system for electric cars and investment in new charging points A general commitment to ensure the UK is still a competitive place to build and export cars after Brexit Advertisement 'The whole country - and the North East in particular - knows that it is this Government that has broken promises on Brexit.' She added: 'Instead of blaming Nissan, Downing Street should be on its knees apologising to Sunderland car workers for betraying them.' Nissan chairman Gianluca de Ficchy said in the letter that much had changed since the Japanese firm announced plans to build a new Qashqai and X-Trail in the UK in October 2016. 'At that time they were both planned as 'traditional' models, powered by internal combustion engines. X-Trail was already going to be made in Kyushu, but there was a good business case for bringing production to Europe as well. 'Since that time, as you know, the environment for the car industry in Europe has changed dramatically. To meet the changing emissions regulations we've had to invest much more in new powertrains for our future models like X-Trail. At the same time, the volume forecasts for X-Trail in Europe have reduced. 'For those reasons the company has decided to optimise our investments and concentrate production in Kyushu, instead of adding another production site. For the European business, this does not change the fact that X-Trail is - and will continue to be - a crucial model for us. Mr de Ficchy said he knew the announcement would be 'interpreted by a lot of people as a decision related to Brexit'. 'We have taken this decision for the business reasons I've explained, but clearly the uncertainty around the UK's future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future,' he added. The letter continued: 'With the UK's departure from the EU on March 29 getting closer every week, we have a taskforce in place, reporting to me, that is considering all of the possible scenarios and the potential impact on the business. 'As a responsible business with 16,000 employees in the region, I want you to know that we are preparing across all functions, and with our supply chain, for anything that might impact our current business model. 'When the time comes to initiate any of those plans, we will be ready, and we will communicate with full transparency to all of you.' Nissan was still investing heavily in the new Juke model and the next-generation Qashqai, said Mr de Ficchy. 'Since they were originally allocated, those two models have also needed a lot of additional investment to meet the new emissions regulations and to electrify their powertrains. The team in the plant still has the full confidence of the company.' Phil Wilson, Labour MP for Sedgefield, outside the Nissan car manufacturing plant in Sunderland this afternoon Nissan executive vice president for manufacturing and supply chain management, Hideyuki Sakamoto, said: 'A model like X-Trail is manufactured in multiple locations globally, and can therefore be re-evaluated based on changes to the business environment. 'As always, Nissan has to make optimal use of its global investments for the benefits of its customers.' Mr de Ficchy said: 'Nissan is investing heavily in new technologies and powertrains for the next generation of vehicles in our Sunderland plant. To support this we are taking advantage of our global assets, and with X-Trail already manufactured in Japan, we can reduce our upfront investment costs. 'We appreciate this will be disappointing for our UK team and partners. Our workforce in Sunderland has our full confidence, and will continue to benefit from the investment planned for Juke and Qashqai.' The Sunderland plant, which opened in 1986, employs 7,000 workers, producing around 2,000 cars a day. Other Nissan models built at the site include the Qashqai, Juke, Q30, Note and the zero-emission electric Leaf. The decision follows figures last week showing car production slumped by almost a 10th last year, leaving the industry on 'red alert' amid continued Brexit uncertainty. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said investment had effectively 'stalled' amid fears over the UK's future trading prospects with the EU. Just over 1.5 million cars left UK factories in 2018, a 9.1% decline on the previous year, and the lowest for five years. Production of diesel cars was down by 22 per cent to 561,000 last year. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said the fall in investment was 'deeply depressing' and should send a strong signal to politicians to secure a Brexit trade deal. The agreement to make new Qashqai and X-Trail SUVs in Sunderland was made just months after the referendum in 2016 (Pictured, a worker assembles the Infiniti Q30 automobile) Ford is seeking up to 400 voluntary redundancies at its engine plant in Bridgend, south Wales, while Jaguar Land Rover is to reduce its 44,000 workforce by 4,500 under plans to make 2.5 billion of cost savings - with most of the cuts in the UK. Japanese firm Honda has announced six non-production days in April under contingency plans to mitigate the risk of disruption to production at its Swindon factory after the UK leaves the EU. Unite officer Steve Bush said: 'This is very disappointing news for Sunderland and the North East, and reflects the serious challenges facing the entire UK auto sector. 'The Government's mishandling of the transition away from diesel allied to the continuing uncertainty around our future trading relationship with the EU are extremely unhelpful when the sector ought to be focused on preparations for electrification. 'While this decision is naturally not good news, we want to reassure our members that job levels at the plant will remain the same, even though they are being cut elsewhere in the industry. 'However, we remain seriously concerned though that the apprenticeships and additional jobs that come with future investment and which this community so desperately needs will be lost. 'Unite now expects the company to work with us to ensure full preparations for Brexit in which jobs and investment are prioritised, which can be best achieved by our representation on the task force established by Nissan, and through continuous dialogue between the company and the union.' The secretive deal with Nissan was struck in 2016, with Ministers refusing to reveal details beyond insisting it did not involve financial incentives for the company Business Secretary Greg Clark said: 'Nissan's announcement is a blow to the sector and the region, as this was to be a further significant expansion of the site and the workforce. 'The company has confirmed that no jobs will be lost. They have reiterated today their commitment to the UK by continuing to manufacture in Sunderland the current Qashqai, Leaf and Juke models and the new Qashqai model from 2020. 'The UK automotive industry is a vital sector for the British economy which draws on our combination of rich automotive heritage and cutting-edge innovation. 'Its role in providing high skilled well-paid jobs, innovative R&D and investment is why we are determined to build on these strengths to make the UK a leader in the next generation of autonomous and electric vehicles through the Automotive Sector Deal, as part of our modern Industrial Strategy.' The Business Secretary said in October 2016 that Nissan were given four assurances 'to give them confidence to continue investing in the UK', including continued support for the competitiveness of the automotive sector through investment in skills and training the local workforce, and a commitment to research and development, in particular the take-up of ultra-low emission vehicles. Rebecca Long-Bailey, shadow business secretary, said: 'This is a blow not only to future investment in Sunderland but also to Britain's industrial strategy. 'As Nissan stated, continued Brexit uncertainty is not helping businesses plan for the future. 'The Government's chaotic handling of Brexit has been the root cause of business uncertainty. 'There are serious questions that the Government must now answer on Monday, not least what was in the secret Brexit deal it issued to Nissan and why this was no longer good enough.' Robots weld vehicle panels onto Nissan cars in the Body Shop in the car giant's Sunderland Plant Local MPs tweeted their dismay at the decision. Sharon Hodgson, MP for Washington and Sunderland West, said: 'This is a great loss of future investment in Sunderland and I am sure many people will share my great disappointment and concern at the news. 'Tomorrow, I will be seeking answers from Government ministers as a matter of urgency.' Houghton and Sunderland South MP Bridget Phillipson said: 'Nissan's announcement is a blow to Sunderland and the whole north east economy. 'This is the clearest sign yet of the damage being caused to the UK economy by uncertainty around Brexit. 'I urge Theresa May to change course and put her deal back to the public before further damage is done to this country.' Sunderland Central MP Julie Elliott called the move 'devastating news for our city and the wider North East'. She added: 'This constant uncertainty is not conductive to encouraging business investment in this country. Brexit is now a major factor in any decisions made in manufacturing.' Leading Remainer Anna Soubry responded to the news by calling for a second referendum. 'Difficult not to be angry that #Nissan may pull its next production from #Sunderland given MPs like me have consistently warned leaving the EU & #singlemarket #customsunion will hit jobs. This is #BrexitReality & it's why Sunderland's MPs support @peoplesvote_uk,' she said. And Lib Dem leader Vince Cable added: 'The Nissan news shows clearly that Theresa May must end this no-deal nonsense.' A 12-year-old boy from central China had to undergo emergency surgery after inserting 39 magnetic beads into his penis. The youngster's parents took him to a children's hospital in Wuhan, Hubei province on January 13 after he suffered from constant pain and difficulty while urinating. The boy, nicknamed Xiaorui, later told doctors that he had inserted the string of metallic balls into his urethra 'out of curiosity'. An X-ray showed the tiny magnetic beads aligned in a 'U' shape along the boy's urinary tract Dr Wang Jun of the Wuhan Children Hospital's urology department said the child at first said he had swallowed the 39 Buckyballs, which were each about five millimetres in diameter Dr Wang Jun of the Wuhan Children Hospital's urology department told Hubei Television that the child at first said he had swallowed the Buckyballs, which were each about five millimetres in diameter. However, he was shocked to see the tiny magnet balls aligned in a 'U' shape along the boy's urinary tract following an X-ray. Xiaorui later admitted that he had inserted the beads into his penis out of curiosity. Xiaorui later admitted that he had inserted the beads into his penis out of curiosity 'Painful urination, also known as dysuria, would cause urinary retention, abdominal pain and in some cases, vomiting,' Dr Wang noted. Doctors eventually removed the balls via his bladder The case was made worse by the fact the beads were magnetic, and so were grouped together 'Painful urination, also known as dysuria, would cause urinary retention, abdominal pain and in some cases, vomiting,' Dr Wang noted. The situation was made worse by the fact the beads were magnetic, and so were grouped together. Eventually, doctors conducted a minimally invasive surgery to extract the balls via the boy's bladder. The young patient is recovering well in hospital and can pass urine normally again, according to the report. The young patient is recovering well in hospital and can pass urine normally again According to Dr Wang, there had been a spike in similar cases where young children aged between 11 and 12 would need surgery to remove magnetic beads from their bodies. The beads are a common feature in a range of popular toys. In May last year, a 14-year-old toddler in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province had to undergo surgery to remove 21 magnetic beads after swallowing them from a toy. The balls had formed a ring in his stomach, causing a fever and severe vomiting. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has been accused of trying to secretly transfer up to $1.2 billion from public funds to a bank in Uruguay as he warns a civil war could break out. Opposition leader, Juan Guaido, alleged President Nicolas Maduro today of trying to illicitly transfer billions of dollars in cas from public coffers to a bank in Uruguay. He said Maduro was seeking to move the money from the Venezuelan Economic and Social Development Bank to Uruguay and called on the Montevideo government 'not to lend itself to stealing'. 'We are talking about between $1 billion and $1.2 billion dollars,' said Guaido, who was recognised as Venezuela's interim president Monday by more than 15 European states. Maduro also warned there may be a civil war in Venezuela unless foreign nations stop intervening in its 'internal affairs'. Threat of war: President Maduro, pictured speaking to troops on Sunday, refused to rule out starting a civil war in Venezuela to deal with the crisis Rallying troops: Maduro visited a military base in Turiamo, north-western Venezuela, where he asked the troops to take care of the 'union' and 'loyalty' to the National Armed Forces Supported: A number of EU countries, including UK, France and Spain, announced Monday they recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president after the Sunday deadline was ignored by Maduro He said that the US, as well as other Western nations, needed to stop their 'aggressiveness' or President Donald Trump risked 'staining his hands with blood'. His threats came as a number of EU countries, including France, the UK, and Spain, announced that they recognise opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president, after Maduro failed to call a snap election before yesterday's deadline. In response, the Venezuelan government 'expressed its most energetic rejection' of their support for Guaido, and said it will revise bilateral relations with any country who does so. Maduro said in an interview that aired on Spanish TV channel Antena 3 on Sunday: 'We don't accept ultimatums from anyone,' adding: 'I refuse to call for elections now - there will be elections in 2024.' When asked if the current crisis could result in civil war, he said: 'No-one could answer that question with certainty,' adding that this depends on 'the level of madness and aggressiveness of the northern empire [the US] and its Western allies.' WHO RECOGNISES JUAN GUAIDO AS INTERIM PRESIDENT? Announced today: France, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania, Finland, Austria, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. Previously: US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina and Paraguay. Advertisement President Trump meanwhile said in an interview that aired on Sunday that military intervention in Venezuela was 'an option.' Maduro said: 'We ask that nobody intervenes in our internal affairs... and we prepare ourselves to defend our country. 'Stop. Stop. Donald Trump! You are making mistakes that are going to stain your hands with blood and you are going to leave the presidency stained with blood,' he said according to the BBC. Maduro was pictured on Sunday visiting a military base in Turiamo, north-western Venezuela, where he asked the troops to take care of the 'union' and 'loyalty' to the National Armed Forces. Recognition: British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted about the UK's backing of Guaido Holding on: President Nicolas Maduro has so far rejected calls by European countries to call an early election Two sides: Anti-government protesters wave Venezuelan national flags as they take part in a demonstration demanding Maduro's resignation in Caracas on Saturday President's fans: Supporters of President Nicolas Maduro hold up a banner with a picture of U.S. President Donald Trump and a message that reads in Spanish: 'Get out the White House Donald Trump, you and your wall' during a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday The UK, Spain, France, Portugal, Denmark and Sweden have all announced that they are recognizing Guaido as the country's interim president and are urging him to hold a new presidential election. 'UK alongside European allies now recognises @jguaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held. Let's hope this takes us closer to ending humanitarian crisis,' British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement on Twitter. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters in Madrid on Monday that 'we are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela: human rights, elections and no more political prisoners.' French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking Monday to France Inter Radio, urged Guaido to call an early presidential election that will ensure 'the Venezuelan crisis ends peacefully.' Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom told Swedish broadcaster SVT the vote that brought Maduro to power was not a 'free and fair election.' The Venezuelan government has responded to the statements flooding out of the EU by saying it is revising bilateral relations with any member states to recognise Guaido as legitimate head-of-state. The government 'expresses its most energetic rejection of the decision adopted by some European governments, in which they officially submit to the U.S. administration's strategy to overthrow the legitimate government of President Nicolas Maduro,' it said in a statement. Protesters display a Venezuelan flag as they pour to the streets to back Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido's calls for early elections in Caracas on Saturday The 14-nation Lima Group, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, will meet in Ottawa today to discuss the crisis. Most group members say Maduro should quit in favor of Guaido and are calling for a new presidential election in the troubled OPEC nation. Monday's meeting in Ottawa will also discuss how to aid the people of Venezuela, including through immediate humanitarian assistance, said the office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Last month, the Lima Group announced a travel ban on senior Venezuelan officials and a freeze on their foreign assets. Guaido stunned the world on January 23 when he declared himself acting president at an opposition rally. Taking his authority from the constitution as National Assembly leader, he said Maduro's presidency was 'illegitimate' as it was founded on flawed elections. Guaido is trying to force the socialist leader from power so he can set up a transitional government and hold new presidential elections in the struggling country. Already recognised by the US, Canada, Australia and several Latin American countries, he began to exercise authority for the first time this weekend, calling on the army to allow in humanitarian aid to a nation wracked by economic crisis. President Trump's administration last week issued sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA in a move likely to cut revenues for a country hit by medicine shortages and malnutrition. Trudeau spoke on Sunday to Guaido and the two 'discussed the importance of the international community sending a clear message regarding the illegitimacy of the Maduro regime,' Trudeau's office said. The petitioner told the court that during the election period, many bogus accounts would be created. Mumbai: The Bombay high court has issued notices to YouTube, Google and Twitter after a petition was filed by Sagar Suryawanshi seeking ban on advertisements posted in bulk on social media during election period. The petitioner informed the court that during elections, some paid advertisements were circulated on social media to promote candidates or political parties and as per the model code of conduct, no party could advertise or do promotions 48 hours before the elections. On Monday, Darius Khambata, Facebook counsel, informed the division bench of chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice N.M. Jamdar, We have a unique style of functioning all over the world. Under which, we provide platform to express opinions and information on facebook. India is a large country and here, elections have taken place phase-wise in different states, therefore, we cant put restrictions indiscriminately on posts. Advocate Khambata further argued that they did not have any independent censorship on the posts but if the Central Election Commission so informed them, they could remove the objectionable posts from facebook. He sought time to file a detailed affidavit in this regard. The petitioner told the court that during the election period, many bogus accounts would be created. The petitioners lawyer, Abhinav Chandrachud, however, told the bench that social networking sites such as Facebook had advertising policies in the UK and the USA where all advertisements and paid content were subjected to a strict verification process. He argued that a similar policy must be implemented in India. Father-of-three Owen Haisley, 45, is set to be deported to Jamaica this week A father-of-three who was granted leave to remain in the UK at the age of four is set to be deported to Jamaica this week after serving jail time for domestic assault. Owen Haisley moved to the UK from the Caribbean with his mother, a nurse, in 1977, and was given leave to remain with no restrictions. But in 2015 he was convicted of a domestic assault and spent a year behind bars at HMP Risley. He was then told he would need to apply for the right to remain in the UK. Following a three-year battle with the Home Office, Owen was arrested and detained while signing on at a immigration reporting centre in Salford on January 25. He has now been told he is due to board a plane with another 49 people on Wednesday which will deport them to Jamaica. The charter flight has been dubbed 'a convict flight' by Jamaican national newspaper, The Gleaner, because all of the passengers are alleged to have committed offences in the past. Mr Haisley has no family left in Jamaica and hasn't set foot on the island in over forty years. He was taken to Manchester Central police station and held before being taken to Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre. He was then taken to the Harmondsworth immigration centre, in Middlesex. Mr Haisley said: 'My children need me. I've been told they can either travel over and see me or I have got to keep in touch via Skype' Speaking from the detention centre where he is being held, Mr Haisley said: 'I hold my hands up, I have made mistakes but I have gone to prison, done my time for it, done rehabilitation and restorative justice, and they say I can't have a second chance. 'Why do I have to be sent to another country and bring my children up on Skype? 'Offenders with a British passport can repeatedly offend and be given another chance. I'm not a repeat offender.' After spending time in London as a child, Mr Haisley moved to Manchester 30 years ago to live with his great aunt, who is part of the Windrush generation. He gained popularity as a drum and bass and jungle DJ and MC and enjoyed residences at city centre nightclubs. He then spent 12 years teaching music workshops to young people as part of the organisation Greater Manchester Music Action Zone and most recently worked as a mobile phone executive. He has worked legally with the National Insurance number he was given when he was 16 and paid taxes. Mr Haisley holds a Jamaican passport but says he feels 'more Mancunian than Jamaican'. He said he never thought to apply for a British passport because he had lived and worked in the country for so long without a problem - a decision he now regrets. After various appeals to the Home Office over the last three years he was detained and was due to be deported on a charter flight to Jamaica last April, days after the Windrush scandal broke. But the flight was cancelled for reasons the Home Office did not disclose. Mr Haisley has no family left in Jamaica and hasn't set foot on the island in over forty years Mr Haisley added: '[The immigration centre] is like a prison. We're in cells and there's a regime a bit like a prison regime. 'It's cold, the food is not that great and we're restricted to using things like internet. 'They've got this flight set up for Wednesday and I think they will give everyone decisions on their status that day and we won't be able to stop it. 'I've not been back to Jamaica since I left as a kid. I have been over here for a long time, I don't know anyone over there. 'Everyone got the impression of it's a nice place as a tourist. For someone being deported you will be right in the middle of things. Where will I live and how will I survive financially? 'We have been told 50 of us will be put on a flight accompanied by 190 enforcement officers will sit with us and Jamaican police will meet us and put us into a holding place. 'Anyone of interest to the Jamaican police will be held and everyone else will be let go.' He says he is worried about returning to a country he hasn't set foot in since he was a young child with no family or friends to lean on. 'My children need me,' he added. 'I've been told they can either travel over and see me or I have got to keep in touch via Skype. 'The Home Office say because of my criminality they want to deport me. I just wanna be given a second chance like everyone else that does a crime and serves time. 'I came over here legally. I've lost it all because of a 12 month imprisonment.' Mr Haisley is also worried how the arrival of the flight will be received in Jamaica after hitting the headlines. 'It's gone out in the Gleaner. We have been set as targets. People have this impression that if you're from England you have lots of money. But they won't even give you a change of clothing here', he said. 'The Home Office is issuing booklets on 'how to be Jamaican'. I've seen the posters in the detention centres.' Mr Haisley moved to Manchester 30 years ago to live with his great aunt, who is part of the Windrush generation. He gained popularity as a drum and bass and jungle DJ and MC (pictured) and enjoyed residences at city centre nightclubs Friends of Mr Haisley have started a petition calling on MPs to intervene in his case in the hope they can persuade the Home Office to cancel his deportation. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has shared the petition on his Twitter page and has promised to write to the Home Secretary about the case. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The UK, like many other countries, uses charter flights to return people to their country of origin where they no longer have a right to remain. 'The majority of those being returned are returned on scheduled, commercial flights but this isn't always an option, especially where the individual may be a foreign national offender.' In 2015, then Prime Minister David Cameron offered to fund a new prison in Jamaica, on the basis that a number of Jamaicans in UK jails would be repatriated six months before the end of their sentences. But Jamaica, which has never had an apology or a penny in reparations for the years of forced unpaid labour, torture, rape, killings and family separations inflicted on its people by British slave owners between the 17th and 19th centuries, rejected the offer. Two Chicago police officers are to be reassigned after they used a taser on a 16-year-old girl during a violent confrontation at her high school. Dnigma Howard got into an argument with a teacher over using a cell phone in class at John Marshall Metropolitan High School on Tuesday morning. As the police officers were escorting her from the building a distressing dispute erupted and was captured on film by the teenager's father, Laurentio Howard. An officer stands with their foot on Dnigma Howard's ankle, left, before she kicks, right, at them during the violent altercation at John Marshall Metropolitan High School in Chicago In the cell phone footage Dnigma is seen on the floor as two officers stand over her. One of the officers, who is holding a yellow taser, can be seen with their leg on Dnigma's thigh and she tries to kick and hit at them while rolling around on the floor. The other officer, who has also not been named, grabs the teenager's arm. Dnigma then manages to sit up but the officer with the taser keeps a foot on her leg and the other controls her arm. When she reaches for the taser, the officer swings for her face and shocked students can be heard shouting in the clip. Chicago Police claimed that Dnigma bit and kicked the officers and that one of them fell down the stairs while trying to escort her from the building. The teenager reaches for the taser, left, before the police officer swings, right, for her face Dnigma claims she was left with cuts, one pictured on her face, after the incident. She has since been charged with two felonies and the officers will be reassigned However Mr Howard alleged the officer tried to 'push' his daughter down the stairs so she 'grabbed the police officer by the vest' in defence, reports ABC7 Chicago. He said: 'I couldn't believe what was going on. I was thinking, "If I jump in they're going to shoot me. And if I don't jump in, they're going to hurt my daughter really bad''.' Mr Howard blames the school for not following the behavioral protocol they had agreed, which includes letting his daughter talk to a counsellor, for the incident. Both of the officers and Dnigma were taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries. A Chicago police spokesperson told ABC: 'The officers are currently on medical leave and they will be reassigned to different duties within the District.' Dnigma was charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery to a peace officer and two misdemeanor counts of resisting and obstructing a peace officer. Advertisement A stunning beachfront mansion is up for grabs in the latest lottery being held by a South Australian medical research organisation. The three story residence, located on The Esplanade at Brighton in Adelaide's south, features open plan living and dining areas, three-bedrooms, and two-and-a-half bathrooms. 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The kitchen is a chef's dream with high quality stainless steel appliances and a huge island bench separating it from the living and dining areas that boast three metre high ceilings contributing to the open feel. A lift is also provided going from the two car undercroft garage, through the ground floor living areas, and to the top floor bedrooms. 'We always try to up the prize package so that the winner gets something special. This time, I think we have outdone ourselves,' The Hospital Research Foundation's Paul Flynn told Realestate.com.au. 'This location is very sought after. When we inspected this site, we realised how stunning the prize could be.' The ground floor terrace directly overlooks uncrowded Somerton beach and the famous Brighton jetty allowing you to soak in the views over a morning coffee or evening cocktail A man is planning to sue his parents in India for giving birth to him 'without his consent'. Raphael Samuel said he had a 'great relationship' with his parents but has compared having children to 'kidnapping and slavery'. The 27-year-old from Mumbai is an 'anti-natalist' who believes it is wrong to put an unwilling child through the 'rigmarole' of life for the pleasure of its parents. The anti-natalist movement is gaining traction in India as younger people resist social pressure to have children. Raphael Samuel in one of the posts on his Facebook page, Nihilanand, where he posts anti-natalist material suggesting that parents are 'hypocrites' Speaking to The Print Samuel said: 'I love my parents, and we have a great relationship, but they had me for their joy and their pleasure. 'My life has been amazing, but I don't see why I should put another life through the rigamarole of school and finding a career, especially when they didn't ask to exist.' Samuel runs a Facebook page called Nihilanand, which has hundreds of followers, on which he regularly posts anti-natalist material. One image is captioned 'parents are hypocrites', with the text saying: 'A good parent puts the child above is wants and needs... but the child itself is a want of the parent'. A similar meme posted on the Facebook page reads: 'If parents truly know what is good for their children... why did they have them?' Another asks: 'Isn't forcing a child into this world and then forcing it to have a career kidnapping and slavery?'. In yet another picture he writes: 'The only reason your children are facing problems is because you had them'. Another of the images on Samuel's Facebook page. He said he had a 'great relationship' with his parents but has compared having children to 'kidnapping and slavery' Some anti-natalist activists in India also argue that having children is a strain on Earth's resources and avoid procreation for environmental reasons. Another activist, Pratima Naik, said: 'We don't want to impose our beliefs on anyone, but more people need to consider why having a child in the world right now isn't right.' His page, entitled Childfree India, wrote last month: 'Should we continue to bring more children in this world and accelerate the process of environmental and social degradation? 'Do you think existence is pain, and not bringing a child into this world, is a guaranteed way to avoid unnecessary suffering to the child? 'We are a group of people who have decided not to reproduce. We are Childfree Indians!' Five policemen fired dozens of times into a parked car at point-blank range in Pakistan, killing four people including a 12-year-old girl and her parents. The officers now face murder charges after the incident in the eastern city of Sahiwal last month, during which a family friend was also killed. Officers then reached inside the car, around the bodies of Mohammad and Nabeela Khalil, their daughter Areeba and their friend Zeeshan, to pull out three surviving children. The children, all under the age of 10, were found abandoned at a petrol station some distance away, the BBC reported. Footage of the killings taken in broad daylight by shocked witnesses went viral in Pakistan - sending Prime Minister Imran Khan scrambling to quell anger over a police culture of impunity that is now being threatened by social media. In the footage, police approach the innocent family who were inside the white car and shoot dozens of times at point blank range After the incident they pulled three crying children, the oldest of whom was nine, out of the car Bullet holes are seen in the car after police opened fire on its occupants last month in a so-called 'encounter killing' in Pakistan Mr Khan tweeted that he was shocked 'at seeing the traumatized children who saw their parents shot before their eyes'. Thousands have been gunned down in recent years across Pakistan in so-called 'encounter killings' - incidents where suspects allegedly resist arrest, are slain, then later identified as terrorists to boost statistics. Nine-year-old Umair Khalil survived alongside his two younger sisters. He said police shot at the family, who ran a grocery shop, even as their father offered them a bribe and pleaded to be let go. Umair said the group, from Lahore, had been travelling to a family member's wedding police stopped them at a toll booth. 'My father told them to take our money and not to shoot their guns. But they started firing,' Umair said in the video broadcast widely across Pakistan news outlets and social media. Survivor Umair Khalil, 9, told journalists that police shot at the family, who ran a grocery shop, even as their father offered them a bribe Five policemen fired dozens of times into a parked car at point-blank range in Pakistan, killing four people including a 12-year-old girl After footage of the killings went viral in Pakistan, the Prime Minister was left scrambling to quell people's anger Police initially defended their response saying terrorists with links to the Islamic State group were in the car using the family as a human shield. But this 'encounter' was fundamentally different to others - it was filmed on mobile phones and the videos posted online. Authorities have since backtracked as furore grew with the prime minister vowing to mete out 'exemplary punishment' to the guilty. The five officers were hit with murder charges and protests erupted in nearby Lahore. Students protest in Lahore against the killing of a family, who were gunned down in a police encounter in nearby Sahiwal Mourners in Lahore block a road on January 20 in protest at the killings which were caught on camera 'People... know that a video they make from their cell phone can have far more impact than the camera of a news channel,' said Pakistani digital rights activist Haroon Baloch. 'Had the nearby people not filmed the Sahiwal incident, nobody would have noticed the extrajudicial killing,' he added. The incident is the latest instance of how phones are radically changing Pakistanis' relationship with power. During elections over the summer, a host of videos went viral, showing angry voters hounding elected representatives over their failure to serve their constituents. Relatives mourn the deaths of members of a family that were shot in their parked car despite pleading with police to let them go The Sahiwal incident comes almost exactly a year after a similar killing of a young social media star in Karachi ignited an ethnic rights movement by the country's Pashtun community. The movement it spawned - the Pakistan Protection Movement, or PTM - has been largely sustained by social media and videos captured on mobiles, piling even more pressure on authorities. But the killings continue, with analysts saying reforms are needed to challenge impunity in the police ranks. 'It's a culture of the police in Pakistan to kill people and make it look it like an encounter,' Mehdi Hasan - chairperson of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) - told AFP. Data compiled by HRCP showed that 4,803 people were killed in these 'encounters' in Pakistan within the past three years alone. 'The police need to be properly trained if such incidents are to be avoided in the future,' Hasan added. Mourners carry the coffin of a victim, who was part of a family who were gunned down in a police encounter in Sahiwal, during the funeral in Lahore Security analyst Amir Rana however argued that increased police accountability and judicial reform were key to cementing lasting change. 'This culture has existed in the police force for decades,' Rana explained, saying Pakistan's mammoth backlog of legal cases overloading its judiciary was part of the problem. '(Police) want quick results and they try to avoid... lengthy legal procedures which leads to staging encounters.' Long-derided as nosy neighbours and busybodies, the Neighbourhood Watch has pulled back the curtain on its activities claiming its members are on the front-line of the fight against terrorism and human trafficking. Last month in his column in The Guardian comedian David Mitchell accused Neighbourhood Watch volunteers of only focusing on small local crimes. He joked that if they ran the NHS 'all the money would go to treating RSI caused by overenergetic net-curtain twitching' and added 'their best chance of arresting a mafia boss is if he plays the music too loudly at his Christmas party.' Now the group's chief executive has hit back at what he called 'lazy stereotyping' of his 2.3 million members. The Neighbourhood Watch is often thought of as being comprised of middle-class 'curtain twitchers' but its chief executive said that was 'lazy stereotyping' of a volunteer force which also tackles knife crime and terrorism The Neighbourhood Watch briefs its members on what to look out for in terrorism suspects More than 2 million Neighbourhood Watch volunteers act as 'eyes and ears' for the police Neighbourhood Watch chief executive John Hayward-Cripps 18 terror plots foiled by public in 2 years The UK's most senior counter terrorism officer, head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, said more than 22 per cent of all reports from the public produce intelligence which is helpful to police and revealed the number of attacks foiled since March 2017 has risen to 18. These efforts are backed by the Neighbourhood Watch Network which last year launched a crime prevention toolkit aimed at tackling terrorism. Mr Basu said: 'Thankfully, we did not see the horrors of 2017 repeated last year, but we should not be complacent enough to think the terrorist threat has diminished the UK threat level remains at SEVERE meaning an attack is highly likely. 'Counter Terrorism Policing officers are currently running more than 700 live investigations nationwide, while crucial intelligence from the public has helped police and the security services prevent 18 terror attacks in just under two years.' Source: Neighbourhood Watch Advertisement John Hayward-Cripps told The Times: 'The idea that our members are only concerned with certain types of crime is baffling. 'Our volunteers run workshops to stop young people carrying knives, we teach older people to spot the signs of potential scams and we have produced crime-prevention toolkits that tackle human trafficking and terrorism. 'The police are key partners and we enhance the work of very stretched forces.' According to the Neighbourhood Watch's terrorism toolkit, members should be wary of anyone who 'travels a lot but is vague about where they're going and why'. Anyone seen buying or receiving deliveries of chemicals, fertilisers or gas cylinders should also be reported, it suggests. Mr Hayward Cripps reached back to the heyday of the Dandy magazine and its nosiest character for a reference to refute, saying his volunteers were 'often characterised as a group of middle-class Keyhole Kates spying on the neighbours, interfering in people's lives'. But, he told the paper, 'this lazy stereotyping does not reflect the real work of the modern Neighbourhood Watch.' Neighbourhood Watch schemes, which began in the USA in the 1960s and launched in the UK in the early 1980s, have been shown to reduce crime in an area by up to 26 per cent. Local homeowners stay alert for suspicious activity and act as the 'eyes and ears' of the police. Some groups have also gone out on the streets. In the village of Huncoat, Lancashire, members said last month that they would run round-the-clock patrols and set up a CCTV system after increases in crime. It comes as police cast an even wider net when asking the public for help, with 22,000 emailed responses flooding in to a European-wide effort to crowdsource clues in complex child abuse investigations. The Europol initiative shares photographs of seemingly-innocuous items which appear in images linked to child abuse. Officers involved in the Trace An Object scheme which launched in 2017 have posted 283 images which generated the massive repsonse. In one instance, a bathroom tile located by online amateur detectives became the missing piece in an international child abuse investigation and led to the arrest of a suspect and the identification of nine child abuse victims. Tory Brexiteers and Remainers emerged from talks shoulder to shoulder tonight as Theresa May prepares to head to Northern Ireland in a bid to end the Brexit logjam. Nicky Morgan and Damian Green left the Cabinet Office alongside Iain Duncan Smith, Owen Paterson and Theresa Villiers following the first of three days of talks on a possible compromise for the Irish backstop. The unlikely group is working with civil servants to establish whether a 'Plan C' using technology to police the Irish border in the event there is no trade deal. A spokesman for Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the talks has 'detailed and constructive' and would resume tomorrow. The rare show of Tory unity came ahead of a speech in which Mrs May is due to underline her 'absolute commitment' to avoiding a hard Irish border during the visit, according to aides. But Cabinet ministers have voiced fears that there is 'nothing she can get' that will satisfy the hardline Brexiteers. One told MailOnline they seemed intent on forcing no deal, warning: 'She could get the backstop removed and even that wouldn't be enough. They would just find some other excuse.' Meanwhile, Brussels has ramped up the pressure by again flatly dismissing the idea that that Irish border issue can be resolved with technological fixes in the short term. Angela Merkel said changes to the Withdrawal Agreement were not 'on the agenda', and the commission's top official Martin Selmayr denied the EU was considering 'legally-binding' assurances. Government sources said there was 'zero' chance of Mrs May heading to the Belgian capital for talks today. Remainers Nicky Morgan and Damian Green (second and third left) emerged alongside Brexiteers Theresa Villiers (left), Iain Duncan Smith (second right) and Owen Paterson (right) tonight following the first round of talks Theresa May (pictured today arriving at Downing Street) summoned Tory Eurosceptics and Remainers for crisis talks as she desperately struggles to find a Brexit strategy that does not tear her party to pieces Members of the European Research Group (ERG) and senior Remainers have been drafted in to form the Alternative Arrangements Working Group (AAWG). ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker, former Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson and Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh will be involved along with former education secretary Nicky Morgan and ex-cabinet office minister Damian Green. Following the first meeting, a Brexit department spokesman said: 'Discussions were detailed and constructive and the first step of a process to find common ground on the issue of the backstop. 'There will be subsequent meetings tomorrow and coming days.' They will examine the prospects of the so-called Malthouse Compromise - which essentially involves seeking to replace the Irish backstop with a looser arrangement, and if that fails persuading the EU to agree a longer transition period to hammer out other trade terms. But many senior ministers are deeply sceptical about the proposals, pointing out that they are very similar to the 'managed no deal' ideas that have already been rejected the by government and Brussels. There have been claims that Mrs May and other senior figures paid lip service to the plan amid frantic efforts to stave off defeat in crunch Commons votes last Tuesday. However, Brexiteers have warned that the PM must stand by her promise to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement altogether - rather than just seeking a legal add-on. The Labour chairman of the Commons Brexit committee, Hilary Benn, dismissed the 'Plan C' ideas during a visit to Brussels today ERG deputy leader Steve Baker (left in Westminster last week) was part of the Alternative Arrangements Working Group meeting today. Angela Merkel (right in Japan today) has said changes to the Withdrawal Agreement are not 'on the agenda' for the EU One Cabinet minister told MailOnline: 'There is nothing she can get that would satisfy the ERG hardliners. They are irreconcilable.' The EU's deputy negotiator Sabine Weyand has rejected the idea that technology could solve the Irish border issue in the short term - and also insisted the bloc could not 'turn a blind eye' to the border as it had a 'duty to ensure public health and safety of consumers, protect against unfair competition and enforce public policies and international agreements'. Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured today at Global radio in London) has backed the so-called Malthouse Compromise The Labour chairman of the Commons Brexit committee, Hilary Benn, has also dismissed the 'Plan C' ideas. Speaking in Brussels where he has been meeting the commission's chief civil servant, Martin Selmayr, he told reporters: 'A lot of it to me, I have to say, personally, looks very familiar if you go back to last summer when people looked at technology and trusted traders and all of that, and a great deal of effort was put into examining those as a possible way forward. 'The conclusion that was reached I think on behalf of the British Government and the European Union was that well, it's not going to work. 'And I personally, but others will have a different view, personally I don't see how it can work particularly in the very short amount of time that there is left.' Tory former Cabinet ministers, who was among the delegation of MPs who met Mr Selmayr today, said they were told 'what we have heard from others in the commission, that basically they regard the deal as having been finalised ... and they don't wish to reopen it'. 'They did say that the political declaration is open for discussion in the future. But they said that they could not reopen the withdrawal agreement,' he told the BBC's World at One. They did talk about legal assurances, in the form of the letter that we have already had from Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk. I have to say that, for those of us who couldn't support the withdrawal agreement, I certainly didn't hear anything that gave me great hope that the prime minister would come back with a change to the withdrawal agreement. Pro-EU Tory MP Anna Soubry today delivered a thinly-veiled call for ministers to quit. She said 'sensible' figures 'must show courage' or they will be 'complicit in a disastrous no deal'. And Justice Secretary David Gauke suggested Brexit might have to be delayed unless Mrs May's deal was approved soon. 'The determination that the Prime Minister has set out is to deliver that on the 29th March but if we are going to do that then MPs do need to be backing a deal in short order, and that's MPs both on my own side and also in other parties,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. The new grouping was announced as former foreign secretary Boris Johnson accused the party leadership of using rumours of a June general electionas a 'scare tactic' to bounce exhausted Conservative MPs into backing her Withdrawal Agreement. In his Telegraph column, Mr Johnson suggested that if someone in Tory HQ thought a summer election was a good idea they should be 'dispatched on secondment to Venezuela or Zimbabwe or somewhere they can do less damage.' Meanwhile, car giant Nissan hit out at Brexit 'uncertainty' as it confirmed it would build its X-Trail 4x4 in Japan instead of at its Sunderland plant. In a letter to staff Gianluca de Ficchy, the Japanese firm's Europe chairman blamed pressure on the diesel market for the U-turn, adding: 'We have taken this decision for the business reasons I've explained, but clearly the uncertainty around the UK's future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future.' Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is looking at legal changes to the Irish backstop that Mrs May aims to get agreed by the EU But ERG chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg played down the idea that leaving the EU was responsible for the car giant's move. 'As far as one can tell, Brexit is far from being the primary reason Nissan has made this decision,' he told LBC Radio. He said 'uncertainty' about the future relationship was far more the issue for businesses. The AAWG is due to meet at the Cabinet Office in Whitehall later, with meetings also scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday this week. What is Plan C? Under Plan C, the UK would ask for the transition period to run for an extra year to the end of 2021 and EU citizens living in Britain would have their rights protected. There is then a two-pronged approach to the negotiations. First, the UK would demand the EU negotiates a new Irish border backstop that is acceptable to Brexiteers. They suggest a technology-based system for goods crossing the Irish border that has already been rejected by the EU. If this proves impossible, the group would then suggest a no deal exit based on keeping the transition period from the existing plan in return for paying some of the divorce bill. Both sides would then use the three year transition period to prepare for an exit on basic World Trade Organisation rules, while negotiating a final trade deal. If it went ahead, Brexiteers would get to remove the backstop they say is unacceptable while Remainers still get the transition period they say is essential. Advertisement Mr Baker, a former Brexit minister who quit last year in protest at the Chequers agreement, and Ms Morgan were involved talks last week between MPs from the Remain and Brexiteer wings of the Conservative Party over the Malthouse compromise. It requires the PM to replace the Agreement's controversial backstop with 'alternative arrangements' to keep the Irish border open after Brexit. Mrs May told the Commons last week it was 'a serious proposal that we are engaging with sincerely and positively'. Mr Baker said last night: 'After a positive conference call today running through the Government's questions, I'm more confident than ever we can land the Malthouse compromise, including the indefinite Better Deal backstop protocol. 'I hope our meetings with Government are as constructive as they should be because Malthouse is the only game in town if we are to achieve a deal. 'I just hope engagement is as sincere as the PM's words at the despatch box led us to expect.' Mr Johnson used his Telegraph column to heap scorn on the idea of a general election in a few months time. He attacked the idea not because he though Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party might win but because 'if Tory MPs were asked to go into electoral battle in the next few months, there would be a hole in the heart of our manifesto'. He added: 'I have no idea what we would say about the EU - because after two-and-a-half years of dither the truly astonishing feature of the UK position is that the big questions have still not been answered.' Home Secretary Sajid Javid suggested yesterday that Border Force figures believe there are viable alternative arrangements to the Irish border backstop that would avoid the need for a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Mr Javid told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: 'They have shown me quite clearly you can have no hard border on the island of Ireland and you can use existing technology. It is perfectly possible, the only thing missing is a bit of goodwill on the EU side.' However this was publicly questioned by Sabine Weyand, deputy to European Commission chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. She tweeted: 'That would not be 'goodwill' but a dereliction of duty by public authorities in the EU that have a duty to ensure public health and safety of consumers, protect against unfair competition and enforce public policies and international agreements.' A group of former Royal Marines tackled a shoplifter to the ground after he tried to assault a Tesco security guard. Ex Marines Matt Mason, Dom Rogers and Sam Humphries were doing a charity row when a thief punched the guard twice then tried to flee the Tesco Superstore in Bury. But Mr Rogers and former Royal Marine Commando Mr Mason, who has served in Afghanistan, gave chase and tackled him in the car park before waiting for police. The former Royal Marines were captured on CCTV apprehending the thief The trio were doing the row for Oceans Revival 2020, which will see them row 3,700 miles from New York to London CCTV footage shows the man assault the Tesco staff member before Mr Mason and Mr Rogers run after him. The trio were doing a charity row for the Royal Marines Charity and Plastic Oceans UK on Saturday. Mr Mason said: 'What must have been the world's dumbest criminal was carrying a handful of items including perfume and a hair dryer and turned up in between our stand and the security stand near the main entrance. 'We saw him ripping off the security tag from the items. The man was then approached by a Tesco security man whom he then assaulted by going to punch him. 'As far as I know, the security man suffered no injuries, but the man then went to run out of the store. 'So we then ran off after the man and got him on the floor of the car park and then picked him up managed to bring him back to the store with his arms around his back. 'He was taken to a back room where the store manager was and waited there for the police. 'It was an 18-year-old man who was arrested. We were just shocked by the incident, especially with a man so young.' The man had tried to steal items from the Tesco superstore before assaulting a security guard Along with Mr Rogers, from Helmshore, and two other former Royal Marine Commandos, Mr Mason will row a boat across the North Atlantic Ocean - the same treacherous route taken by the Titanic. The challenge, Oceans Revival 2020, will see the group row 3,700 miles from New York to London on a route that's never been completed before. Greater Manchester Police have been contacted for comment. Advertisement As Britain recovers from the grip of deep freeze homeowners are now being warned to brace themselves for heavy downpours and melting snow. The Environment Agency has today issued flood alerts across the south-west of England, with residents being told the prepare for flooding. The Met Office has issued a warning for snow and ice will affect commuters across parts of Scotland today, while forecasters say a band of rain will sweep across the UK over the coming week. A flood alert has been issued across Somerset, mid Bristol and the River Avon and the River Dart in Devon. The Settle to Carlisle train passes a snow filled scene in North Yorkshire this morning Londoners battled through the rain this morning at London bridge as the capital was hit by wet, windy, cold weather The Environment Agency has issued four flood alerts today, warning of rising river levels on the River Avon at Great Somerford, River Avon at Bradford on Avon, River Avon at Bathford and Semington Brook at Semington are rising. It also says river levels on the Hawkcombe Stream at Porlock, Horner Water at West Luccombe, River Aller at Allerford, Washford River at Beggearn Huish, Monksilver Stream at Williton, Doniford Stream at Sampford Brett and Doniford Stream at Doniford are all rising. Met Office forecaster Nicole Maxey said the UK will see a band of heavy showers this week. She said: 'Rain, sleet and snow is set to clear across the north east of Scotland today with cloud and rain further south. The south east will hang on to patchy rain and cloud. 'There will be overnight dry clear spells with the chance of widespread frost which may develop into fog in the south east corner. A band of rain will be coming in from the west by the evening with a heavy burst possible within that band. 'By Wednesday the band of showers and clouds will move eastward and any residual snow will melt. 'Over the next week or two temperatures should remain normal for the time of year with the odd spell below average. Over the middle of February we are looking at temperatures of around 6.6-7C.' Daytime temperatures today will be at least 9C (48.2F) in the north and 11C (51.8F) in the south. Parts of northern England will to slip to -2C (28.4F) tonight but elsewhere should be 0C (32F) or higher. Farmer finds rare 'snow rollers' in Wiltshire field Snow rollers, or snow bales, are formed when wind conditions are ideal to blow chunks of snow along, picking up more snow along the way Incredible pictures show rare 'snow rollers' that formed in a British field during the recent snow storm. Brian Bayliss, 51, works as a forestry contractor and was driving past a field he owned when he saw the usual snow formations, about 2 - 3ft in diameter and 2ft wide. He thought children had been playing in his field in Marlborough, Wiltshire, so went to take a closer look but was amazed to discover there was not a single footprint. Mr Bayliss was then told by a BBC weather expert that they were natural oddities known as Snow Rollers. Snow Rollers are a rare meteorological phenomenon in which large snowballs are formed naturally as chunks of snow are blown along the ground by the wind. As they move they pick up snow on the way, in much the same way that the large snowballs used in snowmen are made. These incredible pictures show rare 'snow rollers' that formed in a British field during the recent snow storm They are a rare meteorological phenomenon in which large snowballs are formed naturally as chunks of snow are blown along the ground by the wind As they move they pick up snow on the way, in much the same way that the large snowballs used in snowmen are made Advertisement Commuters braved the driving rain in the capital this morning as a band of rain sweeps across the UK Umbrellas were of little use this morning, with commuters struggling to battle through the heavy wind and rain in London The thaw of snow in Teesdale, in the Pennines in County Durham, after a week of wintry weather But bookmakers have now slashed odds on February 2019 being the coldest on record. With temperatures still dropping, the bookies cut odds from 3/1 to 5/2 over the weekend on this month breaking weather records. Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: 'It's looking increasingly likely this goes down as a record-breaking month on the weather front.' A woman who helped to bring down a Brazilian faith healer accused of sex abuse has taken her own life in Spain. Sabrina Bittencourt, 38, died at her home in Barcelona just days after accusing John of God - real name Joao Teixeira de Faria - of running a 'sex slave farm'. She claimed young girls were held captive in a farming operation which exported babies on the black market. The women would be murdered after ten years of having babies in the alleged scheme run by the 77-year-old celebrity faith healer, who was arrested last year after hundreds of women accused him of abuse, she said. Sabrina Bittencourt (pictured), 38, died at her home in Barcelona just days after accusing John of God - real name Joao Teixeira de Faria - of running a 'sex slave farm' John of God, pictured with one of his patients, has been accused of sex abuse by hundreds of women and was arrested last year in Brazil Ms Bittencourt left Brazil and was forced to live under protection after receiving death threats. Her eldest son Gabriel Baum confirmed her death, writing on Facebook: 'She took the last step so that we could live. They killed my mother.' Sex abuse victim support group Victimas Unidas, who worked with the 38-year-old, said: 'We announce with regret the death of Sabrina de Campos Bittencourt, which occurred around 9pm on Saturday on February 2 in Barcelona where she was living. 'The activist committed suicide and left a farewell note explaining the reasons why she took her own life.' Before her death she was quoted as saying: 'Hundreds of girls were enslaved over years, lived on farms in Goias, served as wombs to get pregnant, for their babies to be sold.' 'These girls were murdered after 10 years of giving birth. We have got a number of testimonies.' Ms Bittencourt had received reports of children being sold for between 15,000 and 40,000 in Europe, Australia and the United States, she said. John of God (pictured in a police mugshot) - known as Joao de Deus in his native language - denies all of the charges against him The faith healer's work caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey and he was interviewed by the host in the grounds of his clinic in 2010 (Faria pictured above with Oprah) Faria, known as 'John of God', arrives at a police station in Goiania, Brazil, last December Hundreds of around the world have already accused John of God of sexually abusing them during healing sessions. The faith healer became a wanted man after ten women accused him of abuse during a late night chat show on Brazil's Globo TV network last year. After the initial interview on TV authorities were reportedly contacted by more than 600 other accusers, including Faria's adult daughter, Dalva Teixeira. He was arrested in December and remanded in custody before being charged with rape and sexual assault. John of God - known as Joao de Deus in his native language - denies all of the charges against him. Faria rose to international fame for his 'psychic surgeries' that he claimed could cure diseases, including cancer. The faith healer gained international fame in 2010 when Oprah Winfrey visited his retreat to interview him for her talk show. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and supermodel Naomi Campbell are among those rumoured to have visited him. The Shiv Sena, MNS appealed the state to save the anti-corruption activists life. Mumbai: Social activist Anna Hazare has lost 4.25 kg in the last six days since his fast over appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs began, doctors said Monday. Expressing concern over social activist Anna Hazares health, the Shiv Sena and MNS Monday appealed the BJP-led government to save his life even as his hunger strike entered its sixth day. The 81-year-old anti-graft crusader has been on a hunger strike in his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district, demanding appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in the state and resolution of farmers issues. Mr Hazare now weig-hs 71.1 kg and has lost 4.25 kg weight. His blood pressure is also increasing due to fasting, said Dr Dhananjay Pote, who is attending to Mr Hazare. Dr Pote has been asked by the villagers to keep tabs on Mr Hazares health and come up with a daily report. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had extended his support to Mr Hazare, asking him to emulate socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and lead an agitation against corruption. The Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana on Monday, appealed to the BJP-led government to save Mr Hazares life. Mr Hazare had earlier warned that if the Modi government did not fulfill its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan award. MNS chief Raj Thackeray and water conservationist Rajendra Singh met Mr Hazare Monday and extended their support to his agitation. Mr Raj asked Mr Hazare not to sacrifice his life for the useless government. He asked Mr Hazare to end his protest and conduct a joint tour of the state with him to bury the BJP-led government. I have appealed Mr Hazare not to sacrifice his life for these useless people. I have also asked him not to trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi and any of his promises, Mr Raj said after he and Mr Hazare held a closed-door meeting at the Yadavbaba temple for 20 minutes. Fans of McDonald's chicken nuggets are being invited to a viral event in Sydney that will see the food lovers order more than 1000 nuggets. A Facebook event page, titled Order 1,000 Chicken Nuggets At Maccas Circular Quay, was set up by Sydney friends Dale Tolcidas, Keith Mac and Jayden Gerrard. The event has been set for February 5 and will begin at 6.30pm. 'Everyone gather together to come up and order 1,000 Chicken Nuggets,' Mr Tolcidas wrote. Fans of McDonald's chicken nuggets are being invited to a viral event in Sydney that will see the food lovers order more than 1000 nuggets (file photo) A Facebook event page , titled Order 1,000 Chicken Nuggets At Maccas Circular Quay (pictured), was set up by Sydney friends Dale Tolcidas, Keith Mac and Jayden Gerrard 'Spoke to the manager of Maccas Circular Quay and I already gave notice that we will be doing this.' 'I'm sure we're going to be doing an excess of 1,000 nuggets, maybe double or triple.' The event has already attracted interest from 585 people with a further 6 thousand 'interested' in attending. 'To make things easier, and we'd be able to record the amount of chicken nuggets we're getting, order only between 6:30pm to 8:00pm Mr Tolcidas wrote. 'Whether get a 24pc (piece) or a 6pc pack, up to you. Pay for your own nuggets. No judgements of what kind of sauce you want, everybody is welcome!' Mr Tolcidas said the group planned on keeping a running tally of how many nuggets are bought and eaten and will post the figures back on the event page. A number of other Facebook users commented on the page letting organisers know they would not be alone at the Circular Quay McDonald's. 'If this goes down circular quay gonna throw the whole fast food away,' one user wrote. Mr Tolcidas said the group planned on keeping a running tally of how many nuggets are bought and eaten and will post the figures back on the event page 'As long as I don't get judged for having mustard with my nuggies I'm there,' another added. One event attendee went to the extra length of working out the weight of nuggets that could be ocnsumed if 24,000 people attended the event and all ordered 1000 nuggets. 'We would be ordering about 38400kg of chicken nuggets, tut the real question what is the volume of that many chicken nuggets, can some body find this out for me and for the good of the world at large,' the user wrote. Mr Tolcidas encouraged everyone who comes to the event to share their experience on social media. If you're posting on social media, we'd love it! Use the hashtag #sydneynuggets when posting on IG or on Facebook!' he wrote. Ryanair made losses of more than 17million in the third quarter of 2018 amid pilot strikes, cancellations and confusing new baggage rules, it has been revealed today. The Irish carrier booked a pre-tax loss of 19.3 million in the three months to December 31, which compares to a 98.8 million profit in the same period last year. This comes after the beleaguered low-cost airline finished bottom of the respected Which? annual airline survey for the sixth consecutive year. The airline said it flew 32.7 million customers in the quarter, an increase of 8%, and recorded revenue of 1.53 billion euros up nearly 10% Ryanair faced 'a host of challenges' in 2018 Ryanairs reputation has declined so much thousands of respondents told Which? that they would never again fly Ryanair even if it was cheaper than its rivals. Of those who said there was one airline with which theyd never travel, 70 per cent named Ryanair no other airline came close. Ryanair ruined the holiday plans of thousands of people in 2018 by cancelling flights and then refusing to pay its passengers compensation resulting in the Civil Aviation Authority taking enforcement action. The airline made 1.75billion last year from extras 28 per cent of its revenue. Assigned seating on the airline can cost up to 30 each for a return journey, priority boarding, which includes a wheelie cabin case, costs an extra 12 and the cost of checking in extra luggage can also be significant. The airline also repeatedly tinkered with its luggage rules, risking confusion among passengers with three separate changes over the course of the year. Advertisement In the consumer champions poll passengers gave the budget carrier the lowest possible rating for boarding, seat comfort, food and drink, and cabin environment leaving it with a dismal overall customer score of 40 per cent. Ryanair racked up net losses of 17.5 million, citing weaker-than-expected air fares among a host of challenges. The firm also blamed excess winter capacity in Europe for a 6% reduction in average fares to under 30 euros, while the airline also had to contend with higher costs from fuel, staff and compensation claims. It comes after a profit warning last month. The airline has also unveiled a management shake-up that will see boss Michael O'Leary head up the group for another five years. Revenue was up 9% to 1.53 billion euros (1.3 billion) and the airline said it flew 32.7 million customers in the quarter, an increase of 8%. Ryanair maintained its full-year profit guidance of between 1 billion euros to 1.1 billion euros. Mr O'Leary said: 'While a 20 million euro loss in quarter three was disappointing, we take comfort that this was entirely due to weaker-than-expected air fares so our customers are enjoying record low prices, which is good for current and future traffic growth. 'While ancillary revenues performed strongly, up 26% in Q3, this was offset by higher fuel, staff and EU261 (compensation) costs.' The airline has also unveiled a management shake-up that will see boss Michael O'Leary (pictured) head up the group for another five years Additionally, the firm announced that it will change its group structure, with a smaller management team overseeing four units - Ryanair, Laudamotion, Ryanair Sun and Ryanair UK. As part of the shake up, Mr O'Leary will act as group chief executive of Ryanair until at least 2024. Meanwhile, chairman and company veteran David Bonderman will lead the board until summer 2020, but will not put himself up for reselection. He will be succeeded by Stan McCarthy, who joined the board in 2017. A restaurant has come under fire after an outraged Jewish customer noticed $15 Schindler's List-themed waffle fries nachos on the menu. Melbourne woman Lisa was left disturbed after she spotted the Holocaust reference on the menu while visiting Gold Coast restaurant The Arc at Nobbys, on Friday. 'My boyfriend and I went to dine there on Friday night, February 1, and almost immediately I noticed the 'Schindler's List' waffle fries for 15 dollars,' Lisa said. 'I cannot express how disturbed, uncomfortable and in plain shock we were both in after reading the menu.' The Arc at Nobbys came under fire after a customer complained about Schindler's List-themed waffle fries nachos on the menu (pictured) Melbourne woman Lisa was left disturbed after she spotted the Holocaust reference on the menu while visiting Gold Coast restaurant The Arc at Nobbys (pictured), on Friday Schindler's List is a movie set in German occupied Poland during World War II about businessman Oskar Schindler who turns his factory into a refuge for persecuted Jewish people during the Holocaust. The Schindler's List waffle fries nachos are among a number of other items on the menu named after blockbuster movies including Pulp Fiction, Terminator and Godfather. Lisa made her complaint known and spoke with the manager of the establishment who apologised. 'I asked to speak with the manager and explained to her how inappropriate it is to name a dish after the film,' Lisa said. 'The manager was apologetic after I had explained to her why the name of the dish is extremely offensive, and she assured me that it would be changed to something else.' Lisa also lodged a complaint to the Anti-Defamation Commission, Australia's leading civil rights organisation, and the item was removed from the menu. Lisa lodged a complaint to the Anti-Defamation Commission, Australia's leading civil rights organisation, and the item was removed from the menu (stock image) When contacted by Daily Mail Australia, the restaurant said it was aware of the complaint but stressed they did not intend to cause harm. 'At the time the venue owner advised the customer that her comments would be taken on board and reviewed immediately,' The Arc at Nobbys said. After a review over the weekend, the restaurant made the call to take the name off the menu and to re-print new menus. 'We would like to add at no time did we look to offend anyone and the intent of the name on the menu may have been taken out of context,' The Arc at Nobbys said. 'Fries are popular menu item so we named our four fries after four movies that are popular classics.' Schindler's List is a movie set in German occupied Poland during World War II about businessman Oskar Schindler who turns his factory into a refuge for persecuted Jewish people during the Holocaust The Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission Dr Dvir Abramovich said the incident was an example of cheapening of the Holocaust for advertising and marketing purposes. 'This hurtful and insensitive incident would leave most gasping, and is the latest example of a trend that only seems to be getting worse as we move further in time and people forget what actually happened in World War II,' Dr Abramovich said in a statement. 'It simply defies belief that anyone thought this was an appropriate marketing ploy or a funny gimmick to describe food.' 'I should not have to say this, but there can never be any justifiable purpose for making light of the extermination of six million Jews and millions of others.' Dr Abramovich said he hoped a survivor of the Holocaust never visited the restaurant so that they didn't have to be confront the vulgar menu. 'This offensive episode demonstrates that we still have a long way to go in terms of educating people about the true impact and the unparalleled horrors of Holocaust, and why they should never trivialise history's darkest period,' he said. A mother who claimed she found a potentially lethal drug in a packet of Coco Pops said she feared he son could have died if he had swallowed the pill. Kylie Tweedie said her four-year-old son Alex spotted the tablet, believed to be the drug Duromine, in the box of cereal she bought from a Woolworths store in Nelson Bay, Port Stephens. The little boy luckily showed his mum the tablet before he began breakfast, avoiding a potential disaster. The drug is prescribed to reduce body weight for obese or overweight patients and in Australia is not approved for children under 12 because of severe side-effects. Ms Tweedie said Alex (pictured) continues to talk about finding the tablet and tells everyone he found it and showed mummy Kylie Tweedie claims her son, Alex, found the tablet (pictured) in his bowl of Coco Pops Diarrhoea, vomiting, anxiety, headache, frequent urination and sleeplessness are common symptoms and in a young child could be catastrophic. Ms Tweedie shared an image of the tablet and Coco Pops packet to her Facebook page. 'Everyone with kids who eat[s] coco pops please be careful Alex was eating cereal and at the end we found a capsule in,' she wrote. 'It has been confirmed the tablet is in fact Duromine.' Ms Tweedie (pictured) shared a text exchange with an unidentified individual, who is believed to have access to information on the complaint, to her Facebook page Ms Tweedie (pictured right) said she was shocked when her son (pictured left) found the capsule and has since taken to social media to warn others Ms Tweedie told Daily Mail Australia she feared the worst when she first discovered the pill. 'When I found [the capsule] I was shocked my thought was my son could have died from this and so could other children,' she said. 'This is why I've been on social media trying to warn others and it's put me off them as I'm concerned the staff member might do the same again.' Ms Tweedie said she contacted Kellogg's who confirmed the pill was Duromine from her photo but a company spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia an internal investigation was still under way. 'We've sent the capsule for testing. We expect results in the coming days. 'Based on the information we have, which includes the image provided by the consumer and our conversation with the manufacturer of the medication, we believe it is Duromine.' The spokesperson also added it was highly unlikely the incident happened at the Kellogg's work factory. 'Our investigation found that none of the team who made this food use Duromine. It is a highly controlled prescription-only medicine. 'Based on this information it is highly unlikely that this happened at our factory. We manufacture all our foods to strict quality standards and want to reassure people that Coco Pops is safe to eat. 'We have not received any more complaints on this issue,' the spokesperson added. The spokesperson also stated that employees are banned from bringing medication into the work plant. A spokesperson for Kellogg's said they were in contact with a consumer and were investigating the allegation 'We're in contact with a consumer who has let us know she found a tablet in her Coco Pops,' they said in a written statement. 'The health and safety of our consumers is our number one priority. Along with manufacturing based on strict quality standards, we also have policies in place that prohibit employees bringing medications into the plant. 'We are doing a full investigation with our team and are staying in touch with the consumer. 'Based on the available information, our food on the shelf is safe to eat.' Ms Tweedie also uploaded an image of the cereal box's serial number to social media, in a bid to warn other customers to be wary of the same batch of Coco Pops. 'I'm more stressed about others having the cereal we were lucky some small child wouldn't know not to eat it,' she wrote. The text exchange (pictured) appears to confirm the alleged tablet is in fact a Duromine, despite Kellogg's stating they haven't yet reviewed the sample Ms Tweedie said the incident had not put her off buying Kellogg's products indefinitely. 'It's put me off [buying Kellog's products] for now I feel, after this is settled I might buy again,' she said. '[Kellogg's] have been very helpful they text and call every day and explain where they are up to and have told me they are looking at staff members.' Ms Tweedie said she expected nothing in return for the awful experience. 'I don't want any compensation they replaced the box and a few extra which I said was more [than] enough,' she said. 'They are taking it one day at a time and will call the following day with more updates.' A spokesperson for Woolworths said they would be 'happy to support the manufacturer's investigation in any way'. Worried about a potential Republican primary challenge, President Donald Trump's campaign has launched a state-by-state effort to prevent an intraparty fight that could spill over into the general-election campaign. The nascent initiative has been an intense focus in recent weeks and includes taking steps to change state party rules, crowd out potential rivals and quell any early signs of opposition that could embarrass the president. It is an acknowledgment that Trump, who effectively hijacked the Republican Party in 2016, hasn't completely cemented his grip on the GOP and, in any event, is not likely to coast to the 2020 GOP nomination without some form of opposition. While any primary challenge would almost certainly be unsuccessful, Trump aides are looking to prevent a repeat of the convention discord that highlighted the electoral weaknesses of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter in their failed re-election campaigns. To defend against that prospect, Trump's campaign has deployed what it calls an unprecedented effort to monitor and influence local party operations. Control: Donald Trump, who returned to the White House from Mar-a-Lago late Sunday night, is moving to prevent a primary challenge gaining momentum Tempted? John Kasich, the former Ohio governor, was the last challenger standing in the 2016 primaries and could mount a primary challenge against Trump again It has used endorsements, lobbying and rule changes to increase the likelihood that only loyal Trump activists make it to the Republican nominating convention in August 2020. Bill Stepien, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, calls it all a 'process of ensuring that the national convention is a television commercial for the president for an audience of 300 million and not an internal fight.' One early success for Trump's campaign was in Massachusetts, where Trump backer and former state Rep. Jim Lyons last month defeated the candidate backed by Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, a Trump critic, to serve as the state party chairman. 'We have a constant focus on tracking everything regarding this process,' Stepien said. 'Who's running, what their level of support for the president is and what their vote counts are.' The campaign's work extends beyond state party leadership races, which are taking place in many key states in the coming weeks. Trump's team plans to organize at county and state caucuses and conventions over the next 18 months to elevate pro-Trump leaders and potential delegates. Ahead of the convention, it aims to have complete control of the convention agenda, rules and platform - and to identify any potential trouble-makers well in advance. That sort of organization is a leap from Trump's 2016 delegate operation, which faced challenges by anti-Trump activists in the party. Trump aides say it's the most aggressive effort ever launched to protect an incumbent. Nick Trainer, a White House veteran named last month as the campaign's director of delegates and party organization, is leading a team of three to coordinate with state and local parties in the run-up to the convention. Yet the efforts to protect Trump simply highlight his vulnerability, said an adviser to one potential Republican opponent. 'They're not talented, but they're not idiotic. They rightfully understand that he could be badly damaged or lose in a nomination battle. 'They're doing too much. It looks weak,' said John Weaver, a senior adviser to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, one of the few high-profile Republicans seriously contemplating a primary challenge. Trump's campaign is closely monitoring the intentions of Kasich and other potential primary challengers, and aides said they expect someone to mount a campaign for the nomination. But they insist their efforts are not borne out of fear that Trump is vulnerable. Primary challenges against incumbent presidents have never been successful in the modern era. And Trump's poll numbers among Republican voters have proven to be resilient. Still, his aides said they are taking lessons from one-term leaders who lost their re-elections after embarrassing nominating fights. Those in the past who challenged a president both distracted the incumbent from the November campaign and offered a voice to intraparty discontent, seeding weaknesses that were exploited by a general-election rival. It's over: Ted Kennedy challenged Jimmy Carter all the way to a messy Democratic Convention in New York in 1980. Democrats saw his challenges as having taken the momentum out from Jimmy Carter's re-election campaign Disruptive: Pat Buchanan challenged George H.W. Bush in the 1992 primaries and was seen as damaging the Republican incumbent by highlighting his 'no new taxes' pledge, opening him up to Democratic attack Pat Buchanan's campaign against Bush in 1992 focused in part on highlighting Bush's broken pledge not to raise taxes, a vulnerability that dogged Bush throughout the campaign. In a show of party unity Buchanan was awarded the opening night keynote at that year's GOP convention. He delivered a 'culture war' speech that Bush loyalists believed contributed to his loss. As an incumbent, Trump already wields control over the Republican National Committee, which voted last month to express its 'undivided support' for Trump and his 'effective presidency.' But he's getting a boost from well-placed allies at the state level. In Iowa, the state Republican Party adopted new rules more than a year ago to seize control of the delegate selection process in direct response to the messy convention floor fight in Cleveland in 2016. Virtually all of Iowa's delegates had preferred Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and they fought unsuccessfully to oppose Trump at the convention. 'It was embarrassing. It was troubling. To be honest with you, it made me mad,' said Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufman, a strong Trump supporter. 'Donald Trump won the Republican nomination fair and square. That was about people not accepting a loss.' The new rules, made in consultation with the White House, would make it much more difficult for a Trump challenger to install anti-Trump delegates after the caucuses. Smart campaigns with energized activists, like Cruz's and Ron Paul's before him, had been able to send their own loyalists to the national convention regardless of the wishes of party leaders or caucus voters. No more. Going forward, a nominating committee that's already been named by the pro-Trump state central committee will control the delegate selection process. Kaufman said that technically, he and the rest of the state GOP would be neutral should Trump face a primary challenge. He makes clear, however, that he's been a strong supporter of the president and doesn't see a serious primary challenge on the horizon. It's much the same in New Hampshire, where party leaders must technically remain neutral to preserve their status as the first-in-the-nation primary. But the Trump campaign backed Saturday's election of new state GOP Chairman Stephen Stepanek, who served as Trump's state co-chairman in 2016. Stepanek was the preferred choice over former state chair Jennifer Horn, who emerged as an outspoken Trump critic since leaving the chairmanship after the 2016 election. Meanwhile, states like South Carolina and Kansas are openly discussing cancelling their primaries and caucuses, but the Trump campaign insists it is staying out of those discussions, noting that state parties in some states are required to foot the bill for nominating contests. Advertisement A heartbroken mother has returned to the home where her little boy died in a hot car. Samantha Rowlands was supported by several of her children and relatives when she arrived at the Chester Hill house, in Sydney's south west, on Monday afternoon. Just a day earlier, her 22-month-old son Jone died after he was left in a hot car parked on the front lawn for two hours and found unconscious. Samantha Rowlands (pictured) was supported by several of her children and relatives when she arrived at the Chester Hill house, in Sydney's south west, on Monday afternoon His grandmother, who is believed to have found him in the car, rushed him inside and tried to revive him but he died at the scene On social media, relatives said Ms Rowlands was not home when Jone was found in the car, but that another relative was minding the children. Pictured: Relatives support Ms Rowlands as she returns to the house where her son died Ms Rowlands was too distraught to speak about her son's death, which is being investigated by police although it is thought to be just a tragic accident His grandmother, who is believed to have found him in the car, rushed him inside and tried to revive him but he died at the scene. Ms Rowlands was too distraught to speak about her son's death, which is being investigated by police although it is thought to be just a tragic accident. On social media, relatives said Ms Rowlands was not home when Jone was found in the car, but that another relative was minding the children. The boy is a twin and the youngest of six children, and was reportedly left in the care of someone else while his mother was out. His grandmother was taken to hospital after suffering from shock. Earlier, Ms Rowlands revealed her heartache in a touching tribute to her 'beautiful angel'. On social media, relatives said Ms Rowlands was not home when Jone was found in the car, but that another relative was minding the children. Pictured: Friends and relatives arrive to support Ms Rowlands His grandmother, who is believed to have found him in the car, rushed him inside and tried to revive him but he died at the scene Police and paramedics rushed to Chester Hill after the 22-month-old child was found unresponsive in a locked car on Sunday, when temperatures reached nearly 35C. The boy, named Jone, had been taken inside the family home by the time emergency crews arrived. He couldn't be revived and died at the scene. On Sunday night Ms Rowlands shared a picture of her son which she captioned 'my baby' alongside a string of heartbreak emojis. 'She's broken - devastated. She doesn't want to believe that this has happened to her baby,' a family member told Daily Mail Australia on Monday. The mother of a one-year-old boy who died after being left in a hot car has revealed her heartache in a touching tribute. Samantha Rowlands shared this picture of herself with her son The boy, named Jone, had been taken inside the family home by the time emergency crews arrived on Sunday Ms Rowlands captioned a photo with 'my Baby' alongside a string of heartbreak emojis 'My family is angry. This shouldn't have happened to that little boy.' Tributes to Jone and messages of support to Ms Rowlands have flooded in. 'So sorry to hear hun, rest in peace little angel,' and 'rest in peace handsome boy,' were among them. 'This is so sad to here Sam and family, thinking of you all,' another wrote. Neighbours told Daily Mail Australia the family were quiet and mostly kept to themselves. Frank Ingrati, who lives next door, said he is on friendly terms with the household, and they even gifted him a hamper at Christmas. 'She's broken - devastated. She doesn't want to believe that this has happened to her baby,' a family member said of Ms Rowlands (pictured) 'They're a really friendly family, keep to themselves, a really nice quiet family where the kids play in the backyard,' he said. 'They give me no trouble at all.' He said there were often visits from extended family, with cousins coming to play in an inflatable pool they kept in the backyard after school hours. 'Sometimes there are three cars [parked out the front] sometimes one, so it's hard to keep track, he explained. The child's mother was seen running down the street screaming 'my baby' after she was told of the news Another woman, believed to be the boy's grandmother, was wheeled out of the home on a stretcher and was treated for shock Mr Ingrati said both the mother and grandmother of the children lived at the home, and both appeared to be devoted guardians. 'It's a shocking tragedy,' he said. Jone, who is a twin and the youngest of six children, was reportedly left in the care of someone else while his mother was out on Sunday. Ms Rowlands was seen running down the street screaming 'my baby' after she was told of the news. The boy had been taken inside the family home (pictured) by the time emergency crews arrived. He couldn't be revived and died at the scene His grandmother was put in an ambulance on a stretcher and taken to hospital suffering from shock. Police established a crime scene and a report will be prepared for the coroner. They spoke with a number of family members at the scene. 'The child had been left unattended, we're still looking into the circumstances surrounding his death,' a NSW police spokesman said. Police are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding his death and spoke with a number of family members at the scene Ital One Holdings also ordered to back-pay more than $32,000 in 2014 and 2015 employees worked as waiters, kitchen hands, chefs and in other roles A cafe operating out of a leading Australian casino has been fined more than $250,000 for underpaying its workers. On Monday, the Federal Circuit Court in Melbourne penalised Ital One Holdings Pty Ltd $217,000 and director, Len Di Pietro, $40,000 for underpayments at Crown Casino's Cafe Baci during 2015 and 2016. Judge Heather Riley said the company's conduct was 'egregious' given the court had previously found they had breached workplace laws on multiple occasions. A cafe operating out of Crown Casino in Melbourne has been fined more than $250,000 for underpaying their staff (stock image) A cafe operating out of a leading Australian casino has been fined more than $250,000 for underpaying its workers in 2015 and 2016 (stock image) 'The respondents have shown no remorse, but sought to minimise their behaviour with complaints of being busy,' she said. The affected employees worked as waiters, kitchen hands, chefs and in other roles. Daily Mail Australia understands 25 visa holders hailed from the likes of France, Italy and India. The workers were mainly on student and 417 working holiday visas. The penalties came after three former workers took their own actions in the Federal Circuit Court, in which Ital One Holdings was ordered to back-pay staff more than $32,000 in 2014 and 2015. Sandra Parker, speaking on behalf of the Fair Work Ombudsman, said the case showed repeated breaches of the Fair Work Act would be met with dire consequences. 'We have no tolerance for an employer that fails to act on our advice, particularly where a court has previously ordered that same employer to back-pay workers,' she said. Judge Riley added it was the responsibility of businesses to ensure staff are always paid correctly. Trump's personal secretary has blasted the person who leaked the president's private schedule, calling the move a 'disgraceful breach of trust'. Madeleine Westerhout, 28, is also the Director of Oval Office Operations and took to Twitter Sunday night to defend the president against a report that revealed Trump spent 60 per cent of the last three months in 'executive time'. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders explained that Trump's 'executive' or unstructured time, was spent 'in scheduled meetings, events, and calls,' adding that 'there is time to allow for a more creative environment that has helped make him the most productive President in modern history.' 'What a disgraceful breach of trust to leak schedules,' the 28-year-old tweeted. 'What these don't show are the hundreds of calls and meetings @realDonaldTrump takes everyday. This POTUS is working harder for the American people than anyone in recent history.' Madeleine Westerhout, Trump's personal secretary, tweeted in defense of the president Sunday saying he's 'working harder for the American people than anyone in recent history' Westerhout called the leak a 'disgraceful breach of trust' Sunday afternoon Schedules leaked to Axios show the president spent around 60 percent of his scheduled time over the past three months in 'executive time.' 'He's always calling people, talking to people,' a senior White House official told the news website. 'He's always up to something; it's just not what you would consider typical structure.' Trump is an early riser and usually spends the first five hours of the day in 'executive time.' Sanders also hit out at critics, saying that Trump had a different leadership style and needed to create a creative environment. 'President Trump has a different leadership style than his predecessors and the results speak for themselves.' Madeleine Westerhout, 28, is also the Director of Oval Office Operations (pictured with press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders) 'President Trump has ignited a booming economy with lower taxes and higher wages, established the USA as the #1 producer of oil and gas in the world, remade our judiciary, rebuilt our military, and renegotiated better trade deals. It's indisputable that our country has never been stronger than it is today under the leadership of President Trump.' While the leaked schedules shows Trump in the Oval Office from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m, the president is never in the Oval Office during those hours, six sources told Axios. Instead, he in the residence, watching TV, reading the newspapers, tweeting, and phoning aides, members of Congress, friends, administration officials and informal advisers, the news website reported. The president's first meeting of the day is usually around 11 or 11:30 a.m., according to the leaked schedules, and is often an intelligence briefing or 30 minutes with his chief of staff. Since Nov. 7, which is the day after the 2018 midterm election, the president has spent around 297 hours in 'Executive Time,' to Axios' count of 51 private schedules. He also had 77 hours scheduled for meetings. President Donald Trump spent 60 percent of the last three months in 'executive time,' leaked schedules revealed But Axios cautioned, not all the president's meetings are reflected on his schedule because many of his them are spur of the moment, according to senior White House officials. 'President Trump has a different leadership style than his predecessors and the results speak for themselves,' White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told the news website in a statement. 'While he spends much of his average day in scheduled meetings, events, and calls, there is time to allow for a more creative environment that has helped make him the most productive President in modern history.' Former chief of staff John Kelly invented Executive Time because the president hated being locked into a regular schedule and wanted more flexibility. A man who fatally stabbed his neighbour after a stormwater dispute has argued he should serve less than the mandatory minimum 20-year jail term. A Supreme Court jury last year found Darren Lorke, 53, guilty of murdering Kevin Skeyhill at Tungkillo, in the Adelaide Hills, in 2017. Jurors rejected Lorke's claims he was acting in self-defence, but on Monday he again argued he was protecting himself after Mr Skeyhill crossed over the fence line. Darren Lorke (pictured), 53, was found guilty of murdering Kevin Skeyhill at Tungkillo, in the Adelaide Hills, in 2017. His lawyers asked for a lesser sentence as the killing wasn't planned Greg Mead, for Lorke, urged Justice Michael David to impose a special sentence because Lorke had no premeditated plan and immediately regretted his actions. He said the murder was substantially less serious because Mr Skeyhill came onto the property, and that Lorke did not intend to hurt him until 'almost in the moment that the fatal blow was struck'. But prosecutors said Lorke must have known the intoxicated Mr Skeyhill was unarmed, and he was 'too willing' to use a deadly camouflage hunting knife. Lorke fatally stabbed his neighbour after a 'lengthy and bitter' dispute about fencing (pictured) and stormwater runoff, the court previously heard Kevin Skeyhill (pictured), 51, at Tungkillo, in the Adelaide Hills, in 2017, before he was killed by his neighbour with a large camouflage hunting knife at the top of his driveway During the trial, jurors heard the neighbours had fought about fencing and stormwater drainage in the days before the death, and each had dug up a part of the other's yard. The court on Monday heard victim impact statements from Mr Skeyhill's children and other family members. His son, Nicholas Skeyhill, said he feels an overwhelming sense of loneliness after the loss of his father. 'To tell the truth there is no possible way to summarise the full impact it has had on my life,' he said. 'That's because my father being taken away from me in such a horrific nature has changed my life forever. 'Because of Darren Lorke's actions I will never see my beautiful dad again.' Justice David will sentence Lorke on Monday afternoon. A young reveller is fighting for life in hospital after yet another suspected drug overdose at a music festival. The man, in his 20s, was taken to hospital from St Jerome's Laneway Festival in Sydney on Sunday, with NSW Health saying drugs are 'likely to have been a factor'. He was rushed to hospital in a critical but stable condition where he was recovering in the Intensive Care Unit. A man in his 20s is fighting for life after he was rushed to hospital from Laneway music festival Two other men, also in their 20s, were hospitalised after attending the same festival, which is held in cities across Australia and New Zealand. The Sydney edition of the festival took place at Callan Park in Rozelle and was deemed to be 'high risk'. A NSW Health spokesman said drugs were 'likely' to have been taken by all three of the men. Health Minister Brad Hazzard says the drug involved is believed to be MDMA. A woman in her 30s was also taken to hospital in stable condition, though it is believed her condition was not drug-related. A NSW Health spokesman said drugs were 'likely to be a factor' in a trio of hospitalisations Two of the patients have been discharged from hospital, with a third expected to be allowed to leave on Monday afternoon. The final of the four was transferred from intensive care to a general ward. 'NSW Health considers early transport to hospital to be very important as patients can receive timely high-level medical care in a hospital environment,' the spokesman told Daily Mail Australia. The cases continue a horror summer of suspected drug overdoses in Sydney, coming a little more a week after 14 people were hospitalised at a pair of music festivals over the same weekend. Anna Hazare is fighting against corruption, which is a national problem, says Uddhav Thackeray. Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday appealed to the state government not to play with the life of anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare. In a press statement released by party spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, Mr Thackeray told the government that the serious cognisance should be taken of Mr Hazares hunger strike. Hazares life is very important. The government cant play with it, Mr Thackeray said. Mr Hazare has demanded the immediate appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra in a letter to the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) that was dated January 1, 2019. Another demand of his is the resolution of farmers issues. According to Mr Hazares supporters, the letter received from the PMO merely read, Your letter was received. Thank you and best wishes. The Sena chief expressed deep concern over the deteriorating health of the 81-year-old and said that it is a very disturbing as well as ridiculous that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sent a letter wishing Mr Hazare. Anna Hazare is fighting against corruption, which is a national problem. But instead of going on a hunger strike and killing himself, he should go on the streets and awaken the country. Our countrymen have been given sedatives and are lying half-unconscious. They need to be awakened. Anna should take up the role of Jayaprakash Narayan for a new revolution, Mr Thackeray remarked. The Sena chief also pointed out that the government had not taken cognisance of the late activist G.D. Agrawal, who had sat on a protest in Hari-dwar district of Uttarakhand, demanding that the Ganga be cleaned. In order to clean the countrys Ganga, Anna should abandon the hunger strike and lead an agitation. Wherever possible, the Shiv Sena will extend its support, the Sena chief said. A koala named Summer has drowned in a backyard pool as she tried to seek shelter from the scorching heat. Wildcare Australia Inc. responded to an urgent call from a Gold Coast resident who found the animal lying at the bottom of their pool on Sunday morning. Emergency wildlife crew suspect the koala was looking for a drink in the early hours of the morning. A resident found a koala (pictured) had drowned in their backyard pool on Sunday morning 'Even though koalas can swim, there are no assisted ways for a koala to climb out they will eventually drown,' Wildlife Australia Inc. wrote on Facebook. Residents who have a pool and live in an area with koalas have been advised to have an accessible flotation device with a thick rope, which is then attached to a tree or fence to help with safety. A flotation device that is waterproof and tear resistant is recommended as koalas have sharp claws. Residents have been advised to cover their pools if they aren't in use. Angela from Wildlife Rescue Fraser Coast had posted a collage of wildlife pool safety equipment including ramps, ladders and stairs. 'With this terrible summer heat and no rain that we are experiencing in so many parts of the country, please help keep wildlife safe with little things you can do,' Wildlife Australia Inc. said. Wildlife Rescue Fraser Coast has posted a collage of wildlife pool safety equipment including ramps, ladders and stairs Jaw-dropping footage has emerged of the moment a young student was almost struck by a train while crossing the tracks to catch up with his friends. The footage shows at least a dozen school-aged children wait for a train to pass before running on the tracks. They do not wait for the gates to open. Seconds later, a train heading in the opposite direction whizzes past them, missing a student lagging behind by bare metres. The careless act took place after school hours at a station in Melbourne's southeast late last year. A new initiative to keep schoolchildren safe on train platforms has been announced right as footage of a group of students running in front of a train emerges (pictured top left) More than 200 pedestrian incidents are reported at level crossings every year. THE 10 MOST DANGEROUS TRAIN STATIONS IN VICTORIA Berwick Parkdale Beaconsfield Officer Yarraville Thornbury Hoppers Crossing Mentone Pascoe Vale Prahran Source: Victoria Police Advertisement The footage comes as public transport authorities and police issue a desperate plea for schoolchildren to act safely on train stations. Metro Trains and Victoria Police announced a new initiative on Monday, designed to educate children of the dangers of acting carelessly near level crossings. Victorian Minister for Public Transport Melissa Horne said the initiative was aimed at reducing the prevalence of people getting struck by trains each year. 'We know how dangerous level crossings can be particularly for young children as they're heading to and from school. 'This taskforce is all about educating our school communities, empowering young people to make a positive change in their behaviour, and most importantly saving lives.' The taskforce has also analysed the 10 most frequently reported problem stations from across Victoria. Berwick, in the city's southeast, is noted as being the most dangerous, with neighbouring stations Beaconsfield and Officer closely following. The footage is the most recent of a spate of similar videos showing brazen students risking their lives just to avoid waiting 10 minutes for the next train. One student can be seen narrowly avoiding being struck by an oncoming train (pictured) Ms Horne says education is the best way to save lives. 'Educating kids about safety will ensure they're more aware around aware around trains and can be a role model to their mates.' Codenamed Operation Jet, the new taskforce is an alliance of Metro Trains' Community Education Unit and Victoria Police's Transit Proactive Unit. Officers will head into schools across the state over the course of the next 11 weeks to raise awareness of rail safety issues. A hardline Muslim preacher has declared Allah will punish any Islamic man who uses a wall-mounted public urinal and gets 'splash back' on his shoes. Nassim Abdi, from the ultra-conservative Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammah Association, has told worshipers at a western Sydney mosque those who failed to clean themselves properly after urinating would be punished 'in the grave'. The Auburn-based preacher accused Muslim men of imitating non-believers, also known as kafirs, by exposing their private parts at wall-mounted urinals in public toilets. Scroll down for video Hardline Muslim preacher Nassim Abdi (pictured) has declared Allah will punish any Islamic man who uses a wall-mounted public urinal and gets 'splash back' on his shoes 'A person using them is urinating in full view of anyone, who comes and goes, with no shame in the midst of impurity,' he said last week at the end of a 32-minute religious lesson. 'Thus he can combine two apparent and forbidden acts in one deed, not hiding his private parts from the view of others nor cleaning himself properly after urinating.' Mr Abdi, who has previously declared it sinful for a wife to refuse her husband's demand for sex, said Muslims who urinated incorrectly would invalidate their prayers. 'You're also, when you're urinating, you're getting splash back,' he said. The Auburn-based preacher accused Muslim men of imitating non-believers, also known as kafirs, by exposing their private parts at wall-mounted urinals in public toilets (stock image) Fellow ASWJ preacher Abdulghani Albaf (pictured) gave an angry sermon at the same Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore at Auburn, in Sydney's west on the same topic two years ago 'Very easy for that splash back to come to go on your pants and on your shoes. 'It leads to your prayers not being corrected.' Mr Abdi's denunciation of public urinals comes two years after fellow ASWJ preacher Abdulghani Albaf gave an angry sermon at the same mosque, above the Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore at Auburn, in Sydney's west, on the same topic. 'Every public or every male public toilet now has urinals where they just stand up like animals and urinate in front of one another,' he thundered. 'What's worse is we even have Muslims using these urinals.' Mr Abdi, a fundamentalist Sunni Muslim, has previously declared it sinful for those of the Islamic faith to wish Christians a Merry Christmas. He has also condemned Muslims who let their children listen to music in the car and Islamic women who showed their ears in public. Tina Thanh Truc Phan was arrested with 394 capsules of MDMA concealed inside her body An aspiring nurse who was sentenced to just 80 hours of community service for internally concealing 394 ecstasy capsules at a Sydney music festival could now face jail. The New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions has decided to appeal against the leniency of the sentence imposed upon Tina Thanh Truc Phan last month. Phan pleaded guilty in Burwood Local Court to supplying a prohibited drug, claiming she did so to help her family. She was sentenced to a 12-month order which included 80 hours of community service. Senior police were unhappy with the sentence and asked the DPP to consider an appeal. Phan will now face Parramatta District Court on February 22. The 18-year-old, from Canley Heights, was arrested at the Knockout Games of Destiny festival at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday, December 8. The event was billed as the biggest indoor festival of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and ended in tragedy. Callum Brosnan, 19, from Baulkham Hills, was found having a 'fit' at a western Sydney train station near the festival and taken to hospital about 1.30am on the Sunday. He died just hours later. Scroll down for video Tina Phan, from Canley Heights, completed Year 12 last year, shortly before she attempted to smuggle 394 ecstasy capsules into a music festival in western Sydney. She avoided prison Phan attempted to disguise herself when she fled from Burwood Local Court on January 10 Phan, 18, has been accepted into a nursing degree at the University of Technology, Sydney. She is also a keen Oztag player and was an accomplished cross country runner in high school Lawyer Cheryl Khurana said her client had agreed to smuggle the drugs into the festival to financially help out her family. It was an 'extremely immature decision on her part' and her entire family was shocked at her actions. Phan had recently completed her Higher School Certificate and been accepted into the University of Technology Sydney to study a bachelor of nursing. 'She's very proud of that achievement,' Ms Khurana said. Phan was a keen Oztag player and cross country runner who worked at Subway four nights a week and felt obligated to help her mother who had separated from her father after 21 years of marriage. She had attended the festival with friends and accepted an offer from a mutual acquaintance to take the drugs in the venue for money. 'She's extremely remorseful and ashamed,' Ms Khurana said. When told Phan was just 18, magistrate Louise McManus said 'dear me.' The casual Subway worker said she agreed to smuggle drugs to make money for her family The aspiring nurse (pictured leaving Burwood Court on January 10) was arrested at the Knockout Games of Destiny festival at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday, December 8 She was further perplexed that Phan was an accomplished sportswomen who wanted to study nursing. 'The irony is there for everyone to see,' Ms McManus said. 'Having 394 capsules of MDMA concealed internally is not just immature. 'It is a serious criminal offence and a deliberate act. 'I don't accept she did it because of financial difficulties in the family.' Drug detection dog Ree (pictured) located 394 ecstasy capsules on Tina Phan, 18 Phan's festival plan can unstuck at 4.35pm when drug detection dog Ree indicated she was carrying drugs. She admitted the offence straight away. 'Police escorted the accused to a designated searching area and conducted a search to which she complied with,' a statement of facts tendered to court said. 'During the search police asked the accused to remove the unknown item which was concealed internally and she handed it to police. 'Police asked the accused what the item was and she stated that they're capsules.' A package had been concealed by condoms and tissues. 'Police opened the package and revealed one clear resealable bag and within the bag was one smaller clear resealable bag,' the statement of facts said. 'Police counted the capsules with a total of 394 MDMA capsules.' In sentencing Phan to a 12-month community correction order including 80 hours of community service Ms McManus noted the recent festival deaths by overdose. 'I find it very hard to believe that anybody in this day and age doesn't understand the risks of supplying and taking drugs at music festivals,' she said. 'And yet again we've seen people dying.' Phan believed the drugs were MDMA but in reality they 'could be anything'. Callum Brosnan, 19, from Baulkham Hills, was found having a 'fit' at a western Sydney train station (pictured) near the festival and taken to hospital. He died just hours later NSW Police arrested 62 people who were found to be in possession of drugs at the Knockout Games of Destiny dance rave. No one pictured is accused of having taken illicit drugs 'What you did was not just immature and a silly mistake. It was a criminal act that put people at risk,' Ms McManus said. 'These capsules were internally concealed which in my view means there was real premeditation.' Ms McMamus said she hoped Phan could continue with nursing. 'What is best is if you give back to the community.' Sixteen revellers had to be taken to hospital and three were placed in induced comas after suffering suspected overdoses at the Knockout Games of Destiny festival. About 130 partygoers sought medical treatment. The event attracted 18,000 'hardstyle' electronic music fans to watch performers including Head Hunterz, Psyko Punkz and Radical Redemption. A spate of five recent fatal overdoses at NSW music festivals has led to a debate about whether pill testing should be provided at such events. The Knockout Games of Destiny event attracted 18,000 'hardstyle' electronic music fans to watch performers including Head Hunterz, Psyko Punkz and Radical Redemption Knockout Games of Destiny owner Peter Finley had vowed his festival would be safe. 'We have plenty of ambulances and medics and stuff, we go above and beyond any other company in this country in terms of safety,' Mr Finley said on social media. 'We've got you covered, if anything's wrong with you we have the medics there at the very back of the arena.' NSW Police later said 62 people were found in possession of drugs at the event. Jonathan Carey-Spence, 25, was also allegedy found with 145 capsules of ecstasy at the festival. He was charged with supplying and possessing a prohibited drug. Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Phan or Carey-Spence supplied drugs to Mr Brosnan or anyone else who overdosed at the event. Georgie May Gibson appeared in court for the first time after being accused of filming and leaking a raunchy video of AFL great Dane Swan A woman has appeared in court for the first time after being accused of filming and leaking a raunchy video of AFL great Dane Swan. Georgia May Gibson, from South Australia, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday charged with filming an intimate video of Swan in 2017 and intentionally sharing the footage with another person. The 21-year-old was charged in mid-2018 after footage surfaced online allegedly showing the former Collingwood star. In Victoria, it is illegal to share an intimate or sexual image of a person if they did not agree to it. The short clip appears to show Swan kissing a woman who films his naked body. Georgia May Gibson (pictured left) leaves the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday Swan (pictured with girlfriend Taylor Wilson) reportedly contacted users sharing the footage and warned them he would take legal action unless it was removed Gibson, from the Adelaide Hills town of Meadows, did not speak during the brief hearing. Her case was adjourned to March after her lawyer said the matter should be moved to the sex offences list 'due to the nature of the charges'. The court released documents which detail the alleged two offences, accusing Gibson of visually capturing Swan 'in a manner of upskirting' and 'intentionally' distributing the video to someone other than the former Collingwood star. Georgia May Gibson (pictured right) did not speak during the brief hearing on Monday Swan celebrates after kicking a goal fro Collingwood against Essendon in the 2014 season Swan, 34, is considered one of Collingwood's greatest midfielders, winning a Brownlow Medal in 2011 and a premiership in 2010 in a 258-game AFL career. The hard-running star retired in 2016 after badly injuring his foot during a round-one clash with Sydney. He appeared in the Network Ten reality show I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2017 and was runner-up in the series. Gibson is due to return to court on March 14. Two tow truck drivers from rival companies violently clashed when they showed up for the same towing job. A verbal argument allegedly escalated into a violent brawl in Perth's northern suburb of Alexander Heights suburb just after 2pm on Monday afternoon. The fight resulted in one driver allegedly being knocked unconscious and stomped on, 9 News reported. Two tow truck drivers from rival companies violently clashed when they showed up for the same towing job A verbal argument escalated into a violent brawl in Perth's northern suburb of Alexander Heights The injured truck driver then allegedly had his truck keys stolen from him. The company was then forced to call in another tow truck to tow his away. Both of the companies have distanced themselves from the incident, claiming it was not their driver at fault. A police investigation is underway. The rival towing companies have vowed to cooperate fully with authorities over the incident. A man accused of murdering his wife and interfering with her corpse more than a decade ago has denied killing her but admitted to tampering with her dead body. Edmund Ian Riggs, 60, told the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday he did not murder Patricia Anne Riggs on September 30, 2001 at their home in Margate. But Riggs pleaded guilty at his trial to misconduct with his wife's corpse by interfering. He will be sentenced for that once the murder trial is over. Ms Riggs, 34, disappeared after a weekend of arguments with her husband, crown prosecutor Todd Fuller QC told the jury in his opening address on Monday. Edmund Ian Riggs, 60, told the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday he did not murder Patricia Anne Riggs (pictured) on September 30, 2001 The mother's remains were found on the property (pictured) previously shared by the couple Riggs had told police in 2001 his wife had accused him of having an affair on the Friday night before walking out on the family later in the weekend. However, an examination of the family's home soon after found blood splatters on a bedroom wall. That discovery prompted Riggs to board a Greyhound bus under an assumed name and disappear to Byron Bay for about 10 days, Mr Fuller told the trial on Monday. Police investigations found Ms Riggs hadn't accessed her bank accounts or shown up for work after her disappearance. The mother's remains were found when a man began excavating a yard in preparation for building a retaining wall Jon Knowles (centre) and Mark Knowles (right), father and brother of murder victim Patricia Riggs, leave the Magistrates Court in Brisbane last year Despite this, no charges were laid until 2015 when the new occupant of the Margate home was digging in the backyard and discovered bones under a shed built in 2001. The incomplete skeleton was wrapped in a pool liner, Mr Fuller said. A post-mortem found damage to the right cheek bone and part of the jaw bone missing, however, due to excessive weathering the cause of death was not clear. The six-day trial continues. Edmund Ian Riggs reported his wife missing three days after she was last seen at her home in 2001 (pictured) South African-born rapist Robin Gerald Dyers (pictured) will be kicked out of Australia when he gets released from jail Child abusers and rapists are among 11 foreigners who have been stripped of their Australian citizenship after lying to enter the country. South African-born rapist Robin Gerald Dyers, 46, who moved to Australia in 1996, will be booted out of the country by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton when he gets released from jail. 'Many of these individuals have been paedophiles, rapists and terrorists. In many cases there have been countless victims, including women and children,' Mr Dutton told The Daily Telegraph. Under section 34 of the Citizenship Act, the minister can cancel the citizenship of those sentenced at least one year in jail for crimes committed before taking the oath. The law had been only been used 16 times since 1949 before Mr Dutton became minister. The 11 criminals who were stripped of their Australian citizenship were convicted of 56 charges in total. Their charges include indecent dealing with a young boys, indecent treatment of a girl under 16, indecent assault and incest. One count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child and 11 counts of indecent treatment of children under 16 were also among the charges. There were no citizenship cancellations from previous Labor governments under Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. Mr Dutton said it was his job to keep Australians safe by making use of the law to strip the citizenship of criminals. Theresa May would never be forgiven if she called a snap general election to break the Brexit deadlock, two Cabinet Ministers warned yesterday. Sajid Javid and Liz Truss publicly denounced the idea as 'the last thing this country needs' after it was claimed that Number 10 was considering holding a poll in June. Tory chairman Brandon Lewis insisted last night that an early election was not on the cards as he attempted to quell a furious backlash from Tory MPs. Sajid Javid said the idea of a snap General Election was 'the last thing the country needs' In a firm rebuke to any suggestion of another vote, Home Secretary Mr Javid warned that voters simply want politicians to get on with delivering Brexit. He told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1: 'I think the last thing this country needs is a general election. Truss told Javid: 'Agreed. Last thing we need' 'The people will never forgive us for it. I think what they want is this Parliament to deliver Brexit in an orderly way that's what they're looking for.' He added: 'They want politicians just to get on with the job, they've been given a very clear mandate, now it's our job just to get on with.' Mr Javid was backed up by Miss Truss, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who tweeted: 'Agreed. Last thing we need.' Speculation that Mrs May could call an election was fuelled by a tweet yesterday from Gavin Barwell, her chief-of-staff, pointing to an opinion poll that showed the Tories seven points ahead of Labour. The survey, conducted by Opinium for The Observer, showed Mrs May's party up four points on 41 per cent, with the opposition down six points to 34 per cent. Boris Johnson said talk of a snap election was a 'scare tactic' to persuade MPs to back the Prime Minister's 'appalling' Brexit deal. Writing in his Daily Telegraph column today, the former foreign secretary said: 'I don't know if there really is some genius in Tory HQ who wants to call an election this year, but if there is I would like to reach out to that person and shake them warmly by the throat.' Former Home Secretary Boris Johnson dismissed the General Election idea as 'scare tactics' He also suggested the adviser could be 'despatched on secondment to Venezuela or Zimbabwe or somewhere they can do less damage'. Mr Johnson said it would be 'lunacy' for the Government to fight an election when Brexit might not be finalised, adding: 'If Tory MPs were asked to go into electoral battle in the next few months, there would be a hole in the heart of our manifesto. After two and a half years of dither the truly astonishing feature of the UK position is that the big questions have still not been answered.' Country would 'never forgive' Theresa May for calling an election, ministers warned her In a WhatsApp group for Tory MPs, Mr Lewis tried to allay fears that Mrs May was considering going to the country. He said the party was focused on local elections on May 2 and dismissed as incorrect reports that a general election could be held in June. It emerged last month that civil servants had been told to make contingency plans in case an early election was called. Jennie Formby, Labour's general secretary, told supporters yesterday that the party's finances were 'in good shape and ready to fight an election'. Meanwhile, senior Labour figures warned against suggestions that the party's MPs in Leave areas could accept 'bribes' from Mrs May to support her Brexit deal. Shadow attorney-general Shami Chakrabarti said any MPs involved in such agreements could face repercussions from their constituencies. After reports that Mrs May could offer incentives to opposition MPs in the poorest areas to break the Labour whip, Baroness Chakrabarti told the Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme on Sky News: 'I do not believe Labour voters in the most left-behind constituencies would thank their MPs for these short-term bribes.' Harrison Ford and Forest Whitaker headline a star-studded, hilarious commercial for Amazon which aired during Sundays Super Bowl. The ad shows various fails in which Amazon tries to install its famous Alexa service on a number of different devices, from microwave, to dog collars and toothbrushs. Whitaker, the Oscar-winning actor, makes a cameo in the ad as he asks Alexa to play a podcast on his electric toothbrush. Harrison Ford headlines a star-studded, hilarious commercial for Amazon which aired during Sundays Super Bowl Ford, the Indiana Jones star, is seen yelling at his dog as it barks instructions to order dog food through the 'Alexa collar' Forest Whitaker, the Oscar-winning actor, makes a cameo. He tries to get Alexa to work on a toothbrush, but to no avail But the podcast is barely audible as Whitaker shoves the toothbrush into his mouth. Amazon also unsuccessfully rolled out the Alexa dog collar. Ford is seen yelling at his dog as it barks instructions to order dog food through the dog collar. You can bark all you want, Ford says. Theres also an Alexa hot tub. This part of the ad features actors Ilana Glazer (left) and Abbi Jacobson of the popular Comedy Central sitcom Broad City The commercial also features astronauts Scott Kelly (above) and his brother, Mark. Mark and Scott Kelly are the only identical twins to reach space Ford reacts to the electricity being turned off thanks to the Alexa malfunction aboard the International Space Station The Alexa malfunction turns out the lights throughout the United States Im not paying for any more dog food. Theres also an Alexa hot tub. This part of the ad features actors Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson of the popular Comedy Central sitcom Broad City. Glazer and Jacobson try to get the Alexa hot tub to play music. But the tub instead violently ejects them from the tub. The commercial then shows Alexa turning out the electricity throughout the United States after it malfunctions aboard the International Space Station. Finally, the commercial ends with Ford standing on his porch while Amazon delivers numerous bags of dog food ordered by the pooch through the Alexa dog collar Not everything makes the cut, the ad states. The dog food is delivered by an Amazon truck above This part of the commercial features Mark Kelly, the retired astronaut and husband of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and his twin brother, Scott Kelly, who is also an astronaut. The Kelly brothers made history as the only identical twins to reach space. Finally, the commercial ends with Ford standing on his porch while Amazon delivers numerous bags of dog food ordered by the pooch through the Alexa dog collar. Not everything makes the cut, the ad states. The statement is being seen as yet another apparent salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mumbai: Union minister Nitin Gadkari said that party workers should fulfil their domestic responsibilities first because those who cannot do that cannot manage the country. He was speaking at a gathering of former workers of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) student wing, in Nagpur on Saturday. I meet many people who say we want to devote our lives for the BJP, for the country. I asked (one such person) what do you do, and who all are there in your family. He said I have closed my shop as it was not doing well.... I have my wife at home, children, Mr Gadkari said. He added, I told him to look after his home first, because one who cannot manage his home, cannot manage the country. Hence first manage your home and look after your children properly, then work for the party and country, he said. The statement is being seen as yet another apparent salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After the BJPs defeat in recently concluded Assembly polls of three states, Mr Gadkari had said that the leaders should accept responsibility for the partys defeat and failures. The Union ministers recent statements have been seen as attempts to push his claims as a Prime Minister after the Lok Sabha polls. However, Mr Gadkari has always denied his participation in the race of Prime Ministership. I am not in the race of Prime Minister and we are all working towards making Narendra Modiji Prime Minister again, he said. Hyundai's Super Bowl ad has cheesed off vegans after implying that a vegan dinner party is a hellish experience on par with a root canal, the middle seat on a long-haul flight and shopping for a new car. In the ad, which officially premiered on TV Sunday night, Jason Bateman plays an elevator operator delivering less than delighted people 'down, way down' to a variety of unpleasant experiences. Crammed in among activities like a teen boy getting 'the talk' from his dad, jury duty and a colon exam, is a stop at a 'vegan dinner party.' While playing an elevator operator in Hyundai's Super Bowl ad, Jason Bateman questioned whether vegan dinner parties are 'even a thing.' Vegans did not find the ad funny The ad implied that vegan dinner parties were a hellish experience, exemplified by the unappetizing concept of the meatloaf alternative, 'beet loaf' 'Is that even a thing?' Bateman asks, as a couple gets off the elevator and is greeted by a woman holding out a plate with a purplish brick of something allegedly comestible surrounded by Brussels sprouts. 'We're having beet loaf, Sergio's specialty,' the woman holding the plate aloft says enthusiastically, as a man bows and says, 'Why thank you.' The woman who exited the elevator responds with a 'Yay!' in a tone that seems less than eager, while her other half gags and covers his mouth. While many social media users were highly entertained by the ad calling it 'hilarious,' 'funny and likeable' and 'One of the better commercials I've seen in the last while' on the car company's YouTube page vegans were up in arms. When the ad first circulated online on January 31, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) weighed in, directing a tweet at Hyundai's official Twitter account. 'ICYMI: The trend of 2019 is taking the elevator UP to vegan dinner parties (and an Earth, heart, & animal-friendly lifestyle),' @peta tweeted. 'Instead of buying a car from people with outdated ideas, we suggest a vegan Smartcar by Mercedes. Great mileage & acceleration, turns on a dime.' Vegans turned to social media to vent their displeasure at being mocked in the Super Bowl ad When the ad was broadcast on TV Sunday, other vegans were quick to pile on with statements lambasting the car company and boycotting the company. 'Hey @Hyundai we don't appreciate the vegan bashing. Guess I don't need to bother test driving any of your cars this week,' tweeted a miffed @dcrean. 'Wow, #Hyundai just lost all their vegan and vegetarian drivers with that offensive #SUPERBOWLAD And I'm sure no one who works @Hyundai is a vegan or vegetarian,' tweeted an equally displeased @DarwinBlinks. 'The less than subtle vegan shaming in the Hyundai Super Bowl ad? Wow,' @georgehahn tweeted. 'Vegan dinner party is hell? Come on Hyundai. Mocking people who care about animals is not cool. Way to alienate your demographic. Want hell? Try visiting a slaughterhouse,' tweeted @veganamber315. Vegans posted pictures of delicious-looking vegan food dishes as a counterpoint to the beet loaf featured in Hyundai's ad Hyundai was forced to backpedal and claim it's a fan of vegans and their food after vegans expressed their outrage over being mocked in the Super Bowl ad 'Look, I can take a joke. Honestly. But @Hyundai trying to drag vegans for eating gross food? 1993 called and it wants its joke back. Veganism has consistently been a global top food trend the last three years running. Hope your cars are better than your marketing department,' @VeganAri tweeted, chastising both the car company and the ad firm behind the commercial. Many vegans also took the opportunity to tweet out photos of their sumptuous-looking vegan meals and desserts aimed at proving that not all vegan food looks unappetizing. 'Hey @Hyundai this is actually what a vegan dinner party looks like... This is our super bowl spread!' tweeted @__likethemovie. 'Hey @Hyundai Ill trade you a BEET LOAF for a piece of this AMAZING VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE!!' @TheVegan8 tweeted. 'Now, Ive not hosted a dinner party, and this isnt the fanciest dish, but heres my #vegan loaded nachos that I was just eating when #hyundais stupid commercial came on. Trust me, vegan food is amazing and not like that crap they portrayed!' offered @imagin_bound. Author and TV commentator Suzy Welch also weighed in, tweeting, 'Hyundai ad hilarious until stoopit gratuitous dis of #vegan dinner parties. Wtf! Theyve never been to one of our cruelty-free yumfests AND NOW THEY NEVER WILL BE.' The vegan outrage prompted Hyundai to perform some quick damage control Sunday night by tweeting out pro-vegan comments to several social media users. 'We actually love vegan food and are glad it's going more mainstream,' @Hyundai tweeted to an unamused vegan and PETA, adding its beet loaf recipe. 'Theres nothing wrong with being vegan, that guy just isnt a fan of beetloaf. Were lucky to have you in the Hyundai family,' @Hyundai tweeted in response to a vegan Hyundai owner who lamented not having purchased rival Nissan's LEAF instead. All the vegan outrage seemed to tickle non-vegans, however. 'I pretty much only watch the ads. It was Awesome. The thought of frothing angry vegans makes me want to go buy a car tomorrow lol. #beetloaf,' tweeted @BernieKamphof. 'That Hyundai ad was good I thought. Vegan dinner party would be the worst thing imaginable,' @MaxJMontana tweeted. 'Loved the humor from @Hyundai and equally amused by the vegans who were triggered by it. I would have added floors for Lamaze class, listening to people talk about CrossFit, and middle school band concerts,' tweeted @AmySilverBills. Non-vegans found the ad to be very funny and took to Twitter to make that fact clear The wife of a jihadi who fought with ISIS is seeking up to 1million in compensation over claims she was shackled, whipped and interrogated by British intelligence officials. Muna Abdule says MI6 operatives mistreated her and quizzed her over husband Abdelqadir Mumin. Her accusations include that a mystery man called 'The British interrogator' interrogated her in Somalia in 2013 with information she claims must have come from the UK. She also claims she was hit with metal cables, and humiliated, the Daily Mirror revealed. If proven she could receive up to 1million in compensation. Court papers say: 'She says she was hooded in a manner which made it painful for her to breathe. She was threatened with being killed... She was frightened and slept little.' Abdulqadir Mumin, accused of heading the Islamic State group in East Africa, used to hate preach in London Mrs Abdule lives in Berkshire while her husband who is linked with Mohammed Emwazi known as executioner Jihadi John - is banned from the country. Abdelqadir Mumin used to be a key recruiter and facilitator for the al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab in Somalia after fleeing his home in South London. He became one of the few high profile al-Shabaab figures to switch his allegiance to ISIS and has since fled with a small band of jihadis to the remote mountains in Puntland. Mumin used to preach at Greenwich mosque, which is believed to have been where Mohammed Emwazi and Michael Adebolajo occasionally attended prayers. Abdelqadir Mumin with terrorists in the remote desert. He is believed to be in Somalia Mumin was visited by his wife in 2013 who says she was tortured afterwards by British intelligence officers Upon fleeing to Somalia in 2010, Mumin burnt his passport and declared he would spend the rest of his life fighting jihad. Mrs Abdule's lawyer Shubhaa Srinivasan told the Mirror: 'Despite the Government's insistence it eschews torture, my client's case... tells a different story.' Sensitive parts of the case will be heard in private at the agreement of a High Court judge. Previously after being accused of involvement in torture outside of the UK, Britain has paid 20million in compensation to up to 20 claimants. Tory Eurosceptics and Remainers are to be brought together for talks aimed at finding a way through on Brexit. ERG deputy leader Steve Baker, former Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson and Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh will be part of the Alternative Arrangements Working Group, which will meet for the first time on Monday, a No 10 spokeswoman said. They will be joined by former education secretary Nicky Morgan and ex-cabinet office minister Damian Green in the group, which will meet 'regularly' with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay, a No 10 spokeswoman said. ERG deputy leader Steve Baker (pictured above) will be part of the Alternative Arrangements Working Group Steve Barclay, the Brexit Secretary, will hold three days of meetings with MPs. The group will consider if proposals for a Brexit 'Plan C' can be made to work. The plan was thrashed out in secret talks involving Brexiteers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker and Remainers Nicky Morgan and Robert Buckland. Mr Baker, a former Brexit minister who quit last year in protest at the Chequers agreement, and Ms Morgan were involved talks last week between MPs from the Remain and Brexiteer wings of the Conservative Party. They were in talks over the so-called Malthouse compromise, named after housing minister Kit Malthouse, who brokered the talks. It would involve the UK paying 10 billion on top of the 39 billion divorce bill in return for a three-year transition period to allow a trade deal to be negotiated. A Downing Street spokeswoman said: 'As the Home Secretary set out on Marr, the Attorney General (AG) is looking at the legal changes we are aiming to secure to the backstop. Iain Duncan Smith (left) with Steve Barclay (centre) and ex-cabinet office minister Damian Green (right) who are meeting to discuss plans over the Irish backstop 'As the PM has previously said, there are a number of ideas on this, including a unilateral exit mechanism or a time limit and the AG is considering their wording and legal effect. 'He will be closely engaged throughout the process.' The Malthouse compromise is seen as one of the main reasons the ERG changed its mind and backed an amendment last Tuesday tabled by Sir Graham Brady, which urged the Government to look at backstop alternatives. Ms Morgan said last week that under the terms of the Malthouse compromise the Northern Ireland backstop would be 'recast' as 'free trade agreement-lite' Ms Morgan said last week that under the terms of the Malthouse compromise the Northern Ireland backstop would be 'recast' as 'free trade agreement-lite' with a commitment there would be no hard border with Ireland. At the same time, the 21-month transition period would be extended by another year to December 2021, during which EU citizens' rights would continue and the UK would pay into the EU budget. Mr Baker said last week that the plan would replace the backstop - which is supposed to be temporary - with a permanent arrangement, while allowing more time to secure a free trade agreement with the EU. He told the Press Association on Sunday: 'After a positive conference call today running through the Government's questions, I'm more confident than ever we can land the Malthouse compromise, including the indefinite Better Deal backstop protocol. 'I hope our meetings with Government are as constructive as they should be because Malthouse is the only game in town if we are to achieve a deal. 'I just hope engagement is as sincere as the PM's words at the despatch box led us to expect.' Mrs May told the Commons the group had put forward 'a serious proposal that we are engaging with sincerely and positively'. She added: 'We will sit down and work through the proposal that has come forward.' Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is looking at legal changes to the Irish backstop that Mrs May aims to get agreed by the EU Some Tories have heralded the Malthouse Compromise as a way forward but Brussels has already dismissed it as unworkable. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is looking at legal changes to the Irish backstop that Mrs May aims to get agreed by the EU. In the Sunday Telegraph, she pledged to 'battle for Britain and Northern Ireland' to improve the Withdrawal Agreement. Mr Baker tweeted there would be 'trouble ahead' if the changes did not go far enough. And Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns said there were 'other issues with the Withdrawal Agreement' that she could not back. Meanwhile, Home Secretary Sajid Javid told the BBC that technological solutions could be used to avoid a hard border. Home Secretary Sajid Javid told the BBC's Andrew Marr that technological solutions could be used to avoid a hard border Mr Javid told Marr: 'In terms of an alternative arrangement it can be done. 'In my own department I have got Border Force and I asked Border Force months ago to advise me to look at what alternative arrangements were possible. 'They have shown me quite clearly you can have no hard border on the island of Ireland and you can use existing technology. It is perfectly possible, the only thing missing is a bit of goodwill on the EU side.' However this was publicly questioned by Sabine Weyand, deputy to European Commission chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. She tweeted: 'That would not be 'goodwill' but a dereliction of duty by public authorities in the EU that have a duty to ensure public health and safety of consumers, protect against unfair competition and enforce public policies and international agreements.' Three people have been killed and five more injured after a minivan and a sedan collided with an overturned semi truck. Police were summoned to the scene in the early hours of Sunday morning on Highway 34, just west of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. With the region said to be covered in a dense fog, a minivan carrying five passengers, and two people in a sedan, crashed into the trailer of the up-turned truck. According to authorities, the truck had been travelling eastbound on the highway before suddenly jack-knifing and over-turning in front of the two cars. Vicki Morrow, 74, the driver of the minivan, was killed along side Daniel and Kathryn Yutzy, both 44. Driver of the minivan, Vicki Morrow (pictured), 74, was killed alongside Daniel and Kathryn Yutzy The other two passengers, Henry and Suzanne Mast, were rushed to hospital, the latter in a critical condition. Suzanne, 48, wasn't wearing a seatbelt when the crash occurred, according to police. Henry was and has since been released from the hospital. Those in the sedan, a 31-year-old and a 27-year-old, are said to have suffered minor injuries and have also been discharged from hospital. Iowa State Patrol said they are carrying out a full investigation into all three of the crashes, but they believe the distance of time between the truck over-turning and the moments of impact was less than a minute. Spokeperson for the force, Nathan Ludwig, also said a thick fog in the area is believed to be a major factor behind the tragic crash. The driver of the truck was inside his vehicle during both crashes. He was treated and released, according to Ludwig. Ikea is to start leasing furniture for the first time this month as it tries out new ways of doing business. The flatpack specialists trial will initially involve office furniture for businesses but it hopes to expand into kitchens and the consumer market. Profits at Ikea, the worlds biggest furniture retailer, fell by 12 per cent last year and the company is exploring alternatives. Flatpack specialist Ikea is set to start leasing furniture for the first time as it tries out new ways of conducting business (pictured: Ikea store in Logan, Australia) The trial will initially involve office furniture for businesses but it hopes to expand into kitchens and the consumer market (pictured: Interior view of an Ikea kitchen) Torbjourn Loof, chief executive of parent firm Inter Ikea, told the Financial Times: You could say leasing is another way of financing a kitchen. 'Its interesting if you as a consumer say, I can change and adapt and modernise my kitchen if thats a subscription model. Mr Loof said the leasing trial in Switzerland is part of a mission to develop a circular business model to re-use and turn products into new items. Pity the children. Starving to death, dying of curable diseases, sold to sexual predators or simply abandoned, youngsters are paying a terrible price for Venezuela's failed socialist experiment. More than one in seven children are currently suffering from malnutrition as their hard-working parents' salaries no longer cover the soaring cost of everyday living. Common curable diseases measles, diphtheria, and rotavirus diarrhea which had been almost eradicated from the oil-rich state are now killing children in huge numbers. Pneumonia is picking off those too weak to fight. Desperate mothers are selling their daughters' young bodies for sex to buy food. Other poverty-stricken parents abandoned their children in the street to fight for themselves. 'Venezuela was once the richest country in Latin America,' Dr Huniades Urbina, a director of Caracas' main children's hospital, told MailOnline. 'Patients would come to Caracas because we could provide the best care in the region. Now we can't even feed the patients.' Pictures of orphans at the Fundacion la Casa de Ana where the youngest in Venezuelan society are cared for after abandonment Starved by high food prices, abandoned by their parents and vulnerable to curable diseases - these are the children of Venezuela One of the babies at Hospital de Ninos Jose Manuel de los Rios in Caracas where most patients need their families to buy medicine for treatment the medics cannot afford Starved of resources and riddled with interference from President Maduro's socialist regime the Hospital de Ninos Jose Manuel de los Rios has been robbed of the much of the equipment a modern hospital needs. There is no x-ray machine or CT scan. Nine of the twelve operating theatres have been closed and 310 of the 400 beds are no longer in use. The hospital can no longer afford the medicines needed to treat their young patients. If their parents don't buy them the patient dies. 'Venezuela had a nationwide comprehensive vaccination programme against common childhood diseases diphtheria, measles and rotavirus diarrhea. 'The government said the country could no longer afford to buy these vaccinations and now we have epidemics of diphtheria and measles. 'Children are dying from diarrhea caused by the rotavirus which could be easily prevented. Others are so weak that they are dying from pneumonia. 'But malnutrition is the biggest killer. 'Some 15 per cent of Venezuela's children have malnutrition. This is the biggest cause of child mortality.' Carolina Santander, a volunteer working at Fundacion la Casa de Ana children's home has seen the horrors of the recent crisis unfold The children who arrive dirty and diseased prefer the home for children because it means they can eat There are no statistics on how many children died last year the socialist regime refused to publish them. But 2017 figures showed the death rate had almost doubled in less than ten years from 16.6 per thousand to 30.9 per thousand. High in the hills overlooking the sprawling city of Caracas a small country house hides another tragedy for Venezuela's pitiful children. Inside the Fundacion la Casa de Ana orphanage live 27 children who would otherwise be on the street. Aged between three and 17 years old the youngsters each have a sad and sorry reason to be here. One boy suffered life-changing injury when his mother cracked his head open. Many of the girls have been the victims of sexual violence. Some of the girls were sold for sex by their parents. 'Extreme poverty is the main reason the children are here,' volunteer carer Carolina Santander told MailOnline. 'Some have been sexually abused, some have been given to men for money but all of them have been abandoned. 'Their parents could not afford to keep them.' Children are starving and succumbing to illnesses which once Venezuela could easily treat Teenagers gather in San Agustin neighborhood in Caracas where children are being mistreated by their own parents who are faced with desperate times Among the smiling group of youngsters is Angelica, a bright faced 11-year-old with dimples. 'I love it here,' she told MailOnline. 'I get something to eat five times-a-day.' She is too grateful to reveal none of the orphans can remember the last time they ate meat or eggs. Angelica and her five brothers and sisters were rescued just over a year ago from a slum on the outskirts of Caracas. Starving, dirty and riddled with disease they had been abandoned by their mother and step-father. Scavenging from rubbish bins Angelica's stomach was bloated by parasites, her fingers were covered with warts. All of the children had lice. Pictures of orphan Angelica and one of her sisters, when she had just arrived at the children's home (left), after a few months (right) 'My step-father mistreated me,' she added simply. Now she wants to train to be a doctor, 'to help people', she says, or maybe a teacher. Abandoned by the state the Fundacion la Casa de Ana relies on the charity of volunteer carers, doctors and donations to keep going. But the orphanage is almost out of cooking gas and their sack of rice is nearly empty. Dramatic drone footage has captured the extent of the devastating floods in North Queensland that have left an entire city underwater. Townsville residents woke on Monday morning to scenes of total chaos, with thousands of homes, car parks and shopping centres almost totally submerged and huge crocodiles roaming city streets - and the worst is yet to come. Aerial footage showed the Ross River at its peak about 10am on Sunday, with streets looking more like canals as torrential rain pounds the coastal city. Dramatic drone footage has captured the extent of the devastating floods in Queensland that have left an entire city underwater Townsville residents woke on Monday morning to scenes of total chaos, with thousands of homes, car parks and shopping centres almost totally submerged Video captured using a drone showed the Ross River at its peak about 10am on Sunday, with streets looking more like canals as torrential rain pounds North Queensland 'Townsville is truly turning into a disaster zone,' the video was captioned. The footage showed whole neighbourhoods completely deserted as residents flee for their lives from the rapidly rising waters. Army trucks and other emergency response vehicles were shown slowly making their way through the murky, brown water in an attempt to salvage properties and possessions. Threat to life: Townsville is bracing for yet another monsoon surge with 125km/h winds on Monday as a once-in-a-century rainstorm which has turned the city into a 'disaster zone' shows no sign of letting up. Pictured: An aerial view of the city The footage showed whole neighbourhoods completely deserted as residents flee for their lives from the rapidly rising waters The underwater city: Forecasters have warned of a 'risk to life and property' due to 'unprecedented' flooding which could overwhelm up to 20,000 homes as 17,000 properties are left without power. Pictured: A man wades through flooded streets with a bike Forecasters have warned of a 'risk to life and property' due to 'unprecedented' flooding which could overwhelm up to 20,000 homes as 17,000 properties are left without power. The rains will bring up to another 300mm of water to the city which was turned into a floodplain on Sunday night when the Ross River Dam spillway gates automatically opened to ease pressure. This sent 2,000 cubic metres of water per second rocketing through already flooded suburbs as desperate residents scrambled in boats and kayaks to reach evacuation centres on higher ground and 400 were rescued by the army with trucks and helicopters. The local wildlife: Townsville locals woke on Monday morning to scenes of total chaos, with thousands of homes, car parks and shopping centres almost totally submerged and huge crocodiles (pictured) roaming city streets Help is at hand: Rescuers went door-to-door to warn locals of the risks of staying as the 'unprecedented' once-in-a-century storm devastated some suburbs of the north Queensland area This BOM model shows how much rain battered Townsville on Sunday night. More than 200mm hit the CBD Submerged: Residents (right) scrambled in boats and kayaks to reach evacuation centres on higher ground and 400 were rescued by the army with trucks and helicopters. Left: A road underwater On Monday morning, Townsville mayor Jenny Hill said the floodwaters would peak at 11am and would not go down until midnight. 'Honestly it's scary, it really is,' she said. Throughout Sunday night, 850 residents made desperate calls to emergency services as soldiers rescued people from the roofs of cars and buildings. Even two police officers, whose patrol car got washed away, had to cling to trees for half an hour before they were rescued. The rains are not expected to let up until Tuesday. A Bureau of Meteorology forecaster told Daily Mail Australia: 'On Monday there is another monsoon surge heading towards northern Queensland and it may hit Townsville.' Six hours of rainfall on Monday will likely bring more than 100mm of rain - and totals of up to 300mm are possible. To make matters worse, coastal areas are bracing for ferocious winds of up to 125km/h. 'We are still warning residents to be on high alert - although after Monday the worst should be over,' the forecaster said. Townsville has never seen the likes of this Emergency crews have been stretched to the limit, with hundreds of people still waiting for help and evacuation centres filling up fast. It's unclear how many more homes may have been inundated overnight. On Sunday the figure was between 400 and 500 - but that was before dam releases. Officials have warned between 10,000 and 20,000 homes could be at risk. With days of more rain ahead, the crisis is far from over and Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says forecasters are closely watching the monsoon trough amid fears it could form into a cyclone if it moves off the coast. 'This system, if it moves out to the sea, it could develop into a cyclone,' she said on Monday. 'These are early days and we won't know for certain until the next few days.' The rains are not expected to let up until Tuesday. A Bureau of Meteorology forecaster told Daily Mail Australia: 'On Monday there is another monsoon surge heading towards northern Queensland and it may hit Townsville.' Pictured: A man wades through flooded streets with a bike On the way: Queensland Fire and Emergency Services shows rescue crews responding to flood conditions in Townsville Here to help: Queensland Fire and Emergency Services crew members are seen in floodwaters in Hermit Park, Townsville on Sunday Desperate locals are posting on social media pleading with strangers for help as water levels continue to rise Six hours of rainfall on Monday will likely bring more than 100mm of rain - and totals of up to 300mm are possible. Pictured: A local tweeted for help One crocodile was spotted in the residential neighbourhood of Mundingburra shortly before 10pm The Bureau of Meteorology has also warned that tornadoes could form, with gale-force winds seen in Townsville overnight. The premier said emergency crews responded to more than 200 calls for help overnight, with about the same number still waiting for help on Monday morning. 'It was just bucketing down last night ... and the wind gusts were huge. It was a tough night,' the premier said. Water releases from the dam sparked emergency flood alerts late on Sunday, with residents in 21 Townsville suburbs told to move to safety. The premier said the dam had been been managed well and the council did what it had to do. 'That water needs to go somewhere. From what I can tell, they've done everything from the book,' she said, saying the peak was yet to come in the next day or two. Townsville has never seen the likes of this.' About 1000 people were now in evacuation centres, with one of five centres now full. The council will decided of other centres need to open on Monday. Schools in Townsville remain closed, while the city's airport will reopen at 2pm on Monday. The monsoon trough that's been dumping flooding rain on north Queensland's east coast, and drought-hit parts of western Queensland, will drive the state's emergency for days to come. Intense rain with significant flash flooding is expected between Ingham and Bowen, and possibly as far south as Mackay, extending inland to Mt Isa near the Northern Territory border. On Sunday night, desperate locals were posting on social media pleading with strangers for help as water levels continue to rise. 'Please, we have been stuck at 9 Lakewood Drive waiting for SES for hours... we have a six-year-old and a large dog, neither can swim,' one resident wrote online. 'Does anyone have a boat they can get to us on?' Australia's biggest northern city remains under siege as once in a century monsoons continue to flood homes Forecasters now fear the monsoonal weather conditions and strong winds will create a tornado in the region in the coming days The city was forced to open the floodgates to the already overflowing Ross River Dam on Sunday Tens of thousands of families are currently on their seventh day of battling the conditions, and have now been warned the flooding has displaced crocodiles. Crocodiles were spotted in the residential neighbourhood of Mundingburra shortly before 10pm. Residents were warned to keep their eyes peeled while wading through the waist-deep waters. Forecasters now fear the monsoonal weather conditions and strong winds will create a tornado in the region in the coming days. Early estimates suggest insurance costs will exceed $16million, but this could increase drastically should the tornado hit. The city was forced to open the floodgates to the already overflowing Ross River Dam on Sunday, creating a wall of water that flowed out into the community at 2000 cubic metres per second as of 9pm on Sunday evening. The alarming reports prompted a warning from the Bureau of Meteorology, who urged residents of low lying areas to seek alternative accommodation. 'You can expect high velocity flows and unprecedented areas of flooding to occur in the Ross River Catchment,' BoM spokesman Bruce Gunn said in a video statement. More than 500 Townsville homes were evacuated overnight and have been inundated with water Townsville is currently in its sixth day of intense rains and monsoon weather conditions Striking images showed roads and houses totally submerged by heavy flooding while 100 soldiers were called in to help stricken residents prepare for the worst (Pictured: Rosslea residents take their boat around floodwaters) Queensland Fire and Emergency Services crews responding to flood conditions in Townsville 'It could change continuously and unpredictably over the course of this evening into (Monday) morning.' The Ross River at Aplin Weir was at 3.11 metres and rising late on Sunday night, with authorities expecting it to reach four metres. The extra water could flood more homes along the river. Up to 20 suburbs were evacuated as of last night. People in Rosslea, Hermit Park and Townsville City have been urged to move to higher ground immediately. The monsoon trough that's been dumping vast amounts of rain on the state's north for a week has rewritten Townsville's record books. The Bureau of Meteorology has warned communities in North Queensland the heavy rainfall and flooding could last well into next week Queensland residents have been urged to seek safety as authorities are forced to open dam doors (pictured) completely as the state battles a one-in-100 year monsoon The town was forced to open the floodgates to the already overflowing Ross River Dam on Sunday, creating a wall of water that flowed out into the community at 2000 cubic metres per second In just seven days, the city copped a staggering 1012mm, eclipsing the previous record of 886mm set on the city's so-called Night of Noah when vast swathes of the city went under back in 1998. Parts of north and central Queensland could get another half a metre to a metre of rain over the next few days. Authorities have pleaded with Townsville residents who are still in their homes to get ready. 'We don't know when this event will end,' Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said. 'We cannot give you any certainty about what we are going to need to do into the future.' Townsville Local Disaster Management Group Chair Mayor Jenny Hill said the decision to open the spillway gates further was not taken lightly (Pictured: flooding in Townsville) Dozens of homes have been swamped since the flooding began with schools and businesses shut, thousands displaced and evacuation centres opened (Pictured: army personnel assisting with flood evacuations) With water levels at waist and chest height in some suburban streets, local police chief and District Disaster Coordinator Steve Munro said the crisis was only half over Townsville Airport announced it had cancelled all flights in and out of the facility just after 6pm due to safety concerns. With water levels at waist and chest height in some suburban streets, local police chief and District Disaster Coordinator Steve Munro said the crisis was only half over. He warned: '[Damage] could move up to the 20,000 (mark). That's the worst case scenario we're looking at if things keep going pear-shaped. We don't want to get to that stage.' The monsoon trough has brought driving rain to other parts of the state too, including drought-hit communities out west. At Hughenden, properties are facing inundation and the forecast is for more major falls out there, as far as Mount Isa near the Northern Territory border. In Townsville, people are sharing dramatic stories of what they had to do to escape fast-rising flood waters The flash flooding and land slips have been declared a disaster in an area that stretches 700km from Cairns to Mackay (Pictured: flooding in Rosslea, Townsville) Back on the east coast, communities from Ingham to Mackay, 500km away, are at risk of flash flooding and damaging winds, including the possibility of tornadoes. In Townsville, people are sharing dramatic stories of what they had to do to escape fast-rising flood waters. Hermit Park resident Randall Parker used a blow-up air bed to float his family to safety after water rapidly swallowed his unit. 'It is just unbelievable ... It just keeps bucketing down,' he told The Sunday Mail. 'I just had to get the family out including a newborn baby as quick as possible.' The monster monsoon has left police, rescue crews and soldiers scrambling to help locals, some of whom, like Mr Parker made makeshift rafts and desperately paddled their pets, children and belongings to higher ground. Cadbury has given up its claim on the colour purple, opening the door for rivals to make copycat products. The confectionery giant has used the colour since 1914. But it lost a legal test case to trademark the particular shade at the Court of Appeal last year. It has decided not to launch any further appeal. Cadbury has given up its claim on the colour purple, opening the door for rivals to make copycat products The case was triggered by rivals Nestle, which claimed the trademark could threaten its hazelnut and caramel chocolate called the Purple One and the Quality Street box decoration. Cadbury owner Mondelez International said: We have not appealed the decision but will continue to protect what we believe is a distinctive trademark. The company claimed a legal victory over Nestle two years ago by stopping its rival from getting a trademark for the four-finger shape of the KitKat. Retired High Court judge Kenneth Hayne has savaged Australia's senior banking bosses for ripping off consumers and recommended criminal charges in a damning royal commission report. After more than a year of gathering evidence and reviewing more than 10,000 submissions, his banking royal commission has delivered its findings into Australia's banks, insurers and superannuation funds. 'There can be no doubt that the primary responsibility for misconduct in the financial services industry lies with the entities concerned and those who managed and controlled those entities: their boards and senior management,' Mr Hayne's final report unveiled on Monday said. His royal commission made 76 recommendations to combat a culture of greed and misconduct, which Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has promised to implement so the banking sector can 'change forever'. Scroll down for video Retired High Court judge Kenneth Hayne (left with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg) has savaged Australia's big banks for ripping off consumers and even charging fees to dead people The royal commission reserved particular criticism for National Australia Bank, slamming its chief executive Andrew Thorburn and chairman Dr Ken Henry, a former Treasury secretary. 'My fear - that there may be a wide gap between the public face NAB seeks to show and what it does in practice - remains,' Mr Hayne said. 'The amounts of money that just "fell into the pocket" of so many large and sophisticated financial entities, the number of times it happened, and the many years over which it happened, show that it cannot be swept aside as no more than bumbling incompetence or the product of poor computer systems.' Mr Hayne also slammed a culture of greed among Australia's big banks. 'In almost every case, the conduct in issue was driven not only by the relevant entity's pursuit of profit but also by individuals' pursuit of gain, whether in the form of remuneration for the individual or profit for the individual's business,' he said. 'Providing a service to customers was relegated to second place.' The report also recommended tougher criminal charges for financial firms that failed to report misconduct to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The royal commission reserved particular criticism for National Australia Bank, slamming its chief executive Andrew Thorburn (left) and chairman Dr Ken Henry (right), a former Treasury secretary. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg (pictured on Monday) described the royal commission findings as 'a scathing assessment of conduct driven by greed' The deputy leader of the Liberal Party also vowed to implement all 76 recommendations of the banking royal commission, describing the cost of financial sector misconduct as 'immense' Mr Frydenberg, whose Liberal Party initially opposed the royal commission, tabled the sensitive findings at Parliament House in Canberra at 4.20pm AEDT on Monday, after the Australian share market had closed. 'It's a scathing assessment of conduct driven by greed and behaviour that was in breach of existing law and fell well below community expectations,' the treasurer and deputy Liberal Party leader told reporters on Monday afternoon. 'The price paid be our community for this misconduct is immense. 'There have been broken businesses and the emotional stress and personal pain has broken lives. This misconduct must end.' The Treasurer slammed the banks for charging fees to dead people and singled out the misconduct of an insurer which sold a product to a man with Down Syndrome. 'From today, the banking sector must change and change forever,' he said. Catherine Brenner (pictured) resigned as AMP chairman in April last year after the banking royal commission revealed her financial services company had engaged in serious misconduct Mr Frydenberg also vowed to 'take action' on all 76 recommendations, including banning lenders from paying trailing commissions for mortgage brokers for new loans from July 1, 2020 and prohibiting advice fees for default superannuation accounts known as MySuper. Royal commission recommendations - Ban lenders from paying trailing commissions to mortgage brokers on new loans - Civil penalties for mortgage brokers who fail to act in best interest of borrowers - Capping commissions for add-on insurance products - Ban advice fees for default MySuper accounts - Ban the hawking of superannuation products - Stop charging default interest to farmers in distress - Introduction of a national farm debt mediation scheme Source: Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry final report Advertisement Consumer group CHOICE said the 'once-in-a-generation' royal commission highlighted the flaws of existing financial regulation. 'Simple community expectations - that financial institutions should act honestly and in their customers best interests - have been undermined by decades of industry lobbying, resulting in laws that are riddled with carve-outs and exceptions,' the group's chief executive Alan Kirkland said. 'This has to end. 'Commissioner Hayne makes it clear that if we are going to have industry codes, they have to have the force of law, with clear sanctions where they are breached.' The three-volume final report from the royal commission runs to almost 1,100 pages. Less than a year ago, Craig Meller resigned from his $8.3million post as AMP chief executive after the banking royal commission revealed his financial services firm had, for a decade, repeatedly lied to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission about charging fees for no service. During that same week in April 2018, Catherine Brenner quit as AMP's chairman after series cases of misconduct were revealed. AMP's group executive of wealth solutions and chief customer officer, Paul Sainsbury, had told the royal commission AMP had charged more than 3,100 customers about $922,000 in extra life insurance premiums despite being told the member had died. AMP wasn't the only financial services giant to charge fees for no service with the Commonwealth Bank, Australia's biggest home lender, also implicated. Marianne Perkovic, who had responsibility for Commonwealth Bank's financial planning, admitted they took too long to admit they were charging fees for no service Marianne Perkovic, who had responsibility for CBA's financial planning as executive general manager of private wealth, admitted they took too long to admit they were charging fees for no service. The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry also uncovered how the big banks had destroyed the lives of ordinary Australians. In a tearful testimony, nurse Jacqueline McDowall last year revealed how a Westpac financial planner had persuaded her and her husband Hugh McDowall, a truck driver, to sell their Melbourne home, move their superannuation into a self-managed fund and borrow up to $2 million to buy a country house which they planned to live in and run as a bed and breakfast. That advice turned into a financial nightmare, which left them with nowhere to live, after their loan applications were rejected. Nurse Jacqueline McDowall (pictured) last year revealed how a Westpac financial planner had persuaded her and her husband Hugh McDowall, a truck driver, to sell their Melbourne home Mr Hayne's interim report, given to Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove in September last year, also criticised the corporate regulator ASIC and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, which covers the banks, for being too weak. The Senior Counsel barrister, who sat on the High Court from 1997 until his compulsory retirement in 2015, blamed greed for widespread misconduct in the financial services industry. Short-term profit had been pursued at the expense of basic standards of honesty, his interim report said. Mr Hayne said the banks had gone to the edge of what was permitted and beyond that limit because they could and because they profited from the misconduct. Vegans could face a dilemma when it comes to turning on the lights or the central heating as much of the nations energy supply does not meet strict vegan standards, it has emerged. This is because a growing proportion of the nations green electricity and gas originally comes from processed livestock farm waste. As such, vegans fear that simple tasks, such as running a hot bath, cooking a meal or reading a book under a bedside lamp, may compromise their principles. Andover digester: anaerobic digestion is a natural process in which micro-organisms break down the organic matter found in wet biomass waste in the absence of oxygen The ethical concerns were exposed after the Vegan Society was asked by energy company Ecotricity if it could brand its power as vegan. The society gave the firm its seal of approval but its wider investigation into the energy industry found that many suppliers, such as British Gas and Good Energy, are buying power generated in anaerobic digestion plants, or digesters. Anaerobic digestion is a natural process in which micro-organisms break down the organic matter found in wet biomass waste in the absence of oxygen. This is typically sewage, animal manure, dairy farm waste and rotten food including meat. The process creates biogas which can be burned directly in a gas boiler or cleaned to remove carbon dioxide so that it can be used in the national gas grid as biomethane. Advocates of this method insist the plants are a green way to deal with waste that otherwise might simply be thrown away and end up in landfill. Prince Charles has a digester at Poundbury, his new town near Dorchester, Dorset Prince Charles has a digester at Poundbury, his new town near Dorchester, Dorset, which pumps gas and electricity into the national grid network to power homes and businesses. And the Queen plans to install a digester at Buckingham Palace to convert food waste, such as leftovers from banquets, into power for the royal residence. However, the Vegan Society said: Electricity generated from animal products may be green but it cannot be vegan. Robbie Lockie, co-founder of Plant Based News, a website for vegan campaigners, agreed that energy generated in this way could never be compatible with veganism. Farm animals generate vast amounts of methane, nitrous oxide and CO2 all causes of global warming. We have a moral imperative to reduce our carbon footprint. Vegan energy is a way of doing that, he told the Sunday Times. Vegans should be told how their electricity is created so they can make an informed decision. Two years ago, the Daily Mail revealed how the green energy company Good Energy was taking electricity from an anaerobic digester which was processing slurry and waste from a Somerset pig farm at the centre of cruelty allegations. Subsequently, the firm demanded an investigation and action to ensure there was no cruelty on the farm and said it stood absolutely against any mistreatment of animals. Chief executive Juliet Davenport defended taking biogas from these waste plants, saying: Farms using anaerobic digestion have made a positive choice to be greener. Where animal slurry is used it captures harmful methane that would otherwise make its way into the atmosphere. Anaerobic digestion is a way to improve air quality and reduce global warming. Charlotte Morton from the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association said: Digestion gets the most out of waste, converting it into renewable energy and fertiliser. Sources said that 15,000 chairs had been placed at the ground. However, a few chairs were vacant. Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that if Narendra Modi were not voted to power again, he would have nothing to lose but the country would face a heavy loss. Referring to the general election, Mr Fadnavis termed it a historical one, which would decide the future of the country. Addressing a Yuva Mahasangam, which was organised to felicitate state-level winners of chief minister Chashak tournaments, he said that the party youth should work as soldiers in the 2019 election to ensure the victory of the party for the development of the country under the leadership of Mr Modi for the next five years. Despite booking three special trains, the state Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) was unable to gather around 15,000 youths from across the state at Somaiya Ground. Sources said that 15,000 chairs had been placed at the ground. However, a few chairs were vacant. The BJP had claimed that 50,000 youths would participate in the event. Quoting the Economic Survey of Indias report, he said that the country had saved Rs 95,000 crore through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme. Hence, thieves were not getting an opportunity to steal money. And now they have united to unseat Narendra Modi. Mr Fadnavis had compared the opposition with jackals and termed Mr Modi a tiger. He said, Even if animals come together, they cant defeat a tiger, who is the king of the jungle. Our Modiji is a tiger, and let the jackals unite all they want. But Mr Modi cant be defeated. Attacking the Opposition parties, including the Congress, Mr Fadnavis said that if the Mahagathbandhan government comes to power, the PM would be changed every day of the week. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar would be made PM on Sunday as this is a holiday, he said. Advertisement India's Hindu mega-festival Kumbh Mela is in full flow, with millions bathing in sacred rivers in a bid to wash away their sins and achieve immortality. The festival is the world's largest religious gathering, with some 30 million people expected over the duration of the two-month-long event. The Kumbh Mela - a celebration of faith in which Hindus bathe in a sacred river - is held every third year and is rotated between four holy sites. Indian Hindu pilgrims walk through a pontoon bridge on the eve of Mauni Amavasya, an important bathing day, at Sangam The Kumbh Mela has its origins in Hindu mythology, which describes how a few drops of the nectar of immortality fell on all of the places that host the festival, the fourth being Ujjain in central India. On the first main bathing day alone, more than 22 million people were estimated to have attended the ceremony in the Indian city of Prayagraj - formerly known as Allahabad. It is essentially a series of ritual baths by Hindu holy men, and other pilgrims at the confluence of three sacred rivers the Yamuna, the Ganges and the mythical Saraswati that dates back to at least medieval times. The 2013 event in Allahabad attracted more than 100 million pilgrims, making it the biggest gathering of humans in history. Their quest for spirituality is helped along by smoking cannabis; the scent of which hangs heavy over the Kumbh Mela celebrations. It is currently in full swing and is due to end on March 4. Devotees take a holy dip during 'Kumbh Mela', or the Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj, previously known as Allahabad, India A Sadhu or a Hindu holy man takes a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers An Indian Naga Sadhu or naked holy man smokes marijuana from a clay pipe in his tent near Sangam river Indian Hindu pilgrims gather on the eve of Mauni Amavasya, an important bathing day, at Sangam An Indian Hindu Holy man blows the Shank or conch shell as an Indian Naga Sadhu or naked holy man gives blessings outside his tent An aerial view of the Sangam river, the confluence of three of the holiest rivers in Hindu mythology An aerial view of the camps during 'Kumbh Mela', or the Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj A Sadhu or a Hindu holy man stands on the banks of the river Ganges before taking a holy dip during 'Kumbh Mela' People shower money on Sanjana (left) and Rosa (right) as they dance at the Kinnar Akhara, a congregation for transgender people, at 'Kumbh Mela' Indian Hindu pilgrims arrive at the Sangam, the confluence of the Rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati on eve of the most auspicious day of 'Mauni Amavasya' during the Kumbh Mela festival Indian Hindu pilgrims arrive at the Sangam stocked with food and supplies for the upcoming festivities Devotees take a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers, during 'Kumbh Mela' Members of the 'Kinnar Akhara' congregation for transgender people pray inside their camp at Kumbh Mela A member of the 'Kinnar Akhara', congregation for transgender people, performs a ritual at the vibrant festival in India People sleep on the bank of river Ganges at the 'Kumbh Mela', or the Pitcher Festival Devotees sing and dance after taking a holy dip at the 'Kumbh Mela', or the Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj People watch a religious show being played on a screen at the Kumbh Mela Devotees sit under a temporary platform on the banks of the river Ganges after taking a holy dip Indian people arrive near Sangam river, the confluence of three of the holiest rivers in Hindu mythology A man distributes free food to the devotees during "Kumbh Mela", or the Pitcher Festival Devotees sit next to a fire as women dry their clothes after taking a holy dip A devotee is wrapped in a blanket as others sleep on the banks of the river Ganges Devotees wrap themselves in a blanket after taking a holy dip. The vibrant festival will last until 4th of March A Sadhu or Hindu holy man, at Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges and Yamuna during 'royal entry' for the Kumbh Mela Indian 'Naga Sadhus' (Hindu holy men) take photos as newly-initiated 'Naga Sadhus' perform rituals on the banks of the Ganges River A 21-year-old woman has been charged with neglect after allegedly leaving her baby alone in a hot car while she went to play the poker machines at a nearby TAB. Police were called to Gravatt Road, Papamoa Beach, in the city of Tauranga on New Zealand's North Island, after bystanders heard the baby's screams last Thursday. A little girl, aged about five, allegedly approached James Cullen, a staff member at the nearby Flying Mullet Bar, asking for her mother. The 21-year-old mother was allegedly found playing poker machines at the Papamoa Beach TAB on January 31 while her baby was in the car on a 25C day 'She's come over to see me and said: "I'm looking for mummy. She should be in here,"' Mr Cullen told the New Zealand Herald. 'We went to have a look and she wasn't in my building. She was actually in the TAB building, just over where the car was parked.' Mr Cullen said he told the woman to take her kids home but she became defensive and said 'The father's out there'. 'Then she got in the car and took off with the kids before the cops turned up,' he said. It is thought the baby was about five months old and its loud screams had attracted the attention of bystanders who stopped to look in the car. The woman, from Tauranga has been charged with neglect of a child and will appear in court at a date yet to be confirmed, NZ Police said in a media release. The woman (not pictured here, stock photo) was allegedly playing poker machines when found, and said "The father's out there", before leaving The temperature in Tauranga on January 31 reached a high of 25C. Leaving small children in cars unattended can quickly result in serious injury or death. A one-year-old baby boy died in Sydney after being left alone in a hot car as temperatures soared past 30C on Sunday afternoon. The boy, said to be a twin and the youngest of six children, was reportedly left in the car while in the care of someone else while his mother was out. A one-year-old baby died on Sunday after being left inside a hot car as temperatures soared past 30C in Sydney's Western Suburbs. Babies are at greater risk of heat stroke than adults. Temperatures inside a parked car can quickly rise up to 30C hotter than those outside, according to Australian child accident prevention foundation Kidsafe Victoria. About 75 per cent of the temperature increase occurs within the first five minutes of closing the door, and leaving the windows down slightly makes little difference, Kidsafe says on its website. With the windows down 10cm, the car remains only 5C cooler than with them up. This combination is deadly as young children are more sensitive to the heat. Their bodies can heat up to five times faster than an adult's putting them at greater risk of deadly heat-stroke. The incident in Tauranga happened after a number of recent cases where children had been left in hot vehicles as their parents were out shopping in Auckland and Napier. Every year in Australia, more than 5,000 children are rescued after being left unattended in a car, according to Kidsafe Victoria. A 44-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder following the death of a woman at a Perth apartment block. Paramedics were called to Danehill Way in Balga in the city's north on Sunday morning and found a woman with life threatening injuries who was unable to be revived. A man known to the woman was taken into custody following the incident. He was charged with the woman's murder on Monday. Forensic officers spent Sunday scouring for clues at a Balga unit block, where a woman died The 44-year-old was refused bail and will appear before Perth Magistrates Court on Monday, WA Today reported. Police say they are not looking for any other suspects in relation to the woman's death. Homicide detectives and forensic officers spent most of Sunday at the unit block scouring for clues and doorknocking neighbours. The Perth unit block will remain a crime scene until at least Monday morning The woman is believed to have been in her 40s. Her cause of her death remains unknown. It's also unknown whether a weapon was involved in the woman's death. Shocked neighbours told 7 News they were unaware of what had happened until they they heard police cars and the ambulance. 'It was just quiet this morning, I didn't hear anything before that so it was just kind of out of the blue,' Patricia Wojcok said. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. An investor who spent $840,000 on his dream home inside Sydney's cracked Opal Tower is now facing financial ruin. Andy Neverly poured his life savings into unit 2208 in the now infamous apartment complex. However, what was supposed to be a joyous moment soon turned into a nightmare after residents evacuated the 36-storey residential building on Christmas Eve after significant cracking issues. Many residents, including Mr Neverly's own tenants, refused to return due to safety concerns. 'It's what you call the Australian dream turned into an Australian nightmare,' Mr Neverly told reporter Ross Greenwood in 60 Minutes. Scroll down for video Andy Neverly (pictured) spent $840,000 into unit 2208 in the Opal Tower but is now facing financial ruin after significant cracking was exposed in the residential building Many residents, including Mr Neverly's own tenants, refused to return to the cracked Opal Tower (pictured) due to safety concerns 'I don't think (the property is) worth anything...it's lost. It's gone. It's evaporated. We're up sh*t creek,' he said bluntly. The Opal Tower had only been completed four months before signs of cracking began to show on the tenth floor. Developer Ecove carried out emergency stabilising works by placing hundreds of industrial props throughout living rooms and bedroooms in the units up to the 10th level. The props will remain in place even when Opal Tower residents return. According to Mr Neverly, every resident has their own 'heartbreaking' story since the value of their properties have been wiped out. Property experts say the Opal Tower defects are indicative of a wider issue with recent property development. Banking and housing analyst Martin North has painted a terrifying image of what the property market can expect in the near future with a potential drop of up to 40 per cent coupled with a rush to develop. Mr North told 60 Minutes developers were rushing to get properties on the market as quickly as possible, leading to defects. Developer Ecove carried out emergency stabilising works by placing hundreds of industrial props (pictured) throughout living rooms and bedroooms in the units up to the 10th level Property experts have warned the Opal Tower defects are indicative of a wider issue with property development while the market itself sees a simultaneous drop in value He claims that the number of properties built with defects could range in the 'thousands' and he fears they could lead to fatalities. Sydney Olympic Park's Opal Tower is a prime example of the issues Mr North worries could become more common place as newer buildings continue to age. 'I think we've built a generation of properties that frankly could become slums in 20 or 30 years and that is a very significant issue,' Mr North said. Banks lent out money at a rapid rate with the false assumption that property prices would always go up, Mr North told 60 Minutes. Prior to 2019, Mr North also predicted the property market would fall by as much as 40 per cent - a claim he said still isn't out of the realm of possibility. Banking and housing analyst Martin North (pictured) said developers were rushing to get properties onto the market as quickly as possible and as a result corners could be getting cut which could lead to further defects His figures show that 450,000 of Australia's 1.4 million property mortgages are in a negative equity position, meaning the value of their home would not cover the cost of their mortgage. 'I still think that we could see 40 per cent plus falls over two or three years, 20 to 30 per cent is my best guess for a local crisis without that international context which would take us into even more negative territory,' he said. Residents living in parts of Sydney and Melbourne, where negative equity has hit hardest, have seen a drop of 20 per cent in the value of their property. Bill Gates yesterday hailed the power of volunteering as more Mail readers signed up to join The Great British Spring Clean. The Microsoft founder, 63, is the second-richest man in the world and has donated billions of his fortune to help eradicate poverty and disease across the globe through his charitable foundation. He praised those who come together and actually achieve something as Theresa May did just that. The Prime Minister and her husband Philip did their bit to help clean up Britain when they donned high-vis jackets to take part in a litter pick in Mrs Mays constituency of Maidenhead in Berkshire. Despite snow on the ground, a determined band of volunteers collected litter and other rubbish in a local park. The group, Maidenhead Matters, which aims to reduce litter and the use of plastics in its community, has pledged to take part in The Great British Spring Clean. In just over a week, a remarkable 28,705 people have pledged to offer their time to the campaign. When The Great British Spring Clean was launched Mrs May described it as a fantastic initiative which we can all play a part in. The Prime Minister and her husband Philip did their bit to help clean up Britain when they donned high-vis jackets to take part in a litter pick in her constituency In partnership with Keep Britain Tidy, the Daily Mail aims to enlist half a million volunteers to help pick up litter between March 22 and April 23. The campaign, which it is hoped will be the biggest environmental event of the year, has already been backed by Sir David Attenborough, Prince William, the National Trust, Greenpeace and even the United Nations. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, added his support yesterday, saying The Great British Spring Clean would allow everyone to do their bit for the oceans. Mr Gates praised the spirit behind the campaign and others like it, saying: The idea of volunteerism and caring about other people, empathy drawing people into a community project where you work together and show that humans care about other people, those sorts of values are great. Instead of people sitting there feeling fractured and unhappy, they come together and actually achieve something together. They have a sense that they have a voice. Caring for other people makes all the difference. Calling on bankers to join the war on litter, Mr Carney highlighted the devastating effect it has on our environment. Every day eight million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans, he said. Over 70 per cent of beach litter is plastic. Half of world plastic production is destined for single-use plastic. This is having a devastating effect on our natural environment. The Great British Spring Clean is a fantastic opportunity for everyone to come together and do their bit. Theresa May litter picking in her constituency of Maidenhead in Berkshire as part of the The Great British Spring Clean 'The Bank of England is committed to making a positive impact on the communities we serve and were encouraging colleagues across the City to help clean up plastic waste and reduce reliance on single-use plastic. He added: We know there is more to do, and this campaign will encourage everyone to do what they can for our cities and oceans. While Mr Carneys green credentials are less well known, his wife has long campaigned on environmental issues. Diana Fox Carney set up a blog called Eco Products That Work, has called plastic-covered lever-arch files a horror and describes tea bags, which can contain plastic, as a pet hate. The Mail has led efforts to highlight the scourge of plastic pollution and the dangers it poses to wildlife and the natural environment. Victories have included the introduction of a 5p charge on single-use bags, a ban on microbeads used in cosmetics, and a promise from the Prime Minister to dramatically cut plastic waste in the next 25 years. The grieving mother of a one-year-old boy who died after being left in a hot car has revealed her heartache in a touching tribute to her 'beautiful angel'. Police and paramedics rushed to Chester Hill in Sydney's west after the 22-month-old child was found unresponsive in a locked car on Sunday, when temperatures reached nearly 35C. The boy, named Jone, had been taken inside the family home by the time emergency crews arrived. He couldn't be revived and died at the scene. On Sunday night, his mother, Samantha Rowlands, shared a picture of her son which she captioned 'my baby' alongside a string of heartbreak emojis. 'She's broken - devastated. She doesn't want to believe that this has happened to her baby,' a family member told Daily Mail Australia on Monday. The mother of a one-year-old boy who died after being left in a hot car has revealed her heartache in a touching tribute. Samantha Rowlands shared this picture of herself with her son The boy, named Jone, had been taken inside the family home by the time emergency crews arrived on Sunday Ms Rowlands captioned a photo with 'my Baby' alongside a string of heartbreak emojis 'My family is angry. This shouldn't have happened to that little boy.' Tributes to Jone and messages of support to Ms Rowlands have flooded in. 'So sorry to hear hun, rest in peace little angel,' and 'rest in peace handsome boy,' were among them. 'This is so sad to here Sam and family, thinking of you all,' another wrote. Neighbours told Daily Mail Australia the family were quiet and mostly kept to themselves. Frank Ingrati, who lives next door, said he is on friendly terms with the household, and they even gifted him a hamper at Christmas. 'She's broken - devastated. She doesn't want to believe that this has happened to her baby,' a family member said of Ms Rowlands (pictured) 'They're a really friendly family, keep to themselves, a really nice quiet family where the kids play in the backyard,' he said. 'They give me no trouble at all.' He said there were often visits from extended family, with cousins coming to play in an inflatable pool they kept in the backyard after school hours. 'Sometimes there are three cars [parked out the front] sometimes one, so it's hard to keep track, he explained. The child's mother was seen running down the street screaming 'my baby' after she was told of the news Another woman, believed to be the boy's grandmother, was wheeled out of the home on a stretcher and was treated for shock Mr Ingrati said both the mother and grandmother of the children lived at the home, and both appeared to be devoted guardians. 'It's a shocking tragedy,' he said. Jone, who is a twin and the youngest of six children, was reportedly left in the care of someone else while his mother was out on Sunday. Ms Rowlands was seen running down the street screaming 'my baby' after she was told of the news. The boy had been taken inside the family home (pictured) by the time emergency crews arrived. He couldn't be revived and died at the scene Initial reports suggested the child he was left inside a hot car as temperatures soared past 30C His grandmother was put in an ambulance on a stretcher and taken to hospital suffering from shock. Police established a crime scene and a report will be prepared for the coroner. They spoke with a number of family members at the scene. 'The child had been left unattended, we're still looking into the circumstances surrounding his death,' a NSW police spokesman said. Police are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding his death and spoke with a number of family members at the scene A 22-year-old man who allegedly attacked and threatened to kill two firefighters after they asked him to put out a blaze during a total fire ban has been charged. Volunteer firefighters went to a Shea Street property in Bacchus Marsh, north-west of Melbourne, after reports a fire had been deliberately lit on Sunday at about 9.30pm. A father, 47, and son, 22, who were occupants of the house, allegedly became aggressive towards the two male firefighters. A 22-year-old man who allegedly attacked and threatened to kill two firefighters has been charged Volunteer firefighters arrived at a Shea Street property after reports a a fire had been deliberately lit Both firemen suffered minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment. The father allegedly started the fire. The 22-year-old was charged with assaulting an emergency worker on duty, affray and making threats to kill. He has been bailed to appear at Bacchus Marsh Magistrates' Court on March 8. The 47-year-old has been charged with lighting a fire during a fire danger period, affray and for assaulting an emergency worker on duty. He is due to appear in court at a later date. Victoria Emergency had issued a total fire ban on February 3. Victoria Emergency had issued a total fire ban for the state on the day a 47-year-old fire allegedly lit the fire 'No fires can be lit or allowed to remain alight in the open air from 12.01 AM on Sun, 3 Feb 2019 until 11.59pm Sun, 3 Feb 2019,' the statement read. A home business owner from Snoozeez Pet Bedz & Accessories told Daily Mail Australia she had awoke to her dog barking outside and sirens. An ambulance arrived at the scene shortly after the firemen arrived at the property. Thousands of pupils will practise mindfulness at school to help them deal with the pressures of the modern world. Pilot schemes in 370 primaries and secondaries will test different approaches to improving childrens mental health. The trial, to run until 2021, will be one of the largest of its kind in the world. It will teach students innovative techniques such as mindfulness, relaxation and breathing exercises to help them regulate their emotions, the Department for Education said. Pupils will also have sessions with mental health experts. Thousands of pupils will practise mindfulness at school to help them deal with the pressures of the modern world The trial will teach students innovative techniques such as mindfulness, relaxation and breathing exercises to help them regulate their emotions. Pictured a small boy meditating Mindfulness, a popular meditation technique, aims to help the brain focus on the present, rather than regrets or worries. Education Secretary Damian Hinds will announce the trial of its use today to mark the beginning of Childrens Mental Health Week. As a society, we are more open about our mental health than ever before, he said. But the modern world has brought new pressures for children, while potentially making others worse. Schools and teachers dont have all the answers nor could they but we know they can play a special role, which is why we have launched one of the biggest mental health trials in schools. The trial will be led by the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, in partnership with University College London. Project leader Dr Jessica Deighton said: We know schools have a strong commitment to supporting childrens mental health and wellbeing but have had little clear guidance about the best ways to approach this. We want children and young people, parents and teachers to be confident that mental health in schools has an absolutely robust evidence base. The scheme will coincide with a new compulsory health education curriculum, which covers mental health. It comes amid fears of an epidemic of mental health problems among children and teenagers, fuelled by the internet. A recent study found loneliness among youths is on the rise due to increased use of social media. Childwise, a market research company, found 58 per cent of nine to 16-year-olds sometimes felt lonely up from 51 per cent last year. Its poll of 2,000 pupils found older girls were particularly affected, with 80 per cent of those aged 15-16 battling loneliness. Research director Simon Leggett said: They are spending time alone in their bedrooms, scrolling through digital content, watching the lives of others unfold ... rather than going to a friends house. Two British brothers with links to the infamous 'gypsy' family who wreaked havoc across New Zealand have faced court over an alleged roofing scam targeting vulnerable homeowners. Pensioner Heidrun Leonard, 82, alleges three men charged her $8,800 (4,877) to mend a hole in her roof before vanishing without doing the work. Ms Leonard came forward after recognising their faces when the traveller family made headlines earlier this month for a spate of offences that saw the Mayor of Auckland label them 'worse than pigs'. The two brothers appeared in the Whanganui District Court in New Zealand on Friday after being charged with obtaining $4,758 (2,637) and $17,890 (9,915) by deception, the New Zealand Herald reported. Two British brothers (one pictured) with links to the infamous 'travelling' family who wreaked havoc across New Zealand have faced court over an alleged roofing scam The pair (one pictured) appeared in the Whanganui District Court in New Zealand on Friday after being charged with obtaining $4,758 (2,637) and $17,890 (9,915) by deception Images have shown members of the family standing in public smoking and spitting, some drinking Red Bull while others carried six-packs of beer One of the brothers also faces an additional charge of obtaining $951 (526) by deception. Judge Christopher Field remanded both men in custody until Tuesday, so they could find legal representation. The men were granted interim name suppression. Meanwhile, a 26-year-old man who is also a member of the family group is on the run from police. The man has been charged with fraud, reckless driving and assault with a weapon but failed to appear in court after being granted bail a week prior. He is now wanted by police and was still on the run on Monday. As he was granted name suppression, police are unable to ask for public help to find him by releasing his name and picture. Heidrun Leonard, 82, has accused a trio of Brits of fleecing her out of 4,600 to fix her roof A third man (pictured), who also has links to the British family, is now on the run after being granted bail following a string of charges including reckless driving and weapon possession The assault and driving allegations are related to an incident at Auckland's Takapuna Beach on January 13. Krista Curnow claims a car driven by a member of the travelling family veered towards her, and that the driver tried to take her phone when she attempted to photograph the number plate. It's understood the deception charges are related to Auckland woman Ms Leonard, who alleged a group of British men swindled her by not performing the repair work they had promised. 'I was outside, they passed by and they said 'we would be able to get your roof alright,' and I didn't know there was something wrong with it but I thought it wouldn't be too bad,' she told Newshub. 'I let them in and showed them where my paint came off in the toilet and bathroom a bit and thought it might need to be a bit dried up and they said 'yes, we can do that'. 'They said if they want to work with these machines they would have to pay $8800 and after they have done the job, I would get the money back, and they disappeared with the $8800.' Original sin: This mess left behind at Takapuna Beach near Auckland (left) sparked a social media firestorm. Family spokesman Joe Doran, on right, was there but there is no suggestion he was involved in scamming Ms Leonard The now infamous family were accused of trashing a beach, leaving a cafe without paying, damaging their apartment and allegedly stealing a journalist's phone. Ms Leonard said she was scammed by the family on January 4 - nine days before a littering incident on Takapuna beach on January 13 sparked global interest in them. After they approached her, she decided to show them a small patch where paint was coming away from her ceiling. They made a hole to inspect the ceiling and asked for an up-front deposit before allegedly making off with the cash. Police revealed they've received several complaints similar to Ms Leonard's. The Doran family returning to the UK after being deported from New Zealand following public backlash The clan became so notorious that a hire car they crashed and abandoned in Auckland was stripped by souvenir hunters The British family has been causing trouble in New Zealand since they arrived in the country before Christmas. Five members of the 12-strong group were slapped with deportation orders on January 16 after causing a ruckus at Hamilton Burger King restaurant, where they were seen speaking to police. Four adult members of the group left New Zealand and arrived at Heathrow Airport on January 27. Larry Doran said his family had done 'nothing wrong' during their trip and called it the 'holiday from hell'. Images have shown members of the family standing in public smoking and spitting, some drinking Red Bull while others carried six-packs of beer. The clan, who have lived in caravan parks across the East Midlands in the UK, became so notorious that a hire car they crashed and abandoned in Auckland was stripped by souvenir hunters. Auckland Mayor Phil Goff previously called them 'a*******s' and 'trash' in interview on a local radio station. A member of the group, Tina Maria Cash, 26, pleaded guilty in court to stealing Red Bull from a Hamilton service station. She was ordered to pay $55 in reparation. Migrants are paying fixers to help them cheat in citizenship tests to win the right to stay in Britain. Undercover footage shows how lax security lets criminals feed their customers the right answers via tiny earpieces. The scam, exposed by BBC London News, is the latest in a string of frauds designed to help migrants pass the much-maligned Life In The UK test. Critics of security at test centres say elaborate schemes may have allowed thousands to fraudulently win British citizenship. In the expose, broadcast tonight, an undercover reporter meets with Abdul Reza Masud, who is seen asking the journalist for 2,000 to help him cheat One migrant worker said panic over being kicked out of the country after Brexit led her to cheat. One in four applicants fail the test, which covers topics ranging from the constitution and medieval history to art and sport. In the expose, broadcast tonight, an undercover reporter meets with Abdul Reza Masud, director of the Ideal Learning Academy in east London. Instead of offering tuition to pass the test, Masud is seen asking the reporter for 2,000 to help him cheat. Handed a tiny earpiece, the undercover reporter is not searched before he sits the multiple-choice test in a west London centre. Once inside, he is allowed to choose whether he reads the questions, or listens to them via headphones. He picks the latter option and his small earpiece then picks up the sound from the headphones, relaying the questions to the waiting accomplice. This allows them to tell the reporter which answers to choose. After passing the exam, the undercover reporter said of the scam: He heard the questions, he answered the questions for me... Third question, he said C, fourth he said D. They really seemed professional in a way. One subject brags of his cheating, saying: I did Birmingham, Manchester. Ive been here for five years and no one gets caught. Handed a tiny earpiece, the undercover reporter is not searched before he sits the multiple-choice test in a west London centre Former immigration officer Jay Sudra told the BBC: The Home Office need to look into this urgently. How many citizens do we have in the UK that have fraudulently obtained a test certificate? It potentially runs into thousands. You have to question the security of the entire process. For them to get to a stage where they obtain permanent residency, where they obtain a British passport, its truly, truly shocking. In 2014, the Mail revealed a citizenship scam in which migrants who spoke no English were able to buy a certificate for 500 stating they had passed a language test. That same year, migrants were found to be driving hundreds of miles to a specific test centre. An official report found staff there were colluding with applicants in committing fraud. In response, the Home Office tried to tighten the rules by making migrants take citizenship tests at sites near their homes. A Home Office spokesperson said: Where we have evidence that a test centre is failing to uphold our standards, we will investigate and take appropriate action. Masud denied allegations he was running a criminal enterprise when confronted by the BBC. He could not be reached for comment yesterday. The film can be seen on Inside Out tonight at 7.30pm on BBC One. In the evening DMK leader Kanimozhi also met the Trinamul Congress supremo. Kolkata: Eager to give her sit-in dharna to Save the Constitution heft and national stature, and make it a direct confrontation between her state and the Narendra Modi-led BJP government ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday reached out to all the anti-BJP parties to thank them for their support to her agitation which, she declared, would continue till February 8. The ripple effect of political tremors in West Bengal were felt in New Delhi and several state capitals as Ms Banerjees combative posturing drew support from several regional satraps trying to sew up an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the parliamentary polls. DMK chief M.K. Stalin tweeted, The independence of every institution has been compromised under this fascist BJP Government. I stand with @MamataOfficial Didi in her fight to protect the federal structure of this country and to save democracy. #SaveDemocracy. Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda said in Bengaluru the face-off reminded him of the Emergency days while Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu alleged in Amaravati that the BJP government was acting with vengeance against Ms Banerjee as the Opposition parties rally in the West Bengal capital on January 19 was a great success. Samajwadi Party leader Kiranmoy Nanda, sent by his party chief Akhilesh Yadav, met Ms Banerjee at the dharna venue, Metro Channel in Esplanade, in the morning. In the evening DMK leader Kanimozhi also met the Trinamul Congress supremo. Speculation is rife that some more political leaders from other states are expected to visit Ms Banerjee in the next few days. Due to board examinations in schools, after February 8 no mike will be used during the protest. As the political firestorm raged, Ms Banerjee sharpened her salvos at the Modi government. We always say that the law will take its own course We respect law. But if someone destroys the main pillars of democracy by indulging in illegal activities, democracy becomes valueless... From that standpoint, our Satyagraha movement has been underway. It is not a silly matter, she said. Everyone has extended their support to this movement. We again and again express our sincere gratitude to all the political parties, state parties who believe in federal structure. It is not our individual fight. It is a collective battle. It is not a political programme. But all political parties can join us in our protest. I would still expect that democracy moves ahead in its own way and the law will taken its own course. Ms Banerjee told the crowd, An attempt of a coup has been underway everywhere, starting with the judiciary. It cannot be supported... We can have ideological differences, but agencies are set after if anyone opposes the BJP... Those who oppose the BJP are branded as anti-nationals. We condemn the atmosphere of hatred which has been created across the country. Do not forget it is a big battle. Despite the dharna, Ms Banerjee continued her work and kept her major engagements. The chief minister chaired a Cabinet meeting with finance minister Amit Mitra and others in a temporary room behind the venue before she skipping the Budget presentation in the Assembly, setting a dramatic precedent. On the chief ministers instruction the investiture ceremony of the West Bengal Police and Kolkata was changed from Uttirna, an open air theatre in Alipore, to a stage which has been built near her dharna venue. After awarding the police officials medals, Ms Banerjee in her address to the cops, said, I am ready to give my life but will not compromise. I did not take to the streets when they touched Trinamul leaders. But I am angry when they tried to insult the chair of the Kolkata police commissioner as he is leading the organisation. Earlier, Ms Banerjee slammed Mr Modi over farmers issues. Addressing a rally of farmers, she said, We have taken a decision that we would not take any money from the Centre regarding any of its schemes. The Modi government has snatched the farmers rights. More than 12,000 farmers have committed suicide. Their lands have been grabbed. Referring to her agitation against the CPI(M)-led Left Front government 13 years ago, Ms Banerjee added, Back in 2006, I had sat on a dharna for 27 days to return the farmers their lands. Many farmer families are left with nothing. We are the only government which does not allow the farmers rights to be snatched away. The failed attempt by the CBI to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams on Sunday became the latest flashpoint between the BJP-led Centre and Banerjee, one of its bitter critics. The CBI has accused Kumar of destroying evidence related to the two fraud cases. The ruling BJD in Odisha said in a statement, Institutional integrity of the CBI has to be restored. We are a mature democracy and professionalism should be maintained. Disgruntled BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha on Monday fired a fresh salvo at the Narendra Modi government, accusing it of playing with fire by targeting Ms Banerjee whom he called a tried and tested mass leader. Sirji, what is happening. Why are we playing with fire through the much-maligned, disgraced and condemned government institutions, that too when elections are around the corner, Mr Sinha tweeted. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) Two were killed in a fire that hit a barangay in Cainta, Rizal on Sunday. Cainta Mayor Kit Nieto said at least 15 others are undergoing treatment for minor injuries in San Buena compound in Barangay Santo Domingo. At least 800 families have been left homeless after the fire stuck late Sunday afternoon. Nieto said the families have been brought to three evacuation centers in the municipality. "They are being taken cared of. People are monitoring them 24/7 just to make sure their immediate needs are met, specifically their food, clothing, and sanitation requirements," the mayor told CNN Philippines. He added he has requested to the Sangguniang Bayan to study a possibel declaration of a state of calamity in the barangay. "Emergency employment of all affected residents will be adopted as they will be tasked to construct their shelters while government provides materials," he said. Nieto said they are hoping to fix the homes in seven days. Advertisement Australia was battered by extreme weather on Monday with torrential rain causing severe floods in north Queensland while Tasmania and Victoria were ravaged by bushfires. Five emergency warnings were in place on the island state where 41 blazes were swallowing swathes of grassland and threatening hundreds of homes. About 190,000 hectares of land have been destroyed as firefighters work day and night amid fears some blazes will take months to extinguish with more hot and windy weather on the way. In Victoria, firefighters were battling to contain 14 wildfires in the northeast and Gippsland regions after one came 500 metres from destroying homes. Meanwhile, Townsville in north Queensland was bracing for yet another monsoon surge with 125km/h winds on Monday as a once-in-a-century rainstorm which has turned the city into a 'disaster zone' continued. Scroll down for video Danger: Australia was battered by extreme weather on Monday with torrential rain causing severe floods in north Queensland while Tasmania and Victoria were ravaged by bushfires. Pictured: A large bushfire burns in Tasmania Blaze: About 190,000 hectares of land have been destroyed as firefighters work day and night amid fears some blazes will take months to extinguish with more hot and windy weather on the way. Pictured: Fires in Tasmania Threat to life: Townsville is bracing for yet another monsoon surge with 125km/h winds on Monday as a once-in-a-century rainstorm which has turned the city into a 'disaster zone' shows no sign of letting up. Pictured: An aerial view of the city Evacuation: Around 40 residents from the small town of Miena (pictured) in Tasmania's Central Plateau have been evacuated Working day and night: Tasmania Fire Service conduct back burns and create fire breaks in preparation for unfavourable weather conditions Heroes: Three fireman were pictured with dirty faces from ash and smoke after they had been battling fires in Tasmania Five emergency warnings were in place on the island state where 41 blazes were swallowing swathes of grassland and threatening hundreds of homes. Pictured: Smoke from an out-of-control bushfire covers Hobart On Monday it was announced that a fourth home is believed to have been lost to bushfires that have burned for weeks across Tasmania. Hot and windy weather caused blazes to flare on Sunday afternoon, with authorities investigating reports of property loss at the Huon Valley in the south and on the state's central plateau. Particular areas of concern are homes near the towns of Geeveston and Waterloo, both south of Hobart. A Geeveston home burned down on Sunday, the Mercury newspaper reports. Authorities say they've received reports of property loss from the southern Riveaux Road and central Great Pine Tier wildfires. 'It is very difficult to get definitive information of what has been damaged or destroyed at this point in time,' the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) said in a statement on Monday. 'Impact assessments will be conducted as soon as safely possible. This could take some time.' An emergency warning remains in place for central Tasmania at Reynolds Neck, with residents warned burning embers would threaten homes before the main fire front. They've been told to go to a safer location if the path is clear. Fourteen watch and act alerts remain in place for fires across the state, some of which started before Christmas. About 191,000 hectares have now been destroyed. The fires have razed three homes at Glen Huon and a near-century-old trapper's hut and caused significant damage to the popular Tahune Airwalk. Bird's eye view: An image from space shows smoke pouring from central Tasmania as wildfires blaze across the island state On Monday it was announced that a fourth home is believed to have been lost to bushfires that have burned for weeks across Tasmania. Pictured: Damage caused by fire on the island state Hot and windy weather caused blazes to flare on Sunday afternoon, with authorities investigating reports of property loss at the Huon Valley in the south and on the state's central plateau. Pictured: Hobart Vast tracts of wilderness in the state's southwest have been charred. There may be a reprieve on the horizon, though, after a cool change on Sunday evening. Forecasters are predicting a 'reasonable chance' of state-wide rain of 10-20 millimetres on Thursday. 'Any rain would be a blessing. If it falls in the right places, then it could be of great value to us,' TFS chief officer Bruce Byatt said. 'Sadly, if it misses our fires we'll have a lot of work in front of us still.' Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will on Monday visit bushfire affected regions. Three watch and act messages remain for bushfires across Victoria, as cooler temperatures and easing winds sweep through the state. About 1,000 firefighters are battling scores of fires, Emergency Services Commissioner Andrew Crisp said. In the east, the warning message issued for areas including Maiden Hall, Walhalla and Western eased after significant rain. Earlier, residents were warned it was too late to leave as fire threatened homes and lives. In the state's south, a bushfire that sparked in the Grantville Conservation Reserve remains under control. A spotfire started outside the containment line near Adams Estate, but crews have been able to control it. Residents in Adams Estate and Grantville are urged to stay alert and monitor conditions. Particular areas of concern are homes near the towns of Geeveston and Waterloo, both south of Hobart. Pictured: A firefighter walks back to his truck after tackling the blaze This image shows the Gell River bushfire in Tasmania's southwest that has burned through about 18,000 hectares of wilderness In the far east, near Gippsland's Lakes Entrance, a watch and act message remains in force for areas including Buchan, Sunny Point and Murrindal as a bushfire burns there uncontrolled. Authorities say changed weather conditions have slowed the fire's spread after it crossed containment lines along the southern and eastern edges on Sunday afternoon. Several other fire advice warnings remain in place across the state. Southerly winds are expected to sweep Victoria on Monday, bringing temperatures in the state's north to the low 30s while thunderstorms may still pack a punch in the east. 'Storms will still be a risk with showers with southerly winds and some erratic winds (in the east),' Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Peter Newham said. The cool change will take longer to reach north eastern parts of the state. In Townsville, forecasters have warned of a 'risk to life and property' due to 'unprecedented' flooding which could overwhelm up to 20,000 homes as 17,000 properties are left without power. The rains were forecast to bring up to another 300mm of water to the city which was turned into a floodplain on Sunday night when the Ross River Dam spillway gates automatically opened to ease pressure. This sent 2,000 cubic metres of water per second rocketing through already flooded suburbs as desperate residents scrambled in boats and kayaks to reach evacuation centres on higher ground and 400 were rescued by the army with trucks and helicopters. Locals woke on Monday morning to scenes of total chaos, with thousands of homes, car parks and shopping centres almost totally submerged and huge crocodiles roaming city streets. And the worst is yet to come. The underwater city: Forecasters have warned of a 'risk to life and property' due to 'unprecedented' flooding which could overwhelm up to 20,000 homes as 17,000 properties are left without power. Pictured: A man wades through flooded streets with a bike The local wildlife: Townsville locals woke on Monday morning to scenes of total chaos, with thousands of homes, car parks and shopping centres almost totally submerged and huge crocodiles (pictured) roaming city streets Help is at hand: Rescuers went door-to-door to warn locals of the risks of staying as the 'unprecedented' once-in-a-century storm devastated some suburbs of the north Queensland area This BOM model shows how much rain battered Townsville on Sunday and Sunday night. More than 200mm hit the CBD Submerged: Residents (right) scrambled in boats and kayaks to reach evacuation centres on higher ground and 400 were rescued by the army with trucks and helicopters. Left: A road underwater On Monday morning, Townsville mayor Jenny Hill said the floodwaters would peak at 11am and would not go down until midnight. 'Honestly it's scary, it really is,' she said. Throughout Sunday night, 850 residents made desperate calls to emergency services as soldiers rescued people from the roofs of cars and buildings. Even two police officers, whose patrol car got washed away, had to cling to trees for half an hour before they were rescued. The rains are not expected to let up until Tuesday. A Bureau of Meteorology forecaster told Daily Mail Australia: 'On Monday there is another monsoon surge heading towards northern Queensland and it may hit Townsville.' Six hours of rainfall on Monday will likely bring more than 100mm of rain - and totals of up to 300mm are possible. To make matters worse, coastal areas are bracing for ferocious winds of up to 125km/h. 'We are still warning residents to be on high alert - although after Monday the worst should be over,' the forecaster said. Townsville has never seen the likes of this Emergency crews have been stretched to the limit, with hundreds of people still waiting for help and evacuation centres filling up fast. It's unclear how many more homes may have been inundated overnight. On Sunday the figure was between 400 and 500 - but that was before dam releases. Officials have warned between 10,000 and 20,000 homes could be at risk. With days of more rain ahead, the crisis is far from over and Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says forecasters are closely watching the monsoon trough amid fears it could form into a cyclone if it moves off the coast. 'This system, if it moves out to the sea, it could develop into a cyclone,' she said on Monday. 'These are early days and we won't know for certain until the next few days.' The rains are not expected to let up until Tuesday. A Bureau of Meteorology forecaster told Daily Mail Australia: 'On Monday there is another monsoon surge heading towards northern Queensland and it may hit Townsville.' Pictured: A man wades through flooded streets with a bike On the way: Queensland Fire and Emergency Services shows rescue crews responding to flood conditions in Townsville Here to help: Queensland Fire and Emergency Services crew members are seen in floodwaters in Hermit Park, Townsville on Sunday Desperate locals are posting on social media pleading with strangers for help as water levels continue to rise Six hours of rainfall on Monday will likely bring more than 100mm of rain - and totals of up to 300mm are possible. Pictured: A local tweeted for help One crocodile was spotted in the residential neighbourhood of Mundingburra shortly before 10pm The Bureau of Meteorology has also warned that tornadoes could form, with gale-force winds seen in Townsville overnight. The premier said emergency crews responded to more than 200 calls for help overnight, with about the same number still waiting for help on Monday morning. 'It was just bucketing down last night ... and the wind gusts were huge. It was a tough night,' the premier said. Water releases from the dam sparked emergency flood alerts late on Sunday, with residents in 21 Townsville suburbs told to move to safety. The premier said the dam had been been managed well and the council did what it had to do. 'That water needs to go somewhere. From what I can tell, they've done everything from the book,' she said, saying the peak was yet to come in the next day or two. Townsville has never seen the likes of this.' About 1000 people were now in evacuation centres, with one of five centres now full. The council will decided of other centres need to open on Monday. Schools in Townsville remain closed and a decision will be made early on Monday about whether to reopen the city's airport after all flights were cancelled late on Sunday. The monsoon trough that's been dumping flooding rain on north Queensland's east coast, and drought-hit parts of western Queensland, will drive the state's emergency for days to come. Intense rain with significant flash flooding is expected between Ingham and Bowen, and possibly as far south as Mackay, extending inland to Mt Isa near the Northern Territory border. On Sunday night, desperate locals were posting on social media pleading with strangers for help as water levels continue to rise. 'Please, we have been stuck at 9 Lakewood Drive waiting for SES for hours... we have a six-year-old and a large dog, neither can swim,' one resident wrote online. 'Does anyone have a boat they can get to us on?' Australia's biggest northern city remains under siege as once in a century monsoons continue to flood homes Forecasters now fear the monsoonal weather conditions and strong winds will create a tornado in the region in the coming days The town was forced to open the floodgates to the already overflowing Ross River Dam on Sunday Tens of thousands of families are currently on their seventh day of battling the conditions, and have now been warned the flooding has displaced crocodiles. Crocodiles were spotted in the residential neighbourhood of Mundingburra shortly before 10pm. Residents were warned to keep their eyes peeled while wading through the waist-deep waters. Forecasters now fear the monsoonal weather conditions and strong winds will create a tornado in the region in the coming days. Early estimates suggest insurance costs will exceed $16million, but this could increase drastically should the tornado hit. In just seven days, the city copped a staggering 1012mm, eclipsing the previous record of 886mm set on the city's so-called Night of Noah when vast swathes of the city went under back in 1998. Townsville Airport announced it had cancelled all flights in and out of the facility just after 6pm on Sunday due to safety concerns. More than 500 Townsville homes were evacuated overnight and have been inundated with water Townsville is currently in its sixth day of intense rains and monsoon weather conditions Striking images showed roads and houses totally submerged by heavy flooding while 100 soldiers were called in to help stricken residents prepare for the worst (Pictured: Rosslea residents take their boat around floodwaters) Queensland Fire and Emergency Services crews responding to flood conditions in Townsville The Bureau of Meteorology has warned communities in North Queensland the heavy rainfall and flooding could last well into next week Queensland residents have been urged to seek safety as authorities are forced to open dam doors (pictured) completely as the state battles a one-in-100 year monsoon The town was forced to open the floodgates to the already overflowing Ross River Dam on Sunday, creating a wall of water that flowed out into the community at 2000 cubic metres per second Townsville Local Disaster Management Group Chair Mayor Jenny Hill said the decision to open the spillway gates further was not taken lightly (Pictured: flooding in Townsville) Dozens of homes have been swamped since the flooding began with schools and businesses shut, thousands displaced and evacuation centres opened (Pictured: army personnel assisting with flood evacuations) With water levels at waist and chest height in some suburban streets, local police chief and District Disaster Coordinator Steve Munro said the crisis was only half over Donald Trump has dismissed the growing pool of Democratic presidential candidates, saying he doesn't see any as competition for the 2020 election. Speaking to CBS News' Face the Nation in the traditional presidential pre-Super Bowl interview, Trump was asked about one of the most recent candidates to join the race; New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. 'He's got no chance,' the president replied. 'I know him. I don't think he has a chance.' Donald Trump has dismissed the growing pool of Democratic presidential candidates, saying he doesn't see any as competition for the 2020 election Speaking to CBS News' Face the Nation in the traditional presidential pre-Super Bowl interview, Trump was asked about one of the most recent candidates to join the race; New Jersey Senator Cory Booker Booker is one of almost a dozen Democrats to announce their bid for the presidency in 2020. Former Maryland congressman John Delaney was the first to announce in June 2017, followed by Andrew Yang, the founder of the nonprofit entrepreneur group Venture For America, in November 2017, and Senator Elizabeth Warren who announced a presidential exploratory committee on December 31, 2018. A flurry of new candidates announced their intentions in January, including Iraq war veteran Rep Tulsi Gabbard, former San Antonio mayor Julian Castro, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, Marianne Williamson, an author and spiritual adviser, and Sen. Kamala Harris. Trump dismissed all the candidates, saying: 'So far, I don't see anybody (as a rival).I'm not impressed with their group.' The president dismissed candidate Sen. Booker (left) but was said to be fixated on Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (right) A New York Times report last month stated that he viewed former Vice President Joe Biden as his 'most dangerous potential opponent' A New York Times report last month stated that he viewed former Vice President Joe Biden as his 'most dangerous potential opponent.' Biden has yet to formally announce he is running but the popular former vice president is anticipated to join the fray of candidates. Trump was said to be 'especially fixated' on Biden and Sen. Warren as rivals, while he commented that Sen. Harris, who announced her candidacy on January 21, Martin Luther King Day, had the best campaign rollout with a 'better crowd, better enthusiasm.' It appears that Trump is right to be worries about the possibility of Biden running as multiple polls have ranked the Obama era vice president ahead of Trump, and other Democrats. Insiders told the Times last month that Biden is still deciding whether or not to run but may feel pushed to do so because he doesn't believe any of the other Democratic candidates could defeat Trump. A driver was rushed to hospital after she was ejected from her own car at a KFC drive-thru. The hungry woman was attempting to pay for her meal at the fast food chain in Auckland, New Zealand, at 10.15pm on Sunday night. However, the payment was never made as she proceeded to eject herself from her car during a bizarre series of events. Scroll down for video A driver was rushed to hospital after she was ejected from her own car (pictured) at a KFC drive-thru The hungry woman was attempting to pay for her meal at the fast food chain in Auckland, New Zealand (pictured) Her vehicle is due to be inspected by the Serious Crash Unit on Monday The female driver took out her EFTPOS card while sitting in the drive-thru, but accidentally dropped it out of her car window as she tried to pay for the meal, the NZ Herald reported. She opened the car door to pick it up, accidentally hitting the accelerator and lurching the vehicle forward until it struck a footpath. The woman was reportedly ejected from the vehicle and sustained facial injuries. Police allege the woman was drinking before the incident took place. Her vehicle will be inspected by the Serious Crash Unit on Monday. Churches are being urged to forgive those who trespass and offer their land to travellers so they can set up official campsites. The proposal could lead to new sites in fields or other land close to Anglican churches. Or travellers could set up camps on farms or forest land owned by the Church of England as part of its 800billion wealth fund. The recommendation in a Church of England report comes after travellers have faced a wave of accusations of trespassing when they set up temporary homes in communities around the country. Churches are being urged to forgive those who trespass and offer their land to travellers so they can set up official campsites (Pictured, household rubbish dumped by travellers in front of St Nicholas Church in Laindon, Essex in April 2017) The report, drawn up by C of E minority concerns adviser Dr Elizabeth Henry, said the Church had previously shown 'institutional racism' towards travellers. It accused clergy of refusing to conduct baptisms, weddings and funerals. It also claimed that parishes had tried to block traveller families gaining planning permission to live on their own land. The document, prepared for the Church's governing body the General Synod and backed by the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Rev Stephen Cottrell, even accused parishes of cutting off supplies to taps to prevent travellers entering graveyards for water. The recommendation in a Church of England report comes after travellers have faced a wave of accusations of trespassing when they set up temporary homes in communities around the country (Pictured, the waste left at St Nicholas Church in April 2017) The report, drawn up by Church of England minority concerns adviser Dr Elizabeth Henry, said the Church had previously shown 'institutional racism' towards travellers The report said travellers had suffered 'extreme levels of hostility' in society. It insisted: 'Churches too have been part of this institutional racism in their failure to welcome gipsies and travellers into the full life of their communities. 'There is much anecdotal evidence of people being refused baptism, weddings and funerals and such things as churches cutting off the outside tap for the graveyard.' If the proposals are accepted by the Synod, which meets later this month, individual churches and national C of E institutions which own large swathes of farm, forest and development land will be told to offer areas to housing associations for use as traveller sites. The report, which talks of 'centuries of marginalisation', said the C of E should set up a commission to find sites for travellers. It also pressed for every C of E diocese to appoint a chaplain for them. A top Democrat has suggested that although 'we aren't going to have a wall', some kind of 'enhanced barrier' could be an option. Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, who is on the bipartisan congressional committee working on a solution for border security, told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace: 'First of all, we are not going to have a wall. 'Now, we can look at some sort of enhanced, uh, barrier - thats certainly something we can look at. 'But I have to say living on the border, you have to let the local Border Patrol chief have the say-so, and let the local communities be involved so they can come up with, uh, maybe some sort of enhanced barrier - but again, Washington cannot dictate what sort of barrier and where to put it at.' No wall: Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar has suggested some kind of 'enhanced barrier' could be an option Marching to America: Migrants are seen walking on a road in Mexico towards the United States on Sunday Trump doubled down on the need for his proposed wall, tweeting: 'Republicans must be prepared to do whatever is necessary for STRONG Border Security' Cuellar, however, believes a deal can be hashed out before the February 15 deadline, explaining: 'If we dont get outside pressure, the committee can sit down and work this out. 'Appropriators are, as you know - in Washington, theres Republicans and Democrats and theres appropriators both in the House and the Senate. 'We can work out a deal, I know we can sit down and work it, if we just dont get any outside pressure, do what we need to do, and I feel the process as appropriators, House and Senate Democrats, Republicans - we can work something out.' Trump doubled down on the need for his proposed wall on Sunday afternoon, tweeting: 'With Caravans marching through Mexico and toward our Country, Republicans must be prepared to do whatever is necessary for STRONG Border Security. 'Dems do nothing. If there is no Wall, there is no Security. Human Trafficking, Drugs and Criminals of all dimensions - KEEP OUT!' President Trump would not rule out a second government shutdown on February 15 if negotiators don't offer funding for his border wall in an interview that aired Sunday morning Paramedics provide first aid to a migrant who was injured in Matehuala, Mexico during his journey towards the United States on Sunday It comes after he declared in a CBS Face the Nation interview that aired Sunday morning that he won't rule out a second government shutdown on February 15 if negotiators don't offer a border security plan that includes funding for his border wall. 'We're going to have to see what happens on February 15th,' the president said, adding: 'I don't take anything off the table.' He also didn't rule out declaring a national emergency in order to build his barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border. 'I don't like to take things off the table. It's that alternative. It's national emergency, it's other things and you know there have been plenty national emergencies called,' he argued. Migrants wait in line for transportation during their journey towards the United States, in Matehuala, Mexico on Sunday The shutdown began when Trump demanded $5.7 billion for his border wall and Democrats refused to offer more than $1.3 billion for border security. A group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers are working on a plan to fund border security beyond February 15, which is the day funding for several government agencies runs out. The Democrats' opening offer had zero money for Trump's wall. But the president continues to make the case for his border barrier and said anyone who doesn't think so is 'just playing games. 'This really is an invasion of our country by human traffickers. These are people that are horrible people bringing in women mostly, but bringing in women and children into our country. Human trafficking. And we're going to have a strong border. And the only way you have a strong border is you need a physical barrier. You need a wall. And anybody that says you don't, they're just playing games,' he said. He also slammed Speaker Nancy Pelosi as doing a 'terrible disservice to the people' by not funding his wall. He said she was too 'rigid' in their negotiations and 'very bad' for the country. Migrants walk by the road that links Tapachula with Huixtla, during their journey towards the United States, in Tapachula, Mexico on Sunday Pelosi held firm on her stance for no border wall funding and, after the longest shutdown in American history, Trump caved and reopened the government for three weeks while negotiations on border security funding continue. 'I think that she was very rigid - which I would expect - but I think she is very bad for our country,' he told CBS News of the speaker. 'She knows that you need a barrier. She knows that we need border security. She wanted to win a political point. 'I happen to think it's very bad politics because basically she wants open borders.' An Australian school teacher has been accused of abusing young boys in Camboadia after allegedly offering their families food and money in exchange for sex. Mulroy Garry Paul was arrested by Siem Reap Provincial Police on January 29 after allegedly sexually abusing six boys aged 11 to 14, Khmer Times reported. Police allege the 69-year-old offered the disadvantaged families of the six boys food and money in exchange for sex in November last year. Mulroy Garry Paul (pictured) was arrested by Siem Reap Provincial Police on January 29 after allegedly sexually abusing six boys aged 11 to 14 Police allege the 69-year-old (pictured) offered the disadvantaged families of the six boys food and money in exchange for sex in November last year Colonel Chea Heng, provincial Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department chief said Mr Paul became sick following his arrest. 'After his arrest, he became sick and was sent to the provincial referral hospital for treatment,' Col Heng said. 'He is still in the hospital.' He said Mr Paul will be sent to court for questioning after he recovers. According to Khoem Vando, a child protection specialist with APLE Cambodia, Mulroy was being monitored and has been reported to the Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department for the alleged abuse. Mr Paul (pictured) is currently in hospital after becoming sick following his arrest Brother John explained the school regularly partakes in the overseas trips and that Mr Paul (pictured right) prepared the Cambodia session Brother John Hilet, the principal at Trinity Catholic College said news about Mr Paul's arrest came as a shock to students and staff. 'You're shocked in any situation like this ... (but) certainly there's a large group of former students who would all think highly of him,' he told The Northern Star. Brother John explained the school regularly partakes in the overseas trips and that Mr Paul prepared the Cambodia session. 'He and another brother helped establish that particular immersion,' Brother John said. 'As soon as I was made aware of the allegations, I cancelled this year's immersion.' He said if anyone is aware or has any information regarding allegations of child abuse to go straight to the police. A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed they were aware of Mr Paul's arrest A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that they are aware of Mr Paul's arrest. 'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to an Australian man who was detained in Cambodia,' she said. 'Owing to our privacy obligations we will not provide further comment.' Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been mocked on social media for an impassioned promise to build better toilets. The federal member for Warringah took to Twitter to tell his constituents he'd had enough, saying Manly Beach needed more accommodating facilities. Standing in front of a portable toilet with a medal from the Cole Classic swim event slung around his neck, Mr Abbott said Sydneysiders can expect him to fight for better toilets in the upcoming federal election. But despite the strong message, social media was quick to point out that Mr Abbott had had plenty of time to fix the issue. A deadpan Tony Abbott has promised his constituents he will build better toilets for them at his local surf club Mr Aboott took to social media to share his vow, saying the Manly Surf Club was ill-prepared A still-dripping and shirtless Mr Abbott spoke in a video later posted to Twitter. 'Like thousands of other people, I'm here today for the Cole Classic swim,' he said. 'Literally, hundreds of thousands of people visit Manly Beach every year. They need better facilities than this. 'And this will be one of the things I'll be fighting for in the build-up to this election.' But many noticed the timing of the message, being only months ahead of the federal election, and wondered why Mr Abbott mentioned the toilets before. 'A 25 year parliamentary career, including a stint as Health Minister and PM, and this is where it lands - whingeing about dunnies in his togs,' one commenter wrote. 'Abbott really did squander his power and glory.' 'I agree. I would have hoped the local member for the last 25 years might have been onto it before now...,' tweeted another after sharing the video. The former Prime Minister was one of hundreds participating in the Cole Classic swim at Manly Beach over the weekend Social media users were quick to point out perceived hypocrisy in Mr Abbott's promise Many were quick to point out that Mr Abbott had been the federal member for Waringah for a quarter-century. 'He's been the local member for a long time and suddenly realised their (sic) aren't enough dunnies?' Others mocked his appointment as special envoy to Indigenous affairs, dubbing him the new 'special envoy for public dunnies'. Many noted the specific timing of the post, coming only weeks after it was announced he would be running against former Olympian Zali Steggall for the seat of Warringah at the upcoming federal election. 'Would we be talking about this if there wasnt election coming up,' one user asked. She was acclaimed for her baking, deluged social media with updates about her family and sought sympathy from friends for medical issues. But that was just the side Brisbane mother Therese Butler, 48, wanted the world to see. Daily Mail Australia can reveal how Butler presented herself as a simple homemaker mum - while keeping secret her role in a sick plot involving her teenage daughter. Therese Butler presented herself as a simple homemaker on social media prior to her arrest Butler (left, right last week) was released in prison in October following a year behind bars Betrayed: Peta Butler's mother arranged for her to be raped by a stranger in about 2005 - 2006 Butler arranged for Peta, then 15 or 16, to be raped by her online boyfriend, known only as 'Thommo', in 2005. He wanted sex with a 'younger version' of her, so Therese plied her daughter with alcohol and arranged a 'girl's trip' to Toowoomba. There, he smoked cigarettes outside while her crying girl was raped in a seedy motel room. The heinous crime couldn't be further from the image Butler presented to the world on social media. 'Tee's fruit tarts': Some of the 'yummo' cakes Therese Butler used to sell on social media before her arrest She ran a Facebook page dedicated to 'Tee's Fruit Tarts', selling vanilla cream, meringue and red velvet creations. Friends celebrated her 'yummo' baked treats and she would share updates about her grandchildren and success on Farmville. She expressed joy about seeing old faces at high school reunions, updated mates about her medial issues and appreciation of the rocker Meat Loaf. It is a far cry from the Therese who confessed to her daughter she had let Thommo rape her and outlined violent revenge fantasies about torturing 'Thommo'. 'Yeah, it was still rape,' she said in a shocking confession call to Peta that was recorded by detectives. I'm going to kill him... slicing him from ear to ear... It had taken her daughter a decade to muster the courage to report her own mother to police to elicit the confession: 'I wouldn't have let him touch you if you weren't 16'. Therese said she would change the past in 'a f***ing heartbeat' and detailed particularly graphic fantasies about getting violent revenge on Thommo. 'I'm going to kill him with my bare hands, holding a knife and slicing him from ear to ear,' she said, 'and getting him from the f***ing scrotum and slicing him up to the centre'. In her confession, Therese Butler detailed violent fantasies about stabbing Thommo Butler only had bile about her daughter when confronted by Daily Mail Australia at home WANTED: A police computer-generated image of Peta Butler's vile rapist 'Thommo' THOMMO: A TIMELINE About 2004: Therese Butler starts chatting with 'Thommo' online. He wants sex 'with a younger version of herself' Between May and January 2006: Therese takes her daughter on fateful 'girl's trip' where she is raped by 'Thommo' Early 2016: Peta musters the courage to report the crime to police and, with help of detectives, elicits a confession from Therese October 2016: Therese is arrested by Queensland police January 2018: Therese pleads guilty to procuring a child for carnal knowledge March 2018: Police call for public help in finding 'Thommo' October 2018: Therese walks free from jail Advertisement She expressed remorse during the call - saying she missed Peta 'in the good and bad' - and moaned that no one would understand what she went through. She claimed Thommo had 'promised not to touch you'. 'I was so f***ing weak,' she said. 'I had no mindset. 'I was degrading myself to the likes of someone like him just to feel something and I felt nothing.' He would strangle her during sex 'to the point of not breathing anymore', she claimed, and would also film her during intercourse. Butler was released from prison in October. She had pleaded guilty for procuring a child for carnal knowledge and was sentenced to four years behind bars, suspended after a year. 'I failed as a mother. I f***ed up. I know that. And I hate myself for it. 'That's why I'm trying so hard to be the best grandmother I can be. I f***ed up as a mother and I never want to f*** up again.' Butler ran a Facebook page dedicated to 'Tee's Fruit Tarts' and friends celebrated her treats Peta, when she was about the age of the rape incident, and her mother, Therese Butler Butler with her partner Jason Cantoni - who has a tattoo spelling her name on his right fore-arm - and is unrelated to the situation Officers are yet to identify Thommo despite a public police appeal last year leading to an outpouring of tips from the public. Daily Mail Australia understands detectives have questioned Therese about Thommo in the past year. Recently, she has returned to a quiet existence on the sunny Queensland coast with her partner, Jason Cantoni, and her pet blue heeler. She only had bile and false statements about her daughter when Daily Mail Australia approached her at home this past week. 'Do you believe a little sl- ...' she said, before correcting herself, 'a woman who was raped by her (relative)?' 'She was raped by (a relative) when she was 14,' she claimed. (Peta said the claim was '100% untrue' and her mother was 'just making up lies'.) She was stumped when asked if she knew the true identity of Thommo. 'You want my side of the story, talk to my cop,' she said, clutching a bottle of cordial and demanding to be left alone. Therese then unleashed on a news photographer, calling him a 'f***head', screaming about him taking an 'ugly photo' and telling him to go 'shove it... up your ar**'. Investors and owner-occupiers are increasingly deserting Sydney and Melbourne and buying property in Brisbane near the city centre. Your Property Your Wealth, a company which advises real estate investors, says prospective landlords are increasingly choosing south-east Queensland over Australia's two biggest cities. For significantly less than a median-priced house in Sydney, investors are choosing homes near Brisbane's city centre which offer a much better cosmopolitan lifestyle without the unaffordable mortgage. Investors are increasingly deserting Sydney and Melbourne and buying property much farther north (pictured is a three-bedroom house at inner-city Lutwyche selling for $649,000) Daniel Walsh, the founder of Your Property Your Wealth buyers' agent group, said the Queensland capital offered much better value and higher rental yields in an area where jobs and transport infrastructure were booming. 'What we're seeing now is people chasing affordability and higher-yielding properties,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday. 'They want something that isn't going to cost them too much to hold and buy a property in a location that they can see growth over the next five to 10 years.' For little more than $600,000, it is possible to buy a three-bedroom house with a backyard just 5km from Brisbane's city centre, in suburbs like Lutwyche or Annerley. For little more than $600,000, it is possible to buy a three-bedroom house with a backyard just 5km from Brisbane's city centre, in suburbs like Lutwyche (pictured) or Annerley In Sydney, that kind of money would barely buy a house at Mount Druitt, more than 50km west of the central business district in a city where rental yields have been weak, even during the strong run of capital growth between 2012 and 2017. 'People can just jump on a train or be straight in the city in a couple of minutes whereas you're looking at, say Mount Druitt, a commute to the CBD is going to take 50 minutes,' Mr Walsh said. 'It's not just the difference in house pricing but it's the difference in what it costs to living in Sydney: you've got to go through tolls, everything's more expensive.' Sydney's median house prices is continuing to slump, falling by 10.9 per cent in the year to the end of January 2019, CoreLogic data showed. Lifestyle-oriented buyers are considering the Gold Coast in Queensland where an apartment with water views at Tugun is selling for $799,000 While Australia's biggest housing market is in the midst of the biggest downturn on record, Sydney's median house price still stands at $902,786. Melbourne's median house price has fallen by 10.6 per cent during the past year to $740,425 while Brisbane's equivalent values have risen by 0.1 per cent to $540,750. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's crackdown on investor and interest-only loans has also encouraged working-age Australians to buy homes they could live in that weren't ridiculously expensive to pay off. That has seen them desert Sydney for Brisbane. 'We're seeing owner-occupiers, they're moving from Sydney where they're struggling to pay a mortgage or they can't get into the market,' Mr Walsh said. 'We're seeing a credit crunch with finance and because of that, they're not able to borrow the $800,000 to $1million they need to get into Sydney so now they're looking for alternative places to live.' Buyers are also flocking to the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane, where a two-bedroom apartment at Caloundra with water views is selling for $550,000 Lifestyle-orientated home buyers are also flocking to the Gold and Sunshine coasts in south-east Queensland where there has been spending on new transport infrastructure. Australian house rules Sydney, down 10.9% to $902,786 Melbourne, down 10.6% to $740,425 Brisbane, up 0.1% to $540,750 Adelaide, up 0.9% to $464,584 Perth, down 5.3% to $465,120 Hobart, up 7% to $494,810 Darwin, up 2.3% to $502,023 Canberra, up 4.3% to $668,469 Source: CoreLogic detached median house prices in year to January 31 Advertisement 'The Sunshine Coast has done quite well,' Mr Walsh said. 'We have seen a lot more infrastructure which in return is creating jobs.' To a lesser extent, buyers are also eyeing Byron Bay on the far north coast of New South Wales where Australian Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth is building an $8million mansion by the beach. For less than the price of a median house in Sydney, it is possible to buy a house a short distance from the beach for little more than $800,000. A smaller number of buyers after an affordable home are also considering Adelaide, where median house prices stand at $464,584, and Hobart, where equivalent values have surged by seven per cent during the past year to $494,810. 'We do see Adelaide being more of a slow burn,' Mr Walsh said. 'Generally prices are increasing but they're just increasing by two to three per cent per year, nothing crazy, but we haven't seen the job creation in Adelaide too much that we're going to see a massive boom.' At least 28 people have died off the coast of the Bahamas after a ship smuggling Haitian migrants sank on Saturday. The Royal Bahamas Defense Force sprung (RBDF) into action on February 2 after they were alerted to reports of bodies seen floating in the water in the region of Abaco. It's understood the overcrowded vessel struck a reef off the coast of the island and quickly began to sink. By Sunday afternoon, the Naval force had found a total of 28 dead but have managed to rescue 17 survivors who currently remain in police custody. Haiti's Foreign Minister Edmond Bocchit described the tragedy as 'really heartbreaking,' to the Miami Herald. 'They are our brothers and sisters who are seeking a better life and they are met with this horrible death. It's really sad.' As many as 87 people are believed to have been aboard the doomed vessel that has so far killed 28. 18 survivors were rescued by the Royal Bahamas Defense Force As many as 87 are believed to have been aboard on the boat that allegedly set sail from Port-de-Paix in northwest Haiti. The RBDF's search-and-rescue operation continued on Monday in the hope of finding more survivors among those still unaccounted for. The US embassy in Haiti waded in on Monday to share their own message of sympathy to the victims on Twitter, describing the devastation as 'another tragic loss of life'. They later added that 'no journey is worth risking lives' and revealed the boat was being used to traffic those on board out of Haiti. The Bahamas Department of Immigration believes the boat hit a reef late on Friday evening around six-miles off the coast of mainland Abaco in the north of the Island. The Royal Bahamas Defense Force were alerted to the tragedy on Saturday morning, after residents reporting seeing four bodies floating in the water (pictured: Royal Bahamas Defense Force HMBS Arthur Dion Hanna) 15 Haitians were soon discovered by the rescue coalition stranded on a small elevation of sand near a coral reef (Pictured: US Coast Guard rescuing Haitian migrants during a different operation) A special investigation will be carried out this week by the department to determine what exactly went wrong. The tragedy was discovered by local residents who reported seeing four bodies floating in the water outside Marsh Harbor. The reports prompted an immediate search party among local authorities, rescue divers and a US Coast Guard helicopter. 15 Haitians were soon discovered by the rescue coalition stranded on a small elevation of sand near a coral reef. On Saturday afternoon the helicopter spotted a submerged vessel near Fowl Cay, and there, divers found more dead. The next day 15 more lifeless bodies were found inside the wreckage. In 2013, 30 Haitians died in the Bahamas during a similar voyage destined for the United States. The overloaded boat capsized off the coat of the Bahamas during a US-bound voyage A spokesperson for the RBDF said the boat appears to be an American vessel, but no further information is currently being given at this time. Bahamian authorities said they've apprehended around 300 Haitians in four different illegal smuggling operations so far this year. In 2013, 30 Haitians died in the Bahamas during a similar voyage destined for the United States. The overloaded 40-foot boat capsized 20 miles off the Bahamian coast. This is the strength of Mr Modi and our government that you have to take the support of others shoulders, the minister added. New Delhi: Picking on comments made by his Cabinet colleague to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said Union minister Nitin Gadkari is the only one in the BJP who has the guts, and asked him to also speak on the Rafale deal, job crisis, farmers distress and destruction of institutions. Union minister Gadkari soon hit back saying the Congress President was relying on twisted media reports to attack the Modi government, which he said would come back to power again after the Lok Sabha elections and work with full strength to take the country forward. Rahulji I dont need a certificate of courage from you, but I am surprised that as president of a national party, you are referring to twisted reports filed by the media to attack our government, Mr Gadkari said in a series of tweets in Hindi. This is the strength of Mr Modi and our government that you have to take the support of others shoulders, the minister added. Mr Gandhis remarks had come following Mr Gadkaris remarks that one who cannot take care of home, cannot manage the country. He cited a report quoting Mr Gadkari as saying that party workers should first fulfil their domestic responsibilities as those who cannot do that cannot manage the country. Gadkari Ji, compliments. You are the only one in the BJP with some guts. Please also comment on: The Rafale scam and Anil Ambani, farmers distress and destruction of institutions, the Congress president tweeted. Oops, Gadkari Ji. Huge apology. I forgot the most important one....JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! Mr Gandhi added later. Police are investigating a claim that officers said 'Happy Invasion Day you black c***' to an Aboriginal man in custody on Australia Day 2018. The racially explosive allegation surfaced during proceedings at the Toronto Local Court north of Sydney in New South Wales on Friday. Indigenous man Carl Hoppner had been in custody after being arrested for intimidating his wife, along with drunken and aggressive behaviour. Hoppner pleaded guilty to headbutting, elbowing and spitting blood-filled saliva at police officers, and was sentenced to 10 months' jail by Magistrate Allan Railton on Friday. During the court case, however, CCTV footage emerged of a group of police officers surrounding and restraining Hoppner at the Toronto Police Station. The footage shows officers punching and kicking the man as he tries to protect his head while lying on the ground. The CCTV footage, obtained by ABC News, shows Hoppner being dragged into a cell in the foetal position. 'When they pulled me up I seen [sic] this pool of blood thinking that is mine and then they just said, 'Happy Invasion Day you black c**t',' Hoppner told the ABC later. Police prosecutors did not contest that comment when Hoppner made it in court, the ABC reported. Magistrate Railton, however, told the court that the CCTV footage did not have audio and that it had been sent to NSW Police for investigation. CCTV footage showed police restraining Hoppner in an 'extremely forceful' manner including punching and kicking him while he was on the ground. Police are now investigating 'Police are aware of the matter and an internal review has commenced. It is inappropriate for the NSW Police Force to comment any further at this stage,' a NSW Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia via email. Magistrate Railton told the court that police dealt with Hoppner in an 'extremely forceful' manner. 'The footage clearly shows the police using significant force in removing him from the truck and removing him from the cells. It also shows actions totally consistent with throwing punches,' he said. Toronto Police Station north of Sydney in New South Wales, scene of the alleged mistreatment The alleged mistreatment has reportedly been referred to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, an organisation that investigates NSW Police Force misconduct. Daily Mail Australia contacted the Commission but it was unable to confirm the referral or comment on individual matters. Greens MP David Shoebridge said there was a culture problem within NSW Police. 'More than three decades after the royal commission into black deaths in custody, it appears little's changed,' he told the Newcastle Herald. 'The casual and brutal racism that first nation's people experience at the hands of police continues. 'The fact that an officer was reported as saying, 'Happy invasion day you black C', shows how deeply entrenched racism is in elements of the NSW Police,' he said. Daily Mail Australia asked the NSW Police Union and NSW Police Minister Troy Grant's office for comment, but neither were unable to respond in time for publication. It is the alleged racial taunting that has proved most explosive, as it came to light days after Australia Day protests this year called for the anniversary to be abolished due to a perception that it celebrates the British takeover of Aboriginal land. Crowd of 5,000 demonstrators: Invasion Day protesters gather at Flinders Street Station in Melbourne on Australia Day 2019, as the nation struggles to heal a rift that divides it The political divisions have been widening in a country that is increasingly struggling to heal the rift with Aboriginal people and make amends for past injustices. Not all indigenous people agree that Australia Day should be abolished. Prominent Aboriginal activist and CLP politician Jacinta Nampiginpa Price says changing the date is a meaningless gesture that divides the nation and does nothing to help disadvantaged remote indigenous people. 'We need to come together to find the answers,' she wrote in the Daily Telegraph Rendeview on Australia Day this year. 'Let's put our energy into solving problems rather than making pointless symbolic gestures.' A heavily pregnant mother has been shot in the face by her four-year-old son after the boy found a gun hidden under a mattress. The woman, 27, identified by relatives only as Sabrina, and her boyfriend were watching television in bed about 4.40pm on Saturday when their son found the gun wedged between the mattress and box spring in their Seattle apartment. 'He unintentionally shot his mom in the face,' King County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Ryan Abbott said. Scroll down for video A 27-year-old Seattle woman was watching TV with her boyfriend Saturday when police say the couple's son accidentally shot his pregnant mother inside the family's apartment in the Skyview neighborhood The victim, who is eight months pregnant, was taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries Sabrina, who is eight months pregnant, was taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. She was transferred to another hospital Sunday in improved condition, Abbott said. The same day, her son celebrated his fourth birthday, reported KIRO. There is no word at this time on the condition of her unborn baby, but her cousin told KOMO News she is going to recover. The boy's father told deputies he borrowed the gun from a relative for protection and stashed it under the mattress after hearing noises outside their home at the Greentree Apartments in the Skyway neighborhood, Abbott said. The gun is unregistered, but was not reported stolen and has not been used in the commission of any crime, according to police. Under a new state law, gun owners could face criminal charges for not safely storing a gun, but Abbott noted it doesn't go into effect until July. 'We're reminding anybody with a gun, kids see them as toys,' Abbott said. 'The biggest tragic lesson here is please lock-up your guns so they can't be used accidentally for the wrong reason.' Donald Trump said it's 'totally up to' his attorney general whether the public gets to read special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report. During an interview for CBS' Face the Nation, which aired Sunday but was taped on Friday, Trump was asked whether he'd have a problem with a public release of the report of Mueller's probe into the Russian government's efforts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election. 'That's up to the attorney general. I don't know. It depends. I have no idea what it's going to say,' Trump replied. During his Face the Nation interview airing Sunday, President Donald Trump said that a public release of Robert Mueller's Russia probe was 'totally up to' the attorney general Trump said that he had 'no idea' what the report's findings would be and called it a 'witch hunt' He also made sure to throw in his oft-repeated refrain that the investigation has 'been a total witch hunt' while denying that he is implicated in the probe. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said last week the probe is 'close to being completed.' Democrats have pressured attorney general nominee William Barr to commit to releasing the final report in full. Barr has said he doesn't know 'what will be releasable' or what Mueller's writing. Barr has cited Justice Department regulations that say Mueller's report should be confidential. They require only that the report explain decisions to pursue or decline prosecutions. Trump's Attorney General nominee Bill Barr (left) previously said that he doesn't know what aspects of Robert Mueller's (right) report will be releasable or what he'll be writing about Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said last week that Mueller's probe is 'close to being completed' During the Face the Nation interview, CBS' Margaret Brennan directly asked Trump whether he would pardon Roger Stone, a confidant who is the sixth Trump aide charged in Mueller's investigation into possible coordination between Russia and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. 'I have not thought about it,' Trump told Brennan. 'It looks like he's defending himself very well.' Stone has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of witness tampering, obstruction and false statements. Trump called Stone 'a character' and pointed out that he 'didn't work on the campaign, except way way at the beginning long before we're talking about.' Trump also said that 'Roger is somebody that I've always liked, but a lot of people like Roger some people probably don't like Roger, but Roger Stone's somebody I've always liked.' During the interview, Trump called his former campaign adviser Roger Stone (pictured February 1) a 'character' and said that he had not thought about pardoning Stone Stone (right, with Trump in undated photo) is a Trump confidant and the sixth Trump aide charged in Mueller's investigation. Trump said on Face the Nation that he 'always liked' Stone The interview also included Trump's thoughts on a possible second partial government shutdown in mid-February. The previous shutdown became the longest shutdown in US history, lasting 35 days, before Trump caved on January 25, agreeing to fund the government through February 15, despite not receiving any money for his campaign-promised border wall. Asked if he would be willing to shutdown the government again, Trump said he would 'have to see what happens on February 15.' When Brennan asked if he would take a shutdown off the table, Trump relied, 'I don't take anything off the table. I don't like to take things off the table.' He also brought up the possibility of declaring a national emergency to obtain money for the border wall because of 'human trafficking.' If a national emergency is declared, one of the things that could happen is that money earmarked for military spending could be reallocated to wall construction, according to Vox. The Army's civil works program would then by directed to build the wall or money could be taken out of budgets allocated for building housing for military service members on bases. During the shutdown, about 800,000 government employees were impacted as they were furloughed or forced to work without pay, which the Congressional Budget Office estimated cost the US economy $11billion, with a $3billion permanent loss, according to CNBC. Trump had asked for $5.7billion for the wall, but was refused, leading to the partial government shutdown. A Nepali woman has died of suspected smoke inhalation while banished to a hut during her period, police said Sunday. Parbati Bogati, 21, was found dead in a smoke-filled hut on Thursday morning in the western Doti district when her mother-in-law went to check on her. The incident came just weeks after the deaths of a mother and two children in similar circumstances sparked outrage. Parbati Bogati, 21, was found dead in a smoke-filled 'menstruation hut' having been sent to stay there during her period - a practice which is illegal in Nepal (file photo) 'We suspect she died due to smoke inhalation and suffocation because she closed the door of the windowless hut and lit a fire on the floor for warmth during the night,' local police officer Lal Bahadur Dhami told AFP. The body has been sent for autopsy, Dhami said. Many communities in Nepal view menstruating women as impure and in some remote areas they are forced to sleep in a hut away from the home, following a centuries-old tradition known as 'chhaupadi'. Chhaupadi was outlawed in 2005 but is still enforced in parts of Nepal, particularly in remote and conservative western regions. The practice is linked to Hinduism and considers women untouchable during menstruation and after childbirth. The tragic incident took place in Nepal's western Doti district last week Under Chhaupadi, women are barred from touching food, religious icons, cattle and men. Just three weeks ago a mother and her two sons in neighbouring Bajura district died of suspected smoke inhalation while observing the tradition. Their deaths prompted locals to demolish chhaupadi sheds in their village and local authorities to warn that services would be denied to anyone forcing their daughters and daughters-in-law to follow the banned practice. Last year, Kathmandu introduced a three-months jail sentence and a 3,000 Nepalese rupee (21) fine for anyone caught imposing chhaupadi. Ganga Chaudhary, a lawmaker who was involved in the drafting of the legislation, said much more needs to be done to enforce the law and change social norms. 'We have realised that only legal provisions are not enough to end such practices. We need to focus on awareness and educating women,' Chaudhary said. The sister of a rugby league star has been charged over the death of her boyfriend, after an alleged domestic violence incident at the weekend. Jade Walker, older sister of Manly Sea Eagles centre Dylan Walker, faced Sutherland Local Court on Monday charged with manslaughter and aggravated break-in. Ms Walker, 31, was allegedly involved in an incident with Gilbert Caetano, 51, at his parents' home at Brighton Le Sands, in Sydney's south-east, about 1.10am on Sunday. Police said Mr Caetano suffered severe injuries and died at the scene. Scroll down for video Jade Walker (far right), the older sister of rugby league star Dylan (centre), has been charged over the death of her boyfriend Gilbert Caetano at a home in Sydney's south-east over the weekend Ms Walker (left), 31, was charged with manslaughter and aggravated break-in over the death of Mr Caetano (right), 51. She was due to front Sutherland Local Court on Monday morning Daily Mail Australia understands Walker, a transgender woman, had been involved in an 'on and off' relationship with Mr Caetano, a father-of-one. Appearing in Sutherland Local Court, police prosecutors applied for an order to gather forensic evidence from Ms Walker. She will reappear in court next week. At the Mascot hair salon where Ms Walker worked, staff declined to comment. 'We don't want to talk about it,' a staff member said. On Ms Walker's social media accounts, she describes herself as transgender. '#transgender #transisbeautiful,' she posted to her Instagram account. On Sunday morning his heartbroken daughter Jessica Caetano told media outside the Brighton-Le-Sands home that she knew little of her father's girlfriend. 'I don't really know the full story but she's been around for a while,' Ms Caetano said of her father's lover. On Ms Walker's social media and Instagram accounts, she describes herself as transgender Mr Caetano's heartbroken daughter Jessica (left, pictured with her mother and Mr Caetano's ex-wife) told media outside the Brighton-Le-Sands home where he was killed that her father 'did not deserve this' Neighbours claimed they heard a woman yelling at the house on General Holmes Dr, followed by a 'loud bang'. Ms Caetano said her father 'was a kid at heart' and her family was left shattered by his death. 'The best way to describe him is probably a kid at heart... a fun, loving and caring person,' Jessica said, with her mother and Mr Caetano's ex-wife by her side. 'I don't think he deserved this at all.' Police were called to the home at 1.10am on Sunday where they allegedly found Mr Caetano unconscious and attempted to revive him, but were unsuccessful. Neighbours claimed they heard a woman yelling at the house (pictured) on General Holmes Dr, followed by a 'loud bang' Mr Caetano's father, who is understood to own the home, was celebrating his 80th birthday on Sunday. Manly Sea Eagles released a statement on Monday afternoon saying they would be supporting Walker's family throughout the legal proceedings. Australia Press Council ruled on this article 'Manly Warringah Sea Eagles have been advised today of a serious legal matter involving a close family member of NRL player, Dylan Walker,' the statement read. 'The Club's focus during this challenging period... is on fully supporting Dylan and his family.' Walker suffered a serious eye socket injury during Manly's clash with Melbourne on Saturday night - just hours before the alleged incident involving his sister. Irishman Kevin Renshaw was enjoying day one of his romantic Queensland getaway with his partner when he was left in excruciating pain after being stung by the worlds most venomous fish. Kevin and his partner Grace Scantlebury were swimming in waist-high water at the beach in Bargara, a coastal town 13km east of Bundaberg, when he was stung between the toes on his left foot. The 51-year-old said the pain was excruciating and it radiated from his foot while the barb was still lodged inside his flesh. Scroll down for video Kevin Renshaw, 51, was enjoying day one of his Queensland holiday with his partner when he was stung by a stonefish. I was trying to man up and be a man about it. But you can see from the pictures, I couldn't handle it,' he said The stonefish is the world's most venomous fish. Their venom glands contain a poisonous toxin that can lead to excruciating pain and is potentially fatal to humans As a nurse and heart attack survivor, Kevin knew how important it was to get himself straight to hospital. 'The coughing started pretty quickly and I went downhill. 'The venom is not good for your heart, as it can set off an arrhythmia or fibrillation,' he told NewsMail. Kevin (left) and his partner, Grace Scantlebury (right) were holidaying at a beach in Bargara, 13km east of Bundaberg when Kevin was stung by a stonefish on his left foot What is the stonefish? The stonefish is the most venomous fish in the world The stonefish is known as the world's most venomous fish and is found in shallow waters of coral reefs and estuaries. It looks like an encrusted rock that is 35-50cm long and comes in a range of colours: brown, red, orange, grey and yellow. The venomous fish is lined with 13 sharp dorsal fin spines with venom glands at the base of each one. Each gland contains a poisonous toxin that can lead to excruciating pain and even death. Source: Barrier Reef Australia Advertisement 'I describe the pain as excruciating because the word comes from crucify, and that's exactly what it was - there was no other way to describe it,' he said. Ten minutes after the sting, the 51-year-old said the pain was unbearable. 'It was like hitting your toe with a hammer and then rubbing over it again and again with a nail file,' Kevin told NewsMail. He added: I was trying to man up and be a man about it. But you can see from the pictures, I couldn't handle it.' Kevin was taken to Bundaberg Hospital where he was given anaesthetic to alleviate the pain. The stonefish's barb was surgically removed from his foot on the following day. The stonefish is the world's most venomous fish with one sting being potentially fatal to humans if left untreated. It's not the spike of the stonefish but the venom that causes excruciating pain. Royal Life Saving Society Queensland chief executive Paul Barry told the Brisbane times how to treat someone with a stonefish sting. Mr Barry said: The best treatment is to immerse the body part in hot water and call emergency services. In January three people in an eight-day period were stung by stonefish in the Gold Coast, Surf Life Saving Queensland said. Stonefish are found in shallow waters of coral reefs and estuaries. The venomous fish is lined with 13 sharp dorsal fin spines with venom glands A young Saudi woman who was seeking asylum in Australia was stopped on a layover in the Philippines and returned to the kingdom against her will, activists fearing for her safety have said. In self-recorded videos that have circulated widely on social media, Dina Ali Lasloom, 24, said authorities had held her at the Manila airport for 13 hours and confiscated her passport. 'My name is Dina Ali and I'm a Saudi woman who fled Saudi Arabia to Australia to seek asylum,' she said, adding she feared violence from relatives who came to bring her back home. 'Please help me. I'm recording this video to help me and know that I'm real and I'm here.' In one of them, Ms Ali said: 'If my family come, they will kill me.' Scroll down for video Dina Ali Lasloom (above, in a self-recorded video) was stopped on a layover in the Philippines and returned to Saudi Arabia against her will The woman did not say why she sought refuge abroad, but Human Rights Watch cited a Canadian witness as saying she had intended to flee to Australia to escape a forced marriage. Arranged marriages are the norm in Saudi Arabia, where a 'guardianship' system requires a male family member, usually the father, husband or brother, to grant permission for a woman's study, travel, marriage and even medical treatment. The witness said Lasloom approached her while in transit at the airport in Manila, saying 'airport officials had confiscated her passport and boarding pass' for a Sydney-bound flight. The Canadian, who spent several hours with Lasloom at the airport in Manila, reported the asylum seeker cried when two of her uncles arrived. She helped Lasloom film social media videos about her plight. Identified as Meagan Khan by the Australian, she told the newspaper after landing in Bali that she had allowed Lasloom to use her phone to post the videos on Twitter. Lasloom said authorities had held her at the Manila airport for 13 hours and confiscated her passport. Above, her boarding pass for the Manila-bound flight 'Lasloom's whereabouts are currently unknown,' HRW said in a statement from Manila. The New York-based watchdog also quoted an airline security official as saying he heard Lasloom 'screaming and begging for help' on Tuesday before security personnel and men who appeared to be Middle Eastern carried her 'with duct tape on her mouth, feet and hands' at the airport. Asked about the HRW statement by AFP on Friday, the Philippine immigration department said it had held no one of Lasloom's name and no Saudi national. 'There was no Saudi national by that name who presented herself,' spokeswoman Antonette Mangrobang said. 'As far as immigration is concerned, we did not hold any Saudi national.' The spokeswoman said that if Lasloom was a transiting passenger, then she would not have passed through immigration and it would have been up to the airline to decide what happened to her. A Saudi activist told AFP that Lasloom, who lived in Kuwait, 'was brought back by force to Riyadh and is now in custody.' Lasloom had been forced onto a Saudi Arabia Airlines flight to Riyadh on Tuesday night. But she did not emerge at King Khalid International Airport after the flight landed early Wednesday morning, but multiple passengers told Reuters they had seen a woman being carried onto the plane screaming. A Canadian witness, who spent several hours with Lasloom at the airport in Manila (above), reported the asylum seeker cried when two of her uncles arrived 'I heard a lady screaming from upstairs. Then I saw two or three men carrying her. They weren't Filipino. They looked Arab,' said one Filipino woman, who declined to give her name. A rare gathering of about 10 Saudi activists appeared in the arrivals area of the Riyadh airport around midnight on Wednesday, after a hashtag began circulating on Twitter urging people to 'receive Dina at the airport.' One of them, a 23-year-old female medical student, Alaa Alanzi, was arrested when she tried to inquire about her whereabouts, the Saudi activist said. Her sister, Nada, said airport officials told her Alanazi had been sent to a police station in central Riyadh, but said she was unable to confirm her sister's whereabouts. The activist worried that both women could be detained 'for a long time.' Saudi authorities brook little public dissent and frequently detain activists on charges of undermining social cohesion and participating in demonstrations. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was on a state visit to Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday when the incident occurred. Activists are fearing for the safety of the 24-year-old woman after she was reportedly forced onto a flight back to the kingdom Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (above, in Riyadh) was on a state visit to Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday when the incident occurred The Berlin-based European Saudi Organization for Human Rights told AFP that 'the seriousness of what Dina Ali is facing' stems from the guardianship system. 'Women's rights are... the most prominent human rights problem in Saudi Arabia,' the group said. The Saudi embassy in the Philippines said on Twitter that 'the information that has been circulating over social media is untrue.' It described the incident as a 'family matter' and said: 'The citizen has now returned with her family to the homeland.' Human Rights Watch called on Saudi Arabia to reveal whether Lasloom is with her family or is being held by the state at a shelter. 'Lasloom is at serious risk of harm if returned to her family. She also faces possible criminal charges' for alleged parental disobedience and harming the reputation of the state with her public cries for help, the watchdog said. It called on the Philippine government to also investigate and hold accountable 'any of their officials who failed to protect Dina Ali Lasloom', as required by international law. Madawi al-Rasheed, a visiting professor at the London School of Economics Middle East Centre, wrote on Twitter that Lasloom's case is 'a classic... in which state and family cooperate against women in KSA.' A fiery Islamist preacher in Sydney has denounced Muslim men who use public urinals in a sermon about death. Fundamentalist Abdulghani Albaf said people who refused to follow Allah would be punished in the grave for indiscretions, like spreading 'evil rumours' and exposing themselves at a public urinal. 'There are two mentionings, one that mentions when they would urinate that they would do so without, in public, without concealing, hiding themselves or hiding their private parts,' he thundered at the end of his 48-minute, Friday night sermon. Islamist preacher Abdulghani Albaf denounced public urinals during a sermon about death 'How often do we see this today? Every public, every male public toilet now has urinals where they just stand up like animals and urinate in front of one another. 'What's worse is we even have Muslims using these urinals.' The Islamic teacher's denunciation was delivered in a men's and boy's-only prayer room above the Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore at Auburn, in Sydney's west. This book store has been linked to Farhad Jabar, the 15-year-old boy who killed accountant Curtis Cheng outside police headquarters at Parramatta in 2015. His sermon was delivered in a prayer room above Auburn's Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore Mr Albaf's March sermon was delivered at a forum organised by the hardline Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association in Auburn, during his visit from Young in southern New South Wales. ASWJ's fundamentalist founder Sheikh Feiz Muhammad last year delivered a sermon saying it was a 'major sin' for Muslims to attend non-Muslim events. 'Is it part of the sharia? Are we allowed to entertain ourselves with celebrations that are built on non-Muslim concepts?,' he said. Sheikh Feiz Muhammad said it was a 'major sin' for Muslim to attend non-Muslim events 'If you go on the belief, 'I just want to join in and have the fun, you know, just have a night out, and enjoy myself but I don't believe in all this nonsense', that's a major sin,' he said. 'It's a what? It's a major sin.' Both sermons were shared by Sydney Islamic Lectures, which posts links to Islamist groups and sharia law lectures, a legal system which secular Muslims reject. They also posted a link to a school holiday program for children aged four, five and six, which will accept 80 students who will be taught about Islam every morning during three days in April at the Masjid Abu Bakr Al-Siddeeq mosque in Auburn. Sydney Islamic Lectures posted a graphic about a school holiday program for kids aged 4-6 The group on Thursday posted Mr Albaf's sermon to its Facebook page but it put up a shorter version with soft music over his speech. At Young in February, 42-year-old electrician Haisem Zahab, was arrested and charged over an alleged terror plot to develop 'high-tech missiles and laser warning devices' for ISIS. He had been under investigation by the Australian Federal Police's Operation Marksburg for 18 months. Her body was found in a backyard previously searched by police Her husband who reported her missing was charged with her murder She was found near her home where she went missing 15 years ago Patricia Anne Riggs' husband has faced Queensland court charged with her murder, almost 15 years after reporting her missing. Edmund Ian Riggs, 57, appeared expressionless when he appeared in Redcliffe Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with murder and interfering with a corpse. Mrs Riggs body was found on the property shared by the couple at the time, a spokesperson for Queensland police told Daily Mail Australia. Scroll down for video Patricia Anne Riggs' body was found on Sunday, 15 years after her husband reported her missing The mother's remains were found on the property previously shared by the couple The property has been searched by police at the time of her disappearance. Police are now investigating whether or not the body was buried there after their search. Riggs' solicitor Michael Reddy told reporters he did not have time to consult his client 'at length' before his appearance. '(He's) a little bit stressed as you could imagine.' Riggs was charged on Tuesday following the discovery of the skeletal remains of his wife on Sunday at a home at Margate, north of Brisbane. The remains were found when a man began excavating the yard in preparation for building a retaining wall. He alerted police who took over the property in a three-day operation that ended with charges being laid. The mother's remains were found when a man began excavating a yard in preparation for building a retaining wall Riggs was charged on Tuesday following the discovery of the skeletal remains of his wife on Sunday at a home at Margate, north of Brisbane The reaction of Ms Riggs' family to the news was mixed. 'The reaction from her family is mixed. They are in some way relieved ... but there is a court process they have to go through,' Detective Senior Sergeant Fadian said. He was remanded in custody until his case is next mentioned on November 30. Police took part in a three day investigation before charging the husband Edmund Ian Riggs reported his wife missing three days after she was last seen at her home in 2001 (pictured) The corporate raider now targeting Barclays previously raked in as much as 146m by breaking up one of Britain's biggest investment firms. Edward Bramson's companies pocketed 87.1m in dividends and 58.8m of fees from his assault on London-listed Electra Private Equity, accounts show. He raked in the fortune by buying shares in Electra, forcing his way on to its board and selling its most prized assets. It is now being wound up. Bad sign: Edward Bramson's companies pocketed 87.1m in dividends and 58.8m of fees from his assault on Electra Private Equity It will spark fears the 68-year-old is planning radical cutbacks at Barclays, where he has demanded a board seat and complained about the size of its investment arm. New Yorker Bramson claims a boardroom job would allow him to steer the bank towards higher profits. He controls 5.51 per cent of Barclays shares and is set to demand a vote on his plans at the bank's annual meeting in the spring. Veteran City commentator David Buik, of trading firm Core Spreads, said: 'Investors who think Bramson wants only to get on to the board of Barclays to offer some guidance should dream on. Just look at his track record. 'I imagine he's got a very radical agenda for Barclays.' On the attack: Edward Bramson Bramson revealed his fund had bought a stake in Electra in early 2014. He won a bid to join the firm's board two years later after a bitter battle with its management. The raider immediately launched a fire sale, cutting Electra's portfolio size from 1.6 billion to around 267m today and flogging prized assets including gifts firm Photobox and property business Knight Square. Today Electra is reliant on just two key companies restaurant chain TGI Fridays and retailer Hotter Shoes. Electra is being gradually wound down over the next three years. The fund Bramson used to buy his holding in Electra Sherborne Investors (Guernsey) B is backed by major City names including Aviva. A 19 per cent stake of SIGB is owned by Bramson through a company in the US state of Delaware, which is renowned for its low taxes and secretive business laws. This stake has netted Bramson's business 87.1m of dividends. Another of Bramson's firms acts as investment manager for the fund. It has pulled in fixed fees of 13m and bonus payments worth 45.8m, or 58.8m in total. Bramson declined to comment. Wary of revolt in Bengal unit, Congress avoids discussion with Opp. parties on political turmoil in Bengal. New Delhi: The Congress Party, which had jumped in to support Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjees open fight against the BJP government at the Centre, seems to have nuanced its stand by Monday after some pragmatic considerations of the ground realities in West Bengal. Though a host of Opposition parties, including the TMC and the Telugu Desam Party, had said that the issue would be discussed at a meeting of the Opposition parties in Parliament, the leaders present mostly deliberated on Electronic Voting Machines and not the burning political issue of Bengal. Sources told this newspaper that at the Opposition meeting, TMC MP Derek O Brien is understood to have raised the issue of the Bengal vs CBI, but CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP T.K. Rangarajan shot it down saying that the meeting has been called only to discuss the issue of Electronic Voting Machines. This is not the issue on which we had agreed to come. Our PB has issued a statement. Now if you are raising this issue, we also have our own issues to raise. If you are discussing this one, I will have to discuss with my party, Mr Rangarajan is understood to have said. At this point, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, at whose office the meeting was being held, told the TMC leader that he would also have to seek clearance from his party chief before the Bengal agenda was taken up at the meeting. Interestingly CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury had called upon Congress President Rahul Gandhi in the Congress Parliamentary Party office in the morning. While the meeting was described a chance encounter officially, sources said the CPI(M) General Secretary is understood to have told the Congress president that if he keeps up with the full support to the TMC chief, then members of the Congress Party in West Bengal will flock to join the TMC and might eventually also move to the BJP. This, along with an outburst by senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, might have tipped the scales as far as toning down of the support to the TMC chief was concerned. Opposing Mr Gandhis support to the West Bengal chief minister, Mr Chowdhary had instead called for imposition of Presidents rule in the state. The Congress, which is in a direct fight with the Trinamul Congress, has been losing leaders steadily to the ruling party in West Bengal. The retail sector is down in the dumps, but Ocado, whose chubby little vans deposit tubs of artisan hummus on middle-class kitchen tables, is racing ahead. When it unveils its results for 2018 this week, it will probably have made a small loss of around 27m, but that is a bit of a sideshow. Its shares have risen by 90 per cent in the past year and it has shot into the FTSE 100. Quite a turn-up for a firm set up by three young former Goldman Sachs bankers that floated in 2010 and has frequently irritated the City. In the fast lane: Ocado's chubby little vans deposit tubs of artisan hummus on middle-class kitchen tables One sceptical analyst once remarked around the time of the float that Ocado starts with an 'o', ends with an 'o' and is worth zero. In fact, its value is 6.8 billion. Ocado is worth more on the stock market than M&S, which is valued at 4.7 billion. What's going on? The first thing to say is that, while most of us think of Ocado as an online retailer, it has in fact morphed into a technology and logistics company. The vans are its public face, but the real money is made by selling its state-of-the-art technology to supermarkets in the UK and abroad. It did a string of deals last year, the most significant of which was an agreement for its technology to be used exclusively in the US by retail giant Kroger, one of the biggest grocery chains in the world. It has signed contracts with Groupe Casino of France and Sobey's in Canada. In the UK it operates the online side of Morrisons and has been in talks with M&S. It's a far cry from those early days on the stock market. The turning point was probably the arrival as chairman in 2013 of Lord Stuart Rose. His presence at the helm improves the chances for a good deal with M&S, as Rose is a former M&S chairman who knows the business inside out. Ocado's string of deals have added up to rich returns for investors who kept the faith. The float price back in 2010 was 1.80, and shares are now not far shy of 10. That has created great wealth for chief executive Tim Steiner, the only one of the three founders still playing an active role in the business. He could be sitting on a pile of Ocado stock worth more than 220m by May when one of his share awards matures. It puts him in the same territory as notorious former Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn, but there the similarity ends. Steiner is an entrepreneur who put his neck on the line and is now reaping the reward. Ocado is well placed to profit from the current state of the food retail market. Supermarket bosses have been slow to recognise just how far online shopping would encroach on their traditional trolley-down-the-aisle models. Ever since Amazon took over Whole Foods in 2017, they have been terrified that the US operator will torpedo their businesses. The big supermarkets are desperate for Amazon not to gain a stranglehold, and Ocado could be the beneficiary of that. The company is flying high at the moment, but in the long term there have to be question marks over its rapid international expansion and whether it has the capability to keep on delivering high-quality service as it grows. The company which let us not forget is still barely making a profit could be a takeover target, for Amazon or another predator, albeit at a hefty price. Even its harshest critic would have to admit that Ocado has given the lie to the idea this country is incapable of producing interesting technology companies. Because it came disguised as a grocer, it doesn't get enough credit as a homegrown tech success. A new study blames OxyContin for the rise in heroin use and hepatitis C infections. Heroin use has been soaring across the US for decades, but particularly in states where OxyContin misuse was highest. In fact, the new report says, the situation escalated when OxyContin was reformulated in 2010 to make it harder to abuse - driving scores of addicts to heroin. After 2010, heroin and hepatitis C rates rocketed in OxyContin's top prescribing states, the RAND Corporation report says. 'These results show that efforts to deter misuse of opioids can have unintended, long-term public health consequences,' said David Powell, the study's lead author and a senior economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. Drug injection has long been one of the most common causes of hepatitis C, but experts were intrigued by the sudden spike after 2010. After investigation, the authors of the RAND report say over-prescription of pain medicine, particularly OxyContin, was a driver of opioid abuse 'As we continue to develop policies to combat the opioid epidemic, we need to be careful that new approaches do not make another public health problem worse.' Purdue Pharma contests the RAND results, saying heroin use was rising anyway, driving up hepatitis C rates, and said: 'The problem is that most researchers already come with a preconceived idea, that ADF ignited the epidemic, so they force the date of [reformulated drugs] as the break point.' The findings, published today in the journal Health Affairs, come amid two lawsuits against Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin - blaming the firm for fueling the opioid addiction epidemic which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Overdoses have killed more than 200,000 since 2010. Hepatitis C, a virus which causes liver disease, is responsible for more deaths in the United States than any other infectious disease. In 2015, 20,000 deaths were attributed to hepatitis C in the US. In the last few years, the rate of new diagnoses has plateaued. But that's only after a huge surge through the most devastating years of the opioid addiction epidemic. Drug injection has long been one of the most common causes of hepatitis C, but experts were intrigued by the sudden spike after 2010. After investigation, the authors of the RAND report say over-prescription of pain medicine was a clear driver of opioid abuse. OxyContin became one of the most notoriously abused, typically by people crushing it up and either inhaling it or boiling it down to inject - delivering a powerful, dangerous and often lethal dose in one hit. In 2010, Purdue took action amid calls to pull it off the market. The drug was not pulled completely; the firm manufactured a new version of the pill which was difficult to crush or dissolve. RAND had already shown in a previous study that the reformulation of OxyContin drove scores of users to heroin in 2010. But this new article shows a broader implication to that switch: it also increased rates of hepatitis C, curtailing global health missions to bring an end to the deadly virus. Researchers from RAND and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania examined rates of hepatitis C infections in each state from 2004 to 2015, examining differences between states based on the level of misuse of the drug before the reformulation occurred. The analysis found that states with above-median OxyContin misuse prior to the reformulation experienced a 222 percent increase in hepatitis C infections after reformulation, while states with below-median misuse of OxyContin experienced a 75 percent increase in hepatitis C infections over the same period. Before the reformulation, there was almost no difference in hepatitis C infections rates across the two groups of states. 'Even with recent advancements in the treatment for hepatitis C, the dramatic increase in infections represents a substantial public health concern that can have tremendous long-term costs if infected people are not identified and treated,' said Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, a study co-author, and co-director of the RAND Opioid Policy Tools and Information Center and the RAND Drug Policy Research Center. As drug abuse policy continues to reduce access to abusable prescription opioids, researchers say the study suggests that there could be further unintended public health consequences if drug abusers switch to injected drugs. 'It is important that strategies that limit the supply of abusable prescription opioids are paired with polices to ease the harms associated with switching to illicit drugs, such as improved access to drug treatment and increased efforts to identify and treat diseases associated with injection drug use,' Pacula said. Dr Amesh Adalja (pictured), of Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, argues in an op-ed that people now have the 'luxury' of dying from diseases like cancer because they are no longer dying from infectious diseases thanks to vaccines A Maryland doctor has warned that vaccine skepticism could lead to a global health crisis as big as HIV. In an op-ed for USA Today, Dr Amesh Adalja, of Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, says people may be surprised that the World Health Organization (WHO) named anti-vaxxers one of the top 10 threats to global health in 2019. 'Surely, vaccine hesitancy - a voluntarily chosen human behavior - cannot be in the same category as HIV, a virus that has killed 35 million people,' he wrote. 'However, if one thinks about the full context of vaccine hesitancy and what it represents, the WHO's inclusion of this outrageous phenomenon is completely justified.' Dr Adalja goes on to explain that vaccines are 'one of the greatest achievements of mankind'. Although there is some evidence that China and India were practicing smallpox inoculation as early as the year 1000, the first vaccine is generally accepted to be English physician Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine. According to UNICEF, vaccines can be credited with saving about nine million lives each year globally. Dr Adalja writes that if the WHO made a top 10 global health list just 40 years ago, it would be inundated with diseases that now have jabs including meningitis and hepatitis B. 'Indeed, the infectious diseases on the latest list include infections for which no vaccine is available (HIV, antimicrobial resistant bacteria, pandemic influenza) or for which a vaccine is experimental or not fully protective (dengue, Ebola),' he wrote. IS ANDREW WAKEFIELD'S DISCREDITED AUTISM RESEARCH TO BLAME FOR LOW MEASLES VACCINATION RATES? In 1995, gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield published a study in The Lancet showing children who had been vaccinated against measles, mumps rubella (MMR) were more likely to have bowel disease and autism. He speculated that being injected with a 'dead' form of the measles virus via vaccination causes disruption to intestinal tissue, leading to both of the disorders. At the time, Wakefield had a patent for single measles, mumps and rubella vaccines, and was therefore accused of having a conflict of interest. Nonetheless, MMR vaccination rates in the US and the UK plummeted, until, in 2004, the then-editor of The Lancet Dr Richard Horton described Wakefield's research as 'fundamentally flawed', adding he was paid by attorneys seeking lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers. The Lancet formally retracted Wakefield's research paper in 2010. Three months later, the General Medical Council banned Wakefield from practicing medicine in Britain, stating his research had shown a 'callous disregard' for children's health. In January 2011, The British Medical Journal published a report showing that of the 12 children included in Wakefield's 1995 study, at most two had autistic symptoms post vaccination, rather than the eight he claimed. At least two of the children also had developmental delays before they were vaccinated, yet Wakefield's paper claimed they were all 'previously normal'. Further findings revealed none of the children had autism, non-specific colitis or symptoms within days of receiving the MMR vaccine, yet the study claimed six of the participants suffered all three. Advertisement The WHO refers to the phenomenon of the anti-vaccine movement as 'vaccine hesitancy'. Some anti-vaxxers avoid shots as a protest against big pharmaceutical companies, but some say vaccines are made from unnatural and unsafe chemicals and that they would rather take their chances on their kids getting treated if or when they get sick. Others argue that vaccines overload a child's immune system or that natural immunity is better. Then, of course, there is the argument that vaccines are linked to autism, a claim that has been debunked by scientists. Dr Adalja writes that vaccine hesitancy is not new but that it has gained ground in recent years, particularly in New York and Washington state - both of which are facing measles outbreaks. The New York Health Department has confirmed 194 cases in children and adults since October 2018 while Washington health officials confirmed 50 cases today since January 1. It's not just limited to the US. Pakistan and Afghanistan were the only nations in 2018 where cases of wild poliovirus were confirmed - largely due to poor sanitation and low levels of vaccination coverage. Dr Adalja argues that vaccines have given people 'the luxury to die of other diseases'. He goes onto explain that the WHO's list of the top 10 global threats include cancer, diabetes and heart disease - but that the only reason they're on the list is because people aren't dying from infectious diseases anymore. 'The control of infectious diseases, largely due to vaccination along with sanitation and antimicrobial therapy, gives humans the "luxury" of dying from diseases of adulthood,' Dr Adalja writes. He also laments that vaccines and its makers were once lauded. After Elvis Presley posed for cameras in October 1956 to receive the polio vaccine, it encouraged young Americans that the vaccine was safe. In the first national survey taken in August 1957, 75 percent of those aged 20 and younger had received the vaccine. By September 1961, the number jumped to about 90 percent, reported NBC News. 'Today when a new vaccine is developed - such as the HPV vaccine - it is greeted with derision and is the subject of conspiracy theories that even presidential candidates spread,' he writes. President Donald Trump has tweeted more than 20 times about how there is a link between vaccines and autism, a claim that has been debunked by scientists. In regards to the vaccination schedule, Trump has stated that he would prefer 'smaller doses over a longer period of time'. 'Vaccine hesitancy represents a nihilistic return to the primitive,' Dr Adalja writes. 'If it continues to spread unchallenged, it will be a willful, self-inflicted threat to human life. Precious: Zac Oliver pictured with his 33-year-old mother, Hannah Oliver-Willets When four-year-old Zac Oliver was diagnosed with an incredibly rare form of leukaemia eight months ago, he was given a less than 25 per cent chance of survival. His family wanted to send him to the U.S. for pioneering CAR T-cell therapy, increasing his chance at life to between 60 to 80 per cent. When they made his plight public and launched a fundraising campaign, donations poured in including a 100,000 gift from an anonymous Daily Mail reader enabling them to reach the 500,000 they needed. Two months ago, Zac had the first stage of therapy at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) when immune cells called T-cells were harvested from his blood ready to be modified in a laboratory. This week, the cells were injected back into his body. Here, in this deeply poignant diary, his mum Hannah Oliver-Willets, 33, writes about the heartache and joy of the past month. JANUARY 13 Try as I might, I can't sleep. Tomorrow, Zac and I leave for Philadelphia for the final stage of his CAR T-cell therapy. It's mind-boggling to think that, if this treatment works, Zac could start school full-time next term, play with his friends, go swimming, do anything he wants to do free from the horror of cancer. The enormity of these possibilities keeps me awake. Without the generosity of everyone who has given to Zac's fund, we would not have this lifeline. I can't find the words to express how truly grateful I am. Then the panic sets in. What if the therapy doesn't work? What if I'm shortening Zac's life, not saving it? The unknown is terrifying. JANUARY 14 Saying goodbye to my beautiful boy Leo was really tough. Wayne [Zac's stepfather] and I explained he won't see his brother for a while because Zaccy has to go to America for some special medicine. Leo asked if he could come. He's only three, so he doesn't understand. JANUARY 15 On a journey: Hannah and Zac pictured outside the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia My sister, Sarah, is coming with us. When she offered, a huge weight was lifted. I've been panicking about being in the U.S. on my own; when I was there for the first part of Zac's treatment last year, it was hard. Zac didn't want to get on the plane. When I explained we needed to get his special medicine, he said: 'I don't want to get better.' What he's trying to say is he's fed up with being poked and prodded and forced to take medicine that makes him sick. We're travelling out a week early to do some fun things first. I used the promise of a trip to the Adventure Aquarium as a bargaining chip. JANUARY 16 I took Zac to the Adventure Aquarium, where he stroked sharks and high-fived a stingray. He loved it, but on the way back to our apartment asked if he could go to his real home where his family is. JANUARY 17 'My sister, Sarah, is coming with us. When she offered, a huge weight was lifted': Zac pictured with his aunty outside the hospital premises We went to CHOP today to get Zac used to the hospital. There's a clock in the waiting area with metal mazes for balls to roll down, mesmerising to a four-year-old. A lady who works there asked if he'd like a toy. Zac looked at me as if to say: 'Is she really going to give me a toy instead of medicine?' I nodded. He picked a teddy that talks and lights up. He has it tucked up in bed with him now. JANUARY 18 We took Zac to the museum today, but Sarah has not been herself and said she feels sick. We both looked at each other and said at the same time: 'Surely not?' We stopped at a pharmacy to get a pregnancy test. Sarah, who has a little girl, Alexa, is going to be a mum again. Zac keeps touching her tummy. He loves the idea there's a baby in there. I remind him he used to be in Mummy's tummy. Was the cancer part of him then? Time and again I've asked myself how Zac got this. Is it my fault? Maybe it's an answer I'll never get. JANUARY 19 Sarah keeps dashing off to be sick, so we spent the day in our pyjamas watching Disney films and playing 'hide and seek baby dinosaurs', one of Zac's favourite games. The doctors call Zac's cancer cells 'hidies' because they find little places in the body to hide, where it's difficult for the chemotherapy to reach them. It's why the prognosis for children is so poor. [Four in five children with the rare strain of lymphoblastic leukaemia die.] Hopefully, the T-cells will get into all those nooks and crannies, but no one knows for sure because the treatment is experimental. JANUARY 20 'That panicky feeling as to whether I've made the right choice for Zac grows as the day of truth when the T-cells are re-infused into his body gets close', Ms Oliver-Willets says We went to CHOP again today. There was a lady called Mabel in the waiting area with her husband, John, whose three-year-old niece was having major heart surgery. Mabel told me John had CAR T-cell therapy on November 23 after being given a 30 per cent chance of survival with traditional therapies. His scans have come back clear of cancer. I tried not to cry, but I couldn't help it. I was sitting with someone who was riddled with cancer a few months ago and is now cancer free because of the therapy I've fought so hard for my son to have. It felt as if someone or something had placed them there to reassure me. That panicky feeling as to whether I've made the right choice for Zac grows as the day of truth when the T-cells are re-infused into his body gets closer. Now two strangers have given me hope. JANUARY 21 This morning, we explained to Zac this was the last day we could do something exciting before we start treatment. He wanted to go to the dinosaur museum. Zac adores dinosaurs and it was a joy to see such a very happy Zaccy. For a few hours, I could put all the worries aside, like a normal family. JANUARY 22 Medicine: Zac begins his conditioning chemo-therapy, a toxic regimen to eradicate the cancer Zac began his conditioning chemo-therapy, a toxic regimen to eradicate as much cancer as possible and make way for the T-cells. He was brilliant. He let the nurse draw bloods and check his weight, height, blood pressure and oxygen levels without making a fuss once. Our doctor, Dr Shannon Maude, told me about a new CAR T-cell therapy trial about to open specifically for hypodiploid patients like Zac, to find out at what point in the treatment protocol it's best to carry out the therapy. I was so happy when I heard this. Without research, children with cancer will continue to die. After the meeting, Zac was hooked up to his chemotherapy drugs and spent five hours in a chair playing on his tablet. In all likelihood, Zac will suffer after-effects. A lot of children have problems later on. For now, I just want him to have a 'later on'. The doctors say he's doing amazingly well. He always smiles and has a magical aura about him. Sometimes I wonder if there's a bigger force protecting him. JANUARY 23 Support: The nation rallied around the brave youngster and generated more than 500,000 Zac didn't want to get up. Usually, he's awake before me, prizing my eyes open with his fingers. Today, he was nauseous and tired. After he'd finished retching over the loo, I dressed him in his comfy jogging bottoms as he lay on the bed with his head under the pillow. I just wish that I could take away his suffering. His dad, Mark, flew in a few days ago. He arrived as my sister left, so we met him downstairs and went to CHOP together. He brought the Zak Zoo series of books about a boy who owns a zoo. Zac loves them. I read to him as he falls asleep. I like to think of him playing with those animals in his dreams in a place where there is no cancer. JANUARY 24 Today, Zac had to have a bone marrow biopsy and lumbar puncture. When we were taken down to theatre, he took one look and ran. The doctor pretended to play hide and seek and somehow managed to hook him up to the general anaesthetic without him noticing. As Zac lost consciousness, we supported him to lie down. There was no screaming. No fighting. No pain. My dad has flown in to stay with us. Zac was so excited to see him. He adores his grandad. I am very blessed with my family. I wouldn't have got this far without their selfless love and support. JANUARY 25 Zac woke in a really bad mood. His back hurts and he feels sick. At the hospital, Zac ignored all the nurses. No matter what we said or did, nothing was right. This is not uncommon when you have a child with cancer. But that's OK because tomorrow they will be back to themselves and you know, deep down, your child is a beautiful being with manners. In the apartment after the chemo, Zac was doubled over in pain for about 20 minutes. After he had a sleep, he was fine, but you can't help panicking. The motherly brain going into overdrive thinking of the worst that could happen. JANUARY 26 Rest day: Zac enjoys a well-deserved break after his intense cancer treatments Today was Zac's first day off after a week of treatment. He had toast in bed while watching cartoons. He didn't want to go out, which I was glad of, really. Everywhere is so crowded on a Saturday and I constantly fear infection. JANUARY 27 Last night, Zac wet the bed again. That's four times this week. It's not like Zac. I hate what chemo does to my poor baby's organs. He spent the afternoon sleeping, woke for some apple juice and a game of dinosaur hide and seek, then went to bed. The chemo is making him so tired. JANUARY 28 As soon as he got up, Zac asked if he could take his grandad to the dinosaur museum. We knew he must be feeling better. When we walked in, he pointed to a dinosaur that looked like the Loch Ness monster and shouted: 'Look, Grandad, it's an elasmosaurus.' He's endured so many horrible things in the past eight months. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new era. His T-cells are being re-infused and then we have hope. Thank you everyone for making that possible. JANUARY 29 More support: Zac pictured with his grandad and Dr Shannon Maude Daunting: The medication which Zac undertakes is emotionally and physically gruelling Today, Zac didn't want to go to hospital. He asked if we could take him to his real home instead to see Wayne and Leo. At the hospital, we were taken to Room 46 where Zac will receive his T-cells. I call them his 'Pac-Mans' because they are going to gobble up the cancer cells. The T-cells were brought to the room in a small cool box. The delivery man handed a large syringe to Dr Maude, who began to push the T-cells through Zac's central line into his heart, to then disperse into his bloodstream. A smell of sweetcorn permeated the room. Apparently, it's the preservative they use on the T-cells. It was weird watching my son being infused with millions of cells, which are about to kill the cancer cells. I just saw war: a battle between good and bad beginning in my four-year-old's body. Even though I know it is Zac's best chance of survival, I still wanted to shout 'stop'. Within ten minutes, Zac started itching all over and screaming. He became so distressed he wet himself. They gave him a dose of lorazepam to calm him down. Eventually, he fell asleep. We got back to the apartment at 5pm, all of us very tired. I dread repeating it all again tomorrow. JANUARY 30 'In six weeks, a bone marrow biopsy will tell us whether he is clear of cancer. I find myself praying. I'm not religious, but what else can I do?' Zac woke up in a fantastic mood singing, dancing, giving cuddles and kisses. He was amazing at the hospital. His grandad distracted him as Dr Maude slowly infused the last of the Pac-Man cells into Zac's body. He was checked every 15 minutes for an hour afterwards and we were discharged. It's been a great day. Now we can only hope. In six weeks, a bone marrow biopsy will tell us whether he is clear of cancer. I find myself praying. I'm not religious, but what else can I do? I've fought as hard as I can for Zac. All that's left now is to wait while this war wages in his little body and pray the Pac-Mans win. Health officials in Washington state have identified more measles cases, bringing the total number to 50. So far, 49 cases of the highly contagious disease have been confirmed in Clark County since January 1, and one case has been confirmed in King County, where Seattle is located. Forty-one of the cases are in children who have not been vaccinated. Thirty-four are in children aged 10 and younger. The first measles vaccine was introduced in 1963 and, by 2000, it was considered to be eradicated in the US. But Washington is one of 18 states that allows non-medical exemptions for vaccines and has some of the highest rates of unimmunized children in the nation. Health officials in Washington state have confirmed 49 measles cases in Clark County since January 1, and one case has been confirmed in King County, where Seattle is located People infected with the virus have visited several locations in the Portland-Vancouver area including elementary and high schools, parks, churches, urgent care facilities, a Costco and an IKEA. Measles is a highly contagious infection caused by the measles virus. When someone with measles coughs, sneezes or talks, infected droplets are sprayed into the air, where other people can inhale them and are then infected. Symptoms present themselves between 10 to 14 days after infection and include fever, cough, runny nose and a total-body skin rash. Once common, the disease is now rare due to the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine. STATES THAT ALLOW PARENTS TO OPT OUT OF VACCINES BASED ON PHILOSOPHICAL BELIEFS Arkansas Arizona Colorado Idaho Louisiana ( except no religious exemptions ) Maine Michigan Minnesota ( except no religious exemptions ) Missouri ( only for daycare, not public school ) North Dakota Ohio Oklahoka Oregon Pennsylvania Texas Utah Washington Wisconsin STATES THAT RECENTLY REVOKED THIS ALLOWANCE: Vermont California Missouri West Virginia Advertisement The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends children receive the first dose at 12 to 15 months old and the second dose at four to six years old. The vaccine is about 97 percent effective. But those who are unvaccinated have a 90 percent chance of catching measles if they breathe the virus in, the CDC says. Before the measles vaccine was available, more than 500,000 cases were diagnosed in the US every year, with about 500 annual deaths. In 2018, 349 cases of measles were confirmed in 26 states and the District of Columbia, the CDC reported. It is the second-greatest number since measles was considered eliminated in the US in 2000. A report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) last month said measles has seen a 30 percent increase in cases around the world. Between September 2017 and August 2018, WHO reported more than 41,000 cases with 40 deaths in EU member states. Experts say the Portland-area and southwest Washington have become a 'hotspot' of the anti-vaccine movement. State data shows that 85.7 percent of students received all their vaccines for the 2017-18 school year, down from 89.8 percent in the 1999-2000 school year. Additionally, nearly eight percent of children in Clark County were exempt from getting vaccines required for kindergarten for the 2017-18 school year, according to The Oregonian. A mere 1.2 percent were for medical reasons, while the rest were for 'conscientious objector' or 'philosophical/personal beliefs'. Washington is far from the only state to be battling a measles outbreak with cases reported in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Oregon and Pennsylvania since January 1. New York has seen some of the highest numbers with 64 children in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and 130 children and adults in Rockland County falling ill since October 2018 - all in Orthodox Jewish communities. When Sohaib Ashraf underwent laser eye surgery to correct his short-sightedness, he was in and out of the clinic in 30 minutes the procedure itself took just ten but he had high hopes for the results. I was looking forward to being able to see the numbers on the alarm clock in the morning and not having to fumble around for glasses any more, says Sohaib. He had worn glasses since the age of five, and adds: Like lots of people, I was fed up with them. I also wanted to improve my image, I was young and single at the time. The laser eye surgery was, indeed, life-changing just not in the way he had expected. Since having the procedure six years ago, Sohaib, 32, who lives near Preston, Lancashire, with his wife Fahtima, 26, has developed blurred vision in his right eye, and halos and glare in both. Popular: Tens of thousands of people undergo laser eye surgery in the UK, each year Even worse, he suffers from permanent, stabbing pain in his eyes. It never stops I havent had a decent nights sleep ever since the surgery, as I need to wake up every hour to put in drops, he says. He also has terrible depression and his weight has shot up from 13 st to 21 st hes 5 ft 11 in. This so-called simple procedure has robbed me of the best years of my life in a split second, and theres no cure, he says. Sohaib had been treated with LASEK, where the cornea (the clear front part of the eye) is reshaped to correct vision faults. He says: It is so widely available, I thought it would be OK, especially as it was performed by highly qualified surgeons. I came across some horror stories on the internet, but I ignored them. I did some research on the best surgeons and found one in Manchester. Sohaib says he asked about the risks, but the surgeon downplayed them as just dry eye, which he reassured me would go after six months. He told me complications were more common with older procedures and that patient selection had improved, reducing the risks. I even asked him if hed let his kids have it done, and he said yes. Reassured, Sohaib underwent the procedure in January 2013. A week later, he started to feel sharp pain like I was being repeatedly stabbed in the eyes. I now know the pain was caused by recurrent corneal erosion syndrome where the surface of the eye is destroyed by the eyelid, causing friction, he says. Laser surgery can cause this because it removes the Bowmans layer just under the cornea. This means the corneal cells are not anchored down and erosions can develop, where the cells are stripped away, exposing the corneal nerves, which are the most powerful pain generators in the entire body. Regrets: Sohaib Ashraf, from Preston, has been left with a constant stabbing pain in his eye At the time, however, Sohaib was told it was dry eyes and he was given drops. But the problem didnt improve and Sohaib found himself back at the clinic, month after month. Eventually, he was diagnosed with recurrent corneal erosion and, two years after the original procedure, he was offered another, where a needle is inserted in the eye to create a pattern of scar tissue, to make the corneal cells stick down. Sohaib turned it down because there was no long-term safety data. I couldnt risk my eyes getting any worse, he says. What happened wasnt a case of the surgeon making a mistake or using the wrong laser I would argue that reshaping the cornea is a technique that is inherently dangerous. What I also noticed was whatever surgeon I saw, they all wore glasses; do they know something we dont about the risks? Bitter words, but not ones that can be ignored. For Sohaib is a trained pharmacist and a health economist at NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, where his work involves scrutinising effectiveness, safety and economic data for treatments in clinical guidelines. He has used these skills in his own research into laser eye surgery and says what he has found is deeply worrying. Every year, around 100,000 Britons undergo refractive eye surgery, as its known, at a cost of around 4,000 for both eyes. It is big business. The UK market alone is estimated to be worth at least 400 million a year. There are a number of techniques, including LASIK, where a flap is cut in the cornea and a deeper layer of the eyeball shaped, and LASEK, the type Sohaib had, which reshapes the eyes surface. With ReLEx SMILE, a newer technique, a deeper layer of the eyeball is reshaped via a tiny incision, rather than a flap. The vast majority of patients are happy with the results, with surveys finding 98 per cent satisfaction rates with LASIK, for instance. The complication rate is regarded as low: the website of one leading ophthalmic surgeon puts it at less than one in 1,000 typically dry eyes and in many cases the problem is temporary. Afflicted: 'I havent had a decent nights sleep ever since the surgery, as I need to wake up every hour to put in drops, he says NICE itself, in guidance published in 2006, indicated the risk of a more serious complication, ectasia (where the cornea bulges, affecting vision), after LASIK was just 0.2 per cent. And if things do go wrong, then they can normally be fixed we have good solutions, says Bruce Allan, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London and a spokesman for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. In around 1 in 5,000 cases we will need to replace the cornea with a corneal transplant but you dont go blind with LASIK, he explains. One patient in ten to 20 will need some minor fine-tuning procedure that will take around 15 minutes and a day to recover. The Royal College of Ophthalmologists has published professional standards for refractive surgery, and its very safe in the UK now as these are enforced by the regulator. Patients should look for a good CQC report and ensure that they see their surgeon both before and after the day of surgery. And yet, there are those stories of how its gone wrong. In 2014, Stephanie Holloway, from Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire, was awarded more than 500,000 in damages after a judge ruled Optical Express had failed to warn her about the risks of LASEK. She was reported to have been left with hazy vision and light sensitivity and had to live by candlelight. There are lots of other cases, claims Sohaib, but people cant talk, as if they get a payout they have to sign a gagging clause. Just before Christmas, Jessica Starr, a well-known TV presenter in the U.S. and mother of two, took her own life days after saying publicly that she was still struggling with sight problems and eye pain following laser eye surgery in October. The media has been previously criticised for unfairly highlighting rare cases when things go wrong, with one consultant we spoke to dismissing them as the stories of frustrated litigants. But sweeping patients experiences under the carpet wont make the problem go away, says Sohaib. Driven by his own experience, he retrained as a health economist in 2014 and has since identified worrying gaps in the safety data. Risk: In 2014, Stephanie Holloway, from Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire, was awarded 500,000 in damages after a judge ruled Optical Express had failed to warn her about the risks of LASEK He cites as an example a major review, published in 2016 in the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, of 97 research papers which concluded that overall, the outcomes of modern LASIK were significantly better than when the technology was first introduced. Just 0.6 per cent of patients suffered sight loss of two or more lines on a sight chart, with only 0.8 per cent reporting dry eye after a year, the authors found, adding: It is realistic to expect that with continued technological advancements, LASIK surgical outcomes and safety will continue to improve. Yet the majority of the patients were followed up for only a month, says Sohaib. And, he adds: The source of up to 52 per cent of the data used is a mystery. One large study the researchers did identify, he says, was a non-peer-reviewed article of LASIK outcomes after a month in people with low-to-moderate myopia at Optical Express, a large LASIK provider. That study was published in an Optical Express-sponsored supplement to the Journal of Refractive Surgery. He adds: Were repeatedly told any side-effects are temporary, but we have plenty of evidence to show they are not. Ive also found evidence of a host of complications you wont find mentioned on consent forms including a risk of cataracts 15 years earlier than the rest of the population, a ten-fold increased risk of retinal detachment, and corneal neuropathic pain, which has driven some to suicide. I find it unbelievable there isnt more long-term safety data available for a procedure that has been around for 25 years, nor more high-quality data generally. One of the few long-term studies, published in the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery in 2016, followed up 2,530 LASIK patients over five years. It found 91 per cent of patients were satisfied with their treatment, with fewer than 2 per cent reporting visual disturbances. The studys lead author was a global director for Optical Express, and satisfaction rates are not a substitute for safety data, argues Sohaib. Dr Morris Waxler also believes the risks and rate of complications have been downplayed. As a former head of department in ophthalmology at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr Waxler chaired the original panel that approved LASIK surgery in the Nineties. Dangers: Ian Waghorne from Marple, Stockport, who is a software engineer who had lasik eye surgery in November 2017 and has suffered ongoing complications including dry eye and pain which at one point made it difficult to look at a screen and do his job He now wants laser eye surgery banned. When it came to FDA approval, all the input came from the refractive laser industry; there were very few opposing voices, and we were duped into thinking you could cut an eyeball and it not have terrible consequences, Dr Waxler told Good Health. But if you cut the cornea, you are undermining the strength of the eye and the cornea never completely heals. He started to question the technology in 2007, after patients contacted him complaining of complications such as corneal pain, dry eyes, loss of night vision, light sensitivity, visual aberrations (such as halos) and worsening vision. I listened to them and took notice and then petitioned the FDA to de-authorise the refractive laser techniques. Dr Waxler, who says the problems occur with all the techniques, has recently analysed trial data for the SMILE technique. He claims that, 12 months after the procedure, the complication rate is at least 16 per cent (with 2.3 per cent of patients suffering from glare, 0.6 per cent halos, 3.8 per cent starbursts, 2.6 per cent blurred vision, 2.2 per cent double vision, 0.6 per cent fluctuating of vision, 1.9 per cent focusing difficulties and 2.1 per cent difficulties judging depth and distances). This doesnt include ectasia, at 0.66 per cent, which can occur five or ten years later, recurrent corneal erosions and retinal problems, which can also occur years later, says Dr Waxler. Neuropathic pain is still not acknowledged as a complication, but it definitely should be. Instead, consent forms make laser surgery sound like a piece of cake. He adds that surgeons dont follow up patients enough to see the longer-term effects: Most dont follow up patients for longer than six months. Then there are the patients who are so distraught by the complications they have suffered that they never go back. This is the only industry that creates new eye disease from previously healthy eyes. Dr Cynthia Mackay, a recently retired ophthalmologist from New York, is another outspoken critic. She told Good Health shed had her doubts about laser eye surgery from the start: The cornea has more nerve endings than any other part of the body and it was obvious to me that if it was cut, the nerves would not regrow as they were before. Also, the cornea has a poor blood supply so it is slow to heal and scar tissue will form, which will impair vision. Over the years, I saw many patients who had been left with permanent neuropathic pain in their corneas after laser eye surgery. Ive seen it ruin lives. I know of at least 22 suicides in the U.S. Ive even known of people have their eyes removed to stop the pain. Cases like these happen because doctors cant get rid of this type of pain, the nerves regrow and misfire and go crazy. Expense: Ian has spent around 4,000 on private consultations and treatment he was eventually treated at an NHS clinic with an immunosuppressant therapy Yes, there are people who are happy with LASIK, but what they dont realise is that having the procedure has put them at greater risk of retinal detachment and early cataracts, she adds. Its a very big scandal. Bruce Allan, of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, is robust in his rebuttal of all this. It is untrue that laser surgery weakens the cornea and one in three surgeons who perform refractive surgery have had it themselves, he says. It is also untrue to say refractive surgery raises the risk of retinal detachment people who are short-sighted are more likely to get retinal detachment anyway and they are likely to have laser eye surgery, so its incorrect to conclude that its the surgery that raises the risk. As for laser eye surgery triggering cataracts earlier, he says categorically: This is wrong. This procedure has been around since 1992 and the fact is, people are not coming back complaining about the treatment. Our clinics are not full of people who have had complications. Most people who have laser surgery find it transformative. But there remain concerns about even the acknowledged risks being underplayed a survey by Which? in 2014 found that a third of 18 consultations given by High Street chains were poor, with the potential risks being downplayed. Having worn glasses or contacts for short-sightedness since he was 15, software engineer Ian Waghorne, 46, decided the 4,000 surgery was a good idea not least because he wanted to be able to swim and run without having to worry about glasses. Ian went to a High Street chain which told him he was the perfect candidate. I mentioned Id had mild dry eye problems in the past [a recognised contraindication for refractive surgery] but no one batted an eyelid. A week after a phone consultation with the surgeon, Ian, who lives in Stockport, Cheshire, with his wife Heather, 47, and their daughters Hannah, 16, and Faye, 13, had the procedure. The surgeon whizzed through the risks, but my overall impression was that it was a low-risk procedure. He then looked in my eyes, said: Lets do this and asked me to initial under a block of text on a form. I couldnt read it as I didnt have my glasses on. How I now regret this, as I later found out the surgeon had written I was at high risk of dry eye something he did not mention to me. Within a day, Ians eyes were extremely sensitive to light, and at his one month follow-up, the optometrist gave him ointment and drops for dry eyes. His eyes became very painful, but back at the clinic a couple of months later, he was told all was fine. Not convinced, he saw an independent optometrist who diagnosed meibomian gland dysfunction, where eyelid glands dont secrete enough oil for tears a contraindication for laser eye surgery. His eyes are now so dry its difficult to look at a screen for longer than ten minutes a problem for a software engineer and he has suffered with depression because of the pain. Ian has spent around 4,000 on private consultations and treatment he was eventually treated at an NHS clinic with an immunosuppressant therapy, which has helped slightly but has no legal recourse because he signed the consent form. I wish Id left my eyes well alone the impact this has had on me and my family has been horrendous, he says. Id advise anyone against having this done. Sohaib has spent 5,000 on legal action, but has been advised any claim would fail because recurrent corneal erosion isnt commonly listed as a complication on consent forms. He says: Yes, patients like us are arguably in the minority but that doesnt mean we shouldnt be heard and the public shouldnt be properly warned about the potential dangers. Optical Express declined to comment. Vaccinations are causing infections in three states, prompting fears a batch was contaminated. 'Multiple people' have developed rashes, pain, redness, swelling and hard lumps in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. It transpires all of them received vaccines produced by Kentucky-based provider Location Vaccination since September 2018. Health officials insist there is no issue with the vaccine supply, but they blame 'improper storage and handling of the vaccine' at Location Vaccination, a firm operating in a barn in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. Vaccinations have caused infections in people across three states due to improper handling of the product, health officials say (file image) Video courtesy of WKRC 'If you received vaccine from this provider, we strongly encourage you to consider getting another round to ensure you are fully immunized and not at risk for contracting illness,' Dr Jeff Howard, public health commissioner for Kentucky, said on Friday. 'We believe negative side effects associated with this investigation to be linked to improper storage and handling of the vaccine. 'We want to emphasize that there is no evidence to suggest that there is an issue with the vaccine supply. 'The provider has stopped vaccinating and there is no continuing risk to the public.' Location Vaccination provides a myriad of vaccines, largely to businesses in central Kentucky but also across state lines. It's not clear which vaccines triggered reactions, what the offending contamination was, or exactly how many people were affected. Health officials say any vaccines provided by Location Vaccination should be returned and destroyed due to contamination risk. The firm, still under investigation, has stopped administering vaccines but health officials warn people who received one could still develop infections, and should be on alert for side effects. Doctors are urging people to still get vaccinated as flu season drags on. Parents of conjoined twins born in Yemen fear only one will survive as doctors say they need medical treatment abroad. The twins, Abdul-Khaliq and Abdul-Rahim, were born in January joined at the neck down, a condition known as parapagus dicephalus. The rare phenomenon doesn't leave much hope for the survival of the babies. They have spent their first days of life in an incubator in intensive care at Al-Thawra hospital, in Sana'a. Doctors predict their health will decline unless they can be saved and moved away from the war-striken country. Abdul-Khaliq (right) and Abdul-Rahim (left) were born in January joined at the neck down The babies have spent the first days of life in an incubator at Al-Thawra hospital, Yemen Doctors fear for the babies' survival as they have the condition parapagus dicephalus The twins need to be moved outside of Yemen to receive the right care, doctors have said The parents of the newborns live in a rural community on the outskirts of Yemen's capital, according to doctors. The father, Akram Ali Ahmed, 20, said that he does not want them to be separated and nor for one of them to die for the sake of the other. He said: 'I want nothing to happen to my children. I don't want them to be separated and nor for one of them to die for the sake of the other. 'I want them both in one body. I do not object to what God has given me.' Faisal al-Babli, head of the children's department at the hospital, said that the twins are fairly stable so far. However, this is predicted to change as the hospital pleads for funding and assitance to move the children outside of Yemen. Yemeni doctor Faisal Al-Babli (right), head of children department at Al-Thawra Hospital, said the twins are stable so far The parents of the babies, who live in a rural area, do not want one of the twins to die The babies are currently in intensive care, but need extra care in fear of deteriorating The medical capabilities here are very poor, especially in light of the ongoing war, and the doctors fear the babies will not make it. Dr al-Balbi said: 'It is a unique case in Yemen - two children in one body with two heads, two hearts, two lungs, two stomachs and two backbones. They share only the pelvis and limbs of two hands and two legs.' The prevalence of conjoined twins has been previously estimated to be one in 50,000 to 100,000 births, according to the American Journal of Medical Genetics. 'Their health situation is fairly stable so farm' Dr al-Balbi said. 'They are sometimes given artificial respiration. 'We are currently looking for funding and assistance so that we can provide appropriate healthcare for their very critical health status and move them out of Yemen. 'We hope that international organizations concerned with the health of children and newborns to help save this two-headed baby.' Yemen is currently gripped by a civil war between Houthi insurgents, who control the capital, and the internationally-backed government. The fighting has brought about a historic humanitarian crisis in the region as medical and food supplies have become scarce. Dicephalic twins, who share a pelvis, have been recorded to reach adulthood, but only without complications associated with their heart, lung and intestine formations. In some cases conjoined twins can be separated, but the success with depend on which organs are shared and the skill of the surgeons. American twins Abby and Brittany Hensel, born in Minnesota in 1990, are also dicephalus parapagus twins who gained popular media attention. Heart-breaking tributes have flooded in for a mother who died from cancer after a two-year battle. Rhianna Ferguson was told she may have only months to live when diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer in October 2016. The 26-year-old, who underwent surgery to remove a kidney in hope of helping her beat the disease, died in her sleep last week. Ms Ferguson's sister Renacia, from Greater Manchester, led the tributes, describing her as her 'biggest inspiration'. Rhianna Ferguson was 26 when she died of a rare type of kidney cancer called renal medullary carcinoma doctors removed her kidney to try and beat the disease but it spread to her spine Renacia told the Manchester Evening News: 'Rhianna was the most thoughtful diva in the world, she knew how to get her own way but she always helped anyone. 'Rhianna would always pay, she was always giving, but she was always putting a smile on someone's face. 'Whether it was laughing with her or at her she would be making someone laugh. She was just one in a million. 'Everything she was will live on through her daughter, the Rhianna part two. She will be everything Rhianna was and more and continue to make her mum proud.' Ms Ferguson, who leaves behind her daughter Nova-Noelle, three, first spoke of her renal medullary carcinoma in 2016. Renal medullary carcinoma is a rare form of kidney cancer which is particularly aggressive and fast-spreading. It is not clear how many people get the disease. Ms Ferguson revealed how she kept going to her doctor complaining of kidney infections but they repeatedly sent her home. After around seven months of continual pain, she was referred to Manchester Royal Infirmary for a biopsy and scans. Ms Ferguson was then diagnosed with the cancer. Surgeons removed her kidney and said they hoped that would 'be the end of it'. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News in 2016, she said: 'It's one of the rarest forms of kidney cancer and nothing works for it. 'The longest survivor has lived for eight years. It's incurable at the moment. When I first found out it was horrible. My life flashed before me.' Ms Ferguson died last week, leaving behind her daughter Nova-Noelle her sister, Renacia, said she was 'always putting a smile on someone's face' Ms Ferguson said she would do 'anything I can to beat this' and even revealed how she turned vegan in hope that it may help her. The family had begun trying to raise 60,000 for treatment in Germany, although it is unclear what the therapy was. In an emotional Facebook post when her sister died, Renacia said: 'As some of you may know my sister Rhianna Ferguson passed away last night in her sleep. 'Breaks my heart to even write those words. She was always my right arm and my biggest inspiration. 'She gave the fight of her life and I'm so proud to call her my sister. She fought so hard but Rhianna, you said you were tired of this and wanted it to be over. Ms Ferguson turned vegan in a bid to try and survive the rare cancer and the family were raising money to try and send her to Germany for treatment, but she was overcome by the disease last week 'I know we never thought it would be over this way, but I just want to hug you and tell you everything is going to be OK, you're not in pain no more you don't have to fight no more. 'Nova-Noelle will ALWAYS know what and amazing mummy she has and how much you loved her. 'She's just like you Rhianna, a Rhianna part two, so I know she will be OK and just as strong as her mummy and make you proud.' Her post continued: 'All I can say is just rest now Rhianna cos God knows you deserve it just rest and be at peace, because you haven't had that for years. WHAT IS RENAL MEDULLARY CARCINOMA? Renal medullary carcinoma is a rare and very deadly type of cancer which affects the kidneys. People often are not diagnosed until the disease is already advance, meaning it is particularly difficult to treat. Trials have found chemotherapy drugs and immunotherapy using the body's own immune system to fight a tumour do not stop the disease or prolong a patient's life. Research from 1996 said: 'Time from discovery of tumor to patient death is very short and has not been altered by a wide variety of chemotherapies and immunotherapies.' Some tumours have responded to radiation therapy, suggesting it could be treated if caught before it has spread out of the kidney, although this is rare. Advertisement 'I love you so much and I'm so happy to have had a sister who taught me so much. I will make you proud, we all will. 'I will see you soon Rhianna. Love you with every single bone in my body.' Friends have also been paying tribute to Ms Ferguson on Facebook. Sharon Hamoudi wrote: 'So sad to hear of the passing of a beautiful young lady Rhianna Ferguson. 'We laugh we cried together I shall never forget you. May you fly with the angels and shine like a star.' Danielle Garsia posted: 'So shocked and sad to hear that you lost your battle with cancer Rhianna Ferguson. 'You were such a beautiful soul taken far to young you fought it right to the end. 'My thoughts and condolences go to your family and of course little Nova your legacy will go on in her. 'You inspired so many others who followed your story of strength through such a difficult time. She added: 'Another beautiful soul taken. No more fighting you can rest in peace.' And Amy Foley wrote: 'Today I have a heavy heart, I received a phone call this morning that I don't think any of us expected. 'Our angel has lost her battle, Rhianna Ferguson what a battle you fought. You lit up every room you walked in even if it was 2 hours late. We love you, rest in peace.' Women who have a baby through IVF are more at risk of dangerous pregnancy complications. After fertility treatment, they have higher odds of suffering severe bleeding, sepsis and ending up in intensive care than women who conceive naturally. A study of almost 60,000 women found those who go through IVF are almost 40 per cent more likely to suffer serious complications up to and after giving birth. It is well known that women over the age of 40 and those who have twins or multiple pregnancies are at higher risk of health problems. The researchers compared more than 11,500 women who conceived through fertility treatment with a group of 47,000 who became pregnant naturally But even taking these factors into account, women who had IVF were still in greater danger of complications, researchers at McGill University in Canada found. While more research is needed, some experts believe hormones given to these women to stimulate their ovaries may cause harmful changes in the body. Dr Natalie Dayan, who led the study, said: 'It is important to remember that the absolute number of women who develop these complications remains quite small.' She added that this means 'for most women who can't conceive naturally', IVF is very safe and effective. 'However, this study highlights the need to ensure optimal health prior to pregnancy, and in some cases, closer monitoring during pregnancy,' Dr Dayan said. The researchers compared more than 11,500 women who conceived through fertility treatment with a group of 47,000 who became pregnant naturally. They were matched on characteristics like age and number of previous pregnancies. The study looked at 44 severe pregnancy complications, from pre-eclampsia to sepsis. Women who had undergone IVF were more than twice as likely to have at least three of those health problems. The most common complications were serious infections, severe bleeding after giving birth and being admitted to intensive care. The start of IVF treatment involves taking hormones to stimulate the ovaries so they produce more than the usual one egg a month. Doctors need more eggs to fertilise with sperm so they can select the right embryo to put inside a woman and make her pregnant. However, high doses of these hormones may cause changes to blood vessels which can lead to blood clots in pregnant women. The authors say more research is needed, which could look at whether freezing women's embryos might protect them during IVF. Women going back to try for a baby again can avoid potentially damaging hormones if they have a frozen embryo to put into their womb and do not need more eggs to create a new one. The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found at least one complication occurred in almost 31 out of 1,000 women who had fertility treatment. That was 39 per cent higher than the similar group of naturally conceiving mothers, for whom deaths and complications affected an average 22 out of 1,000. However, Professor Marian Knight, professor of maternal and child population health at the University of Oxford, said: 'It is possible that the women in the IVF group had more severe pre-existing medical conditions, which could account for their higher risk of pregnancy complications.' There are more than 68,000 IVF cycles carried out a year in Britain, with more than 20,000 babies born following fertility treatment in 2016. Another study led by the Netherlands Cancer Institute has looked at the risk of cancer in children born following IVF. The research, which followed almost 48,000 children for an average of 21 years, con-cluded they are no more likely to get cancer in the long-term. The size of the Saradha swindle is pegged at roughly Rs 4,000 crore and that of Rose Valley a staggering Rs 15,000 crore. New Delhi: Amid Opposition attacks on the Narendra Modi government over the misuse of CBI, the ruling BJP on Monday denied political motives behind the Central probe agencys action in West Bengal and claimed that the investigation into chit fund scams is being carried out under Supreme Court orders. The party also took aim at chief minister Mamata Banerjee by questioning if her dharna to protest CBIs proposed action against Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar is because he holds many secrets and needs to be saved. The BJP denied political motives behind the case claiming that it was not the BJP but the Congress that had filed a petition in the Supreme Court to seek an investigation into the chit fund scams. Union minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar rejected TMCs claims that the BJP is using the CBI to serve its own political purpose and said the investigating agency is probing the chit fund cases as per the orders of the Supreme Court. Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, The Special Investigation Team (SIT), under Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar to investigate ponzi scams, was formed on April 26, 2013, by the Mamata Banerjee government. It was the Congress that had moved the apex court which later allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the cases. Mr Prasad rejected the Opposition charge that the CBIs bid to question Mr Kumar amounts to an attack on the federal structure by the Modi government, saying it cannot be cited as a shield to save the corrupt and asserted that the agency is acting as per law. Mr Prasad took a swipe at the unity among Opposition parties against the CBI action, describing it as an alliance of the corrupt. He said alliances soldiers from Bihar to Uttar Pradesh, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, are facing probes in different cases of alleged graft. The Union minister said Ms Banerjee has defied all norms to sit on a dharna in Kolkata, adding that the police commissioners decision to join her protest was unprecedented and was in violation of norms guiding police officers conduct. He said Ms Banerjee kept quiet when many of her Trinamul Congress leaders, including MPs, were arrested but has started a dharna to support a police officer. These suspicious circumstances clearly indicate that the police commissioner knows a lot and, therefore, needs to be saved by the chief minister, he said. Meanwhile, former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh, once considered close to Ms Banerjee but now facing criminal charges, joined the BJP in New Delhi. There is no democracy in West Bengal. Crimocracy and thugocracy have replaced it, Ms Ghosh told reporters after joining the party in the presence of Mr Prasad, Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy. The ponzi scams under CBI lens involve lakhs of depositors in several eastern states including West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand who were duped by the promoters of Saradha and Rose Valley groups of their hard earned money. The size of the Saradha swindle is pegged at roughly Rs 4,000 crore and that of Rose Valley a staggering Rs 15,000 crore. Several TMC leaders, including parliamentarians like Kunal Ghosh, Srinjay Bose, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Tapas Pal, besides state minister Madan Mitra, were arrested for their alleged links with the two chit fund companies. Doctors sent her home for eight days, missing shingles on her ear during tests Tanya Rust, 29, saw her symptoms worsen over a day, leaving her in hospital A teacher whose eye twitch turned out to be shingles has been left with permanent nerve damage after doctors missed the signs. Tanya Rust, 29, from Montreal, Canada, was rushed to hospital after an eye twitch deteriorated into facial paralysis within hours in May 2017. Doctors didn't spot shingles on her ear, initially believing her symptoms were Bell's palsy. She spent eight days at home in 'excruciating pain' as her condition worsened. A late diagnosis meant Miss Rust's brain 'remained in a confused state', and she now suffers with tremors due to confused signals in her nervous system. She has to wear noise-cancelling headphones due to her hypersensitive hearing and tinnitus. Scroll down for video Tanya Rust, 29, pictured before her shingles, believes her symptoms started when she was under overwhelming stress while teaching a university course in May 2017 Miss Rust first felt twitching in her right eye one morning. This developed into a pain between her ear and jaw on the right side of her face. Pictured, with her eye taped shut Miss Rust went to hospital when she was no longer able to blink or close her right eye Miss Rust pictured in May 2017 after being told by a specialist that he had never seen a facial paralysis like hers. She was originally diagnosed with Bell's Palsy Miss Rust believes her symptoms started when she was under overwhelming stress while teaching a university course in May 2017. She said: 'Leading up to May 13, 2017, I had been stressed because I was teaching, speaking at conferences, organising a conference and involved in several committees.' While attending a graduation ceremony, Miss Rust noticed a twitching in her right eye before experiencing a pain between her ear and jaw on the right side of her face. Later that day, the twitching spread to the entire right side of her face. Although she knew her symptoms were strange and unusual, Miss Rust tried to remain calm. However, within hours, she was no longer able to blink, and she was taken to hospital after not being able to close her right eye and being numb all down her right side. Miss Rust said: 'I woke up that day with pain in my ear and jaw area and had a graduation ceremony to go to. 'While at the ceremony, the right side of my face began twitching and the pain got worse throughout the day as the twitching became more frequent. 'It was an odd sensation and uncomfortable as I had never really experienced twitching in my face before. I found the pain and the twitching to be odd as it was different and weird. 'By that night, I couldn't blink my right eye. I felt extreme panic because it was completely out of my control. My body had never acted this way, so to have these symptoms was very frightening.' At the hospital, nurses did a strength test which highlighted significant differences in Miss Rust's strength on her left and right side. She was checked over for shingles, however nurses didn't inspect her outer ear. While in hospital, tests showed that Miss Rust was experiencing a loss of strength on one side. They tested for shingles but did not see a spot-like mark on Miss Rust's ear Doctors missed the shingles on Miss Rust's ear before sending her home for eight days. Pictured in hospital with her mother just before her diagnosis of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome (RHS), a complication of shingles which is ideally treated within 72 hours Due to her late diagnosis, Miss Rust now has functional neurological disorder. She experiences hand tremors among other symptoms, hyperacusis which is hypersensitive hearing, and frequent tinnitus Miss Rust was misdiagnosed with Bell's palsy and was told to return for a neurological exam the following day. She said: 'I was at the hospital by 10pm Saturday night, about two hours after I realised I couldn't close my right eye. 'Initially, they performed an electrocardiogram to rule out a stroke and luckily that was ruled out straight away. 'Then the nurses had me squeeze their fingers with all my might and noticed a significant difference in the level of strength between both sides. 'They briefly checked for shingles in the ear canal but didn't check my outer ear thoroughly, as they missed a shingle that had formed. 'The doctor told me that I was his first patient ever with facial palsy, which didn't fill me with confidence.' Miss Rust was sent home and spent eight days in her own surroundings, in which time she watched her symptoms develop further. She said: 'I had excruciating pain and further paralysis set in in my face, difficulty eating and drinking beverages. I even had to eat applesauce out of a straw. 'My ear was itchy and the sore, which I thought was a pimple, had two other sores near it that hurt to touch.' Miss Rust returned to the hospital where they discovered the previously unseen shingles on her ear. Doctors diagnosed Miss Rust with Ramsay Hunt syndrome (RHS), a complication of shingles which can be caused by stress and be difficult to diagnose. RHS describes the symptoms of a shingles infection affecting the facial nerve, and is ideally treated within three days of the onset. Figures suggest that five in every 100,000 adults in the US will develop RHS. It poses a similar threat in the UK, according to the NHS. Miss Rust experiences hand tremors among other symptoms, hyperacusis which is hypersensitive hearing, and frequent tinnitus Miss Rust must wear noise-cancelling headphones outside and in the home Miss Rust, pictured wearing earplugs, was told her brain had remained in a 'confused state' after her shingles. She said her nerves are 'aggravated' WHAT IS FUNCTIONAL NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER? Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a medical condition in which there is a problem with the functioning of the nervous system and how the brain and body sends and receives signals. FND patients can experience a wide range and combination of symptoms that are physical, sensory and/or cognitive. The most common include: Motor dysfunction Functional limb weakness/paralysis Functional movement disorders; including tremor, spasms (dystonia), jerky movements (myoclonus) and problems walking (gait disorder) Functional speech symptoms; including whispering speech (dysphonia), slurred or stuttering speech Sensory dysfunction Functional sensory disturbance includes altered sensation; e.g. numbness, tingling or pain in the face, torso or limbs. This often occurs on one side of the body Functional visual symptoms; including loss of vision or double vision Episodes of altered awareness Dissociative (non-epileptic) seizures, blackouts and faints: these symptoms can overlap and can look like epileptic seizures or faints (syncope) The exact cause of FND is unknown. Studies have shown that there may be triggering factors like a physical injury, infectious illness, panic attack or migraine which can give someone the first experience of the symptoms. These symptoms normally settle down on their own. However, in FND the symptoms become stuck in a pattern in the nervous system. Source: National Organization for Rare Disorders Advertisement Miss Rust said: 'Eight days after I was initially diagnosed, I went back to the hospital and was re-diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome (RHS), which is shingles in the affected ear and facial palsy. 'I was told the recovery process would be slower and I could possibly have permanent damage because of the shingles.' The delayed diagnosis put Miss Rust at risk of permanent damage - if antiviral treatment is not given within a 72 hour time frame, then the likelihood of making a full recovery reduces to 50 per cent, according to Facial Palsy UK. In September 2017, Miss Rust was diagnosed with functional neurological disorder, a debilitating disorder with similarities to Parkinsons disease and MS. She experiences hand tremors among other symptoms, hyperacusis which is hypersensitive hearing, and frequent tinnitus. It is unknown what the prevalence or the cause of the condition is, but risk factors of developing the disorder include stress, personality disorders, distressing life events and trauma. Miss Rust said: 'My brain sends confusing signals to parts of my body, like hand or arm tremors, difficulty walking, facial contortions. 'The doctors believe that's because I wasn't treated for the shingles on time, so my brain stayed in this confused state. 'The pain was unbearable, I felt like I was being stabbed in the face and ear. I also started having an increased sensitivity to sound which became more and more of a problem even as I recovered. 'Because of my hypersensitive hearing, I have to wear noise cancelling headphones when I go out. My nerves are still aggravated and are sending mixed signals to my brain.' Miss Rust has had to come to terms with the shock of her condition, which stemmed from one day nearly two years ago. She said: 'Mentally I struggled fighting off thoughts like, "will I ever be normal again?" Or, "what if my smile never comes back?" 'My hope is that I can continue to inspire hope to people who are struggling with any type of chronic illness as I know it is difficult to find support. 'My channel, Tanyatastic Talks [on YouTube], has opened up a world I couldn't understand prior to this experience. I've been able to help people who have experienced these health issues and help educate others who have not.' To see more, visit Tanya's YouTube channel, Tanyatastic Talks. The Government must step in to end an NHS price war over a drug which could extend thousands of British children's lives, campaigners say. Orkambi, a medication which can almost halve the speed of lung damage in patients with cystic fibrosis, is not available in the UK because it's so expensive. Its manufacturer, Vertex, and the NHS have been locked in a three-year discussion over the drug, which costs 105,000 per patient per year. An MP is today expected to ask the Government to override the patent on the drug so it can be made cheaply. And patients have written to Prime Minister Theresa May revealing their 'sheer dread' at their children's suffering if they can't get access to Orkambi. Luis Walker, eight, from Horam in East Sussex, last year wrote to the drug firm Vertex to urge them to make Orkambi cheaper so he can use it to halt the progress of his cystic fibrosis Vertex, a company worth almost 38.3billion ($50b), paid its CEO 13.18million ($17.2m), according to The Guardian. It is refusing to budge on its price and last year turned down the NHS's offer of 500million for a five-year supply of the drug the biggest offer the health service has ever made. Dr Andrew Hill at the University of Liverpool, said a generic version of the drug could be made for as little as 5,000 per patient per year. But this will require the Government to scrap Vertex's patent on the medicine using legislation from 1977 a rare occurrence. Christina Walker is the mother of eight-year-old Luis, who has cystic fibrosis, a disease which makes sticky mucous to build up in the lungs and other organs. 'I see Luis struggling for breath every day,' the mother from East Sussex said. 'It is heartbreaking to know that Luis will get more and more poorly as time goes on. 'Meanwhile there is a drug that could help him but he can't have it because Vertex's desire to make excessive profits means they are holding out for the highest possible price from the NHS.' Campaigners claim Vertex made 1.92billion ($2.5b) from sales of Orkambi in 2017. Meanwhile, the company used funding from a cystic fibrosis charity and US tax money to develop the drug. Bill Wiggins, the MP for North Herefordshire, is expected to today call for the Government to scrap Vertex's monopoly on Orkambi and open access for British patients. He told the Guardian: 'Vertex refused the largest ever financial offer the NHS has made in its entire history for this medicine. 'Crown use licensing can prevent pharmaceutical companies from taking advantage of incredibly vulnerable people.' More than 10,000 people in the UK have cystic fibrosis, with around half of them thought to be able to benefit from Orkambi. The families of children with cystic fibrosis which begins in childhood and kills around half of patients before they reach their mid-30s have written to Mrs May and Health Secretary Matt Hancock to support Mr Wiggins. FAMILY OF EIGHT-YEAR-OLD IN A 'RACE AGAINST TIME' Eight-year-old Luis Walker, from Horam, East Sussex, has urged US drugs firm Vertex to lower the price of the medicine he needs so it can be made available on the NHS. Luis last year pleaded with bosses to bring down the cost of Orkambi hailed as a 'wonder drug' to help treat him 'feel much better and not have to spend so much time in hospital'. The youngster appeared on This Morning in August with his mother Christina, 46, who explained that the 100,000-a-year medication was 'transforming lives' of people with the incurable lung disease in clinical trials. Describing her son's 'urgent' case, Christina explained that Luis is constantly in and out of hospital, and is so tired he 'keeps laying his head back'. She said the family were in a 'race against time' and noted that the drug had enabled CF sufferers to 'walk up the stairs' and go on to university. Eight-year-old Luis Walker's family are desperately trying to get him the drug Orkambi in the hope it could halt the progress of his crippling cystic fibrosis Experts believe using the tablets could stop the illness expected to kill half of current sufferers before they reach their forties from becoming severe later in life. Responding to Vertex's claim that the NHS 'undervalued' their medicine, Christine said: 'When they say we share your frustrations it makes me cross. 'How can they when they dont have a child with cystic fibrosis?' In his handwritten letter to Vertex, Luis wrote: 'You have the medicine that can make me feel much better and not have to spend so much time in hospital please sell it to my country. 'If your son had cystic fibrosis I know you understand and lower the price of Orkambi.' Advertisement They said: 'We cannot explain, let alone expect you to understand, the sheer dread and helplessness it causes us to know that we are likely to outlive our children. 'The anguish in knowing that a drug exists that can change that sparing them unnecessary suffering and decline in health but that they are denied access, is unbearable.' Parliament's health and social care select committee is carrying out an inquiry in Orkambi and is expected to hold a public hearing in March. One NHS boss said Vertex is 'an extreme outlier in terms of both its pricing and behaviour' in a letter to the committee. The firm, based in Boston, Massachusetts, told the Guardian: 'Out of respect for the parliamentary process, we will not be providing further updates at this time. 'Vertex welcomes the committees interest in access to cystic fibrosis medicines and we look forward to continuing to support its inquiry into this important issue.' And a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: 'Despite being offered in the region of 500million over five years the largest ever commitment of its kind in the 70-year history of the NHS Vertex has refused to accept, putting Orkambi out of reach of patients. 'Were aware there may be other avenues open to resolve this issue, but our approach remains urging Vertex to accept NHS Englands generous offer.' Almost 300,000 more NHS operations could be carried out every year if schedules were better organised and staff planned leave earlier, a review has found. Booking time off six weeks in advance and agreeing lists of operations a month ahead could lead to 5,600 extra procedures being carried out a week. The analysis by watchdog NHS Improvement found that making schedules more efficient would reduce the backlog of patients waiting for elective operations such as hip and knee replacements. Almost 300,000 more NHS operations could be carried out every year if it was more efficient, a watchdog found (file photo) Data submitted by 92 trusts showed huge inefficiencies, with many operating theatres starting late or finishing early. Experts estimate that cutting these delays could result in a further 291,327 procedures being carried out an increase of about 17 per cent. This could include 41,000 more cataract and other eye operations, 57,000 more orthopaedic operations and 30,000 more ear, nose and throat operations. Despite a record five million non-urgent operations being carried out in the past year, almost 2,500 patients were left waiting longer than a year for treatment, according to the latest NHS figures. Waiting lists have surged from 2.6million in 2011 to 4.1million by September last year as hospitals struggle to meet demand. An increasingly ageing population, people living with more complex conditions and rising obesity rates means this figure is expected to rise. NHS Improvement, working alongside the Royal College of Surgeons, said it was encouraging hospitals to consider a 6-4-2 model, which is being used successfully in some NHS trusts in England. It would mean surgical staff agree their annual leave six weeks in advance, their surgical lists four weeks in advance, and double check their plans two weeks in advance. This reduces the risk of cancellations and late starts, and means equipment, beds and staff are booked in good time, the report said. Professor Tim Briggs, NHS national director of clinical improvement, said: While waiting times for surgery are lower than they have been historically, more can be done, so it is important that we work with clinical teams to identify further solutions and share best practice. It is encouraging that pockets of innovation, like the 6-4-2 model, exist already. Ian Eardley, council member of the Royal College of Surgeons, welcomed the report but said other issues such as staff and bed shortages affected operation numbers. Three-quarters of women at some GP surgeries have missed vital checks for cervical cancer, figures reveal. At one north-west London practice, just 13.8 per cent of patients aged 25 to 49 have been tested in the past three years. And surgeries in Newcastle, Bournemouth and across central, south and west London have uptake rates of about 25 per cent. At one north-west London practice, just 13.8 per cent of patients aged 25 to 49 have been tested in the past three years (file photo) Nationally, just 71 per cent of patients have had the latest test they were due for, down from 82 per cent in 1997. The decline has been blamed on women being embarrassed and scared about the procedure as well as a lack of available appointments. There are also concerns funding cuts have led to fewer reminder letters. Health officials are so worried about the fall they are launching a cervical cancer awareness campaign in March. The NHS screening programme saves an estimated 5,000 lives a year. Screening is offered every three years to women aged 25 to 49 and then every five years up to age 65. But uptake is particularly low in the first group and just 69 per cent have had their latest test. At 223 GP surgeries across England, fewer than half of women aged 25 to 49 have had their test. At the other end of the scale, 92.4 per cent have been tested at one surgery in Carlisle, Cumbria, and 90.7 per cent at a practice in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. Screening is offered every three years to women aged 25 to 49 and then every five years up to age 65 (file photo) Robert Music, chief executive of Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, said: 'While national action to increase attendance is essential, local activity is also necessary with community outreach and working with underperforming GPs just some of the ways regional variation can be addressed.' Cervical cancer is the most common form of the disease in women under 35. There are 3,000 new cases a year in the UK and 1,000 deaths. However, a report last week found there was a backlog of 100,000 women who had not yet been given their test results. An NHS England spokesman said: 'Last year, Public Health England launched their Screening Inequalities strategy which aims to describe actions that services can do to drive uptake in groups who are underrepresented. 'They will also run a national campaign this year to encourage more women to attend cervical screening.' A leading eye hospital has been accused of 'robbing from the blind' after failing to reimburse a grandmother slowly losing her sight for treatment she has not received. June Hanson, who has age-related macular degeneration (AMD), paid 12,000 before going ahead with surgery to improve her vision at the London Eye Hospital. But the state-of-the-art clinic deferred her operation on the day it was scheduled, after she already travelled from her home in Buckinghamshire. The hospital allegedly offered the 85-year-old 3,000 back and told her she wouldn't be entitled to the full refund. LEH eventually promised to refund the entire sum, minus 1,000 - but warned it could take six months for the money to drop. But Mrs Hanson's daughter claims her mother, who is a widow, has still yet to receive any of the money she was promised back and hasn't heard from LEH for a year. Her daughter Linda has spoken out about her mothers ordeal, claiming the family wrongly assumed LEH was trustworthy. June Hanson, who has age-related macular degeneration (AMD), paid 12,000 up front to the London Eye Hospital for surgery to improve her vision Linda, 62, who works in private healthcare, told MailOnline: 'My dad was her eyes. They've [LEH] taken her money. 'I cant believe they are allowed to get away with that. Its just downright robbing from the blind.' Mrs Hanson, from a village near Aylesbury, agreed to have artificial lenses implanted in her eyes to help her vision back in January 2017. Consultants at the LEH advised she needed the EyeMax Mono lenses in both of her eyes to help delay the progression of her AMD. AMD affects about 600,000 people in the UK and occurs when the macula the part of the eye responsible for central vision deteriorates. The EyeMax Mono lenses, pioneered by Bobby Qureshi at LEH, work by magnifying the vision and redirecting light rays to healthier parts of the macula. Her daughter Linda has spoken out about her mothers ordeal, claiming the family assumed LEH was trustworthy because of its 'lovely facilities' (pictured: June) Linda, 62, who works in private healthcare, told MailOnline: 'My dad was her eyes, they've taken her money' (Linda is pictured with her mother, June) The procedure, which can take as little as five minutes, was scheduled for May but Mrs Hanson was asked to pay the five-figure cost up front. She travelled down to the LEHs clinic in Wimpole Street in May. The consultant then looked at her eyes and decided not to operate because of the condition of her eyes. Ophthalmologists asked Mrs Hanson to seek a second opinion about the condition of her eyes before going ahead with the surgery. That June, she was allegedly told by the second consultant that the expensive implants 'would not help her sight one bit'. Mrs Hanson, who can no longer drive, read or see any faces, decided to go away and contemplate whether she really wanted the lenses. After a change of heart, she claims she tried to tell LEH that she no longer desired the procedure because of the second opinion. Speaking on behalf of her mother, Linda said: 'We (her family) went away to have a think about it. After a few days we decided there was no point in proceeding. 'The consultant told her that her eyes wouldnt improve, now why would anybody go ahead with surgery being told that? 'But then we couldnt get hold of them, we left lots of messages. In the end, we had to write to them.' Mrs Hanson claims she has still yet to receive any of the money she was promised back WHAT'S GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE LONDON EYE HOSPITAL? On its website, London Eye Hospital brags about its state-of-the-art facilities and prime location among Londons acclaimed medical district. But there is a much different picture behind the scenes at LEH, which has branches on Wimpole Street and Harley Street. The company is set to undergo a second winding-up petition on February 7, brought about by Nina Laramy, who claims to be a creditor of the company. If successful, the companies assets could be sold and funds are paid to anyone that is owed money. LEH is understood to be facing financial concerns over outstanding debts in relation to rent payments. LEH claims its surgeons, of whom it listed four until last week, including Bobby Qureshi, are the 'most experienced' and 'highly qualified' in their field. Their testimonial section contains more than 70 reviews, which are dominated by five star approvals except for the handful of fours. But its Facebook page painted a much different picture. The page can no longer be found on the social networking site. LEH, which had more than 3,000 likes of its page when MailOnline visited it earlier in January, received a rating of just 2.8 out of five on the social networking site. Advertisement Mrs Hanson was reportedly offered a refund of 3,000 as a 'gesture of goodwill', after several attempts at getting her money back. She denied the initial offer and was allegedly told the full money wouldn't be given back because the refund was not on medical grounds. By Christmas, LEH promised to refund all of the sum except for 1,000 but warned it could take several months for Mrs Hanson to see the funds. Her family began chasing the hospital the following June, when they were told the money should drop. However, they failed to get any reply. In desperation, Mrs Hanson drafted in a solicitor to try and help her get the funds back. But so far it has proved unsuccessful. Mrs Hanson has still yet to receive any of the money she was promised back and her eyesight has 'continued to deteriorate', according to her daughter. Solicitors commenting on behalf of LEH said the hospital was sorry for any upset or inconvenience caused to patients. They added that LEH has a documented system in place in dealing with refunds. The spokesperson said: 'These are currently being assessed to determine whether any form of refund is justified. 'All patients who have contacted us through the formal process should have received an acknowledgement of their request. 'While it is not possible to provide a definitive timeline for the resolution of each request, the LEH is committed to resolving these issues in a timely manner.' On its website, London Eye Hospital brags about its state-of-the-art facilities and prime location among Londons acclaimed medical district There are two types of women: Those who want a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Valentine's Day, and those that would be much happier with an enormous bouquet of... ice cream. While a dozen roses might make some swoon, one New York City ice cream shop is offering customers its own kind of romantic treat that comes complete with nearly 20 scoops of delicious ice cream. Stuffed Ice Cream in Manhattan's East Village sells the excessive sweet treat to its ambitious customers, who are charged $50 for a decadent 19-scoop ice cream bouquet. A bit excessive: Stuffed Ice Cream in Manhattan's East Village sells ice cream cones with up to 19 scoops Pretty clever: They call their piled-on cones ice cream 'bouquets' Pricey: The 19-scoop version costs $50, but it can be ordered with fewer scoops Steady! The precariously-piled-up cones apparently don't topple over, as far as Instagram evidence shows And while the bouquet will no doubt become all the more popular ahead of Valentine's Day in a few weeks, Instagram foodies have actually been flocking to the shop since it opened back in July of 2017. Valentine's Day isn't the only special occasion that can be celebrated with the big ice cream bouquets either; in October, Stuffed Ice Cream served up a special Halloween version of the delicacy, turning orange scoops of the frozen treat into mini pumpkins, which proved incredibly popular with Instagram users. Even Kim Kardashian's close pal Jonathan Cheban has stopped by to share photos of the shop's impressive creations on his food-centric Instagram account, Foodgod. The ice cream bouquet has unsurprisingly proved an instant hit, both for its truly over-the-top presentation and the scoopers' amazing ability to make 19 scoops fit on a single cone without toppling. Trendy: The bouquets are a hit on social media precisely because they are so over-the-top (for this snap, the scoopers used several cones to balance the bouquet) Fans: Kim Kardashian's friend Jonathan Cheban tested it out himself last year Seasonal: The New York eatery also served up a version that looked like lots of mini pumpkins for Halloween Images of the bouquets posted to Instagram show an impressive array of flavor combinations, with some of the more ambitious food lovers opting to eat a mass array of ice cream options, while others choose to stick to just a few select choices. Of course, eating that much ice cream is a lofty goal for one person, so the dish certainly encourages sharing. And if even that's too much, Stuffed Ice Cream will also make bouquets with a fewer scoops. In fact, its smaller scoop bouquets are incredible popular, particularly with seven scoops arranged on top to so perfectly emulate the shape of a flower. The shop also serves up quite a few other treats, including its signature Cruffs doughnuts stuffed with ice cream and sprinkled with toppings. At 97 years old, Iris Apfel has signed with her first 'proper agent'. The nonagenarian fashion icon had been modeling for major fashion and beauty brands for years, but last week it was announced that she is newly represented by IMG Models the same agency that managed the careers of Gigi Hadid, Karlie Kloss, and Miranda Kerr, among many others. Even as she's pushing 100, Apfel shows no signs of slowing down, and told WWD she's 'very excited' about her new deal. New representation! IMG Models announced that it will now represent Iris Apfel for modeling, appearances, and endorsements Fashion icon: The 97-year-old has been modeling in major fashion campaigns for years (pictured at 93 with Karlie Kloss in Kate Spade's Spring 2015 campaign) IMG will represent her for modeling, appearances, and endorsements though don't expect to see her strutting her stuff on the catwalk. 'How can I compete on runway? Thats ridiculous,' she said. 'Well be doing hopefully collaborations, or maybe Ill be a spokesperson. I leave it to them. They know better than I. 'Ive had all kinds of interesting commissions in my limited career. Everything from vodka and automobiles to beauty products, and Ive also had a number of interesting collaborations with big stores like Bon Marche in Paris, the Landmark Mall in Hong Kong, Macys and Bergdorf Goodman.' Over the past decade, in particular, Apfel has modeled for a seriously impressive roster of big-name fashion and beauty brands. She's faced campaigns for Kate Spade, MAC Cosmetics, Alexis Bittar, Macy's INC, Blue Illusion, HSN, Le Bon Marche, and the German brand Aigner. No walking! The nonagenarian, pictured in the Spring/Summer 2015 Alexis Bittar campaign with a then-18-year-old Tavi Gevinson, says the one thing she won't be doing is runway work Second career: She's worked in the fashion industry for years but her modeling career is a bit newer (pictured modeling for Macy's INC line) In each one, she's showed off a facet of her style, including her signature oversized round glasses. For several, she's posed right alongside models a quarter of her age, including Karlie, Toni Garnn, Tavi Gevinson, and Jourdan Dunn. And no one is as surprised by her late-in-life modeling career than Apfel herself. Though she's had a long career in fashion, it was owning her own textile company, Old World Weavers, from 1950 that kept her in the fashion world. 'I never expected my life would take this turn so I never prepared for it. It all just happened so suddenly, and I thought at my tender age, Im not going to set up offices and get involved with all kinds of things,' she said. 'I thought it was a flash in the pan, and its not going to last. Somehow, people found me. People would just call. Tommy Hilfiger said that was no way to do it, and he put us together. Im very excited and very grateful.' Beauty, too! This is her first time having an agent, as she's been handling her own bookings for years (pictured in a MAC Cosmetics campaign) Funny: 'All of a sudden, Im cool, Im a hot property. Its ridiculous,' she said (pictured in the Spring 2016 Blue Illusion campaign) 'People tell me its because Im realand say what I think,' she added (pictured in Aigner's Fall/Winter 2016 campaign with Toni Garnn) In addition to modeling, she also designs her own clothing and accessories line for HSN and published a book last year. 'My husband, until he passed on, we used to sit there and laugh and laugh, and Id say Im no different than I was 70 years ago, and all of a sudden, Im cool, Im a hot property. Its ridiculous. People tell me its because Im realand say what I think,' she added. Her new agency is home to an impressive list of stars, inducing Alessandra Ambrosio, Ashley Graham, Amber Valletta, Barbara Palvin, Bella Hadid, Candice Swanepoel, Elsa Hosk, Gisele, Hailey Bieber, Joan Smalls, Kaia Gerber, Kate Moss, Lily Aldridge, Martha Hunt, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Stephanie Seymour, and Thylane Blondeau. They've also signed one other 'mature' model: Elon Musk's 70-year-old model Maye Musk. A man convinced he is the love child of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall claims Princess Diana knew of his existence before her death. Simon Dorante-Day, 52, was born in Gosport, near Portsmouth, in April 1966, and was adopted at 18 months old by British couple Karen and David Day. He now lives in Queensland, Australia, where he has spoken a number of times about his outlandish belief that he was placed for adoption by the then 18-year-old Camilla Shand. Prince Charles would have been 17 at the time Simon was conceived. In a new interview with New Idea, Mr Dorante-Day explained he believes Princess Diana knew of his birth and that she had been preparing to 'go public' before her death in 1997. He also recently shared a photo which he claims shows striking physical similarities between himself and members of the royal family. Simon Dorante-Day, 52, was born in Gosport, near Portsmouth, in April 1966, and placed up for adoption. He believes the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall are his biological parents. Mr Dorante-Day shared this photo of himself on Facebook and claims he looks like Camilla Mr Dorante-Day has spoken a number of times about his outlandish belief that he was placed for adoption by the then 18-year-old Camilla Shand. Pictured, the Duchess last week He said: 'At the time, there were all sorts of rumours flying around about the royal family, and my existence was one of them. 'I think Diana was at a point where she was finding out answers about her life, how she was wronged, and she was going to go public with it.' Mr Dorante-Day has a public Facebook page where he shares updates about his mission to be recognised as the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall's son. Part of his evidence is side-by-side comparison photos of his children with members of the Royal Family, which he claims reveal a striking similarity. Mr Doronte-Day, whose middle name is Charles, writes on Facebook under the handle @PrinceSimonCharles. Pictured, the Duke of Cornwall at an engagement last week On a recent photo of Mr Dorante-Day as a young man, he wrote: 'Good quality shot - the Camilla style Hair doesn't miss.' Another acquaintance noted how much he looked like a young Prince William, while others said he shared the Queen's bone structure. Mr Doronte-Day, whose middle name is Charles, writes on Facebook under the handle @PrinceSimonCharles. He has said a number of times that he would like a DNA test to prove his family link. Mr Dorante-Day has a public Facebook page where he shares updates about his mission to be recognised as the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall's son. Pictured, in a Facebook photo The father-of-nine explained his adoptive grandparents formerly worked for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in the royal household and that they believed he was the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall's child. '[My grandmother] didnt just hint at it, she told me outright,' Mr Doronte-Day said. Prince Charles, who married Diana in 1981, and the Duchess of Cornwall have never commented on Mr Doronte-Day's claims. Clarence House has been contacted for comment. Britain's top divorce lawyer, who turns over 20million a year, has chosen not to take any maternity leave after welcoming her youngest child. Ayesha Vardag, from Hampshire, welcomed son Orfeo last year at the age of 50 - and revealed this week she had no qualms about going straight back to work as part of a 'blended' approach to motherhood. 'I'm not having any leave at all,' she told The Times. 'I'll just keep going but in a flexible way, which is generally how I think everybody should approach the world nowadays.' The self-styled 'diva of divorce' added: 'I had five weeks with my son Jasper, I only had three weeks with my daughter, Helena, and this time I didn't have any at all. Scroll down for video Ayesha Vardag with her astrophysicist entrepreneur husband Stephen Bence and son Orfeo at home in Dubai. The lawyer revealed this week why she declined to take maternity leave Ayesha Vardag (pictured at her Hampshire home with son Orfeo) revealed this week she had no qualms about going straight back to work after welcoming her fourth child last year 'Fortunately, because Vardags is my firm, I'm able to be flexible. I can have a meeting here with the baby and I can just keep going. In the first few months I'd go out and feed him or get him brought in and feed him.' She says this flexible approach means that most of her staff are happy to come back for 'a day a week or more', just a few months after giving birth. Ayesha has previously claimed that her past tangled love life, including having four children with three men, has inspired her to be fierce, subtle and clever for her millionaire clients. The lawyer told MailOnline how she left her first husband for another man, had a baby during a romance with a much younger man and has now finally found happiness with her latest husband, becoming a mum again at 50. Ayesha, who shares Orfeo with her astrophysicist entrepreneur husband Stephen Bence, said: 'I've had lots of relationships and I've been a single mother so there's nothing that my clients tell me that I haven't been through myself. Ayesha (pictured at home with son Orfeo) has previously told how her past tangled love life, including having four children with three men, has inspired her to be fierce, subtle and clever 'I bond with them over that during meetings, but now I've come full circle and I'm the happiest that I've ever been in my personal life.' Explaining how she uses her life story to help her clients, Ayesha added: I have to be fierce, subtle and the cleverest person in the room. 'l have to use the best tactics to win cases, not just to get the best deal for my clients, but also so that their families aren't completely destroyed in the process and they can be still be a family in the future. Speaking from her stylish 2.2 million farmhouse in Hampshire - one of her four homes with others in London, Italy and Dubai - Ayesha boasts an army of staff, a nanny, two housekeepers, a personal assistant and her mother who helps out. Ayesha (pictured with son Orfeo) set up her own firm 14 years ago and now oversees 500 divorces a year, representing some of the countrys wealthiest people She told how her turbulent personal life began in 1999 when she split up from her first husband Xavier Hunter with whom she had her two eldest sons Jasper, 23, and Felix, 21. 'I'd always thought that my first marriage break-up was my lowest point. I'd always thought he was the love of my life. He was my handsome and funny boss who was three years older than me when I was starting out and he became the father of my two sons. 'Over time though things weren't right between us. I met someone else and I told him that I wanted out. Then he met someone else and suddenly I was devastated about losing him. Fourteen years ago she set up her own firm and now oversees 500 divorces a year, representing some of the countrys wealthiest people. A Meghan Markle super fan has revealed how a kind gesture from the former actress changed her life for the better. Emily Sorrells, from Tampa, Florida, struck up an unlikely friendship with Meghan over social media in 2011, with the pair eventually meeting in New York City in March 2016. Prior to joining the royal family, Meghan regularly exchanged messages and even handwritten letters with the Groucher College student, calling her 'delightful' and 'inspiring'. Describing the Duchess of Sussex as her 'inspiration', Emily has penned a heartfelt tribute on her blog explaining how their friendship has changed her life. The student said she was 'walking mound of self-doubt and anxiety,' until she 'found the inspiration in Meghan Markle that taught me the meaning of confidence and gave me a new definition of value for myself'. 'You're my inspiration': Emily Sorrells stuck up an unlikely friendship with Meghan over social media, with the pair eventually meeting in New York (pictured at AOL HQ in March 2016) Meghan, then best known for her role in Suits, gave the fan a special mention before walking over to give her a hug and a handwritten letter (pictured) - causing Emily to burst into tears She said that Meghan's words of encouragement had not only bolstered her confidence but inspired her to carry out humanitarian work in Costa Rica. The pair eventually came face to face when Emily went to watch her live interview at AOL HQ in New York in March 2016 - around four months before Meghan met Prince Harry for the first time - and sat on the front row. Meghan, then 34, gave the fan a special mention before walking over to give her a hug and a handwritten letter in front of the audience - causing Emily to burst into tears. In the carefully scrawled letter Meghan, who is trained in calligraphy, congratulates the young fan on her 'inspiring' humanitarian work, saying: 'I'm so proud of you.' Reflecting on their emotional meeting this week, Emily said: '[Meghan] went out of her way to make me feel more special than I ever thought I could deserve. Meghan discusses the hit legal drama Suits at AOL Studios in New York on March 17, 2016 in New York City. She is believed to have met Harry four months later in London Prior to joining the royal family, Meghan (pictured with Prince Harry in Bristol last week) regularly exchanged messages and even handwritten letters with fan Emily Sorrells 'She truly values her fans and made that very clear when she sacrificed a portion of her interview for ME. I am still astonished that she is a real life human. 'Celebrities tend to be idolized and glorified by their fans, leading to disappointment with reality, but this is not the case with Meghan Markle. 'She is a genuinely caring and wonderful human being who's positive disposition and dedication to helping others makes this world a better place each and every day.' Emily added: 'She has proven to me that she is, in fact, a caring and genuine human being. She is not fake for the cameras or trying to portray something different than her real self to the media. She is just lovely.' Meghan's touching messages of support for fan Emily Sorrells After she and Emily met in New York in March 2016, Meghan tweeted: 'So happy to finally meet you! What a gem you are! And I love my book you made. Thank you' The future Duchess of Sussex told Emily she looked 'amazing' in her graduation photos Bonding over their shared passion for humanitarian work, Meghan told Emily she was 'very much on her mind' during a charity trip, adding: 'So proud of what you're doing' After Emily returned from a charity project, Meghan commented on one of her photos on Instagram writing: 'I can't wait to hear about your trip!!!!! So proud of you!!' Advertisement The fan has previously revealed that she has tried to contact Meghan via post at Kensington Palace, but claimed her letter was 'not accepted'. Before swapping Hollywood for Kensington Palace, Meghan regularly swapped messages with her fans. Last year she was reunited with Hannah Sergel, a young woman who confided about her health battle with Meghan before she became a royal. Hannah met the astonished Duchess of Sussex in person after she spotted her among the crowds in New Zealand during her Pacific tour. Mamata Banerjee began her sit-in at 8.30 pm, calling it a 'satyagraha to save the constitution' and rallying other parties. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee sits on her Save the Constitution dharna at Metro Channel, Kolkata. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched dharna on Sunday to protest the move of the CBI to question Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar over two ponzi scams. Banerjee accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of plotting a coup. Mamata Banerjee began her sit-in at 8.30 pm, calling it a "satyagraha to save the constitution" and rallying other parties. Months before the national election, this has become another flashpoint in the BJP versus opposition bust-up with several leaders, from Rahul Gandhi to Chandrababu Naidu, Arvind Kejriwal and Tejashwi Yadav, pledging their support to Mamata Banerjee. 06:15 pm: CBI has filed a contempt plea in the Supreme Court against West Bengal's Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and Kolkata Police Commissioner for wilful and deliberate violation of apex court's orders. 04:05 pm: TMC workers protest against PM Narendra Modi and Central govt over CBI issue in Kolkata. West Bengal: TMC workers protest against PM Narendra Modi and Central govt over CBI issue in Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/gg7w2MLusR ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 03:20 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister said, "Our satyagraha is not against any agency, it is against Modi government's atrocities." 02:40 pm: A confidential report prepared by West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has been sent to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). 01:40 pm: Former J&K CM M Muft said, "Manner in which constitutional institutions in this country, like CBI, are being misused to settle scores with opponents is unfortunate...We stand with Mamata ji. If institutions continue being discredited like this federal structure will be fractured." Photo: ANI | Twitter 01:30 pm: "This isn't a good development. I think central govt must behave properly and take confidence of state govts. Central govt is misusing constitutional institutions. It's not good for future. How central govt is behaving with opposition leaders is disastrous," said HD Kumaraswamy. 1:20 pm: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha took out a rally in Darjeeling today in support of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Photo: ANI | Twitter 01:14 pm: "In interest of wanting free and fair environment in which Lok Sabha polls can be conducted, we have come to bring to the notice of Election Commission certain happenings in West Bengal which has complete cooperation of TMC. Instances we highlighted point out that TMC doesn't believe in democracy," said Nirmala Sitharaman. Delhi: BJP delegation including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi & Bhupendra Yadav met Election Commission today on West Bengal issue. pic.twitter.com/hYIbAyf6RI ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 01:00 pm: Additional Director Intelligence Bureau (SIB) West Bengal Manoj Lal, has met West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi at Raj Bhawan. 12:50 pm: Visuals from 'Save the Constitution' dharna in Kolkata, as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee goes through documents continuing her routine work as the CM. Photo: ANI | Twitter 12:20 pm: While addressing the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that stopping CBI from performing duty is unprecedented and the face-off is unfortunate. Singh said Centre has the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country and the incident in Kolkata is threat to federal political system of country. Rajnath addressed the Lok Sabha amid CBI tota hain (CBI is a caged parrot) slogans by opposition members. The action was taken after the Supreme Court had ordered an investigation into Saradha chit fund case, he said. Photo: ANI | Twitter 12:09 pm: Saugata Roy, TMC in Lok Sabha said, Satyagrah by West Bengal CM is against the misuse of CBI by central government. We strongly protest against the CBI and BJP leadership led by PM Modi and Amit Shah who have damaged the constitutional structure. The PM should answer in the House. 11:45 am: Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Part chief said, Besides West Bengal, such things have been heard from other states too. BJP and the Central government have started misusing CBI as elections are approaching. Not only I, not only Samajwadi Party, but all political parties are saying this. There was CBI row, centre was scared of a CBI director, now they are trying to scare everyone using CBI. Who has misused the institutions? If someone has politicised the institutions, it is BJP. Photo: ANI | Twitter 11:35 am: From the day BJP has come to power at the Centre, they have paid very less attention towards working for the country but towards eliminating opposition parties, this has been their focus for the past 5 years. There is no other party more corrupt than BJP, said Ghulam Nabi Azad. 11:30 am: Farooq Abdullah said, Her (Mamata Banerjee) allegation is right. This country is in danger as its becoming dictatorial. They (Central govt) are not masters of this country, people are. 11:20 am: Amid uproar by TMC members, Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day, while Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 12 noon. 11:00 am: Union Home Minister Rajanth Singh has spoken to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to take stock of the situation in the wake of a CBI team being allegedly obstructed by the state police. West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi apprised Home Minister Rajnath Singh that he had summoned Chief Secretary and Director General of Police and asked them to take immediate action to resolve the situation. 10:50 am: The Supreme Court will hear the matter on Tuesday. The Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said, "If Kolkata Police Commissioner even remotely thinks of destroying evidence, bring the material before this Court. We will come down so heavily on him that he will regret." Also Read: Will come down heavily: SC's stern warning to Kolkata top cop on CBI plea 10:34 am: Derek O'Brien said, "We have spoken to all opposition parties, we all will go forward. We have to save the Constitution, the country and the federal structure. Later today, all opposition parties will go to the Election Commission." 10:15 am: TMC including all 22 opposition parties to go the Election Commission today over the EVM issue. 10:00 am: Kolkata Commissioner Rajeev Kumar leaves from the sight of Mamata Banerjees Save the Constitution dharna. The CM is back at the dharna after taking a short break. Photo: ANI:Twitter 09:15 am: A memorandum has been signed by all the opposition parties and will be submitted to the Election Commission. Also Read: All Oppn parties have signed memorandum, will submit to EC: Banerjee 08:45 am: Mamata Banerjee continues to sit on her dharna. Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continues her 'Save the Constitution' dharna with her supporters at Metro Channel, over the ongoing CBI issue. She is sitting there since 9 pm. pic.twitter.com/9nIflitip2 ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2019 08:30 am: The BJP high-level delegation includes Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Bhupender Yadav to meet Election Commission on West Bengal issue. 06:30 am: Visuals from near Metro Channel where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is holding her 'Save the Constitution' dharna over the ongoing CBI issue. Kolkata: Latest visuals from near Metro Channel where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is holding her 'Save the Constitution' dharna over the ongoing CBI issue pic.twitter.com/jNA3mTDb6N ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2019 11:45 pm: Mamata Banerjee continues her Save the Constitution dharna with her supporters at Metro channel. Photo: ANI:Twitter 11:10 pm: The Central Bureau of Investigation will approach the Supreme Court on the matter as the West Bengal government is not cooperating. 11:00 pm: Rahul Gandhi, Omar Abdullah, Tejashwi Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Chandrababu Naidu, Mayawati, Sharad Pawar and Arvind Kejriwal spoke to Mamata Banerjee over phone and expressed solidarity. 10:40 pm: Babul Supriyo tweets over the ongoing situation in West Bengal Presidents Rule should be imposed on West Bengal to control this Rogue #TMchhi Govt under a corrupt CM MamtaBanerjeeThis is a constitutional crisis created by Mamta to shield her corrupt & tainted accomplices Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) February 3, 2019 Also Read: Kolkata Police-CBI face-off: BJP to address press conference today 10:30 pm: TMC workers stage a protest in Asansol over the ongoing CBI issue 09:20 pm: Interim CBI chief M Nageshwar Rao said that they are investigating these chit fund cases as per the directions of the Supreme Court. An SIT has been constituted by the West Bengal government prior to Supreme Court's direction under the chairmanship of Rajeev Kumar, who is currently the Kolkata police commissioner. They have taken charge of all the evidence, seized all the documents. They have not been cooperating with us in handing over all the documents and a lot of evidence has been destroyed or caused to disappear. 09:15 pm: All 5 CBI officers that were detained by police have been released 09:00 pm: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee sits on her Save the Constitution dharna at Metro Channel, Kolkata. A sex worker has slammed Meghan Markle for writing messages of inspiration on fruit during her visit to a Bristol charity last week. On Friday the Duchess of Sussex was pictured writing empowering notes of support on bananas as she joined husband Prince Harry on a visit to sex worker charity One25. The pregnant duchess, 37, came up with the idea as she and Harry were making up food parcels to be handed out to female sex workers, asking for a Sharpie to pen her own personal touch. Declaring herself in charge of the banana messaging, the royal took the time to write individual messages of encouragement and empowerment like 'you are special', 'you are brave' and 'you are strong' on the fruit. However not everyone was grateful for the support, with a sex worker named Nikki branding the move 'offensive', and claiming she 'should be doing more'. On Friday the Duchess of Sussex, 37, was pictured writing empowering notes of support on bananas as she joined husband Prince Harry on a visit to sex worker charity One25 Speaking to The Sun, the woman said: 'People out here struggle to eat and sleep and she gifts us some words on a piece of fruit. 'She has the means to help us more than that. It's offensive, you know.' However not everyone felt that way, and another worker praised the move, arguing that it was the 'little things that count'. Former prostitute Sam, 43, told how she was groomed into prostitution when she was 14 or 15 and ended up addicted to drugs. Sam said she was grateful for their visit to One25, adding: It is amazing that they chose to come here. It is heartwarming and makes you think that these women are not forgotten. I have been away from the street and away from drugs for 13 years in April. Declaring herself in charge of the banana messaging, the royal took the time to write individual messages of encouragement and empowerment like 'you are special', 'you are brave' and 'you are strong' on the fruit If you had told me when I was that girl that I would be meeting with the Royal Family, and they would be interested in what I had to say that would have been alien. She added: I can imagine being on the van, and [someone saying] Meghan wrote this. I think they might not eat it. I think that banana would be at home until it is rotten, because I would do the same. Concluding, she said that little things like that meant a lot to women in her position. After Meghan and Harry finished packing the food parcels on Friday, they were loaded into an outreach van and distributed to sex workers on the street. However now a sex worker by the name of Nikki has slammed Meghan Markle for writing the messages of inspiration on fruit during her visit to a Bristol charity last week, claiming she 'should be doing more'. Pictured: The messages of support Meeting volunteers and donors, the couple then sat inside an outreach van that tours Bristols red light district five nights a week, offering food, warm clothing, condoms and advice to women on the streets. The visit was carried out under conditions of strict secrecy. No one outside a small core knew they were coming not even the sex workers using the drop-in centre next door, who were totally oblivious to the royal visitors just a few yards away. The charity helps female workers in the sex industry and those battling addiction and other life-controlling issues. After Meghan and Harry finished packing the food parcels (pictured) they were loaded into an outreach van and distributed to sex workers on the street One25 provides women with practical and emotional support, from basic needs such as a hot shower, free clothing, or nutritious lunch, to expert advice and crisis care from a caseworker or visiting professional. The homely, relaxed atmosphere gives opportunities for the women to develop their skills, improve their self-esteem and start their journey to building new, independent lives. The charity's Peony service supports women who are stepping away from sex work to develop their wellbeing and skills so that they can reach their goals in the community. Earlier in the day the Duke and Duchess braved the snowy conditions gripping the south west of England for an official visit to Bristol today, which resulted in a slight delay in their arrival. If recent times are to be believed, women the world over are shunning regular swimsuits in favour of high-cut, risque designs that flaunt their figures for the perfect Instagram shot. However Natalie Croker and Amanda Bergin from Hyams Beach Swim have revealed that real women in fact aren't so into this style of swimwear - and instead prefer trends that suit all sorts of shapes and sizes. The Australian label founders told FEMAIL they are seeing an increase in supportive designs for women with fuller bust sizes. Natalie Croker and Amanda Bergin from Hyams Beach Swim have revealed the increasing trends they are seeing in swimwear differ to this notion. They said that when they launched the label in October 2018 their most popular piece was their Straight Neck One Piece in leopard print What are the Australian swimwear trends? Supportive designs for women with fuller busts Eco-friendly fabrics Versatility Diversity in size and content Advertisement In their own label they have received great feedback on their Crystalline Bandeau Top, which caters for women up to an F cup. They said they are expanding in their new collection to include DD++. The women said they are also seeing a rise in women shopping for versatile pieces, which can be worn either as swimwear or a top. 'So many of our customers not only love our one piece designs but love how they can wear it as a bodysuit and pair it with their favourite skirt or pants - it is not only versatile but also cost effective,' the women said. The women said that another trend they were seeing was a shift to Eco-friendly fabrics being used The women said they are also seeing a rise in women shopping for versatile pieces, which can be worn either as swimwear or a top 'We are big on size diversity and will be expanding our size range from S-XL to XS-XXL in 2019 with a goal to increase this even further in 2020,' they added. Ms Croker and Ms Bergin said they believe that the industry is finally beginning to listen to consumers and becoming realistic in representing their customers. They said that when they launched the label in October 2018 their most popular piece was their Straight Neck One Piece in leopard print. Ms Croker and Ms Bergin said they believe that the industry is finally beginning to listen to consumers and becoming realistic in representing their customers 'We are big on size diversity and will be expanding our size range from S-XL to XS-XXL in 2019 with a goal to increase this even further in 2020,' they said The style is still their most popular design, the pair revealed to Daily Mail Australia. 'Our customer is a women who wants a swimsuit that is supportive, flattering and stylish that they can wear for seasons to come,' they said. 'This design is flattering on so many different body shapes and offers moderate coverage and support.' 'Our customer is a women who wants a swimsuit that is supportive, flattering and stylish that they can wear for seasons to come,' they said Ms Croker and Ms Bergin said they support all women in wearing whatever they like no matter the coverage Ms Croker and Ms Bergin said they support all women in wearing whatever they like no matter the coverage. 'We personally focus on designs we believe the every day Aussie women wants to wear down to the beach or by the pool, which steer clear from "Instagram fads",' they said. The women said while they don't believe the Instagram trends are damaging they are unrealistic and a fast fashion trend. The women's message comes after swimsuits from Black Swallow and Beginning Boutique (pictured) caused controversy online last month 'But we believe Aussie women know this, our customers want designs that will last for seasons in styles that will leave them feeling confident & most importantly comfortable.' The women's message comes after swimsuits from Black Swallow and Beginning Boutique caused controversy online last month. Social media users were in uproar with one person declaring they had 'less invasive pap smears'. An Australian mother incredible school lunch prep efforts have earned her the title of 'super mum' after she unveiled her efforts online. The woman, who described herself as a 'first-time kindy mum' recently took to Facebook to reveal how she'd spent 11 hours in the kitchen preparing a staggering range of foods for her child for the coming weeks. From the photos the mum-of-two posted online, it can be seen all manner of foods lined up ready and waiting for impending kindergarten lunches. Her meal prep, which includes an array of chopped fruit and vegetable snacks was also comprised of 60 pizza scrolls, 30 lots of pikelets and 28 ham and cheese sandwiches. A mother-of-two from Australia has revealed how after spending 11 hours in the kitchen she'd prepped an incredible array of foods for her child's lunches How much food did this organised mum prep? * 25 lots of choc chip cookies * 35 lots of sultanas * 12 lots of snowpeas * 20 lots of diced pineapple * 24 lots of carrot sticks * 16 lots of frozen berries * 34 orange halves * 60 lots of pizza scrolls * 30 lots of pikelets * 28 ham and cheese sandwiches * 23 lots of assorted sizes of banana muffins Advertisement The mum explained further down the post she didn't consider herself 'super organised' more she was trying to ensure things ran a little more smoothly in the coming weeks. She also added she had every intention of freezing all the food she'd made. 'As of this morning, we have a chest freezer. The plan is to freeze it all. I have two kids, but only one in school, as of tomorrow. The other is two. I do feel like I sold my soul. I don't cook at all, so this was a mission,' she wrote. The mother, who has one child in school and a two-year-old, explained she wasn't entirely sure how all the food she'd made would be after freezing and thawing. 'I've never done anything like this before, so we'll see how it goes!' The mum continued. As well as prepping snacks in the form of fruit and vegetables, the mum also prepared sandwiches, pikelets and pizza scrolls Photos of the mum's meal prep clearly resonated with many online and to date, her post has over 1,000 likes and over 850 comments. Those remarking on the post said how thrilled by her attempt at being supremely organised with some going as far as to hail her a 'super mum'. 'You are insanely organised wish I had your energy to do all this it would make me feel like a super mum. Well done!' Another added: 'You should be more than proud of yourself. I've been a Mum for 14 years and I've never kicked a*** like this!' 'Can you come do mine please,' begged a commenter. 'I spent hours in the kitchen and got nowhere near as much.' The post also received a number of negative remarks, mostly in regards to the amount of plastic being used to store the foods. 'What a great effort! Massive kudos for that! However, I do worry about the amount of plastic used,' wrote one. 'Awesome job. That's a lot of plastic though,' said another. In reply to the comments, the mum stated the snap lock bags would be recycled after she'd emptied the contents into her child's lunchbox. 'My daughter has a yumbox. I will empty the contents of the snap lock bags into her lunchbox and recycle them,' the mum wrote. Dating apps have the potential to provide you with a hilarious anecdote at your next dinner party, or for the lucky ones, could land you your dream partner. For Matt Dajer, co-host of American YouTube channel Yes Theory, it was the latter when his friends decided to set him up with his 'ideal' Australian woman. Only this time, he had no idea he was going to meet her as his friends kept the whole meeting a secret until the very last minute. Scroll down for video For Matt Dajer (pictured), co-host of YouTube channel Yes Theory, it was almost the latter when his friends decided to set him up with his 'ideal woman' Scouring Tinder one afternoon while in Paris, Matt's friend Ammar Kandil, who is usually based in Los Angeles, found a woman online who ticked all of Matt's boxes: She was funny, outgoing, smart, well read and Australian. He contacted the woman via her Instagram page and secretly organised a blind date for Matt behind his back. Sarah De Vries was in the 'City of Love' on a university exchange program for six months when she received a 'random' direct message from the men who wanted to fly her to Rome, Italy, to meet Matt. Much to their delight she agreed. Sarah De Vries (pictured) was in the 'City of Love' on a university exchange program for six months when she received a 'random' direct message from the men Matt was incredibly confused - but he was also intrigued by the 'beautiful' woman Ammar and the Yes Theory crew planned for Sarah to fly on the same aircraft as Matt, bumping into him at the airport (where she mentioned she had a boyfriend to put him off the scent) and even asking him for a phone charger. Then, when they arrived in the land of pizza and pasta, she walked right over to him to announce she was looking forward to their date that evening. Matt was incredibly confused - but he was also intrigued by the 'beautiful' woman. 'She's so beautiful. All the money I've ever made I'm willing to spend today,' Matt joked to the camera. 'Sarah thank you for putting up with this. This is kind of crazy,' he said In the space of a few short hours Matt had planned a tour of the city by Vespa - making sure to tell Sarah she needed to 'hold his waist' - and a romantic dinner at Pierluigi In the space of a few short hours Matt had planned a tour of the city by Vespa - making sure to tell Sarah she needed to 'hold his waist' - and a romantic dinner at Pierluigi. 'Sarah thank you for putting up with this. This is kind of crazy,' he said. Labelling it the 'best spontaneous trip ever', Sarah said she hadn't told her parents she was leaving France with a group of strangers - but was nonetheless glad she did. The video of their date, which was posted on February 4 last year, quickly went viral and earned the Yes Theory team a staggering three million views. The video of their date, which was posted on February 4 last year, quickly went viral and earned the Yes Theory team a staggering three million views But fans were desperate for a follow up on the situation and begged to know what happened between Sarah and Matt But fans were desperate for a follow up on the situation and begged to know what happened between Sarah and Matt. That's when the crew shared a video of the couple organising a second date, and again on New Year's Eve of 2018, locking lips after the clock struck midnight. What became of their love story was posted by a subscriber below the initial video. 'They dated up until NYE 2018, but she accepted an internship and stayed in Rome,' it said 'They dated up until NYE 2018, but she accepted an internship and stayed in Rome,' it said. 'They said they both felt love for each other but their careers took them on separate paths. So they separated and she's dating someone else now.' Sadly for Matt the blind date was not the beginning of his happily ever after, but it certainly sparked a creative story. Top, 173, BEATRICE B beatriceb.com Founded in Italy in 1988, luxury brand Beatrice B is finally getting the recognition it deserves in Britain, too. Instantly recognisable by its vibrant colours and signature plisse pleating, its clothes are designed for women who appreciate quality the collections spare no attention to detail and are all produced entirely in Italy. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Beatrice B is launching UK e-commerce site beatriceb.com this Thursday, coinciding with the release of its SS19 collection. Full of new season trends, such as polka dots, lilac, and scarf prints, the designs are available in sizes 6 to 20 and prices range from 115 for a pair of trousers to 500 for a dress. For some singletons even sharing a kiss at the end of a date, is a total no-no, but it seems that others are more relaxed and even open to having sex on the first meeting. Research of 30,000 single people in the UK, US, Canada and Germany, has found that as many as 59 per cent of daters are willing to get steamy under the sheets after meeting for the very first time. The study found that German men and Canadian women are the most open-minded about how their date will pan out at the end of the night. A dating app has conducted a survey on 30,000 users in the UK, USA, Germany and Canada to find out who would have sex on the first date, and who would forgo contraception for their first encounter (stock image) Around half of Canadian, American and British females are open to having sex on the first date, with 59 per cent, 48 per cent and 40 per cent respectively agreeing to intimacy. Men are even more relaxed about the idea, with 73 per cent of British men and 64 per cent of American males all for the idea of ditching the three date rule before going to bed. A whopping 72 per cent of German men loved the idea of first date sex, but their female counterparts are not so keen with just 23 per cent accepting of the idea. Dating app Jaumo - which was founded in 2011 by Jens Kammerer and Benjamin Roth - also asked their love searchers if they would be open to having unprotected sex outside of a relationship, and surprisingly people were open to it, despite the risk. 73 per cent of British men loved the idea of first date sex, while German males narrowly behind with 72 per cent voting for it, while only 64 per cent of American men were up for the idea (stock image) Singletons in Canada proved to be the most open to the notion, with 65 per cent of men and 59 per cent of women saying they have no qualms about ditching contraception. British and American citizens followed closely behind with 53 per cent of men in the UK, compared to 48 per cent of men in USA happy to have unprotected sex, while 41 per cent of German men were also accepting of the idea. However, women were not as open to the idea, especially German females. Only eight per cent of women living in Germany would be willing to not practice safe sex, in comparison to 37 per cent of British women. Surprisingly 43 per cent of American women would enjoy a night of passion without any protection. Twitter users have reacted with delight after it was announced veteran broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, 92, is returning to BBC One to present a new natural history series. One Planet, Seven Worlds, described as an 'ambitious, landmark series', will air later this year. The show will explore how the world's 'seven extraordinary' continents 'shaped the unique animal life found there'. Sir David Attenborough (pictured presenting last year's Dynasties) will present a new show 'Each one-hour episode will transport viewers to a single continent and tell the story of its spectacular wildlife and iconic landscapes,' the BBC said. 'We will discover why Australasia is full of peculiar and venomous wildlife, why North America is a land of opportunity where pioneers succeed and what the consequences are for life racing to compete on the richest of all continents, South America.' Viewers will see what is described as 'remarkable, new animal behaviour from all the continents including the baking plains of Africa and the frozen waters off Antarctica.' The BBC said the latest filming techniques will allow 'audiences to experience each continent like never before' in the series, presented by Sir David, who recently narrated Blue Planet II and Dynasties. Twitter users have reacted with delight after it was announced veteran broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, 92, is returning to BBC One to present a new natural history series On Twitter, social media users went wild for the announcement. One wrote: 'Buzzing that David Attenborough is doing a new nature series!' Another said: 'Wel, that's the BBC winning ratings battle on Saturday and Sunday then.' Another added: 'David Attenborough is making a new documentary and I think the rest of this year should be cancelled so we can prepare ourselves.' Other shows announced by the BBC include Green Planet, described as 'Planet Earth from the perspective of plants'. Robotics, time-lapse and super-detail thermal cameras will be used as 'we discover that plants are as aggressive, competitive and dramatic as animals - locked in desperate battles for food, for light, to reproduce and to scatter their young', the BBC said. 'They are social - they communicate with each other, they care for their young, they help their weak and injured. They can plan, they can count, they can remember.' Alison Kirkham, BBC controller, factual commissioning, said the broadcaster was 'not motivated by commercial imperatives or what's in fashion'. Prince William, left, listens to Sir David Attenborough, during a session at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week 'The BBC has a unique commitment to factual programming,' she said. 'I don't believe any other broadcaster in British television has such an extraordinary breath of output in factual. 'Plenty of other broadcasters are now following our lead but we're determined to keep moving the conversation forwards.' In November it was announced that Sir David is to narrate an eight-part documentary series for streaming service Netflix about 'the beauty and fragility of our natural world'. It has been produced in collaboration with Silverback Films, whose director, Alastair Fothergill, made Planet Earth and The Blue Planet for the BBC. It took four years to make and is the first Netflix series for Sir David, who has previously fronted programmes for Sky and digital channel Eden. This Parliament inert, voter-defying, manifesto-ignoring badly needs to be refreshed. Moving out of the palace for repairs may help but that is not happening immediately. Nor can we rely on, groan, a general election. The public is hardly hot for another of those steeplechases of deceit. At least three parties may want to change their leader before going to the country. If May, Corbyn and Cable are still in situ at the next election, we could be looking at gains for the Monster Raving Loonies. But a change of Speaker would help, and it could be done in weeks. John Bercow, like a punctured oil tanker, pollutes and stains the area around him. Yesterday he was at his gaseous tricks again, showing off, interrupting, trying to be clever. When in trouble (as he knows he is), he sets out to be controversial. Make your enemies enemies cheer you. It is how this ferret has operated for years. John Bercow, like a punctured oil tanker, pollutes and stains the area around him Yesterday he tore into Sajid Javid, Home Secretary, for not coming to the Chamber to answer an urgent question about knife crime. Mr Javid instead sent one of his ministers, Victoria Atkins, a lawyer who is possibly more capable than her boss. Bercow was outraged. Even before Miss Atkins had uttered a word, the Squeaker was on his hind hooves to opine at length that Mr Javid was a poor piece of work. Bercow said he had kneawn (this is how he speaks, like an unamusing person doing an Inspector Clouseau skit) Mr Javid since the latters arrival at Westminster in 2010 and I am sure he is a very clever fellow. Translation: not as clever as me! Bercow added that on a one to one basis I have always found him unfailingly courteous. Hmmm. This is not something one ever hears said of the man who uttered those words. Yesterday he tore into Sajid Javid, Home Secretary, for not coming to the Chamber to answer an urgent question about knife crime Bercow said he had kneawn (this is how he speaks, like an unamusing person doing an Inspector Clouseau skit) Mr Javid since the latters arrival at Westminster in 2010 He went on to complain that Mr Javid had found time over the weekend to pop up on TVs Marr show and give the nation the benefit of his views. Well, he should find time to come to the Commons, too, and if he aspires to something a little more elevated than to be a jobbing functionary of the executive he should develop antennae for the rights of the House of Commons. Bercow himself never became a minister. Maybe this irks him. Still he was not finished. Mr Javids absence was ill-judged and rude etc, etc, etc. The more he went on, the less damage the words did. Its like Project Fear. The more purple they go in the face, the more we ignore them. Having shot his bolt, shifting his weight from foot to foot, glaring, peppering his rant with insincere, weird, almost unhinged-looking smiles, Bercow resumed his seat. Almost at once he started laughing. He gave his eyebrows such repeated jumps they might have been on a trampoline. Bercow added that on a one to one basis I have always found him unfailingly courteous He seemed to have enjoyed his outburst tremendously. He had been little better during Education Questions earlier, when he made at least three unnecessary interventions, either to note MPs birthdays or to spray down backbenchers with time-wasting sycophancy. Then, during the knife-crime discussions (a deadly matter, one might have thought), he made another pointless sally. Boris Johnson (Con, Uxbridge & S Ruislip) made a grown-up contribution about knifing deaths in London. As a former London Mayor, Boris knows about this subject. He described how 11,000 knives were removed from the streets by the Blunt 2 policy. He also expressed doubt about Theresa Mays changes to stop and search. All this was proper politics, put seriously by a man who may well become a contender for the Tory leadership. What did Bercow do? He again interrupted the debate to sneer at Mr Johnsons contribution, saying: I think hes telling us he was doing jolly well. Puerile, pointless, deaf to the mood of the House, belittling of a problem that is killing hundreds of youngsters: that, ladies and gentlemen, is the loathed Speaker of a derided Commons. Taste of Phoenixville guests applaud reaching the goal of 15 in 15 - $15,000 raised in 15 minutes for Good Samaritan Services, which contributed to the total of $65,000 raised for shelter and housing services. Pankaj Srivastava, a 1992-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been asked to appear at the Bhowanipore police station. Pankaj Srivastava has been asked as a 'witness' for the recording of his statement in an old case of cheating of around Rs 45 lakhs. The case is related to the escape of an accused from the CBI custody in Howrah. (Photo: LinkedIn | @pankaj-srivastava-640b819) Kolkata: A day after a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team's failed attempt to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar at his residence in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam, a city police team knocked CBI joint director (Kolkata Zone) Pankaj Srivastava's office and served him summons for his questioning in a fresh twist in the battle between the organisations. On Monday afternoon a team of three cops of the Bhowanipore police station visited Srivastava's office at his office of the 16th floor of the Nizam Palace in south Kolkata and delivered the notice under section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code to him, according to sources. Sources revealed that Pankaj Srivastava, a 1992-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been asked to appear at the Bhowanipore police station as a 'witness' for the recording of his statement in an old case of cheating of around Rs 45 lakhs. The case is related to the escape of an accused from the CBI custody in Howrah. Srivastava said, "I have received the notice. I am exploring legal steps." The timing of summons to the CBI joint director assumes significance as he had alleged how the CBI team, despite being armed with necessary documents, was not only barred from entering Kumar's residence in south Kolkata but also physically abused by the police personnel. This was not the first time Srivastava became the target. Soon after the CBI team's visit to Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's residence on Sunday evening, separate police teams rushed to Srivastava's residence also located at Nizam Palace and CBI office at CGO Complex in Salt Lake. The entrance of the Nizam Palace on AJC Bose Road was closed. The police however retreated as the Central Reserve Police Force personnel, on the instructions of the ministry of home affairs, trooped in both the places for security cover. On Monday the CRPF presence became thick with the deployment of additional troops. State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19, recently met with student journalists from the Conestoga Spoke, to discuss the importance of a free student press. Pictured from left to right are: Justin Huang, Cyndi Hyatt, faculty advisory, Dinniman, Avery Maslowsky and Audrey Kim. Valley superintendents said their schools have all been tested for lead in the water in recent years with just a single elevated level across the region or will be testing early this year. Following the news emerging from Flint, Michigan in 2014, Pennsylvania is the 17th state to pass a law targeting lead in school drinking water. Schools that discover elevated levels of lead in their drinking water must notify the state Department of Education. New law encourages schools to test for lead in drinking water HARRISBURG A new state law that says schools must either test their drinking water for lead or discuss the issue in a public meeting if they The only water source in the Valley during a first test was a spigot at Shikellamy's stadium. Acting Superintendent Tom Scholvin said the district tested the water in 136 locations in December with the one being flagged. "One outside spigot outside the trainer's room at the high school stadium didnt pass. That spigot was changed and an in-line filter was added," said Scholvin. "That was retested on Jan. 11 and results came back fine." Line Mountain maintenance supervisor Doug Wolfe said tests at Line Mountain's middle/high school passed testing in 2016. The tests, as per Department of Environmental Protection regulations, have to be done every three years and they are scheduled to be tested in June and again in 2022. The elementary school passed a test in December. At Shamokin, Superintendent Chris Venna said the district tested at 16 locations last August without a positive test. The district also takes weekly precautions, he said. "We also flush each building on Monday mornings for approximately two minutes to eliminate standing water consumption," he said. Mount Carmel Superintendent Bernard Stellar said his district annually tests the district's water and they've never seen elevated levels of lead. Lewisburg tests its water annually, Superintendent Stephen Skalka said, typically in either April or May. "(The) 2018 results were well below dangerous levels or non-existent," he said. On the western end of Union County, Mifflinburg's last test was about year ago. At that time, Superintendent Dan Lichtel said, levels "met specifications within acceptable parameters." Lichtel said the district is also going to add additional tests, with regular water tests on a quarterly basis. Milton has testing planning for this spring, Cathy Keegan said. The district's superintendent said Milton has "been proactively planning in response to the amended changes. Act 39 encourages schools to test for lead in their drinking water; it does not require schools to test for lead in their drinking water. Although not mandatory, the Milton Area School District will participate in the amended changes because exposure to lead is a significant health concern, especially for young children and infants whose growing bodies tend to absorb more lead than the average adult. Neighboring Warrior Run is in the process of testing its water, Superintendent Alan Hack said. "Any areas of concern will be addressed accordingly," he said. Both Snyder County school districts tested last September and all schools came back clean, according to superintendents Rick Musselman at Midd-West and Selinsgrove's Chad Cohrs. "We are working on establishing a regular ongoing testing schedule for the future as well," Cohrs said. Montour County's lone school district, Danville Area, had all four buildings tested recently, Superintendent Jason Bendle said, and all passed with no detection of lead. Sunbury, PA (17801) Today Scattered thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 63F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 63F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. It is understood that all grand alliance partners will now sit together to finalise seat adjustments for 2019 general elections. Patna: Tejashwi Yadav, the political heir of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav, on Sunday backed the candidature of Rahul Gandhi for the post of Prime Minister, but added that the Congress, and he as its president, must first take along all the other parties in the electoral battle against the Bharatiya Janata Party. You have all the qualifications to be the next PM, but the onus also lies on you and the Congress Party to take along all the other parties, Mr Yadav said, sharing the stage with Mr Gandhi and other Congress leaders and chief ministers, including Kamal Nath, Bhupesh Baghel, Ashok Gehlot, and Bihar leaders Jitan Ram Manjhi, Sharad Yadav, among others. Addressing the Jan Akansha Rally at Patnas Gandhi Maidan, Mr Yadav added, All secular parties must come together on one platform to stop the NDA from coming to power in 2019. The united Opposition, a patchwork of parties with disparate ideologies, is yet to take off despite several meetings. One of the deal-breakers is the question of projecting a candidate for the top post an issue that BJP chief Amit Shah had capitalised on with his six Prime Ministers in six days barb at the mahagathbandhan. This was the first time in three decades that the Congress had organised a massive rally at Patnas iconic Gandhi Maidan. The last time the party had held a rally was in 1989 that was addressed by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Congress leaders are of the opinion that the huge turnout during Jan Akansha Rally would give an edge to the party ahead of seat sharing discussions with the RJD and others. It is understood that all grand alliance partners will now sit together to finalise seat adjustments for 2019 general elections. Sources claim that the Congress has been demanding a sizeable seat share in the state, but the RJD, which is the largest party in Bihar, has been jittery and is offering 10 or fewer seats to the party. Addressing the gathering, Mr Gandhi said that the Congress will play on the front foot in the elections. With leaders like Tejashwi and Lalu Yadav, Congress will play on the front foot and always hit a six during elections. Mr Gandhi promised the gathering that his party would waive farm loans and give a big push to the food processing industry if voted to power in the Lok Sabha elections. Alleging that the Centres crop insurance scheme is aimed at taking away the hard-earned money of farmers to fill up the pockets of big businessmen, he said that the Congress would initiate a number of steps to deal with farmers distress and unemployment. Attacking the BJPs Budget announcement to provide pension and direct minimum income of `6,000 to farmers, he said, The BJP in Parliament applauded and called the decision to provide Rs 17 a day to farmers historical but I feel that it is an insult to them who work hard all day. Prime Minister gave Rs 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani but only Rs 17 to farmers. Rpeating his Chowkidaar hi chor hai (the watchman is the thief) charge against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress president said, Prime Minister earlier used to say that ache din ayenge, but now people say chowkidar chor hai. The BJP makes promises but fails to deliver. But our party ensures that all promises made to voters are fulfilled. People are still waiting for Rs 15 lakh which was promised to them during previous elections, but what they got in return was demonetisation which in my view is the biggest scam of all time, the Congress president said. Mr Gandhi also accused the NDA government at the Centre of committing irregularities in the Rafale deal. He said when the Congress was in power, it had started negotiating the Rafale deal, insisting that aircraft be manufactured at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru. This would have benefitted jobless youths from Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha etc but Modi changed all that, the Congress president said. He (Modi) undertook tours of various countries and came up with defence deals which would benefit only a private person like Anil Ambani. Manohar Parrikar, who was formerly the defence minister, expressed his disapproval and so did officers of the Indian Air Force, but Modi went on to have his way, Mr Gandhi charged. The Congress president also made several announcements for Bihar. He said that Patna University will be granted the status of Central University and farmers of the state will benefit if the Congress comes to power in 2019. After the rally, in a moving Facebook post in Hindi, Mr Gandhi wrote, Bihar has been the land of peace but when the time comes, it transforms into a land of revolution. Today, millions lent their voice to the call for change at Gandhi Maidan. We have to strengthen the hope it has roused. We have to build an India of the aspirations of Indians. Ashland, KY (41101) Today Thunderstorms this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low 59F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low 59F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Another view State of the Union: Keep 'em petrified The following items are based on information provided by officials in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. She accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government of 'stealing' farmers' rights. Mamata termed the interim budget as a 'farce' and claimed that the schemes announced by the Centre will not be fulfilled as the Central government lacks the requisite funds. (Photo: ANI) Kolkata: Continuing with her 'Save the Constitution' dharna here against the BJP-led central government, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her government will not accept any money from the Centre as part of any scheme. Addressing the public at her overnight dharna site at Kolkata's Metro Channel station, the Trinamool Congress chief said, "We have taken a decision we won't take any money from the Centre regarding any of the Yojanas." She accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government of "stealing" farmers' rights. "Modi government has taken away the rights of farmers. Over 12,000 farmers have committed suicide. Farmers' lands have been snatched away. Back in 2006, I had sat on a dharna for 27 days to return their lands. Many farmer families are left with nothing. We are the only government which doesn't allow farmers' rights to be snatched away," Mamata said. "We have started schemes like Krishi Bondhu, as part of which, farmers get Rs 5,000 per year. We have already given out 30,000 cheques. Under the Bengal Fasal Bima Yojana, 80 per cent of the premium is given by the state government. We have Krishi Pension, under which farmers get Rs 1,000 per month. We are buying rice grains directly from farmers to give them the due benefits. We are also paying them in cheques to ensure no one dupes them," the TMC chief added. Mamata termed the interim budget as a "farce" and claimed that the schemes announced by the Centre will not be fulfilled as the Central government lacks the requisite funds. Accusing Modi of plotting a "coup" against her government, Mamata started her protest following a showdown between the CBI and Kolkata Police. Describing her sit-in over the CBI's attempt to question Kolkata Police chief as a "non-political" protest, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday said support has poured in for her from different quarters of the country. Banerjee also asked his party members to ensure that the protest was peaceful. Five CBI officials had moved to arrest the city's Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, although they were denied entry to the latter's residence and later detained. CBI interim director M Nageshwar Rao had said that Kumar had tampered with evidence in the Sarada chit fund scam and there was proof to corroborate the same. Welcoming support for her dharna, Banerjee said, "It's not a political programme. But all political parties can join us in our protest." Banerjee said. In a tweet, the CM had earlier asserted that the Kolkata Police Commissioner "was among the best in the world and that his integrity, bravery and honesty are unquestioned". A number of Opposition leaders including Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, DMK president MK Stalin have expressed solidarity with Mamata. Congress president Rahul Gandhi also extended his support to the TMC supremo, stating that the events in Bengal are happening because of the "unrelenting" attack on Indias institutions by Modi and the BJP. Banerjees dharna site is the same venue where she held a 26-day hunger strike in 2006 demanding return of farmland to peasants at Singur, where the Tata Motors' Nano car plant was to come up. The Singur movement catapulted her to power in 2011 defeating the Left Front government. Paul Kirby is a reporter for the Freeman, covering Kingston politics. He has been at the Freeman since August 1996. Media News Group, parent company of the Daily Freeman, was unsuccessful in its effort win seats on the Gannett Co. board of directors. Mr. Donald Lee Brown, age 72, of Dalton, Georgia, departed this life Saturday, June 19, 2021, at Chatsworth Healthcare Center. He was born January 8, 1949 in Rutledge, GA a son of the late Herbert and Sadie Bell Brown. He was also preceded in death by his sister, Patricia Brown, brothers, Ed NANCY STOPPE The Daily American Esther 2:7, And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncles daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. There are many heroes mention in the Bible but the one that strikes me the most is a woman; Esther. Esther is accredited for stopping the annihilation of her people; the Jews. With the help of Gods divine intervention and sovereignty, it is one of the most intriguing accounts of bravery and the love for her people. In order for Esther to accomplish the task given to her, everything had to be perfectly in place and played out exactly as God planned, with twists and turns of disobedience, plots of murder and bravery. The book starts by introducing us to King Ahasuerus, also known as Xerxes, the son of Darius and the grandson of Cyrus the Great. Several years into his reign he sent out a summons to the princes and nobles of Persia to attend a 6-month summit in the capital city of Shushan. Many believe that it was a strategic war-planning meeting for final preparations to invade Greece. Ahasuerus hosted a 7-day banquet for the entire city of Shushan (Esther 1:6-7). However, everyone at the party overdid it and became extremely wild and intoxicated. On the last day of the banquet, after everyone was high as a kite, King Ahasuerus summoned his queen, Vashti, to appear before everyone dressed in her finest but...Queen Vashti refused! We dont know the exact reason for her refusal (perhaps she just didnt feel like being in the mists of a bunch of drunken slobs) but we do know that King Ahasuerus was furious! He was so mad that he demoted Vashti and sent out a decree to every corner of the Persian Empire that Vashti had disobeyed the king and her exalted position would be given to someone more deserving. He made it very clear that no one, not even the queen, could refuse a royal order and get away with it. According to records, however, it took about four years before Ahasuerus got around to selecting a new queen. Why so long? Apparently he was busy with war. (Take note of Gods perfect planning and timing.) After his unsuccessful invasion of Greece, and extremely frustrated by the situation, he returned to Persia and his capital at Shushan. Once he returned he had to face the reality that he had no queen. With the war effort going badly, Ahasuerus needed a distraction and selecting a new queen was the perfect diversion (Esther 2:1-4). Now the plot thickens and were introduced to the heroine; Esther. She and her cousin, Mordecai, were living in the city of Shushan. They were descendants of the Jewish captives who had been taken from Jerusalem and brought to Babylon many years earlier. Mordecai was about 15 years older than Esther and, after her parents died, had raised her as his own daughter. As the officials were looking for the woman to take the place of Vashti as queen, they discovered Esther. The Bible describes this young virgin as lovely and beautiful (Esther 2:7.) After a year of beautification and primping the young women were brought before Ahasuerus. He loved Esther more than all the other women and Ahasuerus set the royal crown upon her head. Like a Cinderella story, Esther stole the kings heart and, out of all the women in the empire, became his queen. But thats not nearly the end of the story. Next week Ill introduce you to the villain and well find out just how Esther, with Gods help, became an unlikely hero. (Last weeks answer and a new question will resume next week.) (Nancy Stoppe of Jenners is affiliated with Jenner Township Baptist Church, Boswell. She can be contacted at stoppe123@comcast.net) The CPI(M) leader also said the country needs a change in policy for its overall development. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury waves as Left Front chairman Biman Bose looks on during a Left Front rally at Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata. (Photo: PTI) Kolkata: Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a chowkidar (watchman), under whose watch loot and communalism were rampant in the country, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday sought the formation of an alternative democratic government at the Centre. We have to defeat chowkidar Modi in the next elections. We dont need such a chowkidar, in whose presence loot is going on in the country. They have spread the poison of communalism across the country. The Centre, which has looted the country for past five years, is now doling out sops ahead of elections, Mr Yechury said, while addressing a rally at Brigade Parade Grounds here. The CPI(M) leader also said the country needs a change in policy for its overall development. We are not calling for his (Modis) defeat just because we dont like him, we are calling for a change so that there can be alternative polices. We have to fight for an alternative secular and democratic government at the Centre, he said. The veteran leader also attacked the ruling Trinamul Congress in the state, stating that the saffron party and the Mamata Banerjee-led party were two sides of the same coin. It is important to defeat the TMC in the state in order to defeat BJP at the Centre, he added. CPI general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy termed the interim Budget placed by the BJP-led government at the Centre as a jumla and accused the Centre of destroying all the institutions in the country. The Budget is a jumla just like other promises made by the BJP government. The Modi government is destroying all the institutions in the country. Even Parliament does not function properly. Peoples issues are not raised inside Parliament, Mr Reddy said while addressing the rally. Calling for defeat of the Modi government, Mr Reddy asserted that there was widespread resentment over the Centres economic policies. The repeated assaults on minorities and dalits, and misuse of institutions such as the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate, and the Reserve Bank is not going down well with the people, he said. Ailing former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee attended the rally, making a public appearance after a gap of almost three years. Left Front chairman Biman Bose announced Mr Bhattacharjees presence in the rally but said that he would hear the proceedings of the public meeting from inside his car due to ill health. Mr Bhattacharjee left the venue after some time, but his wife Mira Bhattacharjee stayed back. The veteran CPI(M) leader was at the helm of the Left Front government in the state from 2000 to 2011. He had stepped down from the CPI(M) state committee in March 2018, citing ill health. Earlier, he had also relinquished the central committee and politburo posts. Staff reports The Daily American The Community Foundation for the Alleghenies encourages current high school seniors from Bedford, Cambria, Somerset and Indiana counties with a passion for community involvement, public relations, and current events, to apply for the 2019 Youth Philanthropy Internship. Throughout this paid internship, participants will use their skill sets to identify and support solutions for areas of concern within our community, while bringing a youthful perspective to the Foundations grant making. The 2019 YPI is scheduled to run from June 24 to Aug. 9 in downtown Johnstown. Former interns are quick to point out that this is far from a typical internship. Over the course of the summer, interns will work in teams to create and implement a youth philanthropy project, which will culminate in awarding grants to local agencies that serve the region. In order to develop the project, the interns will research a variety of issues facing local neighborhoods, identify service priorities, build funding guidelines, solicit request for proposals, and ultimately award funding. Interns will not only learn the basics of grant making but also create media advocacy pieces, volunteer for community organizations, and earn money all while gaining greater knowledge about our region. We are very excited to offer our seventh annual Youth Philanthropy Internship, said Angie Berzonski, program/communications officer for the Foundation. So far, this program has enabled 45 young adults to award $275,000 to local projects that they care about. We cant wait to learn what this years interns are concerned about, and help them learn how they can make a difference. The internship is funded by a grant from The Heinz Endowments, and mirrors the Endowments highly successful Summer Youth Philanthropy Internship. The Heinz Endowments supports multiple efforts to make western Pennsylvania a great place to live and work, a center for learning and educational excellence, and a region that embraces diversity and inclusion. The Community Foundation recognizes the growing need to closely understand how area issues affect local teens and, therefore, offers this opportunity for the Class of 2019 to work with its staff as paid summer interns. Ideal candidates should be able to work in teams, demonstrate strong communication skills, and be able to interview, collect, and report information. Applications are available online only at www.cfalleghenies.org and are due March 8. Applications will be reviewed by a committee and a select number of candidates will be asked to visit the Foundation for an interview. Eight candidates will ultimately be selected for the internship. The Community Foundation for the Alleghenies is a nonprofit public foundation. Through charitable giving of its donors, it builds professionally managed assets to support Bedford, Cambria, Somerset and Indiana counties. The Foundation is overseen by an active volunteer board and committees, and complies with national standards established by the Council on Foundations, the philanthropic sectors primary affiliate organization. Learn more about the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies by visiting cfalleghenies.org. STORY LINK Pound Sterling New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) Exchange Rate Fluctuates as UK Manufacturing Sector Edges Closer to Recession Pound Sterling New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) Exchange Rate Fluctuates After Lower-than-Forecast UK Construction PMI New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Struggles to Make Gains despite Best Building Permits Since August Last Week: Pound (GBP) Struggles after Manufacturing Sector Hits Three-Month Low GBP/NZD Outlook: Will a Decline in Service Sector Growth Drag Down Sterling? Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: The Pound Sterling New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate has fluctuated throughout the day and is currently trading up around 0.3% at an inter-bank rate of NZ$1.9034.This morning saw the release of the UK Markit construction PMI for January, which slipped to a lower-than-expected figure of 50.6 from 52.8, which was the slowest rise in business activity in ten months.Duncan Brock, Group Director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply stated:The sector suffered a sharp drop in output growth in January, and the softest rise in purchasing volumes since September 2017, as Brexit continues to hamper progress and dampen client confidence.[] The biggest shock came in the form of job creation which has managed to suffer the slings and arrows of Brexit highs and lows with solid hiring since the referendum result. Employment rose at the slowest rate since July 2016 and with optimism also in short supply, the sector only needs a small nudge to tip it closer to recession.Sunday saw the release of New Zealands seasonally adjusted building permits for December, which rose from the previous -1.9% to 5.1%.This was the best figure seen since August 2018, which allowed the Kiwi to advance against the Pound.Also a likely factor in preventing the Pound from rallying against the risk-sensitive NZD was the release of Chinas Caixin services PMI, which fell to 53.6, which was not as low as expected.The data revealed that employment overall had stabilised and that services activity continues to rise solidly, although the manufacturing sector remains subdued.Dr Zhengsheng Zhong, Director of Macroeconomic Analysis at CEBM Group stated:Demand for services remained solid as the increase in new business accelerated marginally. The sub-index of employment rose, pointing to a faster expansion of payroll number at service providers.At the end of last weeks session Januarys Markit manufacturing PMI was released for the UK, showing that the sector had hit a three-month low at 52.8, which likely did little to aid the Pound against the Kiwi as it fell to a low of NZ$1.8844.The data also showed that employment fell for the second time in the past 30 months, with Duncan Brock, Group Director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, stating:Brexit blight strikes again with the weakest performance in manufacturing production since July 2016 and optimism withers away under the weight of uncertainty as the UK teeters on the edge of departure from the EU.[] After months of maintained job creation, job seekers will be disappointed by the drop in new roles as businesses fought hard to control costs and improve efficiency. Withouth a strong upturn in new orders and underlying growth there may be further hesitation to hire next month and with a general slowdown in the global economy and the Eurozone, were likely to continue to see significant challenges ahead.Tomorrow will see the release of the UKs Markit services PMI, which is forecast to show a slower rate of growth in the services sector, as the figure is set to slip from 51.2 to 51.0. This could see the Pound New Zealand (GBP/NZD) exchange rate slide.New Zealands unemployment rate for Q4 is due for release on Wednesday, with the forecast suggesting that unemployment is going to rise from 3.9% to 4.1%, which could see sentiment for the Kiwi dampened.Also due for release on Wednesday is the release of New Zealands Global Dairy Trade Index, which may see NZD rise against Sterling if this figure increases further than the previous reading of 4.2%.US-Sino relations are also likely going to be a factor in causing movement in the pairing, as if there are further signs that the two countries are closer to making a deal, the risk-sensitive New Zealand Dollar may rise. 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: Pound New Zealand Dollar Forecasts Judge Orders Sale of Property Purchased by Sect's Leaders A judge has ordered that a 7,680-acre (3,108-hectare) northwestern New Mexico property purchased by leaders of a paramilitary religious sect be sold to satisfy a $2.9 million judgment won by a former member of the sect. Associated Press/February 1, 2019 Grants, New Mexico A judge has ordered that a 7,680-acre (3,108-hectare) northwestern New Mexico property purchased by leaders of a paramilitary religious sect be sold to satisfy a $2.9 million judgment won by a former member of the sect. The Gallup Independent reports that state District Judge Pedro Rael ordered the sale in a ruling Tuesday to satisfy a lawsuit filed by Maura Schmierer in New Mexico in 2004. Schmierer joined Free Love Ministries, as the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps sect was then called, in the 1980s in California and later fell out of favor with the Greens. Schmierer later won a $1.02 million judgment, and attorneys calculate that with interest the judgment amount has risen to $2,913,304. Hope. That one word powerfully sums up the mission of Hope Credit Union, a Mississippi delta based community development credit union. And Hope is bringing financial hope to people across the deep south who may not have had a lot of that. How does Hope do this and stay solvent? Listen up to what Bill Bynum, Hopes CEO, has to say on that, as well as his provocative views about the real mission of credit unions in todays America, the CFPB, and a lot more. This is a conversation that will rock you. Q: Last time we talked you said that you were going all in on mobile banking because your members did not have home computers. Is that still true? Bynum: That was a big part of the decision. We were one of the first financial institutions in Mississippi to embrace mobile technology because so many of our members didnt have home computers. Mississippi and the deep south also have one of the highest rates of homes that dont have a landline. People are using their cellphones for communications. We thought it was a great opportunity for us to use that technology to provide services to our members. It actually has gone better than I anticipated. We thought it would take longer than it did for people to become comfortable trusting their financial transactions over the phone. Weve seen a steady increase in use of mobile banking. They use it for a variety of things, mostly to check their balances. Thats great. They make better financial decisions. The number of overdrafts has declined. Q: How many members do you have and whats the average family income? Bynum: We are pushing 50,000 members. Disproportionately they are low income. The average household income of a mortgage borrower is less than $50,000. Thats someone buying a house. Id suspect the average household income of all members is well south of that. 75% of our branches are in census tracts where the poverty level has been over 20% for three decades in a row. Entrenched, persistent poverty. Q: How do you profitably serve that population? The big banks dont think they can make money serving them. Bynum: Banks were making money in those markets. Just not as much as they want to make. Mississippi is a rural, low income state. So are Alabama and Louisiana. These people need financial services. Payday lenders, check cashers, pawn shops are making money hand over fist. Charging these people rates that should be criminal. Theres a reasonable amount of profit to be made. I think the credit union business model is superior because we use the profits we generate to provide lower rates on loans and higher rates on deposits. We dont take the profits and hand them to a handful of wealthy shareholders. Our members are our shareholders. I think its our business model that allows us to do what we do. Its appropriate that credit unions are tax exempt. It helps our bottomline. Q: Im simplifying but in the US credit unions were created to serve a population banks did not want to serve. Working people. Mainly they made loans home loans, car loans and took in savings deposits. It seems to me a community development credit union such as yours is doing that mission. Im not sure all credit unions are following that mission. Bynum: Community development credit unions are clearly focused on serving people in communities that are underserved by other financial institutions, including other credit unions. Many of the credit unions we have merged with are small credit unions that were formed in response to predatory lending and lack of access to financial services. We merged with a credit union in Mississippi for timber workers who started it because the timber company charged exorbitant rates for loans. We merged with a credit union in Montgomery that served local teachers who needed better access to financial services. That is the history of credit unions and community development credit unions take that very seriously. That is at the core of our mission at Hope. Q: Why arent there more community development credit unions? Bynum: A lot are doing good work. A challenge [in creating more] is that we are not in a position to sell stock to raise capital. We have grown dramatically since the financial crisis. We are one of the fastest growing credit unions in the country, by rate of member growth and rate of asset growth. Growth requires that we have capital to keep the regulators satisfied and to protect our depositors. Typically credit unions grow their capital in a slow, organic way. When we are growing rapidly we need to find other ways to raise that capital. We use secondary capital, subordinated longterm debt. We are one of two credit unions in the country that use that resource more than anyone else. Its complicated. Many small credit unions dont have the infrastructure to take that on. We are fortunate we are able to do that. Its not a simple strategy to pursue but we felt it was important. Q: What other credit union does this? Bynum: Self-Help. Between Self-Help and Hope we probably use more than half of the secondary capital credit unions use in the country. Q: Whats your position on payday loans? Bynum: Payday loans should be illegal. I served as chair of an advisory board at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and we were making strides at restricting these abusive financial practices. So many things are stacked against low income consumers. That agency was created to address that. Its unfortunate it has stepped away from those issues. Q: Ill tell you what I think was unfortunate: a lot of credit unions from the beginning were enemies of that agency. Bynum: It was misguided. I spoke against it. Financial institutions often have a knee jerk reaction to regulation. Well, we should be regulated because we are stewards of other peoples money and we need to do it in the right way. We saw what happened with the lack of regulation with the financial crisis. As credit unions we should be on the front line of consumer protection. Its often used as a wolf whistle by the credit union trade associations to organize their members. It does not serve our members well. Q: When you talk with credit union peers, what do they think about what you are doing? Bynum: People wrote our epitaph our eulogy a long time ago. But we are in our 25th year now. It would behoove credit unions to look at what we are doing well and try to emulate it. The country is becoming more diverse. The communities we serve are increasingly becoming the majority. We have to be relevant to those populations. Financial institutions credit unions included ignore them at their own peril. Q: How do you make money on a small dollar, payday type loan? Bynum: We see it as a gateway, as an entry relationship. People will take out a $200 loan at a payday lender that costs $2000. Well refinance that loan at a reasonable rate. Then well get that individual into a banking relationship that will help them. We dont look at it as a single transaction. We look at it as part of a relationship. Q: What kind of rate do you typically charge? Bynum: 16%, maybe 18% for a small dollar loan. Sometimes its less. We have a very cool product that many of our members use called Borrow and Save. You need a $250 loan. Well write you a $500 loan where $250 goes into a savings account. When you pay that $500 you have $250 in a savings account that is there for you to tap when you have the next emergency. You now have a relationship with a depository that will help you meet your needs. You ask how we do this and make money. Well, we do it to break even. Our mission isnt making as much money as we can. Our mission is improving lives of people in some of the most distressed places in this country.A longer version of this conversation in a podcast format is available here for listening. Recent events in the U.S., as well as policy changes abroad, have elevated the continued risk of reduced interchange revenue with respect to both credit and debit card programs. Some events with the potential to shift the interchange revenue landscape include: A $6.2 billion settlement between Visa/Mastercard and a class of 12 million+ merchants was intended to resolve a 2005 antitrust case. Some merchants, however, may elect to opt out of the settlement and pursue their own lawsuits and negotiations directly. This particular settlement is based only on monetary damages, while another related case is pending that will address Visa/Mastercard business practices and rules. Changes in Congress, including new leadership of the House Financial Services Committee. Uncertainty surrounding the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the change in heads of the CFPB from Richard Cordray to Mick Mulvaney to Kathy Kraninger over a 12-month period. A December 2018 proposal by both Visa and Mastercard to cap interchange on all transactions conducted in 31 countries that are part of the European Economic Area, which is an international agreement that allows for the extension of the European Unions (EU) single market to non-EU member parties. These events and their effects on interchange revenue in the coming years could have a significant impact across the credit union and payments industries. PSCU, the nations premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO), estimates that a quarter of credit card revenue and more than half of debit revenue is comprised of interchange fees. In the short-term, credit unions can take several actions to best position themselves to help offset a reduction in interchange. In particular, credit unions should continue to introduce and promote card programs that yield higher interchange, such as premium card products (credit) and business products (credit and debit). In the case of debit, credit unions should carefully evaluate PIN network participation as each network has unique interchange revenue rates and fees. Credit unions should also continue to push for earning top-of-card-on-file positions across online and digital channels like Amazon, Netflix, PayPal and various app stores, as well as within mobile wallets. Once a user stores a card as the preferred payment method in these channels, it is highly unlikely he or she will take the time to change it, resulting in interchange income every time a purchase is made through that particular app or mobile wallet. Long-term, a significant loss of interchange would be material and problematic from a profit and loss (P&L) perspective, but issuers would have the ability to adjust certain levers for credit card programs. For example, issuers may opt to maximize net interest margin, as regulations permit, through higher credit card rates and the lowering of deposit rates to manage funding cost. A drastic reduction in interchange could lead issuers to decrease the value of rewards programs, which is currently a key driver among credit card programs. According to findings from a recent study conducted by PSCU, over 93 percent of survey respondents indicated they receive a reward or benefit when making purchases with their credit card. Given that nearly 60 percent of debit revenue comes from interchange fees, this loss could be more significant and the ability to recoup through the card program itself would be difficult. Introducing an annual fee or other debit card fees may drive members to use lower-cost alternatives that would likely leverage ACH. There may be an option to increase pricing or fees for the underlying checking account, but this decision would need to be made relative to price sensitivity and competitiveness as credit unions seek low-cost funding via checking in the rising rate environment. Credit unions should continue to collaborate with trusted industry partners such as PSCU to seek out innovative payment alternatives that would enhance revenue, as well as explore new revenue streams. Implemented alternatives should strive to keep the credit unions brand front-and-center and provide an exceptional member experience, as well as help position the credit union to combat negative impacts from the changing interchange landscape. 'Presidents Rule should be imposed on West Bengal to control this Rogue TMchhi Govt under a corrupt CM Mamta Banerjee,' Babul's tweeted. Speaking to ANI here, Babul said: 'The BJP will address a press conference in the state on Tuesday over the ongoing tussle between the Central Bureau of Investigation and state police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.' (Photo: ANI) Howrah: The Bharatiya Janata Party will address a press conference on Tuesday over the ongoing tussle between the Central Bureau of Investigation and state Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, said Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries Babul Supriyo. Speaking to ANI here, Babul said: "The BJP will address a press conference in the state on Tuesday over the ongoing tussle between the Central Bureau of Investigation and state police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar." "Why was the CBI stopped by police if Kumar has nothing to be afraid of? The CBI has the right to investigate the matter as they were asked to do so by the Supreme Court. Trinamool Congress (TMC) is deliberately blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah into the matter as they want to politicise the issue," said the Union Minister. Responding to TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's ongoing dharna at Metro Channel, Babul said, "There was no need to sit on a dharna. It is a political narrative of TMC to prepare a plan against the BJP and then follow it. Mamata is just trying to create a constitutional crisis in the state." "Rajiv has earlier headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the CBI has the proof that he had tampered electronic and paper evidence in the chit fund scam. All papers state that Rajeev has been absconding and not cooperating with the CBI. The CBI has a right to conduct surprise raids because warrant may breach secrecy," he added. The Union Minister earlier took the Twitter and wrote, "The desperation & fear of the TMC & Mamata Banerjee are clearly visible in this decision. The state govt is trying 2 blocks every programme of BJP, be it a rally, yatra or the landing of Yogi Adityanath Ji's chopper. This shows the undemocratic attitude of the government." "Presidents Rule should be imposed on West Bengal to control this Rogue TMchhi Govt under a corrupt CM Mamta Banerjee. This is a constitutional crisis created by Mamta to shield her corrupt & tainted accomplices," read another tweet of Babul. A full-blown face-off between West Bengal government and the Centre erupted as a CBI team moved to arrest Kumar, which in turn were unceremoniously denied entry to Kolkata Police chief's residence and then detained. Escalating her confrontation with the Centre, Banerjee started a sit-in on Sunday night to protest, in what her Trinamool Congress party called a "coup" by the Modi government. Extending support to Mamata, her party workers also staged a 'rail roko protest' in Rishra and Asansol over the ongoing issue. The TMC workers have also burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Asansol. CBI interim director M Nageshwar Rao has said that the CBI will approach the Supreme Court on Monday accusing the Bengal government of impeding the investigation of a court-ordered probe into the chit fund scams. Rajeev Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre was heading a SIT on the Saradha and Rose Valley scams. The CBI wanted the top officer to hand over the seizure list made during his probe, sources said. Reportedly, the top cop was to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he is not responding to notices to appear before the agency. Rajeev Kumar, according to media reports, became apprehensive of his arrest after Bengali film producer Shrikant Mohita was taken into custody. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has left no doubt she won't put money in the funding bill under negotiation for the "wall." She humorously suggested we might plant a row of flowers on the border and call that a wall. Last week, however, she suggested "enhanced fencing, Normandy fencing" might be a different matter. She also let on that "if [negotiators] have some suggestions about certain localities where technology, some infrastructure," that might be a different matter. For his part, President Donald Trump has pursued three lines of argument. First, he now claims a big, beautiful concrete wall isn't necessary - or wasn't even promised. (It isn't necessary, but he did promise.) One man's "steel slats" might be another man's "infrastructure." Second, Trump has insisted the wall is already being built. This is both false and idiotic, since he staged a 35-day shutdown because it was deemed necessary to get a wall. An Associated Press report reminds us, "Most work under contracts awarded by the Trump administration has been for replacement of existing barrier. When Trump says large parts of the wall 'have already been built,' he's not acknowledging that previous administrations built those sections. Barriers currently extend for 654 miles . . . or about one-third of the border. That construction was mostly done from 2006 to 2009." (What, Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama built the wall and Trump couldn't?) Third, Trump threatens that if he doesn't get what he wants (and what is that? - don't ask!), he'll declare a national emergency. On that front, his conditional threats, failure to pursue a wall for two years with a GOP-controlled House and Senate, the absence of an actual emergency and extended negotiations pretty much would doom his ploy if it got to court. Besides, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., having discovered he is part of an equal branch of government, reportedly told Trump he risks a vote of disapproval in the Senate, a vote that would require only a simple majority. ("McConnell told Trump that Congress might end up passing a resolution disapproving the emergency declaration, the people said - which would force the president to contemplate issuing his first veto ever, in the face of opposition from his own party," The Washington Post reported.) The one move that both sides in Congress agree upon: Another shutdown is out of the question. (The Senate and House could pass a clean continuing resolution through the end of the fiscal year and dare Trump to veto it.) How then does this end? There are a bunch of possibilities: - A wall by any other name. The negotiators agree to infrastructure, secondary barrier, fencing or whatever other term they call it. Trump insists this is a wall. Everyone goes back to their own news universe. (Fox News screams, "Victory for Trump!"; the mainstream media say, "Defeat for Trump!") - They reach no deal but agree to keep talking. Perhaps they repeat this several times until we reach the end of the fiscal year. - Trump decides a fence is not a wall, rejects Congress's deal and declares an emergency. The House and even Trump's own party in the Senate overturn that decision and/or he loses in court. (Now both sides holler, "Defeat for Trump!") - Trump lies to himself and his supporters, saying the wall is being built or has been built or can be built anyway. (Trump cultists cannot quite explain the reason for the shutdown but declare victory. Everyone else exclaims, "Huh?!?") We should recognize this crazy state of affairs for what it is. Trump cannot get what he wants (a concrete wall from sea to shining sea), so we have to find something he can pretend is a wall. In sum, the whole country treats Trump as addled or clueless or an infant - and he's willing to be pacified. Madness? More like a survival strategy for the Trump years. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her struggle will continue till 'the situation is resolved.' Banerjee launched a dharna in the heart of Kolkata on Sunday to protest the move of the CBI to question Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar as she accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of plotting a coup. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Kolkata: The West Benagal chief minister Mamata Banerjee during Save the Constitution on Monday said that a memorandum has been signed by all the opposition parties and will be submitted to the Election Commission. Banerjee launched a dharna in the heart of Kolkata on Sunday to protest the move of the CBI to question Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar as she accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of plotting a coup. She said her struggle will continue till the situation is resolved. Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here. RTHK: EU says Brexit No Deal looks more likely One of the European Union's most senior officials warned that a no deal Brexit looks ever more likely on Monday, after an "inconclusive" meeting with British MPs. Members of the House of Commons Brexit steering committee came to Brussels to meet Martin Selmayr, EU president Jean-Claude Juncker's powerful right-hand man. The talks had been meant to explore ways to secure an orderly divorce after the British parliament rejected the deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May. Instead, Selmayr was left more pessimistic than before. "The meeting confirmed that the EU did well to start its no deal preparations in December 2017," Selmayr tweeted after the British delegation left the talks. Some British officials have suggested May might be able to get a deal through parliament if the EU make "legally binding" changes to the withdrawal agreement. In particular, London wants to see a promise that Northern Ireland can stay in the EU customs union indefinitely, known as the backstop, changed or taken out entirely. But Selmayr reiterated the EU's firm opposition to this idea, and cast doubt on whether a deal would pass the Commons even if May asks for and receives concessions. "On the EU side, nobody is considering this," he said. "Asked whether any assurance would help to get the Withdrawal Agreement through the Commons, the answers of MPs were ... inconclusive," he tweeted. Earlier, the chairman of the Commons Brexit committee, Hilary Benn had described the meeting as "useful", but confirmed there was no breakthrough. Benn, a member of the opposition Labour Party, said he had suggested Brexit be delayed so that a full future relationship can be negotiated before Britain leaves. The suggestion, made "personally" and not on behalf of the committee, was received "courteously", he said, but Brussels is waiting for May to say what she wants. The committee's Conservative vice chair, John Whittingdale, told reporters that he had given Selmayr a suggestion that the backstop be removed from the deal. "He asked us whether or not a letter which would be legally binding might be sufficient, but I think we would need to see what that contained to have an absolute assurance that it does give us an exit," Whittingdale said. "Now if that can't be obtained then I think it will be difficult to get a majority in the House of Commons -- particularly after the last vote," he warned. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2019-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. PARIS - Key European leaders have overwhelmingly backed opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president after President Nicolas Maduro ignored a demand by seven European Union states that he call snap elections by Sunday in a move to resolve the country's political and economic crisis. Spain, France, Britain and Germany followed through on their promise, and by noon Monday a total of 13 European nations had joined in solidarity with Guaido, recognizing him as president. The 28-member European Union overall, however, was unable to agree on a unified position due in part to Italy's opposition, according to a French diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The United States recognized Guaido, who heads Venezuela's National Assembly, in late January when he declared himself the country's legitimate leader after maintaining that a presidential election last year was rigged to keep Maduro in power. In a taped interview that aired on CBS News on Sunday, President Donald Trump said that military action in Venezuela against Maduro is "an option." In a statement issued Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the EU nations' move and called for the "Venezuelan military and security forces to support their country's constitution and protect all Venezuelan citizens, including Interim President Guaido and his family, as well as U.S. and other foreign citizens in Venezuela." Meanwhile, a USAID spokesman said the United States continues to work with Guaido and neighboring countries to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuela, which has been ravaged by shortages of food and medicine. Maduro has consistently refused such aid, saying his opponents have concocted the crisis. In Europe, undeniably the most outspoken political leader against Maduro was Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Spain is one of the main destinations for migrants from Venezuela, many of whom have fled Maduro's rule and the continuing humanitarian crisis. According to United Nations statistics, as many as 208,300 Venezuelans have arrived in Spain. In a video statement posted on Twitter, Sanchez recognized Guaido as interim leader and called for new elections "as soon as possible." "Elections that are free, democratic, with guarantees and without exclusions, in which Venezuelans decide, with their voice and vote, their future, without fear, pressure or threats," he said. "It is, definitely, the people of Venezuela who have to decide its future." French President Emmanuel Macron said much the same. "Venezuelans have the right to express themselves freely and democratically," he wrote Monday on Twitter. After British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt confirmed that his country would join those backing Guaido, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said London was studying the possible sanctions. "Venezuelan people deserve a better future. They have suffered enough, and the Maduro regime must end. It is time for free and fair elections," the spokesman told reporters, according to Reuters. "We are looking at what further steps we can take to ensure peace and democracy in Venezuela including through sanctions." Speaking to reporters in Brussels after a meeting of European Union foreign affairs ministers, top EU diplomat Federica Mogherini said that "the EU and its member states never recognized as legitimate the presidential elections that were held last year [in Venezuela]. We did not participate, none of us, at the inauguration of Maduro on January 10. We recognize as the legitimate institution in the country the National Assembly and recognize the role of its president." She said the European Union will take part in a meeting with South American countries in Montevideo later this week "to try to find both a democratic and peaceful solution to the crisis in Venezuela." Mogherini added it was not up to the European Union to recognize countries and their leaders, as it is a matter for EU countries to decide whether they should diplomatically recognize a nation and its leaders. However, she said that later Monday a group of European countries would release a joint statement calling for snap elections in Venezuela and to recognize the president of the National Assembly as the interim president. In a statement, Venezuela's Foreign Ministry rejected the announcements by European countries, charging that they were "officially joining the U.S.'s strategy to overthrow the legitimate government of President Nicolas Maduro." The government, it said, will "completely revise bilateral relations with those countries from now on." Maduro fired back personally at his international critics during a military exercise Monday morning in the state of Aragua, east of Caracas. In the past week, the leader has attended numerous exercises and spoken to soldiers, likely because of the major role the military will play in determining his future. "I call to reject intervention," he said, urging the soldiers to defend the country against "Yankee imperialism." "The coward government of Spain has made a terrible decision in the history of relations between Spain and Venezuela. I tell Pedro Sanchez, God forbid, but if some day a coup takes place, your hands will be tainted with blood," he said. He added that "no one imposes an ultimatum on Venezuela." The moves by European powers further isolate Maduro, who has already lost the recognition of a host of nations, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Israel. If all European countries follow in the footsteps of the Trump administration, their decision to recognize Guaido could potentially cut the Venezuelan government off from any accounts or assets in those countries. Already, the Bank of England has reportedly denied a request by Maduro to repatriate $1.3 billion worth of Venezuelan gold being kept in its vaults. "The unity of positions in the modern and most influential foreign powers leaves Maduro isolated and weakened, and it strengthens Guaido's leadership internally," said Luis Vicente Leon, a political analyst and director of the Datanalisis polling agency. EU support, opposition leaders say, may also help break the Maduro government's narrative that Venezuela's crisis is simply a proxy war between the United States and Russia. "It marks this fight not as a fight of Trump versus Maduro or Latin America versus Maduro but a fight that is of the world against Maduro," said Julio Borges, an exiled opposition politician who has been key in building Guaido's strategy. In Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who recognized Guaido on Sunday as interim president, announced $53 million in humanitarian aid for Venezuela. "It's an important moment to support Venezuelans," Trudeau said at a meeting of the Lima Group, a 14-nation body formed in 2017 to address the Venezuelan crisis. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas separately announced Monday that his country would freeze $5.7 million in aid to Venezuela but would provide the funds when circumstances there allow it. The United States promised $20 million in aid last week. In a massive anti-Maduro protest on Saturday, Guaido said aid convoys would start to arrive this week. He said he would call for demonstrations this week to pressure security forces to let the aid in, as Maduro has refused assistance that he describes as veiled intervention by "imperialist countries." In Caracas, Guaido has been welcoming each country's move one by one on Twitter. Early Monday, he posted Macron's tweet and wrote: "We thank President Emmanuel Macron and the whole French government for supporting our fight. Together we will achieve the end of usurpation, the transition government and free elections for the recovery of our country. #EuropaiswithVenezuela." Francisco Rodriguez, economist and head of Torino Capital investment bank in New York, said perhaps the biggest blow to the Maduro government of European recognition of Guaido is that it might lose access to the European payment system. Of Venezuela's imports, 75 percent come from countries that now recognize Guaido. "It'll become hard for them to make imports, as well as to make any transactions, since most of both are done through the American or the European financial system," Rodriguez said. Venezuela could also lose assets based in European countries, such as its 50 percent share of the oil refining company Nyas, which is valued at $374 million, according to Rodriguez's estimates. The economic effects remain to be seen, as countries decide whether they will assign control of accounts and assets to Guaido or not, he said. Mogherini said in Brussels last week that "further sanctions" would be considered, but any such measure would require unanimity on the part of all EU member states. Some, notably Italy, under the control of a right-wing populist government, have refused to recognize Guaido. In the words of Luigi di Maio, Italy's deputy prime minister, Guaido has "not been elected by the people" as president. - - - The Washington Post's Krygier and Faiola reported from Miami. Quentin Aries in Brussels contributed to this report. --- Video Embed Code Video: Protesters in Washington, D.C. gathered Feb. 2 to denounce Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in favor of opposition leader Juan Guaido, who the international community recognizes as the country's leader.(Blair Guild,Melissa Macaya/The Washington Post) Embed code: HARTFORD - An old-fashioned battle over hunting is brewing in the General Assembly as lawmakers consider a bill that would turn Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk into a wildlife refuge. Sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, the bill would end hunting on the shoreline property while allowing fishing. The Long Island Sound park is well known for its duck population. For up-to-date information on public policy issues, sign up for the CT Politics newsletter. A public hearing before the legislatures environment committee on Monday drew supporters and opponents of hunting, and their views of the bill followed those lines. "I am one of the few hunters that hunts from Calf Pasture Beach and vehemently oppose the designation as a wildlife refuge and encourage the committee to do the same," said Jon Duranko of Westport. "I have been hunting below the high-water mark at Calf Pasture Beach for nearly 15 years," Duranko said. "We must be 250 feet from an occupied dwelling and shooting seaward. You cannot take a shot that is unsafe." Natalie Jarnstedt of Greenwich took the opposite view and urged the committee to support the bill. "It is only fair that non-consumptive visitors to Calf Pasture should be able to enjoy this beautiful recreational area without hearing gunshots and risk injury and even death," Jarnstedt said. "It has become quite obvious that areas where hunting takes place are not without risk to residents," Jarnstedt added. In 2017, more than 16,000 ducks were harvested in Connecticut and 11,000 or so geese. Ducks can be found on small ponds, creaks, rivers and along the Long Island Sound coastline. But the conflict between duck hunters, who often stalk their prey near populated areas, and non-hunters has grown in recent years. Last year, Fair Haven residents near the Quinnipiac River formed the Quinnipiac Meadows Preserve and distributed fliers asking hunters to move further up river and away from their neighborhoods. The states waterfowl season generally runs from October to the end of January. For and against Diane Cece, a board member for the East Norwalk Neighborhood Association, said Duffs bill raises more questions than answers, pointing out there has been little public discussion about a refuge. The board asked the committee to table the bill for now. Scott Bradley of Norwalk told the committee that the bill seemed like "legislative over reach." Bradley added a nearby boat launch is regularly used by hunters and said the bill would not reduce the likelihood of off shore gun fire. "It would not solve the perceived problem for the very few people that have expressed concern," Bradley said. "In fact, it would have virtually no impact on reducing the likelihood that people will hear gun fire." Fran Silverman, communications director for Friends of Animals, said there is no need for hunting. "Hunters in Connecticut represent less than one percent of the population and waterfowl hunters are fraction of that," Silverman said. "Yet they are allowed to hunt in all but three of Connecticuts state forests," Silverman said. "Friends of Animals supports [the bill] so visitors of recreation areas such as Calf Pasture do not have to endure the sounds of gunfire and witness the shooting of ducks and other waterfowl." State Rep. Lucy Dathan, D-New Canaan, said she worries about someone being hurt. "To me, its only a matter of time before we are likely to suffer a gun tragedy at this location" Dathan said. "I think we need to reflect the practical reality of the location and its proximity to inhabited area and take action to prevent the use of firearms there." State Rep. Craig Miner, R-Litchfield and an environment committee member, noted duck hunting is a highly controlled sport. "Waterfowl hunting is tightly regulated, for recreation and conservation," Miner said. "Maybe we can sit down and talk about what the real facts are surrounding waterfowl hunting." bcummings@ctpost.com BRIDGEPORT All adoption fees will be waived at Bridgeport Animal Control this weekend, thanks to a New Canaan-based nonprofit. The Cathy Kangas Foundation for Animals announced on Monday that it will pay all adoption fees at Bridgeport Animal Control from Feb. 8-10. We are delighted to work with Bridgeport Animal Control to find homes for all the animals in their care. We hope that eliminating adoption fees will help remove a barrier to adoption so that the shelter is a temporary foster facility particularly for senior cats and dogs, said Kangas, who is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Humane Society of the United States. In order to adopt a pet, applicants who rent must bring a notarized letter from their landlord stating they are allowed to have pets. Those who own their home must provide proof of ownership such as a tax bill, mortgage statement or utility bill. If an applicant has another dog in their home and/or children, a meet and greet is part of the application process. All applicants must also provide one personal reference. Bridgeport Animal Control, the largest municipal animal shelter in the state, currently houses more than 30 animals. It handles the adoption of over 1,500 animals per year. To see animals up for adoption, visit the shelters website. There are more than 30 animals looking for a home. We hope that Free the Shelters will encourage people to adopt one of our many wonderful animals. We want to thank The Cathy Kangas Foundation for Animals for choosing our shelter and paying our adoption fees so that these animals find a home that they richly deserve, said Sgt. Stacey Lyons of Bridgeport Animal Control. Since May 2017, Kangas and her Free the Shelters initiative has worked with 67 shelters in the United States and Canada finding homes for more than 4,000 animals. STRATFORD A task force charged with overseeing a community conversation about what will happen to the Shakespeare theater property is scheduled to meet for the first time Tuesday. The Shakespeare Property Task Force will gather at 5:30 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers at Town Hall, 2725 Main St. Mayor Laura Hoydick announced the formation of the 11-member committee last month. The task force will be co-chaired by Anthony Nizzardo and Tom Dillon, and its other members will be Al Baran, Amanda Meeson, Ed Goodrich, Eric Hampton, Peter Wood, Sib Law, Scott Bartelson, Patti Sorrentino-Galello and Frank Bevacqua. The once-iconic theater, which had been closed since 1989, burned to the ground just after midnight Jan. 13. The cause of the blaze is under investigation. On Monday the town released audio of 17 911 calls made to emergency dispatchers by people in the area who reported the fire. The first call was made 12:49 a.m. by a man who says The entire theater is in flames! You need to send every (expletive) available fire department to the Shakespeare theater now! Its in the flames! the man says. Oh my God, please, oh my God, its in flames! At a news conference the day after the fire, Hoydick said the property was insured, but the town hasnt yet released full details of the coverage or how much of a claim has been filed. Hearst Connecticut Media has sent the town a freedom of information request seeking any paperwork regarding a claim. The 14-acre property was deeded to the town by the state in 2005. Among the restrictions in the deed 20 percent must remain open space, and the entire property shall remain accessible to the general public for their enjoyment in perpetuity. A consultant will be hired to work with the task force to set up charrettes and meetings for the public to share thoughts about what to do with the property. There are many visions about how the town should move forward with this property, and we want to make sure everyone who wants to be a part of this process can be, the mayor said. Hoydick said that once formal community conversations are finished, the task force will write a report to be reviewed by the Stratford Redevelopment Agency and given to the town council. Those wishing to receive updates regarding the property can send their name, email and phone number to Shakespeare@TownofStratford.com to be added to an information distribution list. ethan.fry@hearstmediact.com Phlatbed raised $500,000 in venture funding split between the state-backed Connecticut Innovations venture capital fund in Rocky Hill and Frontiers Acquisitions. Norwalk startup launches with Uber-like service for moves Norwalk startup rolls out app to 'hail' truck owners Located in Norwalk under founder Alani Kuye, Phlatbed runs an Uber-like app to help people find truck owners who can transport large, bulky items, with 9,000 drivers having signed up to date and 20,000 people having registered to use Phlatbed. Separately, Connecticut Innovations formally approved $1 million in funding for DOZR, a Kitchener, Ontario-based startup that won last years VentureClash competition with an app for people to rent construction equipment. Frontiers Acquisitions is run by Oni Chukwu, CEO of the Norwalk-based convention application provider Aventri. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman Ponant has announced savings and additional commissions on new bookings for a selection of 33 itineraries to Latin America in 2019 and 2020, according to a press release. In addition to bonus savings of up to 30% on fares depending on the dates, travelers will enjoy a $950 air credit ($1,900 per couple), and travel advisors who book the itineraries will receive an additional 5% commission. Savings apply to new bookings only and must be reserved with deposits paid by June 30, 2019, the company said. In 2019, the luxury French brand will have four ships in Latin America, including Le Boreal, Le Soleal, LAustral and the new Le Champlain. Port calls include Chichen Itza and the historic center of Campeche, both UNESCO World Heritage sites in Mexico. There is also flightseeing over the Blue Hole in Belize and a visit to Cortes in Honduras including the Mayan site of Copan and the Omoa Fortress. During a call at Santo Tomas De Castillas in Guatemala, guests can go to Tikal, one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Mayan civilization. Among the options is the 14-day Natural Wonders of Central America itinerary, sailing from Quetzal to Guayaquil on Le Soleal with calls into six countries. The cruise sails from September 23 to October 6, 2019. Fares start at $6,150 per person and are available with a savings of up to 25% plus the air credit and enhanced travel advisor commission. Hurtigruten will add more ships to year-round expedition service in 2021 as the Trollfjord and Finnmarken will be positioned in the market, along with the Spitsbergen and Midnatsol, which will be moved to year-round expedition cruising. Weve had an ambition to grow the number of ships in the expedition market since I joined the company, and we are driving that strategy, Daniel Skjeldam, CEO, told Cruise Industry News. Were taking ships out of the coastal route and adding them to the expedition setting on the coast. Between now and 2021, Skjeldam will also oversee the launch of three new hybrid expedition vessels for the line. The Roald Amundsen joins the fleet this spring, followed by Fridtjof Nansen in 2020 and an unnamed newbuild in 2021. The Fram will stay in the expedition world too, and given that the Lofoten continues her Hurtigruten career Hurtigruten should have upwards of 3,670 dedicated expedition berths and 10 vessels by 2021. That will make Hurtigruten the largest expedition operator, and the most sustainable, according to Skjeldam, as a massive $850 million refit plan includes LNG, battery packs and biogas. Of note, Hurtigrutens newbuilds are large, at 530 berths, and the existing ships being moved to pure expedition operation will have an estimated 500 berths each. You cannot drive the market with 100-bed ships, said Skjeldam. We are allocating our largest ships to expeditions. The Midnatsol, Finnmarken and Trollfjord are extremely well suited. Early plans call for year-round deployment for that trio on the Norwegian coast, but with a completely different itinerary, no night-time calls, and longer port stays, plus more shore excursions. Expect the homeports to change too, with Hurtigruten eyeing major airlift in cities like Hamburg. There are several multi genre festivals taking place in various cities in February. On Basant Panchami, forgotten musical legend Nayak Baiju is being remembered in the fairyland town of Chanderi. Sadly today, Baiju Bawra is mainly remembered by the 1950s film made on him, which depicted him as a bawra (crazy). Though not much is known about him historically, musicians perception of Baiju Nayak is quite different. A nayak, he was a master of all four streams of music sur, (melody) laya, (rhythm) nritya (dance) and sahitya (literature). It is said he was a disciple of Swami Haridas of Vrindavan, and was born and died in Chanderi on Basant Panchami. The memorial is being organized by the Shri Achaleshwar Mahadev Temple Foundation, Dala near Banaras, and this year is the 4th edition. Chandra Prakash Tiwari, the organizer said, today Tansen is a household name, as he lives on through his disciples, but Nayak Baiju is scarcely remembered. I want his Samadhi (tomb) in Chanderi to become a place of pilgrimage for musicians. There are so many compositions attributed to him that are sung even today. The memorial to Baiju Bawra on 10th February will feature a discussion of his work, plus a talk on his lost tradition by several eminent thinkers. This will be followed by a dhrupad concert by Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar, torchbearer of the 19th generation line of musicians of the Dagars, descended from Swami Haridas. Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar has also recorded several Nayak Baiju dhrupads in different Ragas. He will also be presented with the 4th Baiju Bawra Memorial award. The 4th edition of the Udaipur World Music Festival will take place in Udaipur from 15-17th February. Sanjiv Bhargava of Seher has meticulously structured a festival that will have mass appeal with musicians from different musical genres and countries including Europe, Iran and Indonesia. There are different venues for the concerts adding to the exotic attraction of the event. For Indian classical music aficionados, there will be recitals by rising star Manjusha Patil, Carnatic flautist Shashank, and quawalli by Chand Afzal. Shashank verbalized his excitement at performing Carnatic music, which is one of the greatest systems of music. I am happy that the Udaipur festival always presents recitals of both North and South Indian music; music is universal. Yet another city in Rajasthan, Jodhpur will host the 12th edition of the World Sacred Spirit Festival from 22-24th Feb at Mehrangarh Fort. As usual, there will be a bevy of international artists from Argentina Iran China Mongolia Sweden Scotland France Spain Anatolia and Algeria, in addition of course to India. The Indian artists include Ustad Shujaat Khan on the sitar, and violinists Dr L Subramaniam and his son Ambi. The Patiala Heritage festival will be held from 19- 24th February. Though musically today Punjab is linked with robust Bhangra pop; the strong classical music tradition of this region is old. Interestingly, all 10 Sikh Gurus were trained musicians, in addition to being spiritual leaders. All the daily prayers in the Guru Granth Sahib that are recited at dawn, and dusk (except the Japji Sahib) are in Raga. One of the most prolific gharanas of vocal music is the Patiala gharana, whose stalwart Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan till today remains one of the most revered musicians. The festival will include Punjabi food, display of crafts, and heritage walks in addition to the music and dance festival. There are several venues the grand 18th century Qila Mubaraks stone walls will be lit up to provide a backdrop to the music and dance items, the Sheesh Mahal will host the crafts mela, the Motibagh Palace will be the backdrop of a grand Sound and Light show on Guru Nanaks life. The music on offer includes an unusual musical trio of brothers Ustad Nishat Khan on sitar, Ustad Irshad Khan on surbahar and Ustad Wajahat Khan on sarod. All of them are from one of the premier instrumental gharanas, the Etawah gharana. Another huge draw is the stunningly talented Kaushiki Chakravorty, appropriately of the Patiala gharana. The diva bubbled I am so excited to perform in Patiala, as I feel such a link with the place through my music. It is incredible never to have been there and yet my identity all over the world is through Patiala. Incidentally, her father Pt Ajoy Chakravortys music school in Kolkata is training over 1000 students in the Patiala style. Amongst other attractions, there will also be performances by Pandits Rajan Sajan Mishra of Banaras, dance ballet Krishna performed by Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra and Priti Patel with her troupe of dancers from Manipur who will perform in an act entitled Fire. Crossville, TN (38555) Today Thunderstorms, some strong this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low 59F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms, some strong this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low 59F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Mark Weidemaier and Mitu Gulati A few days ago, we wondered why the U.S. government had constrained U.S. holders of PDVSA debt instruments to sell only to non-U.S. parties. The constraint would likely kill liquidity for these bonds and impose losses on bondholders. But why? And why impose the constraint on PDVSA bonds but not the Republics bonds? On Friday, the Treasury apparently amended the sanctions order to impose the same constraint on the Republics bonds. Now these too can only be sold to non-U.S. persons. But again, why? Venezuela hasnt issued new bonds for a while, so why kill the secondary market for existing bonds? Here are four possible explanations; wed be grateful to hear others from readers: 1. Cut Off Oxygen : Venezuela has made a habit of issuing bonds and then parking them in domestic financial institutions, for later sale when the government is low on cash. Counterparties have been willing to accept these bonds in the hope that a future government will pay, even if the current one wont. Perhaps the U.S. government believes Venezuela still has a stockpile of these parked bonds and is trying to eliminate this last source of oxygen for the Maduro government. 2. Whats Coming is Brutal : Perhaps the U.S. government expects a brutal restructuring and wants to give U.S. holders an opportunity to escape by selling to non-U.S. parties. But query: If this is the story, why would anyone want to buy? (Ans: They wouldnt, thereby reducing liquidity even further). 3. Dont Want Irate Bondholders Calling and Yelling at US Treasury Officials : This explanation is a version of the first one (Oxygen denial) and says that the U.S. wants to dramatically reduce the value of Venezuelan bonds in the short run, but not to zero, so that U.S. holders who really need to exit will still have a small escape window. 4. Cut Venezuela Out of the Index : Nearly two years ago, Harvard economist Ricardo Hausmann urged JP Morgan to remove Venezuelan bonds from its index (see here, for Hausmanns now-famous Hunger Bonds article). Venezuela needed to solve a humanitarian crisis, not pay coupons to foreign bondholders. Hausmann understood that many investors would view Venezuelan bonds less favorably if the bonds were removed from JP Morgans index. Indirectly, the U.S. government might be trying to bring about this result. To stay in the index, a bond must be traded to some minimal degree. If the sanctions prevent this, Venezuelan bonds may be removed from index. But why would this matter to the U.S. government? Hausmann was worried about coupon payments being made to foreign creditors in lieu of assistance to the people of Venezuela. But Venezuela is not paying any coupons these days (except on the one collateralized PDVSA bond). Explanations one and three seem most plausible to us. Perhaps the U.S. government is hoping for regime change in the near future. If so, the pain bondholders feel will be temporary and offset by gains once a reasonable government is in place. But if Maduro retains power, then the pain for U.S. holders of these instruments will be significant. Close The majority of people who die by suicide deny having suicidal thoughts when asked by doctors in the weeks and months leading up to their death, a ground-breaking UNSW Sydney study has found. The research questions a widely held belief that suicide can be accurately predicted by psychiatrists and clinicians by assessing a patient's risk, especially in the short-term. The meta-analysis, co-authored by clinical psychiatrist and Conjoint Professor Matthew Large from UNSW's School of Psychiatry, is published today in the journal BJPsych Open. The review of data from 70 major studies of suicidal thoughts shows that, as a stand-alone test, only 1.7% of people with suicidal ideas died by suicide. About 60% of people who died by suicide had denied having suicidal thoughts when asked by a psychiatrist or GP. "We know that suicide ideas are pretty common and that suicide is actually a rare event, even among people with severe mental illness," said Professor Large, an international expert on suicide risk assessment who also works in the emergency department of a major Sydney hospital. "But what we didn't know was how frequently people who go on to suicide have denied having suicidal thoughts when asked directly," he said. The study showed that 80% of patients who were not undergoing psychiatric treatment and who died of suicide reported not to have suicidal thoughts when asked by a GP. "This study proves we can no longer ration psychiatric care based on the presence of suicidal thoughts alone. Hospital and community care teams in Australia are extremely under-resourced, and this needs to change. We need to provide high-quality, patient-centred care for everyone experiencing mental illness, whether or not they reveal they are experiencing suicidal thoughts." Professor Large said that clinicians should not assume that patients experiencing mental distress without reporting suicidal ideas were not at elevated risk of suicide. Asking about suicidal thoughts was a central skill for health professionals, he said, but clinicians should be not be persuaded into false confidence generated by a lack of ideation. "Doctors sometimes rely on what is known as suicidal ideation - being preoccupied with thoughts and planning suicide - as a crucial test for short-term suicide risk, and it has been argued it could form part of a screening test for suicide," said the study's lead author, Dr Catherine McHugh, a registrar psychiatrist. "Our results show that this is not in the best interests of patients. "Some people will try to hide their suicidal feelings from their doctor, either out of shame or because they don't want to be stopped. We also know that suicidal feelings can fluctuate rapidly, and people may suicide very impulsively after only a short period of suicidal thoughts." The main message, said Professor Large, was that clinicians should give less weight to suicidal ideation than had been the case. "It means trying to better understand the patient's distress and not making patients wait weeks for treatment or denying treatment in the absence of suicidal thoughts." There was also an important message for people bereaved of a loved one after a suicide, said Professor Large. "Even if they knew their relative was suicidal, the risk of death was low. And it was not their fault if they did not know someone was suicidal." See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Jojoba oil manufacturer Jojoba Desert (A.C.S.) Ltd. has announced the opening of its first U.S.-based subsidiary. Operating as Jojoba Desert, Inc., the subsidiary will serve the North America and Canadian markets. It will include business and sales offices, and will manage inventory and oversee logistics and product delivery for U.S.-based customers. Jojoba Desert Inc. is managed by Angela Medina, business development director, USA and Canada. Medina brings more than 25 years of experience to the role, with expertise in global product development and distribution, team training, marketing, operations and direct B-to-B sales. She has held positions at GM Collin Skin Care, Decleor and Walgreens Boots Alliance. Angela brings a wealth of experience in the cosmetics industry from the USA and Canada markets, and is innovative, results-driven, and experienced in both domestic and international business practices, says Lee Reuveni, CEO, Jojoba Desert (A.C.S.) Ltd. She has a successful record of driving sales through new business development, account management, strong relationships, marketing and service strategies for global beauty and lifestyle brands. We could not imagine a better leader for our new venture in the United States, and we are thrilled to welcome her to the company. The business office for Jojoba Desert Inc. can be found at: Jojoba Desert Inc. 560 Sylvan Avenue, Suite 1285 Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632 100% Website weddingsinthailand.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 4749 bytes (4.64 kb uncompressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2020-11-22, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. Setting an example for all the cancer patients in the world, the 35-year-old writer shared backless picture of herself on the social media. Mumbai: Ayushmann Khurrana's wife and writer Tahira Kashyap was diagnosed with breast cancer. But instead of getting cautious about it, the star wife fought with this deadly disease like a fighter. Setting an example for all the cancer patients in the world, the 35-year-old writer shared backless picture of herself on the social media. On the occasion of World Cancer Day, Tahira posted a picture with an inspiring caption. She wrote, "Today is my day! Wish you all a happy #worldcancerday and hope each one of us celebrates this day in an embracing way. That we remove any stigma or taboo associated with it. That we spread awareness about it and that we have self love no matter what. I truly embrace all my scars as they are my badges of honour. There is nothing known as perfect. Happiness lies in truly accepting yourself." "This was a tough one for me. But this picture was my decision as I want to celebrate not the disease but the spirit with which I endured. To quote my mentor, Diasaku Ikeda, Leading an undefeated life is an eternal victory. Not being defeated, never giving up, is actually a greater victory than winning, not being defeated means having the courage to rise to the challenge. However many times were knocked down, the important thing is we keep getting up and taking one step-even a half step- forward #worldcancerday #breastcancerawareness #breastcancerwarrior #turningkarmaintomission #boddhisatva Thanks @atulkasbekar for this one", she added. Well in this picture we can clearly see the stitches on her back. However, an inspirational lady is indeed setting an example to be a fighter even if there's a big hurdle in your life. Recently, the gorgeous fighter woman also graced the ramp of Lakme Fashion Week 2019 and shared a couple of photos and videos from the event on her social media handle. Watch the photos and videos here: Kudos to the girl! 60% Website ftaarea.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 4061 bytes (3.97 kb uncompressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2019-09-26, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 02/04/2019 Photo via Twitter On Monday, Sears unsecured creditors will head to U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to voice their objections to CEO Eddie Lamperts $5.2 billion buyout bid. Earlier this month, Lampert made a last-minute bid to salvage the 126-year-old chain and keep 425 stores open through his ESL hedge fund. However, over the last few weeks, those owed money by Sears who are unprotected by collateral have accused Lampert of using a range of shady tactics over the years, including "stealing assets" and "years of misconduct. The tortured story of Sears reads like a Shakespearean tragedy, playing out over five acts, the unsecured lenders said in a complaint filed one week after Lampert made his winning bid. The creditors committee argued that the bid shouldnt be approved because Lamperts control gave him "undue influence to siphon value" on favorable terms. A hearing regarding the matter is expected to take place on February 4 and February 6, during which time Judge Robert Drain will hear these objections and decide the fate of the company. Drain has previously shown a propensity for pushing Lampert and Sears to draft a deal that would save jobs, having twice granted the parties more time in order to craft a resolution when it seemed like they had reached a breaking point, according to CNBC. Saving jobs In a filing last week, Lampert accused Sears unsecured creditors of engaging in efforts intended to poison the well against ESL with "page after page of its pleadings with smears and false narratives that are completely irrelevant" to his potential Sears takeover. Lampert and his legal team emphasized that the proposed acquisition will save 45,000 jobs. However, creditors argue that Lamperts motivation to save the company may not be entirely pure. Opponents of the proposed deal say its "nothing but the final fulfillment of a years long scheme to rob Sears and its creditors of assets and employees of jobs while lining Lampert's and ESL's own pockets." Lampert noted in court documents that ESL is committing more than $300 million in cash to fund the offer, including buying out other senior debt holders, and at least $193 million in credit. "ESL therefore has much to lose if [its] go forward business plan is not successful," the documents stated. A spokesperson for ESL said the company is confident Sears Holdings can be salvaged under the bid. Subject to its approval by the court, our going concern proposal will deliver a total consideration in excess of $5.2 billion and save tens of thousands of jobs, the spokesman said in an email to ConsumerAffairs. It will also fund certain severance costs incurred by Sears during bankruptcy and reinstate severance benefits for eligible employees in a new company. Lord Flight is Chairman of Flight & Partners Recovery Fund, and is a former Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The behaviour of the House of Commons, and in particular of Remainers and the Speaker, has damaged the reputation of Parliament and politicians generally at least for the time being. But I have the perhaps naive view that the overwhelming majority of citizens understand that it is the EU which has made it so difficult to negotiate a proper exit deal, and that at Westminster the trouble has been the parliamentary chicanery of Remainers trying to delay and even prevent our departure from the EU. The Referendum vote in favour of withdrawal from the EU was decisive and the options clear and straight forward in or out? In the ensuing general election, the Conservative Party pledged to give effect to the will of the people in the Referendum. I, therefore, believe it has been democratically wrong for more than half the Conservative MPs, as well as virtually all the Liberal Democrat and Labour MPs, to have done their utmost to frustrate Britain departing from the EU. But I believe the Conservative Party will hold together; partly because the alternative would be a Corbyn Government and partly because Conservative MPs have seen the light last week. Last Tuesday the House of Commons gave the Prime Minister a positive mandate to return to Brussels to amend the deal. Leaders of the ERG and leading Remainers had got together, in their and the countrys interests, to agree a compromise approach to Brexit. The Malthouse compromise reflected this, and gave the Prime Minister the mandate she needed to renegotiate her own withdrawal deal and the Irish Backstop contained in it. There was agreement across Leavers and Remainers to support Sir Graham Bradys amendment to replace the Irish Backstop. On seven different amendments on Tuesday there were similarly significant defeats for the attempts to override Commons Standing Orders and take control of the parliamentary agenda in order to delay Brexit. The only vote in which the Government failed to get its way was a non-binding assertion rejecting the notion of leaving the EU without a deal, tabled by Dame Caroline Spelman. But this passed by a majority of only eight. It is also clear that grass roots Conservatives members of their local Associations voted for Brexit overwhelmingly in the referendum, and have not taken kindly where their local MPs have endeavoured to frustrate Brexit. Such MPs are beginning to realise they could risk being deselected. Also, as and when the Conservative Party chooses its next leader, the final vote is with Party Members, which virtually ensures that the successful candidate will be a Brexiteer. We have been here before, over 40 years ago, but the other way around. Now Remainers should learn from the behaviour of those who then opposed Britain joining the Common Market. After a decisive pro-membership referendum result, the Leavers mostly shut up. Now the country is fed up with Brexit dragging on, not to mention the behaviour of the EU and of Parliamentarian Remainers, and wants a sensible deal. If the EU does not accommodate time limitations on the Irish backstop, we will, de facto, move to trade on a WTO basis. This may prove to be the best result. Chloe Westley is the Campaign Manager of the TaxPayers Alliance. Declinism has been creeping into British discourse for decades. Increasingly, we hear that Britain is an unremarkable country, that she has little to offer the world, and that it is much safer to be a member of an international bureaucracy than an independent sovereign state. The message from Westminster, with regard to Brexit, is that its just all too difficult. MPs dont want the responsibility or the hassle of huge political change. After all, it takes far less effort simply to persist in mediocrity than take the initiative to change. But countries arent built on the foundations of naysayers and gloom merchants. We cant face the challenges ahead of us by embracing defeatism. The people who make this country great are those who think outside the box: entrepreneurs, free thinkers, scientists and mavericks. Last week, I met with one such maverick someone who is changing the lives of hundreds of children, and shaking up the state education system from the inside. Her name is Katharine Birbalsingh, and you may remember her as the brave teacher who spoke out about Britains state education system at the Conservative Party conference in 2010. Today, she is the founder and headmistress of the Michaela Community School, a free school which is breaking the mould in state education. The school has been dubbed as one the strictest in the country, and for good reason. Students are expected to be absolutely silent in hallways, to sit up straight with their shoulders back and to smile and say good morning to teachers. Good behaviour is rewarded with merit points, and bad behaviour with demerit points. When I visited the school, all of the students who were in class were attentive, completely silent unless spoken to, and respectful and courteous. At lunch time, students sat around tables together and shared a meal with a knife and fork, with teachers leading discussion topics. Either someone had hired some child actors to play perfectly well behaved children for the day, or these teaching methods are seriously working. What I admire most about the school is that teachers and staff have high expectations of every young person in their class. Instead of making excuses for students, or explaining away why they might not be performing, teachers and staff still demanded that they all follows the rules. By expecting more from these young people, they bring out the best in them. Labour branded free schools as an expensive vanity project, and it took three years to open the school because of detractors and protestors. But how could anyone object to inner city kids attending an outstanding school, where they are given the tools to become the best version of themselves? The Michaela Community School challenges the assumption that the only way to improve education and social mobility is more taxpayers money. But actually, motivated and driven people can drastically improve outcomes for young people by doing things differently. Katherine has explained why she is so motivated to speak out about the problems with state education: We need us all believing in this idea of equality of opportunity. Teaching children self-control will make them free. Having an ordered environment where children can learn will enable them to learn them lots of stuff so they can be motivated to do something with their lives. Because they will make themselves free by grabbing the opportunity. Its that sense of self determination that conservatives believe in more. I like Katharine. Shes a change-merchant, not a doom-merchant. Instead of carrying on with business as usual, and accepting the education system as it is, she has decided to try and change things. Katherine decided to do something difficult to disrupt the natural order of things, and her bravery means that thousands of young people will achieve more than they could have without her. I wish our politicians had the same attitude. We need to do away with declinism, with business as usual, and with politics as usual. As Dominic Cummings warned, you cannot implement huge political change without shaking up the rusty and complacent Whitehall machine. But of all the speeches in Parliament since the vote on June 23rd, very few have outlined a vision for post-Brexit Britain. The Conservative Party an opportunity to adopt Vote Leaves vision, and to disrupt the stagnant Westminster system. Instead, at the last general election, we were presented with one of the least inspiring pieces of literature to ever reach the doorsteps of Britain. If the Conservative Party wants to capture the hearts and minds of the British people, it must do away with cautious complacency. The age of the technocrat has come to an end. Lets put some mavericks in charge. Six years ago, the TaxPayers Alliance reported that in the last year, five times more Labour people were appointed to public bodies than Tories. Since then, the figures have varied, and some Conservative members or supporters have been selected to fill important posts. Nonetheless, it remains the case that, since it took office in 2010, our Party has punched beneath its weight when it comes to public appointments. One of the reasons seems to be that Tories simply dont apply in the same number as Labour supporters. To help remedy this, every week we put up links to some of the main public appointments vacancies, so that qualified Conservatives might be aware of the opportunities presented. British Council Chief Executive Officer The British Council is seeking to appoint a truly exceptional individual to succeed Sir Ciaran Devane, who has served as Chief Executive with success and distinction for four years. Working with the Board of Trustees and Executive Board, the Chief Executive provides the British Council with the leadership, challenge and inspiration to meet its aspirations. The successful candidate will be driven by a sense of social mission and purpose. They will gain international recognition as an expert in cultural relations and will be at the forefront of the global relationship-building which enhances the British Councils authority and presence and, through that, the profile of the whole of the UK. This is an incredibly exciting, stimulating and challenging post, requiring exceptional vision, energy, imagination and cultural sensitivity. As described above, the British Council, backed by Royal Charter, is an entrepreneurial public service with a strong purpose-driven ethos in all it does. Time: Full time. Remuneration: 150,000 per annum, plus bonus and pension. Closes: 11 February Judicial Appointments Commission Commissioners The JAC Commissioners who are independent of government and the civil service have the corporate responsibility for ensuring that the JAC fulfils its role under the 2005 Constitutional Reform Act so that recruitment to the judiciary is made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. As an arms length body of the Ministry of Justice, Commissioners are accountable to Parliament through the Lord Chancellor The main responsibilities of the Commissioners are to: maintain the values of the JAC, particularly selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition; oversee a number of selection exercises ensuring that the most suitable candidates are recommended to the Lord Chancellor for appointment; take part in and influence debates about the strategic objectives, performance and constitutional role of the JAC; promote the JAC and to have regard to the need to encourage diversity in the range of persons available for selection. Time: ~28 days per annum. Remuneration: 338 per diem. Closes: 11 February Civil Nuclear Police Authority Independent Members The Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA) is a body corporate established by the Energy Act 2004 and an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The CNPA has a statutory responsibility for maintaining an efficient and effective Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC). The CNC provides an armed response capability for the UKs civil nuclear industry, operating from units based at licensed nuclear sites throughout the UK and providing armed escorts road and marine for movements of nuclear materials within the UK and overseas. The CNPA sets the strategic direction for the CNC and ensures that its policing meets the needs of the nuclear operating companies. This could mean denying unauthorised access to nuclear material or recovering control of nuclear material lost to unauthorised persons. Time: 35 days per annum. Remuneration: 17,500 per annum. Closes: 17 February Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) & Electricity Settlements Company (ESC) Chair The LCCC delivers key elements of the Contracts for Difference (CFDs) scheme, established to incentivise investment in low carbon electricity generation. In all its operations as the counterparty to CFDs, the LCCC is led by its principle of maintaining investor confidence in the scheme and to minimise costs to consumers. The role of the ESC is to maintain a healthy surplus of electricity capacity. It oversees settlement of the Capacity Market to ensure that regular payments are made to capacity providers who have agreed to provide capacity at times of system stress. In carrying out its activities ESC seeks to maintain participants confidence in the Capacity Market whilst minimising costs to consumers. LCCC and ESC are private limited companies wholly-owned by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The companies have day-to-day operational independence, subject to certain limited exceptions which require shareholder consent. The Boards of LCCC and ESC comprise the same members so we are seeking to appoint an individual to be Chair of both companies. Time: Two days per week. Remuneration: 100,000 per annum plus expenses. Closes: 18 February Department for Education Chair of the SEND System Leadership Board The newly formed SEND Leadership Board will: clarify and communicate the principles which should underpin all SEND commissioning and the good outcomes we are seeking to achieve for children and young people with SEND; encourage improved joint working, commissioning and planning by and between education, health and social care partners; identify where partners can better share data, insight, guidance, good practice and peer support to help encourage improved commissioning and planning, working to alleviate the long-term high needs budget pressures We are looking for a person who has: the ability to use authority, make decisions with, and set direction, in a board environment; a strong understanding of commissioning in Clinical Commissioning Groups and/or Local Government, and will have knowledge of the legal requirements in the 2014 Children and Families Act, in relation to SEND Time: 60 days per annum. Remuneration: 500 per diem, plus expenses. Closes: 21 February Great Britain China Centre Independent Board Members The Great Britain China Centre is a public body under the auspices of, but independent from, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Its remit is to promote understanding between the UK and China. It works to strengthen the UK-China relationship by building trust and supporting dialogues between government, judiciary and policy making actors on key governance, rule of law and reform issues. It has developed a reputation as an international leader for its project work with influential Chinese partners. With forty-five years of experience, GBCC has established unique networks in Chinese, British and European legal, judicial, academic and political spheres. Our relationships and influence have provided a trusted and consistent mechanism for exchange throughout changing political climates. The Board of Directors comprises independent non-executives, including Members of Parliament, and is attended by representatives of the FCO, the British Council and the China Britain Business Council. Our Chairman is Sir Martin Davidson and our Honorary President is Lord Mandelson. Time: Two days per month. Remuneration: None. Closes: 24 February Ofsted Board Member The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) is a force for improvement through intelligent, responsible and focused inspection and regulation, and an organisation committed to putting children and students first. Ofsted is recruiting up to four individuals to its board. The board agrees Ofsteds strategic priorities, targets and objectives. Its members provide constructive and supportive advice and challenge to Her Majestys Chief Inspector (HMCI) on Ofsteds activities and performance, and monitor Ofsteds performance and spending. Successful applicants will be strategic thinkers able to lead and influence at Board level. You will be able to consider issues from a big picture, macro perspective, and to support and challenge the executive in its strategic planning. Practical experience in a relevant sector, and theoretical understanding of the challenges and issues facing Ofsted will be crucial to your ability to contribute across the breadth of Ofsteds activities. Time: Up to 20 days per annum. Remuneration: 8,282 per annum. Closes: 26 February Javid and Truss talk down early election Two cabinet ministers have dismissed the prospect of an early election after reports that preparations were being made for a June poll. Sajid Javid, the home secretary, said that voters would never forgive the Conservative Party if it called an early general election before or after Brexit. Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, who described another poll as the last thing we need. Reports suggested that Downing Street strategists had considered the prospect of an election in June. Under the plan, reported in, Theresa May would ask to delay the Article 50 Brexit process beyond the end of next month, win Commons support for her deal in April and go to the country on the back of getting the deal through Johnson dismisses talk of going to the polls as Downing Street scare tactic Daily Telegraph Top civil servant urging election The Sun D-Day election planned to cement Mays premiership Daily Express said that Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, had been contacting permanent secretaries at Whitehall departments to tell them to prepare for an election. It said that one of the prime ministers senior political aides emerged from a meeting on Tuesday to say that a June election would be needed to cement her position. Downing Street last night denied that it was planning for an early election. The Times More: Home Secretary insists UK will be safe even in the event of no deal The Sun Sturgeon says Britain is not remotely prepared for Brexit The Scotsman Editorial: Tories must give no thought to a June election The Sun Brexit has exposed the state of British politics The Times >Today: ToryDiary: Our survey. Next Tory leader. Stasis as Johnson carries on leading amidst little expectation of change. >Yesterday: Video: WATCH: Javid insists UK will be a very safe country in the event of no deal as Tory truce starts to split over backstop back-pedalling The fragile Tory truce brokered by Theresa May over her plan B for Brexit appeared to be fracturing as Eurosceptics voiced suspicion that she will sell them short. Steve Baker, the deputy chairman of the European Research Group of Tory Brexiteers, said Mrs May was heading for a further substantial defeat in Parliament if she fails to honour her commitment to re-open the EU Withdrawal Agreement. Members of the ERG suspect Mrs May is preparing to accept a legal annexe to the Brexit deal rather than rewriting the deal itself to remove or alter the Northern Ireland backstop. They have made clear to her that anything other than a rewritten deal would not be acceptable. Last week Mrs May won the backing of a majority of MPs to return to Brussels and demand a revised deal with the backstop removed or watered down. It followed a 230-vote defeat for her original Brexit deal the biggest in history and Mr Baker said on Sunday that unless Mrs May sticks to her promise she can expect another huge reverse. Daily Telegraph Hardliners are setting the Prime Minister up to fail The Times MPs fear May has gone back on her promises The Sun Hard Brexiteers insist removal is the only way forward The Guardian Varadkar beset by backstop worries FT Sinn Fein leader insists her party has no business in Westminster News Letter More: Brexiteers and Remainers in Plan C talks Daily Mail European Research Group members join taskforce in May climbdown Daily Express >Today: James Bundy in Comment: A Department for the Union would strengthen our United Kingdom and Clark calls Nissan u-turn a warning sign Manufacturer faces lossing 60 million Brexit sweetener The Times Nissan blames Brexit as it shifts production to Japan Daily Mail Greg Clark, business secretary, has warned Theresa May that Nissans decision to cancel production of a new model at its Sunderland plant is a warning sign of the damage that could be wrought on the British car sector by a no-deal Brexit. Mr Clark said the companys decision to make the X-Trail sport utility vehicle in Japan instead was very bad news and urged the prime minister to rule out a no-deal exit this month before more harm was inflicted on British manufacturing. Its obviously a big disappointment, Mr Clark told the Financial Times. He said that Nissans senior management in Japan had told him that a no-deal exit would cast a shadow over their future in Britain. He added: They said it was a warning sign. Nissan promised Mrs May in 2016 it would produce the X-Trail at the Sunderland site after receiving British government assurances that its operations would be protected from the impact of Brexit. But on Sunday it reversed that decision. FT More: Cable sparks fury with claim second referendum is realistic The Sun >Yesterday: Video: WATCH: Fox Customs Union would not fulfil the promise we made to leave the European Union Iain Duncan Smith: Royal evacuation story is Project Fear on steroids Another day and another story on how, after Brexit, the UK will face Armageddon. From queues stretching miles back from Dover to vast job losses across the economy, carefully placed stories, (often from I am sad to say Government sources) litter our papers and are seized on with glee by the broadcast media. The latest one actually left me laughing as I read about the plans to evacuate HM the Queen and the Royal family in the event of a no deal Brexit. This, it turns out, is because they are worried about civil disorder as people may take to the streets to vent their anger. Actually, I fancy there is a greater likelihood of anger from the public if they find out their vote to leave has been rejected by Parliament or if they are forced to delay or hold a second referendum. But even in such an event I do not believe for one moment that it would spill over into threats against the monarchy. Yet the civil contingencies bunch have dusted off the Cold War plans which were expressly drawn up in the event of a nuclear threat, yes, thats right a nuclear threat. How ridiculous is that? Daily Telegraph May must play her cards right, or we all lose Trevor Kavanagh, The Sun How to play a winning Brexit game Wolfgang Munchau, FT An orderly Brexit depends on a united Tory Party Matthew dAncona, The Guardian Is all this talk of a June election just a bid to scare us? Boris Johnson, Daily Telegraph MPs must compromise before they tear the country apart Lisa Nandy, FT Brexit-blocking peers and MPs have received millions from the EU Andrew Pierce, Daily Mail Tories must be firm but fair in deselecting Remainers Charles Moore, Daily Telegraph Ministers 1) Mordaunt wants aid apprenticeships to offer gap years to the disadvantaged international development secretary, who has been shifting the focus of the 13.9 billion aid budget to support other government programmes, has been in talks with Whitehall ministries to turn the ICS into a way to help disadvantaged young people find a path to employment. The Times Legalising civil partnerships would ensure the law reflects Britain today Penny Mordaunt, Times Red Box Ministers 2) Gauke allows Parole Board members to stay anonymous Disadvantaged young people are to be offered a gap year-type experience working in a developing country under plans to align parts of Britains aid budget with the governments domestic agenda. Successful applicants would work as apprentices learning skills such as engineering, project management and accounting through a volunteering overseas programme funded by the Department for International Development. The International Citizen Service (ICS) launched by David Cameron to give less well-off young people a chance to see the world while doing voluntary work was criticised for failing to reflect the wider British population. A National Audit Office report in 2017 said that the service had missed some of its targets for diversity and had expanded without clear evidence of its impact on development. Penny Mordaunt, the The Justice Secretary is allowing Parole Board members to remain anonymous despite the outcry over the John Worboys scandal. Revealing the outcome of a sweeping review yesterday, David Gauke said that officials on the three-person case panels would not be revealed to protect them. Last year the Ministry of Justice signalled they would keep their anonymity in a blow for open justice over fears they could be blackmailed. Campaigners wanted them to be made available after the bungle that almost saw black cab rapist Worboys released back onto Londons streets a year ago. In March The Sun won a landmark legal bid to have parole hearing details made available to the press and public. But the board said they feared online trolls would attack them if the names of the decision makers were also released. The Sun >Yesterday: Video: WATCH: Bailey says London is now more dangerous than when he grew up Ministers 3) Hammonds taxes threaten small music venues, industry warns Women need to be less squeamish about earning money, Truss insists Daily Telegraph Ministers 4) Wright could set deadline for deleting harmful online content Britains small music venues face wipe out because of the Chancellors high street tax bombshell industry chiefs claim. UK Music is demanding a meeting with Philip Hammond claiming he is discriminating against clubs and venues across the country. They want him to extend a 1.5 billion business rate relief scheme available for pubs and small shops to music sites. Some 35 per cent of grassroots venues have shut in the past decade. The Stranglers earlier this month said the industry faced a catastrophe as they launched a campaign to save a site in Guildford where they first played in 1974. The Beatles famously started out at Liverpools tiny Cavern Club. UK Music chief Michael Dugher told The Sun: Britains role as a world leading exporter of music depends on giving our artists somewhere to start their career, learn their trade and build an audience. Thats all at risk because the Treasury discriminates against venues. The Sun Social media companies will be forced to remove harmful and offensive content within a set time limit under government proposals to protect young people online. Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, is to publish a white paper at the end of this month laying out plans under which companies such as Facebook and Twitter would have to sign up to a code of practice and would face fines from a regulator if they did not take down harmful posts swiftly enough The government is also considering requiring companies to reveal how many complaints they receive about offensive content or harmful behaviour such as online bullying or rape threats. There is growing concern about the impact of online content on young people. Damian Hinds, the education secretary, told The Sunday Times that social media companies had a moral duty to act. The Times May urged to throw weight behind social media crackdown The Sun Hancock tells Instagram to purge self-harm and suicide posts Daily Telegraph Comment: Were changing Instagram to support suicidal people Adam Mosseri, Daily Telegraph Deben in row over green payments A shaky claim to the moral high ground Dominic Lawson, Daily Mail Labour centrists planning to split from Corbyn A Tory peer is under pressure to resign as chairman of an influential climate change quango after his private company was paid hundreds of thousands of pounds by green businesses. Lord Deben, the former agriculture minister John Gummer, is chairman of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), a statutory body set up by the government that has supported spending billions of pounds subsidising environmentally friendly technology. He and his family own Sancroft International, a sustainability consultancy that has received more than 600,000 from businesses that have benefited from these subsidies. A newspaper investigation alleged that Sancrofts clients have included several companies and campaign groups that have benefited from policies pushed by the CCC, which Lord Deben has chaired since 2012. The Times A group of Labour MPs are discussing plans to split from the party and set up a centrist political group in opposition to Jeremy Corbyn. One Labour MP, who is among those discussing the move, told The Times that such a split was inevitable but not imminent. There is an incredible amount of unhappiness that has led to these conversations, they said. It is not just Corbyns position on Brexit, its Venezuela, antisemitism, immigration, asylum. Then there is the sense that anyone who is not a purist is going to get thrown out of the party before the next election anyway. I think were all looking to the next set of Commons Brexit votes at the moment. That is the main focus of our activity. The Observer claimed that at least six MPs have been drawing up plans to resign the whip and leave the party soon. It named an initial breakaway group including Angela Smith, Chris Leslie and Luciana Berger. The Times Furious MPs give leader a week to get on top of antisemitism crisis The Sun and talk up concerns over Labours ambiguity on Brexit The Guardian Cable talks up significant number of defections The Sun Drop in Labour membership part of political cycle, Glasgow MP says The Scotsman Comment: Im sick of being tainted by Labours antisemitism Luciana Berger, Times Red Box Corbynistas have taken over, so time to build something new Jane Merrick, Times Red Box Editorial: Rebels appear motivated by Brexit derangement syndrome, not principle Daily Telegraph >Yesterday: Video: WATCH: Cable wont rule out starting new party with breakaway Labour MPs as hes attacked for defending the Venezuelan dictatorship Chakrabarti defends leaders remarks The Guardian Murdered MP Jo Coxs widower has accused Jeremy Corbyn of defending a dictator over his stance on Venezuela. Brendan Cox, a former chief strategist at Save the Children, spoke out after the Labour leader opposed outside interference in the socialist South American country. Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduros leadership has left the country in the grip of a social and economic collapse that has triggered a humanitarian crisis and protests. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for sanctions on the regime as the EU joined the US in recognising its opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president on Thursday. Mr Cox, whose Labour MP wife was murdered by neo-Nazi killer Thomas Mair in 2016, tweeted yesterday: The future of Venezuela has been taken out of the hands of Venezuelans by an increasingly corrupt and totalitarian state. By all means call for dialogue but if you dont strongly condemn the subjugation of democracy it sounds like you are defending a dictator. Daily Express >Yesterday: Video: WATCH: Chakrabarti says situation in Venezuela is unacceptable News in Brief: SICCI commits to helping Little India merchants digitalise To encourage Little India merchants to adopt digital initiatives for their businesses, the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI) is collaborating with various partners to help them leverage on technology to improve processes and capture growth opportunities. On Friday, February 1, SICCI signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) with the Info-communication Media Development Authority (IMDA), Enterprise Singapore and Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association (LISHA). The MOI advocates the adoption of e-payment and e-commerce initiatives among more merchants. Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry), was the guest of honour at the signing of MOI and MOUs, as well as the launch of Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI)'s revamped web portal and mobile app. Photo: Connected to India Two separate Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) were also signed with the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) and the James Cook University (JCU). For the MOU with SINDA, SICCI aims to identify strategic partnerships with industry players to develop internship and employment opportunities for Indian youths in Singapore studying at post-secondary institutions. This will help them to make better career choices by providing them with meaningful work assignments and industry exposure. On the other hand, the MOU with JCU identifies new opportunities for collaboration between the two organisations in the areas of international trade and business. Witnessing the signing of the MOI and MOUs, Guest of Honour Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry), highlighted in his opening speech the importance of investing in the training and capabilities of people. "It is undeniable that digital is the way of the future. But it is important to realise that digital transformation is not just about business transformation. It is also people transformation. They need to be equipped with the skills, in order for organisations to develop full value of digital initiatives." On the same day, SICCI also launched its revamped web portal and mobile app, which will offer its members and visitors a more comprehensive experience. The new website boasts a sleek design, improved functionality and richer content. Mr K Barathan, Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI). Photo: Connected to India "SICCI is proud to be the first business chamber in Singapore to offer a mobile app for its members to tap on the Chamber's services and membership privileges on-the-go," said Mr K Barathan, Chief Executive Officer of SICCI. "Both platforms will provide robust information for our members, partners, business community, visitors and media to better understand SICCI's services and offerings." Malaysia seeks discussion on banning entry of foreign vehicles with unpaid fines in Singapore Even as Singapore announced a future ban on foreign vehicles with outstanding fines from April 1 this year, Malaysia will hold further discussions with Singapore on the issue. Speaking after an event in the Penang town of Batu Kawan, Marzuki Yahya, Malaysia's Deputy Foreign Minister, said, We understand the ban has been issued effective April 1, 2019. We are in the process of discussion with Singapore and we need to discuss further on the matter. Motorists of foreign vehicles have so far accumulated about 400,000 outstanding fines amounting to SGD32 million. Photo courtesy: Wikipedia We have our own method to discuss this matter with Singapore. The discussion will be conducted simultaneously with the bilateral meeting with the republic later, he added. The Minister was speaking in response to Johor International Trade, Investment and Utility Committee chairman Jimmy Puah, who said on Saturday that Malaysia had the right to make the same rule. Singaporean authorities have announced last Saturday that foreign vehicles with outstanding fines for traffic, parking or vehicular emissions offences may be denied entry into Singapore from April 1. The above move is being supported by the Singapore Police Force, Housing and Development Board, Land Transport Authority, National Environment Agency and Urban Redevelopment Authority. Motorists of foreign vehicles have so far accumulated about 400,000 outstanding fines amounting to SGD32 million. The authorities have also informed that flyers have been distributed and billboards put up at land checkpoints to remind foreign motorists to pay their fines. It needs to be mentioned that about 60,000 foreign vehicles enter Singapore daily and a majority of foreign motorists are law abiding. However, there are some who break rules and do not settle their outstanding fines for offences committed. Chinese Singaporeans have integrated into larger, multiracial Singaporean society: PM Lee The way we celebrate Chinese New Year reflects how the Singapore Chinese identity has evolved and emerged over the years. Chinese Singaporeans have integrated into a larger, multiracial whole, asserted Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong in his Chinese New Year message today. Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong exchanging Chinese New Year greetings with children from Sparkletots, Jurong West and Grace Orchard. PM Lee gave them a God of Fortune plush toy and a hongbao in exchange for mandarin oranges. Photo courtesy: Facebook page of PM Lee In the process, Singaporean Chinese have become distinct from Chinese communities elsewhere, both the Chinese societies of China, Hongkong and Taiwan, and the overseas Chinese minorities in the diaspora in Southeast Asia and the West, he added. Delving into the history of Chinese immigrants coming to Singapore and celebration of Chinese New Year, PM Lee said, Most immigrants arrived in Singapore in debt, and did back-breaking work here as plantation workers and coolies. When Chinese New Year came, they were too poor to travel back home. Instead, they celebrated with fellow labourers and clan members in Chinatown, and re-created whatever traditions they could eating auspicious foods, performing lion dances for good fortune, and setting off firecrackers to drive away evil spirits. People of Singapore celebrating Chinese New Year in all its splendour. Photo courtesy: Facebook page of PM Lee Speaking about the unique traditions developed by Chinese Singaporeans, PM Lee said, Over the years, Chinese Singaporeans developed our own unique rituals and traditions celebrating Chinese New Year, which were passed down the generations. Today, at reunion dinners, we do lohei to express our hopes and wishes for the coming year. When visiting friends and relatives, we enjoy pineapple tarts, kueh lapis spekkoek and kueh bangkit, a reflection of the Southeast Asian heritage of the Straits Chinese. In the 1970s, we stopped letting off firecrackers at homes and along the streets, because in a built up and dense city, this was dangerous to people and property. In their place, to kindle the festive mood, we started holding Chingay Parades from 1973, observed Prime Minister. The elaborate lanterns displays are a treat for the eyes. Photo courtesy: Facebook page of PM Lee The first Chingay Parades featured mainly Chinese cultural items lion and dragon dances and traditional performances. But since then Chingay has grown into a celebration for people of all races and ages. Chinese lion dancers perform alongside Malay children playing the kompang and Indian dance troupes classical and modern. All our ethnic cultures contribute items. International groups too, participate, coming all the way from Japan, Russia or China, said PM Lee. Speaking about the participation of all races in the Chingay Parade which reflect on the unique multicultural Singaporean society, PM Lee said, The involvement of all races adds a special joy and richness to the festivities and reflects our unique multicultural society. We see this happening also when the Chinese join in Hari Raya celebrations with our Muslim friends, and Deepavali festivities with our Hindu friends. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore students Ang Wei Loong and Heetesh Alwani showing LED balloons to Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong. Photo courtesy: Facebook page of PM Lee PM Lee said, As new generations come of age and new immigrants join us, the Singaporean Chinese identity will keep on evolving. The new arrivals will enrich our cultural heritage with their different life experiences and perspectives. At the same time, I hope that over time they will adjust their social norms to our local context, and embrace our uniquely Singaporean cultural habits, just as earlier generations did. This is the way for the Chinese community to stay vibrant, and for Singapore to be open, dynamic and resilient for many years to come, he concluded. Rao expressed his shock on reading about the incident and respect for the decision of revoking Hiranis credit from the film. Since the time #MeToo hit the film industry, bringing to light some respected names, many celebrities have conveniently chosen to stay away from making comments. From the time director Rajkumar Hirani was called in a sexual harassment case many in the industry have spoken only in favour of the director. But contrary to his counterparts, Rajkummar Rao chose to voice his opinion. It was during a media interaction for Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, when both Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and Rao were asked about the sexual-harassment allegation against Hirani. While Sonam took the moderate wait-and-watch stance on the issue, Rao went all-out with blazing guns demanding an impartial inquiry into the matter. The Newton actor expressed his shock on reading about the incident and respect for the decision of Ek Lakdhi Ko team for revoking Hiranis credit from the film. Apparently the actor was later told by the media/marketing team to curb his opinion on the issue, if he knows whats good for him. While Rao remains undeterred, a source in the know says, The only voices one hears in the Hirani #MeToo issue are voices defending him. The voices of dissent are quiet because ...everybody wants to work with him. Rajkummar was asked to go easy with his opinion. He was told to shut up. A lot of people have come out in favour of Hirani but not Sanjay Dutt, whose association with Hirani has deep-rooted relevancy due to Munnabhai.Yet, he has stayed away from making any comment. 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. The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form At 10:48 a.m. on Feb. 3, 2017, a former Beta Theta Pi brother dialed 911 to report the fall of sophomore Timothy Piazza down the stairs of the fraternity house. The following morning, the pledge for the now-banned chapter was pronounced dead at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center due to head and abdominal injuries sustained during the hazing process of a pledging event casting a shadow over University Park. It has been 730 days since then. And a lot has happened. The Timothy J. Piazza Antihazing Law After eight months of grueling efforts to change the states statutes by Sen. Jake Corman and the Piazza family, an anti-hazing law was passed by the Pennsylvania State Senate Judiciary Committee in October 2018. The new legislation created tiers for hazing, which it labeled as a summary offense unless it resulted in bodily injury, at which point the crime could be raised to a third-degree felony with a maximum imprisonment of seven years. The law also established categories for organizational and institutional hazing to increase the accountability of all those involved in the practice. Other provisions stipulated that universities and high schools must provide a public copy of written anti-hazing policies and maintain a biannually updated report of all hazing violations. As a result, Penn State released its initial report on Jan. 15, detailing 31 hazing violations through the Commonwealth in the past five years. Several universities in the state, including Penn State and Lehigh University, also introduced a method to anonymously report hazing incidents through a publicly accessible online form in addition to official university channels. We are posting this information not only in accordance with a new law, but with the hope that sharing these details however unseemly and disturbing will shine the spotlight on this activity and support our view that it is dangerous and completely unacceptable, Lori Friedman, the director of media relations at Lehigh University, said. RELATED EDITORIAL: Tims Law should continue to be a part of Penn State conversation The current UPUA assembly passed resolution 03-13, Support of Senate Bill 1090. By passing the resolution, UPUA is showing its support for Tims Law and the safe harbor clause within it. Charges and Lawsuits An investigation conducted by the State College Police and a report filed by a grand jury charged 28 former Beta Theta Pi brothers back in 2017. As of now, 17 of them who were facing minor alcohol or hazing charges have pleaded guilty. Six members entered into a program designed for nonviolent, first-time offenders that will leave them without criminal records. The most serious charges, like involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault, have been dropped. The remaining five members, including the president of the fraternity, Brendan Young, and the house manager, Braxton Becker, accused of deleting footage of the crime scene, still face the possibility of trial. On Friday, Piazzas parents, Jim and Evelyn, announced that they were filing a wrongful death lawsuit against 28 former brothers for negligence, battery assault and conspiracy. According to a recent press release, the complaint also named the security company that provided monitoring for Greek social events. They also reached a sweeping out-of-court settlement with Penn State over Piazzas death. The settlement requires the university to take several measures including alcohol control and Beta Theta Pi expulsion in order to reform the state of greek life at Penn State. There have also been legal disputes over the former Beta Theta Pi house. Alumnus Donald Abbey who loaned $10 million for the reconstruction and operations of the house is suing the national chapter for his money back. In addition, Penn State is suing for rights to the property. Penn State has a direct interest in the manner in which the premises at issue are used and in assuring that the provisions of the Deed of 1928 are strictly adhered to and followed by the parties to the Deed, the lawsuit said. Neither lawsuit has yet reached conclusion. RELATED Piazza family files civil suit against 28 former brothers, settles with Penn State As the deadline to file a civil lawsuit approached, Jim and Evelyn Piazza put out a sweeping Penn State Anti-hazing Policies After the law went into effect on Nov. 18, 2018, most universities were required to make changes to their anti-hazing policies. However, even prior to the law, Penn State started to change policies and university approaches. Since August 2017, the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council were no longer in control of disciplinary actions within greek life organizations. Instead, Penn State took the reins as it does for other student organizations. Additionally, Penn State adopted a no-tolerance policy toward hazing. Since Piazzas death, the community scorecards highlight that six greek life organizations were put on probation and five were suspended for alcohol/drug violations or hazing violations. Steve Veldkamp, special assistant to the vice president for Student Affairs, said via email that the university continues to educate students in many ways, including through the revamped new membership process. A letter was distributed to all student organization heads regarding the education and discussions of responsible behavior within. Along with that, Veldkamp said all 600 new fraternity and sorority members were trained according to the new anti-hazing legislation. Two programs on hazing prevention one by Piazzas parents and the other by Dr. Gentry McCreary, the CEO of a consulting firm for colleges and fraternal organizations were also instituted. In follow up surveys, 96 percent of those in the programs agree they are more knowledgeable of what hazing is, laws /policies, and how to report hazing, Veldkamp said. A statement from the university said that administrators were familiarizing themselves with the law and will work to integrate it across our campuses, including drafting a new anti-hazing policy. RELATED A New Greek Life Center Two weeks ago, Penn State announced its plans for a greek life center formally called Timothy J. Piazza Center for Fraternity and Sorority Research which will study greek life culture in the country and execute possible programs to address challenges related to these organizations. The center is to adopt the role of the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Research, which has been located at Indiana University Bloomington since 1979. According to the press release, the university has pledged at least $2 million toward the center and hopes to garner private support to the sum of $3 million. An additional $3 million in matching funds from Penn State will also go to the project. The center will also design a national scorecard for greek life organizations, host national conversations and distribute best practices. Veldkamp said that it is too early to speculate the research projects that could come out of the center. We will be enlisting the help of researchers across many disciplines, and the topics they focus on will certainly include elements of greek life, the activities, customs and culture to be examined, Veldkamp said. It is certainly our hope that better research into these groups will help universities more readily and uniformly address the challenges related to Greek-letter organizations, and improve the Greek-life experience for students. RELATED When Reinaldo Velasquez was eight years old, he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a debilitating genetic disease. Doctors estimated he only had about one year to live. I said, No, I dont accept this, because you are no God, Adianez Martinez , Velasquezs mother, said. Velasquez, now 24, of Caracas , also didnt accept it. With dreams of graduating college and becoming a sound engineer, Velasquez has much ahead of him. However, the current political and humanitarian crisis wracking his home country of Venezuela has become a barrier to Velasquezs health, education and life. His parents, Martinez and Hugo Romero are working to raise money to take their son out of the country to finish his schooling at Penn State. He wants to come to the United States and study, and besides that, stay with family, Romero said. He needs to be taken care of, especially by his mom. Martinez and Romero, also the owners of local Venezuelan restaurant Juanas, currently have a GoFundMe campaign to assist with Velasquezs college fund. As of Sunday at 3 p.m., the campaign has raised $200 with a goal of $50,000. Five years ago, Martinez and Romero moved to State College, while Velasquez stayed behind to finish college. Every time that he goes back to Venezuela, the situation changes exponentially, Romero said. Though Velasquez visits the United States periodically to see his parents, the current university he attends in Venezuela, Academia Audioplace , could be at risk of shutting down. Among other issues, Martinez said transportation is also a problem for Velasquez and other students. On average, Martinez said Velasquez travels about four to five hours every day to attend college. With the residency process in the United States taking anywhere from six months to two years, Romero said they are temporarily sending Velasquez to Colombia to stay with friends and family though only for three months. Living with cystic fibrosis, the disease primarily attacks Velasquezs pancreas and lungs. Martinez said proper nutrition and specific, expensive antibiotics are essential to her son staying healthy. This year, the New York Times reported the countrys public healthcare system has collapsed, leaving many without lifesaving medicine. Romero said they deliberated much before deciding to start a GoFundMe campaign. In addition to the campaign, Martinez and Romero opened Juanas three months ago in order to further help. Juanas, the restaurant located at 129 S. Fraser St., offers a variety of authentic Venezuelan cuisine, such as Arepas and Cachapas. [Reinaldo] feels at this point that hes in the hands of the people that can contribute, Romero said. Martinez said she is glad to be where she is, because State College has beautiful people. Sandra Del Pilar , of State College, donated to Velasquezs college fund. Del Pilar originally met Martinez in 2015 when Del Pilar was working at Adult Transitional Care, a company dedicated to assisting adults with services such as moving or home care. I know that [Reinaldo] means the world to [Adianez], Del Pilar said. Giving him a chance to be healthy and accomplish his dream is what every mother wishes for their kids. I met Adianez a few years ago and I consider her a good friend and valuable member of our community. Romero said while everyone is destined to die at some point, it can happen at any time for those with compromising diseases. And while Velasquez has battled diseases and cycled through therapy programs for years, he is currently considered healthy. Though that can change at any point, Romero said Velasquez has set goals for his future like finishing college, working as a sound engineer and starting a family. Its still difficult for regular people in a regular life, Martinez said. My situation is he needs to stay healthy. He needs to stay good, because he needs a good life. On Sunday, Feb. 3 in the HUB Flex Theater, former and current Penn State students as well as other members of the Penn State community put on a production that showcased the music and dance of various locations in India. Murali Haran is a Penn State professor of statistics and faculty advisor for SIMA, Penn States Society of Indian Music club. Haran said in the SIMA club, students get together to dance and play Indian music, which can vary from classic Indian music to Indian folk music. He said the club is a way to celebrate Indian culture and put on performances like Songs of My Land. Theres 8 states of India represented in the performance, and youll get a quick taste of how different the music and dance is, Haran said. Haran said Indian language and culture varies around the country as it does throughout the continent of Europe. India has a variety of languages, dialects and cultures that make the country its own. This production showed the various cultures and their elements. Sayali Phadke sang music from her home region in India, Maharshtra, but also was the backstage manager of the event. To me, this is all about bringing people to show something close to our hearts, Phadke (graduate statistics) said. Ive been part of organizing the show, the most satisfying part is when everyone feels the same way. When all of them really connect to whats going on stage, Phadke said. Phadke is trained in one of the classical dance styles, Kathak, and she was able to train a student and watch her perform. She said it was a proud moment to see one of her students on stage. Vasudha Gathey is from India, and said she enjoyed the show because it reminded her of home. For me, its nice that the different states were represented because lots of us are from different parts of India, Gathey (graduate - biotechnology) Rashmi Satyakumar, a resident of State College, said it was a very beautiful experience. Im getting back to singing and music after a very long time, Satyakumar said, I experimented with many styles that I havent got to do before. Anahita Bharadwaj is a part of the Nritya dance group and volunteers for SIMA. This is a great opportunity to get exposed to a lot of dance and music cultures around India, Bharadwaj (graduate agricultural and bio engineering) said. It was really great putting together the show, the backstage energy was great, and I think that really showed in the performance today. Were really happy with the turnout and I hope everyone enjoyed it, Bharadwaj said. There will be upcoming performances from the club at the Happy Valley music festival on April 5 and 7. 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. Canopy Growth operations in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Tom Franck | CNBC Goldman Sachs star beverage and tobacco analyst Judy Hong was hoping to do some early research into the multibillion-dollar cannabis industry that is, until she was stopped by the investment bank's firewall blocking certain content. Among the companies the 20-year Goldman veteran tried to review was KushCo Holdings, a California-based business that sells packaging, containers and other supportive products to the world's largest cannabis producers. And though no part of KushCo's business actually touches a marijuana or hemp plant, Hong found herself nonetheless barred from the company's website, said a KushCo executive familiar with the matter. Bank of America Merrill Lynch's consumer analyst is also researching KushCo and the space, the person added. Both Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch declined to comment about their plans for future marijuana-related research coverage. The KushCo executive said it's fielded calls and met with representatives of both banks. Wall Street is discovering a unique set of hurdles as it explores the possibilities in cannabis. Those hurdles are in the form of lending restrictions, disagreeing local laws and their own internal company firewalls as banks rush to cover that new and growing market. It is a market that could one day be worth $150 billion globally when including the different derivative products like CBD-infused beverages, according to Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy. Tilray is a medical marijuana grower based in British Columbia. Other challenges for Wall Street include the flurry of federal regulations that currently deter banks from working with legal dispensaries in the U.S. and mandate that banks and other financial firms file "suspicious activity reports" to help monitor money laundering. Others have brought the just-say-no attitude to Wall Street, steering clear of any services related to the marijuana business for fear of federal prosecution. Reputation risk? Martin Landry, a Canadian equity analyst at GMP Securities, told CNBC that his first interaction with the cannabis industry came in 2013 when his firm helped Canopy Growth conduct a round of private financing. Canada became the first Group of Seven country to approve recreational use of pot when Ottawa passed legislation in October. "I was covering consumer and some pharma names and [my company] asked if I would look at the sector. And I said 'no,'" Landry said Friday. The analyst explained that he shied away at first for fear that the other consumer and pharmaceutical companies under his coverage wouldn't take him as seriously and that the new venture could damage his existing reputation. It was later that he eventually decided to explore coverage on Canopy, Cronos Group and other industry names. But for those willing to take a chance, the cannabis industry could represent a sizable revenue stream. Some experts, such as Cowen's Vivien Azer, see the U.S. marijuana market growing to $80 billion by 2030. The up-and-coming market has attracted investments from a range of people and companies looking for the help of big banks. That is a group including venture capitalist Peter Thiel and the globe's largest alcohol companies looking for a strategic partnership. Azer is one of just three analysts from a major brokerage covering the space currently. Investment banking Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax who would become governor if embattled Gov. Ralph Northam resigns due to controversy over a racist yearbook photo on Monday denied an assault allegation that had been investigated by The Washington Post previously. Fairfax's denial, which was posted on Twitter at around 3 a.m. ET Monday, came soon after conservative site Big League Politics published a story about a possible sexual assault allegation against Fairfax by a woman. Big League Politics is the same outlet that last Friday exposed a racist photo on Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook page, sparking widespread and bipartisan calls for the governor's resignation. Fairfax, who, like Northam, is a Democrat, was not named by the woman in a Facebook post that she purportedly made. But the description of her alleged assailant's current employment status matches Fairfax's. In his statement, Fairfax, 39, denied he had ever "assaulted anyone" and referred to the allegation as a "false claim." He also said that The Washington Post had investigated the allegation for several months more than a year ago, but declined to publish a story after being presented facts consistent with Fairfax's denial. In a news conference later Monday, he repeated those adamant denials, while calling the claim against him a "smear" that had been resurfaced to damage his chance of being elevated to governor. "Does anybody believes this is coincidence? I don't believe anybody believes that's a coincidence," Fairfax said. "It's uncorroborated because it's not true ... it goes away for a year and it crops back up at this moment." Tweet Fairfax, during his news conference, said, "I have lived my entire life in a way that I'm proud of." "It didn't happen," he said of the woman's allegation. The woman mentioned in Big League Politics' story about Fairfax did not respond to requests for comment by CNBC. The woman is not being named by CNBC. A request for comment from Fairfax was not immediately answered. A spokesman for The Washington Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the Post in a story published Monday took issue with Fairfax's claim that the newspaper dropped the story because of "significant red flags and inconsistencies" in the woman's claim. The Post reported, "The woman approached The Post after Fairfax won election in November 2017 and before he was inaugurated in January 2018, saying she felt like she had an obligation to speak out." "The woman and Fairfax first met in Boston at the 2004 Democratic national convention," the newspaper reported. "During a conversation, the two realized they had a mutual friend. It was that commonality, she recalled, that put her at ease enough that on the afternoon Fairfax asked her to walk with him to his hotel room to pick up some papers, she thought nothing of joining him." The Post also said that "Fairfax and the woman told different versions of what happened in the hotel room with no one else present." "The Washington Post could not find anyone who could corroborate either version. The Post did not find 'significant red flags and inconsistencies within the allegations,' as the Fairfax statement incorrectly said." The newspaper detailed the woman's claims of a sexual encounter with Fairfax "that left her crying and shaken." Fairfax told the newspaper the encounter was consensual, according to The Post. Commerce secretary says new record in exports was achieved in difficult global economic conditions. The official was confident that despite the challenging global environment, the country would be able to set a new mark. Hyderabad: The countrys merchandised exports are all set to surpass the peak of $314 billion recorded in 2013-14, said Union commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan. He attributed this to the changes made in policy and regulations, ease of doing business and simplification of procedures. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of 19th edition of IndiaSoft, an event organised by Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), Mr Wadhawan said For last three years, we are growing consistently in a very challenging environment. The downturn of 2008-09 when there was a financial crisis hit us quite badly but we recovered. We reached a peak figure of our exports in 2013-14 and then the global crisis got accentuated, the real economy got affected. Countries like China were also getting affected for the first time. Then again, there were a couple of years of slight downturn. Pharma, engineering products, petroleum products, gems and jewellery, leather products and textiles would be among sectors that contribute to the growth in the exports. The official was confident that despite the challenging global environment, the country would be able to set a new mark. During his keynote address, the secretary said, We are taking measures to give a boost to the hardware and electronics sector. We incentivised R&D and are encouraging setting up the incubators which will help us move up in domestic value chain and exports. Our domestic electronics production in 2017-18 stood at $49.5 billion which is higher than $43 billion spent on imports. The success of software side is being emulated by hardware and hope we can have better balance in this area in future. He pointed that the IT exports are growing steadily and will continue to achieve that growth. Dr Wadhawan added that very soon 60 per cent of Indias GDP would have to do something with artificial intelligence, robotics and IoTs and India. Speaking on the current account deficit, Mr Wadhwan said that it was under control due to growing exports and stabilisation of petroleum prices to an extent. I think the economy is in good shape, he said. About 400 delegates from 60 countries and 250 Indian exhibitors are participating in the two-day event being held for the sixth time in Hyderabad. Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's president, speaks as he touches a stack of 12 Kilogram gold ingots during a news conference on the country's cryptocurrency, known as the Petro, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Carlos Becerra | Bloomberg via Getty Images Gold is fast becoming indispensable to those clinging onto power in crisis-stricken Venezuela. Political tensions in the South American country are reaching boiling point, with the oil-rich, but cash-poor, country in the midst of the Western Hemisphere's worst humanitarian crisis in recent memory. Thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of the capital city over the weekend to demonstrate against President Nicolas Maduro. The socialist leader is also facing an unprecedented challenge from opposition leader Juan Guaido. In recent weeks, a growing number of international governments have come out in support of Guaido, condemning Maduro for an election held late last year which was marred by an opposition boycott and vote-rigging. For a country known to have the largest proven oil reserves in the world, CNBC takes a look at some of the driving forces behind the growing importance of gold. Why is gold so important? Gold is of "absolute" importance to Maduro's administration, Diego Moya-Ocampos, principal political analyst for Latin America at IHS Markit, told CNBC via telephone on Monday. "It's important for three reasons: First, gold can act as fresh cash to help (Maduro's administration) survive. Second, it can help provide security or military protection." "And, third, it can help them to live, hide and maybe even prepare a comeback," Moya-Ocampos said. 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 Countries typically only tend to sell large volumes of gold reserves in the most extreme financial circumstances. And, hyperinflation, mounting U.S. sanctions and collapsing oil production prompted Maduro to start selling off gold about a year ago. Two-thirds of Venezuela's foreign exchange reserves at the central bank is thought to be held in gold, Moya-Ocampos said, with Maduro increasingly determined to free up more cash. What's happened lately? On Friday, Abu Dhabi investment firm Noor Capital said it had bought 3 metric tons of gold from Venezuela's central bank. That prompted U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, to criticize the United Arab Emirates-based company. He warned any firm seen doing such business would be subject to the sanctions that President Donald Trump's administration had been stepping up in recent weeks. Noor Capital has since said it would refrain from further transactions with Venezuela. More recently, the BBC reported on Saturday, citing an unidentified source, that Turkey was also facing renewed pressure to stop buying gold from Venezuela. Turkey is one of the few countries, alongside China and Russia, to have publicly come out in support of Venezuela's Maduro. Does Venezuela hold gold reserves overseas? Yes. Some of Venezuela's gold reserves is held by the Bank of England. Guaido has claimed government officials loyal to Maduro want to sell off the country's foreign gold reserves in the U.K. to relocate the profits to the central bank of Venezuela. In a letter addressed to British Prime Minister Theresa May and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, Guaido said: "I am writing to ask you to stop this illegitimate transaction." Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England (BOE). Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images "If the money is transferred... It will be used by the illegitimate and kleptocratic regime of Nicolas Maduro to repress and brutalize the Venezuelan people," he added, as reported by Reuters. At the start of 2018, Venezuela's central bank reportedly held 150 tons of gold but by November, holdings had fallen to 132 tons a 75-year low. How has the international community responded? Presently, more than 20 countries have backed Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate president. On Monday, European countries including Britain, Spain, France, Germany, Sweden and Denmark all joined the growing list of those in favour of Venezuela's opposition leader, after a deadline for Maduro to hold fresh elections expired. However, in addition to the critical support of Venezuela's military elite, Maduro has maintained the support of countries including: China, Russia and Turkey. "China has been very pragmatic. It's support for Maduro is limited and conditional," IHS' Moya-Ocampos said. "Russia will also be very careful. It sees Venezuela as an area to pressure the U.S. but beyond public statements, we are not going to see support in terms of cash and military actions (from Moscow or Beijing)," he added. What's going on in Venezuela? The Commerce Department said Monday that demand for U.S. manufactured products fell in November as factory orders dropped 0.6 percent from the month earlier. The release of the factory orders data was delayed because of the partial government shutdown. Orders for durable goods, such as as air conditioners and cars, rose 0.7 percent in November from the prior month. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note , which moves inversely to price, was higher at around 2.72 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 3.06 percent. Monday's rise in yields came after the Labor Department said on Friday that the American economy added more than 300,000 jobs and more people entered the workforce in the month of January. Rates also jumped last week after the Institute for Supply Manufacturing said activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in January. December's big initially reported gain of 312,000 was revised all the way down to 222,000, while November's rose from 176,000 to 196,000.The three-month average job gain is 241,000. The ISM said that January PMI registered 56.6 percent, an increase of 2.3 percentage points from the December reading of 54.3 percent, while new orders registered 58.2 percent, an increase of 6.9 percentage points. Much of the action over the past week has stemmed from the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday. The central bank kept the federal funds rate steady as expected, but also vowed to be "patient" when adjusting monetary policy in the future. U.S. companies are beating analysts' expectations this earnings season, but to a smaller degree than normal, and S&P 500 companies are now barely expected to eke out an increase in profits for the first quarter of 2019. The trend underscores fears about a potential decline in earnings this year, even as stocks just closed their best January in more than three decades, as the benchmark S&P 500 index rebounded from a swoon late last year. "It does get tricky here as this quarter plays out if companies continue to see weakness. Then, there's going to be an issue and investors will become very concerned," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut. Fourth-quarter earnings are estimated to be up 15.5 percent from a year ago, based on results from nearly half of the S&P 500 companies and forecasts for the rest, according to IBES data from Refinitiv, compared with about 14.5 percent three weeks ago. That growth clip is historically strong but disappointing on two fronts. The rate is noticeably slower than the three earlier quarters in 2018, when the Trump administration's corporate tax cuts fueled double-digit earnings gains. Estimated profit growth for all of 2018 is at 23.6 percent, based on Refinitiv's data. Also, given recent historical trends in earnings rates, investors might expect growth to be on track to rise even faster at this point in the reporting period. The quarterly profit growth rate typically falls heading into a reporting period and then quickly reverses course once companies begin to report, often beating analysts' expectations. So far this earnings season, the percentage by which companies are beating estimates for the entire S&P 500 is 2.8 percent, compared with a median of 5.4 percent over the past eight quarters, based on Refinitiv's data. If the index were beating estimates by the recent median, fourth-quarter profit growth would now be estimated at 17.4 percent instead of 15.5 percent, said David Aurelio, senior research analyst at Refinitiv. U.S. President Donald Trump and acting U.S. Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt arrive to place a wreath at the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, U.S., January 21, 2019. President Donald Trump on Monday announced that David Bernhardt will be nominated to become Secretary of the Interior. Bernhardt took over the role in an acting capacity following the resignation of Ryan Zinke. Trump tweet Bernhardt, 49, expressed gratitude for his selection in a tweet. "It's a humbling privilege to be nominated to lead a Department whose mission I love, to accomplish the balanced, common sense vision of our President," Bernhardt said on Twitter. Zinke, 57, announced his departure amid scrutiny about his conduct in office. He faced multiple federal ethics probes into his travel habits and potential conflicts of interest during his tenure in Trump's Cabinet. Zinke has denied any wrongdoing. His departure came just before Democrats took majority control of the House of Representatives, where the newly empowered party has vowed to pursue new investigations and revivify existing probes into various figures and features of Trump's administration. Bernhardt's appointment to the No. 2 role at the Department of the Interior drew criticism from those who see red flags in his prior work as a partner at law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, which represents clients that are potentially affected by Interior Department regulations. Bernhardt will have to be confirmed by the Senate to get the top spot. The White House described the Rifle, Colorado native as "an avid hunter and fisherman" when it announced that he had been tapped by Trump to become deputy secretary for the Department of the Interior. Senate liberals are proposing legislation that would prevent companies from buying back their own shares unless they first pay workers at least $15 an hour and offer paid time off and health benefits. Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont outlined their plan in a New York Times op-ed published Sunday. The proposal would slap "preconditions" on a company's ability to buy its own shares. "Our legislation would set minimum requirements for corporate investment in workers and the long-term strength of the company as a precondition for a corporation entering into a share buyback plan. The goal is to curtail the overreliance on buybacks while also incentivizing the productive investment of corporate capital," they wrote. Last year, more than $1 trillion in buybacks were announced by large companies after a corporate tax cut pushed through Washington in late 2017 left companies with a lot of extra cash to spend. But instead of significantly raising worker pay or investing in equipment, companies mostly used the cash to buy their stock. And some large companies are buying back billions of dollars of shares while announcing layoffs and factory and store closings, the senators wrote. For example, Walmart announced a $20 billion share buyback while it was laying off hundreds and closing Sams Club stores. The column cites a Roosevelt Institute analysis that the retailer could have used the money instead to raise hourly wages to $15. Harley-Davidson is buying back 15 million shares while closing a plant in Kansas City, Mo., Wells Fargo spent billions of dollars on buybacks while "openly plotting" to cut 10 percent of its workforce, the senators said. "At a time of huge income and wealth inequality, Americans should be outraged that these profitable corporations are laying off workers while spending billions of dollars to boost their stock's value to further enrich the wealthy few," the senators said. Kevin Hassett, chairman of President Donald Trump's Council of Economic Advisors, lambasted the proposal. "I wish some economist would go and talk to these guys on how buybacks work," Hassett said Monday on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "It's very disappointing that over and over again I see the Democrats pursue really economically illiterate proposals just because they think they sound good politically." It isn't the first time a ban on corporate stock buybacks has been floated. Last year, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., sought to ban stock buybacks as open market purchases, using the same argument that they have contributed to economic inequality and divert resources away from workers. Last June, more than a dozen lawmakers, including Schumer and Baldwin, wrote to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton urging him to open public comments on the rules for stock buybacks, which they said hadn't been updated in over a decade. They cited a Brookings Institution study that found from 2004 to 2014, the largest U.S. companies spent 51 percent of profit on buybacks. Sanders, I-Vt., is exploring another bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Read the full opinion column here. The government is intensifying its scrutiny of the pharmaceutical industry and rising prescription drug prices, a top voter concern and a priority of President Donald Trump's administration. The drug, Firdapse, is used to treat Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS), a rare neuromuscular disorder, according to the letter, made available to Reuters by the senator's office. The disorder affects about one in 100,000 people in the United States. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders plans to send a letter to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals on Monday asking it to justify its decision to charge $375,000 annually for a medication that for years has been available to patients for free. Both the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, controlled by Republicans, have begun holding hearings this year on the rising costs of medicines. Sanders is an independent who usually votes with Democrats. In the letter dated Feb. 4, Sanders asked Catalyst to lay out the financial and non-financial factors that led the company to set the list price at $375,000, and say how many patients would suffer or die as a result of the price and how much it was paying to purchase or produce the drug. For years, patients have been able to get Firdapse for free from Jacobus Pharmaceuticals, a small New Jersey-based drug company, which offered it through a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) program called "compassionate use." The program allows patients with rare diseases and conditions access to experimental drugs outside of a clinical trial when there is no viable alternative. Florida-based Catalyst received FDA approval of Firdapse in November, along with exclusive rights to market the medication for several years. The company, which bought rights to the drug from a company called BioMarin in 2012, develops and commercializes drugs for rare diseases. In December, Catalyst announced it would price Firdapse at $375,000 a year. "Catalyst's decision to set the annual list price at $375,000 is not only a blatant fleecing of American taxpayers, but is also an immoral exploitation of patients who need this medication," Sanders wrote in his letter. Sanders joins other U.S. lawmakers in investigating the pricing practices of pharmaceutical companies this year. Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, in January wrote to 12 pharmaceutical firms asking for detailed information on how they set drug prices. Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and Diana DeGette wrote to the heads of Eli Lilly and Co, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi SA, the long-time leading manufacturers of insulin, requesting information on why the drug's price has skyrocketed in recent years. WATCH: Schumer, Sanders call for limits on corporate buybacks Edward Lampert speaks during a news conference to announce the merger of Kmart and Sears in New York, Nov. 17, 2004. As questions have swirled about the viability and motivation behind Eddie Lampert's $5.2 billion planned purchase of Sears out of bankruptcy, one notion has been constant: his offer is the only one that would save 45,000 jobs. Now, even that tenet has been thrust into question. Sears' unsecured creditors took to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains on Monday to protest Lampert's bid for Sears. In cross-examinations of Sears' financial advisor, Lazard's Brandon Aebersold, and board member William Transier, the unsecured creditors' legal counsel dug into the uncertainty that persists around Sears' ability to grant continued employment. Lampert, Sears' chairman, is purchasing Sears through an affiliate of his hedge fund ESL Investments. As part of the proposed deal, Lampert has said he is aiming to buy 425 stores, which equates to roughly 45,000 jobs. But the exact stores Lampert will continue to operate, and thereby the official number, has not been formalized. Lampert has until May to do so. Meantime, Sears, which also operates Kmart stores, plans to close more stores in 2019 and beyond, a point its unsecured creditors raised in court. Akin Gump's Joseph Sorkin, legal counsel to the unsecured creditors, asked Lazard's Aebersold how many stores the company plans on closing in 2019. When Aebersold responded that he did not know, Sorkin followed up about the number of jobs that could be impacted. "Do you know how many employees will lose their jobs over the course of 2019 as a result of the plans ESL has?" he asked. Aebersold likewise did not know the impact on jobs. In later testimony, Sears board member Transier acknowledged Sears could close an average of three stores a month this year and sell $600 million in real estate over the next three years. Lampert's bid, and its ability to save jobs, has become a touchpoint, in part because the new company faces significant challenges. Under Lampert's guidance the company hasn't turned a profit since 2010. Its competitors, like Walmart and Target, are bigger and better funded than Sears, allowing them to make investments in technology and stores that Sears cannot match. Sears' unsecured creditors have, therefore, questioned whether Lampert's push to resurrect Sears is driven by an achievable business plan, or "nothing but the final fulfillment of a years long scheme to rob Sears and its creditors of assets and employees of jobs while lining Lampert's and ESL's own pockets." The unsecured creditors have accused Lampert of using his unique position as Sears' longtime chairman, CEO and largest shareholder to orchestrate deals that unduly benefited him. Those deals include Sears' spinoff of Lands' End in 2014 and transactions with Seritage Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust Lampert created through some Sears' properties a year later. Their cause has seemingly resonated. In a letter addressed to Lampert, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently wrote: "I am concerned that under your leadership, Sears may continue to struggle and employees will continue to face uncertainty and anxiety over their future employment, and ongoing risks to their benefits and economic security." Meantime, workers rights group Rise Up Retail has been leading rallies of current and former Sears workers to advocate for the protections of workers after Sears' bankruptcy. Despite questions about the magnitude of jobs Lampert's bid would save, the judge overseeing the case, Judge Robert Drain, has indicated support for an offer that could still save any number of jobs. Drain twice granted ESL and Sears more time in order to craft a resolution when it seemed like they had reached a breaking point. That apparent proclivity was another point underlined by lawyers representing Sears' unsecured creditors on Monday. A lawyer with their legal team referred to minutes from a meeting with the judge after which Sears had rejected ESL's offer. According to the minutes, Drain encouraged Sears and ESL to make one more attempt to get past the finish line. Drain, meantime, seemed at some points to have run out of patience with the lawyers for the unsecured creditors. At one occasion, Drain admonished counsel for the unsecured creditors for having "spent 20 minutes going over stuff that is unnecessary." When lawyers informed Drain that a new potential point of contention between Sears and ESL arose Sunday night over who would assume $166 million in liabilities, Drain reminded the parties they have already signed a legal contract. A spokesperson for Sears declined to comment. WATCH: Sears was the Amazon of the 1930s. Here's where the retailer is today "The time is long overdue for us to create an economy that works for all Americans, not just the people on top. Our legislation will be an important step in that direction," they conclude in the Times column. "So, in this Congress, the two of us will attempt to get a vote on legislation that demands that corporations commit to addressing the needs of their workers and communities before the interests of their wealthy stockholders," Schumer and Sanders wrote of the proposal to limit share buybacks. The Senate Democratic leader's coordination with Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist who caucuses with Democrats, also reflects the groundswell of discontent with corporations and the wealthy within the party base. The proposal is only the latest from Democrats since the new Congress started last month to try to create more equality between workers and their employers. For example, Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., endorsed a bill to raise the U.S. minimum wage to $15 per hour . The senators' proposal fits a Democratic Party intent on knocking the GOP as too cozy with corporations, rather than helping workers. With the op-ed, Schumer and Sanders try to discredit the 2017 Republican tax overhaul, the signature GOP economic achievement of President Donald Trump's first term in office. Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sanders, I-Vt., have proposed a measure to stop corporations from repurchasing shares until they first invest in workers and communities through better pay and benefits. In a New York Times column published Sunday , the lawmakers argued the plan would help to boost wages and reduce income inequality The proposal by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Bernie Sanders to limit stock buybacks is the latest jab at the Republican tax cuts and part of an ongoing effort to paint themselves as the better party for the working class as the 2020 presidential election cycle starts. Democrats control the House, but Republicans hold both the Senate and the White House. The plan proposed by Schumer and Sanders likely will not get through the GOP-controlled Senate or earn Trump's support. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office did not have an immediate response to the proposal. Kevin Hassett, chairman of Trump's Council of Economic Advisors, told CNBC on Monday that he wishes "some economist would go and talk to these guys about how buybacks work." Despite the legislative hurdles for the plan, Democrats will use it to try to gain an advantage in the 2020 messaging battle. The party hopes to hold its House majority, defeat Trump and gain a Senate majority in next year's elections. Trump, who has poor approval ratings, has at least one factor buoying his re-election bid: a solid economy. With their plan targeting buybacks, Democrats take aim at Trump's main economic achievement: the law that slashed tax rates for corporations and trimmed them for most individuals. The tax plan chopped the corporate rate to 21 percent from 35 percent. Republicans who designed the legislation argued it would boost capital investment, worker productivity, wages and economic growth. Trump called it a "middle class miracle." Democrats have cast the plan as a giveaway to corporations and wealthy Americans. They have consistently pointed to the record $1.1 trillion in stock buybacks in 2018, mechanisms to boost share prices unlocked in part by the corporate tax savings. Schumer and Sanders say the share repurchases have not helped workers. "First, stock buybacks don't benefit the vast majority of Americans. That's because large stockholders tend to be wealthier. Nearly 85 percent of all stocks owned by Americans belong to the wealthiest 10 percent of households," they wrote. Trump has frequently touted the economy as his greatest achievement in office. He will likely do so again Tuesday during his State of the Union address. The dueling narratives will figure prominently in the 2020 election, in no small part because the tax law gave Democrats something to criticize within an otherwise strong economy. Democrats "have the stronger case at this point" in arguing the plan led to more stock buybacks and boosted the wealthy, said Bill Galston, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. Attacks on the tax plan and share buybacks will fit into Democrats' broader contention that they will do a better job of looking out for the working-class Americans who Trump pledged to defend as a candidate. "Both parties are going to try to make the argument that they are the real defenders of working class and middle class Americans," Galston said. "And no doubt Democratic leaders including the presidential nominee will make the case that the Trump administration began by claiming the mantle of populism and ended by doing the bidding of the plutocrats." The share buyback proposal also reflects a shift in the Democratic Party's center of gravity. The 2008 financial crisis and a perception that the wealthy people responsible for it avoided punishment fueled a more populist bent in both major political parties. The change helped to propel Sanders, a vocal critic of banks and major corporations, to a surprisingly strong showing in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. He could run again in a 2020 Democratic primary dominated in the early going by discussions about whether and how to tax the wealthy more. Galston expects Trump's eventual Democratic opponent to champion policies designed to boost the working class and rein in corporations. "I would be very surprised if the Democratic presidential nominee, whether leaning left or leaning center, did not campaign on the transition to a $15 minimum wage and other issues that have become kind of common ground," he said. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. Bill Gross, the one-time bond king who built investing giant Pimco from the ground up 48 years ago then went on to run his own fund at Janus Henderson, announced his retirement Monday. The retirement, effective March 1, marks the end of an era, closing a career for a fixed income expert who once had the ear of policymakers in the highest places. After leaving Pimco, Gross was never able to regain the standing he once held, and the fund he ran for Janus Henderson had badly underperformed for most of the nearly five years he had been there. "I've had a wonderful ride for over 40 years in my career trying at all times to put client interests first while inventing and reinventing active bond management along the way," the 74-year-old Gross said in a statement. While at Pimco, Gross helped run the world's largest mutual fund, the Pimco Total Return Fund, which once boasted nearly $300 billion in assets. The fund began to hemorrhage investor money amid a battle at the firm's top between Gross and his co-CEO Mohamed El-Erian. Most recently, it was down to $65.6 billion in assets but has been outperforming its benchmark for the past three years. Despite some well-chronicled acrimony between the two, El-Erian was complimentary of Gross on his retirement. "Bill leaves behind him a long history of fixed income innovation, as well as investment approaches and frameworks that many investors still use today," El-Erian said in an emailed statement. As for Gross' fund post-Pimco, the Janus Henderson Global Unconstrained Fund, its assets have contracted to $950.4 million less than the $1 billion or so Gross had invested to start it. Over the past year, the fund is down 4.9 percent, near the bottom of its class, according to Morningstar. In his farewell statement, Gross thanked "all of my past clients for their trust and support. I learned early on that without a client, there can be no franchise. I'm off leaving this port for another destination with high hopes, sunny skies and smooth seas!" Oil prices fell on Monday after U.S. data sparked fresh concerns about a slowdown in the global economy and rising crude supplies in the United States. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude hit a 2019 high of $55.75, its best intraday price since Nov. 21. WTI ended Monday's session 70 cents lower at $54.56 for a 1.3 percent loss. Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, hit $63.63 a barrel, the highest since Dec. 7, before turning negative. Brent recouped most of its losses to trade 24 cents lower at $62.51 around 2:30 p.m. ET. Weighing on oil markets, U.S. government data showed new orders for U.S.-made goods unexpectedly fell in November, with sharp declines in demand for machinery and electrical equipment. "In a market that's looking for direction, there's concern that any slowdown in the manufacturing sector would slow down demand. Because the number was a little disappointing, it played into the slowing demand scenario," said Phil Flynn, oil analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. Prices also dipped after data showed U.S. crude inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for U.S. crude futures, rose by more than 943,000 barrels in the week to Feb. 1, traders said, citing data from market intelligence firm Genscape. "I think that's why we've seen most of the WTI sell-off, and the sell-off in WTI has dragged down Brent, not quite as much as WTI," Edward Morse, global head of commodities research at Citigroup told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." The U.S. dollar also strengthened, making oil more expensive to holders of other currencies. Prices have been buoyed by a new round of supply cuts from OPEC and its allies that began in January. Russia has been in full compliance with its pledge to gradually cut its oil production, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in a statement on Monday, adding that production decreased by 47,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January from October. The impact of OPEC+'s supply curbs has been boosted by U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA. The sanctions will limit oil transactions between Venezuela and other countries and are similar to those imposed on Iran last year, some analysts said after examining details announced by the U.S. government. "There's no sign of overhang in the crude oil markets," said Olivier Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix. Henry Ford with his Model T. Getty Images DEARBORN, Mich. He was one of America's most successful entrepreneurs, but Henry Ford was also one of its most virulent anti-Semites, and an attempt by a suburban Detroit mayor to censor an article detailing Ford's hatred of Jews in a little-read local historical magazine is drawing national attention. Most Americans are likely to think of Ford Motor Co.'s founder as the man who put the country on wheels, rolling out the Model T by the millions off his breakthrough assembly lines in the early half of the 20th century. But "he was also a man who mass produced hate," said Bill McGraw, former editor of the Dearborn Historian. Dearborn Mayor John B. "Jack" O'Reilly late last month ordered all the copies of the Autumn 2018 issue, Volume 55, No. 3 confiscated and, days later, fired McGraw. A former reporter from the Detroit Free Press, McGraw wrote the issue's cover story for the city-owned magazine: "A Special Report: Henry Ford and 'The International Jew.'" There are no indications that Ford or its executives had any knowledge of the mayor's actions, and the company has taken great pains over the years to distance itself from its founder's dark legacy. Admired by Hitler Ford used the Dearborn Independent, a newspaper he took over in 1918, as a mouthpiece for his personal views everything from business to history. But it was Ford's racist screeds that, until it was shut down in December 1927, promoted anti-Semitism here and abroad and that some say is helping to shape anti-Jewish vitriol today. Ford, for instance, paid to print and distribute 500,000 copies of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," which has renewed popularity in America among today's neo-Nazi and white supremacists. Historians say the book a hoax first printed in Russia in 1903 that claimed to reveal Jewish plans for global domination would have likely been forgotten, but for Ford's reprint in English. Adolf Hitler himself called Ford an inspiration and kept a photo of the automaker behind his desk. In a 1923 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Hitler said he considered "Heinrich Ford as the leader of the growing Fascisti movement in America" and "admire(d) particularly his anti-Jewish policy," adding that he wished he could send some of his "shock troops to America" to help Ford get elected president. Historians say Hitler distributed Ford's books and articles throughout Germany, stoking the hatred that helped fuel the Holocaust. During an interview at the Dearborn Historical Museum before being fired last week, McGraw said Ford "used the Dearborn Independent to spread his message all over the world." Many of the Independent's articles were eventually compiled in a book, "The International Jew," that Hitler said was translated, reprinted and circulated throughout Germany, according to the 1923 article in the Chicago Tribune. The original cover of the Dearborn Historian features a quote from one of the Independent's articles declaring: "The Jew is a race that has no civilization to point to, no aspiring religion, no great achievement in any form." In explaining O'Reilly's decision to pull the magazine, Dearborn city spokeswoman Mary Laundroche said, "the mayor is very focused that all our messages, through all our outlets (including) his publication work to help people understand what Dearborn is today." Laundroche added that the Democratic mayor "decided this was not beneficial for our community." Gone viral With the story now reprinted in a local news site, DeadlineDetroit.com, and word of the mayor's move starting to go viral, the attempt to bury the report is gaining far more attention than it ever would have originally. And it is putting back in the spotlight a town that has had to deal with the legacy of not only Henry Ford but long-time Mayor Orville Liscum Hubbard, an avowed racist who helped keep most blacks out of the city during a 36-year reign that ended in 1978. Dearborn now has one of the country's largest populations of Lebanese and other Middle Easterners. O'Reilly won re-election by a wide margin, many crediting his efforts to cope with Dearborn's dark history. Among other things, O'Reilly moved a statue of Hubbard off a main thoroughfare and into the historical museum's back lot. Some residents now question whether his decision to censor the Ford issue was motivated by other concerns. Headquartered in the suburb just outside of Detroit, Ford is Dearborn's biggest employer. Some 4,100 work at the sprawling Rouge Assembly Plant complex alone with thousands more at Ford's world headquarters, technical center and other facilities within city limits. The presence of the automaker and the family that still controls it can be felt everywhere in civic life, as well. There's the massive Henry Ford Museum, the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, even Fordson High School. Laundroche insisted that the mayor "made (his) decision in the interest of Dearborn and without discussing it with the Ford Motor Co. or Ford family." The company has, in fact, worked hard to separate itself from the legacy of its founder, starting with Henry Ford II, who effectively forced out his grandfather at the end of World War II. Commonly known as "The Deuce," he became a strong benefactor of Israel, refusing to engage in a boycott of the fledgling nation after its founding in 1948. William Clay Ford Jr., Henry's great-grandson and today Ford Motor Co. chairman, was honored in 2015 by Steven Spielberg's USC Shoah Foundation Institute with the Ambassador for Humanity Award for his leadership in education and the community. While the company wouldn't address the mayor's actions or comment on the Dearborn Historian's article, it released a statement condemning discrimination: "Ford Motor Company has a long and rich history as a company that supports equality and fairness to all people, and condemns any form of discrimination. Ford Motor Company's position on any form of discrimination is well documented and the company remains committed to the advancement of understanding and goodwill among all races, religions and cultures." Few would question the automaker's efforts to right the wrongs of its founder. And McGraw and others on the Historical Commission appear convinced that the company was not involved in the censorship of the Historian. But whatever the reasoning behind the move, there remains deep concern about the implications. Emergency meeting The Dearborn Historical Commission called an emergency meeting Thursday to vote on a resolution calling on the mayor to distribute the magazine. It may have been 14 below zero outside, but things were getting heated inside the old city building. The majority of those gathered at the meeting offered strong praise for McGraw's work, calling it a much-needed look at the dark side of Dearborn's most famous son. Though invited to attend the meeting, O'Reilly and his staff were no-shows. Not everyone was sorry to see the distribution of the magazine halted. Ford was "a multifaceted person," argued Commissioner Mary Buegeia, insisting Ford "had a good relationship with some Jewish people." In fact, he did. Most of his factories were designed by Albert Kahn, a renowned Detroit architect who was Jewish. And for years, Ford gave a car each year to Rabbi Leo Franklin, once a neighbor when the businessman lived in Detroit's upscale Boston-Edison neighborhood though the rabbi stopped accepting the gifts in 1920. 'Bad for the mayor' Although Buegeia argued, "we of today's population do not agree to" what Ford wrote a century ago, she questioned why the Dearborn Historian published the Ford article. "I think it's bad for the mayor. I think he made an unfortunate decision," William Hackett, an emeritus member of the Historical Commission, said as it prepared to vote on its emergency resolution. With only Buegeia abstaining, the commission board voted unanimously for the resolution. Author McGraw was fired shortly before the meeting. Although Laundroche insisted that decision was made by Jack Tate, the head of the Dearborn Museum, Tate told the commission Thursday that O'Reilly "ordered" him to fire McGraw. Anti-Semitism today Pro-life activists try to block the sign of a pro-choice activist during the 2018 March for Life January 19, 2018 in Washington, DC. Conservatives and liberals are closely watching the case, which could reveal how the nation's top court, newly reconstituted with a fortified conservative majority, is likely to deal with one of the country's most divisive social issues in the coming years. Despite the court's action, women seeking abortions in the state are being turned away and sent to other states and medical procedures have been canceled amid the confusion, according to court documents filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing two doctors and an abortion clinic in the case. An abortion law that was set to go into effect in Louisiana on Monday was temporarily put on hold, as the U.S. Supreme Court seeks to buy itself more time amid a rushed flurry of briefs and notices. The case is shaping up to be an important test of President Donald Trump's two appointees to the high court, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. The dispute is over a state law that requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic. The plaintiffs have said that if the law goes into effect it will leave only one doctor performing abortions in the state, which has a population of nearly 5 million people. "Louisiana women are counting on the Supreme Court," Nancy Northup, CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. "It has stepped in to block this very same type of law before, so this should be an easy case. The court now has the chance to show that it will stand by its own precedent." One week ago, the nonprofit submitted an application for an emergency stay of the law, citing the Supreme Court's ruling in 2016 that an identical law in Texas was unconstitutional. Justice Samuel Alito over the weekend granted a temporary stay, through Thursday, in an order that expressly did not take any side on the merits of the case. Just before filing its rebuttal, Louisiana posted a one-page notice online outlining a 45-day process for verifying admitting privileges under the law. It said the protocol would avoid the "abrupt descent into chaos" that the plaintiffs warned about. But Alito said that the justices needed more time. In his order, Alito reasoned that "the filings regarding the application for a stay in this matter were not completed until earlier today and the Justices need time to review" the arguments. Alito was automatically assigned the case but the dispute is expected to be reviewed by the full court. Democrats and reproductive rights activists have hounded Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, both former appeals court judges, over their views on abortion, especially because Trump had said that he would appoint justices who would overturn the landmark case Roe v. Wade. Both men have said they view Roe as precedent, although they have refrained from saying that it was correctly decided. The 2016 case that held Texas' version of the law unconstitutional was decided by a 5-3 majority including retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. The opinion was handed down before either Gorsuch or Kavanaugh was confirmed to the bench. If the full court acts on the matter, as Alito suggested would happen, it will take five justices to grant a stay. That means Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, or one of the other conservatives on the bench who dissented from the court's 2016 decision would be required to join the panel's liberal wing in order to prevent the law from taking effect. While many pro-life groups championed Kavanaugh's nomination, some have soured on the justice just months into his lifetime appointment because they say he has not yet done enough to limit abortion. If the court allows the law to go into effect, delivering a win to social conservatives, views on Kavanaugh could shift. "This case will be a real test for the Court, particularly its newest members, as the public waits to see whether the Court respects its own precedent," Brianne Gorod, chief counsel of the progressive Constitutional Accountability Center, said in a statement. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican, said in a statement that the arguments made by the plaintiffs were "incomplete at best and misleading at worst" and defended the law's "common-sense requirements that will protect the health and safety of Louisiana women." Landry's office noted that the law was passed in 2014 by an 88-5 vote in the Louisiana House of Representatives and a 34-3 vote in the state's Senate. The law was authored by state Rep. Katrina Jackson, a Democrat, and passed with bipartisan support. The current application before the court is not a formal petition for the top court to hear arguments on the merits of the case, though such a petition is expected. If the court grants a review of the case, which only requires four justices, it would likely be argued next term, which begins in October. Iraqi President Barham Salih rebuffed President Donald Trump's insistence on Sunday that the U.S. would maintain a military presence in Iraq to "watch Iran," telling the American leader not to burden Iraqis with his own political drama. "Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues... We are not part of the U.S. battle with Iran," Salih said during an international forum in Baghdad, adding that he did not give Trump permission to use his country as a base to "watch Iran." Trump expressed his intentions for continued a U.S. presence in the war-weary country during an interview with CBS aired Sunday, saying Iraq was "perfectly situated" to keep an eye on Iran and other countries in the region. The president had previously called for drawing down troop numbers in the country after having campaigned on ending years of U.S. warfare in the Middle East. Iraq has long been characterized as a playing field for competing powers, with Iran enjoying significant influence in the majority-Shia country since the American invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003. The U.S., as well as its Gulf allies, view Iran's fortified presence in Iraqi politics as a direct threat to their interests and to regional stability. "We spent a fortune on building this incredible base, we might as well keep it," Trump told CBS, alluding to the Ayn al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq. "And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran." He denied wanting to attack the Islamic Republic, however, saying, "All I want to do is be able to watch." "We're going to keep watching and we're going to keep seeing and if there's trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we're going to know it before they do," he said. British fintech start-up Bud said Monday that it had secured $20 million in a funding round co-led by HSBC and Goldman Sachs. The London-based company's platform lets banks update their apps to give users access to financial services products from rivals. Banks can also categorize a customer's spending data using Bud's technology to help them find more cost-efficient products. Its offering is part of an emerging theme in the world of fintech known as "open banking," which essentially means banks sharing their customer data with third-party providers to enable them to create new financial products. Proponents of open banking say that it will increase competition in the industry and benefit consumers, giving them more choice over who they bank with. Ed Maslaveckas, Bud's co-founder and chief executive, said in an interview that the sector has seen a "massive shift" from a focus on competitive rates and services to a digital-oriented customer experience and a "marketplace" banking model. "The market dynamic is such that open banking is a much bigger change for banks than I think people realize," he told CNBC. "Open banking essentially allows the customer to get their banking data and make payments from any app or service of their choosing." Bud's Series A funding round an early-stage investment also got backing from other big lenders including Australia's ANZ, South Africa's Investec and Spain's Banco Sabadell. Investec invested through its venture fund INVC while Banco Sabadell participated via its venture arm InnoCells. Since those proposals, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders , have called on Congress to limit stock buybacks. They unveiled the proposal in a New York Times op-ed published Sunday. Warren, who is exploring a 2020 Democratic run for president, is proposing an additional 2 percent tax every year on households with assets over $50 million and 3 percent on households with assets over $1 billion. Ocasio-Cortez from New York wants a 70 percent marginal tax rate on income above $10 million. Democratic proposals like those from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez targeting the wealthy are "economically illiterate," a top economic advisor to President Donald Trump told CNBC on Monday. "I wish some economist would go and talk to these guys on how buybacks work," Kevin Hassett, chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisors, said on "Squawk Box." "It's very disappointing that over and over again I see the Democrats pursue really economically illiterate proposals just because they think they sound good politically." Democrats should be "ashamed," added Hassett, a former economist at the American Enterprise Institute and ex-senior economist at the Federal Reserve. Democrats such as Ocasio-Cortez see their proposals as pushing the wealthy to pay their "fair share of taxes." The elite financiers that attended the World Economic Forum last month were worried about Ocasio-Cortez's 70 percent tax rate and Republicans were skeptical whether a proposal would actually work. Hassett appeared on CNBC after the release of the better-than-expected jobs report for the month of January. Job growth for the month shattered expectations, with nonfarm payrolls surging by 304,000 despite a government shutdown. He said he got a "fist bump" from the president on the jobs report and the direction of the economy. ARK Investment Management is launching its first financial technology, or "fintech," focused exchange traded fund on Monday. The actively managed "ARK Fintech Innovation ETF" began trading on the New York Stock Exchange Arca under the ticker "ARKF." It includes public companies that could use technology to bypass incumbent financial players by making things faster and cheaper, the company said. This is the firm's seventh ETF since launching in 2014. The idea for a fintech ETF had been on the New York-based firm's road-map for a few years, CEO Catherine Wood told CNBC. But ARK's Japanese partner Nikko Asset Management saw the rapid growth in mobile payments in Asia, and asked if they could launch earlier than planned. "China is really showing us the way they didn't have the older financial infrastructure so they could leapfrog us," said Wood. "That business is spreading like wildfire." ARK has $6.5 billion assets under management. Wood pointed to the ubiquity of giants like Alibaba, parent company of Ant Financial, and Tencent in Asia, which are both in the ETF. Those and other companies in ARKF are looking to upend traditional institutions by offering "better, cheaper, faster, and more novel and secure" services, according to Wood. The ETF spans across three areas of technology. The first is "mobile value transfer devices," or anything that lets someone send money or pay through a phone. Square, the ETF's biggest holding, and PayPal focus on peer-to-peer payments and both leaders in the U.S. online payment realm and are "nipping at the traditional big bank's heels," Wood said. Another key area is blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin. Despite the nosedive in bitcoin prices, Wood is still bullish on the future of it and other cryptocurrencies. She pointed to the jump in volumes, and the amount of people sending and receiving bitcoin, despite falling prices. Square, for example, lets customers buy bitcoin through the Square Cash App, and its CEO Jack Dorsey has touted its potential. By embracing crypto, Wood said "they are attracting a new breed of customer." Other names in the ETF include Amazon, the "original fintech player," according to Wood, and Apple because of growth in Apple Pay. The fund also focused on artificial intelligence, which is being used by start-ups to assess creditworthiness. Companies that don't use AI for lending, are positioned to lose out in the modern economy, according to Wood. Baidu, Zillow, and LendingTree are also included in the ETF. Social media companies are getting faster at responding to hate speech online. Tech companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter removed 72 percent of illegal hate speech on their platforms during 2018, the EU found. The response rate is a big increase from two years ago, when tech companies removed just 28 percent of content. Eighty-nine percent of content flagged as hate speech was reviewed by tech companies within 24 hours, up from 40 percent in 2016, the EU also stated. The figures come from an evaluation released Monday by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, as part of its "code of conduct" for social media platforms. Tech companies including Facebook, Google, Twitter and Microsoft signed onto the initiative when it launched in 2016 in an effort to remove racist and xenophobic content from their platforms. "Today, after two and a half years, we can say that we found the right approach and established a standard throughout Europe on how to tackle this serious issue, while fully protecting freedom of speech," said Vera Jourova, a European commissioner for justice, consumers and gender equality, in a press release. The EU's report found Facebook now removes 82 percent of illegal hate speech on the platform, up from 28 percent in 2016. The figures are a rare piece of goods news for the social media giant that has struggled to manage misinformation and "fake news" on its platform. Facebook has struggled to curtail abusive content on its platform and has faced criticism for failing to contain the spread of fake information in election campaigns. Last week the company removed nearly 800 fake pages and accounts with ties to Iran. "There is always more we can do tackle hate speech and we are delighted that both Facebook and Instagram are now part of the Code of Conduct," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC. Twitter, meanwhile, showed a slight decrease in the amount of content it took down. The report found 43.5 percent of hate speech flagged on Twitter was removed in that time frame, down from 45 percent in December 2017. Karen White, Twitter's director of public policy for Europe, told CNBC Monday the company is now reviewing 88 percent of all notifications received within 24 hours. "We've also enhanced our safety policies, tightened our reporting systems, increased transparency with users, and introduced over 70 changes to improve conversational health," she said. "We're doing this with a sense of urgency and commitment, and look forward to continued collaboration with the European Commission, Governments, civil society and industry." In a statement to CNBC, Matt Brittin, Google EMEA president, said 10,000 people are now working to fight hate speech on Google's platforms. "Nobody wants to be confronted with hateful content online," he said. "We'll continue to play our part in the fight against hate by making our platforms as hostile as possible to hate speech." The European Commission defines "hate speech" as "the public incitement to violence or hatred directed to groups or individuals on the basis of certain characteristics, including race, color, religion, descent and national or ethnic origin." "Let me be very clear, the good results of this monitoring exercise don't mean the companies are off the hook," Jorouva said in a press conference in Brussels on Monday. "We will continue to monitor this very closely, and we can always consider additional measures if efforts slow down." Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meet on the sidelines of a presidential summit between Russia and the United States held at the Presidential Palace. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov played down the possibility of renewed Cold War-era hostilities after the breakdown of an arms control treaty between Washington and Moscow. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced last week that the U.S. will formally withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) in six months' time and would suspend adherence to the agreement as of last Friday. Russia followed suit on Saturday by saying that it too had suspended its involvement in the deal, although President Vladimir Putin said "the doors for talks are open." The U.S. also said that it "stands ready to engage with Russia on arms control" if Russia complies with the treaty. Lavrov said his country was not to blame for the pact's breakdown. "I don't think that we should talk about a new Cold War. A new era has begun, an era when the United States decides to move towards destroying the entire arms control system, which is regrettable," he said, according to news agency TASS. The INF Treaty was created in 1987 by then-Presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev and was designed to end decades of bitter relations and arms insecurity between old foes the U.S. and Russia. The treaty states that neither country can produce, possess, or flight-test a ground-launched, intermediate-range ballistic and cruise missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. As more states legalize cannabis usage, the industry that provides the drug has gotten a burst of confidence in its long-term prospects and is rapidly expanding. Job openings rose 76 percent from December 2017 to December 2018, with 1,512 open roles posted in that final month of 2018 alone, according to Glassdoor. Back in 2017, that number was only 858. The industry's acceleration doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon either, as this latest upsurge only continues a trend Glassdoor has been observing over the past few years, thanks to loosening restrictions on the drug. Last year, seven states and Washington D.C. all approved measures changing their stance on cannabis, meaning 33 states and the capital now all allow for either legalized recreational or medical marijuana use. According to an October 2018 Gallup poll, two-thirds of Americans are now in favor of national legalization. That public support and Canada's decision to legalize cannabis at a federal level last year seem to be inspiring the industry to make big human resource investments, despite the legal issues it could face on a national level. "Investment in hiring is one of the strongest indicators for business confidence as it requires a substantial long-term investment of time, effort and money," wrote Daniel Zhao, an economist and data scientist with Glassdoor, on the company's blog. The roles these companies are looking to fill might not be what you expect, either. While they need retail workers to man shops and people to tend the crop, 53 percent of the industry's opening are for professional or technical workers such as audit assurance managers, product managers and marketing managers. "As the cannabis industry becomes more legitimate, more and more professional roles will be in demand to help businesses comply with tax laws and regulations and scale into larger markets," Zhao wrote. Cannabis workers earn a good wage too about 11 percent more than the U.S. median salary of $52,863, according to Glassdoor's December 2018 Local Pay Report. The median paycheck in the industry is $58,511 a year, or $5,648 more than the national figure, though individual salaries can range from $22,326 annually for service jobs all the way up to $215,384 annually for legal professionals. The most in-demand cannabis jobs tend to be in service or retail think roles like brand ambassador and sales associate which each account for 5 percent of available jobs. But that's mostly because higher level or more technical roles tend to be more varied, making them unlikely to be concentrated under the same title. You'll have the best luck if you're job-hunting in larger cannabis-friendly cities such as San Francisco, which has the most open roles of any area about 13 percent of all listings; Los Angeles, which accounts for 12 percent of listings; and Denver, which has 7 percent. New York City and Seattle round out the top five places, each hosting 4 percent of all open cannabis jobs. Most of the companies looking to hire are not only concentrated in larger cities, but they also tend to be small to medium-size businesses with less than 500 employees. More than 80 percent of open jobs are with such companies as larger corporations seem to be unwilling to invest with the cannabis market so localized and the drug's legal status uncertain, according to Glassdoor. The top-hiring company, Green Thumb Industries, is a "vertically-integrated business that cultivates, processes and sells cannabis-related products directly," according to Glassdoor. It currently is looking to hire 67 workers. Other similar companies in the space who are also on the hunt for lots of talent include Surterra Wellness, with 58 openings, MedMen, with 31 openings, and Vireo Health, also with 31 openings. Several of the other top hiring businesses aren't actually producing the drug, but rather are running operations that feed off the cannabis demand. For instance, Eaze, which has 43 open jobs, is a cannabis delivery service, while Weedmaps, with 29 open jobs, is a review service for cannabis companies. The other big area weed is impacting? Regulation. As this new industry seeks out help with compliance issues, companies and the government are stepping up their workforce meant to ensure legal standards are met. MGO, a professional services firm, is looking for 41 people currently to fill out its unit specializing in cannabis, while the State of Washington needs 22 new workers to expand its regulatory and compliance branch, according to Glassdoor. The job-listing site further predicts that the industry will be looking to hire even more workers who can ensure companies meet accounting standards and product safety requirements, as well as people who can help who can these smaller businesses scale up. Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube! Don't miss: 64% of job seekers make this mistake, and it could cost you $750,000 over the course of your career Bristol-Myers Squibb shares seesawed Monday after CNBC's David Faber said the company had not formally heard from activist hedge fund Starboard Value about reports of a stake in Bristol. Shares of Bristol popped 2 percent early Monday after a Bloomberg report said Starboard Value had taken a stake in the New York-based pharmaceutical giant. The size of the stake and plans that the activist hedge fund might have for its investment couldn't be immediately learned, according to Bloomberg. Bristol's shares turned negative after Faber, citing unnamed sources, said Starboard hasn't contacted Bristol's management yet. Starboard Value and Bristol didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Last month, Bristol announced plans to acquire cancer drug maker Celgene in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $74 billion. Buying Celgene is seen as giving Bristol more cancer drugs at a time when its immuno-oncology portfolio struggles to keep up with rival Merck's. The initial news sent the cost to insure Bristol's bonds to their highest point since May 2010. As the price of long-term Bristol bonds fell, the associated credit default swap jumped 66 percent, bringing the cost to insure $1 million of the company's debt against default to $23,000, according to Reuters. Shares of Bristol are down by about 4 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock is down more than 20 percent over the past 12 months. Correction: CNBC's David Faber said Bristol-Myers Squibb had not formally heard from activist hedge fund Starboard Value about reports of a stake in the company. An earlier version mischaracterized his comments. Slavick Receives Distinguished National Teaching of Art Award February 04, 2019 Carnegie Mellon University Professor Susanne Slavick will be presented with the 2019 Distinguished Teaching of Art Award from the College Art Association (CAA) at its annual convention, Feb. 13-16, in New York City. This prestigious award, given annually since 1972 by the preeminent organization for professionals in the visual arts, honors an exemplary educator for which teaching and making art are inseparable. "Art is an intimate and generous way to share what matters to us. At its best, it moves us to respond to act," said Slavick, an accomplished artist and curator. She said she sees working with her students as a mutually empowering experience toward personal and social transformation. "Art is constantly testing the reality principle and challenging the status quo," she said. "Artists can expose things we don't want to face or imagine alternative worlds. Art is an essential political force, even if it may not immediately change the world. There is nothing more rewarding than helping students recognize how they can shape the cultural consciousness and their futures." Slavick received a master of fine arts from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University and a bachelor's degree from Yale University. She began her tenure with CMU's School of Art in 1984 after a three-year stint at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She served as head of CMU's School of Art from 2000 to 2006 and has held the title of Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Art since 2001. "There has been no single person or professor who has had a greater impact on my career than Susanne Slavick," said Lauren F. Adams, a 2007 graduate of the School of Art's MFA program and painting professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art. "Her commitment to teaching and rigorous approach to the multiple pathways that students may travel has proved a durable influence upon me and many others. This has inspired me to model my own teaching techniques after her." Even after more than three decades teaching, Professor Slavick remains excited by each new group of students. Though she has taught in many courses across the program, introductory painting is her favorite class to teach. Photography by Jacquelyn Johnson. "Artists can expose things we don't want to face or imagine alternative worlds. Art is an essential political force, even if it may not immediately change the world. There is nothing more rewarding than helping students recognize how they can shape the cultural consciousness and their futures." Susanne Slavick "At this level, there's a magic elixir of curiosity, spirit, energy and work ethic," she said. "It is exhilarating to see the growth in students' work and their excitement about the possibilities of painting." Slavick said teaching at CMU's School of Art, which has long distinguished itself through its interdisciplinary approach, has been especially rewarding. "Teaching has led me to areas of knowledge and processes that I might not have ever considered. Teaching has broadened by own perspective," she said. "Susanne's generosity and deep commitment to our students is evident far past their classroom experience," said Charlie White, head of CMU's School of Art. "Even after students graduate, Susanne tirelessly advocates for our community, consistently boosting alumni successes and using her broad reach to connect them to opportunity. She manages to do all this while maintaining a vibrant studio and curatorial practice. Her work as both artist and teacher is always attuned to the political moment, responding with compassion, grace and insight." Slavick has exhibited her own work nationally and internationally, with recent solo shows at the Chicago Cultural Center, McDonough Museum in Youngstown Ohio, and the Bernstein Gallery at Princeton University. Her recent curatorial projects include: "Marx@200" (2018); "Unloaded" (2015), a traveling multimedia exhibition exploring the impact of guns in our culture; and "Out of Rubble" (2011), a book and traveling exhibition featuring international artists who respond to the aftermath of war. The School of Art will honor Slavick at an alumni gathering 7-9 p.m. on Feb. 15 at PPOW Gallery in New York City. School of Art alumni and friends of Slavick can RSVP for the party online. SHERIDAN [mdash] John Kershner Van Allen, 78, Sheridan, Wyoming passed on Monday, May 31, 2021, in Billings, Montana with his family by his side. John was born March 13, 1943, to John B. and Elizabeth K. Van Allen in Clinton. After graduation, he attended the University of Wyoming on a baseb In our world of divisiveness, generally, most people can agree crime is bad. But what about hate crimes? We have all heard the loaded-phrase before, but many remain unclear about what elevates a seemingly regular crime into a hate crime? Two recent incidents reported on by the Clevel WESTLAKE, Ohio -- They're just not your mother's and father's summer camps anymore. The Camp Fair held at Crocker Park on Saturday (Feb. 2) told a story of summer camps that offer not just fun and education, but the promise of wondrous experiences, as well. Fifty-three exhibitors from a 100-mile radius were featured at the Market Square facility for the first time. Northeast Ohio Parent magazine sponsored the exhibition. Along with the exhibits, animal entertainer Jungle Terry made an appearance for the kids. But it was the structure and content of the summer camps that stimulated the imagination. Imagine sending your kids to a summer camp that takes them on tours around the world. They call it "immersive travel, classes and camps that educate and inspire." It is The Sprout Experience. Local co-founders Julie Milkie and Daniel Grigson describe the camps as life-changing international expeditions. They tell of trips (not for little kids) to Kenya, Thailand and Trinidad. Locally, The Sprout Experience brings kids together, beginning in fifth grade, for shorter-term camps/workshops featuring, for example, a one-day, wood-fired pizza-making class in Fairview Park; a three-day songwriting workshop (location to be announced); a two-day horse camp in Oberlin; and more. Visit www.thesproutexperience.org or call Julie or Daniel at 440-320-5792 or 440-840-3907, respectively. Other exhibitors included Aqua-Tots, a new indoor swimming facility in Westlake with swim classes for ages 4 months and older. An important feature is a 1:4 ratio of teacher to students. Contact Emily Plemons, general manager, at 440-482-8687 or visit www.aqua-tots.com. For a more traditional camp, there is Falcon Camp in Carrolton, Ohio, for ages 6 to 16. They feature sessions of two to eight weeks. Their information says "... where you'll live in a cabin with your friends, learn new skills from our experienced counselors, and most importantly, HAVE FUN." Activities include horseback riding, boating, swimming, arts, drama, archery, riflery and more. Contact Falcon Camp at (800) 837-2267 or visit https://www.falconcamp.com/. To find more summer camp guide listings, visit https://www.northeastohioparent.com/. HUDSON, Ohio - When it's a tough day, as it often is, Michelle Tarczy finds comfort and consolation at home. "The biggest thing that keeps me going are my kids and my husband!," Tarczy says. "I love them all more than life itself." Tarczy, 41, lives in Hudson with her husband, Matthew, and their son, Jake, 12, and daughter, Meredith, 8. She needs a kidney, as soon as possible. She needs a donor to provide one. Tarczy's kidneys began to fail in 2014 from Polycystic Kidney Disease. She received a kidney from her husband in 2015, but her body rejected it within an hour of the transplant. She says her prognosis would be "great" once she would get a kidney. "In spite of the physical and energetic restrictions caused by not having kidneys, Michelle's resiliency and her compassion have helped all of us through these circumstances," Matthew Tarczy said. "And on those difficult days when she has trouble bouncing back, the endless joy and excitement of our children help lift her up." Potential donors can call the Cleveland Clinic Donor Office at 216-445-3150. People can also contact Tarczy at kidney4michelle@yahoo.com. Tarczy graduated from Brush High School in Lyndhurst in 1995. She attended college afterward, and says she hopes to return to college to pursue a degree if she can regain her health. Tarczy has dialysis three times a week. "Physically, I am exhausted, weak, nauseous and always cold, among other symptoms," she said. "Mentally, I have brain fog. Emotionally, I try to have a positive outlook. Some days are better than others. "This has been very hard on me and my family. I can't be the mom and wife that I want to be. On dialysis days I come home and sleep. Even after I wake up, I am still exhausted. On non-dialysis days, I am a little better, but I still get exhausted." As bad as Tarczy often feels, she has sympathy for her husband and children. "This has been horrible for our kids," she says. "I am not able to play with them like I used to. I am not able to parent them like I used to. "I feel like they miss out on so much because of my illness. They do give me strength and encouragement in their own way, and motivation, just in the sense that I want to be here for them and watch them grow." Tarczy appreciates the ordinary moments of family life as she continues to deal with her health circumstances and the limitations they bring. "I enjoy just being with my kids and my husband in any capacity that I am able," she says. "I enjoy hanging out with my dog (Kelly). I also enjoy crafts and I do them as often as I can." Tarczy's strong support group includes her parents, Ray and Robin Elsoffer, of Solon, and her mother-in-law, Elsie Tarczy, of Chagrin Falls. "My parents, my mother-in-law and my Stay-at-Home Moms Club have been amazing," she affectionately says. "My friends and family have been there for me every step of the way. They all have helped me in more ways than I can count. I am so blessed to have all of them in my life." CLEVELAND, Ohio The Cleveland Rape Crisis Center will host a luncheon in April to raise money to support its work helping victims of sexual assault in Cuyahoga, Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake counties. The event will feature a talk by Rena Romano, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse who was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. She will speak about life after her experience with sexual abuse, and share strategies to find strength and thrive. Rena is a terrific example of someone who is not just surviving, but thriving after trauma, Sondra Miller, Cleveland Rape Crisis Center President and CEO, said in a news release. The Rape Crisis Center hopes the event will raise $285,000 to bolster its work to help sexual assault survivors. The center provides a 24-crisis hotline and counseling services to victims of sexual assault. It offers support during hospital and police visits to sexual assault victims in Cuyahoga County. It also puts on sexual assault prevention programming at schools, universities, businesses and community centers. The luncheon and talk will be held from 12 to 1:30 p.m. April 17 at the Hilton hotel in downtown Cleveland. The event will be co-chaired by Rita Andolsen, director of communications and community engagement at MetroHealth, and Jeffery Weaver, Key Bank executive vice president and group head of portfolio management at KeyCorp. Tickets cost $100 and are now available for purchase. ROCKY RIVER, Ohio - Matthew Blazer, of the Rocky River Police Department, has been the new School Resource Office (SRO) in the Rocky River Middle School for six months now. He deals with about 700 kids in grades six through eight. Is it a tough job? Blazer said it is. "It is a transitional period in life," he said. He also noted the outside influences out there that can harm kids. No surprise in the primary answer: social media. "The biggest thing I see kids repeatedly in the office for is what they are doing on social media," he said. His advice to parents: Know what they are doing with their cell phones. Be involved with what they are looking at on the Internet and what apps they are visiting." Blazer also mentioned the ongoing problem of cyber-bullying. "We need to be aware," he said. "It is something that not only gives them trouble with the school, but with the police." Blazer is in the thick of it in his job at the middle school but also in his own home. He is the father of two kids, seven and nine. He has the same worries and concerns for his own kids as all the parents at the school have for theirs. His job at the school encompasses the standard school year. During school breaks and in the summer he goes back to serving as a patrol officer on the Rocky River Police Department. He noted the difference in the two jobs. "At the police department, I am responding to a problem already in progress. A lot of the things I respond to in the school are reports for something that has already transpired." He said there is also a lot more investigative work done at the school. "Anything that has happened here has more investigative because of contacting parents and school officials (for involvement)." Blazer talked of goals at the school "One of the biggest priorities is to protect kids and faculty, of course. But this job is not just strictly a security guard. I have to build a relationship with the students. I have to be approachable, so they are comfortable with me. I need a reputation here as someone kids can approach." With a first-time SRO in the school some changes have been made. "A few things we have done since I have been here is to change the way we do lock-down drills," he said. "They are more impromptu in order to evaluate the results and to see what we need to get better at. Fortunately, the staff has been very welcoming and it has opened up discussions. Also, we recently got wound care/trauma kits and we are training the staff on how to handle any possible major injuries of staff or students." He was asked if he is happy in the job. "Yeah, I like it very much. I am very happy. It is a great addition to my career. I feel fortunate that both the school and police department gave me the opportunity to be here. It's a good fit for me and the staff and faculty have been extremely welcoming since the first day." He was asked if he is happy in the job. "Yeah, I like it very much. I am very happy. It is a great addition to my career. I feel fortunate that both the school and police department gave me the opportunity to be here. It's a good fit for me and the staff and faculty have been extremely welcoming since the first day." Blazer offered a web site for parents on protecting their kids on the Internet: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/5-ways-to-block-porn-on-your-kids-devices. WASHINGTON, D.C. More than five years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned parts of the Voting Rights Act, U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge of Warrensville Heights led a delegation of Democrats to Texas as an initial step toward their restoration. On Monday, the group visited a courthouse in Brownsville for a Listening Session on Voting Rights and Elections to draw attention to the erosion of equal access to voting in Texas after the Supreme Courts decision in Shelby County v. Holder. She plans to hold similar hearings in Georgia, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina and North Dakota. Fudge kicked off the House Administration Committee session by declaring that the ruling struck down the idea that all eligible Americans should have the right to vote. She said it allowed states to implement restrictive laws that denied the most vulnerable among us, and let elected officials pick their voters. The record we compile today and in the coming months will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we still need the Voting Rights Act, said Fudge. It will prove that while weve come so far, we have so far to go. The 2013 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts invalidated part of the voting law that forced areas with a history of discrimination to clear any voting changes with the Department of Justice or federal courts to ensure they didnt harm minority voters. It tossed out the formula that decided which locales should be subjected to that procedure and invited Congress to enact a new one. But Congress didnt act, and Fudge says states enacted laws to prevent minorities from voting. Testimony from today's Listening Session on Voting Rights & Elections in Brownsville shows us "the more things change, the more they stay the same." It's a shame that a country that calls itself the light on the hill continues to treat its own citizens this way. #GiveUstheBallot Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (@RepMarciaFudge) February 4, 2019 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi restored a House Administration Committee panel on elections that was disbanded by Republicans and put Fudge in charge after Fudge announced she was considering running for Speaker against Pelosi. Fudge said her subcommittee will figure out a way to alter the law to comply with the Supreme Court decision, so the protections of the Voting Rights Act will be reinstated and improved. The sole Republican on the three-member panel, Rodney Davis of Illinois, did not attend Mondays listening session but sent committee staff to observe the proceedings. I believe, along with Congresswoman Fudge, that we need to listen to all that is being said during these sessions and the upcoming field hearings to determine what election reforms will be the most effective going forward, said a statement from Davis. Democrats on the House Administration Committee say Texas has a long history of voting discrimination against African Americans and Latino citizens, and that the Texas Civil Rights Project estimates the state is missing 4.4 million voters due to systemic failures at state agencies, and state restrictions on third party registration drives." The voting rights lawyers and civil rights activists who testified at the listening session said they consider Texas an epicenter of voter suppression, and state election officials are deliberately trying to disenfranchise minority voters. The message that we are delivering lately is that diminishing the right to vote of people that don't support you as a candidate is a proper campaign method and it's going to continue to increase until Congress, the Supreme Court and government in general can do something about it, said attorney Chad Dunn. They said that even though black and Hispanic voters now outnumber white voters in the state, the number of Anglo-controlled congressional districts has remained the same because of gerrymandering to diminish minority clout. Although President Donald Trump and some Republican office holders insist that voter fraud is widespread in Texas, witnesses who testified before Fudges panel said theres no evidence of that. On Monday, several civil rights groups filed a lawsuit to challenge an advisory from the Texas Secretary of State that encouraged election administrators to check whether 95,000 registered voters were non-citizens. There are some isolated instances that weve seen where the Texas attorney general has taken action against people for voter fraud and has secured some convictions, but generally speaking the circumstances of those cases are mistaken understanding about when you can vote, said Matthew McCarthy of the ACLU Foundation of Texas. They said Texas laws that require voters to present photo identification keep minorities from voting because it is harder for them to obtain the needed documents. They said the state has tried to intimidate and harass Latino voters by asking those who got drivers licenses before they obtained citizenship to produce their naturalization papers. And they said badly trained poll workers provide misinformation that discourages minorities from voting. I would say to Justice Roberts, give us the ballot, Fudge said as she wrapped up the hearing. It is a shame that a country that calls itself the light on the hill would treat its own citizens this way. Rotunda Rumblings Householders House: Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder says his chamber will be busy in coming months with the transportation and operating budget bills, each which must originate in the House. He said he expects the state Senate to introduce legislation banning abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected. During a wide-ranging discussion with the Statehouse press corps Friday, Householder offered his views on how his chamber will operate now that hes back in charge. Among issues he touched on: Heartbeat bill: Householder noted that the House has repeatedly passed the heartbeat bill, Householder noted that the House has repeatedly passed the heartbeat bill, but there havent been the votes in the Senate to make it law. As a result, Householder said, House Republicans will wait for the Senate to pass heartbeat legislation before taking up the issue. It will not be one of our top agenda items in the House, Householder said. But it will be something that members will want to do, and we will do it. School-funding : Householder said he intends to include reforms to Ohios school-funding formula in the Houses upcoming state budget plan. Frankly, with the current formula the way that it is, there are some [school districts] that are overfunded; theres many more that are underfunded, the speaker said, adding that the current method of calculating how much money each school gets from the state is very difficult to understand. State of the State: Householder mentioned that Gov. Mike DeWine will deliver his first State of the State address at noon on Tuesday, March 5, in the House chambers. FirstEnergys nuke plants : Householder expressed support for the power plants, which will be decommissioned next year unless the company receives government help. Householder, : Householder expressed support for the power plants, which will be decommissioned next year unless the company receives government help. Householder, who with allies has received thousands in contributions from the company , said the plants are an asset to Ohio, employ people, provide tax revenue and have zero emissions. Some of the numbers Ive heard is it's a $400 million cost for us a year for us to do nothing, and it $170 million for us to do something, he said. HR pro: The recently announced bipartisan committee that will vet candidates for a The recently announced bipartisan committee that will vet candidates for a professional human resources chief will have its first meeting next week, he said. It will help him define the role, before it will be advertised. Only a few hours later... House Republicans laid off several legislative aides eliminating eight aide positions in all -- including one who had complained of discrimination and harassment in the past, cleveland.coms Laura Hancock reports. A spokeswoman for Householder said letting go of Marissa Reyes was not retaliation for her making her claims public. A Buckeye in the Hawkeye State: Cleveland.coms Seth Richardson, who spent the end of last week trailing U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown on his tour of Iowa, noted he pulled the biggest crowds on his last day of the trip. Brown, Ohios lone Democratic senator, is testing the waters for a presidential run in 2020. But is he liberal enough? Richardson illustrated a debate Brown had with Ruth Walker, a 78-year-old retiree from Cedar Falls, over Medicare for all. Brown wants an incremental approach to single-payer care, believing Congress would never pass universal health care today. Walker, however, is among a majority of Democrats and independent voters who think its time. Trade and the rural economy: Brown mostly listened, Richardson wrote, during a discussion with farmers and rural Iowa residents. While trade agreements may have hurt Ohios industrial economy, tariffs are hurting farmers. And the larger issue is the economy of rural America, Iowans told him. Joining the chorus: Brown joined other Democrats in saying Gov. Ralph Northam should resign, following a medical school year book photo surfaced showing him in a racist picture, Richardson reports. We have a president who is a racist: Yep, Brown did not mince words about President Donald Trump on Meet the Press Sunday morning, detailing Trumps actions over the decades that he described as racist. Fourth: While there is much talk about Browns name recognition problem, opinion writers at the Washington Post, in a new feature calledPost Pundit 2020 Power Ranking, see him as fourth best person to defeat Trump. Prescription with the prescription: A new state rule requires doctors who prescribe high doses of opioids to offer their patients naloxone, an opioid-reversal drug, writes the Dispatchs Rita Price. The rule does not mandate prescriptions for naloxone. Paw patrol: John Kasich, the former governor, joined another 2016 White House wannabe Hillary Clinton to pen an op-ed for the Washington Post about the importance of keeping funding and pressure on the fight against criminal syndicates that poach sensitive animals. Poaching, they argue, directly challenges the economic, social and environmental pillars embedded in the United Nations sustainable development goals. PUCO pic: Ohio voters, unlike those in other states, do not get to elect members to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, which sets utility rates and influences energy policy. However, cleveland.com opinion writer Tom Suddes argues energy companies, and their shareholders, often benefit more than consumers. Gov. Mike DeWine is about to appoint a new member. Flags at half-staff: Flags will be at half-staff in honor of Clermont County Detective Bill Brewer, who was killed during a standoff in Pierce Township, at the Ohio Statehouse and at Clermont County public buildings, according to an order by Gov. Mike DeWine. Bumpy ride ahead: The Ohio Department of Transportation is cautioning drivers that with the polar vortex last week and temperatures in the 50s in some parts of the state this week, potholes will likely form, as the freeze/thaw cycle weakens pavement. Drives should also be aware of ODOT crews that will be out fixing them. Follow Me Looking for new and interesting people to follow on Twitter to track Ohio politics? In this new segment, well offer our recommendations for accounts you may not already be following - political operatives, activists, analysts, and emerging players. Send your suggestions of Twitter accounts we should spotlight in the future to Jeremy Pelzer via Twitter or email at jpelzer@cleveland.com. Noah Rudnick -- @rudnicknoah If you prefer your political analysis expressed visually, look no further than Noah Rudnick. An Ohio State University student who does poll analysis for Arizona-based OH Predictive Insights, Rudnicks Twitter account is a string of graphs, charts, and maps many of which are made by Rudnick himself. While Rudnick personally leans to the right, the work he does is usually non-partisan. On the Move Gov. Mike DeWine appointed John Carey as director of the Governors Office of Appalachia and Michele Reynolds as director of the Governors Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Carey was chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education from 2013 to 2018. Reynolds founded a faith-based nonprofit that provides affordable housing and economic development initiatives and is first lady and executive pastor of Common Ground Destiny Center Church on the east side of Columbus. Straight From The Source Thank you to Senator Rob Portman and Senator Cory Gardner for the early and warm endorsement. We will ALL WIN in 2020 together! -President Donald Trump on Twitter, acknowledging an endorsement from Ohios Republican senator, first reported by the conservative site IJR Wednesday. Portman in 2016 withdrew his endorsement of Trump after an Access Hollywood tape showed him making lewd comments about women. Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free. COLUMBUS, Ohio The number of discrimination complaints before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission based on race, sex, age, religion, disability and other protected classes increased last year by 4.4 percent from the previous year, according to a new report. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission report, released last week, covers the fiscal year from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018. In that period, Ohios population grew 0.26 percent, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission investigates claims of people being mistreated in employment, places of public accommodation, housing, credit and disability in higher education. Protected classes under Ohio law include race, color, religion, sex/pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, disability, age, military status, marital status, familial status and people who have experienced retaliation for opposing an illegal discriminatory practice -- including while participating in proceedings before the Civil Rights Commission. Created in 1959 as the Ohio Fair Employment Practices Commission, the state agency became the Civil Rights Commission two years later. After people file complaints, the commission can offer mediation between the two parties. If one party declines mediation, an investigation begins. The investigator can ultimately find no probable cause, which means the case closes, or probable cause, which means the commission considers it for further action. The office, which works with its federal counterpart the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, closed 3,674 cases last year some of them filed in the 2018 fiscal year and some from 2017, said Mary Turocy, a spokeswoman for the commission. Among case closures: Investigators found no probable cause in 2,181 cases, up from 1,850 the year before. People who complained received settlements in 188 cases, up from 163 the year before. The commission closed 486 cases after learning the other party offered the person who filed the complaint a settlement outside of the commissions process. Thats down from 511 the previous year. 72 cases were closed for unknown reasons to the commission -- the parties could have come to an outside settlement that the commission was not aware of, or the person who made the complaint decided it was not worth the trouble to pursue it, among other reasons. There were 77 in FY17. 26 cases were settled by a dispute resolution process known as conciliation, in which the commission finds probable cause, tells the parties what it takes to settle it and the offending party agrees to put the matter to rest before proceeding with a hearing. Thats down from 35. The commission didnt have jurisdiction in 97 cases due to the length of time between when the alleged discrimination occurred and when the complaint was filed. In Ohio, people only have six months for employment claims or 12 months for housing claims. Some of these cases get referred to the EEOC because federal timelines are different. Thats up from 58 the prior year. 420 cases were closed, often after people filed online, and they didnt notarize the proper documents required by state law. Thats up from 287. Turocy said its difficult to understand changes in case filings and closures, year-over-year. Anecdotally, the commission can make educated guesses when looking at data over a decade. For instance, employment discrimination complaints can increase during recessions, when economic factors may play into work environments. When its so fresh -- a year old -- its so much harder to say, she said. Ohio lacks a non-discrimination law protecting the LGBTQ community, which means the Civil Rights Commission cant consider discrimination against gays. However, transgender Ohioans have had some protections in the past. Ironically there are actually in the case law some instances of when even we can take on issues of gender identity in employment, and for that matter, in housing as well," Turocy said. The U.S. Supreme Court in the 1989 Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins determined an employee was discriminated against for not fitting managements ideals for how a woman should look and act. In recent years, the EEOC has asked Ohio to send it cases of discrimination against transgender people, knowing the state cannot investigate them. EEOC so far is taking a broad interpretation of sex-based cases," Turocy said. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Three people charged in a growing corruption investigation into the Cuyahoga County government pleaded not guilty Monday to charges stemming from an investigation into allegations of corruption in county government. Chief Talent Officer Douglas Dykes, former Director of Corrections Kenneth Mills, and former IT administrator Emily McNeeley each appeared in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court for the first time since a grand jury handed up felony and misdemeanor charges last month. Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Fuerst set a $10,000 personal bond for each defendant. She will preside over the case, which is set for its first pre-trial hearing Feb. 11. The hearing came after Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael OMalley announced Friday that he had handed oversight of the criminal case over to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yosts office due to a conflict between his duty to investigate criminal activity and represent the county civilly against a lawsuit filed in federal court in December over conditions in the jail. Dan Kasaris, an assistant attorney general and a former assistant county prosecutor, represented the state in Mondays arraignment. Attorneys for all three defendants said after the hearing that they looked forward to fighting the charges in court. Prosecutors say Dykes, whose served as the countys human resources director, sought approval to shift $13,500 in moving expense perks for incoming Chief Information Officer James Hay into a $15,000 signing bonus because Hay didnt actually relocate for the position, prosecutors say. His request was rejected. Dykes then lied to a county employee and said the countys then-Law Director Robert Triozzi, who resigned from his position last month, signed off on the request and filed paperwork based on that lie to pay Hay the money, prosecutors say. The Ohio Auditors Office issued a report last year that said the county paid out $63,000 in illegal perks, and cited the payment to Hay among them. Hay has agreed to pay back the money. McNeeley, former IT general counsel and director of special initiatives, faces 17 charges, including felony counts of telecommunications fraud, tampering with government records and having an unlawful interest in a public contract for her work on two projects. Prosecutors say she didnt tell County Council at a Sept. 19, 2016 meeting that her father was convicted of taking a bribe from Ciber Inc., a company seeking a $9 million contract with the county. She also failed to disclose that Ciber had previously defrauded other states with whom the company had done business, directly affecting councils decision on whether to award Ciber the contract, according to prosecutors. McNeeley is also accused of steering contracts to Hyland Software, where her spouse worked and owned stock, and then disclosing confidential county information to Hyland employees. Mills is charged with falsification and telecommunications fraud based on his lie to the Cuyahoga County Council at a May 22, 2018, meeting about his role in blocking the hiring of necessary nursing staff for jail facilities, according to prosecutors. He later lied to investigators about his interactions with a high-level Cuyahoga County official, according to prosecutors. Those actions resulted in misdemeanor falsification and obstruction of official business charges. Kevin Spellacy, who represents Mills, and Roger Synenberg, McNeeleys lawyer, declined to discuss the case after the hearing. Anthony Jordan went further in his defense of Dykes and questioned why his client was indicted in the first place. Hes a lifelong public servant who gained absolutely nothing from a managerial decision to give a bonus to someone who at this time is in a repayment agreement with the county, Jordan said. Jordan said he and Dykes obviously disagree with the auditors determination that the payment to Hay was illegal. To comment on this story, please visit Mondays crime and courts comments page. CLEVELAND, Ohio While still serving as Cuyahoga Countys jail director, Ken Mills used a homophobic slur against two other jail employees, insinuated they were dating, and made other inappropriate comments, employees reported to the countys inspector general. County employees also told the Inspector Generals Office that Mills made comments about County Executive Armond Budish being Jewish and Sheriff Cliff Pinkney being black, according to a report provided to cleveland.com on Monday by Inspector General Mark Griffin. The Inspector Generals Office concluded that sufficient evidence exists that Mills made the homophobic comments. Three witnesses reported first-hand knowledge about the comments, the IG report says. But the inspector general did not find sufficient direct evidence that Mills made anti-Semitic comments. Mills resigned Nov. 15 ahead of a U.S. Marshals Service report that detailed deplorable conditions at the county jail. He now faces several charges resulting from an ongoing public corruption probe of county government. According to the report, a Sheriffs Department employee said Mills made a comment to her about Budish being Jewish. You know the executive is not going to give you any more money, hes a Jew, Mills told the employee, the report states. A senior manager with the countys Office of Budget and Management said Mills made comments to her about Pinkneys race, the report says. Mills told the manager that Pinkney was only appointed as sheriff because he is black, the report says. He also told the manager that Pinkney and interim jail director Chief Deputy George Taylor were "stupid, lazy and did not want to manage the jail, according to the report. Those findings, along with other reported comments, led the Inspector Generals Office to conclude that Mills was not sufficiently supportive of Cuyahoga County governments commitment to diversity, the report says. The report also contains allegations that: Mills told a Sheriffs Department employee that a black sergeant was an inadequate employee. When the employee asked Mills how the sergeant got the job, Mills pointed to his arm as though he meant skin color. Mills told the same employee that Pinkney thinks he is untouchable because he is the first African-American sheriff. Mills made comments to the Office of Budget and Management manager that indicated he does not like gay people. Pinkney reported that he received separate phone calls from two female Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judges who said they believed Mills dislikes women. One judge told Pinkney she didnt want to work with Mills because he was condescending and a chauvinist. Pinkney said one employee told him that nurses in the jail complained about Mills behavior, but were afraid to come forward due to the possibility of retaliation. MetroHealths ambulatory director at the jail said a Sheriffs Department employee told her that Mills had said the director made too much money for a woman. An employee in the Sheriffs Department said she left a meeting after Mills made a comment about Pinkney that made her uncomfortable, Something to the effect of the Sheriff is too tight to give up money for new cameras and could find the money if he wanted to, the miser. A nurse reported that Mills made female corrections officers watch male inmates even when it was not necessary. Mills told the nurse, "they took the job, so they can do it. The Inspector Generals Office tried to reach Mills for comment several times, but Mills did not make himself available for an interview, the report says. Budish and Public Safety Chief Brandy Carney provided statements to cleveland.com on Monday addressing the IGs findings: We have no tolerance for these kinds of offensive comments. We are committed to a culture of respect at every level, in every department, throughout our organization. We will re-double our efforts with respect to training and education, to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect, Budish said. Carney called the remarks contained in the report disrespectful. We are committed to improving every aspect of the jail, including training for all levels of employees, she said. CLEVELAND, Ohio Fifty-eight floors, 1,349 stairs. That was the challenge facing the Fight for Air Climb participants Sunday, hosted by Key Tower Ohios tallest building. The Lung Association event raised $83,000 Sunday. Last year, the event raised $7.4 million nationally. It brought out participants from all walks of life to support the mission to combat lung disease. Sisters Heidi Straitiff and Bethany Gillespie climbed for the first time in honor of their grandmother who was affected by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Jim Wigginton was the first of the day to tackle the stairs and raced in honor of his late wife, Nancy Punya Wigginton, and on behalf of the Punya Thyroid Cancer Foundation. Others were also emotional after finishing the difficult climb. Deena Weber said, I was a smoker for 25 years and I wouldnt have been able to do this four years ago. Its a personal accomplishment for me. SEATTLE, Washington A 27-year-old pregnant woman suffered life-threatening injuries after her 4-year-old son accidentally shot her with a gun he had found hidden under a mattress, reports say. The woman remained hospitalized Sunday but her condition was improving, the Associated Press reports. The Kings County Sheriffs Office tells the Seattle Times shooting occurred in an apartment at about 5 p.m. Saturday. The woman and her boyfriend, who is the boys father, were laying on the bed watching television when the boy found the gun underneath the mattress. (The gun) wasnt secured like it should have been; it was just laying under the bed and it was loaded, sheriffs office Sgt. Ryan Abbott tells the Times. According to The Spokesman-Review, the boys father tells police he had borrowed the gun for protection. The gun is not registered but investigators say it doesnt appear it was stolen. No charges have been filed but the incident remains under investigation. Were reminding anybody with a gun, kids see them as toys, Abbott tells the Spokesman-Review. The biggest tragic lesson here is please lock-up your guns so they cant be used accidentally for the wrong reason. To comment on this story, go to the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. CLEVELAND, Ohio Former Cleveland Police Patrolmens Association President Steve Loomis is one of three new homicide detectives. Loomis, known for his appearances on cable TV and local radio as a commentator and as an outspoken critic of the mayor and police chiefs policies as the head of the police union, will begin as a homicide detective on Monday, Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said. He returned to his assignment as a major crimes detective in the citys Third District after losing the CPPA president election in November. Loomis built a reputation as a pundit who decried any criticism of police officers that followed many high-profile shootings of black men in communities throughout the country, including the November 2014 shooting of Tamir Rice by a Cleveland police officer. He also endeared himself to the Trump campaign during the Republican National Convention. He is widely regarded in the police department as an effective investigator. Ciaccia said Loomis will be joined in the homicide unit by two other seasoned detectives: - Det. Aaron Reece, Loomis former partner in the Third District, who had been one of four detectives given a 120-day assignment in the homicide unit in late 2018. - First District Det. Daniel Lentz, whose father was a Cleveland police officer for some four decades and whose grandfather, Edward Lentz Sr., was killed in the line of duty in 1957 after serving 31 years as a Cleveland police officer. His brother Edward Lentz is a lieutenant. The appointments are expected to shore up a staffing shortage in the homicide unit that for years plagued the units ability to solve homicides and contributed to plummeting solve rates for homicides. CLEVELAND, Ohio A veteran Cleveland police officer was charged Monday with soliciting a prostitute 11 times. Sgt. Michael Rybarczyk, 58, was issued a summons to appear in Cleveland Municipal Court on the first-degree misdemeanor charges. A court date has not been announced. The charges carry between probation and six months in jail, along with a mandatory $250 fine that could be increased by a judge to $1,000, if convicted. Rybarczyk is a 29-year veteran officer and is a supervisor in the First District. He was placed on restricted duty on Friday during the Internal Affairs investigation. Rybarczyk was a former supervisor in Internal Affairs and traffic units. Between July 28 and Dec. 2, Rybarczyk offered women ranging in age from 18 to 25 between $40 to $100 for various sexual acts, according to court filings released Monday. In total, he made 11 attempts to hire a prostitute, those documents say. Rybarczyks only discipline in the last two years includes two written reprimands for failing to notify supervisors he was the sergeant monitoring car chases. Rybarczyk in 2012 was awarded the departments Distinguished Service Medal for arresting two men who fired gunshots at two downtown Cleveland security guards. Fraternal Order of Police president Capt. Brian Betley said he did not want to comment on the criminal charges. Betley said the union that represents the police departments supervisors will represent Rybarczyk if any discipline case he may face, but will not represent him in the criminal case. Hes had a distinguished career, Betley said. This is a breaking news post and will be updated. CLEVELAND, OhioCity council members and community organizations involved in the recently-announced Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition say they are willing to consider lead-safe legislation proposed by the advocacy group Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing (CLASH). CLASHs proposed legislation, which the group officially released at a news conference Monday, would require owners of most Cleveland rental homes to prove their properties are lead-safe by 2021 or face fines. The group has said it will gather the necessary signatures to put the legislation on the November ballot if city council does not adopt it. City Council President Kevin Kelley, along with other members of council, joined more than two dozen other city officials and members of philanthropic, healthcare and environmental advocacy groups on January 22nd in announcing that they will work together to create a lead safe Cleveland over the next decade by drastically reducing the number of children exposed to the toxin. The group has not yet committed to a specific timeline for its larger efforts or for when council plans to rework the citys health ordinances that pertain to lead based paint. Kelley on Monday said he is trying to keep an open mind about CLASHs legislation, and will refer it to the coalitions policy committee. The committee will be chaired by affordable housing non-profit Enterprise Community Partners and may also include council Health and Human Services committee members Blaine Griffin and Kerry McCormack. City Council is expected Monday night to pass a resolution re-affirming its and the citys commitment to addressing childhood lead poisoning. Kelley said he had no immediate concerns about the CLASH proposal, which is a variation on similar legislation introduced in 2017 by former councilman and now CLASH member Jeff Johnson, which never received a hearing. CLASHs proposal uses the citys current rental registry system to track the lead safe status of homes rather than create a standalone registry, and includes new provisions to assist landlords, protect tenants and educate the community. The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, which has partnered with the Cleveland coalition, said it will continue its advocacy in preventing childhood lead poisoning, and that the group is encouraged by the community-wide focus on this important issue from both the coalition and CLASH. Legal Aid crafted the earlier ordinance proposed by Johnson at his request. At the Monday news conference, members of CLASH said its legislation was substantive and is focused on: requiring a rental units lead-safe status be clearly stated in ads for homes and in information given to tenants; incentives for landlords who want to make their properties lead safe and fines for those who dont; and a suite of protections for tenants to get out of a lease, suspend rent payments until the problem is fixed, and be relocated if necessary. Penalties are not the aim, the aim is incentives, said CLASH member Rebecca Maurer, an attorney with Maurer Law LLC. Maurer said she believes its within the citys power to legislate requirements that a propertys lead-safe certificate status be included in advertising. Federal, state and local laws already require that known lead hazards be disclosed, but are not consistently followed or routinely enforced. Its not clear whether that would change with new legislation, whether passed by ballot initiative or council. Councilman Anthony Brancatelli, who chairs councils Development Planning & Sustainability committee, said he needs to review CLASHs proposal in detail to know how it would change the citys existing law. Council has been working on its own changes to the same section of city health code, Chapter 240, some of which could be similar to CLASHs proposals. The coalition and the CLASH proposal have some common goals, Brancatelli said, including the creation of a fund to help landlords pay for necessary repairs and testing, and that more advocacy and education are needed to empower residents to ask the right questions of landlords when renting property. Some of the differences are in how the objectives might be carried out, he said. Brancatelli added that he has concerns about some of the provisions of the proposed legislation, including whether or not using an increase in rental registration fees to raise money for a lead safe fund is the best route and if having landlords assure in an advertisement that their property is "lead safe" might create worries about liability. He would support requiring landlords to state in their home or apartment ads that their properties are registered with the city, he said. Diana King, whose two children were poisoned in Cleveland, said she told her story before city council and received sympathy, but no action. The time to act is now, King said Monday, adding shes fed up with discussions and summits. Kelley said that he understands the frustration of residents like King, and echoed Mayor Frank Jacksons recent assertion that the problem should have been solved long ago. Im frustrated as well, Kelley said. This is something were taking very seriously and we are going to take action. Kelley declined to commit to a timeline for action on this or similar legislation but said it will be timely. CLASH, for its part, said it will use provisions in the citys charter that allow for a ballot initiative when 5,000 voter signatures are collected. The group said the ballot initiative process exists for the purpose of making politicians listen to Cleveland citizens. Steve Holecko, political director for the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus, a member of CLASH, said that if the city doesnt act on its own, we are very, very confident the citizens of Cleveland will speak. Johnson said that CLASH will begin seeking petition signatures this week and is planning a series of town hall-style meetings around the city to raise awareness and help with community buy-in. Johnson estimated from past experience about 10,000 signatures need to be collected to get the valid number required. We are not against the new coalition, Johnson said, adding that CLASH has plans to present the city administration with packets of information about the legislation and to meet with 17 council members about the proposal. City Hall did not respond to a request for comment on the proposed legislation. Should they continue not to act, Johnson said, Were going to go to the streets. PARMA, Ohio Bed bugs are ruthless. An infestation can mean thousands of dollars in treatment, painful bites on the body and the inability to spend time outside of your home. Vietnam veteran Gary Muetzel of Parma has been battling the pesky creatures for a year. Hes not alone. A 2018 list by pest control company Terminix ranked Cleveland as the top city for bed bug infestations in the United States. About three months ago Muetzel was at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility seeking treatment when someone spotted a bed bug on him. He had noticed marks and itching before, but thought they were a reaction to medication he was on. Bed bugs didnt cross his mind. In 72 years I had never even heard of them, said Muetzel. "I thought they were a myth. He tried do-it-yourself treatments but nothing worked, so he decided to call a professional and discovered Bed Bug Barbeque, which offered him 100 percent extermination in less than 24 hours. Bed Bug Barbeque is a local company operating out of Lakewood. When co-founders Chris Gonda and Laura Steelman heard about Muetzels plight, they knew they could help. See Facebook Live video from the Bed Bug Barbeque treatment performed Monday at his home: U.S. veteran battling bedbugs gives tour of infestation, shows treatment today with local Bedbug BBQ company. Hannah Drown is on scene to show how they can destroy your home. Have you dealt with these pesky bugs? Let us know in comments. Posted by cleveland.com on Monday, February 4, 2019 The companys method uses no chemicals, instead heating the home to 120-150 degrees to kill the bugs. The process in Muetzels home is estimated to take upwards of nine hours. The cost is $1 per square foot. The house will be heated all day, using fans to move the heat. Its important not to have cold pockets, which allow the bed bugs to live, so all furniture will be moved to hit every spot of the home. Bed bugs are attracted to the heat on humans as well as carbon dioxide. They also like material, which draws them to curtains, upholstered furniture and carpeting. Some of Muetzels furniture will be thrown out, but much of it will just need to be washed. Muetzels car also was heated, which made it safe for him to use during the day while hes out during the process. He has not been able to go anywhere for months and months, said Gonda. So hes going to get a haircut and a shave. In Muetzels home, evidence of bed bugs can be found nearly everywhere. Bugs, fecal matter and eggs are on the floors, furniture and even his body. Flipping over his couch, the scene is alarming. This couch, including dead ones, probably has well over 10,000 bed bugs in it, said Gonda. Where do bed bugs come from? The number one place they come from, sorry, is friends, family and loved ones, said Gonda. Theyre also very prevalent in health care. To prevent an occurrence, its important for those who have them to be honest about it and keep people out of their homes until theyre eradicated. Vacuuming is huge, said Steelman. If you vacuum regularly and thoroughly you will cut down on the potential of infecting your home substantially. For Muetzel, the nightmare is almost over. Hes excited about his new opportunity, said Steelman. Its life-changing for him. These guys are miracle workers, said Muetzel. Theyre going to set me free. Manila (CNN Philippines Life) Its the 6 p.m. newscast of News Night, CNN Philippines flagship news show anchored by Pia Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan. As fresnels and soft lights illuminate the entire studio, she sits upright on a swivel chair, a laptop open on her left, printed scripts on the table, and a black pen in her hand. During a three-minute commercial break, she talks to her earpiece, asking that a technical issue be fixed. A few minutes before it airs again, she says she can still hear people talking from what seems to be another taping next door; looking agitated, she tells the person on the other end of the line to always ensure that technicalities be addressed before they go live. She is still talking to her ear piece seconds before airing, but like an actor who can switch on and off a character, as soon as the cameras start rolling, she changes to her impassive face, starts to read the news, this time, about the Jolo Cathedral bombing in Sulu. She takes her black-rimmed eyeglasses, scans the papers on the table, talks to DILG secretary Eduardo Ano over the phone, and she takes notes of names, the suspected perpetrators of the bombing almost all in graceful synchrony. By 6:30 p.m, she gets a 30-minute break, but doesnt leave her seat before she goes on cam again for the 7:00 p.m. newscast. Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan during a live newscast of "News Night." Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan has been a journalist for 29 years. Being a journalist, as she said in a previous interview, is like being one of the first writers of the rough draft of history. And perhaps, its this proclivity towards being part of history that has paved the way for her journalistic career. As a junior in high school, she already had her taste of joining rallies and demonstrations when Ninoy Aquino was assassinated. Like many others in my generation, of course you were aware of it unless you pretended that it didn't happen, she says, adding that she was also in second year college when the EDSA Revolution happened. [Joining demonstrations, rallies] was nothing out of the ordinary, she explains. And that's part of history. After martial law, ABS-CBN re-opened by August 1986, but she was still a sophomore in university. Since there were no internship programs in place back then, she had an informal agreement with the network for her to help out in doing research for news or public affairs. By September 1989, after graduating from the Ateneo de Manila University, she got her first job with the news channel as a reporter and she has been one since. Her first assigned beat was the police beat. There was a time that it was important to start [as a reporter] on the graveyard shift, the police beat, because that's where you learn the 5Ws and the one H who, what, where, when, and how, she explains. You learn the basics of news writing. A journalist is not someone who comes in and reads, no. A journalist is someone who has been out on the field, who has covered stories, beats, says Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan on the importance of going out in the field as practicing reporters. Photo from CNN PHILIPPINES/FACEBOOK The media IDs of Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan, spanning her 29 years as a journalist. Photo from PIA HONTIVEROS-PAGKALINAWAN/INSTAGRAM As if reciting ABCs, she goes on to explain another crucial journalistic acronym that covering the police beat provides SVDTPO, which means subject, victim, date, time, place, origin. She adds that these basic journalistic practices can be all the more honed through covering stories out of the newsroom the best place for any reporter to learn I think it's very important for me to tell young people who want to be journalists or who are starting out as journalists now na please take being a reporter seriously. Please go out in the field. Please cover the beats because there's nothing like covering outside, she says. You don't just come here and sit down and start reading a story. People know that you don't understand what you're saying because you've never covered outside diba? she adds. A journalist is not someone who comes in and reads, no. A journalist is someone who has been out on the field, who has covered stories, beats. This advice indeed comes from her own experience, as evidenced by her breadth of on-the-ground reporting experience. One of her more memorable coverages was in December 1989, when she covered the coup detat against the Cory Aquino administration. I remember running, I remember covering in Makati when the rebels were in the basement of Twin Towers. I remember when I was with another group of soldiers and mino-mortar yung one of the buildings in the Makati Central Business District, she recalls. I was out in the field so much of that time. It was very... exciting is an understatement. I think it's very important for me to tell young people who want to be journalists or who are starting out as journalists now na please take being a reporter seriously. Please go out in the field. Please cover the beats because there's nothing like covering outside. The thrill of chasing stories made being a reporter invigorating for Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan. In 1990, she and her crew even went to Ragay, Camarines Sur to interview people about NPA mass graves found in the area. She and her team, together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the police, trekked 14 kilometers along a carabao road a term used for a route filled with large rocks amid a stream of water. At one point, they heard someone humming very strongly behind them Tan, tan, tanan, tan to the tune of the first line of Bayang Magiliw and then in front of them, the sound coming from a faraway distance, someone hummed in return to the tune of the last line of the national anthem: Tan tananan tan tan tan tanan. She later found out that this was the NPAs signal, telling their members that the AFP soldiers were there. The next day, after doing her interviews, gunshots started going off. It's unbelievable. You don't believe it eh. Parang 'Shit this isn't happening!' And then like in slow motion, I turned my head slowly, I can see the bullets coming off the ground, she shares. I had two policemen beside me [they said,] Dapa, dapa, dapa! and we all fell to the ground. They were under fire for two hours. I really thought I was gonna die. I was thinking, Oh my god I don't even have children, I'm just starting out as a junior reporter! she recalls, now chuckling at the incredulity of the situation. When asked if this near-death experience discouraged her at being a reporter, she says, without a sliver of doubt, her eyes lighting up: No, all the more [encouraged]. Parang, aba exciting to! In my 29 plus years as a journalist, I have interviewed all sorts of people. And I will interview them. The objective of the interview is to get to the truth, right? says Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan. Photo by JL JAVIER After years of going out and covering all sorts of stories and beats, she then also started anchoring political shows such as Strictly Politics, where she interviewed a wide range of politicians, such as Mar Roxas, Edgardo Angara, and Joseph Estrada, among others. In fact, on February 2002, it was during her interview with then-President Estrada that the former president admitted to having a bank account under the Velarde name. Estrada was, at that time, on trial for having used this name for money laundering purposes. I wanted to fall off my chair. But I just smiled na lang. He wasn't taking it back talaga, says Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan. Her interview was also one of the evidences cited by Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo in the case against Estrada. This February, Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan will once again have in-depth discussions with political newsmakers through her new show at CNN Philippines, Politics As Usual. Being the face of the new show, she also has a say on which newsmakers to invite. When asked about her opinion on no-platforming, meaning not inviting guests who may be newsmakers but are known to peddle lies for instance, she says: In my 29 plus years as a journalist, I have interviewed all sorts of people. And I will interview them. The objective of the interview is to get to the truth, right? So it's the way you ask questions. Alan Peter Cayetano interviewed by Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan during the 2017 State of the Nation Address. Photo from CNN PHILIPPINES/FACEBOOK Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan says that before a coverage of the SONA or the elections, for example, she would prepare by printing out her own notes and spiels, and pasting them on index cards. Photo courtesy of PIA HONTIVEROS-PAGKALINAWAN With her almost three decades of experience researching, reporting, and analyzing political events and figures, its as though shes had the unique position of seeing the weak spots of Philippine politics. Perhaps the countrys weakness is the way Filipinos vote, the way we choose personalities rather than parties? She says that it is indeed problematic that that is how we choose who to put in office, but that its not the fault of the Filipino voter. That's the systems [fault] and we have a problem on the political party system also na kahit na may partido, hindi naman talaga siya malakas, lumalakas ang partido dahil mayroong popular, may sikat na sumasama sa kanila, she says. In 2010, ganoon ang nangyari, yung kay Noynoy. So everybody joined LP. In 2016, everybody wanted to be PDP-Laban because that's the party of Duterte. Through the years, politicians she has interviewed have come and gone, but what has stayed the same for Hontiveros-Pagkalinawans reporting is the way she has prepared for every single coverage she has done. It's like preparing for a thesis defense. And this I tell other journalists, other anchors, so you read no? But after you read, you don't just keep it in your head. You either write it out, with pen and paper, she says. She brings out her phone and finds a photo of how she prepared for the State of the Nation Address: 21 index cards laid out on a table with printed out notes and highlights of spiels, information, and other facts that she thinks could either help add context to the story or could be important to the coverage. This is what I do every SONA or every elections, she says. I write out things I would say, my notes, yun because I'm OC. I do the same for questions. She adds how for interviews, she would even go as far as writing out possible answers to her questions so she can prepare her follow-up questions. That's my point about being a reporter. Being a reporter gives you experience, she says. If you have experience, then you can deal with anything on camera. Politics As Usual premieres this Feb. 19 on CNN Philippines. No surprise, Sherrod Brown is looking to join the overcrowded primary field of Democrat presidential contenders that think they can beat President Trump. The only thing Brown has going for him is that he is from Ohio the always important swing state that candidates must hold. Ohio stands firmly in support of President Trump. No matter how much Sherrod Brown tries, he wont be able to beat President Trump in Ohio. Ohioans know how theyre better off now than they were when Democrats were leading the country, and dont want to turn back the important progress weve made. Thanks to President Trump and Republican leadership, Ohioans have more money in their pockets, more jobs available, and have higher wages to bring home to their families. This is real impact, for real Ohioans. Sherrod Brown is just talk, but really hasnt accomplished much for our great state. His Listening Tour in early primary states as he mulls a Presidential bid is really just a chance for him to seek national attention - while leaving Ohioans behind. Therefore, Sherrod Brown will never get my vote. Steve A Flores, Parma CLEVELAND, Ohio One of the warehouses that was ravaged in a West Side fire early Sunday was the Sixth City Distribution facility, which holds craft beer. The three-year-old company's warehouse on Industrial Parkway in Clevelands Puritas-Longmead neighborhood was damaged in the fire, believed to be caused by a gas leak. Sixth City's distribution is temporarily halted, said Jeff Draeger, who works for the company that focuses primarily on about 15 craft-beer brands, both local and out of region. "For the very near future we're pausing operations and are already working to reboot everything," he said. "We're not closing; it's just one of those things where everything was destroyed, and we have to go through all the processes. It was a pretty good amount lost. Most importantly, no one was hurt." Draeger did not have a specific inventory count for the contents of the warehouse. The company distributes beer in bottles, cans and draft. The fire also affected a Coats for Kids facility as well as storage and vacant warehouses. A post on Coats for Kids website said the charity is not accepting any donations at this time. Sixth City is "actively looking for a new facility," Draeger said. Greater Cleveland breweries who use Sixth City include The Jolly Scholar, which signed its inaugural distribution deal with the company last month; Terrestrial and Working Class. We have to bounce back, thats what we do, he said. AKRON, Ohio A man who tried to create a terrorist cell to carry out attacks in the U.S. in the name of the Islamic State was sentenced Monday to 15 years in federal prison, half the amount sought by federal prosecutors. Erick Jamal Hendricks, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was convicted by a jury in March of trying to recruit and train ISIS sympathizers. He vetted people to see if they were suitable to join him, espoused radical views, and instructed others to vet additional possible recruits through social media. The U.S. Attorneys Office asked U.S. District Judge John Adams to sentence Hendricks, 38, to 30 years in prison, the maximum amount of time allowed for the two charges for which the jury found him guilty. However, Adams said a lesser sentence was warranted. Much of Mondays hearing focused on the sentences given to five anarchists convicted in a plot to blow up the Ohio 82 bridge over the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in 2012. The U.S. Probation Office recommended sentences of more than 30 years for several of the men, but the most any of them received was 12 1/2 years. Adams repeatedly pressed lawyers on both sides whether it was fair for those men, who were found guilty in a plot that involved actually pressing a button on what they thought was a detonator, to get shorter sentences than Hendricks, who committed most of his acts online and did not participate in any attack. In the end, Adams said he did not rely on the bridge-bombing case when issuing his sentence. The judge noted Hendricks crimes but also said Hendricks actions in court were respectful and that he carried himself with a certain quiet dignity. The judge said he would further outline the reasons for the sentence in a written order. Hendricks federal public defender Ed Bryan asked Adams for a 10-year prison sentence. Hendricks maintains his innocence and is expected to appeal his convictions. Im not the person that my accusers accused me of being, said Hendricks, who wore an orange jail jumpsuit with his hands shackled at the waist. He asked the judge for mercy, but said nothing of the crimes of which a jury found him guilty. Adams said Hendricks will be on probation for life, which he reasoned will allow the government to closely monitor his activities once released. He also barred Hendricks from having any terrorist literature. Hendricks crimes Hendricks was arrested in North Carolina in August 2016. His trial was one of the more interesting to take place in federal court in Akron in some time, and included an undercover agent testifying to a courtroom closed to the public. Prosecutors said Hendricks did much of his work through Twitter and various encrypted chat apps, though the FBI tracked him in Baltimore as he met in person with someone he believed to be a recruit. That man was an FBI agent. Hendricks exhibited a sense of paranoia and used counter-surveillance measures, often changing social media handles and breaking up words related to the Islamic faith with spaces when using chat apps on his phone, authorities said. Justice Department attorney Rebecca Magnone said at trial that Hendricks had plans to buy land off the grid in rural areas in California and New Mexico to train recruits. A large part of the government's case against Hendricks centered on his connection to one of two gunmen who opened fire at "The First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest" in Garland, Texas in May 2015. Elton Simpson and Nadir Hamid Soofi drove from Phoenix to Garland, which is outside Dallas. They wounded a security guard before a police officer and killed them. Hendricks was not in Texas but was chatting with an undercover FBI agent before and after Simpson and Soofi opened fire. The agent testified that he was in Garland at the time and saw Simpson and Soofi open fire, but he was not aware of the pairs plan before it was executed. Pleas for leniency Ten of Hendricks loved ones, including his wife, sat behind him during Mondays sentencing. His daughter, 16-year-old Mariam Abdulhaqq, said she traveled from her home in Scotland to attend the sentencing. Abdulhaqq said she and her father have grown close through their telephone conversations and that he has a lot of love in his heart. I know deep down my father would never do such a thing, she said. His mother Linda Woods, who flew from Arkansas to attend the sentencing, also said she believed in her son and asked Adams for mercy. Bryan, in asking for a shorter sentence, also pointed to a case out of Toledo, in which Mohammad Amawi and two others were found guilty of plotting attacks against U.S. troops. Amawi faced life in prison but a federal judge gave him 20 years. He also said the government provided no evidence against Hendricks that showed any specific planned attacks. A cut above Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Shepherd said, however, that comparing Hendricks case to others is not clear cut, as defendants may have pleaded guilty or had underlying mental-health issues. He described Hendricks as a cut above the usual ISIS defendant, as his actions went beyond some statements typed out at a computer and said Hendricks had some money at some point that may have helped him to carry out his stated missions. Shepherd also said the loss of life from Hendricks planned terrorist cell could have been just as severe or greater than the plot in the bridge-bombers case. Hendricks has no apparent ties to Ohio and most of the criminal activity the federal government charged him with did not occur here. It was tried in Akron largely because Hendricks reached out to Sheffield Lake man Amir Al-Ghazi on social media in order to get him to recruit others. Al-Ghazi, who admitted to buying an AK-47 from an undercover FBI agent in support of ISIS, testified against Hendricks. He was sentenced in June to 16 years in federal prison. If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Mondays crime and courts comments section. CLEVELAND, Ohio Cleveland City Council intends to conduct oversight on a host of issues in 2019, from finding a new headquarters for police and troubleshooting power outages on the citys West Side to placement of security cameras around town. At a meeting of councils committee chairs Monday, Council President Kevin Kelley laid out issues he wants members to dig into and sought suggestions from other members. His goal: To develop a working document that can be a guide for hearings and factfinding sessions through the year. Heres some of the topics on that agenda: Police headquarters: Cleveland sold its share of the downtown Justice Center complex to Cuyahoga County for $9.25 million and worked out an agreement with the county for jail services. Title to the building transferred last October. Since then, the city has been renting space from the county. The city in June selected the former home of The Plain Dealer at 1801 Superior as a new home for the police and intended to be moved in by March. But in September, Mayor Frank Jacksons administration abruptly notified GLP Superior Ltd., led by developer Fred Geis, that it no longer intended to work with the company on the $60 million project. Members of council have never been fully briefed about what happened. The city, meanwhile, has spent more than $500,000 on rent in the Justice Center since October. Kelley said Monday that he had been hoping the deal still could be worked out. But if its being declared dead now, we need to go back to it, Kelley said. Where are we going to go now? Power outages: The West Side has been plagued by a series of power outages. Cleveland Public Power is in the midst of a series of improvements that the city-owned utility initiated following multiple power outages around Labor Day and earlier in the summer. Among those improvements were the addition of a second feeder line to the West Side at a cost of $6 million and an $18 million transmission line, allowing CPP to deliver power to the West Side from multiple points, reducing the chances of outages. But scattered outages have continued. Hundreds of people called 9-1-1 last week when they had no heat in their homes because the power was out, according to Councilman Martin Keane, whose ward includes westernmost Cleveland. Councilman Kerry McCormack -- who represents Ohio City, Tremont and most of the downtown said he has been told by some businesses that they are reluctant to invest more in his neighborhoods because of the unreliable power. One factor to be considered is that CPP operates as an independent enterprise. Funding for improvements would ultimately have to be covered by the utility's rate payers. Lights and cameras: The city intends to replace 61,000 street lights with brighter, more cost-effective LED lighting and mount 1,000 surveillance cameras atop utility poles. The administration has said it intends to put cameras around recreation centers, parks and in hot spots for crime around town. Members of council want input on where those cameras are placed. Deployment of safety forces: Kelley said he wants council to keep an eye on response times for emergency calls, particularly for EMS runs. Its a subject that has prompted many complaints in the past, he said. Anecdotally, I feel like its getting better, he said. I think we need to make sure were monitoring. New revenue raised after Cleveland voters approved an income tax increase at the end of 2016 allowed the city to expand EMS services, said Councilman Matt Zone, who chairs the Safety Committee. The money enabled the city to hold two training classes for EMS cadets and add new emergency vehicles. Shifts were expanded and now have as many as 23 crews on duty at once. Jackson told editors at cleveland.com on Friday that EMS response times have been reduced to a matter of minutes. Capital projects: Kelley wants the administration to provide an assessment of the citys key assets, such as all its recreation centers, any capital improvements planned for those assets and a schedule for when that work is to be done. Jacksons capital improvements budget, which looks at projects in a three-year cycle, includes millions of dollars for recreation center improvements. Among those are construction of two new centers this year. Jackson also intends to continue programming that was expanded in rec centers as part of efforts to address the health impacts of trauma and stress. The mayors budget proposal includes $3 million to continue those programs, which include GED classes, job training, arts programming and the stationing of counselors in the rec centers. AKRON, Ohio - The city of Akron is reopening its police training academy to attract more recruits and build a more diverse police department. Akron Police Chief Kenneth Ball, Fire Chief Clarence Tucker and Director of Human Resources Donald Rice presented the changes to Akron City Councils Public Safety committee on Monday. The city will reestablish Akrons Peace Officer Basic Training Academy for new recruits, and raise the age of applicants from 35 to 40 years old, Rice told the committee. Akrons academy was closed in 2008. The Akron Fire Department will also raise the age limit of applicants from 31 to 35 and a hold a training class for new firefighters this year, he said. Police cadets previously trained for 24 weeks without pay at academies hosted by other communities. At the Akron academy, recruits will now be paid $26.22 per hour during training, Rice said. Recruiting more minorities will be more representative of the Akron community, said At-large Councilwoman Veronica Sims. Im grateful that weve heard the discussions that weve all been having for quite some time, she said. Marilyn Keith, Ward 8, said the move is a step in the right direction for expanding diversity and relaunching an Akron academy will likely result in higher quality candidates. The academys largest expense will be paying the new salaries, Ball said. Training, munitions and vehicle maintenance and mileage will also cost money, he said. Some costs can be offset by training officers for surrounding municipalities, which pay for the officer training, he said. Some money will come from Issue 4. Issue 4 is an income tax increase Akron voters approved in 2017 to pay for improvements to roads, as well as the police and fire departments. The Akron Police Department has conducted surveys of academy graduates over the years, Ball said. More than 90 percent of those surveyed said more candidates would be interested in working for Akron Police if the city had its own academy. More than 80 percent said training without pay created a financial burden, he said. Because recruiting for safety forces is difficult, the department has been looking at ways to better position Akron to new recruits, he said. We looked at every single impediment that exists in our process to try to get better and these are the ones that were available to us right now, Ball said. The next entrance exam for Akron police will take place in April. Rice asked the committee members and everyone within the sound of my voice to help the city find the best candidates available for the police and the fire academies. William Russell Allton was born in Dewey, Oklahoma on April 25, 1931 to Russell Frank and Alice Mae (Steffens) Allton. He attended school in Claremore and graduated with the class of 1948. On August 26, 1949 Bill married Jimmie Louise Reed and the couple made Tulsa home for the first 25 year One of the key drivers of the worlds climate is an area in the North Atlantic Ocean where warmer and colder water mix and swirl. When scientists went for their first close look at this critical underwater dynamo, they found they were looking in the wrong place. By hundreds of miles. The consequences are not quite yet understood, but eventually it could change forecasts of one of the worst-case global warming scenarios still considered unlikely this century in which the mixing stops and climate chaos ensues. Its called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, and scientists describe it as a giant ocean conveyor belt that moves water from Greenland south to beyond the tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean. Warm, salty water near the surface moves north and mixes with cold, fresher water near Greenland. As that water cools and sinks it drives a slow circulation of the oceans that is critical to global climate, affecting the location of droughts and frequency of hurricanes. It also stores heat-trapping carbon dioxide deep in the ocean. The faster it moves, the more warm water gets sent into the depths to cool. The area where warm water turns over in the North Atlantic is considered to be the engine of the conveyor belt. Scientists thought it was in the Labrador Sea west of Greenland. But then a new international science team measured temperature, saltiness and the speed of ocean currents throughout the North Atlantic to try to better understand the conveyor belt. The preliminary results after hundreds of measurements in 21 months found that engine was several hundreds of miles east of where they figured, said study lead author Susan Lozier, an ocean sciences professor at Duke University. The study, published in Thursdays journal Science, puts it east of Greenland, closer to Scotland. The computer simulations that predict how the climate could change in coming years didnt factor in exactly where the conveyor belt engine is, and now they may be able to. Lozier and several outside experts said this doesnt change their trust in the models, especially because when the models are checked with what is happening in the real world, they are found to be generally accurate. It doesnt mean that the models are all wrong at all, said Tom Delworth, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations geophysical lab in Princeton, New Jersey. MITs Carl Wunsch and other outside experts said the study was helpful, but pointed out that 21 months of study is not enough to know if this different location is temporary or permanent. Scientists have long feared that the conveyor belt could be slowing and, in a worst-case scenario, could even stop and cause abrupt and catastrophic climate change. It is considered a potential climate tipping point that was the premise of the scientifically inaccurate 2004 disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow. Based on computer model studies, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in an earlier study it is very unlikely that the conveyor belt would collapse this century. But the Nobel Prize-winning scientific panel concluded it is likely to get about a third slower if greenhouse gas emissions continue at its current pace. A study last year found that global warming is weakening the system, saying the conveyor belt was moving at its slowest speed in nearly 140 years of records. Our basic understanding that the collapse is unlikely still stands, said Delworth, who wasnt part of the study. Our uncertainty about that prediction is high. The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. One hundred years ago, Henry Ford bought a newspaper in Dearborn, Michigan, and used it to publish an anti-Semitic 91-part series called The International Jew. The centennial for Fords stint as a media mogul cued a local magazine to put together an 11-page package that re-examined Fords bigotry and traced its influence to modern-day white nationalist media forums. But before it could reach readers, Dearborns mayor censored the magazine and then fired the editor. ICYMI: Headlines editors probably wish they could take back 100 Years Later, Dearborn Confronts the Hate of Hometown Hero Henry Ford was slated as the cover story of The Dearborn Historian, a quarterly published by a historical commission appointed by the mayor. It has no online presence and its subscriber list includes about 230 museum members. A courtesy copy of the newly printed issue was delivered to Mayor John Jack OReilly in late January. OReilly first disputed an incendiary quote from Fords newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, that appeared on the cover of the Historian alongside a portrait of Ford. The magazine was reprinted with a new cover that removed the quote. Then on January 28, the mayor ordered that it not be distributed at all, with or without the quote. We want Dearborn to be understood as it is todaya community that works hard at fostering positive relationships within our city and beyond, according to part of a statement by Dearborns public information officer that was delivered on Friday afternoon in response to CJRs request for comment. We expect city-funded publications like The Historian to support these efforts. It was thought that by presenting information from 100 years ago that included hateful messageswithout a compelling reason directly linked to events in Dearborn todaythis edition of The Historian could become a distraction from our continuing messages of inclusion and respect. For this reason, the Mayor asked that the distribution of the hard copies of the current edition of The Historian be halted. Sign up for weekly emails from the United States Project Bill McGraw, the part-time editor of the Historian, said that he received a phone call from the museums chief curator, the liaison to the mayor, on Thursday afternoon and learned that hed be removed from his position. The move came after news of the mayors action broke on an online news site, Deadline Detroit, which also ran his full article. McGraw co-founded the site in 2012 with Allan Lengel, who, as it happens, is the son of a Holocaust survivor. While McGraw is no longer involved with its day-to-day operations, he had long planned to run his Ford article there, with credits to the Historian. He thought this would be a way to bring in a wider readership. The first thing I thought of, and Im not kidding, is that January was the anniversary of Henry Ford buying the IndependentI was thinking of this issue from day one, literally. By effectively pulping the magazineas far as McGraw knows, the hard copies are still at the print shopthe story has gotten even more attention than expected. McGraw said he knew this would happen, as did David Good, his predecessor and a former Detroit News editor. We begged them, myself and David Good, we literally begged the curator of the museum, Dont mess with this because it will blow up in your face, McGraw says. We literally were almost on our knees. We knew what would happen, but he didnt get it. The two people who spent their lives in journalism knew. McGraw received the call about his job hours before an emergency meeting of the historic commission (where he says he intended to resign anyway). At the meeting, the commission passed a resolution that reads: The Dearborn Historical Commission endorses the efforts of the editor of the Dearborn Historian, in the best traditions of journalistic integrity and historical accuracy, to analyze and report on significant events from the Citys past, even when the publication of such reporting may not reflect favorably on actions taken by local institutions or individuals, including City officials. The Commission further expresses its strong objection to efforts to stop publication of such reporting as exemplified by Bill McGraws Henry Ford and The International Jew. The Dearborn Historical Commission, in an effort to save the citys current reputation as a community open to all without concern for ethnicity, strongly recommends that Mayor Jack OReilly, Jr. direct Jack Tate to release the most current issue of the Dearborn Historian. The city, meanwhile, says in its statement that the Mayor did not fire Mr. McGraw. It points to the contractor status of the role and puts the onus on the historical museums chief curator, who is the one who called McGraw to tell him the news, for the decision to terminate the contract. McGraw is an esteemed Detroit journalist who has been inducted into the states Journalism Hall of Fame. He wrote for the Detroit Free Press for 37 years and reported for Bridge Magazine, a nonprofit news outlet. He also produced and co-wrote the documentary 12th and Clairmount about the 1967 uprising. (Disclosure: McGraw and I are acquainted and he once wrote me a letter of recommendation for a journalism fellowship, but we have not worked together.) McGraw has also been a Dearborn resident for more than 30 years. When he was asked to edit the historical magazine this summerthe perfect retirement gig, he saidhe knew he had an opportunity to examine the reach of Fords anti-Semitism. The first thing I thought of, and Im not kidding, is that January was the anniversary of Henry Ford buying the IndependentI was thinking of this issue from day one, literally. When Henry Ford died in 1947, his industrial innovations like the assembly line and the $5-a-day wage were praised not only for turning his namesake auto company into a global behemoth but for ensuring an Allied victory in World War II. It wasnt until the 39th paragraph of the Associated Presss obituary of Ford that his tenure as the publisher of the Independent was mentioned, along with his role in the spread of anti-Jewish hate. I was totally blown away by how active Ford is in online white supremacist forums, McGraw says. For two straight years, every issue of the Independent attacked Jewish people with, among other things, stereotypes about financial control. With Fords power and money, it had a big influence. Ford auto dealers were compelled to run subscription campaigns, which helped the Independents circulation to reach 900,000. That made it one of the biggest periodicals in the country, according to McGraw. Showing the marketing expertise that had catapulted Ford Motor into one of the worlds most famous brands, McGraw wrote in his article, Henry Fords lieutenants vastly widened the reach of his attacks by packaging the papers anti-Semitic content into four books. They were translated into 12 languages and distributed across Europe and North America in the years before World War II, where they influenced some of the future rulers of Nazi Germany. Hitler himself spoke to a Detroit News reporter in Munich in 1931 from an office that featured a large portrait of Ford. As McGraw recounts, I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration, Hitler said. The papers recurring anti-Semitic coverage prompted protests, a boycott, a lawsuit, Fords lukewarm apology, and its closure in 1927. The Ford company has since renounced those views and affirmatively supported a number of Jewish causes. But copies of the The International Jew were distributed long after, and McGraw ties Fords legacy to the present-day hate that has been exposed in Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, and beyond. I was totally blown away by how active Ford is in online white supremacist forums, McGraw says. The industrialist is mentioned hundreds of thousands of times. McGraw noticed that people who appeared to be new to the movement were encouraged by Fords status, which they saw as giving legitimacy to their views. Hey, look at this incredible American, this global celebrity: he thinks like us, is how McGraw summarizes the posts. Dearborn is still home to Ford Motor Company, but the city of nearly 100,000 people also has the nations largest proportion of Arab Americans and is adjacent to the biggest mosque in North America. Its African American community is also steadily growing. In 2017, Mayor Jack OReilly was re-elected to his fourth term with 57 percent of the vote. Under his leadership, a statue of Orville Hubbard, an arch-segregationist who served as mayor from 1942 to 1978, was removed from the grounds of city hall and put in a less conspicuous place, with signage that contextualizes is discriminatory policies. But Fords flaws are still a prickly point for the city. Good, the former Detroit News editor who ran the Historian for seven years, recalls that he was largely given a free hand with the magazineexcept one time, about two years ago, when he was set to run a package about Fords long-rumored illegitimate son, cued by a new book that examined the story. Good says that word of the magazines forthcoming feature somehow made it to Edsel Ford II, Henrys great-grandson, who, Good was told, made a few phone calls that threatened legal action and financial repercussions if it ran. I was told we would hold off on doing this package, Good says, until the heat quieted down. The piece has never run. McGraw, who was recruited by Good, took over the editorship last summer. Fords anti-Semitism is not exactly breaking news, although McGraws article brings a big spotlight and a wealth of detail to the storymuch of it researched from the robust collection at Dearborns Henry Ford Centennial Library. So, yes, McGraw says, the strength, the velocity, the amplitude of the reaction was really surprising. I thought maybe thered be a little blowback, like a request to get a heads up when stories like this are coming. And indeed, three times over the previous fall, he was truthful when asked what he was working onthough he wasnt asked for details, and he didnt offer them. ICYMI: Massive layoffs hit news outlets: BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and more Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Anna Clark is a journalist in Detroit. Her writing has appeared in ELLE Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Next City, and other publications. Anna edited A Detroit Anthology, a Michigan Notable Book, and she was a 2017 Knight-Wallace journalism fellow at the University of Michigan. She is the author of The Poisoned City: Flints Water and the American Urban Tragedy, published by Metropolitan Books, an imprint of Henry Holt. She is online at www.annaclark.net and on Twitter @annaleighclark. Over the weekend, an explosive scoop pushed Ralph Northam, Virginias Democratic governor, to the brink. A source alerted a journalist to a racist photo, on Northams page of an old medical school yearbook, showing one individual in blackface, and another in the white robes and hood of the Ku Klux Klan. Strikingly, it wasnt a local paper or powerhouse investigative newsroom that got the goods; nor was it a prominent right-wing media player like Fox News or Breitbart. Instead, it was Big League Politics, a relatively obscure pro-Trump website, that broke the story that drove a national news cycle through the weekend. Since Trump burst onto the political scene, sites like Big League Politics have been notable not for their reporting, but for their role driving an increasingly muddy, and increasingly fragmented, news ecosystem. According to The Washington Posts Paul Farhi, Big League Politics has, in its short existence, reliably boosted Trump, attacked Democrats and liberal figures, and written many articles promoting a discredited conspiracy theory popular among far-right conservatives about the murder of a young Democratic National Committee staffer named Seth Rich in 2016. While some among the wave of sites that fit this profile give the impression of being run out of Trump obsessives bedrooms, others have significant partisan or financial heft behind them. As Farhi notes, Big League Politicss owners include consultants who have worked for far-right Republican candidates like Corey Stewart, in Virginia, and Roy Moore, in Alabama. ICYMI: Headlines editors probably wish they could take back Patrick Howley, the 29-year-old Breitbart and Daily Caller alum who edits Big League Politics, told Farhi that a concerned citizen, not a political opponent, brought the yearbook photo to the sites attention. Nonetheless, Farhi reports that someone from Northams medical school cohort appears to have volunteered the tip in response to Northams comments, during a radio interview last week, around a state bill aiming to ease access to third-trimester abortions. Critics accused Northam of justifying infanticide for children born after failed abortion attempts. Although Northam strongly denied that that was what he had meant, some conservative outlets have since paired the abortion remarks with the racist yearbook scandal. Ben Sasse, Republican senator for Nebraska, did likewise on Fox. Over the weekend, right-wing commentators also alleged Democratic Partyand mediahypocrisy around the photo. Foxs Laura Ingraham decried a double standard: If this had been a Republican with that photo, hed never be seen again, [hed] probably have to change his name and move to South America, she said. These remarks, and others like them, were disingenuous. A cavalcade of senior Democrats, in Virginia and on the national stage, called on Northam to resign. The national news media, for its part, has quickly and aggressively pursued the storyarguably more so than it did last month after Steve King, a far-right Republican, lamented that white supremacist and white nationalist had become offensive terms. (King is not in South America but is still in Congress, where he represents Iowa.) Major outlets were quick to verify the yearbook photo, and report Northams admission, later on Friday, that he was in it. And they held Northams feet to the fire when, on Saturday, he U-turned and said the photo wasnt of him, after all, and that he would not be resigning his office. Questioned by journalists at an extraordinary press conference in Richmond, Northam acknowledged that hed previously dressed up as Michael Jackson (but only used just a little bit of shoe polish on his face) and seemed set to prove he could moonwalk until his wife, standing next to him, warned him not to. Sign up for CJR 's daily email The story dominated the news cycle yesterdayeven though new developments were thin on the ground until, in the evening, word broke that Northam had met with his staff to consider his options, including resigning. Northams resignation may, indeed, be imminent. But if he chooses to stick it out, it will become harder for the media to keep the spotlight on the story, as previous scandals involving, for example, Greg Gianforte, King, and, of course, Donald Trump have proven. Our present, polarized moment may have boosted accountability journalism, but its hard to escape the feeling that its diminished actual accountability. Pro-Trump websites that muddy the truth for partisan ends have played their part in that. ICYMI: Massive layoffs hit news outlets: BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and more Below, more on Ralph Northam: Other notable stories: ICYMI: An early, unsuccessful, attempt at #MeToo in Hollywood Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. 27952 The field of multimedia development has been greatly expanded in recent years. Software options range from do-it-yourself to professional house approaches in complexity. Many personal computers are now available with already loaded basic media software. CyberLink is a global leader in the development of multimedia software. In 1996, CyberLink changed how people use the PCs, mobile devices, and the cloud and create media. All major computer manufacturers and millions of worldwide customers are sold the award-winning products of the company. CyberLink also operates regional operations across U.S., Japanese, European, and Asian-Pacific offices in Taipei, Taiwan. Recently, CyberLink Corp has entered into a new partnership with worldwide news organization AFP that will equip its reporters with award-winning PowerDirector video editing software. Available on Android smartphones, the Powers Director from CyberLink enables journalists worldwide to capture, edit, compress and transmit video content seamlessly to any AFP Video desk. CyberLinks PowerDirector enhances the Video Production Workflow. AFP is a global news agency providing quick, accurate and thorough coverage of events that produce international news through video, text, photography, multimedia, and infographic. AFP employs 2,400 people of 80 nationalities and spreads across 151 countries and is available in six languages around the world 24 hours a day. PowerDirector is a CyberLink mobile video editing software that enables journalists to create awesome, engaging videos on-the-go. In all key formats, including new standards, such as Video H.265, and Video 360, PowerDirector allows the trim, attachment, and overlay of clips and effects. AFP journalists need reliable and easy-to-use tools to capture and describe the events they cover, as a global media company. With the PowerDirector mobile app, AFP journalists will not only be able to quickly capture and edit video content during key news events but will also be able to compress files that suffer minimal quality loss reliably. For instance, the first AFP journalist arriving on the scene, for special coverage, can easily film, edit, and send exclusive footage of the event for publication by using a simple Android smartphone on an AFRP video editing desk, even if they have no background in video production. Even with little cell service or weak Wi-Fi, PowerDirector has proven itself capable of compressing and transmitting video and photo content fastallowing us to quickly distribute and broadcast the first important videos of an event quickly, says Laurent Kalfala, journalist and innovation project chief, AFP. Over a billion people were affected by enterprise data breaches in 2018. From Marriott International to Facebook and Uber, no company is too large to escape the threat of increasingly sophisticated, data-focused cyberattacks. And consumers arent the only ones taking notice. The EUs recent GDPR legislation is one attempt to reign in the mass consumer data collected by companies across all industries, which in turn makes it vulnerable to cyberattacks, and give more control back to consumers. When it comes to 2019 enterprise hiring priorities, these facts alone make it clear nothing should come before security hiring needs. Yet, 84 percent of IT security decision-makers surveyed reported their company could be more secure, according to Mondos recent IT Security Guide. To help you know where to start, heres a look at the top four IT security hiring priorities for 2019 and the in-demand roles for each specialization area. 1. InfoSec Its no surprise that according to CIOs, security and people/talent top the list of core investment priorities for 2019. For IT security specifically, Information Security (InfoSec) ranked as the primary IT Security hiring priority for the next 12 to 18 months among decision-makers, according to Mondos IT Security Guide. Enterprise executives are taking note of the increased risks and PR damage associated with data breaches given the increase in coverage of these types of cyber attacks at major tech giants and global organizations in 2018. Additionally, the increased access and use of sensitive consumer data by various departments in a given business is providing hackers with new access points and vulnerabilities to exploit, resulting in an increased demand for enhanced InfoSec investments. As a result, Information Security Analysts, Engineers, and Manager roles are the in-demand positions for this high-end skill set. Information Security Analysts are the most affordable position in this group with an average salary range of $90,000 to $125,000, according to Mondos 2019 Salary Guide. Whereas more advanced skill sets will require a more significant investment in qualified talent. Information Security Engineers net an average salary of $114,440, according to Glassdoor, but can climb up to $148,000. Information Security Managers have the highest national average salary range of $120,000 to $185,000 given their responsibilities to manage entire departments and make strategic data security decisions for the business. 2. Network/infrastructure security The increase in nation-state cyberattacks has prompted increased investments from enterprise executives in both InfoSec and network/infrastructure security. As the weaponization of AI makes large-scale cyberattacks more frequent and more effective, businesses are looking to secure their networks and infrastructure from these evolving and emerging types of attacks, along with more sophisticated attacks using conventional methods like malware. After all, the best way to protect your business and the growing number of devices used by your workforce is to secure the network they operate on. If hackers cant get in, they cant do damage. Hiring for both Network Security Admins and Engineers is on the rise with average salary ranges of $85,000 to $115,000 and $115,000 to $172,500, respectively. If your business is debating which role to onboard due to budget restraints, consider prioritizing the in-demand role of the Network Security Engineer as its more directly involved with identifying and protecting against ongoing attacks, along with building more secure defense systems within the network. Engineering roles were also highlighted as the second most challenging role to hire for in the field, based on reports from IT security decision-makers in Mondos IT Security Guide, meaning its better to start hiring for this role before threats arise as opposed to doing so when facing an ongoing attack or new vulnerabilities. 3. Application security Todays enterprise organizations rely on an array of business applications to manage the work and compile the reporting needed by a variety of departments. As the number of business apps your company relies on grows, so does the number of potential access points for hackers. While not as crucial of a hiring need in 2019, compared to InfoSec or network/infrastructure security, application security is still a significant concern for business executives as hackers become more adept at gaining access to business applications and siphoning off sensitive business data for weeks or even months before being noticed. Or worse, as Equifax learned, these hackers may return for another attack if their initial attempt is successful. Companies looking to elevate their application security should look to hire key Application Security Engineers. This is a more general role, but HMs can look to recruit and attract talent with experience securing the specific niche applications or specialization areas identified as the most vulnerable within your tech stacks. According to Mondos 2019 Salary Guide, the average salary range for this role is $120,000 to $182,500, based on level of experience and specialization area. 4. Cloud security Last, but far from least, is the rising hiring need for cloud security. Our growing reliance across all industries, especially within the Tech sector, on third-party cloud solutions and cloud-based programs instead of costly server sites drives business efficiency, speed, overhead savings, and makes emerging developments like AI and ML possible. However, it also increases the threat of attacks on these data-rich resources and access points. Todays businesses require talent versed in the latest best practices for IT security operations teams and cloud-based managed services, along with leading the adoption of new third-party security solutions across the organization and staying ahead of emerging threats. When it comes to cloud security hiring, the most in-demand role for 2019 is the Cloud Security Engineer. Given the wide-ranging responsibilities expected of this role and the ROI it provides in terms of protecting and defending against damaging and costly attacks, the average salary range for this role is $145,000 to $215,000, according to Mondos recent placement data. Expect to pay a premium for talent located in Tech talent hotspots like San Francisco or New York City with proven experience in top cloud solutions. IT security talent is by no means cheap, as with all niche, in-demand talent groups in todays candidate-driven market, but the real question business leaders are starting to ask themselves is whether their business can withstand the cost of failing to catch a cyberattack in time due to a lack of qualified talent. For many, that answer is no. But, alternative talent sources, like contractors, provide businesses ranging from startups to mid-sized companies with the ability to secure and afford the talent necessary to ensure their most valuable asset data remains secured in 2019 and beyond. Southwest Airlines on Tuesday will start Federal Aviation Administration certification flights between the mainland United States and Hawaii, the airline confirmed to SFGate on Monday. "We can confirm that Southwest is slated to perform a long range navigation and communication validation flight from Oakland to Honolulu on Tuesday, February 5, barring any unforeseen changes," said Southwest spokesperson Brian Parrish. The flights are the final phase in the airline's effort to obtain federal approval to launch passenger flights between California and the Hawaiian islands, a process that began in late 2017. Southwest will make no announcements about fares or schedules until it receives certification from the FAA. These flights are not passenger flights the only people onboard will be airline employees and U.S. government inspectors who will be certifying Southwest for overwater flying. You can track the first flight here. A Southwest Boeing 737-800 is scheduled to depart Oakland Airport Tuesday morning bound for Honolulu, Oahu in what is the first "proving flight" to show the FAA that the carrier can safely operate its jets for long periods of time over the ocean. (Flights from the mainland to Hawaii clock in at about 2,500 miles and five hours flying time.) These proving flights are one of the last steps for Southwest in the FAA's ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) certification process. "If we successfully pass this next phase, we will move into tabletop exercises with the FAA to demonstrate our full ETOPS procedures followed by ETOPS validation flights," Parrish said. "Once we pass all phases of the ETOPS application process to the satisfaction of the FAA and receive our ETOPS authorization, we will announce further details of timing for selling and operating flights." The airline must demonstrate to a team of FAA inspectors onboard these flights its fleet of Boeing 737s can safely fly on just one-engine for an extended amount of time to the nearest suitable airport in the event of an engine failure over an ocean. Southwest also needs to successfully demonstrate it can respond to simulated in-flight emergencies. UPDATE Feb 5: Southwest's first flight arrives in Honolulu! According to insiders, more proving runs between Oakland and the Hawaiian islands will happen in the coming days, including at least one that will simulate a diversion. The airline has told us it will announce route pairings, sales and Rapid Rewards redemption rates only after it receives federal approval to begin Hawaii flights. Southwest Airlines expects to begin flights within weeks of putting them up for sale, which is abnormal in the airline business since new routes are traditionally announced months in advance to drum up publicity. Southwest announced in 2018 it intends to offer flights from four California cities: Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento and San Diego. In Hawaii, Southwest will serve: Honolulu on Oahu, Kahului on Maui, Lihue on Kauai, and Kona on the Big Island. There will also be inter island flights between those cities in Hawaii. For Southwest, it may not need to do much marketing for these highly-anticipated Hawaii flights, particularly with its large base of frequent fliers in California who are eager to burn Rapid Rewards points for a trip to Hawaii. Southwest already has a landing page on its website ready to load with promotions-- see it here. For Southwest, getting to these ETOPS proving runs has been a long process that was interrupted by the partial government shutdown. The process was sidelined for about a month when FAA ETOPS inspectors were furloughed, and the remaining two phases of certification (table-top exercises and these ETOPS validation flights) were put on hiatus in late-December. Southwest executives said the company took a financial hit of $10-$15 million from the government shutdown, mostly from the absence of federal employees flying on government business. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Get twice-per-week updates from TravelSkills via email! Sign up here Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis. Stephen Spillman / Stephen Spillman / for Express-News AUSTIN - Gov. Greg Abbott will take center stage at the Texas Capitol tomorrow as he delivers his State of the State Address. Heres what to expect: APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: The House Appropriations Committee will meet at 7:30 a.m. to hear public testimony about health care in Texas prisons, border security, the state drivers license program, Abbotts school safety plan and the state child support enforcement system. View the agenda here and watch the stream here. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner on Monday urged Harris County's voter registrar to reject calls from state leaders to question the citizenship status of thousands of registered voters, calling the effort a "manifestly slapdash process." In a letter to Tax Assessor-Collector Ann Harris Bennett, Turner wrote that officials had used inaccurate and arbitrary data when they advised Texas counties to mail letters requesting proof of citizenship from registered voters who had indicated they were not citizens when they obtained their driver licenses. "There is nothing suspicious about an individual being registered to vote even though he or she was once listed as a non-citizen as far back as 1996," Turner wrote. "It stands to reason that the vast majority of these people are simply among the hundreds of thousands who have become naturalized U.S. citizens." RELATED: Harris County pushes back against state's call for voter purge Turner's letter takes aim at Secretary of State David Whitley and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who have been named in a growing number of lawsuits over Whitley's Jan. 25 advisory that claimed Texas' voter rolls may contain nearly 100,000 non-citizens. Without proof that people named on the list were not citizens, Harris County hesitated to query voters on their citizenship status, and quickly found that Whitley's list contained 18,000 voters who were erroneously flagged, making up about 60 percent of the original count here. The secretary of state's office pushed back on Turner's claim that their citizenship data which was gathered from Department of Public Safety driver license and ID card information goes back to 1996. Actually, spokesperson Sam Taylor said, it is the voting history that dates back to 1996. The DPS information is current, Taylor said. Already, a handful of lawsuits are seeking injunctions that would block counties from taking action on the advisory. TEXAS TAKE: Catch the political news you need every weekday Citing Houston's diverse population and large number of immigrants and naturalized citizens, Turner cast the state's attempted voter purge as an effort to undermine the city's identity. "I urge you to resist carrying out this short-sighted policy that degrades the very people who have worked so hard to meet our citizenship requirements and play by the rules," Turner wrote to Bennett. Bennett's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 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. Police are investigating a burglary at the home of Tony Buzbee, a millionaire lawyer running for mayor of Houston. The thief made off with several million dollars' worth of artwork and jewelry Monday morning, a Houston police spokesperson said, hours after Buzbee hosted a Super Bowl party at his River Oaks mansion. Buzbee called police shortly after 6 a.m. when he spotted someone in his front yard riding a moped that had been taken from his garage, he told a crowd at a reception for his mayoral campaign Monday evening. Then, Buzbee said, he went upstairs to check on his son and daughter. He grabbed a pistol, called the police, and waited. Before officials arrived though, Buzbee said, the burglar came back inside; Buzbee, holding his gun, warned the intruder. "I told him, step back, and I was going to fire my weapon at him," Buzbee told the crowd. "Now, you think I want to fire my weapon at somebody? That's the last thing I want to do." He continued: "But you think I'm going to hide in the corner when somebody comes in my house? No, I will not do that, and as your mayor I will not do that." Buzbee attempted to shoot the burglar but his gun misfired, he said in a Facebook post. Ultimately, nobody was injured and the intruder got away. After the incident, Buzbee quickly incorporated the theft into his mayoral campaign, tweeting Monday afternoon, "Last Friday we learned that Police Chief Art Acevedo's wife's car was burglarized, and this morning my own home was burglarized. Murders, robberies, burglaries, etc. continue to rise. Crime knows no boundaries or zip codes. We have to address this crime wave, NOW." He continued along the same lines at his campaign reception, sounding the alarm on what he described as an escalating crime problem in Houston. "Crime has no zip code and none of us are immune. We better do something about the crime in this town," said Buzbee, a former Marine. "I'm sitting there with a loaded weapon, not wanting to shoot anyone. Been there, done that. ... But I'm not going to let anybody walk into my home." While Buzbee has cited City Hall corruption as a top issue in his campaign, he also has taken a sharp focus on crime and the conditions of Houston streets as well. The burglary comes a week after Mayor Sylvester Turner and Police Chief Art Acevedo held a press conference to tout a drop in most crime categories in Houston last year. According to the Houston Police Department, violent crime in Houston fell by 10.4 percent, continuing a downward trend in the number of murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults during the past five years. The only category that saw an increase was homicide, which grew from 269 in 2017 to to 279 last year. Burglaries, thefts and auto thefts declined by a combined 2.8 percent from 2017 to 2018. The burglary marks at least the second time police have responded to a crime at Buzbee's gated home in the last 14 months. The burglary marks the second artwork-related incident at Buzbee's mansion in the last 13 months. In December 2017, a Dallas woman on a first date with Buzbee was accused of destroying at least $300,000 worth of sculptures and original paintings at the lawyer's home. Prosecutors alleged the woman, Lindy Lou Layman, 29, became intoxicated and refused to leave Buzbee's home. Layman was accused of throwing two abstract sculptures and pouring liquid on three paintings, including two original works by Andy Warhol. She has denied the criminal mischief charges. Buzbee has amassed a multi-million-dollar fortune representing plaintiffs in a variety of cases, from wrongful death suits to breach of contract actions. A 2009 federal jury awarded more than $100 million to 10 plaintiffs, including seven represented by Buzbee's law firm. He successfully defended then-Governor Rick Perry against a 2014 abuse-of-power charge, getting the charges dismissed. jasper.scherer@chron.com twitter.com/jaspscherer A freelance reporter from Houston who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012 was prominently featured in a Washington Post Super Bowl commercial celebrating the sometimes-perilous work that journalists perform. The minutelong spot, which culminates in the Posts slogan Democracy Dies in Darkness, featured journalists killed or kidnapped during their work, including Austin Tice, who was abducted in Syria while covering the civil war there. The commercial, narrated by actor Tom Hanks, also paid tribute to Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who was killed in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul last October, and Marie Colvin, a Sunday Times correspondent who was killed in Syria. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos who also owns the Washington Post weighed in shortly after the commercial aired, in a tweet. Grateful for the journalists at the @washingtonpost and around the world who do the work, he tweeted, no matter the risk or dangers they face. #democracydiesindarkness #SuperBowlAd. Margaux Ewen, North America director for Reporters Without Borders, said the Posts commercial was important to educate the public about the work of the profession after murder, imprisonment, hostage taking and forced disappearances of journalists all increased in 2018. They are performing a public service at the end of the day, she said. And they cant do it without the publics support. In a written statement, Tices parents, Marc and Debra, said Monday that they were deeply moved by the Posts Super Bowl spot, and for the Posts decision to include their sons story in it. We hope the vast audience will amplify the call for Austins safe release, they wrote. We faithfully pray we will soon see Austin walking free again. Tice, who served in the Marine Corps in Iraq and Afghanistan, traveled to Syria in 2012 to report on the civil war as a freelancer, filing dispatches for McClatchy, the Washington Post and CBS News. He disappeared on Aug. 14, 2012, shortly after his 31st birthday. Video surfaced of him a month later, showing him blindfolded and held by armed men, saying Oh, Jesus. He has not been heard from since. Last November, Robert OBrien, U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, said federal investigators have every reason to believe Tice remains alive. Khashoggi, a Saudi national, was killed in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October after being detained and tortured, allegedly at the behest of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the CIA. Khashoggi, who was a vocal critic of the Saudi Arabian government, also was a contributor to the Washington Posts Global Opinions section. His death prompted outrage across the United States and the globe. Colvin, the final reporter featured in the ad, was killed by Syrian forces in 2012, while covering the siege of Homs. Colvin, a correspondent for the Sunday Times, a British newspaper, had encountered significant hardships in her past assignments. While reporting on the Sri Lankan civil war in 2001, she was injured by a rocket-propelled grenade and lost sight in her left eye. On Wednesday, a U.S. court ordered the Syrian government to pay more than $300 million in damages to Colvins family. In an article about the ad, Washington Post Publisher and CEO Fred Ryan said that the Super Bowl was a remarkable moment to recognize the courage and commitment of journalists around the world. This was a chance for a broader message about the role journalists play in our everyday lives and the risks they take to bring us the facts, Ryan said in the Post article. st.john.smith@chron.com twitter.com/stjbs A 33-year-old carpenter on Monday told jurors he fled from police because he did not know that a county deputy driving a personal truck - without lights or sirens - was trying to pull him over. Ismael Garza Jr., testified how the chase that began near a refinery in La Porte in the early morning hours of Oct. 18, 2015 ended after he was pulled over by the off-duty Harris County sheriffs deputy after reaching speeds of 100 miles an hour. He thought the officer was a car jacker, Garza told the jury. Garza said after he got out of his vehicle, Sgt. Marco Carrizales forced him to his knees at gunpoint and then smashed him in the face, fracturing his left eye socket. Carrizales faces up to life in prison if convicted of assaulting Garza while wearing his police uniform. He got out with a handgun. I thought it was going to be a carjacking, Garza said. It was a strong hit and it just knocked me down. POLICE: Millions in artwork, jewelry stolen from Tony Buzbees home But lawyers defending the deputy tried to show that Garza was knowingly evading a police officer, because he was on probation in Hidalgo County and had an open arrest warrant in Louisiana. Ill be honest, I was evading, Garza can be heard telling police after he was in a patrol car. On the witness stand, Garza clarified that he was using the common usage of the word evading to describe running from the unmarked pickup truck. I thought it had a different definition, he said. The first day of the trial became contentious as defense lawyer Cordt Akers, and his father, Brock Akers, insisted Garza had a long history of fighting and evading from police, and knew he was fleeing from a law officer after running a stop sign. Everything he says is a lie, Cordt Akers told the judge while the jury was out of the courtroom. Every time he catches a case, he runs. Prosecutors Michael Harrison and Gavin Ellis did not give opening statements in the trial, an unusual move that means the defense team could not give an opening statement until the state finishes their case. Carrizales was working an extra job, in uniform, directing traffic during an early Saturday morning shift change at the LyondellBasell plant near the Pasadena Freeway when Garza went past him without stopping. Garza told the jury he was returning from a late-night barbecue in Deer Park where, but said he had not been drinking. Another sheriffs deputy testified that Garza almost hit him as he went through the intersection at highway speeds, prompting Carrizales to jump in his personal truck and pursue Garza despite not having lights or sirens. IN COURT: Sutherland Springs families lawsuit against Academy moving forward Carrizales arrested Garza after the chase and was charged with resisting arrest and evading a police officer. Both of those charges were later dropped. The sergeant was suspended without pay for 10 days and ordered to serve a six month probationary period that prohibited him from working extra-duty jobs, according to the sheriff's office. A grand jury indicted Carrizales for the first-degree felony charge of aggravated assault by a public servant and he assigned to civilian status and works in a non-law enforcement capacity, according to the sheriffs department. The trial in state District Judge Josh Hills courtroom is expected to last about three days. Brian.Rogers@chron.com Several civil rights and voting advocacy groups sued Texas officials and five county elections administrators on Monday over an advisory urging counties to review the citizenship status of thousands of voters flagged as possible non-citizens. The ACLU of Texas, along with the Texas Civil Rights Project, Demos and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, filed the lawsuit against Texas Secretary of State David Whitley and Director of Elections Keith Ingram, alleging that their recommendations discriminate against naturalized citizens. Also named in the suit are the election administrators in Galveston, Blanco, Fayette, Caldwell, and Washington counties, who sent out notices threatening to cancel voter registrations based on the list. In a Jan. 25 advisory, Whitley asked local elections offices to look into the citizenship of 95,000 people on the voter rolls. Since then, the list has been cut by nearly 20,000 names registered voters who were identified as citizens. The Secretary of States purge treats those who have been naturalized as second-class citizens whose right to vote can be uniquely threatened and burdened solely because at some point in the past, these individuals were not U.S. citizens, the lawsuit states. The Purge List and its subsequent enactment through the Advisory is a thinly veiled attempt to decrease minority voter participation by targeting one particular group of minorities - naturalized citizens. The suit was filed in U.S. district court in Galveston on behalf of plaintiffs MOVE Texas Civic Fund, the Jolt Initiative, the League of Women Voters of Texas and the NAACP of Texas. The plaintiffs claim in the lawsuit that election officials knew they were sending out a flawed list, including the names of naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote. Whitleys office did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Galveston County Tax Assessor-Collector Cheryl Johnson said that some factual inaccuracies exist in the lawsuit but declined to comment any further. The secretary of state cant remove voters from the rolls, but county elections officials can. Whitley has instead recommended that counties send notices to the people they flagged as possible non-citizens, giving them 30 days to prove theyre eligible to vote by presenting a birth certificate, passport or certificate of naturalization. If they dont respond, their registrations will be canceled by the county voter registrar. Whitleys list drew from documents people submitted to the Department of Public Safety when they were applying for drivers licenses. Non-citizens, such as temporary residents, asylum seekers and refugees, can get a Texas drivers license but cant register to vote unless they become U.S. citizens. Whitley said the list includes 58,000 people who have cast ballots in Texas elections. Andre Segura, the legal director for the ACLU of Texas, said that after election leaders were warned a lawsuit was forthcoming, they doubled down on this failed experiment. The voter purge appears to strip people of the opportunity to vote by using fear tactics, Segura said. Texas has a long history of voter suppression efforts, he said. We feel like this is part of that pattern. The plaintiffs have already funneled time and resources toward fighting the purge, meaning theyre taking time away from registering voters, Segura said. We know that if counties continue to act on this flawed list, (the plaintiffs) resources will continue to be diverted away from their core mission, Segura said. The groups are asking the court to recognize that the advisory violates the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act, as well as to block counties from sending notices requiring voters to prove their citizenship. The lawsuit also requests that the court prevent counties from removing registered voters from the rolls based on non-responses. The groups have additionally sent Whitley a letter saying he has 90 days to stop the purge or face additional legal challenges. The lawsuit is the latest to address the purge. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a federal lawsuit on Friday in Corpus Christi, alleging that the state is singling out naturalized citizens. On Jan. 29, the League of United Latin American Citizens filed a lawsuit against Whitley and Attorney General Ken Paxton, seeking an order to force state officials to release they data they used to support Paxtons claim that nearly 100,000 voters may not be U.S. citizens. samantha.ketterer@chron.com Twitter.com/sam_kett An MMA fighter who goes by the name "Spider-Man" put the Conroe community on edge after he escaped custody on Sunday. Cedric Joseph Marks fled from a McDonald's at 801 N. Loop 366 when the guards stopped there for breakfast. Even after authorities re-captured the 44-year-old man, questions lingered about his ties to Texas, and why he was in the Houston area in the first place. For Halset Fire Chief Kirt Mays, the viral video of his team rescuing a longhorn steer from a hay bale feeder is just part of another day on the job. "The best part of being a fireman is you never know what the next call is going to be," Mays said. "We trained for fire and medical calls but you have to be able to quickly think outside of the box to solve the next unknown problem." GAZA - The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, has left Gaza for Cairo to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip, in particular the management of the Rafah crossing after the recent removal of officials connected to the Palestinian National Authority. Egypt in the past had influenced the management of the crossing (located between the Strip and Sinai) with PNA personnel on the Palestinian side. Now Hamas is temporarily managing it. Haniyeh is trying to convince the Egyptian counterpart to accept the new situation, which is a direct consequence of strong friction between Hamas and al-Fatah at the end of December. BEIRUT - Houthi rebels met with Saudi-backed loyalists for the first time in weeks in the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah on Monday, according to sources with the UN, which is mediating the talks. Nearly 80% of humanitarian aid to Yemen, which has been devastated by war, passes through the city of Hudaydah. The pro-Iran Shiite Houthis and loyalists backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are currently fighting over control of the city, which is located on the Red Sea. Meanwhile, the Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack on Saudi forces in northern Yemen, according to Houthi broadcaster al Masira, which spoke of "killed and wounded Saudi soldiers" without providing additional details. BEIRUT - Nine children and three women were killed in artillery attacks against a column of civilians who were fleeing from the last area in eastern Syria still under ISIS control, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). It said the attack took place near Baghuz, on the eastern shore of the Euphrates. The civilians were hit by firearms and artillery fire from positions near those of US-backed Kurdish-Syrian forces, SOHR said. The information cannot be independently verified on the ground. (by Rodolfo Calo) CAIRO - Egypt is continuing to invest in tourism to gain attention, in particular from tourists. Authorities have presented with great emphasis the finding of some 40 well-preserved mummies in one of the country's most prolific areas, Minya, in the first finding announced in 2019. The discovery was made at the site of Tunah Al-Jabal, 250 km south of Cairo. The mummies were discovered inside funerary chambers carved in rock. They belong to a middle class family, the Mena news agency reports, quoting the ministry of antiquities. The finds reportedly date back to a long period (the Ptolemaic, Roman or Byzantine era). It is presumed that the small necropolis was used for centuries, Mena said. The mummies are in good condition and at least 10 small ones are of children. Some are decorated in hand writing used for common people. Several ceramic utensils, papyri and colored sarcophagi were also discovered. It is the third consecutive year that a finding in the area, whose name in transliteration is "Tuna El-Gebel", is announced and the minister of antiquities, Khaled El-Enany, told a press conference that "several new archaeological findings will be announced soon in Egypt". Tourism Minister Rania al Mashat stressed that there is an excellent cooperation between her ministry and the ministry of antiquities and this will contribute in creating expectations for the opening in Cairo of the new 'Great Egyptian Museum' scheduled "next year". Egyptian authorities are not hiding the fact that they are investing in archaeology to attract tourists after eight years during which there were two revolutions and various terror attacks that affected tourism, one of the pillars of the national economy. Tomball City Council on Monday approved a contract with OEI Engineering to clean sewer lines along Texas 249. According to the agenda documents, OEI would be tasked with cleaning about 8,000 linear feet of sanitary sewer lines as well as inspecting problem areas that would need more testing or service. This item is for the request to approve the execution of an engineering services contractfor the inspection and cleaning of a certain section of sanitary sewer lines in the city, said public works director Beth Jones. The contract with OEI Engineering will be for $60,950, with the work taking about three weeks to complete. The council also was going to consider an agreement with iChoosr, a company that assists groups with switching energy companies in unregulated cities before Assistant City Manager David Esquivel removed the item from the agenda. We brought this to you but we are still in the review process and we dont have that in front of council at this time, he told the council. According to the agenda, iChoosr is working to recruit cities to help residents obtain cheaper electricity from electricity providers, whose rates can be accepted or rejected by customers. The agenda item will be reviewed and expected to go before the council at a later meeting. mayra.cruz@chron.com After a federal grant funded recent security and safety measures at Pearland Regional Airport, the facilitys management is hoping for another one to improve the facilitys infrastructure to meet aviation demands as the area population continues to surge. The facility, a privately owned airfield open to the public, also has joined local governments in lobbying to extend Pearland Parkway beyond where it dead-ends at Dixie Farm Road, which the airports management company, Texas Aviation Partners, says is needed to improve access from roads. Texas Aviation Partners was able to garner about $600,000 in grant funding from the Federal Aviation Administration for safety and security improvements that were completed last year and included restriping and remarking airport signage on runways and taxi ways and upgrading security gates. If awarded, the second FAA grant would go toward upgrading runway lighting and navigational aids. The company would also like to build a new terminal building. This would be better for the public and for the travelers who come through the airport, TAP owner Stephen Alexander said. It would allow for more space for staff and for passengers. Alexander expects to to hear whether the grant is awarded by spring. Call to extend parkway TAP has joined Brazoria County and the nearby municipalities of Pearland, Friendswood and Alvin in advocating to the Houston-Galveston Area Council that the parkway be extended south. The proposed extension would go right through some of the property currently owned by Pearland Airport, and we are in total support of that extension, he said. One of our biggest challenges at the airport is roadway access. We have fantastic infrastructure aviation wise, but unfortunately our access to streets and roads leaves something to be desired. Alexander said extending the major thoroughfare would attract new businesses as well as make it easier for passengers and for businesses based on on airport property. Airplane rental companies, flying clubs, flight instruction businesses, pipeline surveying groups, aerial photographers, aircraft maintenance all of these businesses are currently working out of the airport, he said. Weve experienced significant growth already, and the parkway would not only help us keep up with that growth but be prepared for more in the upcoming years. Role during Harvey Another reason the parkway extension is important, said Alexander, is because of the airports designation as a reliever airport for Hobby Airport in times of disaster such as a hurricane. Pearland airport was an absolutely invaluable asset during Hurricane Harvey, he said. We were able to transport people to the state government in Austin, bring in disaster relief supplies, shuttle people back and forth, and all of this is because of the excellent drainage we have. While other airports were literally and figuratively under water, we remained open 24/7. He said population growth dictates that infrastructure improvements will eventually be needed at the airport. And when is the best time to upgrade drainage and other infrastructure? During road projects, he said. The restriping and remarking work funded last year through FAA money make it easier for things on the plane side of things what the pilots see from the air, Alexander said. The airports gates were upgraded to be accessed through keypads. The airport is home to a variety of tenants and businesses including flights schools and airplane and helicopter maintenance shops. Built as a private facility in 1947 by Perry Brown of Friendswood, the 320-acre airport was transitioned to public use in 1950. Clover Acquisition acquired the property in 1957 and renamed it Clover Field. The airport, which has one 5,000-foot runway that can accommodate up to medium-size aircraft, was renamed Pearland Regional Airport in 2003. Texas Aviation Partners took over management in June 2013. EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified grant funding as coming from the Federal Aviation Agency. The grant funding came from the Federal Aviation Administration. Police are investigating after a man was shot Sunday in a drive-by incident at a gas station in north Houston. The shooting happened shortly after 8 p.m. at a Citgo on Greens Road near Greenspoint. A 72-year-old man from Spring was arrested after he admitted to deputies Wednesday he was viewing child pornography on his laptop at a Starbucks in The Woodlands. Lloyd Morgans is being charged with four third-degree felony counts of possession of child pornography. Montgomery County Sheriffs Office deputies were informed a suspicious person at the Starbucks in the 1900 block of Hughes Landing Boulevard was viewing what appeared to be multiple images and videos of child pornography on a laptop. Angler Morris Taymon of Katy treated himself to an early birthday present on Saturday by landing a 67-pound Lake Conroe potentially record-breaking Blue Catfish. Its just a great catch and hopefully we can continue to catch them like this and preserve them for future generations, said Taymon, who celebrated with a high five at the scale. Using a scale certified by Elite Scales and Systems, LLC in Humble, the Montgomery-based Texas Trophy Catfish Association officially weighed, measured, tagged, and released the 49-inch monster fish with a girth of 34 in. Taymon caught the fish with a rod and reel while drifting north of the FM 1097 bridge in about 30 feet of water during the associations Southeast Texas Catfish Trail fishing tournament. The photos and measurements have been sent to the Texas Parks and Wildlife, who will officially determine whether or not the Catfish broke the record. Tournament officials anticipate the official call within 30-days. Rachelle Slaughter, who is a tournament coordinator with the Non-Profit Charity Organization geared toward the conservation of trophy Catfish in Texas waters, said while there is a certified scale at Stow-A-Way Marina that it maxes out at 50-pounds, which is why the association used its certified scale, which she and the Tournament Director John Adams said meets the Texas Parks and Wildlifes official requirements. Slaughter also noted Walden Marina plans to get a new TPWD-certified scale next week that will also be able to weigh up to 500-pounds. TOP SPOTS: Where to catch the biggest fish in the state of Texas The weight of the catch is 2-pounds heavier than John Hargers 65.12 pound, 49-inch Blue Catfish that has held the record since December 19, 2011, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlifes Water Body Weigh Records caught by rod and reel, fly fishing, and bow fishing. Harger was not available for comment by press time. We spend a lot of money and time chasing these things, so to be able to say youve caught the biggest one is quite the feat, Adams said. Taymon, who will turn 59 on Wednesday and has caught catfish for show tank at the Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival in the past, has been competitively fishing for about 10 years. He reeled in this catch using Cut Shad and Gizzard for bait, a Warrior Cat Rod, Ambassador 7000 reel, a 65-pound Braid line, and Santee Cooper rig. After being on the water since 7 a.m., and catching three other Blue Catfish that weighed a total of 43.95 pounds, Taymons big Blue Catfish was netted around 12:30 p.m. by Dewayne Bullard, who witnessed Taymon reel in the beast in about 15-20 minutes without any trouble. That could be because this is not the first time for Taymon to score a big catch on Lake Conroe. He said he previously caught a 74-pound Blue Catfish about five or six years ago on a jug line. He described the rod and reel catch as more challenging. While Taymon is ecstatic to finally accomplish his long-time goal of breaking the lakes rod and reel record for the Blue Catfish, this is not the last time he plans to cast his line. Ive got to get 100 (pounds), Taymon said with a laugh. The traveling fishing tournament will have launch back out on the water at Lake Livingston in March. The association also hosts an educational fishing tournament for kids in the summer. For more information, visit txtca.org. mellsworth@hcnonline.com With help from a 2019 CVB Hotel Occupancy Tax Grant, the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County has plans to spruce up some areas of the complex in 2019. In January, the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County was awarded a $10,700 CVB Hotel Occupancy Tax Grant. With the funds, attention will be given to the Strake Gray Oilhouse which was moved to the Heritage Museum complex in August 2015. The Strake Gray Oilhouse a white, pre-fabricated bungalow was built in 1938 to house the superintendent of the Strake Oil Field and donated by Sarah Bess Gray Crow the daughter of the homes last resident, Clyde Thomas Dolly Gray. According to Gertie Spencer, chairman of the Strake Gray Oilhouse exhibit committee, the flooring is primarily original to the house. It is now in need of refinishing as it is a heavy traffic area of the house that is used for a meeting space. Additionally, according to the museums Executive Director Sally Copley, following the 2015 move the Strake Gray Oilhouse has begun to settle in its new location. The house now needs to be leveled and have some cracks in the wall repaired. Spencer said this was expected as the same thing happened with the Grogan-Cochran House - the museum complexs original structure - when it was moved to Candy Cane Park in the 1980s. Also as a part of the HOT grant, the sawmill, train and printing press exhibits that are outside on the complex grounds will be refurbished this year. In a new beginning for the complex, the museum volunteers and staff are quite pleased with a recently completed vault addition built on to the Grogan-Cochran House in 2018. This project was funded by several donors and a dedication for the vault and recognition of the donors will come later this year. Butch Bateman, interim president of the Heritage Museum board, explained they had run out of room in space previously being used as the vault. The new fault is fireproof and Spencer, who has worked with the museum for several decades, called the new vault a ballroom to the staff as they are now able to better store priceless documents and archives related to the countys history. Also new to the museum complex is the near completion of the Strake Gray Bunkhouse. The small roughneck house was moved over at the same time as the Strake Gray House and it previously resided on the same property as the Strake Gray House in the Conroe oilfield. According to Spencer, the small bunkhouse accommodated four men. In the heyday of the Conroe oilfield in the 1930s, men slept in the bunks in these small houses. Theyd work 12 hour shifts in the oilfield and would trade out the beds as they traded shifts, Spencer said. The new exhibit in the bunkhouse displays a bunk, bedding and clothing that a bunkhouse worker would have worn. She said some of the things came from storage and other items were donated. She said the exhibit space in the bunkhouse is 95-percent ready. The museum staff and volunteers are also putting together a docent program with a hope to bring about more touring of the structures on the complex. Donations to the Heritage Museum may be made at the organizations website heritagemuseum.us. The Heritage Museum of Montgomery County is located at 1506 I-45 North in Conroe (inside Candy Cane Park.) Call 936-539-6873 for more information. The Montgomery County Womens Center will hold its 6th annual Open Your Purse for Change event on Friday, Feb. 22, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at The Woodlands Country Club - Legacy Ballroom at 100 Grand Fairway Dr. The popular event is the nonprofits largest fundraiser. The elegant luncheon features a silent auction of new or gently-loved handbags along with designer sunglasses. Ultra-realistic, mock designer purse decorated cakes will be presented at each table as a visual and scrumptious delight. The event also features an inspirational speaker who shares a testimonial about surviving domestic and/or sexual abuse. Leading this years event are Ally Seder, chair, along with co-chairs Shirelle Chimenti and Angie Signorelli. Tickets are $150 per person, table sponsorships are offered from $2,500 and up, and underwriting opportunities are offered from $1,500 and up and may be purchased online at www.mcwctx.org or by contacting Deana Germany at 936-441-4044 ext. 29 or deanag@mcwctx.org. Super Tax Day Kick-Off Event Super Tax Day Kick-Off Event launches the tax service provided by Childrens Books on Wheels from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Montgomery County Memorial Library Conroe Central Location, 104 I-45, in Conroe. In partnership with the IRS, Entergy, CBOW provides Volunteer Income Tax Assistance for families with an annual income of $57,000 or less by certified IRS volunteers at 15 various mobile sites February through April 15 deadline for filing. Services are provided in English, Spanish, and other languages as needed or requested. Locations offering this service include the Conroe Main Library (Feb. 15, 16, 23; March 8, 9, 15, 16, 23, 29 and 30; April 5, 6, 12 and 13 and April 15), the Sleepy Hollow Multipurpose Building (Tamina - March 2), Oak Ridge Transportation (Feb. 13), Community Assistance Center (Feb. 5, March 5 and April 9), The Woodlands Family YMCA (Feb. 16, March 30), Mission Northeast (Feb. 20 and March 20), Conroe Family YMCA (Feb. 11, March 11 and April 8) and the Walter P. Jett Center (March 7.) Learn more about Childrens Books on Wheels by visiting the website www.ChildrensBooksonWheels.org or contact Rita Wiltz at 281-844-7596. Magnolia native an intern with Congressman Bradys office Congressman Kevin Brady announced that Jodilyn Marrs, a native of Magnolia and current student at Sam Houston State University, began a new position as intern for the spring semester at his office in Conroe. Jodilyn is a great addition to our office, said Brady.Her passion for helping others will benefit all of the constituents shell interact with during her time in Conroe. Were happy to have her this semester! She attended the Legacy Preparatory Christian Academy in Magnolia, and is now a junior at Sam Houston State University. While at the university, she is studying as a Human Resources major. Her hope is to one day work in the Human Resources sector in the greater Houston area, and she also plans to obtain her Texas Realtor license. Community service is a big part of who I am, said Marrs.I have always stood up for what is right and taken part in community events. Being able to have this opportunity to work for Congressman Brady is a dream come true. I am so excited for this experience and everything I will learn along the way. The first resident-initiated special election in Bellaire since 1981 is now a real possibility. At a city council meeting on Monday, Jan. 28, Bellaire resident Mike Jacobs presented council with three petitions calling for a special election to amend the city charter over future sidewalks. Jacobs said the petitions had more than 2,500 signatures, exceeding the city charters requirement of 5 percent of the communitys approximately 11,600 registered voters to call for a special election. The petitions came after several conflict-filled council meetings last year that went on late into the night as Bellaire residents voiced concerns about the Community Pathways Plan and other proposed sidewalk projects. Whether it be changing from a four-foot sidewalk to a five-foot sidewalk in almost literally the 11th hour, attempting to force new construction homes to install a sidewalk, not properly notifying residents when sidewalk construction is set to commence or ignoring the will of over 80 percent of a blocks residents by moving forward with installing sidewalks they didnt want, this council isnt acting in good faith, Jacobs said. City Clerk Tracy Dutton said while it would take some time to verify the exact number of signatures on each of the petitions, they did appear to have the required signatures to call for a special election. Jacobs said the amendments would look at how future sidewalks would affect flooding and address a lack of both transparency and local control in Bellaire. The first proposed amendment to the charter would require that to build a sidewalk on any residential block, the city would need to eliminate the water discharge effects of its impervious material elsewhere within the city. A second proposed amendment would require the city to get written approval from at least 50 percent of a residential blocks property owners before building a sidewalk. The approval would have to come within three months of the constructions start. With the third proposed amendment, the city would need to send residents written notice via certified mail, detailing exactly where a sidewalk on their block would be installed and how it would affect things like trees, landscaping and drainage lines. A hydrological study done by a party unaffiliated with the city would also be required. Ladies and gentlemen, we will not have this issue coming forth with every new overzealous council member. We will amend the city charter, and were going to take this power away from you, Jacobs said, addressing council. Mayor Andrew Friedberg said Bellaire has been grappling with sidewalk issues since the beginning of time and that a special election would not really improve that fact but just draw it out further. Its important that people understand this really isnt even about sidewalks. In response to public input, sidewalks are already off the table anyway, Friedberg said. This is about amending the city charter, and whether thats the best or even an appropriate way to legislate a divisive issue. He said last fall, he encouraged council members and citizens to pause and look at more important priorities. Moving forward, before considering individual sidewalk projects we should first address the big-picture policy questions and over time work toward a deliberately inclusive plan with public involvement and buy-in, Friedberg said. Council Member Trisha Pollard said the city council had responded to feedback from the community and that she hopes to find common areas of understanding in the future. Council clearly listened to residents input and did what they asked us to do, she said. I look forward to working together to find areas of common ground, like sidewalks across the Union Pacific railroad tracks on Bellaire and Bissonnet and other commercial areas. Other council members were sought out for comment, but no responses were received. The city has 20 days to verify the signatures, according to the city charter. If the requirements are met, the city would then need to decide on a date for the special election. tracy.maness@hcnonline.com Holocaust Museum Houston (HMH) is calling on the Houston community to donate artifacts from the Holocaust-era on Sunday, Feb. 24, from noon-5 p.m. at 9220 Kirby Dr., Suite 100. With a major expansion of the Museums 5401 Caroline St. location under way, HMH is looking for documents, photographs or personal items to educate visitors on the dangers of hate, prejudice and apathy. Potential donors will meet with the Museums curators to discuss a possible artifact donation. Each item embodies a life story that remains to be told, said HMH CEO Dr. Kelly J. Zuniga. Its part of our mission to conserve these artifacts so that future generations can continue learn from them. Artifacts like Holocaust survivor Chaja Verveers baby dress provide an important glimpse into life before WWII. As time passes, these items are at risk of irreparable damage. Before they are lost forever, Holocaust Museum Houston calls on the public to donate these precious items so that they will be preserved for generations to come. The Museum is seeking materials reflecting two theme areas; Jewish life before, during and after WWII and the Holocaust and its aftermath. The Museums Call for Artifacts will take place Sunday, Feb. 24, from noon to 5 p.m. at 9220 Kirby Dr., Suite 100. Registration is required and available online at https://tinyurl.com/ybqcc8j9. If potential donors are not able to attend on Feb. 24, they can email library@hmh.org for more information. Holocaust Museum Houstons Morgan Family Center is temporarily located one mile south of NRG Stadium at 9220 Kirby Drive, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77054. Museum hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Museum admission is $12 for adults; $8 for active-duty military and AARP members; free for children, students and college-level students with valid ID; and free on Sundays. For more information, visit hmh.org or call 713-942-8000. To learn more about HMHs main campus expansion to more than double its size and open in summer 2019, go to https://hmh.org/ViewPressRelease.aspx?ID=547. (ANSA) - Abu Dhabi, February 4 - Pope Francis's historic visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) gets into full swing on Monday with the head of the Catholic Church taking part in an interfaith conference on human fraternity. The Argentine pontiff is among 700 leaders from different religions taking part, including Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, who is widely considered to the highest authority in Sunni Islamic thought. Francis became the first pope to visit the Arabian peninsula when he landed Abu Dhabi on Sunday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled a plan to legalize and tax recreational marijuana as part of his executive budget proposal. The section spelling out the many, many details of marijuana legalization spans a whopping 191 pages. That gives lawmakers, advocates and opponents a lot to sift through. Some questions are answered in the bill, while other questions will likely spark ongoing debate over the next year. Here are some of the most pressing questions regarding what now seems like the nearly inevitable legalization of recreational marijuana in New York. How many other states allow legal marijuana? A total of 10 states and the District of Columbia have fully legalized recreational marijuana for adult use: California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Colorado, Michigan, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine. New York would be somewhat unusual among these states by legalizing marijuana through a statute, rather than through a ballot referendum with additional laws and regulations established after the fact. The only other state to go this route was Vermont, whose law went into effect in July 2018. But isnt this still technically illegal on the federal level? Marijuana is still considered a Schedule I drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration, meaning the federal government considers it to have the highest risk for abuse and no accepted medical use. Under President Barack Obama, the Justice Department eased its enforcement of federal drug laws in states that had legalized marijuana. The Trump administration reversed that decision, but no state has faced serious consequences for its medical or recreational marijuana programs yet. Who will oversee recreational marijuana? Cuomo has proposed creating a new Office of Cannabis Management to oversee not just recreational marijuana but medical marijuana and industrial hemp as well. The office would be part of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control in the state Liquor Authority. It would be in charge of licensing growers, processors and distributors, as well as certifying patients for medical use. What happens to the states existing medical marijuana program? Much of the debate surrounding the legalization of recreational marijuana has centered around criminal justice and potential tax revenue. The fate of the states medical marijuana program, established in 2014 through the Compassionate Care Act, has played a smaller role in the conversation. Under Cuomos new budget proposal, patients with a serious condition must still receive certification from a doctor for medical marijuana, only now the Office of Cannabis Management would register patients, rather than the state Department of Health, which currently handles the program. This is still for the most part restricted to a limited number of conditions previously enumerated by the state, but Cuomos proposal expands the list slightly to include Alzheimers disease, muscular dystrophy, dystonia, rheumatoid arthritis and autism. It also gives the executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management the authority to add more conditions. Medical providers must also still register with the state after completing a short educational course. Overall, the proposal mostly transfers the program intact to the Office of Cannabis Management. Are there any changes for patients using medical marijuana? One notable change to the program is that patients would be able to grow their own marijuana at home, with a limit of four plants per registered patient. Patients previously were not allowed to grow marijuana, and the new proposal does not extend to recreational users. Further regulations regarding home growing would be determined by the executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management. The program still faces a larger existential question in the face of recreational legalization, which only time will answer: whether the program will survive. Right now, medical marijuana is both expensive and difficult to come by. According to the Times Union, it can cost some patients close to $1,000 a month, and over a third of those who registered never got the drug last year. The possible proliferation of recreational marijuana may drive people away from the medical program in favor of self-medicating. Doctors involved with the program hope that competition from the recreational market will drive down medical marijuana prices. Those in the medical marijuana industry say allowing them to also sell recreational marijuana would lower prices. While the circumstances are not identical to New York, Colorado did not see a significant decrease in medical marijuana patients following recreational legalization. Colorado also instituted a lower tax rate for medical products compared to its recreational counterparts. What happens to those convicted of marijuana-related crimes? The Office of Cannabis Management could review and seal past marijuana convictions, although the speed at which this might occur is not made clear in Cuomos proposal. The process may involve resentencing for those currently imprisoned to reflect lesser charges under new laws. Does this mean there will be no more marijuana arrests? While marijuana would be legal under Cuomos proposal, that does not mean that people will no longer be arrested on marijuana-related charges. Aside from DWI and DUI charges (discussed in more detail below), growing a cannabis plant or selling marijuana without a license would still be against the law. Depending on the pricing and availability of the drug, there is a good chance that a black market would still exist that does not comply with new state regulations. For the most part, those found in violation of new laws and regulations would be charged with misdemeanors. So how much can I legally carry at once? According to The Buffalo News, you would be able to carry up to 1 ounce of cannabis or 5 grams of concentrated cannabis. This is also the same amount that a retailer would be allowed to sell to a single person in one day. What about hemp? The cannabis plant comes in many varieties, not just those with high concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the plants main psychoactive component. Hemp comes from the cannabis sativa L variety of plant, which has a a THC concentration below 0.3 percent and is used for industrial purposes like clothing, paper, biofuel, food, body care and bioplastics. The state estimates hemp can be used to manufacture over 25,000 different products. Hemp has long been classified as a Schedule I drug under federal law, lumped together with marijuana as a drug as dangerous as heroin. That changed in December 2018 when President Donald Trump declassified hemp as part of the 2018 Farm Bill, making it legal on the federal level, though leaving specifics on regulations up to individual states. An industrial hemp pilot program already existed in New York under the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, established in 2015 and expanded in 2017 to include businesses and farmers. Cuomos new proposal differentiates between industrial hemp, encompassing nearly all nondrug-related uses of the plant, and hemp cannabis, which refers specifically to cannabis grown to cultivate cannabidiol, a popular form of hemp oil. John Gilstrap of Hudson Hemp, an industrial hemp company participating in the pilot program, predicted that hemp will become a multibillion-dollar industry, outpacing the recreational marijuana business. The recreational is always a sexy topic to talk about, Gilstrap told City & State. But people who are really into the science or to the business recognize that really, its the molecules, its all about the molecules in the end. How will recreational marijuana be taxed? The governor proposed imposing three taxes on recreational marijuana. The first would occur during cultivation, at a rate of $1 per gram of cannabis flower or $0.25 per gram of cannabis trim. The second is a 20 percent tax on the sale of marijuana from a wholesaler to a retail dispensary. The third is a 2 percent tax on the same sale, but with proceeds going toward the county where the dispensary is located. Cuomo predicted this will generate $300 million in new revenues each year. However, he estimated that the first legal sale of recreational marijuana would not occur until at least April 2020, and if other states are any indication, it may take several more years for New York to see robust returns. How will that new tax revenue be used? Many have already begun debating how best to use marijuana tax money, such as investing in public transportation or reinvesting it into communities of color that were hurt by marijuana policing. Cuomos proposal earmarked money for the administration of the program and other program-related expenses; small-business development and loans; substance abuse and mental health treatment; and public health education. Each expense seems to be directly or indirectly related to the recreational marijuana program. Cuomo also said the Office of Cannabis Management could recommend other uses for the revenue. Currently, it does not appear that the governor is specifically setting aside any of the money for the states general fund. Will driving become more dangerous? The short answer is maybe. In states where recreational marijuana has become legal, traffic accidents have increased. While studies havent proven a direct causal link between the two, the correlation is troubling. Part of the problem, according to state Sen. Todd Kaminsky, is that there is not enough public education about the dangers of driving high. Despite the fact that research has shown that driving while under the influence of marijuana slows reaction times and increases the likelihood of crashes, and a general consensus that driving while high is bad, Kaminsky referenced polling that shows there still seems to be a disconnect about just how dangerous driving high can be. If we dont have a conversation about road safety parallel to every other one about legalization, were not going to be prepared and were going to have fatalities, Kaminsky told City & State. He held a roundtable with stakeholders last month to begin discussing the issue. Is there a test for driving while high? Adding to the complications of safe driving in the age of recreational marijuana is that unlike with alcohol, there is no accurate field sobriety test for marijuana intoxication levels. Currently, the only way to determine someones blood THC content is through a blood test, which attorney and cannabis law expert Elizabeth Kase said can back up the court and quickly cost lots of money. Breathalyzer-like devices claiming to accurately detect THC are in development, but are not yet on the market. There is also the matter of determining what level of THC in the blood constitutes impairment. Some states have set the level at 5 nanograms per millimeter of blood. But even this is imperfect, since different ingestion methods of the same amount of marijuana can lead to widely varying levels of THC in the blood. In order to address some of the concerns regarding impairment, Cuomo plans to convene a traffic safety commission as part of his marijuana proposal. What if you dont want recreational marijuana in your town? As part of his proposal, Cuomo included the ability for counties and municipalities with populations over 100,000 to opt out of the new regulations by banning the cultivation, processing, distribution and sale of recreational marijuana within their jurisdictions. This does not mean that possession of marijuana would be illegal, but for the general consumer, one would need to purchase it somewhere else. New York is not the first state to provide this option, with many municipalities in Michigan choosing to opt out of its new recreational marijuana program. So far, North Hempstead on Long Island is the only places to opt out. Kase warned that allowing municipalities to opt out can impede the rollout of the program. She pointed to Massachusetts, which has similar opt-out options and local zoning issues, where she said it has taken the recreational marijuana program longer than planned to get up and running following its 2016 ballot initiative. Currently, the state has eight dispensaries. I think youre going to see more and more of this in upscale neighborhoods, Kase said. That is going to put a crimp and cramp in the rollout potentially. How strict will New Yorks regulations be? The answer to this question is still hard to determine as many specific regulations need to be established. But given the restrictive nature of New Yorks medical marijuana program, it wouldnt be a surprise if the state institutes a similarly strict recreational program. How will sales and licensing work? The state plans to offer individual licenses for cultivation, processing, distributing, retail and on-site consumption. Anyone with a cultivation license to grow marijuana would not be allowed to also have a retail license to sell it. A single entity can, however, hold a processing and distribution license. The idea is to avoid the vertical integration of the marijuana business and ensure a separation between the companies growing the product and those who ultimately sell it to consumers. This structure is different than the states medical marijuana industry, in which the company that grows and processes the drug is the same that runs the dispensaries. There is an exception for organizations currently registered with the medical marijuana program that would allow them to produce and sell recreational marijuana without being subject to the restrictions applied to other companies. On-site consumption licenses permit consumers to use or ingest marijuana products within their premises. Those with a retail license may also have one for on-site consumption, though there are restrictions about consumption within locations that are also dispensaries. And dont expect to be able to purchase marijuana products at bars, as any location with a liquor license would not be allowed to have a retail license for marijuana. Will there be a cap on licenses? Cuomos proposal may set a limit on the number of licenses issued, but leaves that decision up to the unnamed executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management. That person could choose a number, or choose not to impose a limit. If the rules turn out anything like the medical marijuana program, licensing could be fairly restrictive. Only 10 medical marijuana companies are allowed to operate in the state, up from five initially, and each can only have a maximum of four dispensaries. Correction: The town of Hempstead will vote later this month on a one-year moratorium on dispensaries and sales of recreational marijuana. An earlier version of this story misrepresented the town's stance on the drug. Clarification: Only counties and municipalities with populations over 100,000 can opt out of the new marijuana law. A Jackson, Miss., resident and a former Baytown resident joined a crowd Jan. 31 to celebrate the opening of an expansion of The Ballard House, which offers housing to people coming to Houston for medical treatment of severe illnesses and their families. Though Ellis Simmons and Dottie Trahan come from different communities, they agree on the important role that The Ballard House serves. Simmons of Jackson had a heart transplant at Methodist Hospital and has been a guest at The Ballard House. Its been a blessing, he said. Its been a home away from home for me. Trahan who moved to Katy in April from Baytown, started volunteering in June at The Ballard House. After learning about the nonprofit, Trahan wanted to become involved. She explained she and her husband had stayed in a hotel for a month while her husband received medical care and would have liked to have something like The Ballard House available to help them with the emotional and financial stress. She looks forward to volunteering three times a month in a flexible schedule that also allows her to take care of her aging parents and said shes found her niche. Reciting freezing temperatures from various cities across the country, Kathy Alt, The Ballard House executive director, said it was 60 in Katy by contrast with The Ballard House an example of the warmth offered by the community to help others. The expansion adds 16 guest rooms, a living room, kitchen and laundry room for guests to use free of charge. Identity Architect and CTC Contractors worked on the project. The initial 20,000-square-foot building has 24 guest suites, which can accommodate four to a room, as well as common rooms such as a kitchen and dining area and library. The addition also will allow The Ballard House to have a host couple live onsite and respond to residents needs. Other speakers included Cinco Charities Board of Directors Chairman Dave Brown, Monty Ballard, Jake Hallsted and District 22 U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land. Cinco Charities was established by Keller Williams Premier Realty in Katy as part of a national company challenge in 2006 to leave a legacy. Cinco Charities was formed to provide temporary housing for patients and their caregivers. Then longtime Katy residents Monty and Erin Ballard started a foundation to assist Cinco Charities resulting in The Ballard House. The Ballard House opened in 2013 at 21421 Cinco Park Road. Brown told Monty that People around the world will be touched by you. Ballard played a key role in convincing the board of directors to build the addition about 18 months ago. The previous year we turned away more people than we accepted, he explained. Brown thanked Jake Hallsted, chief executive officer of Hallsted Companies, and Shawn Hallsted, a designer who donated her time and talent, for supervising the construction and decorating of The Ballard House after it was flooded by Harvey and of the addition. Working on behalf of The Ballard House, said Jake Hallsted, is Truly the biggest blessing in our lives. He also is founder/managing partner of The Grace Care Centers, Premier Healthcare and Rehabilitation Centers; and co-founder/managing partner of Hospice With Grace. Brown also credited volunteers and said The Ballard House couldnt operate as it does without them. You make such a big difference in the lives of people who stay here. Kathy Alt youll never know how many people you impacted, said Brown, who called her the perfect hostess and the person to be The Ballard House executive director. Olson said The Ballard House represents fulfillment of the idea of Texans Taking Care of Texans and People in Katy taking care of people in Katy. Founding members of the Cinco Charities Board who are retiring received recognition for their role. They are: Chris Hiller, Pat Mahaffey and Brian Varvel. karen.zurawski@chron.com A Katy High School student was responsible for a social media post that threatened to "do a school shooting on Monday," district officials said. The gun threat, which was made on Instagram, contained racist remarks and ended with "I'll kill you (explicit)." In a statement to parents Sunday night, Katy High School Principal Dr. Rick Hull said Katy ISD officials had quickly identified the student who posted the message and had contacted the students parents. (We) are dealing with this issue in the proper manner, including appropriate disciplinary action in accordance with the Katy ISD Discipline Management Plan and Student Code of Conduct, Hull said. We are very glad that the post was reported to Katy ISD Police, as the safety of our students is always our primary concern. Hull said he encourages students, parents and the community to communicate their concerns with the school or the police department rather than making postings to social media, as these types of posts tend to cause unnecessary panic. CONFIRMED: Three cases of measles reported in Harris County In a Facebook group Sunday during Super Bowl LIII, parents discussed the Instagram post and questioned what Katy ISD officials were going to do about it. Many said they were not going to take their children to school the next day. When asked about the Instagram post, Katy Police Interim Chief Tim Tyler said it was the first he had heard of it. Crimes in the school district are usually handled by the Katy ISD police department. Katy ISD would not comment other than to provide the statement from Hull to parents. Katy ISD has 80,000 student within a 181 square-mile area that encompasses parts of Harris, Waller and Fort Bend counties and the cities of Katy and Houston. Its been nine months since 10 people were fatally shot and 13 others were wounded at the Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, in May 2018. The shooting happened just 50 miles from Katy. michelle.iracheta@chron.com Five years after the passage of their previous bond referendum, Cy-Fair ISD may be asking voters approval of a proposed 2019 bond program to expand and improve the district. Tonight, Feb. 4, the CFISD school board will hear a presentation recommending potential bond projects for the district, which may include more bus routes, new facilities and additional safety resources. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the CFISD Instructional Support Center at 10300 Jones Road in Houston. The presentation will be delivered by members of the Long-Range Planning Committee, a group of CFISD students, staff and community members. The LRPC set out to form plans for the district up to 2025, including a potential bond program. The committee has been meeting since November 2018 to discuss needs for the district based on research provided by CFISD officials. Related: See whats being considered for Cy-Fair ISDs potential bond program Julie Hinaman, community co-chair for the LRPC, said the committee used data from the school district to guide their planning. They did an in-depth facility assessment looking at student population growth, asset management like which assets were aging out toward the end of their life cycle and then using that data, they brought that to us so we could use it to come up with recommendations, she said. The district had a bond pass in 2014 for $1.2 billion, which is currently in Phase 6 of implementation in the form of renovations and other projects. The LRPCs 2019 bond program recommendation is anticipated to include a new performance arts center by 2020, a new instructional support center by 2022 and $239.1 million in new technology initiatives. Until the board of trustees approves of plans, none of what the LRPC may suggest is official for the district. The school board will decided on Feb. 11 whether to call a bond election for the funds needed to complete these projects. If approved, the board would hold a joint election with the county on May 4. chevall.pryce@chron.com Total An energy service company from Houston has landed a contract to improve the efficiency of a refinery in Saudi Arabia. Houston engineering, procurement and construction company KBR announced on Monday that it was awarded a contract to debottleneck a production unit at a 440,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Jan. 25 At 3:55 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the West U PD Lobby in regard to a walk-in report of a minor accident. A report for failure to stop and give information was generated. An Officer was dispatched to the 4000 block of Swarthmore for a suspicious person. Upon further investigation it was discovered that the subject was in possession of fraudulent use Identifying information and had active warrants out of the Harris County Sherriff Office. The Subject (Jason Estes) was subsequently arrested for possession of Identifying information. Jan. 27 An officer was dispatched to Houston Police Department Jail to pick up a prisoner in custody with active West University Place warrants. The prisoner was transported to the West University jail facility and was booked without incident. At 11:43 a.m., police officers were dispatched to the 2600 block of Tangley, in reference to a verbal disturbance. After further investigation, the suspect was transported the Neurological Psychiatric Center at Ben Taub Hospital. At 3:54 p.m., a police officer was dispatched to 3800 University, in reference to a Terroristic Threat call, which had already occurred. Jan. 28 An officer was dispatched to the 2800 block of Quenby in regards to a burglary of a motor vehicle that already occurred. Jan. 29 An officer was dispatched to the West U PD Lobby in regards to a forgery that already occurred. An officer was dispatched to Harris County Sherriffs Office to pick up a prisoner in custody with an outstanding West University Place warrants. The prisoner (Eugeanea Washington-Lalaoui) was transferred to the West University Jail Facility and booked without incident. Jan. 30 An officer was dispatched to the 5900 block of Ruffino in regards to an abandoned vehicle. It was reported that the partially submerged vehicle was found on property belonging to the City of West University Place. A police information report was generated. Jan. 31 An Officer was dispatched to the West U PD Lobby to speak with a complainant in regards to damage to their motor vehicle that occurred at an unknown date, time, and location. A police information report was generated. An officer was dispatched to the West U PD Lobby to meet with a complainant in regard to fraud. Houstonians have 10 days in February to hear stories from those living with disabilities and to learn from free films, art and music that promote inclusion. ReelAbilities Houston Film & Arts Festival runs Tuesday, Feb. 12, through Thursday, Feb. 21, and includes ReelPeople: UP Abilities, where three people share about their experience with their disabilities; ReelArt, which showcases work from artists; a Film Festival that features 13 films and documentaries; and ReelMusic, an evening presented by an inclusive group of musicians. ReelAbilities started in New York City in 2007. This is the seventh year Houston has hosted its own festival, which is unique because of the several types of events it includes while other ReelAbilities events across the nation just have films. One of the goals of ReelAbilities is to educate people, to enlighten people, to erase those stigmas, but you do it in a way that is entertaining, said ReelAbilities Houston Chair Susan Farb Morris. Three speakers, including Jen Bricker, will kick off the festival with ReelPeople: UP Abilities from 7-9 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at the A.D. Players at the George Theater, located at 5420 Westheimer. Bricker was born without legs and given up for adoption. Her adoptive parents taught her to never say cant. Growing up, she always loved to watch gymnastics on TV. Bricker will share about how she has become an accomplished tumbler and aerial performer. Breakout sessions will follow and allow attendees to interact more closely with the speakers and ask questions. Farb Morris said UP Abilities will help attendees better recognize that those with disabilities are just people working to better their lives. I mean theyre just living their lives and trying to do the best that they can, just to see people in a different light and realize we all have our own abilities and disabilities, Farb Morris said. We have our own talents to celebrate. Theres a huge stigma thats still associated with people with disabilities, and we want to work to chip away at that. The work of nationally known artist Ezra Roy will be on display at ReelArt beginning with a reception from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13, at the Center for Art and Photography at Celebration Company at 4131 South Braeswood Blvd. Roy has Down syndrome but is a talented creator. His mixed-media pieces vary from realism and abstraction to African and hip-hop themes. Roy started making art with his father when he was a young child. He said about the show, I hope people see what's possible with a Dad like mine. ReelArt will also display pieces from more than 20 other artists from Celebration Company, which is an entrepreneurial program in Houston that encourages employees to have work goals and teaches them life and social skills. The artwork will be on hand to both observe and purchase through Friday, April 19. The Film Festival will spotlight 13 films with inclusion themes from Sunday, Feb. 17, through Wednesday, Feb. 20, at Edwards Greenway Grand Palace Stadium 24, located at 3839 Weslayan St. Opening night will feature the award-winning Far from the Tree. Adapted from the best-selling book with the same name, it takes a look at how families are affected when parents and their children are very different from each other. All the films are captioned and audio-described to make them more accessible and enjoyable for people of all abilities. For a full list of the films, visit https://tinyurl.com/ybovs9ec. ReelMusic will bring the festival to a close from 7-9:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21, at White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N. Main St. It will include a house band and musicians with different disabilities all jamming rock, jazz and other tunes together. Last year, about 15 musicians plus the house band members played, and Farb Morris said nearly all of them are excited to join in again this year. One musician played the guitar despite having just one hand. Farb Morris said it should be a fun and impactful evening. We have musicians whose lives have been changed by music. There are people who have had traumatic head injuries or who have had spinal cord injuries who thought their lives were over, and through music therapy for instance at TIRR Memorial Hermann, they have found a future to look forward to, she said. You get the goosebumps when you go, and there are times youre almost brought to tears that youre so moved by musicians. JFS Alexander Institute for Inclusion has worked with the Houston Mayors Office for People with Disabilities to make this years ReelAbilities festival a success, along with the help of lead sponsors Bristow Group and TIRR Memorial Hermann. Farb Morris said she hopes the festival will help to create a more understanding and inclusive city and also jobs. The bottom line is we want to have inclusion in the workplace, Farb Morris said. Theres a great percentage of people in the disabilities community who dont have employment opportunities, so we need to [reach] people who are in hiring positions. All events are free except for ReelPeople: UP Abilities, which costs $18. Tickets can be purchased at https://tinyurl.com/y795mfw7. For the other events, registration is requested at www.reelabilitieshouston.org. tracy.maness@hcnonline.com On a Wednesday morning at Las Americas Newcomer Middle School, a group of girls are giggling together. They speak different native languages, but they all have one thing in common. They are all relatively new to the United States, and they are all involved in the Girls Club for Success. A program within Culture of Health Advancing Together (CHAT), an nonprofit organization based in Gulfton, the purpose of Girls Club for Success is to empower the girls through curriculum and social activities. According to www.houstonisd.org, Las Americas Middle School (located at 6501 Bellaire Blvd.) is a newcomer campus that educates recent immigrant and refugee students who have no or very limited English language proficiency and who often have had a limited formal education in their native countries. Ashna Saima, originally from Afghanistan, is one of those students, and is a member of the Girls Club for Success. She has been in the United States for two years. Here they ask you questions and you can learn some English. Here you can feel okay when youve been sad, Saima said about the Girls Club. You can come here, and learn activities. Sarah Howell, a social worker at Las Americas, helps organize the programming on campus, and helps identify the students individual needs. The girls that benefit so much from CHAT are the ones who would maybe fall between the cracks. They just need a smaller group facilitation, Howell said. For students who need to adjust to mix-gender classes, or for those who need to adjust to a regular school setting, we see a tremendous difference, Howell continued. It is a chance to get to know each other in a safe environment. The Girls Club for Success meets every week, and they learn activities such as photography, and their own curriculum, which includes lessons in informed decision making and self-confidence. At this particular meeting, they were learning about health and the body. Ungwa Amuri and Lusia Ekyoci, also members of the club, are both from Tanzanian refugee camps, and their parents are from Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa. I feel so good about this club,Amuri said. Others should come because it helps them. I feel very happy, Ekyoci said. I have friends. CHATs mission is to foster the health and well-being of immigrant and refugee communities through the education, arts, advocacy and access to care. Dr. Aisha Siddiqui, the founder of CHAT, is an immigrant herself. She noted that that she had opportunties, such as she was going to school, she knew how to speak English, and she could drive. But I still felt like sometimes I could hit a wall, Siddiqui said. As an immigrant I came because I wanted to. But for refugees, they are just lost. They need support. I realized that I could not leave them like this, Siddiqui said Through talking with mothers, she realized that the children in the community were not going to school because they did not like it, and if they did go to school, they were not working on their homework, because they did not understand it. The kids, when they come to school, they are being bullied. They are not happy, Siddiqui said. CHATs Girls Club for Success was started with a BridgeUp grant from the Menninger Foundation for social and emotional learning. The Girls Club for Success is not funded this year, but regardless, Siddiqui noted that they are continuing the group in two schools now, also in Sutton Elementary School. The Girls Club for Success is able to continue on thanks to facilitators doing their school fellowships or internships with CHAT. The program still has its impact. You could imagine how wonderful it would be if we could have a permanent facilitator director, Siddiqui said The club is a 25 week program. Each year a new group of girls will join. Students are welcome to join at any point during the 25 weeks. Some girls were here last year and they love it so much that they come back, Siddiqui said. Siddiqui continued, Its a journey from not belonging to belonging. For more information about CHAT, and the other programs that they have, visit https://chattx.org. rebecca.hazen@chron.com Jan. 19 At 12:24 a.m., Officer Marcotte observed a vehicle slowing down significantly on IH 610 in the 5500 block of IH 610 southbound as if it had mechanical trouble. The driver then stopped in a moving lane of traffic and proceeded to attempt to change a tire (that wasn't defective) in the middle of a traffic lane. Officer Marcotte had to jump over a concrete wall to remove the driver from the freeway and it was found he was severely intoxicated. He was arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) and he is currently on probation for the same offense. Jan. 21 At 1:47 a.m., officers responded to a burglary of habitation call in the 4600 block of Locust Street. Officers were able to apprehend the fleeing suspect. The suspect was charged with burglary of a habitation and processed without further incident. Corporal Clawson, Officers Ortega, Vorhees, and Younger responded to this call. At 4:40 p.m., Officers Carson and Bailey were dispatched to the 4700 block of Saxon Street regarding a disturbance. The caller advised that she was assaulted by her ex-boyfriend. Charges were refused by the Harris County District Attorneys Office for lack evidence and lack of cooperation from the caller. Jan. 22 At 4:20 p.m., Officer D. Norman was dispatched to the 5600 block of Saint Paul Street in reference to unauthorized transactions on the victims account. Officer Norman made contact with the victim who advised he noticed unauthorized transactions on his account. Jan. 23 At 9:45 a.m., the victim stated she received a letter in the mail in the 4800 block of Linden stating her account for AT&T is past due in the amount of $639.97. She stated she does not have an account with AT&T. Her husband checked his credit report and it shows that he had an open account in El Segundo, Calif., for Direct TV. The subject was provided with a case number. At 4:25 p.m., Officer Andrade was dispatched to 5909 West Loop South, in reference to a theft. Upon arrival, Officer Andrade made contact with the victim who stated on 01/16/2019 he mistakenly left his watch inside the mens restroom and an unknown person took his watch. The watch was entered into the NCIC/TCIC system as stolen property. Jan. 24 At 12:09 p.m., it was reported that for the past year, the victim has allowed the suspect access to her flooded out residence in the 500 block of Wilmington Drive. The suspect has assisted her in house care. She returned home in 11-15-2018 and realized some things were stolen from the home. The same person she had at her home over the past year had taken two checks from her check book, and has written and cashed a check in his name. The check was passed at 6800 IH610 West Loop South. At 6:56 p.m., Officer D. Norman was dispatched to 5110 Jessamine Street, Bellaire Police Department, in reference to an identity theft in the 4900 block of Mayfair Street. Upon arrival, Officer Norman met with the victim who advised an unknown suspect(s) stole the victims identifying information and used it to open a credit card. At 10:54 a.m., Officer Liccketto was patrolling the 5300 block of the West Loop and conducted a traffic stop on a red Nissan for an obstructed license plate. During the investigation, the driver was found to have a suspended drivers license with no proof of financial responsibility, and a previous conviction for driving while license invalid. The driver was arrested for driving while license invalid and transported to the Bellaire Police Department for booking. Jan. 25 At 11:39 a.m., Officer D. Rocha initiated a traffic stop in the 4800 block of Bellaire Boulevard on a 2002 black Lexus ES300 vehicle. The driver was identified by his Texas Identification number. Driver was subsequently found to have a Texas drivers license issued to him and return information showed it was currently suspended. Driver was arrested for driving while license suspended / enhanced with prior convictions. Cpl. S. OSullivan assisted on the scene. At 8:04 a.m., Officer C. Barber was dispatched to a disabled vehicle in the 4600 block of Cedar. Upon contact with the driver it was determined her license was not valid, she had no insurance, and she had outstanding warrants. Her husband arrived to assist her and it was determined he too had an invalid drivers license, no insurance, and open warrants. Both were placed into custody. The couples children were released to the males father. Officer Liccketto assisted. At 3:24 p.m., Officers Andrade and Trujillo were dispatched to 7400 S. Rice Ave. in reference to a theft. Officer Andrade met with the victim who stated three males approached him and requested to use his cell phone and then ran off with the cell phone while making threats to the victim. After further investigation, all three suspects were located and in possession of the victims cell phone. Officer Andrade contacted the Harris County District Attorneys Office and robbery charges were accepted on all three suspects. Detective Macedo assisted in this case. At 2:53 p.m., Officer Andrade was dispatched to the city of Bellaire Police Department Lobby in reference to forgery at 5410 Bellaire Blvd. Upon arrival, Officer Andrade met with the victim who stated unknown suspects made fraudulent checks containing his bank account information to electronically transfer funds into a different account. At 2:10 p.m., Officer Andrade was dispatched to 5422 Bellaire Blvd. in reference to a theft. Upon arrival, Officer Andrade met with the reportee who stated on 01/21/2019, a black male suspect wearing a construction type jacket entered the store and stole a chainsaw and drill. At 12:10 a.m., Officer Marcotte initiated a traffic stop in the 8000 block of IH 610 northbound on a 2004 Volkswagen for unreadable registration. The driver was found to have a suspended drivers license and was arrested for driving while license invalid (DWLI). At 11:49 p.m., Officer Younger located a suspicious vehicle at the top of a parking garage at 6301 N. First St. Upon making contact with the two occupants it was observed that they were smoking marijuana. The driver claimed the marijuana that was located and was processed and released on the Harris County Marijuana Diversion Program. Jan. 26 At 12:21 p.m., Officer Barber responded to 5133 Bellaire Blvd. regarding a burglary of a motor vehicle. An unsecured driver door was opened and items taken. At 1:40 a.m., Officer Marcotte initiated a traffic stop in the 6800 IH 610 southbound on a 2008 Honda for failure to maintain a single lane of traffic. The driver failed to yield for approximately 2.6 miles and it was discovered he wanted to make it home due to an ankle monitor. He was arrested and charged with evading arrest. At 5:15 a.m., Officer Marcotte initiated a traffic stop in the 8000 block of Baldwin on a 2008 Cadillac for failure to stop at stop sign and failure to signal a turn. The vehicle had been observed to be roaming up and down several streets and stopping between parked cars for some amounts of time prior to the stop. The driver and passenger were found to be in possession of several weapons and burglary tools. The driver gave a false name and date of birth. He was arrested for failure to identify to a police officer. The passenger was found to be in possession of other individuals credit cards and a social security card. She was released pending further investigation. At 4:11 a.m., Officer Younger was dispatched to 4620 Bellaire Blvd. in regards to a possible death investigation. The victim had been reported unconscious and not breathing. Bellaire Medic 81 medics were unable to resuscitate the victim and time of death was pronounced. No foul play was identified and the victim was released to the familys funeral home. Jan. 27 At 3:49 a.m., Officer Bellard was notified of an off duty Houston Police Officer following a possibly intoxicated driver in the 6700 block of IH 610 northbound. The officer advised the suspect vehicle was swerving across lanes nearly striking walls and other vehicles. Officer Bellard located the suspect vehicle in the area of the address above and observed it fail to maintain a single lane of travel. Officer Bellard initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle and after further investigation the driver was arrested for driving while intoxicated 3rd. At 10:01 a.m., Officer C. Barber with the Bellaire Police Department was dispatched to the Walgreens drug store at 5002 Bellaire Blvd regarding a man exposing himself to a female employee inside the store. The suspect was located and positively identified and placed into custody. Officer Lysack and Officer Jenkins assisted in this incident. At 5:26 a.m., Officer Younger observed a vehicle driving in the 4500 block of Bissonnet Street with a blown front driver side tire. Officer Younger initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle and during the investigation found all three occupants, one adult male and two female juveniles, were under the influence of alcohol. The adult male was charged with contribution of alcohol to a minor and processed in the Bellaire Jail. One of the juveniles was discovered to be a runaway and was returned into the custody of the Chimney Rock Center. The second juvenile was transported to her residence and released. At 2:57 a.m., Officer Younger observed the suspect vehicle in the 3000 block of IH 610 South Loop West to be weaving in its lane and often times driving over the intermitted white dashed lines. Officer Younger recognized these driving behaviors to be consistent with an intoxicated driver. Officer Ortega arrived to assist with translation. The driver was found to be driving while intoxicated. The suspect was placed into custody and transported to the Bellaire Jail for processing and booking. Officer Ortega is the reporting officer of this case. (ANSA) - Rome, February 4 - President Sergio Mattarella said Monday that Italy must show responsibility and clarity and find a common stance with its allies and European partners on Venezuela. "There can be no uncertainty or hesitation in the choice between the will of the people and the request for authentic democracy, on one hand, and the violence of force, on the other," the head of State said. Unlike the United States and other big EU states, the Italian government has not so far recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president. League party sources said Monday that they consider Nicolas Maduro to be one of the last leftwing dictators around and described him as someone who governs with force and is starving his people. The party of Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is hoping for free elections as soon as possible, the sources said. However, Alessandro Di Battista, a senior member of the 5-Star Movement (M5S), the other party in the ruling coalition, said that Italy should adopt a neutral stance on Venezuela. "The courage to maintain a neutral position is needed at the moment," Di Battista said via Facebook. "Italy is not used to doing this. "(In the past) we have always fallen into line with the 'exporters of democracy' in a cowardly way. Europe should stop obeying the orders of the United States once and for all. The world moves on. I propose courage and long-sightedness". Maduro, meanwhile, has said he has written to Pope Francis asking for an intervention for dialogue in Venezuela amid a challenge from self-proclaimed interim president Guaido. "I have sent a letter to Pope Francis," Maduro said in an exclusive interview with Sky TG24. "I hope it is on its way or has arrived in Rome, in the Vatican. It says that I'm at the service of the cause of Christ. "And in this spirit, I asked for help in the process of facilitating and reinforcing dialogue. "I ask the pope to give his best effort, his will to help us on the path of dialogue. "Let's hope we have a positive response". Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Maduro's letter "relaunches dialogue" in Venezuela. Parolin declined to comment further on the letter. Italy on Monday again blocked a joint EU statement on the Venezuela crisis, diplomatic sources said. At 10:00 Rome asked for time until 13:00, when i said it could not give its OK to the document, the sources said. The statement that was not approved read: "The EU reaffirms its support for the National Assembly and its President and, in line with their internal procedures and national prerogatives, individual EU States will recognise Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela to take the country towards democratic presidential elections". Guaido said he was sure Italy would join the EU's stance on the South American country's crisis. "I hope a fraternal country like Italy can join the rest of Europe as soon as possible," he said. "I'm in contact with the political leaders of the Italian executive. "I'm sure that Italy will be able to take this step." Answering questions on Italy's stance, Guaido said he understood "there is a problem of the government majority that prevents it" and recalled that "in Venezuela there is one of the principal Italian communities abroad". Until the recent end of a two-year repair project, visitors to Battleship Texas couldnt go to the massive engine room and other key parts of the floating museum in La Porte. Now, the work is done and the engine room, drying room, brig (compartment where prisoners were kept) and the damage-control closet are back on the itinerary for those passing through the only surviving U.S. Navy battleship to have served in both world wars. Now people can see the engines, and thats very exciting, said Stephanie Croatt, assistant superintendent for the worlds last dreadnought, which was launched in 1910. Theyre a national historical engineering landmark and one of only two that I know of still in existence today. Not only are these huge, huge pieces of machinery, but theyre essentially the same type of engines that were used on the Titanic, she said. The repairs were vital if funds are obtained to dry-berth the ship for extensive repairs to the hull, she said. And the repairs would be even be necessary, Croatt said, if efforts fail to raise funds to save the vessel and the battleship must be towed to sea and sunk. Most of the recent repairs were made to the internal structural parts of the ship using funds from the Texas Legislature, she said. The ship is owned by the state. REALTED: Battleship Texas plans to re-open additional areas In order to move her at all, these repairs needed to be made, Croatt said. So, if we were able to get her into a dry berth, these structural problems would have needed to be addressed in order to make her stable enough for that transition, and if we arent able to do that, she needs to be sound enough to tow out of the ship channel. Not all of the spaces that had been closed to tours underwent repairs. Some were in areas near where repairs were being made and others were being used as temporary storage for equipment and other construction materials. A first round of repairs occurred from about 2014 to 2016 and focused on the structural repairs under the engine. The recent work included restoring watertight integrity on some of the internal tanks. Both rounds of repairs totaled about $25 million each. Designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark, the ship was involved in Allied Forces attacks at Normandy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and in North Africa. For years, the Battleship Texas Foundation has sought to garner financial support to move the ship into dry berth, which could cost $40 million or $50 million. Being in the water leads to rusting of the hull, which is constantly being patched to address leaks. Water that seeps in is pumped out around the clock. Engineers that have evaluated the ship say that without action, its only a matter of time before the pumps and patch jobs will no longer be enough against the salt water in the ship channel. This ship is still sitting in the water and her hull is still rusting away, said Croatt. Were hopeful that well get some funding from the Legislature this session to put her in dry berth, but you never know whats going to happen. For more information about the ship and the foundation, visit www.battleshiptexas.org An 8-bedroom home in west Houston sold recently for up to $10 million, the largest sale of its kind here in three years. Built in 2017, the custom-built 17,000-square-foot Rivercrest home features seven full bathrooms and five half-baths, a glass-walled wine room, a wet bar, a study/conference room and expansive terraces. NEVER LIVED IN: Houston home shoppers can now get a better deal on new-construction houses The three-story house sits on 3.57 acres. A gym, outdoor fireplace and attached five-car garage with a parking pavilion is also featured. Large, covered patios surround the heated pool, hot tub and outdoor kitchen. Susan Boss, broker associate with Martha Turner Sotheby's International, noted the sale was unique in that over the course of two years, the sellers worked with a custom builder on the home. Soon after it was completed though, the sellers' needs changed and the house was put on the market. There are many homes going up in Houston that are in this price point, she said, but, being custom homes and all, they don't hit the market. See more details on the home at HAR.com. STAY IN THE KNOW: Get caught up on what's going on around Houston. From sports to news and entertainment, check out the newsletters we're offering. Five cases of measles have been confirmed in the greater Houston area, a regional cluster that makes Texas the eleventh state this year to report the highly contagious disease until recently thought virtually eliminated in the U.S. The cases, all announced Monday, include three in Harris County, one in Galveston County and one in Montgomery County. They involve four children, all under 2 years of age, and a woman between the ages of 25 and 35. All are doing well now. "This is a reminder for people to be on guard and be up to date on their vaccinations," said Dr. Umair A. Shah, executive director for Harris County Public Health. "Measles, a serious disease, is in our community." Measles, caused by an airborne virus, is particularly dangerous, capable of causing serious neurological disorders and death in infants and the developing fetus in pregnant women. It is spread through direct contact with discharge through the nose and mouth as well as coughing and sneezing. Shah said it was too early to say whether the five cases might be the start of a local outbreak. The counties are monitoring anyone exposed to the measles patients while they were contagious to see if they develop symptoms. None has so far. Dr. Peter Hotez, an infectious disease specialist at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, said he's concerned because in the pre-vaccine era, measles typically peaked in the late winner and early spring. He said "a perfect storm could be coming." 'TEXAS WALKS DANGEROUS PATH:' Houston's current vaccination rate is appalling, editorial board says The numbers have already begun increasing in Texas. There was one case per year in the state in each of 2015, 2016 and 2017, then nine cases last year. This year's possible sixth case, elsewhere in Texas, awaits lab testing, said a spokesman for the state department of health. The local cases occurred independently of each other except for the Harris County woman and the Montgomery County child, a girl. Health officials said there was a connection between the two cases but provided no details. Hotez said the fact that the other three cases, all involving boys, were unrelated suggests there may have been multiple original sources. Shah noted that Harris County's original source or sources, known in public health circles as Patient Zero, is unknown. The cases come amid a resurgence of measles, often linked to people not being vaccinated. The largest recent outbreak, at least 209 cases since October, has occurred in New York and New Jersey since last fall, an outbreak linked to unvaccinated children's travel to Israel. In all in Europe, there were nearly 60,000 cases last year. There have also been 49 cases reported since late last year in the state of Washington, which has declared a state of emergency. A vast majority of those weren't vaccinated against the disease, health officials there report. It was unclear Monday if a lack of vaccination played a role in any of the Houston-area cases. All four children had received the first of the two shots the second is given between the ages of 4 and 6 and the woman said she'd been vaccinated, though the county is still working to confirm that through records. Shah noted that the first dose of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine is fully protective in 85 percent of those who get it, but there's no way of knowing if a child is in that group or the 15 percent who need the second shot to receive full protection. Shah also noted that the person or persons who originally transmitted the virus may have been unvaccinated, he said. "2019 might be the year we really see the public health consequences of anti-vaxxers," said Hotez, who's waged a campaign against the movement the last two years. "In a sense, we already saw that in 2018, but it looks like cases may pick up more in 2019." A 2018 study led by Hotez found four Texas counties, including Harris County, ranked in the top 15 metropolitan "hot spots" of vaccine exemptions, the nation's areas with the highest numbers of kindergartners not getting inoculated for nonmedical reasons. Throughout the state, those numbers have spiked from less than 3,000 in 2003 to about 50,000 in 2017, the latest year for which statistics are available. There are no current measles cases in Houston. The last confirmed report of measles in Houston was last year, a case imported from overseas that received attention after a Texas Children's nurse posted about it on a Facebook page called Proud Parents of Unvaccinated Children. Before that, the last case in Houston was 2013. The current cases in Harris County are in the northwest area. Houston's MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination rate for children under 2 is 87.8 percent, below the national rate of 91.5 percent and the Texas rate of 90.3 percent. About 1 of 4 who get measles will be hospitalized two of the five local people were and nine of 10 people around someone showing symptoms will become infected if they're not vaccinated. Common symptoms include fever, a runny nose, a hacking cough, red eyes with severe sensitivity to light and a distinctive rash. The vaccine's first dose is not given until 12 to 15 months of age. Other states that have reported measles cases this year are Hawaii, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Colorado, California and Georgia. todd.ackerman@chron.com NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect the latest MMR vaccination rates. 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. WELLINGTON, New Zealand The manga movie Alita: Battle Angel, opening Thursday, has been 20 years in the making, and producer Jon Landau thinks it will finally represent the breakthrough success in Hollywood for a genre which has proved problematic. I think this is definitely the breakthrough one because of the story that Kishiro wrote, said Landau, referring to Japanese author Yukito Kishiro, who wrote the graphic novels, or manga, upon which the movie is based. You know, other mangas that have not worked have been very Asian-centric in their world, and in their stories, Landau said. And Kishiro wrote a melting-pot world. He didn't write a central character that was Asian. He wrote universal themes of discovery, of self-awareness, for these characters. And that's what's relatable to people across the globe. The film has an estimated budget of $200 million and when it opens , Twentieth Century Fox will be hoping for a much better reception than Paramount's 2017 flop Ghost in the Shell. That manga movie didn't seem to connect with audiences, grossing just $41 million in the U.S. and $170 million worldwide, with some critics accusing it of whitewashing after Scarlett Johansson was cast in the lead role. Recruiting Robert Rodriguez Alita tells the story of cyborg Alita (Rosa Salazar) who awakens without memory in a dystopic world where she's taken in by a compassionate father figure Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz). As she learns to navigate her new world, she begins to discover her latent fighting powers and develops feelings for street-smart Hugo (Keean Johnson). Landau said director James Cameron first fell in love with the Alita novels in 1999, and spent five years working on a script that ballooned to nearly 200 pages with 600 pages of notes. He says Cameron got waylaid working on Avatar (2009) and its sequels before one day having a social lunch with Austin-based director Robert Rodriguez. He said if you can crack this down to a shooting length, you can direct it, Landau recalls. And Robert did. During principal filming in Austin Salazar wore a motion-capture suit so her character could later be animated to reflect its look in the novels. When the first trailers came out last year, some viewers said Alita's eyes appeared huge to the point of being creepy. Senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri, from the Weta Digital studio in New Zealand's capital Wellington, said they discussed the eyes with Cameron, and he had the opposite reaction, telling them they had held back and should go bigger. And it wasn't the size of the eyes, it was the size of the pupils, Letteri said. Because that was a quality in the book, that sort of doll-like quality, and he thought we should bring that out more. And it worked. No pain, no gain Salazar, who previously appeared in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), said she completed many months of martial arts training in disciplines like Muay Thai to prepare for the fight sequences. It was a lot of working through soreness, working through pain, getting my endurance up, she said. She broke some ribs during her training, she said. I fell on my ribs doing a whip kick, she said. My other foot just kind of gave out, my other leg kind of swept from under me, and I fell directly on my ribs. I couldn't breathe for a little while. She said she always trusted her character would look good on the screen after Rodriguez showed her some concept art before she got the role. They had a vision, she said. They stuck to that vision. I trust their vision. And then that is what we ended up with. She said she can empathize with the way Alita transforms from a girl to a woman in the movie, after shedding one body for another. I could relate to that when I was 14 and I felt like a mutant, she said. Waltz, who played Col. Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, said he had no experience with graphic novels before reading up on Alita. The manga, comic, graphic novel thing is not my world at all, he said. I know nothing about it. And I realize that there is a vast field to be discovered. Other roles in the movie are played by Mahershala Ali (Vector), Eiza Gonzalez (Nyssiana) and Jennifer Connelly (Chiren). Sysco on Monday said it laid off 10 percent of its corporate support staff even as the nation's largest food distributor reported better-than-expected earnings. The Houston company said the layoffs were part of a national effort to streamline its business amid rising supply chain costs, driven primarily by a shortage of commercial truck drivers. The company, which has more than 67,000 employees, said less than 300 workers were impacted. "Any time you take an action like this, it's difficult for our associates involved and we take that seriously," Chairman and CEO Tom Bene said in a conference call with analysts. "But at the same time, it's our responsibility to optimize this business and improve our customers' experience." RELATED: Sysco to lay off some finance employees in early 2019 The reduction is the latest to hit Sysco after it announced plans in December to lay off an undisclosed number of finance employees early this year. The move comes as Sysco posted a $267.4 million profit, a decline of 5.9 percent from a year earlier, during its fiscal 2019 second quarter ending Dec. 29. Sysco, which operates on an atypical fiscal calendar, reported adjusted earnings per share of 75 cents, beating Wall Street expectations of 73 cents. Although sales rose 2.5 percent to $14.8 billion from $14.4 billion, operating expenses rose at a higher rate: 6.9 percent to $2.3 billion, from $2.2 billion. RELATED: Sysco shares slide as transportation costs rumble higher Sysco in recent months said it has struggled to contain rising operating costs amid a shortage of commercial truck drivers. Sysco, like many of its competitors, has been forced to raise wages, pay overtime and dangle incentives to recruit and retain drivers in the tight labor market -- all of which have eaten into Sysco's bottom line. Sysco markets, sells and distributes chilled and frozen food products to restaurants, hospitals, schools, hotels and other institutional clients. The company operates 330 distribution facilities worldwide, serving more than 600,000 customer locations. Houston exploration and production company Oasis Petroleum is doubling down on drilling more than 20,000 acres of Permian Basin oil leases that it bought for nearly $1 billion. The company is seeking permission from the Railroad Commission of Texas to drill eight new horizontal wells on its UL Bighorn lease in Winkler County. Located on state-owned land, all eight wells target the Phanton field of the Wolfcamp geological layer down to a total depth of 12,500 feet. San Antonio oil company Forge Energy originally obtained the UL Bighorn lease from the states University Lands program in Sept. 2013. Oasis Petroleum bought the UL Bighorn lease and all of Forge Energys Permian Basin assets in a $946 million deal in Dec. 2017. Shale Play: Oasis Petroleum enters $946 million deal for Delaware Basin leases Permian Basin Denver exploration and production company Discover Natural Resources plans to drill its first wells of the new year. The company plans to drill 10 new horizontal wells in the Wolfberry play of West Texas. The new 10 wells on its North Creek B lease in Reagan County target a geological layer the Wolfcamp and Spraberry formations comingle down to a total depth of 8,500 feet. Eagle Ford Shale More Information Top 10 Drillers (Wednesday, Jan. 23 through Tuesday, Jan. 29) Exxon Mobil 16 Pioneer Natural Resources 15 EOG Resources 11 Diamondback Energy 11 Discovery Natural Resources 10 Apache Corporation 9 Oasis Petroleum 8 Sable Permian Resources 8 Hunt Oil 8 Chevron 7 Source: Railroad Commission of Texas See More Collapse The shale drilling arm of Exxon Mobil is starting the year with a big push in the Eagle Ford shale of South Texas. XTO Energy plans to drill nine horizontal wells on its W.T. Hurt Unit lease about 6 miles northeast of the Atascosa County town of Campbellton. All nine oil wells target the Eagleville field of the Eagle Ford geological layer down to a total depth of 18,000 feet. Fuel Fix: Get daily energy news headlines in your inbox Haynesville Shale Houston exploration and production company Sabine Oil & Gas is taking a mixed approach to the Haynesville shale of East Texas, where it is drilling a mix of horizontal and vertical wells. The company is seeking permission to drill two horizontal gas wells targeting the Carthage field of the Haynesville formation on its Furrh GR-Furrh-WK lease in Harrison County down to a total depth of 11,000 feet. Meanwhile, the company has received two drilling permits for a pair of vertical oil wells on its Eastland and Crim leases in Rusk County where it plans to drill up to 10,750 feet. Barnett Shale No drilling applications were filed for horizontal drilling projects in the Barnett shale of North Texas, but eight companies filed 10 applications for vertical drilling projects. The Loving company WP Oil & Gas Exploration is preparing for its first new drilling project in nearly two years. The company has obtained a drilling permit for two new vertical wells on its Sweet lease in Young County. The two oil wells target the Young County field down to a depth of 1,000 feet. Conventionals Borger Exploration and production company Lera Oil is preparing for its first new drilling projects in more than a year. The company plans to drill six natural gas wells on its Armstrong MB lease in Hutchinson and Moore counties. The six vertical wells target the natural gas-rich Panhandle West field down to depths of 3,600 feet. Transwoman accuses Twitter of being 'Orwellian' over gender posts A transsexual says she was told to delete posts from Twitter in which she argued that the sex of transwomen should still be regarded as male regardless of whether they identify as female. The Times reports that Kristina Harrison, 53, was given 12 hours by Twitter to remove the offending tweets or else be suspended from the social media platform. The NHS worker, who underwent gender reassignment from male to female 21 years ago, disagrees with the popular slogan that 'transwomen are women' and said on Twitter that it should not be considered an insult to say that the sex of transgender women is male. 'Sex is relevant to this debate, whatever your gender identity. Sex & gender are not the same. Your sex is male. It's not a insult, it's not automatically hateful to state it in these discussions, it's part of biological reality that matters in so many ways in a sexist world,' she reportedly tweeted. 'Calling you male is factual, relevant, indeed essential in this debate. It's about correctly sexing you rather than so-called 'misgendering' you. Why in any case should the women here respect your pronouns while you support the erasure of their sex-based rights?' She told The Times that Twitter's policy on gender posts was 'sexist, absurd and Orwellian' after it threatened to suspend her account over the tweets. A recent poll by the Fairplay for Women campaign group found that only one in five Brits (19 per cent) agrees with the concept that transwomen are women. Twitter recently changed its policy on hateful conduct to include bans on 'misgendering' - when a trans person is referred to by their birth gender - and 'deadnaming' - in which a transgender person is referred to by their birth name instead of chosen name. 'We prohibit targeting individuals with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to dehumanize, degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category,' Twitter states. 'This includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.' Senator pushes for protection of babies who survive abortion after Virginia late-term debacle Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse is seeking to introduce legal protections for babies born alive during botched abortions after a late-term abortion bill tabled in Virginia sparked outrage last week. In a speech on the Senate floor, Sasse said he wanted medical professionals to face punishment if they fail to care for a baby that has survived an abortion. It follows the furore over Democratic lawmaker Kathy Tran's now failed bill introduced to the Virginia legislature last week, which she said would allow abortion up to the moment of giving birth and even when women are 'dilating'. The outcry only grew after Virginia governor Ralph Northam attempted to defend Tran's bill in a radio interview with WTOP-FM that led to accusations of supporting infanticide. '[Third trimester abortions are] done in cases where there may be severe deformities. There may be a fetus that's nonviable. So in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,' said the governor, who is now at the centre of a blackface row. 'The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated, if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.' Sasse was among those accusing Northam of endorsing infanticide. Others included Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Speaking to Fox News, Sasse said Northam should 'get the hell out of office'. 'The comments the governor of Virginia made were about fourth-term abortions,' Sasse said on Fox News's 'The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino'. 'That's not abortion, that's infanticide.' Explaining his proposed bill, titled the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, on the Senate floor, Sasse repeated the sentiment. 'I'm going to ask all 100 senators to come to the floor and be against infanticide. This shouldn't be complicated,' he said. He continued: 'Let's be clear what we're talking about. We're talking about killing a baby that's been born. We're not talking about some euphemism, we're not talking about a clump of cells. 'Everyone in the Senate ought to be able to say unequivocally that killing that little baby is wrong. This doesn't take any political courage. 'And, if you can't say that, if there's a member of this body that can't say that, there may be lots of work you can do in the world but you shouldn't be here. You should get the heck out of any calling in public life where you pretend to care about the most vulnerable among us.' Tran tried to defend her bill on Twitter, saying she was 'surprised' by the questions she faced in the Virginia legislature over its implications and that its aim was to 'help women make their own healthcare decisions in consultation with their doctors'. Over the last few days, you may have heard a lot of misinformation about my bill to help women make their own healthcare decisions in consultation with their doctors. Here are the facts, straight from me.#IStandWithWomen pic.twitter.com/egMO2euUHe Kathy Tran (@KathyKLTran) January 31, 2019 She had been due to take part in a townhall meeting at South County High School in Lorton on Saturday but the event was called off. Pro-lifers had been planning to protest the meeting and went ahead with their rally in spite of the cancellation. 'We are disappointed Delegate Tran and her colleagues chose to call off their town hall rather than face pro-life constituents, who were looking forward to the opportunity to voice their alarm over Delegate Tran's radical abortion bill in person,' the Susan B Anthony List, one of the rally's organizers, said in a statement Friday evening. 'Tran has taken to social media attempting to defend her legislation that, by her own admission, would allow abortion on demand right up through the moment of birth. Now she needs to listen to the voters. Our peaceful demonstration will take place as scheduled.' Pope arrives in UAE for historic Gulf visit, condemns Yemen war Pope Francis on Sunday became the first pontiff to set foot on the Arabian Peninsula, just hours after issuing his strongest condemnation yet of the war in Yemen, where his host the United Arab Emirates has a leading military role. Shortly before departing for Abu Dhabi, Pope Francis said he was following the humanitarian crisis in Yemen with great concern, using his regular Sunday address in Vatican City to urge all sides to implement a fragile peace deal and help deliver aid to millions of hungry people. 'The cry of these children and their parents rises up to God,' he told tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square. 'Let us pray strongly because they are children who are hungry, who are thirsty, they don't have medicine and they are in danger of death,' he said before boarding his flight. The UAE welcomed the pope's message on Yemen and believes the peace deal he referred to was a historic breakthrough, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter. 'Let us assure its implementation and make 2019 the year of peace in Yemen,' he said after the pope landed in Abu Dhabi. Yemen's warring parties agreed a ceasefire in December at the first major peace talks of the nearly four-year-old war, which pits Arab states backing an exiled president against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls the capital. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, and the United Nations says millions are on the verge of starvation. Their survival depends on the truce preventing aid from being cut off by all-out fighting for the country's main port. Francis was greeted by Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who escorted him to meet Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar mosque and university, one of the main seats of learning of Sunni Islam. The pontiff embraced him. Both men will hold meetings with Pope Francis on Monday. The UAE plays a leading role in the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis in Yemen. The United Nations is trying to implement a truce and troop withdrawal deal in the main Yemeni port of Hodeidah, agreed at the December talks as a step that could pave the way for negotiations to end the conflict. Vatican officials have said it is not clear whether Pope Francis will address the sensitive subject in public or private during his visit to Abu Dhabi, which is aimed at promoting interfaith dialogue. 'New page' The pope will meet Muslim leaders and celebrate an outdoor mass for some 135,000 Catholics, an event with no precedent on the Arabian peninsula. He has said the trip, which ends on Tuesday, is an opportunity to write 'a new page in the history of relations between religions'. The UAE, which named 2019 its Year of Tolerance, says the visit reflects its history as a 'cradle of diversity'. But it faces criticism from human rights groups for jailing activists, including Ahmed Mansoor, an Emirati who is serving a 10-year sentence for criticising the government on social media. 'We are calling on Pope Francis to raise the issue of their incarceration with his hosts, and urge their immediate and unconditional release,' Amnesty International said in a statement on Saturday. UAE authorities did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The UAE is home to around 1 million expatriate Catholics, many from the Philippines. Another 1 million Catholics are believed to live in other countries in the Arabian Peninsula. Priests and diplomats describe the UAE as one of the least restrictive environments in the Gulf for Christian worship. But like its neighbours, the UAE does not allow dissent or criticism of its leadership. All Gulf states except Saudi Arabia allow Christian worship in churches or church compounds and other premises with special licences. In Saudi Arabia, non-Muslims pray in secret gatherings in private homes and embassies. Abu Dhabi's crown prince is an ally of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has reached out to Christian representatives abroad as part of attempts to open up the conservative kingdom. Mohammed bin Salman's international reputation has eroded since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. The pope has already visited half a dozen predominantly Muslim nations during his reign, using the trips to call for inter-religious dialogue and to condemn the use of violence in the name of God. The UAE ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, wrote in an op-ed in Politico magazine on Sunday that the pontiff's visit sent a signal of co-existence and respect in the face of the 'menace of extremism' across the Middle East. How volunteering changes lives and maybe even yours Does lounging on a beach all day bore you rigid? Does the thought of holidaying in that same old hotel fill you with joy or dread? Do you long for something, well, a bit different this year? A myriad volunteering opportunities await the brave adventurer who is ready for a challenge, ready to venture beyond the comfort zone of their everyday life and ask themselves 'Have I got what it takes?' The following opportunities are based both overseas and in the UK; they may last just a few days or require a longer commitment. Mission Builders International is the volunteer placement branch of Youth With A Mission (YWAM), a global organization dedicated to training and sending Christian missionaries since 1960. YWAM was originally founded to inspire youth to get involved with mission but now they invite all ages to get involved. Their stated goal is to help Christians 'to know God and to make Him known'. They're in the business of recruiting short-term volunteers and matching them with global ministry opportunities within YWAM. The Mission Builders website has a list of regions where volunteers can go to make a difference, get connected to frontline missions and support the work of YWAM workers on the mission field. Details are here. Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) has been sending professional volunteers to communities in Africa and Asia for almost 60 years, supporting over 70,000 volunteers in that time. Last year its volunteers supported the training of more than 40,000 teachers and nearly 32,000 health practitioners. Through working with local organisations, businesses and cooperatives 165,000 people were better able to provide for themselves and their families. The VSO website has an impressive jobs board with opportunities for experienced professionals who wish to volunteer overseas with additional programmes for 18-35 years olds and for organisations interesting in providing corporate volunteering opportunities for their employees. Details are here. Oxfam is a global movement of millions of people who share the belief that, in a world rich in resources, poverty isn't inevitable. It aims to find political solutions while directly tackling the root causes of poverty and creating societies where empowered individuals can thrive. Oxfam doesn't send volunteers overseas as the projects it supports are managed by local development agencies in the country or region in need, using workers from the local population. The Oxfam website has a jobs board with a wide variety of voluntary positions and internships based throughout the UK. Details are here. Samaritans is a UK based charity which is known for the support it offers to callers over the phone. It also offers support by email, SMS, face-to-face and through written correspondence. Volunteering with Samaritans in this way is known as being a listening volunteer. Samaritans also need volunteers to help in many other ways which can include marketing, fundraising, outreach or a variety of administrative roles. Samaritans also has charity shops with volunteering opportunities available. These shops help raise vital funds to keep their services running. Samaritans began in 1953 in London, founded by a vicar called Chad Varah. Although it is not a religious organisation, it has kept the name and still operates under Chad's guiding principles of confidential, non-judgmental support. Samaritans currently has 201 branches across the UK and Ireland. The Samaritans website gives clear information about what it means to be a listening volunteer and how to volunteer in other roles. Details are here. Operation Mobilisation (OM) is an international Christian missions movement with the express purpose of working in every region of the world, aiming to motivate and equip Christians to share God's love, and to strengthen and plant churches especially in areas where Christ is least known. The OM website gives exceptionally clear information about its short term missions with a very helpful FAQ section. Opportunities for short-term volunteering are easily searchable by date, location and type. Details are here. In addition to the array of volunteering opportunities being offered by major charities, local organisations are often in need of long and short-term help. Churches, parks, environmental groups, hospitals, libraries, community cafes, food banks and the like all need reliable people to keep them up and running. A good mooch on social media throws up a wide range of options in my own locality. Before making enquires I feel I would need to decide and define how much time I wanted to give. Perhaps the more difficult decision is the one to get involved with the messy lives of those who are living right on our doorsteps. It can require a considerable amount of bravery. We fear getting caught up in something beyond our control, becoming part of a disturbing drama that we can't cope with. One of my neighbours is a retired community nurse who has survived divorce, mental breakdown and bowel cancer. Yet, of her own accord, she makes regular daily visits to a good half dozen housebound ladies. She just quietly gets on with it. I'm humbled and staggered by her Christ-like grace. Another friend takes an older relative out for the afternoon now and then. They have a lovely time together and my friend feels refreshed by the experience. My colleague, a busy professional man, has recently committed to deliver an eight-week practical cookery course for men aged over 55. The Age UK Man With a Pan Course runs for six to eight weeks on a Saturday morning. It's a great example of matching someone's skill with another's need. Sometimes the simplest and most meaningful opportunities are sitting right under our noses. Val Fraser is an author and journalist. Follow her on Twitter @ValFraserAuthor. (ANSA) - Brussels, February 4 - Italy on Monday again blocked a joint EU statement on the Venezuela crisis, diplomatic sources said. At 10:00 Rome asked for time until 13:00, when i said it could not give its OK to the document, the sources said. The statement that was not approved read: "The EU reaffirms its support for the National Assembly and its President and, in line with their internal procedures and national prerogatives, individual EU States will recognise Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela to take the country towards democratic presidential elections". What you should know about Yemen and its tiny Christian population Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In case you havent heard already, Yemen has been facing what many have called the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. The Middle East country, located at the end of the Arabian Peninsula, has a population of over 28 million and 22 million of them need humanitarian assistance (16 million dont have enough food). Much of the famine is a result of the civil war that began years ago. So how did the crisis begin and what is it like for Christians in Yemen? Here are five things you should know. 1. 2011 uprising Thousands of protesters called on President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been in office for more than three decades, to step down over the collapse of the economy, corruption and repression. Forced to resign, Saleh transferred power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. But Saleh remained in Yemen and formed an alliance with the Houthi rebels (made up of the Zaidi Shia Muslim minority who have been attempting to gain power for decades) who gained control of Sanaa, the countrys capital. The Zaidi believe only a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad should rule Muslims. Hadi was forced to flee the country in March 2015, under attack both by the Houthis and security forces still loyal to Saleh. This is when Saudi Arabia (Yemens neighbor) entered the fray, fearful of the spread of what it believes is Iran-backed Shia powers in Yemen. The Saudi Arabian Kingdom, along with other Sunni Arab states, have been carrying out an air campaign ever since, looking to return power to Hadi and his government. Note: 99.1 percent of Yemens population is Muslim; 65 percent are Sunni and 35 percent are Shia. The civil war has been at a stalemate, with coalition troops supporting the Hadi government holding control of much of the country, including Aden, while the Houthi forces continue being in control of significant northwestern regions. The turmoil has allowed militant groups, including al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and an affiliate of the Islamic State terror group, to capture territory in the south and carry out deadly attacks. The stalemate has produced the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. 2. The worst humanitarian crisis is getting worse Mark Lowcock, under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs and emergency relief coordinator for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, described the immense scale of the tragedy in a briefing to the U.N. Security Council in December. Calling the statistics "shocking," Lowcock said that more than 20 million Yemenis, or two-thirds of the entire population, are food insecure, with over half of the districts across the country having slipped into "emergency" conditions. "Yemenis livelihoods and access to income have been decimated, and agricultural production has fallen by nearly a third. These developments have left millions more Yemenis unable to afford food and other essential goods. And food prices are 150 percent higher than they were before the crisis," he said. I can again confirm again what humanitarian agencies have known for a long time: a terrible tragedy is unfolding in Yemen. And it is getting worse. Millions of people are starving, sick and desperate. They have one message for the world: this war needs to stop. Vernon Brewer, founder and CEO of World Help, lamented that Yemen has now faced close to four years of crisis. Food is the most urgent need. Millions of children across Yemen are starving to death because of a war they have nothing to do with. If we dont respond immediately to this tragedy, what does that say about us as a nation and as Christians whose goal is to show love to others? According to children's agency UNICEF, close to 2 million children will need food assistance in 2019; over 6,700 have been killed since the start of the conflict; and over 2,700 boys have been forced into armed groups. The Venerable Canon Bill Schwartz, OBE, the archdeacon of the Anglican Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, which oversees Christ Church Aden, told The Christian Post that what is happening in Yemen is a "horrendous problem," one that affects all Yemenis, regardless of their religious background. "The U.N. is trying to do what they can. The rebels and the coalition are both guilty of all kinds of atrocities. The manipulation of the economy from the Yemeni government as a tool of war, and the manipulation of the transportation of food and medicine as a tool of war, is on both sides, Schwartz noted. The death toll has been a subject of dispute. While conservative numbers cited by the U.N. place it at around 10,000 people, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project maintains that the number is around 60,000 casualties. ACLEDs estimation of Yemens direct conflict deaths is far higher than official estimates and still underestimated. Fatality numbers are only one approximation of the abject tragedy and terror forced upon Yemenis from several sides. This cannot be overstated," said ACLED Executive Director Clionadh Raleigh in a press release in December. Meanwhile, Schwartz said he is "quite frustrated that the media doesnt pay enough attention" to the crisis in Yemen. "It doesnt create awareness among the people about how dire the situation is," he said, while acknowledging that many are unfamiliar with Yemen. Syria is well known to people, Iraq is well known to people, and both have been in the news a lot in the last generation, he noted. [But] Yemen has just not been in the news, people know so little about it, most people would not be able to identify it on the map. 3. What its like for Christians According to the U.S. State Departments International Religious Freedom Report, Christians, Jews, Bahais and Hindus make up less than 1 percent of the population. Many of the Christians (Roman Catholics and Anglicans) are refugees or temporary foreign residents. Islam is the state religion and Sharia (Islamic law) is the source of all legislation. Though Yemens constitution allows for freedom of thought and expression, it does not mention freedom of religion, belief or conscience. Proselytizing Muslims is illegal and conversion from Islam to another religion is apostasy, a capital offense. Those charged with apostasy face the death penalty. One ministry CP reached out to declined to comment on the situation of Christians in the country, noting that it is too sensitive to discuss. Open Doors USA, a persecution watchdog group, reports that the persecution Christians face in Yemen is "extreme." "They face persecution from the authorities (including detention and interrogation), their families and radical Islamic groups who threaten converts with death if they do not re-convert," it notes. "Tribal law prohibits members from leaving the tribe; the punishment for denouncing Islam can be death or banishment. Both male and female converts to Christianity married to Muslims risk divorce, including losing custody of their children. Christians are suffering from the general humanitarian crisis in the country. But Yemeni Christians are additionally vulnerable since emergency relief is mostly distributed through Islamic organizations and local mosques. These groups allegedly discriminate against all who are not considered to be pious Muslims." The port city of Aden, the temporary capital of Yemen, has only four church buildings still standing, three Roman Catholic and one Anglican Christ Church Aden. Schwartz, who for eight years served as a priest in Saudi Arabia, maintained that Christians do not face overt persecution by the government but he explained to CP that everything about their (Yemens) society is Islamic. You dont have the freedom of individuality Muslims, Christians, nobody, he pointed out. You belong to your family, your identity is your family. For you to choose to be different from your family is a great shame on the family. Whether its religion, or a choice of your profession, or field of study, who you marry to go against your family is extremely problematic, he pointed out. Thus, going to a public church service would be a problem, he added. As long as my uncle doesnt find out, Im fine, he illustrated. The problem isnt that they have to hide, its that they have to work out their relationships with their family. 4. Kidnappings Nevertheless, Christ Church Aden does not have a priest present due to the risk of being kidnapped by terrorists. Catholics tried to maintain a priest, but he was kidnapped and held for ransom for 18 months, Schwartz said, referring to Father Tom Uzhunnalil. The dangers is not to the priest himself that is bad enough, [but] there were [16] people killed so that Father Tom could be kidnapped. The kidnapping took place at the Missionaries of Charity home in Aden on March 4, 2016, when members of the Islamic State terror group killed 12 civilians and four nuns during their attack on the retirement home. Sister Sally, who survived, was able to describe the horrifying incident to Catholic news site Aleteia: "They caught Sister Judith and Sister Reginette first, tied them up, shot them in the head and smashed their heads. They caught Sister Anselm and Sister Marguerite, tied them, shot them in the head and smashed their heads in the sand." Uzhunnalil, the Salesian priest who was taken during the raid, was held by the Islamic extremists for over 18 months. Initial fears that he had been crucified on Good Friday in 2016 proved untrue, and the 57-year-old thanked "God's intervention" following his release in September 2017. Schwartz reflected that due to how big the kidnapping industry in Yemen is right now, with American citizens also taken, he would put all our people in Yemen in danger simply by visiting them. It is a commercial thing. The people who are coordinating it, a lot of it is al-Qaeda. They would say I will give you $5,000 USD for an American.' And then they will turn around and want $2 million. For them, its a business. As for who would be able to pay such a sum, the archdeacon noted that in Yemen, where people have been chronically impoverished for generations, they get the impression that everyone else has more money than they know what to do with. I have known many people who have been kidnapped and their families. It is pretty much a random problem based on the pathology of money. 5. Church Clinic: A positive development Christ Church Aden is serving the impoverished community through its cooperation with Muslims at the Ras Morbat Eye Clinic, which is located on church grounds. Their work over the past 20+ years, especially since and during the current fighting, is a testimony of courage and interfaith cooperation for the service of the people, especially those who are poor and dislocated, Schwartz said. He explained that the cooperation came about following the collapse of the Communist regime at the start of the 1990s. Christ Church Aden agreed with the government to do something good for the people, but since there already was a primary health clinic nearby, they decided to focus on eye care. "They feel very privileged to be helping the poor people in society in the context of a place where prayer happens," the archdeacon said of the Muslim staff. "The South Yemenis are not radical Muslims, the people along the west coast are more fundamentalist. They are not radicalized Muslims in the Aden area, he said, adding that they are very happy for the church to be a place where people pray and poor people are served. One of the workers, identified as Mansour, told CP that he works as public relations manager, supervisor of the church and the eye clinic, and coordinator between the government facilities, the church and the clinic. We thank their support and efforts they have put, which [has] led to the success of the clinic. Although it is called Ras Morbat Clinic, it is well known [among] the people as the Church Clinic, he noted. He revealed that a British doctor named John Sandford Smith has been visiting the clinic since 2001. He started interacting with the clinic by training the Yemeni doctors and nurses working in the clinic and [performing] special operations and one-eyed patient operations, Mansour said. On every visit, he would come to Aden for two weeks. First week to train the doctors and perform special eye operations in the clinic, and the second week to visit a remote area, city, or village and [other] needy places for eye operations, which was very [unusual] and had never been done before here. He trained Yemeni doctors to become eye specialists, [and] now after God's blessings and the support of the church and the help of Dr. John, the Department of Ophthalmology has a huge, respected and considerate reputation here in the city of Aden under the name of Church's Clinic. Mansour said that the cooperation that exists among religions is essential. The clinic is the only clinic run by a church in Aden and Yemen, which raises awareness of the importance and raises the respect being given to the religion, he said. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the most radical pro-abortion bill our country has seen in a very long time. The so-called Reproductive Health Act removes abortion and, get this, the murder of a pregnant womans baby, from the states criminal code. It also allows any doctor, nurse practitioner, or even midwife to perform an abortion all the way up to the moment of birth, provided the mothers life or health is at risk. That exception, which hearkens back to Doe v. Bolton is so expansive you could drive a Mack truck through it, and includes all factors physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the womans age relevant to the well-being of the patient. In other words, theres no accountability or enforcement mechanism, and the healthcare provider has unfettered freedom to decide what constitutes a threat to life or health. Let me be clear: New York has just made it legal for a fully-formed, eight-pound baby with a head of hair, fingernails, eyelashes, and a 100 percent chance of surviving outside the womb to be poisoned and crushed. Governor Cuomo called this bloody, legal monstrosity a historic victory for New Yorkers and for our progressive values. He then celebrated by ordering One World Trade Center A.K.A., the Freedom Tower and other New York landmarks to be lit up pink. This achievement, he said, will shine a bright light forward for the rest of the nation to follow. Princetons Robert George had this say on his Facebook page: Until a few minutes ago, I had never felt physically ill as a result of watching something on television. But the video footage of New York legislators applauding and cheering the monstrous late-term abortion bill they passedon the anniversary of Roe v. Wade literally nauseated meWhat kind of people are we?Where does this fanatical commitment to ensuring that the lives of children in the womb count for nothingindeed less than nothingcome from? How did this contempt for human life insinuate itself into peoples hearts? How, indeed. But make no mistake: This isnt anything odd or new. This sort of legislation is the end goal of a pro-choice movement thats now fully comfortable with defending and even celebrating abortion in its most grotesque forms. This is the new norm for a movement that proudly shouts its abortionsa movement that left the old mantra of safe, legal, and rare back in the 1990s and now sees abortion not as a tragedy, but as an empowering, positive experience. Moral insanity becomes legal insanity. New York hasnt just expanded abortion rightsit has rendered human value subjective. Under this law, mothers quite literally decide if their babies become human. An infant born at 30 weeks will enjoy full legal protection, while a baby gestationally older can legally be killed. This is as far as you can take the logic of abortion without actually engaging in post-birth infanticide. Its the inevitable conclusion of Justice Anthony Kennedys infamous reasoning in Planned Parenthood v. Casey that At the heart of liberty is the right to define ones own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. As I said last week on The Point, this is a moment to grieve, but its also a moment to mark and remember. This is the pro-abortion movement exposed. This is what happens when pro-abortion politicians gain control of an entire state. Its also a vivid lesson to pro-lifers to not put all our pro-life eggs in the U.S. Supreme Courts basket. As CNN reports, New York lawmakers intend this bill to be a safeguard for abortion access if Roe is overturned. If, by some miracle, a crop of new justices reconsiders the Courts worst decision, the fight to end legal abortion is far from over. It continues on a state-by-state basis. But know this: a new Marist poll confirms that New Yorks law is wildly out-of-step with the nation as a whole. Seventy-five percent of Americans want abortion restricted to within the first three months of pregnancy. And also know this: as Scott Klusendorf wrote at our recent BreakPoint symposium on the state of the pro-life movement, the overwhelming majority of the American public has never rejected the best pro-life arguments. Many have never heard them, which is partly why bad arguments for abortion continue to hold hearts, minds, and our culture captive. Christians must learn to make the case for life powerfully and persuasively, and take every opportunity to do so, knowing that it can make a meaningful difference. Resources New York 'celebrates' legalizing abortion until birth as Catholic bishops question Cuomo's faith, Caleb Parke | Fox Nes | January 24, 2019 The State of the Pro-Life Movement, Scott Klusendorf, Symposium contribution | BreakPoint.org | January 21, 2019 You Can Make the Case for Life, John Stonestreet and Scott Klusendorf | BreakPoint Podcast | January 14, 2019 Originally posted at Breakpoint. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment For those who question whether abortion is really baby killing, the governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam, has left us no doubt. Not only does he advocate the possible killing of a newborn baby, he wants us to be civil when discussing it. This is reminiscent of Nazi leaders discussing the slaughter of Jewish children, women, and men in icy, dispassionate terms the way an accountant would discuss balancing the books. Such is the face of evil. Earlier in the week, it was reported that, During a radio interview on Wednesday morning, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) seemed to endorse killing an infant after it has already been delivered alive (specifically, in the case of a baby surviving an abortion). In the scenario described by Northam, a baby would be born alive and resuscitated if necessary, and then doctors and the mother could have a discussion which, based on context, would determine whether or not the child would be killed. While pro-life advocates view all abortion as infanticide, what Northam described would be infanticide by any definition. This, of course, is the deadly and logical progression of the spirit of abortion. It is not satisfied with terminating the life of a 12-week-old baby which could not live outside the womb. It is not satisfied with terminating the life of a 32-week-old baby which could live outside the womb. It must also kill the baby outside the womb if the baby somehow managed to survive an abortion. Thats what the infamous Kermit Gosnell did. Killing babies inside the womb wasnt enough. To repeat: This is the deadly and logical progression. Thats why, in 1995, President Clinton vetoed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. Then, 20 years later, in 2015, President Obama promised to veto the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (HR 3504). As stated by Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), President Obama's subservience to the abortion lobby is so complete that he now threatens to use his pen to protect the abortionist who would kill a baby born alive, rather than to protect that helpless baby. Getting back to the Gov. Northam, after his initial comments drew so much controversy, a reporter asked him, Some members of your party have said privately that, and maybe one publicly, that your comments yesterday could have been more precise, or they weren't helpful. So, he was asked, Do you think, do you regret what you said yesterday or the way you said it? Northam replied without hesitation: No I don't. And then this, which is utterly baffling and completely contrary to the life-saving ethic of the medical profession: I'm a physician. I'm also the governor. He continued, But when I'm asked questions, a lot of the times it is put in the context of being a physician, again realizing how we approach, how we manage patients, how we offer advice and counseling, so no I don't have any regrets. So, he had no regrets about making his barbarous comments about killing a newborn baby. (And remember: The context of those comments was the proposal of a new abortion Virginia law that would have allowed a full-term, pregnant woman who was already dilating to choose to abort the baby even for alleged mental health reasons.) None of that troubled the governor. Instead, he said, But I do find that how my comments, I did answer that question, I regret that those comments have been mischaracterized, the personal insults towards me I really find disgusting. No, Gov. Northam. It was your comments that were disgusting, sir. It was your beyond-extreme, pro-abortion, baby-killing words that were disgusting. And while I regret that some people have responded to your ill-spoken words with ugly words of their own, you, sir, bear the responsibility for making such an evil suggestion. Or perhaps we should expand the parents discussion about whether to let any handicapped baby live? Or what about any unwanted baby? Maybe kill that one too? And yet theres more. Gov. Northam ended his response with this: So again as I said in my comments about this earlier, we can agree to disagree, but let's be civil about it. What? Lets agree to disagree about the ethics of infanticide? Lets be civil about terminating the life of a newborn? With all respect, sir, that is not going to happen. Not as long as there are Americans with a conscience. Not as long as there are Americans with a heart. We do recognize that abortion can sometimes be an agonizingly difficult choice for a pregnant woman, like a 16-year-old raped by her drunken uncle. While we still say that abortion was the wrong choice, we do not condemn the teen as a moral monster. In contrast, just as New Yorks new abortion law is monstrous and just as the failed Virginia proposal is monstrous, so also the governors comments are monstrous and beyond. Gov. Northam, we will never agree to disagree with you about infanticide. As Vice President Pence wrote, what youre advocating is morally reprehensible and evil. May the Lord grant you repentance. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment "...because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me." 1 Cor. 16:9 I recently spent some time in reflection after celebrating twelve years of pastoral ministry. One of the greatest joys of ministry has been watching Christians answer God's call on their lives. The greatest sorrow has been when they don't. As a pastor, Ive lost count the number of Christians I have witnessed ALMOST answer their call, ALMOST use their gifts and talents to build the Kingdom, and ALMOST fulfill their destiny. Watching this play out is truly one of the heartbreaks of ministry, and for the person that falls into the enemy's trap, the pain and regret are unbearable. Satan hates when believers are about to step into their destiny. He will use anything to try to stop it: fear, condemnation, insecurity, temptation, doubt, sin, comfort, etc. Here is the typical scenario: God opens a huge door of ministry opportunity in a believer's life. As the believers foot is about to cross the ministry threshold, right on cue, the enemy attacks. The believer succumbs to the attack by believing the lies of the enemy. SABOTAGE! door blocked and call successfully thwarted! It is no surprise that the enemy will try to steal a believer's destiny - it is guaranteed. Its part of Satan's job description (John 10:10). The real surprise for me, however, is how many believers fall prey to it. Here are four steps to foil Satan's plan to steal your destiny: 1. Don't be caught unaware and think the enemy will leave you alone. He won't. Be on the offense, knowing the enemy will attack God's purposes for your life. Expect it. 2. Think what you are thinking about. The enemy will inject lies into your mind about why you can't run through the door of opportunity. Cast down these lies and speak God's Word. Pick up your weapons and fight! 4. Determine to step through the door of opportunity with confidence in the Lord. Get alone with the Lord, empty yourself of pride, fear, doubt, condemnation, sin, etc., and ask God to fill you to overflowing with His Spirit. 3. RUN through the door God has opened for you! Don't tiptoe, stagger, or hold onto the doorpost for dear life. But RUN through with everything in you, as if souls depend upon it, because they do! Jamie Morgan is lead pastor of Life Church (Assemblies of God) in Williamstown, NJ. She graduated with her Master of Arts in Practical Theology from Oral Roberts University and is pursuing her Doctor of Ministry at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. Jamie is the author ofA Journey to Ministry: Discover Your Calling, Purpose, and Destiny. Drag Queen Story Hour with 'Annie Christ' sparks outrage in Philly Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Philadelphia-area community is pushing back against a library's plans to host a drag queen story hour, saying the event is hostile to Christianity in part because the performer's stage name is "Annie Christ." The drag name Annie Christ is a play on words for AntiChrist. What is being called the "Drag Queen Story Fun Time with Annie is scheduled for Saturday at the Lansdale Public Library. Lansdale, Pennsylvania, is bringing perversion from the nightclubs and sexually charged pride parades into the library with children, a Facebook event page for a protest and prayer rally says. Trusted officials and library staff are promoting a foul-mouthed adult entertainer named Annie Christ (a discriminative attack on Christianity) as a role model to our small children, and we must take action. Why is our library taking on such a politically controversial issue especially when receiving our tax dollars?" According to Philly.com, the library has already received several complaints. Theres definitely more complaints about this than any other event weve done, said library director Tom Meyer, but support for the event is "overwhelming, he said. "One of the tenets of our mission here is to celebrate cultural diversity in the community, and I think a lot of the parents are interested in that and also the message of the story time, about acceptance and inclusion, said Meyer who's unphased by plans for potential protests. "Library branches in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania suburbs, and South Jersey have run similar events with drag queens since 2017; the Free Library of Philadelphia alone has hosted more than 50 of them, according to Andrew Nurkin, deputy director of enrichment and civic engagement. Currently, the Fumo Family Library Branch in South Philadelphia is hosting a series of drag-queen trivia nights, including one Feb. 13," Philly.com reported. Another drag queen named "Brittany Lynn" is putting on an event at the Please Touch museum in Philadelphia. Were not pushing any agenda. Were just giving a view of diversity and acceptance that isnt so heteronormative, the performer said. Writing on his blog at The American Conservative Wednesday, author Rod Dreher, who regularly documents how fringe sexuality has made inroads into the public domain, noted how outlandish the event seemed. "What kind of Christofascist could possibly imagine that theres an agenda present in these things? And I cant imagine why some folks in the Philly region are troubled by a public library hosting a childrens story hour led by a drag queen named 'Annie Christ' (Antichrist get it?)," he mused sarcastically. "Life in post-Christian Weimar America, folks. Drag queens named Antichrist invited to read stories to children in public libraries." Drag Queen Story Hour started in San Francisco, California, in 2015, where it was launched to provide "positive and unabashedly queer role models" for children and now has chapters in 40 states and in other countries. In 2017, parents in Long Beach, California, also spoke out against the Drag Queen Story Hour when the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library hosted a drag queen named Xochi Mochi who dressed as a five-horned demon to read to children. Ditch Amazon Echo, Alexa 'surveillance' devices to protect kids, experts say Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment WASHINGTON The omnipresence of digital and smartphone technology has yielded youth whose relational skills are stunted, experts say, and it's time to ditch "surveillance" gadgets like Alexa and Amazon Echo. Author and American Enterprise Institute scholar Naomi Schaefer Riley facilitated a panel discussion last Friday on how to respond to technology's impact on the mental health of children, which she explores in her book., Be the Parent, Please: Stop Banning Seesaws and Start Banning Snapchat. Social technology and relationship apps like Tinder are designed to lure young people and keep them ensnared in cyberspace and keep them from interacting with other people. The panelists called for regulation of media companies and big tech, and for community efforts bringing awareness to parents. "Don't buy an Echo or an Alexa or have any of those things in your home. That's just a surveillance device that earns money for big tech," said Christine Rosen, senior editor of The New Atlantis, in response to a question from The Christian Post about how parents might stay ahead of the curve given how quickly digital technology develops. "Your children's voices are recorded on there, their behaviors. You'll forget it's on," she continued, explaining that it's not always clear whether those devices are off or on. "You don't need a smart refrigerator to remind you to get milk. Just keep a list." Citing guidance from pediatricians, parents need to have conversations with their children, particularly boys, about scourges like pornography, which is now easily accessible at a much earlier age than they would ideally like, Riley said. "Tell them it's all made up," she suggested, speaking to how parents might speak to older children about internet smut. "It's acting. These people are being paid to do this. It looks real and it's meant to incite your lust but it's not actually how people behave. And if you behave like this in real life, it's not going to go well for you." Christine Emba, an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, concurred, noting that Echo and Alexa and "all of their friends and compatriots" should not be in your house. "They're becoming so common that there are children whose first reported words now are 'Alexa'" Emba said. "That is happening. That is a thing. And it's weird and scary. And it's inappropriate. And yet, it's there." Emba added, "We use this technology, we use these devices to make our own lives easier, to be able to reach our kids. [But] we have to take a step back and make our lives harder on purpose." The columnist shared a personal anecdote that "dumb phones" are making a comeback and are "almost a little bit hip." She has two friends who scrapped their smartphones and managed to acquire flip phones. While it is annoying, because in order to meet them she has to call them since text messages between the old and new phones does not compute, it's ultimately a good thing because she's forced to figure out where her friends are, she explained. Making life harder and more frustrating in this way, "enforces these conversations and these practices that we really need." "You have to get over the hump, I think, of wanting to do the easiest thing. And take charge of your lives and that of your kids." Brooke Shannon is spearheading a movement to stem the tide of ills like attention problems, corporate monitoring, and physical and emotional harms emanating from what some call screen culture. Her campaign, Wait Until 8th, urges parents to delay giving their children a smartphone at least until the eighth grade. Across the country, communities of parents are pledging to do this together in order to decrease the pressure within the childs grade to have a smartphone; if a child is the only one who goes without a phone it can be socially isolating. The site notes that smartphones impair sleep, interfere with relationships, increase risk for anxiety and depression, puts children at risk for cyberbullying, and that tech executives ban them for their own children. Shannon has an 11-year-old, a 10-year-old, and a 6-year-old, and has already talked with her children about tough topics like suicide, sex trafficking, and porn, and what to do in situations when these horrors come through pixilated screens. "When you take out all that awkwardness and you dive right in, and you talk to you kids about that, they're going to consider you an authority on that, and they're going to come to you when they have a question," Shannon said. These issues should not remain clouded in secrecy, she said, because then children get the impression that it's wrong to approach their parents about it, when they are precisely the people with whom they should converse. The increased concern and conversation about the invasive role technology is playing in the lives of everyone comes amid news that Facebook had set up an app called Facebook Research, which paid users up to $20 per month to install a virtual private network which then tracked their data. The social media giant shut down the app mere hours after defending it this week. "It enlisted 13 to 17 years olds to take part in the program, who had to get a parental consent agreement signed through a tick box. Facebook said less than 5 percent of the participants were teenagers," Business Insider reported Wednesday. "It wasn't 'spying' as all of the people who signed up to participate went through a clear onboarding process asking for their permission and were paid to participate," a Facebook spokesman told the outlet. In a July 2017 CP interview with Danny Huerta, a licensed clinical social worker and vice president of parenting and youth at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado, he said that so many are "seeking authenticity and our brain does not register online things as authentic, and there are a lot of comparisons that take place" within the human psyche. Such constant mental comparisons "create a sense of depression, anxiety, and stress," he said. Huerta's words from 2017 appear to have proven prescient. "The fact that virtual reality and augmented reality is around the corner, and Apple and Google and everybody is working on that because that is the next moneymaker, we have to be parents, I believe, to create kids that can think and understand why there are boundaries," he told CP. British author Sue Palmer explains in the 2016 update of her 2006 book, Toxic Childhood: How the Modern World is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About It, that at the beginning of the 21st century many books were written about human happiness, all of which confirmed what extensive scientific research has shown: that happiness comes not from having more money but from successful personal relationships with friends and family and in the local community. "This finding is, or course, at odds with the interests of global corporations. To increase their wealth and power, they need us to believe that the true route to happiness is through shopping. Hence the concerted drive of marketeers, aided by the image of the 'perfect' lifestyle beamed through these ubiquitous screens, to make us judge each other's worth in terms of appearance, possessions, and other indicators of material wealth." CCCU vice chair admits there is 'risk' associated with its LGBT compromise Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment [Update: Feb. 13, 2019:This story has been updated to reflect that one member institution left the CCCU over "Fairness for All"] WASHINGTON A board member for one of the largest Christian college associations in the country admits that there is risk associated with its recent push for legislation that would provide LGBT discrimination protections in exchange for religious exemptions for traditional Christian beliefs on sexuality. Shirley Mullen, president of Houghton College in Western New York and vice chair of the board of directors for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, defended the 180-school networks support for the Fairness for All initiative during a lunch discussion with reporters Friday at the CCCUs annual Presidents Conference on Capitol Hill. The conference was held a little over a month after it was made public that CCCU and the National Association of Evangelicals had issued their support for an initiative that would amend civil rights law to provide legal protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity when it comes to employment, public accommodations and housing. At the same time, the legislative construct seeks to attain exemptions for religious institutions to operate and live in accordance with traditional Christian teachings on marriage and sexuality that dictate that marriage is between one man and one woman without fear of government reprisal. The initiative was praised by some prominent evangelicals who said it puts down markers in an important conversation at a time in which the larger culture is pushing back against traditional Christian views on sexuality and marriage. However, dozens of other evangelical leaders signed on in opposition to the Fairness for All initiative and some have said that the initiative would end in the eventual coercion to embrace certain beliefs on human sexuality. Critics believe that Fairness for All support is a sign that the CCCU and NAE have caved in on the conversation. But according to Mullen, who is a board member of both organizations, that is not the case. During the lunch, Mullen addressed concerns that conservative Christians have expressed about the Fairness for All initiative, which has also been backed by other religious organizations such as the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. What Fairness for All is doing is really trying to speak through into the misconception of the larger culture that in the Christian tradition, we are somehow bigots, Mullen said. Fairness for All is saying, No, no, no, no! We are the ones who are trying to honor that public space, which then allows people, as God allows people, to make these choices about if they are going to obey Him or if they are not going to obey Him. Mullen asserted that Fairness for All is about trying to provide the ability for institutions to make those fundamental personal choices rather than have the culture simply taking these options out of their hands. While many Christian critics fear that such legislation would lead to an ultimate coercion for Christians to accept LGBT rights, Mullen said that members of the LGBT community who have been partners in the Fairness for All initiative have also received pushback from people in the LGBT community who believe that people of faith cant be trusted or wont play fair if such legislation were ever to pass. There is a risk to Fairness for All, she admitted. Then, what I would say is that there is also a huge risk to not being in this dialogue. It's not just the risk of losing legal protection for our freedom of beliefs. It is also, I would say, losing that capacity to have the Christian community viewed as people who are respectful and who want to treat [with respect] human beings who differ from them in fundamental ways. The debate is not about the importance about the traditional view of marriage, she continued. The debate is about the best strategy for preserving this. She contested that the Fairness for All legislative construct is trying to put religious freedom on a level playing field with LGBT rights. Right now, the way our society is polarized, they are not on a level playing field, she contended. The sense [in society now] is that one side has to win and one side has to lose. She noted that another alternative to the Fairness for All approach and one that is expected to have success in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives the Equality Act which would provide legal protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity but would not provide the legal protections that the Fairness for All initiative is seeking. [I]t, in fact, stereotypes religious freedom ... as something that leads to violence, Mullen said. Now, the Equality Act doesnt say this but I have actually heard people in higher education say that traditional religious protections are bigotry. According to Mullen, the Fairness for All initiative is not about a win-lose legal fight. Since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015, Christian college leaders have voiced concern that they could one day lose tax-exempt status of federal grants if some sort of religious exemption is not provided for them in law. If such protections are not passed, some Christian colleges fear that their hiring practices and on-campus policies could come under scrutiny. In 2015, the state of Utah passed bills that were supported by LGBT organizations and the Church of Latter-day Saints that provided discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and also bolstered religious freedom exemptions. Utah is seen as the model to the Fairness for All approach. Mullen assured that even though CCCU supports the Fairness for All initiative, the organization has not weakened on its advocacy for Christian institutions to live in accordance with the belief in the traditional view of marriage. CCCU is absolutely committed to the protection of the traditional view of marriage, she asserted. In fact, that is like the No. 1 advocacy position. People that are concerned about Fairness for All forget that in the course of the last several years, the CCCU has actually strengthened their explicit commitment to being able to advocate for the prerogative of faith-based institutions to have protections for the traditional view of marriage, which is one man and one woman, she added. That position has actually been strengthened now that some of the colleges actually left [the CCCU]. In 2015, Eastern Mennonite University and Goshen College left the CCCU after there was some backlash to the two schools policy changes allowing for the hiring of faculty members in same-sex marriages. In September of that year, the CCCU board announced the results of its survey of member presidents, in which 75 percent of member presidents supported a recommendation to move Goshen and EMU to nonmember affiliate status. At the same time, the CCCU board issued a statement affirming its commitment to the biblical definition of marriage. [T]he CCCU has maintained the historic Christian view of marriage, defined as a union of one man and one woman, in its employment policies and student academic program conduct codes, the statement at the time read. The CCCU, a network of 180 Protestant colleges worldwide, serves with a mission to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education through public advocacy, professional development and experiential education. The CCCU is not at all weakening their advocacy position or weakening on the belief that their primary responsibility is to advocate for Christian institutions, Mullen assured. One member institution Lousiana Christian College chose to leave the CCCU because of its support for the "Fairness for All" initiative, CCCU Director of Communications & Public Affairs Greta Hays told CP. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northams predominantly black church wants him to have another chance after blackface controversy Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As prominent Democrats such as Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on Virginias embattled Democrat Governor Ralph Northam to resign over a still swirling blackface controversy, the governors pastor and congregants at a predominantly black church where he is a member wants him to have another chance. The Rev. Kelvin Jones, who leads the First Baptist Church in Capeville, located in Virginias Northampton County, told Delmarva Now that he and his members are open to forgiving Northam for his 34-year old blackface performance because they believe in "giving people another chance." Thats what we preach and teach, Jones said. We say it all the time. But when it comes to put it in practice, if it doesnt fall in line with what we particularly feel or the political climate, then we step aside. "Somebody has to stand," the pastor said. Northam who just last week became the subject of national headlines for expressing support for a recent proposal in the Virginia legislature that would allow abortions up to 40 weeks of pregnancy, faced even more criticism after a 1984 yearbook photo on a page with Northam's name came to light. The photo taken from Northams time at Eastern Virginia Medical School shows two people, one in blackface and another masked under a Klu Klux Klan robe. After admitting he was in the photo and apologizing for it however, Northam said at a press conference Saturday that it wasnt him at all. He admitted however that he once used just a little bit of shoe polish to darken his face for a dance contest in San Antonio, Texas where he danced as Michael Jackson. "I had the shoes, I had a glove and I used just a little bit of shoe polish to put under, or on my cheeks," Northam told reporters. "The reason I used a very little bit is because, I don't know if anybody has ever tried that, but you cannot get shoe polish off." While Northams church and his pastor appear will to forgive him however, a bipartisan call for him to step down as governor has been growing. Northam must resign, and those who try to help him stumble past this deserve scrutiny, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Saturday night. If you cant understand how painful + eroding this is to American society, let alone the state of Virginia, take some time to read up this weekend, she added, recommending Ta-Nehisi Coates Between the World and Me. This has gone on too long. There is nothing to debate. He must resign, Hillary Clinton also tweeted Saturday night. President Donald Trump also ripped into Northam with a tweet of his own on Saturday, in which he called him unforgivable. Democrat Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia just stated, I believe that I am not either of the people in that photo. This was 24 hours after apologizing for appearing in the picture and after making the most horrible statement on super late term abortion. Unforgivable! Trump tweeted Saturday. Several conservatives also shared photos of President Trump, who has been accused by some of racism, with civil rights icons such as Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali, and compared them with Northams controversial photo. There was even a photo of Trump with Michael Jackson. Jones however insists that Northam, 59, who attended a predominantly black high school, doesnt appear to be the same man he was 34 years ago. "I think he has the right to prove himself," Jones told Delmarva Now. "I think that he has the right to serve until he feels hes no longer capable of doing the job. And he has to come up with those reasons as to why. Whether it be the lack of support, whether he just feels ineffective, or whatever." Jones further noted that Northam could use the blackface controversy to foster more constructive dialogue on enduring racism in the state. "He has now the opportunity to even be more effective in the sense that he knows what that hurt caused people," Jones said. "But sometimes, Ive come to learn that we arent afforded opportunities to make right on what are our wrongs. Because we live in a society that discards you once youre wrong." Jones, who gave the invocation at Northam's inauguration in 2018 and reportedly attended Saturday's press conference, told The New York Times that he advised Northam on Saturday that he needed to be in a place where you get loved on. At a church service on Sunday, the times said Jones called up Northam and his wife and church members prayed for them. We circle and pray for them, Jones said in the service where he challenged members with the words of Jesus from John 8 Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone. Top 8 Countries With Most Horrific Human Rights Records, Abuse, Rape Listed by US State Dept. Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The U.S. State Department has released its 2017 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices document, shedding light on various governments around the world, and eight in particular, which it says are committing horrific human rights abuse against their own people. John J. Sullivan, the acting Secretary of State, introduced the report on Friday in Washington D.C., explaining that it will help America formulate policies to combat global crises. "This year, we have sharpened the focus of the report to be more responsive to statutory reporting requirements and more focused on government action or inaction with regard to the promotion and protection of human rights," Sullivan began. "For example, each executive summary includes a paragraph to note the most egregious abuses that occurred in a particular country, including those against women, LGBT persons, persons with disabilities, indigenous persons, and members of religious minorities." Although the extensive report analyzes abuses from every country and region in the world, Sullivan said that he wanted to focus on eight in particular that have been engaged in some of the worst atrocities. Syria Sullivan began his list with Syria, which has been devastated by an ongoing civil war that started in 2011. The U.S. and other Western allies have accused the government of President Bashar al-Assad of using chemical weapons on his own people while fighting rebel groups, which have killed thousands of men, women and children. "The entire world is aware of the horrendous human rights abuses in Syria, including barrel bombing of civilians, attacks on hospitals, widespread reports of rape and abuse by Syrian government personnel," the acting Secretary of State said. Myanmar (Burma) Next, he focused on the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma. "More than 670,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in recent months. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been internally displaced. Those responsible for the violations, abuses, and attacks must be held accountable," he pointed out. North Korea Third, he turned his attention to North Korea, which he called "one of the most repressive and abusive regimes in the world." "As the report makes clear, the Kim regime systematically neglects the well-being of its people to underwrite and fund its illicit weapons programs via forced labor, child labor, and the export of North Korean workers," he said. North Korea has also been listed by persecution watchdog groups such as Open Doors USA as the worst place in the world for Christians, where simply owning a Bible can get one sent to a forced labor camp, or even executed. China Sullivan continued on with China, which he says continues to spread its authoritarian system to restrict activists and crack down on freedom of expression. "The absence of an independent judiciary, the government's crackdown in independent lawyers, and tight controls on information undermine the rule of law. We're particularly concerned about the efforts of Chinese authorities to eliminate the religious, linguistic, and cultural identities of Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists, as well as restrictions on the worship of Christians," he explained. Iran The fifth country of particular concern was named as Iran, where citizens "continue to suffer at the hands of their leaders." "The right of peaceful assembly and freedoms of association and expression are the legitimate expectation of all individuals worldwide. Unfortunately for the Iranian people, these human rights are under attack almost daily," he said. Turkey The sixth government singled out was Turkey. "The detention of tens of thousands of individuals, including journalists and academics, under an ongoing state of emergency has undermined the rule of law there," Sullivan said. A major case that has been making headline news in America concerns the fate of U.S. Pastor Andrew Brunson, facing up to 35 years in prison if convicted of terrorism charges, which the Christian father says are entirely false. Venezuela Sullivan then criticized Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his regime: "Thousands flee their homes daily in response to this growing humanitarian crisis. At the Summit of the Americas last week, Vice President [Mike] Pence announced $16 million in humanitarian aid from the United States to help those who have fled Venezuela, are in and are in desperate need of food, water, and medical help. We stand by the Venezuelan people even as their leaders refuse to allow aid into the country." Russia Lastly, the acting Secretary of State talked about the worsening human rights situation in Russia. "The Russian government continues to quash dissent and civil society, even while it invades its neighbors and undermines the sovereignty of Western nations," he said. "We once again urge Russia to end its brutal occupation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, to halt the abuses perpetrated by Russian-led forces in Ukraine's Donbas region, and to address impunity for the human rights violations and abuses in the Republic of Chechnya." The full 2017 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices is available on the State Department website. Syrian Muslims find Jesus after ISIS brutality: 'Christianity was the religion I was searching for' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Syrian Christians have shared how they converted from Islam to Christianity after witnessing the brutality of Islamic extremist groups like ISIS, who carried out barbaric acts in the name of Allah. Members of the recently-established Church of the Brethren in Kobani the first local Christian place of worship for decades shared with NBC News how Christianity appealed to them after living under Sharia law. Farhad Jasim, 23, who works as a mechanic, converted to Christianity late last year. He told NBC he was jailed by ISIS for six months in early 2016 after the militants discovered he didn't know the basics of Islam. During his time in captivity, he was tortured and forced to read the Quran. After I witnessed their brutality with my own eyes, I started to be skeptical about my belief, Jasim said. After hearing about the Church of the Brethren, which opened in September and is part of a denomination that dates back to 18th-century Germany, Jasim decided to visit: It didnt take me long to discover that Christianity was the religion I was searching for, he said. Jasim told the outlet his family has rejected him because of his newfound faith and expressed hope that one day, his loved ones will not only forgive him but embrace Christianity, too. If ISIS represents Islam, I dont want to be a Muslim anymore, he said. Their God is not my God. Firas, a 47-year-old farmer, told NBC he converted to Christianity after living under ISIS for two years. He recalled how militants would terrorize anyone who didnt adhere to their particular brand of Islam. I saw men and young teenagers being whipped on the streets because they were caught smoking. I saw dead bodies of young men being thrown from high buildings for being gay, Firas said. This was their Islam. "If heaven is made for ISIS and their belief, I would choose hell for myself instead of being again with them in the same place, even if its paradise," he added. While ISIS was driven out of the city, located along the Syrian-Turkish border, over four years ago, converting to Christianity remains taboo and even dangerous in the Muslim-majority region. Persecution watchdog Open Doors notes that even in more secure parts of Syria, Christians who have converted from Islam face pressure and discrimination from their communities. Kobani is home to about 300 Christians, according to estimates. Omar, 38, who serves as church administrator, said that even before ISIS overtook the region, it was strictly forbidden to change religion from Islam to Christianity. But under ISIS, converting to Christianity wasnt even imaginable, he said, adding: ISIS would kill you immediately. Most of the brothers here converted or come to church as a result of what ISIS did to them and to their families, he said. No one is forced to convert. Our weapon is the prayer, the spreading of spirit of love, brotherhood and tolerance. Currently, just 4.6 percent of Syrians are believed to be Christian, according to a report by Aid to the Church in Need. Additionally, about 700,000 Christians are believed to have left Syria since the civil war began in 2011. In December, President Donald Trump announced that US troops would withdraw from Syria, stating, "We have won against ISIS. We've beaten them and we've beaten them badly. We've taken back the land and now it's time for our troops to come back home. However, amid concerns that pulling U.S. troops out of Syria will put persecuted Christians, Kurds and other ethnic minorities at risk, Trump later clarified he would send U.S. forces back if ISIS and other terror groups regain their strength. "The President's made clear that we support Christians, that we support the Kurds," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders recently told CBN News. "He's made that clear to Turkey, he's made that clear publicly on a number of fronts, and just one of the reasons that the President has been tough on Iran is to make sure that people don't feel threatened. We've supported the safe zones that are going to be very important, and the idea that the President is just stepping away and ignoring any potential problem doesn't understand the fundamental decision that he's made." John Chau's dad blames 'extreme Christianity' for US missionary's death on remote island Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The father of slain American missionary John Chau blamed extreme Christianity for his sons death while on a mission to evangelize an isolated and hostile tribe in the Andaman islands. Patrick Chau, the father of the 26-year-old from Washington state who was killed by a tribe on North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal last November, didnt hold back about his true thoughts on his sons death when recently asked for comment by the United Kingdom-based news outlet The Guardian. Although Patrick Chau is like his son in the fact that they both are graduates of the charismatic evangelical Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma, the father is unlike his son in the fact that he no longer considers himself a Christian. He is now a follower of Chinese philosopher Confucius. In an email, Patrick Chau called religion the opium of the mass[es]. If you have [anything] positive to say about religion, l wish not to see or hear, Chau wrote. The father detailed that he was not supportive of Chaus missionary desires, which were a point of contention that they agreed not to talk about. John is gone because the Western ideology overpowered my [Confucian] influence, Chau was quoted as writing, adding that evangelical extreme Christianity was to blame for his sons life coming to a not unexpected end. The elder Chau reportedly took issue with one of the central components of Christian belief, the call that Jesus gave his followers to go and make disciples of all nations as seen in Matthew 28. The command is better known as the Great Commission. The news of Chaus death stirred criticism from many commenters, including some Christians, who disagreed with the way Chau went about his missionary calling. Chau went to an island of isolated inhabitants that the Indian government has banned unpermitted visitors to visit. Chau was viewed by many as reckless. Critics were quick to point out that contact with Chau could have spread disease to the hardly-ever-contacted tribal community that is not immune to common illnesses. However, reports have indicated that Chau took great precaution by receiving 13 immunizations, was quarantined before his trip, and was prepared to stay on the island long-term. Chau was taken to the island by fishermen and was supported by the Kansas City-based mission agency All Nations. Seven people believed to be responsible for Chau reaching the island were arrested following his death. All Nations came to the defense of Chau. In an interview with Christian Today, Pam Arlund, a member of the international leadership team of All Nations, explained that Chau came to them nearly two years ago to express his desire to bring the Gospel to the people of North Sentinel Island. She said that the organization provided training to prepare Chau for a long-term mission on the island. Arlund further contended that the Indian government had lifted its Restricted Area Permit (RAP) on North Sentinel and a number of other inhabited islands. Yet, the Indian governments Andaman Island tourism webpage explains that visiting to tribal reserved areas in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is prohibited. Arlund told The New York Times that Chau had the appropriate amount of preparation for his mission, put together a responsible plan and that he was "not reckless or extreme at all." He had counted the costs and knew that he might lose his life," she said. "But he had also put plans in place to protect the North Sentinelese. Thats because he loved them. Some mission agencies have criticized the fact that Chau went on the mission alone. Many mission agencies carry out the practice of teaming on missions. In an Instagram post following his death, the Chau family offered forgiveness to those responsible for their sons death. They also called for the released of his friends in the Andaman islands, stating that Chau ventured out on his own free will and that no contacts need to be punished. In one of his final journal entries, Chau wrote a note to his parents. You guys might think Im crazy in all this but I think its worth it to declare Jesus to these people. Please do not be angry at them or at God If I get killed rather, please live your lives in obedience to whatever he has called you to and Ill see you again when you pass through the veil, Chau wrote. Dont retrieve my body. This is not a pointless thing the eternal lives of this tribe is at hand and I cant wait to see them around the throne of God worshiping in their own language as Revelation 7:9-10 states. Although Patrick Chaus objections to his sons missionary zeal may be stirred by his own animus toward Christianity, Chau is not the only parent who objects to their children entering the global mission field as some parents even Christian parents just want their children to live safe and comfortable lives. Familial objections can sometimes serve as the biggest obstacles to young adults going into missions. When teens and young adults feel like they are being called to go, their parents objections can be a big dilemma considering the biblical call for Christians to obey their parents. Pastor and writer John Piper, who serves as the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis, tackled this issue when asked for advice by a reader who was told by his parents that going into missions would be a waste of my life, and that I would be a fool to leave America, which is, they say, the greatest nation in the world. Piper suggested that in some cases it would be best to postpone the execution of the missionary calling. Honor your parents for the next season by staying in the States. Search out a rigorous Christian college or university, be involved in missions all along the way, and get the deepest, widest, strongest preparation of mind and heart you can get, Piper answered. And in that process, God will make the future plain. Christian university cancels Ben Shapiro speech, citing 'extremely divided' America Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An Arizona Christian university has canceled a speech from conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, saying that while they support much of what he stands for they want to focus on opportunities that foster unity in a divided time. In a statement Friday, Grand Canyon University, an evangelical school in Phoenix that was founded in 1949 by Southern Baptists, explained that they moved to block the event in light of the polarized climate in the United States. "We believe in many of the things that Ben Shapiro speaks about and stands for, including his support for ideals that grow out of traditional Judeo-Christian values and his belief in a free market economy," the university said. "Our decision to cancel Shapiros speaking engagement is not a reflection of his ideologies or the values he represents, but rather a desire to focus on opportunities that bring people together." In light of the division in America and the high volume of rhetoric, the university aims to posture itself in an action-oriented way in order to contribute to community-building and solving problems in society. To do that, the school has developed a plan to collaborate with groups like Habitat for Humanity to rebuild the inner-city, reducing crime in their neighborhood through a $1.6 million partnership with the city law enforcement to pay for police overtime. "We hope it is a model that is emulated by others and builds strong communities where people can live and prosper in harmony, no matter their differences," GCU explained. "It was not our intent to disappoint or offend anyone. It was, rather, to use our position as a Christian university to bring unity to a community that sits amidst a country that is extremely divided and cant seem to find a path forward toward unity," the school said, grounding their rationale with the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:9. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God, the verse, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount, reads. GCU concluded: "Making peace in a way that honors Christ is something we will continue to try to do." Penny Nance, president of the Concerned Women for America was not impressed, noting that the purpose of a college education should involve exposure to a variety of viewpoints. "My alma mater @LibertyU recently hosted @benshapiro @SenSanders and #PresidentJimmyCarter Isnt that the point of the university experience? To learn, think and grow?" she tweeted Monday. "@GCU not your job to shield your students from diverse thought. I am embarrassed for you." Shapiro, who hosts The Ben Shapiro Show and is also the editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire, had been invited by to speak by the GCU chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative student group. He was one of the featured speakers this year at the March for Life in Washington, D.C. In response to the school denying Shapiro an on-campus venue, YAF spokesman Spencer Brown said it was all too familiar given that UC-Berkeley did something similar to Shapiro in 2017, calling GCU's decision "pathetic." By caving to an unseen mob and ignoring the popularity of Shapiro among its student body, Grand Canyon University just played itself and deserves whatever negative response this brings. GCU has abandoned the sentiment of its own proclaimed values, deluded itself into acting like the liberal campuses it claims to differ from, and blindly accepted the Lefts ludicrous argument that Shapiros presence somehow damages students, campuses, or debate, he said Friday, according the Daily Wire. GCU YAF also weighed in, saying they were disappointed. "We cannot understand why our school would refuse to host someone who is a tireless advocate for traditional Judeo-Christian values, the student group commented. In an op-ed for National Review, columnist David French argued that GCU's explanation for cancelling Shapiro was "simultaneously self-righteous and cowardly." "At the outset, [the statement] acknowledges that the school agrees with 'many of the things that Ben Shapiro speaks about and stands for,'" French continued, "but then it (nonsensically) claims that 'our decision to cancel Shapiros speaking engagement is not a reflection of his ideologies or the values he represents, but rather a desire to focus on opportunities that bring people together.'" French also argued that while GCU claimed it wanted to avoid division, its actions were "inherently divisive." "Its an explicit rebuke and rejection of the (many) people who wanted to hear Shapiro speak," he wrote. 3 myths about late-term abortion Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Late-term abortion has dominated news cycles in recent weeks with the signing of a bill loosening the few restrictions on abortion in New York, in addition to a legislative proposal permitting abortion until birth in Virginia. Amid massive outcry across the country, many claims about the practice are recirculating. Although President George W. Bush signed into federal law a ban on partial-birth abortion in 2003, which the Supreme Court upheld in 2007, late-term abortions are in fact still permitted in several states. New York has now joined seven other states and the District of Columbia that allow abortion until birth. Here are 3 myths about late-term abortion in the United States. Myth 1: They only occur when the fetus will die anyway or the mom's life is in danger. The idea that late-term abortions happen only when either the mother or the unborn child's life is in danger, or when it becomes known that the fetus has some kind of life-threatening genetic abnormality or disease, is contradicted by abortionists who have admitted performing them on healthy babies. Live Action noted last week that Colorado abortionist Warren Hern has done so for reasons beyond health. The documentary "After Tiller" a film about the work of late-term abortion providers following the murder of late-term abortionist George Tiller, notes that third-trimester abortions were committed on babies who were healthy, the pro-life news outlet explained. "Tiller would sign off on girls getting abortions for 'mental health reasons,' such as not being able to find a babysitter, or desiring to attend prom or a rock concert." Abby Johnson, who was once a Planned Parenthood clinic director and whose story of leaving the abortion industry is being told in the upcoming movie "Unplanned," has said that "it is false to say the women who choose late-term abortion do so because of medical reasons." "We referred hundreds of women to abort their babies after 24 weeks not one was for medical reasons." According to a 2013 study, "Most women seeking later abortion fit at least one of five profiles: They were raising children alone, were depressed or using illicit substances, were in conflict with a male partner or experiencing domestic violence, had trouble deciding and then had access problems, or were young and nulliparous." Myth 2: They are only allowed by law in extreme circumstances. What supporters of abortion rights sometimes assert is that the practice of abortion in the third trimester is only legally permitted in extreme cases. And such abortions are rare when compared to the majority of all abortions performed, they often note. While such procedures constitute only 1.3 percent of abortions, according to a 2015 CDC report, states with liberal abortion laws have Supreme Court precedent on their side. The standard set forth in the relevant high court rulings for when they are permitted is the "health" of the mother, not an "extreme" situation. Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case that legalized abortion nationwide, is the most widely known court decision on the issue, but just as important is a companion case, Doe v. Bolton, that the justices said is to be read together with Roe. In the Doe ruling, the court said that abortions were permitted after the period where the baby could survive outside the womb. Medical judgment as to the mother's "health" was left to a single doctor and could mean "physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the womans agerelevant to the well-being of the patient." With such a loose definition, the practice is thereby permitted under the law for any reason in states that allow it. Myth 3: The Democratic Party's position is mainstream. While pro-life Democrats do indeed exist two were featured speakers from the podium at the 2019 March for Life in Washington, D.C. the national party has lurched to the left on the issue, asserting that their view is mainstream. National party leaders have defended late-term abortion in recent years, and president Bill Clinton vetoed bills banning the practice during his tenure in office. Democratic opposition to federal legislation outlawing abortions at 20 weeks remains. "We will continue to oppose and seek to overturn federal and state laws and policies that impede a womans access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment," the 2016 Democratic Party platform stated. The Hyde amendment is a provision barring the use of federal funds for abortions, a measure that has historically enjoyed bipartisan support, but no longer. The Democrat Party's position is extreme compared to the laws in other nations. The United States is one of only seven countries, a list which includes places like North Korea and China, that allows for abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy. Every few years since 1996, Gallup has polled Americans on whether they support abortion in the last three months of pregnancy. Opposition has ranged from 80 to 86 percent. The last poll to ask, May 2018, showed that 81 percent of Americans are opposed to abortion in the last three months of pregnancy. Medical missionary who fought Ebola and won in test of faith gets $500K prize Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment NEW YORK Nearly five years after the deadly Ebola virus threatened his life and work in Africa, medical missionary Dr. Rick Sacra was honored Thursday with the Rabbi Erica and Mark Gerson LChaim (To Life) Prize for Outstanding Christian Medical Mission Service, and a $500,000 grant to keep going. Sacra doesnt think of himself as a hero, but to hear the 56-year-old missionary tell his story about saving lives during the height of the worlds worst outbreak of the disease that claimed more than 11,000 lives, its hard not to imagine him wearing a cape. It was August 2014. Sacra, now 56, was delivering babies at the ELWA missionary hospital in Monrovia, Liberia, when he contracted the virus. It had been, he said, an awful time in the country he has called home for some two decades. That was the time when there were not enough beds for Ebola patients. Most of the Ebola care that was happening in Monrovia at that time was happening on the ELWA compound, he explained at a meet and greet held in the Manhattan home of Rabbi Erica and Mark Gerson, the benefactors of the $500,000 prize. Other medical teams from groups such as Doctors Without Borders had set up operations to help the sick at the ELWA compound but the demands of the sick were overwhelming. Every day there would be patients. There would be sick people waiting around the entrances to these two units, waiting for news that there was an open bed. It was heartbreaking; you would literally see very critically ill people just sitting out on a grassy spot somewhere on the ELWA compound, Sacra said. I remember one morning coming into the hospital and finding out that a woman had died sitting in a chair not too far from the hospital entrance. We had to call in the burial team and the spray team to decontaminate the area. It was a pretty awful situation, he said. When Sacra got sick he had only been back in Monrovia for about four weeks after stepping in to volunteer shortly after other American medical missionaries, Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly the first two Americans to catch Ebola became ill. And he remembers it well. It was a Friday night when I developed the fever. ... I didnt know of an exposure, but we had had several patients who died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. At that time we didnt have good access to testing, he explained. But for some reason, I really felt from the moment I had the fever, I just thought, this is it. And I dont know why but I just felt that this is Ebola. For a time, Sacra remained calm and connected with his wife and employer, SIM. That weekend, I was in my little apartment; I didnt go anywhere. I talked with my wife on the phone. I talked with my medical director, my boss Dr. Brown. We decided wed wait until Monday and do my test on Monday if I still had the fever. The fever didnt break the whole weekend, he said. Even though he was sure he was doing what God wanted him to do, Sacra was tortured over what his possible death could mean for his family and the ELWA hospital. He cried as he trusted God to keep him. I did cry about it. I was upset about it, mainly for the sake of my wife and my kids. And even for the hospital. What would this do to the hospital to have another one of our health care providers come down with Ebola? That was pretty difficult to think about, he said. But you know, I have to say that for myself, I just had a real sense of peace that God was saying, Im here. I felt like I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. I said to God, God, but what about my family and what about the hospital?' And God kinda said, Rick, I got it. I can handle that. The Good Samaritan Ever since he was a child growing up and attending church in a Boston suburb, Sacra believes God placed a desire in him to help people of another culture in the name of Christ. I got to meet missionaries, I had some Sunday School teachers and youth pastors who were just very inspiring and really encouraging that kinda fanned that spark into a flame, he said. One of the stories of the Bible that inspired him, he said, is the story of the good Samaritan. I still remember hearing a preacher in a Vacation Bible School tell us the story of the good Samaritan. I mean, this was probably when I was 7 or 8 years old, and I still remember him telling that story and how much it meant to me and how I wanted to be like that. I wanted to be somebody who would stop and help my neighbor who was in need. So that just stuck with me and just that desire to want to be somebody that could make a difference, he said. Its no surprise then that even after facing death in the field, Sacra returned to Liberia a few months later to continue saving lives. In January 2015, we had a very ill little 6-week-old boy brought to ELWA, in the middle of the Ebola crisis, with vomiting. He was very sick and couldnt keep down any of his moms milk. At that time, other hospitals were closed. One of our younger doctors saw this child and felt he might have pyloric stenosis. I was asked to take a look with the ultrasound this was a disease I had not diagnosed before, but we got out the ultrasound book, and looked up how to diagnose it. We took a look and sure enough, it was pyloric stenosis, which requires surgery, he said. The baby would go on to have a successful operation with the help of his committed colleagues. It was great to be part of a successful team that God provided for the benefit of this baby, said Sacra. Advancing health care in Africa The annual $500,000 LChaim prize was awarded by African Mission health care for the third year in a row. The prize from the nonprofit, co-founded by Mark Gerson of Lehrman Group, and his college friend, Dr. Jon Fielder, who has served as a medical missionary to Africa for almost 20 years, will go toward supporting the advancement of health care in Liberia. It will help to cover about 15 percent of the training costs for Liberian family medicine residents. The country, which was founded as a colony of freed African-American slaves in the 19th century, only has one doctor for every 15,000 people, and many of them lack advanced training. There are many needs to train doctors library books, internet, faculty to teach, housing. This prize will cover about 15 percent of the training costs for our current group of residents, Sacra said. The money will also be used to help establish an intensive care unit with trained staff as well as install solar power capacity at the ELWA hospital as a buffer against Liberias unreliable power grid. And Rabbi Erica Gerson explained that growing local health care capacity is what the African Mission health care is pushing for. That means on the capital side, building up the physical plant, which could be anything from putting in proper roads Weve had a lot of requests for solar panels so they can have not only consistent power but [so] they [won't have to] spend a fortune on their power, she said. Providing housing for missionaries is also a part of the multi-pronged approached to supporting local health care systems. One of the most consistent needs of the Gerson LChaim prize over the years has been housing, the rabbi said. Even though were funding medical expansion, people dont think about it, theres no market for rentals. If you can offer someone safe and decent housing, that becomes a real draw. Its a necessity and its a strength when various campuses can build that, she said. The support of the Jewish benefactors of Christian medical missionaries was forged out of a relationship between Ericas husband and his Christian college friend, Dr. Jon Fielder. My husband was at Williams College with Jon Fielder, who then became Dr. Jon Fielder, and on his path he felt a calling to serve God and to do that in his medical capacity, said Erica. Mark, who would go on to co-found and become the chairman of the Gerson Lehrman Group, a knowledge brokerage and primary research firm, began helping to support Fielders work. After observing how the missionaries were operating for a while, the friends teamed up to help make the operations of medical missionaries in Africa more efficient through African Mission health care. When Mark got on the scene and when Jon got on the scene, these doctors were going back to America for months at a time going church to church, weekend to weekend, raising a few hundred dollars. And Mark, as a businessman, said this is not a good use of human capital, Erica said. These are the people who are trained and willing to serve, lets figure out how we can support them so they can do their holy work in Africa. We can build the relationships and the systems needed to support that work. So it took off from there, she said. Another reason Erica and her husband say they got involved was because of their faith. And hell (Mark) say that he feels that one of the strongest commands in Judaism is to love the stranger. Its the most often repeated commandment or mitzvah in the Torah. Its always, love the stranger, remember the stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt. ... Nothing could be stranger for us than a sick orphan in Africa. We have no personal connection but we recognize their humanity and are inspired by the love and medical skill that all these doctors are bringing, she said. Mark Gerson also told The Christian Post Thursday that the prize is a reflection of what he sees as the historic friendship that has bloomed between Jews and Christians in recent years. Its been over 3,000 years since Moses and God liberated the Jews from Egypt. This right now is the greatest friendship the Jewish people have ever had, and it's with Christians today, he said. The Christian love for Israel has amplified the Christian love for Judaism. And the Christian love for Judaism has in response amplified the Christian love for Israel, and it has become a virtual cycle. And that virtual cycle has produced this world historic friendship. In all of Jewish history there has never been anything like this, he said. The businessman praised the work of Christian missionary doctors and described it as one of the most spectacular investments in which anyone could make. Whats really inspiring is being able to see the places where the Christian missionaries serve is functionally impossible to get to just hearing about the extraordinary work they do in helping us fulfill our Jewish obligation to love the stranger, he said. When you hear about the number of people whose lives they saved, and people whose illnesses they treat and people whose injuries they heal per dollar invested, its the most spectacular investment anybody has ever made. And its inspiring. "Its inspiring to think about the amount of good one can do with almost any amount of money that one invests in the work of Christian medical missionaries. It's gonna deliver the best investment return anybody has ever seen, he said. And the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness. The Westminster Confession. Can belief in hell be considered a pathological fear? Consider the stakes for many believers. With the prospect of an eternity of torture and other forms of suffering, one might say a crippling fear of hell would be warranted. With those questions in mind, a team of researchers from Baylor University developed a series of measures on hell anxiety and tested them in what they say is the first systematic examination of the psychological consequences of belief in hell. What they found was that individual belief in hell was not in itself connected to any neuroses, and that most people did not display an unhealthy focus on the possibility of eternal damnation. The findings, some of which even surprised research team members, included: The more religious an individual was, the less likely they were to display hell anxiety. Unhealthy fears were not related to dogmatism or religious fundamentalism. 1 The scandals around Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam are, of course, virtually everywhere in the media atmospheres around us. The governor first sparked alarm with his comments on late-term abortion/infanticide, arguing that a born-alive infant would be kept comfortable while the doctors and family decided next steps. Then, reporters found a yearbook from his medical school with Northam depicted either in blackface or as a Ku Klux Klansman. Manyon both the political Right and the political Leftare calling on the governor to resign. I agree with that call. Still, we shouldnt let this moment pass by without sensing the underlying crisis. Abortion culture and racial injustice are not two separate impulses. They are one. Both seek to make invisible the vulnerable neighbor ones group wishes to sacrifice for their own ends. Both use a spectrum of ways to get around the human conscience, which, when functioning, would recoil at smothering a baby on a table or lynching an African-American man. At one spectrum, theres making the inconvenient neighbor invisible through euphemism. We can speak of choice, without speaking of whats being chosen. We can speak of terminating pregnancies without asking, pregnant with what? We can act as though we dont understand whats being said when people use racist themes and memes and sometimes even flags in order to use racism without being directly implicated in it. And then, there are times when both aspects of this impulse are working with consciences seared enough to be direct. Gov. Northam in his comments about late-term abortion didnt speak of clumps of cells or of embryos or fetuses but of infants. Earlier, when New York passed a law similarly removing all protections from late-term infants between womb and the air outside the birth canal lawmakers cheered their legislation, and the governor lit up a building in celebration. Likewise, often on questions of racial injustice the euphemisms are often unveiled directly, with, for instance, the white supremacists and Nazis marching with Tiki torches through Charlottesville. Both of these aspects are rooted in the counter-Christ idolatry that sees human dignity and lives worth living defined by power. And that power is always defined by those who have power. This is the spirit of Cain (1 Jn. 3:11-15). When we encounter this spirit, we should call it what it is. We shouldnt look around to see if the crowd around us will give us permission to serve the vulnerable neighbor before us, whether that neighbor is unborn, elderly, poor, racially oppressed, sexually assaulted, an immigrant, a refugee. The tribal permission-seeking can be seen whenever racial injustice is mentionedin terms of personal attitudes or structural systemsand those with racially uneasy consciences say, Well, what about abortion? Thats a bigger issue. It can also be seen when others, with equally uneasy consciences, speak directly and rightly to issues of helping children but then suddenly go quiet when the child is surrounded in amniotic fluid. We speak coherently on one set of issues, defined as safe by our tribe, and go silent on those that dont. When questions come out about the issues ones side doesnt want to address, even when those are rooted in the very issues of human dignity and solidarity being trumpeted by that side, one is told not to distract from the main issue. That, being interpreted, is the message Dont go outside the lines the crowd around you has set because it will upset our political or social or economic interests. That itself is a manifestation of the power-as-dignity idolatry. Both are of the reign of death. For those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, his lordship means that we dont pick and choose who what he defines as justice. We dont get to tell him what neighbor or person or relevant issue means. His voice says Come, follow me. He doesnt adjust his definition of justice to our ideological tribes, especially as they seek to make invisible whatever image-bearers are inconvenient to their movements. Abortion and racial injustice are alike an affront to human dignity, and to the image of God. We should say so, in every context, whether favorable to our side or not, because our lives are lived not by the approval of the crowd but before the face of God. Photo courtesy: The World without Christianity: Unimaginable Share Tweet A couple of years ago, Jeremiah Johnston and his wife binge-watched the HBO series The Man in the High Castle. The series is set in a world where Nazi Germany and Japan won World War II and now occupy the United States. Its a world where euthanasia is mandatory, and the ashes of victims fall on passersby. In other words, its a world without Christianity, not to mention Judaism. After watching the series, Johnstons wife told him that he needed to write about what they had just watched. He did, and the result is his outstanding book, Unimaginable: What the World Would Be Like Without Christianity. But Johnstons book is not about a fictional world like the The Man in the High Castle. His book is straight out of history, about the real world that Christianity replaceda pagan world that is showing signs of a comeback in this post-Christian age. Johnston introduces us to the world in which Christianity was born, and eventually transformed. He tells the story of Hilarion, an otherwise-unremarkable Roman citizen who had traveled to Egypt. He writes to his pregnant wife that he may not make it home in time for the birth. So he wishes her good luck and then tells her what to do when the child is born: If it is a boy, keep it; if it is a girl, throw it out. As I said, there was nothing remarkable about Hilarion or his attitude towards his soon-to-be-born child. As Johnston tells us, in the first-century Roman world . . . killing an unwanted child was no big deal. He quotes the philosopher Seneca, who wrote: Unnatural progeny we destroy; we drown even children who at birth are weak or abnormal. Into this world came Christianity, whose teaching and practice was 180 degrees from that of the surrounding societies. The early second century Christian document known as the Didache told Christians Do not murder a child by abortion, nor kill it at birth. The Epistle of Barnabas, which dates from a few decades later, similarly said Do not murder a child by abortion, nor, again, destroy that which is born. Believe it or not, infanticide is just one example of the cruelty and callousness that characterized the ancient world. Anyone who wasnt a noblemanemphasis on the manwas a potential, and often actual, victim of this same kind of cruelty: infants, women, slaves, and the poor to name but a few. Against this backdrop, Pauls declaration that There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus had the potential to turn the world upside down. And thats exactly what it did. It took time, and there were fits and starts, but Christianity made the world we now take for granted, possible. As Johnston tells readers, the Wests rejection of Christianity threatens to undo this world. For those who scoff at such an idea, he lays out the recent historical record, which isnt pretty. Evils such as scientific racism, which posits that some groups are inherently inferior to others, eugenics, and its ultimate expression, the Third Reich, all have their origins in worldviews that rejected Christianity. He reminds us that these literally godless worldviews have left a body count in the hundreds of millions: the Holocaust, Stalins victims, the killing fields of Cambodia, and the estimated seventy million Chinese who died under Mao. Given this historical record, it is unimaginable that we should want to revert to a world prior to Christianity. Or at last it should be unimaginable. Thats why I cant recommend the book Unimaginable highly enough. Its a book that every Christian interested in worldview, and, especially those who arent, should have in their library. And this month, its our gift to those who make a donation to BreakPoint and the Colson Center. Just come to BreakPoint.org. And you can join Jeremiah Johnston on a free webinar tomorrow, February 5, at noon Eastern. Again, come to BreakPoint.org to register. 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: February 4, 2019 Photo courtesy: Hugues de Buyer Mimeure/Unsplash Rhode Island Proposes Act that Repeals Restrictions on Partial-Birth Abortions Share Tweet Rhode Island seems to be following in New Yorks footsteps as legislators propose the "Reproductive Health Care Act" which will legalize abortion up until the moment of birth. According to WPRI News, Representatives Edith Ajello and Sen. Gayle Goldin first introduced the Reproductive Health Care Act in 2017, and last month, they brought it up again. Currently, abortion is illegal in Rhode Island except for when the mothers life is at risk. The act will not only repeal language that outlaws abortion but it will also eliminate state restrictions on women seeking abortions after the fetus is deemed viable if the mothers health or life is at risk. The act says that the state, nor any of its agencies, or political subdivisions shall restrict an individual person from terminating that individual's pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to preserve the health or life of that individual" This would mean that if a womans health or life is at risk, she could abort her baby after a doctor has already determined that it could survive outside of the womb. The bill also eliminates terminology which deems that an unborn child is a person and that life begins at conception. The section that reads: It shall be conclusively presumed in any action concerning the construction, application or validity of section 11-3-1, that human life commences at the instant of conception and that said human life at said instant of conception is a person within the language and meaning of the fourteenth amendment of the constitution of the United States, will be repealed from the states current regulations on reproductive health further reducing the rights of the unborn. Finally, the act repeals restrictions on partial-birth abortions. A partial-birth abortion as defined in Rhode Islands legislation is an abortion in which the person performing the abortion vaginally delivers a living human fetus before killing the infant and completing the delivery. Currently, partial-birth abortions are outlawed in Rhode Island, again, except for when the life of the mother is at risk. The current legislation clearly reads, No person shall knowingly perform a partial birth abortion. The Reproductive Health Care Act states, however, that the section titled "'Partial Birth Abortion' is hereby repealed in its entirety," meaning no such restriction will exist. It is not clear what parameters will permit a partial-birth abortion. As of now, the act has not been passed, but according to a press release from the Rhode Island General assembly, Rhode Islanders overwhelmingly support more lenient restrictions on abortion, as many residents believe that by making abortions legal in all/most cases it will keep the procedure safe. Photo courtesy: Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash Cathedral Bombing Appears to Make Terrorist Statement after Referendum in Philippines Share Tweet MINDANAO, Philippines, February 4, 2019 (Morning Star News) Christians in the insurgency-scarred southern Philippines who hoped for peace after the region won official status as an autonomous, Islamic sub-state last month received a mortifying message when Islamist terrorists bombed a Catholic cathedral on Jan. 27. Members of the Islamic extremist rebel group Abu Sayyaf, which claims allegiance to Islamic State, aided the suicide attack and turned themselves into authorities over the weekend, lending credence to speculation that Islamist terrorists were sending a message in the bombing: There will be no peace. Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano stated on Friday (Feb. 1) that Islamic State-affiliated terrorists were responsible for the twin suicide bombing of the worship service at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu Province, which killed at least 22 people and wounded more than 100 others. Islamic State (IS) representatives took responsibility for the bombings in online postings shortly after the explosions, one inside the cathedral on Jolo, a small island off the coast of Mindanao, and another about 12 to 15 seconds later outside the doorway. Ano said two Indonesian suicide bombers, one who went by the nom de guerre Abu Hud and his wife (unnamed), were guided by local rebels from the Islamic extremist Abu Sayyaf, which claims allegiance to IS. Abu Sayyaf was excluded from the rebel-government negotiations that led to the Jan. 21 referendum that put five provinces under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), with the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) heading a group taking over administration. Abu Sayyaf rejected the peace deal that created the BARMM, preferring instead that the region belong to a broader southeast Asian caliphate. Results of the referendum were announced on Jan. 25; two days later, the Indonesian couple aided by Abu Sayyaf bombed the cathedral. Ano said local terrorists who aided the attack included Kamah Pae, a member of the Ajang Ajang, a sub-group of Abu Sayyaf, and Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, who is said to have succeeded former Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, who was killed when he led a five-month rebel siege of Marawi, Mindanao, in 2017. These groups have sworn allegiance to IS, according to Ano. Kammah Pae and four other Abu Sayyaf rebels turned themselves in to authorities over the weekend, security officials announced today (Feb. 4). Oscar Albayalde, the national police chief, said at a news conference that Kammah Pae conspired with the Indonesian couple who blew themselves up, according to the Straits Times. Authorities are searching for 14 other suspects. In a 2015 video, Islamic State leaders stated that 16 of their 35 provinces were outside Iraq and Syria, including one in the Philippines, according to The New York Times. Suicide bombings are rare in the Philippines, and Ano reportedly said the Indonesian bombers sought to sow sectarian dissension and set an example for other terrorists on the islands. Life under Islamist Administration MILF Chairman Murad Ibrahim told Philippine media that the new Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) creating the officially Islamic region aims for peace and will protect not only the rights of Muslims but also non-Bangsamoro [non-Muslims], like Christians. He and local Christian leaders condemned the Jolo cathedral bombing. We condemn this act of terrorism that has taken place only days after the plesbiscite on the BOL as we also condole with the families of several soldiers and civilians who were killed by the explosion, Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) leader Romulo Valles said. While some Christians are concerned as a result of the attack and wary of the Islamic government transition Sulu Province voted against the referendum measure they plan on continuing to live out their faith. House-church leader Lon Tabuena, who operates a ministry for indigenous children in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi Province, said he has participated in BOL forums in order to better understand what the new Islamic government will look like. The five provinces under BARMM are home to a number of Christian communities and churches established by foreign missionaries as early as the 1900s. Tabuena told Morning Star News that people will still be able to exercise freedom of religion, and he is optimistic that Christians will not be marginalized, as they will have two seats when the new parliament under the new Islamic sub-state is formed in 2022. The MILFs peace pact with the Philippine government, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last July, is designed to end nearly 50 years of armed conflict in the southern Philippines. With about 12,000 heavily-armed fighters, the MILF is the largest Islamic revolutionary force in southeast Asia. It is a breakaway faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), led by Nur Misuari. When the MNLF begun to hold a previous peace dialogue with the Philippine government, the MILF was against it and defected. Sensing the armed conflict with the MILF had no signs of ending after more than a decade, the Philippine government with the support of the international community begun opening peace talks with Islamic separatist rebels. In 2014 the government and the MILF signed an agreement on how the peace process would be implemented. According to the agreement, 2019 is a period of transitioning from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to the new BARMM (adding Bangsamoro, or Nation of Moros, moros being a colloquial term for Muslims) government. The peace agreement calls for the new Islamic sub-state to control all government affairs, while the Philippine government will exercise full control over the police and military. In return, MILF rebels will surrender their estimated 50,000 weapons to the government. This is expected to be one of the agreements greatest challenges. The referendum sought to show support of the new law, which covers parts of Mindanao island and dozens of smaller islands to the west. The BOL replaces the AARM with a BAARM that expands geographic borders and increases funding. If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit http://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved. If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at https://morningstarnews.org/donate/? Article originally published by Morning Star News. Used with permission. Photo courtesy: Morning Star News 500 Inmates Are Saved after Texas Megachurch Opens Campus in Maximum Security Prison Share Tweet Gateway church announced last Sunday that they have opened up a new campus, and its at a nearby prison. According to Relevant Magazine, Lead pastor Robert Morris for Gateway megachurch in Dallas, Texas, announced during Sundays service last week that a new campus had been planted at the Coffield Unit maximum security prison in Anderson County. Fox News reports that 650 inmates attended the first Coffield Gateway service in November and since then over 500 men have dedicated their lives to Jesus. At Gateway Church, were all about people because God is all about people," Morris told Fox News. "Many of the men and women inside prison have been forgotten by society, but we want them to know we love them and God loves them, and they are our brothers and sisters in Christ." According to Fox News, the Coffield campus is set up to run like any other campus and gives inmates the opportunity to serve. Inmates are tasked with greeting service attendees, being ushers, operating audio and visual equipment, forming a worship team, and staffing the service, the outlet reports. The campus is pastored by Stephen Wilson who is an ex-offender. After getting out, Wilson turned his life around and went to seminary school which led him to share the gospel in prisons. Wilson told Fox that the plan for this ministry started seven years ago, and now it has finally happened. "If it wasn't for the ministry of Gateway, we probably wouldn't be experiencing some of the stuff we're experiencing right now," a Coffield Campus member shared. In a video showing Morris announcement of the new campus, Gateway parishioners are seen standing and applauding the ministry. Morris also announced that Gateway is planning to open more prison campuses in the near future. Photo courtesy: Pixabay Video courtesy: Gateway Church TV The governor of Virginia: Let's be civil about killing newborns Christian Post Contributor | 04 February, 2019 by Michael Brown For those who question whether abortion is really "baby killing," the governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam, has left us no doubt. Not only does he advocate the possible killing of a newborn baby, he wants us to be "civil" when discussing it. This is reminiscent of Nazi leaders discussing the slaughter of Jewish children, women, and men in icy, dispassionate terms the way an accountant would discuss balancing the books. Such is the face of evil. Earlier in the week, it was reported that, "During a radio interview on Wednesday morning, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) seemed to endorse killing an infant after it has already been delivered alive (specifically, in the case of a baby surviving an abortion). "In the scenario described by Northam, a baby would be born alive and resuscitated if necessary, and then doctors and the mother could 'have a discussion' which, based on context, would determine whether or not the child would be killed. While pro-life advocates view all abortion as infanticide, what Northam described would be infanticide by any definition." This, of course, is the deadly and logical progression of the spirit of abortion. It is not satisfied with terminating the life of a 12-week-old baby which could not live outside the womb. It is not satisfied with terminating the life of a 32-week-old baby which could live outside the womb. It must also kill the baby outside the womb if the baby somehow managed to survive an abortion. That's what the infamous Kermit Gosnell did. Killing babies inside the womb wasn't enough. To repeat: This is the deadly and logical progression. That's why, in 1995, President Clinton vetoed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. Then, 20 years later, in 2015, President Obama promised to veto the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (HR 3504). As stated by Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), "President Obama's subservience to the abortion lobby is so complete that he now threatens to use his pen to protect the abortionist who would kill a baby born alive, rather than to protect that helpless baby." Getting back to the Gov. Northam, after his initial comments drew so much controversy, a reporter asked him, "Some members of your party have said privately that, and maybe one publicly, that your comments yesterday could have been more precise, or they weren't helpful." So, he was asked, "Do you think, do you regret what you said yesterday or the way you said it?" Northam replied without hesitation: "No I don't." And then this, which is utterly baffling and completely contrary to the life-saving ethic of the medical profession: "I'm a physician. I'm also the governor." He continued, "But when I'm asked questions, a lot of the times it is put in the context of being a physician, again realizing how we approach, how we manage patients, how we offer advice and counseling, so no I don't have any regrets." So, he had no regrets about making his barbarous comments about killing a newborn baby. (And remember: The context of those comments was the proposal of a new abortion Virginia law that would have allowed a full-term, pregnant woman who was already dilating to choose to abort the baby even for alleged mental health reasons.) None of that troubled the governor. Instead, he said, "But I do find that how my comments, I did answer that question, I regret that those comments have been mischaracterized, the personal insults towards me I really find disgusting." No, Gov. Northam. It was your comments that were disgusting, sir. It was your beyond-extreme, pro-abortion, baby-killing words that were disgusting. And while I regret that some people have responded to your ill-spoken words with ugly words of their own, you, sir, bear the responsibility for making such an evil suggestion. Or perhaps we should expand the parents' "discussion" about whether to let any handicapped baby live? Or what about any unwanted baby? Maybe kill that one too? And yet there's more. Gov. Northam ended his response with this: "So again as I said in my comments about this earlier, we can agree to disagree, but let's be civil about it." What? Let's "agree to disagree" about the ethics of infanticide? Let's "be civil" about terminating the life of a newborn? Read more from "The governor of Virginia: Let's be civil about killing newborns" on The Christian Post. Principal bans teacher from attending church event; superintendent steps in after legal pressure Christian Post Contributor | 04 February, 2019 by Samuel Smith A school superintendent in the midwest has overturned a principal's decision to forbid a teacher from attending a church event during nonschool hours because the event was also to be attended by two students. Liberty Counsel, a conservative Christian legal group that advocates for First Amendment right, says that it has come to the defense of a teacher at an undisclosed high school in the United States after she was told by the school principal that she could not attend an event organized by her own church. According to the legal group, the principal in question told the teacher in December that attending a church event in which two students at the school would also be present would violate some sort of "fraternization" policy. The two students were attending the church event because they also attend the same church as the teacher. At the beginning of the month, a representative of the Orlando-based nonprofit called the school district asking for the principal's policy to be tossed out. The legal group explained that the policy is "unconstitutional" on grounds that it prevented the teacher from exercising her religious freedom rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. The names of the school, teacher and principal involved in the matter have been left undisclosed by Liberty Counsel to protect the privacy of the teacher. "It makes no sense to have a policy like that," Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver told The Christian Post in an interview Tuesday. "Let's say a teacher is attending a church and students decided to also attend the same church; does that mean that the teacher has to leave that church and go someplace else?" Staver noted that in some communities, it could be hard for a teacher to find a church where there are no students included in the congregation. He also asked how teachers are supposed to know whether or not students will be at an event they plan to attend. "What if you go to a Christmas event in December, for example, or some other event or even church service on a Sunday or a choir?" he posed. "It makes no sense and it is unconstitutional to impose that kind of rule." Staver asserted that teachers have a First Amendment right both on campus and off campus. "During nonschool hours outside of school, they have the same rights as any other citizen," he stated. "They can engage in First Amendment-expressive activity, especially in church, without the school's intervention. This is actually government interfering in the free exercise of religion and speech and the free association guaranteed by the First Amendment." Staver said that Liberty Counsel's correspondence with the school district led to a prompt reversal of the principal's policy. "The superintendent correctly reversed the principal's decision to ban teachers from attending the same church events as students," Staver said in a statement. "Teachers acting in their individual capacity after school have the same rights as any others who are not teachers." Read more from "Principal bans teacher from attending church event; superintendent steps in after legal pressure" on The Christian Post. Pastor, North Korean defectors reveal creative ways they share the Gospel in hermit kingdom Christian Post Contributor | 04 February, 2019 by Leah MarieAnn Klett A pastor and two North Korean Christians who defected from the hermit kingdom without being captured have revealed the creative ways they continue to share the Gospel with those back home. Peter Jung, a pastor who specializes in spreading Christianity in North Korea, recently told The Associated Press that his group provides shelter, food, and money to North Koreans visiting Chinese border towns before teaching them about Christianity. Before they return home, Jung said his group asks the North Korean visitors to memorize Bible verses or carry Bibles with them to share the Gospel with their friends and family. He revealed that missionaries create a "religious atmosphere" by getting people to exchange text messages containing Christian-themed words like "peace." Christianity is illegal in North Korea and possessing a Bible, holding open religious services or making any attempt to build underground church networks can result in torture, lengthy prison terms or execution. As North Korea consistently ranks as the worst country in the world for Christian persecution, many citizens keep their beliefs to themselves or within their immediate families. Lee HanByeol, Jung's wife and a North Korean refugee living in Seoul, South Korea, recalled watching her father pray whenever his wife slipped into China to borrow money from relatives in the mid-1990s. "I saw him praying many times. ... My mom risked her life to go to China illegally to feed our family. So when my mom left, he kept praying, sitting cross-legged and trembling in the corner of our room," Lee said. Lee said she didn't know about Christianity at the time, as her father kept his faith to himself until his death in an apparent effort to protect his family. "I often think about how great it would have been if my father and I could have prayed together while holding each other's hands," she said. Another North Korean defector, identified only as "J.M.," shared how he encountered Christianity after he fled to China in 1998. He was arrested by Chinese police and sent back home in 2001, and after serving several months in prison he attempted to share his faith with his parents. "My father found it difficult to embrace (Christianity) but my mother quickly accepted it," said J.M. In 2002, J.M. escaped to South Korea so he could worship freely, and is today a Seoul-based pastor trying to promote Christianity in North Korea. He told the AP that during a recent visit to China, he baptized about six North Koreans who made temporary visits to Chinese border towns. Estimates vary about how many Christians are in North Korea, but persecution watchdog group Open Doors places the number around 300,000, most of whom operate in secret networks of tiny house churches. According to statistics from the U.S. State Department, an estimated 120,000 Christians, defectors, and political dissidents are imprisoned in North Korean labor concentration camps where they face brutal torture. Previously, North Korean defector Ji Hyeona shared how she escaped from the North a total of four times and got repatriated back three times before finally fleeing to South Korea in 2007. As a devout Christian, Ji recalled how she felt forced to deny her faith when questioned by regime authorities each time she was repatriated. "Each time when I got repatriated, which is a total of three times, they never finished their interrogation without asking me those Christian-related questions, such as whether I went to church, whether I knew Jesus and whether I believed in God," she recalled. "If there is a slightest indication or confession that you believe Jesus and went to church, then you will surely be sent to a political prison camp or executed. Just like Peter denied Jesus three times, I lied each of those three times that I got repatriated and got interrogated." Continue reading about North Korea on The Christian Post. A pastor and two North Korean Christians who defected from the hermit kingdom without being captured have revealed the creative ways they continue to share the Gospel with those back home. Peter Jung, a pastor who specializes in spreading Christianity in North Korea, recently told The Associated Press that his group provides shelter, food, and money to North Koreans visiting Chinese border towns before teaching them about Christianity. Before they return home, Jung said his group asks the North Korean visitors to memorize Bible verses or carry Bibles with them to share the Gospel with their friends and family. He revealed that missionaries create a "religious atmosphere" by getting people to exchange text messages containing Christian-themed words like "peace." Christianity is illegal in North Korea and possessing a Bible, holding open religious services or making any attempt to build underground church networks can result in torture, lengthy prison terms or execution. As North Korea consistently ranks as the worst country in the world for Christian persecution, many citizens keep their beliefs to themselves or within their immediate families. Lee HanByeol, Jung's wife and a North Korean refugee living in Seoul, South Korea, recalled watching her father pray whenever his wife slipped into China to borrow money from relatives in the mid-1990s. "I saw him praying many times. ... My mom risked her life to go to China illegally to feed our family. So when my mom left, he kept praying, sitting cross-legged and trembling in the corner of our room," Lee said. Lee said she didn't know about Christianity at the time, as her father kept his faith to himself until his death in an apparent effort to protect his family. "I often think about how great it would have been if my father and I could have prayed together while holding each other's hands," she said. Another North Korean defector, identified only as "J.M.," shared how he encountered Christianity after he fled to China in 1998. He was arrested by Chinese police and sent back home in 2001, and after serving several months in prison he attempted to share his faith with his parents. "My father found it difficult to embrace (Christianity) but my mother quickly accepted it," said J.M. In 2002, J.M. escaped to South Korea so he could worship freely, and is today a Seoul-based pastor trying to promote Christianity in North Korea. He told the AP that during a recent visit to China, he baptized about six North Koreans who made temporary visits to Chinese border towns. Estimates vary about how many Christians are in North Korea, but persecution watchdog group Open Doors places the number around 300,000, most of whom operate in secret networks of tiny house churches. According to statistics from the U.S. State Department, an estimated 120,000 Christians, defectors, and political dissidents are imprisoned in North Korean labor concentration camps where they face brutal torture. Previously, North Korean defector Ji Hyeona shared how she escaped from the North a total of four times and got repatriated back three times before finally fleeing to South Korea in 2007. As a devout Christian, Ji recalled how she felt forced to deny her faith when questioned by regime authorities each time she was repatriated. "Each time when I got repatriated, which is a total of three times, they never finished their interrogation without asking me those Christian-related questions, such as whether I went to church, whether I knew Jesus and whether I believed in God," she recalled. "If there is a slightest indication or confession that you believe Jesus and went to church, then you will surely be sent to a political prison camp or executed. Just like Peter denied Jesus three times, I lied each of those three times that I got repatriated and got interrogated." Ji Seong-ho, a disabled North Korea defector who founded the organization Now, Action, Unity, Human Rights, also told The Christian Post that anyone suspected of illegal religious activities is harshly punished. The 32-year-old Ji, who lost one arm and one leg when a train ran over them while he was trying to steal coal to support his family, first defected from North Korea in 2006. He ultimately went back to North Korea after a month in China only to be detained and tortured by North Korean police. "During the time, I was asked whether I was contacted by any Christians. I actually did meet Christians and was introduced to Christianity [when I first went to China] but I already knew that Christians, when caught by the regime, will be killed without any exceptions. So I denied that I came into contact with Christians," Ji recalled. "During the torture, it was, of course, a very difficult experience. That was then I felt that North Korea is no longer the place I could live." Ji, who now helps North Korean defectors safely enter China, urged the international community "to help out with this cause to tackle the human rights situation of North Korea and create more pressure against the regime so that people would have the freedom to pray and worship God, and share the Gospel and hear the Gospel." "I also feel that since the Bible commands us to share the Gospel to the world and every nation, we also have to deliver the Gospel to North Korea as there can be no exception in place we need to reach out to," he added. Courtesy of The Christian Post Melissa McCarthy | Mary Cybulski/20th Century Fox Melissa McCarthy has always been able to make her comedic roles somehow endearing, but her latest role is a far step from her normal slapstick routine. In Can You Ever Forgive Me?, McCarthy portrays Lee Israel. The true story is based on the life of best-selling celebrity biographer, and tells of how Israel made her living in the 1970s and 1980s profiling the biggest names of the day. When her tastes go out of style, however she desperately turns to deception to get published. But does this much more serious role mark a turning point in Melissa McCarthys career? Will the woman so beloved for her comedy sketches be taking on more serious roles? Heres what we know. McCarthy has two upcoming movies In addition to her two 2018 titles (Can You Ever Forgive Me? and The Happytime Murders), McCarthy has been kept busy. She has two films that are set to release this year- The Kitchen and Superintelligence. The Kitchen is a story about how the wives of New York City gangsters continue to run their husbands operations after they get locked up. The movies takes place in Hells Kitchen, a neighborhood in NYC, during the 1970s. Although Melissa McCarthys role has not been disclosed, we can assume that this will be another serious role based on the movies subject. On the flipside, however, Superintelligence is definitely more what we would expect of McCarthy. In the film, she plays the role of Carol the first human being to be observed by the worlds first super intelligence. This higher being may or may not take over the world. Broadening her horizons, not switching genres Between her most recent movies, we see a balance between McCarthys traditional comedies and more serious roles. We definitely think she will begin taking on more serious roles but we dont think shes going to do a complete genre switch. Instead, it appears that Melissa McCarthy is simply broadening her horizons and extending her scope of talent. Melissa McCarthys best comedy roles As McCarthy plans to take on more serious roles, now is the perfect time to take a look back at her best comedy roles the ones who made us fall in love with her decidedly unique humor. In 2014, McCarthy played the title character in Tammy. The movie revolved around a woman who found out her husband was unfaithful and decides to take a road trip with her aging, profane grandmother. Obviously, hilarious incidents ensue along the road trip and we come out of the movie with laughs and some good feels. In 2016, Melissa McCarthy played the role of Abby Yates in the gender-bender remake of the 1990s hit movie Ghostbusters. Despite some controversy over the movie when fans first heard it was going to be an all-female version, the movie did well in theaters. McCarthys role, of course, was hilarious. Of course, no listing of the best Melissa McCarthy comedy roles would be complete without mentioning Identity Thief and The Boss. McCarthys over-the-top portrayal of a highly successful, well, identity thief, is one of the main ways fans remember her. Yet, despite all the laughter, the character of Diana managed to pull on some heartstrings near the end. The Boss has McCarthy portraying a Martha Stewart-like role of a well-to-do business woman who goes to jail for inside trader. She makes a big comeback with a brownie selling business that has young girls selling the goods with a portion of their proceeds going towards their college funds. Fun fact: both of McCarthys daughters appeared in The Boss with her. It was their first (and only, thus far) roles. Kate Beckinsale made a name for herself in the world of acting, so she got quite the surprise when she was recently mistaken for a member of the royal family. The recently hospitalized Beckinsale was able to laugh when a picture of the wrong Kate was posted along with an online article regarding her health scare. Although the post clearly addressed the concern for Kate Beckinsales ruptured ovarian cysts, she, along with fans, were quite amused when a picture of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge was posted instead. Kate Beckinsales health scare Kate recently suffered a minor, yet painful issue when she experienced the rupturing of an ovarian cyst. The 45-year-old British actress shared a photo of herself lying in a hospital bed, with an oxygen tube and a less than happy look on her face. She received greetings from fans and fellow actors and actresses, all of who wished her well, along with a speedy recovery. Has anyone else ever made a royal mistake? Interestingly, this is not the first time celebrities and British royals have ever been mistaken for each other. Prince Harry was wrongly identified as another famous ginger, Ed Sheeran, when he was at a party. Coincidentally, other members of the royal family seem to have look-alikes in Hollywood. Some fans feel that Lady Amelia Windsor bears a striking resemblance to Emilia Clarke, while others see similarities between Princess Eugenie and Kate Mara. What has Kate Beckinsale been up to since her hospitalization? Since recovering from her recent painful ordeal, Kate has certainly been keeping busy. She was recently spotted holding hands with Pete Davidson, and also expressed her adoration for him. The two were seen at a comedy show, then later arriving at a Santa Monica hotel. Apparently, the two make each other smile on a regular basis, and they truly enjoy each others company. How did Kate Beckinsale react to being mistaken for Kate Middleton? Kate Beckinsale got a pretty good laugh out of being mistaken for the wife of Prince William! In addition to expressing extreme gratitude for all of the warm messages that were received from fans, she jokingly made fun of the error, laughing at the idea of anyone thinking that she was Kate Middleton. Looks like the humor of the situation really made Kate smile. What did Kate Middleton think? Although fans do not know how the Duchess of Cambridge reacted to the mistake, it is likely that she saw the humor of the situation as well. Kate Middleton is famously known for her good nature and her love of anything funny. What are the similarities between the two Kates? Kate Middleton | Photo by the Middleton Family/Clarence House via GettyImages In addition to having the same first name, the two Kates share some other similarities as well, which could help to explain the error of mixing them up. Although not quite as tall as the Duchess, Kate Beckinsale still has some height at 57. They both have lovely, flowing brown hair, perfect noses, high cheekbones, and bright smiles. Are the two Kates friends? While Kate Middleton and Kate Beckinsale dont appear to spend time together, perhaps they will have the chance to do so in the future. If the two ever should meet up, they will most certainly share a giggle over what has recently happened. Other celebrities also weighed in on the error, leaving funny comments on Kate Beckinsales Instagram account, joking about the idea of her being a member of the royal family. Fans wish both Kate Beckinsale and Kate Middleton the very best and are happy that the royal mix-up provided everyone with amusement! For most rappers, their hometowns are a major part of their personas. Rapping about where you grew up or your state is a common trope in hip hop. In most cases, we never think to double check if a rapper is actually from the place that they claim to be. Why? Because it seems insane that someone would lie about their birthplace. But recent news has revealed that the phenomenon of lying about where you come from could be more common than we think. On Sunday, rapper 21 Savage, who previously claimed to be from Atlanta, Ga was arrested by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. ICE claims that the rapper, whose legal name is Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph overstayed his visa. Brian Cox, a spokesman for ICE, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the arrest was part of a targeted operation. The arrest occurred during a traffic stop in DeKalb County. Three other people who were with him were also taken into custody. Cox claims that the rapper is actually an unlawfully present United Kingdom national. He says that 21 Savage came to the country legally in 2005, but did not leave after his visa expired the next year. In addition to being in violation of federal immigration law, Mr. Abraham-Joseph was convicted on felony drug charges in October 2014 in Fulton County, Georgia, ICE wrote in a statement, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. Mr. Abraham-Joseph is presently in ICE custody in Georgia and has been placed into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts. ICE will now await the outcome of his case before a federal immigration judge to determine future actions. Georgia Roots Since breaking onto the rap scene, 21 Savage has claimed to be from Atlanta. In 2015, he told XXL that he was the real Atlanta and claimed that some other people representing Atlanta were actually fakes. Hes even gone as far as giving back to the community that he claims to be from. In 2018, he hosted his third annual Issa Back 2 School Drive that helps kids in the DeKalb County school district get the supplies they need for the upcoming school year. The event took place at the 285 Flea Mart off Glenwood Road, which the rapper said that he spent a lot of time visiting when he was younger, according to the AJC. I might rap about a lot of stuff, but thats just a reflection of what Ive been through, he said of the event to the AJC. In real life, everything I do, I want to bring everybody together. I want to give back to the community, help the kids, get them uniforms, books, book bags, everything they needjust do better. Thats where it starts, the kids. Court Proceedings As for what will happen to the UK rapper now, that is still up in the air. 21 Savage is currently in police custody. According to reports from Fox 5, 21 Savage has a lawyer working to help him get out of federal immigration detention. In an email to the Associated Press, his lawyer, Dina LaPolt, said she is currently working with the authorities to clear up any misunderstandings. LaPolt says that the rapper is actually a role model to the young people in the U.S and specifically in Atlanta. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! The president of Chattanooga 2.0, Dr. Jared Bigham, is leaving to take a position with the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce. Bradley Jackson, president & CEO of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Tennessee Manufacturing Association, announced the appointment of "one of the states premier experts and practitioners in connecting workforce and rural economic development." He said Dr. Bigham will be senior adviser for Workforce and Rural Initiatives. He said he "most recently served as executive director of the innovative Chattanooga 2.0 school reform and workforce development movement in Hamilton County." Mr Jackson said Dr. Bigham will be leading the Chambers new initiatives "to create tangible post secondary credentials that have real economic value to strengthen Tennessees work force and better serve the needs of local industry." He said, With our statewide reach, weve spent the past two years listening carefully to local industry,chambers of commerce, and economic development partners. What has become increasingly clear is, if we are going to continue to help our employers succeed and attract the kind of jobs we all want in Tennessee, we must address their critical need for more skilled workers. With Governor Lees vision and leadership in this area, we think Tennessee can quickly become the national leader in creating and enhancing the technical training that employees want and that local industry must have to compete. "We intend to be a lead partner and Jared Bigham has the deep experience and hands-on expertise to help us significantly enhance Tennessees position in scaling the utilization of technical education. "The Tennessee Chambers new initiatives in this area, and the addition of Dr. Bigham, directly builds upon Governor Lees recent Executive Order outlining his increased focus on rural economic development and the need for more technical training." Dr. Bigham said, Our goal is to create more market value credentials and specific pathways to better paying jobs,particularly in our rural communities and distressed counties." The public can help support the Bethlehem Center programs for youth and adults in South Chattanooga by attending two events in February. The first event will be at Texas Roadhouse, 5362 Highway 153, Hixson, on Feb. 11, from 4-8 p.m. and ten percent of proceeds will be donated to the Bethlehem Center. People can take a copy of the flyer and show their server when ordering. Marketing flyers can be found on the Facebook event page here. The second event will be at Barnes & Noble book store on Feb. 23, from 11 a.m.- 4 p.m., including Story Time with the Beth, arts and crafts, and meet local authors, such as Greg Wilkey, who will be available to sign books. Proceeds from all sales (excluding the Nook) will be donated to the Bethlehem Center. Many other festivities will be going on that day at Barnes & Noble, 2100 Hamilton Place Boulevard, Chattanooga. February is going to be a lot of fun for the Beth, said Debbie Boggs, development director of the Bethlehem Center. Proceeds from these two events are going to help so many students and families in our community and we thank you for your participation. For more information on these events please visit the Bethlehem Centers Facebook event page or call 423 266-1384, ext. 6. Becky Piper, an exceptional education assistant at Battle Academy, received an I Am Hamilton shirt for her selfless passion for service to the children and staff at Battle Academy. The district presents the special shirts to individuals for efforts that positively impact Hamilton County Schools and the children we serve. "She has been a huge part of Battle and its success for many years, wrote Jesse Goins, principal of Battle Academy, in his nomination. She knows the name of every student in the building, their back story, and home life. She consistently checks in at the office for ways to help and goes above and beyond her expected job duties daily. She always wears a smile, is the epitome of patience, and she has a strong dedication to the families and faculty and staff of Battle Academy. We could not function without her." I am Hamilton spotlights the contributions of alumni, teachers, parents, students, support workers, and community members providing opportunities for children in the classrooms of Hamilton County Schools. An investigation by special agents with the Technical Services Unit of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation resulted in the arrest of a man in Indiana in connection to charges he faces in Tennessee of sexual offenses against a minor. In December 2018, agents received multiple cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an individual was enticing a minor to produce and send images that were sexual in nature via a social media platform. During the course of the investigation, agents identified that man as Gary Lynch of Greenwood, In. The investigation revealed information that the man and the minor had met up in Sumner County, Tn., and engaged in sexual activity on multiple occasions in the Middle Tennessee area. On Feb. 1, agents traveled to Greenwood. They met up with officers with the Greenwood Police Department, who executed a search warrant of Lynchs residence and took him into custody. Gary W. Lynch, 39, was arrested on a Fugitive from Justice warrant out of Tennessee. He will be held in the Johnson County, Indiana Jail until being extradited to Tennessee, where he will be charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, solicitation of a minor and aggravated statutory rape. George Miller, 77, of Ooltewah, Tennessee, passed away on Friday, February 1, 2019. George was born in Warren, Oh., in 1942 and moved to Tennessee in 1960 to attend college at Southern Adventist University, where he received his bachelor's degree. He began his teaching career in 1965. In the mid 80s he attended MTSU where he earned his master's degree and eventually a Ph.D in History. He retired in 1996 from Ridgeland High School. After his retirement, he enjoyed his love of aviation by building, restoring and flying light aircraft, as well as working part-time at the Collegedale Airport. George was a member of the Collegedale Seventh Day Adventist Church. He was preceded in death by his sister, Marianne and his parents, Mary and Frank Miller. Living family members include his wife Susan; son, Brett (Staci); brother, Hal, and stepmother, Bette Miller. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 6, in the funeral home chapel. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice. Please visit www.heritagechattanooga.com to share words of comfort. The family will receive friends from 12-2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 6, at Heritage Funeral Home, East Brainerd Road. Mayfield Elementary hosts Science Night for grades 2 & 3 on Tuesday, 5:00-7:00 pm. Dr. Jason Robinson of Lee University will lead students and their families in fun and educational experiments. For more information contact Randall Stephens, 423-472-4541, rstephens@clevelandschools.org. E.L. Ross Elementary hosts Dos Bros' School Spirit Night on Thursday. For more information contact Lisa Earby, 423-479-7274, learby@clevelandschools.org. The Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra will perform the Youth Concert, Symphonic Voyages on Friday at North Cleveland Church of God. Students in 3rd-5th grades will enjoy the performance inspired by NASA's Voyager Golden Record mission. Cleveland Middle School will host a semi-formal Valentine's Dance on Friday, 7:30-9:30 pm for 7th and 8th graders only. Cost is $5/student in advance, $7 at the door. Concessions and pictures will be available for purchase. For more information contact Haleigh May, 423-479-9641, hmay@clevelandschools.org. PTO Meetings: Raysut Cement orders new clinker cooler for Salalah plant 04 February 2019 Raysut Cement Co (RCC) has signed an agreement with Oman-based Ayoki Engineering LLC for the upgrade of the Line 3 clinker cooler at its Salalah plant. According to a media statement from Raysut, Ayoki Engineering will import all the equipment for the clinker cooler upgrade from IKN GmbH, Germany. "The upgrade of clinker cooler is in line with Raysut's strategic plan to install the latest in production technology to reduce costs as well as to scale up its plants with state-of-the-art equipment," said Joey Ghose, Group CEO of Oman-headquartered RCC. Under the agreement with Ayoki, the existing grate cooler will be replaced by IKN Pendulum clinker cooler designed for a capacity of 4000tpd with a guaranteed 3500tpd clinker production. The project scope includes civil works, supply and installation works of mechanical and electrical works related to the clinker cooler upgrade. Sourcing and installation of the refractory will also be under the responsibility of an EPC contractor through IKN. The installation is scheduled to be completed in 4Q19. Published under Vicat - January 2019 Vicat subsidiary Sinai Cement is to invest up to a further EUR30m to meet the increasing demand for the companys products. In Brazil Vicat has completed the purchase of a 64.74 per cent interest in Cimento Planalto, which operates a 3.2Mta cement works near Brasilia, nine ready-mixed concrete plants and five sites for extracting aggregates. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription, or activate your access, to continue reading. Photo: Hwy 97 UPDATE 6:50 a.m. Penticton Search and Rescue has told Castanet they have been kept busy all weekend rescuing travellers determined to make their way past the rock slide which has forced the closure of Highway 97 between Kelowna and Penticton. Earlier PENSAR had reported that they had been rescuing drivers who had gone off the road to get around the landslide. Late Sunday night Penticton SAR Manager, Randy Brown told Castanet, "our crews are still out in the back-country, so far we have evacuated 8 persons over the past 24 hours ( 6 in the last 6 hours)," that was as of 10 p.m. Sunday night. The last six days have been very busy for the PENSAR team, they had also been assisting with the Merritt search and have now shifted closer to home because of the rock slide. "All we ask is for people to heed the road advisories and follow Drive BC guidance," says Brown and of course check with Castanet for the latest updates. UPDATE 5:00 a.m. Highway 97 remains closed in both directions Monday morning after a major rock slide caused serious problems for drivers and highway maintenance crews. British Columbias transportation ministry said it is working to get the road open as soon as it is safe, however, there is no estimate for a reopening time as the slide site continues to move. Provincial transportation officials indicate that an alternate route had been set up for light vehicles. Vehicles weighing less than five tons are allowed to use the 201 Forest Service Road on the east side of Okanagan Lake. Access is off Highway 33 near McCollough Road on the Kelowna side and use Warren Avenue/Carmi Avenue in Penticton. SAR and RCMP are urging drivers to use only approved alternate routes after several drivers have become stranded trying to find their own detours on the weekend. Drive BC had been suggesting drivers take the Okanagan Connector, Highway 97C, to Highway 5A and then turn onto Highway 3 at Princeton and take Highway 3A. UPDATE 6:40 p.m The rock slide which forced the closure of and Highway 97 has now resulted in the cancellation Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture, and representatives of Interior Health's visit to Penticton which was scheduled for Monday at 11 a.m. at the Penticton Regional Hospital. Popham was expected to make an announcement to support B.C. farmers and producers and which should benefit British Columbians served by health-care facilities in B.C.'s southern Interior. ORIGINAL 6:22 p.m. Photo: Contributed Penticton Seach and Rescue are reminding motorists not to attempt any back road detours around the rock slide which has been wreaking havoc on travel between Kelowna and Penticton all weekend. Despite warnings from Police, some drivers are still relying on GPS or in-car navigation systems to get from Penticton to Kelowna via back roads behind Summerland. So far, Penticton Search and Rescue has had to send rescue crews into back roads to evacuate 2 stranded drivers with the last call coming on Sunday afternoon. With temperatures heading down this evening Ron Muir - SAR Manager can't reinforce the message enough. "People are obviously frustrated and despite the warnings from police officials they think they have a solution, and try a route this is not intended for year-round use. What we find is that drivers are not equipped to deal with an emergency if they become stranded, thus putting themselves and rescue crews at risk." SAR Manager, Randy Brown tells Castanet, "All we can ask is to please - respect the advisories being posted and make sure you are prepared with a winter driving kit." FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: In Atlanta, Soyia Ellison, soyia.ellison@cartercenter.org (En espanol) ATLANTA Venezuela is undergoing an historic moment as it attempts to reconcile deep political divisions that have undermined its democracy. The National Assembly that was freely elected in 2015, and subsequently disbanded by President Nicolas Maduro, has declared Juan Guaido president of Venezuela through an interpretation of the presidential succession clause in the constitution approved in 1999 under President Hugo Chavez. This is a Venezuelan struggle that has attracted the attention and involvement of key states in the international community as well as the Organization of American States and the United Nations. In discussions about the status of democracy and elections in Venezuela, some have made misleading comments about the Carter Centers past involvement in elections there. In 2012, I applauded Venezuelas use of electronic voting machines as exemplary in the world, said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. That characterization since has been misused by Nicolas Maduro to suggest a broad validation of Venezuelas election system as a whole and of subsequent elections that The Carter Center did not observe. In fact, The Carter Center and others routinely have expressed concern about government interference in recent electoral processes. The Carter Center has not observed elections formally in Venezuela since 2004. The Carter Center supports the valiant efforts of the Venezuelan people to resolve a political conflict that has resulted in economic devastation, a humanitarian crisis, and an exodus of refugees. This is a critical juncture for the Venezuelan people who are calling for democracy. Translation El Centro Carter: la democracia venezolana en una coyuntura critica ### "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. Two days after Volkswagen Philippines officially announced the arrival of the Multivan Kombi by the third quarter of 2021 , the first unit h... All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal has invited applications in the offline mode from eligible Indian citizens for filling 231 non-faculty vacancies on a contractual basis comprising Technical Assistant/Technician (40), Programmer - Data Processing Assistant (2), Pharmacist Grade II (27), Sanitary Inspector Grade II (18), Stenographer (20), Medical Record Technician (18), Electrician (6), Dispensing Attendants (4), Gas/Pump Mechanic (2), Junior Scale Steno -Hindi (1), Lab Attendant Gr. II (41), Wireman (20), Plumber (15), Store Keeper-cum-Clerk (9), Mechanic - Air Conditioning & Refrigeration (6) and Driver - Ordinary Grade (2). The application cum registration process towards the same will commence from 01 February 2019 and will close on 15 February 2019. CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Non-Faculty Posts at AIIMS Organisation All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal Educational Qualification PG/BE/B.Tech/B.Sc/Graduation/Diploma/ITI in relevant discipline/trade Experience Desirable as detailed in notification Job Location Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh Salary Scale In the range of Rs.20,000/- to Rs.40,970/- as per the designation Industry Medical Application Start Date February 1, 2019 Application End Date February 15, 2019 Age Criteria And Fees Candidates interested in applying for the above posts through AIIMS Bhopal Recruitment 2019 must have attained 18 years of age, and not exceeded 35 years of age. For detailed age criteria and relaxations for each post, click on the official notification provided at the end of the article. Candidates must pay a prescribed application fee (non-refundable) of Rs.1000/- in the form of a Demand Draft (DD) favouring 'The Director, AIIMS Bhopal' payable at Bhopal. SC/ST/Women/PWD candidates are exempted from payment of fees. Also Read: KSP Recruitment 2019 For Instructor, Assistant Instructor, Sainik And Driver Educational Criteria Desirous candidates applying for multiple Non-faculty positions through AIIMS Bhopal Recruitment 2019 must possess a B.Sc/Diploma in Medical Lab Technology/Pharmacy or equivalent; B.E/B.Tech/PG in Comp.Sc./Comp.Engg /Computer Application; ITI Diploma Certificate in relevant trade/disciplines from a recognised Institute/University, with relevant experience in the respective trades/disciplines as detailed in the notification. Selection And Pay Scale The selection of candidates to multiple Non-faculty positions through AIIMS Bhopal Recruitment 2019 will be done based on a Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) Test and Skill Test as applicable. Candidates selected to multiple Non-faculty positions will be paid an emolument in the scale ranging from Rs.20,000/- to Rs.40,970/- as per the designation. Also Read: Delhi High Court Recruitment 2019 For 57 Senior Personal Assistants; Apply Before 7 March 2019 How To Apply Candidates applying for multiple Non-faculty positions through AIIMS Bhopal Recruitment 2019 must submit the applications in a prescribed proforma and send it to the, "Assistant Controller of Examinations, Exam Section, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), 1st Floor of Medical College Building Saket Nagar, Bhopal-462020 (Madhya Pradesh)" on or before 15 February 2019 by 5 pm through speed/registered post only. The envelope containing Application Form and self-attested photocopies of supporting documents/certificates must be superscribed as "Application for post of ........................... (CONTRACTUAL)". To download the Application form click here http://www.aiimsbhopal.edu.in/news/Non-faculty%20contratual%20form.pdf For detailed notification about AIIMS Bhopal Recruitment for Non-faculty posts click here http://www.aiimsbhopal.edu.in/news/Non-faculty%20contratual%20basis.pdf or http://www.aiimsbhopal.edu.in/jobs.aspx Do you have an athlete in mind that contributes to the team or sport, holds sportsmanship and team spirit, has epic playmaker moments and/or in general makes the the sports fun? If yes, please make your nominations for our edition of Athlete Spotlight. CLICK TO NOMINATE * Username This is the name that will be used to identify you within the system. Choose wisely! * First name * Last name Your real name will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more! * Email Your e-mail address will be used to confirm your account. We won't share it with anyone else. * Password Create a password that only you will remember. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. 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 news, latest-news The damage done to public schools by vandals in Canberra has fallen dramatically as the ACT government has erected high-security fences around them. Newly published figures show that 10 years ago there were 300 attacks on schools by vandals. In 2018, the figure was down to 85. The ACT government estimates that in 2009 the cost of school vandalism to the public purse was $606,668. In the last full year on record - 2017 - the cost was down to $239,150.69 (the official figures go down to the last cent). Most of the Canberra public schools now have high perimeter fences. On the latest count, 69 of the 87 schools had taken this big protective option. But there is resistance. Some argue that turning schools into fortresses hurts the community and that surveillance cameras on school walls might be more effective instead. At Curtin Primary School, vandals have caused $50,000 of damage by breaking 60 windows over the summer holidays. Property was also set on fire. As a result, there's now a call to erect a high-security fence but some people say it will change the nature of the neighbourhood and prevent people from using the facilities when the school is closed. The local residents association said a fence high enough to keep people out with locked gates might compromise "the open and friendly nature of the suburb". "The principal, Merryn ODea, is currently consulting the schools parent body about erecting a black metal perimeter fence around the school grounds in the near future in an attempt to prevent further vandalism," the association's newsletter read. The president of the Curtin residents' association, Chris Johnson, said a big fence would "tend to block a playing area from the community." A school was a "community asset". There is already a waist-high fence but that is unobtrusive, just meant to mark a border and stop balls getting out into the street. "We would prefer not to have a bigger fence if another way can be found," Mr Johnson said, adding that more protective screens over windows or surveillance cameras might be the answer, though that would change the atmosphere in the school into a much more fearful one. One former teacher and member of the ACT assembly said that there might be other less obtrusive ways of deterring vandals. "There's not been enough exploration of video surveillance," said Michael Moore who served four terms as an MLA. Schools were a "community good", he said, and not just places to teach children. The ACT government said that "despite a downward trend in recent years, vandalism remains a reality the government needs to manage". "Installing fences is one of a range of approaches a school can take in order to provide a safer environment not only for students, staff and visitors, but also to protect school facilities. "Other approaches used to provide a safer environment include community education, external security lighting, internal electronic security systems, motion detectors, security screen or security film treatments to strengthen windows and glazed doors and local security patrol programs conducted throughout the year." The Curtin residents association want the school's neighbours and passers-by in cars and on foot to be more vigilant. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/5cc3ffe3-7943-4775-9ab9-22e901ab0ee7/r0_161_2000_1291_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg comment, editorial In light of recent house price falls around much of the country, the final report of the banking royal commission, and the response to it, was always going to need careful management. A document rich in blood and gore that lent itself to becoming a political football in the lead up to the May election could have had devastating consequences. Commissioner Hayne's work in lifting the lid on highly questionable practices within the finance sector has left the public much better informed than in the past. That said, much of what has been revealed will not come as news to those who have been following the numerous other inquiries and probes into the sector over the past five years. These have already recommended major changes to the way in which the banks lend money and reward their staff. The tighter checks on claims made by customers about their capacity to repay personal, business and home loans are already beginning to bite. Given this due diligence was stepped up even further in response to the commission's activities, consideration needed to be given to the effect the hearings have already had on the housing market. The major falls in home prices in Sydney and Melbourne actually accelerated during December. While that would once have been good news for first home buyers this is no longer necessarily so. One of the factors driving the slump is the tougher approach taken to the enforcement of ethical lending guidelines by the big banks. There are now stringent checks to determine whether or not potential borrowers have the capacity to repay loans. That has come on the back of the squeeze on interest-only loans implemented by the banks at the "request" of the Federal Government 18 months ago. Prices are falling because there are fewer buyers, either investors or homeowners, in the market. While Commissioner Hayne's referral of a long list of companies to ASIC and APRA for possible action was widely anticipated it may not yield the results many hoped for. There were actually good reasons why the regulators, who have come in for some solid criticism over their reluctance to prosecute in past, preferred to negotiate agreements over conduct breaches that resulted in "enforcable undertakings" under which fines were levied and compensation was paid. The banks have deeper pockets than the regulators. Cash counts for a lot when you enter a court room. Proving complex cases that cut across financial and consumer law is expensive and problematic, although regulators need to be willing to take on tough fights if they want any hope of building a culture of compliance with the law. Will future governments be happy if ASIC or the ACCC throw billions of dollars at prosecutions with little or no result? This may be why the commissioner stopped short of referring any executives for prosecution. The trade union royal commission demonstrated asserting something in a case study and proving it in a court of law against a capably represented defendant with an implicit entitlement to the presumption of innocence are very different things. While there are millions of people who would love to see the banking sector bought to book, and who will likely be disappointed by this report, it has to be done in a way that does not do further harm to the interests of everyday Australians. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/7801201b-373b-42b8-9a0c-7f43ed424090/r0_46_900_554_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg St. Johnsbury, VT (05819) Today Thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. A few storms may be severe. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. A few storms may be severe. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. The European Commission has agreed to compensate Irish farmers for a collapse in beef and dairy prices in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the Irish edition of the Sunday Times newspaper said, quoting Irish government and EU sources. Farmers would be in line for hundreds of millions of euros in emergency aid to offset a market collapse and the loss of British customers, the newspaper reported. Agriculture Minister Michael Creed said last month Dublin would seek that amount for its farming and fishing industry. With close trading links with Britain, especially in labour intensive sectors like agri-food, Ireland's export-led economy is considered the most vulnerable of the remaining 27 European Union members to a disruptive exit by its neighbour. The details of the scheme were finalised between Creed and the commission's agriculture chief Phil Hogan, the report said. A spokesman for Creed said the two met last Monday to discuss the potential impact of a disorderly Brexit on the Irish agri-food and fisheries sectors. In a statement, the minister said he had stressed the need to deploy market response measures, including exceptional aid, and that Commissioner Hogan reiterated the EU's readiness to respond and support Ireland. A spokesperson for the Commission could not immediately be reached for comment. The Sunday Times said the compensation, similar to measures taken when Russia banned EU farm produce, could also apply to Dutch and Belgian flower producers and Danish dairy and bacon farmers, all of whom export heavily to Britain. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said this week he had alerted the commission that Dublin would seek aid for firms if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal next month, alongside other potential emergency EU and domestic funding. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie It seems that the government is again firming up plans to disinvest stake in national carrier Air India. According to the interim Budget 2019/20 documents, the government has earmarked an expenditure of Rs 1 lakh for Air India's turnaround plan (TAP), a 10-year plan, which was approved in 2012. The Congress-led UPA government had approved Rs 30,231 crore for Air India, and as per minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha, the AI has received an equity infusion of Rs 27,195.21 crore out of that amount till last August. The budgetary allocation for Air India's TAP in 2019/20 is far lower than the allocations in the previous years. For instance, the government budgeted Rs 650 crore for Air India in 2018/19 but revised the estimates to Rs 3,975 crore. A year before that, the government had spent Rs 1,800 crore. A mere Rs 1 lakh allocation for Air India's TAP highlights the realisation within the government to avoid making more revival attempts. ALSO READ: RBI policy, quarterly results key drivers for markets this week: Experts Some recent reports suggest that the government is looking for the strategic sale of Air India by the middle of this year and will be floating an expression of interest (EOI) document in some time. But because of the impending elections, there's a great degree of uncertainty around such plan. The government had last year offered to sell 76 per cent in Air India. The offer also included 100 per cent stake sale in low-cost subsidiary Air India Express and a 50 per cent stake in ground handling agency Air India SATS. Some terms of the offer, including taking over Rs 32,000 crore of debt and liabilities and clause of retaining its strong 38,000-workforce for a year, turned out to be a deterrent to attract any potential suitors. The debt-ridden national carrier has been posting net losses for several years in a row. Several turnaround plans by successive heads of the ailing airline have fallen flat on their faces. But not allotting money for Air India in the budget doesn't mean that the government has stopped looking at other avenues to support Air India. For instance, the government has earmarked some Rs 3,900 crore (Rs 2,600 crore in 2019/20 and Rs 1,300 crore in 2018/19) for Air India Asset Holding Limited (AIAHL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that has been set up to transfer a part of the airline's debt. A large part of this allocation is likely to go towards interest payments. Air India has an estimated debt of Rs 55,000 crore, out of which, Rs 29,000 crore is expected to be transferred to AIAHL, which, in turn, will repay debt and clear liabilities from the sale of Air India's assets sale. Allocating Rs 3,900 crore for AIAHL, experts say, would mean that the government is not expecting significant proceeds from sale of Air India's assets and subsidiaries. ALSO READ: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal to address RBI board on Feb 9 ALSO READ: Budget 2019: Glided fiscal path a negative surprise, RBI to view it as inflationary, says Nomura ALSO READ: SC seeks RBI response in data localisation matter of WhatsApp payment service Debt-laden Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) plunged by more than half to its record low in early trade on Monday, after the company said it will seek a fast-track resolution through the bankruptcy court National Company Law Tribunal to resolve its indebtedness. RCom, controlled by Anil Ambani, also said on Friday that its lenders had not received any proceeds from asset monetization plans and that its overall debt resolution process had not made any progress. ALSO READ: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal to address RBI board on Feb 9 The Cut-Throat competition in India's telecoms industry since the entry of Reliance Jio, owned by Anil Ambani's elder brother Mukesh Ambani, had forced RCom to shut down its wireless business. It owed banks $7 billion as of March 2017 when it last made public its debt level, and more to vendors. The stock plunged as much as 54.3 per cent to 5.3 rupees apiece on Monday in Mumbai trading. It has shed 19.4 per cent so far this year as of Friday's close. ALSO READ: RBI policy, quarterly results key drivers for markets this week: Experts More than 120 million shares of RCom changed hands in less than 45 minutes of trade compared to its 30-day average of 63 million shares. ALSO READ: Budget 2019: Glided fiscal path a negative surprise, RBI to view it as inflationary, says Nomura ALSO READ: SC seeks RBI response in data localisation matter of WhatsApp payment service IndiGo has grounded an A320neo aircraft at Lucknow due to problem in the Pratt & Whitney engine, according to a source. The aircraft has been grounded for maintenance since January 31. P&W engine-powered A320neos have been grappling with problems and aviation regulator DGCA has issued various directives to address these issues. An IndiGo spokesperson on Sunday said flight 6E-447 which was scheduled to operate on the Lucknow-Delhi route on January 31 was grounded as a precautionary measure. ALSO READ:IndiGo appoints Ronojoy Dutta as new CEO A source said the flight was to be operated with an A320neo plane. "After taxi out the pilot noticed an error in the engine parameter. As a caution, he returned the aircraft to the bay," an airline spokesperson said. The spokesperson said that after the inspection of the aircraft engine by the airline's technical team, the aircraft was grounded for further maintenance and engine would be changed. ALSO READ:UDAN scheme: Govt awards 235 routes, seaplanes to fly on 18 routes Pakistan is nearly broke with the drying up of foreign cash reserves and mounting external debt. Earlier in February, China had come forward with a loan offer of 42.5 billion and now, in return, Pakistan will be exporting donkeys to its "all-weather ally". Pakistan, which has the third largest donkey population in the world, will export the animal to China, opening the avenue to earn millions from the trade, according to a media report. Donkeys are highly prized in China, especially for their hide which is used to manufacture traditional Chinese medicines. Gelatin made from donkey skin has been long considered to have medicinal properties in China, traditionally being thought to nourish the blood and enhance the immune system. Pakistan has the world's third largest population of donkeys with more than 5 million animals, while China stands at number one. A senior official at the livestock department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said Chinese companies are interested in donkey farming in Pakistan and foreign companies are ready to invest USD 3 billion, the Geo News reported. In a bid to boost the country's exports, the live stock department has announced that it will develop donkey farms the first of its kind in the country. According to reports, at least two donkey farms are being set up in Dera Ismail Khan and Mansehra with foreign partnership. During the first three years, the government plans to export as many as 80,000 donkeys to China, according to the report. Rose Valley scam: All you need to know about the chit fund case Rose Valley scam was even bigger than the Saradha scam and as per ED estimates Rs 17,520 crore was reportedly raised from investors across India. Fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi, a main defendant in India's largest bank fraud case, is still an Indian citizen despite holding an Antigua and Barbuda passport, an Indian official told Reuters, adding the government is pushing for his extradition. Choksi, who is one of the key people accused of defrauding Punjab National Bank of $2 billion, fled India before the accusations surfaced last year. Bringing Choksi back to India would be a boon for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he tries to bolster his anti-corruption credentials ahead of a general election due by May. Choksi, along with his nephew, diamond tycoon Nirav Modi, are accused of colluding with a handful of bankers to secure credit from overseas banks using fraudulent guarantees. Both have denied the allegations and have moved abroad. Choksi has secured a passport from Antigua and Barbuda, where wealthy foreigners can become citizens in exchange for investing in the country. But Indian officials still consider him an Indian citizen, Venkatachalam Mahalingam, the Indian High Commissioner to Guyana and Non-Resident High Commissioner to Antigua and Barbuda as well as St. Kitts and Nevis, said in an interview in Georgetown last week. "He has not renounced his Indian citizenship. We have revoked his passport, but that does not mean we have revoked his citizenship. We must agree if someone wants to renounce their citizenship; we have not agreed," Mahalingam said. "You cannot commit some crime and run away from the country and (think) we'd allow you to renounce your citizenship. That would look really stupid." India in August lodged an extradition request, which Mahalingam said Choksi was fighting. If all sides agree Choksi is Indian, he could potentially be extradited from Antigua using a Commonwealth-based agreement. But his Antiguan citizenship complicates the situation even though India does not permit dual citizenship. "He is ... entitled to the protection any citizen of Antigua and Barbuda is," Lionel Hurst, the chief of staff for the Antiguan Prime Minister's Office, told India Today TV in September. 'Brought to Justice' In January, Hurst told India Today the struggle over Choksi now depended on Antiguan courts, and warned the case could "last for a very long time". Choksi in November also filed an application to a Mumbai court refuting that he was a fugitive and blaming "persisting medical conditions" for preventing him from returning to India, court documents show. When asked whether Choksi remained an Indian citizen, Choksi's Mumbai-based lawyer Sanjay Abbot late last week confirmed that Choksi had surrendered his passport but directed questions on his citizenship to David Dorsett, a lawyer for Choksi in Antigua. Dorsett did not respond to a request for comment. In a separate case, the Indian government is pursuing businessman Jatin Mehta regarding fraud allegations at his company, Winsome Diamonds and Jewellery Ltd. India has requested that St. Kitts and Nevis, where Mehta is believed to be living, provisionally arrest him, Mahalingam said. "Once that is done, extradition request will follow," he added. Reuters was unable to contact Mehta. Officials in Antigua and Barbuda, as well as St. Kitts and Nevis, did not respond to requests for comment. Future Retail Monday posted a 10 per cent year-on-year growth in its net profit at Rs 201.43 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2018. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 183.14 crore for the same period of previous fiscal, Future Retail Ltd said in a regulatory filing. Total income of the company stood at Rs 5,306.28 crore for the October-December period of the current fiscal. It had reported a total income of Rs 4,696.07 crore in the same period of 2017-18. "Consequent to the demerger of home retail business undertaking and vesting with Praxis Home Retail Ltd and vesting of demerged retail business Undertaking of Hypercity Retail (India) Ltd with the company, the financial results for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2018 are not comparable with corresponding periods of previous years," Future Retail Ltd said. Also Read: LIC-IDBI Bank merger: IDBI may now become LIC IDBI Bank or LIC Bank The company's board has also approved raising of nearly Rs 2,000 crore through issue of warrants to its promoters on a preferential basis. The board of directors in its meeting approved issuance and allotment of over 39.60 lakh warrants convertible into 39.6 lakh equity shares of Rs 2 each at a premium of Rs 503 per share aggregating to Rs 1,999.99 crore to promoter group firm Future Coupons Ltd, the company said in a regulatory filing. The allotment on a preferential basis will be subject to shareholder approval for which an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) will be held on March 5, it added. Elaborating on where the funds would be utilised, the company said the equity infusion, coupled with inflow of upside share, shall aid in reducing the lease rentals payable to FEL. "The endeavour is to completely do away with lease rentals in next 18 months. Management firmly believes that this shall be hugely accretive to margins for business and will give a strong philip to growth," it said, adding that it would also maintain strong trajectory of improving return on capital at FRL. The company said over the past four years, FRL has integrated its operations efficiently and built a pan-India network of 1,444 stores in 409 cities of India. By Douglas Busvine and John GeddieFRANKFURT/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Wirecard said that neither it nor its law firm had found conclusive evidence of criminal misconduct after the Financial Times alleged wrongdoing at the Singapore office of the German payments company.CEO Markus Braun said the Munich-based company had informed regulators in Germany and Singapore of investigations by its own compliance team and law firm Rajah & Tann into concerns raised last April by a member of staff."Until today they didn't find any proof, or conclusive findings, that any of these allegations are true," Braun ... (Reuters) - Janus Henderson said on Monday that veteran bond manager Bill Gross, who co-founded PIMCO in 1971, will retire and has decided to focus on managing his personal assets and charitable foundation.Gross, 74, will leave the asset manager on March 1 after joining the firm in late 2014 and managing its Global Unconstrained Bond funds and related strategies. Janus Henderson said its global macro fixed income team will take over the management of Gross's portfolios.Nick Maroutsos, co-head of global bonds and portfolio manager at Janus Henderson, will become portfolio manager of the ... LONDON (Reuters) - Representatives from Britain's biggest union Unite and Nissan are meeting on Monday after the Japanese carmaker scrapped plans to build its next-generation X-Trail model at its Sunderland plant in northern England.Falling demand for diesel cars in Europe has forced Nissan to invest in other technologies as the segment is hit by levies and crackdowns.But the company also said the "continued uncertainty around the UK's future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future," prompting renewed fears among some in Britain that Brexit was ... By Akanksha Rana and Carl O'Donnell(Reuters) - Ultimate Software Group Inc, a cloud-based human resources applications developer, said on Monday it agreed to be bought by an investor group led by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for about $11 billion.The $331.50 per share all-cash offer is at a premium of 19 percent to the HR software provider's closing share price on Friday. Shares of Ultimate Software surged 19.5 percent to $332.01, as investors speculated about the prospects of a rival bidder emerging. The investor group also includes Blackstone Group LP, GIC Pte Ltd, Canada Pension ... (Reuters) - The British government has signed an order for liquor and aviation tycoon Vijay Mallya to be extradited to India, the UK's Home Office said in a statement on Monday.Indian authorities have been trying to extradite Mallya to India after the collapse of his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. He moved to Britain in March 2016.A court in India set up under anti-money laundering laws declared Mallya a "fugitive economic offender" last month, paving the way for the Indian government to seize his assets, according to Reuters partner ANI.The UK government's Monday order follows a London court's ... (Reuters) - The British government has signed an order to extradite Indian liquor and aviation tycoon Vijay Mallya, the UK's Home Office said in a statement on Monday.The order follows a London court's ruling in December that Mallya, who moved to Britain in March 2016, be extradited to India to face fraud charges."After the decision was handed down on December 10, 2018 by the Westminster Magistrates Court, I stated my intention to appeal. I could not initiate the appeal process before a decision by the Home Secretary. Now I will initiate the appeal process," Mallya tweeted late on Monday. A ... By Padraic HalpinDUBLIN (Reuters) - A six percent drop in fares plunged Ryanair to its first quarterly loss since 2014 and Europe's biggest budget airline said overcapacity was likely to continue driving ticket prices lower, albeit at a slower pace. Monday's warning of more tough trading came as the Irish company said it had secured the services of its long-standing chief executive Michael O'Leary for another five years. The 57-year-old, who has led Ryanair for the past 25 years, will move to be CEO of a new group structure, overseeing the firm's four airline subsidiaries. He had said in ... (Reuters) - Gannett Co Inc on Monday rejected newspaper chain MNG Enterprises Inc's unsolicited buyout offer, saying it undervalued the company and was not credible. In January, MNG offered to buy Gannett in a deal valued at $1.36 billion, or $12 per share, that represented a premium of 23 percent to Gannett's closing price on Jan. 11.Gannett said its board would engage with any party that makes a bona fide, credible proposal that appropriately values the company and is capable of being closed, and MNG's proposal failed that test.MNG, which held a 7.5 percent stake in Gannett as of January, ... (Reuters) - Flybe Group Plc has agreed to demands from its largest shareholder to call a general meeting to consider replacing Chairman Simon Laffin following the cut-price sale of the British regional airline.The U-turn on Monday by Flybe, which had rejected the call by Hosking Partners last week, boosted its lowly shares as much as 30 percent in early trade before paring the gains to trade up 10.7 percent at 3.56 pence at 1040 GMT.Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital agreed to buy Flybe for an initial 2.2 million pounds ($2.9 million), a far cry from its 215 ... (Reuters) - Shares in India's Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd plunged on Monday to their lowest in over five years as claims of financial mismanagement and broader sectoral woes continue to plague the home loan provider.Investigative media outlet Cobrapost had alleged last week that loans from Indian state banks were diverted by Dewan to shell companies, including those linked to its controlling shareholders. Dewan has, however, denied lending to shell companies and said it had not received any communication from the government in relation to an investigation. Separately, Dewan said on ... India Yamaha Motor Monday announced upgrading of its scooter line up in the country with unified braking system (UBS) to meet upcoming regulatory norms. The line-up of scooters comprising Yamaha Fascino, Cygnus Ray ZR, Cygnus Ray ZR Street Rally, Cygnus Alpha are now equipped with UBS, the company said adding it was also offering maintenance free battery as part of the package. These scooters are priced between Rs 55,193 and Rs 58,698 (ex-showroom Delhi) depending on the model and variant, India Yamaha Motor (IYM) said in a statement. Under the new Indian safety norm, two-wheelers with engine displacement over 125cc need to be be equipped with anti-lock braking system (ABS), while those with up to 125cc have to mandatorily feature combi-braking system (CBS) by April 1, 2019. "The new line up including Fascino will reserve and expand the brand's overall unique character of offering exciting mobility solutions," Motofumi Shitara, the chairman of Yamaha Motor India group of companies, said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Alleging a smear campaign against Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on social media by the RSS and the BJP, the party's women's wing Monday filed a complaint with the Delhi Police, demanding action against those behind it. All India Mahila Congress President Sushmita Dev and Delhi Pradesh Mahila Congress President Sharmistha Mukherjee said the complaint was filed against "unknown persons for "spreading distasteful and offensive tweets/pictures" of Vadra at the Parliament Street police station. "We have filed a complaint at Parliament police station along with some evidences. We know that the BJP and RSS are behind this but we want police to investigate and uncover the truth and to put accused persons behind bars," Dev said. She added that the social media campaign has been started against Vadra from the day she had joined politics. Last month, Vadra was named the AICC general secretary of eastern Uttar Pradesh. "The BJP has gone berserk after she (Vadra) became the general secretary of the AICC in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh and they had done the same in past with Rahul Gandhi. We have asked our party members to file the case against this in every state across India," Dev added. The complaint outlines charges amounting to offences like defamations, sexual harassment and sections of the IT Act. Screenshots of offensive tweets and pictures have been attached along with the complaint. Mahila Congress' Rajasthan unit also protested in Jaipur and handed over a complaint to Jaipur police commissioner Anand Srivastava. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma Monday said the government will include the latest medicines used in cancer treatment in the list of free medicines so as to provide them to cancer patients in the state. Sharma made the announcement while addressing a function here on the World Cancer Day at the SMS auditorium here. The minister said changed lifestyle, stress and disturbed routine were some of the reasons behind an increase in instances of lifestyle diseases. He said excessive use of chemicals fertilisers and pesticides in farming was resulting in diseases like cancer. Sharma also highlighted the government's works and efforts in the health sector. The principal of SMS medical college, Dr Sudhir Bhandari, and other doctors were also present on the occasion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madras High Court on Monday sought response from Tamil Nadu's principal conservator of forests by February 11 to a plea seeking a direction to prevent authorities from capturing, taming, tranquilising or harming a wild elephant which has been venturing into human habitats. In an interim order, a division bench of Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad said the jumbo should not, in anyway, be put through any physical discomfort. The jumbo, nicknamed 'Chinnathambi' by locals, was translocated from the outskirts of Coimbatore to Varagaliar by forest department personnel on January 25. The move followed complaints from residents about the elephant destroying crops and damaging houses for the last seven months. The bench said, "The intention of the Tamil Nadu government appears that the elephant should live in its natural habitat...apprehension of the public is also to be taken note of." Additional chief principal conservator of forests submitted it was not possible to just capture the jumbo and make it a 'kumki' (tamed elephant). The bench, after passing the order, posted the matter to February 11 for filing the counter. The petitioner sought the elephant's translocation and rehabilitation by framing guidelines and systematically studying man-elephant conflict in areas surrounded by forests. Also, the petitioner said, steps should be taken to mitigate the conflict through alternative methods focused on conserving wildlife. To this, the advocate general, appearing on behalf of the government, submitted that elephant expert Ajay Desai and other forest officials had gone to the forest area to chase the elephant, which is now in Amaravathi area, back into the jungles. The principal chief conservator, who appeared before the bench, said all elephants cannot be used as 'kumkis'. "We first planned first to send Chinnathambi into the Mudumalai forest area and there is no idea to make the elephant a 'kumki'. Such a decision would be the last one (option) and we're trying to send the elephant back into the forest," he said. The 25-year-old Chinnathambi was spotted near a railway station in nearby Tirupur district on Saturday. In Coimbatore district, several environmentalists and animal lovers on Monday expressed concern over moves to tame Chinnathambi and make him a 'kumki' and urged the government to drop the purported plan. The group also submitted a petition to the district collector. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking a stand contradictory to the party's high command over the imbroglio involving the CBI, West Bengal state president Somen Mitra Monday questioned why Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar is avoiding interrogation by the central investigating agency in the chit fund scam. "If he (Kumar) is not in the wrong then why is he avoiding the CBI?" Mitra asked at a press conference here. The state unit's position is a contrast to that of president Rahul Gandhi, who had on Sunday called up Chief Minister and extended support to her. Banerjee is on indefinite dharna in the city since last night, protesting against the CBI action, at the spot where she had sat on a 26-day fast against acquisition of farm land for the Tata Motors project at Singur in 2006. "The entire opposition will stand together and defeat these fascist forces," the president had tweeted. Mitra, who was himself a member of the from October 2009 to January 2014 and its MP, said "our (state Congress) fight against the and the Trinamool Congress will continue" and questioned the timing of the CBI action. This is the second time in less than a month that the Congress' state unit is seen to have taken a stand contradictory to the one by its high command. Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, had attended the January 19 mega opposition rally organised by Banerjee here with a message from UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi but none from the state Congress had attended it. The state Congress has in fact said that there cannot be any bonhomie with a party (TMC) which is poaching its MLAs and MPs. The latest to defect from the Congress to the was the Malda North MP Mausam Benazir Noor, the niece of Congress stalwart ABA Gani Khan Chowdhury. An all-out war broke out between the Centre and the government on Sunday with the feisty West Bengal chief minister starting what she called 'Save India' sit-in to protest against CBI's attempt to question Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in chit fund scam. Banerjee had said that the CBI action stifled the spirit of "Constitution and federalism". She had also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and president Amit Shah was attempting a constitutional coup in the state. Home appliances maker Whirlpool of India Monday reported 14 per cent increase in profit after tax at Rs 60.62 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2018. The company had posted profit after tax of Rs 53.14 crore in the same period last fiscal, Whirlpool of India said in a regulatory fling. Total income during the third quarter was at Rs 1,238.41 crore as against Rs 979.26 crore a year-ago, it added. The company said its board considered and approved capacity enhancement, modernisation and introduction cum diversification of manufacturing lines at Ranjangaon and Puducherry plants with capital investment of Rs 407 crore over a period of next five years. According to Whirlpool of India Chairman Arvind Uppal it was another strong quarter for Whirlpool despite volatility on raw materials and currency. "The mass market is showing positive signs and should be a key driver of growth. We remain optimistic about our business going forward," he said in a statement. Whirlpool of India Managing Director Sunil D'Souza said during the quarter the company witnessed "high headwinds in commodities, currency and changes in duties during the quarter which also impacted the results". The shift in festival timing had a positive impact on the top line, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Zealand's senior batswoman Suzie Bates Monday said figuring out a way to tackle spin twins Poonam Yadav and Ekta Bist was her biggest takeaway from an otherwise disappointing ODI series defeat to India. The Indian women won their first bilateral away series against the 'White Ferns' by a 2-1 margin. Bates finally had some form going her way in the final game where she brought up her 25th half century in an eight-wicket victory. "We really wanted to try and back our bowlers up with our chase," Bates said after the match. "The win gives massive confidence to the group. After the first two games, it would have been disappointing not to have come out and play well," Bates was quoted as saying by the official twitter handle of 'White Ferns'. During the third game, Bates was seen time and again lofting leg-spinner Yadav's flighted deliveries, clearing her front leg. She hit eight fours and a six in her 57 off 64 balls. "The way we played the spinners (was the biggest positive)," Bates said. "We have got to be aggressive when they toss the ball up and that has been my biggest learning. We have to attack when we are having a partnership as both batters settled makes scoring a bit easier. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi is preparing a report on the prevailing situation in the state in the wake of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's dharna against CBI's attempt to grill Kolkata Police chief, according to a source in the Raj Bhavan. Union Home Minister had called up Tripathi Sunday to take stock of the situation after a team, which went to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's residence in the city to question him in connection with ponzi scams, was denied permission, bundled into jeeps and whisked to a police station. The chief minister has been sitting on a dharna since 8.30 pm Sunday in protest against action, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a coup in Bengal. According to officials, Tripathi told the Union home minister that he had summoned the chief secretary and director general of police (DGP) and asked them to take immediate action to resolve the situation. The source in the Raj Bhavan said that the Special Investigation Branch (SIB) submitted its findings to Tripathi, following which he has started compiling a report, meant to be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs. He also said that the governor was preparing the report after holding discussions with state Chief Secretary Malay De and other officials. A Delhi court Monday extended by four more days the ED custody of Rajeev Saxena, an accused recently deported from Dubai in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland money laundering case. Saxena, a Dubai-based businessman, was deported from Dubai on January 31 and sent to four-day custody of the (ED) the same day. The court allowed ED's plea seeking extension of his custody on the ground that he was required for confronting with Gautam Khaitan, a Delhi-based lawyer and a co-accused, who was earlier arrested in the case and is in the agency's custody in another case. ED's special public prosecutors D P Singh and N K Matta had sought the custody for 10 more days, saying that both Saxena and Khaitan provided global corporate structure to launder money. The ED alleged that in connivance with Khaitan, Saxena provided a global corporate structure for laundering illegal proceeds of the crime for payment to various political persons, bureaucrats and Air Force officials to influence the contract to supply 12 VVIP helicopters in favour of AgustaWestland. "The custodial interrogation of Rajiv Saxena is required for the purposes of his confrontation with co-accused Gautam Khaitan, who is in custody of the ED in another case. The two said accused were the key figures in placing, layering and integrating the tainted money into the financial system," the agency said. ED's advocate Samvedna Verma further said that, "To unearth and ascertain the end use of the funds received by him through his companies namely Interstellar Technologies, Mauritius, UHY Saxena, Dubai, Matrix and others in their accounts maintained and the role of his key aides in the projection of the said tainted money as untainted". The agency also said that Saxena's further custodial interrogation was required for confronting with the voluminous material of approximately 20 GB, which was presently under process in a lab and was supposed to be received today. "Rajiv Saxena has also revealed in interrogation his ownership on certain companies which were found receiving proceeds of crime from Global Services FZE, the other channel used by the accused Christian Michel James. His custody would therefore be essential to ascertain the meeting point of the two channels of money laundering involved in the present case," the ED said. It also said that his custody was required for determining the roles of other co-accused. "Investigation has revealed and clarified the roles of various other persons and further investigation is still ongoing to determine their complicity. His custody is thus essential to unearth the sequence of events and the trail of the flow of the tainted money, and the roles of each person," the ED said. Saxena, a director of two Dubai-based firms - UHY Saxena and Matrix Holdings - was picked up by Dubai authorities last Wednesday in connection with the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers money laundering case and deported to India in the evening. He was residing in Palm Jumeriah, Dubai and has been living in the UAE for last 26 years. Maintaining that AgustaWestland had paid Euro 58 million as kickbacks through two Tunisia-based firms, ED's advocate Samvedna Verma alleged that "these companies further siphoned off the said money in the name of consultancy contracts to M/s Interstellar Technologies Limited, Mauritius and others which were further transferred to M/s UHY Saxena and M/s Matrix Holdings Ltd, Dubai and others". Saxena is one of the accused named in the charge sheet filed by the ED. Michel, former AgustaWestland and Finmeccanica directors Giuseppe Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini, Tyagi and Saxena's wife Shivani were also named by the agency. It was alleged by the probe agency that the two Dubai-based firms were the entities "through which the proceeds of crime have been routed and further layered and integrated in buying the immovable properties/ shares, among others" in this case. On January 1, 2014, India had scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of kickbacks of Rs 423 crore paid by it to secure the deal. Pope Francis on Monday rejected "hatred and violence" in the name of God, on the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the Muslim-majority Arabian Peninsula. The pontiff, who met with the world's top Sunni Muslim cleric in Abu Dhabi, said "every form of violence must be condemned without hesitation... No violence can be justified in the name of religion". The pope arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night for a three-day visit, during which he will lead a historical open-air mass for some 135,000 Catholics. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leaders of various opposition parties met at NCP chief Sharad Pawar's residence in Delhi on Monday and discussed their joint strategy to take on the ruling BJP on various issues, including what they say is misuse of CBI by the Centre. Sources said among those present at the meeting included Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah. TMC leader Derek O'Brien and NCP leader Supriya Sule were also present, besides AAP leader Sanjay Singh. Pawar later said that earlier during the day leaders of several opposition parties had met in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad and discussed certain issues. The meeting comes three days after opposition leaders had a meeting at the Constitution Club, where issues pertaining to efficacy of EVMs and other issues concerning the opposition were discussed. Earlier Monday, the opposition leaders also accused the Centre of misusing the CBI to target them. "The problem in the agriculture sector and unemployment, which is affecting a sizeable section of the younger generation. We discussed the issue of the assault on democratic institutions. We decided that on these three issues, we would meet again," Pawar told reporters after the meeting that lasted for over an hour. "But what happened yesterday in Kolkata, we cannot say or we cannot bypass that issue. We have to decide on this issue either tomorrow or day after tomorrow. The Congress and all other parties will sit and we will make some definite programme. We want to support Mamata ji on this issue," he added. Pawar was referring to the showdown between the West Bengal chief minister and the Centre over an attempt by the CBI to question the Kolkata police chief in connection with the Sharadha chit-fund scam case. Mamata Banerjee has sat on a protest in Kolkata in defence of the police officer. "What happened to Mamata ji is not about only Mamata ji, we have seen it in Delhi. "Mr Arvind Kejriwal, his office, his senior officers, have also faced similar issues. So, this is a clear cut attack on democratic institutions... We will sit along with all other political parties, especially those who were present in yesterday's meeting and today's meeting, and one definite programme will be made," Pawar added. Naidu said, "We condemn the CBI action". He said all 23 parties which participated in the Kolkata rally hosted by Banerjee on January 19 against the BJP including SP, BSP, Congress, TDP, DMK, NCP and AAP condemned the CBI action on Sunday. "Some of our people are meeting Mamta ji in West Bengal independently. Individually, they are going and expressing their solidarity. Now, we are thinking, as Sharad Pawarji has rightly mentioned, in a day or two we will meet again and have a collective strategy to move forward," he said. On the absence of Congress leaders at his residence on Monday, Pawar said this was an unscheduled meeting. "When Chandrababu came to Delhi, I got a communication that he would like to come and sit. It was a courtesy call." Kejriwal said, "Whatever is happening in Kolkata, we have been facing it for the past four years due to the Modi government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday welcomed major European powers' recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president and urged others to follow suit. "We encourage all countries, including other EU member states, to support the Venezuelan people by recognizing Interim President Guaido and supporting the National Assembly's efforts to return constitutional democracy to Venezuela," Pompeo said in a statement. Pompeo also renewed the US call on Venezuela's military to part ways with Maduro, a socialist firebrand who presides over a crumbling economy. "We repeat our call to the Venezuelan military and security forces to support their country's constitution and protect all Venezuelan citizens, including Interim President Guaido and his family, as well as US and other foreign citizens in Venezuela," Pompeo said. Major European powers including Britain, France, Germany and Spain on Monday recognized Guaido as leader until new elections are held after President Nicolas Maduro rejected a European ultimatum to call fresh polls. But the European Union has notable holdouts including Italy, whose populist coalition government was said by diplomats to have blocked an EU bid for tougher action, and Greece, whose ruling leftist Syriza party openly backs Maduro. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US special envoy for North Korea met with South Korea's national security adviser on Monday to discuss a planned second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Seoul's presidential office said. Stephen Biegun explained to Chung Eui-yong Washington's stance toward North Korea ahead of talks on setting up the summit, the presidential Blue House said in a statement. There is speculation that Biegun will meet his North Korean counterpart at the Korean border village of Panmunjom or in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, this week. The Blue House did not specifically say what was discussed during Monday's meeting, but said Chung told Biegun that South Korea hopes the planning talks between the US and North Korea will pave the way for a successful summit. Biegun arrived in Seoul on Sunday and also held talks with South Korean Foreign Ministry official Lee Do-hoon. Trump and Kim met last June in Singapore, where they issued vague aspirational goals for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without describing when or how it would occur. Post-summit nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea have been rocky, with the countries disagreeing on which should come first North Korea's nuclear disarmament or the removal of US-led international sanctions against the North. In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation," Trump said the second summit "is set" with Kim, but provided no further details. He said there was "a very good chance that we will make a deal." South Korea didn't say whether Biegun and South Korean officials discussed the possibility of partially easing the sanctions on North Korea to allow more inter-Korean cooperation and create more space for nuclear diplomacy. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who held three summits with Kim last year and helped set up the first Trump-Kim meeting, has described inter-Korean reconciliation as crucial for resolving the nuclear standoff. But the tough sanctions have limited the range of joint activities the two Koreas can undertake. The Koreas have discussed ambitious plans, such as reconnecting railways and roads across their border, resuming operations at a jointly run factory park in a North Korean border town and restarting South Korean tours to the North's Diamond Mountain resort. But none is possible unless the sanctions are eased, which Washington says won't happen unless North Korea takes stronger steps toward irreversibly and verifiably relinquishing its nuclear weapons. In his New Year's speech last month, Kim urged more cooperation between the Koreas and said the North is ready to reopen the factory park and resume joint tours to the resort. Last year, North Korea released American detainees, suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests and dismantled a nuclear test site and parts of a rocket launch facility without the presence of outside experts. It has repeatedly demanded that the United States reciprocate with measures such as sanctions relief, but Washington has called for North Korea to take steps such as providing a detailed account of its nuclear and missile facilities that would be inspected and dismantled under a potential deal. Satellite video taken since the June summit has indicated North Korea is continuing to produce nuclear materials at its weapons factories. US intelligence chiefs told Congress last Tuesday that they believe there is little likelihood Kim will voluntarily give up his nuclear weapons or missiles capable of carrying them. Biegun said last week that Kim committed to "the dismantlement and destruction of North Korea's plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities" during his summit with Moon in September and at a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in October. At a second Trump-Kim summit, some experts say North Korea is likely to seek to trade the destruction of its main Yongbyon nuclear complex for a US promise to formally declare the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, open a liaison office in Pyongyang and allow the North to resume some lucrative economic projects with South Korea. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dalit scholar and rights activist Anand Teltumbde, who was briefly arrested by the Pune police last week in the Elgaar Parishad case, Monday said the "Urban Maoist" was a bogey that was being raised to "silence" those who raise their voice against policies of the government. Teltumbde, who teaches at the Goa Institute of Management, was arrested by Pune police Saturday at the Mumbai airport, despite the supreme court having granted him time till February 11 to seek anticipatory bail. A Pune sessions court, which had Friday rejected Teltumbde's anticipatory bail application, Saturday ordered his release, saying his arrest amounted to contempt of the Supreme Court's order. During his interaction with journalists at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, Teltumbde termed his arrest as a "wildest post independence plot by the state against it's own citizen". He said the police had framed him in the case. Responding to a query on urban Maoism, the Dalit scholar said, "Maoism originated from villages and there is nothing like an urban Maoist. It is deceptive nomenclature, which is a fabricated and false accusation". The word "urban Naxals" was used by the Pune police during their probe into the Elgaar Parishad conclave held on December 31, 2017. Police claimed that the inciting speeched made at that event triggered caste clashes in Koregaon-Bhima village in Pune district on January 1, 2018 during an event to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the battle between the Peshwas and the British forces. Teltumbde said the "urban maoism" terminology is a "formula" to silence voices of those people who show courage to question the government policies and speak for safeguarding their democratic rights. He parried a question on the people responsible for his "false implication". "I will not able to tell, but it is like looking at the sky. Whose name should I take, to whom I should blame, who runs the country," he said. Teltumbde said, "This case was a frame-up by police. This is the wildest post-Independence plot by the state against its own citizen. This action is not against me or anybody else but against all Indian nationals. The action (to book me) was born out of vengeance". "Someone writes a letter to somebody by mentioning some person's name, and police take action on the basis on those names in the letter. They book that person under UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), which is illegal and against law," he said, adding in such cases the individual remains defenceless. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The budget session of Uttar Pradesh legislature will begin Tuesday with Governor Ram Naik slated to address a joint sitting its two houses. The government will present its budget for fiscal 2019-20 on February 7, said UP Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal Monday. The budget session is likely to continue till February 22, he added. This will be the third budget of the Yogi Adityanath government. With the 2019 general elections barely a couple of months away, the budget is likely to be a people-friendly one. Like the Union budget, the state budget too is likely to focus on the social, agriculture and infrastructure sectors, said officials. The opposition parties, meanwhile, have geared up to raise the law and order situation and other issues related to the common man and target the BJP government ahead of the coming elections. The Samajwadi Party, the BSP and the Congress have chalked out their strategies for nailing down the government on major issues of public interest. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Neither protagonist in the US-China trade war stands to benefit from their stand-off, the UN said Monday, suggesting others could cash in instead, with the EU possibly winning big. In a report, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) examined the repercussions of the tariff tit-for-tat already under way between the two trade giants, as well as the expected impact of a significant tariff hike scheduled to take effect on March 1. The report, titled "The Trade Wars: The Pain and the Gain", said that "bilateral tariffs alter global competitiveness to the advantage of firms operating in countries not directly affected by them". It predicted that the European Union would be the biggest winner, taking home some USD 70 billion in additional trade thanks to the trade war. Last year, Washington and Beijing imposed tariffs on more than USD 360 billion in two-way trade, after Trump initiated the trade war because of complaints over unfair trade practices. The two countries hailed "progress" in talks held in Washington last week aimed at avoiding an escalation of the conflict. But if no deal is reached by March 1, US duty rates on USD 200 billion in Chinese goods are due to rise to 25 per cent from 10 per cent. "Our analysis shows that while bilateral tariffs are not very effective in protecting domestic firms, they are very valid instruments to limit trade from the targeted country," Pamela Coke-Hamilton, head of UNCTAD's international trade division, said in a statement. "The effect of US-China tariffs would be mainly distortionary. US-China bilateral trade will decline and replaced by trade originating in other countries," she said. The study estimated that out of the USD 250 billion in Chinese exports subject to US tariffs, some 80 per cent would be captured by firms in other countries, while 12 per cent would be retained by Chinese firms and only six percent would be captured by US firms. A similar scenario would apply to the USD 85 billion in US exports hit by Chinese tariffs, the report said, estimating that 85 per cent would go to companies in other countries, 10 per cent would remain in the US and only about five per cent would go to Chinese firms. "Countries that are expected to benefit the most from US-China tensions are those which are more competitive and have the economic capacity to replace US and Chinese firms," UNCTAD said. The report indicated that the EU stood to benefit the most, with companies in the bloc likely to capture around 50 billion of Chinese exports to the US and about USD 20 billion of US exports to China. Japan, Mexico and Canada would meanwhile each capture more than USD 20 billion in additional trade thanks to the tariff war, the study found. Australia, Brazil, India, Philippines, Pakistan and would also notice "substantial effects relative to the size of their exports," it said. But the trade war will also have a number of negative effects on global trade, especially within certain markets. The UNCTAD study pointed to the soybean market, where the tit-for-tat tariffs have resulted in "trade distortionary effects" that have benefitted Brazil especially, since the country has suddenly become the main soybean supplier to China. "But because the magnitude and duration of tariffs is unclear, Brazilian producers have been reluctant to make investment decisions that may turn out to be unprofitable if the tariffs are revoked," the UN agency said. Brazilian companies that purchase soybeans, meanwhile, stand to lose out amid inevitable price hikes, it added. The study also said that positive effect for some countries will likely be outweighed by the negative global effects. A major concern, the report authors said, is the impact the trade dispute will have on a still-fragile global economy. This is especially worrying if trade tensions spiral into currency wars, which would threaten the ability of people and companies around the world to pay off dollar-denominated debt, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain on Monday will seek to reassure foreign investors worried about Britain leaving the EU after Japanese automaker Nissan said it was scrapping a major planned investment less than two months before Brexit. Prime Minister Theresa May was due to hold a conference call with around 55 chairmen and chief executives of European multinationals with operations in Britain. "She'll be stressing on that call the importance of the UK leaving the EU with a deal," her spokesman said. Nissan's decision not to build its new X-Trail vehicle at its factory in Sunderland in northeast England was "very disappointing," he said, adding however that the company had confirmed no jobs would be lost as a result. Business Secretary Greg Clark was also due to make a statement to parliament on Nissan as Brexit supporters and opponents fiercely debated whether the decision was motivated by Britain's impending withdrawal from the EU. Britain is on course to crash out of the bloc on March 29 after MPs last month voted massively against a divorce deal struck between May and EU leaders in December. Clark himself told the Financial Times that Nissan told him their decision was "a warning sign" of the damage that a no-deal Brexit could have on Britain's car sector. May is now seeking to renegotiate her deal, particularly its contentious "backstop" provision to keep the Irish border free-flowing, in a bid to secure parliament's support. EU leaders have so far refused, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel repeated this on Monday, saying the Brexit agreement had been painstakingly negotiated and reopening it "is not on the agenda". But speaking alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, she said: "We want to do everything to avoid a no-deal, because that would increase the uncertainty." Merkel said questions about the backstop could be discussed in the so-called political agreement that accompanies the Brexit deal, adding: "We need to show creativity, we need to listen to each other. "We can still use the time to come to an agreement over the things that are standing in our way, if everyone shows goodwill." In London, May has invited hardline eurosceptics and Remain supporters within her Conservative Party to come up with possible alternatives to the backstop. The MPs were set to meet later on Monday and again on Tuesday and Wednesday. May wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that she intends to return to Brussels where she will be "battling for Britain and Northern Ireland" to change the deal. "If we stand together and speak with one voice, I believe we can find the right way forward," she wrote. Meanwhile Brexit figurehead Boris Johnson, Britain's former foreign secretary, warned that rumours of an imminent election could be a government "scare tactic" aimed at getting Conservative MPs to support a Brexit deal. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said that "if Tory MPs were asked to go into electoral battle in the next few months, there would be a hole in the heart of our manifesto". "I have no idea what we would say about the EU - because after two-and-a-half years of dither the truly astonishing feature of the UK position is that the big questions have still not been answered," he wrote. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The extradition of Vijay Mallya, accused of conspiracy to defraud banks and money laundering offences, has been approved by UK Home Secretary, the British government said on Monday, in a major blow to the liquor baron and boosting India's efforts to bring back the fugitive businessman. The 63-year-old business tycoon had been found to have a case to answer before the Indian courts by Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on December 10, 2018. Under the Extradition Treaty procedures, the Chief Magistrate's verdict was sent to Home Secretary Sajid Javid because only he was authorised to order Mallya's extradition. Javid, the UK's senior-most Pakistani-origin minister, had two months from that date to sign off on that order. Mallya now has 14 days from February 4 to apply for leave to appeal to the UK High Court. The Home Secretary's order rarely goes against the court's conclusions as he has to consider only some very narrow bars to extradition which are unlikely to apply in this case, including the possible imposition of a death penalty in a particular case. The UK Home Office confirmed on Monday that after considering all matters, Javid had signed Mallya's extradition order on Sunday. "On February 3 the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India," a Home Office spokesperson said. "Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences," the spokesperson added. Mallya is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017 after the Indian authorities brought fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crores against the former Kingfisher Airlines boss. The former Kingfisher Airlines' boss has earlier indicated that he intends to file an application to appeal against the Westminster Magistrates' Court verdict in favour of his extradition to India. The businessman had told reporters soon after the ruling by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot in London in December 2018 that he would consider the verdict in detail and decide his next course of action. His legal team later confirmed that he will seek leave to appeal against the court order. "Dr Mallya has now been able to consider the court's decision and intends to file an application for permission to appeal at the appropriate time," said Anand Doobay, Partner at UK-based Boutique Law LLP, who has been Mallya's solicitor through the extradition process. While Mallya's legal team had argued in the UK court that the default on the loans sought by the now-defunct airline were the result of business failure, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had claimed fraudulent intentions by the businessman in seeking and then dispersing those loans. Judge Arbuthnot, in her ruling delivered on December 10 at the end of a year-long trial, concluded there is a case to answer in the Indian courts over substantial "misrepresentations" by the "flashy billionaire" of his financial dealings. There is clear evidence of dispersal and misapplication of the loan funds and I find a prima facie case the Dr Mallya was involved in a conspiracy to launder money, she said. The judgment had also dismissed the defence team's attempt to challenge the case on human rights grounds by claiming that Barrack 12 of Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where the businessman is to be detained following his extradition, did not meet the requirements. The UK court said it was satisfied with the various assurances provided by the Indian government, including a video of the jail cell, which had not only been recently redecorated but was also far larger than the minimum requirement threshold. "I noted that he (Mallya) is taking a whole range of medications which the GoI (government of India) will ensure he has access to," the judge said. Mallya needs permission to appeal against this verdict within 14 days of the Home Secretary's decision, and the case would then proceed to the UK High Court if the appeal is allowed. There is some limited recourse for the case to go on to a further level of the Supreme Court, but that is only possible if the High Court certifies that the appeal involves a point of law of general public importance, and either the High Court or the apex court gives leave for the appeal to be made. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has ordered the extradition of Vijay Mallya on charges of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offences, the Home Office said on Monday, in a major blow to the embattled liquor baron. The 63-year-old businessman had been found to have a case to answer before the Indian courts by Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on December 10, 2018. Javid, the UK's senior-most Pakistani-origin minister, had two months from that date to sign off on that order. The UK Home Office confirmed on Monday that after considering all matters, the minister had signed Mallya's extradition order on Sunday. "On February 3 the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India," a Home Office spokesperson said. "Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences," the spokesperson added. Mallya is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017 after the Indian authorities brought fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crores against the former Kingfisher Airlines boss. He now has 14 days from February 4 to apply for leave to appeal to the UK High Court. The former Kingfisher Airlines' boss has earlier indicated that he intends to file an application to appeal against the Westminster Magistrates' Court verdict in favour of his extradition to India. The businessman had told reporters soon after the ruling by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot in London in December 2018 that he would consider the verdict in detail and decide his next course of action. His legal team later confirmed that he will seek leave to appeal against the court order. "Dr Mallya has now been able to consider the court's decision and intends to file an application for permission to appeal at the appropriate time," said Anand Doobay, Partner at UK-based Boutique Law LLP, who has been Mallya's solicitor through the extradition process. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Alleging bias in the tax cut on aviation fuel announced for Kannur airport, opposition UDF Monday demanded in the Kerala assembly that the LDF government extend the relief to the three other airports in the state. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan defended the decision to levy only one per cent tax on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for airlines operating from the Kannur airport, saying it was given as a support to the newly commissioned airport. The Congress-led UDF members, who claimed that Kannur airport had been given the relief because it was in Vijayan's home district, staged a walkout in protest after not getting any assurance from the government on their demand. Earlier, raising the issue, they said the decision was 'discriminatory' as reduction of the tax to one per cent had been a long-pending demand of the managements of the three other airports -- Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Karipur. UDF also alleged that Vijayan was showing "over enthusiasm" to support the new airport in Kannur as it was his home district and said he should act as the "chief minister of Kerala, not of Kannur district alone". In his reply, Vijayan said: "It is true that we have reduced the tax on ATF to one per cent for airlines operating from Kannur. It is to support and encourage the newly commissioned airport and as part of including it in the Centre's UDAN (regional connectivity) scheme." Detailing various steps taken by the government to support other airports, especially the Karipur airport in Kozhikode district, he accused the opposition of not extending support to the land acquisition initiative for the development of the airport. However, he evaded the repeated question of the UDF on why the government had not implemented the decision of its own cabinet in 2017 to reduce the fuel tax to 5 per cent for airlines operating service from all airports in the state. M K Muneer (IUML), who sought to move a notice for adjournment motion over the issue, said the government's decision to provide fuel tax breather to the Kannur airport alone would destroy the nearby Karipur airport. "Three flights have already suspended service from Karipur. We fear that, if the situation continues, the airlines will boycot this (Karipur) airport and it will end up as a facility to operate chartered flights alone in future," he said. Noting that Karipur airport was the lone public sector airport in the state now, he said if the government reduced the fuel tax to one per cent, it would be a great relief for the struggling airport. The IUML legislator also offered all support to the government, which is envisaging to acquire 136 acres of land, for the dvelopment of the table-top Karipur airport. Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said that by reducing the ATF tax to one per cent, the state airports could woo more airlines, which in turn would help the government enhance its tax revenue. He said the UDF was not against supporting Kannur airport, but the Left government should show the same concern to other airports also. The opposition staged a walkout after Speaker P Sreeramakrishan denied permission for the motion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP president Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be among the key leaders to speak at the two-day national convention of the party's 'OBC morcha' in Patna starting from February 15. The OBC (other backward classes) morcha chief Dara Singh Chauhan told reporters that about 10,000 party delegates, including its ministers and other leaders belonging to various backward castes, will attend the event, as the saffron party gears up for the Lok Sabha polls, expected in April-May. While Singh will deliver the inaugural address, Shah will be the main speaker in the convention's concluding session. Chauhan, who is a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, cited the grant of constitutional status to the OBC Commission as a historic decision of the central government to meet the demand of the community, which is divided into many castes and is estimated to be over 50 per cent of the country's population. He also referred to the Modi government's decision to set-up a committee to examine sub-categorisation of the 27 per cent OBC quota so that the most backward castes may get reservation in accordance with their population. The issue of social justice and empowerment of backward communities is central to in Bihar, and the BJP's decision to hold the convention there underlines its efforts to be seen as a champion of the OBC cause. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has said he does not always agree with the conclusions of his intelligence chiefs and pointed out past intelligence failures as a reason to reject their assessments of the threats posed by Iran and North Korea. Trump rebuked his intelligence chiefs last week after his director of national intelligence and leaders of the CIA and FBI testified before Congress on global threats and contradicted the president on Iran, North Korea and ISIS. During a Congressional hearing last week, top American spymasters Dan Coats, National Intelligence Director, and Gina Haspel, CIA Director, told lawmakers that Iran was abiding by the 2015 nuclear deal. Trump said he disagrees with the assessment of his intelligence leaders that Iran is abiding by the nuclear deal. He claimed that Iran is going ahead with its nuclear weapons programme. He also said the national security advisers' false assessment on Iraq led the US to engage in a war that it should never have been. The US' intelligence services had said that the then Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction that became the basis of American invasion in the Middle East nation. However, the assessment was later proven wrong, he said. "I have intel people, but that does not mean I have to agree (with their assessments)...people that said Saddam Hussein...in Iraq had nuclear weapons...Those intel people didn't know what the hell they were doing, and they got us tied up in a war that we should have never been in," Trump told CBS in an interview. As a result of that intelligence assessment under the Bush administration, Trump said the US spent USD 7 trillion in the Middle East and lost hundreds of lives. Trump said he disagrees with the assessment of his intelligence leaders that Iran is abiding by the nuclear deal. He claimed that Iran is going ahead with its nuclear weapons programme. "When I look at Iran, I look at it as a nation that has caused tremendous problems," he said. In 2015, Iran agreed a long-term deal on its nuclear programme with the P5+1 group of world powers - the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany. It came after years of tension over Iran's alleged efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran insisted that its nuclear programme was entirely peaceful, but the international community did not believe that. Under the accord, Iran agreed to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow in international inspectors in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions. Trump in May last year withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal, calling it "defective at its core". Trump also indicated that he is not in sync with the assessment of his intelligence chief on the nuclear weapons programme of North Korea. North Korea is unlikely to fully give up its nuclear weapons, the US intelligence report said. Asserting that there has been a tremendous progress in the ties between the US and the North Korea, Trump said both he and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are looking forward to the scheduled meeting between them, the exact date and venue of which will be announced in the next few days. "He (Kim) is looking forward to it. I am looking forward to it. We have made tremendous progress...(Kim) has a chance to have North Korea becoming an economic behemoth. (North Korea) has a chance to be one of the great economic countries in the world. (Kim) He can't do that with nuclear weapons," he said. Trump and Kim met in Singapore last June to discuss denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. At the time, Mr Trump claimed this meeting had ended the North Korean nuclear threat. The two leaders signed an agreement pledging to "work toward complete denuclearisation" but there was no agreed pathway and little progress has been made since then on the issue. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Worried about a potential Republican primary challenge, President Donald Trump's campaign has launched a state-by-state effort to prevent an intraparty fight that could spill over into the general-election campaign. The nascent initiative has been an intense focus in recent weeks and includes taking steps to change state party rules, crowd out potential rivals and quell any early signs of opposition that could embarrass the president. It is an acknowledgement that Trump, who effectively hijacked the Republican Party in 2016, hasn't completely cemented his grip on the GOP and, in any event, is not likely to coast to the 2020 GOP nomination without some form of opposition. While any primary challenge would almost certainly be unsuccessful, Trump aides are looking to prevent a repeat of the convention discord that highlighted the electoral weaknesses of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter in their failed re-election campaigns. To defend against that prospect, Trump's campaign has deployed what it calls an unprecedented effort to monitor and influence local party operations. It has used endorsements, lobbying and rule changes to increase the likelihood that only loyal Trump activists make it to the Republican nominating convention in August 2020. Bill Stepien, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, calls it all a "process of ensuring that the national convention is a television commercial for the president for an audience of 300 million and not an internal fight." One early success for Trump's campaign was in Massachusetts, where Trump backer and former state Rep Jim Lyons last month defeated the candidate backed by Massachusetts Republican Gov Charlie Baker, a Trump critic, to serve as the state party chairman. "We have a constant focus on tracking everything regarding this process," Stepien said. "Who's running, what their level of support for the president is and what their vote counts are." The campaign's work extends beyond state party leadership races, which are taking place in many key states in the coming weeks. Trump's team plans to organize at county and state caucuses and conventions over the next 18 months to elevate pro-Trump leaders and potential delegates. Ahead of the convention, it aims to have complete control of the convention agenda, rules and platform and to identify any potential trouble-makers well in advance. That sort of organization is a leap from Trump's 2016 delegate operation, which faced challenges by anti-Trump activists in the party. Trump aides say it's the most aggressive effort ever launched to protect an incumbent. Nick Trainer, a White House veteran named last month as the campaign's director of delegates and party organization, is leading a team of three to coordinate with state and local parties in the run-up to the convention. Yet the efforts to protect Trump simply highlight his vulnerability, said an adviser to one potential Republican opponent. "They're not talented, but they're not idiotic. They rightfully understand that he could be badly damaged or lose in a nomination battle. They're doing too much. It looks weak," said John Weaver, a senior adviser to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, one of the few high-profile Republicans seriously contemplating a primary challenge. Trump's campaign is closely monitoring the intentions of Kasich and other potential primary challengers, and aides said they expect someone to mount a campaign for the nomination. But they insist their efforts are not borne out of fear that Trump is vulnerable. Primary challenges against incumbent presidents have never been successful in the modern era. And Trump's poll numbers among Republican voters have proven to be resilient. Still, his aides said they are taking lessons from one-term leaders who lost their re-elections after embarrassing nominating fights. Those in the past who challenged a president both distracted the incumbent from the November campaign and offered a voice to intraparty discontent, seeding weaknesses that were exploited by a general-election rival. Pat Buchanan's campaign against Bush in 1992 focused in part on highlighting Bush's broken pledge not to raise taxes, a vulnerability that dogged Bush throughout the campaign. In a show of party unity Buchanan was awarded the opening night keynote at that year's GOP convention. He delivered a "culture war" speech that Bush loyalists believed contributed to his loss. As an incumbent, Trump already wields control over the Republican National Committee, which voted last month to express its "undivided support" for Trump and his "effective presidency." But he's getting a boost from well-placed allies at the state level. In Iowa, the state Republican Party adopted new rules more than a year ago to seize control of the delegate selection process in direct response to the messy convention floor fight in Cleveland in 2016. Virtually all of Iowa's delegates had preferred Texas Sen Ted Cruz, and they fought unsuccessfully to oppose Trump at the convention. "It was embarrassing. It was troubling. To be honest with you, it made me mad," said Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufman, a strong Trump supporter. "Donald Trump won the Republican nomination fair and square. That was about people not accepting a loss. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lok Sabha proceedings Monday were disrupted in the wake of protests and sloganeering by Trinamool Congress members over the alleged misuse of the CBI in West Bengal. The House was adjourned for the second time till 2 PM after the Zero Hour went on for around 25 minutes. Members of the Trinamool Congress, who alleged that the Centre was misusing the CBI to politically capture West Bengal, trooped into the Well during the Zero Hour. Members from other parties, including the TDP, SP and Congress, were also in the Well. Soon after the papers were laid, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan allowed Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy to speak about the incident in Kolkata involving the CBI and the Kolkata Police. BJD leader B Mahtab, Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and those from the Left, SP, NCP and RJD also spoke against the Centre during the Zero Hour. Saumitra Khan, who won on Trinamool Congress ticket and recently joined the BJP, also spoke from Treasury benches. When Home Minister Rajnath Singh started to speak on the issue, wherein he also said that Sunday's incident was unfortunate, Trinamool Congress members trooped into the Well and began shouting slogans. Some of them were also seen clapping. Mahajan continued with the Zero Hour for less than ten minutes and as the protests continued, the proceedings were adjourned till 2 PM. Amid the din, the Speaker asked the protesting members to go back to their seats but they did not relent. Earlier, the House was adjourned till noon following protests by Trinamool Congress members over alleged "misuse" of the CBI by the central government. In an unprecedented development Sunday evening, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee started a dharna, protesting CBI's attempt to quiz Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams. A CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and whisked to a police station on Sunday. The CBI wants to quiz Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal Police probing the scams, regarding missing documents and files. Some Congress members were seen displaying placards about alleged scam in the Rafale deal. Several political leaders, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and RJD national president Lalu Prasad, came out in support of Banerjee. After adjournment of the House, Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee and Idris Ali were seen chatting with BJP members. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The upcoming first Hindu temple in the UAE's capital Abu Dhabi represents a unique diversity and fraternity, a senior Hindu priest has said. The UAE is celebrating 2019 as the 'Year of Tolerance'. In February last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Swaminarayan temple of the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha through video conferencing from Dubai. Sadhu Brahma Viharidas, who is in charge of the Middle East at BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha that will build and manage the temple, said Sunday that the UAE is a unique example for tolerance. "A Muslim country gave the land for the temple. It is being designed by an Irish Catholic and the consultant is a communist atheist," he was quoted as saying by the Gulf "A foreign journalist once asked me whether tolerance in the UAE was only cosmetic? I said 'Not at all. It is not skin deep, tolerance is the soul of the UAE'," the priest said while addressing the opening session of the Global Conference on Human Fraternity at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. He said that tolerance and human fraternity is not just a beautiful word or meaningful idea or value here. "In the UAE, they are verbs and not nouns. Verbs means they are in action. We can write poetry and hold conferences but unless they are in action... they are meaningless," Viharidas said. He called on the followers of all religions to focus on improving human relations. "If we upgrade the world, but downgrade human relationships, everything is worthless," the priest said. He also heaped praises on Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who donated the land for the temple. The temple will come up on 55,000 square metres of land. The structure will be hand-carved by Indian artisans and assembled in the UAE. It will be completed by 2020 and open to people of all religious backgrounds. It will be the first traditional Hindu stone temple in West Asia, said a spokesperson of the Sanstha, a socio-spiritual Hindu organisation set up in 1907. It runs over 1,100 temples and cultural centres around the world. The temple will be a replica of the one in New Delhi and another under construction in New Jersey. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on a sit-in against the CBI's attempt to grill Kolkata police chief in chit fund scam cases, her party workers on Monday took out protest rallies , blocked highways and rail tracks and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah in various parts of West Bengal. Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders and ministers also joined the protests as party supporters carrying black flags and wearing black masks raised slogans against the BJP government while marching through the streets. The party's student wing activists staged rallies outside various colleges. The TMC leaders criticised the Centre over the CBI episode and vowed to "continue their fight" till the Narendra Modi government is defeated in the next Lok Sabha polls. A CBI team had gone to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's residence in the city Sunday to question him in connection with multi-crore ponzi scams, but it was denied permission, bundled into jeeps and whisked to a police station. The chief minister accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a "coup" in the state. She alleged that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was directing the CBI to harass political opponents on the orders of the prime minister. In several parts of the state, including Burdwan, East Purulia, Birbhum, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts, the protesters burnt effigies of Modi and Shah. The activists also obstructed train movement in Howrah and Hooghly districts, and put up blockades on national highway in Bankura district. Banerjee said earlier in the day that she would continue her "satyagraha" till the country and its Constitution are "saved". She had directed party leaders to organise protest marches across the state Monday between 2 pm and 4 pm, without inconveniencing people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP has charged the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with vandalization of one of its offices in south Kolkata, an allegation denied by the state's ruling party. According to state BJP president Dilip Ghosh, the TMC activists, who were out on a rally as part of their statewide protest against CBI's attempt to grill Kolkata police chief, pelted stones at the saffron party's office in Bhawanipore area, while passing by it. "A scuffle broke out between the members of the two parties, following which the TMC workers overpowered the BJP men and vandalized the party office," Ghosh said, adding that the party has lodged a police complaint in the case. A local TMC leader, however, termed the allegation as "baseless". "It was the BJP workers who beat up the TMC activists," he said. TMC activists on Monday took out protest rallies, blocked highways and rail tracks and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah in various parts of West Bengal. They criticised the Centre over Sunday's CBI episode and vowed to "continue their fight" till the Narendra Modi government is defeated in the next Lok Sabha polls. A CBI team had gone to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's residence in the city Sunday to question him in connection with multi-crore ponzi scams, but was denied permission, bundled into jeeps and whisked to a police station. The chief minister, who is on a dharna since 8.30pm Sunday, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a "coup" in the state. She alleged that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was directing the CBI to harass political opponents on the orders of the prime minister. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Home Minister Rajnath Singh Monday said there may be a constitutional breakdown in West Bengal in the wake of the Kolkata Police-CBI face-off and asserted that the Centre has power to take action. Amidst din in the Lok Sabha, he also termed as "unprecedented" the move to stop the probe agency from performing its duty. An all-out war broke out between the Centre and the Mamata Banerjee government on Sunday over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams. Making a statement in Lok Sabha on the prevailing situation in Kolkata, Singh described the action against the CBI probe team, which went to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, as "unprecedented" and a threat to the federal political system of the country. "There may be constitutional breakdown in West Bengal... under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country," he said. Earlier, opposition parties in Lok Sabha attacked the government over the alleged misuse of central agencies against political rivals, saying it was against democratic norms. Members from Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, NCP and Samajwadi Party spoke against the CBI move to question the Kolkata police chief. A CPI-M member said both the Trinamool Congress and the Centre were at fault. As soon as the House took up Zero Hour, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan allowed members to raise the issue. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The TRS government in Telangana came under attack from the opposition parties on Monday over "delay" in formation of a full-fledged cabinet, with the Congress and the BJP alleging violation of constitutional norms. However, the ruling party dismissed the criticism, saying an exercise was on to streamline the administration and that the two-member cabinet would be expanded very soon. K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, was sworn-in as chief minister on December 13 after his Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) returned to power with a thumping majority in the assembly elections. Along with him, Mohammad Mahmood Ali also took oath and was given the Home portfolio. The Congress and the BJP alleged that even after more than seven weeks of the government taking charge, the absence of a full-fledged cabinet is a violation of Articles 163 and 164 of the Constitution, which deal with the council of ministers in states. Taking aim at the government, AICC spokesperson Sravan Dasoju said there was a "dictatorial rule" in Telangana. "The governor, who is supposed to be the custodian of the Constitution... he is playing a dubious role and the role of a puppet by not questioning the government...," he alleged. Dasoju sought to know why the constitutional obligation of having a minimum of 12 ministers was not being fulfilled. "There is no government and no respect for the Constitution in Telangana and it's a chaotic situation...(it is) unfortunate," he said. Chief spokesperson of the BJP's Telangana unit, Krishna Saagar Rao, said his party wondered if the state had a governor at all. "If he (governor) is present, then why is he not playing his role as the custodian of the Constitution? The BJP asks why the governor is a mute spectator of CM KCR's subversion of the Constitution. KCR has not constituted his cabinet and the council of ministers even after 50 days of taking office," the BJP leader said. "CM KCR hasn't just insulted the letter and spirit of democracy but also brazenly mocked it by practising family-fiefdom governance. He must have mistaken the recent mandate for assuming monarchy in Telangana instead of an elected and an accountable government," he added. The BJP demanded that Governor E S L Narsimhan summons the chief minister immediately and ensures that the cabinet is constituted right away. "We also demand that chief minister KCR should explain the reason for this inordinate and extraordinary delay in constitution of the state cabinet and the council of ministers," he said. TRS spokesperson Abid Rasool Khan rejected the Opposition's charges and said the government had appointed a committee of senior IAS officers to streamline the entire administration. There are about 60 departments in the government and the state can have a maximum of 17 ministers as per the constitutional cap of 15 percent of the assembly strength, he said. The Telangana Assembly has 119 members. "We want to streamline (the cabinet) in such a way that all connected departments come under one minister, so that there is no overlap. This exercise is definitely taking time," Khan told PTI. The exercise, he said, was nearing completion and a full-fledged Cabinet would be in place "very shortly". Khan said the chief minister was taking extra care to monitor all the departments and been holding reviews on a daily basis so that administration does not suffer. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and DMK MP Kanimozhi Monday arrived at the venue of dharna of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and expressed solidarity and support to her after she began a sit-in protest over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief. Tejashwi and Kanimozhi spoke with Banerjee and enquired about the incidents since Sunday evening. Both of them also expressed solidarity with Banerjee. The development comes against the backdrop of Banerjee beginning a sit-in protest at a Kolkata landmark on Sunday night over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, insisting it stifled the spirit of "Constitution and federalism". "It is political conspiracy to use the CBI against political opponents. Narendra Modi is elder to us and he should understand that PM comes and goes but the institutions of this great country remains. Whoever will not compromise with BJP they will be harassed by the CBI and other agencies," Yadav said. He said if all political parties don't unite then the people of this country "will not forgive" them. DMK leader Kanimozhi while expressing solidarity with Banerjee, said all the opposition parties should work towards staying united and work towards ensuring "that BJP's dream of returning to power" doesn't get fulfilled. "I would say that this episode was Modiji's pre-election gift to Mamata Banerjee as the BJP has realised after January 19 rally that they won't return to power after Lok Sabha polls," she said. The BJP and the RSS "believe in divisive and in order to oust BJP, we should work together", she said. Banerjee, while thanking both the leaders, said all the opposition parties are united and will fight "till Modi is ousted from power". "If we have to save India we have to oust Modi (Desh ko Bachana hain toh Modi toh Bhagana hain)," she said. Earlier, before leaving for Kolkata, Yadav, son of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, charged investigating agencies such as the CBI with harassment of political figures opposed to the BJP while treating those who switched over to the party in power at the Centre as "Raja Harishchandra",the legendary king renowned for his piety and justice. He had also targeted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for remaining equivocal on the showdown witnessed in West Bengal the previous day when Banerjee sat on a dharna in protest against CBI officers visiting the residence of the Kolkata Police Commissioner for questioning in a corruption case. "CBI, Income Tax department and Enforcement Directorate, all these agencies are being pressurised and hijacked. These are being made to function as wings of the BJP. And it was appalling to see Nitish Kumar, who claims to be a follower of Lohia and JP, evading queries earlier in the day on the latest developments in West Bengal", the former Deputy CM of Bihar said. Kumar had during interaction with the media, sidestepped queries on the developments in the neighbouring state with the remark "anything ... all types of things could happen in the period until Lok Sabha elections are announced and model code of conduct comes into force." Coming down heavily on the probe agencies, Yadav said "my entire family is being hounded by these bodies. In Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav is being harassed, so is Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh and Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal". "And when a Trinamool Congress leader joined the BJP, he became a Raja Harishchandra overnight", Yadav quipped without naming former Railway Minister Mukul Roy, whose name had cropped up in the Saradha chit fund scam and the Narada sting operation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Internet giants have more than doubled the rate at which they fight hate speech online than when they joined the European Union's voluntary approach in 2016, EU officials said Monday. Firms like YouTube, Microsoft, Twitter, and Facebook are now assessing 89 per cent of flagged content within 24 hours and removing 72 per cent of content deemed illegal, the officials said. The figures compare to 40 per cent and 28 per cent respectively when the firms signed up to a code of conduct in 2016, according to officials with the European Commission, the EU's executive arm. "The results show that the platforms have taken their obligations seriously," the EU's justice and consumer affairs commissioner Vera Jourova told a press conference. The EU joined forces with US-based internet firms nearly three years ago amid growing alarm in Europe over the use of social media as an extremist recruiting tool, especially by the Islamic State group. The founding participants were YouTube, Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook. Last year Instagram, the Google+ social network, Snapchat and Dailymotion joined the effort. Jourova said the French gaming platform jeuxvideos.com announced their participation on Monday. But the Czech commissioner warned: "Good results don't mean companies are off the hook." Jourova urged the internet companies to improve feedback to users as well as providing more transparency on notices and removals. Jourova recommended continuing with the voluntary approach after the latest commission review, but said Brussels reserved the right to resort to regulation if needed. "The fight against illegal hate speech online is not over," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A teacher of a state-run high school in Jajpur district has been arrested on charge of raping a colleague after promising to marry her, police said. Binod Bihari Sethy (35), who was acting as the headmaster in-charge of the high school at Sundaria, was arrested on Sunday on the basis of the teacher's complaint, said Umakanta Nayak, inspector-in-charge of Dharmasala police station. According to the complaint lodged by the woman, the accused had been in a physical relationship with her for the past three years after promising to marry her, Nayak said. Later, he went back on his promise and assaulted the woman on Saturday when she asked him to keep his word, he said. When the woman screamed for help after being assaulted, her colleagues rescued her and admitted her to a community health centre (CHC). The teacher lodged a complaint with the police after she was discharged from the hospital on Saturday. Acting on the complaint, Dharmasala police registered a case and arrested the accused teacher. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Image source from: Twitter.com/ANI) Mamata Banerjee At War With The Centre:- A team of eight CBI officials went to Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's bungalow last evening in Kolkata to question him. The CBI officials have been rounded and are taken ton Shakespeare Sarani police stations which triggered a war between the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Hundreds of police personnel have been deployed and surrounded two central government buildings which host CBI offices in the state. Mamata Banerjee staged protest against the Centre. The Governor on Sunday night summoned Chief Secretary Malay De and DGP Virendra asking them to submit a complete report on the issue. Mamata Banerjee staged a protest on day two calling it a conspiracy. CBI filed a petition in Supreme Court and the hearing has been adjourned till tomorrow. CBI team told that they were here on a secret mission and they had no document to explain what they were doing. CBI filed a petition seeking directors on Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to co-operate for the investigation in Saradha Chit Fund case. CBI mentioned that despite of multiple attempts, Rajeev Kumar never co-operated with them. (Video Source: Timesnow) The Taliban said Monday they will participate in what they call "intra-Afghan" talks in Moscow designed to bring together prominent Afghan figures, including former President Hamid Karzai, opposition figures and tribal elders but no Kabul government officials. The two-day meeting in the Russian capital, which starts Tuesday, is seen as another step in a process aimed at resolving Afghanistan's 17-year war, a process that has accelerated since the appointment last September of US peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad. Khalilzad has been holding separate negotiations with the Taliban even as he presses for a dialogue that would bring together all key Afghan players. However, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office criticized the meeting in Moscow, saying that Afghan politicians attending the gathering were doing so "in order to gain power." Ghani's chief adviser, Fazel Fazly, tweeted that it was "regrettable." Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban's political office in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, confirmed the Taliban participation. Their delegation is to be led by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai. The Taliban have refused to talk to Ghani's government, which they denounce as a US puppet. A statement released on Monday by Afghans attending the Moscow meeting described it as "the first step toward intra-Afghan dialogue." Along with Karzai, the former president, many of the 38 delegates from Kabul have held prominent government positions. Two presidential hopefuls are among those going to Moscow, including Hanif Atmar, who resigned as Ghani's security adviser last August, apparently over differences with the president. Also on the list are powerful warlords turned politicians and former Taliban insurgents who reconciled with the Kabul administration. The Moscow gathering will further isolate Ghani, who has been irked by Khalilzad's direct talks with the Taliban as well as the U.S. envoy's successive rounds of talks in regional countries. The Russian government has denied orchestrating the meeting. Monday's statement from Kabul said the Moscow-based Council of Afghan Society, an organization of the Afghan diaspora in Russia, was behind it. It said the participants would discuss a range of issues, from a cease-fire, supporting Khalilzad initiatives to further "intra-Afghan" talks and ways to ensure a "powerful and democratic central government" in Afghanistan. Washington has made no comments so far about the Russia-hosted talks. Since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, following the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Washington has spent more than USD 1 trillion on Afghanistan. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to bring US troops home, adding to the urgency of Khalilzad's mission. Reports late last year suggested Trump was considering withdrawing at least half of Washington's estimated 15,000 troops from Afghanistan by the summer. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The death toll in the country this year due to swine flu has soared to 226 with the H1N1 virus claiming 31 more lives in a week till Monday, while the number of those affected crossed the 6,000 mark with Rajasthan topping the list with 34 per cent of the total number of cases. According to a Union health ministry data, Delhi, which till January 28 was third in the number of swine flu cases after Rajasthan and Gujarat, is now in the second position registering 1,011 cases, with 479 new cases recorded in the last one week, Even though at least 14 deaths have taken place in the national capital -- three in Safdarjung Hospital, 10 in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and one in AIIMS -- due to the viral disease, these do not reflect in the data of the Union health ministry for the city. A total of 6,601 people have tested positive for the disease in the country till Monday with 2,030 getting infected in the last seven days, the ministry data revealed. Rajasthan has recorded 85 deaths and 2,263 cases till Monday. Gujarat was third with 43 deaths and 898 people being infected with H1N1 virus, followed by Haryana which recorded two deaths and 490 cases. According to the data, Punjab reported 30 deaths and 250 cases of swine flu while Maharashtra recorded 138 cases and 12 deaths till Monday. With the numbers going up, the health ministry has asked the states to bolster their surveillance for early detection of the disease and also keep beds reserved in hospitals to deal with acute cases which require ventilator facility. The official said states have not yet made any demand regarding drugs, diagnostic kits and wherewithal to deal with the issue. Recent health ministry guidelines on diagnosis, management, vaccination, isolation criteria, risk categorisation and preventive measures have been circulated among all hospitals and other health facilities. "There is sufficient stock of swine flu drug -- Oseltamivir -- and there is no scarcity of N95 masks and diagnostic kits. Further, states have been asked to issue advisories to people mentioning the dos and don'ts," a senior health ministry official said. Last year, the country reported 14,992 swine cases and 1,103 deaths due to it. Meanwhile, a panel of the Delhi's health department is examining the swine flu death cases reported by various hospitals. The Delhi government has also issued a health advisory which mentioning the do's and don'ts. It states that seasonal influenza (H1N1) is a self-limiting viral, air borne disease spread from person to person, through large droplets generated due to coughing and sneezing, indirect contact by touching a contaminated object or surface and close contact, including handshaking, hugging and kissing. The dos and don'ts mention covering nose and mouth with disposable tissue or handkerchief while coughing or sneezing, washing hands with soap and water frequently, avoiding crowded places, maintaining isolation, drinking plenty of liquid and consulting a doctor. According to the advisory, one should not touch the eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands, or hug, kiss or shake hands while greeting, or spit in public places, and dispose of used napkin or tissue paper in open areas. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a major relief to former military secretary Avadhesh Prakash, the Supreme Court has set aside the General Court Martial (GCM) order dismissing him from service for alleged involvement in the 2008 Sukna land scam in West Bengal, terming its proceedings as "vitiated". The top court held that the GCM was not "validly constituted" in Prakash's case as it consisted of members below his rank of Lieutenant General, and refused to remit back the case to the authorities for fresh GCM which is done in "normal course". A bench of justices A K Sikri, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah also set aside the December 2017 order of Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) holding him guilty of charge of "unbecoming conduct" with a punishment that he need not be given arrears of pension from the date of dismissal of service till the date of passing of order. The court noted that Prakash has already retired from service and only one charge was established against him which was also not of very serious nature, as it quashed the GCM and AFT orders and directed payment of all benefits including pensions within three months to him. "It is a travesty of justice that a person holding the rank of Lieutenant General is tried by the GCM which consisted of members below his rank," the bench said Monday, "Such a composition cannot be countenanced in law. We are, therefore, of the opinion that the GCM was not validly constituted. Once that finding is arrived at, entire proceedings held by the said GCM stand vitiated," it said. The inquiry against Prakash was ordered by the then Chief of Army Staff, General (retd) VK Singh, who is now a Union Minister. After GCM had pronounced him guilty in the case, Prakash had approached the AFT against the order. The Sukna land scam had first surfaced in 2008 and involves the transfer of land next to the Army's 33 Corps Headquarters in Siliguri, West Bengal, to a real-estate developer. The apex court said said that in accordance with the provisions of Rule 40 of the Army Rules, 1954, in Prakash's case members of the GCM could be of the rank of Lieutenant General or above. The top court noted that in this case, the GCM comprised of one Lieutenant General and four Major Generals. The AFT, in its order, had accepted that Lieutenant Generals could have been made available as members of the GCM, as was done in the case of GCM of Lt Gen PK Rath, another accused in Sukna case. The top court, in its verdict, said just on the ground that Prakash had already retired as Lieutenant General, the AFT has come to the conclusion that it does not find any legal infirmity in the constitution of GCM as the provisions of Rule 40(2) of the Army Rules have been complied with. "We fail to understand the reasoning and rationale given by the Tribunal. The appellant was holding the position of Lieutenant General. Allegations which were levelled against him for which GCM was convened was in his capacity as the Lieutenant General," the bench said adding, merely because Prakash had retired in the meantime cannot be a ground to discard and give Army Rules a go by. The bench said that in normal course in such a case, the court would had remitted the case back for constituting a proper GCM but due to various reasons it was not necessary to do this exercise in the instant case. Giving the reasons, the bench said that the GCM had itself exonerated Prakash of serious charge and had held him guilty on three charges. "Interestingly, out of these three charges, the Tribunal, in the impugned order, has come to the conclusion that two charges could not be held to be proved. Therefore, it is only one charge that ultimately stands established against the appellant," it said and added that charge is also not of a very serious nature. The court said that Prakash has already retired from service and the only issue now pertains to the grant of pensionary benefit, which the AFT granted from December 20, 2017. "For all these reasons, we are of the considered view that no useful purpose would be served in remitting the case back to the authorities for fresh GCM," it said. Prakash was commissioned in the Indian Army on December 20, 1970 and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General in October, 2007. He was appointed as a Military Secretary on May 1, 2008 at the Army Headquarters, New Delhi. Prakash's name figured in the Court of Inquiry on January 7, 2009 and the Chief of Army Staff initially directed administrative action against him and a show cause notice was served upon him January 11, 2010. Prakash submitted his reply to the show cause notice on January 22, 2010 but just two days prior to his retirement on January 31, 2010, he was informed about withdrawal of the show cause notice and initiation of disciplinary proceedings against him under the provisions of Section 123 of the Army Act,1950. The GCM in 2011 found Prakash not guilty on the first charge but found him guilty on charges second, third and fourth and sentenced him to "Dismissal from Service". He appealed against the order of GCM in AFT, New Delhi and sought setting aside of the general court martial proceedings against him and payment of all retiral and consequential benefits. The AFT after considering the rival contentions came to the conclusion that Prakash is guilty of the second charge, i.e., 'Unbecoming conduct' under Section 45 of the Army Act but absolved him for charges three and four. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Crowds of Sudanese protesters chanted "freedom, freedom," as riot police fired tear gas on anti-government rallies in the capital and its twin city of Omdurman on Monday, witnesses said. They said protesters took to the streets in two districts of Khartoum and in Omdurman, across the Nile. Riot police swiftly moved in to disperse the protests, firing tear gas at one of the rallies in Khartoum and in the twin city, according to witnesses. Even as police fired tear gas, protesters kept up the "freedom, peace, justice" rallying cry of an anti-government campaign that erupted in December, witnesses said. Monday's demonstrations came after campaigners called for new rallies this week against the government of President Omar al-Bashir. Deadly protests have rocked the east African country since December after cash-strapped Khartoum cut a vital subsidy on bread. The protests quickly escalated into anti-government demonstrations across cities and towns, with protesters calling on Bashir to step down. Officials say 30 people have died in nationwide protests, but Human Rights Watch says at least 51 people have been killed. Bashir has remained defiant, addressing loyalists at several rallies across the country and seeking support from regional allies. On Sunday, he held three rallies in the state of North Kordofan where he pledged to bolster rural growth by undertaking new infrastructure projects. Bashir and other senior Sudanese officials have repeatedly said the government can only be changed through elections. The veteran leader, who came to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, is considering running for a third presidential term in polls due next year. The protest campaign led by the Sudanese Professionals Association is seen as the biggest challenge yet to Bashir's three-decade-rule, with young men and women demanding his resignation in daily demonstrations. At one of his rallies in North Kordofan on Sunday, Bashir appealed to the country's youths to help build a new Sudan. On Monday, Defence Minister Awad Ibnouf called for the inclusion of youths in dialogue. "The recent incidents show that there is a division between the young generation and others within families," Ibnouf told a gathering of army officers in Khartoum, according to a statement issued by the army. "This is something that needs to be solved by dialogue with the youth." His comments come days after the army's chief of staff, General Kamal Abdelmarouf, said the army "will not allow the Sudanese state to collapse or fall into chaos" amid the ongoing protests. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CBI Monday alleged in the Supreme Court that it has found "substantial material" against Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam case but he was not cooperating in the investigation and ignoring the summons. Narrated the sequence of events of Sunday evening in which its sleuths were rounded up by the West Bengal police, CBI said it was seeking a direction for Kumar to immediately surrender and make himself available before it for investigation into the scam. CBI said Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee along with the DGP, additional commissioner of police sat on dharna or sit-in at around 10 pm Sunday in Kolkata and as such a conduct by the officials in uniform points to "complete anarchy prevailing in Kolkata and West Bengal". The agency justified its action to reach the residence of Kumar saying it has substantial material to exercise its power of arrest without warrant and the Commissioner of Police is bound to comply with law of the land. The application of the agency which came for perusal before a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, said the CBI approached the apex court in view of unprecedented events which took place on Sunday and are ongoing in Kolkata. CBI said it was investigating the cases arising out if Saradha scam "under hostile environment and non-cooperation from the West Bengal government and its agencies/departments". It submitted that though there has been non cooperation from the state government, the CBI has been conducting the investigation diligently. In the Saradha scam, savings of lakhs of poor people of Eastern India, primarily from West Bengal were swindled by the Saradha Group. The agency further said that "disturbing developments" have forced it to approach the apex court seeking appropriate directions. The CBI in its application referred to the contempt petitions and other petitions filed in 2015 and 2017 in which issue of non-cooperation by the state government was brought. The agency said that it was conducting investigation as per the direction of the apex court and has found substantial material against the Police Commissioner of Kolkata for which it sent summons to him. It is submitted that such summons were not responded to properly and it also alleged that the police commissioner has been found to be destroying evidence pertaining to the case," it said. The CBI further said that non cooperation by Kumar was brought to the notice of the West Bengal DGP but in fragrant violation of the Rule of law, directives of the apex court and the Constitution itself neither the DGP acted upon it nor the Kolkata police commissioner cooperated. The agency said when the state police had surrounded the CBI office late Sunday evening, it did not permit even CBI officers to enter the office to collect relevant documents of the case. In effect, the West Bengal police had laid siege around CBI office Kolkata' it said, adding, it is most unfortunate that elected head of the state along with DGP and other officers of the state who were obliged to cooperate with CBI have openly flouted the order a passed by this court. Further, it submitted that such conduct on part of persons, who were involved, defies the basic principles of rule of law and completely directed towards illegally influencing CBI's investigation which was undergoing as per direction of apex court. While narrating the sequence of events of February 3, the agency said its 25 officials went to the residence of Kolkata police commissioner late in the afternoon and was merely discharging its mandate given by the apex court. It said a glaring example of breakdown of constitutional machinery happened in the state as the CBI officials were not only prevented from acting in furtherance of the apex court direction but were also taken in, grounded up and illegally confined. The mobile phones of these officers were snatched by the West Bengal state police personnel and CBI officials were kept in illegal confinement at the police station. It is submitted that in a brazen, unconstitutional and contemptuous act striking at the very root of the Constitution, West Bengal's local police laid a siege around the official residence of Pankaj Shrivastava , joint director CBI. Shrivastava , his wife and daughter were inside the house and went through intense trauma and humiliation at the hands of West Bengal police, it said. While one English TV channel telephonically came in contact with Shrivastava, the higher officials of the CBI were in the interregnum were unable to be in touch with Shrivatava and his family who were virtually kept hostage. "It is submitted that CBI has substantial material to exercise its power of arrest without warrant and the commissioner of police is bound to comply with law of the land," the agency said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) president Prem Singh Tamang on Monday asserted that his party will "sweep" the upcoming state assembly elections, as people are fed up of the "corrupt" Sikkim Democratic Front government. "We will sweep the upcoming assembly polls in Sikkim, as the people have become tired of a corrupt government being led by Chief Minister (Pawan Kumar) Chamling for more than two decades," he said at SKM's seventh foundation day function here. Tamang, popularly known as P S Golay, also hit out at Chamling, his one-time mentor, for "dividing" the society on caste and communal grounds for "vote bank" The SKM chief had to bear with the ignominy of being disqualified from the membership of the Sikkim legislative assembly in 2016, following his conviction for a year in a corruption case. "I had to serve a year in imprisonment for a crime which I did not commit," he said, referring to the conviction in a cattle distribution scam during his stint as a minister in the Chamling government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Six suspected cattle smugglers were arrested as police rescued 28 animals in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district, officials said Monday. The animals were being taken to the Kashmir valley without permission, a police official said. He said police intercepted four load carriers in Ramban town along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway and rescued 24 animals which were being illegally transported to the Kashmir valley. Four more cattle, being taken by foot, were rescued at Tatapani, the official said. He said six suspected cattle smugglers were arrested and three separate cases were registered against them. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday said he is opposed to forming a national government only to expand the Cabinet of ministers, indicating that his rift with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was far from over. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe-led government on Friday sought the consent of the Speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament to form a 'national government', a move seen as a step to get a majority in the 225-member House. Addressing the nation at the 71st National Independence Day celebrations, Sirisena said the proposed national government is simply an attempt to increase the number of Cabinet ministers and provide privileges to the ministers at the people's expense. Calling the move unethical, the president said the people's wish is to limit the Cabinet to 25 ministers. "I have seen media reports of an attempt to form a national government. I stand opposed to the move as this would be an exercise only to expand the cabinet of ministers and attain more privileges," Sirisena said referring to the move by Wickremesinghe. Wickremesinghe was sacked by President Maithripala Sirisena in October last year and strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed the prime minister. The President also removed the members of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from the national unity government. The UNP, with 106 seats, had joined hands with the Sirisena's SLFP in 2015 to form a unity government. Sirisena was forced to reappoint Wickremesinghe as the prime minister after Rajapaksa failed to prove his majority twice in Parliament. Since his reappointment in December last, the Wickremesinghe-led government has been functioning without the required majority of 113 in the 225-member House. Sirisena's move to dissolve Parliament to hold a snap parliamentary poll on January 5 was turned down by the Supreme Court. Wickremesinghe plans to set up a national government by entering into a pact with the solitary member from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress while roping in the members from Sirisena's Freedom Party. The year 2019 is a crucial year for Sri Lanka as the next presidential election is scheduled to be held between November this year and early January 2020. Wickremesinghe's party has already announced that they would not back the president again due to the ongoing rift between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe. Rajapaksa cannot contest again as he had been twice president before. The former President's new Sri Lanka People's Party is less inclined to back Sirisena. The Rajapaksa-led opposition has been demanding holding of fresh elections ahead of its schedule in August 2020. During the address, Sirisena also warned that international forces were working against Sri Lanka in this election year. He said international reactionary forces have arrived in the country in various disguises. He also lamented that even after 71 years of independence the main national question regarding the Tamil minority still remains unresolved. Interestingly only last week that Sirisena publicly opposed the ongoing attempts to form a new Constitution aimed at addressing the issues of the Tamil community. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Assam government Monday said sealing of the Indo-Bangla border in the state is going slow due to various reasons, including scarcity of funds to the implementing agency -- Central Public Works Department (CPWD). In a written reply to a query by AGP MLA Satyabrat Kalita, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said putting up of barbed fence along the international border between India and Bangladesh was being done by the Centre. "CPWD has informed that the work on their portion of 9.03 km are going slow due to difficult terrain, continuous rains and scarcity of funds," Patowary said on behalf of the Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who also holds charge of the Border Areas Development department. No work is going on at a 4.35 km stretch in Karimganj district as the Bangladesh government has sought reference pillar and the matter is being discussed between the two countries, he added. The minister informed that House that the total length of the Indo-Bangla border in Assam is 263 km, of which 214.89 km are on land and the remaining 48.11 km are river border. "Out of the land portion, barbed fencing along 201.51 km, which is 93.77 per cent, have been completed," Patowary said, adding NBCC is also working along with CPWD in sealing the border. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Showing compassion, the Supreme Court Monday decided to appoint a lawyer to assist a petitioner to make good her case instead of dismissing the incomprehensible plea as is customary. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which is usually strict with the maintainability of petitions, told Karri Lakshmikal, who was appearing in person, that it was unable to decipher as to what her precise grievances were. The bench, also comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna, then offered to Lakshmikal that it would appoint a lawyer as an amicus curiae to help her out. The petitioner was alleging complicity of some policemen of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh in some criminal acts. "We have perused the writ petition and heard the petitioner, who is appearing in person. We are unable to comprehend as to what is the precise grievance of the petitioner. "Ordinarily, this should entail the dismissal of the criminal writ petition, but as the petitioner is appearing in person and has insisted that she does have a grievance, we appoint Preetesh Kapur, counsel as an Amicus Curiae in the matter," the bench said. It asked the petitioner to give a copy of her petition to Kapur in the course of the day and the lawyer, in turn, would interact with her and present her case in court on February, 6, the next date of hearing. "The petitioner may appear in person and assist the Court, if she so desires," it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The rupee on Monday dropped by 55 paise to close at 71.80 to the US dollar, the lowest level since December 17, ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's policy review meet. This is the second straight session of loss for the domestic unit, during which it lost a total 72 paise. Forex traders said foreign fund outflows and a stronger dollar following blockbuster US employment and factory data impacted the rupee sentiment. Moreover, investors were cautious ahead of the next meeting of RBI's Monetary Policy Committee scheduled during February 5-7. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the rupee opened lower at 71.57 and fell further to touch the day's low of 71.82. The domestic unit pared some losses before ending at 71.80 per dollar, down by 55 paise against its previous close. On Friday, the rupee had settled 17 paise lower at 71.25 against the US dollar. "Brent crude rose for fifth straight day to gain almost 6 per cent in last one week. The resultant pressure on Indian rupee is visible as it is trading lower," Sanctum Wealth Management Chief Investment Officer Sunil Sharma said. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading at USD 62.97 per barrel, higher by 0.16 per cent. Forex traders said concerns related to fiscal slippage weighed on the sentiment. "The fiscal deficit for the current financial year is likely to be around 3.4 per cent of GDP, marginally higher than the targeted 3.3 per cent," said V K Sharma, Head PCG & Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC Securities. The benchmark BSE Sensex Monday recovered from the day's low to end 113.31 points, or 0.31 per cent, higher at 36,582.74. The NSE Nifty also edged higher by 18.60 points, or 0.17 per cent, to close at 10,912.25. Meanwhile, foreign funds sold shares worth Rs 112.13 crore from the capital markets on a net basis Friday, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 65.22 crore, provisional data showed. The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 71.6580 and for rupee/euro at 81.9997. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 93.7067 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 65.29. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The rupee Monday depreciated by 48 paise to 71.73 in early trade on the forex market ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's policy review meet and lower opening in domestic equity market. Forex traders said strengthening of the US dollar against some currencies overseas weighed on the local unit. However, easing crude prices and fresh foreign fund inflows capped the losses for the domestic unit. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened on a weak note at 71.57 then fell further to 71.73 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 48 paise over its previous closing. On Friday, the rupee had settled 17 paise lower at 71.25 against the US dollar. Forex traders said sentiments were muted ahead of the next meeting of RBI's Monetary Policy Committee scheduled between 5th and 7th February. Foreign funds bought shares worth Rs 1,315.89 crore from the capital markets on a net basis Friday, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 5.07 crore, provisional data showed. The global benchmark, brent crude oil was trading at USD 62.73 per barrel, lower by 0.03 per cent. Meanwhile, domestic equity market opened on a lower note. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex, was trading at 35,368.12, down 101.31 points in early trade. The wide-based Nifty was also trading down by 32.25 points at 10,861.40. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat will be on a four-day visit to Uttarakhand beginning Tuesday during which he will interact with a cross section of people and address the Sangh cadres and office-bearers. Bhagwat will interact with intellectuals, academicians, litterateurs and distinguished folk artistes from the state here, RSS leader Shashi Kant Dikshit told reporters here. Bhagwat will also address Sangh cadre during his stay and review its activities in the state, he said. With the Lok Sabha polls just a few months away, the RSS chief's visit is being seen as an exercise to take the feedback of people and galvanise the cadre ahead of the crucial election. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Rohingya Muslim group of eight women and 17 children, who were arrested after being stuck at the India-Bangladesh border last month, was on Monday released from jail following deposit of bail bonds by Rohingya Refugee Community. Judicial Magistrate (First Class), S L Tripura Monday ordered for releasing them from jail after the bail bonds of Rs 5,000 for each of them were deposited. The Magistrate also granted bails for six Rohingya men, also of the same stranded group, during the day on condition that Rs 30,000 is to be deposited per person. Advocate Prasenjit Debnath, who moved the bail petition for the Rohingyas men, said if the bail bonds are deposited on February 8, when they would be produced in the court again, they would be freed. Meanwhile, Md Shaqir, a member of Rohingya Refugee Community, who came from Delhi for depositing the bail bonds, told reporters that he would talk to his community for gathering the money for bail bonds for the six men, who were again taken to jail as bail bonds could not be deposited. The BSF on January 22 handed over the 31 Rohingya Muslims, who were stranded on the India-Bangladesh border since January 18, to the Tripura police, after the paramilitary force and its counterpart, the BGB, failed to reach a decision during talks on the issue, officials said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rapper 21 Savage has been taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement following a "targeted operation" in Atlanta on Sunday. According to CNN, the Grammy-nominated rapper came to the US as a teenager in 2005 from the UK but did not leave when his visa expired a year later. He was subsequently convicted on felony charges in 2014. "The rapper initially entered the US legally in July 2005, but subsequently failed to depart under the terms of his nonimmigrant visa and he became unlawfully present in the US when his visa expired in July 2006," the ICE spokesman told CNN. 21 Savage, whose real name is Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, has previously described a childhood in Atlanta during interviews. "His whole public persona is false. He actually came to the US from the UK as a teen and overstayed his visa," the official added. The ICE spokesman said 21 Savage was in the car with "another rapper who was the target of a criminal arrest". "21 was taken into custody by law enforcement after they learned of his immigration status. There is no misunderstanding. 21 Savage is a British National. "He wasn't the target. Another rapper was. 21 got caught up while in the car. It wasn't a targeted immigration detention as initially implied in the ICE release," he added. He has been placed in deportation proceedings in federal immigration court. The recording artiste's lawyer Dina LaPolt said the team is "working diligently to get Mr Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with the authorities to clear up any misunderstandings." "Mr Abraham-Joseph is a role model to the young people in the country especially in Atlanta, Georgia, and is actively working in the community leading programs to help underprivileged youths in financial literacy," she added. 21 Savage is nominated for two awards at next week's Grammys, including record of the year for "Rockstar" alongside Post Malone. His second solo album "I Am I Was," released in December, debuted at No 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) MNS chief Raj Thackeray and noted water conservationist Rajendra Singh Monday met social activist Anna Hazare, who has been sitting on an indefinite hunger strike over his demand for appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra. On the sixth day of Hazare's fast, Thackeray met the 81-year-old anti-graft crusader at his protest site in Ralegan Siddhi village of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra and extended his full support to his agitation and asked him not to sacrifice his life for the "useless" government. He asked Hazare to end his protest and conduct a joint tour of the state with him to "bury" the BJP-led government. The MNS leader and Hazare held a closed door meeting at a room in the Yadavbaba temple premises for around 20 minutes. After the meeting, Thackeray addressed the gathering at Hazare's protest site and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "cheating" the nation and not following his party's own poll manifesto. He quoted some tweets and speeches of Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections campaign in which, Thackeray said, the prime minister had praised Hazare for his honesty and moral attitude. "I have appealed Anna not to sacrifice his life for these useless people. I have also asked him not to trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi and any of his promises," he said. Thackeray claimed that Modi had on December 18, 2013 tweeted in favour of the Lokpal Bill. "Now, almost five years of the Modi government is completed but no action has been taken so far. Today, the people in power are there because of Anna's agitation in 2013. They should not forget it," he said. Thackeray said he was surprised that even Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was part of Hazare's agitation some years back and came into national limelight from there, had not visited the activist or enquired about his health. "The entire country got to know Kejriwal because of Anna's agitation. Now, he (Kejriwal) is in power and not showing concern towards Anna's health," he said. The MNS leader said he had told Hazare that they are "dishonest" people. "You should quit the fast and we will jointly tour the state and bury this government. My party is extending support to Anna's cause," Thackeray said. Hazare has been on a hunger strike since last Wednesday, demanding appointment of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states where such statutory anti-corruption watchdogs do not exist, and resolution of farmers' issues. He has also been demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations on ways to address agrarian distress, besides electoral reforms. Earlier in the morning, water activist Rajendra Singh also met Hazare and expressed concern over the activist's health. Singh along with some social activists discussed the issues plaguing the farmers and "flaws" in the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act-2013. After the meeting, Singh said the central government will play the same "game" which it had played with activist G D Agarwal, who had sat on a huge protest in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand in support of his demand for a clean Ganga river last year and later died. He extended his support to Hazare and his agitation and said some NGOs would also be joining his protest in a day or two, as everybody has realised the "insensitivity and cruelty" of the Modi government. Singh, known as the 'Waterman of India', is credited with reviving rivers in his home state of Rajasthan and was conferred the Stockholm Water Prize for his work in 2015. He had also won the 2001 Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra, had on Sunday extended his support to Hazare, urging him to emulate socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and lead an agitation against corruption. Hazare had earlier warned that if the Modi government did not fulfil its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan award. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Monday said Congress president Rahul Gandhi has squandered his goodwill by allying with RJD chief Lalu Prasad, going opposite to his stand when he tore an ordinance aimed at reversing a Supreme Court order on disqualification of convicted politicians. Kumar also took potshots at Gandhi for the promises he made at his Patna rally on Sunday. "Gandhi had famously torn and thrown away a copy of the ordinance that intended to reverse a Supreme Court order on disqualification of convicted politicians. But later he allied with the same type of people and yesterday he was singing paeans (to Prasad)," Kumar said, without naming the RJD chief. The JD(U) chief, who had forged a short-lived alliance with the RJD and the Congress, which came to be known as the 'Mahagathbandhan' or grand alliance, for fighting the 2015 Bihar assembly poll, has been squarely blaming Gandhi for his volte face of 2017 when he returned to the BJP-led NDA. He has been alleging that Gandhi had failed to take a stand on the corruption cases against the then Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, which was bringing a bad name to the 'Mahagathbandhan' government. "Here is a person who has been convicted in a corruption case by a court of law. And people have the temerity to say that he is being framed. Allying with such people has only destroyed the goodwill earned through gestures like tearing of the ordinance," Kumar rued. Berating the show of opposition unity at the rally which was attended by Tejashwi and his associates-turned-adversaries Jitan Ram Manjhi and Sharad Yadav, among others, Kumar said "it was I who had coined the term Mahagathbandhan". "Now it is just a gathbandhan. Mind you even he (Gandhi) repeatedly used the term gathbandhan only," the JD(U) chief said. He also dismissed the Congress president's promise of ensuring a minimum income for the poor, saying "elections are round the corner, people will come out with all types of promises". Miffed over Gandhi's allegation that Kumar had delivered empty promises to the people of Bihar like Modi did at the Centre, the chief minister said the Congress chief would have done well to take note of the high growth rate of the state and the massive improvement in agricultural productivity. About Gandhi's promise of granting central status to Patna University, Kumar said, "I raised the demand before Prime Minister Modi and it was not accepted. Somebody must have tipped off about the same to Congress president and prompted him to make this promise." "But this has been a long-standing demand. I have been raising it since the days I was an MP. Why did the Congress-led UPA not do the needful when it was in power," Kumar, himself a graduate of the Patna University, asked. On the resolution passed at the 'Dharma Sansad' in Kumbh where seers have declared commencement of Ram temple construction at Ayodhya from February 21, Kumar said "our party's stand has always been clear". "The dispute should be resolved through a court order or through a consensus reached between the affected communities. There is no change in that," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Rahul Gandhi Monday assured three delegations of the civil society, students, farmers and activists from the Northeast that his party will oppose the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, claimed leaders of the organisations. The delegations of North East Students' Organisation (NESO), Forum Against Citizenship Act Amendment Bill (FACAA), led by renowned academician Hiren Gohain, and 70 organisations of Assam, including Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), met Gandhi and sought his cooperation to stall the bill in the Upper House, where the legislation is pending. "We have apprised the Congress president about the people's apprehension about the bill and how it can hurt the indigenous people of the Northeast, its languages and culture. He assured us that the Congress party will oppose the bill in Rajya Sabha," NESO advisor Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharjya told PTI. The delegation of FACAA, led by Gohain, also met Gandhi separately where they told him that the bill will violate the basic tenets of the Constitution and the secular foundation of citizenship in the country as it provides for citizenship to all Hindus who come from the neighbouring country. "The Congress president told us that the party will oppose the bill and will not allow to destroy the language and culture of the Northeast," convenor of FACAA Manjit Mahanta told PTI. The third delegation, comprising 70 organisations of Assam, met Gandhi and sought his intervention in "scuttling" the NDA government's "agenda" to impose the bill on the people of the Northeast. Gandhi gave the assurance that he would do the needful to ensure that the bill does not get the approval of the Rajya Sabha, a member of the delegation said. The bill provides for according Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after seven years of residence in India instead of 12 years, which is the norm currently, even if they do not possess any document. The legislation was passed by the Lok Sabha during the Winter Session on January 8 and has been awaiting Rajya Sabha nod. There has been strong opposition in Assam and other Northeastern states against the bill. Political parties have been protesting on the grounds that the bill seeks to grant nationality to non-Muslims who have come up to December 31, 2014, thereby, increasing the deadline from 1971 as per the Assam Accord. Also, according to the Assam Accord, all illegal immigrants who have come after 1971, irrespective of their religion, have to be deported and this bill violates that. Addressing the joint sitting of Parliament, President Ram Nath Kovind Thursday said the bill will give justice to persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan through Indian nationality. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also announced that the bill is an "atonement of the wrong that was done during India's Partition. India will safeguard all who had been victims of the Partition". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sabarimala temple Tantri (head priest) Kandararu Rajeevaru Monday described as 'baseless', the allegation that the purification ritual he conducted at the Ayyappa shrine on January 2 was due to the entry of the two women of menstruating age. In his 11-page explanation to the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the Sabarimala temple, he said the ritual was held to restore the 'grace' of the deity, which was lost as the temple faced many controversies and allegations during the Chithira Atta celebrations and the Mandala-Makaravilaku festival. "The temple was facing many issues during the Chithira Aatta celebration and mandala-makaravilakku festival. When such issues come up, we need to perform a purification ceremony to revive the lost grace of the deity," Tantri said in his explanation. He also said that since there was no puja on December 31, 2018, the next day-January 1, 2019, witnessed huge crowds, prompting him to perform the ritual on January 2. "Hence, the allegations that the temple was closed due to the women's entry and the act was against the Supreme Court order of September 28 are baseless," he said. The Tantri also said that it was not necessary to take permission from the TDB to perform the rituals. "The ceremony was conducted after informing all the devoswom officials who were present at the Sannidhanam at that time. I had informed the TDB president and the Devaswom Commissioner that purification of the idol was being done and the door of the sanctum sanctorum was not closed fully as alleged," Tantri explained in his letter. He also said he had a telephonic conversation with TDB president A Padamakumar and Board member Shankar Das on the need to perform a purification ceremony and the ritual was done with full co-operation of the Devaswom Board officials. On the rights of his family Tazhamon Madom to perform the puja at Sabarimala, the Tantri said his post was not a government appointment. "The Thazamon family has been conferred with the priestly duties for generations. This is not a government appointment," he said. The TDB, the apex temple body in Kerala, had sought an explanation from the head priest for the purification rituals performed after two women of menstruating age entered the hill temple. The over two-month long tumultuous annual pilgrimage season at Sabarimala had witnessed frenzied protests by devotees and right wing activists against the entry of young women. After 42-year old Bindu and Kanakadurga, 44, offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple on January 2, the sanctum sanctorum was closed under tantri's directive to perform the 'purification' ritual, which is carried out when there is a violation of temple customs. Rajeevaru faced harsh criticism from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran and other ministers over the purification rites. Senior Kerala minister G Sudhakaran had even called him a "Brahmin monster" for conducting the ritual. "The tantri is a symbol of caste devil. He is not a Brahmin. He is a Brahmin monster. If a Brahmin becomes a monster, he will be a terror," the minister had said. Meanwhile, the Kerala State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes had sent a show-cause notice to Rajeevaru over the purification rite performed at Sabarimala. "Bindhu, one of the women who entered the Sabarimala shrine, was a Dalit.We have received 2-3 complaints, stating that the purification rite was performed because of that and the ritual was against her," the commission had said. Earlier, there were media reports that the CPI(M)-led LDF government planned to remove the tantri for conducting the purification rituals, but the TDB had rejected the reports. Sabarimala had witnessed intense protests against the LDF government's decision to implement the landmark September 28 2018 Supreme Court verdict, permitting women of all age groups into the hill shrine. Traditionally, women of menstruating age or in the age group of 10 to 50 years were not allowed to enter the temple as the deity, Lord Ayyappa, was a "Naishtika brahmachari" (perennial celibate). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Describing her sit-in over the CBI's attempt to question Kolkata Police chief as a "non-political" protest, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday said support has poured in for her from different quarters of the country. The chief minister, who has been sitting on a dharna since 8.30pm Sunday on a makeshift dais at Metro Channel here, said she will continue her "satyagraha" till the country and its Constitution are "saved". Banerjee also asked his party members to ensure that the protest was peaceful. The unprecedented development came after the CBI's attempt to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with multi-crore chit fund scams. The CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area Sunday, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and whisked to a police station. Welcoming support for her dharna, Banerjee said, "It's not a political programme. But all political parties can join us in our protest." Banerjee maintained that Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, DMK president MK Stalin and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti were among those who called up to express solidarity to her protest. The TMC chief Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a coup in the state. She also alleged that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was directing the CBI to harass political opponents, as per orders of the prime minister. Addressing her party workers, who raised slogans against Modi near her dais, Banerjee said, "We want a peaceful demonstration. Please do not burn any effigies here." The dias displayed a banner saying"Save the constitution, save the federal structure, save the police force, save the Indian Administrative Service and all ranks of civil service from disaster". The CM skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on the dais here along with some senior ministers and party members. Criticising reports that questioned the presence of senior police officers at the demonstration, Banerjee said, "It's a programme of the government and that's why police officers are here." The TMC supremo had earlier said she would not attend the Assembly, where the state budget would be placed by Finance Minister Amit Mitra, on Monday. Prior to that, a cabinet meeting would be held inside a makeshift room set up behind the stage. Meanwhile, party workers hit the streets from morning in Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura, Burdwan East, Purulia, Birbhum and North 24 Parganas districts, officials said. Effigies of Modi and BJP national President Amit Shah were also burnt by them. In Howrah and Hooghly districts, TMC activists obstructed train movement while they put up blockades on national highway in Bankura district. Shouting slogans against the CBI, the TMC cadres vowed to continue their fight till the Narendra Modi government is defeated in the next Lok Sabha polls. Banerjee had also directed party leaders to organise protest marches across the state on Monday between 2 pm and 4 pm without inconveniencing the people. In a tweet, the CM had earlier asserted that the Kolkata Police Commissioner "was among the best in the world and that his integrity, bravery and honesty are unquestioned". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pope Francis, the first leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics to visit the Arabian Peninsula, will attend an interfaith meeting in the UAE on Monday as part of his outreach to Muslims. The pontiff arrived in a modest black Kia at Abu Dhabi's presidential palace, where he was welcomed with a lavish military parade. Officers fired 21 shots in the air, while jets flew overhead leaving white and yellow trails -- the colours of the Vatican City flag. The pope's highly publicised 48-hour visit to the United Arab Emirates will also include an open-air mass on Tuesday for 135,000 of the Muslim country's million Catholic residents, set to be the largest public gathering in the country's history. The pope was expected to raise the issue of Yemen, devastated by a war in which the UAE is a key player, in talks with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. Yemen is the scene of what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, triggered by the intervention of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies in a war between the government and Huthi rebels. More than 10 million Yemenis now risk imminent starvation. Sheikh Mohammed said on Monday that UAE rulers were "delighted" to meet the pontiff "in our homeland of tolerance". "We discussed enhancing cooperation, consolidating dialogue, tolerance, human coexistence and important initiatives to achieve peace, stability and development for peoples and societies," he tweeted. Pope Francis, who made history when he touched down in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night, said he came "as a brother, in order to write a page of dialogue together, and to travel paths of peace together". To mark the occasion, the pontiff offered the crown prince a framed medallion of the meeting between St. Francis Assisi -- the pope's namesake -- and the Sultan of Egypt Malek al-Kamel, in 1219. Sheikh Mohammed, in turn, offered a deed for the plot of land on which the first church in the UAE was built. The pope was set to meet with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb -- imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's prestigious seat of learning -- later Monday. Sheikh Ahmed greeted the pope personally with an embrace on Sunday night as the pontiff arrived in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. The emirate's crown prince was also at the airport to greet the pontiff, who has made strengthening ties between Christianity and Islam a cornerstone of his papacy. Hours before he flies back to Rome on Tuesday, the pope will lead a mass at a stadium in the capital. The UAE has dubbed 2019 its "year of tolerance", but rights groups have criticised the country for its role in Yemen, where an estimated 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-led alliance including the UAE joined the government's fight against the Huthis in 2015. Rights groups, which have slammed the UAE over its intolerance of dissent, have also urged the pope to raise the issue of Ahmed Mansoor, an Emirati activist serving a 10-year prison term. Before heading to the Gulf on Sunday, Pope Francis urged warring parties in Yemen to respect a truce agreement and allow deliveries of food aid. "The population is exhausted by the lengthy conflict and a great many children are suffering from hunger, but cannot access food depots," he said. "The cry of these children and their parents rises up to God." The UAE, which prides itself on its religious diversity in the Gulf, is a member of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in both Syria and Iraq. The UAE has eight Catholic churches. Oman, Kuwait and Yemen each have four. Qatar and Bahrain have one each, while ultra-conservative Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia bans all non-Muslim places of worship. Muslims make up nearly four fifths of the UAE's population, but the country is also home to nearly a million Catholics, according to the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Migrants from Asian countries make up about 65 percent of the population. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pope Francis and a top Muslim cleric have issued a joint call for freedom of belief during the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the birthplace of Islam - the Arabian Peninsula. Francis, who has made outreach to Muslim communities a cornerstone of his papacy, is on an historic three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates. He is due to hold an open-air mass on Tuesday for 135,000 of the Muslim country's million Catholic residents, set to be the largest ever public gathering in the Gulf state. On Monday, the pope held talks in Abu Dhabi with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb - imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's prestigious seat of learning. The two religious leaders signed a document on "human fraternity for world peace and living together", described by the Vatican as an "important step forward in the dialogue between Christians and Muslims". They called for "freedom of belief", the "promotion of a culture of tolerance", the "protection of places of worship" and "full citizenship" rights for minorities. "It is... crucial to establish in our societies the concept of full citizenship and reject the discriminatory use of the term minorities which engenders feelings of isolation and inferiority," read the document. It said "freedom is a right of every person: each individual enjoys the freedom of belief, thought, expression and action" and that "pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God". "The fact that people are forced to adhere to a certain religion or culture must be rejected, as too the imposition of a cultural way of life that others do not accept," it said. Francis also delivered an address at an interfaith meeting attended by Sheikh Ahmed and UAE leaders, and pushed for an end to all wars in the Middle East, including in Yemen. The United Arab Emirates and neighbouring Saudi Arabia are key allies of the Yemeni government, which is locked in a war against Iran-linked rebels that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. The pope said all religious leaders had a "duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war". "I am thinking in particular of Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya," he said. Yemen is the scene of what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, triggered by the intervention of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies in a war between the government and Huthi rebels. More than 10 million Yemenis now risk imminent starvation. The UAE, which prides itself on its religious diversity in the Gulf, is also a member of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in both Syria and Iraq. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, one of the most powerful rulers in the seven emirates, on Monday gifted the pope a deed for the plot of land on which the first church in the UAE was built. Pope Francis in turn gave him a framed medallion of the meeting between St Francis Assisi - the pope's namesake - and the Sultan of Egypt Malek al-Kamel, in 1219. While the pope did not openly discuss politics, he called for "the full recognition" of rights for people across the Middle East, a potential reference to communities including Shiites in Saudi Arabia, refugees and migrants, stateless peoples and other minorities. "I look forward to societies where people of different beliefs have the same right of citizenship and where only in the case of violence in any of its forms is that right removed," he said. The Emirates has dubbed 2019 its "year of tolerance" but rights groups have criticised it for its role in Yemen, where an estimated 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-led alliance the government's fight against the Huthis in 2015. Muslims make up nearly four fifths of the UAE's population, but the country is also home to nearly a million Catholics, according to the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Migrants from Asian countries make up about 65 percent of the population. The UAE has pushed itself as an open society in a conservative region. The country is home to eight Catholic churches, Hindu temples and a place of prayer that serves as a synagogue. Bahrain and Qatar are home to one Catholic church each while Oman, Kuwait and Yemen each have four while Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia bans all non-Muslim places of worship. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A fresh plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the constitutional validity of the 1993 central law by which 67.703 acre land, including the disputed premises of Ram Janambhoomi- at Ayodhya, was acquired. The plea, challenging legislative competence of Parliament to acquire religious land, has been filed a week after the Centre moved the apex court seeking modification in of its 2003 order and allow it to return to original owners the 67 acre of the "non-disputed" land around the disputed structure at Ayodhya. The petition, filed by seven individuals including two Lucknow-based lawyers claiming to be devotees of Ram Lalla, has contended that Parliament has no legislative competence to acquire land belonging to the state. Moreover, it said, the state legislature has the exclusive power to make provisions relating to the management of affairs of religious institutions inside its territory. The petitioners, including lawyers Shishir Chaturvedi and Sanjay Mishra, submitted that the Acquisition of Certain Areas of Ayodhya Act, 1993 Act infringes upon the right to religion of Hindus guaranteed and protected under Article 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion) of the Constitution. The plea has sought the court's direction restraining the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government from interfering in "Puja, Darshan and performance of rituals at the places of worship situated within the land admeasuring 67.703 acres acquired under the Act particularly at the land belonging to Shri Ram Janm Bhoomi Nyas, Manas Bhavan, Sankat Mochan Mandir, Ram Janmasthan Temple, Janki Mahal and Katha Mandap". The petition contended that in view of the clear provision contained in Article 294 of the Constitution, the land and properties situated within the Uttar Pradesh vested in the state government from the date of the enforcement of the Constitution. "As such the land and property situated at Ayodhya continued to be the property of the State of Uttar Pradesh. The Union cannot take over any part of the land of the State of Uttar Pradesh including the land and property situated at Ayodhya," said the petition, filed through lawyer Ankur S Kulkarni. ALSO READ: Govt will act within powers to build Ram temple after SC ruling: Ram Madhav It has sought striking down of the central law and the declaration that the Act was "beyond the legislative competence of Parliament". It also said that the law, by which the entire disputed and adjoining undisputed land was acquired, violated the freedom of the Hindus to practice their fundamental religious rights under Article 25 of the Constitution. The central government, on January 29, had moved the apex court seeking its nod to return the 67-acre undisputed acquired land around the disputed site to original owners. ALSO READ: Ayodhya land dispute: Want to return extra land to owners, Centre tells SC The 0.313 acre plot, on which the disputed structure stood before it was demolished by the 'kar sevaks' on December 6, 1992, was within the 2.77 acre disputed premises, the plea filed by the BJP-led NDA government had said. The government had then acquired 67.703 acre, including the 2.77 acre, through a legislation in 1993. The Ram Janambhoomi Nyas (RJN) is the owner of as much as 42 acre of the acquired non-disputed land. The Centre's plea has said that the RJN (a trust to promote construction of Ram Temple) had also sought return of excess land acquired to original owners. The Centre has claimed that only 0.313 acre of land was disputed on which the structure stood before it was demolished by 'kar sevaks' on December 6, 1992. A plea has been moved in the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Centre to frame a policy to provide free legal aid to Indian citizens living abroad. NGO Pravasi Legal Cell filed the public interest litigation claiming that India has the world's largest diaspora according to the United Nations. The petition claimed that over 17 million people born in India now live elsewhere in the world and of these, many are semi-skilled and low-skilled workers. "One of the biggest problems faced by such workers is that they do not have any knowledge about the local laws or how their rights are protected in such countries because of which they face violation of their basic rights on foreign land due to lack of any legal aid," the plea filed through advocate Jose Abraham read. The NGO also said in its petition that the Union Minister of State for External Affairs, in reply to a query in the Lok Sabha, had said that around 7,850 Indians are lodged in jails abroad, with over 2,000 in Saudi Arabia. "Most of them are under trials or victim of fraud. Most of such cases against Indian workers abroad could have either been avoided or saved from prosecution had there been proper legal assistance at the right time," the plea claimed. The NGO said that under Article 39-A of the Constitution of India, the government has the duty to provide free legal aid to its citizens which would include those "who cannot access justice due to economic and other disabilities while living abroad". It has said that the objective can be achieved with the support and assistance of the Indian missions abroad. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Monday slammed SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, accusing him of rubbing salt into the wounds of farmers with his demand to double the assured income of Rs 6,000 by the Centre. In a statement issued here, Amarinder Singh asked the former deputy chief minister why he had not spoken up for the farmers all these years despite his party being a part of the ruling alliance at the Centre. "The central government had already made a mockery of the farmers by announcing a meagre Rs 6,000 a year, which amounted to Rs 17 a day, to support them in their distress," he said, adding that the SAD president had added to the "insult with his shameless demand". "Did he really believe a thousand rupees a month would help the beleaguered farmers, many of whom were being driven to suicide as a result of their massive debts, running into lakhs of rupees in several cases," asked Amarinder Singh. On Sunday, Sukhbir Badal had said that a delegation of Akali Dal MPs would meet leaders of the central government to double the income of Rs 6,000 per year which was announced in the interim budget. "Unlike the previous SAD-BJP government, which had "failed" to give even a penny to the distressed farmers during 10 years of their rule, the Congress government had already waived over Rs 4,514 crore of loans of 5.63 lakh small and marginal farmers in the state," the chief minister said. He said his government, in less than two years, had managed to provide some relief to every section of society despite massive financial crunch they had been left to cope with. Amarinder Singh said he would continue his efforts to find a permanent solution to the farmers' woes. "The Badal clan had not given an iota of thought to the welfare of the farmers all these years and were now shedding crocodile tears in a desperate bid to garner votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections," he alleged. But the farmers would not be taken in by their "fake" concern, he said, adding that the ruling coalition at the Centre had lost all confidence of the people, who were set to throw them out "unceremoniously". Amarinder Singh asked Sukhbir Badal to stop "misleading" the people of Punjab, particularly the farming community, by pretending to be concerned about their problems. He said if the Centre was really interested in helping the farmers, it should announce a one-time waiver of their loans and ensure remunerative prices for their produce by implementing the Swaminanthan Committee report in toto. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday launched the first phase of an ambitious welfare scheme to provide free medical treatment to nearly 80 million people in the underprivileged strata of the society. Under the Sehat Insaf Card scheme, over 80 million people - or 10.5 million households below the poverty line - will receive free medical treatment worth Rs 720,000 in private or state-owned hospitals. Around 15 million people will receive the cards over the next two years, Pakistani media reported. According to Minister for Health Aamir Kiani, the scheme will be launched in Punjab, Gilgit Baltistan, Islamabad, erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Islamabad. Each family in the tribal districts will be provided the cards, whereas 85,000 families in Islamabad will be given cards. Each card holder will also be provided cost of transport up to Rs 1,000 for each hospital visit. Over 150 hospitals will provide free treatment - including procedures such as angioplasty, brain surgery, and cancer - under this facility. The Sehat Insaf Card will cover treatment of all ailments except transplants, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. "The cards will be distributed in Islamabad, then our tribal areas and then all over the country," Prime Minister Khan said. Stating that the health cards will alleviate poverty, Imran said, "We want to aid and safeguard the poor segments of the society by issuing health cards." The Sehat Insaf Card, which falls under Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party's Sehat Sahulat Programme, was part of a health insurance scheme first launched by it in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in 2016. "It was first issued to half of all households, then to 69 per cent of poor households in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," Khan said. The PTI in its election manifesto had stated that it would "upscale the Sehat Insaf Card Programme across Pakistan to provide access to quality healthcare to citizens," Dawn newspaper reported. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After Pakistan's Foreign Minister angered India with two phone calls to Kashmiri separatist leaders, the country's Army chief on Monday chaired a Corps Commanders conference and discussed the Kashmir issue along with the situation at the Line of Control. Gen Qamar Bajwa's provocative move on the eve of the Kashmir Day came days after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi discussed the Kashmir issue with hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Following the foreign minister's phone calls, India summoned Pakistan envoy Sohail Mahmood and categorically told him that Qureshi's telephonic conversation with Mirwaiz was a "brazen attempt" to subvert India's unity and violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Qureshi's telephonic conversation with a separatist leader, India said, reflected the duplicity in Pakistani leadership's approach on ties with India. India has always maintained that the Kashmir issue is bilateral and there can be no third party intervention in the matter. New Delhi has also emphasised that whatever happens in Jammu and Kashmir is India's internal matter and Pakistan should stop interfering in it. Pakistan and Kashmiri separatists observe 'Kashmir Day' on February 5 every year to observe the country's support to the cause of an independent Kashmir. It is a national holiday in Pakistan. During a meeting in Rawalpindi to review the internal security situation and preparedness along the LoC, Bajwa "expressed solidarity with resilient Kashmiri brethren on the eve of Kashmir Day", Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said in a statement. "The forum discussed situation along Line of Control and Working Boundary with reference to continued cease fire violations," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over one lakh incidents of seven major crimes, including rape, kidnapping and dowry, took place across Assam from May 2016 till January 25 this year, the state Assembly was informed. The BJP-led Sarbananda Sonowal government came to power in Assam in May, 2016. Replying to a query by AGP MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said a total of 1,02,004 cases of theft, dacoity, rape, kidnapping, witch hunting, dowry and road accident happened from May 2016 to January 25 this year. Out of this, 4,988 cases of rape, 17,331 kidnapping and 20,088 dowry incidents were reported from various parts of the state, the minister said. Replying on behalf of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who also holds charge of the Home department, Patowary said during the last two years and eight months, 38,142 theft, 425 dacoity, 19 witch hunting and 21,011 road accidents also took place. He said that 14,694 incidents of these seven crimes were reported from the state capital since 2016. In the same period, 36 innocent civilians and 61 extremists of different groups were killed in various incidents, he added. In a separate query by Congress legislator Abdur Rashid Mandal, Patowary said there are 343 police stations and 289 police outposts across the state. At these police stations and outposts, a total of 3,39,858 cases were registered till December 31, 2018 and investigation for 1,47,955 cases are going on, the minister said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bihar bandh called by opposition parties in protest against the lathi charge on RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha and his party workers two days ago evoked mixed response Monday with normal life remaining unaffected by and large notwithstanding stray incidents of road blockade and arson. In the state capital, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) activists received active support from its partners in mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance)--the RJD and the Congress. The CPI(ML) Liberation and the Aam Aadmi Party had also extended their support to the day-long bandh. RJD state president Ramchandra Purve and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh sat on a dharna organized at the Dak Bungalow crossing. They also demanded an apology from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the lathi charge which had left scores of RLSP activists, including Kushwaha, injured. In Ara, the district headquarters of Bhojpur,Superintendent of Police Aditya Kumar said the bandh went off peacefully though 24 activists of the opposition parties courted arrest at the town police station and they were let off after having made to sign bonds. Road blockades for a couple of hours was reported from East Champaran district but normal traffic resumed after 10 A.M. Around 30 bandh supporters, belonging to RLSP, Congress and Samajwadi Party, were taken into custody in Nawada as they tried to enforce the shutdown in Prajatantra Chowk area of the town. The bandh was more effective in Arwal, a part of which falls under Kushwahas Lok Sabha constituency Karakat. RLSP and RJD workers took out processions raising slogans against the Nitish Kumar government and blocked traffic on the national highway NH 98 by burning tyres, leading to a traffic snarl. In Begusarai, the bandh remained peaceful and shopping establishments did normal business though bandh-related incidents led to traffic jams on national highways NH 28 and NH 31. In Katihar, commuters faced difficulty reaching their offices and educational institutions on account of bandh-related dharnas, though rail traffic remained unaffected. Local leaders of the RJD and the RLSP were seen staging demonstrations in various parts of the town. Kushwaha, who resigned as Union minister of state for HRD and quit the NDA in December, was staging a march on Saturday to the Raj Bhavan carrying signatures of one crore people of the state gathered by his party in support of a charter of demands for educational reforms. He is at present recuperating at the PMCH hospital in the state capital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leaders of several approached the on Monday and sought redressal of the issue of alleged tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs). The opposition leaders demanded the poll panel ensure that 50 per cent of EVM results are matched and cross-checked with voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) before declaration of results in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The leaders told the the people of the country doubted the efficacy of and this issue needs to be redressed. The opposition delegation met the Chief Election Commissioner and other members of the panel. The had earlier sought moving back to the ballot paper system, but after the made it clear that there was no possibility of going back to the old system, they changed their strategy and are now demanding matching of 50 per cent with VVPATs. The leaders of various earlier met in Parliament and discussed their strategy on the issue. The delegation included Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, and of the Congress, Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), Majid Menon (NCP), Derek O'Brien (Trinamool Congress), Ramgopal Yadav (SP), Satish Chandra Misra (BSP), Omar Abdullah (NC), Mohd Salim and T K Rangarajan (CPI-M), Manoj Jha (RJD), Sanjay Singh (AAP), D Raja (CPI), Danish Ali (JD-S), N K Premchandran (RSP), Badruddin Ajmal (AIUDF) and K G Kenye (NPF). The leaders of various parties had earlier met in Constitution Club on Friday and discussed their future strategy on the issue. Chandler state Sen. J.D. Mesnard, seen here talking to reporters a few weeks ago, has submitted a broader bill aimed at distracted driving of all kinds, but his approach has drawn flack from some fellow Republican lawmakers. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday questioned the use of the term Mahagathbandhan, which he had coined and popularized in the wake of his short-lived alliance with arch rival Lalu Prasads RJD, for the existing opposition alliance in Bihar. To a query about Congress president Rahul Gandhis leadership in the context of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar, Kumar quipped why are you using this term. It was I who had coined it. He (Gandhi) himself kept saying only gathbandhan at yesterdays rally. Kumar, who heads the JD(U), had buried the hatchet to form an alliance with Prasad taking the Congress on board as a smaller partner after the BJP-led NDA swept the 2014 Lok Sabha polls winning 31 out of the 40 seats in Bihar. Having stepped down as Chief Minister, taking moral responsibility for the debacle of the JD(U), which won only two seats, Kumar had envisaged a broader Janata Parivar which could take shape with the merger of his party, RJD and the Samajwadi Party (SP), which then ruled the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. This did not materialize though the Mahagathbandhan took shape and went on to trounce the NDA in the assembly polls of 2015, belying skeptics who had predicted that the alliance would be done in on account of absence of electoral chemistry between the arch rivals. Ahead of the 2017 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, when the term was used to describe a hurriedly forged alliance between the SP riven by a bitter family feud and the Congress, Kumar had cautioned against loosely using the label and said the coalition could have been called a Mahagathbandhan only if it had included the BSP one of the major anti-BJP parties in UP. The SP and BSP have now forged an alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, taking Ajit Singhs RLD along but keeping the Congress out of it. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid the tussle between the CBI and the West Bengal government over probe into the chit fund scam, Union minister Jitendra Singh Monday said obstructing the probe agency from performing its duty is a "criminal offence". He said, this is in contrast to the high standards of public conduct and propriety that were established by Narendra Modi as the then chief minister of Gujarat when a series of "motivated and unsubstantiated cases" were filed against him by the CBI at the behest of the UPA government, but not even once did Modi obstructed the working of CBI and instead, voluntarily offered to face interrogation for hours together at a stretch. By doing so, Modi reiterated his faith in the rule of law and legally fought out the cases filed against him, and finally obtained a clean-chit, the minister said. "Obstructing CBI officers from doing their duty is a criminal offence," Singh told PTI. He hit out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for violating Constitutional propriety. "What is being witnessed in Kolkata is not only unbecoming of a high political functionary like chief minister, but is also a clear violation of the Constitutional propriety and the spirit of law," said Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, that acts as a nodal department for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). A high-drama had unfolded in Kolkata Sunday when a team of CBI officers was manhandled by the city police force. The team was there to conduct its enquiry in connection with its probe in a chit fund scam case. Singh said when the concerned police officer associated with the Special Investigation Team in this case refused to respond to the repeated summons by the CBI to appear for interrogation, the CBI was left with no option but to reach out to him. "But, when it did so, the CBI officials were not only harassed but also prevented from performing their legitimate duty," he said. As per the guidelines by the Personnel Ministry, Singh said, a government functionary, is expected to conduct himself in a "politically neutral" manner, but here was the instance of a high-ranking police officer sitting on dharna on a political platform. Refuting Mamata Banerjee's charge that this was an assault on the federal structure, the minister said, on the contrary, the action of the West Bengal government and the chief minister had eroded the federal spirit of closely coordinated working between the Centre and the state, without intruding into each other's domain and at the same time, leaving enough space for each other. When asked about the various opposition parties coming together in support of Mamata Banerjee, Singh said, this is an interesting feature witnessed over the last few months. "The leaders of these political parties wake up every morning looking for an excuse to come together and interestingly today, the excuse that has brought them together is related to cover-up of a multi-crore corruption scam which only goes on to expose their common concern to hide their misdeeds and scams," he said. They have, in other words, come together to form so called "Mahagathbandhan" of the "rule of corruption under anarchy", the minister added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Drug firm Novartis India Monday reported a 31 per cent decline in net profit to Rs 12.87 crore for the quarter ended December 2018. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 18.74 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, Novartis India said in a filing to BSE. Revenue from operations of the company stood at Rs 135.62 crore, compared with Rs 156.10 crore for the same period a year ago. Shares of Novartis India closed at Rs 721.20 per scrip on the BSE, up 0.28 per cent from its previous close. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar Monday said nobody can make an authentic statement on job creation or jobless economic growth as there is no reliable data of jobs in the country, unlike in the U.S.A., which has such data. "Unfortunately, in India, there is no reliable statistics unlike in the U.S, where there is payroll data for jobs, which is taken to be authentic. In our country, reliable job data is not available. Hence nobody can make a authentic statement on jobless economic growth or job creation. I think it has become more of a political debate," he told reporters here. His comment comes in the wake of Union Minister Arun Jaitley Sunday rejecting criticism of giving a 'jobless economic growth', saying that the absence of any major social or political agitation in the last five years indicated that government schemes have created employment. In an interview to PTI, Jaitley, who is in the US for medical treatment, had justified the absence of any major mention of job creation in the Interim Budget of February 1, saying such budgets are different from the normal budget speeches as they are more like "a report card and a road map." Kumar said jobs in the manufacturing sector has seen a reduction due to use of technology and there was a lot of 'disguised unemployment.' The services sector, on the flipside, was creating jobs, he added. However, the country was better off than 30 years ago, when a majority of the population were poor, he said. "Thirty years back, a majority of the people were poor and hence there was no problem. Now a large number of people are well off and at the same time, another larger chunk of people are still not well off. Therefore, there is social tension with aspirations going high," he said. Asked to comment on loan waivers which affects the banking sector and eventually the economy as a whole, Kumar said the country is in the last leg of loan waivers and is now moving towards Direct Benefit Transfers, which has the potential of supporting farmers every year than having liabilities over a period of time. "We are in the last leg of loan waivers... The country is now moving towards Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT). After Telangana implemented it, Odisha and even the Union Budget followed suit. We see the DBTs catching up this year. I am all for DBT as it is better to have support for farmers every year than have liabilities over a period of time," he said. If central and state government resources are combined, a minimum income support for farmers can be ensured, he added. "Prices of agricultural produce have fallen and farming has become an unviable activity. Loan waivers cannot support farmers," Kumar said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Niti Aayog is open to the idea of having a role in fund allocation to states for developmental expenditure and would discuss the matter with the 15th Finance Commission, the think tank's vice chairman Rajiv Kumar said Monday. Former chairman of the Finance Commission Vijay Kelkar recently suggested that the Aayog should be given financial powers to help address regional imbalances. The Aayog, unlike its predecessor Planning Commission, does not have financial powers nor any say in preparing annual plans of the states. "I have always respected Dr Kelkar and his views comes from a very long experience, both as finance secretary as well as chairman of the Finance Commission. "I having worked as the vice chairman of Niti Aayog for 16-17 months, what I do feel is that there needs to be some independent allocations for states to undertake their developmental expenditure," Kumar told PTI in an interview. He said that if the Aayog would be given some role in allocating development expenditure to states, then that would also "promote co-operative and competitive federalism". "And I can also say to you that we are going to be discussing this with the 15th Finance Commission...," the Aayog vice chairman said. In a recent research paper, Kelkar suggested setting up of 'Niti Aayog 2.0' that would have financial powers as part of efforts to address regional imbalances. Kelkar had also suggested that the vice-chairman of the new Aayog be made a permanent invitee of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). Socialist-era Planning Commission was replaced by the Aayog on January 1, 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the chairman of the Aayog. While the Aayog is open to the idea having a role in resource allocation to states, Kumar made it clear that he was not seeking revival of the Planning Commission. "But certainly we don't want to return to old days of the Planning Commission and have a huge expansion in the number of centrally sponsored schemes etc...," he noted. The Planning Commission used to play a key role in deciding the expenditure plans of central ministries as well as that of states. "I think the time has come to achieve a better balance between complete fiscal sovereignty and some allocation for targeted infrastructure in development-oriented expenditure across the states to ensure that there is a better convergence within the states. "And all those states that are now today have weaker infrastructure (and need to) catch up with the more forward states," Kumar said. Echoing similar views, former Union minister and noted economist Yoginder K Alagh said that in 2014, he had called for the new body to have powers to allocate funds as per transparent rules. "The government abolished the Planning Commission, started a large number of central schemes but resources (are allocated) by the finance or the ministry concerned. Some chief ministers' say this is arbitrary. Kelkar rightly wants a rule-based system,"Alagh told PTI. About the interim Budget for 2019-20, Kumar said it has achieved a very good balance between providing a growth stimulus and maintaining the fiscal discipline. On former finance minister P Chidambaram's criticism that the Budget was an 'account for votes' and not a 'vote on account', Kumar said, "you cannot expect a non-election budget in an election year". "... addressing some of the issues of some of the classes of the people is good political economy and only shows that the government is sensitive to the problems of the particular segments," Kumar said. Regarding the disinvestment target for 2019-20, he said the government when it comes back to the office would pursue the target much more efficiently. "We will make sure that this Rs 90,000 crore disinvestment target will be achieved through some strategic disinvestment of loss-making PSUs. The Interim Budget has set a target of Rs 90,000 crore to be mopped up from CPSE disinvestment in 2019-20 higher than Rs 80,000 crore in the current fiscal. Meanwhile, the Aayog vice chairman said there is now a need for re-establishing the quality of the India' statistical system. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation should not only come out as a collector of all data but also a quality regulator of all data, he opined. "What we have inherited is a relatively neglected statistical and data system in the country. I think, we now need to reverse that. "And there was a time when the Department of Statistics was also a part of the Ministry of Planning, and I think that particular co-ordination is required," he said. The Department of Statistics has now rechristened as the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Public Service Commission Monday held a meeting to discuss the panels sent by the Punjab government for the selection of the next Director General of Police (DGP) of Punjab. The names of three senior IPS officers -- Mohammad Mustafa (1985 batch), Samant Goel (1984 batch) and Dinkar Gupta (1987 batch) were learnt to have been discussed during the meeting which took place in Delhi, official sources said. The meeting was also attended by Punjab Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh and DGP Suresh Arora. The UPSC will send the names of three IPS officers to the state government for selecting one of them as next Punjab DGP, official sources further said. Mustafa, who is currently DGP (STF) and Gupta, who is now DGP (Intelligence) are the front runners for the DGP post. Goel is on Central deputation. The Punjab government last month had sent three different panels to the UPSC for the selection of DGP. The first panel had comprised 12 IPS officers (9 DGPs and three ADGPs) who had completed 30 years of their service while the second panel included names of officers who were left with service of more than two years and the third list included names of those who were left with less than two years of service. The incumbent DGP Suresh Arora, who was on extension, had told Chief Minister Amarinder Singh that he was not keen on continuing. The state government had asked him to discharge duties until the UPSC clears a panel of names for DGP post. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel Monday accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of "weakening" and "misusing" constitutional institutions of the country. The Congress CM's remarks came in the backdrop of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's sit-in against the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata police commissioner in connection with chit fund scam cases. Baghel said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has lost its credibility under the BJP-led government. "The BJP has been constantly trying to weaken constitutional institutions. The party has destroyed the CBI as much as it could have done. Its (CBI) credibility has come to an end. "How the agency was being misused was evident in West Bengal (Bharatiya Janata Party lagatar sanvaidhanik sansthao ko kamjor karne me lagi hai aur CBI ko wo jitna niche gira sakte the wo gira chuke hai. Uski vishwasniyata ab samapt ho chuki hai. Uska durupyog kis prakar se kar rahe hai wo kal West Bengal me dikhai diya hai)," Baghel told reporters. He was responding to a query on the face-off between the West Bengal government and the premier central agency. "The entire county has been witnessing how all the institutions - be it CBI or ED - are being misused. The Centre is taking action with an intention to extract revenge," he alleged. The chief minister also condemned the alleged attack on a journalist by BJP functionaries at their party office in Raipur Saturday. "The incident is condemnable. Police have taken action in the incident, but BJP should also take action against those who had thrashed the journalist. "Don't they (BJP) have faith in democracy. The way BJP is trying to weaken constitutional institutions, it is also trying to weaken the fourth pillar of democracy," Baghel said. The incident was a result of frustration of the BJP over its loss in the recent assembly election, he claimed. "We have already taken an initiative to enact a journalist protection law. But in view of the incident at the BJP office, it seems the law has to be enacted soon," he added. The journalist, Suman Pandey, who works with a Raipur- based website, was allegedly thrashed by BJP office- bearers during the partys district-level meeting in Raipur. According to Pandey, he was beaten up for covering a scuffle among BJP leaders during the meeting called to review the saffron outfit's defeat in the November assembly polls. Four BJP men, including Raipur district president Rajeev Agrawal, were arrested following the incident. However, all were released on bail bond from the police station. Journalists are sitting on an indefinite protest in front of the Raipur Press Club demanding their expulsion from the BJP. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Monday dismissed a Tata Steel's plea and upheld lenders' decision to approve resolution plan of JSW Steel for debt-ridden Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd. A two-member bench headed by Justice S J Mukhopadhaya said that the Committee of Creditors' (CoC) decision was well within its rights to negotiate better terms with resolution applicants. Tata Steel had challenged an NCLT order that had allowed the CoC of Bhushan Power and Steel to the resolution plan submitted by Liberty House Group. Tata Steel had contended that NCLT cannot provide numerous opportunities at the belated stage. Dismissing the Tata Steel's appeal, the NCLAT also directed the resolution professional of Bhushan Power and Steel to "immediately place the approved Resolution Plan before the Adjudicating Authority (NCLT) for its order." "The case is remitted to the Adjudicating Authority (NCLT), Principal Bench, New Delhi, for passing appropriate order under Section 31," the NCLAT said. The tribunal also observed that 97.12 per cent of lenders had cast vote in favour of JSW Steel and it holds that the Resolution Plan' submitted by JSW Steel has been approved with 100 per cent voting shares. Tata Steel, JSW Steel, and Liberty House had submitted bids for Bhushan Power and Steel, which owes around Rs 45,000 crore to its lenders. The NCLAT also directed the NCLT to ensure that all the stakeholders, particularly the Operational Creditors' are treated similarly while considering the approved Resolution Plan' of JSW Steel. "It should ensure that no discrimination is being made between the Financial Creditors or the Operational Creditors as held by this Appellate Tribunal," said NCLAT. JSW Steel had revised its offer from Rs 11,000 crore to Rs 18,000 crore and later to over Rs 19,000 crore, whereas Tata Steel's last offer was at Rs 17,000 crore after it had refused to revised its bid. Tata Steel had objected the improved financial offer of JSW Steel before the Resolution Professional and the Committee of Creditors' of Bhushan Power and Steel. It alleged that in its meeting held on August 14, 2018, CoC was "favouring JSW Steel". According to Tata Steel, the CoC had submitted as many as six 'Resolution Plans', which were wrongly considered by them. However, rejecting it, NCLAT said that it had allowed Tata Steel to file additional unconditional revised financial offer by August,13 2018, improving the bid as provided in the original plan without compromising the basic para-meters of the offer already submitted. "We have noticed that Tata Steel was adamant that it will not submit any revised financial offer. Initially, such submission was orally made by learned counsel, however, on their subsequent oral request, we allowed the Tata Steel to submit revised financial offer," the NCLAT observed. It further said: "We have noticed that Tata Steel also filed five revised financial offers including the offer given in the original resolution plan. "Therefore, Tata Steel cannot take plea that after submission of the original 'Resolution Plan', no revised financial offer' can be submitted," it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on Monday directed the NCLT Ahmedabad bench to take a final decision over ArcelorMittal's Rs 42,000 crore resolution plan for Essar Steel by February 11, failing which it would call records and pass order accordingly. A two-member bench headed by Justice S J Mukhopadhaya has directed to list the matter on February 12. "If no order is passed by 11th February, 2019, this Appellate Tribunal may call for records and pass appropriate order under Section 31 of the I&B Code," said National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). The NCLAT said that a "detailed hearing is not required to be given including all the creditors" by the Ahemdabad bench and "it should be completed within five days". The appellate tribunal has directed the NCLT to give hearing only to the representative of the operational creditors of debt ridden Essar Steel and pass order "on an early date" as per its previous order passed by it on January 23. The NCLAT also directed to give limited hearings to the promoters of the Essar Steel but asked to complete the entire process within next five days. "Further, taking into consideration the interest of the Promoters, NCLT may provide the Promoters limited hearing but it should be completed within five days. A detailed hearing is not required to be given including all the creditors," said the appellate tribunal. In its order, the NCLAT has also directed NCLT to also hear the Standard Chartered Bank, which is opposing the resolution plan approved by the Committee of Creditor (CoC) of Essar Steel and the resolution professional of the company. "Further, the dissenting member of the CoC (Standard Chartered Bank herein) having raised objection to the Resolution Plan, it should be given hearing before passing any final order," NCLAT order said. Standard Chartered Bank, the third-largest secured financial creditor of Essar Steel, has filed plea before the NCLT alleging that the resolution plan does not comply with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The NCLAT direction came after an application filed by ArcelorMittal, whose Rs 42,000 crore takeover proposal of the indebted steel-maker has been approved by the CoC and is pending before the NCLT for approval. During the proceedings, the NCLAT was informed that adjudicating authority (NCLT) is hearing a large number of operational creditors and also given time to dissenting member of the CoC Standard Chartered Bank. Earlier, on January 29 NCLT Ahemedabad had rejected the debt settlement proposal put forth by the shareholders of Essar Steel saying the offer violates Section 12A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The NCLT had said that Rs 54,389-crore offer by Essar Steel Asia Holding, which is much higher than the ArcelorMittal's Rs 42,000 crore bid, is not maintainable as the only way to make a proposal is through Section 12A. Essar Steel owns a 10-million-tonne steel mill in Gujarat. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nayib Bukele, the popular former mayor of San Salvador, claimed victory Sunday in the Central American country's presidential elections. "At this moment we can announce with total certainty that we have won the presidency," the 37-year-old Bukele told supporters. A few minutes before his declaration, the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) awarded him 52.93 percent of the vote with almost 70 percent of ballots counted. Bukele's primary opponents -- Carlos Calleja of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), and Hugo Martinez of the leftist Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN) -- recognized the win. The result upends the nearly 30-year grip that their parties -- the country's largest -- have had on Salvadoran "We recognize the results of these elections. We are going to call the president-elect to wish him luck in facing the challenges in this country," said Calleja, the runner-up with 32.08 percent of the vote. Martinez took third place with 14.23 per cent. Bukele has promised to increase investment in education and fight corruption but his main task will be to implement new programs to confront insecurity. However he will have to form an alliance with the right, which dominates congress. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's former dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf was responsible for no breakthrough on the Kashmir issue as he launched the Kargil operation without the civilian government's approval to "sabotage" the talks with India and topple the Nawaz Sharif government, a close aide of the then prime minister said Monday. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and Senator Pervaiz Rashid told reporters that "Sharif and the Indian leadership were holding talks on Kashmir and the latter was ready to resolve it but Musharraf launched the Kargil operation to sabotage the talks and topple the Sharif government". General Musharraf, 75, who lives in Dubai, is facing several cases including a treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007. The former military ruler left for the UAE in 2016 for medical treatment and has not returned since. He was the army chief during the Kargil War in 1999. "Gen Musharraf is responsible for the blood of Kashimiris. Musharraf was the reason behind the suffering of Kashmiris as he did not let this issue resolved," he said, terming the Kargil operation a 'misadventure'. This is Musharraf's biggest crime even more than toppling the Sharif government in October 1999, Rashid, a close confidant of Sharif, said. Before Musharraf went for the misadventure, India's then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee came to Lahore and went to Minar-e-Pakistan to accept the creation of Pakistan, the Senator claimed. Rashid demanded that Musharraf be brought to justice for his crimes, specially against Kashmiris. Though Pakistan initially claimed that mujahideen were responsible for occupying strategic heights along the Line of Control in early 1999, Musharraf later revealed in his autobiography 'In The Line Of Fire' that regular army soldiers participated in the Kargil operation. Over 500 Indian armed forces personnel laid down their lives during the 60-day long war. Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed every year on July 26, marking successful conclusion of the war with Pakistan in the Kargil-Drass sector of Jammu and Kashmir in 1999. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) From the first snowfall in November to the very end of the thaw in April, Moscow enlists a small army of shovelers, scrapers, road gritters and plough drivers to keep the city moving. Trucks carry mounds of snow through the night towards melting plants in the capital's outskirts, while smaller vehicles hum down the pavements scattering salt mix. "Russia without snow is not Russia," says Alexei Babunashvili, the head of one such melting station, on a January morning after a normal week's worth of snow has fallen overnight. "It's like a man without a woman... no life at all," he adds, as behind him a truck carrying around 30 cubic metres of dirty snow dumps its load into a pit of heated water. But Babunashvili, like many residents of the city, has questions over the salt mix that Moscow has in recent years been using in increasing volumes to keep the roads and pavements clear of ice. On the streets and social media, complaints from Muscovites about the substance locally known as "reagent" begin as soon as temperatures drop below zero. "Reagent spoils shoes and car wheels, but for melting snow it's good," Babunashvili says, as workers use poles to break up floating chunks of ice before the water goes into the sewage and re-enters the city's supply after purification. Other people are less equivocal about the mix of salt, marble chips, calcium chloride, formic acid and other chemicals that is liberally scattered around Moscow. In 2009, a study by scientists from Moscow State University found that "reagent" harms soil, underground pipes and clothing, and can aggravate human and animal skin. But Moscow officials who oversee snow clearing insist the substance is safe and that its exact makeup is constantly being developed. One expert scattered road salt on black bread and ate it on state television two years ago. "It's disgusting," says Ksenia Schmidt, a 20-year-old student chatting with friends in central Moscow. "My dog got sick from reagent, it was awful. We went to the vet and he said it was most likely salt poisoning," she says, adding that the substance ruins leather boots. Pet owners across the capital say they have to dress their dogs' paws in "shoes" to protect them from the salt, carry the animals or simply avoid areas where reagent is spread. Opposition politician Ilya Yashin this winter released an online video entitled "Sobyanin (Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin) is poisoning Moscow with reagent. Why?", in which he argued city hall was continuing to use the substance so it could award big contracts to preferred businessmen. This year the city spent a record six billion roubles (USD 91 million, 79 million euros) on the mix, according to official data. Yashin said that in the West other salt combinations, sand or roads with better snow resistance were more common. "The reality is that the chemicals our city services use are far from safe," the politician said. "What's used in Moscow, before it starts being used, is tested by experts," the deputy head of the city's roads department Andrei Sokolov told AFP, however. "You just need to clean your boots. I clean my own maybe once a week." Like others in city hall, he says there is no way Moscow could function without reagent. "If we didn't use anti-freezing material, it wouldn't be physically possible for us to collect all the snow straight away or to clean the roads," he added. And, Sokolov suggested, if other countries get by without it, perhaps it's because their task is not on the same scale as in Russia. In Europe's largest city -- with an official population of 12 million but likely home to several million more -- some 60,000 people and 14,000 vehicles are employed by the Moscow roads department to clear the snow. This does not include those working for other departments or private contractors. "I don't know if it's harmful or not," says 64-year-old plough driver Viktor Antonov of reagent, sitting in a traffic jam between the Kremlin and Moskva river. Antonov is at the front of a dozen-strong convoy of vehicles that are scraping the roads clear before laying anti-freezing agent ahead of further snowfall. At the back, Evgeny, 30, controls the quantity and spread of reagent from his tobacco smoke-scented truck cabin decorated with a small Russian flag. The pair and their colleagues spend winter days waiting for the call sending them out on their two-hour, 25-kilometre route through the city centre. Antonov says of their Sisyphean task: "I'm not against the snow. But it's important that the streets are clean, and not icy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal Monday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah over developments in West Bengal, saying they needed to be defeated in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls "to save democracy" in the country. He said the "Modi-Shah duo was the biggest danger" facing the country and charged the two leaders with trying to "murder" democracy. Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari hit back at Kejriwal saying he should not talk about democracy because he has "robbed" it through his "falsehoods and conspiracies" in the city. In a statement, Kejriwal said, "The Modi government is bent on murdering democracy. Isn't it illegal and undemocratic that a team of 40 CBI officials enters the residence of a police commissioner?" "The Modi-Shah duo should be defeated to save the democracy," he said. Tiwari said that leaders like Mamata Banerjee and Kejriwal were "betraying" democracy by going against the directives of courts. "The CBI went to West Bengal on directions of the Supreme Court. Leaders like Kejriwal are supporting Mamata Banerjee because they are scared of Modi who is dedicated to end corruption," he claimed. The failed attempt by the CBI to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams on Sunday became the latest flashpoint between the BJP-led Centre and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, one of its bitter critics. Kejriwal had talked to Banerjee Sunday over phone as the incident blew into a political slugfest and expressed solidarity with her while terming the action as "completely bizarre and anti-democratic". The AAP convener, who himself is a bitter critic of the Modi government and has been engaged in a pitched battle with it over governance-related issues, in his statement Monday drew a parallel between the West Bengal incident and experiences of his own government in Delhi. "Just as Modiji tried to beseige the Commissioner of West Bengal yesterday, four years ago he snatched away the anti-corruption bureau from us by sending paramilitary forces," he charged. He further alleged the Prime Minister got 33 cases registered against him and police raided his residence and searched his bedroom on his instance. "It is an attack on the federal structure of the country," he claimed. The state governments are elected by the people and they have their constitutional rights, he said. "If Modi ji misuses Central agencies to violate the rights of the state governments, the country will not survive," Kejriwal said. The CBI team was physically prevented from entering the residence of Kumar by Kolkata police personnel and detained. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday accused the Narendra Modi government of having snatched farmers' sleep and while referring to the sops announced in the interim Budget on Friday claimed that the peasants were being cheated before the general elections. Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress chief, said if the government at the Centre changes following the Lok Sabha elections, farmers' interests will be given priority. The chief minister is on a dharna since Sunday night over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams. From the dharna site in front of Metro Cinema in the heart of the city, she addressed a state conference of farmers over phone, which the participants at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, about a kilometre from the sit-in site, heard over loudspeakers. In her address, Banerjee referred to her Singur fast and said, "I sat on fast at the same place for 26 days in 2006 demanding that farmland be returned to farmers and the movement set new precedent as the right of land to farmers got acceptance all over the country." The Metro channel, where she is sitting on a dharna seeking "restoration of the spirit of the Constitution", was the same venue where she held a 26-day hunger strike in 2006 demanding return of farmland to the peasants in Singur, where the Tata Motors' Nano car plant was to come up. The Tatas finally abandoned the project in West Bengal and went to Sanand in Gujarat on the invitation of then chief minister Narendra Modi and Banerjee was catapulted to power in 2011, defeating the 34-year-old Left Front government. Claiming that nearly 12,000 farmers have committed suicide in the country in the past couple of years, the TMC supremo on Monday said, "The BJP and the Modi government have snatched farmers' sleep." "Farmers are being cheated before the elections," she alleged. Banerjee said owing to demonetisation, farmers are in deep distress with many having committed suicide or have lost their livelihood. "Our government is the only one in the country which does not acquire farmland and have returned acquired land in Singur," the chief minister said. Highlighting several schemes and benefits that her government has given to farmers since 2011, she claimed Rs 1,200 crore have been spent by her government for the purpose. Banerjee claimed to have tripled the income of farmers in Bengal and said that over one crore people benefitted from various social security programmes of the state government. "The Modi government is saying that by 2022, farmers' income will be doubled, but in Bengal we have already tripled their income," she said. Listing the sops offered by her government, Banerjee said it has already given financial benefits to 30,000 farmers under 'Krishi Bondhu' scheme under which they will get assistance of Rs 5,000 per acre in two instalments, one during kharif and another during rabi season. Paddy was being directly purchased at kisan mandis under the 'dhaan din cheque nin' (give paddy receive cheque) scheme under which the government aimed to buy 40 lakh tonnes of paddy, she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday alleged that the Modi government had "snatched" farmers' sleep and claimed they were being cheated before the general elections. Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress chief, assured that if the government at the Centre changes, farmers' interests will be given priority. The chief minister is on a dharna since Sunday night over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams. From the dharna site in front of Metro Cinema in the heart of the city, Banerjee addressed a state conference of farmers over phone, which the participants at the Netaji Indoor Stadium heard over loudspeakers. "The BJP, the Modi government have snatched farmers' sleep," Banerjee said, claiming that nearly 12,000 farmers have committed suicide in the country. "Farmers are being cheated before the elections," she alleged, referring to the sops announced in the interim budget placed by the NDA government in Parliament on Friday. Her dharna site is the same venue where she held a 26-day hunger strike in 2006 demanding return of farmland to peasants at Singur, where the Tata Motors' Nano car plant was to come up. The Singur movement catapulted her to power in 2011 defeating the Left Front government. The Tatas had abandoned the project and went to Sanand in Gujarat on the invitation of the then chief minister of the state Narendra Modi. Addressing the farmers gathering, Banerjee said owing to demonetisation, farmers are in deep distress with many having committed suicide or lost their livelihood. "Our government is the only one in the country which does not acquire farmland and have returned acquired land in Singur," Banerjee said. Highlighting several schemes and benefits that her government has given to farmers since coming to power in 2011, Banerjee said Rs 1,200 crore have been spent by her government for such schemes. The chief minister said over one crore people were benefited from various social security programmes of the state government. "Modi government is saying that by 2022, farmers' income will be doubled, but in Bengal we have already tripled their income," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An estimated five crore devotees had their holy dip here in the Sangam Monday, the second and most auspicious day of 'shahi snan' on Mauni Amavasya, turning the Ganga, Yamuna and mystical Saraswati confluence into the biggest ever convergence of human faith and culture. About 5 crore people had taken the holy dip in the Sangam by 5 pm Monday, estimated adminstration officials, suggesting it was a new record of human congregation anywhere. In 2013, during the 12-yearly Kumbh congregation here, the turnout on Mauni Amavasya day was over 3 crore, the highest till then, they added. The record-breaking spree of holy dips at the 40 bathing 'ghats' of the Sangam began soon as the clock struck the midnight intervening Sunday and Monday, heralding the auspicious hour. With advent of the auspicious hour, lakhs of people waded into the Sangam, dazzling with over 40,000 LED lights and began taking dips, presenting a mesmerizing, wave-like picture of human heads submerging and emerging together from the water amid the chants of 'Har Har Gangey'. The holy bath continued beyond the day-break, when the sunlight dimmed the LED lights at Kumbh, and went on for the entire day. Led by ascetics Hindus since time immemorial, the sacred bath on Mauni Amawasya at Kumbh, described as an "act of faith" aimed at "cleansing of one's sins and seeking divine blessings" has been attracting pilgrims across the globe. The busiest among all sacred bathing days in the 50-day long Kumbh Mela, Mauni Amavasya this time had greater significance as it fell on a Monday, a rather rare combination in many ways, explained some seers here. The day began as early as 3 am for many devotees who were seen making a beeline for the Sangam on foot amid the restricted entry of vehicles to the Kumbh Nagari, the sprawling 32,000-hectare township set up on the river banks. Yeh Kumbh nahi aasan, bas itna samajh lijiye; thanda hai pani aur dubaki lagana hai (The Kumbh is not an easy task, the water is cold and you have to take the plunge), said Ravish Vajpayee, an aspiring poet, who was just out after taking the dip at one of the ghats here. Though mauni' means silence', the chants of Har Har Ganga' and 'Ganga maiya ki Jai' reverberated the Kumbh Mela venue and grew louder at the day break when Naga Sadhus, a martial order of ascetics, who roam naked with ash smeared on their bodies, proceeded to ghats in processions, dancing and singing with their gurus sitting atop decorated chariots. Beside observing silence, many devotees perform 'pind dan' on this day for the souls of their ancestors to attain peace and to seek forgiveness and blessings from them. Offering foods and clothes to the poor and needy is considered another important ritual of the day. Seers of 13 akharas (seven Shaiva, three Vaishnava, two Udasina, and one Sikh) who have traditionally attended the Kumbh Mela were the first to take the holy bath. The Kumbh administration had allocated 30 to 40 minutes each for the seers of each akhara to have their bath. A massive security arrangement too has been put in place, with 40 police stations and as many fire stations set up to deal with any emergency situation. Detailing the security arrangement at the venue, officials said an Integrated Command and Control Centre with 12 wireless grids has been set up at the Kumbh Mela venue for close coordination and prompt communication among security personnel. The entire area has been put under the surveillance of 440 CCTV cameras, they added. As the mega city briefly turned into possibly the most populous place on the face of earth Monday due to massive turnout, many entry points to the Kumbh Mela venue had to be closed. While many complained about being stuck on the way to ghats, those who managed to enter the venue were seen boasting how they broke cordons to reach the river bank. "Do they expect us to go back without taking a dip? One says 'go there', the other says 'this side is blocked'. We were already too tired to put up with this nonsense. Of course, I had to break the cordon ultimately," said 25-year-old Anshul Gupta from Lucknow. The Kumbh, beside Mauni Amavasya, witnesses two 'shahi snans', the first of which took place on Makar Sankranti (January 15) and the third and the last being scheduled on Basant Panchmi (February 10). About 12 crore people are expected to visit Kumbh till March 4, when the festival will come to an end. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is currently admitted at AIIMS in Delhi, is "very unwell" and is "living" with God's blessings, Deputy Speaker of the state Assembly Michael Lobo said Monday. Lobo told reporters that the day Parrikar steps down as chief minister, or "something happens to him", Goa will plunge into a political crisis. Parrikar, 63, who is suffering from a pancreatic ailment, was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on January 31. He has been in and out of hospitals in Delhi, New York, Mumbai and Goa since last year. "The ailment he has got has no cure. There will be no political crisis till is in chair. But the day he steps down on his health ground or something happens to him, there will be a political crisis. He is very unwell," said Lobo, who is a senior leader and represents Calangute Assembly constituency. "He is still living and working with God's blessings," he added. Parrikar heads a coalition government, which is supported by the Goa Forward Party (GFP), the Maharashravadi Gomantak Party (MGP), and three Independent MLAs. Sources at the AIIMS Saturday said Parrikar's condition was stable. Veteran leader L K Advani, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had met the ailing chief minister in Goa earlier to enquire about his health. Earlier in the day, on the occasion of the World Cancer Day, Parrikar said in a message that the human mind can overcome any disease. Last week, Parrikar, with a tube inserted through his nose, had presented the state in the Goa Assembly. Lobo had earlier demanded that Parrikar step down on health grounds, as he has been absent from office for long. The MGP had in the past threatened to pull out from the BJP-led government on various issues including crisis in the mining industry. The party has been demanding that senior leader Sudin Dhavalikar be appointed as the chief minister. Days after an obscene tweet with a morphed picture of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was posted on the social media platform, police said on Monday the accused person has been arrested and sent to jail. Yogi Surajnath, a resident of this north Bihar town who describes himself as a 'bhakt' (devotee) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the social media, was arrested from his residence in Binodpur locality, Town police station SHO Ranjan Kumar said. While Surajnath is said to be an avid follower of the 'BJP's Mission 2019' on Twitter, BJP's district president Manoj Rai asserted this person has no association with the party. Kumar said the Bihar police cyber cell had received an emailed complaint from social activist Shahin Sayyad about Surajnath's tweet of January 30 that carried a morphed image of Vadra, who was recently appointed the Congress party's general secretary for east Uttar Pradesh by her brother and the party president, Rahul Gandhi. The SHO said the cyber cell traced Surajnath's location to Katihar, after which the district police arrested him and a case has been filed against him. He was subsequently produced before court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate here, which remanded him to judicial custody. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A political firestorm raged Monday as Mamata Banerjee's sit-in protest against CBI's bid to question Kolkata police chief in chit fund scam cases entered the second day, with the West Bengal Chief Minister declaring her agitation to save the "Constitution and country" will go on and she was ready to face the consequences. Virtually all opposition parties rallied behind Banerjee's direct confrontation with the Modi government, even as the BJP called it an "alliance of corrupt" and Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that developments in West Bengal were indicative of a "breakdown of the Constitution". Trinamool workers took to streets burning effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and blocked trains, while the BJP lined up its top leaders to step up the counter-offensive against Banerjee and other opposition leaders. The ripple effect of political tremors in West Bengal were felt in several state capitals, as Banerjee's combative posturing on the issue drew support from several regional satraps trying to sew up an anti-BJP alliance ahead of Lok Sabha polls, expected in April-May. "This is a satyagraha and I'll continue (it) till the country is saved... Constitution is saved," the firebrand TMC boss said at the protest site. The tense standoff between the CBI and the Kolkata police for the second day echoed in Parliament and led to a washout of the proceedings following opposition protests. "There may be breakdown of Constitution in West Bengal...under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country," Singh told Lok Sabha. "Whatever happened on Sunday indicates constitutional breakdown," he said. Singh also sought a report from Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi which was promptly sent by Raj Bhavan. "I do not have any grudge against any individual. But I am angry over the way institutions are being destroyed and misused," Banerjee told the gathering at the protest venue. She said it was her government that arrested Saradha chairman Sudipta Sen and claimed Rs 250-300 crore was returned to the duped depositors. The alleged ponzi scams at Saradha and Rose Valley groups are at the centre of what has become a major political controversy now, as the BJP leaders have alleged that the ruling party leaders in West Bengal have been among major beneficiaries of fraudulent collection of money. Allegedly, these schemes were being run without necessary regulatory approvals and collected nearly Rs 20,000 crore from lakhs of investors in West Bengal and neighbouring states, through what is commonly known as 'chit funds'. Several TMC leaders including parliamentarians like Kunal Ghosh, Srinjay Bose, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal, and state minister Madan Mitra were arrested for their alleged links with the two groups. "Today you are labelling those who helped arrest the culprits as thieves. You are calling Rajeev Kumar (Kolkata Police Commissioner) a thief! Whose money has he taken? You are calling me a thief! Whose money have I taken? "If you are labelling people who are honest as thieves without any evidence, then I will definitely stand by their side. And for that if I need to give up my life, then I am ready to do that but I will not compromise," she asserted. Claiming that the CBI team had knocked on Kumar's door without a warrant, Banerjee said, "I have fought all through my life but never given up. I am ready to face any consequences." The failed attempt by the CBI to question Kumar in connection with the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams on Sunday became the latest flashpoint between the BJP-led Centre and Banerjee, one of its bitter critics. The CBI has accused Kumar of destroying evidence related to the two fraud cases. A CBI team was bodily prevented from entering Kumar's residence by police personnel, bundled into vehicles, and detained. Police contingents also descended on CBI premises in Kolkata, as a furious Banerjee rushed to Kumar's residence before beginning a dharna opposite landmark Metro Cinema. As political temperature soared, Banerjee told her supporters to keep the demonstration peaceful and not to burn any effigies. "Save the Constitution, save the federal structure, save the police force, save the Indian Administrative Service and all ranks of civil service from disaster," read the banner that fluttered on the dais Banerjee has made her home since Sunday night. Support for her poured in from far off leaders -- DMK chief M K Stalin in Chennai, Andhra chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Amaravati and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda in Bengaluru. Odisha's ruling party BJD, which had hitherto kept silent over the development, also threw its weight behind Banerjee. "We are not a banana republic...," BJD leader B Mahtab said, adding the CBI was becoming a "political stooge and political weapon" in the Centre's hand. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge charged that the government was using the CBI as a weapon to finish the Opposition and put in place an autocratic regime. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged the "Modi-Shah duo" were trying to "murder" democracy. NCP leader Sharad Pawar, at whose residence leaders of opposition parties met, said what has happened to Mamata has happened in Delhi to Kejriwal also. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A political firestorm raged Monday as Mamata Banerjee's sit-in protest against CBI's bid to question Kolkata police chief in chit fund scam cases entered the second day, with the West Bengal Chief Minister declaring her agitation to save the "Constitution and country" will go on till the goal is achieved. The ripple effect of political tremors in West Bengal were felt in New Delhi and several state capitals, as Banerjee's combative posturing on the issue drew support from several regional satraps trying to sew up an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. "This is a satyagraha and I'll continue (it) till the country is saved...Constitution is saved," the firebrand TMC boss told reporters at the protest site, as she escalated her confrontation with the Modi government, a day after an all-out war broke out between the two. As Trinamool Congress workers took to streets burning effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called the developments in West Bengal "unfortunate and unprecedented" and indicative of a "breakdown of the Constitution". "There may be breakdown of Constitution in West Bengal...under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country," Singh told the Lok Sabha. "Whatever happened on Sunday indicates constitutional breakdown," he said as a host of opposition parties threw their weight behind the feisty West Bengal leader. Singh also sought a report from Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi which was promptly sent by Raj Bhavan. Its contents were, however, not immediately known. The failed attempt by the CBI to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams on Sunday became the latest flashpoint between the BJP-led Centre and Banerjee, one of its bitter critics. The CBI has accused Kumar of destroying evidence related to the two fraud cases. A CBI team was bodily prevented from entering the residence of Kumar by Kolkata police personnel, bundled into vehicles, and detained. Contingents of West Bengal police also descended on CBI premises in the city, as a furious Banerjee rushed to Kumar's residence before beginning a dharna opposite Metro Cinema, one of Kolkata's landmarks. Lakhs of depositors in several eastern states including West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand were duped by the promoters of Saradha and Rose Valley groups of their hard earned money. The size of the Saradha swindle is pegged at roughly Rs 4,000 crore and that of Rose Valley a staggering Rs 15,000 crore. Several TMC leaders including parliamentarians like Kunal Ghosh, Srinjay Bose, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Tapas Pal, besides state minister Madan Mitra were arrested for their alleged links with the two chit fund companies. As the political temperature soared, with TMC workers and supporters blocking trains and holding protests, Banerjee said, "We want a peaceful demonstration. Please do not burn any effigies here." "Save the Constitution, save the federal structure, save the police force, save the Indian Administrative Service and all ranks of civil service from disaster," read the banner that fluttered on the dais Banerjee has made her home since Sunday night. Support for the West Bengal leader poured in from far off Chennai, Amaravati and Bengaluru, with regional satraps backing her in her fight against the Centre. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged in Amaravati that the BJP government was acting with vengeance against Banerjee as the opposition parties' rally in the West Bengal capital on January 19 was a great success. Expressing solidarity with Banerjee, the TDP supremo said, "Cases against those who surrender to the BJP are being lifted. They are digging out old cases against those who oppose the BJP. The recent Kolkata rally was successful, hence the vengeance against Mamata Banerjee." "The BJP is deriving pleasure by foisting cases against opposition leaders. They are destroying constitutional institutions," he alleged. Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda said in Bengaluru the face-off reminded him of the Emergency days. "I am shocked to learn about the CBI rushing to arrest the Police Commissioner and subsequent developments in West Bengal. The country has faced similar kind of unconstitutional methods during the Emergency. Situation in WB is similar to that of the Emergency days. #SaveDemocracy," the JD(S) national president tweeted. DMK chief M K Stalin also lent support to Banerjee in her endeavour to "save democracy". "The independence of every institution has been compromised under this fascist BJP Government. I stand with @MamataOfficial Didi in her fight to protect the federal structure of this country and to save democracy. #SaveDemocracy," Stalin, who had attended Banerjee's Kolkata rally last month, said in a tweet. The Modi government also came under heavy opposition fire in the Lok Sabha where the BJD, which had hitherto kept silent over the development, threw its weight behind the West Bengal chief minister. BJD leader B Mahtab said the development smacked of impropriety and also raised questions about the integrity of the CBI. "We are not a banana republic...," he said, adding the CBI was becoming a "political stooge and political weapon" in the Centre's hand. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge charged that the government was using the CBI as a weapon to finish the Opposition and put in place an autocratic regime. The fight also resonated in the courtrooms in New Delhi and Kolkata. The CBI moved the Supreme Court accusing the Kolkata police chief of destroying evidence in the chit fund scam cases and the top court decided to hear the matter on Tuesday. The apex court said it will be open for the solicitor general or any other party to lay before it any material or evidence to show any West Bengal authority or police official was planning or trying to destroy evidence in the Saradha case. On the other hand, the West Bengal government moved the Kolkata High Court against the CBI's attempt to question the city police chief and sought immediate hearing. The court, however, declined its prayer. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Citing the support of various parties to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's protest against the Centre, the Trinamool Congress Monday sought to project her as a leader who succeeded in uniting the entire opposition against the alleged misuse of the CBI. Listing the names of opposition leaders who were likely to join Banerjee in Kolkata, TMC spokesperson Derek O'Brien said that 22 parties have extended their support to the protest against the Centre. "Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu, RJD's Tejaswi Yadav, DMK's Kanimozhi have expressed their desire to join the protest and are going to Kolkata. Others like Samajwadi Party's leader Kiranmay Nanda have already visited the protest site," said Derek. The chief minister has been sitting on a dharna since 8.30pm Sunday against the CBI's attempts to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with multi-crore chit fund scams. "It is not a TMC dharna. There is not even a single TMC flag at the protest site. The CM has received overwhelming support from opposition leaders. Between 8 pm and 11 pm, the CM received calls from so many of them. "Congress President Rahul Gandhi, BSP supremo Mayawati, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, RJD's Tejaswi Yadav, TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu, DMK chief MK Stalin and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal have all supported the protest and spoken to the CM," he told reporters on Parliament premises. On the controversy over the presence of the Kolkata police commissioner at the protest site, Derek said Kumar was present to show solidarity with other officers, as the dharna aimed at strengthening the administration. "The fact that the Biju Janata Dal raised the issue in the Lok Sabha to criticise the government's attitude shows how serious the matter is," he said. Kalyan Banerjee, a TMC member in the Lok Sabha, alleged that Home Minister Rajnath Singh was hiding facts from Parliament and said the Kolkata High Court had stayed the summons against Kumar till February 13. "The CBI has violated the orders of the court by moving against Kumar. This is against the Constitution as well as the federal structure. As the head of the state, Mamata Banerjee has protested against this," said Banerjee. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar Monday claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was on a dharna to save herself from the CBI. Banerjee began her sit-in protest at a city landmark on Sunday night over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, insisting it stifled the spirit of "Constitution and federalism". In a dramatic showdown with the Modi government, the furious Trinamool Congress chief began a sit-in right in front of the Metro Cinema to protest "insults" she faced at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, hours after a CBI team that had gone to question Kumar was detained in a rare face-off between the police establishments of the Centre and the state. The West Bengal chief minister had on Sunday said that she would not attend the presentation of the state Budget at the state Assembly on Monday and described the evolving situation an "emergency". Hitting back, Javadekar, at a press conference here, said, "This is not Narendra Modi's emergency but Mamata Banerjee's emergency in Bengal. She is on dharna to save herself from the CBI." The Union HRD minister claimed that constitutional order has completely broken down in the state, but stopped short of demanding imposition of President's rule in West Bengal. "We would say both law and order and Constitutional order has completely broken down in the state," Javadekar said. On whether the BJP would demand imposition of President's rule in the state, he said, "We won't say anything as of now. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rajya Sabha proceedings were Monday washed out amid ruckus by Trinamool Congress members protesting over the issue of alleged misuse of the CBI by the Centre. As soon as the House resumed in the afternoon, TMC leader Derek O'Brien asked Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu about his notice for discussion on the issue. Replying to this, Naidu said, "I have told you in the morning that you can raise this issue during Zero Hour. During the motion of thanks to the President's address to Parliament, you can also raise the issue and others related to your state." In the meanwhile, TMC and SP members trooped into the well and started raising slogans. The chairman said, "You don't want discussion. You don't want to speak on reply to the motion of thanks (to President's address)". When TMC members did not show any signs of relenting, Naidu adjourned the House for the day. Earlier in the morning, the Rajya Sabha could not transact any major business. As soon as the house assembled, Slogan shouting by TMC members on the issue resulted in adjournment of the House till 2 PM. Naidu had asked agitating members to raise the issue during the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address but TMC members did not heed to the suggestion and started raising slogans like "Save the Constitution" and moved towards the Well. Naidu then adjourned the House till 2 pm. As soon as the ministers laid listed papers on the table of the House, some opposition members were on their feet. Naidu said he has received several notices, including from Derek O'Brien of the TMC on the CBI issue. "I have not admitted any one of them (notices)," Naidu had said, adding members will get an opportunity to raise "important matter at length" during the debate on the President's address. However, TMC member had started raising slogans and some members started moving towards the Well leading to adjournment. In an unprecedented development on Sunday evening, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna, protesting CBI's attempt to quiz Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams. A CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and were whisked to a police station. The CBI wants to quiz Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal Police probing the scams, regarding missing documents and files. Several political leaders, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and RJD national president Lalu Prasad came out in support of Banerjee. Gandhi called up Banerjee and extended support to her, saying the entire opposition is together and will defeat "fascist" forces. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is recalling nearly 300 units of its pick up truck Imperio to fix faulty rear axles, according to industry sources. Mahindra & Mahindra in a regulatory filing on Monday said that it will proactively inspect rear axles on its Imperio vehicles manufactured between April and June 2018. The inspection and subsequent rectification will be carried out free of cost for Imperio customers, who will be individually contacted by the company, it added. "To ensure a hassle free experience for its customers, the company is proactively carrying out this activity," M&M said. The company did not give the exact number of the recalled units but industry sources confirmed it to be less than 300 units. The action is also in compliance with SIAM's voluntary code on vehicle recall and customers can also visit the company's website and check if their vehicles are part of the service action, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao Monday directed the Yadadri Temple Development Authority officials to carry out the renovation works of Lord Narasimha Swamy temple at Yadadri near Nalgonda in a grand fashion. The Chief Minister suggested to the Authority that the renovation and reconstruction works of the shrine should be carried out in such a way that it reflects the spirituality as well as greatness of the temple from time immemorial, a release from his office said. Rao, who held a meeting with officials on the temple renovation works, said adequate budgetary provision would be made to see there is no dearth of funds for the construction work. He said a Maha Yaga would be performed after renovation works are completed. The President and Prime Minister would be invited for the event. "He (Rao) announced that once the renovation works are completed, there would be a Maha Yaga spanning over 11 days known as 'Sahasrastaka Kundayaga' (with 1008 Yaga Kundas). or this programme the President of India, Prime Minister, Vice President, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers of different states, Governors and other dignitaries would be invited," the release said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Maharashtra government has decided to grant 10 per cent reservation in jobs and education to those who are economically weak in the state. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted a graphic that said families, whose collective annual income is less than Rs 8 lakh -- through sources such as farming, salaries, business-industry -- would be treated as economically backward in this case. "#Maharashtra Cabinet 10 per cent reservation for the economically poor in Maharashtra," Fadnavis said on Twitter. The state government's decision is in line with the Centre's recent move of granting 10 per cent quota to the financially weak from general category, Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said. "The (Maharashtra) Cabinet has decided to give 10 per cent quota to those who are financially weak, from any caste or religion, in education and jobs," Mungantiwar told reporters here. He said the benefit would be effective for job recruitments or admissions in educational institutes from February 1, 2019 onwards. According to the graphic posted by Fadnavis on the micro-blogging site, 10 per cent seats/posts would be available for the economically poor in recruitment for government services and admissions in educational institutes. It explains that the aforesaid per cent of posts would be reserved in government establishments, semi-government establishments, corporations/urban governing agencies, rural local governing agencies and authorities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking a direction to the Union Ministry to take action on a representation for bringing back stashed away abroad based on recommendations of a task force set up by the BJP in 2011. Petitioner R Natarajan also sought a direction from the court to the Central Public Information Office to furnish a final reply to his application under the Right to Information Act on the matter, saying he had only received interim replies from the ministry so far. A division bench of Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad dismissed the PIL, saying the representation and the RTI application filed on November 5 last year were the same and the latter was under investigation by the concerned department. Moreover, some interim replies had already been given to the petitioner, it said. The petitioner had contended that the BJP, which came to power at the Centre in 2014, had not acted on the recommendations the task force had made in its January 31, 2011 report. The suggestions included obtaining a declaration from the office bearers of political parties, ministers and MPs about their wealth abroad, he submitted. The task force comprised S Gurumurthy, currently a non-official director on the board of the Reserve Bank of India; Security Advisor Ajit Doval; professor at Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru, R Vaidyanathan and senior lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani. The proceedings of Lok Sabha were adjourned for nearly 45 minutes on Monday morning amid protests by Trinamool Congress members over alleged "misuse" of the CBI by the central government. As soon as the House paid obituaries to former members who had died in the recent past, members of the TMC raised the issue, saying they have given notice for an adjournment motion to discuss the issue. When Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said they can raise the issue after Question Hour, TMC members rushed to the Well of the House and started raising slogans against the BJP. Members of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) were also in the Well supporting the TMC. Later, Congress members entered the Well holding placards about the Rafale jet deal and unemployment figures. They, however, did not shout slogans. The Speaker continued with the Question Hour for 15 minutes and later adjourned the House till noon. The treasury benches were largely empty with only a few members present in the House. West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee has begun a sit-in protest in Kolkata over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams. The chief minister skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on a makeshift dais here along with some senior ministers and party members. In an unprecedented development Sunday evening, Banerjee sat on a dharna, protesting CBI's attempt to quiz Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams. A CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and was whisked to a police station. The CBI wants to quiz Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal Police probing the scams, regarding missing documents and files. Several political leaders, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and RJD national president Lalu Prasad, came out in support of Banerjee. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least eight people were injured Monday during a pandemonium triggered by the entry of a leopard into a residential area in Pune in Maharashtra, police said. The feline was spotted between 5 am and 6 am in Keshav Nagar locality which has several under-construction housing projects, a Mundhwa police station official said. He said seven people, included an old woman and a forest department personnel, were injured when they were attacked by the big cat while another person got hurt when he was running to safety. As people ran helter-skelter and many others gathered at the spot, the feline panicked and fell into the duct of an under-construction building while running away. It was later rescued by the personnel of forest department, police and fire brigade, the police official said. "Between 5 am and 6 am on Monday, the leopard was spotted in the area, which has several under-construction housing projects and is fairly populated. The animal attacked seven people, including an old woman and a forest personnel, causing injuries to them," the official said. All the injured persons were rushed to a nearby hospital, he said, adding that they were released after primary treatment. The rescued big cat was then taken to the city-based Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Home Ministry will examine the role of some IPS officers in the alleged obstruction put up against a CBI team probing the Saradha ponzi scam in Kolkata and whether they violated the service conduct rules while preventing questioning of city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, officials said on Monday. The Union home ministry is the cadre-controlling authority of the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in the country. According to a ministry official, the MHA will seek report on the role of IPS officers who allegedly obstructed the CBI probe and whether they violated the service conduct rules in Sunday's episode in Kolkata. The Centre on Sunday evening received information that CBI officers in Kolkata had experienced "intimidation and threat to personal safety in course of investigation into the Saradha scam being conducted under the directions of the Supreme Court." Reports were also received that the residence of a joint director of the CBI was surrounded by the Kolkata police, the ministry official said. Another official said, according to reports received by the home ministry, the CBI team was allegedly obstructed by the state police when they went to grill the Kolkata police chief in connection with the Saradha scam case. The ministry has deployed central forces at the CBI office and residential premises of the probe agency officials in the state and it is now "closely monitoring the situation". Home Minister Rajnath Singh has already spoken to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi and took stock of the "unprecedented" situation that arose in Kolkata on Sunday, the official said. According to the CBI, IPS officer Rajeev Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of the West Bengal Police probing the ponzi scams, needs to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he has not responded to notices to appear before the agency. Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre, did not even attend a meeting with Election Commission officials who had gone to Kolkata to review election preparedness. In an unprecedented development, a number of CBI officers, who had gone to question Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scam cases, were bundled into police jeeps, whisked to a police station and briefly detained on Sunday. Hours after the incident, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee began a sit-in right in front of the Metro Cinema to protest "insults" she faced at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and claimed the CBI knocked on the doors of Kumar without a search warrant. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sit-in over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams continued on Monday. Banerjee, who sat on the dharna around 8.30 pm Sunday to protest against "the attack on constitutional norms", was seen speaking to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders at the protest site on Monday morning. An all-out war broke out between the Centre and the Mamata Banerjee government on Sunday, with the feisty West Bengal leader beginning the sit-in protest in front of Metro Cinema over the issue. Some road restrictions have been imposed in the Metro Cinema area in the heart of the city where the sit-in is being held. The TMC supremo had said she would not attend the assembly, where the state budget would be placed by Finance Minister Amit Mitra, on Monday. Prior to that, a cabinet meeting would be held inside a makeshift room set up behind the stage. TMC sources said Banerjee was scheduled to attend a meeting of the party's farmers' wing in an indoor stadium here. However, she might not go there and other party leaders would address the meeting. Samajwadi Party leader Kiranmoy Nanda reached the dharna venue to express the party's solidarity with Banerjee over the issue. Other national leaders such as Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister M Chandrababu Naidu, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav spoke to Banerjee on Sunday night. Insisting that it had stifled the spirit of "Constitution and federalism", Banerjee had claimed that the CBI knocked on the doors of Kumar without a search warrant. Banerjee, one of the prime movers behind the effort to cobble together an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah want to impose President's rule in whatever states the opposition is in power. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament and requested him for expeditious release of Rs 575.90 crore as Centre's share in a scheme aimed at addressing gaps in MSP-based procurement of crops, an official statement said. It was his first meeting with the prime minister after assuming the office of Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. Nath also raised the issue of pendency in giving clearance to mining activities in the state and delay in auctioning of mines which, he said, were adversely affecting economic activities in the state, a statement from the chief minister's office said. During the half-an-hour meeting, Nath requested Modi for an expeditious release of Rs 575.90 crore by the Centre as its share in PDPS (Price Deficiency Payment Scheme) pilot of Kharif 2017, according to the statement. Nath also drew his attention to the Union government's decision to implement Prime Minister AASHA (Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan) to back the earlier decision for remunerative MSP for oilseeds, the statement added. The scheme was implemented on the premise that 50 pc cost-sharing would be done. Accordingly, the Centre's share for PDPS pilot works out to be Rs 975 crore out of which it has released only Rs 400 crore, it said. The statement said the chief minister also requested the PM to amend the PDPS policy to have an enabling clause to increase the target 25 pc of production to 40 pc of the productions of the state. This will help the approximately 8.27 lakh registered farmers who have traded approximately 23.40 metric tonnnes of soybean under PDPS in APMCs, which is 35.50% of total production. He urged the prime minister to get the PDPS target for soyabean to 40 pc of state's productions i.e 26.92 LML. The chief minister also requested the PM for giving early clearance for mining activities and expedite the auction process of mines. Nath praised the prime minister for a landmark step by amending Mines and Mineral (development and regulation) Act for greater transparency and accountability in allotment of rights, the statement said. However, he pointed out that about 170 cases of existing applications are pending for grant of mining lease by virtue of section 10(a) 2(b) in the state. The state has already submitted 27 cases to the Ministry of Mines in the last one year. He requested for an early decision in this regard. He also requested the Prime Minister to expedite the auction process for mines. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jharkhand government Monday said that it would look into the Journalist Security Act of other states before initiating the process for such an act in the state. "We will get the acts of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Haryana, look into them and then the process will be initiated," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Neelkanth Singh Munda told the state Assembly. He was replying to BJP MLA Biranchi Narayans question on whether the state government has any proposal to bring such an act in the face of demand by journalists to bring such an act for their security. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The leaders of Germany and Japan said Monday they will try to minimize the global economic impact from Britain's upcoming departure from the European Union and pledged to defend free trade in the face of rising protectionism. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Britain to avoid a no-deal Brexit. Last Friday, Japan and the EU ushered in a landmark trade deal that creates one of the world's largest free trade areas. Combined, the two sides account for almost a third of the world's economy. Abe said Japan and Germany would work together to keep the global economy growing. "In order to do so, we need to minimize the impact on the global economy from Brexit," Abe said at a joint conference following their meeting. "We definitely hope (for Britain) to avoid a no-deal Brexit." Abe told Merkel that their countries' commitment and leadership in defending free trade is extremely important. Merkel suggested at the conference that it's still possible for the EU and Britain to come to an agreement on how the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland will function after Brexit. She said, however, that London needs to come forward with a proposal. The withdrawal agreement can't be renegotiated, but questions surrounding the border arrangements could still be addressed in a declaration on the future relationship between the EU and Britain, Merkel said. "One has to be creative, and we must listen to one another," she said. But first, "we must hear from Great Britain how they envision that." Merkel also joined other European leaders in recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as "the legitimate interim president" of Venezuela. Germany and several other countries in the European Union had set President Nicolas Maduro's government an eight-day deadline to call a new presidential election. The ultimatum expired on Sunday. Guaido, who heads the opposition-led National Assembly, declared himself Venezuela's legitimate ruler on January 23. He has the support of Washington and most South American nations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A major inquiry into scandals in Australia's banking and financial services firms has referred more than 20 cases to regulators for possible prosecution, and called for substantial changes in the sector. In the findings of its year-long investigation, the Royal Commission called for swathes of rules to be revisited, and for banks to be more heavily regulated or monitored to prevent future misconduct. "Saying sorry and promising not to do it again has not prevented recurrence," said the inquiry's commissioner, former High Court judge Kenneth Hayne. "The financial services industry is too important to the economy of the nation to allow what has happened in the past to continue or to happen again." Among the 76 key recommendations were the banning of particularly egregious sales practices in the pension and insurance markets, and structural changes in the mortgage broking sector. The big banks were sharply criticised, with National Australia Bank's chair Ken Henry and chief executive Andrew Thorburn singled out for being unwilling to acknowledge their organisation's mistakes. But Hayne stopped short of publicly recommending criminal charges, preferring to leave punishment to regulators -- which he said themselves had fallen down on the job and were in need of review. The report -- while extensive -- is likely to disappoint some observers who had called for the heads of individual senior executives who allowed or perpetuated the repeated misconduct and breaches. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, whose ruling conservative party had opposed the creation of the commission, called it "scathing". "From today, the banking sector must change and change forever," he said, announcing that the government would act on Hayne's recommendations. "Our principle focus is on restoring trust in our financial system and delivering better consumer outcomes." Australian banks issued an acknowledgement of wrongdoing ahead of the report's release, admitting to failing customers and vowing to "reset" the industry. "Banks know they have failed their customers and not lived up to the high standards Australians rightly expect of the industry," Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh said in a statement Monday. "We do know this an opportunity to reset the industry and to make things better for our customers." The report had been seen as an inflection point for the economically vital sector, but analysts said the commission was calling for the tweaking of existing laws rather than the introduction of new ones. Banks have already started to address some of the issues raised, such as spinning off their financial advisory arms from their main activities to avoid conflicts of interest. Commissioner Hayne had been praised for his no-nonsense approach to the hearings. He made clear his independence from Canberra when he uttered a curt "no" when asked by a journalist to shake hands with Frydenberg when the report was being handed over. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UK government on Monday announced that the (EU) has suspended Airlines flights over safety concerns, affecting budget flights that operate from India. The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advisory notes that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has ordered the airline's suspension, which means flights from to Birmingham and London's Airport, and New Delhi to Airport, which fly via capital Ashgabat, will not be able to land in the UK. The European Aviation Safety Agency has suspended Airlines flights to and from the EU pending confirmation that it meets air safety standards, the FCO advisory notes. "This means flights from to Birmingham and Heathrow, and New Delhi to Heathrow, which fly via Ashgabat, do not have permission to continue their route from Ashgabat to Birmingham and Heathrow; affected passengers are advised to contact for advice, the FCO said. The route is a commonly used budget route between India and the UK, with cheaper tickets as a result of the indirect route via Turkmenistan. The airline operates five flights a week from Birmingham to Ashgabat and a weekly departure from Airport, with a majority of the passengers connecting to services to India. It is an especially popular route with the British Punjabi population, flying to Turkmenistan, a former Soviet Union country, had set up its flagship airline in 1992. Its other flights to be affected by the EU suspension include those connecting Ashgabat with Germany and France. The UK remains an EU member-country until the Brexit deadline next month and therefore all EU rules continue to apply in Britain. A 60-year-old Indian man has pleaded guilty for his role in a complex, transnational conspiracy to smuggle individuals from India to the US for profit, which claimed at least one life and endangered many others, the US Justice Department said. Yadvinder Singh Bhamba pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy and 15 counts of smuggling aliens to the United States for profit before US Magistrate Judge Sivia Carreno-Coll of the District of Puerto Rico. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April. According to admissions in Bhamba's plea agreement, since 2013, Bhamba had a leadership role in a human smuggling conspiracy operating out of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, India and elsewhere. As part of the conspiracy, Bhamba personally assisted around 400 people to unlawfully enter the United States between 2013 and 2015. He also oversaw and directed co-conspirators operating out of the Caribbean, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said. Individuals paid between USD 30,000 and USD 85,000 to be smuggled from India to the United States and from at least 2013 to 2016, human smuggling was Bhamba's primary source of income, the Department said. Bhamba was arrested in the Dominican Republic in August 2017, and later transferred to Puerto Rico. Bhamba and other members of the conspiracy made flight arrangements for people to travel from India through other countries including Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Iran, Panama, Venezuela, Belize, and Haiti to the Dominican Republic, which was used as a staging area, where aliens were housed before being transported to the United States. The organisation brought groups of aliens from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico or Florida by boat and from there they were picked up by co-conspirators and taken to stash houses until flights could be arranged to California, New York, or elsewhere in the United States. Bhamba and others arranged for fraudulent identifications for some aliens to use in the United States. The Justice Department said that the boat trips organised by Bhamba and his co-conspirators were perilous. Boat captains used old, damaged, cracked, unlicensed, overcrowded, and unsafe boats to make the journey. In at least one instance, a person died in a boat on his way to the United States. At times, the smugglers would take passports from the aliens during their journeys, physically assault them, and threaten their families to collect money. Bhamba used fraudulent Indian, Dominican, and Jamaican identifications for travel and financial transactions related to the conspiracy. In some instances, he created and provided false employment documents on behalf of the aliens to authorities to obtain foreign visas. Bhamba also instructed aliens traveling through foreign airports how to find, and in some instances, pay cash to, corrupt immigration officials, passport control officers, or airport employees in order to bypass regular immigration and passport control procedures. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian media was not allowed entry into a global conference, which was projected as an 'open' event, addressed by Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a committee room in the UK House of Commons complex on Monday. The International Conference on Kashmir was billed as an event to express "solidarity" with the people of Kashmir. Chaired by Rehman Chishti, a Pakistan-occupied Kashmir-born Conservative Party MP, the event was organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pakistan. There was restricted access allowed into what had been projected as an open conference. India had registered strong opposition over Qureshi being allowed to address such a meeting within the British Parliament complex. The event was attended by Pakistani-origin British MPs and peers, including Khalid Mahmood and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi. British Sikh Labour Party MP, Tan Dhesi, was among the few Indian-origin parliamentarians seen entering the room. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had earlier said that India has "strongly" taken up the issue with the UK and hopes "they do understand our objections to proposed conference and take appropriate action". In response, the UK government had said Qureshi was not an official guest as he was on a private visit to Britain. "The UK's longstanding position is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution to the situation in Kashmir, taking into account the Kashmiri people's wishes. Members of Parliament are independent of the government; it is for individual members to decide who they meet and for what purpose," a Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) source said in reference to the controversial meeting. The UK event coincided with the "Kashmir Solidarity Day", observed by Pakistan on February 5. A rally is planned at Parliament Square by separatist groups on Tuesday, with UK-based Kashmiri Hindu outfits planning a counter-protest. "UK Hindus strongly oppose this rally as it is dangerous and threatens the measures to rehabilitate Kashmiri Hindus back to their homeland," said the Indo-European Kashmir Forum, an umbrella body representing Indian community groups. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and its professionals would remain at the forefront of absorbing and mainstreaming the technologies of the future such as artificial intelligence, Union Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan Monday said. Changes were happening at a rapid phase and global companies estimate that India's Artificial Intelligence penetration will impact 60 per cent of our GDP by 2021 against the present eight per cent, he said. He was delivering the key-note address on the inaugural day of the two-day international IT Exhibition and Conference (Indiasoft-2019) here, organised by the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC). "So, personally, I have no doubts, given the skill and talent and ability of our professionals, given the success that we achieved in present day business models, that the logical next step is of course absorbing and mainstreaming the technology of the future,... "The approaches of the future, the business models of the future, whether it is based on Artificial Intelligence or Internet of Things, certainly I think, India and its professionals will remain at the forefront of that in the future also," he said. Wadhawan released the Statistical Yearbook of ESC, which, among other things, contains the estimates of IT exports for various destinations, according to the release. Telangana Information Technology Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said five largest IT corporations in the US have their largest operations in Hyderabad next to their home operations in America. ESC Chairman Mandeep Singh Puri highlighted some of the services extended by the council to IT exporters in expanding their businesses. An ESC release said it is a major export promotion organisation with over 2,300 members across the country. Among others, the event was also being attended by 400 foreign delegate and 250 exhibitors. As an industry body, the ESC successfully steered the country's ICT exports from a meager USD 50 million in 1989 to USD 126 billion in 2018, the release said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India is well-tuned and geared up for taking the next step to secure its cyberspace, a senior executive of Israel-based cybersecurity solution provider Check Point Software Technologies said Monday. Cyberattacks and data fraud or theft were listed in the top-5 of the World Economic Forum's 14th edition of 'Global Risks Report 2019'. "India is amongst the fastest-growing regions for the Check Point Software Technologies and our investments will continue as we do on a yearly basis. "...India is certainly well-tuned and geared to take the next step of securing its cyberspace," Check Point Software Technologies India & SAARC Managing Director Bhaskar Bakthavatsalu told PTI. Bakthavatsalu further said the adoption of cyber security solutions is increasing rightly in India. India has faced cyberattacks from hackers based in Pakistan. He added that the company has a large security workforce in India in sales, pre-sales and support. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd, headquartered in Tel Aviv (Israel), is a provider of cybersecurity solutions globally. According to a company statement, it has recently introduced Maestro, the industry's first truly hyperscale network security solution that enables businesses of any size to enjoy the power of flexible cloud-level security platforms. This enables organisations to secure the largest, most resource-hungry environments, including hyperscale data centers, telcos and mobile networks, the company added. It further said by adopting hyperscale security, companies can scale up their existing gateways of any size on-demand. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India on Monday welcomed UK government's order to extradite fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya and said it awaits "early completion" of the legal process in the matter. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has ordered the extradition of Mallya on charges of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offences, the British Home Office said in London. "We have taken note of the decision of the UK Home Secretary to sign on the order for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India," a top government source said. "While we welcome the UK government's decision in the matter, we await the early completion of the legal process for his extradition," the source said. The 63-year-old businessman had been found to have a case to answer before the Indian courts by Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on December 10, 2018. Javid, UK's senior-most Pakistani-origin minister, had two months from that date to sign on that order. The UK Home Office confirmed on Monday the minister signed Mallya's extradition order on Sunday after considering all matters. "Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences," the Home Office spokesperson said. Mallya is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by the Scotland Yard in April 2017 after Indian authorities brought fraud and money-laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crore against the former Kingfisher Airlines boss. He now has 14 days from February 4 to apply for leave to appeal to the UK High Court. Mallya previously indicated that he intends to file an application to appeal against the Westminster Magistrates' Court verdict in favour of his extradition to India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former IAS officer Shah Faesal Monday said India and Pakistan should hold dialogue to resolve Kashmir issue as it was a political problem that cannot be ended by development packages. "When the politicians are asked what is the issue, they say 'Kashmir is a problem. Give them monetary packages'. Some portion of the 2004 package is yet to be spent. Do we only need money? Is Kashmiri a beggar? "We want to tell them that Kashmir is a political problem," he said. Advocating dialogue, Faesal said India and Pakistan should sit together to resolve the Kashmir issue. "They should not play with the lives of Kashmiri people by throwing money around," he said. Faesal, who resigned from the government service last month, was addressing his maiden public rally in his home district of Kupwara in north Kashmir, 100 kilometres from here. He said the situation in Kashmir over the past few years forced him to be the voice of the unheard people. "While I raised my voice against atrocities being committed on different minorities in the country, the situation in Kashmir over the past few years forced me raise my voice. We saw our PhD scholars were martyred, there is no one to talk about the educated youth. "Politicians are holding to their chair and minting money while Kashmiris are making sacrifices for their political rights. There is no one taking note of this," he said. The former IAS officer likened his tenure in the IAS to a jail term. "To tell you honestly, I spent the last 10 years in a jail. During these 10 years, in many ways I tried to serve my people and succeeded as well. But what I saw in these 10 years, despite being a senior government officer, the fire in my heart, the atrocities and injustices I saw, I used to feel helpless. "I was looking for an avenue where I could talk for the people of Kashmir and also work for their betterment," he said. Faesal, who recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for his political initiative, said the atmosphere of corruption in the state was sucking blood of everyone. He also claimed that the political scenario in the state was coming in its way of being self-reliant. "I was head of the power department. A company offered Rs 13,000 crore loan for exploiting the hydroelectric potential of the state but the political situation of our state is such that we are not being allowed to be self-reliant in terms of our economy," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India along with the European Union and other members have recently submitted a proposal on reform of the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism to address various challenges, Parliment was informed Monday. There has been an impasse in the matter of the Appellate Body's members selection, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The robust mechanism of the WTO ensures that the rules of global trade agreed at the forum are not breached by members, he said. "India has recently co-sponsored a proposal with the European Union and other members on reform of the dispute settlement mechanism addressing various challenges," he said. The proposal, he said, addresses various imperative issues of timelines, the appointment process of the appellate body members, their tenure and other conditions, so that the body and the mechanism work more efficiently. The dispute settlement mechanism is an important arm of the WTO (World Trade Organisation) to resolve trade disputes among member nations. The appellate body is the apex institution to adjudicate disputes. The decrease in serving members is likely to cause further delays in appellate proceedings. India along with other members have time and again raised concerns on the matter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Monday wrote to Union minister Nitin Gadkari requesting him for exemption to journalists from paying toll tax across the country. In a letter to the Union Minister for Road, Transport and National Highways, Kejriwal sought the exemption for journalists, saying it was demanded by Haryana journalists at a meeting with him, a statement from the government said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The entire government machinery is "rotten" in Rajasthan and the officials are "hand in glove" with those who have been indulging in in Aravalli area of the state, the said on Monday. Expressing anguish over destruction of flora and fauna in the area, the apex court came down heavily on the after it cited the recent Assembly elections and the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as the reasons for not completing ground truthing exercise to ascertain the area where had allegedly been conducted. A bench comprising justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta directed the chief secretary of the state to appear before it for an explanation. The bench referred to the October 29 last year order of the apex court which had noted the submissions of Rajasthan's chief secretary that approximately 27 per cent ground truthing of the area was complete and remaining work would be done within three months. Ground truthing is conducted to ascertain the empirical evidence at actual site. The top court is dealing with a matter related to alleged activities in the Aravalli range. The bench asked the counsel appearing for Rajasthan about the status of ground truthing and he said that around 31 per cent work was over. The counsel told the bench that due to Assembly elections in Rajasthan, the work was not complete and now Lok Sabha polls were also approaching. "What is this? Do not come to the court with this approach. Do not say this election and that election. You are not inclined to do it (ground truthing). "You are hand in glove and your officers are hand in glove with them (illegal miners). The entire Aravalli area is devastated and entire flora and fauna there has gone," the bench said. "What are you saying? As elections are there so illegal mining will go on till then? What is this? You do not want to do this because this suits you. The entire machinery is rotten," the bench told the state counsel, adding, "Are we at your mercy?". Rajasthan's counsel said the state wants to complete the exercise and so far 31 per cent work was complete. While referring to the October 29 last year's order, the bench said, "Three months period is over now. What have you done? You already knew that elections will be there. Why you have not completed the work? Call your chief secretary". When the counsel said he had taken instructions from the government authority on this issue on Monday itself, the bench said, "No instructions, we want compliance of our order. We want only compliance". The bench said after October 29 last year, only four per cent work was done by the state despite the fact that chief secretary had told the court that work will be completed within three months. The state's counsel told the court that they needed some more time to complete the work. "How much more time you want? What have you done? What is this going on," the bench said. The bench observed that it was "sheer violation" of the top court's order as the state has not completed the work in time. "We are not happy with the way the state machinery has done this work," the bench said, adding that ground truthing should have been completed by now. It asked the chief secretary of Rajasthan to appear before it on February 8 to explain as to why order of the top court has not been complied with yet and why action has not been taken against erring officials. The had last year told the apex court that no illegal mining was going on in 115.34 hectares of land in Aravalli area of the state The court had, in October, expressed shock over 31 "vanished" hills or hillocks in Aravalli area and had asked the state to stop illegal mining in 115.34-hectare area. The court had referred to a report of central empowered committee (CEC) which had said that out of 128 samples taken by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), as many as 31 hills or hillocks have vanished. The state had earlier told the court that all the government departments concerned in Rajasthan were "on the job" to stop illegal mining. Huge scope exists between businesses of India and European country Monaco to boost cooperation in services sector and high-end technologies, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said Monday. Prabhu said India and Monaco can jointly work together in developing technologies to mitigate environmental concerns. "India has identified 12 champion services sectors and tremendous scope is there for increasing cooperation for both the countries," he said. He was addressing businesses of both the countries at India Monaco Business Forum, in the presence of Albert II, Prince of Monaco. These sectors include IT & ITeS, tourism, medical value travel, transport and logistics, accounting and finance, audio visual, legal, communication, environmental, financial and education. He said that services sector are expected to contribute USD 3 trillion in the country's economy once the GDP reach USD 5 trillion in the coming years. Speaking at the forum, Gilles Tonelli, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Monaco, highlighted the opportunities present in Monaco and invited Indian companies to capitalise on the safe and sound industry-oriented policies framed by them. A partnership agreement was signed between industry chamber FICCI and Monaco Economic Board to strengthen the institutional relations between the countries for further increasing trade and economic relations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Veteran communist leader and member of CPI(M) politburo Manik Sarkar on Monday said that the BJP has a "hidden agenda" behind its efforts to get the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha, but the opposition political parties would not allow it. Addressing a rally here, Sarkar, also the former chief minister of the state, said, "The bill is undemocratic and against the spirit of our constitution. The BJP must be having a hidden agenda behind its efforts to pass the bill, but we would not let that happen." The public meeting here was organised as part of CPI(M)'s nationwide protest against the contentious bill. "If the bill is not scrapped, it would have disastrous impact on the country's northeastern region and badly affect its demographic profile. "The BJP is playing with fire and it would destroy the peace and harmony in the north-eastern region", he said. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12 years, which is the norm currently, even if they do not possess any document. Protests have rocked the entire northeast, with organizations and political parties claiming that the bill threatens the identity, language and culture of indigenous people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madras High Court Friday held Rule 481 of the Tamil Nadu Prison Rules unconstitutional as it stated 50 per cent of wages earned by prisoners shall be deducted for their upkeep. Partly allowing a PIL, a division bench of the court's Madurai bench, comprising Justices K K Sasidharan and G R Swaminathan, said admittedly the prisoners were not paid the wages as prescribed in the Minimum Wages Act. Therefore making substantial deduction from the wages prescribed violated the constitution and hence unreasonable, the bench said. The judges, however, said it was open to the government to provide for a lesser and reasonable percentage of deduction which would be in accordance with the law laid down by the Supreme Court. The judges said making a substantial deduction from the wages prescribed under prison rules ran counter to the direction laid down by the apex court. The supreme court had also held that the government could not deduct any substantial portion from the wages of the prisoners.It could only make onlyreasonable deduction. In the case of prisoners in Tamil Nadu, the work is extracted from them without reasonable wages and making substantial deduction from their wages is not reasonable. "It amounted to begar (forced labour)," the judges said. However, the judges rejected the plea by K R Raja seeking a direction to declare as illegal a section under the rules providing for20 per cent of the wages to be credited in the prison fund to be paid to victims affected by the criminal activity of the prisoners. The judges said the provision for deductionfrom prisoners wages for the purpose of compensating the victims cannot be questioned since it was made only pursuant to and in terms of the direction given by the Supreme Court. "We are of the view that apportioning one fifth of the prisoners' wages for crediting to the victims' compensation fund cannot be said to be unreasonable," the court said. The state government advocate submitted that amenities provided to prisoners came to Rs 153 per day, though 50 per cent of the wages deducted for the upkeep of the prisoners came to Rs 100, Rs 90 and Rs 80 for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled prisoners respectively. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court has awarded 3.85 crore to UK-based Whatman International Ltd in damages for its trademark infringement by various persons here who were selling infringed products. The court said the conduct of defendants was wrong and they have committed infringement of the company's mark and impinged on its rights deliberately, consciously and wilfully for over 25 years. "Repeated legal action has not deterred them. They showed no remorse in the statements recorded.... The present is a case for award of aggravated, punitive damages," Justice Prathiba M Singh said. The court directed them to pay the amount to the company within three months. It also also held them guilty of contempt of court order and listed the matter for March 5 for hearing arguments on the point of punishment to be awarded to them. Whatman had approached the high court seeking to restrain the defendants, various persons belonging to the same family, from infringing its trademark. The company, in its plea through advocate Pravin Anand, said it was founded by James Whatman in 1740 was it was the owner of the mark 'whatman'. The company said it makes and sells various products including filter paper and used a distinctive colour combination and script, get-up and layout for its Whatman filter paper, consisting of a white background with a blue script. The plea alleged that the defendants were habitual infringers and have a long history of manufacturing and selling counterfeit Whatman filter paper, beginning from 1992, and thereafter in 2005. Despite giving undertakings, they continued to sell the infringing goods, leading to the plaintiff filing the present suit, it said. Earlier, as in interim measure, local commissioners were appointed to visit the premises of the defendants in Mumbai where seizures of infringing products were made, the plea claimed, adding that when they continued to sell the infringed products, the company lodged an FIR. In their response, the defendants said that the company does not have any goodwill in India and that the letter 'W' cannot be monopolised by the plaintiff. They also claimed that they had not violated the injunction order and only old stock, which was lying in the premises, was seized by the police. The court decreed the suit in favour of the company and against the defendants saying the chronology of events shows that the illegalities, repeated violations and disobedience of the orders and undertakings are "deliberate and conscious". "The pleadings contained false statements. The reports of the local commissioners totally exposed the illegalities of the defendants. The final nail in the coffin was the scant regard shown even before the court, when completely false statements were made. The contemptuous acts of the defendants... deserve to be punished in accordance with law. They are held guilty of contempt," the court said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Social activist has lost 4.25 kg in the last six days since his fast over appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs began, doctors said Monday. As concerns over Hazare's health grew, the Shiv Sena and MNS sought the BJP-led government's intervention to save the 81-year-old activist's life. Hazare began his fast on January 30 at his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, demanding appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra and resolution of farmers' issues. "Anna now weighs 71.1 kg and has lost 4.25 kg weight since his fast began. His blood pressure is also increasing due to fasting," Dr Dhananjay Pote, a doctor attending to him, told PTI Monday. Pote has been asked by the villagers to keep a tab on Hazare's health and prepare a daily report. Several people, including government officials, have met Hazare in the last six days and requested him to end his fast. MNS chief Raj Thackeray and water conservationist Rajendra Singh met Hazare on Monday and extended their support to his agitation. Thackeray asked him not to sacrifice his life for the "useless" government. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra, had Sunday extended his support to Hazare, asking him to emulate socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and lead an agitation against corruption. The Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' on Monday, appealed to the BJP-led government to save his life. Hazare had earlier warned that if the Modi government did not fulfil its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan award. The activist has been demanding appointment of at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states where such statutory anti-corruption watchdogs do not exist, and resolution of farmers' issues. He has also been demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations on ways to address agrarian distress, besides electoral reforms. Raj Thackeray asked Hazare to end his protest and conduct a joint tour of the state with him to "bury" the BJP- led government. The MNS leader and Hazare held a closed door meeting at a room in the Yadavbaba temple premises for around 20 minutes. After the meeting, Thackeray addressed the gathering at Hazare's protest site and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "cheating" the nation and not following his party's own poll manifesto. He quoted some tweets and speeches of Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections campaign in which, Thackeray said, the prime minister had praised Hazare for his honesty and moral attitude. "I have appealed Anna not to sacrifice his life for these useless people. I have also asked him not to trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi and any of his promises," he said. ALSO READ: Anna Hazare's fast enters third day; BP, blood sugar levels up, says doctor Thackeray said on December 18, 2013 Modi had tweeted in favour of the Bill. "Now, almost five years of the Modi government is completed but no action has been taken so far. Today, the people in power are there because of Anna's agitation in 2013. They should not forget it," he said. Thackeray said he was surprised that even Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was part of Hazare's agitation some years ago and came into limelight from there, had not visited the activist or enquired about his health. "The entire country got to know Kejriwal because of Anna's agitation. Now, he (Kejriwal) is in power and not showing concern towards Anna's health," he said. The MNS leader said he had told Hazare that they are "dishonest" people. "You should quit the fast and we will jointly tour the state and bury this government. My party is extending support to Anna's cause," Thackeray said. Rajendra Singh met Hazare Monday morning and expressed concern over the activist's health. Singh along with some social activists discussed the issues plaguing the farmers and "flaws" in the and Lokayuktas Act-2013. He extended his support to Hazare and his agitation and said some NGOs would also be joining his protest in a day or two, as everybody has realised the "insensitivity and cruelty" of the Modi government. BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao Monday said his party would not tolerate any kind of corruption and hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for staging a dharna to protest action against Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar. "The happenings in West Bengal are not in tune with democracy.. BJP is fighting for democracy," Rao said. Protecting "scamsters and fraudsters" was not going to enhance the reputation of adversaries of BJP, Rao told reporters. "BJP is against any kind of corruption and we will fight it tooth and nail .. Mamata ji is fighting a losing battle as the people will never accept protection for scamsters," he said. He also slammed the West Bengal government for "not giving" permission for BJP leaders to hold rallies. Rao said he was here as part of a preparatory meeting for a rally to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled at nearby Tirupur on February 10. Rejecting the opposition charge that the CBI's move to question Kumar amounted to an attack on the federal structure by the Modi government, BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said it cannot be cited as a shield to save the corrupt and asserted that the agency acted as per law. The BJP questioned if her dharna to protest action against Kumar was because he held many "secrets" and needed to be saved. "These suspicious circumstances clearly indicate that the police commissioner knows a lot and therefore needed to be saved by the chief minister," Prasad had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government has decided to form a small working group to look into the issue of being faced by and come out with a workable solution in 4-5 days, a top official said Monday. The issue was discussed in a meeting convened by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT). DPIIT Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said many suggestions were flagged by in the meeting. "We had a roundtable on resolving the issue of We have a number of suggestions. We will form a small working group and try to come out with some suggestions and solutions in the next 4-5 days," he told reporters after the meeting. He also said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has asked its officers not to take any coercive action against them. The meeting comes against the backdrop of various raising concerns on notices sent to them under Section 56(2) (viib) of I-T Act to pay taxes on member Akhilesh Ranjan, who attended the meeting said, investors, entrepreneurs and founders have raised this issue and they were explained why this tax provision exists in statute. "We do not want to tax startups under that provision, (but) we want somebody to define what is a startup," he said adding there should be some parameters for startups. Ranjan further said income tax (I-T) officers have already been instructed not to enforce recovery of and dispose of their appeals on priority. "Number of notices is much less. Tax notices are also less in number," he said. Notices are sent on the basis of computerised process. Nikunj Bubna, founder of startup Whats Extra India said, the government should give them exemption from income tax. Bubna said he received a tax notice of Rs 50 lakh due to which he had no option but to close his venture. Sharing similar views, Monika Jain from Presto said the government should come out with a solution on angel tax issue as it is impacting the budding entrepreneurs. "We want them to do away this section for startups or find a suitable solution. Currently every time we get investments, we have to seek exemptions," she said. Last month, the government eased the procedure for seeking income tax exemption by startups on investments from and prescribed a 45-day deadline for a decision on such applications. The new procedure says that to seek exemption, a startup should apply, with all documents, to DPIIT. The application of the recognised startup shall then be moved to A startup recognised by DPIIT would be eligible to seek exemption, subject to certain conditions. Startups will have to provide account details and return of income for last three years. Similarly, investors would also have to give their net worth details and return of income. Section 56(2) (viib) of the I-T Act provides that the amount raised in excess of a startup's fair market value is taxed at 30 per cent as income of the firm from other sources. The government launched the Startup India initiative in January 2016 to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship. The government will start the process to sell non-core of state-owned companies, which have been identified for strategic disinvestment, next fiscal, an official said. The Cabinet has already approved strategic sale of about 2 dozen central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), including Air India, of India, and Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, for strategic sale. Out of this, the has already identified 9 CPSEs for sale of land and other before they are put on the block for strategic sale. These include Scooters India, Air India, Bharat Pumps & Compressors Ltd, Project & Development (PDIL), Hindustan Prefab, Hindustan Newsprint Ltd, Bridge and Roof Co and Hindustan Fluorocarbons. The Department of and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has been drafting an asset monetisation framework, which will lay down the procedures for the administrative ministries to follow in selling off "Asset monetisation framework will see the light of the day next fiscal. The framework and assets will get defined by the time we finish this fiscal. The actual process will start next fiscal. The framework would define the assets, define various models under which they can go for monetisation and also the process to follow," Secretary told in an interview. Monetisation of assets is among the slew of strategies that the will follow to meet the Rs 90,000 crore disinvestment target set up for the next fiscal. This is higher than the Rs 80,000 crore the department is expected to raise this fiscal ending March. The DIPAM has already floated a draft Cabinet note on the guidelines, which would be applicable for those central public sector undertakings that are likely candidates for strategic disinvestment. However, any state-owned company which wants to sell its non-core assets too can follow the framework. The framework, among other things, will stipulate the quantum of funds that would accrue to the CPSEs following the sale of assets and how much would go into the exchequer, an official had said earlier. The government had already given in-principle approval for strategic sale of 24 state-owned companies. These include of India, HLL Lifecare, Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, Units/JVs of ITDC, Bhadrawati, Salem and Durgapur units of SAIL, Nagarnar Steel Plant of NMDC, Central Electronics and Ferro Scrap Nigam. With regard to Air India, the government has already initiated the process of selling its land and real estate properties -- including Airlines House in Mumbai, realty property in Delhi's Vasant Vihar and land on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, next to Connaught Place. The government expects a 20 per cent decline in road accidents from the current 5 lakh a year, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said Monday terming high fatalities in such accidents unfortunate. Parliament's nod to pending legislation Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill will also help curb the accidents, said the road transport, highways, shipping, water resources, ganga rejuvenation and river development minister. The Bill provides for stringent penalties in cases of offences and violation of traffic rules. Currently, 5 lakh road accidents a year, the highest in the world, take place in the country in which about 1.5 lakh people die. Gadkari was addressing an event here at Rajghat after jointly flagging off a motor rally with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The rally will cover 7,250 km in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It will also spread awareness about road safety. "When the latest road accidents data comes in March, we expect about 15 to 20 per cent decline....I feel pained on such high number of accidents in which mostly youth in the age of 18 to 35 years die. We could not get much success in preventing accidents and resultant deaths but due to consistent efforts, there was a decline of 4.1 per cent in 2016 and 4.75 per cent in 2017 in road accidents," the minister said. He said the country lacked 22 lakh drivers and fake licences is one of the major issues and to address this, the government was setting up motor training centres where issuing of licences will be done electronically. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, which has already been passed by the Lok Sabha, was introduced in the Upper House in April 2017, but was referred to a select panel. After taking into account the panel's recommendations, the Bill was re-introduced in the Rajya Sabha and is still pending there. Steps are also on to curb faulty road engineering and the 786 black spots causing accidents are being addressed, he said. The minister also said campaigning is also on to create awareness among masses and school children were also being imparted the training of rules of roads. He said his ministry has already set several records in building highways, tunnels and bridges and now, the biggest challenge is to reduce the accidents by at least 50 per cent. Gadkari also remembered the Father of the Nation, saying that the rally while advocating road safety will reach the places related to Mahatma Gandhi. Swaraj also urged people to adopt behavioural changes as advocated by Mahatma Gandhi saying that without this, technical intervention alone cannot curb the menace. She said Gandhi preached truth and non-violence, and advocated peace, patience and tolerance in behaviour as lack of these was resulting in road rages. Advising people to "follow Mahatma Gandhi", she said the motor rally should also create awareness. Besides, she said that as part of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi, artists from 155 countries have contributed musically in paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi through his favourite bhajan 'Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye' and appealed to people to watch the song on Doordarshan daily in the 8.55-9 pm slot by various countries' artists, sung in Gujarati. Swaraj said the initiative was taken on the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the performance by artists of various nations gave goosebumps to those watching it. The motor rally will travel through places historically associated with Gandhi, both in India, as well as in Bangladesh and Myanmar, and will pass through Sabarmati, Porbandar, Dandi, Yerwada, Sewagram, Jabalpur, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, ChauriChaura, Champaran, Shantiniketan and Kolkata in India before travelling to Dhaka in Bangladesh. It will conclude at Yangon in Myanmar on February 24, covering a total distance of 7,250 km. The rally is part of the year-long celebrations to commemorate the 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi in India and across the globe, initiated by the Government of India on October 2 last year. It will take up advocacy on road safety concerns along the route. Apart from the rally, the event also saw the launch of the Dash Board for Road Accident Data of India and its states. The Society of Indian Automobile Industry also declared 2019 as the Year of Road Safety. Amar Chitra Katha released a set of comic books on road safety that it has published. This is aimed at creating awareness on the issue among children in an informal format that they can relate to them. The Indian Road Safety Campaign of IIT Delhi also launched an intercollegiate competition on the issue. In addition to this, letters will be issued to 135 non-governmental organisations for conducting road safety programmes. Besides, retro reflective stickers on Sadak Suraksha-Jeevan Raksha were launched on the occasion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Civil Aviation Ministry has asked Air India to submit its opinion on a proposal that an upper cap may be set for the percentage of landing or takeoff slots an individual airline can hold in congested airports, according to officials of the national carrier. The other airlines and airports have already sent their views on it, they said. Air India holds the highest number of landing and takeoff slots in congested airports of Delhi and Mumbai. An Air India official said that Minister of State for Aviation Jayant Sinha took a review meeting last Thursday and found that "while other airports and airlines have sent their opinions regarding 11 issues of slot management at congested airports", the national carrier is "yet to send its comments". "In the Thursday meeting, the minister wanted to see the comments of Air India too as we are a major airline. We are now preparing to send our comments on the 11 issues that were raised by him during the previous meeting, which took place in early days of January," the official told PTI. "One of the 11 issues on which opinions have been asked is that an upper limit cap may be set for the percentage of slots an airline can hold in a congested airport," another Air India official stated. Air India holds around 169 and 111 daily slots in airports at Delhi and Mumbai respectively, according to industry sources. An airport slot is a specific date and time on which an airline can use the full airport infrastructure to depart or arrive at an airport. Budget carrier IndiGo, which owns around 43 per cent market share in India in terms of passengers, owns approximately 150 and 97 daily slots in airports at Delhi and Mumbai respectively, the sources added. At Bengaluru airport, IndiGo owns around 140 daily slots while Air India has approximately 36 daily slots, they said. Currently, a slot coordination committee of airport operators decides the number of slots that are allocated to each airline as per the Worldwide Slot Guidelines (WSG), which have been issued by International Air Transport Association. One of the key WSG guidelines states that "an airline is entitled to retain a series of slots for the next equivalent season if they were used "at least 80 per cent of the time" during the current season. The newer airlines, which have a smaller market share, have complained to the central government that this policy allows the larger incumbent airlines to retain their market dominance as they continue to hold the same lucrative slots season after season. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Veteran filmmaker Govind Nihalani will be honoured with the Kalamaharshi Baburao Painter Award at the upcoming Kolhapur International Film Festival (KIFF), organisers said Monday. The 7th edition of the film festival is scheduled to he held here from February 7 to 14. "KIFF has been organised this year from February 7 to 14 and Nihalani will be honoured with the Kalamaharshi Baburao Painter Award on the opening day of the festival," Chandrakant Joshi, president, KIFF Organising Committee, said. Nihalani, a pioneer of Indian parallel cinema, will be honoured with the award for his contribution to the film industry, he said. Besides being a film producer and director, the 78- year-old is an acclaimed cinematographer and screenwriter. The award is named after Painter, a native of Kolhapur who was a painter, sculptor and a filmmaker of the silent film era. Veteran actress Rohini Hattangadi will be the chief guest at the inaugural function, Joshi said. Abhijit Deshpande, editor of Marathi films like 'Deool', 'Bucket List' and 'Elizabeth Ekadashi', among others, will be presented the Chitramaharshi Anandrao Painter Award on the last day of the festival, he said. More than 50 feature and short films, including those from Japan, South Korea, France and Iran, among others, will be screened at a well-known multiplex here as part of the KIFF this year, Joshi said. Seven new Marathi films have been included in the "My Marathi" section of the eight-day festival, he said. Screening of Gajendra Ahire's film "Dear Molly" and movies like "Welcome Home" and "Dithi", directed by Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukathanakar, will be among the main attraction for Marathi film lovers. Country Focus will be on Hungarian cinema, said Dilip Bapat, organising secretary, KIFF. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Anil Kapoor became a part of history when the Indian cast-led "Slumdog Millionaire" swept the Oscars in 2009 but the actor remembers the eve of the ceremony for being scolded by his wife. Directed by Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire" received 10 nominations at the 81st Academy Awards, out of which the film bagged eight trophies. Anil played the role of a slimy game show host in the movie. "For family, Oscar doesn't matter. My wife and I were discussing Sonam (daughter) the night before Oscar! I said 'let me sleep now' and she said 'leave Oscar, listen to me first.' So even then, family was my priority. I got a lot of firing from Sunita the night before Oscar ceremony," Anil told PTI. The actor was speaking at a special ceremony here to celebrate ten years of the iconic win, along with Gulzar and AR Rahman. Rahman made history by becoming the first Indian to bag two oscars the same night for his score and song (Jai Ho) along with Gulzar in the film. The movie also won the Oscar for best film, direction, adapted screenplay, cinematography, editing and sound mixing for Resul Pookutty. Anil said the moment "Slumdog Millionaire" was announced as the best film, he had a "massive temptation" to break into his famous "Ram Lakhan" dance step. "But I thought if I do it, I'll break the protocol and they might arrest me! Had it been India, I would've done it. I was dying to dance. When the dancers were dancing on 'Jai Ho', imagine how much I had to control myself to not dance." Looking back, the 62-year-old actor said winning the Oscar was phenomenal and a moment the entire country was "proud" of. Post his international debut, Anil worked in "Mission Impossible". He also produced and starred in the Indian version of terrorism drama "24". "Whatever I've done, it has been fantastic and I'm very proud. '24', 'Mission Impossible' and 'Slumdog Millionaire', they have all been critically-acclaimed and hugely successful. I did get a lot of offers from big directors and production houses. "But nothing was exciting enough for me, I had to raise my own bar. It has to be worth my wait. You'll be surprisedI don't want to take namesthe film in which directors or producers had considered me. But I was not happy with what I was being offered." With a screenplay written by Simon Beaufoy, the film was inspired by the novel "Q & A" by author Vikas Swarup and featured Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irrfan Khan among others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gold jewellery and diamonds worth Rs 4.16 crore were seized from two Mumbai-based men at the Chandigarh international airport on Monday. The duo, Neeraj Bakulesh Jhaveri and Rushang Ramesh Mehta, were carrying diamond-studded gold jewellery along with cut and polished diamonds, worth Rs 4.16 crores, "without mandatory documents", officials of the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department said here. The accused, however, said they had brought the jewellery and the diamonds to show them to a leading jeweller based in Mohali, they said. The department has issued a notice to the erring persons under Section 129 of the SGST/CGST Act, officials said, adding that further investigations were underway. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Realty firm Godrej Properties Monday announced a tie-up with another developer for six projects in Pune. The company has "entered into an equity investment platform in partnership with a Pune-based developer to develop six projects across Pune", the Mumbai-based Godrej Properties, part of the Godrej group, said in a regulatory filing. This portfolio would comprise of various asset classes including group housing projects, plotted development, mixed use development and township projects. The total land to be developed is over 300 acres located across the prime markets of west and east Pune. "These six projects will offer a total saleable area of over 23 lakh square metres (approximately 25 million square feet), scheduled to be developed in multiple phases over the next 10 years," the filing said. Godrej Properties said that this is a first of its kind equity platform investment and is in alignment with the company's strategy of deepening its presence across India's leading real estate markets. It's executive chairman Pirojsha Godrej said, This single partnership will dramatically enhance our presence in the Pune market, cementing our presence across key growth areas within the city." Pirojsha said the company's strategy was to grow the business across the country's leading real estate markets. Recently, the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 41.63 crore for the December 2018 quarter, on account of higher sales. It had posted a net loss of Rs 54.75 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2017-18. The company's total income rose to Rs 430.70 crore, compared with Rs 308.29 crore a year ago. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Goa Mining People's Front Monday said BJP chief Amit Shah should meet those affected by the mining closure in the coastal state during his February 9 visit. Shah is scheduled to meet booth-level BJP workers on February 9 as part of the ruling party's preparation for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Mining came to a standstill in Goa in March last year after the Supreme Court quashed 88 leases and banned the extraction of iron ore. GMPF president Puti Gaonkar said mining dependents have high hopes from Shah. He added his organisation would hold a candlelight protest at Azad Maidan here on the first anniversary of the mining ban. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The first Monday in February is typically the day when people are most likely to phone into work sick. This is the result of a combination of factors, such as a drink-heavy weekend following the first payday since Christmas, or people attending job interviews following a re-evaluation of their career path in January. Last year, National Sickie Day saw an estimated 350,000 absences, but for what its worth, its very much an outlier. Our research shows that over half of the UK population continues to head into the office when theyre feeling unwell, a problem that has serious implications for UK businesses. Presenteeism is entrenched in our society, and people often dont realise that the need to be always on can have repercussions which are often overlooked. People coming into work when theyre ill often means illnesses spread around the office and it can exacerbate the problem, leading to longer-term or more widespread absences. It is vital that employers show that they are serious about supporting their employees. A lot can be achieved with simple measures, such as an Employee Assistance Programme or offering duvet days which allow employees to take a day off without having to give a reason. As an employer, effectively communicating these benefits wont only benefit your employees health, but it will also help prevent an avalanche of sickies for businesses on a day like today. Army Chief General Bipin Rawat reviewed the preparedness of the Indian Army along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) during his two-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, Defence sources said Monday. Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080 km border with China, 520 km border with Myanmar and 217-km border with Bhutan. The Army chief started his North East tour with a visit to the Spear Corps headquarters, Rangapahar Military Station, Dimapur in Nagaland on Sunday, they said. Gen Rawat reviewed the operational preparedness of Spear Corps and expressed satisfaction with the preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and lauded its people friendly counter-insurgency operations, officials said. Acknowledging that the troops have been ensuring peace and tranquility in the region by their dedicated hard work in difficult terrain and operational conditions, he told officers and troops during interaction to work tirelessly and in a professional manner to accomplish their task. The Spear Corps, besides undertaking extensive counter-insurgency operations in North-East is also responsible for operations along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh that borders China. The Army chief called Arunachal Pradesh Governor Brig (Retd) B D Mishra and held talks with him at Raj Bhavan here. Praising the state people for helping the Indian Army in a big way, Gen Rawat stressed on their united efforts in national interest. Acknowledging the efforts of the governor in facilitating recruitment of states youth, he had said the armed forces boast of many Arunachalees who are good officer. Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity are intact because of the Indian Army, the governor said. The Army chief left for New Delhi on Monday after concluding his two-day visit to the North East. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) president on Monday complimented Union minister for his remarks that "one who cannot take care of home, cannot manage the country", saying he has guts and should also comment on the Rafale deal, "farmers distress and destruction of institutions". The president cited a report quoting as saying that party workers should first fulfil their domestic responsibilities as "those who cannot do that cannot manage the country". " Ji, compliments. You are the only one in the with some guts. Please also comment on: The Rafale scam and Anil Ambani, farmers' distress and destruction of institutions," he tweeted and tagged with it the report on Gadkari's comments. The Union minister had made the remarks on Saturday while addressing former workers of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the BJP's student wing, in Nagpur. The chief's comments praising Gadkari came in the wake of various other Congress leaders lauding the Union minister for his recent statements they view as a swipe at the leadership. ALSO READ: Didn't share details of our meeting: Rahul Gandhi writes back to Parrikar Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari had last week lauded Gadkari for his remarks that "leaders who fail to fulfil promises get 'beaten up' by people", but at the same time took a swipe at him saying his target was Prime Minister and his eyes were on the PM's chair. In December, Gadkari had said at an event in Pune that leadership should have the tendency to own up defeat and failures. The remarks had come days after the BJP's loss in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assembly polls. Incidently, was seen exchanging notes with Gadkari while being seated along with him in the front row at the Republic Day parade at Rajpath. A French frigate, which docked at a military port in Mumbai last week, intercepted 670 kg of heroin in the Indian Ocean subsequently, the French envoy here has said. French Defence Minister Florence Parly said the "record" seizure is a blow to the financing of terrorism. "The Frigate Cassard which was docked last week in the military port of Mumbai has intercepted 670 kg of heroin on the 31st of January. "More than ever, France is committed to the security of the Indian Ocean, a common goal shared with India," France's Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said. The frigate had docked at Mumbai on January 29. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has said the massive standoff between the Centre and the West Bengal government over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, reminded him of the Emergency days. The JD(S) patriarch sympathised with the Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee and said he was shocked to learn about the CBI rushing to arrest the Kolkata Police Commissioner and the subsequent developments. Banerjee heads the TMC, a key member of the 'Mahagathbandhan', the grand alliance, in which the JD(S) is also an active partner. "I am shocked to learn about the CBI rushing to arrest the Police Commissioner and subsequent developments in West Bengal. The country has faced similar kind of unconstitutional methods during the Emergency. Situation in WB is similar to that of the Emergency days. #SaveDemocracy," the JD(S) national president tweeted. The Congress' Karnataka unit too extended its support toeing the party line. It dubbed the Centre's action as anti-democratic and a threat to the federal system of the country. Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy also extended support to his West Bengal counterpart Banerjee. "The Bharatiya Janata Party is using the CBI by filing false cases against officers. It is a clear case of political vendetta. We all stand with the Chief Minister of West Bengal," he tweeted. The senior Congress leader, who has been criticising the NDA government at the Centre for not earmarking sufficient funds and also for excluding Puducherry from the ambit of the Central Finance Commission all along, said, "Time has come for the Narendra Modi-led Central government to go. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as five special economic zone developers including Mahindra World City and Ansal IT City & Parks did not follow the rules laid down by the government, Parliament was informed Monday. The information was provided by Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The other developers include new Chennai Township, Ganesh Housing Corporation, and Persipina Developers, he said. Prabhu also said that presently, formal approval has been accorded for setting up of 421 SEZs in the country. "Out of the 421 approved, 355 SEZs have been notified and out of which 231 are operational," he added. SEZs, which once contributed significantly in the country's exports, started losing sheen after the government decided to roll back tax incentives and imposed minimum alternate tax and dividend distribution tax. The commerce ministry has sought stakeholders' views on a report submitted by a panel to revive these zones. The SEZ Act, 2005, supported by SEZ rules, came into effect on February 10, 2006. Exports from SEZs grew about 15 per cent to Rs 5.52 lakh crore in 2017-18 as compared to the previous fiscal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Five Romanian nationals, including two women, have been were arrested in north Delhi's Sadar Bazar area for allegedly siphoning off money from ATMs using cloned plastic cards, police said Monday. The accused have been identified as Castache Irina (27), Caragica Elisabeta (22), Lavtaru Ion (38), Dumitro Nicolae (36), Nistor Llie (36), they said. The accused used to frequently visit India and and identify unmanned ATM booths across Delhi. They used to cover their face with mask or helmet and withdrew money with cloned plastic cards, police said. On January 31, police received information that a skimming device with camera was found at an ATM of the IDBI Bank's Sadar Bazar Branch, Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) Nupur Prasad said. On analysing CCTV footage of the ATM booth, it was found that two women with masks on entered the booth and installed a skimming device along with a camera in the ATM, she said. Around 3.30 pm the same day, Costache Irina and Caragica Elisabeta were apprehended as they entered the ATM wearing masks, Prasad said, adding a case was registered at Sadar Bazar police station and an investigation was initiated. On the instance of the two arrested women, another accused Dumito Nicolae was arrested. Later, two more accused, Lavtaru Lon and Nistor Llie, were also nabbed, the DCP said. During interrogation, the accused revealed that they used to install the skimming device, comprising a small battery and memory chip, in ATMs to capture the data of customers came to withdraw money. They also used to install camera and a memory card along with a chip in the ATMs, the police officer said. They would take out the devices from the ATM later and transferred customers' data captured through skimming device into plastic cards having magnetic strip, she said. Rs 94,000, 102 cloned plastic cards, two laptops, four mobile phones, one skimming device and one camera device were seized from the accused, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The defrauded investors and agents of various chit fund companies Monday said they feel "betrayed" by the West Bengal government's move to stop CBI officers from interrogating the Kolkata Police commissioner and accused the Trinamool Congress dispensation of trying to hide the truth behind the multi-crore scam. Asim Chatterjee, a convenor of the Chit Fund Sufferers Forum, told PTI that the ongoing tussle between the state government and the Centre over CBI's attempt to question Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar is not only condemnable but also an attempt to hide the truth. Another Forum convenor, Jayanta Haldar, said the outfit would soon organise a rally of defrauded investors of the chit fund companies in the city. "We will demand that all the culprits be arrested and the money be returned to the duped investors," he added. "I was both an agent and an investor of a chit fund company. I was duped of about Rs 30 lakh. Now when the CBI is trying to find the truth behind the scam the state government is trying to stop it," said Bisu, a defrauded investor. "We feel betrayed," he said and wondered why was the state government so desperate to stop the questioning of the top police officer. Another defrauded investor Ujjal said he had lost Rs 25 lakh to both Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund companies. "We invested in the chit fund companies after we saw the owners hobnobbing with top Trinamool Congress leaders and ministers. It made us trust these firms," he said. "The state government did nothing else but shielded the culprits. Now when the CBI is trying to unravel the truth, why is the state government creating hurdles?" he asked. However, Trinamool Congress have time and again said that it is their government which has arrested the chit fund owners. "Our government arrested chit fund owners when we came to power. It is we who formed an SIT to probe the matter," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said Sunday in a hurriedly-called press conference outside Rajeev Kumar's residence. An all-out war broke out between the Centre and the state government on Sunday, with the feisty West Bengal chief minister beginning a sit-in protest at a city landmark over CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with the chit fund scam. She said it stifled the spirit of "Constitution and federalism". A furious Banerjee began a sit-in at the Metro channel in Esplanade area in the heart of the city to protest against "insults" she faced at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, hours after a CBI team that had gone to question Rajeev Kumar was detained in a face-off between the police establishments of the Centre and the state. The Saradha chit fund scam is said to have mopped up Rs 4,000 crore, while the Rose Valley scam is said to have mopped up Rs 15,000 crore from lakhs of gullible investors. There were several other chit fund companies as well and the scam is said to have affected over 2.5 million small investors in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) One of the European Union's most senior officials warned that a no deal Brexit looks ever more likely Monday, after an "inconclusive" meeting with British MPs. Members of the House of Commons Brexit steering committee came to Brussels to meet Martin Selmayr, EU president Jean-Claude Juncker's powerful right-hand man. The talks had been meant to explore ways to secure an orderly divorce after the British parliament rejected the deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May. Instead, Selmayr was left more pessimistic than before. "The meeting confirmed that the EU did well to start its no deal preparations in December 2017," Selmayr tweeted after the British delegation left the talks. Some British officials have suggested May might be able to get a deal through parliament if the EU make "legally binding" changes to the withdrawal agreement. In particular, London wants to see a promise that Northern Ireland can stay in the EU customs union indefinitely, known as the backstop, changed or taken out entirely. But Selmayr reiterated the EU's firm opposition to this idea, and cast doubt on whether a deal would pass the Commons even if May asks for and receives concessions. "On the EU side, nobody is considering this," he said. "Asked whether any assurance would help to get the Withdrawal Agreement through the Commons, the answers of MPs were ... inconclusive," he tweeted. Earlier, the chairman of the Commmons Brexit committee, Hilary Benn had described the meeting as "useful", but confirmed there was no breakthrough. Benn, a member of the opposition Labour Party, said he had suggested Brexit be delayed so that a full future relationship can be negotiated before Britain leaves. The suggestion, made "personally" and not on behalf of the committee, was received "courteously", he said, but Brussels is waiting for May to say what she wants. The committee's Conservative vice chair, John Whittingdale, told reporters that he had given Selmayr a suggestion that the backstop be removed from the deal. "He asked us whether or not a letter which would be legally binding might be sufficient, but I think we would need to see what that contained to have an absolute assurance that it does give us an exit," Whittingdale said. "Now if that can't be obtained then I think it will be difficult to get a majority in the House of Commons -- particularly after the last vote," he warned. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Activist and academic Anand Teltumbde, who was arrested by the Pune Police last week in the Elgar Parishad case and then released following a sessions court order, Monday approached the Bombay High Court, seeking protection from arrest. Teltumbde's counsel Mihir Desai mentioned the anticipatory bail application before a single bench of the high court seeking an urgent hearing. The plea is likely to be heard on Tuesday by a bench presided over by Justice N W Sambre. Teltumbde is an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon Bhima case registered by the Pune police. The case was filed following violent clashes at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune on January 1, 2018. Earlier last year, Teltumbde, who the police claim has Maoist links, had filed another plea in the high court, denying all charges against him and sought quashing of the FIR against him in the case. The Dalit scholar had said he was not part of anything illegal and that on December 30-31 2017, he was in Goa and not in Pune or anywhere near the site of violence. The Pune police, however, had objected to Teltumbde's plea, saying while they were yet to arrest him as they were was "busy" probing other accused persons in the case, they had adequate incriminating evidence against him too. The court had refused to quash the FIR. Teltumbde then approached the Supreme Court and was given the liberty to file an anticipatory bail plea till February 11 this year. However, Teltumbde was arrested from the Mumbai airport at around 3 am on Saturday. His arrest was deemed illegal by a sessions court and he was released from custody later in the day. Teltumbde was booked by the police following an Elgar Parishad event on December 31 2017, which, the police alleged, triggered violent clashes the next day at Koregaon-Bhima. According to police, the event was funded and supported by Maoists. At the event, some activists made inflammatory speeches and provocative statements that contributed to the January 1 violence, they had said. Several activists were named in the FIR. Some of them, including Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj, P Varavara Rao and Gautam Navlakha, were initially put under house arrest on the directions of the Supreme Court. However, all of them, except Navlakha, were recently re-arrested and taken into custody by police. In October last year, the Pune police registered another FIR, naming eight more activists, including Teltumbde and Stan Swamy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) EPCA told the Supreme Court Monday that money from Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) could be used for funding the Delhi government's first year share in the RRTS corridor project between Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut. The Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) is a project of "national importance" and it should not be delayed as it would escalate the cost, EPCA said. The estimated project cost of the 82.15 km corridor is Rs 31,632 crore and since the Delhi government has said they do not have adequate finances to meet the cost of its share of Rs 1,138 crore, funds from the ECC could be used for it, said the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA). A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta was told by advocate Aparajita Singh, assisting the court as amicus curiae in the pollution matter, that Rs 1,106 crore was available in the ECC. "The first year cost of Delhi government would be Rs 265 crore. EPCA do not want any delay in the project as it would escalate the cost. In ECC, they have around Rs 1,100 crore. Let first year fund (of Delhi government) go from the ECC. This is a project of national importance," Singh told the bench. The counsel appearing for Delhi government said they have granted in-principle approval to the RRTS project but they have issue with regard to funds. "In-principle, the Delhi government is agreed. So far as funding is concerned, I will seek instructions. Give me one week time," the lawyer told the bench. The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on February 11. Of the 82.15 kilometre long corridor, Delhi will have a 13 kilometre section with stations at Sarai Kale Khan, New Ashok Nagar and Anand Vihar. During the hearing, the amicus said that in pursuance to the apex court's direction, EPCA had convened a meeting of concerned stakeholders on January 25 to discuss the issues. "Delhi government had objections on two issues. The first is about change of station from underground to elevated at Sarai Kale Khan and the other was about funds. The elevated station at Sarai Kale Khan helps them (Delhi government) also. The only issue is funding. Delhi government says that Union of India should fund their share," Singh told the court. The EPCA, in its report filed in the court, said that Delhi government has accepted the change in plan to construct the elevated station in its letter addressed to the authority. EPCA also said that out of Delhi government's share of Rs 1,138 crore, which is around 3.4 per cent of the total cost and spread over four-five years, the cash fund needed is Rs 686 crore and the rest is paid through tax waiver and land cost. "In other words, the Delhi government needs to provide Rs 170-175 crore annually for the next four years as its cash component," the report said, adding, "It is clear that this is not a big amount for a project that has potential to decongest Delhi and reduce pollution." Therefore, a total Rs 265 crore may be paid through ECC to finance the first year of the project, it said, adding, "The Delhi government may be directed to make budgetary provisions for the remaining years as well as the cost of land that it needs to provide in the first year." The report further said that as per information provided to it by the Delhi government, over the past four years the transport department has unutilised funds of Rs 700 crore. "Between 2014-15 to 2017-18, the Delhi government has had unutilised funds at the end of each financial year, ranging from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,700 crore every year," the report said. "In this same period, the Delhi government revenue (receipts) has gone up from Rs 29,586 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 38,667 crore," the EPCA said. "Therefore, it is not immediately apparent why there is this shortage of funds in the Delhi government, that has held up this crucial project necessary for decongesting Delhi and reducing air pollution. This also, when it is accepted today that Delhi and its citizens are paying a huge cost for bad health because of toxic pollution," it said. It said that Uttar Pradesh government had given approval to the project, which has got all statutory clearances, in May 2017 itself. In its affidavit filed in the top court earlier, Delhi government had said that change of plan by national capital region transport corporation (NCRTC) on revised alignment of the RRTS station "would seriously delay the redevelopment of Sarai Kale Khan ISBT (inter state bus terminus)". Regarding this, the EPCA said that it was told by Delhi government officials in the meeting of January 25 that the decision on which agency would construct the project has been pending with the PWD Minister for past two years. These issues have cropped up before the court when it was hearing a matter relating to air pollution in Delhi-National Capital Region. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gold and nickel sulphide drilling commences at Mount Zephyr Perth, Feb 5, 2019 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Ardea Resources Ltd ( ASX:ARL ) Gold and nickel sulphide drilling commences at Mount Zephyr with the following highlights:- Drilling commences at the Mount Zephyr greenstone belt in the northern Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia:o 153 drill holes planned (21 RC, 132 aircore).o 7,800m of drilling.o Gold and nickel-copper-PGE sulphide targets being assessed.- Preparation underway for gold drilling of the Bardoc Tectonic Zone at Goongarrie, adjacent to the Goongarrie Nickel-Cobalt Project.- Ardea awarded WA government Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) co-funding to diamond drill stratigraphic holes at the Jones Area A project for nickel-copper-PGE and gold assessment.- Mount Zephyr key tenement E39/1706 renewed for 5 years.First Mount Zephyr drill programs underwayDrilling has commenced at Ardea's Mount Zephyr greenstone belt in Western Australia. The drill rig started turning on 31 January.A series of first-pass programs will enable assessment of both the gold and nickel-copper-PGE potential of several project areas. The programs aim to provide data that will progress each project to a second, more thorough, deeper and/or more extensive phase of drilling.Executive Chair Katina Law noted:"The Mt Zephyr gold and nickel sulphide drilling is part of the Company's three-pronged value creation strategy which is:- development of the Goongarrie Nickel Cobalt Project;- advanced-stage exploration at WA gold and nickel sulphide targets; and- the demerger of the NSW gold and base metal assets.The Mt Zephyr programs were outlined in the November 2016 Ardea prospectus, but were delayed as the GNCP became the priority."Three styles of mineralisation over five project areas are initially targeted (Table 1, Figure 1):- Granite-hosted gold mineralisation at Gale and possibly at Paul's Find.- Banded iron-formation (BIF) hosted gold mineralisation at Dunn's Line (Yintirri) and its northern covered extension, Dunn's North.- Ni-Cu-PGE sulphide mineralisation at Jones Area A in the northeast of the greenstone belt covering the Mount Windarra nickel sulphide stratigraphy.These include a mixture of an historic gold mining centre (Dunn's Line), historically-defined but under-assessed prospects (Gale, Jones Area A), and newly-defined prospects (Dunn's North, Paul's Find). These prospects are presently the best understood in the region but represent only a small fraction of the total number of prospects currently being assessed across the Mount Zephyr greenstone belt.Drilling is expected to take around 4-6 weeks assuming good ground conditions and fine weather for the duration. Assays will take several weeks on top of this. Ardea will inform shareholders of significant results as they come to hand.Drill planning for the Bardoc Tectonic Zone (BTZ) at GoongarrieContinued assessment of the BTZ adjacent to the Goongarrie Nickel-Cobalt Project (GNCP) is yielding numerous high-quality targets that will be assessed in forthcoming drill programs. Like Mount Zephyr, the BTZ programs will initially comprise inexpensive but effective aircore and RC drilling to penetrate the thick, blanketing lateritic deposits that host the nickel-cobalt orebodies at Goongarrie but which obscure gold mineralisation in bedrock below.The BTZ is one of the major gold-bearing structures of the prolific Eastern Goldfields province of Western Australia.Ardea's laterite drilling programs at Goongarrie have shown that there is anomalous gold within and beneath the laterite cover. Historic gold mining at Goongarrie mining centre to the immediate north and at Big Four within the GNCP show that gold mineralisation progresses to depth into fresh rock throughout the area.The Company continues to develop new, scientifically robust models for gold mineralisation at Goongarrie, and is using these to define targets for testing. Drilling is expected to follow on after the Mount Zephyr initial programs.EIS co-funding for Jones Area A diamond drill programArdea was recently awarded co-funding by the WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) to drill diamond drill holes into the basal sequence of the Mount Zephyr greenstone belt at Jones Area A. The Company will test the hypothesis that the basal sequence at Mount Zephyr is the lateral equivalent of the sequence displayed at the historic Mount Windarra nickel mine whose discovery precipitated the nickel boom of the 1970s.DMIRS will match Ardea's spending on oriented diamond drilling to a total of $150,000 for total funded expenditure of $300,000. This will enable drilling of several holes to significant depth to test the following:- Stratigraphy of the basal sequence of the greenstone belt for direct comparison to Mount Windarra- Stratigraphic and structural controls on historically documented Ni-Cu-PGE gossan and sulphide mineralisation at the Jones Area A prospects- Structural controls and characterisation of gold mineralisation and alteration (if encountered) in a number of prospective structures targeted during the program.Diamond drilling is expected to commence around the middle of the year, utilising the results of the current drill program at Jones Area A to refine diamond drill targeting.Renewal of E39/1706Exploration tenement E39/1706 was renewed by DMIRS recently for an additional term of 5 years. The Company is satisfied that its recent work and robust exploration strategy and programs were key factors behind this renewal.E39/1706 contains the Jones Area A and Paul's Find prospects, as well as the historically drilled Zephyr North Syenite prospect that is undergoing desktop evaluation (Figure 1). The forthcoming EIS diamond drill program will also be on this tenement.To view tables and figures, please visit:About Ardea Resources Ltd Ardea Resources Ltd (ASX:ARL) (OTCMKTS:ARRRF) (FRA:A91) is an ASX listed resources company, with 100% controlled Australian based projects, prioritising a three-pronged value creation strategy which is: - development of the Goongarrie Nickel Cobalt Project, which is part of the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project, a globally significant series of nickel-cobalt deposits which host the largest nickel-cobalt resource in the developed world, coincidentally located as a cover sequence overlying fertile orogenic gold targets; - advanced-stage exploration at WA gold and nickel sulphide targets within the Eastern Goldfields world-class nickel-gold province; and - the demerger of the NSW gold and base metal assets with planned in-specie share distribution, with projects located within the Lachlan Fold Belt world-class gold-copper province. The Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen M M Naravane reviewed the security situation and operational preparedness of the security forces and Assam Rifles in Nagaland, Defence sources said on Monday. The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Command was a two-day official visit to Nagaland since Sunday, Defence PRO Col C Konwer said here. On his arrival in Kohima on Sunday, the Eastern Army Commander called on the Nagaland Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio and discussed the security situation in the state. He also visited Headquarters of Inspector General Assam Rifles (North) and border locations of eastern Nagaland to review the security situation and also interacted with troops of Assam Rifles. Lt Gen Naravane complimented the Assam Rifles for carrying out a commendable job in efficiently managing the security situation in the state. The PRO said the Eastern Army Commander along with General Officer Commanding, Spear Corps, Lt Gen Rajeev Sirohi and IGAR (North) Major General PC Nair on Monday interacted with some prominent members of Naga civil society, students, civil administration officials, Gaon Burahs and ex-servicemen of the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi University has issued an advisory against the use of loudspeakers, public address systems "beyond permissible limits" on the varsity premises, saying it disturbs the teaching and research environment. An area not less than 100 metres around the premises of the Delhi University is a "silence zone" according to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 and the directions of the Delhi High Court and the National Green Tribunal, the advisory said. "Please note that the use of loudspeakers/public address system/beating of drums/sound amplifiers/sound-emitting fire crackers beyond permissible limits is not advisable as it disturbs the teaching and research environment of the varsity," the advisory read. The advisory comes in the wake of protests by student groups and DUTA on various issues over the last few months wherein loudspeakers, public address systems and drums were actively used. The Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) called the advisory an 'empty threat' and asserted it would not have an impact on them. Students and teachers are not habitual offenders. The varsity must play a proactive role in solving our problems. These kind of empty threats will not have an impact on us, the teachers' body said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Dubbing Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu as the 'U-turn CM of the country", BJP president Amit Shah Monday asserted that the doors of the NDA were permanently closed for him and that the TDP would never ever be allowed into the alliance. Shah, who inaugurated the state-wide bus yatra of BJP state president Kanna Lakshminarayana at Palasa in Srikakulam district, hit back strongly at the Chief Minister, saying he was known as the U-turn CM of the country as he changed his stand on everything countless times. "He was elected as Congress MLA (in 1978) and later jumped into TDP (in 1983). To enjoy power, he joined the NDA in 1998 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the Prime Minister. In 2004, he jumped the ship when BJP lost and bit the dust for 10 years, Shah said. Seeing the huge popularity of Narendra Modi, Chandrababu fell on Modis feet in 2014 and returned to the NDA, the BJP chief said. When he realised that people of AP were deeply angry with his 'corruption' and 'misrule', Chandrababu walked out of the NDA and started lashing out at the BJP leadership, Shah said. "People of AP are vexed with your corruption.They are not willing to make your son your successor (as Chief Minister). So, only to hoodwink the people, you left the NDA," Shah said. "Now, he has aligned with Congress and fought the recent elections in Telangana. As their alliance was wiped out in Telangana, he deserted the Congress, but is now seeking to become a leader of the so-called 'mahagathbandhan,' Shah said. Chandrababu is selling TDPs and Telugus self-respect in the power market only to further his political vested interests, Shah said. He appealed to the people to vote the BJP to power and said he would 'never ever allow' Chandrababu Naidu into the NDA. "Our doors are permanently closed for him, Shah stressed. Listing out what all the Modi government did for the development of the state since the bifurcation in 2014, the BJP chief noted that AP government got 'ten times more' than what the Congress governments gave during their 55-year rule. "Out of the 14 main promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, that were to be completed in 10 years, 10 were completed by the NDA govt in only five years. The state got 22 national institutes and lakhs of crores of Rupees investments (for development). Chandrababu should disclose the accounts to people of AP on the sums he got for the state when he was in the NDA," the BJP chief and Rajya Sabha member said. "We gave a sum of Rs 5.56 lakh crore to AP. Chandrababu gave only his son Nara Lokesh and nothing else to the state," Shah alleged. He termed the ruling TDP as well as the principal opposition YSR Congress as 'corrupt and dynastic parties' and asked people to make BJP the 'kingmaker' in the 2019 elections so as to bring a non-corrupt dispensation to power in AP. Referring to the Special Category Status, the BJP chief pointed out that the TDP used it only as a ruse to pull out of the NDA, whereas the Centre granted 1.5 times more benefit (through a special economic package) to the state. The BJP chief also did not spare the YSRC, saying a 'corrupt party' like it would not do any good to the state. BJP Rajya Sabha member G V L Narasimha Rao, Visakhapatnam MP Kambhampati Hari Babu, legislators and other leaders attended the event. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DMK president MK Stalin has lent support to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her face-off with the CBI, saying he was with the TMC chief in her 'fight' to "save democracy." The independence of every institution has been "compromised" under the "fascist" BJP government, he said in a tweet Sunday night. "The independence of every institution has been compromised under this fascist BJP Government. I stand with @MamataOfficial Didi in her fight to protect the federal structure of this country and to save democracy. #SaveDemocracy," Stalin said in the tweet. Stalin, Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu, had earlier attended a mega rally organised by TMC supremo Banerjee in Kolkata last month, against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. In a dramatic showdown with the Centre, Banerjee has embarked on a sit-in in Kolkata to protest "insults" she faced at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. She went on the protest Sunday night, hours after a CBI team that had gone to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams was detained in a rare face-off between the police establishments of the Centre and the state. Opposition leaders ranging from Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Delhi, N Chandrababu Naidu and Arvind Kejriwal and various others have backed Banerjee on this issue. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The opposition DMK in Tamil Nadu Monday extended support to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's 'fight' to "save democracy" amid her ongoing face-off with the Centre and the CBI. DMK President MK Stalin nominated his sister and Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi to meet Banerjee in Kolkata, where she is on a sit-in against the Centre, and extend support. Stalin spoke to the TMC supremo over the phone and wished her success in her ongoing protest, the party said. In a dramatic showdown with the Centre, Banerjee embarked on a sit-in Sunday night to protest against the "insults" she faced at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. She went on the protest hours after a CBI team that had gone to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams was detained in a rare face-off between the police establishments of the Centre and the state. On Monday, the DMK said Stalin spoke to Banerjee over the phone. "DMK President @mkstalin spoke to West Bengal Chief Minister @MamataOfficial over the phone and wished her success in the protest she has been holding since last night," a tweet in Tamil said. Stalin told her that his party will always stand by "struggles in support of regional autonomy", it added. Party sources said Kanimozhi has been deputed to extend support to Banerjee in person. Earlier, Stalin tweeted his party will support the TMC chief in her 'fight' to "save democracy." "The independence of every institution has been compromised under this fascist BJP Government. I stand with @MamataOfficial Didi in her fight to protect the federal structure of this country and to save democracy. #SaveDemocracy," he said in the tweet. Stalin, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, had attended a mega rally organised by Banerjee in Kolkata last month against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. Most of the opposition leaders including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Delhi, N Chandrababu Naidu and Arvind Kejriwal respectively have backed Banerjee on the issue. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Digital Communications Commission (DCC), formerly Telecom Commission, is likely to discuss on Tuesday a methodology to charge spectrum fees on the basis of usage. The decision will also cover crucial backhaul spectrum in E and V bands that can be used for connecting mobile towers at short distances and transmitting data between them. "DCC is likely to discuss on charging fees or one-time payment of spectrum that is allocated to organisations for various purposes. It is likely to be determined based on four categories," an official source told PTI. A committee under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has been working on classification of spectrum allocated to various organisations and how they should be charged in compliance with the Supreme Court order dated February 2, 2012, in which the court annulled 122 telecom licences. Radiowaves used for transmitting signals to mobile phones are referred to as the access spectrum, while backhaul spectrum augments signals between mobile towers at the back-end. DCC, the apex decision-making body at the DoT, may discuss issues such as levying of charges for backhaul spectrum used by commercial entities; spectrum allocated to organisations for internal use only and not being used to generate revenue; spectrum allocated for public services and not linked to commercial gains like police communications and railway signals. Data through E (71-76 gigahertz frequency and 81-86 Ghz) and V (57-64 Ghz frequency range) band can be transmitted with speed of around 1,000 megabit per second. Spectrum in these bands can ease work of telecom operator from laying optical fibre cable. Telecom companies are divided on E and V band spectrum allocation on whether the spectrum in these bands should be auctioned or given administratively. Telecom regulator Trai has recommended allocation these radiowaves at a fixed rate. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday said that her dharna against the CBI's attempt to grill the Kolkata Police chief in the chit fund scam cases will continue till Friday in view of the upcoming boards examinations. Banerjee is sitting on a dharna at the Metro Channel in Esplanade area in the heart of the city, the same spot she had sat on a 26-day fast in 2006 against the acquisition of farmland at Singur for the Tata Motors factory. She has termed her dharna as "satyagraha" against the CBI and the Centre, which she said was attempting a "coup" in Bengal. "This demonstration will continue till February 8. Because the boards examinations will be starting soon and we will not be playing the loudspeakers," she said. Earlier in the day, Banerjee had said she would continue her "satyagraha" till the country and its Constitution are "saved". A CBI team had gone to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's residence in the city on Sunday to question him in connection with multi-crore chit fund scams, but was denied permission, bundled into jeeps and whisked to a police station. The Trinamool Congress supremo has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a "coup" in the state and alleged that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is directing CBI to harass political opponents on the orders of the prime minister. Effigies of Modi and Shah were burnt in several parts of the state including Burdwan, Birbhum, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts. Trinamool activists also blocked trains in Howrah and Hooghly districts and put up blockades on the national highway in Bankura district. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday said that her dharna against CBI's attempt to grill Kolkata Police chief in chit fund scam cases will continue till Friday in view of the coming board examinations. Banerjee is sitting on dharna since Sunday night at the Metro channel in Esplanade area in the heart of the city, the place where she had sat on a 26-day fast in 2006 against acquisition of farm land by Tata Motors at Singur for its small car project. "This demonstration will continue till February 8. Because the board examinations will be starting soon we will not be playing the loudspeakers so that the students are not disturbed," she said. She has termed her dharna as "satyagraha" or passive political resistance against the CBI attempting to question the city police commissioner on chit fund scams and against the Centre for attemting a "coup" in the state. A CBI team had gone to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's residence in the city Sunday to question him in connection with multi-crore rupees ponzi scams, but it was denied permission, bundled into jeeps and whisked to a police station. The chief minister has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a "coup" in the state and alleged that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was directing the CBI to harass political opponents on the orders of the prime minister. In several parts of the state like Burdwan, East Purulia, Birbhum, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts, effigies of Modi and Shah were burnt. The activists also obstructed train movement in Howrah and Hooghly districts, and put up blockades on the national highway in Bankura district. Banerjee said earlier in the day that she would continue her "satyagraha" till the country and its Constitution are "saved". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Denmark has ordered the expulsion of two employees of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei because their residence and work permits were not in order, Copenhagen police said Monday. "On Thursday, the Copenhagen police carried out a normal check of the residence and work permits (at the Huawei offices)... In two cases, the people didn't have the proper paperwork," a Copenhagen police source told AFP, saying the pair were ordered to leave the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Upset over a tiff with his girlfriend, a 25-year-old man allegedly set himself ablaze in an auto rickshaw, injuring two of his co-passengers, in northeast Delhi's Jyoti Nagar area, police said on Monday. The man was identified as Shivam, a resident of Loni, Ghaziabad. His co-passengers, his cousin Arjun (24) and one Bhagwan Singh (60), also sustained burns, they said. The incident took place on Sunday night at around 9 pm, the police said. Officials of Jyoti Nagar police station rushed to Loni Gol Chakkar after receiving information about a person burning, a senior police officer said. On reaching the spot, they found three persons had sustained burns. All of them were rushed to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital for treatment, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) Atul Thakur said. Shivam sustained severe burns, while the injuries of the other two are minor. The auto driver had a narrow escape as he left the auto and fled from the spot, the officer said. Investigations revealed that just before the incident, Shivam was apparently speaking to a Kolkata-based woman. While talking to her, he set himself on fire after spilling petrol, Thakur said. A case has been registered and an investigation is underway to ascertain the reason behind Shivam's extreme step, the police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) O2Vent Optima Launch in Canada Brisbane, Feb 4, 2019 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Oventus Medical Ltd ( ASX:OVN ) is pleased to announce the Canadian launch of the O2Vent(R) Optima device which treats both the potentially fatal condition, obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and snoring. The device launch in Canada follows the successful completion of a controlled market release, with early results demonstrating strong patient acceptance.Key points:- O2Vent(R) Optima oral device for the treatment of sleep apnoea and snoring launched in the Canadian market- Follows the successful Australian launch in January; with US launch to follow pending 510(k) approval from the US FDA- O2Vent(R) Optima is a compact nylon, lightweight addition to the Oventus 'Sleep Treatment Platform' with a reduced cost of goods in comparison to the original titanium O2Vent(R)- O2Vent(R) Optima incorporates proprietary Oventus Airway Technology and is compatible with Oventus ExVent(TM) valve technology which will also be launched in 2019- Clinical trials have shown that the proprietary Oventus Airway Technology alone, or in combination with ExVent(TM) valve technology, dramatically improves treatment outcomes for sufferers of obstructive sleep apnoeaThe O2Vent(R) Optima is the newest product in the O2Vent(R) oral device range within Oventus' Sleep Treatment Platform. Its Canadian launch follows the news in January this year, that the O2Vent(R) Optima had been launched in the Australian market.The O2Vent(R) Optima is a customised 3D-printed nylon oral appliance that advances the jaw forward to open the airway and incorporates the proprietary Oventus Airway Technology to improve the effectiveness of oral appliance therapy. This device is lighter than the original O2Vent(R) and less complex to make. The combination of reduced material costs and reduced manufacturing times lowers the cost of goods and will shorten timeframes on delivery of devices to patients."We are excited to be launching the O2Vent(R) Optima in Canada following strong early feedback from the local market. The O2Vent(R) Optima fills a void that currently exists for patients who are struggling with, or refuse to use CPAP therapy. There is also a large group of patients who have not responded to other kinds of oral devices, who now have an alternate treatment option.What sets our Sleep Treatment Platform apart is the unique Oventus Airway Technology that enables airflow. It has been shown to bypass obstructions of the nose, tongue, soft palate and lateral walls of the airway, which means it is effective for a broad range of patients. In clinical trial settings, the technology has been demonstrated to bring relief to many patients who have had little success with other treatment options," said Oventus Managing Director and CEO, Dr Chris Hart.The O2Vent(R) Optima is the first of two new products coming to market in 2019. The US product launch is expected in Q2CY2019, pending 510 (k) regulatory clearance from the US FDA.The second product is a valve that integrates with select O2Vent(R) devices to naturally improve airflow and airway stability. The valve is called the ExVent(TM) and has been clinically proven to dramatically increase the success rates of traditional mouthguard devices for sleep apnoea sufferers.(see Note below)The ExVent(TM) was developed in collaboration with the CSIRO and Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) during the three-year, A$2.95 million Federally funded Cooperative Research Centres Project grant. ExVent(TM) is due to be released in Australia during Q1CY2019.Following the Australian release of ExVent(TM), the product will be launched in North America and Europe.Note: Lai V, Tong B, Tran C, Ricciardiello A, Donegan M, Murray N, Carberry J, Eckert D. Combination therapy with mandibular advancement and expiratory positive airway pressure valves reduces OSA severity. Poster and abstract presented at ASA Sleep Down Under, Brisbane 2018.About Oventus Medical Ltd Oventus Medical Ltd (ASX:OVN) is a Brisbane based medical device company that is commercialising a unique treatment platform for the treatment of sleep apnoea and snoring. Unlike other oral appliances or CPAP interfaces, the Oventus devices have a unique and patented airway within the treatment platform that allows air to flow to the back of the mouth unobstructed while maintaining an oral seal and stable jaw position, bypassing multiple obstructions from the nose, soft palate and tongue, reducing airway collapsibility and managing mouth breathing while maintain a stable airway with or without nasal CPAP. They are particularly designed for the many people that have nasal obstructions and consequently tend to mainly breathe through their mouth. While it may seem counterintuitive, this technology actually manages mouth breathing by converting it to device breathing and normalising ventilation. The O2Vent(TM) is designed to allow nasal breathing when the nose is unobstructed, but when obstruction is present, breathing is supplemented via the airways in the appliance. For more information on Oventus' Sleep Treatment Platform, please visit http://www.oventus.com A 30-year-old Delhi Police constable suffering from depression allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service pistol while he was on duty in northeast Delhi's Dayalpur area Monday, police said. The deceased has been identified as Suresh. He hailed from Jaipur and currently stayed at Babarpur in the city, they added. The incident took place at around 6 pm, police said. Suresh, after shooting himself in the head, was rushed to the Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital where he was declared brought dead, Atul Kumar Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast), said. A suicide note was found where he had stated that he was suffering from depression after his father's death, the DCP said. He has been serving in the Delhi Police since 2010 and was currently posted in the Police Control Room (PCR) department, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A trial court in Madhya Pradesh has issued a 'death warrant' against a school teacher who has been convicted of raping a four-year-old girl. The trial court in Satna district has sent the death warrant of Mahendra Singh Gond (28) to the Central Jail in Jabalpur, a prison official said on Monday. The rape convict's death warrant has been received from the trial court and he (Gond) is in the process of challenging his death penalty in the Supreme Court, Jabalpur Central Jail's law officer Ashok Singh told PTI. The trial court sent the death warrant through an e-mail to the Central Jail and Gond's execution date has been fixed for March 2, 2019, he said. The convict has other remedies also as he can file a mercy petition before the President of India, he said. "The death warrant will be executed only after all the available legal remedies are exhausted," Singh said. The Madhya Pradesh High Court had on January 25 confirmed the death sentence awarded by the trial court to Gond. The trial court had convicted the school teacher on September 19, 2018. According to the prosecution, Gond was convicted for raping a four-year-old girl at Parasmaniya village in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. The trial court had sentenced Gond to death under the recently-introduced Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 376(a)(b) (raping a minor under 12 years of age). Gond was also found guilty under IPC Section 363 (kidnapping), for which he was awarded seven years' rigorous imprisonment, besides being fined Rs 5,000, Singh said. The convict went to the girl's house on July 1, 2018 in an inebriated condition to meet her father. There, Gond saw the girl sleeping next to her father on a cot outside their house. He returned home after meeting the girl's father. After some time, Gond came back and spotted the girl alone on the cot as her father had gone to relieve himself. Taking advantage of the situation, he picked up the child and took her to a nearby agriculture field where he raped her and dumped her in the bushes, the prosecution said. When the girl's father returned and did not find his daughter, he raised an alarm and the family launched a search for her. Later, they found her lying in the thick bushes. The girl received severe injuries in the incident and was admitted to a Delhi-based hospital. Gond was later arrested by the police and a charge sheet was filed against him. Madhya Pradesh was the first state to enact a law in December 2017, providing for death penalty for rapists of girls below 12 years of age. The Centre had brought an amendment in the IPC to punish the rapists of girls below 12 years of age with death last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Monday arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist in connection with the attack on a CRPF camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Lethpora, according to an official statement. The accused, Fayaz Ahmad Magray, is an active OGW (over ground worker) of proscribed terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), it said. He is a key conspirator who provided logistical support such as providing shelter to the terrorists and conducting reconnaissance of the CRPF group centre in Lethpora before the terrorist attack, the NIA said in the statement. In 2001 also, he was detained under Public Safety Act (PSA) by Jammu and Kashmir Police and he remained under detention for 16 months, it said. ?Terrorist attack on CRPF group centre in Lethpora was carried out in the intervening night of December 30-31, 2017 by three terrorists of proscribed terrorist organisation JeM, the NIA said. During investigation by the NIA, the terrorists were identified as Fardeen Ahmad Khandey and Manzoor Baba, both resident of district Pulwama, and Abdul Shakoor, a resident of Rawalakot area of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, it said. All the three terrorists were killed in the encounter. In the attack, five CRPF personnel died and three were grievously injured. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The forum of court should not be allowed to be used by one party to extort money from the other, a Delhi court has observed while dismissing a woman's plea seeking grant of interim maintenance from her husband. Judge Madhu Jain junked the plea and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the woman, saying it was filed only to blackmail the husband. "Forum of the court should not be allowed to be used by one party to extort money from the other party. Wife is highly qualified and even before filing the petition (for interim maintenance), she was working and earning. Now, there is no reason as to why she has stopped working and earning. Application has been filed only to blackmail the respondent in order to extort money," the court said. It said that nowadays section 125 (maintenance of wives, children and parents) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is being used by parties only to blackmail or to extort money from other parties. "It seems that nowadays Section 125 CrPC is used by parties only to blackmail other parties or to extort the money. Present case is a glorious example of this fact. Wife is highly qualified and at present she is pursuing her research in the UK but till date she has not disclosed her stipend which she must be getting while pursuing her Doctorate," said the court. The court noted that the wife was married in 2012 and was living with her husband in the UK. The woman came to India in 2014 and filed two criminal cases against her husband and his family members who were residing in India, alleging domestic violence and attempt to rape, the plea said. All of them were granted anticipatory bail after which the woman filed a case of interim maintenance under Section 125 of CrPC. The man, through his lawyer Mahesh Tiwari, contended that the petitioner was highly educated and employed with reputed companies while she was in India. He further claimed that there were huge transactions in her bank statement but all those necessary information have been concealed from the court. The court further said that a bare perusal of the record showed that both the parties were not only well qualified but highly qualified and capable to earn and were earning a handsome amount too. "From the income affidavit of the wife, it is clear that she has clearly tried to conceal her true income from the court... She has not filed her salary slip for the period when she was working... in India. "Rather, her account statement showed that there were heavy transactions in her account and she intentionally had not clarified the same till date and not filed her written submissions, despite the orders of the court," the court said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The entire country is enraged at the insult of Mahatma Gandhi under the BJP-led government at the Centre, Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit said on Monday after staging a silent protest at Raj Ghat here along with her party leaders and workers. She termed the Aligarh incident, wherein Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha activists shot an effigy of Gandhi before setting it ablaze on his death anniversary last Wednesday, "hurtful". "People of India are enraged and will never forgive such a hurtful incident under the BJP rule at the Centre," Dikshit said after the hour-long protest at Gandhi's memorial. Scores of protesters, carrying placards reading "Bapu Ke Seene Pe Vaar, Chup Kyon Hai Modi Sarkar", took part in the protest. The Congress strongly condemns the "shameful" incident and silent protests have been organised against it by the party across the country, Dikshit said. A video of the incident, which went viral on social media drew massive condemnation. Aligarh police have registered a case and arrested five people allegedly involved in the incident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Assam Congress on Monday accused the CBI of not taking action against state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his alleged involvement in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. "The CBI is yet to take any action against Sarma and investigations against him have stopped after he joined the BJP," Assam Pradesh Congress spokesman and former minister Pradyut Bordoloi told reporters here. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had alleged on Sunday night that Sarma was involved with the chit fund scam, he said. "He (Sarma) was investigated for his involvement in the scam while he was in Congress but after he joined the BJP, it stopped," she said. Bordoloi claimed that "Apart from Saradha, the BJP had earlier accused Sarma of being involved with the Louis Berger scam. A number of arrests were made in Goa in connection with this scam but no action has been taken in Assam". "It seems Himanta has been cleared in all the cases after he joined the BJP," he said. The BJP had mentioned Sarma's "involvement" in the Louis Berger case in the party's manifesto during the 2014 Lok Sabha but "once he joined BJP, the party became silent and trained their guns at West Bengal", Bordoloi said. "Himanta has a history of changing allegiance to save his skin. When TADA cases were slapped against him, he left the ULFA to join Congress and then joined the BJP to save himself from the Sarada and Louis Berger cases", he added. In July 2015 Louis Berger International Inc, a New Jersey-based construction management company, had told a US court that it bribed government officials in India to win the contract for project management consultancy in a water supply project in Guwahati. The then Congress government led by Tarun Gogoi had ordered a CID probe but the Gauhati High Court later ordered a CBI inquiry into the allegations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress activists Monday staged a protest here against the alleged firing at an effigy of Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary by suspected members of Hindu Mahasabha in Uttar Pradesh. The party also condemned the rampage of its city and district offices in Agra and observed Monday as "Black Day" demanding arrest of the accused. Former leader of Congress Legislature Party Pradeep Mathur led a demonstration from Holi Gate that terminated at Vikas Bazar here. "The incident is a witness that law and order in the state has miserably failed," Mathur told a gathering comprising Congress activists in front of the Gandhi statue at Vikas Bazar. "Congress activists know how to deal with goons. However, they are disciplined and watching how the Yogi government takes the incident," he said, adding that the party is observing Monday as "Black Day since it is the murder of democracy". In a purported video circulated on social media, alleged members of Hindu Mahasabha were seen enacting Mahatma Gandhi's assassination by firing at his effigy before setting it ablaze on Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress staged a protest here Monday against the alleged firing at an effigy of Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary by suspected members of Hindu Mahasabha in Uttar Pradesh. The activists led by state congress president G A Mir raised slogans like "Bapu Ka Apmaan Nahi Sahega Hindustan (India will not tolerate insult to the father of nation) and Bapu Amar Rahe" (long live Gandhi) before dispersing off peacefully. Talking to reporters, Mir said the "act of the members of Hindu Mahasabha" hurt the sentiments of the people of the country which supports and follow the ideology of Gandhi. "The forces who are bent upon to break the country are raising their ugly head after 70 years and openly targeting the ideology preached by Gandhi under BJP rule in UP and at the Centre. "They want to convey that the act of Nathuram Godse (assassin of Gandhi) was not a mistake," he said. The Congress leader said, "The savage act of the Hindu Mahasabha which is an ally of BJP would not to tolerated by the countrymen who hold Gandhi in high esteem". "India is a secular nation and nobody will be allowed to kill the ideology preached by Gandhi. The congress staged the protest across the country to convey that we are alive and will not allow such an ideology which is against the country," he said. In a purported video circulated on social media, alleged members of right-wing Hindu Mahasabha were seen enacting Gandhi's assassination by firing at his effigy before setting it ablaze on Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Coal India Ltd (CIL) on Monday announced a buyback of 4.46 crore shares of Rs 10 each for an aggregate consideration of close to Rs 1,050 crore. The volume represents 0.72 per cent of its total outstanding shares at a price of Rs 235 a piece. The buy back price is about 6 per cent higher than Coal India shares' closing price of Rs 222 on BSE. The aggregate consideration should not exceed Rs 1,050 crore, the company informed the bourses in a release. The record date for the buy back has been fixed for February 15. The government is likely to garner Rs 766 crore from the buy back with a stake of a little less than 73 per cent in the mining major. CIL had on January 30 announced to consider and approve buy back of shares. The buy back exercise will be conducted in two steps. Coal India subsidiaries Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd and Northern Coalfields Ltd will buy back their shares worth Rs 355 crore each from the parent. Thereafter, CIL will buy back its own shares from shareholders out of the free reserves worth Rs 1,065 crore. In the last such CIL buy back, the government had received Rs 2,638 crore in the 2016-2017 fiscal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) / -- Chennai's current unsold housing stock at 30,800 units against 73,300 units in Bangalore Avg. property prices lowest in 4 years at INR 4,900 per sq. ft. 72% new supply in last 6 years in under INR 80 lakh budget range PE investment increased by 15% in 2018 against 2017Bucking all odds including political uncertainty and a major natural calamity, Chennai has trumped southern counterpart Bengaluru in terms of upbeat residential real estate activity. ANAROCK's report 'Chennai: From Resilience to Growth' confirms that the city is only behind Hyderabad in unsold stock numbers, and has the second-lowest unsold housing inventory of India's top 7 cities in India. As the event's knowledge partner, ANAROCK released the report at RECON, an initiative by Tamil Nadu Real Estate Consultants Association, in Chennai today. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/701435/ANAROCK_Logo.jpg ) Anuj Puri, Chairman - ANAROCK Property Consultants, says, "Residential supply and absorption in Chennai were relatively balanced till 2015. Thereafter, housing supply dropped due to natural calamities, political ambiguity and the overall economic upheavals in the country. The current trend of softening average property prices is generating increasing end-user demand. The growth of Chennai's residential market rests on a sure foundation of controlled supply dominated by affordable housing coupled with bottomed-out property prices. Software as a service (SaaS) and automobile sectors now drive the bulk of residential demand in Chennai." Highlighting the many positives that drive the Chennai real estate market, 'Chennai: From Resilience to Growth' covers the expansion and growth of the IT-ITeS and manufacturing sectors in the city. With major infrastructure initiatives supporting this growth, increasing interest of global investors is driving investments into Chennai. Mr. Joy Britto, President, TNRECA, says, "Chennai's ability to respond to various external and internal influences maturely and agilely have worked well for the city. Having already beaten considerable odds, Chennai now draws on its inherent economic strengths of rising exports of its IT/ITeS and automobiles industries. Chennai's economy, banking on the automobile, manufacturing and IT-ITeS sectors, yielded an estimated GDP of USD 78.6 billion in 2018. The city contributes 14% to the country's IT services, making it the second largest exporter. It also hosts 40% of the automobile production in the country." Other Major Report Highlights: Private equity investments into Chennai in 2018 stood at USD 576.67 mn - an increase of 15% over 2017 IT-ITeS exports of the state grew at a CAGR of 8.6% between 2013-14 and 2017-18 Automobiles and auto components exports grew by approximately 18% in 2017-18 over the previous year, recording the highest in last 5 years. West Chennai emerges as the city's best residential market with high absorption-to-supply ratio of 1.16; it will take only 7.7 quarters to bring its unsold inventory to the lowest across the city. Oragadam, Avadi and Ambattur among the most buoyant real estate locations; corridors of Pallavaram - Thoraipakkam in the South zone emerging as the next preferred destinations with IT-ITeS planning its next level of expansion there. Click here to download the report 'Chennai: From Resilience to Growth' About ANAROCK: ANAROCK is India's leading independent real estate services company that offers a broad range of complementary businesses. Anuj Puri, Chairman of ANAROCK Group is a highly respected industry authority and thought leader with 30 years' experience in leveraging Indian and global real estate opportunities. He leads a dynamic senior team that has a deep understanding of clients' requirements and a strong commitment to the company. ANAROCK serves the needs of investors, developers, occupiers, financiers and the public sector. Our key strategic business units are Residential Transactions & Advisory, Retail Transactions & Advisory, Capital Markets covering debt, equity and mezzanine funding, Investment Management managing proprietary funds, Hospitality Services via HVS ANAROCK, and Research & Consulting. ANAROCK is headquartered in Mumbai with a staff complement of over 1800 highly experienced professionals. With offices in all major markets in the country and dedicated services in Dubai, ANAROCK also has a global footprint with over 80,000 preferred channel partners. Every facet of ANAROCK reflects the core promise and vision to its clients and partners - Values over Value. Visit: http://www.anarock. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Paducah Artist Featured in KY Visitor's Guide By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - The Kentucky Department of Tourism announced the release of the 2019 Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide and the Year of Kentucky Storytellers. The guide features travel tips and stories, narrated by Kentuckians, who share their love for the Bluegrass State through their own personal experiences. "Travelers always have a desire to go where the locals recommend and the 2019 guide provides visitors with those insider tips to help plan the perfect Kentucky trip," Kristen Branscum, Commissioner of the Department of Tourism said. "The local storytellers provide engaging accounts of their own Kentucky experiences, while also highlighting specific activities and places to see while you're traveling in state." Kristin Williams, proprietor of Ephemera Paducah, is one of eight storytellers from across the state selected to represent the main pillars of Kentucky tourism: bourbon, food, horses, outdoors, history, music, arts and events. Williams shares the story of Ephemera Paducah, a mixed media haven in Paducah's Lower Town Arts District, as an introduction to the arts experiences awaiting travelers to Kentucky. "It brings me great joy to welcome visitors from all over the United States. My favorite thing to watch (other than happy artists enjoying their class) is seeing our guests fall in love with Paducah," says Williams. "Those who haven't visited Paducah or even Kentucky are always pleasantly surprised at the cool places they find and easy time they have here. It was an honor to be a part of this great project. I am proud that Ephemera Paducah is a part of what attracts visitors to our community and state." Ephemera Paducah is a favored destination to those who love mixed media art and who want to learn from some of the country's most renowned instructors. Learn more about this artistic space and preview a complete list of upcoming classes and workshops at www.ephemerapaducah.com. The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide is available in its printed version at the state's staffed welcome centers including Whitehaven Welcome Center as well as at the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB), temporarily located at Yeiser Art Center, 200 Broadway. An online version of the guide is available at kentuckytourism.com. The United Christian Forum of North East India has expressed deep anguish at the alleged "insensitivity" of the ruling dispensation at the Centre to the "growing unrest" and "anxieties" of the indigenous people of the N-E region. In a meeting here on February 1, the forum discussed at length "the growing unrest, fear and anxiety expressed by all sections of citizens across the seven states of the region at decisions being made by the ruling dispensation that will seriously affect the destiny of North East India", said a UCFNEI release on Monday. The church leaders cutting across all church denominations in the North east expressed their deep anguish and pain at the "total unconcern and insensitivity of the decision-makers at the Centre to the anxieties of the indigenous people of the North East whose future stands threatened", said the release issued by UCFNEI spokesperson Allen Brooks. "It is all the more shocking when major decisions are made in the country based only on religious affiliation, thus compromising the secular identity of the nation", it said. "The Church leaders while expressing their solidarity with the people, appealed to the Government of India to reconsider its decision and adhere to the democratic voices of its citizens", the release added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Centre has forwarded a bill of Rs 102 crore to the for the use of aircraft and helicopters for flood relief operations in the state, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday. In a written reply to a question in the Upper House, Minister of State in the Defence Ministry Subhash Bhamre said during Kerala floods, the had carried out 517 sorties of Fixed Wing aircraft, airlifting 3,787 people and 1,350 tonnes of load, and 634 sorties of helicopters, winching 584 people and airlifting 247 tonnes of load. "Bills of approximately Rs 102.6 crores have been forwarded to the for use of aircraft / helicopters for Kerala Flood relief. The recoveries for providing services of aircraft / helicopters are effected from the State Government and the Administration of Union Territories," Bhamre said. The Army and the Navy are also preparing details of expenditure with respect to assistance rendered in wake of the floods in Kerala, he said. Heavy rains caused floods in large parts of Kerala in August last year, resulting in loss of human lives and property. The assistance by armed forces to civil administration is governed by the "Instructions on aid to Civil Authority by the Armed Forces 1970", wherein recovery of expenditure incurred by the forces in rendering such aid is specified, he said. The armed forces compile the details of expenditure incurred and forward the same to the state government, Bhamre said. ALSO READ: Govt approves additional assistance of Rs 30 bn to Kerala for August floods "The bills duly scrutinised are forwarded by the state government to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for reimbursement," he added. The armed forces were lauded by many, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, for their efforts during the Kerala flood relief operations. Slogan shouting by Trinamool Congress members over alleged misuse of the CBI by the Centre led to adjournment of the Rajya Sabha till 2 PM on Monday. Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked agitated members to raise the issue during the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address but TMC members did not heed to the suggestion and started raising slogans like "Save the Constitution" and moved towards the Well. Naidu then adjourned the House till 2 pm. As soon as the ministers laid listed papers on the table of the House, some opposition members were on their feet. Naidu said he has received several notices, including from Derek O'Brien of the TMC on the CBI issue. "I have not admitted any one of them (notices)," Naidu said, adding members will get an opportunity to raise the "important matter at length" during the debate on the President's address. However, TMC started raising slogans and some members started moving towards the Well leading to adjournment. In an unprecedented development on Sunday evening, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna, protesting CBI's attempt to quiz Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scams. A CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and were whisked to a police station. The CBI wants to quiz Kumar, who led a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal Police probing the scams, regarding missing documents and files. Several political leaders, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and RJD national president Lalu Prasad came out in support of Banerjee. Gandhi called up Banerjee and extended support to her, saying the entire opposition is together and will defeat "fascist" forces. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Support from opposition leaders poured in for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee whose sit-in over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams continued on Monday. On Sunday, an all-out war broke out between the Centre and the Mamata Banerjee government, with the feisty West Bengal leader beginning her dharna in front of Metro Cinema in Kolkata over the issue. Support for Banerjee, who also the Trinamool Congress chief, poured in even as the CBI moved the Supreme Court accusing Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar of destroying evidence related to the case and him of indulging in contempt of court. "Distressed by the out of Bengal. A complete breakdown of trust in institutions under an authoritarian Modi Govt obsessed with regaining power at all costs. Mamata Ji is resisting & has the support of all those who understand the agenda behind these moves," tweeted Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) vice-president Jayant Chaudhary. Speaking to reporters, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said he had given a notice in the Rajya Sabha for suspension of business and demanded discussion on the "misuse of the CBI". TMC spokesperson Derek O' Brien said all opposition parties will go to the Election Commission later on Monday over the issue in Bengal. "Inside the House (parliament) and outside the House we will all move together. Whatever action we take will do together. This is not the CBI, its the parrot of Amit Shah and Modi. "We have to save the Constitution, the country and the federal structure. Later today, all opposition parties will go to the Election Commission," O' Brien said. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters that he will hold discussions with opposition party leaders in Delhi on Monday and draft an action plan on a nation-wide movement. "TDP MPs will strongly protest along with other opposition leaders today on the CBI issue," he said. Rashtriya Janata Dal's Manoj Jha said the opposition's protest was against the pride of the Modi government. "After the Alok Verma incident CBI does not have any credibility. After the elections, we will see who will go to jail," said Jha. "What happened in West Bengal is an attack on a state's federal rights guaranteed by our constitution. We stand with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Karnataka CM @hd_kumaraswamy tweeted this morning. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is in confrontation with the Modi-led Centre over 'CBI vs Kolkata Police' on the chit fund scam, got an overwhelming support from various political parties who alleged that Union government was trying to "murder democracy" while the BJP hit back dubbing the backing as an "alliance of the corrupt". The goings-on in West Bengal also resonated in Parliament with repeated disruptions, and was finally adjourned for the day after leaders of TMC and other parties hit out at the BJP-led government over alleged "misuse" of CBI by it to target opposition leaders. Banerjee's combative posturing on the issue also became a rallying point for various opposition parties, who are trying to sew up an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. TMC spokesperson Derek O'Brien said that 22 parties have extended their support to the protest against the Centre as he sought to project her as a leader who has succeeded in uniting the entire opposition against the alleged misuse of the CBI. "Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, DMK's Kanimozhi have expressed their desire to join the protest and are going to Kolkata. Others like Samajwadi Party's leader Kiranmay Nanda have already visited the protest site," said O'Brien. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has also extended his party's support to Banerjee. Hitting out at the opposition support to Banerjee, the BJP said an "alliance of the corrupt" is emerging after her protest against the CBI's move to question the Kolkata police chief in the multi-crore The ruling party also fielded its senior leaders and Union ministers to launch a counter-offensive on the issue. Addressing a press conference, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wondered if Banerjee backed the police commissioner because he held "secrets" and needed to be saved. ALSO READ: Mamata vs CBI: West Bengal governor submits report to home ministry Refuting the charge that CBI's move was an "attack on federalism" and comes out of political vendetta, Prasad said this cannot be an "alibi to save the corrupt". The CBI has acted as per law and it has the power to arrest or question somebody without a warrant, he asserted. Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed the developments in West Bengal as "unprecedented" and warned that the Centre has powers to take action. An attempt by the CBI to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams on Sunday became the latest flashpoint between the BJP-led Centre and Banerjee, one of its bitter critics. The CBI has accused Kumar of destroying evidence related to the two fraud cases. A CBI team was prevented from entering the residence of Kumar by Kolkata police personnel, bundled into vehicles, and detained. Contingents of West Bengal police also descended on CBI premises in the city, as a furious Banerjee rushed to Kumar's residence before beginning a dharna opposite Metro Cinema, one of Kolkata's landmarks on Sunday. ALSO READ: HC refuses Mamata govt immediate hearing on CBI's attempt to grill top cop Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah over developments in West Bengal, Kejriwal said they needed to be defeated in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls "to save democracy" in the country. He also alleged that the "Modi-Shah duo was the biggest danger" the country was facing as they were trying to "murder" democracy. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray said,"we applaud and support the stand taken by Banerjee against the autocracy and tyranny of the Central government. We firmly stand behind her and the fight against this tyranny." NCP leader Sharad Pawar, at whose residence leaders of various opposition parties met in the evening said,"what happened to Mamtaji has happened in Delhi. Kejriwalji have faced similar issues". Strongly condemning the incident in West Bengal, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister said, it is "a glaring example of how Modi-Shah duo are destroying the institutions. Attacking political opponents in different States, few days before the Parliament elections commence, will have disastrous consequences in the country." The Left parties, however, said while the Centre is misusing the CBI, is trying to shield the corrupt in the scams and both are "sabotaging" the probe in the process. The ruling BJD in Odisha also backed Banerjee, saying that the federal probe agency was being "used as a political weapon" ahead of the general elections. On the controversy over the presence of the Kolkata police commissioner at the protest site, O' Brien said Kumar was present to show solidarity with other officers, as the dharna aimed at strengthening the administration. DMK President MK Stalin nominated his sister and Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi to meet Banerjee in Kolkata and extend support. ALSO READ: Will continue 'satyagraha' till country and constitution are saved: Mamata Deftly side-stepping queries on the face-off between the West Bengal government and the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said "anything" can happen in the country until the Lok Sabha elections are announced but ruled out the possibility of the Modi government making an attempt to dislodge Banerjee from power. Kalyan Banerjee, a TMC member in the Lok Sabha, alleged that the Union home minister was hiding facts from Parliament and said the Kolkata High Court had stayed the summons against Kumar till February 13. "The CBI has violated the orders of the court by moving against Kumar. This is against the Constitution as well as the federal structure. As the head of the state, has protested against this," said Banerjee. Manoj Prasad, an alleged middleman arrested in connection with a bribery case against CBI's Special Director Rakesh Asthana, on Monday refused to undergo a lie detector test after the CBI filed a plea in a Delhi court in this regard. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sehrawat was hearing the CBI's application seeking permission to conduct lie detector test and taking voice sample of Prasad and the complainant, Hyderabad-based businessman Satish Sana. Prasad's brother Somesh and senior advocate Sunil Mittal, other accused in the case, have given their consent for the test. Prasad's counsel and senior advocate Vikas Pahwa submitted that the report of the test was not admissible as evidence and the accused should not be directed to undergo it as the CBI is not confident of the complaint. "The filing of the (CBI's) application itself suggest that the version given by the complainant is not reliable. That is why he has also been directed to undergo lie detector test," Pahwa said. He also raised preliminary objection on the jurisdiction to deal with the application saying it was a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, and the power was only with the special judge as appointed under the Act. To this, the court said that it was only recording consent of the parties for the test and referred the matter to a Special Court. The court listed the matter for hearing before a Special court on February 7. The court had on December 18 last year granted bail to Prasad due to CBI's failure to file charge sheet within the mandatory 60 days. He was earlier denied bail by the trial court on November 3 last year and later by the Delhi High Court on November 13, which said that the allegations against him were serious in nature. The CBI had opposed the application saying that the investigation was at a crucial stage. The trial court had on October 31 granted bail to CBI DSP Devender Kumar, a co-accused who was arrested on October 23, after the agency chose not the oppose his application. Prasad, Asthana and CBI's Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar had also filed separate petitions in the high court seeking quashing of the FIR against them which was refused. The CBI had registered the case against Asthana on the basis of a complaint by Sana, facing probe in the 2017 case allegedly involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi. Sana alleged that the officer had helped him get a clean chit. The agency had arrested Prasad in the case, when he returned from Dubai. It was alleged by Sana that Prasad and Somesh had taken Rs 2 crore to arrange a clean chit to him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CBI had to bear the brunt of Kolkata Police after it sought to question some policemen in connection with ponzi scam cases, and one of its officers was even issued notices by the police implicating him in alleged vandalism of a hotel owned by Rose Valley Group, agency officials claimed Monday. The Sunday showdown, where the CBI and Kolkata Police came face-to-face, was a result of tension brewing between the two forces for over two years, they said. The CBI, probing the ponzi scam cases, wanted to question Rajeev Kumar, head of a special investigation team constituted by the state government, and its members to probe Saradha scam in which thousands of investors were cheated of over Rs 2,500 crore, they said. The investigation by the agency was met with an alleged retaliatory action from the Kolkata Police, which issued notices to Bratin Ghoshal, a CBI inspector probing one of the ponzi scam cases related to Rose Valley Group. The Kolkata Police called Ghoshal in connection with alleged vandalism of Park Prime Hotel in the city, reportedly owned by Rose Valley Group, in 2017 soon after the CBI started sending notices to SIT members for questioning in September, 2017, they said. He was asked to report at Ballygunge police station under Section 160 CrPC which allows any investigation officer to record statement and evidence in a case. The SIT was headed by then Bidhan Nagar Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer, who is now Commissioner, Kolkata Police, they said. The SIT had arrested Sudipta Sen and Debjani Mukherjee, promoters of Saradha Group and prime accused in the case, in Jammu and Kashmir on March 20, 2013. "State police was first to enter the premises of Saradha Group post collapse and there are allegations that important documents which could have provided important leads were removed to cause disappearance of evidence," a senior CBI official said on the condition of anonymity. The agency, which wanted to probe SIT members, was not getting positive response from the police as many officials, including Kumar, gave excuses to evade questioning. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CBI has booked its own Head Constable who was allegedly trying to steal Rs 6 lakh during a search operation Saturday, the officials said. Sudesh Yadav was deputed to guard the rear of a farm house in Sainik Farms of one Wing Commander Y S Tomar (Retired) which was being searched by the CBI. He saw a maid removing a bundle of Rs 6 lakh from a bathroom window, they said. He allegedly threatened the woman servant, locked her in servant room and removed the bundle from the window, they added. It was spotted when one of the residents of the farm house, Gaurav Tomar, told DySP Ashok Yadav that Kumar had allegedly stolen "huge cash" during the search, they said. When confronted, Kumar showed the places where he had allegedly hid the money, the FIR alleged. In the presence of independent witnesses, money was recovered from scrap lying in the backside and under the sofa of a bedroom, it said. The search was going on in a case related to the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) scam in which the agency has booked and arrested its own officer on Sunday. Tomar had allegedly kept money of one of the accused which was allegedly to be paid to CBI officers. After getting the tip-off, the CBI team had searched the premises of Tomar, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mukul Roy, a former Trinamool Congress MP who was questioned in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam case, on Monday urged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to allow the investigating agency to do its work. The BJP leader also defended himself in connection with the scam, a ponzi scheme through which lakhs of investors were duped of their savings, saying the CBI had failed to find any dirt on him. Banerjee has been on a protest since Sunday evening against the Central Bureau of Investigation's attempt to question Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with the case. She has termed her sit-in outside Metro Cinema in Kolkata a "satyagraha" to save the country and the Constitution and warned it will continue indefinitely. The size of the Saradha financial scandal is pegged at an estimated Rs 4,000 crore. After being prevented from questioning the Kolkata police chief on Sunday evening, the CBI moved the Supreme Court on Monday morning, accusing Kumar of destroying evidence. The top court will hear the matter on Tuesday. "The investigation into the Saradha chit fund case has been going on since 2014. In 2015, the CBI called me for questioning and I was questioned by them for eight hours. After that, I was with TMC for two years. I conducted the 2016 assembly election for the party. "The CBI is an independent agency. It has called people from various parties for questioning at one point of time or the other. So, those who don't have anything to hide will comply. It had nothing against me. CBI is investigating according to the orders of the SC and Mamata should let it work," said Roy, once a close associate of the West Bengal chief minister. Roy, who accompanied by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and S S Ahluwalia, and BJP leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya, Bhupender Yadav, Anil Baluni, submitted a memorandum to the poll panel to highlight instances of TMC disallowing BJP leaders from campaigning in the state. "The question is whether democracy will remain in Bengal or not. There is no space for any political opposition in the state," Roy told reporters. A tussle has been going on in West Bengal between the BJP and the TMC ahead of the general election, expected to be held in April-May. On Sunday, the state government denied permission to BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's chopper to land and let him address two scheduled rallies. He had to address the rallies via telephone. On Monday, the West Bengal BJP cancelled a public rally of Adityanath in Bankura scheduled for Tuesday, claiming the district administration was "dilly-dallying" on giving permission for the landing of his helicopter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday 53 million Canadian dollars (USD 40 million) in aid for Venezuelans suffering through a political, economic and humanitarian crisis. "Today, Canada is stepping up and announcing USD 53 million to address the most pressing needs of Venezuelans on the ground, including almost 3 million refugees," Trudeau told a gathering in Ottawa of the Lima Group of nations. "The bulk of the funds will go to trusted partners, and neighbouring countries to help them support Venezuela and Venezuelans," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WarbirdsNews has just received the January, 2019 report from Chuck Cravens concerning the restoration of the Dakota Territory Air Museums P-47D Thunderbolt 42-27609 at AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota. We thought our readers would be very interested to see how the project has progressed since our last article on this important project. So without further ado, here it goes! Update The sound of rivet guns hammering away was more constant this month than usual because a large number of skin panels were riveted on permanently. The cockpit enclosures first trial fitting was a real milestone as shown in our cover photo. Fuselage One of the unusual features of 42-27609, is that she was equipped with a 5th Air Force modification called a Christmas tree tank. The name of the tank derived from its shape, of course, and the capacity was 42 gallons. This tank helped to extend the Thunderbolts range for long range Pacific Theater operations. The Christmas tree tank installation occupied the space where the supercharger oil tank was originally placed. Consequently, the supercharger oil tank was moved to a location just behind the new fuel tank. The oil filler connection line between the access pan also interfered with the new Christmas tree tank installation, so it was completely removed. Access to the supercharger oil tank in the new configuration was through the large door at station 197 (visible to the left of the access pan). Preparations for Wing Assembly As the work on the fuselage gets nearer and nearer to completion, the guys have been making preparations for work to begin on the wings. Thunderbolt History, Part 3 The numbers connected to the Thunderbolts wartime production and service are staggering. Adding together the 9,087 P-47s built at Republics Farmingdale, New York factory, to the 6,242 examples they built in Evansville, Indiana to the 354 which Curtiss built under license combined for a total production run of 15,683 P-47s, the most for any American-built fighter ever designed. [Ref. Roger Freeman, Thunderbolt, a Documentary History of the Republic P-47, (New York,Charles Scribners Sons, 1978), 141.] From 1943 through August of 1945, Thunderbolts flew 545,575 sorties, 1,352,810 combat flying hours and consumed 200,504,000 gallons of fuel in the process. Thunderbolts dropped 132,482 tons of bombs, expended 59,567 rockets, and fired 134,899,415 .50 caliber rounds according to Republic Aviation Corporation and the P-47 Thunderbolt Pilots Association. P-47 combat losses totaled 824, with only .07% of Thunderbolts not returning from a combat mission, the lowest total for any Allied fighter. [Ref. Cory Graff, P-47 Thunderbolt at War, (St.Paul,Minnesota, Zenith Press, 2007, p 125.] Though not conclusive, our best evidence so far points toward this squadron as the one 42-27609 flew with in 1944. Anyone having information on the 40th FS, or other knowledge pertaining to the squadron service of this P-47 is encouraged to contact us at AirCorps Aviation. And thats all for this month. We wish to thank AirCorps Aviation, Chuck Cravens (words) as well as John LaTourelle (images) for making this report possible! We look forwards to bringing more restoration reports on progress with this rare machine in the coming months. Is the P-47 Thunderbolt your favorite airplane? Make sure to purchase issue #73 of Warbird Digest featuring the beautiful Dottie Mae Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has claimed that a "motivated campaign" is going on surrounding the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to derail the pace of the development the state is witnessing in the BJP rule. Addressing the Asha and National Health Mission convention here, Sonowal assured the people that the land, culture, language of the indigenous people are fully safe in the hands of the present government. "This (protests against the Bill) is a motivated campaign to derail the pace of development of the state. I urge all people to stand united to thwart the evil design of divisive forces," he said Sunday. The chief minister alleged that a misinformation campaign has been launched by certain vested interest groups that 1.9 crore Bangladeshi immigrants would get settlement in Assam in the days to come if the Bill is implemented. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non- Muslims who fled religious persecution from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and entered India before December 31, 2014. Protests against the bill have rocked the entire northeast over the past five weeks, with several organisations and political parties vehemently opposing it. The protesters claim that the bill will nullify the provisions of the Assam Accord of 1985, which fixed March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for deportation of illegal immigrants, irrespective of religion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Metals and mining giant Vedanta Ltd Monday said the investment by its overseas arm Cairn India Holdings Ltd in Anglo American Plc was made after meeting all governance requirements and protects the interests of shareholders. The clarification follows the sharp decline in Vedanta shares last week after investors raised concerns about the said investment. Shares of mining giant Vedanta Friday had tumbled nearly 20 per cent. "The investment now has full capital and downside protection to ensure that the interests of Vedanta Limited shareholders' are protected. The investment was made on an arm's length basis in December 2018, after meeting all governance requirements," Vedanta Ltd said in a regulatory filing to the BSE. Cairn India Holdings Limited (CIHL), an overseas subsidiary of the Company, was offered the opportunity by Volcan to invest some of its surplus cash resources in a structured investment representing the economic interest in upside potential of 24.71 million shares (1.8 per cent) of outstanding shares) of AA Plc, it said. It said the structure provides significantly higher returns compared to other overseas cash management investments that would typically return around 2 per cent. "After careful consideration of the risk adjusted returns of this opportunity relative to other available investments, it elected to invest a portion (which is less than 5 per cent of Group's cash and cash equivalent of around USD 5 billion) of its available cash resources, as part of its cash management activity. The ownership of the underlying shares, and the associated voting interest remains with Volcan", it added. The company said investment was done after valuation of the economic interest by an independent valuer and was duly approved by the boards of CIHL and Vedanta Ltd. "This was voluntarily and transparently disclosed in the December quarter results," it said. The company said, it remains committed at all times to act in the interest of all shareholders and look forward to continued engagement with them. The company reiterated that the transaction with Volcan Investments Limited (Volcan) and Vedanta Resources Limited, the parent companies of Vedanta Limited, holding more than 50 per cent, have played a significant role in shaping and building Vedanta Limited businesses in a visionary and entrepreneurial manner. Volcan owns a 21 per cent stake (voting interest) in Anglo American Plc (AA Plc). AA Plc is a globally diversified mining business that comprises of the largest diamond producer De Beers, copper, platinum and other precious metals, iron ore, coal and nickel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With INLD candidate forfeiting his deposit in the recent bypoll for the Jind assembly seat amid the ongoing family feud, the BSP Monday hinted that it may soon call off its alliance with Om Prakash Chautala-led party. "The BSP is thinking over contesting the future elections in alliance only after the (Chautala) family resolves its differences and come together or else the party will be forced to have a rethink on the matter," said BSP Monday. The Bahujan Samaj Party issued a statement after its president Mayawati met her party leaders from Haryana and reviewed the party functioning in the state. The BSP president was apprised of the inner conflicts in the Chautala family, which is harming the BSP poll prospects in the state, the statement added. The situation has affected the alliance between the BSP and the INLD too, it added. Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and BSP had entered into an alliance and had announced that both parties would jointly contest 2019 Lok Sabha and Haryana assembly polls. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister has said bringing Central funds to remains one of his most important endeavours. Supriyo made this comments on Sunday while attending the ground breaking ceremony of the Industrial Research and Innovation Unit for MSMEs and Start-ups at Sunday, stated to be the first one in eastern "I am happy to give away the funds from my ministry because bringing Central funds to is one of the most important endeavours I have set for myself," the Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises said. While the total cost of the proposed project is pegged at Rs. 65.19 crore, the ministry has granted an initial funding of Rs 47.62 crore. Additional funding of Rs 17.57 crore is being raised from the industrial partners through projects. The has already provided land, technological and infrastructural support to the extent of Rs 25 crore. Supriyo, who had first mooted the project stated to be eastern India's first such one, recalled that after taking over charge he came across a small map which showed the centres of excellence in the capital goods sector were either located in the western or southern parts of country and there wasn't a single one in the eastern parts. Wondering why there was no such centres of excellence in East, for which his ministry would provide 80 per cent of the grant, he then spoke to IIT KGP Director Prof P P Chakrabarti regarding this, the minister informed. "What you will see in the MSME sector in the next few years are all going to be part of the work that we are putting in jointly," Supriyo said. He said now the challenge remained for the MSME Research and Innovation hub to ensure MSMEs and the industrial partners can have state-of-the-art R&D facilities so that they can deliver quality products with high-end technologies at an affordable and competitive price. The 40000 sq-ft Industrial Research and Innovation Unit will house high-end industrial equipment such as robotic welding facility, industry scale CT scan machine, Robotic 3D laser scanner and many more. It will support activities such as design, fabrication and automation of manufacturing, digital and IoT (internet of Things). "We have brought in people from various domains such as materials, processes, designers, AI and data sciences and also formed a consortium including industries, DHI and our board of governors to ensure sustainability of this initiative," Chakrabarti said. "One of our goals is to facilitate inventing Make in products for and abroad through this Innovation Centre," he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CBI-Kolkata Police row Monday washed out proceedings in both houses of Parliament, even as Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed the developments in West Bengal as "unprecedented" and warned that the Centre has powers to take action. After repeated adjournments, both the houses were adjourned for the day. In the Lok Sabha, Trinamool Congress members were joined in their protest by members of the Congress, BJD, NCP, SP and RJD who spoke out against the Centre over developments in West Bengal, with many of them alleging that the Narendra Modi government was misusing the CBI. West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee Sunday began a sit-in protest in Kolkata over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams. A CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and whisked to a police station on Sunday. Amid noisy protests by Trinamool Congress members, Singh told the Lok Sabha that it was "unprecedented" that the CBI was stopped from lawfully doing its duty when it wanted to question Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar regarding chit fund scams on Sunday. In the first reaction from the Centre on the incident, the Home Minister said the CBI team wanted to question Kumar as he was "not cooperating". Making a statement in Lok Sabha on the prevailing situation in Kolkata, Singh described the action against the CBI probe team as "unprecedented" and a threat to the federal system of the country. "There may be constitutional breakdown in West Bengal... under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country," he said. "Whatever happened on Sunday, it indicates constitutional breakdown," Singh said amid din in the House. He also said that a report has been sought from the Governor. The home minister hoped that the West Bengal government as well as other state governments provide a conducive atmosphere for law enforcement agencies to carry out their duties. Earlier, opposition parties in Lok Sabha attacked the government over the alleged misuse of central agencies against political rivals, saying it was against democratic norms. Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said there is a crisis in West Bengal and that the Centre was "misusing" the CBI to politically capture the state. While alleging that the Centre was "constantly using the CBI to throttle the Opposition", Roy said the party is strongly protesting with all forces at its command. BJD leader B Mahtab said the incident smacks of impropriety and also questions the integrity of the CBI. "We are not a banana republic...," he said, adding the CBI is becoming a "political stooge and political weapon" in the hands of the Centre. Stressing that the CBI should be a professional organisation, Mahtab charged that there have been attempts in Odisha by the probe agency to defame the BJD. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge charged that the government was using the CBI as a weapon to finish the Opposition and put in place an autocratic regime. Referring to alleged misuse of the CBI, Kharge said such things have happened not only in West Bengal but also in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Neither the people nor any party would bow down before such actions, he added. NCP leader Supriya Sule said her party is condemning the CBI for allegedly using its muscle power against a woman chief minister. Dharmendra Yadav (SP) and Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav (RJD) also spoke against the Centre. CPI-M member Badaruddoza Khan said both the Trinamool Congress and the Centre were at fault, adding the CBI did not take action during the last four years. Saumitra Khan, who won on a Trinamool Congress ticket and had recently joined the BJP, also spoke. Rajya Sabha witnessed similar scenes with proceedings washed out amid ruckus by Trinamool Congress members over the issue of alleged misuse of the CBI by the Centre. As soon as the House assembled, slogan shouting by TMC members on the issue resulted in adjournment of the House till 2 PM. The same situation prevailed when the House resumed in the afternoon. TMC leader Derek O'Brien had moved a notice for discussion on the issue. But he was told by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu that he can raise this issue during Zero Hour as also during the motion of thanks to the President's address. In the meanwhile, TMC and SP members trooped into the well and started raising slogans. The chairman said, "You don't want discussion. You don't want to speak on reply to the motion of thanks (to President's address)". When TMC members did not show any signs of relenting, Naidu adjourned the House for the day. In Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar made a plea to agitating members to go back to their seats, stating it was time for motion of thanks on the President's address. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said as the CBI matter is already in the Supreme Court, the court should be allowed to take a call. The Speaker allowed Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy to speak about the incident in Kolkata involving the CBI and the Kolkata Police. BJD leader B Mahtab, Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and those from the Left, SP, NCP and RJD also spoke against the Centre during the Zero Hour. When Home Minister Rajnath Singh started to speak on the issue, Trinamool Congress members trooped into the Well and began shouting slogans. Some of them were also seen clapping. Mahajan continued with the Zero Hour for less than ten minutes and as the protests continued, the proceedings were adjourned till 2 PM. Several political leaders, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and RJD national president Lalu Prasad have came out in support of Banerjee. Gandhi had called up Banerjee and extended support to her, saying the entire opposition is together and will defeat "fascist" forces. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Black Hawks Hyderabad beat Ahmedabad Defenders 3-2 in a keenly-contested match on the third day of the Pro Volleyball League here on Monday. The Hyderabad side won 15-11, 13-15, 15-11, 14-15, 15-9 in the match played at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here. Skipper Carson Clark led from the front with 15 points (12 spikes, 1 block and 2 serves) in his side's victory. For the Ahmedabad team, Russian Victor Sysoev scored 12 points (11 spikes and 1 block). Hyderabad won the toss and decided to receive and broke Ahmedabad's serve pretty easily. But both sides looked rusty, gifting points on errors. At the first Technical Time Out (TTO), Hyderabad took a two-point lead as scoreboard read 8-6. Coming back after the TTO, Hyderabad called for a Super Point but wasted the opportunity and Ahmedabad got the two points via Novika Bjelica's spike, levelling the score at 8-8. A Super Serve from Dilip Koiwal gave Ahmedabad a 11-10 lead and to press advantage, they immediately called for a Super Point but an error from Koiwal gave the lead back to Hyderabad. Hyderabad were not going to let this lead slip as Alex Bader came up with a Super Serve to take his team to a 14-11 lead. Ahmedabad skipper Ranjit Singh's error then gave away Hyderabad the first set 15-11. The match ultimately went to the decider, and Hyderabad came out all guns blazing as captain Clark, Amit Kumar and Rohit Kumar came to the fore. Hyderabad called for a Super Point at 10-4 and Clark's serve did the job as they won their first Super Point of the match taking the score to 12-4. Ahmedabad attempted a comeback as they scored three consecutive points from 6-13 to reduce the lead to 9-13. But it was the young Rohit again whose spike broke Ahmedabad's momentum and Hyderabad eventually closed the set 15-9 and the match 3-2. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Left parties on Monday said while the BJP-led NDA government was "misusing" federal agencies, Mamata Banerjee's response to it was "equally undemocratic" and accused both of sabotaging the probe into ponzi scams. CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, in a tweet, said the sit-in by Banerjee in Kolkata came within hours of the Left Front's rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds in the city, and alleged that it was also aimed at diverting public attention from the rising protests by the people of West Bengal against both the BJP and the TMC. In an unprecedented development, a number of CBI officers, who had gone to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scam cases, were bundled into police jeeps, whisked to a police station and briefly detained on Sunday. Hours after the incident, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee began a sit-in right in front of the Metro Cinema to protest "insults" she faced at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and claimed the CBI knocked on the doors of Kumar without a search warrant. The CPI, in a statement, claimed that the bitter tussle between the Kolkata police and the CBI, and the "equally undemocratic response" by the Mamata Banerjee government have put the country in a "civil war-like situation". "The autocratic misuse of central agencies like CBI, ED and IT departments by the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre to target political opponents across the country and the equally undemocratic response by Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government to protect the Saradha chit fund scam accused have put the country in a civil war-like situation. It is the responsibility of the centre to resolve the logjam and save the democratic fabric of the country," the Communist Party of India statement read. "Saradha scam is a very big scam and transparent and independent investigation is necessary to bring the guilty to book. Centre should call for an all-party meeting to redefine centre-state relations," the Communist Party of India said in a statement. The CPI(M) Politburo in a statement said the BJP government, contrary to its election promises, had not taken action against those accused in the various ponzi scams in the last four years, but was doing so now. "During this period, many of the Trinamool Congress leaders who were prime accused in these scams like MPs Mukul Roy, and Hemanta Sharma, moved over to the BJP. Clearly, both the BJP and the TMC were sharing the spoils of such a loot, slowing down the investigation as ordered by the Supreme Court," the party said. It further said against this background, the Centre's action against the Kolkata police commissioner "smacks of political motivation." "The response of the TMC government and the Chief Minister, given their record of murder of democracy in Bengal, is also politically motivated. The CPI(M) has consistently demanded that the culprits of this gigantic scam must be booked and punished, their properties confiscated and this must be used to return the money looted from the people. This was sabotaged by both the BJP and the TMC," the CPI(M) said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking aims at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the CBI probe into chit fund scams, the BJP Monday questioned if her dharna to protest action against Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar was because he held many "secrets" and needed to be saved. Rejecting the opposition charge that the CBI's move to question Kumar amounted to an attack on the federal structure by the Modi government, BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said it cannot be cited as a shield to save the corrupt and asserted that the agency acted as per law. Speaking to reporters, Prasad took a swipe at the unity among opposition parties against the CBI action, describing it as an "alliance of the corrupt", and said its "soldiers" from Bihar to Uttar Pradesh, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, are facing probe in different cases of alleged graft. Banerjee has defied all norms to sit in a dharna in Kolkata, he said, adding that the police commissioner's decision to join her protest was unprecedented and was in violation of norms guiding police officers' conduct. He said Banerjee kept quiet when many of her Trinamool Congress leaders, including MPs, were arrested but has started a dharna to support a police officer. It seems he knows a lot of secrets, Prasad said. "These suspicious circumstances clearly indicate that the police commissioner knows a lot and therefore needed to be saved by the chief minister," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bangladesh police is on the hunt for a suspected serial killer who identifies himself as 'Hercules' and has been murdering alleged rapists, according to a media report. Over the past two weeks, bodies of three alleged rapists have been recovered and police suspect they were killed by the same person as all the murders bore similarities, the Daily Star reported. On February 1, police found the body of a rape suspect with a note hanging around his neck in Jhalakathi's Rajapur upazila, in third such incident. This time, the note reads, I am Rakib. I am the rapist of a madrasa girlof Bhandaria. This is the consequence of a rapist. Be aware rapistsHercules. The dead, Rakib Hossain, 20, was a law student at a private university in the capital and was accused in the gang rape of a madrasa student in Bhandaria, the daily said. The body was found with bullet injuries on the head, said Jahidul Islam, officer-in-charge of Rajapur Police Station. On January 14, a madrasa student was allegedly gang raped by two men when she was on the way to her grandparents' house. The victim's father filed a case accusing Rakib and another man Sajal in the case. On January 24, police recovered Sajal's bullet-hit body in Jhalakathi with a similar note hanging round the neck. Sajal's father lodged a police complaint over his son's murder and the rape victim's father has been named prime accused in the case, said a senior police officer. On January 17, police had found the body of another key suspect in the gang rape and murder of a female garment worker on the outskirts of the capital, with a similar note hanging around his neck. Raising concern over the incidents, Sheepa Hafiza, executive director of rights group Ain O Salish Kendra, said killing people extra-judicially and leaving a note was not acceptable. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The first edition of ASEAN Chamber of Commerce and Industry Business Meet 2019 will be held here from February 25 to 27, Karnataka Minister for large and medium scale industries K J George said Monday. Speaking at the curtain raiser of the event, George said, "The event will showcase Karnataka to the ASEAN and special invitee countries. It will also make trade and industry of Karnataka aware of the opportunities for trade and investment in ASEAN and special invitee countries." George said the government's endeavour will be to bring together the chambers of commerce, business persons, exporters and importers of ASEAN countries along with some special invitee countries on one platform to promote trade, business and investment. The event will be hosted by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industries. The FKCCI said in a statement that the three-day summit will be the first of its kind as there has not been any meet of the major chambers of commerce of ASEAN and that too in Bengaluru. It will create a high-level networking ground for people to explore new collaborations and showcase new products to stakeholders, it said. The business body was optimistic that the event would raise over Rs 2,000 crore investments and attract industry bodies from over 23 countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chief executive of Russian bank VTB, Andrey Kostin, said he did not expect new major sanctions to be imposed by the United States on big Russian lenders, including VTB and Sberbank. "The existing restrictions, of course, limit Russian banks access to world markets, but haven't made Western investors to lose interest in them," RIA Novosti cited Kostin as saying. Astronomers have found fresh evidence for significant planetary diversity within a single exoplanet system, suggesting that giant high-speed collisions are partly responsible for planetary evolution. An international team of scientists led by Italys National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and involving physicists from the University of Bristol spent three years observing the exoplanetary system Kepler-107 via the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo in La Palma. They gathered more than a hundred spectroscopic measurements of all four sub-Neptune mass planets in Kepler-107 named after the NASA Kepler space telescope that discovered the exoplanetary system five years ago. Unlike Earths relation to the sun, the planets in the Kelper-107 system are much closer to each other and their host star (their equivalent of our sun). All of the planets have an orbital period of days as opposed to years. It is not uncommon for the planet that is closest to the host star to be the densest due to heating and interaction with the host star which can cause atmosphere loss. However, as reported in Nature Astronomy, in the case of Kepler-107, the second planet, 107c, is denser than the first, 107b. So much so that 107c contains in its core an iron mass fraction at least twice as large as that of 107b, indicating that at some point, 107c had a head-on high-speed giant collision with a protoplanet of the same mass or more collisions with multiple planets of a lower mass. These impacts would have ripped off part of the rock and silicate mantle of Kepler-107c, suggesting that it is denser now than it was originally. Bristols Dr Zoe Leinhardt, computational astrophysicist and co-author of the paper, from the University of Bristols School of Physics, explains: Giant impacts are thought to have had a fundamental role in shaping our current solar system. The moon is most likely the result of such an impact, Mercurys high density may be also, and Plutos large satellite Charon was likely captured after a giant impact but until now, we hadnt found any evidence of giant impacts occurring in planetary systems outside of our own. If our hypothesis is correct, it would connect the general model we have for the formation of our solar system with a planetary system that is very different from our own. Aldo Bonomo, researcher at INAF and lead author, said: With this discovery we have added another piece in the understanding of the origin of the extraordinary diversity in composition of small exoplanets. We already had evidence that the strong irradiation of the star contributes to such diversity leading to partial or total erosion of the atmospheres of the hottest planets. However, stochastic collisions between protoplanets also play a role, and may produce drastic variations in the internal composition of an exoplanet, as we think it happened for Kepler-107c. Co-author Li Zeng, from the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, added: This is one out of many interesting exoplanet systems that the Kepler space telescope has discovered and characterized. This discovery has confirmed earlier theoretical work suggesting that giant impact between planets has played a role during planet formation. Giant impacts are thought to have occurred in our own solar system. If catastrophic disruptions occur frequently in planetary systems, then astronomers predict finding many other examples like Kepler-107 as an increasing number of exoplanet densities are determined. Social activist Anna Hazare, whose indefinite fast for appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs entered the sixth day Monday, has refused to call off his protest saying the government is handling the issue of corruption in a casual manner. The talks between Union minister Subhash Bhamre, state minister Girish Mahajan and Hazare in the latter's Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmed Nagar district, the venue of his fast since January 30, remained inconclusive Monday. Hazare has been demanding appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra and resolution of farmers' issues. The 81-year-old, who has lost 4.25 kg in the last six days, also accused the ruling dispensation of betraying people who voted it to power in 2014. Bhamre reached the village this evening to talk to Hazare as a representative of the Union government. Mahajan, who accompanied him, said, "There will be some solution by tomorrow." Bhamre said Hazare had some concerns and doubts even after he and Mahajan held talks with him. The Union minister said he would visit Hazare again tomorrow and try to persuade the Gandhian to withdraw his hunger strike. However, repeating his demands, the anti-grft crusader said the ministers who called on him Monday had nothing concrete to offer. "This insincere attitude of the government is very disappointing," he told PTI. "I will not call off my hunger strike till the government initiates concrete steps beyond hollow assurances," he said. Hazare accused the Central government of misleading the common people over the draft of Lokpal bill. "They (Centre) are misleading the people on Lokpal bill. Also, the draft of Lokayukta bill by the Maharashtra government is also misleading, hence I am not accepting it," he said. "I was also told that the Supreme Court has given a date to the Centre for submission of its plan for appointing a search committee for Lokpal. The Centre also said that it will abide by the search committee's report. I will wait for it," he said. When asked about how long would he continue with his protest, Hazare said he can easily keep on fasting for another five days. "And I am prepared to sacrifice my life," he added. Hazare said he had spoken to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the Lokayukta issue several times in the past, but nothing has come out of them. Earlier in the day, about 2600 villagers, including farmers and women, held a demonstration in front of the district collector's office in Ahmednagar. A protest was also held at the office of local BJP MP Dilip Gandhi for "inaction". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday exhorted officials to work hard to root out corruption from the state. At an interactive session with the heads of departments and government officers at Pasighat in East Siang district, Khandu said the state along with Nagaland has earned a bad reputation for failing to contain corrupt practices, an official release said. "Those in position today must take the lead. We cannot expect things to get better later," the chief minister was quoted as saying by the release. Khandu also said that the state was eager to march ahead in all spheres and invited ideas from the officials on the matter. "Arunachal is a blessed land and has the potential to become one of the richest states in India. Looking after the welfare of 1.4 million people in the state should not be a Herculean task if there is a will to serve," the CM said. Calling bureaucrats the "main pillars of a government", Khandu said their selfless contribution is vital for the growth of the state. "Politician comes and goes but bureaucrats are there to stay. They play a greater role in creating a better system," he said. Stating that he would never go for appeasement politics, Khandu said his dream is to make Arunachal a better place. He assured the officials that he would run the government without fear to serve the interests of his people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Srinagar-based 15 corps Lt Gen A K Bhatt Monday called on Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik here and briefed him about the security situation in the valley, a Raj Bhavan spokesman said. Lt Gen Bhatt was accompanied by Lt Gen K J S Dhillon, the designated GOC 15 corps, he said. The spokesman said Malik bade farewell to Lt Gen Bhatt who will soon be joining as Military Secretary in the Army headquarters, Delhi. Malik appreciated the Army's strong support to the security forces in carrying out counter-terrorism operations in the valley, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Any dispute in the execution of Inter-Governmental Agreement for Rafale jets will be settled through the Bilateral High Level Group established by India and France, the government said Monday. In a written response to a question in the Upper House, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said if any dispute between the two sides remains unresolved by the group, it will be settled by arbitration in accordance with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. Elaborating on the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA), she said the defence deal was signed on September 23, 2016 for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in fly-away condition, along with an initial consignment of weapons, maintenance support through performance-based logistic, simulator and associated equipment. In the IGA, the French government has provided a 'Letter of Comfort' signed by the French prime minister. The provision in the IGA along with the Letter of Comfort "provides adequate safeguards" to the Government of India, Sitharaman said. "Any dispute in the execution of the IGA will be settled through the Bilateral High Level Group established by the Government of India and Government of French Republic. Any dispute not settled by this group shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with UNCITRAL arbitration rules," she said. The minister said the unit cost of basic Rafale aircraft in procurement through the IGA was about 9 per cent cheaper than the price arrived at in unconcluded MMRCA process in which Dassault Aviation was L1 bidder in a global open tender. In the procurement of 36 fighter jet, provisions of Capital Acquisition as provided in the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) have been followed, the minister noted. Elucidating the price of the fighter jet, she said the basic aircraft price has been disclosed to Parliament and the government has shared all pricing details with the Comptroller and Auditor General. "Disclosure of comprehensive pricing details in the public domain which overlap with sensitive details of kind of systems, equipment, weaponry etc. will not be in the interest of security. Further, pricing details are covered by Article 10 of the IGA which provides that the protection of the classified information and the material exchanged under IGA shall be governed by the provisions of the Security Agreement signed between Government of India and Government of France on 25th January 2008," she said. ALSO READ: Nirmala Sitharaman criticises Congress attack on Rafale jet deal The supply protocol for 36 Rafale jets has provision for commercial confidentiality, Sitharaman noted. The non-disclosure of the Rafale jet's price has been one of the major issues over which the Opposition has been attacking the government. ALSO READ: Newspaper report on Rafale price based on 'fudged arithmetic', says Jaitley The package cost of 36 through IGA route includes design and development and there was no increase in prices and the total package price was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security, she said. AAP MLA Alka Lamba Monday claimed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal unfollowed her on Twitter and said she was finding it hard to work in the party under the prevailing situation. In December, Lamba had claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party had asked her to resign for protesting an alleged proposal seeking to revoke former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's Bharat Ratna. The AAP had, however, rubbished her claims. "I have a strong feeling that the party does not need my services at all. But till I am an MLA, I will continue serving the people of my constituency," the Chandni Chowk MLA told PTI. The legislator said she has sent a message to the AAP leadership, asking them to clear their stand on her position in the party. Her message has been communicated to the party leadership through the organisation secretary of Chandni Chowk constituency. The MLA claimed she was removed from all official WhatsApp groups of the party and Kejriwal unfollowed her on Twitter on Sunday. "Such things, like removing from WhatsApp groups, unfollowing on Twitter and not inviting in meetings make me feel that I deserve the same position and respect as other MLAs have. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for me to continue. I cannot compromise my self respect," she said. Lamba said she was actively involved in campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls with the party in-charge of the Chandni Chowk constituency, but she will now focus on her work as MLA. Rejecting speculation that she was cozying up to the Congress, Lamba said: "It is being assumed that I am going to join the Congress though I have not uttered a word against the AAP or its leaders. But on the other hand, efforts to ally with the Congress through a 'Mahagathbandhan' are considered okay by them. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) AGP, a former ally of the ruling BJP in Assam, Monday slammed the state government for its alleged attempt to nullify the 1985 Assam Accord and staged a walkout in the state assembly. The state government, however, said implementation of the accord is a priority and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is holding regular discussions with the Centre on the issue. During the Question Hour, AGP MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita charged the Centre with trying to nullify the accord by bringing in the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Responding to Kalita, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said there is no question of nullifying it and the Centre has recently formed a high-powered committee to implement the Clause 6 of the accord. Clause 6 of the Assam Accord envisaged that appropriate constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people. The previous Congress governments in the state took initiatives to define indigenous people, but could not do that due to lack of consensus, he said and assured that the present dispensation will take a decision on it. To this, Kalita said "you are talking about constitutional safeguards for indigenous people. Has the Assam government finalised the definition of indigenous people? If not, then how will you give safeguards? "Lok Sabha polls are there after two months. Why was the committee not formed two years ago instead of now? Then we would have welcomed the intention of the Centre." AIUDF member Mamun Imdadul Haque Chawdhury said that while the Assam Accord spoke about Assamese people, the present government is using the term indigenous people. "From where has this come? Even the governor's speech talked about indigenous people. How come has this happened? A wrong signal should not go from here," he added. Congress's Rakibul Hussain said the Clause 6 talks about land and political rights for people till March 24, 1971, while the Citizenship Bill is self-contradictory in this case. "Will those coming under the Citizenship Bill not get land or political rights because you are talking about safeguards as per Clause 6," the former Congress minister asked the government. Patowary informed the House that foreigners who were detected earlier were pushed back at the Indo-Bangladesh border, but now they are handed over to Border Guards Bangladesh in absence of any formal repatriation pact. When Kalita wanted to ask since when this process with BGB started, Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami did not allow him, saying only one supplementary question is allowed. This lead to noisy protests from AGP members. "We wanted a few answers from the government. As we did not get them, we are walking out in protest as the issue is a very serious," the AGP member said and led his party MLAs out of the House. Patowary said the Centre has for the first time taken a concrete step for constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to Assamese people as per the Assam Accord. "From 1951 to 71, Assam took the big burden of foreigners. The Citizenship Act was amended in 1987, 2003 and the 1971 deadline was already compromised. We have devised a model and gave it to the Centre, which formed the committee," he added. Patowary told the House that 6,26,793 cases were registered against suspected foreigners since 1985 to August 2018. "Of them, Foreigners Tribunal has declared 1,08,815 as Indians and 1,03,764 as foreigners. A total 29,829 foreigners have been deported". BJP's Binanda Kumar Saikia, who had raised the issue, inquired about the future of the Centre's Committee on Assam Accord as most of its members had refused to be a part of it in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Patowary said he is unaware of the reasons for its members resigning and emphasised that the Centre will take steps for implementation of the Clause-6. "The accord will give land rights to indigenous people. It will be rare and exclusive to Assam. Protests are going on for Jati-Mati-Bheti (community, land, homeland). Mati and Bheti will be there and if Bheti is there, then Jati will survive," he added. The Citizenship Bill provides for according Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after seven years of residence in India instead of 12 years, which is the norm currently, even if they do not possess any document. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Monday reported a two-fold jump in profit after tax at Rs 70 crore in the December quarter 2018. The company had posted profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 35 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFR) said in a statement. Revenue during the quarter under review stood at Rs 2,282 crore as against Rs 1,855 crore in the year-ago quarter, up 23 per cent. The rise in PAT was on account of an overall improvement in all the business segments. Its Madura business segment, comprising lifestyle brands Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England and fast fashion labels Forever 21 and People, among others posted 18 per cent growth in revenue at Rs 1,345 crore in the third quarter as against Rs 1,139 crore in the same period last fiscal, the company said. Pantaloons also delivered an impressive performance with revenue growing by 28 per cent at Rs 961 crore. On the outlook, ABFR said the lifestyle brands will continue growth momentum, led by product innovation, network expansion, growth category expansion and impactful marketing campaigns. "Pantaloons' growth will be accelerated with its continued focus on product enhancement, brand investments and expansion into newer markets," it added. The company said its fast fashion segment will continue with the journey of business model improvement, while innerwear will expand reach, riding on both men's and women's distinctive products. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A nine-month-old girl, who was allegedly thrown into a well by her mother in Ranchi, was rescued and airlifted to a hospital in Delhi on Monday, where she is battling for her life, officials said. The condition of the infant is "critical" and she has been "kept on a ventilator" in a pediatric ICU at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) here, they said. "The baby was flown from Ranchi to Delhi, and then taken to the SGRH through a green corridor in a critical condition," a senior official of the hospital said. According to the Delhi Traffic Police, to save her life, a 12-km green corridor was created from Indira Gandhi International Airport's Terminal 1-D to the hospital, "covering a distance of 12 kilometres in 13 minutes". "The girl was immediately transferred into an ambulance. The convoy started at 5.10 pm and reached Sir Ganga Ram Hospital at 5.23 pm in 13 minutes which would have otherwise taken around 45 minutes during peak hours," a senior police official said. According to the attendants of the baby, she was thrown into a well by her mother, who is undergoing treatment for "past-partum psychosis (post delivery depression)" in Ranchi, on the afternoon of February 1, sources at the SGRH told PTI. "The baby was immediately rescued and then taken to the nearest hospital, where she was declared dead. However, later she was taken to a bigger hospital, and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) was performed on her, after which she was revived," a source said. The SGRH was then contacted, and an airlift facility was sought for the baby. "The girl was airlifted to Delhi on ventillator and then through a green corridor brought to our hospital," the SGRH official said. "The condition of the girl is critical and she is kept on a ventilator in a pediatric ICU. Her condition is being closely monitored," said Dr Anil Sachdev, Director, Pediatric Emergency and Intensive Care, SGRH. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sixty-five per cent of country's mobile phones are manufactured now in Noida alone, said Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma Monday, claiming that UP has a strong potential to surpass the growth of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. UP emergence as a hub of mobile phone production has also stopped its youths' exodus to other states for jobs. If 100 mobile phones are produced in India, Noida alone accounts for 65 such phones. It means 65 per cent of the mobile phones of the country are manufactured in UP. This includes finished mobile phones and their accessories," Sharma, who is also the state's Information Technology minister, told PTI in an interview. "This feat has been achieved by us in a span of one-and-half years. We have surged ahead of Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh in production of mobile phones, which occupied the top spot earlier," he said. "This has also stopped exodus of people from the state for employment outside the state, he added. The minister attributed the UP's growth as the country's mobile manufacturing hub to the improved law and order situation in the state, besides its pro-business policies under the BJP rule. Why was the change not witnessed earlier? It is because of the improvement in law and order and the new pro-industry policies made after serious deliberations. We have made pro-business policies and the single-window system started by us has won accolades across the country," Sharma said, adding that UP's industrial policy is the best. The minister claimed that officials from other states like Maharashtra have come to study the UP's IT policies. Sharma said out of Rs 60,000 crore investment proposals received during the UP Investor Summit, nearly Rs 42,000 were from the IT and electronics sector. The UP government is soon going to establish an Electronics City. In state capital Lucknow, land has been acquired in Nadarganj area for IT City. Apart from this, IT parks will be set up in Meerut, Agra, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Varanasi, Lucknow and Bareilly," he said. He also said an electronics cluster will be set up in Tegna (Noida), where Chinese and Taiwanese companies are likely to make an investment of Rs 500 crore. "UP has the ability to surge ahead of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. It has already become a centre of attraction for the people. In coming days, UP will be known as the state giving maximum employment and it will be known for industrialists," he said. The youths from other states are now coming to Lucknow for jobs, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four persons were killed when a car they were travelling in collided with a truck in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan, police said Monday. The incident happened late Sunday night on Udaipur-Gomti Highway when the deceased were on their way to Rajsamand from Jaipur after participating in a stone mart exhibition, police said. Those killed were identified as Suresh Kumar (55), Anil Kumar (45), Binnu Shekhar (46) and Ramesh Chand Kumawat, they added. The bodies were handed over to the family members after postmortem examination, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) U.S. President Donald Trump said hes inclined to leave a base and troops in Iraq to "watch" Iran even as he dials down U.S. military presence in the region, and that he doesnt believe his intelligence chiefs who say Iran is abiding by the nuclear deal that the U.S. exited. "I disagree with them," Trump said in an interview on CBSs Face the Nation, adding that the intelligence community was wrong about former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction ahead of the second Gulf War. "Those intel people didnt know what the hell they were doing, and they got us tied up in a war that we should have never been in," government has registered a total of 251 cases since the BJP-led alliance came to power in the state in 2016, the Assembly was informed on Monday. In a written reply, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said 251 cases were filed against various individuals and banned organisations since May 26, 2016 when the present coalition government took charge. Replying to the query by of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia of the Congress, Patowary said cases have been filed against militant groups such as ULFA(I), (S), NDFB(B), KLO, NSLA, NSLA(AT), UPLFS, DHD, DHNA, NSCN(IM), ZUF and among others. Such cases were also registered against several individuals, Patowary said on behalf of Chief Minister who also holds the Home portfolio. Two sedition cases were slapped on activist-cum- peasant Akihil Gogoi in Dibrugarh district and Guwahati city. Along with Gogoi, sedition cases were registered last month against eminent intellectual and Sahitya Akademi awardee Hiren Gohain and Manjit Mahanta for their comments on the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. The Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims who fled religious persecution from Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, and entered before December 31, 2014. A group of 20 college students from Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district Monday left on a 15-day capacity building tour to Dehradun, a defence spokesperson said. The tour, organised by the Army, is aimed at providing young and vibrant students exposure to various institutions of the country in forest research, civil administration and professional education, he said. The selected students of the Government Degree College, Thanamandi, are accompanied by two professors, the official added. "During the tour, the participants will visit the Indian Military Academy (IMA) and the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy for Administration in Mussoorie," he said. He said the group will also interact with the governors of Uttarkhand and Jammu and Kashmir, besides Padam Shri Milkha Singh and senior Army officers, during the tour which will conclude on February 19. "The students will also be taken to other places of interest to showcase the rich cultural heritage of our country and witness the development taking place in other parts of the nation," the official said. Deputy General Officer Commanding, Counter-Insurgency Force (Romeo), Brigadier Ravi Dimri addressed the participants before flagging off the tour, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 191 local youths joined various militant outfits in Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, 65 more than 2017, a senor Army official said Monday. The new recruits mostly hailed from the restive south Kashmir region, he added. "As many as 191 Kashmiri youths joined militancy in 2018," the official told PTI. In 2017, 126 locals had joined militant ranks, he said. South Kashmir districts -- Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag -- have become a breeding ground for militants with many youths joining their rank and file, the officer said. Outfits like the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Lashker-e- Taiba find more recruits, he said. The official said out of the 191 recruits in 2018, 139 alone hailed from south Kashmir. The highest -- 59 -- was from Pulwama, he added. In 2016, the official said, 88 Kashmiri youths had joined militancy. Since 2016, there has been a constant rise in the number of youths joining militancy, he added. As many as 66 youths joined militancy in Kashmir in 2015 and 53 in 2014. In 2010, 54 youths had joined militancy, while in 2011 the number came down to 23. It further dipped to 21 in 2012 and 16 in 2013, the official said. The data is based on technical and human intelligence, besides interrogation reports of militants arrested during various counter-insurgency operations in the valley, he added. Although more youths were attracted towards militancy in 2018, security forces were able to gun down 257 terrorists in the year. As many as 257 terrorists were killed across Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh had said last month, asserting that counter-insurgency operations would continue in 2019 with major focus on strengthening border and hinterland security. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A court in Conakry on Monday sentenced 19 people to jail terms of between 10 years and life over the killing of the head of Guinea's public treasury, who was gunned down in 2012 months after busting an embezzlement plot. The accused were prosecuted for a range of crimes, including possession of weapons of war, armed robbery, complicity with murder and murder. Their sentencing comes more than six years after the killing of Aissatou Boiro in Conakry by a group of assailants, one wearing military uniform, in a high-profile murder that rocked western Africa, which is plagued by chronic political violence and endemic corruption. Seven of the defendants, including the accused assassin Mohamed Sankon, were sentenced to life in prison with a minimum period of 30 years, said Ibrahima Kalil Diakite the head of the tribunal in Conkary. Ten were sentenced to 20 years and two others were given 10-year jail terms. The court issued arrest warrants for six fugitives, while one other accused died in prison. A lawyer for the civil parties, Lancine Sylla, welcomed the decision. "We think that with this deterrent sentence, criminality will recede in our country," he said. Lawyers for the defence said they would appeal the decision. Boiro was shot dead in her car on November 9, 2012, in a residential part of Conakry. Hailed for her integrity and courage, the treasury director was responsible for foiling a plot to embezzle around 1.5 million euros (USD 1.7 million) from the Central Bank by a network of people including several executives at the bank, the treasury and finance ministry. The trial opened more than a year ago but had been suspended several times. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 1,742 people, including 10 foreign nationals, were arrested in last one year for allegedly peddling drugs in Himachal Pradesh, Governor Acharya Dev Vrat told the Assembly on Monday. He said the Jai Ram Thakur government is committed towards eradicating the drug menace from the state and 1,342 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Recently, a conference was also held at Panchkula in which chief ministers of Haryana, Punjab and Uttrakhand and senior officers of Rajasthan, Delhi and Chandigarh discussed a joint strategy for tackling the menace, the governor said. He also hailed the Centre's decision of increasing the minimum support price (MSP) of all notified Kharif and Rabi crops by at least 150 per cent of the cost of production. "This initiative of the Union government will help in doubling the income of farmers," he said in his address to the Assembly. The governor said the state government had launched the 'Prakartik Kheti-Khushal Kisan' scheme to promote natural farming. Under the scheme, about 9,000 farmers were imparted training during the current financial year and about 3,000 farmers have successfully adopted this farming practice, he said. The budget session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly began Monday and would last till February 18. The discussion on the governor's address would be held from February 5 to 7, Speaker Rajeev Bindal had said. The Jai Ram Thakur government would present its budget for 2019-20 on February 9. The budget would be presented by Chief Minister Thakur, who also holds the state's Finance Ministry portfolio. Voting on Demands for Grants would be held on the last day of the session on February 18 at 4 pm. The session would have a total of 13 sittings and it has been decided to hold the sittings even on Saturdays, February 9 and 16, the speaker said, adding that February 8 and 14 have been earmarked as private members days. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A sheriff's deputy was shot and killed during a 12-hour standoff at an apartment complex in Ohio that left another deputy wounded and a suspect in custody, authorities said Sunday. Capt Jeff Sellars of the Clermont County Sheriff's Office said officers responded about 7 pm Saturday to the Royal Oaks Apartments in Pierce Township, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Cincinnati, following a 911 call from a man who said he believed someone was inside his residence. Authorities say the caller then said that he was armed and eventually told the dispatcher that he was suicidal. But it was unclear from authorities' statements whether the caller was referring to himself or to the person he said was inside his home. It was also unclear whether the suspect himself made the call. Authorities found only one person in the home. Authorities say 23-year-old Wade Edward Winn was taken into custody. Clermont County Municipal Court records show Winn has been charged with aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder. David O'Neil, a spokesman for Ohio's attorney general, confirmed the charges Sunday but said he couldn't disclose where the suspect was being held. The Clermont County Sheriff's Office said Detective Bill Brewer died from his wounds. The other deputy, Lt. Nick DeRose, was treated for a gunshot wound in the ankle and released from a hospital, O'Neil said. "Deputy Brewer gave his life attempting to help a person who was admittedly suicidal," Sheriff Steve Leahy said in a press release. "This will forever change the atmosphere of the Clermont County Sheriff's Office." Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a separate release that Brewer's "valor is now recorded for all time, written in blood." "We mourn and we will remember," Yost said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Sunday ordered all U.S. and state flags throughout Clermont County and at the Statehouse flown at half-staff in honor of Brewer. The Republican governor's order is in effect from Sunday until sunset on the day of Brewer's interment. A court hearing was scheduled for Winn at 10 a.m. Monday in Clermont County Municipal Court in Batavia, O'Neil said. Authorities say the investigation is ongoing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In wake of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's recent remarks perceived as against his partys top leadership, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday urged him to also comment on the "Rafale scam" and the agrarian crisis, saying he was the only BJP leader with "some guts". "Gadkari Ji, compliments! You are the only one in the BJP with some guts. "Please also comment on: The Rafale Scam & Anil Ambani, Farmers' Distress and Destruction of Institutions," tweeted Gandhi tagging a media report on Gadkari telling party workers that "one who can not take care of his home, can not manage the country". Gandhi and the Congress have been terming the deal to purchase Rafale fighters from France to be the "biggest defence scam". Interacting with BJP workers in Nagpur, Gadkari on Saturday had asked them to pay attention to their domestic responsibilities. "...One who can not manage his home can not manage the country," he had said, a statement which some had seen to be directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Following the BJP's defeat in the Assembly polls to the Hindi heartland of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in December, Gadakri then had remarked that the leadership should own up to failures. --IANS and/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Armenia's ex-president, ex-prime minister Serzh Sargsyan was interrogated as a witness in the case relating to the tragic events of March 1, 2008. The Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper, citing its own sources, reported that the Special Investigation Service (SIS) was interrogating the former Armenian leader for five hours. In addition, it is reported that in the near future he will be interrogated again. The SIS have refused to comment. In 2008 Serzh Sargsyan was elected President of Armenia. The opposition led by Levon Ter-Petrosyan disputed the election results. As a result of protests on March 1-2, ten people were killed in clashes between the police and demonstrators. The second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, is accused of overthrowing the constitutional order. He is currently under arrest. Former head of the Central Bank of Armenia Bagrat Asatryan, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that Serzh Sargsyan participated in the crimes against the people on March 1, 2008 in the same way as those who accused in this case. "Back then, Serzh Sargsyan was de jure Prime Minister of Armenia and had to know everything about it and could have stop it. In addition, it was done only in order to make him new President of Armenia. The people did not elect him," he stressed. "I was an active participant in those protests, I think that Sargsyan has something to tell the investigation and the court, and his confessions could literally put everything in its place. I want to emphasize that our society can develop further only if this page of our history is closed. It requires all participants in the March 1 crimes must speak out and confess," Bagrat Asatryan expressed confidence. Ex-mayor of Yerevan Vahagn Khachatryan noted that Serzh Sargsyan should have been interrogated in the case relating to the March 1, 2008 crimes 10 years ago. "I dont know what exactly is his fault in those crimes, but he was made president after those events, and this is of paramount importance. He should have been questioned 9-10 years ago, when he just became president, and its very important that it finally happened," he said. Vahagn Khachatryan stressed that all those people in power, who were investigating the March 1, 2008 events all these years "are participants in those crimes." "All of them should be punished. I was among those attacked, some my friends were illegally convicted. I witnessed what had happened. I think that it is also clear for the current authorities that these people should be convicted, and now its up to the investigation and the court," the ex-mayor of Yerevan concluded. Fasting activist Kisan Babural alias Anna Hazare said on Monday that he was "used by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)" to win the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. "Yes. The BJP used me in 2014. Everybody knows that it was my agitation for Lokpal that catapulted the BJP and also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to power. Now I have lost all regards for them," Hazare told the media in his Ralegan-Siddhi village. He said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi "is only misleading the people of the country and leading the country to autocracy" and added that the BJP-led Maharashtra government was speaking "lies" over the past four years. "For how long will the lies continue? This government has let down the people of the country. The state government's claims that 90 percent of my demands have been conceded are also false," the 81-year old said. He rued that now the very same people who benefitted from his agitations in 2011 and 2014 had turned their backs on his demands and nothing had been done to implement them in the past five years. "They keep saying that central and state government ministers will come and discuss the issues with me. But I say no to them as it would confuse the people... (Let) them take firm decisions and give me everything in writing as I have lost faith in their assurances." To a question, Hazare said that his former associate Arvind Kejriwal - now the Delhi Chief Minister - was welcome to join his current agitation. "But I will not permit him to share the dais with me." Hazare's strong remarks came on the sixth day of his indefinite hunger strike and a day after he threatened to return his Padma Bhushan - India's third highest civilian honour - if his demands were not conceded by the government soon. Last weekend, Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik called Hazare an "RSS and Sangh Parivar agent". Hours later, senior NCP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar apologized for the remarks. Amid rising concern over his frail health, Hazare said: "Don't worry. I am fine. The Almighty is with me. Nothing will happen to me for another five days." --IANS qn/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Himachal Pradesh will receive widespread snowfall and rain starting Wednesday till Friday at least, the office here warned on Monday. Residents and tourists have been advised not to venture out on the high hills as chances of snapping of road links were high. Shimla, Narkanda, Chail, Kufri, Kalpa, Dalhousie and Manali are likely to receive moderate spells of snowfall, Met Director Manmohan Singh told IANS. These towns had witnessed moderate spells of snowfall last week. Kufri, Narkanda, Manali and Dalhousie were already covered in a thick blanket of snow. The supply of essential commodities and transportation of people may get hampered in remote areas of the state with more snowfall, a government official told IANS. The western disturbances -- storm systems originating from Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region -- were likely to be active in the region by Monday evening, Singh added. "The impact of the western disturbances will be largely seen in the state on February 7 (Thursday) with possibility of heavy snowfall in the high hills of Shimla, Kinnaur, Kullu, Chamba and Lahaul-Spiti districts," he added. On the lower altitude, Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Mandi towns were likely to see widespread rain that would bring down the temperatures considerably. Shimla on Monday recorded a minimum temperature of 5.6 degrees Celsius, while it was minus 5 degrees in Kalpa, minus 0.6 degree in Manali, 4.2 degrees in Dalhousie, 2.3 degrees in Kufri and 4.8 degrees in Dharamsala. --IANS vg/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee confronted the CBI over the probe into multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam, the opposition Congress in Assam on Monday questioned the details of the probe regarding the Saradha scam in Assam. Senior Congress leader and former Minister Pradyut Bordoloi on Monday said that while the probe has started in Assam and some prominent people have already been interrogated, the probe was stopped after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government came to power in Assam in 2016. "The CBI had interrogated the Assam Finance Minister in the past and raided his house in Guwahati. However, things changed after he joined the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) in 2015. Ever since the BJP came to power in Assam in 2016, there has been no action in Assam regarding the multi-crore scam," Bordoloi told the media here. "Is the CBI trying to protect the perpetrators of the chit fund scam in Assam? The agency has become a puppet in the hand of BJP," said Bordoloi, adding that former Director General of Assam police (DGP) Shankar Baruah shot himself dead in Guwahati after the interrogators started investigating the case. "CBI had raided Baruah's house in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam a few days before he shot himself," Bordoloi said. The former Minister said that the BJP parliamentary board in 2014 had come out with a list of allegations mentioning water supply scam from Goa to Guwahati. "While the properties of former Goa Minister Digambar Kamat was attached, investigation has not made any headway in Assam since 2016," he said, adding that the CBI is being used for political black-mailing now. --IANS ah/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States Special Representative for North Korea on Monday met the top security advisor to the South Korean President to prepare for a second summit between Washington and Pyongyang, set to be held later this month. Stephen Biegun, who arrived on Sunday for a three-day visit to South Korea, met Chung Eui-yong, head of the National Security Office, a government spokesperson said in Seoul, reports Efe news. The US envoy is also set to meet his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok-chol on Tuesday at the inter-Korean border in order to finalize the details of the second high-level bilateral summit. Biegun's meetings are expected to determine the date and venue of the second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, after the White House announced two weeks ago that the meet will be held toward end-February. During their meeting in Seoul, Biegun and Chung -- a key South Korean figure in the dialogue with the North -- discussed the current state of negotiations with Pyongyang and tried to coordinate their positions regarding North Korea, the spokesperson said. South Korean President Moon Jae-in aims to meet Kim before the fresh Washington-Pyongyang summit, which could break a stalemate in negotiations after the first summit between Kim and Trump in June last year in Singapore, during which the two had agreed to work toward the denuclearisation of North Korea in exchange for security guarantees for the North Korean regime. The agreement was criticised as vague and experts had pointed out that the deal did not include any clear obligation by North Korea to disarm. Negotiations over denuclearisation, however, had soon ran into troubled waters with the US and North Korea trading accusations and counter-accusations over seriousness of intent. The second summit between the two leaders is, however, expected to make way for fresh negotiations to make Pyongyang abandon its nuclear weapons. According to reports in the US media, the summit is likely to be hosted in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang, situated on the coast of South China Sea. --IANS nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Stephen Biegun, US Special Representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) policy, met Chung Eui-yong, top National Security Advisor (NSA) for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, here on Monday. The Chung-Biegun meeting lasted about 50 minutes, stating on 4 p.m. local time (0700 GMT) at the presidential complex, Xinhua news agency reported.Biegun explained Chung the US position ahead of the working-level discussion between Pyongyang and Washington, while Chung delivered his country's assessment on current situations and issues to tackle to the visiting US envoy, according to Blue House, the executive office and official residence of the South Korean head of state. During the meeting, Chung said South Korea anticipated a fruitful working-level discussion between the DPRK and the US. Biegun arrived here on Sunday and met Lee Do-hoon, special South Korean representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs. According to Yonhap news agency, Biegun will also hold a working-level discussion with his DPRK counterpart, ahead of the second DPRK-US summit, on Tuesday at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom. DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump held their first summit meeting in Singapore in June 2018. --IANS rs/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Lok Sabha on Monday witnessed uproar as opposition parties led by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) protested vehemently against the CBI raid in Kolkata, calling it a misuse of the agency against political opponents, forcing Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to adjourn the House for the day. Soon after the House re-assembled in the post-lunch session, the Trinamool Congress and other opposition leaders were on their feet. They trooped near the Speaker's podium and started sloganeering against the CBI and the Central government. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar urged the agitating members to begin discussion on the thanks giving motion on the President's address to the joint sitting of the Parliament. But they did not relent. As the din continued, Mahajan adjourned the House for the day. Earlier, raising the issue during Zero Hour, TMC leader Saugata Roy dubbed the situation in West Bengal as a "constitutional crisis" and accused the Cente of constantly using the CBI to throttle the opposition voice and to intimidate them. "Forty officers of the CBI went to the house of the Police Commissioner of Kolkata without taking any previous permission, without specific order from the Court and they wanted to question the Police Commissioner of Kolkata. "Our Chief Minister went to the Police Commissioner's residence and she protested but they were unrelenting. As a result, the Chief Minister went on a 'dharna' since last night," he said. Roy said the 'satyagraha' by the Chief Minister was to highlight the misuse of CBI against non-BJP governments. "They have done it especially after the January 19 rally where 22 political parties got together to challenge Modi and his BJP. They are constantly using the CBI to throttle the opposition's voice and to intimidate them. A situation like this is unforeseen in the country," Roy said. He said the CBI was being used against the state government illegally and politically to capture West Bengal. "This is not the way they will succeed. In elections, they will get a big zero," Roy said. Other opposition parties including the Congress, NCP, RJD and the Samajwadi Party and Biju Janata Dal too criticized the CBI move. BJD's Bhratruhari Mahtab accused the Centre of using the Central Bureau of Investigation as a weapon against opponents. "Yesterday's incident questions the integrity of the CBI. The manner in which the CBI has been functioning is not professional. We are not in a Banana Republic. This should be stopped," Mahtab said. Recalling how the CBI barged into a judge's office in Odisha recently, he said: "We want the CBI to be a professional institution." Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the government and accused it of trying to finish off the opposition by using the CBI. He claimed that such incidents were happening in Lucknow, Chennai and several other places. "No party will bow to your illegal measures," he thundered. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh refuted the charges and termed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's ongoing sit-in protest in Kolkata as "unprecedented". "The CBI was probing a multi-crore chit fund scam and wanted to interrogate the Kolkata Police chief. Since the scam took place in several states, the case was transferred to the CBI. The tussle between two law enforcement agencies is unfortunate and threatens the federal structure," he said. The Minister said he had spoken to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. "I have asked him to send a report on the issue," he said, urging the state government to cooperate with the CBI probe. As Rajnath Singh was making his statement, TMC members trooped near the Speaker's podium and started sloganeering against the Centre. They were joined by Congress, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Telugu Desam Party members. Amid the din, Speaker Mahajan tried to proceed with the Zero Hour urging the opposition members not to disrupt the proceedings. But they did not relent. Mahajan then adjourned the House till 2 p.m. Earlier, the opposition members created ruckus over the same issue during Zero Hour, leading to the first adjournment till noon. --IANS bns/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Lok Sabha on Monday witnessed uproar as opposition parties led by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) protested against the CBI raid in Kolkata, calling it a misuse of the agency against political opponents. This forced Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to adjourn the House for a second time in the pre-lunch session till 2 p.m. Soon after the House re-assembled at noon, TMC leader Saugata Roy raised the issue and dubbed the situation in West Bengal as a "constitutional crisis". "Around 42 CBI officials went to arrest the Kolkata Police Commissioner (Rajeev Kumar) without previous permission and court notice. The Central government is misusing the CBI against political opponents. They are trying to throttle the opposition's voice," he said. The Biju Janata Dal's (BJD) Bhratruhari Mahtab echoed Roy's remarks and accused the Centre of using the Central Bureau of Investigation as a weapon against opponents. "Yesterday's incident questions the integrity of the CBI. The manner in which the CBI has been functioning is not professional. We are not in a Banana Republic. This should be stopped," Mahtab said. Recalling how the CBI barged into a judge's office in Odisha recently, he said: "We want the CBI to be a professional institution." Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the government and accused it of trying to finish off the opposition by using the CBI. He claimed that such incidents were happening in Lucknow, Chennai and several other places. "No party will bow to your illegal measures," he thundered. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, however, refuted the charges and termed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's ongoing sit-in protest in Kolkata as "unprecedented". "The CBI was probing a multi-crore chit fund scam and wanted to interrogate the Kolkata Police chief. Since the scam took place in several states, the case was transferred to the CBI. The tussle between two law enforcement agencies is unfortunate and threatens the federal structure," he said. The Minister said he had spoken to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. "I have asked him to send a report on the issue," he said, urging the state government to cooperate with the CBI probe. As Rajnath Singh was making his statement, TMC members trooped near the Speaker's podium and started sloganeering against the Centre. They were joined by Congress, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Telugu Desam Party members. Amid the din, Speaker Mahajan tried to proceed with the Zero Hour urging the opposition members not to disrupt the proceedings. But they did not relent. Mahajan then adjourned the House till 2 p.m. Earlier, TMC's Saugata Roy urged the Chair to suspend the Question Hour. Speaker Mahajan did not allow it, instead asked him to raise the issue during Zero Hour. She then proceeded with the Question Hour. Congress member Rajiv Satav, who was to ask the first question, did not do so and instead urged the Speaker to first discuss the Bengal issue raised by Roy. --IANS bns/ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has dismissed newspaper speculation of a snap general election in June, saying that "last thing we want is an election, the people will never forgive us." The British government is still hoping to secure a time limit or unilateral exit mechanism for the Irish border backstop when the country leaves the European Union (EU) on March 29, he told the BBC's The Andrew Marr Show. "They want politicians to get on with the job. They have been given a very clear mandate, now it's our job to get on with it," the home secretary said. The statement came when Javid was dismissing newspaper reports that Downing Street strategists were considering holding a snap general election on June 6 if UK Prime Minister Theresa May cannot get her Brexit deal through parliament before the Brexit deadline of March 29, Xinhua reported on Sunday. Last week, members of parliament voted in favour of an amendment to examine the possibility of alternative arrangements, but it is unclear that the necessary technology exists. Meanwhile, Javid also said that he believed that the UK would be as safe in the case of a no-deal Brexit. He said that no-deal would be "very bad for the security of this country." Javid said although he wants to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29, it "makes sense to plan for all contingencies, including no-deal." "It is absolutely true that if we have a no-deal situation, there will be certain capabilities that we rely on for security with the EU such as databases, arrest warrants, others, that of course will change," he said. The EU has made it clear that after Brexit, Britain would no longer be part of the European arrest warrant system, which allows suspects to be extradited back to the UK. "Keeping that in mind, we have been working on mitigants and I'm not pretending for a second through Interpol or through the Council of Europe on extradition you can have a like-for-like capability. So there will be a change in capability," he said. "There will be a change in capability but it's worth putting it all in perspective," he added. --IANS vc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a shot in the arm for the Narendra Modi government, the British government on Monday approved the extradition of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya to India where he is wanted in the Rs 9,000-crore Kingfisher Airlines loan default case. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday signed the order to extradite Mallya which has already been allowed by a lower court. Mallya has 14 days' time to appeal against his extradition in a higher court -- the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. A note issued by Press Officer Bethany Ditzel, citing a UK Home Office spokesperson, said: "On 3 February, the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India. "Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences. He has 14 days from today to apply for leave to appeal." India has welcomed the decision by the British government to extradite Mallya. "While we welcome the UK government's decision in the matter, we await an early completion of the legal process for his extradition," said a source in the Indian government, adding they have taken note of the decision of the British Home Secretary. Welcoming the development, the CBI officials in New Delhi hoped to bring Mallya back to India soon and said that the agency was always strong on facts and legally, it was confident while pursuing the extradition process. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took a dig at the opposition over the British government approving the extradition of Mallya, saying that they were rallying around the Saradha scamsters but the Modi government has cleared one more step for bringing back the fugitive liquor baron. "Modi government clears one more step to get Mallya extradited while opposition rallies around the Saradha scamsters," Jaitley, who is in the US for medical treatment, said in a tweet. Jaitley was referring to opposition parties supporting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her sit-in against the Centre over the CBI investigation into the Saradha scam case in the state, which involves the Kolkata Police Commissioner, among others. The decision of the British government gave the BJP bragging rights in the poll season with its leaders expected to tom-tom as a success during their speeches for the coming Lok Sabha elections. They are also expected to target the Congress which has often accuse the BJP leadership of not being successful in bringing back economic fugitives including Mallya. The Westminster Magistrates Court in the UK on December 10 gave the ruling to extradite Mallya following a prolonged litigation. Westminster Magistrates' Court Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot had then sent Mallya's case to the Home Secretary of State for a decision to be taken on whether to order his extradition. After the British Home Secretary's order, Mallya can move the Special Immigration Appeals Commission -- also known by the acronym SIAC -- which is a superior court of record in the United Kingdom established by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997. It deals with appeals from persons deported by the Home Secretary under various statutory powers, and usually related to matters of national security. SIAC also hears persons deprived of British citizenship under the British Nationality Act 1981 as amended by Section 4 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. An appellant is represented to the Commission by a special advocate who is a person vetted by the security service with controversy surrounding the use of secret evidence which only the judges and special advocates have access to. Mallya, 63, left India on March 2, 2016 after defaulting on loan amounting to Rs 9,000 crore he had taken for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines but he has repeatedly denied fleeing the country, saying he is ready to pay back the money he owed to the Indian banks. A consortium of 13 banks -- led by the State Bank of India (SBI) -- has been preparing to initiate loan recovery proceedings against him. The proceedings are on before the Mumbai Special Court against Mallya under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. Kingfisher began defaulting on loans in 2009-10. Late in 2017, India had filed extradition proceedings against Mallya which he contested. He is currently out on bail in London. On June 22, the Enforcement Directorate had moved the Special PMLA Court to declare Mallya a "fugitive economic offender" and confiscate all his properties, estimated at more than Rs 12,000 crore, making it the first such case of its kind under the new FEOA (Fugitive Economic Offender Act) law. --IANS rak/ps/vd/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a shot in the arm for the CBI, the British government on Monday approved the extradition of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya to India where he is wanted in a Rs 9,000-crore Kingfisher Airline loan default case. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday signed the order to extradite Mallya which has already been allowed by a lower court. However, experts said that Mallya has 14 days' time to appeal against his extradition in a higher court. A note issued by Press Officer Bethany Ditzel citing a UK Home Office spokesperson said: "On 3 February, the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mally's extradition to India. "Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences. He has 14 days from today to apply for leave to appeal." The Westminster Magistrates Court in the UK on December 10 gave the ruling to extradite Mallya following a prolonged litigation. Mallya, 63, left India on March 2, 2016 after defaulting on loan amounting to Rs 9,000 crore he had taken for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. A consortium of 13 banks -- led by the State Bank of India (SBI) -- has been preparing to initiate loan recovery proceedings against him. Proceedings are on before the Mumbai Special Court against Mallya under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. Late in 2017, India filed extradition proceedings against Mallya which he has contested. He is currently out on bail in London. --IANS rak/nir (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israel will do everything possible to counter Tehran's hostile actions for the sake of the country's security as Iran has overtly demonstrated its intention to destroy Israel when unveiling its new cruise missile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, Sputnik reports. "In Iran today they are trying to boast about the new missile. Iran openly declares its intention to destroy the State of Israel. I have a clear message to the tyrants of Tehran: We know what you are doing and where you are doing it. We will continue to take action against Iran with all the tools at our disposal in order to ensure the security and future of Israel," the prime minister said at a cabinet meeting, as quoted by his press service. On the same day, the Israeli Prime Minister commented on the new Lebanese government saying that it was under Iran's control through the Shiite Hezbollah movement. "Iran has proxies. One of them is Hezbollah. Hezbollah just joined the government of Lebanon. That's a misnomer; they actually control the government of Lebanon. It means that Iran controls the government of Lebanon," Netanyahu said at a meeting with a delegation of foreign ambassadors to the UN. US President Donald Trump has refused to commit to making Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report public. In an interview with CBS News that aired Sunday, Trump said the decision would be made by his Attorney General, reports Xinhua news agency. "Totally up to the attorney general," Trump said. "I don't know. It depends." "I have no idea what it's going to say," the President said of the Mueller report. "There was no collusion. There was no obstruction. There was no nothing. (It) doesn't implicate me in any way, but I think it's a disgrace." Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said last week that the Russia investigation led by Mueller is "close to being completed", although there has been no confirmation of this from Mueller's office. The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed a vote on Trump's nominee to lead the Justice Department, William Barr, until February 7. During his confirmation hearing last month, Barr said that Mueller's findings in the Russia investigation will be confidential but that he supports their release to the public. Whitaker has previously criticised the Mueller investigation and Barr's nomination is under scrutiny from Democrats for a memo he wrote last year criticising Mueller's inquiry. Mueller, who was appointed in May 2017, is looking into the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and any potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, among other matters that may arise from the investigation. His team has indicted or gotten guilty pleas from 34 people, including several former Trump campaign aides and two dozen Russians, and three companies. Trump has repeatedly dismissed any collusion between his campaign and Moscow, while slamming the Mueller probe as a "hoax" or "witch hunt". Last month, Mueller arrested Roger Stone, a longtime Trump associate, on charges of obstruction, witness tampering and making false statements to Congress. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump is planning to keep American troops in Iraq to monitor and maintain pressure on neighbouring Iran. "I want to be able to watch Iran," Trump said in an interview aired on Sunday on CBS. "We're going to keep watching and we're going to keep seeing and if there's trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we're going to know it before they do." Trump's comments come as the US has quietly been negotiating with Iraq for weeks to allow American commandos and support troops now operating in Syria to shift to bases in Iraq and strike the Islamic State (IS) terror group from there, reports The New York Times. Military leaders are seeking to maintain pressure on the IS as the President fundamentally reorders policy toward Syria and toward Afghanistan, where peace talks with the Taliban are underway. In response to Trump's remarks, Iraqi MP Jawad al-Musawi said on Sunday night that "there will be an escalation in the opposition to them". "There is distrust of the American government - even if they say they are coming to protect us against the IS," he said, adding "the real reason they will be coming is to hit Iran." American forces operate from several Iraqi bases across the country, with most of the roughly 5,200 troops based at Al Asad or in Erbil in northern Iraq. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Hindu priest said here at an event that "tolerance is the soul" of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and that an upcoming temple in the city represented unique diversity and fraternity. "A foreign journalist once asked me whether tolerance in the UAE was only cosmetic? Not at all. It is not skin deep, tolerance is the soul of the UAE," Sadhu Brahma Viharidas, who is in charge of the Middle East at BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha that will build and manage the temple, said at the event on Sunday. He was addressing the opening session of the Global Conference on Human Fraternity at Emirates Palace, reports Gulf News. Viharidas said the UAE is an unique example of tolerance. "Tolerance and human fraternity is not just a beautiful word or meaningful idea or value here. In the UAE, they are verbs and not nouns. Verbs means they are in action. We can write poetry and hold conferences but unless they are in action ... They are meaningless." He also shared his experiences of meeting UAE King Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who donated the land for the temple. --IANS ksk/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) TDP activists on Monday staged a protest during BJP President Amit Shah's visit to Andhra Pradesh to express their anger over the Modi government's 'unjust' attitude towards the state. Holding black flags and posters, the protestors raised slogans of "Amit Shah go back" near the venue of his public meeting at Palasa town in Srikakulam district. They also carried an effigy of Shah but the police seized it. The protest led to tension in the town. Police forcibly shifted a few leaders of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) including a MLA and dispersed the demonsrrators. TDP President and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had asked party workers to wear black badges to protest against Shah's visit. Shah was on a day-long visit to North Andhra to interact with BJP workers in four Lok Sabha constituencies in the region. Shah was to address a public meeting. In a change of plans, he stood atop the campaign vehicle of the BJP to address the people. --IANS ms/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 1,011 cases of swine flu (H1N1) were reported from various hospitals in the national capital till Sunday, according to a data released by the government on Monday. Although the government data does not report any deaths due to H1N1, some city hospitals claim that 11 persons died last month due to the infection. In entire 2018, only 205 H1N1 cases and two deaths were reported. Till January 29, the number of cases were 512. The Delhi government has directed all its hospitals to make local purchases of logistics required to ensure a continuous supply of medicine, vaccine and kits. "All government hospitals are equipped with the necessary logistics required for the management of Seasonal Influenza A (H1N1)," the government said in a statement. A health advisory has also been issued in both Hindi and English by the Delhi's Directorate General of Health Services, it said. According to the advisory, Seasonal Influenza (H1N1) is a self-limiting air-borne viral, and the disease spreads from person to person through coughing and sneezing, indirect contact by touching a contaminated object or surface, and close contact including handshakes, hugging and kissing. "The symptoms include fever and cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose and difficulty in breathing. Other symptoms may include body-ache, headache, fatigue, chills, diarrhea and vomiting, and blood-stained sputum," it said. The advisory also said that children with mild illness but with predisposing risk factors, pregnant women, persons aged 65 years or older, patients with lung diseases, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, blood disorders, diabetes, neurological disorders, cancer and HIV/AIDS, patients on long-term cortisone therapy are under the high-risk group. --IANS nks/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Online food ordering and delivery app Swiggy on Monday announced it has acqui-hired Kint.io, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) start-up that applies deep learning and computer vision for object recognition in video, for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2014, the Bengaluru-based start-up would assist Swiggy in boosting its computer-vision technology and consumer experience. The founding members of Kint.io, Pavithra Solai Jawahar and Jagannathan Veeraraghavan, will join the Swiggy team, the company said in a statement. "This acqui-hire is part of our strategy to scale our tech prowess by bringing in entrepreneurial teams that can solve unique customer problems, while leveraging the network and resources at Swiggy," said Dale Vaz, Head of Engineering and Data Sciences, Swiggy. Kint.io is the first technology-led acqui-hire for Swiggy as it makes investments in its long-term strategy of building AI-first platforms. "AI research has leap-frogged this past year but lack of data, cultural biases and inability to adapt to our diversity has somehow always pulled us back when it comes to applying AI to India-based problems. This is where Swiggy left us stumped," said Jawahar and Veeraraghavan. --IANS ksc/na/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) June 19, 2019, Wednesday All private universities in Uttar Pradesh will now have to give an undertaking to the government, saying that their campuses will ... A team of scientists from the state-run Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research will conduct a 40-month atmospheric study on the impact of fog on the Bengaluru airport operations, said its operator on Monday. "The study will enable the airport to predict fog conditions more accurately, minimising air traffic congestion," said operator Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) in a statement here. The research centre and BIAL signed an agreement to conduct the study with joint funding on atmospheric conditions in the vicinity of the airport at Devanahalli, about 40 km northeast of Bengaluru. Bharat Ratna, eminent scientist and research centre founder C.N.R. Rao was present on the occasion. Fog and poor visibility in the morning hours disrupt arrivals and departures of about 200 domestic and overseas flights at the country's third busiest airport during the winter, causing delays, diversions and re-schedules. "The outcome will be a relief for passengers, flying in and out of Bengaluru during the winter months, when fog is at its peak," said the statement. The team, led by Professor Sreenivas, will develop a numerical simulation tool capable of predicting onset, intensity and dissipation of fog. "Factors influencing the occurrence of fog, such as atmospheric variability, ground temperature, atmospheric aerosol loading, radiative fluxes, water vapour and energy transport in the surface layer will be monitored during the fog season and the preceding months," said the statement. To ensure accuracy of the study, specific instruments, including a wind cube, humidity temperature profiler, net radiation meters, total sky scanner, data acquisition switches and velocity and temperature probes will be set up at designated areas in the vicinity of the airport runway. "We pursue scientific research and have capabilities to support the airport operator in this exercise to benefit air travellers and airlines," said the Centre's President Nagaraja. Fog-related delays and diversions inconvenience passengers during the fall season and cause financial losses to the stake holders. "We believe the study will generate data to facilitate flight planning and scheduling, bringing relief to passengers," said BIAL Chief Executive Hari Marar. The greenfield airport will open its second runway in October for better operations. It will be Category-3 compliant with an advanced navigation system to land and take-off even under heavy fog. "As fog will still affect operations, its prediction will enable an aircraft to operate under low-visibility conditions," said Marar. As a deemed university, the city-based Nehru Centre has over 300 graduate students and experimental, computational and infrastructure facilities and 50 faculty members to do inter-disciplinary research. The decade-old Kempegowda or Bengaluru airport is run by a consortium of private and public partners, including the state and central governments, with 26 per cent combined stake and the balance 74 per cent by private investors. --IANS fb/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar on Monday said he favours Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) for farmers instead of farm loan waivers. "We are in the last leg of loan waivers in India. The country is now moving towards DBTs after Telangana first implemented it," Kumar told reporters on the margins of a bank event here. "I'm all for DBT as it is better to have financial support for farmers each year than liabilities over a period of time," the SBI chairman stressed. In 2018, the Telangana government announced its 'Rythu Bandhu' scheme to provide an income support of Rs 4,000 per acre per crop season to farmers in the state. "We have seen Odisha and even the recent Union Budget announcing similar direct income support schemes," Kumar said, adding that the country cannot afford to have both farm loan waivers and DBTs. "If Central government and state government's resources are combined, we can ensure income support for farmers," he said. With the prices of agricultural produce falling, farming has turned into an "unviable" activity, he said. "Loan waivers cannot support the farmers." Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on February 1 announced in the Interim Budget for fiscal 2019-20 a direct annual income support of Rs 6,000 to 12 crore small and marginal farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM Kisan) scheme. The SBI chief was speaking on the sidelines of the bank's event to present 'Yono SBI 20 Under Twenty' Awards for young achievers under the age of 20 across fields including sport, performing arts, literature etc. The bank will extend its digital banking platform Yono to assist farmers through 'Yono Krish', Kumar said. "The platform, which will be launched by April, will help farmers with inputs on climate, seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, information on prices," he told IANS at the press conference. Farmers can also apply for agricultural gold loans and open bank accounts digitally using the platform, which will serve as an online marketplace, he added. --IANS bha/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday told a Delhi court that custodial interrogation of Dubai-based businessman Rajiv Saxena will help in identifying other co-accused and he is to be confronted with voluminous material of approximately 20 GB in AgustaWestland deal case. After hearing the ED submission, Special Judge Arvind Kumar allowed the Directorate to quiz Saxena for another four days. The ED had sought 10 days' custody of Saxena. Saxena was presented before the court on expiry of his four-day ED custody, which was granted by the court on January 31. He was extradited from the UAE the previous day. Special Public Prosecutor D.P. Singh and ED lawyer N.K. Matta told the court that Saxena's custody is essential to unearth the sequence of events and the role of persons involved in the money trail. The ED counsel also told the court that Saxena has already identified certain persons. The Directorate told the court that Saxena's further custodial interrogation is required for the purpose of confrontation with the voluminous material of approximately 20 GB, which is under process and analysis in the lab and same is to be received on Monday. According to the ED, in connivance with lawyer Gautam Khaitan, Saxena provided corporate structure across the globe to the laundered money for payment to various political persons, bureaucrats and Air Force officials to influence the contract for supplying 12 VVIP helicopters in favour of AgustaWestland. The ED told the court that Saxena is co-operating in the investigation and he needs to be confronted with Khaitan. Saxena defence counsel and senior advocate Geeta Luthra opposed ED's plea seeking further extension of his custody and claimed that his arrest is illegal as he has been illegally extradited by the ED. The senior counsel also told the court that Saxena is suffering from various medical problems and needs proper medial care. The ED assured the court of arranging proper medical facility to Saxena. The court also directed the probe agency to provide best medical assistance considering his medical condition. The UAE security authorities picked up Saxena from his residence in Dubai on Wednesday morning and extradited him to India in the night, along with corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar. They reached the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in a special aircraft early Thursday. In Saxena's case, the ED in its supplementary chargesheet elaborated on how the bribe money paid to clinch the AgustaWestland chopper deal was "layered" and projected as "untainted money" by creating "fictitious invoices". It has also mentioned how fictitious engineering contracts were created to hide the kickbacks allegedly paid by AgustaWestland to companies directly controlled by Khaitan -- now in ED custody -- and Saxena. A Delhi court had earlier issued a non-bailable warrant against Saxena after it surfaced that he did not join the investigation despite repeated summons. Saxena's name was mentioned in a chargesheet filed against his wife, Shivani, who has been out on bail after being arrested by the Directorate. Saxena was named only in the third supplementary complaint filed in July 2018. The same is also under challenge before the Delhi High Court by another accused in the case, Khaitan. The ED had earlier arrested Saxena, the Director of Matrix Holdings Dubai, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with the case. --IANS akk/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israel has said the work to strengthen its fence along the Gaza Strip entered a new phase with construction starting on a massive new barrier along the frontier. "Over the weekend we began building the above-ground barrier along the Gaza border," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told journalists on Sunday before a weekly cabinet meeting, Al Jazeera reports. The barrier, set to stand six metres off the ground, will be constructed on the pretext of preventing the infiltration of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip into Israel, Netanyahu said. The Israeli prime minister gave no further details but a defence ministry statement said the work on the structure began on Thursday. Roma and AC Milan battled to a 1-1 draw at Olimpico Stadium here, a duel fought in the 22nd week of Italy's Serie A football season. The result keeps the two squads in the same relative locations as they vie for a spot in Champions League play, reports Efe news. Milan's Polish striker Krzysztof Piatek got things started with a goal in the 26th minute, thus bringing his total to three tallies in three games. Nicolo Zaniolo got the equalizer for the home team in 20 minutes later on Sunday night. The final result allows Milan to remain in fourth place, one point above Roma. --IANS kk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi have discussed the face-off between Kolkata Police and the CBI. According to official sources, Singh called up Tripathi late on Sunday to be apprised of the facts of "the unfortunate and unprecedented situation" of Central Bureau of Investigation officers "being manhandled, detained, intimidated and obstructed". Tripathi told Singh that he had summoned Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police seeking "immediate action to resolve the situation", the sources said. The developments are being monitored by the Ministry of Home Affairs. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee began a sit-in on Sunday accusing the Centre of attempting to destabilize the state after the CBI tried to quiz Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with a ponzi scheme scam. The residence of the CBI's Joint Director was surrounded by Kolkata Police, which led the Home Ministry to deploy paramilitary forces at the office and residential premises of the agency, the sources added. The sources said the Ministry was going to seek a report on the role of IPS officers on the allegations of obstructing CBI investigation and violation of service rules in connection with the face-off. --IANS rak-spk/in/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday hit back at BJP President Amit Shah, saying people will close their doors for his party. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief reacted strongly to Shah's remark that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has closed its doors forever for him. "Amit Shah is speaking as if somebody is asking him to open the doors. Nobody is asking him. They should remember whom they approached in 2014," Naidu said alluding that BJP leaders came to him for an alliance. Naidu was reacting to Shah's comments made earlier in the day during a public meeting in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. "This highhanded and egoist behavior is not good. Where was he (Shah) before 2014. What is his history. I can speak a lot but will do it at an appropriate time," Naidu said. He said BJP betrayed people of Andhra Pradesh and that was why TDP came out of NDA. "When we are asking what they have done for the state, instead of replying they are attacking and threatening us. We are not the one to be afraid," said Naidu. The TDP chief said he would visit Kolkata to express solidarity with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was on a sit-in to protest against the Centre. Accusing the BJP was misusing institutions to reopen old cases to target its political opponents, he termed this as a threat to democracy and said democrats should condemn and rise against this. Naidu was in the national capital to submit a representation to the Election Commission along with leaders of other non-BJP parties. Stating that going back to paper ballot is the only way to save democracy, Naidu said since there was no time for this, they urged the Election Commission to audit at least 50 per cent of EVMs with corresponding VVPATs in all constituencies. Naidu's main political rival in Andhra Pradesh and YSR Congress Party President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was also in New Delhi on Monday to meet Chief Election Commissioner. The TDP chief lashed out at Jagan, as the leader is widely called, for the allegations that he (Naidu) was promoting police officers of his caste with an eye on the elections. "In my 40-year-long political career I have never seen such cheap politics," he said. Naidu alleged that Jagan was trying to create rift among different castes for electoral gains. --IANS ms/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Attacked by Union Minister Arun Jaitley for dissenting on appointment of Rishi Kumar Shukla as new CBI chief, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said his objections were on the procedure of appointment and called for making public the minutes of the selection panel meeting. Jaitley on Sunday had accused Kharge of using the weapon of dissent "excessively" and not "objectively" a day after the Congress leader and member of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-headed selection committee had not supported Shukla's appointment contending that the 1983-batch IPS officer did not have any experience in investigating anti-corruption cases. Kharge also took pot shots at Jaitley over the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) transferring its officer investigating the ICICI-Videocon case soon after the BJP leader, in his blog, had rebuked the agency's "investigative adventurism" in the case. "My objections were always on the procedure of appointment and never against an officer or his integrity. Once an officer has been appointed to serve in a particular office, I don't believe we should continue to comment on them and I have not done that at any point of time in my near five decades of public service," Kharge said in his letter to Jaitley publicised on Monday. Kharge said that the meeting of the February 2 meeting of the panel should be made public to enable people to know if the issues raised by him had merit or not. "Since neither you nor other ministers who respond on behalf of the Prime Minister are members of the Selection Committee, you may not be aware of the happenings thereof. It would be simpler if the government releases the minutes of the meeting and all relevant documents in the public domain so that the people know of the issues raised are of concern or not," he said. He also said that the "value of the Prime Minister's Office has been brought down" by the way the government conducted the matter of CBI Director's appointment and reiterated that Shukla's appointment violated the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act which "explicitly calls for an officer to have experience in investigating anti-corruption cases". Reminding Jaitley of his recent blog post in which he had flayed the CBI for including the "entire who's who of the banking industry" under its probe, Kharge said: "The strongest dissent note against the CBI and its functioning has been penned by you last week in the matter in which bank frauds were being investigated." "The CBI took your note seriously enough to transfer officers and stop investigations. But, dissent notes sent by me to the Prime Minister do not even get a response from him," he added. --IANS and/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Monday ruled out the possibility of giving job reservation in the private sector. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislator Seema Devi raised the issue with the Chief Minister in the state Assembly. The Chief Minister said that it was true that the state government extended many facilities to private sector companies. "(But) there is no plan to reserve jobs in the private sector for SC, ST and OBC." Every Monday, legislators directly ask question to the Chief Minister during Question Hour. --IANS ns/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said no one has any concern for the country and that political parties are only concerned about the votes ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. "Desh ki chinta kisi ko nahi hai. Rajnitik dalon ko kewal vote ki chinta hai," Nitish Kumar told the media in Hindi when asked about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's dharna in protest against the CBI in Kolkata. Banerjee has been on a sit-in since Sunday night after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials showed up at the residence of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar for questioning him in connection with their probe into a ponzi scheme scam case. Refusing to say anything on Banerjee's dharna against the CBI action, Kumar said now the case is in the Supreme Court and only court can say anything. However, he said one or two months ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, many such developments would take place in the country. "Look forward to many more in the coming days." --IANS ik/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday said it has arrested Jaish-e-Mohammad operative Fayaz Ahmad Magray, wanted in the 2017 attack on a CRPF camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Lethpora that left five paramilitary personnel dead. The NIA, in a statement, said that Magray was an active over ground worker of JeM and a key conspirator who provided logistical support and shelter to the terrorists and conducted reconnaissance of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) group centre at Lethpora before the terrorist attack on the intervening night of December 30-31, 2017. Five CRPF troopers were killed and three griveously injured in the attack, while security forces killed three terrorists, later identified as Fardeen Ahmad Khandey, Manzoor Baba and Pakistani national Abdul Shakoor. The NIA said that he will be produced in the special NIA court and it will seek his police custody for further investigation. --IANS aks/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking over charge of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is passing through troublesome times, Rishi Kumar Shukla here on Monday stressed the need to "focus on professional skills". "The agency has a glorious tradition and has great esteem in the eyes of the public, with a lot of expectations from them. Therefore, we have to focus on professional skills," Shukla said after taking over as the CBI director. As a full-fledged director, Shukla, who was taken out of semi-retirement job as chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Housing Corporation in Bhopal after serving as the state police chief for three years, said the CBI has to fulfil the expectations of public. Having undergone a bypass surgery a few months ago, Shukla was removed as the MP police chief by the new Congress government led by Kamal Nath. He was elevated to the CBI top post on Saturday by the Prime Minister-led selection Committee, beating five other candidates. The CBI top post was vacant since Alok Verma was divested of powers and sent on leave on October 23, 2018 following a bitter clash with his deputy Rakesh Asthana. Verma was reinstated by the Supreme Court only to be removed again by the PM-led selection panel on January 10. There was an arrangement for an interim director both times.The senior-most among the 1983 batch of Indian Police Service officers, he worked in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) under then Director Ajit Doval -- now National Security Advisor -- but has no experience in anti-corruption cases and prior experience of having served in the organisation, a mandatory criteria for a CBI director as per Supreme Court judgments. Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, who is a member of the selection panel along with the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India, had raised this (inexperience) point while opposing his selection. During his 35-year-tenure in the IPS, Shukla has not been involved in any high profile cases but will now be heading the investigation into $2 billion fraud at Punjab National Bank involving fugitive diamond billionaire Nirav Modi, loan defaults by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, and police firing on anti-Vedanta protesters in Tamil Nadu. A post-graduate in philosophy and decorated with the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2007 and Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1999, Shukla took charge on a day the CBI approached the Supreme Court over the Kolkata face-off on Sunday between a team of the agency and the state police, alleging its probe into a Ponzi scheme scam was being hindered and its officers were being harassed. He is also a practitioner of astrology. --IANS rak/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Newly appointed Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief Rishi Kumar Shukla took charge of the probe agency on Monday. Shukla, 59, took over the reigns as the agency clashed with the Kolkata Police on Sunday over questioning of its Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar over a ponzi scheme scam. The confrontation has led to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee staging a sit-in protest in Kolkata. A 1983-batch IPS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, Shukla was appointed as the 28th Director General of Police (DGP) of Madhya Pradesh on June 30, 2016. But he was shifted to the post of Police Housing Corporation chief last week by the state's new Congress regime. His appointment comes after Alok Verma was removed on January 10 unceremoniously from the post following his bitter feud with Special Director Rakesh Asthana. --IANS rak-spk/ksk/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP President Amit Shah on Monday launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and made it clear that the doors of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were closed forever for him. Exuding confidence that the NDA will retain power and Narendra Modi will become Prime Minister again after the 2019 elections, he predicted that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief will once again try to come into NDA fold. "I want to assure the people of Andhra Pradesh and BJP workers that we have closed NDA's doors forever for Naidu. He will not find a place in the alliance," he told a public meeting at Palasa town in Srikakulam district while flagging off a 'bus yatra' of state BJP President Kanna Laxminarayana. Recalling that Naidu started his political career as an MLA of Congress, the BJP chief said he always switched loyalties to enjoy power. "He later joined the TDP formed by N.T. Rama Rao (NTR) and enjoyed power. When he got the opportunity, he betrayed NTR who had promoted him, captured power and the entire party," said Shah. "Chandrababu Naidu kept wandering for 10 years. When he realised that he can't come to power on his own, he joined hands with Modiji and NDA. Now he has left NDA and making allegations against Modiji." The BJP chief alleged that Naidu joined hands with the Congress which had insulted Telugu people and did injustice to Andhra Pradesh. He recalled that TDP was floated by NTR on the slogan of 'Telugu pride'. "Now after the drubbing in Telangana elections, he is trying to form Mahagathbandhan." Shah said Naidu was trying to mislead the people of Andhra Pradesh. On the TDP chief's allegation that the Centre did injustice to Andhra Pradesh, Shah challenged him to compare the help extended by NDA to the state during last five years with the help received during 55 years of Congress rule. He claimed that NDA had given 10 times more help than the Congress. During the 10 years of Congress rule, Andhra Pradesh got only Rs 1.17 lakh crore while the NDA government in last five years provided Rs 5.56 lakh crore. "You should tell people why you severed ties with the Modi government which provided more funds to the state. It is clear that you are not bothered about development. you are only interested in corruption," Shah asserted. The BJP leader said that the NDA government fulfilled 10 of the 14 commitments in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014. He listed out 20 national institutes set up in the state in last five years. Claiming that Modi was ready to give more money than the state would got under the Special Category status, he said Naidu did not send the proposals to the Centre and as a result the state was deprived of the funds. Shah said Naidu had welcomed the special package in the Assembly but when he realised that people were unhappy with his governance, his attempts to make his son the Chief Minister, corruption in construction of capital Amaravati and Polavaram project, he started making false allegations against the BJP to gain public sympathy. The BJP chief said both TDP and YSR Congress were parties of family rule and can't do any good to the state. He appealed to people to give a chance to BJP. Shah later interacted with BJP leaders from four Lok Sabha constituencies: Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram, Anakapalli and Araku. --IANS ms/rs/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Budapest is interested in joining the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, Hungarian ambassador to Russia Norbert Konkoi said. According to him, Hungary is interested in diversification of gas routes. "We now receive gas from Russia from the east, but we are also interested in gas delivery from the south," the diplomat stressed. "Hungary is ready to take the gas if the Bulgarian and Serbian threads are constructed," RIA Novosti cited Konkoi as saying. Deputy director of energy policy of the Institute of Energy and Finances, Alexey Belogoriev, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that despite the abundance of statements from European countries about their readiness to participate in the continuation of the Turkish Stream to Europe, the future of this part of the Russian pipeline project is still not 100% guaranteed, but the likelihood of its construction is increasing every month. "So far, guarantees have been given by Bulgaria, but the question of whether we can fully trust them remains open. There have never been any problems with Serbia, Belgrade has always clearly supported the projects implementation," he said. Alexey Belogoryev noted that Hungary is interested in Turkish Stream precisely in terms of diversifying gas supplies."In terms of transit, its not really interested, because compared with South Stream, the planned volumes of transit supplies will be four times lower. But an alternative gas source for the domestic market is quite important for Hungary in terms of its own energy security. Hungary is skeptical of gas supply through Germany via the Nord Stream and has always asked Russia for quick alternative transportation routes in the event of a refusal of Ukrainian transit," the deputy director of energy policy of the Institute of Energy and Finances concluded. The Turkish Stream pipeline was designed to consist of two branches with a length of over 900 kilometers and a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters each. One of them, finished in May 2018, is to carry Russian gas to Turkey, while the other is to transit gas to the European countries through Turkey and is to be finished in 2019. The National Company Law Appellate tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday directed the NCLT's Ahmedabad bench to decide on the insolvency resolution of Essar Steel by February 11, failing which it would take a call on February 12. The two-member bench, headed by Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya, said the Ahmedabad bench does not require to give hearing to all operational creditors but can hear their representative and complete the process within five days by February 11. Fortunately for Essar Steel promoters, who are interested in retaining control of the bankrupt steel company, the NCLAT also directed the Ahmedabad bench to give limited hearings to the promoters and the third largest creditor, Standard Chartered Bank. Essar promoter Prashant Ruia, along with two Essar Steel directors, had moved the NCLT on February 1 citing Supreme Court's January 31 order that requires the Committee of Creditors (CoC) to consult directors of an insolvent company before deciding on resolution. Further, the NCLAT also directed the Ahmedabad bench to hear Standard Chartered Bank, which has raised its objection against ArcelorMittal's Rs 42,000 resolution plan approved by the CoC last October. The plan has been awaiting NCLT's approval. The Ruias, promoters of Essar Group, had filed a resolution plan of Rs 54,389 crore to retain their control on Essar Steel on the day the CoC approved ArcelorMittal's bid. However, the NCLT, in January, turned down the resolution plan of Essar Steel Asia Holdings (ESAH) saying the offer violated Section 12A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Section 12A states that the applicant (in this case, State Bank of India) who moved the bankruptcy court against an insolvent company can withdraw from the resolution proceedings with the approval of 90 per cent of the financial creditors. --IANS mgu/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Calling the Central government's action in West Bengal as "extremely dangerous", Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah as "the biggest danger" for the country. The AAP leader said he was of the firm view that the "Modi-Shah duo is the biggest danger for the country and if we are to save this country, we will have to get rid of this duo in the coming Lok Sabha elections". Kejriwal also told the media: "We strongly condemn what has been happening with the Mamata Banerjee government and we stand in complete solidarity with the Bengal government. "First of all, I would like to ask how could around 40 CBI officers and personnel attempt to enter the residence of the Kolkata Police Commissioner without any warrant or legal paper? It was clearly illegal and unconstitutional." The Aam Aadmi Party leader also said that if the Centre wanted to eradicate corruption, then "why did they allow the likes of Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya to escape from the country? "Why has the Prime Minister till date not ordered a probe into the large-scale allegations of corruption in the Rafale deal? "Till date, the Modi government has unleashed all its agencies - CBI, ED, Income Tax - only on its political opponents," he said. Kejriwal also said that whatever the Central government had done in West Bengal was "extremely dangerous and is completely against the Constitution and democracy. Such actions pose a big danger to the country". He said the Modi government had consistently and strongly attacked the federal structure of the Constitution since taking office in May 2014. "I have been implicated in 33 cases by the Centre and the Prime Minister got my official residence raided by the Delhi Police, they searched my bedroom and kitchen. Please tell me in which act of corruption I have been involved? "What is happening in Kolkata today, exactly the same happened in Delhi almost four years ago. Like they tried to surround the residence of the Kolkata Police Commissioner, in a similar way in June 2015 Delhi's Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) was forcibly taken over by the Modi government by sending paramilitary forces," he said. --IANS nks/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday termed her 'dharna' (sit-in) as "non-political" and not against any individual agency but the "anarchic moves" of the Narendra Modi government to "destroy" democracy. She also put her weight behind the city police chief Rajeev Kumar, who came under the CBI scanner in relation with the ongoing probes into the ponzi scams in Bengal, asserting that she is ready give her life to protect those who are innocent. "Our satyagraha is not against any individual agency. Our protest is against the anarchic moves by the Modi government, against their attempts to divide the country and spread hate, intimidation and terror among people," said Banerjee, who is holding the sit-in here since Sunday night following a face-off between the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Kolkata police. "We are holding this demonstration under the 'Save India' banner, to protect the constitutional, democratic and social rights of people. We also want to ensure that people's freedom of speech is protected and the officials of different state and central agencies can work impartially," she said. Noting that Kumar was a part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which probed chit fund companies like Saradha in the state, Banerjee claimed that the Central government is labelling honest people as thieves while the "real thieves" are at large. "I am not angry with any individual, but my anger is directed at the mechanism intending to destroy these institutions, misuse of the institutions, setting one officer after another. I was peeved when they tried to get to Rajeev Kumar... He is leading the force," she said. "If Kumar is a thief, whose money has he taken? I am a thief, whose money have I taken? The real thieves are never caught, but if honest people are being dubbed thieves, then I will stand by them. If I have to give my life for that, I am ready, but I am not ready to compromise," she asserted amid thunderous applause by her party activists. Banerjee had begun the sit-in on Sunday night, accusing Modi and BJP Chief Amit Shah of attempting a coup to destabilise her state, saying there is a "constitutional break-down". The showdown started after the federal probe agency's officers showed up near the residence of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who has been under the scanner in connection with the CBI probe into the ponzi scheme scam case. Kolkata police officials then came and took away the CBI personnel. The chief minister further claimed she was asked not to get involved in the case by Kumar and other senior officers of state police but refused as she has never compromised with wrongdoing. Noting that her demonstration has received support from across the country, Banerjee said: "It is not a small issue. Prominent leaders from across the country have extended their support to us. "All the state-based political parties and those who believe in the importance of federal structure are beside us. It is not an individual fight but a collective fight." Accusing the centre of trying to stage a "coup" against everyone who speaks against them using the agencies at their disposal, Banerjee claimed that under the current regime, talking against the BJP has become synonymous with going to jail. She also said those who are claiming that there is no law and order in Bengal should come to the state during festivities and carnivals where thousands of people from across the country come together to celebrate without any problems. "Anybody who says the law and order situation in Bengal is bad, leucoplast should be put on their face...Have you come to Bengal during Durga Puja or Christmas? So many people come here and everything takes place in a smooth and peaceful manner. Shouldn't they (police) be congratulated for this?" she added. --IANS mgr/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Mahila Congress's Maharashtra unit on Monday demanded a probe and stringent action against those spreading malicious content on social media against Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi. "Since Priyanka Gandhi's entry into politics, many Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have been making misogynistic comments on her. Since past few days, a derogatory thread against her physical appearance has been unleashed onto social media. This is totally unacceptable," said Mahila Congress President Charulata Tokas. A delegation led by her submitted a memorandum to the Maharashtra Cyber Police Cell headquarters in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), seeking a probe and nabbing those responsible for the objectionable content. The action was part of an all-India campaign initiated by the All India Mahila Congress and all state units to lodge police complaints in the matter and prevent obscene political attacks of this nature. Simultaneously, Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam carried out a protest against the "insult" meted out to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi by activists of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha on Jan 30 in Uttar Pradesh. --IANS qn/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has refused to accept an ultimatum from European countries calling for free elections, saying that "international cannot base itself on ultimatums". Last week, the UK, France, Germany and Spain gave Maduro until Sunday to call new elections or they would recognise the country's self-declared Interim President Juan Guaido as President, reports CNN. "We don't accept ultimatums from anyone," Maduro said in an interview with Spanish private channel LaSexta on Sunday. "It's as if I went to the European Union (EU) and said, 'I give you seven days to recognise the republic of Catalonia or if not, we will take measures'. International cannot base itself on ultimatums. That is the epoch of imperialism or colonies." Maduro went on to question why the EU should dictate political norms to his country. "Why does the EU tell a country in the world that already had presidential elections in accordance to its constitution, its laws, its institutions, with the international observers, that they have to repeat their presidential elections? Why? Because their right allies in Venezuela didn't win?" he asked. Maduro also refused to accept the humanitarian crisis in his country. "Venezuela does not have a humanitarian crisis. Venezuela has a political crisis. Venezuela has an economic crisis. We have a huge economic war," he said. As Maduro showed no willingness to relinquish power amid defections and calls for his ouster, Guaido outlined an opposition road map on Sunday, reports CNN. The main points of Guaido's plan concern humanitarian aid and Venezuela's assets. In a series of tweets Sunday, Guaido laid out the three steps to his road map: "Create a coalition of national and international interests to facilitate humanitarian aid to three collection points; demand the military permit aid into the country; ask Europe to protect Venezuela's assets abroad." The self-proclaimed Interim president said on Saturday that humanitarian aid would be sent to collection points in Cucuta, Colombia; Brazil and an unspecified Caribbean island. The EU -- whose Parliament, along with the US and several Latin American countries, has recognised Guaido's interim leadership -- is scheduled to co-host a meeting to "create conditions for a political and peaceful process to emerge". The International Contact Group on Venezuela will meet in Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital, on Thursday. It seeks "free, transparent and credible elections". The group includes Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the UK and co-host Uruguay. China, Cuba, Russia and Turkey are among the countries that have voiced support for Maduro. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The chief of Lebanon's Hezbollah has said that the new government is not controlled by Hezbollah but the party's representation in the cabinet will be stronger than ever before, local TV Channel Al-Manar reported. The remarks by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah came in response to the earlier allegations of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Iran controls Lebanon's new government through Hezbollah. "Netanyahu is inciting the world and Gulf countries against the new government," Nasrallah said in his televised speech, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. According to Nasrallah, Hezbollah appointed an independent health minister who does not belong to the Shiite party. "Lebanon's interests come first," he said. --IANS vc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hezbollah's deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem has denied Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allegations about Hezbollah controlling the government in Lebanon, media reported. "These allegations are not important. Hezbollah considers itself part of a national unity government in Lebanon," Qassem was quoted as saying by Elnashra, an online independent newspaper. Netanyahu declared earlier in the day that Iran controls the Lebanese government via Hezbollah, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday. Moreover, the US voiced its concerns over Hezbollah's participation in the new cabinet. The US expressed its deep concerns because this is the first time that Hezbollah controls the health ministry which has the country's largest budget. Meanwhile, Qassem clarified that the health ministry will offer its services to all Lebanese without any discrimination. The new health minister, Jamil Jabak, has said his priorities include improving government hospitals and bringing down drug prices. --IANS vc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) on Monday urged the Election Commission to delete the names of nearly 60 lakh "defective voters" from the rolls in Andhra Pradesh. YSR Congress Party President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy called on Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora to seek his intervention to ensure free and fair elections in the state. He alleged that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government was trying to subvert democracy and steal the election. Talking to reporters, the Leader of the Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly said he briefed Arora on the various ways in which the government was undermining the electoral process. Jagan, as he is widely known, alleged that the "unfair and unethical means" used by the TDP government included manipulation of electoral rolls, misuse of government machinery and partisan use of police officers to intimidate the opposition and keep a tab on them. He said his party identified 52.67 lakh defective and duplicate voters in September 2018 and brought the matter to the attention of the CEC several times. He claimed that the number of defective voters increased by 59.18 lakh at the behest of the TDP government. Out of 3.69 crore voters, if nearly 60 lakh are "invalid or defective", it reflects very badly on the election process, Jagan said. He said the Election Commission should consider conducting elections in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on the same day as there were many voters who have votes in both the states. Jagan also alleged that the TDP was misusing government machinery by conducting various surveys and gathering data to identify voters sympathetic to YSRCP and delete them from the voters' list. He claimed that the TDP had parked Rs 4,000-5,000 crore in all the 175 Assembly constituencies for distribution among the voters. Jagan alleged that the TDP government was giving out of turn promotions to police officers, especially to those belonging to Naidu's community. He demanded that Director General of Police R.P. Thakur, Additional DGP A.B. Venkateswara Rao and DIG G. Srinivas be removed from election duty. --IANS ms/arm/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Often mocked as the "Pappu" of the Indian politics, Congress President Rahul Gandhi is trying hard to do an image makeover and emerge as a witty leader through his sarcasm-filled tweets for his 8.41 million followers. What may give the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) some jitters ahead of the general elections is that Rahul Gandhi's tweets appear to have undone some of the damages his rivals inflicted on him in the previous elections. Despite having much less followers on Twitter than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi's tweet during the Interim Budget received the most retweets, showed Twitter data that took into account conversations in the four-day period from January 31-February 3. The tweet that was retweeted over 12,000 times was: "5 years of your incompetence and arrogance has destroyed the lives of our farmers. Giving them Rs 17 a day is an insult to everything they stand and work for." The tweet which was hashtagged #AakhriJumlaBudget referred to the Rs 6,000 per annum announced in the Interim Budget for every farmer having up to two hectares of land. "As expected, you haven't understood a thing from the Budget," read the BJP's response to Rahul Gandhi's tweet that was retweeted nearly 9,000 times. In comparison to Rahul Gandhi's tweets, Modi's Interim Budget day tweet garnered over 7,000 retweets. Modi has over 45.4 million followers on the micro-blogging platform. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a Congress leader told IANS that Rahul Gandhi's posts are getting higher traction on social media because the mainstream media is "pro-Modi" and biased against the Congress President. "As the content of the tweets often make it to the instant messaging platform WhatsApp which has a wider reach in rural India than Twitter, greater retweets of Rahul's messages is good news for the grand old party", the source said. According to Congress Social Media and Digital Communications head Divya Spandana, "engagement across social media platforms is a better parameter to judge, not followers". Social media expert Anoop Mishra, however, warned that the number of retweets does not make a person "a greater influencer". "What they indicate is people's interest in the subject that has been tweeted," Mishra told IANS. Apart from retweets, the other parameters to measure Twitter influence is the number of "Mentions" a person is getting on Twitter. The Congress President's reach at social media platforms, said Mishra, has dramatically increased in the past five months. "As per my study which was done on the social reach of political leaders including Rahul Gandhi on September 5, 2018, the current statistics shows higher growth in his tweets, number of followers and retweets," Mishra informed. Though Rahul Gandhi has fewer followers on Twitter in comparison with Modi, the Congress leader's follower base is growing at that rate of 6,260 new followers per day and earning a better engagement rate on Twitter and other social media platforms like Instagram. "For Rahul, the gain in Twitter followers from September 2018 till date is 868,501 and the average number of retweets per day has increased from 7,580 to 7,700," Mishra added. Now with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (who will take charge as Congress General Secretary of UP East soon) likely to join social media, the BJP may have to pull up all socks to fight the brother-sister duo on the social media platforms. (Gokul Bhagabati can be reached at gokul.b@ians.in) --IANS gb-na/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) left more than 2,500 seats vacant from its all-India quota in the last four years, a reply to an RTI query has revealed, despite there being thousands of eligible candidates. The ICAR, an autonomous body under the Agriculture Ministry for coordinating agriculture in India, conducts the All India Entrance Examination for Admission (AIEEA) for undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) courses in agriculture and allied activities (except veterinary science) every year for government institutes across the country. The entrance is conducted for 15 per cent of total UG and 25 per cent of total PG seats in these institutes/universities, barring the few chosen ones where the council reserves 100 per cent seats under AIEEA. As per the data given by the council in response to the RTI query, a total of 2,558 seats were left vacant for both UG and PG combined in the last four years across these institutes/universities. The latest year for which examination was conducted was 2018. Separately, a total of 1,095 seats were left vacant for the PG courses and 1,463 for the UG courses during these years. In addition, the council is yet to refund the millions of rupees it collected in the form of fees from the students for counselling. In 2018, for 1,954 UG seats across India, a total of 25,246 candidates registered for counselling after paying Rs 2,000 each. The RTI reply, received on December 10, 2018, revealed that the ICAR is yet to refund Rs 4,52,34000 to the candidates who could not be given admission. The amount to be refunded to PG candidates (9,447) is Rs 1,31,36000. The information bulletin doesn't specify any deadline by which the amount needs be refunded. Chandrashekhar Gaur, the RTI applicant, termed the vacancies a glaring indictment of wastefulness on the part of the government. "There were thousands of eligible candidates who could have taken admission. But the ICAR left the job of filling these seats to the states, which could not care less," Gaur told IANS. The admission procedure involves online counselling for the selected candidates, who are given the choice of university and course, but not the college. There may be one or several rounds of counselling. The ICAR in its information bulletin said if the seats are not filled after the rounds of counselling, it will leave the job of filling them up to the universities. "The ICAR quota seats after the final round of online counselling, if vacant, shall automatically stand released to the agricultural university concerned for filling up at their level and as per the procedure in vogue at the respective university. These seats will no more be called as ICAR seats and will be treated as university seats. "Once the counselling/admission process is over, filling up of any subsequent vacancies created due to any reason shall not be the responsibility of ICAR. No correspondence in this regard will be entertained, either from the universities or from any candidate," the bulletin said. Gaur took exception to the clause, questioning its propriety. He said if the government has taken the task of conducting an exam for which thousands aspire every year, it should also take the responsibility of filling the seats. "There should ideally be a mopping-up round after the counselling. And if any seat still remains vacant, it should be filled through spot counselling. They can't wash their hands off it like this," he said. The primary reason why many candidates prefer to go for AIEEA instead of taking the state university test is that the former gives them the opportunity to get access to universities in other states. This much is stated by the ICAR too, which on its website cites a reduction in "inbreeding in agricultural by encouraging mobility amongst students outside their home state" as one of AIEEA's objectives. ICAR Director General Trilochan Mohapatra did not reply to e-mailed queries from IANS. --IANS vn/arm/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Georgian parliamentary delegation, led by Vice Parliament Speaker Tamar Chugoshvili, completed its visit to the United States. The delegation held meetings with co-chair at the House Democracy Partnership, David Price, co-chairs of the Congressional Georgia Caucus Gerald Connolly and Adam Kinzinger, as well as several newly elected members of the congress from both parties. Chugoshvili stressed that Georgia enjoys the unconditional support of U.S. lawmakers. Connolly, in turn, said that the Georgian parliament respects opposition forces, which, according to him, are the cornerstone of democracy, Georgia Online reports. In his first public meeting after quitting the IAS, Shah Faesal on Monday vowed to fight against corruption and for the honour and dignity of the Kashmiri people. Scores of people turned out to attend Faesal's first public appearance in his home district of Kupwara. He told the gathering that his fight was against corruption and "for the honour and dignity of Kashmir people". The 2009 IAS topper resigned from service to join He had said that his resignation from IAS was a small act of defiance against continuing killings in Kashmir and the failure of the central government to start an initiative to address the Kashmir problem. It was initially believed that he would join the National Conference. Faesal said he had decided to fight his own political battle against corruption, favouritism and poor governance. "I have chosen a longer but a more straight road to achieve my objectives," Faesal said. --IANS sq/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Demanding a "political solution" to the Jammu and Kashmir problem, former IAS officer Shah Faesal on Monday told his first public meeting that he wanted to chart his own course in a la Imran Khan and Arvind Kejriwal. Faesal, 35, told the public rally at the Tourist Reception Centre that "our Ph.D scholars are getting martyred while our youths are accused of waging protests after being paid Rs 500 each. "As a civil servant, I have seen the bitter experiences faced by our people to seek their genuine rights. "Kashmir is a political issue and it should be resolved in a political way. Those at the helm of affairs enjoy while the people in Kashmir suffer. I saw this while in service. "I was deeply disturbed by seeing these things. That is why I left the civil service," he said. Faesal said it was the callous attitude of those at the helm of affairs that forced him to leave the comforts of the civil service and join He told the gathering that his would be like that of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. "My partymen will work selflessly for the good of the people," he asserted, indicating his intention to steer clear of other mainstream and separatist political parties in order to form a political outfit of his own. The 2009 IAS topper belongs to a village of Kupwara district. After obtaining his Bachelor's degree in medicine from the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), he became the first Kashmiri ever to top the coveted civil service. His dream with the civil service could not last long as he felt bureaucrats were forced to work at the whims of their political masters. Faesal said he would work for the honour and dignity of the Kashmiri people by fighting corruption, injustice and poor governance. "I have decided to fight every party that has been exploiting the innocent people of Kashmir. "When politicians are asked what is the issue, they say 'Kashmir is a problem. Give them monetary packages'. Do we only need money? Is the Kashmiri a beggar? "We want to tell them that Kashmir is a political problem. They should not play with the lives of Kashmiri people by throwing money around. Referring to the period he was in IAS, Faesal said: "I tell you honestly I spent the last 10 years in a jail. In many ways I tried to serve my people and succeeded as well, but what I saw in those 10 years despite being a senior government officer, the fire in my heart... the atrocities and injustices I saw, I used to feel helpless." Faesal responded to allegations that he was an agent of intelligence agencies. "To those who spread these false rumours, I have just one answer. I may lose, but I will bear everything for my people." As the meeting progressed, scores of youth raised slogans normally heard at pro-freedom rallies. "Yahan Kya Chalega, Nizam-e-Mustafa." The other slogan was: "Aya, Aya, Shair Aya." Faesal has earlier said that his resignation was a small act of defiance against the continuing killings in Jammu and Kashmir and the failure of the central government to start an initiative that would address the people's problems in Kashmir. --IANS sq/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Indies skipper Jason Holder was on Monday suspended for one Test and fined 40 per cent of his match fee by the ICC for maintaining a slow over-rate during the second Test against England that ended on Saturday. Also, the West Indians players were fined 20 per cent of their match fees, an ICC statement said. Jeff Crowe of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the suspension on Holder after the Windies were ruled to be two overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration. In accordance with Article 2.22.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Players Support Personnel, which relates to minor over-rate offences, players are fined 10 per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount. Holder had previously been found guilty of a minor over-rate offence during the Barbados Test against Sri Lanka last June. Therefore, this offence constituted his second minor over-rate offence in a Test match within a 12-month period. In-form Holder will now miss the third Test against England in St. Lucia, which starts on February 9. There was no formal hearing as Holder pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction. The charge was laid by on-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Chris Gaffaney, third umpire Rod Tucker and fourth official Joel Wilson. --IANS dm/kk/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At a time when the Opposition has raised questions on the autonomy of the Election Commission, former President Pranab Mukherjee has described the EC as "a truly unique body" that has supervised "free and fair" polls for the past seven decades. Mukherjee, who was recently awarded India's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna, says in the foreword to "The Great March of Democracy", edited by the 17th Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Qureshi, that democracy is not a gift to India, "but a sacred trust". The 83-year-old Congress veteran says the construct of "Indian nationalism is constitutional patriotism", highlighting that of several factors that complete it, one is "the ability to self correct and learn from others". He states that when independent India made universal adult suffrage the basis of elections, not all were convinced of its implementation. "However, the successful manner in which the very first elections were conducted put these speculations to rest. Since then, over the years, the EC has been conducting elections successfully and improving on deficiencies to increasing participation in elections," he says. He also expresses his worry on the abuse of money and muscle power to influence voters during the elections. "The spirit of democracy will be subverted if these malpractices are not checked. It is commendable that the Election Commission has taken up initiatives to promote ethical and informed voting," notes Mukherjee. He further counts the "invaluable contributions" by poll panel officials in "efficiently managing elections, improving voter registration, enhancing voter's participation, educating and motivating voters, fighting black money, influence of money power and paid news during elections, and ensuring a conducive environment for people to cast their vote". Mukherjee ends his four-page prologue to the book, published by Penguin, by reminding readers that "the soul of India resides in pluralism and tolerance". "The Great March of Democracy" is a collection of essays written by those who have studied India's unique experiment in electoral democracy, as well as analysts, businesspersons and public servants. Contributors include Shashi Tharoor, Naina Lal Kidwai, Kabir Bedi, Mark Tully, Yogendra Yadav and Somnath Chatterjee, among others. (Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in) --IANS ss/am/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Most parts of Uttar Pradesh were on Monday engulfed in a blanket of dense fog, disrupting vehicular, train and air traffic and throwing normal life out of gear. According to the Regional Met Office, the fog will remain for a few days and cold wave conditions were likely to intensify over the week. The sudden return of the cold wave was attributed to heavy snowfall in Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Hiamchal Pradesh. Most parts of the state, including western districts and those falling under the National Capital Region (NCR) -- Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida -- saw visibility dip to less than 50 metres earlier in the day. Traffic was hit in Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Prayagraj. Rail traffic was also affected with more than a dozen trains of the Northern Railway (NR) and the North-Eastern Railway (NER) running behind schedule. Lakhs of pilgrims, devotees and seers braved the intense cold in Prayagraj to take the holy dip in the Sangam at the ongoing Kumbh Mela on occasion of the "Mauni Amavasya". Officials at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow confirmed the delay in "all in-bound morning flights". --IANS md/in/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At a time when the digital sphere has pervaded almost all spheres of life, and when nearly everything creative has been commodified, an upcoming symposium on "Creativity and Freedom" here, beginning from Tuesday, will ask what does creative freedom and artistic autonomy really mean? A stellar line up of speakers including thinkers, academics, filmmakers, artists and others from the creative world, will address the pertinent subject of creative freedom, especially in today's polarised climate, during the two-day international symposium. "Creativity And Freedom" is being presented by Kolkata based CIMA gallery, Ashoka University and the India International Centre (IIC), with noted art historian Alka Pande as its director. Some of the prominent speakers include Nicholas Coleridge (Chairman of Conde Nast Britain and Chairman, Victoria And Albert Museum, London), Gopalkrishna Gandhi (civil servant and author), Sabyasachi Mukherjee (fashion designer), Catherine David (Deputy Director, Musee d'Art Moderne at The Centre Pompidou, Paris), Patrizia Asproni (President, Marino Marini Foundation, Florence), Deborah Swallow (Director, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London) and Sergio Scapagnini (Italian filmmaker). The event will be presented in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, Agha Khan Foundation and Raza Foundation and will be held at the IIC. "Artists, thinkers, academics, designers and innovators need to regroup and work as incubators for fashioning and reimagining a world order of inclusiveness. It is time again for dialogue and discussions, for debates and discourses to sow seeds of a new knowledge for peace, stability and a new system of sustainability," said Pande. "The two-day symposium is not just limited to Fine Arts but spanning across Visual Arts, Cinema, Literature, Design and Popular Culture." Participating speakers will address concerns in art history, fine arts practice, music, theatre, design, literature and cultural studies, including popular culture, architecture, film and the increasing concern with 'wellness', both physical and mental. Entry is open to public. --IANS ss/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Delhi Court on Monday rejected the application of BJP MP Subramanian Swamy seeking to conduct the prosecution in a case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, accused of abetment to suicide of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal also transferred the case to the sessions court, which will hear the matter on February 21. In his plea, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of Parliament has sought to assist the court and to bring on record the Delhi Police's Vigilance Report on tampering of evidence in the case, for framing of additional charges. Tharoor's counsel and Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa has opposed his plea, while Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava said that a third party should not interfere in the case as it is a criminal trial and the matter is between the Delhi Police and the accused person. On May 14, 2018, police submitted the chargesheet against Tharoor under several sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to abetment to suicide and cruelty to wife. Pushkar, 51, died under mysterious circumstances in a hotel room in south Delhi on January 17, 2014, days after she alleged that Tharoor was having an affair with a Pakistani journalist. --IANS akk/in/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A couple in a live-in relationship were arrested for robbing and killing a Uber driver, a police officer said on Monday. "The accused, Farhat Ali, 34 and his partner Seema Sharma, 30, were arrested on Sunday after they were seen in CCTV footage around the cab of the deceased who was identified as Ram Govind," Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijayanta Arya said. The incident was reported to police on January 29 when the victim's wife, a resident of Shakarpur area of east Delhi, filed a missing complaint of her husband who drove a Uber cab. "During investigation, we found it was a blind case as there were no witnesses. The last ride of the cab was booked from Madangir to Kapashera border and thereafter the GPS device was found to have stopped working," Arya said. "With the help of technical surveillance, the mobile phone of Govind was recovered and the police teams found a couple moving around the cab on the Mehrauli-Gurugram road," she said. The police team zeroed in the couple later identified as Ali, of Uttar Pradesh's Amroha and Sharma, of the state's Sambhal and arrested them, the DCP said. "During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they, early on January 29, hired Govind's cab from MG road to go to Ghaziabad where they were staying on rent. They, on the way, hatched a plan to rob the deceased and as per the plan, took him to their home and offered him tea laced with sedative," she added. "They later killed Govind by strangling him. Next day, they arranged a cutter and blades in order to cut the body into small pieces and wrapped it three separates bundles. They later thew them in a drain at Greater Noida," Arya said. "The Hyundai Xcent car and Govind's mobile phones were recovered from the possession of the duo," the officer said, adding that the motive for the crime was the accused's dire need of money. --IANS sp/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Monday filed police complaints in Delhi and across India seeking action over obscene and offensive posts on social media targeting party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi. In the complaint filed by the All India Mahila Congress (AIMC) at the Sansad Marg police station here, the party alleged that a campaign was unleashed on the social media targeting Priyanka Gandhi in a bid to smear her name and reputation. "Distasteful and offensive tweets, posts and pictures are doing the rounds of social media. This is exactly the kind of misogyny that act as a deterrent for women to enter To objectify women and humiliate them is shameful," AIMC chief Sushmita Dev said after filing the complaint. Giving details of the offensive tweets and the handles posting them, the party sought action for various offences including outraging the modesty of a woman, sexual harassment and obscenity. Similar complaints have been filed by the party in all state capitals seeking action. "In this age of cyber policing and much advertised curbs on offensive material online, it is surprising that the perpetrators are publishing such offensive posts without any fear of the law and without considering the far-reaching consequences of such acts on society," said Dev. Ever since Priyanka Gandhi took the political plunge, the party claimed that there had been a systematic and malicious campaign against her on social media. The Congress has blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for triggering the campaign, pointing to the "sexist" remarks made by some of their leaders. --IANS and/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Monday filed police complaints in Delhi and across India seeking action over obscene and offensive posts in social media targeting party's Uttar Pradesh General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi and also pointed to some BJP leaders making "sexist remarks" against her. The party has blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for triggering the campaign and also written to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik alleging that "opposing forces have unleashed a campaign to diminish Priyanka Gandhi's credibility". In the complaint filed by the All India Mahila Congress (AIMC) at the Sansad Marg Police Station here, the party alleged that offensive and obscene posts were being circulated in social media in pursuance of a conspiracy. "Distasteful and offensive tweets, posts and pictures are doing the rounds of social media. This is exactly the kind of misogyny that acts as a deterrent for women to enter To objectify women and humiliate them is shameful," AIMC chief Sushmita Dev said after filing the complaint. "Since her appointment, opposing forces and other fringe groups have been attempting to discredit her, and have been pursuing a co-ordinated smearing campaign by using distasteful, offensive and repulsive tweets/ pictures of her," the party said in the police complaint and the letter to Patnaik. "Some leaders of the BJP also passed sexist remarks about her," the party said pointing to Bihar Minister and BJP leader Vinod Narayan Jha's remarks that "Priyanka Gandhi is just a pretty face with no political achievement". In the complaint, the party has given details of offensive tweets and the handles posting them and sought action for various offences including outraging the modesty of a woman, sexual harassment and obscenity. "A perusal of these tweets/ pictures will disclose that the same are being deliberately circulated to diminish the credibility of Priyanka Gandhi with a mala fide intent to insult her modesty," it said. Similar complaints have also been filed by the party in all state capitals seeking action. "In this age of cyber policing and much advertised curbs on offensive material online, it is surprising that the perpetrators are publishing such offensive posts without any fear of the law and without considering the far-reaching consequences of such acts on society," said Dev. --IANS and/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Five Egyptian fishermen were released from Iran's custody after they entered Iranian territorial waters, Egypt's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Hafez said. The spokesperson clarified that the legal procedure to release the fishermen was successful and the fishermen are in good condition, KUNA reported. The Egyptian fishermen were arrested in late December by the Iranian authorities after their Saudi-registered fishing boat was reported to have drifted into Iranian territorial waters. Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday moved the Delhi High Court, seeking to file some additional documents on record to support his pending plea for anticipatory bail in the INX Media case. Justice Sunil Gaur, who has reserved the order on his anticipatory bail plea, asked him to go to the registry and file the documents, if required. Chidambaram's move came after the Law Ministry informed the government that there was no legal infirmity in granting the CBI sanction to prosecute the former minister. On January 25, the Delhi High Court reserved order on Chidambaram's bail plea in the INX Media case being probed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The probe agencies have opposed his bail plea, saying that custodial interrogation of the former Finance Minister was necessary as he was evasive and had given false information during his questioning. Chidambaram is on interim protection from arrest granted by the Delhi High Court. The ED and the CBI are probing how his son Karti Chidambaram managed to get clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in 2007 when his father was the Finance Minister. Karti Chidambaram was arrested on February 28 by the CBI for allegedly taking money to facilitate the FIPB clearance to INX Media. Later, he was granted bail. Karti's chartered accountant S. Bhaskararaman was also arrested and got bail later. --IANS akk/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The unprecedented stand-off between the Narendra Modi government and the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal stretched to the second day on Monday as the feisty Chief Minister continued her sit-in at the city hub, while central paramilitary force troopers kept vigil at the CBI offices. Parallelly, Kolkata police sent notice to a top Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)officer in an old case. The centre-state showdown that began on Sunday evening when CBI officials showed up near the Loudon Street residence of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar for questioning him in connection with the probe into the ponzi scheme scam, also rocked Parliament and reached the legal corridors in both New Delhi and the eastern metropolis. Banerjee, flanked by her senior ministers and top Trinamool Congress leaders, skipped dinner and stayed up the entire night on a makeshift dais in the Dharamtala area, near the Metro Y Channel after beginning the protest around 9 p.m. on Sunday. On Monday, Banerjee seemed completely at ease doing what she has always revelled in - street protest - as she took the hand mike from time to time, gave brief speeches, attacking the BJP-ruled centre, with Prime Minister Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah being her special targets. She claimed the sit-in was "non-political" and not against an individual agency but to oppose the "anarchic moves" by the Modi government to destroy democracy. "Our Satyagraha is not against any individual agency. Our protest is against the attempts to divide the country and spread hate, intimidation and terror among people," she said, as her party activists put up rail and road blockades at various parts of the state, took out protest rallies with back flags and burnt Modi's effigy. Banerjee claimed she was getting support from across the country and said the demonstration might continue till February 8. Interestingly, Modi is scheduled to address a public meeting in north Bengal on that day. Samajwadi Party national vice president Kiranmoy Nanda joined Banerjee at the sit-in for some time, and dubbed the CBI action as a "conspiracy". Later, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav and DMK's Kanimozhi also came to extend solidarity to Banerjee. Meanwhile, the strength of the Central Reserve Police Force troopers deployed at the CBI offices at Nizam Palace and the CGO Complex in Salt Lake on Sunday night, was bolstered on Monday with one more company pressed into service. "We have come here to provide security to the CBI personnel and the documents kept here," said a CRPF trooper on condition of anonymity. On the other hand, in a tit for tat move, the Kolkata Police served a notice to CBI joint director and head of zone (Kolkata) Pankaj Kumar Srivastava in connection with "wrongful restraint" and "wrongful confinement" of two businessmen in August last year. Srivastava, who left for Delhi during the day with documents to help CBI lawyers in the legal fight at the Supreme Court, said he would consult his lawyers before responding to the notice. In New Delhi, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought an urgent apex court hearing on Monday itself on a CBI plea describing the situation as "extraordinary", and fearing "evidence will be destroyed", but Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi declined it saying "there's no evidence of what you're saying right now". The court said it would hear the matter on Tuesday. "If you show one proof they are tampering or even remotely thinking of it, we'll come down so heavily that they will regret it," said Gogoi. The top judiciary also listed for Tuesday another CBI plea for initiating contempt against the West Bengal Chief Secretary, Director General of State Police and Kolkata police chief and seeking direction to the state government to cooperate in the investigation and make available Rajeev Kumar for questioning. In Kolkata, the state government approached the Calcutta High Court pleading for an urgent hearing against the CBI's attempt to question Rajeev Kumar at his residence despite a stay order from the court. However, Justice Shivakant Prasad refused an immediate hearing following an objection by the Central government, and listed it for Tuesday. Both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha witnessed uproar as opposition parties led by the Trinamool Congress protested vehemently against the CBI raid in Kolkata, calling it a misuse of the agency against political opponents, forcing the presiding officers to adjourn the Houses for the day. Prior to the adjournment, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh defended CBI action, and told the Lok Sabha that the move to stop the central probe agency from performing its duties is a threat to the country's federal system. "There are allegations of nexus between politicians and influential persons in the scam and the agency is probing the matter as per the direction of the Supreme Court. The stand-off between the agency and the state police is not only unlawful and unfortunate but also poses a grave threat to the federal and political system," he said. --IANS ssp/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to mediate between pro-Brexit and pro-European party members to shore up support for her deal on the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union (EU). She will also try to resolve the ongoing wrangle on how to ensure no return to a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, Downing Street announced on Monday. The Alternative Arrangements Working Group (AAWG), a new initiative made up of pro-remain Conservatives and members of the European Research Group (ERG), a group of lawmakers who lobby for a harder Brexit, was set to meet May for the first time on Monday to flesh out alternatives to the backstop, the insurance policy designed to maintain a soft border in Ireland should future talks with the EU collapse, Efe news agency reported on Monday. A Downing Street spokesperson said Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay would be meeting the AAWG regularly, with two further meetings already penciled in for the week. Pro-Brexit Conservative Party members, such as deputy chair of the ERG Steve Baker, former secretary of state for Northern Ireland Owen Paterson and MP Marcus Fysh, were some of the leaders expected at Downing Street for Monday's meeting, the spokesperson added. Nicky Morgan and Damian Green, who represent the pro-EU branch of the Conservatives, would also attend the meeting. May now needs the support of both eurosceptic and pro-remain Tory rebels as well as the backing of lawmakers from the Northern Irish DUP party, which props up her minority government, if she wants her Brexit deal to get through the House of Commons, the lower chamber of Parliament. On January 15, her withdrawal deal was overwhelmingly voted down by lawmakers. On January 29, the House of Commons narrowly backed an amendment tabled by Conservative MP Graham Brady that would see the Prime Minister return to Brussels in search of alternative arrangements for the Irish backstop, whose current terms and conditions have proved unpopular with pro-Brexit Tories and the DUP. The EU has said it would not renegotiate the backstop, which is a pillar of the withdrawal agreement. The Malthouse compromise, named after housing minister Kit Malthouse, who signed the proposed amendment, would scrap the backstop in favour of a free-trade agreement and argues it is possible to use technology when dealing with customs on the Irish border. It further outlines an extension of the transition period, once the UK leaves the European bloc, until December 2021, during which the UK would continue to pay its contributions to the EU. Brussels has cast doubt on the feasibility of this amendment, too. May is to return to Brussels this week to present backstop alternatives in an attempt to overcome the Brexit impasse. These include the initiatives outlined in the Malthouse compromise. Pro-Brexit MPs have argued in favour of placing an expiration date on the backstop or granting the UK rights to unilaterally withdraw from it. The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29. --IANS rs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Defending champions Boca Juniors struck either side of half-time to defeat Godoy Cruz 2-0 in the Superliga Argentina standings. Dario Benedetto opened the scoring from the penalty spot at the Bombonera on Sunday after Carlos Tevez was brought down by Facundo Cobos, reports Xinhua news agency. Mauro Zarate made it 2-0 in the second-half stoppage time with a curling free kick into the top left corner. Boca are now fourth in the 26-team standings with 31 points from 16 matches, 11 points behind leaders Racing Club, who defeated Huracan 3-1 on Sunday. Copa Libertadores champions River Plate secured their second win in five days by overcoming Velez Sarsfield 2-1 away from home. Despite their improved recent form, River remain seventh with 25 points. In Sunday's only other match, Newell's Old Boys drew 0-0 at Union. --IANS tri/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah's visit to Andhra Pradesh, the meeting of YSR Congress Party chief Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora on Monday have stepped up poll activity in the state. Shah was on a visit to north Andhra to interact with BJP leaders in five Lok Sabha constituencies and to sound the poll bugle at public meetings. While BJP chief arrived in the state, Jaganmohan Reddy dashed off to New Delhi to meet the CEC and seek his intervention for free and fair elections. Simultaneous polls to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and the Lok Sabha are likely in April-May. Jagan, as the leader of opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly is popularly known, sought deletion of nearly 60 lakh voters from the voter list, saying they were doubtful voters and were included at the behest of ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He also alleged the TDP had parked Rs. 4,000-5,000 crore in all 175 Assembly constituencies for distribution among voters. Jagan also claimed Naidu was giving out-of-turn promotion to police officers of his community. Interestingly, Naidu reportedly conveyed his doubts about the electronic voting machines (EVMs) to the CEC and demanded use of paper ballot in the coming elections. The TDP chief remains ahead of his political rivals in poll preparations. He is holding tele-conferences with TDP leaders every day under the Mission 2019 to enregise them and also share his thoughts on various issues. By announcing sops to various sections of people on almost daily basis and by attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 'betraying' the state, Naidu is keeping the pressure on his rivals. The day-long shutdown by a group fighting for the special status to Andhra Pradesh also came handy for the TDP. The ruling party not only extended its support to the shutdown but Naidu and his party legislators also wore black shirts in the Assembly to protest the Centre's 'unjust' attitude towards the state. Naidu plans to take his 'Dharma Porata Deeksha' to New Delhi next week by staging a protest in the national capital. Leaders of the Congress and other non-BJP parties are likely to join the protest. Political analysts say Naidu is using every opportunity to target the Centre for going back on commitments made at the time of state's bifurcation and project himself as the champion of state's rights. Naidu is also training his guns at the BJP leaders for their frequent visits to the state. "Shah had no time to visit north Andhra when it was hit by the cyclone Titli. Now he is coming to play politics," he said and asked TDP cadres to protest by wearing black badges. Naidu is also visiting New Delhi regularly to meet leaders of the Congress and non-BJP parties. Be it the issue of EVMs or the alleged vendetta by the Modi government against its political rivals, he is lending his voice to opposition parties. His attacks are focused on the BJP and the YSR Congress Party. He has been accusing the YSR Congress of colluding with the BJP and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS). Jagan's recent meeting with TRS leaders over proposed Federal Front provided more ammunition to Naidu. He is also looking to encash the proposed visit of Telangana Chief Minister and TRS President K. Chandrashekhar Rao to the state. --IANS Ms/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A high-level BJP delegation will approach the Election Commission on Monday on issues related to West Bengal, including on blocking of rallies of its party leaders in the state. The delegation comprising of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP General Secretary and in-charge of West Bengal Kailash Vijayvargiya and MP S.S. Ahluwalia will visit the Nirvachan Sadan around afternoon, a party official said. The party decision came after the state government denied permission to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's chopper to land in Uttar Dinajpur on Sunday, where he was to address two rallies. Adityanath, later addressed the rallies via mobile. The Bharatiya Janata Party has been continuously accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of obstructing it to hold rallies in the state. --IANS bns/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Assam Finance Department has decided to use social media platforms to inform and engage citizens on the state's 2019-20 Budget, Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a statement on Monday. Sarma said that social media is an effective tool to engage the public and acquire feedback for the upcoming Budget which will be presented at the Assam Legislative Assembly on Wednesday. He said that the use of this dynamic medium, in addition to other traditional means, has been inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan "Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas" and also "in keeping with our commitment to adhere to the principles of participatory governance". "The use of social media for seeking people's participation and inputs in the Budget is also a first of its kind experiment in the country and has been very effective. We have reached out to more than 1.6 lakh people by posting 200 feeds on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in 11 days with a combined Followers base of over 3,200," he added. The state government's budget app called "Assam Budget", available both on Android and iOS, is also a unique initiative towards a 'Digital India', according to the Minister. "We are planning to continue to engage citizens as well as gather critical information using the social media platforms. Among others, one of the key objectives of our social media campaign outreach strategy has been to create a bonding with our vibrant pool of youngsters and many other tech-savvy people of Assam," Sarma added. --IANS ah/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday lambasted Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal for demanding the doubling of the Rs 6,000 per annum relief announced for farmers by the Centre in the Union Budget. Accusing Badal of "rubbing salt on the wounds of the farmers with his demand to double the ludicrous relief given to them by the Centre", the Chief Minister accused him of shedding crocodile tears for the farming community now. "Why he has not spoken up for the farmers all these years despite his SAD being a part of the ruling alliance at the Centre," Amarinder asked Badal. "The Central government had already made a mockery of the farmers by announcing a meagre Rs 6,000 a year, which amounted to Rs 17 a day, to support them in distress," the Chief Minister said in a statement here, adding that the SAD President had added to the "insult with his shameless demand". "Did he really believe a thousand rupees a month would help the beleaguered farmers, many of whom were being driven to suicide as a result of their massive debts, running into lakhs of rupees in several cases," said Amarinder. The Chief Minister pointed out that the previous SAD-BJP government had failed to give even a penny to the distressed farmers during the 10 years of their rule. He said that his government had already waived off over Rs 4,514 crore of loans of 5.63 lakh small and marginal farmers in Punjab under the loan waiver scheme. He said that Badal was showing fake concern for the farmers now. --IANS js/rs/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Only those of a certain generation of film buffs would know of the fifties Hollywood diva Grace Kelly. Alfred Hitchcock fans certainly would remember her as a major protagonist from "Dial M for Murder" (1954), "Rear Window" (1954) and "To Catch a Thief" (1955). The late actress' son, Prince Albert II of Monaco, arrived here on Friday on his first official visit since his accession as head of the state in 2005, although Monaco has diplomatic relations with India since 2007. In 1956, Kelly retired from acting at the age of 26 to marry Prince Rainier III of the Grimaldi family that has ruled the 2 sq-km Principality of Monaco for 600 years. She died in a car accident in 1982. After Rainier III's death in 2005, Albert succeeded him as Albert II. He is said to have ancestry from Italy, Ireland, Britain, the US, Germany, France, Mexico, Belgium and Monaco. In fact, this year marks 600 years since the Italian House of Grimaldi purchased Monaco from the Spanish kingdom of Aragon by which they became the official and undisputed rulers of "the Rock of Monaco" rising above the sea in what has become the prime tourist destination in the Mediterranean - the French Riveira. Monaco's most populous quarter is Monte Carlo known for its gambling casino as well as for the annual Formula 1 Grand Prix. While the marriage of Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier III brought media attention to the city state, besides tourism and its casinos, Monaco also built a reputation as a place of residence for the global rich owing to the massive tax incentives it offers to residents. There is no personal income tax in this most densely populated sovereign state in the world. Monaco has a population of about 38,000, of whom only 8,000 are Monegasque, or of local origin, a member of the 30-member accompanying business delegation said on the sidelines of the India-Monaco Business Forum at industry chamber Ficci where the Prince was the chief guest. The Forum marked the official launch of economic cooperation with a partnership agreement being signed between Ficci and the Monaco Economic Board to strengthen the institutional mechanism for boosting bilateral trade and investment which are currently at miniscule levels. Monaco's Foreign Minister Gilles Tonelli spoke at the event about how the country has had a budget surplus for the last 6 years in succession for an economy based on the "five pillars of tourism, industry, trade, real estate, and banking and financial management". Albert II is one of the wealthiest royals in the world, with assets valued at more than $1 billion, which include land in Monaco and France, as also the head of one of the richest charities in the world. He is also a keen sportsman and expeditionist, in line with his environmental concerns, and is the first incumbent head of state to have reached the North Pole. In 2006, he created the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation for supporting sustainable and ethical projects around the world. The foundation focuses on three main challenges: climate change and renewable energy development, combating the loss of biodiversity and water management. --IANS bc/vd/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In an attempt to strengthen trade relations, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel here on Monday advocated free trade as a free-trade pact between Japan and the European Union (EU) went into effect on Friday. "Japan and Germany will closely work together to maintain and strengthen a free and open economic system," Abe said in a joint press conference after his meeting with Merkel who arrived here on Monday for a two-day visit, Xinhau news agency reported.The free-trade agreement with Japan will "send an important signal to the world," Merkel said. The two leaders also discussed the impact of Britain's exit from the EU, of which Germany is a major member. In consideration of the Japanese companies operating in Britain, the Japanese PM said said he told the German Chancellor that a divorce without a departure deal should be avoided to prevent negative influences on the global economy. Britain's House of Commons voted in January to reopen negotiations with the EU over the departure deal. The UK is scheduled to leave the regional bloc on March 29. Germany does not want to renegotiate the deal, but the issue will not move further without Britain stating what it wants, Merkel said. Abe and Merkel also agreed to promote development of cutting-edge technologies. The two countries confirmed their cooperation for the Group of 20 summit, scheduled to take place in Osaka, Japan, in June, which Abe will chair and Merkel is likely to attend. --IANS rs/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iraq's President Barham Saleh and Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi held talks with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, the press service of Iraq's president and prime minister reported, specifying that the meeting took place in the Al Salam Palace in Baghdad. It is reported that the country's leaders expressed the need to rally regional and international efforts to ensure security and stability in the region, noting Russia's role in countering terrorism. In addition, Saleh also expressed Iraqs desire to expand cooperation in politics, economics and investment, RIA Novosti reported. A total of 251 cases of sedition have been registered in Assam since the BJP took power in the state a little over two years ago. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said this in the Assembly on Monday on behalf of Home Minister Sarbananda Sonowal while replying to a question by Congress legislator Debabrata Saikia. "A total of 251 cases have been registered so far since our government came to power in May 26, 2016. These cases were registered against individuals as well as against militant outfits operating in the state," said Patowary. According to the statistics, 88 cases were filed in Kokrajhar district followed by Chirang (43), Tinsukia (40), Cachar and Golaghat (19 each) and Dima Hasao (11). The prominent people against whom sedition charges were filed include Right to Information (RTI) activist and farmer leader Akhil Gogoi, leftist activist Hiren Gohain and journalist Manjit Mahanta. Assam also recorded 4,944 cases of rape in this period, the Minister told the House. --IANS ah/rs/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Spain and 18 other countries belonging to the European Union (EU) has signed a joint declaration of support and recognition for the US-backed opposition leader as the interim Venezuelan president after an ultimatum they had signed calling on the embattled incumbent to call early elections expired. The statement proclaims National Assembly speaker Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president with the aim of "calling free, fair and democratic presidential elections." Signing the declaration were Spain, Portugal, Germany, the UK, Denmark, Holland, France, Hungary, Austria, Finland, Belgium, Luxemburg, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Sweden and Croatia, Efe reported on Monday. The move came after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro failed to comply with an ultimatum from several EU members to call a snap presidential election. "The goal is to call elections as soon as possible," Pedro Sanchez, Spain's prime minister, told a press conference at his official Moncloa residence in Madrid, kicking off a day of similar announcements across the bloc. "These elections have to be free, democratic, with guarantees and without exclusions," he said, adding he would liaise with EU member states and the UN to draw up a humanitarian aid package for Venezuela. Guaido is the president of the National Assembly, which is considered by the EU to be the only the legitimate parliamentary body in Venezuela. In 2017, Venezuela's Supreme Court, whose members are mostly pro-Maduro, withdrew recognition of the National Assembly and the government proceeded with elections to a parallel body known as the National Constituent Assembly, which was boycotted by the opposition. Shortly before the release of the joint statement, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini had said that recognising Guaido as interim president is not the responsibility of the bloc but rather lies within the purview of each of the individual member nations. She insisted, however, that "there is a common EU position on Venezuela and we have expressed it very clearly and together -- all the 28," referring to the demand for new elections. "That position is very clear and consolidated over time. The EU and its Member States have never recognised as legitimate the presidential elections that were held last year. We did not participate -- none of us -- at the inauguration of Maduro on 10 January. We recognise the National Assembly as the legitimate institution of the country and we recognise the role of its President (Guaido). This is clear, this is a common position," she said. Nine EU nations, including Italy, declined to sign the joint statement recognising Guaido. Russia, which is one of Venezuela's principal creditors, rejected the EU ultimatum and the recognition of Guaido. Maduro accuses the EU nations of bowing to the policies of US President Donald Trump. Guaido secured the backing of Washington before declaring himself acting president on January 23. Guaido took to social media to individually thank all the EU governments that had recognised him as caretaker president throughout the course of the day. --IANS vc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 12 people were killed and 15 injured in a car bomb explosion near the Governor's office in the Somali capital on Monday. Police officer Mohamed Abdelkadir, who was at the scene of the incident, confirmed the figures shortly after the blast in Mogadishu's central district of Hamar Weyne, Efe news agency reported. The explosion caused significant material damage to shops and restaurants in the area, which was cordoned off by security forces. Somali militant group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was targeting government officials, according to local media. This attack came after at least seven people were killed and five were injured on January 29 in two car bomb explosions in Somalia's restive capital. Mogadishu is frequently hit by attacks claimed by al-Shabaab, which seeks to establish an Islamic state in the country, located on the Horn of Africa, and controls swathes of territory in the nation's central and southern regions. Somalia suffered its worst attack in 2017 when a powerful truck bomb ripped through a crossroads outside a hotel, killing over 550 people. The country has been in a state of war and chaos since 1991, when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled. Earlier in January, the Somali government expelled the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, Nicholas Haysom, who according to a UN statement "was accused by the Somali Federal Government of interfering in its internal affairs, by questioning the detention of an opposition candidate for state-wide office, who had been a leader in the extremist al-Shabaab group, before defecting." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the move, along with 15 members of the Security Council, and said a new UNSOM special representative would be chosen as a replacement in due course. According to the UN statement, Guterres said he was "totally committed to ensuring that the needs of the Somali people are at the forefront of the work of the United Nations in Somalia," adding that UNSOM "needs to be able to carry out in the most effective manner its mandate to support the country." --IANS rs/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The collapse of a highway northwest of the Bolivian capital La Paz on Saturday killed at least 11 people and around 20 are confirmed injured, Bolivia's Defensce Ministry said on Sunday. "To date, 11 people have died and around 20 have been injured," an official note quoting Defence Minister Javier Zavaleta said, Efe reported. The statement also indicates that it is believed that there may be more victims of the event and that their rescue will take "a few more days", as it is suspected that some vehicles remain under the mud, without specifying the exact number. "According to the perception of the authorities, the rescue of possible other bodies and vehicles buried under the tons of earth and mud will take a few more days," the statement added. The collapse occurred on Saturday morning when a large block of earth, soaked with water after recent rains collapsed under the road affecting several vehicles in a sector called Puente Armas. The road connects La Paz with the town of Caranavi some 161 km away and the incident happened in an area with a humid and subtropical climate. Most of the wounded were evacuated to the town of Coroico, 102 kilometers from La Paz, while others in a more fragile condition were transferred to hospitals in the Bolivian capital, local media reported. "At least 150 military personnel were dispatched to the area of the landslide to support the rescue work with the police and firemen," says the bulletin. "There are several institutions in La Paz and Los Yungas, including Civil Defence and immediate response teams, as well as military personnel from the three forces that are working on the evacuation of families in those municipalities in danger of landslides in the departments of La Paz and Beni," the Ministry of Defence said in the statement. Minister Zavaleta said the rains affected several municipalities, mainly in the departments of La Paz and the northern region of Beni such as Guanay, Alto Beni, Palos Blancos Coroico, Reyes, San Borja and parts of Trinidad and Riberalta. According to the Ministry of Defence, the rains are expected to continue during February and parts of March in different regions of Bolivia. --IANS vc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) National Steel Policy 2017 provides preference to domestically manufactured iron and steel The total steel production in the country has increased from 88.98 million tonnes (MT) in 2014-15 to 103.13 mt in 2017-18. The Minister of State for Steel, Vishnu Deo Sai, informed this in Lok Sabha today. The Government has notified the National Steel Policy, 2017 and the Policy for Providing Preference to Domestically Manufactured Iron and Steel (DMI&SP) in Government procurement, which create facilitative environment to improve domestic production and consumption of steel. With a view to provide relief to the domestic industry, the Government of India took the following measures: * Increased customs duty on steel in two phases-in June 2015 and August 2015, by 2.5% each. * Minimum Import Price (MIP) imposed on specified steel products in February 2016. MIP has since expired in February 2017. * Imposed 20% Safeguard Duty on Hot Rolled Coils, provisionally in September 2015 and finally notifying it in August 2016. * Imposed Safeguard Duty on Hot Rolled not in Coils, provisionally in August and finally in November 2016. * Imposed Anti dumping measures for HR Coils provisionally in August 2016 and finally notified in May 2017. * Imposed Anti dumping measures for CR Coils provisionally in August 2016 and finally notified in May 2017. * Imposed Anti dumping measures for Wire rods provisionally in September 2016 and finally notified in October 2017. * Imposed Anti-dumping duties for Colour Coated Steel provisionally in January 2017 and final notification issued in October 2017. * Sunset review of SS Cold Rolled 600-1250mm wherein duties extended upto 2020. On China, additional Countervailing Duty (CVD) at 18.95% for 5 years from September 2017. * Imposed Anti dumping duties on SS Hot Rolled products in March 2014 valid upto 2020. On China, additional CVD at 18.95% for 5 years from September 2017. Government of India has also issued Quality Control Orders namely Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Order, 2018 covering 47 carbon/alloy steel and 6 stainless steel products. The Quality Control Order prohibits manufacturing / import of sub-standard / seconds and defective products. The Minister of State for Steel said India has not been much impacted by the tariff imposed by USA since India's exports to the USA were just around 2.2% before the imposition of the tariff. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Key benchmarks ended volatile trading session with modest gains, supported by firmness in index pivotals Reliance Industries, TCS and HDFC. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 113.31 points or 0.31% to 36,582.74, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index rose 18.60 points or 0.17% to 10,912.25, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty settled above 10,900 mark. Key indices opened lower amid mixed global cues and hovered in narrow band in morning trade. Key indices traded near day's low in mid-morning trade. Key indices trimmed losses in early afternoon trade. Benchmarks hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. Indices sharply pared losses and were trading near flat line in mid-afternoon trade. Barometers hit fresh intraday high in late trade. Broader market witnessed selling pressure. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.82%. The BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.17%. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 790 shares rose and 1768 shares fell. A total of 203 shares were unchanged. Among index pivotals, Reliance Industries (up 3.45%), TCS (up 0.90%) and HDFC (up 0.46%), advanced. Titan Company surged 3.40% after consolidated net profit rose 43.49% to Rs 413.19 crore on 35.35% rise in total income to Rs 5934.11 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 1 February 2019. Titan Company said that there was an additional provision of Rs 70 crore in Q3 December 2018 made for investments as part of Treasury operations in inter corporate deposits in the IL&FS group. Titan Company retail chain is 1574 stores, as on 31 December 2018 with the retail area touching 2.02 million sq.ft. nationally for all the brands. Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director of Titan Company said that the festive quarter of 2018-19 turned out to be one of the best quarters for jewellery as well as for other businesses - watches and eyewear. Bajaj Auto rose 1.89% after the company reported 15% growth in its total vehicles sales to 4.07 lakh units in January 2019 over January 2018. Total domestic sales rose 14% to 2.31 lakh units, while total exports rose 16% to 1.75 lakh units in January 2019 over January 2018. The announcement was made during market hours today, 4 February 2019. Hero MotoCorp fell 0.22%. The company reported sales of 582,756 units for the month of January 2019. The weak market sentiment from the previous quarter spilled over to January and continued to dampen sales. The industry has been witnessing lower retail off-take in the past few months due to multiple factors, like the credit crunch and higher two-wheeler insurance costs. The announcement was made on Saturday, 2 February 2019. Tata Motors fell 0.17% after total sales declined 8% to 54,915 units in January 2019 over January 2018. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 February 2019. Tata Motors said that as muted consumer sentiments continued in January 2019, the company's commercial and passenger vehicles business sales in the domestic market witnessed a drop of 8% at 54,915 units as against 59,441 units sold over last year. Tata Motors' Commercial Vehicles (CV) domestic sales declined by 6% in January 2019 to 37,089 units, compared to 39,386 units sold last year. Low customer sentiments caused by non-availability of retail finance and liquidity crunch in the market have also impacted the Passenger Vehicle (PV) Business. The PV domestic sales witnessed a drop of 11%, at 17,826 units, as compared with 20,055 units sold last year. The company's sales from exports (from CV and PV) in January 2019 was at 3,270 units, lower by 37% over last year, due to current liquidity crisis in Nepal, formation of new government in Bangladesh and political uncertainty in Sri Lanka. Coal India fell 0.45%. Coal India, after market hours on Friday, 1 February 2019, announced the provisional production and offtake figures of the company and its subsidiaries in January 2019. Production increased 0.9% to 57.20 million tonne in January 2019 over January 2018. Offtake fell 2.3% to 52.44 million tonne in January 2019 over January 2018. L&T fell 1.25%. Water & Effluent Treatment Business of L&T Construction has secured projects from the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Government of Odisha. The Engineering, Procurement and Construction orders have been secured for the execution of Individual rural water supply projects in the Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha. The aggregate scope of work includes design, engineering, supply and erection of 5,828 Km of transmission and distribution pipelines, construction of 3 Intake structures of aggregate capacity of 82 MLD, 3 water treatment plants of aggregate capacity of 78 MLD, pumping stations and water storage structures. The project involves automation including measurement of input and output water quantity and quality at each level through suitable SCADA and other instrumentation works. This will cater drinking water for 919 villages in Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha. The business has also secured add-on orders from some of its existing projects. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 4 February 2019. Vedanta was up 0.12%. The company clarified before trading hours today, 4 February 2019, that Volcan Investments (Volcan) and Vedanta Resources, the parent companies of Vedanta, holding more than 50%, have played a significant role in shaping and building Vedanta businesses in a visionary and entrepreneurial manner. Volcan owns a 21% stake (voting interest) in Anglo American Plc (AA Plc). AA Plc is a globally diversified mining business that comprises of De Beers (largest diamond producer), copper, platinum and other precious metals, iron ore, coal and nickel. Cairn India Holdings (CIHL), an overseas subsidiary of the company, was offered the opportunity by Volcan to invest some of its surplus cash resources in a structured investment representing the economic interest in upside potential of ~24.71 million shares (~1.8% of outstanding shares) of AA Plc. The structure provides significantly higher returns compared to other overseas cash management investments that would typically return around 2%. After careful consideration of the risk adjusted returns of this opportunity relative to other available investments, it elected to invest a portion (which is less than 5% of Group's cash and cash equivalent of around US$5.0bn) of its available cash resources, as part of its cash management activity. The ownership of the underlying shares, and the associated voting interest, remains with Volcan. The investment now has full capital and downside protection to ensure that the interests of Vedanta Limited shareholders' are protected. The investment was made on an arm's length basis in December 2018, after meeting all governance requirements. The economic interest was valued by an independent valuer and approved by the boards of CIHL and Vedanta Ltd. This was voluntarily and transparently disclosed in the December quarter results. We remain committed at all times to act in the interest of all shareholders and look forward to continued engagement with them. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will meet during February 5 to 7, 2019 for the Sixth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2018-19. The resolution of the MPC will be placed on the RBI website at 11:45 IST on 7 February 2019. On the economic front, the total gross GST revenue collected in the month of January 2019 stood at Rs 1,02,503 crore, of which CGST is Rs 17,763 crore, SGST is Rs 24,826 crore, IGST is Rs 51,225 crore (including Rs 24,065 crore collected on imports) and Cess is Rs 8,690 crore (including Rs 902 crore collected on imports). In FY 2018-2019, it is for the third time that GST revenue collection has crossed one lakh crore. The total number of GSTR 3B Returns filed for the month of December up to 31 January 2019 is 73.3 lakh. The government has settled Rs 18,344 crore to CGST and Rs 14,677 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by Central Government and the State Governments after regular settlement in the month of December, 2018 is Rs 36,107 crore for CGST and Rs 39,503 crore for the SGST. The collection in January 2019 is a significant increase from the collection of Rs 94,725 crore in December 2018, which was a decline from Rs 97,637 crore in November and Rs 1,00,710 crore in October. January 2019 collections are 14% above the January 2018 collections of Rs 89,825 crore. This jump has been achieved despite various tax reductions having come into force that provided major relief to the consumers. The gross GST collections over the last three-month period has been 14% higher than the corresponding period last year, Ministry of Finance said in a statement on 2 February 2019. Overseas, European stocks were mixed, as market participants monitored another flurry of corporate earnings results. Asian markets ended mixed on Monday. China's financial markets are closed all week for the Lunar New Year holiday. US stocks managed to close mostly higher Friday after an unexpectedly strong January jobs report. The US economy created 304,000 new jobs in January. At the same time, job growth for December was reduce by 90,000, somewhat blunting the impact of the headline number. Among other data in the US, the ISM manufacturing index's final reading for January came in at 56.6%, above the initial reading of 54.1%. The IHS Markit final US manufacturing purchasing managers index reading came in at 54.9 in January, up from 53.8 in December. The University of Michigan raised its reading of consumer sentiment for January from an initial print of 90.7 to 91.2. That compares to a 98.3 reading for December and was the worst final reading since Donald Trump was elected president. Construction spending rose in November, up 0.8% from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.2 trillion, the Commerce Department said Friday morning in a release that was delayed due to the government shutdown. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Key equity benchmarks sharply pared losses and were trading near flat line in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 7.94 points or 0.02% at 36,461.49. The Nifty 50 index was down 14.50 points or 0.13% at 10,879.15. Key indices opened lower amid mixed global cues and hovered in narrow band in morning trade. Key indices traded near day's low in mid-morning trade. Key indices trimmed losses in early afternoon trade. Benchmarks hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. Broader market witnessed selling pressure. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.94%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 1.20%. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 640 shares rose and 1821 shares fell. A total of 165 shares were unchanged. Shares of Xelpmoc Design and Tech were trading at Rs 58.80 at 13:57 IST on BSE, a discount of 10.91% over the initial public offer price of Rs 66. The stock debuted at Rs 56, a discount of 15.15% to the initial public offer (IPO) price. So far the stock hit a high of Rs 58.80 and low of Rs 56. On BSE, so far 1405 shares were traded on the counter. The IPO of Xelpmoc Design and Tech received bids for 66.40 lakh shares, as against 20.40 lakh shares on offer, National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) data showed. The issue was subscribed 3.25 times. The issue opened for subscription on 23 January 2019 and closed on 25 January 2019. The price band for the issue was fixed at Rs 62 to Rs 66 per share. The qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) category was subscribed 1.24 times. The non institutional investors category was subscribed 7.69 times. The retail individual investors (RIIs) category was subscribed 2.64 times. Coal India was down 1.05%. Coal India, after market hours on Friday, 1 February 2019, announced the provisional production and offtake figures of the company and its subsidiaries in January 2019. Production increased 0.9% to 57.20 million tonne in January 2019 over January 2018. Offtake fell 2.3% to 52.44 million tonne in January 2019 over January 2018. L&T was down 1.20%. Water & Effluent Treatment Business of L&T Construction has secured projects from the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Government of Odisha. The Engineering, Procurement and Construction orders have been secured for the execution of Individual rural water supply projects in the Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha. The aggregate scope of work includes design, engineering, supply and erection of 5,828 Km of transmission and distribution pipelines, construction of 3 Intake structures of aggregate capacity of 82 MLD, 3 water treatment plants of aggregate capacity of 78 MLD, pumping stations and water storage structures. The project involves automation including measurement of input and output water quantity and quality at each level through suitable SCADA and other instrumentation works. This will cater drinking water for 919 villages in Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha. The business has also secured add-on orders from some of its existing projects. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 4 February 2019. Vedanta was down 1.11%. The company clarified before trading hours today, 4 February 2019, that Volcan Investments (Volcan) and Vedanta Resources, the parent companies of Vedanta, holding more than 50%, have played a significant role in shaping and building Vedanta businesses in a visionary and entrepreneurial manner. Volcan owns a 21% stake (voting interest) in Anglo American Plc (AA Plc). AA Plc is a globally diversified mining business that comprises of De Beers (largest diamond producer), copper, platinum and other precious metals, iron ore, coal and nickel. Cairn India Holdings (CIHL), an overseas subsidiary of the company, was offered the opportunity by Volcan to invest some of its surplus cash resources in a structured investment representing the economic interest in upside potential of ~24.71 million shares (~1.8% of outstanding shares) of AA Plc. The structure provides significantly higher returns compared to other overseas cash management investments that would typically return around 2%. After careful consideration of the risk adjusted returns of this opportunity relative to other available investments, it elected to invest a portion (which is less than 5% of Group's cash and cash equivalent of around US$5.0bn) of its available cash resources, as part of its cash management activity. The ownership of the underlying shares, and the associated voting interest, remains with Volcan. The investment now has full capital and downside protection to ensure that the interests of Vedanta Limited shareholders' are protected. The investment was made on an arm's length basis in December 2018, after meeting all governance requirements. The economic interest was valued by an independent valuer and approved by the boards of CIHL and Vedanta Ltd. This was voluntarily and transparently disclosed in the December quarter results. We remain committed at all times to act in the interest of all shareholders and look forward to continued engagement with them. On the economic front, the total gross GST revenue collected in the month of January 2019 stood at Rs 1,02,503 crore, of which CGST is Rs 17,763 crore, SGST is Rs 24,826 crore, IGST is Rs 51,225 crore (including Rs 24,065 crore collected on imports) and Cess is Rs 8,690 crore (including Rs 902 crore collected on imports). In FY 2018-2019, it is for the third time that GST revenue collection has crossed one lakh crore. The total number of GSTR 3B Returns filed for the month of December up to 31 January 2019 is 73.3 lakh. The government has settled Rs 18,344 crore to CGST and Rs 14,677 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by Central Government and the State Governments after regular settlement in the month of December, 2018 is Rs 36,107 crore for CGST and Rs 39,503 crore for the SGST. The collection in January 2019 is a significant increase from the collection of Rs 94,725 crore in December 2018, which was a decline from Rs 97,637 crore in November and Rs 1,00,710 crore in October. January 2019 collections are 14% above the January 2018 collections of Rs 89,825 crore. This jump has been achieved despite various tax reductions having come into force that provided major relief to the consumers. The gross GST collections over the last three-month period has been 14% higher than the corresponding period last year, Ministry of Finance said in a statement on 2 February 2019. Overseas, European stocks were slightly lower on Monday, as market participants monitored another flurry of corporate earnings results. Asian markets were mixed on Monday. China's financial markets are closed all week for the Lunar New Year holiday. US stocks managed to close mostly higher Friday after an unexpectedly strong January jobs report. The US economy created 304,000 new jobs in January. At the same time, job growth for December was reduce by 90,000, somewhat blunting the impact of the headline number. Among other data in the US, the ISM manufacturing index's final reading for January came in at 56.6%, above the initial reading of 54.1%. The IHS Markit final US manufacturing purchasing managers index reading came in at 54.9 in January, up from 53.8 in December. The University of Michigan raised its reading of consumer sentiment for January from an initial print of 90.7 to 91.2. That compares to a 98.3 reading for December and was the worst final reading since Donald Trump was elected president. Construction spending rose in November, up 0.8% from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.2 trillion, the Commerce Department said Friday morning in a release that was delayed due to the government shutdown. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reacting to the Interim Budget 2019-20 presented in Parliament today, Mr. Sandip Somany, President, FICCI said, "It is a progressive budget that addresses both the current challenges being faced by the economy as well as presents an outline of the vision the government has for the future of India ten years ahead. FICCI compliments the Government for its clear focus on the agriculture sector, particularly the small and marginal farmers, the middle class, senior citizens, small-savers and workers in the unorganised sector. The budget contains several comprehensive proposals that would benefit each of these sections of our society and this is in line with government's philosophy of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas'." Our farmers have been facing a series of challenges. To alleviate some of the hardships being faced by small and marginal farmers, the government has announced a Direct Income Support scheme under which an amount of Rs 6000 per annum will be provided to farmers having cultivable land of up to 2 hectares. This would benefit 12 crore farmer families. "FICCI had suggested the need for Direct Income Support for farmers and is happy to see its inclusion in the budget. This is critical as through this measure the government will be able to cover all the small and marginal farmers as compared to the MSP scheme which benefits just about 30% of such farmers. By also committing funds upfront from the central pool, any resistance from states will be avoided," added Mr. Somany. Another high point of the budget is the announcement of a mega pension program to provide social security to workers engaged in the unorganised sector. "This very well complements the support rendered to them through the healthcare and life insurance schemes already announced earlier and completes the social safety net which is so essential for crores of workers in the informal sector. Through this scheme the government has pushed the financial inclusion agenda forward and underlined its commitment to promote the welfare of those who need it the most", said Mr. Somany. The proposals related to direct tax now offer a full tax rebate to individuals having an annual taxable income of up to Rs 5 lakh. This would be extremely beneficial for the lower middle-class taxpayers comprising self-employed, small businesses, small traders, salary earners, pensioners and senior citizens. In addition to this, the increase in the standard deduction limit, the threshold for TDS on interest income from bank and post office deposits, upward revision of TDS threshold for tax on rental income, exempt of levy of income tax on notional rent on second self-occupied house and extension of exemption of capital gains to second residential property of up to Rs 2 crore, are all noteworthy measures. "The above, we feel, would improve demand in the economy and support investments going ahead. We see a positive momentum building for the housing and real estate sector which has major forward and backward linkages. All of these are positive for growth, will have a multiplier impact and improve the outlook for the economy in the coming years," said Mr. Somany The budget proposals included a series of initiatives for the rural economy, which is the mainstay of India. We saw the allocation for MNREGA for 2019-20 go up to Rs. 60,000 crore. A lot of emphasis was placed on the animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries industry through measures including extension of interest subvention to these sectors. This will help diversify livelihood opportunities in the rural sector and encourage households to look at these activities in a more favourable manner for supplementing their incomes. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Godrej Properties announced that it has entered into an equity investment platform in partnership with a Pune-based developer to develop six projects across Pune. This portfolio comprises various asset classes including group housing projects, plotted development, mixed use development and township projects. The total land that will be developed comprises of over 300 acres located across the prime markets of west and east Pune. These six projects will offer a total saleable area of over 23 lakh square metres (approximately 25 million square feet), scheduled to be developed in multiple phases over the next 10 years. This is a first of its kind equity platform investment and is in alignment with Godrej Properties' strategy of deepening its presence across India's leading real estate markets. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Key equity indices were trading near day's low in mid-morning trade. At 11:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 152.30 points or 0.42% at 36,317.13. The Nifty 50 index was down 51.75 points or 0.48% at 10,841.90. Mixed cues from other Asian stocks spoiled investors sentiment. Key indices opened lower and were hovering in narrow band in morning trade. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.70%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.90%. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 648 shares rose and 1486 shares fell. A total of 126 shares were unchanged. Shares of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group plunged. Reliance Power (down 24.1%), Reliance Capital (down 17.53%), Reliance Infrastructure (down 14.29%) and Reliance Naval and Engineering (down 11.93%), slumped. Reliance Communication (RCom) was down 37.33% at Rs 7.27. RCom announced after market hours on Friday, 1 February 2019, that its board reviewed the progress of the company's debt resolution plans since the invocation of SDR on 2nd June 2017. The board noted that, despite the passage of over 18 months, lenders have received zero proceeds from the proposed asset monetization plans, and the overall debt resolution process is yet to make any headway. This outcome is attributable to lack of 100% approvals and consensus, as mandated by RBI's 12th February 2018 circular, on all important issues, amongst over 40 lenders, Indian and foreign despite the passage of 12 months and over 45 meetings; Pendency of numerous legal issues at High Courts, TDSAT and Supreme Court impeding progress at various stages. Accordingly, the board decided that the company will seek fast track resolution through the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai. The board believes this course of action will be in the best interests of all stakeholders, ensuring comprehensive debt resolution in a final, transparent and time bound manner within the prescribed 270 days. RCom and only two of its subsidiaries, Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel, will take appropriate steps shortly to implement the Board decision. There will be no impact on the business and operations of other subsidiaries of the company, including inter alia GCX, Reliance IDC, etc. In a separate notice on 3 February 2019, RCom said that key elements of the debt resolution plan include, sale of all telecom infrastructure assets and spectrum; Strategic monetisation of GCX, IDC & Indian Enterprise Business; & Development of 30 million square feet at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City complex and sale of other real estate assets. The RCom board expects substantial unsustainable debt and liabilities to stand extinguished under the NCLT process. RCom board will actively participate (without voting rights) in the NCLT resolution process, as clarified by a recent judgment of Supreme Court. The board also expects strong support from and requisite approvals of the Creditors' Committee, Resolution Professionals and NCLT in the interest of all stakeholders. The RCom board therefore sees a fast-track NCLT resolution in 2019, free of all uncertainties and challenges. The board remains confident on future prospects as a going concern under a new ownership on completion of the NCLT resolution process. IT shares were mixed. Persistent Systems (up 3.42%), Hexaware Technologies (up 1.42%), HCL Technologies (up 0.39%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.34%) and TCS (up 0.11%), edged higher. MindTree (down 0.43%), MphasiS (down 0.54%), Wipro (down 0.61%), Infosys (down 0.85%) and Tech Mahindra (down 1.13%), edged lower. Most pharmaceutical shares declined. IPCA Laboratories (down 3.46%), Piramal Enterprises (down 3.08%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 1.59%), Wockhardt (down 1.52%), Cipla (down 1.11%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.95%), Cadila Healthcare (down 0.85%) and Lupin (down 0.12%), edged lower. Strides Shasun (up 0.07%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.09%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.41%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.37%) and Divi's Laboratories (up 5.45%), edged higher. On the economic front, the total gross GST revenue collected in the month of January 2019 stood at Rs 1,02,503 crore, of which CGST is Rs 17,763 crore, SGST is Rs 24,826 crore, IGST is Rs 51,225 crore (including Rs 24,065 crore collected on imports) and Cess is Rs 8,690 crore (including Rs 902 crore collected on imports). In FY 2018-2019, it is for the third time that GST revenue collection has crossed one lakh crore. The total number of GSTR 3B Returns filed for the month of December up to 31 January 2019 is 73.3 lakh. The government has settled Rs 18,344 crore to CGST and Rs 14,677 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by Central Government and the State Governments after regular settlement in the month of December, 2018 is Rs 36,107 crore for CGST and Rs 39,503 crore for the SGST. The collection in January 2019 is a significant increase from the collection of Rs 94,725 crore in December 2018, which was a decline from Rs 97,637 crore in November and Rs 1,00,710 crore in October. January 2019 collections are 14% above the January 2018 collections of Rs 89,825 crore. This jump has been achieved despite various tax reductions having come into force that provided major relief to the consumers. The gross GST collections over the last three-month period has been 14% higher than the corresponding period last year, Ministry of Finance said in a statement on 2 February 2019. Overseas, Asian markets were mixed on Monday. China's financial markets are closed all week for the Lunar New Year holiday. US stocks managed to close mostly higher Friday after an unexpectedly strong January jobs report. The US economy created 304,000 new jobs in January. At the same time, job growth for December was reduce by 90,000, somewhat blunting the impact of the headline number. Among other data in the US, the ISM manufacturing index's final reading for January came in at 56.6%, above the initial reading of 54.1%. The IHS Markit final US manufacturing purchasing managers index reading came in at 54.9 in January, up from 53.8 in December. The University of Michigan raised its reading of consumer sentiment for January from an initial print of 90.7 to 91.2. That compares to a 98.3 reading for December and was the worst final reading since Donald Trump was elected president. Construction spending rose in November, up 0.8% from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.2 trillion, the Commerce Department said Friday morning in a release that was delayed due to the government shutdown. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The board of directors of KazGeology JSC appointed Almaz Abdygalimov as chairman of the management board, the press service of the Kazakh prime minister said. Almaz Abdygalimov was born in Almaty region in 1974. He graduated from the Kazakh National Research Technical University after K. I. Satpayev. He served as acting chairman of Kazgeology management board since December 2018. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister will be addressing a public in Purulia district of on Tuesday. Yogi Adityanath, who was denied permission by the government to land his chopper in South Dinajpur district on Sunday, will this time take the road route to enter the state. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister is scheduled to fly to on Tuesday and from there he will travel to Purlia by road. After being denied permission to land his chopper on Sunday, Adityanath addressed the "Gantantra Bachao" (Save Democracy) rally in South Dinjapur through a telephone call. In his address that was broadcast using an audio link, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister on Sunday slammed and said her government in the state "can suppress people but cannot suppress their voices." "Mamata ji must accept that one should not misuse the administration in a democracy. The manner in which the administration in is functioning should not be acceptable at all," said. The public rally by Adityanath on Tuesday comes amid a full-blown face-off between West Bengal's government and the Centre that erupted on Sunday after a CBI team moved to arrest West Bengal Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, which in turn detained five officials causing a high voltage drama. ALSO READ: Yogi Adityanath government imposes cess on excise duty for cow shelters A team of five CBI officers, who went to arrest Rajeev Kumar at his residence in connection with Saradha chit fund scam, were not allowed to enter the police commissioner's house. The CBI officers were detained by police in Kolkata and were later released. West Bengal Chief Minister extended her support to Rajeev Kumar and started a sit-in protest, in what her party called a "coup" by the Bollywood actor Sonali Bendre, who is a cancer survivor, on World Cancer Day, urged everyone to understand the illness and live each moment, every day. She took to her Instagram account to share a powerful message on battling the life-threatening disease with caution, awareness and positivity. The actor posted a monochrome photo of herself along with a message. She began her post by saying that the "C" word is such a dreaded word, that it was important to designate a special day for it to help people deal with the disease and spread awareness for the same. "World Cancer Day who would have thought it would become such a thing but it has! And just the mere mention of the C word brings dread in the hearts of anyone who hears it. We fear it so much that we'd rather not talk about it which is why it's important to have a day where we pull out the band aid and help us deal with this disease," she wrote. She described how she too was scared but realised soon enough that burying her head in the sand won't help. She continued, "I was scared too, but soon realised that burying my head in the sand was not the way to deal with this. And so with the little experience I have had, I urge you all to take the time to understand it." She went to say that from whatever little experience she has had, she would like everyone to know that getting emotional and weak was not going to help. "There's more to cancer than being emotional or weak or even being called a fighter or a survivor. It requires you to study it, find out what works for you and to be diligent about your treatment. It requires days of strongly believing in oneself, of knowing that tomorrow will be better than today. It is not a fight against negative thoughts. It's taking a stand to not give in, no matter what. Most importantly, it is about living every day, and not just surviving. Just taking it #OneDayAtATime makes it easier to #SwitchOnTheSunshine. #WorldCancerDay," she wrote. Yesterday, she had put up an Instagram post, declaring that she was getting back to the sets "after a major sabbatical." The way Sonali is fighting cancer is truly commendable! Sonali had spent months in New York battling cancer. The actor has been undergoing treatment for a 'high-grade cancer'. She returned to India after several months of treatment in New York City in December. Sonali has been very open about her cancer battle and during her time in NYC, she had kept her fans updated about her health with regular posts. Some other celebrities including Arjun Rampal and Sanjay Dutt too shared their cancer stories on Twitter. Arjun Rampal, whose mother suffered from cancer, wished that the world would find the cure for this disease. The actor posted a picture of himself with his mother and wrote, "Today is World Cancer Day. A disease that is becoming an epidemic. I know what it means to go through this ordeal. There is nothing we can do even today but just hope. Hope that we find a cure. My prayers with all the fighters, their loved ones. Hoping we find a cure. #WorldCancerDay." Sanjay Dutt, who lost his mother and wife to cancer shared an emotional post on his Twitter. He wrote, "Having lost my mother & Richa to cancer, my heart goes out to everyone battling this grave disease. More power & strength to you all. Today on #WorldCancerDay let's pledge our support in making this world cancer free!" . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Social activist and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare said he will return his Padma Bhushan award to the President if the Centre doesn't concede to his demand for Lokpal and Lokayukta. Speaking to media here on Sunday, the activist said he arrived at this decision due to the grim scenario prevailing in the society and country. "I will be returning my Padma Bhushan award to the President. I did not work for that award. You only gave me that while I was working for a social cause and the country. If the country or society is in this condition, then why should I keep that?" he asked. The 81-year-old anti-corruption crusader was awarded the third highest civilian honour in 1992. Hazare is on indefinite hunger strike for the last five days at his native village to push for his demand of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayukta in states. The social activist launched his indefinite hunger strike on January 30 under the banner of 'Jan Andolan Satyagraha'. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani on Sunday said that she would stay in for long, however, she will quit the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hang his boots.Speaking at the Words Count Festival here in a discussion titled 'Scripting Her Story, From Star to Star Campaigner', Irani said "People have started presuming that Modi ji won't be there for long, but I can assure you that he is going to stay here for many years," Irani said when asked whether the BJP will come in power once again in 2019. The Union Minister further said that whether she would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Amethi against Congress president Rahul Gandhi or not, will be decided by BJP president Amit Shah, adding that "People were not able to recognise me in Amethi in 2014 but now they know who I am." Irani fought against Rahul in the 2014 general elections from Amethi. Talking about the menace of trolling on social media platforms, Irani asserted that she had been trolled not only by celebrated journalists and politicians but also by "anonymous denizens".The Union Minister further said that she admires Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan."Without any additional support, they both have made a difference in Indian They truly inspire me," she added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Continuing with her 'Save the Constitution' dharna here against the BJP-led central government, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her government will not accept any money from the Centre as part of any scheme. Addressing the public at her overnight dharna site at Kolkata's Metro Channel station, the Trinamool Congress chief said, "We have taken a decision we won't take any money from the Centre regarding any of the Yojanas." She accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government of "stealing" farmers' rights. "Modi government has taken away the rights of farmers. Over 12,000 farmers have committed suicide. Farmers' lands have been snatched away. Back in 2006, I had sat on a dharna for 27 days to return their lands. Many farmer families are left with nothing. We are the only government which doesn't allow farmers' rights to be snatched away," Mamata said. "We have started schemes like Krishi Bondhu, as part of which, farmers get Rs 5,000 per year. We have already given out 30,000 cheques. Under the Bengal Fasal Bima Yojana, 80 per cent of the premium is given by the state government. We have Krishi Pension, under which farmers get Rs 1,000 per month. We are buying rice grains directly from farmers to give them the due benefits. We are also paying them in cheques to ensure no one dupes them," the TMC chief added. Mamata termed the interim budget as a "farce" and claimed that the schemes announced by the Centre will not be fulfilled as the Central government lacks the requisite funds. Accusing Modi of plotting a "coup" against her government, Mamata started her protest following a showdown between the CBI and Kolkata Police. Five CBI officials had moved to arrest the city's Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, although they were denied entry to the latter's residence and later detained. CBI interim director M Nageshwar Rao had said that Kumar had tampered with evidence in the Sarada chit fund scam and there was proof to corroborate the same. A number of Opposition leaders including Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Conference leader Omar Abdullah, DMK president MK Stalin have expressed solidarity with Mamata. Congress president Rahul Gandhi also extended his support to the TMC supremo, stating that the events in Bengal are happening because of the "unrelenting" attack on India's institutions by Modi and the BJP. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At a time when Washington has announced pull out of its troops from Syria, United States President Donald Trump said that he would continue to deploy armed forces in Iraq to keep a "watch on Iran". During an interview with the CBS News on Sunday, ahead of the Super Bowl, Trump noted, "Well, we spent a fortune on building this incredible base. We might as well keep it. And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem." "We're going to keep watching and we're going to keep seeing and if there's trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we're going to know it before they do," he added. To a question on the vacuum that would be created by the sudden withdrawal of US troops, which the Al Qaeda and Islamic State (ISIS) would seek to refill, the US President replied, "You know what we'll do? We'll come back if we have to". "We have very fast airplanes, we have very good cargo planes. We can come back very quickly, and I'm not leaving. We have a base in Iraq and the base is a fantastic edifice. I mean I was there recently, and I couldn't believe the money that was spent on these massive runways. And these - I've rarely seen anything like it. And it's there. And we'll be there," Trump said. Trump informed CBS News that the withdrawal of troops has been initiated from the region, with only around 2,000 troops remaining in Syria, who are further engaged in pushing out the "final remainder of the caliphate." Terming Iran to be a "vicious country that kills many people", the US President also stated that he does not "agree" with his intelligence officials who opine that Iran is in compliance with the Iran nuclear deal. While paying a visit to the US forces in Iraq, last year in December, Trump had announced his plans of withdrawing troops from Syria, as well as from Afghanistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Venezuela on Sunday slammed United States President Donald Trump for saying that US military intervention was under consideration to oust the President Nicolas Maduro regime. TASS news agency quoted Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez while addressing the media, as saying, "We don't accept these statements by the US president," she said at a briefing for Russian journalists. "The hidden motive behind them is the desire to get hold of Venezuela's rich resources," Rodriguez added. The remarks by the Venezuelan Vice President came after Trump in an interview to CBS News stated that deploying US armed forces was an "option" to put a quick end to the ongoing political crisis in Venezuela. "Certainly, it's something that's on the - it's an option," Trump said. Terming the 2018 Presidential elections in Venezuela as rigged and blaming Maduro for initiating a humanitarian crisis in the nation, Trump said he had declined a meeting with the Venezuelan leader "a number of months ago." "I've turned it down because we're very far along in the process," he said. "I would say this. I decided at the time, no, because so many really horrible things have been happening in Venezuela when you look at that country." "That was the wealthiest country of all in that part of the world, which is a very important part of the And now you look at the poverty, and you look at the anguish, and you look at the crime and you look at all of the things happening," Trump added. Meanwhile, Rodriguez said that Venezuela is capable enough in dealing with the current political crisis and it will end the turmoil soon without seeking any foreign interference within its state affairs. "Sovereignty is not a subject for discussion, sovereignty is what must be defended," she said. The ongoing political turmoil in the country began after opposition candidate and National Assembly leader Jaun Guaido declared himself to be interim head of the country. Many countries, especially the European Union have demanded that Maduro call for early re-election in the country; or in either case, Guaido would be declared the legitimate head of the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mark your calendar guys! Bollywood powerhouse Varun Dhawan on Monday announced the release date of Remo D'Souza's next dance film but kept its name under wraps. He teased his fans by sharing a new still from the untitled dance film on Twitter. He wrote, "One "step" closer to the name. The rule breakers of 2k19 are here #3IsComing @ShraddhaKapoor @PDdancing @Norafatehi @Tseries @itsBhushanKumar @Lizelle1238 @remodsouza." The peppy new poster shows Varun flaunting his abs and perfectly chiselled body. He can be seen in a full pumped up mode striking a catapulting dance pose with his head down, legs crossed and arms spread. The actor is seen donning a shiny golden shirt and black pants with funky shoes and coloured hair. This is Varun's second collaboration with choreographer-filmmaker Remo. The duo had earlier teamed up for second instalment of the hit franchise 'ABCD'. Apart from Varun, the untitled dance film also stars Shraddha Kapoor in the lead role. Shraddha was also seen sharing screen space with Varun in 'ABCD 2'. Along with the lead pair, the upcoming film also features Nora Fatehi, Aparshakti Khurana and Shakti Mohan in pivotal roles. According to various media reports, Shraddha will be seen as a dancer from Pakistan, while Varun will be playing a dancer from Punjab. After wrapping up the first schedule of the film in Amritsar, the next schedule of the film will kick off in London on 10 February. Reportedly, Katrina Kaif was to play the leading lady in the film. In fact, Varun and Katrina recently appeared together on the popular chat show 'Koffee With Karan' to promote their dance drama. However, Katrina had to back out of the project because she was busy shooting for 'Bharat'. Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Lizelle D'Souza and Krishan Kumar, the film is all set to hit the theatres on November 8. Apart from this film, Varun will also be seen in 'Kalank'. Meanwhile, Shraddha has three other films in her kitty including 'Saaho', 'Chhicchore', and Saina (Saina Nehwal's biopic). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United Kingdom along with other European nations, including Spain, France and Sweden, have recognised Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim President after embattled President Nicolas Maduro failed to announce fresh Presidential elections by Sunday. "Nicolas Maduro has not called Presidential elections within 8 day limit we have set. So UK alongside European allies now recognises @jguaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held. Let's hope this takes us closer to ending humanitarian crisis," Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted on Monday. . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi woke up to a thick fog on Monday, as a result of which train and flight schedules were hampered. As many as 27 trains coming into Delhi were delayed due to fog in Northern India. Furthermore, a number of flights at the Indira Gandhi International Airport were put on hold at the runway as visibility dipped severely. However, no flights were diverted or cancelled. In addition to inclement weather, poor air quality is also adding to the woes of locals in the capital and surrounding areas. According to SAFAR, Air Quality Index (AQI) at Delhi's Lodhi Road area saw major pollutants PM 2.5 and PM 10 docking in the 'poor' category at 206 and 216, respectively. An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 is marked as severe/hazardous. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) According to satellite imagery reported on by The Washington Post, Saudi Arabia is building its first factory to produce ballistic missiles. As Lobelog writes in an article "Saudi Arabias Missile Program", it is located at a missile base in al-Watah district, southwest of the capital of Riyadh. Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, argues that this development raises the possibility that Saudi Arabia is going to build longer-range missiles and seek nuclear weapons. Lewis adds, We may be underestimating their desire and their capabilities. The findings were further confirmed by Michael Elleman of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies and Joseph Bermudez of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. So far, neither the Saudi embassy in the United States nor the U.S. government has reacted to this development. The history of the Saudi missile program dates back to the 1980s when Saudi Air Force commander Prince Khalid Bin Sultan traveled to China to buy medium-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Since the fuel for these missiles was liquid, their ability was limited. At the time, Saudi Arabia was worried about missile threats from Saddam Hussein and also hoping to gain an edge over Iran. The United States did not oppose the purchase, since the CIA concluded that the missiles did not have the ability to carry nuclear warheads. In fact, the purchase of these missiles was carried out under the authority of George Bushs administration. Saudi Arabias current missile efforts are part of the ambitious security program of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS). Last year, MbS and former Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir both warned that the kingdom would seek nuclear weapons if Iran did the same. It is difficult to tell whether Saudi Arabia was preparing to go nuclear with its alleged new missiles, researchers Fabian Hinz and David Schmerler told Newsweek, because the exact model of the missiles is unknown. Hinz added, if you want to have nuclear weapons, in general, you also want to have the means to domestically build the delivery systems. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has been more open about its missile program. For instance, in 2010, Saudi Arabia opened a central office of missile defense in Riyadh. It wants to demonstrate its deterrent capabilities. It also wants to send a signal to Iran in particular of the consequences if Iran doesnt limit its own missile program. The rocket attacks on Riyadh by Yemens Houthis have also pushed Saudi Arabia to expand its missile program. The Saudis are worried that Iran could build a missile factory in Syria to equip Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen with advanced missiles. The other major reason behind the Saudi ballistic missile program is Riyadhs distrust of Washington. The widespread U.S. criticism of Saudi Arabia after the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi showed that Trump, who wants to maintain his close relationship with MbS, could not control the political environment in Washington. At the same time, Trump warned Saudi Arabia that the king would last two weeks without U.S. support. Given the growing fragility of U.S.-Saudi relations, Riyadh has decided to develop its nuclear and missile program even without American support. Kicking off this round of guest bloggers is Constance Lindsay, research associate at the Urban Institute. Constance previously served as a presidential management fellow at the U.S. Department of Education, and she was also responsible for implementing teacher evaluation and preparation legislation for DC Public Schools and the State of Delaware. Shell be talking about teacher diversity, teacher preparation, and school quality. The teaching profession in the United States faces several challenges, and Congress will have a chance to address some of these challenges through the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). Later today, Senator Lamar Alexander is releasing his proposal for HEA. As policymakers consider the proposal, they should remember that the HEA can be a driver of change for K-12 education. Title II of the Higher Education Act encompasses teacher preparation, accountability programs, and competitive grant programs that can be used to drive innovation. Title II currently requires state report cards, data collection/additional reporting, and state oversight of teacher preparation programs (typically relying on national accreditation organizations). Given those levers, here are three problems that retooling HEA could help solve: Diversity. Research has shown the need for a high quality, diverse teaching workforce. At the Urban Institute, our work has shown that minority serving institutions (MSIs) produce most of the nations teachers of color. Additional federal support could be provided to MSIs through existing grant programs. Because states and districts are more acutely aware of their own needs, the federal government should use Title II dollars to leverage Grow Your Own teacher preparation programs that seek to fill locally identified shortages. These types of programs rely mainly on clinical experiences to grow and develop teachers and tend to be more racially diverse than traditional teacher preparation programs. Using data from New York, a group of researchers found that teacher preparation that contained clinical practice led to better outcomes in the first year of teaching. In addition to supporting Grow Your Own programs, Title II can require states to include a clinical component as a requirement in traditional programs. This presents an opportunity for preparation programs to diversify the types of students that candidates interact with while they are preparing to be teachers. Data. The federal government collects data from teacher preparation programs that could be marshalled to help these programs meet the needs of their local communities. For example, states are required to report geographic and specialty shortage areas for loan forgiveness purposes. These are data that could be used to drive teacher preparation program creation. These data could also be made widely available to students in teacher preparation to help them make more informed major and career choices. Accountability. Several states, including New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Florida, have already been experimenting with changes to teacher preparation accountability, in part thanks to the Race to the Top competition. Race to the Top called for linking student outcomes to teacher preparation programs and made other changes to teacher preparation programs and licensure requirements. In addition, some states have pledged to report teacher preparation candidate scores on entrance examinations and performance assessments as a part of program accountability metrics. Programs have also pledged to increase entrance and exit requirements. The increased reliance on measurable metrics of teacher preparation will be a central part of teacher preparation reform for the foreseeable future. Research has indicated that there is as much variation in teacher outcomes within teacher preparation programs as there is between programs. Gary Henry and colleagues at UNC-Chapel Hill found large differences across several teacher preparation programs graduates eventual teacher effectiveness in a North Carolina sample of teachers and students. Therefore, states should continue to receive support to produce report cards for their educator preparation programs. Here also, the federal government could follow the lead of states that have increased accountability in terms of what types of preparation programs are added and what programs should close. Federal policy can also continue to provide resources that allow states to build on data systems that allow teacher preparation candidates to be linked to their eventual students achievement. Leveraging Title II to meet the challenges of the teaching profession should be a concern of policymakers as they continue to think about the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Constance Lindsay For voicing their concern against the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, 22 opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress (TMC), will visit the Election Commission on Monday. Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien said all opposition parties will go to the Election Commission against the use of EVMs in order to "save constitution and federal structure." "We have spoken to all opposition parties, we all will go forward. We have to save the Constitution, the country and the federal structure. Later today, all opposition parties will go to the Election Commission," the TMC leader told media here. Earlier on Friday, Opposition parties had announced that they would approach the ECI over the issue of alleged tampering of EVMs. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party's Satish Chandra Mishra, DMK's Kanimozhi, Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien, CPI's D Raja were among those who attended the meeting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Central Crime Station (CCS) police on Sunday arrested two students following a complaint registered by YSR Congress Party leader Y S Sharmila. Earlier on January 25, YSR Congress president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's sister YS Sharmila had lodged a complaint with Hyderabad Police Commissioner seeking action against those trying to defame her by spreading rumours on social media. The two accused, who were apprehended by police, have been identified as an MCA student Peddishetty Venkat from Guntur and A Naveen from Mancheryal District. "Some unknown people defamed me before 2014 elections by spreading fake rumours that I am having a relationship. Again, some people are trying to defame me on social media. I want to accuse Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of defaming and spreading fake rumours against me. They are happy in assassinating my character. Earlier also TDP has spread rumours against my father YS Rajashekar Reddy. The accused should be punished. I have requested the police commissioner to take action on the persons who are responsible. Commissioner assured me that they will take proper action," Y S Sharmila said while speaking to media persons after she lodged a complaint into the matter. Speaking to ANI over the phone, Additional DCP, Cyber Crimes Hyderabad, Raghuveer said: " We have registered a case under Section 67 IT Act and 509 IPC on unknown persons. We are investigating the case and will find the accused persons who are intentionally defaming YS Sharmila over social media and posting fake videos on YouTube. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) on Monday observed a "Bihar Bandh" to protest against the police lathi-charge on party chief Upendra Kushwaha and other political leaders during its "peaceful" Jan Akrosh Rally. Scores of RLSP leaders and workers held marches across the state while holding aloft placards and party flags. Armed with lathis (sticks), the workers raised slogans against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and called him "dictator". "During the peaceful Jan Akrosh rally on Saturday under the leadership of our chief Upendra Kushwaha, the police on the direction of the dictator Nitish Kumar's government tried to kill Kushwaha. He and various other leaders were severely injured that is the reason we are protesting today, " said RLSP General Secretary Santosh Kumar in Gaya. Various "Grand-Alliance" partners, including Telugu Desam Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal, have also extended support to the bandh call. "I want to thank various grand alliance partners for coming forward and supporting us," Kumar added. On Saturday, RLSP protesters while marching toward the Raj Bhavan to demand educational reforms in Bihar were subject to baton charge. Several protesters were injured and many were detained during the violent protest. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Its festive time for Mumbaikars as the city is celebrating 20 years of creativity in the true spirit. Joining in the celebration is Pearl Academy - India's premier institute of design, fashion, and media. By virtue of Pearl's vow to creativity, students have created a large installation epitomizing this year's theme of celebration of 20 years of Kala Ghoda Festival. Titled "By Mumbai" - City as an author, is an 8 feet by 8 feet tall wooden structure encompassing 90 books with different themes associated with Mumbai such as - Shivaji Park, Ladies Local, City's Smell, My Passion, Bhau, Volo etc. The idea is to make every visitor share their story on the theme of their choice and create 90 different books by Mumbaikars. The first day of the Kala Ghoda Art Festival saw an overwhelming response. Demonstrating their true spirit, Mumbaikars from different age groups and in full force were drawn towards this installation to write their story. The best story gets to win an Amazon gift voucher worth Rs. 2000. Pearl Academy has been participating in the Kala Ghoda Fest for the last five years providing a perfect experience and exposure of creativity to its students. The grand installation that depicts talent, teamwork, collaboration and creativity was given shape over a period of two weeks by over 150 students of Pearl Academy Mumbai campus. 9 year old visitor, Priyansh who loved the idea said "These books let you write your feelings without hanging on to your worries. My favourite book is My Fears as I could pen down things that I fear about." 65 year old Seema said "I am so excited to be here. I have never seen something so creative. I feel every Mumbaikar should come and share their story." Karishma Diwan, student from foundation course who worked on the installation very excitedly puts it "Working on the installation felt great. We have put in all our efforts to create something that the people of Mumbai will remember even after the festival is over. It makes me feel so proud that I am a Pearlite." The 10 day Kala Ghoda exhibition ends on February 10, 2019. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Pashtun Council Canada on Sunday held protests in Mississauga to condemn the killing of Arman Lonri, a prominent member of the Pashtun movement, and other Pashtun activists by the Pakistan state agency. Speaking to the media, a member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement said, "We have gathered here to express our anger over the killing of human rights activist Arman Lonri, a prominent leader and member of our movement, along with the injustice done to thousands of Pashtuns by the Pakistani state apparatus, who continue to arrest people and put them in private jails, not even in state jails." Pashtun Tahafuz Movement started a year ago, whereby a number of young individuals gathered together to demand the release of the missing people (those detained by the Pakistan government), including their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, the party member noted. "But instead of listening to their demands and grievances, the Pakistan government started killing and imprisoning the leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement," he added. "Therefore, we Pashtuns from all around the world, demand an international inquiry into such atrocities. We want the international community and the human rights organisations to initiate this process and force Pakistan to rearrange their policies and change its behaviour towards our civil rights demands. We want the state to stop terrorising and doing civilian atrocities on our soil," the person said. Reiterating the same demand, a member of the Sindhi Congress, present at the protest, stated, "We are here today in solidarity with the Pashtun Council Canada, which is protesting against the murder of Lonri and other innocent Pashtuns by the Pakistan state agency. Such atrocities have been going on in Pakistan since the last 70 years, with the Balochs, Sindhis, and Bangladeshis." A Balochistan National Party member said, "We are together with our Pashtun brothers, sharing their grief. We will continue to raise our voice against the termination of civil rights by Pakistan and urge the state to stop the extrajudicial killings. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than half of hospitals in Indonesia have adopted products of Paramount Bed, one of the top makers of nursing beds in Japan. Paramount Bed Indonesia is known as the famous nursing bed maker that contributes in various fields, especially medical and nursing care, not only by providing products but also by developing worker's skill. K-House is the second showroom of Paramount Bed Indonesia opened in 2016. Paramount Bed Indonesia started producing its product since 1995 and has been contributing in many sectors in Indonesia, especially medical for more than 20 years. At present, besides the hospitals in Indonesia, there is increasing demand for nursing beds for private use too. Indonesia has one of the fastest increasing populations in the world, along with a rising number of aged people year by year at the same time. "In recent years, many customers are using the nursing bed at home. Indonesia has a large population of youth in comparison to Japan, however, we can expect an increase in the population of old people in the future. Paramount Bed is the top maker of nursing bed in Japan. We would like to develop and produce a lot of better products for Indonesia by know-how from Japan," Director of Paramount Bed Indonesia Takayuki Kitajima said. "We would like to continue to produce a better and higher quality of product and want to appeal our 'Made in Indonesia product' to the world. We, Paramount Bed Indonesia will do the best with the growth of country of Indonesia. The long term of contribution to the medical field through Japanese technology continue to support and stand by people in Indonesia," Kitajima added. Products which are produced in the domestic factories are displayed so that the customers who need these products for private or hospital use can have time to check and try them with the guidance of reliable staff. "We would like to contribute to better house care treatment, especially for patients. Using regular bed at home for a patient is not quite comfortable for the house care treatment. We would like to provide a better way of treatment for the patient through our products," said Sovina Ekananda Putri from Paramount Bed Indonesia. Paramount Indonesia, once in a year, hosts a seminar in K-house based on the theme of "Patient Safety" to introduce the latest know-how and help to develop skills for nurses in Indonesia. The speaker, at this year's seminar was an expert in medical care from Japan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday claimed to have arrested a JeM operative for his alleged involvement in a terror attack on CRPF Group Centre in Lethpora village in Pulwama district. The arrested JeM operative has been identified as Fayaz Ahmad Magray. "Accused Fayaz will be produced in the Special NIA Court, Jammu, and will seek his custody for further investigation and unearthing of the larger conspiracy," said NIA in a statement on Monday. "NIA on Monday arrested accused Fayaz Ahmad Magray, son of late Jalalludin Magray, resident of village Lethpora, Police Station Awantipora, District Pulwama, Jammu & Kashmir, in case RC No. 10/2018/NIA/DLI (attack on CRPF Group Centre, Lethpora)," said the investigation agency. A terrorist attack on CRPF Group Centre, Lethpora, was carried out in the intervening night of December 30-31, 2017 by three terrorists of proscribed terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). During investigation by NIA, the three terrorists were identified as Fardeen Ahmad Khandey, son of Ghulam Mohideen Khandey, resident of Nazeempora, Tral, Pulwama district, Manzoor Baba, son of Ali Mohammad Baba, resident of Drubgam, Pulwama, and a Pakistani terrorist, namely, Abdul Shakoor, resident of Rawalakot area of PoK. All the three terrorists were killed in the encounter. In this attack, five CRPF personnel were martyred and three were grievously injured. NIA said that arrested accused Fayaz Ahmad Magray is an active over ground worker (OGW) of proscribed terrorist organisation JeM. "He is a key conspirator who provided logistical support such as providing shelter to the terrorists and conducting reconnaissance of the CRPF Group centre, Lethpora before the terrorist attack," said the central agency. "In 2001 also, he was detained under Public Safety Act (PSA) by Jammu and Kashmir Police and he remained under detention for 16 months," NIA further said in the statement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nepal has started the procurement process to launch railway services from Janakpur in Nepal to Jayanagar in India, for which Indian companies have been approached. The Government of Nepal had, on January 13, gave a go-ahead for the procurement process following which the Department of Railways, under the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, started preparations for the purchase of rails. "The Department has sent proposals to Indian government companies towards that end, and some of them have responded to the proposals," the state news agency RSS reported. Though the Government of Nepal allocated NRs 500 million for the purchase of two trains for the service, the Department has stated that at least NRs 1.5 billion would be required for the purchase of rails. The newly upgraded railway line between Nepal and India would cover a total distance of 35 kilometres in the first phase, for which the trial has already been carried out. The total length of the Bardibas-Janakpur-Jayanagar-Kurtha-Bijayapura is 69 kilometres. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is suffering from kidney stone and a medical board will determine the procedure to be adopted on the jailed Pakistani leader. Dawn quoted an official at the Services hospital as saying that the CT scan and ultrasound reports of Sharif had detected a stone in his left kidney. A medical panel would examine the test reports and prescribe appropriate medicines and further medical procedures, the official added. On January 24, a special board had suggested the Punjab government shift the 69-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart, who has been serving seven years of a prison sentence in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore after indictment under graft charges, to the Services Hospital amid grounds of his deteriorating health. Meanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan has said that Sharif will be sent back to jail once his health improves. "He is being provided with the best facilities in every way. He has also been given his favourite dishes in jail," the minister added. On Saturday, the deposed prime minister was shifted from Kot Lakhpat prison to the hospital where he was examined by a three-member medical board. On January 28, the Islamabad High Court adjourned the hearing on a bail plea of Sharif on medical grounds till February 6. The plea was filed by Sharif's lawyer Khawaja Harris. Sharif, in the plea, also requested that the seven years prison sentence announced on him by the accountability court in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case be suspended until a decision is announced on his appeal against the jail term. His plea has been fixed for hearing on February 18. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A district court on Friday issued a death warrant against a school teacher convicted of raping a 4-year-old girl at Satna in Madhya Pradesh. Mahendra Singh Gond was awarded a death sentence by the lower court and the decision was upheld by the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Saturday. "The convict can appeal before the Supreme Court or the President, but if he does not, he will be hanged in Jabalpur Central Jail at 5 am on March 2," Public Relation Officer of the court said. Gond was arrested for allegedly raping a 4-year-old girl on the night of July 1, 2018, in Parsamnia of Uchehra police station area. A day after the incident, the-then collector Mukesh Shukla, had spoken to former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan the victim was airlifted and admitted to AIIMS in Delhi. Within 81 days of the incident, the police acted quickly and the court gave the verdict after 47 days of hearings. AfterGond was found guilty of raping the minor, Additional Sessions Judge DineshSharma of the district court based in Nagod sentenced him to death on September 19, 2018. The MadhyaPradesh High Court rejected the appeal of the accused and retained the execution on January 25. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Recent talks over disputed territory may not have ended in a definite deal, but this might only be the beginning of a new relationship, Artyom Lukin writes in an article "Russia and Japan: a deal is still possible", published by Policy Forum. In recent months, the long-standing and seemingly intractable territorial dispute between Russia and Japan over the southern Kuril Islands or the Northern Territories as the Japanese prefer to call it has shown potential for positive change. Some observers now speak of a window of opportunity to finally normalise relations between the two neighbours who are yet to agree on a peace treaty since the end of World War II. The current activity in Russia-Japan talks is mostly due to a major change in Tokyos position. The Japanese government had for decades demanded that the Soviet Union/Russia return to Japan all the four disputed islands Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and the group of Habomai islets. But in November 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Singapore, agreed to negotiate on the basis of the Soviet-Japan Joint Declaration signed in Moscow in 1956. The significance of the move is that the 1956 declaration only mentions the two smaller islands Shikotan and Habomai that the Soviet Union agreed to transfer to Japan after conclusion of a peace treaty. Even though Abe never explicitly said so, his consent to proceed from the 1956 declaration implies that Japan has given up on the two big islands which between them comprise of as much as 93 per cent of the disputed territory. Abes logic is clear. Russia has been holding the islands since 1945 the longer it controls them, the less likely it is they will ever return to Japan. Moscow has always been adamant in its rejection of the four islands claim by Japan. That said, ever since Putin became president in 2000, he has been consistent that Russia still respects the 1956 declaration that calls for the cession of the two smaller islands to Japan. Tokyo apparently understands that Putins successor may not support even such a modest concession by Russia. In Singapore, Putin and Abe agreed to accelerate the peace treaty talks and the two have since met twice more in Buenos Aires and Moscow. There have also been talks at the level of foreign ministers and vice ministers. So far very few substantive details have been revealed about the content and progress of the talks, which is understandable given that the issue involves a possible territorial compromise and is already arousing intense nationalistic emotions in both countries. In the current negotiations, it is Moscow that has the upper hand, as Russia has control over the islands and there is no compelling reason for the Kremlin to rush for a deal. Putin is willing, in principle, to transfer the two smaller islands to Japan, but, as he himself repeatedly made clear, this can only happen under certain conditions. So far Moscow has been quite vague, at least in public, about what exactly those terms should be. One constant refrain from Russian officials has been that Japan must fully recognise the outcomes of the Second World War. This essentially means that Tokyo has to admit that the Soviet Union legally took possession of the southern Kurils from the defeated aggressor, Japan, and now has legitimate sovereignty over them. Such recognition implies that concluding a peace treaty with Japan is not about Russia returning some territories that, according to the Japanese view, it illegitimately occupied by force of arms in 1945, but it is about Russia transferring part of its sovereign territory as a magnanimous gesture of goodwill toward Japan. It goes without saying this will be hard for Tokyo to swallow. Another category of Russian demands involves political-military issues. There is a concern in Russia that, after their hypothetical handover to Japan, Shikotan and Habomai could be used for deployment of Japanese or, even worse, American military facilities. Such concerns may be overblown. Shikotan and Habomai are actually of little strategic significance. Unlike Iturup and Kunashir, they dont guard the straits into the Sea of Okhotsk. Still, any prospect of establishing military facilities on ceded territory, even if they dont make much strategic sense, would be humiliating for the Kremlin. Moscow needs some form of assurance from Japan that the islands will not be militarised. Abe has reportedly agreed to provide such assurances. Finally, there is an economic dimension. Albeit comprising just 7 per cent of the disputed territory, Shikotan and Habomai, marked on Russian maps as the Little Kuril Chain, are still a material piece of landmass totalling 361 square kilometres. On top of that, theres a 200-mile exclusive economic zone around them in the Pacific Ocean with rich fishing grounds. Shikotan has roughly 3,000 permanent civilian residents and accommodates two large fish-processing factories belonging to private Russian companies. Issues of financial compensation obviously need to be worked out. More than that, in exchange for its generous gesture of ceding the islands to Japan, Moscow may expect similar generosity from Tokyo, such as spending massive sums on creating and modernising much-needed infrastructure in the Russian Far East. One way to tackle this might be the creation of a special Russian-Japanese fund with Tokyo providing the bulk of the capital for investments in building roads, bridges, airports, energy grids, and other vital infrastructure in Russias eastern regions. With a stagnant economy, Russia cannot afford vast investments needed to overcome the backwardness of its Far East. Despite Moscows embrace of Beijings Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese are in no rush to spend money on infrastructure in Russia. Making a grand bargain with Japan may be the only realistic chance for cash-strapped Russia to upgrade its Far East. And, as Southeast Asians can attest, the quality of Japanese infrastructure investments is reliably high. Some observers express doubts over whether Moscow is serious about pursuing a genuine deal with Tokyo. According to this narrative, perfidious and calculating Putin is playing naive Abe, dangling the prospect of a territorial compromise to extract economic benefits from Japan and drive a wedge in the US-Japan alliance. However, the incumbent Japanese leader is hardly a naive simpleton who can be easily manipulated even by a Machiavellian Putin. Abe, who is set to become Japans longest-serving prime minister, is himself the ultimate political beast. The fact that the latest Abe-Putin meeting in Moscow on 22 January produced no public announcements of substantial progress does not necessarily mean that the talks are already doomed. Russias maximalist demands toward Japan such as Tokyos full recognition of the war outcomes as well as suggestions that Japan must revise its alliance with the US follow normal bargaining rules of opening negotiations with the highest asking price. Putin acting as the good cop with his aides playing the bad cops in negotiations with the Japanese is also a well-known tactic. If Japan agrees to drop demands for Iturup and Kunashir, provides Russia with some assurance to refrain from militarisation of Shikotan and Habomai, and commits to substantial infusions of Japanese capital into Russian economy and infrastructure, Moscow is likely to accept such a deal. For its part, Russia could offer Japanese citizens and businesses privileged access to Iturup and Kunashir, including fishing rights in the surrounding waters. If Moscow and Tokyo find mutually acceptable diplomatic formulas and reach a package deal, they will still face the challenge of securing domestic support for it. According to polls, only 17 per cent of Russians currently support making territorial concessions to Japan. To complicate things further, Putins approval ratings have been sliding down lately, reflecting discontent over the bleak economic situation and the raise in the retirement age. In such circumstances, the Russian leadership might be cautious about ceding literally any ground to Tokyo. That said, Putin remains the nations paramount leader with great authority and could decide to go against the domestic headwinds if he is convinced that a grand bargain with Japan is in Russias national interest. In any case, the Kremlin controls a powerful and efficient media machine that can sell the deal to the Russian public. It remains to be seen whether Putin and Abe will manage to steer the negotiations to a successful end and conclude a peace treaty, solving the long-running territorial problem. But there is certainly a window of opportunity, even if only half-open. The Congress' Mahila wing will on Monday file a complaint at the BKC Cyber Crime Police Station here for a 'malicious' online campaign against newly-appointed general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. "As we are witnessing that the entry of Priyanka Gandhi in has led to BJP leaders making misogynistic comments but since past few days a derogatory thread against her physical appearance is being unleashed into social media which is completely unacceptable," read a statement from the Mahila Congress. Last month, Priyanka was appointed as Congress party's general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh, an important battleground in general elections. Since then, she has been targeted by several leaders of the BJP. Surendra Singh a BJP legislator, had last week called Congress president Rahul Gandhi as "Raavan" and Priyanka as "Surpanakha"- the demons from Hindu epic Ramayana. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra cabinet on Monday approved the centre's scheme of 10 per cent reservation to the economically weaker section among the general category in government jobs and educational institutions across the state. With this, Maharashtra has become seventh state after Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam to have approved the bill to implement the reservation. The Parliament recently passed the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019, approving a 10 percent reservation for economically backward upper castes in government jobs. The Maharashtra state Assembly, in November, had passed a Bill proposing 16 per cent reservation under Socially and Educationally Backward Class, paving way for reservation to Marathas in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iraqi President Barham Salih on Monday said that Washington needs to seek permission before prioritising its own plans, in response to United States President Donald Trump's comment on stationing armed forces in Iraq to keep a "close watch on Iran". "Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues," Salih told the media, while adding, "The US is a major power ... but do not pursue your own policy priorities, we live here." "It is of fundamental interest for Iraq to have good relations with Iran" Salih noted, Al Jazeera reported. During an interview with the CBS News on Sunday, ahead of the Super Bowl, Trump noted, "Well, we spent a fortune on building this incredible base. We might as well keep it. And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem." "We're going to keep watching and we're going to keep seeing and if there's trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we're going to know it before they do," he added. Salih, while addressing a forum in Baghdad, said the US armed forces were stationed in the country as part of an agreement between the two countries with an aim to erase terrorism from the region. Trump informed CBS News that the withdrawal of troops has been initiated from the region, with only around 2,000 troops remaining in Syria, who are further engaged in pushing out the "final remainder of the caliphate." While paying a visit to the US forces in Iraq, last year in December, Trump had announced his plans of withdrawing troops from Syria, as well as from Afghanistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vedanta Ltd said on Monday that its foreign unit Cairn India Holdings Limited's investment in Anglo American Plc meets all governance requirements. "Cairn's investment in Anglo American Plc met all governance standards and was made on an arm's length basis in December 2018. It had been valued by an independent valuer and approved by boards of both Cairn India and Vedanta," said Vedanta in a statement. "This was voluntarily and transparently disclosed in the December quarter results. We remain committed at all times to act in the interest of all shareholders and look forward to continued engagement with them," said the firm. Volcan Investments Limited (Volcan) and Vedanta Resources Limited, the parent companies of Vedanta Limited, holding more than 50 per cent, have played a significant role in shaping and building Vedanta Limited businesses in a visionary and entrepreneurial manner, said the statement. Volcan owns a 21 per cent stake (voting interest) in Anglo American Plc, a globally diversified mining that comprises of De Beers (largest diamond producer), copper, platinum and other precious metals, iron ore, coal, and nickel. Cairn India Holdings Limited (CIHL) is an overseas subsidiary of Vedanta Limited. Vedanta's statement comes days after its shares plunged on Friday, as investors were sceptical of the merits of the investment and questioned the potential returns. Cairn was offered the opportunity by Volcan to invest some of its surplus cash resources in a structured investment representing the economic interest in the upside potential of about 24.71 million shares. The structure provides significantly higher returns compared to other overseas cash management investments that would typically return around 2 per cent. The investment now has full capital and downside protection to ensure that the interests of Vedanta Limited shareholders' are protected, said the Vedanta statement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said states should function keeping President's Rule in mind, in light of the developments in West Bengal. "It will be best if states function under the ambit of the Constitution, else they should keep Article 356 (President's rule) in mind," Singh told ANI. A face-off between the Mamata Banerjee government and the Centre erupted on Sunday after a CBI team moved to arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar at his residence in Kolkata. The team was later unceremoniously denied entry to Kolkata Police chief's residence and then detained. Escalating her confrontation with the Centre, Banerjee started a sit-in to protest, in what her Trinamool Congress party called a "coup" by the Modi government. Meanwhile, TMC leader Saugata Roy demanded an answer from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the ongoing turmoil in West Bengal. "Satyagraha by West Bengal Chief Minister is against the misuse of CBI by the central government. We strongly protest against the CBI and BJP leadership led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah who have damaged the constitutional structure. The Prime Minister should answer in the House," Roy said in Lok Sabha on Monday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav are slated to visit West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is on her "Save the Constitution" dharna for nearly twelve hours amid the ongoing faceoff between the Kolkata Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Meanwhile, the investigative agency is set to approach the Supreme Court on the matter, alleging "non-cooperation" by Kolkata Police. Also, a high-level delegation comprising Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajya Sabha MP Bhupender Yadav, vice president of BJP S. S. Ahluwalia, and Anil Baluni are slated to visit the Election Commission over the midnight drama that unfolded in West Bengal. A full-blown showdown between the West Bengal government and the Centre erupted as a CBI team moved to arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. The CBI team was unceremoniously denied entry to Kolkata Police chief's residence and then detained. Escalating her confrontation with the Centre, Banerjee started a sit-in protest last night against the Narendra Modi government's "coup". Extending support to Mamata, Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers staged a 'rail roko protest' in Rishra and Asansol over the ongoing issue. TMC cadre also burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Modi in Asansol. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ministry of Home Affairs is seeking a report on the role of IPS officers on "obstructing investigation and violation of Service Conduct Rules" in Kolkata on Sunday, sources said. MHA sources also said that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called up West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to be apprised of the facts of the "unfortunate and unprecedented situation" of CBI officials being "manhandled, intimidated and obstructed" in the state. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had reportedly received information that CBI officers in Kolkata had experienced intimidation and threat to personal safety in the course of investigation into the Saradha scam. "Reports were also received that the residence of Joint Director, CBI was surrounded by Kolkata police. Ministry of Home Affairs, thereafter, took action to deploy Central Armed Police Forces at the office and residential premises of CBI in Kolkata," sources claimed. Thereafter, Rajnath reportedly called up Keshari Nath Tripathi to be "apprised of the facts of the unfortunate and unprecedented situation of officers of a Central Investigating Agency being manhandled, detained, intimidated and obstructed." Sources further stated that the West Bengal Governor "apprised Union Home Minister that he had summoned Chief Secretary and Director General of Police and asked them to take immediate action to resolve the situation." MHA is said to be closely monitoring the situation.A 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre, Kumar was heading a SIT on the Saradha and Rose Valley scams. The CBI wanted the top officer to hand over the seizure list made during his probe, sources said. Reportedly, the top cop was to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he is not responding to notices to appear before the agency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of plotting a coup, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar continue to sit on 'Save the Constitution' dharna even after midnight here at Metro Channel.A full-blown face-off between West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee government and the Centre erupted as a CBI team moved to arrest Kumar, which in turn were unceremoniously denied entry to Kolkata Police chief's residence and then detained. Escalating her confrontation with the Centre, Banerjee started a sit-in on Sunday night to protest, in what her Trinamool Congress party called a "coup" by the Modi government. Extending support to Mamata, her party workers also staged a 'rail roko protest' in Rishra and Asansol over the ongoing issue. The TMC workers have also burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Asansol. CBI interim director M Nageshwar Rao has said that the CBI will approach the Supreme Court on Monday accusing the Bengal government of impeding the investigation of a court-ordered probe into the chit fund scams. The CBI officials are also planning to meet state Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, however, the investigative agency has sought some time from him to discuss the matter. While speaking to ANI, Rao alleged that the state Police Commissioner had hampered evidence in the chit fund scam and the CBI has evidence to prove the same."We are contacting our senior law officers about the Kolkata incident. Whatever they suggest will be followed. We are investigating these chit fund cases as per the directions of the Supreme Court. A SIT has been constituted by the West Bengal government prior to Supreme Court's direction under the chairmanship of Rajeev Kumar, who is currently the Kolkata police commissioner," he told ANI."They have taken charge of all the evidence, seized all the documents. They have not been cooperating with us in handing over all the documents and a lot of evidence has been destroyed or caused to disappear," Rao added.All the five CBI officers who were detained by police at Shakespeare Sarani police station in Kolkata have been released.Several Opposition leaders including Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagan president MK Stalin came together to support Mamata Banerjee. Congress president Rahul Gandhi also extend his support to TMC supremo stating that what is happening in Bengal is a part of the unrelenting attack on India's institutions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. "I spoke with Mamata Di tonight and told her we stand shoulder to shoulder with her. The happenings in Bengal are a part of the unrelenting attack on India's institutions by Mr Modi & the BJP. The entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces." the Congress chief wrote on his Twitter handle. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray took to his Twitter handle and applauded Mamata for her 'save democracy' stand. "We applaud and support the stand taken by Mamta Banerjee against the autocracy and tyranny of the Central government. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena firmly stands behind her and the fight against this tyranny, " he wrote. Rajeev Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre was heading a SIT on the Saradha and Rose Valley scams. The CBI wanted the top officer to hand over the seizure list made during his probe, sources said.Reportedly, the top cop was to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he is not responding to notices to appear before the agency.Rajeev Kumar, according to media reports, became apprehensive of his arrest after Bengali film producer Shrikant Mohita was taken into custody. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The will address a press conference on Tuesday over the ongoing tussle between the and state Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, said Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries Babul Supriyo. Speaking to ANI, Babul said, "Rajiv has earlier headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the CBI has the proof that he had tampered electronic and paper evidence in the chit fund scam. All papers state that Rajeev has been absconding and not cooperating with the CBI. The CBI has a right to conduct surprise raids because warrant may breach secrecy," he added. The Union Minister earlier took the and wrote, "The desperation & fear of the TMC & are clearly visible in this decision. The state govt is trying 2 block every programme of BJP, be it a rally, yatra or the landing of Yogi Adityanath Ji's chopper. This shows the undemocratic attitude of the government." A full-blown face-off between government and the Centre erupted as a CBI team moved to arrest Kumar, which in turn were unceremoniously denied entry to chief's residence and then detained. Escalating her confrontation with the Centre, Banerjee started a sit-in on Sunday night to protest, in what her Trinamool Congress party called a "coup" by the Extending support to Mamata, her party workers also staged a 'rail roko protest' in Rishra and Asansol over the ongoing issue. The TMC workers have also burnt an effigy of Prime Minister in Asansol. CBI interim director M Nageshwar Rao has said that the CBI will approach the on Monday accusing the Bengal government of impeding the investigation of a court-ordered probe into the chit fund scams. Rajeev Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of cadre was heading a SIT on the Saradha and Rose Valley scams. The CBI wanted the top officer to hand over the seizure list made during his probe, sources said.Reportedly, the top cop was to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he is not responding to notices to appear before the agency.Rajeev Kumar, according to media reports, became apprehensive of his arrest after Bengali film producer Shrikant Mohita was taken into custody. Taking a dig at the Opposition, Defence Minister said that when the Central Bureau of Investigation does its job, the opposition parties call it a political vendetta and when it doesn't, they call it a caged parrot. Addressing a press conference here on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, the Defence Minister said, "The CBI has got to do its job or not? When CBI does its job, the opposition parties call it a political vendetta, when it doesn't, they call it a caged parrot. Let them make up their (Opposition) minds." Targeting the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for hampering the CBI investigation in chit fund scam involving state police commissioner Rajiv Kumar, Sitharaman stated that the Opposition needs to make up its mind about CBI and its operations. A full-blown face-off between West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee government and the Centre erupted as a CBI team moved to arrest Kumar on Sunday, which in turn were unceremoniously denied entry to Kolkata Police chief's residence and then detained. Escalating her confrontation with the Centre, Banerjee started a sit-in on Sunday night to protest, in what her Trinamool Congress party called a "coup" by the The Defence Minister further stated that the BJP will move the against government for denying permission to conduct rally by Yogi Adityanath. "The TMC is worried about the growing popularity of the BJP in and this state is now turning out to be a difficult place for BJP workers in the state," she added. Extending support to Mamata, her party workers also staged a 'rail roko protest' in Rishra and Asansol over the ongoing issue. The TMC workers have also burnt an effigy of Prime Minister in Asansol. CBI interim director M Nageshwar Rao has said that the CBI will approach the on Monday accusing the Bengal government of impeding the investigation of a court-ordered probe into the chit fund scams. The CBI officials are also planning to meet state Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, however, the investigative agency has sought some time from him to discuss the matter. While speaking to ANI, Rao alleged that the state police commissioner had hampered evidence in the chit fund scam and the CBI has evidence to prove the same. All the five CBI officers who were detained by police at Shakespeare Sarani police station in Kolkata have been released. Several Opposition leaders including Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagan president MK came together to support Mamata Banerjee. Congress president also extend his support to TMC supremo stating that what is happening in Bengal is a part of the unrelenting attack on India's institutions by Prime Minister and the BJP. "I spoke with Mamata Di tonight and told her we stand shoulder to shoulder with her. The happenings in Bengal are a part of the unrelenting attack on India's institutions by Mr Modi and the BJP. The entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces." the Congress chief wrote on his Twitter handle. I spoke with Mamata Di tonight and told her we stand shoulder to shoulder with her. The happenings in Bengal are a part of the unrelenting attack on Indias institutions by Mr Modi & the BJP. The entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces. (@RahulGandhi) February 3, 2019 Rajeev Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre was heading a SIT on the Saradha and Rose Valley scams. The CBI wanted the top officer to hand over the seizure list made during his probe, sources said. Reportedly, the top cop was to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but he is not responding to notices to appear before the agency. Rajeev Kumar, according to media reports, became apprehensive of his arrest after Bengali film producer Shrikant Mohita was taken into custody. Another meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers is planned this month. The upcoming talks between Elmar Mammadyarov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan are expected to discover unsolved intrigues of the previous four-hour discussions in Paris. The parties share the optimism about taking the negotiation process forward, as evidenced by consultations in preparation for the summit. If the summit is held, it will be the first peaceful meeting of the leaders of the conflicting states for many years, since in the past 10 years, the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders hastily met only after another armed clash on the contact line. The very fact of the negotiation process suggests that the parties have proposals, which are currently being analyzed and adjusted. Baku is ready to cooperate with Yerevan in the process of creating conditions for peace, security and stability in the entire South Caucasus region. Azerbaijan is ready to contribute to Armenia's economic growth, if Yerevan does not consider a solution to the Karabakh conflict to the detriment of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Baku hopes that the new Armenian leadership's desire to find common ground will not become another populist rhetoric. Baku is interested in a stable partner and neighbor. The Karabakh settlement opens up prospects for creating the energy triangle of Armenia-Iran-Azerbaijan. Several projects that were originally supposed to be implemented with Armenia's participation were reoriented towards Azerbaijan due to the fact that Baku was able to offer Tehran more favorable conditions. At the same time, energy communications are able to use Armenia's energy potential, including its nuclear and thermal power engineering, ensuring energy security for its entire industrial and business sector. The preparation for the Aliyev - Pashinyan summit points to the fact that the leaders of the two countries will be able to present solutions that appear positive to them. Taking into account the fact that the Karabakh conflict is of fundamental importance both for Baku and Yerevan, the parties try not to undermine each other's prestige. Many drew attention to the fact that upon his return from the CIS summit in Dushanbe, Nikol Pashinyan said that "Ilham Aliyev gave the impression of being an educated man." The Azerbaijani leadership, in turn, notes that the new Yerevan government is a politically more stable force capable of negotiating. For this reason, the phrase "prepare the population for peace" should be considered in the sense that mutual concessions are possible in the Karabakh conflict settlement and they are being coordinated at the moment. As for the principles of conflict resolution, the most effective is the 'road map' draft, which was presented at a meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Kazan in 2011. It provides for the de-occupation of the occupied areas, as well as a special corridor in Lachin region to provide communication between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. As for the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh, its definition is impossible without taking into account the opinion of the Azerbaijani community living in Karabakh. In any case, it will be possible to determine the future status after the transition period, during which all displaced people will be able to return home. Only in this case will it be appropriate to discuss the issue of whether to maintain the former administrative border of the former Karabakh autonomy. Finally, a noticeable revival of the talks suggests that the parties consider the need for mutually beneficial initiatives aimed at realizing the region's trading potential in view of the rapidly changing global economic environment. The South Caucasian countries spend billions of dollars on armaments each year, although the region is already oversaturated with weapons. In the modern world, bilateral interstate relations are increasingly replaced by a new international cooperation. Participants in this format are not just states and intergovernmental organizations, but also non-governmental organizations, as well as regions. Therefore, the settlement of existing conflicts will help the entire South Caucasus not to be vulnerable to relations with the outside world in the future. 10 people lost their lives while dozens were injured after a car bomb exploded at a crowded mall in the business district of Hamarweyne here on Monday. Terrorist group Al-Shabaab, which is affiliated to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the heinous attack. "The explosion rattled windows of nearby buildings," CNN quoted a witness as saying. The death toll is expected to rise as search and rescue efforts continue. Meanwhile, a few of the victims, who are receiving medical attention have been grievously injured. The terror group has previously staged attacks which killed 52 people and injured a 100 in November last year, amongst other strikes. This is the group's second attack in 2019. 21 people lost their lives when members belonging to the terrorist outfit laid siege at the DusitD2 compound in Nairobi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is committed to ensuring holistic development and progress of Muslim community, said Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Sunday. Speaking at a seminar 'Muslim Issues With The Government' organised by the Vidarbha Muslim Intellectual Forum here, Gadkari said "The BJP never discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, sex, religion and language. If there is an issue then we all need to corporate and communicate so that those problems get resolved at earliest," he added. "I know that education is a need for the development of the Muslim community. Also, we need to empower the Muslim women by giving them equal rights," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Auto component industry professionals will converge here with the latest after-market advancements at the fourth edition of ACMA Automechanika that kicks off on February 14. More than 500 companies and trusted brands are expected to showcase an array of solutions in automotive parts and components, electronics and systems, accessories and customising, repair and maintenance, management and digital solutions and car wash, care and reconditioning. Recognised as one of the most influential events for the after-market globally, ACMA Automechanika New Delhi is one of 17 Automechanika fairs held across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. With the rapid growth in vehicle parc and new launches on the anvil, India's automotive after-market is gearing up with solutions that are both innovative and enduing. The auto component industry which had an annual turnover 51.2 billion dollars in 2017-18 is expected to cross 200 billion dollars by 2026. Digitisation of manufacturing operations and investing in technologies such as PLM and simulation are set to be crucial differentiators in making companies globally competitive and cater to the emerging needs of next-generation automobiles in wake of the e-vehicles revolution and connected mobility mega-trends. The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) will host a conference along with International Purchasing Office (IPOs) Forum on after-market global trends and opportunities on February 15. Besides, Messe Frankfurt India will host a seminar focused on enabling the Indian auto component industry to embrace Industry 4.0. It has been conceptualised with German tech-giant Siemens as the knowledge partner. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 15,000 members of the All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) staged a demonstration here on Monday opposing the proposed merger of Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank and Bank of Baroda. They also demanded scrapping of New Pension Scheme (NPS) and restoration of the Defined Pension Scheme. AIBOC General Secretary Soumya Datta said the employees are against the decision of Catholic Syrian Bank to reduce retirement age from 60 years to 58. The confederation also opposes the merger of regional rural banks. "The merger plan of regional rural banks is condemnable with no perceptible gains to the economy. It will definitely pose hurdles and difficulties to ordinary farmers and artisans," he said. Bank employees want a list of willful corporate defaulters to be published. Datta said the government should take a decision on a decent wage revision in 11th Bipartite Settlement based on a charter of demand submitted by four officers organisations based on minimum wages principle. The AIBOC represents over 3.2 lakh bank employees. . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Delhi court on Monday extended AgustaWestland co-accused Rajiv Saxena's Enforcement Department (ED) custody by four more days. Dubai based businessman Saxena was extradited to India in the wee hours of January 31. He was produced in the Patiala House Court today and was sent to the four days ED remand. Saxena was brought to India from the UAE in connection with alleged scam in the Rs 3600 crore deal for purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland company. He was allegedly operating a number of bank accounts in Switzerland in which huge amounts of money were deposited, according to the government dossier. The banks, in which the amounts were allegedly deposited, include Union Bancaire Privee UBP in Zurich, UBS Switzerland and Credit Suiss AG, states the dossier accessed by ANI. The remittances into these accounts came allegedly from Matrix Group Ltd, UHY Saxena and Associates, Tiramisu Holdings Inc and Tanay Holdings Ltd, claimed the government dossier. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 22 opposition parties will meet the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday, seeking the replacement of electronic voting machines (EVMs) with ballot papers for conducting the coming Lok Sabha polls, TMC leader and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien has said. Talking to media persons outside Parliament on Monday afternoon, O'Brien said: "A delegation of 22 opposition parties will meet and request the Election Commission of India to revert to the ballot paper system and do away with the electronic voting machines (EVMs) for conducting the coming Lok Sabha elections." According to O'Brien, the delegation will include among others Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav, BSP's Satish Chandra Mishra, DMK's Kanimozhi, CPI's D Raja and others. O'Brien said: "There is a need to stop the use of EVMs in order to save the Constitution and federal structure of the country. We have spoken to all opposition parties. We have to save the Constitution, the country and the federal structure." However, contrary to the claims made by opposition parties, the ECI has maintained that EVMs will not be replaced with ballot papers under any circumstances as EVMs are "fully safe and secure." Earlier on Friday too, opposition parties had announced that they would approach the ECI over the issue of alleged tampering of EVMs by the ruling party. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It is not new for political parties in India to consult stakeholders and experts to help draft their respective election manifestos. The interesting development in recent years is to use the exercise to reach out to the public at large to give them a sense of being a part of the drafting process and galvanise party workers in the process. Most famously, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) experimented with this, and quite successfully, in the Delhi Assembly polls of 2013 and 2015. It crowdsourced not just funding, but also ideas for its manifesto. The AAP came out with not just one manifesto ... Negotiators from China and the United States have made important progress in the latest round of high-level talks to resolve their economic and trade frictions, laying foundation for further consultations, according to the visiting Chinese delegation. People's Daily reports in its article China, U.S. make important progress in trade talks, paving way for further consultations that the delegation, headed by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, held candid, specific and constructive discussions on topics of common concern with the U.S. team from Wednesday to Thursday, and determined the timetable and roadmap for next-step consultations. Also on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump met with Liu at the White House, expressing his hope for a great deal between the two sides as early as possible. The hard-won progress is the result of both sides seriously implementing the important consensus reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump during a working dinner in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, on Dec. 1. The two heads of state agreed back then that the two sides should try to reach a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement within 90 days to bring an early end to their months-long trade friction featuring massive tariffs on imports from each other. IMPORTANT PROGRESS During the two-day talks, the two sides discussed the topics of trade balance, technology transfer, protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), non-tariff barriers, service sector, agriculture and enforcement mechanism, as well as certain issues of particular concern for the Chinese side. Important progress has been made for the current stage, according to the Chinese delegation. The two sides have agreed to take effective measures to promote a more balanced development of bilateral trade. The Chinese side will make active efforts to expand imports from the United States in the sectors of agriculture, energy, manufacturing and services, which will help China's pursuit of high-quality economic development and meet the people's demand for a better life. The two sides also discussed some specific concerns of the Chinese side, and the U.S. side said it would seriously address these concerns. Both sides believe that it is very important to establish an effective two-way enforcement mechanism, so as to ensure all measures agreed upon through consultations will be implemented. They have reached consensus in principle on the framework and basic elements of the enforcement mechanism, and will continue to hammer out more details. CRITICAL STAGE When meeting with Trump, Liu delivered a message from Xi, in which the Chinese president pointed out that China-U.S. relations are at a critical stage. Xi said when he and Trump met in Argentina in December, the two heads of state agreed to jointly advance the China-U.S. relationship featuring coordination, cooperation and stability. "According to the consensus we have reached, economic teams from both sides have since conducted intensive negotiations and achieved positive progress," he said. The Chinese leader called on the two sides, in the spirit of mutual respect and win-win cooperation, to continue to try to meet each other half way and step up consultations, so as to reach a mutually beneficial agreement as early as possible. This, he said, will send a positive signal to the international community, promote the sound development of China-U.S. ties, and add impetus to the steady growth of the global economy. For his side, Trump hailed the important progress he had seen in the talks, saying that U.S.-China relations have remained strong and kept moving forward under the guidance of the two heads of state. CONSULTATIONS CONTINUE A U.S. delegation headed by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will go to China in mid-February to continue the consultations, according to Trump. The U.S. president said that he looks forward to meeting with Xi at an early date and witnessing together the historic moment when the two countries reach an agreement on economic and trade issues. The world watched the talks ly, with many hoping for some substantial, positive progress to be made. "No bad news is good news. Parties are not going to trumpet good news well in advance of the negotiating deadline," said Sourabh Gupta, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank Institute for China-America Studies. Gupta said that he remains cautiously optimistic about the trajectory and core outcome of the 90-day talks between China and the United States. Robert Kuhn, a renowned U.S. expert on China and chairman of the Kuhn Foundation, said both Xi and Trump are taking active leadership. "Truly an agreement would be win-win-win -- for China, for the United States, and for the world," he said in an email interview with Xinhua. The defence budget, which the Union government presented on Friday, underlines that each of the three services remains locked in its own expenditure pattern. The Army, which most requires modernisation, continues allocating well over two-thirds of its budget to salaries and pensions, leaving just a little over one-tenth for new equipment. The Navy manages manpower best, spending just over a quarter of its overall budget on personnel costs. Despite having the lowest capital allocation, it will still spend a healthy 45 per cent of its budget next year on new warships and ... U.S. and North Korean negotiators havent agreed on a common definition of denuclearization, the lead State Department negotiator said. Washington Examiner reports in its article Top diplomat: US and North Korea have yet to agree on meaning of denuclearization that Special Envoy Stephen Biegun told a Stanford University audience: So we do not have a specific and agreed definition of what final, fully verified denuclearization or comprehensive, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization whatever your preferred term of art is. We do have a well-developed view inside the United States of America on what this entails, but thats something that over time youll also have to come to agreement with the North Koreans on. Bieguns acknowledgment makes explicit the divergence that remains between the two sides with a second meeting between President Trump and dictator Kim Jong Un just weeks away. He sought to forestall cynicism about the negotiations, touting conciliatory gestures that have taken place while emphasizing the gravity of the threat that remains. Much has transpired in just the past month, and much has yet to happen, Biegun said during a question-and-answer session. I think its fair to say that we have more work ahead of us than we do behind us. The top negotiators remarks a rare and extensive public status update on the talks took place just days after the presidents top intelligence advisers offered a dubious assessment of North Koreas posture. The [intelligence community] continues to assess that it is unlikely to give up all of its WMD stockpiles, delivery systems, and production capabilities, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, told his Senate overseers on Tuesday. North Korean leaders view nuclear arms as critical to regime survival. Those comments led to a high-profile retort from the president I disagree with certain things that they said, he told reporters followed by a reconciliation rooted in the premise on media criticism. Their testimony was distorted press," Trump tweeted Thursday. A false narrative is so bad for our Country. I value our intelligence community. Happily, we had a very good meeting, and we are all on the same page! Biegun also expressed frustration with the controversy, as he said we all know that North Korea has given us little indication it will hand over its nuclear arsenal. "If I were presenting this same information, I would say that we have the potential here for a grave threat to the United States of America, and therefore it is all the more urgent that we engage diplomatically," he said. "So my frustration isnt with the accuracy of the information. Its how its presented and how its interpreted. You cannot divorce the intelligence information from policy. The intelligence information is critical as an underpinning for the policy, but the policy is to address the threat and thats what my frustration was last week." He cited a New Years speech by Kim, distributed as part of the regime propaganda that the North Korean people read, as evidence of a legitimate negotiating opportunity, however. [When] he declares not to us but to the people of North Korea that he has made the decision to denuclearize, thats creating room for us to begin this discussion in a manner that gives us hope we can get to the goal we seek, said Biegun. When he says to his people that he is shifting the focus of his leadership to developing the economy of North Korea that we can do together. Thats not an adversarial approach at all. 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. 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Digital Editor Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC Kingsborough Community College President Dr. Claudia Schrader just kicked off her second semester atop the school, after taking over as its chief educator last September. But the newly appointed head of Harvard by the Bay is no stranger to Brooklyn, or the City University of New York system she previously served as an associate professor at Medgar Evers College in Crown Heights, and as the provost and senior vice president for academic and student success at the outer-borough Bronx Community College, during her 17-year CUNY career. The Caribbean-American born and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands moved to the mainland in 1986, and went on to earn masters degrees in special education and a doctorate degree in international transcultural studies from Columbia Universitys Teachers College. Schrader sat down with us to discuss her first months on the job, and her plans for keeping the Manhattan Beach college which she noted boasts the highest graduation rate among CUNY schools in the borough the best in its class: Kevin Duggan: How was your first semester? Claudia Schrader: It was good. Im learning a lot about the college and learning a lot of names. I didnt expect the campus to be as huge as it is, but now it seems smaller because I know where Im going. KD: What motivated you to take the job? CS: I knew I could do the job, and I want to move the institution in a positive direction. Plus, its a CUNY college, and I believe strongly in the systems mission, having worked within it for 17 years. The commitment to public education is bar none its one of the best [public university systems] in the United States. KD: Tell me what you like about Kingsborough, specifically. CS: Kingsborough has always been a college of innovation. Were trying new things and making them stick. We also have a committed faculty and staff that have been here a long time. And of all the colleges in CUNY excluding Guttman Community College in Manhattan Kingsborough has the highest graduation and retention rates, meaning our students come back each semester. Although we are far into Southern Brooklyn, students who come here finish faster, which means they get on really well. That is a draw for anyone who believes in student success. KD: What are some of your plans for the semester ahead, and beyond? CS: One of the things Im doing in the first year is just gathering information. My approach is not to come in and say, This is what needs to be done. Its about getting input from the campus community, so Ive being doing breakfast meetings, surveys, and other things. For example, theres a very vibrant student body at Kingsborough, and I met with some members of the Student Government Association. They had some ideas on how to improve the Kingsborough app, to make the technology more modern and give it a facelift. Theres a lot to do, but Im still getting that information from the campus community. KD: How does your childhood growing up in the Caribbean influence the way you run the school? CS: My background taught me to be patient, to really be present and consider all aspects of a situation, because you cant present an idea that is flat. You need to be mindful of how everybody sees that idea, so Im very mindful of different mentalities. Im also a little more global in my thinking. Growing up on the islands taught me the value of community. Everyone knows everyone else down there. It also grounded me in a very real way. On an island, we didnt get things at the same time the mainland did, such as cable television, which came a bit later. It was very humbling. Kevin Duggan Latest News Teachers Mutual launches digital bank for essential workers New digital bank will focus on healthcare, emergency services and education employees Sydney auction unfazed by recent COVID-19 outbreak The city reported the highest level of activity among all capital cities The Royal Commission final report has been released to the public and outlines recommendations from Commissioner Hayne. The most widely anticipated recommendation for mortgage brokers was to abolish the current remuneration structure. It is now confirmed that Hayne does recommend a change to broker commissions, encouraging a flat fee for service to be paid by the borrower. The report says, "The borrower, not the lender, should pay the mortgage broker a fee for acting in connection with home lending. Changes in brokers remuneration should be made over a period of two or three years, by first prohibiting lenders from paying trail commission to mortgage brokers in respect of new loans, then prohibiting lenders from paying other commissions to mortgage brokers." Update: In his speech, treasurer Josh Frydenberg has said the government will work towards removing trail commissions and volume based bonuses by 1 July 2020. He said a review would take place to assess the impact of removing upfront commissions, given previous reports raised concerns about the move. The report also said that mortgage brokers should be under the same rules as financial advisers: "After a sufficient period of transition, mortgage brokers should be subject to and regulated by the law that applies to entities providing financial product advice to retail clients." Recommendation 1.6 adds, "Misconduct by mortgage brokers ACL holders should: be bound by information-sharing and reporting obligations in respect of mortgage brokers similar to those referred to in recommendations 2.7 and 2.8 for financial advisers; and take the same steps in response to detecting misconduct of a mortgage broker as those referred to in Recommendation 2.9 for financial advisers." There are also a number of referrals of banking institutions to ASIC as a result of findings from the Royal Commission. The report, which is more than 1100 pages long, was delivered to the government on Friday, but was not released publicly until this afternoon. The final report follows more than 10,000 submissions from the Australian public relating to misconduct in the banking sector, as well as 69 days of public hearings. The Labor party has already said it plans to adopt Hayne's recommendations in full. The Australian Banking Association (ABA) is expected to hold a press conference shortly. More to follow.. What else we know: Latest News Teachers Mutual launches digital bank for essential workers New digital bank will focus on healthcare, emergency services and education employees Sydney auction unfazed by recent COVID-19 outbreak The city reported the highest level of activity among all capital cities Alongside recommendations to remove broker commissions, the Royal Commission report yesterday made more than 20 referrals for bank bosses to face criminal charges. As the first major bank to respond to the report, Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn said becoming a simpler, better bank was the groups number one priority. Comyn spoke openly during a hearing of the Royal Commission about his wish to remove broker commissions. He added, We are working through the Royal Commissions Final Report and the 76 recommendations. Commissioner Hayne has called out the clear need for change. The Government has announced a comprehensive set of measures in response and we will work through the impact of these over the next few days. We note that the Commissioner has concluded that a number of matters regarding the Groups conduct including in relation to superannuation warrant further investigation by relevant regulators and we will cooperate fully with these investigations. Comyn said the group was addressing past failings and implementing changes to improve their processes, including a new Code of Conduct. ANZ has also since respnded, saying, "This is a defining moment for both our company and industry. It has been a humbling experience for me, our leaders and all our people - we have learnt from this and accepted responsibility for our failings. The final report and the insights arising from the Commission will change our industry for the better. It provides a thoughtful path forward that will ultimately result in a better banking system for all Australians. ANZ is committed to continuing the work and investment required to build a bank worthy of the trust and respect of our customers and the community as well as helping ensure these failures arent repeated." Broker-related recommendations included the introduction of a best interest duty and ensuring brokers were subject to and regulated by the law that applies to financial advisers. Speaking at a press conference immediately after the release of the report, treasurer Josh Frydenberg outlined what the government would be doing in response to the report. Regarding the recommendations for the mortgage broking industry, Frydenberg said there would be moves to introduce a best interest duty and trailing commissions would be removed by 1 July 2020. With the recommendations over upfront commissions, the treasurer said there would be a review into the impact of changing broker remuneration, after so many previous reviews raised concerns about such a move. He said, The Productivity Commission and the Murray Inquiry and the Sedgewick Review had all recommended against such a change, issuing a word of caution about what it would mean to competition. And what we dont want to do is give a big tick or a free kick to the banks and effectively if you would take that business out of the hands of mortgage brokers we would be giving it to the big banks. Labors shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has said the party will accept all of the reports 76 recommendations in principle. New Delhi: India has lodged a protest with the United States government after several Indian students were detained in connection with their enrolment in a fake university, following an undercover operation by US agents. US authorities said late last week that eight individuals who exploited the country's student visa system had been indicted. They had helped foreign nationals illegally remain in the United States by enrolling them into a metro Detroit private university, which was actually being operated by US agents themselves. The University of Farmington - an online sting operation aimed at foreigners in the US. Credit:US ICE The recruiters helped the students to fraudulently obtain immigration documents from the school in a bid to deceive authorities, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. The foreign students, however, had no intention of attending school, it added. Though the US government did not disclose nationalities of those involved, the Indian foreign ministry on Saturday said "several Indian students" had been detained. Indian media said more than 100 students had been detained in the United States. When Facebook employees woke up on Wednesday last week, many found they could not perform even the most basic work tasks. Their calendars were not working. Nor were campus maps that help people find their co-workers. They were unable to check Facebook's latest shuttle bus schedule. And they could not see what the company's cafeterias were serving for lunch. That's because those features run on Facebook's internal, custom-built iPhone apps; and Apple had shut them all down, according to nine current and former employees of the companies, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly. The situation stemmed from a dispute after Facebook violated Apple's rules by publicly distributing a research app that allowed it to snoop on users' online activity. When Apple discovered the transgression this week, it revoked Facebook's special access to apps and updates that run on its iPhone software. Watchdogs overseeing spy agencies and public spending fear a proposed federal integrity commission will threaten their independence and disrupt investigations. Three agencies with powers to investigate and audit the bureaucracy have warned a national integrity commission model under Senate scrutiny could undermine inquiries, duplicate their work, force breaches of parliamentary protections and stumble into intelligence operations. The scramble among watchdogs to protect their jurisdictions and independence, in response to a crossbench bill to create an integrity commission, could also raise problems for the government as it proposes a model with similar features. Australia's Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, which monitors spy agencies, told senators the model proposed by crossbenchers could raise national security "implications" and risked overlapping its jurisdiction. Inspector-General Margaret Stone said the integrity commission laws, which would compel government officials to report possible corruption, could force intelligence agency heads to reveal ongoing security investigations and activities to the new watchdog. Decorated Australian firefighter Greg Mullins says climate change is contributing to bushfires so horrendous that homes and lives cannot be protected, and the federal government will not acknowledge the link because it has failed on emissions reduction policy. The extraordinary comments by Mr Mullins, a former NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner, coincides with the Tuesday launch of the group Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action, which will lobby the major parties to drastically reduce fossil fuel use and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Greg Mullins says both major parties have failed to take steps to arrest Australia's contribution to climate change. Credit:Kate Geraghty Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten both visited Tasmania on Monday, where catastrophic bushfires had reportedly destroyed eight homes and burnt 190,000 hectares of land as of Monday afternoon. Their visit came on the 10th anniversary of the Victorian Black Saturday bushfires. The major parties pledges on climate change are expected to be a frontline issue at the upcoming federal election, as the public reels from record-high summer temperatures, extreme weather and a long, unforgiving bushfire season. A peculiar complacency has settled on the world over America's hardening confrontation with China. The world's two greatest powers are punishing each other with harsh sanctions as they renegotiate their relationship in talks that broke up last week with the barest of a beginning of an agreement. It is "the most significant current event" in the world, according to the economics editor of London's Financial Times, Martin Wolf. The Brexit saga is trivial by comparison, yet gets far more attention thanks to its political theatrics. Chinese President Xi Jinping with US President Donald Trump. Credit:ANDY WONG Chinese billionaire tech entrepreneur Jack Ma had promised Donald Trump that his Alibaba group would create a million American jobs, but last year he cancelled: "The promise was made on the premise of friendly US-China partnership and rational trade relations. That premise no longer exists today." The friendly partnership is gone; trade relations are no longer rational. And that was a few weeks before Vice-President Mike Pence launched his damning indictment of China last October in a speech so tough that it has been described as the de facto announcement of a new Cold War. WA volunteer firefighters believe the amount of people and resources used to fight bushfires around the state may be significantly under-represented through a lack of uniformity in record-keeping by local governments. In late January, both volunteer fire brigades and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services firefighters worked around the clock to stop a raging bushfire in WAs South West. "DFES considers the safety and welfare of any crews attending DFES managed fires to be paramount. During a DFES managed incident the Incident Controller actively ensures that all crews are recorded and registered." The Shire of Kojonup took control of management of the blaze near Ryansbrook and over the course of January 23 the fire destroyed more than 2000 hectares of bushland and spanned about 12 kilometres. According to Association of Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades president Dave Gossage, hundreds of locals turned out to help protect the community. Liam Neeson says he had violent thoughts some time ago about killing a black person after learning that someone close to him had been raped. Credit:AP In a revealing interview Taken star Liam Neeson says he once sought revenge for a loved one's rape by searching for a black person to kill. "But my immediate reaction was... I asked, did she know who it was? No. 'What colour were they?' She said it was a black person", said Neeson. "I went up and down areas with a 'cosh', hoping I'd be approached by somebody - I'm ashamed to say that - and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some 'black bastard' would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him." ("Cosh" is a British slang term for a bludgeon.) Firefighters remove cladding from the Spencer Street apartment building. Credit:Jason South The 41-storey apartment block which was evacuated after a fire destroyed five balconies on Monday has previously struggled to combat apartment overcrowding and issues with short-term rental guests. Construction on the Neo 200 apartment complex on Spencer Street was completed in 2007 by LU Simon, according to the building's website. It has 371 residential apartments, several levels of undercover parking, shops on the ground floor and entrances to both Spencer and Little Bourke Streets. In 2015, it was hit by fire on New Year's Eve shortly after it emerged that it was one of the many Melbourne buildings known to harbour illegal rooming houses, with living rooms rented to multiple tenants as sleeping spaces. In my view, it should be on some sort of A-list for scrutiny, but they clearly havent properly assessed and understood the risk, otherwise the cladding would have been removed by now, said the insider, who didnt want to be named. This building fell through the cracks. There are going to be dozens like this. Hundreds of buildings in Victoria have been given a higher danger rating due to their cladding, although the government is adamant the list will remain hidden from public view. Planning Minister Richard Wynne said on Monday that the Andrews government had received security advice that buildings known to be high risk can become targets for arsonists. The audit has identified 360 high-risk buildings. Loading So far just one building with combustible cladding has been substantially fixed since that audit began, Sue Eddy, the chief executive of the Victorian Building Authority, revealed on Monday. Meanwhile, the number of buildings rated "highest risk" has increased from 44 to 60 since October, as auditors completed their evaluations of more buildings. Were very early on in the rectification process, she said. Rectification is a process that can take two years or more, a government spokeswoman said. Cladding Taskforce co-chair Ted Baillieu said Victoria was well advanced in identifying buildings at risk of fire, but that rectification would be a long process. "Weve done the find that other jurisdictions havent done and we believe we are on the way to getting a rectification model in that will work," Mr Baillieu said. Stranded residents outside the Neo200 building. Credit:Jason South "Today is a stark reminder to everybody involved in high-rise residential in particular to take this matter seriously. "It is and has been a matter of life and death and it will be until we get rectification where it needs to be done." Loading The Neo200 fire is believed to have started on the 22nd floor just after 5am and reached the 27th floor before it was extinguished. Fifteen fire trucks responded to a call about the fire just before 5am. There was no hope of reaching the blaze from outside the building firefighters had to climb the stairs and extinguished the fire from the inside. At least 200 residents were evacuated and have been barred from returning for at least 48 hours due to safety concerns. Nisha Mehrotra, 27, and Roopa Gulati, 35, have both rented a place in Neo200 building for 3 years collectively. Neither was told it has combustible cladding until they went to meeting held at Melbourne Town Hall after evacuating. I will be contacting body corporate and definitely bringing it up, Ms Gulati said. Its not something they tell tenants, she said. Unless you own the place youre just not made aware of it. Its not OK; youre still living there. Combustible cladding was first discovered on the exterior of 200 Spencer Street in a 2015 audit by the City of Melbourne and fire fighters, prompting the council to demand updated fire safety measures. According to a record published by the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) but since deleted, the tower was declared safe to occupy in 2016 and no further action was required by the council building surveyor. But it again came to the attention of authorities last year through the larger state-wide audit, which saw the council demanding more minor works, including new smoke alarms near bedrooms adjacent to flammable cladding, according to the VBA. On Monday, Ms Eddy still couldnt say if the building was compliant. Mr Wynne cautioned on Monday afternoon that the Metropolitan Fire Brigade had not yet pinned down the cause of the fire, nor the impact of its cladding. Australias building ministers are due to meet in Hobart later this week and Mr Wynne said he would use the ministerial council to push for a national approach to the problem. Cladding is in fact a national problem that involves every state government and indeed it involves the federal government as well, particularly as it relates to product coming over the border which may not be compliant, he said. A year's worth of rain was dumped on north Queensland in a week and Sunday night was described by authorities as the worst so far as locals prepare for a "long, hard week" ahead. A total of 1100 residents were evacuated overnight, the SES received 850 calls for help in the 24 hours to Monday morning, rescue crews saved 18 people and one looter was arrested by police. An aerial view of the flooding in the Townsville suburb of Oonoonba on Monday morning. Credit:QFES Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill vented her frustration after some residents in areas predicted to be inundated, had to be doorknocked and asked to leave twice. "You cant say you werent warned something might happen," she said. Two police officers helping evacuate residents from rising floodwater in north Queensland were themselves rescued after their car was swept away. With up to 500 homes already under water in Townsville and surrounds at the weekend, another heavy deluge of rain pushed Ross River Dam levels to almost 250 per cent capacity, forcing authorities to open the floodgates. In the 24 hours to 5am on Monday, the State Emergency Service received 850 calls for help, most from Townsville residents asking for sandbags and supplies. Police officers had rescued one group of people on Sunday night and were going back for another, on Charters Towers Road in the Townsville suburb of Hermit Park, when the conditions changed and they needed to be rescued themselves. Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a toddler who was found in a hot car in Sydney's west on Sunday. Emergency services were called to a home on Ohagan Street in Chester Hill, about 3.30pm, after reports a baby boy was found unresponsive. NSW Ambulance paramedics attended the home but were unable to revive the boy, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have been told the child was located inside a car at the front of the residence by family members, after concerns were raised he could not be found inside the home. The temperature at Bankstown, near Chester Hill, peaked at 31.9 degrees on Sunday at about 1.30pm. The ACT government cut its direct mental health funding to non-government organisations by almost $10 million in 2016-17, a cut it attributed to the shift of funds to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. But many ACT mental health providers say they have been left struggling since the transition and have no way of knowing whether the full funding cuts were made up in NDIS payments. The cuts to specialised mental health services were mostly directed at non-government organisations, which lost about $10 million in the year from 2015-16 to 2016-17, according to the recently released report from the productivity commission. The government said the funds were redirected via the Commonwealth, but could not give a figure on how much it contributed to NDIS mental health payments. The ACT is the first jurisdiction to transfer fully to the NDIS, which allocates disability funding on an individual basis instead of to organisations as a whole. "This event is just an unprecedented monsoonal burst," says Grace Legge, a senior meteorologist in the bureau's extreme weather desk, adding that many stations are likely to set multiple-day records. To Townville's west, the aptly named Upper Bluewater site clocked up 2068 millimetres in the week to Monday morning, according to Weatherzone. Queensland Fire and Emergency Services crews responding to flood conditions in Townsville. Credit:AAP How extensive is the flooding? With so much rain, dams in the region are not surprisingly overflowing. The bureau has issued warnings for many Queensland rivers. Reports on Monday morning had some 500 homes in Townsville flooded with more expected to follow, and more than 1100 people rescued from their home. The Ross River Dam, which covers a 750 square-kilometre catchment area near Townsville, opened its gates fully on Sunday evening local time. That meant the release of 2000 cubic metres - or 2 million litres - per second into the river. Even so, the dam's capacity peaked near midnight, local time, at just shy of 250 per cent full. Helpfully, the dam has an automated Twitter feed, including this posting, show the dam had dropped 5385 million litres - or about 2.2 percentage points - in the previous hour: It wasn't that many months ago that Townsville and much of north Queensland was enduring one of its driest winters on record. For most of the two years between 2016 and 2018, the Ross River Dam was between 15 and 25 per cent full. Such a flip "often happens" in that part of Australia, where regions can grow "from well into drought to receiving huge amounts of water", Ms Legge said. What's causing all the rain? The onset of Australia's annual northern monsoon didn't officially arrive until January 23 just two days shy of the latest recorded, on January 25, 1973. The bureau's trigger location, though, is Darwin, and other parts of the north had already been experiencing monsoonal rain not least the Cairns region, which reported record floods. Daintree Village, for instance, collected 405 millimetres on January 27 alone. The driver of the big rain event is a deep low near Mount Isa, south of the Gulf of Carpentaria. "It's just sat there," says Jonathan Nott, a professor of geoscience at the Cairns campus of James Cook University. "It's drawing air in from the Coral Sea." That moist air from the equator is converging with south-easterly winds around the Townsville region. "It's just producing an abundant amount of rains," Professor Nott says. The monsoonal trough that has extended across the region has been "very stationary", meaning the heavy rainfall has "pretty much been going on for nine days", Ms Legge says. What's the outlook? Predicting just how fast the trough will edge southwards and/or weaken is difficult. For now, the forecast is again for 100 millimetres or more for the region on Monday alone, including from near Ingham in the north, through Townsville, down to Bowen. The rainfall centre is predicted to shift towards Mackay on Tuesday but that will still leave falls of 50-100 millimetres for the Townsville area. Even then a couple more days of 50 millimetres will likely follow, the bureau predicts. "From Bowen up, everything is pretty much saturated," Professor Nott says. Ms Legge agrees: "We've got multiple days of it to come." With the catchments so wet, further rain is likely to add to run-off immediately. Townsville residents on Friday. Credit:AAP What effect is climate change having? The Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO's latest State of the Climate report notes "northern Australia has been wetter across all seasons", particularly in the north-west. Much of the Cape York region is also among the places getting wetter. With global warming, the atmosphere can hold about 7 per cent more rain for each degree it heats up. The world has warmed more than a degree since pre-industrial times, including the moisture available for big rain events. Professor Nott says peer-reviewed research is showing that in north-east Queensland, rainfall events are dumping more rain, particularly in storms. "We certainly know rainfall variability is increasing," he says, adding that means more periods of big highs and big dries for rivers. Even though there have been big falls in inland Queensland, they are too far north to have an impact on the Murray-Darling basin. Instead, some of the run-off will eventually make it to Lake Eyre, Professor Nott said. Monday nights on ABC Television will soon look a little different, with Four Corners host Sarah Ferguson preparing to head overseas for a new role. The celebrated journalist has been made head of the public broadcaster's Chinese bureau, meaning she will wrap up her Four Corners hosting duties later this year before turning her attention to politics in the Asia-Pacific region. The ABC is remaining tight-lipped about when exactly Ferguson will head over to her new assignment, but says she won't leave the country until she puts the finishing touches on an upcoming three-part documentary series for ABC TV. Ferguson will work closely with the ABC's existing China correspondent Bill Birtles in her new role, and said in a statement that modern China is an "irresistible" story for any journalist. As the school year begins, teachers say they will be forced to use precious classroom time to teach to the NAPLAN tests held in May. Most teachers said the NAPLAN tests influence the content and teaching, and learning strategies they implement, according to a study published in the Australian Journal of Language and Literacy that surveyed a sample of more than 200 year 7 and 9 teachers across NSW in 2017. Nearly 60 per cent of teachers did not agree that NAPLAN provides important information on the literacy skills of students. About two-thirds of teachers surveyed said NAPLAN either affected their teaching practices or they were "unsure" of its effect, and nearly 60 per cent disagreed with the statement that NAPLAN provides important information on the literacy skills of students. "Every year we are told not to teach to the test, yet each year we are forced to do blatantly obvious teaching tasks that are ascribed to NAPLAN," one teacher said. Srinagar, Feb 4 (IANS) In his first public meeting after quitting the IAS, Shah Faesal on Monday vowed to fight against corruption and for the honour and dignity of the Kashmiri people. Scores of people turned out to attend Faesals first public appearance in his home district of Kupwara. He told the gathering that his fight was against corruption and for the honour and dignity of Kashmir people. Support TwoCircles The 2009 IAS topper resigned from service to join politics. He had said that his resignation from IAS was a small act of defiance against continuing killings in Kashmir and the failure of the central government to start an initiative to address the Kashmir problem. It was initially believed that he would join the National Conference. Faesal said he had decided to fight his own political battle against corruption, favouritism and poor governance. I have chosen a longer but a more straight road to achieve my objectives, Faesal said. More than half of collapsed cosmetics chain Napoleon Perdis' stores will be closed immediately, as administrators try to sell or restructure the home-grown business to keep it alive. Documents filed to the corporate regulator on Monday, meanwhile, show that the company was teetering on the brink of insolvency for almost a year before it finally collapsed last week, and that the Australian Tax Office is one of the creditors lining up to be paid. Napoleon Perdis had been trying to sell his retail empire for 18 months and had been looking at insolvency options for almost a year. Credit:Steven Siewert Napoleon Perdis, which had 56 stores across Australia, called in administrators from Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants on Thursday last week, after unsuccessfully trying to sell the business for the past 18 months. Worrells said on Monday it would close 28 stores, effective immediately, as part of a process of "right sizing of the business as a whole". The Hayne royal commission has recommended new sweeping powers for the regulators of the financial services sector while also urging a radical overhaul of the culture of the corporate cop which has been slammed for treating the banks like clients. The final report of the commission has also recommended a new oversight body for the key regulators, urging government to set up a new organisation that will track and assess the performance of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). Australian Securities & Investments Commission chairman James Shipton leaves the banking royal commission hearings in November. Credit:AAP Commissioner Hayne has also recommended ASICs role in relation to regulation of superannuation be clarified to make it clear it is responsible for enforcing breaches of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act after finding that neither financial regulator was enforcing the act properly. Both organisations will be subject to four-year reviews to assess each agencies capabilities. Customers would be forced to pay mortgage brokers fees for their services, under recommendations for a radical shake-up to the broking industry from the royal commission into financial misconduct. In its final report on Monday, the Hayne royal commission called for sweeping changes in the remuneration of brokers who arrange more than half of all new home loans and are paid by commissions from banks and other lenders. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne said borrowers should pay mortgage brokers a fee. Credit:Brook Mitchell However, although the government agreed there was a need to address conflicted remuneration in broking, it did not commit to implementing all of the commissions mortgage broking recommendations in full. Mortgage brokers, who face a massive upheaval in their business model under the proposal, claimed the proposal threatened to drive up interest rates on home loans, while also giving more power to the big banks. Some of the countrys biggest financial institutions have been referred by royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne to regulators for investigation and potential prosecution, over conduct in the superannuation and insurance industries. As well as its recommendations to shake up the entire financial sector, the final report from commissioner Hayne included his response to public hearings on misconduct in superannuation and insurance. Commissioner Hayne's responses to misconduct in other parts of the finance sector were revealed in the interim report in September. The royal commission's final report referred some of the country's biggest financial institutions to regulators for potential investigation. Credit:Eddie Jim Unveiling the report on Monday, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said there had been more than 20 referrals made to the authorities - the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). My message to the financial sector today is that this misconduct must end, and it must be the interests of consumers first, Mr Frydenberg said. By Aas Mohammad Kaif, Twocircles.net The announcement of an alliance between two arch rivals of UP Politics: Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party may only be a few weeks old, but it is already having the desired impact in the state. The announcement has caused great excitement among party workers, especially given that the announcement-on January 12-came just three days before BSP Supremo Mayawatis 63rd birthday. The press conference hosted by the two parties created a buzz across the nation, not just Uttar Pradesh. Coincidentally on the same day, the BJP was conducting a party meet in Agra. And even though it was very cold in Agra, Amit Shah could be seen wiping sweat off his face. Prime Minister Modi was also present at the meeting and the unease at the alliance between two rival parties could be sensed among the BJP workers. Amit Shah was quick to call it thug bandhan, an alliance of thugs, and reassure his party members. But the uneasiness of the BJP team could be sensed by the media. The recent defeats in three statesRajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarhhas done little to instil confidence among party workers and leaders. Support TwoCircles But why is the BJP, the largest national party and the party that swept both the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in the state as well as 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections, tense at the alliance of two regional parties? And that too when SP has just 6 MPs from the state and the BSP zero? The answer, of course, lies in how the state votes and its importance in the overall Lok Sabha elections. Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, spokesperson of SP said, Uttar Pradesh alone has 80 Lok Sabha seats. The importance of the largest province of the nation is obvious. The orchestrated riots of 2013 in Muzaffarnagar helped the BJP win at the centre and now the very same Uttar Pradesh seems to slipping out of their hands. Due to the sectarianism of the BJP, there is now an alliance between Dalits and other marginalised communities. This has moved the ground beneath the feet of the BJP. Earlier in 1993, these two parties had defeated the BJP and now history seems to be repeating itself. Now, it looks like BJP may not even win 5 seats. Our President Akhilesh Yadav said in the recent Kolkata rally that we will not allow BJP to win even a single seat in UP. The BJP have been disturbing the communal harmony of the nation but now with this alliance and binding between Dalits and minorities they will be uprooted. While Gandhi of course speaks with a bias, let us try and understand the scenario through numbers and analyse this claim. In the 2014 elections, BJP secured 71 seats (2 seats from the BJP allies) with 42.3% votes. Samajwadi party got 22.5% votes while the BSP got 19.5% of the votes. Congress got the least with 7.5% votes. Both BSP and SP together got just a little over the BJP vote share but while BSP did not get even a single Lok Sabha seat, the SP won 5 seats. But the BJP cannot be dismissed so easily. In the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections, a lot of people were expecting Mayawati to win. The BSP had given 99 assembly seats to the Muslims. They were hoping that their candidates would surely win because a majority of the population was that of Muslims. But as per the CSDS survey 68% of the Muslims voted for the Samajwadi party due to which about 20% of the votes were diverted. As a result, the BJP won 325 seats with 39% votes whereas the Samajwadi Party got 22.5% of votes and the Bahujan Samaj Party got 21.5% of votes. It is easy to see that SP and BSP fighting each other has helped the BJP substantially and why their alliance can spell trouble for the BP. Then, there is the caste angle. Some castes have traditionally fought each other, some castes have their own sub-groups and some castes identify with a certain party. For example, Dalits identify with the BSP while the SP has been known as the party of the Yadavs. The people from upper castes are known to alternate between the BJP and the Congress. This is why while announcing their alliance, Mayawati BSP Supremo had said that this alliance is not just between two political parties but an alliance between Dalits, OBCs and minorities. The population of Dalits in UP is 20.17% while Muslims stand at 19% of the population. The Yadavs account for 8% of the population. What will worry the BJP even more is that this alliance has already hurt their chances. In the previous 3 by-elections, the opposition parties had displayed their unity to the BJP. The alliance has proved to be a success and as a result, the BJP lost in Gorakhpur, the constituency of UP CM Adityanath, Phulpur, the constituency of the Deputy CM and Kairana, an area which has been in the news for the past few years for all the wrong reasons. This alliance has however, left Congress supporters a little disappointed. Congress supporter Mohammed Ajmal resident of Muzaffarnagar says, There is no doubt that the alliance of SP and BSP has made the BJP tense as they have a good vote base. But without Congress this alliance is incomplete. The grand alliance (between SP, BSP and Congress) is the need of the hour. Congress is a national party and there is a loyal voter base in every constituency. If Congress fights the election alone, there are chances of the secular votes being divided yet again and BJP may not suffer a huge defeat, although their defeat is sure. Both SP and BSP have announced that no candidate from their respective parties will be contesting from Amethi and Raebareli. After this announcement, Congress Supremo Rahul Gandhi welcomed the alliance. Right now, they may fight separately but there are possibilities that in the future all these 3 parties may come together to be part of the grand alliance. Tamanna Fareed, a Lucknow-based journalist, says, This is nothing but a diplomatic move on the part of Congress. The truth is that they are eyeing the 13% votes of the upper-caste Hindus of the state. The Brahmins who are upset with BJP may come back to the Congress. After the victory in 3 constituencies their confidence level in Rahul Gandhi seems to have increased. The entry of Priyanka Gandhi may also be another strategy of the Congress. There sure is an excitement among the Brahmins of east Uttar Pradesh on the official entry of Priyanka Gandhi in the party. The youth are also happy. This part of UP has more Brahmin population. The Western part of UP has been designated to Rahuls special aide Jyotiraditya Scindia. Voters who do not want to vote to either SP or BSP and are upset with BJP may easily turn to Congress. Worryingly for the BJP, their latest policies seemed to have irked their loyal base too, namely traders. Nakul Choudhry, a trader from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, says Business persons and even farmers are all very upset due to demonetization, GST, unemployment and false statements and false promises of the BJP. It wont take much to change the government. Every person wants this government to go. The States longest serving prisoner is set to continue his legal bid for two days temporary release per year. English national John Shaw (73) has been in custody in Ireland since September 1976 when both he and another English man, Geoffrey Evans, were arrested for the abduction, rape, torture and murder of Elizabeth Plunkett (22) in Wicklow and Mary Duffy (24) in Mayo that year. Shaw and Evans were both given life sentences at the Central Criminal Court on February 9, 1978. Evans died in 2012 from an infection after spending more than three years in a vegetative state. He had been at the Mater Hospital, under round-the-clock guard by prison officers, at a significant cost to the State. Over the years, Shaws case has been the subject of a number of reviews first by the Sentence Review Group and subsequently the Parole Board. In April 2016, the Prison Review Committee noted Shaw was very frustrated that he has never got a day out of prison in his 38 years in custody He has no family in Ireland and has only received one family visit over the course of his sentence. The following June, a dynamic risk assessment of Shaw found him to be at a high-level risk of re-offending. Areas of particular concern to the assessors were poor problem solving skills; negative emotionality; deviant sexual preference; cooperation with supervision; significant social influences; hostility towards women; general social rejection; and lack of concern for others. Murder victim Mary Duffy In 2016, the Parole Board recommended Shaw remain in Arbour Hill prison to allow speedy access to medical treatment and that he be granted two days of escorted outings per year However, the Minister for Justice did not support the recommendation for two days of escorted outings, which Shaws lawyers challenged in the High Court. In a judgment delivered last March, Ms Justice Mary Faherty said she was satisfied that Shaw had been afforded the full panoply of fair procedures due to him. However, Ms Justice Faherty commented that the reasons provided for the Ministers refusal left something to be desired. Shaws lawyers were granted an extension of time to appeal the High Court judgment today. His lawyers filed an appeal approximately one month late due to an inadvertence. Part of the Wicklow Mountains President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham said Shaw had clearly formed an intention to appeal within the time required and suitable grounds of appeal had been identified. He said there was every chance Shaw would continue his legal challenge, if the court refused to extend time, and the same issue could come back before the court in two years time. Shaw was not present in court for the application to extend time to appeal. Ms Justice Faherty had said the function of the Parole Board was to provide an advisory role to the Minister for Justice in the exercise of the the Ministers discretion. There was no suggestion that the Parole Board did not abide by the processes set in place in order for it to be in a position to assist the Minister in the consideration of the management of the Shaws sentence. She said the opportunities afforded to Shaw to make his case to the Parole Board were clear from the process in which he engaged. He participated in two interviews with the two members of the Parole Board who were designated to interview him. Furthermore, he wrote to the Parole Board taking issue with what was said to be the interviewers misstatement of answers given by him in the course of the interview and with their having raised certain matters which the applicant contended were outside of their remit, Ms Justice Faherty said. She dismissed his application for judicial review. The mother of a young woman who battled to be given life saving treatment has said the kindness and generosity shown to her late daughter will never be forgotten. Alice Taylor, 26, from Ballycallan, Co Kilkenny was diagnosed with Stage 3B terminal cancer which had spread to her heart, lungs and liver last May. Doctors told her several months ago that palliative care was the option facing her. She fought to be included on a list of women to be given the drug Pembro which could have extended her life. Alice passed away at St Vincents Hospital, Dublin 11 days ago. The young woman who was a qualified social worker passed away surrounded by her parents Martin and Wendy, brothers James and William, her partner David in St Annes Ward. Her mother Wendy took to the gofundme.com fundraising page to thank the public who helped to raise more than 100,000 for her daughters to fund her daughters treatment. Mrs Taylor said: We have sadly lost our beautiful Alice RIP. Alice had completed her fourth Pembro treatment, however, the cancer had spread in spite of this, and after spending two weeks in hospital under the loving care of her family, partner Dave and the wonderful team in the St. Anns Ward at Vincents Hospital, Alice died. Throughout the last year, the overwhelming support from everyone has been amazing and critical in offering hope at a time when it was most needed. The kindness of heart and generosity of everyone touched Alice, and those around her immensely. We appreciate the enormous amount of effort that so many of you put into helping her and supporting her partner and family throughout her illness and up to the time of her funeral. Mrs Taylor explained that any funds raised would be distributed to the charities which helped her much loved daughter. The funds raised supported Alice through a very difficult time and the remaining funds will be distributed to causes and charities which supported Alice and her family. Alices resilience throughout, right up to the very end still amazed those around her. Alice was truly an inspirational and special person who touched the lives of so many. As Alices family, we are deeply heartbroken at the loss of our beautiful and gentle Alice, but feel truly blessed to have had her in our lives for 26 years and she will remain in our hearts forever. Her partner, Dave said, I am extremely grateful for the time we had together, and I will cherish the moments we shared together for eternity. Being there to witness Alices unbelievable courage has been a massive source of strength to me and I will attempt to carry this strength with me for the rest of my life Her mother added: Alice will truly be missed, but memories of her positive spirit and caring nature will live on. Thank you that all she can do is worry about her boyfriend David and family and what they are going through in a bid to cope with her diagnoses. Never a person to give up without a fight, Alice wanted to raise 150,000 to enable her to receive the specialised treatment, via doctors in New York advising which immunotherapy drugs, would best suit her. She had hoped to take part in further genetic testing available in New York at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre. The Irish Cancer Society has said the Government could save a life a day if it were to introduce lung cancer screening. The society has launched a lung cancer action plan in which it points out that two out of every three lung cancers are diagnosed at a late stage, often at a hospital emergency department when they are far harder to treat. Recent evidence has shown that screening will find lung cancer at an earlier stage and more treatable stage and therefore saves lives, said Averil Power, chief executive of the Irish Cancer Society. The society estimates that almost 2,500 men and women in Ireland will receive a lung cancer diagnosis this year while more than 1,800 will die from the disease. We are asking that lung cancer screening would be given early consideration by the National Screening Committee that was recommended by Dr Gabriel Scally, the action plan notes. Key recommendations in the plan include: * Prevention - that the Department of Health, with key stakeholders, should fully implement the recommendations of the Tobacco Free Ireland Plan * Early diagnosis - The National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP), together with stakeholders should run multi-annual, national, targeted campaigns to raise awareness of lung cancer. Improvement initiatives at rapid access clinics should continue and key performance indicators should be rigorously monitored to ensure targets set out in the National Cancer Strategy. * Screening - Once constituted, the National Screening Committee, recommended by Gabriel Scally, should give early consideration to the introduction of lung cancer screening. * Treatment and survivorship - There should be increased funding for lung cancer research and more resources directed to research and respond to the psychosocial issues that lung cancer presents. * Development of a comprehensive care plan for lung cancer patients addressing their emotional and physical needs. * Palliative care - It should be ensured that lung cancer patients get access to palliative care services as early as possible. Ms Power called for targeted information and supports in disadvantaged areas where rates of lung cancer are highest and for the Government to deliver on its commitment to help over 500,000 smokers quit by 2025. A social worker has told a court that she came across two parents passed out on the couch in the sitting room with two children aged three and six unattended nearby in the home. At a special sitting of the Ennis Family Law court where Judge Patrick Durcan granted an emergency care order to TUSLA the Child and Family Agency (CFA) for the girl and the boy, the social worker said that the children told her that they had tried to wake the parents without success. The social worker called to the home last week at 10.45am on a school day and she said that the children had to make their own breakfast when they couldnt wake up the two. The social worker was giving evidence on behalf of TUSLA the Child and Family Agency (CA) for an emergency care order for the two children. The social worker said that she asked the six-year-old girl why she wasnt at school and the girl said that Mommy didnt wake up to bring me to school. The social worker said that the daughter did say that her mother did wake up for a short time but was very dizzy. The schoolgirl said that when her mother wasnt able to make three cereals for breakfast, she made one cereal for herself and went back to sleep. The social worker - who was making a scheduled call to the home - said that after some effort she was able to wake up the parents but they became quite towards aggressive towards each other and towards her. She told the court: When I felt that I was unable to calm the situation, I sought the help of the Gardai. The social worker said the parents continued to fight with each other and the six-year-old girl covered her ears and I brought her over towards me for some comfort and the Gardai arrived. A Garda witness said that four Gardai were running around trying to separate the kids from the parents. She said that the children were very distressed. The female Garda told the court: I decided that it was best to take the children out of there for their safety and well being. The Garda told the court that the parents were under the influence of some intoxicant and the father told the court that he had taken prescription drug Xanax. The Garda told the court that after the father was told that Gardai were invoking special powers under the Childcare Act and bringing the children into care, the father smashed up the house. The father told the court that he is heartbroken over what has happened. He said that he had a relapse. He said: I am sorry and I am on track again. The mother told the court: I just want my children home. Judge Patrick Durcan said that he was granting an emergency care order to TUSLA and adjourned the case to Ennis District Court on Thursday. He told the parents: This is a breathing period - you both need a solicitor and you need that urgently." After Judge Durcan told the parents that they will be able to have access to the children, the father cried with relief. Judge Durcan said: Stop crying for a moment, the important thing is that you get a solicitor. A Fine Gael councillor is suing a Sinn Fein activist over what the High Court heard was a defamatory statement on Facebook. Cllr Ted Leddy (32), who holds the council seat in Castleknock, Dublin once held by Mr Varadkar, claims SF activist Alan Donnelly defamed him in a Facebook post which he says led to a death threat and other "odious matters". Mr Donnelly, a brother of SF Dublin West Dail candidate and Mulhuddart councillor Paul Donnelly, denies the claims. Mr Donnelly brought an application before Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds today requiring Mr Leddy to provide a statutory declaration that he had been fully advised of his option to have the matter resolved by mediation. The judge dismissed the application saying it was "premature and heavy-handed". John J Morrissey BL, for Mr Donnelly, said his side asked the Leddy side to consider mediation under the 2017 Mediation Act, requiring a solicitor to advise a client to consider the option as an alternative to much more expensive court proceedings. The Act requires the solicitor, among other things, to provide a client with information about the advantages and benefits of mediation are. Mr Morrissey said, despite correspondence before Christmas, his side had only learned on Monday morning that Mr Leddy's client had been so advised. However, it was still his case the Leddy side had not complied with the requirement to provide a statutory declaration as also required. Willam Maher BL, for Mr Leddy, said before Christmas the Donnelly side had been advised Mr Leddy was in the process of filing the statutory declaration. But within a few days into the New Year, this court application, which also sought a strikeout of the proceedings, was brought, counsel said. This was "very curious" in circumstances where the other side were seeking settlement talks over a statement on Facebook by a known political activist against a known councillor in which he was defamed, he said. Yet no defence to the defamatory statement had yet been filed and this was of particular concern given "what has been visited on Mr Leddy, up to and including a death threat and other odious matters". Ms Justice Reynolds said the purpose of mediation is to achieve a resolution of a dispute. "It is quite clear this motion is premature and heavy-handed". She struck it out with no order as to costs and gave seven days for the statutory declaration under the Mediation Act to be provided. Family members of a young man who died while sleeping rough aged just 25 are to walk from Galway to Tullamore in his memory. Conor OHagan died in the Co Offaly town in February 2017, having previously lived in Manchester, West Cork and Galway. A musician who was diagnosed with Di George syndrome from a very young age, he had a number of underlying health issues as well as a drink problem when he died in Tullamore. His death sparked a swift and emotional response from local people who knew him as a musician and led to a number of commemorative events. Ahead of the second anniversary of his death, Conors father, Kieran, alongside his wife Ann and Conors twin brother, Owen have said they will embark on the inaugural 'Conor's Walk', commencing on Conors birthday on May 3 from the Spanish Arch in Galway City, and finishing in Tullamore at the 'King Tree' on May 6. The main aim is to raise funds for Cork Simon Community and 22q11 Ireland, which raises awareness of Di George syndrome, symptoms of which include congenital heart problems, developmental delay, and cleft palate. Kieran OHagan said: We just related with them from the point of view that 22q are an organisation that had been involved for a long time with Conor. I had been in touch with them since Conor was a young boy and when Conor became a young adult they were the people that I turned to for advice and help. "Conor also used the services of Cork Simon occasionally. "At the end of the day Conor was homeless but he never considered himself homeless, he considered himself a travelling man. He was a complex young man and we wanted his story to be told." The trio will take on the walk on their own but a number of people have said they will walk sections at the start and finish of the event, particularly when it concludes in Tullamore at the tree under which Conor would sleep. "He would have been 28 this year," Kieran O'Hagan said. "The hope is it would be a regular thing, that we would do it each year." Anyone wishing to learn more about the campaign or to donate to the named charities can visit www.conors-walk.com for details. According to the site: "The happiest year of Cons short adult life was spent in Galway City, especially during the lovely summer of 2013 where he made friends and spent long days around Spanish Arch. "His untimely death occurred in Tullamore just a few years later where he had gone to find The Dew and spent many a night sleeping beneath the stars, sheltering under the King Tree. Conor was a free spirit and loved music, especially Heavy Metal." A Roman Catholic priest accused of indecently assaulting a young girl over 40 years ago has launched a High Court action aimed at stopping his criminal trial from going ahead. The accused, who cannot be identified for legal reasons is in his 70s and in poor health. He denies a single charge that he indecently assaulted the girl in the mid-1970s at her home when she was 10 years of age. The priest, who was known to the complainants family, is alleged to have touched the girl under her clothing when she was sitting on his knee while they and several other people were watching a film being shown on a projector. In his High Court action the priest, who denies the allegation or that the complainant was positioned near him while the film was being shown, seeks an order prohibiting his trial which is currently pending before the Circuit Criminal Court. If found guilty of the offence the priest faces a maximum of two years in prison. The priest claims he is prejudiced by an unexplained prosecutorial delay by the complainant making a complaint to the Gardai. The complainant made a complaint to the Gardaiin 2015. It is also claimed that the woman made a complaint about the priest to a bishop in 2004, and told her parents about the incident in the 1980s. He also claims that he cannot get a fair trial because many of the persons who were in the room at the time of alleged assault have died. Had they been alive, he claims they could have given evidence, which would have assisted his defence, including details about where the complainant was positioned when the film was being shown. He also seeks declarations that he faces a real risk of an unfair trial if the criminal proceedings against him were to continue and that it would be unjust to put him on trial in respect of the allegation against him. He further seeks damages for an alleged breach of his constitutional right to an expeditious trial and for an alleged breach of his rights under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Permission to bring the action against the Director of Public Prosecutions was granted, on an ex-parte basis today by Mr Justice Seamus Noonan. The judge placed a stay on the prosecution pending the outcome of the challenge and adjourned the matter to a date in March. A garda investigation is underway after a significant amount of suspected cannabis plants were found destroyed in a fire at a suspected grow-house in county Limerick, garda sources said. The blaze broke out in a derelict shed located in the outskirts of Bruff shortly before 5am, Sunday. Adjoining properties were not damaged in the fire. Two gardai on patrol at the time spotted smoke billowing from the roof of the shed, and alerted Limerick City and County Fire Service. The grow-house operation was then discovered after firefighters put out the blaze, sources said. The fire completely gutted the building and caused the corrugated and thatched roof to cave in. Munster Fire Control received a report of a a derelict house fire at 4.51am, Sunday. Three units from Kilmallock Fire Service and one unit from Charleville, north Cork, including a water tanker and three fire tenders, put out the fire. Gardai have spent the past 24-48 hours digging through the rubble to recover as much potential evidence as possible in what is an ongoing probe into the suspected cannabis factory. Garda sources described the value of the operation as significant. Investigators have been able to recover an amount of preserved suspected cannabis plants which are to be transported to the garda forensic science laboratory in Dublin for further examination. Gardai spotted the fire and pulled up beside the shed which is next to a cottage. The shed went completely up in flames and it was they discovered the alleged criminal activity, a Garda source said. Its a typical grow-house. We are still recovering stuff at the moment. The scene is still sealed off. We had a digger there all day going through the rubble to see if we can retrieve more. The source would not say how much the operation was worth. We are talking a significant amount. Weve no idea how long its been there. The investigation is in the early stages. The main road from Limerick into the town was closed all day Sunday, and the scene remains sealed off Monday night, pending an ongoing garda technical examination of the property and surrounding lands. The Divisional Drugs Unit based at Henry Street in Limerick city is now leading the investigation. In an official garda statement, a Garda spokesman said: No injuries were sustained in the incident. The results of the Garda examination will determine the course of any Garda investigation. In a follow up statement they confirmed: Gardai recovered a small number of Cannabis plants from the premises following a fire. Tanaiste Simon Coveney has doubled-down on Ireland's hard-line Brexit stance by insisting the Government has no reason to change its backstop position despite growing fears over a no deal crisis in just 52 days time. Mr Coveney ruled out any potential change in Ireland's position before Taoiseach Leo Varadkar holds crunch no deal talks with European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker on Wednesday. Speaking on Monday as EU officials travelled to Dublin to privately inspect Ireland's no deal contingency plans yesterday, Mr Coveney told reporters Ireland will not back down on the backstop. Asked after an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels if there is "any point" in British prime minister Theresa May hoping for a change in position from Ireland, the Tanaiste said the Government has no reason to change its view. "I understand she [Ms May] is visiting Northern Ireland [on Tuesday], and I welcome that, because I think people in Northern Ireland need re-assurance from the British government right now. "But the Irish government's position is clear, and I think the EU's position is clear too. We spent 18 months negotiating the complexity of a withdrawal agreement, that withdrawal agreement is going through the ratification process on the EU side. "Of course we want to provide assurances and clarity to the UK to assist in the ratification process on the UK side. "But certainly from our perspective on some of the core issues, particularly on the Irish issue and the backstop, it's already a series of compromises that is actually designed around UK red lines. "This is a UK plan as well as an Irish and a EU one, to solve a very important issue, to settle nerves in NI and border counties on the island of Ireland, and so we still advocate for that," he said. Asked if MPs private meetings about a series of alternative potential plans to the backstop should be considered in more depth by the EU, Mr Coveney added: "All I can say is the Irish protocol in the withdrawal agreement already allows for alternative arrangements for the backstop, and if they are there they can replace the backstop. That's always been the point here. "The problem has been that none of those ideas around those alternative arrangements have actually stood up to scrutiny "Our positioning is clear, we have a pragmatic solution that we know will work, it was agreed with the British government, and we expect them to follow through on that commitment." Mr Coveney was speaking before Taoiseach Leo Varadkar travels to Brussels on Wednesday for two crunch Brexit meetings with European Council president Donald Tusk and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. It is expected that while the meeting with Mr Tusk will be used to underline the EU's officially united Brexit front in support of Ireland, Mr Varadkar will be urged by Mr Juncker to step up Ireland's no deal plans. The latter issue was underlined by the presence of EU backroom officials in Dublin on Monday as part of scheduled no deal emergency planning meetings with their Irish counterparts. While the meetings are part of an EU-wide schedule of visits to capital cities - with Dublin ninth on the list and further meetings in Berlin later this week - there is significant focus on Ireland due to the hard border crisis. Meanwhile, Dutch foreign minister Stef Blok has publicly backed Ireland's Brexit stance on a visit to the Irish border. Speaking alongside European Affairs Minister Helen McEntee during a visit to Co Louth, Mr Blok said withdrawal agreement alternatives are "not realistic" and that the existing deal must not change. Mr Coveney will separately travel to New York after cabinet on Tuesday before holding several meetings in Washington DC later this week with White House and various international foreign ministers later this week. While the meetings - which will include an invitation to the national prayer day in DC - are on foreign policy, ISIS and the middle east, sources confirmed Mr Coveney will use the opportunity to underline the need for Irish Brexit company and diplomatic support. Anti-eviction activist Ben Gilroy has started a High Court challenge against his continued detention at Mountjoy Prison where he is serving three months for contempt of court orders. There was a large crowd in Court 12 of the Four Courts as Mr Justice Max Barrett began hearing an application under Article 40 of the Constitution where Mr Gilroy is claiming his detention in prison is unlawful. The hearing was adjourned and continues tomorrow. Mr Justice Max Barrett granted Mr Gilroy bail for the duration of the hearing on his own 100 bond. Mr Gilroy was jailed nineteen days ago by another High Court judge, Mr Justice Brian McGovern for three months over failure to comply with a court order to complete 80 hours community service after he had admitted criminal contempt. Mr Justice McGovern found there was a deliberate and conscious breach by Mr Gilroy of the October 2017 community service order, arising from Mr Gilroys admission earlier in 2017, of criminal contempt. The contempt related to Mr Gilroy having, in a sworn statement in proceedings by Allied Irish Banks plc seeking to enforce a 3.2m judgment against another man, accused the court of criminal intimidation and threats. Mr Gilroy also compared the action of a court to that of a thief putting a gun to his head and robbing him of his wallet. Mr Gilroy, Riverview, Athlumney Abbey, Navan, Co Meath was ordered to be detained at Mountjoy Prison after the court heard he had not performed any community service. In court Mr Gilroy along with Mr Jerry Beades claimed in proceedings against the Governor of Mountjoy Prison that on the face of it there was no committal warrant to prison for Mr Gilroy and he should be released immediately. Counsel for the Governor, Tony McGillicuddy BL submitted that the committal order which commanded the gardai to arrest Mr Gilroy and bring him to Mountjoy prison was clear in its terms and language. The case continues tomorrow when Mr Justice Max Barrett will continue to hear submissions from both sides. Ryanair has swung to a third-quarter loss and unveiled a management shake-up that will see boss Michael OLeary head up the group for another five years. The Irish carrier booked a pre-tax loss of 22.1 million in the three months to December 31, which compares to a 112.9 million profit in the same period last year. Ryanair racked up net losses of 20 million, citing weaker-than-expected air fares among a host of challenges. The firm also blamed excess winter capacity in Europe for a 6% reduction in average fares to under 30, while the airline also had to contend with higher costs from fuel, staff and compensation claims. It comes after a profit warning last month. We take comfort that this was entirely due to weaker-than-expected air fares so our customers are enjoying record low prices Revenue was up 9% to 1.53 billion and the airline said it flew 32.7 million customers in the quarter, an increase of 8%. Ryanair maintained its full-year profit guidance of between 1 billion to 1.1 billion. Mr OLeary said: While a 20 million euro loss in quarter three was disappointing, we take comfort that this was entirely due to weaker-than-expected air fares so our customers are enjoying record low prices, which is good for current and future traffic growth. While ancillary revenues performed strongly, up 26% in Q3, this was offset by higher fuel, staff and EU261 (compensation) costs. Additionally, the firm announced that it will change its group structure, with a smaller management team overseeing four units Ryanair, Laudamotion, Ryanair Sun and Ryanair UK. As part of the shake up, Mr OLeary will act as group chief executive of Ryanair until at least 2024. Meanwhile, chairman and company veteran David Bonderman will lead the board until summer 2020, but will not put himself up for reselection. He will be succeeded by Stan McCarthy, who joined the board in 2017. - Press Association OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office says he has spoken with the man Canada and many of its allies consider the legitimate leader of Venezuela. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/2/2019 (869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office says he has spoken with the man Canada and many of its allies consider the legitimate leader of Venezuela. Trudeau's office says he spoke with Juan Guaido about the need for countries to send a clear message about what the PMO calls "the illegitimacy of the Maduro regime." Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has declared himself the interim president of Venezuela, greets supporters as he arrives at a nationwide demonstration demanding the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office says he has spoken with the man Canada and many of its allies consider the legitimate leader of Venezuela. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Fernando Llano A statement from the PMO says the two also discussed the need to respect Venezuela's constitution and to have free and fair presidential elections. The call comes a day before Canada and its allies in the so-called Lima Group are set to meet in Ottawa. The gathering of more than a dozen of Canada's Western Hemisphere allies is meant to find new ways to support the Venezuelan opposition and ease the refugee crisis in neighbouring Brazil and Colombia The agenda was still being finalized on Friday, in part because of the speed at which the Venezuelan crisis is unfolding. Canada has already contributed $2.2 million for the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela that has forced three million people from their homes. Trudeau's office says he told Guaido that Monday's meeting will look at any ways countries can "can further support the people of Venezuela, including through immediate humanitarian assistance. "The prime minister commended Juan Guaido for his courage and leadership in helping to return democracy to Venezuela and offered Canada's continued support," the statement says. MOOSE JAW, Sask. - The deputy mayor of a Norwegian town says she may be coming to Saskatchewan to discuss a possible truce in an ongoing battle over the world's tallest moose sculpture. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. MOOSE JAW, Sask. - The deputy mayor of a Norwegian town says she may be coming to Saskatchewan to discuss a possible truce in an ongoing battle over the world's tallest moose sculpture. Linda Otnes Henriksen says she has been following efforts by people in Moose Jaw to raise funds to boost the height of the community's beloved Mac the Moose. The rivalry started when it was revealed that her town of Stor-Elvdal had a silvery moose sculpture that was taller than Mac by 30 centimetres. Moose Jaw Mayor Fraser Tolmie told CKRM radio that he's open to conversations about twinning the communities and building relations over the sculptures, but says plans still involve making Mac taller. Otnes Henriksen says Stor-Elvdal doesn't have the kind of money to keep building bigger sculptures to compete with Moose Jaw. She suggests the Saskatchewan city raises Mac's height to be equal to the Norwegian moose. "Maybe, you know, we could get out of this by making the moose the same height," Otnes Henriksen told The Canadian Press in an interview on Sunday. Last week, Moosehead Breweries donated $25,000 towards making Mac the tallest moose statue in the world again. A GoFundMe campaign has also been launched to support the campaign, with the goal of raising $50,000. Some ideas proposed for raising the statue's height include bigger antlers, although adding an RCMP Stetson hat or stilettos have also been proposed. Mac weighs 9,000 kilograms and has been welcoming visitors from his perch along the Trans-Canada Highway since 1984. Tolmie says the people of Canada want to have the bigger moose. "To be quite honest with you, I think our plans are still going to be that we're going to be making Mac the tallest moose and regaining that crown," the Moose Jaw mayor told CKRM on the weekend. The rivalry has gained international media attention, including a segment on "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert. Otnes Henriksen said the moose in her community was designed by an artist and couldn't be easily enlarged, although she noted the artist has discussed the idea of building another, taller moose. The current moose is in a spot where it appears to emerge from the woods, and is part of a road safety campaign to remind drivers to be on the lookout for the huge animals. Otnes Henriksen said she's never been to Canada and looks forward to a possible trip. "I really hope we can make that happen," she said. By Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton. With files from CKRM TORONTO - Ontario's highest court has ordered new, separate trials for a man convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of two sex workers in Niagara Region over more than two years, saying the cases should not have been tried together. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. TORONTO - Ontario's highest court has ordered new, separate trials for a man convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of two sex workers in Niagara Region over more than two years, saying the cases should not have been tried together. Michael Durant challenged his 2012 convictions in the deaths of two women identified only as D.D. and C.C., arguing the trial judge made several errors in conducting the legal proceedings. Court documents show the two women died from blunt force trauma to the head. D.D., who was 32, was found in a ditch in Welland, Ont., in August 2003. Twenty-two-year-old C.C.was found in a grassy wooded area in Niagara Falls, Ont., in January 2006. But while the two cases have some common features, the Court of Appeal for Ontario says the trial judge was wrong to admit the evidence on each killing as evidence of a similar act on the other, and to proceed with only one trial. In a decision released Monday, the court says the judge also erred in refusing to dismiss a juror who knew C.C.'s stepmother and in failing to leave manslaughter as an available verdict in D.D.'s death. It says, however, that the judge did not err in admitting some of Durant's private conversations that were intercepted by police as evidence in the trial. Court documents say D.D. was struck at the back of the head with something that appeared to be a hammer or a similar weapon. Her body showed no defensive injuries and there was no evidence of sexual assault, the documents say. She had consumed cocaine in the 12 to 24 hours before her death. Durant's ex-wife testified at trial that she helped him hide the body of a woman he admitted to having hit over the head with a hammer, they say. She said he told her it happened after D.D. tried to steal his cocaine and to hit him with a hammer. Forensic experts found about 20 bloodstains on a chair in his garage and D.D. could not be excluded as the source of the blood, the documents say. When C.C. was found, her body was wrapped in two white bedsheets and there was duct tape wrapped loosely around her neck and ankle, they say. She had several lacerations and fractures to her face and scalp, a puncture wound in her arm and a single sperm cell in her mouth, the documents say. She was under the influence of cocaine. In that case, the Crown relied on evidence that C.C. was last seen with Durant, that he had access to vacant buildings where he could have stored her body and to the kind of sheets that were wrapped around her body, the documents say. There were also three spatters of C.C.'s blood on the underside of stair risers in his basement, though an expert testified that could have stemmed from intravenous drug use. Court also heard Durant and a friend had cleaned the basement with muriatic acid, which breaks down DNA, the documents say. The appeal court said evidence of similar fact invites jurors to draw from previous incidents that the accused has a specific character, which would then support an inference of guilt in a specific offence. When this type of evidence is provided in an effort to prove identity, there must be a "striking similarity" between the incidents and how the offences were committed, the court said. That rules out coincidence as an explanation and allows the judge to determine whether the same person was likely responsible for those acts, it said. That threshold was not met in Durant's case, the appeal court said. "There was nothing of a signature here. The only cogent commonality was the profile of the deceased and this was simply not good enough," it said. "The similarities were at best generic. Both deceased were sex trade workers addicted to cocaine, a drug found in their bodies. Each died of blunt force trauma inflicted by a blunt instrument without identifiable features. The circumstances in which the bodies were disposed of also differed, as did the time after death within which the bodies were dumped." The evidence of similar acts was "a controlling factor" in the judge's decision not to order separate trials, and when that evidence is removed, it is clear the two cases should be severed, the court said. The appeal court pointed to the fact that Durant indicated he may testify on the charge related to D.D. but not the one related to C.C., and that the evidence on the former charge was "significantly stronger" than on the other, as further reasons for separate trials. As for the issue of the juror, the appeal court said the trial court failed to give appropriate consideration to the important of the appearance of fairness in making his decision. "The effect of the trial judge's decision was to permit a juror, who had some kind of connection to the stepmother of one of the victims, a person whose name was mentioned as a potential Crown witness and one who had vigorously advocated against what she considered unfair treatment by the justice system of sex trade workers, to determine the guilt of the person accused of murdering her stepdaughter," it wrote. It noted that the stepmother was the one who flagged the connection and both the Crown and defence supported dismissing the juror. Both sides also argued that manslaughter should be left on the table on the charge relating to D.D., but the judge did not include it in his instructions to the jury, the documents say. The appeal court said though a verdict of manslaughter is inconsistent with the defence's position that Durant did not kill D.D., what matters is whether the evidence presented at trial gives it an "air of reality," it said. The narrative provided by Durant's ex-wife gave an air of reality that could lead a jury to several potential verdicts, it said. OTTAWA - Federal efforts to address systemic issues affecting black Canadians appear to have stalled one year after the prime minister made it an issue, says the head of Parliament's black caucus as he put words to simmering frustrations with the slow pace of change. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/2/2019 (869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA - Federal efforts to address systemic issues affecting black Canadians appear to have stalled one year after the prime minister made it an issue, says the head of Parliament's black caucus as he put words to simmering frustrations with the slow pace of change. It was a year ago that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for action to ensure equal opportunity and treatment for the more than one million black Canadians to address the "very real and unique challenges that black Canadians face," including anti-black racism. Liberal MP Greg Fergus rises in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Friday, May 20, 2016. Federal efforts to address systemic issues affecting black Canadians appear to have stalled one year after the prime minister made it an issue, says the head of Parliament's black caucus as he put words to simmering frustrations with the slow pace of change. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld The cross-party caucus chairman, Greg Fergus, a Liberal MP from Quebec, described Sunday how the words were the culmination of a long lobbying effort that included politicians from different parties, political assistants and grassroots organizations. Fergus said he thought the speech would mark a change in how the federal government interacted with black communities. Instead, he said, the bureaucracy, which moves the machinery of government, doesn't seem to have responded. "I thought once you get the prime minister saying it, the whole system responds. But I have discovered how mistaken I was," Fergus said during a panel discussion at a national summit Sunday. "If there is not buy-in from the public service if the public service, the machinery of government is not reflective of the diversity of the country, and doesn't see that the black community is an important community that you want to deal with it's like Astroturf ... it exists on the top but there are no roots." The two-day National Black Canadians Summit, which was the second one organized by former governor general Michaelle Jean's foundation, kicked off Saturday. The first summit laid out areas where the federal government needed to prioritize for work or strengthen efforts. This time around, the aim is to connect different groups to mobilize the voices of the 1.2 million black Canadians to effectively lobby politicians as the country lurches towards a federal election in the fall. Fergus's comments put into focus frustrations voiced during the summit about federal efforts under the banner of the United Nations' International Decade for People of African Descent, which requires governments to address systemic barriers in laws, services and housing, for instance, for black communities. Fergus suggested his experience over the last year shows that lobbying isn't a one-time event, but a constant push. The Liberals have promised $19 million over five years for mental health and youth programs for black communities, and $23 million more over two years that included money for a broader anti-racism strategy, as part of its efforts. The election is a chance to amplify the voices of black Canadians, said Richard Picart from the Federation of Black Canadians. "This community, my community, is becoming more active politically," he said. "It's becoming more difficult to ignore the black elephant in the room." A lobby day is planned for Monday where dozens of representatives attending the summit will meet with cabinet ministers and MPs to put forward specific asks and put black voices into the political conversation. "The message is nothing can happen without us. We're in. We are in and we need to be considered," Jean said. "We're saying here we are and you need to listen to what we are bringing to the conversation." The federal government has been able to hire more blacks into the public service, but once in, they don't seem to rise to the upper ranks, said Liza Daniel, a founding member of the Federal Black Employees Caucus. She said the employees caucus is finalizing a report about a gathering in Ottawa last month, where participants talked about ways to improve the system for black civil servants. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Four stories in the news for Monday, Feb. 4 CANADA AND LIMA GROUP ALLIES TO DISCUSS VENEZUELA CRISIS Canada and its Lima Group allies are meeting in Ottawa today to talk about the political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland will host the meeting that comes amid protests in Venezuela aimed at pressing the country's socialist leader, Nicolas Maduro, to vacate the presidency. Canada has contributed $2.2 million to the humanitarian crisis that's seen three million Venezuelans flee their country, with most of them heading to neighbouring Brazil and Colombia. SENTENCING HEARING TO BEGIN FOR SERIAL KILLER BRUCE MCARTHUR A sentencing hearing for the serial killer who preyed on men in Toronto's gay village is expected to begin today. Bruce McArthur, who pleaded guilty last week to eight counts of first-degree murder, is slated to hear from victims' families and friends who will give statements to the court. The prosecution laid out previously unheard details of the case in a synopsis of facts last week that included the 67-year old McArthur admitting he sexually assaulted and forcibly confined many of his victims before murdering them. STUDY FINDS IVF LINKED TO SLIGHTLY HIGHER RISK OF MATERNAL COMPLICATIONS A new study suggests women who get pregnant using in-vitro fertilization have a slightly higher risk of severe birth-related complications compared to women who conceive naturally. Those complications include post-partum bleeding that may require a blood transfusion, admission to an intensive care unit, and, in extremely rare cases, death. The study found that roughly 31 of every one-thousand women who received a fertility treatment experienced a severe complication, compared to about 22 per one-thousand who conceived naturally. NORWEGIAN POLITICIAN PROPOSES MOOSE TRUCE The deputy mayor of a Norwegian town says she may travel to Saskatchewan to discuss a possible truce in the ongoing battle over the world's tallest moose sculpture. Linda Otnes Henriksen says she's been following efforts by people in Moose Jaw to raise funds to raise the height of the community's beloved Mac the Moose. The rivalry started when it was revealed that her town of Stor-Elvdal had a silvery moose sculpture that was 30 centimetres taller than Mac. ALSO IN THE NEWS: Montreal port employers and longshoremen gearing up for a battle over the definition of "essential service" amidst contract talks. Special Senate committee hearing on the Arctic looking at changes to the region and impacts on its original inhabitants. An estimated 5,000 students march to Queens Park to protest changes made to OSAP under the Ford government. Sukhmander Singh, owner of the trucking company involved in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, to appear in Calgary court. Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham JBR in Dubai has appointed Amrendra Kumar Bharti as its new food and beverage (F&B) manager. He has worked his way up the food and beverage ladder over the course of 18 years. Before joining the property, he was the operations manager at Clinton Street Baking Co. & Restaurants. Bharti was affiliated with the Wyndham brand for seven years and served as food and beverage manager during the pre-opening stage of Wyndham Dubai Marina. He also worked as assistant F&B manager at Ramada Plaza JBR and restaurants manager at Ramada Sharjah, as well as with other international brands including Millennium Hotels, IHG and Fairmont at various levels. Binu Varghese, hotel manager, said: We are pleased to have Amrendra on board. Our propertys outlets have distinct features and offers as compared to the dining venues in JBR. We are positive that with his expertise and full support from the F&B and kitchen team, we will be able to provide an unparalleled dining experience to both new and regular clientele. - TradeArabia News Service The Indiana superintendent who used her insurance to get treatment for a sick student has resigned, according to the Indianapolis Star. Casey Smitherman, who led the 1,500-student Elwood Community School District, about 50 miles from Indianapolis, garnered national attention late last month after she was arrested and charged in connection to the incident. Smitherman said she became concerned on Jan. 9 when a 15-year-old student didnt show up to school , the paper reported. When she visited the student at home, she noticed that he was showing symptoms of strep throat and she took him to a clinic to get medical treatment, according to a statement she released after her arrest and posted on Fox 59. The student was denied treatment at the first clinic, and at a second emergency treatment center Smitherman said the student was her son. She used her sons insurance card to get the student treatment and cover his medication, the Indy Star reported. Smitherman was arrested and charged with three felonies and insurance fraud. Smitherman had apologized after her arrest, but she said that she was only thinking about the childs wellbeing at the time. The newspaper reported that Smithermans resignation was effective on Friday. I am very embarrassed for that, and I apologize to the board, the community and the teachers and students of Elwood Community Schools, she said, according to the paper. I sincerely hope this single lapse in judgement does not tarnish all of the good work Ive done for students over the span of my career. I am confident the board will take the necessary steps to ensure the school system works through this period of change in the best possible way, the statement said. The county prosecutor has offered Smitherman entry into a diversion program that would allow her to avoid a criminal conviction if she does not get arrested within a year, the paper said. Related stories: OTTAWA - Canada's chief electoral officer is "pretty confident" that Elections Canada has good safeguards to prevent cyberattacks from robbing Canadians of their right to vote in this year's federal election. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Chief electoral officer Stephane Perrault leaves after appearing at the House of Commons information, privacy and ethics committee in Ottawa, Thursday November 1, 2018. Perrault is "pretty confident" that Elections Canada has put in place robust safeguards to prevent cyberattacks from robbing Canadians of their right to vote in this year's federal election. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA - Canada's chief electoral officer is "pretty confident" that Elections Canada has good safeguards to prevent cyberattacks from robbing Canadians of their right to vote in this year's federal election. But Stephane Perrault is worried that political parties aren't so well equipped. "They don't have access to the resources we have access to," Perrault said in an interview Monday, noting that "securing (computer) systems is quite expensive... Even the larger parties have nowhere near our resources and you've got much smaller parties with very little resources." Moreover, with thousands of volunteers involved in campaigns, he said it's difficult to ensure no one falls prey to "fairly basic cyber tricks," like phishing, that could inadvertently give hackers access to a party's databases. "You can spend a lot of money on those (security) systems and if the human (fails), that's the weak link." Elections Canada has been training its own staff to resist such tricks and, along with Canada's cyberspying agency, the Communications Security Establishment, will be meeting with party officials again next week to reinforce the need to train their volunteers. Perrault said he was "really disappointed" that omnibus legislation to reform Canada's election laws, passed just before Christmas, did not include measures to impose privacy rules on parties, which have amassed huge databases of personal information on voters. At the very least, he said, Canadians should be able to find out what information a party has collected on them and demand that it be revised or removed. The legislation requires only that parties publish a policy for protecting personal information. There is no requirement to report a breach and no oversight by the privacy commissioner. Should a party's computer system be hacked and the information used to embarrass the party, as occurred to the Democrats during the 2016 U.S. presidential contest, Perrault said Elections Canada would have no role in investigating the matter. That would be up to security authorities and the party involved. Under a "critical election incident protocol" announced last week, five senior bureaucrats would be empowered to decide when an incident is serious enough to warrant publicly disclosing it in the midst of a campaign. Elections Canada would only be involved if a hacker used the information gleaned from a party's databases to interfere with Canadians' right to vote for instance, by spreading disinformation about how, where and when they should vote. "The important thing is that Canadians are not prevented from voting. From my perspective, that's the No. 1 priority," Perrault said. In its own operations, Perrault said Elections Canada has done everything it can to prevent cyberattacks. "Overall, I think we're pretty confident we are where we need to be at this point." But he added: "It's certainly uncharted territory for us. We've seen the Americans go through this and Brexit and France and Germany, so we have a sense of the potential out there. But we've never had to prepare for an election like this." Since the 2015 election, Perrault said Elections Canada has rebuilt its information-technology infrastructure with sophisticated security improvements, based on advice from the Communications Security Establishment, which now monitors those systems 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "No system is 100-per-cent proof but they're much more concerned about the parties than about Elections Canada," Perrault said. In addition, he said the agency has set up a team to monitor social media and to quickly counter any disinformation about the right to vote. As well, it will have a repository on its website of every public communication from Elections Canada so that individuals can verify the legitimacy of information they see on social media or elsewhere that purports to be from the agency. "We really want to be the trusted source of information on the electoral process." The recently passed legislation included a number of measures aimed at preventing foreign interference and deliberate disinformation campaigns in Canadian elections, including giving the commissioner of elections greater powers to investigate and compel testimony, prohibiting the use of foreign money and requiring social-media giants to keep a registry of all political ads posted on their platforms. But arguably the best hedge against cyberattacks is the fact that Canada still relies on paper ballots that are counted by hand. "You can't hack that," Perrault said. HALIFAX - A Cape Breton call centre recently resurrected by an Iowa-based businessman is in line for a $2.4-million payroll rebate from the province if it creates a total of 750 jobs over the next three years. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Iowa businessman Anthony Marlowe, CEO of Marlowe Companies Inc., the parent company of the Sydney Call Centre Inc. speaks during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the call centre in Sydney, N.S. on Friday, January 18, 2019 in this handout photo. A Cape Breton call centre that was recently given new life by an Iowa-based businessman is in line for a $2.4-million payroll rebate from the province if it creates another 270 jobs over three years, bringing the total workforce to 750. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Sydney Call Centre Inc. *MANDATORY CREDIT* HALIFAX - A Cape Breton call centre recently resurrected by an Iowa-based businessman is in line for a $2.4-million payroll rebate from the province if it creates a total of 750 jobs over the next three years. Under an agreement with Nova Scotia's arms length business agency, NSBI, Sydney Call Centre Inc. would be eligible for a smaller rebate if it creates fewer than 750 overall jobs. Anthony Marlowe bought the former ServiCom call centre in December in a court auction that was part of the company's bankruptcy proceedings in the United States. He outbid two other interested buyers, offering $1.5 million for the idled operation that had thrown about 600 people out of work. In an emailed response Monday, Marlowe said it was always his intent to apply for the business incentive. "Leading up to the purchase we verified that we would be eligible, like any other new Nova Scotia business, to apply for a payroll rebate, which we did post-purchase," said Marlowe, who reopened the call centre last month. "We advised Nova Scotia that we were going to move forward with opening in good faith for the workers and clients, despite Nova Scotia not having fully reviewed our application, and we requested that be strongly considered during the process to approve the payroll rebate." Business Minister Geoff MacLellan said the awarding of the rebate by NSBI was not part of any deal by the province to clinch the sale of the call centre's Sydney-based assets. "There was never any commitment on anyone's part to give an incentive from the province," MacLellan said. He said Marlowe's company, MCI, and another of the court bidders did ask him at one point about "potential tools available." He said they would have been in preliminary talks with NSBI about the possibility of help, but wouldn't have had a decision by the time of the court bidding process. "This (purchase) decision was not made assuming that there would be a payroll rebate. He (Marlowe) was taking a chance that there may or may not have been support from the provincial government." MacLellan, whose riding is in the Sydney area, said the fact Marlowe applied to NSBI shows he has serious expansion plans. "The growth is going to happen here, I'm absolutely confident," he said. "I think it's good news all the way around, and again this is a tax rebate so he doesn't get anything if he doesn't produce those jobs." In mid-January, Marlowe confirmed that about 480 workers had returned to the operation, who NSBI says are included in the 750-jobs target. He also said that he has plans to further expand the call centre and hire an additional 50 full-time equivalent positions by the spring. He said the call centre had retained all of its major clients, including OnStar and AT&T, despite the bankruptcy proceedings. Marlowe's company had been in negotiations to buy the call centre in the weeks before its sudden closure Dec. 6. The purchase was a relief to a community that has suffered from chronic high unemployment. In its news release, NSBI said payroll rebates are only paid after a business has generated actual payroll for the Nova Scotia economy. It said for every dollar a company spends on payroll from jobs created in the province, it receives between five and 10 cents back. Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version was unclear on the number of jobs included in the rebate. OTTAWA - Venezuela's pro-democracy movement has welcomed the decision by Canada and its allies to urge its country's military to switch allegiance and support opposition leader Juan Guaido as the true leader of their country. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/2/2019 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland delivers a statement concerning Kirk Woodman while entering a cabinet meeting in Sherbrooke, Que. on Thursday, January 17, 2019. Canada and its Lima Group allies are meeting in Ottawa today to talk about the political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson OTTAWA - Venezuela's pro-democracy movement has welcomed the decision by Canada and its allies to urge its country's military to switch allegiance and support opposition leader Juan Guaido as the true leader of their country. The declaration in the final Lima Group communique from Monday's emergency meeting in Ottawa came two days after the defection of a top air-force general, once loyal to socialist president Nicolas Maduro. The Lima Group's meeting comes amid massive protests in Venezuela pressing Maduro to go. The group built on that backing in its final communique by calling upon "the National Armed Forces of Venezuela to demonstrate their loyalty to the Interim President in his constitutional functions as their Commander in Chief." They also called on the armed forces "not to impede entry and transit of humanitarian assistance to Venezuelans." Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, and Peru's Minister of Foreign Affairs Nestor Popolizio Bardales, bottom left, look on as Venezuelan Opposition Leader Juan Guaido makes brief remarks via video link at the opening session of the 10th ministerial meeting of the Lima Group in Ottawa on Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Guaido's representative to Monday's Ottawa meeting, Orlando Viera-Blanco, said the decision was a key step in freeing his country from its economic and political crisis and putting in on a road toward democracy. "We have a huge relationship with different people in the army force. They are willing to collaborate and I am sure that this will be one of the most important events, topics, elements in order to accomplish a way out in Venezuela," said Viera-Blanco, who has become the de-facto ambassador to Canada of Venezuela's interim government whose authority Maduro rejects. "We need more and more pressure on the top of the army corps, and in the top of the political dictatorship," Viera-Blanco said. Canada and the Lima Group of more than a dozen North and South American countries have backed Guaido as the legitimate replacement for Maduro, who followed left-wing populist Hugo Chavez into Venezuela's presidency after Chavez's death in 2013. Guaido is an opposition leader who's the head of Venezuela's legislature. On Saturday, an air-force general defected to the opposition and reportedly fled to Colombia. He posted a video on YouTube declaring his country's transition to democracy was "imminent." "As a country that has an open-arms policy towards Venezuelans, we have received many important figures from the democratic opposition," said Federico Hoyos, Colombia's ambassador to Canada. Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, middle, stands with Peru's Minister of Foreign Affairs Nestor Francisco Popolizio Bardales, front left, and Argentina Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Marcelo Faurie, front right, British Minister Responsible for the Americas and Europe Alan Duncan, middle back left, and United Sates Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft, middle back right, during a family photo at the 10th ministerial meeting of the Lima Group in Ottawa on Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland branded the Maduro government a dictatorship that has shown an inexcusable disregard for the rule of law and human rights. Two female protesters brandishing a banner and chanting "hands off Venezuela" breached security at the Global Affairs Canada building where Freeland and visiting representatives held a joint press conference to close the day. Two plainclothed police officers escorted the two women out without incident. Freeland said Canada and its allies want to bring democracy to Venezuela, "the kind of democracy protesters in Canada do enjoy, and I am sad to say political protesters in Venezuela do not." She said the Lima Group was emphasizing a peaceful transition to democracy, led by the Venezuelan people in step with their country's constitution. She rejected any suggestion that Canada or the Lima Group are fomenting an armed overthrow of the Maduro regime. Monday's declaration came after Guaido made a larger-than-life appeal to Canada and its Western Hemisphere partners to end the "usurpation" of democracy in his country. Guaido issued the call in a surprise appearance via video link to the gathering of Lima Group members and several other partners, including the United States and European countries. "Unfortunately we are still under a dictatorship in Venezuela at the moment. That is why it is time to increase pressure," Guaido said through an interpreter, his enlarged image hovering over the gathering on a movie-theatre-sized screen. "I would like to reaffirm ... our actions and our co-operation with the Lima Group, along with Canada, and all the countries." Trudeau announced $53 million worth of humanitarian assistance for the "most pressing needs" of Venezuelans. Canada has already contributed $2.2 million for the humanitarian crisis that's forced some three million Venezuelans from their homes, sending ripples across the region particularly in neighbouring Brazil and Colombia, which are now faced with a refugee crisis. The funds will go to "trusted partners" and neighbouring countries, Trudeau said. "This is a pivotal moment for the people of Venezuela we are observing a widespread rejection of the Maduro regime's illegitimate claim to power following fraudulent elections last May," he said. Peruvian Foreign Minister Nestor Francisco Popolizio Bardalen said the emboldened Venezuelan opposition "represents the beginning of the end of the dictatorship." Alan Duncan, Britain's minister for the Americas and Europe, said Maduro's "mismanagement and kleptocratic approach" are singularly responsible for crippling his country's economy. "If anyone believes that his management of the economy is in any way an example of how to go about it, then they need their heads examined." Canada and its Latin American allies in the Lima Group, along with the United States, have been pushing for Maduro's departure. On Monday European countries came on board, with Spain, Germany, France, Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and Lithuania calling for free and fair elections as soon as possible. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted out his support Monday, saying France recognizes Guaido as Venezuela's "president in charge" and said "Venezuelans have the right to express themselves freely and democratically." German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Guaido is now Venezuela's "legitimate interim president." Saudi-based Acwa Power has announced plans to boost its water desalination and power generation capacity and grow two-fold over the next five years with investments estimated at $35 billion. Acwa Power is the fastest growing power and water developer in the Middle East & Africa, with operations in 3 continents, providing reliable power at low cost. As part of its new growth strategy, the Saudi group is set to enter newer territories, said its top official. "We have already chalked out our next plan of action which will see Acwa Power enter 25 countries in a big way by 2025," remarked President and CEO Paddy Padmanathan. He was speaking at the recent World Future Energy Summit (WFES) held as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. During the event, Acwa Power cemented its position as a leading sustainability enabler in the region by shedding light on solutions to solving the worlds energy and water challenges. Through its participation at the WFES, Acwa Power engaged with stakeholders in the industry to highlight its commitment to producing electricity and desalinated water efficiently, reliably, and safely at low cost. The four-day event, which focused on renewable energy, saw Acwa Powers participation in a number of high-profile panel discussions, where conversations around a sustainable financial economy, and strategic solutions in solving the worlds energy and water challenges were discussed. Highlighting the worlds underestimation of the paradigm shift that renewable energy is capable of delivering, Padmanathan said: "Electricity has always been driven by fossil fuels. Although constantly fluctuating, 75 per cent of the cost of electricity generation is from fossil fuel. For the first time, we have the capacity to use the power of the sun and wind at no fuel cost and price oscillation." Therefore, we are able to generate electricity and fix prices for the next 25 to 35 years by spending money upfront and collecting it back overtime," he stated. Padmanathan pointed out that fixed costs play an extremely important role in the future of renewable energy deployment. Stemming from its commitment to provide power and water to the region, and its contribution towards the Saudi Vision 2030, Acwa Power also highlighted its growing efforts in the kingdom to utilize renewable energy as the primary resource to generate power and facilitate the entry of local investors and developers to the Saudi market to ignite the renewables growth. "Renewable energy remains the most competitive form of power generation in the GCC due to lower costs; economic diversification to supply demand; and the regions commitment to diversify energy sources," he added.-TradeArabia News Service The fourth annual Sustainable Development Goals in Action Forum will explore ways in which technology can be used to balance the worlds increasingly fragile ecosystems on February 9 and 10 at the seventh edition of the World Government Summit (WGS 2019) in Dubai, UAE. The UN-ratified Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a blueprint for organizations and policy makers across the world to achieve a brighter, more sustainable future for all. They include 17 objectives, 169 goals and 230 indicators that seek to address the challenges of 836 million people living in poverty, the waste of more than a third of the worlds food and limited water resources that impact over 40 per cent of the worlds population. The SDGs emphasize the need for an international consensus in protecting human rights and raising living standards to elevate global economic and environmental values. The UAEs National Committee on SDGs, formed by the UAE Cabinet in January 2017, which includes 17 federal government entities, has announced that more than 300 officials from federal and local government bodies, private sector leaders, non-profit organizations and academic experts will attend the SDGs in Action Forum 2019. Furthermore, on February 10, as part of the Forum, a high-profile panel will examine the inclusion of youth in the implementation of SDGs throughout the world. Following the launch of the Youth Council of the Global Agenda 2030 at the UN Data Forum 2018, held in Dubai at the end of last year, 610 candidates applied for membership to the Youth Advisory Board for SDGs. Nearly 76 percent of the applicants were Emiratis, highlighting the significance the UAEs youth accords sustainability. Abdulla Nasser Lootah, director general of Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA), and vice-chair of the UAEs National Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, said: In line with the directives of our visionary leadership, the SDG Forum will reflect the importance the UAE government attaches to sustainability, especially given its impact on the global citizen, which is our primary theme of the event this year. The Forum will include informative dialogues demonstrating initiatives that have been implemented over the past year and highlighting the efforts carried out in implementing SDGs in the UAE. Also, the Forum offers an ideal opportunity to examine national and global best practices and is a unique platform to share knowledge with experts from all over the world with the objective of reviewing the progress in implementing SDGs globally. With leading government officials, experts from international organizations, and eminent personalities from the private sector set to attend, the Forum will feature several presentations on best practices and public-private partnerships. Crucially, it will also address ways to employ innovative and advanced technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence in supporting efforts to achieve sustainability goals locally and globally. In addition, the Forum will also review the headline figures from 2018s report on the National Committee on SDGs. The sustainable achievements of the UAE, prominent in the findings, will be put forward as an example that the world can learn from. The National Committee on SDGs has under its umbrella several teams and specialized committees focused on diverse aspects of sustainability. The most important of these is the World Council for Sustainable Development that seeks to support global efforts in achieving the UNs sustainability vision for 2030. Members of the Council will participate in the Forum's activities for the first time this year. The Private Sector Advisory Council, which is overseen by the National Committee on SDGs, will also take part in the Forum this year. The Council was one of the specialized subcommittees launched in 2018 with the aim of supporting a new era of public-private partnerships. The World Government Summit 2019 will run from February 10 to 12 at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. The landmark event is set to convene more than 4,000 participants from 140 countries, including heads of state and governments, as well as top-tier representatives of 30 international organizations. TradeArabia News Service Forbes Middle East, a licensee of Forbes Media, recently organised a forum for C-suite technology leaders to uncover the latest developments in digital trends at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai, UAE. The Digital Trends 2019 forum was attended by around 200 experts, commentators and heads of business. Three insightful and entertaining panels explored how the Middle East is positioned, whether the region is moving fast enough, and what the future holds for consumers and enterprises. The first discussion on the 4th Industrial Revolution revolved around the new technologies currently changing the way companies operate and approach problems. Ari Kesisoglu, vice president for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Facebook, talked about how the social network stays safe and reliable. There are so many things that we are doing in the short term to keep up with all the changes that are going on, I guess it is fair to say that Facebook now is fundamentally different than Facebook a year ago, Kesisoglu said. Today we have more than 30,000 people working on safety and security of the platformthree times what the number was in 2017. We take more than 1 million fake accounts down every single day now. Many of these accounts do not ever see daylight, artificial intelligence systems catch them before they are even live. This insight led seamlessly into the next panel, delving into the use of Artificial Intelligence applications in business processes and the many new business opportunities it can create. Emad Mustafa, Head of Digital Technology Services at Fujitsu ME emphasized how AI can transform businesses by helping bring new products to the customers. The key is to hire the right people to bring it to life. Taking a bold step and learning more about AI, bringing in data scientists or outsourcing that part to someone who is really aware of how to build certain intelligence, will actually accelerate business transformation, Mustafa said. Acting Director of the Future Borders Department at the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs Dubai, Noura Salim Almazrouei, played a video to highlight how Dubai airport is continuing to innovate using biometrics and AI to improve passenger experience. Zulfiquar Ghadiyali, CEO at the Royal Office of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Saeed bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, answered audience questions on the side effects of AI on employment, concluding that the emerging technology is not going to take jobs away from people but instead create more diverse types of employment opportunities in the future. The third and final discussion explored how businesses are implementing Digital Transformation through technology in their own teams and all areas of their businesses, as well as its impact on operations and the value it delivers to customers. Offering the audience up a real-life example of how transformation can be achieved in an efficient way, Andre Daoud, CEO at Medcare, spoke about how his company put patients at the heart of its digitalization. The first pillar for us is patients safety, the second is how we deliver that safety in this seamless unique and digital journey. With those two pillars well aligned, we look at the entire journey from beginning to end and identify what it is going to look like in the future, remove any unnecessary aspects and then digitalize the entire seamless journey, he explained to the gathered guests. TradeArabia News Service Bladon Micro Turbine, a leader in micro turbine gensets, has signed a production supply agreement with Gridserve, a provider of critical power infrastructure solutions, in Dubai, UAE. The partnership was launched at TowerXchange Meetup Mena 2019, a major event for leaders in the telecom towers industry. The multi-million pound, five-year contract will see the pioneering Bladon MTG12 integrated into Gridserves 12kW solar hybrid power solution, SolarEnergyCentre (SEC12). This partnership sees further progress in Bladons efforts to provide long life, ultra-efficient distributed power to telecom towers around the world. The new product, the SEC12-MTwill see Bladons game-changing technology paired with bifacial solar panels and cutting-edge lithium-ion batteries to produce a hybrid unit that delivers reliable, low operating cost, low impact, clean power generation to telecom towers. This early contract win follows the launch of Bladons MTG12 at TowerXchange Africa in October 2018 and demonstrates increasing demand for the MTG12for the telecom towers market. The integration is now underway, and the product will be deployed later this year into selected regions that Gridserve operate in. Bladon believes that its MTG12, which incorporates advanced jet engine technology, is poised to take over from conventional diesel gensets in this market. The Bladon MTG offers superior performance, cleaner emissions and compelling commercial advantages compared with the existing equivalent product, typically a conventional diesel generator. Paul Barrett, CEO of Bladon Micro Turbine, said: We are really pleased to be working with Gridserve as we step up our production in 2019. Not only do they have a wealth of experience in the industry and international reach, but they share our vision of replacing the conventional diesel generator with ultra-efficient, low emission, distributed power solutions in the telecom towers market. We look forward to seeing the rollout of their new product, with the MTG12 integrated, later this year. Heston Harper, co-CEO of Gridserve, said: Bladons micro turbine technology delivers a combination of advantages that we have been unable to find in traditional combustion engine diesel gensets. Its long service interval fits perfectly with plans to deliver the lowest opex in the tower power arena while dramatically lowering carbon emissions. In Bladon we have found a partner totally aligned with our pioneering stance and our commitment to pushing boundaries and doing things differently to attain a truly sustainable future for the benefit of all stakeholders. According to Kieron Osmotherly, CEO of TowerXchange, since 2010 independent tower companies have expanded into Sub Saharan Africa, acquiring 40 per cent of Mobile Network Operators cell sites, driving at least two tenants per tower, unlocking substantial operational efficiencies, and delivering against challenging Service Level Agreements. With the announcements of landmark tower deals between Zain and IHS in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, driven by the search for operational efficiency, the towerco revolution is extending into Mena. We forecast that out of 180,000 towers, towercos will own and operate 30,000 Mena towers by this time next year, Osmotherly said. TradeArabia News Service 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. PR Newswire WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2019 WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement was issued today by Alison Kodjak, 112th President of the National Press Club, on the Washington Post Super Bowl Ad. "When today's game is on the line in the 2nd half, America will see something that is totally unexpected a Super Bowl Ad about the dangers faced by journalists as they work on behalf of the American people. We think it is just the right message at just the right time and we applaud the Washington Post and their leadership in speaking up for press freedom before an audience of 100 million. "The journalists to be honored in the ad include several National Press Club Press Freedom honorees: Marie Colvin, Jamal Khashoggi, Jason Rezaian and Austin Tice. Marie and Jamal were murdered for their work. Jason survived a 544-day prison sentence and has emerged to tell his story just this week in a best-selling book 'Prisoner'. And we must still find Austin and bring him home." Austin was taken in Syria while reporting on the conflict there and has been held for six years. He was there to help us understand what was taking place in that important region of the world. On May, 2 you can help bring Austin home. The National Press Club and the National Press Club Journalism Institute -- along with our coalition partners will work to raise money and awareness through Night Out For Austin Tice. On that night, when you visit a restaurant of one of our partners, some of the proceeds from your meal will go to help create a fund for reward money for information leading to the safe return of Austin Tice. These funds will supplement an existing fund created this spring by the FBI. Austin was an award-winning journalist for McClatchy and also wrote of the Washington Post. He is a Texan, an Eagle Scout and a Marine. He left Georgetown Law School to report on this crucial story. Although he has been missing six years, we have every reason to believe he is alive. We need your help to bring him home. In the coming weeks you will hear more about Night Out For Austin Tice, but for now if you are a restaurant and want to find out how to participate, contact Bill McCarren at [email protected] or 202-662-7534. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-press-club-unexpected-washington-post-super-bowl-ad-is-right-message-300788780.html SOURCE National Press Club 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 DP World, a global trade enabler, is playing a key role in the development of the UAE economy, according to a new study by the Boston Consultancy Group, BCG, said a report. The results of the study, titled Economic Impact Assessment of Jebel Ali Port and Jebel Ali Free Zone on the Economies of Dubai and the UAE, were presented during a recent press conference held at the Dubai Press Club, reported state news agency Wam. In 2017, Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone contributed Dh137 billion ($37.29 billion) or 33.4 per cent to Dubais gross domestic product (GDP) of Dh411 billion ($111.89 billion); and Dh151 billion ($41.1 billion) or 10.7 per cent to the UAEs GDP of Dh1,412 billion ($384.43 billion). Jafza accounts for 70 per cent of value and 97 per cent of all trade volume generated by Dubais free zones, it said. Jebel Ali Port alone contributes 26.1 per cent and Jafza 23.8 per cent to Dubai GDP. Both provide 14.9 per cent of the UAEs national non-oil GDP. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World group chairman and CEO, said: Trade has always been an engine for Dubais growth and we have played a central role in supporting it. The activities of Jebel Ali Port and Jebel Ali Free Zone are very closely connected with companies located there to take advantage of free zone facilities alongside to connect to global markets. Our flagship is an example to the world and a model we are rolling out across other locations across our network covering 40 countries. Ports, economic zones and logistics working together supported by smart trade technologies are a way to drive economies forward for the benefit of nations and their people, both now and for future generations. As wealth generators, they are critical infrastructure assets that underpin prosperity and success, he added. Identifying the value created by the port and the free zone, the BCG study underlines how they extend beyond their impact on GDP. It identifies three key areas employment, diversification and productivity that reflect Gross Value Added to the economy. The two also account for 450,000 jobs in Dubais economy, 16.2 per cent of its total employment of 2.8 million people. For the UAE, this amounts to 476,000 jobs in the economy, 7.5 per cent of the total employment of 6.4 million people. Other findings show that Jebel Ali Port contributed Dh552 billion ($150.29 billion), around 42 per cent of the total value of trade in and out of Dubai and that it contributes 47 per cent of imports and 64 per cent of exports. Dubais economic free zones together generated Dh434 billion ($118.16 billion) in trade value in 2017, with Jafza accounting for 70 per cent in terms of value and 97 per cent of the volume. The inflow of FDI to Jafza-based companies added up to Dh3.2 billion ($871.23 million), 23.9 per cent of total inflow into Dubai in 2017 and Dh3.1 billion ($844.006 million) of the UAEs FDI inflow of Dh33 billion ($8.98 billion) in 2016. Jafza is home to more than 7,500 businesses from over 100 countries, supporting over 135,000 jobs on site and attracting more than 20 per cent of Dubais foreign direct investment, added the report. SIGN UP TO GET BLACKLISTED NEWS DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX Enter your email address: Oman government has announced plans to float the tenders for development of key industrial cities at Shinas, a coastal town in the northern part of the sultanate bordering the UAE and Thumrait, a small town in southern Oman on the main road to Dhofar. The tenders will be floated locally and internationally amid potential investment opportunities in the development field. The government is also expected to start similar development work at Mahas in addition to other major projects. There are a number of strategic projects with significant investments in the final stages in Suhar and Sur Industrial Cities, it stated. The announcement comes at a time when the sultanate is gearing up for the Oman Industry Day celebrations that commemorates the visit of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to Rusayl Industrial City on February 9, 1991. The history of the industrial cities in Oman extends for more than 35 years, remarked Hilal bin Hamad Al Hasani, the chief executive of The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn). "The march started in 1983 with the establishment of Al Rusayl Industrial Estate Authority by a royal decree followed by the setting up of Madayn in 1993 to complement the march of Al Rusayl Industrial Estate Authority with the objective of planning, establishing, managing and developing the industrial cities across Oman," he explained. "In order to ensure the continued achievement of specific national objectives, Madayn has developed since 2007 short and medium term strategies to preserve the achievement and aim to further growth," stated Al Hasani. He pointed out that this year's Industry Day comes at a time when Madayn is witnessing rising growth rates in various fields. By the end of the first half of 2018, the total investment volume in the various industrial cities pertaining to Madayn has witnessed a growth of 2.16 per cent compared to the same period the previous year. The workforce in the various industrial cities during the first half rose to 56,887 with the Omanisation rate put at 34 per cent. "Moreover, the number of investing projects in their various construction stages during the same period has touched 2,071, of which 1,389 are existing, 368 are under construction and 314 have been allotted with space," explained Al Hasani. The total area of the industrial cities has surged to hit 104.5 million sq m during the same period with utilisation rate of up to 54 per cent. On the public-private partnership programme, Al Hasani said Oman Investment and Development Holding Company (Mubadrah) represents the main pillar of the PPP scheme. "The programme is aimed at attracting international developers to the new industrial cities in the sultanate with several sops for the developers and investors including provision of all the governmental services to them," he explained. Mubadrah aims at attracting international developers and operators as per the best practices for the development of industrial cities, he added. In addition to the launch of Madayn brand and establishment of Mubadrah, 2018 also witnessed major achievements by Madayn. An agreement was signed to develop, construct, and operation management of the sixth and seventh buildings in KOM and multi-level parking project, said Hasani. An agreement was also signed to develop the commercial zone in Al Rusayl Industrial City, in addition to the agreement of the facility building in Samail Industrial City. In the area of development, Madayn has commenced developing Phase Two of Al Mazunah Free Zone, expansion phase of Raysut Industrial City, as well as developing the mountain area and expansions in Al Rusayl Industrial City, stated the top official. Design works and processing of tender documents for the development of projects in KOM and Al Buraimi, Nizwa and Sur Industrial Cities have been completed. The tenders will be floated in the coming weeks, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Section 12J has been introduced to the South African Income Tax Act in 2009 - in an effort to afford small- and medium-sized entities equal access to funding in South Africa. It is only in recent years, however, that this opportunity has captured the interest of local retail investors. Dean de Nysschen, research & investment analyst, Glacier by Sanlam Issue of double taxation Counteracting capital gains tax Essentially, the objective of this ruling was to provide a catalyst for equity funding towards SMEs and hopefully to contribute towards the drive for greater economic growth in the future. By investing in these vehicles, investors not only qualify for a full deduction of the total investment amount from their taxable income in the relevant tax year - but these investors will also play an indirect role in supporting the South African economy.So how does the process work in practice? As a tax-paying entity this includes trusts and companies - you would approach an accredited VCC (a list of approved venture capital companies can be found on the South African Revenue Service (Sars) website) with your investment. The recipient 12J company then invests this sum of money (in underlying investee companies via a private equity investment vehicle), and in return they would issue investors with a certificate for the full invested amount. This certificate allows the investor to deduct the value of the investment from his/her taxable income in the same tax year essentially providing the tax payer with a tax-free investment opportunity. For provisional tax payers who submit tax returns at the end of February, the tax benefit can be deducted from the tax liability before provisional payments are made.The first catch relates to the potential issue of double taxation. When the VCC makes changes within the portfolio during the investment term, or if the investor wishes to sell the investment after the compulsory five year period - there will be capital gains tax (CGT) applicable to the sale, with the entire investment calculated as a gain. In addition, investors will pay applicable taxes when dividends are paid by a Section 12J vehicle. It is very important to note that the base for capital gain will be zero upon maturity of the investment this is due to the benefit of 100% tax deductibility.To illustrate this concept, Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management provides the following examples. Investor X has a marginal tax rate of 45%, and makes a R1m investment in a Section 12J fund the actual net investment from the investors point of view will effectively be worth only R 550,000, as Sars will be funding the remaining R450,000 via the tax credit.Now assume that the 12J fund merely returns the capital amount of R1m to the investor after five years, thus generating no capital growth over that period. This amount will be multiplied with an inclusion rate (40% for individuals and 80% for trusts and companies) and then by the investors marginal tax rate. For Investor X that would equate to a CGT liability of R180,000, which means that the investor will receive R820,000 after tax at the end of the five-year period. The result for the investor would be the equivalent of an 8.3% return on the investment per annum (the effective initial investment of R550,000 compounded by 8.3%, for five years, would return R820,000).This is an attractive return considering zero capital growth, and could be enhanced further by any returns generated by the underlying investee companies (see below table, assuming the fund also generates capital growth of 10% over the five-year period).Section 12J investments can also be very handy in counteracting present capital gains tax (CGT) events which an investor may have. Lets consider Investor X as an example once more. Assume he has sold his beach house for R5m, and the base cost was R3m. He is now liable for capital gains tax on R2m of gains. At his marginal tax rate of 45%, and an inclusion rate of 40% - the investor will be due for R360,000. If Investor X uses the opportunity to invest R360,000 in a Section 12J fund, however, his resultant taxable income in that year would be R0, due to the R360,000 tax credit on offer.Despite the fact that there are significant portfolio benefits on offer for investors, it is important to note that there remains the risk of capital loss. As a result it is critical to ensure that there is sufficient expertise and private equity experience within the team managing such a vehicle. As a result, much of the due diligence onus now falls on the shoulders of the intermediary, who needs a clear understanding of the fund structure, the underlying holdings and the nature of leverage being used within such a fund or by the investee companies. In addition he/she needs to be comfortable that the management team has a demonstrable VC track record - as there are sure to be many new players looking to capitalise on the Section 12J ruling.Prospective investors should also scrutinise the fee structure applicable to these vehicles. Private equity vehicles are often synonymous with high upfront fees and high annual management fees. In addition there may be significant performance fees applicable to the investment. These fees should not necessarily be seen as a deal breaker, as long-term returns could be commensurate - but full awareness of the structure is required for effective client communication and to ensure investment transparency.Next, consideration needs to be given to the asset class in question. Private equity and VC is just a form of this asset class - sits on the highest end of the risk-return spectrum (see below risk return indicator), and as a result both the client and the intermediary should be fully aware of the applicable lock-in period as well the resultant longer time horizon required when making an investment.What of the question of the applicable risk? Other than the considerations mentioned above, there are two major areas of risk for investors to be cognisant of. Invest12J broadly classifies these as investment risk and liquidity risk. The investment risk portion deals with the fact that venture capital investments are made into investee businesses which are generally unestablished and often in their infancy.Naturally, there is a greater risk of failure with these businesses, as opposed to investing in more traditional companies, with a demonstrable track record of generating profit. The liquidity risk factor speaks to the lock-in period applicable to these investments - Sars requires Section 12J investors to be invested for a minimum of five years, in order to reap the tax benefit on offer. And even once this five-year period has elapsed, the investment return may well take further time to materialise - as another buyer needs to be found before the investment can be exited. In addition, it often takes a long time for these companies to mature to the extent that investors receive the benefit thereof. As is always the case with greater levels of risk however, the potential for larger than usual returns remains.Despite the various challenges and risks highlighted above, we believe that the examples discussed clearly demonstrate the potential value that such a vehicle could add to an investors portfolio - when managed appropriately of course. Selective and strategic investments in Section 12J approved vehicles can definitely be beneficial for well-suited and informed investors. These investors will generally have surplus wealth and will often be in high tax brackets. Importantly the investor needs to have both the ability and the willingness to be strategically invested, without material time horizon and drawdown constraints. For these investors, Section 12J investing will certainly provide significant income tax relief, and could provide valuable investment diversification opportunities via the introduction of uncorrelated and alternative asset classes. From 15-19 February 2019, over 18,000 visitors, collectors, galleries, curators, artists and art journalists will descend on the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) to attend this year's instalment of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair. 10 reasons to attend the 2019 Investec Cape Town Art Fair 1. Talk that talk 2. Tomorrows talent today John Michael Metelerkamp - Nekkies-41 Michael Cook - Undiscovered 3. Digital directions Kyu Sang Lee - Live Alone, Dance Alone Jake Michael Singer - Whirl and Scramble 4. Afrika rising Ima Mfon - Untitled Williams Chechet - Disconnect 5. Witness the world stage 6. Take to the street 7. Cape Town cool Laura Vincenti 8. Larger than life 9. Culturally speaking 10. Power to the people Lady Skollie, Masego "Maps" Maponyane From 1519 February 2019, over 18,000 visitors, collectors, galleries, curators, artists and art journalists will descend on the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) to attend this years instalment of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair.Local and international visitors will see the work of more than 100 galleries and exhibitors from Africa and the rest of the world, which represents the forefront of the contemporary art world. The art fairs programme will include contemporary art, live performances and talks.If you need some more convincing, here are 10 must-see experiences centred on the artists, galleries and exhibitions taking place at Investec Cape Town Art Fair and beyond.Aficionados and neophytes gather for deliberations at Investec Cape Town Art Fair where the Talks Programme turns towards the mid-21century, an epoch of schismatic change and undefined perspectives. The panel Curating in the 21Century will feature esteemed scholars and curators from diverse localities to unpack the state of exhibition-making today.Participants include Renaud Proch Director of Independent Curators International, New York City who will be joined by chief curator Khwezi Gule of Joburg Art Gallery. This panel will anchor the series of talks touching on everything new, safe and unchartered in the art world.Collecting digital arts is another topic that is growing popularity in this information age. Tegan Bristow, head of digital media at Wits University, will bring together a host of multimedia adventure seekers from the countrys most exciting online initiatives.Additional talks will wrestle with issues of copyright, creative hubs and, to round off, in-depth conversations with renowned international artists whose work will hang at the art fair and around the city.TOMORROWS/TODAY is a curated cross-section of the most exciting emerging and under-recognised artists from Africa and around the world selected by Investec Cape Town Art Fair curator Tumelo Mosaka.The local art scene is not short of rising stars nor is it short of blazing stars. The point is how to get the one to develop into the other. For Investec Cape Town Art Fair visitors who intend investing in the future or invest their time in exploring the present, its important that the art fair sets the bar while ushering in a new crop of artists annually, says Mosaka. For this reason the fair has established this major platform.As the title implies, the ongoing theme is one of transformation showcasing the most thought-provoking voices. Mosaka will also head up a jury that will award the annual cash prize to the most promising and dynamic booth from the section.Confirmed artists include Zyma Amien (South Africa) of Art First in London, United Kingdom, Medina Dugger (US/Nigeria) of Art Twenty One in Lagos, Nigeria, John Metelerkamp (South Africa) of Candice Berman Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa, Troy Makaza (Zimbabwe) of First Floor Gallery in Harare, Zimbabwe, Chris Soal (South Africa) of Guns & Rain in Johannesburg, South Africa, Aimei Mpane (Democratic Republic of Congo) of NOMAD GALLERY in Brussels, Belgium, Armand Boua (Ivory Coast) of LKB/Gallery in Hamburg, Germany, Ihosvanny (Angola) of MOVART in Luanda, Angola, Michael Cook (Australia) of THIS IS NO FANTASY in Melbourne, Australia.The 2019 incarnation of the ongoing SOLO section of Investec Cape Town Art Fair will explore the effects of the digital world on our lived realities. As its name suggests, the extensive exhibition will include solo presentations. But this year it is the mediums that will bear the message as artworks reflective of new and traditional skill sets that will hold a deep conversation with one another. So get into the unstable relationship between the physical and digital space, the real and hyper-real.By progressing to new traditions it is hoped that emerging practitioners and collectors will begin to think more analytically about how the digital world impacts art. Digital practices may be a powerful force in our everyday lives, yet in our context there has not been enough opportunity in the visual arts allowing practitioners from different strata to exhibit alongside one another. And here it is.Confirmed artists include Kyu Sang Lee (South Korea) of Eclectica Contemporary in Cape Town, South Africa; Ibrahim Mahama (Ghana) of APalazzo Gallery in Brescia, Italy; Sitaara Stodel (South Africa) of Smith Studio in Cape Town, South Africa; Tabita Rezaire (French Guyana/Denmark) of Goodman Gallery in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa; Jake Singer (South Africa) of Matter Gallery in Toronto, Canada.The list displays an eclectic mix of exceptional talents whom, besides being young and audacious, also explore a new aesthetic of commodity and the personal in a globalised world.South Africas ebullient gallery circuit is fully represented at Investec Cape Town Art Fair, meaning that a swing down the art fair isles will give visitors a full picture of contemporary South African art. But the range of vision of anyone hoping to critically evaluate, or buy a stake in, a particular artists career needs to include an awareness of creation beyond the borders of home.At the upcoming fair galleries of the continent will integrate into the mainstream of South African consciousness, and the abundance of galleries from African centres attests to the desire for dialogue and stimulus on the African art scene. Or perhaps all they want is just to be in Cape Town when the whole art world will be playing together, there, in February.Either way, the African galleries represented at Investec Cape Town Art Fair include Afriart Gallery of Kampala, Nairobis Circle Art Gallery, Espaco Luanda Arte, First Floor Gallery of Harare, Louis Simone Guirandou Gallery of Abidjan, Omenka Gallery of Lagos and This is not a White Cube also from Luanda. These, as well as galleries from Western Centres specialising in African contemporary art, will no doubt pay homage to, and benefit from, the current zeitgeist.While on the world stage, the practitioners of contemporary African art have proved that endurance is a necessary aspect to the mix; and it impacts positively on the form the artwork will take on completion.This year saw William Kentridge celebrated at the Tate Modern for his production The Head & the Load and Kemang wa Lehulere was celebrated for his first solo exhibition at the Marian Goodman Gallery in London.While a select few South Africans arrive in the international spotlight, the race is on to integrate the local scene into the international scene and vice versa. The international scene can also make an impact on the local art scene by showing itself at prestigious events like Investec Cape Town Art Fair.The list of top international galleries represented at Investec Cape Town Art Fair is long, proving that the southern tip of Africa is not at the tail end of the wider worlds collective consciousness. Check them out: they come from Melbourne, Paris, London, Rome, Milan, Brussels, Hamburg, Dubai, and the list goes on.Art Week Cape Town needs no introduction to local denizens of the art world. Now in its seventh year, it is aimed at strengthening and increasing access to Cape Town citys contemporary art sector.What began in 2012 as a small project driven by the simple idea of highlighting local contemporary art the project has grown into an important annual festival, shining a spotlight on wider Cape Town contemporary art practitioners. The Art Week project pulls together galleries, public institutions, curators and artists for one week of open access events and activations.With Investec Cape Town Art Fair acting as the anchor event for the Art Week Cape Town programme, local practitioners are afforded the opportunity to take advantage of the large national and international audiences that the Investec Cape Town Art Fair attracts to the city.While the city has the infrastructure to push the art agenda, its also a highly sought-after holiday destination. Voted the Best City in the World by The Telegraph there isnt a shortage when it comes to the best restaurants, beaches and bars, says Laura Vincenti, Art Fair director. Its got everything and its the right place for artists to develop their activities and for collectors to enjoy.From authentic seafood restaurants such as Panama Jacks in the heart of Cape Town harbour to trendy gin bars on Bree Street, cafe culture in Cape Town including Jasons Bakery, Cafe du Cap, Honest Chocolate and cultural hubs throughout the city.And for those looking for something a little different and off the beaten track you can spend the night at the comfortable Overseers Cottage on Table Mountain or take a unique musical tour into the homes of local jazz musicians for an unforgettable evening of music, intimate conversation and a bord kos (plate of food), usually braaied snoek or pickled fish.You can also forage for edible indigenous flora in the Cape Point reserve with fynbos experts, Roushanna and Gael Gray or hop on (and off) the Franschhoek double-decker railway tram, which takes visitors to spots that offer superb cuisine and award-winning wines.Weve got top hotels, top restaurants, and top attractions. Now is a perfect moment for the city to be seen, to be explored, says Vincenti.Last year, artists Lungiswa Gqunta, Turiya Magadlela and Sethembile Msezane were commissioned to present installations about the everyday lives of ordinary women, elevating somewhat mundane objects to tools of disruption. This ushered in a new perspective on the Unframed section of Investec Cape Town Art Fair in which the fair itself would function as a platform for the commissioning of new work, thereby creating impact beyond the confines of the art fair.The Unframed section of the fair is a welcome activation in which highly regarded rising stars are able to commune with their public and allows visitors to experience installation outside of the gallery booth context.By taking cognizance of the broader context of the fair, Investec Cape Town Art Fair welcomes participation from initiatives that, out of necessity, play a leading role in fomenting change on the subcontinent. The Cultural Platforms section of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair is dedicated to non-profit art institutions working both locally and in Africa. It aims to highlight the networks and methods of working outside the market.Collectives and arts organizations such as Village Unhu from Zimbabwe and the ZOMA Museum from Ethiopia have in the past, been represented. As initiatives that integrate the arts, they make a vital contribution to repositioning ideas of change on the continent.Lady Skollie, Masego "Maps" Maponyane, whos been and whos yet to come? An event like Investec Cape Town Art Fair is not only about the art on the walls, its also about the people that regard it. The art fair welcomes schools and reaches out to tertiary institutions that teach creativity. If you know of a group that warrants special treatment then get online and make contact.Otherwise, go to the fair on a celebrity hunting excursion. To see and be seen.For more information, visit www.investeccapetownartfair.co.za A majority of oncologists believe that cancer incidences are likely to increase by almost 25% over the next five years Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, in partnership with Ipsos Research, conducted a study with 100 oncologists across 15 cities to assess the state of cancer care in India and its impact on the patients. With healthcare expenses touted to rise in coming years, a grim reality has come to the fore as doctors believe almost 50% of cancer patients pay out of their pockets for treatment, an Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance study shows. A majority of oncologists believe that cancer incidences are likely to increase by almost 25% over the next five years. Breast Cancer is likely to account for a greater proportion of these incidences followed by Lung, Oral, and Cervical Cancers. Commenting on the study, Sumit Rai, MD & CEO, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance said, The financial impact of cancer is glaring. While there are advanced treatments available, the staggering cost involved makes it unaffordable for several patients. Through this study, we wish to highlight the economic burden created by cancer care and create awareness that a simple tool like insurance can be your friend during such a challenging time. Currently, a standard cancer treatment for early and locally advanced stages costs about Rs. 4.5 lakh, and for metastatic stage cancer about Rs. 6.0 lakhs. The financial burden increases sharply if a patient opts for advanced therapy. Across all cancer types, advanced therapy costs about Rs. 10 lakhs for locally advanced stage (stages 2 & 3) and about Rs. 14 lakhs for metastatic stage. The awareness about insurance for critical illnesses is quite low in India. Despite the escalating medical costs, a large population avails loans or sells their assets to provide for the massive medical expenditures. In fact, 92% doctors believe that a majority of patients discontinue the much-needed treatment due to unaffordability, Rai added. While treatment cost increases, survival rates of patients drop as cancer progresses across stages. The study reveals, after a year of diagnosis, survival rate stands at 77% in early stage, lowers to 58% in locally advanced stage (stages 2 & 3), and drops further to 45% in metastatic stage. These findings draw an ugly picture and more people must become cognisant of these facts. Early detection is extremely essential it not only increases the patients chances of surviving at a curable stage, but also significantly reduces the cost of treatment. ACCESS Health India translates learning to improve health systems in India through collaborative partnerships ACCESS Health International launched a new bestseller authored by Dr. William Haseltine, Chair and President of ACCESS Health International, World Class: A Story of Adversity, Transformation, and Success at NYU Langone Health. The book tells the remarkable story of an underperforming New York City medical center that was transformed into a world class, patient centered institution that now delivers clinical excellence, produces outstanding research, and offers free education to medical students. According to Dr William Haseltine, The NYU Langone Health case study offers valuable lessons for India in transforming healthcare delivery through systems thinking, innovation in medical education, and leveraging the powers of digital health. It also demonstrates the boundless possibilities of an integrated care model and is an important example of that all healthcare leaders in India and elsewhere can learn from. Ten years ago, NYU Langone Health was losing tens of millions of dollars and ranked in the bottom third of academic medical center hospitals for quality and safety. Now, NYU Langone Health is ranked as the number three medical school in the United States, just behind Harvard and Johns Hopkins. NYU Langone Health also moved from the bottom third in national quality and safety rankings to regularly ranking number one or two in the country, all while reducing costs and more than tripling their top line. Addressing the media, Dr. Krishna Reddy, Country Director of ACCESS Health India, said that, The NYU Langone Health story is in line with the founding principles of ACCESS Health: to study best practices across the world and share them with others to improve health and to create a positive impact in our world. Dr. Haseltines latest book follows an earlier book Every Second Counts which tells the groundbreaking story of the national ambulance services developed by EMRI in India. Both books have key learnings that are relevant to our healthcare systems here, including the power of digital health to drive efficiencies, to improve quality and patient experience, and to move towards integrated care. As India moves towards Universal Health Coverage through its ambitious Ayushman Bharat scheme across the country, the need for a comprehensive, national digital health system becomes more and more critical, especially in the context of driving safety and quality across delivery system. ACCESS Health has been part of a recent collaborative effort to address issues at the systems level. ACCESS Health supported donor organizations and international and national researchers on work devoted to universal health coverage, quality of care, preventive and primary care, and digital health. To this end, ACCESS Health is committed to carry forward its work on various recommendations for health systems improvement in collaboration with other research and implementation partners. ACCESS Health International will celebrate its twelfth anniversary this year. Over these years the not for profit organization has expanded from a single office in Hyderabad to offices in many of the major cities of the world, including New Delhi, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Manila, Stockholm, and New York. ACCESS Health International, Inc. is a think tank and advisory group with a vision that all people no matter where they live, no matter what their age, have the right to access high quality and affordable healthcare. ACCESS Health partners across sectors in low, middle, and high income countries to drive innovation in healthcare finance, delivery systems, quality and process improvement, training, and business engagement. Alkermes plans to meet with the FDA to discuss the contents of the CRL and potential next steps for ALKS 5461. Alkermes plc has announced that it received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding its New Drug Application (NDA) for ALKS 5461 for the adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). According to the DSM-5(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition), major depressive disorder (MDD) is a condition in which patients exhibit depressive symptoms, such as a depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities consistently for at least a two-week period, and demonstrate impaired social, occupational, educational or other important functioning. An estimated 16.2 million people in the U.S. suffered from MDD in 2016,1 the majority of whom may not adequately respond to initial antidepressant therapy. The CRL states that the FDA is unable to approve the ALKS 5461 NDA in its present form and is requesting additional clinical data to provide substantial evidence of effectiveness of ALKS 5461 for the adjunctive treatment of MDD. Alkermes plans to meet with the FDA to discuss the contents of the CRL and potential next steps for ALKS 5461. This interaction with the Agency will inform whether there is a viable path forward for the ALKS 5461 program. The NDA submission for ALKS 5461 was based on results from a clinical efficacy and safety package with data from more than 30 clinical trials and more than 1,500 patients with MDD. Throughout the clinical development program, ALKS 5461 demonstrated a consistent profile of antidepressant activity, safety and tolerability in the adjunctive treatment of MDD. ALKS 5461 is a proprietary, investigational, once-daily oral medicine that acts as an opioid system modulator and represents a novel mechanism of action for the adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in patients with an inadequate response to standard antidepressant therapies. ALKS 5461 is a fixed-dose combination of buprenorphine, a partial mu-opioid receptor agonist and kappa-opioid receptor antagonist, and samidorphan, a mu-opioid receptor antagonist. CanSupport , a WHO awarded organization providing free palliative and supportive care services to cancer patients since 1996 organized its 12th annual walk-a-thon called Walk for Life: Stride against cancer supported by ONGC, CORE Diagnostics, Boeing International Corporation India Private Limited and Max India Foundation. CanSupport , a WHO awarded organization providing free palliative and supportive care services to cancer patients since 1996 organized its 12th annual walk-a-thon called Walk for Life: Stride against cancer supported by ONGC, CORE Diagnostics, Boeing International Corporation India Private Limited and Max India Foundation. The walk was organized to draw public attention to the growing and menacing presence of cancer in our country, to show support for cancer patients, honor those lost to cancer and raise funds for CanSupports free of charge home care services to people with cancer in Delhi/NCR and Amritsar. Ms Harmala Gupta, Founder-President, CanSupport gave the welcome address followed by a speech by Ms. Jeannie Mulford wife of Ex US Ambassador to India, a breast cancer survivor. Guest of honour Mrs. Gursharan Kaur flagged off the Walk. Dr. A.P Maheshwari, DG Bureau of Police Research & Development; Ms. Mary Carlson, Deputy Chief Of Mission, US Embassy; Mr Manoj Barthwal, GM-HR, ONGC; Ms. Mohini Daljeet Singh, CEO, Max India Foundation and Ms. Praveena Yagambhatt, Leader for Boeing Global Engagement India were some of the distinguished guests at the Walk. This year, the Walk saw the youth taking the lead and individuals from more than 30 Corporates, Embassy, 50 Schools and Colleges Institutes came forward to show solidarity with those suffering from cancer and remove the stigma attached to cancer. The Walk also witnessed participation from the Harley Davidson Rider Group who rode with cancer survivors to show their support. The Band from BSF, Drummers from Djembe Circle and Zumba performance by Fantezy group kept the walkers entertained as they walked down Rajpath, the route of the walk. Ms. Harmala Gupta, Founder-President CanSupport said The huge turnout at CanSupports Walk for Life and the variety of participants are a reminder that cancer does not recognise boundaries of country, class, age or gender. What unites us all today is our determination to stand shoulder to shoulder and not allow cancer to crush our spirit Ms. Zoya Brar, Founder & Managing Director, CORE Diagnostics said, We are grateful and privileged to support CanSupports initiative to spread positivity and celebrate cancer survivorship. In order to give back to society, we believe that such first-hand partnerships can immensely transform the state of cancer awareness, care and support in our country. Being so closely entwined with cancer care, we are happy to associate with a cause at this scale to spread much-needed awareness about early detection and prevention to save more lives. We will continue to walk and work for the community this way. CORE Diagnostics is a high-end clinical laboratory focused on next generation diagnostics for disease stratification and therapy selection. The company focuses on bringing the most advanced testing techniques and expertise to India and is the destination for all of Indias high-end diagnostic needs. CORE Diagnostics has a rich menu of high-end tests; provides a second opinion on every test from a global panel of pathologists; and has the shortest turnaround time. The companys test offerings are in the areas of cardiology, oncology, reproductive disorders, endocrinology, and infectious diseases. CORE Diagnostics also has international roots in the United States, Dubai, Africa and various countries in South Asia. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. -1 John 5:14 Human beings are relational. Created in Gods image (Genesis 1:27), our Father desires a personal relationship with us (John 3:16). The all-transcending, omnipotently sovereign God (Isaiah 46:9) is incredibly personal. He is aware, present, and compassionately involved in every detail of who we are (Psalm 18:30; 116:5). God does not require us to grow into a different version of ourselves in order to gain access to Him (Micah 7:18-19). He is here . . . now (Joshua 1:8-9); He hears us when we speak, especially to Him. (1 John 5:14) He faithfully holds true to His promise to be close to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18) and to love us unfailingly (2 Peter 3:9). God desires our communication with Him. The biggest stretch of our faith is perhaps the inaudible moving of our God. Present-day people claim to hear from God via dreams. He probably isnt going to light a shrub on fire in our front yards to get our attention as He did through Moses and the burning bush. Yet, because of Jesus, His presence is no less palpable. How do we ignite conversation with our Almighty God? Through prayer. Because of Christs sacrifice on the cross, we can talk to God and He back to us. Prayer teaches us how. Is Talking to God the Same as Praying? Prayer runs alongside worship in regard to the different ways in which we express our faith. Carefully memorized prayers repeated religiously, journaled thoughts, silent sacred moments with God, and hearts poured out through song all grab Gods attention. Our Fathers focus is on the content of the conversation more so than the delivery. The invisible presence of our all-present God fuels the radical part of our faith. Talking to Him in the car, out on a run, in a church sanctuary or Bible study full of heads bowed. We can talk to God anywhere, anytime. In the real and raw life moments that leave us speechless, the gift of salvation flexes its most important muscle: The Holy Spirit. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for Gods people in accordance with the will of God. -Romans 8:26-27 What Does the Bible Say about Speaking to God? Scripture is riddled with verses about prayer and verses instructing us how to pray. Jesus, Himself, gave us the greatest lesson on prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. A prayer that we have prayed in the English language for five hundred years. Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. In a desiringGod.org article, John Piper stated: Jesus is teaching us how to pray to our Father -not to God in general, but to God as our Father. In his study of these prayerful verses in Scripture, Piper further explained the definition of hallowed: We regard him as holy, see him as holy, sense him as holy, stand in awe of him as holy.He also reminds us its essential to feel reverence toward God beyond regarding it as fact. The devil sees it, Piper explained, the demon said to Jesus, I know who you are- the Holy One of God" (Mark 1:24). Many biblical heroes prayed Gods will over their own. As Jesus faced the cross, He prayed for God to take it away but then sealed His hearts intentions with, but your will be done. The Book of Proverbs, written by the great and wise King Solomon, says the root of all wisdom is fear of the Lord. (Proverbs 1:7) Authentic prayer begins with a heart reverently devoted to God. The Holy Spirit searches our hearts and knows its intentions and motivations. Regularly watering our hearts in Gods Word fosters genuine prayer. When we submit our lives into His sovereign hands, we can confidently pray, Your will be done, just as Jesus taught. 3 Ways to Communicate with God 1. Talking to God through Prayer There are many methods and acronyms to help guide us in how to pray, one of the most popular being A.C.T.S: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. Adoration sets our hearts right, giving praise to God for who He is. Confession expresses what Christ accomplished. Through salvation, our confessed sins are forgiven (1 John 1:9). Thanksgiving moves our hearts toward a state of gratefulness (As we grow with Christ even our trials begin to make it onto to this list). Supplication represents our prayer requests for help, healing, blessing, and beyond. Click here for 6 steps of prayer that Jesus teaches us in the example of the Lords prayer. 2. Talking to God through Journaling A.C.T.S. can also be helpful when journaling to God. Create a space dedicated to having quiet times with God. I, myself, use this method of prayer because, without an intent to stay focused, my mind drifts into my to-do list for the day. In fact, I keep a piece of paper next to my journal to jot down things that pop up to distract me. I write them down and then put it aside to return my focus to prayer. Couple prayer journaling with daily devotional readings of Scripture to complete the conversation. Gods Word pops up applicably to address our prayer concerns. Sometimes immediately, others over time. Those breakthrough moments are the incredible miracles that cement our faith and cause us to crave more time with Him. 3. Talking to God in Spontaneous Prayer Megan Hill wisely addressed spontaneous prayer in her article, Why Spontaneous Prayer and Planned Prayer are Both Important: We need spontaneous prayer because we are dependent every moment on the Lord, and we are together dependent on him. Praying about something right in the moment reminds us of that very dependence. Scripture encourages us to pray about everything (Philippians 4:6-7). Though its important to devote a part of our day to the Lord in prayer, we are wise to carry our conversation with Him all throughout it. For a prayer to jumpstart your prayer life, click here. Can God Speak to My Dreams? In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. -Acts 2:17 Yes, God can speak to us in our dreams. He can do anything! He is our Creator, our Father, and our omnipotent and sovereign God. We know its possible because of first-hand accounts shared over time and biblical stories that reflect the power of Gods movement in our dreams. He protected Jesus from death after birth through a dream: When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him" (Matthew 2:13). Gods ways are higher, and His timing is perfect. Dreams are simply night visions. And night or day, visions are one way God speaks to us. Job reminds us: For God does speak- now one way, now another- though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword. -Job 33:14-18 For more verses about dreams, click here. How to Hear from God & How to Listen to God Does God speak to us directly? Yes. If we are willing and humbled to listen, we will hear directly from God. We may not experience the audible voice of God or experience a message delivered during a dream, but He is always evident in creation, His Word, answered prayers, and experienced miracles. How does God speak to us? God speaks to us through our lives. To hear God, we must be tuned into the right frequency, the proper state of our hearts. Our hearts become hallowed before Him as we seek Him daily in His Word. How does God's Word speak to us? Gods Word is alive and active (Hebrews 4:12). The Holy Spirit translates our prayers to God and reveals our breakthroughs via Gods Word, creation, and character. When we strain to see beyond our way and how we feel God should answer our prayers, we become open to His good, perfect, and just will. We begin to trust Him to defend us, guide us, and love us because of who He is. How can we discern God's voice? The Bible says we will find Him when we seek Him with all of our heart. The prophet Jeremiah, who spoke that verse in chapter 29:13, reached out to a people far from God and running farther. He wept for His people and begged them to listen, but they turned away from his warnings, Gods word, and toward their consequential destruction. When we seek God in His Word, we start to yearn for more than what we want to hear. 6 Bible Verses about Talking to God and Hearing from God I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people (Ephesians 1:18). You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows (Job 22:27). Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:24). I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer (Psalm 17:6). He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea (Psalm 102:17). Then you will come and pray to me, and I will listen (Jeremiah 29:12). For more verses about prayer, click here. Prayer is a gift. We no longer have to go through religious motions to have an audience with the One True God. Jesus obedience to Gods will in dying on the cross forever cemented our opportunity to have a personal relationship with God through the acceptance of Him. Perhaps, you wish to know more about who He is and want to experience prayerful conversation with God through His creation, His miracles, and His Word. Click here for examples of salvation prayers or pray the following: Father God, Today we praise You for Your sovereignty, Your omnipotence, and Your abounding Love. We stand in awe, hallowed by Your name. Thank You for Jesus Christ, Your Son, who came to earth and walked where we walk. He felt what we feel. He chose death on a cross in order to save us. To save me. Forgive me for my sins, Father. Restore my heart to mirror Yours. Refine my mind and body and soul to align with Your will and purpose for my life. Bless each step of my life from here to move forward toward You as I follow Jesus for the rest of my days. I believe in You. I accept Christs sacrifice on my behalf, and I pray, today, to know you and seek you with all of my heart. In Jesus Name, Amen. If you prayed that prayer for the first time today, please reach out to us in the comments below or via email/social media. Contact a local pastor, church, or community of believers. If you need help getting connected, reach out to us. God Bless You. For a Prayer for the Salvation of Others, click here. Megs writes about everyday life within the love of Christ. She stepped out of her comfort zone, and her Marketing career, to obey Gods call to stay home and be Mom in 2011. From that step of obedience her blog, Sunny&80, was born, a way to retain the funny everyday moments of motherhood. (https://sunnyand80.org) Meg is also a freelance writer and author of Friends with Everyone. She loves leading her Monday morning Bible study, being a dance mom, distance running and photography. Meg resides in Northern Ohio with her husband, two daughters, and Godlen-Doodle all avid Cleveland Browns fans. Photo credit: Thinkstock/BrianAJackson Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, will take part in the upcoming Sharjah National Career Exhibition, seeking to nurture young Emirati talent and boost the UAEs Emiratisation drive. The event will be held from February 6 to 8 at Expo Centre Sharjah. At the exhibition, Emirates NBD will conduct on-the-spot interviews to offer admissions to candidates aspiring for careers in the banking sector and offer on-the-spot entries to applicants in their exclusive 'Programme for Accelerated Learning' (PAL), talent advancement programme for university graduates. PAL is a 12 -18 months extensive training programme that covers basic and complex banking systems, discussion skills, delegation skills, inspiration theories, and development training amongst others. The programme includes on-the-job training with Certificate in Finance Accounting and Business (CFAB), Certified Banking Operations (CBO) & Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) enabling UAE National employees to gain banking experience whilst preparing them for a range of roles within the bank. Emirates NBD is also inviting applications from high school graduates for Al Mishaal, an exclusive six-month training programme designed for key front-line positions such as Tellers and Customer Service Executives. Besides job-specific knowledge, the programme is designed to develop communication and English language skills and the ability to work in large corporate teams. Husam Al Sayed, Group chief human resource officer, Emirates NBD, said: As a home-grown bank and market leader in the UAEs banking sector, Emiratisation has always been a key part of Emirates NBDs strategy and we continuously invest heavily in training programmes to hone local talent and enhance their professional skills and capabilities. In 2018, the bank employed more than 300 ambitious Emiratis though employment fairs and our overall commitment for this year is to hire approximately 150 high school graduates for the Al Mishaal program and 70 university graduates for the PAL program. In addition to the spots in its trainee programmes, the bank is also looking to hire experienced Emirati applicants across a range of positions, starting from junior to managerial posts. As part of the banks Emiratisation strategy and commitment to nurturing young Emirati talent, Emirates NBD also runs Menha, a scholarship programme that provides financial support to UAE national students, while opening doors to future career opportunities at Emirates NBD. TradeArabia News Service As Black History Month begins, Bowling Green State University has planned a powerful series of speakers and events that take the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s famous words Beyond the Dream. Throughout the spring semester, students and community members will hear from national leaders of some of todays most important social movements, aimed at bringing equity and justice to all members of society. Speakers include Opal Tometi, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement; Shaun King, journalist, activist and writer in residence for Harvard Law Schools Fair Punishment Project; Ariana Brown, award-winning poet and activist; and Tarana Burke, founder of the me too. Movement. Weve worked collaboratively to bring the most dynamic line-up weve had to date, said Jennifer McCary, assistant vice president for student affairs and Title IX coordinator. We hope these speakers will help spark much-needed conversations on our campus about equity, diversity and inclusivity driving us to action. Beyond the Dream events provide an opportunity for the University to create a sense of belonging for our minoritized students and build a culture of inclusion on campus, said Ana Brown, interim director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. They are also an avenue for all students to learn, grow in their empathy, and develop a more inclusive mindset as a result, Brown said. By continuing to support the Black Issues Conference, Beyond the Dream offerings, and other programming like this, BGSU is saying, This is what we value and who we strive to be. On Feb. 20, Opal Tometi will deliver the keynote address for the Universitys Beyond the Dream series from 7-8 p.m. in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. Tometi is the daughter of Nigerian immigrants. She co-founded Black Lives Matters with two other women, and today is the executive director of Black-Alliance for Just Immigration. Her talk is sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of the Provost. Register to attend her keynote address The 19th annual Black Issues Conference, held Feb. 20-22, features Shaun King. He will speak on Civil Rights Today: The New Civil Rights Movement at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 22 in the ballroom during the conference luncheon. His talk is free for BGSU students, but paid admission for others. Register for the luncheon by Feb. 8 In addition to the keynote luncheon, the conference includes a diverse set of workshops and panel discussions led by undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, administrators and members of the local, regional and national communities. Students are integrally involved in planning, programming and staging the conference, as well as presenting at it, Brown said. The Black Issues Conference is an opportunity for BGSU to share with northwest Ohio current research and knowledge impacting the African-American community on the local, state, regional, and national levels, she said. The presenters come from a broad base of experience, from nationally recognized speakers and activists to undergraduate students for whom this is the first opportunity to share information with an audience this size. On March 27, the Latino/a/x Issues Conference will host poet Ariana Brown as its keynote speaker. Her talk, at 11:30 a.m., will take place during the conference luncheon. Brown is a black Mexican-American raised in a working class community in San Antonio, Texas. She has received two Academy of American Poets Prizes and is a 2014 Collegiate National Poetry Slam Champion. Her work has been featured in journals, including Nepantla, Muzzle, African Voices, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review and iMantecal!: an Anthology of Afro-Latin@ Poets. Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month kicks off from 4-8 p.m. April 3 in 202B Union. The kickoff will celebrate how Asian American and Pacific Islanders lives are woven into American culture and history, but will expand to include those who are part of the diaspora. Wayne State University faculty Dr. Roland Coloma will present the keynote talk, The Ongoing Struggle for Ethnic Studies: The Politics of Race in P-12 and Higher Education. This years programming will acknowledge and highlight intersectional and intersecting identities. The semester ends with Tarana Burke, the 2017 Time Person of the Year for the viral me too. Movement, as the speaker for the BGSU Libraries Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories lecture series on April 30. A sexual assault survivor herself, Burke has worked for more than 25 years on social justice issues and laying the groundwork for a movement that was initially created to help young women of color who survived sexual abuse and assault. In her upcoming book, Where the Light Enters, she discusses the importance of the me too. Movement as well as her personal journey from "victim to survivor to thriver." Philippine Air Force personnel carry one of the wounded soldiers who were airlifted to a military base in the southern city of Zamboanga after security forces clashed with Abu Sayyaf militants on the island of Jolo, Feb. 2, 2019. Philippine authorities filed murder charges Monday against five suspected Abu Sayyaf militants who surrendered after being accused of involvement in the twin bombings that killed 22 people at a Catholic Church in the southern town of Jolo, the countrys police chief said. But authorities struggled on Monday to determine the real identities of the bombers who set off the brazen attack at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Jan. 27. I am pleased to announce the surrender over the weekend of the Kammah L. Pae and four other persons who performed individual roles in that incident, National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde told reporters. The five surrendered due to the massive hot-pursuit operations by troops from the Patikul municipal police station, working alongside the army, Albayalde said, adding that complaints of murder and attempted murder have been filed against the five men. Members of Indonesias elite Densus 88 anti-terrorism personnel arrived in Manila on Monday to help probe suspicions that an Indonesian couple were involved in the church attack, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano told reporters. But Wiranto, Indonesias coordinating minister for security, legal and political affairs, said Philippine authorities should not have jumped the gun. It's just one-sided news, he said. There are many possibilities. Don't rush to the conclusion that they were Indonesians. Wiranto made the statement hours after Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that information from the Philippine media that two Indonesians were involved in the church bombings was still hypothetical. We'll look into this closely. Whether they were Indonesian citizens we have yet to find out, Retno told reporters in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province. She said Indonesian officials had been communicating intensively with Philippine authorities. Information we have received is that the identification process is still ongoing, Retno said. Explosives seized Albayalde said authorities seized improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during a raid at Kammahs home. He identified the other suspects as Albaji Kisae Gadjali, Rajan Bakil Gadjali, Kaisar Bakil Gadjali and Salith Alih. It was not known if they were related to each other by blood. The five suspects belong to a group of 22 Abu Sayyaf personalities led by Hatid Hajan Sawadjaan that are believed responsible and conspired for the terrorist attack, he said. Troops were still on the trail of the other militants, while three other suspects, including two Asian suicide bombers had been killed, Albayalde said. The other fatality, Ommal Yusop, was killed in an earlier operation. The bombing plot began on Jan. 8, when two Abu Sayyaf members attempted to assemble a bomb but subsequently abandoned the effort, the police chief said. Days later, according to Albayalde, Sawadjaan provided funds to pursue the bombing mission. About a week before the incident, an unidentified Asian couple believed to be holed up in a nearby southern island travelled to Jolo, Albayalde said, citing statements given by some of the suspects. The couple were then taken to a safe house and later to a forested area where they met Sawadjaan, he said. The couple, carrying black trolley bags, and several of the plotters arrived in Jolo, capital of Sulu province, on the eve of the bombing, Albayalde said. At 8:28 a.m. the following morning, it is believed that the Indonesian woman detonated the first IED inside the Jolo cathedral, while the man detonated the second IED at the church entrance seconds later, he said, using the acronym for a homemade bomb. Ordnance experts believe the two bombs were made using galvanized iron pipes that possibly contained a combination of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil as primary explosive charge. The devices were boosted by secondary explosives, such as pentaerythritol tetranitrate, TNT or RDX, Albayalde said. This particular type of IED, by design, is identified with the Abu Sayyaf group as nine similar IEDS have been involved in at least five recent incidents in Basilan and Sulu in 2016 and 2017, he said. Albayalde was referring to the nearby southern island of Basilan, where a similar explosion attributed to the Abu Sayyaf killed 10 people last year. That attack was claimed by the Islamic State, which said it was carried out by a Moroccan operative. That claim, however, has been brushed aside by the Philippine military, and authorities later filed charges against an Abu Sayyaf faction. But Albayalde on Monday said a similar bomb was used by the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan in at least three other instances and one other instance in Jolo. The signature of the Abu Sayyaf group, therefore, is patently present in the IED used in this latest terror attack in Jolo, he said. Brazen attack The church attack was particularly brazen, coming as it did at a time when thousands of troops had been deployed in Jolo to secure the peace. Dozens of people were wounded in the blast, the latest to hit the church in recent years. Days after the blast, unidentified men lobbed a grenade inside a Muslim mosque in nearby Zamboanga city, killing two religious leaders and wounding four other people. Officials, however, were quick to play down a connection between the explosions, fearing an eruption of sectarian violence. President Rodrigo Duterte, who visited Jolo a day after the bombings, said the church attack was the handiwork of suicide bombers. Police had earlier said that the bombs were remotely detonated. Authorities tagged several people for the crime, but later cleared the suspects of involvement in what investigators said was a case of mistaken identity. Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said members of Densus 88 had arrived in Manila to help. We coordinated with the Indonesian government. They will help, Ano told reporters. At least we will know if we can identify these bombers behind the cathedral blasts as Indonesian. It was the Abu Sayyaf who guided them, studied the target, did reconnaissance and surveillance work, and brought the couple inside the cathedral, he said. Albayalde said that a DNA test was to be carried out, but authorities have never fully explained with whom they would compare the DNA samples gathered from a contaminated crime scene in Jolo, which has long been known as a domain of the Abu Sayyaf fighters. In 2004, the Abu Sayyaf, or Bearers of the Sword, bombed a passenger ferry on Manila Bay, killing more than 100 people in one of the deadliest terrorist strikes in the Philippines. A faction of the Abu Sayyaf headed by Isnilon Hapilon, the acknowledged leader of the Islamic State extremist group in Southeast Asia, took over southern Marawi city in May 2017 and led local militants, backed by an undetermined number of foreign fighters, in a five-month battle with government forces. About 1,200 people, most of them militants, were killed. Hapilon was among them. 10 BIFF militants surrender Meanwhile, in Maguindanao, 10 pro-Islamic State militants under the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) surrendered to the military in Shariff Aguak town on Sunday, regional military commander Maj. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said. The rebels, led by Commander Gani Saligan, also surrendered their weapons, Sobejana said. Sobejana said the rebels were students of Malaysian bomb expert Zulkifli bin Hir (alias Marwan), who was killed by government troops in January 2015 in Maguindanao province, during a police operation that also resulted in the deaths of 44 elite commandos. The BIFF, with hundreds of fighters, split from the 10,000-member Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2008 and has pledged allegiance to the IS. Sobejana also said that eight pro-IS militants were killed and 10 others were believed wounded in the airstrikes launched by government troops over the weekend in Maguindanao, as security forces intensified their offensive against armed groups after the twin bombings in Jolo. Froilan Gallardo in Cagayan de Oro, Richel V. Umel in Iligan, Dennis Jay Santos in Davao and Joseph Jubelag in General Santos, Philippines, and M. Sulthan Azzam in Padang, Indonesia, contributed to this report. Abdul Rahim Noor (left), the Malaysian facilitator of southern Thai peace talks, shakes hands with retired Gen. Udomchai Thammasarorat, the head of Thailands delegation to the negotiations, at a hotel in Bangkok, Jan. 4, 2019. Malaysia-brokered talks aimed at ending a separatist conflict in the Thai Deep South hit a snag after Thailands new peace negotiator did not show up for an introductory meeting with his rebel counterparts in Kuala Lumpur at the weekend, prompting them to call for his removal. Malaysian facilitator Abdul Rahim Noor told BenarNews that Udomchai Thammasarorats strange behavior shocked him, while the chief Thai negotiator claimed he was never meant to attend the meeting, which he described as at the technical-level only. Abdul Rahim, however, said that delegates from both sides had arrived in Malaysias capital on Saturday for an introductory dialogue meeting between the Thai team led by Udomchai and MARA Patani, a panel representing rebel groups and that is led by Sukree Haree. In recent months, Malaysias new government and the Thai government have launched efforts to revamp talks that were launched in 2015. On Saturday night, Udomchai told the Malaysian [officials] that he would only meet the separatists panel head, Sukree, despite everyone being present for the dialogue, Abdul Rahim told Benar on Monday. Udomchai returned to Thailand on Sunday without taking part in talks. Udomchai also told Malaysia that the people from his team could meet with the separatists on Sukrees panel. This request was deemed strange by the separatists and to me, it was a strange behavior on the part of Udomchai. I was shocked, the Malaysian facilitator said. On Sunday, Udomchai defended his actions. He said his side was ready to talk, but the Kuala Lumpur trip was meant for a meeting with Abdul Rahim only and not with any specific group. Regarding MARA Patani, both sides were scheduled to meet at a technical level. Our side was led by Maj. Gen. Kriangkrai Srisak, the secretary-general of the peace delegation, Udomchai told BenarNews. But the facilitators team informed us that MARA Patani wanted to meet us as a full delegation and everyone was there, whereas the full team was not scheduled to meet. Udomchai said he was willing to hold a smaller meeting. To keep the relationship, MARA Patani peace talk chief Sukree Haree was allowed to meet one-on-one with me first, but MARA Patani did not accept that and resorted to issuing a statement, he said. Formal talks must get through the technical level, to fix topics so that we dont waste time and we may be able to agree on something that we can start right away. MARA Patani spokesman Abu Hafez Al-Hakim brushed off Udomchais statement. All were just his excuses, he told BenarNews on Monday. MARA: Unacceptable Following the cancellation of the Kuala Lumpur meeting, Sukree Haree issued a video statement in which he announced that MARA had decided to suspend the peace talks until after the Thai general election on March 24. The group noted that Udomchai wanted to meet with the MARA delegations leader only. MARA Patani sees the attitude of refusal to confront the dialogue team as unacceptable and (we) suspect a hidden agenda when he only wanted to meet me, Sukree said, adding that his team would propose that the Thai government replace Udomchai with a person with more credibility. Abdul Rahim said it was up to the two sides to determine when they would meet, and that his role was one of a facilitator. Udomchais move to cancel the meeting could have come from a higher government official, the Malaysian peace broker noted. Udomchai told the Malaysian team he took that stand because Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha wanted him to, Abdul Rahim said. He also discounted comments that Udomchai had planned to meet with him only and none of the separatists. If Udomchai was supposed to meet me only, why bring along the delegation for just one night in Kuala Lumpur, Abdul Rahim told BenarNews. The Thai delegations decision was calculated to delay the negotiations, said Shahriman Lockman, a senior analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, a Kuala Lumpur-based think tank. And it could only have been done with the instructions of Udomchais political masters. Any number of reasons could be behind it, including the forthcoming general elections, Shahriman told BenarNews. In any case, Malaysia should send a clear signal to Thailand that it would offer to continue to facilitate these talks only if the Thais are truly serious about them and will not waste our time in the future. MARA Patani includes representatives from National Revolutionary Front (BRN), the largest and most powerful of southern insurgent groups, but its hardcore leaders have stayed away from talks between the Thai military government and MARA. The Deep South borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces as well as four districts in Songkhla province. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in violence in the region since the insurgency flared up again in early 2004 after a dormant period. American actress and UNHCR special envoy Angelina Jolie walks toward a refugee camp in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, at the start of a three-day visit to the country, Feb. 4, 2019. Hollywood superstar and U.N. ambassador Angelina Jolie heard stories of abuse when she met Rohingya children and women at a refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh on Monday, authorities said, as she began a three-day visit to the country. Jolie, a special envoy for the UNHCR refugee agency, spent more than three hours at the Chakmarkul refugee camp in Coxs Bazar district, ahead of the launch of a new humanitarian funding appeal by the United Nations for almost $1 billion. During her visit, she talked to refugees, including women and children, and listened to their stories of abuse toward them in Myanmar, Mahbubur Rahman, an official with Bangladeshs Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commission, told BenarNews. More than 700,000 Rohingya have sought shelter at camps in the countrys southeast corner after fleeing their homes in neighboring Myanmar at the height of an army crackdown in August 2017. Haresa Begum, a 10-year-old refugee, said she was among those who met the actress. She asked me how Im doing now, which grade do I attend and why I fled to Bangladesh, Begum told BenarNews. I said, I am well now. I want to study more. I came here to escape torture by the Myanmar army. We were very badly abused there. We want justice, she said. Mohammad Zaber, a Rohingya leader at the camp, said Jolie also visited a makeshift home of a Rohingya woman named Jahanara. She asked Jahanara how is she doing now? Jahanara told her that she is OK here, but wanted to bring the Myanmar army to justice for abusing them, Zaber told Benar. Jahanara also told Jolie that she wants to return to Myanmar with her Rohingya identity and citizenship rights. Jolie came to Bangladesh to assess the humanitarian needs of the refugees and the challenges faced by Bangladesh in hosting the refugees from Myanmar, according to a statement issued by UNHCR on Monday. The unprecedented influx of refugees who fled to Bangladesh because of the August 2017 crackdown in Rakhine state were escaping from what the United States and U.N. investigators had described as ethnic cleansing targeting the Rohingya people. Her visit comes just before the launch of a new appeal for the humanitarian situation in Bangladesh the 2019 Joint Response Plan which seeks to raise some $920 million to continue meeting the basic needs of Rohingya refugees and the communities so generously hosting them, the statement said. It said that Jolie, 43, who was representing the UN High Commissioner at the diplomatic level, was expected to meet with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen and other officials to discuss safe and sustainable solutions to the plight of the refugees. UNHCR said Jolie had previously met Rohingya refugees in Myanmar in 2015 and in India in 2006. Buddhist-majority Myanmar considers the Rohingya as illegal migrants and has long denied them citizenship and basic rights, despite their long roots in Rakhine state. Bangladesh has accused Myanmar of finding excuses to delay taking refugees back and Rohingya leaders have previously said that those sheltering at the overflowing refugee would not go back until their safety is guaranteed. Jolie, who was appointed U.N. special envoy in April 2012, arrived at Coxs Bazar Airport on board a Novo Air flight. She had previously carried out almost 60 field missions related to refugees, officials said. But Abdus Shukur, a Rohingya refugee, expressed skepticism about Jolies presence at the camp. Many celebrities come to visit us, but did that make any change for us? Shukur told BenarNews. They just come and go, but have we received justice? Could we manage to return home with our Rohingya identity? Co Antrim actor Stephen Hagan's latest role playing artist Leonardo da Vinci meant channelling his inner Italian. The 34-year-old Greenisland man, who will play the man who painted the Mona Lisa in a new Netflix TV series Medici, says: "It's like an Italian coming to Belfast to play George Best." The Lucky Man star, who spent four months shooting Medici in Italy, adds: "The Italians take da Vinci very seriously. On my first day a taxi driver quizzed me about a scene asking if it was a realistic portrayal of the painter - I knew then I had to be careful. "As big as we know Leonardo is throughout the art world, he has a special place in Italy's heart," he adds. "The fact that the series is also going to be shown in Italy created an added pressure. People are very aware of some Irish fella turning up and playing one of the most famous Italians ever." Medici's star-studded cast includes Dustin Hoffman, Richard Madden (who recently won a Golden Globe for The Bodyguard), Sean Bean, Sarah Parish and Daniel Sharman, with the top-rated series not due to hit our screens until 2020. The Northern Ireland actor began his research into the great artist and engineer in Italy, joking that his A-star in GCSE art was a real help. "I think you'll find I'm a brilliant artist but nowhere near as good as da Vinci," he says. "I went to his hometown of Da Vinci, which he is named after, just outside Florence and some of the museums to see his work. I had seen the Mona Lisa previously and then went to see a lot of his unfinished work in Italy. He was a perfectionist so was constantly walking away from projects because he wanted to learn how to make it better." Expand Close Stephen Hagan, plays Leonardo Da Vinci in Netflix Medici Series 3 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stephen Hagan, plays Leonardo Da Vinci in Netflix Medici Series 3 Da Vinci was also a brilliant engineer and an expert in anatomy. "I tried to buy a book about him from Amazon to read on the plane - but it was the size of a coffee table," says Stephen, who is now an aficionado on the man. "The way he paints portraits is beautiful but his landscapes are incredible too. He used optical illusions to perfectly recreate the place he was painting. "He was self-taught, reading book after book to learn," says Stephen. "He bought cadavers to study the human body and learn how each bone and muscle worked." Expand Close Stephen Hagan with wife Wendy Wason / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stephen Hagan with wife Wendy Wason Medici is a joint UK-Italian drama with filming taking place in stunning locations in Rome and Tuscany last year. And Stephen, who is in series three, also got the chance to share scenes with one of his old acting school friends. He says: "Daniel Sharman plays Lorenzo da Medici who like da Vinci is a very confident man. Acting together we had a kind of shorthand with each other which really helped us get into character." Stephen, who lives in north London with his actor and comedian wife Wendy Wason and their three children, says filming fitted around his young family. "I was able to fly to and from Italy during filming because the kids are at school, but my 14-year-old stepson was able to join me on set for a day as he was off. It was a great experience for him." In the last two years Stephen has featured in Sky 1's blockbuster crime drama, Stan Lee's Lucky Man, playing James Nesbitt's younger brother Rich Clayton. He's also a regular on TV in shows like Midsomer Murders and landed a top role in America for a CBS show Identity in 2014. Medici will be on Netflix next year. Date to be confirmed nearer to broadcast. People here can see some of Leonardo da Vinci's original drawings at a special exhibition at the Ulster Museum which began this week and will run until Monday, May 6. Terex Corporation, a global manufacturer of lifting and material processing products, has announced the launch of new seasonal financing solutions for customers of its global brand Genie in the Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia region (Emear). The aerial access is often a seasonal business in the Emear and that for many rental companies can be financially challenging, said the statement from Terex. Offering the financial flexibility their activity relies on, Genie customers now benefit from the choice of a new Seasonal Capital Repayments programme to help them to sustain their cash flow when they need it the most, it stated. Jacco de Kluijver, the VP Sales & Marketing at Terex AWP (Emear), said: "Seasonality often leads to a mismatch between income and expenditure at different times of the year depending on a companys geographical location." "In North European countries for example, the low season generally coincides with the cold, wet winter months, from November to March. In others, income tends to decrease in May due to recurrent bank holidays, or from July to August, due to a combination of extremely hot temperatures and reduced resources during annual summer vacations," he noted. "Offering the flexibility that customers need to support their business at specific times of the year, the Terex Seasonal Capital Repayments programme allows customers to pay less at slower times when they need extra cash flow to sustain activity, invest or expand their business. They then pay the difference when business hits its forecast highs," he added. Stuart McDowall, the European director at TFS, said: "Finding the right balance between decreasing revenues and paying fixed costs is a common issue for many rental companies." "The new Terex Seasonal Capital Repayments programme aims to help customers plan their investments in advance with a financing schedule tailored to provide the extra support they need to sustain their cash flow when their business needs it most," he added.-TradeArabia News Service There are calls for a new strategy to help improve care for cancer patients In 2017 just over 9,250 people here were diagnosed with cancer. The Northern Ireland Cancer Registry projects that, by 2035, the figure will rise to around 13,600 - that's a 50% increase. Cancer has affected or will affect pretty much every family in here in one way or another. It's the biggest killer. Yet we are the only part of the UK and Ireland without a current cancer strategy. So, what's the big deal about Northern Ireland not having an up-to-date cancer strategy? Surely we have services that can diagnose and treat cancer, so what difference would it make? Read More Our cancer strategy has not been updated since 2008. This is despite the World Health Organisation's recommendation that every nation should have a cancer strategy. We know from other parts of the UK and Ireland that strategies can help target finite resources effectively and drive vital service improvements for patients. And patients here deserve to have world-class cancer services. Cancer survival has improved, but that's mostly because research has developed new and improved tests, treatments and technology. Improvement in survival here has been slower than in other European countries, so we still lag behind the best. And while the health service provides cancer diagnostics and treatment to the population here, these services are not always as joined-up as they could be. Patients can face a confusing path through the health service and often have to wait too long to receive the treatment they need. A new cancer strategy would identify these issues and develop a plan to organise cancer services more effectively, so that patients have a smoother journey through the health service and receive more effective care when they need it. Comparisons would be made against nations which perform better in key areas to identify potential ideas for change. It would be one comprehensive look at all aspects of cancer, including prevention, screening and diagnosis, care and treatment and research. We don't always plan far enough in advance. A new strategy would outline plans for improving all these areas for both now and into the long-term - five to 10 years - setting ambitious goals and ways to track performance against them. It would also identify the leadership and investment necessary to achieve these changes. It is a fair question to ask why we should spend time identifying issues, some of which we might not be able to afford to fix. But the reality is we can't afford not to fix cancer services. And we need to start now. With an increasingly ageing population, we must find better ways of working if our health service is to have any chance of properly serving the many more cancer patients it will need to. Some parts of the system have trouble coping with the current levels of cancer patients - just look at our poor performance against cancer waiting times. The current target is for 95% of patients who are urgently referred by a GP with a suspected cancer to begin their treatment within 62 days. This target was introduced in 2009 but has never been met and performance against it continues to deteriorate. The 62-day waiting time includes the time for patients to undergo tests - for example scans, colonoscopy, or endoscopy, or blood or tissue tests - that will help clinicians make a diagnosis of cancer. So, the poor performance here particularly indicates that our diagnostic services are under huge strain. A cancer strategy would interrogate all the factors behind these challenges and bring together service-wide solutions. Patients can often wait for a long time to see expert medical staff; tests or treatments may be delivered using dated machines and they may have to repeat their stories to doctor after doctor because IT systems don't talk to each other in the way that they should. A new cancer strategy for Northern Ireland would review not just diagnostics, but also prevention, treatment, care and research. We have excellent healthcare staff, who are committed to the best for their patients. But we need more of them and to make sure they are properly supported into the future. There are huge benefits to starting to look at a strategy now, but not everything has to be done at once. It is important that early changes and improvements can be made which are inexpensive or even cost-neutral. The strategy would identify priorities and the costs, over the timeframe of the strategy, so it's clear what would need to be spent and when. But there should be no doubt that ultimately significant new investment will be vital to success. It is usual for a minister to be the one who calls for the development of any new government strategy. And there has been concern that, without a devolved Assembly and a Health Minister, there may be no means of creating a new strategy. This, however, is against the background of the five main Assembly parties publicly supporting the need for a strategy. It was encouraging to hear the permanent secretary at the Department of Health Richard Pengelly say in November that the department wished to see cancer progress continue. He indicated that his department, in light of the recent Westminster legislation clarifying what civil servants could progress in the absence of an Assembly, would revisit the Health Minister's commitment to consider the need for a new cancer strategy for Northern Ireland. At Cancer Research UK we welcome the permanent secretary's comments. Our hope is that a decision to begin a cancer strategy will be made soon. And that it will be comprehensive and plan for the long-term; that it will cover the entire cancer pathway, and that it will identify leadership and funding to ensure it is implemented. Simply developing a cancer strategy for Northern Ireland is not a guarantee that things will improve - that's down to the hard work of the strategy's implementation. But without a comprehensive strategy we stand no chance of improvement. We urgently need a commitment to develop a new cancer strategy. And, hopefully, World Cancer Day 2019 will help to focus the minds of the decision-makers even more firmly on what is needed. Margaret Carr is public affairs manager of Cancer Research UK in Northern Ireland The fact that Parliament has now spelt out clearly what it wants to secure from negotiations on the withdrawal agreement seems to have bizarrely reinforced the idea from some that no alternative to the unacceptable backstop is possible. Such a claim not only flies in the face of history, but also contradicts the stated position of the European Union. Read More The question is not whether alternatives exist or could be agreed, but when the negotiations take place. For those who say the EU cannot reopen a treaty, then we only need look south of the border to dispel that myth. Following rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, the then Irish Government sought and received legally binding guarantees on Irish sovereignty. Those guarantees were only made available by the other EU 27 member states after the treaty was rejected. We know that change can be achieved, but also that alternatives to the backstop do exist. If an alternative is not possible, then it means the backstop cannot be the temporary arrangement that the EU insists it is. In their joint letter to the Prime Minister on January 14, Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker stated again that they did not want to see the backstop enter into force and were determined to see an agreement in place to that end. They committed to use their "best endeavours" to conclude such an agreement before the end of the transition period within the withdrawal agreement, with top priority given to "alternative arrangements, including facilitative arrangements and technologies". The question isn't whether the alternative exists, but why the European Union currently insists that negotiations cannot commence until after March 29. While the EU is clearly happy to use the threat of a no-deal as a negotiating tactic, Sinn Fein appears content to push towards such an outcome simply to provide fodder for its united Ireland grievance mill. Beyond the street pantomime of fake checkpoints and sledgehammers, Mary Lou McDonald has spelt out that Sinn Fein's desire is to use a no-deal exit to agitate for a united Ireland. At a time when everyone should be urging forward a willingness to find agreement, the goal of republicans is attempting to provide yet further instability through ongoing calls for a united Ireland. Far from being an undesirable outcome, a no-deal exit appears to be integral to Sinn Fein's plans. I believe the Irish Government is sincere in its desire to avoid both a no-deal exit and the erection of a 'hard border' between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The irony presently is that the backstop is the greatest obstacle to a deal and it is therefore making both of those outcomes more likely. The Irish Government, like the other EU 27, signed up to using those "best endeavours" to see alternative arrangements to the backstop in place. It is in the interests of both Northern Ireland and the Republic jointly that those endeavours are not delayed any longer. Arlene Foster MLA is leader of the Democratic Unionist Party Procrastination, 'tis said, is "the thief of time". "Never put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today," we are prudently advised. Duties are "put on the long finger". Decisions are "kicked into the long grass", while a procrastinating process of "kicking the can down the road" takes place. More procrastination arises when there is more choice. People in the past were frog-marched into decisions and regimented into lifestyles. The factory horn sounded at 8am. The meal was on the table at 1pm. If you missed the bus, you walked. If you didn't gather in the harvest, you starved. If you don't accept this marriage proposal, daughter, you might never get another one. We have more choice now, so we are freer to defer all kinds of decisions. An agony aunt who deals with etiquette questions receives more complaints about invitees failing to RSVP than almost anything else - as when a hostess is in despair with the caterers because more than half her invitees haven't confirmed whether they're attending or not. But it's not just bad manners that causes such procrastination. It's also choice. People are keeping their options open for a future date: they may also be waiting to see if something better turns up. I read an article recently in which a young woman was writing about "errand paralysis" affecting the millennium generation - they can't seem to get everyday tasks done because of a feeling of "burnout". But while young people live in an insecure world where jobs and housing are concerned, varieties of choice may be a contributing factor to this burnout. If there is only one brand of toothpaste, you just take it. If there are 22, you spend time costing and comparing. Consider the dating game, as pursued via social media. You can swipe left or swipe right, but always with the thought that there might be a better choice on offer. And then there's the distraction of social media itself. Why knuckle down to doing your taxes when you can be on YouTube or Twitter? Yet procrastination isn't always a bad thing. An American survey analysing procrastination - Soon by Andrew Santella - suggests that procrastination can play a significant part in the creative process. Darwin discovered the secret of natural selection 20 years before he published his findings - possibly inhibited by his wife's religious scruples - but there was also a great deal of dithering, burying himself in studying barnacles. Perhaps an idea does need time, mulling over, marinading in thought while taking long walks. Leonardo Da Vinci, too, seemed to be faffing around before finishing a commissioned work, but he was such a multi-faceted genius that his mind was going in a dozen directions simultaneously, inventing the concept of everything from the helicopter to the ultra-sound scan. The German poet Rilke, who suffered from depression - you would if you'd been in the trenches of the First World War - came to the conclusion that putting things off can be part of a maturing and reflective process. He suggested that an accomplishment can be "the last reverberation of a great movement which takes place in those days of inaction." Jack Kerouac launched the Beat Generation by rejecting the Protestant work ethic's insistence on duty and punctuality. When author Douglas Adams died, he was 12 years behind with a book deadline. Ah, deadlines! A compelling deadline is, surely, the antidote to the procrastinating urge. Writers have often referred to their procrastinating habits - sharpening pencils, cleaning the desk - but journalists have cause to be grateful for the discipline of the deadline. When I was a young reporter, a lad - known as a 'copy boy' - would stand over you awaiting delivery of the words on the page as the presses readied to roll. (The "deadline" itself, Santella writes, dates from the American Civil War and "a marked perimeter past which no prisoner could venture without risk"). The deadline is a huge incentive to overcome procrastination. There are therapists for procrastinators - a conference on procrastination in 2015 attracted 180 researchers into the problem - and one remedy is to penalise yourself for procrastinating past a deadline. Interestingly, chronic procrastination is also linked with impulsiveness. The other antidote commonly used in the struggle against procrastination is the daily list. You make a list of things to do, and tick them off as you do them. It is satisfying to append the tick, but people can become slaves to the list. Everyone puts off chores and duties they don't want to face. Sometimes, by deferring a task, it sorts itself. I have delayed responding to letters, and by the time I've got around to doing so, things have worked out. And the RSVP procrastinator isn't always being rude: sometimes you don't quite know how you will be fixed for Tuesday the 12th. Sometimes a half-procrastination step can help: you can't get around to doing the whole chore, but you might be able to do some of it. We need a little downtime from the tyranny of to-do lists and general duties and obligations. The "thief of time" can also be the angel of dreams and the midwife of ideas. An MMA fighter suspected over two murders who escaped from a prison van in Texas was recaptured less than a mile away still wearing his jail-issue orange jumpsuit, police have said. Cedric Marks escaped from the van on Sunday morning when guards with the Texas Prisoner Transportation Service stopped at a McDonalds in Conroe, about 40 miles north of Houston. Two guards in the van were transporting 10 prisoners, Conroe Police Department said in a statement. Police and the company have not commented on why the van stopped at the fast-food restaurant or how Marks escaped. Authorities have said the 44-year-old middleweight fighter was wearing leg, hand and belly restraints when he managed to flee. Expand Close Cedric Marks is captured after a nine-hour manhunt (Conroe Police Department/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Cedric Marks is captured after a nine-hour manhunt (Conroe Police Department/AP) No guards or other prisoners were injured in the escape, Conroe police Lieutenant Dorcy McGinnis said. The search for Marks narrowed after surveillance video showed him near a business in Conroe, Mt McGinnis said. He was found hiding in a waste bin in a residential neighbourhood less than a mile from the restaurant about nine hours after he escaped. He had freed an arm and a leg from his shackles, Lt McGinnis said. She declined to say whether authorities believe Marks was able to partially free himself from the shackles or if he was improperly secured. Expand Close Cedric Marks (Kent County Michigan Sheriffs Office/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Cedric Marks (Kent County Michigan Sheriffs Office/AP) Texas Prisoner Transportation Service says on its website that all its transportation specialists have a minimum of two years experience in law enforcement, corrections or the military, and that the company treats all detainees as maximum security. The company bills itself as offering cost-effective prisoner transportation to police in moving the nations most-wanted fugitives. It operates eight vehicles and employs 19 drivers, according to US Department of Transportation records. Bell County Sheriffs Department in Texas contracted the transportation service to bring Marks from Michigan, where he was arrested. He is being held in Bell County Jail on charges including capital murder, burglary and violating a protective order, according to online jail records. His bond was set in excess of 1.75 million dollars (1.34 million). He is suspected in the killings last month of his ex-girlfriend Jenna Scott and her friend Michael Swearingin, in the central Texas city of Temple. Both disappeared on January 4. Their bodies were found on January 15 buried in a shallow grave in Clearview, Oklahoma. Marks was arrested in Michigan last month over a burglary charge in Bell County, Texas, alleging he had broken into Ms Scotts home in Temple in August. He was being transported to Bell County to face that charge when he escaped. Marks compiled a record of 31-28-0 during his professional MMA career, which began in 1999, according to mixedmartialarts.com. His last fight was in September. Iraqs president has hit back at Donald Trump for saying US troops should stay in Iraq to keep an eye on neighbouring Iran, saying the US president did not ask for Iraqs permission to do so. We find these comments strange, said Barham Salih, speaking at a forum in Baghdad. Mr Trumps comments added to concerns in Iraq about Americas long-term intentions, particularly after it withdraws its troops from Syria. The US leader has angered Iraqi politicians and Iranian-backed factions by arguing he would keep US troops in Iraq and use it as a base to strike Islamic State targets inside Syria. Expand Close US soldiers on operations in rural Iraq (Susannah George/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp US soldiers on operations in rural Iraq (Susannah George/AP) In an interview with CBS Newss Face The Nation, he said US troops in Iraq were also needed to monitor Iran. He didnt ask Iraq about this, Mr Salih said. He added that US troops were in Iraq as part of an agreement between the two countries with a specific mission of assisting in the fight against IS and combating terrorism. He said the Iraqi constitution forbids the use of Iraq as a base to threaten the interests or security of neighbouring countries. Dont overburden Iraq with your own issues, he added. In the CBS interview, Mr Trump said the US has an incredible base in Iraq that he intends to keep, because I want to be able to watch Iran. We spent a fortune on building this incredible base, he said. We might as well keep it. And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem. He said the US base is perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East. He appeared to be referring to the Al-Asad air base in western Iraq, where he paid a brief in December. The base hosts American troops but belongs to the Iraqi army. His comments appear to have further inflamed tensions in Iraq over the continued presence of US troops after the defeat of IS. Curbing foreign influence has become a hot-button issue in Iraq after parliamentary elections in May in which Shiite militias backed by Iran made significant gains. The militias fought alongside US-backed Iraqi troops against IS in recent years, gaining outsized influence and power along the way. Now, after defeating IS militants in their last urban bastions, Iraqi politicians and militia leaders are increasingly speaking out against the continued presence of US forces on Iraqi soil. Mr Trump has said he has no plans to withdraw the 5,200 troops in Iraq, which he says could carry out US air strikes inside Syria after American troops withdraw from that country. Residents in an Australian city have been warned to watch out for crocodiles in unexpected places in the wake of unprecedented flooding. Townsville, on Australias north-east coast, has been hit by record rainfall, with over a metre falling in the space of the week. The floodgates of the citys dam were opened to prevent the Ross River from breaking its banks, flooding some suburbs on the weekend. More than 1,100 people were rescued from their homes on Sunday night and evacuation efforts continued on Monday. In one affected suburb, Mundingburra, a family spotted a crocodile outside their house. Erin Hahn wrote in a Facebook post: Croc out the front of my dads place in mundingburra, OReilly street, Ross River Road end. Cannot stress it enough to stay out of the water The crocodile, thought to be between one and two metres long, swam off shortly after Erins dad Shaun took the photo. Spotted in Townsville suburb of Annandale this morning. @abcnews pic.twitter.com/WWwl28afwA Josh Bavas (@JoshBavas) February 4, 2019 Another croc was spotted in Annandale, just over the river from Mundingburra. Queenslands environment minister, Leeanne Enoch, has warned people that snakes and crocodiles could turn up in unexpected places. Crocodiles prefer calmer waters and they may move around in search of a quiet place to wait for floodwaters to recede, Ms Enoch said. Be aware of crocodiles and snakes in floodwaters - they can turn up in unexpected places during flooding. Crocodiles prefer calmer waters and they may move around in search of a quiet place to wait for floodwaters to recede. More info: https://t.co/6wCrFdBJBR Leeanne Enoch MP (@LeeanneEnoch) February 4, 2019 Crocodiles may be seen crossing roads, and when flooding recedes, crocodiles can turn up in unusual places such as farm dams or waterholes where they have not been seen before. Similarly, snakes are very good swimmers and they too may turn up unexpectedly. She said crocodiles and snakes could appear near any of north Queenslands waterways, and that they should not be approached. Police are investigating after a serious assault at a Glasgow nightclub (Peter Byrne/PA) A man was left needing surgery on his ear after an assault at a nightclub. The 29-year-old was injured in a disturbance at Bar Budda in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, on Sunday morning. He was taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where he is said to be in a stable condition. The suspect, who left before police arrived at the club, is white, around 6ft and wore a grey hooded top and black trousers. This was a very vicious assault which has left the victim with a very serious ear injuryPolice Scotland Detective Constable Vhairi Macdonald said: This was a very vicious assault which has left the victim with a very serious ear injury that requires surgery. We are currently viewing CCTV to identify the suspect and anyone else involved in the disturbance and appeal to anyone who was within the club at the time the incident occurred and either witnessed the disturbance or the assault taking place, to contact police immediately. Meanwhile, police in West Lothian are investigating after a 31-year-old man was assaulted and robbed in Broxburn. Officers want to trace three men in connection with the attack in Maull Road at around 6pm on Saturday. The first is around 5ft 5in and aged between 45 and 55, with grey stubble and a number of teeth missing. He wore a blue hooded top. The second man is about 6ft, aged around 25 and had distinctive blue eyes. His face was covered by a scarf. A description of the third man was not available. Detective Constable Grant Ross said: This has understandably been a very upsetting incident for the man involved. He was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where he was treated for serious injuries. We are appealing to anyone who may have seen anything unusual or suspicious in the area around the time or who has any information which can assist with our enquiries to get in touch. We would also ask that if you recognise the description of the men given you contact police. The Government offered Nissan support of up to 80 million if the Japanese firm built new models at its UK plant, it has been revealed. Business Secretary Greg Clark made the offer in a letter to the then-head of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn in October 2016, a few months after the EU referendum. Mr Clark said he wanted to set out ways the Government wanted to work with the carmaker ahead of investment decisions it was due to make. The letter said: As a demonstration of the UK Governments commitment, we are already working with your UK team on a package of support in areas such as skills, R&D and innovation. Today we published correspondence from Business Secretary @GregClarkMP to Business Select Committee chair @RachelReevesMP regarding @Nissan's investments in the UK: https://t.co/Oxl98e6Bba Dept for BEIS (@beisgovuk) February 4, 2019 Work continues but I understand this could amount to additional support of up to 80 million. You will understand of course that this figure will be subject to business cases being developed, which are independently assessed, and the usual processes of due diligence. It is contingent too on a positive decision by the Nissan Board to allocate production of the Qashqai and X-Trail models to the Sunderland plant. We recognise that the UK has a stake, and we are backing your continued success in Sunderland to the hilt. The letter was published a day after Nissan announced it would not be building its X-Trail car in Sunderland. The company said the decision was taken for business reasons, but made clear that continued uncertainty around the UKs future relationship with the EU was not helping it plan for the future. Expand Close The letter was sent to Nissan chief executive at the time, Carlos Ghosn (PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The letter was sent to Nissan chief executive at the time, Carlos Ghosn (PA) Mr Clark said in his letter: The Government fully recognises the significance of the EU market to your presence in Sunderland. It will be a critical priority of our negotiation to support UK car manufacturers and ensure that their ability to export to and from the EU is not adversely affected by the UKs future relationship with the EU. We will set our ambitions high and vigorously pursue continued access to the European market as an objective in future negotiations. The development came after union leaders pressed Nissan for guarantees on jobs and future production. Officials from Unite met with management at the Sunderland plant and expressed their anger and disappointment over how the announcement over future production of the X-Trail was handled. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Unite official Steve Bush said a great deal of anxiety had been caused to the 7,000-strong workforce. He said guarantees had been given that future production of the Juke and Qashqai models were not affected. Mr Bush said: Unite will continue to press for further long-term guarantees over future investment and new models to secure the sites future for generations to come. What this whole sorry saga shows is that the sector-wide uncertainty caused by Brexit urgently needs to be addressed by ministers because it is draining the industry of skills, investment and new jobs. The Government also needs to get a grip and do more to support car workers and the industry in the transition away from diesel to alternatively powered vehicles. Trashing diesel while pulling the plug on grants which help people buy electric and alternatively powered vehicles serves only to confuse customers and the industry. An offer of grants totalling 61 million was made to Nissan in June 2018, Mr Clark revealed today. The Business Secretary said in a letter to Rachel Reeves, who chairs the Business Select Committee, that a package of support included skills, research and development and innovation. Mr Clark said that when he appeared before the committee in December 2016, there were aspects of his letter to Nissan that were commercially confidential. Further to my discussions with Nissan on Friday and over the weekend, I understand that the commercial confidentialities for Nissan are now reduced, he wrote. Stewart Leask had been at his holiday home in Arran with his wife (Police Scotland) Extensive searches are being carried out to try to trace a vulnerable missing pensioner. Stewart Leask was last seen by his wife at their holiday home in Whiting Bay, Arran, at around 3.45pm on Sunday. The 70-year-old from Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, is said to have been suffering with health issues recently. His family and police are becoming increasingly concernedInspector Christine Boyd Inspector Christine Boyd said: Stewart was last seen heading towards Glenashdale Falls with his German Shepherd dog Corrie. He regularly walks in the area and was expected home a short time later but he hasnt returned. Mr Leask has had some health issues recently and it is very unusual for him to be away for this length of time. His family and police are becoming increasingly concerned for his safety and well-being. Local officers, supported by the Coastguard helicopter and search and rescue teams, have been carrying out extensive searches to locate Mr Leask, and we would ask the public to check their sheds and outbuildings in case he has taken shelter there. I would urge anyone who has any information to contact officers at Lamlash police office or Irvine police office through 101 quoting reference number 3057 of February 3. There was a 7% drop in the number of community payback orders (CPOs) issued to offenders last year, the latest figures show. CPOs fell from 19,196 to 17,834 in 2017-18, with a successful completion rate of around 70%. The orders are an alternative to custody, set up by the Scottish Government in 2011. They are designed to ensure criminals give back to the community, and usually involve carrying out unpaid work. The figures were published in a report by Scotlands chief statistician, which said the drop in CPOs reflected the change in court volumes over the period. The average age of people who received a CPO last year was 33, an increase of 2.5 years compared with five years ago. Older people were more likely than younger people to successfully complete their orders, with a rate of 79% for those aged over 40 and 67% for those aged 40 and under. Those in employment were more likely to complete orders (84%) than those unemployed or economically inactive (64%). Expand Close Humza Yousaf says the value of CPOs is clear (Jane Barlow/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Humza Yousaf says the value of CPOs is clear (Jane Barlow/PA) On Monday, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf confirmed plans to extend the presumption against short prison sentences from three months to 12, which, if approved, will come into force in the summer. Mr Yousaf said: From refurbishing and redecorating local facilities to gritting roads in cold weather, unpaid work projects make a real difference to communities. With the total number of hours around seven million, and evidence showing that those released from a short prison sentences are reconvicted almost twice as often as those given CPOs, the value of community sentences is clear. We are working closely with councils, third-sector partners and Community Justice Scotland to strengthen the provision of alternatives to custody and support our hard-working prison officers by ensuring prison is focused on those people convicted of the most serious crimes and who pose the highest risk to public safety. As we plan for the extension of the presumption against short prison sentences, which is supported by empirical evidence and was backed by the vast majority of consultation respondents, we have protected and strengthened funding for Scotlands criminal justice social work services so that it now stands at just over 100 million. We also provide over 11.6 million to third sector organisations working to help reduce re-offending keeping crime down and communities safe. There were 570 drug treatment and testing orders (DTTO) issued in 2017-18, up from 477 the previous year and the first annual rise since 2012-13. The successful completion rate for DTTOs was 40% in 2017-18, the lowest in the last seven years. Liam Kerr, Scottish Conservative justice spokesman, said the figures were evidence of soft touch justice. He said: It is an outrage that nearly a third of community sentences are not completed. The falling completion rate of drug treatment and testing orders also shows that the community justice system is not working effectively. He added: Nicola Sturgeons plan to abolish sentences of less than a year could see almost 9,500 criminals avoid jail. In addition, it will just put more pressure on the community justice system, which already cant cope. Labours justice spokesman Daniel Johnson welcomed the presumption against short-term sentences of less than 12 months but said it underlined the need to strengthen the community justice system. He said: Figures released today point towards a system that is inadequate given the chaotic lives of many individuals who receive community sentences. Lib Dem justice spokesman Liam McArthur also welcomed Mr Yousafs move, which he said was common sense and had been long demanded by his party. He said: The shift away from these destructive sentences frankly cant come soon enough. Firefighters from both sides of the border attended (Rui Vieira/PA) Up to 60 firefighters from both sides of the Irish border were mobilised to fight a huge blaze that destroyed a historic ballroom in Co Donegal. A well-known shop and the Plaza Ballroom were destroyed in a large fire on the main street in Buncrana. Firefighters were still at the scene on Monday following a blaze that broke out on Sunday night. The fire reportedly began in John Barrs drapery shop just before 9pm. Four brigades from Donegal were mobilised, supported by two units from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service. Due to a major fire at Upper Main Street Buncrana the Main Street is closed from Westend to Market SQ, Ferris lane and all footpaths at upper main street are closed for public safety reasons - Main street / R238 diversions in place. pic.twitter.com/Vo8gtKNah2 Donegal County Council (@donegalcouncil) February 4, 2019 At one point over 60 firefighters were battling the blaze, which spread quickly between the two buildings. The Plaza Ballroom was built in 1958 and is now a community-owned project. Padraig Mac Lochlainn, Sinn Fein Senator and Midlands-North West representative, said the small community is in shock. Its pretty devastating news, Ive been down to the site talking to people and the community as a whole just cant believe it, Mr Mac Lochlainn said. The two buildings are there a long time, obviously the Plaza Ballroom is pretty central to the history of area, for dances historically, and in the last 10 years it has been refurbished and its famous floor reinstated. Since that its been a busy venue used by the community for all kinds of things, concerts and bingo for example. The Plaza is big deal, John Barrs shop next to it would be extremely well known in the community too. As far as I know, there is no cause yet, as far as Im aware the fire had started in Barrs clothes shop and flats above the shop and spread into the adjacent Plaza building. The Barrs complex is interlinked to the Plaza next door and thats how it spread so quickly. People are in shock, everyone was talking about it, everyone is very devastated for the business owners and community organisations that use the Plaza. A number of people worked very hard in it, and as I say, as a community were devastated about that and for the businesses and others surrounding it. On Monday afternoon, a Donegal County Council spokeswoman said: The fire is now under control, however a number of commercial units have been destroyed including the Plaza Ballroom and the area remains closed off. The Main Street was closed from Westend to Market Square, Ferris Lane and all footpaths at Upper Main Street were closed for public safety reasons on Monday. Health Minister Simon Harris has said individuals may face sanctions over the spiralling costs of the National Childrens Hospital (NCH) project. He said the PwC review into the overspending would go as far as it possibly can in identifying who was responsible and then the Government would look at sanctions. Mr Harris made the comments during an interview on RTE Radio 1s Sean ORourke programme. He said: PwC cant be sanctioning individuals thats not their job. Their job would be to identify the weaknesses, go as far as they can in that regard and then it would be for myself and the Government to take actions in terms of sanctions, if theyre required. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said on Sunday that the terms of reference of the PwC report into the overrun would be changed to allow it find individuals accountable. The review, ordered by the Government, initially looked to establish the underlying root causes for the spiralling NCH costs. But PwC was told they must examine the role and accountability of the parties involved without ascribing blame to any individual. The parameters of the probe were changed after considerable criticism from the opposition. Mr Harris said it was important that the outcome of the review should not be preempted and it should not be presumed that all of the costs were unavoidable. Theres no evidence to suggest that so far, Mr Harris said. He added that really basic things seemed to have gone wrong with the project, such as the quantities of materials needed and that the Government was looking into ways of reducing the cost overrun. Minister Harris denied that he encouraged the chair of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board to resign over the rising costs. Tom Costello stepped down on Saturday citing concerns about reputational damage to the project. Mr Harris said he met Mr Costello on Friday evening and they had a good and a long conversation about the project but he was not expecting the resignation on Saturday. He agreed he was going to need to reflect on that further and he took the decision on Saturday. When we were contacted by him through my department on Saturday, I wasnt actually expecting it on Saturday, he said. Asked whether he encouraged Mr Costello to resign he replied: No, we had a conversation and Tom Costello made his own decision. Mr Harris added that he believed it was inevitable that the chair of the board would have ended up stepping down. But he would not accept that his fingerprints were over the decision. The estimated cost for the new hospital which will be located on the campus of St Jamess Hospital in Dublin has risen from an original estimate of 650 million euro to more than 1.7 billion. But the Public Accounts Committee heard last week that it could not be guaranteed that the estimated cost of the new hospital would not exceed 2 billion. Mr Harris said he would take responsibility for the project, but he added that the Government had collectively made the decision to push ahead with the project despite the cost overrun. He said Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe had been kept updated on the project and that there had been very significant engagement between the Department of Finance, Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Health on the matter. Mr Donohoe said on Monday that information relating to the overrun should have been made available earlier than it was. He said he was made aware of the cost overrun last November. Rebel MPs from both sides of the Conservative Partys Leave/Remain divide are meeting in Whitehall to develop ideas for alternative arrangements to replace the controversial backstop to keep the Irish border open. Heres a look at the so-called Malthouse Compromise being touted as a way forward. How did the plan come about? Housing minister Kit Malthouse brought Remain and Leave-supporting Tories together in a bid to break the Brexit impasse concocting the plan which now bears his name. Unlikely bedfellows including Nicky Morgan, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker, as well as frontbenchers Stephen Hammond and Robert Buckland, held secret talks for some days and brokered the plan over a chocolate orange. Expand Close Nicky Morgan (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nicky Morgan (Stefan Rousseau/PA) What does the Malthouse Compromise propose? The plan contains two choices to be offered to the EU: one for how the UK will leave with a deal, and one for how it will leave without. Plan A is similar to the current Withdrawal Agreement, but with changes to the Irish backstop and the implementation period. Plan B assumes that agreement on the Withdrawal Agreement is not possible and creates a transitional standstill period. How is plan A different to the current deal on offer? The bare bones of the Withdrawal Agreement remain the same, but the implementation period would be extended until no later than December 2021. The aim of this is to provide a longer period to agree the future relationship, but it could also involve paying more money to the EU. The second major difference is to the controversial backstop, which would be changed to become a basic free trade agreement. It would not require new technology and relies on existing administrative processes. Expand Close Jacob Rees-Mogg (Rebecca Black/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jacob Rees-Mogg (Rebecca Black/PA) Is plan B different to a no-deal Brexit? Yes as Britain would remain in a transition period even if a Withdrawal Agreement had not been signed. The UK would become a third country, in practice, but would offer to pay the EU in exchange for retaining the implementation period until no later than December 2021. Plan A would remain on offer as long as the EU was willing to consider it. How much would the UK have to pay? Under plan B, Britain would offer around 10 billion per year in exchange for the implementation period to continue. When would Britain leave the EU under the plan? Brexit would still occur on March 29 under both plans, but the major difference is that the UK could stay in a transition period until December 2021 under both. Does Number 10 support it? Theresa May offered an olive branch to the rebel Tories by inviting MPs including Steve Baker, Marcus Fysh, Owen Paterson, Damian Green and Nicky Morgan into the Cabinet Office on Monday afternoon. The hardline Eurosceptics in the European Research Group and Remain-supporting former ministers will form the Alternative Arrangements Working Group (AAWG), which Downing Street said would meet regularly with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and senior officials. What happens next? The AAWG is expected to meet at least twice more this week, but it is unclear whether Brussels will accept the proposals. Deputy Brexit negotiator Sabine Weyand has said technology would not solve the border issue in the next few years. Labour has insisted that a Brexit withdrawal deal must include an Irish border backstop. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said that with the clock ticking down to the UKs departure from the EU, it was impossible to see a way forward without a backstop. During a visit to Belfast, Sir Keir said while Labour had difficulties with the form of the backstop in the current deal, he and colleagues acknowledged there was a need for such an insurance policy in principle, to ensure a free-flowing Irish border post-Brexit. From the Labour Party point of view, we obviously see that there are difficulties with the backstop, he said. There are features there that are going to cause concern. But we recognise there is a need for a backstop at this stage of the exercise. His comments come as Labour has faced calls to clarify its position on the contentious issue. Whilst we have got concerns that we have set out about the backstop, we do accept the principle that there has got to be a backstopSir Keir Starmer Last week, Labour MPs were whipped to vote against a Westminster amendment calling for alternative arrangements to replace the backstop. However, last week party leader Jeremy Corbyn also said he had a problem with the backstop proposal, insisting it was unacceptable that the UK could not unilaterally decide to withdraw from it. The purpose of the backstop arrangement is to ensure the Irish border remains open, even if a wider trade deal between the UK and EU fails to materialise at the end of the Brexit transition period. It would effectively see the whole UK continue to adhere to the customs union, while Northern Ireland would also align with EU single market regulations on goods, meaning it would operate under a differing legal framework to Great Britain. On Monday, Sir Keir met business and trade union leaders in Belfast, as well as leadership figures from Sinn Fein and the SDLP. He told the Press Association: The Prime Minister has effectively run down the clock and therefore it is impossible to see a way forward without a backstop. So, whilst we have got concerns that we have set out about the backstop, we do accept the principle that there has got to be a backstop. Sir Keir said he did not believe Theresa May would succeed in agreeing an alternative to the backstop with the EU, stating: The Prime Minister and her team have spent over 12 months trying to find an alternative to the backstop. We have only got the backstop because they couldnt find an alternative. So for her to go back now saying, I dont want the backstop, I want an alternative is to stand the last 12 months on its head. And I think thats what is causing the anxiety because nobody realistically thinks shes going to succeed in that objective. After the meeting with the shadow Brexit secretary at the Europa Hotel, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill said he had brought clarity to Labours position. It was important today to put to Keir Starmer that we need to see clarity from the Labour Party on the backstop. He did say in the meeting that the backstop is inevitable and that is the Labour positionMichelle O'Neill, Sinn Fein She suggested that during their meeting Sir Keir acknowledged that Labour had previously not been clear and consistent on the need for a backstop. It was important today to put to Keir Starmer that we need to see clarity from the Labour Party on the backstop, she said. He did say in the meeting that the backstop is inevitable and that is the Labour position. Its their position because they understand the need to ensure theres no hard border on this island. She added: The words he used to ourselves in the meeting today were clearly that a backstop is inevitable that is the Labour position in order to protect or guard against a hard border and I can only say that thats what hes relayed to us. Ms ONeill said it was important that Sir Keir heard first hand very clearly and directly the need to protect the backstop. She described the backstop as the least worst option but nevertheless she said the Irish government and the EU needed to stand firm against the UK Governments attempts to alter the Withdrawal Agreement. The backstop is a legal guarantee, she said. Theres no-one here who trusts the word of the British Government at this moment in time. She added: It has to be legal guarantees. The backstop is the bottom line. The DUP claimed Sir Keirs comments on the backstop were evidence of an internal struggle on the issue within the Labour Party. DUP MP Gavin Robinson said: When he talks about a backstop being inevitable, it is code for keeping the UK fully inside the single market and customs union. For all Labours criticisms of the Governments negotiations, it seems Keir Starmer is prepared to accept defeat without even entering any negotiationGavin Robinson, DUP Others in the Labour Party, including Jeremy Corbyn, seem to recognise that such an outcome would not reflect the referendum result. When he talks about Parliament asserting itself, he conveniently ignores last weeks vote where Parliament has set a course for what it wants to see from the Government in negotiations with the EU. Most concerning is that he has effectively said the only alternative to the current backstop is remaining inside the customs union and single market because the European Union havent offered anything else forward. For all Labours criticisms of the Governments negotiations, it seems Keir Starmer is prepared to accept defeat without even entering any negotiation. Whilst Keir Starmers attention seems to be fixed on the leadership of the Labour Party, the real focus should be on the European Union. They have already acknowledged that alternatives to the backstop will have to be found, but at the moment they refuse to negotiate until after 29th March. The focus should be on Brussels and starting meaningful negotiation immediately. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has said that looking at how Scotland's MPs are treated in Westminster affirms her belief in abstentionism. Sinn Fein's seven elected MPs do not take their seats in the House of Commons, despite repeated calls to do so during key Brexit votes. On whether Sinn Fein would ever take their seats, Mrs McDonald told the Andrew Marr show yesterday that the seven votes would be ineffectual and her party is resolute in its stance. "I have no business in Westminster, we have no business in your Parliament," she said. "Westminster, correctly, advances and protects what it regards to be British interests. "We have no business interfering in that, I am Irish, we have two parliaments and we advance Irish interests. "I look at the experience of our Scottish colleagues and I see them at Westminster, I think there's 30-odd, and I think they would readily attest that Westminster has no interest in Scotland either, Westminster has never served Irish interests, it's not constituted to do that, Irish interests are defended in Dublin and Belfast." Mrs McDonald added that the Good Friday Agreement would have to be revisited in the event of a hard Brexit on March 29, and an Irish unity referendum should be held. "Bear in mind the people of the north did not consent to Brexit," she said. "The backstop is the bottom line. On the issue of the border poll, there's no point us burying our heads in the sand and wish away a hard Brexit. "We prepare for the worst scenario and protect our national interest." Mrs McDonald told Marr that anyone gambling with peace on the island of Ireland is acting recklessly: "The peace process is very solid, very robust, we are only going forward and we are not going back. It would be grossly reckless and irresponsible of the Tories to play a game of chicken with that progress." Prime Minister Theresa May is to travel to Northern Ireland on Tuesday for a speech and to meet business groups. The trip was announced on Monday morning by a Downing Street spokesman. Her speech, he said, will stress the "governments commitment to avoiding a hard border". Read More Downing Street also said alternatives to the backstop were being considered "seriously" and with "urgency". Meanwhile, Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer used a visit to Northern Ireland on Monday to stress that Labour accepts the principle of a backstop agreement in order to prevent a return to a hard border. He met with members of the political parties, trade unions and business representatives. Sir Keir said: "From the Labour Party point of view we obviously see that there are difficulties with the backstop. "There are features there that are going to cause concern. But we recognise there is a need for a backstop at this stage of the exercise. "The Prime Minister has effectively run down the clock and therefore it is impossible to see a way forward without a backstop. "So, whilst we have got concerns that we have set out about the backstop, we do accept the principle that there has got to be a backstop." The comments came after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn last week said that he had "a problem" where the backstop agreement was "one-sided". Hardline Eurosceptics in the European Research Group and Remain-supporting former ministers were due to gather in the Cabinet Office for the first meeting of the new Alternative Arrangements Working Group (AAWG). The PM's spokesman said the group would be moving "urgently" to explore ideas "as soon as possible" for Mrs May to take to Brussels. Downing Street has previously suggested that these might revolve around a time-limit or unilateral brake on the backstop or technological solutions to keep traffic flowing over the border. The spokesman declined to confirm a claim from Home Secretary Sajid Javid that the UK Border Force has identified "existing technology" to perform the job. Mr Javid told the BBC on Sunday: "They have shown me quite clearly you can have no hard border on the island of Ireland and you can use existing technology. It is perfectly possible, the only thing missing is a bit of goodwill on the EU side." However, this was publicly questioned by the EU's deputy chief negotiator Sabine Weyand, who tweeted: "Can technology solve the Irish border problem? Short answer: not in the next few years." Drawn up in meetings co-ordinated by housing minister Kit Malthouse, the proposal bearing his name recasts the backstop as a "free trade agreement-lite", with a commitment on all sides there should be no hard border and an extended transition period to December 2021. It is seen as one of the main reasons the ERG changed its mind and backed an amendment last Tuesday tabled by Sir Graham Brady authorising Mrs May to go back to Brussels and seek a new deal with the backstop stripped out. Mrs May told the Commons last week it was "a serious proposal that we are engaging with sincerely and positively". Theresa May is to visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday to give a speech in which she will confirm her Governments absolute commitment to avoiding a hard border with the Republic after Brexit. The Prime Ministers trip, which will also take in talks with local businesses, comes as she prepares to return to Brussels to demand the reopening of the EU Withdrawal Agreement. Meanwhile, Downing Street poured cold water on speculation over an early election, saying that Mrs May was absolutely not considering a vote on June 6. The spokesman also said it was simply not true that the Government was drawing up plans for the evacuation of the Queen from Buckingham Palace in the case of civil unrest after a no-deal Brexit. The comments came as Justice Secretary David Gauke became the latest Cabinet minister to suggest that Brexit might have to be delayed beyond the scheduled date of March 29. Mr Gauke told BBC Radio 4s Today: We need to leave the European Union in a smooth and orderly way, and our objective is to do that on March 29, but I think it is important that it is a smooth and orderly departure and that is key. Mrs Mays spokesman insisted: She is absolutely determined to deliver Brexit on time. That means March 29. Rebel Tory MPs have been invited for a series of meetings chaired by Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay to explore ideas which could offer Mrs May a way forward after the emphatic Commons rejection of her Withdrawal Agreement. At the heart of the changes being demanded by Conservative Eurosceptics is the removal of the so-called backstop, designed to keep the Irish border open in the absence of a broader trade deal. Expand Close Angela Merkel held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during her visit to Tokyo (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP/PA) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Angela Merkel held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during her visit to Tokyo (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP/PA) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was ready to listen to proposals to solve the border riddle, but needs to hear from Britain how it thinks it can be done. Speaking during a trip to Japan, Ms Merkel said: To solve this riddle, you have to be creative and you have to listen to one another. We can have those conversations, so we can use the remaining time to perhaps remove the obstacles that have so far stood in the way and find an agreement if everyone is willing. But we must hear from Great Britain how they want to do it. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Mrs Merkels visit for talks with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe came days after a new EU-Japan trade deal came into force and a day after Nissan confirmed it was ditching plans to build its X-Trail SUV in Sunderland. The company said the decision was largely driven by changing demand for diesel models but added that uncertainty around the UKs future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future. Hardline Eurosceptics in the European Research Group (ERG) and Remain-supporting former ministers were gathering in the Cabinet Office for the first meeting of the new Alternative Arrangements Working Group (AAWG). ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker, former Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson and Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh will sit around a table with former education secretary Nicky Morgan and ex-Cabinet Office minister Damian Green to examine the feasibility of the so-called Malthouse Compromise. Downing Street confirmed that they will meet with Mr Barclay on each of the first three days of this week and did not rule out further meetings beyond that date. The PMs spokesman said the group would be moving urgently to draw up proposals as soon as possible. Downing Street has previously suggested that these might revolve around a time-limit or unilateral brake on the backstop or technological solutions to keep traffic flowing over the border. Expand Close (L-R) Brexiteers Owen Paterson and Steve baker will sit down with former remain backer Nicky Morgan to help find viable changes to the Irish backstop (Dominic Lipinski, Victoria Jones, Stefan Rousseau/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (L-R) Brexiteers Owen Paterson and Steve baker will sit down with former remain backer Nicky Morgan to help find viable changes to the Irish backstop (Dominic Lipinski, Victoria Jones, Stefan Rousseau/PA) Mrs May last week told the Commons that the Malthouse Compromise named for housing minister Kit Malthouse, who co-ordinated meetings bringing together the Remain and Leave wings of the party was a serious proposal that we are engaging with sincerely and positively. But the chairman of the Commons Brexit Committee, Hilary Benn, said: Personally, I dont see how it can work particularly in the very short amount of time that there is left. Speaking as the committee visited Brussels for private talks with EU officials, Mr Benn said the UK Government and EU had already put a great deal of effort into exploring a technological solution, only to conclude that: Its not going to work. The Prime Minister has effectively run down the clock and therefore it is impossible to see a way forward without a backstopSir Keir Starmer Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer moved to clarify Labours position on the backstop, after Jeremy Corbyn suggested last week he would have a problem with a one-sided arrangement. Speaking in Northern Ireland, Sir Keir told the Press Association: We recognise there is a need for a backstop at this stage of the exercise. The Prime Minister has effectively run down the clock and therefore it is impossible to see a way forward without a backstop. So, whilst we have got concerns that we have set out about the backstop, we do accept the principle that there has got to be a backstop. Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson accused the Tory leadership of using rumours of an early election as a scare tactic to bounce exhausted Conservative MPs into backing her Withdrawal Agreement. In his Daily Telegraph column, Mr Johnson said the Conservatives would go into an early election with a hole in the heart of our manifesto because they do not have a settled EU policy. Lance Corporal James Ross whose inquest, along with Rifleman Darren Mitchell, is taking place in Ballymena, Co Antrim (Liberty Human Rights) The mother of a soldier who died at an isolated army barracks in Co Down shortly after serving in Afghanistan has questioned his posting there. Lance Corporal James Ross, 30, from Leeds, was found hanged in a suspected suicide on December 8 2012 at Abercorn Barracks at Ballykinler. Three months later, Rifleman Darren Mitchell, 20, from London, was also found hanged at the base. Both had recently served in Afghanistan. Expand Close Rifleman Darren Mitchell, whose death is also being investigated (Liberty Human Rights) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Rifleman Darren Mitchell, whose death is also being investigated (Liberty Human Rights) Linda Ketcher said she did not believe it was acceptable that young men who had served in Afghanistan were sent to isolated barracks such as Ballykinler. She said James was gutted to be posted there and not closer to home after his second tour of Afghanistan from October 2011 to April 2012. Mrs Ketcher said her son confided in her about some incidents which upset him. One involved a badly injured young girl, which she said her son had found very distressing and had stayed with him. An Afghan man came running towards him carrying something in a blanket, she told the inquest. Expand Close Abercorn Barracks at Ballykinler, Co Down, where two soldiers died within three months of each other (PA Archive) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Abercorn Barracks at Ballykinler, Co Down, where two soldiers died within three months of each other (PA Archive) As he approached the man opened the blanket, a little girl was in there who was badly injured. She described how he tried to help the child before alerting the medics to help her. Jamess sister Helen Thomas also gave evidence to say he was disturbed by this incident as the girl had reminded him of his niece and nephew. Mrs Ketcher also questioned why there were two incidents where young men appeared to take their own lives within three months at Ballykinler. We are asking is there adequate care there? she said. She said her son found Ballykinler to be a cold and isolated place, and tried to keep himself busy by keeping fit and taking a number of courses. But she said he was happy in his career and very pleased at his recent promotion to Lance Corporal. He found a career that he loved and was progressing well at it, she said. Expand Close Ballymena Courthouse where the inquest is taking place (Rebecca Black/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ballymena Courthouse where the inquest is taking place (Rebecca Black/PA) Mrs Ketcher said her son had been making plans to come home for a late Christmas and spend New Years Eve in Paris with his girlfriend. She told the inquest that he had cancelled leave for Christmas to allow others with families and children to get it instead, and allow him to catch up with administrative work. She said he told her to keep his presents under the tree so they could celebrate a late Christmas together. Inquests into the deaths of L/Cpl Ross and Rifleman Mitchell are taking place at Ballymena Courthouse in Co Antrim this week. They had previously been on active service with 2nd Battalion the Rifles. An additional eight incidents of serious self-harm involving other soldiers in the same unit were recorded over a six-month period within which the two men died. A preliminary hearing of the inquest was told a colleague described Ballykinler barracks as Bally Kill Yourself. Written evidence before counsel for the victims families disclosed that L/Cpl Ross had discussed the loss of personnel during overseas combat. The last resident battalion moved out of Ballykinler in 2014. Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves making clear this country governments steadfast support for the President Nicola Mudaro-led administration in Venezuela. The Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Murrays Road, Kingstown, was, last week Wednesday, the venue for an outpouring of support for the Nicola Maduro led administration. The occasion was billed as an activity in solidarity with the government and people of Venezuela, to mark the 61st anniversary of the overthrow of the Marcus Perez Jimenez dictatorship and the beginning of democracy in that country. Vincentian Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves got things going with a clear and unambiguous reiteration of his governments support for the Venezuela government and President Maduro. To give that support, Dr. Gonsalves said, was "in accordance with the highest traditions. With a less than veiled reference to President Donald Trump and the USAs role in instigating a coup in Venezuela, the Vincentian Prime Minister warned of a "lot of bloodshed if armed camps are allowed to be set up in Venezuela. He admitted that the situation in there is challenging, but held fast to the position that "we are interested in peace. He alluded to his efforts at setting out dialogue and of discussion with Colombias Foreign Minister, even without consent from the Venezuelan government. The Prime Ministers declaration was witnessed by Speaker of the House of Assembly Jomo Thomas and the Prime Ministers cabinet colleagues: Camillo Gonsalves, Frederick Stephenson, St. Clair Prince and Julian Francis. Thomas joined in the expressions of support for Venezuela by first dismissing claims that the Venezuelan government is illegitimate as articulated by outside forces. He reflected on the situation in Guyana in 1953 when Cheddi Jagan was elected but was the subject of external pressure because of his people-centred orientation. Thomas also referred to Guatemala in 1953 and the Dominican Republic in 1955 when the duly elected governments in those countries faced hostility from US quarters; and the overthrow of President Salvador Allende in Chile 1972. The Speaker pointed to Venezuela being dragged down a similar route to what obtained in Chile. Thomas praised former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and Cubas Fidel Castro for their role in completion of the Argyle International Airport, and pointed to this countrys adherence to the principles of international law as the platform for its solidarity with Venezuela. Cubas Ambassador Vilma Reyes Valdespino offered her countrys support of the Venezuelan government, saying, in relation to the external forces bearing down on the country, " the right of a sovereign nation to define its own destiny is at stake as a result of an international plot orchestrated from the North American empire. The Venezuelan-Vincentian Friendship Association (VENVIFA) also expressed its solidarity with the government and people of Venezuela. The Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, through its Head of Mission Francisco Perez Santana, expressed gratitude for the expressions of solidarity. The Chinese Communist Party sees the past as a resource to be plundered by the present. By Pamela Kyle Crossley | January 29, 2019 Chinese President Xi Jinping is directing a vast ideological war across multiple theaterspolitics, culture, ethics, economy, strategy, and foreign relations. Among its most intense flashpoints is historiography, particularly of Chinas last empire, the Qing, which ruled from 1636 to 1912. Historians, whether foreign or domestic, who resist Xis determination to design a past that serves his ideology have been targeted repeatedly by state propaganda organs. A new editorial suggests that this attack on Qing specialists is escalating. Xi has a powerful weapon at his disposal. In 2003, 10 years before his assumption of power, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) initiated an ambitious project dedicated to Qing history. It was granted headquarters in the Zhongguancun district of Beijing, next to Chinas leading technology companies. Its budgetnever definitively quantified but clearly stratospheric as far as historiographical enterprises gosupported a threefold mission: The first of these has been to complete the traditional arc in which each imperial dynasty declared its legitimacy by writing the history of its predecessor. At its demise in 1912, the Qing was not succeeded by a new dynasty, though Republican-era loyalists drafted a history that the new government refused to publish. In our century, the CCP has decided to seize the mantle of legitimacy by rewriting and publishing the Qing imperial history, which is now nearing completion. The second is to digitize all the archival materials relating to Qing history. By 2014, the digitized image files of the documents were reported to total 1.5 million, searchable by metadata, and recent announcements show the number moving toward 2 million. The third is to translate all foreign scholarship on the Qing period, which could run to tens of thousands of titles. But this task has become part of the intense struggle for control over the characterization of the Qing periodone in which Xi has co-opted the history project to defeat challenges to his historical confabulations from either conventional Marxist historians in China or from foreign scholars of the Qing. Half a century ago, scholars from around the world agreed on the basics of Qing history. It began in 1644 when invading Manchus seized the former Ming capital, Beijing, and proceeded to establish their control over all of China. Their government followed the Ming model, and in the late 17th century the Qing began to spread Chinese control to Taiwan, Mongolia, Tibet, and what is now the province of Xinjiang. The 18th century went well for the Qing, which became the worlds largest economy. Its achievements in architecture, philosophy, and art were celebrated internationally by Jesuit residents of Beijing and their readers in Europe, including Voltaire. But in the 19th century, the empire was afflicted by the bloodiest civil war in history, the Taiping Rebellion; an onslaught of foreign gunboat diplomacy that deprived it of full control of its economy and urban spaces; and devastating military and economic incursions from rising, modernizing Japan. But there were variations within this template. Historians who were part of Chinas Nationalist movement condemned the Manchus as foreign vandals only too happy to abandon the Chinese to enslavement and massacre by other foreign aggressors. The idea of the Century of Humiliationmeaning, roughly, 1842 to 1949that is now an all-purpose gripe in CCP justifications of its aggressive economic and military maneuvers is a synopsis of the Nationalist narrative of Qing failure, as is Xis claim that Confucianism was the core of Chinese tradition and must remain so. (In contrast, for Communist historians in China, the Qing, like other past rulers, oppressed the entire population of China by Confucianism, which blessed the predations of the land-owning elites while indoctrinating the masses in virtues of servility.) In the late 20th century, historians in the United States, Europe, and Japan focused on the effects of early modern conquest and domination in the broadest comparative contextsnot only in Asia and the Middle East, but also in southern Africa and North America. They closely examined the effects of the great land empires of Russia, the Ottomans, and the Qing. American historians, particularly, produced a narrative of the Qing as a conquest empire of global prominence, with not only power and wealth but also with the usual dynamics of violence (including genocide), hierarchy, and marginalized cultural identities. They noted that before its conquest of China the Qing was already an empire of considerable size, controlling Manchuria (including the former Ming province of Liaodong, roughly corresponding to the modern province of Liaoning) and dominating eastern Mongolia and Korea; they argued that that even after the conquest of China, Qing imperial government continued to show deep traces of its origins in Manchuria. They used documents from all the empires languages, including Manchu, Mongolian, Tibetan, and Uighurnot just Chinese. They emphasized that the empire had grown to twice the size of its Ming predecessor by means of conquestindirectly ruling Mongolia and Tibet, imposing an expensive military occupation regime on Xinjiang, and for the first time incorporating Taiwan into an empire based in China. Xis strategy in remixing history is to draw selectively from the Nationalist and Communist historiographies, throw in some volatile nationalism, and resolutely suppress the implications of the new globalized and comparative historiography. The primary historical design shop is the Party History Research Office of the CCP Central Committee. Through this mouthpiece, Chinese historians are instructed that a history of Qing conquest incites separatist movements in Xinjiang and Tibet, and in Taiwan it encourages those seeking formal independence for the island. Instead of an empire of conquest, Xi has rewritten Qing as a cultural and economic behemoth that awed and charmed the populations of Mongolia, Tibet, Central Asia, and Taiwan into happy submission. Consequently, one of the first orders of business for Xis new administration in 2013 was to mount virulent attacks upon foreign historians of the Qing (including me) that continue today. Foreign historians are derided as imperialists in a new guise; these researchers devalue the uniqueness of the Qing as a Chinese dynasty by comparing it to other empires and imply that overland conquest as a historical phenomenon is more significant than Chinese rule. Articles describe them as historical nihilists; their imperialist and cosmopolitan perspectives override historical fact. This idea that the full extent of Qing was reached naturally and peacefully is the source of Chinas claims today to Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang, and it is critical to its claims to the South China Sea. The underlying premise is that sovereign control of any territory is legitimated foremost by the historical geography of the nation that claims it. Yet no modern state today adheres to such unreliable and patently illegal principles of territorial legitimacy. Before the 17th century, no states anywhere had considered national sovereignty an absolute. The concept later spread via the European empires to the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Today, territorial borders are ratified by treaty and international recognition, not by extravagant and unverifiable historical claims. Nevertheless, only contiguous countries (the Soviet Union, India, Vietnam, and North Korea) have disputed Chinese land borders, and never on a significant scale. Neither the United States nor any European power has questioned Chinese control over former Qing territories within current Chinese boundaries. Tellingly, the most intense applications of these principles have occurred in relation to various areas of the South China Seaand the sea is the one place where claims of historical Chinese rule can never be proved or even reasonably inferred. But it is not foreign historians or diplomats who need to beor can beconvinced by Xis version of history. The intended audience is in China. Denunciations of nihilism have become louder as Xi pushes his programs for reification of Chinese tradition. The party history factory has identified historiography as a primary field of battle between the CCP and its enemies and exhorts Chinese historians to strike more frequently and more forcefully against foreign colleagues. Among the most recent and ominous of these strikes is a recent editorial in the official journal Historical Research (Lishi yanjiu)republished in both the print and online versions of the party organ Peoples Dailytitled Firmly grasp the right to speak of the history of the Qing dynasty. The editorial states that too many Chinese historians have fallen under the sway of foreign nihilists, producing a gusher of new scholarship on the Qing that in ideological potency has nevertheless been far from sufficient to meet the needs of the party and the people. It prescribes a Qing history research system with Chinese characteristics, Chinese tastes, and Chinese stylethe essentializing narrative that Xi uses to glamorize himself and his foreign ventures. Many scholars of Chinese affairs decry Xis ruthless war on the cultures and communities of Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia. That has nothing to do with history but is a matter of humanity and conscience in the present. No pile of historical claims to control of territory can excuse such abuses, in China or elsewhere. Historical nihilism is nothing more than a denial that the past is fundamentally a resource to be plundered by the present. Xis imagined history of the Qing as a huge empire of wealth and glory without conquest or tears may seem inane, but Western historians should note the seriousness of the CCP and the Qing History Project, because their Chinese colleagues surely do. China, after all, has a rich record, past and present, of imprisoning historians, many of whom do not emerge from custody. In the firmly grasp of the editorials title, the character used (lao, ) literally means grip, fix, trap, imprison. In that grasp can be held both the history prescribed by Xi and the historians who might resist it. Linda Ketcher attends the inquest into the death of her son Lance Corporal James Ross at Ballymena Courthouse (Rebecca Black/PA) The mother of a soldier who died at an isolated Army barracks in Co Down shortly after serving in Afghanistan has questioned his posting there. Lance Corporal James Ross, 30, from Leeds, was found hanged in a suspected suicide on December 8 2012 at Abercorn Barracks at Ballykinler. Three months later, Rifleman Darren Mitchell, 20, from London, was also found hanged at the base. Both had recently served in Afghanistan. An inquest is taking place into their deaths at Ballymena Courthouse in Co Antrim. Expand Close Lance Corporal James Ross (Liberty Human Rights/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lance Corporal James Ross (Liberty Human Rights/PA) Linda Ketcher said she did not believe it was acceptable that young men who had served in Afghanistan were sent to isolated barracks such as Ballykinler. She said her son was gutted to be posted there and not closer to home after his second tour of Afghanistan from October 2011 to April 2012. Mrs Ketcher said he confided in her about some incidents which upset him. One involved a badly injured young girl, which she said he had found very distressing and had stayed with him. Expand Close Rifleman Darren Mitchell, whose death is also being investigated (Liberty Human Rights/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Rifleman Darren Mitchell, whose death is also being investigated (Liberty Human Rights/PA) An Afghan man came running towards him carrying something in a blanket, she told the inquest. As he approached the man opened the blanket, a little girl was in there who was badly injured. She described how he tried to help the child before alerting the medics to help her. L/Cpl Rosss sister Helen Thomas also gave evidence to say he was disturbed by this incident as the girl had reminded him of his niece and nephew. Mrs Ketcher also questioned why there were two incidents where young men appeared to take their own lives within three months at Ballykinler. We are asking is there adequate care there? she said. Expand Close Abercorn Barracks at Ballykinler, Co Down (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Abercorn Barracks at Ballykinler, Co Down (PA) She said her son found Ballykinler to be a cold and isolated place, and tried to keep himself busy by keeping fit and taking a number of courses. But she said he was happy in his career and very pleased at his recent promotion to lance corporal. He found a career that he loved and was progressing well at it, she said. Mrs Ketcher said her son had been making plans to come home for a late Christmas and spend New Years Eve in Paris with his girlfriend. She told the inquest that he had cancelled leave for Christmas to allow others with families and children to get it instead. Mrs Ketcher said he told her to keep his presents under the tree so they could celebrate a late Christmas together. She said she last heard from her son on the Thursday before he died and they talked about a driving course he was to do. Expand Close Ballymena Courthouse, where the inquest is taking place (Rebecca Black/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ballymena Courthouse, where the inquest is taking place (Rebecca Black/PA) There was no sign that anything was wrong, she told the inquest. The inquest also heard from two of L/Cpl Rosss friends, who said they received unusual phone calls from him in the weeks before he died. Giving evidence via video link from a Leeds court, Emma Jackson said he told her that he was not enjoying being based in Northern Ireland, saying there was nowt to do, adding that overall he seemed bored. The inquest heard that due to security concerns, soldiers were unable to socialise in nearby towns and instead had to go to Belfast or Lisburn, a trip that cost 40 each way in a taxi. Mrs Jackson said L/Cpl Ross told her that he had been demoted after taking a group of junior ranked men for a run on the beach in Ballykinler and a swim in the sea. It didnt make sense. I didnt think he seemed very well, seemed quite manic and was not listening to me, she told the inquest. Whatever the truth of what had happened, I have no doubt he genuinely believed he had been demoted. She added that she was surprised when she attended his funeral that he was buried as a lance corporal. James Kerr gave evidence to the inquest via a statement that L/Cpl Ross told him over the phone that they were going to take his stripe off him. He said during the phone call L/Cpl Ross had told him he had made men do press-ups in the sea. Mr Kerr added that he felt it was a bit harsh to be demoted for that. The last resident battalion moved out of Ballykinler in 2014. The inquest continues. The SDLP's Claire Hanna refused to rule out resigning from the party over its link-up with Fianna Fail. The South Belfast MLA said that while she didn't support the "exclusive relationship" between the two parties, she couldn't see her 25-year time with the SDLP coming to an end anytime soon. Last month the two parties announced a formal partnership to "end the political vacuum left by Stormont failure". In his speech SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said he accepted the partnership "may be uncomfortable for some in both our parties", and that the proposal would be brought before the SDLP membership for approval. Claire Hanna was the only one of the party's 12 MLAs not to attend the Belfast event. Read More She was asked about her feeling on the partnership on the BBC's Talkback programme on Monday. "The announcement has prompted a lot of discussion with members and I think there is a renewed sense among members how important it is to find a future that we can all support. "I think the SDLP is strongest when it is the convergence of democratic Ireland on issues around reconciliation and unity and I believe there is a pathway for that to continue." She was asked is she would resign from the party should the partnership be fully ratified. A meeting of party delegates is to take place at the weekend to consider the partnership. "I am very confident that there will be consensus among the membership of the SDLP. I believe very firmly there is an outcome that can help boost the SDLP's fortunes and restore them and I genuinely believe most of the members I have spoken will agree. "Let's wait and see what happens on Saturday. "There has been really interesting and positive discussions. I have been in the SDLP for 25 years and I don't see that changing any time soon. I fight for my principles and I try and build consensus and that's how I do my politics. I don't expect that to change." Two men arrested after a crossbow was seized in Co Tyrone have been released on police bail pending further enquiries Two men arrested after a crossbow was seized in Co Tyrone have been released on police bail pending further enquiries. Police said they received reports of a man carrying a firearm on the Strathroy Road in Omagh at 4.45pm on Friday before stopping a car 25 minutes later. In a video posted on social media by the Police Federation, men can be seen leaving a vehicle under PSNI orders after it left retail premises on Hospital Road. Detective Inspector Nigel Snoddy said: "The 26-year-old driver was arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place. A 30-year-old man was arrested close to the scene on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place. "The car, a white 3 series BMW, was seized for further forensic examination and a crossbow, arrow and bolt recovered from inside the vehicle. Two searches were later carried out at addresses in Omagh and a number of items taken away for further examination. Both men have been released on police bail pending further enquiries." Omagh independent councillor Josephine Deehan said the crossbow find "shows the potential for violence in our communities and is a huge cause for concern. I'm pleased two arrests have been made and I hope the people are able to assist the PSNI in getting to the bottom of this matter." Police appealed for anyone with either mobile phone or dash cam footage to contact detectives on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 896 of 1/2/19. Dr Helen Coleman, who has received a grant of over 855,000 for cancer research, wears a unity band to support World Cancer Day A leading Queen's University scientist has been awarded more than 855,000 by Cancer Research UK to find new ways to prevent oesophageal cancer and improve survival rates. Dr Helen Coleman (34), from Portaferry, was granted the prestigious Cancer Research UK Career Establishment Award ahead of World Cancer Day today. She said she was inspired to work in cancer research after several family members - including her husband Eamonn's uncle, Sean Lennon - were diagnosed with the disease. Read More Dr Coleman said: "Both my parents received cancer diagnoses but thankfully survived. "I also know about the devastating impact of oesophageal cancer after three members of my husband's family were diagnosed with the disease. "One uncle is a survivor, after he was diagnosed early enough to be treated with surgery - but the family sadly lost his other uncle and our sister-in-law's father to the disease, both within two years of their diagnosis. "Every hour someone in Northern Ireland is diagnosed with cancer and I feel it's really important to support life-saving cancer research. "One way to do so is by wearing a unity band to mark World Cancer Day. "Every band worn and every pound donated will help us beat cancer sooner." Over the next six years, Dr Coleman will analyse data from around 20,000 patients with Barrett's oesophagus [a risk factor in developing oesophageal cancer], and over 3,000 oesophageal cancer patients. More than 200 people are diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in Northern Ireland every year and fewer than one in five will survive for at least five years after diagnosis. Barrett's oesophagus, a condition where some of the cells lining the food pipe have started to change, is much more common, with around 900 people diagnosed here each year. In a small number of people these cells may develop into oesophageal cancer over time. Northern Ireland has the only population register in the world of everyone in the country who has been diagnosed with Barrett's oesophagus and this data will form the basis of her study. Dr Coleman will investigate the impact of new endoscopic methods that have been introduced to monitor and treat Barrett's oesophagus. Previously the only potential intervention for early change in Barrett's cells, called dysplasia, was surgery, which was considered an extreme measure for patients with early changes who might never develop cancer, but in the past few years new techniques have enabled altered cells to be removed during endoscopic investigations. Dr Coleman will study whether the availability of these new treatments has meant that doctors are now more likely to accurately diagnose dysplasia in Barrett's patients, and therefore potentially prevent more patients from developing oesophageal cancer. She will also look at the effects of lifestyle factors including smoking, alcohol and nutrition, as well as the use of medications such as aspirin on the survival of oesophageal cancer patients after completing common treatments like chemotherapy and surgery. Dr Coleman explained: "Oesophageal cancer is difficult to treat because around three quarters of cases are diagnosed at a late stage." She added: "It's fantastic to be selected for this career defining award and I am excited about working to find new ways to help prevent this cancer and new treatments to help patients survive for longer. "Belfast is the leading centre in this kind of large population study and I believe that our work can really make a difference to patients' lives." Dr Coleman will work with data from the UK-wide Oesophageal Cancer Clinical and Molecular Stratification (OCCAMS) Consortium, which includes patients from Northern Ireland, for this part of the research. Sean Lennon (68), from Portaferry, Co Down, is an uncle of Dr Coleman's husband. In 2010 he noticed he was having difficulty swallowing food and visited his GP. He was later diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and underwent chemotherapy and surgery to successfully remove a tumour in April 2011. Mr Lennon said: "I noticed that food was not going down properly and visited the doctor who referred me for a dye test and endoscopy which confirmed cancer of the oesophagus. Although it was a big shock, I feel fortunate that it hadn't spread into my stomach, so I know I did the right thing by acting quickly when I noticed changes in my swallowing, and I received excellent care throughout my treatment. "It was a big operation, but I'm delighted to have responded so well to my treatment and to be able to enjoy life again. "I'm so pleased that money is being invested in research in this area to help people who are affected by oesophageal cancer." Last year Cancer Research UK spent around 16m on Oesophageal Cancer research in the UK while over 2m was spent on cancer research in Northern Ireland. Magilligan medium security prison near Limavady in Co Londonderry. The Northern Ireland Prison Service has confirmed the death in custody of a 27-year-old prisoner from Magilligan Prison. The prisoner died on Monday morning in hospital. His next of kin have been informed. As with standard procedure, the PSNI, Coroner and Prisoner Ombudsman have launched investigations into the death. Ronnie Armour, Director General of the Northern Ireland Prison Service said: "On behalf of the Northern Ireland Prison Service, I would like to extend my sympathy to the family of the prisoner. My thoughts are with them at this difficult time." Fire fighters from Northern Ireland attended the scene in Donegal. Over 40 firefighters from Northern Ireland helped battle an extensive fire in Donegal. Fire erupted on Main Street in Buncrana at a clothes shop at around 9pm before spreading to the Plaza Ballroom. Both buildings have been badly damaged but there have been no reports of any injuries. The Northern Ireland Fire Service said working with their southern counterparts was a regular occurance. "Because of the extent of the fire there was a need for a substantial resource from Northern Ireland," Group Commander William Johnston told the BBC. "Obviously we are intent on life saving and helping our colleagues saving property also and that's why we sent such a large resource." Firefighters remained on the scene on Monday morning and part of the town centre remains closed. A fire continues to rage on Buncrana main Street in #Donegal. A fire in a shop has spread to the neighboring Plaza venue. No reports of injuries. pic.twitter.com/Xg3rGNEsO1 Greg Hughes (@GregHughes2) February 4, 2019 A man has been arrested in Belfast following an incident in which a car failed to stop for police in the city centre. The man , aged 23, is due to appear in Belfast Magistrates Court on Monday, February 4, and is charged with a number of offences including dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, and failing to stop for police on the evening of Saturday, February 2. Two investigative journalists have won High Court permission to challenge the legality of search warrants issued during an investigation into the suspected theft of confidential documents from the Police Ombudsman's Office. Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey were arrested, questioned and released as part of raids on their homes and a business premises in Belfast last August. Detectives from Durham Constabulary, supported by officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, carried out the operation. Both Mr Birney, 51, and Mr McCaffrey, 48, had been involved in a documentary about the loyalist murders of six men in the 1994 Loughinisland massacre. Lawyers representing the journalists and Fine Point Films, the company behind the film 'No Stone Unturned', contend the warrants did not cover all of the material seized. In court on Monday they were granted leave to seek a judicial review on all grounds of challenge - including a claim that relying on the Official Secrets Act to obtain the warrants was incompatible with their freedom of expression rights under European law. Lord Justice Treacy, sitting with Mrs Justice Keegan, listed the case for a full hearing over three days in May. Police have already given an undertaking not to examine any of the seized documents and computer equipment pending the outcome of proceedings. At a previous hearing it was claimed the search and arrest operation was an abuse of power aimed at intimidating journalists and whistleblowers. Barristers for Mr Birney and Mr McCaffrey expressed further concern today about the extent of redactions in documents, and sought assurances that they are free to use papers and transcripts connected to the case. Barry Macdonald QC said: "The applicants would have a legitimate reason to disclose this material to others, including colleagues and others affected by this issue in the NUJ (National Union of Journalists), and indeed the wider public." Lord Justice Treacy directed police to set out their position on redaction and journalistic use of the transcripts by the end of the week. Floral tributes placed at the scene where father-of-two Ian Ogle was murdered by UVF thugs last week Thousands of people are expected today at the funeral of murdered loyalist community worker Ian Ogle. The 45-year-old father-of-two was stabbed in the back 11 times and suffered a fractured skull in a frenzied attack at Cluan Place a week ago. His funeral takes place at 11am in Covenant Love Church, Albertbridge Road, followed by burial in Roselawn Cemetery. Meanwhile, it has been claimed that one of the UVF killers involved in the savage murder is a member of Mr Ogle's extended family. A UVF source also told Sunday Life that Ian Ogle and his son Ryan had been told to attend a pre-arranged punishment beating in which their arms and legs were to be broken, after falling foul of the terrorist organisation. "I want to repeat that the murder of Ian Ogle was not sanctioned. It was 'off the cuff'," a UVF leadership figure told the newspaper. Mr Ogle's daughter Toni Johnston-Ogle (27) said her family had endured 18 months of intimidation over accusations her brother (23) had given a "dirty look" to someone she believed to be a member of the UVF in a local bar. The preacher at the Covenant Love Church where the funeral will take place is former soldier Kevin Sambrook. He prayed with Mr Ogle in the moments following the fatal attack. More than a thousand people joined a vigil in support of the Ogle family last week. Nine people have so far been questioned over the murder. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Vigils were held for Ian Ogle after his murder. Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The ogle family as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The ogle family as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The ogle family as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Sonia Copeland as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The ogle family as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Toni Johnston Ogle as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Sonia Copeland as A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A vigil is held Cluan Place where Ian Ogle was murdered on January 30th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Four men aged 21, 31, 45 and 49, and two women aged 35 and 36, who were arrested, were released on bail pending further enquiries. Sealed with a handshake. Minister of Finance, Information Technology Camillo Gonsalves (left) and Taiwans Ambassador to SVG H. E. Calvin Ho signed the agreement for the Bus Management and Monitoring System Project. Once implemented, the Intelligent Bus Management and Monitoring System Project will allow users of omni-buses to track the vehicles location and time of arrival, and ensure an increased sense of personal safety. The project, which is being implemented with the cooperation of the Government and People of Taiwan, was formally agreed to during a signing ceremony last Friday at Cabinet Room, that involved H.E Calvin Ho, Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Minister of Finance, Information and Technology, etc., Camillo Gonsalves. As explained, the project has two components: the first giving the travelling public access to the whereabouts of omni-buses; the other - the Intelligent Video Surveillance System - involves the installation of over 200 Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Cameras in locations throughout the mainland. The latter component, which will be monitored from one central location in Kingstown, is intended to provide a safe environment for commuters, and the measure is also in support of the ongoing effort to fight crime. Anticipated time for the setting up of the new system is three years, the Ambassador said. And according to him, the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is a very important agenda item in the bi-lateral relations between both countries. H.E Ho explained that it was not too long ago that he and the government signed the agreement for the delivery of an Electronic Documentations Records Management Service (EDRMS). The Bus Management System Through the use of a transmitter, which will be placed in omni-buses, passengers will be able to track the next available omni-bus through the use of GPS technology. It is expected that WiFi will be made available at bus stops, so that passengers will be able to access the information without having to utilize personal data on their smart devices. Monitoring System With respect to the Monitoring System, Gonsalves said that the CCTV cameras will be placed along designated smart bus stops, so that people can wait for a bus and feel safe at those locations. It is anticipated that the first set of cameras will be installed in the Kingstown area by the second half of the year. Others will be placed along the Leeward and Windward routes. The locations were determined by personnel from the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force and the Ministry of Transport and Works. Part of the arrangement will be the training of locals to operate and maintain the system. Background to the Project Meanwhile, Minister Gonsalves explained that as the EDRMS project began winding down, he was approached by the Ambassador to discuss the next ICT related project, and it was felt that there ought to be a project to benefit not just the public sector workers, but the public at large. "We also thought it would be good to leverage their (Taiwanese) experience in something that the people can see and touch, he said. The IT and Finance Minister further explained that he thought that IT ought to be applied to deal with some of the challenges the government currently faced.. "and one is the chaotic transportation system and the issue of extending the scope of police surveillance, and the Ambassador was ingenious in finding a programme to help address both of those areas of concern. Gonsalves said that he and others were invited to Taiwan for a first hand look at that countrys public transportation system, and while he admitted that there were multitudes of differences between both countries, it was felt that the technology used there can also be applied here. This and the Bus Management and Monitoring Project were expected to improve the way things were done, by making the bus system more efficient, H.E. Ho said.According to Minister Gonsalves, it was expected that all of this would lead to an improved transportation sector, since the data collected would provide critical information regarding most travelled routes, times, etc., as well as provide an extra eye out for the public along strategic areas.According to H.E. Ho, some 300 hours of training will be made available to those who will be directly involved with the day to day running of the system.Total cost of the project is set at US$2.4 million. The widow of former First Minister Ian Paisley has criticised members of the Free Presbyterian Church founded by her husband for trying to remove the couple from their Belfast home prior to his death. In a scathing attack to be aired tomorrow night on UTV, Baroness Paisley, who still lives in the manse at Martyrs Memorial church on the Ravenhill Road, also says Arlene Foster's infamous "crocodiles" comments were out of order. She tells journalist Eamonn Mallie's Face To Face programme that when Mrs Foster sparked controversy by saying that "if you feed a crocodile it will keep coming back for more", she was offended "just as a normal human being". Mrs Foster's remark was a response to Sinn Fein demands for an Irish Language Act before returning to Stormont. Before his death in 2014 Mr Paisley (Lord Bannside) claimed he had been forced out as moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church and had also been asked by his own congregation's elders to step down as the minister at Martyrs Memorial. Mr Paisley formed a power-sharing Executive with Sinn Fein in 2007. But opinion in the church shifted against him as he appeared to relish being in power alongside Martin McGuinness. The pair seemed to get along so well that they were nicknamed the "Chuckle Brothers". "I just don't think about them (the church leadership)," 87-year-old Baroness Paisley tells Face To Face. "They wanted us to move out of the house that we have been in since 1974 and they cannot actually do that legally because that was something that was drawn up legally." The plush, secluded manse sits just off Cyprus Avenue, made famous by the Van Morrison song of the same name. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness after being sworn in as ministers of the Northern Ireland Assembley, Stormont. Paul Faith Enthronement of Archbishop John Armstrong at Armagh. Ian Paisley arrested outside Cathedral for trying to break through a police cordon. Paisley, Peter Robinson and Jonhy McQuade as well as DUP supporters were arrested. They were held in custody for just one hour. Paisley etc. were there to protest at the presence of Premier Charles Haughey from the south who they claimed was willingly harbouring wanted terrorists. Pacemaker Press Intl. 7th May 1980.4/3/08 The DUP leader has announced that he will step down as First Minister and and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in May.316/80/BW PACEMAKER PRESS INTL. BELFAST. Funeral of Kenneth Campbell who was shot dead at the Finaghy Health Centre with Robert Bradford MP. Ian Paisley is pictured crying. 17/11/81.1120/81/bw Ian Paisley and his wife Eileen on wedding their day. Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson and Nigel Dodds with DUP Candidates for Belfast Council Elections. 24/4/89 PACEMAKER PRESS INTL. BELFAST. The early years of the life of the Rev Ian Paisley. 13/8/86.1197/86/bw Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson are taken away by police in Armagh after protesting a vist by Charles Haughey in 1980 PACEMAKER BELFAST. Copy pics from the book about the early years of the life of Ian Paisley. 13/8/86.1197/86/bw14/11/2011 The Rev Ian Paisley has announced his retirement from preaching after 60 years. Mr Paisley who is 85 started way back in 1946 REVEREND IAN PAISLEY MP.Ian Paisley confronts an RUC officer when refused access to Duke Street where the Civil Rights parade went on. 10/10/1988 Belfast Telegraph Pacemaker Belfast ArchiveRev Ian Paisley preaches to the 12,000 strong congregation at the Kings Hall in Belfast on the 40th anniversary of the free Presbyterian Church.24-3-199114/11/2011 The Rev Ian Paisley has announced his retirement from preaching after 60 years. Mr Paisley who is 85 started way back in 1946 REVEREND IAN PAISLEY MP.DUP leader Reverend Ian Paisley features on a DUP campaign to 'Smash Sinn Fein and Reject Republicanism'. Belfast Telegraph The funeral of procession of former DUP leader Ian Paisley. Pic Pacemaker The Reverend Ian Paisley, a militant Protestant leader, singing during a demonstration outside Canterbury Cathedral against the first Roman Catholic Mass to be held there for 400 years. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images) Keystone Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th September 2014 - Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness signs a book of condolence at in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, in memory of former DUP leader and First Minister Rev Ian Paisley. The funeral of Ian Paisley, the former Democratic Unionist Party leader and first minister of Northern Ireland, will take place this week. Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th September 2014 - Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. General view of a portrait of Rev Ian Paisley in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, in memory of former DUP leader and First Minister Rev Ian Paisley. The funeral of Ian Paisley, the former Democratic Unionist Party leader and first minister of Northern Ireland, will take place this week. Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Northern Ireland- 15th September 2014 Picture by Jonathan Porter/Presseye.com Book of condolence opened at Belfast City Hall following the death of former First Minister and DUP leader Ian Paisley who died on Friday aged 88-years-old. Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams sings the book. Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th September 2014 - Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Deputy Speaker Mitchel McLaughlin signs a book of condolence at in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, in memory of former DUP leader and First Minister Rev Ian Paisley. The funeral of Ian Paisley, the former Democratic Unionist Party leader and first minister of Northern Ireland, will take place this week. Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye PACEMAKER BELFAST 15/04/98 Rev Ian Paisley pictured on his weding day to wife Eileen Date unknown Rev Ian Paisley After Formation of Defence Corp. Paisley with copy of morning's Newsletter which announces that he had unveiled a new Defence Corp following a late night gathering of loyalists. Pacemaker Press Intl. 6th Feb. 1981.120/81/BW PACEMAKER ARCHIVE 1978 REF 174/78Rev Ian paisley protesting in Carrick at the fact that the BBC were filming Its a Knockout on a Sunday23/4/78 PACEMAKER BELFAST. Ian Paisley and Jim Molyneaux sign away their seats in Westminster during Loyalist Rally. 23/11/85.1224/85/bw PACEMAKER PRESS INTL. BELFAST. End of the Carson Trial Phase 11. Stormont Rally. Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson. 28/3/81.270/81/c Pacemaker Belfast ArchiveIan Paisley in the Pacemaker Studio.June 1991514-91-BWC Pacamaker Archive BelfastRev Ian Paisley Wedding Day28-02-1991168-91-BW Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th September 2014 - Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness signs a book of condolence at in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, in memory of former DUP leader and First Minister Rev Ian Paisley. The funeral of Ian Paisley, the former Democratic Unionist Party leader and first minister of Northern Ireland, will take place this week. Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye PACEMAKER BELFAST. THe third Force in Newtownards on Loyalist Day of Action. Third force men marched into Newtownards led by Ian Paisley. 23/11/81.1082/81/bw Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th September 2014 - Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. First Minister Peter Robinson signs a book of condolence at in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, in memory of former DUP leader and First Minister Rev Ian Paisley. The funeral of Ian Paisley, the former Democratic Unionist Party leader and first minister of Northern Ireland, will take place this week. Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye PACEMAKER BELFAST. The third Force in Newtownards on Loyalist Day of Action. Third force men marched into Newtownards led by Ian Paisley. 23/11/81.1082/81/bw PACEMAKER PRESS INTL. BELFAST. Ian Paisley and DUP sign Ulsters Declaration. 9/2/81.123/81/c Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th September 2014 - Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. SDLP leader Dr. Alasdair McDonnell signs a book of condolence at in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, in memory of former DUP leader and First Minister Rev Ian Paisley. The funeral of Ian Paisley, the former Democratic Unionist Party leader and first minister of Northern Ireland, will take place this week. Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Ian Paisley:Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), with wife Eileen. BELFAST TELEGRAPH Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th September 2014 - Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Jim Allister signs a book of condolence at in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, in memory of former DUP leader and First Minister Rev Ian Paisley. The funeral of Ian Paisley, the former Democratic Unionist Party leader and first minister of Northern Ireland, will take place this week. Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye PACEMAKER BELFAST JUNE 1987 JHIAN PAISLEY CANVASSING IN BALLYMONEY FOR FORTHCOMING GENERAL ELECTION.2/3/2010 Rev Ian Paisley has today announced that he will not stand at the next generay election after 40 years as an MP. His son Ian junior is expected to fight for the seat against the TUV leader Jim Allister.. Rev Ian Paisley and his Afgan Dog Jason pictured out for a walk along Cyprus Ave. Belfast prior to the assembly elections. Pacemaker Press Intl. 19/10/821047/82/BW IAN PAISLEY:DEMOCRAIIC UNIONIST PARTY (DUP) LEADER, WITH PARTY SENIORS, NIGEL DODDS, IRIS AND PETER ROBINSON. BELFAST TELEGRAPH Ian Paisley:Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), SPEAKS AT A PROTEST RALLY AT CARRICKFERGUS CASTLE. 10/9/1971. BELFAST TELEGRAPH MERLYN REES.Former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Labour MP, Baron Merlyn-Rees. Pictured with DUP leader Ian Paisley. Camera Press Ian Paisley:Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),during his victory rally through Larne. 9/7/1970 BELFAST TELEGRAPH Ian Paisley:Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),with fellow DUP MP's John McQuade ans Peter Robinson, wave to the crowd at Stormont gates. 23/11/1981 BELFAST TELEGRAPH Rev Ian Paisley: DUP Leader. June 1966.The Reverend Ian Paisley and his supporters, who held a protest march to the Assembly Hall, Belfast.. Belfast Telegraph Rev Ian Paisley, Party Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party grabs Ulster television interviewer Ivan Little during a TV interview at the North Antrim count at Ballymoney in the Northern Ireland election, November 27 2003. The Ulster Unionist and Democratic Unionist are running neck-and-neck in a tight Northern Ireland Assembly Election contest, an Exit poll has claimed today. See PA story ULSTER Elections. PA Photo: Michael Cooper. Michael Cooper DUP Protesters outside Belfast City Hall on arrival of Dublin Councillors to Belfast. Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson and Rev William McCrea with supporters. Also DUP protesters try to prevent Lord Mayor John Carson reaching Central Station to meet Dubliners. Pacemaker Press Intl. 3rd March 1981193/81/BW REVEREND IAN PAISLEY MP.Ian Paisley, out looking for votes for the European Elections, stops to look at this little Shetland Pony at the Ballyclare May Fair. 22/5/1984. Belfast Telegraph PACEMAKER PRESS INTL. BELFAST. Rev Ian Paisley announcing European Manefests at Party Headquarters. He is pictured with Peter Robinson. 23/5/79105/79/bw Ian Pailsey aged 8 Pictured in Crossgar on 17th March 1951 at the opening of the first Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster are L to R: Jack Gibson, George Hutton, Cecil Harvey, Rev Dr Ian Paisley, William Emerson, Rev George Stears (Minister Pro tem), James Morrison, George K Gibson, William Miscampbell and Hugh James Adams. Pacemaker Belfast ArchiveIan Paisley in the Pacemaker Studio.June 1991514-91-BWC Ian Paisley at an Ulster Says No rally in Ballymoney 1986 CIVIL RIGHTS PROTEST: PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACY. First protest march to Belfast city centre. A crowd of students pictured at a meeting with Ian Paisley (centre) near Belfast City Hall. 9/10/1968. Belfast Telegraph DEMOCRATIC UNIONIST PARTY (DUP)/DELEGATION AFTER MEETING WITH CHIEF CONSTABLE, FROM LEFT, REV. WILLIAM McCREA, REV. IVAN FOSTER, JIM McALLISTER, REV. IAN PAISLEY AND PETER ROBINSON. 1/2/1984 BELFAST TELEGRAPH Ian Paisley pictured with wife Eileen and family in 1989 Ian Paisley has died at the age of 88 Government of Northern Ireland. United Ulster Unionist Coalition. (March 1974) Ulster loyalist MPs met at Stormont to agree their policy. From left are Mr. Carson, Mr. Kilfedder, Mr. Dunlop, the Rev. Ian Paisley, Mr. west, the Rev. Robert Bradford, Mr. Craig, Mr. Ross, Mr. Molyneaux, Mr. McCusker. Capt. Orr was in London. Ian Paisley:Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),ENJOYS A JOKE WITH MAJOR RONALD BUNTING DURING A PRESS CONFERENCE AT ELECTION HEADQUARTERS IN BELFAST. ON THE LEFT IS COUNCILLOR WILLIAM SPENCE. 27/2/1969 BELFAST TELEGRAPH. Rev Ian Paisley ... family holds vigil for ailing patriarch Charles McQuillan Former First Minister Mr Paisley continues to be treated in intensive care for suspected heart failure 27/1/12 PACEMAKER BELFAST. The Rev. Ian Paisley waves to the almost three thousand strong congregation at the Special Farewell Service in his honour after 65 years of Ministry at the Martyrs Memorial Church, on the Ravenhill Road, Belfast. Picture CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER 27/1/12 PACEMAKER BELFAST. The Rev. Ian Paisley poses with his wife Baroness Paisley and their children and grandchildren before the Special Farewell Service in his honour after 65 years of Ministry at the Martyrs Memorial Church, on the Ravenhill Road, Belfast. Picture CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER 27/1/12 PACEMAKER BELFAST. The Rev. Ian Paisley has his waistcoat buttoned up by his wife Baroness Paisley before the Special Farewell Service in his honour after 65 years of Ministry at the Martyrs Memorial Church, on the Ravenhill Road, Belfast. Picture CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER 27/1/12 PACEMAKER BELFAST. The Rev. Ian Paisley hangs up his hat and coat as he arrives for the Special Farewell Service in his honour after 65 years of Ministry at the Martyrs Memorial Church, on the Ravenhill Road, Belfast. Picture CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER PACEMAKER BELFAST Ian Paisley, David Trimble at the bottom of the Garvaghy road after the 1995 parade was allowed to pass down the road.4/3/08 The DUP leader has announced that he will step down as First Minister and and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in May. PACEMAKER, BELFAST, 10/12/2004: A delighted Reverend Ian Paisley during the ceremony where he was created a Freeman of the Borough of Ballymena in the town tonight.PICTURE BY STEPHEN DAVISON Ian Paisley takes his seat in the House of Lords...Ian Paisley, the former Northern Ireland first minister, took his seat in the House of Lords today as Lord Bannside. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Monday July 05, 2010. Lord Bannside was one of 56 new peers announced on one day by Downing Street and today he was introduced to the upper chamber along with two Labour peers, Jeannie Drake and Maeve Sherlock. See PA story LORDS Paisley. Photo credit should read: PA Wire...A PA First Minister Dr Ian Paisley and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness after they rang the opening bell ay Nasdaq,Times Square ,New York John Harrison. PACEMAKER BELFAST 4/5/2007Rev Ian Paisley pictured at his Home in East Belfast. PACEMAKER BELFAST JUNE 1987 JHIAN PAISLEY CANVASSING IN BALLYMONEY FOR FORTHCOMING GENERAL ELECTION.604/87/BW/C Ian Paisley chats to his congregation after delivering his final sermon yesterday from the pulpit of Martyrsi Memorial on the Ravenhill Road for the last time PACEMAKER PAISLEY GREAT GRANDFATHERDr Ian Paisley MP Former Northern Ireland First Minister pictured with his first Great Grandchild Caleb Cassells (3 months). Caleb is the son of Ian Paisley's first Grandchild Lydia who is married to Stephen Cassells. He and his wife Baroness Paisley have 5 children and 10 Grandchildren.Photo John Harrison JOHN HARRISON 07850360778 STANDALONEHandout photo of First Minister for Northern Ireland Ian Paisley with his daughter Rhonda at the opening of her new art exhibition at the Emer Gallery, Antrim Road, Belfast.: Sunday May 4 2008. John Harrison DUP leader Ian Paisley pictured with his wife Eileen on his return from a short stay in hospital. He is now enjoying his summer break before returning to Political work in the Autumn. John Harrison. 20/5/2011 Pacemaker Belfast. Former First Minister Ian Paisley salutes members of the Royal Irish Rangers this evening as they were welcomed home by thousands in Ballymena town centre after their tour of Afghanistan. Picture Charles McQuillan/Pacemaker. Press Eye Ltd Northern Ireland - 7th February 2012 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye. Former First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the DUP Ian Paisley is admitted to hospital. 85-year-old Lord Bannside was admitted to the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald after taking ill on Sunday. Ian Paisley Jnr pictured leaving the Ulster Hospital in east Belfast. Ian Paisley and his wife Baroness Eileen Paisley chatting to Pat Kenny on the Late Late Show.KOBPIX NO FEE Handout photo of Senator Hilary Clinton with First Minister Northern Ireland Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at the Willard Hotel ,Washington DC. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday December 7, 2007. Photo credit should read: John Harrison/PA Wire John Harrison Pacemaker Press Belfast 07-02-2012: Ian Paisley Jr pictured leaving Dundonald hospital.The former first minister and DUP leader Ian Paisley has spent the night at his hospital bedside.Lord Bannside, who is 85, was taken ill on Sunday. He is being treated in the intensive care unit of the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.Picture By: Pacemaker. eader of the DUP , Rev Dr Ian Paisley as he goes on the campaign trail through the streets of Belfast City. Picture Mark Pearce/Pacemaker 2/3/2010 Mark Pearce Lord and Lady Paisley celebrate at their east Belfast home 27/1/12 PACEMAKER BELFAST. The Rev. Ian Paisley poses with his wife Baroness Paisley and their children and grandchildren before the Special Farewell Service in his honour after 65 years of Ministry at the Martyrs Memorial Church, on the Ravenhill Road, Belfast. Picture CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER 27/1/12 PACEMAKER BELFAST. A reserved seat indeed for the Rev. Ian Paisley among the almost three thousand strong congregation at the Special Farewell Service in his honour after 65 years of Ministry at the Martyrs Memorial Church, on the Ravenhill Road, Belfast. Picture CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER 27/1/12 PACEMAKER BELFAST. The Rev. Ian Paisley waves to the almost three thousand strong congregation at the Special Farewell Service in his honour after 65 years of Ministry at the Martyrs Memorial Church, on the Ravenhill Road, Belfast. Picture CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER Ian Paisley D1.jpg PACEMAKER BELFAST 15/04/98 IAN PAISLEY AS A 12 YEAR OLD BOY A young Ian Paisley aged just eight years old. Ian Paisley Outgoing Free Presbyterian Moderator Rev Ian Paisley and the Rev Ron Johnston incoming Moderator. Paul McCambridge Ian Paisley (right), the former Northern Ireland first minister, with his son Ian Paisley Jnr (left) after his father took his seat in the House of Lords today as Lord Bannside. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Monday July 05, 2010. Lord Bannside was one of 56 new peers announced on one day by Downing Street and today he was introduced to the upper chamber along with two Labour peers, Jeannie Drake and Maeve Sherlock. See PA story LORDS Paisley. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire Stefan Rousseau (from video) of UUP leader David Trimble and DUP leader Ian Paisley walk hand in hand in the centre of Portadown celebrating the fact that Orangemen were allowed to walk the Nationalist Garvaghy Road. KELVIN BOYES PHOTOGRAPHY/Alec Richardson PACEMAKER BELFAST. Ulsters Day of action-Belfast City Hall. Huge Crowds took the advide of Ian Paisley and other Unionists to take the afternoon off work and show their feelings to the Government that they were against any Dublin relationships developing, fearing that any concessions would only lead to a United Ireland. 23/11/81.4/3/08 The DUP leader has announced that he will step down as First Minister and and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in May. Democratic Unionist Party leader The Reverend Ian Paisley (left) and Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams speak to the media during a press conference at the Stormont Assembly building in Belfast. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Monday March 26, 2007. Rev Paisley and Mr Adams are to hold their first-ever face-to-face talks in a last-ditch bid to rescue devolution in Northern Ireland. Paul Faith THIS could be the biggest political development of 2004 as Gerry Adams, complete with pint of Guinness, comes face-to-face with Ian Paisley. Or could it be a new united unionist front with Dr Paisley finally making peace with David Trimble in a show of solidarity that also includes Bob McCartney, Peter Robinson and David Ervine? Not in the real world of course - but definitely inside the head of impressionist Sean Crummy who is set to bring his hilarious Folks on the Hill radio show to television. Belfast Telegraph. Page One. Final 2/3/2010Ian Paisley pdfadmin Belfast Telegraph. Page One. 30/11/1968. "8,000 Marchers halted near Paisley crowd" Pacemaker Belfast. 12/7/08. The Rev Ian Paisley with the white horse of 'King Billy' in the field at the independents Orange parade in Portglenone this afternoon. Picture Charles McQuillan/Pacemaker Charles McQuillan Ian Paisley leader of the Democratic Unionist Party,with wife Eileen, relaxes at home with a cup of tea, after his anti agreement party, out polled ,David Trimbles Ulster Unionist Party,Friday 28th November 2003,in the Nortern Ireland Assembley electionsl.PA:Paul Faith Paul Faith 27/1/12 PACEMAKER BELFAST. The Rev. Ian Paisley poses with fellow clergy before the Special Farewell Service in his honour after 65 years of Ministry at the Martyrs Memorial Church, on the Ravenhill Road, Belfast. Picture CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER PACEMAKER PRESS INTL. BELFAST. End of the Carson Trial Phase 11. Ian Paisley at Stormont Rally. 283/81.270/81/c PACEMAKER BELFAST ARCHIVE 9124 MARCH 1991REV IAN PAISLEY PREACHING TO 12000 STRONG CONGREGATION ON 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF FREE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH14/11/2011 The Rev Ian Paisley has announced his retirement from preaching after 60 years. Mr Paisley who is 85 started way back in 1946 Ian Paisley:DUP Leader. Wearing that beret. 30/4/2010. PACEMAKER BELFAST. WHILST THE ELECTION RACE RAGES ON THE FORMER MP AND FIRST MINISTER IAN PAISLEY STOOD AT CITY HALL BELFAST THIS AFTERNOON IN, A FAMILIAR SPOT WHERE HE HAS STOOD MANY TIMES BEFORE WITH A BIBLE IN HIS HAND AS HE PREACHED AND SANG WITH HIS GOSPEL GROUP. PICTURE CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER. 30/4/2010. PACEMAKER BELFAST. WHILST THE ELECTION RACE RAGES ON THE FORMER MP AND FIRST MINISTER IAN PAISLEY STOOD AT CITY HALL BELFAST THIS AFTERNOON IN, A FAMILIAR SPOT WHERE HE HAS STOOD MANY TIMES BEFORE BUT TODAY WITH A BIBLE IN HIS HAND AS HE PREACHED AND SANG WITH HIS GOSPEL GROUP. PICTURE CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER.14/11/2011 The Rev Ian Paisley has announced his retirement from preaching after 60 years. Mr Paisley who is 85 started way back in 1946 PACEMAKER BELFAST November 1985Ian Paisley and Jim Molyneaux address the 250,000 crowd at the Anti Anglo Irish rally in Belfast in 1985 where he made in infamous Never Never Never speach... Old school pics -Ian Paisley Ian Paisley bowed out of Stormont with a rousing speech Former DUP leader Ian Paisley Lord Bannside: Ian Paisley PA Ian Paisley pictured on his weding day to wife Eileen Former Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley holding his first great grandchild Caleb Cassells Ian Paisley DUP electioneering for Europe in Portadown. 11/6/84 Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness were branded the 'chuckle brothers' 15/08/1971 of The Reverend Ian Paisley during a press conference in Stormont, Northern Ireland. PA November 1985 - Ian Paisley and Jim Molyneaux address the 250,000 crowd at the Anti Anglo Irish rally in Belfast The Reverend Ian Paisley speaking at a ceremony held at Stormont to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the death of Edward Carson. October 1985 Belfast Telegraph A crowd of students pictured at a meeting with Ian Paisley (centre) near Belfast City Hall. 9/10/1968. Belfast Telegraph Ian Paisley addresses a 12,000 strong crowd at the 40th anniversary of the Free Presbyterian church in the Kings Hall. 1999 Test Pix Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson being arrested in Armagh.1980 BELFAST TELEGRAPH 95. Newly appointed First Minister Dr Ian Paisley, left, presents a 300 year-old musket to Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern at the Battle of the Boyne site, Drogheda, Ireland, Friday, May, 11, 2007. The pair visited the site of the famous Battle of the Boyne 1690 between the Protestant King William of Orange and the Catholic King James's army. Ian Paisley The Queen greeted by First Minister Ian Paisley in east Belfast First protest march to Belfast city centre. A crowd of students pictured at a meeting with Ian Paisley near Belfast City Hall. Pictured is Ciaran McKeown(with beard). 9/10/1968. First protest march to Belfast city centre. A crowd pictured at a meeting with Ian Paisley at Shaftesbury Square, Belfast. 9/10/1968. Ian Paisley confronts an RUC officer when refused access to Duke Street where the Civil Rights parade went on. 10/10/1988 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness after being sworn in as ministers of the Northern Ireland Assembley, Stormont. Baroness Paisley adds that it was within a month of her husband leaving Martyrs Memorial that church officials had sent the couple a letter asking them to move out. On that time, she reflects: "The last time I said I didn't want to hear anything more from them." Family is clearly still extremely important to the mother-of-five as she reveals that if any of her children or grandchildren were gay, she'd accept it. Her husband once fought a 'Save Ulster from Sodomy' campaign against homosexuality in the 1970s. "If that happened (someone was to come out as gay), they are still my children and I couldn't stop loving them because of what they had done," she says. "I wouldn't stop loving them. "People used to ask me: 'What would you do if one of your children married a Catholic?' "I said I would still love them and I would love their partner as well. "Life is bigger than that and love is bigger than that." The programme airs tomorrow at 10.45pm on UTV. The Northern Ireland Fire Service are at the scene. (stock picture) Emergency services are at the scene of a fire at a newly opened barber shop in Antrim. Police have closed Church Street in the town while the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service deals with the fire. It is understood fire crews were called to the scene at around 7.40pm. Three appliances are at the scene. Diversions are in place at High Street and Fountain Street, with police asking motorists to avoid the area. Antrim councillor Paul Dunlop told the Belfast Telegraph: "There is a new Turkish barbers that has opened today and there was smoke that was spotted coming from the building. The police and fire service are still there. "The fire is out and they are investigating. Nobody is hurt and I understand the damage is minimal, mainly smoke damage." Cllr Dunlop said Church Street was still closed at around 8.30pm. Shocking atrocity: police and firemen at the scene of the Omagh bomb An FBI spy who infiltrated dissident republican ranks warned that Omagh had been identified as a potential target weeks before the town was bombed, the High Court has heard. Lawyers for the father of a young man killed in the Real IRA atrocity claimed emails sent by David Rupert provided an opportunity to carry out surveillance on "people of interest". Michael Gallagher is challenging the British Government's refusal to hold a public inquiry into the August 1998 attack. His son Aiden was among 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, who died in the massacre. The case centres on claims that a range of intelligence from British security agents, MI5 and RUC officers could have been drawn together to prevent the bombing. As the hearing got underway Hugh Southey QC, for Mr Gallagher, referred to emails from Mr Rupert, a US trucking boss-turned FBI spy said to have infiltrated the Real IRA and Continuity IRA during his time in Ireland. Correspondence sent weeks before the strike on Omagh names a man who allegedly suggested reduced warning times for bombs to increase the risk, as well as the need for "more bangers" and to have "a few more British going home in boxes". The court heard Omagh was identified as a potential target by both Mr Rupert and in an anonymous call to police on August 4 - 11 days before the attack. Mr Southey stressed those strands must be viewed together rather than analysed in isolation. "One needs to look at whether or not this material demonstrated real and immediate risk, and whether the actions taken were reasonable," he said. "The problem is, on the open evidence, nobody links (the) Rupert (emails) to the anonymous call. "Had they done that one would at the very least have reached the conclusion there was an increased desire on the part of dissident republicans to carry out fatal attacks, and Omagh was being mentioned, not just once but twice, as a potential target." Mr Gallagher launched his legal action after former Northern Ireland Secretary of State Theresa Villiers rejected calls for a public investigation back in September 2013. She decided instead that a probe by Police Ombudsman Michael Maguire was the best way to address any outstanding issues surrounding the outrage. In October 2014 Dr Maguire published a report where he found RUC Special Branch withheld some intelligence information from detectives hunting the bombers. No one has ever been convicted of carrying out the attack. The challenge had been delayed due to issues over holding partially closed hearings to protect national security. Mr Southey advanced the case on behalf of Mr Gallagher before proceedings continue in private session. "Whatever one makes of the Rupert material on its own, if one links it with other material suggesting dissidents were generally well equipped and material suggesting Omagh might be a target, one might have expected greater action to be taken," the barrister submitted. "The basic point I'm making is Rupert, on the face of it, identified both reason to carry out surveillance operations and an opportunity to carry out surveillance operations by identifying people of interest. "However, if these surveillance operations were to be of maximum impact one needed full information." The hearing, which is listed for five days, continues. Nobody in the EU is considering offering legally binding assurances to help Theresa May get her Brexit deal through Parliament, a senior Brussels official has said. Speaking after talks with MPs on the House of Commons Brexit Committee, European Commission secretary general Martin Selmayr said the 90-minute meeting had confirmed the EU was right to begin preparations for a no-deal outcome. The comments from commission president Jean-Claude Junckers right-hand man heap further pressure on the Prime Minister as she prepares to go to Brussels to seek a renegotiation of the UKs Withdrawal Agreement. Mrs May will visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday for a speech in which she is expected to confirm her Governments absolute commitment to avoiding a hard border with the Republic after Brexit. Rebel MPs from both sides of the Conservative Partys Leave/Remain divide were meeting in Whitehall to develop ideas for alternative arrangements to replace the controversial backstop to keep the Irish border open. Downing Street has indicated potential solutions could revolve around a time limit or unilateral break clause on the backstop or new technologies to make it unnecessary. But Mrs Mays official spokesman declined to say whether Home Secretary Sajid Javid was right to suggest that the UK Border Force had identified existing technologies to do the job. There was little sign of appetite from the EU side to rewrite the agreement reached by Mrs May and Mr Juncker in November but rejected by a 230-vote margin in the Commons last month. Deputy Brexit negotiator Sabine Weyand said that technology would not be able to solve the border issue in the next few years. On the EU side, nobody is considering this. Asked whether any assurance would help to get the Withdrawal Agreement through the Commons, the answers of MPs were ... inconclusive .... The meeting confirmed that the EU did well to start its no deal preparations in December 2017. Martin Selmayr (@MartinSelmayr) February 4, 2019 And in response to reports that he had told the Brexit Committee that the EU would be ready to consider legally binding assurances, Mr Selmayr tweeted: On the EU side, nobody is considering this. Asked whether any assurance would help to get the Withdrawal Agreement through the Commons, the answers of MPs were inconclusive. The meeting confirmed that the EU did well to start its no deal preparations in December 2017. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was ready to listen to proposals to solve the border riddle, but needs to hear from Britain how it thinks it can be done. Speaking during a trip to Japan, Mrs Merkel said: To solve this riddle, you have to be creative and you have to listen to one another. We can have those conversations, so we can use the remaining time to perhaps remove the obstacles that have so far stood in the way and find an agreement if everyone is willing. But we must hear from Great Britain how they want to do it. Mrs Merkels visit for talks with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe came soon after a new EU-Japan trade deal came into force and a day after Nissan confirmed it was ditching plans to build its X-Trail SUV in Sunderland. Expand Close Angela Merkel and Shinzo Abe met in Tokyo (Toshifumi Kitamura/Pool Photo via AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Angela Merkel and Shinzo Abe met in Tokyo (Toshifumi Kitamura/Pool Photo via AP) The company said the decision was largely driven by changing demand for diesel models but added that uncertainty around the UKs future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future. The chairman of the Brexit Committee, Hilary Benn, voiced scepticism about the prospects for a technological solution to the border issue, telling reporters: Personally, I dont see how it can work particularly in the very short amount of time that there is left. Speaking after the committees meeting with Mr Selmayr, Mr Benn said the UK Government and EU had already put a great deal of effort into exploring a technological solution, only to conclude that: Its not going to work. Meanwhile, Downing Street poured cold water on speculation over an early election, saying that Mrs May was absolutely not considering a vote on June 6. The comments came as Justice Secretary David Gauke became the latest Cabinet minister to suggest that Brexit might have to be delayed beyond the scheduled date of March 29, telling the BBC that the key was achieving a smooth and orderly departure. Hardline Eurosceptics in the European Research Group (ERG) and Remain-supporting former ministers were gathering in the Cabinet Office for the first meeting of the new Alternative Arrangements Working Group (AAWG). ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker, former Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson and Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh will sit around a table with former education secretary Nicky Morgan and ex-Cabinet Office minister Damian Green to examine the feasibility of the so-called Malthouse Compromise. Expand Close (L-R) Brexiteers Owen Paterson and Steve baker will sit down with former remain backer Nicky Morgan to help find viable changes to the Irish backstop (Dominic Lipinski, Victoria Jones, Stefan Rousseau/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (L-R) Brexiteers Owen Paterson and Steve baker will sit down with former remain backer Nicky Morgan to help find viable changes to the Irish backstop (Dominic Lipinski, Victoria Jones, Stefan Rousseau/PA) Downing Street confirmed that they will gather under the chairmanship of Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay on each of the first three days of this week and did not rule out further meetings beyond that date. The group is due to draw up alternative proposals as soon as possible under the framework of the Malthouse Compromise, which could see the transition period after the official date of Brexit extended by a further year to the end of 2021. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer moved to clarify Labours position on the backstop, after Jeremy Corbyn suggested last week he would have a problem with a one-sided arrangement. Speaking in Northern Ireland, Sir Keir told the Press Association: We recognise there is a need for a backstop at this stage of the exercise. The Prime Minister has effectively run down the clock and therefore it is impossible to see a way forward without a backstop. So, whilst we have got concerns that we have set out about the backstop, we do accept the principle that there has got to be a backstop. The Asda store in Antrim following robbery Detectives are investigating a possible link between two bank machine thefts involving diggers within 48 hours of each other. In the early hours of Friday a digger was used to steal two cash machines at an Asda supermarket in Antrim. Police said they believe the cash boxes were taken away in a white pick-up truck and a dark four-door saloon car. The pick-up was stolen from Ballyeaston Village in Ballyclare in the hours before the incident and was later found burnt out nearby. Then, shortly after 3am on Saturday, a digger was used to remove an ATM from a Spar filling station on the Glenavy Road near Moira, Co Down. Police said the excavator was taken from a nearby location and set on fire following the theft. "The roof of the garage was also set alight, as colleagues from Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene and extinguished the fire," the PSNI said. "Both the digger and the roof of the garage were extensively damaged." "Enquiries are continuing and we are investigating a possible link between this incident and an ATM theft from the Ballymena Road, Antrim, on Friday." Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts said if ATM thefts like these continue, stores could remove them. "With three ATM robberies in a matter of days, these attacks are now a major problem for local retailers," he said. "Retail NI will be seeking an urgent meeting with PSNI senior officers to press for a task force to be established to tackle these criminal gangs." Alternatives to the border backstop represent wishful thinking, the Irish Government said. Deputy premier Simon Coveney said many hours were involved in coming up with a legally credible and pragmatic solution. He asserted the draft backstop text rejected by MPs already allows the EU and UK to work on alternative arrangements. Mr Coveney said: The Irish protocol in the Withdrawal Agreement already allows for alternative arrangements or alternative solutions to the backstop and if theyre there they can replace the backstop. The problem is that none of those ideas around alternative arrangements stand up to scrutiny, we have certainly not seen any that have. Expand Close Simon Coveney said the draft Irish border backstop text rejected by MPs already allows the EU and UK to work on alternative arrangements (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Simon Coveney said the draft Irish border backstop text rejected by MPs already allows the EU and UK to work on alternative arrangements (Brian Lawless/PA) Mr Coveney attended meetings in Brussels on Monday. He added: What Ireland is being asked to do by some in Westminster is to essentially do away with an agreed solution between the UK Government and EU negotiators and to replace it with wishful thinking and I think thats a very unreasonable request to ask the Irish Government to be flexible on. So if there are alternative arrangements that can work the current protocol, if people take the time to read it, takes account of that and it says very clearly that the backstop can be replaced by alternative arrangements as long as they work. We have a pragmatic solution that we know will work, it was agreed with the British Government and we expect them to follow through on that commitmentSimon Coveney The Irish Government has strongly supported the concept of a backstop in the face of criticism from Northern Irish unionists and Tories at Westminster. Unionists fear it could undermine the constitutional integrity of the UK by creating a distinct customs regime for Northern Ireland. Nationalists argue that a hard Brexit without a backstop could endanger peace process gains and would create trade chaos in Ireland. Mr Coveney added: We have a pragmatic solution that we know will work, it was agreed with the British Government and we expect them to follow through on that commitment. Children were left screaming and in tears as men hurled metal objects at each other during an altercation between two groups of passengers at Belfast International Airport. The fight was captured on footage that has since gone viral on social media, and showed a group of male passengers - at least two armed with metal poles - engaging in a brawl in the departures lounge on Saturday at around 6pm. One eyewitness, who was waiting for a flight to London Stansted, was in the airport's Lagan Bar with his wife when the fight unfolded between a number of men, who were part of two larger separate groups. "We were just waiting for our flight and I was having a beer with my wife when they started screaming," he told the Belfast Telegraph yesterday. Footage shows two men armed with metal poles charging at another man, swinging the items wildly. A fire extinguisher, rubbish bins and metal shopping baskets were also thrown as the brawl moved close to the airport's duty free shop. The eyewitness, who did not wish to be identified, said fellow passengers fled the scene, fearing for their safety. "Everyone was running away because they started throwing things over each other," he explained. Expand Close Two men square up to each other and fight at Belfast International Airport / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Two men square up to each other and fight at Belfast International Airport He said that a fellow female passenger attempted to "talk to calm them down", but her pleas were ignored. According to the passenger, the violence continued for "30 minutes" until airport police arrived to break up the melee. "It was a shame to see those scenes and there were many children going on a trip and they started to cry and scream," the man added. "The children were about 10 years old and over." Criticising the length of time it took airport officials to respond to the incident, the man said that he later observed members of one of the two groups on the same flight as himself. "I think one group was flying for Manchester and other one for Stansted," he added. "And the police let them all free, because some of them were on the same flight with us." He added: "I was so disappointed seeing that scene at Belfast International Airport and the police coming nearly 30 minutes later." Expand Close Another of the shocking images seen by tens of thousands on the internet / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Another of the shocking images seen by tens of thousands on the internet One video of the trouble posted online was viewed nearly 480,000 times in less than 24 hours, sparking comments from social media users, including other people claiming to be eyewitnesses, that airport officials did not respond quickly enough. However, Belfast International Airport last night defended its actions, stressing that police officers were at the scene within minutes. "The incident involving two groups of passengers on Saturday evening was unsettling for both passengers and staff alike," the airport said. "The incident, in its entirety, lasted seven minutes, with police arriving on scene within three minutes. The rapid intervention of police was not captured in the videos posted on social media." Commending airport police, PSNI and staff for their "professionalism in dealing with this incident in such a swift manner", it said that a police investigation into the incident was "continuing". Yesterday the PSNI confirmed that the incident was being investigated, adding that the "matter is being dealt with by airport police". An 87-year-old man was a victim of abuse at a care home in England owned by Runwood Homes, it can be revealed. The scandal-hit firm is currently at the centre of a police probe into allegations of abuse and neglect at Dunmurry Manor on the outskirts of Belfast. It has emerged that an investigation by Luton Borough Council found a pensioner who received respite care at Mulberry Court Residential Home had suffered abuse and neglect. The council had arranged for Kenneth Savage, who had Parkinson's, kidney failure and COPD, to stay at the home last February while his wife Jessie had hip surgery. While visiting him, Mrs Savage found bruises on her late husband's face and arms and a wound that was not properly dressed. She said: "I looked after him for seven years and he never had a mark on him like that." In a further alarming development, the health regulator in England has published a damning inspection report on another Runwood Homes facility. The Care Quality Commission (CQC), the equivalent to the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) in Northern Ireland, has branded conditions at St Michael's Court in Norfolk as "inadequate" and unsafe. The report raised concerns about medication, hydration of residents, breaches of dignity, staffing levels and infection control practices. The regulator's report, from an inspection of the home in December, said: "People were not adequately safeguarded from the risk of abuse and staff did not have thorough knowledge of safeguarding procedures. "The provider had not ensured that safeguarding incidents had been investigated or reported to the appropriate authorities. "Risks were not adequately recognised, assessed and mitigated. "This included risks associated with the development of pressure ulcers and people's health such as choking or drinking enough, or their health conditions. "People's environment was not always kept safe as they did not always have safe equipment to use." The report continued: "Staff did not feel supported and concerns they had raised about the quality and safety of care provided had not been taken seriously. "There was poor leadership in place and not everybody was fully aware of their responsibilities." The CQC inspectors also discovered some residents had been injured by other residents but no action had been taken. Faeces were found smeared on a commode, dirty laundry was found in a drawer with clean clothes, while staff said they had to provide personal care without gloves or aprons as they had run out. Another employee told inspectors: "The lack of food is insane, we've gone through numerous chefs, there was never enough food. "People got fed, but it was whatever we had to make it go around; we reported it, nothing happened. "Apparently, this is because of budget. There was no fish available one Friday a couple of weeks ago. "Now (the management team) have said they want to do this once a fortnight instead of every Friday. "People love fish and chips, but they said this is because of the budget." The assessments of two Runwood Homes facilities in England are the latest damning indictment of the company's ability to provide safe care. It comes as health authorities here come under increasing pressure to explain why they have allowed Runwood Homes to reopen Ashbrooke Care Home in Enniskillen, less than 18 months after it was closed because conditions there were so unsafe. Members of the alternative arrangements working group after talks on Brexit in Whitehall (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Brussels has stepped up its opposition to attempts to reopen Theresa Mays Brexit deal as senior Tories began talks on alternatives to the Irish backstop. The European Unions chief negotiator Michel Barnier said the backstop was the only operational solution to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. And senior Brussels official Martin Selmayr insisted there were no plans to offer legally binding assurances to help Mrs May get her deal through Parliament. Dialogue @EU27 continues #Brexit. Today in The Hague with @MinPres Mark Rutte: full agreement that Withdrawal Agreement cannot be reopened. Backstop = only operational solution to address Irish border issue today. EU ready to work on alternative solutions during transition. pic.twitter.com/YsCNI10K71 Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) February 4, 2019 The EUs refusal to give ground came as senior Tories from both wings of the party met in Whitehall for talks aimed at finding a solution to the Irish border issue following last weeks Commons vote calling for alternative arrangements to replace the backstop. In another headache for the Prime Minister, former first minister of Northern Ireland Lord Trimble threatened to take the Government to court over the backstop, arguing it breaches the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. The alternative arrangements working group, made up of senior Leave and Remain-leaning Tories, held its first talks in Whitehall with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay. After more than two hours of discussions, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, a leading Brexiteer, said all sides of this debate were coming together to find a solution, while ex-education secretary Nicky Morgan said the talks were very constructive. Expand Close Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa Villiers arrive at the Cabinet Office in Westminster (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa Villiers arrive at the Cabinet Office in Westminster (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Meanwhile the cross-party House of Commons Brexit Committee was in Brussels for talks with senior figures including Mr Selmayr, the European Commission general secretary viewed as Jean-Claude Junckers right-hand man. In response to reports that he had told the Brexit Committee that the EU would be ready to consider legally binding assurances, Mr Selmayr tweeted: On the EU side, nobody is considering this. Asked whether any assurance would help to get the Withdrawal Agreement through the Commons, the answers of MPs were inconclusive. The meeting confirmed that the EU did well to start its no deal preparations in December 2017. Mr Barnier held talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and said there was full agreement that (the) Withdrawal Agreement cannot be reopened. He said the EU was ready to work on alternative solutions during transition, restating Brussels position that the backstop had to remain in place unless and until a replacement could be agreed. Just spoke with @MichelBarnier about #Brexit. The Withdrawal Agreement remains the only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. We continue to urge the UK Government to clarify its intentions with respect to its next steps. pic.twitter.com/wbGHSz8wUY Mark Rutte (@MinPres) February 4, 2019 Mr Rutte said: The Withdrawal Agreement remains the only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. We continue to urge the UK Government to clarify its intentions with respect to its next steps. Mrs May will visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday for a speech in which she is expected to confirm her Governments absolute commitment to avoiding a hard border with the Republic after Brexit. Downing Street has indicated potential solutions could revolve around a time limit or unilateral break clause on the backstop or new technologies to make it unnecessary. But Mrs Mays official spokesman declined to say whether Home Secretary Sajid Javid was right to suggest that the UK Border Force had identified existing technologies to do the job. On the EU side, nobody is considering this. Asked whether any assurance would help to get the Withdrawal Agreement through the Commons, the answers of MPs were ... inconclusive .... The meeting confirmed that the EU did well to start its no deal preparations in December 2017. Martin Selmayr (@MartinSelmayr) February 4, 2019 German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was ready to listen to proposals to solve the border riddle, but needs to hear from Britain how it thinks it can be done. Speaking during a trip to Japan, Mrs Merkel said: To solve this riddle, you have to be creative and you have to listen to one another. We can have those conversations, so we can use the remaining time to perhaps remove the obstacles that have so far stood in the way and find an agreement if everyone is willing. But we must hear from Great Britain how they want to do it. Mrs Merkels visit for talks with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe came soon after a new EU-Japan trade deal came into force and a day after Nissan confirmed it was ditching plans to build its X-Trail SUV in Sunderland. Expand Close Angela Merkel and Shinzo Abe met in Tokyo (Toshifumi Kitamura/Pool Photo via AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Angela Merkel and Shinzo Abe met in Tokyo (Toshifumi Kitamura/Pool Photo via AP) The company said the decision was largely driven by changing demand for diesel models but added that uncertainty around the UKs future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future. The chairman of the Brexit Committee, Hilary Benn, voiced scepticism about the prospects for a technological solution to the border issue, telling reporters: Personally, I dont see how it can work particularly in the very short amount of time that there is left. Speaking after the committees meeting with Mr Selmayr, Mr Benn said the UK Government and EU had already put a great deal of effort into exploring a technological solution, only to conclude that: Its not going to work. Meanwhile, Downing Street poured cold water on speculation over an early election, saying that Mrs May was absolutely not considering a vote on June 6. The comments came as Justice Secretary David Gauke became the latest Cabinet minister to suggest that Brexit might have to be delayed beyond the scheduled date of March 29, telling the BBC that the key was achieving a smooth and orderly departure. Former Northern Ireland first minister Lord Trimble is threatening to take the Government to court over the controversial Brexit backstop. Lord Trimble said that he and others are planning to initiate judicial review proceedings over an alleged breach of the Good Friday Agreement. The former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party - currently sitting in the House of Lords as a Conservative peer - said the proceedings would demand the removal of the protocol on Northern Ireland from Prime Minister Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement. Read More He said that the backstop should be replaced by alternative arrangements set out in a report entitled A Better Deal and A Better Future authored by Eurosceptic Conservative MP Steve Baker and published by the Global Britain group. A spokesman for Lord Trimble was unable immediately to provide an explanation for the claim that the protocol breaches the Good Friday Agreement. The former UUP leader was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in the negotiations leading to the 1998 Agreement which provided the framework for a return to peace in Northern Ireland following the Troubles. EU negotiators have argued that, until a broader trade deal is in place, the backstop is essential to safeguard the Good Friday Agreement by preventing the creation of a hard border on the island of Ireland. Read More Meanwhile, the DUP has revealed leader Arlene Foster will hold talks with Theresa May in Belfast on Wednesday. Mrs Foster said she would tell the PM that the proposed backstop "drives a coach and horses through the Belfast Agreement's principle of consent" and would effectively create a new border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. "Parliament has spoken," said Mrs Foster. "A majority has rejected the current backstop. The European Union must now accept the need for the withdrawal agreement to be reopened. The toxic backstop must be dealt with." Mrs Foster said that the DUP wants "an orderly exit from the European Union which works for London, Dublin, Belfast and Brussels". "It is possible but requires political will," she said. "This is not a time for intransigence. It is time to respect unionists and nationalists alike in Northern Ireland and deliver a deal which is sensible and practical." Mrs Foster said she was "encouraged" by comments from EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and Irish deputy prime minister Simon Coveney suggesting that they believe "a hard border can be avoided in any circumstance". "It is important that the scaremongering about barbed wire and checkpoints is exposed as nonsense," she said. "Border communities should not have genuine fears exploited with such tall tales." Police are investigating a possible link between a Traveller funeral in Co Londonderry and the fight at Belfast International Airport over the weekend. Airport bosses, meanwhile, hit out at the "inaccurate and misleading" commentary around the incident in the departures lounge on Saturday night. Read More Two loaded shotguns, ammunition, knives, blades and a liquid believed to be acid were all seized by police from the cemetery at St Mary's Church in Park on Saturday morning. The discovery was part of a pre-planned police search prior to the arrival of around 200 members of the Travelling community. A subsequent brawl was prevented from becoming a "bloodbath" by the heavy police presence in the area, one Sinn Fein councillor said. Police are investigating a link between that incident and the fight at the international airport. Children were left in tears as men hurled metal objects at each other during an altercation between two groups of passengers. Footage of the incident has been viewed thousands of times on social media. One eye witness said the fight escalated between two men after a drink was poured over one of the men in the bar. She said the incident felt like it went on for much longer than the airport's claim of seven minutes and she was shocked to see some of those involved later board their flights. The airport will not tolerate behaviour such as this and takes such incidents very seriously The airport said four individuals were prevented from flying and the rest of the two groups allowed to carry on their journey as there was not alcohol involved and no others involved in the altercation could be identified. No one was injured in the incident. It also issued a timeline of events "for the sake of clarity and accuracy". 18:01 Disturbance commenced 18:02 Airport control alerted 18:03 Airport police tasked to disturbance 18:06 Airport police in attendance 18:07 End of disturbance "The incident, in its entirety, lasted seven minutes," said an airport spokeswoman. "There is an ongoing police investigation into what happened and we would appeal to anyone who captured photographic or video evidence to send to duty.sergeant@bfs.aero. "The airport will not tolerate behaviour such as this and takes such incidents very seriously. It acknowledges the concern and upset felt by passengers who witnessed the altercation. "No-one was injured and four individuals did not travel. There was insufficient grounds to prevent the remainder of the group from travelling and alcohol was not an issue." Expand Close Another of the shocking images seen by tens of thousands on the internet / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Another of the shocking images seen by tens of thousands on the internet Speaking on BBC's Stephen Nolan show former RUC Special Branch chief Jim Gamble raised concerns about security at the airport. He said there needed to be an independent investigation into the incident saying passengers needed to be reassured of their safety when travelling. Pointing to the recent problems at the airport's security checks and his experience regularly travelling through the terminal, he said security - in his opinion - was being run on a "shoe-string". The airport, however stressed passengers checks and the security operation of the entire airport were two separate areas. "It is disappointing that an ex-senior police officer made ill-informed comments on the management and policing of the airport," an airport spokeswoman added. "Senior management have reached out to the individual involved him to appraise him of the facts. Expand Close fight / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp fight The Dutch foreign minister has said another outcome to the Withdrawal Agreement is not realistic during a visit to the Irish border. Stef Blok travelled to Co Louth on Monday to learn more about the implications of a crash Brexit on border communities and said hearing first hand the effects of the Troubles was very different from reading about it. The backstop is not there because the European Union asked for it, but because the UK has drawn a number of red lines, Mr Blok said. It is the result of more than two years of negotiations, so after two-and-a-half years of negotiations, its not very realistic to expect that there will be a completely different outcome. At the border with Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs @ministerBlok - Thanks to the Netherlands for their continued support in the #Brexit process. pic.twitter.com/7H8F0VrMxB Helen McEntee TD (@HMcEntee) February 4, 2019 The EU has shown unity throughout negotiations and there is no reason to change that unity, we are willing to listen to any proposals made by the UK, but until now there havent been any specific proposals. This is a border that is not really a border, its like something you would see between two municipalities. I have heard from people who have lived here all their life, there was violence, their lives were influenced by the situation here and they dont want to return to it. Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to travel to Brussels in the coming days, following last weeks vote in the House of Commons which urged her to negotiate an alternative to the backstop. Mrs May has said she will travel armed with a fresh mandate to agree a pragmatic solution for Brexit. Irish minister of state for European affairs Helen McEntee and representatives from InterTradeIreland and Co-operation Ireland joined Mr Blok on the visit. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Weve always said that we will take on board any proposal, but weve spent two years looking at every possibility and what we have come up with is the backstop, Ms McEntee said. Were almost two weeks on from the vote, and we are yet to see any proposals that we believe would work. To ask Ireland to compromise now from what we see as an integral part is like asking us to compromise on the Good Friday Agreement, to compromise on the peace we have collectively achieved. This is not about scaremongering, this is about protecting peace which has taken 20 years to develop which is still very fragile. Tanaiste Simon Coveney will host a bilateral dinner for Mr Blok on Monday evening to discuss Brexit and other global issues. Mrs May is also expected to visit Belfast on Tuesday. Many parents fear pupils in border communities could face disrupted journeys in the event of a hard border Parents have warned that thousands of pupils in Irish border communities could face disrupted journeys to school if a hard border is implemented post-Brexit. While many students attend schools on the opposite side of the border through schemes approved by authorities, countless others are believed to use a practice commonly referred to as "grannying" to attend school in Northern Ireland. While the UK and Irish governments have maintained that the free movement of people between the two jurisdictions will not be affected, queues of traffic affecting thousands of people are anticipated if customs checks are reintroduced after March 29. Under a reciprocal agreement between Northern Ireland and the Republic, children living on one side of the border can access education on the other side. The caveat is that schools in Northern Ireland may only consider a child who is resident in the Republic for admission after all resident children who have applied to the school have been considered. A practice called "grannying" sees residents who move to the Republic giving schools in Northern Ireland proof of address at a grandmother or relative's house to avoid being left out. One Londonderry mother, who admits using the unauthorised practice, is concerned. The woman, who has lived in Donegal for over 16 years and has two children at school in Northern Ireland, said the idea of sending her children to school in the Republic never crossed her mind. "I'm from Derry originally, I work and pay tax in Derry, it made sense for the children to go to school there," she said. "If there was an emergency, or they were sick and had to leave school immediately, it's not practical for them to be in Donegal and I'm driving to work in the morning anyway, so it makes sense with the school run." Marguerite Hamilton, a former principal of Thornhill College, a girls' grammar in Londonderry, a mile from the border, said it was "inconceivable" children could be stopped or delayed from going to school if customs posts were installed. Ms Hamilton said schools across Northern Ireland are aware of "grannying" students living over the border. "When a child applies for school, we ask for a verifiable proof of address, a bank statement or letter from a doctor for example. If they can supply the proof, it is not the school's place to go around investigating if the child actually resides there or not," she said. "Also, if circumstances change for instance, if they start school living in Derry, and move even just one mile away to the south, should they be forced to leave the school and educational system they know? What's clear is that those arguing about the border in London will not have their lives affected by the consequences." Ms Hamilton estimates hundreds of children attend school in Northern Ireland who live in the Republic. The Department of Education and Skills in the Republic said it is confident the Common Travel Area will facilitate existing arrangements for cross-border pupils. The Department of Education in Northern Ireland said it is aware of the issue, but has faith the Common Travel Area between the jurisdictions will safeguard access to education. A spokeswoman said: "In relation to the impact of Brexit, the British and Irish governments have agreed that the rights flowing from the Common Travel Area should be maintained." A senior Nissan boss blasted Brexit "uncertainty" as he confirmed that the company had scrapped plans to build the X-Trail 4x4 at its Sunderland plant. Gianluca de Ficchy, the Japanese firm's Europe chairman, said that the decision had been taken for "business reasons" affected by rules on diesel engines and reduced sales. The announcement that the X-Trail would be built in Japan was made in a letter to staff that followed a day of political rows between Brexit supporters and opponents over the reason for one of Wearside's largest employers reneging on a 2016 decision to build the car there. In yesterday's letter, Mr de Ficchy said: "Today's announcement will be interpreted by a lot of people as a decision related to Brexit. "We have taken this decision for the business reasons I've explained, but clearly the uncertainty around the UK's future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future." Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "The Conservatives' botched negotiations and threat of a no-deal Brexit is causing uncertainty and damaging Britain's economy." And Sharon Hodgson, the area's Labour MP, said: "This is a great loss of future investment in Sunderland and I am sure that people will share my huge disappointment and concern at this news. "Tomorrow I will be seeking answers from Government ministers as a matter of urgency". The announcement came as two senior Cabinet ministers rejected the idea of the UK remaining in a customs union as the price of getting a Brexit deal. Labour wants the UK to remain in some sort of customs union as part of a withdrawal agreement. But Home Secretary Sajid Javid said he believed Tory backbenchers would kill off such a plan even if it received Labour support in the Commons. And International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, asked on Sky's Ridge on Sunday if he could "stomach" a customs union to achieve a deal, simply said: "No." Their interventions came after Theresa May had said she would be "battling for Britain" when she returns to Brussels to seek a "pragmatic" Brexit deal that can win over both the European Union and her own MPs. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, she suggested that Labour leader Mr Corbyn had agreed with her that the Irish border backstop as set out in the withdrawal agreement had to change. However, Mrs May was warned she may be opposed by her own Eurosceptic backbenchers if the deal she gets falls short of their expectations. European Research Group deputy chairman Steve Baker tweeted that there could be "trouble ahead" and suggested changes to the backstop may not satisfy them. "Leave-backing MPs voted to support alternative arrangements in NI (Northern Ireland) but with grave misgivings about the whole agreement," he wrote. "Now the PM co-opts us into accepting everything but the backstop and, on the backstop, accepting a codicil. "The right way forward is the Malthouse Compromise. "If all we see is a codicil - a 'joint interpretative instrument' - expect a further substantial defeat for the agreement." Mr Javid also denied reports that Downing Street was planning a summer general election. He told Andrew Marr that the Tories were only planning for a local election to take place in May as planned, adding: "I think the last thing this country needs is a general election." Tanaiste Simon Coveney says no credible options have been given Arlene Foster has once again insisted that alternatives to the Brexit backstop exist, as she accused Sinn Fein of continuing to exploit the fear of the UK quitting the EU with no deal to make demands for a united Ireland. Writing in today's Belfast Telegraph, the DUP leader has insisted that the question is not "whether alternatives exist or could be agreed", but rather, when negotiations on the matter take place. Read More She pointed to the EU's decision to reopen negotiations for the Lisbon Treaty, which was initially rejected by the Republic, as evidence of pragmatism displayed by the bloc. "Whilst the EU is clearly happy to use the threat of a no-deal as a negotiating tactic, Sinn Fein appear content to push towards such an outcome simply to provide fodder for their united Ireland grievance mill," said Mrs Foster. "Beyond the street pantomime of fake checkpoints and sledgehammers, Mary Lou McDonald has spelt out that Sinn Fein's desire is to use a no-deal exit to agitate for a united Ireland." Mrs Foster's position appears to have been bolstered by Theresa May after it emerged yesterday that senior members of the hardline Brexiteer-led European Research Group (ERG) have been drafted in to help the Government develop an alternative to the backstop. ERG deputy leader Steve Baker and former Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson are joining the Alternative Arrangements Working Group, which will meet for the first time today, according to Downing Street. The group - which is expected to meet regularly with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay - is likely to consider the so-called Malthouse alternative proposals, which are supported by the DUP. It would see the Northern Ireland backstop "recast" as a "free trade agreement-lite" with a commitment there should be no hard border and an extended transition period to December 2021. A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "As the Home Secretary set out on Marr [The Andrew Marr Show], the Attorney General (AG) is looking at the legal changes we are aiming to secure to the backstop. "As the PM has previously said, there are a number of ideas on this, including a unilateral exit mechanism or a time limit and the AG is considering their wording and legal effect. He will be closely engaged throughout the process." Meanwhile, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald yesterday repeated her party's stance that the backstop is the "absolute bare minimum... the bottom line" required. Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, Mrs McDonald said the backstop is essential to the protection of the Good Friday Agreement in "all of its parts". "That is why a backstop, or a set of very specific protections were landed on," she said. "They are minimal, but they are the absolute bare necessities to ensure that our economy, that our society and crucially our peace agreement isn't disrupted." Addressing the prospect of a border poll, she said Sinn Fein would "prepare for the worst scenario and protect our national interest". Her comments yesterday were made less than 24 hours after she told a gathering of party activists in Dublin that the unionist community needs to start "preparing for Irish unity". Meanwhile, Tanaiste Simon Coveney has again stated the EU's position that the withdrawal agreement will not be renegotiated. Writing in the Sunday Times, he said the decision by MPs last Tuesday to agree to seek alternative backstop arrangements had caused "disappointment and dismay" in the Republic and Europe. Mr Coveney added that no "credible" options have been put forward as yet, but stressed the EU is "committed to trying to agree alternative arrangements to replace the backstop" once the withdrawal agreement is ratified. He warned that dispensing with the withdrawal agreement would have serious consequences for Northern Ireland. "It is now time for the UK to keep its word, to deliver on these commitments and on its responsibilities," he said. The hardening of the EU position comes as the Prime Minister - who pledged yesterday that she is determined to agree a "pragmatic solution" that delivers Brexit - prepares to returns to Brussels for further negotiations next Wednesday. An artists impression of the Seven Hills Hotel and Spa An application to build a 100-bed luxury hotel in the foothills of the Mourne Mountains looks to have succeeded. Planning officials at Newry, Mourne and Down District Council appear to have performed a U-turn on Miceal Tinnelly's proposal for the four-star Seven Hills Hotel and Spa in Rostrevor. The developer has valued the project on the village's Greenpark Road at 14m. It includes a spa, gym, restaurant, conference facilities and two lounge bars. Mr Tinnelly's proposal for a 100-bed hotel on the site dates back to 2008, but he only managed to succeed in achieving permission for a cut-size version of the project. He was given the green light for a 50-bed resort in 2011, but approval for the smaller hotel has now lapsed. Mr Tinnelly, who had a background as a coal merchant before moving into construction, said the 100 bedrooms are needed to make the venture financially viable. The developer previously claimed that the Rostrevor area "is crying out for a hotel". Last year it looked like a new effort to build the hotel was doomed to failure, after planning officials once again signalled their intention to refuse the larger project. That changed on Wednesday, when a fresh report by Newry, Mourne and Down planners offered a thumbs-up. Their recommendation to approve outline planning permission, subject to conditions, is set to go before the local authority's planning committee later this month. Much of the concern over the project centres on its surroundings. The 35-acre site currently houses an equestrian centre, including a grazing area and a disused sand arena with floodlights. It has been suggested that the equestrian centre will be relocated within the site, however, it does not currently feature in the present version of the planning application. Parts of the heavily wooded site have also been levelled by quarrying for rock. However, it's understood that the spectacular views offered over Carlingford Lough have inspired the plans. It also falls within the Mournes and Slieve Croob area of outstanding natural beauty and lies next to Rostrevor House Demesne. The original application had been accompanied by an environmental statement for a 100-bedroom hotel. Officials have determined that the new phase of the application did not require a new statement. The Historic Environment Division (HED) had expressed concerns over the potential impact on nearby listed buildings and historic parks. The agency now says the plan is acceptable subject to some conditions. A series of other agencies have by and large accepted the basis of the project, albeit with conditions in some cases. Ultimately, planning officials said given the new information received in respect of the proposal, and the consultation with HED, it is now content to recommended approval to the planning committee. Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus, N.J., is offering immediate temporary employment and free meals to employees of a nearby paper mill ravaged by fire last month. The Jan. 30 blaze at the Marcal Paper Mill plant demolished 30 of 36 buildings on the 30-acre compound in Elmwood Park, N.J., and affected about 500 Marcal employees, according to the North Jersey Record. Bergen New Bridge said affected Marcal workers may apply for hospital jobs and receive immediate offers. Interested candidates should email a resume to careers@newbridgehealth.org. The hospital said Marcal employees and their immediate family members may receive free meals at the hospital's full-service cafeteria the Bistro Cafe or at The Daily Grind, which has grab-and-go options. Marcal employees and their immediate family members must present a Marcal ID and get a visitor pass. Cafeteria hours are Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 10 a.m. for breakfast and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch. The Daily Grind is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. "The Bergen New Bridge Medical Center family sympathizes with and is here to support our Marcal colleagues and their families in this difficult time," said Deborah Visconi, the hospital's president and CEO. More articles on workforce: Mercy Health holds open interviews event to fill more than 15 jobs 5 in-demand healthcare jobs The 10 best states to find a job, as ranked by Zippia CMS has notified Columbus, Ohio-based Mount Carmel Health System that two of its hospitals involved in an investigation of patient deaths could lose Medicare funding due to serious pharmaceutical services deficiencies, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The findings of surveys the Ohio Department of Health conducted for CMS will not be released until the two hospitals Mount Carmel West in Columbus and Mount Carmel St. Ann's in Westerville have a chance to submit a plan of correction and CMS approves each plan. If Mount Carmel fails to create an acceptable plan, Medicare will not pay for services on or after Feb. 22 at Mount Carmel West or on or after Feb. 24 at Mount Carmel St. Ann's, according to letters sent by CMS obtained by The Dispatch Feb. 1. A Mount Carmel spokesperson told The Dispatch the health system will continue to cooperate fully with CMS, the state Department of Health and other regulators to "ensure that a tragedy like that never happens again." "We will submit Mount Carmel West's action plan next week and have already taken steps to implement the plan. We will follow the same process for Mount Carmel St. Ann's," the spokesperson said. The health system has taken corrective steps to ensure patient medication safety, including more employee education on end-of-life care practices; a new protocol to set maximum appropriate doses for pain medication in the EMR; and a new escalation policy for deviations in pain medication protocols. The health system faces investigations surrounding the actions of one of its former physicians, William Husel, MD. Mount Carmel said Dr. Husel ordered excessive doses of painkillers for at least 34 near-death patients in intensive care dating from at least 2015. The doses were likely fatal in 28 of those cases, hospital officials said. Dr. Husel, whom Mount Carmel fired Dec. 5, was suspended from the Ohio Medicaid program, and the State Medical Board of Ohio suspended his license. More articles on clinical leadership & infection control: 23 Mount Carmel employees placed on leave amid patient death investigations Mount Carmel CEO: We should have acted faster with physician accused of fatal prescriptions Johns Hopkins All Children's has 3 weeks to correct safety lapses or lose Medicare funding Paris, TX (75460) Today Showers likely along with a possible rumble of thunder early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 62F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Showers likely along with a possible rumble of thunder early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 62F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Patients increasingly demand care be delivered how and when they want it. Health systems that deliver on this demand are rewarded with patients' trust and loyalty. Building a modern urgent care platform delivers on this demand. This content is sponsored by Health System Advisors. At the first healthcare touch points, this patient loyalty and trust gets converted into downstream referrals. While downstream steerage generated by consumer preference is dwarfed by the steerage generated by clinician recommendations, it is the consumer that is making the choice about where, when, how and with which clinician the first healthcare touch point will occur. Once that first touch point has occurred, studies show the vast majority (83 percent) will follow that provider's clinical referrals.1 As such, the first healthcare touch point has unique influence. In a competitive environment, whoever controls the first touch points will be able to best influence the secondary decisions and thereby garner the largest share of patient relationships. Historically, first touch points have been either in physician offices or emergency rooms. As health systems seek to influence patients' healthcare decisions, strong primary care physician enterprises are developing. Unfortunately, traditional, scheduled clinics are finding it hard to adapt to the growing demands for convenience from younger, well-insured populations. Instead of building their delivery model around the desires of the patient, most traditional clinics are built around maximizing provider schedules and the clinical needs of the patient; convenience has taken a back seat. As a result, an ever-growing portion of first healthcare touch points are occurring in channels like urgent cares, often outside the traditional health systems' sphere of influence. Health systems wanting relationships with these younger, privately insured populations must be willing to meet them where they are along their healthcare journey. Regardless of the clinical enterprise's desire to connect everyone with a long-term physician relationship, responsive health systems will recognize they cannot form loyal relationships through experiences which leave the individuals unsatisfied. A health system-developed modern urgent care platform is a solution to one of the major first touch delivery channels. Modern urgent care characteristics The modern urgent care platform is distinctly different from legacy urgent care models. The modern platform is designed first around the patient's needs. Combining convenience, access, predictability and clinical needs, modern urgent care platforms offer a segment of the population the approach to care that they have been demanding. As a result, characteristics of the modern urgent care platform reflect both high levels of patient satisfaction and standalone economic results. Unlike the legacy urgent care sites which health systems have typically operated at a loss and with low patient satisfaction, the modern urgent care platform is a clinically appropriate, safe, effective and standalone profitable model designed around the needs and desires of each individual. Modern urgent care opportunity Across the U.S., a late 2016 study of urgent care supply and demand by Urgent Care Partners demonstrated a 22 percent shortage of urgent care sites in markets suitable for profitable urgent care sites. This translated to a need for 1,600 additional urgent care sites to meet demand.2 Reviewing undersupplied markets identified in the 2016 Urgent Care Partner's study including central Illinois, St. Louis, Seattle, Spokane, WA., Bismarck N.D., and southern California shows significant new urgent care site development has occurred since late 2016. For example, since the study was completed, two providers in St. Louis Total Access Urgent Care and the Mercy/ GoHealth partnership have already added 17 sites, while reportedly planning to add nearly 20 more. Clearly the demand for urgent care continues to grow and outstrip supply. Moreover, a modern urgent care platform will strip volume and patient preference from any of the approximately 6,000 legacy models currently being operated today. Because urgent care is mostly a commodity service, individuals are typically ruthless about their choices of urgent care sites. In markets where patients once tolerated 60-minute wait times at 5 pm, they no longer tolerate these long wait times when a high-quality alternative with no wait time becomes available. Again and again, we see examples of legacy urgent care sites with Google and Yelp ratings in the mid-threes operating under capacity in a market where a modern model subsequently enters and thrives. For example, UnityPoint Health opened a modern model in a north central Iowa market thought to be saturated with legacy urgent care models. Within three months, the pilot site was so well received it achieved operational capacity while the legacy clinics lost volumes. With the immediacy of social media, individuals will quickly distinguish between inefficient, poor-service urgent care sites and those that operate a modern model. For patients, the effort to switch and use a different urgent care site is low. As such, modern urgent care sites are quickly rewarded with volume and loyalty, while legacy models are punished. In markets where Urgent Care Partners has partnered with health systems, modern urgent care sites have captured typically one-quarter to one-third of the existing legacy urgent care clinic volumes within 12 months. As health systems develop more modern urgent care platforms, Urgent Care Partners expects as much as half of the legacy urgent care volumes will be captured by these new models. Can health systems effectively operate a modern urgent care platform? The concern health system cannot operate consumer-sensitive services like urgent care should be challenged. A health system will not thrive in an information-rich environment where patients have more and more input into their own care models unless they can adapt to serving the evolving patient convenience and service demands. Granted the historical capabilities needed to operate a typical hospital and high complexity ambulatory health system platform are not the same as those needed to operate a modern urgent care platform, however, we reject the notion that this will forever be the case. In fact, a persuasive argument can be made that health systems must develop capabilities similar to those needed in a modern urgent care center for their hospital and complex ambulatory operations. Capabilities such as: customizing care to different needs, improving service, creating process efficiency, creating better access and forming relationships are quintessential for securing patient satisfaction and loyalty. However, health systems will not develop these capabilities without help. This leaves two major options for health systems: Joint venture. Form a business partnership, typically a joint venture, with an urgent care provider to build urgent care sites for the health system. While this has been the dominant approach taken by health systems, it creates an arm's length relationship between the hospital and the joint venture and presents barriers for the health system to translate capabilities developed through the urgent care experience into other departments. A joint venture also limits the investment's transfer of funds to support streamlined referrals and the formation of health system patient relationships. Mercy is a good example of a successful modern urgent care platform joint venture. By entering into a joint venture with GoHealth, they have been able to add nine sites in competitive St. Louis markets with a proven model with up to 30 sites being developed system wide. Partner. Purchase or contract with urgent care partners who have the capabilities needed to develop a modern urgent care platform. Under this option, the health system partners to create, within the health system, capabilities needed while building the urgent care sites. Health systems have contracted with organizations like Urgent Care Partners (urgentcarepartners.com) to teach their staff and guide them through the process of developing large modern urgent care platforms with great success. Others have purchased modern urgent care sites and attempted, with generally less success, to scale the acquisition. Tacoma, Wash.-based MultiCare Health System is a great example of a health system that successfully contracted to build modern urgent care capabilities inside the organization. In less than two years, MultiCare, by working with Urgent Care Partners, added 33 modern urgent care sites and captured the internal capabilities to develop their next phase of 18 new sites internally. In either case, health systems must both develop an urgent care platform and engrain the capabilities into the health system's culture to capitalize on the urgent care growth trend. Conclusion Developing new patient relationships requires health systems have the capabilities and services desired by those individuals. Health systems can create capabilities to serve young, insured patients at their first healthcare touch points. With as many as 4,600 new urgent care sites expected in the next decade, the modern urgent care platform offers health systems a low-risk, exciting and financially accretive option. Take advantage of that option, by finding your urgent care partners to accelerate your success. Will Elder is an engagement manager at Urgent Care Partners and Luke Peterson is a Principal at Health System Advisors. For more information contact Luke at Luke.Peterson@ HealthSystemAdvisors.com References 1 Forrest, Christopher B et al. "Specialty referral completion among primary care patients: results from the ASPN Referral Study" Annals of family medicine vol. 5,4 (2007): 361-7. 2 Beckner, Chiara and Peterson, Luke C. "Urgent Care Demand in 2016" Becker's Hospital Review August 24, 2016 An abrupt shortage of the anti-anxiety drug buspirone is complicating mental healthcare for many patients, reports The New York Times. Unlike antidepressants, buspirone is in its own drug class, meaning there are no alternative medications that work the same way. Patients fighting anxiety or panic attacks are either rationing existing pills, going off the medicine entirely or switching to antidepressants, which can be a difficult transition. "This is potentially messing with people's clinical stability," Dennis Glick, MD, a Maryland-based psychiatrist, told NYT. "When you have a patient with a complicated and balanced regimen, you really don't want to just arbitrarily have someone come off the medicine." The shortage stems from production issues at Mylan Pharmaceuticals' drug plant in Morgantown, W.Va. The plant produces about one-third of the nation's buspirone supply. Mylan told the FDA the date it will resume buspirone production is "T.B.D.," according to NYT. Although 170 people work in emergency medical services and transport at Brewer, Maine-based Northern Light Health, the system is about 10 percent understaffed in this department, CNBC reports. Emergency medical technicians and paramedics are in demand across the U.S., with about 37,400 jobs set to be added through 2026. Northern Light faces several challenges in hiring EMTs and paramedics, including being in a rural community and finding workers who will commit to the job, which may require up to two years of training, recertification and continuing education. About five years ago, there were 15 to 20 applicants per open position at Northern Light, but today, it's not uncommon to post a job and have zero applicants, Joe Kellner, the system's vice president of emergency services and community programs, told CNBC. "Fewer people are entering the profession, unemployment is low, and this is also a job that many people used to get into through volunteerism and in local communities. There is a lot less of that," Mr. Kellner said. "The pathway in is harder and harder, but we try to create solutions for that." Funding can also be an issue for some communities, as reimbursements to the health system are outpaced by wage pressures and operating costs. To help resolve these issues, Northern Light's EMS system is run in partnership with a larger nine-hospital system throughout Maine, which allows for more reliable funding. The company also reimburses for tuition for these workers, offers competitive paid time off and a retirement plan with a matching employer contribution. A federal judge has dismissed Maryland's legal efforts to protect the ACA, according to The Baltimore Sun. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh in December filed a lawsuit after a Texas ruling on the health law. Mr. Frosh asked U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander in Baltimore to declare the ACA constitutional. However, Judge Hollander ruled that Maryland did not have grounds to pursue the case because there wasn't firm evidence of impending harm to the ACA, the Sun reported. "The state's allegations do not create a plausible inference of a substantial or certainly impending risk that the Trump administration will cease enforcement of part or all of the ACA," she wrote. "In effect, the state proclaims that the sky is falling. But, falling acorns, even several of them, do not amount to a falling sky." Maryland can refile the lawsuit if it gets firmer legal standing. Mr. Frosh filed the lawsuit after U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor of Texas ruled that the ACA is unconstitutional since Congress eliminated the tax penalty associated with the law's individual mandate requiring people to have health insurance. The Texas ruling has been stayed pending appeal. More articles on legal and regulatory issues: Ex-Florida hospital director admits role in $1B fraud scheme 10 employees hit NewYork-Presbyterian with $15M discrimination suit Wisconsin lawmakers prevent new governor from leaving ACA lawsuit From a Kansas pharmacy settling a whistle-blower lawsuit for $9.5 million to a bankruptcy judge rejecting an attempt by the California attorney general to block the sale of two hospitals, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines. 1. Judge rejects attorney general's attempt to block sale of 2 California hospitals A bankruptcy judge rejected California Attorney General Xavier Becerra's efforts to block the sale of O'Connor Hospital in San Jose and St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy. 2. California reaches nearly $1M settlement with Aetna over HIV data breach Aetna reached a $935,000 settlement with California's attorney general to resolve allegations it violated state health privacy laws by inadvertently revealing the HIV status of its members in 2017. 3. New details on Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan health venture emerge: 5 things to know New clues about the healthcare venture launched by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase emerged in court filings and testimony related to a lawsuit filed by UnitedHealth seeking to protect its trade secrets from the new venture. 4. Athenahealth shareholders drop lawsuits Shareholders dropped three class-action lawsuits against athenahealth over the proposed sale of the company. 5. Ex-CEO gets 46 months in prison for defrauding Florida hospital The former CEO of Blountstown, Fla.-based Calhoun-Liberty Hospital received a 46-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to 24 counts of wire fraud and three counts of tax fraud last year. 6. Kansas pharmacy pays $9.5M to settle whistle-blower lawsuit Overland Park, Kan.-based Stark Pharmacy agreed to pay $9.5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. 7. New York hospital let woman end life support for stranger, lawsuit claims A woman sued St. Barnabas Hospital in New York City, claiming she gave permission to withdraw life support for a stranger the hospital mistakenly identified as her brother. 8. New York hospital suing insurance plan over millions in reimbursement Massena (N.Y.) Memorial Hospital filed additional claims against an employer health plan in an ongoing legal battle over reimbursement. More articles on legal and regulatory issues: Ex-Florida hospital director admits role in $1B fraud scheme 10 employees hit NewYork-Presbyterian with $15M discrimination suit Wisconsin lawmakers prevent new governor from leaving ACA lawsuit Penobscot Valley Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Lincoln, Maine, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January and disclosed it has up to $10 million in debts, according to the Bangor Daily News. Penobscot Valley Hospital, which is still compiling data for the bankruptcy case, owes between $8 million and $10 million to the 878 creditors listed in bankruptcy documents, according to the report. Despite its debts, the hospital will continue to operate during the bankruptcy process. A judge recently granted motions allowing the hospital to keep paying workers and bills as it restructures its debt. "We have made tremendous strides over the last three years in bringing our operational costs in line with revenue," hospital CEO Crystal Landry said in a press release issued Jan. 29. "Legacy debt is the issue here, and Chapter 11 allows us to restructure that debt so we can keep our doors open and ensure that our community continues to have a hospital close to home." More articles on healthcare finance: Oklahoma hospital misses payroll for 2nd time Partners posts $463M loss in Q1 Advocate Aurora stands by $250M Wisconsin expansion despite Foxconn changes Horton (Kansas) Community Hospital has struggled to pay utilities, missed payroll and operated with insufficient supplies, a top hospital leader told The Topeka Capital-Journal. Hospital CNO Krissy Torkelson reported that the 25-bed critical access facility in recent months has lacked funds for patient medication, supplies and food. At the end of last year she negotiated with the city to keep the lights on, and nurses and other employees weren't paid Feb. 1, she also revealed. Hospital CEO Ty Compton, in an email obtained by the Capital-Journal, said the paycheck issue was due to an accounting glitch in transferring funds between bank accounts. Horton Community Hospital is managed by Kansas City, Mo.-based EmpowerHMS, which also operates hospitals in Tennessee and Oklahoma. Other hospitals managed by the company have struggled financially. Hillsboro (Kan.) Community Hospital nearly had its power shut off due to unpaid utility bills. And several Oklahoma and Tennessee hospitals, including Fairfax (Okla.) Community Hospital, reported that they were behind on payroll. The financial struggles come as Empower is under investigation for lab testing billing practices, according to the Capital-Journal. Mr. Compton told the publication last month that the Horton facility was stable. He said at the time, "We had one paycheck, I think, that was delayed one day, maybe two days. To my understanding, our utility bills are current." But Ms. Torkelson's recent comments indicate uncertainty and instability in operations. "We didn't have any money in an account for food, so they've been having to clean out our freezers for our patients. Our utilities were shut off to our business office. We have an accounts payable list that's close to $1 million of just different vendors that we owe. And we've been cut off from like Medline for supplies. We can't order for our pharmacy," she told the Capital-Journal. The Capital-Journal reported that it could not reach Mr. Compton Feb. 2 for comment. Access the Capital-Journal's full report here. More articles on healthcare finance: HCA to pay $15M in property taxes in North Carolina after Mission Health deal Zuckerberg hospital puts balance billing on hold 847 Missouri consumer complaints in 2018 were health-related A teenager was fatally shot after police say he and two other juveniles tried to rob a man Sunday in south Houston. The boy has not been identified. Police initially estimated his age to be around 15 or 16, but later reports indicate his age is closer to 12 or 13. This week's Newton County Sheriff's Report: Let's see what's going on. Please remember the Simmons family in your prayers. Retired Police Chief and Newton City Judge, Ricky Simmons, lost his wife Lisa last week. Lisa was a very important member of our Law Enforcement family. She will be truly missed. We received a 911 call where a man had been stabbed by a woman. According to the woman, he was beating her when she stabbed him and he even shot at her and a friend before he beat her up. Two sides to this and we are still investigating. Received a report of a travel trailer on fire. By the time we got there a barn and the owner's pickup were on fire also. We were also advised that there were several thousand rounds of ammo in the trailer. About that time, they started going off. Lot of first responders started hiding behind one of the fire trucks. Firemen don't have bullet proof vest "Yet"! We had a 911 call this week about a runaway goat, donkey, horse, cow and a husband. All were found safe. We received several calls about a scam that's going around. Someone who says they are from a lawyer's office is calling people. They tell the victim that they are being sued. Caller is very aggressive and very rude. Tell them to go fly a kite and hang up. Gotta go. Thought for the week. I don't approve of political jokes, I've seen too many of them get elected. Ya'll have a good week and if we can help, just holler. God Bless. Note: This report has been published exactly as received. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded more than $8 million to a state agency for post-Tropical Storm Harvey mosquito control. The Department of State Health Services sprayed insecticide to control mosquitoes in nearly 4 million acres across Hardin, Jasper, Newton and several other counties, according to FEMA. Bluefield, WV (24701) Today Thunderstorms early, overcast overnight with occasional rain. A few storms may be severe. Low near 60F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Thunderstorms early, overcast overnight with occasional rain. A few storms may be severe. Low near 60F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. They fought and died for the U.S. but our country never brought them home. Right now, more than 72,000 American service members are still unaccounted for from World War II alone. As Derek Staahl shows us, one Arizona man has spent more than a decade tracking down the remains of men once cons By Trend Deputy Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Dilshod Akhatov met with Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Bartosz Cichocki in Warsaw on February 1, Trend reports with reference to the press service of Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The sides discussed the state and prospects of development of the Uzbek-Polish partnership in bilateral terms and in terms of Uzbekistan-EU format. The Polish diplomat noted that large-scale reforms in Uzbekistan carried out in all spheres under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, as well as strengthening the regional cooperation are highly appreciated in his country. Furthermore, support for a constructive policy towards Afghanistan was expressed as well. The sides reaffirmed their mutual interest in intensifying political dialogue, building up trade and economic ties, solving transport, communication and other issues. The Polish side spoke positively about the continuation of consultations between the relevant departments of the two countries on attracting labor from Uzbekistan to the Polish labor market. The parties exchanged views on the prospects for cooperation in the field of tourism. In Eastern Europe, the Poles are the most active travelers and Uzbekistan has the largest tourist potential in the region. In this regard, Polish travel companies and business circles are actively considering the proposals of Uzbek side not only for the exchange of tourists, but also for the implementation of projects on development of tourism infrastructure in the country. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov A private company opened a chemical plant in Irans Markazi province to produce ammonium hydroxide dimethyl carbonate on February 3. The production of ammonium dimethyl carbonate hydroxide was launched in Iran for the first time. The unit was launched simultaneously with the 10-day celebration of the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. The private sector has invested $ 1.9 million in the construction of this chemical plant, whose nominal capacity is 14,000 tons. Located 33 km west of Arak, the central city of the province of Markazi, the unit created 30 direct and 500 indirect jobs. Ammonium hydroxide dimethyl carbonate is used as a solvent in the glue and paint and varnish industry. In addition, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution victory, the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) announced that it would launch 20 projects worth $ 1.82 billion this month. According to the Iranian Oil Ministry, these projects include the launch of the third phase of a gas condensate production unit at the Star of Persian Gulf refinery. In addition, it includes a plan to increase gasoline production capacities at the Bandar Abbas refinerys company, and a plan to improve product quality, desulfurization of diesel fuel produced at the refinery in Tabriz and other cities. Other projects include a 20-inch 430-kilometer pipeline running through central Iran (Nain, Kashan and Rey) for pumping by-products of oil, another pipeline for transferring 240,000 barrels of oil products per day from Abadan, in south-western Iran, to Tehran and the third unit for the distillation and production of liquefied gas at the Isfahan refinery. As soon as the third phase of the gas condensate production plant at the Gulf Star Refinery is launched, the production of Iranian Euro 5 gasoline will increase by 12 million liters. The construction of the 20-inch Nain-Kashan-Ray pipeline began in 2012. Upon completion, it will ship petroleum products from the Persian Gulf Star oil refineries and the Bandar Abbas refinery, as well as imported petroleum products to central and northern Iran. This pipeline will help increase Irans ability to transship oil products and imported oil products by 150,000 barrels per day and 200,000 barrels per day, After completing the desulfurization project at the Tabriz oil refinery, the company will be able to produce 30,000 barrels of gasoline per day of Euro 4 and Euro 5 standards. The project started in 2014. Petrochemical products make up the largest volume in the statistical tablet of Iranian non-oil products export, which is more than 40 percent of the total non-oil export of the country. Iran exports its petrochemical products to several dozen countries in different parts of the world. As many as 13 percent of products are exported to the Indian subcontinent, 23 percent to the Southeast Asia countries, 22 percent to the China, 18 percent to the countries of the Far East, 5 percent to Europe and 19 percent to the Middle East. Despite the sanctions imposed against the export of Iranian oil, and consistently, the decline in oil exports, the sanctions imposed did not affect the export of petrochemical products. During the period of sanctions, one of the resources of Irans foreign exchange earnings was the petrochemical industry. The Iranian petrochemical industry has a variety of properties that attract Iranian and foreign investors. The most important feature of the industry is the presence of rich oil and gas resources to provide the necessary raw materials from the petrochemicals production. Iran ranks 4th in the world in terms of oil resources and uses the second largest gas reserves in the world. An important feature of Irans petrochemical industry is country's excellent geographical location and good access to Asian and European markets, as well as free seas, which makes it easier and cheaper to export and transport. Iran is the only state in the Middle East that produces a large amount of necessary equipment for the petrochemical industry on its territory. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Turkey stands for Syrias territorial integrity, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Trend reports with reference to the Turkish media Feb. 4. Erdogan said that Russia and Iran are also in favor of preserving the integrity of Syria. But, unfortunately, the coalition forces in Syria, created to fight the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, pursue completely different goals in relation to Turkey, he noted. Erdogan added that thanks to Turkey, terrorists who posed a threat not only for Turkey but also Syria were eliminated in a number of areas in the north of Syria. On Dec. 12, 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turkish Armed Forces will launch a new military operation in Syria against PYD/YPG. Erdogan claimed there were US soldiers in the detachments of the terrorists in Syria. On Jan. 20, 2018, Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria. On Aug. 24, 2016, the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Operation Euphrates Shield against the "Islamic State", and with the support of the Syrian opposition liberated the border town of Jarablus, as well as Al-Bab in northern Syria. The security zone in northern Syria consists of an area of 32 kilometers and a length of 460 kilometers along the Syrian-Turkish border. In 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 security 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, will not be a part of the security zone. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The Secretary General of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce announced that the governor of Central Bank of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati will be visiting Iraq on February 5. "The trading status of Iran-Iraq is fairly good, but its trend has slowed down because of the recent policies on return of currency obtained from exports, the Secretary General of Iran-Iraq Chamber Hamid Hosseini told Trend. "Negotiations for the cooperation of Iranian banks with Iraqi banks have been carried out in this regard and the issue of returning the foreign exchange earned by exporters will be resolved, he said. Referring to the plans and goals of this visit, Hosseini said that the trip is intended to address the two countries "financial and banking transactions, Iran's gas and electricity demand from Iraq, and a solution to receive exporters' debts through the two countries` banking system". Pointing to Iran's plan to expand trade with Iraq next year, Hosseini said that Iran looks to increase its trade relations with Iraq by some 25 percent. Iran's next year plan includes launch of a permanent exhibition in Iraq and expand the presence of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Iraqi market, said Hosseini. We intend to expand our presence in the Iraqi service market, he said. "In 2018, we succeeded to get pass Turkey in terms of export of goods; Turkey had 7.3 billion wroth of exports in 2018, and we had 8.5 billion, he said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend A meeting with Valentin Shevalov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine, was held at the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan, Trend reports referring to the State Migration Service. Views on the prospects for partnership in the field of migration were exchanged. "Turkmenistan successfully cooperates with Ukrainian companies for many years and develops a mutually beneficial cooperation with Ukrainian partners," the information states. Turkmenistan is an important Central Asian trade and economic partner of Ukraine, as stated on the website of the Ukrainian Embassy in Ashgabat. Ukrainian business entities are involved in the construction of large-scale infrastructure facilities of national importance in Turkmenistan, the construction of complex engineering communications, along with oil and gas, industrial and transport facilities; they also export various products to Turkmenistan and provide services. The main export items to Turkmenistan include railway cars, products of the agro-industrial complex, electrical machines, chemical, pharmaceutical and woodworking goods. Imports from Turkmenistan to Ukraine mainly consist of oil refining products, wool and cotton, and textiles. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Uzbekistan approved a number of measures to drastically simplify the bankruptcy procedure, Trend reports via a new decree of the head of state. Now, judicial managers are appointed from among persons who have a fourth category judicial certificate and are members of the Uzbekistan Association of Judicial Managers when carrying out a simplified bankruptcy procedure instituted by the state tax services. The activities of judicial managers can also be carried out by lawyers who have licenses with a specialization in civil and economic legal proceedings and who have received a certificate of judicial manager. Appointment of judicial managers is carried out by a court on the recommendation of the creditor, an authorized state body for bankruptcies or the Association and its territorial divisions taking into account the rating assessment of the judicial managers. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The remarks made recently by Ali Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, on resumption of uranium enrichment has a two tier dimension, Iranian economy expert Mehrdad Emadi told Trend. "Salehis veiled message hinting at the resumption of certain aspects of the Iranian enrichment program and the fact that Tehran can initiate a fast tract recovery phase should the JCPOA partners (minus the U.S.) fail to deliver on their promise of access to the world finance, banking services and energy markets has a two tier dimension," he said. " The European dimension aimed at the E3 (Germany, France and the UK) which in my view is the more important part, as it is aimed at motivating E3 to increase their efforts toward encouraging their business communities to return to Iran especially in the automotive, energy and banking." This is while the eastern tier of the message addresses the tripod of the Ryad, Dubai and Tel Aviv that their continuous campaign toward keeping Iran isolated and cut off from the world economy could backfire by pushing Iran deeper into fold of Beijing-Moscow sphere of influence which in turn would strengthen the hold of the Revolutionary Guards and the radical clergies on the country, according to the expert. Meanwhile, Emadi believes that the downside of Salehis approach may be the credence it gives to the portrayed image of Islamic Republic by President Trump who repeatedly has stated that Tehran always intended to use its nuclear program toward military application. "I offer the view that this indeed could be a sever dent in the credibility of Tehrans position that Iran does not wish to obtain nuclear arms. This position so far has been supported by the regular inspections undertaken by the IAEA staff." Earlier, Ali Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said that Iran can enrich uranium up to 20 percent within four days. "If we want to come out of the nuclear deal and produce, within four days we could start our 20 percent," Salehi told the semi-official Fars News Agency. "But we already have stockpiles of 20 percent, and the capability." US President Donald Trump declared Washingtons withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran in May 2018. Trump also announced the restoration of all sanctions against Iran, including secondary ones against other countries doing business with Iran. The United States re-introduced part of the sanctions against Iran on August 7, 2018, while the second batch of the sanctions came into effect on Nov.5, 2018. The US government has agreed to let eight countries, including South Korea and Japan, as well as India, keep buying Iranian oil after it reimposes sanctions on Tehran. The waivers have been granted for six months. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Iran has seen significant improvement in its aviation industry during the past 40 years, despite the limitations caused by US sanctions, Spokesman for Iran Aviation Organization (CAO) Reza Jafarzadeh said in an interview with Trend. "Based on Chicago Convention, all members should be committed to air safety and cooperate for development of aviation sector, by providing equipment and market for its needs. But unfortunately, the US has imposed limitations for Iran over the past 40 years," he said. Jafarzadeh noted that the US wanted to cripple Iran's air transportation and started to take political measures against the countrys aviation industry, since this is an important part of Iran's economy. "So they targeted this industry and applied harsh limitations, but Iran had remarkable development in this sphere despite limitations." Referring to the country's achievements during past four decades, he recalled that Iran had 25 aircraft in 1979, but at the moment this figure has reached 311. "Iran had 4,170 plane seats, now their number has reached 48,000." He went on to add that private sector has not been active in this field before, but at the moment 70 percent of air transportations are operated by the private sector. The number of airports in 1979 were 43, but now they have increased to 73 airports, added Jafarzadeh. The number of flight routes in 1979 was 10, while today there are 127 flight routes, he concluded. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend In 2018, 1.35 million tourists from Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan) visited Turkey, the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry told Trend Feb. 1. In 2018, 426,900 Kazakh tourists visited Turkey, which is 5.98 percent more compared to 2017, the ministry said. The share of Kazakh citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in 2018 was 1.08 percent. The ministry noted that in 2018, Turkey was visited by 114,900 tourists from Kyrgyzstan, which is 9.55 percent more compared to 2017 and the share of Kyrgyz citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in 2018 was 0.29 percent. In 2018, 241,200 tourists from Uzbekistan arrived in Turkey, which is 23.24 percent more compared to 2017, according to the ministry. The share of Uzbek citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in 2018 was 0.61 percent. The ministry also noted that in 2018, 252,900 tourists from Turkmenistan visited Turkey, which is 9.54 percent more compared to 2017. The share of Turkmen tourists in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in 2018 was 0.64 percent. In December 2018, Bulgaria accounted for most of the tourists who visited Turkey with 206,000 tourists, followed by Germany - 178,000, Georgia - 139,000, Iran - 107,000, and Russia - 99,000. Turkeys income from tourism in 2018 increased by 12.3 percent compared to 2017 and amounted to $29.512 billion, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). Some 81.8 percent of the total income from tourism accounted for foreign tourists and 18.2 percent for Turkish citizens living abroad. In the 4Q2018, Turkeys tourism revenues increased by 7.1 percent compared to the same period in 2017 and reached $6.5 billion. Some 82.6 percent of the total income in the 4Q2018 fell to the share of foreign tourists, while the rest 17.4 percent to the share of Turkish citizens living abroad. In December 2018, Turkeys revenues from tourism amounted to $1.4 billion. On average, every foreign tourist spent $678 in Turkey, according to the TUIK. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Kazakhstans Halyk Bank has received prior permission from the Uzbek Central Bank to open a branch in Uzbekistan, the Central Banks First Deputy Chairman Timur Ishmetov told Gazeta.uz in an interview, Trend reports. "Halyk Bank handed over a document to obtain prior permission to open a bank, but not a license yet. Last week, it received prior permission from the Central Bank, based on which it can begin activities for opening a bank. It is valid for six months and Halyk Bank must prepare a building that meets the requirements and form a capital during the period. If these two requirements are met, it can get a license," Ishmetov said. Ishmetov also noted that the Georgian TBC Bank has not yet applied to the Central Bank to obtain a license. "TBC Bank has not handed over documents for obtaining a license. So far, they have expressed an intention to open a bank, have prepared a business plan, they are studying the market, but have not yet handed over the documents," he explained. TBC announced its intention to enter Uzbekistan in early January. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Leman Mammadova Azerenergy JSC produced 2.126 billion kWh of electricity in January 2019 that is 3 million kWh more than in January last year, the company told Trend. Thus, in January last year, electricity production amounted to 2.123 billion kWh. Azerenergy exported 191.9 million kWh of electricity to neighboring countries out of 2.126 billion kwh of electricity produced in January this year. Total electricity production in Azerbaijan last year amounted to 25.2 billion kilowatt-hours. In 2018, Azerbaijan's electricity exports increased by 165.2 million kilowatt-hours in comparison with 2017 (1.28 billion kilowatt-hours), reaching 1.447 billion kilowatt-hours As many as 80.3 million kWh of this amount was exported to Iran, 13.45 million kWh to Turkey, 121.5 million kWh to Russia, and 1.23 billion kWh to Georgia. Generally, electricity exports from Azerbaijan to Russia, Georgia, Iran and Turkey last year increased by 14.2 percent compared to 2017. In 2018, the cost of electricity exported from Azerbaijan amounted to about $ 66 million. Last year, the value of exports increased by $ 16 million compared to 2017. Azerenergy JSC is the main exporter of electric energy in Azerbaijan. There are over 30 power plants on the balance of Azerenergy. The total power generation capacity of these stations exceeds 6,000 megawatts, which allows generating about 24 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. Aiming to lessen its dependency on oil, Azerbaijan implements a number of measures for further development of alternative energy sector. The potential of renewable energy sources in Azerbaijan exceeds 25,300 megawatts, which will allow generating 62.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually. --- Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Azerbaijan and Bulgaria are eager to expand cooperation in all fields, where the sides see great potential, in order to achieve more visible results, Nikolay Yankov, Bulgarian Ambassador to Azerbaijan, told Trend. The ambassador stressed that great cooperation in the energy field is already established between the states. As you know, there is a contract between Bulgargaz and SOCAR for the supply of natural gas to Bulgaria, starting from 2020 and we are working on other opportunities to expand our relations in this area, Yankov noted. The Bulgarian ambassador went on to say that there is great potential for enhancing trade and economic relations, cooperation in transport and transit of goods, in tourism, agriculture, pharmaceutics, science and high technology etc. Further, he touched upon the cultural relations and cooperation in the field of education, adding that these spheres are essential for the establishment of closer ties between the peoples of Bulgaria and Azerbaijan. During the visit of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov to Bulgaria last October, a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in education sector was signed and I hope this will bring new impetus in this important field, he underlined. Yankov expressed hope that all the efforts made by both governments will finally bring the desired results. Tourist flow between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria significantly increased Further, he noted that the tourist flow between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria has significantly increased with the launch of the Baku Sofia Baku flight, Nikolay Yankov, Bulgarian Ambassador to Azerbaijan, told Trend. The number of issued visas for Azerbaijani citizens has increased by at least 40 percent since the opening of the flight, and we believe that this year the positive trend will continue after reopening the regular flights in spring, he said. The ambassador underlined that the goal is to deliver results that are more visible for the citizens of Bulgaria and Azerbaijan. The diplomat went on to say that the establishment of a direct flight between the capitals was a very wise political decision made by the leaders of the countries, which is already bringing very positive results. Now there are more opportunities for closer connection between our peoples and more intense contacts in business, more dynamic economic relations, Yankov stressed. Further, touching upon the simplification of the visa regime between the countries, the ambassador said that Bulgaria does not impose unilateral visa regulations on other countries, but rather follows EU policy in this respect. Our embassy works according to the Agreement between the European Union and Azerbaijan on the facilitation of the issuance of visas [the purpose of the Agreement, which entered into force in September 1, 2014, is to facilitate, on the basis of reciprocity, the issuance of visas for an intended stay of no more than 90 days per period of 180 days to the citizens of the EU and Azerbaijan]. The consular section of the embassy always works to its full capacity to provide fast response to the requirements of the visa applicants and tries to proceed the documents in the shortest possible terms, Yankov emphasized. The level of relation between the countries He went on to say that Bulgaria and Azerbaijan enjoy traditionally close and friendly relations. My and the Bulgarian Embassys responsibility is to further strengthen and develop these ties in the spirit of strategic cooperation in compliance with the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership, signed in 2015, he said. Further, he stressed that the political dialogue between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan in 2018 was very active. In fact, I can say that since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, the two countries have been enjoying extremely active high-level dialogue with regular exchanges of visits in Baku and Sofia, as well as using every opportunity for high-level meetings in the framework of international forums, the ambassador noted. He mentioned some of the most significant visits conducted last year, such as visit of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to Baku in January 2018, participation of Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova in the 4th meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, held in February 2018 in Baku and so on. Yankov stressed that the dynamics of the political dialogue between the two friendly countries in just one-year period is an evidence of the existing common will of both sides to keep the bilateral relations in the priority list of their respective foreign policy. About this years plans The Bulgarian ambassador noted that this year, the sides intend to keep up the dynamic of the bilateral dialogue. According to him, the first, already confirmed, visit to Baku is expected in February when Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova will be coming to participate in the 5th meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor Our embassy will further contribute to the efforts of the Bulgarian government for developing active and mutually beneficial cooperation with Azerbaijan in all the above-mentioned priority areas, he said. Yankov pointed out that later on this year, Bulgarias Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva is expected to pay a working visit to Baku. Moreover, he said, the Embassy is working very actively in the public relations field. Traditionally the Embassy of Bulgaria uses every opportunity to bring to the attention of the Azerbaijani public more information about Bulgarian traditions and the countrys cultural heritage. Last year we participated regularly in the initiatives of the EU Delegation in Baku, such as EU Days in Azerbaijan, European film festivals, which aim at promoting the European culture and values. This year we will continue doing the same. We are happy to see that Bulgaria is well known in Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani people have very warm feelings for our country, Yankov stressed. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova Baku Museum Center will host the exhibition of talented artist Narmin Ibragimova on February 14-16. More than 70 works will be showcased at the exhibition, Azertag reported. The exhibition "Understand me" is an attempt to appeal to women living in the male world, about which James Brown sang. I really want the two opposites to be able to find points of contact between minds and souls through the differences of perception," Narmin says. The author has an extraordinary view of the freedom of expression of creative thoughts beyond the choice of a single technique of performance. As the daughter of people who chose an artistic path in life, Narmin herself admits that her own future was somehow predetermined. The exhibition is a unique hymn of relationships through which the artist tells how your ability to listen and understand each other through your paintings can fill our world with beauty and harmony. "Understand me" is the artist's appeal to herself. "My real exhibition is a confirmation that you cannot give up your dream. I repeat, you can just listen to yourself a little more carefully ... To love what you do, motivate yourself and remember that every step brings you closer to the most important goal, in the name of which "you are here and now," the artist said. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova The Voice of Youth festival solemnly opened at the International Mugham Center on February 1. The event is co-organized by State Agency for Public Services and Social Innovations. The festival is timed to the National Youth Day, Trend Life reported. The public holiday takes its origin from the First Youth Forum which was held in 1996. A year later, national leader Heydar Aliyev signed a decree according to which February 2 was declared the Day of Azerbaijani Youth. The festival is held within the framework of the State Program "Azerbaijani Youth in 2017-2021", approved by order of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. The project aims to identify talented young people, support and encourage their creative search, achievements, knowledge and skills. An exhibition timed to the Youth Day was opened in the foyer of the International Mugham Center as part of the festival. In his speech, Azerbaijans Culture Minister Abulfaz Garayev stressed that the state created all the conditions for young people to realize their potential and ideas. The chairman of the State Agency for Public Services and Social Innovations Ulvi Mehdiyev, noted that the country has a well-developed volunteer movement, young people are actively involved in events held in various fields. Further, young people were awarded diplomas of the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan for successful activities in various areas. The event continued with a concert program with participation of young people. Works of Azerbaijani and foreign composers sounded at the concert. The Voice of Youth festival will last until February 5. The festival features concert programs, meetings, photo and art exhibitions, theater productions and films with young people in various cultural fields. The festival covers many country's regions.With the assistance of ASAN Volunteers, the festival will be held in Sumgayit, Absheron, Guba, Imishli and Masalli. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade This year Azerbaijan has again become the general sponsor of the Prodexpo-2019 exhibition, which will present the national stand Made in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan will present a wide range of national products at the 26th international exhibition of food products, beverages and raw materials for their production ProdExpo-2019, the trade representation of Azerbaijan in Moscow told Azertac. The exhibition will be held on February 11-15 at the central exhibition center Expocentre in Moscow. The collective exposition will unite 31 companies offering a range of products: from fresh agricultural products to canned food, from natural mineral water to a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, teas, nuts, dried fruits, confectionery and much more. This year, Azerbaijan will please visitors with two stands, one of which is the national stand in the salon Alcoholic drinks. Wine. Beer". Visitors will have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the ancient tradition of Azerbaijani winemaking. Prodexpo, the largest international forum in Russia and Eastern Europe, is the most authoritative annual event in the field of food and beverages (including alcohol) and for over 25 years has defined the vector of development of the domestic and foreign food industries. Over the years of its existence, the peer of the Russian food market, the mega-project ProdExpo has played an important role in the process of formation and development of the food sector of the Russian economy. The exhibition is organized by Expocentre with the support of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture under the patronage of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the country. In total, more than 2,300 companies will participate in ProdExpo-2019. Food and beverage manufacturers from 65 countries of the world will create an exhibition with a total area of more than 100,000 square meters. Promoting new trademarks, advanced technologies for the production and sale of food products, innovative packaging materials, the international specialized wholesale trade fair Prodexpo-2019 aims to enhance the competitiveness among the food manufacturers, expand the range of products, create new qualitative changes in the domestic food market, search new partners, and while determining the vector of activity in modern economic conditions to achieve new frontiers in business. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade A large-scale meeting on the results of 2018 was held at the head office of AzerGold CJSC. Opening the meeting, Chairman of the Board of AzerGold CJSC Zakir Ibrahimov spoke about the reforms carried out under the leadership of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the development of the non-oil sector. He noted that the economic policy pursued by the head of state creates favorable conditions for the development of each enterprise operating in the country, adding that 2018 was successful for AzerGold. Last year, 45 990 ounces of gold and 77 340 ounces of silver were extracted by the company from the Chovdar field, which exceeds the production plan for 2018 and is 4 percent more than the gold production figures for 2017. Gold extraction also was 53 percent more than the silver extraction figures for 2017. This year, AzerGold is planning to produce 50,000 ounces of gold and 87,000 ounces of silver in accordance with the production plan made up for the Chovdar field, which is 10 percent more than gold production and 13 percent more than silver production figures in 2018. AzerGold CJSC also conducts geological exploration in accordance with international standards, as well as economic efficiency, to ensure the sustainable development of the mining industry and achieve long-term strategic goals. Measures taken in this direction will also continue this year. From the point of view of electrification, the year 2018 was successful for AzerGold. Thus, in 2018, AzerGold CJSC established a centralized electronic system of finance, supply, staff management and warehousing and introduced an electronic document management system. This will also contribute to the transparency of the document flow, as well as accelerate the distribution of documents in electronic form. As a company based on modern standards, AzerGold attaches great importance to creating a safe working conditions and protection of the environment. Therefore, about 100 trainings were conducted with the involvement of representatives of local and foreign companies with professional skills. Environmental requirements in the field of production are carried out in accordance with the approved Program of environmental monitoring. Test results for air, soil, and water samples are within normal limits. All types of waste arising from the company's activities are always under control. At the moment, AzerGold CJSC successfully continues production at the Chovdar deposit. The company told Report that as a result of the successful operation of this field, 319 permanent jobs were opened and taxes in the amount of 10,523,220 manats were paid in 2018. According to the information, this year it is planned to finalize the document on the feasibility study of the underground phase of operation of the Chovdar deposit. In addition, the priority tasks are drilling and related research at the Filizchay field, promising areas of Agyochush, Tulallar and Ortakkend-Khanaga. Along with making a tangible contribution to the development of the non-oil sector and the socio-economic development of the regions, the activities planned by Azer Gold will create favorable conditions for the long-term and comprehensive development of the mining industry. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan will discuss expansion of cooperation in the field of cargo transit along the East-West transport corridor, Trend reports with reference to Azerbaijans Economy Ministry. For this purpose, Azerbaijans delegation headed by Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev will be in Uzbekistan Feb. 4-5. The delegation will include Agriculture Minister Inam Karimov, Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Javid Gurbanov, Chairman of Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO) CJSC Rauf Veliyev, Director General of Baku International Sea Trade Port Taleh Ziyadov and other officials. It is expected that during the visit of the Azerbaijani delegation there will be meetings with officials, as well as with the heads of companies of Uzbekistan. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Massimiliano Santini and Fabrizio Tassinari FLORENCE Earlier this month, Jim Yong Kim abruptly resigned from his post as World Bank president, leaving a pillar of the international financial order without leadership or direction. Kim will join a private equity firm, where he believes he can make the largest impact on major global issues like climate change. True, the private sector has an important role to play in mobilizing funds for upgrading business models to address the threat posed by climate change. But governments and multilateral institutions remain indispensable to securing the comprehensive economic transformation that is needed. The scientific evidence for global warming is unequivocal. According to conservative estimates, an increase in global temperature of more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century would cause widespread environmental devastation. Increasingly severe weather conditions would destroy biodiversity and livelihoods, while straining resources. Rising sea levels would cause coastal towns to disappear. All of this would contribute to social instability and large-scale migration. With the human population expected to reach 8.6 billion by 2030 a billion more than today the only way to achieve our climate goals is to transform the way the world does business. And here, Europe is well-positioned to take the lead by implementing a Green New Deal. The idea of a Green New Deal defined as a national, industrial, economic-mobilization plan that would bring about a rapid transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy is not new. Even US President Barack Obama included the concept in his 2008 campaign platform. Under Obamas leadership, from 2009 to 2016, the United States led the fight against global warming. At home, this meant promoting clean and renewable energy and introducing incentives to spur carbon-reducing innovations in products and services. Internationally, the Obama administration was integral to concluding the 2015 Paris climate agreement. But, under Obamas successor, Donald Trump, the US has gone from climate-action leader to climate-change denier. Now, Democratic members of the new US Congress especially freshman Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are working to renew the push toward a green economy. Over the next two years, however, Congress will probably be largely preoccupied by a broader battle over the legitimacy of the Trump administration. This means that Europe now has an ideal opportunity to lead the worlds green structural transformation, much as it has led on privacy rules and competition policy over the last two decades. To that end, following the European Parliament elections in May, Europes liberal and progressive parties and movements should work to implement a Green New Deal. Success will require, first and foremost, broad public support for a green social contract. But, despite some momentum for example, the Green Partys recent electoral success in the German states of Bavaria and Hesse this will not be easy. As the Yellow Vest protests in France demonstrate, people will not support making the world greener if it makes their daily lives harder. And there is no doubt that the structural transformation required by a Green New Deal for Europe would require vast funding that might otherwise be spent on programs with more visible or immediate benefits. Political leaders advocating a Green New Deal for Europe must therefore work hard to protect citizens interests. As French President Emmanuel Macron put it in an open letter intended to calm the protesters, Making the ecological transition allows us to reduce spending on fuel, heating, waste management, and transport. But to make this transition a success, we need to invest on a huge scale and support our fellow citizens from the most modest backgrounds. Beyond practical pledges, political leaders must provide a convincing and even inspiring narrative to spur climate action. Cognitive scientists, such as George Lakoff, have long argued that people are more responsive to political arguments that are framed according to their own values (as opposed to those of the person making the argument). So, if liberal and progressive forces want a majority of the electorate to support the spending required to mount an effective response to global warming, they need to frame the Green New Deal not unlike US President Franklin D. Roosevelts original New Deal in the 1930s in terms of security. People need to be protected from the instability that increasingly extreme weather will create, and they need support during the transition to greener (higher-quality) employment. Meanwhile, businesses need incentives to pursue the long-term opportunities created by the economic transformation. This unifying emphasis on long-term societal, personal, and economic security would contrast sharply with prevailing populist narratives, which frame security as an identity issue and thus tend to trigger emotional and divisive responses. And there is reason to believe that it could work. One of the key, albeit contested, legacies of Angela Merkels chancellorship in Germany, for example, is her governments leadership of the Energiewende, or energy transformation, which gained traction after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster raised questions about the long-term security of supplies. Other European countries have also demonstrated leadership on global climate action. The Danish government, for example, recently pledged to phase out the sale of all gasoline- and diesel-powered cars by the year 2030, and a broad political consensus sustains the goal of reaching a carbon neutral society by 2050. But, to achieve a safer and more prosperous future, all of Europe and, indeed, the world needs to pull its weight. A transnational compact uniting Europes liberal and progressive movements ahead of the European Parliament election can leverage the force produced by cross-partisan consensus and broaden popular support. Europe desperately needs to take ownership of its future once again. A new vision centered on the Green New Deal can enable it to do just that. Copyright: Project Syndicate: A green new deal for Europe -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 25 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Feb. 4, Trend reports. 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 A second meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been tentatively set for later in February. But recent assessments suggest North Korea remains unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities, as director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told senators last week. President Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un at their summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Why it matters: Trumps summit could be doomed not by Kims mercurial personality but by its impossible objective. Pyongyang may now be too close to its decades-long goal fielding an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that can strike the U.S. with a nuclear warhead for any carrot or stick to change its course. Where it stands: North Korea has demonstrated that it possesses both nuclear weapons and an ICBM with sufficient range to strike any target on the U.S. mainland. It has not yet unveiled a delivery vehicle that can survive atmospheric re-entry before detonating, but protracted and inconclusive negotiations with the U.S could provide time to overcome any remaining challenges. Simply by agreeing to meet, Kim has neutralized Trump's threats last year to strike his nuclear and ballistic missile facilities. As a bonus, he has garnered international legitimacy while dividing the U.S. from South Korea. Between the lines: The failure of four U.S. administrations to stop this threat stems from an assumption that Pyongyang is motivated by a search for security. Yet the regime has not faced a significant threat since war ended in 1953, other than in response to its unilateral aggression. Instead, it seeks a war-fighting capability to dominate the South and even the region. And there is little evidence North Korea faces economic difficulties crippling enough to compel it to relinquish its nuclear achievements. The worst misconception has been to see an ally in China, which has facilitated the threat's growth by ensuring the regimes security from attack and undermining any sanctions that threatened its economy. China also benefits from Washington's floundering on the world stage while its public appeals for help from Beijing go unanswered. The bottom line: It may be too late to prevent North Korea from arming itself with the capacity to destroy U.S. cities. Should it test a prototype, the resulting crisis could spark yet another round of escalating threats and U.S. warnings of military action, to be deflated by a new North Korean proposal to negotiate. More brinkmanship and frenzied alarm, all on Pyongyangs timetable, remain the most likely outcomes. Doug Seay is a former senior staff member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The decision of 11 governments in Latin America, the U.S., the Organization of American States (OAS), and Canada last month to recognize Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate president was many years in the making. The international community has long looked to act on Venezuela, but the incremental measures of President Hugo Chavez and later Nicolas Maduro to roll back the countrys democracy and freedoms failed to provide one specific moment like a traditional military coup that could trigger collective action. Sen. Marco Rubio speaks about the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, in Doral, Fla., on Aug. 23, 2017. Photo: Joe Raedle via Getty Images Commitment to defend representative democracy in the hemisphere has been a central part of regional diplomacy since 2001, when the 34 OAS members signed the 2001 Democratic Charter. But by any measure, the international communitys decision to act last week was a bold move, led at least rhetorically by the U.S., with President Trump twice calling Guaido, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo presenting the case to the UN Security Council, and Vice President Mike Pence meeting with the Carlos Vecchio, Guaidos ambassador to the U.S. Yes, but: For the U.S. and the Trump administration, the move also has electoral ramifications. Since Trump's inauguration, the White House has partially outsourced its Latin America policy to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) through Pence. From Trumps June 2017 announcement in Miami that he would partially roll back Obama's diplomatic opening to Cuba to National Security Advisor John Bolton's November 2018 speech (again in Miami) denouncing what he called the "Troika of Tyranny" (Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela), the ramped-up rhetoric for many in the Latin American diaspora community was electoral red meat. The emphasis is based in no small part on the White House's disproven belief that hard-line Cuban Americans flipped Florida for Trump in 2016 and will play a key role in 2020. The bottom line: The electoral misperception and narrow ideological band of advisors do not inherently render the recent moves by the White House to recognize Guaido and then impose oil sanctions on the Maduro government wrong or ill advised. The question now is how far the policys main boosters Rubio and other Florida politicians such as Sen. Rick Scott will push the White House should these steps fail to budge Maduro. Christopher Sabatini is an adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, executive director of Global Americans and a non-resident fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute. On Sunday, Nayib Bukele, the 37-year-old former mayor of San Salvador, won a first-round victory in El Salvador's presidential election, handily vanquishing candidates from the country's two major parties. Bukele, who was expelled from the left-wing FMLN party in 2017 following an internal dispute and ran as the candidate of the center-right GANA party, made history as the first third-party candidate to win the presidency since the end of El Salvador's civil war in 1992. El Salvador's President-elect Nayib Bukele and his wife, Gabriela Rodriguez de Bukele, in San Salvador, Feb. 3. Photo: Alfredo Zuniga/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Why it matters: El Salvador is a longtime ally and free-trade partner of the U.S., but recent relations have been tense owing to the outgoing government's close ties with Venezuela and its decision last August to drop diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in favor of China. Moreover, El Salvador is 1 of 3 countries, along with Guatemala and Honduras, that together make up Central America's Northern Triangle, which has been a chief source of migrants to the U.S.Mexico border, prompting the ire of the Trump administration. Details: While Bukele had led his chief rivals in polls businessman Carlos Calleja of the conservative ARENA party and former Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez of the FMLN Party his haul of nearly 54% of the first-round votes avoids a runoff that would have occurred on March 10. Voters were disenchanted by the failure of leaders from ARENA and FMLN to curb crime and corruption over the past 25 years, which created an opening for Bukele to emerge as a fresh, new face. During the campaign, Bukele called Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a "dictator" and criticized renewed ties with China, but did not make any major proposals around migration. All this suggests that he may take a more cooperative stance toward Washington. What to watch: El Salvador's population of 6.3 million has been beset in recent years by high crime, stagnant growth and corruption scandals that have shaken faith in government. Bukele leaned heavily on his strong social media presence, including 1.4 million Facebook followers, coupled with tough rhetoric on fighting corruption to win a historic victory. But his campaign was light on details, and it remains to be seen how he will put his governing plans into practice. Daniel P. Erikson is managing director at Blue Star Strategies and a senior fellow at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Global chip sales rose nearly 14% last year to a record $468.8 billion, according to new numbers from the Semiconductor Industry Association. However, growth slowed significantly in the second half as the industry enters what appears to be a period of slower growth. Why it matters: Chips are at the heart of all manner of electronics, from phones and PCs to broader markets like cars and appliances. Plus, unlike the gear they end up in, a significant number of semiconductors are not only designed in the U.S. but also manufactured here. Chip sales growth is seen slowing to just 2.6% this year, according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics organization. "We may be moving into a cyclical period [where we are] experiencing slower growth," SIA CEO John Neuffer said in an interview. But he added that the industry's long-term outlook is "very strong" as more chips go into more products. Slowing growth: Several factors are weighing on the chip business, beyond the fact that it is a cyclical industry that has boomed for the last couple of years. In particular, there are concerns that the U.S.-China trade dispute as well as a slowing domestic Chinese market for consumer electronics could be hurting business. "We want this to get resolved," Neuffer said. "We want the tariffs to get lifted." Ideally, he said, the issues would be resolved in a way that increases intellectual property protections, a key concern for the U.S. high tech community. By the numbers: Total chip unit shipments topped 1 trillion for the first time. Memory was the largest and fastest growing type of semiconductor, with sales up 27.4% to $158 billion. Sales in 2018 rose in every region, led by China, where sales were up 20% for the year. Go deeper: Computer chips are still "Made in USA" Five people were killed and three injured in the crash of a Cessna 414A in a neighborhood in Yorba Linda, California, east of Los Angeles. Early reports and video from the scene show aircraft parts on a street in front of two houses on fire. Fire officials confirmed the casualties and said only the pilot was on the plane. Update: Video has surfaced on the New York Post website purportedly showing the Cessna descending rapidly after bursting into flames. The injured were taken to the hospital with burn injuries. The video below shows that the aircraft was shedding major parts before it came down and it was apparently falling debris that caused the fires. The bulk of the aircraft ended up in the back yard of a house and the fuselage was largely intact. Its early in the investigation and more details will be forthcoming. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- BAIC Group sold 2.402 million vehicles throughout 2018, the automaker announced in recent days. Besides, it earned RMB480.74 billion in annual revenues with a year-on-year growth of 2.2% and RMB30.13 billion in full-year net profits, an increase of 7.3%. Apart from the sales and profit performance, Gasgoo hereby summarizes the automaker's significant events that happened in 2018, helping you review what progresses the automaker made during the past year. DNRC permits Daimler to acquire stake in BAIC BJEV The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) released a reply on Feb. 7, permitting Daimler Greater China Ltd. to acquire a certain stake of BAIC BJEV owned by Shenzhen Jinggangshan New Energy Investment Management Co., Ltd. To prevent the state-owned assets from loss, stake transfer must be conducted in accordance with some relevant regulations. After the stake transfer, Chinese party should take up no less than 50% of the stake in BAIC BJEV. BAIC, Daimler invest RMB 11.9 billion for production expansion On February 25, BAIC Motor revealed its latest investment cooperation with the German automaker. BAIC and Daimler planned to invest over RMB 11.9 billion (about 1.5 million euros) to expand the local production scale of Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles and meet the demands of the largest auto market in the world. The announcement said that the money would be used for the establishment of Beijing Benz's new factory to produce several Mercedes-Benz models, including the electric models. BAIC BJEV sets up new company to expand production of electric powertrains BIAC BJEV planned to establish a subsidiary dubbed Blue Valley Power Company at its existing production base in Caiyu, Beijing, Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said in late February. The first phase of the new power company would achieve an annual production capacity of 100,000 sets of electric vehicle driving system. After it finished construction, the new power company would provide power for the second-gen Senova D70, D50 and X55. With deliveries of 103,199 units in 2017, BAIC BJEV led the pack in the pure electric vehicle segment for five consecutive years, up 97% over the previous year. To meet the increasing market demands, BAIC BJEV not only built a production base in Beijing, but also cooperated with Changzhou, Laixi city of Qiangdao, Shandong Province and Kunming to set up new NEV production bases. Didi, BAIC Group sign strategic agreement to promote carsharing operation On March 7th, Didi, a China's ride-hailing giant, announced that it signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the state-owned automaker BAIC Group to jointly extend businesses in such areas as operation of new energy vehicle (NEV), application of big data, mobility service and tailored vehicle and electric charging, etc. Didi would wield its technology and big data advantages in mobile travelling realm to help automakers obtain large-scale and refined operation capabilities in ridesharing area. BAIC, Magna sign strategic agreement on developing new-gen intelligent BEV models On Apr. 8, in the presence of both Chinese and Austrian governmental leaders, BAIC Group and Magna signed a strategic cooperation agreement, saying both parties would make a commitment to developing new-gen intelligent pure electric vehicle models. This was the first cooperation project between Magna and BAIC Group in electric vehicle area. The move also indicated that Magna achieved great progress for its strategy in China. Guenther Apfalter, president of Magna International Europe AG stated that it was a great honor for Magna to jointly develop new-gen advanced and intelligent pure electric vehicle models with BAIC Group. BAIC Motor launches new brand strategy, teams up with Tencent BAIC Motor launched its all-new brand strategy named new driving enjoyment ecosystem on April 23. Meanwhile, the company signed cooperation agreements with Tencent, Peking University, J.D.Power, Modernsky and BAIC Mobility as its first batch of eco-partners. In addition, BAIC Motor showcased three mass-produced models at the strategy launching ceremony, including the new-generation BAIC Senova X55, BJ40 PLUS and BJ80 EVERST, which were all expected to go on sale this year and unveiled the all-new concept model OFFSPACE SUIT as well. Singulato teams up with BAIC BJEV to develop intelligent vehicles, announces RMB 3 billion C-round funding At Auto China 2018 on Apr. 25, Singulato Motor announced that it would conduct overall strategic cooperation with BAIC BJEV in technology development, construction of battery charging and swapping facility, sharing of dealership network and manufacturing resources. BAIC Huansu releases new brand strategy at Auto China 2018 On Apr. 25, BAIC Huansu, a four-year Chinese self-owned vehicle brand, showcased two new models at Auto China 2018 and also grandly released its new brand strategy in Beijing. As consumption upgraded, BAIC Huansu put forward a new-era strategy based on its own development and upgrades, insisting on intelligent new energy strategy under the concept of double-V strategy to improve its competitiveness in PV and NEV markets. BAIC BJEV launches Darwin System at Auto China 2018 BAIC BJEV launched the vehicle artificial intelligent (AI) system, Darwin System, at Auto China 2018 on Apr. 25. The premium system not only can liberate and please human, but also can be self-developed. Besides, the EU5 equipped with the Darwin System started presale with price range between RMB 129,900 and RMB 161,900, after eliminating the NEV subsidies. The Darwin System is a self-learning system, which can conduct deep self-learning to meet customers' demands. It even can provide considerate services for customers. For instance, the premium system enables the air conditioning system to be automatically turned on before the car owners or passengers enter into the car. What's more, the intelligent cabin system which can realize various application scenarios will be deployed in all the models to be launched during 2018 and 2020. Beijing gives green light to BAIC BJEV autonomous driving road tests BAIC BJEV announced that the company had received Beijing's license to conduct road tests for its autonomous vehicle the LITE on April 26. Along with the Chinese EV (electric vehicle) startup NIO, BAIC BJEV was also included in the first batch of automakers that obtained Beijing's road test license. At Auto China 2018 in Beijing, BAIC BJEV unveiled its AI (artificial intelligence) vehicle system dubbed Darwin System on which the AI sedan EU5 based. Meanwhile, the autonomous model LITE was also showcased at the same time. BAIC BJEV approved to be listed on stock market in June or July by back-door listing On June 1, SST Qianfeng announced that it had been approved by China Security Regulatory Commission to issue stock shares to acquire 100% stake of BAIC BJEV. This signified that BAIC BJEV's back-door listing had been approved by China Security Regulatory Commission, and would be China's first listed pure electric vehicle maker soon. According to the approved files, SST Qianfeng would replace its whole assets and debts to BAIC BJEV, issue stock shares to buy 100% stake of BAIC BJEV, and raise supporting funds worth of RMB 2 billion. Specifically, BAIC BJEV would inject RMB 28.85 billion in SST Qianfeng. After exempting the RMB 187 million worth of SST Qianfeng's total assets and debts, BAIC BJEV only needs to inject RMB 28.669 billion to SST Qianfeng. SST Qianfeng would issue 761 million shares with each share of RMB 37.66 to 35 BAIC BJEV's shareholders, including BAIC Group. SST Qiangfeng changes name, new progress for BAIC BJEV to be listed on A-share market On June 12, SST Qianfeng had officially changed its name as BeiJing QianFeng Electronic Co.Ltd and settled in China Blue Valley (Lan Gu" in Chinese) of Beijing Economic Technological Development Area, where the BAIC BJEV headquarters. At the same time, relevant procedures like the changing of company's name, registered address and business scope have already been approved by governmental departments. BAIC, Magna plan to form new JV to build premium intelligent electric vehicles BAIC BJEV and Canada auto parts supplier Magna signed a cooperation agreement on June 18 in Nanjing, saying that both parties plan to establish two new joint ventures to build open and sharing R&D and manufacturing centers of intelligent premium electric vehicles. According to the agreement, both parties would jointly set up joint ventures to conduct R&D on premium and intelligent electric vehicle sharing platform, customize vehicles based on customers' demands, and provide engineering services of new energy vehicles (NEV). In the meantime, both parties negotiated to carry out intelligent transformation and upgrading on the existing BAIC manufacturing facility in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province to manufacture high-end intelligent electric vehicles. Moreover, models from ARCFOX, BAIC BJEV's high-end vehicle brand, would be manufactured first in the plant. BAIC, Brilliance cooperate in NEV and car-hailing fields BAIC Group and Brilliance Auto Group signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement at the 10th APEC Small & Medium Enterprises Technology Conference and Fair on June 27. In accordance with the agreement, BAIC and Brilliance would cooperate in such areas as new-energy official vehicles, taxies, ride-hailing cars, private cars, express logistics vehicles and car sharing, to jointly promote the popularization of new energy vehicles (NEV) in Shenyang and other Northeastern cities, and further expand their businesses to the whole Chinese market. BAIC BJEV launches new business mode to separate values of EVs, batteries On July 5, BAIC BJEV officially launched a private market-oriented new business mode that separates batteries value from the value of electric vehicles (EV). The business mode was considered as a big move of China's NEV industry in sharing economy area. Compared with fuel-powered vehicles, the business mode that separates batteries value from EV value boasts great cost advantages. Under the business mode of separating batteries value from EV value, battery management companies will repurchase the property rights of batteries and consumers can use the batteries by leasing, after consumers bought the pure electric vehicles. BAIC Group, Great Wall Motor forge partnership, said to share auto parts resources BAIC Group and Great Wall Motor inked a strategic cooperation agreement on August 7. The two automakers were going to forge an in-depth partnership in various areas like sharing auto parts resources. In May, a source revealed that Xu Heyi, chairman of BAIC Group, visited Great Wall Motor's headquarters in Baoding, Heibei province and its assembly plant in Xushui District in the company of Wei Jianjun, who chairs Great Wall Motor. It was said that the aim of Xu's visit was to facilitate BAIC Group's purchase of engines and gearboxes from Great Wall Motor. New BAIC EC 3 officially launched, priced from RMB 65,800 On August 31, BAIC BJEV, the electric vehicle unit of BAIC Group, officially launched the EC 3, an economic battery electric vehicle at the Chengdu Motor Show 2018. With a range of 261 kilometers, the EC3 offers two variants, priced from RMB 65,800 after subsidies. CATL supplies power battery for the model, paired with the battery management system and charging technologies developed by BAIC BJEV itself. The model can be started and charged normally at minus 30 degrees Celsius. BAIC BJEV goes public in Shanghai BAIC BJEV saw its A shares listed on Shanghai stock market on September 27 through a back-door listing, making it China's first publicly-listed NEV maker. BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology Co.,Ltd, the shell company for BAIC BJEV going public, announced on September 25 that its stock short name would be changed to BAIC BluePark from S BluePark with the stock code 600733 remaining unchanged. The decision came into effect on September 27. BAIC BJEV announces mid-long term technology development planning On October 18, BAIC BJEV announced its 2025 mid-long term technology development planning and also elaborated on its artificial intelligence auto system, the Darwin System. Under the plan, 3 platforms would cover the automaker's product line by 2021. In battery system, BAIC BJEV would promote the development of battery platform in line with the complete vehicle platform and planned to finish the matching between complete vehicle platform and battery pack. The company planned to increase the battery density to 350Wh/kg by 2025 and the battery is expected to be charged to 80% in 10 minutes. In autonomous vehicle segment, BAIC BJEV aimed to launch L2.5 autonomous vehicles by 2022 and L4 vehicles by 2025. BAIC Group allies with 12 companies to develop ICV busiensses BAIC Group inked strategic cooperation agreements with 12 companies at the closing ceremony of the World Autonomous Vehicle Ecosystem Conference on October 21 to jointly develop intelligent-connected vehicle (ICV) businesses. Partners involve such companies as ZF Group, Bosch, Hella, Panasonic, iFlytek and Baidu, etc. Under the newly-signed agreements, BAIC Group and 12 partners would extend in-depth cooperation on autonomous driving, IoV (Internet of Vehicles) service and operation system, human-vehicle interaction, speech-based intelligence, cloud platform, the optimization of mobility services and customers' experience. BAIC Group sets up IT joint venture with four subsidiaries BAIC Group, BAIC Motor Corporation Limited (BAIC Motor), BAIC BJEV, BAIC ROCAR and BAIC Mobility agreed to build a joint venture focusing on IT (information technology) businesses, according to an announcement released by BAIC Motor on October 30. The new joint venture (JV) was said to be named BAIC BluePark Information Technology Co.,Ltd. Under the agreement, the registered capital for the new JV would be RMB330 million in total. The parent company BAIC Group would take a 39.4% stake in the JV with a contribution of RMB130 million. The remaining RMB200 million registered capital should be equally devoted by the four subsidiaries. BAIC BJEV, Huawei cement partnership for next-generation ICV On November 5, BAIC BJEV and Huawei inked a cooperation framework agreement in Beijing that cements the partnership between two companies. The new agreement said Huawei would offer its advantage on ICT (Information Communications Technology) to help the EV maker build its next-generation intelligent-connected EVs. Both parties previously formed the partnership on September 27, 2017 to jointly work on technology R&D and product innovation, involving such areas as cloud computing, IoV (Internet of Vehicles) and energy network, etc. The newly-agreed cooperation would allow them to make joint layouts in industrial Internet, intelligent park as well as ICT infrastructures, etc. BAIC Group, Suning.com agree cooperation on smart automobile retail BAIC Group and Suning.com, a Chinese leading online-to-offline smart retail company owned by Suning Holdings Group Co. Ltd, reached a consensus on cooperation of smart automobile retail during Suning Holdings chairman Zhang Jindong's visit to the automaker's headquarters on November 26, according to BAIC BJEV's official WeChat account. According to the agreement, BAIC Group's Beijing Benz, Beijing Hyundai, Foton Motor and BAIC BJEV will involve the collaboration with Suning.com. BAIC BJEV, ROHM Semiconductor jointly build SiC-focused lab On November 30, BAIC BJEV inked an agreement with ROHM Semiconductor, a Japanese electronic parts manufacturer for a joint laboratory that focuses on SiC (silicon carbide)-related products and technologies. The joint lab was unveiling at the same time. The building of the joint lab can be regarded as part of efforts for BAIC BJEV to fortify the strength of technology independent development. Using the lab, the EV maker will make pre-research over new technologies like SiC and be devoted to developing relevant new products together with its Japanese partner. BAIC Mobility upgrades car-sharing business by integrating another BAIC-owned mobility brand BAIC Group announced on December 26 that the hourly car rental business operated by its new energy car-sharing platform QingXiang Technology had been formally integrated into MOREFUN, a car sharing platform of BAIC Mobility. BAIC Group possesses several mobility service brands like BJ. TRAVEL, BAIC Mobility, GreenGo and QingXiang. All of them were initially built for some specific purpose. For instant, BJ. TRAVEL was founded to reform governmental mobility service system and QingXiang was launched to cultivate users' acceptance over new energy vehicles (NEVs) and unlock the sales channels of NEV market. Palmdale, CA (93550) Today Partly cloudy. Windy this evening. Low 67F. SW winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. Windy this evening. Low 67F. SW winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. Metro-Manila aerial tramways Has it been more than two years already? With I-ACT up and running, Danny Lim running the MMDA and another Orbos in the Cabinet, this season of traffic jams and Manila flash floods may just as well be a good time to revive one of the many novel and what some consider as absurd proposals to solve the traffic mess. Recall that one of the many ideas proffered to solve the Metro's congealing traffic that the new administration is studying is the cable car. This out-of-the-box proposal from DOTr Sec. Tugade was welcomed Sen. Grace Poe, the Senate's committee in charge for traffic solutions, which was then studying the grant of emergency powers. At that time, Sec. Tugade's example was the Bolivian city of La Paz, where it's 10.0km long "Telefericos" is its primary public urban transport network to which several other cable car lines, underground rail [subways] and surface transport [buses] integrate to, instead of the other way around. Fairground rides Now we, of these 7,107 islands, may find cable car mass transit a joke considering we are not worthily possessed of the mountain peaks of La Paz, much less an alpine landscape like Switzerland. Our heaving population mega cities are founded on river deltas and coastal keys and not on steep sided mountains, making zig-zag highways or steep climbing cog and rack railways near impossible to build. Moreover, the popular Swiss stereotype impression of cable cars is that of gondolas that take tourists or skiers to the summit for sport or scenery gazing, thanks to memories of the tourist funicular railway in the isle of Capri or Ocean Park Hong Kong. Zip lines with Gondolas? But we are no strangers to cable cars, thanks to out-of-favor oligarch Bobby Ongpin who insisted on a funicular for the first phase of Tagaytay Highlands back in the FVR-era nineties. And if memory serves us right, a rather appropriate aerial tram was part of the package of plans proposed by a Taiwanese investor that was to take over and link John Hay Air Base in Baguio, Mountain Province to Poro Point in La Union by the sea. The latest proposals using funiculars are from some LGU that proposed man-made islands resorts reclaimed from Laguna de Bay to reach the hillsides of the Sierra Madre. Up in the air, and quick The cable car as mass transit is catching on in Latin America and China's populous cities more so than in other parts of the world. They are built far faster than BRT [Bus Rapid Transit] or railways and operate at a tenth of the cost. For the 2012 London Olympics, Emirates Airlines took 10 months to build a funicular connecting North Greenwich to the Royal Docks over the River Thames. Funicular railways require far less right of way private property expropriation than road or rail expansion, though the question of "air" rights has to be tackled in applying such to our local urban areas. Slow, quiet, serene and over the city The capacity of the gondola's in the rather extensive network in La Paz Bolivia are at 3,000 pax per hour per direction, equivalent to the full capacity of a hundred stretch Jeepneys. Though their languid pace of 16.0km/h limits their turn around frequency, cable cars are one of the most quiet, flood free and arguably the most scenic means of safe public transport. In Rio, the cable cars hover in safety over the more dangerous favelas, communities that have been known to have random and frequent drug gang gunfights. Rio's middle class "Cariocas" , dependent on local hire domestic help who commute to the classier parts of Rio, live in the favelas. So just like their counterparts in other Central and Southern American cities, cable cars are the favored means of cheap and reliable transportation. Condo to hillside direct transport Beyond the obvious applications of funiculars in cities like Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao, cities that have sea shore and mountainside communities, funiculars can have an application in the Antipolo elevations of Metro Manila. Contrary to popular opinion, cable cars are not necessarily just for hilly or mountainous regions. Since funiculars have the advantage of less construction on the ground as cables are far lighter than beams or girders so pylons can be installed far apart - aerial trams can serve as efficient medium capacity cross Metro commuter transport. Access to stations can be elevated by being co-hosted in the many upcoming mixed used high rises going up in the Metro, like those ubiquitous condos built by SMDC [Shoe Mart Development Corp.]. Moreover, the cable pylons or towers have a foot print the size of a NGCP [National Grid Corporation of the Philippines] High Power line pylon and the great distance between pylons reduce the need to buy real estate, though there may have to be a compensation mechanism to owners of "air" rights over private property. Go West or East A first "MetroCable", "Aerotram" or "FuniculaMLA" could begin in the Folks Art Theater/Cultural Center of Philippines reclamation area and terminate in the vicinity of the Antipolo Basilica of Our Lady of Good Voyage. Several reasons favor this route. For one, the West-to-East Metro commuter only has scattered and dissonant PUV routes to choose from. LRT-2 serves a radial route for the North East quadrant of the City while the proposed LRT-4 is only a short stretch from EDSA to Rosario via Ortigas Ave. Straight path over the crowded and the crooked Moreover, FuniculaMLA's 1st route passes through zones where an LRT or BRT line would have to kink and curve at many areas in order to follow a mishmash of narrow radial avenues that can afford a reasonable amount of existing public road right of way to minimize expropriating private property over densely populated communities. Besides, there is hardly anymore available at-grade road space on the proposed route along Quirino Ave., Pedro Gil and the narrow streets of San Andres and Pasig City. Air rights will also have to be tackled at some point along the way. Sunset boulevard to hill top From FAT/CCP, the cableway route will cross Roxas Boulevard, pass between the Yacht Club and Bangko Sentral to proceed to Quirino Ave. The funicular railway will cross over LRT-1, providing an interchange station in the Taft Ave. area. The route then crosses over MMSS3 [Metro Manila Skyway Stage3], then curves to align over Pedro Gil. As the route approaches the Santa Ana Church and Plaza Calderon, the route then curves over the San Andres area to align on the banks of the Pasig River. It would be ideal that the funicular railway stations also have access to the Pasig River Ferry system. This Pasig River alignment follows former MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino's Pasig River Skyway all the way up to EDSA-MRT station and C-5/Bagong Ilog at which point the route now leaves the Pasig river to cable over flood prone Pasig and the end of R-5/Ortigas Ave. in Cainta. Then the cable route begins its hillside ascent to terminate at the Antipolo Basilica's plaza. The "high" way home It doesn't take much to imagine that such an aerial journey would take in scenic spots like the Manila Bay sunset and the hills of Antipolo. At night, the view of the city's pin-lit residences and monstrous billboards will be a sight to ease commuter's woes. Moreover, commuters riding the high capacity gondolas are spared from road noise and stench. The gondolas should be air conditioned and provide seats for both seated and standing passengers. The Swiss, German or Japanese manufacturers and designers should ensure that the gondolas are stabilized against high winds and from gusts and thunderstorms. We don't expect the gondolas to be typhoon proof as public transport systems are grounded the moment storm winds hit Signal No. 4 anyway. Emergency protocols should be established in cases of earthquake or if there is a fire along the route. SkyTrip For the first stage of the Metro's first "AeroTram", "MetroCable" or "FuniculaMLA", fares should be set to be on par with the per kilometer charge of the MRT/LRT so that it will be affordable. Ticketing should follow existing practice using load anywhere AF Payments Bep Card fare collection system. We should be so lucky if this idea takes off. There have been a few Bills that were being passed lately, seeking to improve road safety in the Philippines. There's Senate Bill 1971 which requires the use of child seats in cars for those under the age of 12. And then there's House Bill 8761, otherwise known as the Road Safety Education Act, which seeks to include road safety lessons in school curriculum. Now, the Senate has passed a Bill which will serve as a remembrance for the millions killed in road traffic accidents. That is Senate Bill 2156, authored by Senator Aquilino Koko Pimentel III, and is now known as the National Day Of Remembrance For Road Traffic Victims In The Philippines. With that, the SB 2156 is pushing for the remembrance every third Sunday of November. According to the Explanatory Note, 'This yearly event will be an opportune time to remember those who perished in road crashes and acknowledge the grief of their families, to recognize the suffering of road crash survivors and their families, to salute the work of support and rescue services, and to raise about the importance of road safety'. The Senate Bill supplements Proclamation No. 2092 series of 2010, which calls for the annual observance of 'World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims'. The day of remembrance this year will be held on November 17, 2019, Sunday. Foton Motor Philippines, Inc. (FMPI), the official distributor of Foton vehicles in the country, is opening 2019 with a bang. In an effort to reinforce the brand's confidence, open bigger possibilities, and create grander breakthroughs, Foton launched what they have dubbed the Kayang-Kaya Brand campaign. "We arrived in the Philippine shores last 2006, and started out with just a single pick-up and light-duty truck. Although the name was relatively new to the local market, I took the risk, and did the best that I could do to move this business forward," shared Foton Philippines president Rommel Sytin. Kayang-Kaya embraces the spirit of resilience and capability that has been in our brands DNA since the beginning. Over the years, we have invested in improving the reliability of our vehicles along with the continuous work on strengthening the customer experience through a focus on our after-sales service. That makes up the heart of this campaign he added. In the last quarter of 2018, Foton Philippines bagged the 9th spot in the ranking of top automotive brands in the Philippines. We see this campaign as something relevant to the Filipinos. It does not just promote possibilities in capabilities; it also depicts our positive outlook in all situations, no matter how tough and challenging they get, said Foton Philippines Executive Vice President Anna Maria Parado. The fact weve got a diverse product portfolio means the future for us is very much around being a brand that sticks at every single life stage. Its about making sure we have models that fit into the Filipinos' needs. We also want to imply that with Kayang-Kaya, we are not just the ones capable. Through our promotions such as low down payment and low monthly payment schemes, those in need of vehicles are given the biggest chances to avail vehicles that are heavy on the features, yet light in the pockets in the most convenient ways possible. With Foton, every journey becomes easy. Anumang byahe ng buhay, kayang-kaya, Parado closed. Fortifying the brands nationwide launch of new passenger and commercial vehicles, innovative and timely aftersales programs, and incessantly growing 3S dealerships, the Kayang-Kaya campaign highlights Fotons highly-improved capabilities focusing on customer-driven innovations that will aspire and brave their respective life journeys through the 'can-do' attitude. Aiming to inspire and engage family men, business owners, and drivers on a deeper and more emotional level, Foton created a multi-channel campaign infused with pride, confidence, and emotions, highlighting the brands commitment to support the creation of a more inclusive and sustainable society in which everyone can challenge their impossible. Kayang-Kaya shares how Foton becomes part of the daily living of Filipino families and businesses by highlighting real-life mobility stories that demonstrate values of love for the family, determination, hard work, and positivity. When Chrysler came out with the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager in 1983 for the 1984 model year, everyone took notice. Minivans might not be in favor with the family-oriented public these days, but despite the crossover-driven trends in the market, the legacy of the Caravan and Voyager cant be ignored.The Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Grand Caravan soldier on for the 2019 model year unchanged, and sensing an opportunity, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles decided to develop 35th Anniversary editions for both. Presented just ahead of the Chicago Auto Show, these people carriers feature an all-black interior with Cranberry Wine stitching on the steering wheel, door trim, and seats. 35th Anniversary badging can be found on the floor mats, as well as the front grille and even the liftgate. Available as a package on the Pacifica Touring L, Touring L Plus and Limited, the 35th Anniversary can also be paired with the Pacifica Hybrid. Customers can add the S package too, featuring blacked-out garnish.In the case of the Grand Caravan, the 35th Anniversary is available on the SE and SXT trim levels. Even though the Dodge rides on the Chrysler RT platform and the Pacifica is underpinned by the Compact U.S. Wide, both come with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine.Starting at $26,650, the Grand Caravan capable of 25 miles to the gallon on the highway while delivering 283 horsepower. The Pacifica starts at $26,995, delivers up to 28 mpg thanks to the nine-speed automatic transmission, and produces 287 horsepower.Because its living on borrowed time in the shadow of the Pacifica, the Grand Caravan is set to be replaced in 2020. At the North American International Auto Show in 2018, Sergio Marchionne told the media he needs another minivan . Its going to be in line with the Pacifica architecture. EV kWh Its natural to assume the 2020 Nissan Juke will go greener thanks to the partnership with Renault, coming courtesy of e-Tech . Thats the hybrid-electric powertrain previewed by the Eolab Concept in 2015, consisting of the internal combustion engine, starter/generator e-motor, and multi-mode transmission.The question is, could Renault and Nissan develop EVs on the CMF-B? Given the rising popularity of electrification, Nissan Europe product planning head Peter Bedrosian said its a perfect combination. Were working on several powertrain options at the moment. Auto Express , therefore, believes the Jukeis right around the corner. The Renault Zoe will be redesigned from the ground up for 2020, riding on the CMF-EV announced in June 2018 as part of the Drive the Future strategy.The " new alliance electrical platform " will be produced in Douai, France, and the "new generation electric motor" will go into production in 2021 in Cleon. As for the Zoe, the allocation of a new platform in Flins is scheduled for late-2019.As far as rumors are concerned, were guessing the Juke EV could come to fruition. If Nissan can make a case for an electric crossover with the 62-battery from the Leaf e+, then the Hyundai Kona Electric would need to step up its game.Competition also includes Kia, and sooner rather than later, Tesla with the Model Y. The difference in pricing and size could favor the Nissan in Europe and the United Kingdom, but only time will tell how this segment of the automotive industry will evolve going forward into the 2020s.According to recent reports on the 2nd Gen Juke, the newcomer will be revealed this summer. Despite the fact the X-Trail is moving to Japan , production of the Juke for Europe will continue in Sunderland, UK. The Corrs team was headed by senior partner Fadi Khoury, who said the firm is proud to support a long-standing client. Khoury, who joined Corrs in late 2017, designed the agricultural investment fund managed by Laguna Bay. Khoury was supported by special counsel Jaclyn Riley-Smith, senior associate William Lehane, and lawyer Magan Goh. Partner Ben Emblin and special counsel Suzanne Berben also provided assistance. The teams work has earned praise from their client. It was a monumental effort by Corrs. The team demonstrated outstanding technical legal skills, as well as a deep understanding of our business and the ability to anticipate our needs, Laguna Bay corporate counsel Samantha Bryce said. Fadi Khoury Beddows three year term leading the Ashurst office has recently ended and he has been succeeded by Ruth Harris. Beddow had been a partner at the firm for more than 20 years and held several leadership roles including global co-head of corporate. Meanwhile, Ashurst corporate partner Robert Ogilvy Watson is joining London-based Macfarlanes as a partner in its M&A practice. He specialises in advising corporate clients and financial institutions in relation to their M&A transactions. NRF putting extra energy and resources into Perth Two new corporate M&A partners are joining the growing energy and resources practice of Norton Rose Fulbright in Perth. Jessica Davies joins from Clifford Chance in the city but has worked across Australia as well as having international experience in Asia, the US, Europe, and Africa. She is admitted to practice in Australia and New York. David Jewkes is no stranger to the firm, having previously been with the Perth, Melbourne, and Hong Kong offices; along with secondments to the The 2014 Louisiana law requires doctors to have privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion facility. Abortion-rights advocates say the measure will leave the state with only one clinic and a single doctor who can perform abortions. But a federal appeals court said on a 2-1 vote that the law wasnt forcing any clinics to close. The court said doctors werent making good-faith efforts to get the hospital admitting privileges they need to comply with the law. The vast majority largely sat on their hands, assuming that they would not qualify, Judge Jerry Smith wrote for the majority. Whole womans health A Shreveport abortion clinic and two unidentified doctors are asking the Supreme Court to block the ruling while the justices consider whether to take up an appeal. The appeals court ruling is set to take effect Monday unless the Supreme Court intervenes, though the state says no clinic would have to close immediately and there would be a lengthy process to determine compliance. In a court filing Friday, the clinic and doctors said the impact would be immediate. The law, known as Act 620, imposes civil and criminal penalties for noncompliance. Support local journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by making a contribution. Online Access for Print Subscribers. Do you have a print subscription with the Argus-Press? If yes, then click here to enjoy complimentary access to our Online Content! A delegation from the UAE Space Agency has taken part in a series of meetings and workshops at the French Space Agency (CNES) as a part of the development of an international Space Climate Observatory (SCO). The SCO aims to support the monitoring of climate change impacts with data from space, in order to provide decision-makers with the information necessary for the implementation of mitigation measures and the development of new solutions to the challenges posed by climate change. Led by Dr. Mohammed Al Ahbabi, Director General of the UAE Space Agency, the delegation from the UAE Space Agency met its counterparts from the French Space Agency in Paris to discuss the framework and implementation of the SCO initiative. The SCO was endorsed by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, during the One Planet Summit on December 12, 2017. Prior to its official endorsement, the UAE Space Agency joined other international agencies in signing a common declaration called the Paris Declaration towards a Space Climate Observatory, confirming its interest in participating in the initiative and contributing to the development of the SCO. The UAE is engaged in addressing the challenges posed by climate change and considers developing solutions to the issue critical to maintaining national and international economic and social growth, said Dr. Mohammed Al Ahbabi, Director General of the UAE Space Agency. The space sector and agencies around the world have a significant role to play in contributing to the management of climate change through the provision of timely and accurate scientific data gathered from space. We believe that international cooperation and knowledge sharing are essential to tackling climate change, and we are proud to represent one of the two Arab countries invited to participate in the SCO initiative. Our participation is facilitated by the UAEs advanced remote sensing and Earth observation capabilities, provided by a range of satellites including KhalifaSat, DubaiSat-1, DubaiSat-2 and other smaller satellites designed to monitor specific elements of the Earth and its atmosphere such as CO2 and methane levels, concluded Dr. Al Ahbabi. Initiated by the French Space Agency, the Space Climate Observatory is being developed to provide States and the international scientific community with all the space data necessary for monitoring the Earths environment and climate. The initiative is supported by all European space agencies, as well as other States including the UAE, China, India, Russia, Mexico and Morocco. Emirates and China Southern Airlines have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to progress a comprehensive reciprocal codeshare agreement, which is set to open up new destinations for passengers travelling between China and the Middle East and Africa. The partnership with the Guangzhou-based carrier also allows Emirates passengers to enjoy seamless connectivity on domestic flights within China, adding eight new destinations to its global network. The Chinese cities covered by the codeshare agreement include Fuzhou, Chongqing, Kunming, Qingdao, Xiamen, Chengdu, Nanjing and Xi 'an during the initial phase of the partnership, subject to necessary government approvals. Passengers travelling from China will have more choice and travel seamlessly with minimum connection times, when flying to destinations in Emirates Middle East network such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Muscat, Kuwait and Cairo. The codeshare agreement also includes flights to African destinations such as Seychelles and Lagos, operated by Emirates. With the UAEs visa-free policy for Chinese visitors, passengers can also enjoy hassle-free stopovers in Dubai, and experience what the city has to offer before flying to their final destinations. The codeshare partnership will provide customers with the simplicity of purchasing connecting flights using one reservation, and a smooth ticketing, check-in, boarding and baggage check experience during the entire journey. Were pleased to establish a partnership with China Southern Airlines, allowing Emirates customers to benefit from increased choice, flexibility and ease of connection to different cities across Chinas provinces, by connecting in Guangzhou. The addition of the eight domestic routes in the initial stage expands our reach in China, beyond the three Chinese hub cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, said Adnan Kazim, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning, Revenue Optimisation & Aeropolitical Affairs. In addition to enhancing our global network, China Southerns customers will be able to seamlessly travel to destinations within the Middle East and Africa and beyond on a single ticket. The signing is especially monumental for Emirates, as it represents the first codeshare agreement between Emirates and a China-based airline. It is also the largest airline in China by passenger numbers so we are excited by the prospects the agreement brings. This will be an important milestone in our efforts to deepen Emirates' presence in the Chinese market, continued Kazim. Strengthening cooperation is the long-term strategy of China Southern, said Han Wensheng, chief operating officer of China Southern Air Holding Company. Emirates is our first bi-directional partner in the Middle East, and we are very pleased to enter into a codeshare partnership with Emirates. It signifies a key step for China Southern in the process of building new international partnerships. While codesharing is only the start of our cooperation, cooperative opportunities in a wider range of fields such as freight, frequent flyer benefits, lounge access, and airport collaboration will be explored in the future. Dubai World Central (DWC) welcomed a total of 900,000 passengers in 2018 (-0.5%) following a surge in customer numbers in Q3 (+26.1%) and moderate growth in Q4 (+3%) last year. Top destinations The top regions contributing to growth in traffic at DWC include CIS (408,747 passengers) which grew by 44.4%, Western Europe (196,355 passengers) surging 107.9%, and Eastern Europe (186,655 passengers), which grew 3.7%. Russia was the top country destination with customer traffic reaching 405,976 followed by Germany (169,307) and Lebanon (55,103 customers). Some of the top destination cities during the year were Moscow (121,049 passengers), Beirut (55,103 passengers), and Katowice (43,906 passengers). Flights A total of 29,959 flights took off or landed at DWC during 2018 (-12.4% YoY). Cargo DWC moved a total of 258,375 tonnes of freight in Q4 bringing the total cargo volume for the year to 987,986 tonnes (+1.6%). Outlook DWC is gearing up for a major surge in activity in the second quarter of 2019, when the Southern Runway Refurbishment project will be underway at Dubai International (DXB). The closure of DXBs Southern runway from April 16 to May 30th, 2019 will reduce the airports capacity making DWC an attractive alternate to absorb affected scheduled, charter, cargo and general aviation operations. The 45-day period will be a great opportunity for the emerging airport to showcase its newly expanded facilities that can now accommodate up to 26.5 million passengers annually. Driving Factors Include Increased Orders, Passenger Traffic Growth and Retrofitting The aircraft interiors market is predicted to be worth $40.2 billion by 2025, according to marketsandmarkets. With the industry seeing such growth, Aircraft Interiors Middle East (AIME), returning to Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) 11-12 February for its tenth edition, is yet again set to provide the ideal platform for solution providers and suppliers to meet with representatives of airlines from around the world. AIME traditionally attracts global airline representatives and the 2019 edition is no exception, with representatives from KLM, Air France and Tunisair confirmed to attend the two day event alongside those from Etihad, Emirates and Oman Air. One of the key drivers for industry growth is increased aircraft orders, of which the Middle East airlines hold a significant percentage. In addition, airlines such as Emirates and others in the Gulf are leading the way in terms of investment in innovations for passenger comfort, making the Middle East the ideal location for suppliers and airlines to meet and learn about the newest opportunities. Exhibitors at AIME will be showcasing their products and services that include the entire spectrum of the aircraft interiors market, from lighting providers such as Beadlight and Madelec Aero to seating providers including Starling Aerospace and textile suppliers like Botany Weaving. Other sectors that are represented include flooring, galley equipment and many more from both returning companies and those who will be exhibiting for the first time in 2019. AIME has long been known as the ideal place to meet the right people from the right airlines, said Caryn McConnachie, Aerospace director of show organisers Tarsus F&E LLC Middle East. Exhibitors know that as the only dedicated aircraft interiors event in the Middle East, AIME is the annual opportunity to connect with the key links in the buying chain to ensure business gets done. We are thrilled to see representatives of so many key airlines attending and are confident that they will be impressed with the products, services and solutions on display from our exhibitors. Purchase an online subscription to our website for $7.99 a month with automatic renewal. Each online subscription gives you full access to all of our newspaper websites and mobile applications. To cancel you may contact Customer Service @ 256-235-9253 or email JPAYNE@ANNISTONSTAR.COM For a limited time, for NEW SUBSCRIBERS ONLY a NEW ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION is just $59.99 for the first year. Existing customers do not qualify for the specials! After the first year, well automatically renew your subscription to continue your access at the regular price of $69.99 per year. Please note *Your Subscription will Automatically Renew unless you contact Customer Service To Cancel* Posted on: February 4, 2019 5:46 PM The Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, has paid a visit St Georges Anglican Church in Baghdad. The Prime Minister was greeted by the parish priest, Father Faiz Jerjes, who gave a tour of the church complex, including its clinic and school, and briefed him on the Anglican presence in the Country. St Georges has a long history of peace-building and reconciliation in the region. In 2017, Father Faiz was recognised by the Iraqi Ministry of Culture as one of the countrys Distinguished Personalities of the Year; and last year the Iraqi Army presented him with an award in honour of his outstanding contribution to peaceful co-existence in Iraq. Now, the Iraqi Prime Minister has added his support, thanking Father Faiz and his staff for all they do for the nation, the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf said. Iraq has experienced near-constant conflict for since the 1940s, culminating more recently with a series of insurgency attacks, including a concerted effort by Daesh the so-called Islamic State to take control of the country. The attempt was defeated by the Iraqi army with a range of international support. St Georges Church in Baghdad has developed a reputation for its peace-building and reconciliation ministry. And it has continued to support the local community through the provision of healthcare and education facilities. Its social initiatives include work to reconcile people from different religious groups, and to confront hate speech. Last year the Church expanded its education provision when the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Cardinal-Patriarch Louis-Raphael I Sako, Patriarch of Babylon, officially opened the new Anglican School of the Redeemer al-Fadi extending to primary-level the already popular infant provision. Some 90 per cent of the schools students are from Muslim families. Xiaomi previously announced that Redmi is becoming a separate entity, essentially a sub-brand, and the company has already released one catch-all phone since then, but it seems like its planning to introduce a flagship device as well. Its executive basically just confirmed that a Snapdragon 855-powered Redmi smartphone is coming. This information was confirmed by Lu Weibing, a CEO of Redmi, and a former Gionee president. He confirmed the news via his official Weibo (Chinese social network) account, by posting a photo of him and Redmi crew in Xiaomis Shenzhen R&D institute, where the future of Redmi has been discussed, as well as the companys upcoming devices. Mr. Weibing did not really want to hide anything, as he revealed that he and his crew talked about two smartphones during that meeting, the Redmi Note 7 Pro, and a Snapdragon 855-powered flagship. There is still no info when it comes to the Snapdragon 855-powered flagship, other than the fact it will be the companys new flagship handset, and it will probably be more affordable than the Xiaomi Mi 9 which Xiaomi is expected to announce in the near future. Advertisement At this point in time, we do not know how far away in its planning is Redmi, when it comes to the Snapdragon 855-powered flagship, but considering that Mr. Weibing arrived to the company not long ago, and considering the fact that the company became a separate entity not long ago, the Redmi-branded Snapdragon 855-powered device may not arrive as soon as you think. Redmi Note 7 Pro, What To Expect? As far as the Redmi Note 7 Pro is concerned, its safe to say that it will be similar to the Redmi Note 7 in many ways. The Redmi Note 7 Pro is basically expected to sport the same design as the Redmi Note 7, and probably even the same size, but it will include a more powerful processor on the inside, and quite possibly more RAM. Advertisement The Redmi Note 7 is fueled by the Snapdragon 660 64-bit octa-core processor, which managed to surprise quite a few people, as the Snapdragon 710 was expected. Well, the Redmi Note 7 Pro will not go the Snapdragon 710 route either, it seems, as rumors are claiming that Xiaomi will include the Snapdragon 675 64-bit octa-core SoC instead. The device is expected to ship with t6GB of RAM, compared to 3GB, 4GB, and 6GB RAM Redmi Note 7 variants. The Redmi Note 7 Pro is expected to sport the same design as the Redmi Note 7, which means it will be made out of metal and glass, and it will sport a waterdrop display notch, along with a thin chin below the display. The phone will probably include two cameras on the back, 48 and 5-megapixel cameras, while a single 13-megapixel camera will be utilized on its front side. Expectations For Redmis SD855 Flagship Advertisement No info has been shared about this phone, but its quite possible it will be made out of metal and glass. It is still unclear whether it will sport a display notch or a display camera hole, but chances are well see one of the two included on the phone. Two or three cameras will be placed on the back of the device, and in addition to the Snapdragon 855, you can expect to see at least 6GB of RAM, at least thats our guess. Redmi will probably want to include a rather large display on this phone, though its not out of the question that well see more than one variant of the device available in the market. Android 9 Pie is expected to come pre-installed on the device, along with Xiaomis MIUI 10, while it remains to be seen if Xiaomi will opt for a capacitive fingerprint scanner, or an in-display one. Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei was targeted by a sting operation organized by the FBI during the 2019 iteration of Consumer Electronics Show which took place in Las Vegas early last month, a Monday report revealed. The move was made in response to concerns raised by Akhan Semiconductor, an American startup from the Greater Chicago Area that recently celebrated the sixth anniversary of its establishment. The company provided Huawei with samples of its Miraj Diamond Glass technology in 2017 and later suspected the Shenzen-based conglomerate dissected and harvested the prototypes with the intentions of stealing them, having based those suspicions on the fact that the modules were returned in an extremely damaged state. Glass, spying, and burgers Advertisement Akhan founder Adam Khan personally shared those concerns were communicated with the FBI and the investigation that followed led to last months sting in Las Vegas where authorities are understood to have been surveilling a burger joint. Mr. Khan and Akhan COO Carl Shurboff were subsequently helping the FBI collect evidence, with the majority of their related activities amounting to taping conversations with Huawei officials. The tech at the center of the ordeal is advertised as being up to ten times more scratch-resistant and six times tougher (i.e. less likely to break) than Cornings Gorilla Glass, a family of chemically strengthened protective glass modules for small- and medium-sized consumer electronics that remains an industry standard even after more than a decade on the market. Akhan already confronted several Huawei officials with its concerns but was met with dismissal and evasion. The worlds largest telecom equipment vendor is supposedly still interested in the startups solutions, though that stance is likely to change should the two end up in the court of law over the matter. Advertisement Who isnt crying trade secret theft? While this is far from Huaweis first rodeo in the world of intellectual property law and litigation, as evidenced by its troubled history, the company faced some massive tests in recent months; the latest news on that front came just last week after a federal court unsealed a 13-count indictment against Huawei, two of its subsidiaries, and its CFO Meng Wanzhou, also the daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei. Ms. Wanzhou is presently battling the DOJs extradition request and is exploring options for avoiding the scrutiny of the stateside judicial system. While she and Huaweis satellites in question are accused of participating in an illegal banking scheme that defrauded banks and sought to provide the conglomerate with a method for circumventing the Commerce Departments trade embargoes imposed on Iran. Advertisement The DOJ is also suspecting Huawei of stealing protected trade secrets from T-Mobile those pertaining to its touchscreen experience testing robot Tappy, having said as much in its indictment. T-Mobile already sued the company over the matter several years back an while the case surprisingly didnt end with a settlement, the wireless carrier also appeared to have been robbed of a clear-cut victory as it failed to prove Huawei engineers who infiltrated its labs stole components and sketched Tappy designs at the behest of the firms senior leadership. Motive aside, the acts themselves are well-documented, to the point that some of the evidence already procured by government officials is ridiculously incriminating and spells really bad news for Huawei. Samsung might borrow a page from Chinese OEM Vivo and employ a pop-up selfie camera for the upcoming Galaxy A90, according to a recent tweet from known leakster Ice Universe. This would translate into a clean design with thin bezels all around and no display notches or punch holes. The Samsung Galaxy A90 is expected to be part of the OEMs new A-series said to abandon the single digit naming scheme, so in essence it will succeed devices like the Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) and its Galaxy A9 Pro sibling, the latter of which was launched earlier in January in South Korea featuring an Infinity-O display, i.e. the OEMs only display to ditch the idea of a display notch in favor of a punch hole for the front-facing camera for better or worse. Up until now the Korean OEM successfully avoided the rectangular-shaped notch trend but if the latest tip proves to be correct then it might not be long before Samsung abandons the Infinity-O, Infinity-V, and Infinity-U panels as well. At the least, Samsung seems to be considering other solutions for a full-screen display beside display cutouts, and the earlier implementations of a truly full-screen design might be based on a pop-up selfie camera. Advertisement The first OEM to adopt this unusual design was Vivo with the unveiling of the APEX in the spring of 2018, later to be evolved into the Vivo NEX. Arguably this has been one of the most elegant solutions to the display notch problem so far, although other OEMs like OPPO have done something similar by devising a different slide-out mechanism concealing both the front and rear-facing cameras. By the sound of it, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A90 could have a pop-up mechanism similar to Vivos solution, but as yet its unclear whether other smartphones in its series will also adopt this design or if the OEM will experiment with the technology solely through the launch of the Galaxy A90. So far a number of devices from this upcoming lineup have been rumored to be in the works, including the Galaxy A10, Galaxy A40, and Galaxy A50, but details are scarce and their design unknown. A slide-out or pop-up camera mechanism is likely out of the question for Samsungs first big release this year, i.e., the Galaxy S10 flagship series, at least judging by the various images that leaked so far. Instead, based on preliminary renders the Samsung Galaxy S10 will have a circular punch hole in the upper-right corner of the screen, while its larger sibling, the Galaxy S10+ could feature a display cutout shaped more like a rounded rectangle, fit for a dual front-facing camera module. Assuming that the OEM will launch a device with a pop-out camera and the design proves to be successful, it could be implemented on other future devices as well. Advertisement The Samsung Galaxy A90 doesnt have an official launch date just yet, and it remains to be seen what camera configuration it will feature, with or without a pop-up camera. The Galaxy A9 (2018) launched in November boasts a 24-megapixel front-facing unit along with four rear-facing cameras aligned vertically, including a 24-megapixel wide-angle and 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle sensors, as well as a 10-megapixel telephoto shooter with 2X optical zoom. They are absolutely right about that. But what exactly is it that we are "knowing"? The mantra presupposes that the "facts" we are "knowing" are delivered to readers and viewers without bias or malice, that the media eschew the temptation to shape and manipulate public opinion to achieve a desired political end. The Washington Post sponsored an ad during the Super Bowl that may have been the most pretentious, the most exaggerated paean to the religion of journalism ever created. They call it "Democracy dies in darkness," and it features a grand, sweeping musical score and actor Tom Hanks seriously intoning the importance, the necessity, and the need to worship journalism. But they don't. And they hide their blatant bias behind pious mouthings about press freedom, making it seem as if journalism were somehow sacred and above reproach or criticism. Being a journalist is a calling, they claim, sort of like priests but without the celibacy requirement. The Washington Post spent millions on this ad, and the reviews were decidedly mixed. I could have made that WaPo ad in about 20 minutes and I only would have charged $2 million. (Would have had @BrentScher do voice over) David Rutz (@DavidRutz) February 4, 2019 Yeah, I have a lot of friends who work at the WaPo, but that ad was masturbatory mush. It will only hurt their brand. Esoteric Jeff (@EsotericCD) February 4, 2019 That WaPo ad about the importance of the media in this time of darkness included clips of Fox News reporters. Isaac Chotiner (@IChotiner) February 4, 2019 Daniel Greenfield writes of the demise of the Newseum a $450-million religious shrine to the media and why so many news outlets are failing. The media has never addressed the fundamental problem with its business model. It wants a monopoly on the marketplace of ideas even as its own positions drift further leftward. It has tried to outgrow that problem by becoming a bigger monopoly, but the internet limited the extent to which its old infrastructure investments could monopolize the public square, leaving its expensive investments in broadcasting and printing equipment as useless as the massive square footage of the Newseum. And when that failed, the media swung fully leftward, becoming the messaging arm of the most radical elements in the country, while campaigning vigorously for the censorship of social media "fake news". But its new masters rightly view it with contempt. "They call us to explain to them what's happening in Moscow and Cairo," Ben Rhodes once sneered to the New York Times. "Most of the outlets are reporting on world events from Washington. The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns. That's a sea change. They literally know nothing." Greenfield pegs the Newseum for exactly what it is: The Newseum white elephant at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue isn't just narcissistic idolatry, it celebrates an idea of journalism that doesn't exist. Journalism now is a bunch of millennial social justice activists playing dress-up. They're not a profession or an industry. They don't report. They don't know anything. And they don't serve the public. It's not our fault that the people they really work for, won't pay them. Journalism is as extinct as the worshipers of Thoth and the Newseum. The media sold off its temple last week, but long before that its hacks and flacks had sold their soul. "Journalism" is a craft, not a calling. There used to be established rules about how a news story was presented, how it was created and formed. A bricklayer would have recognized the process and probably could have done as good a job as most reporters. But today, there is little "news" in the traditional sense of the word, only opinion. "Facts" are organized to reflect a point of view. The facts themselves may be accurate. But it matters how they are presented. Facts can be shaded, giving them more or less emphasis. Facts can be manipulated to tell the story that the editor wants to tell. It also matters what stories are chosen to be published and where they are placed. The "process" would be unrecognizable to real journalists. That, ultimately, is why media outlets are failing in record numbers. Donald Trump has popularized the notion that inconvenient or politically damaging facts aren't real news that he is the arbiter of a special reality where only praise of him and his administration is considered "real." The media resent Trump's criticism and says he's "attacking" the First Amendment and freedom of the press. This is nonsense. The media's skin is so thin as to be nonexistent. They can brook no criticism of their religion and believe they can silence critics by whining about press freedom and making up overwrought slogans like "Democracy dies in darkness." Democracy also dies when those charged with protecting it actually extinguish the light that allows the people to see. The Democrats are screaming bloody murder about Howard Schultz, following the former Starbucks CEO's statement on 60 Minutes stating he was merely contemplating a presidential run in 2020. The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows anti-Trump and Democratic voters are more open to supporting third-party candidates than Republicans evidence supporting the prominent Democrats who spent the last week warning that a credible, well-funded independent could improve President Donald Trump's chances of reelection. While only 26 percent of voters who approve of Trump's job performance as president are very or somewhat likely to consider a third-party candidate, a larger percentage of Trump disapprovers, 41 percent, would consider voting for an independent. By party, nearly a third of Democrats, 31 percent, say they would consider a third-party candidate greater than the 25 percent of Republicans who would consider voting for someone other than the two major-party nominees. Worse still, the data show that Schultz is unlikely to win if he runs independent. He's only going to peel off more Democrats than Republicans and in 2020's tight race, that spells victory for Trump. Life can be good. And Trump has not stopped fighting, which is the reason we went for him the first time. There are still a lot of fights to be fought. So we can bet that Democrats are going to continue to holler louder about this impending doomsday scenario, as they insist it's time to turn the Trump revolution around. Here's the thing, though. Democrats' problem is that they feel entitled to this. They are hopping and hollering, and no doubt plotting a barrage of dirty tricks against Schultz as they cook up every reason in the books to stop him from running. Howie is a well meaning liberal, who speaks a liberal line that leftists like, yet he's also a man with two feet flat on the floor, speaking of fiscal discipline and the importance of creating a good economy with good-paying jobs. Democrats don't think about those things. For them, government can solve all problems, ballot-harvesting and vote rigging are there ensure their permanent power, global warming is the perfect virtue-signaling means with which to control the peasants, illegals can come and get the goodies, health care is best done on the model of Cuba or England, and money to pay for all of these schemes can simply be printed. Schultz serves as a brake to this lockstep far-left lunacy, which is to say Democrats have failed on that front. They've dropped themselves into this. They should have had one of their own taking the moderate view as their party's moderate offering. Somehow they didn't, and it's clear it's because they've chased such people as that out. Schultz is right that there are a lot of independents, and those people may easily come over to his side. But he's also a signal to the Democrats that their party has swung too far left in all of its offerings, and there are a lot of discontented Democrats who aren't all in for House speaker Nancy Pelosi's Rule of the Dinosaurs. Now, it's true that Schultz could siphon off some Republicans (the liberal wing), and it's possible he might actually win based on that, given the path that Donald Trump paved for outsiders. The GOP let Trump in, and sure enough, he won the presidency for them. Democrats have refused to let Schultz in, either intentionally or unintentionally, based on their own rigid leftist party line. But with the poll showing asymmetry in the Schultz appeal, it's pretty obvious that one side of the political spectrum is more dysfunctional than the other, and it's the one that's going to pay for its dysfunction. Democrats have no one to blame but themselves for this. Run, Howie, run! Image credit: Sgt. Jennifer Spradlin, U.S. Army, public domain. Tick, tick, tick: President Trump's Democrat enemies in the key swing state of Pennsylvania (and in D.C., too) have got a lot to worry about, though the national media would rather focus attention elsewhere. It is hard to overstate the importance of a 159-page indictment last Wednesday of the top Democrat political boss in the state of Pennsylvania. Politico acknowledges that he is: That court radically redrew the state's congressional map last year, leading to the Democratic pickup of a handful of congressional seats in November. Philly.com reported last week: In a wide-ranging indictment unsealed Wednesday, federal authorities portrayed the region's most powerful labor leader, John J. Dougherty, as an unscrupulous kingpin who enriched himself on the backs of union members and exerted his influence to steamroll opponents and corruptly bend the government of Philadelphia to his whims. The chief weapon in his arsenal, prosecutors said, was City Councilman Bobby Henon, whom Dougherty helped propel into office in 2011 on a tide of union money, then allegedly used as a tool to leave his mark on pressing legislation facing the city. Together, they are charged along with six other members and allies of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers as codefendants in a sprawling criminal case that threatens to upend the landscape of politics and organized labor across Pennsylvania. The allegations detailed in the 116-count indictment range from the typical fare of white-collar cases claims that Dougherty and others embezzled more than $600,000 between 2010 and 2016 to fund personal shopping sprees, restaurant dinners, and annual trips to staggering claims of corruption and political vindictiveness. Grotesque as the theft of union dues for personal enrichment might be, it is the statewide political implications of the loss of the top bundler of political donations for Dems that has greater meaning, especially with the 2020 re-election of President Trump dependent on carrying the Keystone State once more. Politico explains: Dougherty's tentacles spread so far that Republicans already think it could be a boon for President Donald Trump's election chances in 2020. "Anytime there's a vacuum, it gets filled, and I believe there's an opportunity for the Republicans to take advantage of the fact that the Democratic machinery is minus one piece," said Charlie Gerow, a Pennsylvania-based GOP consultant. It's hard to overstate Dougherty's power in Pennsylvania: His union's heavy purse and legendary get-out-the-vote operation helped elect congressmen, governors, judges, mayors, state legislators, and city council members. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 was a major donor to Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, played a critical role in putting Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle in office, and was almost single-handedly responsible for making Jim Kenney the mayor of Philadelphia. A few years before the nation's high-stakes midterm elections, the union's deep pockets helped put three justices on the state Supreme Court, including Dougherty's brother, Kevin. The lead prosecutor of the case is Jennifer Williams, the first assistant U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which means she is the top career prosecutor in the office, having been appointed to that position in 2018, under President Trump. Her background includes some intriguing work in both national security and cyber-crime. Ms. Williams served as the Chief of the National Security and Cybercrime Unit, and she continues to serve as the Office's National Security Cyber Specialist and its Crisis Management Coordinator responsible for critical incident response. While an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Ms. Williams was the lead prosecutor on a number of significant cases, including United States v. Colleen LaRose a/k/a "Jihad Jane," which was the first prosecution in the history of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania charging material support of terrorism. She was also lead counsel in United States v. Neal Saferstein, which resulted in the defendant's conviction for directing a $75 million telemarking fraud. Additionally, Ms. Williams has served as a legal advisor during national security and other special events, including the September 2015 Papal visit to Philadelphia. As the operation of Robert Mueller's team has made quite clear to everyone paying attention to politics, federal prosecutors can and do squeeze defendants against whom they have solid evidence in order to get them to implicate higher-ups. Ask yourself whether or not the donor who orchestrated a judicial coup that switched several seats in the House of Representatives to Democrats might have had some interesting incriminating conversations with prominent national Dem officeholders. And then ask yourself if the top experienced prosecutor of national security and cyber-crime cases might have thought to get warrants for wiretaps and email-monitoring. Stay tuned to developments in Pennsylvania. This could be yuuuge. There are 21 months left before the presidential election, time enough for plenty of squeezing and further indictments. Photo credit: U.S. DOJ. Northam and the GOPe There is a lesson from the scandal of moonwalking Gov. Ralph Northam (D-Va.) being photographed in either a KKK hood and sheet or blackface in his medical school yearbook. In 2017, Northam decisively defeated Ed Gillespie for governor, 54 to 45. (As an aside, Bill Kristol backed Northam.) In that race, the Democrats played the race card for all it was worth, while Gillespie was as hapless as a deer in the headlights. This should not be a surprise. Democrats do what Democrats do: play to win at any cost. And establishment Republicans do what establishment Republicans do: lose "gracefully." To be sure, Gillespie is a dyed-in-the-wool establishment Republican. His bio says he's a political strategist and lobbyist. He served as the chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2003 to 2005, was counselor to the president from 2007 to 2009 during the presidency of George W. Bush, and was a cofounder with Karl Rove in Crossroads GPS. Not only was Gillespie inept in his race with Northam, but the question arises: how could his campaign's research team not have unearthed that racist photo of Northam? A school yearbook is as good as a public record. As incompetent as they may be, it is hard to believe that the Gillespie team did not know about that photo. In my opinion, the logical conclusion is that they had it but were afraid to use it. What is the result? So far, it's that Virginia has an abortion extremist as governor who celebrates and defends infanticide. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? And why did Gillespie behave in such a way? In my opinion, because for him to fight, it would mean getting his hands dirty, although it is hard to see what is dirty about exposing Northam as a hypocrite with miserable judgment. Gillespie was probably terrified that the Democratic media would crucify him if he released such a photo. For exposing a racist, he would be labeled a racist. Unfortunately, Gillespie was not man enough to stand up to potential scurrilous attacks. After all, the man's formative years in politics taught him to kowtow to the media. He does it well. Too bad Gillespie won the GOP nomination in the first place. Here, Gillespie is following the path blazed by John McCain, Mitt Romney, and other Republicans in lesser races. Recall that McCain not only refused to make an issue of Obama's 20-year affiliation with the notorious racist Rev. Jeremiah Wright, but shouted down in temper-tantrum manner anyone who broached the subject. As for Romney, he was content to lose his race against Obama in what he considered a gentlemanly fashion. None of these establishment Republicans cares that much about winning. Yes, they would rather win than lose, but not if they really have to fight for the prize. A cynic would say the only time the GOPe is willing to fight hard is when facing a primary challenge by a conservative. Then, on cue, the media applaud. This is why Donald Trump sticks in the Republican establishment's craw. Trump is a fighter. Trump is a winner. Trump takes what the media dish out and feeds it back to them in spades. They hate that Trump shines while they cower. Hopefully, Trump will serve as an example for a new breed of Republicans. The president has made their work somewhat easier by the way he has so discredited the fake new media. Now others have to pick up the standard. Trump can't MAGA all by himself. The Democrats certainly won't help, and as we can see after two years into the Trump presidency, most establishment Republicans don't have their hearts in it, either. Forgive me, but this is not who I am Gov. Ralph Northam confessed. He asked forgiveness from his fellow Democrats. He got none. He also confessed to Republicans, but not on the racial matter for which Democrats will never forgive him. He confessed to advocating infanticide, but he did so unrepentantly. He continues to stand by his pro-infanticide comments. Therefore, there is no forgiveness from conservatives, because his crime of advocacy advocating the killing of living, breathing babies is ongoing. How many born-alive babies in Virginia will eventually die at his figurative hand? What will be the method of death? There you have it. Leftist Democrats criminalize stupid behavior that harms no one (except for hurt feelings), but they praise those who would commit premeditated murder of babies to advance their political careers with their radical leftist constituents. Northam is now changing his story about his racist actions. He admits to being guilty of wearing a racist costume, but now he says his detractors got the wrong photograph as if that made all the difference in the world. Yes, your honor, I did rob a bank, but not that one. Contrast this with the Evangelical Christians who finally held their noses and voted for Donald Trump for president. Even though many of them would have allowed a vastly worse person to become president, and did not vote, enough of them understood that God chooses imperfect men to do His work and forgave Trump for his misdeeds. Trump did not grovel in tears, beating his chest, but he did demonstrate a willingness to seek God's will. That was enough; forgiveness was offered and accepted. Worldview makes all the difference in the world (and in the next one, too). Leftists are doctrinaire, to a degree that makes the Spanish inquisitors of yore seem like softies by comparison, except for the physical torture, which leftists have replaced with political death. To them, the concept of forgiveness is utterly foreign. Evangelicals are intolerant, but intolerant of sin, not of sinners. We do unto others, not whatever we can, but as we would be treated. When leftists say they seek forgiveness, what they really seek is privilege. They seek not to atone for their sins, but rather to get away with them, first by avoiding detection, and if that does not work, by claiming, "That is not who I am. I am a better person than that. The miscreant is not me; it was that guy who used to be me, but from whom I evolved. Stop blaming me." Here are my words to Governor Northam: I can forgive you for whatever you have done to me, as soon as you express genuine remorse. All I ask of you is that you forgive the babies for their capital crime of having been born in your state. Breitbart News took a deeper look at Democrats' proposal for immigration, the one they're putting out to show they're supposedly as serious as President Trump is on border security, and it contains a doozy for human-traffickers : The House Democrats' first offer to President Trump in negotiations to fund his proposed United States-Mexico border wall includes a provision that would end all immigration enforcement for migrants trafficking children across the southern border. The draft budget provides the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency with $7.4 billion, nearly $850 million less than requested by the Trump administration, and funds only 1,250 beds for adults and migrant children coming across the border this year, a decrease in detention space. Attached to that funding, though, is an immigration enforcement ban first introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and supported by every Senate Democrat. The Democrats' offer demands that all immigration enforcement end for any adult crossing the border with a child by the end of Fiscal Year 2019. Now ostensibly, the logic is that moms and kids should never be separated as they await trial over mom's illegal entry into the U.S. (Why such moms are not prosecuted for child endangerment, given the dangers an illegal border crossing involves, is not addressed.) The problem with it is that it incentivizes not just illegal immigration, but child-trafficking. That, as Breitbart argues, is going to lead not just to more unwed mothers and their kids making illegal entry, but to cartel members ramping up their child kidnapping and human-trafficking operations, given that nobody has to prove that that baby on her hip is actually hers. Every border crossing with a kid would mean instant catch and release. Every child of an illegal border-crosser would amount to a free ticket in. Think the traffickers aren't going to notice? They notice every loophole, every carve-out and they have this funny way of running with them. As a result of this badly written proposal, every child in Mexico and Central America now has a trafficker's target painted on his back. When kids become entry tickets to the U.S., traffickers take the kids however they can get the kids...and come. You'd think any thinking Democrat would know this, and I am going to argue that they do. Their aim is not to stop illegal border-crossing, or to secure the border, but to encourage as many illegal aliens to come to the U.S. as is possible. Illegals serve as ballot-harvesters for Democrats; as population-boosters for the creation of more Democratic congressional seats (which is why Democrats are suing to halt a Census question about citizenship); and as social services magnets, which is a basis for the hiring of more bureaucrats to expand the size of government. Above all, unchecked illegal immigration, institutionalized as such, amounts to an end to the pesky problem of rule of law for the left. When borders end, so does rule of law, and a chain reaction follows. It's hard to say why this human-trafficking encouragement act, as Rep. Tom Cotton puts it, isn't a stronger issue from whence to call Democrats on the carpet to force them to admit their real agenda. Dems' Keep Families Together Act is better called the Child Trafficking Encouragement Act. Show up at border with a minor & call him your child, then you get released into the US! Children will be abducted & sold to drug cartels & slave-traders as a free ticket into US. Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) June 19, 2018 But make no mistake. We are looking at mayhem here if Democrats get their way in Congress as some sort of "compromise." What we have here is goodies for human slave-traders from the historic party of slavery. It's one more argument for President Trump to quit negotiating with these clowns; find the money somewhere, by emergency if necessary; and just build the wall. Image credit: U.S. Air Force graphic. Texas can make a border wall happen. Many worry that courts will block President Donald Trump from building a border wall with funds reprogrammed from other projects under a declaration of an emergency. However, Texas is in the more conservative Fifth Circuit, not the Ninth. As an attorney who worked for Judicial Watch and more recently for Larry Klayman at Freedom Watch, this topic has prompted legal research by the author. The border wall should be built exclusively in Texas at first, postponing California, Arizona, and New Mexico until after the Texas border is secure. That will keep lawsuits in the Fifth Circuit and out of the Ninth. Texas can make this happen. Texas governor Greg Abbott should formally request that the president issue a declaration of an emergency. Abbott should declare a state-level emergency. Abbott should ask Texas officials to compile incidents of violence, gang activity, drug-smuggling, human-smuggling, sex-trafficking, etc. to document grounds for an emergency. Abbott should make demand invoking Article 4, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution that the federal government "shall" protect Texas against "invasion" by armed gangs and criminals. The Texas Legislature should pass a resolution invoking Article 4, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution that the federal government "shall" protect Texas against "domestic violence" spread from Mexico across the border, including armed gangs and criminals, drug-smuggling, human-smuggling, sex slavery, etc. Decision-makers need to stop viewing this topic as one single step or as mutually exclusive with other actions. Trump should declare a national emergency while still negotiating with Congress for appropriations. It is not "either-or." He can reprogram funds in a later, separate step. Section 4, Article 4 of the U.S. Constitution commands the U.S. government unconditionally as follows (emphasis added): "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence." Congress passed the Secure Fence Act of 2006, mandating the following: Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take all actions the Secretary determines necessary and appropriate to achieve and maintain operational control over the entire international land and maritime borders of the United States, to include the following[:] ... (2) physical infrastructure enhancements to prevent unlawful entry by aliens[.] The law further mandates that "operational control" means "the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband." Notice "entire" border. Notice "prevention of all unlawful entries." The act requires "all" of the border to be 100% secure, not just 700 miles, as people say. The secretary of DHS has to decide what type of barrier is best in various sections. But the result must with no discretion prevent "all" unauthorized entry. However, Congress never appropriated sufficient money to fund the construction authorized by the Secure Fence Act. It was yet another lie by politicians. Yet under an emergency, any president can repurpose funds under the authority of 33 U.S. Code 2293. President Trump's declaration of a national emergency would be unassailable in the courts if backed by a declaration of a state-level emergency; a request from Texas for a declaration of a national emergency; the legislative command of the Secure Fence Act of 2006; and a constitutional command of Article IV, Section 4. Attorney General Greg Abbott now governor sent several letters to President Barack Obama calling for action. One letter responded to bullets fired from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico that struck City Hall in El Paso, Texas on June 30, 2010. See Texas Capitol Report, El Paso Times, June 30, 2010. Dear Mr. President, Deadly violence from drug cartels and transnational gangs in Mexico is knocking on the United States' door with ever increasing frequency. Yesterday, gunfire from the cartels pierced that threshold and struck City Hall in El Paso. Fortunately no one was injured or killed. But that good fortune was not the result of effective border control it was mere luck that the bullets struck buildings rather than bodies. Luck and good fortune are not effective border enforcement policies. The shocking reality of cross border gunfire proves the cold reality: American lives are at risk. As the attached news article notes: "More than 1,300 people have been murdered in Juarez this year as a war continues relentlessly between the Juarez and Sinaloa drug cartels." Americans must be protected as this deadly war bulges at our border. Law enforcement officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety and your own U.S. Customs and Border Protection will reveal the hard truth. Our state is under constant assault from illegal activity threatening a porous border. The time for talk has passed. The time for action is now. The need is urgent. Each day that passes increases the likelihood that an American life will be lost because of the federal government's failure to secure the border. This threat demands immediate and effective action by your Administration to secure our border. As the Attorney General of Texas, I urge you to make border security your top priority so that no more innocent lives are lost to border violence. A 48-year-old woman shopping in El Paso was struck in the leg by bullets that flew across the border from Ciudad Juarez while pushing a stroller on a busy downtown El Paso street (Fox News, February 22, 2012). On October 8, 2015, The Daily Mail reported: "[A] gang of drug traffickers tried to hide from US border patrol agents next to [Olissa's] home. ... Olissa, of McAllen, Texas, lives two blocks from the border, and her home is less than a mile from the most dangerous Mexican border city, which has a higher murder rate than many war zones." Abbott should immediately order a meticulous update of survey data of the whole border, even requesting LANDSAT satellite images. Texas could upgrade roads and muster mobile housing for workers to move along the border as work progresses, water trucks, stockpiles of food, and cargo trucks. Texas should immediately acquire 1,000-foot easements along the border by eminent domain where needed. Under Kelo v. City of New London, Connecticut, 545 U.S. 469 (2005), lawsuits cannot stop eminent domain, only squabble after the fact over payments. The correct approach is for only an easement, not the "designed to fail" approach of taking entire ranches whole to artificially drive up the cost. If Trump starts in the Fifth Circuit, opponents can delay the project. But they cannot stop it. The sooner we start, the sooner we will get it finished. Infanticide Abortion May Be Only the Beginning Once upon a time, leading Democrats, such as Bill Clinton, wanted abortion to be "safe, legal, and rare." Given the reality of Roe v. Wade and the unlikely prospect of it ever being repealed, this stance on abortion had been the status quo in America for decades. Nevertheless, abortion remains a thorny political and social issue. Democrats, not following the admonition "perfect is the enemy of the good," have doubled down to the point that reversing Roe is not now so far-fetched. Not satisfied with a contentious truce between the pro- and anti-abortion factions in the U.S., the left wants to rub the noses of most decent Americans into new levels of legalized barbarism. The latest push from Democrats, perhaps emboldened by winning the House last November, is to make abortion "unsafe, repugnant, and common." Several states, including New York and Virginia, have pushed abortion to the limits of humanity, by legalizing, or attempting to do so, literal infanticide, killing full-term babies up until and including at the time of delivery. All this in the name of "choice," ignoring the potential choice of the new human being to live a baby not at all different from the babies filling the newborn nurseries at hospitals across the country. Late-term abortion, a euphemism for infanticide, at least in the case of recent legislation in several U.S. states, is permitted in seven countries. Only Canada, China, Netherlands, North Korea, Singapore, the U.S., and Vietnam allow elective abortion past 20 weeks, with the Netherlands and Singapore drawing the line at 24 weeks. Thus, only four countries, aside from the U.S., permit full-term abortions. Two of those countries are China and North Korea. It's interesting that those are the countries Democrats want to emulate. Why is infanticide cheered by the N.Y. State Assembly, cable news shows, and liberal in general? These are the same people who love to virtue-signal over rescuing abandoned or mistreated animals. Yet where is the same compassion directed toward newborn human beings needing rescue from the last-minute whims of a woman who decides that having a baby is inconvenient to her mental or emotional well-being? I have two explanations for this push for legalized infanticide. One is economic, and the other is a stepping stone. Planned Parenthood, the largest U.S. provider of reproductive health (abortion) services, has annual revenue of $1.5 billion. Congress provides the organization with $500 million per year, supported by the previous Republican-controlled Congress. This despite campaign promises to defund Planned Parenthood, uttered along with promises to fund a border wall, both nothing but cheap talk. Imagine if Congress had been spending $500 million per year over decades to build a wall! It would long be built by now. Planned Parenthood spent over $38 million in 2016 supporting Hillary Clinton and pro-abortion Democrats. At least that is the amount publicly disclosed. Like the unions and other supposed non-profit organizations, Planned Parenthood is a money-laundering operation for Democrats. Taxpayer dollars get washed by these groups and sent back to Democrat candidates. Nothing gets to Republicans, but they seem happy to go along with this scheme. Abortion is profitable. Aborted babies contain organs, stem cells, and other valuable tissue that can be sold to research companies; organ procurement organizations; and who knows whom else, as Planned Parenthood doesn't talk much about this unless its staffers are caught on an undercover video. More revenue means more contributions to candidates willing to keep abortion legal and common. Follow the money plenty of five-figure donations to Democrat members of Congress. These are direct contributions, not money spent on outside organizations campaigning for Democrats and their pet issues. My other theory is that this is a stepping stone. Once infanticide is legalized, state by state, it soon becomes acceptable to America and is the new norm. This is much like the analogy of slowly boiling a frog. The temperature rises slowly enough that the frog doesn't realize that it is cooking until it is too late. Is that what is happening with this push to eliminate inconvenient babies? Who else in society may be inconvenient? Perhaps the elderly, the disabled, and the infirm, those not contributing to society, not paying taxes, instead acting as a drain on government dollars that could be spent more productively, at least according to the views of many in the ruling class. Aside from full-term abortion, what else are Democrats pushing these days? Medicare (actually Medicaid or worse) for all. Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Alexandria Occasional-Cortex, and others want a full government takeover of health care in the U.S., eliminating private insurance, allowing unaccountable government bureaucrats to decide who gets what treatment and when. A small group of people account for significant medical spending. Specifically, "30% of all Medicare expenditures are attributed to the 5% of beneficiaries that die each year, with 1/3 of that cost occurring in the last month of life." Imagine being able to cut these costs from the budget! It's actually on both ends of the spectrum: newborns with serious health problems and the elderly with their own health needs. In my world, patients with macular degeneration in both eyes requiring a monthly injection of medication costing $2,000 can cost Medicare $50,000 per year. That's just for their retina condition. They may have heart or respiratory problems, too, requiring expensive medications and hospitalizations. These individuals, and many more including the disabled, are collecting Social Security each month and not working, not paying into the system. They are only an expense for the ruling class, whose members believe that the federal treasury is theirs to spend as they deem. Children may be born with Down syndrome or other genetic disorders, spina bifida, clubfoot, and other infirmities that are costly to manage. How much money could be saved and put toward government-paid preschool for healthy kids who need little more than an annual physical and vaccinations? If only these expensive patients went away, there would be more money available to fund a single-payer system, which would otherwise be unaffordable, as currently proposed by Bernie Sanders and others. What if that's the next step? Once the public is comfortably numb killing newborn babies, how much easier will it be to justify killing already born infants with severe birth defects or other illnesses not manifest until after birth? Or denying medical care to the elderly under the guise of compassion? Far-fetched? Ask the last president. When President Obama was asked about a 100-year-old woman who needed a pacemaker, he thought she would be "better off not having the surgery, but taking a painkiller" instead. Is this what society is being prepped for with the recent abortion debate? When life at one end of the age spectrum is being cheapened and becomes disposable, life cheapens at the other end of the spectrum, and many places in between. Just remember that Planned Parenthood's founder, Margaret Sanger, had as a goal the sterilization of "morons, mental defectives, epileptics." Other "undesirables" would have to choose between forced sterilization and concentration camps, including "illiterates, paupers, unemployables, criminals, prostitutes, dope-fiends." Legalized eugenics. In a bit of irony, it was Sanger who said, "We don't want the word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population" and eagerly spoke to the KKK. Her modern-day counterpart, Governor Northam of Virginia, is having his own Sanger moment after speaking casually about full-term abortion and dealing with the fallout of his medical school yearbook photos showing him in either blackface or KKK robes. Is the recent push for full-term abortions simply Democrats flexing their perceived muscle? Or is it to fill campaign coffers for upcoming elections? Or, far worse, are we on the slippery slope to a dystopian society where Big Brother decides who lives and who dies? Brian C Joondeph, M.D., MPS is a Denver-based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Lake Charles, Louisiana (70615) Today Thunderstorms likely. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall possibly over one inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall possibly over one inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Images Sorry, there are no recent results for popular images. JERUSALEM | In a grand ceremony recently held at the main campus of Al-Quds University, the universitys community, lead by President Professor Imad Abu Kishek, honored prominent Palestinian businessman and philanthropist Mr. Munib Al-Masri in recognition of his continuous support to the universitys academic and research process and the ongoing contributions to the various Palestinian societys sectors. Held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Munib Al-Masri Development Foundation (MDF), the ceremony hosted Al-Masri family members and was attended by Al-Quds Universitys faculty, staff, and students. . In his address, Professor Abu Kishek expressed his deep gratitude and appreciation to Mr. Al-Masri for his role as a prominent figure that has contributed tremendously to national reconciliation and provided unceasing support to national and community institutions within Palestine and in the Palestinian Diaspora. Abu Kishek particularly praised the Al-Masris continuous support to the Palestinian people which is manifest in the big contributions he has made to promote development in Palestine and in the whole Arab region through the endowment of more than $150 million to over 700 charity projects. In speaking about Al-Masris continuous support to Al-Quds University, Professor Abu Kished cited that he had previously contributed to the launch of the universitys Innovation Incubator which seeks to promote entrepreneurial initiatives and economically empower Palestinian youths from Jerusalem. The university president also commended Mr. Al-Masri for his participation in the implementation of numerous joint projects through the Al-Quds Wagf Fund and the Al-Quds Academy for Scientific Research. Mr. Al-Masri extended his thanks and appreciation to the universitys community, represented by its president Professor Imad Abu Kishek, for the warm welcome, saying: It is a great honor for me and the family to be on the campus of Al-Quds University, the great scientific edifice the love and respect for which resides in the hearts of all of us. The key Palestinian businessman, currently member of Al-Quds Universitys Board of Trustees, promised that he personally, and his family and foundations will pursue their mission of supporting Al-Quds University and the entire Palestinian community. Executive Vice President Dr. Hassan Dweik spoke about the giving-life of al-Masri who is considered an active member in many humanitarian, educational, cultural and other institutions, including the Welfare Association, the Al-Quds Waqf Fund, and the Al-Quds Academy for Scientific Research and the Quality of Education. Dr. Dweik mentioned a number of Al-Masris successful multidisciplinary businesses and companies that operate within Palestine and elsewhere, namely the Engineering and Development Group (Edgo), which was incepted in 1965, the Munib R. Al-Masri Development Foundation (MDF), and Taawon foundation which Al-Masri considers the second major accomplishment in Palestine after the PLO. Mr. Munib Al-Masri has always shown enthusiasm to promote Al-Quds University and its programs, which is reflected in the multi initiatives and projects that have helped the university to prosper and become a leading scientific beacon in the region. One of his major contributions in this regard is the generous funding of Al-Quds Universitys main library which now carries his name. JERUSALEM | On Tuesday, January 29, a delegation from the University of Siena, Italy, was hosted at Al-Quds Universitys main campus to discuss ways to expand academic and research bilateral cooperation. The Italian academic delegations visit featured consultative meetings between members of the delegation and Al-Quds Universitys administrators and researchers. The parties agreed to enhance collaboration in the fields of life and human sciences. Executive Vice-President Dr. Hassan Dweik said the visit comes in the framework of the efforts both sides involved in to further promote bilateral cooperation based on the memorandum of understanding signed by the parties in 2015, which provided for launching faculty and student exchange programs. As expressed by Dr. Dweik, the series of meetings between the two sides discussed the possibility of developing joint academic programs between the two universities in the areas of life sciences and humanities, in addition to research cooperation under the umbrella of the Erasmus Plus program. The University of Sienas international relations coordinator, Candida C. Vicente, highly praised the cooperation ties they have with Al Quds University, noting that the students already engaged in the exchange program and study at the University of Seina have proven highly committed and excellent, which prompts the parties to further expand collaboration. One of the students in the exchange program, Erene Trabalzini, expressed her happiness for being a student at Al-Quds Bard College, applauding its advanced academic level and the eventful atmosphere which provides multi activities that appeal to students and well-prepare them for the future. Al-Quds University adopts a unique academic exchange program that fosters its students academic performances, enhances its facultys research capacities, and transfers its highly appreciated academic and research experiences to other partners. The universitys extensive network of international partnerships has put it in the list of the top leading universities of the region and enabled it to function in compliance with international academic and research standards. About the show A weekly programme that examines and dissects the worlds media, how they operate and the stories they cover. Watch The Listening Post every Saturday at 0830GMT Ashqout, Lebanon In a small town called Ashqout, not far from one of Lebanons most famous and lavish ski resorts in Faraya village, is an informal Syrian refugee settlement. The camp, in the predominantly Christian region of Mount Lebanon, houses 42 people who fled Aleppo in 2014 to Lebanons Bekaa Valley in the north. A year later, they decided to move to Ashkout, hoping to find better work opportunities. The conditions in the Bekaa were terrible, Alaa al-Hamidi, one of the Syrian refugees living in the camp, told Al Jazeera, before adding that living among in a smaller community has been safer, especially for the women in his family. The first camp we arrived at was heavily populated and our women couldnt move freely or spend time outside the tent, he said. While life there may be safer, al-Hamidi said economic conditions are just as bad in Mount Lebanon. Syrian refugees in Lebanon can only obtain work permits to work in the agriculture and construction sectors. Like the rest of the community, he works in the tomato fields for six months. For the remaining half of the year, the father-of-two waits for the fields to defrost. In the summer, we work in the landowners tomato fields but during the winter we have no work, the 26-year-old said. Working in the fields is the only way the community is able to afford their stay and pay rent for the eight tents that house them. In the summer, we work in the landowner's tomato fields but during the winter we have no work Alaa al-Hamidi Ashqouts refugee community say the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has not been assisting them for the past three years. Upon moving to the area, they were provided with tarpaulins and wood to support the tents structures. But following two almost consecutive winter storms that hit the country last month, residents are demanding new material to renovate, as many of their tents have been damaged by rain and snowfall. Rateb al-Hamidi, Alaas older brother, said his tent collapsed onto his family of four during the first storm, dubbed Storm Norma. The community helped rebuild his shelter but he said more needs to be done to protect the fragile structures from collapsing again. According to the UNHCR, 574 campsites, housing more than 22,000 people, were affected by Storm Norma. The tents have either completely collapsed or were flooded with rain and wastewater from nearby septic tanks. The widow of slain Birmingham police Sgt. Wytasha Carter will attend the State of the Union address as the guest of U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell. Sewell, D-Birmingham, on Monday announced that Tiphanie Carter will join her Feb. 5 when President Trump delivers the address to a joint session of Congress. This State of the Union I am honored to pay tribute to the bravery and sacrifices of our law enforcement officers. Sergeant Wytasha Carter was the kind of man that we all hope our sons grow up to be a devoted and passionate father, husband, co-worker and member of the Birmingham community. His service truly represents the best of Alabamas 7th District, Sewell said in a press release. Im honored his wife Mrs. Tiphanie Carter will join me at the State of the Union. My congressional colleagues need to hear her story and act to prevent the senseless gun violence afflicting our communities. Sewell also released a prepared statement by Tiphanie Carter. I am blessed to be chosen to represent Alabamas 7th District at the State of the Union. I am humbled by Representative Terri Sewell for honoring my husband Sergeant Wytasha Carter and his sacrifice to his community and law enforcement, Carter said. This honoring provides comfort to our family in knowing his lifes work, service and sacrifice were not in vain. Thank you, Representative Sewell, for being a voice not only for my husband, but for the entire law enforcement family. Carter was killed Sunday, Jan. 13, when he and others were working a special detail targeting car break-ins in downtown Birmingham. The shooting happened about 2 a.m. Carter, shot in the head, was pronounced dead at the hospital. The second wounded officer, Lucas Allums, is recovering at home after spending nine days in the hospital. The hospitalized suspect is 31 years old. Authorities have not released his name, but he is reported to be paralyzed after he was shot by other officers at the scene. An 18-year-old who was handcuffed at the scene was later released from the Jefferson County Jail without being charged with any crime. Carter was raised in Birmingham and graduated from Phillips High School. After graduating from college, he served in the United States Air Force before beginning his law enforcement career in 2002 as a correctional officer with the Shelby County Sheriffs office. Carter served with the Birmingham Police Department for nearly eight years and was promoted to sergeant last year. He met his wife of 21 years while in the military. They have two children: Dashae, 24, and Taelen, 15. Thousands attended the fallen officers funeral held Jan. 20, where he was honored as a servant, a mentor, a humanitarian and a hero. Some kind of dispute on Interstate 20 left the driver and passenger of one vehicle shot and their car riddled with AK-47-type bullet holes. It all began just before 8 p.m. Saturday on I-20 at the Leeds/Moody exit. Leeds Police Chief Jim Atkinson said two vehicles were traveling eastbound and an 18-wheeler was behind them. The trucker told police he noticed both vehicles driving erratically and then he saw someone in one of the vehicles stick a rifle out of the window and open fire on the other vehicle, which was a black Chevrolet Impala. The Impala ran off the roadway and struck a tree. The other vehicle a white sedan fled the scene. Leeds police and fire medics responded and had to extricate the victims from crashed vehicle. The driver, a 34-year-old black male from Leeds, was shot in both legs. His passenger, a 25-year-old black female, was shot in the abdomen. Both were taken to UAB Hospitals Trauma Center where they are in stable condition. Atkinson said the Impala took at least 15 rounds, many of which entered the drivers side of the vehicle and exited through the passengers side. Theyre lucky, Atkinson said of the victims. The chief said investigators do not believe the shooting was random. The incident was captured on video from the 18-wheeler and police are hopeful that will provide additional information about the suspect or suspects. Virginia Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam mired in controversy over a 1984 snapshot showing a person in blackface and another dressed in a KuKluxKlan costume is reportedly considering resigning over the scandal. If he does step down, Northam will become the second governor to resign office since Alabamas Robert Bentley announced his exit in April 2017. Northam currently faces pressure from Republicans and Democrats over the photo published in his medical school yearbook. He had previously issued an apology for the photo, which was found on the page bearing his name and likeness, but later said hed never seen the image. Northam volunteered hed worn dark shoe polish on his face in 1984 as part of a dance contest where he imitated Michael Jackson while a pediatric intern in the Army in Texas. Northam reportedly held an urgent meeting with top staff Sunday night. His term is set to end in 2022. If Northam does step down he will become the second governor to do so since Alabamas Robert Bentley left office over a scandal involving married female adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason. Bentleys resignation came as part of plea deal related to campaign finance and ethics violations. Bentley, a Republican whose wife of 50 years divorced him in 2016, was in his second term at the time of his resignation. A dermatologist, Bentley opened a medical practice in Tuscaloosa after he left office. A little over a year after Bentleys resignation, Missouri Republican Eric Greitens stepped down following months of controversy over allegations he took nude photos of his mistress and distributed it without her consent. Greitens admitted hed had an affair with his hair stylist in 2015 but denied any criminal wrongdoing or blackmail. Greitens also faced complaints regarding abuses of campaign finance laws. Five other high-profile governors made recent exits prior to Bentley. They included: Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, who left over state ethics violations involving his fiancee; Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who resigned after running for vice president in 2008 as a Republican; New York Democrat Eliot Spitzer, who was caught up in a scandal involving a high-end prostitution ring; New Jersey Democrat James McGreevey, who admitted to an affair with his homeland security adviser; and Connecticut Republican John Rowland, who faced a federal corruption probe. Due to the significant demand for tickets, A Conversation with Angela Davis, on February 16 in Birmingham, has been moved to the Boutwell Auditorium at 8 p.m. The event is free. More tickets will be available, beginning Tuesday at 9.a.m., and may be acquired at www.bhamtruth.com. Doors will open at 7.p.m. Dr. Davis, a Birmingham native, will be interviewed by another Birmingham native, Dr. Imani Perry, the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African-American Studies at Princeton University. The event was previously scheduled for the Lyric Theater, but tickets were fully secured within hours. Davis will also appear at the Power to the People: Activism and Justice Forum from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at a location yet to be disclosed. Both events are free. Tickets to the event will be available on Tuesday, February 5 at 9 a.m. To register, also go to www.bhamtruth.com. Im so honored to be part of the effort to pay homage to one of the dynamic leaders of our time. said Dejuana Thompson, founder of Woke Vote and a member of the Committee for Turth and Reconciliation, which is hosting the events. Dr. Angela Davis is the kind of leader who makes you evaluate your passion, privilege and purpose. As a daughter of this city, I cant wait to welcome her home! On January 25, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute rescinded its previous decision to rescind honoring Davis with the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Award. "The missteps are well known, BCRI President and CEO Andrea Taylor later said. Its unfortunate there was a process that did not serve the Birmingham community or the award itself well. Once that process began, it was a series of cascading events that brought us to this moment. BCRI re-invites Davis to receive Fred L. Shuttlesworth Award After withdrawing its highest award for the controversial activist, the institute has announced she is the recipient. Davis has not responded to an email asking whether she would accept BCRIs re-invitation to receive its award. She was to be honored by BCRI on that same date. But the Institutes board of directors, bowing to pressure primarily from the citys Jewish community, and others, voted on Friday, January 4, to rescind the invitation and cancel its annual fund-raising gala. It was later revealed in the Jewish community asked BCRI to reconsider the honor based on Davis' support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel. The Board later apologized to Davis for its actions. An online talk show host and right-wing political commentator sued the Southern Poverty Law Center in federal court in Montgomery today on claims that the SPLC falsely characterized his work as promoting hate and effectively deprived him of expressing his views and making a living. Gavin McInnes is the former host of Get Off My Lawn on CRTV and founder of the Proud Boys, which was designated as a hate group by the SPLC. McInnes disputed that and said the Proud Boys is basically a pro-Trump drinking club. McInnes, a Canadian immigrant who lives in Westchester County, N.Y., sued the SPLC for defamation and other claims today. McInnes says what he characterizes as the SPLCs false attacks led to bans by Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, PayPal and others and led to the cancellation of his online show by Blaze Media in December. He says the SPLC was purposefully deceitful and says he was successfully targeted for personal and professional destruction. At a press conference in Montgomery today, McInnes said the SPLC started with the noble intention of fighting bigotry but morphed into an organization bent on exaggerating the threat of alleged hate groups for fundraising purposes. These people have gone from defending people to destroying people," McInnes said at the news conference, held across the street from the SPLC headquarters. SPLC President Richard Cohen issued a statement in response to the lawsuit: To paraphrase FDR, judge us by the enemies weve made," Cohen said. "Gavin McInnes has a history of making inflammatory statements about Muslims, women, and the transgender community. The fact that hes upset with SPLC tells us that were doing our job exposing hate and extremism. His case is meritless. The SPLC provides this explanation of its reasons for designating the Proud Boys as a hate group. McInnes cites the Proud Boys bylaws in his lawsuit. The bylaws denounce racism and white nationalism. McInnes says the SPLCs hate group designations are accepted as fact-based by the media and others but says they frequently are not. Those who are labeled face unfair repercussions that are contradictory to the principle of free speech, McInnes said in the lawsuit. Im fighting back," McInnes said. "Because, and this isnt about me, I dont like this country being portrayed as a racist, sexist, transphobic, blah, blah, blah, homophobic hell hole. Its not accurate. And this lie is destroying peoples lives. Someone has to stand up to them. The lawsuit lists others that McInnes says were wrongly labeled by the SPLC. Those included Maaji Nawaz and his organization, the Quilliam Foundation. The SPLC admitted it was wrong to include them in a published list of anti-Muslim extremists. Last year, the SPLC apologized and paid a $3.375 million settlement. McInnes dissociated himself from Proud Boys in November. That decision came after several members of the group were arrested in a street brawl with Antifa protesters at a New York event where McInnes spoke. More growth and more jobs are expected in Huntsville by the FBI in the coming years, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby said Monday, as construction continues on a sprawling campus inside the gates of Redstone Arsenal. Shelby, speaking to about 900 business and community leaders at a Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce breakfast, said the FBI investment could eventually reach $1 billion. Such a project would be on par with the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA development in Huntsville, which promises a $1.6 billion development and 4,000 jobs. Huntsville is on fire, Shelby told the breakfast audience at the Von Braun Center. You know that. The whole area is on fire economically. Youre attracting everything here. Youve got the brainpower here. During Shelbys speech, a new rendering of an FBI building planned for Redstone Arsenal was displayed on projection screens for the audience. In November, the FBI announced the transfer of 1,350 jobs to Redstone Arsenal. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said that influx of FBI employees were part of whats expected to be more than 4,000 federal workers. Overall, the FBI, the plans we hope to deliver will be probably $1 billion of investment at Redstone because thats going for the security of the American people, Shelby said in his speech. Weve got to have it. Talking with reporters afterward, Shelby said the FBI has found a lot to like in Huntsville and Redstone Arsenal the U.S. Army base that has about 43,000 federal employees and contractors and includes NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center. The FBI already has a significant presence at Redstone with the Terrorist Explosive Devices Analytical Center (TEDAC) as well as the Hazardous Devices School. The bureau has announced plans to expand its presence to different sites throughout the country -- including locations in Idaho and West Virginia. I see a lot of growth here, Shelby said. I think it will be more than that down the road (referring to the November jobs announcement). But its step by step. Right now, you have a huge amount of construction going on for the FBI at Redstone. They think this is a great place. Youve got the manpower here. Youve got the brain trust and youve got the security of the arsenal. Im bullish on the FBI here. I think it will be one of the biggest presences for the FBI outside of Washington. Shelby has spearheaded the efforts to increase the FBI presence at Redstone. Weve got to give Sen. Shelby a lot of credit, Battle told AL.com in 2017. "Richard Shelby has worked very hard to make sure this happens. And Shelby said the work on behalf of Huntsville beyond the FBI -- is continuing in Washington. In Congress, he said, were doing everything we can to make the footprint of Huntsville bigger and bigger because of what you do here and what you can do here. Updated today, Feb. 4, 2019, at 2:09 p.m. with new photo A new public charter school will open in the city of Tuscaloosa in fall 2020, approved by the Alabama Public Charter School Commission at its meeting in Montgomery on Monday. In other actions, the Commission denied an application for a charter school hoping to open in Selma and approved expansion of the states two currently operating charter schools. Capstone Charter School was approved with six yes votes, one no, and one abstention. One member of the Commission was not present. Capstone will be led by the leadership team currently in place at The Capitol School, a private school that has been open since 1993. Alabama law does not allow a private school to convert to a public school, and commissioners asked questions about how Capstone differs from Capitol. We have a completely different board, Head of School Barbara Rountree said, " and are a completely different entity." The Capitol School will become a pre-K school when Capstone Charter School opens in 2020, Rountree said. Rountree said they are elated with the Commissions approval and look forward to serving the Tuscaloosa community. Capstone hopes to locate a building in downtown Tuscaloosa, and said students from Tuscaloosa City will be given priority. In the event enrollment exceeds capacity, a lottery will be conducted to fill seats at the school. Commissioners denied the application of Rosa J. Young Academy, which hoped to open in Selma. Commissioners questioned whether the group had budgeted enough money to open a facility and said the group needed more work on their application. Commission Chairman Mac Buttram said he appreciates what the group is trying to do and encouraged them to come back with more details. The commission is accepting applications through March 15 for the 2020 school year. Buttram said there are a number of groups currently working on applications. Buttram, who has chaired the commission since September 2017, said he is pleased with the number of applications the commission has received, even though only a handful have been approved. Our aim is to approve quality charter schools in Alabama, he said, adding, I will vote yes on every quality application I can. In other actions, the Commission approved the expansion of grade levels at Mobiles ACCEL Day and Evening Academy to include sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The school currently enrolls 300 ninth-grade through 12th-grade students. It opened at the start of the 2017-18 school year with a focus on students at-risk of dropping out before graduation. In a news release following the approval, ACCELs Superintendent Jeremiah Newell said, With todays approval, we are thrilled to expand our school to offer a small, supportive, and engaging learning environment to families of middle school aged students during the 2020-2021 school year. ACCEL expects to add 100 middle school students in 2020-21 school year, expanding to 165 middle school students the following year. The Mobile Area Education Foundation (MAEF), the founding organization of the states first charter school, is excited... Posted by Mobile Area Education Foundation on Monday, February 4, 2019 The commission also approved an enrollment increase at University Charter School in Livingston, from 350 to 410 students in Kindergarten through ninth grade. Head of School Jessica Wedgworth said the increased need is in the older grades and will not affect teacher-student ratio. Asked what was driving the need to expand, Wedgworth said, We do have a lot of demand. These numbers make more sense." After the approval, Wedgworth told AL.com, "We are very grateful for the support of the commission as we grow to become the PK-12 rural school we envisioned. At noon, the commission went into Executive Session to address pending litigation and possible litigation resulting from an action the commission may take today. They returned at 1:15 p.m. and by formal action agreed to hear two appeals---one from a Birmingham charter school and one from a Montgomery charter school---after the Auburn Center for Evaluation evaluates the appeals. The Birmingham charter school applicant, i3 Academy, must wait on a formal denial letter from the Birmingham Board of Education. The school board denied the i3 Academy application on Jan. 24 and has 30 days to issue the formal denial. At that point, the charter applicant can appeal to the state commission, which turns it over to the Auburn Center for Evaluation for review, officials said. The commission also voted to hear an appeal from LEAD Academy after the Auburn Center for Evaluation performs an external review of the application. LEAD appealed to the commission because former interim state superintendent Ed Richardson, acting as charter authorizer for the Montgomery Board of Education, in March failed to approve or deny the application. LEAD is also awaiting an Alabama Supreme Court ruling as to whether the state commissions initial approval was valid with five members voting in favor. A Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of the Alabama Education Association, who, joined by two Montgomery County public school employees, filed a lawsuit challenging the approval. Charter schools, which agree to more stringent accountability measures in return for flexibility from some regulations for traditional public schools, are still fairly new to Alabama. The Legislature authorized charter schools and created the Alabama Public Charter School Commission in 2015. The Joint List was created ahead of the 2015 elections in order to unite the Arab parties into one Knesset list. The Joint List was composed of four essentially Arab parties: Hadash, Raam, Balad and Taal. Now, it seems, the alliance is facing an uncertain future. On Feb. 1-2, primary elections were held for Hadash and Balad, so that they could decide who the candidates would be for the Joint List. If there is a Joint List, that is. As of now, Knesset member Ahmad Tibi is determined to run separately as the head of his Taal party. He made this decision after failing to reach an agreement with the other parties as to the number of representatives Taal would receive. Al-Monitor has learned that in an effort to save the Joint List, Tibi was offered two spots among the first 10 candidates, as well as the 14th spot. So far, Tibi is not impressed. According to the most recent Channel 12 poll, on Jan. 30, the Joint List and Taal would each win 6 seats, though a Channel 13 poll found that Taal would win as many as eight seats, compared with six for the Joint List. Today, the Joint List has 13 seats in the Knesset: five for Hadash, three for Balad, three for Raam, representing the southern branch of the Islamic Movement, and just two for Tibis Taal party. One reason that Tibi is thought to be soaring in the polls is because of Jewish voters, who threw their support behind him after the highly regarded Jewish Knesset member Dov Khenin of Hadash withdrew his candidacy. These new votes for Tibi are worth at least one seat. While Tibi is undoubtedly pleased with the results, the pressure is rising within Hadash, not only because the Joint List is doing so poorly in the polls, but also because of internal pressures and their repercussions on the entire list. The Joint List was formed after the electoral threshold was raised, just before the 2015 elections. The concern among the Arab parties was that some of them would fail to reach the high threshold, so four parties decided to consolidate their forces, despite their sharp ideological differences. Hadash was originally created on the basis of the old Communist Party and other groups, which formed a united Democratic Front for Peace and Equality. When talk of running together in a joint Arab list first surfaced, Hadash key members already expressed opposition to running with Balad, the party founded by Azmi Bishara in 1995. Bishara was elected to the Knesset, but he later fled Israel out of fear that he would be arrested and tried for assisting Hezbollah in the Second Lebanon War in 2006. The incident was, and remains, a red flag for Hadash, even more than their joining forces with the Islamic fundamentalists in Raam. Nevertheless, Hadash voters, and these active party members in particular, had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill. Now that Tibi has left the Joint List, Hadash is not only the largest party in the coalition, it is also the party with the most substantial organizational infrastructure. Nevertheless, it finds itself being extorted by the two potential partners, which are still in the picture. Al-Monitor has learned that Balad is demanding one-third of the realistic seats on the list, while Raam insists that the list be headed by the leader of the Islamic Movement, Mansour Abbas. (The Joint List is now headed by Hadash Chair Ayman Odeh.) The reason Raam gives is that Tibi remade the political map in the Arab sector, and if Abbas is not made head of the list, many voters, including supporters of the Islamic Movement, would throw their support behind Tibi, rather than the Joint List. That's why they insist that Abbas be made head of the list. If not, they say, they will run independently. On Feb. 1, Odeh was elected unanimously for another term as Hadash chairman. The second seat will be filled by the dynamic Knesset member Aida Touma-Suleiman. Talking to Al-Monitor, Suleiman said, Our first option is to preserve the Joint List. She then explained that this is intended to preserve Arab representation in the Knesset insofar as possible. On the other hand, a major Hadash activist told Al-Monitor that as far as he and many other loyal party supporters are concerned, forcing Hadash and Balad to run together is like forcing Naftali Bennett (The New Right) and Tamar Zandberg (left-wing Meretz) to run together. While opposition to running together with Balad is largely emotional, there is more to it than just that; there are also practical considerations. The current assessment is that if it was to run alone, Balad would not pass the electoral threshold. If two or three parties are forced to split the six seats that the polls now predict for the Joint List, Balad would benefit enormously. Hadash and Balad have already run together for the Knesset in a joint list in 1996. At the time, they won five seats. But the differences between them have grown significantly since then. The political map of the Israeli Arab population has changed entirely, as have the communitys voting patterns. The younger generation is now demanding solutions to the housing crisis, an end to the demolition of homes (constructed without permits), better academic opportunities and a reduction of the gaps between the Arab and Jewish populations. Ideological issues such as communism, the Palestinian national cause and a state of all its citizens (as promoted by Balad) are no longer as important to young Arab voters. This is where Tibis party enters the picture. It addresses some of those issues that concern the younger generation. In that sense, even if Hadash and Balad ran together, they would still have a hard time posing a challenge to Tibis Taal party. Balad held its primary Feb. 2. Mtanes Shihadeh, who holds a doctoral degree in political science, was elected to replace the outgoing party leader Jamal Zahalka, who announced that he would not be seeking re-election. Balad is well-aware of the partys current state and was quick to announce that Shihadeh is a pragmatist and less extreme than Zahalka. There can be no doubt that this was directed at Hadash as an attempt to make it easier for that party to swallow the bitter pill of unification with Balad. But words are one thing and deeds another. At the Balad conference, which took place in the partys stronghold of Nazareth, participants raised Palestinian flags, sang the Palestinian anthem Biladi, Biladi and sent greetings to the partys founder Bishara, who fled the country, and to Basel Ghattas, a former member of Knesset now sitting in prison for smuggling cellphones to security detainees. Which brings us right back to the beginning. I dont agree with the assessments that we cant run together with Balad, said Suleiman. There were some very tense times between us and Balad. Some of our members and some of their members do not get along that well and do not see themselves continuing as part of the same list. But if, as they say, Balad alone will not pass the electoral threshold, it means that tens of thousands of votes from people who would otherwise be represented in the Knesset would get thrown in the garbage. As far as the Arab parties are concerned, the Joint List is a kind of necessity given the current political circumstance. It ensures that none of the parties will fall below the electoral threshold. The irony is that former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who was behind raising the electoral threshold, is also at risk of disappearing from the political map, with polls showing that his party, Yisrael Beitenu, is barely passing the threshold. But the challenges facing Odeh in the next election will be even bigger. Not only will he have to survive the threats posed by the Israeli right, he will also have to overcome the changes in Arab society, which demands more of its parties than just Arab representation in the Knesset. A year has passed since Iran arrested a number of environmentalists over accusations of spying and other serious crimes. The arrests shocked the Iranian activist community and tightened even further the boundaries of what activists assumed was safe work in a nonpolitical and nonpartisan field. With the court proceedings barely moving and minimal access to their lawyers in addition to accusations of torture, Iranian parliamentarians are pressuring President Hassan Rouhani to address their case. After months of scarce news, Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, a lawyer for two of the environmentalists, announced Jan. 29 that all eight of the defendants had been summoned to court for the second time in the year they have been detained before Judge Abolqasem Salavati, who is known to hand down harsh sentences to activists. Four environmentalists have been indicted on charges of corruption on Earth, which carries the death penalty; three have been charged with spying; and one has been charged with taking actions against national security. Originally all had been charged with spying, but a few months later the charges changed to the more serious corruption on Earth a process Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, spokesman for the judiciary, defended to reporters as ordinary and not a new issue. Aghasi was not invited to this second court date, which took place behind closed doors. The defendants were all represented by three court-approved lawyers who are retired prosecutors. Katayoun Radjabi, sister of environmentalist Sam Radjabi, criticized the process and specifically one of the judges for claiming that all of the defendants had their lawyers present. Judge Salavati had previously asked Radjabi to drop his lawyer and pick a lawyer from the court-approved list. The lack of access to their preferred lawyers was not the only controversy to stem from their second court appearance. During the court session, environmentalist Niloufar Bayani reportedly told Judge Salavati that her statements to interrogators were given under duress and that she had been threatened and tortured. The court case has also revealed a deeper power struggle within the Islamic Republic. The Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which operates under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, arrested the environmentalists. The Ministry of Intelligence, which operates under Rouhani, has reportedly distanced itself from the case when discussing it with administration officials. A number of Iranian parliament members have told Iranian media that officials from the Ministry of Intelligence are opposed to views that see the environmentalists as spies. With the IRGC and the judiciary pushing the cases against the environmentalists, family members and members of parliament have sought out the help of Rouhani and Speaker Ali Larijani. Mohammad Reza Tabesh, head of parliaments environmental fraction, told Iranian media Feb. 4, The families of the environmentalists have requested a meeting this has been agreed to, and we are waiting to determine the time of the meeting. He added that both Rouhani and Larijani have expressed hope that the charges of the accused are addressed in an environment that is just and fair. One of the requests, according to Tabesh, is allowing the defendants to choose their own lawyers. In other news, in a speech to judiciary officials Feb. 4, head of judiciary Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani, in discussing the pardon of 50,000 individuals for the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, claimed that Iran did not have any political prisoners. President Donald Trumps pledge to use a US base in Iraq to watch Iran has triggered a furious reaction from Baghdad. Why it matters: Amid bipartisan push-back against his decision to pull US troops out of Syria, the president told CBS in an interview that ran Sunday that Al-Asad base in Anbar province, which the president visited just after Christmas, could deal with the Iranian threat. The comments sparked outrage from Iraqi President Barham Salih, who insisted today the US never asked permission for a wider mission beyond fighting the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS.) Full quote: We spent a fortune on building this incredible base, Trump told Face the Nation. We might as well keep it. And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem. Occupying presence? The comments prompted immediate criticism on social media from Iraqi lawmakers and other officials. As Trump did not meet with Iraqi officials during his December visit, the CBS interview plays into concerns Iraqi concerns that the US sees Baghdad as a lesser partner. Memories of occupation are still fresh, and were rubbing salt on that, Douglas Ollivant, a former National Security Council director for Iraq, told Al-Monitor. Target on their backs: With his comments, the president has telegraphed to US foes that the American troop presence at Al-Asad could be used to interdict Iranian movement in the region. That could make their job a lot harder. If the US is perceived as being in Iraq not solely to assist the Iraqi forces in [the] fight against ISIS, it will strengthen the hand of those who oppose the US presence, said David Witty, a retired US special forces colonel. Nobody home: The counter-Iran aspect of Trumps Iraq policy creates challenges for the US administration, since very few officials are left to deal specifically with Baghdad. While former ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey recently took over as special presidential envoy to the counter-IS coalition, his dealings are mostly with the 70-nation coalition. Matthew Tueller, a US foreign service officer who last served as ambassador to Yemen, has been nominated to serve as US envoy to Iraq, but has yet to get a Senate hearing. That has left Matthew Zais, the National Security Council director for Iraq, and Andrew Peek, the State Departments deputy assistant secretary for Iraq and Iran, in the lead in Washington. Whats next: Trumps comments are sure to raise questions at the State Departments counter-IS ministerial, which starts Wednesday. Know more: Check out Pentagon correspondent Jack Detschs latest on how Trumps Syria pullout has impacted Iraq and the anti-IS coalition. -Jack Detsch MOSCOW Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali al-Hakim paid a formal visit to Moscow on Jan. 29 and 30. The foreign minister and his delegation met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Vice Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, members of the Senate and other officials in various meetings. Obviously, security and economic cooperation in the oil and gas industry in particular are the foundation of the relations between the countries. During his press conference with Lavrov, Hakim expressed his gratitude for Russias help in the fight against the Islamic State and called the relations between the nations as a strategic partnership. Hakim said this year will mark the 75th anniversary of the countries' bilateral ties. He invited Lavrov to Baghdad; the top Russian diplomat accepted. In addition, a session of a Russian-Iraqi intergovernmental commission is penciled in for the Iraqi capital in March, and a high-level meeting is likely to take place in Moscow though decisions needed to actually organize the events are not yet set in stone. The ministers emphasized the importance of an information and coordination center in Baghdad that involves Russian, Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian specialists. Moreover, Lavrov said the sides have common views on regional issues, particularly on the Palestinian question and the peace process in Syria as set forth in UN Security Council Resolution 2254. Hakim also spoke about Iraqs support for Syrias return to the Arab League a crucial point for Moscow these days. This issue is likely to be discussed during the league's March summit in Tunisia. A number of Russian foreign policy structures are working to encourage the Arab world to accept Syria back. While Hakim was visiting Moscow, Mikhail Bogdanov, who is President Vladimir Putin's special envoy for the Middle East and North Africa, went to Cairo to meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit. A few days earlier, during his Maghreb tour, Lavrov had repeatedly asked Arab nations to accept Syria back into their family. Around the same time, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, a highly influential politician, visited Egypt and the United Arab Emirates; the latter recently reopened its embassy in Damascus and maintains flights to Syria. Another Gulf country that has reached out to Syria is Bahrain. This could indicate that Saudi Arabia would also take a more flexible stance on the Syrian settlement. It is possible, however, that the Arab League will refuse to reinstate Syrias membership; at the same time, the movement toward re-engagement with Damascus will have been set. The Gulf nations' approach would seek to balance out Irans influence and would generally improve the humanitarian situation once the reconstruction process actually starts in Syria. This would clear the way for Syria development. Iraq, in this setting, seeks to become a venue for dialogue between various regional and global actors. Baghdad obviously has its own interests mostly the need for security along the border with Syria. As the prospects of the US withdrawal remain uncertain, this issue is becoming much more urgent for the Iraqi government. Russia, for its part, seeks to continue supporting the Iraqi security apparatus and working on bilateral military-technical contracts. Maintaining coordination between the two countries security services to quell remaining terrorist structures is also a priority. The trade and economic partnership between the nations was one of the essential topics in Hakims talks in Moscow. During his meeting with Yuri Borisov, the vice prime minister and co-chair of the joint Russian-Iraqi commission for trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation, Hakim discussed the opportunities to construct industrial facilities in Iraq as a measure to create new employment possibilities. The countries previously conducted joint projects in this field: In the 1960s and 1970s, the Soviet Union supported the industrialization of the Middle Eastern nation. More details on the project are to be disclosed during the intergovernmental commission session in Baghdad planned for March. The Hakim-Borisov meeting was attended by specialists from the Russian Energy Ministry as well as from other structures working in this field, showing that oil and gas exploitation is a priority in Russian-Iraqi economic relations. Both countries are major oil exporters; they rely on each other in the crucial issue of price regulation and cooperation in this area offers some promising prospects. As far as the work on investments and energy issues is concerned, we can clearly see great results. Such corporations as Lukoil, Gazpromneft and Soyuzneftegaz have already started to function in Iraq. Rosneft is interested in launching a project there, Lavrov said. He expressed his gratitude to Iraq for its attention to Russian companies and said, The gross volume of the investments in this industry has already exceeded $10 billion. The new possibilities will be assessed during the summit of the intergovernmental commission, which may also be accompanied by a business forum. Hakim also met with a group of Russian senators led by Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian Senate (Council of the Federation). Having confirmed their willingness to develop contacts between the national parliaments, the legislators brought up another important issue, suggesting an exchange of ideas on the functioning of the upper houses. Here it should be noted that although the Iraqi Constitution provides for the existence of an upper house of parliament, one has not been formed. By the end of the year, a number of cultural events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the bilateral Russia-Iraq relations are supposed to take place. In terms of education programs, 4,000 Iraqis study in Russian universities and more than 100 diplomats have taken special training at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry. In general, Hakims visit to Moscow shows both internal and foreign audiences that Iraq aims to balance its international policy and serve as a venue for dialogue between various actors, both regional and global. Libyan oil tycoon Hassan Tatanaki, who has ties to both the Gadhafi family and military strongman Khalifa Hifter, has registered his new political party to lobby the Donald Trump administration to join the push for fresh elections aimed at reunifying the war-torn country. Tatanaki signed a $30,000 monthly contract last November with Yorktown Solutions, a small Washington-based lobbying shop, according to Justice Department records reviewed by Al-Monitor. The firm is run by Daniel Vajdich, a former Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer and adviser to the 2016 presidential campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who previously lobbied on behalf of Ukrainian interests against the Russian-owned Nord Stream II pipeline to Germany. Vajdich told Al-Monitor that the businessmans Libyan United Democratic Party seeks a free, democratic and prosperous Libya that is not subject to the influence of local Muslim Brotherhood affiliates or their external backers. Tatanaki, whose Challenger Limited oil company operates 25 drilling rigs in Libya, has residences in Abu Dhabi, London and Cairo. He has close relationships with Emirati Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and other Arab royals. But experts say the entry of Tatanaki into the Washington lobbying fray will be challenged by the attrition of the State Departments ranks and waning American interest in Libya, leaving few potential openings for the billionaire to push his message. Despite welcoming UN-backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj to the White House in late 2017, Trump, speaking alongside Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni that April, said the US had no role in the North African nation. The lobbying push comes as Reuters reported that Ghassan Salame, special representative and head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, intended to postpone a conference that would have set the course for presidential elections later this year, as rival factions in the conflict did not support the idea. Tatanaki joins a colorful group of characters trying to lobby the US administration to chart a stronger course on Libya, with total expenses topping $590,000 in 2017. That year, top officials in Libyas east, including Tobruk House of Representative President Aguila Saleh Issa and self-appointed Gov. Abdelrazek al-Nadhouri, paid the Canadian firm Dickens and Madson $100,000. Hifter himself has retained the services of Grassroots Political Consulting in Washington, paying the firm $40,000 in 2017. Yet Libyan efforts to lobby Washington are often unsuccessful, experts say, only drawing low-level engagements with US officials that dont impact American policy. Every top Libyan player, even obscure deputy ministers come to Washington, said Jason Pack, the founder of Libya-Analysis, a New York-based consultancy. He added, They somehow think that telling a low-level commerce official that Libya is open for business will trickle into policymaking. Tatanakis fledgling party could have a hard time making headway, as Washingtons foreign policy ranks have thinned, leaving the State Department short on Libya expertise. Yael Lempert, a senior foreign service officer who served as acting deputy assistant secretary of State for Egypt and North Africa, left the job in December to become the second-ranking US diplomat in London. Tatanaki has not yet scheduled meetings with the Trump administration. But former US officials and experts say Tatanaki appears to have played multiple sides in Libyas civil war. A decade ago, he hired international public relations firm Brown Lloyd James to arrange speeches for Moammar Gadhafi at the United Nations and Georgetown University, according to Justice Department filings reviewed by Al-Monitor. The Libyan mission to the United Nations paid the firm $1.2 million in 2009 for logistical support for a New York trip by Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi. He had a very close relationship with Gadhafi, a source familiar with Tatanakis lobbying told Al-Monitor. He likes to play the part of the opponent, but he was one of them. Thats how he made his billions, the source added. Neither Yorktown nor Tatanaki would provide on-the-record comment about the Libyan oilmans relationships with Gadhafi and Hifter. Though once close with Saif, who hasnt been seen in public for years, Tatanaki is now firmly ensconced with allies of Hifter in Libyas east, where the billionaire hails from, two sources told Al-Monitor. Hifter supporters have recently appeared on a Cairo-based TV channel owned by the businessman. With the Trump administration highlighting global power competition in Africa, there may yet be a window of opportunity for Libyan lobbyists to exploit. US national security adviser John Bolton rolled out a new US strategy for Africa at the conservative Heritage Foundation last month to counter Russian and Chinese influence on the continent, but only mentioned Libya in the context of the Islamic State fight. Pack, the Libya analyst, said that US Africa Command, or AFRICOM, is the most engaged component of the US administration when it comes to the war-torn North African country. No one has the reins. AFRICOM has come to run it, he said, adding, [Lobbyists] should be going to Stuttgart. The criminalization of Turkeys democratically elected Kurdish politicians is continuing full swing with the countrys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accusing the countrys largest pro-Kurdish block of being equal to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). It's crystal clear and their leaders admit as much themselves, Erdogan claimed in an interview with Turkish state broadcaster TRT on Sunday. Erdogan added that the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) was no different from the PKKs Syrian branch, known as the Peoples Protection Units (YPG). Both militant groups are classified as terrorists by Ankara. Erdogans wholesale demonization of the Kurdish political movement echoes the rhetoric used by Turkeys past military-backed coalition governments to justify the shuttering of the HDPs multiple forerunners on flimsy terrorism charges. It also underscores his tactical alliance with far-right nationalist leader Devlet Bahceli. Erdogan told TRT that he hoped it would endure till the grave. Indeed, the presidents salvos may have been more about electioneering than his latest incarnation as the PKKs nemesis, a role that has bolstered his standing among the countrys hawkish top brass. Meral Danis Bestas, an HDP lawmaker from the southeastern province of Siirt, said that Erdogans claims about the HDP were risible and that his real intent was to disrupt potential cooperation between it and the rest of the opposition. The HDP declared it would not be running candidates in much of Turkeys largest city, Istanbul, in nationwide municipal elections that are due to be held on March 31. It will not contest the metropolitan mayorship of Ankara, either. Moreoever, the HDP is backing an alliance between the main opposition Republican Peoples party (CHP) and conservative Iyi in the port city of Izmir, which, like Istanbul, is home to a large number of HDP voters. And with the economy, its winning card for the past 16 years, in decline, Erdogans ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) is feeling the heat. Some analysts note that the president, who has accumulated unprecedented power by rewriting the constitution, muzzling the press and jailing his opponents, has stacked the system against his rivals and would likely resort to electoral fraud if need be. Bestas sounded undaunted in a telephone interview with Al-Monitor: We view the elections as part of the ongoing fight between fascism and democracy. She declined to comment on whether the HDP had struck a formal deal with the CHP, saying only, The HDP will work to unseat the AKP in the west of the country and to win with its own candidates in the east. That will be a tall order, especially in the mainly Kurdish southeast region, where the government has unseated 80 mayors, the bulk of whom are from the HDPs sister, the Democratic Regions Party, for supposed terrorist links. Over 40 of them are in prison, all on bogus charges, Bestas said. The HDP remains the third largest party in the Turkish Parliament despite unremitting pressure on its members, with thousands of party officials and eight former lawmakers behind bars. They include the partys former co-chair, Selahattin Demirtas, who was imprisoned in November 2016 along with former co-chair Figen Yuskedag. He faces up to 144 of years in jail on a deluge of thinly supported terror charges. On Friday, an Istanbul court convicted Gultan Kisanak, the former co-mayor of Diyarbakir, of a slew of terrorism charges. The bulk of the prosecutions indictment was drawn from speeches Kisanak gave as a former HDP lawmaker, confirmed Bestas, who was present at the hearing. The court sentenced Kisanak to 11 years and three months in prison for membership of a terrorist organization and to three years for engaging in terrorist propaganda. No stranger to state repression, Kisanak was held in solitary confinement and brutally tortured in the notorious Diyarbakir prison after Turkeys last direct military takeover in 1980. The court sentenced Sebahat Tuncel, another former HDP co-chair, to 15 years on similar charges even though she was unable to appear in court on health grounds and present a closing statement in her own defense. Tuncel has been on a hunger strike for the past three weeks, part of a wider campaign to protest PKK leader Abdullah Ocalans imprisonment conditions. Rights groups recall that many of the Kurdish politicians committed their supposed crimes when the government was steeped in secret peace talks with Ocalan. HDP lawmakers would pass messages from him to PKK commanders in Iraqi Kurdistan with the governments full blessing. As such, their labeling as terrorists is profoundly dishonest, said Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey director for Human Rights Watch. There is nothing that can be called terrorist, let alone criminal activity, she told Al-Monitor. Local democracy has been suspended in the southeast with the removal of elected mayors and Kisanaks conviction is a tragic reminder of what happened in that region and of how anti-terror laws are being abused. Cihan Aydin, the president of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, asserted that Kisanak and Tuncel's cases fit a broader pattern whereby the media declares a party guilty even before the trial begins and embellishes stories with false allegations. In Kisanak's case the pro-Erdogan press claimed she was siphoning off municipality funds to the PKK. "None of these lies were mentioned in the prosecutor's indictment. Ms. Kisanak's case is purely political; it's a typical freedom of expression case," Aydin told Al-Monitor. The peace talks collapsed in 2015 amid a slew of mutual recriminations and Ocalan, 70, has been held virtually incommunicado ever since. The PKK points to Erdogans decision to ally himself with nationalists in order to win his much coveted executive presidency. The government blames the PKK, citing, among other things, the militants disastrous decision to mount an armed insurgency within towns and cities across the southeast. The government responded with disproportionate force, leveling entire neighborhoods, killing civilians and displacing more than 355,000 of them, according to the UN Human Rights Commission. Ocalan was granted his first visit in two years on Jan. 12, when his brother Mehmet traveled to Imrali, the prison island off the coast of Istanbul where he is being held. Murat Karayilan, one of the PKKs top commanders in Iraqi Kurdistan, dismissed the move as a desperate tactic by the government to end the hunger strikes and to prevent them from spreading. Leyla Guven, an HDP parliamentarian who stopped eating on Nov. 8, was freed from jail Jan. 25 after her health deteriorated to critical levels. She was being held for calling Turkeys January 2017 military operation against the YPG in Syrias Afrin an "invasion." In a letter to the Strasbourg-based European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, which conducts impromptu visits to Turkish prisons, including Imrali, in line with Turkeys obligations as a member of the Council of Europe, Guven vowed to continue her fast until Ocalans isolation came to an end. Ending Mr. Abdullah Ocalans isolation is not a favor but is directly linked to defending the basic principles of human rights and the rule of law, she said. Egypt launched on Jan. 25 a trial operation of a new international airport in Giza governorate in an attempt to boost the countrys tourism industry. The airport is near the Giza Pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is scheduled to open in 2020. The Sphinx International Airport received the first flight from Aswan International Airport on Jan. 25, in the first official trial run for the new airport. Economists and tourism experts have highlighted the airports high standards and strategic location, which they say will give a big boost to the tourism industry. The airport is 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from the Giza pyramids. Experts say its location is widely expected to contribute to promoting one-day tourism trips from hotels and resorts in the area due to its proximity to tourist attractions in Cairo and Giza. Now, one-day tourism trips will increase. Moreover, there are no charter flights that land at Cairo International Airport, while the Sphinx airport will receive these low-cost flights that attract a large number of tourists, Alaa el-Ghamry, a tourism expert and former member of the Egyptian Travel Agents Association, told Al-Monitor. He said the airport would ease pressure on Cairo International Airport, which is the largest in the country. The Sphinx airport will also be better than other nearby airports such as Borg al-Arab, which is located in Alexandria, in terms of its capabilities, Ghamry said. According to data released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Sphinx airport's main terminal building, air control tower and dozens of service buildings spread over an area of 25,500 square meters (275,000 square feet). The airfield spans an area of 126,800 square meters (31 acres), which can accommodate nine aircraft. Officials said the airport is equipped with the latest thermal surveillance cameras in the world. The main terminal accommodates 300 passengers per hour and a group of international hotels is set to be built in the vicinity of the airport in order to serve incoming tourists. The airport also has four electricity substations and a meteorological building, as well as a mosque and a parking garage that can accommodate hundreds of cars. The Egyptian armed forces and the Egyptian Investment Company carried out the project, in which 200 engineers, 35 consultants and 2,500 workers participated, according to data released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Work on the project lasted 12 months, with 12-hour workdays, at a cost of about 300 million Egyptian pounds (about $17 million). Ghamry said the commencement of airport operations coincides with an upgrade of the pyramids area and the launch of new nearby hotels to offer high-quality services catering to tourists. The airport comes as part of a wider plan to provide all necessary facilities and services near major tourist attractions. Also, the building of any airports in the vicinity of tourist attractions would definitely be of great benefit to Egypts tourism sector and the launch of this airport holds special importance as it is located near the Grand Egyptian Museum, which will draw in a great number of tourists, he said. Ali Kamel Mansour, head of the Tourism Buildings Chamber in the Nile Delta, lauded the opening of the airport, but he said the government should also build airports in other areas, including in the Nile Delta. Many foreign tourists would be interested in countryside tourism as Egypt has much beautiful and distinguished greenery in the countryside, Mansour told Al-Monitor. Providing means of transportation, most importantly airports, is an integral part of boosting any countrys tourism because they facilitate access to different parts of the country. Moreover, they will generate more revenues for the country whether in terms of travel or tourism, he added. The Egyptian government has been ramping up efforts to breathe life into the countrys tourism industry after it dramatically declined following the January 25 Revolution and the crash of a chartered Russian airplane in the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015. However, in 2018, the industry saw a noticeable revival. According to Egytpian Cabinet data, revenues from the tourism sector jumped from $4.4 billion in fiscal year 2016/2017 to $9.8 billion in fiscal year 2017/2018, an increase of 123%. Ahmed el-Shami, an economist and professor of feasibility studies at Ain Shams University, said the opening of the airport is a long-awaited move as the area surrounding it holds special importance in terms of tourism. The pyramids area has long been neglected by successive governments, but now the current government is paying due attention to it and is moving ahead with a well-knit strategy to develop it and offer all necessary facilitations, including travel, Shami told Al-Monitor. This will lead to a noticeable progress in the tourism sector and consequently will add to the countrys financial resources. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Nissan saw its China sales in 2018 grew 2.9% over a year ago to 1,563,986 units, making it the champion among all Japanese automakers. Gasgoo hereby summarizes the Japanese automaker's top stories that happened in China last year as below. Dongfeng Nissan to roll out 15 new models from 2018 to 2022 Dongfeng Nissan plans to roll out 15 new models in total from 2018 to 2022 and increase the number of dealers to 1,000 from 750, a Chinese media outlet reported in early February. The all-new Nissan Leaf BEV was unveiled at the Auto China 2018 in April, which is expected to be introduced to China by Dongfeng Nissan. Nissan announces senior management change for China operation Nissan announced on March 14 that Chief Performance Officer Jose Munoz would assume the responsibility as head of Nissan's China operations. Makoto Uchida, incumbent head of purchasing, would be promoted to Senior Vice President (SVP) of Nissan Motor and President of Dongfeng Motor Company Limited (DFL). Besides, Jun Seki, would be promoted to SVP of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance from President of DFL and SVP of Nissan Motor, taking charge of manufacturing technique and process management. All personnel changes announced above would come into effect on April 1, 2018. JV between Renault-Nissan Alliance and Dongfeng focuses on NEV R&D The Renault-Nissan Alliance and Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. (Dongfeng) announced on August 29, 2017 a new joint venture to co-develop and sell electric vehicles (EV) in China. The new joint venture, eGT New Energy Automotive Co., Ltd. (eGT), will focus on the core competencies of each partner and will harness the full potential of the Renault-Nissan Alliance electric vehicle leadership, as well as the resources of Dongfeng in the new energy industry, to meet the expectations of the Chinese market. The first model of eGT, based on an A-segment SUV platform of the Alliance, will be manufactured at Dongfeng Motor's plant in Shiyan, Hubei Province from 2019, according to reports delivered in early April. Nissan agrees to sell car battery unit to China's Envision Group Nissan said on August 3 it agreed to sell its electric car battery unit to Chinese renewable energy firm Envision Group for an undisclosed sum. Under the agreement, Nissan would retain a 25% of equity interest in the entity newly formed by Envision. The deal, which covers battery plants in Tennessee and in England, is expected to be completed in March this year. Nissan said in a statement that the workforce at all facilities involved in the deal would continue to be employed. Dongfeng Nissan sees 10,000,000th vehicle roll off production line Dongfeng Nissan witnessed its 10,000,000th vehicle officially roll off the production line on August 27. The milestone vehicle is a Nissan Sylphy Zero Emission, which is also the first Nissan electric car made for China. The Sylphy Zero Emission hit China's market on September 25. Prices of two variants after subsidies range between RMB159,000 and RMB166,000. The EV model measures 4,677mm long, 1,760mm wide and 1,520mm tall with a wheelbase that spans 2,700mm. Based on Nissan's E-Platform, the Sylphy Zero Emission is powered by a TZ200XS5UR permanent magnet synchronous motor that pumps out 80kW and peak torque of 254 Nm. Nissan to produce EV batteries and motors in China Nissan would manufacture key auto parts like batteries and motors for its China-made EVs beginning in December, Nikkei Asian Review reported on November 16. Dongfeng Nissan began producing the Sylphy Zero Emission EV in August. The Japanese automaker aims to roll out 40 or more new models in China by 2022, with half of them EVs or HEVs. It has earmarked RMB60 billion of investment for the world's largest auto market over the next five years to fulfill the goal. Nissan plans to decrease vehicle production in China Nissan will slash vehicle outputs in China to survive the step-down economy, according to the statement from people with the knowledge of this matter cited by Reuter on December 28. Over three-month period starting in December 2018, the automaker is likely to reduce the vehicle capacity in China by 30,000 units. However, the initial production target for the three months still remains unknown yet. From December 2017 to February 2018, Nissan output nearly 400,000 vehicles in this country. South Africa: SAA resumes flights to Malawi South African Airways (SAA) has resumed flights between Johannesburg and Malawi. The national carrier resumed flights between Johannesburg and Blantyre on Saturday. We are pleased that we are able to reinstate flights between the two points following the implementation of our corrective action plan. The plan was a battery of remedial interventions aimed at curing or responding to the audit findings, SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said. The resumption of operations follows the conclusion of audit and inspection processes at the Chileka International Airport in Blantyre relating to the condition of that airport. Operations to the airport were suspended on 18 January after it emerged that the state of the airport did not fully comply with conditions set out in its operating license. SAA operates a three weekly service between Johannesburg and Blantyre on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) notified SAA on Friday afternoon that it was satisfied with the measures taken to respond to the situation at the airport in Blantyre. We are grateful to all our partners and stakeholders, including the Malawian Ministry of Transport and the municipality, for collaboration, commitment and understanding as we worked towards resolving the situation as speedily as possible. We appreciate the guidance of the regulator to ensure that the condition of the airport now meets our licensing conditions for SAA to operate, said Tlali. The airline encouraged customers who have enquiries to contact its call centre on: 011 978 1111 or 0861 606 606. SAA will make the necessary decisions in response to demand and to clear any possible backlog as a result of the suspension of flights between Johannesburg and Blantyre. - SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The developments have been fast evolving in the autonomous administration areas in northern and eastern Syria since US President Donald Trumps announcement Dec. 19, 2018, of the withdrawal of US troops from Syria. A few days earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to invade the areas east of the Euphrates River, which forced the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) and the Syrian regime to revitalize a dialogue process that had been halted since late last year. Simultaneously, the Kurdish leaders spoke of resumed contacts with Russia to fill the void caused by the withdrawal of US troops. Nevertheless, the latest developments relating to the US stance particularly the US officials visits to a number of countries in the region and assurances they made to their allies, including Syrias Kurdish community add further ambiguity to the fate of the areas on the east of the Euphrates and standings of the forces running them. Speaking to Al-Monitor in Qamishli, Aldar Khalil, a leading figure of the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) also described as the engineer of the autonomous administration shares his views on the overall developments in the region and alternatives available for the Syrian Kurds. The text of the interview follows: Al-Monitor: What are the latest developments in the Russia-mediated dialogue with the Syrian regime? Aldar Khalil: Contacts have been ongoing with Russia in preparation for the dialogue with Damascus that is yet to start. I would like to explain that [the fact] that Russia was not directly involved as guarantor in the dialogue was one of the reasons that brought down the dialogue initiative with the regime that the SDC had launched last year. This time, the focus is on the Russians assuming a direct role in the dialogue process. Meetings were held [with the Russians] in Moscow to ask them to press Damascus to confer about ways for a solution. Trumps announcement on the withdrawal of US troops from Syria brought the topic of the dialogue with the regime to the forefront. We [the officials from the SDC and autonomous administration] discussed the available options we have, which resulted in perceiving the resumption of meetings with Damascus to be an option. Al-Monitor: What are the key items on the agenda of the negotiations with the regime? What matters do you refuse to bargain over? Aldar Khalil: I cant speak about these issues, considering that the dialogue has not started yet. Nevertheless, we [SDC and autonomous administration] are basically on the same page when it comes to general principles. We are not seeking Syrias partition and we affirm the indivisibility of its territory. Also, we have embraced a pluralistic project where all of the regions components are included based on the autonomous administrations model. This would mean that Syria would consist of autonomous regions that govern themselves, provided that they coordinate with Damascus. In addition, there is no problem recognizing the Syrian army as a national army to be present along the Syrian border, including our regions. Likewise, we do not have a problem keeping the Syrian flag as is. We will take any flag that the United Nations and the Syrians adopt. We are also OK with turning the autonomous administration-affiliated forces into internal security forces in our regions, as long as the earlier mentioned national Syrian army would be entrusted with fending off external attacks. There are certainly many other details that will be raised in the dialogue. Al-Monitor: Which alternative would you go for in case the negotiations fell short? Aldar Khalil: The dialogue shall necessarily succeed even if it will take a long time. The regime will possibly be too inflexible and insist on bringing back the Syria from before 2011. Yet the regime and everyone knows that its insistence on not reaching a solution would mean that more dangerous and complex conflicts are facing Syria. This is not a threat, but rather an analysis because in the absence of a resolution to the outstanding issues, [the situation] will be redirected to a more dangerous episode [of violence]. Al-Monitor: Sources close to the autonomous administration reported that the regime replied indirectly to the list of demands obtained from the Russians, and that the reply was, Either you hand over the regions to the regime forces or the Turkish army will enter the area east of the Euphrates, thus repeating the same scenario as in Afrin. What do you think about this? Aldar Khalil: What you have just said was not an official response [from the regime]. Rather, it is closer to an analysis of the regime stance, considering its irresponsiveness with the initiatives for a solution so far. This conclusion stemmed from its stances. Nevertheless, the damage will not be limited to us in case of a Turkish offense in our regions. It will affect all Syrians as well as the unity of Syria and stability of the region. Turkey creates strife, conflicts and radical Islamic thought wherever it goes; the Islamic State [IS] and [Jabhat] al-Nusra emerge, and this could lead to Syria's partition and the revitalization of IS. The Americans, Europeans and Russians need to be keen that this never happens, because any further role Turkey would assume would generate major catastrophes. Al-Monitor: Russia is due to serve as a mediator in the talks between the SDC and the Assad regime. Yet considering the claims that Moscow facilitated Turkeys entry to Afrin in early 2018, do you fear that [Moscow] does not maintain a neutral position? Aldar Khalil: Russia did not make the attack on Afrin easier. Rather, it agreed with Turkey on it; it was a part of it and they both had a joint operation room in Gaziantep. Back then, we [SDC and autonomous administration] said that it is the first time in history that a NATO state agrees with Russia on a particular military matter, namely Afrin. Yet we cant pass over Russias major role and capacity to influence decision-making and outcomes in Syria. There is Russia on the one hand, and the United States and the US-led coalition on the other. We are trying our utmost to take advantage of the reality and communicate with decision-makers to avoid a scenario similar to that in Afrin. Given its influential role, we wish for Russia to serve as a neutral guarantor, not a party standing by the regimes side. In case there are [Russian] guarantees in such dialogues, we can only buy them and act accordingly. Refraining from delivering on the promises would tarnish Russias reputation. We really hope for honesty from it, which is something that has to do with [Moscow], not us. These fears will not prevent us from buying its promises and acting accordingly when it presents itself as a guarantor. Al-Monitor: How do you reply to US national security adviser John Boltons appeal to the Kurdish allies to refrain from seeking protection from Russia and the Assad government? Aldar Khalil: Syria is the battlefield of a third world war right now. There is conflict between the United States and the US-led coalition on the one hand, and Russia, Turkey and Iran on the other. Each of the parties is seeking to win the battle. The United States and Russia know that we consist of influential forces on the ground and that any move we make could tip the balance of power. Based on that, it is only normal for the Russians and Americans to have fears in this regard. Mr. Bolton and US officials seek that the balance be in their favor. They unfortunately turn their backs to the fact that there are issues that need to be resolved, such as the other Kurdish components causes, the democracy cause in northern Syria. It does them no good to continue to just watch things happen. Al-Monitor: The Kurdish military commanders perceived the US withdrawal to be a stab in the back. Is the new US position reassuring? Can you bank on it, particularly since a delegation of the SDC visited Washington? Aldar Khalil: The SDC delegation is still in Washington, and I cannot answer this question on their behalf. Nevertheless, [although] there was no official request, one can ask how could the United States ask for us not to reach an agreement with the Russians and the Syrian regime, at a time when it did not offer an alternative compared with what the other two sides have. We cannot rely on such a vision that refrains from giving alternatives. Al-Monitor: Following the announcement of the US withdrawal, did any of the countries in the US-led coalition make pledges or guarantees that they will support you? Aldar Khalil: There are many countries stating that we have a just cause and that they are by our side. For instance, France has positive and encouraging stances. Likewise, some Arab and European countries voiced the same positive stances as well. But it all depends on [these countries] ability to convince the others of supporting them in what they intend to do. Al-Monitor: What fate awaits IS captives detained in your prisons? Aldar Khalil: It is a thorny and dangerous issue that requires a follow-up. Thousands of IS gunmen are locked in the autonomous administrations prisons and one cannot anticipate what would happen. Security chaos in these prisons is likely to happen in case of an offensive against the region and could lead to catastrophic consequences. Al-Monitor: Why have you opposed the establishment of a safe zone [in northern and eastern Syria] under Turkish tutelage? Whats the alternative? Aldar Khalil: I would like to underline that any equation involving Turkey must necessarily lead to the spread of terrorism. Initially we are the ones who need the safe zone, provided that a line separating us from Turkey exists. A UN force similarly to UNIFIL in Lebanon could be deployed on the separation line. This way we will be able to protect ourselves from the Turkish threats. Al-Monitor: Do you expect the recent attack in Manbij to speed up the US withdrawal from Syria? In your view, which party was behind it? Aldar Khalil: The blasts occurred at a very critical time and I believe that international parties are responsible. The question that arises, however, is which party ordered IS to carry out such attacks, and whether or not IS is the one conducting them or that there are other parties carrying out such attacks under the cover of IS. Our suspicions are directed at Turkey, because the Turkish intelligence has contacts and is involved with the various terrorist organizations in the region. We expect [the blasts] to be a mere tool to pressure the United States and the US-led coalition to meet some demands. The relevant security services in the region are yet to determine which party is behind these bombings and divulge the outcome of their inquiry. My remarks are only based on analysis and available information. North Augustans may be seeing parking meters in Riverside Village in the future, according to a North Augusta City Council agenda. A resolution authorizing the purchase of parking meters in Riverside Village is one of four resolutions to be voted on during the regular Council meeting Monday night. Also related to Riverside Village, during the study session Council will be hearing updates on both the financial side of Riverside Village, as well as an update on Riverside Park, a city park slated to be built along the river near SRP Park. The park would have an amphitheater and have Greeneway access. Charlie Hall with Toole Engineers said during an August study session the park would be about 2 1/2 acres, and the current projected price tag is around $6 million. Council will also be voting on a resolution "to approve the settlement of issues related to the provision of fire services in Aiken County involving the city and Belvedere Fire District," according to the agenda. North Augusta, Belvedere Fire Dept. meet to discuss coverage areas After a meeting between the Belvedere Fire District and North Augusta Public Safety, the cov In a meeting in late 2018, the city and North Augusta Department of Public Safety met with the Belvedere Fire District and came up with a map defining each agency's coverage area. City Council will also be considering a resolution that would authorize the City Administrator "provide a coordination letter of interest to Georgia Department of Transportation for potential additional funding for the scheduled Georgia Avenue bridge replacement to include pedestrian/bicycle and iconic design features," the agenda says. Council will also vote on a resolution to allocate funding for sidewalk projects. Copies of the four resolutions were not posted online as part of the agenda. City Council will meet Monday evening at 6 p.m. on the third floor of the municipal building at 100 Georgia Ave. The regular meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the same place. GREENVILLE South Carolina's senior senator, who often stumps for the Savannah River Site, has little faith in the U.S. Department of Energy's abilities going forward. "No, I'm not confident the DOE can do almost anything," U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday during a question-and-answer session with reporters. "I'm not confident at all." That lack of trust casts a dark shadow over the prospective expansion of plutonium pit production, an enduring weapons mission of which SRS is an integral part, according to a joint recommendation from the National Nuclear Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense. "The pit production mission, we'll see how real that is," the Republican senator said Monday. Plutonium pits are nuclear weapon cores. The NNSA a semiautonomous DOE agency and the DOD want to produce 50 pits a year at SRS and another 30 a year at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Graham's expressed reservations on Monday echo remarks made by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., late last year. At the time while quizzing the president's pick for the NNSA's second-in-command spot Scott said he was "skeptical" of pit production buildout at SRS. Scott said he was leery because of the DOE's "inconsistent track record with major projects." U.S. Sen. Tim Scott 'skeptical' of NNSA plans to bring pit production to SRS "I believe that the resiliency provided by having a second pit production site will be a very important part of our ability to be both agile a Getting pit production going at the Site 80 pits a year are needed by 2030, per the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review involves a serious rework of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, a Graham-favored venture designed to turn weapons-grade plutonium into nuclear fuel. Graham has previously explained the MOX mission as turning swords into plowshares. The NNSA terminated MOX on Oct. 10, 2018, five months after U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry told congressional defense committees the project would be axed. Graham still considers the termination a major blunder: "By abandoning MOX when it's 70 percent complete makes no sense to me," he said Monday. Three months ago, the senior senator called MOX cancellation a "colossal mistake." Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the SRS management and operations contractor, was recently tapped to lead initial SRS pit production efforts: transitioning MOX and doing conceptual design work for the "Savannah River Pit Production Plant," among other things, a SRNS spokesperson has told the Aiken Standard. The DOE Office of Environmental Management is the SRS landlord. Graham was in Greenville on Monday to speak at the Poinsett Club. 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. Editors note: This article is part of a series on the behind-the-scenes work of agriculture organizations that arent often in the spotlight. It could be argued that the U.S. Grains Council has never been more relevant. At a time of trade war, an organization that ferrets out new markets and opportunities is important to farmers. I think the time period really highlights why organizations such as the grain council are so important, says Kimberly Atkins, vice president and Chief Operating Officer of the council. When politics or war or other factors disrupt existing markets, she says, the work of organizations that try to find and expand new markets becomes even more important. That said, the federal government shutdown presents an additional challenge. The U.S. Grains Council depends in part on government programs such as MAP (USDAs Market Access Program, operated through the Foreign Agricultural Service). MAP was approved in the recently passed 2018 farm bill, but Congress had not yet approved funding, and the shutdown means that isnt happening. It also means many government export programs are not actively operating. Were very dependent on MAP, Atkins says. Thats a pretty significant impact. The U.S. Grains Council was founded in 1960 and its mission is to develop markets, enable trade and improve lives. It is an export market development organization whose core goal is to build demand for U.S. products in overseas markets. It is supported by farmers, agribusinesses and programs in the farm bill that are administered by the USDA. The focus is on feed grains and related products, including corn, sorghum and barley as well as items such as distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and ethanol. French defence and aerospace company Dassault Aviation is cold weather testing its Rafale multi-role fighter at Rovaniemi Air Base, Finland. The test program, which started January 28 and runs for a week, is testing the fighters performance in sub-zero temperatures during the coldest time of the winter in Lapland. ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // --> The cold weather testing program includes engine run-up tests and taxiing on the flight line and a few flights. The Lapland Air Command is hosting the event but no Finnish Air Force flight operations are associated with the tests, neither is the testing program part of the HX fighter project to find a replacement for Finnish Air Forces current F/A-18 fleet, said the Finnish Air Force. The Rafale twin-jet fighter can conduct ground and sea attacks, reconnaissance, high-accuracy strikes and nuclear strike deterrence. The fighter has been used by the French Air Force and Navy since 2004 and 2006, respectively and has been ordered by Egypt, Qatar and India. London headquartered safety equipment manufacturer and supplier Survitec, will introduce two new protective suits for chemical, biological and radioactive (CBR) environments at IDEX, which takes place in Abu Dhabi from 17th to 21st February. Above and right: The new RST DEMRON ICE and NormMb suits will be showcased at IDEX, where representatives will be on hand to discuss the new fabric technology used in their development. London headquartered safety equipment manufacturer and supplier Survitec will introduce two new protective suits for chemical, biological and radioactive environments at IDEX, which takes place in Abu Dhabi from 17 21 February. The DEMRON ICE suit incorporates patented nanotechnology to protect against low-level gamma radiation. Studies carried out by Lawrence Livermore National Defence Laboratory show that the suit provides at least 50% shielding of gamma rays of up to 130Kev. Manufactured from liquid metal particles the DEMRON fabric has a high thermal conductivity and cools the wearer down on the inside of the garment as heat transfers through the fabric. Paul Parry, Group CBRN Business Manager, Survitec, said: This suit will revolutionise the way CBR (chemical, biological and radiological) suits can be worn. Not only will it keep the first responder cool, but it will also protect against low-level gamma radiation. Many standard CBR suits on the market offer radiological protection against radioactive particulates created by an explosion, as these particles can dusted off. However, unlike the DEMRON ICE suit, they do not protect against low level gamma radiation. The second suit being showcased by Survitec for the first time is the NormMb suit. Combining carbon and membrane technologies, the hybrid suit has been designed for use in chemical/biological scenarios and protects against traditional warfare agents, such as mustard gas. One of the benefits of the hybrid system is that liquid threats are defeated in accordance with NATO standards. Parry said: The NormMb suit has a waterproof and liquid agent protective layer. This stops the suit being affected by water or excessive perspiration. It brings together carbon and membrane technologies to create a unique performance characteristic. Designed for land-forces, the suit uses a material that contains filters equipped with spherical activated carbon, as well as air, water and gas treatment filters. It is highly air permeable and adsorbent, washable and resistant to seawater. Survitec will also be showcasing the Desert Warrior load carriage system designed in collaboration with the UAE Joint Air Command as well as a range of Pre-Hospital Care Systems including waterproof modules, Military Inflatable Boats, Load Carriage Systems and a range of Maritime Defence Survival Suits and Life Preservers. Additionally, Survitec will launch the brand new AX3 Aircrew Adaptable Armour System. Running simultaneously alongside IDEX is the Naval Defence and Maritime Exhibition and Conference (NAVDEX) taking place on the docks outside the exhibition centre. Survitec will showcase a full maritime defence demonstration twice daily in which a crew donned in full Survitec maritime defence equipment will conduct a mission to save an injured pilot on shore. The demonstration will make use of Survitec Military Inflatable Boats, maritime defence range and waterproof Pre-Hospital Care modules. All delegates are invited to view the demonstration. Asia Pacific Last month Survitec opened a new service and distribution hub in Singapore to meet increased demand from customers across the Asia Pacific region. The extensive complex in Singapores Sembawang district (Senoko area) covers a 7,153m2 area, of which 1308m2 is outdoors. With more than 200 personnel, it is Survitecs largest service and distribution centre globally, housing three distinct business units: WH Brennan & Co Pte Ltd, Survitec Safety Solutions Pte Ltd and Survitec Fire Solutions Pte Ltd. Speaking during the facilitys official opening on the 9th January, Survitec CEO James Drummond said: We are delighted to cut ribbon on this state-of-the art facility and welcome our distinguished guests to explore the site. The product and service diversity of the Singapore facility is unique to Survitec. The investment into this site will ensure continuous growth for Survitec S.E. Asia, capitalising on the strategic location of Singapore as a major regional maritime, cruise and aviation hub in one of the worlds most dynamic regions. Many of Singapores leading maritime industry figures attended the opening, including senior executives from the Royal Navy and UK MoD, governmental officials, shipowners, ship management companies, shipyards, and suppliers.( senior officers and executives from the Royal Navy, government agencies, shipowners, ship management companies, shipyards, Survitec regional distributors and 3rd party stations and suppliers) Danny Lien, President of the Singapore Association of Shipsuppliers & Services (SASS), who attended the event, said: I extend my heartiest congratulations to Survitec on the opening of its new facilities in Singapore. The well-equipped facilities complemented by professionally trained staff will certainly move the Port of Singapore up the value chain. I am confident that Survitec will continue to be a valuable contributor to Singapores maritime services ecosystem. Joseph Choo, Managing Director, Survitec SEA, said: This great site, perhaps the largest in Survitec for service and distribution, allows us to merge the sales and operations of the three entities as one Survitec. This allows us to offer greater services to our customers, locally, regionally and globally. The Survitec products and services supplied by the Singapore facility include, rental life rafts, fire-fighting equipment, safety, rescue and evacuation systems, and marine electronics equipment, such as EPIRBS. The markets Survitec Singapore services includes the regions maritime, defence and aviation sectors. Survitecs Southeast Asia business has grown exponentially over the last 10 years and today the company operates branches in Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Korea, serving more than 5,000 customers across the region. (to delete as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Korea are no longer branches of Singapore since 2018) Over the last 10 years, we have been very focused on growing our business, serving our existing customer base to the best possible standards and winning new customers in new market segments. The new Sembawang (Senoko) facility is indicative of that success and in maintaining growth to deliver rigorous new product development and servicing programmes, added Choo (Joseph). SRMB Steel, one of the leading Steel Manufacturers in Eastern India has launched its latest TVC Ghar Se Ho Jeet ki Shuruwat (Winning starts from Home). The SRMB group is a pioneer in TMT manufacturing. It was formed with the ideology of giving people a strong foundation for their dream home, which they spent a lifetime of blood and sweat to build. SRMB strives to make every home special, just like the home-owners. The concept for the tvc revolves around the values at home made by the man/woman. When you have strong foundations (or values) you would excel in everything that you do. In this tvc, MS Dhoni tells how team work is important in every aspect of life and how it keeps people together. The TV campaign is part of the companys ongoing efforts to celebrate the values that a good home should project. Talking about the newly launched TVC, Ashish Beriwala, Director Marketing, SRMB Group said, As a brand we aim to connect to the consumers, at all levels. Our products support the functional aspects while the brand intends to build an emotional connect with the consumers. Our 360-degree full-fledged campaign for TMT Bars has kicked in and I am sure that our TV ad, featuring beautiful visuals supported by a strong concept on foundation and values, will capture the audiences attention while implicitly imparting the importance of TMT bars usage as an integral part of every home. Conceptualized by Sacred Communications, the TVC tries to capture the warmth of home, togetherness and fundamental values that help us grow. Taking the Campaign to the next level, SRMB Steel shall bring a complete 360 approach to the messaging. The company has already engaged in Cinema Ads, Hoardings and Print Ads with leading newspapers to maximize its reach. As part of a strategy to further strengthen its growing digital presence, LIXIL India, a global pioneer in building and housing material technology, has partnered with RepIndia for the digital mandate of two of its iconic brands, American Standard India and GROHE India. This move falls in line with the companys transition into a more consumer-oriented brand with significant mass appeal. RepIndia has previous experience and expertise in working with reputed brands in the same domain. LIXIL India is hoping to leverage this and break the clutter in the competitive industry with impactful digital campaigns and powerful brand communication. Rajat Gupta, Senior Manager - Digital, Lixil India Pvt. Ltd, shared his thoughts on the collaboration, We, at LIXIL India, are delighted to have RepIndia on board as our digital partner. We believe RepIndia, with its digital expertise, will partner with us effectively to take forward the digital journey of our brands Grohe and American Standard. As we transition into a stronger consumer-centred, architect and designer-preferred business, we look forward to delivering our marketing strategies with their creative excellence, and develop disruptive digital communication and engagement platforms. We are confident that the team will work to build a strong presence in digital space, and also help drive growth and leadership. Commenting on the huge win for the digital agency, RepIndias CEO and Co-Founder, Ayesha Chenoy, said, At RepIndia, we relish the opportunity to take on some of the biggest challenges faced by brands from various niches in the digital realm. I am so proud of getting to work with LIXIL India, one of the biggest names in the industry. Our team has some really amazing things planned for GROHE and American Standard in the coming months, and we cant wait to begin! Archit Chenoy, Director, RepIndia, commented, We are privileged that LIXIL India has chosen to collaborate with us for their digital mandate. RepIndia has a great track record of understanding the audience which GROHE and American Standard cater to. I have no doubt that this partnership will bring about exciting times for LIXIL in the digital space while also delivering upon its communication goals. India is a unique market is a widely accepted fact. It is true of media consumption habits too. Unlike other countries which are seeing negative or at best very sluggish growth in print media, in India print is of the largest consumed media and growing at a steady pace. This holds even more true of language newspapers with their ear to the ground, complete understanding of consumers pulse, local & hyperlocal content and emotional connect; their readership is on the rise. Having said that, globally too evolved brands are using print in an effective manner. An interesting example that comes to mind is the interactivity brought in by Head & Shoulders in their print ad. The ad was plain back on one side. They invited readers to test whether their head had dandruff by scratching it on the paper. Behold, if there was dandruff, some of it stuck to the black paper. Wouldnt this advertising encourage people to use anti-dandruff shampoo? Simple, interactive and effective. A quick mention of two other global print ads that bagged awards and accolades in 2018: First, DDB Dusseldorfs Highlight the Remarkable, print campaign that won at the Cannes Lions, and brought into focus not only the brand Stabilo but also the cause. The campaign highlighting the women in historic photographs who might otherwise be overlooked became viral on social media. The campaign succeeded in highlighting the brand as well as achieving high recall for it. It used the products utility itself to draw attention to it. In no other medium would the ad have been as effective as it was in print. Second, and perhaps even more amazing were Ogilvy Chicagos long copy ads for shoe polish brand Kiwi. Each ad showed the real footwear of a famous figure accompanied by detailed story of their first step towards a history making journey. The story written in a captivating style is a compelling read, is inspiring and has a strong message. In the end the brand emerges a winner. A long copy ad most would have read end to end. Interestingly, without any brand mention in the long copy an impeccable synergy has been created. Once again, the medium has been put to a great use. Last but not the least an ad from India - Harpic Ad that bagged award at Cannes 2018. The brand promised a free matrimonial ad for prospective brides in Indias number one daily Dainik Jagran if they put five additional words in their matrimonial ad ghar mae swachch shochalaya zaroori. 30% of would-be-brides used these five words in their ads making the campaign a humungous success. Sector Watch: Amit Sethiya, Head Marketing, Syska group Print medium definitely completes the core IMC (integrated marketing communications) planning of any brand. There are enough and more examples of brands which are truly online but even then, they have to rely on a traditional medium like print to acquire new customer base. In order to register the brand presence in print, the players need to plan consciously the exposures and frequencies accordingly which makes the entire participation very thought through which is not the case when it comes to easy medium like digital. This invariably brings more credibility to the brand which consumes print media. With newspapers getting fragmented in terms of genres, languages and formats, it gives easy targeting metric to the marketers. In last 10 years, we have seen lot of interesting innovations brought out by the print industry which has helped the brands to not only capture the attention but also connect with the readers. Print definitely has the upper hand in communicating the value propositions which are either time bound or are highly geographic in nature and these attributes ensure that the medium is serious and relevant. Curtains were drawn on the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters 2019 at Kanakakkunnu Palace grounds today. The last day concluded with a valedictory function inaugurated by Hon Governor Sri Justice ( Retd) P Sathasivam, Shri Kadakampally Surendran Minister of Cooperation, Tourism & Devasoms and key note address by Sri N S Madhavan, . The other officials present at the event included Sri M P Veerendra Kumar Managing Director, Mathrubhumi Group, Sri P V Chandran Managing Editor, Mathurbhumi Group, Sri Sabin Iqbal MBIFL Festival curator, Sri Unni Balakrishnan, Chief of News, Mathrubhumi Television. Hon Governor Sri Justice ( Retd) P Sathasivam said Malayalees readers have always been noted for their interest in world literature and global ideas, the malayalee exposure to the greatest writers Russia, france, latin America is also well known therefore it is not surprising that international literature festivals ensures presence of guest writers who are apt attractions in kerala, the overall impact of this festival will be known in the days to come, he added he also said in the era of globalisation Malayalam literature cannot remain confined to the geographical boundaries of Kerala, it is high time we ensure better global exposure to our work through translations in to other languages in the world, we also need to imply our best resources in translation to ensure a steady flow of old literature in to our language he quoted Day 3, opened with a with an interactive session on Literary Festivals as Creative Platforms, with Jonathan Davidson, Anil Dharkar, K Satchidanandan, and T K Rajeev Kumar. They spoke on the different aspects for the need of literature festivals and essential constituents needed for making a literature festival popular and playing an important role in encouraging not only literature but a positive celebration of diversity. They also emphasised that as curators of literary festivals one would have to popularise reading of books amongst people particularly emerging writers, it should be more than a carnival glamorised event but a platform where serious discussions happen and also opens a whole new horizon to not just literature but other fields like theatre, visual artist, science and technology, theatre etc. Another relevant session at MBIFL was of a session on The Editors Dilemma by acclaimed journalist Raj Kamal Jha and founder of Indias first regional satellite TV channel Asianet who spoke on the sea change paradigm shift in journalism in todays times, he raised his concern about how journalism is under threat across the world due to corporate, political pressure, it has come to a stage where editors are expected to work on raising advertising revenues for organisations, supporting his stand Raj Kamal Jha spoke on how social media, and other media platforms other than print are facing increase attrition in their role of sourcing and delivering news which boils down to the fact that as how we as editors can still hold our relevance for our readers. . The day also had a session by Anil Dharker, Satish Padmanabhan which was moderated by Shireen Quadri on the topic of The Magazine Days. The discussion revolved around the significance of magazines in times of today, they shared their opinions about how a magazine presents a 360 degree look of why a certain thing is happening, and opinionated their thoughts for having a literary magazine which talks about literature in a more universal manner. The festival also experienced a heart-warming session by Rishiraj Singh IPS officer who spoke on the topic of Benign but wrongful parenting leading to drug addiction among children where he shared various reasons for children choosing the path of drug addiction which is mostly due to the less attention parents are giving to their children and shared the story of his own son Chatrasal Singh who did not do very well academically but chose animation as an profession and was one of the animator of the famous children movie Kung Fu Panda 3. He encouraged parents to support their children not just by encouraging their talents but also speaking to them as friends. Highlights of few sessions of the last day as follows: Asian Imaginations Shyam Selvadurai, Mirza Waheed, Sucharita Dutta Asane MBIFL SOLO: How AI is reshaping journalism Devadas Rajaram Conversation: Powers of Historical Perception What powers our perception of history, memory, knowledge or historical context ? Daman Singh, Andrei Kurkov, Jonathan Davidson, Amandeep Sandhu Conversation : Youth Unrest Shubhrastha, Nikhila Henry, Sumeet Samos, Aiswarya Thara Bhai Keynote: Mathematics and God Prof Piers Bursill -Hall Book Reading Daman Singh, Jonathan Davidson, Jane Commane, Nilanjan Choudhury The last day concluded with a remarkable performance by famous musical band Thaikoodam Bridge who entertained the audience with his stunning performance. This year the festival witnessed over 6000 people participating for 4 days. MBIFL 2020 will be held from 30th Jan 2nd February, 2020. Imagicas annual philanthropic initiative, Share The Joy, involving the collection and distribution of books and toys among the less privileged section of the society, has entered the 2019 edition of the prestigious Limca Book of Records as the Largest Collection and Distribution of Toys Drive in India. Imagicas Share The Joy initiative germinated from a simple idea and vision of spreading joy and happiness among the underprivileged kids of the society. The first edition of Share The Joy initiative was successfully implemented by Imagica in association with the NGO Child Rights & You (CRY) in December 2017. Having a clear objective of sharing the joy and putting a smile across children, a school outreach programme for the collection of toys was initiated during the holiday season. For every toy collected from the schools, Imagica matched it with a new toy of its own. Collective endeavor resulted in collection and distribution of 3460 toys among kids such that Share The Joys first edition found a special mention in 2019s, Limca Book of Records. Recognition of this commendable feat as the Largest Collection and Distribution of Toys Drive has not only magnified the initiatives significance but also doubled the happiness quotient. Taking forward the promise to spread delight and joy coupled with the success of the first edition resulted in the second edition in December 2018 which was a book donation drive primarily aimed at making learning fun for underprivileged kids. The second edition too turned out to be a huge success thanks to the extraordinary generosity and overwhelming response received from schools. This time around, students were urged to donate storybooks to kids in need. At its end, Imagica too donated one activity book for each storybook collected from their line of childrens products. In totality, more than 3260 books collected through a collaborative effort from 11 schools across Mumbai, Pune, and Imagica. Books were proportionately distributed to CRY supported projects and pediatric wings of hospitals engaged in serving kids of underprivileged communities like Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children, B. Y. L. Nair Charitable Hospital and Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in Mumbai and Vatsalya Mother & Childcare Hospital, Pune. Both editions have achieved the primary purpose of helping and spreading happiness amongst less fortunate children. Additionally, it has also helped create awareness among school kids, instilling in them the spirit of giving and thinking of others which are important ways to help them grow into productive and loving members of the world. Speaking about the initiative, Mr. Dhimant Bakshi, Jt. CEO, Imagica shared Imagica has created an identity of its own across all age groups as a source of joy and happiness for fun-loving families and individuals. Share The Joy aims to take the concept of joy to a broader level by adding a socially responsible cause associated to it. This initiative went beyond being just a happiness drive by not only witnessing a record-breaking response in the first edition and being featured in Limca Book of Records but also receiving the equally overwhelming and thrilling response for the second edition too. The engagement for this program allowed others to help direct our giving and enabled us to make a meaningful contribution. Its encouraging to see the passion, dedication, and generosity demonstrated year-on-year by all the participating schools and CRY who are an integral part of making this initiative a huge success. Welcoming Share The Joy initiative, Ms Kreeanne Rabadi, Regional Director, CRY West said, Imagica has created a wonderful way to enable people to take action for children, and to spread the message that all children deserve to be happy, regardless of their background. CRY has for the last 40 years been instrumental in enhancing the lives of children and it is so motivating for us to join hands with Imagica taking this vision forward. Extending the initiatives scope, Imagica has undertaken a fundraising activity on its website requesting a voluntary collection of Rs.10 per transaction, proceeds of which will go towards supporting childrens education centres, supported by CRY. Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL), the countrys second largest car manufacturer and the number one car exporter since inception, today announced Nationwide initiatives to spread road safety awareness during the road safety week from February 4th Feb 10th, 2019. Under the umbrella of Hyundais Safe Move, the campaign is aimed at creating a positive change in the society and inspire people to adhere to traffic rules for their own safety and that of others on road. To reach out to masses in a unique and interactive way, Hyundai Motor India launched the #BeTheBetterGuy campaign highlighting 7 key Road safety practices during the Road Safety Week: -Dont Over speed -Non Violation of Traffic Rules -Dont use Mobile Phone while driving, -Usage of Seatbelt, -Dont drink and Drive -Discouraging Under Age Driving -Pedestrian Safety Commenting on the initiatives Mr. Puneet Anand, Sr. GM and Group Head- Marketing, Hyundai Motor India Ltd. said, Safe Move is one of the key pillars of Hyundai Motor Groups long-term road-safety CSR initiative across the globe. Hyundai is a Brand with Cause and focuses on spreading awareness about the importance of road safety to bring about a significant behavioral change amongst the masses and sensitizing people on the issues around road safety. In line with the Governments theme of Sadak Suraksha Jeevan Raksha, Hyundais multiple digital and on-ground activities during the Road Safety Week 2019 will engage customers in life-saving road safety practices. Customers at Hyundais network will be offered free a 20-point safety check up for their vehicles along with providing awareness on Road Safety through activities such as customer pledge to adhere to traffic rules, safety awareness sessions at Service Centres. In addition to these, Hyundai will also organise activities with RWAs of Residential Societies and schools inviting the Young Drivers of Tomorrow for poster-making competition on the theme of Road Safety. Over last four phases of the Safe Move Campaign, Hyundai Motor India has successfully reached out to 260,000 students across 392 schools, about 235,000 Mall visitors and 23,000 Residents. The program enrolled 146 RWAs and also reached out to 35,000 visitors during the popular Krakerjack Karnival in New Delhi. Centum Learning Limited (Centum), a leading player in the skill development and corporate & vocational training space, today announced the appointment of Rajeev Vasudeva, the former global CEO of Egon Zehnder, as Chairman. In addition to guiding Centums future direction, Rajeev will also be a major investor in the company, acquiring a 20% equity stake in Centum Learning. The existing shareholders of Bharti Group will stay fully committed to Centum for its future growth. Given his vast global experience in unlocking the potential of human capital, Rajeev will help Centum build and create an eco-system that facilitates development of future-ready skills that are aligned with industry needs and ensure a ready market place for these skills. As one of the promoters of Centum, he will chart the direction for aggregating the demand and supply of employable skill by leveraging technology and expanding its partnership with the corporate sector. The current MD & CEO of Centum Sanjay Bahl along with the senior management team will continue to be responsible for day to day management of the company, and will report to the Board under the leadership of Rajeev. A new, empowered Board will be assembled under Rajeev to further strengthen corporate governance and support Centums ambitious growth plans. Mr. Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises said, Over the years through Centum, we have built a world-class enterprise in the training and skill development domain with a truly global footprint. We are delighted with the appointment of Rajeev as Chairman and a valued partner in this exciting journey. I am confident that his global expertise in the areas of assessment, leadership development and recruitment combined with his trusted relationships with Boards and CEOs around the world and in India will be of tremendous benefit in achieving Centums aspirations of being a leading player in bridging the global gap between availability and employability. Centum with over 2700 learning and development specialists in 15+ countries with domain expertise in over 21+ industry verticals, has skilled more than 1.5 million people globally. Over the years, Centum has provided customized end-to-end training solutions to more than 350 corporates globally. In India, Centum has set up Centum WorkSkills India in partnership with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to enhance skills of youth across the country. Currently, it operates over 130 skilling centers to impart training in multiple sectors like Retail, Automobile, Hospitality, Health Care, Building and Construction, Telecom and Beauty & Wellness, etc. Centum is also playing a pivotal role and has partnered with various State governments to implement the Vocationalisation of Higher Secondary Education (VHSE) in more than 1600 schools, impacting more than 1,50,000 students across 19 States and Union Territories in India. I am passionate about working with people to support the realization of their full potential. Its truly exciting to get an opportunity to impact the lives of millions by partnering with Bharti through Centum Learning, said Rajeev Vasudeva. With India emerging as one of the youngest working populations, skill development has emerged as a key enabler for Indias economic growth. In the midst of such exciting times for the skilling industry, I feel privileged to be able to contribute my expertise and experience in a meaningful way at Centum. He further added If we truly believe that businesses can bring transformational change, then skilling and training are the foundational elements of that change. Combined with technology, they have the potential to unlock opportunities exponentially in education and employment. The chance to bring together these strands into an integrated whole is incredibly inspirational and motivational. Rajeev Vasudeva started his career in 1995 with Egon Zehnder, the leading global executive search and leadership advisory firm. He spearheaded the firms entry into emerging markets including India, Middle East and Africa. He has lived and worked in three continents and has served on both the Global Executive Committee and the Board of Egon Zehnder for over a decade. In January 2014, he was appointed the Chief Executive of Egon Zehnder and served till October 2018. Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Rajeev worked as a management consultant with Touche Ross and Price Waterhouse in the US and in India. He is currently based in London. The Interim Budget 2019 presented by Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on February 1 has been hailed by India Inc, who expect a spur in consumption with the tax rebates given to the middle class. The proposal to set by a National Centre for Artificial Intelligence as well the greater push to digitise India has also been welcomed by the industry. Sunil Duggal, CEO, Dabur India Ltd: Finance Minister Piyush Goyals Interim Budget 2019 can be summed up as a series of sops for the middle class, farmers and millions of employees in the unorganised sector. Not only does he promise to put more disposal income in the pockets of Middle-Class India, he is also seeking to improve the quality of life of people at the bottom of the pyramid, particularly the small and marginal farmers, and unorganized sector workers. In short, it a great Budget for that should spur consumption. The governments decision to exempt tax on an income of up to Rs 5 lakh for individuals tax payers and an increase in standard deduction to Rs 50,000, the hike in TDS threshold for home rent and higher Capital Gains tax exemptions under Section 54 are big-ticket reliefs for the Aam Aadmi. I am confident this Budget would boost overall consumer confidence and play a catalyst for demand generation for branded consumer staples and consumer products. However, the upward revision in fiscal deficit target to 3.4 per cent of the GDP for 2018-19 and 2019-20 remains an area of concern. Also, there is not much clarity on the government vision and strategy for improving infrastructure and job creation. Dr Subho Ray, President, IAMAI: The announcement of National Artificial Intelligence portal is expected to propel India on the path of leveraging advanced and disruptive technologies for growth and economic prosperity and growth. The Budget acknowledges the innovation taking place in the country. India is now the second-largest hub for start-ups in the world. Shekhar Bajaj, CMD, Bajaj Electricals Limited: The Interim Budget 2019-20 presented by the Finance Minister will give a boost to Indias growth story, primarily focusing on middle and lower middle class segment of the Indian society. The exemption provided in the tax for individuals with salaried income of up to Rs 5 lakh, clubbed with subvention schemes for farmers who cannot afford to repay loan shall propel demand growth in both rural and urban areas thereby paving way for overall growth going forward. In addition to enhancing individuals disposable income, initiative towards enhancing the digital penetration in the villages across the country shall have great potential of sustaining overall demand scenario for consumer durable industry in coming time. Vijay Mansukhani, MD, Mirc Electronics Ltd (Onida): Overall, the Budget is very positive for middle class, as the Government has put in more disposable income in the hands of middle class of the country. This is much needed for a long time. On the other hand there is good balancing act done to agriculture sector, which would bring in much need relief to farmers of the country. Increase in disposable income in the hands of both middle class and rural India is definitely going to spur demand for consumer durables goods like televisions, air conditioners and washing machines. This move is definitely positive for us. Government should have worked on selective Free Trade Agreements with countries like Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia for agricultural products rather than encouraging duty free import of consumer durables from these countries. The recent move of the Government of India to reduce customs duty on goods imported from Korea from 6.9 per cent to 6.3 per cent and from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka to zero is detrimental to Make in India initiative of the company. On one side, the Government of India has been promoting make in India and on the other side entering FTAs with these countries, which will not encourage the growth of manufacturing in India. Ullas Kamath, Joint Managing Director, Jyothy Laboratories Limited: The Budget presented by the Finance Minister comes with a holistic approach towards the upliftment and betterment of the entire Indian society. Focused on easing out processes and efforts taken in improving the lives of the farmers will help in shaping up the rural economy of the country. The decision of reducing the tax burden on the salaried individuals will boost the consumer sentiment, thereby aiding added purchasing power. The balanced efforts taken towards the rural and the urban economy will help in boosting the demand supply chain of the country. The initiative of setting up one lakh digital villages in the next 5 years is a good move and it will provide further impetus to Indias growth story. Additionally, schemes providing bonus to the workers will help boosting their confidence. Overall, we believe its a well formed and a futuristic budget that will expedite the growth of the Indian economy. Prashant Puri, Co-Founder & CEO, AdLift: The Union Budget looks very promising for start-ups/ MSMEs. Loans up to Rs 1 crore sanctioned within 59 minutes and 2 per cent rebates on interest loans for GST registered MSMEs are positive boosts to the start-up ecosystem. Nikhil Nanda, MD, JHS Svendgaard Laboratories Ltd: The Finance Minister has done good job by balancing welfare and growth of the country. Increase in disposable incomes in the hands of middle class and rural India is good boost for FMCG companies like us. Any saving in the taxes are generally spent on kids, which is where our focus is and this raising of income tax exemption limit and increasing standard deduction will go a long way to spur the consumption and spending power of the people. Sunu Mathews, MD, LEAP India Pvt Ltd: Though we all know this is an Interim Budget, commendable efforts have been put up by Government to balance both growth and welfare of the people. Our clientele from FMCG, Beverages are going to benefit possibly from increasing disposable income in the hands of middle class of the country and rural India, this will in turn spur demand for our pallets. Rishi Bhatnagar, President, Aeris Communications & Chairman IET IoT Panel India: Companies are deploying considerable investments in emerging technologies to match customer expectations. To support the deployment of these emerging technologies, skill development and enhancement is imperative amidst the current digital disruption scenario. According to MDSEs annual report, 2017-18, the demand for skilled labour in 34 sectors across industries has been estimated to be over 12.8 Cr between 2017 and 2018. Interim FM in this Interim Budget has announced the decision of making the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and building Centre of Excellence. The Government of India has opened the path for the youth in India to leverage the new state-of-the-art developments and upskill themselves to widen the jobs pool for themselves. We appreciate the GOIs perspective of making India digitally enhanced and look forward to add value by providing the Indian talent with opportunities to grow in the IT industry. Snehashish Bhattacharjee, Global CEO, Denave: The Budget gives much awaited technology push for the fast paced Indian economy. The CoE of Artificial Intelligence (AI) reaffirms governments intention and interest in pushing India to develop as hub of emerging technologies. It shall also prove to play a pivotal role in massification of ground-breaking technologies as well as providing headwind to the ongoing skill development and job creation agenda. It is a huge opportunity for the tech start-ups, and the contribution of India Inc. in the initial stages of implementation shall prove to be significant. The Budget overall is positive and covers the entire gamut of economic pillars in one go - farmers, youth, start-ups, women, middle-class segment, defence, green energy, industries, etc. It promises to make social security accessible to the unorganised segment. The intent with which the budget has been designed will be best experienced with an effective execution. Gautam Kaushik, CEO, PAYBACK India: The Interim Budget has been a balancing act with primary focus on addressing the concerns of the farming community, ease of doing business for the unorganised sectors and giving out relief to tax payers across sections while maintaining the aspirations towards continued economic growth. This should help shore up confidence in the future prospects of the economy which should then manifest in strong consumer growth helping our business. Rajnish Kumar, CTO & Co-founder, travel tech platform ixigo: The new national scheme announced by the government on Artificial Intelligence is a futuristic scheme which will promote the use of technology and digitisation. The governments efforts in providing the necessary AI support required by start-ups, further emphasises the role that new technologies will play in the development of the economy. Efforts to establish 1 lakh digital villages is also a positive step towards strengthening digital penetration in rural India and will significantly increase the adoption of digital platforms across masses. Hiren Shah, Founder and Chairman, Vertoz: The Interim Budget has laid out a clear vision for the countrys development in the coming decade, and Digital India plays an important role with the government stressing on the development of digital infrastructure and digital economy. It was also heartening to understand that India is now leading the world with the highest mobile data consumption and has witnessed a growth of 50 times in the last five years. The Finance Minister also mentioned that the delivery of mobile data services has seen significant growth. Coupled with the Governments vision of converting one lakh villages into digital villages, we will see a deeper penetration of the internet not only in Tier 2 and 3 markets, but also in rural areas. Currently, we have only scratched the surface and the support from the government can help the industry reach its full potential with respect to market penetration. This will broaden the horizon for digital advertising, and consequently for programmatic advertising, in these markets, thus providing an opportunity to brands and marketers to cater to the customer needs with bespoke products and services. We are also happy to see Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a focal part of the budget for Digital India. This support will ensure that AI, supported by Big Data, will enable the industry to successfully analyse consumer patterns with minimized human intervention. This also brings in the benefits of automation such as more efficiency and faster processing of data for advertising, thus allowing brands to get sales faster and within an effective timeline. Mahesh Iyer, ED and CEO, Thomas Cook (India) Limited: While the Interim Union Budget 2019 has seen no direct mention of the travel and tourism sector, focus on tax breaks for the Middle Class (including doubling of income-tax exemption to Rs 5 lakh, raising of the threshold on bank fixed deposit interest to Rs 40,000, etc.), will result in increased disposable income and a cascading boost to consumption- offering the sector an opportunity for increased travel & tourism spends. Ankur Dhawan, Chief Investment Officer, PropTiger.com: The Government has given sufficient reasons for real estate to rejoice in this budget. Though there were many direct announcements for sector such as extension of Section 80IBA for 1 year, no interest on notional rent till 2 year of completion of project, reinvestment of capital gain in 2 houses rather than one and no tax on notional rent for 2 self-occupied houses, yet announcement of 100% rebate for income up to Rs 5 lakh will have much stronger impact on real estate sales especially for affordable housing buyers. Not only government is giving credit link subsidy scheme for these buyers but also leaving more money in hand to pay EMIs through increased tax savings. Siddharth Hegde, MD, Ethinos Digital Marketing: This is a positive Budget from a digital perspective and clearly the government is determined not only on delivering on its current promises, but also delivering on its promise of a complete digital revolution in India. The 10-point agenda for 2030 and the set up of digital villages is going to drive digital inclusion. The low data costs are going to drive more for the rural population online and we are likely to see an explosion in vernacular content. This is also likely to give marketers an option to have a more measurable pipe to the rural masses. This budget is a great start and we welcome the move by the Government. Jigar Zatakia, Founder & CEO, FirstEconomy: The Modi Government has donned the avatar of a dream merchant in this budget. It is rife with populist measures aimed directly at the heart of the biggest vote bank, that is, farmers and the middle class. The target to digitise 5 lakh villages over the next 5 years should provide added impetus to the present Governments vision of minimum government maximum governance. This will give us the digital marketers to reach the untapped markets and customer base that has been difficult to reach and help us deliver better ROIs on the investment done by brands. The Startup India Program continues to motivate the youth to become job providers rather than job seekers, which has made India the second largest hub for start-ups. While the macro picture does look very attractive, on the micro front, while we are happy with the 5 per cent relief in the income tax to MSMEs, we were expecting some relief on the 6 per cent equalisation levy that we need to pay on all payments done to foreign publishers which hasnt come in. Rahul Garg, CEO & Founder, Moglix (Start-Up): The Interim Budget 2019 is quite positive with a strong focus to boost the start-up ecosystem. Upcoming Initiatives like National Artificial Intelligence portal, raising threshold for presumptive taxation are a welcome move for start-ups. Further, the digitisation of government processes and private transactions will help start-ups focus on their growth and expansion and will further lead to the creation of millions of jobs. Dr. Jitin Chadha, Founder and Director, Indian School of Business & Finance (ISBF) "As expected, Budget 2019 was an election-focused budget. For us in the higher education sector, it was an opportunity lost as education barely found a mention in the FM's budget speech. We believe it is a sector that should be accorded the highest priority in our country. We would have loved to see Government funds being used to promote public-private and international collaboration in higher education research, curriculum design and pedagogy." "As expected, Budget 2019 was an election-focused budget. For us in the higher education sector, it was an opportunity lost as education barely found a mention in the FM's budget speech. We believe it is a sector that should be accorded the highest priority in our country. We would have loved to see Government funds being used to promote public-private and international collaboration in higher education research, curriculum design and pedagogy." Ankit Tayal, Founder, Step Cables Decisions like reduction of tax rates for companies with turnover of more than 250 crs and 25% increment in sourcing of Government enterprises from SME's is definitely a welcome move as SMEs are the major contributor in the GDP and these decisions will give a major boost to the SME sector in terms of growth and employment generation and will also help in fulfilling governments vision of Make In India. Karan Bedi, CEO of MX Player The Union Budgets provision for a single clearance window for Indian filmmakers would come as a welcome and positive step to film p roducers & movie studios across the country. The amendments in the Anti Camcording provisions would also complement the industrys efforts to snub illegal movie recordings in theatres and encourage the consumption of original content. At MX Player, we are empowering independent film studios to produce unparalleled regional content to cater to the Indian masses, and this Budget would go a long way in helping us entertain audiences with more exciting MX Originals. AdFest has announced the launch of the TMRRW Biz School, a creative business school for a new generation of marketing leaders, which runs from March 20 to 23 during AdFest 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand. I have always believed that good clients make great agencies. TMRRW Biz School fills a gap in the market for a creatively-led dedicated business school for the regions CMOs and marketing leaders. Over four days during AdFest 2019, theyll learn practical creative skills and tactics they can apply to their own brands and organisations, said Jimmy Lam, President of AdFest. According to a recent survey of 1,500 chief executives conducted by IBMs Institute for Business Value, CEOs identify creativity as the most important leadership competency for the successful enterprise of the future. Many Fortune 500 companies place creativity as their number one priority, and are already using creativity as strategic leverage to form a competitive edge. But according to Guan Hin Tay, Founder of TGH Collective, and a Creative Change Catalyst at APAC Global Advisory, most business schools fail to teach marketers how to apply the essential tools, techniques, and processes of innovation. Many education programs focus solely on digital technology using data. Other schools are better at teaching brand ideas or leadership skills. But no school combines them all, said Tay, who is joining TMRRW Biz School as its inaugural Principal. I am certain marketers who enter this school will leave more inspired to make a massive difference to their brands by thinking strategically and tactically using creativity. TMRRW Biz School has recruited a team of creative, data and digital experts to share their tactics and techniques: Anthony James, Executive Director at Trinity Consulting Services (Sydney, Australia) Richard Lee, former Chief Marketing Officer of PepsiCo Greater China and Co-Founder & Chairman at Frontier Communications (Shanghai, China) Christine Wang, General Manager, E-Commerce at Publicis China (Shanghai, China) Kenny Blumenschein, Creative Strategist, Greater China Region at Facebook (Hong Kong, China) Pinit Chantaprateep, Vice President of Global Branding at Double A (Bangkok, Thailand) Jax Jung, Global Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide (Seoul, South Korea) Natalie Lam, International Creative Director (New York, USA) Mitsuyuki Nakamura, Global President, dentsu X (London, UK) Participants at TMRRW Biz School will be given tasks and challenges designed to accelerate their progress and maximise their knowledge. Every marketer will leave the school with practical techniques and tactics that they can apply soon after in the workplace. All lecturers have been handpicked according to their industry expertise. From cutting-edge digital experts to successful CMOs from blue-chip brands and leading business influencers, they will present real-life case studies that show different ways of solving real business challenges through creativity. ADFESTs TMRRW Biz School is open to registered delegates of AdFest 2019, who work client-side. Enrolment is free, but space is limited to 50 participants. WENN/Joseph Marzullo Celebrity The 'Seinfeld' actor's attorney says the plaintiff ignored Jerry's request to show evidence that could prove the Porsche he sold is fake. Feb 4, 2019 AceShowbiz - Jerry Seinfeld is sued for allegedly selling a fake Porsche. Fica Frio Ltd., which purchased the 1958 Porsche 356 A 1500 GT Carrera Speedster from the actor in March 2016, filed a lawsuit against the comedian in Manhattan federal court on Friday, February 1. The collector paid $1.54 million for the car during an auction in Amelia Island, Florida. The auction summary boasted that the car was a "stunning example of a rare thoroughbred Porsche," but later Fica Frio learned that the car was not authentic. According to the lawsuit, the car was described as "[having] the distinction of being the only Carrera Speedster known to have been finished at the factory in Auratium Green." The buyer then took the car to one of the world's foremost historic Porsche dealers who doubted the authenticity of the car, and an investigation reportedly proved that it was indeed fake. Fica Frio claimed the authentication of the vehicle was bogus. According to the lawsuit, the person who sold it to Jerry said, "Unfortunately we do not have a lot of information on the 1958 Porsche 356 A 1500 GT Carrera Speedster. We purchased the car from a broker who would not take me to the cars (sic) original location to meet the family that owned it originally." After being informed about this, Jerry left a voicemail in June 2018 to "offer my apology for this nuisance and assure you that you will be completely indemnified in full and not have to keep the car and get all your money back." He also "would love to know how your guys figured it out because I find that to be interesting cause thats impressive my guys did not I guess see anything amiss with the car when I bought it." He reportedly agreed to "return to Fica Frio the purchase price that Fica Frio had paid to Mr. Seinfeld, plus all costs it incurred, in exchange for Fica Frio returning the Vehicle to Mr. Seinfeld." The plaintiff claims that the "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" host "breached that oral agreement, as he has not returned Fica Frio's purchase price nor paid to Fica Frio its costs incurred, in exchange for the vehicle." Responding to the lawsuit, Jerry's lawyer Orin Snyder insists that the "Seinfeld" alum has been showing good faith and trying to settle the issue with Fica Frio, but the latter allegedly didn't cooperate. "Jerry has been working in good faith to get to the bottom of this matter. He has asked Fica Frio for evidence to substantiate the allegations. Fica Frio ignored Jerry and instead filed this frivolous lawsuit," the lawyer states. He goes on claiming, "Jerry consigned the car to Gooding and Company, an auction house, which is responsible for the sale. Nevertheless, Jerry is willing to do what's right and fair, and we are confident the court will support the need for an outside evaluator to examine the provenance of the car." Instagram Celebrity In a released statement regarding the misdemeanour battery charge against the 'Like You' hitmaker, lawyer Joe Habachy describes the MC's on/off girlfriend as 'an out of control intoxicated female.' Feb 4, 2019 AceShowbiz - A lawyer for rapper/actor Bow Wow is convinced the star was "wrongfully arrested" following an alleged altercation with his on/off girlfriend early on Saturday, February 02. The "Like You" hitmaker, also known by his birth name Shad Moss, was taken into custody in Atlanta, Georgia after clashing with Leslie Holden. She called police on the 31-year-old, claiming he attacked her, while Moss argued he had been the victim in the incident. They were both charged with misdemeanour battery as officers were reportedly unable to determine who had been the aggressor. Now Moss' legal representative has addressed the arrest, insisting the star, who also features on reality show "Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta", did nothing wrong. "Shad Bow Wow Moss was wrongfully arrested earlier this morning for the first time after being beaten by an out of control intoxicated female, Ms. Leslie Holden, in an Atlanta condominium," read a statement issued by lawyer Joe Habachy to People.com. He went on to claim that "the only two independent witnesses both corroborated his version of events indicating that Ms. Holden was simply out of control and was without a doubt the primary aggressor". Both Moss and Holden were held on $8,000 (6,100) bond, and have since been released. WENN/Nicky Nelson TV Meanwhile, Kenya plays coy when it comes to her possible return to the Bravo show as she takes to her Instagram account to tease that she's always open to any possibilty. Feb 4, 2019 AceShowbiz - It seems like Kenya Moore is beyond desperate to return to "The Real Housewives of Atlanta". A new report suggests that the new former cast member of the Bravo reality show is offering the network's honchos a huge deal as she's willing to give up her initial good salary. According to MTO News, the mother of one is looking for a return to the show and offering to rejoin the show with only $500,000 per season. That is a huge paydown for Kenya as it means she's offering a 75% discount from her initial $2 million salary two seasons ago. In addition, Kenya is open for any role on the show. "She's even willing to take a friend of the show role," an insider tells the site. "She's desperate to get back on the show, in any way." It is also said that Bravo is considering to take the offer. "We're always looking at budgets and we can get [Kenya] at a big discount then we'll definitely consider it," the executive of Bravo allegedly claimed to the gossip site. The executive, though, notes that the offer is "informal" so far. Meanwhile, Kenya took to her Instagram account to tease her possible return to "RHOA". During an Instagram live broadcast, the TV personality received a lot of comments from her followers who begged her to make a return on the show. "@Bravo! Yall a*** suck! Kenya! Do not take a pay cut! Bravo needs you! Look at the ratings," a fan wrote in the comment section. "WE DESPERATELY NEED YOU BACK," one eager fan added. In addition to Kenya, fans apparenly also wanted Phaedra Parks to return. "Come back....and bring @phaedraparks with u," said another fan. In response to the demand, Kenya coyly replied, "Will I return to 'Real Housewives of Atlanta'? My motto in life is 'never say never.' " WENN/JLN Photography Celebrity Many people, including rappers Wale and Offset, have come at the former Disney darling for finding the memes funny. Feb 4, 2019 AceShowbiz - Demi Lovato is no longer on Twitter. The former Disney darling deleted her account from the social media platform on Sunday, February 3 after getting backlash for laughing at memes about 21 Savage, who was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for allegedly overstaying his visa. When news about the rapper, who is actually British and entered the U.S. illegally in 2005, hit the internet, it subsequently became memes. While some made jokes about the deportation, some other found the fact that the rapper is British so funny that they couldn't help but turn it into a meme. Demi was among the people who laughed at the memes. "So far 21 savage memes have been my favorite part of the Super Bowl," she wrote on the micro-blogging site. Demi Lovato gets criticized for joking about the 21 Savage memes that were made after the rapper was detained. pic.twitter.com/ga9lcrBNQL Pop Crave (@PopCrave) 4 Februari 2019 It didn't take too long for people to start calling her out, including rappers Wale and Offset. "Why is somebody freedom funny... I don't get the joke," Wale quote-tweeted her message. "A lot of people were sending you love light , prayers etc . When people were making jokes about u at a rough time. A lot of people .Bless up." Why is somebody freedom funny ... I dont get the joke https://t.co/Eyf4clympS Wale (@Wale) 4 Februari 2019 Meanwhile, the Migos member appeared to subtweet her, "ALL THE MEMES AND S**T AINT FUNNY WHEN SOMEBODY GOING THROUGH SOME. PRAYING FOR MY DAWG AIN'T S**T FUNNY HIS FANILY [sic] DEPENDING ON HIM." ALL THE MEMES AND SHIT AINT FUNNY WHEN SOMEBODY GOING THROUGH SOME PRAYING FOR MY DAWG AINT SHIT FUNNY HIS FANILY DEPENDING ON HIM OFFSET (@OffsetYRN) 4 Februari 2019 Responding to the criticism, Demi tried to clarify herself and pointed out that she wasn't laughing at the fact that 21 Savage might face deportation. "If you're gonna come at me for making a joke, try coming at me with some original not involving drugs," she said, before adding in another tweet, "FYI this is the s**t I'm laughing at... not the fact that anyone is getting deported." The meme that Demi was talking about featured an image of someone writing with a feathered-tip pen and a bottle of ink next to it. The meme was captioned, "This how 21 Savage be writing his verse." Demi Lovato clarifies her tweet about the 21 Savage memes on her Instagram story: I wasnt laughig at anyone getting deported. I know thats not a joke..not have I EVER laughed at that pic.twitter.com/Apepv5lb1H Pop Crave (@PopCrave) 4 Februari 2019 Despite the clarification, people still criticized her. It prompted Demi to delete her account before apologizing on Instagram Stories. "Wasn't laughing at anyone getting deported. I know that's not a joke... not have I EVER laughed at that," she said. "The meme I posted/was talking about was of him being writing with a feather pen. Sorry if I offended anyone." She added, "But it's no excuse to laugh at someone's addiction, let alone their OD." Instagram Celebrity The 'Gummo' rapper worries about his family's safety after pleading guilty to nine criminal charges and snitching to the authorities in the process. Feb 4, 2019 AceShowbiz - Tekashi69 a.k.a. 6ix9ine is worrying about his family's safety after entering a guilty plea for nine criminal charges, including racketeering, conspiracy, firearms offenses and narcotics trafficking. The troubled rap star has reportedly spent thousands of dollars on personal security for his mother. According to TMZ, the "Fefe" hitmaker did a lot of snitching while pleading guilty to the charges. He reportedly implied members of the Nine Trey Bloods in multiple crimes and named the hitman whom has been subsequently indicted for the attempted shooting of Chief Keef. Tekashi is allegedly worried that anyone looking for revenge against might harm his mother. His lawyer Dawn Florio tells the site, "6ix9ine has the means to pay for his family's private security, so the government expects the money to come out of [his] pocket to protect his closest family members." She claims that the government would help provide security for his family if, at some point, Tekashi can't afford it. Tekashi's baby mama Sara Molina also has 24/7 armed security protection for her and her three-year-old daughter, but she's paying for it. She recently expressed how upset she was for everything that her ex-boyfriend has done that might harm her and their daughter. "He did what he did," she told TMZ, after Tekashi pled guilty to the charges. "He made his bed and now he has to lie in it. But he didn't think about how it was going to affect others. He's only thinking about himself in the situation. I'm left to pick up the pieces of whatever mess he's made, which is and has always been a thing ... my job is to protect my daughter at all costs and even if that means him." Twitter users have changed the rapper's name into Snitch9ine after he's cooperating with the feds. His attorney Lance Lazzaro previously insisted that his client was not guilty and that he's not interested in "cooperating" with prosecutors, but he has apparently changed his mind. WENN/FayesVision Celebrity Once again forced to clear up speculations about her mental health condition, the daughter of late Michael Jackson insists she is 'the happiest and healthiest I've been in a long time.' Feb 4, 2019 AceShowbiz - Paris Jackson has slammed "meltdown" rumours following her decision to take some time away from the public eye. It was reported last month (January 2019) that the daughter of the late Michael Jackson was seeking help for her mental and emotional health at a live-in treatment facility. Paris blasted the "exaggerated" story at the time, and insisted she was simply taking a break from work and social media because "it can be too much sometimes". However, she has been forced again to clear up speculation surrounding her wellbeing, and shot down rumours about her alleged "meltdown" in a series of posts on Twitter on Saturday night (February 02). "There's no meltdown, no 'losing (my) s**t,' or being demanding of anyone. please don't believe what you read," the 20-year-old wrote. "Just bc (because) i was spotted grabbing coffee in LA after taking a nice long break from the chaotic media for some reason makes 'journalists' think they can run wild with my name (sic)." Just a few days ago, Paris was spotted strolling through West Hollywood with her boyfriend Gabriel Glenn. "I said it before and I'll say it again," she added. "I'm the happiest and healthiest I've been in a long time." i said it before and ill say it again, im the happiest and healthiest ive been in a long time. Paris-Michael K. J. (@ParisJackson) February 2, 2019 Paris has been open about her battle with depression and anxiety, and in 2013, she was hospitalised after attempting suicide. The model later admitted she tried to take her own life a number of times during an interview with Rolling Stone back in 2017. "I was crazy. I was actually crazy. I was going through a lot of, like teen, angst. And I was also dealing with my depression and my anxiety without any help," she told the outlet. "It was just self-hatred. Low self-esteem, thinking that I couldn't do anything right, not thinking I was worthy of living anymore." .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Seventy-eight percent of New Mexico business leaders believe the ethics-related behavior of elected state officials has negatively impacted economic development here, according to a recent poll. The poll was sponsored by the Committee for Economic Development, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C. Albuquerque-based Research & Polling Inc. surveyed 252 individuals between December and January. Research & Polling also conducts polls for the Journal. In an interview, CED Executive Vice President Mike Petro said that though the results speak to some of the challenges New Mexico has faced in the past, he believes the numbers are a positive sign for the state. The business community in New Mexico is making the connection between corruption, cronyism and economic development, said Petro. That doesnt happen in every state. And in New Mexico, you see that changes are starting to occur. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Petro pointed to the states recently approved ethics commission as an example of such a change. In November, New Mexico voters overwhelmingly backed a constitutional amendment that created an independent ethics commission. The details of how the commission will operate are currently being debated in the Legislature. Among the takeaways from the poll: n When asked about the impact of the ethical behavior of elected officials on economic development in the state, 51 percent described the impact as somewhat negative while another 27 percent called it very negative, meaning nearly four out of five think the impact has been in some way negative. n Twenty-three percent of leaders feel that things in New Mexico are headed in the right direction, an increase of seven percentage points from the year prior. n The vast majority of business leaders 91 percent either strongly or somewhat support a Legislative proposal that would require all political contributions and expenditures from individuals, corporations, political action committees, nonprofits and unions to be made public. n Most business leaders believe the ethics commission should be as nonpartisan and independent as possible (97 percent), that commissioners should be well-qualified and free of any past ethical complaints (95 percent), and that every credible complaint should receive a through and fair investigation (94 percent). More controversial was creating a transparent and public process for the investigations (79 percent) and releasing the details of the commissions findings to the public (77 percent). The business leaders surveyed include members of the Albuquerque Economic Forum, Albuquerque Economic Development, the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Association, the board members of the various chambers of commerce throughout the state, the largest private sector employers in New Mexico, and the largest employers within various business sectors. This is the fourth year the poll has been conducted in New Mexico. Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling, said he was not surprised by the results. Business leaders in New Mexico are still very concerned about the states image as it relates to ethical behavior, he said. Richwood, TX (77531) Today Thunderstorms likely. Low 74F. SSE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Low 74F. SSE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is keeping a close eye on the minimum wage debate playing out at the Roundhouse. And the Democratic governor, who has pushed for the states $7.50 per hour minimum wage to be increased, has not been swayed by concerns raised by restaurant owners about a proposal that would eliminate a lower allowable wage level for tipped employees. That provision is included in House Bill 31, a minimum wage bill that would bump New Mexicos minimum wage up to $10 per hour starting in July and even higher in future years. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Its one of several minimum wage measures that have been introduced during the ongoing 60-day session. It hasnt changed my mind about the value of raising the minimum wage for every single New Mexican, Lujan Grisham told reporters during a Roundhouse news conference on Monday. The governor, who took office last month, said its too early to say whether she would ultimately support the legislation in its current form. My goal is not to create harm to small businesses, she added. But she also said the data she has seen to date does not bear out the concerns raised by restaurant owners, which include references to eateries closing, laying off employees or having to fundamentally change to self-serve business models. Under current state law, the minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 per hour. But some restaurant employees have testified they end up making much more than the minimum wage when tips are factored into the equation. During a House committee last week, numerous restaurant owners and employees showed up to urge lawmakers to oppose the proposed elimination of the lower wage floor for tipped employees. But other restaurant workers testified in support, and Rep. Miguel Garcia, D-Albuquerque, the bills sponsor, pointed out federal law prohibits employers from taking employees tips. The bill passed the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee via a party-line vote and could be debated on the House floor sometime this week. This is a debate worth having at the federal level, and its a debate worth having here, Lujan Grisham said of the minimum wage, which has not been increased in New Mexico since 2009. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE Congresswoman Xochitl Torres Small stressed bipartisanship and cooperation Monday as she addressed the state Legislature for the first time since winning a nationally watched race in southern New Mexico. Torres Small, just the second Democrat to represent the 2nd Congressional District in 38 years, was escorted into the chambers by a delegation that included her husband, state Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces. She noted that her district runs from the southern tip of the Albuquerque area to the states remote Bootheel along the border with Mexico a section of the country that puts New Mexico in the middle of the national immigration debate. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Torres Small didnt directly mention President Trumps push for construction of a border wall, which she opposes. If we want a strong border, she told lawmakers, it also has to be vibrant, and if we want safety, wed better be good to our neighbors. Torres Small, a Las Cruces attorney whose election last year helped Democrats retake a majority in the U.S. House, urged state lawmakers to support roadway and infrastructure improvements in southeastern New Mexico, where an oil boom is boosting state revenue. We all bear a responsibility to support the region that is supporting New Mexico, she said. Torres Small is the fourth member of New Mexicos congressional delegation to address the Legislature this session. U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland is expected to speak later this month. Torres Small spoke for about 10 minutes. The challenges we face are felt by everyone, Torres Small said, and the opportunity we share can only be reached together. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... NEW YORK After nearly three months of testimony about a vast drug-smuggling conspiracy steeped in violence, a jury began deliberations Monday at the U.S. trial of the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. The day ended without jurors reaching a verdict for Guzman, who faces life in prison if convicted. They were to resume deliberations Tuesday morning. The jury has heard months of testimony about Guzmans rise to power as the head of the Sinaloa cartel. Prosecutors say he is responsible for smuggling at least 200 tons of cocaine into the United States and for a wave of killings in turf wars with other cartels. Guzman, 61, is notorious for escaping from prison twice in Mexico. In closing arguments, prosecutor Andrea Goldbarg said he was plotting yet another breakout when was he was sent in 2017 to the U.S., where he has been in solitary confinement ever since. The defendant wanted to escape because he is guilty and he never wanted to be in a position where he would have to answer for his crimes, Goldbarg told the jury. He wanted to avoid sitting right there. In front of you. The defense claims Guzmans role has been exaggerated by cooperating witnesses who are seeking leniency in their own cases. In his closing, defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman assailed the case as a fantasy and urged the jury not to believe cooperators who lie, steal, cheat, deal drugs and kill people for a living. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Last week, newly unsealed court papers revealed disturbing allegations not heard by the jury that Guzman had sex with girls as young as 13. A Colombian drug trafficker told investigators that the kingpin paid $5,000 to have the girls brought to him, and that he sometimes drugged them, the papers say. The start of the proceedings Monday was briefly delayed after two jurors indicated to the judge they were aware of reports about the alleged sex crimes. He questioned both behind closed doors before allowing them to remain on the jury. The unsealing of the documents came at the request of The New York Times and Vice News. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan had ordered prosecutors to review the material originally sealed because it was deemed unrelated to the drug charges and make portions of it public within four days of the government resting its case against Guzman. Guzmans attorneys said their client denies the allegations. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, on a visit to New York City, stopped by the courtroom, with the jury not present, to thank the governments trial team. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... RICHMOND, Va. A political death watch took shape at Virginias Capitol as Gov. Ralph Northam consulted with top administration officials Monday about whether to resign amid a furor over a racist photo in his 1984 yearbook. Practically all of the states Democratic establishment and Republican leaders, too turned against the 59-year-old Democrat after the picture surfaced late last week of someone in blackface next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. The photo was on Northams medical school yearbook page. The sense of crisis deepened Monday as the politician next in line to be governor, Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, denied an uncorroborated allegation of sexual misconduct first reported by a conservative website. Fairfax told reporters that the 2004 encounter with a woman was consensual, and he called the accusation a political smear. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Protest chants, meanwhile, echoed around Capitol Square. Lobbyists complained they were unable to get legislators to focus on bills. Security guards joked about who was going to be the next governor. Cafeteria workers and members of the cleaning staff shook their heads in wonder. And banks of news cameras were set up outside the governors Executive Mansion. Northam stayed out of sight as he met with his Cabinet and senior staff to hear their assessment of whether it was feasible for him to stay in office, according to a top administration official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The meetings included frank conversations about the difficulties of governing under such circumstances, the person said. Calls from lawmakers for Northams resignation seemed to ease Monday. State Del. Lamont Bagby, head of the Legislative Black Caucus, said there was little left to say: Im going to let him breathe a little bit, give him space to make the right decision. The waiting game played out on what was already one of the legislatures busiest days of the session, with the House and Senate each seeking to complete legislation to send to the other chamber. Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne said he told Northam that the state cannot afford a prolonged period of uncertainty over his future. Northams office is in the middle of negotiations with GOP lawmakers over a major tax overhaul and changes to the state budget. The Republicans control both houses of the legislature. One way or the other, it needs to be resolved, Layne said. The furor over the photo erupted on Friday, when Northam first admitted he was in the picture without saying which costume he was wearing, and apologized. But a day later, he denied he was in the photo, while also acknowledging he once put on blackface to imitate Michael Jackson at a dance contest in Texas decades ago. The scandal threatens to cripple Northams ability to govern. In a sign Monday of the challenges he could face, Katherine Rowe, president of the College of William & Mary, canceled an appearance by Northam at an event this Friday because his presence would fundamentally disrupt the sense of campus unity we aspire to. Northam, a pediatric neurologist who graduated from Eastern Virginia Medical School and came to politics late in life, is one year into his four-year term. If he resigns, Fairfax will become the second African-American governor in Virginia history. The states Republican House speaker said lawmakers are hesitant to seek Northams impeachment and are hoping he steps down instead. Obviously on impeachment, thats a very high standard, Speaker Kirk Cox said. And so I think thats why I think we have called for the resignation. We hope thats what the governor does. I think that would obviously be less pain for everyone. Referring to the allegation against him, Fairfax said he was not surprised it came at a critical time: Its at that point that they come out with the attacks and the smears. It is unfortunate. It really is, but its sadly a part of our politics now. The Associated Press is not reporting the details of the accusation because AP has not been able to corroborate it. The Washington Post said Monday that it was approached by the woman in 2017 and carefully investigated but never published a story for lack of any independent evidence. The Post said the woman had not told anyone about it, the account could not be corroborated, Fairfax denied it, and the Post was unable to find other similar allegations against him among people who knew him in college, law school or in politics. The woman did not immediately respond Monday to a voicemail, text message or email from an AP reporter. The allegations were first reported by Big League Politics, the news outlet that first published the yearbook image. Last week, Northam came under fire from Republicans who have accused him of backing infanticide after he said he supported a bill loosening restrictions on late-term abortions. Late last month, Floridas secretary of state resigned after photos surfaced of him in blackface as a Hurricane Katrina victim at a 2005 Halloween party. ___ Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. A new report on the financial health of major American cities is out, and Albuquerque barely earned a passing grade. Truth in Accounting, a nonpartisan nonprofit, says every Albuquerque taxpayer would have to fork over $5,200 to fully pay down all of the citys bills. The problems stem mostly from unfunded retirement obligations that have accumulated over many years, the report says. But an official in Mayor Tim Kellers administration said the pension issues are not a direct reflection on Albuquerque, since the city is just one of many participants in the statewide Public Employees Retirement Association, or PERA. The participants have very little say and control, if any, as to the funding, benefits and the performance of the plan, Chief Financial Officer Sanjay Bhakta said in an email to the Journal. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ He said the city is paying all its own obligations, has sufficient cash to continue doing so and is committed to a balanced budget. Many cities around the country have issues similar to Albuquerques, according to Truth in Accounting, which examined the countrys 75 largest cities and found a total of $330 billion in unfunded debt for itsFinancial State of the Cities report. No city earned an A grade, and Albuquerque was among 31 receiving a D. If (pension and other post-employment benefit obligations) were not required to be reflected in the participant entities Statement of Net Assets, Albuquerques ranking and grade would be significantly better, Bhakta wrote. But pension liability has been a concern elsewhere, too. Moodys Investors Service last year downgraded the city of Albuquerques general obligation debt rating to Aa2 from Aa1 and revised its outlook to negative from stable. It cited the citys narrowing financial position, hampered by muted revenue growth and increasing expenditures. The Moodys assessment, from last March, noted that the gross receipts tax increase implemented in July 2018 could somewhat help but the citys significant pension burden, which is growing due to an annual underfunding, presents notable budgetary pressure over the long-term. Bhakta said, We have had multiple conversations with them about the way PERA works in the state but they still factored in the unfunded pension fund liability which resulted in a slightly negative rating compared to the previous year. NEW FACE AT CITY HALL: Mayor Keller last week appointed Santiago Chavez as his new chief of staff. Chavez, previously finance and administrative services director for the New Mexico Association of Counties, replaces Sunalei Stewart. Stewart left late last year for a position as Deputy State Land Commissioner. Chavez also assumes the title of deputy chief administrative officer. Jessica Dyer: jdyer@abqjournal.com .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. In the emergency room, they referred to her as the Jane Doe with her severed foot in a bag. She was numb, unable to move her body or open her eyes, but she could hear nurses talking about her, asking whether she was the one from the crash where someone died. She just knew it was her husband who was dead. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ She could see it all in her mind, feel it in her bones. One minute, Lauren Wallaert was on the back of Jeremys motorcycle on that warm August day, her arms around him as they glided north on N.M. 22 toward Cochiti Lake with six friends. It was Aug. 6, 2016, their fifth anniversary. They had met at a barbecue, and she instantly knew he was the one. My husband wanted to go on a ride with friends, she said. And I said, It doesnt matter as long as were together. The next minute was a blur. She saw the speeding gold Hyundai veering out of its lane. She heard the crush of metal and flesh, felt the weeds against her face, the dirt in her mouth. She couldnt move, couldnt keep from fading into unconsciousness. Bones were sticking out of her jeans where her foot had been. Blood was everywhere. We went from celebrating our wedding anniversary to dying in a ditch, saying goodbye to each other, screaming and begging our friends to keep us alive for our children but knowing that we werent going to make it, she said. There were bones scattered, limbs severed, people bleeding to death. She could hear Jeremy calling out to her to stay awake and that he loved her. Babe, he kept saying. Babe. Jeremy Wallaert did not die in the crash that day, but someone had. Nicole OQuinn, 15, was a passenger in the Hyundai driven by her mother, Maryann OQuinn, both of Pena Blanca. After striking the motorcyclists, Sandoval County sheriffs deputies say Maryann OQuinn over-corrected, flipping the car and ejecting both her and her daughter, two teenage nephews and a third male. OQuinn had been driving at least 30 miles per hour over the posted speed limit of 55, losing control as the road curved, court records state. Whether she had been driving drunk remains a point of contention. One of the bikers reported smelling alcohol on OQuinns breath, but no field sobriety tests were conducted at the scene because of the chaos and the carnage. Court documents filed by OQuinns attorney, Leonard Foster, indicate that one of OQuinns passengers was believed to have been drinking but does not specify which one. Tests conducted on OQuinn at the hospital have so far been sealed, seen only by the judge. OQuinn, 36, is charged with vehicular homicide, five counts of great bodily injury by vehicle, two counts of child abuse and driving with a suspended license. Court records show that she had been cited at least three times before the crash for driving without a license since 2002, often incurring warrants until fines were paid. It has been 2 years since the crash, and the case has yet to go to trial. OQuinn has remained free, released to the custody of her mother under pretrial services supervision. Last July, the case was further delayed when her attorney raised the question of her competency. Lauren Wallaert said she has been told an evaluation has found OQuinn incompetent, but that could not be confirmed. All of which angers the Wallaerts, both of whom lost legs in the crash and whose lives have been forever changed as a result of OQuinns actions and the justice systems near inaction. After almost losing your life and losing limbs, you expect justice, Lauren Wallaert wrote in an email from her home in Oregon, where she, Jeremy and daughter Hailey, 6, moved in 2017 for a fresh start. What we received was anything but justice. The judge in the case who has allowed OQuinn to remain free is 13th Judicial District Court Judge Louis McDonald, already under fire for sentencing Christie Noriega last month to just three years in prison for killing two men when she drove drunk last spring. Three legislators have demanded McDonalds resignation. If he thinks someones life is worth 1.5 years in jail, what will he think great bodily injury by vehicle is worth? Wallaert asked. Its becoming clear that Judge McDonald doesnt deliver justice. Early on, they had urged McDonald to jail OQuinn pending trial. They stood before him as best they could, Jeremys right leg amputated below the knee, Laurens right leg amputated past the knee her foot had been preserved in a bag of ice by a passer-by at the crash site, impossible to save. They told McDonald that the crash has left them in extreme pain, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and financial strain since Jeremy could no longer run his auto body and restoration business. We werent offered an explanation as to why Maryann was placed on pretrial services, she said. District Attorney Lemuel Martinez of the 13th Judicial District said his office had argued against pretrial services. Foster did not return messages left for him. Martinez said the delays in the case are because of multiple requests by the defense for continuances. A hearing date, possibly to discuss the competency issue, is set for April 4. What is happening in the Wallaerts case is horrifyingly familiar in New Mexico, but especially so to two of the other motorcyclists severely injured in the crash. In 2011, Debbie Hill and Mitch Woodall had been on a ride with friends Hill riding on the back of husband Mark Wolfes motorcycle on the High Road to Taos when an orange truck driven by repeat drunken driver Juan de Dios Cordova veered across the center line and straight into them. Wolfe, 51, died; Hill nearly lost her leg. It was a notorious case, rife with accusations of shoddy police work, corruption and mismanaged evidence. Cordova was convicted in 2012, had his conviction overturned in 2015 and was convicted again in 2017. That conviction again is under appeal. Seven years since that crash, and the case may not be over. Wallaert said she tried hard to forgive OQuinn. She is not sure she can forgive the justice system for the way it has treated their case. It feels like criminals have more rights than the victims in New Mexico, she said. Beyond the courtroom, some 1,300 miles away, the Wallaerts continue to heal, to find their footing in their new reality, aided by stepsons Brody and Blaine, extended family and a motorcycle community whose fundraisers have helped keep them financially afloat. And then theres sweet baby Norah, to whom Lauren gave birth Oct. 2. We decided that Maryann had taken enough from us, she said. She didnt get to take our hope of having another child, too. Norah is their miracle, their fresh start, their reminder that life will get better, if they just take it one step at a time. UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Joline at 823-3603, jkrueger@abqjournal.com or follow her on Twitter @jolinegkg. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal The Albuquerque police officers looked through a window and saw the man sitting inside the small apartment. They had been called there by one of the mans friends, who said the man had posted a disturbing message on Facebook in which he threatened to harm himself. The officers asked to come inside but were denied. They asked the man to come out, and he said no. They left information about resources in the community that were available to him. Eventually, after about 30 minutes of trying to speak to the man behind the closed door, the officers left. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ This week, the officers summary of that call for service was discussed during a workshop attended by psychiatrists, a group of police officers with enhanced training in dealing with people with mental illness and others who participated via videoconference. The officers wanted advice on how long they should try to help a distraught person when nothing appears to be working. The videoconference project is called CIT (Crisis Intervention Training) ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Options). It consists of weekly videoconference workshops and has existed in Albuquerque for more than three years. Originally a statewide project, it has spread across the nation along with interest in improving interactions between police and people with a mental illness. On the call this week were police and professionals from Texas, Illinois and North Carolina. For years, similar ECHO projects have existed for health care professionals to help providers in rural parts of the state treat various health conditions. But Albuquerque police were the first to roll out a program for law enforcement officers. Working together On Tuesday, about 40 people gathered for the workshop, either remotely or in person, at the Summit Office Building in Albuquerque. How long should we stay knocking on the door and at what point should it be OK for officers to leave somebody who is potentially suicidal? asked Detective Matthew Tinney, who works in the Albuquerque polices Crisis Intervention Unit and is one of the facilitators of the video conferences. Other officers and doctors chimed in with their own questions. Does he have a history with APD? Does he have a psych history? What was his reaction to officers? Any signs of intoxication? Then came advice. One officer suggested that if the police do leave the residence, they document in their report the types of calls for service that were waiting for a response while they were on the call. Others suggested that police not only leave information about community resources with the man, but also with his friend who called police in the first place. Checking with police supervisors before leaving was suggested. As far as how long police should wait, there was no clear-cut answer. There isnt really a good answer. This is the same thing psychiatrists face all the time. Should we discharge or should we commit? said Nils Rosenbaum, the medical director of the APD Behavioral Health Division. Its really hard, and its emotionally difficult to make these kinds of decisions. And these are the ones that can keep you up at night. Just know that you arent alone. DOJ grant has run out A final report on the CIT ECHO project that showed positive results was published this month. But funding for the project has run out. Jennifer Earheart, the project coordinator and one of the reports authors, said the U.S. Justice Department grant that was used to operate the project for three years has expired and that officials are looking to secure grants and city and local contributions to continue the project. The project has increased officers confidence and comfort when interacting with people with a mental illness, changed their attitude toward people with a mental illness and increased their awareness of community resources that are available to that population, according to survey results by program participants. Prior to being a part of a CIT ECHO videoconference, more than 20 percent of participants thought that use of force was often required to maintain officer safety when interacting with people with a mental illness. After the conference, that percentage dropped to about 3 percent, according to the report. The report also showed that after participating in ECHO video conferences, participants felt their confidence in dealing with people with a mental illness increased and they were more aware of resources that are available to the mentally ill. There is so much variation and limitations of a traditional CIT, standard, 40-hour course. (CIT ECHO) is really a platform for continuing education in law enforcement and its using a really innovative model, Earheart said. The fact that we are able to use that model and do something really innovative makes this project really special. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Unlike groundhog, we want students to see a shadow What do you want to be when you grow up? This is a question we often ask young people, as if theres only one career in their future and one single path to get there. Instead, we can talk with young people in our community about the world of work they will soon be entering because we know that its not unusual to hold multiple jobs throughout ones lifetime, sometimes in multiple industries, often requiring new education and skills to make a successful transition from one job to another. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Not only will they be likely to change jobs multiple times; but, increasingly, they will be required to demonstrate great adaptability and resourcefulness to thrive in an economy that is being rapidly transformed by technology and globalization. Unfortunately, students and parents agree that we are not doing enough to prepare our future workforce. According to the 2017 Strada-Gallup College Student Survey, only a third of students believe they will graduate with the skills and knowledge to be successful in the job market, 34 percent, and in the workplace, 36 percent. Additionally, a 2017 Junior Achievement USA survey shows 77 percent of teens and the same percentage of parents are concerned about their ability to have a successful career as adults in light of global competition and automation. Job shadow and other career exploration activities expose students to a broad range of jobs and careers to help them develop the critical foundational skills that will prepare them for success beyond high school and college. At AT&T, were proud to partner with Junior Achievement of New Mexico and Mission: Graduate of United Way of Central New Mexico on an initiative that is aimed at achieving these twin goals. We have joined 28 other companies in hosting almost 900 students from the Albuquerque area during Groundhog Job Shadow Week. Using a curriculum developed by Junior Achievement, each participating employer spends an entire school day with students, teaching them about the operations and staffing of their organizations and helping them build foundational workplace skills through interactive activities and discussion. Despite being only a one-day experience, job shadows can have long lasting impact. Past Junior Achievement surveys show that, after a job shadow experience, students realized the importance of staying in school, were able to connect what they learned during the job shadow experience with real life, and believed that the experience would help them do better in school and find a good job. They also indicated an increased ability to research, recognize and prepare for job positions. We are confident that Groundhog Job Shadow Week will have an enduring impact for the students who participate, but there are steps we can take to extend our reach and deepen our impact. To that end, Mission: Graduate is working with Albuquerque Public Schools and school districts throughout central New Mexico to develop a wide range of career exploration opportunities for students, such as guest speakers in the classroom, career fairs, mock interviews, job shadows and internships. Students benefit from these experiences by building their professional skills, increasing their confidence in the job search process, and making the connection between what they study in the classroom and the skills needed in the workforce. They also help students experience potential careers prior to committing to a field of study in college. Employers benefit by helping build a professional workforce. Realizing the importance of career exploration, AT&T applauds the other 28 partner organizations in their efforts this week. We also challenge other employers to engage; both Junior Achievement and Mission: Graduate have systems in place to help employers jump right in. Ultimately, we know that by helping these students now, we are helping our community prosper in the future. Lets do this together as a community. Lets help these motivated students develop the professional skills needed for success in our New Mexico workforce. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Almost three years ago, my 75-year-old mother, Ruth, and her friend were killed while reading the morning paper and drinking coffee by someone who wanted their credit cards. There are days when it seems that the earth has shattered and time has stopped. Her tragic death will never be easy for my family, and it will never make sense. But what also makes no sense is that our country continues to suffer from mass shootings and daily gun violence that take the lives of more than 90 Americans every day and leave hundreds more injured. While my mothers death has been unbearably painful for me, my family and our community, Ive channeled my grief into action to prevent others from experiencing the pain my family endured. Ive joined up with New Mexico Moms Demand Action to advocate for stronger gun laws in our state including what I consider to be the most fundamental gun violence prevention policy: background checks on all gun sales. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ New Mexico still has not closed the background check loophole that makes it easy for convicted felons and domestic abusers to acquire guns without a background check, no questions asked. Under current federal law, criminal background checks are only required when you buy a gun at a licensed seller, like a gun or sporting goods store. But when you buy a gun at a gun show or online in our state, you dont have to pass a background check. This loophole makes it easy for people with dangerous histories who should not have guns to acquire firearms in New Mexico. All they have to do is find an unlicensed seller online or at a gun show. You have to show more proof of identification to buy Benadryl than to buy a gun through a private sale. It is time for us to make all gun sales without a background check against the law. Twenty states have already passed laws to require background checks on all handgun sales. And, these laws have saved lives. For example, when Connecticut passed a law requiring background checks for all handgun sales, the state saw a 40 percent reduction in gun homicides and a 15 percent reduction in gun suicides. Unfortunately, New Mexico has not acted to require background checks on all handgun sales. Weve seen how the background check loophole is exploited firsthand in New Mexico. In 2012, a man used New Mexicos background check loophole to purchase firearms, which he then used to shoot six people at a psychiatric institute. The shooter was prohibited from having firearms, so when he tried to buy a gun in Oregon, the background check system there stopped him, but when he came to New Mexico, the loophole here allowed him to buy two pistols from an unlicensed seller in Albuquerque who had advertised in a newspaper here. A few months later he walked into the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh and opened fire there, killing one person and injuring five others. Closing these glaring holes in background checks just makes sense. Not only are these kinds of proposals to close the background check loophole effective, they also have broad public support. In New Mexico, 80 percent of New Mexico residents including 79 percent of gun owners support background checks on all gun sales. Voters here in New Mexico reiterated their support for gun safety on Election Day by electing gun-sense champion Michelle Lujan Grisham as governor and by sending many gun-sense candidates to the Roundhouse. Now, were counting on the Legislature to listen to voters and close the background check loophole in our state. As the new legislative session continues, we want legislators to seriously consider ways to reduce gun violence in our state. The best way to begin to address gun violence is to ensure were keeping guns out of the hands of felons and domestic abusers by having a background check on each and every gun sale in New Mexico. I dont want any other New Mexico family to suffer what my family has endured. Gun violence survivors like me and everyday New Mexicans who are concerned about their families safety are counting on our leaders to do whats right and put our safety first by closing the background check loophole here in New Mexico. Its long past time. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... 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 last month to announce the Rave Panic Button system will be installed at the Aztec and Bloomfield high school campuses. The Rave Panic Button app can be used to report incidents that require immediate 911 assistance and request the aid of fellow staff members. When an emergency situation arises, the user typically a staff member, administrator or resource officer pushes the button that represents the nature of the emergency. The available options are fire, medical, police and active shooter. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ When someone presses the active shooter button, they will be connected to 911 immediately, and an emergency alert will be sent to all users. When someone 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 students and parents involved in discussions of school safety. 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 said they were excited to have the app, adding it would save time by allowing them to immediately respond to incidents. Staff members will be trained 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 it to more schools, Ripley said. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... CORRECTION: Millard Fuller died in 2009. This story was republished in error. See original: Washington Post obituary (Feb. 2009) Millard Fuller, 74, a self-made millionaire who gave away his wealth to start the Christian house-building group Habitat for Humanity and who later started a similar organization after he was fired over disputes with the Habitat board, died Feb. 3 en route to a hospital in Albany, Georgia. An autopsy is being performed to determine the cause of death. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Habitat for Humanity, founded in 1976 and based in Americus, Georgia, built more than 175,000 houses in 100 countries under Fullers leadership and attracted prominent volunteers, including former President Jimmy Carter. The Fuller Center for Housing, founded in 2005, raises money for Habitat affiliates. Hundreds of thousands of families who lived in substandard housing and who did not earn enough to buy a home through conventional channels benefited from Habitats policy of no-interest mortgages. Would-be homeowners had to make a small down payment and spend a certain number of hours building their home along with volunteers. In a statement, Carter called Fuller one of the most extraordinary people I have ever known. He used his remarkable gifts as an entrepreneur for the benefit of millions of needy people around the world by providing them with decent housing, Carter said. As the founder of Habitat for Humanity and later the Fuller Center, he was an inspiration to me, other members of our family and an untold number of volunteers who worked side-by-side under his leadership. In 1996, Fuller received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the countrys highest civilian honor. In 2005, he and his wife, Linda, who co-founded Habitat, were honored by former President George H.W. Bush and the Points of Light Foundation with a bronze medallion embedded in the Extra Mile volunteer pathway in Washington, D.C. Fullers legacy was tainted in early 2005 when a former employee said he sexually harassed her, about 15 years after at least five other former employees made similar claims. Mr. Fuller denied the allegations, and the Habitat board of directors said it could not substantiate the charges. Nonetheless, he was fired. Fuller attributed his ousting to his continuous efforts to expand the organizations operations. He started a new group called Building Habitat until the Habitat for Humanity board filed suit. It became the Fuller Center for Housing. Millard Fuller was born in Lanett, Alabama, on Jan. 3, 1935, to a farming family. He graduated from Auburn University in 1957 and enrolled in law school at the University of Alabama. He and a fellow law student, Morris Dees Jr., later the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, started a direct-mail business with the simple mission to get rich, Fuller said. We launched into a whole lot of business ventures almost all of which worked, he told the NonProfit Times. They sold 20 train carloads of tractor cushions in three months through Future Farmers of America. They sold rat poison, candy and toothbrushes, and all of it just made money, Fuller said. They tried to sell mistletoe but couldnt get it down from the trees, even after shooting at it with rifles. They also invested in real estate near their law school. The partners were making $15,000 a year before they even finished law school in 1960. After passing the bar, Fuller served in the Army then returned to Alabama to open a law office with Dees. They also became publishers, starting with Favorite Recipes of Home Economics Teachers (1963). After two years, they stopped practicing law and became the largest publishers of cookbooks in the United States. By the age of 29, Fuller was a millionaire. Success brought stress and tensions in his relationship with his wife, the former Linda Caldwell, whom he had married in 1959. His wife left for New York and Fuller followed. After long discussions, they decided to sell almost everything they owned and give away the proceeds. In 1966, Fuller became a fundraiser for Tougaloo College, a small, church-funded and predominantly African-American school in Mississippi. He soon moved his family to Koinonia Farm, a 20-year-old multiracial, religious commune in Americus, and developed business plans for the group. He spent two months in Africa with the Church of Christ. Upon their return to Koinonia Farm, Fuller and his wife decided to rebuild the faltering community with its founder Clarence Jordan. From that decision grew the concept of building no-interest housing for the poor, an idea that eventually became Habitat for Humanity. Jordan died soon after, but the homes went up. The Fullers returned to Zaire (now Congo) in 1973. Fuller, as the Church of Christs director of development for the region, started a home-building program for local residents and raised money for prosthetic limbs and eyeglasses. By the time they returned to Georgia in 1976, Habitat for Humanity was born. We want to make shelter a matter of conscience, Fuller told the Chicago Tribune. We want to make it socially, politically, morally and religiously unacceptable to have substandard housing and homelessness. Fuller wrote numerous books about his experiences, including Bokotola (1977), The Theology of the Hammer (1994) and A Simple, Decent Place to Live: The Building Realization of Habitat for Humanity (1995). In addition to his wife, survivors include four children, Chris Fuller of Macon, Georgia, Faith Fuller of Americus, Georgia Luedi of Jacksonville, Florida, and Kimberly Isakson of Dallas; and eight grandchildren. The Fullers planned to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in August with a 100-house worldwide blitz build, Linda Fuller told the Associated Press. Well probably go ahead with the blitz build. Millard would not want people to mourn his death, she said. He would be more interested in having people put on a tool belt and build a house for people in need. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... A person referred to as Commadre Maria regularly sent Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera pictures of girls as young as 13, and the notorious drug lord and his associates allegedly paid $5,000 for each teen and raped them at one of his ranches. Guzman, known worldwide as El Chapo, allegedly raped young girls on multiple occasions and called the youngest among them his vitamins because he believed they gave him life. The disturbing allegations were recounted in documents that were unsealed Friday, just two days before jurors in Guzmans drug-trafficking trial in New York are set to begin deliberations. Guzmans attorney, A. Eduardo Balarezo, called them extremely salacious. Joaquin denies the allegations, which lack any corroboration and were deemed too prejudicial and unreliable to be admitted at trial, Balarezo said in a statement. It is unfortunate that the material was publicly released just prior to the jury beginning deliberations. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ For two months, federal prosecutors portrayed Guzman as a ruthless leader of the Sinaloa cartel. Testimonies, replete with tales of bloody assassinations, corrupt public officials and tunnels used for escapes and drug smuggling operations, have offered an unprecedented glimpse into a secretive and sprawling drug empire that officials said funneled drugs into the United States for more than two decades. But stories alleging brazen sex lives and beliefs about the Illuminati and witch doctors were left out of the testimonies. Prosecutors did not believe these are relevant to proving Guzmans drug-trafficking activities, according to court records. The documents were made public following letters from media organizations, including the New York Times, which had complained of the trials secrecy. Prosecutors also said there is no longer a need to keep the documents sealed because the identities of cooperating witnesses identified in the records have already been publicly revealed. The allegations came from a person identified in court records as Cooperating Witness No. 1 and in media reports as Alex Cifuentes, a former right-hand man who had previously testified that Guzman bragged about paying former Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto a $100 million bribe. Cifuentes told officials that he lived with Guzman from 2007 to 2008 and that they raped underage girls during that time. Cifuentes said he helped Guzman drug the girls by placing a powdery substance in their drinks and that he had intercourse with teens as young as 15, according to court records. Mexicos penal code says that sexual acts with minors younger than 15 is considered sexual abuse. The documents also included references to Cifuentess eccentric beliefs. Cellphone communications intercepted by law enforcement agencies showed that Cifuentes has interests in the Illuminati, Freemasonry and UFOs and had communicated with an associate about an impending 2012 apocalypse. Court records say Cifuentes also believed in astrology and had obtained snake oils from a witch doctor. Prosecutors did not introduce those pieces of information at trial because doing so would elicit testimony about the witness sexual activities and unorthodox beliefs, none of which, they said, are relevant to the crimes Guzman was accused of. A defense cross examination of one of the governments cooperating witnesses would be unfairly prejudicial and would unnecessarily harass Cifuentes, according to court records. Buried in the documents is another rape allegation that was also not presented at trial. One paragraph says that Guzman raped one of the governments witnesses, began a romantic relationship with her and drew her into the drug enterprise. The only woman among the prosecutors cooperating witnesses is Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez, one of Guzmans mistresses, the New York Times reported. Sanchez had testified earlier that she escaped with Guzman through a tunnel on Feb. 17, 2014, when a team of Mexican marines showed up at his front door, the Times reported. Guzman was captured five days later, on Feb. 22, 2014, in the Mexican town of Mazatlan, only to escape in 2015 through a tunnel from his cells shower to an abandoned home a mile away. He was recaptured in 2016, and Mexican authorities decided to send him to the United States to face trial. He first fled a Mexican prison in 2001, when he engineered an escape in a laundry cart with the help of prison officials he had bribed, court records say. While behind bars, Guzman managed to keep running his drug empire. Prison officials he had bribed allowed him to communicate freely with family members using his own cellphone, court records say. One prison official, now a government witness, was given a house in Guadalajara, Mexico, court records say. Guzmans defense team has portrayed him as a scapegoat whose mythological status as a drug kingpin was a creation of the Mexican and U.S. governments. In closing arguments Thursday, defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman compared cooperating witnesses to gutter human beings and said they are lying to save themselves. Guzman is charged with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, drug trafficking and firearm charges. He faces life in prison if convicted. Jurors will begin deliberations Monday. The Washington Posts Edith Honan, Mark Berman, Katie Zezima and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this article. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. The words fresh, simple, and delicious are posted over the kitchen window of Wecks founder Doug Weckerlys newest restaurant, the Duke City Kitchen located at 5016 Lomas NE. Weckerly said he always practices the same principles when he opens a restaurant and thought it would make a great credo to put where everybody could read it. What I wanted with this place was a restaurant where everything was made from scratch from the bread to the jams customers would put on the bread, Weckerly said. Im not sure this is a good thing to say, but I wanted a nice hole in the wall. Menu items at the Duke City Kitchen range from specialty hamburgers like the Betty served with peanut butter, jam, sharp cheddar and green chile, to several types of smothered hash browns and other breakfast staples like Huevos Rancheros. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Like many of Weckerlys other restaurants, the Duke City Kitchen is only open for breakfast and lunch, a schedule he said has been easier to staff. When we get to full steam this restaurant will be at seven employees, and I will be the cook in the back,he said. The inside space of the restaurant has been completely remodeled. Weckerly and his family opened up the ceiling, painted the walls and put new tables and chairs in the restaurant, giving it a country feel. I started remodeling this space two and a half months ago and when we were done I didnt do a soft or hard opening, I just opened the doors, he said. This will be the 25th restaurant Weckerly has opened and remodeled in his over 30 years of being a restaurateur. I have never really had a restaurant failI mean to be a business owner you have to be willing to work hard and work long hours and Ive done that through the years, he said. I have rarely taken a day of since I started as a bus boy at age 14, thats my key to success. Weckerly sold Wecks to restaurateur Art Kaplan in 2004. Catering to traditional tastes A new cafe and catering business named The Dish by Trish has taken over the former Perk Ranger Coffee House in the Village of Corrales. The Dish by Trish, located in the Del Rio Plaza, is the brainchild of Owner Trish Gallegos, a former social organizer who fell into the culinary field after volunteering to cater an event for an organization she was a member of. I volunteered to help cater this event and I kind of liked it, Gallegos said. So everything snowballed, and after nine years of catering I had to make a decision, a food truck or a brick and mortar restaurant. Gallegos said she already had a menu set up when fate stepped in again after she looked at her phone and saw a small kitchen in Corrales had just been put on the market. I contacted the owner and she asked me to come by on a Friday, but she told me that she already had seven other people interested in the shop, Gallegos said. After we met, she called me three days later and told me I was the one. Gallegos and her family quickly whipped the former coffee shop into shape, revamping the kitchen area to serve daily menu items and prep for large catering events. Daily specials at The Dish by Trish include meatloaf Mondays, New Mexico Tuesday, which could be any New Mexican dish, put it in a bowl Wednesday, Italian Thursday and Frito pie Fridays. My food inspirations are just whatever I feel like would be good for that day, she said. My morning menu consists of homemade pastries and danishes, things I like to bake. On the east side of the cafe, nestled under an awning, is an adobe patio where customers can go outside and sit. This is the real draw to the restaurant because inside we can only hold like 12 people at a time, she said. Gallegos plan is to make her restaurant known as the best place for authentic New Mexican cuisine in Corrales. Touring the new Corrales brewery The 10,000-square-foot building where non-profit brewery Ex Novo will soon create and package its beer in Corrales is about half-way complete. Ex Novo Proprietor Joel Gregory gave tours of the companys facility last weekend in concert with the Village of Corrales Arts Alive Festival. Its a big relief to build out from the ground and see things in 3D, Gregory said. It definitely looks bigger now that its built than it did on the renderings and on paper. Getting the building to this point has been a year in the making. This is my first business planned from the ground up, he said. My whole life has just been remodels, so this is very new to me. After the brewery section is complete, construction on an adjoining restaurant/pub will begin. We could easily be ready in a month to be brewing, Gregory said. We still need our license approved by the government and then things can move faster. Gregory said he plans to release 50 new beers to be bottled and canned for the New Mexico market. Above all, Gregory said, he is proud to offer a product that says it was made in Corrales, N.M. A business that bends over backward YogaSix is opening its first location at 5901 Wyoming Boulevard NE, in the Academy area. Owned by local entrepreneurs Jessica and Brian Rule, president of Blakes Lotaburger, the YogaSix Academy has a range of classes for all levels and ages, according to a press release. YogaSix memberships start at $94 a month leading up to its official grand opening in March. YogaSix will also be offering free classes to all guests both opening weekend and grand opening weekend. YogaSix is having a soft opening this week, with hours on Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., as well as Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. We are excited to bring YogaSix to Albuquerque to breathe new life into the wellness and yoga scene, Jessica Rule said in a press release. No matter what your background, yoga can be beneficial, be that physical, mental or spiritual, and YogaSix makes the practice so accessible for everybody. We think the new studio will perfectly complement the health and fitness offerings in the area, while bringing something new to local residents. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... NEW YORK Small businesses sold at a record pace in 2018 and are expected to remain a hot commodity this year. BizBuySell.com, an online market for small businesses, counted 10,312 sales transaction reported by brokers in 2018, up 4 percent from 9,919 in 2017 and 31 percent over 7,842 in 2016. All three totals have been the highest since BizBuySell.com began tracking sales in 2007. In a survey of current business owners asking why business sales keep rising, half the participants said retiring baby boomers continue to put their companies on the market, extending the trend that began back in 2013. With more baby boomers reaching retirement age boomers are considered to be people born between 1946 and 1964 its likely theyll continue to seek buyers for their businesses. Many buyers are interested in companies because they want to be their own bosses, BizBuySell.com said. Already established companies are also in the market for small businesses; many are looking to expand their staffs through acquisitions because theyre struggling to find qualified job candidates in a tight labor market. The combination of a stronger economy and healthier companies lifted sales prices for businesses, BizBuySell.com said. The median sales price in the transactions it counted was $249,000 last year, up 9.3 percent from $227,880 in 2017. Eighty-six percent of the brokers predicted sales prices would be in the same ballpark or increase in 2019. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ In Albuquerque, BizBuySell reported 14 Albuquerque-area businesses sold, with a median sales price $249,000. Forty-five percent of the companies sold nationally were restaurants or retailers, and 41 percent were service providers. Four percent were manufacturers, and an assortment of other industries accounted for the remaining 10 percent. With consumer spending having been strong in recent years, businesses that cater to consumers have been more attractive and in turn have commanded higher sales price. Companies going on the market are healthier than in past years, BizBuySell.com says. The median revenue of companies sold last year was up 6.3 percent to $531,653 from $500,000 in 2017. Cash flow, which indicates how well a company will be able to pay its bills, also gained, rising 4.3 percent to $120,000 from $115,000 in 2017. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SAVSU Technologies has hitched its fortunes to the rapidly-emerging, personalized-medicine industry. The Albuquerque startup, which launched in 2010, only began commercial operations last year. But its thermal shipping containers are now delivering frozen cells and genes to institutional customers on five different continents, providing a critical bridge for the emerging industry to bring new, cutting-edge therapies to market. Hundreds of companies and institutions are now using our product, from research universities, hospitals and clinics to some of todays biggest pharmaceutical, biotechnology and specialty-shipping companies, said SAVSU CEO Dana Barnard. The only continents were not yet on is the Antarctica and Africa. That puts SAVSU, which stands for State of the Art Vaccine Storage Unit, on the ground floor of a nascent industry that many believe could fundamentally change how people fight disease. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ We expect to be a world leader in our segment of this market, Barnard said. Weve built our technology in parallel to the cell and gene therapy industry. The first commercial therapies only began selling one year ago, and we launched our commercial operations alongside the industrys development. To manage its transition from research and development to commercial operations, the company moved in December from a 2,000-square-foot space near the Albuquerque International Sunport to a 10,000-square-foot facility in the north I-25 industrial corridor near Jefferson and Osuna. It doubled its workforce to 20 people in the last year, and it expects to double the employee base again this year, Barnard said. Its thermal shipping containers provide the temperature controls, robust protection and built-in monitoring systems needed to safely deliver cyro-preserved and hypothermo-preserved cells, tissues and organs, said SAVSU President and Chief Technology Officer Bruce McCormick. Weve built out our products with four different temperature ranges and various sizes, McCormick said. The market for cryogenically frozen materials is growing rapidlybut they have extreme shipping requirements. You cant deliver these therapies to patients without this type of technology. Highly temperature-sensitive biologics and pharmaceuticals must be preserved in the original state they were prepared for up to a week or more for delivery to every corner of the world, Barnard said. These are therapies designed for individual patients with individual doses, Barnard said. Theyre high value and difficult to replace. Globally, industry spends about $15 billion annually on all cold-chain medical shipments, including about $9 billion for transportation and $3 billion for specialized packaging, according to estimates by Chain Link Research and Pharmaceutical Commerce magazine. But use of currently available cold technologies results in between $15 billion and $35 billion spent annually to replace products lost because of temperature alterations. Apart from proprietary thermal packaging, the companys built-in, online monitoring system provides customers with real-time tracking information and conditional knowledge of container contents. It offers 24/7 monitoring of ambient and in-container temperatures, package location, whether the container has been opened and for how long, and the time remaining to safely deliver therapies to end users. Thats critical for supply chain management, allowing a huge network of people, from original shippers to researchers and doctors, to know whats going on and what actions to take, Barnard said. If you have a doctor waiting to do a procedure on a patient, the doctor will know immediately if the package has arrived at the hospital, or if its within one mile of arriving, to prepare, Barnard said. It will tell him if the container has been opened and how much time before the product goes bad once its opened. It took years to build the monitoring systems hardware and software, said McCormick, who created SAVSUs original thermal packaging technology. When the company started in 2010, it first focused on temperature-controlled vaccine deliveries to remote areas, particularly in developing companies where lack of power often ruins medicine before it can be used. The World Health Organization used SAVSU containers in clinical trials for an Ebola virus vaccine in 2015, and many health organizations still use them today, McCormick said. But in 2014, the company decided to refocus on the emerging cell and gene therapy industry, launching it on a four-year research-and development path to build its monitoring system in connection with new containers specially made for that market. SAVSU built all the hardware and worked in partnership on the software with Seattle-based BioLife Solutions, which offers cyro- and hypothermo-preservation for cells and tissues. BioLife is now a minority investor in SAVSU with 44 percent of company stock, including a $5 million investment it made in September. Michigan-based Barson Corp., a high-performance materials company with operations in New York, is majority owner, with 55 percent of SAVSU stock, said Barnard, who is also CEO of Barson. McCormick and Barnard have worked together to build SAVSU from the start. The company has invested about $10 million to build its technology. BioLifes latest $5 million investment allowed SAVSU to finance its new facility, including high-tech equipment for design, testing and manufacturing of containers. The company subcontracts some components to Mexican companies. It makes others in Albuquerque, and assembles the final product here. The containers are then leased to specialty shipping companies and other customers, providing SAVSU with recurring monthly revenue. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... In October 2016, the Town of Taos received $500,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to work with a local developer to renovate the Hotel Don Fernando, whose former owners had lost the business through foreclosure. The mid-town hotel had become a hub of illegal activity and vandalism: too expensive for the developer to singlehandedly bring up to code but too visible a blight on the towns main thoroughfare for town officials to ignore and a waste of potential gross receipts revenue for the tourism-dependent town. The Town of Taos became fiscal agent for the U.S. Housing and Urban Development funds, and the developer matched that money, reopening the 30-year-old, 126-room hotel two years later under the Hilton Tapestry banner. The federal funds helped the new owner address more than 100 code violations and purchase furnishings. Of the hotels nearly three dozen employees, 91 percent qualify as low to middle income. That number exceeds the grant requirement that at least 51 percent of jobs created by CDBG funds go to people whose household income is 80 percent or less than the median income for their county or area. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Creating jobs together While most CDBG funds underwrite water and other infrastructure projects, a portion is reserved for planning, housing and economic development projects that local governments conduct in partnership with private companies to create permanent jobs for low to middle income residents. The states largest cities Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Las Cruces, Santa Fe and Farmington receive annual CDBG grants on a formula basis as entitlement cities and can apply directly to HUD. The states Department of Finance and Administration receives an allotment to award to communities that meet HUD eligibility requirements, and the agency helps these applicants with the process. Public works projects that support private ventures for example, extending a road to a planned industrial building that will employ low to middle income workers qualify as economic development undertakings. Acquiring, constructing, rehabilitating or installing commercial or industrial buildings, structures and other real property equipment and improvements also meet requirements. To qualify for an economic development grant, the applicant municipality must demonstrate that jobs will meet or exceed the low to middle income target and provide opportunities for those workers, many of whom lack a college education or substantial work experience. Workshop aims to help Economic development grants are capped at $500,000, and private partners must match government funds dollar for dollar. Every $35,000 in grant funds must create at least one job, and 51 percent of all jobs must go to low to middle income individuals. New Mexicos annual allocation of total CDBG program grants has averaged $10 million for the past three years. Its up to the states Community Development Council to decide which portion is earmarked for economic development as opposed to infrastructure development. Applying for any type of CDBG grant is labor intensive, because it requires extensive research to compile specific, verifiable data about the applicants project. For that reason, the DFA offers an annual workshop, with this years set for March 5. Contact Stephen Weinkauf at the DFAs Local Government Division at Stephen.weinkauf@state.nm.us>href=http://Stephen.wei>Stephen.weinkauf@state.nm.us for more information. Finance New Mexico connects individuals and businesses with skills and funding resources for their business or idea. To learn more, go to www.FinanceNewMexico.org. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Editor: Last week, the New York Legislature passed a barbaric and sweeping bill legalizing abortion up to the moment of birth. After passing this bill, legislators gave themselves a standing ovation. Our youngest was born prematurely at 26 weeks gestation (six months). Our child was intubated for 48 hours, on a C-Pap for 12 hours, and then on a nasal canula until just prior to release from the NICU 2 months later. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Some of the parents at the NICU were newcomers to the U.S., in punjabs, burkas, turbans and full tribal dress. Many did not have a language in common, but we had in common the fight for our babies lives. This profound bond cut across all religious, cultural, national, ethnic and racial lines and went deep into our very souls. Not all of these babies survived. The grief and heartache of the loss of one of these was real. It is an odious insult to compare this loss of a baby to the loss of just a piece of the moms body tissue, like a haircut or a nail trim. Today our child is in the gifted program at school, a talented artist and creator of several cartoon series, a trumpet player for band and marching band, studies Mandarin Chinese, has a quirky and hilarious sense of humor, a talent for working with children and above all, is a loving and compassionate human being. If I had aborted this child (according to law, my husband would have had no say in the matter) at six months, the New York Legislature would have given a standing ovation. Yet, if one did that to an unborn puppy, they would face animal cruelty charges. Twenty-first century science and neonatal medicine have made incredible advances, with premature babies viable as early as 20 weeks. The National Institute of Health has developed imaging technology to track the brain activity of pre-born infants. The unborn child has a heartbeat at day 21, brainwaves register on an EEG at day 40, at eight weeks all organs function, at nine weeks individual fingerprints appear and at 10 weeks the baby feels pain. All of these are the hallmarks of an individual human being. For 50-100 years, drunk drivers have been convicted of wrongful death, on two counts, when they kill a pregnant woman and her pre-born baby. Insurance companies have given payouts for the same. Killers have been convicted of two counts of murder in the murder of pregnant women. In both criminal and civil cases, our courts have recognized the personhood of pre-born children for decades. This New York law throws all of these legal precedents under the bus. The New Mexico Legislature is considering passage of a similar bill. It is time for our legislature and U.S. Congress to abandon the medieval torture chambers of abortion, and join 21st century science, neonatal medicine and criminal and civil court precedents to recognize the personhood of unborn babies and their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness Something worthy of a standing ovation! Ida Mitchell Rio Rancho .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Editor: There has been much in the media recently regarding carbon-dividend climate programs. A pragmatic assessment suggests that this concept would be an economic disaster for New Mexico. Proposed carbon fee plus dividend legislation was introduced in the U.S. House and Senate in 2018: HR 7173 and S 3791. The proposed legislation establishes a trust to be administered under IRS Subtitle L. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Fees on energy producers, initially at $15 per carbon dioxide ton, will accrue to the trust, and dividends will be distributed from the trust to citizens and lawful residents. The IRS will skim 8 percent of collected fees for administration. At 2017 carbon dioxide tonnage levels, the administrative fee amounts to a new collection agency about the size of the present Environmental Protection Agency. The treasury secretary is authorized, but is not required by the legislation, to verify eligibility; so it is most likely that fees on New Mexico energy producers will be used to pay dividends to ineligible non-citizens. New Mexico energy producers will not operate at a loss. They will recover their bottom-line costs by charging higher consumer energy costs at gasoline and diesel pumps, and natural gas and electricity to heat and cool homes and businesses will rise. Any dividend distribution will be offset by higher energy costs. Tariffs will be imposed on carbon intensive products defined in the legislation to include iron, steel, steel-mill products (including pipe and tube), aluminum, cement, glass (including flat, container and specialty glass and fiberglass), pulp, paper, chemicals and industrial ceramics. In other words, just about everything useful will carry a to-be-determined tariff imposed by the treasury secretary in coordination with EPA; and there is no guidance in the legislation regarding congressional approval or amount of the tariffs. Dividend distributions are taxable as gross income. The sum of higher energy costs, administrative costs, tariffs and income tax liability make the average taxpayer financially worse off. And there will be less capital and incentive for New Mexico producers to invest in cleaner and cheaper technologies like natural gas retail distribution logistics. Sponsors claim that the law will be revenue neutral, but the Congressional Budget Office has not scored it, so there is no way to know how much it will cost in general appropriations above and beyond the administrative fee. For New Mexicans, implementing this legislation is economic suicide. New Mexico is one of the most prolific energy-producing states. Because of its low population relative to the total U.S. population, and because of the algorithm for dividend distribution, more than 99 percent of carbon fees confiscated from New Mexico energy producers will go to more densely populated areas. New Mexico oil and gas production pays on the order of 40 percent of the cost of state government. This legislation truly will strangle the goose that lays the golden eggs. George Wright Corrales Stan Wise Farm Forum Editor When I was young, I loved books. I couldnt stop reading them. Id read them on the bus to and from school. Id hide them under my desk in class and read when the teacher wasnt looking. My favorite thing to do was read by flashlight under my blankets late into the night, long after my parents told me to go to sleep. I was good at math. Yet, the moment I was done with my math homework, I put away the math books and picked up a novel or a history book. As I neared graduation, I had no idea what to do next. I was a farm kid, and I thought I should study something practical in college. So I decided to go into mechanical engineering. After two years as an engineering major, I was miserable. I just didnt care about gear ratios or thermodynamics. I kept looking out the window at the impossibly green Mississippi spring and remembering all the things the poets had written about the change of seasons and the truly important things in life. After much mental anguish, I changed my major. This moment marked a turning point in my life. I was happier studying literature than Id been in a long, long time. I felt like the world was taking on new dimensions, colors and nuances that Id been blind to before. Im not always certain it was a change for the better, but it has shaped everything about my life since. If I had become an engineer, Id probably have a healthier bank account, but I cant say for certain that Id be happier. What I do know is that the training I received as an English major taught me to be a careful observer, to notice things people tend to miss as they go about the business of their lives. Seeing these things helps me live a fuller life than I otherwise would have. That one decision I made when I was 20 changed my life. That decision was reached because I was passionate about reading when I was a child. The habits we form in childhood can have a profound effect on our lives, so we should help our children form good ones. We should help them discover and pursue their passions. FFA and 4-H allow kids to chase any number of interests, from robotics to animal husbandry. Our schools offer even more chances to explore interests. Some towns, like Aberdeen, offer affordable classes to people of all ages in dozens of subject areas photography, music, pottery, dance, martial arts, painting, etc. Of course, there are reading groups for book nerds like me. The internet, for all its downsides, offers vast amounts of information at our fingertips, allowing kids to explore just about any interest they cant fulfill locally. My son has discovered he likes competing on the high school debate team something he never would have found if he hadnt been exposed to it in a high school class. My daughter has discovered that she enjoys martial arts. Both of them had to be encouraged to try these activities, but once they did, they were hooked. We are very fortunate to live in a country that gives our children so many opportunities to find their passions. With some help and encouragement from their parents, they can form the positive habits that will help them find meaning and fulfillment in their adult lives. The next time you suspect your kids might enjoy a new hobby, give them a little nudge. You never know where it might take them. The hunter advancement program has extended their application deadline to February 18. Lead Instructor George Bettas said the program allows participants to become a certified "Master Hunter," allowing them to hunt on private lands and ranches. The Master Hunter course was offered as a pilot program in Bozeman last year, graduating 25 certified hunters. Those hunters were connected with local farmers and ranchers and hunted on 13 ranches this past fall. "It provides the hunter with one an enhanced set of skills and 2 opportunities to hunt private property where the land owners are looking for hunters who are respectful of private property who understand farming and ranching," said Bettas. This year, the program will expand to Missoula and Billings. The program will have a focus on wildlife conservation, provide advanced hunting skills, and discuss hunting ethics among other topics. MHAP in Billings will go for five successive Saturday's starting on May 4th. The program costs $200 a participant, and need-based scholarships are available on request. For more information you can go to http://mtmasterhunter.com/ San Francisco has witnessed some eccentric bar openings in recent months. With all-night safari disco parties, glow-in-the-dark tiki havens, and retro-glam hives, over-the-top concepts are what's been shaking lately. But leave it to Thad Vogler, the spirits intellectual behind Bar Agricole and Trou Normand, to bring us deliberately and precisely back to terra firma, where there's nothing wrongnothing wrong at allwith just enjoying a well-crafted, high quality drink in a simple, ambient space that lets the cocktails shine. (Sarah Chorey) Obispo, Vogler's newest contribution to the SF dining and drinking scene, is the opposite of gimmicky; in fact, the interior, by designer Wylie Price (The Progress, Trick Dog), is damn near spartan. Sharing a block with El Farolito and the 24th Street BART Station, Obispo's tiled facade and wood-slatted entry glow a welcoming golden hue as if to say Please come in, there's no need to go to McDonald's across the street. Inside, mostly blank white walls are framed by sparse metal partitions that create a minimal division between a front dining room, the bar at center, and a bit more dining space at the back. Candles flicker on each table and atop the bar; a few hanging pendants and wall sconces bounce light off blond wood furnishings; a couple floral arrangements are placed here and there; and that's about it. This is a shrine to rum; no distractions. (Sarah Chorey) Warm light and a solid table to set our drinks on is all we need at Obispo. (Sarah Chorey) Mojitos, anyone? Vogler has created a trio of themaptly named #1, #2, and #3, ranging in cost from $9 to $12each featuring a different spiritone with rum, another with gin, and a third with Cognac (riffs on Floridita's mojito versions in Havana, Cuba). The base for each remains the same: lemon, sugar, aromatic bitters, and minty yerba buena. (Sarah Chorey) Obispo's empanadas, stuffed with a traditional Cuban preparation of shredded stewed beef called ropa vieja, make for terrific finger food. (Sarah Chorey) One word of advice: Don't pass up this Cubano. Slices of ham, pork, crunchy pickles, melted cheese, and mustard are layered together for one deeply satisfying pressed sandwich. (Sarah Chorey) Not a mojito fan? There are a number of other interesting rum cocktails to try including the Obispo de Cuba, a tart blend from Jamaican rum, red wine, and lemon. (Sarah Chorey) Get some protein in the form of el pollo de Obispo, a dish of perfectly charred juicy chicken with an array of spices for a touch of heat. (Sarah Chorey) Mariquitasthin, salty curls of fried plantainsmake the perfect side for heftier dishes like oxtail stew, but they also satisfy as a solo drinking snack. Word first got out about the project over five years ago, so the bardedicated to rum and to the cultures where it originated has been rather anticipated by Vogler's following. The barkeep himself has expertly curated the selection of rums from the Philippines, Jamaica, and the Caribbean. And, in his quest to continue building connections with these cultures, Vogler has partnered with two local organizations: the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), and Calle 24, the nonprofit aimed at supporting the heritage of 24th Street's Latino Cultural District. MoAD is helping out on the artwork front, lending their expertise in curating new pieces for the restaurant, the first of which is a guided replication, by SF-based New Bohemia Signs, of the folk art-style painting of Bill Traylor, an artist who was born into slavery, whose art represented the symbols and figures of life in the South during the 1930s and '40s. An homage to his work is now etched into the wall behind the selectively stacked bar. Vogler also sought the input of Calle 24 to ensure that his businesswhich sits among 120 merchants all part of the Latino Cultural Districtwould be inclusive and economically accessible to the neighborhood; a place that would still resonate with longtime locals. The result is a fully bilingual staff, menus in both Spanish and English, and cocktails priced as low as $9 (you won't find that at Trou Normand). Obispo will also donate partial proceeds to both MoAD and Calle 24. Unsurprisingly, the food menudevised by Vogler and his chef, Seth Stowawayfollows suit in its nod to Latin cultures, including the likes of empanadas, oxtail curry, Cubano sandwiches, congri (Cuban black beans and rice), and plantains. Plates range in size from small to medium, but can easily be made into dinner with the addition of a few sides. Overall, Obispo feels effortlessly cool. Like it's not trying too hard to capture our attentionbut it has. // Obispo, 3266 24th St. (Mission), obisposf.com by Michael Liss He knew the American people better than they knew themselves, and his truth was based upon this knowledge. Frederick Douglass, Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln, April 14, 1876 In October of 1859, Abraham Lincoln received an invitation to come to New York to deliver a lecture at the Abolitionist minster Henry Ward Beechers Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn. Although Lincoln was, at this time, largely a regional figure among Republicans, and held no public office, the invitation was not accidental. The party was still a bit like a Rube Goldberg contraption, made up of pieces (former Whigs, Know-Nothings, disaffected Northern Democrats) that didnt all quite fit together. People of influence, notably the newspaper publishers William Cullen Bryant and Horace Greeley, knew the new movement needed a coherent, inclusive platform, and an articulate, attractive man to lead it. They werent, by any means, anointing Lincolnin fact, they had no idea what he could do. He had acquitted himself well in his 1858 Senate race against Stephen Douglas, the presumed 1860 Democratic Presidential nominee, but he had also lost. There were other questions as well: Would a person some described as a backwoodsman play in front of a New York audience? What was obvious was that the most likely Republican candidates for the nomination were either flawed or disliked, or flawed and disliked. The presumed frontrunner, William Seward of New York, was unquestionably competent, but had made some radical-sounding speeches and was seen by many as a captive of Thurlow Weeds political machine. Sewards support was also thin in lower North states like Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinoisall of which Republicans had lost in 1856 and were essential to victory this time. Other potential candidates had different weaknesses: Ohios Salmon P. Chase was an able Governor, but lacked what we would now call retail political skills. Pennsylvanias favorite, Simon Cameron, was undeniably corrupt. The fourth first tier candidate, Edward Bates of Missouri, was 66, barely a Republican, and almost certainly the most conservative. It was hard to see how he could have ignited a movement. Lincoln knew this, saw the opening, and immediately accepted the invitation. The warm glow that history places around him for his compassion and tragic martyrdom obscures just how practical and even calculating a man he was. The New York speech was his chance to elevate himself in front of a new and potent audience. He threw himself into preparation, researching the historical record and refining his remarks. He knew he didnt need to persuade his listeners that slavery was wrongthey already believed that. Rather, he had to do what truly great leaders doelevate the discussion, offer a pathway for a broader campaign based on something more than mere political calculation, and do so in a way that was distinctively his. He arrived in New York a few days early, and learned that the Young Mens Central Republican Union (influenced heavily by the not-young Greeley and Bryant) was now the sponsor. They had moved the location to the newly-constructed Cooper Union in Manhattan, and Republican-leaning newspapers were publicizing Lincolns appearance as a rebuttal to Stephen Douglas, the Democrats, and slavery in general. On February 27, 1860, 1500 politically-minded New Yorkers tramped through the snow and filled to capacity the gas-lit auditorium. In the audience were some of the most influential people in the City, including Bryant and Greeley, the publisher H.W. Putnam, former Governor John King, and Peter Cooper himself and his business partner (and later Mayor of New York) Abram S. Hewitt. He was introduced, and, from every description available, caused people to wonder just what strange species of bird they were looking at. Lincolns new suit was wrinkled and seemed cut for a different man altogether. His hair needed combing, his huge hands flapped awkwardly, and his voice, higher pitched than expected, was neither elegant nor sonorous. Then, the lawyer began to make his case, and, one by one, his listeners fell under his spell. Read it, and you may find, as I did, a mystery about this speech. Its not graceful, not poetic, not filled with the kind of lines you would chisel into marble, except for the famous final few words. Its not the way we think of Lincoln at his best, yet, there is something about it that made hundreds of skeptical New Yorkers Lincoln enthusiasts, and transformed him into a truly credible candidate for President. The speech is divided into three thought units, which Lincoln then clinches together with his distinctive brand of moral clarity. First, Lincoln explores the question Does the proper division of local from federal authority, or anything in the Constitution, forbid our Federal Government to control as to slavery in our Federal Territories? Every lawyer knows you should never ask a question to which you dont already know the answer. But a great lawyer is able to give his own arguments more potency by co-opting the framework suggested by his adversary, and then turning it to his own advantage. Lincoln quotes Douglas himself, who wrote: Our fathers, when they framed the Government under which we live, understood this question just as well, and even better, than we do now. Of course, he agrees with that statement, he adopts it as the starting point for his speech, and then he goes on to ask, and answer, in utterly reasonable and rational terms, What was the understanding those fathers had of the question mentioned? From that point forward, Lincoln is in command. He will define the universe. First, he picks his courtthe fathers are the 39 signers of the Constitution, and, later, the 76 members of the first Congress who adopted the first twelve Amendments. Then, he picks his facts. Meticulously, taking a path of more than 3000 words and nearly 40 years, from regulation of the Northwest Territories in 1785, to the adoption of the Northwest Ordinance, the Louisiana Purchase, the ceding to the Federal government of Tennessee by North Carolina, and Alabama and Mississippi by Georgia, and finally to the Missouri Compromise of 1820, he sketches the history of Federal regulation of slavery in the Territories, and finds support by at least 23 of those fathers for those regulations. Lincoln sets a high standard of proof for himselfeven expressions of hostility towards slavery were not enoughthe father must have actually placed himself on the record on the specific question of Federal control of slavery in the Territories. Its a lawyers brief, and upon first reading, you wonder whether he is going to lose his audience, such is the focus on detail. But take a little time with it, and you can see that this part of his argument, this careful building of evidence that demolishes Stephen Douglass and the Souths claims to unrestricted territorial expansion, leads inevitably to the first emotional climax: But enough! Let all who believe that our fathers, who framed the Government under which we live, understood this question just as well, and even better, than we do now, speak as they spoke, and act as they acted upon it. This is all Republicans ask all Republicans desire in relation to slavery. As those fathers marked it, so let it be again marked, as an evil not to be extended, but to be tolerated and protected only because of and so far as its actual presence among us makes that toleration and protection a necessity. Let all the guarantees those fathers gave it, be, not grudgingly, but fully and fairly, maintained. For this Republicans contend, and with this, so far as I know or believe, they will be content. It is a brilliant touch. It makes them (the Republicans, and, by extension, every fair-minded person in the audience) the true conservatives. They are not pitchfork-wielding Abolitionists; they are not radicals; they are the keepers of the flame, the heirs to the fathers legacy. Lincoln then turns his attention to the South, and, here, his language takes an interesting turn. Having been first been cerebral and professorial in the evidentiary portion of his case, he becomes almost prosecutorial. First, he takes note that the South will not even tolerate Republicans, much less agree with any portion of their ideas. (W)hen you speak of us Republicans, you do so only to denounce us as reptiles, or, at the best, as no better than outlaws. You will grant a hearing to pirates or murderers, but nothing like it to Black Republicans. Now, can you, or not, be prevailed upon to pause and to consider whether this is quite just to us, or even to yourselves? Bring forward your charges and specifications, and then be patient long enough to hear us deny or justify. Since there seems to be no Southerners in the audience, Lincoln then takes charge of the debate himself. First, Republicans are not sectional: It is the Southerners who refuse to allow Republicans to compete in their region. Lincoln clearly does not expect that Republican ideas would win elections in the slave-holding states, but he does believe they would win votes. The refusal of the South even to grant Republicans an audience is a sign of their unwillingness to abide by democratic principlesand their fear of competition in a war of ideas. Second, It isnt Republicans who are accelerating the debate by abandoning the path of the fathers. It is the South, in demanding a laundry list of new policies, and Stephen Douglas, advocating for the gur-reat pur-rinciple that if one man would enslave another, no third man should object, who are rejecting the intention and the governing ideas of the people who risked all to create America. Not one of all your various plans can show a precedent or an advocate in the century within which our Government originated. Third, Republicans are not stirring up slave revolts, or encouraging more John Browns. John Brown was no Republican: and you have failed to implicate a single Republican in his Harpers Ferry enterprise. Lincoln knows they know it as wellhe sees the charge simply as political tacticin contemporary terms, a way of firing up the base. And, he rejects the claim that, even if Republicans are not deliberately encouraging upheaval, it is inevitable because of their stated principles. He makes a very shrewd argument that has to appeal to his audience on an intellectual and emotional level: It is the issue of slavery, and not the political vehicle opposing the spread of it, that creates instability: There is a judgment and a feeling against slavery in this nation, which cast at least a million and a half of votes. You cannot destroy that judgment and feeling that sentiment by breaking up the political organization which rallies around it. but if you could, how much would you gain by forcing the sentiment which created it out of the peaceful channel of the ballot-box, into some other channel? What would that other channel probably be? Would the number of John Browns be lessened or enlarged by the operation? All this leads up to an inevitable conclusion. The South claims the backing of the fathers, but then ignores them to define the constitutional rights of slaveholders as opportunistically and expansively as it wishes. It will not accept either open debate, or a political result with which it does not agree. In one of Lincolns most memorable phrases: But you will not abide the election of a Republican president! In that supposed event, you say, you will destroy the Union; and then, you say, the great crime of having destroyed it will be upon us! That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth, Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer! Still, Lincoln holds back. He turns to his audience and his fellow Republicans and counsels patience and accommodation, with a little twist (Lincoln read Shakespeare avidly, and theres a bit of Mark Antonys eulogy in Julius Caesar to this section). A few words now to Republicans. It is exceedingly desirable that all parts of this great Confederacy shall be at peace, and in harmony, one with another. Let us Republicans do our part to have it so. Even though much provoked, let us do nothing through passion and ill temper. Even though the southern people will not so much as listen to us, let us calmly consider their demands, and yield to them if, in our deliberate view of our duty, we possibly can. Having laid out that sweetly reasonable path, he then proceeds to identify all the landmines. He knows, his audience knows, the country knows, that what hes suggested is impossible. The South will not accept the status quo. They will not accept an offer of all the Territories, to do with them whatever they wish. They will not accept even the most heartfelt and genuine apologies and promises to do better. In Lincolns acute turn of phrase, We must not only let them alone, but we must somehow, convince them that we do let them alone. How to convince the doubting South? Heres where Lincoln turns up the courtroom rhetoric: This, and this only: cease to call slavery wrong, and join them in calling it right. And this must be done thoroughly done in acts as well as in words. Silence will not be tolerated we must place ourselves avowedly with them. Senator Douglas new sedition law must be enacted and enforced, suppressing all declarations that slavery is wrong, whether made in politics, in presses, in pulpits, or in private. We must arrest and return their fugitive slaves with greedy pleasure. We must pull down our Free State constitutions. The whole atmosphere must be disinfected from all taint of opposition to slavery, before they will cease to believe that all their troubles proceed from us. If Lincoln had stopped here, you would have had a fine opening statement, a wonderfully persuasive presentation of evidence, a superb cross-examination, and even a little fist-shaking in front of the jury. But what marked him as an exceptional mannot just a politician looking for a clever formulationbut a moral leaderand what, in my opinion, truly drew people to him, was what followed. Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let it alone where it is, because that much is due to the necessity arising from its actual presence in the nation; but can we, while our votes will prevent it, allow it to spread into the National Territories, and to overrun us here in these Free States? If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand by our duty, fearlessly and effectively. Let us be diverted by none of those sophistical contrivances wherewith we are so industriously plied and belabored contrivances such as groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong, vain as the search for a man who should be neither a living man nor a dead man such as a policy of dont care on a question about which all true men do care. I cant get this phrase out of my mind: groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong, vain as the search for a man who should be neither a living man nor a dead man such as a policy of dont care on a question about which all true men do care. In a few short words, he transforms himself from forceful, effective advocate to true leader, speaking to the difficulties both he and his audience had in blending a serious-but-secular obligation (fealty to the Constitution) together with a universal one of principle (objecting to the loathsome practice of enslaving another human being). Lincoln tells his audience what they most need to hear: that the law and morality can and must coexist, that there are some things where there is an absolute right and an absolute wrong. Slavery was wrong, their cause was noble, and they were on the side of the angels. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it. And the crowd stood, and cheered, and waved handkerchiefs and hats at the strange-looking man in the ill-fitting suit. Some surely must have agreed with Noah Brooks, then a reporter for The New York Tribune. Lincoln, he said, was the greatest man since Saint Paul. by Richard Passov Milton Friedman, in his essay The Methodology of Positive Economics[1], first published in 1953, often reprinted, by arguing against burdening models with the need for realistic assumptions helped lay the foundation for mathematical economics. The virtue of a model, the essay argues, is a function of how much of reality it can ignore and still be predictive: The reason is simple. A [model] is important if it explains much by little, that is, if it abstracts the common and crucial elements from the mass of complex and detailed circumstances surrounding the phenomena to be explained and permits valid predictions on the basis of them alone. Agreement on how to allow predictive models into the canon of Economics, Friedman believed, would allow Positive Economics to become an Objective science, in precisely the same sense as any of the physical sciences. What Friedman coveted can be found in a footnote: The prestige of physical scientists derives from the success of their predictions When economics seemed to provide such evidence of its worth, in Great Britain in the first half of the nineteenth century, the prestige of economics rivaled the physical sciences. Friedman appreciated the implications of the subject as the investigator, to a degree. Of course, he wrote, the fact that economics deals with the interrelations of human beings, and that the investigator is himself part of the subject matter being investigatedraises special difficulties But he loses the value of his observation to a spate of intellectual showboating: The interaction between the observer and the process observed [in] the social sciences has a more subtle counterpart in the indeterminacy principle And both have a counterpart in pure logic in Godels theorem, asserting the impossibility of a comprehensive self-contained logic The absence of an ability to conduct controlled experiments, according to Friedman, was not a burden holding back progress or unique to the social sciences. No experiment can be completely controlled, he wrote and offered astronomers as an example of scientists denied the opportunity of controlled experiments while still enjoying the prestige he coveted. But though moving economics forward as a positive science one where predictions are formulated through math and then tested against alternative formulations he did not want to see mathematics supplant economics. Economic theory, he wrote, must be more than a structure of tautologies if it is to be something different from disguised mathematics. When Friedman penned his article, the simplest mathematical formulations exhausted computational capacity. * * * * * * Tom Griffiths, Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Princeton, in a recently published essay [2,3,4],writes: Were trying to understand why people do what they do and what the cognitive processes are that underlie the data we find in the world that are a consequence of human behavior. His method of meeting this challenge is to turn it into a math problem the kind of thing that we can imagine getting a computer to solve. As these problems are mathematized, tools from AI, statistics and machine learning will serve as the basis for hypotheses about how human cognition might work. Armed with these hypotheses according to Griffiths, we can run experiments that test predictions that come out of those models, and then we can use that as a tool for digging deeper into how human cognition works and how people solve those kinds of problems. * * * * * * To frame economics within mathematics, equal in importance to ignoring assumptions is the need to follow logic, which in turn imposes the need for rational decision agents. In an earlier work [5], Friedman argued that consumer units behave as if they were rational decision agents. On this point, Griffiths writes: following the rules of logic and probability was assumed to be the essence of rational thinking Without the principles of rationality, there is little guidance for how to translate assumptions about cognitive processes into predictions about behavior and how to generalize from our data. Kahneman and Tversky published Prospect Theory in 1979. That, along with their efforts to establish the field of Behavioral Finance, seemingly undercut the foundations of an economics based on humans as rational (logical) decision agents. But according to Griffiths when viewed against the constraints of a hypothetical, yet feasible, construct of cognition Kahneman and Tverskys behavioral anomalies become rational decision-making tools. Economists have also wrestled with bounded rationality [6], and heuristics Fast and Frugal short cuts arising from the need to make critical decisions under time, and therefore computational, constraints. [7] Those economists view these strategies as outcomes of an ecological process that is, a product of a mechanism driving change along with a process that favors outcomes that add a survival advantage. (In mathematical terms, an ecological process can be interpreted as confining a future state to one that is likely to arise from the current state, which in turn contains all relevant information from prior states aka a Markov Process.) * * * * * * Griffiths operates in a world that Friedman failed to imagine a data-rich world cast up in part, as Friedman noted, by the experiments that happen to occur. But today data is also the output of experiments designed to produce results that are tested against empirical data. According to Griffiths, the test is of the predictive accuracy of a function-first approach that begins by postulating an abstract computational architecture, that is a set of elementary operations and their costs, with which the mind might solve [the] problem. Then, based on a cost of computation* the optimal algorithm for solving the problem is identified. This enterprise, Griffiths writes, is important for a couple of reasons. First, data [is] becoming an increasingly important part of our lives and; having good models of how people think and behave is relevant to helping AI systems better understand what people want. What are these systems trying to understand? How [to] make recommendations to somebody? How [to] identify people who other people will want to be friends with? How [to] figure out, based on their actions, what people are interested in? How [to] figure out what kinds of things [people] will apply a tag to, what kinds of images theyll label in a particular way? But how can mathematizing a decision problem so that it can be solved as a constrained optimization exercise on a abstract computational architecture help? If youve got a computer that has information about the structure of the problem that youre solving and can communicate that information back to you , then we can build a system that will help guide people to make better decisions. For example, Griffiths writes, we can gamify a problem, dropping little rewards along the way, guiding you, me, us to better decisions. * * * * * * Of course this is happening already. According to Griffiths, In the technology industries right now, theres a lot of data on human behavior. This data is being used to make inferences about your preferences and desires, and then figure out how [to] best satisfy those (and take some of your dollars in the process). But if, as some believe, our algorithms for decision making are the result of an ecological process, what are the implications of better understanding how you can use the computer to change the environment that the human being is in so that that human being ends up making better decisions Can the process that arrived at our behaviors change, say across a generation or even over an individuals life span? If this is the case, and theres reason to believe it is [8], then Griffiths is correct when he writes: were at a moment where theres a unique opportunity for cognitive science to have a broader impact. If our world is gamified and if were programed to seek the pleasure of winning, then will the process that developed fast and furious heuristics evolve behaviors that mimic the resource-rational algorithms used to model our behaviors? If so, if algorithms that model human decision-making processes create processes that output desired data, or as Griffiths says, output our likes, then it stands to reasons that machines are not destined to think like us. We are destined to think like machines. * * * * * * *cost of computation: According to Griffiths, resource-rational anchoring-and-adjustment, for a certain set of problems, in part, reduces to the following algorithm t = arg min [E Q(Xt) [cost(x, xt) d t]], where t is the optimal number of guesses a person should make before deciding an answer. Notwithstanding first impressions, a decent first year math student wouldnt run from this, though she might find one aspect curious. According to Griffiths,xt is one in a series of guesses that our human makes and cost (x, xt) is the cost of this estimate, where x is the correct decision. So to implement this algorithm, one must have some way of knowing the cost associated with a wrong estimate which in turn requires knowing the right answer. Which reminds me of what an ex-spouse once said after I worked through the night in search of an answer: Why didnt you just guess. Then you wouldnt have been late for dinner. The above is not a criticism of Griffiths model. Though I reserve the right to doubt that humans make decisions in the manner that Griffiths suggests, I have no reason to doubt the efficacy of his model. As Friedman wrote, its not necessary that the plant manager actually calculate marginal costs before deciding output levels. Its only necessary that it seems as though that were the case. Yet there is something to be warned against in this formulation. If I were to arrive at a decision by following Griffiths algorithm, then it is I who weighs the cost of being right or wrong. But if I am in an environment controlled by a computer rewarding me toward the right answer, then who weighs the costs? * * * * * * [1]Milton Friedman, Essays in Positive Economics. In, The Methodology of Positive Economics, pp. 343, (1953). [2]Tom Griffiths, Aerodynamics of Cognition, A Conversation with Tom Griffiths. Edge.org. August 21st, 2018. [3]F. Lieder, T. Griffiths, Q. Huys and N. Goodman, The Anchoring Bias Reflects Rational Use of Cognitive Resources. Psychonomic Bulleting & Review, May 2017. [4]B. Christian, T. Griffiths, Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions. Henry Holt and Company, New York (2016). [5]M. Friedman; L. J. Savage, The Utility Analysis of Choices Involving Risk. The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 56, No. 4. August, 1948, pp. 279-304. [6]Herbert Simon, A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice, in Models of Man, Social and Rational: Mathematical Essays on Rational Human Behavior in a Social Setting. New York, Wiley (1957). [7]D. Goldstein, G. Gigerenzer, Models of Ecological Rationality, Psychological Review, 2002, Vol. 109, No 1, 75 90. [8]Maryanne Wolf, Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, Thriplow: Icon Books, (2008). by Anitra Pavlico Amidst all of the disheartening immigration news, it was refreshing to see the recent D.C. district court decision in Grace v. Whitaker. The A.C.L.U. and the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies brought the case on behalf of twelve adults and children who fled domestic violence in their home countries and were denied entry by United States border officials. Judge Emmet Sullivan reviewed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions extraordinary decision in Matter of A-B- last summer, which imposed heightened requirements for asylum-seekers entering the U.S. and moreover stated that domestic violence and gang violence were generally not grounds for asylum. Judge Sullivan found that Sessions decision and the subsequent Policy Memorandum that the Department of Homeland Security issued were unlawful. Asylum law in the U.S. Asylum law in the U.S. recognizes refugees belonging to a few specific categories: political opinion, race (encompassing ethnicity), nationality, religion, and membership in a particular social group. People fleeing abusive domestic situations and gang violence have been able to gain asylum in the U.S. through the last category, social group. To qualify as a refugee, someone must have a well-founded fear of persecution either by governmental actors, or, what is often crucial for social-group applicants, by non-state actors that the government is unable or unwilling to control. This language will come up a little later, as Sessions decision attempted to morph it into something quite a bit more restrictive. U.S. asylum law originally derived from the United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (Protocol), to which the U.S. has been bound since 1968. When Congress passed the Refugee Act in 1980 as an amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act, it professed that it did so to bring U.S. domestic laws in line with the Protocol: to codify our national commitment to human rights and humanitarian concerns, and even to afford a generous standard for protection in cases of doubt. The international law principle of non-refoulement, as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees wrote in 1977, is the most essential component of refugee status and of asylum . . . protection against return to a country where a person has reason to fear persecution. As the U.S. is a signatory to the Protocol, it is binding international law for the U.S. not to subject anyone to measures such as rejection at the frontier or, if he has already entered the territory in which he seeks asylum, expulsion or compulsory return to any State where he may be subjected to persecution. The particular social group category has a line of cases that have fleshed out, over the decades, the bones of the U.N. language that the U.S. adopted as its refugee definition. Certain requirements have emerged as the jurisprudence has evolved. In Matter of Acosta, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) held in 1985 that a particular social group is marked by common characteristics that members of the group either cannot change, or should not be required to change because such characteristics are fundamental to their individual identities. The Acosta decision also raises the possibility of the victim being persecuted by non-state actors that the government is unable or unwilling to control. Despite decades of case law on social-group applicants, however, the former Attorney General gutted asylum protections with his decision in Matter of A-B-, to borrow the language of a press release by the American Immigration Lawyers Association cheering the Grace v. Whitaker decision, which found that Matter of A-B- was unlawfully decidedarbitrary, capricious, not well-reasoned. When an alien enters the U.S. illegally, he or she may be subject to a credible fear interview to determine if they have a possibility of a successful asylum claim here. The credible-fear requirement was meant to be a rather low hurdle, and legislative history indicates that Congress felt there should be no danger that an alien with a genuine asylum claim will be returned to persecution. This spirit shaped U.S. law in conformity with the U.N. Protocol to which the U.S. is bound. In contrast with this spirit was the Matter of A-B- decision, which attempted to change the law, and argued later in Grace that it did nothing of the sort. Grace plaintiffs argued, and Judge Sullivan agreed, that the A-B- decision unlawfully precluded domestic violence and gang violence claims at the credible fear interview stage, thus subjecting refugees to expedited removal. It also found that the DHS Policy Memorandum arbitrarily required asylum-seekers to delineate their precise social group at the credible fear interview. Social-group asylum claims It can be tricky to prove persecution by a non-state actor in an asylum case. Generally, it is easier to prove governmental persecution than to show that the government is unable to control groups or individuals that persecute people. Nonetheless, it has long been possible to gain asylum when you are persecuted by a non-state actor and your government cant help you. Sessions in Matter of A-B- sought to either change the lawor disingenuously to state the existing law incorrectly, I am not sure whichto one in which you may win asylum if your government either condones or is completely helpless to control the non-state actors who are persecuting you. As Sullivan wrote in the Grace decision, That is simply not the law. Which is good, because how difficult would it be to prove that your government condoned gang violence or domestic violence? Regardless of politicians private views, that would be akin to political suicide, almost like saying neo-Nazi demonstrators were fine people. As for complete helplessness, this strikes me as having to prove a negative: that the government made absolutely zero effort to stop the abusive acts, or else that it was completely impotent to do so. Even a feeble speech could be seen as making a modicum of effort. It is clear that this is a higher bar than having to prove the government is unable or unwilling to control rogue elements. For these and other reasons, Judge Sullivan found A-B- to be an unlawful change to existing asylum law. The Grace decision called the government out for its argument that A-B- was not subject to judicial review because it was not making new policy, but was merely adjudicating a dispute between two parties. Judge Sullivan was not buying it: he found that Matter of A-B- on the contrary was a sweeping opinion articulating a general rule that claims by aliens pertaining to either domestic violence, like the claim in Matter of A-B-, or gang violence, a hypothetical scenario not at issue in Matter of A-B-, would likely not satisfy the credible fear determination standard (my emphasis). Why opine on issues that are nonexistent in that supposedly limited dispute, unless you are making new policy? Even without newly heightened requirements, the particular social group refugee category can be challenging. It is not self-evident as race or religion might be, and it involves defining the social group to which an asylum-seeker belongs. For victims of domestic violence, the social group has been framed as women unable to leave their relationships or women who are treated as property; many activists feel the group should simply be defined as women. The BIA in its 2006 precedent Matter of C-A- required social groups to satisfy particularity and social distinction requirements. Particularity means there must be clear benchmarks for who is and who is not a member of the group, and social distinction means members of your group are recognizable to society as a whole as belonging to that group. As if that were not enough, an additional element of the social-group law is that the definition may not be circular: your group may not be defined by the harm the persecutors subject you to. As former immigration judge Jeffrey Chase explains, The definition [of the group] should therefore generally not include the actual harm feared, because a person is not targeted for an honor killing because they are targeted for an honor killing. People fleeing gang violence cannot say they are members of a social group of people fleeing gang violence or people opposed to gangs. Advocating for asylum clients in a post-A-B- world Although Grace v. Whitaker is a positive step, and is binding on asylum officers, it is not binding on any immigration court and merely has persuasive authority. If the plaintiffs win on appeal, then the decision would be binding only in the D.C. Circuit. Chase notes that guidance from the BIA on domestic violence claims post-Matter of A-B- would be extremely useful, but that guidance is unlikely to be forthcoming. One can only assume there are political risks to tackling these cases. How are immigration lawyers supposed to proceed in this murky state of affairs? As Deborah Anker and Palmer Lawrence write in their 2014 article, Third Generation Gangs, Warfare in Central America, and Refugee Laws Political Opinion Ground, Refugee protection is not the exclusive domain of the elite. Atle Grahl-Madsen, the original commentator on the Refugee Convention, has said that refugee protection is designed to suit the situation of common [people], not only that of philosophers The instinctive or spontaneous reaction to usurpation or oppression is [as] equally valid as the educated, cultivated, reflected opinion. This is how refugee protections were intended, but the current anti-immigrant climate, which has reached a point of inhumanity, indeed requires creativity and esoteric arguments. As for domestic violence victims, some immigration judges have recently accepted broad social-group definitions of women in Mexico or women in Honduras as valid even under Matter of A-B-. [1] Sessions decision in A-B- invalidated earlier, narrower versions of domestic violence social-group definitions as not defined in terms other than the persecution that its members suffer. The group must also be distinct enough to be cognizable by society at large. Domestic violence victims, then, after fleeing violence and making a dangerous journey to the U.S., should be prepared to present not just their personal narratives but also background evidence to demonstrate the particularity, cognizability, and immutable characteristics of the group of people in similar situations in their home countries. This is not something a typical asylum seeker would be able to eke out without an attorney, despite having a well-founded fear of persecution as required by asylum law. Broadening the group to encompass all women in a particular country is legally supportable, as it is literally dangerous simply to be a woman in certain countries when police do not respond to domestic violence calls. It also requires less maneuvering by counsel, as it is easier to prove that women as a group are cognizable as such and are not defined by the harm they suffered. For gang violence victims, it is even more challenging to formulate a social-group definition. Judge Chase was kind enough to point me to Ankers and Lawrences article, which proposed treating gangs as a quasi-political body, with its victims therefore able to seek asylum on the grounds of imputed political opinion. This is great lawyering, but it also represents just the kind of academic exercise that refugee law was not supposed to require. Asylum-seekers desperately need counsel. I attended a seminar recently in which NGO representatives pleaded with attorneys to consider taking an asylum case pro bono. Unlike criminal defendants, asylum-seekers are not guaranteed a right to counsel, and yet the stakes are often life-or-death. There are many more applicants than there are attorneys to represent them. Taking a pro bono asylum case these days is admittedly a terrifying proposition. The political climate is hostile and the state of jurisprudence is muddled after Matter of A-B-. If you lose, your client could be deported, tortured, and killed. High stakes for a volunteer gig. Timely war stories from other attorneys on the front lines are criticaland articles such as Ankers and Lawrences, far from being purely academic, can save a clients life. [1] Again see Judge Chases blog and also the blog of former immigration judge Paul Schmidt. Case Study: Virtual Transcription, the Perfect Business for AI Technology Maddy Martin, head of marketing and partnerships at Smith.ai, a company that supplies virtual receptionists, talked about the impact of AI technology on her business at The new intelligence in Fort Lauderdale. During the Future of Work Symposium at the conference, Martin participated in a lunchtime discussion led by centered on AI and its impact on the job market. The panel was led by Jon Arnold (News - Alert) , a communications consultant with J Arnold & Associates. Also participating in the discussion were Ben Pring, managing director at AI development firm Cognizant (News - Alert) Technologies; David Hyman, president of Center for Technology and Workforce Solutions, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.; and Max Mancini, executive vice president of digital worker ecosystems at Automation Anywhere, one of the largest AI shops in the world. Moderator Arnold described office receptionists as the perfect business for deploying AI technology. Virtual receptionists, who are human, use AI to help them gain access to the critical components of each customers computer systems. Martin says that virtual receptionists provide smaller companies with access to talent and technology they couldnt afford otherwise. Utilizing AI-directed traffic-flow, human receptionists can work for multiple businesses at the same time. That reduces the cost significantly. Its cheaper to most people than stepping outside of the company and hiring someone qualified, Martin says. To the caller, it appears the receptionist works for the firm theyve called. Since the virtual receptionist has access to certain aspects of the firms IT systems, the virtual receptions can schedule meetings, screen and transfer calls and even collect payments. All of this can occur because your CRM, calendar software and payment software are linked into the virtual receptionists system. The delivery of courteous customer service remains a critical component. For receptionists, its important to be friendly, but accurate, she says, and also secure. The company also offers chatbot services that depend upon AI technology for success. In a business with a global footprint, context is a continual concern. Cultural security is a big issue, Martin says. With chatbots, the company uses humans to edit automated translations to assure theyre culturally correct. Based upon the success of its virtual receptions and chabots, Smith.ai has moved into the fields of digital lead capturing and cloud phone systems. AI-infused systems also are at the root of those business operations. Please enable JavaScript to view the Edited by Maurice Nagle He has helped to improve the lives of countless veterans around the Cedar Valley, and thats been a great benefit to the Cedar Valley as a whole. During a Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors meeting last month, Dill reiterated pleas for the creation of a veterans crisis and resource center a place where veterans could come and socialize with other veterans, receive mental health care and emotional support and possibly learn skills or mentor others. That is one thing I didnt get to accomplish that I hope you guys can look at, Dill said. We would love to see that come to fruition. And while we know the creation of such a center is not about Kevin Dill, we can think of no greater way to honor this man who has given so much for the benefit of others. You put a spotlight on us from the states point of view, supervisor Linda Laylin told Dill during that meeting. People talk about your office and what you do for them as well as the veterans, helping them and their families. We cant thank you enough for that. Initially, Dills official last day at the Black Hawk Veterans Office was supposed to be Feb. 1. However, he has vowed to stay on the job until he can train his replacement. Were not surprised. While some Iowa Democrats may have been put off by the strategy, there were county leaders who said it was no big deal and could actually be a wise strategy. An event like (the CNN town hall) gets a lot of attention, said JoAnn Hardy, chairwoman of the Cerro Gordo County Democrats. And when she comes back to do the coffee shops, a lot of people will want to go (having seen her on TV). Of course shes running for Iowa votes, but shes also campaigning nationally as well. So this gives her double points, Jeremy Dumkrieger, the chair of the Woodbury County Democrats, said. The 2020 Iowa caucuses are a year away. Harris will surely be back to Iowa a number of times. What Hardy and Dumkrieger are essentially saying is fret not, all you Iowa Democrats waiting for Harris to walk through the door. Youll get your chance. Told ya so Iowa auditor Rob Sand took something of a victory lap this week after a nonpartisan state board confirmed his take in a debate that encompassed his 2018 campaign. Sand, a Democrat, defeated Republican incumbent Mary Mosiman in November. Trumps core supporters remain fervently loyal, but they account for roughly one-third of the electorate, not nearly enough to guarantee him a second term. A new Washington Post/ABC poll finds that only 28 percent of all voters say they will definitely support the president for re-election, with another 14 percent saying they are possible Trump voters. A clear majority of 56 percent say they will definitely not vote for him. Trumps approval rating stands at 37 percent, down 4 points from October, and only 1 point above his career low. Over his first two years in office, Trumps average favorable score stands at 38 percent, by far the lowest of any of the 12 presidents who have served since modern polling began after World War II. This dismal showing is fueled mainly by women, with only 27 percent liking the president these days, down 9 points since November. The government shutdown hurt the president badly. In an AP survey, 60 percent placed a great deal of the blame on his shoulders, while only about one-third said building a wall on the Southern border would make the country safer. That episode exacerbated doubts that already existed about Trumps personality. Only 35 percent in the ABC/Post survey trust him to make the rights decisions for the country, about the same number that finds him honest and trustworthy. Looking for in-depth reporting on labor issues? You're in the right place. Subscribe to The Chief and get stories that cover every side of civil service in New York City and beyond. You can sign up in minutes for immediate access. A panicked leopard attacked five people Thursday as it went on a rampage through a village in the northern Indian state of Punjab. Hundreds of people collected on the roofs of their houses in Lamba village in the city of Jalandhar as they watched the leopard sprint across narrow streets, attacking people in its wake. "There were a lot of people. That is why it was getting aggressive. The area was very congested, very narrow lanes. It became so difficult to catch it," Khushwinder Singh, a local forest official, told CNN. At least four people were injured over a period of more than seven hours as officials tried to catch the animal and tranquilize it. "We shot it with three tranquilizers but it worked only after the third one was fired," said Singh. "When they (leopards) are very aggressive, the medicine does not affect them." Forest department officials stalked the leopard through the village and trapped it in a house. Several hours later, a veterinary team arrived from a nearby zoo and took the leopard with them. "There was just so much panic and we were scared that there may be damage to someone. The people are important but the leopard is important as well," said Singh. WATERLOO American actress Julie Adams, who was born in Waterloo and lived here eight years, has died. Adams, 92, died Sunday morning in Los Angeles, her son, a TV editor, told the Hollywood Reporter. Adam was born in 1926 in Waterloo. Her original name was Betty May Adams, the daughter of Arkansas-born parents Esther G. and Ralph Adams. In a story in The Courier Centennial edition in 1954, Adams was interviewed and said she moved from Waterloo when she was 8 to Hot Springs, Ark., and later Little Rock, Ark. In 1946, while living in Arkansas, she was crowned Miss Little Rock and then moved to Hollywood, Calif., to pursue an acting career. But first, she was known for her legs. Her legs were once insured for $125,000 by Universal Studios. She starred in a number of films in the 1950s but, according to the Hollywood Reporter, may best be remembered as the damsel in distress in the 1954 horror classic Creature from the Black Lagoon. She also starred in films opposite leading men such as James Stewart in Bend of the River, Rock Hudson in The Lawless Breed and One Desire and Tyrone Power in The Mississippi Gambler. DES MOINES Theres an old and frequently used saying around the Capitol that no bill is truly dead until the Iowa Legislature adjourns sine die. And even then, some legislation lives on. A year ago, the news from the Legislature was that competing bills affecting the future of traffic cameras in Iowa were racing to the House floor. But nothing happened. This year, bills again are on their way to the House and Senate floors as lawmakers seek either to ban or to regulate the automated traffic enforcement devices used to catch speeders and red-light runners. Cedar Rapids has four traffic camera locations on Interstate 380, which had been generating 90 percent of the tickets in the citys traffic camera program but have been off since April 2017. Three in-town locations which have speed and red-light enforcement remain active, except the westbound-facing cameras at First Avenue and 10th Street E. The other locations are at Williams Boulevard and 16th Street S.W. and First Avenue and L Street. Taxpayers seeking assistance should bring: social security cards for the taxpayer, spouse and dependents; valid photo identification; a copy of last years Federal and Iowa tax returns; Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, from each employer; Forms 1099, for such things as interest, dividends or retirement payments; a list of other income and expenses; Form 1098-E, student loan interest statement; Form 1098-T, tuition payment statement (also bring institution billing statement); banking information (account and routing numbers) for automatic deposit of refund; and all other information pertinent to your 2018 tax return. Clients will also be asked about health insurance coverage for themselves and their dependents. If you received a Form 1095-A (Health Insurance Marketplace), Form 1095-B or 1095-C statement, please bring it with you to indicate your health insurance coverage. One of the experts tapped to testify for Harris defense is Michael OHara, a psychology professor at the University of Iowa who specializes in postpartum depression. Koehns defense team also used OHara during his 2018 trial, but at that time, he hadnt examined Harris. OHaras testimony in Koehns trial was based on a review of documents and other material surrounding the case, and he concluded that Harris likely suffered from depression. Since then, OHara has apparently had an opportunity to examine Harris. Harris murder trial began last week at the Plymouth County Courthouse in Le Mars, where it was moved on a change of venue. A jury of 10 men and four women are hearing the case. Court TV is filming the trial to be used in a future broadcast. On Friday, defense attorney Aaron Hawbaker notified the court that the defense wants to call Koehn, who was sentenced to life in prison for murder in the childs death, as a witness. Koehn has appealed his conviction and may invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, which would preclude his testimony. Judge Richard Stochl issued an order to allow Koehn, who was recently assigned to the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison, to communicate with his appellate attorney to discuss his options. WATERLOO The Waterloo Noon Kiwanis will meet at noon Tuesday at the Elks Lodge for a luncheon. University of Northern Iowa student Caleb Gipple will speak on Readers Today, Leaders Tomorrow, a UNI organization tackling reading proficiency. Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers. Call Larry Cain at 231-9871 for more information. Legion plans weeks events WATERLOO American Legion Post 138 at 728 Commercial St. has several events planned. The kitchen will be open from noon to 2 p.m. today and Tuesday, and bingo is planned at 6:30 and 7 p.m. Tuesday. Hotdogs, hamburgers, brats and baked beans will be served starting at noon Wednesday. The kitchen will be open from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Bingo is planned from 6:15 to 10:15 p.m. as well on Friday. A pepper tournament will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday. Legion hosts oyster fry NEW HARTFORD The New Hartford American Legion and the Beaver Creek Bar and Grille will host a Rocky Mountain oyster fry at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. More of everybody Whether Iowa jobs are at risk from the growth of automation and use of artificial intelligence is less urgent than the need to get the work done, according to ISU economics professor Peter Orazem. If you look at the labor force, Iowas unemployment rate is 2 percent, Orazem said. Its clear we dont have enough workers. Iowas abundance of unfilled jobs could be propelling automation or even accelerating it. You have to come up with ways of increasing productivity of the workforce you have, and one of the most common ways it to marry labor with capital, Orazem said. Thats human capital in the worker and knowledge of how to use these information technologies effectively. He said Iowa right now needs more of everybody both workers with the skills to handle new technologies, and those without them. If you cant find more of everybody, the people you are going to decide will go away first are going to be ones you can replace with some other input some automatable action, Orazem said. Google India announced the second edition of its public safety initiative #SecurityCheckKiya. Targeted at young and first time web users, Google is asking people to take simple, yet important actions that can protect them from bad actors of the web, and help keep their data secure online. Today, India is the second largest Internet user base in the world. With improved connectivity and affordable smartphones and data, Indians are taking to the web in a big way! And while the Internet has made life easier for everyone, and offers so many opportunities to explore, create and collaborate across all age groups, users online or those coming online for the first time, need to be aware of the possible negative experiences that they may incur on the web. #SecurityCheckKiya is aimed at reminding users about the simple actions they can take to further strengthen their online security. Speaking about Googles internet safety efforts in India, Sunita Mohanty, Director, Trust & Safety, Google India said, From auto-updates to spam blockers, encryption to continuous monitoring, we build products with strong security protections at their core. Across all our Google products, we continuously and automatically detect and protect users and their data from a wide range of threats. Over the years weve created many tools and are always improving them so users are in control. But as technology continues to change the way we live, work, and play, users want to know how best to ensure their safety on the web. Sunita adds, Helping people manage their privacy and security is integral to everything we do. Through our initiative, we want to nudge internet users by asking them #SecurityCheckKiya and encourage them to take action. Starting 5th February 2019, i.e. Safer Internet Day, Google will encourage users to take the Security Checkup of their account on its homepage www.google.co.in; in English and 7 Indian languages including Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, and Telugu. Three simple steps to stay safe online: Secure Your Account Just like in the physical world where people go for a regular health check-up, Google is asking internet users to do a health checkup of their Google Account. The Security Check-up on the account gives personalized and actionable security recommendations to users, that further strengthens the security of their Google Account. It not only helps users stay safer while using Google services, it also includes tips to keep users safer across the web. From reminders to adding a screen lock on their mobile phone, to reviewing third-party access for Google Account data. These simple steps can also help users identify what sites and apps they may have signed into using their Google Account. Users can On desktop, go to Google Account > Run Security Check On mobile, visit your Gmail App, tap > Settings > tap ID > Manage Your Google Account > Run Security Check Or simply visit g.co/securitycheckup to take the Security Checkup. Secure Your Phone For an Android user, the safest place to download apps is from the Google Play store. Built into every device with Google Play, Google Play Protect protects Android devices 24/7. Scanning over 50 billion apps every single day, it identifies potentially harmful apps, keeping them off users device or removing them. While Google Play Protect is the ideal security blanket for mobile devices, there are steps users can take to help ensure their device is safe. Users should Keep screens locked with a unique password [pattern/ pin]. password [pattern/ pin]. Add Google account on devices, to be able to find it, if lost or stolen. Download Find My Device App The Find My Device app from Google helps you to easily locate a lost Android device and keeps your device and information secure. Visit android.com/find to locate, ring, lock and erase your Android devicesphones, tablets, and even watches. Secure Your Data With advanced security and privacy features Google works all the time to keep information safe and private. For example, Google notifies users when theyve granted access to third-party sites or apps, but its really important for users to understand the information that they share with these apps or sites. A quick check on a mobile device brings up exactly what access including Calendar, Camera, Contacts, Location, Microphone, etc. the users have shared with third party apps. So, its important to skim through app permissions and choose the settings that are right. Android users can 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. By Delana Isles OVER the course of 12 days, three sloops carrying illegal migrants from Haiti have landed undetected by radar on the shores of three separate islands in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The latest of these landings occurred in Grand Turk, where again residents felt compelled to chase down and round up the suspected illegal migrants, a large quantity of whom they saw running among bushes in their community. Residents then called 911 to inform police and immigration officials of the landing and sightings. Following this, the Joint Task Force officers responded, took into their possession and captured the illegals, all totalling 130. The men and women were first spotted by residents of the community in the early morning hours of Tuesday, January 29, running among bushes and on roadways from the vicinity of Governors Beach. Widely circulated reports are that residents ran down the illegal migrants, apprehended them, then called the cops to collect. Reports to this publication are that prison officers at Her Majestys Prison also helped to capture some of the illegal Haitians and held them for immigration officials to pick up. Up to press time, police reported that they are still actively pursuing illegal migrants on the island. This recent landing followed a much more unusual one on January 17, when the district commissioner of Salt Cay and others reported to police that a sloop carrying illegal migrants had landed on the sparsely populated island and were seen walking around the community. The police immediately commenced efforts to travel to Salt Cay to respond to the reports in light of potential national security threat and the unavailability of law enforcement on that island. Officers eventually captured 187 men and women and detained them, pending repatriation to Haiti. According to one of the officers on the ground, Inspector Jerome Caley, the landing took the joint immigration and police task force by surprise "because it wasnt picked up by the radar in Providenciales. We didnt see this one coming. Two days later, on January 19, another sloop, undetected by radar again, landed, this time in Long Bay. Again, residents of the area had to call and inform immigration and police of the illegal arrival, after chasing down and rounding up the migrants on their own. Officers only captured 11 people from that arrival. Following the Salt Cay landing, Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson had lamented the vulnerability of the territory to these landings, due to it being an archipelago. Calls to the Minister of Immigration, Deputy Premier Sean Astwood and the Director of Immigration Derek Been for clarification on the coverage of the radar station and the patrolling capabilities of the marine vessels, were not returned up to press time. You Are Missing Out on All These Benefits by Not Being a Skrill VIP February 04 2019 Matthew Pitt Skrill is the easy and secure way to manage your poker bankroll. 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You can also have a second Skrill account in a different currency once you reach Silver. Those of you who make even more transactions may be eligible for Gold and even Diamond status. Gold members need to transact 45,000 in a quarter, with Diamond VIPs being identified as having made 90,000 worth of transactions during a quarter. Skrill VIP Programme Benefits Benefit Bronze Silver Gold Diamond Multi-currency account No One account Two accounts Three accounts Personal Account Manager No No Yes Yes Priority bank uploads No Yes Yes Yes Dedicated 24/7 VIP Care Yes Yes Yes Yes Send Money Fee 1.45% Free Free Free Send Money Fee Cap No cap Zero Zero Zero Bank withdrawal fees 5.50 Free Free Free Skrill Waller FX Rates 3.79% 2.89% 2.59% 1.99% For the purpose of the Skrill VIP Programme, the yearly quarters are considered to be: Quarter 1: January to March Quarter 2: April to June Quarter 3: July to September Quarter 4: October to December VIP statuses are carried onto the next quarter. If you achieve VIP status within a quarter, you are guaranteed VIP status for the following quarter. Use Your Skrill Balance via a Free MasterCard Skrill VIPs have access to the account balances and can spend their money wherever they see the MasterCard logo thanks to the Skrill Prepaid MasterCard, which is free for Skrill VIPs. MasterCard is accepted by millions of vendors around the world, plus you can withdraw cash from any ATM you see the MasterCard logo. As you would expect, the higher your VIP status, the better the rates and fees for the Skrill Prepaid MasterCard. Fee/Limit Non VIP Bronze Silver Gold Diamond Application Fee 10 Free Free Free Free Daily ATM Limit 900 1,200 1,500 3,000 5,000 ATM withdrawal fee 1.75% 1.80 Free Free Free Daily POS limit 2,700 3,000 3,000 5,000 10,000 FX Fee 3.99% 3.79% 2.89% 2.59% 1.99% Replacement fee 10 Free Free Free Free Annual Fee 10 Free Free Free Free Sign up for your free Skrill account today and see if you can become a Skrill VIP and enjoy a wealth of benefits around the globe. Theresa May is to visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday to give a speech in which she will confirm her Governments absolute commitment to avoiding a hard border with the Republic after Brexit. The Prime Ministers trip, which will also take in talks with local businesses, comes as she prepares to return to Brussels to demand the reopening of the EU Withdrawal Agreement. Meanwhile, Downing Street poured cold water on speculation over an early election, saying that Mrs May was absolutely not considering a vote on June 6. The spokesman also said it was simply not true that the Government was drawing up plans for the evacuation of the Queen from Buckingham Palace in the case of civil unrest after a no-deal Brexit. The comments came as Justice Secretary David Gauke became the latest Cabinet minister to suggest that Brexit might have to be delayed beyond the scheduled date of March 29. Mr Gauke told BBC Radio 4s Today: We need to leave the European Union in a smooth and orderly way, and our objective is to do that on March 29, but I think it is important that it is a smooth and orderly departure and that is key. Mrs Mays spokesman insisted: She is absolutely determined to deliver Brexit on time. That means March 29. Rebel Tory MPs have been invited for a series of meetings chaired by Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay to explore ideas which could offer Mrs May a way forward after the emphatic Commons rejection of her Withdrawal Agreement. At the heart of the changes being demanded by Conservative Eurosceptics is the removal of the so-called backstop, designed to keep the Irish border open in the absence of a broader trade deal. Angela Merkel held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during her visit to Tokyo (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP/PA) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was ready to listen to proposals to solve the border riddle, but needs to hear from Britain how it thinks it can be done. Speaking during a trip to Japan, Ms Merkel said: To solve this riddle, you have to be creative and you have to listen to one another. Story continues We can have those conversations, so we can use the remaining time to perhaps remove the obstacles that have so far stood in the way and find an agreement if everyone is willing. But we must hear from Great Britain how they want to do it. (PA Graphics) Mrs Merkels visit for talks with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe came days after a new EU-Japan trade deal came into force and a day after Nissan confirmed it was ditching plans to build its X-Trail SUV in Sunderland. The company said the decision was largely driven by changing demand for diesel models but added that uncertainty around the UKs future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future. Hardline Eurosceptics in the European Research Group (ERG) and Remain-supporting former ministers were gathering in the Cabinet Office for the first meeting of the new Alternative Arrangements Working Group (AAWG). ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker, former Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson and Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh will sit around a table with former education secretary Nicky Morgan and ex-Cabinet Office minister Damian Green to examine the feasibility of the so-called Malthouse Compromise. Downing Street confirmed that they will meet with Mr Barclay on each of the first three days of this week and did not rule out further meetings beyond that date. The PMs spokesman said the group would be moving urgently to draw up proposals as soon as possible. Downing Street has previously suggested that these might revolve around a time-limit or unilateral brake on the backstop or technological solutions to keep traffic flowing over the border. From left, Brexiteers Owen Paterson and Steve Baker will sit down with former remain backer Nicky Morgan to help find viable changes to the Irish backstop (Dominic Lipinski, Victoria Jones, Stefan Rousseau/PA) Mrs May last week told the Commons that the Malthouse Compromise named for housing minister Kit Malthouse, who co-ordinated meetings bringing together the Remain and Leave wings of the party was a serious proposal that we are engaging with sincerely and positively. But the chairman of the Commons Brexit Committee, Hilary Benn, said: Personally, I dont see how it can work particularly in the very short amount of time that there is left. Speaking as the committee visited Brussels for private talks with EU officials, Mr Benn said the UK Government and EU had already put a great deal of effort into exploring a technological solution, only to conclude that: Its not going to work. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer moved to clarify Labours position on the backstop, after Jeremy Corbyn suggested last week he would have a problem with a one-sided arrangement. Speaking in Northern Ireland, Sir Keir told the Press Association: We recognise there is a need for a backstop at this stage of the exercise. The Prime Minister has effectively run down the clock and therefore it is impossible to see a way forward without a backstop. So, whilst we have got concerns that we have set out about the backstop, we do accept the principle that there has got to be a backstop. Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson accused the Tory leadership of using rumours of an early election as a scare tactic to bounce exhausted Conservative MPs into backing her Withdrawal Agreement. In his Daily Telegraph column, Mr Johnson said the Conservatives would go into an early election with a hole in the heart of our manifesto because they do not have a settled EU policy. Theresa May arriving at Downing Street on Monday (Picture: PA) Theresa May is set to visit Northern Ireland to make assurances she doesnt want a hard border between it and the Republic. The prime minister will go there on Tuesday and make a speech in which she will confirm her governments absolute commitment to avoiding a hard border after Brexit. Her trip, which will also take in talks with local businesses, comes as she prepares to return to Brussels to demand the reopening of the EU Withdrawal Agreement. But shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, himself on a visit to Northern Ireland on Monday, said he doubted Mrs May would succeed in agreeing an alternative to the Irish backstop with the EU. The prime minister and her team have spent over 12 months trying to find an alternative to the backstop, he said. We have only got the backstop because they couldnt find an alternative. So, for her to go back now saying I dont want the backstop, I want an alternative is to stand the last 12 months on its head. People in Northern Ireland and the Republic have no desire for a hard border (Picture: PA) The prime minister has effectively run down the clock and therefore it is impossible to see a way forward without a backstop. So, whilst we have got concerns that we have set out about the backstop, we do accept the principle that there has got to be a backstop. MORE: Son charged with murder of kind mum found dead in her own home MORE: Just one in 450 fly-tipping cases in England lead to a prosecution Meanwhile, Downing Street scotched rumours of an early election on June 6. Asked whether Mrs May was considering a vote on that date, her official spokesman said: No, absolutely not. Any suggestion otherwise is categorically untrue. The spokesman also said it was simply not true that the government was drawing up plans for the evacuation of the Queen from Buckingham Palace in the case of civil unrest after a no-deal Brexit. Rebel Tory MPs have been invited into the heart of government to thrash out changes to the Brexit deal which she hopes can overcome massive opposition in Brussels and Westminster. Story continues At the heart of the changes being demanded by Conservative Eurosceptics is the removal of the backstop, which is designed to keep the Irish border open in the absence of a broader trade deal. German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested that agreement on the Irish border was still possible. But she said that the Withdrawal Agreement cannot be renegotiated, so questions about the border would have to be addressed in the Political Declaration on future EU/UK relations. Speaking during a trip to Japan, Ms Merkel said that one has to be creative and we must listen to one another on the border issue, adding: But we must hear from Great Britain how they envision that. The trip came days after a new EU-Japan trade deal came into force and a day after Nissan confirmed it was ditching plans to build its X-Trail SUV in Sunderland. The company said the decision was largely driven by changing demand for diesel models but added that uncertainty around the UKs future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future. Hardline Eurosceptics in the European Research Group and Remain-supporting former ministers were due to gather in the Cabinet Office for the first meeting of the new Alternative Arrangements Working Group (AAWG). Theresa May is under pressure to come up with an alternative to the backstop (Picture: PA) ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker, former Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson and Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh will sit around a table with former education secretary Nicky Morgan and ex-cabinet office minister Damian Green to examine the feasibility of the so-called Malthouse Compromise. Downing Street confirmed that they will meet under the chairmanship of Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay on each of the first three days of this week and did not rule out further meetings beyond that date. The PMs spokesman said the group would be moving urgently to explore ideas as soon as possible for Mrs May to take to Brussels. Downing Street has previously suggested that these might revolve around a time-limit or unilateral brake on the backstop or technological solutions to keep traffic flowing over the border. MPs are working on an alternative to the Irish border question (Picture: PA) The spokesman declined to confirm a claim from Home Secretary Sajid Javid that the UK Border Force has identified existing technology to perform the job. Mr Javid told the BBC on Sunday: They have shown me quite clearly you can have no hard border on the island of Ireland and you can use existing technology. It is perfectly possible, the only thing missing is a bit of goodwill on the EU side. However, this was publicly questioned by the EUs deputy chief negotiator Sabine Weyand, who tweeted: Can technology solve the Irish border problem? Short answer: not in the next few years. Drawn up in meetings co-ordinated by housing minister Kit Malthouse, the proposal bearing his name recasts the backstop as a free trade agreement-lite, with a commitment on all sides there should be no hard border and an extended transition period to December 2021. It is seen as one of the main reasons the ERG changed its mind and backed an amendment last Tuesday tabled by Sir Graham Brady authorising Mrs May to go back to Brussels and seek a new deal with the backstop stripped out. Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage has been arrested by US immigration officials and is facing deportation because they say he is from the UK. US immigration spokesman Bryan Cox said the Grammy-nominated musician, whose given name is Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested in a targeted operation early on Sunday in Atlanta, Georgia. He said Abraham-Joseph is a British citizen who entered the US legally in July 2005 at the age of 12, but failed to leave under the terms of a non-immigrant visa, which expired in July 2006. According to US media reports, a US immigration and customs official said: "His whole public persona is false. He actually came to the US from the UK as a teen and overstayed his visa." He has rapped about a childhood in Atlanta in his music. The 26-year-old is now in custody and is facing deportation proceedings in a federal immigration court. His lawyer, Dina LaPolt, told Variety magazine that Abraham-Joseph was a "role model" who was working on financial literacy programmes aimed at helping underprivileged youth. "We are working diligently to get Mr Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding," she said. The rapper has been nominated for two awards at next week's Grammys, including record of the year for Rockstar alongside Post Malone. The Foreign Office said in a statement: "Our staff are in contact with the lawyer of a British man following his detention in the USA." By Sylvia Westall and Philip Pullella ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday became the first pontiff to set foot on the Arabian Peninsula, just hours after issuing his strongest condemnation yet of the war in Yemen, where his host the United Arab Emirates has a leading military role. Shortly before departing for Abu Dhabi, Pope Francis said he was following the humanitarian crisis in Yemen with great concern, using his regular Sunday address in Vatican City to urge all sides to implement a fragile peace deal and help deliver aid to millions of hungry people. "The cry of these children and their parents rises up to God," he told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square. "Let us pray strongly because they are children who are hungry, who are thirsty, they don't have medicine and they are in danger of death," he said before boarding his flight. The UAE welcomed the Pope's message on Yemen and believes the peace deal he referred to was a historic breakthrough, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter. "Let us assure its implementation and make 2019 the year of peace in Yemen," he said after the pope landed in Abu Dhabi. Yemen's warring parties agreed a ceasefire in December at the first major peace talks of the nearly four-year-old war, which pits Arab states backing an exiled president against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls the capital. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, and the United Nations says millions are on the verge of starvation. Their survival depends on the truce preventing aid from being cut off by all-out fighting for the country's main port. Francis was greeted by Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who escorted him to meet Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar mosque and university, one of the main seats of learning of Sunni Islam. The pontiff embraced him. Story continues Both men will hold meetings with Pope Francis on Monday. The UAE plays a leading role in the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis in Yemen. The United Nations is trying to implement a truce and troop withdrawal deal in the main Yemeni port of Hodeidah, agreed at the December talks as a step that could pave the way for negotiations to end the conflict. Vatican officials have said it is not clear whether Pope Francis will address the sensitive subject in public or private during his visit to Abu Dhabi, which is aimed at promoting interfaith dialogue. "NEW PAGE" The pope will meet Muslim leaders and celebrate an outdoor mass for some 135,000 Catholics, an event with no precedent on the Arabian peninsula. He has said the trip, which ends on Tuesday, is an opportunity to write "a new page in the history of relations between religions". The UAE, which named 2019 its Year of Tolerance, says the visit reflects its history as a "cradle of diversity". But it faces criticism from human rights groups for jailing activists, including Ahmed Mansoor, an Emirati who is serving a 10-year sentence for criticising the government on social media. "We are calling on Pope Francis to raise the issue of their incarceration with his hosts, and urge their immediate and unconditional release," Amnesty International said in a statement on Saturday. UAE authorities did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The UAE is home to around 1 million expatriate Catholics, many from the Philippines. Another 1 million Catholics are believed to live in other countries in the Arabian Peninsula. Priests and diplomats describe the UAE as one of the least restrictive environments in the Gulf for Christian worship. But like its neighbours, the UAE does not allow dissent or criticism of its leadership. All Gulf states except Saudi Arabia allow Christian worship in churches or church compounds and other premises with special licences. In Saudi Arabia, non-Muslims pray in secret gatherings in private homes and embassies. Abu Dhabi's crown prince is an ally of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has reached out to Christian representatives abroad as part of attempts to open up the conservative kingdom. Mohammed bin Salman's international reputation has eroded since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. The pope has already visited half a dozen predominantly Muslim nations during his reign, using the trips to call for inter-religious dialogue and to condemn the use of violence in the name of God. The UAE ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, wrote in an op-ed in Politico magazine on Sunday that the pontiff's visit sent a signal of co-existence and respect in the face of the "menace of extremism" across the Middle East. (This story has been refiled to add dropped words to UAE minister's title in paragraph 5) (Editing by Gareth Jones) Industrial giant Ineos has called for the government to relax its "unworkable" rules on fracking - and accused it of trying to shut down the industry "by the backdoor". The company's billionaire chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe claimed the UK's "non-existent" energy strategy meant the government was "playing politics with the future of the country". Ineos wants to change regulations which currently mean work must be halted for 18 hours if seismic activity of magnitude 0.5 on the Richter scale or above is detected at fracking sites. It wants to see this changed to a "more sensible level" pointing to a limit of 4.0 in the US - thousands of times greater than the UK threshold. The company, which has the largest shale gas licence acreage in Britain, demanded that the government must either make shale workable or shut it down. It pointed to recent announcements that nuclear energy plant plans from Hitachi and Toshiba (Swiss: TOSH.SW - news) had been dropped as evidence that the UK has "no coherent energy policy". The company said: "The government is shutting down shale by the back door and is betting the future of our manufacturing industry on windmills and imported gas from countries which are potentially unstable." It compared Britain's approach unfavourably with that of the US where it said a million shale gas wells had been drilled safely. Sir Jim said: "The government's position is unworkable and unhelpful. "They are playing politics with the future of the country. "We have a non-existent energy strategy and are heading towards an energy crisis that will do long term and irreparable damage to the economy." Cuadrilla, currently the only company to have fracked for gas in Britain, had to halt operations several times last year at its site in Lancashire due to seismic events which exceeded the limit. It has also said the current limits are too stringent but the government said earlier this year it has no plans to change the rules. Britain currently imports around 60% of its gas needs via pipelines from Norway and continental Europe and tankers of liquefied natural gas from countries including Qatar, Russia and the US. Story continues Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, involves extracting gas from rocks by breaking them up with water and chemicals at high pressure. Environmentalists have raised concerns about contamination of groundwater and say extracting more fossil fuel is at odds with commitments to reduce fossil fuel emissions. Greenpeace chief scientist Doug Parr said: "For years those worried about fracking have been assured that our safety regulations are far tougher than those in the US. "Now (Frankfurt: 11N.F - news) that the industry is having trouble sticking to UK regulations, we're assured US regulations are perfectly adequate and should be copied here. We do not feel reassured." The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to attend the gala performance of The Wider Earth at the Natural History Museum. Harry and heavily pregnant Meghan will watch the theatrical production in London on Tuesday February 12. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. The event is being staged in support of the Queens Commonwealth Trust, of which Harry is president, and the network of forest conservation initiatives that make up the Queens Commonwealth Canopy. The family-friendly show, featuring a cast of seven, puppets and cinematic animations, charts Charles Darwins daring five-year voyage on HMS Beagle to the other side of the world. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. During their tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, the duke and duchess unveiled six dedications to the Queens Commonwealth Canopy. The Duchess of Sussex helps to plant a tree at a dedication of an area of bush to the Queens Commonwealth Canopy, in Redvale, New Zealand (Dominic Lipinski/PA) The project was launched in 2015 with an appeal to all 53 Commonwealth nations to contribute areas of indigenous forest to mark the Queens lifetime of service to the Commonwealth. Jordan Banjo (Credit: PA) Jordan Banjo, presenter of the BBCs The Greatest Dancer, has said that he suffered ignorant racial abuse growing up in Essex. 26-year-old Banjo, Diversity dancer and brother of Dancing On Ice judge Ashley Banjo, said that it was due to a lack of ethnicity in the area. Our school was in a posh part of Essex, and there werent many other ethnicities there, he told OK Magazine. It was pretty much just me, my brother and sister. My mum is white and my dads black, and some kids just couldnt get their head around it. Joining us from The Greatest Dancer are the brilliant Oti Mabuse, Matthew Morrison and Jordan Banjo. Tune in for all the backstage gossip and insider information from the competition. Theyd say, Youre not black, but youre not white. Youre different. They said I was like a black p***. I also got the other standard names black people get called. And if you pulled the kids up, theyd be horrified. Banjo adds that he took the abuse in his stride, and they were just young kids who didnt know better. He shot to fame as part of the street dance group Diversity, who won the third series of Britains Got Talent in 2009, beating Susan Boyle to the prize. Speaking about The Greatest Dancer, which he co-hosts with Alesha Dixon, and judges Cheryl, Oti Mabuse and Matthew Morrison, he said: Cheryl is the nicest so sweet. She was asking me about my baby son and I felt like I was talking to a friend Id had for years. Oti has been trying to teach me Latin and ballroom so many times, but I am awful so bad. She is the strictest teacher ever. She does not mess around. If my elbows drop an inch, she is on me. After about 10 minutes, I feel Ive been beaten up. Matthew can make you feel better about anything. You could have a winning lottery ticket in your pocket, then put it in the washing machine hed say, Thats part of your journey. The show returns to BBC One for its second live show this weekend. Read more GMB makes awkward Gemma Collins error Catastrophe finale will be Carrie Fisher tribute Margaret Thatcher Spitting Image puppet up for auction Nobody in the EU is considering offering legally binding assurances to help Theresa May get her Brexit deal through Parliament, a senior Brussels official has said. Speaking after talks with MPs on the House of Commons Brexit Committee, European Commission secretary general Martin Selmayr said the 90-minute meeting had confirmed the EU was right to begin preparations for a no-deal outcome. The comments from commission president Jean-Claude Junckers right-hand man heap further pressure on the Prime Minister as she prepares to go to Brussels to seek a renegotiation of the UKs Withdrawal Agreement. Mrs May will visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday for a speech in which she is expected to confirm her Governments absolute commitment to avoiding a hard border with the Republic after Brexit. Rebel MPs from both sides of the Conservative Partys Leave/Remain divide were meeting in Whitehall to develop ideas for alternative arrangements to replace the controversial backstop to keep the Irish border open. Downing Street has indicated potential solutions could revolve around a time limit or unilateral break clause on the backstop or new technologies to make it unnecessary. But Mrs Mays official spokesman declined to say whether Home Secretary Sajid Javid was right to suggest that the UK Border Force had identified existing technologies to do the job. There was little sign of appetite from the EU side to rewrite the agreement reached by Mrs May and Mr Juncker in November but rejected by a 230-vote margin in the Commons last month. Deputy Brexit negotiator Sabine Weyand said that technology would not be able to solve the border issue in the next few years. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. And in response to reports that he had told the Brexit Committee that the EU would be ready to consider legally binding assurances, Mr Selmayr tweeted: On the EU side, nobody is considering this. Story continues Asked whether any assurance would help to get the Withdrawal Agreement through the Commons, the answers of MPs were inconclusive. The meeting confirmed that the EU did well to start its no deal preparations in December 2017. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was ready to listen to proposals to solve the border riddle, but needs to hear from Britain how it thinks it can be done. Speaking during a trip to Japan, Mrs Merkel said: To solve this riddle, you have to be creative and you have to listen to one another. We can have those conversations, so we can use the remaining time to perhaps remove the obstacles that have so far stood in the way and find an agreement if everyone is willing. But we must hear from Great Britain how they want to do it. Mrs Merkels visit for talks with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe came soon after a new EU-Japan trade deal came into force and a day after Nissan confirmed it was ditching plans to build its X-Trail SUV in Sunderland. Angela Merkel and Shinzo Abe met in Tokyo (Toshifumi Kitamura/Pool Photo via AP) The company said the decision was largely driven by changing demand for diesel models but added that uncertainty around the UKs future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future. The chairman of the Brexit Committee, Hilary Benn, voiced scepticism about the prospects for a technological solution to the border issue, telling reporters: Personally, I dont see how it can work particularly in the very short amount of time that there is left. Speaking after the committees meeting with Mr Selmayr, Mr Benn said the UK Government and EU had already put a great deal of effort into exploring a technological solution, only to conclude that: Its not going to work. Meanwhile, Downing Street poured cold water on speculation over an early election, saying that Mrs May was absolutely not considering a vote on June 6. The comments came as Justice Secretary David Gauke became the latest Cabinet minister to suggest that Brexit might have to be delayed beyond the scheduled date of March 29, telling the BBC that the key was achieving a smooth and orderly departure. Hardline Eurosceptics in the European Research Group (ERG) and Remain-supporting former ministers were gathering in the Cabinet Office for the first meeting of the new Alternative Arrangements Working Group (AAWG). ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker, former Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson and Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh will sit around a table with former education secretary Nicky Morgan and ex-Cabinet Office minister Damian Green to examine the feasibility of the so-called Malthouse Compromise. From left, Owen Paterson, Steve Baker and Nicky Morgan (Dominic Lipinski, Victoria Jones, Stefan Rousseau/PA) Downing Street confirmed that they will gather under the chairmanship of Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay on each of the first three days of this week and did not rule out further meetings beyond that date. The group is due to draw up alternative proposals as soon as possible under the framework of the Malthouse Compromise, which could see the transition period after the official date of Brexit extended by a further year to the end of 2021. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer moved to clarify Labours position on the backstop, after Jeremy Corbyn suggested last week he would have a problem with a one-sided arrangement. Speaking in Northern Ireland, Sir Keir told the Press Association: We recognise there is a need for a backstop at this stage of the exercise. The Prime Minister has effectively run down the clock and therefore it is impossible to see a way forward without a backstop. So, whilst we have got concerns that we have set out about the backstop, we do accept the principle that there has got to be a backstop. LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - North Sea Forties crude differentials held steady on Monday, while Oseberg edged slightly lower and other grades were also steady. RELATED NEWS * The European Union is considering imposing more sanctions on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro but has not discussed an oil embargo, Malta's foreign minister said on Monday. PLATTS WINDOW * Forties: Gunvor offered at dated Brent plus 10 cents a barrel loading Feb. 20-22. * Forties: Trafigura bid at dated Brent plus 35 cents loading March 1-5. * Oseberg: Equinor offered at dated Brent plus $1.10 loading March 2-4. * Oseberg: PetroIneos bid at dated Brent plus 90 cents loading March 2-4. (Reporting By Julia Payne. Editing by Jane Merriman) Trials of big-ticket criminals always interest the general public. The trial of the drug lord El Chapo is now in the last stage as the defence has wound up its argument. The trial has generated a lot of interest. One is reminded of the time when the notorious gangster Al Capone was tried many decades back in Chicago. In this case, there is a subtle difference as El Chapo is a Mexican who has been extradited to America to face trial. During the trial, many salacious facts of the life of the drug lord have emerged. The Washinton Post has reported that one of the witnesses claimed that El Chapo raped young girls and boasted that the young girls were his "vitamins. " Trial closing The trial is coming to a close, and the defence has wound up its arguments. The jury will now retire to deliberate on the verdict. In case he is convicted the drug lord could well spend his entire life in prison. Just two days before the jury started its deliberations information has been leaked that El Chapo was sent young girls by a man referred to as "Commadre Maria" for his pleasure. Some of the girls were as young as 13, and the drug lord made a payment of $5,000 per girl as compensation. It is reported that the girls were taken to one of his ranches where they were violated by El Chapo and his associates. Accused Mexican drug lord "El Chapo" allegedly had sex with girls as young as 13 after drugging them, newly disclosed federal court records show. https://t.co/uFd8J9tDUk USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 3, 2019 Defence arguments The drug lord whose name is Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera is represented by A. Eduardo Balarezo. He is the defence lawyer and has called these allegations extremely salacious. He was of the view that releasing such information when the jury was beginning to start deliberations is very unfortunate. Maybe Balarezo has a point, but the evidence against the drug lord of killing and smuggling vast quantities of contraband drugs may by itself nail the alleged drug smuggler and supplier. The NY Post has reported that the allegations were made by Guzmans former secretary, Alex Cifuentes, who took the stand against his onetime boss. The trial is going on for 11 weeks and is likely to close soon with a verdict. In US custody The news has tickled the imagination of the public, and the fact is that El Chapo is in serious trouble. Mexico which has many other attractions wanted to get rid of the master drug dealer and handed him over to the United States to face trial. Border wall Donald Trump who has just recognized Juan Guaido as President of Venezuela has a point when he insists on a border wall. Apart from keeping out unwanted refugees, it could also help in curtailing the drug smuggling racket. In the meantime, the public will be waiting to see what verdict the Jury delivers. One thing is clear that El Chapo will not have much sympathy. Tyler, TX (75702) Today Cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 68F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 68F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. A new kids animation series Space Nova is coming to both Nine and ABC ME. The series from SLR Productions, co-produced with Giggle Garage in Malaysia, comprises 26 x 24 min. episodes for six to ten year olds. SLR Productions CEO and Executive Producer, Suzanne Ryan said, Space Nova is an exciting and captivating space adventure which follows the Nova familys search for alien life throughout the universe. This is a great collaboration between esteemed partners Super RTL, ABC ME, Nine Network, Giggle Garage, Screen Australia, Create NSW, ZDF Enterprises and Australian Childrens Television Foundation. I am thrilled to launch into space and bring this incredible show to life. ABC ME is excited to be part of the new sci-fi animated adventure series, Space Nova a dynamic series full of action, comedy and all things space! We cant wait to follow this amazing Australian astronaut family on their daring space missions, and discover all the incredible mysteries they unravel along the way. Our audiences love of adventure and fascination with all things space-related is sure to make this series an unmissable and unique offering for them to enjoy, said ABC Childrens Executive Producer, Amanda Isdale. Nine Network Co-Head of Drama, Jo Rooney, added, Suzanne and the team at SLR Productions have a proven track record of delivering us entertaining and age appropriate content so we cant wait for Space Nova. Packed with action and comedy, Space Nova promises a space adventure that our kids audience is sure to love. The series will be distributed worldwide by ZDF Enterprises, excluding Australia and New Zealand which is being handled by ACTF. Its 2162 and life is a blast for space adventurer siblings, Jet and Adelaide Nova. After all, what tween wouldnt want to divide their days between living on an international space station and accompanying their parents on awesome interstellar missions! Of course its not all asteroid chases and exploding star systems. Jet and Adelaide also have to attend school, do homework (though their chores arent always so typical, like recharging the family robot and scrubbing their starships hull!). Still, on weekends this Aussie astronaut family have their own unique way of unwinding, with Jet and Adelaide heading off with parents Hugo and Josie on mind blowing adventures to navigate unexplored planets, surf solar flares, hop between rogue stars and occasionally even discover previously unknown life forms. Then, on one of these adventures the Novas stumble upon Star Dust, a strange super-powerful rainbow substance left behind in an abandoned alien ship stuck in a living celestial butterfly, and everything changes. In fact, their discovery is so potentially explosive to the future of mankind, they must kept it secret from everyone they know, until they can unlock the secrets of the substances transformative powers and its potential connection to a far more intelligent alien civislation. Life just got daring, thrilling and more perilous than the Nova family ever imagined as they begin the quest of their lives! Related By Delana Isles THE STATUS of the child bill, one of the many outstanding family law bills, finally made its way to the House of Assembly for debate and passage this week. Presenting the bill was Hon. Vaden Delroy Williams, Minister of Home Affairs, Communication and Transportation, who informed the House that the bill is among one of several that had required further stakeholder consultation. As a result of this, over the last several months the ministry, Attorney Generals Chambers, the Social Development Department and other stakeholders including the judiciary have been meeting to review the bill; meetings which culminated in the finished proposed law currently before the House. The purpose of the bill is to provide equal status to all of the children in the Turks and Caicos Islands. "In a nutshell, we are introducing this bill because it is important for the Turks and Caicos Islands to ensure that all laws relating to children are up to date and meet the standards of international best practices and conventions, Minister Williams stated in his presentation of the bills provisions. "In addition to this, my Government is a government that is working to protect all of the rights of all of our children. It is important to note that the bill does not address the immigration status of children; rather it speaks to how they are treated under the law regardless of whether they are born in wedlock, or to unmarried parents. As such, the bill proposes to repeal the Legitimation Ordinance and the Illegitimacy Ordinance which overlap with what the new bill is trying to achieve. Williams said the new legislation will also retain some sections of the older laws, as well as modify some parts of the provisions that are saved, to ensure that they match with the policy positions taken by the Government. Provisions Part one of the bill sets out the meaning or definition of key terms, states who the bill applies to, and protects any related right a child would have had before this bill. Part two of the bill seeks to remove labels such as illegitimate, legitimate, lawful or unlawful that have been used in the TCI society for many generations. "Our policy is that there will not be any distinction between children based on the marital status of their parent. "Many children have been treated unkindly because of this, and I am happy that this caring Government is taking this important step to put the law on their side, the minister said. Another provision of the bill is that it lists several types of relationships, which will now be used in law, to determine the natural father of a child unless there is some other proof to confirm that he is not a childs father. The bill also proposes that the TCI put in place provisions under the law, for the very first time, to deal with presumptions of parentage based on artificial conception procedure. It also provides for certain conditions under which the registrar should file an instrument in the Registry of Births, when a father acknowledges paternity. Part three of the bill looks at parentage in terms of instances when a person can apply to the court to declare parentage. It further provides the court with the authority to order parent test procedures, it outlines matters that should be taken into account before a court order is made as to parentage, and it lists the information that the results from the testing procedure should contain. Under the proposed law, the relevant minister is required to approve a laboratory for carrying out parent testing procedure and to nominate a reporter for the approved laboratory or lab. "This is important to ensure that standards are upheld and that personal information is kept strictly confidential, the minister said. Part four of the bill looks at disposition of property. "If there is one only area that causes strife within a family, is the manner in which property is given to other family members, either through gifts or inheritance. "Clause 16 to 19 of this part four, totally abolish the distinction between children born within a marriage and outside a marriage and places them on equal footing for inheriting property, when a parent dies without a will, Williams stated. He added that in cases where parents make paternity claims after the passing of a presumed father, this bill now enables the administrator of a will to make reasonable inquiries regarding the existence of any other person who could claim an interest in the estate of the deceased. The new law also relieves the administrator of the responsibility to seek more information that he honestly and reasonably thinks is necessary, and protects him from action being taken against him if he had no knowledge or notice of a potential relationship between a person and the deceased. Part of the bill further ensures that the earlier provisions (in older bills) regarding wills and gifts that were completed or became effective before this bill, shall continue to be as is, and will not be affected by the new law. Part five of the bill makes miscellaneous provisions, related to hearings, penalties for failure to adhere to parentage testing or seeking to tamper with tests, existing rights, regulations and repeal. "In keeping with the rights of the child, this Government, my Government, is committed to protecting the rights of every child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment and maltreatment or exploitation, Minister Williams emphasised. Former Fairfax managing director Greg Hywood could be a front-runner for the plum role of ABC Chair, according to ABCs own Media Watch host Paul Barry. The selection panel finished interviewing candidates for the chairs job before Christmas and handed its shortlist of three names to the Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield two weeks ago. Another contender is Film Victoria president Ian Robertson, President of Film Victoria. Other possible names include former Foxtel CEO Kim Williams, but Barry noted both he and lawyer Danny Gilbert are likely to be too left-leaning for the government. Michael Rose, chair of the Committee for Sydney, informed Media Watch he is not a candidate while Mario DOrazio, until recently MD of Channel Seven in Perth, was not interviewed by the selection panel. Former AFL commissioner and current Citibank chair, Sam Mostyn, was the only woman tipped by Barry. Current acting chair Kirstin Ferguson did not apply for the permanent role. But The Age also tips Ita Buttrose as a possibility. She told sources, she had not been contacted about the role. A replacement for Michelle Guthrie cannot be found until the new chair is selected. Its now four months since Michelle Guthrie and Justin Milne departed ABC. Related Sevens plans for another season of My Kitchen Rules due later this year may be starting to take shape with a report today suggesting they hope to make Colin Fassnidge the Gordon Ramsay of Australian television. The Australian reports the format will vary so as not to over-saturate the brand, with a cross between its predecessor My Restaurant Rules and Ramsays Kitchen Nightmares. Fassnidge, in his guise as a Ramsay-style mentor, will be used to give tough love to aspiring chefs on the show, visiting struggling restaurants to help them reach their potential, as part of a competition with other kitchens, it reports, including plenty of bleeping. Fassnidge recently sledged 10 online after Im A Celebritys big launch, warning MKR would trounce it in the ratings. Not for long ?x Colin Fassnidge (@Fassnidge73) January 14, 2019 So far Seven has been coy about its plans, aside from confirming it will be a shorter run. There is speculation Seven considered a Celebrity MKR, involving stars cooking competitively in their own homes, and an MKR All-Stars with former heroes and villains. But what is clear is that Seven has a casting call for an unnamed Restaurant Show with teams of two who will represent restaurants from all cuisines and backgrounds across Australia. Are you Australias best local restaurant? Or do you know Australias best local restaurant? a casting notice asks. It is inviting restaurants to put themselves forward for consideration, and customers also get the opportunity to nominate their favourite local restaurant. Seven sources tell TV Tonight the unnamed show is not a commission for its new 7food channel, fuelling speculation is linked to the next MKR project. And probably Colin Fassnidge. Source: The Australian Related Late night Community TV series Mainland Tonight will premiere later this month on WTV (Perth). Filmed at RMIT University Studios in Melbourne, it is hosted by May Jasper and supported by her silent mime sidekick, Banjo (Rod Lara). It features sketches, a monologue, desk segment, guest interview and a stand up comedian. The supporting cast includes Maddy Butler, Carly Ellis, Belinda Kirwan, Bryan Pike, Nathan Ware, Morgan William. With 109 people working on the show, including writers based all around Australia, the show is one of the largest community TV productions ever mounted. Season 1 consists of 6x30min episodes, broadcasting live on WTV Perth and online via the Mainland Tonight Facebook and YouTube pages. Mainland Tonight is produced by RMITV & Short Game Productions. Executive Producer: Dean Watson Director: Ella Caufield Mainland Tonight is produced with the assistance of the Department of Communications and the Arts via the Community Broadcasting Foundation cbf.org.au Studio audience tickets available here. Monday 18th February at 10pm AEDT / 7pm AWST. Related Police in Hanoi have arrested a suspect for murdering a taxi driver by cutting his throat last month. Officers under the municipal Department of Police confirmed they had apprehended Nguyen Canh Anh, 20, on Sunday as he was hiding in Hoa Binh Province, about 90 kilometers southwest of Hanoi. Initial information showed that the suspect hails from Do Luong District in the north-central province of Nghe An. According to the case file, the incident happened at one of the entrances of My Dinh National Stadium in Nam Tu Liem District on January 29. Nguyen Canh Anh is held at the police station in Hanoi on February 3, 2019. Photo: Tuoi Tres contributor Eyewitnesses said they saw the victim, who was a taxi driver, walking out of his car and screaming for help but he later collapsed on the ground and died from severe blood loss. He suffered a cut wound in his neck. According to Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper, the victim was Pham Van D., 26, a driver of Hanoi-based Linh Anh Taxi Line. Police arrived at the scene upon being notified to investigate the case. The cab is pictured following the incident. Photo: Tuoi Tres contributor Thanks to witnesses statements and footage from local security cameras, officers were able to identify the suspect as a man around 18 to 25 years old, about 1.7 meters tall, and wearing a long-sleeve shirt and dark-colored pants. CCTV caught him as he was escaping the scene and heading toward Le Duc Tho Street in Nam Tu Liem District that night. Anh was nabbed five days later, claiming he attacked the taxi driver to steal from him. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A Vietnamese professor has spent the last 53 years inviting internationally recognized scholars to conferences in Vietnam to participate in a series of events meant to connect the countrys academics with their world-renowned peers. Tran Thanh Van began his mission to connect local academics with foreign scholars in 1966, doing his best to invite foreign scientists to Vietnam despite a U.S. embargo on the Southeast Asian country in place until 1994. Over the course of his career, he was able to establish an association that attracted many foreign scientists and created opportunities for up-and-comers in the countrys science community through various scholarships and conferences. His work is credited as a major contribution to the development of scientific scholarships in Vietnam. Meet Vietnam In a small town called Moriond in the French Alps, Van and two of his French colleagues held a conference for physics academics in 1966 the Vietnamese professors first attempt to connect Vietnamese scholars with those from different countries. Almost 30 years later, in 1993, he established Gap Go Viet Nam, Rencontres du Vietnam, or Meet Vietnam, an association that serves as a bridge between Vietnamese academics and their international counterparts. The association allows scholars in Vietnam to access the latest discussions, discoveries, and studies taking place around the world. Thanks to his reputation as an academic, despite the U.S. embargo on Vietnam until 1994, the first Rencontres du Vietnam conference in 1993 witnessed the participation of many academics from the United States, including physicist Jack Steinberger who discovered muon neutrino in 1962. Two years later, the second conference was organized with the participation of 220 scholars from 40 countries, highlighting the academic worlds growing interest in Vietnam. Through international physics journals, I noticed a lot of Vietnamese scholars living in different places including Hanoi, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City, Moscow, New York, Geneva, and Paris, the 83-year-old physicist said. I want young scholars to have the opportunity to meet one another, while also meeting the greatest physicists of the world, have access to pioneering ideas from which they might be inspired to embark on outstanding research endeavors, and increase Vietnams presence in the international physicist community. The main hall of ICISE where many science conferences have witnessed the attendance of the most prestigious scholars from all over the world. Photo: Supplied Rencontres du Vietnam has also held workshops where acknowledged scholars awarded Nobel or Dirac prizes have been on hand to meet and talk to Vietnamese students. Professor Van, Jerome Friedman (Nobel Prize 1990), and Dam Thanh Son (Dirac Prize 2018) once met with 30 students who won prizes at International Science Olympiads in the hope of inspiring the young minds and sharing experiences. Since then, similar activities have been held at each Rencontres du Vietnam conference. Meeting students is not the only effort Van has made for the Vietnamese youth. Over 35,000 Vallet scholarships were awarded to students with passion and outstanding performances to afford them the opportunity to study abroad and explore the worlds body of knowledge so that they might come back and contribute to their country. The association also became a premise for the establishment of the International Center for Interdisciplinary Science and Education (ICISE) in 2013, one of Vans most well-known accomplishments. ICISE is located in the coastal city of Quy Nhon, the capital of the south-central province of Binh Dinh, far from the hustle and bustle of Vietnams mega cities. Science-related activities need a peaceful place so that the scholars do not get distracted," Professor Van explained. The program has not only brought many scientists to Vietnam who were willing to stand with the nation, but has also opened opportunities for students, scholars, and politicians. The International Center for Interdisciplinary Science and Education in Quy Nhon City, Binh Dinh Province. Photo: Supplied Believing in Vietnams potential I can say at this moment that Vietnam is a leading country in Southeast Asia in terms of Theoretical Physics and Fundamental Physics, the Vietnamese professor said in 1990. Van was confident in the Vietnamese intellectual class and was not the only internationally recognized scholar to think that way. Why dont you [Vietnam] ever dream of becoming a great power in science? James Cronin, an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1980, questioned. Developing countries have a common misconception that it is only important to apply science to real life, rather than understand its fundamentals. However, fundamental physics is an important part of science, which means it plays an important role in modern civilization and shapes our society, Professor Cronin added. I can rest in peace and let go if I could see Vietnams physicists make a leap, Cronin said. From 2010 onward, many Vietnamese scholars have made names for themselves internationally including Ngo Bao Chau (Fields Medal 2010) and Dam Thanh Son. However, both Chau and Son did not study in Vietnam, instead choosing to pursue education abroad. Vietnam still needs internationally standardized universities, because without research centers and institutions, the country will keep losing their intellectually outstanding individuals, Professor Dam Thanh Son, one of the most outstanding theoretical physicists at the University of Chicago in the U.S., said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! After his time as Lincoln County sheriff came to a close in 1882, Garrett moved his family to Texas and for a brief interlude served as a lieutenant in the Texas Rangers, in 1884. Soon after, he resigned and the Garrett family returned to their ranch in New Mexico. Garrett spent the following decade in unsuccessful business ventures including failed irrigation schemes for southeastern New Mexico. He returned to law enforcement in 1897 as sheriff of Dona Ana County, primarily to solve the murder of Judge Albert J. Fountain and his son. Garrett remained in this position until his resignation in 1900. In 1901, Garretts life seemed to be improving when President Theodore Roosevelt (who is said to have read his book) appointed him collector of customs in El Paso. He held this post for four or five years, but endured questions about his character as well as his lack of qualifications for the job. When Garrett returned to New Mexico, he bought a horse ranch but had little success and was forced to lease part of his land to a man named Jesse Wayne Brazel. In 1908, a dispute occurred between the two men over the lease, which led to Brazel shooting and killing Garrett. In court, Brazel stated he shot Garrett in self-defense, and he was acquitted in a short trial. Tucsons Garrett Avenue was recorded in the Los Ranchitos No. 7 subdivision in 1948. This small south-side street is bordered by (Jeff) Milton Road and (Burt) Alvord Road (both also named for Old West lawmen) in a neighborhood that could be called Lawmen and Outlaws Square. David Leighton is a historian and author of The History of the Hughes Missile Plant in Tucson, 1947-1960. He has been featured on PBS and the Travel Channel and on numerous radio shows. If you have a street to suggest or a story to share, contact him at azjournalist21@gmail.com Its a way of communicating other things that are happening like AMBER alerts and silver alerts or even inclement weather alerts that you can now push through your plate. So, it becomes a communication portal and its an extension of your digital personality, Boston said. The plates are said to have very little draw on a vehicles battery when completing the tasks, according to the companys website. After more than a year testing the devices along Arizona roads and in changing weather, Rplate was authorized by the Arizona Department of Motor Vehicles Division and the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Safety measures include tamper-proof and the anti-theft features. Weve put the same and were using the same protocols that you do for online banking, Boston said. We have end-to-end encryption that we have on all of the channels of communication; theres got to be a secure key, a digital key, and if the key is not found when messages are trying to be sent to the plate, the plate just ignores it. Reviver Auto first launched the devices in California last June, and wants to reach the entire U.S. by 2021. The company is working with officials in Dubai to take the plates internationally. The Monsanto Fund the philanthropic arm of the Bayer company has given Lauffer Middle Schools robotics program a $10,000 donation. The gift will allow Lauffer to expand the program to the greater Sunnyside Unified School District community and to create a seamless pipeline between Craycroft Elementary, Lauffer and Desert View High, which all emphasize STEM education, according to a press release. Both Craycroft and Lauffer offer robotics programs that teach students the ins and outs of coding, while Desert View offers a precision-manufacturing program that provides industry certifications. Schools chief appoints 4 to audit committee State school Superintendent Kathy Hoffman has created a committee to audit the Department of Educations finances, and four of those appointees have Tucson ties. They include Ricky Hernandez, chief operating officer of the University of Arizona Alumni Association; Lizette Huie, business services coordinator in the Sahuarita Unified School District; Norman Purdy, director of student data and state reporting outreach in the Vail School District; and Tina Norton, assistant superintendent and chief financial officer at the Pima County Joint Technological Education District. Arizonas drought-contingency plan for the Colorado River is shaping up as a pricey water-saving affair, with a potential tab of up to $280 million. The state, the Central Arizona Project and the federal government have approved, or are expected to, the spending of many tens of millions of dollars to compensate river water users who will be losing supplies due to the drought plan. Millions more will be spent by CAP, the state, possibly by the feds and by irrigation districts on new wells to help farmers go back on the pumps when their CAP supplies run out in a few years. And the largest single sum, $97 million, related to the drought plan is not going to conserve a drop of water. It will be used in a complex agreement to buy water and recharge it in the ground to compensate for new pumping for future suburban growth and sprawl. That agreement proved vital in getting the support of influential developer and homebuilder groups for the drought plan in the Legislature. Heres a breakdown of all the money that will be spent, is likely to be spent or could be spent on programs directly or indirectly connected to the drought plan: PHOENIX Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is quietly dropping the defamation lawsuit he filed last fall against backers of the Proposition 127 campaign and the California billionaire who financed it. Brnovich filed suit against members of the Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona committee and financier Tom Steyer over the content of TV commercials supporting the ballot measure. Those ads accused the attorney general of being corrupt and helping to rig the election. Dennis Wilenchik, who represents Brnovich, told Capitol Media Services that even if he had won the lawsuit, the victory would have been hollow, at least financially. He pointed out that commercials were running and the lawsuit was filed while Brnovich was seeking another four-year term. As it turned out, Brnovich won that race and got to keep his $90,000-a-year salary. Voters also defeated Proposition 127, the proposal for which the ads accused Brnovich of using his position to defeat because he tweaked the explanation of the measure that voters saw on the ballot. The initiative would have mandated that most Arizona utilities generate at least half their energy from renewable sources, not including nuclear power, by 2030. It takes guts to fool around with Anton Chekhov. And Aaron Posner has got em. Stupid F#!*ing Bird, Posners adaptation of Chekhovs dark and brilliant The Seagull, is, well, dark and brilliant. And Winding Road Theatre Ensembles production is as well. Posner basically follows the framework of Chekhovs slice-of-dreary-life story but sets it in modern times and infuses it with lots of swearing and lots of humor. Oh, Chekhovs version has humor, too, but few productions are successful at wringing it out. The story gives us a peek at a slew of people who struggle to find purpose in life. There is Con, a playwright who longs to please his actress mother, Emma, with his works. He is in love with the delicate Nina. She loves him until she meets Emmas-lover-with-a-wandering eye, Trigorin, a famous writer. Nina wants to be famous, so she naturally gravitates toward Trigorin, with no qualms about moving in on Emmas man. Mash, forlorn and punked out, loves Con, who doesnt care a whit for her. And loving Mash is Dev; she likes him, they are friends, but romantic feelings for him dont exist. Soren, Emmas brother, just wants to love and be loved. Dove of Peace Lutheran Church is nearing the finish line of its 10-year Beethoven sonata project. On Sunday, Feb. 10, the church will present the ninth installment with three more of Beethovens piano sonatas including his Grand Sonata. University of Arizona piano students Ivan Yang and Yujia Luan will join Phoenix pianist Joshua Hillmann for the 2 p.m. recital. The program for Sunday: Sonata No. 25 in G major, Cuckoo; No. 4 in E-flat Major, Grand; and No. 11 in B-flat Major, which Holtan described as the crowning achievement of Beethovens early grand sonatas. After Sunday, Dove of Peace and its music director Eric Holtan will have just three more sonatas to go before they can check the box on all 32 of Beethovens piano masterpieces. The church launched its Beethoven Project in 2010 with the mission of surveying Beethovens complete sonata catalogue. Holtan curated the project, which is part of the churchs free series of classical music concerts. For the past 15 years, the church has brought in some of Tucsons finest classical musicians to perform the concerts. Admission is free but the church accepts donations that benefit a rotating roster of local nonprofit service industries. CHEYENNE Careful approaches to raising revenues in a way that are distinctly Wyoming have been the theme of this years legislative session. However, it seems out-of-state groups have taken a keen interest in the legislatures conversations on the subject this year. Last week, writers with two Washington, D.C., think tanks Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative advocacy group that is opposed to all tax increases by principle, and the nonpartisan Tax Foundation penned articles critical of a piece of legislation by Casper Republican Jerry Obermueller that would impose a 7 percent tax on large C Corporations . The bill intended to capitalize on large, out-of-state companies that enjoy Wyomings lack of taxes with little benefit to Wyoming consumers. While the legislation, if passed, would mean tens of millions of dollars in new school funding with negligible impact on the average Wyoming resident, national critics of the bill generally panned the legislation. Writing for Forbes, ATRs Patrick Gleason who tends to write quick pieces on state tax policy compared the bills efforts to trends in other states, which have actually been slashing their corporate income taxes. He did not note, however, Wyomings lack of other taxes compared to other states, and misleadingly cited an income tax proposal on the states wealthiest residents by Rep. Cathy Connolly, D-Laramie, as proof the state was moving backwards from fiscal conservatism, despite the fact the bill was never taken seriously as a passable piece of legislation this year. The only farm in the state to pursue captive breeding of the finicky bird has struggled to meet the requirement created by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and says it faces significant expenses if it wants to proceed. Right now, the farm, which has recently changed hands, is waiting on the creation of a foundation by oilman and former Republican lawmaker Diemer True to potentially fund the project. But the time limits put in place when the sage grouse farming bill was originally approved by lawmakers are creating additional pressure that the bill, proponents say, would alleviate. Thorvaldson has over 10 years of experience in developing, planning, coordinating and facilitating workforce training programs. She has extensive experience working with varied industries and people in Wyoming. As a Wyoming native, her love of the people has led to her specialty in working with individuals and companies to match their needs to solutions. Photographers meet The Casper Photography Association will hold its monthly meeting at 7:15 p.m. The new location is the Seventh Day Adventist Fellowship Hall, 2625 Casper Mountain Rd. Please use the entrance at the rear of the building. The program will be the quarterly challenge portraits. Deede McKendree will provide refreshments. DAR meets Fort Caspar Chapter, NSDAR will meet at Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church on Poplar Street in Casper. Social time will proceed the featured program The NPL Literacy Project, which will be presented at 12:30 p.m. followed by a short business meeting. Members, their guests and prospective DAR members are invited to attend. Dance on Mondays The Casper Dance Club classes are held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Monday nights at the Senior Center ballroom, 1831 E. Fourth. Only $3. Beginners and experienced dancers of all ages are welcome. Two-step, waltz, cha-cha, East and West coast, etc. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 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. Bird watching and photography are creating waves in the tourism sector of Kerala as the arrival of five 'greater flamingos' in Alappuzha shows. Considered a 'prize catch,' greater flamingos create a big impact on the people who sight them by sheer size and beauty. Greater flamingo, called the 'raja hansam' in Malayalam, has truly majestic looks. It is seen in Africa, coasts of India and Pakistan, Southeast Asia and Europe. Often migrating in big flocks, the greater flamingo can fly up to 600 km in one night. In India, this bird is commonly seen in Kutch, Gujarat, and Mumbai. It also reaches Kerala after flying thousands of km during the months of October-January. Key facts The greater flamingo is 1.1 to 1.5 metre tall and weighs 2 kg to 4 kg. It has long legs and neck. The beak is red with a black tip. Eyes are yellow and located on both sides of the head. Even though it has pinkish white colour overall, there is red colour on the wings with black at the ends. However, the young ones have an entirely different look yellowish white colour. The chicks also have yellowish white beaks with a black tip. It is black at the ends of the wings also, while the legs are grey. The bird mostly feeds on small insects on land and in water and seeds. A single egg is laid in tall mud nests formed at marshy land on the sea shore. The male and female birds take turns to incubate the egg for up to 30 days before it hatches. Till the young one is able to eat by itself, both parents feed it semi-solid food that they regurgitate. Sightings in Kerala This season, the bird was first sighted in Kerala at the 'kole' paddy fields in Thrissur district. This sparked interest among nature photographers in the state and they set on capture the royal bird with the camera. One photographer, after elaborate enquiries, found that one bird had reached Kadamakudi in Ernakulam district. But when he reached there, found that the bird was entirely covered with mud and would give no good pictures. He kept looking and finally, after two months, learnt that five greater flamingos had arrived at Chennithala paddy field in Alappuzha district. He rushed to Mannar, but the birds had left the area. Not giving up, the photographer searched all the nearby paddy fields and soon located the majestic species four large birds along with a small one. They were feeding. There were several other birds also in the paddy field, but when the photographer entered the field to click photos, all the other birds except the greater flamingos flew away. The photographer's task became easy and he snapped pictures to his fill. If left undisturbed, the greater flamingo puts on many interesting gestures. During this season, the greater flamingo make visits to Thattekkad, Kannur and Kozhikode beach also in Kerala, apart from Thrissur and Alappuzha. Panaji: You could be fined Rs 2,000 for drinking beer on a Goa beach, but thanks to an innovative green initiative, 10 beer bottle caps or 20 used cigarette butts can fetch you a beer in Goa, if you exchange them at a pop-up waste-bar. The idea is to engage beach visitors in activities that create awareness about environment and conservation, while also cleaning the beaches. Conceived by Drishti Marine, a private beach management agency roped in by the state tourism ministry to rein in the garbage menace on Goa's beaches, the waste-bar is a hang out of sorts, where one can exchange segregated garbage for a drink. The initiative kicked off on January 30, when the first of the pop-up waste-bars opened up at the Zanzibar shack, located at the beach end of the popular Tito's Lane in the North Goan beach village of Baga. "The waste-bar is a win-win concept. It is positive for the venue as it is a positive event that attracts a crowd. You get very happy customers as they feel they contribute to the society and get a free drink for it. And for brands, it helps in positioning," Noreen van Holstein, who conceptualised the campaign along with Drishti Marine, told IANS. "People come to Goa for two things: beach and the bar. So let's give them what they come for - free drinks in exchange for garbage that they collect. This ensures that they become conscious of the waste that is there on the beach and that trash actually has value! They will leave Goa with a positive feeling and a clean beach," she added. The waste-bar is a hang out of sorts, where one can exchange segregated garbage for a drink. According to Van Holstein, waste-bars kicked-off in the Netherlands years back and the idea is catching on. Apart from cigarette butts and bottle caps, five used plastic straws will get you a bottle of chilled beer or a cocktail. The waste-bar will pop up in various venues in the next few months. Goa's beaches attract nearly eight million tourists annually. Garbage piling up on the beaches in recent years has been a cause for concern and has led to the appointment of a private agency to keep the beaches clean and garbage-free. Over the last few weeks however, the government's inability to deal with the garbage menace, especially in areas which are popular with tourists, has been a major area of concern for the travel and tourism industry stakeholders in Goa following a drop in tourist arrivals. An ongoing tussle between the government and Drishti Marine, the beach management agency tasked with Goa's beaches clean, has also resulted in slackening in the pace of garbage collection, with the opposition blaming the government for not handling the issue properly, especially during the peak tourist season. Garbage piling up on the beaches in recent years has been a cause for concern. "We ran an extremely successful campaign over 150 days in the last tourist season with the intention of creating awareness on beach clean-up and teach people about the importance of waste segregation. We made a significantly positive impact on that front and hence have decided to run the campaign this season as well," Drishti Marine CEO Ravi Shankar said. Among other things, the waste items collected during the campaign are used to create various useful items including music instruments during workshops run by the organisation. Goa is one of the top beach tourism destinations in the country and attracts nearly seven million tourists, which includes more than half a million foreigners. The TransGriot is available for speaking engagements, college lectures, panel discussions, media interviews, conferences or Trans 101 education efforts for your school, business or professional organizations. For local Houston area, Texas or national events, you can e-mail me at transgriot@yahoo.com For events outside the Houston metro area, I ask that my travel and lodging expenses be covered. This is separate from my speaking fee. If you are interested in having me appear as a speaker or panelist, you can e-mail me with the date and details of your proposed event. Please book as early as possible because my speaking and event calendar slots during the year rapidly fill up. When his Chihuahua was attacked by a much larger Boxer mix during their walkies in Kelsterbach close to Frankfurt am Main, a dog owner resorted to pulling out his pocket knife in a last ditch attempt to save his dog's life. According to initial information, the Boxer mix had the much smaller dog's head in his mouth and would not let go. It was then that the 60-year-old Chihuahua owner took matters in his own hands to save his pet's life. He pulled out his pocket knife and stabbed the Boxer mix until it let go. The Boxer mix succumbed to its injuries in a veterinary clinic shortly after the incident. The Chihuahua was injured in the neck area. The incident reportedly occurred on Friday and the police are now investigating the matter. THE POPULAR Hallmark prepaid Compass card service that was suspended late last year has been resumed for Turks and Caicos Islands residents. According to a statement issued by the company on Thursday (January 31), efforts are being made to conduct a personal information update of all cardholders. In order to start the update process, Hallmark is urging all cardholders to visit the Hallmark office on Leeward Highway, Providenciales, to complete an update and review. When completed the holders Compass card will be reactivated within three to five working days, and the user can start charging and topping up at the Hallmark Office. Cardholders are asked to walk with documents to prove identity, address and source of funds. Although there is no deadline to present the documents to Hallmarks office, the company highlighted that the cards will not be reactivated until the personal information has been received. The Hallmark Trusts prepaid card service was withdrawn in the TCI in October 2018 after Mastercard suspended its services with the company. The Hallmark Compass prepaid cards remained operational but additional funds were not allowed to be added to them. In November 2018, the Supreme Court appointed Joseph Connolly to administer the affairs of Hallmark Trust. As administrator, she assumed control of the management of Hallmark with the objective of protecting the interests of all stakeholders such as cardholders, trust beneficiaries, creditors and shareholders. Connolly, who is a chartered accountant with over 30 years experience with one of the top five audit firms in the world, said: "We are working on restoring the service, so that Turks and Caicos Islands residents can enjoy access to an international payment network access that the Compass card enables. The Compass prepaid Mastercard was seen by many as a perfect way to manage their funds since it allowed the holder to spend whatever amount they deposited. It card can be used at over 1,000,000 ATMs worldwide and over 30 million retail merchants. (By Olivia Rose) Another gun-related tragedy has occurred in the United States, which is increasingly facing calls for stricter gun regulation. A four-year-old boy in Seattle, Washington State, shot his mother in the face on Saturday. According to the US press, the young boy found the weapon under the mattress of his parent's bed. The gun was not secured and was loaded. The 27-year-old mother of the boy is eight months pregnant and had to be taken for hospital with life-threatening injuries. Media sources suggest that the weapon was not registered. According to a new law recently passed in Washington state, gun owners can face criminal charges for not securing weapons. Accidental gun deaths and injuries are no rarity in the US. In 2016 alone, there were 495 incidents of accidental firearm deaths. Adolescents and children are particularly susceptible to this: Accidental gun deaths occur mainly in those under 25 years old. The deputy chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has warned Europe against forcing the Islamic Republic into boosting the range of its missiles by trying to halt their development. "If the Europeans, or anyone else, want to conspire to disarm Iran of missiles, we will be forced to make a strategic leap," the guards' deputy commander Brigadier-General Hossein Salami said on state TV on Saturday. "All that hear me today, come to terms with the new reality of Iran's missile might: there are no obstacles or technical limitations to us increasing (their) range," he added. The Islamic Republic develops its missile technology according to a "defensive strategy" which changes according to need, he said. Earlier Saturday, Iran announced the "successful test" of a new cruise missile with a range of over 1,350 kilometres (840 miles), coinciding with the anniversary of the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Defence Minister Amir Hatami said the Hoveizeh cruise missile had successfully hit its targets, calling it the "long arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran". Iran reined in most of its nuclear programme under a landmark 2015 deal with major powers, but has kept up development of its ballistic missile technology. Washington withdrew from the accord in May and reimposed sanctions against Iran, citing the missile programme among its reasons. European governments have stuck by the agreement, although some have demanded a new section to address Iran's ballistic missile programme and its intervention in regional conflicts including Yemen. Iran has voluntarily limited the range of its missiles to 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles), but that is still enough to hit its arch-enemy Israel and US bases in the Middle East. Washington and its allies have accused Tehran of pursuing enhanced missile capabilities that also threaten Europe. Tehran denies this, insisting its missile programme is "purely defensive." The weapon tested Saturday takes its name from a city in the southwestern province of Khuzestan that was devastated in the 1980-1988 war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Salami on Saturday warned world powers "not to seek (new) negotiations or make recommendations or requests on Iran's missile power". "Our enemies only understand the language of force," he said. "If you cannot talk to them in that language, they will use it to talk to you." The Third Estate Sunday Review focuses on politics and culture. We're an online magazine. We don't play nice and we don't kiss butt. In the words of Tuesday Weld: "I do not ever want to be a huge star. Do you think I want a success? I refused "Bonnie and Clyde" because I was nursing at the time but also because deep down I knew that it was going to be a huge success. The same was true of "Bob and Carol and Fred and Sue" or whatever it was called. It reeked of success." SUMMER SPECIAL!!! - Sign up at 20% OFF for Full Access to all of the online content and E-Editions on the www.thewordlink.com website here! (The charge will appear as "Country Media Inc." on your credit card statement) Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship. Smaller class sizes don't automatically translate into better student performance, but there's plenty of evidence to suggest that a healthy student-to-teacher ratio can help boost educational outcomes particularly for children at struggling schools. That's why it's so concerning that South Carolina hasn't enforced its statewide caps on classroom size since 2010. And even if state officials were to start cracking down again which they should it might not be enough. Under state law, schools must maintain a maximum average student-teacher ratio of 28-to-1 and most classes are capped at 30 or 35 students depending on the grade and subject matter. According to a recent report by The Post and Courier's Paul Bowers, at least 110 schools statewide had an average of more than 28 students per teacher in 2018. And even South Carolina's more manageable statewide median class size of 21 students is about 40 percent higher than the national average. Democrats rightly rejected the offer, but Trump's anti-immigrant "animus" also departs from recent Republican values. It was Ronald Reagan who signed a bipartisan bill in 1986 that legalized about 3.2 million undocumented immigrants. It was George Bush 41 who signed legislation in 1990 that created the TPS program. And it was George Bush 43 who extended the program several times and added protection for 150,000 Salvadorans after earthquakes devastated their country in 2001. An immigrant rights activist praised Bush for keeping his campaign promises "about treating immigrants from other countries fairly and respectfully." Today Trump is doing exactly the opposite, treating immigrants unfairly and disrespectfully, including those who have enjoyed protection under TPS. True, the program includes "temporary" in its name, but from a practical and moral perspective, many of these families have built lives as hardworking, tax-paying, law-abiding contributors to their communities and deserve to stay. Moreover, these undocumented adults have about 275,000 children who were born here and are American citizens, according to an estimate by the Center for Migration Studies. Judge Chen, who blocked the deportation of about 300,000 TPSers from four countries with his injunction last year, wrote: Do Democrats ever consider that the minority group most adversely affected by illegal immigration might just be Hispanic Americans? Not only are Hispanics unjustly stigmatized because most illegal immigrants share their ethnicity, but they also bear the greatest economic costs imposed by illegal immigrants. Since immigrants in general tend to have less education than the native-born population, Hispanic Americans especially the legal immigrants among them are more likely than black or white Americans to find themselves competing directly with illegal immigrants for low-skilled jobs. That competition not only deprives law-abiding Hispanics of job opportunities, it also puts downward pressure on wages for all workers in industries that employ large numbers of illegal immigrants. An analysis of Census Bureau jobs data by the Center for Immigration Studies, meanwhile, debunks the claim that illegal immigrants are doing jobs that Americans just wont do, showing that even in the occupations with the greatest number of illegal immigrant workers, native-born citizens and legal immigrants still constitute a majority of employees. According to CIS, citizens and other legal residents make up the majority of employees in every job category in the Census Bureau database. The Edisto chapter of the Young Farmers of America received the America's Farmers Grow Communities award for years 2017 and 2018. The honor is presented annually by Monsanto Fund to organizations in recognition of their contributions to their communities. Edisto chapter was nominated by Gloria Fanning in 2017 and Sam Fanning in 2018. Each award included $2,500, with the Edisto chapter planning to award the money to students graduating in Orangeburg County Consolidated School District 4 and majoring in agriculture. Private pesticide applicator training Private pesticide applicator license certification training will be held at the Tri-County Electric Cooperative office Wednesday, Feb. 13. The training will be held from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The electric cooperative is located at 9843 Old Number Six Highway in Matthews. State and federal laws require anyone who purchases or uses restricted-use pesticides to have at least a current private applicators license, or to be working under the supervision of someone who has such a license. Class materials will be prepared for each participant so preregistration is required by Feb 11. "Acreage got cut back substantially from last year to this year 20 percent plus; 2018 was the least amount of acres planted since 2014," Cotton said. "The reason we cut back on the acres planted is because: (1) the prices, (2) because the cotton prices are a little better than they have been in the past couple of years and (3) because we didnt have generic acres anymore. Generic acres made a big difference, and the loss of generic acres to peanuts this past year made a lot of difference to the number of acres that got planted. He said peanut yield figures for the past year are tentative since the crop is still being harvested and graded. "Even though Georgia had one of the worst storms, they are still going to have a great yield. Production was down approximately 26 percent, but that was mainly due to the lesser number of acres being planted," Cotton said. He said the supply level of peanuts exceeds demand, causing forfeitures. If were going to have forfeitures, we have to have some place to be able to send them, Cotton said. We do have federal and state money, but we do rely on the community and the county to keep us functioning so we can serve our mission. Theres going to have to be help from other sources. I cant get it all from one well. The big goal is to make sure that no ones waiting for services, she said. OCCOA Assistant Director Lynn Huffstetler said, We would love to be able to serve everybody on our waiting list, but a shortage of funding wont allow us to. Miller said, That hurts our whole team, to know that we have people waiting that want to be served, or need to be served. Our goal as a whole is to make sure that were doing everything on our part to keep that from happening. As far as me being able to go out into the community and get local community support, I feel thats where our growth opportunity is. I dont know if everybody knows what a jewel this place is and the great things that are happen here. I want to make sure that were giving back to Orangeburg and taking care of the seniors. She said she wants to spend time screaming from the mountaintops the valuable resource that the community has through hits local OCCOA. She said its Meals on Wheels program, for example, provides seniors with not only something to eat, but the social interaction that many may lack. BUCKNER More details have come to light in the disappearance and discovery of a Buckner man who was reported missing last month. Body of missing Buckner man located in Franklin County The body of 42-year-old Allen K. Woolard was located Saturday morning, Feb. 2, 2019, in a rural area of the Village of Buckner by members of t A Saturday news release from Franklin County Sheriff Dave Bartoni announced that the body of 42-year-old Alan Woolard had been found by a member of the Southern Illinois Search Team. Woolard was last seen alive around 11:30 a.m. Jan. 23, walking away from his residence in Buckner. Bartoni said he was found approximately 250 to 300 yards from where he last was seen he was found in a hole or pit behind a residence in town. Previous search efforts just werent looking in the right places, Bartoni said of earlier, failed attempts to find Woolard. Last week, a news release from Bartonis office said several drug arrests were made at a residential police stop related to Woolards disappearance. On Monday, Bartoni said that was not the residence where Woolard was later found. +5 Stop in Christopher connected to missing man leads to drug arrests BENTON Investigating the disappearance of Alan K. Woolard, Franklin County sheriff's deputies made several drug arrests on Thursday in Christopher. We were looking for associates to interview when the drug activity was observed, Bartoni said in a text message. An autopsy was scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday and Bartoni said, unless the coroner finds evidence of a physical wound on Woolards body, it could be weeks before a cause of death is determined. CARBONDALE The skies were gray and cloudy Saturday morning, but the faces inside a home at 507 N. Carico St. were sunny as the home was turned over to its new owners, Jasmine and Jaylen Quarterman, from Jackson-Union County Habitat for Humanity. The Quartermans and their children, Zhiyon, 3, Khylan, 2, and Zharia, eight months, moved into the three-bedroom home Saturday afternoon. They also have an 8-year-old, Nevaeh, who was not at the dedication. It means a lot to me and Jasmine to be so young and have the opportunity to build ourselves, not only financially, but also to make our relationship stronger, Jaylen Quarterman said. As part of the contract with Habitat for Humanity, the Quartermans had to put sweat equity into the home during its construction. They spent 300 hours working on the home. Jaylen explained that the couple has to put in 200 hours themselves, and 100 hours can be donated by family and friends. God bless Habitat for Humanity. I want to thank them for this opportunity, Jaylen Quarterman said. Jaylen Quarterman learned some new skills that will complement the ones he was taught by his grandfather who worked in construction. A place to exercise ideas before writing about them with greater discipline. A 20-year-old college student who stole cryptocurrency worth more than $5 million by hijacking victims' phone numbers has pleaded guilty and accepted a sentence of 10 years in prison.Ortiz was arrested last year on charges of siphoning millions of dollars in cryptocurrency from around 40 victims using a method commonly known as "," which typically involves fraudulently porting of the same number to a new SIM card belonging to the attacker.In SIM swapping, attackers social engineer a victim's mobile phone provider by making a phony call posing as their target and claiming that their SIM card has been lost and that they would like to request a SIM swap.The attackers attempt to convince the target's telecommunications company that they are the actual owner of the phone number they want to swap by providing required personal information on the target, like their SSNs and addresses, eventually tricking the telecoms to port the target's phone number over to a SIM card belonging to the attackers.Once successful, the attackers essentially gained access to their target's mobile phone number using which they can obtain one-time passwords, verification codes, and two-factor authentication in order to reset passwords for and gain access to target's social media, email, bank, and cryptocurrency accounts.SIM swapping has grown increasingly popular among cybercriminals over the past year and, a California man, is the first person to receive jail time for this crime, after pleading guilty to stealing more than $5 million in cryptocurrency from 40 victims, according to Motherboard Rather than facing trials and severe consequences imposed by the jury, Ortiz chose to accept a plea deal for 10 years last week, according to Deputy District Director Eric West of Santa Clara County, California.However, the official sentencing of Ortiz is set to take place on March 14th.There are more pending cases in court wherein defendants stole millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency using SIM swapping.One of the defendants named, accused of stealing the identities of and funds from more than 50 victims in the United States through SIM swapping has been indicted by Manhattan's District Attorney (DA).The 20-year-old Ohio man has been arrested and charged with identity theft, grand larceny, computer tampering and scheme to defraud, among other charges.Over the past year, federal authorities around the world have begun a crackdown on cryptocurrency related crime. A year ago, feds arrested a group of nuclear engineers in Russia after they were caught using supercomputers to mine Bitcoin. By Delana Isles THE SECOND highest vote getter in the 2016 general elections and former Government minister has thrown her lot in with the Opposition PNP party in hopes of making a tangible difference. Announcement of the switch from independent member of the House of Assembly to PNP party member came on Monday (January 28) during a meeting of the Assembly in Grand Turk. In March 2018, Connolly officially announced her exit from the PDM party after a disagreement with the Government saw her being stripped of her ministerial post at the education ministry. Shortly after she officially crossed the floor as an independent member, one who was not aligned to the Government. On Monday, when she announced her new membership to the PNP, she disclosed that she had hoped to make a difference as an independent candidate, but in the ensuing months this hope proved difficult to achieve. "I hoped as an independent member I could speak freely and keep the elected Government to their election promises. "But it has become obvious to me that it is difficult, if not impossible, for an independent member to significantly influence Government for the betterment of the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands. "In fact, as an independent member I seemed to have attracted more than my fair share of criticism. The member said that a recently orchestrated social media campaign against her, was meant to discourage her, spread strife and disharmony, but she will not let it affect her. "... I would just like to thank the many people of the Turks and Caicos Islands who have contacted me to say do not be discouraged, your support is incredibly heartening. She stated that the campaign against her says more about the authors, but she will rise above it, taking heed of former US first lady Michelle Obamas mantra (paraphrased): "When the internet trolls go low, I go high. Connolly said she no longer believes she can help the people as an independent member of the House of Assembly. "The profusion of bad news from last week, the riots in the jail, the continued incursion onto our shores by illegal migrants and the announcement that the biggest employer on the island is closing down, tells me that our people desperately need help. "And, let me repeat, that was just last weeks bad news. She said that to help the people, she needs "to surround myself with a team of individuals who respect each others strengths and do not fall into the trap of the personality cult and most importantly focus on the needs of the people of this country, not the latest Facebook post. Adding: "I have decided therefore to join the official Opposition. I will now take my rightful place in this honorable House. PNP welcomes Connolly Shortly after Connollys announcement in the House, the leadership of the PNP came out in support of her, welcoming the partys newest member. In a Facebook post, Opposition leader, Charles Washington Misick stated: "Today the Progressive National Party (PNP) is pleased to welcome Honourable Josephine Connolly with open arms as its newest member on the Opposition benches. "Hon. Connolly is a community activist, a very savvy entrepreneur and a consummate representative of the people. "Her dedication has won her the second highest vote getter in the 2016 election. She is a hard worker and we look forward to using the energy and skills she brings to the party to help the party win the next election and move the country to the next level. The move by Connolly comes at a time when the PNP is poised to elect one of its members to serve as leader of the party and next candidate for premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands in the 2020 elections. The PNP election is expected to take place sometime in February, at which time new executive members will also be elected. $0.25 Uranium Stock Surging as US Cheers $1.5B Uranium Reserve (Ad) Uranium prices are on a tear as Americas new $1.5 Billion National Uranium Reserve supplants China and Russia with US supply. Heres a little-known company that has quietly amassed over 45 million pounds of high-grade uranium resources all on US soil and trading below US$0.25 per share. Get the details here... American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved. 326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at [email protected] | (844) 978-6257 MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security. Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research. POLICE have confirmed that the bodies of a man and a woman were recently fished out of waters on Providenciales. Reports to this publication on January 21, suggested that the man and woman are nationals of Haiti, but this week, police said they are unable to categorically state that this is the case. The confirmation of the recovery of the dead bodies came on Thursday (January 31) from the police press office. It reported that about 9.50am on January 21, 911 received a report that the bodies of a male and female were seen floating in water near Silly Creek Drive in the Chalk Sound area. Police said the identities of the dead are unknown, as is the cause of death. The bodies have since been taken to the Government morgue to determine the exact cause of death, which up to press there was no indication. (Delana Isles) 10 hours ago | June 21st | 2021 8:00 AM Why You Might Have to Retire Later Due to COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic in general increased retirement uncertainty. In fact, Lincoln Financial Group reported three different sentiments regarding the pandemic and specific age groups: Pre-retirees: The age group from 55 to 64 saw the biggest drop of retirement-ready confidence. Mid-career: Individuals between the ages of 35 and 54 saw a Ad Resource Stock Digest Heres the Safest Way to Get Insanely Rich in the 2021 Gold Bull Market Gold is screaming higher and smart investors are already cashing in on the #1 Gold Pick of 2021. Yet, you havent missed the boat. See how this newly-listed US$5 gold stock offers investors historic gains without mining a single ounce of the metal. The Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce combined two of its annual events The Chamber Experience and Business and Bites to bring the business community together for fun, networking and fundraising for the chamber. It was the chambers first large-scale in-person event since early South Hills (15301) Today Thunderstorms, some with heavy rain this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 56F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms, some with heavy rain this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 56F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Researchers have released a repository of more than 350,000 detailed chest X-rays, which is free and open to academic, clinical, and industrial investigators. Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer vision, or the method of giving machines the ability to process images in an advanced way, has been given increased attention by researchers in the last several years. It is a broad term meant to encompass all the means through which images can be used to achieve medical aims. Applications range from automatically scanning photos taken on mobile phones to creating 3-D renderings that aid in patient evaluations on to developing algorithmic models for emergency room use in underserved areas. As access to a greater number of images is apt to provide researchers with a volume of data ideal for developing better and more robust algorithms, a collection of visuals that have been enhanced, or scrubbed of patients' identifying details and then highlighted in critical areas, can have massive potential for researchers and radiologists who rely on photographic data in their work. Last week, the MIT Laboratory for Computational Physiology, a part of the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) led by Professor Roger Mark, launched a preview of their MIMIC-Chest X-Ray Database (MIMIC-CXR), a repository of more than 350,000 detailed chest X-rays gathered over five years from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. The project, like the lab's previous MIMIC-III, which houses critical care patient data from over 40,000 intensive care unit stays, is free and open to academic, clinical, and industrial investigators via the research resource PhysioNet. It represents the largest selection of publicly available chest radiographs to date. With access to the MIMIC-CXR, funded by Philips Research, registered users and their cohorts can more easily develop algorithms for fourteen of the most common findings from a chest X-ray, including pneumonia, cardiomegaly (enlarged heart), edema (excess fluid), and a punctured lung. By way of linking visual markers to specific diagnoses, machines can readily help clinicians draw more accurate conclusions faster and thus, handle more cases in a shorter amount of time. These algorithms could prove especially beneficial for doctors working in underfunded and understaffed hospitals. "Rural areas typically have no radiologists," says Research Scientist Alistair E. W. Johnson, co-developer of the database along with Tom J. Pollard, Nathaniel R. Greenbaum, and Matthew P. Lungren; Seth J. Berkowitz, director of radiology informatics innovation; Chih-ying Deng of Harvard Medical School; and Steven Horng, associate director of emergency medicine informatics at Beth Israel. "If you have a room full of ill patients and no time to consult an expert radiologist, that's somewhere where a model can help." In the future, the lab hopes to link the X-ray archive to the MIMIC-III, thus forming a database that includes both patient ICU data and images. There are currently over 9,000 registered MIMIC-III users accessing critical care data, and the MIMIC-CXR would be a boon for those in critical care medicine looking to supplement clinical data with images. Another asset of the database lies in its timing. Researchers at the Stanford Machine Learning Group and the Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging released a similar dataset in January, collected over 15 years at Stanford Hospital. The MIT Laboratory for Computational Physiology and Stanford University groups collaborated to ensure that both datasets released could be used with minimal legwork for the interested researcher. "With single center studies, you're never sure if what you've found is true of everyone, or a consequence of the type of patients the hospital sees, or the way it gives its care," Johnson says. "That's why multicenter trials are so powerful. By working with Stanford, we've essentially empowered researchers around the world to run their own multicenter trials without having to spend the millions of dollars that typically costs." As with MIMIC-III, researchers will be able to gain access to MIMIC-CXR by first completing a training course on managing human subjects and then agreeing to cite the dataset in their published work. "The next step is free text reports," says Johnson. "We're moving more towards having a complete history. When a radiologist is looking at a chest X-ray, they know who the person is and why they're there. If we want to make radiologists' lives easier, the models need to know who the person is, too." Explore further Algorithm better at diagnosing pneumonia than radiologists More information: Alistair E. W. Johnson et al. MIMIC-CXR: A large publicly available database of labeled chest radiographs. arXiv:1901.07042 [cs.CV]. Alistair E. W. Johnson et al. MIMIC-CXR: A large publicly available database of labeled chest radiographs. arXiv:1901.07042 [cs.CV]. arxiv.org/abs/1901.07042 This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching. The system assembly process flow is shown. Interconnect layers and copper pillars are made by processing the bare silicon wafer. Bare dies are then bonded on the wafer using TCB. Credit: Architecting Waferscale Processors - A GPU Case Study, HPCA 19. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of California, Los Angeles, are behind the recent development for a wafer-scale computer that aims to be faster, more energy efficient, than contemporary counterparts. Engineers aim to use something called "silicon interconnect fabric" to build a computer with 40 GPUs on a single silicon wafer. TechSpot and other sites reported on their work and their paper, to be presented this month. Some background on Si-IF: "Over the past two decades, silicon chips have decreased in size by 1000x, while packages on circuit boards have only shrunk by 4x," said UCLA Technology Development Group. A solution is "silicon interconnect fabric (Si-IF)." Samuel Moore at IEEE Spectrum has a much quoted article on the topic where he noted results: "Simulations of this multiprocessor monster sped calculations nearly 19-fold and cut the combination of energy consumption and signal delay more than 140-fold." Namely, the research effort is among members of the department of electrical and computer engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, and department of electrical and computer engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Their paper is titled "Architecting Waferscale ProcessorsA GPU Case Study." lllinois computer engineering associate professor Rakesh Kumar and his colleagues already started work to build a prototype waferscale prototype processor system. The group will explore it further for insights as to any problems that may arise. They believed the time was ripe to revisit waferscale architectures. Mark Tyson in Hexus: "Engineers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and at University of California Los Angeles think it is time to have another attempt at creating a wafer-scale computer." The accent can be put on the word revisit. The team wrote in their paper, "Unsurprisingly, waferscale processors were studied heavily in the 80s. There were also several commercial attempts at building waferscale processors. Unfortunately, in spite of the promise, such processors could not find success in the mainstream due to yield concerns." They said "the larger the size of the processor, the lower the yieldyield at waferscale in those days was debilitating. We argue that considerable advances in manufacturing and packaging technology have been made since then and that it may be time to revisit the feasibility of waferscale processors." Illinois computer engineering associate professor Rakesh Kumar and his collaborators are set to make the case for a waferscale computer consisting of as many as 40 GPUs. The best headline to remind us why this is interesting can be found at IEEE Spectrum. "What's better than 40 GPU-based servers? A server with 40 GPUs." What's special: They have standard GPU chips that passed quality testingthey are creating a technology they call silicon interconnect fabric (SiIF) to better connect them. Shawn Knight in TechSpot wrote about this. "With such tight integration," said Knight, "from the perspective of the programmer, it would look like one giant GPU rather than 40 individual GPUs." SiIF replaces the circuit board with silicon; there is no need for a chip package, said Moore. He reported that in one design they were able to squeeze in 41 GPUs. "They tested a simulation of this design and found it sped both computation and the movement of data while consuming less energy than 40 standard GPU servers would have." Tyson wrote that "as many HEXUS readers will know, usually supercomputers spread applications over hundreds of GPUs on separate PCBs, communicating over long-haul links. Such links are slow and energy inefficient compared to interconnects within the chip architecture." He noted that Kumar spoke of getting data from one GPU to another as creating an incredible amount of overhead. IEEE Spectrum's Moore explained their work in more detail. "The SiIF wafer is patterned with one or more layers of 2-micrometer-wide copper interconnects spaced as little as 4 micrometers apart. That's comparable to the top level of interconnects on a chip. In the spots where the GPUs are meant to plug in, the silicon wafer is patterned with short copper pillars spaced about 5 micrometers apart. The GPU is aligned above these, pressed down, and heated. This well-established process, called thermal compression bonding, causes the copper pillars to fuse to the GPU's copper interconnects. " Their work drew favorable comments. Tyson called it a brave but possibly timely move for the industry. What's next? The team will present their findings at the IEEE International Symposium on High-Performance Computer Architecture. The event is from Feb 16 to 20 in Washington DC. Explore further Engineers boost computer processor performance by over 20 percent More information: Architecting Waferscale Processors - A GPU Case Study, Architecting Waferscale Processors - A GPU Case Study, passat.crhc.illinois.edu/hpca19_cam.pdf 2019 Science X Network Last I heard, Energizer is a battery company with a few interesting gadgets on the side. Little did I know the company is planning on bringing their own smartphones with a whopping 18000mAh battery, foldable display and pop up camera to MWC 2019. As cool as that sounds, those three will be different phone variants (aww!). Energizer will be introducing 4 smartphone lines, which are Power Max, Ultimate, Energy and Hardcase. The company tweeted out of those 4 lines, there will be 26 different variants of the smartphone. If youre interested in large battery capacities, the 18000mAh line is for you, which is currently the largest battery capacity on the market thus far. Like the idea of a larger screen to body ratio with pop up cameras and waterdrop displays? Well, the Ultimate line is for you then. #Energizer Mobile to reveal 26 new phones at the Mobile World Congress, including a foldable #smartphone and an 18,000 mAh-battery-smartphone Find out what they will be: https://t.co/YeZl1OODgU pic.twitter.com/5Wmhd0nufr Energizer Mobile (@energizermobile) January 25, 2019 Some details of the devices have been revealed, namely, their flagship series. Energizer Ultimate U620S Pop and Energizer Ultimate U630S Pop variants may be powered by MediaTek Helio P70 and P22 SoCs and may feature a dual selfie camera housed in the pop up mechanism with a 16MP main camera as well as a 2MP depth sensor. The U620S may sport a triple rear camera setup with 16MP, 5MP and 2MP sensors with tech specs of 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. Meanwhile, the U630S may sport 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. So far, no Malaysia release date or Malaysia pricing has been revealed but we do know that the U620S will be launched in July and the U630S in June. So far, from images, the smartphones with the pop up camera on top does look like a fat battery which is pretty appropriate, given the companys reputation. Honestly, I cant imagine what the phones would look like, especially the foldable ones and my guess is that the phones would be pretty thick and heavy to house the 18000mAh battery capacity. What do you think? For more interesting smartphone news, TechNave.com is the place to look out for! The Wineberg family, who own the 140-foot Lelooksa totem pole that used to tower over the Kalama Marine Park, is considering an agreement to donate it to the Port of Kalama. Port Economic Development Manager Eric Yakovich said the agreement is in the hands of the family members, and a long-term plan for the pole is moving forward slowly. The pole stood in Marine Park for 44 years but was taken down in September because of safety concerns. The totem is still at the park, laying behind the ports new amphitheater. The port hopes to preserve or restore the decayed landmark but does not have total control over its fate. The port leases the poles from the Wineberg family for $1 per year. The port has been working with the family on a plan for the pole since before it was taken down. The totem was carved by Chief Don Lelooska at his Kalama shop in the early 1960s. It was commissioned by William Wineberg for display at the Worlds Fair but was not completed. It lay on the ground for 12 years before a local effort began to finish the job and erect the pole at the Marine Park. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 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. The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act hopes to put pressure on the regime and hold those who have committed crimes to account writes Pro Justice. For the third time this year, the US House of Representatives has passed the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act and referred it to the US Senate for discussion and approval. If approved, it will be submitted to the US President to sign and become a law. For a bill to become a law in the US, it requires a majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, following amendments. If a bill receives a majority in both houses, then it is sent to the President for signing. For Caesars law, the bill was approved by more than 300 members of the House of Representatives from various committees and from both parties, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and also secured approval from the White House, the State Department and the Treasury Department. Caesars Law represents a two year joint effort by the Syrian-American community, which hopes to hold the Syrian regime accountable for the crimes it has committed against the Syrian people. The bill states clearly and specifically the internal Syrian situation such as detainees, transitional justice and political transition, while also highlighting the need to add economic pressure on the regime, its supporters and the central bank, which prevent any contact with international financial institutions. Anyone who assists the regime directly (militarily) or indirectly (through the portfolio of reconstruction) will be sanctioned. Finally, the bill requires the US administration to submit periodic reports on the implementation of this law. If passed, the law will be an additional tool for the US administration to put pressure on Russia to advance the issue of the Constitutional Committee and prevent Russia and the countries that reestablish relations with the regime from making direct or indirect financial investments that support the regime. Additionally, the law will be a clear opposition to the Iranian occupation of Syria, as it links a large part of lifting these sanctions with Irans withdrawal from Syria. Increased pressure is expected on United Nations relief agencies to carry out humanitarian projects away from regime intervention or control. Caesars Law is certainly a step forward in the right direction, and will help to besiege the Assad regime, which has so far destroyed a homeland, killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians, arrested and tortured many other thousands, displaced millions, changed demographic structures, destroyed infrastructure and promoted a culture of violence, hatred and societal division. It is a step on the right track, but it is not what the Syrians aspire to. The Syrians (at least most of them) aspire to remove a regime of oppression and tyranny and take Syria towards a civil-democratic state, based on the rule of law and individual, cultural and religious freedoms. They aspire to justice by holding senior perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity accountable and ensuring that they do not receive impunity. Syrians want to get rid of the rule of the corrupt Assad family and hold them responsible for the crimes committed. They also want to liberate Syria from military occupations in all its forms, especially the Russian and Iranian occupation of Syria. The Syrians want to see those who killed their sons and loved ones face the consequences for their acts. Caesars Law does not achieve everything, and it should not be portrayed as a victory for justice in Syria. It is a good step on the right path, but the Syrian people must hold on to this and develop it until the day comes when they can see justice and their oppressors are judged and condemned. 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. The United State have claimed that their forces acted in self defence when they fired on regime forces on the western banks of the Euphrates reports Asharq al-Awsat. Syrian state media, citing a military source, said US-led coalition jets hit a Syrian army position near the battle front against an ISIS pocket late on Saturday, causing damage and injuries. The spokesman for the US-led coalition Col. Sean Ryan said their partner forces acted in self-defense after coming under fire from the western side of the Euphrates River. The unnamed Syrian military official told state news agency SANA that the coalitions attack took place late Saturday on regime positions in Sukkariyah, west of Boukamal town. It was followed by a foiled incursion by ISIS militants, he added. But Ryan said in an email to Reuters: Our partner forces were fired upon and exercised their inherent right to self defense. The coalition is backing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a collection of Syrian forces spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG. ISIS now holds only a couple of villages in Syria, having lost almost all its territory in 2017 to two rival offensives, one by the SDF, and one by the Syrian army and allied militia backed by Russia. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Turkey has announced that the constitutional committee will feature players from the regime, the opposition and civil society and will bring together the Geneva, Astana and Sochi processes reports Horriya Press. On Sunday, Turkey said that it was trying to establish a committee to draft a new constitution for Syria in cooperation with countries concerned with the Syria issue. This was announced by Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, during a meeting in the Beyoglu area in Istanbul, according to the Anadolu agency. The agency quoted him as saying that his countrys efforts focused on, establishing a committee to draft a new constitution for Syria and to revive the Geneva process in parallel with the Astana and Sochi tracks, adding that the coming days will see the establishment of this committee. He said that the constitutional draft committee, which they are trying to establish, will include representatives of the opposition and the Assad regime, as well as civil society. Cavusoglu said that his country was trying to coordinate with the United States regarding what Turkey will do in northern Syria after the American withdrawal, according to the agency. He added, The talk now is about how to administer the American withdrawal process and achieve lasting stability in Syria by coordinating with neighboring and concerned countries, including Russia and Iran. These efforts come alongside other efforts for a ceasefire in Idleb through an agreement between Ankara and Moscow. 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. Arab foreign ministers discussed the potential return of Syria to the Arab League, but was unable to make progress on the issue reports Al-Watan. The former Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister, Mamdouh al-Abadi, said that the recent meeting of Arab foreign ministers held by the Dead Sea, to discuss the potential return of Syria to the Arab League had not been successful due to divisions he did not specify. Abadi said, in statements carried by the Russian Sputnik agency, I think that the meeting was not successful and that there are divisions. I am sure there were differences and that they did not agree, but what exactly these were, Im trying to determine. Abadi said, My judgement is that they were not able to convince the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with regards to the Syria issue. I think the Egyptians are in favor of returning Syria to the Arab League, as are the Emiratis. He said that his comments were analysis by him and not fact, saying, Saudi is still holding their position, and so there was no agreement for anything in common. After the meeting, which included foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan at the Dead Sea on Thursday, the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, announced to journalists that the meeting was consultative and that it was not limited to the Thursday session but had been preceded by a nearly six-hour session on Wednesday. He said that the meeting was an open consultation without an agenda, and was held to discuss how to work to achieve common Arab interests. He described it as fruitful and positive, and did not announce any specific results and did not take questions from journalists. According to Sputnik, before the meeting a source said that the most prominent issue that would be discussed was the return of Syria to the Arab League. The source said, This issue will be discussed first, followed by discussions about other issues affecting the region, but I believe that Syria is the most important point that will be worked on. The Emirates reopened their embassy in Syria at the end of last year, and although Jordan has raised its level of diplomatic representation in Syria in recent days, and the Arab Summit in Tunisia is approaching, no Arab steps have been announced regarding Syria after the ministerial meeting. 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. A US court ruling against Syria, eleven dead after a building collapse, a humanitarian disaster brewing in eastern Syria and student protests in Idleb. Catch up on everything that happened over the weekend. 1. A US federal court in Washington, D.C., found the Syrian government culpable for the 2012 killing of Marie Colvin, a correspondent for the British newspaper, The Sunday Times, and ordered the government to pay 302.5 million dollars to her family, AFP has reported. The court said that the Syrian government, discovered that foreign journalists were broadcasting reports from a media center in Baba Amr and, launched an artillery attack to kill the journalists inside. Colvin was killed alongside French photojournalist Remi Ochlik in Homs, in 2012. Evidence unsealed during the lawsuit found that Syrian military officials responsible for the killing were rewarded with new cars and promotions. Marie Colvins sister, Cathleen Colvin, and other relatives filed the lawsuit with the Center for Justice and Accountability. 2. Four children were among the 11 people killed when a war-damaged block of flats collapsed in Aleppo on Saturday, state media said. One child was pulled alive from the rubble of the five-storey block after rescue teams toiled, many of them with their bare hands, to remove the shattered breeze blocks that had buried him, AFP reported. He was the sole survivor of the collapse in the formerly rebel-held neighborhood of Salaheddin, the official SANA news agency reported. Saleheddin was heavily bombed before the army overran the rebel district with Russian support in late 2016. 3. On Friday, the United Nations called for unhindered humanitarian access to people fleeing the last Islamic State (ISIS) pocket in eastern Syria. More than 10,000 people have fled from the conflict zone to al-Hol, where the main camp for people displaced by the fighting against ISIS is located. Anadolu News Agency quoted a spokesman for UNHCR as saying that, humanitarian actors have collectively requested forces in control of the area to designate a transit site to al-Hol, where life-saving assistance can be provided. So far the request remains unanswered. 4. Students of the International Salvation University in Maaret al-Numan, Idleb, renewed their protests against the decision of the National Salvation Government (NSG), affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, to close the university because it is not registered with the NSG. On Saturday, student Mohammad Khalaf told Smart News that they have been demonstrating for nine days in a row and will continue to carry out protests and sit-ins until the Higher Education Council of the Salvation Government retreats from the decision. On the fourth day of demonstrations, about 300 students participated in the demonstration. They marched through the streets of the city and stood in front of the university building. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. For fear of conscription, men in Aleppo are avoiding leaving their homes, while some are paying large sums as bribes to avoid military service writes Alsouria Net. Aleppo city and its suburbs have witnessed an increase in the number of regime and militia security checkpoints over the last few days. In parallel with the rise in the number of checkpoints, the number of arrests of people wanted for reserve service has also risen, paralyzing movement in the city. Syrian men between the ages of 18 and 42 have become afraid to move after regime forces started using their flying checkpoints to arrest Syrians whose names appear on the enormous lists of those wanted to perform reserve service in the regime army. The matter is not limited to those who are wanted for service, but also includes those who are wanted for compulsory service. Additionally, university students who do not have a study delay are being arrested. Alsouria Net has learned from local sources that those students have been sent to the Hananou barracks in central Aleppo, before being transferred to military sectors. Military police have stepped up their patrols in the Old City market, the Bab al-Faraj square, al-Hadika al-Amma (the public park), al-Abbara, and Baron Street, which are the areas usually filled with young men going to cafes, cinemas, and the restaurants serving cheap food. Assads forces in these areas have arrested hundreds of men, some of whom are over 40. The area has witnessed hunts for young men who are trying to escape the military police, which have shocked families. Nearly Empty Streets The security measures and the heavy proliferation of checkpoints, as well as the patrols touring the districts and markets have paralyzed the city almost entirely. The streets have become empty to a large extent of men between the ages of 18 and 42. Women, children and the elderly are mostly present. Young men are also absent from the bread lines at the bakeries of al-Menshiyeh, New Aleppo, al-Hamdaniyeh, and other major bakeries. Men targeted by the campaign are also absent from gas lines. High Cost of Flight Faced with the broad arrest campaign, young men in Aleppo have gathered in front of the conscription directorate and in the student affairs department at Aleppo University to obtain educational deferrals. Some students have stayed three consecutive days in front of the student affairs department to obtain approval, because they cannot return to their homes due to the risk of walking in the street and being caught and arrested by the patrols. Local sources in Aleppo, who asked not to be named, told Alsouria Net that, a number of young men who have been arrested over the last 48 hours at security and militia checkpoints have been released after paying large bribes to the checkpoint officers. Bribes can be as high as 1,000 dollars in some districts. One source said, The patrols and checkpoints intentionally intensified their campaign and their pursuit of young men in the western districts of Aleppo, whose residents are considered to be from affluent economic classes, in order to blackmail their children and to force them to pay money in exchange for being released. The sources also said that a large number of young men in Aleppo had been able to flee from regime-controlled areas with the assistance of officers in the militias and security branches, and through brokers they have been able to reach areas under the control of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) in Manbij. Some young men have also entered opposition-controlled areas in the northeastern Aleppo countryside and in the Euphrates Shield area after they paid money to secure protection and to give them housing, while a smuggler guarantees their entry into Turkey. The total price for each person who wants to flee reserve and compulsory service in the Assad army can cost more than 3,000 dollarsthat is, about a million and a half Syrian pounds. This is an amount that only rich families in Aleppo can afford to pay. The sources said that the majority of this money goes to the regime militia officers and security branches and brokers, and what remains is paid in two stages to the smugglers operating in the YPG and the smugglers working in the rebel groups in the Aleppo countryside. The prospect of being sent to reserve and compulsory service in Assads forces has sown worry and terror among Aleppos residents, and has affected industrial production and commercial sectors. The markets have also seen a decline of buying and selling and some industrial workshops have closed because of the absence of workers. 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. (WB) The mayor of a Mexican border city that has provided assistance to LGBTI migrants says President Trumps continued demands for a border wall is a political tactic. Jesus Antonio Pujol Irastorza told the Washington Blade on Jan. 23 during an interview at his office less than a mile south of the Nogales port of entry that his administration is prepared for issues of violence, referring to one of Trumps justifications for a border wall. It is a tactic to go to certain people who want to build this wallto say, look Congress, look Senate, we need to build this wall because groups of 5,000, 10,000 people who want to stay in the country are coming, added Pujol. Official statistics indicate 233,000 people live in Nogales, which is in Mexicos Sonora state. The city borders Nogales, Ariz. Daniel Hernandez, one of four openly gay members of the Arizona Legislature, represents Nogales, Ariz., in the Arizona House of Representatives. The two cities are collectively known as Ambos Nogales or Both Nogales. It is practically one city divided by the border, said Pujol. Many have relatives, friends who live there, and many people live there and then come to work here. Pujol, who is a member of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors leftist National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party, was elected on July 1, 2018. A group of roughly 45 LGBTI migrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico arrived in Nogales last November from Tijuana. Pujols administration provided them with food, clothing, blankets and rooms in two hotels near the border and access to one of the four migrant shelters in the city. We received them like any other migrant, like any other person who comes, seeks help, Pujol told the Blade. We received them, we took care of them. Pujol said many of the migrants with whom he spoke said they had relatives or friends in the U.S. He told the Blade some of them said they had suffered racism and other discrimination in their home countries or states, but he added most of them migrated because of a lack of economic opportunities. They are looking for better opportunity, said Pujol. [It is] practically the same reason for any migrant who wants to go to the U.S. A group of 16 transgender and gay migrants from Central America asked for asylum in the U.S. at the Nogales port of entry in August 2017. LGBTI Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans were among the thousands of migrants who arrived in Tijuana last November with hopes of seeking asylum in the U.S. U.S. Army troops who were deployed around Nogales installed concertina wire with razors on top of the border fence in anticipation of the migrants arrival. Shipping containers temporarily blocked two of the six vehicle lanes on the U.S. side of the Nogales port of entry. Pujol spoke with the Blade two days before the Trump administration announced it will begin its controversial pilot remain in Mexico program that will force some migrants who ask for asylum at the San Ysidro port of entry south of San Diego to remain in Mexico as they await the outcome of their cases. The first asylum seeker who was sent back to Mexico under the program arrived in Tijuana on Tuesday. The partial federal government shutdown over Trumps demands for border wall funding ended on Jan. 25. The Mexico-U.S. border from Nogales, Mexico, on Jan. 23, 2019 (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers Pujol acknowledged some Nogales residents have criticized the president of the United States for his comments that he makes against migrants and Mexicans. Pujol also told the Blade the Trump administrations decision to deploy troops and install razor wire along the border fence is a tactic of intimidation. We here on the border are already used to Border Patrol, to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers on the border, he said, noting Mexicans who want to enter the U.S. sometimes have to wait hours at the Nogales port of entry. Pujol told the Blade his city is also used to receiving migrants, but not in the large numbers that have arrived in Tijuana over the last year. Pujol added Trumps policies have not deterred them from traveling to the border. They are not afraid of what has been happening with the wall, with the new barbed wire, said Pujol. Nogales, Mexico, Mayor Jesus Antonio Pujol Irastorza stands near the Mexico-U.S. border. His city last November provided assistance to a group of LGBTI migrants who arrived in his city. (Photo courtesy of Enrique Morales) A blog published by Susan Eisen that has columns on all the latest jewelry fashions, news, and store information. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Larks Crown, who led all older trotters in wins in 1990 and later embarked on a second career as a teaser stallion at Hanover Shoe Farms, passed away on Monday (Feb. 4), owner Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky said. He was 34. A son of Mighty Crown out of Larks Peacock, Larks Crown was born in Ohio, where he enjoyed success on the states fair circuit at ages two and three. He shipped east to compete at Yonkers and Roosevelt raceways and earned fans in New York with his gritty performances in the claiming ranks. In 1990, Larks Crown won 20 of 36 races. His victory total was surpassed by only one trotter that season, three-year-old filly Marilus Lady with 26. For his career, Larks Crown won 64 of 190 starts and earned $229,206. The horse was featured in the book Standardbred Old Friends, which detailed his career and Jablonskys history with the trotter. Jablonsky and her family owned Larks Crown, known affectionately as Larkie, during his ascent in New York, but eventually saw the trotter claimed away. Jablonsky, who was in veterinary school during the latter part of Larks Crowns career, kept tabs on the horse on the racetrack as well as following his retirement. She regained ownership of the horse in 2005 and moved him to Hanover Shoe Farms, where he was loved by all who worked there. He found a role as a teaser stallion and enjoyed watching over the mares and their foals, said Jablonsky, who is now the executive vice president/syndicate manager at Hanover Shoe Farms. Larks Crown will be buried at the farm. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Larks Crown. (USTA) When Kerin Warner got a degree in history from Rutgers some two decades ago, he already knew his future was with racehorses and not students in a classroom. The education he gained during the ensuing years, though, has now led the 45-year-old Warner to the role of teacher. Warner is the new instructional support associate for the Standardbred program at SUNY Morrisville. The program emphasizes hands-on participation in the breaking, care, training, conditioning and racing of Standardbreds through requisite courses such as equine anatomy and physiology, stable management, breeding management, nutrition and training. Students receive an associate in applied science degree in equine racing management. I saw it as a great opportunity, said Warner, who shut down his stable in northern New Jersey to take the position at Morrisville, which is located 30 miles southeast of Syracuse. Im just going to take it and run with it. Im going to try to make it big. Warner, who grew up near Freehold, followed his father, trainer/driver Warren Gabettie, into harness racing. Warner considered going to veterinary school, but ended up helping with his fathers stable after Gabettie became ill while Warner was at Texas A&M. Warner got a degree from Rutgers, but the horses would be his career. I never wanted to be a history teacher; I just finished up a degree, Warner said. I knew I was going to be in the horse business when I figured out I wasnt going to be a veterinarian. I thought this was a cool opportunity. Its a great college. Its a big program, a big school. I grew up in this business. My father was a trainer, my uncle Bobby was a trainer. I think I owe it to give back. Im trying the best I can right now. Kerin Warner (Photos courtesy Kerin Warner) Prior to joining Morrisville, Warner focused on breaking yearlings for other owners and trainers in addition to training a small stable, most notably the Munn horses of breeder/owner George Munniksma. Warner has won 350 races as a trainer and 24 as a driver. Morrisvilles equine centre features the nations only half-mile harness racing track on a college campus, as well as rehabilitation, breeding, and training centres. Students work with assigned horses and, upon successful completion of the U.S. Trotting Associations driver/trainer test and other mandated requirements, can race those horses on the New York county fair circuit or amateur events at local pari-mutuel tracks. The school also offers a Bachelor of Technology degree in equine science for students interested in continuing their studies. They have state of the art facilities, Warner said. Its a good opportunity for the kids; they learn a lot. I fell in love with the place the minute I was there. For additional information about the program, contact Warner at [email protected]. (USTA) We're looking for twenty people who are changing the world of coffee. And we need your help. Welcome to The Sprudge Twentypresented by Pacific Foods Barista Series. The Sprudge Twenty is a new annual initiative honoring and amplifying leaders in the specialty coffee community. We believe that the future of coffee is being written right now, by the people who work in the coffee every day. The strength of this community is in its membership: the mentors and leaders as well as the young strivers and future game-changers. Baristas and farmers, traders and teachers, entrepreneurs and original voicesour hope is that by identifying those exemplifying what's special about coffee, we will be able to uplift and center their stories to the entire world. But Sprudge and Pacific can't do it alonewe need you, our readers, to tip us off to the individuals who best exemplify what makes coffee special in 2019. This is an open call to our global network of readers and partners: nominate people in your business or community who exemplify excellence, leadership, and the future of coffee. Mentors can nominate their young students; owners can nominate a member of their core staff; or cafe patrons/coffee lovers of all kinds can nominate their favorite baristas or roasters. Nominations can be submitted in any language, in the form of an original essay, audio nomination, or video recording, so that there is no barrier to submission. Entry is 100% free for all thanks to the support of Pacific Foods Barista Series. Winners will receive a series of spotlight features highlighting their stories and causes on Sprudge, as well as mentorship opportunities from Pacific Foods Barista Series, and much more to be announced in the weeks and months to come. Nominations are now open through March 4th, 2019. To nominate someone in your community for The Sprudge Twenty, simply fill out this form below, and visit sprudge.com/twenty for updates in the weeks to come. How does fresh meat get to the butcher's shop in Slovakia? You cannot determine if meat is fresh just by looking at it in the store. At first, the Poles stated the meat from a precarious slaughterhouse was not exported abroad. This turned out to be false, however. It is now obvious that restaurant goers, as well as children eating in school canteens, have consumed the spoiled Polish meat in Slovakia. Slovakia's State Veterinary and Food Administration (SVPS) has listed on its website about nine Slovak stores and storage areas to which the spoiled meat was delivered. Butcher Michal Polunc from Oravsky Podzamok, northern Slovakia, recently told the Sme daily how the meat trade works. He has been involved in the meat industry for 33 years, starting in a slaughterhouse. He opened his own butcher's shop and cutting facility 11 years ago. A man who just looks at meat in a store will not be able to figure out whether the meat is, in fact, good; he must smell it, Polunc claims. He adds that only animals walking on their own can be sent to a slaughterhouse. How does meat get to the butcher's shop? I order meat from my supplier. Only meat from slaughterhouses can end up in stores, because a veterinarian checks it there. They mark it with an oval stamp, which means the meat is safe. Then, it can go on sale. 4. Feb 2019 at 10:54 | Daniela Hajcakova Slovak actor to star in HBO Europe's Czech mini-series Tana Pauhofova will join the six-part spy drama The Sleepers. Its premiere is set for the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. Prague 1989. Communism is in shreds. Violinist Marie, the daughter of a dissident, and her politically active husband Viktor return home from London after spending 12 years in exile. Any nostalgic welcome is put off for some other time as their return becomes a drama. Marie, the main character of the six-part mini-series, finds herself in hospital. As soon as she wakes up, she learns Viktor is missing. Did the State Security put him in jail or did somebody else plot his disappearance? Marie becomes entangled in a game of secret services across several countries, in which she can only count on herself. She's not Lara Croft 4. Feb 2019 at 17:29 | Marek Majzon What is it like to work at a business service centre? These are some positions and examples of successful career growth at Slovakia's BSCs. BSCs offer positions in finance, IT, marketing, HR and more. (Source: Courtesy of Henkel Slovensko SSC Bratislava) (Source: AmCham) This text was published as part of the special supplement on Business service centres, prepared in cooperation with AmCham Slovakia BSCF. The general view on work in business service centres (BSCs) in Slovakia is that it entails working in a call centre or doing something monotonous. But this is no longer the case as BSCs continue to grow and gain new competencies and responsibilities. BSC employees work on the automation and robotisation of processes, support the business of their parent companies, build the employers brand or work with social media, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Several of them started at junior positions during their studies and over the years, worked their way up to leading positions. Read also: Which are the largest business service centres in Slovakia? Read more When talking about their experiences with The Slovak Spectator, they admit that working at huge corporations may be challenging sometimes, but they also point out that the centres offer extensive opportunities for career growth. The Slovak Spectator brings a selection of some interesting positions and examples of successful career growth at the BSCs of Dell, Henkel, Adient and Accenture. Dell Bratislava Global Business Center The technology company Dell first launched a call centre for German speaking markets in Bratislava in 2002. Since this time, it has developed into a global business centre with more than 2,300 employees. Now, the finance department makes up almost one third of the centre while other competencies include global business operations, IT data science, technical support, procurement, HR and more. Michal Purtschy, 38, Analytics & Data Science Director Michal Purtschy (Source: Courtesy of Dell Bratislava Global Business Center) After almost 10 years in the US, Michal Purtschy returned to Slovakia and recently accepted his dream job. Purtschy studied computer information systems in Arizona and has an MBA in global management. He decided to come back to be closer to his parents and friends, joining Dells centre in 2008. He started as a project manager at the reporting department and later managed the business operations reporting team. Six months ago, he was offered the opportunity to lead a Modelling and Customer Intelligence team working on the customer engagement platform project. This involves machine learning and artificial intelligence. The aim of this project is to help our marketing department target the right customers with the right message at the right time, explained Purtschy, adding that the models they build will help Dell identify its potential customers and then target them with the best campaigns. 4. Feb 2019 at 9:30 | Jana Liptakova 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. Robert Gilpin, R.I.P. - The Washington Post : His greatest book was written in 1981, but the main theory in it is perhaps more trenchant now... Police use of facial recognition technology usually only makes the headlines when its connected to a high-profile crime. But its increasingly being deployed in more mundane circumstances: There have been reports of police departments employing facial recognition to spot criminals from gas station security footage, identify suspects who arent carrying photo ID, and assist in social media surveillance. To many advocates, thats a worrisome trend. Lawmakers are starting to scrutinize the technology as well. Municipal legislators in San Francisco unveiled an ordinance proposal on Tuesday that, if passed, would make the city the first in the country to completely ban government use of facial recognition systems. The bill would also establish an audit system for agencies acquiring any surveillance technologies. Advertisement The propensity for facial recognition technology to endanger civil rights and civil liberties substantially outweighs its purported benefits, and the technology will exacerbate racial injustice and threaten our ability to live free of continuous government monitoring, the proposed legislation reads. Advertisement Advertisement Privacy rights organizations have generally supported this proposal, pointing out that facial recognition systems often produce false positives for women and people of color, and that the technology could have a chilling effect on a number of civil liberties. Advocates fear that facial recognition could eventually endow the government with the ability to keep tabs on a persons relationships, religious activities, political associations, and other personal details. While it may seem excessive to jump straight to a complete ban, privacy experts say its preferable to having few regulations at all, which is the case now. Advertisement There certainly can be a debate on using this tech in more limited ways with clear checks, but the public and lawmakers should be deciding what uses should be allowed, not the other way around, says Jake Laperruque, who serves as senior counsel at the Constitution Project and does work with facial recognition and privacy. The lack of laws regulating facial recognition has allowed police departments, in particular, to apply the technology with little to no oversight or limits. Now, with activists, academic studies, and media consistently drawing the publics attention to the technologys dangers and deficiencies, localities and states across the country are considering whether to restrict its use. While it may seem excessive to jump straight to a complete ban, privacy experts say its preferable to having few regulations at all, which is the case now. Indeed, while San Francisco would be the first city to have a total facial recognition ban, bills under consideration in Massachusetts and Washington state also propose moratoriums on the technology. But unlike San Francisco, these bans would last only until regulations of its use are passed in their respective state legislatures. Massachusettss SD 671 reads, in part, the broad application of face recognition in public spaces is the functional equivalent of requiring every person to carry and display a personal photo identification card at all times, which constitutes an unacceptable mass violation of privacy. Washingtons SB 5528 reads, Before the widespread adoption of facial recognition technology by government agencies occurs, there must be a public discussion of acceptable uses of this technology, its accuracy must be demonstrated, and disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities eliminated. Advertisement When asked why the ACLU of Massachusetts, which has backed SD 671, decided to push for a temporary moratorium, Executive Director Carol Rose noted that a full-fledged ban did not seem politically viable in the state legislature. Its a way to create space to have a conversation about the permanent checks and balances needed to prevent abuse of the technology, she said. Unlike the proposed ban in San Francisco, the Massachusetts and Washington bills allow for the possibility that the technology may have important, but limited, utilityparticularly in emergencies, like helping police search for abducted children or locate imminently dangerous individuals in crowded areas. Advertisement But some advocates, including Rose, hesitate to make exceptions for it even in dire situations. Reserving the technology for emergencies still necessitates building databases containing millions of faces, the very existence of which would allow for the possibility of misuse. Facial recognition and other kinds of biometric surveillance are really just a high-tech form of a watch list, says Rose. That position also shows up in the proposed ban in San Francisco. Advertisement It also may be difficult to craft legislation that sufficiently silos the technologys use, as opportunities for its abuse will likely multiply the more advanced and established it becomes. We only have to look at the most recent generations of surveillance technology to see how those systems have been turned from one beneficial purpose to another, such as tracking immigrants or spying on Black Lives Matter protesters, says Matt Cagle, a technology and civil liberties attorney for the ACLU of Northern California. There have been reports that law enforcement used facial recognition to match people protesting the 2015 death of Freddie Gray with their social media photos, for instance. Experts like Laperruque nevertheless acknowledge that legislators and the public could come to the conclusion that the advantages of using facial recognition in life-saving circumstances would outweigh the risks it poses to civil liberties. In that case, there would need to be strict checks and balances for government use, such as warrant approval and regular audits. Having these sorts of incredibly powerful searches that can catalog peoples activities and find them in giant crowds, this is an over-powerful, overbearing tool that could be detrimental to democracy itself if left unchecked, says Laperruque. Advertisement Advertisement Of course, we may be getting a little ahead of ourselves. None of these bills have actually become law yet. A vote on San Franciscos ordinance will come sometime in the next few months, while it may be a year or two before the Massachusetts bill will have a hearing during its legislative session. The Washington bill has been referred to the state Senates technology committee. Rose is optimistic that the Massachusetts bill will be passed, noting that about two-dozen legislators from both sides of the aisle have already expressed their support. However, she worries that tech lobbyists may work to impede its progress. Companies like Google and Amazon, leaders in the facial recognition field, have sizable lobbying presences in the state according to public records. If one or more of these proposals do get passed by their respective legislatures, though, they could set an example for how other localities can start addressing the rapid proliferation of the technology. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. On Jan. 25, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tweeted a VOTER FRAUD ALERT that quickly rocketed around the internet. Texas Secretary of State David Whitley, Paxton asserted, had discovered that approximately 95,000 individuals identified as non-citizens are registered to vote in the state, 58,000 of whom have voted in Texas elections. Whitley promptly urged counties to begin purging these 95,000 people from their voter rolls, demanding proof of citizenship within 30 days or canceling their registrations. Donald Trump joined the action, tweeting on Jan. 27 that Whitleys numbers are just the tip of iceberg. Voter fraud, Trump wrote, is rampant. Must be stopped. Strong voter ID! Advertisement Within days of Paxtons alarming tweet, Whitley had substantially backtracked. The secretary of state quietly informed county officials that a significant number of people on the list are actually citizens. Texas Director of Elections Keith Ingram acknowledged that these were WEAK matches, a starting point rather than a definitive list. In Harris County alone, about 18,000 names were removed from the initial list of alleged non-citizens. Some county officials, however, had already begun to notify residents on that first list that they had 30 days to prove their citizenship or lose their ability to vote. Advertisement Advertisement The situation in Texas is a mess. But it is a dangerous mess. Paxton, a notorious foe of voting rights, is creating chaos and confusion in order to justify a radical purge of Texas voter rolls. As three new lawsuits filed by an array of civil rights groups argue, this purge isnt just slapdash and sloppyits discriminatory and illegal. Paxton and his allies are taking a page from Kris Kobachs playbook of shock and awe: Toss out a wildly inflated claim of non-citizen voting, then use the ensuing panic to justify mass disenfranchisement. It is a dirty and duplicitous tactic. And thanks to Americas increasingly conservative judiciary, it might actually succeed. Advertisement Texas voter fraud pandemonium is actually a combination of Kobachs two favorite moves: creating dubious lists of allegedly fraudulent voters to disenfranchise, and forcing people to prove citizenship in order to cast a ballot. Whitleys purge list was created using a profoundly flawed method: His office identified individuals who presented documents indicating that they were not citizens when obtaining or renewing drivers licenses, using Department of Public Safety records dating back to 1996. It then cross-referenced this list with voter rolls to come up with the numbers Paxton quoted95,000 aliens registered to vote, 58,000 of whom have cast a ballot. Get The Angle in Your Inbox Every weekday, Slates copy editors round up the best things you should read. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. This methodology has a massive flaw: More than 50,000 Texas residents are naturalized each year, and when they become citizens, they are not obligated to inform the Department of Public Safety. It is therefore extremely likely that many if not all of the individuals whom Whitley flagged have become U.S. citizens and are perfectly lawful Texas voters. Drivers licenses issued to non-citizens are valid for six years, and over the last six years, nearly 350,000 Texas adults have been naturalized. If even one-third of those adults registered to vote, they could easily account for the total number of non-citizen voter registrants on Whitleys list. Advertisement Whitleys purge list was created using a profoundly flawed method. Despite this obvious defect, Whitley has pushed ahead with the purge. Even after warning election officials that the list might be faulty, he has not retracted it, leaving counties to implement a purge known to target naturalized citizens. Even worse, he has pressed ahead with a plan to create a new list of alleged non-citizen voters every month, directing voter registrars to take action upon receiving each new batch of names. Election officials will send a single notice to these voters informing them that they are set to be removed from the rolls. If they do not provide a birth certificate, passport, or certificate of naturalization proving U.S. citizenship within 30 days, they will be purged. Advertisement Properly understood, then, Paxton and Whitley are not purging non-citizen voters; they are purging naturalized voters who have a fundamental right to participate in elections like any other citizen. Why? One possibility, noted in a lawsuit filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund on Saturday, is that 51.7 percent of naturalized U.S. citizens in Texas are Latino, while 28.8 percent are Asian. In the 2018 midterm election, Texas Latinos more than doubled their turnout compared to the 2014 midterms, casting 19.1 percent of all votes. MALDEF argues that the purge will disproportionately and negatively affect Latinos, since the Latino population in Texas has a higher ratio of naturalized citizens to native-born citizens. Advertisement The MALDEF lawsuit alleges that Texas actions violate the Equal Protection Clause, which generally prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin, as well as the Voting Rights Act, which bars laws that disproportionately burden ethnic minorities ability to vote. Both MALDEF and the League of United Latin American Citizens, which filed a similar lawsuit, also allege that Paxton and Whitley are engaging in illegal voter intimidation in violation of the VRA. A third lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, Demos, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the Texas Civil Rights Project raises VRA and equal protection claims as well. It argues that Texas is placing an undue burden on naturalized citizens constitutional right to vote and infringing on their due process rights. And it asserts that Texas is engaging in intentional racial discrimination in violation of the 14th and 15th amendments. All three lawsuits were brought on behalf of Texas voters targeted by Whitleys list. Advertisement Advertisement These are powerful arguments backed by substantial evidence of official malfeasance. But the Supreme Court, bolstered by Trumps judicial nominees, have mastered the art of waving away proof of racism to uphold voter suppression laws. (Plus, the court already gutted the Voting Rights Act, whose now-defunct pre-clearance provision couldve halted a voter purge like this one.) Just last June, the Supreme Courts conservative majority ignored the obvious discrimination behind Texas racial gerrymander, writing that courts must presume the good faith of legislatures. Paxton and Whitleys attack on minority voters is about as blatant as racist disenfranchisement can get in 2019. But theres a depressingly good chance that our Trump-packed courts will pretend to see no evil. Virginia Democrats and Republicansalong with pretty much everyone else of note not named Joe Liebermanagree: Gov. Ralph Northam must go. Theres been little mercy for the Democratic governor after a conservative website revealed Friday that his medical school yearbook page featured a photograph of someone in blackface and someone else wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe. (Northam denies dressing in either of the racist costumes; he has, however, admitted to wearing blackface while dressing as Michael Jackson for a dance party.) Advertisement The problem? Northam says he plans to serve out the remainder of his term, and theres little if anything that state lawmakers can do to force him out. According to legal and political scholars, Virginias state Constitution provides only two paths to removing a governor from power, neither of which seem to apply to the discovery of a decades-old racist photograph. Indeed, Virginia Republicans, who hold a narrow advantage in both legislative chambers, have already said they have no plans to use either to oust Northam. I think theres a rightful hesitation about removal from office because obviously you have to consider that to some degree youre overturning an election, House Speaker Kirk Cox told reporters Monday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lets take a closer look at the two options, and why both have their limits in this scenario. Impeachment The relevant portion of the state Constitution is Article IV, Section 17, which reads (emphasis mine): The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, judges, members of the State Corporation Commission, and all officers appointed by the Governor or elected by the General Assembly, offending against the Commonwealth by malfeasance in office, corruption, neglect of duty, or other high crime or misdemeanor may be impeached by the House of Delegates and prosecuted before the Senate, which shall have the sole power to try impeachments. As University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias told USA Today over the weekend: There is nothing in his service as governor that satisfies those term. University of Virginia politics professor Larry Sabato came to the same conclusion on Monday. Advertisement Impeachment is, in practice, as much of a political process as it is a legal one, but its nearly impossible to imagine lawmakers would want to set this kind of precedent. Virginia Republicans, for one, would have a difficult time declaring decades-old blackface a high crime or misdemeanor given the GOP-led Virginia Senate recently continued its tradition of voting to honor Robert E. Lee as a great Virginian and a great American. Meanwhile, a precedent that bases impeachment on past racist actions would cause a major headache for their GOP colleagues in Washington, given Steve King is still in the House, Cindy Hyde-Smith is in the Senate, and Donald Trump is in the White House. Another basis for impeachment could be to hold Northam accountable not for the blackface but for lying about it during the ensuing controversy. It would still be a stretch, however, to elevate that obfuscation into an impeachable offence under the Constitution. Succession The second way lawmakers can remove a governor from power is via Article V, Section 16, which is the states version of the federal 25th Amendment. The relevant portion: Advertisement Advertisement Whenever the Attorney General, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Delegates, or a majority of the total membership of the General Assembly, transmit to the Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Delegates their written declaration that the Governor is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Lieutenant Governor shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting Governor. That provision was meant as a failsafe should the governor become physically or mentally incapable of carrying out the job. That makes it an even less viable route to removing Northam. Furthermore, Northam could effectively appeal any such written declaration with one of his own. That, in turn, would require three-fourths of both chambers to vote to oust Northam. All things considered, then, the best and maybe only way to get Northam out of office is to convince the governor to resign. Last weekend made clear thats easier said than done, but it also beats the alternatives. Full power has been restored to a Brooklyn, New York, detention center after days of protests over the neglect of prisoners who were exposed to frigid temperatures during last weeks polar vortex, according to statements from the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Justice. For days, crowds gathered outside Brooklyns Metropolitan Detention Center and activists demanded that the prisoners be moved and the jail investigated. According to the Washington Post, some protesters even remained overnight in solidarity with prisoners, at a time when the low temperatures reached down into the single digits. Inside the prison, inmates banged on their cell windows. According to ABC 7, Sundays protesters at one point clashed with correction officers as they tried to rush into the entrance, and corrections officers forcefully pushed them out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the New York Times, which first reported on the outage, the prisons troubles began on Jan. 5, when it lost power. The heating began to falter the week of Jan. 20 and continued through last week, when the cold became dangerous. The more than 1,600 inmatesa combination of high-profile criminals and a more low-risk mix of inmates with medical conditions and New Yorkers awaiting trial, according to the Timeshuddled in their beds in the dark. The Bureau of Prisons, which runs the facility, has denied that the heat had been so limited and said in the Sunday statement that inmates had had hot showers. Several lawmakers who toured the jail Saturday disagreed, having found temperatures as low as 49 degrees in the facility, and criticized the jails officials for not treating the situation with the urgency that it required. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Saturday night that the citys emergency-management agency had delivered generators, blankets, and hand warmers to the prison. Advertisement After visiting the MDC, it is clear that BOP officials have been callously placing the health & safety of the inmates at this facility at risk. pic.twitter.com/hE4I8fUINy (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) February 2, 2019 .@nycemergencymgt just delivered generators, blankets and hand warmers to the Metropolitan Detention Center. The people inside have a right to dignity and safety and we wont stand by while the Federal Bureau of Prisons fails them. NYC stands ready to do all we can to help. pic.twitter.com/5HGA3Co0G4 Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) February 3, 2019 Advertisement The power was restored Sunday night, according to the DOJ statement, and heat and water were back to normal. A DOJ spokesman also said in a statement that the department would work with the Bureau of Prisons to investigate what happened and implement backup measures to prevent any future power outages. (WB) The American Bar Association, the nations top voluntary bar association for lawyers, has adopted a resolution taking a stand for LGBT parents in the aftermath of states enacting laws enabling anti-LGBT discrimination in adoption. According to the LGBT Bar Association, Resolution 113 was adopted at the ABA midyear meeting in Las Vegas, Nev. The 14-page resolution says although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 same-sex couples have the right to marry, they still face discrimination in adoption in forms of anti-LGBT state laws and policies. Among the laws cited the resolution are recently adopted state laws allowing taxpayer-funded adoption agencies to refuse placement into LGBT homes over religious objections. Those laws exist in North Dakota, Virginia, Michigan, Mississippi, South Dakota, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and South Carolina. The resolution also cites continued litigation in which the rights of LGBT parents are in jeopardy. Among those cases is Pavan v. Smith, in which Arkansas refused to place the names of lesbian parents on their child birth certificates. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that policy violated its decision on same-sex marriage (although U.S. Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch penned a lengthy dissent containing the ruling didnt apply to birth certificates.) The ABA resolution adopts the resolution in the wake of the Trump administration granting a waiver to South Carolina allowing religious-based adoption agencies in the state, including Miracle Hill Ministries, to continue receive funding from the Department of Health & Human Services even if they refuse to place children in LGBT homes or with other families contrary to their beliefs. Any discriminatory law which restricts an LGBT individuals right to parent not only disregards these precedents, but also contradicts longstanding research, the resolution says. Decades of medical, psychological, sociological, and developmental research overwhelmingly conclude that sexual orientation has no bearing on an individuals ability to be a fit parent. This resolution therefore reaffirms the equal parenting rights of LGBT individuals. According to a study from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, LGBT families are significantly more likely than their non-LGBT counterparts to have adopted or foster children. One in five same-sex couples, or 21.4 percent, are raising adopted children, compared to just 3 percent of different-sex couples, and 2.9 percent of same-sex couples have foster children compared to 0.4 percent of different-sex couples The resolution states adoption of the resolution sends the message ABA stands with LGBT individuals and their families against the increased threat to their ability to raise children. This ABA policy position would enable further advocacy in this area by providing authority for other organizations, legislatures, and courts to consult when confronted by LGBT parenting issues, the resolution says. The policy would also allow the ABA to directly advocate on behalf of LGBT families and make clear its stance that laws which permit discrimination against LGBT individuals are unconstitutional. According to the resolution, implementation requirements for the policy will be nominal, if any. The policy, the resolution says, will be a guidance document for attorneys within the profession. DArcy Kemnitz, executive director of the LGBT Bar Association, said the ABA adopted Resolution 113 unanimously and no one spoke in opposition. The LGBT Bar submitted this resolution at this time because we have seen an increase in challenges to the fundamental right to parent, Kemnitz added. Nancy Pelosi addressed a gathering of presidents of Christian colleges this week in Washington, where she thanked the evangelical community for its leadership on immigration and refugee policy reform. To this end, the speaker of the House quoted a favorite bit of biblical wisdom in her opening statement: To minister to the needs of Gods creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us. OK, actually, she said, it might not technically be from the Bible. I cant find it in the Bible, but I quote it all the time, Pelosi said as she introduced the quote. I keep reading and reading the BibleI know its there someplace. Its supposed to be in Isaiah. I heard a bishop say, To minister to the needs of Gods creation Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To clarify: It is not there someplace. The Pelosi passage is not in the Bible, Will Kynes, an associate professor of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Whitworth University, told me by email. The closest analog he could find was Proverbs 14:31, which switches the order of the two main ideas and focuses specifically on the poor: Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor him. Greg MaGee, an associate professor of biblical studies at Taylor University, independently suggested the same verse as the closest approximation of the sentiment in Pelosis version. Pelosi got one thing right: She does in fact quote it all the time. The earliest example I found comes from the Congressional Record in 2002, in a speech honoring a prominent Catholic priest in San Francisco who had recently died. The Bible tells us that to minister to the needs of Gods creation is an act of worship, she said on the House floor. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us. Advertisement Its the next best thing to the Prophet Isaiah himself appearing on the House floor. Between 2002 and 2018, the quote appears 12 times in the Congressional Record, with Pelosi responsible for all but one of the entries. (The other time, Texas Republican Louie Gohmert was quoting Pelosi.) She has deployed it in speeches to recognize genocide in Darfur (to ignore Gods creation, which are these children, is to dishonor the God who made them), to strengthen the Endangered Species Act (to minister to the needs of Gods creation, and that includes our beautiful environment), twice to honor Catholic schools (my Catholic education taught me that to minister to the needs of Gods creation), and to express condolences after the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia (it is appropriate on many occasions, but I thought of it the minute I saw the tsunami). Advertisement Advertisement Its easy to see why the line is useful for a politician. It suggests that to do any kind of earthly goodto minister to the needs of Gods creationis a holy act. The quote is a dollop of ancient wisdom on top of a dry discussion of policy. Its the next best thing to the Prophet Isaiah himself appearing on the House floor to, say, oppose a particular iteration of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (to ignore those needs, as this bill does, is to dishonor the God who made us). Get The Angle in Your Inbox Every weekday, Slates copy editors round up the best things you should read. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. Pelosi has faced surprisingly little pushback over the years for her repeated citation of a nonexistent Bible verse. There was a flurry of harrumphing on conservative websites in 2008, after one site called around to some Bible scholars to confirm that the line didnt come from the Bible. But she kept on using it, and theres been little objection from the left or the right in the decade since. That may be because of the fact that politicians mangle quotes and their sources constantly. And Pelosis hemming and hawing in her speech this week suggests that shes aware by now that she has it wrong. Advertisement Advertisement As for the actual source material, it remains a mystery for now. An inquiring phone call to Pelosis office on Thursday was not returned. The entire internet contains zero examples of the line apart from its many uses by the speaker of the House. If a bishop is responsible for it, as she suggested this week, he or she has not put it in writing in a location accessible to search engines. If anyone reading this has any leads on the origins of the quote, I hope you will share your insight with those of us who are curious. After all, to minister to the needs of Gods creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us. Update, Feb. 5, 2019: A reader has pointed us to the Good News Translation of Proverbs 14:31, the verse mentioned by both Bible scholars in this article. The Good News Translation, a common language Bible first published in the 1970s, translates the verse this way: If you oppress poor people, you insult the God who made them; but kindness shown to the poor is an act of worship. Pelosi reverses the phrases and expands the subject from the poor specifically to all of Gods creation. But otherwise it is a fairly faithful translation. Mystery solved? Advertising during the Super Bowl costs companies a pretty pennyreportedly $5.2 million for a 30-second spotbut why pay at all when you could stand out from the crowd with a self-aware anti-commercial instead? Mars and advertising agency DDB Chicago mixed it up last year by creating an entire marketing campaign around a mythical Super Bowl ad for Skittles that would only be seen by one person. This year, they expanded their reach considerably with a (still pretty limited) one-night-only show in New York starring Michael C. Hall called Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical. While proceeds from Sundays performance are going to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the production is a commentary on Super Bowl advertising and product placement that is, itself, a feature-length advertisement full of product placement. Even if you didnt get a ticket, you can listen to the songs (and four minutes of Hall noisily eating candy, if thats your thing) by scrolling below. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every review of the showincluding this roundupdoubles as more free advertising for Skittles, which is kind of the point. But what did critics think of the show? The performance began before the curtain even rose. Karen Han, Polygon: Advertisement Fake knock-off tees were sold outside the theatre; concessions consisted solely of Skittles (obviously); and the stage was an operational bodega (cash only), also selling Skittles, and complete with a random guy hanging out too close to the till. The Playbill included fake ads (a holiday package to North Korea; a picture of furniture under the words nothing unusual here) as well as random games The premise may be absurd, but the talent involved are no joke. Louis Peitzman, Food & Wine: Advertisement Hall is fully committed, the songs (all three of them) are deceptively complex, and the book has Enos idiosyncratic humor without alienating the audience entirely. (It probably helps that he got an assist from copywriter Nathaniel Lawlor, who wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book.) Director Sarah Benson, whose previous brand-unfriendly work includes Blasted and Fairview, does an exceptional job holding it all together even as the show threatens to collapse on itself. You get the sense that everyone involved takes silliness very seriously, and it pays off. One musical number blows the others away. Peter Marks, Washington Post: Advertisement The best of the handful of songs, Advertising Ruins Everything, was a nifty reality-twisting production number in which actors played members of the audience complaining that theyd been manipulated into buying tickets to a Skittles commercial. It stalks me online like some sad lonely ex/ Tracking my every move, sang a theater usher of his discomfort with modern advertising. It knows what I eat and the size of my feet/ And its inside my brain, and I do not approve! Despite the ironic message, youll never forget what the show is really about. Karen Han, Polygon: the entire last number, featuring the ghost of Michael C. Hall, crows about a nearly imperceptible rise in Skittles sales thanks to the musical. Greg Evans, Deadline: an absurdist rabbit-hole of a tale that parodied Super Bowl advertising while advertising the hell out of those fruit-flavored candies. Louis Peitzman, Food & Wine: There are harsh truths here, truths that pair surprisingly well with the sweet taste of Skittles. Peter Marks, Washington Post: Bud Light would like you to know that its beer is not brewed with corn syrup. And Big Corn is not happy about it. To be clear, Bud Light is not brewed with corn syrup, and Miller Lite and Coors Light are. pic.twitter.com/x6tWqdSRXN Bud Light (@budlight) February 3, 2019 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the beer companys medieval-themed Super Bowl commercial, a giant wooden barrel of corn syrup is mistakenly delivered to the Bud Light castle, which prompts the Bud Light king to set off on a quest through forests, over mountains, and across the sea to deliver the comically large barrel to the castles of Miller Lite and Coors Light, since they both brew their beer with corn syrup. Heaven forfend! Bud Lights direct call-out of its competitors (and its disdain for corn syrup) left a sour taste in some peoples mouths. Pete Marino, the president of Tenth and BlakeMillerCoors craft and import divisionclarified that, while none of MillerCoors beers contain high fructose corn syrup, some of Anheuser-Busch InBevs beers do. Hmmmmm indeed! Advertisement Bud Light uses rice to aid fermentation. We use corn syrup. Interestingly, none of our products use High Fructose Corn Syrup, yet several of ABIs do. Things that make you go hmmmmm https://t.co/Y2Na2mbErZ pjmarino2 (@pjmarino2) February 4, 2019 MillerCoors took a similar jab at Bud Light. At MillerCoors, we're proud of our high-quality, great-tasting beers. We're also proud that none of our products include any high fructose corn syrup, while a number of Anheuser-Busch products do. And Miller Lite has fewer calories, fewer carbs and more taste than Bud Light. pic.twitter.com/GeUUXqnSpc MillerCoors (@MillerCoors) February 4, 2019 Advertisement Heineken chimed in to say that it doesnt use corn syrup either. For those keeping score, no corn syrup in our beer \_()_/ #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/fxcPqo8MeQ HEINEKEN USA (@HeinekenUSACorp) February 4, 2019 Advertisement Advertisement The most pointed reaction came from the National Corn Growers Association, whose mission is to create and increase opportunities for corn growers. .@BudLight Americas corn farmers are disappointed in you. Our office is right down the road! We would love to discuss with you the many benefits of corn! Thanks @MillerLight and @CoorsLite for supporting our industry. https://t.co/6fIWtRdeeM National Corn (NCGA) (@NationalCorn) February 4, 2019 We think it is good for the beer industry as a whole to be transparent about whats in your beer, Andy Goeler, vice president of marketing for Bud Light, told USA Today. Anheuser-Busch wasnt always so devoted to transparency. The beer goliath first revealed its ingredients in 2014, reporting that Budweiser and Bud Light include nothing more than water, barley malt, rice, yeast, and hops. The Super Bowls best ad this year was also its simplest. While other brands sunk fortunes into elaborate CGI robots and audio-animatronic Charlie Sheens, Burger King casually introduced a new corporate spokesperson whos been dead for more than three decades. Heres their new ad: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats actual footage of Andy Warhol unwrapping and eating a Burger King hamburger. If you were hoping Burger King would also release a four-and-a-half-minute cut in which Warhol eats the entire burger, including a part where he makes the questionable decision to remove the lower bun, roll the remaining burger up like a taco, and dip it in ketchup, today is your lucky day. If youve also always dreamed that you would someday get to watch Andy Warhol crumble up his trash and then stare into space for nearly a full minute before introducing himself, not only is today an extraordinarily lucky day for you, but I cant believe that youre telling the truth about your hopes and dreams. In any event, heres the full version: Advertisement Advertisement The footage was shot in 1982 by Danish documentarian Jrgen Leth for his film 66 Scenes From America, an experimental collage made up of postcard-like vignettes of American life, from a bartender making drinks at Sardis to, well, Andy Warhol eating a Burger King burger. As Leth explained in an interview, the lengthy ending of the Warhol segment was the result of a lucky misunderstanding: Advertisement In the Warhol scene I received an involuntary and perfectly wonderful gift, which precisely makes me believe in the magical significance of chance. [Warhol] is told that he has to say his name and that he should do so when he has completed his action, but what happens is that the action takes a very long time to perform; its simply agonizing. I have to admit that I personally adore that, because its a pure homage to Warhol. It couldnt be more Warholesque. Thats of course why he agreed to do it. Finally, Warhol happens to misunderstand what hes supposed to do, so theres a long pause after hes finished eating his hamburger during which time he simply sits there, ready. His eyes flicker around and he doesnt utter the sentence immediately after hes finished eating as I expected him to. He sits there and we see the concern in his eyes; the suspense almost kills us, although we feel compassion too in a way. At last, after a noticeable pause, he says the phrase and the explanation for the delay is that he was waiting for a cue. Now, this delay gives the scene a quite different dimension, I think. Advertisement Advertisement As Ad Age reports, the inspiration for the ad seems to have come, at least in part, from genuine love for this strange little piece of film. Burger Kings global head of brand marketing Marcelo Pascoa explained why they went out of their way to put the complete shot up online, even if they couldnt afford to run a four-minute Super Bowl commercial: One of the things that was unique about the negotiation was that we didnt want to change or touch the film in any way that would take away from its original intent. We knew that the best thing we could do would be to keep the film as intact as we could. We want people to have that experience as well because its truly something to watch from beginning to end with that uncomfortable silence, to see the full film. Advertisement Leths full film is available in a Danish DVD box set of his work, but you can probably get the general gist of it from the behind-the-scenes footage Burger King released ahead of their ad, in which the Burger King himself prepares the set for Warhol: Advertisement Advertisement That boom mic looks suspiciously contemporary, but perhaps thats just Danish Modern. Still, it would be difficult to establish a historical basis for the Burger Kings involvement in the production Leths film, even with faked behind-the-scenes footage. Thats because, as Leth explained in another interview, Burger King wasnt Warhols first choice: I told him he had to eat a hamburger, and that wasnt a novel thing to him. He got the idea right away. Id sent my assistant down to get hamburgers and I specifically asked for unmarked, neutral wrappers. It could be a problem, because Warhol was so aware of his own commercial value and he might refuse to appear with a certain product. So I took my precautions. When he saw the three hamburgers I had ordered, one from Burger King and two neutral products, he said, Wheres the McDonalds? I said wed get one right away. Its the nicest design, he said. Lets not waste time on that. Ill eat the Burger King. It was his choice. I hadnt expected him to be so relaxed about the choice of product. But he preferred McDonalds because they had the nicest design, in his very professional opinion. Burger King was okay, but he refused to work with the neutral ones. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If the actual Burger King had been in the room for that exchange, someone would have ended up beheaded. Adding Burger King insult to Burger King injury, heres how Variety described the full documentary when it screened at the Oberhausen Film Festival back in 1983: 66 Scenes is Pop Art on celluloid, a collection of riotously funny, satirical images of life-and-times in New York, southern California, the Southwest, and Floridas Key West. The snapshots include, in Gotham, the bar at Sardis, the lobby of the Hotel Royalton and Andy Warhol eating a McDonalds hamburger. In fairness to Burger King, #Warhols Choice (When McDonalds Isnt Readily Available and He Doesnt Want to Waste Any More Time Gathering Hamburgers Because He Knows People Will Misremember Whatever He Eats as Being a McDonalds Hamburger Anyway) doesnt have quite the same ring to it as #EatLikeAndy. But despite the dubious historical narrative that Burger King is pushing here, the situation on the ground today draws clear battle lines. One fast food brand spent their Super Bowl money introducing Americans to experimental Danish documentaries of the early 1980s; one fast food brand spent it paying Ken Jeong to chant, Bacon! Bacon! Bacon! Which message will resonate more deeply with the American public? Only time will tell. "All the sister cities are trying to work out a regional concept that will benefit all of Siouxland," Hedquist said. According to a report filed with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Sioux City's plant recently received heavy loadings from Big Ox's South Sioux City biofuels plant, which caused a decline in plant performance beginning Jan. 24 and ending Jan. 25. The sewage treatment agreement with South Sioux City has been in place for 38 years, while the agreements with Sergeant Bluff and North Sioux City were established 39 years ago. The agreements don't provide Sioux City with any remedy when flow limits are exceeded, have no sunset dates and automatically renew unless other action is taken. Once a termination notice is issued, it becomes effective four years after receipt of the notice. "Part of our discussion with all of them is that we need another treatment plant in the area; and part of the ongoing discussion is: 'Will it be a regional one that we'll all work together on?'" Scott said. "Right now, we're allowing (South Sioux City) to take the lead if there's going to be another plant." Simms previously told the council that Sioux City's plant has been authorized to handle 17.6 million gallons per day of wet weather flow and 15.98 million gallons per day of dry weather flow. Under the agreements, North Sioux City has an allocated capacity of 300,000 gallons per day and has asked for an additional 400,000 gallons per day, while South Sioux City is allowed 2.289 million gallons per day and has asked for an increase of 2.89 million gallons per day. Simms said Sergeant Bluff is allotted 967,000 gallons per day of flow, but he didn't say whether Sioux City's neighbor to the south has requested an increase. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Currently, Sioux Center schools are adding 50 new students per year. In 2017, 57 kids were added to the student population. If the current growth continues, Sioux Center will go from a school district that has 1,300 students to a school district of 1,800 students in 10 years. This means issues like overcrowding and lack of available classrooms will only increase, McEldowney said. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} "Even today, we have 35 percent less space per student compared to other districts our size," he said. Which is why the district has reached out to parents, business owners, community members, educators and students for possible solutions. At the present time, Sioux Center's elementary school has 572 transitional kindergarten through fourth-grade students, its middle school has 401 fifth- through eighth-grade students, and the high school has 393 ninth- through 12th-grade students. If Sioux Center reconfigures its existing facilities while building a new high school, McEldowney said the district would alleviate capacity issues while allowing future enrollment growth in all grades. SIOUX FALLS -- A Yankton, South Dakota, man who had stashed more than $460,000 in cash has been sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl and other drugs. Cory Poelstra, 29, had pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. He was sentenced Jan. 28 to 121 months in prison. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on Poelstra's home in October 2017 and, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, seized two firearms, approximately 660 fentanyl pills, 112 grams of cocaine, 27 grams of marijuana wax, 2.8 kilograms of marijuana, 36.9 grams of hash, about half a gram of heroin, four MDMA pills, four pills containing methamphetamine and $86,019 in cash. Officers also located hundreds of empty U.S. Mail parcels and several empty packages that had been used to send controlled substances to Poelstra. Officers later recovered $460,200 in cash stashed by Poelstra. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 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. STORM LAKE, Iowa -- A Storm Lake woman faces a felony charge after allegedly breaking into an apartment, assaulting the tenants and pulling a fire alarm. Demitra Parker-White, 33, was arrested and charged with burglary in the second degree (class C felony) as well as two counts of disorderly conduct and criminal mischief in the fifth degree (all simple misdemeanors). She was booked into the Buena Vista County Jail on a $10,900 bond. According to Storm Lake police, Parker-White allegedly began yelling and throwing items in the apartment complex's hallway. She reportedly entered an apartment without permission, assaulted three victims, destroyed property and pulled the fire alarm before leaving. The Storm Lake Police Department was assisted at the scene by the Storm Lake Fire Department. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 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. SIOUX CITY -- The U.S. Marshals Service Northern Iowa Fugitive Task Force is seeking the public's help in locating the following person: * Phillip Jackson Jr., 34. He is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 170 pounds. He has many tattoos, including lips on his neck and "love" on his right hand. Jackson is wanted by the Woodbury County Sheriff's Office for possession of a firearm by a felon. Anyone with information can call the Northern Iowa Fugitive Task Force at 712-252-0211, email Siouxlands.MostWanted@usdoj.gov or text the keyword TEN99 and the tip to tip411 (877411). Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 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. (EDGE) Ariana Grande's latest single "7 Rings" went to no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, becoming the biggest song in American. Now, model Nyle DiMarco is starring in an American Sign Language version of the video from director Jake Wilson. DiMarco, 29, who won "America's Next Top Model" and "Dancing with the Stars," shared the video on Twitter and the clip has already earned nearly 250,000 views. On top of that Grande herself shared the video, tweeting, "beyond [heart emoji] love this so much." SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City man has pleaded not guilty to threatening a city bus driver with a knife in order to get a bus ticket. Danny Longwell, 64, entered his written plea Friday in Woodbury County District Court to first-degree robbery. According to court documents, Longwell, who was listed as a transient living in Sioux City, boarded a Sioux City transit bus Nov. 28 in the 3400 block of Gordon Drive and pretended to put money in the payment bucket. After riding the bus to the Martin Luther King bus terminal downtown, he asked driver for a transfer slip as he exited. After the driver told him he hadn't paid when he got on the bus, court documents said, Longwell became upset and held a steak knife to the driver's face and demanded a transfer slip. The driver complied and gave him the slip. The unpaid bus fare totaled $3.60. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 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. SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City man has pleaded not guilty to punching a slot machine at Sioux City's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Tommy Goldberg, 52, entered his written plea Friday in Woodbury County District Court to second-degree criminal mischief. According to court documents, Goldberg punched and shattered a slot machine touchscreen pad on Jan. 7. The damage was discovered when he asked an attendant for help getting a voucher ticket that was stuck. When she noticed that the screen was shattered, Goldberg told her it was broken when he got there. A security supervisor reviewed video surveillance and saw Goldberg playing the slot machine and pressing a button on the touchscreen several times. He appeared to become frustrated and punched the screen with his fist, court documents said. The cost of parts and labor to fix the slot machine exceeds $1,050. Because he has four previous felony convictions in Florida, Goldberg is being charged as a habitual offender, an enhancement that increases the potential prison sentence he faces to 15 years from five years for the criminal mischief charge. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 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. A retrospective of Don McCullin, one of Britain's greatest living photographers, opens in London on Tuesday, spanning 60 years of war zones and landscapes bursting with the same brooding intensity. The 250 black and white prints on show at the Tate Britain gallery were all developed by 83-year-old McCullin himself in his darkroom. Dating back to the late 1950s, they depict conflict zones ranging from Vietnam to Cyprus and Northern Ireland, but also urban and rural scenes in Britain, with a common thread of darkness and emotion running through them. "If you can't feel what you're looking at, then you're never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures," McCullin said, in quotes accompanying his pictures. While primarily known as a photojournalist and a war correspondent, he has also captured the industrial landscapes of northern England and poverty on the streets of London's East End. Roads that are now pristine, gentrified and teeming with metropolitan hipsters were, in a series of images from the 1970s, populated by ragged, homeless men gathered in squalor around a makeshift fire. The newest pictures in the collection, taken last year, are of the deliberate ruination of the ancient site of Palmyra in Syria by Islamic State jihadists. The exhibition also includes McCullin's US army helmet, six passports, his watch and compass, light meter and a Nikon camera that took a bullet in 1970 when he was accompanying Cambodian soldiers across a rice field. He kept the camera to remind him how lucky he had been. - 'Intense experience' - Growing up in north London, McCullin started out photographing a local gang, launching a career as a photojournalist with The Observer and The Sunday Times newspapers. "It's a very emotional exhibition," curator Simon Baker told AFP. "What you get from Don's work is a real punch in the face: it's a really intense experience where you feel as if you are in the middle of that subject. "Don has always been interested in showing and communicating hardship, misery and people who are in need," he explained. "You see that passionate commitment to poverty in the East End of London just as with people struggling in famine in Africa." The exhibition, which runs until May 6, is divided into sections devoted to his photography missions, including the 1968 Battle of Hue in Vietnam, the Biafran war in Nigeria, the dvision of Berlin and the AIDS pandemic in Africa. It also covers British landscapes, many shot around his home in Somerset, southwest England. "Even these landscapes have a hint of drama and conflict about them. The skies are often very black and there's a brooding sense of threat and drama," said Baker. Launching the exhibition, McCullin posed for a pack of photographers, some of whom afterwards asked him to sign their copies of his books. However, the adulation does not fit easily with him. "I feel guilty about the people I photograph. It's true, I do," he said. "Why should I be celebrated at the cost of other people's suffering and lives? I don't sit comfortably with laurels on my head." Australia's military has been deployed to tackle devastating "once-in-a-century" floods that have inundated homes, schools and airports in the country's northeast, forcing hundreds to flee and bringing crocodiles onto the streets. The Australian Defence Forces delivered 70,000 sandbags, deployed amphibious cargo vehicles and helped pluck flashlight-wielding residents from their rooftops Monday, as monsoon rains drenched the northern state of Queensland. Australia's tropical north typically experiences heavy rains during the monsoon season, but the recent downpour has seen some areas get a year's worth of rainfall in a week. The authorities were forced to open floodgates of a major dam late Sunday, unleashing what they called "dangerous and high velocity flows." In hard-hit Townsville, cars were mostly submerged, with picket fences barely poking through waist-deep flood waters. "We've never seen so much water in our lives," said local radio journalist Gabi Elgood. "You think there can't possibly be any more to come but the rain just doesn't stop." Desperate residents had to contend not only with flash flooding, landslides and power blackouts, but also several saltwater crocodile sightings in residential roads and cul-de-sacs. Queensland Police issued a blunt warning for people to stay out of floodwaters. "If the thought of coming face to face with a crocodile isn't deterrent enough, before you start playing in flood waters you should always remember the distinct possibility you could be wading in your neighbour's faeces", the statement said. Emergency services have struggled to respond to the scale of the disaster, with more than 1,100 people calling for help and 18 "swift water rescues" conducted overnight. "Small boats worked through the night to evacuate members of the community," said local commander Brigadier Scott Winter. Around 400 Townsville residents have sought shelter at nearby Lavarak military barracks. - 'Unprecedented' - State premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warned the communities face more difficulties ahead. Schools and courts remain closed, more rain and high winds are on the way and emergency warnings still in effect for more than a dozen rivers. Up to 20,000 homes are at risk of being inundated if the rains continue, officials said. "It's basically not just a one in 20-year event, it's a one-in-100-year event," said Palaszczuk. "This is unprecedented, we've never seen anything like this before," she said. Ergon Energy's spokesperson Emma Oliveri told the AFP that more than 16,000 people were without power, with the supplier unable to say when the lights will come back on. The main transport artery linking the north of Australia with the rest of the east coast was also affected, prompting concerns about food shortages. Woolworths Northern Queensland Operations Manager Tina Anandji said the company had "secured two charter planes to carry 3,000 tonnes of fresh food and essential items" to the northern city of Cairns. "We'll continue to do all we can to get stock into Far North Queensland while the roads are cut," she said. The Bureau of Meteorology's Adam Blazak told AFP the downpours could continue until Thursday, while floodwaters will take some time to recede even when the rains lessen. A silver lining to the deluge is that it has boosted drought-stricken farmers in western Queensland. "Queensland has already born its fair share of extreme weather recently, with unprecedented bushfires, drought, heatwave, a cyclone, and now intense rainfall and flood," said Richard Thornton of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre. He warned resources "are now being stretched beyond normal with the severe weather seasons getting longer and more complex". A screenshot of President Rodrigo Dutertes live broadcast via Facebook dispelling the rumors about him being dead. (SOURCE: Honeylet Avancena FB) MANILA, Philippines The Duterte administration has no plans of suing those who spread fake news about President Rodrigo Dutertes health. Ordinaryo na iyan. Were used to that anyway. So let it be, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said. Panelo noted that such fake news are the machinations of the administrations critics. But the Palace expressed confidence that majority of the Filipinos remain in support of the Duterte administration. Sinasadya nila iyan, mga kritiko. Actually galing iyan sa mga kalaban ni Presidente hindi sa mga ordinaryong tao, he explained. A report on the alleged death of the President circulated on social media during the weekend with calls for the possible take over of Vice President Leni Robredo. In response to the hoax, President Dutertes partner Honeylet Avancena posted a video of the President to clarify the rumors. For those who believe in the news that I passed away. Then I request of you, please pray for me, for the eternal repose of my soul. Thank you, the President said in the video. Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea asserted that the President is doing fine. He (President Rodrigo Duterte) is okay and ready to rumble. Hindi naman siya sa si Superman. Siya po ay tao po lamang na paminsan-minsan ay not feeling well di ba? Medialdea said. Panelo, meanwhile, assured that the Presidents health is in the best condition and explained that he just needed some rest in preparation for his busy schedule in the next few days. The Presidential Spokesperson argued that if ever there is one person who knows of the Presidents health, it is President Duterte himself so it is him who decides to rest if he feels he needed one. Marje Pelayo (with reports from Rosalie Coz) The post Malacanang hits scaremongers spreading fake news about Dutertes health appeared first on UNTV News. Saba was just 25 when she left her design job in New York to work on a project renovating an art gallery back in her hometown Tehran. Within months, she won three more contracts to do up galleries and the lobby of an apartment complex. "I had dreamt of building my own company, but I hadn't expected it to happen any time soon. If I had stayed in New York, I wouldn't have had this chance," said Saba, now 27. She says the position of women in Iran has changed a lot over the past decade. "People now trust women in management positions. Still it's hard, especially on a construction site. But it's hard anywhere. It's hard in New York," she told AFP. As the Islamic republic marks its 40th birthday, few issues are more politically sensitive or full of contradictions than the status of women. After the revolution, Islamic laws gave women a lower legal status than men, requiring them, for example, in many cases to gain permission from their father or husband to leave the country. They are considered to have half the value of men in various legal aspects such as inheritance and testimony in court. - 'A path forward' - But the Islamic republic also encouraged education for women, who now outnumber men at universities -- a development that has transformed expectations and overturned centuries-old traditions. "Going to university was a path forward for girls like us who did not want to end up like our mothers in a traditional society," said Mina, a 25-year-old linguistics student in Tehran. Mina didn't tell her father she was studying for the university entrance exam. "He couldn't believe it when I was accepted, that I would go to some other city to live. He actually stopped talking to me for some time," she said. "Whatever you do, your gender is the deciding factor," said 26-year-old archaeology student Sara. "It makes you believe that you have to have kids, you have to be modest. You can barely believe that you can be independent, be seen as an individual with a character," she added. She said discrimination was rife in her field. "Male archaeologists prefer not to work with women even if they're competent. They say it's just trouble. The women must keep their hijab at all times... they won't be taken seriously by labourers," she said. "If a woman is successful in a line of work like this, she's fought very hard. And not all women are capable of fighting so much." - 'Tool of male arousal' - Iran's rulers claim that Islamic gender laws -- particularly "hijab" rules that require women to wear a headscarf and modest clothing -- are designed to protect women. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted in 2018 that the #MeToo movement was evidence of how Western society had failed women. "The Western model for women is symbolic of consumerism, cosmetics, showing off for men as a tool of male sexual arousal," he wrote. Nonetheless, clothing norms in Iran have gradually but significantly changed in recent years. It is now unremarkable, especially in wealthier areas, to see women in tight jeans with loose, colourful headscarves. The morality police that patrolled the streets, adjusting headscarves or bursting into cafes to make sure any couples were related, are now rarely seen. - 'Nothing like it was' - The authorities still draw the line at actively protesting the compulsory hijab: several women were arrested last year for doing so, and a prominent rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, jailed after taking on their cases. But many also recall how much they have clawed back since the early days of the revolution. "It's nothing like it was. You couldn't even get a lift with a male friend," said a female journalist in Tehran. "We were terrified of being stopped, because they were out there, checking cars. Or going for lunch with a (male) friend -- it would never happen! Now no one even thinks twice about these things." Many were still dismayed that "moderate" President Hassan Rouhani, who ran on promises to improve citizens' rights, again failed to appoint a female minister after his 2017 re-election. "There is a glass ceiling and it will continue," said Fereshteh Sadeghi, a political journalist in Tehran. "When Rouhani reached power it seems he didn't want to fall out with the ayatollahs, and backed down. "Little by little, women are getting their rights but for now there is no women's movement." Denmark has ordered the expulsion of two employees of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei because their residence and work permits were not in order, Copenhagen police said Monday. "On Thursday, the Copenhagen police carried out a routine check of the residence and work permits," at Huawei's offices, a Copenhagen police source told AFP. "In two cases, the people didn't have the proper paperwork." The pair, who were not identified, were ordered to leave the country, the source said. Huawei, founded by former army engineer Ren Zhengfei, has become a leading supplier of the backbone equipment for mobile networks, particularly in developing markets thanks to cheaper prices. Spearheading cutting-edge 5G equipment has also seen it make inroads into developed markets. However, a growing number of Western states are turning their backs on Huawei, on concerns its technology could be a Trojan horse for Beijing's intrusive security apparatus as Chinese law requires all firms to cooperate with the intelligence services. Huawei strenuously denies its equipment could be used for espionage. Copenhagen police said the expulsion of the two Huawei employees was in no way linked to espionage concerns. Which of these are you going to watch? After a few quiet years for Chinese New Year, 2019 is looking to liven up this year's Chinese New Year! Other than the usual outing with a massive cast, some of the biggest Chinese stars and filmmakers are also taking the opportunity to release their next big blockbuster for the festive season. 2019's Chinese New Year movies might be one of the most diverse we are seeing from the Chinese diaspora (although we would have liked to see more local productions), so it almost doesn't matter where you come from, as long as you are celebrating Chinese New Year. Kung Hei Pat Poh (Missbehavior) Eight friends who are members of a mobile chat group gradually fall out with each other, when they find out each other's secrets. When one of the members gets into big trouble, they all come to her aid, saving her and possibly their estranged friendship. Director Pang Ho-Cheung of "Love in a Puff" series and "Aberdeen" gives his first season greetings, with a lovable cast of female Hong Kong stars starting with Gigi Leung, Miriam Yeung, Dada Chan, and Isabel Chan as the gossiping aunties that we love and hate on Chinese New Year. General Release Date: 31 January The Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang After the barrier between the human world and the demon world collapsed, two demon hunters, one human and the other not-so, have to defend a village from monsters kidnapping their women. If you are looking for something bigger than your big cast family comedies, then you can't go bigger than a Jackie Chan movie set in a CG wonderland. Also starring Ethan Juan, Elane Zhong, and Lin Peng, with lovable cute monsters and more ferocious ones. General Release Date: 5 February Killer Not Stupid A pair of assassins go on their last mission before they can retire. However, things go awry with ex-classmates, drug lord daughters and old enemies who come to settle the score. Singapore director Jack Neo has made up to 30 movies, but "Killer Not Stupid" would be giving him a few firsts. This would be his first co-production with and shot in Taiwan, using names from Singapore and Taiwan in the cast, as well as his first full blooded action movie that puts more comedy than in "Boys to Men". Starring Taiwan's Nadow and Jay Shih, with Singapore's Ryan Lian and Apple Chan, and even Malaysian Gadrick Chin, this would be the next best action movie to watch this Chinese New Year, if you have something against Jackie Chan. General Release Date: 5 February Story continues The New King of Comedy Dreamy has always wanted to be a movie star but has never found her break as an actor. Forced to take on roles as an extra, suffer humiliation on set, and work meager jobs, she almost decides to quit until she meets Marco, a washed-up actor. After a few odd years of exploring the strange CG-world for his comedy that is the same premise and setting that Jackie Chan is now doing this year, director Stephen Chow is looking back at his classics and make possibly another classic Chinese New Year movie. Starring China's E Jingwne as the girl with a dream, and China powerhouse Wang Baoqiang, with a few cameos from the 1999 "King of Comedy", while this will not be a direct sequel but we are very much looking forward to shedding tears of laughter and sadness at the same time. General Release Date: 5 February A Lifetime Treasure Master is a retired doctor, living peacefully in an elderly home, with a group of retirees. When a gangster comes to take revenge on Marvin, he is about to find that these are not just any ordinary old people staying in the home. Even the elderly can have some friend this Chinese New Year, rather than being coop up in an elderly home. Starring Sammo Hung in an unusual comedy role, veterans Teddy Robin, Leung Siu Lung, Richard Ng, Tien Ni, and Lam Suet, this one is for the elder generation who can enjoy Chinese New Year, just as much the whole slew of cameos from the younger generation in the cast. General Release Date: 14 February Bangkok has emerged the most popular destination for travelers in Asia-Pacific during the Lunar New Year period, the world's largest annual human migration, which is currently underway. The Thai capital reclaimed the top spot this year as the most popular travel destination in online booking platform Agoda's list of top spring festival destinations 2019, knocking last year's winner Tokyo to second spot, followed by Taipei. The results are based on hotel booking data on Lunar New Year dates for 2019. This year, it's estimated that Chinese travelers will undertake nearly three billion trips by car, train and plane in the 40-day period between January 21 and March 1, an increase of 0.6 percent from 2018. On February 5, China, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Mongolia, Indonesia and Malaysia will celebrate the lunar new year and usher in the year of the pig, the 12th and last position on the Chinese zodiac. In general, Pigs are born in the years 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007 and 2019. Here are the top 10 most popular travel destinations according to Agoda: 1. Bangkok, Thailand 2. Tokyo, Japan 3. Taipei, Taiwan 4. Hong Kong 5. Kaohsiung, Taiwan 6. Osaka, Japan 7. Taichung, Taiwan 8; Sapporo, Japan 9. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 10. Singapore Desmond Kuek to join UBS as Divisional Vice Chairman for Global Wealth Management. Source: UBS Former SMRT Corps chief executive Desmond Kuek is joining Swiss investment bank UBS as divisional vice-chairman for global wealth management. Kuek, who will be based in Singapore, will start work on 18 February, UBS said in a statement on Monday (4 February). He will report to UBS head of ultra-high net worth, Joe Stadler, and UBS Asia-Pacific president, Edmund Koh. Prior to this, Kuek was President and Chief Executive Officer at SMRT Corp from 2012-2018. Kuek stepped down as CEO last April and was replaced by former Chief of Defence Force Neo Kian Hong. His tenure at SMRT was marked by several major setbacks such as a tunnel flood that resulted in a 20-hour disruption in train services, a track accident that caused the deaths of two staff members, a train collision that injured 38 people, as well as an increasing frequency of breakdowns. Before joining SMRT, Kuek served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment & Water Resources from 2010 to 2012. He was Singapores sixth Chief of Defence Force from 2007 to 2010, Chief of Army from 2003 to 2007, and Director of Joint Intelligence in the Singapore Armed Forces from 2000 to 2003. He has served on the boards of Housing & Development Board, International Enterprise Singapore, Jurong Town Corporation, Defence Science & Technology Agency, Civil Service College and Singapore Technologies Engineering. He is also founder and Chairman at consultancy firm Genium & Co. Kuek holds a Master of Arts (Engineering Science) from Oxford University, a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University, and is an alumnus of IMD Switzerland. UBS said Kueks wealth of experience as an executive, government official and board member will be of great value in boosting relationships with existing and new clients, and growing its business across Asia Pacific. Koh said, Desmond is a great intellect and strategic thinker. He is tenacious; always calm under pressure and not afraid to take on the toughest challenges with commitment and perseverance. Story continues His rich and diverse range of experiences driving complex businesses through innovation and transformation will serve UBS well into its next chapter. Related stories Neo Kian Hong to replace SMRT chief Desmond Kuek on 1 August Most Singaporeans doubt they have been told the truth about MRT issues: survey BERLIN (AP) German police say around 800 people have demonstrated in the southwestern city of Stuttgart against a new ban on driving older diesel cars. Stuttgart, a German auto industry center, on Jan. 1 became the first major German city to introduce a large-scale ban on driving older diesel cars with looser emissions standards. The move aims to fight air pollution but critics say they don't have money to buy new cars. The dpa news agency reported that nearly half of Saturday's demonstrators wore yellow vests, a reference to anti-government protests in neighboring France that began with protests against a fuel tax hike. Various diesel bans have been introduced or are upcoming in several other German cities. The protests in Stuttgart started three weeks ago. SINGAPORE (Feb 4): UBS Group has appointed Desmond Kuek, SMRT Corporations former president and group CEO, as its divisional vice chairman for global wealth management. In an e-mailed statement on Monday, the Swiss multinational investment bank says Kuek will officially join UBS on Feb 18. His new role will be based in Singapore where he will report to Joe Stadler, UBSs head of ultra-high net worth, as well as the banks Asia Pacific president, Edmund Koh. During his tenure at SMRT Corp since Oct 2012, Kuek spearheaded the transportation groups privatisation in 2016 and oversaw its sale to Temasek Holdings. Three months after stepping down in Aug 2018, he reportedly went on to start a leadership consultancy company, Genium & Co. See: Neo Kian Hong to take over as SMRT Group CEO from August Prior to his time at SMRT Corp, Kuek held leadership roles such as permanent secretary at Singapore's Ministry of Environment and Water Resources; chief of Army; and chief of Defence Force. He also served on the boards of ST Engineering and its subsidiaries; Defence Science and Technology Agency; Housing and Development Board (HDB); Jurong Town Corporation (JTC); International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) and the Civil Service College. "Desmond is a great intellect and strategic thinker. He is tenacious; always calm under pressure and not afraid to take on the toughest challenges with commitment and perseverance. His rich and diverse range of experiences driving complex businesses through innovation and transformation will serve UBS well into its next chapter. I am very happy to welcome him as a colleague, comments Koh. A roll of lycra fiber produced by Invista, a subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc. (Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images) By Vinicy Chan (Bloomberg) Acquisitive Chinese luxury apparel firm Shandong Ruyi Group is planning an initial public offering for The Lycra Co., maker of the elastic material used in yoga pants and skinny jeans. Ruyi aims to list the business within three years, the groups chief strategy officer, Kelvin Ho, said in an interview Friday in Hong Kong. Lycra Co. owns some well-known brands and has strong cash flow, and a listing would provide a great incentive for staff, Ho said. Consumer companies have completed $48.5 billion of first-time share sales globally over the past 12 months, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Ruyi added about 3,000 employees through its acquisition of Lycra Co., which it completed Jan. 31. The acquisition brings brands including Coolmax fibers and Thermolite insulation as well as manufacturing facilities, research centers and sales offices around the globe. Ruyi paid more than $2 billion for the business, Bloomberg News has reported. Capital Controls Ruyi finally closed the acquisition of Lycra Co., which was owned by an arm of Koch Industries Inc., after regulatory delays hampered the transaction for months. It completed the purchase just hours before a final deadline ran out on Jan. 31, more than 15 months after the deal was announced, a person familiar with the matter said. The company had initially targeted to close the purchase by the middle of last year. Ruyi Chairman Qiu Yafu later pushed the date back, saying in a November interview the company was aiming for year-end. The deal took over six months longer than expected, in part because Chinese capital controls made it difficult to move funds offshore, according to people familiar with the matter. The regulatory approval process in China and the U.S. also took longer than expected, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details are private. A representative for Ruyi declined to comment on the reasons for the delay, adding that the regulatory process was normal. The seller, Koch Industries unit Invista, didnt immediately respond to emailed queries outside regular U.S. business hours. The Chinese company, previously a little-known textile manufacturer, now owns several European luxury brands after purchases including U.K. trench coat maker Aquascutum and SMCP SA, the French fashion retailer whose labels include Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot. 2019 Bloomberg L.P SINGAPORE (Feb 4): Dormitory operator Centurion Corp might have launched Penangs first purpose-built workers accommodation (PBWA), but analysts say this will be unlikely to fill the void left by the groups Westlite Tuas dormitory, which ceased operations in Dec 2017. Located in Bukit Minyak on the mainland of Penang, the Westlite Bukit Minyak PBWA held its Certificate of Completion and Compliance ceremony on Jan 29. Centurions seventh PBWA in Malaysia, Westlite Bukit Minyak is situated near factories of many electrical & electronics (E&E) manufacturers. We believe that Centurion is in the sweet spot to tap onto the growth prospect of Penang, says RHB Research lead analyst Lee Cai Ling in a report on Monday. This region has attracted many big multinational corporations (MNCs) such as Honda, Ibiden Co Ltd and Western Digital. We understand that about 30% of the land reserved for the industrial sector is still not developed. According to Lee, the 17,900 sqm freehold development costs some 72.3 million ringgit ($23.8 million), and has a 6,600 bed capacity. We think that Westlite Bukit Minyak rental rates could be at the higher end of the range or a slight premium given its first mover advantage, she says. However, this is unlikely to cover the hole left by the closure of Westlite Tuas Singapore. On a full-year basis, Westlite Bukit Minyak would likely generate about $3-4 million in revenue based on 95% occupancy rate, which is a fraction of the revenue lost from Westlite Tuas Singapore, Lee says. As such, we remain neutral as more works remain to be seen from both the PBWA and its student accommodation. RHB is keeping its neutral rating on Centurion Corp, but lowering its target price to 41 cents, from 47 cents previously. As at 11.18am on Monday, shares in Centurion Corp are trading flat at 40.5 cents, near its 52-week low. According to RHB valuations, this implies an estimated price-to-earnings ratio of 8.8 times and a dividend yield of 6.2% for FY19. This well-established Blog is worth visiting on a regular basis for a wealth of information of interest to Armenian nationals and to the Armenian Diaspora world-wide. Although it has a particular role in promoting international recognition of the Genocide, the Blog encompasses much more and includes many articles of general appeal to all those concerned with Armenian affairs. Much of the content is difficult or impossible to find elsewhere and the long list of links provided gives easy access to a plethora of material on social, political, religious, educational and cultural matters, and many news items from around the world. What remedies can those trapped without heat and light in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center secure through their lawsuit? | Main | Highlighting how much punishment comes with the misdemeanor process February 4, 2019 Litigation update on Alabama death row prisoner denied Muslim spiritual adviser for upcoming execution I highlighted in this post last week the notable religious claims being made by Domineque Ray, who is scheduled to be executed by Alabama this coming Thursday. I just saw this local article from a few days ago, headlined "Judge denies stay of execution for Alabama inmate," which provides this update on the state of the litigation: A federal judge on Friday denied a stay of execution request from a Muslim death row inmate who claimed the absence of his spiritual adviser in Alabama's death chamber would violate his religious rights. Domineque Ray this week filed a stay of execution, which is slated for Feb. 7, to challenge Alabama's practice of placing a Christian prison chaplain with inmates in the state execution chamber. Ray argued in court documents that he should have access to his Muslim spiritual adviser in the moments before his death. Failing that, Ray requested the Christian prison chaplain not be present. On Thursday, the Alabama Department of Corrections acquiesced to Ray's first request, agreeing to keep the prison chaplain out of the chamber. But lawyers argued security concerns required Holman prison limit the execution chamber to trained corrections employees. In a written order on Friday, U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins agreed that allowing a "free world" spiritual adviser into the death chamber would overburden ADOC's execution process. "Though a state chaplain is usually in the death chamber, he is also a trained member of the execution team. He has witnessed dozens of executions and trained on how to respond if something goes wrong," Watkins wrote. "If the chaplain disobeys orders, he will face disciplinary action. In contrast, Rays private spiritual adviser is untrained, inexperienced, and outside the States control." Spencer Hahn, Ray's co-counsel, argued Thursday training nonemployee spiritual advisers to be present in the execution chamber should not be a barrier to providing inmates their religious rights. "We are disappointed that the District Court's order did not uphold the substantial claim that Mr. Ray's free exercise of religion is being interfered with, or the claim that the State is violating the establishment clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution," said John Palombi, an attorney for Ray. "We will be appealing this ruling and asking the Court of Appeals to stay Mr. Ray's execution to allow these important issues to be resolved in a more deliberate manner." ADOC policies allow a death row inmate's chosen spiritual adviser visitation up to 5:15 p.m. on the day of an execution, when they are then allowed to view the execution from a witness room adjacent to the execution chamber. "Why does Mr. Ray not get the same benefit that a Christian would?" Hahn asked the court. Ray was sentenced to death for the 1995 rape and fatal stabbing of 15-year-old Tiffany Harville of Selma. Months before his death penalty trial, he was sentenced to life for a 1994 slaying of two teen brothers, The Associated Press reports. As indicated above, this litigation is headed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and likely will get the Supreme Court this week in some form regardless of how the Eleventh Circuit might rule. In this context, it bears recalling that the Supreme Court four years ago in Holt v. Hobbs ruled unanimously in favor of a Muslim prisoner based on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Justice Alito was the author of the opinion in Holt, and I am interested to see how he and other Justices might approach this case. Prior related post: February 4, 2019 at 10:49 AM | Permalink Comments The emergency motion for a stay has been filed in the 11th Circuit and the Rutherford Institute (through counsel at Arnold and Porter), has filed an amicus brief. Will the high profile attention make the 11th Circuit take note? Posted by: defendergirl | Feb 4, 2019 4:15:34 PM Thanks, defendergirl. Do you think there are any (new?) judges on the Eleventh Circuit who would be really jazzed by this issue? Posted by: Doug B. | Feb 4, 2019 4:23:14 PM Professor B: It will be interesting to see what Judge Newsom has to say if he is on the panel. I am not aware of any writings on the topic by him or Judges Grant or Branch, but this issue may make strange bedfellows for a majority grant of relief. Posted by: defendergirl | Feb 4, 2019 4:30:49 PM the lawsuit is frivolous, costs should be awarded against the attorneys it is crystal clear that the state gets to choose who is there when the guy gets the big jab Posted by: federalist | Feb 5, 2019 8:45:06 AM federalist, did you see the line above explaining that "On Thursday, the Alabama Department of Corrections acquiesced to Ray's first request, agreeing to keep the prison chaplain out of the chamber"? Doesn't the decision by an opposing party to agree to a request by the litigant undermine a claim the lawsuit is legally "frivolous"? Though a voluntary change in behavior by a defendant may not turn a litigant into a "prevailing party" for purposes of fee award, it seems pretty strong evidence that the litigant should not himself be forced to pay for seeking legal relief, no? Posted by: Doug B | Feb 5, 2019 10:46:44 AM An update for federalist: a stay was granted on Feb 6 by an 11th Circuit panel. I suppose it is possible that could be achieved by a truly frivolous lawsuit, but I suspect this is another arena in which your rhetoric is ahead of reality. Posted by: Doug B. | Feb 6, 2019 3:27:19 PM Post a comment A 20-year-old college student that has stolen more than $5 million worth of cryptocurrency through SIM swapping attacks gets a 10 years jail sentence. Joel Ortiz, a young hacker (20) who stole more than $5 million worth of cryptocurrency by hijacking victims phone numbers has pleaded guilty for SIM swapping attacks. The college student accepted a sentence of 10 years in prison for SIM hijacking attacks against at least 40 victims. Ortiz was arrested last year on charges of hijacking victims phone numbers and stealing millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. In SIM swap frauds crooks are able to port the phone number of the victims to a new SIM card under their control. A SIM swap fraud is a type of fraud that overwhelms the additional security measures introduced by organizations to protect their customers. Attackers obtain victims information by launching a phishing campaign, or by purchasing them in the underground market. Crooks use the information gathered on the victims in the attempt to impersonate them in front of a telco operator and ask it to provide a new SIM to replace the old one that was lost or stolen. They can prove their identity by answering basic security questions and requesting the cancellation of the old SIM and the activation of a new one. Once obtained a new SIM, crooks can operate with the victims mobile account, intercepting or initiating calls, accessing SMSs (including authorizations codes sent by bank and cryptocurrency exchanges) and to authorize transactions. Joel Ortiz is the first hacker that was condemned to the jail for SIM swapping. The authorities think the slow but constant drip of arrests, and Ortizs sentencing, will send a clear message to those who are still out there. reported Motherboard. Each arrest that we made sent shockwaves through that community, West said. That hey werent safe in their basement, they werent safe in their room in their moms house, that they were being tracked down and arrestedone by one. The sentence aims to send a clear message to SIM swappers, authorities will not tolerate this kind of crime and will persecute them with severe penalties. According to Deputy District Director Eric West of Santa Clara County, California, Ortiz accepted a plea deal for 10 years last week, the official sentencing is set to take place on March 14th. The case is not isolated, other hackers responsible for SIM swapping are waiting for the sentence. Pierluigi Paganini ( SecurityAffairs SIM Swapping, hacking) Share this... Linkedin Share this: Twitter Print LinkedIn Facebook More Tumblr Pocket Share On The Southern District of Florida blog was started in 2005 by David Oscar Markus , who is a criminal trial and appellate lawyer in Miami, Florida. He frequently practices in federal courts around the country, including his hometown, the Southern District of Florida and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a former law clerk to then-Chief Judge of the District, Edward B. Davis. Last Friday, at the 2019 edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the audience award went to a film which managed to score an average of 4.8 out of 5. That film was writer-director Nadine Labaki's, and while it wasn't on my to-see list before, that score made me curious enough to check it out. And I'm glad I did, because the film is a stunning achievement, and remarkably watchable in spite of its leaden subject matter.The term "capernaum" can mean several things, none of them good, ranging from ruin, to chaos, to hell. It's a fitting description for the life 12-year-old Zain finds himself in. An undocumented child living in Beirut, his days are filled with chores and survival, constantly chided by his parents while he tries to keep himself and his seven siblings alive and well.But at the start of the film, Zain is taken from jail to court, as an accuser. The defendants: his parents, who he is trying to get divorced from. And with the judge as an unlikely ally, an angry but composed Zain is going to tell everyone in the room exactly what he thinks about them...What follows shows how Zain ended up in that situation, and a harrowing tale it is. Those expecting misery can rest assured that they will see plenty of it, but director Nadine Labaki manages to also put in moments of beauty and even hope. I don't want to spoil much of what happens, but there is an extended sequence where Zain needs to take care of a friend's toddler, keeping him safe and fed, and the exhaustive struggle to do so is a thriller in its own right. Zain is quick-witted and carries himself with a terminator-like resilience and tenacity, and at several points during the film you just want to reach out to him and... I don't know... give the guy a medal or something. It helps that the acting by the children inis nothing short of fantastic.Nadine Labaki shot over 500 hours of footage, often using real street children, illegal aliens and refugees as her actors. Zain Al Rafeea, the boy playing Zain, is actually a Syrian refugee. Several of the people seen in the film, including the toddler, have since been arrested and deported from Lebanon. Even the judge in court is played by a real judge. Labaki spent years doing research before the shoot started, and by carefully avoiding pointing fingers at a specific agency, she managed to get an unusual amount of collaboration, getting footage shot in places rarely seen. And she spent a full two years after shooting ended on editing, to get the 12-hour workprint whittled down to its current feature length of 120 minutes.But what an end result it is. The film is a magnificent gut-punch, emotional rather than sentimental, and whenever you get the feeling a truth gets stretched, you realize it's done not to exaggerate the suffering, but to soften the blow for the viewer somewhat. You also realize that in real life, things are probably even worse.Since its world premiere in Cannes, where it won the Special Jury-prize,has been on a deserved victory lap around the world, and is currently playing in the Netherlands and in limited release in the United States. It's also been nominated for the Academy Award for best non-English film (which it has a mighty good chance to win, I hasten to add...). But go see it for yourself.is a highlight of recent cinema. " " Wikimedia Commons ( CC-BY-SA-3.0 Sastrugi patterns in the snow, seen in the Dithmarschen region of Germany. In the 1880s, a German-American anthropologist named Franz Boas traveled through northern Canada and became fascinated by the languages of the indigenous people he encountered there. The Inuit and Yupik people seemed to have an incredible variety of terms to describe snow. These days, the conservative estimate is that, between the two Canadian tribes, the numbers of snow words averages around 50. There are special words for snow in English, too though, perhaps not so many as the Inuit and Yupik have. For instance, there is an English word for the delicate, knife-like formations that relentless winds cut in hard snow: sastrugi. Advertisement Sastrugi, as you can probably tell, doesn't sound like a lot of English words, and that's because it hasn't been an English word for long probably less than 200 years. It comes from the Russian word zastrugi, which means "small ridges." Sastrugi can be found on land or covering sea or lake ice, mostly in polar regions of this white-capped planet. Sastrugi form much as sand dunes in the desert, when small grains of snow drift together in a strong wind and then freeze solid, forming hard ridges on the surface of the snow. When the winds pick up again, the hard snow granules scour the surface of the sastrugi, undercutting the dunes, creating beautiful sculptures in the snow. According to those who have had to travel over sastrugi, however, the formations are tough to navigate through on foot, skis or even with a sled. They may be beautiful, but they're also "nature's speed bumps." Now That's Interesting The Inuit of Canada call sastrugi kalutoqaniq. The Norwegians call them skavler. Defying threats from Washington, the UK, France and Germany have executed their plan to set up a special-payments mechanism with Iran and skirt U.S. sanctions. The three EU nations, all signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal, have been working for months to establish a special purpose vehicle they have dubbed INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges), which will facilitate movement of goods between Europe and Iran. The move is likely to displease Washington after president Trump pulled the country out of the landmark nuclear deal in May and warned countries against doing business with Iran. The US State Department has said that its "closely following" the developments. Set to Struggle In the short term, the countries have said that the INSTEX channel will be used for humanitarian trade to sell only food, medicine and medical equipment to Iran with a possibility of expanded trade in the future. Iran has been rocked by a severe shortage of food and vital drugs ever since Washington reinstituted sanctions against it last year leading to the collapse of the Iranian rial. According to German broadcaster NDR, INSTEX will be based in Paris and is expected to receive the endorsement of all 28 EU member states. Though being fashioned mainly as a humanitarian vehicle, setting up INSTEX is ultimately self-serving and meant to protect European security interests. The nations hope that by facilitating the importation of food and medicine to Iran, the country will be more inclined to stick to its end of the 2015 deal to abandon its uranium enrichment program. Becausefor onceits about money; its about saving the nuclear deal because no one wants an Iran that is primed to relaunch a major nuclear program. Related: Russia Denies Nuclear Deal With North Korea Indeed, they have admitted as much, "we have been looking for ways to obtain this agreement because we are firmly convinced that it serves our strategic security interests in Europe," admitted German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas during a press briefing in Brussels. According to another European Union source: "We hope they sort it out and don't shoot themselves in the foot. If I were Iran I would look around and see that Europe is my best friend in a very volatile world." INSTEX, however, appears set to struggle to achieve its objective to pacify Tehran by helping it to import food and drugs at affordable prices. EU-Iran relations have been strained following the latters ballistic missile program and attacks against dissidents in Europe. Earlier this month, a meeting between European diplomats and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi ended in acrimony with Iranian news agency Entekhab reporting that Araqchi shrugged off European complaints about plots against Iranian dissidents. Related: Maduro To Sell Gold To UAE To Stay Solvent There seems to be no shortage of bad blood between the two sides. Prior to the announcement of INSTEX, the Iranian hierarchy expressed doubts regarding whether European would deliver on its JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan] pledges and of ease the pain caused by U.S. sanctions. Ahmad Jannati, Chairman of the Guardian Council, told CNN that: "being hopeful that the Europeans will abide by their JCPOA obligations is stupidity. They are dragging their feet and will never do anything in our favor." Then of course there are questions whether European companies will be willing to risk getting in Washingtons bad books by taking up INSTEX. Last month, a senior State Department official warned: "If you are the CEO of a European company and you are given the choice between doing business in the United States market or the Iranian market, that is the fastest decision you will ever make as CEO." Sticking to the Deal Although theres no guarantee that INSTEX will solve the impasse between Europe and Iran, there are still plenty of other reasons why Iran will want to abide by the nuclear deal. President Trump has already threatened to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero, and in increasing global supplies give him more leverage to do so. Despite the sanctions, Iran still exports more than a million barrels per day mainly to Japan, Turkey and South Korea. If the country was to renege on its JCPOA pledges, many of these countries would stop buying its oil. 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It is the 17th Virginia-class attack submarine to join the fleet. It was a true honor to be a part of the commissioning event. USS South Dakota will play an important role in the mission of our sailors, and it will also serve as a new symbolic link between our state and the Navy. According to the U.S. Navy, it has been designed to fulfill the seven core competencies of the submarine force: anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, delivery of Special Operations Forces, strike warfare, irregular warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and mine warfare. This new submarine includes state-of-the-art technology designed to increase stealth, as well as a revised bow and sonar panels that will allow it to better detect and track other submarines in its area. USS South Dakota is a 7,800 ton vessel, is 377 feet long and will be manned by 132 crew members. It can stay at sea for up to three months at a time. Because it is a nuclear attack submarine, it will be armed with four torpedo tubes and can hold 12 Tomahawk cruise missiles that are capable of hitting targets more than 1,000 miles away. BISMARCK, N.D. North Dakota is inching closer to allowing the public to remotely access court records. All state court documents are public, but people who want to read them must present themselves at the courthouse. A proposed measure would expand access to court documents via electronic means. The proposal would act on national legal groups' recommendations to eliminate obstacles to public access, such as commuting to a courthouse. "If the people want to actually find out how the courts work, they can look," said Jack McDonald, legal counsel for the North Dakota Newspaper Association. "They can go in and see the documents. I think it's opening up the process, and I think nothing but good will come of that." The state Supreme Court asked the Court Services Administration Committee to consider public comments on the draft measure. The committee met Jan. 18 to assess the comments, The Bismarck Tribune reported. Sally Holewa, a North Dakota court administrator, said remote access wouldn't require a new system, but would need "modifications." PIERRE | Federal and South Dakota officials are looking for information about the recent killing of a two-year-old golden eagle found in South Dakota. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering up to $2,500 for information that leads to the conviction of those involved in shooting eagles in South Dakota. The agency said Friday three other eagles had been killed in central South Dakota within the previous five weeks. Officials estimate nearly 1,000 golden eagles are illegally shot annually. Officials say agents retrieved the radio-collared golden eagle Jan. 29 after it registered a dead signal. The service says it had traveled to Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, through Canada and to Alaska and back before being killed. Golden eagles are protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 Nebraskans understand that federal government regulation affects our lives in almost every way. If you talk to anyone a county commissioner, a farmer, or a small business owner they will tell you the impact firsthand. More so, theyll tell you how overregulation has wasted time and hurt wallets. For nearly 70 years, an outdated construction contract loan with the Bureau of Reclamation (BoR) anchored the Northport Irrigation District in an older era. Northport received a long-term infrastructure loan from the BoR in the early 1950s. Under the contract, individual landowners in the district were restricted to a 960-acre limit until the debt was paid. This came in addition to the mountains of complicated paperwork that was required in order to obtain their water each year. The contract prevented members in the district from making payments on their overall debt. This forced people to abide by unnecessary, burdensome reporting and certification requirements. Producers near Bridgeport were stymied, as their ability to expand farms and local businesses was severely limited. Many families in western Nebraska told me they sacrificed precious time and resources due to this obsolete regulation. In some cases, it directly impacted their ability to pass their land on to the next generation. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has the audacity to be the self-proclaimed savior of the world and the United States. She has the ability to spout declarations of stupidity with zero knowledge about any subject. Her financial wisdom is absent when listening to her comments concerning taxes. She cant read a financial statement and understand its impact. Yet Cortez wants a 70 percent tax on the so-called rich, whether inherited or earned, when they pay the greatest percentage in taxes. If Ocasio-Cortrez won a $400 million lottery and was taxed 70 percent would she still feel the same? Absolutely sad and regrettable for the country that this inept far-left socialist-Democrat was elected. We will pay the price for her ridiculous thoughts coupled with the the concrete absence of knowledge and experience. Democrats who are running for president need to understand they were elected to work in Congress and preform their jobs. Are you willing to pay higher taxes, advocate socialism, give away your freedoms? Get involved and do something about it. Tim Flemming Davenport Love 11 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 There is a gang that operates in the major cities in the United States. They are involved in: Human trafficking, illegal gun sales, prostitution, money laundering, extortion, transferring illegal aliens to the U.S., white collar crime, extreme violence, torture and murder, illegal drug sales, illegal documents, and they come in through ports of entry other than the Southern border. They have been described as using extreme violence and fear for economic gain. This is the Russian gang, Bratva. There is a high concentration of Bratva in New York. Why has Trump not spoken about them as a crisis? They are possibly more of a threat then MS-13. Maybe it is because: Bratva is Caucasian, Trump borrowed money from Bratva, Vladimir Putin requested a pass and was given a blind eye, he has a property deal he is negotiating with Bratva, and Bratva has illicit tapes of Trump. These are questions one needs to ask and not believe everything this president says. Vince Ryan Davenport Love 2 Funny 15 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 2 Being caught on an FBI wiretap doesn't automatically mean somebody did something wrong. Back in 2017 and then again in 2018, the mere presence of J.B. Pritzker on old FBI wiretaps of Gov. Rod Blagojevich was enough to rattle his gubernatorial campaign to the very bone, even though there was no evidence then or since that he was ever under any sort of investigation. Pritzker simply called the wrong guy at the wrong time and said some stupid things that wound up being memorialized on a government recording device. But lots of folks jumped to an immediate conclusion that the hint of federal smoke somehow meant the existence of a raging corruption fire. Nothing like that has ever emerged. We don't yet know for sure, but the same might be said of what's being treated by the media as an explosive revelation that an FBI mole recorded a 2014 meeting with Solis, a Chinatown real estate developer and House Speaker Michael Madigan. Madigan didn't say anything illegal on the recording. He was at his law firm's office and Solis had brought the developer in to talk about perhaps retaining Madigan's property tax assessment firm for a hotel the businessman was trying to build. The developer never hired Madigan's firm and never built the hotel. And all this happened almost five years ago and we haven't heard anything else since then. DES MOINES -- The production, sale and recreational use of marijuana would be legal in Iowa under pending legislation that even its author says has little to no chance of being passed into law. Iowa Sen. Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, on Monday announced his plan to introduce legislation that would end the prohibition of marijuana in Iowa. Bolkcom said legalizing recreational marijuana likely remains a pipe dream so long as Republicans control the state lawmaking process in Iowa -- the states governor is Republican as are the majorities in the Iowa House and Senate -- and remarks from GOP legislators seemed to confirm as much. But Bolkcom said he wanted to spark the conversation in Iowa because he feels support is increasing in the Midwest. Michigan voters in November voted to make recreational marijuana legal, and state leaders in Minnesota and Illinois are discussing the possibility. Nationally, 10 states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana use. I think legal marijuana is coming to the Midwest, Bolkcom said. Its time for us in Iowa to begin to have a serious discussion about how we might tackle that or move away from prohibition. Tuesday, Feb. 4, 1879 -- RELIEF OF THE POOR During the month of January, the Overseer of the Poor distributed 1,310 bushels of coal, 20 1/2 barrels of flour, 350 pounds of meal and $94 worth of groceries. This was distributed among 114 families. During January of last year, 1,230 bushels of coal, 23 barrels of flour, 500 pounds of meal and $95.75 of groceries were given out. Sunday, Feb. 5, 1899 -- Rock Island Arsenal More than one paper of this part of the west lends its support to the cause of Rock Island Arsenal. They realize there is no other place in the interior of the continent so well adapted to the manufacture of the supplies our army and navy will need increasingly hereafter, and that an interior point is necessary if the post is to have adequate protection, and be able to command all points in our territory and reach all our seaports with fairly equal facility. Thursday, Feb. 6, 1919 -- IS FOUND DEAD AND MEN DRUNK | Police Are Looking for People Who May Explain What Happened Last week, Quad Cities First signed a new contract with Washington, D.C.-area lobbying firm The Roosevelt Group as a way to keep an open line of communication with the bi-state congressional delegation. And theyve begun to prepare for a visit from the USDA under the assumption that the Quad-Cities will at least make it to the next round, Tallman said. Several factors remain in flux. For one, there have been recent legislative proposals in Washington that, if enacted, would prevent the agencies from being allowed to leave the Beltway. Theres also the ongoing partial government shutdown, which has affected some USDA operations. The Quad-Cities is only one of 136 different areas whose proposal is currently under review. The list of cities seeking the agencies spans the nation from Sacramento, Calif. to Rochester, N.Y. Still, Tallman says the region offers several advantages that would align with the needs of the agencies, including an educated workforce, a good transportation network, low capital and operating costs and high quality of life. She also said the community has really shown our regional strength by assembling a desirable profile, saying the gamut of area stakeholders have truly banded together to go after a big whale. Were treating this like our Amazon headquarters, said Tallman, referring to Amazon's expansion decision last year that prompted cities and states around the country to offer billions of dollars in incentives as they sought to woo the tech behemoth. This is the big one and its very, very competitive. And we know going in that nothings a done deal. Its extremely hard to land one of these, but we are putting together really good teams and resources to make sure were at least being competitive and aggressively going after this. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 With only four weeks to go before Bettendorfs special election for 3rd Ward alderman, a lone candidate whos already well known around City Hall has entered the race: Former Community Development Director Bill Connors. Connors announced over the weekend he would seek the office, pointing to his 20 year-career with Bettendorfs city administration as a big reason why 3rd Ward residents should elect him. Reached by phone Monday, Connors said hes grateful for his long career in city government and wants the opportunity to give back to his community. I want to be able to help the residents of the city, Connors said. I want to be responsive to their needs. If people have concerns or issues in the 3rd Ward, I want to be there for them. Connors, who retired in April, filed his papers to run for election with the Scott County Auditors office Monday morning, becoming the first candidate in the race just five days before the Feb. 8 deadline. Should no other candidate file by then, Connors would have the significant advantage of being the only name on the ballot when voters head to the polls March 5. Flu cases in Iowa are on the rise, and the Quad-Cities is no exception. Iowa State Epidemiologist and Public Health Director Dr. Caitlin Pedati said Monday the state has seen an increase in general flu activity, and have now reached the highest level, "widespread." Unlike other diseases, the state of Iowa measures general flu activity. Other diseases are measured on a case-by-case basis, but the variety of ways flu is reported made the state change the way it's tracked. For example, the state looks at influenza tests reported, or done at the public health labs. That helps contribute to and inform the overall understanding of viruses in the U.S. and eventually whats chosen for the vaccine," Pedati said. The state also looks at doctors diagnosing flu without a specific test, and outbreaks of flu in places like long-term care facilities and schools. "We do that so we can kind of take all of that information together and come up with what we think is the relative activity of influenza in Iowa," she said. Flu cases are a slightly fewer than this time last year. Pedati said more people received the flu vaccine. GENESEO Three Chicago residents, who allegedly passed counterfeit $100 bills at Culver's restaurant in Geneseo, will see their charges move forward in Henry County Circuit Court. Kamaya A. Jones, 21, and Ashanti L. Jones, 23, were charged Jan. 24 with two counts of Class 3 felony forgery, and Lee O. Cole, 22, was charged with one count of forgery. During Monday's preliminary hearing, Sgt. Ben Sleaford of the Geneseo Police Department testified that Culver's employees called police on Jan. 23 stating two female customers had tried to pass a fake $100 bill. He said they had been riding in a small silver Chevy sedan with heavy rear-end damage. A search of the vehicle yielded a backpack with counterfeit currency and identification for Ashanti Jones in a wallet. Sleaford said a search warrant served on the vehicle at the police department led to the detection of eight counterfeit $100 bills and two bags of cannabis as well as Save-A-Lot receipts. He said Kewanee police were working on a Save-A-Lot case. Both women advised they were aware the bills were counterfeit, according to Sleaford, who said Cole invoked his right to counsel. He said police detected a hidden compartment behind the glove box with the counterfeit bills in it, and Cole was one of two names on the vehicle title. April 22 1. A 2019 Freightliner Cascadia collided with a light pole at Grant Street and 12th Street, resulting in $15,000 in damage. April 24 2. Katelyn Victoria Hunter, 22, 841 19th Street, Rock Island, was arrested at 2900 Devils Glen Road on suspicion of fifth degree theft and possession of a controlled substance. 3. Chavesta Shaneise Wires, 28, no address given, was arrested at 2900 Devils Glen Road on suspicion of fifth degree theft, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance. April 27 4. A 2007 Pontiac G6 and a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 collided at 2500 18th Street, resulting in $5,000 in damage. April 29 5. Shoes, valued at $200, were reported stolen at 2700 Hawthorne Drive. 6. A 2013 Chrysler Town and Country and a 2013 Ford Taurus collided at Devils Glen Road and Belmont Road, resulting in $11,000 in damage. April 30 7. A 2001 Nissan Xterra, a 2014 Infiniti QX70, a 1992 Honda Civic, and a 2019 Buick Enclave all collided at Greenbriar Drive and Spruce Hills Drive, resulting in $8,200 in damage. May 1 8. A phone, valued at $200, was reported stolen at 1200 State Street. May 2 9. Iryna York, 45, 5254 North Richmond Circle, was arrested at 6600 Crow Creek Road on suspicion of first offense operating while intoxicated. 10. A 2013 Ford F15 and a 2012 Lincoln SUV collided at Interstate 74 mile marker 4.9, resulting in $3,000 in damage. May 3 11. Rebekah Nicole Harvey, 36, 2223 Central Avenue, was arrested at 2900 Devils Glen Road on suspicion of fourth degree theft. 12. A 2016 Volvo Tractor and a 2019 Kenworth truck collided at Interstate 80 mile marker 305, resulting in $50 in damage. 13. A 2014 Chevrolet Cruze and a bicyclist collided at Tanglefoot Lane and Devils Glen Road, resulting in $50 in damage. The bicyclist was transported by air to University of Iowa Hospital. May 4 14. Frederick Roache, 48, 1103 Pershing Avenue , Davenport, was cited at 600 23rd Street on suspicion of first offense operating while intoxicated and operating a vehicle without interlock. 15. A 2005 Chevrolet Silverado and a 2011 Toyota Camry collided at 600 23rd Street, resulting in $8,500 in damage. 16. Justin Marlin Parker, 41, 1316 18th Street, was arrested at 900 23rd on suspicion of assault causing bodily injury. May 5 17. A 2010 Nissan Maxima and a 2011 Ford Edge collided at 2300 Spruce Hills Drive, resulting in $1,300 in damage. May 7 18. A 2002 BMW X5, no value listed, was reported stolen at 1100 State Street. May 8 19. Elaina Elizabeth Clancy, 31, 1051 South Pioneer Street, Davenport, was arrested at 1200 State Street on suspicion of third degree theft. 20. A 2012 Honda Civic and a 2011 Chrysler 200 collided at 4800 Competition Drive, resulting in $12,000 in damage. May 10 21. A 1998 Toyota 4Runner and a 2019 Toyota Highlander collided at Woodland Lane and Spruce Hills Drive, resulting in $8,000 in damage. For those keeping score, his two pensions add up to $159,000 -- for now. But thanks to some pension shenanigans written into law by former Senate President Emil Jones, Burke and others who have served more than 20 years in the Legislature will get even more. The legislative change essentially lifted the practice of basing a legislative pension on a 20-year limit. Now it just continues to go up. So Burke's current legislative pension will jump from $73,000 to $92,000 in 2020. For those keeping score, his two pensions then will add up to at least $178,000. Here's something else to consider: Burke's legislative pension of $92,000 in 2020 will exceed his $85,000 legislative salary in 2018. It's a sweet deal that keeps getting sweeter -- Burke can count on annual pension increases of 3 percent a year. He'll be up to $200,000-plus a year in no time. Burke is openly grateful for his good fortune, but still less than forthright. "I didn't create the law, but I'm certainly very grateful to participate in it," he said. New leaders have been sworn into their offices in Washington and Springfield. For all but the most jaded and cynical, there is hope that a new governor and fresh legislative sessions can bring needed changes. One reason for optimism in Springfield is the solid group of lawmakers there that will represent our area. All are Republicans, but party affiliation isn't a big issue for us because we believe that bipartisanship is the key to fixing what ails Illinois. State Sen. Neil Anderson and State Rep. Tony McCombie have worked well together and made a point of listening to the concerns of their constituents. McCombie put in a strong freshman year, proving to be a quick study with an independent streak. Earlier this week, Anderson became the youngest state lawmaker appointed to serve on a caucus leadership team in more than a century. As assistant GOP leader, Anderson will give the district more clout on important issues. State Rep. Tom Demmer is one of two deputy leaders named to the GOP team in the 101st General Assembly. This comes on the heels of his appointment to the deputy house minority leader post last summer. Unfortunately, I can only muse here about a new Con-Con -- Madigan would never allow it to be discussed in his chamber, which is prerequisite to getting it on the ballot. Over the decades, Madigan has become obsessed not just with power but with control. And he probably couldnt control a convention, which would have delegates elected separately from the Legislature. Madigan continues his dictatorial, total control over not only what will be considered in the Legislature but even over what can be discussed, through his control of the House Rules Committee. Madigan cares and feeds his House Democrats well, so they continue willing to support him and join him in blocking ideas he doesnt like, thus forfeiting democracy. Here is a recent illustration of Madigans obsession with control. In December, his minions in the 13th Ward on the Southwest Side of Chicago (Madigans primary fief) tried to muscle off the ballot a college student who had the audacity to propose a challenge to Madigans own longtime alderman. The minions claimed, incredulously, that 2,000-plus 13th ward residents wanted to recant their signatures on the college kids petitions. Others got frostbite on their way to work after being exposed to the cold for a short time, often on their hands, feet, ears and face. That included people whose cars would not start or who got stuck outside for other reasons, as well as those who just did not think they could get frostbitten so quickly and went outside without gloves or other protective gear. Several required "maximal treatment," admission to the hospital's burn unit for therapies that include drugs to restore circulation to try to avoid amputations. Some of them will probably still require amputations, a decision usually made by burn doctors four to 10 days after the injury. Many people decided to stay home even when they were sick to avoid slippery roads and subzero temperatures. In western Michigan, a health care system's online service saw a major spike this week. More than 400 people over four days used Spectrum Health's MedNow to see a nurse practitioner or a physician's assistant about non-emergency issues, such as aches, rashes, cold and flu, said Joe Brennan, MedNow senior director. Most used an app on their phone. The usual four-day volume is 250. EDGINGTON Rock Island County farmer Tom Mueller of rural Edgington will be the guest of Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Moline, for President Donald Trump's State of the Union address tonight. Mueller began farming in 1972 and grows corn, soybeans and hay and raises beef cattle on 750 acres in southern Rock Island County. He and his wife, Debbie, live on the same family farm where his father and grandfather farmed. "Times are tough for farmers right now," Mueller said in a release from Bustos' office. "It's more important than ever that our leadership in Washington walks in our shoes and understands the challenges ag producers face. Mueller is District 3 director of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, representing Rock Island, Henry, Mercer, Henderson, Knox and Warren counties. He said Bustos "always had our backs" but that trade policies from the White House "seriously threaten the future of family farms like mine. "We need commonsense trade policies that open markets for farmers, but Im afraid the presidents trade war has lost markets for us long term," Mueller said. "Im concerned for farmers across Illinois, and I hope he addresses this issue in his State of the Union Address." Mueller also is chairman of the St. Matthew Lutheran Church Board, works with the Quad City Parrotheads and is a member of the Rockridge Gourmet and Wine Club. He and his wife have two grown sons. Love 2 Funny 5 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 0 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 Kathmandu, Nepal: The Nepali Congress (NC), the main opposition party in the parliament, staged protest rallies across the country against the government on Monday. Alleging the government of acting against the interest of public and nation, the grand old democratic party of the country, organized the protest rallies in all 77 districts of the country. The NC, which has also been obstructing the parliament against of the controversial National Medical Education Bill, has accused the government of indulging in the corruption, failing to control the rising rate of rape and crime, rising price and taxes unnecessarily and many others. A Central Committee meeting of NC held on January 27 had decided to organize nationwide demonstrations against the government. Almost all the central leaders had reached at separate districts to address the rallies. According to the NC hundreds of thousand people took part in the rallies chanting slogans against of the government. QUEENSBURY A Fort Edward teen one of three who police said burglarized a Glens Falls business last summer pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony charge. Tyler A. Fanning, 18, admitted being involved in the Aug. 30 break-in at a downtown shop that police did not identify. Police said a door was pried open, and clothes and a small amount of money were stolen. Fanning and a co-defendant were arrested hours later after police got a tip that teens were bragging about committing a burglary. Fanning agreed to a plea deal that will include probation, 80 hours of community service and a possible youthful offender finding when he is sentenced. Charges are still pending against co-defendants Cameron J. Barger, 18, of Glens Falls, and Robert Houck, 19, of Sarasota, Florida. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 5 ARGYLE A man from Florida was jailed Sunday after he was found to have a forged vehicle registration during a traffic stop on Route 40. Randall P. Harris, 56, of Boynton Beach, was arrested following a 3:42 p.m. stop by State Police from the Granville station, authorities said. State Police said Harris was ticketed for an equipment violation involving the mirrors of his vehicle, and he was accused of providing a fake registration document during the traffic stop. He was charged with second-degree forgery, a felony, arraigned and sent to Washington County Jail for lack of bail. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 I was disgusted enough to hear about those crazies in New York making changes in the law, and giving a standing ovation to such barbaric decisions. I just never expected Virginia Democrats to also go this route. I thought we were better than that. It seems that we too are devolving. People need to step back and evaluate the direction we are headed. I do not see how any moral person can associate with this trend. "It's invaluable the type of training that we do here and we don't get the opportunity to take a pause from daily operations often enough to do it sometimes, so taking advantage of this is really important to us," Kline said. "It extends beyond the fence line into the community. If we can protect ourselves, we can protect the surrounding areas as well and minimize those threats." No senators spoke about Northam during the time frame allotted for them to raise any topic on the floor so-called "points of personal privilege." And with the House having 150 pages' worth of bills to get through, Cox said he expected the work day to go until at least 7 p.m. "We need to make sure they understand as physicians that this is offensive to me as well as to future patients and grossly offensive to minority students and African Americans," Homan recalled saying. "They're going to be taking care of everybody. You can't be wearing incendiary symbols if you're going to be a young physician and a healer." MADRID/PARIS: Eight European nations joined the United States in recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuelas interim president on Monday, heightening the global showdown over Nicolas Maduros socialist rule. Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Germanys coordinated move came after the expiry of an eight-day deadline set last weekend for Maduro to call a new election. The Venezuelan leader, accused of running the OPEC nation of 30 million people like a dictatorship and wrecking its economy, has defied them, saying Europes ruling elite are sycophantically following President Donald Trumps agenda. Guaido, who leads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself temporary leader last month in a move that has split international powers and brought Venezuelans onto the streets. Trump immediately recognised him but European Union nations were nervous over the global precedent of a self-declaration. Russia and China, who have poured billions of dollars of investment and loans into Venezuela, are supporting Maduro in an extension of a geopolitical tussle with the United States playing out across various global flashpoints. I recognise the president of Venezuelas assembly, Mr Juan Guaido, as president in charge of Venezuela, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised statement, urging a free and fair election as soon as possible. CREDIBLE ELECTIONS Venezuelans have the right to express themselves freely and democratically. France recognizes @jguaido as interim president to implement an electoral process, President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said via social media. UK alongside European allies now recognises @jguaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held. He added: The oppression of the illegitimate, kleptocratic Maduro regime must end. Maduro, 56, a former union leader, bus driver and foreign leader, replaced former leader Hugo Chavez in 2013 after his death from cancer. But he has presided over an economic collapse and exodus of 3 million Venezuelans. He blames a US-led economic war and also accuses Washington of seeking a coup against him in order to get its hands on Venezuelas oil wealth. It has the largest reserves in the world, but production has plunged under Maduro. Critics say incompetent policies and corruption under both Maduro and Chavez have impoverished a once-wealthy nation while dissent has been brutally crushed. Responding to the EU nations moves on Monday, Russia said it was foreign meddling and Venezuelans should be allowed to resolve their own domestic problems. The Maduro government is paying back both Russian and Chinese loans with oil. In addition to the European pressure, a major bloc of Latin American nations plus Canada were to meet on Monday seeking to maintain their pressure on Maduro. Maduro won re-election last year, but critics say it was a sham. Two opposition rivals with a good chance of winning were barred from standing, while food handouts and other subsidies to hungry Venezuelans were linked with political support. A dividing yeast cell making a copy of its DNA, shown in green. Cells could be accumulating more mutations during DNA replication that previously appreciated. The red colour marks the nuclear envelope surrounding the DNA. Credit: David Gallo DNA replication is more prone to errors at times of stress leading to mutations that could cause disease. Cells go to great lengths to keep their genomes intact. But when resources are scarce, errors start creeping into the DNA code with potentially catastrophic consequences, new research suggests. At no time is the DNA more vulnerable than when it is being copied during cell division so that it can be shared between descendent cells. To avoid mistakes during DNA replication, cells use proofreading enzymes which copy the code with high fidelity. Or so it was thought. Now a new study led by Grant Brown, professor of biochemistry in the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research at University of Toronto, suggests that at times of stress, DNA replication errors are far more frequent than previously appreciated. Although the researchers studied yeast cells, a similar process could ratchet up mutation rate in our own cells leading to cancer and other disease. The findings have been described in the journal Molecular Cell. The discovery took Brown and David Gallo, a Ph.D. student who did most of the work, by surprise. They were studying DNA replication in cells raised under a limited supply of nucleotide bases that make up the A, T, C and G letters of the DNA code. "You can think of it as your car running out of fuel. We were removing gas from DNA replication," explains Gallo. Cells may encounter this type of stress when food is scarce or in disease, when resources are exhausted by fast-proliferating cancer cells, for example. To make a copy of their genome, cells first unwind the double DNA helix into single strands, where each strand serves as a template against which new DNA is synthesized through complementary base pairing, A with T and C with G. This is usually done by DNA polymerase enzymes which are "super accurate and only make errors very rarely to ensure the blueprint of life is passed to the next generation with high fidelity," says Brown. But the lack of DNA building blocks led the cells to call on another type of DNA polymerase, which is more fallible. This was surprising because error-prone polymerases were thought to belong to an emergency repair machinery which is activated in response to physical damage, such as lesions in the DNA caused by UV light or some carcinogens. And while these enzymes act quickly to copy past the damaged part of the DNA, they also make mistakes. This so called "mutagenic repair" may seem an odd way to preserve the DNA, but it helps avoid worse genome-wrecking scenarios in which unwound DNA strands can lead to portions of chromosomes being lost. "It's better to copy and make some mistakes than to leave it uncopied and open to chromosomal rearrangements which would be much worse for the cell," says Brown. The study provides strong evidence of error-prone polymerases being used when there's no apparent DNA damage. It suggests that these polymerases could be replicating more DNA than is appreciated and that this could be the source of more mutations that could lead to disease. If the same is true for human cells, the finding could have implications for cancer research. Our cells have the same error-prone DNA copying machinery. And fast-proliferating cancer cells often experience what's known as oncogene-induced replication stress, when they run out of fuel as DNA replication rates outstrip nucleotide supply. Under these conditions, the cells could resort to error-prone DNA replication, where new mutations could help cancer survive although this remains to be verified by future studies. "The error-prone DNA replication pathway could very well be activated during oncogene induced replication stress to help cancer cells survive," says Gallo. "This would make it a hot therapeutic target to selectively kill cancer cells." Explore further Two proteins slow down the train of DNA replication in Drosophila Credit: CC0 Public Domain Climate change is warming the ocean, but it's warming land faster and that's really bad news for air quality all over the world, says a new University of California, Riverside study. The study, published February 4 in Nature Climate Change, shows that the contrast in warming between the continents and sea, called the land-sea warming contrast, drives an increased concentration of aerosols in the atmosphere that cause air pollution. Aerosols are tiny solid particles or liquid droplets suspended in the atmosphere. They can come from natural sources, like dust or wildfires, or human-made sources such as vehicle and industrial emissions. Aerosols affect the climate system, including disturbances to the water cycle, as well as human health. They also cause smog and other kinds of air pollution that can lead to health problems for people, animals, and plants. "A robust response to an increase in greenhouse gases is that the land is going to warm faster than the ocean. This enhanced land warming is also associated with increased continental aridity," explained first author Robert Allen, an associate professor of earth sciences at UC Riverside. The increase in aridity leads to decreased low cloud cover and less rain, which is the main way that aerosols are removed from the atmosphere. To determine this, the researchers ran simulations of climate change under two scenarios. The first assumed a business-as-usual warming model, in which warming proceeds at a constant, upward rate. The second model probed a scenario in which the land warmed less than expected. In the business-as-usual scenario, enhanced land warming increased continental aridity and, subsequently, the concentration of aerosols that leads to more air pollution. However, the second modelwhich is identical to the business-as-usual model except the land warming is weakenedleads to a muted increase in continental aridity and air pollution. Thus, the increase in air pollution is a direct consequence of enhanced land warming and continental drying. The results show that the hotter Earth gets, the harder it's going to be to keep air pollution down to a certain level without strict control over the sources of aerosols. Because the researchers wanted to understand how greenhouse gas warming affects air pollution, they assumed no change to human-made, or anthropogenic, aerosol emissions. "That's probably not going to be true because there's a strong desire to reduce air pollution, which involves reducing anthropogenic aerosol emissions," cautioned Allen. "So this result represents an upper bound." But it also suggests that if the planet keeps warming, larger reductions in anthropogenic aerosol emissions will be required to improve air quality. "The question is what level of air quality are we going to accept," said Allen. "Even though California has some of the strictest environmental laws in the country we still have relatively poor air quality, and it's much worse in many countries." Unless anthropogenic emission reductions occur, a warmer world will be associated with more aerosol pollution. The paper, "Enhanced landsea warming contrast elevates aerosol pollution in a warmer world," was co-authored by Allen and Taufiq Hassan, a doctoral student at UC Riverside, Cynthia A. Randles, a researcher with Exxon Mobil, and Hui Su, a researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Explore further Particulate pollution's impact varies greatly depending on where it originated More information: Robert J. Allen et al, Enhanced landsea warming contrast elevates aerosol pollution in a warmer world, Nature Climate Change (2019). Journal information: Nature Climate Change Robert J. Allen et al, Enhanced landsea warming contrast elevates aerosol pollution in a warmer world,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41558-019-0401-4 WVU's Graham Andrews' study of volcanic rocks in Namibia led to the discovery of drumlins, a type of hill often found in places once covered in glaciers. Credit: WVU A field trip to Namibia to study volcanic rocks led to an unexpected discovery by West Virginia University geologists Graham Andrews and Sarah Brown. While exploring the desert country in southern Africa, they stumbled upon a peculiar land formationflat desert scattered with hundreds of long, steep hills. They quickly realized the bumpy landscape was shaped by drumlins, a type of hill often found in places once covered in glaciers, an abnormal characteristic for desert landscapes. "We quickly realized what we were looking at because we both grew up in areas of the world that had been under glaciers, me in Northern Ireland and Sarah in northern Illinois," said Andrews, an assistant professor of geology. "It's not like anything we see in West Virginia where we're used to flat areas and then gorges and steep-sided valleys down into hollows." After returning home from the trip, Andrews began researching the origins of the Namibian drumlins, only to learn they had never been studied. "The last rocks we were shown on the trip are from a time period when southern Africa was covered by ice," Andrews said. "People obviously knew that part of the world had been covered in ice at one time, but no one had ever mentioned anything about how the drumlins formed or that they were even there at all." Andrew McGrady. Credit: WVU Andrews teamed up with WVU geology senior Andy McGrady to use morphometrics, or measurements of shapes, to determine if the drumlins showed any patterns that would reflect regular behaviors as the ice carved them. While normal glaciers have sequential patterns of growing and melting, they do not move much, Andrews explained. However, they determined that the drumlins featured large grooves, which showed that the ice had to be moving at a fast pace to carve the grooves. These grooves demonstrated the first evidence of an ice stream in southern Africa in the late Paleozoic Age, which occurred about 300 million years ago. "The ice carved big, long grooves in the rock as it moved," Andrews said. "It wasn't just that there was ice there, but there was an ice stream. It was an area where the ice was really moving fast." McGrady used freely available information from Google Earth and Google Maps to measure their length, width and height. Drumlins, hills formed in places once covered by glaciers, were discovered in Namibia by WVU's Graham Andrews. Credit: WVU "This work is very important because not much has been published on these glacial features in Namibia," said McGrady, a senior geology student from Hamlin. "It's interesting to think that this was pioneer work in a sense, that this is one of the first papers to cover the characteristics of these features and gives some insight into how they were formed." Their findings also confirm that southern Africa was located over the South Pole during this period. "These features provide yet another tie between southern Africa and south America to show they were once joined," Andrews said. The study, "First description of subglacial megalineations from the late Paleozoic ice age in southern Africa" is published in the Public Library of Science's PLOS ONE journal. "This is a great example of a fundamental discovery and new insights into the climatic history of our world that remain to be discovered," said Tim Carr, chair of the Department of Geology and Geography. Explore further Newly discovered drumlin field provides answers about glaciation and climate More information: Graham D. Andrews et al, First description of subglacial megalineations from the late Paleozoic ice age in southern Africa, PLOS ONE (2019). Journal information: PLoS ONE Graham D. Andrews et al, First description of subglacial megalineations from the late Paleozoic ice age in southern Africa,(2019). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210673 University of Cincinnati professors Raj Manglik, left, and Milind Jog have developed an improved cooling system for power plants. Credit: Joseph Fuqua II/UC Creative Services University of Cincinnati researchers say they have found a solution to one of the biggest environmental problems facing the energy industry: water consumption. Power plants in the United States need as much water each year as all of the nation's farms combinedan estimated 133 billion gallons per day, according to federal numbers. This poses an enormous strain on water resources and has a detrimental environmental impact. But Raj Manglik and Milind Jog, professors of mechanical engineering in UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science, say they have developed a new air-cooling system for power plants that uses no water but is nearly as effective as water-cooled systems. "At some point this will be a water crisisand it will be rather soon," Manglik said. "That was the primary motivation. Can we make air cooling significantly more viable so that companies would adopt it regardless?"?? The project was funded by a $3.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Most power plants in the United States are built alongside bodies of water to meet the demands of their cooling systems. Some water is lost through evaporation in cooling towers. In other cases, warmer water is pumped back into lakes, rivers or bays, which can raise the ambient temperature, killing fish and other aquatic organisms and creating toxic algae blooms. Scientists call this "thermal pollution." The University of Cincinnati developed a better air-cooling system that could replace water systems in power plants. Credit: Margaret Weiner, Benjamin Gardner and Andrew Higley/UC Creative Services "The water around power plants can be significantly warmer than the rest of a river or lake," Manglik said. "This adversely impacts fish and plants and destroys the ecosystem." The two researchers used their backgrounds in experimental heat transfer, computational modeling and fluid dynamics to design a better air-cooled condenser for power plants. Like the radiator of a car, the condenser has a meshwork of metal fins specially designed by UC's researchers to draw heat away in the circulated air. UC's researchers developed enhanced metal fins with a unique geometric design that favorably alters the air flow over them. This provides far better heat convection for cooling steam in the air-cooled condenser. "The flow of air gets disrupted with more mixing and more efficient heat transfer compared to traditional fins used on these air-cooled condensers," Jog said. Manglik said there was no single "Eureka!" moment but rather deliberate improvements over time. "We use carefully controlled experimentation coupled with computational modeling," Manglik said. "Modeling helps us understand the physics. Experiments give us the results that can be used to optimize design." UC engineers designed new condenser fins that shed heat more efficiently in power plants. Credit: Joseph Fuqua II/UC Creative Services Shedding more heat increases the efficiency of the power plants, which means they can produce more electricity. And since the cooling system is more effective, it doesn't have to be as big and costly to build, they said. Laboratory scale tests suggested the researchers' system can reduce the cooling temperature from today's 140 degrees to as low as 115 degrees. UC doctoral students Kuan-Ting Lin and Dantong Shi tested a small prototype in an engineering lab. Now UC is partnering with Taneytown, Maryland, company EVAPCO on a large-scale prototype test of the design at the company's labs. But UC's engineers didn't stop with condenser fins. They also are working on a solution to one of the energy industry's biggest conundrums. In the summer, electricity demand typically peaks during the hottest part of the day when a plant's cooling systems are least efficient. Professors Jog and Manglik are developing a better system to precool the circulated air using a heat sink that captures cooler temperatures at night. "The second part we're developing is an air precooler coupled with thermal energy storage," Jog said. "So at night when the temperatures are low, the system 'stores' the cold. And that is used during the peak times to cool the air before it goes to the condenser." UC's researchers also are working with Babcock & Wilcox, in Lancaster, Ohio, which in 2016 acquired the Italian company SPIG specializing in power plant cooling systems. UC doctoral students Kuan-Ting Lin and Dantong Shi test a small prototype cooling system in an engineering lab. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II/UC Creative Services Manglik said air-cooled power plants will become increasingly valuable in arid parts of the world in the face of growing industrialization and climate change. "There is already a water shortage, exacerbated by the global need for energy," Manglik said. "We will need a substantially large number of new power plants if the rest of the world begins to consume energy at the rate we do in the United States." The UC researchers have been working on patenting their ideas since submitting their grant proposal in 2015. Manglik said their results of the full-scale experiments will have to be persuasive. "The inertia in engineering systems is mind-boggling. You go to an oil refinery or a petrochemical plant, and some of the technologies being used are 40 or 50 years old," Manglik said. "Efficiency is not always a measure that matters." The two researchers have collaborated on diverse research projects at UC over the past decade. "Dr. Jog has special talents in computational physics and modeling," Manglik said. "I add to that experimental insights. I don't mind getting my hands dirtyliterally." "I think that synergy makes it work," Jog said. Stunningly well-preserved fossilized soft tissues of a stylophoran have recently been discovered. Shown here is the reconstruction of an individual of the stylophoran genus Thoralicystis. Stylophorans measured 0.5 to 4 cm and had flat, massive bodies or tests with paddle-like extensions, analogous to snowshoes, which allowed them to stay over soft seafloors. Credit: Rich Mooi / California Academy of Science Just a few centimeters long, these animals thrived in the ocean roughly half a billion years ago. Because of their odd morphology, scientists have long struggled to find their branch on the tree of life. Was their long appendage similar to a tail? That would make them ancestors of the vertebrates. However, their skeletons are made up of many calcite plates, suggestive of the bodies of echinoderms like sea urchins and starfish, even though they lack the characteristic symmetry of these animals. A team led by Bertrand Lefebvre, a CNRS researcher at the Laboratoire de Geologie de Lyon, could finally settle this 150-year-old debate, using exceptionally preserved fossils from the Bou Izargane excavation in Morocco. Very unusually, the soft tissues of the fossilized creatures were preserved as pyrite, a ferrous mineral. By mapping the distribution of iron within the fossils, the researchers were able to clarify the fine structure of the appendage, which turns out to be comparable to that of a starfish arm. So these organisms had neither a head nor a tail, but rather a feeding arm. Mapping of iron distribution in a portion of the articulated appendage of a stylophoran from the Moroccan region of Zagora. Iron-rich pyritized zones appear in green. They indicate where living soft tissue once laid. Here, we can clearly see ambulacral podia (pieds ambulacraires)hollow tubes for feeding and locomotionbranching out along the water vascular canal (canal aquifere). The arms of starfish and other echinoderms, like crinoids and brittle stars, possess the same type of structure. Credit: Bertrand Lefebvre / LGL-TPE / CNRS More information: Bertrand Lefebvre et al. Exceptionally preserved soft parts in fossils from the Lower Ordovician of Morocco clarify stylophoran affinities within basal deuterostomes, Geobios (2018). Bertrand Lefebvre et al. Exceptionally preserved soft parts in fossils from the Lower Ordovician of Morocco clarify stylophoran affinities within basal deuterostomes,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2018.11.001 Expedition 58 crew members gather inside the Zvezda service module onboard the International Space Station for a crew portrait. From left are, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques. Credit: NASA hough all ESA astronauts are back on Earth, European science on the International Space Station is ongoing. Explore a few experiments underway right now in celebration of science at ESA. Learning the ropes Every ESA astronaut who flies to the International Space Station begins their training at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany. Here, they learn the intricacies of ESA's space laboratory Columbus. Many European experiments that run on the International Space Station when ESA astronauts are not present such as those in the commercial ICE Cubes facility require minimal manual input. Others, like Time Perception in Microgravity continue with current International Space Station crew members. With the undocking of two visiting vehicles and packing the NG-10 Cygnus for departure, January was a busy month for the crew of Expedition 58 NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques and cosmonaut Oleg Kononeko. They also began upgrading an ESA facility that allows ground-based control of and telemetric data retrieval from miniaturised laboratories inside Columbus. Little labs of life science Taking their name from the Russian word for cube, ESA's Kubik units were operational on board the Space Station even before the Columbus module arrived in 2008. Each 40x40 cm temperature-controlled container enables the study of life science in microgravity and can host multiple experiments at one time in separate tissue-box-sized experiment units. A miniaturised laboratory inside the orbital laboratory that is ESAs Columbus module, this 40 cm cube has been one of its quiet scientific triumphs. Kubik from the Russian for cube has been working aboard the International Space Station since before Columbus arrival in February 2008. Credit: NASA Because many biological systems are partially gravity-dependent, 'removing' the effects of gravity enables researchers to gain a broader understanding of how these systems work. Samples previously studied using Kubik facilities include: bacteria, fungi, white blood cells and stem cells from human bone marrow and umbilical cords, plant seedlings, and even swimming tadpoles. Upgrades will see this research continue into its second decade, offering even greater opportunities to examine life in space. Keeping the rhythm The crew also exchanged the sample chamber of European multi-user facility Electromagnetic Levitator (EML) to activate new material science experiments, and Anne donned the Circadian Rhythms hardware to begin a 36-hour recording session. Led by principal investigator Hanns-Christian Gunga of Charite University Clinic's Center For Space Medicine, Circadian Rhythms investigates the role of synchronised circadian rhythms, or the "biological clock". Researchers hypothesise that a non-24-hour cycle of light and dark affects crew members' natural rhythms. The investigation also addresses the effects of reduced physical activity, microgravity and an artificially controlled environment, as changes in body composition and body temperature can affect crew members' circadian rhythms as well. Data is collected using a "double sensor" placed on an astronaut's forehead and chest. This takes continuous core temperature measurements for extended periods before, during and after flight. These measurements are corelated with crew members' pre and post-flight melatonin levels. NASA astronaut and Expedition 58 flight engineer Anne McClain pictured inside the vestibule between the Harmony module and the Destiny laboratory module. She is wearing a sensor on her forehead that is collecting data for the Circadian Rhythms experiment researching how an astronaut's biological clock changes during long-duration spaceflight. Credit: NASA Initial results show core body temperature does elevate gradually during long-duration spaceflight. It also rises faster and higher during physical exercise on the Station than it does on the ground. Understanding this and other effects of spaceflight on circadian rhythms will aid the design of future space missions and provide a unique comparison for sleep disorders, autonomic nervous system disorders, and shift work-related disorders on Earth. Looking ahead While all this science is happening in space, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano continues to train on the ground for his upcoming Beyond mission. Luca recently participated in ground-based sessions for two European experiments that look at how humans judge force and manipulate objects in weightlessness, GRIP and GRASP, and learnt more about an experiment to validate the behavior of fluids under microgravity, known as Fluidics. Explore further NASA replaces astronaut on Boeing's 1st crew launch Andrew Marx and his team used smallsat imagery to analyze minority Rohingya villages in Myanmar such as the one burned in 2017 (top) while neighboring Rakhine villages (below) were left intact. Credit: Andrew Marx After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1997, Andrew Marx worked with NATO, using satellite technology to help prevent genocide in Serbia. He was 22 years old. It was his first job. "I was appalled that mass atrocities like this were happening in Europe in the 1990s," he said of the genocide he observed being perpetrated by the Bosnian Serb army. "Every time this happens, the international community says this will be the last time. And yet mass atrocities continue to occur." Marx then served for eight years in the State Department, using similar technology to document Syrian government missile attacks on its own people. What he observed in Serbia and Syria had such a profound effect upon him that it has determined his subsequent career path. Now associate professor of the practice of spatial sciences and creative technologies at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, his research focuses on developing cutting-edge technological tools to quickly identify human rights violations; preventing isolated events from developing into genocide. "Once you work on something that powerful, you don't really have an appetite to do anything else," said Marx, a recognized expert on using satellites and other spatial data, such as crowd-sourced mapping to analyze and inform human migration and refugee policy. Seeing into the dark corners At USC Dornsife's Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI), Marx runs the Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence Lab, leveraging new, "smallsat"short for small satellitetechnology to detect human rights abuses and violations. The information collected by this technology provides evidence that can be used to corroborate refugee accounts of atrocities in international courts. Many of the world's worst human rights abuses, including genocides, occur in areas that are difficult to observe, Marx notes. Satellite technology is often all that's available to monitor what's happening on the ground. While smallsat technology can provide daily imagery of the entire Earth, the images are too fuzzy to visually identify details that can signal human rights abuses. Marx and his team, comprising several undergraduate research assistants, are overcoming this obstacle by designing algorithms to automatically detect potential human rights violationssuch as villages that have been burned down. Andrew Marx (center) meeting with members of USC Dornsifes Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence Lab. Research assistants in the lab work from the USC campus as well as remotely from Washington, D.C. and the Netherlands. The spatial scientists are working with Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights to monitor the situation in Myanmar, where the Rohingya Muslim minority is being persecuted. Huts in this region have roofs made of dried plant material that reflects infrared light. Marx and his team developed techniques that make it possible to detect changes in reflected light from one day to the next. When huts in a village are torched or otherwise destroyed, there is a corresponding drop in infrared reflectance that signals an attack on that village. The Myanmar army has denied not only the ethnic cleansing but the very existence of the Rohingya, and the Myanmar government has continuously denied abuses. "Satellite imagery provides data that cannot be refuted when used in conjunction with geospatial intelligence and victim testimony," Marx said. "We cannot stress enough the importance of refugee testimony; however, at times further evidence is required. Our methods strengthen the evidentiary power of victim accounts." Early warning signs Marx's goal is to develop an early warning system to prevent human rights violations. Marx points to Darfur in western Sudan, where up to 400,000 people have died in ethnic cleansing programs, allegedly ordered by President Omar al-Bashir. This systematic killing has become known as the first genocide of the 21st century. "If we can monitor areas likes Darfur using daily imagery, the international community can learn what's happening very early on, and then we can stop isolated attacks before they turn into a large-scale genocide," Marx said. The team hopes to one day give the technology to organizations like Amnesty International to reduce human suffering, Marx said. Marx and his team are also hoping to make their service available to the public, so anyone can log onto their website and see which villages may have been attacked in the past couple of days in different areas. "The students who work in my lab are passionate about human rightsas am I," Marx said. "While you can't replace the power and importance of testimony, I want my students to be able to leverage new technologies and approaches to combat these terrible atrocities that are still occurring worldwide. "We're optimistic that we can make a difference." Explore further Modern modulators for Fermilab accelerators Credit: Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore The mantra 'reduce, reuse, recycle' is increasingly pertinent. Every year, vast amounts of energy that could be captured and reused are lost through waste heat. Now, A*STAR scientists have demonstrated, through theoretical calculations, that it may be possible to fabricate thermoelectric organic polymers that can convert heat into electrical energy with high efficiency. Thermoelectric (TE) materials work by responding to temperature differences, inducing electric charge carriers to flow from the hot to the cold side of the material. TE materials are already used for powering refrigeration, and for limited power generation. An effective TE material needs to have high electrical conductivity, low thermal conductivity, and a high 'Seebeck coefficient' the voltage generated per degree of temperature difference across the material. However, it is rare for any one material to satisfy all of these conditions, meaning that existing TE materials are limited in efficiency. "One way of improving TE performance is to use doping, adding certain chemicals to the material to enhance its electrical conductivity by increasing charge carrier concentrations," says Shuo-Wang Yang, at A*STAR's Institute of High Performance Computing, who led the team. "However, doping can also interfere with the materials' stability and performance, and finding a dopant that works effectively is challenging. Identifying TE materials that work without doping could transform energy harvesting." The team focused their attention on linear-backbone coordination polymers, structures containing metal ions linked by ligands, which can be built in the laboratory to specific designs. These polymers exhibit numerous advantages over conventional inorganic TE materials; they are flexible, have low thermal conductivity and are compatible with biological organisms. However, they have low electrical conductivity a challenge that Yang and co-workers tried to overcome in their theoretical search. "Based on first-principle molecular dynamics and structure optimization, we identified a polymer called poly(nickel-ethylenetetrathiolate) and three associated analogs which demonstrate intrinsically metallic behaviors and high electrical conductivity," says Yang. "This is exciting as it suggests these polymers are potential dopant-free TE materials." The team's analyses suggest that this metallic behavior stems from the formation of dense, non-bonding molecular interactions between sulfur or selenium atoms within the polymeric structures. These interactions strengthen the forces between the atoms, decreasing electronic band gaps and encouraging the flow of electrical charge. "Xu Jianwei, Kedar Hippalgaonkar, and their teams at the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering are now synthesizing these polymers," says Yang. "These materials are very promising, particularly in the applications of waste heat recovery and refrigeration near ambient temperature." Explore further Materials that harvest heat and turn it into electricity could lead to more cost-effective devices More information: Wen Shi et al. Poly(nickel-ethylenetetrathiolate) and Its Analogs: Theoretical Prediction of High-Performance Doping-Free Thermoelectric Polymers, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2018). Journal information: Journal of the American Chemical Society Wen Shi et al. Poly(nickel-ethylenetetrathiolate) and Its Analogs: Theoretical Prediction of High-Performance Doping-Free Thermoelectric Polymers,(2018). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b08270 An atypical case of BSEcommonly dubbed "mad cow disease"has been discovered in Poland, though the isolated case posed no risk to human health, Poland's chief veterinarian said on Monday. "A case of the atypical form of BSE in Poland has been confirmed," Krzysztof Niemczuk said, quoted by the Polish PAP news agency. "According to the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE), BSE in its atypical form, as discovered in Poland, does not affect the status of Poland as a country with negligible BSE risk," he added. The cow found to be carrying BSE in the village of Mirsk in south-western Poland, an area bordering the Czech Republic and Germany, was put down, Niemczuk said. The atypical strain of the disease was uncovered on January 24 during a routine screening, the OIE said in a separate statement. It added that atypical BSE "appears spontaneously in all cattle populations at a very low frequency" and as such "has no impact on the official BSE risk assessment in Poland." The discovery of BSE in British cows prompted the European Union to order a worldwide embargo on British beef and its derivatives in 1996 after it was learned that it can be transmitted to humans in the form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which can be deadly. The embargo in Europe was lifted in 1999. In a separate case, EU experts arrived in Poland on Monday to probe a suspect beef scare that saw a Polish slaughterhouse allegedly evade controls to butcher lame cows and export the meat to some 13 other European Union members. 2019 AFP A Cornell Tech-led study found that people tended to believe news story headlines were true when they aligned with their political views a pattern that was more pronounced when participants were offered a cash bonus if they evaluated headlines accurately. Credit: Cornell University When it comes to news, we believe what we want to believe even though deep down we may know better. Cornell Tech researchers and colleagues have found that people are far more likely to say that news stories are true if they align with their own political views regardless of the outlet. But when offered a cash bonus for correctly evaluating the stories' accuracy, participants were more likely to say they believed the news stories that countered their views. "There's an issue of expressive responding, where people say what they want to be true rather than what they actually believe to be true," said Mor Naaman, associate professor of information science at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech and senior author of "The Role of Source, Headline and Expressive Responding in Political News Evaluation," which will be presented Feb. 1 at the Computation + Journalism Symposium in Miami. In the study, researchers told participants that they'd receive a bonus if they guessed the accuracy of all the headlines correctly, "motivating them to say what they truly believe," Naaman said. "People were suddenly more willing to admit that claims aligned with the other side were true." This effect was more pronounced for right-leaning participants than for those with left-leaning politics; Naaman said future research will explore why. Maurice Jakesch, a Cornell Tech doctoral student in the field of information science, is the paper's first author. Also contributing were Cornell information science doctoral student Anna Evtushenko and Moran Koren of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. The study is the first to test for expressive responding, as well as to examine trust in news outlets independently of trust in story content. Participants were asked to rate stories associated with the New York Times and Fox News, but the outlet where the story was said to appear did not affect their trust level, whatever their political orientation. "The results are pretty clear: It's not about people believing the Times vs. Fox News; it's about whether the claim in the headline agrees with their view of the world," Naaman said." The researchers recruited a diverse group of around 400 participants, evenly divided between right- and left-leaning in their political views. Each participant was shown two political headlines aligned with Democratic views and two aligned with Republican news, randomly assigned to either Fox News or the Times. They were also shown 12 other headlines that were not part of the experiment. The political headlines including "Trump lashes out at Vanity Fair, one day after it lambastes his restaurant," and "Companies are already canceling plans to move U.S. jobs abroad" were all true, but none actually came from the Times or Fox News. They were chosen based on previous studies that showed they were right- or left-leaning, and that readers had trouble ascertaining their accuracy. Participants were given 15 seconds to rate each headline as true or false. The headlines could not be copied, making it impossible to plug them into a search engine. They were each paid $1 for about five minutes of work. To determine whether they truly believed their answers, half the participants were offered a bonus of $1.60 if they correctly answered 12 out of 16 questions. (All participants in that group received the bonus.) The other half were in a control group. Though further study is needed, Naaman said the findings have potential applications for news aggregators, which might focus on balancing news feeds politically by content instead of merely by news outlet, or social media sites, which could incentivize people to only share stories they trust. "We're living in an age of misinformation, where it's very hard for people to distinguish between established and trustworthy and credible news organizations," Naaman said. "Understanding how people make decisions in online news when it comes to the stories they read and how the react to them is important, so that we can design information systems and presentation systems that support trustworthy sources above others." Explore further Study shows audience judgments can identify online misinformation More information: Maurice Jakesch et al. The Role of Source, Headline and Expressive Responding in Political News Evaluation, SSRN Electronic Journal (2019). Maurice Jakesch et al. The Role of Source, Headline and Expressive Responding in Political News Evaluation,(2019). DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3306403 Guwahati, Feb 4 : At least eight people were killed in three different road mishaps in Assam in past 24 hours. Four people were killed and one woman injured in a car accident in Assams Morigaon district last night. The accident took place on the National Highway 37 at Makaria area under Neli police station near Jagiraod where a speedy Maruti Swift car had lost control and hit a roadside culvert. According to the police, the vehicle came from Guwahati to Nagaon and four people including the driver of the vehicle died on spot and one woman injured. The injured woman was sent to Guwahati for treatment. The deceased persons were identified as Bini Kumar, Sharath, Gitanjali Devi and Gobi. The Maruti Swift car came from Guwahati to Nagaon had lost control and hit a roadside culvert at Makaria area. Four people were died and one woman was injured in the accident, a police officer said. On the other hand, two bikers were killed when a speedy dumper hit a motorcycle at Doboka area in Assams Hojai district. In the third incident, two people died at Rangia area in Kamrup district while head on collision between two vehicles. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) Credit: CC0 Public Domain What kinds of computers would be conceivable if physics worked differently? Quantum physicists Marius Krumm from the University of Vienna and Markus Muller from the Viennese Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OAW) are speculating about theoretical properties of future computers to offer interesting insights into quantum computing. Standard computing uses logic based on bits: patterns of zeroes and ones. Quantum computers, on the other hand, work with quantum bits. Conceptually, these are points on a three-dimensional ball. The north pole represents zero and the south pole represents one. Such a "qubit" can also take any place in-between (for example, on the equator) in the so-called superposition states. In their current study, Krumm and Muller consider bits as points on a ball, too. But in contrast to the quantum bit, this ball is not limited to three dimensions. A few years ago, two quantum physicists from the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences proposed alternative physics in worlds with more than three spatial dimensions. To check this idea, Krumm and Muller made two assumptions about how these bits are wired: First, they are processed via reversible gates like "AND" or "NOT." Second, they satisfy an intuitive property of classical and quantum computing: knowing the single bits and how they are correlated provides a complete picture. The surprising result is that even though these bits would be more complicated, computers based on them would have extremely limited capabilities. They would not be faster than quantum computers and could not even execute ordinary algorithms. In this sense, the third dimension and the quantum bit are special, and so is quantum computationin a phrase coined previously by computer scientist Scott Aaronson, it is an "island in theoryspace." Explore further How does a quantum particle see the world? More information: Marius Krumm et al, Quantum computation is the unique reversible circuit model for which bits are balls, npj Quantum Information (2019). Marius Krumm et al, Quantum computation is the unique reversible circuit model for which bits are balls,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41534-018-0123-x Floating seismometers dubbed MERMAIDs -- Mobile Earthquake Recording in Marine Areas by Independent Divers -- reveal that Galapagos volcanoes are fed by a mantle plume reaching 1,900 km deep. By letting their nine MERMAIDs float freely for two years, an international team of researchers created an artificial network of oceanic seismometers that could fill in one of the blank areas on the global geologic map, where otherwise no seismic information is available. Drifting a mile below the surface, MERMAIDs cover a large area. The red circles show where a MERMAID picked up a seismic signal. Credit: Princeton University Seismologists use waves generated by earthquakes to scan the interior of our planet, much like doctors image their patients using medical tomography. Earth imaging has helped us track down the deep origins of volcanic islands such as Hawaii, and identify the source zones of deep earthquakes. "Imagine a radiologist forced to work with a CAT scanner that is missing two-thirds of its necessary sensors," said Frederik Simons, a professor of geosciences at Princeton. "Two-thirds is the fraction of the Earth that is covered by oceans and therefore lacking seismic recording stations. Such is the situation faced by seismologists attempting to sharpen their images of the inside of our planet." Some 15 years ago, when he was a postdoctoral researcher, Simons partnered with Guust Nolet, now the George J. Magee Professor of Geoscience and Geological Engineering, Emeritus, and they resolved to remediate this situation by building an undersea robot equipped with a hydrophonean underwater microphone that can pick up the sounds of distant earthquakes whose waves deliver acoustic energy into the oceans through the ocean floor. This week, Nolet, Simons and an international team of researchers published the first scientific results from the revolutionary seismic floats, dubbed MERMAIDsMobile Earthquake Recording in Marine Areas by Independent Divers. Floating seismometers dubbed MERMAIDs -- Mobile Earthquake Recording in Marine Areas by Independent Divers -- reveal that Galapagos volcanoes are fed by a mantle plume reaching 1,900 km deep. By letting their nine MERMAIDs float freely for two years, an international team of researchers created an artificial network of oceanic seismometers that could fill in one of the blank areas on the global geologic map, where otherwise no seismic information is available. Hot mantle rock slows down seismic waves. This plot shows (in percent) how much slower the wave travels in a cross-section cutting along the longitude 91 degrees west. The plot extends all the way to the core of the Earth (2,890 km, or about 1,800 miles), and ranges from 20 degrees south latitude to 20 degrees north. The reddish colors show where the waves slow down. Galapagos is near the equator, from which a broad plume-like structure near 1 degree north latitude descends to a depth of 1,900 km (about 1,200 miles). Credit: Princeton University The researchers, from institutions in the United States, France, Ecuador and China, found that the volcanoes on Galapagos are fed by a source 1,200 miles (1,900 km) deep, via a narrow conduit that is bringing hot rock to the surface. Such "mantle plumes" were first proposed in 1971 by one of the fathers of plate tectonics, Princeton geophysicist W. Jason Morgan, but they have resisted attempts at detailed seismic imaging because they are found in the oceans, rarely near any seismic stations. MERMAIDs drift passively, normally at a depth of 1,500 metersabout a mile below the sea surfacemoving 2-3 miles per day. When one detects a possible incoming earthquake, it rises to the surface, usually within 95 minutes, to determine its position with GPS and transmit the seismic data. By letting their nine robots float freely for two years, the scientists created an artificial network of oceanic seismometers that could fill in one of the blank areas on the global geologic map, where otherwise no seismic information is available. The unexpectedly high temperature that their model shows in the Galapagos mantle plume "hints at the important role that plumes play in the mechanism that allows the Earth to keep itself warm," said Nolet. Floating seismometers dubbed MERMAIDs -- Mobile Earthquake Recording in Marine Areas by Independent Divers -- reveal that Galapagos volcanoes are fed by a mantle plume reaching 1,900 km deep. By letting their nine MERMAIDs float freely for two years, an international team of researchers created an artificial network of oceanic seismometers that could fill in one of the blank areas on the global geologic map, where otherwise no seismic information is available. This photo, taken while developing the MERMAIDs, shows one rising to the surface after it has recorded an earthquake wave. Once at the surface, it sends a seismogram via satellite to the scientists. Credit: Yann Hello, University of Nice "Since the 19th century, when Lord Kelvin predicted that Earth should cool to be a dead planet within a hundred million years, geophysicists have struggled with the mystery that the Earth has kept a fairly constant temperature over more than 4.5 billion years," Nolet explained. "It could have done so only if some of the original heat from its accretion, and that created since by radioactive minerals, could stay locked inside the lower mantle. But most models of the Earth predict that the mantle should be convecting vigorously and releasing this heat much more quickly. These results of the Galapagos experiment point to an alternative explanation: the lower mantle may well resist convection, and instead only bring heat to the surface in the form of mantle plumes such as the ones creating Galapagos and Hawaii." To further answer questions on the heat budget of the Earth and the role that mantle plumes play in it, Simons and Nolet have teamed up with seismologists from the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China, and from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). Together, and with vessels provided by the French research fleet, they are in the process of launching some 50 MERMAIDs in the South Pacific to study the mantle plume region under the island of Tahiti. "Stay tuned! There are many more discoveries to come," said professor Yongshun (John) Chen, a 1989 Princeton graduate alumnus who is head of the Department of Ocean Science and Engineering at SUSTech, which is leading the next phase of what they and their international team have called EarthScope-Oceans. Explore further Researcher measures earthquakes in the oceans More information: "Imaging the Galapagos mantle plume with an unconventional application of floating seismometers," by Guust Nolet, Yann Hello, Suzan van der Lee, Sebastien Bonnieux, Mario C. Ruiz, Nelson A. Pazmino, Anne Deschamps, Marc M. Regnier, Yvonne Font, Yongshun J. Chen and Frederik J. Simons Scientific Reports, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-36835-w Journal information: Scientific Reports "Imaging the Galapagos mantle plume with an unconventional application of floating seismometers," by Guust Nolet, Yann Hello, Suzan van der Lee, Sebastien Bonnieux, Mario C. Ruiz, Nelson A. Pazmino, Anne Deschamps, Marc M. Regnier, Yvonne Font, Yongshun J. Chen and Frederik J. Simons The salinity sensor was integrated with an ultralow-power aquatic tag and attached to a bottlenose dolphin. This image was taken at the 2018 workshop "Ocean 2.0: Exploring With Marine Animals" in Valencia, Spain. Credit: Robert Romosan A flexible, lightweight and robust salinity sensor that can be attached to aquatic animals for long-term monitoring of their habitat has been developed by a multidisciplinary team at KAUST. The team created a sensor that accurately records salinity even after long-term submersion. The sensor can form the basis of a marine animal monitoring device that records multiple underwater habitat parameters, the researchers say. Located on the shores of the Red Sea, KAUST has a research focus on this ecologically rich and economically important ecosystem. Electrical engineer Jurgen Kosel is working with marine scientist Carlos Duarte from the Red Sea Research Center to develop monitoring devices as part of KAUST's Sensor Initiative. "As engineers, our group aspires to furnish the marine research scientists with new technologies tailored to their needs," Kosel says. One important parameter is shifting ocean salinity, which can impact the health of marine organisms, but also affects key aspects of the ocean system, such as water circulation. "It is a pivotal parameter used to study properties of the oceans as well as the effects of climate change," explains Alayna Kaidarova, a Ph.D. student in Kosel's team. The saltier the water, the higher its electrical conductivity, which can be measured using a pair of electrodes. The challenge lies in the fact that, in seawater, microorganisms will start growing on the electrode surface, causing a fall in the recorded conductance values. Kosel and his team have developed a sensor that overcomes this problem. The salinity sensor was tested at the Al Fahal Reef in the Red Sea. Credit: Nathan R. Geraldi The team created the sensor from a flexible polymer sheet. Writing on the sheet using a laser beam, the team heated targeted strips of the polymer, breaking down the polymer structure to produce conductive strips of graphene that form the electrodes. When operated at low frequency, biofouling caused the same conductance drop that had afflicted previous devices. But when it was operated at high frequency, the team showed, biofouling had no effect on the performance and the sensor maintained a steady reading even after weeks in seawater. "We avoided the influence of foulants' recruitment on the surface of the electrodes, which is expected to solve long-term reliability issues," Kaidarova says. The team plans to use the laser-induced graphene technique as a versatile, inexpensive way to create integrated sensor platforms that can monitor temperature, pressure, salinity, pH and magnetic field. "The data collected from these versatile sensors are intended to be incorporated into Red Sea conservation management," Kaidarova says. Explore further Waterproof graphene electronic circuits More information: Altynay Kaidarova et al. Flexible and Biofouling Independent Salinity Sensor, Advanced Materials Interfaces (2018). Altynay Kaidarova et al. Flexible and Biofouling Independent Salinity Sensor,(2018). DOI: 10.1002/admi.201801110 The four-person Antarctica Unexplored 2018-2019 expedition left Russias Novolazarevskaya Base on 12 December 2018. For more than 40 days they made their way to Dome Fuji, a 3810-m high ice dome in Eastern Antarctica one of the coldest places on Earth. After reaching the high point on 21 January 2019, they are now back at the Russian base. This expedition, mounted by Spains Asociacion Polar Trineo de Viento, is employing a unique zero-emission vehicle specially designed for polar exploration. The Inuit WindSled is a multi-part sledge the size of a lorry, complete with mounted tents and solar power panels, pulled through the ice using a mammoth 150 sq. m diameter kite. Credit: Inuit WindSled A kite-blown science expedition to the interior of Antarctica has made the most southerly positioning fixes yet made with Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system. Their measurements not only confirm Galileo performance at extremely high latitudes, but also offer knowledge of space weather events overhead. In particular they offer insights into the ionosphere the electrically active upper layer of Earth's atmosphere above the southern continent, and the performance of Galileo software to correct ionospheric interference. The four-person expedition left Russia's Novolazarevskaya Base on 12 December last year. For more than 40 days they made their way to Dome Fuji, a 3810-m high ice dome in Eastern Antarctica one of the coldest places on Earth. After reaching the high point on 21 January, they are now back at the Russian base. This 'Antarctica Unexplored 2018-2019' expedition, mounted by Spain's Asociacion Polar Trineo de Viento, is employing a unique zero-emission vehicle specially designed for polar exploration. The Inuit WindSled is a multi-part sledge the size of a lorry, complete with mounted tents and solar power panels, pulled through the ice using a mammoth 150 sq. m kite. The Inuit WindSled is a multi-part sledge the size of a lorry, complete with mounted tents and solar power panels, pulled through the ice using a mammoth 150 sq. m kite. Credit: European Space Agency The Windsled's inventor, Ramon Larramendi, is also the expedition leader: "This marks the first time we've climbed the Fuji Dome in a vehicle driven by the wind everyone who reached there before relied on motorised vehicles. So this is also the first time we've travelled more than 2,400 km with more than 2,000 kg of cargo using a vehicle that does not pollute the Antarctic continent. "We are also doing this in collaboration with ESA, among other scientific institutions, which is very important because it allows us to demonstrate this polar eco-vehicle has excellent possibilities for enabling science in the interior of the Antarctica continent." This expedition carries a total of 10 scientific experiments from different research institutions, covering fields such as climate change, meteorology and astrobiology. ESA's involvement with the expedition is the Galileo Experimentation and Scientific Test in Antarctica (GESTA) project. This four-person Antarctica Unexplored 2018-2019 expedition left Russias Novolazarevskaya Base on 12 December 2018. For more than 40 days they made their way to Dome Fuji, a 3810-m high ice dome in Eastern Antarctica one of the coldest places on Earth. Credit: European Space Agency GESTA involves regular positioning fixes being made over the course of the expedition for all satellite navigation constellations in all kinds of weather and geomagnetic conditions encountered. ESA provided the satnav receiver, with GMV in Spain contributing an advanced signal recorder for data analysis. One of the important aspects of the study is the monitoring of the ionosphere in such high latitudes during low solar activity. Ionospheric interference can degrade satellite navigation performance, and its incidence is linked to solar activity. GESTA is overseen by ESA's Galileo Navigation Science Office, led by Javier Ventura-Traveset: "We are very pleased with this pilot scientific experience, having been able to collect Galileo measurements all over the expedition trip as planned. The expedition reached latitudes near 80 degrees south, to our knowledge the most southerly latitude measurements ever-performed in-situ with Galileo in its current near-complete constellation status. The four-person Antarctica Unexplored 2018-2019 expedition, mounted by Spains Asociacion Polar Trineo de Viento, seen with their Inuit WindSled at high point of Dome Fuji, a 3810-m high ice dome in Eastern Antarctica on 21 January 2019. Note the ESA logo on the left tent of the WindSled. Credit: Inuit WindSled "We have also collected data from all other global satellite navigation systems and all available different frequencies, which will allow us also to assess multi-constellation solutions and compare their performance on these conditions. The expedition team kept in continuous contact via satellite with our office, allowing us to plan their activity, asking, for example, for dedicated data collections during space weather relevant events." Manuel Castillo, system engineer at the Galileo Navigation Science Office, explains: "Once the expedition data are delivered, we will be able to assess Galileo positioning, navigation and timing capabilities at polar latitudes and how they are influenced by space weather events during low solar activity. In particular, we will analyse if the occurrence of coronal holes is correlated with observed ionospheric interference. Coronal holes are open areas in the Sun's outer layer, the corona, that allow the solar wind to leave the Sun and reach Earth, triggering moderate geomagnetic storms. "At this moment in the 11-year solar cycle, with the Sun close to minimum activity, full-scale solar storms are not frequent, but the ongoing communication between the WindSled team and the Galileo Navigation Support Office allowed us to coordinate measurement times during the three minor geomagnetic storms the expedition experienced during the trip." The coronal holes triggering these geomagnetic storms were monitored, meanwhile, by Sun-watching missions such as NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory, the NASA-ESA SOHO and ESA's Proba-2. A coronal hole in the Sun, observed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory on 5 January 2019. The resulting geomagnetic activity was measured through satellite navigation measurements by the Antarctica Unexplored 2018-2019 expedition in Antarctica. Coronal holes are open areas in the Suns outer layer, the corona, that allow the solar wind to leave the Sun and reach Earth, triggering moderate geomagnetic storms. Credit: NASA Explore further The sun in 2018 New research carried out by forensic scientists at Anglia Ruskin University has shown that commonly-used emollients can pose a significant fire risk once they have dried on fabric such as clothing and bedding. The scientists tested a variety of emollients, some of which are commonly used for treating skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. The findings have been published in the Fire Safety Journal and were presented at the UK Association of Fire Investigators conference in Leeds last week. Initial work focused on creams, lotions and ointments with a paraffin base, but their recent laboratory research has indicated that the presence of paraffin-free emollient increases the flammability of fabrics. Dr. Sarah Hall and Joanne Morrissey of Anglia Ruskin University measured the time it takes for fabricsincluding cotton of different thread counts and polyester-cotton blendto ignite once contaminated with an emollient and in close proximity of a naked flame. Non-contaminated fabrics took an average of 65 seconds to ignite, while those containing emollient residue, from both paraffin and paraffin-free creams, caught fire in less than 20 seconds. Dr. Hall, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science at Anglia Ruskin University, said: "We were driven to carry out this work following a couple of tragic cases reported to us by Essex Fire and Rescue Service that were linked to fires and the use of emollients. Since then we have worked jointly with Essex Fire and Rescue, London Fire Brigade and West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. A film showing the ignition times of blank cotton, cotton that had been soaked in emollient with a 21% paraffin base, and cotton soaked in a non-paraffin emollient. Credit: Anglia Ruskin University "Our initial research focused on the range of paraffin-based creams, as this seemed the most obvious reason for flammability. However, we are now seeing that fabric that has been in contaminated with any of these creams reacts in a similar way. "We are now carrying out further research to try and identify any common ingredients as well as the best ways of removing the residue from clothing and bedding, for example the ideal washing temperature." Watch Manager Chris Bell, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and National Fire Chiefs Council Emollient Lead, said: "We welcome the report from Anglia Ruskin University and we thank the researchers for their commitment to exploring this issue further. "We want to reassure people that emollients are safe to use. They are an effective treatment for skin conditions so people should continue to use them. "However, people should be aware that when using emollients they can come into contact with fabrics, clothing, bedding or bandages which then dries leaving a flammable residue. The fabric can then be easily ignited with smoking materials such as matches and lighters, naked flames or other heat sources. "We are asking people who prescribe, dispense or apply these products to be aware that switching to a lower or paraffin-free emollient will not reduce the fire risk. Washing fabrics will reduce the risk but may not totally remove it." Explore further New study aims to find the best moisturiser for treating eczema in children More information: S. Hall et al, The flammability of textiles when contaminated with paraffin base products, Fire Safety Journal (2019). S. Hall et al, The flammability of textiles when contaminated with paraffin base products,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2019.01.003 Farmed fish. Credit: Thinkstock After many decades of salmon farming, recent years have seen studies into fish welfare in connection with issues such as how fish are treated in their cages. In particular, the fish farming sector is looking for better approaches to delousing. Researchers have now developed an electronic sensor that can be used to measure the external factors that affect fish during processes such as delousing. The project, Hydrolicerhas, been carried out by researchers to study a mechanical approach to the delousing of farmed fish. The method involves subjecting the fish to turbulence in a water chamber. Currents generated in the water mass effectively "lift" the lice from the fish with no need for chemicals. "We have progressed from having no idea about what fish are exposed to in terms of mechanical stress to having access to a variety of measurements indicating the types of stresses involved," explains Torfinn Solvang, a research scientist at SINTEF, and manager of the Hydrolicer project. The researchers discovered that the physical trauma incurred prior to delousing was probably more stressful than the process itself. "The fish have to be moved from their cages into the delousing chamber using a pump system," says Solvang. "In order to feed the salmon into the pump, they first have to be crowded together so that the system can move fish and not just water. This process can take an hour or more, while the actual delousing is completed in less than thirty seconds," he explains. The researchers also identified differences between pump systems. So-called ejector pumping, that works using high water pressure, exposed the fish to less physical stress (measured in terms of acceleration) than so-called impeller pumping, which moves the fish using a mechanical paddle installed in the water stream. The results have encouraged the researchers to start looking for even more data on the stresses that caged fish are exposed to during a variety of operations, not least delousing. Do fish feel pain? Researcher Ulf Gran Erikson, originally trained as a chemist, also works with farmed fish. He has been a close observer of developments in the industry for many years, and has worked a great deal with veterinarians on many of his research projects. He says that there is an increasing volume of research suggesting that fish can feel pain, although to date, this has proved difficult to measure. "We've sent everything from vegetables to plastic bottles through the pump systems," explains Erikson, who is also working on the Hydrolicer project. "However, unlike the fish, neither vegetables nor the sensor fish are competent swimmers with the ability to position themselves intelligently. So it will be interesting to see if we can identify new methods of finding out how fish actually respond to various types of handling," he adds. With all this in mind, cyberneticist and researcher Walter Caharija has been looking more closely into what happens to the fish during the delousing process. Some of his results are now available as part of the Kvalisys project. This project aims to advance development of the sensor fish in order to obtain even more data linked to fish welfare. The sensor fish is a cartridge-shaped object, about 50 centimetres long, containing electronic instruments and a small computer, designed to measure the responses of the fish around it. "Think of a big tube through which the fish are pumped from the inlet of one cage to the outlet of another," says Caharija. "The instruments in the sensor fish instruments record temperature, pressure and acceleration and, not least, how the sensor responds to the time it spends in the pump system," he explains. Caharija, working together with the researchers from the Hydrolicer project, has developed an approach designed to reveal even more about fish welfare, and not least the links between how technology, mechanical stress and biological factors affect the fish. For this reason, the sensor fish is equipped with a series of instruments to measure acceleration, water pressure, light conditions and temperature. It has a pressure-sensitive surface and is fitted with a GPS tracker. Measurements made during the sensor fish experiments are providing researchers with opportunities to further develop more sensitive delousing methods, which are highly sought after within the aquaculture sector, not least because fish welfare is now becoming increasingly more important at all stages of the value chain. This hasn't always been the case. "Ten years ago, and before that, there weren't as many inspections. Today, however, fish welfare is one of the most important priorities in the fish farming sector," says Erikson. Next step measuring stress Erikson emphasises that they have not assessed all delousing methods currently in use, and that the sensor fish cannot help to meet all the challenges linked to fish welfare. "We're talking about mechanical stress," says Solvang. "The sensor fish can't tell us anything about stress levels in fish our electronics simply cannot measure this. At least not at the moment," he smiles knowingly. Erikson and Solvang announced to Gemini that new projects are being launched in order to investigate a number of aspects of fish physiology. "The next step is to measure fish heart rhythms. Only then can we arrive at some conclusions about how fish really respond to the various delousing methods," concludes Erikson. Explore further Shrimp heal injured fish Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers tested whether the visual processing capabilities that allow humans to find objects quickly in a busy environment are similar for fish. The BGU team trained the archerfish to shoot at a target on a computer screen. Results showed fish are guided by the same visual features as humans: color, size, orientation, and motion. Efforts to spot a target with a slightly different shape or within a conjunction of two visual features (such as both a different color and size) resulted in slower visual search. Credit: Ben-Gurion U. Humans, fish and, most likely, other species rely on identical visual featurescolor, size, orientation, and motionto quickly search for objects, according to researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). The study published in the Journal of Vision involved target-training archerfish, a species with unique visual hunting skills that is widely used in experiments that evaluate visual perception. Click here to watch a video of the experiment. In their natural habitat, archerfish hunt by spitting a jet of water at insect prey on overhanging leaves to dislodge and eat them. BGU researchers trained the fish to distinguish between objects on a computer monitor above them and shoot at a desired target. By doing so, the fish were able to participate in a controlled experiment the same way humans do: simply by watching a computer screen and answering questions. "The experiments tested archerfish performance in visual-search tasks where a target was defined by color, size, orientation, or motion," says Professor Ronen Segev, head of the BGU Neural Code Lab, and a member of the Department of Life Sciences and Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience. "We found, for the first time, that archerfish process these four features in much the same way humans identify a target amidst distracting shapes and colors." Learning more about which features pop out for different species against distracting backgrounds and recognizing variabilities what is the same and what is differentis important for understanding how animals target what they need to survive, reproduce and avoid predators. "There is extensive evidence that color, size, orientation, and motion are the most efficient features for guiding a human's attention. We found the same universal features will also make a target pop out against a busy background for animals with very different brain anatomies and living environments," says Professor Ohad Ben-Shahar, the chair of BGU's Department of Computer Science. While the researchers confirmed that the same four visual search cues work for humans and archerfish, they question whether this is also true for other vertebrates, birds and amphibians. In addition to pinpointing the most effective visual cues, the BGU researchers were also able to identify that both humans and fish find it more difficult to target an object with a different shape or juxtaposition within a busy background. "We can use these results to study the connection between a fish's decision making, the functional properties of its visual system and other parts of the brain," Segev says. "We recommend future studies delve into the evolutionary and developmental perspectives of what guides visual search in other species." Explore further Fish suffer stage fright? More information: Adam Reichenthal et al, What pops out for you pops out for fish: Four common visual features, Journal of Vision (2019). Journal information: Journal of Vision Adam Reichenthal et al, What pops out for you pops out for fish: Four common visual features,(2019). DOI: 10.1167/19.1.1 ESAs Hera mission concept, currently under study, would be humanitys first mission to a binary asteroid: the 780 m-diameter Didymos is accompanied by a 160 m-diameter secondary body. Hera will study the aftermath of the impact caused by the NASA spacecraft DART on the smaller body. Credit: ESAScienceOffice.org ESA's planet-defending Hera mission will set a new record in space. The asteroid investigator will not only be the first spacecraft to explore a binary asteroid system the Didymos pair but the smaller of these two worldlets, comparable in size to Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza, will become the smallest asteroid ever visited. From afar, one asteroid looks much like another, until comparing them directly. Checking the well-known scale chart prepared by the Planetary Society of all asteroid and comets so far surveyed by spacecraft and the larger Didymos asteroid would form a modest dot, with its smaller moonlet struggling to make a single pixel. Didymos itself is just 780 m across smaller than any asteroid visited by a probe other than the 350-m diameter Itokawa rubble pile visited by Japan's first Hayabusa spacecraft and the 500 m-diameter Bennu, around which NASA's Osiris-REx mission is currently in orbit. That leaves Didymos's orbiting moonlet 'Didymoon' as the smallest of all asteroids scheduled for robotic inspection, at just 160 m across. "Didymoon's miniscule size really becomes clear when you look at other asteroids," comments Hera's lead scientist Patrick Michel, CNRS Director of Research of France's Cote d'Azur Observatory. Patrick also serves as co-investigator and interdisciplinary scientist on Japan's Hayabusa2 mission to the Ryugu asteroid, which is about 1 km in diameter: "Hayabusa2 images show a large boulder near the north pole of Ryugu and that single boulder is about the same size as Didymoon in its entirety." Hera is the European contribution to an ESA-NASA double-spacecraft AIDA mission, which is intended to test whether a kinetic deflection technique can be used to shift the orbit of an asteroid. The target of the mission is a double asteroid system, called Didymos, which will come a comparatively close 11 million km to Earth in 2022. The 800 m-diameter main body is orbited by a 170 m-diameter moon, informally called Didymoon. Credit: ESA/ScienceOffice.org Humankind's first planetary defence test Its diminutive size was the reason Didymoon was chosen for a pioneering planetary defence experiment. In 2022, NASA's DART spacecraft will impact Didymoon in an attempt to change its orbit around its larger twin, to test the feasibility of asteroid deflection. "This isn't the first spacecraft impact into a planetary body," adds Patrick, "NASA's Deep Impact crashed into comet Tempel 1 in 2005, but not to try and deflect it, instead it was to expose subsurface material the 6-km diameter body was much too large. But Didymoon is small enough, and in a tight enough 12-hour orbit around its parent, that its orbital period can indeed be shifted in a measurable way." After the impact, Hera will survey the Didymos asteroids in 2026 to gather key information that will not be available from Earth-based observations, including Didymoon's mass, its surface properties and the shape of DART's crater. Ryugu imaged from Hayabusa2 on 30 June 2018 from a distance of about 20 km. The large boulder obserbed near the north pole of Ryugu is about the same size as Didymos's moonlet Didymoon in its entirety. Didymoon, due to visited by ESA's Hera mission in 2026, is the smallest of all asteroids scheduled for robotic inspection, at just 160 m across. Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University of Aizu and AIST "This will give us a good estimate of the impact's momentum transfer, and hence its efficiency as a deflection technique," explains ESA's Hera project scientist, Michael Kuppers. "These are fundamental parameters to enable the validation of numerical impact models necessary to design future deflection missions. We will better understand whether this technique can be used even for larger asteroids, giving us certainty we could protect our home planet if needed." Didymoon is very relevant for such testing as it is in the riskiest class of near-Earth asteroids because of its size: larger bodies can more easily be tracked, smaller bodies will burn up or do limited damage, while a Didymoon-sized impactor could devastate an entire region of our planet. Low-gravity worldlets The Didymos system is also attractive in terms of bonus science, offering insight into the formation of the binaries that make up around 15% of known asteroids. A Planetary Society montage of 17 of the 18 asteroids and comets that have been photographed up close as of June 2018, when Hayabusa2 arrived at Ryugu. This version is in color but does not show the bodies at their correct relative albedo or brightness. Not included are Vesta or Ceres, both of which are many times larger than Lutetia. This is a provisional version for 2018. Bennu is currently represented by a gray dot; later in the year, that dot will be replaced by a new OSIRIS-REx image, and this image will be updated. Credit: Planetary Society Emily Lakdawalla "Didymos is spinning very swiftly, rotating once every two hours," says Patrick. "Around its equator, its weak pull of gravity could be overcome by centrifugal force, potentially leading to material rising from the surface the leading theory of where Didymoon came from. So landing on the equator would be impossible; you would have to touch down near its poles instead. "Didymoon's small size means we know little about it, but we assume it would be spin-locked around its parent like Earth's moon, implying a slower spin equal to its orbital period. The plan is to land at least one CubeSat there, although it will require precise navigation to achieve this. The asteroid will have something like one millionth of Earth's gravity, with an estimated escape velocity of just 6 cm per second, so one danger might be bouncing back out to space." Patrick suggests Didymoon-class objects may additionally prove optimal for planned asteroid mining: larger bodies are comparatively rarer, while their smaller equivalents are more prone to fast spinning caused by gradual warming due to sunlight. Hera is currently under study to be presented for approval by ESA's Space19+ Council meeting of European space ministers. It is planned for launch in 2023. Hera would be ESA's next mission to a small body after the Rosetta comet-chaser, benefiting from the expertise acquired during that 12-year mission. Long-term planning is crucial to realise future missions, and to ensure the continued development of innovative technology, inspiring new generations of European scientists and engineers. NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft struck the 6-km diameter comet Tempel 1 on 4 July 2005. This image was acquired 67 seconds after impact. Credit: European Space Agency NASAs Double Asteroid Redirect Test, DART, mission is the US component of AIDA, intended to collide with the smaller of two bodies of the Didymos binary asteroid system in October 2022. ESA's Hera mission will then perform follow-up post-impact observations. Credit: NASA Asteroids compared to Didymoon. Credit: Ian Carnelli adapting Planetary Society E. Lakdawalla image Explore further CubeSats joining Hera mission to asteroid system In this Monday, Feb. 5, 2007 file photo, Mark Zuckerberg poses for a photo next to a Facebook logo at the offices in Palo Alto, Calif. The social networking site is turing 15 on Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File) Facebook, trudging through its awkward teenage years, is turning 15 on Monday. Launched in 2004 as "TheFacebook," the service was originally intended only for Harvard students. It's now a massive global business that connects some 2.3 billion users. It was born in an era of desktop computers, years before the iPhone, and ran no ads. At the time it was impossible to imagine that someday countries like Russia and Iran would try to use it for sophisticated information operations in order to influence elections around the world. In 2004, CEO Mark Zuckerberg's biggest problem may have been almost getting kicked out of Harvard. Zuckerberg's 2019 worries include the threat of government regulation of the empire he has built and the gnawing possibility that despite its stated lofty goals around connecting people and building community, Facebook may not be good for the world. Today, it's hard to take a subway in New York or a tram in Budapest, Hungary without overhearing the word "Facebook" or "Instagram" in conversation or seeing their apps open on passenger phones. The social network has transformed the world, for better and for worse, and its effect will be debated for years. Here are some numbers that give an idea of Facebook's past, present and future: Number of monthly users as of Dec. 31, 2018: 2.32 billion Number of daily users as of this date: 1.5 billion Number of people in the world with internet access: 3.9 billion Year Facebook reached 1 billion users: 2012 Number of users affected by the Cambridge Analytica data-mining scandal: up to 87 million 2018 revenue: $55 billion 2018 profit: $22 billion Number of employees in 2018: 35,587 Number of employees in 2004: About 7 Year the iPhone launched: 2007 Year Facebook launched its iPhone app: 2008 Year Facebook bought Instagram: 2012 Money it paid to buy it: $1 billion Money it paid to buy WhatsApp a year later: $19 billion Amount Facebook spent lobbying the U.S. government in 2018: $12.6 million Amount it spent lobbying the U.S. government in 2010: $259,507 Initial public offering stock price on May 18, 2012: $38 Lowest stock price, reached on Sept. 4, 2012: $17.55 Highest stock price, reached on July 25, 2018: $218.62 Market value Facebook lost the next day , a stock market record: $119 billion Kuwait's GDP: $120 billion Mark Zuckerberg's net worth as of Friday: $62.4 billion Date he said the idea that fake news on Facebook influenced elections was "pretty crazy": Nov. 10, 2016 Date he wrote on Facebook he regrets saying that: Sept. 27, 2017 Number of hours Zuckerberg testified before Congress in April 2018 on election interference, privacy and other issues: 10 Number of followers he has on Facebook: 119 million Number of kids he has: 2 Sources: Facebook, International Telecommunications Union, Forbes, FactSet, lobbying disclosure forms Explore further Facebook sees higher profits, more friends 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Credit: CC0 Public Domain During the Zika virus outbreak of 2015-16, public health officials scrambled to contain the epidemic and curb the pathogen's devastating effects on pregnant women. At the same time, scientists around the globe tried to understand the genetics of this mysterious virus. The problem was, there just aren't many Zika virus particles in the blood of a sick patient. Looking for it in clinical samples can be like fishing for a minnow in an ocean. A new computational method developed by Broad Institute scientists helps overcome this hurdle. Built in the lab of Broad Institute researcher Pardis Sabeti, the "CATCH" method can be used to design molecular "baits" for any virus known to infect humans and all their known strains, including those that are present in low abundance in clinical samples, such as Zika. The approach can help small sequencing centers around the globe conduct disease surveillance more efficiently and cost-effectively, which can provide crucial information for controlling outbreaks. The new study was led by MIT graduate student Hayden Metsky and postdoctoral researcher Katie Siddle, and it appears online in Nature Biotechnology. "As genomic sequencing becomes a critical part of disease surveillance, tools like CATCH will help us and others detect outbreaks earlier and generate more data on pathogens that can be shared with the wider scientific and medical research communities," said Christian Matranga, a co-senior author of the new study who has joined a local biotech startup. Scientists have been able to detect some low-abundance viruses by analyzing all the genetic material in a clinical sample, a technique known as "metagenomic" sequencing, but the approach often misses viral material that gets lost in the abundance of other microbes and the patient's own DNA. Another approach is to "enrich" clinical samples for a particular virus. To do this, researchers use a kind of genetic "bait" to immobilize the target virus's genetic material, so that other genetic material can be washed away. Scientists in the Sabeti lab had successfully used baits, which are molecular probes made of short strands of RNA or DNA that pair with bits of viral DNA in the sample, to analyze the Ebola and Lassa virus genomes. However, the probes were always directed at a single microbe, meaning they had to know exactly what they were looking for, and they were not designed in a rigorous, efficient way. What they needed was a computational method for designing probes that could provide a comprehensive view of the diverse microbial content in clinical samples, while enriching for low-abundance microbes like Zika. "We wanted to rethink how we were actually designing the probes to do capture," said Metsky. "We realized that we could capture viruses, including their known diversity, with fewer probes than we'd used before. To make this an effective tool for surveillance, we then decided to try targeting about 20 viruses at a time, and we eventually scaled up to the 356 viral species known to infect humans." Short for "Compact Aggregation of Targets for Comprehensive Hybridization," CATCH allows users to design custom sets of probes to capture genetic material of any combination of microbial species, including viruses or even all forms of all viruses known to infect humans. To run CATCH truly comprehensively, users can easily input genomes from all forms of all human viruses that have been uploaded to the National Center for Biotechnology Information's GenBank sequence database. The program determines the best set of probes based on what the user wants to recover, whether that's all viruses or only a subset. The list of probe sequences can be sent to one of a few companies that synthesize probes for research. Scientists and clinical researchers looking to detect and study the microbes can then use the probes like fishing hooks to catch desired microbial DNA for sequencing, thereby enriching the samples for the microbe of interest. Tests of probe sets designed with CATCH showed that after enrichment, viral content made up 18 times more of the sequencing data than before enrichment, allowing the team to assemble genomes that could not be generated from un-enriched samples. They validated the method by examining 30 samples with known content spanning eight viruses. The researchers also showed that samples of Lassa virus from the 2018 Lassa outbreak in Nigeria that proved difficult to sequence without enrichment could be "rescued" by using a set of CATCH-designed probes against all human viruses. In addition, the team was able to improve viral detection in samples with unknown content from patients and mosquitos. Using CATCH, Metsky and colleagues generated a subset of viral probes directed at Zika and chikungunya, another mosquito-borne virus found in the same geographic regions. Along with Zika genomes generated with other methods, the data they generated using CATCH-designed probes helped them discover that the Zika virus had been introduced in several regions months before scientists were able to detect it, a finding that can inform efforts to control future outbreaks. To demonstrate other potential applications of CATCH, Siddle used samples from a range of different viruses. Siddle and others have been working with scientists in West Africa, where viral outbreaks and hard-to-diagnose fevers are common, to establish laboratories and workflows for analyzing pathogen genomes on-site. "We'd like our partners in Nigeria to be able to efficiently perform metagenomic sequencing from diverse samples, and CATCH helps them boost the sensitivity for these pathogens," said Siddle. The method is also a powerful way to investigate undiagnosed fevers with a suspected viral cause. "We're excited about the potential to use metagenomic sequencing to shed light on those cases and, in particular, the possibility of doing so locally in affected countries," said Siddle. One advantage of the CATCH method is its adaptability. As new mutations are identified and new sequences are added to GenBank, users can quickly redesign a set of probes with up-to-date information. In addition, while most probe designs are proprietary, Metsky and Siddle have made publicly available all of the ones they designed with CATCH. Users have access to the actual probe sequences in CATCH, allowing researchers to explore and customize the probe designs before they are synthesized. Sabeti and fellow researchers are excited about the potential for CATCH to improve large-scale high-resolution studies of microbial communities. They are also hopeful that the method could one day have utility in diagnostic applications, in which results are returned to patients to make clinical decisions. For now, they're encouraged by its potential to improve genomic surveillance of viral outbreaks like Zika and Lassa, and other applications requiring a comprehensive view of low-level microbial content. The CATCH software is publicly accessible on GitHub. Its development and validation, supervised by Sabeti and Matranga, is described online in Nature Biotechnology. Explore further Ebola surveillance may become quicker and cheaper More information: Capturing sequence diversity in metagenomes with comprehensive and scalable probe design, Nature Biotechnology (2019). Journal information: Nature Biotechnology Capturing sequence diversity in metagenomes with comprehensive and scalable probe design,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41587-018-0006-x Guwahati: Union Minister of State for Tourism KJ Alphons and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday had inaugurated the 2nd ASEAN-India Youth Summit at Hotel Taj Vivanta in Guwahati. Over 100 youth delegates from Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Indonesia took part in the summit tag-lined Connectivity: Pathway to Shared Prosperity, organised by India Foundation and the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that, that the 2nd ASEAN- India Youth Summit being held in Guwahati will help in spearheading development of the region which will be propelled exclusively by the youth forces. In the present day world order, friendly relations among the 10 ASEAN countries and three BBN countries are of immense importance for promoting and strengthening the mutual interests like trade and commerce, education, health, connectivity, socio-cultural integration etc. Talking on the importance of youth led development in India and elsewhere in ASEAN countries, Sonowal said Sonowal during his brief address touched upon the areas like human resources, spiritual resources, tourism resources and on the top of everything is countrys IT resources and urged upon the youth from all the ASEAN countries to explore these areas and set an agenda for working together to script a success story for all the countries of the region. India is moving forward under the visionary leadership of Honble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi who has enunciated the Act East Policy which entails increased people to people contact, trade and other relations with countries on Indias east particularly ASEAN countries. Prime Minister has put North Eastern Region at the heart of the Act East Policy. The policy puts North East, which has so far been treated as a land locked region, at the center of Indias interaction with ASEAN, Sonowal said. The Assam CM also said that many of ASEAN capitals are within 2,000 kilometre flying distance from Guwahati which is comparable to flying distance of Guwahati to many Indian cities. With locational advantage of sharing over 4500 km of international boundary North East Region has all the potentials of emerging as a new growth hub. Guwahati which has been pitched to be the gateway to South East Asian countries, infrastructural capacity of the city is being upgraded considerably. The construction of an Integrated Terminal at LGBI Airport involving a financial outlay of Rs 1300 crore is going on in full swing. Sonowal also advocated that all the countries belonging to ASEAN and BBN countries need to work as a family to realize the common agenda of the respective countries, Sonowal said. Union Minister of State for Tourism KJ Alphons while speaking on the occasion, said that in view of xenophobic ideas that are taking toll to the present day society, youth delegates from different ASEAN countries should think beyond my own people, my own country for a mutually tolerant all encompassing world order. Talking about the yogic philosophy that India has given worldwide, the minister said that the yogic philosophy which underscores I want to be happy and others also need to be happy should be followed everywhere. He also said that the ASEAN countries need to work together to realize goal of the ASEAN-India collaborative year. India is famous for its tourism potentials which has helped the country to earn nearly 234 billion dollars in last financial year as he urged upon the foreign delegates to make an extensive tour to Indias North East and discover the region, Alphons said. Deputy Secretary General ASEAN Socio Cultural Community Kung Phoak speaking on the occasion said that the presence of delegates from all ASEAN countries in the Summit is the testimony to our commitment to shared goal that is mutual friendship and mutually agreeable initiatives. He also hoped that the new Summit would take the ASEAN-India strategic partnership to a new height. The summit will conclude on February 7. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) Credit: CC0 Public Domain Recent news surrounding climate change and its consequences has been grim lately. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body tasked with providing governments with the most accurate and up-to-date scientific information upon which they can frame their policy-making, released a special report in October 2018. It called for a rapid net reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. This means there are fewer than 12 years remaining for these changes to be accomplished globally. Compounding these dire warnings are the potential consequences for severe catastrophic events as they unfold in a turbulent global environment, both physically and politically. The Trump administration's recent release of the Fourth National Climate Assessment demonstrates just how costly climate change and catastrophic events will be for the United States in the future. Yet the administration and even President Donald Trump himself deny the existence and effects of climate change, including during increasingly severe events. But others are taking the consequences of climate change seriously, including the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), which has been actively increasing its resilience. The DoD views climate change as a "threat multiplier" and has been working to integrate adaptation measures into its plans, operations and training both internally and in conjunction with external partners. Within this context, Trump's recent government shutdown and the intractable disagreement over the border wall is misguided in the most charitable of terms. Funding the wall with disaster relief money While the crisis over the shutdown appears to be over, at least for now, Trump has threatened to fund his border wall by taking money allocated for disaster relief and reconstruction. This includes $2.4 billion for California in the aftermath of its devastating wildfires and $2.5 billion to assist Puerto Rico's recovery from Hurricane Maria. Trump's rhetoric around the allocation of disaster relief funds, along with other disaster-related subjects, including death tolls, reveals just how easily disasters are politicized. They're used for political gain almost always at the expense of those most vulnerable. That's because politicians make politically expedient choices in this case over funding a border wall ahead of those that actually protect the security and safety of citizens in ongoing and future disasters. Most importantly, Trump's threats illustrate why our discourse surrounding climate change and catastrophic events matters, and why it needs to change in order to reduce the impact of future disasters. Mainstream narratives of disasters present them as isolated events in both space and time, distinct from our everyday relationship with nature, and possessing a definite beginning, middle and end. These narratives generally focus on the physical hazard itself as opposed to the preconditions that actually result in disaster. 'Just a temporary crisis' When the flood or hurricane or forest fire is over, the thinking goes, our normal relationship with nature resumes until the next crisis occurs. This framing of disasters, and the policy prescriptions that follow from it, was first identified by Kenneth Hewitt in his 1983 work Interpretations of Calamity from the Viewpoint of Human Ecology. Hewitt's observations about this mainstream framing he called it the "dominant view" of disasters was pivotal in the field of disaster studies. Scholars in the field, including Hewitt himself, started to argue for an expansive understanding of disasters that recognized the underlying aspects that determine the vulnerability of a community to specific hazards and risks, whether they're natural or technological. Disasters are deeply connected to the economic, political and social factors that make people particularly vulnerable to them. While it's convenient, for the purposes of media coverage or politicians, to understand them as having definitive beginnings, middles,, and ends, scholars have pointed out that viewing them this way is extremely problematic. Trump's threat to raid funds allocated in the aftermath of 2018's devastating disasters is part of these narratives. It must be understood as an explicitly political choice that negatively impedes the recovery of those communities for whom the funds were originally allocated. Making this choice would ultimately increase the vulnerability of those communities to future disasters. Understanding the consequences of Trump's threats to reallocate funding to his border wall makes the political aspects of disasters more visible, especially when framed by the effects of climate change and its consequences. Disasters are not isolated and distinct events but rather ongoing processes. A better understanding of the relationship between disasters and their underlying causes encourages politicians to take steps to reduce vulnerability, both through the better allocation of funds for disaster mitigation, as well as by supporting social and economic development programs for vulnerable populations. In my own work, I have called for an explicit understanding of disasters as a form of violence, and recent events have helped exemplify the necessity to reframe our understanding of disasters in an intentionally political way. Trump's threats to the citizens of California and Puerto Rico over his wall make the plight of the vulnerable visible and the political nature of disasters explicit. By challenging how we perceive and understand disasters, we can change the discussions surrounding them and pressure politicians to move away from making politically expedient choices at the expense of the vulnerable. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, which claimed 173 lives and destroyed 2,133 homes, were the worst bushfire disaster in Australian history. After the devastation, a Royal Commission was called to investigate how the fires occurred and caused so much destruction. The Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission ran for 18 months, called 434 witnesses, produced 67 recommendations and cost an estimated A$90 million. But, this Royal Commission is only one of over 50 formal inquiries into bushfire management in south-eastern Australia since 1939. So we have difficult questions to ask ourselves: Why do we need so many public inquiries? What effects do they have on bushfire management and bushfire risk? What role do universities, training and research organisations have in improving bushfire management? Fixing a flawed system? There are two broad reasons to hold these kinds of formal inquires. The first is to fix a flawed systemmaking it more effective, efficient, sustainable, responsive and/or accountable. The second reason is to provide a new direction in fire management vision, culture and/or philosophy. But, more often than not the public and media want someone to blame, and to take legal and financial responsibility for personal, business and public losses. This multiplicity of purpose often leads to these inquiries not achieving their intended goals and objectives. The Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission acknowledged that the responsibility for preparing and responding to bushfires is a "shared responsibility" between people as individuals, families, and members of the community and the government, through various government agencies like the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP). But, the implication of the recommendations was that the "government" needed to be more accountable and take control in bushfire emergencies through efforts like appointing an Emergency Services Commissioner. This then largely down-plays the role and responsibility of the public. The elected government has also reinforced this mis-interpretation of the Royal Commission's recommendations because it wants to be seen as strong, reliable and empathetic and, as a result, deserves to be in power and to govern. The Government and its agencies has also been timid in applying land-use planning regulations in bushfire-prone areas. While the CFA, with its experienced and specialist bushfire planning staff, has been removed from its role as a planning authority with the power to accept or reject planning applications for buildings and developments in bushfire-prone areas. The CFA is asked for their opinion, but it is local councils, and their planning staff, that ultimately decide whether or not a planned development should proceed. Balancing the risks Government agencies, such as DELWP, Parks Victoria, and CFA, have been charged with undertaking fuel hazard reduction programs on public land, but, there is little effort to reduce fuel hazards on private land. Fuel hazards on private land in some areas may represent up to 70 per cent of the bushfire risk to the community, but little or no responsibility is given to the private land owners on whose land the fuel hazard exists. Any hazard reduction programs can also be seriously hampered by public and media concern about smoke impacts and the occasional escaped burn. In fact, some of the implications of the inquiry into the Lancefield escaped planned burn in November 2015 have gone well beyond improving planned burning and implementation, to significantly reducing the extent of planned burning and this means an increased level of bushfire risk. But little effort has been made by government agencies to balance the level of landscape bushfire risk, with the risks of local losses from escaped planned burns. Escaped burns occur fewer than two out of every hundred operations, and escapes with the impact of the Lancefield fire are more like one in a thousand. What was saved Today, with government agencies primarily responsible to the Government of the day rather than to the public, there's a high expectation of having to be fully accountable for their actions (and rarely to any inactions) to a board of inquiry. To this end, the level of documentation and strict compliance to process, outweighs the need to be effective and efficient. A significant amount of effort and attention is given to matters that might attract criticism, but much less attention and effort is given to what can be achieved. For example, on Black Saturday, 173 people died, but about 15,000 people were in the fire-affected area. Little attention was given to the reasons behind so many people's survival. Similarly, about 2,000 houses were destroyed, but about 9,000 houses were in the fire affected area. We do not know as much about the 7,000 houses that survived as the 2,000 houses that were burnt. Our bushfire future This attention on reducing negative criticism misses the opportunity to recognise and build on the successes and to evaluate the bushfire emergency efforts on the day in terms of what was saved against what was lost. Since Black Saturday, we have not been able to change our thinking and management to negotiating the real and acceptable level of bushfire risk we want and can afford to have. The propensity for inquiries has had the perverse effect of making bushfire management less effective and efficient than it should be. Politicians and public agency leaders have not been prepared to have a fair-dinkum engagement with the community so we can truly "share the responsibility" and not just shed the blame. Education, research and training organisations have the ability to train better decision-makers for our bushfire future; but that is pointless if the demand is for bureaucrats and public relations consultants. Explore further Anxious people respond worst to bushfire threat 3-D digitised skull of a little bush moa from Auckland War Memorial museum. Credit: Massey University A new website for viewing 3-D bird bones aims to make bird bones in museums more accessible for research and teaching. Massey University senior lecturer Dr. Daniel Thomas has launched a new website, called Fauna Toolkit: Bird Bones for students and researchers interested in identifying bird bones. Inspired by existing initiatives like Aves3D.org, the site currently contains 159 bones from 28 species, including many New Zealand species, such as the Little Bush Moa, the North Island Brown Kiwi, and Karearea (New Zealand falcon), and Dr. Thomas plans to add more items. Dr. Thomas says the project is designed around the philosophy of making objects that are not on display in museums, more easily available. "Museum collections are often rich with local species and may have fewer specimens from overseas, meaning that researchers may need to travel internationally if they want to view bones from certain birds. A project like this one can make bones of rare species potentially accessible anywhere." The digitised models were created by scanning collections belonging to the Auckland War Memorial Museum and Canterbury Museum. Dr. Thomas intends to use this site for his own research and teaching, including the bones module of the 300-level Ornithology class he teaches. "Imagine walking along a beach and discovering a bird bone recently exposed out of a sand dune" says Dr. Thomas. We can use the 3-D models to identify where in the body the bone is from, and we could maybe use the models to identify the species." "Paul Scofield from Canterbury Museum first encouraged me to launch the website and Guy Annan at Auckland Museum guided the site's design. We look forward to continuing to grow the site in the future." Explore further Extinct eagle and 'weaponised' weka brought to life digitally Credit: CC0 Public Domain When convincing management to consider advocating for a particular social issue, employees may think it is wise to focus on the benefits to the bottom line but making a moral argument may be a better strategy, as long as it aligns with the company's values, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. "Employees often care about social issues and use their organizations as a vehicle to foster social change," said David M. Mayer, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan and lead author of the study. "Yet, despite commonly communicating through economic language, speaking up about morals can be more effective when the issue is framed to fit the company's values and mission." The findings were published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Mayer and his colleagues conducted a series of surveys and an experiment to test when and how moral language could be successful in selling social issues, such as protecting the environment, expanding health care and curbing poverty. They defined success as when an employee influenced his or her manager to spend time, money, resources and attention to address a social issue. One survey asked 141 working adults to report times when they spoke to management about an important social issue. Participants were then asked to respond to questions about how they framed their argument (e.g., if they "argued it would be a socially good or morally right thing to do" and "argued that the change would fit well with the values of the organization"). "Almost half of the participants had done this before and were most successful at getting buy-in from their managers when they focused on morality and when they framed the issue as fitting in well with the organization's mission and values," said Mayer. Another exercise involved 88 employee-manager pairs to further study how such arguments about social issues are delivered and perceived. Employees reported if they "used values to help sell the issue," if they "made a business case" or if they "fit their argument to the company's mission," while managers rated the employee's persuasiveness and if the organization responded positively by then advocating for that social issue. As in the prior survey, the researchers found that when employees used moral language that fit with the organization's mission, supervisors were more likely to devote attention, time, money and other resources to the social issue. However, if the employee used economic language or moral language that did not align with the company's values, it was not as effective. "Using moral language without drawing explicit links to the organization's values might backfire because it highlights the irrelevance of the issue to the organization's core agenda," said Mayer. Another experiment asked 170 adults to imagine they were supervisors at a manufacturing company and one of their employees shared an idea about incorporating a green technology. Participants then read both business and moral arguments for adding the green technology and were asked to rate the persuasiveness of the employee. "Interestingly, we found that framing the issue as being of an economic benefit yielded better results than when it was framed as a moral issue," said Mayer. "We think this could have been because the participants were asked to consider a hypothetical situation as opposed to remembering an actual experience. Perhaps the participants made their decisions based on their beliefs about how managers should make decisions, that managers should always be thinking of the bottom line." In the final exercise, 305 employee-manager pairs recalled an experience when the employee advocated on behalf of a particular social issue. The employees reported how they framed their argument and how it fit in with the company's values and mission and then assessed how helpful they thought their supervisor would be and whether or not he or she would feel guilty if they did not agree to help. Managers reported how much time, money and resources they put in to address the issue and if they would feel guilty or not if they did not help. As with prior experiments, the researchers found that when employees used moral language, it was more effective when it was framed as fitting well with the organization's values, according to the study. Mayer believes this research may provide support for the idea that social change within companies can come from the bottom up rather than the top down. "It was the lower-level employees who tried to make change, and many were successful," he said. "This may provide employees inspiration in the future that they can be influential within their organizations, especially if they address an issue that fits within the company's values and mission." Explore further Study shows victims of workplace undermining become the perpetrators More information: "The Money or the Morals? When Moral Language Is More Effective for Selling Social Issues," by David M. Mayer, PhD, and Susan J. Ashford, PhD, University of Michigan; Madeline Ong, PhD, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; and Scott Sonenshein, PhD, Rice University. Journal of Applied Psychology, published Feb. 4, 2019. Journal information: Journal of Applied Psychology "The Money or the Morals? When Moral Language Is More Effective for Selling Social Issues," by David M. Mayer, PhD, and Susan J. Ashford, PhD, University of Michigan; Madeline Ong, PhD, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; and Scott Sonenshein, PhD, Rice University., published Feb. 4, 2019. THE Inter-Agency and Tourism Stakeholders Security Summit for Southern Cebu was held in Barangay Tan-awan in the southern town of Oslob on Sunday, February 3.The gathering was in response to the recent THE Inter-Agency and Tourism Stakeholders Security Summit for Southern Cebu was held in Barangay Tan-awan in the southern town of Oslob on Sunday, February 3. The gathering was in response to the recent travel advisory the British government issued against the area. Office of the Presidential Adviser for the Visayas Michael Dino assured stakeholders that there was no threat in the whole province. Kuyawan ko (I was alarmed), cause it is not true nga (that) there is (a) threat. It is very, very true that there is no threat. We are all here, making sure that Southern Cebu is safe and there is zero-percent threat, he said during the gathering. Dino said the British government should have coordinated with the local military, police and intelligence community before issuing the advisory. Coordinate first with the military, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency and the police. You should have a basis with the travel advisory because it will affect the entire Visayas, which is the center of tourism in the Philippines, he said. He urged other countries to coordinate with the local intelligence community to know the current peace and order situation in a particular area. Additional security The summit was attended by resort owners in Oslob and mayors from Argao, Boljoon, Oslob and Samboan, among others. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will establish a Southern Cebu Station in Oslob this month to help the police and the military protect Southern Cebu from any terrorist threat. Captain Ronnie Gavan said they would deploy another vessel to patrol the waters off Oslob and Sumilon Island and the neighboring province of Bohol. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)-Central Command also encouraged the public to be vigilant and to report to them any sightings of suspicious persons and objects. The threat of terrorism has no borders, boundaries and territories, so anytime and anywhere it can be undertaken by any terrorist...Now the threat is in Mindanao, specifically in the island of Jolo... How we can prevent that from coming to our shores is up to us. It is very important that all of us will participate and coordinate to protect our communities, Lt. Gen. Noel Clement said in Cebuano. Story continues Police Regional Office-Central Visayas Director Debold Sinas echoed his sentiment, adding that sufficient tourist police had been deployed in the towns, especially in Oslob. Even if we didnt receive a threat, we, the police, in coordination with the AFP and the PCG and other force multipliers, are always ready, Sinas said in Cebuano. Oslob Mayor Jose Tumulak revealed that the advisory did not affect the influx of tourist in the town. Instead, they noticed a surge in arrivals, he said. THE evidence against lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility is sound, well-documented, persuasive and overwhelming. For criminal justice systems all over the world, determination of criminal liability rests on the notion of discernment. As defined in the Rule on Juveniles in Conflict with the Law, discernment is the mental capacity to understand the difference between right and wrong and its consequences. Evidence derived from numerous and exhaustive scientific research on child and adolescent development revealed that children differ from adults in decision-making, control of their impulses, identity development and overall maturity. Studies have shown that the brain of children and adolescents is still in the process of development. An expert witness during the first Committee hearing also pointed to scientific findings that established that brain development continues to progress well into early adulthood. Anatomically, the pre-frontal region of the brain and its corresponding brain activity continue to undergo significant changes. This region of the brain is responsible for impulse control, decision-making, long-term planning, regulating emotions, and evaluating risks and rewards. The physiological immaturity of the brain around puberty may stimulate adolescents to crave higher levels of novelty and engage in more risk-taking behavior. Also, compared to adults the decision-making capacities of a child or adolescent are diminished by their psychosocial immaturity. Their limited exposure to life experiences deprive them of the facility to contemplate and think through the future implications of their choices. This psychosocial immaturity also leads to a marked difference between an adult and children/adolescents on how the latter would respond to external pressures as they easily succumb to peer pressure and give in to impulsiveness. Specific to the Philippines, as earlier cited, in a research conducted by the University Research Center of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila entitled, Beyond Innocence: A Study on the Age of Discernment of Filipino Children where age of discernment is operationalized to mean the specific age level during which an individual is able to demonstrate a pattern of reasoning that generally conforms with what are conventionally acceptable, the age of discernment of Filipino children has been identified at 15 years old. It has been determined that at this age, the Filipino child has had enough experience of the world to develop logical thoughts that will help her/him facilitate the formulation of hypotheses and examine abstract ideas. Confirming this, the Psychological Association of the Philippines, in their strong opposition to the lowering of the minimum age of criminal responsibility points out that while adolescence might be a time when a significant number of minors would engage in some form of delinquent behavior, they have not established a criminal identity and would eventually outgrow them. It is the exposure to pervasive personal and environmental risk factors over time that would construct criminal behavior.--AKBAYAN SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS ON SENATE BILL 2198 THE National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has removed over 650,000 campaign materials all over Metro Manila.NCRPO Director Major General Guillermo Eleazar urged the candidates to also do their THE End ENDO Bill is at the final stretch. Labor groups are eager to take it home. We have taken the fight this far. We expect no less than the passage of the End ENDO Bill. More than 500 workers from Nagkaisa members Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Sentro, Partido Manggagawa, Federation of Free Workers, AGILA, PALEA, UFSW and PSLINK gathered at the doorsteps of the Senate Monday morning voicing out: End ENDO now! We would like to see Malacanang actively engaging the legislators through its Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) as it shepherds the bill to its passage, as it usually does in all certified measures. In September last year, after continuous pressure from Nagkaisa, President Rodrigo Duterte certified as urgent the End ENDO Bill. We call on the President to ensure that his decision to certify as urgent the passage of Senate Bill 1826 is carried to the letter by all his allies in the Senate by passing the bill as it is.--NAGKAISA LABOR COALITION Shares in German payment services firm Wirecard rebounded sharply in Frankfurt Monday, after the company issued a strong denial of fraud allegations reported last week. The stock gained 12.2 percent by 10:40 am (0940 GMT) to trade at 121.75 euros ($139.40), topping the DAX index of blue-chip shares. In a statement, Wirecard said it had hired Singaporean law firm Rajah and Tann to investigate allegations of fraud by an employee in the city-state, reported last week by the Financial Times (FT). Shares in the firm, whose products range from software for processing online payments to card terminals for shops and creditworthiness checks, lost more than 30 percent of their value last week. An internal probe had already "found no evidence to support the allegations and concluded that they were unfounded," the company added. "Furthermore, there were indications that the allegations could be related to personal animosity between the employees involved," Wirecard said. The company's renewed denial of the allegations comes after Singaporean police said they were launching their own investigation. In an emailed statement to AFP Monday, a spokesperson said police were "looking into the matter." In Singapore, a regional finance hub, the police's Commercial Affairs Department carries out investigations on financial crimes such as money laundering. The FT reported last week it had seen documents from Rajah and Tann citing evidence of "serious offences of forgery and/or of falsification of accounts/documents". "There are reasons to suspect that they may have been carried out to conceal other misdeeds, such as cheating, criminal breach of trust, corruption and/or money laundering," the document seen by the FT said. At the time, Wirecard blasted the newspaper's reports as "inaccurate, misleading and defamatory". On Monday, it released a letter from Rajah and Tann saying the law firm's investigation is "ongoing". "To date we have made no conclusive findings of criminal misconduct on the part of any officer or employee" at Wirecard, the lawyers said. In Germany, financial markets watchdog Bafin said Thursday it was launching an investigation into possible market manipulation over the story. Wirecard stunned the traditional German banking sector last year by displacing banking stalwart Commerzbank from the prestigious DAX index. Hailed as a champion of the "fintech" (financial technology) scene with its software for cashless and contactless payments, it then boasted a market valuation of more than 23 billion euros -- outweighing even giant Deutsche Bank. burs-tgb/dlc/rl Pope Francis and a top Muslim cleric Monday issued a joint call for freedom of belief during the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the birthplace of Islam -- the Arabian Peninsula. Francis, who has made outreach to Muslim communities a cornerstone of his papacy, is on an historic three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates. He is due to hold an open-air mass on Tuesday for 135,000 of the Muslim country's million Catholic residents, set to be the largest ever public gathering in the Gulf state. On Monday, the pope held talks in Abu Dhabi with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb -- imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's prestigious seat of learning. The two religious leaders signed a document on "human fraternity for world peace and living together", described by the Vatican as an "important step forward in the dialogue between Christians and Muslims". They called for "freedom of belief", the "promotion of a culture of tolerance", the "protection of places of worship" and "full citizenship" rights for minorities. "It is... crucial to establish in our societies the concept of full citizenship and reject the discriminatory use of the term minorities which engenders feelings of isolation and inferiority," read the document. It said "freedom is a right of every person: each individual enjoys the freedom of belief, thought, expression and action" and that "pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God". "The fact that people are forced to adhere to a certain religion or culture must be rejected, as too the imposition of a cultural way of life that others do not accept," it said. Francis also delivered an address at an interfaith meeting attended by Sheikh Ahmed and UAE leaders, and pushed for an end to all wars in the Middle East, including in Yemen. The United Arab Emirates and neighbouring Saudi Arabia are key allies of the Yemeni government, which is locked in a war against Iran-linked rebels that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. - 'Reject war' - The pope said all religious leaders had a "duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war". "I am thinking in particular of Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya," he said. Yemen is the scene of what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, triggered by the intervention of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies in a war between the government and Huthi rebels. More than 10 million Yemenis now risk imminent starvation. The UAE, which prides itself on its religious diversity in the Gulf, is also a member of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in both Syria and Iraq. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, one of the most powerful rulers in the seven emirates, on Monday gifted the pope a deed for the plot of land on which the first church in the UAE was built. Pope Francis in turn gave him a framed medallion of the meeting between St. Francis Assisi -- the pope's namesake -- and the Sultan of Egypt Malek al-Kamel, in 1219. While the pope did not openly discuss politics, he called for "the full recognition" of rights for people across the Middle East, a potential reference to communities including Shiites in Saudi Arabia, refugees and migrants, stateless peoples and other minorities. "I look forward to societies where people of different beliefs have the same right of citizenship and where only in the case of violence in any of its forms is that right removed," he said. - 'Year of tolerance' - The Emirates has dubbed 2019 its "year of tolerance" but rights groups have criticised it for its role in Yemen, where an estimated 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-led alliance the government's fight against the Huthis in 2015. Muslims make up nearly four fifths of the UAE's population, but the country is also home to nearly a million Catholics, according to the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Migrants from Asian countries make up about 65 percent of the population. The UAE has pushed itself as an open society in a conservative region. The country is home to eight Catholic churches, Hindu temples and a place of prayer that serves as a synagogue. Bahrain and Qatar are home to one Catholic church each while Oman, Kuwait and Yemen each have four while Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia bans all non-Muslim places of worship. By day, Tian Haicheng relies on others to help him dress, eat and bathe. But when night falls, the paralysed former factory worker in northwest China transforms into a live-streaming star. As soon as he logs on to an online chat room from his home in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, he is greeted by many of his more than half a million faithful viewers. What took you so long? one writes. Using the knuckles of his permanently fisted hand, Tian, 39, navigates the mobile phone he uses to stream his cheery updates, turns on the microphone and starts talking. He greets the viewers, makes jokes about himself, and sings with his six-year-old daughter Jiajia. Virtual hearts and flowers flood the screen, digital gifts that can be turned into real money. In a good month Tian can earn about 3,000 yuan (US$447) from these performances. Its a livelihood that up until a couple of years ago Tian had no idea even existed. Back then, Tian was in the depths of despair, permanently crippled and dependent on the eldest and youngest members of his household. The once proud breadwinner and factory worker was struggling to find a reason to live after a devastating car crash. His journey back is a tale of not only his but a whole familys journey through adversity. Everything changed for Tian just after Lunar New Year in 2016. His friend was driving him into town to get paid for a welding job when the speeding vehicle flipped over on a corner and landed in a ditch. His head smashed against some concrete and he passed out. The driver, who was neither licensed nor insured, walked away uninjured but Tian was left with permanent severe spinal damage. During his first few days in hospital, he could barely move a muscle. He lay all day in bed, waiting for his mother to dress him, feed him and wash him. The man who could once hoist a 100kg bag of grain onto his shoulder with one hand could now not even lift a chopstick. The family barely scraped together enough money to pay for a few days of treatment in intensive care but did not have enough for surgery, sending Tian home to the care of his wife and their two children, Jiajia and her then 10-year-old brother. Story continues But two months later, Tians wife left to go to another town for a few days, taking their son with her. She never returned. He called her several times to ask why, but she never gave a clear answer, he said. Tians elderly parents briefly considered admitting him to a convalescent home, but the cost of care was way beyond anything they could afford and the parents had no option but to look after him themselves. The doctor at the home said instead of ending in disappointment, I should just try exercises at home, I can recover to whatever level possible, he said. Starting over Tian Junlin, Tian Haichengs father, is a stout, quiet man who cannot sit still. From dawn till dusk, he feeds the cows, chops wood and works in the fields, planting corn in Haiyuan, one of Ningxias driest areas. Just before Lunar New Year, the corn harvest is in and the land is bare and hard with frost. Corn stalks that have not been picked clean poke through the ground like hundreds of spikes. In the 1970s, the United Nations described the county as the most unfit place for human settlement and today nearly 45,000 people in the area live below the poverty line. Its dusty, yellow land is so parched that irrigation systems cannot even be installed, according to Tian Junlin. He earns about 6,000 yuan (US$895) a year from farming roughly a quarter of the national average wage. But as tough as things are, Tian Junlin has known worse. In the great famine of 1959, villagers stripped the land, ingesting everything in a desperate effort to fill their stomachs. There were no crops, no grass, not even a single piece of bark left on the trees. It was the worst period of his life, but he survived it as a boy. Afterwards, life grew better and richer. Someone in the village started doing business and bought a car, and so did he. He had a family, two sons and then grandchildren came along. Just as he was about to settle into peaceful old age, his eldest son was hit by a car. When people my age are being cared for by their children, I have to do the opposite, he said. But what is there to do? This is fate. Tian Junlin and his wife, Ma Yingxiu, took on the huge task of caring for their son around the clock. At the same time, Tian Haicheng despaired about his future and grew suicidal. In the summer, when flies and mosquitoes descended, the best he could do was wrinkle his nose and hope they would leave him alone. Laid out on his bed, he would pass time by counting and recounting the thousands of stripes painted on the ceiling. When others cant sleep, they count sheep. But me? I count stripes, he said. He also replayed his happiest memories over and over in his head. One of them was of getting off work from his factory job to find his wife standing outside, waving at him. It was a memory of a lost time. A way ahead One day, Tians mother pushed his bed outside so he could get some sunlight while she went to work in the fields with his father. As Tian lay on the bed, close to the front door, he saw a bottle of pesticide hanging on the wall. He called over Jiajia, then four, telling her he had a cold. Jiajia raised a hand to Tians forehead to test his temperature, then she nodded and said: Youre indeed sick. Then get that bottle from the wall, Tian recalled telling her. Its daddys medicine. But Jiajia was suspicious. Thats a drug for the bugs, she said, running out to alert her grandfather. Tians parents berated him and kept a close eye on him afterwards but the invalid was not deterred. A few months later, when he was playing with his daughter, he told her to pull the back of his chair as far back as she could. He wanted to see whether a fall could kill him. What Tian did not expect, however, was that the chair suddenly collapsed on top of Jiajia, badly skinning her knees. Tian blamed himself for putting his daughter through pain and gave up his suicide plans. From then on, he decided, he would live. Living meant coming to terms with his paralysis. While Tian now has partial movement in his arms and chest, he is paralysed from the waist down. His fingers are in a permanent claw but he operates an electric wheelchair with the palm of his hand and uses his knuckles to operate his cellphone. They are as good as dogs paws, he said. To his surprise, his daughter Jiajia started copying how her grandparents took care of her father. She proved such a quick study that she was just four years old when she started feeding him. She used to help with the morning routine, moving him to the chair, then helping him brush his teeth and wash. Sometimes, she sets a bowl of noodles in front of him. She then straps a spoon to his hand with a rubber band to make it easier for him to grasp the utensil, and holds the bowl while he eats. To take his mind off his disability, Tian also signed up on a popular video-sharing and live-streaming service called Kuaishou. A friend had told him that some people earned money by talking to others on it. At first, Tian only wanted to distract himself but gradually, as he gained an audience, he found he could pay his medical bills by cashing in the digital gifts his viewers sent him. He broadcasts every detail of his life: from Jiajia helping him dress and feeding him to him going to pick her up from school on his electric wheelchair. With more than 800 videos in the bank and more than 580,000 fans online, Tian has created a strong connection to the outside world. When he turns off the screen though, he still sometimes feels confused and hopeless about the future. He doesnt know what will become of him, and sometimes he has to work hard to be optimistic, believing there might be a cure for paralysis in the future. I heard there are new experiments being done from TV, he said. They talk about a head transplant. But the new year has brought some good news at least Tians wife has returned. Shes seen in the most recent videos helping her husband to dress and strapping him to a chair, with their two children by their side. Im happy again now that my family is complete, he says to the camera. This article Live from rural China: how a paralysed man found new life as an internet star first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2019. Guwahati, Feb 4 : The Assam government has registered a total of 251 sedition cases in the state since the BJP-led alliance government came into power in 2016. The sedition cases have been registered against various individuals and banned outfits. This was informed by Assam minister Chandra Mohan Patowary in the Assam assembly during the ongoing budget session. Replying in a written query raised by Congress MLA Debabrata Saikia, the Assam minister on Monday said that, the state government has registered a total of 251 sedition cases against various individuals and banned organisations like ULFA(I), NDFB (S), NDFB(B), KLO, NSLA, NSLA(AT), UPLFS, DHD, DHNA, NSCN(IM), ZUF and ATF since the present BJP-led government took charge. Patowary said on behalf of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who also holds Home department that, the sedition cases also being filed against various individuals. Two sedition cases have been slapped against Assam farmer leader and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi in Guwahati and Dibrugarh, Patowary said. Apart from Akhil Gogoi, sedition cases has been registered against Sahitya Akademi awardee Dr Hiren Gohain, former journalist Manjit Mahanta. The Assam police had registered a suo-motu case at Latasil police station in Guwahati (case no 15/2019) under sections 120 (B), 121, 123 and 124 (A) of the Indian Panel Code (IPC). Dr Gohain, Akhil Gogoi and former journalist Manjit Mahanta were booked under sections related to sedition after their comments on the probability of the resurgence of a fight for sovereignty in Assam during a protest rally against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 held in Guwahati on January 7 last. Dr Hiren Gohain and Assam farmer leader Akhil Gogoi had raised the sovereignty of Assam issue publically in the meeting organised by Save Assam Forum to protest against the Citizenship Bill. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) Portion of the Manila Bay days after the massive clean up on January 27, 2019. (Christopher Tolentino) MANILA, Philippines Just a week following the massive clean-up drive in Manila Bay, local and foreign tourists started to crowd the formerly trash-filled, neglected seaside promenade known as the baywalk along Roxas Boulevard. Families can now spread their picnic mats on the sand and wait to capture the iconic sunset by the bay. Some couldnt resist the enticing water and would carelessly plunge into the bay despite warnings of health risks from authorities. One of them was Mitch Colon who was carrying her baby in her arms while wading through the waters of Manila Bay. Laking Maynila din naman po kami kaya sanay rin po kami sa mga ganyan. Pagkatapos niyan magbabanlaw sa bahay kasi baka delikado rin, said Colon. Some residents say they now appreciate the change that has come to Manila Bay. Before the launch of the Battle for Manila Bay, they rarely visited the place because of the pile of trash and the stench of the dark and obviously dirty water. Maganda na siya. Malinis na siya. First time ko lang po, kasi madumi siya dati, said Victoria Fuentes. Noong dalaga ako, naliligo rin ako dito. Kaso (naging) marumi. Ngayon okay na, noted Edith Cruz. Volunteers like Nelson Delgado said it has become a routine for him to pick pieces of trash at the bayside saying it is his way of helping the environment and to protect the visitors in the place especially children. Tulong na lang po sa kalikasan saka kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte. Nagwo-worry kasi ako, ang dami kasing bubog. Ngayon kahit pagod kami, makita namin iyong mga tao, iyong mga bata na masaya, masaya na rin po kami, Delgado said. But despite the enjoyment of the visiting public, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) maintained that it is not yet recommended to swim in Manila Bay. The agency plans to place warning signages and fences around the bay area to bar the public from swimming. DENR Undersecretary Sherwin Rigor in a text message said: There is not advice from DENR to swim in Manila Bay. It is not yet fit for swimming. Story continues The agency explained that for a body of water to be safe for human contact or for recreation, its fecal coliform content must fall within the 100 most probable number (MPN) per milliliters. In the case of Manila Bay, the water is far from safe level since it hit the 1.3 billion MPN per 100 ml. in fecal coliform content. The DENR together with the Department of Health (DOH) earlier warned the public that the water of Manila Bay is not yet safe for recreation. The agencies said getting contracted with diseases like cholera, diarrhea and skin infections are still high due to the waters level of contamination. Marje Pelayo (with reports from Mai Bermudez) The post DENR to close off Manila Bay as swimming remains unsafe appeared first on UNTV News. THE National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has removed over 650,000 campaign materials all over Metro Manila.NCRPO Director Major General Guillermo Eleazar urged the candidates to also do their THE contribution of the Chinese economy to the world is mainly reflected in products "Made in China". But in the Philippines, particularly in Cebu, the label extends beyond the products peddled on the streets or on display in malls. Filipinos of Chinese descent have created a strong and active community in Cebu whose influence extends from entrepreneurship to nation-building through numerous socio-civic activities. One big economic contribution of the Filipino-Chinese community is employment generation, said Carlos Co, president of the Mandaue Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce. He said a lot of businesses operating in Cebu are owned by Filipinos of Chinese descent. He said they practically have stakes in almost all types of industries whether big or small. In Cebu City's downtown area, 90 percent of the businesses are run by Chinese-Filipino families, said Dickson Uy Lim, director at Cebu Filipino Chinese Chamber and the Cebu Lim's Family Association. We are your go-to stores when you need affordable plastic ware, among others. So we are kind of involved in the daily life of every Filipino, said Lim, whose family owns Cebu Crown Grocery, which was established in 1957. The root of Chinese influence in the Philippines dates back long before the archipelago was colonized by Spain, when Chinese ceramics and silk were traded for Manila indigo, Sulu pearls and Cebu cotton. Retailer Robert Go said the economic contribution of the Chinese-Filipino community in Cebu was immense as reflected by the giant malls, factories and other big investments going up in the metro. We are known to be resourceful, hardworking and we are good in handling money, Lim said, pointing out that progressive cities in the country were usually those that had a strong Chinese-Filipino community. Entrepreneurship is already in our blood, he said. Being a member of the minority, Filipino-Chinese families worked hard and were forced to be resourceful. Story continues But with most of them having excelled in their ventures, the Cebu Chinese-Filipino community now pursues advocacies that help build a solid and productive nation. Because of their number and influence, the Chinese-Filipino community has collaborated with various sectors in the areas of education, health and disaster response, among others. According to Co, their outreach programs include feeding programs in schools, teaching catechism, and awarding scholarship grants to deserving less fortunate students. Go, who is also member of the board of Mandaue Filipino-Chinese Chamber, pointed out the success of the Cebu Filipino-Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigade. In the early 1960s, majority of Filipino-Chinese lived in downtown and near (the) Carbon market. When there were fire occurrences, we were always on the run. We decided (those in downtown) to buy fire tucks and parked them in front of the street so we could be protected, Go said, adding that the initiative to help a small community had grown to help the whole community of Cebu. Another successful undertaking was the Chong Hua Hospital, which was started by Chinese-Filipino businessmen. Back then, Go said, there was no private hospital to take care of the sick, only government-run facilities. Chong Hua today has grown to become not just a hospital exclusive to their community but it also accepts patients from all over the Visayas and Mindanao, he said. He said the Chinese-Filipino community was also instrumental in forming the Sinulog foundation, which had been responsible for the week-long Sinulog celebration. Moreover, the community is also active in pushing for quality education. Co believes education is the only way that can help a poor Filipino rise from poverty and get equal opportunities in life. Go said members of their community have donated public school buildings around Cebu. In fact, every year there are new public schools being donated. We want the future Filipinos to be educated so they can move out of poverty, he said. Education was one advocacy they were willing to partner with local government units (LGUs) and other organizations to come up with sustainable programs, Co said. He believes it can help the province produce a highly qualified and skilled work force. Education can also keep the youth out of illegal drugs and other criminal activities. Go said they have high hopes and big dreams for Cebu. We want Cebu to be first world. We want to see improvement in economy just like Taiwan and China that grew from very poor to super power economies, Go said. We want the infrastructure like that of Singapore where theres no traffic. We want to enjoy a good business environment and a community where everyone thrives. But Go admitted achieving these would entail a lot of hard work and cooperation among all sectors. Lim said the government and the community should work together to improve and maintain peace and order so businesses can thrive. He also called for unity among all sectors. Personally, the killing incidents are already alarming. We want to live and do business in a safe environment, he said. We want to move around without fear, Go added. Go said theyd also like LGUs to be open-minded when it came to new businesses or investments. We like the LGUs to support our initiatives to alleviate poverty and to upgrade the livelihood of the people, he said. The Chinese-Filipino community, according to Lim, has long been part of the fabric of Cebus society. It isnt just all about the money, but the pursuit of advocacies that will benefit everyone, he said. For Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena, the Chinese-Filipino community's biggest contribution is trade and commerce. He said the Philippines become a center of commerce in the south even during the pre-colonial period because the Chinese were already trading with Filipinos. "The Spanish did not allow the Chinese to own land so farming was not an option. So the Chinese, which were already trading with Cebu even before (Ferdinand) Magellan landed, mastered trading so well Cebu became the center of services in southern Philippines. Banking, shipping, education, legal, and even tourism prospered," Osmena said. The mayor said Chinese-Filipino families continued to control commodities, such as rice, corn, sugar, dried fish, even onions and fruits. "The central symbol of Chinese economic dominance is the Carbon market. Inside all those dilapidated stalls, billions of pesos change hands weekly. That's why there is no Chinatown in Cebu. It's the whole city!" Osmena said. At the Provincial Capitol, Gov. Hilario Davide III said Cebuanos shared a deep cultural connection with the Chinese. "In fact, someone said Cebu is one big Chinatown. They've been here way before the Spanish conquest," he said. (With RTF) Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie visited a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh on Monday ahead of a new UN appeal for nearly one billion dollars to look after the refugee influx. After arriving in the South Asian nation, Jolie, a special envoy of the UN Refugee agency UNHCR, went straight to a camp in Teknaf near the Myanmar border to talk to some of the 720,000 Muslims who fled a military clampdown in the neighbouring state in August 2017. The 43-year-old made no immediate public comment, but Cox's Bazar district deputy police chief Ikbal Hossain told AFP that Jolie will be visiting more camps on Tuesday. Jolie is in Bangladesh to assess the humanitarian needs of the one million Rohingya in camps around the town of Cox's Bazar. She has previously met with displaced Rohingya while in Myanmar in July 2015 and in India in 2006. Bangladesh has been reeling since more than 730,000 Rohingya arrived from Myanmar after August 2017. More than 620,000 of the Muslims live in the Kutupalong camp, the world's largest refugee settlement. There were already about 300,000 in the camps before the exodus which has strained Bangladesh's resources to the limit. Jolie will conclude her visit by meeting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, and other senior officials in Dhaka, a UNHCR statement said. The talks will focus on how the UNHCR can help Bangladesh's efforts for the Rohingya and the need for "sustainable solutions" to settle the persecuted minority, the statement added. The UN is to soon launch a new international appeal for $920 million to meet the needs of Rohingya refugees and the communities hosting them, the refugee agency said. Kammah Pae alias Kammah MANILA, Philippines The primary suspect in the deadly Jolo, Sulu church bombing yielded to authorities over the weekend said Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief DG Oscar Albayalde on Monday (February 4). Kammah Pae alias Kammah, together with four individuals, surrendered due to the massive hot pursuit operations by the military and police in Patikul, Sulu. Kammahs cohorts were identified as Albaji Kisae Gadjali alias Awag; Radjan Bakil Gadjali alias Radjan; Kaisar Bakil Gadjali alias Isal; and Salit Alih alias Papong. During a paneling at the house of Kamah, EOD K-9 and SOCO discovered assembled IED and IED components which were subsequently disrupted and recovered, Albayalde said in a press briefing at Camp Crame. Albalyalde said the five suspects were among the 22 members of Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) led by Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan believed to have conspired to execute the attacks at Mt. Carmel Cathedral on Sunday morning, January 28. A case of multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder will be filed today against the five suspects before the provincial prosecutor of Sulu, he added. The PNP Chief confirmed that three ASG members were killed in relation to the incident including the two Indonesian suicide bombers and Ommal Usop who was killed in a raid at Kamahs house. Based on the investigation, the Indonesian woman detonated the first bomb inside the cathedral while the Indonesian man followed through by detonating the bomb outside the church. Fourteen (14) other suspects including the mastermind Sawadjaan remain at large. The investigation of the Jolo cathedral explosion is far from over as there are more pieces of evidence that need to be carefully examined to test its consistency with other facts and circumstance surrounding the incident, Albayalde said. Marje Pelayo (with reports from Lea Ylagan) The post Alias Kammah, four suspects in Jolo blasts surrender appeared first on UNTV News. Colombia Hoy Para nunca olvidar Paginas vistas en total 'Parasite' painted on a statue of Queen, Elizabeth in Kent, England Sin palabras La UE le apunta a la paz Cada vez mas solo Follow by Email Precio del Brent To get the BRENT oil price, please enable Javascript. Dolar USA Vs Euro LULA y su Pueblo Bye Bye Homenaje al genial Quino Fueron ellos Una imagen que resume Tan bajo ha caido que se deja tocar el trasero? Porky y el Nene (archiconocido narcotraficante) Ladrones al poder Asi mira el perrito a su amo Crazy Clamor popular La nueva inquisicion Bolivia Chile Hoy Eso es todo amigos! Pinerachet No More Trump Adios Macri, hasta nunca La Marioneta se desinfla Asi o mas cinico Almugre Mexico en 1794 Mas arrastrado imposible La pura verdad Solidaridad con Palestina Serie Capitalismo Espejismos de la clase trabajadora Comerciantes o delincuentes Asi es la vida USA HOY La avaricia no tiene limites Chile Hoy Asi son las cosas Mapa Electoral de Venezuela Patagonia argentina? Un aniversario mas del mayor genocidio de la Humanidad Retrato del franquismo en Espana El Chulo de Madrid Cuando la policia se roba la democracia Una imagen dice mas que mil palabras La purita verdad Asi gobierna la maldita burguesia Mi pobre clase media Como Chavez nadie Comparte La Colmena via twitter Twittear Programa de la MUD Asi o mas clarito Por que Trump no ataco Corea del Norte? Hace 15 anos Por que la OEA no se pronuncio? Una verguenza nacional La luz que nos guia La Union Europea Premio Nobel de la Paz? Feudalismo ayer y hoy Obama, el mentiroso Curiosa coincidencia Un mundo de cerdos No es extrano? La Marioneta Los ricos protestan, los pobres celebran MARICORI Y OBAMA Cuantas muertes este ano? 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Por culpa de Chavez Cerveza Polar Algun dia Colombia volvera a la ideologia de Bolivar Translate LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares? Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano... Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos: Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias. Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera. No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje. En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio. Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida. Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella. Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal. Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista. Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen. Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che? Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio. Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora. Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo. Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo. Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania. No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar. Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga. Alguna duda? Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia. OZ1 OZ2 OZ3 OZ4 Homenaje a Jason Galarraga La Victoria de Samotracia Odalisca Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008 La Sierra Nevada de Merida Nuestro precioso Churum Meru Homenaje a Picasso Autoretrato Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola? La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar. Mi profesion? Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos. Sal en la Coca Cola? A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar. De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla: Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido) azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa) Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas Mucha Cafeina Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja. Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos. Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja. En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero). Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma. La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate. Bebidas Light? Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal. Publicado por loretahur En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina: 1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias. 2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina. 3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard. 4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos. 5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla. 6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos. Ahora... sobre la margarina: 1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) . 2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias. 3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno). 4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer. 5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna. 6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo. 7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina. Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas: * No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo). * No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!! No a la guerra, Si a la Paz Misterios de la ciencia... Los costos de la guerra medicos y capitalismo... medicos (2) Quien educa a nuestros hijos? Los Medios... Sin Palabras... Chistes feministas - Cual es el problema, Eva? - Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas. - Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas... - Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti. - Que es un hombre? - Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente. - Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente. - Cual es el truco?. - Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion. - Cual? - Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer. Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Ellas (2)... Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1 Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije: -Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro. Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria. Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre? -Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa! VENGANZA NUMERO 2 Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris. A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita: - Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!! Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta. La mujer paso quince dias en Francia. El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla. Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es: - Y amor me trajiste mi francesita?? - Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina. VENGANZA NUMERO 3 El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion. - No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo. - Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz. Te quiero confesar algo. - Esta bien, esta bien. Habla! - He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga. - Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!! machismo y cibernetica Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston. -Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide. -Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!. .Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti. Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos. Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco. Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas Gol !!!! Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso! Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy! If You Enjoy My Articles, Please Consider Supporting My Writing By Giving A Donation Of Any Amount. Thank you! From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As... UKs oil, gas, and chemicals group Ineos called on the UK government on Monday to either lift the seismicity limit on fracking from a currently unworkable and too-low ceiling, or end shale altogether without using political backdoors to shut it down. Ineos, which has a shale business unit, holds acreage for shale gas exploration across the UK. The current 0.5 seismic level, above which fracking at sites in the UK must be halted, is over 3,000 times lower than the 4.0 level typically found in the United States where over 1 million shale wells have been safely drilled, Ineos said in a statement. According to regulations, in case of micro seismic events of 0.50 on the Richter scale or higher, fracking must temporarily be halted and pressure in the well reduced. Another UK company, Cuadrilla, started fracking at an exploration site in northwest England in October 2018, resuming hydraulic fracturing in the UK for the first time in seven years. Natural gas started to flow to the surface from Cuadrillas shale exploration well at the Preston New Road site in early November. The company, however, has had to stop operations multiple times, due to micro seismic events measuring above the threshold requiring a halt. In todays statement, Ineos said: INEOS calls upon the Government to either make shale workable or shut it down and not to use politically expedient, slippery back door manoeuvres to end shale. British companies have been working in good faith to develop an onshore gas industry in the UK. There are indications that there may be enough gas to make the UK self sufficient in energy for a generation and stimulate huge investment in manufacturing as has been the case in the USA. Related: Baker Hughes Upbeat About 2019 The Governments position is unworkable and unhelpful. They are playing politics with the future of the country. We have a non-existent energy strategy and are heading towards an energy crisis that will do long term and irreparable damage to the economy and the Government needs to decide whether they are finally going to put the country first and develop a workable UK onshore gas industry, Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe said. Last month, the Financial Times reported that the UK Energy Minister Claire Perry had dismissed calls by Cuadrilla to change the traffic-light system of measuring micro seismic events. Perry said in a letter to Cuadrillas CEO Francis Egan that the current system was fit for purpose and that the UK had no intention of altering it, FT reported, citing the letter it had obtained under the freedom of information legislation. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Kathmandu, Nepal: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the constitutional anti graft body of the country, has filed a corruption case at the Special Court on Monday against 14 individuals including former Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Badri Prasad Neupane over the fun-park lease contract case. Chure Bhawar Rastriya Ekata party leader Neupane, who was the Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare in Babu Ram Bhattarai-led government, has been accused of embezzling Rs 315,217,675.20 by taking decision arbitrarily in the capacity of the chairperson of the Social Welfare Council (CWC) to give the Bhrikuti Mandap of Kathmandu based land for the Fun Park in the lease violating the public procurement act. CWC board members, directors and legal advisors including operators and management members of the Fun Park have also been alleged of misappropriation without calling for the tender. Others alleged officials including former minister Neupane have been accused of embezzling Rs 315,217,675.20 each. The CIAA has demanded action under the Clause 3 (1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2002. Two attacks by the Islamic State in Iraq occurred this weekend, targeting oil police and other security forces, local media report. "One member of an oil police unit died and another was injured," a source from the security forces told Iraqi media. The second attack ended with no casualties, with the Iraqi forces able to push the militants back. While Baghdad celebrated the defeat of Islamic State after the battle for Mosul, the last remaining stronghold of the terrorist group in the country, even then there were military experts who warned that not all militants were destroyed in the push and the group will sooner or later resurface. According to security reports from the Kurdistan Regional Government, this is already happening: according to the Kurdish forces, sleeper cells are waking up and terrorist activity is increasing. Indeed, the number of kidnappings, car bombings, assassinations of local community leaders and attacks on the grid have remained high even after the official end of the war with IS. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump declared he wanted U.S. troops to stay in Iraq to watch Iran, during an interview with CBS. I want to be able to watch Iran, the President said in response to a question about whether the troops will be kept in Iraq in view of a potential military strike against Iran. All I want to do is be able to watch. We have an unbelievable and expensive military base built in Iraq. It's perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East rather than pulling up. Despite the still complicated situation in Iraq and the lack of any signs it would get any better soon, the government has big oil plans. Last week, state-owned Basra Oil Co. said it planned to increase the production at its giant Majnoon field more than twofold to 450,000 bpd by 2021. last year, the company said it had plans to reach an total of 5 million bpd by 2025. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Chinas liquefied natural gas imports broke another record last month amid rising stockpiles that made some importers nervous, Reuters reports, citing industry sources as well as vessel-tracking data. The January total reached 6.55 million tons, up by 2 percent from the previous record set in December. However, the winter turned out milder than would justify this massive intake of LNG and many importers are stranded with more LNG than they cant sell. When people see these numbers, they think Chinese demand is up ... but actually it is causing a headache (for importers) as (they) have overbought and cant find demand to absorb the cargoes, one energy industry source told Reuters. Imports of LNG rose substantially throughout 2018, by a whopping 41 percent, as China sought to prevent a repeat of the 2017 gas shortage that left several million households in northern China without heating as the governments rush to replace coal with LNG for power and heating generation outpaced the development of distribution networks. As a result of this precaution, now LNG traders in China are having to resell their cargoes at lower prices on the domestic market or contracting international buyers. Meanwhile, domestic natural gas production is rising as well as imports but demand growth is set for a slowdown, according to an IHS Markit analyst. Part of the reason has to do with projections for a slowdown in Chinese economic growth, James Taverner told Reuters. Another reason is a slowdown in the pace of switching from coal to LNG-fueled power generation on worries about the security of supplies. Chinas total natural gas demand is expected to rise by 11.4 percent in 2019 over 2018, slower than the growth in previous years, according to analysts at the countrys largest oil and gas producer China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). At the same time, the country will soon overtake Japan as the worlds largest LNG importer, despite a slowing demand growth pace. By 2022, China will be the country that consumes the most imported LNG. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The already strained relationship between U.S. lawmakers and two of President Trumps staunchest supporters, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabis Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, seems to be worsening. In recent days, reports have indicated that a growing number of U.S. congressmen and women is expected to pass a resolution which will end U.S. involvement in Yemens civil war. This resolution would represent a direct challenge to President Trump, who would then have to consider using a presidential veto. While Trumps Middle East strategy may lack clarity, it is undeniable that both MBS and MBZ are pivotal to his influence in the region. The hostility between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress has been particularly intense under the current president. The ongoing support by the Trump Administration of the Saudi-led military coalition fighting against the Houthi rebels in Yemen has become the latest focal point of this tension. U.S. media sources have indicated that a group within congress is considering reproducing a version of the resolution that passed the Senate 56-41 last month to rebuke the White House and Saudi Arabia following the Khashoggi murder. The U.S. public appears to be largely against the U.S. military cooperation in Yemen, mainly blaming Saudi Arabia, and in particular MBS, for the crisis. The U.S. Congress appears to now be reflecting public opinion. This resolution would put limits on the amount and type of U.S. support in Yemen. Senators, such as Mike Lee, R-Utah, state that the decision to support the coalition, which was taken by President Obama and Trump, has never been voted on and approved by Congress. The support for a new U.S. strategy is wide, as newly elected Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced he would co-sponsor the legislation. Several Republicans also now seem to be behind the new approach. Related: The Worlds Most Extraordinary Oil & Gas Company In the Middle East more broadly, Trumps strategy is failing to instill confidence in the two Arab leaders at the center of this struggle. The ongoing threat of a full withdrawal of U.S. troops and the abandonment of Kurdish forces in Syria has sent shivers down the spines of both MBS and MBZ. The two young leaders, currently heavily engaged in transforming their own societies and economies, are aware that Washingtons support for these two key U.S. allies could be changed by one tweet. Trumps support appears, from the outside at least, to be based on an emotional rather than rational approach. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are increasingly worried that U.S. support is wavering, with even Secretary of State Mike Pompeo being unable to quell growing fears. The continuation of anti-OPEC or anti-Saudi oil strategy tweets by Trump are failing to address the fears of these two key OPEC figures. The most visible sign that MBS and MBZ are considering changing sides, and decreasing their full support of Washington in the U.S., is the fact that neither have flown to the U.S. for a notable period of time. For Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, it is clear that a trip to the USA is both a legal and political risk. He would face the threat of legal cases regarding the Khashoggi murder and political pressure regarding the Yemen War. Both MBS and Mohammed bin Zayed also have to worry about the possible findings of the Mueller investigation. Mueller is currently still focusing on possible interference in U.S. elections, with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE being potential targets. Ties between Trumps entourage and Saudi-UAE thinktanks and financial groups are being assessed. Qatar, the outcast in the GCC at present, is also under scrutiny. That there are links between the Arab rulers and confidants of Trump, such as Jared Kushner, is already clear. Meetings between MBZ, Kushner and George Nader, a UAE emissary, are already being probed. These meetings have even been linked to a Russian connection, via Erik Prince and Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIFs CEO Kirill Dmitriev. Related: Global Outages Boost Oil Prices If the two Arab crown princes face increased pressure from either the U.S. Congress or the Muller investigation, a major break in US-GCC relations is to be expected. This will not only impact the geopolitical and military operations of the U.S. and its European allies, but also will have a direct negative result for OPECs position towards the U.S. At present, the oil cartel is facing anti-cartel legislation and Trump tweets for lower oil prices and increased production. Until now, OPECs strategy appears to be to ignoring Trumps outbursts. If, however, the two main power brokers in OPEC are being directly threatened by Washington then a full-scale position change is to be expected. Saudi-UAE geopolitical policy already has an Eastern bias. A political storm in Washington will only push the two Gulf powers even closer to Moscow and Beijing. By not taking a pro-Russia or China approach, MBS and MBZ are risking their own power and future. By not taking sides, the Arab princes may be leaving themselves vulnerable if a storm were to break out in the U.S. It looks like fundamentals are going to take a back seat to geopolitics in oil markets as this conflict plays out. The political survival of the two princes will surely become the leading factor in OPECs oil strategies. By Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: In more unusual moves for spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Asia, prices for the super-cooled fuel last week fell to a nine-month low amid an uncharacteristically oversupplied market due to continued warmer than usual winter temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, which includes North Asia. Japan, China and South Korea and Taiwan make up more than 70 percent of global LNG demand, with that amount forecast to increase to 75 percent amid more LNG demand from China as the country pushes through with its government mandate that at least 10 percent of its energy mix be comprised of natural gas by 2020 to offset record air pollution, with further earmarks to 2030. Spot prices for March delivery to Asia last week fell to $7.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), down $1 from the previous week, their lowest since April 6, Reuters reported on Friday, citing trade sources. Seasonally, prices are their lowest since this time three years ago. Cargoes now headed to Europe Lower spot LNG prices in Asia is also causing LNG producers and supplies to divert cargoes to Europe, an unusual move, especially this time of year, given that historically higher demand in the Asia-Pacific region fetches much higher prices, especially during winter. LNG prices in Asia for March have now fallen below the UK front-month gas price. Related: Baker Hughes Upbeat About 2019 Global energy and commodity trading company Vitol changed the destination of two LNG cargoes sourced in the U.S. to northwest Europe from Asia due to the discount on Asian prices compared to those in Britain, the Reuters report added, citing an industry source familiar with the matter.The markets getting kind of crazy, a Singapore-based industry source also said, adding that derivatives volumes in Asia have dropped recently. Lunar New Year and trade war factors Approaching Lunar New Year in China (called the Spring Festival on the mainland) also contributed to the past weeks weakened demand and downward pressure on prices since factories in the country will be shut down for around a week. Moreover, this year reports indicate that factories could be shuttered longer than usual as well as other business shutting down longer due to economic headwinds from ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Related: Exxon Goes All-In On The Permian The two sides have set a March 2 deadline to reach a trade deal. Unless a deal is reached that appeases U.S. concerns over not only trade imbalances but intellectual property rights and cyber security issues, President Trump has pledged to increase existing tariffs of 10 percent on some $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to as high as 25 percent, while also possibly putting tariffs in place on another $267 billion worth of Chinese goods entering the U.S. The two sides are reportedly optimistic about the progress made in the high-level trade talks in Washington which ended on Thursday, raising hopes that despite the need for more work, a deal to end their trade war could be reached before stiffer tariffs kick in. Trump said he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, potentially more than once, to seal a deal. Not a repeat performance Last year, Beijing pushed too quickly to replace dirtier coal usage for both residential and industrial use with cleaner-burning natural gas, resulting in a supply crunch that saw the government redirect gas supply from factories to residential end users during an unusually cold winter season. The ongoing cold temperatures last year in China also created extra demand for spot LNG as well as corresponding support for LNG prices in Asia. However, in the ensuing year, China procured more LNG during the months before winter earmarked for storage to head off a repeat of last years gas supply mishap, removing current price support in spot markets. By Tim Daiss for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A report from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) found that the rate of flaring in the Permian basin is twice as high as the industry has been reporting. In 2017, the amount of natural gas that was flared could have met the gas needs of Texas seven largest cities. Put another way, thats roughly $322 million dollars of natural gas that went up in smoke, EDF concluded. EDF used satellite data, estimating that in 2017, oil and gas drillers in the Permian flared roughly 104 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas, or about 4.4 percent of all gas produced. However, the industry only reported burning 55 bcf of gas, or half the amount that EDF found. In the Delaware basin alone, EDF estimates that industry burned nearly 8 percent of the gas that came out of the ground. The report shines a spotlight on a huge problem with tracking flaring in Americas oil and gas fields: The data is mostly collected via self-reporting by the companies themselves. Drillers send that data to state agencies, and then the U.S. EIA aggregates it into data that is published on a several-month delay. There is an obvious motivation that might explain why the industry seems to be underreporting flaring rates. Shale drillers are targeting oil production; natural gas is coming up as a byproduct. While there is a bit of a bottleneck for shipping crude oil out of the Permian, the gas bottleneck is even worse. As a result, there is simply too much gas on hand, and no way to move it. The glut has been so bad that regional natural gas prices in West Texas briefly fell into negative territory late last year. But while drillers may not garner much for their gas, which incentivizes them to just burn it off, there are limits on how much the industry can flare. EDF and S&P Global Platts have speculated that flaring rates may be vastly exceeding the amount reported because drillers want to keep the oil flowing. Its all about oil, not natural gas. Related: Global Deepwater Oil Production To Hit New Record In 2019 The satellite analysis indicates the [Texas Railroad Commission] is working with incomplete and faulty data, Colin Leyden, Senior Manager for State Regulatory & Legislative Affairs at EDF, wrote in a commentary last month. The RRC is statutorily bound to prevent waste and pollution, and Texans have the right to know just exactly how much waste and pollution is occurring through the extraction of our states natural resources. The Railroad Commission grants companies waivers to flare gas for six months after a well comes online. But they also have repeatedly issued extensions, demonstrating a leniency towards the industry. EDF suggested that the Texas Railroad Commission should treat wasted gas as a viable resource, eliminate permanent flaring permits, require the industry to incorporate new technologies into their operations, and improve reporting requirements. The environmental group also said that the state should eliminate the tax exemption on flared gas as it stands, companies dont pay tax on flared gas, but if that exemption were scrapped, companies would have a greater incentive to capture the gas. The problem is not isolated to the Permian. North Dakota has also seen a surge in flaring, aided by some lax rules from the state. The Trump administration has also thrown the oil and gas industry a lifeline, reversing an Obama-era regulation on capping methane emissions from oil and gas operations. The New York Times, in an eye-opening investigation in late December 2019, explored the on-the-ground consequences of the extraordinary rates of gas flaring in North Dakota. Related: Breakneck LNG Demand Surge In China Is History The industry has long fought against federal regulations, arguing that operators can take action on their own, especially since they have an incentive to capture the gas in order to sell it. But that argument kind of breaks down when confronted with the data on soaring rates of flaring. If its inconvenient theyll just flare it, Colin Leyden of EDF told the Houston Chronicle. Theres been a problem since 2014, so what is a reasonable amount of time for the industry to solve this? The Texas Railroad Commission gave a pat response to the Houston Chronicle when asked about the new data. The RRC takes enforcement action against any operator found in violation of our rules or permit conditions, said Ramona Nye, an agency spokeswoman. The retreat by the federal government gives the states a lot more leeway to let the industry off the hook. Ultimately, it would seem that regulators in Texas and North Dakota are reluctant to kill off the golden goose. Strict enforcement of caps on flaring would force shale drillers to curtail oil production, but that doesnt seem to be in the cards. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: ExxonMobil and Plains All American gave the greenlight to another major pipeline in the Permian basin, which would move 1 million barrels per day (mb/d) from West Texas to the Gulf Coast. The project, in partnership with Lotus Midstream, is another indication of the rising upstream production from the Permian. But the pipeline also came after Exxon gave a separate final investment decision on another project. On Tuesday, the oil major said it was moving forward on a near-doubling of its Beaumont, Texas refinery, adding a 250,000-bpd crude unit that would process light sweet oil from the Permian. The facility already has the capacity to refine 365,644 bpd, and the expansion could make Exxons Beaumont facility the largest refinery in the country. Saudi Aramcos Motiva Enterprises refinery in Port Arthur currently ranks in the top spot with a capacity of 603,000 bpd. Once Exxon is finished with its expansion slated for 2022 the Beaumont facility will have a capacity of 615,644 bpd. Even that is only part of Exxons plans for the region. Last year, Exxon unveiled its Growing the Gulf campaign, which consisted of massive refinery expansions on the Gulf Coast, including in Baytown, Beaumont and Baton Rouge. The entire initiative included $20 billion in planned spending across 11 refining, chemical and petrochemical projects along the Gulf Coast over a 10-year period. The refinery expansions should be viewed in the context of Exxons plunge into the Permian. After arriving late to the scene, ExxonMobil has quickly become one of the largest shale drillers in West Texas and New Mexico. In early 2017, Exxon spent nearly $6 billion to acquire huge tracts in the Permian, which doubled the companys holdings in the basin. Related: Global Deepwater Oil Production To Hit New Record In 2019 A year later, Exxon announced a long-term vision, laying out an aggressive spending and drilling plan that would help the company increase production over the next decade. The plan was intended to shake the company out of its current malaise, reversing several years of stagnant output and waning faith from Wall Street. There were a few key pillars to the long-term vision: Offshore Guyana (where Exxon, along with Hess, have made a string of major discoveries), LNG projects in Papua New Guinea and Mozambique, shale drilling in the Permian, and downstream chemical and petrochemical projects on the Gulf Coast. Obviously, the last two of those pillars the Permian and projects on the Gulf Coast are linked. When Exxon announced these long-term growth plans last year, shareholders were not happy. Exxons shares sold off, a sign that heavy spending even if that translates into production growth had fallen out of favor with Wall Street. The reaction was notable because the share prices of some of Exxons peers were on the upswing, and the difference was they were focused on keeping costs in check and boosting shareholder payouts, not stepping up spending. Nevertheless, Exxon is ploughing forward. The latest FID on the Beaumont refinery and the Permian pipeline are critical the oil majors growth plans. Exxon is aiming to triple its Permian production by 2025, raising output to 600,000 bpd. Related: Global Outages Boost Oil Prices The latest slide in oil prices wont impact this outlook much. Even though the U.S. shale industry has shown signs of a slowdown, lower prices will hit small- and medium-sized drillers much harder than the oil majors. Large integrated companies can not only take a long view, but they also have their hands in midstream and downstream assets that can still perform well during a pricing downturn. Another interesting wrinkle in the refinery buildout is the unfolding global mismatch between light and heavy oil. Surging U.S. shale production is occurring alongside production curtailments from medium and heavy oil producers Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran, etc. The result is a glut of light oil and a tighter market for heavier blends. Refiners cannot easily swap in one type of oil for another. As those disparities work their way through the system, the market is now seeing a ballooning glut of gasoline. Lighter oils tend to produce relatively more gasoline than diesel, while heavier blends are better suited for diesel and other distillates. The downstream investments by Exxon along the Gulf Coast will relieve bottlenecks in the U.S. it will provide a market for surging U.S. shale production, which is being held back by pipeline constraints as well as limits on Gulf Coast refining and export terminals. But the refineries will still add to the gasoline conundrum. But thats a problem for another day, and it may be resolved by the time Exxons new facilities come online. Exxons recent FIDs on both a major refinery expansion, and another enormous pipeline that will carry Permian oil to that refinery, highlight how important U.S. shale is to the companys global growth plans. ExxonMobils fortunes are now very much tied to the explosion of drilling and downstream processing in Texas. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Sodium, an element far more abundant than lithium, is expanding its claim to fame in the battery field. A new study from a Japanese university has suggested that a sodium compound could relatively easily replace lithium in batteries. The study, by researchers from the Nagoya Institute of Technology, found a way around the main obstacle for swapping lithium with sodium: the larger size of the ions in sodium and its different chemistry, Phys.org reports. They did this by finding a sodium compound that displayed a crystal structure that was compatible with battery use, along with a favorable electric structure and electrochemical properties. The compound yielded shorter charging times than lithium-ion batteries and a potentially longer battery life. As great as this may sound, the researchers have run into a challenge: the compound, Na2V3O7, began deteriorating in the final stages of the charging process and that represented a cap on its theoretical energy storage capacity by as much as 50 percent. The research team, according to lead author Naoto Tanibata, will now focus on overcoming this obstacle. Sodium batteries are not all in the laboratory stage of development, however. The allure of sodiumcheap, abundant, and has the right chemistry for batterieshas been growing and there are already functioning projects. Last year, scientists from the Australian University of Wollongong announced they had solved a problem with sodium batteries that made them too expensive to produce, namely a lot of the other materials used in such an installation besides the sodium itself. Some of these materials were sensitive to air, which made it challenging to produce the batteries cheaply enough to make them commercially viable and guarantee a certain level of performance. Related: Oil Prices Drop After Touching 2019 High After the Wollongong researchers solved this problem by developing a material that was not sensitive to air, they launched a pilot sodium-ion battery project at a sewage pumping station in Sydney. The sodium batteries are yet to be delivered to the project, which also features solar panels for energy generation, so its performance has yet to be tested in real-life conditions. However, according to researchers involved in sodium batteries, these would be best suited to stationary energy storage installations: sodium batteries tend to have a substantially lower energy density, which means they have yet to evolve enough to compete with lithium-ion batteries on size. In energy storage, however, they could make a real splash since size is not as important as it is for, say, car batteries or consumer electronics. Even so, sodium batteries are turning into a hot area of research seeking to remove the main obstacles to larger sodium battery adoption. A team from the University of Birmingham last year joined the Australian and Japanese scientists in solving sodium battery problems, coming up with an alternative to the graphite anode that is used in lithium batteries, but is problematic for sodium batteries since the larger sodium ions cannot travel between graphites carbon layers. Replacing graphite with phosphorus, based on calculations by supercomputers, the University of Birmingham researchers succeeded in achieving charge carrier capacity seven times that of batteries featuring a graphite anode. The implications of these accomplishments could be significant as the world gradually realizes it would need a lot of energy storage capacity built in the coming years as we shift towards more renewable-derived and less fossil fuel-derived power. Sodium batteries seem to have a legitimate claim to fame alongside lithium ion technology, and they could greatly boost energy storage capacity-building, which would in turn benefit greater renewable power adoption as this would solve the intermittency problem. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Ex-museum director acquitted of non-return of ancient icons to Russia RIA Novosti, Alexander Galperin 13:48 04/02/2019 MOSCOW, February 4 (RAPSI) Moscows Presnensky District Court has acquitted ex-director of a private non-profit Museum of Russian Icons Elena Knyazeva in a case over failure to return 16 orthodox icons of XVI-XVIII centuries to Russia, RAPSI has learnt in the courts press service. Knyazeva has been acquitted for absence of a crime in her actions. According to investigators, the woman has entered into a criminal conspiracy with members of a gang organized by a foreign citizen. On September 30, 2010, she filed a declaration for temporary export of 16 orthodox icons of XVI-XVIII centuries to hold the exhibition From Russia With Love in the U. S. In November 2015, the term of temporary export expired but icons have never been submitted to the Moscow Customs. She has been charged with non-return of cultural values to Russia committed by an organized group. She has pleaded not guilty. In December 2017, the court sent the case back to prosecutors. Therefore, the case again reached court only in September 2018. During the investigation, all icons have been returned to Russia. Washington, PA (15301) Today Thunderstorms, some with heavy rain this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 56F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms, some with heavy rain this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 56F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. The United States urged other countries Monday to bring home hundreds of Islamic State fighters captured in Syria, a delicate issue for allies such as France and Britain as President Donald Trump withdraws troops. Washington drew a line on the jihadists two days before foreign ministers from Europe and the Middle East gather in the US capital for talks on how to fight the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, once the US military presence ends. US allies have been grappling for weeks with what to do with foreign fighters detained in the war-ravaged country by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who have warned that they may not be able to guard their jails once US troops leave. "The United States calls upon other nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens detained by the SDF and commends the continued efforts of the SDF to return these foreign terrorist fighters to their countries of origin," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement. "Despite the liberation of ISIS-held territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIS remains a significant terrorist threat and collective action is imperative to address this shared international security challenge," Palladino said. Another US official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that northeastern Syria had become a "very fluid space." "As events unfold, there are any number of scenarios under which positive control of some of the individuals currently in custody could change," the official said. He voiced concern that jihadists could then leave Syria for "other, more permissive places around the world from which they could seek to carry forward the fight." - Fears in Europe - Trump stunned Western allies on December 19 by announcing that the United States would pull its 2,000 troops out of Syria, declaring that IS had been defeated. One of the countries most concerned is France, which has been hit by a series of IS-inspired attacks including the grisly November 2015 siege of the Bataclan nightclub in Paris. France -- which along with Britain maintains a small deployment of special forces in Syria -- last week opened the door to bringing back its citizens, after earlier insisting that the jihadists should be prosecuted locally and not step foot back in France. The French foreign ministry said its goal was to "avoid the escape and scattering of these potentially dangerous individuals" and acknowledged that the situation on the ground was changing with the US withdrawal. A French security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, earlier told AFP 130 people could be repatriated. A second French official said the group included 70 to 80 children held with their mothers. Britain has meanwhile been grappling with what to do with the two surviving members of a quartet -- nicknamed "The Beatles" for their accents -- who were notorious for videotaped beheadings. Britain has shown no interest in bringing home the Kurdish-jailed pair, Alexanda Amon Kotey and El Shafee el-Sheikh, amid reports they were stripped of their nationality. A report last year said the United States was willing to take them in its military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- an option that would be deeply controversial in Britain, partly due to the US practice of the death penalty. - Talk of security zone - The SDF are worried that, without US troops as a buffer, they will be crushed by neighboring Turkey -- which equates them with Kurdish separatists at home and encouraged Trump to withdraw US forces. Shortly after Trump's announcement, the SDF warned it would pull back from the battle against IS if Turkey attacked and may redeploy its prison guards. Wednesday's 79-nation conference in Washington is expected to look further at ways to avoid what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a comment that angered Turkey, warned could be the "slaughter" of Kurdish fighters in Syria. Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have discussed a "safe zone" which Ankara wants on Syrian territory. European allies are cool to the idea and the Kurdish fighters want the zone to be directly on the border with coalition forces on the Turkish side. Foreign ministers will also hear at the conference from Nobel laureate Nadia Murad, a member of the Yazidi minority in Iraq who was abducted and raped, like thousands of women and girls, by jihadists. Since obtaining freedom, Murad has campaigned for accountability over the atrocities and urged Iraq and other countries to investigate the fate of Yazidi who remain missing. A man in the northern Syrian town of Kobane walks in a graveyard during the funeral of a fighter of the Syrian Democratic Forces killed in an offensive by the Islamic State movement Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe pay their respects at the entrance of the Bataclan nightclub in November 2018 as they mark three years since the deadly assault British Islamic State group fighters El Shafee el-Sheikh (left) and Alexanda Amon Kotey appear in mugshots released by the Syrian Democratic Forces Syrian Democratic Forces fighters attend the funeral in the northern Syrian city of Kobane of a fellow fighter killed in an offensive by the Islamic State movement A retrospective of Don McCullin, one of Britain's greatest living photographers, opens in London on Tuesday, spanning 60 years of war zones and landscapes bursting with the same brooding intensity. The 250 black and white prints on show at the Tate Britain gallery were all developed by 83-year-old McCullin himself in his darkroom. Dating back to the late 1950s, they depict conflict zones ranging from Vietnam to Cyprus and Northern Ireland, but also urban and rural scenes in Britain, with a common thread of darkness and emotion running through them. "If you can't feel what you're looking at, then you're never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures," McCullin said, in quotes accompanying his pictures. While primarily known as a photojournalist and a war correspondent, he has also captured the industrial landscapes of northern England and poverty on the streets of London's East End. Roads that are now pristine, gentrified and teeming with metropolitan hipsters were, in a series of images from the 1970s, populated by ragged, homeless men gathered in squalor around a makeshift fire. The newest pictures in the collection, taken last year, are of the deliberate ruination of the ancient site of Palmyra in Syria by Islamic State jihadists. The exhibition also includes McCullin's US army helmet, six passports, his watch and compass, light meter and a Nikon camera that took a bullet in 1970 when he was accompanying Cambodian soldiers across a rice field. He kept the camera to remind him how lucky he had been. - 'Intense experience' - Growing up in north London, McCullin started out photographing a local gang, launching a career as a photojournalist with The Observer and The Sunday Times newspapers. "It's a very emotional exhibition," curator Simon Baker told AFP. "What you get from Don's work is a real punch in the face: it's a really intense experience where you feel as if you are in the middle of that subject. "Don has always been interested in showing and communicating hardship, misery and people who are in need," he explained. "You see that passionate commitment to poverty in the East End of London just as with people struggling in famine in Africa." The exhibition, which runs until May 6, is divided into sections devoted to his photography missions, including the 1968 Battle of Hue in Vietnam, the Biafran war in Nigeria, the dvision of Berlin and the AIDS pandemic in Africa. It also covers British landscapes, many shot around his home in Somerset, southwest England. "Even these landscapes have a hint of drama and conflict about them. The skies are often very black and there's a brooding sense of threat and drama," said Baker. Launching the exhibition, McCullin posed for a pack of photographers, some of whom afterwards asked him to sign their copies of his books. However, the adulation does not fit easily with him. "I feel guilty about the people I photograph. It's true, I do," he said. "Why should I be celebrated at the cost of other people's suffering and lives? I don't sit comfortably with laurels on my head." Dating back to the late 1950s, Don McCullin's photographs depict conflict zones ranging from Vietnam to Cyprus and Northern Ireland, but also urban and rural scenes in Britain British photographer Don McCullin poses for a picture in front of his photographs including 'Shell-shocked US marine, the Battle of Hue 1968' (L), during a press preview of a retrospective exhibition of McCullin's work at Tate Britain in London on February 4, 2019. The exhibition also includes a Nikon camera that took a bullet in 1970 when Don McCullin was accompanying Cambodian soldiers across a rice field Don McCullin has also captured the poverty on the streets of London's East End, as seen here in a photograph entitled "Homeless Irishman, Spitalfields" Also on display at the Tate Britain are Don McCullin's US army helmet and six passports Growing up in north London, Don McCullin started out photographing a local gang, launching a career as a photojournalist with The Observer and The Sunday Times newspapers The number of new print magazines started in the U.S. fell by more than half in 2020 to 60, compared t Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and receive a $60 prize! 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 amaysim Australia Limited (ASX:AYS), by way of a worked example. Our data shows amaysim Australia has a return on equity of 4.7% for the last year. One way to conceptualize this, is that for each A$1 of shareholders equity it has, the company made A$0.047 in profit. See our latest analysis for amaysim Australia How Do I Calculate ROE? The formula for return on equity is: Return on Equity = Net Profit Shareholders Equity Or for amaysim Australia: 4.7% = 2.715 AU$58m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2018.) Its easy to understand the net profit part of that equation, but shareholders equity requires further explanation. It is all the money paid into the company from shareholders, plus any earnings retained. The easiest way to calculate shareholders equity is to subtract the companys total liabilities from the total assets. What Does ROE Signify? Return on Equity measures a companys profitability against the profit it has kept for the business (plus any capital injections). The return is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that the higher the ROE, the more profitable the company is. So, as a general rule, a high ROE is a good thing. That means it can be interesting to compare the ROE of different companies. Does amaysim Australia Have A Good ROE? 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. As is clear from the image below, amaysim Australia has a lower ROE than the average (12%) in the Wireless Telecom industry. Story continues ASX:AYS Last Perf February 4th 19 Unfortunately, thats sub-optimal. It is better when the ROE is above industry average, but a low one doesnt necessarily mean the business is overpriced. Nonetheless, it could be useful to double-check if insiders have sold shares recently. The Importance Of Debt To Return On Equity Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. That cash can come from issuing shares, retained earnings, or debt. In the first and second cases, the ROE will reflect this use of cash for investment in the business. In the latter case, the debt used for growth will improve returns, but wont affect the total equity. That will make the ROE look better than if no debt was used. amaysim Australias Debt And Its 4.7% ROE amaysim Australia clearly uses a significant amount debt to boost returns, as it has a debt to equity ratio of 1.55. While the ROE isnt too bad, it would probably be a lot lower if the company was forced to reduce debt. Investors should think carefully about how a company might perform if it was unable to borrow so easily, because credit markets do change over time. In Summary Return on equity is one way we can compare the business quality of different companies. In my book the highest quality companies have high return on equity, despite low debt. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, Id generally prefer the one with higher ROE. But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. It is important to consider other factors, such as future profit growth and how much investment is required going forward. So you might want to check this FREE visualization of analyst forecasts for the company. Of course amaysim Australia may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have 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. Investors seek growth stocks to capitalize on above-average growth in financials that help these securities grab the market's attention and produce exceptional returns. But finding a growth stock that can live up to its true potential can be a tough task. By their very nature, these stocks carry above-average risk and volatility. Moreover, if a company's growth story is over or nearing its end, betting on it could lead to significant loss. However, the Zacks Growth Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which looks beyond the traditional growth attributes to analyze a company's real growth prospects, makes it pretty easy to find cutting-edge growth stocks. Boeing (BA) is one such stock that our proprietary system currently recommends. The company not only has a favorable Growth Score, but also carries a top Zacks Rank. Studies have shown that stocks with the best growth features consistently outperform the market. And for stocks that have a combination of a Growth Score of A or B and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), returns are even better. While there are numerous reasons why the stock of this airplane builder is a great growth pick right now, we have highlighted three of the most important factors below: Earnings Growth Earnings growth is arguably the most important factor, as stocks exhibiting exceptionally surging profit levels tend to attract the attention of most investors. For growth investors, double-digit earnings growth is highly preferable, as it is often perceived as an indication of strong prospects (and stock price gains) for the company under consideration. While the historical EPS growth rate for Boeing is 13.1%, investors should actually focus on the projected growth. The company's EPS is expected to grow 19.1% this year, crushing the industry average, which calls for EPS growth of 10.2%. Cash Flow Growth Cash is the lifeblood of any business, but higher-than-average cash flow growth is more beneficial and important for growth-oriented companies than for mature companies. That's because, high cash accumulation enables these companies to undertake new projects without raising expensive outside funds. Story continues Right now, year-over-year cash flow growth for Boeing is 37%, which is higher than many of its peers. In fact, the rate compares to the industry average of 14.5%. While investors should actually consider the current cash flow growth, it's worth taking a look at the historical rate too for putting the current reading into proper perspective. The company's annualized cash flow growth rate has been 10.8% over the past 3-5 years versus the industry average of 6%. Promising Earnings Estimate Revisions Beyond the metrics outlined above, investors should consider the trend in earnings estimate revisions. A positive trend is a plus here. Empirical research shows that there is a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements. There have been upward revisions in current-year earnings estimates for Boeing. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has surged 10.2% over the past month. Bottom Line Boeing has not only earned a Growth Score of B based on a number of factors, including the ones discussed above, but it also carries a Zacks Rank #1 because of the positive earnings estimate revisions. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. This combination positions Boeing well for outperformance, so growth investors may want to bet on it. 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. If you are looking for a stock that has a solid history of beating earnings estimates and is in a good position to maintain the trend in its next quarterly report, you should consider Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA). This company, which is in the Zacks Medical - Generic Drugs industry, shows potential for another earnings beat. This company has an established record of topping earnings estimates, especially when looking at the previous two reports. The company boasts an average surprise for the past two quarters of 20.03%. For the last reported quarter, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Came out with earnings of $0.68 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.55 per share, representing a surprise of 23.64%. For the previous quarter, the company was expected to post earnings of $0.67 per share and it actually produced earnings of $0.78 per share, delivering a surprise of 16.42%. Price and EPS Surprise For Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.Estimates have been trending higher, thanks in part to this earnings surprise history. And when you look at the stock's positive Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction), it's a great indicator of a future earnings beat, especially when combined with its solid Zacks Rank. Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time. In other words, if you have 10 stocks with this combination, the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven. The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier. Story continues Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.50%, which suggests that analysts have recently become bullish on the company's earnings prospects. This positive Earnings ESP when combined with the stock's Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) indicates that another beat is possibly around the corner. We expect the company's next earnings report to be released on February 13, 2019. When the Earnings ESP comes up negative, investors should note that this will reduce the predictive power of the metric. But, a negative value is not indicative of a stock's earnings miss. Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate, but that may not be the sole basis for their stocks moving higher. On the other hand, some stocks may hold their ground even if they end up missing the consensus estimate. Because of this, it's really important to check a company's Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported. 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 Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. What happened Shares of Canadian marijuana grower Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC) gained a whopping 82.3% in January, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. For some context, the S&P 500 (including dividends) returned 8% last month. Most of Canopy's peers also had great starts to 2019, with shares of Aurora Canabis, Cronos, and Aphria up 42.9%, 89.4%, and 53.6%, respectively. Canopy Growth stock gained 13.6% last year as well. Thanks to its powerful start to 2019, shares are up 118% for the one-year period through Friday, Feb. 1, versus the S&P 500's 2.2% loss. U.S. flag with green cannabis plants on black background where red stripes and white stars usually are. The biggest catalyst for Canopy stock's rise last month was the company's announcement that it plans to enter the U.S. cannabis market, thanks to the U.S.' legalization of industrial hemp. Image source: Getty Images. So what Canopy Growth stock probably got a tailwind last month from general robust market conditions, though we can largely attribute its strong January performance to several company-specific catalysts: Jan. 8 and 9: Canopy outlined its advantages in the hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) market. (CBD, which can be extracted from both marijuana and hemp, is a nonpsychoactive chemical that's been associated with a host of medicinal benefits.) The following day, Wall Street firm Piper Jaffray initiated coverage of the company's stock with an "outperform" rating. Shares soared 29.1% during the three-day period from Jan. 9 to Jan. 11. Jan. 9: Also on the ninth, Canopy announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Spectrum Cannabis, which is focused on international medical marijuana markets, entered Peru. Jan. 14: Canopy announced that it received a license from New York State to process and produce products derived from hemp. Its stock jumped 11.1%. Jan. 21: The company announced that Spectrum entered the U.K. and Poland markets. Shares didn't rise on this news, but it's included for completeness of Canopy's notable announcements last month. Jan. 25: Piper Jaffray raised its price target on Canopy Growth stock to $60 per share, up from its prior $40 target, citing in part the company's hemp strategy. Shares -- which had closed at $44.21 on Jan. 24 -- popped 9.7% to $48.48. (They closed at $48.88 on Feb. 1.) CGC Chart Data by YCharts. Story continues Expounding on the hemp license news, here's a snippet from Canopy's press release: Canopy Growth will establish within the Hemp Industrial Park large-scale production capabilities focused on hemp extraction and product manufacturing within the United States. ... Depending on Board approval of a specific site, Canopy Growth intends to invest between $100 million USD and $150 million USD in its New York operations, capable of producing tons of hemp extract on an annual basis. This move marks Canopy's entrance into the U.S. cannabis market. Canopy's path to enter this country's market was cleared by December's passage of the U.S. Farm Bill, which became effective on Jan. 1, 2019. The bill removed industrial hemp from the federal government's list of controlled substances, making it legal across the country to grow and process it and opening up a potentially massive market for hemp-derived CBD products. Now what Canopy Growth stock deserves a spot on your watchlist if you're an investor interested in gaining exposure to the cannabis space. By definition, that means you must be comfortable with volatility and risk, as the stock's valuation is sky-high and the company is losing tons of money. One main reason to like the stock is Canopy's partnership with alcoholic beverage giant Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ), which last fall invested a cool $4 billion in Canopy, increasing its ownership stake to 38%. Moreover, Canopy's hemp strategy could make it an early mover among the major players in the hemp-derived CBD market. Investors who want a way to get some exposure to the cannabis sector that's lower in risk than investing in Canopy or another of the Canadian marijuana growers might want to further explore Constellation Brands. The two partners are working on developing CBD-infused beverages. More From The Motley Fool Beth McKenna owns shares of Canopy Growth. The Motley Fool recommends Constellation Brands. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Looking for a stock that has been consistently beating earnings estimates and might be well positioned to keep the streak alive in its next quarterly report? Astrazeneca (AZN), which belongs to the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry, could be a great candidate to consider. This pharmaceutical has an established record of topping earnings estimates, especially when looking at the previous two reports. The company boasts an average surprise for the past two quarters of 118.87%. For the most recent quarter, Astrazeneca was expected to post earnings of $0.33 per share, but it reported $0.71 per share instead, representing a surprise of 115.15%. For the previous quarter, the consensus estimate was $0.31 per share, while it actually produced $0.69 per share, a surprise of 122.58%. Price and EPS Surprise With this earnings history in mind, recent estimates have been moving higher for Astrazeneca. In fact, the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) for the company is positive, which is a great sign of an earnings beat, especially when you combine this metric with its nice Zacks Rank. Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time. In other words, if you have 10 stocks with this combination, the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven. The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier. Astrazeneca has an Earnings ESP of +1.59% at the moment, suggesting that analysts have grown bullish on its near-term earnings potential. When you combine this positive Earnings ESP with the stock's Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), it shows that another beat is possibly around the corner. The company's next earnings report is expected to be released on February 14, 2019. Story continues Investors should note, however, that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss, but a negative value does reduce the predictive power of this metric. Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate, though this is not the only reason why their shares gain. Additionally, some stocks may remain stable even if they end up missing the consensus estimate. Because of this, it's really important to check a company's Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported. 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 AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Washington (AFP) - Virginia politics went into further turmoil Monday as the lieutenant governor of the eastern US state, where the governor is under intense pressure to resign, was accused of sexual misconduct. Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, who would take over if Governor Ralph Northam steps down, strongly denied the allegation made by a woman about a sexual encounter they had in a hotel room 15 years ago. Fairfax, 39, a Democrat who won election along with Northam in November, said it had been a "100 percent consensual encounter." "There was no inappropriate contact whatsoever," Fairfax told reporters. "Years later, now we have a totally fabricated story out of the blue that's meant to attack me because of where I am in politics," he said. "This has been weaponized and used as a smear." The allegations against Fairfax came as Northam, 59, is facing calls to step down from both Republicans and Democrats alike. Northam has been fighting for his political survival since a 1984 yearbook surfaced last week that features a racist photo on a page dedicated to him. The allegation of sexual misconduct against Fairfax was made on the same conservative website that published the yearbook picture. At a press conference on Saturday, Northam denied that he was one of the men in the photo, which features two people standing together -- one in blackface, the other dressed in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood. Blackface is makeup traditionally used by non-black performers to mock African Americans and was prevalent in minstrel shows in the 19th century. Northam described the photo as "shocking and horrific." While denying he was in the photo, the governor did admit that he had once applied shoe polish on his face -- to imitate Michael Jackson during a 1984 dance contest. "I look back now and regret that I did not understand the harmful legacy of an action like that," Northam said. Fairfax demurred when asked whether Northam should resign. "I believe that the governor has to make the decisions in the best interests of the Commonwealth of Virginia," he said. "I know that there are many others who have called on him to resign." By Jonathan Allen (Reuters) - Virginia Governor Ralph Northam met with his Cabinet on Monday amid a chorus of calls from fellow Democrats to resign over last week's revelation of a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page. A few dozen protesters gathered at the state capitol in Richmond to demand that Northam, a white man, step down, while Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, who is black, said there was "a lot of uncertainty" in the state's government. A conservative media website on Friday released a page from Northam's yearbook depicting one person in blackface standing next to a masked person in the white robes of the Ku Klux Klan. Northam, 59, initially apologized on Friday and said he was one of the two people in the photo, then changed his story Saturday, saying he did not appear in the picture but had dressed in blackface at another point that year. The origins of blackface date to 19th-century "minstrel" shows in which white performers covered their faces in black grease paint to caricature slaves. The governor's admission drew immediate demands for his resignation from Virginia politicians, the NAACP civil rights group and national political figures. At least five Democratic presidential candidates, including U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, both of whom are black, said Northam had lost the moral authority to lead. Northam's office did not respond to questions about his plans on Monday, but local media outlets reported he was meeting with advisers. Fairfax, 39, who is in line to succeed Northam and become only the fifth African-American to serve as governor of a U.S. state, dating back to the post-Civil War era of Reconstruction, said he was not sure what Northam's next move would be. "I believe the governor has to make a decision that's in the best interest of the commonwealth of Virginia," Fairfax told reporters at the capitol. Story continues Asked if he was preparing to possibly assume office as governor, Fairfax replied, "There is a lot of uncertainty right now in our government. But we always have to be ready." Should Northam resign, Fairfax would be the second black governor - after Douglas Wilder - in the history of Virginia, where his great-great-great grandfather once was a slave. Earlier on Monday Fairfax released a statement denying a vague online report that a woman suggested he had sexually assaulted her in 2004. "Tellingly, not one other reputable media outlet has seen fit to air this false claim," the statement from Fairfax's office said. At least two media outlets, including the Washington Post, said a woman had approached them more than a year ago with the same allegation. The outlets said they had been unable to substantiate her claim. The report of the allegation was published on the same website, Big League Politics, that first published Northam's yearbook page. Northam said on Saturday he had donned blackface in the 1980s to portray pop star Michael Jackson in a dance competition. During a Saturday news conference, Northam made light-hearted remarks about how hard it is to clean black shoe polish from one's face and whether he should perform Jackson's signature "moonwalk" dance for the cameras, but abstained at the advice of his wife. "What happened Saturday was an unfortunate display, and rather tone-deaf to what the impact really is," Derrick Johnson, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, told MSNBC on Monday. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Additional reporting by Gary Robertson in Richmond and Katharine Jackson in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone, Bill Trott and James Dalgleish) Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam continues to be under fire for his connection with his 1984 medical school yearbook that includes a photo of a person in blackface and a person wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe. His former Eastern Virginia Medical School roommate, Dr. John O. Rob Marsh, thinks the governor has no association with that picture. My theory (is) this was a horrible prank played on him, Marsh said via text message. But, I dont know who wouldve done it or why and I cannot prove that. However, I think it wouldve been easy for someone to slip a picture like that into his envelope of pictures. Again, I could do not see him ever being in a picture like that nor wanting to have a picture like that displayed on his yearbook page. Marsh, an 1983 EVMS graduate and family physician in Middlebrook, Virginia, said Northam was not that type of person and he wouldnt make racially insensitive jokes. Virginia Gov.-elect Ralph Northam celebrates his election victory with his wife, Pam, and daughter Aubrey, right, and Dorothy McAuliffe, wife of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe at the Northam For Governor election night party at George Mason University in Fairfax on Nov. 7, 2017. Hes never been nor is he or will he ever be that type of person, he said. Northam is continually feeling pressure to resign from Democrats and Republicans following the news of the racist photo breaking on Friday, Feb. 1. More: Watch: Virginia Eastern Shore grapples with history of racial tensions after Northam scandal More: Northam meets with cabinet amid pressure to resign The EVMS yearbook from 1984 shows the racist photo on a page designated for Northam with other photos of the governor. Shortly after the photo's release on Friday, Northam apologized for being in the photo, but then on Saturday he said he doesn't believe he is pictured. He called the photo "disgusting, offensive, racist." He did admit to having blackened his face for a Michael Jackson costume. Marsh was shocked when he heard the news about the racist photo. He spoke with Northam on Saturday, Feb. 2, asking if it could be him in the photo. He said Northam told him no. "When I looked at the picture closely, I do not think it is him in either one of those subjects and I have no idea who they are," Marsh said. "That picture may not have been taken during our medical years it couldve been a photo from somebodys high school or college past. I certainly do not remember seeing anybody dressed like that at any school function I was at." Story continues More: Who is Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam? More: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam yearbook: hometown reacts to racist photo Marsh was Northams roommate during medical school from 1981-1983. After Marsh graduated, he left to enter the army, leaving Northam with the apartment. Marsh became a member of the U.S. Army's elite Delta Force after graduation. He retired from the Army in 1996. Known as one of the nation's most decorated military physicians, he helps provide health care to Middlebrook, a town with a population of less than 300 people, with his medical clinic. He also launched a bigger clinic in the middle of a truck stop off I-81 in Raphine, Virginia. This helped Marsh be named Country Doctor of the Year by Staff Care, a physician staffing company, in 2014. The two physicians met through Marshs brother, who knew Northam from their time at Virginia Military Institute. Marsh needed a new roommate after his previous one moved out. The two men quickly got along as they had similar backgrounds and were passionate about medicine. We shared a couple passions together; we really liked all old cars specially the (Chevrolet Corvette Stingray) and working on them, he remembers. And we enjoyed learning the practice of medicine, and we both had a strong faith in the Lord, and we both felt service to our community and country was important. Marsh remembers Northam during their time in medical school as quiet and friendly. We were both insecure going to medical school, the physician remembers. Neither one of us had the strongest academic background so we had to study extra hard. A photo of the Eastern Virginia Medical School Jones Institute building in Norfolk, Virginia. February 3, 2019. Marsh explained EVMS is a three-year school and the first two years are condensed into 15 months. He said the stressful environment made things move fast and didnt leave a lot of free time. Ralph got along well with everyone, Marsh said. He (would) always help with other students if they had difficulties in an area he wasnt a competitive type like you find at some schools. He was a serious dude and hard working. More: 'He has the right to prove himself': Ralph Northam's African-American pastor speaks out More: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam yearbook photo: medical school alumni speechless Marsh described Northam as someone who was as committed to helping people as he was very open minded. "When he began to run for politics I asked him (Northam), 'Why are you giving up such a great practice and pediatric neurology to be a politician?' and he told me because he felt he could do more for people to improve their life as a legislator (and) politician," Marsh said. Marsh said Northam was always concerned about peoples feelings and he never heard him utter a racial slur or ethnic joke. He also didnt like being around those who did make racial comments. When it comes to politics, Marsh doesn't agree with everything Northam says, like his recent controversial comments on abortion, but he does think the governor has helped Virginia with his instrumental involvement in Medicaid expansion. However, going forward, Marsh does think it will be difficult for Northam to govern. "But, I would also say Ralph is a very tough, hard-working man and hes committed to doing the right thing, and if anybody could survive this I believe he can. But it will take some time," he said. Marsh added: "I however am not willing to say this was a mistake in his past because I dont think it happened ... I think he has no association with that picture." Contact reporter Meg Ryan at mryan@delmarvanow.com. USATODAY contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam 'has no association' with racist photo: med school roommate CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said on Monday Nicolas Maduro's government was trying to move up to $1.2 billion from state development bank Bandes to its subsidiary in Uruguay, though he did not present evidence. Guaido, who last month invoked a constitutional provision to declare himself president and has won the support of most the Western hemisphere, has repeatedly accused Maduro's government of stealing public funds. Venezuelan traders say Maduro's government has been using the Bandes subsidiary in Uruguay to get around debilitating U.S. sanctions that the administration of President Donald Trump has imposed in its bid to help the opposition oust Maduro. "We call on Uruguay in this case to not allow them to steal," Guaido said in a televised speech in front of the National Assembly, which he heads. Uruguay, like Mexico, has chosen to stay neutral on Venezuela's political crisis and instead called for dialogue. Guaido and his backers say it is too late for that and Maduro must call new presidential elections. Venezuela's Information Ministry, which handles all media inquiries, did not immediately respond to a request to comment. Several major European nations on Monday joined the United States, Canada and a group of Latin American countries in recognizing Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate leader, intensifying pressure on Maduro to step down. However Russia, China and Turkey continue to back Maduro, accusing western nations of meddling in Venezuela's internal affairs. (Reporting by Vivian Sequera and Corina Pons; Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Angus Berwick and Tom Brown) Washington (AFP) - USA Today publisher Gannett said Monday its board unanimously rejected a $1.4 billion takeover offer from rival Digital First Media that would merge two of the largest US newspaper groups. A statement said the offer last month from hedge fund-backed Digital First "undervalues Gannett and is not in the best interests of Gannett and its shareholders." Gannett also maintained that it does not believe the offer is "credible," doubting the ability of the rival newspaper group to finance the deal and win regulatory approval. Virginia-based Gannett, which also owns several large regional US dailies, said it was confident of its strategy to remain independent. "Our board of directors is confident that Gannett has significant value creation potential," said Jeffry Louis, chairman of the Gannett board. "We know there are challenges that face us and our industry. We firmly believe, however, that given our operational expertise, our focus on evolving our business model, and our unwavering commitment to remaining a trusted source of news, we are uniquely positioned to grow this company and its valuable assets." Digital First, which is controlled by the New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital, has a reputation for buying struggling newspapers and then slashing costs. It operates dozens of newspapers including the Denver Post in Colorado and San Jose Mercury News in California. At the Denver Post, Digital First has been locked in confrontation with staff, who claim editorial interference and oppose deep job cuts. Gannett's statement said it was willing to meet Digital First executives since they had acquired a significant stake in Gannett. "We are always willing to meet with our shareholders," Louis said in a letter to Digital First chairman Joseph Fuchs. Gannett said however it was not willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that would enable Digital First to see detailed financial information until it has more details on the takeover proposal. Story continues Gannett questioned the motives behind the offer, suggesting that the NDA was a "distraction" designed to mask Digital First's inability to finance the transaction. Digital First parent firm MNG said Gannett's board was blocking a deal that would give shareholders a premium of more than 40 percent to the pre-offer price. "Gannett's deep structural problems are better fixed by experienced operators such as MNG, away from pressures of the public markets," the statement said. The moves come with the legacy newspaper industry facing a horrific slump and struggling to make the transition to digital news. Gannett in 2016 made an unsuccessful takeover bid for Tronc, now rebranded as Tribune Publishing, which at the time operated the Los Angeles Times. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East The US special envoy for North Korea met Seoul's top security advisor on Monday, a day before discussions with Pyongyang officials on the much-anticipated second summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. Stephen Biegun briefed Chung Eui-yong on Washington's stance ahead of a working-level meeting with the North's delegation -- expected to take place in the border truce village of Panmunjom -- to discuss the agenda of the summit. Chung, the South Korean national security advisor, "conveyed our government's assessment of the current situation and what needs to be done in the future", the South's presidential office said in a statement. Security allies Seoul and Washington have at times pursued divergent approaches toward Pyongyang, with South Korea's dovish President Moon Jae-in pursuing engagement while the United States insists pressure must be maintained until it denuclearises. But a senior South Korean presidential official told the Yonhap news agency that "South Korea and the US have been working well together, and we have high expectations for the meeting between Pyongyang and Washington". In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Trump said the date and venue of his upcoming second summit with the North Korean leader had been agreed -- and would likely be announced before or during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. Vietnam is seen as the most likely venue for the meeting, which is expected to take place late this month, and follows their landmark first summit in Singapore last June. That meeting -- the first-ever between the leaders of the US and North Korea -- produced a vaguely-worded document in which Kim pledged to work towards "the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula". But progress has since stalled with the two sides disagreeing over what that means. Last week, US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told Congress that "North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons and production capabilities". Washington (AFP) - The United States urged other countries Monday to bring home hundreds of Islamic State fighters captured in Syria, a delicate issue for allies such as France and Britain as President Donald Trump withdraws troops. Washington drew a line on the jihadists two days before foreign ministers from Europe and the Middle East gather in the US capital for talks on how to fight the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, once the US military presence ends. US allies have been grappling for weeks with what to do with foreign fighters detained in the war-ravaged country by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who have warned that they may not be able to guard their jails once US troops leave. "The United States calls upon other nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens detained by the SDF and commends the continued efforts of the SDF to return these foreign terrorist fighters to their countries of origin," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement. "Despite the liberation of ISIS-held territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIS remains a significant terrorist threat and collective action is imperative to address this shared international security challenge," Palladino said. Another US official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that northeastern Syria had become a "very fluid space." "As events unfold, there are any number of scenarios under which positive control of some of the individuals currently in custody could change," the official said. He voiced concern that jihadists could then leave Syria for "other, more permissive places around the world from which they could seek to carry forward the fight." - Fears in Europe - Trump stunned Western allies on December 19 by announcing that the United States would pull its 2,000 troops out of Syria, declaring that IS had been defeated. One of the countries most concerned is France, which has been hit by a series of IS-inspired attacks including the grisly November 2015 siege of the Bataclan nightclub in Paris. Story continues France -- which along with Britain maintains a small deployment of special forces in Syria -- last week opened the door to bringing back its citizens, after earlier insisting that the jihadists should be prosecuted locally and not step foot back in France. The French foreign ministry said its goal was to "avoid the escape and scattering of these potentially dangerous individuals" and acknowledged that the situation on the ground was changing with the US withdrawal. A French security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, earlier told AFP 130 people could be repatriated. A second French official said the group included 70 to 80 children held with their mothers. Britain has meanwhile been grappling with what to do with the two surviving members of a quartet -- nicknamed "The Beatles" for their accents -- who were notorious for videotaped beheadings. Britain has shown no interest in bringing home the Kurdish-jailed pair, Alexanda Amon Kotey and El Shafee el-Sheikh, amid reports they were stripped of their nationality. A report last year said the United States was willing to take them in its military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- an option that would be deeply controversial in Britain, partly due to the US practice of the death penalty. - Talk of security zone - The SDF are worried that, without US troops as a buffer, they will be crushed by neighboring Turkey -- which equates them with Kurdish separatists at home and encouraged Trump to withdraw US forces. Shortly after Trump's announcement, the SDF warned it would pull back from the battle against IS if Turkey attacked and may redeploy its prison guards. Wednesday's 79-nation conference in Washington is expected to look further at ways to avoid what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a comment that angered Turkey, warned could be the "slaughter" of Kurdish fighters in Syria. Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have discussed a "safe zone" which Ankara wants on Syrian territory. European allies are cool to the idea and the Kurdish fighters want the zone to be directly on the border with coalition forces on the Turkish side. Foreign ministers will also hear at the conference from Nobel laureate Nadia Murad, a member of the Yazidi minority in Iraq who was abducted and raped, like thousands of women and girls, by jihadists. Since obtaining freedom, Murad has campaigned for accountability over the atrocities and urged Iraq and other countries to investigate the fate of Yazidi who remain missing. Washington (AFP) - The United States urged other countries Monday to bring home hundreds of Islamic State sympathizers captured in Syria, a delicate issue for allies such as France as Washington withdraws troops. After allies grappled for weeks on what to do with the extremists left in Syria, the United States came down clearly on the side of repatriation. The United States said that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) -- which played a major role in crushing the Islamic State group and has warned that it may not be able to guard its jails once US troops leave -- had been holding the jihadists "securely and humanely." "The United States calls upon other nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens detained by the SDF and commends the continued efforts of the SDF to return these foreign terrorist fighters to their countries of origin," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement. President Donald Trump on December 19 stunned Western allies by announcing that the United States will pull its 2,000 troops out of Syria, declaring that the Islamic State movement, also known as ISIS, had been defeated. In a carefully worded statement, the State Department conceded that the group still had fighters who pose concerns. "Despite the liberation of ISIS-held territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIS remains a significant terrorist threat and collective action is imperative to address this shared international security challenge," Palladino said. One of the countries most concerned is France, which has been hit by a series of attacks inspired by the Islamic State group including the grisly November 2015 siege of the Bataclan nightclub. France last week opened the door to bringing back its citizens, after earlier insisting that the jihadists should be prosecuted locally. The French foreign ministry said its goal was to "avoid the escape and scattering of these potentially dangerous individuals" and acknowledged that the situation on the ground was changing with the US withdrawal. A French security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, earlier told AFP that 130 people could be repatriated. A second French official said the group included 70 to 80 children held with their mothers. The Syrian Democratic Forces are worried that, without US troops as a buffer, they will be crushed by neighboring Turkey -- which equates them with Kurdish separatists at home and had encouraged Trump to withdraw US forces. Geneva (AFP) - Neither protagonist in the US-China trade war stands to benefit from their stand-off,the UN said Monday, suggesting others could cash in instead, with the EU possibly winning big. In a report, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) examined the repercussions of the tariff tit-for-tat already under way between the two trade giants, as well as the expected impact of a significant tariff hike scheduled to take effect on March 1. The report, titled "The Trade Wars: The Pain and the Gain", said that "bilateral tariffs alter global competitiveness to the advantage of firms operating in countries not directly affected by them". It predicted that the European Union would be the biggest winner, taking home some $70 billion in additional trade thanks to the trade war. Last year, Washington and Beijing imposed tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade, after Trump initiated the trade war because of complaints over unfair trade practices. The two countries hailed "progress" in talks held in Washington last week aimed at avoiding an escalation of the conflict. But if no deal is reached by March 1, US duty rates on $200 billion in Chinese goods are due to rise to 25 percent from 10 percent. - 'Distortionary' - "Our analysis shows that while bilateral tariffs are not very effective in protecting domestic firms, they are very valid instruments to limit trade from the targeted country," Pamela Coke-Hamilton, head of UNCTAD's international trade division, said in a statement. "The effect of US-China tariffs would be mainly distortionary. US-China bilateral trade will decline and replaced by trade originating in other countries," she said. The study estimated that out of the $250 billion in Chinese exports subject to US tariffs, some 80 percent would be captured by firms in other countries, while 12 percent would be retained by Chinese firms and only six percent would be captured by US firms. Story continues A similar scenario would apply to the $110 billion in US exports hit by Chinese tariffs, the report said, estimating that 85 percent would go to companies in other countries, 10 percent would remain in the US and only about five percent would go to Chinese firms. "Countries that are expected to benefit the most from US-China tensions are those which are more competitive and have the economic capacity to replace US and Chinese firms," UNCTAD said. The report indicated that the EU stood to benefit the most, with companies in the bloc likely to capture around $50 billion of Chinese exports to the US and about $20 billion of US exports to China. Japan, Mexico and Canada would meanwhile each capture more than $20 billion in additional trade thanks to the tariff war, the study found. Australia, Brazil, India, Philippines, Pakistan and would also notice "substantial effects relative to the size of their exports," it said. But the trade war will also have a number of negative effects on global trade, especially within certain markets. The UNCTAD study pointed to the soybean market, where the tit-for-tat tariffs have resulted in "trade distortionary effects" that have benefitted Brazil especially, since the country has suddenly become the main soybean supplier to China. - Negative global effects - "But because the magnitude and duration of tariffs is unclear, Brazilian producers have been reluctant to make investment decisions that may turn out to be unprofitable if the tariffs are revoked," the UN agency said. Brazilian companies that purchase soybeans, meanwhile, stand to lose out amid inevitable price hikes, it added. The study also said that positive effect for some countries will likely be outweighed by the negative global effects. A major concern, the report authors said, is the impact the trade dispute will have on a still-fragile global economy. This is especially worrying if trade tensions spiral into currency wars, which would threaten the ability of people and companies around the world to pay off dollar-denominated debt, they said. Task and Purpose Security, Or not? A U.S. Navy Railgun: A Dying Dream? The Pentagons apathy towards a full-scale railgun demonstrator is bad news for those excited about the prospect of eventually watching the supergun wreak havoc downrange. The Navy will continue to fund research and development efforts related to the services much-hyped electromagnetic railgun but will likely not pursue a shipboard tactical demonstrator, according to sources briefed on the matter, a development that will likely condemn the more than $500 million project to a R&D limbo as the Department of Defense focuses on other directed energy programs. (This first appeared several months ago.) A special Innovative Naval Prototypes line item in the Navys fiscal 2019 budget proposal, published on Feb. 12, explicitly sets aside a hefty $45.8 million to applied research addressing the unique technical challenges inherent in the construction, assembly and operation of the railgun prototypes currently enjoying testing by engineers at the Office of Naval Research and Naval Sea Systems Command. This specific line item is just one of several that shape funding for the Pentagons portfolio of directed energy projects, like solid-state lasers and the hypervelocity projectile, both of which have emerged as higher priorities than the railgun for the DoD in recent years. But as The War Zone notes, the explicit budget line indicates that the Navy hasnt completely given up on idea of developing a supergun capable of liquefying enemy armor from miles away even if the service did request $10 million less than in fiscal 2018. But the new round of funding doesnt spell an end for the railgun development woes. According to congressional sources, Navy officials stated during a Feb. 15 briefing on the Navys RDT&E budget that while the service planned to continue funding railgun R&D efforts, its previous decision to not pursue a shipboard tactical demonstrator remains in place, and the service has made no commitment to fielding one until the existing subsystems were fully proven. Story continues Those sources, who spoke to Task & Purpose under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on internal budget discussions, came away with the understanding that while the railgun hasnt been abandoned outright, its lower on the Pentagons priority list of next-gen weapons than in previous years. While the Navys directed energy funding lines arent the most compelling tea leaves to read, this alleged unwillingness to commit to a demonstrator is reflected in the consolidation of electromagnetic railgun funding across other line items in the Navys fiscal 2019 budget request. The services Navy Warfighting Experiments And Demonstrations line, which would have funded prototyping from a subscale proof-of-principle into a full-scale prototype for warfighter experimentation during laboratory and operational demonstrations, fell from $64 million in fiscal 2018 to zilch, folded into a Navy Advanced Technology Development (ATD) line item (0603671N) which lacks mention of a demonstrator. In addition, the Innovative Naval Prototypes line item (0603801N) the same one where lawmakers consented to tack on an additional $15 million explicitly for a tactical demonstrator during budget negotiations also picked up an additional $53.57 million in this years budget proposal. But its worth pointing out those funds are committed to directed energy weapons broadly: Indeed, the only explicit mention of a railgun demonstrator is couched in a vague promise to test and build full-scale electromagnetic railgun system prototypes that include the battery charging system, the pulsed power subsystem, and the electromagnetic launcher with no specific dollar value attached. The Pentagons apathy towards a full-scale railgun demonstrator is bad news for those excited about the prospect of eventually watching the supergun wreak havoc downrange. As Task & Purpose previously reported, congressional and defense sources see the development of working shipboard as a crucial step to preventing the railgun from landing in a valley of death between RDT&E and procurement that prevent long-term engineering sources from ever advancing beyond applied research and development stage. Funding may be a necessary condition for the railgun to secure a future among Americas arsenal, but its not a sufficient one on its own. Ironically, that has less to do with funding than the maturity of U.S. electromagnetic systems generally. The unique (and freakishly complex) pulsed-power architecture required to fire off multiple shots at thirty-two megajoules of muzzle energy in the span of a minute still poses a major obstacle for Navy engineers, according to both congressional and Navy sources. The issues have proven indomitable enough that ONR and NAVSEA are still conducting rep-rate tests at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) with the goal of reaching a target capacity for ten shots a minute well beyond the 4.8 shots-per-minute rep-rate flaunted by ONR in a July 2017 update on the railguns progress. These engineering obstacles have made other projects in the Navys direct energy portfolio more appealing: The Navys budget proposal calls for the continued development of the HVP initially developed as railgun ammo a decade ago. The Pentagons secretive Strategic Capabilities Office has in recent years shifted its priorities away from the supergun in favor of rapidly proliferating the specialized shell for use in conventional artillery; in 2016, SCO even announced it had also Army and Air Force to quickly develop a new Hypervelocity Gun Weapon System independent from the electromagnetic railgun to accommodate the lethal new projectile. In addition, Popular Mechanics points out that recent breakthroughs with conventional solid-state laser weapons have induced the Navy to propose $300 million to rapidly develop and equip shipborne laser weapons to fend off explosive-laden drones and small boats that could harass smaller Navy warships. The service recently announced that it planned on outfitting guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke with a 60-kw Surface Navy Laser Weapon System (SNLWS) as part of an integrated missile-and-drone defense system by 2020. With the entire DoD laser-focused on modernization and lethality, proven directed energy systems like the HVP and SNLWS are eminently more appealing than a railgun system thats still in the early stages of testing. So is the Navys electromagnetic railgun alive or dead? The answer is, unfortunately, both. While broad RDT&E efforts on electromagnetic tech will certainly continue under the watchful eye of ONR engineers, shifting budget priorities and technological hurdles may condemn the supergun to a limbo in anonymous labs and distant proving grounds until the technology is finally mature enough for the Pentagon to make a decision about its procurement and fielding. Until then, the electromagnetic railgun will remain the defense tech version of Schrodingers cat, both alive and dead in a state of constant quantum superposition until a single momentous (subatomic) event occurs. And the Navy and SCO had better hurry up and get there because Chinas electromagnetic railgun prototype is very much alive. This article by Jared Keller originally appeared at Task & Purpose. Follow Task & Purpose on Twitter. This article first appeared in 2018. More Articles from Task & Purpose: - 7 Veteran-Friendly Manufacturers That Are Hiring - The 6 Types Of Contractors You Encounter Overseas - Heres How Marines Fared On The New Physical Fitness Test Read full article WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will be sentenced on March 13 for attempted witness tampering and conspiring against the United States, according to a court filing on Monday. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, the federal judge presiding over Manafort's case in Washington, had previously tentatively scheduled the sentencing hearing for March 5. She did not give a reason for the delay. Manafort pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy against the United States and began cooperating with prosecutors working on U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible links between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Both Moscow and Trump deny any wrongdoing. In November, prosecutors accused Manafort of breaching his plea deal by lying to federal investigators. Lawyers for Manafort have said he was truthful with the investigators. A closed hearing was held on Monday to hash out whether Manafort violated his plea deal. In a separate case connected to the Mueller investigation, a jury in Virginia convicted Manafort of bank and tax fraud in August. No sentencing date has been set in that case. (Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Eric Beech and James Dalgleish) COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish authorities have expelled two Huawei Technologies staff after an inspection at the company's Copenhagen office showed they failed to comply with laws covering residence and work permits, police said on Monday. Police said the inspection of Chinese company's Copenhagen office was part of a "routine investigation" done by authorities at locations with many foreign workers. Four Huawei staff were charged following Thursday's inspection, of which two were later expelled from the country, a Copenhagen police spokeswoman said. The news was first reported by Bloomberg. The spokeswoman could not reveal whether the charged were Chinese nationals. She said the inspection had no relation to recent headlines around growing scrutiny over Huawei's ties with the Chinese government and allegations that Beijing could use its technology for spying, something which the company has denied. No one at Huawei in Copenhagen could be reached by phone. The company did not immediately reply to questions sent by email. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, editing by Louise Heavens) Donald Trump would not commit in an interview aired on Sunday to making public the results of the special counsels investigation into Russias ties to his campaign, adding that it was time to get rid of the inquiry. In the interview on CBS Face the Nation, Mr Trump reiterated his belief that the attorney general would determine whether the public would see the results of the inquiry by special counsel Robert Mueller. But he would not say whether he would be comfortable with the results being made public. I dont know, the president said. It depends. I have no idea what its going to say. The law does not require the Justice Department to release a report, and Mr Mueller has been silent on the issue. Last month, Trump advisers were pleased William Barr, Mr Trumps nominee for attorney general, opened the door to the possibility that the special counsels report could be shielded from the public during a Senate confirmation hearing. Mr Trumps wide-ranging interview with Margaret Brennan, the shows host, was conducted days after acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker said the investigation was nearing its end, and amid stagnant negotiations with Democrats over Mr Trumps demand for a border wall. Mr Trump indicated at various points in the interview he would use the power of his office to solve that matter and others facing his presidency. Among those matters, the president appeared to suggest, are national security and the military. He called the use of military force against Venezuela an option. And he indicated he would like to keep troops in Iraq a striking departure from his push to withdraw from Afghanistan and Syria to keep an eye on Iran. Its perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East rather than pulling up, Mr Trump said. Were going to keep watching and were going to keep seeing, and if theres trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, were going to know it before they do. Story continues On the border wall fight, the president reiterated his belief we have now set the table to take action after a short-term deal to fund part of the government a deal struck to end the longest government shutdown in history expires on 15 February. In an interview with The New York Times on Thursday, Mr Trump suggested he had successfully made the case to Americans that the problem at the border was enough to constitute declaring a national emergency, and Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, was doing a disservice to the country both points he again made on Sunday. People that didnt have any idea, Mr Trump said. They didnt have a clue as to what was happening. They now know exactly whats happening. Mr Trump is expected to make immigration a cornerstone of his State of the Union speech, which is scheduled for Tuesday. In the interview with CBS, Mr Trump once again accused Democrats, in particular Ms Pelosi, of ignoring urgent problems at the border, which included human trafficking and what Mr Trump called an invasion of human traffickers into the country. Though Mr Trump seems intent on ignoring congressional negotiations, lawmakers insisted on Sunday they were trying. Senator Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a member of the committee working to reach a deal, admitted it was too early to say whether the negotiations could be successful. I think that the president is dead set on keeping his campaign promise, Mr Shelby, R-Ala, said on CNNs State of the Union. He acknowledged Mr Trump probably had some legal merits for declaring a national emergency over the border wall, but he pleaded for the committee to be allowed to do its work. If people leave us alone, Mr Shelby added, well get this done by Wednesday night. He said the committee had invited experts with knowledge of the south-western border to testify this week on exactly what is needed for border security. Mr Shelby expressed optimism that hearing from those experts could move us off the semantic debate over a wall or fencing. Its a question of how do we get off the politics and on to the substance, he said. Other members of the bipartisan committee Representative Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Senator John Hoeven, R-ND doubled down on their respective partys positions on Fox News Sunday. Mr Cuellar, who represents parts of the border, dismissed the presidents reasoning for the wall as built on a false premise. In the CBS interview, Mr Trump fought back against criticism of his wall and other policies. He responded to warnings his administration was risking a resurgence of terrorist groups by promising the rapid withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan by saying he ran against 17 Republicans and won. Ill leave intelligence there, Mr Trump said, and if I see nests forming, Ill do something about it. Last week, Mr Trump showed similar defiance in suggesting his intelligence chiefs go back to school for issuing a threat assessment saying North Korea was unlikely to give up its nuclear programme and Iran is not, for now, taking steps necessary to make a bomb. Mr Trump said he would ultimately rely on his own counsel if he disagreed with intelligence assessments. The president also indicated the power of his affectionate letter-writing with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, might persuade Mr Kim to drop his nuclear plans. Mr Trump has at least six letters from Mr Kim he enjoys sharing with people who visit him in the Oval Office. We have had tremendous correspondence that some people have seen and cant even believe it, Mr Trump said. Now that doesnt mean were going to make a deal. But certainly I think we have a very good chance of making a deal. The New York Times REYNOSA, Mexico Over the past year, Lilian Menendez has evaded street gangs in her native Honduras, paid $5,000 to free her kidnapped brother and made the perilous 2,000-mile journey from her home country to this border city. Now, Menendez and husband, Osman Guillen, face perhaps their most daunting task: Turning themselves into U.S. authorities to seek asylum. Rebuffed at the international bridge that leads to McAllen, Texas and to U.S. sanctuary Menendez said she was calling relatives to scrape together the $10,000 smugglers are demanding to float them across the Rio Grande, where they can turn themselves into Border Patrol agents and begin applying for asylum. Im at the point of desperation, said Menendez, who has been staying at a migrant shelter near the border since Jan. 1. The idea was to cross the bridge and ask for asylum. But they tell us we cant. Under international law, migrants have for years flocked to the U.S.-Mexico border to legally seek asylum and be allowed entry. But in recent months, Trump administration policies have slowed the flow of asylum-seekers into the U.S., leaving many migrants stranded far from home, vulnerable to violence in dangerous border cities and unable to request asylum. Determined to find a way in, migrants like Menendez are increasingly turning to criminal smuggling rings to get to the U.S., where they can then request asylum and, the hope is, seek safety. The backlog in processing asylum seekers is inadvertently bolstering the illicit and dangerous trade, according to migrants, advocates and experts, creating an increased demand for human smuggling and illegal border crossings at a time when President Donald Trump has threatened to once again shutdown the government in February if his proposed border wall isn't built. Starting last summer, U.S. Border and Customs Protection initiated a program known as metering," where only a limited number of asylum-seekers are allowed through legal ports of entry each day, creating a backlog of migrants on the Mexican side of the border. Story continues Bessy Meraz Pena, 39, left, and her daughter, Katerin Nasareht, 14, came to Reynosa, Mexico, from their native Honduras three months ago. They said they havent been able to cross over the international bridge to seek asylum. They were discussing hiring a smuggler to cross them over the Rio Grande. Photo by Rick Jervis, USA TODAY [Via MerlinFTP Drop] The White House began implementing a new policy Tuesday where certain migrants given a U.S. immigration hearing will be removed to Mexico to await their day in court. Current U.S. law allows some migrants to stay in the U.S. until their court date arrives. The Pentagon on Sunday also announced it will be sending 3,750 more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to help lay down concertina wire and support Border Patrol units, brining the total number of active-duty troops on the border to 4,350. Migrant advocates and analysts say the steady military build-up at the border also make asylum-seekers seek out illegal smugglers to guide them across more remote areas of the border. In the Rio Grande Valley, independent smugglers are charging exorbitant prices to sneak desperate migrants across the river and into the U.S., said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a political scientist at George Mason University in Virginia and author of "Los Zetas Inc.," about the deadly Mexican criminal group known for their migrant-smuggling and extortion activities that recently splintered into different cells. The smugglers then pay fees to larger criminal gangs, such as remnants of Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, she said. "From Central American smugglers, to independent smugglers along the border, all the way up to the cartels: Everyones making money," she said. Smugglers are also increasingly shifting routes to New Mexico and Arizona, where migrants and advocacy groups can more easily help deliver migrants to U.S. authorities, Correa-Cabrera said. But the border terrain there is also more hostile, with vast deserts and mountains and farther away from major cities, she said. "You're starting to see more families trying to make it through more dangerous areas," Correa-Cabrera said. "The smuggling business is going to change dramatically." The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees border security, insists it is not turning away asylum-seekers. Officials say the metering process is in place to prevent ports of entry facilities from overflowing. The Trump administration is also facing an unprecedented rise in asylum requests. The total number of credible-fear referrals for interviews -- or migrants seeking asylum -- skyrocketed from about 5,000 a year in fiscal year 2008 to about 97,000 in 2018. At the same time, the number of total apprehensions along the Southwest border dropped in the same period, from 705,005 in 2008 to 396,579 last fiscal year, according to Homeland Security and Border Patrol statistics. "The bottom line is that we have a deeply flawed immigration system, smugglers and traffickers know the flaws well, and they seek to exploit these vulnerabilities in the law, as well as physical vulnerabilities to enter and remain in the country illegally, DHS spokeswoman Katie Waldman said. Border officials are aware of the smuggling problem. A September report from DHS's Office of Inspector General found that "while the government encouraged all asylum seekers to come to ports of entry to make their asylum claims, CBP managed the flow of people who could enter at those ports of entry through metering, which may have led to additional illegal border crossings." Investigators interviewed one woman who said she was turned away three times by a border agent before deciding to take her chances with illegal entry, according to the report. Two other migrants told them they crossed over illegally after being turned away at the bridge. A Border Patrol supervisor told the investigation team the sector sees an increase in illegal entries when migrants are metered at ports of entry. "While the stated intentions behind metering may be reasonable, the practice may have unintended consequences," the report said. At the Senda de Vida migrant shelter in Reynosa, a large steel gate protects the front entrance, keeping out criminal gangs that prey on the migrants gathered there. Inside, asylum-seekers, mostly from Guatemala and Honduras, rest in bunk beds or gather in small groups to plot ways to reach U.S. officials and plead their case for asylum. Very few migrants are being allowed to cross over the nearby McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge, said Hector Silva, the pastor who runs the shelter. Those turned away from the bridge -- either by border patrol agents or Mexican immigration officials -- are susceptible to criminal gangs that roam the area, he said. The gangs have kidnapped migrants and held them for thousands of dollars in ransom, beat them up or swindled them out of money, Silva said. Instead of exposing themselves to those gangs, some migrants are looking into illegal crossings, he said. "The entrance they had hoped for doesn't present itself, so they risk other ways in: over the river, over mountains, with smugglers," Silva said. "It becomes very difficult for them." On a recent day, Melendez and Gullien sat on a concrete curb inside the sprawling shelter, checking his cell phone for news from relatives. Street gangs in their hometown, La Libertad, Honduras, made them pay a weekly "war tax" on their deli, then threatened to kill Guillen, so they left. They left behind two daughters, 9 and 17 years old, because of the journey's dangers. They had hoped to join relatives in Round Rock, Texas, then send for their girls. They didn't expect to be held up at the border. Maria Alfaro, 51, of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, arrived at the migrant center in November. She said she's afraid to try to cross over the international bridge because she's heard of the backlog and doesn't want to be turned away and snatched by cartels. She was kidnapped in Chiapas, Mexico, during her journey to the U.S.-Mexico border last year, a harrowing ordeal she said she doesn't want to go through again. She escaped after a shootout broke out between her captors and Mexican authorities, she said. Afterwards, she headed toward Reynosa for U.S. protection. "I came here to seek asylum," Alfaro said. "But there's no where to go." Migrants waiting for asylum across the U.S.-Mexican border expressed similar fears and complaints about their state of limbo. For many, waiting in line to request in asylum didn't seem like the wisest long-term strategy. Sixty miles to the southeast, in Matamoros, Mexico, just across the bridge from Brownsville, Texas, migrants have set up a makeshift camp of sleeping bags, backpacks, strollers and heavy jackets under the international bridge connecting the two countries. The migrants, mostly from Central America, are not allowed to sleep there overnight. Marlin Martinez has showed up to the camp every day for the past three weeks with her three children, ages 9 to 12, hoping to apply for asylum in the U.S. Each day, Mexican immigration officials have told her to come back the next day, she said. Martinez, who was fleeing a violent ex-partner and street gangs in Honduras, said she will hire a smuggler to get them across, as soon as she raises enough money to pay them. "We didn't come here to violate any laws," she said. "We came to seek asylum. It's in God's hands now." To be sure, Trump's policies have persuaded some migrants to patiently wait their turn at the border. In Nogales, Mexico, migrants showing up to claim asylum are waiting up to three weeks to talk to U.S. immigration officials. Community groups created a numbering system to house migrants in shelters around the city and transport them to the crossing when they're number is close to being called. At a migrant shelter known as La Roca, or the Rock, several migrants said that given the option between waiting in line to talk to an immigration officer or hiring a smuggler to get across the border, theyd rather wait, despite restrictions from the U.S. government. The reason, they said, is the costs. As it becomes tougher to get across the border, smuggling prices have gone up, to the point that many of them say they just cant afford it. The (smugglers) I looked into were charging $7,500 each adults or kids, you have to pay the same amount, Efrain Javier Gonzalez said. He arrived in Nogales last week with his wife and two kids, ages 11 and one. They fled cartel violence and extortion from Guerrero state, a notoriously dangerous part of Mexico. Theyre the only Mexican family staying at La Roca. The shelter sits atop a steep hillside directly facing the rusty, bollard-style border fence that separates them from the United States. Its so close, that Gonzalez' sons regularly wave to the Border Patrol agents driving just behind the metal slats. Gonzalez previously lived in New Jersey before he agreed to a voluntary deportation in 2016. He hired a smuggler in 2009, borrowing money and selling belongings to pay the $4,500 fee at the time for the four-day walk across the desert. But its a different story now. Its risky, he said, and the family sold all their belongings to leave Guerrero, so they have no money left for a smuggler, and certainly not the $30,000 hed have to pay to get the entire family across. Here at the border, there are smugglers everywhere. They offer their services, but you know its just not 100 percent reliable, he said. You make that decision without the certainty that they will follow through. There are smugglers who will get you across, but there are also those who will only take your money and leave you to your luck. Other migrants at La Roca in Nogales who are not seeking asylum in the U.S. said they would also rather try their luck on their own, rather than hire smugglers. You need a lot of money, Luciano Morales, a Mexican migrant from Sinaloa, said as he packed all his belongings into a backpack and a gym bag. He would soon head out to Tijuana where he would attempt to cross the border on his own. Its just a matter of staying close to the lights so I dont get lost in the desert," he said. But there's no question that more and more migrants are choosing smugglers to help them reach vulnerable areas along the border that can be used as illegal entry points, said Jose Garibay, spokesman for Border Patrols Yuma Sector. More than 8 out of 10 migrants border agents apprehend here are migrant families or unaccompanied minors, enforcement statistics show. In the past year theyve increasingly been crossing in larger groups, and willingly turned themselves in to agents. As evidence, Garibay pointed to two videos taken six days apart in the Yuma border area. They show dozens of migrants scaling the border fence using ladders. At the end of the clips, the presumed smugglers are caught on camera running away with the ladder in hand. They can just theoretically point at a section of wall or, as in this case, give them a ladder or a system over the border wall, Garibay said. They dont have to cross with them, they can just stay in Mexico where they know we cant go. Migrant advocates say they fear stricter restrictions on asylum claims or the prospect of waiting out court dates in Mexico will lead more families to pursue dangerous and illegal border crossings. "We can see families now wandering for days in the desert, and were afraid that that humanitarian cost will be high, said Joanna Williams, advocacy director for the Kino Border Initiative, a faith-based aid group for deported migrants and asylum seekers in Nogales, Mexico. Follow Jervis on Twitter: @MrRJervis. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's immigration policies are benefiting smugglers and violent crime groups in Mexico The Pentagon is to send 3,750 US troops to the border with Mexico for three months to provide additional support to border agents, the Department of Defense said on Sunday. The deployment will raise the total number of active-duty forces supporting Customs and Border Protection agents there to approximately 4,350, according to the department. The additional units will be deployed for 90 days. The Pentagon first approved the high-profile deployment of active-duty US troops to the Mexico border in October, before the US midterm congressional elections. The move was embraced by Donald Trumps supporters, including fellow Republicans in Congress. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan approved the deployment on 11 January, according to the statement. US Representative Adam Smith, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, first disclosed plans to send more troops on Thursday. Mr Smith criticised senior Pentagon officials for failing to disclose the information during a hearing before his committee in Congress on the issue just two days earlier. Additional reporting by Reuters Aden (AFP) - Yemen's deputy chief of staff died Sunday from wounds sustained last month in a drone attack by Huthi rebels on the country's largest air base, the information minister said. "Major General Saleh al-Zandani, deputy chief of staff, was martyred while undergoing treatment after he was wounded in the terrorist bombing at the Al-Anad base," Moammer al-Eryani wrote on Twitter. Zandani was among 11 wounded in the January 10 drone attack on a military parade at the base in Lahij, a province some 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Yemen's second city Aden. Seven other loyalists -- including a high-ranking intelligence official -- were killed in the attack. It came less than a month after the United Nations brokered a truce between Yemen's Huthi rebels and a regional pro-government military alliance. Yemen is mired in a grinding conflict between the Iran-aligned Huthi rebels and a government backed up by a Saudi-led coalition. The war has killed nearly 10,000 people since the Saudi-led intervention in 2015 and unleashed the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN. The warring sides agreed on truce deals for the key rebel-held aid port of Hodeida and battleground third city Taez at UN peace talks in Sweden in December. Jordan is set to host fresh talks aimed at drafting a political framework for Yemen. Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - The toll from a dam collapse at a mine in southeast Brazil has risen to 134 deaths after more than a week of searches, with 199 missing, authorities said Monday. The count showed the gradual recovery operation of bodies more than a week after the January 25 disaster at the dam, owned by Brazilian mining giant Vale, near the town of Brumadinho. Those listed as missing are presumed dead, but not yet located under the layers of muddy mining waste released when the tailings dam broke apart. Almost all the victims were workers at the mine. A fire services spokesman said it was possible that not all the bodies would be located and recovered. "After a while, because of the decomposition of the bodies, it becomes impossible to recover the remains. But until that moment comes, even if we have to stay four, five or six months, the fire offices will work without stopping," he said. The disaster occurred three years after a similar dam collapse tragedy at another mine in the same region which was part-owned by Vale. That 2015 incident, close to the town of Mariana, had a lower death toll of 19, but was considered Brazil's worst environmental disaster because the mining waste released ravaged whole ecosystems along hundreds of miles (kilometers) of waterways. President Jair Bolsonaro, in a statement read to Congress as he recovered in hospital from abdominal surgery, said excessive regulation of Brazil's mining industry was partly to blame for the Brumadinho dam collapse. "The government has dozens of overlapping monitoring structures which stop people producing but didn't prevent the Brumadinho tragedy," he said. "It's not with bigger government that we are going to solve these problems, but with more efficient government," he said. When it comes to energy policy, Washington has one resource that appears infinitely renewable: carbon-tax proposals. Al Gore proposed a carbon tax back in 1992. The Clinton administration tried, and failed, to impose a Btu tax on all forms of energy. The latest iteration of the carbon tax is the carbon dividend plan, which was endorsed last month by a group of Nobel-winning economists, chairs of the Federal Reserve, and two former Treasury secretaries. Proponents claim that a carbon tax would be the most cost-effective way to cut carbon-dioxide emissions. But the carbon tax keeps running aground. There are three big problems with the concept: It would disproportionately hurt low-income consumers, it would inevitably be watered down by special interests, and it would have to be imposed on our trading partners. The regressive effects are well known. Even if, as many proponents suggest, the proceeds of the tax were paid out to consumers on a quarterly basis rather than being used to fund the government, having to wait months to recover the extra money theyve spent could cause financial stress for poor and working-class families. A 2012 study by scholars from the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute found that the carbon-tax burden would comprise 3.5 percent of the income of the poorest decile of households and only 0.6 percent of the income of the highest decile. For low-income workers, particularly those living paycheck to paycheck, such a tax which would mean higher prices for nearly everything would impose a major burden. Higher energy prices would be particularly burdensome, and the payments less likely to fully cover the costs, for workers and tradesmen who live in rural areas and must drive long distances to get to and from their job sites. Second, a carbon tax would be targeted by armies of lobbyists, with some aiming to kill it and others aiming to get a dispensation. In 1993, the Washington Post reported that the Clinton administration was abandoning the Btu tax because it had underestimated the opposition the tax would face from manufacturers, farmers and the energy industry. Last November, voters in Washington State defeated a carbon-tax proposal known as Initiative 1631 by a wide margin. That tax would have exempted aviation and maritime fuel, as well as energy intensive, trade-dependent businesses such as steel plants, aluminum producers, and pulp and paper mills. Story continues The stickiest problem with the carbon tax is the problem of border carbon adjustments, which is another name for the tariffs that would be imposed on imported goods and services. Such tariffs will be needed, supporters say, to prevent carbon leakage (i.e., carbon-intensive manufacturing moving overseas) and enhance the competitiveness of American firms that are more energy-efficient than their global competitors. That border adjustment would require calculating the greenhouse-gas footprint of nearly every single thing we import. Imagine what it might mean for a big manufacturer like Boeing, which produces airplanes with parts that are manufactured and imported from multiple countries. Some of those parts are themselves made from parts and commodities imported from still other countries. Keeping track of all of those carbon flows, and avoiding constant disputes over the accuracy of the data, will be an accounting nightmare. In addition to determining the right level of tariff, a carbon tax must overcome the free-rider problem. William Nordhaus, an economics professor at Yale University who won the Nobel Prize in economics last year for his work on climate-change policy, is a long-time advocate for a carbon tax. Nordhaus has underscored the importance of near-universal participation in programs to reduce greenhouse gases. In 2007, he estimated that if only half of the worlds countries agreed to participate in a carbon-tax effort, there would be an abatement cost penalty of 250 percent. In other words, the countries that have imposed the carbon tax will have to more than double their carbon-tax rates in order to compensate for the free-riding countries. Moreover, rich and poor countries alike have consistently prioritized economic growth over substantive action on climate change. University of Colorado professor and author Roger Pielke Jr. has dubbed this the Iron Law of Climate Policy: When policies on emissions reductions collide with policies focused on economic growth, economic growth will win out every time. It will be especially difficult for the U.S. to get poorer countries to jump on the carbon-tax bandwagon, seeing as the average American uses five times as much electricity as the average Brazilian, ten times as much as the average Iraqi, and 16 times as much as the average Indian. The history of international efforts to ban land mines shows how difficult it will be to impose a worldwide carbon tax. Land mines are ghastly weapons that seldom hit their intended targets. Nearly 90 percent of the people who are killed or maimed by them are civilians. All around the world, large swaths of usable land have been declared off limits to farming and human use owing to the danger of abandoned, unexploded land mines. The effort to ban land mines has garnered widespread support. According to the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines, 164 countries have signed the Mine Ban Treaty, which was first adopted in 1997, the same year that the Kyoto Protocol was signed. But just as the Kyoto Protocol hasnt had much success in limiting greenhouse-gas emissions, 32 countries still havent signed the mine-ban treaty, including the United States, China, India, and Russia. Thus, despite universal agreement on the awfulness of land mines, and decades of concerted effort, there is still no worldwide agreement to ban them. If we cant get an agreement to ban land mines, how will we ever get an enforceable international agreement to tax coal, oil, and natural gas, which together currently provide 85 percent of the worlds energy? Proponents claim carbon taxes are essential in the fight against climate change. That may be true. But my guess is that we will see a universal agreement to ban land mines before we see a substantial levy imposed on the fuels that drive the global economy. More from National Review Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited TEVA announced that the European Medicines Agencys (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion, recommending a marketing nod for its newly approved migraine injection, Ajovy (fremanezumab). Teva is looking for approval of Ajovy, its anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) medicine, for the preventive treatment of migraine in adult patients, who experience at least four migraine days per month. Following CHMPs positive response, a decision in the EU is expected during the first half of 2019. If approved, Ajovy will be the first and the only anti-CGRP treatment to secure a nod in the EU with monthly and quarterly dosing options for patients to follow. The positive CHMP feedback was based on the efficacy and safety data from the HALO clinical development program, which evaluated Ajovy in two pivotal phase III studies. Data from these showed that patients administered with Ajovy experienced a significant higher reduction in migraine days as compared to placebo. Shares of Teva have dipped 0.2% in the past year, narrower than the industrys decline of 13.6%. We would like to remind investors that last September, Teva gained the FDA approval for Ajovy and immediately launched it as a preventive treatment for migraine. On third-quarter conference call, the company stated that it is seeing signs of a strong launch. Migraine has limited treatment options and anti-CGRP is a new treatment mechanism. However, Amgen AMGN /Novartis NVS Aimovig (erenumab) was approved and launched for prevention of migraine during the second quarter of 2018. Eli Lilly and Companys LLY CGRP antibody, Emgality (galcanezumab), was also unveiled in late 2018 for the precautionary therapy of migraine in adults. Meanwhile, last December, Teva announced favorable top-line results from the phase IIIb FOCUS analysis, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of Ajovy for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults, having previously experienced inadequate responses to 2-4 classes of preventive treatments. The study examined the efficacy, safety and tolerability of quarterly and monthly treatment with Ajovy as compared to placebo. Story continues Ajovy is also being investigated for episodic cluster headache in a phase III program and post traumatic headache in a phase II study. Zacks Rank Teva currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Today's Best Stocks from Zacks Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%. This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year. See their latest picks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Novartis AG (NVS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Amgen Inc. (AMGN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. By Akanksha Rana (Reuters) - Tesla Inc has agreed to buy energy storage company Maxwell Technologies Inc for $218 million in an all-stock deal that could help the electric car maker produce batteries that hold more energy and last longer at a time when it needs to cut costs and faces growing competition. Tesla is rapidly increasing production of its Model 3 sedan and needs to lower the price to reach a broader customer base than its pure luxury vehicles. Maxwell executives told investors in January that it had developed and patented a "dry electrode" technology that could significantly increase the driving range and reduce the cost of electric vehicle batteries. In a presentation, Maxwell said it expected strategic alliances "within six months" centered around this technology. The company also makes ultracapacitors, which discharge energy faster than batteries and are seen as complementing battery technology. Ultracapacitors, combined with the energy of batteries, can enable rapid response times, function across a broader temperature range and lengthen battery life by up to two times, according to a blog post on Maxwell's website. Volvo-owner Geely Holding Group last May announced a deal with Maxwell and described the company's ultracapacitor technology as helping to deliver "peak power" for hybrid cars. "Tesla needs Maxwell's solvent-free battery electrode manufacturing for a viable path to lower battery costs," said Craig Irwin of Roth Capital Partners. "Real competitors are coming now, so Tesla needs to move fast." Maxwell's customers also include General Motors and Lamborghini. The offer values each Maxwell share at $4.75, representing a 55 percent premium to the stock's closing price on Friday, the companies said. Maxwell shares rose to trade at $4.58. Currently, Japan's Panasonic Corp is the exclusive battery cell supplier for Tesla cars. Tesla chief Elon Musk had highlighted the importance of ultracapacitors back in 2013. "I'm a big fan of ultracapacitors. Was going to do my PhD at Stanford on them. But we need a breakthrough in energy density...," Musk had tweeted https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/336598500156518400?lang=en. Tesla also sells power storage, often in conjunction with its solar power business, and ultracapacitors could be used in backup systems for homes and for utility power grids. Maxwell expects the deal, which has already been approved by its board, to close in the second quarter of 2019, or shortly thereafter. DLA Piper was Maxwell's outside legal counsel, while Barclays Capital was the independent adviser. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati represented Tesla as outside legal counsel. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee, Peter Henderson and Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru and by Joe White and Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) want to turn the screws on greedy corporations. On Monday morning, the New York Times published an op-ed in which the senators tee off on corporate stock buybacks while teasing new legislation that would ensure companies invest in their employees before padding the pockets of their shareholders. At a time of huge income and wealth inequality, Americans should be outraged that these profitable corporations are laying off workers while spending billions of dollars to boost their stocks value to further enrich the wealthy few, the senators write. If corporations continue to purchase their own stock at this rate, income disparities will continue to grow, productivity will suffer, the long-term strength of companies will diminish and the American worker will fall further behind. When a company uses its profits to buy its own stock, its not investing in research and development, increasing employee wages and benefits or other measures that strengthen the company as a whole. Instead, buybacks only serve to increase the stocks value by reducing the number of publicly available shares. The only beneficiaries are corporate executives and wealthy shareholders. In other words, the rich get richer. Its getting worse, too. As the senators note, 466 of the S&P 500 companies combined to spend $4 trillion on stock buybacks between 2008 and 2018. A quarter of that came in the last year alone, the result of the massive corporate tax cut Trump signed late in 2017. Remember? The one that was supposed to benefit working-class Americans? This hasnt happened, of course. From December 2017 to December 2018, wages for average Americans have increased by $9.11 a week. To put an end to out-of-control corporate stock buybacks, Sanders and Schumer are preparing legislation that would prevent corporations from buying back their own stock before first taking care of their employees. In effect, the legislation would set a minimum requirement for corporations to take care of their workers through wages, sick leave, pensions, health benefits and more. If certain standards are not met, corporations would not legally be allowed to buy back their own stock. Story continues This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The wealth gap has been drawn into sharp focus since the new Congress took session last month, due in part to a plan from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) that would impose a 70 percent marginal tax rate on annual income exceeding $10 million. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who this weekend is expected to formally announce her intention to run for president in 2020, followed with a proposal that would impose a two-percent tax on tax on a households wealth between $50 million and $1 billion, and a three-percent tax on wealth exceeding $1 billion. Both plans are popular among Americans. A poll released Monday by Morning Consult found that 45 percent of Americans support a marginal tax rate, as opposed to 32 percent who oppose it. The same poll found that 60 percent of Americans support Warrens plan including a majority of Republicans while only 21 percent oppose it. Most of the people who oppose taxing the rich are, you guessed it, rich people. Prospective billionaire presidential candidates Howard Schultz and Michael Bloomberg have both scoffed at the idea, as has New York City Mayor Andrew Cuomo. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. At last months World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Ocasio-Cortezs plan was met with laughter. When the Washington Post asked Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell whether he supported a marginal tax rate, the multi-billionaire smiled. No, I am not supportive of that, and I dont think it would help the growth of the U.S. economy, he said. Name a country where thats worked, ever. MIT professor Erik Brynjolfsson, who was sitting on the same panel, obliged him, explaining that from the 1930s through the 1960s, the United States averaged a 70-percent tax rate and the economy prospered during this period. Theres a lot of economics that suggest that its not necessarily going to hurt growth, Brynjolfsson said. It would, however, mean people like Dell might have to suffice with a few less billions of dollars to their name. The humanity. The Hague (AFP) - Tens-of-thousands of Dutch citizens living in Britain will have until the end of the year to get their taxes in order in case of a no-deal Brexit, the Dutch government said Monday. Britain is set to become a "third country" if it quits the European Union without a deal on March 29, leaving between 100,000 to 150,000 Dutch citizens living there "with a different tax regime," it said in a statement. Therefore the Dutch government is introducing a transitional scheme for Dutch citizens and businesses, meaning "taxes will be the same as if Britain had not yet left the EU" until the end of the year. "For many Dutch citizens and companies a no-deal Brexit will bring lots of uncertainty," Dutch Deputy Finance Minister Menno Snel said. "Therefore I want to give people this transitional period to be able to prepare themselves," Snel added. Citizens living in Britain but paying taxes in the Netherlands will lose, for instance, the right to tax credits and the right to certain deductible items such as on interest on mortgages. Dutch living in Britain can this year "avoid getting different tax treatment during the same financial year," the Dutch government said. Britain is one of the Netherlands' biggest trading partners in the EU, and Dutch officials say a no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for the two closely linked economies. Juba (AFP) - A military court on Monday began hearing the trial of an army general charged with treason for allegedly plotting a rebellion against President Salva Kiir's government. Major General Stephen Buoy Rolnyang has been charged with "treason, offenses related to insecurity," as well as disobeying military orders, according to the army's deputy spokesman Brigadier General Santo Domic. He is being tried by a seven-member military court panel constituted by army chief General Jok Riak. Buoy was arrested in May last year in northern Mayom, after defying military orders to report to army headquarters in Juma, said Domic. The spokesman added that after he defied these orders, Buoy and the troops in his division unilaterally decided to move to Mayom -- a move interpreted as defection to wage rebellion. "It is the prerogative of the commander-in-chief and the chief of defence forces of the army to see to it that justice must be done in cases related to insecurity," said Domic. The court postponed the trial to next Thursday after Buoy's defence team complained the ranks of those on the court panel were inferior to their client. It is rare to see a general go on trial in the war-torn country, and Buoy's case is only the second involving senior military personnel since the conflict broke out in 2013. Fighting began when Kiir accused his former deputy, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup. Since then nearly 400,000 people have been killed and millions forced from their homes or to the brink of starvation. In early 2014 a high court in Juba tried four senior generals, who were also politicians, for treason. They were later pardoned and released without sentencing. They later named themselves the Former Detainees, and are now a signatory to a peace deal signed in September 2018 which is the latest effort to end the protracted conflict. While observers point to a drop in fighting since the deal was signed, there have been repeated reports of violations of the ceasefire, while armed groups not party to the agreement continue to clash, notably in the greater Equatoria region. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump hinted last week that one theme of his State of the Union address on Tuesday will be unity. The current state of his presidency: turbulence and uncertainty. Trump will deliver his call for harmony in a new era of divided government and at a time when he has been weakened politically by a just-ended government shutdown the longest in U.S. history and by other factors that have driven his approval ratings to near the lowest of his presidency. House Democrats are back in power and spoiling for a fight. (See "government shutdown.") Senate Republicans are restless and suddenly willing to stand up to their commander-in-chief. (See "Syria.") Special counsel Robert Mueller is still investigating possible Russian coordination with his presidential campaign and still issuing indictments. (See "Roger Stone.") Going against such powerful headwinds, it will be hard for Trump to accomplish much of anything in the coming year, no matter what agenda he lays out in his State of the Union address, political analysts say. There are some very bitter feelings from both sides about what has happened with the government shutdown, said Ron Bonjean, a GOP strategist with close ties to Republicans on Capitol Hill. That is going to likely hurt the chances for getting major pieces of legislation done this year. Trump will march into the House chamber, where he will deliver his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, as a severely wounded president one who at times tries the patience of even some members of his own party, said Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a frequent Trump critic. The concern is a wounded president tested by a newly minted speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Steele said. Folks are not very excited about the potential of what could come from the president standing before the nation, sort of drawing some bromides and egging on the Democrats. Story continues Moving past the shutdown In Congress, many Republicans lament the damage inflicted by the 35-day government shutdown triggered by Trumps demand for billions of dollars to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and openly worry that it will impede their ability to get anything done. Its not been a promising start lets be honest, said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. Weve been in a fight, and its been over an issue that caused harm to the economy and to the country. But I think we can get beyond it now. More: The government shutdown is finally over. Here's a look back at the big moments Pelosi, who regained the speakers gavel in January, has indicated that while Democrats will fight Trump on policies they consider bad for the country, they are open to working with him on issues such as infrastructure and lowering prescription-drug prices. But Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist and political commentator, said he has low expectations for what is possible over the next two years. In some ways, that has more to do with the Democrats than Trump, he said. The fact is, they dont want to give him a win on anything because their activists and donors would go nuts if Pelosi helps Trump achieve anything, said Jennings, who worked in the White House under President George W. Bush and is a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. What good does it do Nancy Pelosi to help Donald Trump appear to be a president who can operate and govern in divided government? Jennings asked. It is in her and her partys best interest to make Trump look lost, to make government look broken and to deprive the country of meaningful progress on issues like immigration. The shutdown fiasco tells me the Democrats want political wins more than policy concessions. 2020 complicates the agenda Next years presidential election and congressional races further complicate the prospects for any substantive legislative agenda, Bonjean said. If you look at whats working against Congress and the White House, time is not on their side here in a 2020 election cycle, he said. Both sides are burning valuable time that they could use to be working on other issues that matter to them, whether its health care, transportation funding, technology policy a vast variety of issues. Yet the focus right now remains on border security. A bipartisan congressional committee has just two weeks to negotiate a deal to secure the southern border or risk another government shutdown on Feb. 15, when current funding will lapse. Border security may be important to Trumps base, but its also stymieing the efforts of everyone trying to get their legislative agendas through now, Bonjean said. Clinton-Gingrich template If Trump and Congress need a template for how to get things done after a nasty partisan confrontation, they could look to the example set by then-President Bill Clinton and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the mid-1990s. A bitter budget battle between the Democratic president and the Republican House speaker led to a 21-day government shutdown, the longest ever before the recent one broke that record. Yet, when it was over, Clinton and the GOP Congress still managed to pass several pieces of major legislation, including welfare reform and a health-insurance modernization bill. People wouldnt have thought the Gingrich Republican Congress and the Clinton White House would have gotten a lot done, said Dan Meyer, who was Gingrichs chief of staff at the time. And yet, indeed, they both had an interest in getting a lot done. More: Will there be another government shutdown? Trump says maybe but many lawmakers say no way Steele takes issue with the argument that Democrats are looking to deny Trump legislative victories just to hurt his re-election campaign. I dont buy this idea that Democrats are going to be obstructionists the way Republicans were during (Barack) Obamas term and at every turn realize that we have no incentive to help this president, he said. I dont get that sense. Because the Democrats also will also have to show they can deliver something. The country in 18 months is not just going to turn (the presidency) over to them just because they decide they dont like Donald Trump. (Democrats) get the political reality of their current position as well. Trump makes things harder on himself, Steele said, because he doesnt trust the advice of people who are much smarter than he is and wont allow those people to help him define success. He often makes things worse by going on Twitter and undermining his own message, Steele said. Its not just policy shortcomings, Steele said. Its not just staffing shortcomings. Its not just his incredibly disturbing bromance with Vladimir Putin or anyone who is considered a strongman. Its not just his inability to stay off Twitter crack. Its a combination of all of these things that are self-inflicted wounds that the president has delivered himself. Contributing: Eliza Collins More: How Donald Trump's relationship with Nancy Pelosi changes everything in Washington More: Donald Trump accepts Nancy Pelosi's offer to deliver State of the Union at the Capitol on Feb. 5. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: State of the Union: Politically wounded from the shutdown, Trump faces a tough time with his agenda Southwest Airlines appears to be inching ever-closer to launching its long-anticipated service to Hawaii. The carrier plans to make its first flight to the state this week, the airline confirmed Monday. But there wont be any passengers on board. Instead, the flight from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, will be a proving flight thats part of Southwests effort to secure the "ETOPS" certification it needs from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate long overwater flights with its two-engine Boeing 737 jets. The airline's first Hawaii flight is scheduled for Tuesday, "barring any unforeseen changes," Southwest spokesman Brian Parrish said in a statement to USA TODAY's Today in the Sky blog. "Tomorrow's validation flight is not a regular, scheduled flight and only FAA Representatives along with Southwest ETOPS Program Team Representatives and ETOPS-trained Southwest Pilots will be onboard to demonstrate our long range navigation and communication procedures and equipment," Parrish added, noting that additional steps will be required to receive the certification. TODAY IN THE SKY: Southwest Airlines to ax Mexico City flights "Once we pass all phases of the ETOPS application process to the satisfaction of the FAA and receive our ETOPS authorization, we will announce further details of timing for selling and operating flights," he said. Southwest had already been in the process of securing that needed certification, but the effort received an unexpected delay during the federal government shutdown that furloughed federal workers, including FAA inspectors. Speaking during the airlines earnings call in late January, Kelly said he expected that his airline would be able to begin Hawaii flights approximately six to eight weeks after the FAA approval process resumed. Before the shutdown, he said, Southwest was aiming for a Feb. 1 startup, though it never publicized that target date. Story continues ASK THE CAPTAIN:Aviation jargon and abbreviations explained He suggested then that if the shutdown ended within a week which it did the airline might be able to begin passenger flights by mid-March. One potential trouble spot, however, is that a deadline looms later this month for another possible shutdown. Whenever its Hawaii service does begin, Southwest's first flights will be from California to Hawaii. Inter-island flights would come after that, though the airline has not provided any sort of time frame. For now, Southwest continues its efforts to secure the certification that would allow its 737s to fly between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii. The certification short for Extended-range, Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards" is standard for airlines wishing to deploy two-engine aircraft on long overwater routes where diversion airports are scarce. TODAY IN THE SKY: Southwest Airlines extends schedule, adds new seasonal routes As aircraft technology has advanced in recent decades, the certification has become common. From the mainland U.S., its frequently used for widebody jets making long-haul transoceanic routes to Europe and Asia. For Hawaii flights, many U.S. airlines already have ETOPS certification to fly narrowbody planes to and from the state. While many of its U.S. rivals already have the certification, Southwests effort to seek it is a recent development. Since its launch in 1971, the carrier flew only within the mainland United States for more than 40 years. But that changed in 2014, when Southwest began flying to several destinations in the Caribbean. It has since expanded its footprint to include Mexico and Costa Rica, but none of those flights require ETOPS certification. But, with the planned Hawaii service, Southwest has finally had to seek approval for ETOPS service. Contributing: Dawn Gilbertson TODAY IN THE SKY: Southwest's first day of international flying is in the books (2014) IN PHOTOS: Southwest unveils first new look since 2001 This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Southwest Airlines: First Hawaii test flight is today Mogadishu (AFP) - Somalia's Al-Shabaab militants shot dead the Maltese manager of a major northern port and detonated a car bomb in the capital on Monday, killing nine people, in a deadly day for the restive nation. A gunman shot Maltese national Paul Anthony Formosa at the Bossasso port, in semi-autonomous Puntland state, while he was at work for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based global operator DP World. Soon after nine people were killed as a result of a powerful explosion from a car bomb, which rocked the busy Hamarweyne market in the capital Mogadishu, in the latest attack by the Al-Qaeda affiliate plaguing the country. "An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot", local security official, Mohamed Dahir, told AFP. A witness, Abdukadir Weheliye, said he heard several shots coming from inside the port and then saw the body of a white man being taken away in an ambulance. The Dubai government confirmed the death in a statement on Twitter and said the circumstances of the incident was being investigated. "Three other employees have been injured in this morning's incident, and all are currently receiving medical treatment," read the statement. The attack was claimed by Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it was "part of broader operations targeting the mercenary companies that loot the Somali resources". The DP World subsidiary in 2017 signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Mogadishu. The Dubai-based ports company has sparked friction with Mogadishu over its development of ports in Berbera in breakaway Somaliland -- whose independence is not recognised -- as well as Puntland. Story continues Many of Somalia's federal states have aligned with the United Arab Emirates, while the central government is perceived as pro-Qatar, in the Gulf crisis pitting Arab powers against each other. - 'Death and destruction' - Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the car bomb in Mogadishu, via a statement on a pro-Shabaab website. "The blast occurred close to Mogadishu mall and it has caused death and destruction. Nine civilians were confirmed dead and several others are wounded," police officer Ahmed Moalin Ali said. "The terrorists parked a vehicle loaded with explosives in the vicinity of the mall to kill the innocent civilians." He said some of the victims died in a building that collapsed as a result of the blast in the Hamarweyne market. "I saw the dead bodies of four people recovered from the debris of a collapsed building and three others were strewn dead outside after the blast had blown them," said shopper Munira Abdukadir. "I was not far away from the blast location, but I was lucky to have survived, several people were wounded and some were screaming before the ambulances arrived," said another witness, Abdulahi Mohamed. Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre's military regime which ushered in decades of chaos -- including an insurrection by the Shabaab since 2006. The group once held sway over large swathes of countryside and the capital, however they were chased out of Mogadishu by the 22,000-strong African Union peace-enforcement mission, AMISOM in 2011, and have since abandoned many strongholds. They nevertheless control vast rural areas and remain a key threat to peace in Somalia and the region, with the capacity to stage significant attacks. In October 2017, a truck bombing in a busy neighbourhood of Mogadishu killed over 500 people in the deadliest attack in Somalia to date. On January 15, Shabaab gunmen -- and the first-ever suicide bomber in Kenya -- attacked the Dusit hotel and office complex in Nairobi, leaving 21 people dead and prompting police and the US embassy to urge caution in public spaces. By Jessica DiNapoli and Tom Hals (Reuters) - The once-mighty Sears department store chain took its fight for survival to a bankruptcy judge on Monday, arguing the proposed $5.2 billion sale to its chairman, Eddie Lampert, would help save 45,000 jobs and keep 425 stores open. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain said on Monday he would rule on the sale to Lampert's ESL Investments Inc later this week after hearings that were likely to run into Thursday. A lawyer for Sears Holdings Corp told the court he was hoping the deal would close on Friday, clearing the way for Sears to end its four-month stint in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and begin its new life as a private company controlled by Lampert. But first the company has to overcome objections by hundreds of creditors and the official committee that represents them. Monday's hearing in White Plains, New York, kicked off with Sears' investment banker, Brandon Aebersold of Lazard, and Sears director Bill Transier testifying about sale negotiations and Lampert's plans. Transier acknowledged that Lampert's plan included possibly three store closings a month this year, the sale of $600 million of real estate over the next three years and unspecified cuts to staff. "Their ability to run their business properly should be their responsibility," he said. Creditors have argued the company's future success is premised on what they say is an unlikely turnaround led by Lampert, who creditors have accused of stripping the company of value during its years-long decline. Creditors also have argued the sale process was flawed and that it undervalued Sears by as much as $1.3 billion. Creditors want to pursue ESL and Lampert, Sears' largest shareholder and creditor when it filed for bankruptcy, for what they allege are years of fraudulent deals, such as the spin-off of the Lands End brand. Lampert has defended the deals as a sign of his commitment to finance Sears despite its struggles, and he has noted the transactions were approved by independent directors. Story continues In 2005, Lampert merged the department store with discount chain Kmart in an $11 billion deal. Sears, once known for its mail-order catalogs, dates back to 1893. Merchandise from toys, medicine, gramophones, automobiles, kit houses and tombstones made it the Amazon.com Inc of its time. (Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli in New York and Tom Hals in Wilmington, Del.; Editing by Matthew Lewis) By Stephen Kalin and Aaron Maasho RIYADH/ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has freed Saudi-Ethiopian businessman Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi more than 14 months after he was detained in a crackdown on corruption, the latest in a flurry of releases as the kingdom faces intense scrutiny over its human rights record. Amoudi, whom Forbes once called the richest man in Ethiopia and the second-richest Saudi, was among scores of members of the Saudi business and political elite rounded up Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton Hotel in November 2017 on the orders of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The campaign, decried by some critics as mere power play by the powerful young heir apparent, unsettled foreign investors whom Riyadh is courting to support ambitious economic reforms. Amoudi's release follows that of several other businessmen last week and comes after the kingdom suffered a global backlash over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the reported torture of women activists. Ethiopian state television was the first to report he had been freed. A family office spokesman said Amoudi had returned home to the western city of Jeddah. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed also confirmed Amoudi's release on Twitter, saying he had raised the issue with Prince Mohammed during a trip to Riyadh last May. Amoudi, in his 70s, became a multi-billionaire investing first in construction, agriculture and mining in Ethiopia, where he was born, and then purchasing oil refineries in Morocco and Sweden. Forbes valued his fortune at more than $10 billion in 2016. Some of those detained at the Ritz were released after agreeing secret settlement deals with the Saudi authorities, which say they expect to seize more than $100 billion this way. It is unclear how much -- if any -- of Amoudi's wealth he may have handed over to the state in exchange for his release. The Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment. OTHERS STILL DETAINED At least eight other people held as part of the corruption crackdown were released last week, sources told Reuters. They include businessman Amr Dabbagh, former Mecca mayor Osama al-Bar, and Ibrahim al-Muaqel, who headed the Human Resources Development Fund under the then labour minister, Adel Fakieh. Fakieh is believed to still be in prison, along with former Riyadh governor Prince Turki bin Abdullah and Saudi-American physician Walid al-Fitaihi. Bakr bin Laden, who was chairman of builder Saudi Binladin Group before the state seized more than a third of the family-run firm last year, was released temporarily last week to attend a funeral. It was unclear if he would return to detention. After the Ritz reopened to the public last February, those still being held were transferred to other locations, including a Riyadh prison. The public prosecutor said last year that detainees who refused to settle with the government would be put on trial, but his office has not provided a public update in nearly a year. Prince Mohammed said last October that eight people were still being held. The recent releases suggest a higher number. Dozens of clerics, intellectuals and activists are also still believed to be held in an apparent crackdown on dissent over the past 18 months. Among them are several women's rights activists held since last summer. The authorities have accused some dissidents of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and supporting Qatar, which is locked in a dispute with Riyadh. Some detainees have reportedly been tortured, which the government denies. Muslim clerics Mohammed al-Mohaisany and Mamdouh al-Harbi have also been released in recent days, according to activists and online videos showing them in public. A group of British lawmakers last week joined international rights groups in calling on Riyadh to allow access to independent monitors. (Additional reporting by Marwa Rashad; Writing by George Obulutsa and Stephen Kalin; Editing by Keith Weir and Raissa Kasolowsky) RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia will study how its male guardianship system is being abused, Saudi media reported on Monday, after the flight of an 18-year-old woman to Thailand last month focused global attention on the issue. Every Saudi woman is assigned a male relative - often a father or husband but sometimes an uncle, brother or even a son - whose approval is needed to marry, obtain a passport and travel abroad. Rights groups say the arrangement turns women into second-class citizens, depriving them of social and economic freedoms and making them more vulnerable to violence. Without a codified system of law to go with the texts making up sharia, or Islamic law, the Saudi police and judiciary have long cited social customs in enforcing certain prohibitions on women. Many aspects of guardianship stem from informal practices rather than specific laws. Saudi public prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb said his office would "spare no efforts in protecting individuals, whether women, children or parents, from unfair treatment by those who abuse guardianship powers," according to English daily Saudi Gazette. His office receives only a small number of complaints about guardianship, he added, without providing details. The government communications office was not immediately available for comment. Activists say many Saudi women fear that reporting abuse to the police would only further endanger their lives. They have called for an end to guardianship, which has slowly eroded over the years but remains in force. Some freedoms have been granted under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who ended a ban on women driving and eased restrictions on gender mixing, but they have been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, including the arrest and alleged torture of women's rights activists as well as Muslim clerics. Prince Mohammed indicated last year he favored ending the guardianship system but stopped short of backing its annulment. The plight of Rahaf Mohammed, who slipped away from her family last month during a holiday in Kuwait and then tweeted calls for help from Bangkok airport, sparked an online campaign that ended with the Thai authorities reversing a decision to send her home and Canada granting her asylum. Saudi Arabia, one of the worlds most gender-segregated nations, is ranked 138 of 144 states in the 2017 Global Gender Gap, a World Economic Forum study on how women fare in economic and political participation, health and education. (Reporting By Stephen Kalin; Editing by Gareth Jones) Paris (AFP) - Jean-Baptiste Moreau, a farmer who splits his time between parliament and his cow sheds, thought he would be part of the solution to France's political problems when he was elected. The 41-year-old won a seat in parliament in June 2017 in what some commentators termed a "velvet revolution" led by President Emmanuel Macron, which saw grumpy voters turf out a whole generation of MPs from the country's main political parties. Macron's victorious centrist movement filled half its parliamentary seats with people who had never held political office before, including Moreau, who posted a picture on Twitter of himself delivering a calf on Christmas Day. But less than two years after the biggest turnover in political personnel in 60 years, France has faced another anti-elite revolt led by "yellow vest" protesters commanding widespread public support. "Given the weight of the legislative agenda, we've been very busy in the parliament and in Paris and not on the ground enough explaining how we want to do politics differently," Moreau said in an interview. "And perhaps we've not been different enough from our predecessors," the MP from the central Creuse region told AFP in what he called a "mea culpa". The failure of Macron's bid to restore faith in politicians in France could have repercussions in a country where anti-establishment far-right and far-left parties have never been so popular. Research published last week by the Cevipof political institute at Sciences Po university found more than two thirds of the French people still had overwhelmingly negative views of politicians. When asked to sum up their feelings towards them, 37 percent said they felt "distrust", 32 percent "disgust", eight percent "boredom" and four percent "fear". Only France's roughly 35,000 mayors, seen as close to the people they represent, inspired confidence in a majority of people. Story continues - 'Alarming' results - Overall, cynicism was at its highest level since Cevipof began its surveys in 2007, before the presidencies of Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, which were both judged harshly by French voters. "The surge in confidence hoped for by Emmanuel Macron after his election has not materialised," Cevipof director Martial Foucault commented last week, calling the results "alarming". Many of the new MPs in Macron's Republic on the Move (LREM) party have been shocked by the abuse directed at them since the "yellow vest" protesters from rural and small-town France took to the streets in late November. Bruno Questel, a northern MP, was shaken in mid-December when someone fired six gunshots in front of his house shortly before midnight which was followed by a noisy demonstration of around 40 people. "I was stunned. We've reached a new level of aggressiveness," he told AFP, adding that the crowd insulted and threatened him when he went outside to reason with them. "I don't think any MP deserves to have gunshots in front of his house." Around 50 of Macron's 305 MPs say they have been victims of some form of intimidation. In other incidents, protesters have smashed a forklift truck through the doors of a ministry building, guillotined an effigy of Macron, and daubed graffiti on the Arc de Triomphe, one of the symbols of the French republic. - Revolutionary spirit - Macron has interpreted the protests as a sign of impatience from an electorate desperate for change -- for lower taxes, better public services and democratic reforms. All of those were campaign promises from the 41-year-old ex-banker, who like many of his MPs had never been elected before becoming president. But analysts also see Macron's perceived arrogance, top-down governing style, and tax policies favouring high earners as reasons behind the "yellow vest" revolt. Other research from Cevipof has shown that Macron's MPs are mostly drawn from the middle or professional classes -- with little experiences of the poverty and economic difficulties denounced by the "yellow vests". Historian Jean Garrigues calls the level of abuse directed at MPs "unprecedented" under the fifth republic, which began in 1958. But this new wave of anti-elitism draws from deep sources, he says. "You can see in the 'yellow vest' movement the idea of what was called the 'abolition of privileges' during the Revolution," he said, referring to the 1789 revolt that toppled the monarchy. "There is this revolutionary idea, that is recurrent and cyclical in French society, of wanting to take revenge on people that are seen as the privileged," he said. "It's an old theme of the people against the elite." By Nelson Renteria and Noe Torres SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - Salvadorans voiced hope for a changed country on Monday after political outsider Nayib Bukele won a sweeping victory in the presidential election with a pledge to tackle the corruption and violence plaguing the Central American nation. Bukele, 37, a former mayor of the capital, San Salvador, won 53 percent of the vote with returns counted from 99.9 percent of polling stations, the national electoral tribunal said on Monday, allowing him to clinch the presidency in the first round of voting. His emphatic victory in Sunday's election was a stunning rebuke to the two political parties that had dominated El Salvador since its civil war, the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) and its long-standing rival, the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). Bukele's promises to modernize government and his dynamic use of social media have energized young Salvadorans, eager for an end to the economic stagnation, poverty and violence that have beset the nation of 6.5 million people following its vicious 1980-1992 civil war. On the bustling streets of San Salvador, Juana de Calderon, a 38-year-old cook in a small restaurant, said she cast a vote for Bukele hoping to put a stop to corruption. "We hope that he fulfills what he promised in the campaign," she said while preparing empanadas, a savory pastry popular in Latin America. "If we voted for him, it's because we want something new - to have a different country." Bukele's two rivals from the FMLN and ARENA quickly accepted defeat on Sunday evening. Bukele must now contend with U.S. President Donald Trump's frequent threats to cut aid to El Salvador - as well as to neighboring Guatemala and Honduras - if they do not do more to curb migration to the United States. Gang violence has made El Salvador one of the world's most murderous countries in the past few years, driving Salvadorans to flee to the north. Among his campaign promises, Bukele, an avid social media user who snapped a selfie with supporters before declaring his win, said he would push infrastructure projects to limit migration. He will face challenges, however, pursuing his reform agenda from a divided Congress and an onerous government deficit. Bukele's allies have only 11 legislators in the 84-seat Congress. Credit rating agency Fitch said on Monday that governability would be a challenge for Bukele and highlighted an increased risk of polarization between the president and Congress. It forecast only modest economic improvement this year. TURNING AWAY FROM TRADITIONAL LEFT Growing up, Bukele's relatively wealthy family was sympathetic to the FMLN, the former leftist guerrilla army that became a political party at the end of the civil war. But Bukele has turned away from Latin America's traditional left, branding Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega as well as conservative Honduran Juan Orlando Hernandez as dictators. "A dictator is a dictator, on the 'right' or the 'left,'" Bukele wrote last week on Twitter. Although he was expelled from the FMLN in 2017, Bukele describes himself as from the left. As he sought the presidency, however, he joined a conservative party known as GANA, or "win" in Spanish. Along with the goal of modernizing government, Bukele, who is set to take office in June, has proposed creating an international anti-corruption commission with the support of the United Nations, following similar committees in Guatemala and Honduras. "We'll create a (commission) ... so that the corrupt can't hide where they always hide. Instead, they'll have to give back what they stole," Bukele said in January. (Reporting by Nelson Renteria and Noe Torres; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Peter Cooney) London (AFP) - Ryanair unveiled Monday plans for an overhaul to create four subsidiaries as the no-frills airline also revealed a third-quarter loss of 20 million euros and said a no-deal Brexit "remains worryingly high". Mirroring a set-up by British Airways and Iberia owner IAG, a statement said it planned to have four distinct operations, each with its own chief executive. Michael O'Leary will head up the overall group, Ryanair said. Under him will be Ryanair DAC overseeing the Irish operations and there will be also Ryanair UK, Laudamotion for its Austrian business and Ryanair Sun, or Polish unit. "Having agreed this group strategy as the best way to grow Ryanair, Sun, Lauda and other possible airline brands, Michael O'Leary has agreed a new five-year contract as group CEO," the statement said. It added: "Over the next 12 months Ryanair Holdings Plc will move to a group structure not dissimilar to that of IAG. "A small senior management team will oversee the development of four airline subsidiaries... (focusing) upon efficient capital allocation, cost reductions, aircraft acquisitions and small scale M&A opportunities," the statement said On the latest group earnings performance, O'Leary said that while the 20 million euros ($23 million) net loss was "disappointing", the group takes "comfort that this was entirely due to weaker than expected air fares". Last month, Ryanair cut its annual profit forecast for a second time, blaming lower air fares caused by overcapacity in the European short-haul sector. On Monday meanwhile, it again spoke out on Brexit. "The risk of a 'no-deal' Brexit remains worryingly high. While we hope that common sense will prevail, and lead to either a delay in Brexit, or agreement on the 21 month transition deal currently on the table, we have taken all necessary steps to protect Ryanairs business in a no-deal environment," the statement said. Story continues Britain accounts for about one-quarter of revenues at Ryanair, causing the airline to warn frequently about potential fallout from the UK's rocky path to exiting the European Union. And while the airline sector as a whole took a knock last year from high oil prices, a sharp reduction in fuel costs in recent months has removed such pressures. But the European short-haul sector remains weighed down by fierce competition despite some consolidation, including Ryanair's purchase of Austrian carrier Laudamotion in 2018. In addition, Ryanair's earnings have been hit by pan-European strikes last year that forced it to cancel flights, affecting thousands of passengers, and offer improved pay deals to staff via landmark deals with unions. burs-bcp/rl Russia has warned against destructive meddling in Venezuela as Britain recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president. The US, Canada and several Latin American and European countries have disavowed Nicolas Maduro over his disputed re-election last year and recognised Mr Guaido, the national assembly president, as the countrys rightful leader. The international communitys goal should be to help [Venezuela], without destructive meddling from beyond its borders, Alexander Shchetinin, head of the Latin America department at Russias foreign ministry, told the Interfax news agency. Britains foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said the UK and its European allies recognised Mr Guaido following Mr Maduros decision not to call new presidential elections following a collective ultimatum. Nicolas Maduro has not called presidential elections within eight-day limit we have set, Mr Hunt tweeted. So UK alongside European allies now recognises Juan Guaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held. Lets hope this takes us closer to ending humanitarian crisis. It came after Donald Trump said military intervention in Venezuela was an option. Last week his administration issued crippling sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA, a key source of revenue for the troubled Opec nation, whose population is experiencing malnutrition and medicine shortages. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau promised $53m (30.8m) in aid to address the most pressing needs of Venezuelans on the ground. Mr Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse and the exodus of millions of Venezuelans, is still backed by Russia, China and Turkey, and has the critical support of the military. We dont accept ultimatums from anyone, Mr Maduro said in a defiant interview with Spanish TV channel Antena 3 carried out last week and broadcast on Sunday. I refuse to call for elections now there will be elections in 2024. We dont care what Europe says. Story continues In another interview with Spanish broadcaster Salvados TV, he warned Mr Trump to hold it right there. He told the US president: You are making mistakes that will leave your hands covered in blood and you will leave the presidency stained with blood. Mr Guaido proclaimed himself interim leader on 23 January amid mass protests against the Maduro regime. He argued Mr Maduros re-election in May was fraudulent and said, as head of Venezuelas congress, that the countrys constitution gave him power to be interim president. After Mr Maduro warned he could not rule out civil war if the protests continued, Mr Hunt cautioned that those responsible for human rights violations would be held to account. The people of Venezuela have suffered enough. It is time for a new start, with free and fair elections in accordance with international democratic standards, he said in a statement. The oppression of the illegitimate, kleptocratic Maduro regime must end. Those who continue to violate the human rights of ordinary Venezuelans under an illegitimate regime will be called to account. The Venezuelan people deserve a better future. Additional reporting by agencies MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States' full withdrawal from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty would not herald the start of a new Cold War, the RIA news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Monday. "I don't think we're talking about the development of a Cold War," Lavrov said. "A new era has begun." Russia suspended the Cold War-era nuclear arms treaty on Saturday after the United States announced it would withdraw from the arms control pact, accusing Moscow of violations. Washington has said it will withdraw fully from the INF in six months unless Moscow ends what it says are violations of the 1987 pact. (Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Louise Heavens) By Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is Mexico's most notorious kingpin who shipped tonnes of drugs around the world, escaped two maximum-security jails and became one of the world's most-wanted fugitives. He now faces the prospect of life in prison. Jurors on Monday will begin deliberations on 10 criminal counts facing Guzman, 61, in the trial that began in November in New York. The audacious exploits of El Chapo, or Shorty, captured the world's imagination and turned him into a folk hero for some in Mexico, despite the thousands of people killed by his brutal Sinaloa cartel. Beyond putting Guzman's personal life and drug dealings on public display, the case has also highlighted Mexico's long-time fight to bring down its chief adversary in the bloody war on drug trafficking. In January 2016, after some three decades running drugs, Guzman was caught in his native northwestern state of Sinaloa. Six months earlier, he had humiliated Mexico's then-president, Enrique Pena Nieto, by escaping from prison through a mile-long tunnel dug straight into his cell - his second time escaping a Mexican jail. Just days after his 2016 capture, Guzman's larger-than-life reputation was sealed when U.S. movie star Sean Penn published a lengthy account of an interview he conducted with the drug lord, which the Mexican government said was "essential" to his capture a few months later. "I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world. I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats," Penn said Guzman told him at the drug lord's mountain hideout. Mexico's government extradited Guzman in January 2017, a day before Donald Trump took office as U.S. president on vows to tighten border security to halt immigration and drug smuggling. Guzman's legendary reputation in the Mexican underworld began to take shape when he staged his first jailbreak in 2001 by bribing prison guards, before going on to dominate drug trafficking along much of the Rio Grande. However, many in towns across Mexico remember Guzman better for his squads of hitmen who committed thousands of murders, kidnappings and decapitations. Violence began to surge in 2006 as the government launched a war on drug trafficking that caused criminal groups to splinter and killings to spiral. Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel went on smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine, marijuana, and crystal meth across Mexico's border with the United States. In February 2013, the Chicago Crime Commission dubbed him the city's first Public Enemy No.1 since Al Capone. ELUSIVE KINGPIN Security experts concede the 5 foot 6 inch gangster was exceptional at what he did, managing to outmaneuver, outfight or outbribe his rivals to stay at the top of the drug trade for over a decade. Rising through the ranks of the drug world, Guzman carefully observed his mentors' tactics and mistakes, forging alliances that kept him one step ahead of the law for years. Mexican soldiers and U.S. agents came close to Guzman on several occasions but his layers of body guards and spies always tipped him off before they stormed his safe houses. In preparing for a raid in 2014, U.S. officers restricted information to a small group for fear of corruption among Mexican law enforcement, DEA agent Victor Vasquez testified in Guzman's trial. SINALOA ROOTS Guzman was born in La Tuna, a village in the Sierra Madre mountains in Sinaloa state where smugglers have been growing opium and marijuana since the early twentieth century. He ascended in the 1980s working with Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, alias "The Boss of Bosses," who pioneered cocaine smuggling routes into the United States. The aspiring capo came to prominence in 1993 when assassins who shot dead Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas claimed they had actually been aiming at Guzman. Two weeks later, police arrested him in Guatemala and extradited him to Mexico. During his eight-year prison stay, Guzman smuggled in lovers, prostitutes and Viagra, according to accounts published in the Mexican media. After escaping, Guzman expanded his turf by sending in assassin squads with names such as "The Ghosts" and "The Zeta Killers," in reference to the rival Zetas gang. Guzman hid near his childhood home, agents said, but rumors abounded of him visiting expensive restaurants and paying for all the diners. In 2007, Guzman married an 18-year-old beauty queen in an ostentatious ceremony in a village in Durango state. The state's archbishop subsequently caused a media storm when he said that "everyone, except the authorities," knew Guzman was living there. Guzman's bride, Emma Coronel, gave birth to twins in Los Angeles in 2011. She attended nearly every day of her husband's trial, at one point donning a red blazer that matched his own. WAGING WAR Between 2004 and 2013, Guzman's gangs fought in all major Mexican cities on the U.S. border, turning Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo into some of the world's most dangerous places. In one such attack, 14 bodies were left mutilated under a note that read, "Don't forget that I am your real daddy," signed by "El Chapo." Guzman's Sinaloa cartel often clashed with the Zetas, a gang founded by former Mexican soldiers, arming its crew with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns. In 2008, hitmen working for a rival murdered Guzman's son Edgar, a 22-year-old student. Guzman reportedly left 50,000 flowers at his son's grave. In the 1990s, Guzman became infamous for hiding seven tons of cocaine in cans of chili peppers. In the following decade, his crew took drugs in tractor trailers to major U.S. cities including Phoenix, Los Angeles and Chicago, indictments say. Forbes magazine put the kingpin's wealth at $1 billion, though investigators say it is impossible to know exactly how much he was worth. (Reporting by Dave Graham and Mexico City Newsroom; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Alistair Bell) By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - A major bloc of Latin American nations and Canada will discuss on Monday how to maintain pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to hold new elections as he faces widespread calls to resign after last year's disputed presidential vote. Sources briefed on the matter said that the 14-nation Lima Group looked set, though, to hold off imposing further sanctions on the Maduro government when it meets in Ottawa. Most group members say Maduro should quit in favor of opposition leader Juan Guaido - who declared himself interim president last month - and are calling for a new presidential election in the troubled OPEC nation. The United States, which is not a member of the group, also wants Maduro gone. "How can we continue to support the opposition to keep the pressure up on the regime and push for new elections? Certainly that's something we'll be looking at," said a Canadian government official. Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse and the exodus of millions of Venezuelans, said in an interview that aired on Spanish television channel Antena 3 on Sunday: "We don't accept ultimatums from anyone," adding: "I refuse to call for elections now - there will be elections in 2024." Maduro, who has maintained the critical support of the military, has said Guaido is staging a U.S.-directed coup against him. Monday's meeting in Ottawa will also discuss how to aid the people of Venezuela, including through immediate humanitarian assistance, said the office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Last month, the Lima Group announced a travel ban on senior Venezuelan officials and a freeze on their foreign assets. The Canadian source, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation, declined to comment when asked whether more punitive measures could be imposed. Two sources briefed on the talks said such an announcement was unlikely for now. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration last week issued sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA in a move likely to cut revenues for a country hit by medicine shortages and malnutrition. Trump, in an interview that aired on Sunday, said military intervention in Venezuela was "an option." Trudeau spoke on Sunday to Guaido and the two "discussed the importance of the international community sending a clear message regarding the illegitimacy of the Maduro regime," Trudeau's office said. The challenge for participants is that Mexico, a member of the Lima Group, opposes any measures to oust Maduro, who also has the backing of Russia, China and Turkey. While European Union governments will soon move to recognize Guaido as interim president, members are set to use cautious language for fear of setting a precedent for political crises, said diplomatic sources. That does not sit well with nations such as Columbia, which neighbors Venezuela. "The most important issue now is to get Europe in line and to deepen the isolation of Venezuela and its backers," said a government official in Bogota, who spoke on condition of anonymity. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Additional reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia, Hugh Bronstein in Buenos Aires and Helen Murphy in Bogota; Editing by Peter Cooney) During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Donald Trump is likely to tout a strong economy and labor market as perhaps his greatest successes halfway into a four-year term tainted by a recently-resolved government shutdown and a probe into his administrations ties to Russia. Yet while Trumps tax cuts and spending increases juiced growth in the short term, many economists say the benefits wont last and will swell the deficit over the longer run, making it tougher to respond to the next recession. Trumps cuts to taxes and regulations also pumped up stocks, and consumer and business confidence, to the highest levels in recent memory. But his trade battles with countries such as China, Canada and Mexico have dented U.S. exports, business sentiment and stocks all for an uncertain payoff. Wells Fargo economist Mark Vitner believes the net result has been positive. The economic recovery has spread to more parts of the country, such as the Midwest and South, he said. "Manufacturers and small businesses know Trump has their back." (FILES) In this file photo taken on November 9, 2017 China's President Xi Jinping (L) and US President Donald Trump attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. - President Donald Trump on September 18, 2018 accused China of seeking to influence upcoming US elections by taking aim at his political support base in the countries' escalating trade war. "China has openly stated that they are actively trying to impact and change our election by attacking our farmers, ranchers and industrial workers because of their loyalty to me," Trump tweeted.Trump's comments came a day after he targeted another $200 billion in Chinese imports with tariffs starting next week, drawing an immediate vow of retaliation from Beijing. (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP)NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images ORIG FILE ID: AFP_1977Q6 Gregory Daco of Oxford economics disagrees. His policies, including the tax cuts, increased government spending and deregulation, boosted growth in the short run, but the lingering long-term effects from policy uncertainty, trade tensions and stricter immigration will continue to weigh on growth, Daco says. Taxes: Do the tax law changes help or hurt you? A new calculator can help you find out Job market: Employers add booming 304,000 jobs in January, marking 100th straight month of employment gains Heres a rundown of Trumps economic policies and their effects: Tax reform Trumps signature achievement, the $1.5 trillion tax cut, is likely to boost economic growth by four-tenths of a percentage point for 2018 and one-tenth this year, largely by spurring more consumer and business spending, according to Oxford Economics. As a result, economists estimate the nations gross domestic product grew 3 percent last year, the most since 2005 and a fulfillment of Trumps vow to generate 3 percent or better growth.This late into the cycle, the economy normally would be losing some steam. Story continues Yet Trump and the Republican Congress notched the faster gains by taking the highly unusual step of enacting a stimulus during a healthy economy, when the government typically uses higher revenue to narrow the deficit or run surpluses. The White House said the tax cut would pay for itself with increased economic activity, but that hasnt been the case. Economists estimate the tax reform will cost the government $1 trillion over the next decade after figuring in the faster growth. The wider deficit will make it tougher for Congress to pass another stimulus to address the next recession, says Maya MacGuineas, president of the Center for a Responsible Federal Budget. Trump also promised the legislation would jolt business investment by allowing firms to depreciate capital spending more rapidly. But while investment picked up early last year, it quickly faded in the second half. As a result, the tax law hasnt altered the economys growth picture long-term by boosting worker output with new technologies, Daco says. Higher spending The story is similar for the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which increased federal spending by about $300 billion over two years, largely for defense. Thats lifting economic growth by three tenths of a percentage point in 2018 and four-tenths in 2019, Oxford says. But the expiration of the measure would be a drag on growth in fiscal 2020 unless the higher spending levels are extended, as Daco and many other economists expect. That, however, would add more than $1.5 trillion to cumulative deficits over the next 10 years. Jobs Trump is all but certain to herald a dynamic labor market. Employers added an average 223,000 jobs a month last year, much more than the 170,000 expected. Daco notes Trump inherited a healthy economy and job growth from the Obama administration. In President Barack Obamas last two years in office, the economy added 5 million jobs, compared with 4.8 million in the first two years of the Trump White House. Yet Trumps total is impressive considering the 4 percent unemployment rate means far fewer available workers. Again, though, Trump achieved the economic and payroll growth through a stimulus thats helping balloon the deficit. Vitner, however, gives Trump more credit for the employment gains. For example, he says, the lower taxes encouraged Americans to work longer and some retirees to return to the labor force. Cutting regulations The White House says Trump has cut more than 1,500 regulations, though analysts say that total is inflated. Still, he has squashed rules designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, and has rolled back regulations that critics say ensure that investors get unbiased advice and that protect workers, among others. The moves have cut cost for businesses and boosted their confidence, spurring more hiring and investment, Vitner says. Any economic downside may not become evident for years or decades. In November, 13 federal agencies issued a report saying that if global warming continues at its current pace, the U.S. economy would be 10 percent smaller than otherwise by the end of the century. Trade feuds Trump will undoubtedly tout his bare-knuckle trade tactics that resulted in a new though still to be ratified trade pact with Mexico and brought China to the negotiating table. Trump slapped tariffs on those and other countries, which responded with tit-for-tat duties. Vitner says the new trade deal with Mexico and Canada encourages the purchase or goods within North America. But the Peterson Institute for International Economics calls the agreement an overall downgrade for North America, saying consumers may see higher car prices, and Ford and General Motors are already laying off workers. Meanwhile, Trumps tariffs on $250 billion Chinese imports, along with Chinas countertariffs on US goods, have increased prices for American manufacturers and retailers, and hammered exports for Midwest farmers and other U.S. producers. A hike of the U.S. tariffs from 10 to 25 percent is on hold while U.S. and Chinese officials negotiate. Vitner says the standoff will be a success if Trump can ultimately convince China to open its markets more widely and stop stealing U.S. intellectual property. Daco, however, says he doesnt foresee a significant shift in the balance of U.S.-China trade and the fight already has generated the most trade policy uncertainty in 25 years and isolated the U.S. in the global economic arena. Markets Trump was rocket fuel for the market during most of his first two years in office, as his policies of lower taxes and regulations helped push up the Standard & Poors 500 index by nearly 30 percent. But his trade tactics have fomented uncertainty that has helped lower stocks by nearly 8 percent since September. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A reality check for Trump's likely claims of economic success during State of the Union By Philip Pullella PANAMA CITY, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Saturday the Roman Catholic Church was weary and "wounded by her own sin," in an apparent reference to the global sexual abuse crisis. Francis made the comment in the homily of Mass for priests, nuns, and members of Catholic lay organizations in Panama City's newly renovated cathedral of Santa Maria Antigua, the first in mainland America, which was completed in 1716. The pope has called a summit of the heads of national Catholic churches at the Vatican from Feb. 21-24 to discuss what is now a global sexual abuse crisis. The meeting offers a chance for him to respond to criticism from victims of abuse that he has stumbled in his handling of the crisis and has not done enough to make bishops accountable. . In his homily, Francis spoke of "The weariness of hope (that) comes from seeing a Church wounded by her own sin" and of a Church "which so often failed to hear all those cries." He used the words "weary," "wearisome" or "weariness" about 20 times in the homily. Francis then led an elaborate service in which he consecrated the basilica's new altar, donning a white apron over his vestments as he rubbed it down with holy oil and blessed it with incense. Relics of three Latin American saints - Saint Rosa of Lima, Saint Oscar Romero and Saint Martin de Porres - as well as a relic of Saint John Paul II, were installed in the altar. Romero, a champion of the poor, was killed by a right-wing death squad in San Salvador in 1980 and was made a saint by Pope Francis in 2018. Last year was an "annus horribilis" for the pope, with abuse crises exploding in several countries, particularly Chile and the United States. Following accusations of a cover up of abuse in Chile, all 34 of the country's bishops offered their resignations. Francis has so far accepted seven of them but has also defrocked two Chilean bishops accused of molesting minors. Story continues Last August, the Church in the United States was rocked by a damning grand jury report on the sexual abuse of children by priests in Pennsylvania over a 70-year period. Francis has urged predator priests who have sexually abused minors to turn themselves in and has acknowledged that the Church had made serious errors in the past. Before leaving for Panama, Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said a meeting between the pope and victims of clergy abuse was not on the schedule. On past trips, however, such meetings were announced only after they took place. Francis is in Panama for the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day, a global gathering of Catholic youth that takes place in a different city about every three years. On Saturday night, Francis was due to preside at a prayer vigil with hundreds of thousands of young Catholics who have come to Panama from around the world. He leaves for Rome on Sunday night after a closing outdoor Mass. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; editing by Diane Craft) Abu Dhabi (AFP) - Pope Francis and a top Muslim cleric Monday issued a joint call for freedom of belief during the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the birthplace of Islam -- the Arabian Peninsula. Francis, who has made outreach to Muslim communities a cornerstone of his papacy, is on an historic three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates. He is due to hold an open-air mass on Tuesday for 135,000 of the Muslim country's million Catholic residents, set to be the largest ever public gathering in the Gulf state. On Monday, the pope held talks in Abu Dhabi with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb -- imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's prestigious seat of learning. The two religious leaders signed a document on "human fraternity for world peace and living together", described by the Vatican as an "important step forward in the dialogue between Christians and Muslims". They called for "freedom of belief", the "promotion of a culture of tolerance", the "protection of places of worship" and "full citizenship" rights for minorities. "It is... crucial to establish in our societies the concept of full citizenship and reject the discriminatory use of the term minorities which engenders feelings of isolation and inferiority," read the document. It said "freedom is a right of every person: each individual enjoys the freedom of belief, thought, expression and action" and that "pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God". "The fact that people are forced to adhere to a certain religion or culture must be rejected, as too the imposition of a cultural way of life that others do not accept," it said. Francis also delivered an address at an interfaith meeting attended by Sheikh Ahmed and UAE leaders, and pushed for an end to all wars in the Middle East, including in Yemen. The United Arab Emirates and neighbouring Saudi Arabia are key allies of the Yemeni government, which is locked in a war against Iran-linked rebels that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. Story continues - 'Reject war' - The pope said all religious leaders had a "duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war". "I am thinking in particular of Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya," he said. Yemen is the scene of what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, triggered by the intervention of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies in a war between the government and Huthi rebels. More than 10 million Yemenis now risk imminent starvation. The UAE, which prides itself on its religious diversity in the Gulf, is also a member of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in both Syria and Iraq. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, one of the most powerful rulers in the seven emirates, on Monday gifted the pope a deed for the plot of land on which the first church in the UAE was built. Pope Francis in turn gave him a framed medallion of the meeting between St. Francis Assisi -- the pope's namesake -- and the Sultan of Egypt Malek al-Kamel, in 1219. While the pope did not openly discuss politics, he called for "the full recognition" of rights for people across the Middle East, a potential reference to communities including Shiites in Saudi Arabia, refugees and migrants, stateless peoples and other minorities. "I look forward to societies where people of different beliefs have the same right of citizenship and where only in the case of violence in any of its forms is that right removed," he said. - 'Year of tolerance' - The Emirates has dubbed 2019 its "year of tolerance" but rights groups have criticised it for its role in Yemen, where an estimated 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-led alliance the government's fight against the Huthis in 2015. Muslims make up nearly four fifths of the UAE's population, but the country is also home to nearly a million Catholics, according to the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Migrants from Asian countries make up about 65 percent of the population. The UAE has pushed itself as an open society in a conservative region. The country is home to eight Catholic churches, Hindu temples and a place of prayer that serves as a synagogue. Bahrain and Qatar are home to one Catholic church each while Oman, Kuwait and Yemen each have four while Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia bans all non-Muslim places of worship. Piers Morgan has come under fire from Meghan Markle fans for ridiculing the Duchess of Sussex giving inspirational bananas to sex workers. Meghan and Harry were paying a visit to Bristol charity One25, which supports women involved in sex work, when she got involved with helping to prepare food packages and decided to write motivational messages on bananas with a pen. They included phrases such as you are brave, you are strong, and you are loved, which Good Morning Britain host Piers called patronising, as well as mocking the Duchess for her choice of fruit. During the breakfast show, he said: Giving a sex worker a banana is clearly exposing them to potential mockery. If you had been advising Meghan Markle before this and she said, Ive got a great idea, Im going to give a load of sex workers who are really struggling at the moment signed bananas, would you have said maybe not the bananas? This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. He also pretended to be Meghan, grabbing a banana and saying: Hand me my sharpie, my moment has come to empower sex workers. But when a guest on GMB argued that he couldnt understand the power of a motivational message from his massive position of privilege, Morgan wouldnt back down. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. He shot back: You dont think that Meghan Markle is? She is living in a palace with a prince, you couldnt get more privileged. Morgan had previously complained about the gesture on Twitter, writing: This is one of the weirdest, most ridiculous things I have ever seen a member of the Royal Family do. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. But fans of Meghan jumped to her defence, saying that she was showing empathy and compassion, and claiming that Morgan always attacks her. 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. Morgans previous rants against the Duchess have included labelling her a ruthless social climber and condemning her for cutting off her father. Read more Meghan Markle is reportedly hiring a birthing doula Meghan Markle not a peoples princess yet Meghan Markles make-up artist reveals the secret to her flawless skin Pfizer, Inc. PFE announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has given a positive opinion, recommending marketing approval of its new lung cancer medicine, Vizimpro (dacomitinib). Pfizer is eyeing approval of Vizimpro (45 mg), an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in Europe for the first-line treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients with EGFR activating mutations. The CHMPs decision will now be reviewed by the European Commission, which mostly follows the same. Vizimpro was approved in the United States in September last year. The drug holds immense sales potential as EGFR-mutated non-NSCLC is a disease that is associated with low overall survival rates. Pfizer is making significant progress in its oncology pipeline portfolio. Inthe last four months of 2018, Pfizer gained FDA approval for four innovative cancer medicines including Vizimpro, which may boost its oncology sales. These include Daurismo (glasdegib) for previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia (AML), Lorbrena (lorlatinib) for second line non-NSCLC and Talzenna (talazoparib), an orally-available PARP inhibitor for advanced breast cancer. Moreover, two leukemia treatments Besponsa/inotuzumab ozogamicin for relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and Mylotarg for newly diagnosed CD33-positive AML were approved in the United States in 2017. A key candidate in the oncology pipeline is Bavencio (avelumab), which is being evaluated for different types of cancer. Bavencio is already approved in metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma in the United States, Europe and Japan. It also received accelerated approval for second-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma in the United States. Bavencio, though approved for two small indications currently, is being considered a key long-term growth driver for Pfizer if it can gain label expansion approvals. Pfizer has 30 ongoing studies in the avelumab development program involving more than 9,000 patients across 15 tumor types. The studies include double/triple combination studies for chemotherapy and targeted therapies and several avelumab combination therapies with immuno-oncology agents. Pfizer has developed Bavencio in partnership with Germanys Merck KGaA MKGAF. Story continues Pfizer is also venturing into the oncology biosimilars space. In Europe and United States, Pfizer markets biosimilar versions of Amgens AMGN drugs Neupogen and Epogen. Biosimilar versions of RochesRHHBY cancer drugs, Rituxan, Avastin (trade name: Zirabev) and Herceptin are under review in the United States with FDA decisions on all expected in 2019. A biosimilar version of Herceptin was approved in the EU in July 2018 while that of biosimilar Rituxan and Avastin is under review in the EU. In fact, oncology drugs have been a key driver of Pfizers sales, accounting for more than 13% of its total sales in 2018. Oncology revenues increased 19% to $7.2billion. Its marketed oncology drugs are Ibrance Sutent, Inlyta, Bosulif and others. Pfizer also gets a share of profit from its alliance with Japans Astellas Pharma for Xtandi. Pfizers shares have risen 23.7% in the past year compared with an increase of 7.1%for the industry. Pfizer currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here Today's Best Stocks from Zacks Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%. This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year. See their latest picks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Roche Holding AG (RHHBY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Amgen Inc. (AMGN) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The Pentagon announced Sunday that 3,750 troops additional U.S. troops will be sent to the southern border to aid in border security operations. Troops will work with Customs and Border Protection to install 150 miles of razor wiring between ports of entry as well as assist with mobile surveillance. We will continue to evaluate the force composition required to meet the mission to protect and secure the southern border, the Pentagon said in a statement. The deployment, which brings the total number of troops assisting border security up to approximately 4,350, will last for 90 days and was approved by Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan on January 11. The Trump administrations move comes just after the 35-day partial shutdown in December and January, which broke the record for the longest in U.S. history. The government shut down just before Christmas when Republicans and Democrats reached an impasse over the $5.7 billion for border wall funding the president is demanding. Trump eventually signed a stopgap spending bill that funds the government until February 15, but Congress risks another shutdown if lawmakers again fail to reach a compromise. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said multiple times that the final spending bill will not include any border wall construction funding. Trump has floated declaring a national emergency or assigning the military to build the wall if Congress will not approve money for it. More troops being sent to the Southern Border to stop the attempted Invasion of Illegals, through large Caravans, into our Country. We have stopped the previous Caravans, and we will stop these also. With a Wall it would be soooo much easier and less expensive. Being Built! Trump wrote in a tweet last week. Were going to have a strong border. And the only way you have a strong border is you need a physical barrier. You need a wall. And anybody that says you dont, theyre just playing games, the president told CBS. More from National Review Ottawa is dismissing a call from Ontarios economic development minister to drop retaliatory tariffs against the United States, saying doing so would mean unilateral surrender to the Americans. (The Canadian Press) The Ontario government is calling on Ottawa to drop the retaliatory tariffs it imposed in response to the U.S. tariffs on imports of Canadian steel and aluminum. At a news conference on Monday, Ontario Trade Minister Todd Smith urged the Liberal government to get down to business and negotiate the removal of the hefty steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the U.S. administration last June. He said the Ontario government was concerned by the lack of action from the federal government on a trade dispute that has cost jobs and money for businesses across the province. Smith said that Premier Doug Ford has suggested to the federal government that they remove the retaliatory tariffs Canada imposed in response to the U.S. decision as a first step in resolving the issue overall. These measures are having consequences on the competitiveness of Ontarios industries, and reviewing Canadas retaliatory measures may act as a means to persuade the newly-elected U.S. Congress and the U.S. administration to remove the U.S.-imposed steel and aluminum tariffs, Smith said. The U.S. tariffs have resulted in negative impacts and job losses in the U.S. and in Ontario and in Canada and will continue to do so if they persist. Removing tariffs would equal surrender, say feds The federal government was swift to dismiss the idea of removing the tariffs on Monday, with Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains issuing a statement saying the government has been working hard to pressure the U.S. to end the trade dispute. The Ford Governments call for Canada to unilaterally and unconditionally remove its counter-tariffs would equal unilateral surrender to the Americans, Bains said. The reciprocal tariffs are critical to pressuring the Americans to end this dispute once and for all. The Canadian Steel Producers Association also disagreed with the Ontario governments suggestion to remove the retaliatory tariffs, issuing a statement on Twitter in support of them. Catherine Cobden, the president of the CSPA, said in an statement that the retaliatory measures are vital to protecting our businesses and our workers and must remain in place until 232 tariffs are lifted from Canadian steel. Story continues We are calling on our federal and provincial governments to work together to support Canadian steel producers to remove these baseless U.S. tariffs, she said. Algoma Steel Inc., a producer located in Sault Ste. Marie, said on Twitter that the retaliatory measures are a necessary and valued interim response to the U.S. tariffs, but added that a sustainable solution to address the 232 measures is needed. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. With files from the Canadian Press. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. On Feb 1, we issued an updated research report on Omnicell, Inc. OMCL. The company has laid out its strategy of expanding into new markets. This strategy so far has been driving significant growth in the Non-Acute Care segment. However, a tough competitive landscape is a dampener. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). This developer and marketer of end-to-end automation solutions for the medication-use process has outperformed its industry over the past year. The stock has gained 46.3% against the industrys 4.8% decline. Outside the United States, healthcare providers are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of automation. Additionally, there is substantial demand for adherence packaging equipment outside the domestic market. Given the fact that the international market is less than 1% penetrated with very few hospitals adopting medication control systems, Omnicell is rapidly expanding into new markets. While the company continues to focus on the Middle East and South Africa, it sees greater adoption of technologies in other parts of the world, the latest area being Australia. Internationally, the company announced its first IV robotics deal and forayed into the South Korean market with several hospital locations. We are also upbeat about the company successfully progressing through acquisitions and partnerships. Omnicells latest buyout is InPharmics, a Mississippi-based technology and services company which should help Omnicell expand the capabilities of its Performance Center. The company is witnessing solid cross-selling momentum within the total product platform and combined customer base, specifically for the companys XR2, IV and Performance Center solutions in both the pipeline and the bookings. Meanwhile, Omnicell faces intense competition in the medication management and supply chain solutions market. Stiff competition could result in pricing pressure and a reduced margin, which will affect the companys performance in turn. Story continues Also, company continues to battle escalating costs. Omnicell continues to expect higher costs in the upcoming quarters stemming from integration of new acquisitions and expenses related to the recently-launched XT series and IV workflow. Key Picks Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Varian Medical Systems VAR, AngioDynamics ANGO and CONMED Corporation CNMD. AngioDynamics has a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy) and an expected revenue growth rate of 4.3% for fiscal 2019. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Varian Medical Systems long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 8%. The stock flaunts a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. CONMEDs long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 11.5%. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. Today's Best Stocks from Zacks Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%. This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year. See their latest picks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Omnicell, Inc. (OMCL) : Free Stock Analysis Report AngioDynamics, Inc. (ANGO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (VAR) : Free Stock Analysis Report CONMED Corporation (CNMD) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Norway's intelligence service PST on Monday issued a warning about Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, whose ties to Beijing have sparked security concerns. "One has to be attentive about Huawei as an actor and about the close connections between a commercial actor like Huawei and the Chinese regime," the head of Norway's domestic intelligence unit PST, Benedicte Bjornland, said as she presented a national risk assessment report for 2019. "An actor like Huawei could be subject to influence from its home country as long as China has an intelligence law that requires private individuals, entities and companies to cooperate with China," she said. In Norway, the main telecoms operators Telenor and Telia -- which chose Huawei to supply their 4G networks -- are gearing up for the roll-out of 5G. Several countries like the United States have banned Huawei 5G telecoms equipment for security reasons. The Scandinavian country is considering ways of limiting its exposure. "As far as we're concerned, it's about setting up a regulatory framework to protect what could be considered critical infrastructure," Justice Minister Tor Mikkel Wara said at the same press conference. "What this regulatory framework would look like, and what it would cover, is what we're working on right now," he said. Norway is treading cautiously on the issue, after China's angry reaction to the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, triggering lengthy diplomatic and trade repercussions from Beijing's side. Embattled Virginia governor Ralph Northams would-be successor, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, on Monday denied an accusation of sexual assault against him, saying he has never assaulted anyone. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Lt. Governor Fairfax has an outstanding and well-earned reputation for treating people with dignity and respect, read a statement from Fairfaxs chief of staff and communications director. He has never assaulted anyone ever in any way, shape, or form. This is part of the sad and dark politics that the Lt. Governor has dedicated himself to helping Virginia and the nation rise above, the statement added. The statement appears to reference an accusation from Vanessa Tyson, a professor at Scripps College in California, who claims Fairfax sexually assaulted her at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Imagine you were sexually assaulted during the DNC Convention in Boston in 2004 by a campaign staffer. You spend the next 13 years trying to forget it ever happened, Tyson wrote in a private post that reporters said she gave permission to be made public. Then by strange, horrible luck, it seems increasingly likely that hell get a VERY BIG promotion. Fairfaxs statement threatened legal action against those spreading the defamatory and false allegation and said the Washington Post already investigated Tysons claim and declined to publish the story, finding it not credible. Fairfax is next in line to take over the governorship from Northam, the scandal-plagued Democratic governor who has so far refused to resign despite calls from his own party to do so. On Friday, a photo on Northams medical-school yearbook page surfaced that showed one individual in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood. After initially apologizing and appearing to admit that he was one of the two men in the photo, Northam backtracked on Saturday, denying that he was either of the two men. More from National Review Nicolas Maduro has made a point of inspecting his troops, on a near daily basis, since Juan Guaido declared himself president - AFP Britain, France, Spain and Germany were among 15 European nations to officially recognise Juan Guaido as Venezuelas interim president, in move which was swiftly denounced by Nicolas Maduro as a gringo plot to overthrow the revolution. The European countries followed the lead set by the United States, which on January 23 became the first country to declare Mr Guaido, 35, the countrys rightful ruler. They backed his argument that, as leader of the national assembly, he should take control because the presidency was left vacant, due to 56-year-old Mr Maduros sham re-election. The Europeans, instead of immediately following Washingtons decision, gave Mr Maduro an eight-day deadline to call fresh elections, or else have his authority removed. When that expired on Sunday, they announced the diplomatic change. "From today, we will spare no effort in helping all Venezuelans achieve freedom, prosperity and harmony," said Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish prime minister. Pedro Sanchez, the prime minister of Spain Mr Maduro appeared particularly piqued by Spains participation in the announcement, singling out the Spaniards as cowards. Spains former prime minister, Jose Luis Zapatero, led what were perhaps the most significant attempts at dialogue between the rival sides, with talks beginning in 2016 and breaking down at the end of last year. Mr Maduro, in power since 2013, told a military rally on Monday in the northern state of Aragua that the European decision was disastrous. I, Nicolas Maduro Moros, the legitimate and constitutional president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, swear that I will defend with my very own life this homeland of Venezuela, he vowed. I will carry on governing, together with the people, for the six years I have the right to govern for. He also reiterated his accusations that the US was staging a coup. John Bolton, Donald Trump's national security adviser and one of the strongest Venezuela hawks, praised the decision and urged other countries to follow suit. Story continues "The United States welcomes European states recognition of Juan Guaido as the President of Venezuela," he tweeted. "I urge countries to stand against authoritarianism and the suffering across Venezuela, and to make the same responsible decision to support democracy in Venezuela." Juan Guaido, at a rally in Caracas on Saturday Mr Maduro has written a letter to Pope Francis requesting a renewal of dialogue in the crisis, the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Mr Guaido has also asked the Argentine pontiff to intervene. But the pope has said that, although he is deeply concerned by the humanitarian suffering, he was not in a position to mediate. Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said UN officials would not participate in any international initiatives on Venezuela in order to remain neutral. Mexico and Uruguay have offered to host talks, and Mr Maduro said he is open to dialogue, but Mr Guaido last week rejected their offer. Mr Guaido has called for further protests, and this weekend plans to oversee a deliberate provocation of the military by ordering in supplies of humanitarian aid. Mr Maduro has said that the aid will be turned away by his armed forces; Mr Guaido has called on the troops to allow the assistance in, to help the struggling citizens. Meanwhile, the Lima Group a 14 nation association of American nations recommended stopping short of further sanctions on Mr Maduros teetering regime. Although the United States has broached the idea of an oil embargo on Venezuela, the countries said it should not take the drastic step. The challenge for participants is that Mexico, a member of the group, opposes any measures to oust Mr Maduro, who also has the backing of Turkey in addition to Russia and China. Namaste Technologies Inc. CEO Sean Dollinger. (Facebook) Namaste Technologies Inc. (N.V) has fired its chief executive officer following an internal investigation prompted by short seller allegations. The Toronto-based cannabis e-commerce company cited breaches of fiduciary duty and evidence of self dealing related to the 2017 sale of its U.S. subsidiary among the reasons for CEO Sean Dollingers termination. Namaste said it is commencing legal action against Dollinger for damages and disgorgement. According to the companys website, Dollinger grew Namaste from a two-man operation into the largest e-commerce distributor of vaporizers and accessories world-wide. The board has appointed Meni Morim as interim CEO effective immediately. Mr. Morim has served as Namastes Chief Product Officer and Director of Artificial Intelligence since May 2018, the company said in a statement on Monday. Namaste began an internal investigation in October after short-seller Citron Research accused the company of a number of fraud allegations. Namaste also announced the launch of a strategic review process to consider all value-maximizing alternatives, which could include a potential corporate transaction that may, but not necessarily, result in the sale of the company. Namaste said it does not intend to set a definite schedule to complete its evaluation, and said there are no assurances or guarantees the process will result in a transaction. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered ancient burial chambers that can shed light on the lives of middle class ancients dating back more than 2,000 years, the country's Supreme Council of Antiquities announced. The tomb containing more than 40 mummies was discovered in Minya, a desert province 150 miles south of Cairo. About a dozen of the remains were children, Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the council, told Al Jazeera. The discovery was one of the largest and most important in recent times because it helps detail the day-to-day lives of normal ancients, Waziri said. He added that the find was made by Egyptians. The vast majority of previous discoveries were made by Europeans and Americans. Waziri said the mummies appeared to be in good condition and the mummification method was sophisticated, indicating the deceased had held prestigious positions and were probably upper-middle class. A recently discovered burial chamber in the desert province of Minya, south of Cairo. "We have not found names written in hieroglyphics," he said, so the identities are not known. He estimated that the remains date back to the Ptolemaic era, a period of about 300 years that ended with the death of Cleopatra and Roman rule in 30 BC. More: One of a kind royal tomb is 4,400 years old, Egypt says The mummies were discovered inside four 30-foot deep burial chambers in the Tuna el-Gebel archaeological site. Some were wrapped in linen or decorated with Demotic handwriting, a form of cursive hieroglyphic writing used by ordinary people in the region from the early 7th century BC until the 5th century AD. A year ago, the antiquities ministry announced the discovery of eight tombs that contain about 40 coffins of Pharaonic priests and more than 1,000 statues near the site. The tombs were full of jewelery, potteries and jars. In December, Egyptian officials said they discovered a 4,400-year-old tomb linked to the fifth dynasty of pharoahs. That find occurred in Saqqara, west of Cairo. Minister of Tourism Rania al-Mashat told Egypt Times the discoveries were an important message to the whole world that Egypt has it all. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mummies, pottery discovery dating to Cleopatra reflects lives of middle-class Egyptians Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs will cut back its top executives compensations depending on the consequence of investigation into the banks role in a multibillion-dollar Malaysian fund scandal. In a regulatory filing, Goldman announced that its board could reduce or forfeit the stock-based awards granted to its tier-one executives in 2018. Such a scenario could affect former CEO and Chairman Lloyd Blankfein and current CEO David Soloman. While Blankfein was guaranteed to receive $18.5 million in annual variable compensation, which included $14.245 million in the form of restricted stock units (RSU), Soloman was promised circa $15.4 million in RSU as a part of his 2018s compensation of $21.1 million. 1MDB Bribery Scandal As covered by CCN earlier, the scandal centers on a Malaysian state investment fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad. It was set up by the former prime minister Najib Razak for the countrys economic development after he assumed office in 2019. Goldman raised $6.5 billion in bonds for 1MDB in 2012 and 2013. However, the fund came under a global regulatory spotlight after the Securities Commission Malaysia accused it of stealing $2.7 billion. Last year, the US Justice Department said that the total losses reached as high as $4.5 billion, adding that Goldman Sachs misused half of the money to pay for fine art and jewellery, and to pay bribes and kickbacks. Read the full story on CCN.com. Cree, Inc. CREE is looking like an interesting pick from a technical perspective, as the company is seeing favorable trends on the moving average crossover front. Recently, the 50 Day Moving Average for CREE broke out above the 200 Day Simple Moving Average, suggesting a short-term bullish trend. This has already started to take place, as the stock has moved higher by 27.2% in the past four weeks. Plus, the company currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) suggesting that now could definitely be the time for this breakout candidate. More bullishness may especially be the case when investors consider what has been happening for CREE on the earnings estimate revision front lately. No estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 1 higher, while the consensus estimate has also moved higher too. So given this move in estimates, and the positive technical factors, investors may want to watch this breakout candidate closely for more gains in the near future. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Today's Best Stocks from Zacks Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%. This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year. See their latest picks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - As Siemens and Alstom face EU rejection of their plan to create a European rail champion to fight foreign rivals, the lesson for other companies is to play up the domestic benefits of their merger deals and be prepared to sell assets. Backed by the German and French governments, Siemens and Alstom argue they need to team up to better compete globally with China's state-owned CRRC and other rivals such as Canada's Bombardier. But the European Commission bases its judgment on EU competition law which ensures consumers -- in this case rail operators -- have enough choice to maintain downward price pressure in the European market. "Industrial champions are good for global competition but not generally for intra-EU competition and European users," said Oliver Bretz, a lawyer at Euclid Law. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier have said an EU veto of the rail deal would be an economic error and political mistake. The French contend that by applying antitrust rules to the letter, the EU may end up benefiting China more than its own economies. Siemens and Alstom failed to offer sufficient concessions to allay European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager's concerns about their market power in Europe, sources told Reuters last month. "To become competitive abroad requires competition at home," Vestager told her colleagues last month, according to a briefing note seen by Reuters. The European Commission is expected to announce its ruling this week ahead of a Feb. 18 deadline. DOMESTIC CONCERNS The lesson for companies wanting to merge and create European powerhouses is that they need to be more mindful of the domestic concerns of the regulators, said Ioannis Kokkoris, a law professor at Queen Mary University of London. That could mean being prepared to sell assets in areas where there is an overlap between the two companies but Kokkoris said that the terms and conditions relating to the future behavior of the merged entity were also key. Story continues "Carefully structured remedies can allow the creation of scale of operations... while at the same time ensure that competition harm is limited or non existent," he said. The big question is how much companies are willing to sacrifice to get the deal done. "It comes down to a simple equation. How much do you want the deal to how much it is going to cost you in remedies. There is a range of outcomes," said Euclid Law's Bretz. Politicians pushing for broader industrial considerations to be part of EU merger reviews should be careful what they wish for, he added, saying that it could make merger tests more unpredictable. "You might as well be in China where merger control can be a tool of industrial policy. That is not how we tend to do things in Europe. If you open the floodgates, you will end up with a system which is no longer transparent," Bretz said. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) The Marie Kondo effect is real. The decluttering guru and her new Netflix show, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, which debuted on Jan. 1, has galvanized scores of people to comb through their belongings, down to their last pair of gym socks, and get rid of everything that doesnt spark joy. So where does all this joyless stuff go? Turns out, online resellers, thrift stores and consignment shops have become the beneficiaries of this new wave of tidying up. We tend to see an uptick in donations at this time of year, but Tidying Up with Marie Kondo likely could be influencing people to give even more, Dalita Lovett at The Salvation Army said. She said that nationally the organization has seen an 18% increase in scheduled pickups for donated goods in the first two weeks of the year. Poshmark, an e-commerce site that lets people buy and sell fashionable clothing, told Yahoo Finance it has seen a 64% increase in listings in the first week of January 2019 compared to January 2018. Marie Kondos Netflix show has definitely impacted a lot of people and brands, including Poshmark, a spokesperson told Yahoo Finance. Buffalo Exchange, another second-hand fashion company with stores around the country, said it had to put out many extra racks at locations to accommodate all the new clothing coming in. Usually, March and June are the big spring cleaning times. Weve definitely seen a lot of new faces coming in to sell their closet cleanouts and many of our sellers have been specifically mentioning Marie Kondo, the company said. ThredUP has also seen an effect as well. Speaking on Yahoo Finances YFi AM program, CEO James Reinhart said this is the second time theyve seen this, but that this scale was new. We saw it actually two years ago with the publication of [Kondos] book, but because Netflix has such distribution these days, everyone has gotten on the bandwagon so all sites [like ours] are benefiting, he said. Not sure the [growth] is sustainable but I think she's educating a new group of people how to be smarter. Story continues ThredUP also took a survey of 1,000 customers and found 60% said the Netflix show inspired them to action. In San Francisco, the shows influence has flooded thrift stores with donations, leading some to put limits on what they will accept. Not everyone is 100% sure of the Kondo effect. Online luxury-brand reseller The Real Real has seen strong growth in consignment in January, but nothing outside of expectations, a spokesperson said. Goodwill Industries International said it didnt have data supporting any correlation or causation, mainly because its a network of 161 independent organizations each with its own separate board. But it is keeping an eye to see if there is a Kondo effect, a spokesperson told Yahoo Finance. While a Kondo effect is being felt across the second-hand markets, it appears to be purely on the supply side. The demand side people buying used clothing or thrifting it seems, has not suffered, these companies told Yahoo Finance. The same seems to be the case across retail in general, as the sector saw a gain of 15,000 new jobs in January. In other words, people might be getting rid of more of their stuff, but they dont seem to be buying any less of it, which is auspicious for retail. There are, however, some areas that could experience growth thanks to the Kondo-ing, besides second-hand shops. Moving, storage, junk collection companies, and Kondo-ing itself, which is its own little industry of professional tidyers, all stand to benefit. - Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumer issues, personal finance, retail, airlines, and more. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann. People saving for retirement have not fliched Everybody wants your cash and is willing to pay for it WASHINGTON The volume didnt work well so Matthew Charles moved closer to the television in his prison pod in December so he could hear Donald Trump and watch the president sign into law a bill that would change the nations criminal justice system. It also changed Charles life. Charles, who days later became one of the first people released under the First Step Act, hopes Trump talks about the long-awaited law during his State of the Union address Tuesday. It shows that both parties can come together and work for the good,'' said Charles, calling it one of the few bipartisan successes in the partisan-driven Congress. "It shows that we can go back and correct some things that we know are incorrect. Trump is widely expected to tout passage of the First Step Act that aims to reduce the number of people in the nation's prisons. The legislation passed by Congress in December is likely to be one of the few bipartisan applause lines in Trump's address. Some advocates hope Trump also uses the national platform to speed up implementation of the law and push to expand it. We did a lot of celebrating post passage that was warranted because this was a groundbreaking bill and a lot of people worked for many years to get to this point, said Holly Harris, executive director of the Justice Action Network. (But) we cant take our eyes off the prize, which is actually impacting lives. In order for that to happen in a real significant way weve got to make sure implementation is happening swiftly and appropriately. President Donald Trump speaks before signing the First Step Act and the Juvenile Justice Reform Act at the White House in Washington, DC, on December 21, 2018. Talk turned into action Trump surprised advocates last year by raising the issue during his State of the Union, and some say the decision helped jump-start negotiations. The president devoted 38 words to prison reform in that address, but his assertion that there were inmates who deserved a second chance was a sharp departure from the tough-on-crime, American carnage rhetoric he embraced during in his inaugural speech. Story continues Everybody was pretty cynical that it would turn into any sort of action, said Jessica Jackson, national director of the DreamCorps #cut50 initiative, which advocates for criminal justice reform. But, ultimately, she said the address gave us our first bit of hope that anything was going to get done. Few saw Trump as personally invested in the issue, but White House support and the direct engagement by the presidents son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner gave political cover to Senate Republicans who were wary of appearing soft on crime. Trumps blessing eased those concerns for many remaining holdouts, advocates said. Others noted the issue already had bipartisan momentum before the White House engaged. Im not sure whether or not this administration actually believes in this piece of legislation or if it was going for a win, said Edward K. Chung, a former senior adviser at the Justice Department who is now with the liberal Center for American Progress. Regardless, the fact is this legislation will help people who have been over-incarcerated. Matthew Charles, who was released from prison after 21 years as a result of retroactive drug sentencing guideline changes, discusses his legal challenges at Nashville Public Radio in Nashville on Dec. 17, 2017. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about whether the president would raise the issue in his speech. But Trump took credit for signing the bill into law in an interview with CBS' ''Face the Nation" that aired Sunday. He said people have been calling to thank him. "People have been trying to get that taken care of and it's now signed into law and affects tremendous numbers of people, and very good people,'' he said. The State of the Union is often a victory lap speech for presidents, said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabatos Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. He said Trump and the White House are cognizant that they have weaknesses among nonwhite voters and like to highlight accomplishments when they can. For example, he said, Trump has repeatedly touted lower unemployment rates among African-Americans. Bringing up criminal justice reform would be a way to try to bolster his standing with groups hostile to him," Kondik said. Its another way for him to try to have a positive message with the groups. Harris said she hopes Trump will not only talk about the First Step Act, but make it a priority. She said he could also take other steps, including granting more clemency. This is not going to be one of the situations where you can pass a bill and move on, she said. We know he cares about immigration. We know he cares about trade. I think hell need to establish a lengthier and consistent record in working on reform policies. And he has an opportunity to do that. This is a bipartisan issue in Congress. It may be the only one. Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., listen to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, talk about passage of the First Step Act at a press conference Dec. 19, 2018 in Washington, D.C. A broad coalition formed The First Step Act is the result of a yearslong process that brought together a broad coalition of faith groups, civil rights advocates, conservatives and the White House. The measure, among other things, gives judges more discretion in sentencing offenders for nonviolent crimes, particularly drug offenses, and strengthens rehabilitation programs for former prisoners. Trump signed it into law Dec. 21. Charles spent last week in Washington, D.C., meeting with lawmakers who played key roles in pushing the legislation, including Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Richard Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Mike Lee, R-Utah. He also met with Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Democratic Reps. Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Cedric Richmond of Louisiana. Charles thanked the lawmakers and urged them to press for more reforms. He said it was also important to remind them of others still in prison for long sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. Advocates have complained about a disparity in sentencing between crack and cocaine that disproportionately impacted African-Americans. I was able to meet with them and give them an actual living example and witness of a person who has changed, that does want a second chance in society, said Charles, who served nearly 22 years of a 35-year sentence for crack offenses in 1996. Charles, 52, was released Jan. 3 from a detention center in Kentucky and returned home to Nashville. He plans to be an advocate for criminal justice reform and the poor. Meanwhile, Charles said he would be honored to attend Tuesdays State of the Union so people could see firsthand the success of the First Step Act. Charles wouldnt confirm whether Trump asked him to sit in the presidents guest box Tuesday. I would just be honored to sit anywhere due to the fact that less than 30 days ago I was sitting in federal prison still with 10 years more to serve," Charles said. Beyond a pat on the back Even some of Trump's toughest critics give him credit for his role. There are 999 things I can disagree with Donald Trump on this may have been one where he did what was correct," said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League. Morial said credit has to be shared, but It is a fact that he signed the First Step Act. Now, its got to be implemented." Advocates hope Trump will go beyond a pat on the back for the bipartisan effort given concerns about the slow implementation of the First Step Act. For one, the Justice Department must develop an algorithm to assess the recidivism risk of each federal prisoner. That formula will be used to determine, among other things, when an inmate is ready to transfer into prerelease custody or supervised release. Some of that effort was likely stalled by the 35-day partial shutdown of the federal government. From what we can tell, there hasnt been any movement, Chung said. There are also other decisions to be made, such as when a provision that would expand the number of days prisoners could subtract from their sentence for good behavior is supposed to begin. Rufus Rochell, 67, hopes Trump also pushes to make sure more provisions are retroactive for inmates serving life sentences for nonviolent drug charges. Its a great start, Rochell said of the First Step Act. Were looking forward to additional improvements. Rochell, who is in a federal prison in Florida, has served nearly 31 of his 40-year sentence for drug offenses related to crack. He's worked for years with FAMM, a group pushing for criminal justice reform and for his release. Rochell said hes been told hes on the priority list to be released soon because of the new law I am extremely excited to get back out there," said Rochell, who plans to be an advocate for those still in prison. Being in here, no one knows the system better than I do Someone has to be a voice for them. Rochell gives Trump credit for signing the bill into law and said critics, including lawmakers, should visit prisons to talk to inmates. If you want to give a guy a second chance, heres the opportunity to do so," he said. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, talked Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, about his efforts to push for criminal justice reform. Waiting for the true impact Meanwhile, advocates and families anxiously wait to see the impact of the law. Beth Strong of Marissa, Ill., hopes her husband, Roger, will be released earlier than March 2020 based on a credit system for good behavior set up under the First Step Act. Strong said her husband, who was convicted for bank fraud, has served about a year of his 30-month sentence. Getting him home a little bit sooner means restoration to everything in our family, she said. Strong, 57, who is a junior ambassador for the Prison Fellowship, attended a rally in Washington last July to push for passage of the First Step Act. And while Trump may tout the criminal justice reform effort, Strong credits Kushner and Van Jones, co-founder of #cut50, for successfully pushing lawmakers to act. If we would not have had Jared out there working on it, if we had not had him bring it to the forefront, I dont think that this is something that Trump would have even embraced initially," she said. Still, Strong said the bill Trump signed into law "provides a little bit of hope" to her husband and his prison mates. The people who are incarcerated need to have some hope that people out here care, she said. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., joined others at a press conference Dec. 20, 2018, to praise House passage of the First Step Act. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man freed by criminal justice reform bill says Trump, both parties can 'work for the good' Zofija Kaczan, 100, died after she was grabbed from behind in an attack that broke her neck. Artur Waszkiewicz is on trial for robbery and her manslaughter. Waszkiewiczs fathers car was spotted on CCTV immediately before her attack. (SWNS) A 100-year-old woman died days after she suffered a broken neck when she was mugged because she was an easy target, a court heard. Jurors heard Zofija Kaczan suffered serious injuries when Artur Waszkiewicz grabbed her from behind and stole her handbag. The widow was attacked as she walked to a morning church service in Normanton, Derbyshire, on May 28 last year. She was taken to hospital and was able to give police a description of her attacker before she died on June 6. Ms Kaczan, who had celebrated her 100th birthday on May 9, was attacked as she made her way to St Maksymilian Kolbe Polish Church at 8.30am. Zofija Kaczan, 100, died after she was grabbed from behind in an attack that broke her neck. Artur Waszkiewicz is on trial for robbery and her manslaughter. Its alleged he stole her bag before emptying it and dumping it nearby. (SWNS) Derby Crown Court heard Polish national Waszkiewicz knocked the pensioner to the ground before snatching her green handbag. It was found empty of cash and dumped nearby minutes later by a street cleaner. A jury of seven men and five women were shown CCTV stills of Ms Kaczan being followed by a grey Seat Leon moments before she was mugged. Prosecutor Kate Brunner QC said: She was small, on her own, vulnerable, an easy target for a man desperate for money. Within seconds of her crossing the road a grey Seat Leon was seen travelling the same direction she was walking in. That car was insured in the name of this defendants father, he was living in south Derby at the time. It is not disputed that he was driving that car on that day. He was driving on the same road that Zofija Kaczan was attacked. The court was told the Seat could be seen to slow, which Ms Brunner said was Waszkiewicz sizing up his victim. After being treated Ms Kaczan was sent to a rehabilitation centre but her condition began to deteriorate when she contracted pneumonia and on June 4 she was sent back to hospital, on June 6 she died. Ms Brunner said a Home Office pathologist determined the cause of death as pneumonia which they believe was brought on as a consequence of the attack. Waszkiewicz, of Wolfa Street, Derby, denies robbery and manslaughter. The trial, to last two weeks, continues. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK Mogadishu (AFP) - A gunman Monday killed the manager of the port of Bossasso, in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland state, a local security official said, in an attack claimed by the Islamist Al-Shabaab group. "An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot", the official, Mohamed Dahir, told AFP. Formosa, a Maltese national, was manager at Bossasso for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based DP World. According to his profile on LinkedIn, he had been in the position since August 2017. A witness, Abdukadir Weheliye, said he heard several shots coming from inside the port and then saw the body of a white man being taken away in an ambulance. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the killing in a statement. "The attack is part of broader operations targeting the mercenary companies that loot the Somali resources", it said. The DP World subsidiary in 2017 signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Mogadishu. The Dubai-based ports company has sparked friction with Mogadishu over its development of ports in Berbera in breakaway Somaliland -- whose independence is not recognised -- as well as Puntland. Many of Somalia's federal states have aligned with the United Arab Emirates, while the central government is perceived as pro-Qatar, in the Gulf crisis pitting Arab powers against each other. Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre's military regime which ushered in decades of anarchy and conflict. So you can play them like a lyre. Photo: De Agostini/Getty Images If you and your partner are lucky enough to spend Valentines Day together and in the flesh this year, a sex toy that you both can use can make for an exciting addition to the bedroom. Almost any sex toy, from a high-design vibrator to a decidedly non-vibrating dildo, can become a couples sex toy, but if youre looking to try something totally new or want some help mixing things up in the bedroom there are plenty of clever, innovative sex toys designed specifically for couples. And to save you the trouble of trying out a bunch of duds, we asked eight experts to share their favorite couples sex toys, ones that are safe, easy to use, and, of course, lots of fun. Best vibrating couples sex toys We-Vibe Sync $149 now 34% off $99 The original couples sex toy, according to Emily Morse, doctor of human sexuality and host of Sex With Emily on Sirius XM, is from We-Vibe, a Canadian company that celebrated its tenth anniversary last year. And though there have been a few different versions of their wearable, C-shape vibe over the years, their Sync is arguably the best. Morse even goes as far as to call it the ultimate couples toy and Vanessa Marin, a licensed psychotherapist and writer specializing in sex therapy, calls it one of her favorites, as well. The way it works is fairly straightforward. One end can be worn internally, and then the external part would lay, if a female-bodied persons wearing it, on the clit, explains Carolanne Marcantonio, a licensed master social worker and sex therapist based in Brooklyn, who is also a fan of the Sync. You could also wear it during penetration. That way, the internal part rocks up against the G-spot, and the external part gives clit stimulation. That means youre experiencing stimulation from penetration as well as from the toy, at essentially every possible angle. What makes the Sync especially user-friendly is that the angle of the toy is adjustable, so it bends to more comfortably fit the wearers shape. Plus, it can be controlled with an accompanying app, so you or your partner can adjust the settings without fiddling around with tiny buttons down there. $99 at Amazon Buy $149 at We-Vibe Buy Minna Limon $99 If the Sync seems too complicated and youre looking to keep things simple, several of the experts we talked to suggested small vibrators with vibrations that get stronger as you squeeze them. The Minna Limon is one example, and it comes recommended by Marin. I like the Minna Limon because it has a technology where basically all you have to do is squeeze it so the harder and more intense you want it to vibrate, the harder you squeeze it, she says. Its very intuitive you dont have to press a bunch of buttons or turn a dial. Writer and sex relationship expert Shelby Sells recommends the Squish, from feminist sex toy company Unbound. The Squish is currently sold out, but works much in the same way as the Minna Limon, in that its just as easy to slip in between you and a partner if you want clitoral stimulation during penetrative sex. You dont necessarily need a hand, Sells explains. Its just a get-em-where-you-fit-em kind of thing. $99 at Minna Buy Lovense Nora Bluetooth Remote Control Rabbit Vibrator $99 $199 now 50% off $99 Those in long-distance relationships might want to try a toy from high-tech vibrator line Lovense, which Madeline Cooper, a clinical social worker and therapist who specializes in sexuality and relationships, recommended to us. Both partners can buy toys and connect them to the Lovense app and then to one anothers toys, she says. When one partner uses their toy, the other toy can respond based on how the partner is using it and simulate the first partners motions. Cooper notes that the app also has video chat accessibility, which can be used while youre using the toys. $99 at Lovense Buy We-Vibe Moxie Wearable Vibrator $123 For those who prefer strictly clitoral stimulation, sex expert and intimacy coach Davia Frost tipped us off to the app-controlled We-Vibe Moxie, which she calls the best panty vibe on the market, thanks to its strong magnetnic clip. The vibrator can be inserted into your underwear or underneath a pillowcase, and is held in place by a detachable magnet that attaches to the outside. Its a really strong magnet and I really like it because if youre into humping and stuff like that, you can connect it to something, Frost says. And because it connects to the We-Vibe app via Wi-Fi, your partner can adjust the vibration settings from across the room or across the world directly from their phone. $123 at Amazon Buy $129 at We-Vibe Buy We-Vibe Tango $59 now 17% off $49 If youre looking for an especially accessible couples sex toy, several of the experts we talked to suggested using a small bullet vibrator that you can hold while having sex. Carolanne Marcantonio, a licensed master social worker and sex therapist based in Brooklyn, says the We-Vibe Tango is the smallest and strongest on the market, at just about the size of a finger. Its also rechargeable and waterproof, and has a small button on the bottom that lets you try eight different settings of varying intensity. If youre a person who needs a lot of vibration its great because you can put it on your clit during penetration and its not big and cumbersome and it wont get in the way, says Marcantonio. Its versatile, too: Anyone can use it you can use it on the testicles, the inner thighs, nipples, she says. The skys the limit and the whole bodys covered in nerve endings, so we can really experience pleasure anywhere. $49 at Amazon Buy $80 at Lovehoney Buy Dame Products Eva II Personal Couples Massager $134 now 20% off $107 If you prefer something that keeps your hands free, Cooper recommends Dame Products Eva vibrator. Somebody with a vagina can use it either alone or with a partner, she says. Basically it sits on top of the clitoris and on top of the vulva and has these wings that tuck under the labia. You just press a button and it vibrates, so you dont have to be holding something in place while youre engaging in intercourse or other kinds of intimacy. $107 at Amazon Buy $135 at Dame Buy Crescendo $93 If youre intrigued by C-shape vibrators, but youre looking for something even more flexible, Sells recommends looking into the newly released Crescendo from Mystery Vibe. Theyre marketing it as the first unisex and universal vibrator, she explains. It does have that phallic shape, but you can bend it and mold it kind of however you want. Because its so adjustable, you can use it in any number of positions, penetrative or not. $93 at Amazon Buy Hot Octopuss Pulse III Duo $150 now 20% off $120 The Pulse from Londonbased Hot Octopuss is branded as the worlds first guybrator. A better way to describe it might be somewhere between a vibrating cock ring and a masturbation sleeve. The toy cups the penis, and, as Morse explains, It has this little oscillation inside. Its not really a vibrator, but it oscillates on the underside of his penis, where the frenulum is, meaning the underside of the penis, where theres this really sensitive spot. And on the Pulse Duo, which is designed for couples, the outside also vibrates; that means a partner can simultaneously get stimulation by rubbing against the device, as the male-bodied partner is getting pleasure from the oscillation. Its a great device for foreplay or for partners who prefer nonpenetrative sex. $120 at Lovehoney Buy Womanizer Pro 40 Clitoral Vibrator Toy $123 now 44% off $69 If traditional vibration isnt your thing, Darnell says the Womanizer Pro is possibly one of the most popular toys at the moment, and despite its terrible name is extraordinary. It uses new technology to provide suction over the head of the clitoris, so instead of there being a rumbling vibrating sensation that can sometimes cause numbness on the clitoris, the Womanizer has a volcano shape that forms a vacuum seal over the clitoris. When you turn the device on, it sucks in little bursts and basically mimics oral sex. You can use the Womanizer Pro alone, but Darnell told us it can be fun to try with a partner. If youre receiving penetration with a dildo or fingers, as well as using the Womanizer, it can provide really powerful sensations, she says. $69 at Amazon Buy $69 at Amazon Buy Best cock rings Colorpop OWow Vibrating Ring $22 If youre looking for something thats more basic, I actually love a vibrating cock ring, says Marcantonio. It can, of course, be used on a penis. It helps to let blood flow into the penis and not out, and it can help to maintain a stronger, harder erection for longer, she explains. But you can also put it on a dildo, so the person receiving penetration can get some vibration, or even just on your fingers, kind of like a non-slip vibrator. A vibrating cock ring is also great if you dont want to spend a lot of money; some of the more simple options, like this one, cost well under $50. $22 at Babeland Buy We-Vibe Pivot $109 The Pivot by WeVibe is great, too, says Morse. I like this one, because its kind of a twofer. It has really strong vibrations, so you could just use it as a clitoral vibe. Instead of putting it on a penis during penetration, the female-bodied partner could just hold it in your hand during intercourse and put it over your clitoris. $109 at Babeland Buy $109 at Smitten Kitten Buy Hot Octopuss Atom Vibrating Ring $85 Hot Octopuss has a great penis ring, too, called the Atom, adds Morse. Like the Pivot, this one is also very powerful, meaning the vibrations extend throughout the whole ring, she explains. But the Atom also has a wider contact area thats designed to make it as pleasurable for the person who might be rubbing up against it as for the person wearing it. There is also the Atom Plus, and the main difference between the two is the size of the ring itself. The regular Atom is designed to fit over the shaft of the penis and sit at the base, whereas the Atom Plus is big enough to slip over both the shaft and the balls to provide perineum stimulation. $85 at Amazon Buy $85 at Hot Octopuss Buy Ohnut Intimate Wearable Ring $65 If youre someone who deals with vaginal pain during sex, Marcantonio told us that the Ohnut, a series of interlocking silicone rings, can really help. You can put it on a penis or on a toy, and it controls the depth of penetration. Marcantonio says it can also work well for people experimenting with anal play who want to start with shallow penetration before working up the the full length of a penis or a toy. For some cis men, the feeling of having their whole penis enveloped is really nice, so for them it helps to receive pleasure and feel stimulation, especially if their partner can only handle shallow penetration, says Marcantonio. Then you can remove one of the rings and its like half of the penis or toy is entering Ive found it to be a really great couples toy. $65 at Urban Outfitters Buy $65 at Ohnut Buy Best strokers If youre interested in non-penetrative partner play (or something a little less intimidating than a cock ring), Frost recommends a penis stroker from Tenga. In our roundup of best sex toys for men, the Tenga Egg came out on top as the best stroker, as its incredibly discreet, super cute, makes a really good gift, and its only $10, Samantha Bard, co-owner of the Williamsburg sex shop and event space Shag, told us. While its known as a masturbation toy, Bard says it doesnt have to be just a solo thing, and that an egg can also be a lot of fun to use with a partner. In fact, probably half our customers who buy it are females buying it for their boyfriends or partners, she adds. But for those who might be on the thicker side or the longer side, Frost recommends the stretchier Tenga Geo Aqua model. Its a thicker material than the Tenga Egg, and it has all these different kind of textures that you can choose for your liking, she says. You just put some lube in there and you can use it both solo and partnered. Its really simple to use. Best strap-on A strap-on is, in some ways, the ultimate couples toy and Frost likes harnesses from SpareParts, which use velcro instead of those shifting buckles that just drive you crazy. Their styles range from boxer briefs to panties for your aesthetics, according to Frost and all include inserts for vibrators. If your partner has a penis, you can also add another dildo for double penetration, she says. New York Toy Collective Shilo Silicone Dildo $149 $149 To pair with the harnesses above, dildos from New York Toy Collective are Frosts go-to, because, As far as internally and weight-wise, they feel like an actual penis. They also come in a range of skin tones and fun colors. The brands most popular model, the Shilo, is made from posable, latex-free silicone, and has a unique head designed for G-spot and P-spot stimulation. $149 at New York Toy Collective Buy Best toys for sensation play Sportsheets Red Stitch Blindfold $12 If youre looking to dip your toe into sensation play, like erotic massage, or even BDSM with your partner, you dont have to go full Fifty Shades of Grey or build a dungeon in your basement. A fun, entry-level accessory to use with your partner is a simple blindfold. When we take away one sense, like eyesight, everything else becomes much more heightened, says Morse, so if hes got a blindfold on and she starts tickling with a tickler or spanking with a little paddle, it can just be a very hot, fun way to play. $12 at Babeland Buy Frisky Easy Access Spreader Bar System $21 Marcantonio says a spreader bar is another good option for those who are curious about BDSM. Its a bar with two rings on the end. You put it between your partners legs, and attach the restraints to their ankles. It splits the legs about a foot or two she says. But you can use it between their arms, also. $21 at Amazon Buy $21 at Amazon Buy Tantus Thwack Paddle $42 $42 To add a little bit of sensation and impact play, instead of just your hand, Frost likes this paddle from Tantus, which is made from waterproof silicone. As with all sensation play, she advises taking it slow when introducing new toys into the bedroom. Definitely get comfortable with the toy in your hand and allow your partner to feel it, because looking at it and actually feeling it can be very different, advises Frost. What you want to stick to is the inside of your palm, your forearm, the back of your thighs, the meatier part of your butt. Start off gently, and then definitely, definitely make sure youre communicating throughout the whole process. $42 at Tantus Buy JimmyJane Afterglow Natural Massage Oil Candle $42 now 17% off $35 Megan Fleming, a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in sex therapy and marriage counseling, told us that if you want to try temperature play, a massage-oil candle can be a fun way to start. Its a product that I really love, she says. When you light the candle it becomes massage oil, and it has a spout, so you can pour it easily. But pour onto your hand first so you dont burn your partner. Marcantonio also recommended massage-oil candles, and says that JimmyJane makes candles that smell great and are even moisturizing. Its a lot of fun because you can build a whole experience if youre using a blindfold, and have already lost one sense, then warm wax being dripped on you can feel especially good, she says. Just take note: The oil is only for external use, its not lube, says Marcantonio. $35 at JimmyJane Buy DiscreetDevotion Soy Wax Play Candle $6 $7 now 14% off $6 If you and your partner want to take your temperature play a little further, Frost highly recommends these soy wax play candles. The reason the material matters is because soy wax has a low temperature point, making it the least hot at melting point and, in turn, the safest. If you want to take it to the edge a little bit, you can try paraffin wax. I never recommend beeswax because its the hottest. Frost also recommends patch testing the wax beforehand (when youre not in the heat of the moment) and advises dripping the candle far away from the body, and not up-close. $6 at Etsy Buy Liberator Wedge $80 Another nice option for those trying to get a slightly different perspective is a sex cushion, like the Liberator Wedge. For a lot of women and men, theres certain positions that can be really uncomfortable, but when you elevate your pelvis with this wedge, it can help make things a little easier, says Morse. For women it can help with G-spot stimulation, it can help make doggy style more comfortable. It can help make oral sex more comfortable. $80 at Amazon Buy $98 at Babeland Buy Liberator Esse Tantric Sex Chair $550 And if youre looking for even more elevation, Frost told us that shes her eye on this ergonomic chaise lounge from Liberator. Its on the expensive side, but its a good option for those who are older or maybe have some disabilities, because it allows you to be in various positions without contorting your body too much, she tells us. It features a machine washable cover and moisture-proof inner liner so you can just hurry up and wipe it up, says Frost and comes in a variety of colors, like this Porto Red. Plus, the middle pillow is removable so you can get into this nice groove to masturbate or practice some self love. $550 at Liberator Buy 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. By Jose Elias Rodriguez and David Ljunggren MADRID/OTTAWA (Reuters) - Major European nations joined the United States on Monday in recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate head of state, while members of a separate regional bloc kept up the pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The coordinated recognition by a flood of European Union nations including Britain, Germany, France and Spain followed the expiration of an ultimatum for Maduro to call a new presidential election, aligning them with Washington and against Russia and China. "From today, we will spare no effort in helping all Venezuelans achieve freedom, prosperity and harmony," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said as he announced Madrid had recognised Guaido, the head of Venezuela's National Assembly who declared himself last month to be the oil-rich South American country's interim ruler. Eleven of the 14 members of the so-called Lima Group, including Argentina, Brazil and Canada, reiterated their support for Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate interim leader and called for free elections. In a statement following a meeting in Ottawa, they urged the international community to prevent Maduro's government from conducting financial and trade transactions abroad, having access to Venezuela's international assets and doing business in oil, gold and other assets. Mexico, a Lima Group member opposed to steps aimed at ousting Maduro, did not attend. Maduro's government, overseeing an economic collapse that has prompted 3 million Venezuelans to flee the country, lashed out at the EU nations, saying their move would affect relations with Caracas. In a statement, it accused them of submitting to a U.S. "strategy to overthrow the legitimate government" and singled out Spain for acting "cowardly." Among other EU nations recognising Guaido were: Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Sweden. The United States welcomed the EU nations' recognition of Guaido and encouraged other countries to follow suit, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. Story continues Italy, however, blocked a joint EU position to recognise Guaido, diplomatic sources said, with the government in Rome deeply divided over the issue. Norway, not an EU member, said it also was not recognising him. In power since former President Hugo Chavez's death in 2013, Maduro has been accused by critics of running the OPEC nation of 30 million people like a dictatorship. The 35-year-old Guaido, accused by Maduro's government of staging a U.S.-directed coup, has galvanized Venezuela's opposition with a hopeful message. Guaido repeatedly has called on Venezuela's military, which has remained loyal to Maduro, to support a transition to democracy. "Soldiers, we continue to wait for you. The moment is now," Guaido said in a speech on Monday in Caracas, urging the military to allow humanitarian aid to reach people. Maduro is facing calls from a growing chorus of nations, including some of Venezuela's neighbours, to resign in the wake of last year's disputed presidential vote in which he won re-election. Critics have called that election a sham and the mainstream opposition boycotted it. He has defied European heads of state, calling them sycophants for following U.S. President Donald Trump. Maduro sent a letter to Pope Francis requesting a renewal of dialogue in the crisis, the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said in Abu Dhabi. 'VERY CRITICAL' Most members of the Lima Group, which aims to peacefully resolve the Venezuela crisis, have said Maduro should quit in favour of Guaido and have called for new elections. The United States also wants Maduro gone, as do other key Western nations. Last month, the Lima Group announced a travel ban on senior Venezuelan officials and a freeze on their foreign assets. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would formally recognise Guaido's chosen envoy as Venezuela's legitimate representative in Canada in a move his government called symbolic. In New York, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said U.N. officials will not participate in international initiatives on Venezuela in order to remain neutral. Maduro's critics have said incompetent policies and corruption have impoverished the once-wealthy nation, leaving it with widespread shortages of food and medicine and hyperinflation forecast to reach 10 million percent in 2019. Guaido accused Maduro's government of trying to move up to $1.2 billion from the state development bank Bandes to a financial entity in Uruguay, but did not present evidence. Guaido urged Uruguay to prevent the move. Uruguay's central bank and the office of the country's president did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Maduro blames Washington and other Western nations for sabotaging Venezuela's economy, including through sanctions. The United States last week imposed sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA. Trump, in an interview that aired on Sunday, said military intervention in Venezuela was "an option." (Additional reporting by David Ljunggren and Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels, Philip Pullella in Abu Dhabi and Steve Scherer and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome, Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo, Lesley Wroughton in Washington, Vivian Sequera and Angus Berwick in Caracas and Malena Castaldi in Montevideo; Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Will Dunham) Value investing is always a very popular strategy, and for good reason. After all, who doesnt want to find stocks that have low PEs, solid outlooks, and decent dividends? Fortunately for investors looking for this combination, we have identified a strong candidate which may be an impressive value; Honda Motor Co., Ltd. HMC. Honda in Focus HMC may be an interesting play thanks to its forward PE of 7.6, its P/S ratio of 0.4, and its decent dividend yield of 2.7%. These factors suggest that Honda is a pretty good value pick, as investors have to pay a relatively low level for each dollar of earnings, and that HMC has decent revenue metrics to back up its earnings. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. PE Ratio (TTM) Honda Motor Co., Ltd. PE Ratio (TTM) | Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Quote But before you think that Honda is just a pure value play, it is important to note that it has been seeing solid activity on the earnings estimate front as well. For current year earnings, the consensus has gone up by 3.5% in the past 30 days, thanks to one upward revisions in the past one month compared to none lower. This estimate strength is actually enough to push HMC to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), suggesting it is poised to outperform. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. So really, Honda is looking great from a number of angles thanks to its PE below 20, a P/S ratio below one, and a strong Zacks Rank, meaning that this company could be a great choice for value investors at this time. Today's Best Stocks from Zacks Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%. This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year. See their latest picks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The It List is Yahoos weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are our picks for Feb. 4 to Feb. 10, 2019, including the best deals we could find for each. Only six months after the release of Sweetener, her most critically acclaimed album to date (and following a tumultuous year that included the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller and a brief, tabloid-scrutinized relationship with SNLs Pete Davidson), the diva returns. And she takes control of her narrative and taking on her haters with boldly autobiographical bangers like the title track and the female empowerment anthem 7 Rings. Download Feb. 8 on iTunes; buy on CD at Barnes & Noble. Could this follow up to 2014s sublimely entertaining The Lego Movie possibly be as awesome? For the first act or so, it appears not, with this sequel feeling more in line with the sub-par spinoffs like Lego Batman and Lego Ninjago. But trust us when we say patience rewards, as the movie gradually picks up steam. By the end of it, Lego fans will feel fully satisfied humming the tune of the appropriately named Catchy Song, appreciating all its in-jokes and smart social messages, and debating which Lego Movie is now tops. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part opens in theaters on Feb. 8; ticket and showtime information is available at Fandango. Shop the best new gifts in the Lego-verse. Replace Ghostbusters with Easy Rider and youve got the time period for the first official Stranger Things tie-in novel, a prequel yarn that focuses on Elevens mother, Terry Ives. In addition to adding mythology references that will undoubtedly be relevant to Season 3 set to premiere on Netflix on July 4 Suspicious Minds also resurrects Martin Brenner, the Hawkins-based scientist who tangled with our youthful heroes in the shows first season. You can bet that Matthew Modine, who played Dr. Brenner, will absolutely be picking up a copy of Gwenda Bonds book. After all, we already know how much he loves reading fan theories. Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds can be purchased on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Walmart. Story continues STREAM IT: PEN15 In retrospect, middle school can be hilarious. But while youre a seventh-grade girl, its deadly serious. With PEN15, creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle have found an ingenious way to split the difference. The two writers star as awkward 13-year-old versions of themselves, surrounded by actual 13-year-old actors as they experience the milestones and humiliations of seventh grade in the year 2000. For anyone who was ever so desperate to fit in that they accidentally joined the PEN15 Club, this will be an excruciatingly hilarious walk down memory lane. Begins streaming Feb. 8 on Hulu. WATCH IT: Widows Why in the world didnt Widows catch on in the awards race? Steve McQueens masterfully filmed thriller about three women (Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez and Elizabeth Debicki) who band together for a robbery after the deaths of their husbands, may try to shoehorn too much social commentary into a heist film for its own good, but this is still a whopper of a viewing experience. As the Oscars near, Widows arrives on DVD and Blu-ray just in time to remind us what the Academy missed, particularly Daniel Kaluuyas terrifying supporting role as an Anton Chigurh-level sociopath. Buy the Blu-ray/DVD at Amazon or download it on iTunes. The East Coast psych-rockers take a deep dive into the psyche of the Deep South by covering Gentrys landmark 1968 country-rock opera/concept album in its entirety with help from special guests Norah Jones, Lucinda Williams, Margo Price, Beth Orton, Mazzy Stars Hope Sandoval and other Gentry disciples. Download Feb. 8 on iTunes; buy on CD/vinyl at Barnes & Noble. STREAM IT: The Matrix trilogy Twenty years ago in March, moviegoers took the red pill and vanished down the rabbit hole into the world of The Matrix. This seminal sci-fi hit from the Wachowski brothers expertly blended Far East philosophy and martial arts action choreography with Western blockbuster bombast, and delighted audiences and critics alike. Those cheers turned to jeers when the filmmakers released the back-to-back sequels Reloaded and Revolutions in 2003. But both movies have only gotten richer in succeeding years, building on the ideas and action sequences showcased in the original in boldly radical ways. Taken as a whole, The Matrix trilogy is the story of a man prematurely elevated to godhood who then has to chart a new path towards salvation. With lots of fighting. The Matrix Trilogy is currently streaming on Amazon. HEAR IT: You Must Remember This Writer Karina Longworth made the sad announcement this week that her gem of a podcast a go-to for moviegoers with an affinity for Old Hollywood is no more, at least for now. Its the perfect excuse to binge your way through all the episodes produced since the show launched in April 2014, and to be entertained with impeccably sourced stories about the relationship between Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, the many loves of Howard Hughes, Charles Mansons moves in Tinsel Town and much more. Be sure to listen carefully to Longworths animated storytelling, which often includes reenactments of real-life scenes. You wont want to miss cameos by John Mulaney, Patton Oswalt and many other modern celebs. All episodes available now on iTunes. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The story of Fred Rogers and his beloved, long-running PBS childrens show Mister Rogers Neighborhood, is a delightful one, featuring the origins of some of the shows characters, Rogerss motivations and behind-the-scenes laughs. But dont worry because, like the show it documents, Wont You Be My Neighbor? manages to be touching but never overly sweet. Its the portrait of a real guy who made a lot of lives better with the switch of a sweater. Begins streaming Feb. 9 on HBO Go and HBO Now. The lucky 13th solo album from the Minneapolis grunge/college-rock pioneer (Husker Du, Sugar) and queer icon is his poppiest effort since Sugars 1992 classic Copper Blue-inspired by a newly optimistic life outlook after his move two years ago to Berlin. Download Feb. 8 on iTunes; buy on CD/vinyl at Amazon. Yahoo Entertainment may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. BOSTON (AP) In a story Jan. 31 about a lawsuit filed by Massachusetts against drugmaker Purdue Pharma, The Associated Press erroneously described the type of business the company McKinsey conducts. It is the management consulting firm, not a drug distributor. Also, the AP erroneously reported the year the suit alleged Purdue considered selling the anti-overdose drug naloxone. It was 2016, not 2017. A corrected version of the story is below: Opioid maker considered profiting off addiction treatment Newly disclosed court documents reveal that the company behind a prescription painkiller at the heart of the nation's overdose crisis considered marketing anti-addiction drugs By The Associated Press BOSTON (AP) As the nation's opioid crisis was deepening, the company that makes a powerful prescription painkiller considered marketing an anti-addiction drug to "an attractive market" of people with addictions, according to allegations in court documents made public Thursday. The attorney general's office in Massachusetts is suing Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, along with some company executives and members of the family that owns it in an effort to hold them accountable for the toll of the drug crisis in the state. On Thursday, the company lost a legal battle to keep some parts of the lawsuit confidential. The state made public for the first time a wholly unredacted version of the complaint it filed last year. The newly public allegations portray Purdue as trying to profit off a crisis that it helped spark by having its sales force tell doctors that the prescription painkiller OxyContin had a low addiction risk. The suit from Massachusetts is one of more than 1,000 by state and local governments pending against Purdue. A federal judge in Cleveland overseeing lawsuits filed in federal court is pushing for a settlement aimed at stemming the crisis. Most of the lawsuits name multiple defendants in addition to Purdue, including other drug manufacturers, distributors or pharmacies. The Massachusetts case focuses solely Purdue and the family that runs it, the Sacklers. Story continues It also is the first to make public many of the specific claims alleging that Purdue sought to profit from a crisis that has exploded since OxyContin came on the market more than 20 years ago. Health officials say nearly 48,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2017 involved some type of opioid, including illicit drugs. Purdue said the lawsuit is taking pieces of company documents out of context. "Massachusetts seeks to publicly vilify Purdue, its executives, employees and directors while unfairly undermining the important work we have taken to address the opioid addiction crisis," the company said in a statement. According to the lawsuit, the company in 2014 and 2015 considered selling suboxone, a drug used to treat addiction: "It is an attractive market," an internal memo read, according to the suit. "Large unmet need for vulnerable, underserved and stigmatized patient population suffering from substance abuse, dependence and addiction." Purdue said in the statement that it was doing due diligence on buying rights to the anti-addiction drug, which was already on the market. Purdue never went into the suboxone business. Years later, it was still looking for ways to profit from the crisis, according to the filing. In 2016, it considered selling naloxone, a drug that reverses overdoses. Other claims revealed Thursday from company documents assert that members of the Sackler family paid themselves more than $4 billion from 2007 through last year and that they worked with McKinsey, the management consulting firm, to find ways to increase sales of opioids as authorities cracked down on pharmacies that made illegitimate sales. ___ Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report. Cryptocurrency exchange services provider Kraken has officially acquired regulated futures trading startup Crypto Facilities in an undisclosed deal valued at least $100 million. Announced Monday, the anine-figure acquisition, the largest seen in the industry so far in 2019, will enable Kraken customers to trade spot, as well as open positions offering exposure to the future price movements of cryptocurrencies, all through a unified trading interface. As such, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell framed the merger as one that would amassively acceleratea his companyas roadmap, enabling the San Francisco-based startup to sidestep years of efforts to obtain the licenses and approvals necessary to offer a competing service in Europe. Token Issuers Must Stop Paying for Market Making Founded in 2014, Crypto Facilities is registered with the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the deal was approved by the regulator, the parties involved said. In addition to offering cash-settled futures trading for bitcoin, bitcoin cash, XRP, litecoin and ether trading pairs, Crypto Facilities notably provides data to the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate, an index created in collaboration with CME Group and that powers that entitys U.S. futures offering, a relationship that will continue following the acquisition. Powell told CoinDesk: aThe deal brings our total developer team to over 100, and will accelerate Crypto Facilities by enabling us to add more assets. We plan to launch more contracts in the medium-term and Kraken also has plans to launch more assets.a Wall Street Crypto Products May Have to Wait as US Regulators Confront Backlog Crypto Facilities CEO Timo Schlaefer will continue on at Kraken following the exit, retaining his title of CEO. The firm will remain an independent entity within the larger Kraken Group, the exchangeas umbrella company. Further, the subsidiary overseeing the index will also remain a separate entity within the larger framework of entities. Story continues All 25 Crypto Facilities employees, Schlaefer said, will continue on with the company. Looking forward, Powell added that he hopes the merger will help Kraken better compete within an increasingly competitive global exchange landscape. aThe objective we have is to build the most liquid futures exchange,a he said. Powell and Schlaefer also stressed the benefits futures trading would bring for customers, as they will now be able to trade futures on nights and weekends, extending beyond the 9-to-5 trading hours of current U.S.-based offerings. aYou can match in real time, you dont have to provision for cap risk overnight or over the weekends, you can take more margin that is more capital efficient,a Schlaefer said. Focused on traders Stepping back, Powell framed the acquisition as one that aligns with Krakenas desire to stay tightly focused on the needs of exchange customers, a select group of which the company is now courting as part of its next major fundraising. Toward this, Powell voiced his aspiration that head like to continue the strategy, avoiding taking on additional venture capital and instead aligning financially with its user base. Said Powell: aThe reasons to not do more VC is that we dont really need the money, and longer term it makes sense for the business to be majority owned by the users. Wed eventually like to have our interests aligned with users. According to Kraken, the funding round, which would value the company at $4 billion, is set to close within weeks. Still ongoing, Powell said, is an effort to see if smaller exchange traders, those with less than $100,000 to allocate, could be allowed into the round in some way. Even if the funding is yet to close, however, the reason for the financing is more certain, with Powell indicating a desire to use the money to complete additional acquisitions, estimating one to two more deals could take place over the course of 2019. Future acquisitions could add to the exchangeas user base or product offerings. Notably, the completed merger comes at a time when Kraken is also in the midst of a wider overhaul of its existing user interface, an initial version of which was released last week. Crowded market In conversation, Powell also spoke in more detail about how he believes the merger will position Kraken in what over the past few years has become a more competitive market for companies that provide consumers with the means to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. In addition to exchanges like Kraken, in which users can buy and sell such assets for fiat currencies, Powell noted the development of platforms like Binance that have grown more quickly by sidestepping interactions with regulators. aTheyare not in the U.S., theyre not dealing with regulation, theyre not hooked up with banks,a Powell said of the difference between the firms. More appropriate competitors, Powell suggested would be Luxembourg-based Bitstamp and Coinbase, the latter of which, while based in the U.S. has expanded services in Europe. (Kraken, which does not serve U.S. customers, will not allow U.S. exchange users to engage in futures trading.) Still, Powell expects the product, the only available futures offering for cryptocurrencies currently in Europe, to help Kraken continue to differentiate from the pack. Powell concluded: aRight now there isnt anything else. In Europe, we are the only regulated platform for derivatives and were not aware of anything in the pipeline.a Jesse Powell via CoinDesk archivesA Related Stories By Hereward Holland NAIROBI (Reuters) - Just minutes after militants attacked a luxury hotel complex in Nairobi last month, the first ambulances roared up to collect wounded survivors. Speedy medical help is taken for granted in the West, but many developing nations do not have centralized emergency command. Confusion during past attacks in Kenya cost lives. This time, the response was far better, partly thanks to Flare, a new ride-hailing app whose ambulances were first to the dusitD2 hotel and office complex hit by Somalia's al Shabaab. "Flare was telling us what is happening, how to position our ambulances, how to evacuate, how to ask for additional resources," said Kelvin Osano, ambulance fleet manager at the nearby private Avenue Hospital where the injured poured in. The four gunmen and suicide bomber killed 21 people, just round the corner from another al Shabaab attack in 2013 that took 67 lives at the Westgate shopping center. Back then, the medical response was "horrible," Osano said. There was no triage at the scene. Bleeding patients were bundled into vehicles without being stabilized. A security cordon prevented ambulances from coming close to victims. But at the hotel complex, ambulances scrambled by Flare - run by the Rescue.co company - arrived quickly after panicked calls from subscribers who had paid the 2,400 shillings ($24) annual fee. The first ambulance came within 12 minutes, and by the hour 20 were there. Eric Ogot, a former nurse who mans the Rescue.co hotline, gave first aid by phone to office workers hiding as gunmen roamed. He helped triage patients remotely and assigned drivers. "Our job would be to try and be the calming presence," he said. In the absence of official information, Flare's emergency number raced across Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. Soon, it was not just individuals or business customers calling, but relatives of the missing too. The nearby Australian High Commission agreed to be an ambulance staging post for Flare. Police fed Rescue.co information. Peter Koome, a paramedic with charity St. John Ambulance, said the improved coordination, along with better training and access, certainly helped save lives. Of 30 people badly wounded, all but two survived. Americans Caitlin Dolkart and Maria Rabinovich founded Rescue.co in 2016. The Flare app works like ride-hailing and food-delivery services and now has tens of thousands of subscribers and 500 ambulances across Kenya. Whereas Kenyans with an emergency are used to calling their closest hospital and ambulances often become ensnared in traffic, Flare streamlines services by monitoring ambulance locations and traffic conditions real time. Dolkart said it hopes to expand, both around the region and into fire and security services - building on its experience at dusitD2. (Editing by Katharine Houreld and Andrew Cawthorne) Amman (AFP) - Yemeni government delegates and Huthi rebels will reconvene in Jordan from Tuesday for a new round of talks to thrash out a deal on a prisoner exchange, the UN said. The swap, which could involve up to 15,000 detainees from each side, was agreed in principle as a confidence-building measure ahead of peace talks in Sweden in December. In mid-January, representatives of Yemen's warring parties held two days of talks in Amman during which they submitted lists of prisoners they wanted to see released to UN mediators. Those talks were also attended by representatives of the United Nations, which brokered the swap agreement, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which will supervise its implementation. On Tuesday government and rebel representatives would meet again in Amman for "technical" talks to "discuss the steps taken... (by both sides) to finalise the list of prisoners," a UN statement said. UN envoy Martin Griffiths and ICRC president Peter Maurer "are scheduled to take part in the first day" of the talks, the statement said without specifying how many days the meetings would last. It also described the Jordan talks as "important", and thanked the government in Amman for hosting them. At the end of January, the Iran-linked Huthi rebels released a Saudi soldier under the deal struck with the Saudi-backed government while Riyadh set free seven Huthi prisoners. That prisoner swap was the first to take place since Yemen's warring sides agreed in Sweden a deal that involved a ceasefire in the lifeline port city of Hodeida. For nearly four years, the Huthi rebels have been locked in a war with a regional pro-government military coalition led by Saudi Arabia. Some 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi coalition intervened in support of the beleaguered Yemeni government, according to the World Health Organization. Rights groups say the death toll could be five times higher. The Yemen conflict has triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with millions of people at risk of mass starvation. As an actor, Joel Edgerton is used to just getting the job done no matter how difficult a scene might be. But as a director, he has a different mentality. That was the case on Boy Erased, the Australian filmmakers sophomore feature about the experience of a male teen and gay conversion therapy, based on Garrard Conleys memoir of the same name. Lucas Hedges plays Jared Eamons whose character suffers a terrible sexual assault in a scene that is particularly hard to watch, though Edgerton says that he made sure both actors involved felt they were performing in a safe space. The scene between Joe Alwyn and Lucas, its the toughest scene we had to shoot, the director explains to Yahoo Movies UK. It was also one of the most necessary components in Jareds story. Writer Garrard Conley with Lucas Hedges on the set of Boy Erased As an actor, when I read a script everything that is contained within those pages, I am ready to do whatever that is and I dont need anybody to tiptoe around me, or mollycoddle me in any way, and yet I found myself as a director doing that because I was wanting to be caring, considerate too, [and be] mindful of what they had to do. We were shooting this as a one-shot predominantly for about nine or ten takes, he continues. But for all the tip-toeing I was doing these actors were just like me and said listen, Im here I know what I have to do, its cool, So they were troopers. Intimacy directors like Ita OBrien have created guidelines to ensure safe practices when it comes to shooting nude or sexual scenes in the wake of #MeToo because film sets can often be a breeding ground for inappropriate behaviour. However, Edgerton says that his crew came to work with a wary attitude of the magnitude of what these actors were having to film. I had a crew that was so mindful with every one of what we were doing, he says, so many people would come to me because they wanted to be involved in the movie that we had such a good spirit on set. People would turn up to work to get a paycheque but there was something a little bit more. Story continues Nicole Kidman plays the mother to Hedges Jarred in the gay conversion therapy drama (Focus Features via AP) The director believes that this attitude is because of the public conversation of sexual harassment and assault that has expanded in the wake of the #MeToo and Times Up movements as well as other work that delves into the subject. Absolutely right, Edgerton says. I became very interested in a documentary called The Hunting Ground because I think one of the big perpetrators and coverers-up of sexual assault are institutions. It looks at the prevalence of sexual abuse, the high rate of sexual assault that goes unreported at college and when it is reported that the perpetrators are often better looked after or are more leniently treated and the victims dont have a voice, he continues. I felt for that reason we had a lot of debate about how much Lucas character was going to be vocal in the aftermath of his assault because its sad to think that an infrastructure and a society creates an atmosphere where victims of sexual assault feel like they are never going to be heard or get their day in court. Im happy to say though, in real life, the boy that assaulted Garrard in college is in prison. Boy Erased is in cinemas this Friday. Read More Chloe Moretz talks gay conversion therapy drama Joel Edgerton defends Red Sparrow photocall Richard E. Grant astonished gender pay gap exists Virginia governor Ralph Northam. Photo: Alex Edelman/Getty Images Virginia governor Ralph Northam is still resisting calls to resign over a racist yearbook photo from 1984. Dozens of major Democratic Party figures, including the states two U.S. senators, have called for Northam to step down following the revelation that his medical-school yearbook page included a picture of a man in blackface next to a man in a KKK hood. After first apologizing, Northam now says that he is not either of the men in the photo. As he tries to chart a way forward, Northam convened a group of black senior staffers Sunday night to discuss his next step, the Washington Post reports. The meeting, according to one Democrat present, was emotional in tone. One Northam ally who was not at the meeting is Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, who would take over as governor should Northam resign. Its not clear why he wasnt in the meeting, but it could have something to do with a brewing controversy of his own. The Virginian-Pilot has the details: Big League Politics, the conservative news outlet that first posted photos of Gov. Ralph Northams Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook on Friday, wrote a story Sunday night based on a tip regarding a woman named Vanessa Tyson, a fellow at Stanford University. She claims a man sexually assaulted her at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. The website posted a screenshot of a private Facebook post from Tyson. It doesnt name Fairfax, but Big League Politics linked it to him. The post says the man was elected as the Democratic candidate for statewide office in a state some 3000 miles away and won the election in November 2017 and by strange, horrible luck, it seems increasingly likely that hell get a VERY BIG promotion. Early Monday, Fairfax released a statement denying the allegations and threatening legal action against the website that published them. He also referenced attempts to corroborate the womans story by other news outlets, including the Post. WUSA9 reporter Mike Valerio reports that the TV station and news outlets across Virginia have known about the claim for months, and have not been able to corroborate the allegations. The claims against Fairfax have some looking into the details of Virginia succession. Should Northam resign and Fairfax not replace him, the states attorney general, Democrat Mark Herring, would be next in line. Among those joining the chorus calling for Northams resignation is Virginia House Speaker Kirk Cox, a Republican. Its become clearer to us regardless of the veracity of the photograph, the governor has lost the confidence of the people and cannot effectively govern, he said Monday. But he stopped short of threatening to remove the governor from office. I think the constitutional provisions are very specific on succession of office. It really does call for mental and physical incapacitation, he said. Thats why we have called for resignation. We hope thats what the governor does. I think that would obviously be less pain for everyone. Protestors outside the Virginia governors mansion appear to agree with Cox. More protestors outside the Governors Mansion this afternoon calling on Ralph Northam to resign. Theyre yelling, Ralph Resign! pic.twitter.com/3GaFokgLMO Sarah Mucha (@sarahmucha) February 4, 2019 The news continued to worsen for Northam Monday, as the College of William & Mary rescinded an invitation to the inauguration of its president. That behavior has no place in civil society not 35 years ago, not today, President Katherine Rowe said in a statement. It stands in stark opposition to William & Marys core values of equity and inclusion. The decision by Williams & Mary follows a call for Northam to resign from University of Virginia president Jim Ryan. To the University community, I write to address, briefly, the story that has been developing over the last two days around Governor Northam... pic.twitter.com/1o5dLdHtgt Jim Ryan (@presjimryan) February 3, 2019 As Northam appears increasingly isolated, one prominent former politician has emerged to defend him. Former senator and vice-presidential nominee Joe Lieberman told CNN Monday that Northam doesnt need to resign. I think theres a rush to judgment that is unfair to him. One, he says he wasnt in that picture. Two, I think we ought to fairly ask him, Did he know the picture was on his page of that yearbook? And then three, really, he ought to be judged on the context of his whole life. By Andreas Rinke and Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel share a responsibility to work towards global peace and prosperity, with both hoping for a prompt, democratic solution to Venezuela's leadership crisis. Merkel, on a two-day visit to Japan, said that Germany recognises opposition leader Juan Guaido as the nation's interim president, joining many European nations, and said he should organise new elections as soon as possible. "Guaido is the person with whom we are talking and who we expect to initiate an election process as quickly as possible, and he is the legitimate interim president for this task from the German perspective and also from the perspective of many European partners," Merkel told a news conference with Abe. "And we hope that this process is as short as possible and of course peaceful," she added. Abe emphasized his cooperation with Merkel during a visit aimed a forging an "alliance of multilateralists" to resist U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" approach to trade and China's pursuit of narrow national interests. "Our responsibility towards working for global prosperity and security has merely increased," he said, adding that the two leaders would work for a global order "based on rules." Merkel referred to an EU-Japan trade deal that entered into force on Feb. 1, saying: "All in all, a trip at a time in which we have demonstrated that, even at times when multilateral agreements are in difficult straits, we are ready to conclude such things." "..very good win-win situations can occur when all partners talk to each other. Of course, fairness and reciprocity are part of this, but that is what we advocate." Abe did not comment on Guaido's status, but he said Japan wanted a stable, democratic and prompt solution to Venezuela's political crisis. Several European nations have joined the United States in recognising Guaido as interim president, intensifying a global showdown over Nicolas Maduro's socialist rule. Merkel said Germany would do everything possible to avoid a no-deal Brexit, but she did not want to see Britain's divorce deal with the EU - the so-called Withdrawal Agreement - renegotiated. British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday she would seek a "pragmatic solution" to a parliamentary impasse over the terms on which Britain leaves the European Union when she tries to reopen talks with Brussels less than two months before Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29. "There are definitely options for preserving the integrity of the single market, even when Northern Ireland isn't part of it because it is part of Britain, while at the same time meeting the desire to have if possible no border controls," Merkel said. "To solve this point you have to be creative and listen to each other, and such discussions can and must be conducted," she added. "We can still use the time to perhaps reach an agreement if everyone shows good will." (Reporting by Elaine Lies; additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; editing by Darren Schuettler) By Andreas Rinke and Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel share a responsibility to work towards global peace and prosperity, with both hoping for a prompt, democratic solution to Venezuela's leadership crisis. Merkel, on a two-day visit to Japan, said that Germany recognises opposition leader Juan Guaido as the nation's interim president, joining many European nations, and said he should organise new elections as soon as possible. "Guaido is the person with whom we are talking and who we expect to initiate an election process as quickly as possible, and he is the legitimate interim president for this task from the German perspective and also from the perspective of many European partners," Merkel told a news conference with Abe. "And we hope that this process is as short as possible and of course peaceful," she added. Abe emphasized his cooperation with Merkel during a visit aimed a forging an "alliance of multilateralists" to resist U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" approach to trade and China's pursuit of narrow national interests. "Our responsibility towards working for global prosperity and security has merely increased," he said, adding that the two leaders would work for a global order "based on rules." Merkel referred to an EU-Japan trade deal that entered into force on Feb. 1, saying: "All in all, a trip at a time in which we have demonstrated that, even at times when multilateral agreements are in difficult straits, we are ready to conclude such things." "..very good win-win situations can occur when all partners talk to each other. Of course, fairness and reciprocity are part of this, but that is what we advocate." Abe did not comment on Guaido's status, but he said Japan wanted a stable, democratic and prompt solution to Venezuela's political crisis. Several European nations have joined the United States in recognising Guaido as interim president, intensifying a global showdown over Nicolas Maduro's socialist rule. Story continues Merkel said Germany would do everything possible to avoid a no-deal Brexit, but she did not want to see Britain's divorce deal with the EU - the so-called Withdrawal Agreement - renegotiated. British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday she would seek a "pragmatic solution" to a parliamentary impasse over the terms on which Britain leaves the European Union when she tries to reopen talks with Brussels less than two months before Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29. "There are definitely options for preserving the integrity of the single market, even when Northern Ireland isn't part of it because it is part of Britain, while at the same time meeting the desire to have if possible no border controls," Merkel said. "To solve this point you have to be creative and listen to each other, and such discussions can and must be conducted," she added. "We can still use the time to perhaps reach an agreement if everyone shows good will." (Reporting by Elaine Lies; additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; editing by Darren Schuettler) On the lookout for a Large Cap Blend fund? Starting with Janus Henderson US Managed Volatilty T (JRSTX) is one possibility. JRSTX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance. Objective JRSTX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, an area that boasts an array of many possible options. Large Cap Blend mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Blended funds mix large, established companies into their holdings, which gives investors exposure to both value and growth at the same time. History of Fund/Manager Janus Fund is responsible for JRSTX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Janus Henderson US Managed Volatilty T made its debut in July of 2009, and since then, JRSTX has accumulated about $229.96 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager. Performance Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.09%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 7.72%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame. When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 9.87% compared to the category average of 0.96%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade. Risk Factors Story continues Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. JRSTX has a 5-year beta of 0.77, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 0.45. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns. Expenses For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, JRSTX is a no load fund and it has an expense ratio of 0.78%. Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount. Bottom Line This puts this fund from Janus Fund in the top 20% of all mutual funds we have a rank on right now. As a result, this is likely an excellent choice for investors seeking an option in the Large Cap Blend category. For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Blend, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible. 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 Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. JEC is scheduled to report first-quarter fiscal 2019 results on Feb 6, before the opening bell. In the last reported quarter, the companys earnings came in at $1.31 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22 by 7.4%, while revenues lagged the same by 2.5%. In fact, Jacobs surpassed earnings estimates in eight of the trailing 10 quarters. How are Estimates Faring? Lets take a look at the estimate revision trend in order to get a clear picture of what analysts are thinking about the company prior to the earnings release. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter to be reported is currently pegged at $1.05 per share, remaining stable over the past 30 days. Nevertheless, this reflects an increase of 36.4% from the year-ago earnings of 77 cents per share. Revenues are expected to be $3.81 billion, up 38.7% year over year. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. Price and EPS Surprise Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. Quote Factors at Play Jacobs fiscal first quarter is likely to benefit from solid end-market demand and transformed business portfolio. From an end market perspective, the company remains well positioned given U.S. federal government's increased focus on defense, energy, intelligence community, and NASA. Jacobs largest contracts are aligned to mission critical areas within the federal budget and hence are less discretionary in nature. Additionally, given the highly fragmented nature of the government services market, its strong technical expertise, unique localized delivery model, and an industry-leading efficient cost structure will certainly contribute to top and bottom-line growth. Meanwhile, post the sale of Energy Chemicals and Resources or ECR business, which is likely to be completed in the first half of fiscal 2019, Jacobs intends to provide higher-value sustainable and digitally-enabled solutions for infrastructure and government clients worldwide. That said, investors should note that the fiscal first quarter is seasonally regarded as the lowest growth quarter for Jacobs, given the winter aspects associated with the quarter. Meanwhile, the company expects elevated defense spending in major economies like the United States, new organic investments, bolt-on acquisitions, superior customer relationships and sturdier demand for state-of-the-art technology solutions to boost revenues of the Aerospace, Technology, Environmental and Nuclear or ATEN line of business. Overall, Jacobs ATEN business is executing well and is positioned to deliver profitable growth in fiscal 2019. The companys BIAF segment is well positioned, given favorable infrastructure spending. In the U.K., multi-year programs such as the Environment Agency's TEAM2100 and Highways England's Routes to Market, a six-year program to transform England's motorways, also bode well for Jacobs. Asia Pacific demand is underpinned by strong public investment in rail and other infrastructure investments. The water business is expected to benefit from a major water upcycle in the United States. Again, within transportation, aviation continues to be strong in the United States and Asia. Overall, stellar top-line performance of the aforementioned segments, along with prudent cost management and improved project execution are expected to have reinforced the companys bottom-line performance in the to-be-reported quarter. What Does the Zacks Model Say? Our proven model does not conclusively show that Jacobs is likely to beat estimates in the to-be-reported quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. Earnings ESP: Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate, is -0.28%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Zacks Rank: Jacobs currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. Meanwhile, we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 and 5 (Sell rated) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Stocks Worth a Look Here are a few construction stocks that you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in the upcoming release: Taylor Morrison Home Corporation TMHC has an Earnings ESP of +25.00% and a Zacks Rank #3. Winnebago Industries, Inc. WGO has an Earnings ESP of +12.92% and a Zacks Rank #3. Owens Corning Inc OC has an Earnings ESP of +2.15% and holds a Zacks Rank #3. Today's Best Stocks from Zacks Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%. This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year. See their latest picks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Taylor Morrison Home Corporation (TMHC) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. BAGHDAD (AP) Iraq's president hit back at Donald Trump Monday for saying U.S. troops should stay in Iraq to keep an eye on neighboring Iran, saying the U.S. leader did not ask for Iraq's permission to do so. "We find these comments strange," said Barham Salih, speaking at a forum in Baghdad. Trump's comments added to concerns in Iraq about America's long-term intentions, particularly after it withdraws its troops from Syria. Trump has angered Iraqi politicians and Iranian-backed factions by arguing he would keep U.S. troops in Iraq and use it as a base to strike Islamic State group targets inside Syria as needed. In an interview with CBS News' "Face the Nation," he said U.S. troops in Iraq were also needed to monitor Iran. "He didn't ask Iraq about this," Salih said Monday. He said U.S. troops were in Iraq as part of an agreement between the two countries with a specific mission of assisting in the fight against the Islamic State group and combatting "terrorism." He said the Iraqi constitution forbids the use of Iraq as a base to threaten the interests or security of neighboring countries. "Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues," he added. In the CBS interview, Trump said the U.S. has an "incredible base" in Iraq that he intends to keep, "because I want to be able to watch Iran." "We spent a fortune on building this incredible base," Trump said. "We might as well keep it. And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem." He said the U.S. base in Iraq is "perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East." He appeared to be referring to the Al-Asad air base in western Iraq, where he paid a brief visit to U.S. forces in December. The base hosts American troops but belongs to the Iraqi army. Story continues Trump's comments appear to have further inflamed tensions in Iraq over the continued presence of U.S. troops after the defeat of the Islamic State group. Curbing foreign influence has become a hot-button issue in Iraq after parliament elections in May in which Shiite militias backed by Iran made significant gains. The militias fought alongside U.S.-backed Iraqi troops against IS in recent years, gaining outsized influence and power along the way. Now, after defeating IS militants in their last urban bastions, Iraqi politicians and militia leaders are increasingly speaking out against the continued presence of U.S. forces on Iraqi soil. Trump has said he has no plans to withdraw the 5,200 troops in Iraq, which he says could carry out U.S. airstrikes inside Syria after American troops withdraw from that country. American forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011, but returned in 2014 at the invitation of the government to help battle IS after it seized vast areas in the north and west of the country, including Iraq's second largest city, Mosul. A U.S.-led coalition provided crucial air support as Iraqi forces regrouped and drove IS out in a costly three-year campaign. Earlier this month, the leader of one of Iraq's most powerful Iranian-backed Shiite militias told The Associated Press in an interview that he expects a vote in the coming months by Iraq's parliament calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Qais al-Khazali, head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, also suggested U.S. troops may eventually be driven out by force if they do not yield to the will of the Iraqi people. Former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also weighed in on Monday, saying Iraqi sovereignty must be respected and its interests should not be compromised. "Iraq should not be used as a spring board to attack its neighbors. We are not proxies in conflicts outside the interests of our nation," he wrote in a Twitter post. Separately, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, said Monday that the safe and voluntary return of hundreds of thousands of displaced Iraqis is key to ensuring that the country can leave its violent past behind. Maurer spoke at a press conference in Baghdad at the end of a four-day visit to the country, which included the northern cities of Mosul and Irbil. Maurer highlighted the extraordinary challenges that communities across the country continue to face, including the fact that 1.8 million people remain displaced within Iraq more than a year after major combat operations ended, with nearly one in three still living in camps. "The returns process cannot be rushed," he said. "People need adequate housing and basic services, including drinking water and health care, as well as livelihood opportunities, security and the clearance of unexploded ordnance." DUBAI/PARIS (Reuters) - Iran's top judge said on Monday that Tehran would never accept the "humiliating conditions" set by the European Union for non-dollar trade intended to evade U.S. sanctions, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. France, Germany and Britain have opened a new channel for non-dollar trade with Iran to get around the sanctions, reimposed on Iran after President Donald Trump's decision in May to exit a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and six major powers. "After nine months of procrastination and negotiation, Europeans have created a mechanism with limited capacity ... only for food and medicine," Tasnim quoted Sadeq Amoli-Larijani as saying. "Iran will never accept their strange and humiliating conditions of joining the FATF (the Financial Action Task Force) and negotiations on its missile program." A French, British and German statement on Friday made no mention of any preconditions, although the European powers must now establish a budget and define its rules before the mechanism can be operational. Welcoming their move, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday Tehran would also have to set up a mirror company. The two sides are to hold talks this week on the process. The European statement said they expected Iran to swiftly implement all elements of its FATF action plan. "FATF is not a precondition, it's a strong expectation," said a senior European diplomat, dismissing any suggestion that ballistic missile talks had anything to do with creating the mechanism. Iran has threatened to pull out of the nuclear deal unless the European powers enable it to receive economic benefits. The Europeans have promised to help companies do business with Iran as long as it abides by the deal. New U.S. sanctions have largely succeeded in persuading European companies to abandon business with Iran, and Washington said it did not expect the EU effort - known as INSTEX, or Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges - to change that. Even as European powers have worked to preserve the nuclear deal, relations with Tehran have been worsening. The EU this month imposed its first sanctions on Iran since the nuclear pact, in response to assassination plots on European soil. They are also considering whether to push for sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program if talks between the two sides on the issue do not progress. (Reporting by Parisa Hafezi and John Irish; Editing by Gareth Jones) DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday accused the United States of seeking "world hegemony" and denounced Washington for trying to topple Tehran's ally, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, state media reported. "The Americans are basically against all popular revolutions and independent countries and seek world hegemony by suppressing them," Rouhani said in a meeting with Venezuela's new envoy in Tehran, the state news agency IRNA reported. Iran, under pressure from sanctions reimposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, has voiced support for Maduro who faces demands from the United States to step down. Russia, China, and Turkey have also backed Maduro. The U.S. government has recognized opposition leader JuanGuaido as Venezuela's interim president. Most Latin American countries have done so as well, while European governments are also throwing their support behind Guaido, albeit more cautiously. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Clelia Oziel) TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Forty years after he defected from the shah's Imperial Guard to join the Islamic Revolution, Mohammad Reza Tajik, like many Iranians from that time, looks back wistfully at the youthful excitement they felt and the losses they suffered since then. Working in his woodshop in Tehran, he recounted the deaths of his brother in Iran's 1980s war with Iraq and of a friend last year in Syria's long civil war in which Iran is involved. "No, we did not achieve what we wanted," the 60-year-old former soldier said, his shop warmed in the fierce Tehran winter by a simple wood-fired stove. "Things have changed and revolutionary values have worn out. Today, unfortunately, we still suffer from discrimination, favoritism, corruption and lying, even more than that time." As the 40th anniversary of the revolution approached, a reporter from The Associated Press walked through the streets of Tehran to speak to those who were alive then about the world-changing moment that saw Iran exchange 2,500 years of monarchy for an Islamic Republic. They offered a mixed view that is now common in the country as long-standing economic problems worsen amid the U.S. decision last spring to withdraw from the nuclear deal that Iran struck with world powers in 2013. Iran's currency, the rial, has depreciated rapidly since then, making prices for groceries and clothes skyrocket. Its crucial oil sales remain threatened, and trust in its leadership has eroded. "Problems do exist, but I relate them to the mismanagement of the officials not the revolution itself," Tajik said. "The revolution was a correct thing and should have happened, but it has been diverted from its path by the people in power." Only a few steps down the alley from Tajik's shop, another former revolutionary felt differently. Now a barber, 67-year-old Bashir Nahavandi was a taxi driver when the revolution took hold. He gave protesters free rides and took part in demonstrations against what he called the irreligious and immoral rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Story continues "I am not dissatisfied with my current situation or my job and income," he said, sweeping up his shop. "It is true that some people are complaining about high prices, but they should put things in perspective and be more tolerant." He praised leaders for protecting Islam and enforcing the law that makes it mandatory for Iranian women to wear the hijab. "We are Muslims, after all, and religion is our priority," Nahavandi said. "Even piles of money would be worthless if the religion is ignored and not respected." Walking along bustling Enghelab, or Revolution Street that once was named after the shah's father, Reza Shah, 79-year-old retired university professor Ali Soltani recalled the day that protesters pulled down a statue of Reza Shah at Enghelab Square. Soltani, who has written books on Persian literature and Islamic teachings, called poverty the biggest challenge the country faces today. While life under the shah had at least three social classes the rich, the middle class and the poor Iran today is simply separated between the haves and the have-nots, he said. "We were really hoping that problems would be solved, but they were not. ... Newspapers and authorities themselves are now admitting to large-scale embezzlements that are taking place in the country," he said. "Today, you see that a part of the people do not even have some bread to eat. What can they do?" Another former revolutionary, 70-year-old Mohsen Fat'hi, has been a bookseller on Enghelab Street since 1977. During the uprising, he made gasoline bombs, sold banned books and reprinted pamphlets with statements from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenini, the exiled cleric who eventually became the country's supreme leader. For all the risks Fat'hi took in supporting the revolution, he described himself today as disappointed. "We were seeking a better life, but unfortunately we could not get it," Fat'hi said. "Today we are looking for meat and chicken and are unable to afford." Surrounded by his books, Fat'hi said he has given up on supporting the revolution he once fought for. "We were after ideals that were never fulfilled. Why should I continue to back it?" he asked. "Our passport was valuable. We had credibility and reputation in the world. We have lost everything." ___ Follow Mohammad Nasiri on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mohammadaptn . Sydney (AFP) - A major inquiry into scandals at Australia's banking and financial services firms has referred more than 20 cases to regulators for possible prosecution, and called for substantial changes in the sector. The wide-ranging Royal Commission was called in late 2017 as public outrage mounted over allegations of dodgy financial advice, life insurance and mortgage fraud involving lenders, including the "big four" Australian banks. Following a year-long investigation, with more than 10,000 submissions and numerous and often-emotional hearings involving affected customers, the Royal Commission called for swathes of rules to be revisited, and for banks to be more heavily regulated or monitored to prevent future misconduct. "Saying sorry and promising not to do it again has not prevented recurrence," said the inquiry's commissioner, former High Court judge Kenneth Hayne. "The financial services industry is too important to the economy of the nation to allow what has happened in the past to continue or to happen again." A key focus of the 76 recommendations was closing legal loopholes and increasing protections for consumers, including through the banning of particularly egregious sales practices in the pension and insurance markets. The big banks were sharply criticised, with National Australia Bank's (NAB) chair Ken Henry and chief executive Andrew Thorburn singled out for being unwilling to acknowledge their organisation's mistakes. But Hayne stopped short of publicly recommending criminal charges, preferring to leave punishment to regulators -- which he said themselves had fallen down on the job and were in need of review. The report -- while extensive -- is likely to disappoint some observers who had called for the heads of individual senior executives who allowed or perpetuated the repeated misconduct and breaches. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, whose ruling conservative party had opposed the creation of the commission, called it "scathing". Story continues "From today, the banking sector must change and change forever," he said, announcing that the government would act on Hayne's recommendations. "Our principle focus is on restoring trust in our financial system and delivering better consumer outcomes." The banks accepted their "failures have caused deep hurt, suffering and heartache for far too many customers", Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh told reporters. "Importantly, banks accept full responsibilities for these failings and they know that they must now change to ensure that this never happens again." - Loss of public faith - The report had been seen as an inflection point for the economically vital sector, but analysts said the commission was calling for the tweaking of existing laws rather than the introduction of new ones. NAB's credit research head Michael Bush said in a note to clients that many of Hayne's recommendations had "already been pre-empted by the banks... or by the industrys regulators". "We therefore don't see significant negative impacts on the broader economy or on the banks' own credit quality or external ratings," he added. Investors might already think the worst is over, with share prices in the major banks closing around one percent higher ahead on Monday ahead of the report, after days of declines. A crucial question will be if and when the recommendations are legislated. With national elections due to be called by mid-May and only several parliamentary sitting days before that, there is limited time for laws to be passed or changed. Meanwhile analysts said the inquiry's legacy might not be the report or its recommendations, but the harrowing experiences shared by customers during the hearings which added to the public disillusionment with the banking and finance sector. They included charging bank fees to dead people, or for no service, aggressive selling tactics, and poor advice that led to major financial upheaval for clients. Banks have already started to address some of the issues raised, such as spinning off their financial advisory arms from their main activities to avoid conflicts of interest. Gyor (Hungary) (AFP) - A Hungarian court on Monday sentenced company officials to up to 2.5 years in prison for one of the country's worst environmental disasters that killed 10 people and blighted rivers with toxic waste. More than 200 others were injured in October 2010 when a holding reservoir of the MAL alumina plant in the western town of Ajka burst open, sending 1.1 million cubic metres (38.8 million cubic feet) of red sludge into nearby villages and countryside. The mud -- a caustic byproduct from the aluminium-making process -- also wiped out almost all life in nearby rivers, and even spread to the Danube. In an initial trial in 2016, 15 company employees -- including the plant's former director Zoltan Bakonyi -- were cleared of criminal wrongdoing, with the court finding the disaster was caused by factors largely outside of MAL's control. The fault lay with the designers of the reservoir and authorities responsible for carrying out checks, rather than MAL's staff, the court said at the time. However, prosecutors successfully secured a retrial, arguing that judges had committed procedural errors and that the fallout of the disaster could have been diminished if management had intervened earlier. In the verdicts from that retrial, a court in Gyor on Monday sentenced Bakonyi to 2.5 years for endangering the public by criminal negligence and jailed his deputy for two years. Another eight staff members were handed suspended sentences, fines or reprimands, while five company employees were acquitted. The guilty verdicts were appealed by both defence and prosecuting lawyers, with the latter seeking stiffer sentences for 13 of the defendants. Despite vast sums spent on depolluting the region, it still bears traces of the tragedy. Hundreds of hectares of land remain sealed off and cannot be used for cultivation. Monday's verdict, the first time in Hungary that jail terms have been handed to company officials for criminal negligence in an environmental catastrophe, was called "historic" by the Greenpeace organisation. But key questions about the authorities' responsibility remain unanswered, Greenpeace added in a statement. "Only independent and efficient authorities combined with strong legislation enshrining the 'polluter pays' principle can ensure that Hungary avoids similar disasters in the future," it said. National Security Adviser John Bolton with President Trump. Photo: Oliver Contreras/The Washington Post/Getty Images Last week, intelligence officials testified publicly that Iran has not resumed its efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon. The next day, President Trump called these officials extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran, and advised, Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school! The first-blush response to this presidential outburst was to dump it in the same category as Trumps other public eruption against members of his government who undercut his preferred narratives with inconvenient facts. That response is probably correct: this Trump tantrum is probably like all the other Trump tantrums. But there is another possible meaning to this episode: Trumps rejection of intelligence assessments of Irans weapons of mass destruction capabilities eerily echoes the Bush administrations rejection of Iraqs WMD capabilities a decade and a half earlier. Shortly after their testimony, the intelligence officials were summoned to the Oval office for a photographed session in which they publicly smoothed over their breach with the president, and (according to Trump) assured him that their remarks had been misconstrued, despite having been delivered in public and broadcast in their entirety. Yet Trumps interview broadcast Sunday with Margaret Brennan on CBS made clear how little little headway they made in regaining his trust. Trump told Brennan he plans to maintain troops in Iraq because, I want to be able to watch Iran Were going to keep watching and were going to keep seeing and if theres trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, were going to know it before they do. But would he accept the assessments that he received? No, Trump replied, he wouldnt. His reason for rejecting this intelligence was consistent. Trump is unable to separate the question, Do I like Irans government and its foreign policy? from the question Is Iran building a nuclear weapon? Tell Trump that Iran is abiding by its nuclear commitment, and what he hears you saying is, Iran is a lovely state run by wonderful people. If that account of Trumps thinking sounds too simplistic, just look at his answers: Im not going to stop [intelligence officials] from testifying. They said they were mischaracterized maybe they were maybe they werent, I dont really know but I can tell you this, I want them to have their own opinion and I want them to give me their opinion. But, when I look at Iran, I look at Iran as a nation that has caused tremendous problems My intelligence people, if they said in fact that Iran is a wonderful kindergarten, I disagree with them 100 percent. It is a vicious country that kills many people So when my intelligence people tell me how wonderful Iran is if you dont mind, Im going to just go by my own counsel. In fact, intelligence officials did not deny Iran has caused problems. They simply asserted facts about its nuclear weapons. Trump cannot hear those facts without translating it into Iran being comprehensively wonderful. Even more remarkably, Trump explained that intelligence assessments could not be trusted because they had failed in the run-up to the Iraq war: MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to move on here but I should say your intel chiefs do say Irans abiding by that nuclear deal. I know you think its a bad deal, but PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I disagree with them. Im Im by the way MARGARET BRENNAN: You disagree with that assessment? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have intel people, but that doesnt mean I have to agree. President Bush had intel people that said Saddam Hussein MARGARET BRENNAN: Sure. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: in Iraq had nuclear weapons had all sorts of weapons of mass destruction. Guess what? Those intel people didnt know what the hell they were doing, and they got us tied up in a war that we should have never been in. Trumps understanding of this history is almost perfectly backwards. U.S. intelligence officials never said Iraq had nuclear weapons, or even anything close to that. They did overstate Iraqi weapons capabilities. But crucially the Bush administration also pressured intelligence agencies to inflate their findings, as John Judis and Spencer Ackerman reported in 2003, and administration officials overstated the intelligence that was produced, as the Senate Intelligence Committee found in 2008. The backdrop to this episode does have some important differences with the current moment. The Bush administration had been plunged into an adrenal panic by the 9/11 attacks. Its rush toward war was largely choreographed by Dick Cheney, a skilled bureaucratic operator, and enjoyed broad public legitimacy created by the national unity bestowed upon Bush by the surprise attack. None of these conditions apply to the easily distracted, childlike, and deeply unpopular sitting president. And while Cheney has departed the scene, National Security Council director John Bolton has assumed a somewhat parallel role. An ultrahawk with a long record of punishing subordinates who undermine the factual basis for his preferred policies, Bolton has emerged as Trumps most influential foreign policy adviser. Bolton in 2015 insisted that Iran was racing toward a nuclear weapon. (Even absent palpable proof, like a nuclear test, Irans steady progress toward nuclear weapons has long been evident.) He likewise concluded that diplomacy could never work (The inescapable conclusion is that Iran will not negotiate away its nuclear program) and that only military action could stop it. As Trump has grown alienated from his national security apparatus, Bolton appears to be the one remaining official who has retained a measure of his trust. And while he may not have a Cheney-like ability to manipulate the president, Bolton does benefit from a near vacuum in rival power sources. Other parallels leap out between Trumps view of Iran and Bushs view of Iraq. Bush and Cheney rejected skeptical intelligence about Iraqs weapons in part because, like Trump with Iran, they conflated their assessment of Iraqs overall foreign policy behavior with its weapons capability. They assumed that a dictator who had repeatedly attacked his neighbors must be intent on weapons of mass destruction. Like Trump, they nurtured their thinking in a conservative movement bubble that dismissed bureaucratic expertise as a biased liberal elite. They couldnt distinguish their strategic goals from the facts that might be brought to bear upon them. Trumps apparent conclusion from Bushs Iraq debacle is that a president who has a gut-level suspicion of a Middle Eastern regional power should disregard all intelligence that complicates his hawkish impulses. If there is any chance history repeats itself, it is because Trump has turned the lesson of history upside down. Protesters wearing yellow vests hold a banner reading Diesel drivers resist! during a demonstration against driving ban for older diesels, in Stuttgart, southwestern Germany. Photo: Thomas Kienzle/AFP/Getty Some 800 protesters gathered in the German city of Stuttgart at the weekend to voice their anger at the citys recent ban on older diesel vehicles, around half of them donning the yellow vests of the French protest movement. Stuttgart began banning Euro-4 diesels from parts of the city center in January, a ban which effects an estimated 190,000 car owners. The home town of Porsche and Daimler has some of the highest levels of air pollution in Germany. According to data from the Federal Environment Agency last month, the city suffered from dangerous levels of nitrogen oxide in 2018. Ioannis Sakkaros, a 26-year-old Porsche employee, began organising the German yellow vest rallies in Stuttgart in January and has seen turnout grow from a few hundred to around 1,000. He has become somewhat of a mini-celebrity in the past few weeks, appearing on a television talk show with the federal transport minister Andreas Scheuer and head of the German Automotive Industry Association Bernhard Mattes. Sakkaros said that he plans to keep on staging demos until April. READ MORE: Frances Yellow Vest movement has spread to Argentina as anger grows at economic crisis The protesters in Stuttgart are angry at what they say is the unfairness of the ban, which means they are now stuck with cars that they cant sell or drive into the city. Whats happening to people is unjust, one of the rally organisers Vasilos Topalis told AFP. Tens of thousands of people are affected and cant afford to buy a new car. Diesel bans are just one aspect of the heated debate in Germany on what measures need to be taken to tackle C02 emissions from the transport sector. A proposal to impose a speed limit on German motorways by a special government committee last month provoked a major outcry. The debate is still raging, despite the German governments statement last week that it would not approve an autobahn speed limit. "Unfounded rumours" causing people to spurn the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was preventing the elimination of cervical cancer, which kills more than 300,000 women every year, health authorities said Monday. To mark World Cancer Day 2019, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) issued a statement in which it "unequivocally confirms the efficacy and safety of HPV vaccination". "Unfounded rumours about HPV vaccines continue to unnecessarily delay or impede the scaling up of the vaccination, which is so urgently needed to prevent cervical cancer," said IARC director Elisabete Weiderpass. Spread mainly through sex, the human papillomavirus causes most cases of cervical cancer, which claims the life of a woman somewhere in the world every two minutes. It is the fourth most deadly cancer for women. More than half-a-million new cervical cancers were diagnosed in the world in 2018, said the IARC. Unless prevention is stepped up -- with vaccination in the vanguard -- the disease may claim as many as 460,000 lives per year by 2040, the agency added. The UN's World Health Organization recommends vaccination of all girls, and screening and treatment for older women to reduce cancer risk. The vaccine is most effective when administered between the ages of nine and 14. Some countries also recommend the shot for boys, to eliminate the virus from general circulation. But rumours about potential side effects, including chronic fatigue syndrome or multiple sclerosis, have put many people off getting the jab, even though scientists have repeatedly shown it is safe. This is happening amid a growing mistrust in vaccines generally in the Western world which has also led to a sharp rise in measles cases in many countries. Bitcoin If youve been following the news and social media discussion regarding Bitcoin for very long at all youve likely seen multiple articles castigating Bitcoin as a harbinger of environmental degradation and destruction. Even startups in the crypto space fuel the narrative. People have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on more than one altcoin that specifically markets itself as a less electricity-intensive, more environmentally friendly alternative to Bitcoin. (I wont name any names, but in my opinion, some of these are incredibly risky investments. People buy tokens from their ICOs hoping to get rich quick after seeing what happened to early Bitcoin adopters, but their white papers are more marketing than technical problem solving, and most people in their right mind wouldnt buy IPO shares in these companies if they werent marketed as cryptocurrency tokens.) When Facts Are Lies The way the mainstream media has painted Bitcoin, its like one of the four horsemen of the environmental apocalypse. Did you know that Bitcoin mining uses more electricity than the entire countries of Portugal or Singapore(!)? Or that Bitcoin uses thousands of times more electricity per transaction than a VISA transaction? Read the full story on CCN.com. BEIRUT (Reuters) - The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Monday it would never use state funds for its own benefit after it named the health minister in a new coalition government, adding that its choice for the post was close to the movement but not a member. Hezbollah, heavily armed and backed by Iran, secured three seats in the new Lebanese government formed last week after months of wrangling. Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah named a doctor, Jamil Jabak, as health minister, the first time it has held a ministry with a big budget. The U.S. State Department urged Lebanon's new cabinet to ensure resources do not help Hezbollah, which Washington deems a terrorist organisation. Hezbollah's bigger role points to its appetite to shape state affairs, after gaining military clout from Syria's war next door. The United States has hit Hezbollah with fresh sanctions as part of its strategy to counter Iran. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said it had picked a health minister who is not a party member so that he could work and travel freely. "Of course, (Jabak) is a brother and friend. He is close and trusted... This is a ministry for all the Lebanese people," Nasrallah said. He added it was forbidden under Islamic law to misuse state funds. Nasrallah said the new government's top priority must be fighting corruption and financial waste. "The consensus is that there is economic and financial danger," he said. Lebanon's Western-backed Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said last week bold and urgent moves were required to tackle chronic economic and other problems facing the heavily indebted nation. (Reporting by Ellen Francis; Additional reporting by Nayera Abdallah in Cairo; Editing by Gareth Jones) GAROWE, Somalia (Reuters) - Gunmen posing as fishermen killed the head of Dubai government-owned P&O Ports' operations in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland on Monday in an attack claimed by Islamist militant group Al Shabaab. Yusuf Mohamed, governor of Puntland's Bari region, told Reuters that two men disguised as fishermen had shot Paul Anthony Formosa as he was going to Bossaso port this morning. He was killed "in the fish market as he was going to Bossaso port this morning. The men armed with pistols hit him (with) several bullets in the head," Mohamed said. One of the attackers was shot dead by security forces at the scene and the other detained, he said. Formosa's LinkedIn account states his nationality as Maltese. P&O Ports said an employee had died and three others injured in an "incident" at Bossaso Port, without giving further details. The company was cooperating with the Puntland authorities in its investigation, it said in a statement published on Twitter by Dubai's government media office. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack and accused Formosa of being in Somalia "illegally". The group is fighting to topple Somalia's Western-backed central government and install its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islam's sharia law. "We are behind the operation ... we had warned him but he turned deaf ear. He was illegally in Somalia," said spokesman for Al Shabaab's military operations, Abdiasis Abu Musab. P&O Ports has run Puntland's Bossaso port since winning a 30-year concession in 2017 to expand and manage the facility. (Reporting by Abdi Sheikh, Feisal Omar and Abdiqani Hassan Mahamud; Additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Dubai; Writing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) Any investors hoping to find a Non US - Equity fund might consider looking past Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity A (GEMAX). GEMAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance. Objective Zacks categorizes GEMAX as Non US - Equity, a segment stacked high with options. Non US - Equity mutual funds like to invest in companies outside of the United States, an important characteristic since global mutual funds are known to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. These kinds of funds can often extend across all cap levels, and will typically allocate their investments between emerging and developed markets. History of Fund/Manager GEMAX is a part of the Goldman Sachs family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity A made its debut in December of 1997, and since then, GEMAX has accumulated about $154.21 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Basak Yavuz who has been in charge of the fund since February of 2015. Performance Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.06%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.02%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame. When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. GEMAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 14.61% compared to the category average of 9.89%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 14.36% compared to the category average of 9.82%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade. Story continues Risk Factors Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. GEMAX lost 64.64% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 6.19%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market. Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. GEMAX has a 5-year beta of 0.85, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -3.45, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns. Expenses For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, GEMAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.56% compared to the category average of 1.21%. From a cost perspective, GEMAX is actually more expensive than its peers. While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50. Bottom Line Overall, Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity A ( GEMAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now. This could just be the start of your research on GEMAXin the Non US - Equity category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place. 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 Get Your Free (GEMAX): Fund Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By Andreas Rinke TOKYO (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday offered a way to break the deadlock over the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, calling for a "creative" compromise to allay concerns over the future of Irish border arrangements. The United Kingdom is due under British and European law to leave the EU in just 53 days yet Prime Minister Theresa May wants last-minute changes to a divorce deal agreed with the EU last November to win over lawmakers in the British parliament. May is seeking legally binding changes to the deal to replace the Northern Irish backstop, an insurance policy that aims to prevent the reintroduction of a hard border between EU-member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland. While Merkel said she did not want the so-called Withdrawal Agreement renegotiated, she added that difficult questions could be resolved with creativity, the strongest hint to date that the EU's most powerful leader could be prepared to compromise. "There are definitely options for preserving the integrity of the single market even when Northern Ireland isn't part of it because it is part of Britain while at the same time meeting the desire to have, if possible, no border controls," Merkel said. "To solve this point you have to be creative and listen to each other, and such discussions can and must be conducted," Merkel said at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo. Merkel said the Irish backstop issue could be solved as part of a discussion over a separate agreement on the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom, offering May a potential way out of the deadlock. Merkel's stance on Brexit is driven by an eagerness to preserve the integrity of the EU and its internal market, which are crucial to Germany's post-war identity and prosperity, while also keeping Britain close to the bloc even after it leaves. Keen to avoid the economic disruption a no-deal Brexit would bring to Germany's economy, which slowed sharply last year, Merkel also values Britain as a like-minded partner and wants to keep its security expertise close at hand. "We can still use the time to perhaps reach an agreement if everyone shows good will," Merkel said. LAST-MINUTE DEAL? Britain's labyrinthine crisis over EU membership is approaching its finale with an array of options including no-deal Brexit, a last-minute deal, a snap election or a delay. May said she would seek a pragmatic solution when she tries to reopen talks with Brussels though Brexit-supporting lawmakers in her Conservative Party have warned they will vote against her deal unless there are substantial changes. In Brussels, a group of British lawmakers met the head of the EU civil service and said Martin Selmayr appeared to indicate that the EU might bind itself to new legal conditions. While European Commission Secretary General Selmayr, the long-time lieutenant of President Jean-Claude Juncker, had reiterated the EU line that it would not reopen the withdrawal agreement, Labour lawmaker Hilary Benn told reporters: "I got the impression that they might be prepared to consider some additional statement or legal protocol." But Selmayr was quick to fire back on Twitter: "On the EU side, nobody is considering this." The German EU official said the lawmakers gave "inconclusive" answers when he asked whether any EU assurances could help May win support for her deal. Selmayr has been in charge of the bloc's preparations for the event of Britain failing to agree on an orderly withdrawal and his role in meeting the lawmakers was seen by some British commentators as a sign of a harder line from Brussels than that from Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, a former French minister. (Additional reporting by Paul Sandle in Berlin, Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Janet Lawrence) General Motors confirmed that on Monday it began cutting some 4,000 salaried jobs, mostly in North America. A spokesman said the process will be concluded over the next two weeks. GM leadership is communicating with employees on the timing and procedure of the job cuts, part of a restructuring intended to save $2.5 billion this year. The spokesman noted that some areas have already made cuts over the past couple of weeks. "This will be implemented staff-by-staff and location-by-location over the next couple of weeks," Pat Morrissey told the Free Press. "Were not going to get into which departments and when and where its happening. Some staffs have already implemented this over the last few weeks, but theres more of it this week and next week." More: General Motors wanted at least 7K workers to take a buyout; layoffs loom More: Ford, GM face another restructuring, but this time they are profitable Some employees inside GM's Detroit headquarters received an email Monday morning from CFO Dhivya Suryadevara telling them "restructuring activities" were beginning and saying employees will be informed by their team leaders when the cuts are complete. "As you hear about employees that are impacted, please be mindful and respect their feelings. People will respond differently, so always take your cue from them," she wrote. "Bear in mind that GM has adapted lessons from our past and weve thought about the individual throughout this transition. We want to preserve dignity to all employees by living our values and behaviors. We recognize that every individual will respond differently, and we will respect and acknowledge those differences." Some nonunion employees in manufacturing said they were notified by leadership, said an employee at GM's Technical Center in Warren. This employee is familiar with the various departments at GM and said the engineering area had yet to be informed of its cuts. Story continues A line of cabs An employee near GM's Vehicle Engineering Center in Warren reported seeing a full line of cabs there waiting to transport any terminated employees who had to hand over keys to a company car. The atmosphere inside GM at both its headquarters in the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit and outlying GM offices in Warren or other regions was described as anxious by employees who have talked to the Free Press on the condition of anonymity. Said one, "This cloud has hung overhead for months. I need it to go away so we can start functioning normally again." One of the memos obtained by the Free Press read: "Today we continue our restructuring activities, including employee separations, across North American locations. Please be assured that every effort has been made to treat our employees with the highest respect. We have thought through personal and professional needs and will provide our employees choices for how the process will work best for them." It goes on to say that, "We all manage stress and emotion differently, and safety is a key element of our culture. As you know from your GM safety training if you see or hear something that may impact employee safety, please speak up." An employee in GM's IT area, who asked to not be identified for fear of job loss, said most of the workers in that area have six to eight years' tenure and fear they will get very small severance packages. This employee said the eliminations were to start at 9:30 a.m. EST and run in 30-minute intervals until 6:30 this evening. GM's Morrissey said severance pay will be based on years of service. He said for those with 12 years or more, the severance package is the same as the one offered late last year to the 2,250 employees who took a voluntary buyout, which is six months' pay and the continuation of health care benefits. A new kind of worker CEO Mary Barra says the company must restructure while its finances are good to be ready for changes in the industry. GM reports its 2018 full year and fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday. It reported adjusted pretax earnings of $9 billion over the first three quarters of the year. The auto industry is changing, with high research and development costs for the anticipated need to capture big shares of the coming market for autonomous ride sharing and delivery of goods. Legacy automakers are seeking tech workers as they reshape, and Barra has said GM should be seen as a tech company. GM has been on a hiring spurt for nearly five years as it seeks new skills for its drive to develop automated and more electrified vehicles. The Free Press reported in June that GM had hired 9,000 new people in the previous 24 months. Forty percent of GM's 67,000 salaried full-time global workers had been hired in the last five years, the company said at the time. The white-collar cuts are in addition to manufacturing reductions announced Nov. 26. That day, GM said it would idle five North American factories: Detroit-Hamtramck; Lordstown, Ohio; Oshawa, Ontario; Warren Transmission; and a transmission plant in the Baltimore area. In total, some 6,000 factory jobs are jeopardy. U.S. and Canadian autoworkers are vigorously protesting those closures. Since GM announced last fall that it would be eliminating about 8,000 white-collar jobs in North America, the company has been contacted by "dozens" of large companies over the past few weeks expressing interest in hiring people GM cuts, Morrissey said. As a result, it will be offering outplacement services for those effected to help them get another job. "All employees who get cut will receive job placement services and access to companies that have expressed interest in our employees," Morrissey said. While it's meant to soften the blow, experts caution GM employees who are cut to remember the last-in-first-out rule when contemplating moves that involve relocation to go to work for any other interested companies. "For when the national recession arrives in the next two years, those hired last into those companies will be the first to be laid off again, and the relocated GM employees will have incurred significant cost and disruption to their lives to move," said Jon Gabrielsen, economist and automaker consultant. "It is a horrible Catch-22. Stay in metro Detroit and perhaps not find a job or move and perhaps have the new job be short lived. Said Morrissey, "We are taking action now while the overall economy and job market are strong, increasing the ability of impacted employees to continue to advance in their careers, should they choose to do so. Our focus now is on working with each individual employee on providing severance packages and transition support through job placement services. "Also, with the overall strong economy and job market, many Fortune 500 companies and other employers have reached out to us expressing interest in hiring our impacted team members. These companies are eager to begin the interview process and fill openings. We will be providing that information to our employees through the job placement services." Contact Jamie L. LaReau: 313-222-2149 or jlareau@freepress.com This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM confirms white-collar job cuts to happen over next two weeks These two types of brokers offer different services -- and vary greatly in terms of costs. Here's how to figure out which one you'll be happier with. A Wall Street sign stands in front of a large building. Image source: Getty Images. Brokerage accounts are the gateway between investors who want to participate in the financial markets and the investment professionals who have direct access to those markets. With dozens of different companies vying for your business, it can be challenging to pick the broker that will work best for your needs, but it's helpful to narrow the field by dividing brokers into broad categories and concentrating on the group that fits best with what you want. One major distinction in the brokerage world is between full-service brokers and discount brokers. With differences in the level and types of services as well as the costs of doing business, choosing between a full-service and discount brokerage can have a big impact on your investing experience as well as how much you have to pay to invest. Below, we'll look more closely at these two types of brokers, presenting pros and cons you can use to make an informed choice. When full-service brokers were the only ones available What many people don't realize today is that discount brokers haven't always been around. Until the 1970s, Wall Street was largely regulated, and that made full-service brokers the only game in town. They were also extremely expensive, with simple stock trades often costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars per transaction. That largely limited investing to wealthy individuals, and brokerage companies wooed those clients in efforts to create close professional relationships. You could expect to know your brokers personally and even socialize regularly with them, and in return, they'd give you the investment advice and guidance that you needed in order to invest well. Nowadays, full-service brokers still exist, but they've had to learn how to compete better in a more cutthroat industry. You can find a variety of investing options at full-service brokers, including both traditional commission-based investing as well as fully managed accounts where you give the brokerage company full discretion to trade your account on your behalf. This often appeals to busy people who don't have the time or inclination to manage their own investments. Story continues The high cost of full service The problem, though, is that full-service brokers come at a high cost. Commission rates aren't quite as bad as they once were, but you can still expect to pay a lot more per trade at a full-service broker than at a discount broker. Those who take advantage of management services often pay a percentage of their total assets in fees each year, and with typical full-service offerings costing from 1% to 2% or more, you're looking at thousands of dollars in annual management expenses just for a $100,000 account. For some, that might seem well worth the cost not to have to worry about investments. But as you'll see below, investing with a discount broker isn't as hard as you might think, and many have resources that can help you invest better without missing out on the rest of your life. What discount brokers can do for you The rise of Charles Schwab in the 1970s revolutionized the industry by introducing the concept of a discount broker to the investing world. Now, there are dozens of reputable discount brokers, and they tend to share these favorable traits in common: Discount brokers offer low commission rates on stock trades. They have online trading platforms to simplify access to investing. Most discount brokers provide at least some tools to help you evaluate and select appropriate investments for your needs. You'll be able to open a variety of accounts with a discount broker, including regular taxable accounts as well as IRAs and other tax-favored accounts. It's true that some discount brokers are better than others in the way that they provide these services. You'll find sophisticated trading platforms with ample access to useful research tools with some discount brokers, while others sometimes have more confusing trading interfaces that require climbing a steep learning curve before you can feel comfortable that you're using them properly. Yet it's important not to overlook just how big a cost advantage discount brokers have over their full-service counterparts. Most discount brokers let you buy and sell stocks for less than $10 per trade -- a tenth or less of what you might pay at a high-priced full-service broker. Some even give you access to certain investments with no commission at all -- providing valuable services at no cost. That means you get to keep all the money that would otherwise go to cover brokerage fees. How to decide whether to go with a full-service or discount broker In the end, either type of broker can help you reach your investing goals, but it's important to select the choice that will match up best with your particular temperament. If you find yourself in the following categories, then you might want to give discount brokers a try: You don't have a lot of money to invest and can't afford to spend large amounts on fees and commissions. You prefer to make your own investing decisions and don't want to be bothered by salespeople urging you to do something. You're comfortable using online or mobile interfaces for financial transactions. You're good at learning how to use tools and resources to get the insight you need to make smart decisions with your money. You have other financial professionals supporting you and don't need a broker that will potentially disagree or contradict what your current advisors have said. By contrast, if the characteristics below better fit your situation, a full-service broker's worth a closer look: You're intimidated or scared to death by the entire idea of investing. You have enough money to qualify for the slightly lower fees that some full-service brokers offer to their top clients. You can get nonfinancial value from having a relationship with an individual brokerage pro, such as career professional networking opportunities or greater access to desirable social circles. Your brokerage relationship is just one piece of your overall business with the full-service financial institution in question, which can also include areas like private banking, wealth management, or commercial relationships for business owners and executives. Make the smart choice For most investors, a discount broker will be the better choice. Given how expensive typical full-service brokers are, you have a big financial incentive to learn what you need in order to use a discount broker efficiently and effectively. Not only will you save on costs, but you'll find out what you ought to know in order to be smarter about managing your money. The Motley Fool owns and recommends MasterCard and Visa, and recommends American Express. Were firm believers in the Golden Rule. If we wouldnt recommend an offer to a close family member, we wouldnt recommend it on The Ascent either. Our number one goal is helping people find the best offers to improve their finances. That is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team. Paris (AFP) - France has raised the prospect of repatriating around 50 jihadists detained in Syria, creating a domestic political storm that highlights the difficulties posed by bringing extremists home. Successive French governments had insisted citizens who left to live or fight under the Islamic State group in Syria or Iraq should face justice locally, apart from children who could be returned without their parents. But concerns about the possible release of the detainees by Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria have forced a rethink which could see around 50 men and women returned to France, as well as 80 children, according to sources who have spoken to AFP. The United States on Monday called on other nations to repatriate and prosecute their nationals. Here are five key issues: - Relocation - The first problem is working out how the suspects would travel from the prison camps, which are run by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the main fighters on the ground combatting Islamic State. There is no recognised government in the SDF-run areas between Iraq and Turkey, and the area is highly unstable because of the threatened withdrawal of US troops and a possible offensive by Turkish forces. French special forces are known to operate in the area, alongside the Americans, who have helped train and back up the Kurds with air support. "We are looking at all the options: we could bring them to another country, bring them back directly from Syria, or negotiate with Turkey," a French official said on condition of anonymity. French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has talked about the fighters being "expelled", rather than being brought back, but expulsions can normally be carried out only by a sovereign state. - The evidence - Like other European countries, France has repeatedly tightened its anti-terror legislation, most recently under current President Emmanuel Macron in 2017. The problem for prosecutors is finding the necessary evidence from a foreign battleground that can withstand scrutiny in national courts. Story continues "Work is being done together (between various French ministries) with the utmost care. We don't want to risk any procedural problems which would allow any of them to be released once they get back to France," the French official added. Some extremists might have appeared in IS propaganda videos or had their communications intercepted, enabling the serious charge of joining or leading a terror organisation, which can lead to a 30-year prison term. But in other cases, where prosecutors lack direct incriminating evidence -- in the case of wives who accompanied their husbands, for example -- they might have to fall back on the catch-all charge of "associating with terrorists," experts say. - The judicial system - Despite increased resources, specialised anti-terror prosecutors and the French court system are already struggling to deal with the surge in terror cases since IS declared its caliphate in 2014. Experts say that hundreds of an estimated 1,700 French nationals who went to Iraq and Syria have already returned home, often ending up in court. "The judicial system is going to have to adapt to cope with this very large number of jihadists," Jean-Charles Brisard, chairman of the Center for the Analysis of Terrorism, told AFP. He added that France's "Cour d'Assises", where the most serious crimes are tried, "lacks resources." "It's not sufficiently staffed for the number, the volume of jihadists," he warned. - The prison system - The new arrivals would also put pressure on the French prison system, where overcrowding and difficulties in dealing with Islamist inmates are long-established problems. Marc Hecker, a security expert at the IFRI think-tank in Paris, estimates there are around 500 people in jail in France on terror charges who have already been sentenced or are awaiting trial. "It's very difficult to handle these people in jail. You have to separate them from the rest of the inmates," Hecker said. "Or you can let them be with the other inmates and they may radicalise other people." The detainees would be assessed by French psychologists for four months when they enter the prison system, and the most dangerous would be placed in solitary confinement. In January last year, prison guards undertook the biggest strike in a quarter of a century to demand better pay and conditions, and to protest against the dangers of radicalised inmates. - Children - Of the 130 people who might be repatriated, most are thought to be minors who are likely to face major psychological problems. "These are children who were born over there or left France very young with their parents," Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet said on Thursday, adding that some of them are orphans. "We think that around 75 percent of the children are under age seven," she added. Once back in France, they would be separated from their mother or father, who would be jailed, adding to their trauma. A child's case would then be assessed by a family judge, who must decide whether to place them with relatives, or with a foster family. People demonstrate against Trumps family separation policy in D.C., on June 28, 2018. Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images The U.S. government told a federal court that it would take extraordinary effort to reunite migrant children in sponsor homes with their parents, the Associated Press reported on Saturday. The filing follows a report by the inspector general of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, which found that the Trump administration had separated thousands more children from their families than the 2,737 listed in court documents. According to the AP, HHS now claims that removing children from their homes may further emotionally traumatize them: Jonathan White, who leads the Health and Human Services Departments efforts to reunite migrant children with their parents, said removing children from sponsor homes to rejoin their parents would present grave child welfare concerns. He said the government should focus on reuniting children currently in its custody, not those who have already been released to sponsor homes. The government added that it has no way of tracking the children taken from their parents. A federal court ordered the Trump administration to end its family separation policy last year, after a successful lawsuit filed by the ACLU; on its website, the civil liberties organization called Fridays filing a a shocking concession that it cant easily find thousands of children it ripped from parents, and doesnt even think its worth the time to locate each of them. As the AP notes, most children taken from their parents at the border have been placed in the homes of relatives, but some have been placed with foster families who bear no relation to their families of origin. If the government does stymie efforts to reunite children with their parents, placements in sponsor homes may also amount to de facto adoptions. Theres some evidence that migrant children who have been taken from their parents at the border or who cross the border alone may be adopted out rather than reunited with their families. A previous AP investigation, published in October 2018, identified holes in the system that allow state court judges to grant custody of migrant children to American families without notifying their parents. These systemic cracks predate the Trump administration but they arguably contribute to a mounting human-rights crisis as Trump officials tighten immigration restrictions and separate more families at the border. In August 2018, NBC News reported that some parents say theyve been coerced into waiving their right to reunification with their children. Government officials now appear prepared to compound the human-rights violations theyve already committed by absolving themselves of their legal and moral responsibilities to reunite the very families they separated. Attorneys for the government and the ACLU will return to court on February 21. The car ploughed through trees and into a field in Bowie, Maryland (Picture: NBC) Five children who werent wearing seat belts have died after being thrown from the car they were travelling in. The children, aged between 5 and 15, were killed when they were flung from a minivan that crashed into trees and ended up in a field in Bowie, Maryland on Saturday. Two adults who were also travelling in the vehicle, and who were reportedly wearing seat belts, survived the crash. It is understood all five children were sitting in the back seat of the Chrysler Pacifica when the accident happened. Sisters Paris, left, and London Taylor were killed in the crash (Picture: Facebook) They were named as sisters Paris and London Dixon, aged five and eight respectively, along with Zion Beard, 14, Rickelle Ricks, six, and Damari Herald, 15. Paris and London were in the vehicle with their mother, Dominique R Taylor, 32, who was believed to be the driver. She was taken to hospital. The car went off the road at about 4.30am on Saturday and hit several trees. MORE: Son charged with murder of kind mum found dead in her own home MORE: Just one in 450 fly-tipping cases in England lead to a prosecution Paris and London lived in Bowie and went to Northview Elementary School, it was reported. The other three children were from Washington DC. Cornell D Simon, 23, of Oxon Hill, was the other adult in the car and police say he is in a critical condition in hospital. It is understood that Paris and Londons mother survived the crash (Picture: Facebook) Police are trying to establish what caused the crash. Maryland had experienced icy conditions on its roads at the weekend, but police have not said if conditions contributed to the crash. The road was closed for more than seven hours after the crash. Every collision where we lose life is a tragedy, said Maryland State Trooper Captain Daniel Pickett. And where children are involved, its more of a tragedy. BRIGHTON, N.Y. Elijah Goldberg thought he could handle precalculus in 11th grade. His guidance counselor, he says, did not. "It seemed like they were scared I would fail a class and it would make the district look bad," he said. "It was a big argument I had to get my mom involved." Frustrated, he instead took the class in the evening at the local community college near his home outside Rochester, New York, and earned an A-. He took the transcript back to his high school, in the wealthy suburb of Brighton, and showed it to the staff proof he had been correct about his own ability. "I felt like the administrators didnt believe in me I was definitely discouraged from taking AP classes and getting ahead," said Goldberg, who graduated in 2016. "In my AP classes there werent a lot of us, and we definitely werent encouraged. It was more just: get through and dont fail." For black students across the United States the "us" he referenced Goldberg's experience is a common one. More: Racism at suburban schools, in students' own words Even in generally high-performing suburban school districts, students of color, particularly black students, face pervasive prejudice when it comes to access to advanced coursework, academic achievement and discipline. Figures from the most recent federal Civil Rights Data Collection show disparities in every part of the country. In the wealthy Phoenix-area school district of Paradise Valley, white students are about twice as likely as black and Hispanic students to be enrolled in at least one AP class. In Collier County, Florida, black students are 2.7 times more likely to be suspended. In Franklin, Tennessee, outside Nashville, black students are two-and-a-half grade levels behind white students, on average. Those disparities come as suburban areas throughout the nation are diversifying, and as the Education Department under Secretary Betsy DeVos is rolling back regulations meant to prevent unequal discipline for students of color. Story continues President Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos How the suburbs started out so white The prejudice stems, in part, from the history of the suburbs. Black families, in particular, were expressly excluded from the mid-century suburban housing boom the primary source of those towns' current wealth advantages. "Racism is often perpetuated by the very nice, very kind people who decided to move out to (the suburbs) and didnt think to ask why theres no black people out there," said LHeureux Lewis-McCoy, a professor at New York University who studies racial inequality in suburban schools. Today's suburban parents and teachers are used to schools that are largely white. Uneven discipline for students of color, or less participation in honors classes, lines up with stereotypes those adults have about students of color who are still in the minority, even as schools diversify. "The reason we havent been paying attention to it is that, in general, these schools have been performing well, so people dont perceive it as a problem," Lewis-McCoy said. Rochester and Monroe County are archetypes of the hollowed-out urban core surrounded by wealthy, mostly white suburbs. The Rochester City School District is, by some measures, the worst in the nation. Students of color who instead attend one of the county's 17 suburban school districts mostly consider themselves lucky. Kennedy Jackson lives in Rochester but attends school in the wealthy east-side suburb of Penfield through an inter-district transfer program. She said many of her white classmates believe they can use the N-word liberally as long as they have an "N-card," meaning they have a black friend who supposedly has given them permission to do so. "I should feel comfortable going to school, and I dont always, because people say that word," she said. The high school administration, students of color said, did not address the problem when they brought it up. Nhadia Hemphil, an 11th-grader, added: "Then if you speak out, they brand you as an 'angry black girl.' " 'Watching to see if I fail' The problem is not only a matter of academics and discipline. Students of color report feeling alienated, overscrutinized and underestimated. Leah Stewart, a 12th-grader at Greece Olympia High School outside Rochester, is part of an uncomfortable sort of club at school. She calls it "the five smart black girls." Earning admission was an exhausting ordeal, yet she doesn't enjoy being a member. It began in eighth grade, when Stewart first had to push back against a counselor who wouldn't enroll her in an advanced course. She's had the same experience in high school, even with a track record of academic success. "I tried to take AP physics, and my counselor pretty much laughed at me," Stewart said. "He was pretty much just like, 'Oh, you have a lot on your plate.' He wouldnt sign off on it for, like, a really long time." More: 'I have a beautiful white people voice.' Black students find hacks for discrimination More: For black students in the suburbs, challenging interactions are routine She's now one of five black students, all girls, taking AP classes at the high school, she said. Membership in that select sorority entitles them to dubious recognition: They are often asked to present to the school board, for instance, as if they were representative of a larger group. Teachers of advanced courses refer to "the five black girls" and seem to mean well. Other times the label is an invitation for trouble. Take, for instance, the time a substitute teacher left a note saying the black girls had been talking too loudly after they finished their work. Their regular teacher read it aloud in class. "Sometimes, you feel like a super-big outcast," Stewart said. "Some people say, 'Oh, I dont see color.' " But, Stewart urged, sometimes it's OK for students and teachers to acknowledge race. "It's just how you do it." Will Barrett, an 11th-grader in the Rochester suburb of Fairport, recalled one instance where another student said black people come from the jungle. Black people commit the vast majority of crimes, the white student continued, so the country would be better off without them. A teacher overheard the comment, Barrett said. Instead of intervening, the teacher put the responsibility for talking with the white student on Barrett, saying simply that Barrett "shouldn't stand for that." "I often feel like theres 1,000 eyes on me while Im taking a test. It creates a lot of stress and anxiety," he said. "Honestly, sometimes I feel Im invisible but at the same time everyones watching me to see if I fail." Under Trump, it's up to school districts Many districts are responding by having faculty attend professional development on institutional racism and implicit bias. They are instituting restorative-justice practices meant to take the place of more punitive actions like out-of-school suspensions. Their efforts are complicated by a shortage of teachers of color, particularly in the Northeast and outside major urban areas. Paradoxically, it is the frequently maligned urban districts that often lead the nation in combating racial disparities for students. Those districts have long grappled with the dichotomy of a mostly white teaching staff and a mostly minority student body. Many are under various forms of state or federal intervention and have no choice but to address disproportionality. "To our suburban colleagues, I would say: It requires focused attention and a decision to figure out what may be going on and how to effectively address it," said Cecilia Golden, deputy superintendent of Rochester City Schools. Such attention to the problem must originate with the district itself, at least in the area of discipline. President Barack Obama's administration had put in requirements that school districts act to reduce disproportionate suspension statistics for minority students, largely through closer analysis of data and by boosting other academic and social supports for those students. President Donald Trump's administration has rolled that back. Officials argue any restrictions on discipline could make schools more dangerous or make it more difficult to prevent mass shootings. Discipline decisions often were based on a student's race under the Obama-era rules, DeVos said. "Statistics became more important than the safety of students and teachers," she said in a statement announcing the change. Other promising interventions are student-led. Hundreds of Rochester-area students attend ROC 2 Change summits three times a year to discuss racism and prejudice with their peers at dozens of other districts. Marah Ali, a sophomore at West Irondequoit, bottom right, leads a discussion on race at her table of West Irondequoit schoolmates during the Individual School Work Session at the ROC 2 Change student summit on race. "It was very powerful, because you see so many people who look like you," Barrett said after one recent summit. "Just seeing a lot of black excellence and a willingness to speak out about topics it makes me want to do more in Fairport." In the meantime, a minority of black students in suburban schools manage to test themselves with the most challenging courses their schools offer. The year after Elijah Goldberg took pre-calculus at Monroe Community College, he was placed into AP calculus at his high school. It was hard just as he knew it would be. "It was so much more interesting and fun when I was challenged," he said. "But I could handle it." He passed. Now, he is enrolled at Williams College in Massachusetts the nation's top liberal arts college. Follow Justin Murphy and Georgie Silvarole on Twitter: @CitizenMurphy and @GSilvarole This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fewer AP classes, suspended more often: Black students still face racism in suburbs LONDON (AP) With Brexit just seven weeks away, Britain's ruling Conservative Party was locked in tense negotiations with itself Monday to rework the U.K.'s divorce deal with the European Union as the EU stood firm in ruling out any renegotiation. Meanwhile, pro-EU and pro-Brexit U.K. politicians traded allegations about whether Nissan's decision not to build a new SUV in northern England was the latest Brexit-induced damage to Britain's economy. Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29, and many businesses fear economic chaos if there isn't an agreement on the rules and conditions that will replace the 45 years of frictionless trade that came with being an EU member. The uncertainty has already led many firms to shift some operations abroad, stockpile goods or defer investment decisions. Nissan announced over the weekend that it has decided not to build the X-Trail model at its existing U.K. plant in Sunderland, England, canceling plans announced two years ago after May's government promised to ensure the carmaker's ability to compete after Brexit. The company said it instead plans to consolidate production of the next generation X-Trail at its plant in Kyushu, Japan, where the model is currently produced. It will continue producing three other models at the Sunderland plant, which employs 7,000 people. The company said it had made the decision "for business reasons," and it comes amid falling sales of diesel vehicles in Europe. But Nissan added that "the continued uncertainty around the U.K.'s future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future." U.K. Business Secretary Greg Clark a proponent of keeping close economic ties with the EU said Monday that Nissan regarded the risk of a no-deal Brexit as "a source of damaging uncertainty." He said executives at the firm had "commented on the need for us to come together and resolve the question of our future trade relationship with the EU." Story continues The automaker's decision is a blow to the government, which in 2016 offered Nissan incentives to stay in Britain. On Monday, the government published a previously secret October 2016 letter from Clark to Nissan promising up to 80 million pounds ($105 million) in support for the Sunderland plant. The letter also said Britain would "seek to maintain the closest possible economic relationship between the U.K. and our European partners" and would try to ensure that carmakers' "ability to export to and from the EU is not adversely affected" by Brexit. Carmakers are particularly concerned about Brexit because they rely on complex supply chains of parts from multiple countries. With Britain's Parliament at odds over Brexit, Prime Minister Theresa May gathered pro-Brexit and pro-EU Conservative lawmakers into an "alternative arrangements working group" seeking to break the deadlock. The group was holding three days of meetings with ministers and civil servants to investigate possible changes to the EU divorce deal, which was rejected by Parliament last month. The changes center on replacing a measure known as the backstop, designed to keep an open border between the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland. The border area was a flashpoint during decades of conflict in Northern Ireland that cost 3,700 lives. The free flow of people and goods across the near-invisible frontier now underpins both the local economy and Northern Ireland's peace process. May's office said she plans to travel to Northern Ireland on Tuesday to meet business leaders and make a speech underscoring the government's commitment to avoiding a hard border. But it's less clear than ever how Britain plans to achieve this. The EU insists the Brexit withdrawal agreement can't be renegotiated, and has already rejected some of the arrangements under discussion in London, including a time limit on the backstop and unspecified technological solutions to customs checks. EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said that backstop remains "the only operational solution available" for an orderly exit of Britain from the EU. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney accused some British politicians of seeking "to essentially do away with an agreed solution between the U.K. government and EU negotiators and to replace this with wishful thinking." German Chancellor Angela Merkel also said the agreement couldn't be renegotiated, although questions surrounding border arrangements could be addressed in a declaration on the future relationship between the EU and Britain. Speaking during a trip to Japan, she said a Brexit agreement was still possible, but first "we must hear from Great Britain how they envision that." May hasn't spoken to EU leaders since Wednesday, a day after British lawmakers instructed her to seek changes to the Brexit withdrawal agreement she had spent a year and a half negotiating with Brussels. But May's spokesman, James Slack, denied that the Brexit process was deadlocked. He said the government was working with "urgency" on border solutions. "What we are doing right now is working at home on the proposal we will take to Brussels," he said. ___ Raf Casert in Brussels, and Geir Moulson, in Berlin contributed to this story. ___ Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit A homemade tool from a nail used for FGM (Picture: Getty) A one-month-old baby girl in Yorkshire was a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM), it has been reported. The BBCs Victoria Derbyshire programme was told that the practice is increasingly being performed on babies and infants in the UK. In response to a Freedom of Information request, West Yorkshire Police said it had received 17 reports of FGM between 2015 and 2017. The force said a quarter of those reports involved victims aged three or under. In one case, the victim was only one month old. Aneeta Prem, founder of Freedom Charity, which campaigns against FGM, told Yahoo News: Many mothers allow their newborn babies to be cut. Many victims dont recall the incident because it happened when they were babies. Asked about the age of the victims, barrister and FGM expert Dr Charlotte Proudman told Yahoo News: It doesnt surprise me at all. In 2015, a report by City, University of London estimated that up to 137,000 girls and women in England and Wales have been victims of FGM, but Dr Proudman believes the actual figure is much higher. The figures we have at the moment are definitely the tip of the iceberg, she said. The government is woefully lacking in the support thats available. Funding is poor. Dr Proudman told the Victoria Derbyshire programme there was a lot of anecdotal data that shows FGM is being performed on babies. She said it was almost impossible to detect at an early age. She said: These girls are not at school, they are not at nursery, and so its very difficult for any public authority to become aware. By performing it at such a young age, theyre evading the law. MORE: Son charged with murder of kind mum found dead in her own home MORE: Just one in 450 fly-tipping cases in England lead to a prosecution Last week, the mother of a three-year-old girl became the first person to be found guilty of female genital mutilation. Her partner was acquitted. The Ugandan woman, 37, from Walthamstow, east London, were accused of cutting their daughter over the 2017 summer bank holiday. Story continues Police found bizarre spells inside 40 frozen limes and two ox tongues with screws embedded in them aimed at silencing police, social workers, officers and lawyers in the case. The mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was found guilty of FGM at the Old Bailey. She will be sentenced next month. FGM carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. Ms Prem said there has been a veil of secrecy around FMG but that she believes the conviction will lead to more awareness. Im very hopeful that medical professionals will be more comfortable reporting this form of child abuse, she said. She called on the government to provide proper funding for an education programme so children in schools are made aware of FGM. The National FGM Centre, run by childrens charity Barnardos and the Local Government Association, said it was not surprised by the young age of some of the victims. A woman was the first person in the UK to be convicted for FGM at the Old Bailey in London last week (Picture: PA) The centre said there was anecdotal evidence from some communities that FGM laws can be circumnavigated by performing the procedure on girls at a much younger age. It said: The girls are unable to report, the cut heals quicker and prosecution is much harder once evidence comes to light and the girl is older. There needs to be much greater recognition of this issue across different areas of the UK. Asked why it has taken so long for a first FGM conviction in the UK, Dr Proudman said: People are concerned about cultural sensitivities, worried about being branded racist, and its being performed on a very private area. The Victoria Derbyshire programme said it had obtained figures showing that 939 calls were made to emergency services in the UK to report FGM between 2014 and 2018. However, since 2010, the Crown Prosecution Service has only received 36 referrals from police. Home secretary Sajid Javid said: We will not tolerate FGM and not rest until perpetrators of this horrific crime are brought to justice. Ivan Dagg was given just months to live but is now cancer-free (Picture: SWNS) A father-of-two is celebrating being cancer-free following a world-first operation. Ivan Dagg, 53, from Hull, East Yorkshire, was given just months to live and a 6% chance of survival with chemotherapy treatment. After losing weight and feeling constantly exhausted in 2013, he was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer. His health deteriorated further and the cancer spread to his liver. Despite multiple tumour removals and resections, the inspection engineer was still losing his fight with cancer. But last January, Mr Dagg underwent his final high-risk surgery at Spire Leeds Hospital which was hailed a world-first by doctors. It was only possible after medics found he had grown a new vein in his liver, opening up a new and previously unknown avenue to recovery for others with a similar condition. His surgery was carried out by Professor Peter Lodge. The last few years have been a rollercoaster, said Mr Dagg. Im finally feeling positive about my future. MORE: Son charged with murder of kind mum found dead in her own home MORE: Just one in 450 fly-tipping cases in England lead to a prosecution I woke up after surgery and Professor Lodge told me he had been able to remove the tumour. That was fantastic to hear. Now Im back at work and looking forward to the future with my family. Nobody knows whats going to happen in the future but I feel very lucky. There could have been a very different outcome. Professor Lodge described the surgery as very high risk. He added: This is a brand-new liver surgery operation, truly a world-first. During Ivans three previous operations I had to remove major blood vessels called hepatic veins. Mr Dagg with daughters, Steph and Georgie, and wife Kate (Picture: SWNS) The new tumour was involving all of the remaining hepatic veins. These major veins drain blood out of the liver and are essential for survival. I did not think that the situation was operable initially, but I saw that Ivan had grown a new vein in the part of the liver that had regenerated following the previous liver resection operations. Story continues Things went well so we were able to remove the tumour successfully along with the major hepatic veins, leaving Ivans liver surviving on only the new vein. If he had not grown a new vein then I would not have been able to do the surgery. This is a new avenue for developing new liver operations. There is still a lot we dont know about how the liver regenerates after liver surgery; Ivans case demonstrates how we must be more imaginative and strive to improve outcomes as much as we can. Without surgery, Ivan would have been faced with having only a few months to live. I think that chemotherapy may have given him a few extra months but thats all. Its still early days but Im very pleased with Ivans progress. By Angus Berwick CARACAS (Reuters) - Violence perpetrated by Venezuela's state security forces has been contributing more and more to the country's homicide rate, one of the highest in the world. From 2010 to 2017, the proportion of homicides committed by the police and military jumped from 4 percent to 27 percent, according to Keymer Avila, a criminology professor at the Central University of Venezuela. He estimated it rose further last year. The government of President Nicolas Maduro has sent troops into poor neighborhoods before, saying so-called People's Liberation Operations in 2015 were aimed at clearing out criminals. Human rights groups and residents said the operations led to a rise in extrajudicial killings. Rights groups say the National Police's Special Action Force (FAES) has been of particular concern since Maduro created the unit in 2017. Numbering some 1,300 officers armed with Chinese and Russian weaponry, the force has killed more than 100 people in low-income neighborhoods over the last six months without any subsequent investigations, local rights group Provea said in a Jan. 26 report. As Maduro fights to hold onto power in the face of tightening U.S. sanctions and Western powers' support for opposition leader Juan Guaido, the FAES has proclaimed its loyalty to his government. "These are extremely difficult moments, moments when we have to show which of us are loyal, and which of us are disloyal," the FAES's commander, Rafael Bastardo, said in a speech posted on the unit's Instagram account. Venezuela's chief prosecutor, Tarek Saab, vowed on Friday that the government would investigate any officials who carry out extrajudicial executions and arbitrary detentions. He said authorities had arrested several police officers in the states of Bolivar and Yaracuy for killing protesters. No FAES officers had been arrested, he said. (Additional reporting by Shaylim Valderrama; Editing by Daniel Flynn, Andrea Ricci and Daniel Wallis) By Andy Sullivan, Lesley Wroughton and Paul Carsten WASHINGTON/ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar visited Washington two weeks ago to meet with top U.S. diplomats and lawmakers thanks to a temporary suspension of a travel ban linked to decade-old bribery scandals, according to people familiar with the matter. The U.S. administration has not commented on Atiku's status or his travel, but several U.S. diplomats and others familiar with the visit told Reuters the former vice president has been banned from entering the United States for the past several years after he figured prominently in two corruption cases. For Atiku's supporters, the fact he was able to visit Washington on Jan. 17 and 18 without being arrested was proof that the allegations were baseless. "It is fake news, and we showed that," said Harold Molokwu, who heads the U.S. chapter of Atiku's People's Democratic Party of Nigeria. Several U.S. government officials said the travel ban was waived temporarily by the U.S. State Department after lobbyists mounted a campaign among congressional lawmakers arguing that the administration should not snub the leading challenger to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in the Feb. 16 election. One person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Atiku was allowed to enter because the United States saw little benefit to creating bad blood with the man who might be the next leader of Africa's most populous nation and the continent's biggest oil producer. Lobbyists hired by Atiku said they sought to overcome resistance at the State Department by securing support from members of Congress for the visit, as well as arguing that the top U.S. official for African affairs, Assistant Secretary Tibor Nagy, had an obligation to encourage democracy in the seventh most populous country in the world. "Assistant Secretary Nagy was pleased to meet with him and share the U.S. government's expectations that Nigeria's elections be free, fair, transparent, and peaceful, and reflect the will of the Nigerian people," a State Department official said, stressing the department had not requested the waiver. Story continues Buhari first took power in a military coup in the 1980s but was democratically elected in 2015. He is seeking a second term in part on an anti-corruption platform. Atiku's visa troubles stem from when he served as Nigeria's vice president, from 1999 to 2007. He figured prominently in the corruption trial of former U.S. Representative William Jefferson, who was accused of trying to bribe Atiku in an effort to expand a technology business in Nigeria. Jefferson was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 13 years in prison. His sentence was subsequently reduced. Separately U.S. Senate investigators in 2010 alleged that one of Atiku's four wives helped him transfer more than $40 million in "suspect funds" into the United States from offshore shell companies. At least $1.7 million of that money was bribes paid by German technology company Siemens AG, according to Senate investigators. Siemens pleaded guilty to bribery charges in 2008 and agreed to pay a $1.6 billion fine. Atiku has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Neither he nor his wife face criminal charges in the United States. "These issues have been addressed several times in the past and we do not wish to comment further on them," a spokesman for Atiku said when asked about the corruption allegations. WHIRLWIND VISIT Atiku's whirlwind visit to Washington last month was put together with the help of two U.S. lobbying firms. Holland & Knight was hired by Atiku personally in December to help him secure a visa, in part by enlisting members of Congress to request one on his behalf, according to a lobbyist for the firm. It has been paid $80,000 so far. Ballard Partners was hired by Atiku's political party at a rate of $90,000 per month in September, before Atiku emerged as the party's candidate, according to U.S. disclosure filings. The firm's lobbyists worked to set up a meeting with Nagy, arguing it would show that the United States wanted to encourage free and fair elections in a country where graft is endemic. "We are not asking the administration or anyone to take sides, but to merely demand the same level of freeness and fairness," Ballard lobbyist Jamie Rubin told Reuters. Aside from Nagy, Atiku met with business leaders at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and at least two Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives who specialize in foreign affairs, Representative Michael McCaul of Texas and Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey. Neither requested a visa waiver for Atiku, spokespeople for the two congressmen said. Atiku stayed at the Trump International Hotel, owned by the president, and met with several hundred Nigerian expatriates there, according to two people who attended the gathering. The luxury hotel is the subject of several lawsuits that allege Trump is violating an anti-corruption clause in the U.S. Constitution that limits the president's ability to accept gifts from foreign governments. Atiku's supporters say they chose the hotel because they were able to book rooms at a discounted rate with only a few days' notice. "I think it was because of the availability of the space," said Uche Udemadu, an official with the U.S. chapter of the People's Democratic Party of Nigeria. A spokeswoman for the hotel declined to comment. (Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Lesley Wroughton in Washington and Paul Carsten in Abuja; Additional reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram in Lagos; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Tomasz Janowski and Daniel Wallis) Brussels (AFP) - The EU warned Tehran over its ballistic missile programme and interference in the Syria conflict Monday, while welcoming a new mechanism to trade with Iran while bypassing US sanctions. In a long-awaited statement on Iran that has been the subject of more than a week of wrangling in Brussels, the EU restated its commitment to saving the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and took aim at Washington for abandoning the pact and reimposing sanctions. The bloc hailed the creation last week by France, Britain and Germany of a system to allow firms to trade with Iran without falling foul of US sanctions as vital to supporting legitimate business and said the "resolve to complete this work is unwavering". But with numerous European powers growing increasingly concerned about Tehran's missile programme, meddling in several Middle East conflicts and recent attempted attacks on opposition figures living in the EU, the bloc urged Iran to mend its ways. The statement criticised Iran's "provision of military, financial and political support to non-state actors in countries such as Syria and Lebanon". "The (EU) Council has serious concerns regarding Iran's military involvement and continuous presence of Iranian forces in Syria," the statement said. Iran is a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the statement urged Tehran to use its leverage to get Damascus behind UN-led efforts to end the civil war, which has claimed more than 360,000 lives since it began in 2011. While defending the nuclear deal -- which limited Tehran's atomic ambitions in return for sanctions relief -- Europe has sought to keep up pressure with sanctions, most recently listing Iranian intelligence services over plots to assassinate regime opponents on Dutch, Danish and French soil. Continuing Iranian missile tests have also alarmed the EU -- not to mention countries in the Middle East -- and Monday's statement called on Tehran to stop such activities. Story continues "Iran continues to undertake efforts to increase the range and precision of its missiles, together with increasing the number of tests and operational launches. These activities deepen mistrust and contribute to regional instability," the statement said. Brussels hopes the new Iran trading mechanism -- registered last week in Paris under the name INSTEX -- will keep Tehran in the nuclear deal by preserving some of the economic benefits it received. Iran gave INSTEX a cautious welcome but US officials have dismissed the idea that the new entity would have any impact on efforts to exert economic pressure on Tehran. Before INSTEX can go live, Iran has to set up a similar entity of its own so the two sides can clear trading on a barter basis without transferring money. It is not clear how long this will take. The fight against terrorism, climate change and migration-related issues were at the center of the European Union-Arab League ministerial meeting held Monday in Brussels. The two sides reviewed ways of enhancing the partnership between Europe and the Arab world and promoting multilateralism. They also discussed issues of migration, the crisis in Libya and the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. Discussions will be furthered on all these topics at the first EU-Arab League Summit scheduled to be held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, February 24-25. The meeting was co-chaired by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini; the Sudanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, who is currently chairing the Arab side at ministerial level, Mohamed Ahmed Al-Dirdiri; and Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit. By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - When plans for a summit between the European Union and the Arab League were first hatched last year, it was envisioned as the start of a new friendship across the Mediterranean. What a difference a few months makes. The EU hopes that improving ties with its Arab neighbors would help advance its policies, not least its aim to fight illegal immigration from the Middle East and North Africa. But after the murder of a journalist in a Saudi consulate last October, European officials helping to prepare for the Feb. 24-25 summit in Egypt say they are now focused mainly on limiting the awkwardness. "The idea was to give them red carpet treatment and start engaging with them more, see what we can do on migration," said one European diplomat. "But now we are in an unlucky spot as some of the (Arab League) national leaders are not our favorites." With barely three weeks to go before the summit, top EU leaders have yet to confirm their participation. A lower-level meeting of Arab League and EU foreign ministers intended to set up an agenda for the summit ended on Monday in Brussels with no agreement on a joint statement. As top EU diplomat Federica Mogherini was explaining to a news conference why they had failed to agree, she was interrupted by her co-chair, the Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit. There were "more complications on the European side than the Arab side," Aboul Gheit said. In a friendly but public sign of disagreement, Mogherini snapped back: "I would say the contrary." The EU wants to focus at this month's summit on migration, but that is a fraught area in which EU member states disagree sharply among themselves. Hungary, led by an anti-immigration hardliner, vetoed Monday's joint declaration over the subject. "This summit has been very difficult to organize, to find a date, nobody really wants this," another EU official said of the top-level talks later this month. "For the EU it is all about migration, but there are so many other touchy subjects that people would rather not address." SAUDI, SUDAN AND SYRIA A key change in the European-Arab relationship in recent months has been the collapse in the global standing of the wealthy and influential Arab leader, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The West's relationship with Saudi Arabia -- the world's biggest exporter of oil and second biggest importer of arms -- has been the bedrock of its ties to the Arab world for decades. But the de facto ruler has been shunned since U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. Riyadh initially denied the killing, then gave conflicting accounts. It now accepts that its agents killed him but says its leadership had nothing to do with it. Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, arrived at Monday's meeting in Brussels speaking as if little had changed: the sides faced common challenges "like countering extremism and terrorism," he said. "There are also big offers related to trade and investment." But relations are not what they once were. Attending an event with the crown prince is tricky for some European leaders who were already accused by rights groups of rubbing shoulders with him at a meeting of the G20 industrialized countries in November, European sources said. Nor is Crown Prince Mohammed the only potentially awkward guest for the EU. In recent weeks, Arab states have been showing solidarity with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, who has been facing the most sustained anti-government demonstrations at home of his 30 years in power. Bashir, wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in the Hague, is persona non grata for some Europeans. "We don't deal with him directly, but we deal with Sudan," an EU official said. "They could send somebody else." A guest even more unwelcome to the Europeans will not be invited to this summit, but could be at a future one soon: Syria's Bashar al-Assad. Hostility to Assad has long been an issue on which European countries agreed with the leading Arab states, which suspended Damascus from the Arab League in 2011. But with Assad's future now all but secured by Russian and Iranian forces, some Arab countries are pushing to readmit Syria. Most EU countries are not ready to rehabilitate him. "We are not in a situation today to renew a normal relationship with Syria," Belgium's Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said on Monday. However, Austria and the Czech Republic are more amenable, hopeful that restoring ties with Assad would help Syrian refugees return home. "Preparations for the summit are going very slowly, it's all rather uncomfortable," one EU diplomat said, but stressed there were no plans to call the whole thing off. "There are plenty of embarrassing traps to avoid, like sitting at one table with the Saudis, Sudan's Bashir, or even Assad returning." (Additional reporting by Robin Emmott, Alissa de Carbonnel, Stephen Kalin, Aidan Lewis, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Peter Graff) By Gabriella Borter (Reuters) - Actor Jussie Smollett appeared onstage in Los Angeles on Saturday in his first public appearance since he told police he was the victim this week of a racist and homophobic attack. Smollett, an openly gay African-American who plays a gay character on the hip-hop drama "Empire," performed in West Hollywood less than a week after he reported to Chicago police that he was attacked on Tuesday by two men who shouted racist and homophobic slurs and put a rope around his neck. "The most important thing I have to say is thank you so much and that I'm okay. I'm not fully healed yet, but I'm going to be and I'm gonna stand strong with y'all," the 36-year-old actor and R&B performer told a crowd of hundreds of cheering fans, according to media reports. He said his doctors had cleared him to perform at the show, which was scheduled before the alleged attack. News of the alleged assault sparked outrage on social media, but some questioned Smollett's account as the Chicago police have not found video evidence. Chicago police said they are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. (Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Daniel Wallis) New Administrative Capital (Egypt) (AFP) - Egypt inaugurated a massive cathedral under heavy security on Coptic Christmas Eve Sunday, a day after a deadly bomb blast near a church in the country where jihadists have repeatedly targeted Christians. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi observed a moment of silence after Saturday's explosion on the eastern edge of Cairo killed a policeman who was trying to defuse the device and wounded two others. Security was tight as Sisi officially opened the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, 45 kilometres (28 miles) east of Cairo, ahead of Christmas mass. Worshippers had to pass through three sets of metal detectors to access the event, while armoured vehicles and dozens of ambulances were stationed nearby. Sisi gave a brief speech saying the simultaneous opening of the cathedral and the major Al-Fattah Al-Alim mosque nearby carried a message of unity. "We are one and we will continue to be one," he said. "This moment is very important in our history." Egypt's top Muslim cleric Ahmed al-Tayeb told those gathered that "if Islamic law requires Muslims to protect mosques, it equally requires Muslims to protect churches". The cathedral's inauguration was hailed by US President Donald Trump, who wrote on Twitter that he was "excited to see our friends in Egypt opening the biggest Cathedral in the Middle East". "Sisi is moving his country to a more inclusive future," Trump said. Pope Francis extended greetings to Coptic Pope Tawadros II, saying in a video message that he "was able to give a true testimony of faith and charity, also in times of difficulties". Coptic Christians, who account for around 10 percent of Egypt's population, have been hit by a string of attacks by the Islamic State group in recent years. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast on Saturday. The bomb was hidden inside a bag that was placed on the rooftop of Al-Haq mosque near the Virgin Mary church in the Nasr City district of Cairo, religious officials and witnesses said. Story continues The incident occurred amid heightened security around churches ahead of Coptic Christmas which is celebrated on January 7. - 'Flagrant criminal act' - Massad Saad, the son of the prayer leader at Al-Haq mosque, told AFP he was inside the building when other worshippers noticed "a man going up to the roof carrying a bag" but when they followed him they found "two bags". "We informed the police," Saad, a 35-year-old baker, said in a phone interview. There was no immediate confirmation from officials. Government newspaper Al-Ahram reported Sunday that a bomb had been placed in a bag on the roof of a building in Ezzbat al-Haggan, but it did not mention the church or the mosque. On Sunday morning security forces were deployed around the neighbourhood keeping journalists at bay. The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shawki Allam, denounced "the terrorist operation that targeted... the church", on his official Facebook page. He said "extremists" had planted "an explosive device on the roof of Al-Haq mosque... near the Virgin Mary church". Similarly, Al-Azhar, Egypt's highest institution of Sunni Islam, condemned the attack. "The targeting of worship places and killing of innocents is a flagrant criminal act that violates teachings of all religions," it said in a statement. It also voiced its solidarity with state institutions against "terrorism" which it said sought to spoil Coptic celebrations. - String of attacks - Sisi often presents himself as a defender of Christians against extremists but activists and some analysts accuse the state of discriminating against them and not providing enough protection. More than 100 Copts have been killed in jihadist attacks since December 2016. IS claimed an assault in early November in which six Copts and one Anglican died in the central province of Minya. The jihadists killed more than 40 people in twin church bombings in April 2017, and an IS gunman in December that year killed nine people in an attack on a church in a south Cairo suburb. Hundreds of police and soldiers have also been killed in attacks. In late December, three Vietnamese tourists and their Egyptian guide died when a roadside bomb hit their bus on the outskirts of Cairo. The country has been under a state of emergency since April 2017. In February the army launched a large-scale operation dubbed "Sinai 2018" to rid the Sinai Peninsula of jihadists after an attack on a mosque that killed more than 300 people. Kinshasa (AFP) - DR Congo's new president, Felix Tshisekedi, sought on Monday to reassure the country's security forces that he would be as "benevolent" as his predecessor, after taking power in the country's first-ever peaceful change of leadership. Tshisekedi, who has no military experience, has made several overtures to the powerful security apparatus since succeeding long-term president Joseph Kabila after a bitterly-fought election. "Do not worry about anything. You are in good hands, your supreme commander will be as benevolent towards you as his predecessor," he told hundreds of troops and their families in a visit to the presidential guard in Kinshasa. He told the soldiers he planned to check military rations and look at improving the living conditions for soldiers and their families, in a speech greeted with cheers from the crowd. Tshisekedi met senior army commanders on Friday. He was sworn in in January following the December polls, but runner-up Martin Fayulu has dismissed the result as an "electoral coup" masterminded by Kabila. Kabila has stepped down after ruling DR Congo for 18 years, during which he built up a network of supporters in the armed forces and intelligence services. Elements in the military and security forces are seen as major power brokers in the volatile nation, which faces multiple armed conflicts as well as an Ebola outbreak in the east. In December the European Union renewed sanctions imposed on 14 officials, including top security figures, over a brutal crackdown on protest and other human rights violations. On the list is General Gabriel Amisi Kumba, nicknamed "Tango Four" because of his former radio call sign, who was appointed deputy chief of staff of the army by Kabila in July. The bloc has also listed Roger Kibelisa, in charge of internal security, and Delphin Kaimbi, also spelt Kahimbi, former head of military intelligence, who was appointed to another senior intelligence post in July. The Himalayas pierce the sky. But they've been overshadowed. The accelerated melting in the Arctic the fastest warming region on Earth and the Antarctic home to the largest ice sheets on the planet certainly demand widespread scientific and media attention. Yet beyond the continually grim news from the north and south poles is the melting of the "third pole," known as the Hindu Kush Himalaya region. Spreading over 2,000 miles across eight nations (from Afghanistan to Myanmar), these mountainous lands are home to the third-largest stores of ice on the planet and provide water to hundreds of millions of people. A new report written by 210 scientists emphasizes the dramatic melting there this century. The International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) a Nepal-based intergovernmental research organization released the 638-page report on Monday, concluding that these glaciers are expected to lose immense amounts of ice as the mountains warm. Under the most optimistic conditions, the report found that over a third of the ice will vanish by the century's end. But under more extreme climate scenarios wherein global climate efforts fail two-thirds of these mighty glaciers could disappear, with overall ice losses of a whopping 90 percent. "Glacier-wise, it's not a great story," Joseph Shea, one of the report's lead authors and an assistant professor of environmental geomatics at the University of Northern British Columbia, said in an interview. "You go up [to the glaciers] and see that the signs of recent loss are pretty substantial," said Shea, who spent four years living in Nepal, watching firsthand as the ice thinned and, in some cases, vanished. Mountains in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region. Image: Alex Treadway/ICIMOD "The punchline is the glaciers are receding in response to changes in temperature and precipitation theyre wasting away," Alex Gardner, a NASA glaciologist who had no role in the report, said in an interview. Story continues Shea emphasized the importance of reining in heat-trapping carbon emissions ("Every kilogram we dont emit helps"), but noted that the melting will still be considerable this century. The atmosphere is already loaded with carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas that is at its highest levels in some 15 million years. Under the most ambitious scenario of limiting global warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius (or 2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial revolution levels in this century, the report finds that the Hindu Kush Himalaya region will lose one in three of its glaciers. But this scenario is no longer realistic. "We're not gonna hit 1.5 C," acknowledged Shea. "Were gonna blow by that." The reasons are simple. The four biggest carbon emitters China, the U.S., India, and EU haven't yet decreased their emissions in a sustained, impactful way. Last year, carbon emissions in the U.S. popped up. SEE ALSO: It's damn cold, but heat records in the U.S. still dominate And even with 2 degrees Celsius of warming which is also a hugely ambitious climate target around half of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region's glaciers are expected to vanish by century's end, the report concluded. While these are enormous numbers, they're not too shocking. In fact, they're consistent with mainstream climate science. "There are no surprises," Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center who had no involvement in the report, said in an interview. "It's happening everywhere." "I dont know of any glaciated range that isnt showing a loss of ice," Scambos added. "What the global signal tells us is everything is in a state of rapid retreat," added Gardner. Wheat harvesting in Shahr-e-Zarok, Afghanistan. Image: Alex Treadway/ ICIMOD The crux of the problem is local warming on the mountains. The line that separates where it's cold enough to make snow, called the "equilibrium line," keeps rising higher, which means less snow and more melting. "That line pushes up and you expose a bunch of ice to melting," said Shea. Thinning glaciers pose momentous problems for the millions of people living below. "It's not just a symbol of climate change," said Gardner. "These glaciers will have meaningful consequences for the population." Glaciers act like batteries, he said. "They don't make water, they store it and release it." During warmer and dryer times, people and farmers depend on these natural batteries to release water, especially when water becomes a scarce, critical resource. "They are incredibly valuable downstream resources," said Gardner. A NASA-led study found that glaciers in Asia are slowing down. Image: nasa But, sometimes, there's too much water. Less snow means more rain and a quicker run-off into some of the planet's largest rivers, like the Ganges and Yellow. This translates into surges of water, extreme flooding, and crop devastation, the report stated. In the Himalayas and around the globe, the glacier narrative is clear. But just how much they'll ultimately thin and recede above the clouds is contingent upon human-generated carbon emissions. Already, the planet is the warmest it's been in 120,000 years, and ancient glaciers are a visible victim. "When you get up there [to the glaciers] and visually see it, it's stunning," said Shea. "How long have they existed there, and how quickly have we got rid of them?" mused Gardner. Want to help shape the future of investing tools? Participate in a short research study and receive a 6-month subscription to the award winning Simply Wall St research tool (valued at $60)! If youre interested in China New Town Development Company Limited (HKG:1278), then you might want to consider its beta (a measure of share price volatility) in order to understand how the stock could impact your portfolio. Volatility is considered to be a measure of risk in modern finance theory. Investors may think of volatility as falling into two main categories. The first type is company specific volatility. Investors use diversification across uncorrelated stocks to reduce this kind of price volatility across the portfolio. The other type, which cannot be diversified away, is the volatility of the entire market. Every stock in the market is exposed to this volatility, which is linked to the fact that stocks prices are correlated in an efficient market. Some stocks see their prices move in concert with the market. Others tend towards stronger, gentler or unrelated price movements. Some investors use beta as a measure of how much a certain stock is impacted by market risk (volatility). While we should keep in mind that Warren Buffett has cautioned that Volatility is far from synonymous with risk, beta is still a useful factor to consider. To make good use of it you must first know that the beta of the overall market is one. A stock with a beta below one is either less volatile than the market, or more volatile but not corellated with the overall market. In comparison a stock with a beta of over one tends to be move in a similar direction to the market in the long term, but with greater changes in price. View our latest analysis for China New Town Development What does 1278s beta value mean to investors? With a beta of 0.96, (which is quite close to 1) the share price of China New Town Development has historically been about as voltile as the broader market. If the future looks like the past, we could therefore consider it likely that the stock price will experience share price volatility that is roughly similar to the overall market. Many would argue that beta is useful in position sizing, but fundamental metrics such as revenue and earnings are more important overall. You can see China New Town Developments revenue and earnings in the image below. Story continues SEHK:1278 Income Statement Export February 4th 19 Could 1278s size cause it to be more volatile? China New Town Development is a rather small company. It has a market capitalisation of HK$1.9b, which means it is probably under the radar of most investors. It doesnt take much money to really move the share price of a company as small as this one. That makes it somewhat unusual that it has a beta value so close to the overall market. What this means for you: It is probable that there is a link between the share price of China New Town Development and the broader market, since it has a beta value quite close to one. However, long term investors are generally well served by looking past market volatility and focussing on the underlying development of the business. If thats your game, metrics such as revenue, earnings and cash flow will be more useful. This article aims to educate investors about beta values, but its well worth looking at important company-specific fundamentals such as China New Town Developments financial health and performance track record. I highly recommend you dive deeper by considering the following: Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for 1278s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for 1278s outlook. Past Track Record: Has 1278 been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of 1278s historicals for more clarity. Other Interesting Stocks: Its worth checking to see how 1278 measures up against other companies on valuation. You could start with this free list of prospective options. 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. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Assessing AmerisourceBergen Corporations (NYSE:ABC) past track record of performance is an insightful exercise for investors. It allows us to reflect on whether or not the company has met or exceed expectations, which is a great indicator for future performance. Today I will assess ABCs recent performance announced on 31 December 2018 and evaluate these figures to its long-term trend and industry movements. Check out our latest analysis for AmerisourceBergen Did ABC beat its long-term earnings growth trend and its industry? ABCs trailing twelve-month earnings (from 31 December 2018) of US$1.2b has jumped 22% compared to the previous year. However, this one-year growth rate has been lower than its average earnings growth rate over the past 5 years of 34%, indicating the rate at which ABC is growing has slowed down. To understand whats happening, lets examine whats transpiring with margins and if the entire industry is facing the same headwind. NYSE:ABC Income Statement Export February 4th 19 In terms of returns from investment, AmerisourceBergen has invested its equity funds well leading to a 36% return on equity (ROE), above the sensible minimum of 20%. However, its return on assets (ROA) of 3.5% is below the US Healthcare industry of 6.3%, indicating AmerisourceBergens are utilized less efficiently. Furthermore, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for AmerisourceBergens debt level, has declined over the past 3 years from 20% to 16%. This correlates with an increase in debt holding, with debt-to-equity ratio rising from 81% to 148% over the past 5 years. What does this mean? AmerisourceBergens track record can be a valuable insight into its earnings performance, but it certainly doesnt tell the whole story. Companies that have performed well in the past, such as AmerisourceBergen gives investors conviction. However, the next step would be to assess whether the future looks as optimistic. I suggest you continue to research AmerisourceBergen to get a more holistic view of the stock by looking at: Story continues Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for ABCs future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for ABCs outlook. Financial Health: Are ABCs 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 High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 31 December 2018. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. 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. As a native of New York, Danny Green is no stranger to harsh winter conditions, but that doesnt mean he was prepared for the polar vortex thats gripped the city of Toronto in recent weeks. The Raptors shooting guard is getting his first taste of a Toronto winter and, well, its been a bit of an adjustment. Whether its taking his dogs for a bitterly-cold walk or cruising the snowy city streets, this season in Toronto has been cold comfort for a player who spent the previous eight seasons in San Antonio. In this type of weather its not really the driver, its the car, said Green when his Inside the Green Room co-host Harrison Sanford questioned his winter driving skills. Considering the car, whether its 2-wheel, four-wheel drive or has winter tires, this is going to show you how good the driver is. So without those things, if youre officially getting places without hitting people, I think youre a pretty damn good driver. The Raptors shooting guard discusses his first Canadian winter experience on the latest episode of Inside the Green Room. All jokes aside, Green isnt the only one in his household that has had to adjust to a frigid winter north of the border. They (Greens dogs) enjoy the snow. The cold? Sometimes. When it gets really cold theyre out there for very little time and ready to run back in. Life is certainly different in Toronto, but theres one thing about this brutal winter that Green is still getting used to. Its funny, talking about snow, people are like dont show Kawhi! Like hes not going to see the snow. People are sending messages like, keep him inside! Im like, man, Im worried about me. Im not worried about keeping somebody else inside. Its nice to see that the fans are trying to still, like, keep us and recruit us. Like, its not normal like this. This is abnormally cold. We dont get this type of stuff. Apologizing to me, sorry for the weather! You dont have to keep apologizing to me for having snow. Subscribe to the Inside the Green Room podcast More Inside the Green Room on Yahoo Sports Canada The EU-Morocco joint parliamentary committee will hold its 10th annual meeting in Rabat on March 1st to look into the achievements made by this important body set up by Rabat and the European bloc to bolster their political cooperation and protect their geo-strategic interests. During their 10th annual meeting, Moroccan MPs and their European peers will discuss several issues related to EU-Morocco relations, political reforms, cooperation prospects in economy, trade, human rights, womens rights, youth and migration as well as geopolitical and regional issues. Co-chaired by MP Abderrahim Atmoun & MEP Ines Ayala Sender, the Morocco-EU joint parliamentary committee will also hold in Rabat a forum on security and fight against radicalism. Participants will discuss security challenges and assess the progress made in the fight against radicalism in the Mediterranean region and the Sahel-Sahara region. The EU has extensive ties with Morocco in trade, political and security matters. The Union is Moroccos largest trading partner, accounting for 59.4 pc of its trade in 2017. The same year, 64.6 pc of Moroccos exports went to the EU, and 56.5 pc of Moroccos imports came from the EU. Morocco is the EUs 22nd trading partner representing 1.0 pc of the EUs total trade with the world. Total trade in goods between the EU and Morocco in 2017 amounted to 37.4 billion. Two-way trade in services amounted to 8.8 billion in 2016 with EU imports of services representing 5.2 billion and exports 3.6 billion. Here are the companies the Yahoo Finance team is watching today. Sysco is in the spotlight. The food distribution company served up better than expected quarterly profits. Domestic sales rose to over $10 billion with international sales rising to nearly $3 billion. Shares of Sysco are up about 4% in the past 12 months. Investors want a slice of Papa John's. Thats because activist investor Starboard Value made a $200 million investment in the troubled pizza chain. Starboard's CEO Jeffrey Smith has also been named chairman of Papa John's board. The changes come as the pizza chain deals with declining same-store sales amid controversial comments made by its founder. Netflix isn't being shy, for once, about its viewership numbers. The company says the number of people watching the streaming giant plunged 32% in the U.S. yesterday, as more people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl. That's compared to a regular Sunday. However, people were still talking about Netflix during the big game. The company ran a commercial for "Our Planet". An upcoming animal show debuting in April. Nintendo's games for the Switch are selling like gangbusters. The company's popular console has five games that have sold more than 10 million copies. Some of the top sellers include 'Super Mario Odyssey' with about 14 million copies sold and coming in at number 1 is 'Mario Kart 8 Deluxe' with more than 15 million copies sold. It looks like Foxconn's plans to build a factory in Wisconsin are back on. Over the weekend, The company shifted its strategy to build the government-subsidized plant for LCD screens again, after its chairman spoke with President Trump. Foxconn has changed its plans for the factory multiple times since 2017. BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's ELN rebels have freed three civilian helicopter crew members captured more than three weeks ago, the country's high peace commissioner said on Sunday. The men - Maxwell Joya, Carlos Quiceno and Julio Diaz - were taken hostage by the National Liberation Army (ELN) on Jan. 11, in the Hacari area of northeastern Norte de Santander province. They appear to be in good health, the commissioner said in a statement. The rebels said last month they had burned the helicopter and taken the nearly $550,000 in cash they found aboard. Local media reported the chartered helicopter was hired to securely transport the cash. President Ivan Duque reactivated Interpol red notices, similar to an international arrest warrant, against ELN leaders after a car bombing in Bogota claimed by the group killed 21 police cadets in January. Several of the group's top commanders are in Cuba, participating in long-stalled peace talks with the government to end more than five decades of fighting. The rebel leaders in Cuba have said they will not leave unless Duque complies with conditions agreed to by his predecessor for their return home in the case of a breakdown in talks. Though the ELN claimed responsibility for the Bogota bombing in a statement, calling it a legitimate act of war, the negotiators said they had no prior knowledge of the attack. The 2,000-strong guerrilla group, founded in 1964, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. The ELN is believed to be holding 14 more hostages. Duque has repeatedly said talks will not begin again until all captives are freed. Cuba previously hosted negotiations between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group, which demobilized in 2017 and is now a political party. (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Today we are going to look at China Yuchai International Limited (NYSE:CYD) to see whether it might be an attractive investment prospect. In particular, well consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), as that can give us insight into how profitably the company is able to employ capital in its business. First, well go over how we calculate ROCE. Next, well compare it to others in its industry. And finally, well look at how its current liabilities are impacting 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. All else being equal, a better business will have a higher ROCE. 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. So, How Do We Calculate ROCE? Analysts use this formula to calculate return on capital employed: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets Current Liabilities) Or for China Yuchai International: 0.11 = CN1.3b (CN21b CN9.4b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2018.) Therefore, China Yuchai International has an ROCE of 11%. See our latest analysis for China Yuchai International Does China Yuchai International Have A Good ROCE? When making comparisons between similar businesses, investors may find ROCE useful. We can see China Yuchai Internationals ROCE is around the 12% average reported by the Machinery industry. Independently of how China Yuchai International compares to its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms appears decent, and the company may be worthy of closer investigation. NYSE:CYD Last Perf February 4th 19 It is important to remember that ROCE shows past performance, and is 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. ROCE is only a point-in-time measure. Future performance is what matters, and you can see analyst predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company. Story continues How China Yuchai Internationals Current Liabilities Impact Its ROCE Short term (or current) liabilities, are things like supplier invoices, overdrafts, or tax bills 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 counteract this, we check if a company has high current liabilities, relative to its total assets. China Yuchai International has total assets of CN21b and current liabilities of CN9.4b. Therefore its current liabilities are equivalent to approximately 45% of its total assets. With this level of current liabilities, China Yuchai Internationals ROCE is boosted somewhat. Our Take On China Yuchai Internationals ROCE China Yuchai Internationals ROCE does look good, but the level of current liabilities also contribute to that. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with modest (or no) debt, trading on a P/E below 20. 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. Chesapeake Energy Corporation CHK concluded the purchase of the earlier announced WildHorse Resource Development Corporation in exchange for cash and stock. The deal is valued at $3 billion. Also, the company will also assume $930 million net debt of Wildhorse, taking the value to almost $4 billion. On Jan 31, 2019, the merger was approved by Chesapeake Energys shareholders and WildHorse stockholders at special meetings. The consideration for each common stockholder of WildHorse was either 5.989 shares of Chesapeake common stock or a combination of 5.336 shares of Chesapeake common stock and $3.00 in cash in exchange for each share of WildHorse common stock. Per the terms of the agreement, David W. Hayes has joined the Chesapeake Energys board, effective immediately. Additionally, Jay C. Graham will be appointed to fill the next vacancy. In a separate vote in the meeting, Chesapeake Energy shareholders gave approval to alter restated certificate of incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock to 3,000,000,000 shares from 2,000,000,000 shares. The acquisition is expected to increase Chesapeake Energys exposure in the Eagle Ford Shale by about 420,000 net acres, of which about 80-85% is undeveloped in the Eagle Ford Shale and Austin Chalk formations. The assets have strategic access to premium Gulf Coast markets. Chesapeake Energy also expects average annual savings of $200-$280 million, totaling $1-$1.5 billion by 2023. The company expects the proportion of oil in total production to increase by nearly 60% from 2018 to 2020. From the companys expected oil mix of only 19% in 2018, the proportion is likely to increase to 30% in 2020. This is expected to reduce commodity price risk and stabilize the companys earnings and cashflows. In fact, the energy firm expects EBITDA margin per barrels of oil equivalent to rise 50% by 2020. Zacks Rank & Key Picks Chesapeake carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few better-ranked players in the energy space are Evergy, Inc EVRG, Sunoco L.P SUN and Contura Energy CTRA, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Evergy, through its operating subsidiaries Kansas City Power & Light Company (KCP&L) and Westar Energy, Inc, provides clean, safe and reliable energy in Kansas and Missouri. The company delivered average negative earnings surprise of 11.1% in the last four quarters. Headquartered in Houston, TX, Sunoco operates as a wholesale fuel distributor. The company is expected to witness year-over-year earnings decline of 38.9% in 2018. Bristol, U.S-based Contura Energy is a mining company. The company generated average negative surprise of 17.9% in the trailing four quarters. Today's Best Stocks from Zacks Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%. This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year. See their latest picks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Sunoco LP (SUN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Evergy Inc. (EVRG) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research San Salvador (AFP) - Salvadorans on Sunday elected Nayib Bukele, the popular former mayor of San Salvador, as the Central American country's new president -- a result that ends the near 30-year grip on power of its two largest parties. The country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) awarded him 53.78 percent of votes with 87.67 percent counted -- a lead it considered "irreversible." The 37-year-old president-elect, of the conservative Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) party, wore jeans and a leather jacket as he celebrated with supporters -- thousands chanting his name and waving flags in the capital's central Plaza Morazan. "It's a victory for the Salvadoran people, today we won in the first round and we have made history," said Bukele, who despite being a firm favorite was expected to face a second round of voting. He has promised to increase investment in education and fight corruption -- but his main task will be to confront insecurity in a country ravaged by gang violence. He will also have to form an alliance with the rightwing opposition, which dominates congress, and govern with them until at least 2021 when the next legislative elections are held. Bukele's opponents -- Carlos Calleja of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), and Hugo Martinez of the leftist Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN) -- quickly recognized the win. For nearly three decades, their parties have had a firm hold on Salvadoran politics. "We recognize the results of these elections. We are going to call the president-elect to wish him luck in facing the challenges in this country," said Calleja, the runner-up with 31.62 percent of votes. The FMLN's Martinez took third place with 13.77 percent. Meanwhile, Organization of American States (OAS) secretary general Luis Almagro congratulated Bukele on Twitter. "We congratulate @nayibbukele for his historic victory in the first round. We celebrate his proposal for a new chapter for El Salvador. And we salute the political matuirty of the contending candidates in accepting his victory," Almagro said. Story continues - Long lines - Some 5.2 million people participated in the election, according to the elections authority chief Julio Olivo. Voters formed long lines outside polling stations in parts of San Salvador, where gang violence and insecurity are endemic. El Salvador is among the world's most violent countries with a murder rate of 51 per 100,000 citizens. "It's honestly scary to go out alone in the street, you never know what can happen you," first-time voter Gabriela Solorzano, 19, said at a polling station in the gang stronghold of Mejicanos in the capital's north, her brother holding her hand. In nearby streets, where graffiti on the walls testify to the presence of criminal gangs, many voters arrived aboard buses laid on by the political parties. But outgoing President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, of the FMLN, said voting proceeded "very calmly and very normally." Some 23,000 police officers and 15,000 soldiers were deployed to protect the sixth presidential election since democracy was restored in 1992 -- after 12 years of bloody civil war between state security forces and leftist guerrillas. - 'Daring security solutions' - For analyst Roberto Canas, Salvadorans "buried" the bipartisanship that "could not read the needs of the people, such as the insecurity experienced daily on the streets." Confronting insecurity will certainly be a key challenge for Bukele, who Canas said "personified the population's tiredness." According to authorities, gang violence was the source of most of last year's 3,340 reported murders -- and gangs are said to have 70,000 members, with 17,000 behind bars. "The new president must offer daring security solutions," Carlos Carcach, an analyst and professor at the Higher School of Economy and Business in El Salvador, told AFP. In the past, rightwing governments opted for repression or secret negotiations with gangs. Meanwhile under the FMLN's Mauricio Funes (2009- 2014), there was a truce between the country's two main gangs which temporarily reduced homicides. Another task will be to reduce illegal immigration to the United States -- as President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off aid if the flow of Central American migrants is not stemmed. During the last few months of 2018, more than 3,000 Salvadorans joined caravans marching towards the United States, fleeing gangs and a lack of jobs. The other main worry for Salvadorans is the economy. Although it grew by 2.6 percent in 2018, its biggest rise in five years, that is considered insufficient to cover the demand for new employment. Bukele will have to juggle the need to raise taxes to cover an external debt of more than $9.5 billion while trying to maintain social programs in a country where the minimum wage of $300 a month is barely enough to buy food. Just over 30 percent of El Salvador's 6.6 million inhabitants live below the poverty line. Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday pledged Can$53 million (US$40 million) in humanitarian aid for Venezuelans amid a deepening crisis. "Today, Canada is stepping up and announcing $53 million to address the most pressing needs of Venezuelans on the ground, including almost 3 million refugees," Trudeau told a gathering of the Lima Group of nations. "The bulk of the funds will go to trusted partners, and neighboring countries to help them support Venezuela and Venezuelans," he said. The 14-member Lima Group, which includes most Latin American countries and Canada, met to discuss how to support opposition leader Juan Guaido, who proclaimed himself acting president last month. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Deputy Head of European Diplomacy Helga Schmid were to participate by videoconference in the debates. Guaido, who heads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, addressed the gathering in a video message, saying he looked forward to having "free and fair elections as soon as possible in order to restore democracy to Venezuela." Venezuelans are "very close to reclaiming their freedom," he said. Most of the bloc last week urged Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down, and make way for elections to deal with an economic collapse that has sent Venezuelans flooding into neighboring countries. Madrid, London, Paris, Berlin and several other European capitals on Monday also backed Guaido as interim president of Venezuela after Maduro refused to call a presidential election despite a European ultimatum. Created in 2017, the Lima Group includes Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico (which did not recognize Guaido), Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Guyana and Saint Lucia. - Trudeau, Guaido call - Trudeau, who has been personally involved in the crisis, spoke with Guaido by telephone on Sunday. The two men called for the organization of a "free and fair" presidential election in Venezuela and reaffirmed the "illegitimacy" of Maduro's presidency. Story continues Maduro began a new term in office last month after disputed 2018 elections whose results were rejected as invalid by the opposition. Julio Borges, leader of the Primero Justicia Party of Venezuela and Guaido's special envoy, told reporters as he arrived for the Lima Group meeting that European backing of Guaido was "very good news." "We are hoping and we are expecting at this meeting of the Lima Group to have full support for the humanitarian channel, for the coalition for freedom in Venezuela, full support for free elections in our country, full support for new measures for democratic pressure in order to finish the regime of Maduro," he said. "We really believe that what we are doing is not only for Venezuela, it's the fall of the Berlin wall in Latin America and it's a new chapter for history." The Canadian funding will go specifically to providing emergency food assistance, healthcare, water and sanitation, education and protection services for those most affected by the crisis, including refugees. Canada will also help monitor and report on the human rights situation in Venezuela. Morocco has invested heavily in ports infrastructure to become a competitor of its European neighbors, Spain and Portugal, in port-related items in international rankings, Jaime Perez-Seoane de Zunzunegui, regional editor for North Africa for Oxford Business Group told the Wall Street Journal. Moroccos ports really shine, ranking 16th globally for liner shipping connectivity, and 28th for efficiency of seaport services, the paper said in an analysis on Moroccos infrastructure. Tanger Med II, slated to open this year, will add six million container capacity and push the port into the top 20 globally. Last year half Moroccos exports transited through the deep-sea northern port. The paper highlighted that Moroccos investments in infrastructure underpinned economic growth as they led to higher exports, essentially in the automotive and aeronautics sectors Morocco has invested heavily in building international airports and container ports that serve as the Worlds platform to Africa, the Wall Street Journal said. The quality of Moroccos infrastructure-particularly its transport networks-reinforces its potential as the worlds portal to Africa, the US paper commented. It recalled that Morocco has 18 airports among them 16 international, linking Morocco to the main economic capitals of the world. Airports have upgraded to allow for doubling traffic by 2020, and, in Marrakech, tripling capacity to nine million passengers, it said. The paper also shed light on Moroccos railway systems which it described as one of the largest in Africa. The launch of a high-speed train service linking the countrys major financial and economic hubs of Casablanca and Tangier will further link business communities and facilitate investments, the paper said quoting specialists. Southern Californians can expect rain through Tuesday, but the National Weather Service said showers will be much weaker than Saturday's storm that triggered mudslides, road closures and power outages. A steady but light-to-moderate rain will move across the area through Tuesday, said meteorologist Keily Delerne with the Los Angeles forecast office. Rain rates will stay below half an inch per hour, the office forecast, so shallower minor debris flows may be possible in the Woolsey and Hill fire burn areas. The high ground saturation from the heavy rains the past couple days, Delerne said, poses more risk than the intensity. "If you have continuous rain for a long period of time, the grounds can only absorb so much," Delerne said. "So, flooding is definitely a concern." The Weather Prediction Center predicted flash flooding and debris flow risk on Monday and Monday night in burn scar areas. Cars drive through a flooded street on Saturday after a storm dumped heavy rain in Los Angeles. Winds knocked down power lines in Santa Barbara County on Saturday and reached 89 mph in Los Angeles County, Delerne said, but weakened by Sunday morning. Speeds slowed to 40 mph or below and are expected to diminish further, the National Weather Service said. The storm also was to blame for the death of 50-year-old Jeff Dye, a search-and-rescue team member who was killed in a crash on wet roads on Interstate 5 in Los Angeles County. The crash injured nine other people, including two other team members. More: Insurance claims from deadly 2018 California wildfires top $11.4B More: Rapper Soulja Boy 'thankful to be alive' after car is trapped in California mudslide A minivan carrying a family was traveling too fast for the wet conditions, lost control and plowed into members of the team, Los Angeles County fire Capt. Tony Imbrenda said. This is a very unfortunate situation that couldve been avoided, Imbrenda said, warning motorists to slow down in the rain. In Northern California, the Weather Prediction Center said the storm will bring heavy snow in the Sierras through Tuesday morning. Contributing: Doyle Rice and Dalvin Brown, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California rains are weakening but Monday could bring flooding, debris flows BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The British parliament is making an unreasonable request of Ireland to replace an already agreed solution to avoid a physical border on the island of Ireland after Brexit with something else, Ireland's foreign minister said on Monday. The British parliament decided last week it wanted Prime Minister Theresa May to renegotiate the country's withdrawal treaty with the European Union to replace the agreement reach on the Irish backstop with "alternative arrangements". But Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told reporters in Brussels that so far he has heard of no "alternative arrangements" that would work. "The problem has been that none of those ideas around alternative arrangements have actually stood up to scrutiny. We certainly havent seen any that have," Coveney said. "We spent well over a year looking at different ways of providing the guarantee of no physical border infrastructure on the island of Ireland to protect an all Ireland economy which reinforces a peace process. Many hours were involved with coming up with a legally credible and pragmatic solution," he said. "I have yet to hear any new thinking that goes beyond whats already been tested. What Ireland is being asked to do by some in Westminster is to essentially do away with an agreed solution between the UK government and EU negotiators and to replace it with wishful thinking. That is a very unreasonable request to ask the Irish government to be flexible on," he said. (Reporting By Robin Emmott, writing by Jan Strupczewski) Brasilia (AFP) - Brazilian Justice Minister Sergio Moro unveiled a series of measures on Monday designed to battle crime, corruption and violence in Latin America's biggest country, acting on President Jair Bolsonaro's law-and-order agenda. "The Brazilian government is declaring war on organized crime. A moral and legal war," Bolsonaro said in a message read out in Congress in his absence as he recovered in hospital from abdominal surgery. Previous governments had been too lax "in protecting victims and focused on the victimization of criminals," he said. Bolsonaro, a right-wing former paratrooper, has taken a hard line on crime in Brazil, where nearly 64,000 murders a year are committed. The proposed measures include a bill allowing police to use their weapons in "legitimate defense" if facing a risk of "armed conflict" that puts lives in danger. Moro, a former star anti-corruption judge, also called for more severe punishment for illegal campaign financing. He proposes to make the law state explicitly that anyone convicted of a crime must be incarcerated after they have lost their first appeal. Currently, the decision of when to begin serving a sentence is left to the judge. That was an issue in the case of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was sentenced to 12 years on corruption charges but sought unsuccessfully to stay out of jail while appeals were pending so he could run for president. Brazilian courts ruled against him but the Supreme Court is expected to take up the issue in April, and give a definitive ruling that could impact thousands of inmates, including Lula. Moro said crime and corruption were often inter-linked and needed to be tackled together. "Organized crime uses corruption to obtain impunity and is linked to a good number of murders," he told a news conference in Brasilia. He added that the "legitimate defense" bill for police did not broaden the criteria for protecting officers from prosecution over the use of deadly force. "It's not a license to kill," he said. "A police officer shouldn't wait to be hit by a bullet to react. But that doesn't mean he is authorized to commit murder." He added: "We are only making clear in what daily situations legitimate defense applies... This is something that is already done in practice," he said. ROME (AP) Rescuers on Monday located the bodies of four skiers in Italy's Alps, a day after they went missing, raising the death toll in recent avalanches in the country to six. The Valdostano Alpine Rescue aircraft, searching for two British and two French skiers who had gone skiing on Sunday in the Veny valley near the resort town of Courmayeur, spotted three of the bodies in early morning. Later in the day, the Italian news agency ANSA quoted Valdostano Alpine Rescue rescue official Paolo Comune as saying searchers had found the body of the fourth skier, a Polish native who resided in Chamonix, France. On Sunday, two Italian skiers were killed by avalanches one in the Valle d'Aosta region, the other in the Alto Adige (South Tyrol) region. Authorities had warned that avalanche danger was high in the Italian Alps over the weekend. In a non-avalanche fatality, an Italian snowboarder died in a fall in a crevasse Sunday in an off-piste area in the Valtellina Alpine area of Lombardy. By Jonathan Barrett and Swati Pandey CANBERRA (Reuters) - A special government-appointed inquiry excoriated Australia's financial sector for misconduct on Monday, referring two dozen cases to regulators for possible legal action but leaving the structure of the country's powerful banks in place. Regulators will be subjected to a new oversight body and the financial industry's pay will be overhauled to remove conflicts of interest, according to the recommendations of the so-called Royal Commission. But the recommendations stopped short of measures that would threaten the A$400 billion ($289 billion) industry's dominant position. The recommendations come after the public inquiry heard 11 months of shocking revelations of the financial industry's wrongdoing, including that fees were charged to the accounts of dead people and that cash bribes were paid over the counter to win mortgage business, wiping A$60 billion from the country's top finance stocks. The conservative government, which was initially opposed to the setting up of the inquiry, promised it would act on all the 76 recommendations. While the changes are likely to make the financial sector more liable to be punished for violations, banks in the world's fourteenth-biggest economy have been spared any enforced breakup or interference in the way they choose to lend money. The inquiry said it would be costly and disruptive to separate banks providing products and advice. "I don't know that it was a missed opportunity but a lot of people were thinking that he would force structural separation," said Pamela Hanrahan, a professor of commercial law at University of New South Wales, who advised the inquiry, referring to its Commissioner Kenneth Hayne. "There are parts of the community that might have expected the commissioner to go in a bit harder ... but he has left a very clear pathway for whomever is in government and for the industry to think about what they need to change." Story continues The inquiry recommended sweeping changes to the business and pay models of mortgage and insurance broking, financial advice and pension fund management. Authorities were urged to consider laying charges for misconduct like charging fees for services not rendered, including instances at major lenders Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank Ltd and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. Misconduct reached into the sector's upper echelons, with top wealth manager AMP Ltd engaging in board-level deception of a regulator over the deliberate charging of customers for financial advice it never gave. Firms were found to prey on some of society's most vulnerable customers, highlighted by the case of an insurer who used aggressive sales techniques to sell an opaque product to a young man with Down Syndrome. "The price paid by our community has been immense and goes beyond just the financial. Businesses have been broken, and the emotional stress and personal pain have broken lives," Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said. The recommendations included banning trailing commissions for mortgage brokers, forcing financial planners to disclose any fees they receive for selling products, and banning banks from charging default interest for farm businesses affected by drought. Regulators also needed greater oversight after they were accused of working too closely with the banks. When misconduct was revealed, it either went unpunished or the consequences did not reflect the seriousness of what had been done, the inquiry found. Australia's corporate regulator said in response to the report that it would prioritize serious matters referred to it by the Royal Commission for possible prosecutions. BANK SHARES RISE Ahead of the report's release, which came after the close of market trading in Sydney, shares in the "Big Four" banks closed up about 1 percent as investors looked forward to some certainty around the new regulatory framework. However, wealth managers, whose reputations were shredded in the inquiry, were punished with IOOF Holdings Ltd stock closing down 4.5 percent and AMP sliding to a record low. The broader market closed 0.5 percent higher. "The key macro issue we have been interested in is if this was going to further reduce the banks' willingness to lend, which would be a further headwind to the economy which is already under some pressure," said Andrew Ticehurst, a strategist at Nomura. "At this stage, it does not appear to be the case. It would be a bit milder than expected." Fallout from the Royal Commission has already prompted banks to tighten lending practices in their core mortgage businesses, contributing to some of the biggest housing price falls in a generation. The report comes ahead of an election expected in May in which falling house prices could be a hot-button issue. The government is fighting for its survival with opinion polls suggesting an election victory for the center-left Labor party. Labor says it expects to adopt all the commission's recommendations. While Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also said he will take up the recommendations, he has warned against overreaching and cutting off credit flows. FAIR GO The report from Hayne, a former High Court justice, found that the industry's problems were exacerbated by an unwillingness to accept responsibility. "That is, there remains a reluctance in some entities to form and then to give practical effect to their understanding of what is ethical, of what is efficient, honest and fair, of what is the right thing to do," the report said. National Australia Bank Chairman Ken Henry came in for particular criticism after appearing dismissive during his public interrogation by the commission's barristers. "I thought it telling that Dr Henry seemed unwilling to accept any criticism of how the board had dealt with some issues," Commissioner Hayne wrote, adding he was "not as confident as I would wish to be that the lessons of the past have been learned". Australian Banking Association chief Anna Bligh said banks "accept full responsibility for these failings and they know that they must now change to ensure that this never happens again". "Banks are determined to learn the lessons, to fix the problems and to make it right," she said. ($1 = 1.3847 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Jonathan Barrett and Swati Pandey; Additional reporting by Byron Kaye, Paulina Duran, Tom Westbrook and Colin Packham; Editing by Stephen Coates and Muralikumar Anantharaman) Congratulations, you've been offered a seat in one of the schools to which you've applied. All the hard work has paid off, there's just one problem: This school isn't your top choice, and you're still waiting to hear from schools you'd choose over this one. However, the seat deposit deadline -- typically sometime in April -- is fast approaching, and the wait lists just aren't moving. [Read: 5 Traits That Help People Get Into Top Law Schools.] Does putting in a deposit lower your chances of being admitted from a wait list? Should you forego putting in a deposit in your safety and risk being left without a spot? Here are some things to know. Putting in a deposit for one school has no impact on your chances elsewhere. Simply put, law schools don't know whether -- or where -- you've accepted an offer while reviewing your application. The one exception is if you've applied early decision, but if you applied in the regular cycle, there is no way that putting in a deposit would impact your chances anywhere else. [Read: How Submitting Your Law School Application Early Could Pay Off.] If you need some extra time to think, ask for it. Many applicants are apprehensive about approaching law school admission offices for fear that it would reflect poorly on them. In reality, that's what the offices are there for, especially after you've been offered a seat. As long as you're respectful in your request, and don't bombard the office with daily emails, the school will think no less of you. While extensions generally aren't granted just because an applicant can't make up their mind, a well-reasoned email could go a long way. A proper reason, mind you, isn't limited to extenuating personal circumstances like a family emergency, but also includes more logistical justification like waiting to hear the school's determination on financial aid. Committing to more than one school might not be in your best interest. In the past, the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) had an explicit policy of disclosing to schools whether students who committed to them have already committed to another school, which could result in revocation of an admission offer or scholarship award, depending on the school's policy. Duke University School of Law, for example, requires you to certify that you have withdrawn from all other schools to which you were admitted. Story continues While LSAC's policy on disclosing the information to schools is not publicly available, it's probably not a good idea to place multiple deposits unless you have a very good reason. While schools aren't likely to withdraw an offer because of multiple deposits, they hate the practice, given that it impacts planning of scholarships, movement of wait lists, etc. You don't want to start your relationship with the school on that note. Making a deposit doesn't mean that you won't be getting additional money. Many applicants mistakenly believe that once you put in your deposit, there's no point in approaching the school trying to negotiate a scholarship. The reasoning is valid: The school already has you committed; why would they offer you any money that they can use to woo others? [Read: How to Go to Law School for Free.] However, letting the school know that the situation has changed -- for example, if you were offered a seat at another, higher ranked school -- might impact their initial decision. As always, approach them in a polite, tactful way and avoid making the inquiry come off as an ultimatum, and you might be surprised by the outcome. Finally, a quick piece of advice on deposits in general: Sure, giving up several hundred dollars you had put on a deposit -- and then spending a few hundred more on a second one -- may be frustrating, but look at the big picture: the deposit is just a drop in the bucket compared to the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on your legal education and room and board. The deposit is just a drop in the bucket, so don't let that drop dictate the next three years of your life and beyond. By Noel Randewich SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple very briefly retook its title as the most valuable publicly listed U.S. company on Monday, beating out Microsoft and Amazon.com, while Alphabet was close behind the trio as it prepared to report its quarterly results. With Microsoft and Apple rallying almost 3 percent, Apple's market capitalization for a few seconds was $806.6 billion, exceeding Microsoft's by $200 million and Amazon's by about $1.2 billion. Microsoft quickly returned to its spot as the most valuable company, but Apple was on track to end the session above Amazon, up 0.4 percent, taking the No 2 spot. Average analyst price targets imply Amazon would become by far the most valuable U.S. publicly-listed company at $1.03 trillion, followed by Microsoft at $967 billion, Alphabet at $927 billion and Apple at just $835 billion, according to Refinitiv data. Tech heavyweights' market cap - https://tmsnrt.rs/2HTwYRR Apple's stock has risen 11 percent since its quarterly report last Tuesday, with investors betting it was oversold following months of concern about a slowdown in iPhone demand, and the company's rare revenue warning on Jan. 2 related to soft demand in China. After touching a record $1.1 trillion last October, Apple's market capitalization fell gradually, and it was overtaken in December by Amazon and Microsoft. Apple's stock market value hit a low of $675 billion on Jan. 3 after its revenue warning, but then steadily recovered, helped in part by a quarterly report that was better than feared by investors. While Apple has gained in recent sessions, Microsoft and Amazon's stocks have fallen after their quarterly reports. Amazon has declined about 4 percent since Thursday, when it forecast first-quarter sales below Wall Street estimates and warned over new regulations in India. Since Wednesday, when Microsoft met targets for its quarterly results and forecast, its stock has slipped nearly 1 percent. Google-parent Alphabet was up 2.6 percent, putting its stock market value at $788 billion. After the bell, the company is expected to post quarterly revenue of $38.9 billion, up 20 percent, and a 12 percent increase in non-GAAP net income to $7.7 billion, according to Refinitiv data. (Reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco, additional reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bangalore; Editing by Alistair Bell) For Immediate Release Chicago, IL February 4, 2018 Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This weeks list includes Alphabet GOOGL, Disney DIS, Snap SNAP, General Motors GM and Spotify SPOT. Q4 Earnings Picture Better than Feared The market has justifiably taken a sigh of relief about the picture emerging from the Q4 earnings season. Not that the earnings picture is great, but rather that it is not as bad as many in the market had feared ahead of the start of this earnings season. Plenty of reports are still to come, with this week alone bringing in more than 500 earnings releases, including 98 from S&P 500 members. But with results from 235 S&P 500 members already out, the trends established already will most likely carry through the rest of this reporting cycle. We will share the current scorecard and whats on deck this week a little later, but lets first point out the key trends that we have seen from the Q4 results through Friday, February 1st. First , growth is decelerating. This isnt a surprise, as we knew already that Q4 growth would be materially below the pace set in the first three quarters of the year. Total earnings for the 113 index members that have reported are up +13.7% from the same period last year on +6.7% higher revenues. Earnings and revenue growth for the same cohort of companies had been +23.5% and +9.8% in the preceding earnings season, respectively. The growth pace is on track to decelerate even further in the current and coming quarters, as we will show a little later. Second , companies appear to be struggling to beat consensus EPS estimates. For the 235 index members that have reported results already, 66.8% are beating EPS estimates and only 63.4% are beating revenue estimates. For the same cohort of companies, the proportion of positive EPS and revenue surprises was 77.9% and 62.1% in the Q3 earnings season, respectively. Story continues The lag on this front earlier on was more notable on the revenues side, with revenue beats tracking below historical periods. But as you can see above, EPS beats are even more notably tracking below historical periods. The fact is that the Q4 EPS beats percentage is the lowest in more than 3 years. With Q4 positive surprises this hard to come by, one would reasonably assume that perhaps estimates had been too high. We know that wasnt the case as estimates for the quarter had fallen the most of any other recent periods. Third , estimates for 2019 Q1 and full-year 2019 are coming down in a major way, with the Q1 growth rate now in negative territory. The negative revisions to 2019 Q1 estimates are along the same lines that we saw ahead of the start of the Q4 earnings season as well. Estimates for full-year 2019 have been coming down as well. Estimates were effectively unchanged during the September quarter, but they have been on a consistent downtrend since early October. Many in the market suspect that estimates have further to drop before stabilizing. Key Earnings Reports This Week We have more than 500 companies coming out with quarterly reports this week, including 98 S&P 500 members. Monday, February 4th: Googles parent Alphabet will be the more prominent of the 13 S&P 500 members reporting results on Monday. With two-thirds of the Tech sectors market capitalization in the S&P 500 index having already reported Q4 results, the Alphabet release will be the last major earnings report for this space. The search giant is expected to have earned $11.08 in earnings per share on $31.28 billion in revenues, up +14.2% and +20.9% from the same period last year, respectively. The stock was up following the last two earnings reports and has been an active participant in the post-Christmas rally. Tuesday, February 5th: We have 25 index members reporting results on Tuesday, of which 12 will come out before the markets open and the rest after the markets close. There is no shortage of big-name reporters today, but Disney will be the days highlight as it comes out with results after the markets close. In addition to actual results, the earnings call will likely include updates on the companys pending purchase of 21st Century Fox. Another notable company reporting after the markets close on Tuesday is Snap, with the struggling social-media player expected to have lost 8 cents per share on $376.6 million in revenues, up +38.5% and +31.8% from the year-earlier period, respectively. The stock was down following each of the last three quarterly releases and has been a big time laggard, likely providing for an easy set up for a positive surprise. Wednesday, February 6th: We have 19 S&P 500 members reporting results on Wednesday, with General Motors and Spotify in the morning and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) after the markets close as the major reporters. 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 The Walt Disney Company (DIS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report General Motors Company (GM) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The 5th Powering Africa: Summit will host over 370 investors and public and private stakeholders from across North America, Africa and Europe to present energy projects, discuss investment opportunities and build relationships within the international power community. The Powering Africa: Summit (PAS) to take place for the first time in Miami from February 25-27 will be attended by delegates of the World Bank, OPIC, MCC, Power Africa, USAID and USADF alongside African energy leaders from Morocco, Ethiopia, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique and Nigeria. Participants will discuss new innovative partnerships to implement the Power Africa Initiative launched by former US President Barack Obama five years ago. The initiative seeks to provide 60 million households and businesses across Africa with access to electricity and add 30,000 MW of power supply by 2030. The initiative comprises a consortium that includes more than 120 governments, companies, NGOs and academic institutions. With dozens of partners and government officials from all over the world attending we have seen deals get unstuck, in real time, at the Summit, Andrew Herscowitz, Coordinator of the summit said. The meeting will also examine: How Florida shaped its energy mix. There will be a special spotlight on Ethiopia A country united: With projects such as Dii (Desert Solar) and the potential of Sub-Saharan countries to develop massive solar farms. Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) came out with quarterly funds from operations (FFO) of $1.68 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.69 per share. This compares to FFO of $1.53 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an FFO surprise of -0.59%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this life science real estate company would post FFO of $1.67 per share when it actually produced FFO of $1.66, delivering a surprise of -0.60%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus FFO estimates just once. Alexandria Real Estate Equities, which belongs to the Zacks REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry, posted revenues of $340.46 million for the quarter ended December 2018, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.16%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $298.79 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future FFO expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Alexandria Real Estate Equities shares have added about 13.4% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 8%. What's Next for Alexandria Real Estate Equities? While Alexandria Real Estate Equities 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 FFO outlook. Not only does this include current consensus FFO 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 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 estimate revisions. Story continues Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Alexandria Real Estate Equities was favorable. 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 #1 (Strong Buy) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to outperform 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 FFO estimate is $1.68 on $351.39 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $6.94 on $1.43 billion 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, REIT and Equity Trust - Other is currently in the bottom 40% 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 Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (ARE) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The Daily Beast KOEN VAN WEEL/AFP via Getty ImagesArchie Harrison and his sister Lili may still be prince and princess after all. And they could have Camilla Parker Bowles to thank for it.Prominent royal historian Robert Lacey has told U.K. paper The Times that the issue has been discussed at the highest level and that the queen will not change existing rules, which would ultimately see Archie and Lili named prince and princess, in her lifetime. Any move to deprive the children of their titles would likely ha Jeremy Corbyn and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have shared their visions of the future in a lovely and wide-reaching phone conversation. The Labour leader revealed he had spoken to the newly-elected Democrat on Twitter on Sunday night. He tweeted: Great to speak to @AOC on the phone this evening and hear first hand how shes challenging the status quo. Lets build a movement across borders to take on the billionaires, polluters and migrant baiters, and support a happier, freer and cleaner planet. Two hours later the Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: It was an honor to share such a lovely and wide-reaching conversation with you, @jeremycorbyn! Also honored to share a great hope in the peace, prosperity and justice that everyday people can create when we uplift one another across class, race, and identity both at home and abroad. The meeting of minds was celebrated by many of Mr Corbyns supporters, with teenage student Hasan Patel who won a scholarship to Eton College last month describing it as his wildest dreams come true. However Ms Ocasio-Cortez was soon deluged with replies highlighting concerns about allegations of antisemtism in the Labour party. Jewish writer Elad Nehorai told her: Im a huge huge fan of yours. I hope youll take a look at the amount of Jews trying to call attention to Corbyns long, documented history of anti-Semitism. The lefts blind spot in this regard can still be fixed. But we need leaders like yourself to listen. Ms Ocasio-Cortez replied: Thank you for bringing this to me. We cannot and will not move forward without deep fellowship and leadership with the Jewish community. Ill have my team reach out. The exchange reignited the debate on social media over whether Mr Corbyn was antisemitic or not. Last month the Catholic congresswoman revealed that she has Jewish heritage as a result of her Sephardic ancestors fleeing from Europe to Puerto Rico a very, very long time ago. WASHINGTON After the drama, bitter fights and a cancellation, the day is almost here. President Donald Trump is scheduled to give his State of the Union address on Tuesday before Congress, Supreme Court Justices and members of his cabinet. The address was rescheduled after the partial government shutdown, which lasted 35 days and became the longest in U.S. history. Trump's remarks will come amid a widening partisan divide that could, in another week, lead to another government shutdown. Here's what to expect in his remarks and what you might want to look for: Government shutdown After 35 days, President Trump announced a deal on Jan. 25 to officially end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. But the deal was only a temporary fix to fund the government for three weeks, providing relief to federal employees who weren't being paid and giving lawmakers more time to negotiate a compromise on border security and the president's demand for a wall along the southern border. Trump's speech is plopped in the middle of that three-week window, leaving it likely to be a theme in his address. If a deal isn't made between Republicans and Democrats by Feb. 15, parts of the federal government will run out of money and a second shut down will begin. Trump has also hinted that he might use his executive powers to free up money for a wall, curbing Congress' authority on appropriating federal funding. In the high-profile address, Trump is likely to try and appeal to Democrats in a bipartisan fashion, something he did last month when he announced the end of the shutdown. "This is an opportunity for all parties to work together for the benefit for our whole beautiful, wonderful nation," the president said. "If we make a fair deal, the American people will be proud of their government for proving that we can put country before party. We can show all Americans, and people all around the world, that both political parties are united when it comes to protecting our country and protecting our people." Story continues Nancy Pelosi While Trump is giving his address, many eyes are likely to be on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will be seated just behind the president. The California Democrat has been sparring with Trump for weeks over the government shutdown and refused to give Trump $5.7 billion for a border wall, calling it "immoral." But on Tuesday, she'll look on as Trump delivers a speech with many themes that are anathema to her. Several associates of both Pelosi and Trump have said the president appeared to have misread the speaker and underestimated her in their shutdown fight over the wall and willingness to stand firm against his demands. Their dispute over the last few weeks led to back-and-forth letters, where Trump canceled Pelosi's overseas trip to Afganistan and she canceled his State of the Union address, citing security concerns from due to the shutdown. Shortly after Pelosi canceled Trump's address, the president announced a deal to end the standoff without any money for a border wall. Many, including Republicans, said Pelosi appeared to come out on top in this fight. Pelosi was careful not to gloat, saying, "I dont see this as any power play." But her counterpart in the Senate, Minority Leader Charles Schumer, was more direct. "No one should ever underestimate the speaker," the New York Democrat said. "As Donald Trump has learned." The power dynamic between Pelosi and Trump has become the most-watched relationship in Washington and is only going to intensify as Democrats, who now control the House, begin a number of investigations into Trump. Immigration and border security With the eyes of the nation on him, Trump is likely to use his address to make another bid for his border wall, hoping to rally the nation in support of the measure that Democrats have vowed to block. The president has made offers, including three years of protections for some undocumented immigrants, including DREAMers who were brought to the U.S. as children. Democrats have thus far rejected any deal that includes money for a border wall. Last week, Trump said Republicans who were working as part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers to prevent another government shutdown were "wasting their time." "Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee are wasting their time," Trump said on Twitter. "Democrats, despite all of the evidence, proof and Caravans coming, are not going to give money to build the DESPERATELY needed WALL." It's possible that Trump could declare a national emergency to free up funds for a border wall. He could hint at the prospect in his address. Economy Trump frequently touts U.S. economic growth and low unemployment rates as a central accomplishment of his administration. "The United States has a great economic story to tell," the president posted on Twitter last month. "Number one in the World, by far!" In the third quarter of 2018, gross domestic product increased 3.4 percent, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. But those accomplishments did feel the effects of the government shutdown. The Congressional Budget Office announced after the end of the shutdown that it wiped out $11 billion in economic activity, most of which will be recouped. The episode will noticeably reduce economic growth in the first quarter, the CBO said. What's next on Trump's agenda The State of the Union address is written in the Constitution as a way for the president to inform Congress of the state of the country and what his agenda holds. While immigration is a well-known issue that Trump seeks to reform during his time in office, his address is likely to touch on a variety of other issues, from the fight against ISIS and his work reforming the judicial system with a large number of conservative judges. A senior administration official told reporters last week that the speech will have five themes: immigration; trade, including trade deals with China and the renegotiated deal with Canada and Mexico to replace NAFTA; infrastructure, something that both Republicans and Democrats have said could be done in a bipartisan fashion; healthcare and the lowering of prescription drugs; and international relations. Politico reported on Thursday that the president was also looking to include the issue of abortion into his speech, a topic that has riled up Republicans due to Democratic-led late-term abortion bills in Virginia and New York. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a measure last month that allowed women to have an abortion even after 24 weeks into a pregnancy, all at the discretion of a health care practitioner. "Democrats are becoming the Party of late-term abortion, high taxes, Open Borders and Crime!" Trump tweeted on Thursday. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 5 things to watch in President Trump's State of the Union address Investors seek growth stocks to capitalize on above-average growth in financials that help these securities grab the market's attention and produce exceptional returns. But finding a growth stock that can live up to its true potential can be a tough task. By their very nature, these stocks carry above-average risk and volatility. Moreover, if a company's growth story is over or nearing its end, betting on it could lead to significant loss. However, the task of finding cutting-edge growth stocks is made easy with the help of the Zacks Growth Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which looks beyond the traditional growth attributes to analyze a company's real growth prospects. Our proprietary system currently recommends Abiomed (ABMD) as one such stock. This company not only has a favorable Growth Score, but also carries a top Zacks Rank. Studies have shown that stocks with the best growth features consistently outperform the market. And for stocks that have a combination of a Growth Score of A or B and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), returns are even better. Here are three of the most important factors that make the stock of this maker of heart devices a great growth pick right now. Earnings Growth Arguably nothing is more important than earnings growth, as surging profit levels is what most investors are after. For growth investors, double-digit earnings growth is highly preferable, as it is often perceived as an indication of strong prospects (and stock price gains) for the company under consideration. While the historical EPS growth rate for Abiomed is 66.7%, investors should actually focus on the projected growth. The company's EPS is expected to grow 104.2% this year, crushing the industry average, which calls for EPS growth of 23.5%. Cash Flow Growth While cash is the lifeblood of any business, higher-than-average cash flow growth is more important and beneficial for growth-oriented companies than for mature companies. That's because, growth in cash flow enables these companies to expand their businesses without depending on expensive outside funds. Story continues Right now, year-over-year cash flow growth for Abiomed is 111.2%, which is higher than many of its peers. In fact, the rate compares to the industry average of 5%. While investors should actually consider the current cash flow growth, it's worth taking a look at the historical rate too for putting the current reading into proper perspective. The company's annualized cash flow growth rate has been 47.2% over the past 3-5 years versus the industry average of 6.2%. Promising Earnings Estimate Revisions Beyond the metrics outlined above, investors should consider the trend in earnings estimate revisions. A positive trend is a plus here. Empirical research shows that there is a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements. The current-year earnings estimates for Abiomed have been revising upward. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has surged 0.7% over the past month. Bottom Line Abiomed has not only earned a Growth Score of B based on a number of factors, including the ones discussed above, but it also carries a Zacks Rank #2 because of the positive earnings estimate revisions. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. This combination indicates that Abiomed is a potential outperformer and a solid choice for growth investors. 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 Watch the full episode 14 of Yahoo UKs show The Royal Box, here Its been a busy start to the year for the Royal Family. The Queen remains in Sandringham until early February, as is tradition, but William, Kate, Harry and Meghan have resumed their duties and racked up 12 engagements between them in January alone. This years set to be a busy one, with the impending arrival of Harry and Meghans first child, Prince Louis first birthday, Charlottes move to primary school, another royal wedding and potentially an overseas tour or two. Royal experts have predicted what they think the future holds for the family this year, on the latest episode of Yahoo UKs The Royal Box. Meghan and Harry, pictured in Bristol, are expecting their first child this spring [Photo: PA] Body language expert Judi James thinks Harry and Meghan will become an A-list power couple after their first child arrives. She adds: I think we might see them looking at having another child quite quickly and then going out and sorting the entire world out. PR guru Nick Ede says its the year that Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall need to step up. Its time to do it and its time for her to do it as well because shes still got a bit of work to do to enter our hearts in a warm way so I think thats a big priority for the Royal Family. In a survey by YouGov UK last year, Camilla was the 10th most popular royal behind Prince Harry, the Queen, Prince William, Kate, Prince Philip, Meghan, her husband Charles, Princess Anne and Zara Tindall. Charles and Camilla on his 70th birthday in November [Photo: PA] Ede adds that Meghan and Harrys new Deputy Communications Secretary, Christian Jones, will help to shake things up from a PR point of view, after a slew of negative press over the past couple of months. Royal correspondent Victoria Murphy thinks were going to see more of a transition, with the Queen gradually handing over more things to the younger royals. The Queen has already passed on several of her patronages, with the Duchess of Sussex gaining two of those the National Theatre and the Association of the Commonwealth Universities. Story continues William and Kate, in Dundee, are preparing for their own future [Photo: Getty] She also thinks that the Cambridges and Sussexes will carve out their own paths. She says: I think were going to see the separation of Harry and Meghan, and William and Kate, I think were going to see more distinct things from those two couples as two separate entities. Both in terms of where they live obviously because we know Harry and Meghan are going to Windsor, but also in terms of them setting up for the future. Last year it was announced that Harry and Meghan would be moving to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor ahead of the birth of their baby. There were also reports that William and Harry are planning to split Kensington Palace into two courts for their growing families. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK. Read more from Yahoo Style UK: Will Meghan Markle and Prince Harry share parental leave? The telltale signs Charles, William and Harry are nervous, according to a body language expert The day I nearly got punched by Prince Harry 1 dead at scene of 'large explosion' in Albuquerque: Police originally appeared on abcnews.go.com One person was found dead from a mysterious "large explosion" behind a strip mall in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Monday afternoon, police said. No one else was hurt, Albuquerque Police said. How the apparent explosion happened isn't clear, police said. An APD Officer extends crime tape to block the entrance to the parking lot following a fatal explosion behind Smith's Food and Drug in Albuquerque N.M., Feb. 4, 2019. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal/ZUMA Press) PHOTO: A deadly 'large explosion' was reported behind a strip mall in Albuquerque, N.M., Feb. 4, 2019. (KOAT) Bomb squad officials rushed to the scene and businesses in the area were ordered to evacuate, according to the police. No other threats have been identified, police said. PHOTO: A deadly 'large explosion' was reported behind a strip mall in Albuquerque, N.M., Feb. 4, 2019. (KOAT) The victim's identity was not released. Additional details were not immediately available. Story Highlights 60% oppose significant new construction on border walls 57% opposed it in June, as the issue heated up ahead of midterm elections 81% support a path to citizenship for immigrants in the U.S. illegally WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sixty percent of Americans oppose major new construction of walls along the U.S.-Mexico border -- the goal behind President Donald Trump's budget showdown with Democratic leaders that led to a record 35-day partial shutdown of the federal government. The shutdown, which ended Jan. 25, and the political battles that preceded it over the past several months have had little apparent effect on public opinion about a wall. Fifty-seven percent opposed major new construction of walls seven months ago, a statistically insignificant three-percentage-point difference from the current number. Attitudes on Wall Expansion Show Little Change Since June Please tell me whether you strongly favor, favor, oppose or strongly oppose significantly expanding the construction of walls along the U.S.-Mexico border? June 2018 January 2019 % % TOTAL OPPOSE 57 60 Strongly oppose 34 39 Oppose 23 21 TOTAL FAVOR 41 40 Strongly favor 24 26 Favor 17 14 Gallup, June 1-13, 2018, and Jan. 21-27, 2019 Gallup trends offer several signs that immigration has risen in prominence as a national issue in the past year: Twenty-one percent now name it as the country's most important problem. That is the second-highest total for immigration in the 80-year history of the question, behind last July's 22%. Seventy-eight percent in November identified immigration as an extremely or very important issue to them in the midterm elections, ranking it among the top three issues in importance to the public. Perhaps as a result of the heightened political attention given to the issue of immigration, the percentage saying they feel strongly one way or another about expanding the walls has increased since last June's poll -- from 58% to 65%. More of that increase has come in strong opposition (five points) than in strong support (two points). The issue of a wall was proposed as a way to slow illegal immigration long before Trump made it his signature 2016 campaign pledge. Gallup has asked about it using various question wordings, but all polls have shown a majority opposed. Gallup first asked about it in 1993, when 71% said they opposed "erecting a wall along the border with Mexico." Opposition eased slightly in 1995, when 62% were against erecting a wall. In 2006, opposition to "building a wall along the border with Mexico" was 56%. Public opposition to a border wall had increased by 2016, when Trump was pushing construction of the wall. Sixty-six percent opposed "building a wall along the entire U.S.-Mexico border" in June of that year. The current poll was conducted Jan. 21-27; slightly more than two-thirds of the respondents (69%) were interviewed before Trump ended the shutdown. There is no significant difference in views of the wall between those interviewed during the shutdown and those interviewed after it. Public Supports Path to Citizenship, More Border Patrol Agents Clear majorities of U.S. adults in the latest poll support two other actions related to immigration, while rejecting a third. The vast majority of Americans (81%) favor allowing immigrants living illegally in the U.S. "the chance to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements over a period of time." In 2016, the year Trump was elected president, 84% were in favor of a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally. Though a majority of Americans reject major expansion of walls on the U.S.-Mexico border, three-fourths of the public favors another method of increasing border security -- the hiring of "significantly more" border patrol agents. Sixty-one percent oppose deporting all illegal immigrants back to their home country. In 2016, 66% were in opposition. Since Trump's election, the proportion of Americans wanting to increase immigration levels has grown -- from 21% in June 2016 to a record-high 30% now. The percentage of Americans who want immigration levels decreased has been higher than those wanting it increased in every one of the 33 polls Gallup has conducted on the issue since 1965. However, the current one-point gap ties with the June 2018 poll for the smallest ever. Before Trump's election, the percentage preferring a decrease in immigration averaged 31 points higher than the percentage wanting an increase. Republicans, including independents who lean toward the Republican Party, are slightly more likely to favor increasing immigration levels now (16%) than they were in 2016 (11%), but about half (51%) want levels decreased. During the same period, support for increased immigration has risen more among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, from 31% to 41%, with only 13% wanting to decrease levels. Bottom Line As a House-Senate conference committee begins discussions on resolving the fight over immigration spending and Trump's border wall, there is little question of where public sentiment stands on such key issues as expanding border walls, treatment of immigrants already in the U.S. illegally and increasing the number of border patrol agents. Most of the cards at this point seem to be in the hands of the Democratic negotiators, fresh off their victory over Trump on the government shutdown faceoff. The public is solidly against the expansion of the border walls and remains sympathetic toward immigrants in the country illegally. Both of these views seem to match previous Democratic proposals at a time when Republicans are unable to agree on how to handle immigration. Therefore, it is not hard to envision an outcome that will please far more Democrats than Republicans. View complete question responses and trends (PDF download). Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As President Donald Trump prepares to give the State of the Union address, he is hoping to reap some political benefit from it, as has occurred after the past three such addresses. Trump, in 2018, and Barack Obama, in 2015 and 2016, saw modest two- to four-percentage-point increases in approval after their State of the Union addresses. Historically, however, it has been rare for presidents' approval to rise after their State of the Union speeches. Recent Changes in Presidential Job Approval After State of Union Speech, Compared With Historical Average President Pre-Speech Post-Speech Change % Approve % Approve 2018 Trump 38 40 +2 2016 Obama 45 49 +4 2015 Obama 45 48 +3 1978-2014 average 54 54 0 Gallup This analysis is based on a comparison of the last Gallup poll conducted before each president's State of the Union address and the first poll conducted entirely after it. The data for all 35 speeches are shown at the bottom of the article. The timing of the pre-speech and post-speech polls has varied, but they typically have been conducted within one or two weeks of the address. First-year presidents, including Trump in 2017, often give addresses before joint sessions of Congress, but those are not considered official State of the Union addresses and therefore are not included in this analysis. Across the 35 State of the Union speeches since 1978, the president's approval rating has, on average, increased by 0.2 points. In seven instances, approval rose by three or more percentage points; in seven, it declined by at least that amount; and in the rest, there was less movement. Recent State of the Union addresses have had a more consistently positive impact for the president. A year ago, Trump was able to tout gains in the economy and stock market during his 2018 State of the Union. His job approval rating ticked up to 40% in Gallup tracking polling conducted from Jan. 29-Feb. 4, partially before and partially after the Jan. 30 speech, but stayed at 40% in the first full week of polling after the address. Those were his first approval ratings in the 40s in eight months, dating back to May 2017. Obama -- whose approval ratings were generally flat after his first several States of the Union -- saw increases of three points in 2015 and four points in 2016 in the days immediately afterward. But that polling may understate the boost Obama got in each of those years, as his approval rating pushed even higher in subsequent days of Gallup Daily tracking. In 2016, his approval rating rose as high as 51% in Jan. 15-17 polling after the Jan. 12 address -- six points higher than his pre-speech rating. In Jan. 23-25, 2015, polling, his approval rating hit 50%, five points above his pre-speech rating from Jan. 17-19. The increases in presidential approval in 2015, 2016 and 2018 were driven primarily by independents. In 2018, Trump's job approval increased by three points among independents, while Obama's ratings among independents increased by seven points in 2015 and five points in 2016. Obama also had slight improvements among Republicans in 2015 and 2016, but no improvement among Democrats, whose approval ratings for him were in the mid-80s in both years. Clinton's 1998 State of Union Associated With Largest Surge The largest gain Gallup has observed in the past 40 years was a 10-point increase for Bill Clinton in 1998, from 59% to 69%. He gave that speech amid revelations that he had an affair with a White House intern. By the end of that year, the House voted to impeach him. But his approval ratings stayed high throughout 1998, and did not return to his pre-State of the Union level all year. Given the allegations against Clinton, it is unclear how much of the 10-point increase was attributable to the State of the Union and how much to a rally in support for the embattled president. He was able to tell Americans the economy was strong and announced that the federal budget had a surplus in that 1998 speech, and he proposed using the surplus to bolster the Social Security system. He did not mention the scandal in his address. Clinton's approval rating also increased substantially after his 1996 State of the Union speech, in which he famously announced that the "era of big government" was over. George W. Bush matched the six-point increase in 2005, although that time period coincided with successful democratic elections in Iraq, a sign of progress in U.S. efforts to liberate that country. Implications Trump looks to continue the counterhistorical trend of increased approval ratings for presidents after recent State of the Union speeches. But the recent government shutdown over a dispute on funding for border security, along with prospects of another shutdown on the same issue later this month, loom large over his speech. Trump was originally supposed to deliver the speech on Jan. 29, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi postponed it while the shutdown was continuing. The shutdown and border security battle may distract from the positive economic news Trump can detail to Americans. Apart from the shutdown, little Trump has said or done during his presidency has moved the needle significantly on his job approval ratings, which have been the lowest and most stable for any president's first two years in Gallup's polling history. In fact, the two-point increase after the 2018 State of the Union is one of the larger increases from one Gallup measure to the next in his entire presidency -- only six times has his rating increased by more than two points in over 100 separate measures. The president might hope to win back the support of independents in his speech, as their approval of Trump dropped significantly during the shutdown. If Trump can win back some independents, they may fuel yet another modest bump in presidential approval, as they have after the past three States of the Union. Explore President Trump's approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center. Thirteen high ranking military officers have been arrested in Algeria at the orders of the army chief of staff Gaid Salah over alleged contact and support for retired army general Ali Ghediri who became last month the first figure in the country to announce his plans to run for April 2019 presidential elections. Local media El Watan citing a source who did not want to be named because not allowed to speak on the issue said the detainees include colonels and lieutenant-colonels. The arrest orders came from Salah, the top Algerian army commander. The detainees according to the source are accused of breaching a January 24 warning by the army to officers, to avoid involvement into politics or to back any candidate for the April presidential poll. The 13 officers allegedly called Ghediri and vowed their endorsement for his plans to seek the top job, the source noted. The 65-year old man is viewed as the main challenger for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who is yet to bid for the race. The army also accuses Ghediri of having ties with Mohamed Mediene, aka Toufik, who headed for several decades the countrys powerful spy agency. Bouteflika, who also heads the defense ministry, sent Toufik on retirement in 2015. YEREVAN.- We are not aware whether third president Serzh Sargsyan was interrogated over March 1 case or not, Hayk Alumyan, an attorney of Armenia's second President, told reporters at the Court of Appeal. According to him, even if Serzh Sargsyan was interrogated over the March 1 case, they were not represented in the Kocharyan case. According to Alumyan, many of the testimonies presented by the investigator in court were given by high-ranking officers during interrogations. Armenias second President Robert Kocharyanalong with several other former officialshas been charged within the framework of the criminal case into the tragic events that transpired in Yerevan on March 1 and 2, 2008and under Article 300.1 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code; that is, breaching Armenias constitutional order, in conspiracy with others. On March 1 and 2, 2008 the then authorities of Armenia used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan, and against the results of the presidential election on February 19, 2008. Eight demonstrators as well as two servicemen of the internal troops were killed in the clashes. But no one had been brought to account for these deaths, to this day. Armenia ruling party member warns pseudo-lawyers 'Armenia' bloc issues statement on results of snap parliamentary elections and election observation missions Armenia acting PM: Political crisis is resolved and is over Zakharova: Russia hopes to strengthen ties with Armenia based on results of snap parliamentary elections Gunshots heard in Yerevan, city's police chief is at scene of incident Erdogan invites OSCE Minsk Group to Karabakh Armenia President calls on making transition to presidential system again Armenia MFA: Specifics of work with UNSC regarding Azerbaijani invasion of Armenian territory not subject to disclosure Armenia acting minister says he will start using 'steel mandate' tomorrow at 9 am National-Democratic Axis Party issues statement on results of Armenia snap parliamentary elections Karabakh emergency situations service: Remains of another 3 servicemen removed from Varanda (Fizuli) region Ukraine heralds free trade zone with Turkey Armenia President receives OSCE/ODIHR Director and OSCE PA Secretary General Child dies from car accident in Armenia's Gegharkunik Province Armenia Izmirlian Medical Center head is charged Karabakh President congratulates Armenia's Pashinyan on victory in snap parliamentary elections Russia MOD congratulates Armenian counterpart on snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia Investigative Committee charges citizen and head of campaign headquarters for violating ballot secrecy Iran's President-elect says he has always protected human rights Georgia PM congratulates Armenia's Pashinyan on winning snap parliamentary elections PACE and OSCE PA election observers say they are content with elections in Armenia, in spite of violations India kicks off nationwide free COVID-19 vaccination campaign Azerbaijan, Pakistan agree to conduct military exercises Armenia 1st President's spokesperson on snap parliamentary elections Armenia MP: Azerbaijan is celebrating Nikol Pashinyan's victory, ruling party is holding fireworks display Charles Michel congratulates Pashinyan on winning snap elections OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission in Armenia says it heard allegations of administrative resources use OSCE Secretary General thanks Russia for its work in Minsk Group on Karabakh settlement Lavrov calls to wait for formation of new Armenia government Armenia's Pashinyan garners 197,000 less votes compared with elections in 2018 OSCE/ODIHR: Power outages did not considerably affect Armenia snap elections Garo Paylan congratulates Armenia's Nikol Pashinyan 'Armenia' bloc issues statement on results of snap parliamentary elections Opposition party leader: 'Armenia' bloc doesn't accept results of vote and will apply to Constitutional Court Digest: Armenia snap elections is over, Pashinyans bloc leads with almost 54% OSCE Secretary General: We work within Minsk Group framework to achieve long-term solution to Karabakh conflict Bayramov: Azerbaijan complains about non-fulfillment of points of trilateral statements on Karabakh Azerbaijan FM believes that Armenia authorities will draw right conclusion Pompeo: US should not negotiate with Iran's newly elected President Azerbaijan blackmails, threatens Armenia under guise of cooperation proposal Member of Armenia delegation to PACE: Azerbaijan delegation head said 50% of minefield maps given are fake Armenia freedom fighter is detained, declares hunger strike 9 children killed in accident during storm in US Swedish parliament passes vote of no confidence in PM's country Kremlin is following Armenia post-election situation Artsakh emergency service: Armenian, Azerbaijani sides exchanged bodies from time to time Azerbaijan Prosecutor General's Office accuses Armenia of deliberate deforestation in Lachin 13 Armenian captives trial starts in Azerbaijan What will happen if Armenia opposition forces do not accept their parliamentary seats? Armenia Central Electoral Commission approves preliminary results of snap parliamentary elections US won't issue threats or ultimatums to China in connection with investigation of pandemic causes CIS, CSTO observers find no considerable irregularities in Armenia snap parliamentary election voting Armenia acting PM visits Yerevan military pantheon Heiko Maas considers new EU sanctions against Belarus inevitable 26 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Civil Contract Party will have constitutional majority in new parliament Reduction of US military assets in Saudi Arabia will not affect its defenses Armenia new National Assembly to have 107 MPs Borrell says mistrust is at core of political crisis in Lebanon Counting of ballots over in Armenia snap parliamentary elections Counting of ballots coming to an end in Armenia snap parliamentary elections Armenia Central Electoral Commission counts 86.4% of ballots Armenia Central Electoral Commission counts 80% of ballots Armenia Central Electoral Commission counts two thirds of ballots Armenia Central Electoral Commission counts 40% of ballots Acting PM thanks people of Armenia Armenia parliament vice-chair on Erdogan's "platform of six" proposal: We will answer later 33.49% of ballots counted: Pashinyans bloc leads Almost 27% of ballots counted by Armenia Central Electoral Commission (PHOTO) "Armenia" bloc: Snap parliamentary election results being published do not inspire confidence 19,95% of ballots counted by Armenia Central Electoral Commission (PHOTO) Artsakh President comes out of Armenia ruling party headquarters 2.54% of ballots counted by Armenia Central Electoral Commission (PHOTO) Armenia Central Electoral Commission announces most preliminary results of snap parliamentary elections Armenia's Citizen's Decision Party member not allowed to enter precinct, apprehended a little while ago "I Have Honor" bloc: Armenia National Security Service searches mayor's apartment, 2 MP candidates abducted Results of electronic voting: Civil Contract Party: 163, "Armenia" bloc: 135, Armenian National Congress: 43 Electric Networks of Armenia: Power outages during vote counts were systematic Citizen who disseminated anti-propaganda leaflets against "Armenia" bloc shows up at police station Mediaport: Power is out in Armenia's Gyumri, Vanadzor, Artik, Aparan, Dilijan and Armavir city Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #9/48 in Yerevan district (VIDEO) Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #9/49 in Yerevan district (VIDEO) Tense situation at polling station #9/21 in Armenia, red beret police officers called to location Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #14/13 in Etchmiadzin (VIDEO) Power goes out before vote count at polling station #25/58 in Armenia's Odzun Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov returns to US Armenia Police receive 87 alarms via hotline as of 8:30 pm Armenia snap parliamentary elections voter turnout 49.4%, 51.55% voter turnout in Yerevan Armenia Ombudsman's statement on taking photos of ballots speculated Armenia Civil Contract Party member obstructing work of opposition party proxy at polling station Armenia advocate: National Security Service decided to conduct search in office and apartment of Masis mayor Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #2/46 in Yerevan district (VIDEO) Netanyahu and his family to leave PM residence no later than July 10 Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #31/02 in Gyumri Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #8/04 in Yerevan district (VIDEO) Gabrielyanov: Russian institutions' exit poll results of Armenia snap parliamentary elections announced Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #17/03 in Armenia's Ashtarak (VIDEO) Catholicos of All Armenians sends congratulatory message to Iran's President-elect Armenia snap parliamentary elections are over hetq.am: Ballot box at polling station in Armenia's Gavar not sealed YEREVAN. The Republic of Armenia is the guarantor of Artsakhs security, it participates in the negotiations, and it will continue to do all that. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, on Monday told the abovementioned to reporters. He noted this when asked about the accuracy of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans statement that Armenia was a party to the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict. And Mnatsakanyan advised not to rush in connection with a possible formal meeting between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Lets not hurry because its very essential that we continue to build this process in a way that we will be able to have a result, be sure that the next step is launched in a way that we will be able to maintain the dynamics, the Armenian FM added. Also, he gave a positive response when asked whether, in his view, the dynamics is maintained. YEREVAN. Speaking about peace is courage. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, on Monday told the aforementioned to reporters. He stated this while commenting on German Chancellor Angela Merkels statement with respect to the courageous steps being taken by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia. Its courage to speak about peace, which concerns all participants [in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict]: the people of Azerbaijan, the people of Artsakh, the Armenian people, alike he said. But speaking about peace doesnt mean questioning the determination. The Armenian FM stressed that they very much will welcome such a statement from Azerbaijan, too. At the Armenian PMs joint news conference during his official visit to Germany last week, Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that Nikol Pashinyan had taken a courageous step toward resolving the Karabakh conflict. The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) last weekend approved the recommendations of the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) to bring a coal-fired power plant project in Senegal into compliance with Bank policies and procedures. The Sendou Coal Power Plant project in the West African nation was approved by the Boards of Director of the bank on 25 November 2009 with a loan of 49 million. The project is estimated to cost 165 million. The compliance review report was approved with a mitigation action plan prepared by the Banks management to trigger the process of resolving the main concerns raised by the complainants that the Sendou power plant will have negative impacts and consequences on their environments and their lives. According to the recommendations approved by the banks board of directors, the IRM will monitor the implementation of the Action Plan and report progress to the Board annually. In 2017, the AfDB received numerous community complaints, which led to the bank announcing it will review compliance eligibility of the project. As a reminder, the Sendou power station is a 125 megawatts (MW) coal-fired plant in Sendou, Senegal, being developed by Compagnie dElectricite du Senegal SA. The project is being developed on a build, own, and operate basis and targets to supply up to 40 per cent of Senegals electricity. The country currently derives 80 per cent of its electricity from diesel-fueled power generation. The coal will be imported via sea and unloaded at Dakar harbor from where it will be transported by trucks to the coal storage site on the plant. The project aims at producing at least 925 GWh of electricity a year. Only the political decision through talks under the UN auspices may bring peace in Syria, said the EU top diplomat Federica Mogherini at the opening of talks with the League of Arab States (LAS) in Brussels. Brussels hosted on Monday EU-League of Arab States consultations ahead of a bilateral summit to be held late February in Egypt. According to her, all sides should understand that only a political decision through dialogue under the UN auspices may bring peace, she said. She expressed the hope that all countries would participate in the third international conference on Syria, scheduled for March. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad had previously urged the UN not to participate in the next donor fundraising conference for the ATS in Brussels. According to him, the main goal of its conference is to impose political conditions. The Moroccan and Algerian armies will both take part at the US-led Flintlock 2019 military games in Burkina Faso and Mauritania from February 18 to March 1, 2019. The two North African rivals have closed borders since 1994 with Algeria backing a separatist front that waged a war against Morocco until 1991. More than 2,000 service members from more than 30 African and western partner nations will participate in Flintlock 2019. The exercise is designed to strengthen the ability of key partner nations in the region to counter violent extremist organizations, protect their borders, and provide security for their people. Algeria ranks first in military spending in Africa. The north African country bought $9.7 billion worth of armament in 2017 and $10.217 billion in 2016. Moroccos military expenditure are estimated at $3.420 billion dollars in 2017 and $3.327 billion in 2016. A report by Strategic Defence Intelligence said last year that Morocco is set to become Africas leading military power by 2022. The country consistently imports advanced arms and ammunitions such as fighter and training aircraft, ships, missiles, tanks, and frigates to strengthen its armed forces; a trend expected to continue over the forecast period YEREVAN. The hearing on the custody matter regarding second President Robert Kocharyan has resumed Monday at the Criminal Court of Appeal of Armenia. At the previous hearing, the defense presented its appeal and, subsequently, Kocharyan addressed the court. At Mondays hearing, the prosecution will continue presenting its objections to the appeals. On January 18, the capital city Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction granted the petition by the Special Investigation Service, and with a request to extend Kocharyans confinement for another two months, but denied the motion by the legal defense team of Kocharyan, and to the effect that their client be released from custody on bail. The defense, however, appealed this ruling to the Criminal Court of Appeal. Robert Kocharyan was first remanded in custody on July 27, 2018 by a decision of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction. But on August 13, the Court of Appeal granted Robert Kocharyans legal defenders appeal to commute the first-instance courts decision on remanding their client in custody, and Kocharyan was released from courtroom on the grounds that he had presidential immunity. But on November 15, the Court of Cassation overturned the Criminal Court of Appeal decision on remandingand on the grounds of presidential immunityRobert Kocharyan in custody, and the case was sent to the same court for a retrial. And with its ruling on December 7, 2018 the Criminal Court of Appeal upheld the first instance courts July 27 decision on remanding Robert Kocharyan in custody. On the same dayDecember 7, Kocharyan was remanded in custody a second time. Armenias second President Robert Kocharyanalong with several other former officialshas been charged within the framework of the criminal case into the tragic events that transpired in Yerevan on March 1 and 2, 2008and under Article 300.1 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code; that is, breaching Armenias constitutional order, in conspiracy with others. On March 1 and 2, 2008 the then authorities of Armenia used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan, and against the results of the presidential election on February 19, 2008. Eight demonstrators as well as two servicemen of the internal troops were killed in the clashes. But no one had been brought to account for these deaths, to this day. A man on Sunday killed his brother, in Aragatsotn Province of Armenia. At 7:35pm, the police received an anonymous call that someone by the name of Zhiro, a resident of Aragatsavan village, had stabbed his brother on the Nor Artik-Bagravan motorway. The police informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that the police officers who were dispatched to the scene found out that the said Zhiro was Zhirayr Nazaretyan (born in 1970), and his brother was Ghevond Nazaretyan (born in 1973). On the same day at around 7pm, they had argued over domestic issues, in a car, at the administrative district of the Nor Artik village, on the Nor Artik-Bagravan motorway, during which Zhirayr Nazaretyan had stabbed his brother, who later died. At 10:30pm, Zhirayr Nazaretyan was detained by police, he confessed to the murder, and was arrested. A criminal case has been filed into this incident. An investigation is underway. Russia and Georgia have completed preparations for the implementation of the agreement On the basic principles of the mechanism of customs administration and monitoring of trade in goods, Russias Kommersant newspaper writes quoting a source in the Russian government. Russia joined WTO in 2012, but the agreement with Georgia stipulating creation of three trade corridors two of which will pass through Abkhazia and South Ossetia has not worked so far. Moscow and Tbilisi will need seven years to prepare for its implementation. Switzerlands Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) will be engaged in the flow and marking of goods. According to the agreements, SGS employees will start working after the payments are received from Russia and Georgia. Russia sent the payment in 2018, while Georgian side paid for the work of the Swiss company last November. The final data for the start of monitoring will be defined at the meeting of the joint committee that was set up in accordance with the 2011 agreement. The committee will hold the first meeting on February 6, the newspaper said. The implementation of the agreement is of key importance for Armenia as the South Ossetian corridor is an alternative to the Military Georgian highway which is often closed during the winter because of snowfall and avalanches. Armenia ruling party member warns pseudo-lawyers 'Armenia' bloc issues statement on results of snap parliamentary elections and election observation missions 2021 European U-22 Boxing Championships: Armenia scores second medal Armenia acting PM: Political crisis is resolved and is over Zakharova: Russia hopes to strengthen ties with Armenia based on results of snap parliamentary elections Gunshots heard in Yerevan, city's police chief is at scene of incident Erdogan invites OSCE Minsk Group to Karabakh Armenia President calls on making transition to presidential system again Armenia MFA: Specifics of work with UNSC regarding Azerbaijani invasion of Armenian territory not subject to disclosure Armenia acting minister says he will start using 'steel mandate' tomorrow at 9 am National-Democratic Axis Party issues statement on results of Armenia snap parliamentary elections Karabakh emergency situations service: Remains of another 3 servicemen removed from Varanda (Fizuli) region Ukraine heralds free trade zone with Turkey Armenia President receives OSCE/ODIHR Director and OSCE PA Secretary General Child dies from car accident in Armenia's Gegharkunik Province Armenia Izmirlian Medical Center head is charged Paris Rapid & Blitz: Levon Aronian defeats Teimour Radjabov Karabakh President congratulates Armenia's Pashinyan on victory in snap parliamentary elections Russia MOD congratulates Armenian counterpart on snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia Investigative Committee charges citizen and head of campaign headquarters for violating ballot secrecy European U-22 Boxing Championships: Armenia secures at least bronze medal Iran's President-elect says he has always protected human rights Georgia PM congratulates Armenia's Pashinyan on winning snap parliamentary elections PACE and OSCE PA election observers say they are content with elections in Armenia, in spite of violations FC Ararat-Armenia extend contract with Yoan Gouffran India kicks off nationwide free COVID-19 vaccination campaign Azerbaijan, Pakistan agree to conduct military exercises Armenia 1st President's spokesperson on snap parliamentary elections Prince Charles not going to meet Harry at opening of Princess Diana's monument Armenia MP: Azerbaijan is celebrating Nikol Pashinyan's victory, ruling party is holding fireworks display Charles Michel congratulates Pashinyan on winning snap elections OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission in Armenia says it heard allegations of administrative resources use Euro 2020: Thomas Muller is injured and will not play against Hungary OSCE Secretary General thanks Russia for its work in Minsk Group on Karabakh settlement Lavrov calls to wait for formation of new Armenia government Armenia's Pashinyan garners 197,000 less votes compared with elections in 2018 OSCE/ODIHR: Power outages did not considerably affect Armenia snap elections Garo Paylan congratulates Armenia's Nikol Pashinyan 'Armenia' bloc issues statement on results of snap parliamentary elections Muhammad Ali's grandson makes his professional debut Opposition party leader: 'Armenia' bloc doesn't accept results of vote and will apply to Constitutional Court Digest: Armenia snap elections is over, Pashinyans bloc leads with almost 54% OSCE Secretary General: We work within Minsk Group framework to achieve long-term solution to Karabakh conflict Bayramov: Azerbaijan complains about non-fulfillment of points of trilateral statements on Karabakh Azerbaijan FM believes that Armenia authorities will draw right conclusion Pompeo: US should not negotiate with Iran's newly elected President Azerbaijan blackmails, threatens Armenia under guise of cooperation proposal Member of Armenia delegation to PACE: Azerbaijan delegation head said 50% of minefield maps given are fake Euro 2020 is over for Dembele: Striker is injured Armenia freedom fighter is detained, declares hunger strike 9 children killed in accident during storm in US Swedish parliament passes vote of no confidence in PM's country Kremlin is following Armenia post-election situation May asthma inhaler speed up recovery from COVID-19? Usain Bolt welcomes twins (PHOTOS) Artsakh emergency service: Armenian, Azerbaijani sides exchanged bodies from time to time Azerbaijan Prosecutor General's Office accuses Armenia of deliberate deforestation in Lachin 13 Armenian captives trial starts in Azerbaijan What will happen if Armenia opposition forces do not accept their parliamentary seats? Armenia Central Electoral Commission approves preliminary results of snap parliamentary elections US won't issue threats or ultimatums to China in connection with investigation of pandemic causes CIS, CSTO observers find no considerable irregularities in Armenia snap parliamentary election voting Armenia acting PM visits Yerevan military pantheon What products should not be consumed with cottage cheese? Barcelona to take another loan of EUR 525 million from Goldman Sachs Heiko Maas considers new EU sanctions against Belarus inevitable 26 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Milan and Juventus intend to sign Edin Dzeko Kim Kardashian denies rumors of dating Van Jones or Maluma Armenia acting premier: Civil Contract Party will have constitutional majority in new parliament Reduction of US military assets in Saudi Arabia will not affect its defenses Armenia new National Assembly to have 107 MPs Borrell says mistrust is at core of political crisis in Lebanon Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's son to be stripped of title 64,293 people so far vaccinated in Armenia against coronavirus Euro 2020: Matches of the day Counting of ballots over in Armenia snap parliamentary elections Counting of ballots coming to an end in Armenia snap parliamentary elections Armenia Central Electoral Commission counts 86.4% of ballots Armenia Central Electoral Commission counts 80% of ballots Bhutan Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering and education minister J.B Rai had a meeting with principals and proprietors of private higher secondary schools from across the country in Thimphu, the national capital of Bhutan, on Monday. The meeting saw discussion on a roadmap overhauling education system, says the official facebook page of the Bhutan Prime Minister, reports BBS. It also mentions: Prime minister urged the private schools to raise their standard and assured that government is ready to help them in every possible way. The Bhutan PM reiterated that the perception that brighter students preferring to study in government schools must change by working together, said the report. It has also been reported that the Prime Minister will meet with the principals and proprietors of private schools twice a year to discuss and receive feedback to improve the quality of education. Apart from that, the meeting saw discussion on enrolment of class 10 passed students in private schools. While uploading a picture of the meeting with principals and owners of private higher secondary schools in the national capital on his Twitter handle, the Bhutan PM stated: Meeting the Principals and Owners of Private Higher Secondary Schools to discuss way forward in our education system. Meeting the Principals and Owners of Private Higher Secondary Schools to discuss way forward in our education system. @lotay444 @FMBhutan pic.twitter.com/e4QoGGNu6F PM Bhutan (@PMBhutan) February 4, 2019 Last year, a total of 12,033 students passed Bhutan Certificate of Secondary Examination and the government says it will provide scholarships to 4,225 class 10 passed students to study in various private schools. However, the Opposition party during recent press conference said the move of the government will compromise the quality of education and will have a huge financial burden on the government. It was a very strange and pointless amendment. It said, in a not legally binding manner, that Parliament would back the Brexit deal if "alternative arrangements" were found for the backstop. What were these alternative arrangements? How do you promise to keep a border open while simultaneously not promising to keep a border open? Brady couldn't say. Neither could the prime minister or any other member of her government. They had no idea what they were doing. They just needed some words, any words, that could win majority support in the Commons. The fact that the specific words they chose made no sense was an advantage. If the amendment had made sense, someone would have taken offense at its implications. This is the logic of fairy tale politics. The most common idea among Brexiteers is that they will use "high-tech solutions" to remove the need for checks at the border. But the technology they are wishing for does not exist anywhere on Earth. It is science fiction. SACRAMENTO Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, introduced legislation Monday that would establish the California Wildfire Warning Center, a statewide network of automated weather and environmental monitoring stations conducting fire-weather forecasting and threat assessment to aid in wildfire prevention and response. Extreme weather driven by climate change is responsible for some of the worst disasters ever experienced by this state, said Dodd. My bill will help identify dangerous wind and weather conditions before wildfires break out, allowing time to de-activate power lines and pre-position resources. Its the kind of statewide, early-warning system California needs to prevent future disasters and save lives. Senate Bill 209 creates the California Wildfire Warning Center (CWWC) to be overseen by three agencies: The California Public Utilities Commission, the office of Emergency Services and Cal Fire. It builds on existing systems and will be responsible for the ongoing monitoring of fire weather and threat conditions, as well as for ongoing improvement of fire forecasting models. The CWWC will work with investor-owned utilities, which will be required to install weather-monitoring equipment throughout their systems. The recent wildfires that devastated communities like Napa have cast an urgent need to be better prepared locally and statewide, said Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza. 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. Joseph focused on the number of traffic citations. Thats a way of telling residents that the police hear their concerns about traffic violations and are doing what residents want. A resident during public comments asked why speeding violations fell from 174 in 2017 to 88. Some drivers travel 50 mph to 60 mph on Wetlands Edge Road, he said. The road passes through a residential neighborhood. Ortiz said police focused on other types of traffic violations based on community input. Also, congestion is slowing traffic down. He urged people to report areas with speeding problems and to give the time of day the problems exist. Police handed out 44 open container cannabis traffic citations in 2018, compared to three in 2017. Ortiz said there is perception that cannabis use is harmless to driving. We want to make sure the message is out there that we dont want anybody driving impaired under any intoxication, no matter what the intoxicant is, he said. Ortiz said the effect of the national opiate epidemic in American Canyon is minimal. The drug seen locally is methamphetamine. Vice Mayor Mariam Aboudamous said residents hear stories about people being robbed in local shopping center parking lots. The bill has both Democratic and Republican support. Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, is one of the co-sponsors. "The legal cannabis businesses are currently at a huge disadvantage," Lackey said. Legislation like AB 286, Lackey said, is one way that lawmakers can "move the ball and begin incrementally" in addressing the shortfalls in the state cannabis regulatory environment. "Because right now, it's an uneven playing field that we can't even out. But there are certain things that we can actually do to have meaningful benefit," he said. Bringing a cash business 'into the 21st century' Cannabis companies might gain more opportunities to use commercial banks if another bill passes the Legislature this year. With a license, it's legal to sell cannabis for recreational or medicinal purposes in California, but the drug remains a Schedule I narcotic under federal law -- making it illegal to sell or possess, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. That has banks and credit unions, which rely heavily on federal backing, hesitant to do business with marijuana companies. The ruling coalition in Algeria agreed to nominate President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to run for a fifth term amid cries for election boycott. Ailing Bouteflika has yet to confirm. The 82-year-old president who has been in power since 1999 has not spoken in public since he suffered a stroke in 2013. The parties of the presidential coalition nominate Abdelaziz Bouteflika for the upcoming presidential elections, the four coalition partners said in a statement on Saturday. The statement was issued following a meeting attended by Mouad Bouchareb, speaker of the lower house of parliament and coordinator of Bouteflikas National Liberation Front, as well as by Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, head of the National Rally for Democracy. The leader of the Rally for Hope in Algeria party Amar Ghoul and Amara Benyounes, who heads the Popular Algerian Movement, also attended. Insisting on Bouteflika as President augurs ill for a country facing pressing challenges from endemic youth unemployment, sluggish economy, dwindling oil revenues and instability in the vast south. For critics, maintaining Bouteflika, whose capacity to govern is shrouded in doubt, shows that the contending clans with vested interest in maintaining the authoritarian status-quo failed to reach consensus on a new figure. Past Presidents have all taken part in the war of liberation against France. Now most members of that generation passed away. The armed struggle legitimacy no longer sticks with the rise of a generation to whom French colonialism is a distant past. The Algerian regime was long distinguished by its opacity, where power is generally presumed to reside among groups of military leaders, intelligence officials, businessmen, and politicians collectively known as le pouvoir. Prominent Algerian politicians and intellectuals expressed outcry at a fifth term candidacy for Bouteflika. Opposition party RCD called for a boycott of sham elections whose result is decided in advance. The news industry was contracting and consolidating, leaving the museum with fewer doors to knock on and smaller grants from its early supporters. Big fundraising campaigns were promised but never materialized. More than $300 million in loans became the organizations albatross, and donors traditionally have little enthusiasm for making gifts to retire debt. -- One of the hallmarks of the original Newseum was its forward-leaning embrace of technology. At its new location, however, it struggled to reflect dramatic changes in the media industry. It opened a year after the iPhone hit the market. But its galleries displayed another eras idea of advanced news technology, such as satellite trucks and studios with green screens, at a time when the most innovative news organizations were beginning to fling themselves into the digital era. I dont think we all agree, as we did in the past, about what news means, said Alwood, the Maryland professor. The Newseum is trying to portray an industry that is ill-defined, therefore the Newseum is ill-defined. Calistoga Affordable Housing (CAH) will hold an open house from 1 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 1105 Pope St. in St. Helena to celebrate the upcoming completion of the 8-unit Turley Flats affordable housing project. The project is open to all families with yearly incomes below $80,000 a year who need housing. The project was developed by CAH, with Helmer and Sons of Angwin serving as general contractor. The modular design was created by Farrel-Faber Associates of Santa Rosa, and hybridCore-hybridBuilt Homes served as the modular consultants. The 8 living units were constructed and furnished by SilverCrest Homes of Ontario, California. Napa County and the city of St. Helena provided long-term loans for 50 percent of the projects funding. Dr. Rebecca Levy-Gantt and Premier Ob Gyn Napa Inc. welcome Liliana Garcia, Nurse Practitioner and Certified Midwife, to the office obstetrics and gynecology practice. Garcia will be seeing patients in the office on Wednesdays and Fridays. Garcia, a midwife for 21 years, specializes in contraception, reproductive issues and general women's health care. She is bilingual in Spanish and English. South Africas telecommunications companies are some of the biggest and most valuable brands in the country. In fact, Brand Finances annual report on the most valuable brands in South Africa ranked MTN and Vodacom as the most valuable brands in the country. Telkom and Cell C were also ranked in the top 40, which shows the importance and power of local telecoms companies. While these companies are household names in South Africa, not many people know how they got their names. Here is what is behind the names of prominent South African telecoms companies. Vodacom The name Vodacom comes from a combination of Vodafone and Telkom. Vodacom was initially owned by Telkom and Vodafone through a partnership, until Vodafone increased its stake in Vodacom in 2008. Cell C Cell C was launched in 2001 and was the third major cellular network service provider in South Africa. The third letter of the alphabet is C, so it was named Cell C because it had a nice ring to it. Telkom Telkom received its name as a shortening of Telekommunikasie. Telkom was founded on 1 October 1991 when the Department of Posts and Telecommunications was divided to form three separate entities the Department of Posts and Telecommunications, Telkom, and the South African Post Office. MTN MTN, which was launched in 1994, stands for Mobile Telephone Network. MWEB MWEB was one of South Africas first consumer ISPs. When launched the name came from Naspers strategy of using M in their brand names (like M-Net) hence MWEB. Rain Ravi Naidoo, the founder of the Design Indaba in Cape Town, is a Rain director and early investor. He came up with the name and explained its origin. Principally, the motivation for Rain is to make data more accessible. To be able to do that we felt a few things about the name were necessary. One is that we almost saw it as being a social justice project. We were inspired by a quote from Martin Luther King that says: Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream. Rain is like justice. Its egalitarian. Secondly Rain is inextricably linked to well-being, particularly in Africa. Its the currency in Botswana (pula) and its the greeting of the Basotho: khotso, pula, nala (peace, rain, prosperity). We thought that would be a humanistic way to approach the naming of a data business, which all too often sound terribly technical and we wanted it to be very accessible. To be able to dramatise it we approached a long-standing colleague who had heard the backstory of how we set about creating this platform. We asked Michael Bierut to help us in the creation of the logo. The logo is very interesting. The dot above the i can also be pendulous below the i almost simulating pregnant potential, being a raindrop about to fall. The colour of rain typeface is that of silver iodide and that is the substance used to seed clouds to create rainfall. Its got a deeper meaning and were very partial to good design. Good design has a concept. Its got meaning and it has relevance. Cool Ideas When Paul Butschi and Andre Jooste wanted to start their business, they needed to get trading in a hurry and obtained a list of Shelf Company CCs that were pre-registered. Cool Ideas 1594 CC was one of them which they both agreed on, with the intent of using it as a trading entity along with a new business name. But after a while it stuck and hence the name was born, Butschi explained. Now read: The effect of Netflix on South African content Googles automated iteration of Gmail Google Inbox is shutting down, but some of its features will reportedly be tested in Gmail. A screenshot by a Redditor suggests that Inbox features such as reminders, pins, and bundles will be tested in an updated version of Gmail. The bundles feature, which groups mails according to what theyre about, has already been announced by Google as part of upcoming versions of Gmail. Inbox was released in 2014, and was marketed as a more powerful version of Gmail. However, Google announced in 2018 it would shut down Google Inbox. Inbox by Gmail has been a great place to experiment with new ideas, said Google in the announcement. Now read: Google talent advantage erodes as more workers doubt CEO vision Microsoft has released the original Windows File Manager as a Windows 10 app on the Microsoft Store. The application was released as an open-source project in 2018 and is now available to download. According to the store listing for the Windows File Manager app, it is available for HoloLens, PC, Surface, and mobile devices although the system requirements limit the compatibility of the app to devices running Windows 10 build 16299. Windows File Manager was launched for Windows 3.0 in the early 1990s and offers a functional, unembellished interface for navigating device storage. The project is maintained by contributors on the Windows File Manager GitHub repository. Below is a screenshot of the Windows File Manager app for Windows 10. Now read: Windows 10 users unable to download updates The court battle over the death of Ford Kuga owner Reshall Jimmy begins today in the Cape Town High Court, Times Live reports. Jimmy burnt to death while trapped in his Ford Kuga in December 2015, during a period where numerous Ford Kuga vehicles began to catch fire in South Africa. Ford issued a recall for the affected vehicles, which were prone to spontaneously catching alight. Following Jimmys death, Ford offered the family a free car, the possibility of a donation to a charity of their choice, and to carry the cost of the destroyed Kuga. The company has not admitted liability in the case of Jimmys death, and is reportedly gearing up to fight the claims made by the family. Speaking to Times Live, Jimmys sister Renisha Jimmy called the cars ticking time-bombs. Its clear there are problems with these cars, which Ford will do anything not to take responsibility for, she said. The Jimmy familys prosecution will be assisted by advocate Gerrie Nel. Now read: Hydrogen trains are coming Jobs website Adzuna has released a report which outlines how much of their salaries South Africans use for rent. Adzuna analysed rental data and the latest job listings to uncover which tenants are are the biggest winners and losers in South Africa. Tech employees Adzunas data shows that Gauteng is the most affordable province for tech employees to rent in on average, in terms of rental costs as a percentage of a tech employees salary. This is primarily due to Gauteng offering the highest IT salaries in the country. Other affordable provinces for tech employees include Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape, where rental costs constitute an average of 22% of employees total salaries. KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, and the Northern Cape all require an average of at least 30% of tech employees salaries to cover rent. The Western Cape tops the list, requiring IT professionals to contribute 32% of their salary towards rent. This is due to Western Cape rentals costing significantly more than those in any other province. Most affordable cities to rent Looking at the situation on a city level, the most affordable South African city for any employee not only the tech sector to rent in is Polokwane, in which the average working resident spends 11% of their salary on rent. Other affordable cities include Bloemfontein (16%), Port Elizabeth (17%), Johannesburg (18%), and East London (19%). It is interesting to note that Johannesburg comes up as one of the most affordable cities for renting employees, said Adzuna SA country manager Jesse Green. The results we see here could be because employment in Johannesburg offers much higher salaries when compared with job opportunities in cities such as Bloemfontein, for example. The most expensive cities in SA to rent include Cape Town (38%), Vanderbijlpark (38%), Sandton (37%), and Richards Bay (26%). The average percentage of IT employees salaries spent on rent, listed by province, is shown below. Fibre availability has expanded rapidly in South Africas major centres in recent years. This has allowed residents of big cities to gain access to fast and reliable Internet for their homes and businesses. Unfortunately for South Africans living in smaller towns, fibre is not as widespread. Instead, they must use less-reliable and often more expensive alternatives such as ADSL and fixed-LTE. For these citizens, MyBroadband asked South Africas leading fibre networks about their plans for connecting the rest of South Africa. Broadband Infraco Broadband Infraco said it has fibre spanning about 15,000km in South Africa, with nearly 80% of this covering areas outside of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, and Durban. Additionally, it has plans in place to increase its current footprint. Broadband Infracos goal is to roll out an additional 1,000km of fibre coverage on their network over the next three years. These plans, however, are dependent on the SA Connect project as well as other internal business projects. Funding is the biggest constraint when it comes to the implementation of the SA Connect project, which would pave the way for Broadband Infracos proposed network expansion. Frogfoot Shane Chorley, head of sales at Frogfoot, told MyBroadband that Frogfoot is in the process of deploying fibre in a number of smaller towns right now, with the intention of expanding across the country. We are in the process of deploying in a number of smaller towns and it is our intention to expand that, said Chorley. We launched a national long-distance fibre project in October 2016 that will take high-speed fibre and wireless connectivity to the Eastern belt of the country, he said. These towns extend from Witbank through Middelburg, Secunda, Ermelo, Piet Retief, Paulpietersburg, Melmoth, Empangeni, Richards Bay, and Ballito. Chorley cautions that there are still economic factors to consider, however, meaning that fibre isnt immediately possible in all of these towns. For now, he said, fibre is only feasible in Witbank, Middelburg, Empangeni, and Richards Bay. The rest of the mentioned towns will be covered by wireless links via a high-capacity backhaul, said Chorley. Chorley added that over the next five months, FTTH will also roll out in the following Western Cape towns: Fish Hoek, Capri, Glencairn, Kommetjie, Lakeside, Muizenberg, Noordhoek, San Michel, Simons Town, Sun Valley, and Sunnydale. DFA DFA said that while its footprint is focused on major metros, it has close to 20% of its network outside of major cities. It added that the increased demand for high-speed fibre connectivity is contributing to an increased demand outside of major centres. The result of this increase in demand is that business cases are justified for the further expansion of network, and we will see increasing fibre network footprint expansion and densification, DFA told MyBroadband. Fibre network deployment is a capital intensive business and requires equally as much, or even more effort on the demand side of the ecosystem in order to ensure that these deployments can create sustainable value for all ecosystem participants, explained DFA. DFA added that it does not see fibre as the only access solution outside of major centres, mentioning the likes of public Wi-Fi, mobile Internet, and microwave as other ways to deliver end-user connectivity. Vumatel Vumatel told MyBroadband that the majority of its rollout has been focused on Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban. Our existing network and structures are set up to serve areas within these major centres and we are constantly evaluating the viability of other municipalities as is evident by our expansion into Ekurhuleni, said Vumatel. Vumatel said that since their core infrastructure is in the major centres, implementation of networks in outlying towns and cities requires operational capabilities being deployed in these areas. In geographical terms these areas are typically remote from existing network infrastructure which has an impact on the economies of scale needed to make a viable business case however, we are constantly focusing on new and innovative ways to address this. SA Digital Villages SA Digital Villages told MyBroadband that its coverage outside the major centres is in Bloemfontein, Rustenburg, and the North Coast. However, it is looking to expand its coverage in the coming year. Were currently in negotiations with third parties to improve fibre coverage outside of the major centres. Were working together to ensure we can provide standardised pricing for the various ISPs so that consumers get access to cost-effective fibre connectivity in these regions, said Anton Strauss, chief acquisitions officer for SA Digital Villages. Strauss added that SA Digital Villages plans on executing these plans within the next two years. Were already seeing saturation in the major metros and overbuild happening we believe that the major players are already looking to expand their network to include outlying areas, said Strauss. He added that the two main challenges when implementing fibre outside of major centres are third-party backhaul and keeping pricing standard no matter where consumers are located. Local municipalities also have different requirements and processes, making getting approval another big challenge. In Zimbabwe, an ammonium nitrate producer, Sable Chemicals, has entered into a partnership with a local energy solutions company, Tatanga Solar Energy, to fund a solar power generation project that is set to produce up to 400 megawatts in the central region of the southern African nation. Sables parent Masawara Plc owns 70% of the project while Tatanga holds the remaining 30%. According to Sable Chemicals chief executive, Bothwell Nyajeka, feasibility studies for the project were now complete and the company was seeking a license from the Zimbabwe Energy Regulation Authority (Zera). The joint venture has already secured land under Zibagwe Rural District Council to establish what they call the Katanga Solar Farm, he said. Our feasibility studies in terms of radiation have shown that the area is the best for such a project, he said. The project would initially produce 50 megawatts and production would increase gradually to 400 megawatts when it is complete, Nyajeka added. Zimbabwe requires between 160,000 and 180,000 tons of ammonium nitrate per annum. Before the decommissioning of its plant, Sable Chemicals used more than 100 megawatts of power, but now less than 10 megawatts were being used a sharp decline. The chairman of Huawei Technologies Co. says the company would never do anything to harm any country, any organization or any individual, according to an interview in the Globe and Mail published on Saturday. Technological divisions between countries with different ideologies would not be beneficial for humanity, nor for technological progress, Liang Hua said in an interview at Huaweis headquarters in Shenzhen, China, the Canadian newspaper reported. Liang is also acting as Huaweis chief financial officer following the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, daughter of the companys founder Ren Zhengfei, in Vancouver in December. Meng was detained at the behest of Washington, which has filed a formal request seeking her extradition as part of a criminal case alleging that she conspired to defraud banks into unwittingly clearing transactions linked to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. Huawei is in the process of communication with Canadian customers BCE Inc. and Telus Corp., Liang said, according to the Globe. He denied that Huawei has any obligation to help the Chinese government install back-doors in devices or networks in order to collect information for intelligence agencies. Now read: Google talent advantage erodes as more workers doubt CEO vision FNB has launched its new Easy Smart Option bank account for lower-income consumers. The account offers combined legal, medical, and financial advice to customers who earn between R1,000 and R7,000 per month. FNB Easy Smart Option includes 24-hour telephonic professional medical advice from a team of registered nurses who will assist users to manage their medical conditions. This account also offers consumers assistance from qualified financial advisors and legal assistance from professional attorneys and paralegal. Customers will also receive R3,000 of both deposits and withdrawals at FNB ATMs, R15 airtime every month, free card swipes, a free savings account, 10 free online purchase transactions and free balance enquiries on FNBs electronic channels. Traditional bank accounts do not always service the range of needs of consumers who earn below and slightly above South Africas minimum wage, said FNB consumer chief executive Dr Christoph Nieuwoudt. We believe that the combination of a suitable bank account, free and helpful value-added benefits will go a long way to helping consumers with money management, Nieuwoudt said. The monthly account fee for the FNB Easy Smart Option account is R65, and customers can access medical, legal, and financial advice can be accessed by dialing 0800 611 269. A person can be prepared to handle an emergency with two lifesaving classes being offered at Muscatine Community College (MCC), 152 Colorado St. These courses will make sure local residents are ready when an emergency strikes and teach students the basics of life support, CPR, first aid and more. The first class, Basic Life Support, course No. 2771, will take place Tuesday, March 5 from 5:30-9:30 p.m. at MCCs main campus. The Basic Life Support course is designed to teach health care professionals how to perform high-quality CPR individually or as part of a team, based on the American Heart Associations 2015 guidelines. Students learn rescue techniques for adults, children and infants. Heartsaver CPR/AED/First Aid, course No. 2774, will be Saturday, March 23 from 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. This course teaches basic first aid, medical, injury and environmental emergencies. Heartsaver CPR for the adult, child and infant, including how to handle choking situations, is also covered based on the American Heart Associations 2015 guidelines. The cost for each class is $62 and includes the textbook. For more information or to register, call 563-336-3444. You can also register online at eicc.edu/ceregistration. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 "My family was still in Iowa," she said. "I did not tell them to come as I had no idea I would win." Knowing her mother would be glued to her computer for the coronation, Morrison made her first phone call home after her win. She said when her mother answered she was "sobbing with joy and telling me how proud she was of me and that she loved me so much." Morrison said she's not an emotional person but was overwhelmed during that phone call that she started to cry, too. She said she told her mother how much she loved her and thanked her for helping her through all of the pageants and competitions. "I told her I would be home in a few days and that I had finally made my dreams a reality," she said. Having competed in rodeo queen pageants for about 10 years, including barrel racing and breakaway roping, Morrison said it all started with a 4-H flyer arriving in the mail with information about the local rodeo hosting a pageant. My sister and I, being very competitive and willing to try anything, decided to place a daring bet, Morrison said. Whoever placed higher in the pageant wouldnt have to do cattle chores for the next month. Of course, that was a bet I was willing to take and so was she, so we worked every day toward it. From 2 a.m. on Sunday to 2 p.m. on Monday, mixed precipitation followed by heavy, blowing snow is expected in the Butte, Georgetown Lake, Highway 12 (from Garrison to Elliston), Homestake Pass, and MacDonald Pass areas. The warning also noted that damaging wind gusts as high as 50 miles per hour along with dangerous wind chills as low as 35 below zero are expected. On Sunday morning at 10:15 a.m., the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office put out a notice stating Muskrat Road in Boulder is closed and county resources are struggling to clear county roads due to the winter storm conditions. The notice urged Jefferson County travelers to stay off of the roads Sunday if possible. McDonald wants the Silver Lake water to be used to create a man-made creek that starts at Texas Avenue to replace the portion of Silver Bow Creek that hasn't flowed there as a clean, meandering, free-flowing creek since the late 1800s. Some say that stretch from Texas Avenue to George Street may never have been a meandering free-flowing creek but instead a set of wetland ponds created by beaver dams. But no one can say for sure, because the first white settlers were miners. The creek in that section was turned into a straight channel in the 1930s. That is what it remains to this day, and currently it catches contaminated storm water that flows down the Butte Hill during rain and snow melt. Accusations of desertion and bigamy, conspiracy and fraud, perjury, interests in seven mines in Butte and the lot holding the city hall, and 160 acres in Santa Clara County, California. And that was mostly after Rolla Butcher died. Rolla Butcher was born about 1825 in what is now West Virginia. He worked as a cabinet maker, surveyor, and merchant and married Eleanor McCune, six years his senior, in 1846. They had six children, but only John and Webster survived infancy. In the late 1850s, Rolla abandoned his family in Virginia and joined a wagon train to California. Census records show that Rolla knocked around the west for decades, in the gold fields of California in 1860, in northern Utah in 1870, and in Walkerville, Montana, in 1880. Through all those decades, he was accompanied by his wife Emma not Eleanor and three or four daughters. In the Butte Central High School auditorium last week, seven people sat in armchairs on the stage framed by maroon and white balloons and a home-like environment. From clergy to the countys superintendent of schools, these people spoke to Central middle and high school students about faith, a catholic education, and life in general. Put yourselves in the shoes of these students, moderator Joe David Wren said to the armchair speakers. What are your thoughts on how things have changed since you were their age, and when did you first feel God alive in your life? The guests brought up personal experiences that described how religion was or wasnt ingrained in their childhood but emphasized how faith in God was the underlying piece that healed their wounds and helped them discover who they are. For speaker Tracy Swanson, a major with the Montana National Guard, faith in God saved his life. Swanson talked about how his dad left home when he was 4 years old and that his step-dad was mentally, physically, and sexually abusive. When Swanson was 29 years old, he said he planned to kill himself. Unwaveringly, he recalled how he told himself hed give God one more chance. When God didnt show himself, he said he went to a hiking path in the jungle to end his life. Review Policy Because this blog is aimed at librarians and patrons of school libraries, I use E ARCs provided by Netgalley and Edelweiss, and physical ARCs if provided by major publishers. All books reviewed should be available in hard cover from vendors like Follett. I do not earn any money from this blog, and any books I receive are donated to my school library or other libraries in my district. All opinions are my own and do not reflect anyone else's. GoviEx, a Canadian mineral resources company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with energy developer Windiga Energy to jointly evaluate the feasibility of powering the companys flagship Madaouela project in Niger, using hybrid solar power solutions. Windiga is a Canadian energy developer focused on building, owning and operating renewable energy facilities and off-grid smart power systems in different parts of Africa. According to GoviEx, initial discussions and collaboration between the two companies will target energy solutions with the intent to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 20,000 tons per annum and provide sustainable, renewable power at approximately 25% lower cost than traditional coal-fired options. Coal-fired power costs are currently forecast at approximately 4% of total life of mine operating costs. Under the MoU, GoviEx will have an opportunity to negotiate a power purchase agreement for the priority supply of electricity for an initial term of 21 years, extendible at the request of GoviEx. The mining giant also plans to provide electricity to the surrounding local community through a hybrid power plant, combining photovoltaic solar panels and diesel generators with total installed capacity of at least 20 MW. The benefits of renewable, lower-cost energy are obvious, and we look forward to updating our stakeholders on the results of these studies, GoviExs chairman, Govind Friedland, commented in a statement. Last week, our book club discussed Debra Magpie Earlings "Perma Red," recently named Montanas best-loved novel. It is a beautifully written story about Louise White Elk, a teenage girl whose character is based on the authors aunt, who grew up on the Flathead Reservation in the 1940s. Louise struggles to escape a life of violence, sorrow and limited choices. The ending is unexpectedly hopeful, contrary to the real-life murder of the authors aunt. Murder is the third-leading cause of death among indigenous women and the rates of violence on reservations can be up to 10 times the national average. Last week, the Montana Legislature heard testimony about Hannas Act (House Bill 21) and House Bill 54, which would provide direction and support for law enforcement and the families of missing and murdered indigenous women and children. Just as Louise steps forward in the last line of the novel, we must step up and demand a change to this legacy of violence against women. Please contact your state legislators and ask them to support these bills. Its a first step forward. Kim Davitt, Sarah McMillan, Missoula You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Yet, another study published that same year indicated that the legal hunting and trapping of even a few wolves right outside Yellowstone and Denali national parks boundaries dramatically reduced the odds of sighting a wolf within the parks. One explanation for this, according to the studys authors, is that wolves that are less wary of humans and contribute disproportionately to viewing opportunities could also be more vulnerable to hunters and trappers when they step across the parks invisible boundaries. The consequences of allowing even a small number of wolves to be killed in areas near Yellowstone could be devastating to the regions reputation and the local economy. When a wolf known as Spitfire was killed by a hunter in one of these management units last November, it made international headlines, caused an outpouring of grief, rage and anger, and left some Yellowstone-area ecotourism guides worried that it would hurt their business. It can also disrupt valuable research like that being done by the Yellowstone Wolf Project, which has produced some of the most significant and detailed reports on wolf behavior in the world. Unfortunately, because the facts contradicted Trumps bellicose blatherings about his fictional successes in the nation and world, he decided to insult them in a tweet, writing that the heads of the intelligence agencies were extremely passive and naive they are wrong! and Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school! Mind you, this is a president who doesnt read his security briefings, doesnt read much at all, and mostly gets his intelligence from watching right-wing talking heads on Fox News or, as he claims, from his "gut. Hes also the guy who has continuous access to the nuclear launch codes, which should send a shiver down the spine of anyone who thinks those kinds of decisions should be based on real, verifiable knowledge, not self-serving, megalomaniacal political spin. Closer to home, the Montana Senate approved a measure last week that similarly embraces the concept that ignorance is better than knowledge. The new rule, which still must be approved by the House, bans the online posting of the legal analysis of bills by the attorneys in the Legislative Services Division. So, if and when a bill has problems that would render it potentially unconstitutional or that have other legal problems, the attorneys notify the public and legislature so those potential pitfalls can be addressed during the legislative process. One winter storm failed to show up in Missoula Monday morning but a second was expected to take its place early Tuesday as arctic air settled over western Montana. Wind chill warnings remained in effect for most places east of the Continental Divide as well as the Kalispell and Polson areas, according to the National Weather Service office in Missoula. The snow was more concentrated west of the mountains, with 2 to 3 inches forecast for Hamilton and 1 to 2 inches for Stevensville, Missoula and points north. Lost Trail Pass had an alert for between 6 inches and 8 inches of snow Monday night into Tuesday. Wind warnings stayed in effect until 5 p.m. Monday east of Missoula, where wind chills dropped to as low as 40 degrees below zero. In Missoula the coldest wind chill on Monday was minus-15 at 1 a.m. and again at 6 a.m. The coldest blast of winter shut down a handful of schools in the region and delayed the start for many outside Missoula. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that weather officials are warning of dangerous wind chills dropping below minus-30 degrees across much of the state, and avalanche threats in the West Yellowstone area and the southern Madison and Gallatin mountain ranges. That was a very exciting day, MacDonald said. Its when the shooting started. The guerillas and Army Scout troops killed all the guards. Paratroopers landed about a quarter of a mile away. At other military prisoner of war camps, the Japanese killed all the prisoners before they could be rescued. MacDonald said there were concerns that may have been in the plans for their camp, as well, which resulted in the rescue mission. MacDonald pieced his book together from his recollections and accounts from both his and his fathers diaries. My dad always kept a diary, but at times had to keep it hidden away, he said. He felt there might be danger to us if the Japanese found it. When I was in camp, I started my own He lost a good deal of it when an American censor accidentally spilled water on it after MacDonald came to the United States following the war. I grew up as a missionary and the Philippines was home for me, MacDonald said. I considered that I had immigrated when I came to the states in 45. The U.S. Forest Service has released a signed Record of Decision for the new Flathead National Forest plan. Under the plan, more than half of the Flathead over a million acres will be managed as wilderness, 13 percent will be managed for research and recreation, and 28 percent will be managed as General Forest with some degree of vegetation management. It also includes plans for managing endangered and threatened species such as Canada lynx, bull trout and grizzly bears. This step, completed Monday and announced in a press release Friday, caps a four-year effort to craft a new management plan for the Flathead National Forest, which spans 2.4 million acres in northwest Montana, and whose previous management plan dated to 1986. The recent government shutdown marred completion of this process. While the Record of Decision detailing the rationale for the plan and final changes was completed in late December, it wasnt made public until last week. The Forest Service published a Notice of Plan Approval Dec. 27, a step that Forest Supervisor Chip Weber said was automatic, announcing the plans would take effect 30 days later, even though the record of decision wasn't visible. (HealthDay)Three-quarters of students aged 11 to 15 years from government schools in India receiving spectacles wear them at follow-up, according to a study published online Jan. 31 in JAMA Ophthalmology. Priya Morjaria, Ph.D., from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and colleagues examined predictors of spectacle wear in 460 students aged 11 to 15 years recruited from government schools in Bangalore, India, and randomly assigned to ready-made or custom-made spectacles. Overall, 25.4 percent of participants were not wearing their spectacles at follow-up. The researchers found that spectacle wear was predicted by poorer presenting visual acuity (VA) and improvement in VA with correction. The likelihood of wearing spectacles was increased for students initially seen with an uncorrected VA less than 6/18 in the better eye compared with those with less than 6/9 to 6/12 (adjusted odds ratio, 2.84). Compared with an improvement of less than three lines, an improvement of VA with correction of three to six or more than six lines had adjusted odds ratios of 2.31 and 2.57, respectively. Teasing or bullying by peers was the main reason students gave for nonwear (48.9 percent). Parental disapproval was reported as a reason more frequently by girls (difference, 7.2 percent). "Interventions to reduce teasing and bullying and disapproval among parents, particularly of girls, is more challenging because interventions would need to address societal norms and attitudes," the authors write. Explore further Amblyopia Tx at young age results in good vision later Copyright 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Micrograph showing prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma (the most common form of prostate cancer) Credit: Wikipedia More than four in five men (81 percent) with prostate cancer struggle with poor sexual function following treatment for the disease, but over half (56 percent) fail to receive support, according to new research. The Lancet Oncology research, co-led by the University of Leeds, revealed that sexual problems were common in men diagnosed with prostate cancer regardless of the stage of their disease, their treatment, or their age. However, more than half of men over the age of 65 (61 percent) were not offered support for erection problems, compared to younger men under the age of 55 only about a fifth of whom (22 percent) were not offered support. Erectile dysfunction is a known side effect of prostate cancer treatment. Following these findings, Prostate Cancer UK and the Movember Foundation which both funded the research, have issued concerns that too many men are left with inadequate support to deal with the impact of treatments. The charities are calling on men to have the confidence to speak out about their side effects without embarrassment, and for healthcare professionals to proactively discuss sexual problems post-treatment and signpost them to the appropriate support they need. The study, called "Life After Prostate Cancer Diagnosis," is the country's largest ever patient-reported outcomes study for the disease. It involved over 30,000 men across the UK and brought together researchers from the University of Leeds, Queen's University Belfast, University of Southampton, Oxford Brookes University and Public Health England. Men were asked about their quality of life and experiences of living with prostate cancer 18-42 months following their diagnosis, from the side effects of treatment to the psychological impact of living with the disease. Key findings from the report include: Poor sexual function was most commonly reported by men who underwent hormone therapy (94 percent) and surgery (84 percent), with 79 percent of men who had radiotherapy also reporting poor sexual function. Although 81 percent of men who had had surgery were offered support, this dropped to just over one third (35 percent) for men who received radiotherapy. Men diagnosed with cancer that had not spread beyond the prostate generally reported a good overall quality of life 18-42 months following a prostate cancer diagnosis. However, poor sexual function remained a significant issue for 75 percent of these men. Heather Blake, Director of Support and Influencing from Prostate Cancer UK said: "For some men, it can be months before any erection problems are experienced following their treatment, especially if they've received radiotherapy. By this stage follow up appointments may have reduced, with far fewer opportunities to raise any late side effect issues. "As a result, too many men are being abandoned without any support for sexual problems with older men in particular missing out. "These results not only highlight the importance for all men to speak out honestly about their side effects, it's equally important for all healthcare professionals treating men for prostate cancer to incorporate support for erection problems within post-treatment follow-up plans." Joint senior author Professor Adam Glaser, from the University of Leeds, said: "Men living with and beyond a diagnosis of prostate cancer across the UK have been found to be incredibly resilient in our follow-ups a couple of years after diagnosis. "In general they report very good health related quality of life, with one quarter of those with advanced disease also reporting similar overall health status as would be expected of others their age without advanced cancer. However, this could potentially be improved further if sexual problems and dysfunction could be either prevented or proactively dealt with." Better support needed Hugh Butcher, Chair of the project's User Advisory Group said: "Far too many men like me who benefit from medical procedures and treatments for prostate cancer nevertheless suffer from significant 'late effects' from their experience over months and years. Erectile dysfunction is a serious issue for many of these men, which too often leads to distressing relationship difficulties, stress, or even depression. "Despite this, more than half of these men fail to receive professional support for such late effects, and I know from speaking to them that this can have a huge impact on their quality of life. "That's why it's so crucial that continuing advances in prostate cancer treatment are urgently matched by professionally led advances in post-treatment support services." In a bid to tackle the problem, the Movember Foundation is funding an online self-management programme for people living with prostate cancer, through the global TrueNTH initiative, which is available now online. It will provide personalised self-management strategies to help improve sexual wellbeing after prostate cancer. Owen Sharp, CEO of the Movember Foundation, said: "Sexual dysfunction can have a huge impact on quality of life following a cancer diagnosis. "Providing better support for men after prostate cancer is a major priority for Movember. Programmes like ours give medical teams the tools they need to help men who are struggling with sexual dysfunction." Explore further Surgery unnecessary for many prostate cancer patients More information: Amy Downing et al. Quality of life in men living with advanced and localised prostate cancer in the UK: a population-based study, The Lancet Oncology (2019). Journal information: Lancet Oncology Amy Downing et al. Quality of life in men living with advanced and localised prostate cancer in the UK: a population-based study,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30780-0 Egypts Supreme Court has cancelled a parliament bill allowing the government to dismantle Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that it accuses of getting foreign funds or aligned with outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. State-run MENA news agency reported the courts Saturday decision, which ruled unconstitutional a recent civil society law that granted the ministry of social affairs the right to close NGOs. The Constitution prohibits the administrative bodies to intervene in the affairs of the NGOs unless there is a judicial verdict, the Supreme Constitutional Court said in its ruling, which is final. Egyptian authorities have dissolved hundreds of NGOs over alleged links with the Muslim Brotherhood, declared outlawed and judged worse than a terrorism organization. Fattah al-Sisi, then defense minister, removed in July 2013 Egypts first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi, a member of the organization, before he was elected President in 2014. Authorities have seized properties and assets of the Muslim Brotherhood. Thousands of its members, including Morsi himself have been flung in prison and handed multiple court sentences. Al-Sisis regime also accuses civil society groups of getting foreign funding with the aim of toppling the government. The decision to dissolve NGOs has triggered reactions from international human rights watchdogs and from Egypts partners, including the USA, which called for reconsidering the law. (HealthDay)Discontinuing tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) before gestational week 20 in women with well-controlled rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is not associated with disease worsening in late pregnancy, according to a study published online Jan. 21 in Arthritis & Rheumatology. Frauke Forger, M.D., from the University of Bern in Switzerland, and colleagues used data from 490 women with RA (397 women) and JIA (93 women) participating in the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists Autoimmune Diseases in Pregnancy Project (2005 to 2017) to determine whether the discontinuation of TNFi during pregnancy is associated with any changes of the disease course. Medication and disease activity information were collected before gestational week 20 and at gestational week 32. The researchers found that 24.9 percent of women discontinued a TNFi before gestational week 20, while 41 percent used a TNFi beyond week 20 and 34.1 percent did not use a TNFi during pregnancy. Disease activity was low to minimal in 72.9 percent of women at enrollment. No clinically important worsening of patient-reported outcome measures at the third trimester was associated with discontinuation of TNFi. Women using TNFi beyond week 20 were more likely to experience improved disease activity scores at the third trimester in univariate, but not multivariate, analysis. "Discontinuing a TNFi before gestational week 20 seems feasible in women with RA and JIA who enter pregnancy with well-controlled disease," the authors write. Several pharmaceutical companies provided funding for the study. Explore further TNF inhibitors may not modify polyarticular JIA disease process Copyright 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Why do some patients recover quickly after surgery, while others don't? That is an important question when treating older frail patients suffering from aortic stenosis. Lead author Dae Hyun Kim, M.D., M.P.H., Sc.D., and principle investigator Director Lewis A. Lipsitz in the Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife explore this question in a paper published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine. Aortic stenosis is a disease that more often than not develops late in life. It occurs in 2% of people over 65 and affects more men than women. The condition causes the aorta -the main artery that carries blood to the rest of the bodyto constrict reducing blood flow from the heart. The disease poses a serious health threat to older adults, impacting function and quality of life at best, and at worse, threatening survival. With recent advances in surgical techniques, more patients are undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) to treat aortic stenosis. However, this study shows that serious risks of functional decline associated with surgery in older patients may well outweigh the benefits, and in particular, may not meet an individual's goals for treatment. Although outcomes have improved over time, older patients continue to experience high rates of functional decline, particularly if they are frail before surgery. Many older patients, given the option, would often choose quality of life over longevity when making choices about their care. Earlier clinical trials and observational studies demonstrated improvement in functional status after TAVR and SAVR. However, these studies' results may not be applicable to all patients. The studies also assessed functional limitations due to heart failure using disease-specific measures, rather than measures that looked at, for example, how patients were doing with activities of daily living, capturing a broader picture of how patients were fairing after surgery. As this study shows, the functional status of a patient before surgery impacts post-operative outcomes, including rates of recovery and long-range functional status. After heart valve replacement, five paths were identified that describe how much patients recover. After minimally invasive transcatheter replacement, many patients did not have improvement in functional status. In particular, patients who were very frail before their procedures tended to have the worst outcomes. Patients who are stronger generally get open heart surgery, and after surgical valve replacement, patients generally did better. Discussion of expected recovery can help to inform patient centered decision making. According to Dr. Kim, "Although older patients with severe aortic valve stenosis undergo these procedures with expectation that their functional status improves, those with severe frailty, have functional decline. We emphasize the various processes of "how" they get to where they are at 12 months, and identified preoperative frailty, postoperative complications and delirium as strong predictors of functional decline, which can be potential targets for intervention." Explore further Does open heart surgery affect cognitive abilities? As part of Project ROSE, women receive test results via a mobile phone app, as well as appointment reminders. Credit: Kitsana Baitoey/123rf A collaboration in Malaysia is piloting a novel cervical screening program that features the comfort of self-sampling and the ease of digital communication. Led by the University of Malaya in partnership with other universities, government agencies, non-profits and corporations, Project ROSE aims to significantly increase the number of women screened for infection and thus reduce rates of cervical cancer through early detection. Cervical cancer, caused mainly by infection with human papilloma virus (HPV), is the second most common female cancer in Malaysia, affecting about 15 in every 100,000 women. Cervical cancer develops slowly, so can often be easily treated if caught early. Despite regular awareness campaigns in the country and relatively easy access to healthcare facilities, only one in every five Malaysian women eligible for cervical screening will ever have one. Yin Ling Woo, a gynaecological oncologist at the University of Malaya, together with experts at VCS Foundation and Malaysia's Ministry of Health, developed Project ROSE to address the two main hurdles to screenings: time and discomfort. "One of the constant themes I've come across in my work is that 'I've been so busy that I've not had time for screening', or 'I was so busy I did not think much of my symptoms'," says Woo. "This is one of the realities of a full-time working mum and what makes a screening program like Project ROSE attractive. It saves time for women." The ROSE solution makes it possible for women to receive test results via a mobile application on their phones and make follow up appointments easily. Woo and her team worked with VCS Foundation (the non-profit arm of Victoria Cytology Service Ltd.), which provides registry services for Australia's national cervical screening program, to develop a solution that would be acceptable within the Malaysian setting. The app is paired with self-sampling to address the other main roadblock. Women in some parts of the world, including Malaysia, often avoid cervical screening for reasons of modesty, or fear of discomfort from a pelvic examination. During a conventional PAP smear, a clinician swabs the cervix and tests the sample for abnormal cells that could indicate infection with HPV or cancer. Such tests are recommended every three years for women between the ages of 25 and 49. With Project ROSE, women self-insert a small swab into their vagina at the clinic to obtain a cell sample from their cervix, which is then tested by clinicians for HPV DNA. The women are informed of their test results within three days via the mobile app. So far, more than 2,000 women aged 30 to 65 have participated in the program. Woo reports that 99% of the women said they are willing to repeat HPV self-sampling, which should be done every five years, or every ten years in resource-limited settings. Since cervical cancer develops slowly, this test interval should still help catch the disease early enough to treat most cases. "Self-sampling has been shown to be effective, particularly in the under-screened population," Woo says. As a result of the screening, two women have been identified for further treatment. The mobile application will facilitate tracking patients, sending them test reminders, results and next steps as required. An implementation research program, Project ROSE aims to recruit 4,000 women for the first phase of two pilot projects. The results will then inform changes to Malaysia's National Cervical Screening Program. The innovative program was chosen as a finalist for the Union for International Cancer Control Awards. "I see the devastating effects of cervical cancer on women and their families," says Woo. "By integrating the latest technologies in a human-centred approach, cervical cancer can now almost entirely be prevented. I am hopeful we are taking another step forward toward protecting more women." Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide. Approximately 90% of deaths from cervical cancer in 2015 were in low- and middle-income countries. Explore further Innovative diagnostic test could revolutionise cervical cancer screening Credit: University of Manchester A study of the differences between healthy brains and those with Alzheimer's Disease has produced largest dataset of its type ever. And the data, developed by a team of researchers led by Dr. Richard Unwin at The University of Manchester, is now freely available online for any scientist to use. The team included researchers from the Universities Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool and Auckland. The development is an important advance for scientists researching Alzheimer's. The team also show that one region of the brain previously thought to be unaffected by the disease, the cerebellum, displayed a series of changes which they think might protect it from damage caused by Alzheimer's. The Alzheimer's Research UK funded study is published in the journal Communications Biology today. The analysis, mapping the relative levels of over 5,825 distinct proteins across six regions of the brain, generated a massive 24,024 data points. The brain regions in the study included the more heavily affected Hippocampus, Entorhinal cortex, Cingulate gyrus and the less affected Motor Cortex, Sensory Cortex, and Cerebellum The samples were donated for research by patients at the New Zealand Brain Bank in Auckland. Dr. Unwin said: "This database provides a huge opportunity for dementia researchers around the world to progress and to follow-up new areas of biology and develop new treatments. "It could also help validate observations seen in in animal or cell disease models in humans. "It's very exciting to be able to make these data public so scientists can access and use this vital information." Alzheimer's Disease arises in the hippocampus and spreads through pathways in the brain. But by looking at different parts of that pathway, the team were able to observe, for the first time, how Alzheimer's progresses in more detail. "We think that the changes we see in the regions affected later on-represent early disease changes, present before cells die," he said "These represent good new targets for drug developers, as we know it's important to try to intervene early." In the course of the study, the team hit upon new molecules not previously associated with the disease, representing more targets to develop new drugs. They also confirm that researchers looking at a range of pathwaysincluding inflammation, Wnt signalling, and metabolic changes in human tissueare on the right track. The team identified 129 protein changes which were present in all areas of the brain studied, with at least 44 not previously associated with the disease. But there were hundreds others which change only in the late-affected regions. He added: "These new protein changes represent further targets for scientists developing new drugs "The cerebellum, previously thought be unaffected, displays a significant response at the molecular level. "Many of the changes here are not seen in other regions and this could imply that this region actively protects itself from disease. We won't know for sure until we carry out more research." Dr. Rosa Sancho, Head of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "By studying thousands of individual proteins, this exciting research has generated a detailed molecular map of changes that get underway in the brain in Alzheimer's disease. Making this information freely available online will help researchers to navigate the complex and changing environment of the brain in Alzheimer's and identify processes that could be targeted by future drugs. "There are over half a million people in the UK living with Alzheimer's and there are currently no treatments that can slow or stop the disease from progressing in the brain. Pioneering research like this is driving progress towards new breakthroughs that will change people's lives." Explore further Diabetes medications may reduce Alzheimer's disease severity More information: Jingshu Xu et al, Regional protein expression in human Alzheimer's brain correlates with disease severity, Communications Biology (2019). Jingshu Xu et al, Regional protein expression in human Alzheimer's brain correlates with disease severity,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s42003-018-0254-9 In the system of government here in the Philippines, barangay officials and workers are in the frontline of delivering services to the communities. Being in the forefront, they need as much help as possible so they can consistently and effectively do their tasks. This legislation here is a step towards that goal and I hope that barangay officials and workers will also be uplifted by its approval, said Velasco. That statement of purpose (thats the formal name for the document) is written for each bill and is something particularly worth checking out if the rough subject of the bill is of interest to you. Bills often are crafted in such a way that their full intent and effect may not be obvious on a casual read. Statements of purpose are supposed to be written in plain language, describing what the effect is, and what it will cost (mainly, whether it will have an effect on a budget or on general fund taxes). These are best read with a cautious eye, since advocates sometimes have been known to use poetic license in describing effects and costs. But theyre a good first stop to try to understand whats happening with a specific bill. TWIN FALLS A dairy processor could get the go-ahead on Monday to put a manufacturing plant on Washington Street South. The City Council will have a public hearing on a request for a zoning district change and zoning map amendment for 304, 312 and 404 Washington St. S. The zoning change would allow for heavy manufacturing on property thats been used as farmland for years. Gem State Dairy Products LLC is requesting the change so it can use about 40 acres of its 76-acre property for a milk processing plant. The land is just south of Glanbia Nutritionals. The citys Planning and Zoning Commission and city staff are recommending approval. The City Council meeting begins at 5 p.m. Monday in City Hall, 203 Main Ave. E. Public hearings are scheduled to begin no earlier than 6 p.m. Also at the meeting, the Council will: Hear a presentation on the Road to the 2020 Census. Consider a request to adopt the 2017 Idaho Standards for Public Works Construction Specifications and Standard Drawings and the 2017 City of Twin Falls Revisions to the ISPWC. Consider a request to adopt the latest version of the Twin Falls Improvement Agreement for Developments. Have a public hearing for a request to vacate an undeveloped portion of Washington Street South right of way at the southwest corner of Washington Street South and South Park Avenue. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 Blood drives The American Red Cross is in need of blood and platelet donations. Blood donation opportunities are available from noon to 7 p.m. Monday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, all at Church of the Ascension-Episcopal, 371 Eastland Drive N., Twin Falls; noon to 6 p.m. Feb. 14 at St. Jeromes Catholic Church, 216 Second Ave. E., Jerome; and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 15 at Church of Immaculate Conception, 1629 Poplar St., Buhl. All eligible donors, especially those with type O blood, are needed. A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. To schedule an appointment to donate, use the free blood donor app, visit redcrossblood.org or call 800-733-2767. Donors can use RapidPass online to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire. Weight loss support TOPS Club (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), a nonprofit weight-loss support group, will meet weekly at several locations. The Twin Falls chapter will meet at 4:45 p.m. Monday at the Twin Falls Senior Center, 530 Shoshone St. W. Info: 208-734-2641 or 208-734-5300. Whittekiends GPA is impressive especially, considering the rigor of the classes she takes, Hoffmann said. Whittekiend found out shed received the Horatio Alger National Scholarship during Christmas break. She listened to a voice message and found out it was someone from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans and thought, OK, this is either really good or really bad, she said. After calling back and finding out she received the scholarship, the emotions started bubbling up. I started crying because my parents cant afford to send me to college, Whittekiend said, and it was overwhelming before that figuring out how shed pay for it herself. The scholarship is a blessing and it relieves a huge burden, she said. I felt like it was an answer to my prayers. Now, Whittekiend knows at least part of her college education will be paid for. Shell receive $5,000 annually for her first three years of college and $10,000 for the fourth year. The minister of housing of the east-based government, Ali Koso, Sunday tendered his resignation as he accuses the administration-aligned army commander Khalifa Haftar of ethnical cleansing. The Beida-based government backed by the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Haftar-led Libyan National Army (LNA) is opposed to the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli. The two rival sides have maintained the country into chaos as the GNA has been unable to impose its authority across the country. Libya, since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, has become playground for several countries who sway influence on both governments. Ali Koso announced his departure from the administration that he criticized for its role as fund-raising source for the military coup led by the so-called general command of Haftar, Libya Observer reports. Koso laid into Haftar for disrupting democracy and plaguing the establishment of a civil state. Haftar, the now ex-minister further noted, has been destroying social structure of the Libyan society including a military operation of ethnic cleansing with the help of mercenaries and armed gangs, in southern Libya. Haftar and his LNA launched last month a military campaign with the aim of wiping out terrorists and criminal groups in the south of the country. The campaign has targeted the Tabu tribe group, which spreads across neighboring Chad and Niger. The tribes national assembly issued a statement Saturday denouncing the LNAs operation. The assembly criticized the army for the genocide and displacement threats, Libya Observer reported. The Haftar-led force accuses the minority group of collision with foreign parties, including Chadian rebels opposed to President Idriss Deby. I kind of took a lot of initiative to look into schools myself, but shes been really helpful with finding financial aid, she said. Fields and her mother toured college campuses during her sophomore year. She wants to study environmental engineering. Fields applied to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in California; Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash.; University of Portland; University of Idaho; University of Notre Dame in Indiana; and Purdue University in Indiana. She has been accepted to some and is waiting to hear back from others. The Twin Falls School District is limited in how many school counselors it can have, spokeswoman Eva Craner said, and they serve a lot of students. Having advisers who can hone in on helping students prepare for college and careers is important, she said. Each counselor at Canyon Ridge has about 430 students theyre responsible for, Nelson said, which is well above the American School Counselor Associations recommendation of one counselor per 250 students, so we are quite large in our caseload. Without the college and career advisers, counselors wouldnt be able to give students the level of help theyre receiving, Nelson said. HAILEY A kitchen worker has been charged with having sexual contact with a prisoner at the Blaine County Detention Center. Jodi L. Petty, 48, of Fairfield, was arrested Feb. 2 on a warrant with four felony counts of sexual contact with a prisoner, Blaine County Sheriff Steve Harkins said in a statement. Petty was employed as a kitchen worker by Summit Food Services, a company that provides food service at the jail. According to the sheriffs office, an investigation began in December 2018. As part of the contract with Summit Food Services, jail inmates are provided to assist the company with food preparation and cleanup. The inmates are supervised by Summit Kitchen staff and monitored by video surveillance and on-duty deputies. Detention staff noticed suspicious behavior between Petty and a male inmate, the sheriffs office said. Pettys security clearance to work inside the jail was revoked, and the inmate was removed from kitchen duties. The sexual contact happened in a storage area, the sheriffs office said. Petty was booked into the Blaine County Detention Center and released on a $25,000 bond. An arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 25. Petty is no longer employed by Summit Food Services. Love 1 Funny 3 Wow 4 Sad 3 Angry 0 TWIN FALLS A Las Vegas couple is accused of trafficking methamphetamine after an Idaho State Police trooper pulled over their vehicle on U.S. Highway 93 in Twin Falls County. Sacha Nerissa Cortez, 33, and Ernie Lopez, 29, were arraigned Feb. 1 in Twin Falls County Fifth District Court. Cortez is charged with felony possession of a controlled substance, felony trafficking in methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia. Lopez is charged with felony trafficking in methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance. The two were pulled over in a black 2014 Cadillac ATS at 10:13 p.m. Jan. 31 on U.S. 93 about three miles south of U.S. Highway 30. The vehicle driven by Lopez was traveling at 55 mph in a 60 mph zone in the inside lane, causing five cars to slow and drive behind them, ISP said in an affidavit for Lopez. Lopez and his girlfriend, Cortez, were traveling home to Las Vegas. Cortez was the passenger in the vehicle. After the trooper asked Lopez whether any controlled substances were in the car, he presented an opened Swisher Sweet pack and said one small marijuana cigarette roach was at the bottom, according to the affidavit. BOISE Big Sky Scientific LLC has filed a lawsuit against the Idaho State Police, Ada County and attorney Jan M. Bennetts after 6,701 pounds of a THC-containing substance was seized last week. According to documents obtained by the Statesman, Big Sky Scientific claims that the product seized during an inspection was industrial hemp, per the definition outlined in the 2018 farm bill, and therefore was a protected substance, should not have been seized in the first place and should be returned. The truck driver carrying the load, 36-year-old Denis V. Palamarchuk, was stopped at the East Boise Port of Entry last Thursday. Palamarchuk claimed that the substance was hemp, but the ISP troopers did not believe him and said it was marijuana. Palamarchuk is a driver for VIP Transporter LLC in Portland who said he was on his way to Colorado with the shipment. According to their Facebook page, Big Sky Scientific is a CBD (cannabidiol) wholesale provider. From his training and experience, the trooper knows what marijuana smells like, and the odor was very easily detectable by him, even with the trailers doors closed, ISP spokesman Tim Marsano told the Statesman earlier this week. Q: I have heard that if you ask somebody, portraying themselves as a prostitute, if they are a cop, they lawfully have to tell you. Is that true? By-the-way this was just a topic of conversation with friends and not a real need to know. -Travis A: If this was MythBusters, then we could bust that myth without having to test the theory first. I must also say you and your friends, sounds like, have some deep theories to discuss. The answer, of course, is no, a police officer does not have to tell you if he or she is a cop while working on vice stings (some of the old school office might have got to have fun with that one). Since we know your question is not real, here is what could happen to you if it was. Idaho code 18-5614 reads: PATRONIZING A PROSTITUTE. (1) A person is guilty of patronizing a prostitute when he or she: (a) Pays or offers or agrees to pay another person a fee for the purpose of engaging in an act of sexual conduct or sexual contact; (b) Enters or remains in a house of prostitution for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct or sexual contact. I should add that if a person is convicted of this for a third time then he or she could be guilty of a felony. BOISE Three days after sheriffs deputies shut down a well-known Boise diner and seized its building for nonpayment of unemployment taxes, the Rockies Diner on Overland Road was back open for business Friday afternoon. Owner Petros Rocky Paflias said he paid $15,000 to the Idaho Department of Labor on the morning of Feb. 1 and got the agency to sign a release. The Ada County Sheriffs Office, which confirmed the release, returned his keys, and Paflias called his employees back to work. Its been a rough couple of days, Paflias told the Statesman by telephone. Im very thankful that I was able to open the doors and be able to give my girls their jobs back, my cooks their jobs back. It feels pretty good. On the morning of Feb. 1, the parking lot was empty. Early that afternoon, customers began trickling back, he said. We are open for business, he said. The state seized Rockies Diner, which has operated for 25 years, after Paflias fell behind on a payment plan to cover back taxes owed since 2010, according to court records. Last year, he promised to pay $300 a week in March and April and then $750 a week after that, and he promised to stay current on quarterly taxes. One of those lawsuits, filed last month by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and other groups, contends the so-called extraordinary session held to pass the laws was unconstitutional. The lawsuit prompted Evers to hire private attorneys to represent him at a cost to taxpayers of as much as $50,000. Republican legislative leaders have retained Misha Tseytlin, the former state solicitor general, as their attorney in that case. Its unclear whether GOP lawmakers will hire attorneys, at taxpayer expense, to defend themselves in the new lawsuit. Liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now is bringing the other lawsuit, which seeks to overturn the provisions of the lame-duck law that curtailed access to early voting. A federal judge last month blocked those changes as part of a previous injunction against previous laws limiting early voting. In addition, a state lawmaker, Rep. Jimmy Anderson, has asked Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne to file suit against state Assembly leaders and void the votes that passed the laws. Ozanne has not said if hell act on that request. Anderson, who is paralyzed from the chest down and requires advance notice of meetings as an accommodation of his health and logistical issues, contends Assembly Republican leaders broke state open-meetings law by not telling him when early-morning votes on the laws would be held. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Lobbying organizations in Wisconsin spent just under $8 million more on their efforts influencing policy in the 2017-18 session than they did the session prior, according to data submitted to the states Ethics Commission. Initial figures reported Friday show nearly 800 lobbying organizations racked up about $70 million and the equivalent of about 15,585 days, or 43 years, of work attempting to sway the course of Wisconsin lawmakers and officials. Thats just under $8 million more than the $63 million lobbying groups spent over the 2015-16 legislative session, despite logging slightly more time: the equivalent of about 15,987 days, or about 44 years, of work. Lobbying organizations are required by state law to report the total amount of time and dollars spent directly communicating with lawmakers or state officials, as well as the time and money spent preparing and researching for communications affecting current or future areas of legislation. For Matt Rothschild, the executive director of the nonprofit Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, an open government advocacy group, the increased amount of money spent on lobbying in the state is a harm for democracy. Work on removing water from the Chemistry Building was ongoing since the water main break Friday afternoon, she said. It caused damage to some chemistry laboratories and prompted the building to be evacuated. Vilas Hall is home to the universitys Department of Communication Arts, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Department of Theatre and Drama, The Daily Cardinal student newspaper and other media- and communication-focused programs. Public TV, radio The building also houses offices and studios for Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television, both of which were continuing to broadcast. The impact of the flooding on those operations is being assessed, but water has affected some studios and offices for WPT, said Gene Purcell, director of Wisconsin Public Media, which is the parent organization of WPR and WPT. Right now, our operations arent dramatically affected, Purcell said. Were going to stay on the air, thats for sure. Its just a matter of what that looks like and where were broadcasting from. WPR, which has offices and studios at the top of Vilas Hall on the seventh floor, was minimally affected and remained broadcasting Sunday, he said. According to the chat, Rogers instructed the girl about how to get the video, and she begged him just to come and take her away, telling him he was such an (expletive) if u dont help me somehow. She told him repeatedly that she couldnt get the video, to which Rogers responded, So Im an (expletive) for not risking going to prison for someone I havent even met? Police found the video, which was created on Jan. 10, on Rogers computer. It graphically depicted the girl being sexually assaulted by a man. About 4 p.m. on Jan. 31, FBI agents, acting on information they had gathered, went to Rogers home. He told them he had had contact with the girl through Roblox. He said that the girl reported being sexually assaulted and that she had sent him a video of an assault, but Rogers said he had never met her in person or traveled to Tennessee to pick her up. He said she was not at his home. About four hours later, Pertzborn wrote, he went to Rogers home where he was met at the door by Rogers mother and told her he was there to search for the girl under exigent circumstances an emergency that allows law enforcement to conduct a search without a warrant. Officers searched Rogers living space in the basement and found the girl hiding in a closet. 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. Authorities Sunday put the death toll of people affected by H1N1 virus to 11 spread across six cities. The health ministry said four people died in Casablanca, three in Tangier, while Fez, Rabat, Azilal and Tan-Tan recorded one death each. Morocco reported the first case of H1N1 Monday with the first death case declared Wednesday following rumors on social media. Fifty-Eight people have tested positive for the influenza syndrome and 32 among them are still receiving treatment, the ministry told state-run news agency MAP. Symptoms of H1N1 include a sore throat, fever, a stuffy and runny nose, headaches, body aches, and continuous fatigue. The government urged populations not to panic, noting that all heath facilities are equipped to face the outbreak. The epidemiological situation is under control compared with previous years, the ministry said. Each year, seasonal flu kills many people, namely the elderly, pregnant women, children, asthma patients and smokers, Health minister Anas Doukkali told Asharq Al-Awsat. Comments made by students on a school bus Monday morning prompted the Oregon School District to put three schools on soft lockdown, but the situation was remedied by Oregon police as of mid-morning, and classes were back to normal. Oregon Superintendent Brian Busler said a couple of students had made comments on a bus carrying students to high school, middle school and Rome Corners intermediate school, resulting in the soft lockdown at those three schools. A soft lockdown means the exterior doors of the buildings are locked and students continue with their classes, with no one allowed in or out of the buildings. "Police deemed it was not a credible threat," Busler said. The lockdown ended around 10 a.m., but police were still investigating. 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. When ABC-TV news anchor David Muir came to town last year to give a commencement speech at UW-Madison, he made a local interview request: He wanted to meet the girl who makes the skillets. That would be Alisa Toninato, who made local headlines nearly seven years ago when her cast-iron pans cast in the shape of states one part artwork, one part handcrafted kitchenware won over audiences on The Martha Stewart Show and other national media. Since then, Toninato has grown her Madison-based company, changed its name from Cook With Pride to American Skillet Co., and expanded her line of skillets. Shes also been busy with her second company, the more art-focused FeLion Studios. And a year and a half ago, she became a new mom. On Saturday, the milestones will continue for Toninato, when FeLion Studios hosts the 10th annual Pourn Yer Heart Out Iron Pour. The free, public indoor/outdoor art celebration generally draws up to 500 people of all ages, dazzling with a display of fiery molten iron and the creative output of artists who work with the material. It really fills up my creative bank, the personable founder of Pourn Yer Heart Out said. The tacos are eaten in three or four bites, Sagaria said. "What that does, it allows you to try a lot of different flavors almost in a tapas style, which is fun for sharing. There's a really low bar to entry, for trying a new dish or a new ingredient or new flavor." Not taco choices include chopped salad; beet, kale and goat cheese salad; chicken soup; pork posole; fried plantains; tuna poke and duck quesadillas. "It's fresh, bright flavors," Sagaria said about the menu. "Some are familiar and then there are also some that are unique, which is a lot of fun for us and our guests." The Madison location has seating for 136 inside, and when weather permits, 56 on its patio. It won't all be traditional seating, Sagaria said, noting that the restaurant will have a lounge area with a fireplace. Bartaco was born out of Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant, and is its less expensive, more street food counterpart. The two are operated by the same restaurant group and sometimes paired side by side. The restaurant chain was founded by Sasa Mahr-Batuz and Andrew Pforzheimer. "We try and have very common names for all of our folks," Sagaria said. "That's why I got the job." The experts who track retail say theres actually more retail square footage than ever today. In many communities where Shopko says goodbye, a Target or something similar may still be within reach. Not such a big deal when a Shopko closes in Madison. But in a Mauston or Seymour, another story. In some cases, like Stevens Point, the closing marks the last major retailer to leave a downtown that has never in memory been without one. The store here has a big footprint nestled near the heart of the downtown with its row of historic buildings that on a wintry day looks straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. The two, Shopko and the downtown with its small shops, were complementary. It was a big deal when Shopko arrived in many Wisconsin communities. The company marketed itself as one of us, the Green Bay-based business that cared about us. Even after it expanded to other states, you had the feeling that Shopko was one of us. When the store arrived in Stevens Point in the mid-1980s, community leaders showed up en masse to celebrate, proclaiming Shopko as a key to a sweeping downtown revitalization. It would anchor a new mall, built on property cleared with the help of a $6.5 million federal grant. The federal money was paired with local tax increment financing and other tools. And the new Cold War started today, insists Blogging Blue's Ed Heinzelman. He's talking about the withdrawal by Donald Trump of the United States from the intermediate-range nucler missile treaty with Russia, which he is certain will spark another worldwide arms race. Dominique Paul Noth explains why the State of the Union was always "Nancy's show." Noth says that he can't wait for the speech where Trump will be expected to explain numerous topics, including his disagreements with his intelligence agencies. Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, writes on the association's newsletter attempting to explain the situation involving Foxconn and the flurry of conflicting news that surfaced last week. He claims the Foxconn deal has always been one of a work in progress. Senior U.S. and South Korean officials met yesterday to discuss an expected second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trumps special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, arrived in South Korea earlier yesterday amid reports that hell meet North Korean officials soon to work out details for the summit. Trump said last week that hell announce this week the site and date for his meeting with Kim, expected around the end of February. Seouls Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Biegun and his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon held consultations about working-level U.S.-North Korea talks ahead of the summit. South Korean media reported Biegun and his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok Chol will likely meet at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom or in the Norths capital of Pyongyang early this week. Little progress has been made toward ridding North Korea of its nuclear weapons since Trump and Kim held their first summit in Singapore last June. During that summit, Kim pledged to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, though he didnt provide a timetable or roadmap for his disarmament steps. Last year, North Korea suspended nuclear and missile tests, dismantled its nuclear test site and parts of its rocket launch facility and released American detainees. The North demanded the United States to take corresponding measurers such as sanctions relief. U.S. officials want North Korea to take more significant steps, saying sanctions will stay in place until North Korea denuclearizes. Satellite footage taken since the June summit has indicated North Korea has been continuing to produce nuclear materials at its weapons factories. Last Tuesday, U.S. intelligence chiefs told Congress they believe there is little likelihood Kim will voluntarily give up his nuclear weapons or missiles capable of carrying them. Biegun said last week that Kim committed to the dismantlement and destruction of North Koreas plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities during his summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in September and at a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in October. During the second summit, some experts say North Korea will likely seek to trade the destruction of its main Yongbyon nuclear complex for a U.S. promise to formally declare the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, open a liaison office in Pyongyang and allow the North to resume some lucrative economic projects with South Korea. Hyung-Jin Kim, Seoul, AP An earthquake in northern Afghanistan has left thousands dead, injured or homeless. The earthquake is centred on the city of Rostaq in the remote province of Takhar, close to the border with Tajikistan. A spokesman for the Northern Alliance which controls the area told Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press over 3,500 bodies had been recovered. The Islamic Taleban Government in Kabul puts the death toll at 3,230, but western experts believe these figures may be too high because the area is sparsely populated. According to the anti-Taleban Afghan Embassy in the Tajik capital Dushanbe about 15,000 people have been made homeless as dozens of villages have been destroyed. The United Nations and the International Red Cross is still trying to verify this information. There are no relief agencies in the area but the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has already sent a team from Dushanbe at least 36-hours drive away. An airport to the west of Rostaq is still operating and can receive emergency supplies. Swedish seismologists measured the earthquake at 6.1 on the Richter scale, which they described as not extreme but they said under certain conditions it could nevertheless cause considerable damage. Most of the population in the affected area live in mud-built houses. Afghan ambassador to the UN Ravan Farhadi said the region was covered in snow drifts and extremely cold at night. Taleban leader Mulla Mohammed Omar has expressed his sympathies and ordered troops in the region attempting to capture Takhar province from the Northern Alliance to assist rescue efforts. But ongoing civil war in Tajikistan may hamper relief operations from the other side of the border. Courtesy BBC News In context Aftershocks continued for the next week. The first international relief workers reached the site on 7 February. Local officials told them they had already buried most of the 3,000 dead. The rescuers only found 400 injured in Rostaq far fewer than expected. Medecins Sans Frontieres later confirmed that at least 4,000 had been killed and many villages were devastated. The EU offered 2m ecus (1.3m) of aid including blankets, medical equipment, water and tents. The Taleban offered 100 tonnes each of rice and wheat and two billion afghanis (about 40,000) even though they were at war with the region. In spite of a truce between the Taleban and the Northern Alliance, fighting continued. The Executive Council has completed discussions on the draft of the hotel business law, proposing to allow budget accommodation options to meet the demand from different types of tourists. Last Friday, the council reported the law amendment draft, which suggests that budget accommodation options can provide for shared rooms based on the number of beds. In addition to the approval of a new type of affordable accommodation, the bill also allows hotel operations inside classified properties. According to the Macao Government Tourism Offices (MGTO) deputy director, Cheng Wai Tong, the ICs opinion will be referred to before issuing licenses to hotels built inside heritage buildings. Ines Chan Lou, head of the license and supervision department of MGTO, explained that budget accommodation will have to meet safety requirements, as well as other requirements, such as the size of the room. The proposal does not mean that any property can be used as budget accommodation. Only buildings and locations that have been registered for hotel utilization purposes can be used to provide budget accommodation. Regarding classified properties, they must first obtain approval to run hotel operations before they effectively are used as hotels. It is forbidden to [operate hotels] in buildings that are not for hotel purposes, said the MGTO representative, further remarking that as long as the location is legal, [MGTO] does not regulate the way the hotels are reserved. The government has many policies on cultural heritage protection. On the other hand, the government still needs to refer to the world regarding cultural protection and renovation, said Leong Heng Teng, spokesperson of the Executive Council. In different places, there are many successful cases [of protecting relics and renovating them]. The government does not simply want to increase the supply of relevant facilities. It wants to do better in [making Macau] a world leisure and tourism center, argued Leong. In addition to the above two new regulations, the bill also proposes reducing the required number of rooms for two to five stars hotels from 40 to 10 rooms. Requirements for two- star hotel facilities and services are also relaxed, to favor the supply of such hotels. On the other hand, more requirements are proposed for hotels with five stars or more, hoping to improve the quality of high-level hotel services. Apartment hotels are also suggested to be divided into three stars and four stars categories. Bars and restaurants will no longer be divided into different classifications and groups, and the bill sets up minimum requirements for the restaurants and bars. In addition, a higher penalty will be applied to hotel operators who provide illegal hotel services. However, the penalty only applies to hotels which are not yet licensed and are already providing services. The penalty is not related to illegal guesthouses. According to Leong, 80 percent of Macaus hotels are currently classified as four stars or above. Turn heritage buildings into hostels to open possibilities Commenting on the recent news that the government aims to allow the use of UNESCO heritage listed buildings, Helena de Senna Fernandes, said the law may consider this possibility but it is subject to the approval of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC). This law aims to consider such possibility, in resemblance to what already happens in many other countries and regions, the MGTO head said, remarking that this fact does not mean that all buildings could in a flash, be transformed into hostels. It is a long process and above all it always depends on the authorization from the Cultural Affairs Bureau. What we want to do is to create a law that is adequate and that considers such provisions [for the future], she noted, recalling that Macau already had two of these examples. The first is the Bela Vista Hotel in the Sai Van Lake area, which is currently used as the Official Residence of the Portuguese consul in Macau but was previously used as a hotel, and Pousada de Sao Tiago, which is currently undergoing renovation. Regarding whether the revitalized Lai Chi Vun Old Shipyards would finally include any establishments of this kind, Fernandes said: There is an ongoing study by the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau and we need to have it concluded so that we can draft the general plan [for that area]. Only after that general plan will we be able to consider any other steps. RM Hong Kongs High Court refused to allow three transgender men to be recognized as males on their official identity cards because they have not undergone full sex-change operations. The ruling Friday was seen as a blow to the fledgling LGBT movement in the semiautonomous Chinese city of 7.4 million people, which is preparing to host the 2022 Gay Games. The three, identified as Henry Tse, Q and R, are shown on their ID cards as having been born female, but are undergoing hormone therapy. A full sex change would require the removal of female sexual organs, making them sterile. Appearing in court, Tse unfurled a banner that read, Forced Sterilization is cruel and inhumane. Recognize our Rights NOW! In his ruling, Judge Thomas Au wrote that the change of gender entry stated in the ID card does not only concern the private right of the transgender person but also the wider public interest. Like many Asian societies, Hong Kong has become more open about gender issues, although the legal system is sometimes slow to follow. Amnesty International called the judgment a missed opportunity to address the discrimination transgender people in Hong Kong face. No one should be forced to undergo gender affirming surgery in order to have their gender legally recognized, Man-kei Tam, director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, said in a statement. Fridays decision follows a ruling last week by Japans Supreme Court upholding a law that effectively requires transgender people to be sterilized before they can have their gender changed on official documents. That ruling was widely denounced by human rights and LGBT activists and may spark further legal action. Japan is one of many countries with a sterilization requirement. In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights said 22 of the countries under its jurisdiction still required sterilization as part of a legal gender change, and it ordered them to end the practice. Maria Sjodin, deputy executive director of OutRight Action International, which monitors LGBT rights issues worldwide, said she was unsure if all 22 of those countries have fully implemented the courts order. In Hong Kong, the judgment seemed at odds with a 2013 ruling that allowed a transgender woman known as W to have her gender changed to female on her identity card. W had successfully sued in the citys highest legal body, the Court of Final Appeal, for her right to marry her boyfriend. Following that case, the citys Equal Opportunities Commission recommended that the government drop the requirement for complete sex reassignment. The government in 2017 held a public consultation on whether the commissions recommendations should adopted but has yet to release the findings. Violet Law, Hong Kong, AP British water engineering company Biwater has won a $3.4m contract for the renovation of the Sidi Othmane slaughterhouse wastewater treatment plant in Casablanca, one of Africas largest abattoirs. Under the contract, Biwater will revamp the existing slaughterhouse wastewater treatment plant, providing cutting-edge technology to improve the quality of the effluent on site, ensuring the treatment meets stringent environmental regulations and emission standards. The British company will also carry out the supply and installation of all mechanical and electrical equipment throughout the project. This is the second contract won by Biwater in Morocco. The company has already been chosen for the design and construction of a solar sludge drying facility for a new wastewater treatment plant in Laayoune, southern Morocco. Biwater was founded in 1968 and is based in Dorking, United Kingdom. It provides sustainable treated water solutions that serve communities and help protect the environment. The company has carried out 25,000 water and wastewater treatment projects in over 90 countries around the globe. Yoshua Bengio, a Canadian computer scientist who helped pioneer the techniques underpinning much of the current excitement around artificial intelligence, is worried about Chinas use of AI for surveillance and political control. Bengio, who is also a co-founder of Montreal-based AI software company Element AI, said he was concerned about the technology he helped create being used for controlling peoples behavior and influencing their minds. This is the 1984 Big Brother scenario, he said in an interview. I think its becoming more and more scary. Bengio, a professor at the University of Montreal, is considered one of the three godfathers of deep learning, along with Yann LeCun and Geoff Hinton. Its a technology that uses neural networks a kind of software loosely based on aspects of the human brain to make predictions based on data. Its responsible for recent advances in facial recognition, natural language processing, translation, and recommendation algorithms. Deep learning requires a large amount of data to provide examples from which to learn but China, with its vast population and system of state record- keeping, has a lot of that. The Chinese government has begun using closed circuit video cameras and facial recognition to monitor what its citizens do in public, from jaywalking to engaging in political dissent. Its also created a National Credit Information Sharing Platform, which is being used to blacklist rail and air passengers for anti-social behavior and is considering expanding uses of this system to other situations. The use of your face to track you should be highly regulated, Bengio said. Bengio is not alone in his concern over Chinas use-cases for AI. Billionaire George Soros recently used a speech at the World Economic Forum on Jan. 24, to highlight the risks the countrys use of AI poses to civil liberties and minority rights. Unlike some peers, Bengio, who heads the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms (Mila), has resisted the temptation to work for a large, advertising-driven technology company. He said responsible development of AI may require some large technology companies to change the way they operate. The amount of data large tech companies control is also a concern. He said the creation of data trusts non-profit entities or legal frameworks under which people own their data and allow it be used only for certain purposes might be one solution. If a trust held enough data, it could negotiate better terms with big tech companies that needed it, he said last week during a talk at Amnesty International U.K.s office in London. Bengio said there were many ways deep learning software could be used for good. In Thursdays talk, he unveiled a project hes working on that uses AI to create augmented reality images depicting what peoples individual homes or neighborhoods might look like as the result of natural disasters spawned by climate change. But he said there was also a risk that the implementation of AI would cause job losses on a scale, and at a speed, thats different from whats happened with other technological innovations. He said governments needed to be proactive in thinking about these risks, including considering new ways to redistribute wealth within society. Technology, as it gets more powerful, outside of other influences, just leads to more concentration of power and wealth, he said. That is bad for democracy, that is bad for social justice, and the general well-being of most people. Jeremy Kahn, Bloomberg Activist Scott Chiang, who last year was found guilty of the crime of unlawful assembly, will have his trial repeated after the Court of Second Instance agreed Friday with an appeal filed against the first courts ruling. Chiang and co-defendant Sulu Sou were initially charged with disobeying police authorities during a May 2016 demonstration that challenged a controversial RMB100 million donation from the Macau Foundation to Jinan University. In May 2018, the two defendants were found guilty in the Court of First Instance of organizing an unlawful assembly and were sentenced to fines worth 120 days each. On Thursday the Court of Second Instance announced it had sided with an appeal lodged by Chiang and his lawyer, Pedro Leal. It emerged the next day that one of the reasons for the Court of Second Instances decision was a consideration that, even though the Court of First Instance had found Chiang guilty of unlawful assembly, it had failed to specify in its sentencing which articles of the law had been breached. The case will now be repeated at the Court of First Instance. The Public Prosecutions Office will not be able to appeal the Court of Second Instances decision as that would require escalation to the Court of Final Appeal, which does not rule on crimes such as unlawful assembly. Lawyer Jorge Menezes, who represented Sulu Sou in the high-profile case, said last weeks decision would help to rectify the miscarriage of justice that occurred at the Court of First Instance. Recalling the events of May last year, Menezes added that the retrial would allow Chiangs lawyer, Pedro Leal, to focus on defending the charge of unlawful assembly for which Chiang was found guilty rather than the initial charge of aggravated disobedience. He said that the crime of unlawful assembly was less serious than aggravated disobedience and would probably be easier to defend. The Public Prosecutions Office is now tasked with proving that the defendant violated Macaus protest law by organizing the May 2016 demonstration. Specifically, the Office will need to identify an article of the law that was violated. Now Chiang is accused of breaching the protest law in some way, not the police order. For that you need to look at the law and see what exactly is forbidden, explained Menezes. Any lawyer would confidently say its extremely unlikely for anyone to have committed an offense with an illegal protest, because the law is very restrictive [in this area]. This is a law that affirms a fundamental right the right to protest. I am very curious to see which article they are going to pick. The Courts decision to uphold Chiangs appeal will not affect Sulu Sou, who withdrew an earlier, merely defensive, appeal in order to expedite his return to the Legislative Assembly. Lawmakers in Macau normally enjoy prosecutorial immunity that prevents charges from being brought against them. Sou was suspended by a Legislative Assembly intervention in December last year, which lifted his immunity and permitted him to stand trial. Menezes said it was a disappointment that the young lawmaker now holds a criminal record given the findings last week of the Court of Second Instance. A man who falsely claimed to have a bomb and menaced a woman with a knife forced the evacuation of Brisbane International Airport for more than two hours in an emergency that police described yesterday as elaborate and terrifying. Police ended the standoff late Saturday by shooting the 50-year-old man with non-lethal bean bag shotgun rounds and arresting him. There were no injuries reported, and police said the emergency was not related to terrorism. Australias third busiest airport reported that the disruption had caused delays to arrivals and departures of up to three hours. The incident began in the terminals food court when the man pulled a knife on a screaming woman and placed a fake bomb on a table. Hundreds of panicked travelers fled the scene. It was a blood-curdling little scream, and she just bolted across the forecourt, a man, who was not identified, told Nine Network television. Another man, who also was not identified, told Nine: He had one knife to start with, then when he looped back around he pulled out a second knife. They were big carving knife-like things. There werent normal little knives, they were big, the same witness added. A woman, who was not identified, told Nine that the sound of the woman screaming sent people running. Somebody yelled that a man was armed with a knife or gun, she said. I just grabbed my kids, and I just ran out the door, she said. The mans first language was Arabic and an Arabic-speaking police officer was at the scene within minutes to negotiate, Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said. The man had gone to extraordinary lengths to create a perception of risk, threat and fear, Stewart said. Police opened fire with bean bag rounds after the man claimed to have a bomb, Police Detective Superintendent Tony Fleming said. He was arrested soon after. His behavior elevated such that they were quite concerned about him, and some bean bag rounds were discharged and they struck him in the torso, Fleming told reporters. The man, from Gold Coast city near Brisbane, was examined by paramedics and had no significant injuries, Fleming said. AP Hong Kong customs officers have intercepted a record 8.3 tons of pangolin scales and hundreds of elephant tusks worth more than USD8 million combined, underscoring the threat to endangered species from demand in Asia. Acting on a tip from mainland Chinese authorities, local officials found the haul in mid-January in a refrigerated container labeled as frozen meat from Nigeria, officials said Friday. They said the smugglers kept the temperature low to better disguise the smell of the illicit cargo. Police arrested two people in connection with the seizure. It was the largest-ever seizure of pangolin scales in Hong Kong, representing the product of some 14,000 animals, and one of the largest of ivory in a decade, the officials said. Scales of the anteater-like pangolin have for centuries been highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine. The scales, made of keratin akin to fingernails, are often roasted and ground to a powder before being added into a mix of ingredients to purportedly cure arthritis, promote breast feeding for mothers and boost male virility. Scientists have designated all species of pangolins as being at risk of extinction. In the last two decades, the number of pangolins worldwide has dropped by about 90 percent. Ivory tusks are a cherished decorative craft material in Asia, resulting in the devastation of wild elephant populations in Africa. Under Hong Kong law, the importation and sales of endangered species and their products can be punished by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $1.3 million. China and Hong Kong have sought to crack down on the illegal trade, although the semiautonomous port and financial center remains a major transit point for endangered species products and other contraband. Last year, following the outlawing of ivory sales in mainland China, Hong Kongs legislature enacted a complete ban on the local ivory trade to take effect by 2021, while raising penalties for offenders. Meanwhile, a court in Thailand this week dismissed charges against a Thai man believed to be a kingpin in the illicit trade, according to Freeland, an organization that works with police to combat trafficking. Boonchai Bach was arrested by Thai police just over one year ago at Bangkoks Suvarnabhumi airport for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of 11 kilograms (24.2 pounds) of rhino horns from Africa worth $700,000. A Chinese man and a Thai wildlife quarantine officer accused of assisting the smugglers were also arrested. Citing a lack of evidence, the Samut Prakan Provincial Court found Boonchai Bach not guilty of multiple charges relating to wildlife trafficking, Freeland said. Boonchai was suspected of running a large trafficking network on the Thai-Lao border that spread into Vietnam. According to Freeland, he and his family played a key role in a criminal syndicate that smuggled items including ivory, rhino horn, pangolins, tigers, lions and other rare and endangered species. Prosecution of a complex transnational organized crime case like this requires a multi-agency effort to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together, said Steven Galster, founder of Freeland. Instead, we saw a kingpin walk free after a narrowly focused case fell apart when the prosecutions only major witness flipped in front of his boss. Violet Law, Hong Kong, AP Lax regulations, chronic short staffing and a law that muffled the voices of environmentalists on mining licenses made the devastating collapse of a dam in southeastern Brazil all but destined to happen, experts and legislators say. The failure of the dam holding back iron ore mining waste on Jan. 25 unleashed an avalanche of mud that buried buildings and contaminated water downstream. At least 121 people have died, and another 226 people remain missing. But one of the cruelest parts of the tragedy in Brumadinho is that it has happened before: In 2015, a mining dam burst about 130 kilometers away in Mariana, in what is considered Brazils worst environmental disaster. Whats more, it could happen again, as many Brazilian states and the federal government move to ease regulation in the name of economic development. In the three years since the Mariana rupture killed 19 people, the regulation of the industry has gotten less, not more, rigorous in Minas Gerais state. It felt like it was just a matter of time before something bigger would happen, said Josiele Rosa Silva Tomas, the president of the Brumadinho residents association. Problems that existed when the dams in Mariana burst, like dramatic short-staffing, have persisted, while a new law has reduced the say of environmental groups in the project licensing process. And the danger remains widespread: A 2017 report from the National Water Agency classified more than 700 dams nationwide as at high risk of collapse, with high potential for causing damage. In fact, some fear the risk may only increase. Environmental groups accused the previous Congress and president of rolling back significant protections, and many expect further weakening under President Jair Bolsonaro, who has said environmental regulation hamstrings several industries, including mining. But the politics that contributed to the collapses in Minas Gerais are much more local. For centuries, the mineral-rich state has revolved around the mining industry its name, given by Portuguese colonizers, translates to General Mines. More than 300 mines employ thousands in the state, often in poor, rural areas. Civil society groups often struggle to achieve basic guarantees. For instance, Tomas group has long fought to prevent mining projects from contaminating drinking water. Minas Gerais has a centuries- long history of being lenient with the mining sector. Its cultural, Joao Vitor Xavier, a state deputy, told The Associated Press. The industry creates a discourse where they dangle jobs and economic growth in front of people, but they put profit over safety. The CEO of Vale SA, which owned and operated the Brumadinho mining complex, acknowledges their regulatory measures fell short. Apparently to work under the [current] rules has not worked, Flavio Schvartsman said during a press conference several hours after the dam breach. Vale officials have said they dont yet know why the dam collapsed. Arrest warrants have been issued for five people responsible for safety assessments of the dam, including three Vale employees. Vale was also involved in the Mariana rupture: The dams there were administered by the Brazilian giant and Australias BHP Billiton. The Mariana collapse unleashed nearly 80 million cubic yards (60 million cubic meters) of mining waste into rivers and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. While its environmental impact is considered the worst in Brazilian history, Brumadinho has already far surpassed its death toll. In the wake of the Mariana tragedy, Minas Gerais was already struggling to implement what regulation it had: A 2016 audit found the state had only 20 percent of the staff needed at the agency charged with regulating mines. Environmentalists say mining regulation has gotten even weaker since. In 2015, the state approved a new process for licensing mining projects. It shifted responsibility from a board that included several environmental organizations to the state environmental secretary, who created a new board with a majority of participants favorable to mining industry interests. Then-Gov. Fernando Pimentel argued the bill would reduce bureaucracy. But days before the law was approved, the Minas Association of Environmental Defense called it one of the biggest setbacks in environmental regulation in the country. The conditions are set so the licenses never get turned down, Maria Teresa Corujo, a rare pro- environmental voice on the new board, told the AP. In December, Corujo, of the National Forum of Civil Society in Watershed Communities, was the only member of the new board to vote against approving the expansion of the mining complex in Brumadinho. Notes from that meeting show the complexs pollutant rating had been downgraded a move that is now the purview of the environmental secretary allowing the company to skip regulatory steps. In July 2018, Xavier, the state lawmaker who has pushed for a ban on iron ore waste dams, made a grave prediction. Im not saying we might have other dam ruptures in Minas Gerais. I am saying that, from everything Ive seen and studied, I have no doubt we will have more ruptures of dams, he told the state assembly. Today, he still has no doubt that there will be more tragedies unless more rigorous regulations are implemented. These dams are not 100 percent safe, he said. How many of them can rupture? Any one of them. Anna Jean Kaiser, Sao Paulo, AP 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. LINCOLN - The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering a 50/50 match on Nebraska dollars invested in outreach to get more eligible families enrolled in SNAP, the program formerly known as food stamps. SAN DIEGO Jon Rahm had safely deposited his infant son back in his wifes arms by the time a seemingly unflappable Louis Oosthuizen finally coughed it up on No. 17 at Torrey Pines. He stood, hands on hips, watching on TV as Oosthuizens par putt slid past the hole and it became increasingl One of the fun things to do while vacationing in Japan is to look out for different cities' manhole covers. Most cities have a unique design for their manhole covers and feature things that the cities are famous for. It's been something that we enjoyed doing for the past 17 years and we have a photo collection of them. So, when we visited Hokkaido last September, it's only natural to look out for them. They aren't really hard to spot but it's still fun to do. We had a lot of selection from Hakodate. Hakodate's famous squid. Here's the colour manhole from the city. And an uncoloured version. Seagull and the Orthodox Church featured here. In colour version. And the non-colour version. I've taken a few more during our visit in 2007 and it's stashed in my other blog, Urutora no Hihi. Sapporo's Clock Tower (Tokeidai) and Salmon fish swimming around it. Alas, when we were there, the real Clock Tower in question was closed for renovation until end of October. The next city we visited in Hokkaido was Asahikawa and here is an image of a cross-country skier of the Vasa Loppet Japan held in March.Still in Asahikawa, this manhole cover feature a Japanese Rowan tree which is the tree of Asahikawa.Next we visited Biei and its manhole cover feature the rolling wheat fields and trees that are famous in the city.Memanbetsu was next and this manhole cover feature Cosmos flowers.And this one feature Mizubasho or Asian Skunk Cabbage flower. This is the red brick building of Hokkaido Prefectural Office. It's always fun to stumble across a new one that's not in our collection yet and each time we visited a new town, we look forward to finding new manhole cover designs. Record cold weather in the United States is forcing schools and businesses to close. The polar vortex, as it is called, has also canceled flights and suspended mail delivery. The temperature in Fargo, North Dakota, dropped to -35 degrees Celsius. In Chicago, Illinois, it was -28 degrees Celsius, but strong winds made the air feel like -50 degrees. The U.S. National Weather Service warns that a wind chill of -32 degrees Celsius could freeze a persons skin within 15 minutes. Officials turned city buses into mobile warming shelters to help keep homeless people safe. The cold weather was linked to at least 20 deaths, including a man who froze to death in Wisconsin. It all started with misplaced heat from Morocco, says winter storm expert Judah Cohen. He works for Atmospheric and Environmental Research in Massachusetts. Last month, Cohen explains, the usually cold air some 30 kilometers above the North Pole quickly warmed by about 70 degrees Celsius. The area of air is known as a polar vortex. There is also a polar vortex above the South Pole. The quick temperature change was the result of hot air flowing in from the south. The warmer air split the polar vortex, leaving smaller pieces of it to move around. By Tuesday night, one of those vortex pieces reached the middle of the United States. The unusually cold air could stay around for several weeks. I think at a minimum, were looking at mid-February, possibly through mid-March, Cohen said. Americans first began hearing the words polar vortex five years ago. In early 2014, the temperatures dropped to -27 degrees Celsius in places like Chicago. Weather experts, who had been using the term for many years, began using it on social media. But the National Weather Service says there is nothing new about it. It says the years 1977, 1982, 1985 and 1989 also brought unusually cold temperatures caused by a polar vortex. What about global warming? As Americans dealt with the extreme cold, President Donald Trump called for the return of global warming. He wrote on Twitter: In the beautiful Midwest, windchill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded. In coming days, expected to get even colder. People cant last outside even for minutes. What the hell is going on with Global Warming? Please come back fast, we need you! John Cook is a professor of climate change at George Mason University in Virginia. He said Trumps comment about the cold weather ignores the larger picture of a warming planet. He compared the presidents comment to someone saying that nighttime proves the sun doesnt exist. Climate scientist Victor Gensini said, This is simply an extreme weather event and not representative of global scale temperature trends. Gensini, who works at Northern Illinois University, told the Associated Press, The exact opposite is happening in Australia right now. Last week, the city of Adelaide, Australia reached 46.6 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature ever recorded in a major Australian city. But it was even hotter in nearby Port Augusta, where temperatures reached 49.5 degrees Celsius. Another climate scientist, Zeke Hausfather of Berkeley Earth, said it was important to remember the difference between climate and weather. In a warming world, youre still going to have unusually hot and unusually cold events happening in a particular part of the world, Hausfather said. Weather is not going away. I'm Ashley Thompson. Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on Associated Press and National Weather Service reports. Ashley Thompson was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Quiz Quiz - What Is the Polar Vortex? Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story mobile - adj. able to move from one place to another Before Islamic State militants were forced from Iraq in 2017, they stole thousands of ancient artifacts. Most are still missing. Now, an international team of archaeologists is working to recover as many of the stolen national treasures as possible. Bruno Deslandes is an expert on historic buildings at UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency. He said, Were trying to recover a lot of artifacts and need all local and international resources to work. Iraq cannot do this on its own. Deslandes spoke recently at a gathering at the National Museum in Baghdad. In 2014 and 2015, the Islamic State group attacked and destroyed historical areas on what UNESCO called an industrial scale. The group used stolen treasures to finance its operations. Artifacts were secretly sold to buyers throughout the Middle East and overseas. Video released by Islamic State in 2014 showed militants using power tools and heavy machinery to tear down paintings and statues near the city of Mosul. What they did not destroy, they smuggled and traded. Deslandes was the first international expert to return to the area in early 2017 while Islamic State forces were being driven out. He and his team had to work quickly to examine the damage. They used three-dimensional scanning equipment and satellite imaging technology to search the area. Deslandes says they gathered a lot of important information that he thinks will be helpful in finding missing objects. The National Museum meeting brought together Iraqi and foreign police, customs officials and archeological experts. It was the second meeting in two years organized by the European Union Advisory Mission in Iraq. Law enforcement officials said they can help Iraqi police find the objects using records of seizures and other information. Mariya Polner is with the World Customs Organization (WCO). She said reports of cultural heritage seizures by customs officials worldwide were just the beginning. Polner noted that better organization between the WCOs 183 members had helped increase recoveries. In 2017, the WCO said officials recovered more than 14,000 stolen items worldwide, including paintings and statues. That is an increase of 48 percent from one year earlier. Deslandes noted that some ancient sites inside Iraq were still at risk. He added, When a site is liberated, it doesnt mean the looting has finished. Im Jonathan Evans. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for VOA Learning English from a Reuters news agency report. George Grow was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story artifact n. a simple object, like a tool, showing evidence of human workmanship resource n. a supply of wealth or materials scale n. an instrument used to measure things scanning n. to look at something carefully usually in order to find someone or something smuggling n. moving someone or something from one country into another illegally and secretly looting n. stealing things from a place, such as a store or house, during a war or after destruction has been caused by fire or rioting Belgium has long struggled to deal with its colonial past. The small European country controlled large parts of Central Africa from the early 1900s to the 1960s. During colonial rule, millions of Africans died from disease, starvation and violence. Recently, Belgiums Royal Museum for Central Africa reopened after five years of building repairs and improvements. The $73-million effort aims to show visitors the reality of colonial rule and modern Africa. The Royal Museum for Central Africa first opened in 1910 during the rule of King Leopold II. The museum was set up to to show the power of his empire and the colonial riches it provided. Just more than 100 years later, museum workers have tried to completely change that. Guido Gryseels is the current director. "Our aim was to make a museum of contemporary Africa, the Africa of today. But at the same time to also bring a very critical look on the colonial past of Belgium. We recognize now the many victims of colonization, the African victims of colonization. We recognize too that a lot of the racist attitudes that were developed at that time have their consequences today." Those ideas are personified by a group of statues showing Africans as simple and animal-like. The statues formerly were placed all around the building. They are now kept in an underground room. The museum also had a collection of living things from the colonies. This zoo served as home to more than 250 Congolese people. They were forced to wear traditional clothing. Seven died from being out in cold weather. Museum workers have been doing research on other collections. This new information has been added to some objects. It tells where they came from and explains their importance. Videos provide an African understanding of issues such as culture, colonialism and the environment. King Leopold II built the museum to raise money for mining and rubber production in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. It is estimated that up to 15 million Congolese died from disease, starvation and mass killings under colonial rule. Mireille-Tsheusi Robert is Bamko-Cran, a Brussels-based anti-racism group. She says the museum has not gone far enough to show the horrible nature of colonialism. Robert says that when the museum is presented as a museum of Africa and not one of colonization, it creates misunderstandings. She added, "We need to make a real museum of colonization, we need to deal with our colonial history. It is really something that is missing in Belgium." Director Gryseels says he is open to returning stolen goods to Africa. "Well, certainly it's not normal that 80 percent of African art is in European museums or in European private collections. So we have to make sure that they can get much greater access to our collections..." Im Jonathan Evans. Henry Ridgwell reported this story for VOANews.com. Jonathan Evans adapted the report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in this Story access n. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone attitudes n. the way you think and feel about someone or something contemporary adj. happening or beginning now or in recent times zoo n. a place where living, usually wild animals are kept consequence n. something produced by a cause or resulting from a series of conditions Monday, February 4, 2019 In a case involving an alleged insect in a lunch meal, the Georgia Supreme Court reversed spoliation sanctions The incident On September 24, 2008, Dee Dee Smith, an employee of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBS, an affiliate of Anthem, formerly Wellpoint Companies, Inc.), ate lunch at the BCBS cafeteria in its Columbus office complex. Smith ordered a meal from one of the vendors, Captain Toms Seafood, owned by appellee Cheryl Wills. Smith observed what she believed to be an insect in her black-eyed peas. She took photographs of the supposed contaminant in the food container with her digital camera (the original images). She sent BCBS building superintendent Richard Andrews an email attaching the digital photographs allegedly showing the bug (the Anthem email images). She also submitted these same digital photographs to Walgreens (the Walgreens digital images), which made prints of the photographs that she hand-delivered to Andrews the next day. The next day, Andrews sent an email informing employees that Captain Toms had been removed from the list of approved vendors for the BCBS cafeteria. That email was forwarded to a large number of BCBS employees some 2,200 according to Wills counsels demand letter and the trial courts order. News of the incident was also posted by someone on Facebook, and the story of the insect in the peas became widely known in the community. Wills sought retraction and sued when it was not forthcoming Wills claimed that, as a result of the wide distribution of the email, the business closed, she and her then-husband filed for bankruptcy, and they lost their home, cars, and savings. The Walgreens photos were lost. Wills asserts that she did not know that the lost Walgreens prints existed until Smiths deposition on March 13, 2017. Wills further contends that the Anthem email images and the Walgreens digital images have been altered by adding in a bug or maggot and by showing the food container to be a different color than it actually is. Wills and two employees of Captain Toms testified that they examined the box returned by Smith, and that the object of which she complained was not an insect at all, but either a partial or underdeveloped pea. The witnesses testified that what they saw in other photographs printed from the Walgreens digital images was not what they saw when they inspected the contents of the box. The restaurant manager testified that a black and white version of the digital photograph she saw on Wills phone at the time of the incident did not show a bug. Wills sought sanctions The trial court found that Andrews was aware of the litigation, but failed to preserve the lost Walgreens prints he received from Smith or give them to Anthems attorneys. The trial court further found that, [i]n this age of rapid technological advances, alteration is a distinct possibility, and the dispute could have been avoided had the lost Walgreens prints been preserved. While the trial court did not find that Andrews acted in bad faith, the trial court decided that it would give an instruction to the jury that spoliation of evidence creates a rebuttable presumption that the evidence would have been harmful to the spoliator. The court here granted interlocutory review Viewed in the light most favorable to Anthem as the non-moving party, the record evidence shows the following. Smith used her digital camera to take several photographs of the alleged insect in her food. She uploaded these photographs to her home computer and emailed them to Andrews. The next day, Smith uploaded the digital photographs to the Walgreens website, printed the photographs, and gave the printed versions to Andrews. The Anthem email images and the Walgreens digital images are apparently both still available electronically. Further, while Smith initially expressed some confusion over the Health Department prints that were shown to her at her deposition, Smith has averred that the Walgreens digital images are identical to the lost Walgreens prints she took to Andrews. These lost Walgreens prints are the supposedly spoliated evidence at issue in this case. Here, in awarding one of the most severe sanctions possible a jury instruction on spoliation that allows an adverse inference to be made against Anthem the trial court found that Andrews had a duty to preserve the lost Walgreens prints that Smith gave him. The trial court further found the loss of these prints to be inexcusable in that it prevented the trial court from assessing the veracity of Wills suggestion that the digital photographs had been altered. Moreover, in a departure from the general rule, the trial court imposed an extreme sanction absent any finding of intentionality, bad faith, or incurable prejudice. This was erroneous. Duty Generally speaking, absent other statutory or regulatory obligations, a party does not have to keep printed versions of ESI that is otherwise preserved and which contain the same or even less relevant information than the ESI, unless the existence of the printed version is independently relevant to the litigation. Wills alleges that Anthem had a duty to retain the lost Walgreens prints because the digital photographs may have been tampered with. But the only window for alteration of the photographs was before Anthem received the email images. Thus, any alteration of the original digital images by Smith before she transmitted them to Anthem would not be attributable to Anthem. The trial court did not find, nor does the record before this Court support a finding, that the images Anthem received via email have ever been altered by Anthem from the form in which they were received. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/02/in-a-case-involving-an-alleged-insect-in-a-lunch-meal-the-georgia-supreme-court-reversed-spoliation-sanctions-the-incident.html Sunday, February 3, 2019 This article from Migration Information Source, Immigrants from New Origin Countries in the United States, shows some fascinating new immigration trends. The national origins of new arrivals to the United States are shifting. Recent newcomers are more likely to come from Asia, Central America, and Africa, and less likely to be from Mexico. This article offers key demographic information about the 15 immigrant groups that have experienced the largest growth since 2010, including Indians, Chinese, Colombians, Nigerians, and Bangladeshis. While the immigrant population in the United States continued its moderate growth in 2017, and the foreign-born share of the overall U.S. population reached a near-historic high of 14 percent, other noteworthy trends were underway beneath these totals. Compared to the 19802010 period, the national origins of new arrivals have shifted. Recent newcomers are more likely to come from Asia, Central America, and Africa, and less likely to be from Mexico. Research also shows that new immigrants tend to have higher educational attainment than those who arrived in prior periods. These changes will have a significant impact on the demographics and future integration outcomes of the countrys immigrant population. Between 2010 and 2017, the foreign-born population in the United States increased by 4.6 million, or 11 percent, driven in large part by the arrival of Indian and Chinese immigrants. Immigration from the Caribbean (the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Haiti); Central America (El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala); South America (Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil); Asia (the Philippines, Vietnam, and Bangladesh); and Africa (Nigeria) also experienced sizable growth during this period. Together, these 15 countries, shown in Table 1, accounted for 37 percent of the 44.5 million immigrants living in the United States in 2017, and for 76 percent of the immigrant population growth from 2010 to 2017. On the flip side, there are 441,000 fewer Mexican immigrants in the United States today than there were in 2010, the biggest decline of all immigrant groups. KJ https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2019/02/immigrants-from-new-origin-countries-in-the-united-states.html Let's cut to the chase. Convicted murderer Bruce Reilly will likely never be able to practice law. That is because the odds are against his passing any state bar's character and fitness criteria. He had received a law degree from Tulane University, after he had been paroled from prison. The New York Times has published a major feature on this reality. In a similar pickle had been Stephen Glass. A star at the then influential The New Republic, Glass had been proven to have fabricated articles over a three year period. However, like Reilly, he decided to later attend law school. He received his law degree from Georgetown. The California Supreme Court ruled he could not be admitted to the state bar. Earlier Glass had withdrawn his application to the state bar in New York. He might have had a hunch his application would be rejected because of the character and fitness test. Currently both Reilly and Glass are employed as paralegals. That position requires neither a law degree nor admission to any state bar. Of course, working as a paralegal when one has a law degree from a respected university seems bizarre. But the really nutty thing is this: Why the hell did an outed disgraced journalist and a convicted murder decide on enrolling in law school as the platform for career change? In itself the profession of law tends to be more rigid than most. And, unlike most, it does require passing a state bar character test, which also tends to be rigid. Applicants usually are in high angst if they even have had treatment for mental illness. They fear that will knock them out of the box. From the get-go, both career plans were doomed. The New York Times, of course, brings up the subject of forgiveness. Should society forgive Reilly for the murder in his youth during an unwanted sexual advance? But, in more pragmatic terms, that's not the issue, not at all. The issue is that both men should have recognized that the odds of ever practicing law had been against them. Therefore, unless they wanted to make waves challenging that reality, they shouldn't have applied for or enrolled in law school. There are many other paths to building a successful career after a major scandal. Young and the Restless Longtime Star Kristoff St. John Dead at 52 Kristoff St. John LOS ANGELES (AP) Young and the Restless actor Kristoff St. John has died at age 52. ADVERTISEMENT Officials say Los Angeles police were called to his home on Sunday and his body was turned over to the Los Angeles County coroner. The cause of death was not available. St. John had played Neil Winters on the CBS soap opera since 1991, earning nine daytime Emmy nominations. He won 10 NAACP Image Awards. He announced in September that he was engaged to model Kseniya Mikhaleva. St. John was twice married and divorced and was the father of a son and two daughters. His 24-year-old son, Julian, died in 2014. On Jan. 21, St. John retweeted Grieving the loss of a child is a process. It begins on the day your child passes, and ends the day the parent joins them. Former Congressmember Pins Open Letter to the Congressional Black Caucus on Hampton Honoring George H.W. Bush with Statue Former Congressmember William L. Clay ADVERTISEMENT As aggressive crusaders in the struggle to make America what it proclaims to be in terms of living up to the slogan All men are created equal, I am sure you are as appalled as I by the decision of Hampton University to honor former President George H.W. Bush with a statue on its campus. What a giant step backward in the fight to correct the unfortunate, disgraceful, and distorted history of the effort of African Americans to achieve parity in the countrys social, political and economic life. The mere fact that the president of Hampton University and his top advisors would commission such a shameful project must be challenged by the strong voices of African Americans in Congress and allies across the nation. What a tragedy! Recently, when former President Bush passed, one fact was quite obvious. In the month-long campaign to canonize him for sainthood, there was a deliberate omission of any truthful relationship of him and civil rights. Therefore, I am calling upon Congressional Black Caucus members to lead the way in exposing the hypocrisy of celebrating George H.W. Bush as a true representative of all the people. I must remind you that President Bushs record on civil rights was one of the worst in the history of U.S. presidents. For three decades in public service, he refused to come face-to-face with his paradoxical conflict of duplicity in matters of race. He steadfastly and vigorously opposed any specific proposal to ameliorate the inequitable, bigoted treatment of black citizens. Hamptons President Dr. William R. Harvey said, I believe in giving people their credit when it is due. President Bush was an extraordinary person who believed it was crucial that African Americans have access to education. I think thats something that we must acknowledge. These are only words of praise that are very much contradicted by the record. It is possible to cite one or two instances that he was involved in on the fringe of an issue that benefited black people. Those who argue Bush was not a racist and did not hate black people might also consider what others have surmised that he believed every household should own one. ADVERTISEMENT George H.W. Bushs record on civil rights He never met a civil rights measure he could support without qualified reservation. Legislative initiatives and administrative dictums devised to alleviate oppressive conditions of segregation and discrimination were always sufficiently flawed, in his opinion, to justify objecting to the remedy. Bush vetoed a major civil rights bill in 1990, and the bill fell one vote short of override in the Senate. The measure would have restored four major civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis gender, disability and age. In the 1960s, television networks extensively covered brutalizing events, exposing the savagery of white mobs attacking helpless Negroes with bricks, clubs and dogs. Bush ignored the mayhem and blamed the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. the Board of Education and forced busing for precipitating the violence. The most far-reaching, racially oriented legislation in modern history was enactment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Six years after it became law, Bush opposed the measure with missionary zeal. Appealing to the bigotry of white voters in a Texas campaign for the U.S. Senate, Bush repeatedly stated, The act was passed to protect 14 percent of the population. Im also worried about the other 86 percent. When peaceful marches and other non-violent protests by blacks demanding the right to register and vote, he voiced no sympathy for their cause. Millions of television viewers looked on in horror as police billy-clubbed black adults as they peacefully demonstrated for the right to vote. City firemen, in their official capacity, sprayed elementary school children with high-pressure water hoses for supporting the registration drive. Yet, Bush, seemingly oblivious to the injustice, vigorously opposed the 1965 Voting Right Act, which was designed to guarantee the right of all to participate in the electoral process. In Bushs legal lexicon, widespread harassment, intimidation, and physical violence preventing blacks from registering and voting was insufficient to justifying federal intervention into rights he claimed reserved to the states. Bush: bad on voting, fair housing Bush rationalized that blacks did not need federal supervision to insure their ability to register and vote. He ignored reality. Dallas County, Alabama, a community just outside the city limits of Selma, had a population of 29,515 adults, of whom 14,400 were white and 15,115 were black, but only 383 blacks were registered to vote compared to 8,216 whites. Nor was he moved to indignation by the slogan of the Alabama Democratic Party that endorsed his candidacy: the Party of White Supremacy. Describing Bushs 1968 vote for the Fair Housing Act as a profile in courage that jeopardized his chance for reelection is grossly distorted political hyperbole. In fact, he voted for passage only after unsuccessfully leading an effort to kill the bill. Arguing the act unfair, he challenged the authority of Congress to impose restrictions on realtors and home-owners. The House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at protecting civil rights workers who were being beaten, gassed and killed for trying to register black voters and to desegregate public schools. After its passage the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings and the full Senate attached the fair housing provision. To appease those who opposed fair housing, an anti-rioting amendment (which was pushed by Bush in the House) was accepted. The action was specifically aimed at H. Rap Brown and other black leaders whose incendiary speeches incited blacks to riot in numerous cities. The bill provided criminal penalties for anyone convicted of traveling in interstate commerce or using the mails, telephone, telegraph, radio or television with the intent to incite, organize, or encourage a riot. The 1965 riots of Watts, Los Angeles lasted six days, left 34 persons dead, 1,000 wounded, and more than 4,000 arrested. Then the violent summer of 1967 saw riots in Newark (killing 23, wounding 1,500) and in Detroit (killing 43, wounding 2,000). In that atmosphere, the House was presented a bill calling for fair housing as well as Bushs version of making it a federal crime to cross state lines for the purpose of inciting violence. Bush found the fair housing legislation distasteful and politically uncomfortable. Caught between the proverbial rock and hard place, he dared not oppose the highly emotional and popularly driven effort to pass anti-rioting legislation, but the fair housing amendment fit his obsessive complaint about civil rights promotion always being at the wrong time and in the wrong place. Irritated and frustrated by the housing provision, Bush petitioned the House Rules Committee to order separate votes on the two issues. It was generally speculated that the House would reject a specific vote for fair housing. The Rules Committee denied his request. Then Bush offered his proposal to the full House and it too was rejected. Bushs timing was horrible and insensitive. Six days before the scheduled vote, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in Memphis, Tennessee. Within 72 hours, fiery uprisings erupted in 125 cities and civil unrest broke out on 50 college campuses. The U.S. Army and the National Guard found themselves pitted against an army of black insurrectionists with little respect for the property rights of the privileged class. White America was in a state of peril, appall, confusion, and bewilderment. For three days and three nights, Washington, D.C., the capital of the free world, burned. Dark clouds of smoke belched from fires lit in front of the presidents residence and surrounding neighborhoods. U.S. Marines in sand-bagged bunkers and mounted machine guns protected the White House. Under these conditions there was no way that Bush was going to convince House members to vote against the fair housing legislation As president, Bush opposed the extension of the Voting Rights Act, vetoed a major civil rights bill expanding protection against employment discrimination, sought to overturn five Supreme Court decisions that altered prevailing interpretations of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Bush appointed Clarence Thomas The most egregious and most damaging act of Bushs entire career was the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. Bushs flowery introduction of the erstwhile nominee calling him the most qualified in the country was political speech that enlarged truth beyond the normal limits of intelligent acceptance. Describing Thomas as a fiercely independent thinker with an excellent legal mind insulted those who had personally engaged Thomas in the fight for compliance and enforcement of established civil rights laws. Those who followed his career closely were able to decode the words independent thinker in referring to people like Thomas. It meant as defined by conservatives that he had no ideas, no positions and no statements that were independent of those dictated by the brain trust advising the Republican hierarchy. The surprise selection of Thomas baffled even the most cynical, sending shock waves shooting across the wrinkled brows of congressmen, civil rights advocates, women activists, senior citizens, and civil libertarians. They who had battled Thomas slipshod, slapstick disregard for enforcing equal rights were emotionally traumatized with the possibility of an individual that had shown utter contempt of mandated law would sit on the high a position. Clarence Thomas was in the forefront of attacks on affirmative action, criticizing leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus and the civil rights organizations for promoting policies that recommended reasonable accommodation of past racial discrimination in hiring and the awarding of contracts. Despite almost total rejection of Thomas philosophy and politics by the most respected African American leaders, and longtime white supporters of civil rights, a majority in the media and a substantial number of white Americans persisted in portraying him a spokesman of black people. The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) confronted President Bush on Thomas legal qualification and questioned his commitment to racial equality. The CBCF, in a lengthy document gave overwhelming justification why Americans should oppose the nomination of Clarence Thomas. I stated on the House floor: Thomas preemptive attack on affirmative action lacks meritHis motive is dubious and his sincerity doubtful. Its a perversion of justice to advocate its elimination without offering a viable alternative. My statement was in conjunction and agreement with the expressed opinions of other Congressional Black Caucus members. Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.) testified, Thomas wants to destroy the bridge that brought him over troubled waters! He wants to pull down the ladder that he climbed up. Congressman Major Owens (D-NY.) said, Clarence Thomas has clearly and consistently stood against those legal principles, philosophies, and ideas which are vitally necessary for black survival. Congressman Louis Stokes (D-Oh.) testified, The difference between Thomas and most Black Americans most have not forgotten from whence they have come. Yes, Dr. William R. Harvey, you have a right to recognize extraordinary persons and to give them their due. Unfortunately, your choice of George H.W. Bush as one of those persons flies in the face of historical truth and his horrendous record. Finally, you the members of the Congressional Black Caucus who are the most legitimate voices in the country for protecting the rights and advancements of African Americans cannot sit silently by and let another exaggerated distortion of black history go unchallenged. William L. Clay (D-St. Louis) is retired as Missouris 1st District congressman. Charley Pride One of the Few African Americans to Find Success in Country Music Charley Pride PASADENA, Calif. (AP) Paging Terrence Howard. Charley Pride still wants the actor to play him in a movie of the country music stars life. ADVERTISEMENT The project has been discussed for about 10 years. Pride told a TV critics meeting on Friday that it remains a goal to have it made with Howard, who stars in the Fox music series Empire. Meanwhile, Pride finds himself in the spotlight with two upcoming PBS projects: Country Music, Ken Burns film on the genres evolution and the people who created it, and Charley Pride: Im Just Me, airing as part of the American Masters series on Feb. 22. The 84-year-old Grand Ole Opry member shrugs off any suggestion of legend status as one of the few African Americans to find success in country music. His 1971 crossover hit Kiss an Angel Good Mornin earned him Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year honors. People say, Well, youre a legend, he said. I think, well, youre already dead and gone up there. Pride initially wanted to make the major leagues and break records. He used to pick up extra cash by singing before Negro League games. Pride got as far as tryouts with the then-California Angels and New York Mets, but never made the majors like his idol Jackie Robinson. ADVERTISEMENT Eventually, the son of Mississippi sharecroppers began working toward a performing career, already having taught himself to play a $14 guitar ordered from the Sears catalog by his mother. I have no answer to what Ive been able to achieve, Pride said. Once I come out and start singing, it doesnt matter if I was pink. They wanted to hear me sing. Thats the way my career has been all these years. Burns Country Music film is set to air from Sept. 15-18 and Sept. 22-25. Besides Pride, it focuses on Garth Brooks, the Carter family, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills and Hank Williams, among others. One of the recurring stories about country music is that it is a bottom-up art form, writer and co-producer Dayton Duncan said. Many of the people who became iconic and transformational in country music came from the poorest of backgrounds. The music speaks of universal themes and topics. Thats when its at its best and at its most powerful. To promote the series, Burns will participate in a 30-city bus tour culminating in Nashville with a concert at the historic Ryman Auditorium. The series ends in the mid-1990s, even though current musicians Dierks Bentley and Rhiannon Giddens of Carolina Chocolate Drops were among the 101 interviews conducted. We made it clear theyre just too damn young for us to cover their career, Duncan said. Posted Monday, February 4, 2019 7:06 am Like many coastal communities in the Great Lakes Basin, Monroe relies on water drawn directly from one of the five Great Lakes: Erie. Chris Knight, the superintendent of Monroes water treatment plant, oversees the production and daily delivery of drinking water to 48,000 customers in the city and nearby communities. They work in a facility built in the 1920s. The plant draws, on average, 7 to 7.5 million gallons of water directly from Lake Erie per day. On any given day, 85 to 90 percent of that water is distributed to customers. Knight and 10 co-workers keep an eye on the treatment with a combination of real-time electronic monitoring systems and good old-fashioned visual inspection. They monitor organic matter, pH (a measure of acidity and alkalinity) and hardness to assure customers of a steady year-round supply of safe drinking water. The pH of Lake Erie is normally in the 8.08.2 range, Knight said. But one summer in the early 2000s, he and his staff noticed the pH of raw water coming in from Lake Erie had risen to 9.0aSaS much more alkaline than expected. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major contributing factor in keeping pH low by combining with water to form carbonic acid. This weak acid is present in all surface waters and is vital to the health of lake ecosystems. When Knight noticed the waters pH rise to 9.0 and its turbidity, or cloudiness, increasing, he became alarmed and took measures to bring the pH back into the desirable range by adding extra aluminum sulfate (alum) into the treatment system. Alum is a routine step in the treatment process and is mostly used to pull out organic matter and clear up water. It can also be used, as it was that day, to bring down pH levels. Seeing such a rise in the pH of Monroes water led Knight to assume that an algae bloom in the lake was sopping up the CO2. The sudden appearance of a potentially toxin-producing species of algae in the water supply was unexpected and alarming, suggesting that conditions in Lake Erie had changed, allowing the bloom to develop, he said. The first time we saw one (algae bloom) was in the early 2000s, but back then we thought it was regular algae. It would change the water characteristics, the pH would go up, but nobody thought it would be blue-green algae, Knight said. Numerous algae species in Lake Erie are important to the ecosystem, including species of cyanobacteria, sometimes known as blue-green algae. Some blue-green algae contribute to harmful algal blooms by producing toxins that are potentially dangerous to humans and animals. Blue-green algae wasnt a problem in the past for Monroe, however. Tim Davis, a molecular microbiologist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio researches how climate change will impact harmful algal blooms. He looks at how the physiology and genetic makeup of microcystis, the major type of cyanobacteria associated with toxin production, responds to the changing environment. There is much about the ecology of microcystis we dont know, Davis said. What is known is that the blooms in freshwater ecosystems are caused mostly by nitrogen and phosphorus from human activities like farming. Compounding the complexity of the algal bloom issue, not all blue-green algae are microcystis and not all species of microcystis produce toxins. Finding blue-green algae in a water supply doesnt necessarily mean toxins in peoples drinking water. In 2012, Monroe installed a probe at the treatment plants water intake after noticing an algal bloom influencing the citys water quality. The probe provides real-time readings of a pigment found in cyanobacteria as an indicator of blue-green algae at the intake pipe. The plant now tests for levels of the pigment once per week from the first Wednesday in July through November. If levels rise, indicating a cyanobacteria bloom, plant personnel test raw water to see whether the cyanobacteria present are toxin producers. The plant now has a toxin management plan implemented through the Department of Environmental Quality, Knight said. If theres over 5 ppb (parts per billion) toxin in the water on Wednesday then we move to three times per week testing. Fortunately for residents of Monroe, unlike some other communities, their water treatment plant uses ozone to disinfect the water and destroy the toxin. Harmful algal blooms wont necessarily harmn coastal communities water supplies unless the blooms and toxins are present near the intake systems. The notorious harmful blooms in Lake Erie in 2014 that caused major concern for Toledo didnt affect Monroe residents although the communities are only 20 miles apart. The ability to predict when blooms may develop in lakes and project their movement is the focus of research by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) in Ann Arbor. GLERL scientists can predict the development of harmful blooms and model their movement to alert coastal community water systems of potential problems. The scientists are collaborating with other researchers to develop a buoy that can draw in a water sample, extract the DNA from algae and run tests to look for organisms that can produce toxins. The data would be relayed via satellite to the laboratory. Once implemented, the technology could provide an early warning system for water managers in the Great Lakes Basin, helping them know when to be on alert for harmful blooms at their water intake stations. Its also important to understand that not all blooms in lakes are harmful, said Bowling Greens Davis. Indeed, regular blooms of microscopic plants and animals are necessary to the health and productivity of the Great Lakes. Davis emphasized that not all blooms are bad. For example, the normal spring bloom is absolutely critical in fueling the zooplankton populations which are preyed upon by bait fish, which are preyed upon by commercial sport fish. Productive regions have great fisheries because they are just that: They are productive, he said. Provided to City Pulse by Capital News Service. Adapted from the Twitter feed, Tuesday, January 28, 2019. Posted Monday morning, February 4. And thats not on the campaign trail I have a feeling shes not in Iowa anymore. Or New Hampshire. Or in any diners in the South or Midwest: Not-candidate for President in 2020 Hillary Clinton (second from left) and former President Bill Clinton (in his Wellies, center) touring a farm in Puerto Rico, January 28, 2019, on behalf of the Clinton Foundation which has just announced Not-candidate for President in 2020 Hillary Clinton (second from left) and former President Bill Clinton (in his Wellies, center) touring a farm in Puerto Rico, January 28, 2019, on behalf of the Clinton Foundation which has just announced an airlift of 30,000 pounds of medical supplies its sponsoring in partnership with the AYFA Foundation, Swift Air, and GYNA to the territory which is still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Maria and in need of more than the paper towels Donald Trump tossed out during his photo op there back in 2017. Uncredited photo courtesy of the Clinton Foundation Other day, President of the Center for American Progress and some time advisor to Hillary Clinton Neera Tanden sighed in frustration and dismay on Twitter : Every few months, someone whispers to a reporter that Hillary has not signed in blood that she wont run and we get this media swarm which is an opportunity to drag her. It then ends within a day with actual advisors saying shes not running. Its painful and mean and should end. It should but it won't. Even when it's clear she's not running because one of the announced candidates has emerged as the clear front runner they'll still go after her. They'll just use her as a foil Either the front runner is doing it right by not being like her or doing it wrong by being like her or they'll have it both ways. And along the way they'll be telling us how she's getting ready to jump in a play spoiler because both Clintons are monsters of ambition and ego, unlike every other politician in the world. Unlike journalists and pundits at elite news outlets, as well. I don't know why they hate her like they do but they do hate her. She is their bete noire and they project onto her everything they dislike about liberal politicians. Like I would know, but its always been my suspicion that what they most dislike about liberal politicians and liberals in general is that they wont let them get away with treating politics like a game between two equally cynical teams of power-hungry opportunists with no other goals than winning elections and serving their donors. The media pride themselves on their own cynicism which they think of as healthy, professional skepticism. They dont take sides, you see! Theyre outside the fray. Not taking sides frees them to have their favorite players without it mattering what those players stand for. This is how likability becomes the most important quality in a candidate. Likable means doesnt make me think about what happens if this or that player actually wins. The political media corps was full of people who did not like Hillary and couldnt stand the thought of her becoming President. That the only alternative was Donald Trump didnt seem to cross their minds. They just assumed she would win and that prospect infuriated them, and they went to work making sure shed be a one-termer before the first votes were cast. She would lose by winning. They were determined to see that. Now she makes them mad by having been right about Trump, right about his base of deplorables, right about just about everything, and by having been right but not shutting up and going away, she is a constant reminder that the media blew it. Their vanity and egos wont let them stand for that. But, like I said, like I would know. By the way, the NBCNews story Tanden links to isn't that bad. It gets Mark Penn right---hes a quisling on his way to be an out and out turncoat Penn was once a top strategist for Clinton's 2008 presidential bid, but was banished years ago from her inner orbit after being saddled with much of the blame for her loss. He was not invited back to her 2016 campaign. More recently, Penn has become a vocal defender of President Donald Trump in the ongoing Russia probe, and a promoter of some of the questionable criticism Trump lodged at Clinton during the 2016 campaign... ...and accepts the fact that she's not running without doing the usual Hillary bashing. It's the CNN story its actually refuting that's doing the usual song and dance and which I suspect is the one causing Tanden her dismay and despair. Anyway, you should read it. The NBC story not CNN's. Storys by Alex Seitz-Wald and you can read it and watch it by following the link to Hillary Clinton runs to Puerto Rico, not the White House at NBCNews. It includes the link to CNNs story, if you want to read it, but I think its best not to encourage them. _____________________________________________________________________________ Recommended relevant Mannion re-run: "Likable Liz and Unlikable Hil"... A Lancaster man was injured and his Chester County passenger killed Saturday night when state police said the driver lost control of his car and hit a tree in Lebanon County. State police said Zachary Follette, 20, lost control of his Nissan Sentra around 10:30 p.m. on Hopeland Road in Heidelberg Township and struck a tree, crushing the passenger side of the vehicle. The road is just north of the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area. State police said in a news release that Follette "displayed signs of intoxication." Police said a passenger, identified by the Lebanon County coroner as Clarence Buchanon, 21, of West Chester, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said Follette was transported to Hershey Medical Center for injuries. When contacted Sunday afternoon, a medical center spokesperson said there was no patient by that name currently at the hospital. As of Monday, Follette had been charged with not driving on roadways laned for traffic. The Great American Outdoor Show brings back another weekend of fun for hunting, fishing fanatics [photos] In late spring, Lancaster city plans to embark on its largest water infrastructure project since it upgraded its two treatment plants a decade ago. The goal: Construction of a new water main parallel to the 42-inch transmission main running from the Susquehanna River to the city. The existing cast-iron main dates to the 1950s. Typically, about 12 million gallons of water per day pass through it a measure often abbreviated mgd. In recent years, the frequency of leaks has increased. As the line ages and corrodes, its less able to withstand shocks. Theres a lot of construction around it these days, raising the risk of damage from blasting, heavy equipment traveling over it, or an excavator inadvertently hitting it, said Cindy McCormick, deputy public works director. A major rupture could be catastrophic, she said. The most serious leak by far occurred in 2012. It led to water loss of 2 mgd to 4 mgd that is, up to a third of the mains normal throughput. It cost well over $200,000 to repair, McCormick said. Repairs since then have been more modest, costing about $25,000 to $30,000 in all, she said. There has been no service impact to water customers, she said. The city has also had to make repairs to distribution mains, such as those in Quaker Hills, but those are separate issues from the transmission main. Serves a quarter of the county The citys water system serves not only the city but thousands of customers in neighboring townships and boroughs: more than 47,000 accounts in all, representing more than 140,000 people about a quarter of Lancaster Countys population. More than 200,000 county residents are served by other public and private water systems, according to state figures; the rest have on-site wells. The transmission main supplies about two-thirds of the Lancaster systems service area, providing water treated at the Susquehanna treatment plant to most of the city, plus suburban customers to the north, west and south. The remaining third is served by Lancasters other treatment plant, which draws from the Conestoga River on the citys east side. Its less than a mile from the distribution system and is connected to it by multiple lines, so the issue of a single, aging main doesnt arise there. As far back as the early 1990s, the city was looking at whether it needed a new Susquehanna water main. Building it will provide a backup to the existing main and allow it to be taken out of service and repaired, McCormick said. A 2003 master plan recommended building a redundant main within 10 to 15 years. The problems in 2012 accelerated concerns, leading to a 2013 study that evaluated various repair and replacement alternatives. The city concluded that a redundant main made the most sense: Without it, the city would have to build temporary bypasses to repair the main section by section. Design began shortly thereafter. The new main will not expand the citys service area, McCormick said. Nor is it being installed to add capacity within the system boundaries the limiting factors come from other system components. The city continually assesses capacity to ensure it can meet demand, McCormick said. Three phases planned The first phase of the project involves laying about seven miles of pipe between the Oyster Point reservoir in East Hempfield Township and the city. It will be built of ductile iron, which is stronger and less brittle than cast iron. Its budgeted at $34 million and will take about 2 years, McCormick said. The budget covers some related work besides the main itself, including $1.4 million for a supply line to a controversial water tank the city plans to build on School District of Lancaster property in Lancaster Township. The second phase of the project will run about six miles of pipe between Oyster Point and the citys Susquehanna water treatment plant; the third will connect the Susquehanna River and the treatment plant, about one mile. In 2013, the second phase was estimated at $13.5 million and the third phase at $4 million, but costs have risen since then, McCormick said. No timeline has been set for the second and third phases, but the goal would be to complete all three phases within 10 years, she said. The city engaged the global firm Black & Veatch to design the pipeline. A Lititz firm, ARRO Consulting, is assisting with obtaining permits. Bond funds The $34 million for the first phase will come from more than $100 million in capital bonds the city issued last year. The city will recover the money through water rates. Rates are expected to rise, but Patrick Hopkins, city director of administrative services, said he couldnt predict how much. Rate cases are complex, and capital projects are just one of the factors that come into play. Changing rates for city residents requires a City Council vote. To raise rates on suburban customers, the city must apply to the state Public Utility Commission. Current rates for average residential accounts using 12,000 gallons are $66.48 per quarter in the city and $70.52 outside it. Comparable rates elsewhere in the county range from less than $50 to more than $100. Road work ahead Like the existing main, the new one will be underground, mostly under or near local roads. There will be flaggers, lane closures and detours as sections of road are excavated to lay the pipes, McCormick said. Bids for the first phase will be opened this month, she said. The work requires permits from the Pennsylvania departments of Environmental Protection and Transportation, as well as street-opening permits from East Hempfield and Lancaster townships. Thats all proceeding normally, she and township officials said. The city also has had to obtain 14 easements: one from East Hempfield Township, one from a residential property owner, and 12 from commercial properties. One of the latter involved an eminent domain proceeding, McCormick said. Negotiations with three property owners remain ongoing. The easements so far have cost about $200,000, she said. The residential property easement wasnt for the redundant main itself, but for a connector needed for it to serve a housing development, she said. Recent rate history In 2009, the city completed its retrofit of the Susquehanna and Conestoga treatment plants, including installation of state-of-the-art microfiltration systems. Reported at the time as the largest public works project in city history, it cost around $90 million the equivalent of nearly $105 million today. The city then went to the Public Utility Commission seeking a suburban rate increase of 99 percent. The treatment plants werent the only reason: The city had lowballed some earlier rate increases and had to play catch-up, Hopkins said. The commission ultimately authorized a 65 percent increase, which took effect in mid-2011. In 2015, rates increased again. For typical residential customers, they rose about 27 percent in the suburbs and 23 percent in the city. That was followed in 2016 by one more increase in the city, of about 7.5 percent, resulting in todays rates. He was covered in another mans blood, but former Lancaster Mayor Charlie Smithgall didnt appear to have any major injuries after shooting an armed man who attempted to rob his city pharmacy last October. As a precaution, emergency personnel took him to Lancaster General Hospitals emergency room, just to check a hip bruised when Smithgall was knocked to the floor during the struggle. Turns out, that decision might have saved Smithgalls life. An X-ray showed a possible bone chip on his hip. A follow-up CAT scan of the hip showed something concerning on Smithgalls kidney. And further testing confirmed Smithgall had kidney cancer. Less than two months later, on Dec. 14, Smithgall underwent a 5 1/2-hour surgery at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Dr. Robert Uzzo removed half of Smithgalls affected kidney. Uzzo confirmed that the cancer was caught early, that it was encapsulated and had not spread, and that Smithgall would not need chemotherapy or other follow-up treatment. There have been some other complications in his recovery but, today, Smithgall is recuperating and regaining his strength at home. Before his surprise diagnosis, he says, there was never an indication anything was wrong with his kidney. And, he says, if doctors hadnt had a reason to X-ray his bruised hip, or if they hadnt questioned the results, his health may easily have gotten a lot worse. Armed robbery Four Harrisburg men have been charged in the Oct. 23 armed robbery, according to newspaper records. One, Brandon Galette, was injured when Smithgall shot him, according to court documents. He was arrested shortly after the incident at the West Lemon Street pharmacy. Galette and Johnny L. Straining Jr. allegedly entered Smithgalls Pharmacy, 536 W. Lemon St., in the afternoon of Oct. 23, 2018, according to newspaper reports. The pair wielded handguns and threatened employees while demanding oxycodone, police records said at the time. Smithgall, who had a permitted gun on the premises, shot Galette once, then fired three more shots as he struggled with Galette over control of the weapon, according to charges filed by police. Galette allegedly took Smithgalls weapon and fled, according to LNP accounts, but collapsed and was taken into custody near the scene. Galette, Straining and two other men, Andrew Sterling Garrett and Lamar Black, have been arrested on a variety of charges linked to the incident. The Lancaster County District Attorneys Office announced in November that Smithgall would not face any charges. Crazy week When Smithgall was taken to the hospital after that Tuesday robbery as a precaution, he says, he didnt think much of it. Further testing would wait until he could get an appointment and his daughter, Allison, was getting married just four days later, on Oct. 27. That whole week was crazy, Smithgalls wife, Debbie, says now. Their lives were about to get even crazier. The day after Allisons wedding was Debbies birthday. The following weekend, while the Smithgalls had hundreds of guests at their farm for a shooting event, Debbie was rushed by ambulance to the emergency room, and then intensive care, with a pulmonary embolism. Since then, Charlie Smithgall has been in the emergency room twice more with some health complications I now have frequent-flyer miles there, he jokes but things have quieted down for them both since mid-January. Christmas, Smithgall says, went down the drain. New Years went down the drain. Smithgalls main task now is to regain some of the 30-plus pounds he lost during a two-week period after twice developing a bacterial infection. Everybody said I looked like death warmed over, but its starting now to get better, he says. The challenge is to eat enough. Everybody says it saved my life, Smithgall says of the chance discovery of the cancer. I said it might have prolonged my life, because you all gotta go sometime but, hopefully, not by kidney cancer. LNP Staff Writers Lindsey Blest and Heather Stauffer contributed to this story. Here's a roundup of recent hirings and promotions of management-level employees who live or work in Lancaster County. The Lancaster Chamber has elected Craig Kauffman its board chair for 2019. Kauffman is president and CEO of PeoplesBank. Other officers elected for 2019 are chair-elect, Michelle Rondinelli, co-owner and president, Kitchen Kettle Foods; secretary/treasurer, Jude Hoar, senior partner, Trout, Ebersole & Groff; at-large trustee, Scott Fiore, vice president and partner, TriStarr Staffing; and immediate past chair, Nelson Longenecker, vice president for business innovation at Four Seasons Produce. Newly elected to the chambers board of trustees are Andy Dula, chief operating and financial officer of EGStoltzfus; Caroline Muraro, president of LNP Media Group; Charles (Chuck) White, vice president for brands and marketing at RoadPro Brands and DAS Cos.; Carrie Willetts, senior vice president of WellSpan Health and president of WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital; and Daniel A. Wubah, president of Millersville University. Moravian Manor has named William Kehler as general manager of dining services. Kehler, of Manheim, is employed by Sodexo USA, which provides food services to Moravian Manor. A 12-year Sodexo employee, he previously was director of dining services at Foxdale Village in State College. Turkey Hill Dairy has hired Chad Burgess as maintenance manager. Burgess, of Lancaster, most recently was facilities engineer at New Standard Group. He holds bachelors, masters and MBA degrees from DeVry University. Court Appointed Special Advocates of Lancaster County has named Rebecca Caplan its 2019 president. Caplan is principal and founder of Upcast Strategies. Other officers named for 2019 are vice president, J. Seroky, president of High Concrete Group; secretary, Steven Russell, portfolio manager and senior research analyst at Emerald Asset Management; and treasurer, Laura Rineer, manager of the small business services group at RKL. Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health has hired Dr. Aaron D. Bleznak, Dr. Rachel A. Hogg and Dr. Michael E. Smith. Bleznak, of Lancaster, serves as medical director of the breast program and practices at LG Health Physicians Surgical Group. A graduate of Jefferson Medical College, he completed his residency at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Board-certified in surgery, he most recently practiced at Sentara Health Care, Norfolk, Virginia. Hogg, of Millersville, has joined LG Health Physicians Family Medicine Manor Ridge. A graduate of Penn State College of Medicine, Hogg completed her residency at Williamsport Regional Medical Center. She is board-certified in family medicine and most recently practiced at UPMC Susquehanna Family Medicine in Williamsport. Smith, of Lancaster, has joined LG Health Physicians Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine. A graduate of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Smith completed his residency at University of California, Davis. He is board-certified in surgery and most recently practiced at the Wound and Hyperbaric Center at Lower Bucks Hospital. Armstrong Flooring has promoted Teresa Murray to assistant treasurer. Murray, of Akron, was hired in 1988, most recently serving as manager for treasury and risk. A certified treasury professional, Murray holds an associate degree from Penn State Harrisburg. WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital has promoted Dr. Il Jun Chon to vice president of medical affairs. Chon, of Ephrata, previously was medical director of WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital Hospitalist Services and president of the hospitals medical staff. A hospitalist, he also was a member of WellSpan Internal Medicine. Hes been a practicing physician in northern Lancaster County since 2001. Chon is a graduate of Tulane University and earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Parkinsons Circle of Care Alliance, a nonprofit that seeks to improve the lives of people with Parkinsons disease and their caregivers, has named Drew Nesbitt to its board of directors. Nesbitt is a physical therapist and clinic director at Hartz Physical Therapy, Lancaster-East. "Who's News," featuring promotions, hirings and certifications of management-level employees, appears each Sunday. Send us your news with an optional JPG photo to businessnews@lnpnews.com. "Who's News" items also can be mailed to LNP Business News, P.O. Box 1328, Lancaster PA 17608-1328 or dropped off at our offices at 8 W. King St. in downtown Lancaster. Historically, financial institutions have played a strong role in the development of communities. While the 2007-09 Great Recession may have caused mistrust among the power players in our economy, financial institutions have rebounded over the past decade. The appetite to lend capital is greater than ever, and communities all across the U.S. have seen substantial investments, including ours. However, business as usual in the banking world has been insufficient in building a community in which everyone thrives, so there has to be some deep reflection on how financial institutions can take an active role in changing their approach. Thankfully, community development financial institutions have taken on the role of providing capital to underserved communities to aid in their revitalization. These institutions were created to focus on personal lending and business development efforts in local communities in need of revitalization, and are defined as institutions that serve the needs of the poor and working class within urban and rural communities, many of whom are underserved by traditional commercial banks. Lancaster has three such institutions out of the almost 1,000 in the United States: Assets, Community First Fund and Lancaster Housing Opportunity Partnership. But as we see in our community, more needs to be done. Traditional financial institutions need to play a more active physical role in underserved communities, and by doing so, can bridge a large portion of the gap. Yes, a portion of the lack of access to capital gap is due to poor credit, lack of credit history, lack of collateral, or not enough business history. However, there are other key factors that contribute to this inaccessibility: physical location of banks, educational resources offered to underserved populations and community outreach. Banks know that a physical presence in a community can have positive effects on its residents. Thats why, despite declining foot traffic, brick-and-mortar branches are still being opened and remain a big part of banks strategies. Physical locations are still where people go to seek financial guidance. So, when marginalized communities dont have access to a physical location, where do they go for financial guidance? When we take Lancaster city as an example, there are limited branch locations outside of the downtown area. That is why Assets and Community First Fund focus on providing technical assistance when business owners access capital. Lancaster Housing Opportunity Partnership requires borrowers to go through training prior to receiving down payment assistance when purchasing a home. Lack of access to capital also affects those who may qualify for credit, but are outside of the banks reach. Many financial institutions invest in community outreach personnel. Their focus is to build relationships within the community. This allows these organizations to proactively inquire about financial needs and make sure their customers needs are met. However, many business owners in underserved areas dont hear from or get a chance to meet representatives from their bank. Because of this, business owners often believe that lenders dont represent or understand the community. This can result in lowered trust, or a total lack of trust. As banks look to hire, making sure that their lenders reflect the community they serve can lead to important business development in areas that typically havent been given attention. For example, many of Assets banking partners have made great strides in community outreach by serving on our board and committees. By working directly with community development financial institutions, these relationship managers are able to build stronger connections with their customers, even if they cant immediately meet their financial need. A great example of a community-focused bank is Fulton Bank. Their Fulton Forward initiative provides programs and financial tools that help with areas such as housing assistance and down payment and closing costs assistance. The world of banking is changing, and traditional institutions are facing challenges from declining foot traffic, new financial technology companies making it easier than ever to borrow money, and strict government regulations. However, these organizations will benefit greatly from investing in their entire community and not just the areas that may be immediately profitable. Banking should be seen as a service for good. A shift in focus from the shareholder to the stakeholder will allow the entire community to win, which will also have positive effects on the banks bottom lines. The good news for her and others is that the world should still be here by then. In a recent speech Cortez said the trajectory right now is for climate change to end the world in 12 years minus solutions. People thought, oh well, she is indulging in hyperbole to make a point, but no, she said, she was serious, and she said she read as much in the Guardian newspaper. Well, the paper did report on an important study that does say something scary if questionable, that we could then experience dreadful hurt that could stick with us. But the end? Nope. Cortez does not seem to read carefully, and she is more than a little amiss on the whole climate change issue. She wants this country running entirely on renewable fuels by 2035, which would cost trillions upon trillions even if renewables and maybe some donkey treadmills were up to the task by then. Even applying other more workable solutions, while counting for something, would still not solve the feared crisis because of other nations continuing their CO2 ways. After Trump pulled the U.S. out of the historic agreement with Iran designed to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons, the intelligence chiefs said Iran is abiding by the agreement still in effect with five other nations. But they also said Iran is using the U.S. pullout to argue that America is untrustworthy. The people who know Trump best say he is a feelings-not-facts guy. He makes national decisions based on gut instincts, doesnt care about what he doesnt know and is bored with being briefed, even on sensitive, complicated issues. After talking with Turkeys repressive president Tayyip Erdogan, Trump decided on the spur of the moment to listen to Erdogan and announce he would pull all 2,000 U.S. troops out of Syria against the will of all his advisers. As if Russias cyber attacks on our electric grid and meddling in our elections arent grief enough, U.S. intelligence has concluded that Russia and China our two biggest enemies are working together to cause dissension and chaos in our democracy. And Trump is still insisting he wants to pull the U.S. out of NATO, where mutual defense agreements have kept the peace in Europe for more than half a century. Article Five ensured that Europe came together to support the U.S. after 9/11. The only constitutional duty remaining for the treasurer is serving on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which manages a $1.1 billion endowment that provided about $36 million to school libraries in 2018. Adamczyk did not return calls for comment but has previously said the responsibility serving on the board literally consists of two 15-minute phone calls per month. Elected in 2015, he ran for the position on the platform of eliminating it. He whittled staff down until he was the only one left. The offices budget shrunk from $544,800 in fiscal years 2014 and 2015 to $113,500 in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. He called the changes a symbolic victory for smaller government. Taxpayer savings In most states, the treasurer holds considerable power, according to National Association of State Treasurers executive director Shaun Snyder. Aside from Wisconsin, he said he was unfamiliar with other states shifting substantial powers away from elected treasurers to agencies controlled by the governors office. But thats what has happened to the treasurers office in Wisconsin starting in the mid-1990s. One of those lawsuits, filed last month by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and other groups, contends the so-called extraordinary session held to pass the laws was unconstitutional. The lawsuit prompted Evers to hire private attorneys to represent him at a cost to taxpayers of as much as $50,000. Republican legislative leaders have retained Misha Tseytlin, the former state solicitor general, as their attorney in that case. Its unclear whether GOP lawmakers will hire attorneys, at taxpayer expense, to defend themselves in the new lawsuit. Liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now is bringing the other lawsuit, which seeks to overturn the provisions of the lame-duck law that curtailed access to early voting. A federal judge last month blocked those changes as part of a previous injunction against previous laws limiting early voting. In addition, a state lawmaker, Rep. Jimmy Anderson, has asked Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne to file suit against state Assembly leaders and void the votes that passed the laws. Ozanne has not said if hell act on that request. Anderson, who is paralyzed from the chest down and requires advance notice of meetings as an accommodation of his health and logistical issues, contends Assembly Republican leaders broke state open-meetings law by not telling him when early-morning votes on the laws would be held. Love 7 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A 7-year-old boy from Lewiston was injured in a rollover on an icy interstate in Winona County Sunday morning. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, a 2009 Nissan Versa driven by 36-year-old Marjana Jamie Schell of Lewiston was heading east on I-90 near mile post 270 in New Hartford Township. Schell lost control of the vehicle and rolled over into the ditch. Schell was uninjured. The boy was taken to Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare in La Crosse with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver was uninjured. Both occupants were wearing seat belts. The Winona County Sheriffs Department, Dakota Fire and Ambulance and the Minnesota Department of Transportation assisted on the scene. Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct city of residence for the driver and passenger.(tncms-asset)89aefc60-6004-11e6-8459-00163ec2aa77[0](/tncms-asset) Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 It was only a few months ago that the McIntosh Memorial Library of Viroqua was presented with the 2018 Innovative Programming Award from the Wisconsin Library Association for its annual Journal Buddy Program. Now the program is growing to include a new chapter titled the After-School Journal Buddy Program. McIntosh Memorial Library Youth Services director and coordinator of the Viroqua after-school program, Mary Mulvaney-Kemp and Caley Peterson, director of the La Farge after-school program known as the 21st Century Learning Center, have created a unique opportunity for students enrolled in the communities' After-School programs. Over the course of the next four months a Viroqua student will be paired with a La Farge student and they will read the same eight picture books and journal back and forth about them. The journaling wont be just about the books it will be about the students, too. The books they chose tells you a lot about the kids, Mulvaney-Kemp said. In 2018, the La Farge School District bused students enrolled in their after-school program to McIntosh Memorial Library twice for special events. For the kids in La Farge its making a very small community that much biggerthey are making new friends," Peterson said. Registration is open for a brand-new event we are bringing to the McIntosh Memorial Library next month. Our first annual Spa Night for high school women will be held Friday, March 8, from 6-9 p.m. here at the library. The event will feature inspiring speakers, makeup, hair, and nail workshops, catered appetizers, a photo booth, gift bags, and more! Anyone interested in participating should stop by the circulation desk or give us a call at 637-7151. High school students from any school district or home-school students are welcome and encouraged to register. If you need tax forms, please know we have them. The forms are conveniently located on a table next to our main entry doors. We will not be reordering any additional forms, so the distribution is on a first come first serve basis. If we run out of forms, we can assist you with printing off forms from the IRS.gov website. Acharya becomes first envoy to take oath from President Nilamber Acharya, Nepals new ambassador to India, became the first ambassador to take oath of office and secrecy from President Bidya Devi Bhandari under a new provision that was announced on Sunday itself. Now my 10 years BEST OF is on a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Justacarguyblog/ and nose art of WW2 fighter and bomber planes is on another facebook page and nose art of WW2 fighter and bomber planes is on another facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Nose-Art-WW2-aircraft http://justacarguy.tumblr.com Beautiful women: http://isonlyskindeep.tumblr.com Beautiful women: the best costumes and cosplayers from Comic Con SDCC, including Masquerade Ball http://isurvivedthehallhline.blogspot.com/ http://isurvivedthehallhline.tumblr.com/ advice for my nephew at http://uncles-advice.livejournal.com/ if you like reading, I'm putting together the best I've found in scrapbooks, anthologies, and poetry compilations http://better-than-palgrave.blogspot.com things done at home that make a significant visual or functional improvement http://designandstyleathome.tumblr.com/ andif you like reading, I'm putting together the best I've found in scrapbooks, anthologies, and poetry compilationsthings done at home that make a significant visual or functional improvement the best costumes and cosplayers from Comic Con SDCC, including Masquerade Ball Vehicles:When I can find time, I'm going to put my best photos into a livejournal, the image size is enormousAnd to show what an improvement a moment with photoshop 7 can do for old photos: And the topic has drawn attention, and action, from both outgoing Racine Municipal Judge Rebecca Mason and members of the City Council. A large-scale problem Nearly 60 percent (approximately 250,000 out of 420,000) of the licenses that were suspended in Wisconsin in 2013 were for failure to pay fines, while only about 170,000 were suspended for all other reasons combined like a drunken driving conviction or accumulating too many demerit points according to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukees Employment and Training Institute. It is difficult for a community to thrive if it has a high rate of suspended licenses. People need to be able to drive to work and to school, Mason said in an email. For these reasons, I have worked to greatly reduce the number of drivers licenses that the Racine Municipal Court suspends. In some states, these suspensions cant happen at all. In seven states, licenses cant be suspended for nonpayment of fines. This includes in Illinois although Chicago has a local law that allows licenses to be suspended if someone has 10 or more unpaid parking tickets. RACINE SC Johnson is expanding its role in providing healthcare and malaria education to thousands of people in rural Rwanda, the company announced Wednesday. The local company last year, in partnership with the Rwanda Ministry of Health and the Society for Family Health Rwanda, established 11 health posts, or places rural residents can go for healthcare advice, referrals, education and treatment. Each serves between 5,000 and 7,000 people. With the expansion, SCJ is supporting the development of 40 more posts, bringing the total affected population to about 200,000, according to Stephen Hogan, SCJs senior director of global public affairs. We wanted to really make a difference, Hogan said. We wanted to do it somewhere we felt we could take a long-term approach, be strategic about it and really try to address a very important issue. Many rural Rwandans have to travel almost three hours to get healthcare, Hogan said, so the health posts are strategically placed so the people they serve only have to travel 25-30 minutes. SENATE GOP REBUKE OF TROOP WITHDRAWALS: Voting 68 for and 23 against, the Senate on Thursday advanced an amendment by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that would rebuke President Trump over his plans to withdraw large numbers of U.S. troops from Syria and possibly Afghanistan as well. Trump said we have defeated ISIS in Syria in announcing the Syrian pullout. Democrats cast nearly all of the votes against the measure, arguing it could be construed by the administration as an authorization to use military force against Middle Eastern countries including Iran. The non-binding amendment was offered to a foreign policy bill (S 1) that remained in debate. A yes vote was to advance the amendment. The Judicial Commission also argues that Pionteks phone call violated the Supreme Courts prohibition of ex parte communications concerning pending matters. The judicial panel alleges that Piontek at least twice denied the contents of the prosecutors letter while the commissions investigation was pending. Only later, when he filed his response to the commissions complaint, did Judge Piontek admit that he initiated the Dec. 3, 2014, phone call and that he made the statements attributed to him, the document states. Piontek is also accused of violating the obligation to promote public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judicial system and to act without bias or prejudice. Independent investigation In the second matter, the complaint states that Piontek presided over the sentencing of a former nurse, who had pleaded guilty to several criminal charges. The Judicial Commission alleges that Piontek initiated an independent online investigation about the defendant and did not tell the parties in the case until after they made their arguments and statements at the sentencing hearing. The complaint further alleges that the judge used the investigation to determine a sentence. So far, it has exceeded our expectations, Willkomm said. Even not having a lot of sand and salt (on roads in November and December), its been pretty good. The really nice thing has been the reactions. Kenosha never really had a really nice tunnel car wash, he added. Rocket Wash No. 3 The Pleasant Prairie Rocket Wash, just east of highways 50 and H, started with a fuel distributor who wanted to leave the business, Willkomm said, adding, We loved the property. The brothers bought it and were able to build their third Rocket Wash, starting in August, next to a Merlin auto repair shop. He said he thinks that is a great fit with their car wash. In addition to the aforementioned businesses, the Willkomms also own a wholesale fuel distributorship, the Petro Stopping Mart at Interstate 94 and Sylvania Avenue in Yorkville comprised of a truck stop, gas station, convenience store and Iron Skillet restaurant; and a Mobil station and convenience store, Boss Burgers-N-Beef restaurant, car wash and pet wash at 6840 Washington Ave. in Mount Pleasant. They have closed their first Dish restaurant, in Oak Creek, which was too small and allowed O&H Danish Bakery to take over that building, Willkomm said. They have no immediate plans to open a new business, he said. However, their eventual plan for the Spring Street-Highway 31 corner is to also add a new retail building next to The Dish when they have tenants for it. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 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. Trick said the intention was that local companies would add their profile or personality and open job positions. Those job postings can then be pushed out to millenials, veterans and University of Wisconsin alumni as well as certain markets ManpowerGroup has identified that align well with Racine County. The new talent recruitment specialist will be one part of the larger talent training/recruitment efforts, Trick and Delagrave said. This is just one tool in the toolbox, Delagrave said, but we feel like this really hasnt been done before; this really hasnt (previously) been addressed for county government to get into the talent-attraction business. Workforce puzzle Otto said there are more than 4,000 businesses, including 350 manufacturers, in the county that will continually need people. Were really focusing on our legacy employers, she said, referring to companies that have been in the county for generations. Trick said Walker will reach out to existing Racine County businesses, one at a time, lead some talent-recruitment summits and some element of an employee-retention initiative. Yet, as the New York Times has detailed, the effort to dislodge Maduro is mainly the result of a long-running push by Cuban-American Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to engage Trump on the issue. The underlying reason appears to be Cuba: Maduro, like Chavez, is closely aligned with Havana, which long profited from cheap Venezuelan oil. Ousting Maduro would hurt the Cuban regime. It looks like Rubio, along with another Cuban-American -- the National Security Council's senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs, Mauricio Claver-Carone -- persuaded Trump this issue was a winner. Perhaps this appeared to be the opportune moment: the situation was at boil, with huge anti-Maduro demonstrations on the streets of Caracas. The optics were good. "This is a civic revolution against a kleptocratic tyranny," says the University of Maryland's Vladimir Tismaneanu, an expert on popular revolts against dictators. The young, handsome Guaido -- directly encouraged by Pence -- declared himself the legitimate president. As leader of Venezuela's National Assembly, Guaido had a plausible legal basis to take charge, since the last presidential elections were blatantly rigged. Moreover, Washington got many Latin countries to recognize Guaido, with EU nations poised to join if Maduro didn't schedule new elections. A company that wants to build a wind farm in southern Lancaster County also is considering putting a large solar farm in northeast Nebraska. NextEra Energy Resources is in the "very early stages of looking at the viability of solar projects in Nebraska," said company spokesman Bryan Garner. Specifically, the potential project in northeast Nebraska could be one of the country's largest. At a possible 423 megawatts, it would be the largest solar project not only in Nebraska but also in the Midwest. There is still a lot of work to do before anything concrete can happen, however. Garner said NextEra has applied for an interconnection agreement with the Southwest Power Pool, a 14-state organization that operates the regional electric grid and wholesale market in which electricity producers buy and sell power. Getting an agreement at a reasonable cost would be vital to the project. Garner said NextEra also is looking at the solar energy potential in the area as in is there enough sunlight to make the project work. Lincoln declined in an expanded Silicon Prairie News ranking of Midwestern startup cities. Lincoln came in 12th in the 2018 State of the Silicon Prairie Report released recently by the Omaha-based website that covers technology and the startup scene. That's down from a No. 4 ranking in the inaugural 2016 report; however, the most recent report included 42 cities, while the 2016 report included only 16. While Lincoln ranked behind major cities such as Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and St. Louis, it also did better in the ranking than many larger cities, including Des Moines, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Wichita. When compared to other smaller cities that are home to major research universities, Lincoln did not fare as well, ranking behind Champaign, Illinois, Madison, Wisconsin, Ames, Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, and Columbia, Missouri. It ranked ahead of only Lawrence, Kansas, and Manhattan, Kansas. Monday, February 04, 2019 MLG Says Early Childhood Amendment Will Be "Fight Of My Life" Plus: Where Other Key Issues Stand At Session, And: Our Monday Bottom Lines (D. Villegas) The debate around key issues facing the 60 day legislative session is gaining more clarity as we flip the calendar to February. Here are the takeaways: --For the first time in a little noticed interview MLG drew a line in the sand on the proposal to tap the $17 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund School Fund for very early childhood programs. She said: I have every intention of having the fight of my life on this issue. Our pinch, I think, will be an indication that we expect about a third of what well need for early child education to come out of the permanent fund. I think we might be closer to an open dialogue by folks that have said no deal. --That "pinch" under legislation sponsored by ABQ Dem Rep. Javier Martinez would withdraw one percent of the fund's value annually, adding upwards of $150 million year to early childhood programs, but key players see negotiations taking that percentage lower. --The fight the Governor says she has every "intention" of having will be with conservative Senate Democrats who have repeatedly blocked the amendment which, if approved by the House and Senate, would go to voters in 2020. The House is supportive of the measure that does not require a gubernatorial signature. --However, it will require gubernatorial power to crack the conservative D's or bring them to the table. That may indeed require the "fight of her life" that she has now publicly pledged. MINIMUM PUSH --Conservatives aren't necessarily "cracking" over the Guv's push to hike the statewide minimum wage from $7.50 to $10 an hour, it's more like they are yielding to the political reality seen in last year's election results. --Even conservative Senate Dem Clemente Sanchez, who has battled with minimum supporters in the past, is proposing a $10 an hour minimum, albeit his would not take effect until October 2020 while others would take effect this year. --Sanchez is also proposing that the $2.13 minimum wage for tipped employees stay on the books, something restaurant owners are clamoring for. He and they may get it. (The tipped minimum is higher in cities with higher overall minimums). --Interviews we've had with tipped workers in ABQ found opinion mixed but overall they expressed support for the status quo. Many are making near $20 an hour under the current structure and in no mood to rock the boat. --Interestingly, in a Sunday op-ed piece MLG did not make mention of the debate over the minimum for tipped employees, a signal that she is not locked down on it. --Santa Fe's minimum wage is already north of $11 an hour and would not be impacted by the $10 an hour mandate. Las Cruces is also now over the $10 an hour mark. However, ABQ is in the low $9 an hour area so minimum workers there would benefit from the increase. CAP OR CAPLESS? --There are not many believers in Santa Fe that state film incentives, capped at $50 million a year, should be completely lifted. Such a move would threaten to blow a hole in the budget in future years. Because they have gone over the cap over the years, Hollywood is now owed over $300 million due from the state, a huge sum in a budget headed toward the $7 billion area. --MLG's support of removing the incentive cap is seen more as a negotiating play than her hope for the final result, meaning an increase from $50 million a year to a yet to be determined number, but the cap stays. --The position of Dem Senator Carlos Cisneros of Senate Finance to carry the day: "(He) said he would support loosening the cap. The film industry, he added, has been good for the state. A complete drop--thats unpredictable, he said, cautioning that the state needs to have some certainty about how much it is paying in incentives in future years, particularly in lean budget years." THE BOTTOM LINES Rubel The clock will run out on the ABQ public schools mail-in election Tuesday at 7 p.m. Here's the closing arguments. First, from Amy Horowitz, a retired Realtor and education lobbyist, who says the property tax increase that would result if the ballot questions are approved is Walt Rubel, 60, has been a fixture on the state journalism scene, coming to the Las Cruces Sun-News in 2002 and carving out a niche as a common sense commentator and voice of reason as the editor of the paper's opinion pages. Now that run has I now join the scores of former reporters and editors who have lost their jobs in a massive downsizing as the industry transitions from print to digital. . . I dont know what comes next, but it will come here in Las Cruces. Im done chasing newspaper jobs around the country . . . Im close enough to retirement that Im prepared financially, for which Im thankful. . . But, Im not sure what I am now. That has probably been the most disconcerting thing. That, and the indignity, of course. Since 1982, Ive been a journalist. Now Im something else. Hasta la vista, Walt. . . This is the home of New Mexico politics. Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. ( c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019 The debate around key issues facing the 60 day legislative session is gaining more clarity as we flip the calendar to February. Here are the takeaways:--on the proposal to tap the $17 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund School Fund for very early childhood programs. She said:--of the fund's value annually, adding upwards of $150 million year to early childhood programs, but key players see negotiations taking that percentage lower.--who have repeatedly blocked the amendment which, if approved by the House and Senate, would go to voters in 2020. The House is supportive of the measure that does not require a gubernatorial signature.--or bring them to the table. That may indeed require the "fight of her life" that she has now publicly pledged.--wage from $7.50 to $10 an hour, it's more like they are yielding to the political reality seen in last year's election results.--albeit his would not take effect until October 2020 while others would take effect this year.--on the books, something restaurant owners are clamoring for. He and they may get it. (The tipped minimum is higher in cities with higher overall minimums).--but overall they expressed support for the status quo. Many are making near $20 an hour under the current structure and in no mood to rock the boat.--over the minimum for tipped employees, a signal that she is not locked down on it.--and would not be impacted by the $10 an hour mandate. Las Cruces is also now over the $10 an hour mark. However, ABQ is in the low $9 an hour area so minimum workers there would benefit from the increase.--Such a move would threaten to blow a hole in the budget in future years. Because they have gone over the cap over the years, Hollywood is now owed over $300 million due from the state, a huge sum in a budget headed toward the $7 billion area.than her hope for the final result, meaning an increase from $50 million a year to a yet to be determined number, but the cap stays.-- seems likely to carry the day:The clock will run out on the ABQ public schools mail-in election Tuesday at 7 p.m. Here's the closing arguments. First, from Amy Horowitz, a retired Realtor and education lobbyist, who says the property tax increase that would result if the ballot questions are approved is over the top . And here's Doug Majewski and Cynthia Schultz of the ABQ construction community with an argument in support of the tax. . .Walt Rubel, 60, has been a fixture on the state journalism scene, coming to the Las Cruces Sun-News in 2002 and carving out a niche as a common sense commentator and voice of reason as the editor of the paper's opinion pages. Now that run has ended Hasta la vista, Walt. . .This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Links HOME E-MAIL ME About Joe Google News Real Clear Politics Huffington Post Drudge Report The Politico NM Newspapers NM TV stations Gov. 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The Illinois State Fire Marshal's office is investigating. Moultrie County Coroner Lynn Reed said Jared L. Schrock, 20, who lived in the home with his Amish family, was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:10 a.m. Saturday. Preliminary indications are the cause of death was blunt force trauma from the explosion, but smoke inhalation was likely a factor, Reed said. Sullivan Fire Department Chief Mike Piper said Saturday morning that the department received a call at 9:52 p.m. Friday to 1416 County Road 1700N in Moultrie County for a house explosion and two people reported missing. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. "It was fully engulfed with flames and it was evident there had been a very large explosion," Piper said. The Sullivan Fire Department reported that firefighters found a woman outside the structure under debris shortly after they arrived at the scene. She was taken by ambulance to a local trauma center. They later found Jared Schrock, deceased, under debris. Authorities are not certain what the cause of the explosion was but suspect it might have been propane, Piper said. The state fire marshal's office is investigating and will make the final determination, Piper said. Sullivan firefighters were assisted by squads from Arthur, Bethany and Lovington with manpower, pumpers and tankers. The MABAS Division 26 technical rescue team, based in Charleston, was called to the scene to assist in the search for and recovery of the deceased victim. Emergency responders cleared the scene at 4 a.m. Saturday. The explosion leveled the house. The Sullivan Fire Department reported that the blast scattered debris as far as 200 feet from the residence. Piper said the fire did not spread to any other structures near the house. Contact Rob Stroud at (217) 238-6861. Follow him on Twitter: @TheRobStroud Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 4 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. CHARLESTON -- Improvements to traffic signs are scheduled to take place at the intersection of Illinois Route 316 and Loxa Road. The improvements will include using stop and warning signs that are more reflective, along with adding warning signs, according to the Coles County Highway Department. The new signs will also be larger than those currently in place. The work is expected to take place within a few months. The department indicated the Illinois Department of Transportation recommended the changes after a recent study of traffic patterns, accident history and other information about the intersection. 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}} County Engineer Rick Johnson said he requested the study after a fatal accident took place at the intersection in December. In that case, police say an intoxicated driver using his cellphone disregarded a stop sign at the intersection, leading to the fatal collision. April Fisher, 38, who lived on Lake Paradise Road in rural Mattoon, died in the Dec. 11 incident. James W. Miller, 56, of Terre Haute, Ind., is charged with aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol in the case. The next hearing to review the status of his court case is set for March 4. Johnson said officials are trying to be proactive but cautioned that sign improvements won't prevent all accidents. Contact Dave Fopay at (217) 238-6858. Follow him on Twitter: @FopayDave Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 MATTOON -- Police officers recently arrested two men on domestic battery charges in separate cases. A Mattoon Police Department press release reported that Marsell T. Hubbard, 25, of Chicago but residing in Mattoon was arrested on preliminary charges of domestic battery and criminal trespass to state supported property. The arrest occurred at 8:01 a.m. Friday in the 700 block of Broadway Avenue East. The charges allege that Hubbard grabbed a female by the neck during a domestic disturbance on Friday in the 1800 block of South Ninth Street. The charges also allege that the location of the incident is state supported property, Sunrise Apartments, from which Hubbard had previously been banned. Hubbard was taken to the Coles County jail. 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}} Regarding the other domestic battery arrest, William B. Hite, 37, of Mattoon was arrested on this preliminary charge at 1:43 p.m. Sunday at the police station. The charge alleges that Hite struck a female on the face and head with his fist during a domestic disturbance on Thursday in the 900 block of North 21st Street. Hite had a previous domestic battery conviction, which would make the alleged incident on Thursday a felony offense. Hite was taken to the jail. Regarding other arrests, Matthew Burries, 40, of Mattoon was arrested on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. The arrest occurred at 5:09 p.m. Friday at the police station. The charge alleges that Burries changed residences, but did not report the change to police as mandated. Burries was taken to the jail. Separately, Deangela S. Chapel, 29, of Charleston was arrested on a preliminary charge of criminal damage to property at 5:25 a.m. Sunday in the 1200 block of Charleston Avenue. The charge alleges that Chapel damaged property of a gas station during a domestic disturbance there. She was issued a court date and was released. In another arrest, Joseph P. Kerr, 33, of Tower Hill was arrested on a preliminary charge of heroin possession at 4:25 p.m. Sunday in the 600 block of Charleston Avenue. He was taken to the jail. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 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. The Mattoon in Motion project, developed through a collaboration with the MAPPING program at Western Illinois University, the Illinois Institute of Rural Affairs, and the Southeastern Illinois Community Foundation has been ongoing for over a year and is making great strides towards one of our goals which includes developing a well-trained and skilled workforce fueling a thriving local economy. Earlier this year the Mattoon in Motion Robust Economy group sought participation from the community to gauge interest in an innovation center being proposed by our members. We received great feedback from the public to our survey and are working on implementing many of your suggestions into our proposed space. The mission of the currently named Cross County Innovation Center is to encourage, connect, and grow small and start-up businesses in the region by creating a mixed use, co-working space that provides resources and opportunities to empower success. We are working toward developing this innovation center in an underutilized space in the Cross County Mall in partnership with Rural King. Rural King has generously donated nearly 6,000 square feet of space behind the former In Home Medical retail location. 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}} We are currently working on the first phase of our three-phase process. The first phase, once achieved, will be a ready to use space. The ready to use space will be a multipurpose facility for gatherings and innovative idea sharing. It will have all the basic communication components in place for start-ups and small business ventures to utilize. All HVAC, restrooms, and electrical needs will be up and running. We will have a polished concrete floor and the highest speed internet access available. The second phase of our project will include a formal completed workspace, with finished interior design. We will have a warm and inviting location with glass elements for aesthetics. We will have multiple conference rooms with teleconferencing equipment. We will have work stations and privacy booths for client interaction. We will have business mail boxes and a business center available for members to utilize. It will be a community facing co-work space complete and ready for business partnerships. We will have an open floor plan area with a coffee/breakfast bar for member entrepreneurs. The third phase of our project will include a partnership with ClassE, the county wide entrepreneur high school junior and senior class, which will hold all of their classes at the Innovation Center. It will have 24/7 access for members who need a working space when their schedule allows. We plan on continuing to involve the community and civic organizations in the planning and implementation of the Center. Our ultimate goal is to keep our local talent in the community and region by providing them a fantastic location to spark their entrepreneurial spirit and grow their businesses. It is not just about the space, it's about what will happen in the space. New ideas will collide, entrepreneurs will collaborate and have the tools to grow and thrive. For further details regarding the Center and other projects of Mattoon in Motion visit our website at www.mattoninmotion.com. Ed Dowd is the executive director of the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce. Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Introduction In just 50 years, almost a million Jews, whose communities stretch back up to 3,000 years, have been 'ethnically cleansed' from 10 Arab countries. These refugees outnumber the Palestinian refugees two to one, but their narrative has all but been ignored. Unlike Palestinian refugees, they fled not war, but systematic persecution. Seen in this light, Israel, where some 50 percent of the Jewish population descend from these refugees and are now full citizens, is the legitimate expression of the self-determination of an oppressed indigenous, Middle Eastern people. This website is dedicated to preserving the memory of the near-extinct Jewish communities, which can never return to what and where they once were - even if they wanted to. It will attempt to pass on the stories of the Jewish refugees and their current struggle for recognition and restitution. Awareness of the injustice done to these Jews can only advance the cause of peace and reconciliation. (Iran: once an ally of Israel, the Islamic Republic of Iran is now an implacable enemy and numbers of Iranian Jews have fallen drastically from 80,000 to 20,000 since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Their plight - and that of all other communities threatened by Islamism - does therefore fall within the scope of this blog.) Moving to a new home can be an exciting adventure. Since its a very busy time, there are many tasks to accomplish through every phase of your move. When you add your pet into the mix, considering his needs along with yours can add to your checklist of to dos. However, by following some p The Embassy states that the accusations of Hon. Tundu Lissu are unfounded. In any multi party democracy, the survival or otherwise of political parties depends on how they are able to sale their ideology and/or manifesto to the public. Based on this fact, Mr. Tundu Lissu and members of his party have occasionally stated that they will eliminate CCM from the political scene. It is therefore highly exaggerated for Hon. Tundu Lissu to conclude that the government is committing murders against opposition politicians based on the Presidents statement. Furthermore, the argument by Hon. Tundu Lissu does not explain acts of murder and violence which have been committed against members of the ruling party CCM, civil servants, and police officers. It is unfortunate that Hon. Tundu Lissu was not only biased in his arguments, but also tried unethically to capitalise politically on innocent lives. In June 2018, four people were arrested by European authorities for their roles in an Iranian plot to bomb a gathering held in Paris by the Iranian opposition, which was attended by over 100,000 people. German authorities arrested the mastermind of the bomb plot, a high-ranking Iranian diplomat named Assadollah Assadi, who was stationed in Austria but travelling back through Germany when he was arrested. He was extradited to Belgium to face trial alongside the two operatives that hes provided with explosives. In March, Albania arrested two other Iranian operatives for plotting an attack on the home of around 3,000 members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK), an opposition group that was blamed by Iranian officials for the anti-regime protests that have shaken Iran since December 2017. These recent plots, which could have seen a devastating loss of life, as well as assassinations and attempted assassinations, showed Europe that Iran-backed terrorism poses a serious threat, but the political response has been lukewarm at best. While France imposed sanctions on the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and some of its known operatives shortly after an investigation into the June plot, the rest of the EU only adopted these sanctions in January. Many critics of the Iranian Regime believe this does not go far enough. Even the expulsion of five Iranian diplomats during 2018, by France, Albania, and the Netherlands does not go far enough because, as the Belgian judiciary stated in summer 2018, nearly all Iranian diplomats are agents of the Iranian secret service. Thats why the EU should support the February 13-14 Warsaw Summit on Middle Eastern affairs, which focuses on the threat from Iran and listen to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about moving away from the appeasement policy that has only empowered the mullahs to do harm at home and abroad. However, all nations at the summit should coordinate with Irans organized domestic opposition. Tom Ridge, the USs first Homeland Security Secretary, wrote: If the European Union has realized the wisdom of reversing the policies of appeasement, which have only exacerbated the threat of Iranian terrorism on European soil, it must take steps to underscore the existing regimes illegitimacy. There is no better way to do that than standing behind the regimes most active domestic opponents. Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallyas extradition to India was cleared by the UK Home Office on Monday, 4 February 2019. The extradition case had been forwarded to Home Secretary Sajid Javid by the Westminster Magistrates Court on 10 December 2018, after over a year of deliberations to consider whether or not Mallya should be sent back to India. UKs Home Secretary Sajid Javid signed the order for completing the process of Mallyas extradition on charges of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offences. He now has 14 days from 4 February to apply for leave to appeal to the UK High Court. Mallya had previously indicated that he intends to file an application to appeal against the Westminster Magistrates' Court verdict in favour of his extradition to India. UK Home Office on Monday, 4 February, approved the extradition of Vijay Mallya to India Mallya has 14 days from 4 February to apply for leave to appeal to the UK High Court, he says he will now initiate the appeal A Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court had on 5 January, declared the tainted liquor baron a fugitive economic offender Modi Acts on Mallya While Oppn Rallies Around Scamsters: Arun Jaitley Union Minister Arun Jaitley, currently in the US recovering from an operation, tweeted about the UK governments decision and attacked the opposition for their show of support to the TMC. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The Case So Far The 63-year-old businessman was found to have a case to answer before the Indian courts by the Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on 10 December 2018. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid, the UK's senior-most Pakistani-origin minister, had two months from that date to sign off on that order. The UK Home Office confirmed on Monday that after considering all matters, the minister had signed Mallya's extradition order on Sunday, 3 February. "Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences." - a spokesperson said Story continues Mallya is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017 after Indian authorities brought fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crores against him. Mallya's Options Mallya now has 14 days from 4 February to apply for leave to appeal the UK High Court. The high court will hear both his appeals, against the secretarys decision as well as the decision of the magistrate to send his case to the secretary in the first place. In these appeals, Mallya will get to argue all aspects of the case, including whether his guilt has been prima facie established, as well as his arguments on jail conditions and fair trial. The appeals are likely to be heard after several months, subject to the high courts schedule. It could take another couple of months for the hearings to conclude. The former Kingfisher Airlines' head had earlier indicated that he intends to file an application to appeal against the Westminster Magistrates' Court verdict in favour of his extradition to India. In December 2018, the businessman had told reporters soon after Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot ruling that he would consider the verdict in detail and decide his next course of action. His legal team later confirmed that he will seek leave to appeal against the court order. Also Read: Vijay Mallya Extradition Verdict: What Happens Next? We Await Early Completion of the Legal Process for his Extradition: MEA "We have taken note of the decision of the UK Home Secretary to sign on the order for Vijay Mallyas extradition to India. While we welcome the UK Governments decision in the matter, we await the early completion of the legal process for his extradition." - Statement by the Ministry of External Affairs 'Will Initiate Appeal Process': Vijay Mallya Responds to Extradition This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Vijay Mallya responded to the approval of his extradition to India by UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid. He said that the decision was handed down on 10 December 2018 and he had stated his intention to appeal, he will now initiate the appeal process, Mallya tweeted. . Read more on India by The Quint.RSS & BJPs Nehru-Netaji Cosplay: Irony Dies a Thousand DeathsImage of Crying Toddler on US Border Wins World Press Photo Award . Read more on India by The Quint. FILE PHOTO: Sudanese demonstrators light a fire as they participate in anti-government protests in Khartoum FILE PHOTO: Sudanese demonstrators light a fire as they participate in anti-government protests in Khartoum, Sudan January 25, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo By Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's defence minister said on Monday that young people caught up in recent turmoil had "reasonable ambition", the second apparently conciliatory gesture in three days from a senior government figure. Students, activists and other protesters frustrated with economic hardships have held almost daily demonstrations across Sudan since Dec. 19, mounting the most sustained challenge to President Omar al-Bashir's three decades in power. Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf did not directly address the protesters' concerns, but said the situation in the country showed a schism between young and old. That, he added, "requires intergenerational communication and fair solutions to youth problems and realising their reasonable ambition". Recent events "showed the need to reshape political entities, parties and armed movements of the political scene with a different mindset than before," he said during a briefing with military officers, according to a ministry statement. The minister did not spell out what kind of reshaping should take place and there was no immediate response from opposition parties which have backed the demonstrations. Police dispersed dozens of protesters in the Shambat neighbourhood of Khartoum on Monday and dozens more across the Nile in Omdurman, the capital's twin city, witnesses said. People have taken to the streets across Sudan, frustrated with price hikes and shortages in cash, bread, petrol and other essentials, calling for Bashir to go. Many have echoed slogans used in the Muslim world's "Arab Spring" uprisings. Rights groups say at least 45 people have been killed during clashes with security services, while the government puts the death toll at 30, including two security personnel. Bashir has shown no sign of being prepared to concede any power and has blamed the protests on foreign agents, challenging his rivals to seek power through the ballot box. But Prime Minister Moataz Moussa on Saturday appeared to soften the official stance on the protests, describing demonstrators' calls for better living conditions as "legitimate". (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Yousef Saba; Editing by Andrew Heavens) On the occasion of World Cancer Day on Monday, actor Sonali Bendre Behl, who is battling cancer, urged people not to be "afraid" of the disease. Sonali, who has recently returned to work after spending months in New York for treatment of metastatic cancer, took to Instagram to share her way of dealing with the disease. She wrote: "Just the mere mention of the 'C' word brings dread in the hearts of anyone who hears it. We fear it so much that we'd rather not talk about it... which is why it's important to have a day where we pull out the band aid and help us deal with this disease. I was scared too, but soon realised that burying my head in the sand was not the way to deal with it." This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Also Read: Sonali Bendre Shares Cute Birthday Wish For Hubby Goldie Behl According to the Sarfarosh star, there is more to cancer "than being emotional or weak or even being called a fighter or a survivor". "It requires you to study it, find out what works for you and to be diligent about your treatment. It requires days of strongly believing in oneself, of knowing that tomorrow will be better than today. It is not a fight against negative thoughts," she added. Sonali revealed in July 2018 that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatment in the US. In December, she returned to Mumbai. On Saturday 2 February, she posted a photo on Instagram sharing that she was back on a set and was happy to get back to work. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. (Inputs: AINS) Also Read: Sonali Bendre Back In Action After Extended Sabbatical . Read more on Celebrities by The Quint.RSS & BJPs Nehru-Netaji Cosplay: Irony Dies a Thousand Deaths3-Judge SC Bench to Hear CBIs Pleas Against WB Govt, Police Chief . Read more on Celebrities by The Quint. Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon makes a statement to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain January 8, 2019. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne (Reuters) - Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will warn that UK is "not remotely prepared" to leave the European Union in less than two months, the Times newspaper reported on Monday. Sturgeon will use a speech at Georgetown University in Washington on Monday to call again for a second Brexit referendum, the newspaper said. She will say the situation had made it clear that Scotland's interests were not properly served by remaining in the United Kingdom. Britain is due to leave on March 29. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru) By Sylvia Westall and Philip Pullella ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday became the first pontiff to set foot on the Arabian Peninsula, just hours after issuing his strongest condemnation yet of the war in Yemen, where his host the United Arab Emirates has a leading military role. Shortly before departing for Abu Dhabi, Pope Francis said he was following the humanitarian crisis in Yemen with great concern, using his regular Sunday address in Vatican City to urge all sides to implement a fragile peace deal and help deliver aid to millions of hungry people. "The cry of these children and their parents rises up to God," he told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square. "Let us pray strongly because they are children who are hungry, who are thirsty, they don't have medicine and they are in danger of death," he said before boarding his flight. The UAE welcomed the Pope's message on Yemen and believes the peace deal he referred to was a historic breakthrough, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter. "Let us assure its implementation and make 2019 the year of peace in Yemen," he said after the pope landed in Abu Dhabi. Yemen's warring parties agreed a ceasefire in December at the first major peace talks of the nearly four-year-old war, which pits Arab states backing an exiled president against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls the capital. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, and the United Nations says millions are on the verge of starvation. Their survival depends on the truce preventing aid from being cut off by all-out fighting for the country's main port. Francis was greeted by Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who escorted him to meet Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar mosque and university, one of the main seats of learning of Sunni Islam. The pontiff embraced him. Story continues Both men will hold meetings with Pope Francis on Monday. The UAE plays a leading role in the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis in Yemen. The United Nations is trying to implement a truce and troop withdrawal deal in the main Yemeni port of Hodeidah, agreed at the December talks as a step that could pave the way for negotiations to end the conflict. Vatican officials have said it is not clear whether Pope Francis will address the sensitive subject in public or private during his visit to Abu Dhabi, which is aimed at promoting interfaith dialogue. "NEW PAGE" The pope will meet Muslim leaders and celebrate an outdoor mass for some 135,000 Catholics, an event with no precedent on the Arabian peninsula. He has said the trip, which ends on Tuesday, is an opportunity to write "a new page in the history of relations between religions". The UAE, which named 2019 its Year of Tolerance, says the visit reflects its history as a "cradle of diversity". But it faces criticism from human rights groups for jailing activists, including Ahmed Mansoor, an Emirati who is serving a 10-year sentence for criticising the government on social media. "We are calling on Pope Francis to raise the issue of their incarceration with his hosts, and urge their immediate and unconditional release," Amnesty International said in a statement on Saturday. UAE authorities did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The UAE is home to around 1 million expatriate Catholics, many from the Philippines. Another 1 million Catholics are believed to live in other countries in the Arabian Peninsula. Priests and diplomats describe the UAE as one of the least restrictive environments in the Gulf for Christian worship. But like its neighbours, the UAE does not allow dissent or criticism of its leadership. All Gulf states except Saudi Arabia allow Christian worship in churches or church compounds and other premises with special licences. In Saudi Arabia, non-Muslims pray in secret gatherings in private homes and embassies. Abu Dhabi's crown prince is an ally of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has reached out to Christian representatives abroad as part of attempts to open up the conservative kingdom. Mohammed bin Salman's international reputation has eroded since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. The pope has already visited half a dozen predominantly Muslim nations during his reign, using the trips to call for inter-religious dialogue and to condemn the use of violence in the name of God. The UAE ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, wrote in an op-ed in Politico magazine on Sunday that the pontiff's visit sent a signal of co-existence and respect in the face of the "menace of extremism" across the Middle East. (Editing by Gareth Jones) By Ayat Basma MOSUL, Iraq(Reuters) - A raven perched on the shoulder of a woman with flaming hair is Iraqi artist Marwan Fathi's symbol for the terrible events he and his home city Mosul have had to endure. Three years under the oppressive and violent rule of Islamic State and the military campaign which drove it out in 2017 left much of the northern city in ruins. Thousands were killed, rendered homeless or maimed. Those who survived are deeply traumatised. "I still jump awake at night thinking an air strike is about to hit or that they are coming to take one of us," Fathi, 36, said. "Everyday is a struggle." Fathi's work is on display in "Return to Mosul" - the city's first art exhibition since before it was seized by Islamic State, whose ultra hardline version of Sunni Islam prohibits most art forms. Artists from across Iraq are taking part in the six-day show, including many who lived in Mosul when it was in the militants' grip. Hawkar Riskin's haunting work 'destruction' depicts a giant skeleton standing on one leg, while Mohammad Al Kinani's series of paintings - 'Caliphate I', 'Caliphate II' and 'Caliphate III' represents the beginning and end of Islamic State, and Mosul's rebirth. Fathi said the artists who stayed in the city lived in constant fear and despair. "There was a time when we considered killing ourselves. We reached that low. But then we thought, what would happen to the children?" Fathi, a professor of fine arts, said. JONAH AND THE CITY The show is in the newly re-opened Royal Hall of the Mosul Museum, which was looted and destroyed by Islamic State and in the ensuing war to wrest control of the city. Ahmed Mozahem, another Mosul-born artist, continued to work in secret while the city was under the militants'. Using a writing pad he kept hidden to avoid discovery, Mozahem produced 40 pencil drawings which are now among his most cherished possessions, an expression of what he and his family suffered. Story continues For "City of the Whale", his painting in the exhibition, Mozahem drew on the story of the prophet Jonah and the whale, which features Nineveh, the ancient Assyrian city which stood roughly where Mosul is today. Following their capture of the city in 2014, Islamic State went on a rampage, destroying many of Mosul's ancient sites and artefacts, including a shrine believed by many to be Jonah's tomb. The militants not only destroyed the city, Mozahem said. "They also killed something inside, our spirit." But Matthew Vincent, an American archaeologist, says technology can help preserve some of what was lost. Vincent is a co-founder of a crowdsourced, digital preservation project called Rekrei, which collects photographs of damaged or lost monuments and artefacts to re-create these in 3D representations. At the Mosul Museum, visitors are now able to catch virtual glimpse of ancient Assyrian treasures destroyed by Islamic State. One of them, the Lion of Mosul, was a colossal Assyrian guardian lion from about 860 BCE, one of two which stood at the entrance of the Temple of Ishtar at Nimrud, Iraq. "It is never going to replace the original but new technology is giving us a path we simply didn't have before," Vincent said. (Reporting by Ayat Basma; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) A BJP delegation will meet the Election Commission on Monday, 4 February, to raise the issue of how the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government was doing everything it could to prevent BJP leaders from holding rallies in the state. A day earlier, BJP workers had hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party the Trinamool Congress (TMC), after the state government allegedly denied permission for Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath's chopper to land in the state, calling it a glaring case of "undemocratic and fascist behaviour". Senior BJP leader and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said his party would urge the Election Commission to take notice of this issue since Adityanath, being the chief minister of one the largest states in the country in terms of population, was not allowed to hold public meetings in West Bengal. "It is deeply regrettable and condemnable and true to the undemocratic record of Mamata Ji and TMC. It is a glaring case of undemocratic and fascist behaviour. The only reason behind preventing Yogi Adityanath's chopper from landing is panic and a sense of fear as Bengalis are yearning for change," Prasad said. "We would urge the Election Commission to take due notice of it as a popular chief minister of the countrys largest state (in terms of population), was not allowed to hold a public meeting." - Rabi Shankar Prasad Prasad mentioned that BJP president Amit Shah was also not allowed to hold a rally in West Bengal and there were attempts to disrupt the prime minister's rally there as well. BJP sources said they would make the West Bengal government's "attack" on the saffron party's democratic rights a big issue and that they would approach various Institutions. Adityanath and West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh were scheduled to address "Ganatantra Bacaho Rallies" at Balurghat in South Dinajpur district and Raiganj in North Dinajpur district. Story continues Adityanath addressed the rallies there telephonically and lashed out at the "anti-people" Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in the state, saying the days of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's rule are "numbered". Though the BJP had been allowed to organise the rallies, the district administration denied permission for Adityanath's chopper to land at both the places, party leaders said. Also Read: Complaint Filed Against Tharoor After Tweet on Yogis Kumbh Visit Following denial of permission to land his chopper, Adityanath decided not to attend either of the rallies and instead addressed them telephonically. "This is nothing new. Whenever we try to organise any rally, they create hurdles. This is shameful. But the TMC is mistaken if it thinks it can stop us by not giving us permission for holding rallies or landing chopper," Dilip Ghosh told PTI. Addressing both the rallies through audio link, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, "The TMC government didn't allow me to come and meet you all. That is why I had to resort to the Digital India of Modi Ji to address you." Also Read: Modi Kickstarts LS Campaign, Addresses 2 Rallies in WB Lashing out at the Mamata Banerjee government, the UP chief minister said, "This TMC government is anti-people and anti-democratic and has compromised with the national security." "The TMC government is afraid of the BJP as it very well knows its days in the state are numbered," he said. Alleging that the Banerjee government had tried to "stop" Durga Puja in West Bengal to pursue its appeasement policy, Adityanath urged BJP workers to fight vigorously and ensure that the party forms the next government in the state. "Mamata Banerjee should remember that she cannot misuse the government and its agencies in the state. It is shameful that the government officials are acting as TMC cadres in the state," he said. Also Read: WB to Witness TMCs Mega Show, Followed By BJPs Counter Rally Pol Parties Have Democratic Right to Conduct Programmes: Guv Responding to the claims made by BJP leaders, Governor K N Tripathi said that every political party had the "constitutional anddemocratic right" to conduct their programmes. Commenting on political violence in West Bengal, Tripathi said violence should always be "deprecated and condemned" whether it is linked to political or criminal activities. Speaking to PTI, Tripathi said: "In a democracy, political programmes are bound to take place. This is a part of constitutional and democratic right, and all parties should therefore obey the command of the Constitution and follow it in true spirit." He was asked whether it is right for a state government to stop political parties from taking out rallies and yatras. Tripathi however refrained from naming any particular political party or government. . Read more on India by The Quint.RSS & BJPs Nehru-Netaji Cosplay: Irony Dies a Thousand DeathsThis Came Sudden: Delhi Wakes up to Smog, Flights & Trains Delayed . Read more on India by The Quint. Accommodation Our student accommodation is tailored to students' needs and priorities as well as providing space for you to meet and socialise. 8th The Guardian ranked us 8th in the UK for improvements in spend per student. Guardian University Guide 2019 Remarks: This came out in 1994, going gold in the US, UK and New Zealand. It is made from her mothers sayings. Desree is a one-hit wonder in the US, but ... 1 day ago Ingrid Dykeman of the Hope College music faculty has been named the MSBOA Orchestra Teacher of the Year 2018 by the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, which also recently presented her with an Emeritus award. Dykeman, who is a lecturer in music and is the music-education coordinator at the college, was selected to receive the MSBOA Orchestra Teacher of the Year 2018 award through a vote by the associations membership. She will be honored during the Michigan Youth Arts Festival, which will be held on May 9-11 at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. The recognition will include conducting a piece during the concert for the festivals honor ensemble consisting of the top student winners of high school solo and ensemble competitions. She received the MSBOAs Emeritus award during this years Michigan Music Conference, held in Grand Rapids on Jan. 24-26. The recognition is given to retired band or orchestra directors with more than 20 years of service, 20 years of membership in the MSBOA and service to music education. Dykeman has been a music educator for more than 30 years, teaching in the Kentwood and South Haven public schools, and has taught orchestra, German, theatre, general music and English. She has taught at Hope since August 2017, with her responsibilities at the college including assisting in student-teacher placements, outreach projects, guest lecturing and substitute-teaching Hope courses. She was previously a finalist for the MSBOA Orchestra Teacher of the Year recognition in 1996, 2010 and 2012. She was also a finalist for teacher of the year for the Michigan chapter of the American String Teachers Association (MASTA) in 2009, and was honored by Whos Who in American Teachers in 2005 as one of the top fine arts teachers in America. Dykeman is an active private cello instructor and has had more than 40 years of experience as a private studio string teacher. She has operated Ingrids Music Studio since 1992, providing instruction in traditional cello, violin, viola, bass, electric Cobra cello and electric Viper violin. She is also a clinician with Meyer Music. She has served on many community and state boards such as MASTA and the Friends of the Opera/ Education committee for Opera Grand Rapids. She has also served as the string committee representative for MSBOA District X and on the MSBOA string committee for alternative musical styles. She received The Opera Grand Rapids Betty Van Andel Scholarship (2006) and the Llewellyn L. Cayvan String Instrumental Scholarship (2006). She has also conducted during several summers at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and served as an MSBOA string judge for the state of Michigan at both district and state levels for more than 20 years. As a traditional cellist, Dykeman has played in various groups such as Westshore Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Schenectady Symphony, Joia Trio and the Chancellor Flute and Bow Trio. She has also performed on her Cobra Electric Cello in the praise band for Cornerstone Church, and at the Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp alongside Mark Wood, world-renowned electric violinist and original member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO). She has performed in a variety of community theatre productions and has sung several seasons in the chorus for Opera Grand Rapids. In addition to conducting for various schools as a clinician for Hope and Meyer Music, she has been/is a guest clinician/conductor for the Tecumseh School Orchestras (winter 2011) and the East Tennessee Orchestra Association Junior Orchestra clinic (October 2010), Wayland Public Orchestras (winter 2015) and Knollcrest Music Camp (2015-17). She has also volunteered as a counselor for the Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp, in Kansas City, Kansas (2011-16). She attended Hope College via a music/academic scholarship for her undergraduate degree in music education, graduating in 1985. While at Hope, she studied cello/string pedagogy with Dr. Robert Ritsema and received the music/academic achievement award. It was during her time at Hope that she also discovered her love for playing the violin. Dykeman went on to receive her masters in music education with an emphasis in string pedagogy in 1989 from the University of Michigan, where she met and later studied cello with Jeffrey Solow. She has also studied cello with Dr. William Conable (Ohio State University), Bruce Uchimura (Western Michigan University) and Ruth Alsop (New York City Ballet Orchestra). In addition to her masters, she has taken post-graduate classes at Michigan State University and Boston University. She credits her love for teaching music to her first orchestra/ private cello teacher, William Cridge. Huge pensions make life after politics lush. Former Democratic state Rep. Daniel Burke was unceremoniously tossed out of office last year by the residents of his increasingly Hispanic Chicago district. But not to worry; Burke, like many politicians in Illinois, is enjoying a soft landing on a big pile of cash courtesy of Chicago and Illinois taxpayers. Burke is just the latest politician to enjoy what can only be described as incredibly generous pension largesse. It's just another sad example of how the political class takes care of itself. It ought to outrage every citizen in this state, because Burke's pension is both excessive and unaffordable. Here's Burke situation. The brother of indicted Chicago Alderman Ed Burke, he's a scion of a longtime political family. The 67-year-old Burke served in the Illinois House for nearly 30 years, one of House Speaker Michael Madigan's close associates. In addition to that supposedly full-time job, Burke had another supposedly full-time job as a deputy city clerk. He held the clerk's position for roughly 25 years before retiring at age 52 with an annual pension of $58,000. Thanks to cost-of-living increases, Burke's city pension now stands at $86,000, according to news reports. Burke was paid a legislative salary of roughly $85,000 a year. He stands to collect a starting legislative pension of roughly $73,000. For those keeping score, his two pensions add up to $159,000 for now. But thanks to some pension shenanigans written into law by former Senate President Emil Jones, Burke and others who have served more than 20 years in the Legislature will get even more. The legislative change essentially lifted the practice of basing a legislative pension on a 20-year limit. Now it just continues to go up. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. So Burke's current legislative pension will jump from $73,000 to $92,000 in 2020. For those keeping score, his two pensions then will add up to at least $178,000. Here's something else to consider: Burke's legislative pension of $92,000 in 2020 will exceed his $85,000 legislative salary in 2018. It's a sweet deal that keeps getting sweeter Burke can count on annual pension increases of 3 percent a year. He'll be up to $200,000-plus a year in no time. Looking at those numbers, it's perfectly clear why Burke and his associates consider politics to be an avocation for friends and family to pursue. Burke is openly grateful for his good fortune, but still less than forthright. "I didn't create the law, but I'm certainly very grateful to participate in it," he said. Actually, Illinois politicians do write the pension laws for public employees. That's why they are so incredibly generous, to the point that they make no financial sense. Anyone who's been paying attention knows that this state's public-pension systems are in deep financial trouble. Experts estimated a total underfunding of roughly $134 billion last year, up from $130 billion the year before and expected to continue to go up at a dramatic rate. Indeed, Illinois is drowning in debt, much of it due to the wholesale mismanagement of public-pension funds by elected officials. Between promising too much to public employees and contributing too little, Illinois has dug itself a hole that appears inescapable, all so politicians like Burke and others can live like kings. What can't last forever won't at least, that's what sensible economists say. But until the whole system comes crashing down, taxpayers will have to make larger and larger contributions to public-pension systems that will crowd out funding for core public services. When Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave his inaugural address a couple weeks ago, he was candid about Illinois' financial problems with one exception. He mentioned nary a word about the pension dilemma or people like Burke who profit from it at the expense of the taxpayers who fund it. -- The (Champaign) News-Gazette Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 University of Illinois Springfield say they are continuing to move forward unimpeded with plans for an increased downtown presence. Discussions over an increased university presence of some sort in downtown Springfield have taken place for decades, but received a new jolt of energy Wednesday when state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, introduced legislation that would appropriate $50 million for a new Southern Illinois University campus in downtown Springfield. Manar's proposal would set aside the capital funds for SIU to construct a campus and a public policy center that would be within one mile south of the SIU School of Medicine, 801 N. Rutledge St. Though the proposal created a minor stir among boosters of UIS worried about SIU's potential encroachment on UIS' plans, stakeholders involved say the different goals each university has for their downtown presence would allow them to co-exist, perhaps complement one another and ultimately lead to more vitality in downtown Springfield and more students in central Illinois. UIS Chancellor Susan Koch said she was not familiar with Manar's proposal but noted UIS has partnered with SIU's medical school on some projects in the past. "I'm really not familiar and, of course, I can't speak for SIU on other plans they have," Koch said. "My focus is moving forward with our project, at the heart of which really has to do with economic development for the community. That's really my focus." Last August, the university acquired business and social innovation incubator Innovate Springfield, which was founded in 2014 as a subsidiary to the Community Foundation, but with UIS squarely in mind as a future repository. Soon after, the university was awarded the first hub of the Illinois Innovation Network, a University of Illinois system-led initiative meant to foster economic growth through research and innovation by connecting satellite hubs spread across the state with the flagship Discovery Partners Institute, a research institute to be based in Chicago. More than $500 million was appropriated toward the statewide initiative in the fiscal year 2019 state budget, approved by lawmakers last year. Though most of it will go toward the construction of the Chicago-based institute, at least $15 million has been set aside for UIS to build a hub somewhere in downtown Springfield. Innovate Springfield remains at 15 S. Old State Capitol Plaza, but university officials have made clear their intention to move into a larger space. In addition to the innovation hub, Koch said other programs could make the move to a new downtown space. "We haven't made final decisions, but we really believe there are some other entities that being downtown would be a great match for them," Koch said. While cautioning that nothing is yet conclusive, Koch said moving the university's Illinois legislative staff intern program and NPR Illinois have been discussed. Koch said university leaders are trying to strike the "right balance" between having a robust downtown presence and increasing the vitality of the main campus. SIU, on the other hand, discussed last year potential plans to open a satellite campus for its law school in either downtown Springfield or Edwardsville. The capital city currently does not have a law school. In 2002, state lawmakers proposed opening a law school through UIS to help retain more state workers and give central Illinoisans easier access to a law school, but that plan never came to fruition. SIU has had a presence in Springfield since 1970, when the school of medicine opened. Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder said talks of putting an SIU law school campus in town were "getting close" until leadership changes in the SIU system put the issue on the back burner. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Langfelder and Manar say downtown can support both UIS' and SIU's downtown ambitions and they can "both could be complementary of each other." "I think the University of Illinois has put forward a very good plan with Innovate Springfield. It's very good," Manar said. "At the same time, not in place of, SIU, I believe, has very good plans that they could put in place for downtown Springfield. Why can't we do all of this?" The purpose of his SIU proposal, Manar said, was to force a conversation that would ultimately lead to action. Noting that conversations like this have been happening for years with little movement, Manar said it was important to look at the big picture and not to "get bogged down in the typical political arguments and regionalism." "Downtown Springfield needs a jolt of energy," Manar said. "There's a lot of good people doing a lot of good work right now in downtown Springfield. And now is the time to get this done. And we have to turn talk into action. And the best outcome would be a more robust university or universities presence in downtown Springfield." Both proposals have been linked to the vacant block across the street from the Illinois Governor's Mansion where the YWCA once stood. Though Langfelder at the end of 2017 picked a proposal by the North Mansion Y-Block Development Group to put a park and cafe on the site, he has long expressed hopes to change the design of the proposal by adding a building to the corner of Fourth Street and Capitol Avenue for a "university presence." While Koch said the university has not made a final decision on whether to construct a new building or to renovate an existing space, she called the Y-block "a very exciting location." "We certainly have been very engaged with the mayor and other city officials talking about the Y-block," Koch said. "And that certainly is a very attractive location that we're looking at. ... We are looking at some other possibilities, too, of course, and so it's still a little bit in flux, but we're really excited about how this is moving forward." Koch said two goals the university is actively working on are acquiring property for the new space and developing a preliminary project plan for the property. As part of that effort, the university is working with the city on environmental assessments and geotechnical reports on the site, which are necessary to determine the ultimate cost of a new building on the site. Koch said if the university were to finalize an agreement with the city to build on the Y-block, they would anticipate building something in the 35,000 to 40,000 square-foot range. In the meantime, the university continues to assess other locations throughout downtown Springfield. Downtown Springfield Inc. executive director Lisa Clemmons Stott said having both universities increasing their presence downtown would be a positive. And while supportive of efforts to build on the Y-block, Stott said downtown's "existing, large building stock that were purposely created to support government infrastructure and government workers" would also be attractive spaces for the universities. "When you think about 1871, which is Gov. Pritzker's business incubator that he founded in Chicago, it is in the Merchandise Mart," Stott said. "So we do have existing building stock that is similar in style to something like the Merchandise Mart." "And there are some buildings that I would consider shovel-ready, there are definitely some buildings that have been let to fall into disrepair -- which would be more difficult to utilize -- but when you're talking about rehabbing from office space for government workers to office space for an incubator or a public policy center or something like that, it's not that far of a leap to say that the buildings have been made for something that and that could be their modern purpose," Stott continued. Langfelder said the Y-block is "shovel-ready" and that "the percentages are getting better" for a university presence, whether it's UIS or SIU, to be on the block. "In both instances, the university systems are going to take a look at options and determine what's the best fit not only for the university, but for the community," Langfelder said. "And I think that's what they're trying to figure out." Langfelder said it could be a historic opportunity for whoever decides to build there. "You don't find a shovel-ready, 2.25 acre block in the downtown of a capital city very often," he said. As for SIU, Manar said funds for his proposal would come out of a capital construction bill widely expected to be moved in the General Assembly this year, which he views as an opportunity to turn decades of talk into an actual result. "We have an opportunity coming up with what I think is a statewide capital and infrastructure plan moving forward," Manar said. "So I think it's important that one of the strengths of the city of Springfield, which is Southern Illinois University's presence in the medical district and subsequently in downtown, is part of that capital bill." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 URBANA The University of Illinois is looking for ways to protect faculty members from disruptive students who take online trolling into the classroom. The issue was prompted by a case involving Jay Rosenstein, a professor of media and cinema studies who has criticized the school's former Chief Illiniwek mascot, The (Champaign) News-Gazette reported. Rosenstein said someone who disagreed with his views harassed him online for months before enrolling in one of his classes in the fall. Rosenstein drafted a resolution in November that asked for the ability to bar a student from enrolling in a certain professor's class "if that student has displayed a previous history of persistent trolling, harassment, obsession with, or stalking, either electronically or in person, of that particular faculty member." The ban would only be allowed if the class isn't required for graduation and is taught only by that faculty member, the draft said. The campus Academic Senate recently considered a simplified resolution that focused on other solutions already in place that address classroom disruptions. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Professor Nicholas Burbules, the chairman of the General University Policy Committee, said the university's current policies give clear options for instructors with disruptive students. The new resolution called on officials to clarify the policies and make them available on a single site online so faculty can easily understand their options. Most senators said they're opposed to preemptively banning students based on their social media. Some senators also expressed concerns about students' educational and free speech rights. "You really cannot screen students for their political views prior to their enrollment," said Professor Bruce Rosenstock, another member of the committee. Rosenstein said the newly revised proposal doesn't go far enough to address trolling. "It's a growing issue in higher education because of social media," Rosenstein said. "I think it's something that's going to happen again. There's a hole there. There's something that needs to be fixed to protect the integrity of the institution." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Illinois leaders are not doing enough to reduce statewide tobacco use, according to a new study by the American Lung Association, blaming the failures on overly lenient state laws and insufficient funding. The report, "State of Tobacco Control," is the 17th edition evaluating the effectiveness of state and federal policies governing tobacco use and prevention. The association gave Illinois failing grades in funding for smoking cessation and prevention programs, tobacco taxation and access to existing quit-smoking services. Illinois also got an F for keeping the minimum age to buy all tobacco products at 18, including e-cigarettes, although the majority of states "failed" this category, according to the study. The association advocates making 21 the minimum age to buy tobacco and supported a legislative effort last year to change the law in Illinois. Former Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed that legislation, which also would have fined retailers for selling to underage customers. Rauner said at the time the bill only would encourage locals to buy products across state lines or from unlicensed vendors. Lawmakers in the Illinois House failed to override him in November. Legislators in both chambers resurrected the idea this week, introducing new bills to increase the age to 21. "'Tobacco 21' would significantly reduce youth tobacco use, slow the e-cigarette epidemic and save thousands of lives," Kathy Drea, a staff lobbyist from the lung association, said in a statement. Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokeswoman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who took office in January, told WGN-TV that the governor "looks forward to reviewing the legislation" but did not indicate whether he supports that specific legislation. The city of Chicago, by contrast, has outpaced the state in enacting laws to stymie tobacco use, according to the association. Chicago raised the age requirement for purchases to 21 in 2016. Other communities such as Naperville, Evanston, Aurora and Oak Park also have passed similar laws in recent years. Lake County became the first to enact a countywide 21-and-up law in 2018. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. The association gave Illinois high marks on ensuring smoke-free environments, such as prohibiting smoking in government and private workplaces, as well as inside bars, restaurants, casinos, retail stores and cultural establishments. An inability or unwillingness to enact more stringent controls over tobacco use has contributed to major spikes in e-cigarette use among youths and young adults, even as overall rates for adult and youth smoking have plummeted to near all-time lows, the association concluded. The proportion of U.S. high school students using electronic cigarettes jumped between 2017 and 2018, from 11.7 percent to 20.8 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 1.5 percent of high school students used e-cigarettes in 2011. By 2018, nearly 21 percent of high schoolers used them, according to CDC figures. Recent research, including a study published Friday by the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that e-cigarette use as a youth increases the chances of future cigarette use. Researchers said that youths they studied who used e-cigarettes as their first tobacco product were three to four times more likely to use cigarettes later. That suggests that "the proportion of smoking attributable to e-cigarettes may be larger than the proportion attributable to all other products combined," researchers wrote. Cracking down on youth tobacco use has been a favored issue for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in recent years. A year after the 21-and-up law took effect, city officials said revenue from tobacco taxes dropped and local enforcement wrote hundreds of citations to stores selling to minors. In addition to boosting the minimum age to buy from 18 to 21, Emanuel also has ushered in myriad new taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products. Buying cigarettes in Chicago tacks on more than $6 per pack in city, county and state taxes, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. More recently, the outgoing mayor has focused his ire on regulating e-cigarettes sales, particularly to youths and young adults. Emanuel successfully passed an ordinance last spring requiring tobacco retailers to post signs listing the dangers of vaping as well as a hotline phone number to call for help with quitting. The Emanuel administration also sued online e-cigarette dealers in November, arguing they are illegally selling the products to underage Chicagoans. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 LOS ANGELES In Death Valley, piles of human feces and hunks of what rangers call toilet paper flowers were left scattered around the desert. At Joshua Tree, officials found about 24 miles of unauthorized new trails carved into the desert landscape by off-road vehicles, along with some of the parks namesake trees toppled. And at Point Reyes along the Marin County coast, a colony of elephant seals made a popular beach their new home and welcomed 40 new pups into the world. With the partial federal government shutdown over at least for now authorities are beginning the tally to damage that occurred to some of Californias national parklands during the weeks in which many park officials were off the job. While volunteers tried to keep the peace, officials returned to find humans and some creatures had taken advantage of the lack of supervision. In the end, park officials said the damage to the parks was scattered but not widespread. The cleanups are underway, and that includes removing vandalism and fixing up trashed facilities. During the shutdown, some reports made it sound like it was the Wild West, said George Land, a Joshua Tree spokesman. While there was a certain segment of the population like that, the majority of visitors love this area and love the park and behaved themselves. This is not a virtual wasteland. Some of the most concerning losses involved three Joshua trees that were cut down or damaged and two mature juniper trees that were cut for firewood along with dozens of cat claw acacia trees, said park Supt. David Smith. Joshua Tree which was on track to have more than 3 million visitors in 2018 also missed out on roughly $1.03 million in entrance fees, Land said. I dont want to put everything in dollars and cents, but sometimes it comes down to that, he said. Former Joshua Tree Superintendent Curt Sauer decried the destruction at the park along with dozens of other people at a rally over the weekend. He estimated it could take centuries for the parks namesake trees and other sensitive vegetation to recover from damage inflicted during the shutdown. Some trees appear to have been chopped down, but Land said rangers dont know how many were harmed or how the destruction was caused. There appear to be trees that people may have hooked hammocks onto or did some damage to, he said. Joshua trees grow slowly, only about an inch to an inch and a half a year, Land said. In addition to the trees, off-road drivers cut destructive scars in the desert floors delicate biological soil crust. Advocates had warned of such damage during the shutdown and called for the park to be closed entirely. Joshua Tree staff also discovered evidence of more than 100 campfires outside designated campsites, Land said. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. At Death Valley National Park, government workers have counted 40 piles of human feces and more than 1,400 wads of toilet paper, spokeswoman Abby Wines said. So much human waste piled up in Yosemite National Park from visitors using the side of the road as a toilet during the shutdown that officials closed two campgrounds and a popular redwood grove, citing public safety concerns. But park officials say it was spared any long-lasting damage. Yosemite National Park employees are faced with other tasks like getting back to work on deferred maintenance, working out the kinks in the payroll system, and hiring seasonal workers before the summer season starts, said park spokesman Scott Gediman. The park itself looks great, he said. And not all of the imprints left at the national parks have been from humans. North of San Francisco at Point Reyes National Seashore, the lack of people provided an opening for a colony of elephant seals to move onto Drakes Beach, leading officials to close off vehicle, foot and bicycle traffic on the access road leading to the popular shore area. It was the perfect storm, said park spokesman John DellOsso. We had king tides, a literal storm and nobody walking up and down the beach for a week. Had park staff been on hand, they would have shooed the large marine mammals away. At Death Valley, the impact of the government shutdown includes things that didnt happen. At least five school field trips to the park were canceled and nearly 150 educational programs were scrapped, including guided hikes and presentations on native animals and geology that would have served about 6,000 visitors, officials said. The park also skipped its popular night-sky program, where rangers set up four telescopes to let visitors look at the Milky Way on moonless evenings. That is by far our most popular program, Wines said. We help people connect to the stars and how our ancestors used the stars. She said the park was able to keep five staffers at a visitor center during the shutdown, thanks to $40,000 from the Death Valley Natural History Assn. Those staffers advised visitors on how to properly defecate in the wild once the parks pit toilets got full: Dig a hole 8 inches deep, do your business, then cover it up and put your toilet paper in a sealed plastic bag. But not everyone heeded the advice. It smells bad; it is gross, she said. It can sometimes make animals sick (and) change the behavior of wildlife. Park advocates are already bracing for the possibility of another government shutdown since the continuing resolution President Donald Trump signed only reopens the federal government through Feb. 15. I think there is some relief but there is not much, said David Lamfrom, the director of the California desert and national wildlife programs for the National Parks Conservation Association. The shadow of another looming shutdown is there. He said steady rain in the desert could lead to a wildflower bloom in the coming weeks and more headaches if thousands of visitors descend on the parks while the government is closed. People really, really need to understand how fragile these parks are and the role the park services plays maintaining them and teaching the public about the parks, Lamfrom said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Police: Man suffers dislocated shoulder DECATUR A Decatur man left with a dislocated shoulder and several lacerations after being involved a in a fight told police on Saturday he wasnt interested in talking about what happened. Decatur police detective Sgt. Chris Copeland said officers were summoned by Decatur Memorial Hospital staff after the 23-year-old man arrived there seeking treatment. Copeland said the man, who had scrapes on his knuckles, confirmed he had been in a fight about 1:30 a.m in the 1400 block of East Wellington Way. But he gave very limited information and didnt want any kind of a prosecution, Copeland said. Neoga man dies in head-on crash Please log in to keep reading. Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. EFFINGHAM Illinois State Police said a Neoga man was killed early Sunday when he drove the wrong way on Interstate 70 in Effingham County and was involved in a head-on collision. Police named the driver as Cecil Hardesty, 85, who was pronounced dead by the Effingham County coroner after the accident happened at 1:24 a.m. The other driver involved, a 28-year-old woman from Seagonville, Texas, was injured and needed hospital treatment. A 20-year-old woman from Pontoon Beach and a man, 23, from Perryville, Missouri, both passengers in the car driven by the woman, were taken to a hospital for treatment as well. In a news release, state police trooper Shad Payne said Hardestys car was traveling the wrong way eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-70 when he collided with the other westbound vehicle. Burning talk by Conservation District DECATUR -- Macon County Conservation District will hold a community get-together to talk about prescribed burning at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, in the Rock Springs Nature Center in Decatur. The information session is free and no registration is required. Guest speaker Ethan Snively, the district's Natural Resource Specialist, will discuss uses and outcomes of professionally-controlled burning. District staff will be conducting prescribed fires in district prairies and woodlands through April, 2019, for habitat management and to control the spread of invasive plant species while stimulating new growth. For more information on this and other programs, visit MaconCountyConservation.org. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 This week the governor gave an address in which he outlined his plan to tax and spend on the backs of working Montana families. He would like to cushion his state checkbook to the tune of $300 million by taking $150 million from Montanans' checking accounts and putting it into his state checking account. Montanans clearly spoke last November at the ballot box, when they voted down a tax increase on tobacco products. Yet this governor has come to the Legislature a short two months after this idea was rejected to propose the same tax. Along those same lines, the governor is out of step again with the majority of Montanans when he refuses to discuss any sort of work requirements for Medicaid expansion participants. A recent poll by MTN-MSU showed that 76 percent of Montanans agreed that some form of work requirement was appropriate for those in public funded Medicaid. His proposal does not include reforms such as work requirements or a sunset date for re-evaluation, but does include an increase in taxes. On behalf of TSA employees statewide, I want to express my appreciation to people in communities across Montana who showed incredible generosity and concern during the recent partial government shutdown. Your kind words supplemented by donations motivated our workforce and allowed us to stay focused on our mission to keep the traveling public safe and secure during this uncertain time. I cannot overstate the impact of the communitys donations. You delivered food and refreshments directly to the break rooms, provided gift cards to help defray the cost of day-to-day needs and worked with the airport community in Helena to ensure that our employees were well taken care of. Perhaps most importantly, through your words and actions, you recognized the critical role TSA plays in securing our nations transportation system. Looking ahead, we will always remember the encouragement and support we received from you. Thank you for coming together to support the Montana TSA team in Helena. Dan Fevold is the Transportation Security Administration's Federal Security Director for Montana. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 The bill claims 67 percent support from Montanans for a law forbidding flavored tobacco sales in stores that admit minors. Nicole Aune of the state Department of Health and Human Services said that figure came from a survey entered into the state Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System three or four years ago. The DPHHS, the Montana Primary Care Association, and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network were among those who stood behind the bill. As a state, we need to do everything we can to protect children from the temptation to use tobacco products, helping them to go on to lead the healthiest lives possible, said Morgan Smith of the Montana Federation of Public Employees. The Montana Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, the Montana Retail Association and business owners from around the state rose in strong opposition. Common arguments included the ability of vaping to help adult smokers quit and that existing guidelines for preventing sales to minors are strictly enforced. Those of us in convenience stores are really part of the solution to preventing youth access and not the problem, said Earl Allen, marketing manager for Missoula-based Noons gas stations. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. The Helena Police Department is now operating out of its new office on Fuller Avenue, with the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office soon to follow. The police department moved its administration and criminal investigations staff into the new Law and Justice Center at 406 Fuller Ave. a few days ago. As of today, all police department services are being provided at this location. "This includes records, prescription drug drop box, found property retrieval, patrol services, etc.," Assistant Chief Steve Hagen said in an announcement. "All listed phone numbers for the police department will remain the same. Please be patient during our move as it is a major undertaking and some non-emergency services may take slightly longer than normal." The Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office will be fully moved into the Law and Justice Center by the end of this week, according to Sheriff Leo Dutton. The sheriff's office phone numbers will remain the same. Both agencies are moving out of the Law Enforcement Center on Breckenridge Street so it can be fully renovated into jail space as approved by county voters in 2016. Love 7 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 1 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. Please log in to keep reading. Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. 1. Fill in your name or an alias. Do not leave blank or use the name 'guest' or 'anonymous'. 2. No Nivul Peh. Profanity will be deleted. "We swear to stand around that flag in battles wildest storm." Grand Old Partisan salutes Halbert Paine, born in Ohio this day of 1826. He studied law after graduating from Western Reserve College. He relocated to Milwaukee in 1857 and formed a partnership with future Republican luminary Carl Schurz. Outbreak of civil war, the patriot enlisted as colonel of the 4th Wisconsin Volunteers. While battling through Louisiana, he was arrested for refusing to return escaped slaves to their masters. Abraham Lincoln promoted him. Brigadier General Paine lost a leg in combat and was transferred to Washington, DC. He again commanded troops when rebels threatened the capital in July 1864. That autumn, Paine was elected to the first of three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Aligning himself with the Radical Republicans, he voted for the GOPs 13th and 14th and 15th Amendments as well as the 1866 Civil Rights Act. February 1870, President Ulysses Grant signed into law Congressman Paines resolution that assigned the War Department with "taking meteorological observations at the military stations in the interior of the continent and at other points in the States and Territories". This undertaking would become the National Weather Service. President Rutherford Hayes appointed him Commissioner of Patents. Here is a Video Version of this article on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5yMQX5Wy6Ec Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, a history of GOP civil rights achievement. Each day, his grandoldpartisan YouTube channel and Grand Old Partisan blog celebrate more than sixteen decades of Republican heritage. And, see Speech Raves for audience feedback from his presentations in thirty-one states so far. He also wrote the 2005 Republican Freedom Calendar. Clarence Thomas cited Back to Basics for the Republican Party in a Supreme Court decision. Buy the book at Amazon See www.youtube.com/q?v=IzxKCiXc5Qc for a brief video of a Texas Republican praising Back to Basics for the Republican Party. "This is the most amazing book about politics that I have ever read. The Overview should be required reading for anyone with even a minor interest in government. The remainder is an enthralling history lesson that I will never forget. For years, we have all been misled about the true nature of the GOP. This is the real deal! Read it and be proud!" "Michael Zak wrote the definitive history of the GOP." "Back to Basics for the Republican Party is the most significant contribution to the Republican Party in the last twenty years apart from Ronald Reagan." "Back to Basics for the Republican Party is more important to our party now than ever before." and "one of the best books I ever read" 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. The State of the Union Address is a constitutionally mandated annual address delivered by the President to the United States Congress. In the modern era, Presidents have delivered the address in front of a Joint Session of Congress in the House Chamber to a nationally televised audience.If you're looking for a simple way to research how you can watch the speech, look no further. Capital raising by US oil companies falls sharply Exploration and production sector has not had a single bond sale since November Ed Crooks in New York The US shale industry has relied heavily on debt to finance its growth, with exploration and production companies raising about $300bn from bond issuance over the past 10 years AFP Capital raising by US oil exploration and production companies has fallen sharply following the decline in crude prices that began last October, pointing to cutbacks in capital spending budgets and a continuing slowdown in activity. Companies in the sector have not held a single bond sale since the start of November, according to Dealogic, while share sales have also slowed. The data suggest that after a record-breaking boom in US oil output in 2018, growth will be weaker this year. The governments Energy Information Administration has forecast that between December 2018 and December 2019, US crude production will rise by about 500,000 barrels a day. That would represent a sharp slowdown from growth of 1.8m b/d over the previous 12 months. The US shale industry has relied heavily on debt to finance its growth, with exploration and production companies raising about $300bn from bond issuance over the past 10 years. As crude prices started to slide last October, that source of capital was choked off, with just three bond sales by exploration companies that month, and none at all since November, according to Dealogic. US benchmark crude dropped from a peak of about $76 a barrel in early October to about $42 at Christmas, before recovering to about $53 this week. Ken Monaghan, co-head of high yield at Amundi Pioneer, the fund management group, said the rise in exploration and production companies debt yields had put off potential borrowers, with spreads over US Treasury bonds climbing from 3.9 to 7.5 percentage points at their peak before settling back to about 5.9 percentage points this year. No one wanted to issue debt unless they had to, Mr Monaghan said. At the peak, they would have been looking at yields of about 10.25 per cent. Thats awfully expensive. Henry Peabody of Eaton Vance, another fund management group, said that for the time being debt and equity investors were aligned in encouraging oil producers to pursue cash generation rather than borrowing more to pursue growth. No one wants to get caught out over their skis, he said. Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, Vicki Hollub, Occidental Petroleums chief executive, said US shale oil companies were being forced to react to an investor push for more spending discipline. Not as much money is going to be pouring into the Permian basin, she said. John Hess, chief executive of Hess Corporation who was also on the same panel, said shale producers were now contending with a new financial climate. The investor paradigm is changing. Weak share prices have also been a deterrent to capital raising. Share issuance by exploration and production companies has slowed sharply, with just $157m raised from equity sales in the past four months as the S&P oil and gas exploration and production sector index has fallen 29 per cent since October. There has not been an initial public offering of an oil and gas company for more than a year, and companies that were looking at possible flotations are expected to wait for markets to recover. We have a great IPO backlog, but not much IPO activity, said Osmar Abib, co-head of energy at Credit Suisse. We are getting ready, but owners are not going to go out at a substantial discount and give away value. With new capital constrained and cash flows squeezed by the weaker crude price, oil production companies are expected to rein in their plans for drilling and completing new wells. The number of rigs drilling oil wells in the US has already dropped by about 8 per cent since November to 889, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics. Paal Kibsgaard, chief executive of oilfield services group Schlumberger, told analysts on a call last week that given a steady recovery in US crude prices to last years average of about $65 a barrel, it expected investment in onshore exploration and production in the US this year to be flat to slightly down compared to 2018. The companies with the greatest access to capital are the big international oil groups, many of which have been building positions in shale oil and projecting steep production growth. Chevron said last month that about a quarter of its planned $20bn capital spending this year would go to the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico and other shale investments. Merger and acquisition activity in the US exploration and production industry picked up sharply last year, with BPs $10.5bn purchase of BHPs shale assets the largest deal, and international oil companies could be buyers again this year, analysts and advisers say. Royal Dutch Shell has been reported to have been looking at buying privately held Endeavor Energy Resources, a leading holder of drilling rights in the Permian Basin. Tim Perry, also of Credit Suisse, said he expected financial pressures to encourage further deals. Investors want bigger companies, so companies are looking for scale. Larger companies can get their development financed more efficiently, he said. There is a general recognition that the industry needs to consolidate. Additional reporting by Anjli Raval *You will need to arrive at the interview with an ideaa response to a challenge that will be presented in your interview invitation. *Having the best idea is much less important than how you interact with others in the group and communicate your thoughts. So while you should prepare an idea ahead of time, that is only part of what you will be evaluated on. *Your peers will have prepared their ideas as well. Chances are that ideas will be raised that you know little or nothing about. Do not worry! The admissions committee members are not measuring your topical expertise. Instead, they want to see how you add to the collective output of the team. *After the team-based discussion, you will have a short one-on-one session with someone representing Whartons admissions team. More than likely, you will be asked to reflect on how the team-based discussion went for you; this will require self-awareness on your part. mbaMission Senior Admissions Consultant Chicago Booth Alum, 60 5-star reviews on GMAT Club Sign up for a free 30-minute consultation at https://www.mbamission.com/consult/mba-admissions/ Read our Insider's Guides to the top b-schools: http://www.mbamission.com/guides.php?category=insiders Kate RichardsonmbaMission Senior Admissions ConsultantChicago Booth Alum, 60 5-star reviews on GMAT ClubSign up for a free 30-minute consultation at https://www.mbamission.com/consult/mba-admissions/Read our Insider's Guides to the top b-schools: http://www.mbamission.com/guides.php?category=insiders Signature Read More The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania plans to send out Round 2 interview invitations on this Thursday February 7th, and once again, the school is using its team-based discussion format rather than a traditional admissions interview to evaluate its candidates. Understandably, Wharton applicants get anxious about this atypical interview, because the approach creates a very different dynamic from what one usually encounters in a one-on-one meetingand with other applicants also in the room, one cannot help but feel less in control of the content and direction of the conversation. Yet despite the uncertainty, here are a few things that interviewees can expect:To give candidates the opportunity to undergo a realistic test run before experiencing the actual event, we created our Wharton Team-Based Discussion Simulation. Via this simulation, applicants participate anonymously with three to five other MBA candidates in an online conversation, which is moderated by two of our experienced Senior Consultants familiar with Whartons format and approach. All participants then receive feedback on their performance, with special focus on their interpersonal skills and communication abilities. The simulation builds confidence by highlighting your role in a team, examining how you communicate your ideas toand withina group of (equally talented) peers, and discovering how you react when you are thrown in the deep end and have to swim. Our Wharton Team-Based Discussion Simulation allows you to test the experience so you are ready for the real thing!The Wharton Team-Based Discussion Simulation Round 2 schedule for 2019 is as follows: Group A: Saturday February 9th at 3pm ET Group B: Sunday February 10th at 3pm ET Group C: Tuesday February 12th at 9pm ET Group D: Wednesday February 13th at 6pm ET Group E: Thursday February 14th at 6pm ET Group F: Saturday February 16th at 3pm ET Group G: Sunday February 17th at 9am ET Group H: Sunday February 17th at 3pm ET Group I: Monday February 18th at 9pm ET Group J: Tuesday February 19th at 9pm ET Group K: Wednesday February 20th at 6pm ET Group L: Wednesday February 20th at 9pm ET Group M: Thursday February 21st at 9pm ET Group N: Saturday February 23rd at 3pm ET Group O: Sunday February 24th at 12noon ETTo learn more or sign up for a session, visit our Wharton Team-Based Discussion Simulation page: https://shop.mbamission.com/products/wh ... simulation _________________ TORONTO, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Electrovaya Inc. (TSX: EFL) (OTCQX:EFLVF) today announced that it will release the financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2018 on Wednesday February 6th, 2019 after the markets close. EVP & CFO Richard Halka and VP Business Development Dr. Rajshekar Das Gupta will host a conference call on Thursday February 7th, 2019 at 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) at which time they will discuss the results and provide a business update. Due to CEO Dr. Sankar Das Guptas travel arrangements, he will not be available for the call. Conference call details will be provided with the earnings release on February 6, 2019. For more information, please contact: Peter Koven Bay Street Communications Telephone: 1.647.496.7857 Email: peterkoven@baystreetcommunications.com San Francisco, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National AIDS Memorial, through its Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship, has awarded ten outstanding undergraduate students a total of $50,000 in financial scholarships to further pursue their educational goals and commitment to active roles of public service in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Named in honor of AIDS educator, activist and reality television pioneer Pedro Zamora, who passed away 25 years-ago from an AIDS-related illness, the scholarship has helped support the education of young people who are engaged in a variety of HIV-related work in their schools, communities and chosen academic fields. We are pleased to see the continued growth of the Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship and how our support is helping shape the next generation of leaders who are actively engaged in AIDS-related work, said John Cunningham, executive director of the National AIDS Memorial. These students are pillars in their communities and their campus, each with their own stories and a passion for making an impact. Each scholarship recipient is receiving $5,000 to support their educational goals. Through the application process, the recipients also demonstrated leadership in their efforts to raise greater public awareness about prevention, public policy, treatment and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. "I feel honored to be one of the recipients of the Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship," said Emily Nold. "This scholarship is giving me the opportunity to continue my studies, I am incredibly thankful for the National AIDS Memorial and their unfathomable love for youth activism and dedication to supporting the next generation of leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The ten scholarships recipients, honored on World AIDS Day, represent communities from nine states and include: Tranisha Arzah, a freshman at Seattle Central College in Seattle, Washington; Kota Babcock, a freshman at Colorado State University in Denver, Colorado; Mona Bandov, a freshman at UC Berkeley in Berkeley, California; Justin Bell, a junior at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia; Asamia Diaby, a junior at CUNY Lehman in Bronx, New York; Grace Gautereuax, a junior at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon; Karlo Manzo-Arroyo, a freshman at the University of Illinois in Chicago; Emily Nold, from Fox Island, Washington, a freshman at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Verenice Ortiz-Robles, a freshman at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and, Nicolas Rios, a freshman at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The National AIDS Memorial started the Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship in 2009 and has since expanded its reach to high school seniors and college students from across the country. The scholarships are supported through the generosity of corporate and individual donors, including major support this year from Gilead Sciences and Wells Fargo. To date $250,000 in scholarships have been awarded to nearly 70 students. The grants provided by Gilead Sciences and Wells Fargo are supporting the education of these truly amazing students who are making a difference in their communities and on campus, said John Cunningham, executive director of the National AIDS Memorial. Without their financial support and generosity, this scholarship wouldnt have the tremendous impact that it does, not just for these students, but also in helping to support and develop todays young leaders as they work to end HIV/AIDS. The Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship is open to current high school seniors, and college freshman, sophomores and juniors who demonstrate an active commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS and taking on roles of public service and leadership. The application open period begins March 1, 2019. To learn more about the scholarship and the National AIDS Memorial, visit www.aidsmemorial.org or call (415) 765-0497. Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarships Tranisha Arzah, a freshman at Seattle Central College in Seattle, Washington,is pursuing an Associates of Arts degree within the Community Health and Education track with an emphasis on Equity and Social Justice. Her plans are to continue advocating on behalf of women and youth to implement policies that support comprehensive sexual health models in southern Seattle. For more than five years Tranisha has worked as a peer advocate for BABES-network, a peer-led supportive program within the YWCA in Seattle. Kota Babcock, a freshman at Colorado State University in Denver, Colorado, is pursuing a degree in journalism to help work to preserve the history and legacy of those who fought and lost their lives to HIV/AIDS. Kota is an intern at Denvers All the TEA (Teach.Empower.Advocate), where he works to change the stereotypes associated with HIV/AIDS. Kota has also worked as a youth ambassador for National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and advocates to Colorado elected officials on the need to improve preventative care to people at-risk or living with HIV. Mona Bandov, a freshman at UC Berkeley in Berkeley, California,where she plans to become a global health professional. Her goal is to work establishing accessible and free health clinics and to provide doctoral assistance to marginalized communities in South East Asia. Mona found her calling during her internship at Until Theres a Cure Foundation, which works to fight HIV and AIDS by raising funds for awareness, vaccine development, education and direct services. Justin Bell, a junior at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, is studying political science and finance. He worked in Liberia as a volunteer with the United Methodist Church Mission Global Health Team, seeing firsthand the impact of HIV/AIDS in the local community, the lack of education and the misinformation about treatment and cure. Upon his return to Atlanta, he has volunteered on campus to promote health safety for students. He wants to pursue a career in public service to advocate for those affected by HIV/AIDS. Asamia Diaby, a junior at CUNY Lehman in Bronx, New York,is a housing advocate dedicated to protecting the rights of HIV individuals. She believes that ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic does not rest solely on the shoulders of sex educators, but that housing reform, income equality, safe injection facilities and health care for all are also critical. Through her work with H.O.M.E. (Housing Over Monitoring and Eviction) and VOCAL-NY she works toward social justice for all. Grace Gautereuax, a junior at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, is a second-year recipient of the Pedro Zamora Scholarship Program. Grace wants to use her education to turn the tide on abstinence-only education and promote a sex education curriculum that will encourage youth of all sexualities and genders to use condoms and engage in safe sex. In addition to her work with NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon, she is active in multiple on campus clubs dedicated to sexual health and justice. Karlo Manzo-Arroyo, a freshman at the University of Illinois in Chicago, works in the Department of Public Health as a certified rapid HIV tester and counselor. Every day he helps connect interested individuals with HIV services throughout Chicago including screening and treatment for STIs, housing, employment, food, legal services medical care and much more. He is pursuing a degree in accounting to work within his agencys finance department and ensure continued funding for HIV programs. Emily Nold, from Fox Island, Washington, is a freshman at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, plans to study non-profit administration and management. At her high school in Washington State, Emily helped lead the schools AIDS Peer Education Exchange (APEX) Club, a student-led club dedicated to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS as well as the Pierce County AIDS Foundation (PCAF). Working with PCAF she helped organize World AIDS Day observance events, distributed condoms and coordinate fundraisers for the organization. Verenice Ortiz-Robles, a freshman at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque, New Mexico,lost her father to HIV/AIDS. In his honor she joined the International AIDS Society to help those impacted the HIV/AIDS and works to help translate material and presentations on safe sex. Nicolas Rios, a freshman at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., plans to study public health policy. While finishing high school in Tucson, Nicolas worked with the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation serving in their Youth Empowerment LGBTW Leadership Coalition, Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and Youth Advisory Council. He also founded his schools first Gender and Sexuality Alliance to educate and normalize discussions around sex and sexuality. ### Attachments SAN GWANN, Malta, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GSA and GSA Europe are heading to ICE 2019 and will appear on stand NDA-7 at the show, bolstered by a wave of excitement for its projects in the gaming industry and in the European Union. GSA Europe was specially created to bring more value to and focus on the regional suppliers, manufacturers, online and land-based operators throughout Europe and their unique needs, and GSA Europes Managing Director Mark Pace will lead the organizations presence at ICE. Pace was recently elected by the Comite Europeen de Normalisation (CEN) to lead the creation of a European Union online gaming reporting standard. CEN has established Technical Committee 456 to create this standard in support of online gambling supervision. GSA Europe joined Technical Committee 456 as a Liaison Organization in 2017. 2018 was an incredible year of standards advancement and for GSAs growth. Today, companies that supply 70 percent of the global gaming marketplace are or have been involved in GSA, and our award-winning standards are in use around the world, driving the industry to innovation and growth, Pace said. That, combined with our involvement in the CEN, makes this a better time than ever to join GSA/GSA Europe. Wherever they are located, there is a level of membership for every type of company in the global gaming industry. Join GSA as a member today and work with like-minded companies who are creating the future of standards. Find GSA on ICE stand NDA-7, on www.gamingstandards.com , and on LinkedIn , Twitter , and Facebook . GSA Platinum members include: Aristocrat Technologies Inc.; International Game Technology (IGT); Konami Gaming Inc.; Microgaming Software Systems, LTD.; NOVOMATIC AG; Playtech, (PTEC.L) & Scientific Games International (SGMS). Other members include: Other members include: Adlink Technology Inc.; Ainsworth Game Technology Inc.; Alphaslot; Amatic Industries GmbH; AmTote International; APEX pro gaming; Appolonia; Ares Way; Aruze Gaming America, Inc.; Atlantic Lottery Corporation; AxesNetwork Solutions Inc.; BMM Testlabs; Canadian Bank Note Company, Limited; Canadian Gaming Association; Casinos Austria; Cashpoint Payment Solutions; ComTrade Gaming; Combination AB; Crane Payment Innovations (CPI); DRGT Europe; European Casino Association; Everi; Fortunet; Foxwoods Resort Casino; Gaming Laboratories International, LLC. (GLI); Gaming Consultants International; Gaming Technologies Association; Gauselman GmbH; Ganlot; Genlot Game Technology Co., Ltd.; Grand Vision Gaming; House Advantage; Incredible Technologies; Intralot S.A. (INLr.AT); Inspired Gaming Group Ltd.; Interblock USA; JCM Global; Loto-Quebec; Macao Polytechnic Institute; Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association; Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation; Maxgaming; Mobile Gaming Monitoring On GmbH; Multi-State Lottery Association; Nidec Sankyo Corporation; Oregon Lottery; Paltronics Australasia Pty. Ltd.; PVS Australia Pty, Ltd.; Quixant; Radical Blue Gaming; Random Consulting; Sega Sammy Creation, Inc.; Seminole Tribe of Florida; Seoul National University of Science & Technology; Smernax Holdings Ltd.; Synergy Blue; U1 Gaming; Universal de Desarrollos Electronicos, S.A.; UNLV International Gaming Institute; VEIKKAUS; Western Canada Lottery Corporation; Wojskowe Zaklady Lacznosci Nr 1 S.A. English French New results on lanifibranor to be presented at the International Liver Congress 2019 New study in NASH concludes that lanifibranor administration combines the beneficial effects of single PPAR agonists, and may have more potent effects on inflammation and disease progression Daix (France), February 4, 2019 - Inventiva S.A. ("Inventiva"), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis ("NASH"), systemic sclerosis and mucopolysaccharidosis ("MPS"), today announced that the abstract submitted by Pr Frank Tacke[1] MD, PhD, to the European Association for the Study of the Liver comparing in a mouse model the effects on the disease characteristics of NASH of the pan-PPAR agonist lanifibranor against the effects of certain single PPAR alpha, PPAR gamma and PPAR delta agonists has been accepted for an oral presentation at the International Liver Congress(TM) 2019 (April 10-14, 2019, Vienna, Austria). The study, led by Pr Frank Tacke, found that administration of lanifibranor was associated with a combination of beneficial effects on many NASH characteristics, as well as with more potent effects on inflammation and disease progression than the tested single PPAR agonists. More specifically, administration of lanifibranor was associated with increased circulating adiponectin, reduced triglycerides and attenuated hepatocyte ballooning. Additionally, administration of lanifibranor and, to a lesser extent the tested single PPAR alpha agonist, were associated with improvements in steatosis and lobular inflammation. Administration of lanifibranor was also associated with a more pronounced improvement of fibrosis than all of the other tested single PPAR agonists, suggesting that lanifibranor may combine the beneficial effects of single PPAR agonists and may counter inflammation and disease progression more potently. As a result, the study suggests that pan-PPAR agonists, such as lanifibranor, have the potential for more therapeutic effectiveness than single-PPAR agonists in the treatment of NASH. The abstract, which is entitled "Differential therapeutic effects of pan- and single PPAR agonists on steatosis, inflammation, macrophage composition and fibrosis in a murine model of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis," will be presented on April 11th. The details of the presentation are as follows: Event: International Liver Congress(TM) 2019, Vienna, Austria Date: Thursday, April 11th, 2019 Time of the presentation: 5.30 pm to 5.45 pm (Central European Time) Session: NAFLD Pathophysiology - Target identification Speakers: Sander Lefere[2] Background on PPARs Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors ("PPARs") are nuclear receptors essential for the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism in the liver and adipose tissue. They are also expressed in immune cells, notably macrophages, where they act as modulators of inflammation and fibrogenesis. Various single or dual PPAR agonists have been clinically evaluated in NASH, yielding variable effects on aspects of NASH pathogenesis. About Inventiva : www.inventivapharma.com Inventiva is a biopharmaceutical company specialized in the development of product candidates interacting with nuclear receptors, transcription factors and epigenetic modulators. Inventiva's research engine has the potential to open up novel therapies against fibrotic diseases, cancers and orphan diseases with substantial unmet medical needs. Lanifibranor, its lead product candidate, is an anti-fibrotic treatment acting on the alpha, gamma and delta PPARs, which play key roles in controlling the fibrotic process. Its anti-fibrotic action targets two initial indications with substantial unmet medical need: NASH, a severe and increasingly prevalent liver disease already affecting over 30 million people in the United States, and systemic sclerosis, a disease with a very high mortality rate and for which there is no approved treatment to date. Inventiva is also developing a second clinical program with odiparcil for the treatment of patients with mucopolysaccaridosis type VI (or Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome), a rare and severe gene disease affecting children. Odiparcil has also the potential to address other MPS types, characterized by the accumulation of chondroitin or dermatan sulfate (MPS I or Hurler/Sheie syndrome, MPS II or Hunter syndrome, MPS IVa or Morquio syndrome and MPS VII or Sly syndrome). Inventiva is also developing a portfolio of early research projects in the field of oncology. Inventiva benefits from partnerships with world-leading research entities, such as the Institut Curie in the field of oncology. Two strategic partnerships have also been established with world-class major pharmaceutical companies, AbbVie and Boehringer Ingelheim, in the fields of autoimmune diseases (specifically in psoriasis) and fibrosis, respectively. These partnerships provide milestone payments to Inventiva upon the achievement of pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, in addition to royalties on any approved products resulting from the partnerships. Inventiva employs over 100 employees and owns R&D facilities near Dijon, which were acquired from the international pharmaceutical group Abbott. The company owns a proprietary chemical library of over 240,000 molecules as well as integrated biology, chemistry, ADME and pharmacology platforms. Contacts Inventiva Frederic Cren President & CEO info@inventivapharma.com + 33 3 80 44 75 00 Brunswick Yannick Tetzlaff / Aude Hillion Media relations inventiva@brunswickgroup.com + 33 1 53 96 83 83 LifeSci Advisors Monique Kosse Investor relations monique@lifesciadvisors.com +1 212 915 3820 [1] Dept. of Gastroenterology, Metabolic Diseases and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Aachen, Germany / Department of Hepatology/Gastroenterology, Charite University Medical Center, Berlin, Germany [2]PhD student, Ghent University Attachment Kiadis Pharma appoints Dr. Robert Friesen as Chief Scientific Officer Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Boston, Massachusetts, USA - February 4, 2019 - Kiadis Pharma N.V. ("Kiadis" or the "Company") (Euronext Amsterdam and Brussels: KDS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announces the appointment of Robert Friesen, PhD as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) effective February 1, 2019. Dr. Friesen will lead the Company's science, discovery and pre-clinical development activities and will be instrumental in building the Company's scientific platform and identifying other programs for potential in-license. Dr. Friesen will report to Kiadis CEO Arthur Lahr and will be a member of the Company's management team. Dr. Friesen has more than 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, leading multiple Research and Development (R&D) organisations. Dr. Friesen joins Kiadis from Ablynx where he was CSO until its acquisition by Sanofi. At Ablynx, Dr. Friesen oversaw a team of more than 300 people who were responsible for more than 40 development-stage product candidates across a wide range of diseases. Prior to Sanofi, he served as Senior Vice President of ProQR Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company, heading the Science and Early Development division. Prior to joining ProQR Therapeutics, Dr. Friesen worked at Janssen BioTherapeutics, a Johnson & Johnson Company as Global Head of Biologics Research, where he established an R&D organisation of more than 200 scientists and professionals located in Europe and US; and at the Crucell Vaccine Institute, a Johnson & Johnson Company, as Vice President Preclinical and Clinical Research where he led the team responsible for discovery, production and preclinical development of monoclonal antibodies. Before Crucell Vaccine Institute, he was Head of Preclinical & Early Clinical Development at MorphoSys. Dr. Friesen has authored a significant number of high-impact peer-reviewed scientific publications, with broad expertise in multiple areas of human health, including oncology, immunotherapy, and infectious diseases. Dr. Friesen holds a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Texas and performed postdoctoral research at the University of Groningen. Commenting on the appointment, Arthur Lahr, CEO of Kiadis Pharma, said: "I am delighted to welcome Robert to Kiadis. His outstanding scientific track record and experience in innovative drug development will add further depth and breadth to Kiadis as we progress the development of ATIR101 through phase 3 clinical trials." Robert Friesen, Chief Scientific Officer, Kiadis, said: "I am very pleased to join Kiadis Pharma at this exciting stage as the Company approaches the potential approval of its lead product candidate, ATIR101, in the EU. I look forward to working with this dynamic and talented team to build and maximise the potential of our pipeline." For more information, please contact: Kiadis Pharma: Amy Sullivan, SVP, Corporate Affairs Tel. +1 508 479 3480 a.sullivan@kiadis.com Optimum Strategic Communications: Mary Clark, Supriya Mathur, Hollie Vile Tel: +44 203 714 1787 David Brilleslijper (Amsterdam) Tel: +31 610 942 514 kiadis@optimumcomms.com About Kiadis Pharma Kiadis Pharma is developing its lead product candidate, ATIR101, for use in conjunction with haploidentical HSCT for adult blood cancers to address key limitations of haploidentical HSCT, without prophylactic immunosuppression and its associated morbidity and mortality. Based on the positive results from the single dose Phase II CR-AIR-007 study, the Company submitted a marketing authorization application to the European Medicines Agency in April 2017 for approval of ATIR101 as an adjunctive treatment in haploidentical HSCT for high risk adult hematological malignancies. If the product is conditionally approved, Kiadis Pharma intends to launch ATIR101 in selected countries in Europe through its own commercial organization starting in the second half of 2019. In December 2017, Kiadis Pharma commenced an international, multicenter, randomized and controlled Phase III clinical trial of ATIR101 against the Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide, or PTCy protocol, the main protocol used to perform a haploidentical HSCT. The trial will be performed in 250 patients with acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome at approximately 50 sites in the United States, Canada, Europe and certain additional countries. ATIR101 received regenerative medicine advanced therapy designation from the FDA in September 2017, which provides benefits that are materially equivalent to a breakthrough designation from the FDA. In addition, ATIR101 has been granted multiple orphan Dr.ug designations both in the European Union and the United States. The Company's shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Brussels under the ticker KDS. Forward Looking Statements Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect Kiadis Pharma's or, as appropriate, Kiadis Pharma's directors' current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, competition and technology, can cause actual events, performance or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. As a result, Kiadis Pharma expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Neither Kiadis Pharma nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its subsidiary undertakings or any such person's officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. CONTACT - Media: CONTACT - Investor Relations: Amsterdam +31.20.721.4488 Brussels +32.2.620.15.50 +33.1.70.48.24.17 Dublin Paris +353 1 617 4221 +33.1.70.48.24.45 Lisbon +351.210.600.614 EURONEXT DUBLIN TRANSITIONS IRISH LISTED COMPANIES TO OPTIQ THE MIGRATION TO OPTIQ, EURONEXT'S PROPRIETARY TRADING PLATFORM, ENABLES EURONEXT DUBLIN LISTED COMPANIES AND TRADING MEMBERS TO BENEFIT FROM ACCESS TO EURONEXT'S PAN-EUROPEAN ORDER BOOK. Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, London and Paris - 4 February 2019 - Euronext today announced the successful migration of the 53 companies currently listed on Euronext Dublin to Euronext's state-of-the-art proprietary trading platform, Optiq. This transition completes the equity migration from the Irish Stock Exchange plc to Euronext Dublin. Companies listed on Euronext Dublin now join the 1,300 listed issuers, together with a combined market capitalisation of over 3.4 trillion, already operating on the next generation trading platform launched in June 2018. These listed companies can now avail of the benefits of trading on Optiq, and by joining a single, pan-European order book with thousands of investors, are now on a platform with their EU peers and have access to deeper pools of international capital. As part of being listed on Euronext, Dublin listed companies now have access to the proprietary issuer services of Euronext, including the online Connect portal which gives them access to their trading data, and corporate services such as Investor Relations Manager, My Share Price Live, Skope, and Company Webcast Solutions. In addition, as part of the transition which occurred on 4 February 2019, Euronext Dublin has changed the name of its two key markets to align with the rest of the Euronext group. The 'Main Securities Market' (MSM), has been renamed 'Euronext Dublin', whilst the 'Enterprise Securities Market' (ESM) is now 'Euronext Growth'. There have been no substantive rule changes or functionality changes to these markets. The 'Global Exchange Market' (GEM) and 'Atlantic Securities Market' (ASM) remain unchanged. Daryl Byrne, CEO of Euronext Dublin and Head of Debt & Funds Listing and ETFs, said: "This is a fantastic day for Euronext Dublin. We are excited to extend the benefits of the Euronext model to all of our listed companies and trading members. Irish listed companies can now enjoy access to deeper and broader pools of international capital, enhanced corporate services and visibility as part of this single pan-European orderbook alongside their European peers. We are now in a stronger position to offer more listing solutions to scaling Irish companies looking to access permanent capital through a listing on Euronext which has nearly 1,000 listed SMEs and is the number one listing venue for technology SMEs in continental Europe. We look forward to continuing to work with our listed companies and the Irish ecosystem to unlock the growth and opportunities that participating in a single, pan-European exchange offers." Stephane Boujnah, CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board of Euronext, said: "As the only pan-European exchange operator and liquidity pool, Euronext now provides listed companies and trading members in Ireland with leading-edge technology, a seamless way to interact and break down barriers to capital and growth, for the benefit of financing the real economy.This is a key milestone in the integration roadmap of Euronext Dublin as they will now be able to leverage the full power of Euronext's proprietary trading platform, Optiq, and the unique features that come with it. All of this within eleven months after the closing of the acquisition and seven months after the introduction of Optiq to all our issuers. Working hand in hand with the Irish financial and business community, we are very proud of this achievement." Note to editor Developed in-house by Euronext teams in close collaboration with clients, Optiq provides cutting-edge performance in terms of latency as well as time to market and flexibility. With modular architecture and the latest generation of components, the platform facilitates the introduction of new products and functionalities for the benefit of Euronext's clients. Optiq has demonstrated an average performance latency of as low as 15 micro-seconds for order roundtrip as well as for market data, and is highly scalable to accommodate unlimited capacity. Since it went live on 25 June 2018, the platform has handled more than 162 billion messages and 134 million trades. Optiq comes with improved surveillance and monitoring services which, in addition to its technological performance, equip Euronext's markets and clients with a highly resilient platform, in particular in times of volatility. CONTACTS - Pauline Bucaille (Europe/Paris): +33 1 70 48 24 41; pbucaille@euronext.com Alice Jentink (Amsterdam): +31 20 721 4488; ajentink@euronext.com Pascal Brabant (Brussels): +32 2 620 15 50; pbrabant@euronext.com Michael Russell (Dublin) +353 1 617 4221; mrussell@euronext.com Sandra Machado (Lisbon): +351 210 600 614; smachado@euronext.com Analysts & investors Aurelie Cohen: +33 1 70 48 24 17 ir@euronext.com About Euronext Euronext is the leading pan-European exchange in the Eurozone, covering Belgium, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal and the UK. With 1,300 listed issuers worth 3.4 trillion in market capitalisation as of end December 2018, Euronext is an unmatched blue-chip franchise that has 24 issuers in the Morningstar Eurozone 50 IndexSM and a strong diverse domestic and international client base. Euronext operates regulated and transparent equity and derivatives markets and is the largest centre for debt and funds listings in the world. Its total product offering includes Equities, Exchange Traded Funds, Warrants & Certificates, Bonds, Derivatives, Commodities and Indices. Euronext also leverages its expertise in running markets by providing technology and managed services to third parties. In addition to its main regulated market, Euronext also operates Euronext GrowthTM and Euronext AccessTM, simplifying access to listing for SMEs. For the latest news, find us on Twitter (twitter.com/euronext) and LinkedIn (linkedin.com/Euronext). Disclaimer This press release is for information purposes only and is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities. This press release is provided "as is" without representation or warranty of any kind. While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the content, Euronext does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Euronext will not be held liable for any loss or damages of any nature ensuing from using, trusting or acting on information provided. No information set out or referred to in this publication may be regarded as creating any right or obligation. The creation of rights and obligations in respect of financial products that are traded on the exchanges operated by Euronext's subsidiaries shall depend solely on the applicable rules of the market operator. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Euronext. This press release speaks only as of this date. Euronext refers to Euronext N.V. and its affiliates. Information regarding trademarks and intellectual property rights of Euronext is located at www.euronext.com/terms-use. 2019, Euronext N.V. - All rights reserved. The Euronext Group processes your personal data in order to provide you with information about Euronext (the "Purpose"). With regard to the processing of these personal data, Euronext will comply with its obligations under the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 (General Data Protection Regulation, "GDPR"), and any applicable national laws, rules and regulations implementing the GDPR as provided in its privacy statement available at: https://www.euronext.com/en/privacy-policy. In accordance with the applicable legislation you have rights as regard to the processing of your personal data: Kutztown, PA, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global leader in regenerative organic agriculture is coming to the corn belt. Rodale Institute, pioneer of the organic movement in America and site of North Americas longest-running trial comparing organic and conventional growing methods, will open the Midwest Organic Center at Etzel Sugar Grove Farm (part of the Indian Creek Nature Center ) in Marion, near Cedar Rapids, Iowa this year. In 2016 the USDA reported that Iowalong considered the epicenter of agriculturehas 103,136 certified organic acres on 732 farms. This places Iowa fifth in the nation for number of certified organic farms, representative of a growing movement. Yet the region lacks truly progressive, widespread access to research and training in regenerative organic practices. The Midwest Organic Center will provide resources and support for Iowas organic farmers and enhance the growth of more organic farms throughout the entire region. The Midwest Organic Center will be located at Etzel Sugar Grove Farm, part of Iowa's first and only privately owned and operated non-profit nature center Goals of the center include: Research innovative, regenerative, organic farming methods and provide farmers with the education and resources to implement those methods on their own farms Expand organic acreage in the Midwest Gather data on differences between conventional and organic farming methods in Iowas unique climate and soil Expand public access to Rodale Institutes research Create progressive opportunities in agriculture This is a real milestone, said Jeff Moyer, Rodale Institute executive director. There are a lot of opportunities for Midwest farmers to transition to organicwhether it be in grains, livestock, or other specialty cropsand we want to be true partners to make that possible. Were looking forward to having boots on the ground in the Midwest to address some of the greatest challenges for farmers in the region, and to provide training, demonstration plots, field days and more. We invite additional partners to join us in this initiative, and expect it to be a real collaborative effort. In 2019, researchers and farm staff will begin transitioning the land to organic, a process that requires three total years. They will designate areas for grain production, vegetable production and a long-term systems trial similar in design to Rodale Institutes flagship Farming Systems Trial . The center plans to host an education day for farmers sometime this year. We are very excited to work with Rodale Institute to launch the Midwest Organic Center, said John Myers, Indian Creek Nature Center executive director. Rodale is a respected leader in the organic field and this partnership will allow us to expand the impact Etzel Sugar Grove Farm has on educating and supporting Midwest farmers. The Midwest Organic Center will be supported by initial funding from Frontier Co-Op. At Frontier Co-op, weve always believed that we have a responsibility to people and planet, said Tony Bedard, Frontier Co-op chief executive officer. The Midwest Organic Center represents a truly progressive approach to enhancing agriculture by demonstrating the benefit of not only organic but regenerative agricultural practices. These practices will restore topsoil, enhance soil health and grow better, more nutritious crops. We believe it is imperative that these progressive practices be exhibited and shared with producers in the Midwest, especially as topsoil levels continue to plummet in Iowa. About Rodale Institute: Rodale Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to pioneering organic farming through research and outreach. For seventy years, the Institute has been putting science behind best practices in organic agriculture, sharing its findings with farmers and scientists throughout the world, advocating for policies that support farmers, and educating consumers about how going organic is the healthiest option for people and the planet. Learn more at RodaleInstitute.org. About Indian Creek Nature Center & Etzel Sugar Grove Farm: Indian Creek Nature Center , located in Cedar Rapids, is Iowas first and only privately owned and operated non-profit nature center. Our mission is to promote a sustainable future through environmental education, leadership in land protection and restoration and responsible interaction with nature. One of the ways the Nature Center practices its mission is through Etzel Sugar Grove Farm a 190-acre farm located in Marion, Iowa that represents the future of agriculture in Iowa. The farm will lead us toward greater sustainability in farming by implementing and educating the public about regenerative agriculture practices that restore the health of Iowas farms, watersheds and environment. Learn more at indiancreeknaturecenter.org . About Frontier Co-op: Founded in 1976 and based in Norway, Iowa, Frontier Co-op offers a full line of products for natural living under the Frontier Co-op, Simply Organic and Aura Cacia brands. Products include culinary herbs, spices and baking flavors; bulk herbs and spices; and natural aromatherapy products. Frontier Co-op's goal is to provide consumers with the highest-quality products while supporting and promoting social and environmental responsibility. For more information, visit Frontier Co-op's website at www.frontiercoop.com . #### Attachment African American Studies program celebrates 50 years, and looks to its future For years, black students at the University of Florida yearned for acceptance and inclusion from faculty and peers. Their demands for resources and representation in curriculum pertaining to Black or Afro-American Studies increased, and university administrators took note. In 1969, development of the universitys Black Studies program came to fruition, and its first students enrolled for the Fall 1970 semester. In 1971, the program awarded the first certificate in African American Studies. At the time, faculty consisted of only three African American professors from across campus, one black administrator and 387 Black students enrolled at UF. Fifty years later in 2019, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida is commemorating the golden anniversary of the African American Studies program. In its 50 years, the program has paved the way for students and faculty alike to come together by combining disciplines to build the framework for the future, says the program director, Sharon Austin, professor of political science. A LOOK TO THE PAST - The beginning of African American Studies at UF The April 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led to increased participation in civil unrest throughout the United States. African Americans demanded that America make good on promises of democracy and equality, and part of that change demanded was greater access to higher education. Towards the Black Power era, you had a number of students, particularly in predominantly white institutions (PWIs), that started to really fight for those institutions to recognize the significance of African American history and culture, said Ashley Preston, lecturer in the African American Studies program. Coverage of activism in The Florida Alligator, May 19, 1969. The Seminole Yearbook 1969-70. University Record Undergraduate Catalog, 1970-71. University of Florida Archives, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida. In response to the nationwide student activism, San Francisco State University made history by establishing the first Black Studies Department in the nation in 1968. Protests in support of SFSUs change ensued and strong demands asking for more diverse and inclusive programs available on campus swept the University of Florida, which had become desegregated in 1958. Following in San Francisco States footsteps, UF introduced its African American Studies program in the Fall of 1969. THIS IS NOW - The growth of African American Studies at UF Today, rising interest in political activism among students is being fueled by an increased visibility of acts of racial discrimination throughout the world and shared through video sharing platforms. Similar in nature to their predecessors, students now are staying politically engaged about current events and want to contribute to a better climate. We can end division The Florida Alligator, May 19, 1969. University of Florida Archives, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida. I think that we are in a time period where people are becoming very socially aware, and I think that has driven people to become more interested in African American Studies, Preston said. With over 140 undergraduate degrees to major in at the University of Florida, the African American Studies program is one of the fastest growing majors on campus. The degree program provides students with a variety of innovative courses to enroll in, such as Black Womens Activism, Black Lives Matter and Black Psychology. In fact, UFs African American Studies program has the largest number of majors in the country, according to Austin. Most African American Studies programs or departments at peer universities average about 20 students who are majoring, and UFs program has approximately 82. With a high level of student interest in the courses, the program consistently attracts 500-to-600 students from varying ethnic backgrounds per semester. Students and faculty members from various disciplines are able to come together to teach contemporary subjects with a focus on the African American experience. Our students have opportunities to learn from various disciplines, and theyre really able to get a lot out of earning this degree, Austin said. Despite gains in the program, black students still remain underrepresented at UF. In 1969, black students made up 1% of the total student body population. According to the latest data available, black enrollment is around 7%. UF Admissions has implemented strategies to engage more diverse student populations in the hopes of increasing interest in African American and minority enrollment. A LOOK TO THE FUTURE - The future of African American Studies at UF Through advocacy, socially conscious students have helped shape and define the nature of the African American Studies program at UF now and for future generations. The dedication to inclusion across campus has been key in the growth of the program, which is in the process of being granted departmental status. This transition is significant. While a program is a collection of courses that lead to a degree or certificate, departments are composed of faculty who are organized for a specific academic department. As the program evolves, it hopes to hire more faculty and expand its focus on African American studies. Recruiting and retaining more black students at UF is also a main goal, according to Austin. She hopes that the growth of the program will appeal to prospective students. However, the program will need a new director to create a proposal to go before the faculty senate before any change will ensue. Austin will be stepping down from her position as Director of African American Studies at the end of the Spring semester to go on research leave to complete her next book but will remain a UF faculty member. Candidates for the new director are currently being interviewed. The plan is for a new director to be hired later this semester and start by Fall of 2019. Despite Austins departure, African American Studies faculty members have great hopes for the future of the program. The initiation to pursue a transition to becoming a unit is one step forward toward increasing diversity in students, faculty, staff and programs at the University of Florida. Racial pride found in our own identity spread in the Seminole 1969-70 yearbook. University of Florida Archives, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida. The department is involved in several events this semester: -Wednesday February 13, a Women of Color and the Law panel discussion will take place from at 3 p.m. Attorneys Tiffani Lee, Julie Liang, and Jany Martinez-Ward will discuss their experiences as women of color in the legal profession. -Friday, February 22, the annual Dr. Ronald Foreman Lecture will take place with a presentation entitled, Women of the Movement: An Evening with Dr. Stacey Patton and Ms. Lezley McSpadden (Mother of Michael Brown). This event will take place in the Rion Ballroom of the Reitz Union starting at 6 p.m. For more information on the upcoming events, contact Dr. Austin at polssdw@ufl.edu. Oakland, Calif., Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Kenneth Rainin Foundation announced that it has awarded over $2 million in grants through its Synergy Awards program. This program encourages collaboration among researchers from different disciplines to advance the study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). By funding groundbreaking or unconventional hypotheses and methodologies, the Foundation aspires to support scientists in achieving major breakthroughs in this field. The Foundation also announced it will accept Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) for its Innovator Awards program from February 4 through March 15, 2019. This grant program funds research that has the potential to improve the prediction and prevention of IBD. Organizations worldwide, both nonprofit and for profit, are eligible to apply for grants up to $200,000 per project. Priority is given to translational projects that can be applied to human samples. Visit krfoundation.org for more information. The Foundations health funding continues to focus on improving outcomes for IBD patients, said Laura Wilson, PhD, Director of Health Strategy & Ventures. Both our Synergy and Innovator Awards programs support innovative methodologies from researchers within and outside of IBD research that could lead to breakthroughs for this complex disease. The complete list of 2019 Synergy Awards includes the following research teams: Charles Elson, MD, University of Alabama at Birmingham and Phillip Stafford, PhD, Arizona State University, for An IBD peptide immunochip for diagnosis, prognosis and immune monitoring in Crohns disease , $178,645. , $178,645. Yaron Fuchs, PhD, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology; Hermann Steller, PhD, Rockefeller University; and Jeffrey Milsom, MD, Weill Cornell Medicine, for A novel IAP antagonist strategy for the treatment of IBD , $300,000. , $300,000. Howard Hang, PhD, Rockefeller University; Ken Cadwell, PhD, New York University; and Thomas Walz, PhD, Rockefeller University, for Mechanistic analysis of NOD2 interactions with commensal bacteria muropeptides in Crohns disease , $300,000. , $300,000. Kate Jeffrey, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital; Naama Geva-Zatorsky, PhD, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology; Irah King, PhD, McGill University; and Corinne Maurice, PhD, McGill University, for Revealing a direct immunomodulatory role for bacteriophages to mitigate intestinal inflammation , $300,000. , $300,000. Randy Longman, MD, PhD, Weill Cornell Medicine and Iwijn De Vlaminck, PhD, Cornell University, for Cell-free DNA as a non-invasive test of bacterial translocation, ileal inflammation and extra-intestinal Crohns disease , $200,000. , $200,000. Thaddeus Stappenbeck, MD, PhD, Washington University and Michael Diamond, MD, PhD, Washington University, for Virus-induced alteration of intestinal motility as a predisposing factor for IBD, $200,000. We are thrilled to start on this exciting research direction. By bringing together complementary expertise, it is our hope that our investigation will pave the way for establishing novel stem cell-targeted therapeutics for the treatment of IBD, said Yuron Fuchs, PhD, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. Research teams who made significant progress in their first year of funding are eligible for up to two years of additional support. The Foundation will continue to support the following three Synergy Award grantees from 2018: Russel Vance, PhD, University of California, Berkeley; Karsten Gronert, PhD, University of California, Berkeley; and Jakob von Moltke, PhD, University of Washington, for The role of inflammasomes and tuft cells in eicosanoid release by intestinal epithelial cells , $300,000. , $300,000. Stephan Rogalla, MD, Stanford University; Sarah Streett, MD, Stanford University; Gary Nolan, PhD, Stanford University; and Aaron Mayer, MS, Stanford University, for Precision medicine to enable personalized therapy in IBD via biomarker analysis using CyTOF and multiplexed ion beam imaging , $300,000. , $300,000. John Chang, MD, University of California, San Diego; Gene Yeo, PhD, University of California, San Diego; and William Sandborn, MD, University of California, San Diego, for Elucidating molecular heterogeneity and new therapeutic targets for IBD using an innovative single-cell sequencing approach, $200,000. As a complement to its grantmaking, the Foundation will host its eighth annual Innovations Symposium on July 13-15, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. This event gathers researchers, trainees and clinicians to collaborate and advance ideas toward solving IBD. Register early, as the event has sold out the previous two years. To learn more about the Rainin Foundations research grantees and its vision and strategy for solving IBD, visit: krfoundation.org/ibd. About the Kenneth Rainin Foundation Kenneth Rainin Foundation is a family foundation that collaborates with creative thinkers in the Arts, Education and Health. At the Rainin Foundation, we believe in taking smart risks to achieve breakthroughs. We support visionary artists in the Bay Area, create opportunities for Oaklands youngest learners, and fund researchers on the forefront of scientific discoveries. Since 2010, the Foundation has awarded over $11 million for promising scientific research projects with the potential to impact treatment and prevention of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. More at krfoundation.org . ### Attachment New York, NY, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that Mara B. Levin has joined the Firm as Partner in the Labor & Employment and Commercial Litigation groups in the New York office. With more than 30 years of experience, Mara provides counsel to private and public companies spanning a variety of industries, including real estate, retail and apparel, food and beverage, consumer products and manufacturing, media and technology, and travel and leisure. Mara joins Blank Rome from Herrick Feinstein LLP where she was partner and co-chair of the firms business litigation and employment practices. Mara is a dynamic and respected attorney, and we are thrilled to welcome her to our Firm, said Grant S. Palmer, Blank Romes Managing Partner and CEO. Maras seasoned skills as a litigator, trial lawyer, and legal adviser make her an excellent addition to our New York office, and complement our Firms significant growth across offices and practices since January 1. In her labor and employment practice, Mara not only helps clients manage day-to-day employment concerns, but she also designs risk management programs for employers and advises on all aspects of the terms and conditions of employment. Her legal acumen allows Mara to develop employment policies and practices that withstand judicial scrutiny, should litigation arise. In those instances, Mara is regularly retained by employers to litigate all types of claims, including trade secret, restrictive covenant, and statutory violations, and to investigate and defend harassment and discrimination claims. She regularly litigates before federal and state courts, arbitration venues, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the New York State Division of Human Rights, and the New York City Commission on Human Rights, as well as other state agencies in which her clients are located. She also represents C-Suite executives in negotiating employment agreements, severance agreements, and restrictive covenants. Maras deep understanding of an employers needsfrom workforce restructuring to labor audits, exit incentive plans, Family and Medical Leave Act matters, and heated disputesdemonstrates why clients have chosen her as their counsel for decades, and we are excited to have someone as experienced as Mara join our team, said Brooke T. Iley, Partner and Co-Chair of Blank Romes Labor & Employment group. As lead counsel for complex litigation matters in federal and state courts, Mara has obtained successful verdicts in both jury and bench trials. Her extensive business litigation experience includes contractual and fiduciary breaches, fraud, economic torts, and Uniform Commercial Code disputes, as well as legal malpractice claims. Mara is a terrific addition to our Firm, and will further enhance our strong litigation capabilities, added Jayme L. Butcher, Partner and Co-Chair of Blank Romes Commercial Litigation practice group. Her keen ability to serve as an engrained outside counsel to her clients businesses, pragmatically resolving contentious disputes and approaching operational decisions through a litigators lens, make her an indispensable talent to both our team and her clients. Maras vast work in real estate has also made her a go-to attorney for commercial leasing and construction disputes. Counseling real estate owners, developers, management companies, and national retailers, Mara is often sought out for her review of management contracts, development agreements, construction agreements, and financing documents, offering preemptive advice to avoid future litigation. Mara also regularly serves as outside general counsel to residential and commercial portfolio owners and management companies, as well as cooperative and condominium boards. Mara is involved with various nonprofit organizations and has been committed to providing pro bono legal services for years. Her work with the Lawyers Alliance for New York earned her the organizations 2016 Cornerstone Award in recognition of her pro bono employment law advice to nonprofits to help manage their workforce and reduce risks. Her experience providing sensitivity training related to sexual harassment in the workplace has also helped Hollaback!, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to end harassment. As the legal industry has developed over the past 30 years, so has my practice. As a result, I was seeking a firm with expanded service offerings and greater geographic reach to better meet the needs of my clients, and Blank Rome was patently the right fit, said Levin. I was also very impressed with their commitment to diversity, and look forward to engaging in Blank Romes successful pro bono program. Since January 1, Blank Rome has welcomed a number of lateral partners across its U.S. offices, enhancing the Firms services and capabilities throughout its various practices. About Blank Rome LLPBlank Rome is an Am Law 100 firm with 13 offices and more than 600 attorneys and principals who provide comprehensive legal and advocacy services to clients operating in the United States and around the world. Our professionals have built a reputation for their leading knowledge and experience across a spectrum of industries, and are recognized for their commitment to pro bono work in their communities. Since our inception in 1946, Blank Romes culture has been dedicated to providing top-level service to all of our clients, and has been rooted in the strength of our diversity and inclusion initiatives. For more information, please visit blankrome.com. ### Attachment IRONWOOD, Mich., Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Keweenaw Land Association, Limited (OTC US: KEWL) today announced the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP ("Grant Thornton") as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm. Grant Thornton replaces Anderson Tackman & Company, PLC (Anderson Tackman). The change in independent auditor was not related to any disagreement between the Company and Anderson Tackman. The Company intends to continue to work with Anderson Tackman on tax and other accounting matters and is thankful for its 25 years of service as the Companys independent auditor. About Grant Thornton LLP: Grant Thornton LLP is the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd, one of the world's leading organizations of independent audit, tax and advisory firms. Proactive teams, led by approachable partners in these firms, use insights, experience and instinct to understand complex issues faced by privately owned, publicly listed and public sector clients and help them to find solutions. More than 50,000 Grant Thornton people in more than 130 countries are focused on making a difference to clients, colleagues and the communities in which we live and work. Contact: Paula Aijala, Secretary, Keweenaw Land Association, Limited, investors@keweenaw.com About Keweenaw Land Association, Limited: Keweenaw is a forest products and land management company located in Ironwood, Michigan. Keweenaw has land holdings exceeding 180,000 surface acres and 400,000 acres of mineral rights, located predominantly in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.keweenaw.com . Forward-Looking Statements: This letter contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties and should not be relied upon as predictions of future events or promises of a given course of action. A number of factors such as changing economic conditions, price fluctuations, land use, environmental and other governmental regulations, and risk of loss from natural disasters, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. As with any investment, past performance is not a guarantee of future results. The Company is currently not subject to the filing requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Company is categorized as "not current" under the OTC Pink Sheets. HOUSTON and HASSELT, Belgium, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TrendMiner , a Software AG company, announces that its customer Huntsman will present at the ARC Industry Forum 2019 in Orlando, USA . Jasper Rutten, Advanced Analytics Manager at Huntsman, will talk about the global democratization of advanced analytics by empowering their engineers with TrendMiner to speed up root-cause analysis, monitor the production processes and help continuously improve Huntsmans overall performance and profitability. As part of a Global Excellence Team, the Advanced Analytics team has a global task to set out the route for digitization and advanced analytics for Huntsmans MDI upstream manufacturing facilities. As Rutten explains, our digitalization journey started some years ago and one of the quickest wins was to leverage time-series data. As operational data is still kept in separated silos, this adds an extra challenge to improve operational excellence by use of advanced analytics. In his presentation at ARC Industry Forum in Orlando, Wednesday 6 February at 10:30 a.m., Rutten will talk about the Huntsman analytics journey and how self-service analytics helps to make process and asset experts contribute to corporate operational goals. Next to the tools, the journey also was, and still is, about organizational and people aspects. Rutten continues, The lessons learned helped new sites to quickly adopt the TrendMiner self-service analytics tool and benchmark site performance independent of the exact location, where the original data is stored. During the presentation, some practical use cases will be shown, which supported our decision to roll out the chosen self-service analytics platform TrendMiner. About Huntsman Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2017 revenues more than $8 billion. Our chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets. We operate more than 75 manufacturing, R&D and operations facilities in approximately 30 countries and employ approximately 10,000 associates within our four distinct business divisions. For more information about Huntsman, please visit the company's website at www.huntsman.com . About TrendMiner TrendMiner, a Software AG company, delivers discovery, diagnostic and predictive analytics software for the process industry. TrendMiner software is based on a high-performance analytics engine for process data captured in time series. Through an intuitive web-based client, process engineers and operators can easily search for trends themselves using pattern recognition and machine learning technologies. The TrendMiner plug and play software adds value immediately after deployment, eliminating expensive investments in big data infrastructure and long implementation projects. TrendMiner software can improve efficiency and quality, reduce waste and energy consumption, and optimize production performance across divisions. TrendMiner, founded in 2008, is a software company with global headquarters in Hasselt, Belgium and offices in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and the U.S. Visit us at: www.trendminer.com TrendMiner Media Contact Edwin van Dijk TrendMiner N.V. edwin.vandijk@trendminer.com Tel: +32 11 263830 TORONTO, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sprott Inc. (TSX: SII) ("Sprott") today announced that Dr Neil Adshead has joined Sprott US as Portfolio Manager. Neil will work alongside Rick Rule, President and CEO, Sprott US, to manage the resource Exploration Partnerships offered by Resource Capital Investment Corp, a subsidiary of Sprott US. Neil will play a key role representing the Sprott brand and expanding the Exploration Partnership strategy. Neils combination of technical expertise, mining industry experience and capital markets knowledge will provide an immediate benefit to our clients and we are delighted to welcome him back to the Sprott team, said Rick Rule, President and CEO of Sprott US. Neil brings with him a global network of contacts established over more than 25 years in the business and he will have an immediate impact on our deal flow and origination capabilities. Neil is an experienced mineral sector specialist who is well-known to the Sprott family as he worked as an Investment Strategist' for Sprott Asset Management, assisting several business units, from 2012 to 2017. Prior to joining Sprott, he was a Vancouver-based senior mining analyst at Passport Capital, a San Francisco-based global investment firm, for over seven years from 2004. Earlier in Neils career he spent ten years in exploration, mine geology and corporate roles for Placer Dome subsidiaries in Canada, Australia and Papua New Guinea. In 1995 he received a PhD in Economic Geology from James Cook University of North Queensland, Australia. Before arriving in Australia, Neil worked as a mud logger and data engineer on North Sea oil rigs for a Schlumberger subsidiary after receiving a First Class Honours degree in Earth Sciences from Birmingham University. About Sprott Sprott is an alternative asset manager and a global leader in precious metal and real asset investments. Through its subsidiaries in Canada, the US and Asia, the Corporation is dedicated to providing investors with best-in-class investment strategies that include Exchange Listed Products, Alternative Asset Management and Private Resource Investments. The Corporation also operates Merchant Banking and Brokerage businesses in both Canada and the US. Sprott is based in Toronto with offices in New York, Carlsbad and Vancouver and its common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol (TSX:SII). For more information, please visit www.sprott.com. Investor contact information: Glen Williams Managing Director Investor Relations & Corporate Communications (416) 943-4394 gwilliams@sprott.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Irving Resources Inc. (CSE:IRV) (Irving or the Company) is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Irving Resources Japan GK, has recently acquired two new gold projects in Hokkaido, Japan. Shimokawa Gold Project Irving recently filed applications for 15 mineral prospecting licenses totaling 48.50 sq km (4,850 hectares) at Shimokawa, an area prospective for hot spring epithermal gold mineralization (Figure 1). All applications have been accepted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Hokkaido Bureau, and a multi-step review now begins for final approval. Mitsui Mineral Development Engineering Co., Ltd. (MINDECO) is assisting the Company throughout the process. Irving identified this area as prospective upon discovery of extensive, stacked hot spring silica terraces. The exceptional continuity of these terraces suggests they may have formed in a shallow lake or bay, and Irving believes the feeder structures that generated these deposits are a potential target for high-grade gold-silver veins like those found at the Companys Omu project 25 km northeast of Shimokawa. Irving plans to undertake stream sediment sampling as well as preliminary mapping and prospecting at Shimokawa during the 2019 field season. Engaru Gold Project Near the town of Engaru, Irving recently filed applications for 25 mineral prospecting licenses totaling 84.42 sq km (8,442 hectares) covering an area a few km south of the historic Konomai gold field. All applications have been accepted by METI, and a multi-step review now begins for final approval. Reconnaissance prospecting near Engaru by Irving geologists in November, 2018, led to discovery of several areas of epithermal quartz vein float within a sub-basin of Miocene intermediate and felsic volcanic rocks. Hot spring silica sinter deposits, some with fossilized wood, are also present at Engaru. Like Shimokawa, Irving believes the feeder structures that fed these deposits are a potential target for high-grade gold-silver veins. Irving plans to undertake stream sediment sampling as well as preliminary mapping and prospecting at Engaru during the 2019 field season. Omu Gold Project Additions Irving recently filed applications for five mineral prospecting licenses totaling 16.26 sq km (1,626 hectares) extending its Omu gold project further west. The Omu gold project now encompasses 168.29 sq km (16,829 hectares). These tenements cover prospective areas west of the recently discussed Hokuryu West high grade vein float samples (please refer to the Companys news release dated October 19, 2018 for further details). All applications have been accepted by METI, and a multi-step review now begins for final approval. Quinton Hennigh (Ph.D., P.Geo.) is the Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 responsible for, and having reviewed and approved, the technical information contained in this news release. Dr. Hennigh is a technical advisor and director of Irving Resources Inc. About Irving Resources Inc.: Irving is a junior exploration company with a focus on gold in Japan. Irving also holds, through a subsidiary, Project Venture Agreements with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) for joint regional exploration programs in the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Malawi and the Republic of Madagascar. JOGMEC is a government organization established under the law of Japan, administrated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, and is responsible for stable supply of various resources to Japan through the discovery of sizable economic deposits of base, precious and rare metals. Additional information can be found on the Companys website: www.IRVresources.com . Akiko Levinson, President & Director Forward-looking information Some statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, without limitation, customary risks of the mineral resource exploration industry as well as Irving having sufficient cash to fund any planned drilling and other exploration activities. THE CSE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6aa39652-0783-4fe2-8f3b-5c6579d615af WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kane Biotech Inc. (TSX-V:KNE), (the Corporation or Kane Biotech), is pleased to announce that the U.S. District Court of Eastern Missouri that is overseeing the lawsuit filed by Kane Biotech against Nestec, Ltd., aka Nestec, S.A., Nestle Purina Petcare Global Resources, Inc. (Nestle) has ruled against Nestles motion to dismiss on all six counts of the sealed complaint, paving the way for the ultimate trial of the case on the merits. Nestle had filed a motion to dismiss which is standard practice; We fully expected the case to proceed and we will now move into the discovery phase. We anxiously look forward to this opportunity as this is where we will be able to concretely discover the actions of Nestle which we believe were inappropriate, caused damage to Kane and are compensable, explained Marc Edwards, Chief Executive Officer of Kane Biotech. Glen Waldman of Waldman Barnett, P.L. the legal firm retained by Kane added All six (6) of our counts have survived which means that the court accepted all of our allegations and counts as viable at this point and provides us with a path to pursue Nestle on all of our very significant claims. We believe our claims are strong and have confidence in the ultimate outcome. Nestle now has to answer Kanes complaint, which is due in February. About Kane Biotech Kane Biotech is a biotechnology company engaged in the research, development and commercialization of technologies and products that prevent and remove microbial biofilms. The Corporation has a portfolio of biotechnologies, intellectual property (75 patents and patents pending, trade secrets and trademarks) and products developed by the Corporations own biofilm research expertise and acquired from leading research institutions. StrixNB, DispersinB, Aledex, bluestem, AloSera, coactiv+ and Kane are trademarks of Kane Biotech Inc. The Corporation is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "KNE" and on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol KNBIF. For more information, please visit www.kanebiotech.com or contact: Marc Edwards Chief Executive Officer Kane Biotech Inc. +1 (514) 910-6991 medwards@kanebiotech.com Ray Dupuis Chief Financial Officer Kane Biotech Inc. +1 (204) 298-2200 rdupuis@kanebiotech.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release." Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains certain statements regarding Kane Biotech Inc. that constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities law. These statements reflect managements current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks relating to the Companys: (a) financial condition, including lack of significant revenues to date and reliance on equity and other financing; (b) business, including its early stage of development, government regulation, market acceptance for its products, rapid technological change and dependence on key personnel; (c) intellectual property including the ability of the Company to protect its intellectual property and dependence on its strategic partners; and (d) capital structure, including its lack of dividends on its common shares, volatility of the market price of its common shares and public company costs. Further information about these and other risks and uncertainties can be found in the disclosure documents filed by the Company with applicable securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. These risks and uncertainties should be considered carefully undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot provide assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. English Estonian The announcement was amended concerning the information to be disclosed about new persons appointed to the Management Board: Kadri Land owns 74 792 AS Tallink Grupp shares. Harri Hanschmidt is Member of the Management Board of OU One More Rabbit and owns 12 648 AS Tallink Grupp shares. The AS Tallink Grupp (the Company) Supervisory Board of the Company has appointed Mrs Kadri Land and Mr Harri Hanschmidt as Members of the Management Board and has recalled from the Management Board Mr Janek Stalmeister following his resignation. The mandate of Mr Janek Stalmeister ended on 2 February 2019. The mandate of Mrs Kadri Land and Mr Harri Hanschmidt begins on 4 February 2019 and lasts for a period of three years. Kadri Land has been working in Tallink Grupp since 2005 and, during that time, has held several senior positions within the organisation, including the roles of a Member of the Management Board between 2012 and 2015, and since 2016 the role of the Head of the Groups Global Operations and Logistics. Between 2005 and 2015 Kadri Land was the CEO of the groups Swedish subsidiary. Kadri Land has a Masters degree in Physics from the University of Tartu. She is a Member of the Supervisory Board of AS Tallinna Lennujaam (Tallinn Airport) and is the Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Tallink Silja AB. She is also a Member of the Management Board of the Swedish Maritime Employers Association and a Member of the Management Board of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Estonia. Kadri Land owns 74 792 AS Tallink Grupp shares. Harri Hanschmidt has been working in Tallink Grupp since 2009 and has held the positions of Head of Investor Relations and Head of the Finance Department among other roles during that time. Since 2015 he has held the position of the Group Head of Strategic Projects. Hanschmidt holds a Masters degree in Business Informatics from the Tallinn Technical University. Prior to joining Tallink Grupp he worked in various roles in Estonian IT sector organisations and is Member of the Management Board of OU One More Rabbit. Harri Hanschmidt owns 12 648 AS Tallink Grupp shares. With effect from 4 February 2019, the Management Board of the Company will operate with five members, including Mr Paavo Nogene, Mr Andres Hunt, Mr Lembit Kitter, Mrs Kadri Land and Mr Harri Hanschmidt. Veiko Haavapuu Financial Director TORONTO, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aura Health Inc. (the Company or Aura) (CSE:BUZZ) is pleased to announce that it has engaged Mackie Research Capital Corporation (the Lead Agent) to act as lead agent and sole book runner, along with Haywood Securities Inc., PI Financial Corp., and Foundation Markets Inc. (together with the Lead Agent, the Agents) to sell, by way of private placement, on a best efforts basis (the Offering) up to $5,000,000 of subscription receipts of Aura (each, a Subscription Receipt and collectively, the Subscription Receipts) at a price per Subscription Receipt, which will be determined in the context of the market (the Issue Price). The Offering is being completed in connection with the proposed acquisition of an 80% equity interest in Pharmadrug Production GmbH (the Acquisition), previously announced in a press release dated January 25, 2019. As previously announced, Pharmadrug is a cash flow positive German pharmaceutical distribution company with over 20 years of operating history and a Schedule I European Union narcotics licence that allows it to distribute medical cannabis to pharmacies in Germany and throughout the Eurozone as markets become legalized. Pharmadrug currently has supply agreements with Bedrocan International B.V. and with a Canadian Licensed Producer, and is expecting its first cannabis shipment shortly. Daniel Cohen, CEO of Aura, commented, We are very excited about this transformative transaction and believe that this is a major building block to establishing Aura as a leading medical cannabis supplier to the European markets. Pharmadrug fits well strategically with our Israel business. With the imminent opening of the Israeli export law and Israeli GMP complying with European GMP, we will have a strategic avenue to export cannabis from Israel into the European Union. The net proceeds of the Offering will be placed in escrow with an escrow agent on behalf of the purchasers of the Subscription Receipts and will be released to Aura upon satisfaction of certain escrow release conditions (the Conditions), which will include the completion of the Acquisition on or before 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on March 29, 2019 (the Termination Time). Should the Conditions not be satisfied prior to the Termination Time, the Subscription Receipts will be cancelled and all proceeds from the Offering will be returned to the subscribers. Notwithstanding the foregoing, upon closing of the Offering, $2,400,000 will be released from escrow to be used for payments associated with the Acquisition, which amount will be reimbursed in full by the Company to the purchasers of the Subscription Receipts in the event the Conditions are not satisfied. Each Subscription Receipt will entitle the holder thereof to receive, without any further action on the part of the holder or payment of any additional consideration, upon satisfaction of the Conditions prior to the Termination Time, one unit of Aura (each, a Unit) consisting of one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a Common Share) and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole common share purchase warrant, a Warrant), with each Warrant exercisable at a price to be determined in the context of the market, into one Common Share for a period of 24 months from the date of satisfaction of the Conditions. The Lead Agent will have an option (the Agents Option) to offer for sale up to an additional 15% of the number of Subscription Receipts sold in the Offering at the Issue Price, which Agents Option is exercisable, in whole or in part, at any time up to 48 hours prior to the last closing of the Offering. In connection with the Offering, the Agents will be paid a cash commission equal to 7% of the gross proceeds of the Offering (including, pursuant to any exercise of the Agents Option) (the Cash Fee), which at the option of the Agents, may be paid by way of issuance of Common Shares at the Issue Price. Upon closing, the Agents will also receive compensation options (each, a Compensation Option) in a number equal to 7% of the number of Subscription Receipts sold under the Offering (including, pursuant to any exercise of the Agents Option), with each Compensation Option being exercisable to purchase Subscription Receipts, or Common Shares and Warrants (if the Subscription Receipts have converted into Units as of the time of exercise of the Compensation Options), at the Issue Price for a period of 24 months from the date of closing of the Offering. The Offering is expected to close during the week of February 25, 2019 (the Closing Date) and is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange. All securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a four month and one day hold period, from the Closing Date, in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. About Aura Health Inc. Aura Health is building an international network of vertically integrated cannabis assets. Through an established product line of cannabis-infused edible products and oil extracts, Aura is dedicated to building a high margin downstream business in the medical marijuana sector. The Company holds convertible debt that converts to 54% equity of HolyCanna, a cultivation and nursery license holder in Israel. The Company also owns a 30% interest in four medical marijuana clinics in the U.S. Sun Belt. For further information, please contact: Daniel Cohen, CEO Aura Health Inc. (647) 202-1824 David Posner, Chairman Aura Health Inc. (647) 985-6727 Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information: THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED NOR DOES IT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Such statements include submission of the relevant documentation within the required timeframe and to the satisfaction of the relevant regulators, completing the acquisition of the applicable real estate and raising sufficient financing to complete the Company's business strategy. There is no certainty that any of these events will occur. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. We assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. The Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. 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 the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law. NEW YORK and DELTA, British Columbia, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Investorideas.com , a leading investor news resource covering hemp and cannabis stocks releases a snapshot looking at the cannabis land grab happening in the US and Canada as companies focus on increasing their real estate footprint. A recent CNBC article discussed how the super wealthy have started to invest more into cannabis companies and the land they own. In the article, Michael Sonnenfeldt, founder of investment club Tiger 21, that has numbers upwards of 700 and have a total of $71 billion under management, commented on investing in the cannabis sector saying, "Sometimes it's owning the land that cannabis is grown on, sometimes it's owning the real estate where there are factories, if you will, and sometimes it's owning the companies and then, of course, there's the public market." Companies like Innovative Industrial Properties ( NYSE: IIPR ), a self-advised Maryland corporation focused on the acquisition, ownership and management of specialized industrial properties leased to experienced, state-licensed operators for their regulated medical-use cannabis facilities seem to be a harbinger of this investment trend. In recent news , the company was reported closing at $61.92, outpacing the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.86%, with shares of the company having gained 33.52% over the past month, outpacing the finance sector's gain of 9.7% and the S&P 500's gain of 8.11% in that time. Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. ( CSE: HARV) ( OTCQX: HTHHF ), a vertically integrated public cannabis company, has decided to skip the middleman with regards to real estate and amassed one of the largest footprints in the U.S , with 60 licenses across 12 US states. The company recently announced the Ohio Department of Commerce, pending background checks, will award the company a provisional processor license under Ohios Medical Marijuana Control Program. The application scored among the top 26 after being judged on a series of standards and merits, including relevant experience across multiple verticals in the cannabis space, prior demonstration of compliance, financial viability and proposed community benefits. Ohio has an important long-term role in the cannabis industry, said Steve White, Founder and CEO of Harvest. It has the seventh largest state economy, a skilled manufacturing workforce and a growing patient count. We are thrilled to open fully vertical operations and look forward to contributing to the Buckeye economy for years to come. This is a solid win for us, coming on the heels of big retail victories in Pennsylvania and Santa Monica, California. Cannabis companies like MedMen Enterprises ( CSE: MMEN ) ( OTCQX: MMNFF ) have also realized the investment to be made in cannabis real estate. MedMen and Stable Road Capital, a Venice, California-based investment firm with a successful track record in real estate and cannabis, recently founded Treehouse Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc., a newly organized real estate investment company focused on the acquisition, ownership and management of specialized retail and industrial properties leased for use as regulated adult-use and medical-use cannabis facilities. Treehouse announced last week that it has completed its offering of 6,676,000 shares of its common stock (the Common Stock) for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $133.5 million. Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., Compass Point Research & Trading, LLC, and Northland Securities, Inc. acted as the initial purchasers/placement agents for the offering. iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. ( CSE: IAN ) ( OTCQX: ITHUF ) and MPX Bioceutical Corporation just announced that the previously announced plan of arrangement in which iAnthus will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of MPX is now expected to close on or before February 5, 2019. The combined company, excluding MPX International, will encompass operations and cannabis licenses in 10 states that will permit iAnthus to operate 56 retail locations and 14 cultivation/processing facilities. As a result of the transaction, iAnthus will add retail and/or production capabilities in Arizona, Maryland, Nevada, California and Massachusetts. These additional licenses complement iAnthus' existing assets in New York, Florida, Massachusetts, Vermont, Colorado, and New Mexico, forming super-regional footprints in both the Eastern and Western United States. The land grab for the US and Canadian cannabis retail and industrial real estate market is on and multi-state operators such as Harvest One ( CSE: HARV) ( OTCQX: HTHHF ) may have the upper hand against the Canadian companies just beginning to enter into the US. For investors following cannabis stocks, Investor Ideas has created a stock directory of publicly traded CSE, TSX, TSXV, OTC, NASDAQ, NYSE, ASX Marijuana/Hemp Stocks About Investorideas.com - News that Inspires Big Investing Ideas https://www.investorideas.com/About/ Follow us on Cannabis Social Media https://www.facebook.com/Investorideaspotcasts/ https://twitter.com/MJInvestorIdeas https://www.instagram.com/potcasts_investorideas/ 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 investment involves risk and possible loss of investment. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Contact each company directly regarding content and press release questions. 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. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp . Disclosure: this article featuring Harvest Health and Recreation Inc. is a paid for service on Investorideas.com third party. Learn more about costs and our services https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Additional info regarding BC Residents and global Investors: https://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.aspx?id=6894 . Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Investor Ideas does not condone the use of cannabis except where permissible by law. Our site does not possess, distribute, or sell cannabis products. Contact Investorideas.com 800-665-0411 God values a man's right to own slaves... Yes, you read the title correctly. And this shouldn't shock anyone who has read the Bible. I could give many reasons for my refusal to behave the way the god of the Bible behaves, but five should be enough.Ezekiel 14:9 states that if a prophet is deceived, God is the one who has deceived the prophet. In 2 Chronicles 18:21 we find an example of this. God sent a lying spirit into the mouths of all of King Ahab's prophets. God deliberately lied to his own prophets--because Ahab was king of Israel.In Exodus 3:22 God told his people to borrow silver, gold, and clothes from their Egyptian neighbors among whom they lived. Of course, there was never any intention of returning the items thus "borrowed." It was all an evil plot since the Israelites intended to run away with the expensive items.Not having thought far enough in advance as to the outcome of his little Earth project, God decided one day that he was sorry he had created human beings. So he murdered nearly everyone, including animals, birds, and "creeping things" (Genesis 6:7). He made sure his servant Noah took bed bugs and roaches onto the ark though (Genesis 7:15). God didn't want to lose any of those "good" little creatures he had created (Genesis 1:25).God told his people to murder as well. In Deuteronomy 7:1-2 he enjoined upon them the murder of seven nations of people. The Israelites were to "utterly destroy them" and show no mercy--not even on the babies or pregnant women. But killing other peoples wasn't enough for God. In Exodus 32:27 he told the Levites, his especially special people, to "slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour."Numbers 31:17 tells us that God commanded the mass murder of "every male among the little ones, and . . . every woman who has known man by lying with him." So women who weren't virgins and baby boys were expendable. The next verse says: "But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves." God is always looking out for his faithful people--I mean, his faithful males.Finally, Ezekiel 9:6 says to "Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women." Let those words sink in. When we hear about the death of a little child at the hands of a mad man, we recoil in shock and disgust. But, according to the Bible, such behavior is actually godly.Exodus 21:4 speaks of a male slave's being able to gain his freedom from his master. However, if the slave had a wife and children, they were to remain behind. They belonged to the master, not the husband/father. God sees a master's property rights over his slave as being of greater significance than a man's right to his wife and his own children. So much for family values.In Genesis 9:22-27 Ham, the father of Canaan, committed an offense against his father and, apparently, against God as well, and God cursed not Ham but Ham's son Canaan. In 2 Samuel 12:13 David sinned against God and God killed David's son.Deuteronomy 23:2 states: "A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD." Ten generations. Can you imagine? If your great-great-great . . . grandfather was a bastard, you can't enter the congregation of the Lord. It doesn't matter how good you might be or how much you love God. You're cursed by God because of some man who lived 400 years earlier.And for the coup de grace, in Matthew 23:35 we see God raining down wrath on all the descendants of his faithful Abraham: "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." Granted, these people may have been sinners themselves. But why should they pay for the sins of their fathers, particularly when God had declared he had stopped committing such a heinous crime against humanity (because people were talking behind his back about it) (Ezekiel 18:1-9)?This list could go on and on, of course. You see, God doesn't have a high moral standard--certainly not high enough for me to want to emulate him! Therefore, I refuse to be godly. If you choose to follow God in his pernicious ways, that's up to you. But I hope you can understand why I won't be joining you. I simply can't stoop that low. Vancouver, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ACL today announced the next step in its industry consolidation strategy with the acquisition of Rsam, an analyst-recognized leader in IT, vendor, and security risk management solutions, headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey. The combination brings together ACLs true SaaS platform differentiated by its proprietary risk assurance methodology, advanced analytics/robotic process automation, and top-rated user interface design with Rsams dynamic flexibility, universal IT systems integration capability, and deep industry content. It also more than doubles ACLs R&D capacity, accelerating the delivery of innovation to 7,000 customers in 135 countries. The acquisition follows a $50M strategic investment by Norwest Venture Partners in 2017 and over 50% organic growth in new bookings in 2018. This acquisition combines the strengths of ACL in delivering audit, compliance, and fraud related solutions, with those of Rsam in delivering vendor risk, IT risk, and cyber security solutions to enterprise IT and security customers, said Laurie Schultz, CEO of ACL. The integration of our teams and platforms will transform our ability to provide a completely integrated and automated view of risk to the worlds largest organizationsfrom front line operations to the board of directorsmaking our users the most sought-after professionals in their organizations. With the acquisition, Rsams co-founders Vivek Shivananda (CEO) and Kevin Day (CTO) join ACLs leadership team reporting to ACL CEO Laurie Schultz. Global issues like GDPR compliance, money laundering, third-party risk and cyberattacks have emerged as key risks driving the $36 billion-dollar GRC software market we are consolidating, said Vivek Shivinanda. Both ACL and Rsam have a vision for an integrated, data-driven GRC solution to these risk areas from opposite ends of the market. Now, as a combined industry catalyst, we will advance our goal of becoming the first name in GRC. Both ACL and Rsam have received wide industry recognition and analyst validation including placement in The Forrester Wave: Governance, Risk, And Compliance Platforms, Q1 2018 . According to the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated Risk Management, by John A. Wheeler, Jie Zhang, Earl Perkins, dated July 16, 2018, The IRM market is the largest of all the solution provider markets covered by Gartner in the security and risk management (SRM) software ecosystem. It also ranks third highest in terms of estimated profitability margin. As a result, this is one of the most dynamic software markets within our coverage and looks to be one to watch for the next several years. ACL and Rsam were recognized as Challengers and Visionaries respectively in the research report. Terms of the private transaction will not be released. ### About Rsam: Rsam, a market leader in Governance, Risk, and Compliance Management (GRC), helps organizations achieve their business objectives by overcoming the daily challenges of integrated risk management through innovative technology. Adaptability and extensibility are core to the DNA of our software platform which has fundamentally changed the way the industry approaches GRC, Security Operations, and Vendor Risk Management and Enterprise Risk Management Solutions. Recognized for innovation in architecture, automation, and integration capabilities, Rsam empowers organizations throughout their GRC journey to demonstrate value quickly, maintain control, and adapt to change without the time, cost, or resources typically associated with GRC/IRM initiatives. Learn more at www.rsam.com About ACL: ACLs GRC platform offers a flexible solution across the major risk management use cases shared by finance, IT, risk, and compliance leaders at the worlds largest enterprises and governments. The platform is totally unique to the GRC industry in its ground-breaking data integration and robotic process automation capabilities, allowing customers to drive automation and deep risk insights across their GRC-related programs. www.acl.com 2019 ACL Services Ltd. ACL and the ACL logo are registered trademarks of ACL Services Ltd. All other company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Media Contact Julia Hanbury julia@talkshopmedia.com 604-738-2220 LONDON, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In an increasingly technological world, more and more banks have had to enhance their digital capacities in order to meet customer needs as well as bolster their own success. One bank that has excelled in this capacity is MoraBanc, whose Managing Director, Lluis Alsina Alvarez, recently spoke to World Finance magazine about the steps the institution has taken to become a leader in the innovation stakes. Based in Andorra, the organisation has found much of its growth to be contingent upon its evolutionary capabilities. Its recent development is thanks to a project it has implemented called MoraBanc Digital, which has helped the bank transform from the inside. Executives at the institution also strongly believe what has helped MoraBanc is the commitment from its own people to promote digital growth. Thanks to this approach, the bank now uses cutting-edge technology, with programmes like Smartsheet, Jira and Trello integral to its processes. Its has also introduced MoraBanc Direct a digital platform that allows clients to manage their banking account at home, or any other location for that matter. Should they need assistance, a personal manager from MoraBanc can contact them via email, safe chat or telephone. MoraBanc also offers an online banking app that is compatible for smartphones and tablets, making it one of the most accessible banks in Andorra. Whats more, improvements in the banks technology have allowed MoraBanc to reduce its costs by 22 percent between 2016 and 2017. It intends to bolster its technological services even more over the next year, and to maintain its position as a market leader in Andorra. For its efforts, MoraBanc has been awarded Best Online Bank and Best Banking App in Andorra, 2018, by World Finance. To find out more about MoraBanc check out an exclusive article by Managing Director, Lluis Alsina Alvarez, in the latest edition of World Finance, available in print, on tablet and online now. www.worldfinance.com World News Media is a leading publisher of quality financial and business magazines, which enjoys a global distribution network that includes subscriber lists of prominent decision-makers around the world. CONTACT INFORMATION Dublin, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Exterior Insulation and Finish System (EIFS) Market by Product Type (PB, PM), Insulation Material (EPS, MW), Component (Adhesive, Insulation Board, Base Coat, Reinforcement, Finish coat), End-Use Industry, and Region - Global Forecast to 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS) market size will grow from USD 60.68 billion in 2018 to USD 108.11 billion by 2023, at a projected CAGR of 12.24%. The EIFS market is expected to witness high growth as a result of the growing demand for thermal insulation in residential and non-residential construction and owing to the stringent regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The segmentation for this report is based on product type, insulation material, component, end-use industry, and region. On the basis of product type, the market is segmented into PB (polymer-based) and PM (polymer-modified), wherein the PB segment is projected to be a faster-growing product type in the EIFS market. PB provides high thermal insulation and is cost effective. It typically consists of closed expanded polystyrene (EPS) and can be either adhesively or mechanically attached to the sheathing. PB EIFS can incorporate additional layers of base coat & reinforcing mesh to achieve higher impact resistance. EIFS has witnessed extensive traction for the non-residential construction industry. It is used in both residential and non-residential construction, and its utility includes providing thermal insulation and water resistance. The non-residential segment is projected to have a larger share and dominate the EIFS market from 2018 to 2023. The residential construction industry is the next application to play a key role in changing the EIFS landscape and grow at the second-highest rate during the forecast period. The non-residential construction industry, for a long time, has been the major contributor to the rising demand for EIFS. Europe is projected to have the largest market share and dominate the EIFS market. This region offers potential growth opportunities, as countries such as Italy and Poland are projected to be emerging markets for thermal insulation products such as EIFS. The growth of the EIFS market in this region is propelled by factors such as the growth of both residential and non-residential construction and increasing demand for thermal insulation. Also, the growing population and economic development are other factors driving the EIFS market. However, the availability of green insulation materials is restraining the growth of the market. The global market for EIFS is dominated by players such as BASF (Germany), Saint-Gobain (France), Wacker Chemie AG (Germany), Sto SE & Co KGaA (Germany), Owen Corning (US), Dryvit Systems Inc. (US), Master Wall, Inc. (US), Parex USA, Inc. (US), and Rmax (US). Other companies include Durabond Products Limited (Canada), Durock Alfacinf international (Canada), Adex Systems (Canada), Omega Products International (US), and Terraco Group (UK). These players adopted various strategies such as expansions & investments, agreements, contracts, partnership, mergers & acquisitions, and new product & technology launches to cater to the needs of the end users. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 4.1 Attractive Opportunities in the EIFS Market 4.2 EIFS Market, By Insulation Material 4.3 EIFS Market, By Type 4.4 EIFS Market, By End-Use Industry 4.5 EIFS Market, By Country & Type 4.6 EIFS Market: Geographic Snapshot 5 Market Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Market Dynamics 5.2.1 Drivers 5.2.1.1 Stringent Regulations to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emission 5.2.1.2 Reduction in Energy Consumption and Its Related Cost 5.2.1.3 Presence of Stringent Building Energy Codes 5.2.1.4 Rebates and Tax Credits 5.2.2 Restraints 5.2.2.1 Availability of Green Insulation Material 5.2.3 Opportunities 5.2.3.1 Policies & Regulations 5.2.4 Challenges 5.2.4.1 Lack of Awareness 5.3 Macroeconomic Indicators 5.3.1 Introduction 5.3.2 Trends and Forecast of GDP 5.3.3 Contribution of the Construction Industry in GDP, By Country 6 EIFS Market, By Type 6.1 Introduction 6.2 PB (Polymer-Based) 6.3 PM (Polymer-Modified) 7 EIFS Market, By Insulation Material 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) 7.3 Mineral Wool 7.4 Others 8 EIFS Market, By Component 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Adhesive 8.3 Insulation Board 8.4 Base Coat 8.5 Reinforcement 8.6 Finish Coat 9 EIFS Market, By End-Use Industry 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Residential 9.3 Non-Residential 9.3.1 Industrial Buildings 9.3.2 Commercial Buildings 9.3.3 Other Non-Residential Buildings 10 Regional Analysis 10.1 Introduction 10.2 North America 10.2.1 US 10.2.2 Canada 10.2.3 Mexico 10.3 Europe 10.3.1 UK 10.3.2 Poland 10.3.3 Germany 10.3.4 France 10.3.5 Italy 10.3.6 Spain 10.3.7 Rest of Europe 10.4 Asia Pacific 10.4.1 China 10.4.2 India 10.4.3 Japan 10.4.4 Australia 10.4.5 South Korea 10.4.6 Rest of Asia Pacific 10.5 Middle East & Africa 10.5.1 Turkey 10.5.2 UAE 10.5.3 Saudi Arabia 10.5.4 South Africa 10.5.5 Rest of Mea 10.6 South America 10.6.1 Brazil 10.6.2 Argentina 10.6.3 Rest of South America 11 Competitive Landscape 11.1 Overview 11.2 Market Ranking of Key Players 11.3 Competitive Scenario 11.3.1 New Product Launches 11.3.2 Expansion & Investments 11.3.3 Mergers & Acquisitions 11.3.4 Agreement, Contracts, and Partnerships 12 Company Profiles Adex Systems Inc. BASF Dryvit Systems Inc Durabond Products Ltd Durock Alfacing International Limited Master Wall Inc Omega Products International Owens Corning Parex USA, Inc. Rmax Saint-Gobain SFS Group Ag. STO SE & Co KGaA Terraco Group Wacker Chemie AG For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9fr79g/global_exterior?w=12 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Selbyville, Delaware, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The data center liquid cooling market is expected to grow from USD 750 million in 2018 to USD 2500 million by 2025, according to a 2019 Global Market Insights, Inc. report. Increasing storage densities, workloads, and a high number of servers in the infrastructure is driving the demand for the market to avoid excessive heating. As a result, solution manufacturers have developed liquid-based offerings to address such high-density requirements. Additionally, to reduce the high network latency in conventional facilities, several edge data centers have emerged, further driving the industry growth. Dense computing features and remote locations of these infrastructures require efficient cooling due to the high amount of heat generation, further increasing the data center liquid cooling market demand. Make an Inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/3090 The trend of AI and machine learning implementations in newly developed software & industrial solutions is driving the industry growth. The introduction of TPU 3.0 by Google in its data centers created the requirement for efficient cooling solutions resulting in the deployment of liquid coolers across several locations. The data center liquid cooling market is hindered by the lack of regulations & standards for manufacturing such solutions. This phenomenon can result in harmful effects on the complex infrastructures. Also, the implementation of these advanced products requires two cooling systems as compared to one in air-based cooling, which limits the deployment cases. Direct immersion cooling solutions are expected to gain high traction in the data center liquid cooling market. This demand is attributed to the high reliability & compatibility with both CPUs and GPUs. The products have capacities to cool solid-state drives, which makes the entire process more efficient in comparison with traditional methods. The technology also reduces humidity & heating effects on various network components, further supporting high operational performance. Additionally, installation & deployment services are also gaining penetration in the industry due to product innovations and the unavailability of skilled deployers with the data center operators. Solution developers provide efficient maintenance & installation services to customers, further supporting industry expansion. Large data centers dominated the market with an overall revenue of over 75% generated in 2017 due to the high adoption of these solutions to address complex & dense storage capabilities of these infrastructures. Data center liquid cooling market products are developed with the ability to support efficient cooling of the high-density components and also support the AI integrations. The emergence of edge & colocation facilities across various regions and industry verticals is a major factor driving the growth of the solution segment. Small & medium sized infrastructures also have the requirement for these products due to the incompatibility and inefficiency of air-based coolers. Browse key industry insights spread across 280 pages with 401 market data tables & 27 figures & charts from the report, Data Center Liquid Cooling Market Size By Component (Solution [Direct Immersion Cooling {Single Phase Cooling, Two Phase Cooling}, Indirect Cooling {Rack Based Cooling, Row Based Cooling}], Service [Consulting, Maintenance & Support, Installation & Deployment]), By Data Center Size (Small and Mid-Sized Data Center, Large Data Center), By Application (BFSI, Colocation, Energy, Government, Healthcare, Manufacturing, IT & Telecom), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Mexico, UK, Germany, France, Russia, Spain, China, India, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Application Potential, Price Trend, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2019 2025 in detail along with the table of contents: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/data-center-liquid-cooling-market Colocation application in the data center liquid cooling market is expected to witness a high growth rate due to the establishment of several colocation facilities across the globe. The increasing requirement of managing high data storage capabilities in various industry verticals, such as BFSI, IT & telecom, etc., is responsible for the establishment of colocation facilities. As a result, liquid coolers are being used across various regional infrastructures. Additionally, the increasing data components in IT & telecom sectors owing to enhanced mobile connectivity, utilization of 5G networks, and usage of the internet is a major factor accounting the market growth. The Europe data center liquid cooling market will grow over the forecast timespan due to establishments of several edge & colocation facilities in various countries. The increase in data capabilities due to digitized processes in various industries such as BFSI, healthcare in European countries is a major industry driver. Additionally, the adoption of AI & machine learning technologies in processes across the European manufacturing sector is also developing the market. Leading players in the data center liquid cooling market include Alfa Laval, Rittal GmbH & Co. Kg, Schneider Electric, Vertiv Co., Chilldyne Inc., Asetek AS, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, CoolIT Systems Inc., Liquid Cool Solutions, etc. These companies continuously develop new cooling solutions with capabilities to cool highly dense storage components. They also invest in R&D activities to create alternative solutions that further support developments in the market. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/3090 Browse Related Reports: Data Center Colocation Market Size By Type (Retail Colocation, Wholesale Colocation), By End-Use (SMEs, Large Enterprises), By Application (BFSI, Energy, Government & defense, Healthcare, Manufacturing, IT & Telecom, Retail), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Benelux, Poland, China, India, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, GCC, South Africa), Growth Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2018 2024 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/data-center-colocation-market Edge Data Center Market Size By Component (Solution [Cooling, Power, UPS, IT Racks & Enclosures, Networking Equipment, DCIM] Service [Installation & Integration, Managed, Consulting]), By Application (BFSI, Colocation, Energy, Government, Healthcare, Manufacturing, IT & Telecom), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Mexico, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, Benelux, China, India, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, GCC, South Africa), Growth Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2018 2024 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/edge-data-center-market 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. Dublin, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Automotive Exterior Lighting System Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2018-2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global automotive exterior lighting system market is estimated to reach revenues of more than $43 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of approximately 6% during 2017-2023. The market research report offers market size analysis in terms of unit shipment values during the forecast period. The extensive price-wars among APAC manufacturers are encouraging them to expand their business in the North American and European market to attract new consumers. The growing adoption of automotive sensors and the use of energy efficient lightings such as LED and OLED will boost sales in the global market. The global automotive exterior lighting system market is driven by the increasing implementation of powertrain, infotainment, connected vehicles, safety systems, and electronics. The increasing investments in engine downsizing that reduce the weight of the vehicles will augment the growth of the global market. The market research report provides in-depth market analysis and segmental analysis of the global automotive exterior lighting system market by product type, vehicle type, end-users, and geography. Automotive Exterior Lighting System Market - Dynamics The benefits associated with, and declining prices of LED lights is boosting the demand in the global automotive exterior lighting market. The increasing investment in R&D activities to make LED technology accessible for all car segments at affordable prices will fuel the sales of these lights in the global market. ADAS solutions are designed to prevent accidents by either assisting or taking control of the vehicle in cases of potential collisions. The leading OEMs are shifting from incandescent bulbs to newer forms of lighting such as LED, OLED, and laser to attract new consumer groups and gain a larger market share. The laser lights have double power and have a maximum range from 984.25 feet to 1968.5 feet without sacrificing the electrical efficiency. The laser lights are smaller in size offering vendors flexibility add additional technologies. The power efficiency of these lights will attribute to the growing demand of these lights in the global automotive exterior lighting market. Automotive Exterior Lighting System Market - Segmentation This market research report includes a detailed segmentation of the market by product type, vehicle type, end-users, and geography. Headlamps segment dominated almost 3/4th of the market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of around 6% during the forecast period. The increasing adoption of LED and laser headlights is augmenting the growth of this segment in the global market. The use of LED lights that allows the manufacturing of lightweight and thin rear lamps will boost the sales in the automotive exterior lighting system market. Mid-priced car segment dominated a section of the market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of more than 8% during the forecast period. The installation of electronic stability control (ESC), tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS), driver seat belt indicators, and gear shift indicators are driving the growth of this segment in the global market. OEMs segment dominated the majority market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of over 6% during the forecast period. The increasing profits from regions such as the US, China, Europe, Japan, and South Korea will propel the growth of this segment in the global market. Key Vendor Analysis The global automotive exterior lighting system market is very diverse across geographies and has its own competitive dynamics and intensity of competition. The presence of several players that compete for prices in APAC will intensify the competition level in the global market. The economic recovery in Brazil and Argentina will encourage the manufacturer to expand their businesses in the Latin American region in the global market. The increasing focus on product differentiation and competitive prices will help vendors to sustain the competition in the global automotive exterior lighting system market during the forecast period. The major vendors in the global market are: KOITO MANUFACTURING Magneti Marelli Valeo Hella OSRAM Key Topics Covered: 1 Research Methodology 2 Research Objectives 3 Research Process 4 Report Coverage 4.1 Market Definition 4.2 Base Year 4.3 Scope of Study 5 Report Assumptions & Caveats 5.1 Key Caveats 5.2 Inclusions 5.3 Exclusions 5.4 Currency Conversion 5.5 Market Derivation 6 Market at a Glance 7 Introduction 7.1 Overview 7.2 Automotive Exterior Lighting System 7.3 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) 7.3.1 System Components 7.4 Global Electric Vehicles Market 8 Market Dynamics 8.1 Market Growth Enablers 8.1.1 Increasing sales of luxury cars fueling demand for new-generation automotive lighting 8.1.2 Growing adoption of LED lights 8.1.3 Advancements in ADAS promoting new generation of smart lights 8.1.4 Rising demand for EVs to boost LED adoption 8.2 Market Growth Restraints 8.2.1 Increasing labor costs in APAC 8.2.2 Stringent regulations to phase out old lighting technologies 8.2.3 Increasing cost pressure on manufacturers 8.3 Market Opportunities & Trends 8.3.1 Rapid advancements in automotive LED lighting technology 8.3.2 Increasing adoption of OLED lighting technology 8.3.3 Introduction of laser light technology 9 Value Chain Analysis 9.1 Value Chain overview 9.1.1 Materials/Components Suppliers 9.1.2 Automotive Exterior Lighting System Manufacturers 9.1.3 OEMs 9.1.4 Dealers/Retailers 10 Market Landscape 10.1 Market Overview 10.1.1 Historical Data 2015-2016 10.1.2 Market Size & Forecast 2017-2023 10.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 11 Global Automotive Exterior Lighting System Market by Product 11.1 Market Overview 11.2 Headlamps 11.3 Rear Lamps 11.4 Fog Lamps 11.5 Otherst 12 Global Automotive Exterior Lighting System Market by End-User 12.1 Market Overview 12.2 OEM 12.3 Aftermarket 13 Global Automotive Exterior Lighting System Market by Vehicle 13.1 Market Overview 13.2 Global Economy Vehicle Exterior Lighting System Market 13.3 Global Mid-priced Vehicle Exterior Lighting System Market 13.4 Global Luxury Vehicle Exterior Lighting System Market 14 Global Automotive Exterior Lighting System Market by Geographic Segmentation Key Players Koito Manufacturing Magneti Marelli Valeo Hella OSRAM Other Prominent Vendors Stanley Electric Magna International Federal-Mogul Johnson Electric Holdings Robert Bosch Infineon Technologies Panasonic Samvardhana Motherson Group Flex-N-Gate Grupo Antolin Flextronics International Gentex Corporation Phoenix Lamps Division For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/c54sw8/global_automotive?w=12 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. NEW YORK, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the market research report published by P&S Intelligence, APAC compressor market to reach $23.3 billion by 2023. The industry has been witnessing considerable growth, buoyed by growing automotive industry, predominantly passenger vehicle category, along with overall growth in demand for electric vehicle. Request to get the sample pages of the report: https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/apac-compressor-market/report-sample Based on compressor type, APAC compressor market is categorized into positive displacement and dynamic compressors. Out of these, positive displacement compressor category accounted for larger revenue share in 2017, and is also expected to lead throughout the forecast period, owing to growing demand for rotary type of compressors. Additionally, positive displacement compressors are being used for various applications including industrial manufacturing, HVAC-R, automotive, food and beverage, and power, construction. Based on the dynamic compressor, APAC compressor market is classified into centrifugal and axial flow compressors. Centrifugal compressor category accounted for a larger market share in 2017. Centrifugal compressors are majorly used for compression of gas due to which they are largely deployed in oil and gas industry. Oil and gas industry in APAC expected to provide lucrative opportunities for centrifugal compressor market players majorly due to government policies. For instance, China is expected to be the major contributor to the global centrifugal compressor market owing to the Chinese coal-to-gas switch policy to decrease the usage of coal. Browse report overview with 198 tables and 86 figures spread through 214 pages and detailed TOC on "Asia-Pacific Compressor Market" at: https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/apac-compressor-market In terms of portability, APAC compressor market is segmented into stationary and portable type compressors. Among these, stationary compressor accounted for larger market share in 2017, attributed to growing demand for compressors for the production of motor vehicles. The passenger vehicle air conditioning systems use stationary compressors, owing to which these compressors are expected to hold a larger market share throughout the forecast period. India compressor market is expected to register fastest growth during the forecast period, both in terms of volume and value, owing to robust growth of small businesses and construction industry in the country. Indias construction industry is projected to reach about one trillion by 2025, and would generate high demand for compressors in the coming years. Recently, the industrial focus is to develop and use higher capacity and energy-saving compressors. Furthermore, India produced over 4 million vehicles in 2017 and is expected to grow with a substantial growth rate during the forecast period. Therefore, factors such as growing construction, automotive industry, and robust growth of SMEs are projected to drive the demand for compressors in the country. Make enquiry before buying the report: https://www.psmarketresearch.com/send-enquiry?enquiry-url=apac-compressor-market APAC compressor market is highly fragmented and competitive. Competition in the market is primarily characterized by prices, brand value, and product quality. Some of the major players in the APAC compressor market include RECHI Precision Co. Ltd, Elgi Equipments Limited, Kaeser Kompressoren SE, Ingersoll-Rand plc, Atlas Copco AB, Kobe Steel Ltd, ANESI IWATA Corporation, Hitachi Ltd, Zhe Jiang Hongwuhuan Machinery Co. Ltd, MAHLE GmbH, Hanon Systems, and Toyota Industries Corporation. More Reports by P&S Intelligence Compressor Market Growing gas pipeline network is a key factor driving the compressor market growth, globally. This is due to increasing domestic consumption of natural gas, rapid industrialization, and growing gas pipeline network. For instance, Gazprom built 121 gas pipelines stretching 1,148 miles in 32 constituent entities of the Russian Federation in 2017. Furthermore, in 2018, GAIL (India) Limited announced its plan to expand gas pipeline network capacity in the next three years by constructing 3,418 miles of new pipelines. https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/compressor-market Personal Robots Market Geographically, Europe has been the largest personal robots market, where Germany stood as the largest contributor to the regional market. In North America, the U.S. has been the major market for personal robots, whereas in Asia-Pacific, Japan has been the major contributor to the reginal revenue. Brazil was the largest market in the Rest of the World, which includes Latin American and Middle-East & African countries. https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/personal-robot-market About P&S Intelligence P&S Intelligence is a provider of market research and consulting services catering to the market information needs of burgeoning industries across the world. Providing the plinth of market intelligence, P&S as an enterprising research and consulting company, believes in providing thorough landscape analyses on the ever-changing market scenario, to empower companies to make informed decisions and base their business strategies with astuteness. Contact: P&S Intelligence Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada) International: +1-347-960-6455 Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.psmarketresearch.com "With several possible actions, it is not clear exactly which route we should pursue as staff until we hear from them at the meeting tomorrow," Burnett said. Mike Wollner lives in the area and was assessed $34,563.65. Wollner and his wife have lived on a corner lot of Central Heights for several years and he has a catalog of all the rough patches in the neighborhood. No curb and gutter on South Taft Avenue. Storm water not flowing into intakes at: the 1400 block of South Hoover Avenue, the center half of the 2700 block of 16th Street SW, the 1500 through 1700 blocks of South Coolidge Avenue. The locations are all listed out in pages and pages of notes sitting on Wollner's wood kitchen table. Along with how many inches of gravel are papering over the old blacktop (four to eight inches, depending on the street) and older quotes on grading costs from Heartland Asphalt ($22,000). He's done his homework. And he sees a silver lining in the city council taking just a little longer to resolve a decades-old, neighborhood-wide problem. "The good news is they're still thinking," Wollner said. "But what are they going to come up with?" Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 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. It really is a well-oiled machine that is just a lot of fun to be a part of that team, she said. The 2019-20 season, which will be announced in the spring, is Dalrymples first at the helm. Gales booked the current season. It is exciting, but theres a little bit of fear when you do it because youre booking everything that you think is right for the community, and then, in May, you have to tell them what you booked and you have to hope that they like it, she said, noting shes come across a few surprises for next seasons series. Dalrymple said she was blessed to work with and learn from Gales, the best mentor I could have. I just feel nothing but support from the college and everyone involved to make sure going forward that this continues to be successful for North Iowa, she said. Reach Reporter Ashley Stewart at 641-421-0533. Follow her on Twitter at GGastewart. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 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. Payton was found to be in possession of more than 90 edibles containing THC/marijuana, weighing more than 4,000 grams or nearly 9 pounds without a tax stamp, court documents said. He was also found in possession of more than 1,200 grams or about 2.6 pounds of marijuana with intent to deliver. According to court documents, police found five vapor oil cartridges containing THC/cannabis oil in Paytons possession. Baseman was also found in possession of more than 1,200 grams of marijuana and more than 90 edibles without a drug tax stamp. Law enforcement also found a digital scale and various drug packaging. Carter and Payton both admitted to possessing the marijuana with the intent to distribute it, according to court documents. Charging documents were filed by Clear Lake Police. It is unclear how much marijuana and edibles were found in total. Carter, Payton and Baseman were arrested and booked into Cerro Gordo County Jail Sunday. Carter is held on two bonds totaling $20,000. Payton is held on five bonds totaling $25,000. Baseman is held on four bonds totaling $20,000. No court date has been set. Contact Courtney at 641-421-0534 or on Twitter @CourtneyFiorini. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 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. Monument Mayor Don Wilson speaks Friday at the State of Tri-Lakes Region about Monuments economic growth. Guests were treated to lunch at the event sponsored by the Tri-Lakes Chamber of Commerce. The Royal Marines of 1 Assault Group Royal Marines (1AGRM), specialists in amphibious warfare, will soon conduct their Arctic cold weather training in Norway, near Hellarbogen. 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines and their raiding and landing craft are readying themselves for war games in the icy waters of the high north. The Royal Marines of 1 Assault Group Royal Marines (1AGRM), specialists in amphibious warfare, will soon conduct their Arctic cold weather training in Norway, near Hellarbogen. 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines and their raiding and landing craft are readying themselves for war games in the icy waters of the high north. 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines (Picture source : Royal Navy) An advanced party of the Plymouth-based Green Berets (the Corps specialists in amphibious warfare based at RM Tamar in Devonport Naval Base) have arrived in Hellarbogen, Norway, and are now conducting their Arctic cold weather training before the main body of the squadron arrives shortly. About 16 craft have arrived in the high north (six Offshore Raiding Craft, eight Inshore Raiding Craft and two Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel) having been loaded up in the UK and transported by Sealift Ro-Ro, MV Hurst Point, to the frozen north. These vehicles give 539 ASRM the capacity to quickly deliver a company into the heart of combat, in every environment. Marines are scheduled to operate all around the world, in plenty of various environments. Therefore, they have to conduct training in lots of weather conditions, to be operational when wartime arises. As the UKs riverine warfare specialists, 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines (ASRM) has to perform in every environment in which the Royal Marines may be called to operate, said Major Matt Baylis, Officer Commanding 539 ASRM. Besides, lots of powerful countries were lately to secure paths through the Arctic (as it is increasingly melting). Among them, we can mention Russia, China or even the US. Therefore, such cold weather training appears to be even more appropriate for each country eying to remain a powerful nation and wishing to be ready for any massive amphibious conflict. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 51F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 51F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Major cities across Pakistans restive southwestern province of Balochistan have been shut down as part of a protest strike against the alleged killing of a senior leader of a Pashtun civil rights movement by police. Most businesses in the region remained closed on February 4 as several political parties, traders, and lawyers backed a call to protest the February 2 death of Arman Luni, a senior member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). Authorities in the province have ordered a probe into Lunis death. But PTM leaders say he died after a targeted attack by police at a protest sit-in Balochistans Loralai city. A major hospital in the provincial capital, Quetta, has yet to issue a final autopsy report. The police have yet to register a First Information Report (FIR), an initial police complaint that is a prerequisite for launching a criminal probe. This entire region is seething with anger, Senator Usman Kakar, a lawmaker and leader of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), told mourners on February 4. This is why everywhere from Quetta [in the south] to Sherani in the north is voluntarily observing a complete shutdown. Most businesses remained closed in Quetta, Pishin, Loralai, Zhob, Killa Saifullah, Chaman, Harnai, and other major towns of Balochistans northern districts along the Afghan border. Pashtuns make up a majority of residents in these regions. The strike was initially called by the regions secular PMAP. Later, the Islamist Jamiat Ulma-e Islam, secular Awami National Party, Balochistan National Party, Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakhtunkhwa Qaumi Party, and traders and lawyers associations backed the protest. We want an FIR registered against the accused police officer, Munir Kakar, a leader of the lawyers association in Balochistan, told Radio Mashaal on February 4. We want the government to immediately form an independent and autonomous parliamentary commission to thoroughly investigate this issue. Earlier on February 3, lawmaker Mohsin Dawar, a senior PTM leader, blamed the police for killing Luni. "It was a targeted attack on him by police. I think his neck was broken, and this was confirmed in the postmortem," he told Reuters, adding that Luni was killed for his "association with the PTM. Arman Luni was a pen name for Mohammad Ibrahim. The 35-year-old poet taught Pashto literature at a college in Qilla Saifullah and was considered a supporter of PMAP, a Pashtun nationalist party with a sizeable following among Balochistans Pashtuns. He joined the PTM after its emergence in February last year. Together with his younger outspoken sister Waranga Luni, he regularly participated in the movements protests against forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings and to demand peace for Pakistans more than 30 million Pashtuns. Tens of thousands of Pashtuns were killed and millions displaced during after the emergence of a Taliban and Al-Qaeda insurgency in their western homeland along Afghanistans border in 2003. Luni was a key leader of a four-day sit-in protest in Loralai that began after at least eight people were killed in a militant attack on a police recruitment exam in the dusty city on January 29. Sadiq Khan, a lawyer in Loralai, says Luni was killed on February 2 after a police officer hit him with the butt of an Ak-47. Immediately after the incident, we wanted to register an FIR, but the police are so far resisting to register one, he claimed. Officials in Balochistan, however, say they are probing the incident. According to Pakistani media reports, Jam Kamal Khan, Balochistans chief minister or senior elected civilian official, has asked officials to file an initial report about the incident until February 5. But Balochistan Home and Tribal Affairs Minister Mir Ziaullah Langau maintains that Luni died of a heart attack. Local police have submitted their initial report to me, and it says that he died of a heart attack, he told Radio Mashaal. The initial postmortem examination in Loralai also says that there were no signs of torture on his corpse. Still, we are going to investigate this issue in detail and will punish everyone involved. The results of a more detailed autopsy in Balochistans capital, Quetta, on February 3 are not known yet. In a February 4 statement, the Civil Hospital Quetta said the postmortem report could take some time. Late on February 3, Lunis funeral in Qilla Saifullah attracted thousands of mourners. Supporters also offered his absentia funeral prayers in many towns and cities of Pakistan and Afghanistan on February 3 and 4. PTM leader Mansoor Pashteen has called on Pashtuns to protest Lunis killing across Pakistan and in diaspora communities across the globe on February 5. Radio Mashaal Correspondent Majeed Babar contributed reporting from Prague. Joy Mueni, 36, was 31 when she decided to start a family but there was one problem; she was unmarried and didnt have a partner. The driven academic who received her Masters at 23, and her PhD at 32, would later opt for adoption, an unorthodox path that not many are brave enough to follow. She is now a happy mother of two and shared her story with EveWoman magazine. Read below. ************************************************************* When I hit 31, I woke up one day and decided it was time for me to start a family. I often make plans for my life, and as you can imagine, I had planned that by the time I was 30, I would have my own family. I grew up in a small, close-knit family filled with lots of love. From the time I was a young girl, I always knew I wanted a family. Like many people, I thought that, at the right time, preferably 28 years of age, I would get married. I had everything planned from the colour, to the theme. The only thing missing was a groom. I had dated a bit but I had not met someone with whom I felt comfortable forming a life-long partnership. I started asking myself whether marriage was really for me. As I wondered and questioned myself, my friends were getting married. As 30 approached, I found myself unmarried and with a strong desire to have a family. Then one day, it dawned on me that there are other ways of having a family as opposed to the mainstream idea of getting married and birthing children. I also realised that there were other definitions of what a family was and key to me was that a mother and her children are a family. I researched into alternative forms of having children in line with Gods word such as In Vitro Fertilisation and adoption. After intense research and prayer, I decided that I would adopt. Of course, I was scared and unsure but determined, nonetheless. Telling my mother and family The first person I shared the idea with was my mother and, at first, she was a bit hesitant. She asked me to think about it more. Though I believed in my idea, I respected her wishes and gave it six months before I broached the subject again. Six months later, after praying over it, I took her for lunch and told her that I had decided to adopt and she gave me her blessing. Apart from my mothers blessing, I knew that I also needed social support and that, I needed my extended familys blessing. So, I toured the country from Nyeri to Makueni and Machakos informing my aunties and uncles of my plans. This was necessary as I wanted my children to be fully accepted by our relatives. They all gave me their blessings. My adoption experiences When I decided to adopt my first-born child, I was very unsure of the process. The good thing is that I love reading and so I took time and did a lot of online research on the adoption process. I settled on Kenya Childrens Adoption Agency that is based along Langata Road. Once I visited, the officer there gave me a lot of information and I was satisfied that I was in the right place. I started the adoption process in mid-May of 2013 and by end of September, I had the child home with me. After you take the baby home, there is a compulsory three-month bonding period with the baby after which, you are required to file your case in court. In that December, I remember I could hardly wait for the offices to open in January as I was in a hurry to go to court. I filed my petition in January and after several court appearances, I was granted full parental rights in May. Soon thereafter, I followed up with the registrar of persons and got an adoption certificate which I thereafter used to get a birth certificate and later a passport. I never thought I would have my second child. But as her sister grew, I was convinced that adopting another child would be nice. The problem this time was that there was a moratorium on local and international adoptions. Since there was nothing I could do, I prayed that the moratorium would be lifted. When the local adoptions moratorium was lifted, I went to the first agency that got licensed. My experience with them was not as smooth as with Kenya Childrens Home Adoption agency. Nonetheless, I brought the child home on a cold Monday morning in November 2016. She is now over two years old. They both love each other and every time I look at them playing, I feel joy that I cannot compare with anything in this world. I would highly encourage anyone willing to adopt to go ahead. The process is clear and straightforward. The only thing that you cant determine is the time it will take. There are a lot of things that are not in your control or the adoption agencies control. Just start. As surely as the sun rises in the East, the process will come to an end in Gods perfect timing. The journey My first child is five years old and is in PP2. She is named after my mother. My second born is two years old now. She is in playgroup. I love the fact that her name rhymes with her sisters. My first child is a born leader. Even in school, she is already showing many leadership qualities and is jovial. My greatest joy is that she loves learning new things. I am also happy that I have managed to teach her basic skills like cooking and cleaning. She can roll chapatti and cook eggs very comfortably. She is a chatter box who always keeps us engrossed in her stories. Her favourite activity now is riding her bike and colouring. Her sister is a quiet one. She is loud and yet quiet. She is at an impressionable age and follows what her older sister does. It is hard to know what she really likes. But one thing I know for sure is that she is very empathetic. She will also be the hugger in the family and the one who takes care of the rest. I will never forget when I first brought them home. The period that followed after was one of learning and growing, and bonding. I advise anyone who chooses to adopt to ensure that they make an effort to bond with the child when they first come home and this involves being the primary care giver. Being the one to clothe, feed, put to sleep and just spend as much time with the child when they first get home as this helps to create a bond. So far, it has been a wonderful and rewarding journey. I have no regrets. In fact, I have come to know that Gods grace is sufficient. He makes a way where there seems to be no way. I have experienced Gods love and provision over and over. And, yes, sometimes I worry that my children are missing out on the love of a father, but I quickly remember that they are not alone. God says He is the father of the fatherless in Psalms 68:5. In addition, my younger brother has taken up the road, he has invested in my girls and I am very grateful to him. Do the children know they are adopted? It is something I never wanted to hide from the children. My eldest knows about adopting, but in the way a child at her age can understand it. In fact, before I adopted her and brought her home, I visited her at the home where she stayed. Adoption is a beautiful thing and nothing to be treated with shame and is in fact in line with Biblical scripture (James 1:27). What lies ahead I have not been dating. I am not interested in dating. As of now, I am happy in the space that I am in. It is a beautiful place. I have all my freedom and independence and my family of two children. This does not rule out marriage but thats a distance fantasy. I do not think I will adopt more children. Two are enough. However, I do see myself working with charitable childrens institutions or at least advocating for the rights of children either as an individual or the organisations that I work with. I am currently a senior lecturer at Riara University. I worked at the School of Journalism, University of Nairobi and previously as a reporter with Nation Media Group. I love my job and hope to continue growing and to be still, walking in Gods perfect will, which I hope is aligned to children matters. -Additional Reporting by EveWoman (Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. might have the right idea: A new study shows New York City is the best place on the planet for technology. New York ranked first in an index measuring 30 global tech-heavy cities analyzed by real estate brokerage Savills Plc, with San Francisco in second place and London third. New York pulled ahead thanks to its volume of venture capital cash, large pool of talent -- both homegrown and people attracted to the city -- and the opportunities that exist for them. So much of it is talent, Paul Tostevin, author of the report, said from London. New York can keep generating its own talent and, I think more importantly, recruiting it from around the world. Amazon in November unveiled plans to build an office hub in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens to accommodate 25,000 new employees. In its announcement, the internet retailer pointed to its desire for big populations of skilled workers to hire from. Google and Apple Inc. are also expanding in the city. Scale is something New York can offer when youre employing so many people, so theres a real advantage there for large tech companies, said Tostevin, associate director of world research for the brokerage. Theres that work-and-life balance thats so important, and that New York can offer that is quite advantageous. Its the first time in the reports three iterations that New York came out on top. Austin, Texas, and San Francisco took the No. 1 and 2 spots, respectively, in both the 2015 and 2017 studies. The Savills index scores cities on the costs of living and doing business, investment opportunities, real estate prices and access to transit, among other things. New York got points for its venture capital investment, which was billions of dollars greater than in San Francisco over the past three years, according to the report. That and plentiful transportation options helped offset the citys poor score for real estate costs, Tostevin said. New Yorks rents for offices -- including co-working space -- and housing are among the highest, according to Savills. Story continues To contact the reporter on this story: Sydney Maki in New York at smaki8@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Debarati Roy at droy5@bloomberg.net, Christine Maurus For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. (Adds details on Bernhardt's work on reforming endangered species act, changes at EPA) By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday he would nominate David Bernhardt, a former energy lobbyist, to be secretary of the interior, the department that oversees U.S. public lands. Bernhardt, currently the acting secretary at the Interior Department, is widely expected to continue pushing the Trump administration's plan to boost domestic fossil fuels production by opening more U.S. public lands to drilling and mining. "David has done a fantastic job from the day he arrived, and we look forward to having his nomination officially confirmed," Trump said on Twitter. Bernhardt would replace Ryan Zinke, who was under a cloud of ethics investigations and announced his resignation in December. The Interior Department, which employs more than 70,000 people and oversees more than 20 percent of the U.S. land surface, has been central to Trump's "energy dominance" policy of boosting energy production. As Zinke's deputy, Bernhardt has played a role in efforts to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, ease Obama-era protections on a bird called the greater sage grouse to boost drilling and mining across the West, and open federal lands to leases for coal mining. Ann Navaro, a former Department of Interior official who served in the Obama and Trump administrations and worked closely with Bernhardt, said he is a rare "lawyer's lawyer" who prepares thoroughly for meetings, often being the only one in a room to have read full environmental assessments of projects and plans. Bernhardt, who prefers conservative suits to Zinke's cowboy hats and boots, also worked a series of jobs at the Interior Department under former President George W. Bush from 2001 to early 2009, including as the department's solicitor. After working under Bush, Bernhardt became a lawyer and lobbyist at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck for water and oil interests. He represented Noble Energy Inc, Rosemont Copper Co, Sempra Energy, and California's Westlands Water District, among others. Story continues CONFLICT OF INTEREST Bernhardt has long been an advocate of reforming the Endangered Species Act, the law that protects plants and animals at risk from resource extraction and development. If he is approved by the Senate, Bernhardt is expected to continue that work. Critics say Bernhardt's previous work as a lobbyist could risk conflicts of interest, unless he recuses himself from certain issues, because he worked for companies that could benefit by opening up lands to development. About 150 environmental groups in 2017, including the business-friendly Natural Resources Defense Council, urged senators to oppose Bernhardt in the confirmation vote for his deputy position, saying his previous lobbyist work raised questions about his ability to act in the public interest. Despite their letter calling him a "walking conflict of interest", the Senate confirmed Bernhardt 53-43, on a mostly party-line vote, and with strong support from Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and other lawmakers who have large areas of U.S. lands in their states. If Bernhardt ascends to secretary, it would mirror the change of guard at the Environmental Protection Agency where last July Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, replaced Scott Pruitt, who stepped down after a series of probes into his conduct. Wheeler is a staunch proponent of Trump's energy dominance agenda to produce oil, gas and coal for both domestic use and export. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Peter Cooney, Susan Thomas and Bill Berkrot) Thor Industries, Inc. THO has completed the acquisition of Europe's one of the largest recreational vehicles (RVs) manufacturer Erwin Hymer Group (EHG). This addition will make Thor the world's largest RV producer, with leading positions in both North America and Europe. Terms of the Deal The acquisition excludes EHG's North American businesses, and reflects the reduction of purchase price by 170 million (approximately $194 million) and an expected obligation by 180 million (about $205 million) that the company would have otherwise assumed under the terms of the original stock purchase deal. Moreover, the said adjustment led to a reduction in the financing debt that the company had syndicated to fund the purchase, while equity consideration remained at 2.3 million shares, in line with the original stock purchase agreement. The acquisition, which marks the companys biggest in its history, is funded through a combination of approximately $95-million debt and 2.3 million shares of Thor common stock. Transaction-related costs (excluding loss on the foreign currency forward contract, purchase accounting adjustments and future interest charges) are projected in the range of $40-$55 million for the nine-month period of fiscal 2019 subsequent to Thors first quarter that ended on Oct 31, 2018. Benefits of Thor Bad Waldsee, Germany-based EHG is a leading manufacturer of RVs in the growing European market, with a strong lineup of industry-leading vehicle brands. The deal will open up opportunities before the Elkhart, IN-based RV manufacturer, Thor, to imprint its position in the growing European RV market. Meanwhile, the combined entity is expected to benefit through sharing of best-in-class operating practices and enhancing customer experience throughout the worldwide RV market. The companies will enhance procurement strategies, leverage technology and engineering resources, cross-pollinate aftermarket support, as well as dealer development methods that will be essential for the integration of EHG. Story continues Shares of Thor have declined 33.4% in the past six months, outperforming its industrys 45.8% decline. However, its net sales in the fiscal first quarter were down 21.3% from the prior-year period. Also, its adjusted earnings of $1.28 per share declined 47.3% year over year. The downside was mainly due to lower unit shipments across the board. Nevertheless, the recent move is likely to enhance the companys performance in the near term, as it is strengthening the companys product development, technology and production efficiency, making it a global leader in the RV market. Zacks Rank & Key Picks Currently, Thor carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong 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. Today's Best Stocks from Zacks Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%. This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year. See their latest picks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Gates Industrial Corporation PLC (GTES) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Govt Should Exhibit Political Will and Clamp Down on Private Recording Blackmail According to Member of the Parliament Eka Beselia, an illegal recording containing her personal and family secrets is being circulated in social networks. According to Beselia, this deliberate and sponsored smear campaign was launched against her through media and social networks shortly after her resignation from the post of the Legal Affairs Committee. She had resigned the post in order to suspend the process of the appointment of Supreme Court judges.There have been numerous instances of circulation of illegal recording for the purpose of blackmail in the past few years. The targets of such blackmail were nearly all politicians or publicly active individuals, especially those well-known for openly criticizing the government. It is fairly obvious that the circulation of the illegal recordings served not only to suppress specific individuals but to send a message that anyone critical of the government could be a potential target. Notably, this type of blackmail has largely been used against politically active women and is thus a warning to all women that they could be targeted next.It is very alarming that the timing of the circulation of illegal recordings coincides with the critical statements by Eka Beselia in relation to the processes in the judiciary. It is of deep concern if certain individuals used the illegal recordings as a means to stall reforms in the judiciary and protect the interests of the clan of judges that wield significant power within the judiciary.The production and dissemination of illegal recordings is a crime punishable by the Criminal Code of Georgia. In spite of public protest, none of the instances of circulation of illegal recordings were investigated and no perpetrators have been brought to justice. The sense of impunity encourages and leads to repeat offenses, which constitutes a gross violation of human rights and hinders the democratic development of the country.Notably, the This Affects You Too campaign has been working since 2014 to change the legislation and practice of secret surveillance, as well as protecting the constitutional right to private life. Unfortunately, the ruling coalition that came to power as a result of the 2012 parliamentary elections has not carried out any systematic changes in this regard. In spite of the promises made, the Operative-Technical Agency of Georgia still has unlimited access to data of network operators and all communications between private citizens.Based on the sense of impunity amongst those who circulate illegal recordings and the lack of a legislative framework, we can assume that the Government has no will to protect its citizens right to inviolability of private life.We call upon the Government of Georgia to timely and effectively investigate this case, to exhibit political will and bring an end to the instances of illegal recording blackmail, as well as carry out the necessary legislative changes related to the regulation of secret surveillance. Feb 4 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Headlines KKR explores sale of Hitachi Kokusai chip equipment unit https://on.ft.com/2G989Qq British music retailer HMV receives last-minute offer from Canada's Sunrise Records https://on.ft.com/2D7bpHL Australian regulator orders CBA unit to stop charging fees https://on.ft.com/2G8vHF2 Overview Private equity firm KKR & Co Inc is exploring a "full or partial" sale of its Hitachi Kokusai chip equipment unit and has attracted the interest of two Chinese buyers, people familiar with the situation said. British music retailer HMV has received a last-minute offer from Canada's Sunrise Records to rescue the business from administration. Australia's corporate watchdog has told Commonwealth Financial Planning Ltd, a unit of Commonwealth Bank of Australia , to stop charging or receiving ongoing service fees from its customers for failure to meet a Court Enforceable Undertaking. (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom) Oil pours out of a spout from Edwin Drake's original 1859 well that launched the modern petroleum industry at the Drake Well Museum and Park in Titusville, Pennsylvania U.S., October 5, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Files By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday after disappointing U.S. factory data sparked fresh concerns about a slowdown in the global economy, but losses were limited as OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions against Venezuela pointed to tighter supply. Brent crude futures dropped 24 cents, or 0.38 percent, to settle at $62.51 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 70 cents, or 1.27 percent, to settle at $54.56 a barrel. Weighing on oil markets, U.S. government data showed new orders for U.S.-made goods unexpectedly fell in November, with sharp declines in demand for machinery and electrical equipment. "In a market that's looking for direction, there's concern that any slowdown in the manufacturing sector would slow down demand. Because the number was a little disappointing, it played into the slowing demand scenario," said Phil Flynn, oil analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. Prices also dipped after data showed U.S. crude inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for U.S. crude futures, rose by more than 943,000 barrels in the week to Feb. 1, traders said, citing data from market intelligence firm Genscape. Crude futures earlier posted around two-month highs. Brent reached $63.63 a barrel, the highest since Dec. 7, while WTI climbed to $55.75 a barrel, the strongest since Nov. 21. Prices have been buoyed by a new round of supply cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies that began in January. OPEC supply fell last month by the largest amount in two years, a Reuters survey last week found. Russia has been in full compliance with its pledge to gradually cut its oil production, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in a statement on Monday, adding that production decreased by 47,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January from October. The impact of OPEC+'s supply curbs has been boosted by U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA. The sanctions will limit oil transactions between Venezuela and other countries and are similar to those imposed on Iran last year, some analysts said after examining details announced by the U.S. government. Story continues The European Union is considering imposing more sanctions on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro but has not discussed an oil embargo, Malta's foreign minister said on Monday. However, while OPEC is cutting output, the United States has expanded supply, with production most recently totalling 11.9 million bpd. GRAPHIC: U.S. oil production & drilling levels, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2Tm4u4I Market participants are also watching for developments surrounding the U.S.-China trade war, which has dragged on world markets as investors worry that the dispute could contribute to a potential global economic slowdown. "The market seems to be turning on renewed worries that there doesn't seem to be a lot of progress on the U.S.-China trade talks," said Gene McGillian, director of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. U.S. President Donald Trump last week said he would meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in the coming weeks to try to settle the dispute. (Additional reporting by Alex Lawler and Noah Browning in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Andrea Ricci) Crude Oil closed positive in January 2019 having suffered sharp losses and closing in red on all three months of 3rd quarter in FY2018-19. Having hit 4 years high at $77.06 per barrel just at the start of Q3 FY2018-19, crude oil suffered sharp losses and moved back near yearly lows to $42.20 per barrel down by 45.24% on event-driven price action during December 2018. While the factors that drove price action during the month of January 2019 were same crude oil price managed to gain nearly 18% as the trading session came to a close. Price of US crude oil in spot market managed to breach critical resistance level at $50 and move as high as $55 per barrel having managed to establish a stable rally above $50 price mark. The price action of crude oil in the global market is currently influenced by China-U.S. trade war and this acts as the major driving force of both bulls and bears. However, production and supply cut imposed by OPEC + members during their meeting in December 2018 which came into effect from New Year continues to provide solid support to bulls preventing sharp loss and major moves to the downside. While a look at the weekly chart will show that crude oil price saw steady growth and positive price action across the month of January, a look at the daily chart will show that price action was highly volatile with bears fighting for control at every single turning point across the month. This goes to show that despite positive price action crude oil currently lacks enough support for bulls to establish and sustain a positive price rally had it not been for news driven momentum. The first two week of January saw crude oil price gain sharply supported by optimism surrounding Sino-U.S. trade talks with hopes for positive outcome between two nations as headlines hinted at progress during face to face meeting between representatives of two nation during their meeting in China and macro data outcome which hinted that production and supply cut enforcement decided upon by OPEC+ members had come into effect in global crude oil market. These two factors helped crude oil breach critical support level of $50 handle by the start of the second week and establish a sustained rally above $50 price level which continued for the rest of the month. The price action was range bound during the third and fourth week of January. The third week started on dovish note owing to disappointing Chinese trade data. China is the top importer of crude oil in the global market and hence any headline that affects the Chinese economy has a direct impact on crude oil price action across major global markets. Crude oil price action was further weighed down by disappointing Chinese GDP data and revised IMF growth forecast which hinted at a slowdown in global economic growth during 2019. A slowdown in global economic activity and growth would mean less industrial activity and in turn, less demand for crude oil which was viewed as a major red flag by the global market. Story continues Sino-U.S. Trade Talk Headlines Dominated Price Action of Crude Oil However conflicting headlines relating to China-U.S. trade talks and reports of U.S. officials considering a reversal of tariff on Chinese import goods in a bid to ease the impact of trade war on US economy and help close a trade deal with China helped Crude oil bulls maintain price action above $50 handle. Further OPECs enforcement of reduction in crude oil production and supply in global markets greatly helped reduce glut scenario in the market and prevent a sharp decline in crude oil price action. Meanwhile, reports of US Crude oil inventory stockpile showing a considerable increase in value in both EIA & API readings, despite forecasts hinting at a draw in stockpiles suggested that production activities remained at a record high in the U.S.A. However, crude oil price managed to go as high as $54 per barrel mid-month as headlines hinted that Chinese state council has decided to take measures which will help improve economic conditions in China and recover from losses incurred during early days on an ongoing trade war with the US by the first quarter of 2019. However steady supply which met demand in the market resulted in crude oil price remaining in range bound action. Crude oil bulls were further supported in the fourth week on headlines which stated that Chinese finance ministry would step up fiscal spending this year to support its economy which is interpreted in broad market as hopes for steady demand of crude oil in China. Further news of possible US sanction on Venezuelas crude oil exports hit the market given current political unrest in Venezuela. The main importer of Venezuelan crude oil is the U.S. but their production has already gone down by half owing to the power struggle in the country resulting in its clients seeking an alternative source for crude oil imports. Crude Oil price breached $55 per barrel during last week of January as the US formally announced imposing tariff on Venezuelan crude oil market. The crude oil price fell soon after the report as data hinted that U.S. stockpiles continued to rise despite supply reduction from Saudi Arabia which suggested production from the U.S. was enough to meet with local and international demand while offsetting supply outage of Venezuelan Crude oil. Further news that U.S. energy firms added rigs for the first time this year also weighed on crude oil price action. However, data soon suggested that Venezuelan sanctions are having a visible impact on market and headlines of progress in high-level talks between China & U.S.A also supported Crude oil bulls helping Crude oil close positive for the month. However, the outlook for China & U.S. trade talks still looks gloomy as the deal has been postponed till late February when China & U.S. Presidents are set to meet face to face. Headlines Driven Momentum To Rule Market Across February Further production from the U.S. still remains high and there is a high probability that U.S.A could fill in any supply gap created owing to Venezuelan sanctions in a bid to keep crude oil price as low as possible. This has created a scenario where crude oil market lacks necessary fundamental support to sustain positive price rally across February. Meanwhile technical perspective also paints clouded picture as the price is below 100 day MA in daily chart while above 20 and 50 MAs and both momentum indicators RSI & Stochastic moving with upward incline but yet to cross above overbought territory which suggests bullish price action may continue in short term but there is strong resistance for bulls in medium-term outlook. While positive price action may continue in the month ahead it is unlikely to breach $60 handle from technical perspective and bulls require additional strength to maintain solid price rally which is expected in form of news driven momentum in the month ahead. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: "The congressmen will have a tough time smearing Diokno's reputation." In my column last Thursday calledI was not able to fully describe why Abra, where I grew up, remains primitive. The reasons why it is a forgotten province are multi-faceted. First of all, it is land-locked between Ilocos Sur and the Cordilleras. It has no cash crop to speak of. Yes, there are patches of Virginia tobacco planting in some towns, but this is the exception rather than the rule. In some instances, rice has to be imported from Cagayan Valley, which has become the rice bowl of the North. There is not much to see in Abra except some mountains and waterfalls. This is the reason why my wife and I cannot go back to it anymore. It is more for young backpackers. But the bigger reason Abra has been forgotten is that the ruling political clans keep fighting each other to the point of killing. Members of the armed forces and the police have to be assigned to the place, because it is always considered an election hot spot. Politics is an industry in Abra. If you are not in power, you have no income. That is the way it has always been. After the strongman Don Quintin Paredes ruled Abra, other relatives like the Purruganans got into power, and then the Bersamins, among others. To a large extent, my boyhood in Abra made me what I am today. My father was a school supervisor who had to travel around the province. This is the reason I attended many public elementary schools in different towns. There were days I didnt even have shoes, only hand-madeor rubber slippers from worn-out tires. When it rained, which was often, I had to content myself with hand-madea covering of nipa leaves. No raincoats for me thenthey were a luxury. My time in Abra made me strong and resilient, especially during the years of the Japanese Occupation. Would you believe that sometime in the 1980s, some politicians from Abra went to my residence in Philamlife, Quezon City to relocate to Bangued and try my luck in politics? I immediately rejected the idea of relocating to Abra. My wife could not bear the thought of my children going to school there, and me battling political clans with their private armies.* * * Some members of the House of Representatives appropriations committee have unwittingly steered themselves into a collision course with the Cabinet, possibly with the Palace itself. They have threatened to cite Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno for contempt and even have him arrested. The congressmen said that Diokno is not inclined to appear before the chamber. Some committee members, notably Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., subjected him to intense grilling and even accused him of certain anomalies in the preparation of the 2019 budget. There are allegations that the Department of Budget and Management chief allegedly made a P75-billion insertion on some flood mitigation projects in Sorsogon, supposedly to boost the political stock of an in-law. Diokno has served the DBM three times nowfirst as an undersecretary for then President Cory Aquino from 1986 to 1991. And then he was appointed as secretary by President Joseph Estrada. Diokno was also DBM secretary under GMA. In all instances that Diokno served in the department, he has established a reputation for honesty, integrity and competence. People in the department admire him. The way I see it, the congressmen may have a hard time smearing the Budget chief with their yet-unproven accusations, especially since no concrete evidence of irregularity has been presented until now. Significantly, several members of the Cabinet have expressed support for Diokno and deplored what they say was a disrespectful way the congressmen have treated their colleague. They also said that the lawmakers call for the President to oust Diokno is an outright violation of the separation of powers between two independent branches of the government. The factor to consider is that while President Duterte said he would not hesitate to kick out officials with so much as a whiff of corruption about them, he continues to have trust and confidence in Diokno. The budget mess may result in a reenacted budget since tomorrow is the last day for the approval of the budget. This is why we cannot trust members of Congress with the peoples money. * * * The Duterte administration is slowly and surely finding out that the cleanup of Manila Bay is a massive undertaking. The problem is not only the establishments and restaurants but the squatters. Manila Bay has just so many pollutants. The cleanup cannot be done by just one or two departments. (Bloomberg) -- Slack Technologies Inc. filed with regulators to go public in the U.S. without disclosing details of its share-sale plans. The messaging platform company, previously reported to be pursuing a direct listing of its stock, said in a statement Monday that it had submitted a confidential filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Slack is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Allen & Co. on the share sale, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the matter wasnt public. Slack plans to forgo a traditional initial public offering and instead intends to sell its shares to bidders in a direct listing, a person familiar with the matter said last month. While that would preclude the company from raising money by issuing new shares for sale, it would avoid some typical underwriting fees and allow current investors to sell shares without a lock-up period. The company is choosing the unusual method for going public because it doesnt need the cash or publicity of an IPO, the person said at the time. The share sale, which might take place toward mid-year, could value Slack at more than $7 billion, according to the person, who added that the San Francisco-based companys plans could still change. The company was valued at $7.1 billion in a $427 million funding round in August. Representatives for Slack, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Allen & Co. didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. If Slack goes ahead with a direct listing, it will follow music streaming service Spotify Technology SA, which began trading in New York using that method last year. Its shares, which were given a reference price of $132 by the New York Stock Exchange, opened trading at $165.90 in April. Its shares rose 1 percent to $138.60 on Monday. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Allen & Co. also advised Spotify on its listing. IPO Roster Story continues Slacks listing plans coincide with possible IPOs this year by other marquee Silicon Valley companies, especially Uber Technologies Inc. A person familiar with the ride-hailing giants plans said it could be valued at as much as $120 billion, which would likely put it among the 10 largest all-time IPOs. Ubers smaller rival Lyft Inc., as well as Airbnb Inc., is also pursuing a listing. Uber and Lyft have been waiting for the SECs feedback on their confidential IPO filings before making proposed terms public. In an IPO, underwriters hammer out the number of shares to sell and at what price, and then take their fees out of the proceeds from an offering. A direct listing allows current investors to offer their stakes directly to new shareholders priced purely on demand. Slack said in January that 10 million people use its service every day. It said last year that 3 million of those people pay for its premium version of the software. Slack faces competition from Microsoft Corp.s Teams product, which is free, but it has also prevailed over other rivals. Last year, Atlassian Corp. said it was shutting down HipChat, a similar workplace messaging product, and encouraging its customers to migrate to Slack. Atlassian sold HipChats assets to Slack. In January, Slack hired former Google product management executive Tamar Yehoshua as its chief product officer to replace April Underwood, who said she was leaving the company after almost four years to pursue her own investing venture. Bloomberg Beta, the venture capital arm of Bloomberg LP, is an investor in Slack. (Updates with Spotifys closing share price in seventh paragraph.) --With assistance from Ellen Huet and Krista Gmelich. To contact the reporter on this story: Olivia Zaleski in San Francisco at ozaleski@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, Michael Hytha, Matthew Monks For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. By Gabriela Baczynska and Jose Elias Rodriguez BRUSSELS/MADRID (Reuters) - Major European nations joined the United States in recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president on Monday, heightening a global showdown over Nicolas Maduro's socialist rule. The European Union members' coordinated move followed the expiry of an ultimatum for Maduro to call a new election and aligned them with Washington against Russia and China. The sitting Venezuelan leader, accused of running the OPEC nation of 30 million people like a dictatorship and wrecking its economy, has defied European heads of state and called them sycophants for following President Donald Trump. Guaido, who leads the National Assembly, declared himself caretaker leader last month in a move that has fed into a global geopolitical divide and brought Venezuelans onto the streets. "From today, we will spare no effort in helping all Venezuelans achieve freedom, prosperity and harmony," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, recognizing Guaido. Other EU nations echoing that were: Austria, Britain, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden. In response, Caracas said it would revise relations with Europe. Maduro singled out "cowardly" Spain. "If one day there is a coup, if one day there is a gringo military intervention, your hands will be stained with blood, Mr. Pedro Sanchez," he said in a speech. Maduro, 56, a former union leader, bus driver and foreign minister, has presided over an economic collapse and exodus of 3 million Venezuelans. He accuses Washington of waging "economic war" on Venezuela and harboring coup pretensions aimed at gaining control over its oil. Venezuela's reserves are the largest in the world but production has plunged under Maduro. "ILLEGITIMATE, KLEPTOCRATIC MADURO" Critics say incompetent policies and corruption have impoverished the once-wealthy nation while dissent has been brutally crushed. "The oppression of the illegitimate, kleptocratic Maduro regime must end," said British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Moscow and Beijing, which have poured billions of dollars of investment and loans into Venezuela, are supporting Maduro and warning against foreign intervention. "Imposing some kind of decisions or trying to legitimize an attempt to usurp power is both direct and indirect interference," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Maduro won re-election last year, but critics say the vote was a sham. Two opposition rivals were barred, while food handouts to hungry Venezuelans were linked with political support. Italy, whose coalition government is divided over Venezuela, dissented from other European powers and blocked a joint statement saying individual nations had the prerogative to recognize Guaido. Italy's 5-Star Movement says it cannot recognize self-appointed leaders. Ireland shared that reluctance and declined to recognize Guaido specifically, though it did back the EU stance of calling for a fair election. In addition to European pressure, a bloc of Latin American nations plus Canada were to meet on Monday seeking to maintain pressure on Maduro. "All these shameless people are clinging to power," said Luis, a 45-year-old Venezuelan outside the consulate in Madrid. "Let them hold elections so they see they won't get even 10 percent of the votes." (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Marine Pennetier in Paris; Guy Faulconbridge and Mike Holden in London; Jose Elias Rodriguez in Madrid; Andrew Osborn and Thomas Balmforth in Moscow; Andrei Khalip in Lisbon; Steve Scherer in Rome; Alissa de Carbonnel and Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Sarah Marsh in Caracas; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Janet Lawrence, Raissa Kasolowsky and Toby Chopra) Cheerleaders perform in front of anti-Brexit demonstrators outside the Houses of Parliament in London, ahead of the upcoming American football Superbowl on upcoming Sunday, Thursday Jan. 31, 2019. The Superbowl will be played between the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots Sunday Feb. 3, in Atlanta, USA.(Victoria Jones/PA via AP) Cheerleaders perform in front of anti-Brexit demonstrators outside the Houses of Parliament in London, ahead of the upcoming American football Superbowl on upcoming Sunday, Thursday Jan. 31, 2019. The Superbowl will be played between the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots Sunday Feb. 3, in Atlanta, USA.(Victoria Jones/PA via AP) LONDON (AP) The Latest on Britain's impending departure from the European Union (all times local): 5 p.m. The EU's Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said once again that the controversial Irish border provision within the withdrawal agreement with Britain is the "only operational solution available" for the country's orderly exit from the bloc. The so-call Irish backstop is designed to keep an open border between the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland. Many U.K. lawmakers, particularly in Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party, say it could keep Britain tied to the EU for too long, even indefinitely. Some are arguing that the planned transition period, whereby Britain follows the rules of the European single market for a period after the scheduled March 29 exit date, is extended until the end of 2021 to give negotiators time to thrash out an alternative plan. "We need this backstop because it is the only insurance to avoid a hard border at the moment. But we are ready, during the transition, if we have a transition, to work on the alternative arrangements," Barnier said in the Netherlands. May is currently discussing "alternative arrangements" to the backstop with members of her own party. ___ 4:20 p.m. Ireland's foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has warned about Britain's "wishful thinking" when it comes to finding alternatives to the so-called Irish backstop, which is holding up a Brexit solution. Coveney said Monday that during the 17 months of talks on the draft withdrawal agreement many scenarios for the Irish border were looked at. But he said that beyond the one Prime Minister Theresa May agreed on, and which was rejected by the U.K. legislature, none were workable. The changes center on replacing a measure known as the backstop, designed to keep an open border between the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland. Some U.K. lawmakers fear it would keep Britain tied to the EU for too long, even indefinitely. Story continues Coveney said no other option is available. He said: "What Ireland is being asked to do by some in Westminster is to essentially do away with an agreed solution between the U.K. government and EU negotiators and to replace this with wishful thinking." ___ 4:00 p.m. A Dutch judge has refused to hear a case brought by four British citizens who live in the Netherlands seeking to clarify their citizenship rights after Britain leaves the European Union. The judge in Amsterdam ruled Monday that the case brought by the four Britons was inadmissible as it should be considered by a special immigration court. Lawyer Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm says his clients are "very disappointed" with the rejection. They wanted the court to ask the European Union Court of Justice in Luxembourg to issue a ruling that would have clarified the post-Brexit rights of all British citizens living on mainland Europe. Alberdingk Thijm says he will consult his clients before deciding whether to take the case to an immigration judge. ___ 11:25 a.m. A leading global tourism body estimates that around 700,000 jobs in travel and tourism could be lost across Europe if Britain crashes out of the European Union without a deal on future relations. The World Travel & Tourism Council said Monday that 308,000 jobs would be under threat in Britain and 399,000 elsewhere in Europe. The WTTC, which represents the travel and tourism sector worldwide, based its assessment on the forecast from the International Monetary Fund that the British economy will be 7.7 percent smaller over the next decade in a 'no deal' scenario. Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC, said "a 'no deal' Brexit would have a dramatic impact on one of the U.K.'s most significant sectors." Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29. ___ 11:15 a.m. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is suggesting it's still possible for the European Union and Britain to come to an agreement on how the border between Ireland and the U.K's Northern Ireland will function after Brexit, but says London needs to come forward with a proposal. Speaking Monday during a trip to Japan, Merkel said the already-agreed Brexit withdrawal agreement can't be renegotiated. But she said questions surrounding the border arrangements could be addressed in a declaration on the future relationship between the EU and Britain. She says "one has to be creative, and we must listen to one another" but that an agreement on the Irish border is still possible. But first, Merkel says "we must hear from Great Britain how they envision that." ___ 10 a.m. With Brexit just seven weeks away, Britain's ruling Conservative Party was negotiating with itself Monday in an attempt to rework Britain's divorce deal with the European Union. Meanwhile, pro-EU and pro-Brexit politicians traded allegations about whether Nissan's decision not to build a new SUV in northern England was the latest sign of Brexit-induced economic damage. Prime Minister Theresa May was gathering pro-Brexit and pro-EU Conservative lawmakers into an "alternative arrangements working group" seeking to break Britain's Brexit deadlock. The group is holding three days of meetings with ministers and civil servants to investigate possible changes to the divorce deal rejected by Parliament last month. The changes center on replacing a measure known as the backstop, designed to keep an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. (Bloomberg) -- Two employees at Huawei Technologies Inc. in Denmark were expelled following an inspection focusing on improper work arrangements. The companys offices in Copenhagen were searched on Thursday and four people were initially charged with breaking Danish laws covering residence and work permits, Danish police said. The charges against two of the people were subsequently dropped, a police spokesperson said by phone on Monday. It was a routine investigation that Danish authorities regularly conduct at work places relying on a high number of foreign employees, the spokesperson said. The person, who asked not to be identified by name citing police policy, declined to provide more details, including the nationality of the workers. A Huawei spokeswoman said: These visa checks are routine, and we are co-operating with the authorities." The investigation comes as the company is under fire around the world over allegations it could enable spying by Chinese officials after the country passed a law mandating organizations and citizens to assist national intelligence in their investigations. The U.S. has urged European allies, such as Germany, to shun Huaweis equipment, as telecoms carriers prepare for the next generation of wireless technology known as 5G. There is no evidence that the measures taken in Denmark are related to any concerns about spying. Poland in January detained a Huawei employee and former high-ranking official at Polands Internal Security Agency, accusing the two men of conducting espionage activities against Poland. Huawei has said it fired the employee for breaking Polish law, adding that his alleged actions have not relation to the company. (Updated with Huawei statement.) To contact the reporters on this story: Natalia Drozdiak in Brussels at ndrozdiak1@bloomberg.net;Christian Wienberg in Copenhagen at cwienberg@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Tasneem Hanfi Brogger For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. "What are my fellow alumni saying, and why are they wrong?" Over the weekend I stumbled onto an online statement of opposition to various House and Senate bills that propose to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility (more softly described in the bills as children in conflict with the law) from 15 to 12 years old. The statement came from some of my fellow alumni of the U.P. School of Economics. It is heartening to note just how far the products of this school have come down from their ivory tower since my years there in the seventies. But it also sobering to discover that even such illustrious folks can fall prey, no less than anybody else, to fallacies of illogic and unexamined ideology. A disclaimer at the outset: I havent read any of these pending bills on lowering the minimum age of criminal liability. I can think of few things less boring than poring through legislation. If readers can summon up actual language from the bills to rebut me, Ill be more than happy to stand corrected. So: what are my fellow alumni saying, and why are they wrong? * * * Discernment is not clearly defined when the House bill subjects the child who acts with discernment to intervention and diversion proceedings. The UP alumni point to various local studies that connect the age of discernment tovariouslyfifteen, eighteen, even twenty-five years old. This wide range of ages is no less vague than the House bill. And surely no one will argue that the minimum age of criminal liability could be set as high as 18, let alone 25 years old. What the House bill does say is for the authorities to rely on the discernment assessment tools developed by the DSWD. Thats a practical answer to a question which academics arent helpful on. If you have a problem with the concept, take it up with the DSWD and the tools theyre using. The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child does consider the minimum age of criminal responsibility BELOW the age of 12 years as internationally acceptable. But elsewhere in that document, the U.N. also urges State parties not to lower their minimum ageto the age of 12. This is the kind of Yes, but answer we can expect from the diplomats and bureaucrats who inhabit the United Nations. These guys by their nature and profession want to have their cake and eat it too. So when they answer like this, do we focus on the Yes or on the but? Its a poor way to form public policyand luckily for us, as Duterte keeps reminding us, we dont have to listen to the U.N. to do what we think is best for us. Other Philippine laws establish 18 years as the age of majorityto vote, to indulge in tobacco and alcohol, to get married. True, but we also have the current law (which the UP alumni support) setting the minimum age of criminal liability at 15 years. So right now, even now, the law already makes a distinction between the age of majority and the age of criminal liability. Whatever the former is, has nothing to do with where the latter should be.Criminals will adapt to the change in law. Syndicate heads can simply deploy children younger than 12 to carry out crimes. The adaptability of criminalsshared with other humansis not an argument for doing nothing, but in fact an argument for persevering and adapting as well against them. If syndicate heads end up recruiting younger and younger, and so long as we follow them down, at some point it will just be too much trouble for them to change the diapers of their felonious accomplices. PNP studies show that only two percent of crimes are committed by children. This outlier argument is especially specious. In the PNPs index list of major crimes, its quite unlikely that any one of those crimeswhether murder, rape, or whateveris committed by more than 200,000 people in a given year. So should we now decriminalize their behavior because theyre fewer than two percent of the population? There are not enough Bahay Pagasa centers for children, and some of them have subhuman conditions and are worse than prisons. Exactly the same problems of overpopulation and poor conditionsand on an even wider scaleafflict the countrys jails. But nobodys calling for the wholesale release of inmates, or the police slowing down their arrest rates, for that reason. If the problem is infrastructure, then the right answer is to build or improve more of it. * * * Much of the rest of the U.P. alumni statement focuses on two propositions that are arguable at best: Poverty in our country is the main cause of criminality. Even if this were true, it does not excuse or even mitigate an individuals responsibility for his own criminal behavior. And it is such notions of responsibility that ought to be driving our policies about punishingor, in the case of juveniles, forcibly rehabilitatingcriminals. Moreover, there are many more poor people who still live within the law. They ought to be offended by this kind of patronizing generalization that being poor somehow predisposes you to a weaker moral or civic conscience. Ours is a culture that highly values its children. This one is trueand its precisely why we ought to be acting as soon as possible to correct and redirect our children whenever they start going bad. The U.P. alumni insult the rest of us by implying that we will treat our child offenders no better than the adult ones. We are not Neanderthals, we know what age-appropriate means when we consider how best to reform our young. The position paper closes with a quote from the late Senator Jose Diokno, that we want to have a nation for our children. On that point I think we can all, of course, agree. (Adds statement from Lima Group members, additional EU countries) * Spain, Britain, France, Germany among those backing Guaido * Maduro's government to revise relations with Europe * Regional bloc reiterates support for opposition leader By Jose Elias Rodriguez and David Ljunggren MADRID/OTTAWA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Major European nations joined the United States on Monday in recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate head of state, while members of a separate regional bloc kept up the pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The coordinated recognition by a flood of European Union nations including Britain, Germany, France and Spain followed the expiration of an ultimatum for Maduro to call a new presidential election, aligning them with Washington and against Russia and China. "From today, we will spare no effort in helping all Venezuelans achieve freedom, prosperity and harmony," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said as he announced Madrid had recognized Guaido, the head of Venezuela's National Assembly who declared himself last month to be the oil-rich South American country's interim ruler. Eleven of the 14 members of the so-called Lima Group, including Argentina, Brazil and Canada, reiterated their support for Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate interim leader and called for free elections. In a statement following a meeting in Ottawa, they urged the international community to prevent Maduro's government from conducting financial and trade transactions abroad, having access to Venezuela's international assets and doing business in oil, gold and other assets. Mexico, a Lima Group member opposed to steps aimed at ousting Maduro, did not attend. Maduro's government, overseeing an economic collapse that has prompted 3 million Venezuelans to flee the country, lashed out at the EU nations, saying their move would affect relations with Caracas. In a statement, it accused them of submitting to a U.S. "strategy to overthrow the legitimate government" and singled out Spain for acting "cowardly." Story continues Among other EU nations recognizing Guaido were: Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Sweden. The United States welcomed the EU nations' recognition of Guaido and encouraged other countries to follow suit, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. Italy, however, blocked a joint EU position to recognize Guaido, diplomatic sources said, with the government in Rome deeply divided over the issue. Norway, not an EU member, said it also was not recognizing him. In power since former President Hugo Chavez's death in 2013, Maduro has been accused by critics of running the OPEC nation of 30 million people like a dictatorship. The 35-year-old Guaido, accused by Maduro's government of staging a U.S.-directed coup, has galvanized Venezuela's opposition with a hopeful message. Guaido repeatedly has called on Venezuela's military, which has remained loyal to Maduro, to support a transition to democracy. "Soldiers, we continue to wait for you. The moment is now," Guaido said in a speech on Monday in Caracas, urging the military to allow humanitarian aid to reach people. Maduro is facing calls from a growing chorus of nations, including some of Venezuela's neighbors, to resign in the wake of last year's disputed presidential vote in which he won re-election. Critics have called that election a sham and the mainstream opposition boycotted it. He has defied European heads of state, calling them sycophants for following U.S. President Donald Trump. Maduro sent a letter to Pope Francis requesting a renewal of dialogue in the crisis, the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said in Abu Dhabi. 'VERY CRITICAL' Most members of the Lima Group, which aims to peacefully resolve the Venezuela crisis, have said Maduro should quit in favor of Guaido and have called for new elections. The United States also wants Maduro gone, as do other key Western nations. Last month, the Lima Group announced a travel ban on senior Venezuelan officials and a freeze on their foreign assets. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would formally recognize Guaido's chosen envoy as Venezuela's legitimate representative in Canada in a move his government called symbolic. In New York, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said U.N. officials will not participate in international initiatives on Venezuela in order to remain neutral. Maduro's critics have said incompetent policies and corruption have impoverished the once-wealthy nation, leaving it with widespread shortages of food and medicine and hyperinflation forecast to reach 10 million percent in 2019. Guaido accused Maduro's government of trying to move up to $1.2 billion from the state development bank Bandes to a financial entity in Uruguay, but did not present evidence. Guaido urged Uruguay to prevent the move. Uruguay's central bank and the office of the country's president did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Maduro blames Washington and other Western nations for sabotaging Venezuela's economy, including through sanctions. The United States last week imposed sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA. Trump, in an interview that aired on Sunday, said military intervention in Venezuela was "an option." (Additional reporting by David Ljunggren and Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels, Philip Pullella in Abu Dhabi and Steve Scherer and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome, Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo, Lesley Wroughton in Washington, Vivian Sequera and Angus Berwick in Caracas and Malena Castaldi in Montevideo; Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Will Dunham) Rep. Eric Swalwell, whos considering a 2020 presidential run, thinks President Trump is acting guilty, which suggests he probably is guilty of some kind of crime relating to Russia. But the California Democrat doesnt favor impeachment. He's either going to be impeached by Congress or he's going to be impeached at the ballot box, Swalwell told Yahoo Finance during a recent interview in his Capitol Hill office. I think it's better that democracy works. Swalwell sits on the House intelligence committee, which is investigating Trump now that Democrats have taken control of Congress. The committee, chaired by Adam Schiff of California, plans to call fresh witnesses to testify, and hand transcripts of previous testimony to special counsel Robert Mueller, who can evaluate if any prior witnesses lied under oath. Republicans who controlled the committee during the last two years declined to give Mueller those transcripts, or pursue certain lines of inquiry, such as Trumps relationship with lenders tied to Russia. Swalwell, a former prosecutor, says theres probable cause suggesting Trump and his family members committed crimes related to Russian financing during the 2016 campaign. We know that Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump, the president's two sons, have said that they've had money flowing in from Russia into the Trump Organization, Swalwell tells Yahoo Finance in the video above. We know the president's lender, Deutsche Bank, has been fined $300 million for a $10 billion Russian money laundering scheme. So if you pair those two up, you have reason to look to see if the president has been financially compromised by the Russians. Trump insists he has done nothing wrong, even though his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, has pleaded guilty to several crimes, and his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been convicted on several counts of fraud. Others associated with Trumps 2016 presidential campaign have pleaded guilty to lying under oath. Story continues Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) accompanied by Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) and Rep. Ruben Kihuen (D-NV), speaks about recent revelations about President Donald Trump's involvement with Russia on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. May 17, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein Trump argues, correctly, that its not a crime for a private-sector developer to pursue a real-estate deal in Russia or accepting financing for legitimate projects from foreign lenders. Trumps two sons, who are now running the family real-estate business, have said before that Russians purchasing units in Trump buildings are among the firms best customers. Theres nothing inherently wrong with that, either. But Swalwell and other Democrats say Trump has demonstrated consciousness of guilt, a legal phrase meaning hes behaving like he has something to hide. What we've seen from the president is just lie after lie about what their dealings were with the Russians. If it was so innocent, why couldn't they just have been straightforward about it? The most prominent example may be the revelation, via testimony from Cohen, that Trump was pursuing a real-estate deal in Moscow up the point he secured the presidential Republican nomination in the summer of 2016, and perhaps even up to the point of the election that November. As a candidate, Trump denied any interest in a Russia deal, and in 2017 he said, I have nothing to do with Russia. Yet he was trying to land a deal, at the same time he favored a softer U.S. stance toward Russia than most other candidates, and existing U.S. policy. Trump has continued to show favoritism toward Russia as president. The Mueller investigation is meant to determine whether theres a hard connection between Trump and Russia, or something more circumstantial. Swalwell doesnt rule out impeachment, if theres clear evidence of a crime. But hed prefer voters to judge, rather than Congress. When asked if he thinks Trump will finish his first term, Swalwell says, I hope so. I dont think its good to have presidents leave early. But if he did cross red lines, I do think we have a responsibility to uphold the rule of law. I really hope it doesnt come to that. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com. Click here to get Ricks stories by email. Read more: Medicare for all is not going to happen 3 problems with Elizabeth Warrens wealth tax Trumps lousy dealmaking Trump is about to clobber the auto industry Those Trump bankruptcies are starting to make sense How Elizabeth Warren wants to remake capitalism Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman "The Cross is not the end." In my column last Saturday, I shared my thoughts on the national situation based on a presentation I made in the First Grand Alumni Homecoming of the University of Santo Tomas Seminary. The first part of the talk, which I summarized in my column last Saturday, focused on the reasonsI discussed sixwhy a Filipino might despair about the country. In the second part of my UST presentation, I shared how we can respond to the national situation. I summarize that in todays column. My starting point is the pastoral statement issued by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) last Monday, Jan. 28, entitled Conquering evil with good. But concretely, how do we conquer evil with good? I propose seven ways. First, we must always speak truth to power, with courage and frankness, but never with anger and not personally. You do not convert anyone by calling him or her names. The Church should help all of us dial down our rhetoric. An example of this is the approach of the CBCP on the war against drug. Like most other Filipinos we had high hopes that the government would truly flex some political will to be able to use the full force of the law in working against this terrible menace. It was when we started hearing of mostly poor people being brutally murdered on mere suspicion of being small-time drug users and peddlers while the big-time smugglers and drug lords went scot-free, that we started wondering about the direction this drug war was taking. As bishops, we have no intention of interfering in the conduct of State affairs. But neither do we intend to abdicate our sacred mandate as shepherds to whom the Lord has entrusted his flock. We have a solemn duty to defend our flock, especially when they are attacked by wolves. We do not fight with arms. We fight only with the truth. Therefore, no amount of intimidation or even threat to our lives will make us give up our prophetic role, especially that of giving voice to the voiceless. Second, we must discern as individuals, families, and communities, indeed as people of God, on how to respond effectively to specific challenges like killings in your midst, whether because of drugs or politics or social conflict, corruption, whom to vote for in the 2019 elections, and on reducing the age of criminal liability. On the latter issue, the Bishops are clear on where the Church stands: There is no way we can call ourselves a civilized society if we hold children in conflict with the law criminally liable. Children who get involved in crimes, such as those who are used as runners by adult drug pushers, do not deserve to be treated as criminals; they are victims that need to be rescued. Third, we must provide sanctuary to those being targeted and to those who are taking the lead in resisting evil coming from many quarters. I especially praise those in government who do this, for example the trial court judges who have stood up and done the right thing in concrete cases like the Palparan and Trillanes cases. Fourth, we should work with government where it is doing the right things. I support strongly the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law and the rehabilitation of Manila Bay. The latter must include disallowing all further reclamations in the area as that would threaten the historic sites of Old Manila while negating all gains from clean-up initiatives with the increase in population such reclamation would entail. Informal settlers must also be treated fairly in this undertaking. I will write soon about the importance of environmental justice and a just transition in this column. Fifth, when there are bad developments and events in the country, we should maximize their use as teaching moments. The China policy of the Duterte administration, for example, is wrong and must be rejected. The way charter change has been approached also does not give us confidence that it will lead to real change. But in both instances, we can educate the people on the better choices. Sixth, I told the UST Seminary alumni that we must keep on doing what are doing well especially to address the material and spiritual poverty of our people. I always emphasize that this historical moment for the country and the world, which is a bad one, will pass and there will be for sure an opportunity for renewal again. The saddest thing would not be not to learn from what has been happening and repeat our mistakes all over again.Seventh, for the Catholic Church, I reiterated what Pope Francis has been saying since the start of his papacy: Lets go back to being a missionary church and bring the Church to the people. 2019 has been declared by the CBCP as the Year of the Youth. This is part of a nine-year preparation for 2021 when the Philippine Church will celebrate the fifth centenary500 yearsof the arrival of the Gospel in the archipelago. The preparation was launched in 2013 and each year is dedicated to a specific theme related to the faith and new evangelization. 2018 was for example dedicated to the clergy and the religious. The Filipino youth has been described as beloved, gifted, and empowered. As a teacher in many universities from Mindanao to Manila, I can affirm this. I am sure that the future of our land is good because of them. They will do better than my generation and older ones. This is why I have hope, I told the alumni and seminarians of UST Seminary. I pointed out that we are in a moment of special grace today. Todays Philippines is a gift to the Catholic Church and to the people of God as we prepare for the 2021 anniversary. We are being asked to learn again what Saint Thomas Aquinas described as the virtues of the Cross. According to this wisest of saints: Why did the Son of God have to suffer for us? There was a great need, and it can be considered in a twofold way: in the first place, as a remedy for sin, and secondly, as an example of how to act. It is a remedy, for, in the face of all the evils which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through the passion of Christ. Yet, it is no less an example, for the passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives. Whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what he desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue. If you seek the example of love: Greater love than this no man has, than to lay down his life for his friends. Such a man was Christ on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake. If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross . . . If you seek an example of humility, look upon the crucified one, for God wished to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die. If you seek an example of obedience, follow him who became obedient to the Father even unto death. For just as by the disobedience of one man, namely, Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, many were made righteous. The Cross is not the end. There is always resurrection and we can begin by conquering evil with good. (Adds shareholder group wants to discuss change in Vale management) Feb 4 (Reuters) - Vale SA said on Monday that a Brazilian state court has ordered it to stop using eight tailings dams in the wake of a disaster last month that likely killed more than 300 people, a step that will crimp nearly 9 percent of the company's annual iron ore output. The move is the first step by Brazilian officials to limit production by the world's largest iron ore miner since the disaster, which has sparked a global outcry over common mining practices that many now are decrying as unsafe. Shares of Vale fell 4 percent on Monday before trading was halted. With 134 people confirmed dead and another 199 still missing, according to the latest tally on Monday, the Brumadinho dam burst could be Brazil's deadliest mine disaster on record. Vale said in a securities filing that a court in the state of Minas Gerais ordered it to stop using three upstream tailings dams, like the Brumadinho dam that burst last week, which were already inactive. The ruling also halted use of the Laranjeiras dam at the Brucutu mine, which does not use the upstream model, affecting production of about 30 million tonnes of iron ore output per year - nearly 9 percent the company's annual output. The Laranjeiras tailings dam is a conventional design, which is built vertically over time. It is typically safer than an upstream design, which is built higher and leans into the waste it is meant to contain. By extending the ban to a different type of tailings dam design - one considered safer by many engineers - Brazilian officials seemed keen to move quickly to reassure an anxious public. Of the three main tailings dams designs common in the mining industry, the upstream design is the cheapest but also the least safe. Vale said in the filing it will take "appropriate legal measures," which could include filing an appeal. Chile, Peru and other earthquake-prone countries ban the design, in which tailings are used to progressively construct dam walls the more a mine is excavated. Brazil is not as earthquake-prone as its western neighbors, but even small seismic activity has been shown to affect tailings dams. Story continues The move is not expected to affect Vale's overall production as it already produces an excess of the market's current needs. Still, analysts expect it to have a ripple effect. "This is likely to unnerve iron ore markets further," analyst at RBC Capital Markets wrote in a note to clients. SEEKING MANAGEMENT CHANGE A group of small shareholders will file a request on Tuesday asking for an extraordinary shareholders meeting to discuss a change in management. The shareholders are part of an association of people affected by Vale's operations, including members of nongovernmental organizations in Brazil and other countries, members said. The group last week visited communities affected by the burst. Another group of shareholders last week requested a probe by Brazil's securities industry regulator CVM. (Reporting by Luciano Costa and Ernest Scheyder Editing by Alistair Bell and Phil Berlowitz) Need some dental work? Soon your local pharmacy may help. Both Walgreen and CVS are piloting dental services at some of their stores to keep customers coming in. In December, Walgreens announced it has teamed up with Aspen Dental to open dental offices at a few of its Florida locations, while CVS has quietly opened six SmileDirectClub locations inside a few of its stores. Aspen Dental Management CEO Bob Fontana told FOX Business the move is part of the undergoing fundamental shift in health care overall. Patients are demanding more choice and better access. Traditional delivery models are giving way to patient-centric ones that make care more accessible and affordable, Fontana said. Walgreens added that the move is part of its overall commitment to transform its stores into neighborhood health destinations that can provide customers with access to a broad range of affordable health care services in a convenient setting. Walgreens has already opened one dental location in Gainesville, Florida, with a second one coming in Tampa around the second quarter. At these locations, Walgreens customers will have access to free exams, X-rays and even quick turnarounds for custom-crafted dentures or repairs. CVS, on the other hand, is piloting a program to offer its customers an opportunity to get their teeth straightened at some locations. While a spokesperson did not immediately respond to FOX Business request for comment on its partnership with SmileDirectClub, one did tell CNBC that the overall goal is to make health easier and more convenient for our customers. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP Currently, CVS has added six SmileShopExpress locations, where customers can get fitted for invisible braces or get their teeth whitened. Both companies, however, have said both programs are still in the pilot phase. Related Articles (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. investors are likely looking for the company to use its massive cash pile to make acquisitions, and names like Netflix Inc., Activision Blizzard Inc. and Sonos Inc. are among the companies that JPMorgan sees as strong strategic fits. Shares of Apple have lost more than 25 percent from an October record, dropping on concerns over the demand prospects for its key iPhone product line. In its most recent quarterly report, the company posted its first holiday-quarter sales decline since 2001, a drop that was almost entirely due to lower smartphone sales. The stock rose 2.6 percent in early trading on Monday, on track for its fourth straight daily gain. Given this environment, and considering that Apple has roughly $130 billion in net cash -- along with an average of $45 billion in cash flow generated every year after dividends -- investors are likely hoping that Apple uses its balance sheet strength to insulate the business against often-seen disruptions in the technology landscape, analyst Samik Chatterjee wrote. JPMorgan has an overweight rating on Apple stock, along with a $228 price target. Chatterjee noted that the prospect of such deals was speculative and theoretical. It would also be atypical for Apple, given it has historically not been an aggressive buyer of other companies. According to Bloomberg data, Apple has only twice bought publicly-traded companies. Furthermore, most of Apples acquisitions have been on the smaller side. While it was involved in an $18 billion purchase of Toshiba Memory Corp -- along with other buyers -- one of its largest deals ever was a $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics in 2014. Apple didnt immediately return a request for a comment, and neither did Netflix or Activision. A spokesperson for Sonos said the company doesnt comment on rumors or speculation. In JPMorgans view, video gaming, video content and smart home speakers are among the industries with the most strategic value, for Apple, providing potential growth opportunities to leverage services over a wider installed base. Story continues Netflix was deemed the best strategic fit for Apple in the content category, although we appreciate a combination is less likely as Netflix is unlikely to be a seller for a modest premium. The video-streaming giant has a market capitalization of $148.4 billion, which would make it Apples largest acquisition by far, even without a premium. Video content provides leverage to rapid growth in content consumption on mobile and Netflix has an established platform to accelerate Apples nascent investments in original content, Chatterjee wrote to clients. Shares of Netflix rose 2.4 percent on Monday. The speaker category has a focus on high engagement with customers, and it offers synergies in driving Apple Music services. Apple is currently lagging competitors in the smart home category, JPMorgan wrote, referring to the companys HomePod product line. Sonos, in contrast, has a differentiated position as a premium home speaker system relative to Amazon Alexa and Google Home, along with strong loyalty among current customers and [a] robust international presence. Sonos had a market cap of $1.2 billion, as of Fridays close. The stock rose as much as 8.5 percent on Monday, its seventh straight daily gain -- the longest such streak in its history. For Apple, a video-game acquisition would offer leverage to an industry rapidly transitioning to mobile, while the hardware capabilities for high-end gaming potentially [support] a replacement cycle. Among targets mentioned in press reports, JPMorgan wrote, we find Activision Blizzard to be the best strategic fit for Apple. Shares of Activision rose 1.2 percent. The company had a market cap of $35.1 billion through Friday. (Adds historical data for Apple acquisitions in fourth and fifth paragraphs.) To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Vlastelica in New York at rvlastelica1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Steven Fromm, Courtney Dentch For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Tesla short sellers have been gathering and sharing research, including aerial photography, about the automaker's activities on social media platforms, especially Twitter, for months. Today a group of the Tesla bears launched a website, Tslaq.org, to share contributors' photos, videos and theories under a creative commons license. A group of Tesla TSLA short sellers launched a site Friday called Tslaq.org to showcase their crowdsourced research tracking the car maker's activities. Tslaq.org includes aerial photography from the Shorty Air Force, a group of pseudonymous researchers who fly over the company's parking lots and delivery centers to count Tesla's inventory cars. Other photos on the site come from a group calling themselves the Shorty Ground Force, which takes photos from publicly accessible points near Tesla factories or facilities using smartphone cameras or hobbyist drones. Some contributors tally up the cars that they can count in the images. Others provide theories about what's observable in the photos when considered along with Tesla's own claims and disclosures. Tslaq.org makes all the photos and videos featured on the site available under a creative commons license, meaning other independent bloggers or mainstream media outlets don't have to seek permission before re-publishing them. Tesla declined comment, but the site is likely to annoy Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has recently sparred with short sellers and the media. Last year, Musk shut up one of his most vocal critics , a short seller who used the handle "Montana Skeptic" on Twitter and wrote bearish analysis of the company on SeekingAlpha. The Tesla CEO reportedly phoned Montana Skeptic's employer and told the blogger he would potentially take legal action in response to his posts. The Tesla CEO also sounded off on Twitter at mainstream media organizations throughout 2018, and said he plans to start an organization that rates reporters. Story continues WATCH: Why this analyst rates Tesla a sell More From CNBC "The Philippines and China should come up with a legally binding framework within a 12-month period that would guide joint gas and oil exploration activities in the disputed waters in the years ahead." During the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in November last year, the Philippines and China signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a framework for future talks on joint oil and gas exploration in the disputed Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea. The MOU stipulates a deadline of 12 months in which the two parties would agree on areas and arrangements on how to pursue joint exploration activities. It says that the two sides decided to negotiate on an accelerated basis arrangement to facilitate oil and gas exploration and exploitation in relevant maritime areas consistent with applicable rules of international law. All negotiations under the MOU "will be without prejudice to the respective legal positions of both governments," and does not create rights or obligations under international or domestic law." Moreover, the MOU itself states that it was drawn up in the context of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and positive dialogue between the two countries. Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration's position on the West Philippine Sea dispute, is said to have no objection to the MOU provided that cooperation with China on oil and gas activities will be through service contractors who should expressly recognize that the area falls within Philippine sovereignty or sovereign rights. But there is an obstacle to achieving the goal of the MOU: this is the moratorium on oil exploration covering the disputed Recto Bank or Service Contract 72 (SC 72) in the West Philippine Sea. The moratorium is the end-result of the case lodged in 2013 by Manila against Beijing before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in the Netherlands that was eventually decided in our favor in July 2016. Here, the arbitration court ruled that Reed (Recto) Bank, where SC 72 lies, is within the Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as defined under UNCLOS. The moratorium was imposed by the Department of Energy on Dec. 12, 2014 upon the recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs. It remains in place until the DFA notifies the affected parties that they can commence drilling activities. The DOE has recommended to the DFA the lifting of the moratorium following the request of Forum GSEC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Forum Energy which has a 70 percent participating stake in SC 72. PXP Energy, formerly Philex Petroleum, holds a 78.98 percent direct and indirect interest in Forum Energy.Apart from PXP Energy, the state-owned Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) is also eyeing exploration work in the West Philippine Sea. The DOE has opened to interested investors 14 prospective petroleum areas for exploration under the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP). All these 14 areas are within the Philippines EEZ and covers onshore and offshore blocks in Luzon and Mindanao. Forum GSEC has urged the DOE to lift the moratorium on SC 72. It said this will not only be a positive development for its SC 72 block but also for the country because it will allow them and another company with a stake in SC 72Monte de Oroto resume exploration and appraisal activities in the area, which include the drilling of two appraisal wells on their Sampaguita gas discovery. This discovery is said to contain approximately 2.5 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas that would be a new source of gas as replacement for Malampaya, which is expected to start a decline in production by 2022. The two firms will spend at least $80 million to $100 million in the next two to three years to fully appraise the Sampaguita Gas Field and other identified prospects within the contract area. The DOE imposed the moratorium on exploration in Recto Bank five years ago, but it wants to defer to the DFA in determining the resumption of such activities. Meantime, it has already opened communications with Chinas National Energy Commission, which is its counterpart in China. What is ideal is for the two countries to come up with a legally binding framework within a 12-month period that would guide joint gas and oil exploration activities in the disputed waters in the years ahead. The Philippines needs to beef up energy security as we are already trailing behind our neighbors in upstream petroleum activities. With accelerated infrastructure development activities in the coming years and Malampaya about to run out of steam, oil and gas exploration in Recto Bank must start not later than 2027 as it will take at least six years for it to pump out its first output. (Bloomberg) -- Google parent Alphabet Inc. reported thinner profit margins as the internet giant spent heavily to expand its cloud and YouTube businesses. Googles fourth-quarter capital expenditures jumped 80 percent to $6.85 billion. The companys operating margin, a closely watched measure of profitability, was 21 percent, down from 24 percent. Alphabet is relying on its ad business to support sales and profit growth as it develops new offerings such as cloud services and consumer hardware. The companys higher-growth businesses, which also include YouTube, are less profitable than the original Google desktop search service. "Capex is growing at a sizable clip and the primary driver continues to be investing in technical infrastructure to support growth," Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. "By that we mean data centers and machines. This reflects our outlook for global growth in ads, search, YouTube and cloud." Costs were also pushed higher by hiring, mostly for the cloud business, she added during a conference call with analysts. Alphabet had 98,771 employees at the end of 2018, up 23 percent from a year earlier. Porat said headcount growth should moderate in 2019. The company also spent heavily on YouTube, which shares a lot of its ad revenue with content creators and larger media partners. Google is asking investors to trust that investments in future growth will pay off, but the company discloses limited financial details on its newer initiatives. YouTube numbers are buried inside Google, while cloud and hardware results are part of Googles Other revenues line. "If Google really wants to see more of a sum-of-its-parts valuation from investors, theyre going to have to start disclosing," Aaron Kessler, an analyst at Raymond James, said. Alphabet shares slipped 0.5 percent to $1135.42 at 9:52 a.m. in New York. The stock had gained 9.2 percent so far this year through Monday. Story continues Fourth-quarter sales, minus fees paid to partners, climbed 23 percent to $31.84 billion, the internet giant said in a statement Monday. Analysts on average were expecting $31.33 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Net income was $12.77 a share, compared with a loss of $4.35 a share a year earlier, when a one-time tax expense wiped out profit. Online commerce grew quickly in the final quarter of 2018, helping Googles ad business. When shoppers hunt for holiday gifts, they often use Googles search engine, letting the company send them targeted product ads based on those queries. The number of clicks on ads that Google ran on its own services surged 66 percent in the fourth quarter, versus the 2017 holiday period. Sales growth of 23 percent "is very good for what is viewed as a mature business," said Christopher Rossbach, chief investment officer of private investment office J. Stern & Co. "We are confident that Google will continue to have rising paid click volumes for the foreseeable future." The companys ad business is built on the collection of intimate data about billions of people, a practice thats increasingly being scrutinized. Last month, French privacy regulators fined Google 50 million euros ($57 million) for not giving consumers enough information when it asked them to sign over access to their information. Still, ads from Google and rival Facebook Inc. are more relevant and effective than most other options -- precisely because the companies collect so much information on activity across the internet and beyond. New privacy rules in Europe, known as GDPR, may have limited this data harvesting slightly, but thats hit smaller competitors more than the two digital giants. Facebook results beat Wall Street estimates last week. "We are encouraged that the GDPR regulations have improved the rights of European users whilst not having had a significant negative effect on the operations of Google," Rossbach said. "The fundamentals of their advertising business remain intact." Hes happy Google is spending heavily on YouTube, cloud and hardware. The investor is also bullish about Waymo, Alphabets autonomous vehicle unit. Revenue from Googles Other division, which includes cloud and hardware, rose 31 percent to $6.49 billion. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said the cloud operation is "getting large wins," and Porat noted that its one of the fastest-growing businesses at Alphabet. Other Bets, which include Waymo, generated revenue of $154 million, up 18 percent from a year earlier. Operating losses were $1.33 billion. Porat said Waymo is having conversations with "a number of cities" about a driverless car service. Right now, theres a limited paid service in the Phoenix area. Alphabets cash and other short-term holdings totaled $109.14 billion at the end of 2018. The company is spending some of that on buying back an additional $12.5 billion of its Class C shares. The cash hoard has also sparked speculation among some analysts that Alphabet will make a major acquisition to boost its cloud business. "Acquisitions are an attractive complement to what we do to drive organic growth, Porat said on Monday. We did more last year than prior, but they were small. We are very open to acquisitions." (Updates with shares in ninth paragraph.) --With assistance from Mark Bergen. To contact the reporter on this story: Gerrit De Vynck in New York at gdevynck@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Struggling Wow Air has seen its breakneck growth backfire. Bill Franke, whose private equity firm owns Frontier Airlines, has agreed to buy a minority stake in Wow. Wow has slashed its fleet and its destinations, facing a cash crunch. Wow Air spent six years drawing shoe-string travelers aboard a growing fleet of magenta jets with fares that sometimes dipped below $100 for a flight across the Atlantic. Founded in 2012 and owned by Icelandic entrepreneur Skuli Mogensen, Wow has watched its rapid growth backfire. Customer service complaints piled up. It expanded too rapidly and had to fill planes with ever-more expensive fuel, sapping its cash. Things unraveled after aircraft leasing companies asked for stricter payment terms for planes in September. Wow posted losses for the past two years. The situation became more dire last year when rival Icelandair, which looked to be a savior for Wow, backed away from a takeover offer. Enter 81-year-old airline investor Bill Franke. Franke, a lawyer by training, is managing partner at private equity firm Indigo Partners, which owns Frontier Airlines. He's a long-time proponent of low, bare-bones air fares and fees for everything else. Franke has earned a reputation for aggressive cost-cutting and a track record for turning around ailing airlines over his more than two-decade career in airlines. Late last year, Indigo agreed to buy a 49 percent stake of Wow for up to $75 million a deal Franke expects to close as early as this quarter. 'Mr. Fix It' Turning Wow around would be a new challenge for Franke, but it's a familiar place for him. "I had become something of a 'Mr. Fix It,'" Franke said in an interview. He had been tapped to run America West when it was in bankruptcy in 1993. He said he planned to stay for six months but that turned into nine years. Some of the top-ranking airline executives in the U.S. worked under Franke, including American Airlines AAL CEO Doug Parker, who took the reins from Franke at America West in September 2001, as well American President Robert Isom and Scott Kirby, who is now president of United Airlines UAL . Story continues Franke has long been adamant that what travelers are truly after is cheap airfare . Indigo had owned ultra-low cost carrier Spirit Airlines SAVE a rival of Frontier, which Indigo bought in 2013. Franke, who was Spirit's chairman, helped the carrier grow profits by slashing costs and charging passengers more fees for things that used to come with the price of a ticket, like overhead baggage and seat selection. That model is in Wow's DNA. But while short-haul, ultra-low-cost carriers like Spirit and Europe's Ryanair and easyJet have been offering no-frills service for decades, airlines like Wow Air are a relatively new breed. They offer low-cost, long-haul service, routes that can be costly to operate and that go up against entrenched larger rivals. Rocky years These airlines are uniquely challenged because leisure travelers are their primary customers, not high-paying business travelers. Low-cost airlines had 14 percent of the capacity on trans-Atlantic routes last year, according to consulting firm ICF. Some low-cost airlines have had a rocky couple of years. Primera Air, an Icelandic-backed carrier that had a similar model to Wow's, suddenly ceased operations last fall, informing travelers by email it was shutting down. In late 2017, U.K. leisure airline Monarch Airlines collapsed, prompting the largest-ever peacetime repatriation 110,000 travelers stranded abroad. Perhaps the most closely watched, Norwegian Air Shuttle, the largest of the low-cost trans-Atlantic operators, has struggled to turn a profit. Last month, it said it would try to raise $350 million in a share sale after British Airways' parent International Airlines Group ruled out a bid for the airline and said it would sell its nearly 4 percent stake in Norwegian. 'Pretty ugly' history If the Wow deal with Indigo goes through, Franke will try get Wow on better footing. "The history of low-cost, long-haul airlines is pretty ugly and we make sure we do it right," said Franke. "We obviously see potential here or we wouldn't [invest]." Wow Air is already taking some steps to stop the bleeding from higher costs. It cut its U.S. destinations by more than half, leaving just four routes from Iceland: to Newark, Boston, Baltimore and Detroit. Wow slashed its fleet, including its expensive wide-body Airbus planes and routes that went along with it like service from Iceland to San Francisco and New Delhi. "I think essentially we lost focus," Mogensen said. Mogensen said he is trying to simplify the operation. Wow will get rid of premium seats on its planes to fit more regular economy seats and it will only operate narrow-body Airbus aircraft. Franke also uses Airbus for the rest of his growing global empire of investments in discount airlines, such as Mexico's Volaris, Chilean airline JetSmart and Hungary-based Wizz Air. Keeping it simple Wow's cuts sparked layoffs, and the airline doesn't expect to grow its capacity again until 2020, Mogensen said. "It's so important to keep things simple," he said. Mogensen admitted the airline needs to improve in customer service. Wow ranked last of 72 airlines worldwide in a ranking released last June by AirHelp, a company that helps passengers get compensated by airlines when travel is disrupted. Franke declined to detail his plans for the airline, but Ben Baldanza, former Spirit Airlines CEO when Franke was chairman and briefly a board member at Wow, said he's likely to have a lot of influence. Franke made headlines last year when Indigo Partners placed the largest-ever Airbus order , for 430 narrow-body jets. "I'm sure Bill would not put $1 if he couldn't control things like the fleet, the schedule," said Baldanza, now a board-member at New York-based JetBlue Airways JBLU . "Bill's a taskmaster but a good one." More From CNBC TWEET ME Follow the The Field Negro via e-mail. DISCLAIMER *COMMENTS, LINKS, AND CUT AND PASTE ARTICLES, ARE NOT ALL ENDORSED BY THE PUBLISHER. THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed. MORE DISCLAIMERS This is a commercial free blog. Money is nice, but being able to speak my mind is better. "Real talk: Daniel Rubin has a great little piece up wherein he chats with The Field Negro, the Philly-based blogger who sharply ponders all things black on a daily basis. (Seriously, if youve never checked in with TFN, you should: Its author, Wayne Bennett, is a fantastic read who can cut through bullshit like a hot knife through butter, which is a far grosser analogy than I wanted to make, but there you have it.)" ~Philebrity~ "One of the most precocious and hilarious Black political minds on the net. Ive been a long-time fan!" ~Asad Malik~ "..While most of what he writes is tongue-in-cheek, his space is a safe house for candid discussions about race, especially in the comments section, where people of all colors meet." ~~Daniel Rubin, "The Philadelphia Inquirer"~~ "To white people, Bennett's musings are like kitchen-table talk from a kitchen they may otherwise never set foot in. To African Americans, he is part of a growing army of black Internet amateurs who have taken up the work once reserved for ministers and professional activists: the work of setting a black agenda, shaping black opinion and calling attention to the state of the nation's racial affairs." ~~Richard Fausset, "L.A. Times"~~~ ~Erik Hare, "The Twin Cities Daily Planet"~ "That's why I love the blog " Field Negro " so much. Field, as he's known to his fans, has the sense of reality that it takes to call out the ( CowPuckey ) of blame beating by those who are in positions of power and their lackeys. Because of his handle and his unabashed way of writing about racial issues, Field is often cited as a "Black blogger." What he is, however, is a first-class detector of blame deflection and an excellent student of history. If you want to write about the past and future of repression there's really no other perspective to take - which is why everyone should read Field."~Erik Hare, "The Twin Cities Daily Planet"~ 411 On The Field field negro Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Raised in the house, but field certified. Jamaica is the land of my birth, but I consider myself a citizen of the world. I currently practice law in the city of "brotherly love". View my complete profile "Half a century after Little Rock, the Montgomery bus boycott and the tumultuous dawn of the modern civil rights era, the new face of the movement is Facebook, MySpace and some 150 black blogs united in an Internet alliance they call the AfroSpear. Older, familiar leaders such as Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, are under challenge by a younger generation of bloggers known by such provocative screen names as Field Negro, thefreeslave and African American Political Pundit. And many of the newest struggles are being waged online." ~Howard Witt-The Chicago Tribune~ "I had no idea, for example, of the extent of the African-American blogging world out there and its collective powers of dissemination.But now, after reading thousands of anguished, thoughtful comments posted on these blogs reflecting on issues of persistent racial discrimination in the nation's schools and courtrooms, what's clear to me is that there's a new, "virtual" civil rights movement out there on the Internet that can reach more people in a few hours than all the protest marches, sit-ins and boycotts of the 1950s and 60s put together." ~Chicago Tribune Reporter, Howard Witt~ Mr. Ciruli is the Director of the Crossley Center for Public Opinion Research at the University of Denvers Josef Korbel School of International Studies. He is an adjunct professor teaching public opinion and foreign policy. The Crossley Center conducts research and presents live and virtual programs on foreign policy, politics, public policy and public opinion. Mr. Ciruli holds a law degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and a bachelors degree cum laude in political science from UCLA. He is a member of the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), and is the past-president of the Pacific Chapter of AAPOR (PAPOR). Mr. Ciruli is a board member of the Social Science Foundation of the University of Denver Josef Korbel School of International Studies and past-president of the Georgetown Law Alumni Board and the Denver Athletic Club. San SalvadorSalvadorans on Sunday elected Nayib Bukele, the popular former mayor of San Salvador, as the Central American countrys new presidenta result that ends the near 30-year grip on power of its two largest parties. The countrys Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) awarded him 53.78 percent of votes with 87.67 percent counteda lead it considered irreversible. The 37-year-old president-elect, of the conservative Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) party, wore jeans and a leather jacket as he celebrated with supportersthousands chanting his name and waving flags in the capitals central Plaza Morazan. Its a victory for the Salvadoran people, today we won in the first round and we have made history, said Bukele, who despite being a firm favorite was expected to face a second round of voting. He has promised to increase investment in education and fight corruption but his main task will be to confront insecurity in a country ravaged by gang violence. He will also have to form an alliance with the right-wing opposition, which dominates congress, and govern with them until at least 2021 when the next legislative elections are held. Bukeles opponentsCarlos Calleja of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), and Hugo Martinez of the leftist Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN) quickly recognized the win. For nearly three decades, their parties have had a firm hold on Salvadoran politics. We recognize the results of these elections. We are going to call the president-elect to wish him luck in facing the challenges in this country, said Calleja, the runner-up with 31.62 percent of votes. The FMLNs Martinez took third place with 13.77 percent. Meanwhile, Organization of American States (OAS) secretary general Luis Almagro congratulated Bukele on Twitter. We congratulate @nayibbukele for his historic victory in the first round. We celebrate his proposal for a new chapter for El Salvador. And we salute the political matuirty of the contending candidates in accepting his victory, Almagro said. Some 5.2 million people participated in the election, according to the elections authority chief Julio Olivo. Voters formed long lines outside polling stations in parts of San Salvador, where gang violence and insecurity are endemic. El Salvador is among the worlds most violent countries with a murder rate of 51 per 100,000 citizens. Its honestly scary to go out alone in the street, you never know what can happen you, first-time voter Gabriela Solorzano, 19, said at a polling station in the gang stronghold of Mejicanos in the capitals north, her brother holding her hand. In nearby streets, where graffiti on the walls testify to the presence of criminal gangs, many voters arrived aboard buses laid on by the political parties.But outgoing President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, of the FMLN, said voting proceeded very calmly and very normally. Some 23,000 police officers and 15,000 soldiers were deployed to protect the sixth presidential election since democracy was restored in 1992after 12 years of bloody civil war between state security forces and leftist guerrillas. For analyst Roberto Canas, Salvadorans buried the bipartisanship that could not read the needs of the people, such as the insecurity experienced daily on the streets. Confronting insecurity will certainly be a key challenge for Bukele, who Canas said personified the populations tiredness. According to authorities, gang violence was the source of most of last years 3,340 reported murders and gangs are said to have 70,000 members, with 17,000 behind bars. The new president must offer daring security solutions, Carlos Carcach, an analyst and professor at the Higher School of Economy and Business in El Salvador, told AFP. In the past, right-wing governments opted for repression or secret negotiations with gangs. Meanwhile under the FMLNs Mauricio Funes (2009- 2014), there was a truce between the countrys two main gangs which temporarily reduced homicides. Another task will be to reduce illegal immigration to the United Statesas President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off aid if the flow of Central American migrants is not stemmed. During the last few months of 2018, more than 3,000 Salvadorans joined caravans marching towards the United States, fleeing gangs and a lack of jobs. The other main worry for Salvadorans is the economy. Although it grew by 2.6 percent in 2018, its biggest rise in five years, that is considered insufficient to cover the demand for new employment. Bukele will have to juggle the need to raise taxes to cover an external debt of more than $9.5 billion while trying to maintain social programs in a country where the minimum wage of $300 a month is barely enough to buy food. Just over 30 percent of El Salvadors 6.6 million inhabitants live below the poverty line. Mumbai: A 40-year-old woman human trafficker is convicted and sentenced for 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. The Thane district court convicted for slashing the private parts of a girl, who had fought for being forced into prostitution. As per the reports, district judge S P Gondhalekar after a 5-year trial announced the sentence to a woman. the accused was convicted under Sections of the Indian Penal code and Immoral Traffic (Prevention) act of 1956. The woman was identified as Ruby Munshi, who hailed from Bangladesh. Reportedly, her two aides Afzal Siddiqui and Ramadevi Dodamani have been acquitted of all the charges for lack of evidence against them. Meanwhile, another accused Alamgir is said to be on a run. The reports also claims that the prosecutor Ujjwala Moholkar told the court that the victim was brought from Bangladesh on the pretext of giving job but she was pushed in porsititution. However, when the victim denied being a part of the trade, the accused then chopped her private parts, she also broke her teeth. Reportedly, the court was informed that the sex traffickers are also stubbed with cigarettes on her body, causing burn injuries. DGP office becomes strict on UP's growing kidnapping incidents, guidelines issued Neighbour Raped Minor Girl, Arrested in 12 hours Nephew of Congress leader commits suicide, tested corona positive two days ago A day earlier, the primary suspect, identified as Kammah Pae in the deadly Jolo, Sulu church bombing yielded to authorities, according to PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde. UNTV News A henchman of Abu Sayyaf leader Hatib Sawadjaan, along with four followers, all considered conspirators to the deadly bombing of a Catholic church in Jolo that was carried out by two Indonesian suicide bombers , have surrendered, police said Monday.Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde said Kammah Pae, alias Kamah, tagged as the principal cohort of Indonesian jihadist bombers surrendered to the Armys 35th Infantry Battalion on Saturday and was handed over to the police Sunday. READ: ISIS owns up to Jolo blasts Shortly after Kammahs surrender, four of his followers also turned themselves in to the local police in Sulu Sunday. Albayalde identified them as Albaji Kisae, alias Awag, Rajan Bakil Gadjali, alias Radjan; Kaisar Bakil Gadjali, alias Isal; said to be bomb-makers and Salit Alih, alias Papong. Minutes after two bombs went off inside and outside of Mt. Carmel Cathedral , the military pointed to Kammahs involvement. He said Kammah surrendered under the pressure of a massive manhunt. He added that his companions said it was Kammah who escorted the Indonesian couple to the church. Soldiers and police found explosives in Kammahs house. The Ajang-Ajang group to which Kammah belongs is composed mainly of orphaned children of ASG bandits. READ: Ajang-Ajang man falls; Kamah escapes Reports said Kammah was an adjutant of Sawadjaan, who grew up in the terrorist mainstream, tapped as an errand boy during his teenage years. A case for multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder will be filed against the five suspects before the provincial prosecutor office of Sulu. Albayalde said 14 other suspects remained at large, including the mastermind Sawadjaan. Among them were Makrim Habbisi, alias Makrim, Barak Ingug, alias Barak Abdulgani, Usman Aka Ubin, a certain Arab Puti and nine John Does. The plan was hatched on Jan. 8 when Muksin and Usman tried to assemble an IED in Barangay Latih. Four days later, Sawadjaan met Usman and Barak in Barangay Bastiong, Partikul, and provided them with funds for the bombing mission.On Jan. 21, an Indonesian couple holed out in Lampinging Island for few days after arriving in the country, and sailed to Jolo Island on Jan. 24. The couple was met by Kammahs groupPapong, Awag and Radjan at a gasoline station and boarded Awags jeepney along with five boys who later disembarked along the way. Upon reaching Sitio Usaw, Barangay Langhub, Patikul, near the house of Usman, Kammah together with Barak, Makrim and Usman joined the couple and proceeded to Sitio Bastiong, Barangay Langub, Patikul. Upon their arrival, Kamah and Barak escorted the couple towards a forested portion of Sitio Bastiong where they met Sawadjaan and eventually mapped out the plan for the bombing. The bomb plot was attended by Barak, Kammah, Awag, Usman, Makrim, Isal, Radjan and Papong. On the eve of the bomb attack, the couple, each toting black trolley bags were escorted to Barangay Latih by Usman, Barak and nine other unidentified armed men. The couple then boarded Awags jeepney en route for Jolo, arriving there at at about 5:10 p.m. The couple, after their arrival in Jolo, disembarked in front of Suleco Building and went to undisclosed place in the island until a powerful bomb made of GI sheets, serving it as casing, containing ammonium nitrate-fuel, the primary explosive charge, went off inside Mt. Carmel and in front of the Church at about 8:30 a.m. Sunday. At present, the identities of the Indonesian couple has not been established, and the government has sought the help of the Indonesian government to identify them. Albayalde said they are now investigating where the ASG is getting their funds to further their terror acts. They affiliate themselves to ISIS so that ISIS will funnel funds to them, he said. He said in lieu of foreign funding, ASG leader Sawadjaan is locally sourcing its funds through extortion, kidnapping and illegal drugs, and the revenues from the sacking of Marawi City. Sawadjaan assumed the post vacated by ASG chieftain Isnilon Hapilon following his death in the Marawi City attack in 2016. In a TV interview, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano admitted that the failure to install CCTV cameras inside and outside the Jolo church was a security lapse, given the threat of a bomb attack. The DILG chief also told the GMA News network that while he has announced that an Indonesian couple bombed the cathedral based on the accounts of his sources, this was not captured by CCTV videos owned by private businesses near the cathedral. In Bangkok, Choking air pollution and thick smog has adversely affected the health of many. With the air quality in Thailand's capital hovering at unhealthy levels, many people have taken severely ill with some sharing horrifying pictures of the effect it has had on them. Some people took to social media to share images of them coughing out blood, having blood red eyes and shared their concerns about the deteriorating air in the city. While Hazardous dust particles known as PM 2.5 have exceeded the safe level in 41 areas around the capital, according to the Department of Pollution Control. PM 2.5 is a mixture of liquid droplets and solid particles that can include dust, soot and smoke, one of the main measures of the Air Quality Index (AQI). On Thai social media and television Public discontent has surfaced, with pollution-related hashtags trending and TV hosts advising viewers on the types of face masks they should wear. However a Thai man shared details on how what he perceived to be a fever turned out to severe effects of the murky air that had affected his health to the point that he coughed out blood. The post he shared on Facebook was widely shared on social media. Many other residents shared horrific images of bleeding noses and blood red eyes and shared details of the various other ailments the pollution has brought upon them. They advised everyone to take care of their health urged authorities to take appropriate action. These are serious concerns shared by the residents of the city who are battling the toxic air of the city on a daily basis. also read 'Armed with a fresh mandate and new ideas' says British Prime Minister Theresa May on Brexit Seattle: On Saturday, a 4-year-old boy shot his pregnant mother with a loaded gun, he found under a mattress. The incident took place in Washington state. The woman, who was shot in the face, was immediatley rushed to a hospital. While on Sunday She was admitted to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Officials informed that the woman was transferred to another hospital in improved condition. The toddler found the unsecured gun between the mattress and box spring when his father and mother were watching television. Abbott added that the child shot his eight-month pregnant mother accidently. He also informed that the boys father borrowed the gun for protection and that it was unregistered. also read 28 Haitians have drowned off the coast of Abaco in the Bahamas Officials added that Were reminding anybody with a gun, kids see them as toys, AP quoted Abbott as saying. The biggest tragic lesson here is please lock-up your guns so they cant be used accidentally for the wrong reason. It is to be noted that, as per the new Washington state law, gun owners can face criminal charges for not storing a gun safely. The investgation into the matter is undergoing. In a similar incident, a pregnant woman was shot by her 3-year-old daughter outside a thrift store in Merrillville, Indiana last year. The toddler accidentally shot her mother after finding a loaded handgun of her father inside their car. also read 'Human mind can overcome any disease 'Goa CM Manohar Parrikar on World Cancer Day Ulaanbataar: Mongolia has extended school winter holidays in the world's coldest capital and many families have sent children to live with relatives in the vast, windswept grasslands to escape choking smog and respiratory diseases such as pneumonia. The temperature is expected to drop to minus 32 degrees Celsius (minus 26F) in Ulaanbaatar on Monday night, as residents burn coal and trash to try to keep warm and concentrations of smog particles known as PM2.5 routinely exceed 500 mg per cubic metre, 50 times the level considered safe by the WHO. Mongolia, a former Soviet satellite landlocked between Russia and China, has invested public money and foreign aid to tackle pollution, but improvement has been slow, with residents saying inaction has been compounded by a corruption scandal that has paralysed parliament. In a crowded township more than 40 miles from Ulaanbaatar, Jantsandulam Bold's five grandchildren are breathing more easily after fleeing the capital. "Fresh air and sun are most important for kids to grow healthy and robust," says Jantsandulam, 57, making milk tea for her grandchildren in her home, a thickly padded felt hut known as a "ger", or in Russian, a "yurt". Ukhaanzaya Gankhuyag, 5, and Namuun (R), 5, play outside their Mongolian ger in Tov province outside Ulaanbaatar. Photo: Reuters "This little one had flu when he came here but the fresh air has treated him well," she said, pointing at her five-year-old grandson. The children are nearing the end of a two-month break, with schools due to reopen next Monday. About 60 percent of Mongolia is covered by grassland, where the mining of copper, gold, coal and other minerals provides employment, while the Gobi desert envelops the South. But almost half the population live in Ulaanbataar. Reuters calculations based on US Embassy data show annual average PM2.5 concentrations hit 100 micrograms in Ulaanbaatar in 2018. They soared to 270 in December. PM2.5 in China's most polluted city of Shijiazhuang stood at an average 70 micrograms last year, down 15.7 percent from 2017. The World Health Organisation recommends a concentration of no more than 10 micrograms. The WHO said 80 percent of Ulaanbaatar's smog was caused by coal burning in "ger" districts, where thousands of rural migrants, used to a nomadic lifestyle, have pitched huts. It estimates air pollution causes more than 4,000 premature deaths a year. Mandakhjargal Tumur, coordinator at the non-governmental organization (NGO) Moms and Dads Against Smog, holds her 4-year-old daughter at her living room in Ulaanbaatar. Photo: Reuters A joint study by the UN International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and Mongolia's National Centre for Public Health said children living in one smog-prone district of Ulaanbaatar had 40 percent less lung function than those living in the countryside. Air pollution aggravates respiratory diseases and children under five are most vulnerable as their organs are still not mature," said Bolormaa Bumbaa, a doctor at Bayangol District's Children's hospital in Ulaanbaatar. Families have already set up a pressure group known as Moms and Dads Against Smog, but after the protests they organised in Ulaanbaatar were ignored, the group decided to focus on encouraging residents to take action to protect themselves, said Mandakhjargal Tumur, a group coordinator. "I don't believe the government will do enough to reduce pollution in coming years," she said. "That's why we are now focusing on raising awareness." At the Bayangol hospital, Ulzii-Orshikh Otgon, 34, was forced to bring her 10-month-old daughter Achmaa in with pneumonia for the second time in a month. "I believe it's because of the pollution," she said, adding that home air purifiers did little to help. Women walk with their belongings amid smog in Sukhbaatar district of Ulaanbaatar. Photo: Reuters "Just by opening the door, our home fills with smog," she said while breastfeeding Achmaa in the waiting room. Doctors advised her to take her children out of Ulaanbaatar but she has no relatives in the countryside and rent is expensive. "Decision makers have said for years they are fighting pollution," she said. "They just wasted billions of tugriks on useless stoves and processed coal, which don't change anything." Ahmedabad: A threatening phone call to a businessman in Gujarat led to the arrest of underworld don Ravi Pujari. The businessman close to political bigwigs received a call for money last November from Mumbai. Two people were arrested in connection with it from Andheri by the Mumbai Police soon. Their phone calls were traced and computers analysed to narrow down Pujaris location to Senegal in Africa. A team of Mumbai Police then went undercover as tourists to Senegal and collected definitive clues. The police learnt that Pujari was in Senegal since 2009 and was running a hotel chain. He was living under the fake identity of Antony Fernandes from Mangalore, keeping off the local police radar. The Senegalese Police were initially apprehensive of Mumbai Polices story since he was not involved in any cases in the African country. Pujari was arrested after a verification of his passport at the Senegalese Embassy revealed it was fake. Ravi Pujari is a suspect in the Kochi beauty parlour shooting case. The beauty parlour owned by actor Leena Maria Paul was attacked on December 15 last year by two bike-borne assailants, who left a slip with Pujaris name. The actor told the police that she had received calls from Pujari asking for Rs 25 crore in the days leading to the shooting. Read more: Latest India news New Delhi: Veteran Manipuri filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma on Sunday said that he would return the Padma Shri as a mark of protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, terming it 'anti-Northeast'. The 83-year-old director, known for Manipuri films such as 'Olangthagee Wangmadasu', 'Imagi Ningthem' and 'Ishanou', was bestowed with the country's fourth highest civilian honour in 2006. He said the plea of the Northeast people against the bill's passage was not being heard by the Centre. "The bill is against the interest of the Northeast and its people, especially in Manipur. All the leaders of the states in the Northeast have already requested the central government to reconsider (on the bill's passage). "But yesterday when I was following the news, our honourable prime minister announced that the bill would be passed soon. He also requested the chief minister of West Bengal to help him pass the bill. That means the government, rather the BJP, is determined to pass this bill. They are not listening to us," Sharma told PTI. Citing the example of Tripura, the filmmaker said history would repeat itself in Manipur if the bill is passed. "We have already seen this in Tripura. Tripuris are having no say in Tripura... The population of Manipur is only 28-29 lakhs, which is less than the population of a district in Uttar Pradesh. "The smaller states like Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya have protection. Even then they are protesting because if the bill is passed the indigenous people will have no place. They will be wiped out. It may not happen now, but it will happen 50 years from today," he said. Sharma said returning the award was the only way in which he could raise his voice against the bill. "I'm not a politician. I'm not at all concerned with the politics. I'm just a filmmaker. I have seen a lot in life. But this is the worst. If the bill passes, there will be no place for us. This is against the Northeast. "I can't do anything else. This is the only way in which I can protest... We feel neglected. Some kind of racial differences are happening... If not paid attention, the consequences will be severe. I'm worried about this," he said. Addressing a rally in West Bengal on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, insisting it would bring 'justice and respectability' to those who faced religious persecution. "India got Independence after splitting it into pieces. People thought they can make a living in the country of their choice, but there they faced atrocities and torture because of communal malice... Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Parsis. "It was because of this that we brought the Citizenship Bill. These people have no place to go other than India. Should they not be given justice and respectability? I ask the TMC to support the Bill and facilitate its passage in Parliament," he said. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill seeks to grant nationality to religious minorities such as Hindus, Sikhs and Parsis from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh after six years of stay in India, instead of the currently required 12 years. Protests were witnessed in different parts of the country, particularly the Northeast, over the Bill which has been passed by Lok Sabha. Read more: Latest India news Kolkata: Describing her sit-in over the CBI's attempt to question Kolkata Police chief as a 'non-political' protest, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday said support has poured in for her from different quarters of the country. The chief minister, who has been sitting on a dharna since 8.30pm Sunday on a makeshift dais at Metro Channel here, said she will continue her Satyagraha till the country and its Constitution are 'saved'. Banerjee also asked his party members to ensure that the protest was peaceful. The unprecedented development came after the CBI's attempt to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with multi-crore chit fund scams. The CBI team, which went to Kumar's residence in the city's Loudon Street area Sunday, was denied permission, bundled into police jeeps and whisked to a police station. Welcoming support for her dharna, Banerjee said, "It's not a political programme. But all political parties can join us in our protest." Banerjee maintained that Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, DMK president MK Stalin and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti were among those who called up to express solidarity to her protest. 'Modi trying to organise coup' The TMC chief Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of trying to organise a coup in the state. She also alleged that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was directing the CBI to harass political opponents, as per orders of the prime minister. Addressing her party workers, who raised slogans against Modi near her dais, Banerjee said, "We want a peaceful demonstration. Please do not burn any effigies here." The dais displayed a banner saying "Save the constitution, save the federal structure, save the police force, save the Indian Administrative Service and all ranks of civil service from disaster". The CM skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on the dais here along with some senior ministers and party members. Criticising reports that questioned the presence of senior police officers at the demonstration, Banerjee said, "It's a programme of the government and that's why police officers are here." The TMC supremo had earlier said she would not attend the assembly, where the state budget would be placed by Finance Minister Amit Mitra, on Monday. Prior to that, a cabinet meeting would be held inside a makeshift room set up behind the stage. CBI moves court The Supreme Court Monday agreed to give an urgent hearing to applications moved by the CBI alleging destruction of electronic evidence related to the Saradha chit fund scam case by the Kolkata Police commissioner. The top court will hear the probe agency's applications on Tuesday. The CBI alleged that it has moved the application as an extraordinary situation has arisen in which the top police officers of the West Bengal Police are sitting on a dharna along with a political party in Kolkata. Protests across Bengal Meanwhile, party workers hit the streets from morning in Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura, Burdwan East, Purulia, Birbhum and North 24 Parganas districts, officials said. Effigies of Modi and BJP national President Amit Shah were also burnt by them. In Howrah and Hooghly districts, TMC activists obstructed train movement while they put up blockades on national highway in Bankura district. Shouting slogans against the CBI, the TMC cadres vowed to continue their fight till the Narendra Modi government is defeated in the next Lok Sabha polls. Banerjee had also directed party leaders to organise protest marches across the state on Monday between 2 pm and 4 pm without inconveniencing the people. In a tweet, the CM had earlier asserted that the Kolkata Police Commissioner "was among the best in the world and that his integrity, bravery and honesty are unquestioned". Read more: Latest India news Kolkata: The unprecedented standoff between the Centre and West Bengal government is expected to continue, with the CBI locking horns with the Mamata Banerjee government and planning to investigate Sundays late-night confrontation at the state police headquarters as part of the 'larger conspiracy' to withhold and destroy evidence in the Saradha chit fund scam case. CBI Joint Director (east) Pankaj Srivastava told THE WEEK that the CBI is going by the 'rule book' and there isnt anything unconstitutional in the way the agency had acted in the case where Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar faces allegations. Srivastava said, The case was handed over to the CBI by the Supreme Court. The CBI is acting well within its powers to carry on its investigations without any obstruction. Whether it is questioning certain officials or gathering evidence, the CBI is only doing its duty. Sources in the CBI said they did not need any prior permission to go to the police commissioner's premises as the agency had already begun its investigations in the case. On whether any fresh case will be registered by the CBI, Srivastava said there is no need for a fresh FIR for now, as all aspects of investigation will be covered, including the fresh developments, in the ongoing case. Sources said the CBI is looking at the larger conspiracy in the Saradha scam and the involvement of certain high-ranking officials and individuals. On Sunday night, after the CBI marched its sleuths to Kolkata to question Kumar, they were stopped and detained by the state police even as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna. Banerjee has been accusing the Narendra Modi government of misusing the CBI for political reasons and destroying the federal structure. In the midst of this slugfest is the CBI, and Banerjee has got the support of other political parties like Congress, National Conference and Aam Aadmi Party, which has set the stage for a political battle on the issue ahead of the general elections. Meanwhile, additional CBI teams were also put on the job as interim CBI Director Nageshwar Rao took stock of the situation on Sunday night and spoke to Srivastava, who is learnt to have informed that the evidence had been caused to disappear and sleuths were being prevented from taking charge of evidence. The CBI moved the Supreme Court on Monday, accusing Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar of destroying evidence related to the case and him of indulging in contempt of court. Mamata stages dharna The PTI reported that several party supporters from different districts thronged the area shouting slogans in support of Banerjee who has been on a sit-in protest over the incident. "This is a Satyagraha and I'll continue till the country is saved," Banerjee told reporters who accompanied her at the place of dharna. (The story originally appeared in The Week) Read more: Latest India news Thiruvananthapuram: Even the Kerala government does not know for sure how many women have gone to the Sabarimala shrine since the Supreme Court struck down a ban on women aged between 10 and 50. Dewaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran told the legislative assembly, citing a report from the Sabarimala executive officer, that only two women in the age group had visited the temple. The state government had earlier told the Supreme Court that at least 51 women in the age group had visited the temple. The government later corrected the number to 17 after spotting anomalies on the list. The minister told the assembly on Monday that he could not confirm if a Sri Lankan woman had gone to the temple. The minister also said that the Supreme Court had not told the Kerala government to ensure special protection for the women who ventured to visit the shrine despite stiff opposition from the conservative camp. He said that the devaswom manual does not allow for the closing of the temple in case any ritual is violated. He said that the tantri was bound to act by the manual even if he was not an employee of the devaswom. He said that the violent protests against the Supreme Court had caused a decrease in the number of pilgrims to the temple. Revenue from donations decreased to Rs 72.10 crore during the Mandala and Makaravilakku seasons from Rs 97.52 crore a year earlier. Total revenue during the Makaravilakku fell to Rs 180.18 crore from Rs 279.43 a year earlier, he said. Bindu and Kanakadurga, in their 40s, had defied dire threats from saffron organisations and offered prayers at the temple, breaking the centuries-old tradition and infuriating the Hindu right. The two women received a letter saying they would be harmed for entering the shrine, the police said. Forty-four-year-old Kanakadurga, who faced stiff opposition from her husband and other relatives for offering prayers at the Lord Ayyappa Temple on January 2, was forced to take shelter at Perinthalmanna here after her house was locked and her family members shifted to another building. Police sources said she still continues to be at the shelter after being discharged from hospital following an alleged attack by her mother-in-law for entering the holy shrine. An employee of the Civil Supplies Department, she has filed a petition in a court here under the Domestic Violence Act, stating she had the right to stay at her husband's home. Bindu, a 42-year-old college lecturer and CPI(M) ML activist, had accompanied Kanakadurga to the shrine. The Supreme Court had in a historic verdict last year lifted the centuries old ban on women of 10-50 age group from entering the temple, and allowed women of all age groups to offer prayers at the shrine. Both the women are being provided round-the-clock security by police besides CCTV survillance. A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court would hear on February 6 a batch of petitions seeking review of its judgement allowing entry of women of all age groups into Kerala's Sabarimala temple. Thiruvananthapuram: The opposition on Monday wanted to know why the government had limited the one per cent sales tax relief on aviation turbine fuel to just the Kannur airport, and had not implemented its own cabinet decision of slashing the sales tax on aviation turbine fuel by 5 per cent at all airports in the state. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan refused to respond to the specific poser. He simply stated that the one per cent VAT relief was to encourage operations at the greenfield Kannur airport. In protest, the opposition staged a walkout. The issue was raised in an adjournment motion moved by Muslim League leader M K Muneer in the assembly on Monday. In 2017, the Tax Department, overruling the objections of the Finance Department, had suggested a one per cent reduction in the tax on aviation fuel. But the cabinet instead decided to bring it down by 5 per cent. This was before the Kannur airport came into being, Muneer said. The cabinet decision was taken on September 27, 2017, and a notification too was issued on the basis of this cabinet order. But the decision has still not been implemented, and the tax on aviation fuel in the state remains at 29 percent, Muneer said. It is in such a situation that the government had gone ahead and given a one per cent relief for flights landing in Kannur alone. The interest shown to Kannur is understandable. But this excessive interest in Kannur does not behove of a chief minister. You are not the chief minister of Kannur, you are the chief minister of the entire state, Muneer said. The chief minister seemed offended by the remark. They say that I am taking an excessive interest in Kannur. I am excessively interested in developing Kannur. We are also looking at developing a new airport in Pathanamthitta, he said in reply. Though Pinarayi did not touch upon the 2017 cabinet decision, he said that the one per cent relief was given to Kannur as part of the regional connectivity scheme under the Union governments Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN). The chief minister said that the airports at Thirvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode were not eligible for similar concessions. The Kannur airport, being a greenfield one, had to incur heavy expense for its day-to-day functioning. It was as an encouragement that the relief was given. Also, the sales tax on ATF was reduced to 1 per cent for 10 years as part of Kannur joining UDAN, he added. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said that the chief minister need not create a smokescreen citing UDAN. The UDAN scheme is nothing but an attempt to encourage people to take more domestic flights, he said. Such encouragement for more domestic flights could be done for Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode airports, he said. If promoting domestic flights was the intention, Muneer had earlier said that the Karipur airport in Kozhikode needed a bigger boost. Three domestic flights from Karipur - to Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore, have been cancelled, he said. The opposition leader further said that a reduction in fuel tax would attract more flights to the state, and thereby improve its tax revenue. There are over 300 aircraft that fly over the Kerala skies a day. These flights could be compelled to touch down to any of our airports if the tax was reduced. Now they fly to Sri Lanka and other places to fill up, Chennithala said. Read more: Latest Kerala news THEYRE SURRENDERING. Ten rebels of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters under Karialan faction headed by Kumander Gani Saligan (wearing sunglasses), 4th Brigade Commander of the BIFF 2nd Division, with his 10 followers surrender on Sunday to the 601st Infantry Brigade in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao under Division Commander Maj. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, with Brig. Gen. Diosdado Carreon at the Officers Club House in Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao. Mark Navales AGAINST DISCRIMINATION. Senior high school students of Taguig City National High School wear the hijab (head covering) for a day to dramatize their sentiment against discrimination and celebrate diversity as part of World Hijab Day, an annual global event that urges citizens of all faiths to try the clothing in solidarity with Muslim women and girls. Manny Palmero Thiruvananthapuram: The sale, distribution and use of glyphosate and other products that include glyphosate have been fully banned in the Kerala. "This is part of the state's efforts to gradually phase out pesticide use in the state," Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar said in the Kerala Assembly on Monday. Among the products that will go out of sale in the state is the herbicide RoundUp, which was produced by the American agrochemical giant Monsanto and is now owned by Bayer AG, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. The use of Glycel, another glyphosate used widely, will also become illegal. The Kerala University has also been asked to submit a report within three months on the impact of glyphosate on the ecosystem of the state. With the ban on glyphosate, the number of pesticides banned in the state since 2011 has risen to 28. Glyphosate is one of the seven pesticides declared as a 'controlled pesticide' by the state government. The agriculture minister said that though the use of pesticides had shown a decline, the use of weedicides like glyphosate has shot up dramatically. In two years, its use has increased by over 71 per cent. According to rules, glyphosate can be used only in coffee plantations and lands that had not been cultivated. But we have found that this is being used widely in paddy lands before planting is done. It is also being used to destroy the weeds around pineapple and plantain crops. This dangerous chemical is also used to destroy the grass that sprouts in between the inter-locking tiles laid upon house courtyards, the minister said. A high-level meeting convened by the minister on January 29 had concluded that the unrestricted use of the weedicide was highly damaging to a state rich in water sources. Besides the ban on glyphosate, the minister also announced other steps to prevent the unbridled use of pesticides in the state. The practice of pesticide companies and their agents approaching farmers and instructing them on the use of their products has also been banned, the minister said. The companies will also be prohibited from giving classes to farmers in retail pesticide outlets. An enforcement wing will also be formed for the purpose. We have told the government about the number of posts to be created, Sunil Kumar said. Further, a pesticide can be sold only on the basis of a prescription from the government agriculture officer. Strict action will be taken against the retailer if the pesticide is sold without prescription, the agriculture minister said. An awareness drive will also be initiated. Details like how a pesticide has to be used, on which crops it can be used and the dosage, its side-effects, and the precautions to be taken before spraying the pesticide would be displayed in simple language in front of retail outlets. The second edition of the Kuttikkanam International Film festival concluded on Sunday. The event titled Kathrika 2019', which was organised by the Communication and Media Studies Department of the Marian College (Autonomous), stressed on protecting the liberty of filmmakers. Among the 35 films in the short film competition Pullanchi and Eettanu won the first and second prize respectively. Aazhiyile Pranayam bagged the special jury award. Renowned film critic and director Vijaykrishnan who inaugurated the valedictory function said, Censorship is the challenging question that every filmmaker face in their lifetime. If the censor board members dont show impartiality, the freedom of expression and creativity will die out. But, living in a democratic country like India, sometimes censor certification makes some sense." College principal Rev.Dr. Roy P Abraham said films communicate with people. "The process of creative communication continues through short films and social media in the new era," he noted while delivering the presidential address. 'Kathrika 2019 was a tribute to all those people who demanded uncensored space for centuries. We have screened some of the movies which struggled a lot to get its big screen due to censorship, said Nasiha Sadik, student coordinator. The Kottayam regional coordinator of the Chalachithra Academy Shaji Ambattu, festival director Fr. Sobi Kannalil, college manager Fr. James Kozhimala, the department director Prof. M. Vijayakumar and student coordinators Nasiha Sadik, Kebin K Thomas presided over the function. The movie 'Peranbu' which hit screens on February 1 is running successfully in theatres. Mammootty is getting rave reviews for his performance in the emotional drama directed by Ram. In a recent interview with 'Tamil Cinema Review', director Ram revealed when he had to face Mammootty anger and even experience his care during 'Peranbu' shooting. Ram also shared how scared he was about asking a superstar like Mammootty to travel to the location at a remote place to where the caravan could not reach easily. Mammootty had agreed for the role and was ready but I was weary about the location where we were to shoot. The location was about two-and-a-half hours away from Kodaikanal. And it was quite a tough job to reach the place for the roads were rugged and his caravan could barely reach there with ease, said Ram. On the first day of the shoot, Mammootty, known for his blunt remarks, asked Ram, why he should take such hardships at this juncture in his career spanning 4 decades. Without hiding his displeasure, Mammootty asked Ram how old he is in the industry and Ram replied 4 years sir. To this Mammootty asked do you know how long have I been here. It is your time to work hard but why should I." This interaction cast a shadow of doubt about how things will develop. I felt Mammootty has started hating me and was doubtful if he would continue acting. However, once the shoot started and Mammootty was in the character, he was a totally different person. Ram also mentioned another instance when Mammootty asked him to accompany him to avoid the inconvenience at the remote site. My assistants and I were staying on the shooting site itself and Mammootty used to travel back to hotel after shoot. One morning he came to me and said that I too should join him in the hotel. He stated that he was feeling guilty for making me sleep on sets while he himself was resting at a good place. I realised only an actor like him could be worried about the well being of his team. One day, I went to him and told that we were shooting the sunrise the next day, which required him to be at the location by 5.45am. To reach the location at time, it would require him to start as early as 3.30am but he surprised all of us by reaching at the location by 5:30 am. That proved that Mammootty was not just a mere star but a legend himself, Ram recalled. Ram further revealed that he admired Mollywood directors including Bharathan and Lohithadas and was a fan of the movie 'Thaniyavarthanam'. After watching that movie while I was studying filmmmaking, I had decided that one day I will cast him (Mammootty) in my film. Ram explained that only when he came to Lulu Mall, Kochi, for the premier show of 'Peranbu' in Kerala that he realised about Mammootty's huge fan base. So many directors came for the show, spoke about the movie and about him, I felt I had directed one big star for my lifetime, he added. 'Peranbu' was also screened at Shanghai International Film Festival and received a standing ovation from the audience in Tokyo. Actress Bhanupriya who is remembered for some amazing roles in the South Indian movie industry is having a tough time on her personal front. The actress was recently in news when a minor domestic help filed complaints against the actress and her brother. Adding to the trouble, a national news channel reported on Monday that more minor girls have been found at her Chennai home and the actress could be in trouble on charges of child-trafficking too. She has however dismissed the complaints as fake and instead accused the maid of stealing valuables from her residence. Last month a police complaint was filed against the actress by a woman named P. Prabhavathi in a police station in Andhra Pradesh. She alleged that Bhanupriya withheld pay to her minor daughter who is employed at her Chennai residence even though she had employed after promising to pay Rs 10,000 per month. The complaint also stated that Bhanupriya's bother Gopalakrishnan sexually harassed the 14-year-old girl. Prabhavathi also claimed that she not allowed to meet her daughter and was even roughed up when she went to Bhanupriya's house on January 19. Bhanupriya threatened to file a case of theft against her and demanded Rs 10 lakh, she added. Now, in an interview to a Tamil website, the actress responded to the charges saying the maid has been stealing gold jewels for the past few months. She claimed that about 25 sovereigns of gold have been stolen by the girl. Bhanupriya further said that it was her brother Gopalakrishnan who caught the maid red-handed and that is why her brother has been dragged into the sexual harassment case. On reports of employing a minor, the actress claimed that the maid's family had told her she was of 18 years age. The girl has been sent to the Government Observation Home in Chennai after the case was lodged. Earlier, Child rights activist Achyutha Rao had written to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) demanding a raid at Bhanupriya's house. Rao requested for an investigation to unravel the likely role of a trafficking racket. An Andhra Pradesh police officer said they would seek action after seeking legal opinion as the alleged crime happened in Chennai. The 52-year old actress was last seen in Tamil films 'Magalir Mattum'. She has been signed up for an upcoming movie with Sivakarthikeyan. She had made her Malayalam film debut with Mohanlal's Rajashilpi in 1992. She was part of hit movies like Hridayathi Sookshikkaan, Manjupoloru Penkutti, Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal, Rishyasringan etc. In Malayalam, she was last seen in 2006 movie Raathrimazha directed by Lenin Rajendran. The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States held talks Sunday ahead of working-level negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang over a second summit between their leaders slated for late this month, Seoul's foreign ministry said, Trend reports citing Yonhap. Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula and security affairs, met his US counterpart, Stephen Biegun, hours after the latter arrived here for the meeting with his new dialogue partner, Kim Hyok-chol, apparently later this week. The ministry said that the two discussed the upcoming negotiations with Pyongyang aimed at fine-tuning details, including the agenda, for the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Biegun and Kim Hyok-chol are expected to meet on Tuesday at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom or in the North's capital of Pyongyang. On Monday, the US envoy plans to visit the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae for a meeting with Chung Eui-yong, the national security advisor. Trump said that a date and venue for his summit with Kim will be announced this week. The summit will be held in late February, with Vietnam cited as the most likely venue. This week, Washington and Pyongyang are expected to discuss details of the denuclearization steps that the North should take and corresponding measures from the United States. The ministry indicated that Lee and Biegun will meet again after the working-level talks with North Korea. They plan to have "constant, additional discussions" going forward, it said. During Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's October trip to Pyongyang, the North's leader promised that the regime would dismantle and destroy all of its plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities in exchange for corresponding US measures, Biegun said during a speech at Stanford University last week. Trump and Kim held their historic first summit in Singapore in June last year and agreed to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees for Pyongyang. But the denuclearization talks had been at an impasse, with the North calling for sanctions relief and corresponding measures by the US for the denuclearization steps that it has taken so far, such as the dismantling of a nuclear test site. Washington, however, has insisted that sanctions and pressure will be maintained until North Korea implements sincere denuclearization measures, including declaring a list of its nuclear weapons. Biegun said last week that the North's full declaration of its nuclear and missile programs will be required for its complete denuclearization. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Turkish Armed Forces eliminated 75 militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during anti-terrorist operations in January, the Turkish General Staff told Trend on Feb. 4. During the operations, one Turkish serviceman was killed and three were injured. Moreover, 350 people were detained on suspicions of having links to terrorists, 108 of whom were arrested in January 2019. The conflict between Turkey and PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has lasted more than 35 years, claiming more than 40,000 lives. PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by the UN and the EU. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkey stands for Syrias territorial integrity, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Trend reports with reference to the Turkish media Feb. 4. Erdogan said that Russia and Iran are also in favor of preserving the integrity of Syria. But, unfortunately, the coalition forces in Syria, created to fight the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, pursue completely different goals in relation to Turkey, he noted. Erdogan added that thanks to Turkey, terrorists who posed a threat not only for Turkey but also Syria were eliminated in a number of areas in the north of Syria. On Dec. 12, 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turkish Armed Forces will launch a new military operation in Syria against PYD/YPG. Erdogan claimed there were US soldiers in the detachments of the terrorists in Syria. On Jan. 20, 2018, Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria. On Aug. 24, 2016, the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Operation Euphrates Shield against the "Islamic State", and with the support of the Syrian opposition liberated the border town of Jarablus, as well as Al-Bab in northern Syria. The security zone in northern Syria consists of an area of 32 kilometers and a length of 460 kilometers along the Syrian-Turkish border. In 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 security 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, will not be a part of the security zone. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: In 2018, 1.35 million tourists from Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan) visited Turkey, the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry told Trend Feb. 1. In 2018, 426,900 Kazakh tourists visited Turkey, which is 5.98 percent more compared to 2017, the ministry said. The share of Kazakh citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in 2018 was 1.08 percent. The ministry noted that in 2018, Turkey was visited by 114,900 tourists from Kyrgyzstan, which is 9.55 percent more compared to 2017 and the share of Kyrgyz citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in 2018 was 0.29 percent. In 2018, 241,200 tourists from Uzbekistan arrived in Turkey, which is 23.24 percent more compared to 2017, according to the ministry. The share of Uzbek citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in 2018 was 0.61 percent. The ministry also noted that in 2018, 252,900 tourists from Turkmenistan visited Turkey, which is 9.54 percent more compared to 2017. The share of Turkmen tourists in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in 2018 was 0.64 percent. In December 2018, Bulgaria accounted for most of the tourists who visited Turkey with 206,000 tourists, followed by Germany - 178,000, Georgia - 139,000, Iran - 107,000, and Russia - 99,000. Turkeys income from tourism in 2018 increased by 12.3 percent compared to 2017 and amounted to $29.512 billion, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). Some 81.8 percent of the total income from tourism accounted for foreign tourists and 18.2 percent for Turkish citizens living abroad. In the 4Q2018, Turkeys tourism revenues increased by 7.1 percent compared to the same period in 2017 and reached $6.5 billion. Some 82.6 percent of the total income in the 4Q2018 fell to the share of foreign tourists, while the rest 17.4 percent to the share of Turkish citizens living abroad. In December 2018, Turkeys revenues from tourism amounted to $1.4 billion. On average, every foreign tourist spent $678 in Turkey, according to the TUIK. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu A residential house burning in the center of Moscow, has a fire area currently estimated at 2,000 square meters (6,561 square feet), the Moscow Department of the Russian Emergencies Ministry said on Monday, Trend reports citign Sputnik. "The fire area is currently estimated at 2,000 square meters", the ministry posted to its Twitter account. Early on Monday, the fire broke out in an apartment building located on Nikitsky Boulevard. Two persons died, while four were injured, the ministry said. According to the ministry, over 40 people were evacuated or rescued, including 8 children. There have been no reports on the cause of the blaze. Moscow authorities have launched an investigation into the incident. The fire, according to the Moscow department of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, has been contained. "[As of] 3:50 [a.m. local time, 00:50 GMT], the fire has been contained", the Moscow department of the Russian Emergencies Ministry posted on Twitter. The press service of the Emergencies Ministry told Sputnik that all the residents of the house had been evacuated. "A total of 42 people have been saved, including eight children", the press service said. The ministry said earlier that 17 people, including two children, had been evacuated. Later on Monday, the ministry said the fire has been extinguished, adding that the blaze has claimed two lives. The officials also said Monday that the fate of one person was unknown. According to the ministry, citing the investigation report, the preliminary cause of the blaze could be a fault in the gas system of the building. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.4 By Elnur Baghishov, Leman Zeynalova Trend: The remarks made recently by Ali Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, on resumption of uranium enrichment has a two tier dimension, Iranian economy expert Mehrdad Emadi told Trend. "Salehis veiled message hinting at the resumption of certain aspects of the Iranian enrichment program and the fact that Tehran can initiate a fast tract recovery phase should the JCPOA partners (minus the U.S.) fail to deliver on their promise of access to the world finance, banking services and energy markets has a two tier dimension," he said. " The European dimension aimed at the E3 (Germany, France and the UK) which in my view is the more important part, as it is aimed at motivating E3 to increase their efforts toward encouraging their business communities to return to Iran especially in the automotive, energy and banking." This is while the eastern tier of the message addresses the tripod of the Ryad, Dubai and Tel Aviv that their continuous campaign toward keeping Iran isolated and cut off from the world economy could backfire by pushing Iran deeper into fold of Beijing-Moscow sphere of influence which in turn would strengthen the hold of the Revolutionary Guards and the radical clergies on the country, according to the expert. Meanwhile, Emadi believes that the downside of Salehis approach may be the credence it gives to the portrayed image of Islamic Republic by President Trump who repeatedly has stated that Tehran always intended to use its nuclear program toward military application. "I offer the view that this indeed could be a sever dent in the credibility of Tehrans position that Iran does not wish to obtain nuclear arms. This position so far has been supported by the regular inspections undertaken by the IAEA staff." Earlier, Ali Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said that Iran can enrich uranium up to 20 percent within four days. "If we want to come out of the nuclear deal and produce, within four days we could start our 20 percent," Salehi told the semi-official Fars News Agency. "But we already have stockpiles of 20 percent, and the capability." US President Donald Trump declared Washingtons withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran in May 2018. Trump also announced the restoration of all sanctions against Iran, including secondary ones against other countries doing business with Iran. The United States re-introduced part of the sanctions against Iran on August 7, 2018, while the second batch of the sanctions came into effect on Nov.5, 2018. The US government has agreed to let eight countries, including South Korea and Japan, as well as India, keep buying Iranian oil after it reimposes sanctions on Tehran. The waivers have been granted for six months. SM Supermalls celebrate the Lunar New Year with various activities. SM Aura Premier features a colorful display of Lanterns at the Skypark while the Mall of Asia (inset) focuses on family-oriented attractions and festivities such as lion and dragon dances and cultural performances. President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday urged the Filipinos and Chinese in the Philippines to cultivate values that will usher peace and understanding between them.In his message to celebrate the Lunar New Year, Duterte said the friendship and cooperation between Manila and Beijing had allowed the Philippines to grow and harmonize two diverse cultures. The friendship and cooperation forged between the Philippines and China have not only led to greater prosperity and economic growth for both our nations, but also [given] rise to a unique culture that is nurtured by harmony amid diversity, Duterte said in a statement. Meanwhile, the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Manila City government will enforce this afternoon a Stop-and-Go traffic scheme in the Binondo area in connection with the celebration of Chinese New Year. No roads will be closed during the occasion but the Stop-and-Go scheme will be observed along the route of the New Year parade starting at 1 p.m. The parade will start from Jaboneros/Madrid, turn left to Santo Cristo, right to Lavezares (Millennium Bridge), left to Juan Luna, right to La Chambre, left to La Chambre Hotel, left to Santa Elena, left to Juan Luna, straight to Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz, left to Ongpin, left to Teodora Alonzo, left to Soler and left to Reina RegenteThe procession will last up to three hours. Duterte expressed optimism that 2019 will bring hope, inspiration and more achievements for the Chinese-Filipino community and the entire nation. Together, let us cultivate the values and ideals that fuel our strong resolve to usher in a period of greater peace and understanding as we rise above the challenges ahead, Duterte said. Before 2018 ended, Duterte deepened the Philippines enduring relations through a positive engagement with China as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the country for a five-day state visit in November. As they signed at least 30 bilateral agreements, Duterte said they also forged a new legacy of friendship and cooperation, expressing hope that Philippine-China ties will sustain a positive momentum in the years to come. Tehran, Iran, Feb. 4 Trend: A spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Irans Parliament said the foreign minister at a meeting of the Committee called INSTEX the EUs positive and initial step to safeguard Iran's interests, and denied the links between INSTEX and FATF. On Jan. 31, three European countries France, Germany and the UK (shortened as E3) officially announced the creation of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), a special purpose vehicle, to allow them bypass US sanctions on trade with Iran. INSTEX facilitates non-dollar trade with Iran, allowing European companies to trade with the Islamic Republic without being hit by the sanctions. In their statement announcing the move, the European powers said the mechanism will function under international standards of anti-money laundering, combating the financing of terrorism, so they expect Iran to swiftly implement all elements of its FATF action plan. A meeting of the Parliaments National Security and Foreign Policy Committee was held today with the presence of Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to discuss INSTEX, Trend reports citing ISNA. At the meeting, the foreign minister briefed the MPs on the financial mechanism between Iran and Europe and stressed that this mechanism was a positive and initial step by the EU to maintain the interests of Iran, Spokesman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Irans Parliament Ali Najafi said. At the meeting, the foreign minister, while denying the links between FATF and INSTEX, said we did not accept this precondition, and even objected that the delayed European action in providing this mechanism cannot have conditions, Najafi added. Tehran, Iran, Feb.4 Trend: The Secretary General of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce announced that the governor of Central Bank of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati will be visiting Iraq on February 5. "The trading status of Iran-Iraq is fairly good, but its trend has slowed down because of the recent policies on return of currency obtained from exports, the Secretary General of Iran-Iraq Chamber Hamid Hosseini told Trend. "Negotiations for the cooperation of Iranian banks with Iraqi banks have been carried out in this regard and the issue of returning the foreign exchange earned by exporters will be resolved, he said. Referring to the plans and goals of this visit, Hosseini said that the trip is intended to address the two countries "financial and banking transactions, Iran's gas and electricity demand from Iraq, and a solution to receive exporters' debts through the two countries` banking system". Pointing to Iran's plan to expand trade with Iraq next year, Hosseini said that Iran looks to increase its trade relations with Iraq by some 25 percent. Iran's next year plan includes launch of a permanent exhibition in Iraq and expand the presence of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Iraqi market, said Hosseini. We intend to expand our presence in the Iraqi service market, he said. "In 2018, we succeeded to get pass Turkey in terms of export of goods; Turkey had 7.3 billion wroth of exports in 2018, and we had 8.5 billion, he said. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 Trend: Road shows will be held in New York, Boston and London to issue and place the first sovereign international bonds of Uzbekistan from Feb. 7 to 14, Trend reports via Uzbek media. As a result of meetings, it is planned to issue the country's first sovereign international bonds for a period of 5 and/or 10 years based on conditions and trends in the international financial markets, the Uzbek Ministry of Finance said. An Uzbek delegation is expected to negotiate with major investors during the road show. Uzbekistan plans to issue and place sovereign bonds at a fixed coupon rate of at least $500 million and a circulation period of 5 or more years this year. From the Uzbek side, JP Morgan was appointed a global coordinator and a joint bookrunner, while Citibank and Gazprombank were appointed as joint leading managers and bookrunners. Baku, Azerbaijan, February 4 Trend: Deputy Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Dilshod Akhatov met with Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Bartosz Cichocki in Warsaw on February 1, Trend reports with reference to the press service of Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The sides discussed the state and prospects of development of the Uzbek-Polish partnership in bilateral terms and in terms of Uzbekistan-EU format. The Polish diplomat noted that large-scale reforms in Uzbekistan carried out in all spheres under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, as well as strengthening the regional cooperation are highly appreciated in his country. Furthermore, support for a constructive policy towards Afghanistan was expressed as well. The sides reaffirmed their mutual interest in intensifying political dialogue, building up trade and economic ties, solving transport, communication and other issues. The Polish side spoke positively about the continuation of consultations between the relevant departments of the two countries on attracting labor from Uzbekistan to the Polish labor market. The parties exchanged views on the prospects for cooperation in the field of tourism. In Eastern Europe, the Poles are the most active travelers and Uzbekistan has the largest tourist potential in the region. In this regard, Polish travel companies and business circles are actively considering the proposals of Uzbek side not only for the exchange of tourists, but also for the implementation of projects on development of tourism infrastructure in the country. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 Trend: Uzbekistan approved a number of measures to drastically simplify the bankruptcy procedure, Trend reports via a new decree of the head of state. Now, judicial managers are appointed from among persons who have a fourth category judicial certificate and are members of the Uzbekistan Association of Judicial Managers when carrying out a simplified bankruptcy procedure instituted by the state tax services. The activities of judicial managers can also be carried out by lawyers who have licenses with a specialization in civil and economic legal proceedings and who have received a certificate of judicial manager. Appointment of judicial managers is carried out by a court on the recommendation of the creditor, an authorized state body for bankruptcies or the Association and its territorial divisions taking into account the rating assessment of the judicial managers. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 Trend: Kazakhstans Halyk Bank has received prior permission from the Uzbek Central Bank to open a branch in Uzbekistan, the Central Banks First Deputy Chairman Timur Ishmetov told Gazeta.uz in an interview, Trend reports. "Halyk Bank handed over a document to obtain prior permission to open a bank, but not a license yet. Last week, it received prior permission from the Central Bank, based on which it can begin activities for opening a bank. It is valid for six months and Halyk Bank must prepare a building that meets the requirements and form a capital during the period. If these two requirements are met, it can get a license," Ishmetov said. Ishmetov also noted that the Georgian TBC Bank has not yet applied to the Central Bank to obtain a license. "TBC Bank has not handed over documents for obtaining a license. So far, they have expressed an intention to open a bank, have prepared a business plan, they are studying the market, but have not yet handed over the documents," he explained. TBC announced its intention to enter Uzbekistan in early January. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Feb. 4 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be in Ashgabat February 5-6, Trend reports with reference to the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry. The meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov is scheduled as part of the visit. Negotiations will be held with Turkmen deputy prime minister, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov. The parties will consider the main issues on the bilateral agenda, a number of international and regional issues affecting the interests of the countries of the Caspian region, the report said. Special attention will be paid to the topic of cooperation within the CIS, taking into account the priorities of Turkmenistans chairmanship in this organization in 2019. During the visit, a program of cooperation between the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Turkmen Foreign Ministry for 2019-2020 will be signed, the report noted. Turkmenistan and Russia actively cooperate in the business sphere as well. There are about 190 companies with Russian capital in Turkmenistan. ARETI has been operating in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea since 2009 based on a production sharing agreement. Russia, a traditional trade partner of Turkmenistan, stopped the purchase of Turkmen gas in 2016. However, it was announced that the parties will start talks on resuming the Turkmen gas purchase by the company Gazprom. A strategic partnership agreement between Turkmenistan and Russia was signed following the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Ashgabat in October 2017. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Feb. 4 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: A meeting with Valentin Shevalov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine, was held at the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan, Trend reports referring to the State Migration Service. Views on the prospects for partnership in the field of migration were exchanged. "Turkmenistan successfully cooperates with Ukrainian companies for many years and develops a mutually beneficial cooperation with Ukrainian partners," the information states. Turkmenistan is an important Central Asian trade and economic partner of Ukraine, as stated on the website of the Ukrainian Embassy in Ashgabat. Ukrainian business entities are involved in the construction of large-scale infrastructure facilities of national importance in Turkmenistan, the construction of complex engineering communications, along with oil and gas, industrial and transport facilities; they also export various products to Turkmenistan and provide services. The main export items to Turkmenistan include railway cars, products of the agro-industrial complex, electrical machines, chemical, pharmaceutical and woodworking goods. Imports from Turkmenistan to Ukraine mainly consist of oil refining products, wool and cotton, and textiles. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 By Huseyn Veliyev - Trend: Users of electric meters of Azerishig OJSC can top up new SMART cards at the MilliON payment terminals, Komtec LLC, a center for installation and service support of payment terminals, told Trend. Additional slots have been installed on the terminals for SMART cards, the company said. "In the near future, the slots will be marked with special stickers, which will indicate that they are designed to top up the new SMART cards. Terminals with this option are currently available in those places where new electricity meters were installed, namely in Baku, Ganja and Lankaran," the company said. Currently, the total number of MilliON terminals reaches 3,000. The terminals are designed for paying for utility bills, fixed and mobile telephony services, the internet, cable television, payments on bank loans etc. They are installed in public places, such as business centers, waiting rooms of railway stations and airports, shopping centers and supermarkets. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @h_veliyev Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 By Taleh Mursagulov Trend: A new appointment has been made in Azerbaijans Ateshgah Insurance, the company told Trend Feb. 4. Orkhan Rzayev has been appointed deputy chairman of the board of Ateshgah Insurance. The decision was made at a meeting of the board of directors. Presently, chairman of the board of Ateshgah Insurance is Azer Aliyev. Rzayev has been working in Ateshgah Insurance since 2005. He held various positions in the customer service department and direct sales department. He worked as a retail sales manager and a regional sales manager. He served as a member of the board of directors. ---- Follow the author on Twitter: @TalehMursagulov Businessman Kenneth Dong, who is accused of illegal drug importation related to the P6.4-billion shabu shipment smuggled from China that slipped through Customs in 2017, has been arrested. Deputy director Ferdinand Lavin of the National Bureau of Investigation confirmed Monday that agents of their Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division have detained Dong, but did not provide details. Dong was ordered arrested last year along with Customs broker Mark Ruben Taguba II and seven other accused. The case is pending before Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46. This developed as the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said Monday the P1.9 billion worth of shabu seized in a warehouse in Tanza, Cavite on Sunday could have entered the country through shipside smuggling. Director general Aaron Aquino said the confiscated drugs were believed to have come from Southeast Asia, adding the packages containing the illegal drugs could have been dropped from large ships and then picked up by smaller vessels. PDEA agents killed two Chinese nationals in a drug raid Sunday afternoon and seized 274 kilos of suspected shabu worth P1.9 billion. Three months after the massive drug shipment was discovered in Valenzuela City, Dong was arrested in August 2017 for allegedly raping a businesswoman the year before.He was released from detention in November 2017 after the complainant did not pursue charges, leading a Paranaque judge to dismiss the case. Meanwhile, Aquino said the drugs in Cavite came from the Golden Triangle syndicate in the borders of Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar. We suspect these drugs were being manufactured in Region 1 and were being transported to Cavite. From Cavite, the proximity of it to Metro Manila is just near... that could easily be distributed, Aquino said. They [Chinese] bring in drugs from Mindanao. You see, thats why drugs in Mindanao are that cheap since they use the Sulu Sea (entry point], Aquino said. The drugs come either from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, and also a group of the Golden Triangle. These drugs were being brought in to Zamboanga. From Zamboanga, these were being distributed in Cagayan de Oro, Cebu and all the other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao. Some of these drugs are brought to Metro Manila. Aquino said the drug syndicate involved in the Cavite warehouse could be connected to the group behind the shabu laboratory in Ibaan, Batangas, where four Chinese nationals were arrested. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: The market rate of Kazakhstans national currency reached 382.74 tenge against the US dollar, decreasing from 377.46 tenge by 1.4 percent for the week during the trades on Feb. 1, Trend reports referring to the National Bank of Kazakhstan on Feb. 4. The main reasons for the weakening of the tenge rate are the decision of the US Federal Reserve Board to keep the key rate at 2.25-2.5 percent and hold the negotiations between the US and the China. During the negotiations the sides agreed to reduce the imbalance in mutual trade, discussed the issues concerning the amendments to a draft agreement on the UKs withdrawal from the EU and the postponement of the Brexit vote on February 13, the political crisis in Venezuela and the imposition of the US sanctions on the national oil company PDVSA. Moreover, the publication of statistics on slowing business activity in China, rising unemployment, creation of jobs and slow wage growth in the US also contributed to the cheapening of Kazakhstans national currency last week. ---- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 By Taleh Mursagulov Trend: Azerbaijans Financial Market Supervisory Authority will assess the possibility of forming national rating agencies by the end of 2019, the authority representatives told Trend. The Authority is currently conducting research in this direction and an evaluation work accounting for the research results will be carried out by the end of this year. Such an assessment is based on the objectives reflected in the Strategic Roadmap for the development of financial services in Azerbaijan. Currently, due to the lack of national rating agencies, these services are provided only by international rating agencies, which is costly for local companies; as such, only a limited number of companies in Azerbaijan have access to this service. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 By Taleh Mursagulov - Trend: The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) is looking to double its gold reserves in 2019 to 100 tons, Executive Director of the fund Shahmar Movsumov said, Trend reports via Bloomberg. We would want to have something that is not someone elses credit risk, Movsumov said. In a world where you see the changes in geopolitics, changes in reserve currencies, changes in the dynamics between superpowers and their imminent impact on the financial sector, you want to be on the safe side. In addition, Movsumov noted that the fund avoids large investments in bonds and especially in stocks. This approach allowed the fund to avoid losses in the past year, he added. We decided that it was not the right time to increase investment in equities, and we were right, Movsumov said. As life showed, last year was a very bad year for equities. Our peers made a lot of losses because of a bigger allocation into stocks, Movsumov said. While SOFAZ wants to take more risks as a long-term investor, the risk appetite of its stakeholders - the countrys citizens and local media - isnt yet there, he said. SOFAZ had had more success investing in real estate, which has generated a very steady income, Movsumov said. It has bought commercial real estate in London, Paris, Milan, Moscow, Seoul and Tokyo, and is still looking at markets in Europe, North America and Asia for more opportunities, he noted. Theres more interest in Asia because of better prospects for economic growth, he said. All of the gold SOFAZ buys overseas is transported to Azerbaijan to be stored in its new building on Bakus Heydar Aliyev Avenue. Asked why the fund doesnt want to keep at least part of its gold holdings abroad, Movsumov said its a purely commercial decision and has nothing to do with trust. If you look at the returns on gold investments, they are so miserable that if there is a small change in tariffs on imports of gold, that will simply eat up all your returns, Movsumov said. SOFAZ was established in 1999 with assets of $271 million. As of the end of the third quarter of 2018, SOFAZs assets increased by 8.9 percent as compared to early 2018 ($35.806 billion) and amounted to $38.987 billion. Based on SOFAZ's regulations, its funds may be used for the construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure facilities, as well as solving important national problems. The main goals of the State Oil Fund include accumulation of resources and placement of assets abroad in order to minimize the negative effect to the economy, prevention of "Dutch disease" to some extent, promotion of resource accumulation for future generations and support of current social and economic processes in Azerbaijan. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @TalehMursagulov Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 Trend: Tajikistans government has singled out a number of prospect sectors of the countrys economy for attracting investments, namely, hydropower industry; agriculture and processing of agricultural products; mining and chemical industry; light industry; transport; financial sector; Tourism, Trend reports referring to Tajinvest state unitary enterprise. More than 70 investment incentives are provided for the creation of a favorable investment environment, as well as attracting investments in the country by legislative and regulatory acts in the Republic of Tajikistan. Investment incentives are divided into fiscal (such as tax rebates) and non-fiscal incentives (such as grants, soft credits, measures to improve the business environment). Import of agricultural equipment is exempted from VAT and customs duties. Activities related to the delivery or export of cotton fiber, cotton yarn and raw cotton are exempted from VAT. Import of goods for own needs by newly created enterprises engaged in the full cycle of processing cotton-fiber into final products is exempted from such taxes as: -value-added tax at zero rate; from payment of income tax; from payment of real estate tax up to 12 years. Value added tax is established at a rate of 10 percent for the import of wheat, the delivery of wheat and the final result of its processing (flour or bran). The poultry products and enterprises engaged in the production of combined fodder for birds and animals and operating with the involvement of foreign capital in the amount of not less than 16 million US dollars are exempted for up to 12 years from payment of: value added tax; profit tax; road tax; real estate tax; -customs duties for the import of goods for the needs of enterprises. Import of goods directly for own needs by newly created enterprises involved in the industrial processing of leather, wool, raw silk and other agricultural raw materials into final products is exempted for a period of up to 5 years from payment of: -customs duties; -value added tax; -profit tax. The enterprises engaged in the full cycle of processing cotton fiber into the final product are exempted for up to 12 years from payment of: -profit tax; -real estate tax; -customs duties for the import of goods for own needs of the enterprise. Delivery, including for export, of the following goods is exempted from value added tax: -precious metals and stones; -jewelry from precious metals and stones; -primary aluminum; -metal concentrates; -commercial ore; -ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metals; -other metals produced in the Republic of Tajikistan. Import of production and manufacturing equipment and components for the creation of a full production cycle are exempted from payment of: -customs duty; -value added tax. The zero rate of import customs duty for the import of goods originating from the member states of the Eurasian Economic Community and Ukraine. The lowered rate of the import customs duty at a rate of fifty percent of the approved rates is valid for the import of goods originating from the least developed countries. For the construction of a hydroelectric power plant, the investor and the general contractor are fully or partially exempted from payment of: -value added tax; -road tax; -profit tax (tax payable on a simplified system); -vehicle tax; -real estate tax; -social tax in respect of foreign citizens directly engaged in the construction of HPP. Import of goods for the construction of hydroelectric power plants, which are especially important objects, is exempted from customs duties. When constructing a hydroelectric power plant, the investor and the general contractor are fully or partially exempted from paying the state duty for the registration of prospectuses of non-state securities carried out in connection with the construction of a hydroelectric power plant. Newly established enterprises operating in the field of tourism are exempted from payment of profit tax for a period of 5 years. Import of equipment and building materials for tourist facilities is exempted from the payment of value added tax and customs duties. The activities of securities market entities in Tajikistan are exempt from payment of profit tax and value added tax for a period of 5 years. Investors receiving income from circulation of securities on the stock exchange of Tajikistan are exempted from income tax and tax on dividends for a period of 5 years. Import of medicines, medical, pharmaceutical equipment and medical instruments is exempted from VAT and customs duties. Legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan guarantees equal rights to both domestic and foreign investors, and protects their property from nationalization and requisition. Investors have open access to the real sectors of the economy, and also have the right to carry out exploration, processing and exploitation of the natural resources of the Republic of Tajikistan. Moreover, investors are guaranteed the right to freely transfer abroad income and salaries in foreign currency, obtained legally from investment and production activities. In case if the subsequent legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan will lead to an increase of the aggregate tax burden to the investor's activity, then within ten years they are given a guarantee of applying the legislation that was in effect at the time of registration of the enterprise. When carrying out reinvesting, the investors fully make use of legal protection, guarantees and privileges established by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan. The investment agreement may specify a special regime of implementation of the investment project and provide the investor with certain privileges, not stipulated by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan. The Government of the Republic of Tajikistan guarantees compliance with and implementation of the provisions of the investment agreement by all government bodies responsible for implementing the investment agreement. One of the effective incentives for the attraction of investments is the creation and operation of free economic zones. For the purpose of provision of favourable conditions for attracting foreign investments and support of the private sector, four free economic zones were created in Tajikistan: Dangara FEZ, with a total area of 521 hectares (Khatlon region), Sughd FEZ, with a total area of 320 hectares (Sughd province), Pyanj FEZ, with a total area of 401 hectares (Khatlon region) Ishkoshim FEZ, with a total area of 200 hectares (GBAO). Currently about 70 entities operate in free economic zones, which are exempted from all types of taxation, except for income and social taxes. During the activity of free economic zones, investments worth $160 million were attracted to the economy of Tajikistan. Preferences In accordance with the legislation of the republic, the import of production and construction equipment into the territory of free economic zones is carried out without levying customs duties and taxes. Taxes and customs duties are not levied and economic prohibitions and restrictions are not applied, when exporting goods from the territory of the free economic zone outside the Republic of Tajikistan. The annual rent for one square meter of the land plot is $1. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend: A meeting of the Azerbaijan-Israel joint intergovernmental commission may be held in the second half of 2019, Ambassador of Israel in Azerbaijan Dan Stav told Trend. He stressed that Azerbaijan and Israel convened the first meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission in May 2018. The most important tasks of this committee are to establish a promising agenda for cooperation, create a favorable environment for business in both countries and develop bilateral civilian relations, he added. 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. According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, trade turnover with Israel in 2018 amounted to $1.3 million. As compared to the last year, trade turnover between the countries increased by 49.7 percent, while the exports of Azerbaijani products increased more than two times. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IsrafilbekovaS Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: Azerbaijan ranked 43rd in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2019, improving its position by 14 pillars compared to the previous report, Trend reports with reference to the report Feb. 4. In the report, Azerbaijan ranked first among the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The country achieved the best results in terms of such indicators as Ease of hiring (100 points), Ease of doing business (70.62 points), Relationship of pay to productivity (75.56 points), Use of virtual social networks (85.22 points) and Sanitation (88.17 points). The Global Talent Competitiveness Index was compiled by the European Institute of Business Administration INSEAD, the Zurich-based HR solutions agency Adecco Group and the Singapore-based consulting company Human Capital Leadership Institute. The index compilers assess the ability of countries to develop human capital and attract talented workers. In the current report, the authors of the index note that competitiveness increases in countries where this indicator is already high, while this figure decreases in countries that werent previously distinguished by high competitiveness. In other words, talented employees increasingly prefer to concentrate in the countries that have the best conditions for living and working. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Hasanli_Azad Tehran, Iran, Feb.4 Trend: An Iranian official at the Organization for Trade Development of Iran, announced that the Iran has not yet determined which organization has to cooperate with Europeans through Iran's "Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges" or INSTEX. INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) is a mechanism, created to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran, allowing European companies to trade with the Islamic Republic without being hit by the sanctions. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed that for the trade scheme to work, Iran must establish a mirror company of its own, according to Reuters. "The financial mechanism of transactions between Iran and Europe has been implemented in France, Germany has been introduced as the head of body, and the United Kingdom has a supervisory role, Iran Trade Promotion Organization's (TPO) top official, Majid Ghorbani said at a press conference, Trend reports citing IRNA. "Given that this is a financial, commercial and economic phenomenon, it seems that the Central Bank, the Chamber of Commerce Iran and the Foreign Trade Office of the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade are the custodians of the implementation of the INSTEX, he said. Referring to the European pre-conditions for implementing the mechanism, he said that the adoption of the Palermo Convention and the membership of the Iran in FATF is one of the conditions for the full implementation of the INSTEX. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend: Azerbaijan and Bulgaria are eager to expand cooperation in all fields, where the sides see great potential, in order to achieve more visible results, Nikolay Yankov, Bulgarian Ambassador to Azerbaijan, told Trend. The ambassador stressed that great cooperation in the energy field is already established between the states. As you know, there is a contract between Bulgargaz and SOCAR for the supply of natural gas to Bulgaria, starting from 2020 and we are working on other opportunities to expand our relations in this area, Yankov noted. The Bulgarian ambassador went on to say that there is great potential for enhancing trade and economic relations, cooperation in transport and transit of goods, in tourism, agriculture, pharmaceutics, science and high technology etc. Further, he touched upon the cultural relations and cooperation in the field of education, adding that these spheres are essential for the establishment of closer ties between the peoples of Bulgaria and Azerbaijan. During the visit of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov to Bulgaria last October, a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in education sector was signed and I hope this will bring new impetus in this important field, he underlined. Yankov expressed hope that all the efforts made by both governments will finally bring the desired results. Tourist flow between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria significantly increased Further, he noted that the tourist flow between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria has significantly increased with the launch of the Baku Sofia Baku flight, Nikolay Yankov, Bulgarian Ambassador to Azerbaijan, told Trend. The number of issued visas for Azerbaijani citizens has increased by at least 40 percent since the opening of the flight, and we believe that this year the positive trend will continue after reopening the regular flights in spring, he said. The ambassador underlined that the goal is to deliver results that are more visible for the citizens of Bulgaria and Azerbaijan. The diplomat went on to say that the establishment of a direct flight between the capitals was a very wise political decision made by the leaders of the countries, which is already bringing very positive results. Now there are more opportunities for closer connection between our peoples and more intense contacts in business, more dynamic economic relations, Yankov stressed. Further, touching upon the simplification of the visa regime between the countries, the ambassador said that Bulgaria does not impose unilateral visa regulations on other countries, but rather follows EU policy in this respect. Our embassy works according to the Agreement between the European Union and Azerbaijan on the facilitation of the issuance of visas [the purpose of the Agreement, which entered into force in September 1, 2014, is to facilitate, on the basis of reciprocity, the issuance of visas for an intended stay of no more than 90 days per period of 180 days to the citizens of the EU and Azerbaijan]. The consular section of the embassy always works to its full capacity to provide fast response to the requirements of the visa applicants and tries to proceed the documents in the shortest possible terms, Yankov emphasized. The level of relation between the countries He went on to say that Bulgaria and Azerbaijan enjoy traditionally close and friendly relations. My and the Bulgarian Embassys responsibility is to further strengthen and develop these ties in the spirit of strategic cooperation in compliance with the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership, signed in 2015, he said. Further, he stressed that the political dialogue between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan in 2018 was very active. In fact, I can say that since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, the two countries have been enjoying extremely active high-level dialogue with regular exchanges of visits in Baku and Sofia, as well as using every opportunity for high-level meetings in the framework of international forums, the ambassador noted. He mentioned some of the most significant visits conducted last year, such as visit of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to Baku in January 2018, participation of Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova in the 4th meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, held in February 2018 in Baku and so on. Yankov stressed that the dynamics of the political dialogue between the two friendly countries in just one-year period is an evidence of the existing common will of both sides to keep the bilateral relations in the priority list of their respective foreign policy. About this years plans The Bulgarian ambassador noted that this year, the sides intend to keep up the dynamic of the bilateral dialogue. According to him, the first, already confirmed, visit to Baku is expected in February when Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova will be coming to participate in the 5th meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor Our embassy will further contribute to the efforts of the Bulgarian government for developing active and mutually beneficial cooperation with Azerbaijan in all the above-mentioned priority areas, he said. Yankov pointed out that later on this year, Bulgarias Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva is expected to pay a working visit to Baku. Moreover, he said, the Embassy is working very actively in the public relations field. Traditionally the Embassy of Bulgaria uses every opportunity to bring to the attention of the Azerbaijani public more information about Bulgarian traditions and the countrys cultural heritage. Last year we participated regularly in the initiatives of the EU Delegation in Baku, such as EU Days in Azerbaijan, European film festivals, which aim at promoting the European culture and values. This year we will continue doing the same. We are happy to see that Bulgaria is well known in Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani people have very warm feelings for our country, Yankov stressed. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IsrafilbekovaS Tehran, Iran, Feb.4 Trend: Iran has seen significant improvement in its aviation industry during the past 40 years, despite the limitations caused by US sanctions, Spokesman for Iran Aviation Organization (CAO) Reza Jafarzadeh said in an interview with Trend. "Based on Chicago Convention, all members should be committed to air safety and cooperate for development of aviation sector, by providing equipment and market for its needs. But unfortunately, the US has imposed limitations for Iran over the past 40 years," he said. Jafarzadeh noted that the US wanted to cripple Iran's air transportation and started to take political measures against the countrys aviation industry, since this is an important part of Iran's economy. "So they targeted this industry and applied harsh limitations, but Iran had remarkable development in this sphere despite limitations." Referring to the country's achievements during past four decades, he recalled that Iran had 25 aircraft in 1979, but at the moment this figure has reached 311. "Iran had 4,170 plane seats, now their number has reached 48,000." He went on to add that private sector has not been active in this field before, but at the moment 70 percent of air transportations are operated by the private sector. The number of airports in 1979 were 43, but now they have increased to 73 airports, added Jafarzadeh. The number of flight routes in 1979 was 10, while today there are 127 flight routes, he concluded. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 By Leman Zeynalova - Trend: The first meeting of the working group for implementation of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea is scheduled to be held in February in Baku, Spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan Leyla Abdullayeva told Trend. "The first meeting of the working group is scheduled for February. The exact date of the meeting will be announced this week," she said. On Aug. 12, the heads of five Caspian states signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea at the 5th Summit of the Heads of Caspian States in Aktau. The Convention is a historic document for the region, the work on which has been carried out for two decades since 1996. The Convention was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and President of Iran Hassan Rouhani. The leaders of the Caspian states also signed other important documents arising from the Convention, in particular, the Protocol on cooperation in the fight against organized crime in the Caspian Sea, the Agreement between the governments of the Caspian states on trade and economic cooperation, the Agreement between the governments of the Caspian states on cooperation in transportation, the Agreement on preventing accidents in the Caspian Sea and the Protocol on Cooperation. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Lawmakers complained Monday that their security details were being pulled out just as the threats against their lives increased due to the coming elections. In a hearing conducted by the House committee on public order and safety, the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Commission on Elections were asked to exempt security personnel from the ban on the carrying of firearms during the election period. Now is election season. Politicians, candidates are open targets, said Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel. Candidates are being killed just like ordinary chickens, then here you come, PNP and Comelec, making it hard for us candidates to [be provided with] security personnel. In other developments related to political killings: In the Senate, the PNP rejected an assertion by senatorial candidate Glenn Chong that his aide Richard Santillan was kidnapped, tortured and killed on Dec. 10 in an armed encounter in Cainta, Rizal, saying the armed encounter was part of a legitimate police operation. Testifying before Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson, Supt. Joseph Arguelles of Police Regional Office 4-A denied Chongs allegations. The Commission on Elections said Monday it will not declare Quezon City an election hot spot despite the killing of Barangay Bagong Silangan chairman Crisell Beng Beltran and her driver Melchor Salita. In a News to Go television interview on GMA-7, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said Quezon City could only be placed under an area of concern if it had met the requirements needed for it. Also, Beltrans family appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte for help bring justice to the slain official. The family aired its appeal also on News To Go. He said there was still a need for a recommendation from the local Comelec officials and the Philippine National Police before the Comelec could take an appropriate action. Beltran was on board her Ford Everest van being driven by Salita when six armed men shot them to death on Jan. 31 at around 11:33 a.m. along J.P. Rizal Street in Barangay Bagong Silangan. At least four people were hurt during the incident. Pimentel, who sponsored a resolution calling for action by the two agencies, said former lawmaker Eufranio Eriguel might not have been killed last year if his security personnel had not been pulled out. Mayoralty candidate and late Ako-Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe was ambushed and killed in December along with his bodyguard, SPO2 Orlando Diaz. The Comelec then placed Daraga under its control. Political candidates are being killed, and there would be more, I assure you, if we will not be given security personnel, said Pimentel, who lamented the pullout of security details in his province two weeks ago following an order of the Philippine National Police (PNP). But Director General Rey Lyndon Lawas, chief of the PNP Directorate for Operations, told the panel the decision to pull out the security detail of public officials during election season was in compliance with a Comelec order. Comelec Resolution 10446... prescribes that during [the] election period which covers Jan. 13 to June 12, the carrying, bearing and transporting of firearms is not allowed. That would include security or bodyguards, Lawas said.Gwyn Calibuyot, a Comelec lawyer, added that the poll bodys resolution was based on Section 12 of RA 7166, an act providing for the synchronized national and local elections. Under that said provision, it is said that during the election period, no candidate for public office, including incumbent public officers seeking election to any public office, shall employ, avail himself or engage the services of security personnel or bodyguards, Calibuyot said. He (Chong) alleged that there was no shootout that transpired. For us, indeed it was a shootout. Evidence shows two bullet holes were sustained in the front bumper of the SWAT mobile of Cainta police station, Arguelles said. He said Santillan was able to fire shots while outside the vehicle where he eventually died. The result of trajectory of bullets from Rizal provincial crime laboratory also showed that Santillan was moving from the driver side to the passenger side of the vehicle while the firefight was ongoing. He also cited the sworn statement of Grab driver Ramelito delas Alas that while he was driving his car, he suddenly slowed down when the tricycle in front of them stooped and heard a gunfire then a burst of gunfire. Chong, a former congressman, alleged during the hearing that Santillan was killed to intimidate him. He also alleged that the weapons found on Chonga .45 caliber pistol, a 38 revolver and a fragmentation grenadewere planted. Chief Supt. Edward Carranza, PNP-Region IV-commander, said the crime laboratory autopsy showed that the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds to the head, thorax, abdomen and extremitiesand not torture, as Chong suggested. At the start of the hearing, Lacson described as very alarming the significant increase in the number of fatalities of election-related violence. Whats with the title congressman, mayor, or even barangay captain that motivates the election-related violence and killings? Are these deaths the result of a political rivals eagerness to genuinely serve the public? That seems a horrible thought. Of course, the answer is no, he said. Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Bernardo Florence said that based on the matrix provided to them by the PNP from July 1, 2016 to Jan. 29, 2019, a total of 12 mayors have been slain. He also said seven vice mayors have also been killed during the same period. In total, we have 12 incidents for mayor, for vice mayor we have seven, or a total of 19, Bernardo said. Lacson said there was a need to discuss possible legislative measures or amendments to existing laws to address the rise in election-related violence. We should start with having the same mindset that armed violence is already rooted in the culture of our society, and it happens even outside the election period, he said. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 Trend: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an Order to provide funding for renovation of roofs of multi-story residential buildings in Azerbaijan. Under the presidential order, 21,685,830 manats were allocated to Ganja, Sumgayit, Shaki, Shirvan and Gazakh district executive authorities for renovation of roofs in 379 multi-story residential buildings. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 25 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Feb. 4, Trend reports. 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, Feb. 4 By Matanat Nasibova Trend: Azerbaijans Sabirabad Canning open joint stock company plans to expand export of its products to Russia due to the growing needs in the Russian market, the company told Trend. "The Russian market is the main destination for the export of our products because there is a great demand, the company said. We export pomegranate juice, narsharab (pomegranate sauce) and aseptic pomegranate concentrate outside the country. The same products are supplied in different volumes, depending on the order, to the Baltic countries, the company said. We have been cooperating with the two Baltic countries for ten years. Our products are currently supplied to Estonia and Lithuania according to the signed agreements." The products have a certificate of conformity issued by the Azerbaijan State Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Patents. The company has been operating since 1982. The Italian, Moldovan equipment has been installed in the company. ---- Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4 Trend: Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) hosted a special event to celebrate the Day of Azerbaijan Youth. The ceremony was attended by BHOS Rector Elmar Gasimov, Deputy Head of Humanitarian Affairs Department of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Maherram Akhmedov, Executive Director of the Youth Foundation of the Republic of Azerbaijan Farid Jafarov, Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party Youth Union Seymur Orujov, the BHOS students, professors, teachers and administration staff members. The celebration started with playing the National Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In the welcome speech, Rector Elmar Gasimov extended his cordial congratulations on national Youth Day to the BHOS students and all Azerbaijani young people. He reminded that the foundation for the state youth policy in the country was laid by national leader Heydar Aliyev and that Azerbaijan National Youth Day, which is celebrated every year on February 2, was declared by the degree signed by the great leader on this day in 1997. In the Rectors words, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev pays close attention to the interests and needs of the young generation of the country. As Elmar Gasimov emphasized, the special State Program "Azerbaijan Youth for 2017-2021" is successfully implemented, new Youth centers are opened in the regions, and all necessary support is provided to Azerbaijani young peoples education, development and international integration. Following the main principles of the state youth policy, the Higher School solemnly celebrates this holiday alongside the whole nation every year, said the Rector. Addressing the event participants, Deputy Head of Humanitarian Affairs Department of the Administration of the President Maherram Akhmedov, the Executive Director of the Youth Foundation Farid Jafarov and the Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party Youth Union Seymur Orujov congratulated the BHOS students and urged them to work hard for the social and economic development of the country. Environmental Engineer of BP in Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva who graduated the Higher School in 2018 with Bachelor degree in Petroleum Engineering spoke at the event on behalf of the BHOS alumni. She also extended her congratulations on the Youth Day and told her own success story. At the gathering, Rector Elmar Gasimov presented the BHOS Honorary Diplomas to Maherram Akhmedov and Farid Jafarov. The event continued with a ceremony of awarding the students who honorably represented the Higher School at various local and international events. One group of awardees included the team, which developed ThermoNorth project recognized the best youth startup project of the year in the republic. The team also won the national ClimateLaunchpad Azerbaijan 2018 contest and represented Azerbaijan at the Grand Final of ClimateLaunchpad, the worlds biggest clean-tech business idea competition held in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team leader, BHOS Associate Professor Amir Reza Vakhshouri was presented a Diploma and the team members were awarded certificates. BHOS Senior Lecturer Abbas Alili, the supervisor of Robo-sapience student team, which won second national Olympiad of robots and represented Azerbaijan at International Final of the World Robot Olympiad in Thailand, also received a diploma. The Robo-sapience team members as well as students of two other teams, which took the second and the third places at the national Olympiad of robots, were presented certificates. Rector Elmar Gasimov gave BHOS Diploma to five-year Chemical Engineering student Anar Badalbeyli, who received this award for his exemplary behavior and contribution to the Higher School scientific, social and cultural activities. Members of Higher School team that took the second place at national CanSat Azerbaijan 2018 competition and the undergraduates whose teams took the first and third places at National Scientific and Creative Youth Contest "There is an Idea!" were awarded certificates, too. Certificates and memorable gifts were also presented to the students who achieved excellent results in academic study and research activities and successfully participated in social initiatives, training courses and sport tournaments. The event concluded with a holiday concert. Iranian state prosecutors announced on Tuesday that Twitter remains banned by the government, rejecting the call of Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, the current Communication minister, to lift the ban. "Twitter belongs to our American enemies. ... Therefore the Twitter ban will not be lifted," deputy chief attorney general Abdolsamad Khoramabadi said The minister should endeavour to promote local internet services instead of promoting US platforms, Khoramabadi insisted, according to Fars news agency. Social media such as Twitter and Facebook have come under significant backlash from the Iranian government for years, largely due to their use as a platform for dissent and organising protests. Telegram was also banned recently. Iranians use various circumvention software, including VPN services to avoid these bans. According to the deputy chief attorney general Khoramabadi last month, about 30 million Iranians are evading internet bans. Many Iranians use Twitter but more than 30 million were using Telegram before it was banned. Jahromi has frequently called for an opening of the internet during his tenure as Communication minister. As argued by Jahromi, his request for Twitter to be allowed in the country highlights the out of touch nature of the justice system. Numerous Iranian politicians themselves have Twitter accounts, including President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Although Ayatollah Ali Khamenei does not personally use Twitter, he still had tweets published under his name. Source: DPA Iran's Minister of Telecommunications, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi says three Iranian aerospace researchers have died in a fire that broke out at the Iranian Space Research Center affiliated with the ministry. Jahromi said that the fire at the Space Research Center broke out while elsewhere at the center others were celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Iran and did not notice what happened. However, he did not elaborate on the reason for the fire and the names of those who lost their lives in the incident. Jahromi broke the news while speaking on the launch of new Iranian satellites. Reports coming from Tehran on Sunday indicate that the fire broke out while Jahromi was delivering his speech. Meanwhile, reacting to Iran's cruise missile test on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran, "We know what you are doing and where you are doing it. We will continue to take action against Iran with all the tools at our disposal in order to ensure the security and future of Israel," according to the video of his remarks shown by Israeli media. At the same time, Iranian Passive Defense Chief has said on Sunday that another fire broke out at the same time at the basement of the Iranian Power Research Center but the fire has been controlled and no one was injured in the incident. In previous years, cyber-attacks on Iranian aerospace and nuclear centers have caused problems for Tehran's ambitious programs. According to the New York Times, a joint U.S.-Israeli cyber attack caused a delay in Iran's nuclear program in 2011 when Stuxnet malware disrupted Iran's uranium enrichment plans. The report says the malware was first tested for two years at Israel's Dimona nuclear plant. Meanwhile in September 2016 the Associated Press reported that a series of fires at Iran's petrochemical plants were possibly linked to sabotage in their software systems. In another development, an explosion at an ammunition depot in Bidgeneh, near Tehran, killed the father of Iran's missile program, Hassan Tehrani Moqaddam as well as 16 other IRGC officers. On January 15, Iranian officials reported that a missile carrying the Payam satellite to orbit failed to reach the required altitude and the satellite was not deployed. The attempt to launch the missile that carried Payam was condemned by France and the United States as an act in violation of UN Resolution 2231. However, Iranian officials insisted that Tehran would continue its missile program. The fire at the Iranian Space Research Center coincided with the news of Iran's "successful test" of a new cruise missile on Saturday with a range of over 1,350 kilometers (840 miles), coinciding with the anniversary of the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Defense Minister Amir Hatami said the Hoveizeh cruise missile had successfully hit its targets, calling it the "long arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran". On the same day, The deputy chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) warned Europe against forcing the Islamic Republic into boosting the range of its missiles by trying to halt their development. "If the Europeans, or anyone else, want to conspire to disarm Iran of missiles, we will be forced to make a strategic leap," the guards' deputy commander Brigadier-General Hossein Salami said on state TV on Saturday, warning, "All those who hear me today, come to terms with the new reality of Iran's missile might: there are no obstacles or technical limitations to us increasing (their) range," he added. Meanwhile, reacting to Iran's missile test by saying "Israel will do everything possible to counter Tehran's hostile actions for the sake of the country's security as Iran has overtly demonstrated its intention to destroy Israel when unveiling its new cruise missile." According to Netanyahu's press service, he said at a cabinet meeting, "In Iran today they are trying to boast about the new missile. Iran openly declares its intention to destroy the State of Israel. I have a clear message to the tyrants of Tehran: We know what you are doing and where you are doing it. We will continue to take action against Iran with all the tools at our disposal in order to ensure the security and future of Israel". Prominent Iranian labor activist Esmail Bakhshi is in serious condition behind bars, workers from the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane industrial complex have announced on their Telegram app channel. Bakhshi has been reportedly suffering from health problems unrelated to his incarceration, but his coworkers say his second arrest in two months is making matters worse and authorities are possibly using detention as a means of putting pressure on him. He was initially arrested in November 2018 after weeks of strikes and protests at the sugar mill, where he was the spokesman of the workers. After more than three weeks in detention he was released in December. However, in a letter posted on Instagram on January 4, Bakhshi, alleged that he was tortured and beaten by Intelligence Ministry interrogators while in custody in November 2018. The minister denied the allegations but never responded to the challenge. Bakhshi was later re-arrested for insisting on his claims. During the first few days, without reason or any conversation, they tortured me and beat me with their fists and kicked me until I was going to die. They beat me so hard that I couldnt move in my cell for 72 hours. I was feeling so much pain that I couldnt even sleep without suffering, Bakhshi wrote about his detention experience last year. On January 6, judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei said the authorities would investigate if Bakhshi lodged a formal complaint. However, Farzaneh Zilabi, Bakhshis attorney, expressed concern about the growing pressure on her client. After mentioning torture, Esmail Bakhshi has come under intense pressure aimed at forcing my client to deny what happened, Zilabi said on January 7. But on December 11, when initial reports surfaced about Bakhshi being tortured, she demanded he be transferred from the Intelligence Ministry detention center in Ahvaz to the medical examiners office, the New York-based Center For Human Rights In Iran (CHRI) reported on January 10. In their latest post on Telegram, workers say they plan to hold a protest calling for the immediate release of Bakhshi along with journalist and civil rights activist Sepideh Qolyan, who was re-arrested at the same time. Other reports coming from labor sources in Iran say, that the two detainees have been allowed family visits only once and they did not appear to be in good shape. Qolyan, who was detained during a protest of Haft Tapeh workers demanding overdue wages and bonuses, said that she had witnessed Bakhshi being tortured. Iranian state-TV has aired a program aiming to discredit the labor rights movement in which activists say they were forced to confess to being part of an international Marxist cabal. Irans monopolized state-run TV aired a program on January 19 that tried to connect the recent strikes and protest rallies at the Haft Tapeh Sugarcane plant in the city of Shush, in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, southwest Iran, to an Iranian exile Marxist party, the United States, and Israel. Retaliating, the Haft Tapeh trade union issued a statement calling the program a desperate attempt to suppress the righteous voice of the workers, toilers, and oppressed. More than 800 political and civil rights activists, along with numerous independent Iranian trade unions, as well as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and CHRI have called for the unconditional and immediate release of the two. Dozens of Iranians in Amsterdam and in other Western cities held have held rallies in support of activists detained in Iran, and calling for Bakhshi and Qolyans immediate release. Earlier, on January 29, security forces had stormed the residences of two prominent labor rights activists, Parvin Mohammadi and Jafar Azimzadeh, and arrested them. Azimzadeh, the secretary of the board of directors of the Free Union of Iranian Workers, has been sentenced to six years, his legal counsel, Mohammad Ali Jedari Foroughi, told Radio Farda. "The new verdict was issued while Azimzadeh had been acquitted for the same charges in another court," Jedari Foroughi noted, adding that he will appeal against the illegal ruling based on the principle of double jeopardy. Several members of the Iranian Parliament (Majles) have called on President Hassan Rouhani to pay attention to the situation of eight detained ecologists, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported on Monday. The environmentalists have been under "temporary arrest" by the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) for longer than a year now. The Iranian Judiciary had initially accused the detainees of "espionage for foreigners" but recently added the charge of "corruption on Earth" to the indictments of some of them, a change that usually entails the death sentence. According to ILNA, the lawmakers in their meeting with Rouhani called for observing legal regulations and giving the detainees the right to have their own defense lawyers, reminding him of the sensitivity Iranian society and international human rights watchers attach to the case. It is not clear who the lawmakers were or where exactly they met with Rouhani, but the president was at the parliament on Monday, getting confirmation for his new health minister. On Saturday, the eight detained men and women took part in their second court session where they were tried without being allowed to have their own lawyers. The court has appointed attorneys pre-selected by the conservative Judiciary. The MPs also told Rouhani that the inmates' family members have been demanding a meeting with the president for a long time, and asked Rouhani to set a date for a meeting with the families of the detained environmentalists. Based on Iranian Constitutional Law, although the Judiciary is an independent branch of the government, the president is the official guarantor of the people's civil rights, including the right of legal representation. However, the Iranian Judiciary does not allow political prisoners to have their own lawyers and appoints a number of regime insiders as lawyers against the detainees' will. On Saturday, while the hearing was taking place at a stage-managed court, reformist MP Mahmoud Sadeghi wrote in a tweet that the Supreme National Security Council has ruled that the detained environmentalists were not spies. Sadeqi added in another tweet that a motion has been tabled at the parliament to amend the bill that defines "political offenses." Earlier, the Intelligence Ministry had also declared that the detained environmentalists were not spies. Iranian Environmental Agency Chief Isa Kalantari also said that the environmental activity was not espionage. Nevertheless, the IRGC Intelligence Organization insists that the ecologists are spies. However, the organization has not presented any evidence to back the charges. Some unofficial accusations mentioned the fact that ecologists place monitoring cameras in various locations in the country and these are used to record sensitive information. Both the Intelligence Ministry and the Supreme National Security Council are under the supervision of president Hassan Rouhani. Nevertheless he has not been observed defending the inmates' rights at least in public. The lawmakers calling on him to meet with the families of the detainees probably wish to strip Rouhani of the excuse of not knowing about the case. The sister of one of the inmates, has tweeted that Niloufar Bayani told the court on Saturday that her confessions were made under pressure and threats from the interrogators. Foreign-based oppositionist website, Kalemeh, reported that the detainees were not told for months that one of them, Dr. Kavous Seyed Emami had died while in custody. Emami's death which took place shortly after his arrest in January 2018, was portrayed by officials as suicide. The latest report on the case says another ecologist, Pouria Sepahvand has been arrested in Tehran on February 2. Sepahvand is a wildlife specialist who worked for the same company as the other inmates. 12:05 04.02.2019 More than half of Ukrainians not ready to take part in protests poll 1 min read KYIV. Feb 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) Less than 40% of Ukrainians are ready to participate in mass protests to defend their rights and interests, according to the results of a poll conducted by the Sociological Monitoring Center, the Yaremenko Ukrainian Institute of Social Research, Info Sapiens and the Rating Group Ukraine. Pollsters presenting the results of their survey at the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Monday said more than half (52%) of respondents said they would not take part in protests, while 37% said they would, if necessary. More people in Ukraine's western region (56%) said they would protest than in Donbas (25%). The poll was conducted from January 19 through January 30, 2019. Some 10,000 persons aged 18 and older were questioned in all regions of Ukraine, except occupied Crimea and occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The margin of error of the survey does not exceed 1%. On Thursday, February 7, at 11.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host press conference titled "Lies and Manipulations in Pre-election Year. Who was the most Truthful?", where the analytical platform VoxUkraine and the "New Time" magazine will present the "Rating of liars and manipulators" for 2018. Participants include VoxUkraine media director and VoxCheck editor Olena Shkarpova; chief editor of the magazine "New time" Vitaliy Sych; Director of the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation Iryna Bekeshkina; political scientist, Director of the Institute of World Policy Yevhen Mahda. Moderator - Member of the Supervisory Board of VoxUkraine, Chief Editor of Liga.net Borys Davydenko (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation. More info by phone: (095) 025 9515, galichina@voxukraine.org (VoxUkraine communications coordinator Lyudmila Galichina). President Rodrigo Duterte is dismayed over the lawmakers inaction on the passage of the 2019 national budget, Malacanang said Monday. Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea made the remark after the Palace expressed its confidence that Congress will ratify the General Appropriations Act even with only three days left before the legislative branch goes on recess. He [the President] is aware. And I am sure he is dismayed at the legislators inaction, which will delay his infrastructure projects, Medialdea told Palace reporters in a text message. [But] we are still hopeful that the legislators will perform their constitutional duties, he added. Medialdea said the President and his economic managers have done their part by submitting the proposed 2019 national budget a month before the deadline. The ball is in the hands of the legislators, he said. In a Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said he hopes for the best that Congress will pass the 2019 national budget before it goes on recess. We eagerly await the passage of the general appropriations bill. They know that it will bring adverse consequences if we have reenacted budget. They know that, Panelo said. In other words, we are still hopeful that it will pass. They said so. Remember they said that they will pass it. And, I watched Congressman [Rolando] Andaya saying that they are determined to pass the general appropriations bill, he added. Congress is set to hold its last plenary session on Wednesday, Feb. 6 as lawmakers will go on break from Feb. 9 to May 19 for the midterm elections. Last week, the Palace rejected a proposal of Senate President Vicente Sotto III that a reenacted budget be used over his frustration over allegations of pork barrel and other irregularities in the budget process. Malacanang has maintained that a reenacted budget will do more harm than good. It is still three days before they adjourn the session. Lets see. Lets just wait, he said. Hope springs eternal. Well hope for the best. The remaining sessions days after that May 2019 elections are on May 20 to June 7. The Palace statements came as Senator Loren Legarda, chairperson of the Senate committee on finance, announce a breakthrough in the budget impasse.She described his meeting with her counterpart in the House of Representatives, Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya as more congenial and open. At the start of the session, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon asked Legarda for an update on the bicameral conference committee on budget. Legarda said the committee has agreed to approve and ratify the 2019 national budget. Congressman Andaya and I agreed to meet again on Wednesday in the morning so that we can finalize it for a targeted ratification on Friday at the latest, she said. Legarda said she hopes that by Wednesday morning, there will be a final bicameral conference on the budget. She also said Congress may still hold sessions until Friday, even though it is supposed to go on a break of Wednesday. On the other hand, Sotto said Legarda had told him that she and Andaya had agreed to remove issues over flood control and drainage. But as far as the Senate is concerned, we stand on institutional amendments. These are necessary amendments for the continuing of health services. These are nit indivudual amendments, he said. But administration ally and Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay on Monday joined calls from his colleagues for the Senate to account for its alleged P190-billion insertions under the 2019 national budget. Pichay, at a news conference, said the senators would be accused of hiding something should they refuse to itemize the alleged insertions. We have to pass the budget, Pichay said. [The position of the House leadership as espoused by House Appropriations Chairman Rolando Andaya Jr. is for the Senate to itemize the P190- billion insertions. If you they have nothing to hide, why cant they itemize it? Pichay added. He said the House had nothing to hide and said the Senate could violate a Supreme Court ruling on pork barrel if they do not account for the insertions. Also on Monday, Andaya hit the Budget department for refusing to release a report on the 2018 savings The Palace should side with Congress in compelling Secretary Diokno to make public the fund releases drawn from budgetary savings so it would be able to double-check what releases were covered with authorization from the Office of the President, Andaya, chairman of the House committee on appropriations, said in a statement Monday. He added the Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno cannot unilaterally release savings without complying with laws or without the signature of the President. For the past two years, Secretary Diokno has been assuring Congress and the public that he will disclose the list of allotments sourced from savings and for the past two years he has been evading from making good his promise, Andaya said. Bill on impossibility of participation of observers from Russia in Ukraine's elections registered in Rada A group of deputies registered a draft law in the Verkhovna Rada on the impossibility of the participation of Russian observers in the presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine, First Deputy Chairwoman of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Iryna Gerashchenko has reported. "Together with my colleagues we registered a bill on the impossibility of the participation of observers from the aggressor-country of the Russian Federation in the Ukrainian presidential and parliamentary elections," wrote Gerashchenko on her Facebook page on Monday. She also said that at the conciliation board of the leaders of factions and groups she called on deputies to support the position of Ukrainian diplomacy and adopt a bill that would make impossible the presence of Russian observers in international missions at elections in Ukraine. Bill No. 9524 "On Amendments to Certain Laws on Observing the Electoral Process in Ukraine" was registered in parliament on Monday. Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy, presidential representative in parliament Iryna Lutsenko, leader of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction Artur Herasymov, and first deputy chairman of the People's Front faction Andriy Teteruk are among the authors, the website of the Verkhovna Rada said. The next presidential election in Ukraine will be held on March 31, the parliamentary elections should be held in the fall. Dragon Capital Investments Limited, a member of the Dragon Capital Group, and Dragon Capital New Ukraine Fund L.P. managed by the company led a new investment round and became minority shareholders in Ciklum, a global digital solutions company with major footprint in Ukraine. According to a press release of Dragon Capital, AVentures Capital participated in the investment round and acquired a minority stake in the company. The size of minority stakes of all three companies is not disclosed. "We believe that ongoing global digital transformation will support increasing demand for IT solutions and services, and that Ciklum is very well positioned to capitalize on this sustainable trend. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in London, Ciklum has one of the largest footprints in Ukraine, great expertise and access to IT talent. We are enthusiastic about the opportunity to support one of the leading companies in the segment, which is run by great management and shareholders," Managing Director, Co-Head of Private Equity at Dragon Capital Andriy Nosok said. "We are excited to welcome Dragon Capital and Aventures Capital to our shareholder base. This investment will continue to propel Ciklum's rapid growth in delivering cutting edge technologies to clients around the globe," Chief Executive Officer of Ciklum Michael Boustridge said. Dragon Capital group of companies was founded in 2000 and it is one of the largest on the Ukrainian investment market. It works in the field of direct investment and financial services, provides a full range of investment banking and brokerage services for corporate and private clients. Dragon Capital New Ukraine Fund L.P. was created in November 2015. Dragon Capital manages the funds. Soros Fund Management (SFM) acts as the co-investor in the fund. Ciklum is a leading global digital services and software engineering company founded in 2002. Ciklum provides services to design and test software, it is involved in innovative research and design, works with Big Data and engineering consulting services. AVentures Capital was founded in 2012. It invests in IT companies at various stages of their development. National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom signed a contract to supply spare parts for diesel generators for the Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant (NPP) for UAH 80 million with Wartsila France (the French division of Finland's Wartsila). The press service of Energoatom reported that the signing ceremony took place with participation of Energoatom President Yuriy Nedashkovsky and Nuclear Services Director at Wartsila France Michel Kubbinga. Nedashkovsky said at the ceremony that he met with representatives of the company at the World Nuclear Exhibition in Le Bourget (France) and then the negotiations on cooperation were started. "The signing of this agreement was an outstanding milestone in the work of our company in the Eastern European market," Kubbinga said, noting that the company's path to this was not easy. The contract was signed following the results of the tender for the supply of spare parts in the amount of 1,954 units with the expected value of UAH 239.1 million, which was announced on September 7, 2018. More than two months were given for submission of bids and their discussion. Another tender for the supply of the same parts in the amount of 1,111 units was announced on June 4, 2018 with the expected value of UAH 192.8 million. More than five months were given for submission of bids and their discussion. Wartsila France also became the winner of this tender. Energoatom published a report about the intention to sign a contract with it on January 15, 2019. According to the history of the auctions, held in the ProZorro e-procurement system, the preparatory process was lengthy. During this period, the tender documentation was changed many times. In addition, Wartsila France filed six claims for elimination of violations and three complaints prior to the tender for the supply of 1,954 units of spare parts. At the tender held on January 10, a total of 11 claims were received for the elimination of violations. Speaker of Armenian Parliament, Ukrainian Ambassador discuss agenda of bilateral ties Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan on February 4 received Ambassador of Ukraine to Armenia Petro Lytvyn. At the meeting the Speaker highly appreciated the Armenian-Ukrainian friendly relations, stating that they serve a firm base for further deepening the bilateral ties. Ararat Mirzoyan highlighted the further development of the inter-parliamentary relations and stated that the upcoming parliamentary friendship group will play a key role in intensifying the bilateral contacts. In his turn the Ukrainian Ambassador congratulated the Speaker on assuming office and stated that Ukraine is interested in developing mutual relations, adding that his country fully supports the ongoing processes in Armenia. The Ambassador expressed readiness to further develop and expand the inter-parliamentary ties and attached importance to the cooperation at international platforms. The two officials also discussed a number of programs of bilateral agenda, as well as praised the growth of the trade turnover volumes between Armenia and Ukraine. The sides highly valued the role of the Ukrainian-Armenian community on deepening the relations, as well as in the countrys public, political, cultural, scientific and educational sectors. Armenias early parliamentary elections were competitive and well run, but polarized and marred by aggressive rhetoric, international observers say International election observers to Armenias early parliamentary elections held press conference 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 Google Ad 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 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 Armenias early parliamentary elections were competitive and well run, but polarized and marred by aggressive rhetoric, international observers say International election observers to Armenias early parliamentary elections held press conference Drop Charges Against Rights Defender Sashik Sultanyan The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia Google Ad 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 Google Ad 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 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 President Rodrigo Duterte has transferred the Philippine Reclamation Authority under his control and supervision to make the agency more effective, the Palace said on Monday. In Executive Order No. 74, Duterte moved the PRA to the Office of the President, delegating the PRA Governing Board the power of the President to approve reclamation projects and other purposes, aiming to rationalize operations for sustainable resource development. The PRA used to approve reclamation projects on behalf of the chief executive, but Dutertes new directive repealed the two previous executive orders that placed the PRA under the control of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the National Economic and Development Authority. The PRA shall be under the control and supervision of the OP, while the power of the President to approve all reclamation projects shall be delegated to the PRA Governing Board, the EO read. Such delegation, however, shall not be construed as diminishing the Presidents authority to modify, amend, or nullify the action of the PRA Governing Board, it added. According to the EO, there is a need to rationalize the approval process for reclamation projects towards an economically and environmentally sustainable resource development. The order also underscored the governments policy to increase competitiveness, promote ease of doing business, and rationalize and streamline functions of agencies to facilitate efficient delivery of government services. In order to integrate, direct, and coordinate all reclamation projects for and on behalf of the State, the PRA shall seek the advisory opinions of the NEDA, DENR, and the Department of Finance. The PRA must seek the opinion of the NEDA on consistency of the project with national and regional development planning and programming, and established national priorities of the government; the DENR on the environmental sustainability of the project and compliance with environmental laws; and, Department of Finance on the economic and fiscal viability of the project. The order also applies to all reclamation projects, including those initiated by local government units and other government entities allowed under existing laws to reclaim land, for which there are no contracts/agreements yet executed between the government entity concerned and a private sector proponent before the effectivity of the said order. No reclamation project shall be approved by the PRA without the required Area Clearance and Environmental Compliance Certificate to be issued by the DENR. The DENR shall ensure transparency and inclusivity in the conduct of the Environmental Impact Assessment which shall include public disclosure and multi-stakeholder engagement, the document read. The PRA shall also craft a National and Regional Reclamation and Development Plan (RDP) that will consider the environmental, social and economic impacts of proposed relocation projects. These plans, as mandated by the said EO, must undergo public consultation with the DENR, NEDA and affected local government units, and shall be consistent with the greater public interest. The PRA Governing Board, meanwhile, shall set aside 5 percent of its net earnings to develop its capability and expertise to reclaim lands, ordering them to craft a five-year development plan to transform the PRA into a premier reclamation authority. The order, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, took effect immediately. Sought for an explanation on Dutertes new directive, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said that the transferal of the PRA directly under the Presidents watch will streamline the services of the agency to make it more effective. Thats the discretion of the President. He has control over the Executive departments and offices. Perhaps the reason is to streamline the services of agencies and maybe make it more effective, Panelo said in a Palace press briefing. Maybe he feels it would be better for it to be under the Office of the President. Because under the Office of the President, government agencies tend to work faster, Panelo added. Asked if the President was dismayed over the efforts done by NEDA, Panelo said: Not necessarily. The Palace official also said that the new directive was not necessarily connected to the alleged reclamation projects along the Manila Bay, stressing that Duterte only wants to be hands-on on the issue.Following the ongoing cleanup of then-garbage-filled Manila Bay, some environmental groups have already called on the government to stop the looming reclamation projects in order to protect its decaying environment. As this developed, the Department of Justice on Monday lauded the decision of Congress to keep the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel and the Presidential Commission on Good Government under its jurisdiction. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra backed the approval by both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the bicameral conference committee, which rejected the proposal to abolish the two agencies and transfer their functions to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG). The DOJ has always taken the position that the OGCC and the PCGG serve unique purposes and, for that reason, should continue to exist, Guevarra said, in a brief statement. OGCC chief Elpidio Vega also welcomed the development, saying the OGCC lauds the decision of the bicameral conference committee and the recognition that the OGCC is separate and distinct from the OSG. The OGCC has, through the years since its creation, specialized its legal services to protect the government owned and controlled corporations, dutifully safeguarding their legal interests. It has diligently provided the legal services necessary in order that GOCCs mandates shall be achieved for the good of the country, Vega pointed out. Vega is appealong to Congress to improve and strengthen the charter of the OGCC in order to enhance its legal services and further address the legal requirements of more than 130 GOCCs and almost 500 water districts. The bicameral conference committee has agreed on the final version of the proposed law strengthening the OSG in a meeting last Jan. 21. Senator Richard Gordon, member of the committee, said their members decided not to abolish the OGCC and PCGG. Gordon said Congress decided to retain the OGCC since the OSG has only 250 lawyers, each handling 1, 400 cases. So we dont want them being saddled by additional duties of the GOCCs so it will remain as is, he said. Gordon said the PCGG still has businesses to finish, citing the agencys collection of P171 billion and target of collecting P40 billion more in 2020. The DOJ had strongly opposed the bills in the House of Representatives seeking to abolish OGCC and PCGG and transfer their respective functions under the OSG. It explained that OGCC and PCGG have special functions entirely different from the OSG. He said consolidating both agencies could result in conflict of interest in many cases. At present there are numerous cases wherein the OGCC and the OSG find themselves representing opposing sides with conflicting interest. The OGCC represents the GOCCs (government-owned and controlled corporations), while the OSG represents different agencies of the government like the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, Department of Finance and the like, the DOJ has explained in its legal opinion in 2017 submitted to the House. If the BIR, for instance, assesses a tax on a GOCC like the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and the latter interposes as its defense that it is exempted from the tax, this conflict can only be resolved by going to court and it would be absurd if both entities will be represented by the Solicitor General, it said. The DOJ further argued the OGCC should be recognized for its key role in economic achievements of the state-owned corporations. As for the PCGG, the DOJ said that President Duterte does not want the agency abolished but instead wants to expand and broaden its powers. Both PCGG and OGCC are under the administrative supervision of the DOJ, while the OSG is an attached agency of the department. Tuesday night Donald J. Trump, in an ancient and revered ritual, will stride through the center of the chamber of the House of Representatives, stop and greet the lawmakers who arrived early enough to claim prized aisle seats, and then will perform one of the few specific duties set out for the president in the Constitution. He will assess the state of the union and then set out his priorities for the coming year. These addresses, given in person at least once by every chief executive since Franklin Roosevelt, are one of the set pieces of American civic life. It was in one of these addresses that James Monroe promulgated what we now know as the Monroe Doctrine. More than a century later, FDR used one of these addresses to set forth the Four Freedoms, a speech sadly unknown in our time. Some of these addresses were given amid wartime worries FDR said in the last year of World War II that Everything we are and have is at stake and one of them, from George W. Bush, came amid grave terrorism threats. Bill Clinton delivered one shortly after the Oval Office sex scandal broke. It was a masterpiece of composure amid a malignant contretemps. ELKO Northern and southwestern Elko County is under a winter weather advisory until 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5. Snow accumulations are expected to reach 2 to 5 inches in the valleys and 4 to 8 inches at elevations above 5,500 feet, according to the National Weather Service. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph. In the Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range, snowfall is expected to reach 6 to 12 inches. Areas above 8,000 feet could see up to 18 inches. Gusting wind could reach 40 mph. Winds could bring down tree branches, the National Weather Service warns, and slippery road conditions and drifting snow could affect commutes. The advisory means periods of snow will cause primarily travel difficulties, the National Weather Service stated. Expect snow-covered roads and limited visibilities, and use caution while driving. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The Nevada Department of Transportation warned of adverse driving conditions on the following roads in Elko County: SR 233 in both directions from Interstate 80 at the exit for Oasis and Montello to the Utah State line; U.S. 93 in both directions from Warm Springs to Lages in Elko County. Visit nvroads.com or call 511 for information about road conditions. GE Renewable Energy and Future Wind (a Joint Venture between Pondera Development and SIF Holding Netherlands) announced today (1/16) that they have signed an agreement to install the first Haliade-X 12 MW wind turbine prototype in Maasvlakte-Rotterdam (NL) during summer 2019. The deal includes five years of testing and a 15-year full service Operation and Maintenance agreement. This Haliade-X 12 MW prototype will be installed onshore to facilitate access for testing. During the initial period of operations, it will allow GE Renewable Energy to collect data needed to obtain a Type Certificate, a key step in commercializing the product in 2021. Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam said "We are proud that GE Renewable Energy and SIF are using our port as a test location to develop the most powerful offshore wind turbine in the world. It confirms the port's reputation and validates our focus on being an attractive partner for the offshore wind industry as it drives the energy transition." Alderman Bonte, responsible for Rotterdam's Energy Transition, said "In our fight against climate change we need a massive expansion of the number of windfarms at sea. We are delighted that GE has selected the Port of Rotterdam as the test location for the Haliade-X 12 MW, which is the largest wind turbine in the world and can therefore help us accelerate the clean energy transition." John Lavelle, VP & CEO of Offshore Wind at GE Renewable Energy said "As we rapidly progress on assembling the Haliade-X prototype, this announcement is a critical step forward for GE and our customers. The port of Rotterdam has been a real partner and provides all the necessary conditions to test the Haliade-X in the most drastic weather conditions". Fred van Beers, CEO of Sif Holding Netherlands mentioned "we are very pleased to install the Haliade-X 12 MW on the Sif site in Rotterdam, supporting Sif's ambition to remain at the forefront of developments in the offshore wind industry. The project also fits Sif's ambition to become entirely CO2 neutral as the Haliade-X 12 MW will supply carbon-free energy to the electricity grid. Activities in Rotterdam to prepare the site for future installation have just begun. The nacelle of the Haliade-X 12MW prototype will be assembled in Saint-Nazaire (France), while the three 107 meter-long LM Wind Power blades will be manufactured in Cherbourg (France), and the tower sections will be produced in Seville (Spain). All components will be shipped to Rotterdam, where pre-assembly work and installation will take place. This prototype in Rotterdam is part of the $400 ( 320) million investment in the Haliade-X development announced by GE Renewable Energy in March 2018 to help reduce offshore wind's cost of energy in order to make it a more competitive source of clean, renewable energy. About GE Renewable Energy GE Renewable Energy is a $10 billion business with an innovative spirit and entrepreneurial mindset, bringing together one of the broadest energy products and digital services portfolios in the renewable energy industry. Combining onshore and offshore wind, blades, hydro and innovative technologies such as hybrid systems and concentrated solar power, GE Renewable Energy has installed more than 400+ gigawatts capacity globally to make the world work better and cleaner. With more than 22,000 employees present in more than 80 countries, GE Renewable Energy is working on new ways to power the world's biggest economies and most remote communities. Follow us @GERenewables and www.ge.com/renewableenergy For further information: Santiago Chacon, Offshore Wind Communications Leader santiago.chacon@ge.com, (+33) 7 79 46 93 46 About Pondera Pondera Consult is a well-known Dutch renewable energy consultant. Pondera is involved in the development of almost all current and future offshore windfarms in the Dutch North Sea. Besides offshore wind projects Pondera develops onshore wind, energy storage and solar projects for numerous clients. Pondera has been actively involved in a pipeline of more than 10 GW renewable energy projects, of which 1 GW is installed to date. In some cases, through a specific Pondera Development entity, we are involved in co-developing renewable energy projects. For further information: Ester Bierens, Marketing and Communications Officer e.bierens@pondersconsult.com (+31) 6 33 65 98 71 About Sif Holding N.V. Sif is a leading manufacturer of large steel tubulars, which are used as foundation components mainly for the offshore wind market. The Company manufactures customized tubular components for offshore foundations, predominantly in the greater North Sea region. Sif combines a highly automated and flexible production facility with technology leadership in rolling and welding of heavy steel plates, which is based on over 70 years of experience and innovative in-house developed techniques and processes. Sif primarily produces monopiles, transition pieces and piles that are used to anchor jacket foundations in the seabed for offshore wind turbines. It furthermore produces components for offshore steel structures as jacket legs, piles, pin piles, and pile sleeves. For further information: Diederik de Bruin, Project Manager Future Wind d.debruin@sif-group.com (+31) 6 24 28 41 04 The world's largest thin-film solar power solution company, Hanergy Thin Film Power Group (00566.hk) (en.HanergyThinFilmPower.com) has signed an MOU investment cooperation agreement with Ajlan & Bros on Monday (Jan. 28) in launching the first solar thin-film industrial park in the Middle East region. The total investment of the project will be over one billion dollars. The agreement was signed at the launch event of Saudi Arabia National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), which is one of the 12 programs initiated as part of Saudi Vision 2030, focusing on transforming Saudi Arabia into an industrial powerhouse and a global leader in logistical services by fueling up the growth in four key sectors: Industry, Mining, Energy and Logistics. Under the aegis of the agreement that was signed by Mr. Wei Qiang, President of Hanergy Saudi Arabia Country Company, and Mr. Mohamed Al Ajlan, Deputy Board Chairman of Ajlan & Bros Holding Group Company, the two companies will collaborate to develop renewable energy manufacturing facilities in Saudi Arabia and conjointly seek relevant investment opportunities. "We are excited to collaborate with Hanergy. Thin-film power is a promising market, especially in Saudi Arabia. The renewable energy facilities are bound to reform the landscape of the country's energy industry and help us achieve our goals in the 2030 vision", said Mr. Mohamed Al Ajlan. As the only Chinese renewable energy company invited to attend the launch event, Hanergy has anchored its roots in Saudi Arabia market with its cutting-edge technologies and innovative products, while Ajlan & Bros Holding Group Company is one of the leading international companies in the country and Arabian Gulf area, investing in multiple industries like real estate and fashion. Commenting on the collaboration, Mr. Wei Qiang, says, "At Hanergy we've accorded priority to Saudi Arabia as one of the key strategic markets for our business globally. We realise the potential of renewable energy in Saudi Arabia and have set out an organized and specific road map to diversify our business in the country while supporting the advancement of renewable energy and fulfil the Kingdom's commitments to reducing carbon dioxide emissions." "The collaboration with Ajlan & Bros could be a turning point for both Hanergy and solar industry of Saudi Arabia," he added. The collaboration is also welcomed by Mr. Khalid A. Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, who also attended the signing ceremony. Minister Al-Falih encourages Hanergy to localize its products and production lines in Saudi Arabia, contributing to the country's sustainable new energy plan. With this collaboration, Hanergy marks yet another breakthrough in the Middle East market. With the great market potential to be explored in Saudi Arabia and Hanergy's accumulated technological advantages, as well as the right partner with mutual interest and rich resources, the collaboration seems well in place to firm Hanergy's foothold in the Middle East Market and transform the landscape of solar industry of Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been endeavoring to reduce its dependence on oil and going through a major transition towards more diversified and sustainable energy resources since the beginning of this decade. In 2011, oil was the source of over 50% electricity in the country and there was only 0.003 gigawatts of solar power capacity installed nationwide. It was then announced by the government that Saudi Arabia would develop 41 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2032. The launch of National Industrial Development and Logistics Program is to help achieve this goal. About Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd: Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd (0566.HK) (en.HanergyThinFilmPower.com) is a Hong Kong-listed company, and a subsidiary of Hanergy Holding Group Ltd. As one of the leading thin-film solar companies in the world, Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd is committed to "Building Mobile Energy". Since 2009, Hanergy has been working relentlessly to integrate worldwide solar technologies, and making a robust investment in research and innovation in the field of thin-film solar power. Thin film solar technologies have been applied to a series of commercial and non-commercial products, including HanTile, HanWall, Humbrella, SolarTank and HanPower. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today (2/1) issued a staff Citation of $3.3 million to Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) for failure to properly and timely investigate a gas incident that occurred on January 20, 2017, in Ontario, Calif. The underlying incident involved a SoCalGas leaking pipeline and a subsequent ignition/explosion with an injury. The CPUC's staff investigation remains active because of SoCalGas' failure to properly determine the cause(s) of the failure and minimize the possibility of recurrence in accordance with federal code, SoCalGas' own procedures, and the Public Utilities Code. Despite a directive from the CPUC's Safety and Enforcement Division (SED) in November 2018, and subsequent agreement by SED and SoCalGas to test the pipeline on January 10, 2019, SoCalGas unilaterally cancelled the agreement and informally notified SED that they will not test until their civil settlements are complete. SED finds SoCalGas' reason for not performing the test insufficient, as they are putting civil litigation exposure in front of public safety. From SED's perspective, SoCalGas remains in continuing violation until they properly test the failed pipeline to determine cause and ensure sufficient corrective actions. Throughout the incident investigation, SoCalGas did not take adequate investigative steps and cooperate with the SED to prevent recurrence as required by law. Therefore, SED found SoCalGas in violations of CPUC General Order 112-F, Title 49 CFR section 192.13(c), and Public Utilities Code sections 702, 451. Information about the Citation is available at: http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/General.aspx?id=2494. SoCalGas has 30 calendar days from receipt of the Citation to pay or file an appeal. SED has staff-level authority to issue Citations to regulated gas companies for violation of CPUC codes and regulations. Safety violations are identified through SED's ongoing audits, inspections, and investigations; by the utilities themselves through mandatory disclosure requirements; or through the CPUC's whistleblower program for anonymous and protected reporting of violations. Whistleblowers can call 1-800-649-7570 or email safetyhotline@cpuc.ca.gov. The CPUC also has an online whistleblower reporting form at https://ia.cpuc.ca.gov/whblow/ where complaints can be submitted anonymously. The CPUC regulates services and utilities, safeguards the environment, and assures Californians' access to safe and reliable utility infrastructure and services. For more information on the CPUC, please visit www.cpuc.ca.gov. Contact Julie Hall Public Information Officer, News & Outreach Office California Public Utilities Commission JHU@cpuc.ca.gov Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) today (2/1) announced it received the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct the Port Arthur LNG natural gas liquefaction-export project in Jefferson County, Texas, as well as the Texas and Louisiana connector pipeline projects that will deliver natural gas to the new export facility. "Today's positive review of our Port Arthur liquefaction-export project and new pipeline projects by the FERC represents a significant step forward as we remain focused on becoming North America's premier infrastructure company," said Carlos Ruiz Sacristan, president and CEO of Sempra North American Infrastructure Group. "We appreciate the support we've received from regulators and the supporters in Texas and Louisiana. We look forward to delivering a world-class project that will create jobs and support the local economy for decades to come." The proposed Port Arthur LNG project is expected to include two natural gas liquefaction trains capable of processing approximately 11 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) liquefied natural gas (LNG), up to three LNG storage tanks and associated facilities and new natural gas transmission pipelines in Texas and Louisiana. The FEIS is the final step in the environmental review process before FERC can proceed to issue an order approving the project. Last month, Port Arthur LNG and the Polish Oil & Gas Company signed a definitive 20-year sale-and-purchase agreement for LNG from the Port Arthur LNG as part of Sempra Energy's long-term goal of exporting 45 Mtpa of North American LNG to meet the global demand. The agreement is subject to certain conditions, including Port Arthur LNG making a final investment decision. Last year, Port Arthur LNG selected Bechtel as the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contractor for the project, subject to reaching a definitive agreement. In June 2017, Port Arthur signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Korea Gas Corporation for potential participation in the Port Arthur LNG project. Development of the Port Arthur LNG liquefaction facility is contingent upon obtaining additional customer commitments, completing the required commercial agreements, securing all necessary permits, obtaining financing, incentives and other factors, and reaching a final investment decision. Sempra Energy, a San Diego-based electric and natural gas infrastructure company with 2017 revenues of more than $11 billion, is the utility holding company with the largest U.S. customer base. The Sempra Energy companies' approximately 20,000 employees serve more than 40 million consumers worldwide. This press release contains statements that are not historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "contemplates," "assumes," "depends," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "can," "potential," "possible," "proposed," "target," "pursue," "outlook," "maintain," or similar expressions or discussions of guidance, strategies, plans, goals, opportunities, projections, initiatives, objectives or intentions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Future results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Factors, among others, that could cause actual results and future actions to differ materially from those described in any forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties relating to: actions and the timing of actions, including decisions, new regulations, and issuances of permits and other authorizations by the U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, states, cities and counties, and other regulatory and governmental bodies in the United States and other countries in which we operate; the timing and success of business development efforts and construction projects, including risks in timely obtaining or maintaining permits and other authorizations, risks in completing construction projects on schedule and on budget, and risks in obtaining the consent and participation of partners and counterparties; the availability of natural gas and liquefied natural gas, and natural gas pipeline and storage capacity; equipment failures; changes in energy markets; volatility in commodity prices; moves to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas; risks posed by actions of third parties who control the operations of our investments, and risks that our partners or counterparties will be unable or unwilling to fulfill their contractual commitments; weather conditions, natural disasters, accidents, equipment failures, computer system outages, explosions, terrorist attacks and other events that disrupt our operations, damage our facilities and systems, cause the release of greenhouse gases and harmful emissions, and subject us to third-party liability for property damage or personal injuries, fines and penalties, some of which may not be covered by insurance (including costs in excess of applicable policy limits) or may be disputed by insurers; cybersecurity threats to storage and pipeline infrastructure, the information and systems used to operate our businesses; the impact of recent federal tax reform and uncertainty as to how it may be applied, and our ability to mitigate adverse impacts; changes in foreign and domestic trade policies and laws, including border tariffs, revisions to international trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, that make us less competitive or impair our ability to resolve trade disputes; and other uncertainties, some of which may be difficult to predict and are beyond our control. These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that Sempra Energy has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, and on Sempra Energy's website at www.sempra.com. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and Sempra Energy or its subsidiaries undertake no obligation to update or revise these forecasts or projections or other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Sempra South American Utilities, Sempra North American Infrastructure, Sempra LNG & Midstream, Sempra Renewables, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utility, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor) and Infraestructura Energetica Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IEnova) are not the same companies as the California utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) or Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), and Sempra South American Utilities, Sempra North American Infrastructure, Sempra LNG & Midstream, Sempra Renewables, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utility, Oncor and IEnova are not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission. 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. Close to 800 foreign nationals were arrested last year, more than 200 of them are fugitives, as a result of the agencys intensified campaign against illegal aliens, while 611 aliens were deported in the same year after they were found guilty of violating the countrys Immigration Act. Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said that many of those arrested were caught in flagrante working without permits or engaging in gainful activity without proper visas. Morente said 533 aliens were arrested while more than 200 foreign fugitives were apprehended by the bureau. I am proud to say that due to our intensified campaign against illegal aliens the number of arrests we made last year was 326 percent greater than those apprehended in 2017, Morente said. In a related development: Immigration authorities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport will now place all transit air travelers under rigid scrutiny as part of the enhanced security measures at the countrys main gateway. NAIA chief immigration officer Grifton Medina wants to make sure that transit passengers, especially those whose final destinations are Europe and United States, are all cleared before flying out from Manila. Before, the Bureau of Immigration was just checking the passengers boarding pass. But with the new directives, all transit passengers should undergo security screening. If a person has a record in another country, or if he or she is a suspect terrorist, his or her name would automatically hit in the system, and that person could be prevented from entering the country, said Medina. He added that using state of the art system, the agency protects the people by checking stolen passports and counterfeit documents. Medina said the bureau heightened its security measures at the NAIA and is conducting continuous training and inter-agency coordination with other countries or International police.The Manila International Airport Authority, for its part, assured air travelers it is giving utmost priority and attention to the implementation of strict security measures at the NAIA. This after US Department of Homeland Securitys Transportation Security Administration last December conducted an assessment and gave recommendations regarding airport security enhancement and improvements. The recommendations of the TSA include the installation of new equipment such as X-ray machines, walk-through metal detectors, and alarm systems. Another recommendation was the conduct of new background check procedures for newly hired airport personnel, which will include neighborhood and NICA (National Intelligence Coordinating Agency) checks for those implementing security control, and submission of new NBI clearances for all MIAA access pass holders. The TSA also recommended a change in the security culture among long-time NAIA personnel in the area of consistent implementation and observance of strict security procedures. As for the more than 600 aliens who were deported, the BI chief said that they expedited the resolution of pending deportation cases in order to decongest the detention facility. BI Acting Intelligence Chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. reported that many of those arrested included overstaying aliens, illegal foreign vendors, and aliens illegally employed as construction workers, miners, and other blue collar jobs. Manahan said that 393 Chinese nationals topped the list of the arrested nationals, followed by 52 Koreans, 12 Americans, and a number of Africans. Morente said they would be relentless in their drive against illegal aliens. Its very simple. If you enter our country, you have to comply with our laws, he said. If you dont, you will be deported, he warned. Finance Ministry sees no need to restructure Ukraine's debts now The Budget Code provides for certain tools in case Ukraine is unable to borrow the needed amount. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Ukrzaliznytsia receives 30 GE locomotives The Ukrainian company earlier signed a framework agreement with General Electric on the supply of up to 225 locomotives worth US$1 billion to Ukraine. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter NBU considers business models of over half of small banks in Ukraine inviable The main challenge for such financial institutions is the lack of a development strategy, the banker said. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter State-run Ukrgasbank being prepared to sale Ukraine's finance ministry Cooperation between IFC and the bank has already allowed implementing over 145 projects in the field of clean energy, the ministry said. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter U.S. Congress looking into Deutsche Bank's loan to Russian VTB Congressmen suggest financial ties between the two banks could somehow be connected to the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter US President Donald Trump (R), seen here with North Korean leader Kim Jong UN (L) June 12, 2018, says they have set a date and place for their next summit. Photo by AFP President Donald Trump said he saw a "good chance" of reaching deals on two key U.S. foreign policy challenges: North Korean nuclear disarmament and trade relations with China. Interviewed on CBS's "Face the Nation," Trump said the date and venue of his upcoming second summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un had been agreed -- and would likely be announced before or during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. "The meeting is set," said the president. "He's looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it." Vietnam is seen as the most likely venue for the Trump-Kim summit, which is expected to take place late this month and follows on from a landmark first face-to-face last June. U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told Congress this week that "North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons and production capabilities." That analysis runs counter to the position of the president, who once more argued in Sunday's interview that "there's also a very good chance that we will make a deal." "I think he's also tired of going through what he's going through," said Trump, referring to the international sanctions pressing on Kim's regime. "He has a chance to have North Korea be a tremendous economic behemoth," Trump continued. "He can't do that with nuclear weapons and he can't do that on the path they're on now." "I like him. I get along with him great," the president added. "We have a fantastic chemistry." The two leaders' first meeting produced a vaguely-worded document in which Kim pledged to work towards "the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula". But progress has since stalled with the two sides disagreeing over what that means. Asked about the possibility of the United States pulling troops out of South Korea as it negotiates with Pyongyang, Trump doubled down on remarks by the U.S. envoy on North Korea Stephen Biegun, who this week denied any such plans. "We have 40,000 troops in South Korea, it's very expensive. But I have no plans, I've never even discussed removing them," Trump said. The U.S. president went on to praise China as having been "very helpful" with the North Korean dossier -- and voiced optimism about the prospect of a deal to end their trade war. "It looks like we're doing very well with making a deal with China," said Trump, who struck an upbeat note following two days of U.S.-China trade talks at the White House this week. The two sides face a March 1 deadline to avert a sharp increase in U.S. duties on $200 billion in Chinese exports. "I don't know that we're going to make one, but we have a good chance," Trump said. "And if it is a deal it's going to be a real deal. It's not going to be a stopgap." Vietnam rings in Year of the Pig with fire and glitter Huge crowds gather in downtown streets in major cities to wait for stunning fireworks and ring in the New Year. Hanoi Fireworks go off over the Sword Lake in Hanoi. Photo by Ngoc Thanh All eyes are in the sky as this huge crowd gathers on a street in Hanoi for the firework show. Photo by Ngoc Thanh In Hanoi, Party chief and President Nguyen Phu Trong gives lucky money envelopes to sanitation workers and wishes them a happy new year. Photo by Giang Huy The area near the central Sword Lake is lit up with eye-catching Tet decorations. Photo by Ngoc Thanh Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam rings in Year of the Pig with fire and glitter Phao hoa Fireworks go off over Vietnam's tallest building, Landmark 81, in Saigon. Photo by Quoc Anh Some people try to be as close to the sparkling fireworks as possible. Photo by Thanh Nguyen Nguyen Hue Flower Street in the city downtown is packed with visitors waiting to watch fireworks parties minutes before the clock ticks new year. Da Nang A man captures fireworks over the Han River in Da Nang in central Vietnam. Photo by Nguyen Dong Dong Nai A man in Dong Nai Province, which neighbors HCMC, burns votive paper offerings to say goodbye to the old year, after cleaning up his altar. People burn incense sticks to pray at a pagoda in Dong Nai before the clock ticks midnight. Photo by Quynh Tran Hue 1,000 fireworks go off as the clock tick midnight in Hue in central Vietnam. Photo by Vo Thanh Vietnam rings in Year of the Pig with fire and glitter Nguoi dan Hue bat ngo voi phao Hoa A woman in Hue in central Vietnam arrange traditional food offerings on the table. Near midnight, many families started preparing for New Years Eve offerings, ready to bid farewell to the Year of the Dog and welcome the Year of the Pig. Photo by Vo Thanh A family in Hue set up their altar with fresh flowers and traditional fruits before New Year's Eve. Quang Ngai People gather at Pham Van Dong Square in the central province of Quang Ngai, waiting for the countdown party. Photo by Pham Linh A family of three takes a photo shoot as they flocked to the street for New Year's Eve celebration. Photo by Pham Linh Son La In the northern mountainous province of Son La, border guards dance around a bonfire to welcome the new year. Photo by Gia Chinh HCMC police are hunting for two men who snatched a handbag from a Vietnamese Singaporean woman Sunday. Le Lam Bao Tran, 40, was taking photos with her family at the corner of Cao Ba Quat and Thi Sach Street in the central District 1, a five-minute drive from Ben Thanh Market, when two men driving on a motorbike approached her and one of the two grabbed her handbag and escaped. The bag had S$2,000 ($1,480), credit cards and other personal identification papers. By chance, her relative clicked on the camera and captured the moment that the robbery took place. A man is captured on camera as he snatched a handbag from a Vietnamese Singaporean woman in downtown Saigon on Sunday. Photo courtesy of the victim's family The family has filed a report with the local police and provided the photo identifying the snatcher. Police are now hunting for the thieves. The snatching happened so suddenly that she could not react in time, said Tran, whod returned HCMC to celebrate Tet, the Lunar New Year festival, with her family. Street crime, especially those targeting tourists, has been a rising problem in Saigon for many years now, giving the nations largest city an unsavory reputation despite its many other attractions. If launched, Vietravel's airline will be the sixth in Vietnam. Photo by Pixabay. Vietravel is nurturing a plan to launch its own airline to meet the demand that it predicts will keep rising in the future. The company's CEO Nguyen Quoc Ky said the domestic aviation market is still "full of potential." With a population of more than 100 million and the number of foreign visitors rising steadily year after year, hitting the highest ever at 15.5 million last year, it is still modest for Vietnam to have only five airlines, he told a recent meeting on tourism in Hue, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon reported. Vietravel wants to have its airline headquartered in the central town of Hue, he added. "The plan of Vietravel will help create more new flight routes to and from Hue, and thus connect the city with more tourists," said Nguyen Van Phuc, deputy director of Thua Thien Hue Province, home to the imperial town of Hue. This will also get along with a plan to upgrade Phu Bai International Airport in Hue to raise its annual capacity from 1.5 million passengers to 5 million. Vietravel has taken the first steps into the airline industry through organizing charter flights with its partners. For the past two years, it has operated around 300 charter flights both domestically and internationally each year. Vietnams newest airline, Bamboo Airway, recently completed its maiden flight. The four other carriers currently in Vietnam are Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Jetstar Pacific, and VASCO. Together, the four of them transport more than 50 million passengers last year, up 14 percent against 2017, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. The number of passengers through Vietnam airports during the year increased 12.9 percent to 106 million passengers. The Washington Post introduced us to a sad new feature of its 2020 coverage, Yesterday,introduced us to a sad new feature of its 2020 coverage, The Post 2020 Power Ranking . Karen Tumulty, the moderator, noted that her "pick for the most interesting candidate-to-be is Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Hes seasoned, a little on the bland side for a populist, and most importantly, a Democrat who knows how to win in a swing state that became Trump Country in 2016. His 'Dignity of Work' swing through Iowa is a pitch-perfect way to start." His ranking is an absurd #4 on their list. Outside the Beltway, the only things remotely interesting about Brown showing up in Iowa was him calling Howard Schultz a "total idiot" and then going on to disqualify himself by giving a thumbs down to Medicare for All did however, care about Sherrod Brown's vote, a vote that revealed the man's character to me. I expect more, a lot more, from self-promoted leaders like Brown, whose record has been so mostly exemplary. But he violated a core value-- Thou Shalt Not Torture Nor Tread On Habeus Corpus. No exceptions. Brown, whose Senate voting record is consistently ranked by ProgressivePunch in the Top 10, is known to grievously disappoint at key junctures. In 2006, when he made the jump from House to Senate, he cravenly voted for Bush's torture program-- the only progressive who did-- because he thought it would play well in Ohio. (He later apologized and admitted he fucked up but not before he became the first Blue America-endorsed candidate to ever be un-endorsed in the midst of a campaign.) That torture bill Brown voted for was opposed by all but 34 Democrats, almost all of whom have long since been defeated for reelection or otherwise driven from office-- garbagecrats like John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA), Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), Jim Marshall (Blue Dog-GA), Leonard Boswell (Blue Dog-IA), Gene Taylor (Blue Dog and then R-MS), Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA), Stephanie Herseth (Blue Dog-SD), Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT), Harold Ford (Blue Dog-TN), Melissa Bean (New Dem-IL)... I basically don't care about fake Democrats who can almost always be counted on to support conservatives in a pinch. I very muchhowever, care about Sherrod Brown's vote, a vote that revealed the man's character to me. I expect more, a lot more, from self-promoted leaders like Brown, whose record has been so mostly exemplary. But he violated a core value-- Thou Shalt Not Torture Nor Tread On Habeus Corpus. No exceptions. Just before his 2018 reelection a few months ago Brown did an interview with CNBC's John Harwood during which he disavowed his own past support for reinstating Glass-Steagall (while still trying to sound as though he's a progressive or a populist). Harwood: But it sounds like it's more of a defensive agenda that is, to prevent things that have been done from being dismantled, as opposed to trying to break up banks or reimposing Glass-Steagall. Brown: Yeah, I have little interest in reimposing Glass-Steagall. That's an answer to a question that's not being asked. Breaking up the banks-- they're too big and too powerful-- that's not on my agenda. My agenda is to, as you say, play defense, to make sure we have a vibrant consumer protection agency. It's to do oversight. I mean, the appointees from the administration to be these regulators are people, some of whom had a lot to do with the housing crisis, and a lot to do with the Wall Street greed and overreach. So you're damn right I play defense when they're trying to do things to undermine the economy. Splinter. Libby Watson wrote about A couple of weeks ago, reporting for. Libby Watson wrote about how soft Brown has been on Medicare-For-All . She noted that it isn't just the "centrists" who are "cautioning against moving too fast or far on single-payer, worrying that focusing on Medicare for All will water down the Democrats message on protecting the Affordable Care Act from Republicans" and pointed out that Brown backs Medicare for retiring cops and firefighters before 65 but isn't backing Medicare for All. "Remember," she warns, that despite his left-ish credentials on issues like Wall Street, Brown took $830,000 from corporate PACs in 2018." Giving cops and firefighters healthcare is fine, just as it would be great to give teachers or nurses or public sanitation workers healthcare, but its in no way an alternative to Medicare for All, and it sure is a weird way to approach the problem of the financial barriers to adequate healthcare-- expanding access one job at a time, in order of how noble Sherrod Brown deems your job to be. Similarly, Browns other proposed Medicare for All alternative-- a bill that would allow a Medicare buy-in at age 55, which he proposed in the last Congress-- kicks the can down the road for a lot of people, as if no one under 55 has medical debt or puts off necessary medical procedures or buying prescriptions because they cant afford it. You can argue that this is a matter of only proposing whats possible, that Brown and other Democrats dont believe Medicare for All is possible in one go, and so an incremental approach is needed. But a Medicare at 55 buy-in isnt going to pass a Republican Senate, and Id bet that even Medicare-for-Cops wouldnt either-- this is the party that just tried to kill the Affordable Care Act and eliminate protections for preexisting conditions, after all. Democrats like Brown dont understand that proposals by major party members also define whats possible. Thats why were talking about single-payer at all. If youve got two years of twiddling your thumbs before another shot at passing legislation, why propose these half-measures unless you really believe only people older than 55 deserve healthcare? Brown has 2020 presidential aspirations, so its hard not to see this odd proposal as trying to ride cops to the White House. Hes clearly of the generation of Democrats that grew up believing the way to get Middle America to trust you is to talk a lot about cops and the troops, and the dignity of work over the indignity of rapacious capitalism. But give Medicare to cops or lowering the Medicare age to 55 doesnt get us closer to Medicare for All, and it doesnt make it easier to make an argument about universal care to expand eligibility to other selected groups. At this rate, lowering the Medicare age by 10 years once every 50 years (or one or two careers at a time) would get us single-payer by approximately 2300. Chuck Grassley might still be kicking around by then, but most of us wont be. If anything, both these proposals double down on the bizarre proposition of the current American system that only certain groups deserve healthcare. Thats awful policy, but its also shitty politics, as anyone who isnt a cop or a firefighter or was born after Cheers premiered has no reason to support these policies. Brown might find that in 2019 and 2020, Healthcare for Some just doesnt cut it anymore. Now with Brown all but in, Common Dreams staff writer Jon Queally followed up on his Medicare-For-All not practical comments over the weekend. On Friday, Brown "broke from the pack of announced and expected Democrats by coming out against Medicare for All-- characterizing a system that would cover everybody and leave nobody as not 'practical'-- and was greeted by a widespread reaction of Thank you, Next and Adios from progressives no longer willing to entertain half-measures when it comes to solving the nation's healthcare crisis or bolstering the private insurance industry." "I know most of the Democratic primary candidates are all talking about Medicare for all. I think instead we should do Medicare at 55," Brown said during a question and answer session at the Chamber of Commerce in Clear Lake, Iowa. Brown said that reducing the age or letting people over 55 buy into the existing Medicare system early would have a better chance of getting through Congress. "I'm not going to come and make a lot of promises like President Trump did... I'm going to talk about what's practical and what we can make happen. And if that makes me different from the other candidates so be it," Brown said. Progressive critics like Splinter's Libby Watson, however, took issue. "You know what isn't practical?" she added. "Spending twice as much as other rich nations for worse outcomes." "It's always 'practical' to leave people behind, and maintain corporate power," tweeted Michael Lighty, a healthcare policy expert and founding fellow at the left-leaning Sanders Institute. But ith the right kind of "leadership," he noted: "We can make the necessary possible." Ahead of Brown's comments, Watson on Friday wrote a long and detailed column explaining why the kind of "Medicare at 55" or "Medicare buy-in" plan the senator is proposing-- basically a public option, but available only to certain segments of the population-- is not just bad policy, but bad politics. It's not necessarily that what Brown is calling for would "make things worse," she argued, "it's that things are already catastrophically bad, and anything that just tinkers around the edges keeps us in dire straits." And by not taking the fight over healthcare to the next level by demanding a policy that would actually solve the problem, Brown is exemplifying the worst tendencies of the Democratic Party's old guard: Democrats frequently admit defeat before they've even got their trousers on. This is one of the major differences between establishment Democrats and the newly popular leftist politicians, like Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: They understand that you don't turn up to a knife fight with a banana and a shirt that says I Am So Frightened on the front. But prominent Senate Democrats and at least one presidential candidate have already shown that they're willing to compromise on single-payer. That is not how you win a fight. ...Brown's comments on Friday appear very out of touch with national voter sentiment-- whether in the mid-west or elsewhere-- by calling a solution that garners massive (and growing) public support, and which studies show would be less expensive and more cost-efficient than the current profit-driven system, not politically realistic: For Watson, however, not even the strong polling numbers tell the whole story. "Single-payer supporters don't say we should have the policy because people support it," she wrote. "We believe it's good, just, and more humane than our current nightmare, and that the conventional wisdom that it would be deeply unpopular is wrong." While all the Democratic 2020 candidates will ultimately be pressed on their solution to the nation's ongoing healthcare crisis, Dr. Carol Paris, former president of Physicians for a National Health Program, which advocates for a single-payer system like Medicare for All, told Think Progress this week that anyone who runs must demonstrate they understand that only Medicare for Alla system with "No co-pays, no deductibles, no need for supplemental policies, no private insurance"has the the ability to confront the current system's inherent failure. "I want to know that candidates," she said, "are using that term to mean improving traditional Medicare and expanding it to everyone from birth to death residing in the United States." Because they've taken great pains to lay it out clearly and succinctly, other Medicare for All proponents like the Democratic Socialists of America have said the American people should "accept nothing less." In the closing argument of her column, Watson put it this way: The American healthcare system is fundamentally broken. We spend twice what other rich nations do for much worse outcomes, with the highest infant mortality and the lowest life expectancy. Like the Affordable Care Act before it, the public option would preserve the rotten system that leads to this. It is motivated by a cowardly, straight-up wrong idea of pragmatism, the kind of half-hearted idea that Democratswillingly bullied for 30 years by Reaganite, anti-government, Chamber of Commerce-funded slimeballsthink is all we can possibly achieve. "Fuck that," she concluded. "Fight for single-payer or get kicked out of Washington trying." Updated: Sen. Brown spars with Iowa Democratic voter over his refusal to embrace Medicare for All. On Friday night at meet and greet event at the home of a local Democratic leader in Black Hawk County, Iowa, Sen. Brown was pressed on his Medicare for All stance by Ruth Walker, a 78-year-old retiree from Cedar Falls. The following transcript of the "lively exchange" was posted Saturday morning in a news story by Cleveland.com reporter Seth A. Richardson: Walker: It isnt like it wont work. I think advocating part way measures is not going to work. We tried part-way messages and it doesnt work. Brown: I want to get there, but I want to help peoples lives. Walker: But weve been doing this forever. We need to get there. Brown: I understand that. I understand that. We missed by one vote getting Medicare-at-55 because of one guy. Walker: I mean Medicare-for-all. Thats the problem, though. Brown: I know you did. I know you did. I understand that, but we are no closer to Medicare-for-all today than we were 15 years ago. Walker: We havent been advocating very long. Brown: OK, well, I want to improve peoples lives today. I know Congress wont pass Medicare-for-all. Walker: They will if they found out the people are brought educate the people. Brown: "Well I try to educate the people. But I want to help people make their lives better right now. If we can pass Medicare-at-55 tomorrow, two things would happen: a whole lot of peoples lives would improve and a whole lot of voters would think that the next step is to do more. "My ideology says universal coverage today, just like yours. But I want to see peoples lives better. Well keep having this debate and people will say, Medicare-for-all. Medicare-for-all, and nothing will change. I think if we can make that change of Medicare-at-55 or Medicare-at-50, it will make all the difference in the world and then we get to the next step. Otherwise its this sort of tilting at windmills where everybody feels good saying, Im for Medicare for all. Im for Medicare-for-all, but nothing changes. And I want to educate people too, but I want to change peoples lives and help people now. We have a different disagreement there. We want to end up in the same place, but weve got to get Congress to act as quickly as we can when we were so close before. Is Brown worth saving? I wonder if he knows Stephanie Kelton. He should since, from 2014 until 2016, she served as Democratic chief economist for the Senate Budget Committee. Over the weekend, she wrote a column for Bloomberg thaBrown would be wise to pay attention to, The Wealthy Are Victims Of Their Own Propaganda , to avoid that kind of victimhood himself. One of her wealthy friends, she wrote, was complaining to her about AOC's 70% marginal tax rate and about the new wealth tax proposed by Elizabeth Warren. She's argued in the past that we can pay for a Green New Deal and that the obsession with finding a dollar of new 'revenue' to offset every new dollar of spending is the wrong way to approach the federal budgeting process. She worries that we have a long way to go before politicians and the journalists who interview them stop demanding a road map to the source of funding for every new spending proposal. "My wealthy friend," she wrote, "doesnt want to pay for your child care. He doesnt want to help pay off your student loans. And he sure as heck doesnt want to shell out the big bucks for a multi-trillion-dollar Green New Deal. So where does that leave Democrats, who insist that they need the rich to pay for their progressive agenda? Heres what I told him." Duterte approves law reapportioning Leyte posted February 04, 2019 at 10:40 pm by Nathaniel Mariano February 04, 2019 at 10:40 pm President Rodrigo Duterte, born in Maasin, Leyte on March 28, 1945, has signed a law reapportioning the province of Southern Leyte into two legislative districts, according to a document released by Malacanang on Monday. The Republic Act 11198 was approved by the President on Friday, three months before the May midterm elections. Under the law, the first legislative district shall be composed of the City of Maasin and the seven other municipalities such as Macrohon, Padre Burgos, Limasawa, Malitbog, Tomas Oppus, and Bontoc. The towns of Sogod, Libagon, Liloan, San Francisco, Pintuyan, San Ricardo, Saint Bernard, Anahawan, San Juan, Hinundayan, Hinunangan, and Silago shall complete the second legislative district.The incumbent Representative of the Lone Legislative District of the Province of Southern Leyte shall continue to represent the legislative district until the new representatives of the first and second legislative districts shall have been duly elected and qualified, the RA read. The Commission on Elections shall then issue necessary rules and regulations for its implementation within 30 days upon the Acts effectivity. 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. Jim McGovern (D-MA) is one of the most progressive members of Congress. His D+9 central Massachusetts district-- which includes Worcester, Northampton, Amherst and Uxbridge-- gave Trump just 36.8% of its vote. Last year McGovern beat Republican Tracy Lovvorn two to one-- 191,332 (67.2%) to 93,391 (32.8%). In the 2 decades between 1998 and 2018, the Republicans had only fielded candidates against him in 2004 (28%) and 2010 (39.2%). He has a safe seat and his 96.7 ProgressivePunch lifetime crucial vote score is in the top 10 in Congress. He's the only committee chair in the top 10-- and it's one of the House's most important committees, the traffic cop of Congress, the Rules Committee. He doesn't need much money and he doesn't spend inordinate amounts of time raising it. Last cycle he raised $1,170,272 compared to his opponent's $37,826. Much of it went to pay dues and help other Democrats rather than to actual campaigning. This is what he raised in other years, along with how much of that came from business-oriented PACs: 2018- $1,170,272/$392,173 2016- $928,775/$320,382 2014- $874,483/$251,800 2012- $1,068,822/$280,439 2010- $1,839,052/$327,541 2008- $1,085,779/$208,745 2006- $755,594/$116,994 2004- $924,147/$95,579 2002- $628,350/$89,822 2000- $848,573/$119,497 Nearly every year his biggest sector, by far, was labor unions. Finance was usually a distant second, followed by lawyers and lobbyists, although sometimes #2 would be lawyers and lobbyists followed by Finance. Saturday, McGovern wrote an e-mail to his constituents telling them that he is making "a commitment... I will no longer accept corporate PAC money for my campaign." He wrote that "It's no secret that the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United championed corporate PACs, lobbyists, and special interests. Making American voices simply an afterthought for many politicians. Winning an election is an expensive undertaking. One that has begun to sideline emerging leaders in favor of the better-connected or the easily-bought." That's his colleagues he's talking about-- and certainly party leaders like the notoriously corrupt Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn, as well as Pelosi and the crook in the district next door, bribe taking chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Richard Neal. We see this in the Republican majority's refusal to act on climate change or gun violence-- their allegiance is to the corporations holding a check over their heads, not their constituents. The new Democratic majority in the House has introduced a voting rights and campaign reform bill to suppress the influence of big money in politics and ensure public officials are working in the interest of their communities. It will be a privilege to bring these items to the floor for debate as Chair of the House Rules Committee. But I can do more. Beyond supporting the legislation, I seek to lead by example. That means changing how I run my campaign. I will no longer accept corporate PAC money for my campaign. There are 48 other Congress members who have made the same commitment, including Elizabeth Warren, Ayanna Pressley, and Lori Trahan. "Industry experts" will certainly warn us, after all, "the first rule of running for office is that you don't leave money on the table." But we're turning the tables. ...I trust that Americans prefer campaigns that are by the people, for the people. In the video he released on Saturday, he tears into Congress and the way the system works. "Too much attention is given to raising money from big, well-connected corporate special interests. People ask me all the time, 'Why is it that you pass a tax bill where the benefits go to the wealthy and big corporate interests but are indifferent to the plight of the middle class or to those struggling to get into the middle class.' We're told by every scientist in the world that Climate Change is real and yet Congress continues to pass legislation that favors the fossil fuel industry. The reason why, I believe, is there is big corporate special interest money that is funding campaigns, that is steering our policy." You might expect that from feisty freshmen like AOC or Rashida Tlaib... but that kind of franks and critique from a top committee chair... very rare. I've been worrying lately because so many of the freshman members who campaigned promising they wouldn't accept corporate PAC money are already sneaking around the pledge and finding ways to get their mitts on the money after all. Very sleazy, very disappointing. It's up too their constituents but I sure hope their careers are short. Roll Call reported that "lobbyists for business interests say theyre Just after the election,reported that "lobbyists for business interests say theyre implementing workarounds to get to know the 32 incoming freshman Democratic House members who have sworn off corporate political action committee dollars. Instead of PAC dollars, corporate interests plan to rely on individual personal donations from their executives, lobbyists and other consultants, instead of the collective contributions from corporate PACs. In addition, lobbyists will be sure to attend meet-and-greets happening over the coming days and weeks with the new members." Look how-- on example-- Katie Hill has handled this: Notice the sneaky little sleight of hand? Some lobbyists said they also would rely on policy partnerships with think tanks, grassroots activist organizations and charities-- as well as shopping op-eds focused on specific lawmakers-- for entree to the newly-elected members of Congress. Which House members take the most corporate PAC money-- in other words the most corrupt members of Congress? These are the 15 who should be raided and carted off the prison tonight and hopefully never seen again in public: Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)- $3,292,958 Kevin Brady (R-TX)- $3,067,952 Greg Walden (R-OR)- $2,950,166 Richard Neal (D-MA)- $2,501,791 Steve Stivers (R-OH)- $2,232,198 Steny Hoyer (D-MD)- $2,163,715 Steve Scalise (R-LA)- $2,104,749 Patrick McHenry (R-NC)- $2,009,656 Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)- $1,857,014 Rodney Davis (R-IL)- $1,819,579 Ron Kind (New Dem-WI)- $1,683,793 Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)- $1,682,228 Frank Pallone (D-NJ)- $1,637,066 Tom Reed (R-NJ)- $1,617,845 John Shimkus (R-IL)- $1,599,087 I believe McGovern. Gillibrand? She's one of the most consistently dishonest and corrupt members of the U.S. Senate. Nothing she says that impacts her own flagrant careersm is even remotely sincere and nothing she says is truthful or reliable. She's taken $9,950,951 from the Finance Sector since she was first elected to Congress. Only 4 current senators have taken more, although most senators have been in office far longer than she has. She also boasts that she will not take any money from lobbyists. But first she gobbled up $1,008,944 from lobbyists-- one of just 19 who have accepted over a million dollars from the most corrupt source of money in politics. A few years ago, when Marianne Williamson decided to run for an open congressional seat in Los Angeles-- a seat eventually won by Ted Lieu-- I asked my neighbors if they had ever heard of her. They both broke down crying. She, they told me, had saved their lives. Neither was remotely "political," although both were aware that their lives were being impacted by bad decisions coming out of Washington. They had been taking solace in Marianne Williamson's books rather than in The Nation or The Jacobin or even just Rachel Maddow's very entertaining show on MSNBC. plenty! ... Our democracy has stage 4 cancer and all that the traditional politicians are offering is a topical ointment." In her announcement speech last week she addressed the non-political nature of many of the people who have gotten the most from her writing and lectures. "The problems of America are like opportunistic infections. They could not have happened if we had a stronger immune system. Each and every one of is is an immune system. You can't complain that the thieves of democracy are at the door when we left the windows open and we left the doors open. Too many of us were too cool to care; too many of us thought 'well I'm not really political'; too many of us actually use an ersatz version of spirituality to justify political disengagement. Too many of us thought, 'well other people will be political and other people will take care of it.' Well, let me tell you, they're taking care of it! ... Our democracy has stage 4 cancer and all that the traditional politicians are offering is a topical ointment." And in the video above, she addresses the political experts who scoff that someone who has never held office or been part of the sausage-making machinery would dare run for president. The "qualified political experts" she reminded the viewers "took us into Viet Nam. The 'qualified political experts' are those who took us into Iraq. The 'qualified political experts' created the greatest income inequality since 1929. These 'qualified political experts' have taken us to a point where the environmental peril in our experience today actually threatens the survivability of the human race 50 years from now. There are different sets of qualifications. I think we need more than someone who's just qualified because they understand how Washington works. We need someone today who understands how we work." I agree. She should be evaluated next to the other candidates qualified by the terms set out by non-lawyer James Madison in the Constitution-- Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley in the progressive lane and then all the careerists in the lanes to the right of where they are. I suggest that you take a look at her platform before you dismiss her-- and then listen to what she has to say. There's no doubt in my mind that I'd rather see her leading the country than "qualified political experts: like Kirsten Gillibrand, Joe Biden or Terry McAuliffe, to name just three contenders whose qualifications are never questioned by anyone but who would make catastrophic presidents likely to set in motion chains of events that could bring us even worse presidents than Trump. Washington Postis planning for its readers, we met The Post 2020 Power Ranking." That an unaccomplished identity politics dream candidate, Kamala Harris, ranks numero union in the first installment, is all you need to know about what will be unfolding on those pages for the next year and three-quarters. Sunday, in fair warning about the superficial nature of the campaign coverage theis planning for its readers, we met the Ranking Committee and "2020 Power Ranking." That an unaccomplished identity politics dream candidate, Kamala Harris, ranks numero union in the first installment, is all you need to know about what will be unfolding on those pages for the next year and three-quarters. Karen Tumulty is, alas, what they've picked to be the moderator I generally subscribe to the David Axelrod axiom that voters dont look for a replica; they look for a remedy. So forget the celebrities and billionaires with no governing experience. After four years of Donald Trump, voters will be looking for a solid record-- though not necessarily one inside the Beltway-- and an even temperament. Boring may be beautiful in 2020. Yes, the base is fired up. But mostly, Democrats want someone who can win. ...I also think Senate experience can be as much an impediment as an asset. If politicians marinate there too long, they end up sounding alike. Its no mere coincidence Barack Obama was the first person in nearly a half a century to go directly from the Senate chamber to the White House. Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) has had the most dazzling launch so far, though Cory Bookers (D-NJ) announcement video this morning tugged hardest at the heartstrings. What I saw of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in Iowa suggests she has upped her game on the stump. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is a star inquisitor in Senate hearings, and that might translate well when it comes to pressing the case against Trump. 1- Kamala Harris 2- Joe Biden 3- Elizabeth Warren 4- Sherrod Brown 5- Beto O'Rourke 6- Bernie 7- Amy Klobuchar 8- Cory Booker 9- Kristen Gillibrand 10- Michael Bloomberg 11- Howard Schultz 12- John Hickenlooper 13- Julian Castro 14- Pete Buttligeg 15- Oprah Winfrey One of the smartest political strategists I know just told me that the Post ranking is "just the corporate media trying to suppress Bernie." Hey! What about Marianne? And Jeff Merkley? This was from the Monmouth Poll released today. Notice who they very conspicuously ignore (even though she would vastly put-poll more than half of them): Report all errors to DonSurber@GMail.com Oh, and if you see me driving my red 2010 Mustang GT convertible, please wave. Hi, I am a retired newspaperman. I wrote 3 books on Trump and the media . I live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 43 years, Lou Ann. I grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather. I've seen the not very civil discussion about DT's wall. There are a few important points that some people seem to be forgetting. First of all, the government shutdown began when the Republicans still had control of Congress. If they thought that it was necessary, they could have passed the appropriations for it. They didn't, which should tell everyone something about it, i.e., in their view it isn't necessary or important. Secondly, Representative Will Hurd of Texas, a Republican Congressman whose district covers around 800 miles of the border. Is against DT's wall. He has said in the media that this wall would be ineffective and unnecessary. Thirdly, anyone with actual border patrol experience has said that less that 9% of illegal drugs come across the unregulated border. The rest, over 90%, come into our country through the ports of entry. That is where the security needs to be increased, and what everyone except for the President and his cabinet wants. Lastly, few criminals come across the unguarded border. People seeking asylum or help shouldn't be counted as criminals in the statistics! If our sources of information don't talk about these facts, then they aren't telling the truth. I already had it, there was no reason not to share them, Cowart said. Barsideous Brewing provided the other grains and a few other ingredients which they prefer not to divulge. Bill Bartman and Cowart worked together on a batch which will produce just under four barrels of the Belgian ale. Barsideous Brewing will have the product which will have some flavor of orange and chocolate available the first week of February. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The week before Valentines Day, which would be perfect, chocolate for your sweetheart, Joel Bartman said. The plan is that in a couple of months, Bill Bartman will take the same ingredients he provided over to Conversion Brewing, and he and Cowart will brew a second batch there. At Barsideous Brewing, there are also plans afoot to can a small amount of their product in February. This will be their second canning run. We did very well the first time, canned a couple of kegs and sold out, Joel Bartman said. At Conversion Brewing, Cowart is always seeking out new opportunities and trying to keep up with demand. Over 60 years ago, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that [t]he basic concept underlying the Eighth Amendment is nothing less than the dignity of man. While the State has the power to punish, the Amendment stands to assure that this power be exercised within the limits of civilized standards. Turning this concept at the root of how we define cruel and unusual punishment in this country on its head, this coming Thursday the State of Alabama will execute Dominique Hakim Marcelle Ray, and, though all Christian inmates executed in Alabama are afforded a spiritual advisor, one permitted to have physical contact and to minister to them during their final moments, Mr. Ray will not be granted this same measure of human dignity. Why? For one reason, and one reason only: hes Muslim. Arguing precisely this point in federal court last week, public defender Spencer Hahn urged United States District Judge W. Keith Watkins, to order, over Alabamas religiously bigoted objections, that Mr. Ray be allowed to have his own spiritual advisor in the execution chamber a Muslim imam, one already approved by Alabamas Department of Corrections (ADOC) for contact visits with Ray; Hahn urged: Why does Mr. Ray not get the same benefit as a Christian, non-Catholic condemned inmate would? If Mr. Ray were a standard, everyday Protestant Lutheran Christian, he would have a spiritual advisor there who could touch his hand and pray with him in his final moments. But because he happens to be a Muslim and who knows if the next person is going to be a Catholic or Jewish or a Buddhist they dont get that benefit? We would dispute that there is a compelling governmental interest in allowing one type of religious leader into an area and not another. But, in a dog-whistle response, ignoring, as Ive written elsewhere, the states odious tradition of ducking and dodging death penalty accountability for its manifold patently botched executions executions that have devolved into excruciating medieval torture sessions because of the medically untrained personnel and unsuitable chemicals Alabama insists on using, and not remotely because of the threatened presence of a non-Christian spiritual advisor Assistant Attorney General Richard Anderson argued: [T]here is a very well-established interest in maintaining prison security and the safety and orderliness of prison operations. That is thats the main backbone of what our interest is in regulating who goes in and out of, particularly, the execution chamber itself. Unsubtly and unscrupulously, Anderson maintained that, in Alabama, only a Christian spiritual advisor can be trusted to maintain proper decorum and discipline during an execution, because [y]ou know, whether overtly or inadvertently or intentionally, things could go wrong. That is the reason why we restrict access to that room. But what about Judge Watkins, you ask? Surely a federal judge would see through this farcical argument, one that makes an end-run around the Constitution while freely, offensively, and unjustifiably casting aspersions on any spiritual advisor not Christian? Nope. Instead, Watkins, who once attacked the entire medical profession in a judicial opinion over the diminishing access to lethal injection drugs, ate up Andersons argument as if it was the most delectable piece of apple pie, served hot and piping fresh on the Fourth of July. In Furman v. Georgia, the 1972 case in which the Supreme Court briefly struck down the death penalty in the United States, Justice William Brennan wrote in his concurrence: Death is truly an awesome punishment. The calculated killing of a human being by the State involves, by its very nature, a denial of the persons humanity; Brennan complained that the evolution of [the death penalty] evidences not that it is an inevitable part of the American scene, but that it has proved progressively more troublesome to the national conscience. If this is true, it is precisely in such a situation as this one involving Dominique Rays execution, that conscientious, justice-loving Americans, especially Alabamians, must speak up! On social media, by telephone, by post, by email, and in the street outside the offices of government, now is the time to make your objections to this pending abomination heard. Following Justice Brennans noble example, we must object to religious bigotry and a lethal injection protocol that treats members of the human race as nonhumans, as objects to be toyed with and discarded. The time to be on record against a process disregarding that even the vilest criminal remains a human being possessed of common human dignity is now. Source: alreporter.com , Stephen Cooper, February 4, 2019. Stephen Cooper is a former D.C. public defender who worked as an assistant federal public defender in Alabama between 2012 and 2015. He has contributed to numerous magazines and newspapers in the United States and overseas. | 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 Iran Human Rights (IHR); February 1, 2019: Two prisoners were executed secretly last Wednesday at Rajai Shahr Prison, Karaj city. According to IHR sources, two prisoners were executed on the morning of Wednesday, January 30, at Rajai Shahr prison. IHR could not yet identify them by name. Probably they had been transferred to Rajai Shahr for the execution from other prisons or IRGC special wards, the source added, recently, executions are carried out in Rajai Shahr prison under strict secrecy measures. Authorities try their best not to reveal information related to the executions, even to the common soldiers who serve as the prison guards. Of note, ward 8 of Rajai Shahr prison is under control of IRGC security forces; and political detainees who are under interrogation, are held there. Last year, Rajai Shahr prison was at the top of prisons where executions were carried out. Man Hanged at Tabriz Prison Iran Human Rights (IHR); February 1, 2019: A man who was sentenced to death for murder charges, was hanged at Tabriz Central Prison last Tuesday. According to IHR sources, on the morning of Tuesday, January 29, a man identified as Karim Mohebbi was executed at Tabriz Central Prison. Kurdistan Human Rights Network has also reported that Karim Mohebbi was arrested four years ago and since then he was held in Tabriz Prison. There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and intent. | 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 As Ohio struggles to come up with an execution protocol that doesnt raise cruelty concerns, many are asking an obvious question: Why not use fentanyl, the narcotic that tragically has pushed thousands of Ohioans through the euphoria they were seeking and into the death they likely werent? As with so many other issues surrounding the death penalty, the answer is complicated. But a big part of it is that it is becoming increasingly difficult even bordering on impossible for states to obtain fentanyl or any other drug used in executions. Convicted killer Warren Keith Henness of Columbus was slated to be put to death Feb. 13. But Gov. Mike DeWine on Jan. 25 delayed the execution until September, citing a federal judges ruling that likened Ohios execution protocol to waterboarding, and saying it would feel as though fire was being poured into a prisoners veins. Magistrate Judge Michael R. Merz said the process seems to violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment, but he allowed Henness execution to go forward anyway. He cited a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring convicts such as Henness to propose a viable alternative if they argue that the states method of killing them is cruel and unusual. In addition to the U.S. Constitution, however, DeWine is bound by the Ohio Constitution, which also prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. He also is bound to follow Ohio Revised Code 2949.22 which says the condemned person must be executed with a lethal injection of a drug or combination of drugs of sufficient dosage to quickly and painlessly cause death. Fentanyl seems as if it might fit that description. David Stebbins, the federal public defender who represents Henness and many other Ohio death-row inmates, said he thought state officials might be considering the drug for executions. When asked whether that was the case, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Smith would say only, As directed by the governor, the department has begun assessing options for execution drugs and possible alternative drugs. In a regulatory sense, the death protocol is governed by Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Policy 01-COM-11. It says that Ohio intravenous executions must use 1) Pentobarbital; or 2) Thiopental sodium; or 3) A 3-drug combination of: a. Midazolam Hydrochloride; and b. One of the following three drugs: i. Vecuronium bromide; or ii. Pancuronium bromide; or iii. Rocuronium bromide; and c. Potassium Chloride. Under pressure from anti-death penalty activists, manufacturers stopped supplying Pentobarbital and Thiopental, which led prison officials to start using the three-drug cocktail starting with Midazolam. Merz said medical testimony convinced him that the drug doesnt block pain and thus the procedure was cruel. Thats what prompted DeWine to delay Henness execution. State officials now face similar problems with every other execution drug, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington, D.C., group that studies the death penalty but takes no position on its general propriety. Ironically, Nevada planned to execute a man last summer using fentanyl but had to postpone the procedure when the maker of another drug in the cocktail Midazolam sued, forcing a postponement. The company, Alvogen, said it does not condone the use of any of its drug products, including Midazolam, for use in state-sponsored executions, NPR reported. The condemned man, Scott Dozier, later killed himself, but Alvogen prevailed in a lawsuit arguing that Nevada got its drugs through subterfuge, Dunham said. It doesnt matter if its Midazolam or fentanyl. The use of controlled substances for an execution is not an approved medical use and states are on notice, Dunham said. Manufacturers might see the method that Ohio uses to get its drugs as subterfuge. In a 2014 court hearing, Mary Denise Dean, a pharmacist for the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, testified that she ordered the drugs. She said she had them delivered to the agencys Columbus headquarters and then drove them to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville, where the states death house is located. Agency spokesman Eric Wandersleben wouldnt answer last week when asked whether manufacturers knew that some drugs ordered by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services are intended for use in executions. Doing so is a risky business for the agency, Dunham said. One of the things Gov. DeWine may have to deal with is if an agency buys drugs for a legitimate medical use, but diverts them for executions, the manufacturers might direct suppliers not to provide drugs at all, he said. Those arent the only complications. If state officials can find a supply of fentanyl, its a matter of legal dispute whether they can unilaterally change the drug protocol the way they have in the past. A lawsuit on behalf of Death Row inmate James D. ONeal in Franklin County Common Pleas Court argues the current execution protocol is invalid because it was put into effect without following state law governing the adoption of such agency rules. Ohio Revised Code 111.15 requires that administrative rules be reviewed by a legislative panel before adoption unless there is an emergency, in which case they can be adopted only temporarily. ONeals attorney, Assistant State Public Defender Randall Porter, declined to comment on the desirability of fentanyl as an execution drug. Our goal is to have (the execution protocol) declared invalid and see where it goes from there, he said. Such procedural and supply problems along with changing public attitudes and expanded opportunities for the condemned to show their innocence have led to an 85 % decrease in the number of executions since the mid-1990s, Dunham said. | 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 Columbus Dispatch, February 3, 2019 The judge ordered the state to keep the prison chaplain out of the death chamber during Rays execution MONTGOMERY, Alabama: A federal judge on Friday ruled that a Muslim inmates scheduled lethal injection can proceed next week without an imam present but said Alabama must keep a Christian prison chaplain out of the execution chamber. US District Judge Keith Watkins denied a stay requested by Dominique Ray, 42. Ray is scheduled to be executed Feb. 7 for the 1995 fatal stabbing of 15-year-old Tiffany Harville. Ray says his religious rights are being violated because Alabama has a Christian prison chaplain present at lethal injections, but will not let him have an imam in the room with him as the lethal drugs are administered. Rays lawyers argued that he has the same right to religious comfort in his final moments as a Christian inmate. Watkins said for security reasons the state can limit death chamber access to prison employees. The judge ordered the state to keep the prison chaplain out of the death chamber during Rays execution. The state already said it was willing to do so. Condemned inmates in Alabama can visit with their spiritual adviser before their execution and have the person witness the procedure through the glass window of an adjoining room. However, only the prison chaplain and a correctional officer are in the room with the inmate during the lethal injection procedure. The chaplain will sometimes kneel and pray with an inmate who is strapped to a gurney. Court records indicate that Ray is appealing. Rays lawyers are also seeking a new trial, saying prosecutors did not disclose records that showed a key witness was suffering from symptoms of schizophrenia before he testified against Ray. Harville disappeared from her Selma home in July 1995. Her decomposing body was found in a field a month later. Ray was convicted in 1999 after co-defendant Marcus Owden told police that they had picked the girl up for a night out on the town and then raped her. Owden said Ray cut the girls throat and they also took the girls purse, which had $6 or $7 in it. Owden pleaded guilty to murder, testified against Ray and is serving a life sentence without parole. | 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 lawyer of suspended Daraga, Albay Mayor Carlwyn Baldo on Monday said his client would oppose plans by the local police to transfer him to the Philippine National Police hospital in Camp Crame in Quezon City. Lawyer Lewinsky Fernandez, in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB beamed nationwide, said they would oppose the move. Baldo is the primary suspect in the killing of Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe, who was leading in an unofficial pre-election survey for the post of mayor in Daraga. Baldo is confined at the UST-Legazpi Hospital in Albay since Jan. 23 after suffering from hyperventilation in his detention cell. The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in the Bicol Region has cases of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition and illegal possession of an explosive before the Albay Provincial Prosecution Office against Baldo.Fernandez said he visited Baldo Monday to update him on the hearing on their motion for bail. We objected [to the planned transfer] because they cannot insist on transferring him to a hospital that is not his choice since it violates his constitutional right, Fernandez said. The lawyer said Baldo still has to undergo several tests at the hospital. Myanmar: To export catfish as major export item via public company February 04,2019 | Source: Eleven Myanmar Myanmar Fisheries Federation (MFF) will establish Global Earth Public Co Ltd in order to export catfish (silonia childreni) as a major export item, said Win Kyaing, general secretary of MFF. The project will be implemented in Pantanaw Township, Ayeyawady Region. Currently, 6 million catfish are being raised and a 1,000-acre farm is being dug for breeding more fish. 'Catfish will be farmed and we will export fish meat. In the project, 100 percent will be exported with the aim of earning foreign exchange. There will be many job opportunities," said Win Kyaing. The project will include modern fish farms, feedstuff factory, cold storage factory and staffing housing. When the project comes into shape, Global Earth Public Co Ltd will invite shares. "The company will be supervised by the Fisheries Federation. We are discussing with experts. When we invite shareholders, we want them to enjoy profits. It will take at least eight months to build a factory. Manufacturing will start in 2019. But the job has not finished yet as much as we have expected. I want to urge both experts and non-experts from the fishery industry to cooperate each other," said MMF vice chairperson Toe Nandar Tin. The project tasks will be carried out in Pantanaw Township and the head office of Global Earth Public Co Ltd, which has been registered, will be in Yangon Region. "As we have made a lot of decisions that we will be successful, we will not have difficulties but shareholders need to witness (the success). The project must be successful. We are not doing the job on paper. As we implement the project, we will invite shareholders," said Win Kyaing. Myanmar exports fish, prawn and crab to over 40 countries including Thailand, China, Saudi Arabia and Japan. China is offering to import catfish from Myanmar. Sri Lanka: 13 suspects engaged in illegal fishing apprehended February 04,2019 | Source: News First LK The Sri Lanka Navy arrested 13 suspects who engaged in illegal fishing activities using banned nets in the seas off Sinnapadu, Kalpitiya. Four dinghies, a banned net, and other fishing gears that were taken into naval custody along with the suspects were handed over to the office of the Puttalam Assistant Fisheries Inspector for further legal action to be taken. Pakistan: Minister slams Centre for eroding Sindhs authority on deep sea fishing February 04,2019 | Source: Dawn Sindh Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Abdul Bari Pitafi on Saturday expressed his reservations over federal governments act of continuing to issue licences for deep sea fishing and also tenders pertaining to Sindhs fisheries monitoring system. Speaking to reporters at the directorate of his department, while briefing them about the grand livestock exhibition to be held next month off Hyderabad bypass, he argued that before introduction of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, fishing was restricted to a 12-nautical mile area and beyond this limit up to 20 nautical miles was a buffer zone. According to him, under the 18th Amendment the subject of fisheries stands devolved to provinces and as such Sindh has also been able to issue deep sea fishing licences as well. However, he said the federal government was still issuing tenders for Sindhs fisheries monitoring system. Eleven boats with 300 fishermen on board have been caught and sent to Balochistan prison for indulging in deep sea fishing in this area. This is great injustice with the fishing community of Sindh, he said. For the release of the boats and fishermen, the Balochistan government had been approached and a committee with representation of Sindh government formed to pursue the case, he added. Describing the federal governments policy on fishing as step-motherly treatment being meted out to Sindh, the minister said his department would introduce its own policing and the provincial assembly would enact the required laws in this regard. Speaking about his departments measures for the promotion of fisheries and livestock sector as well as welfare of the local communities, Mr Pitafi said that four million livestock had been vaccinated against various diseases while fodder was being distributed among livestock owners in Tharparkar. He pledged that 600,000 seedlings would be thrown into Keenjhar Lake and 800,000 into Manchhar Lake. Iceboxes and other goods would be distributed among fishermen. He regretted that saline water of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) was being released into the Manchhar Lake and drain water into the Keenjhar Lake. He called for a halt to this practice and also stressed on timely completion of the drain. The minister noted that in Tharparkar, 60pc cattle heads migrated to the barrage areas while locals did not move their goats and sheep from Thar. He said that Sindh government had already released Rs50m for fodder distribution in Tharparkar and the chief minister approved another Rs250m for the purpose. Bangladesh: No let-up in catching of mother crabs in breeding season by Partha Chakrabortty February 04,2019 | Source: The Daily Star Indiscriminate catching of egg bearing crabs continues in the Sundarbans, defying the two-month government ban meant for protecting the species during the ongoing breeding season. The callous act is going on although the patrol teams of forest department have seized boats, crabs and crab catching traps from different areas of the Sundarbans. Visiting different areas including Sharankhola and Chandpai range of the East Sundarbans division and some areas of West Sundarbans division including Dakope, Koyra and some areas of Satkhira, this correspondent found hundreds of fishermen catching crabs and shrimps with the help of current nets and traps. During the breeding season in January-February, crabs release eggs in mangrove forests. Catching of crabs in this time near the Sundarbans poses threat to the species and consequently, ecological balance in the region, said Zia Hyder Chowdhury, Bagerhat district fisheries officer. After taking permission from the forest department for catching fish in the Sundarbans, a section of people are engaged in indiscriminate trapping of deer, collecting fish larvae and netting crabs, said a forest official of East Sundarbans Division, on condition of anonymity. Abdus Sattar, a fisherman of Chila area of East Sundarbans, said most of the fishermen of Mongla, Rampal, Sharankhola, Morrelganj of Bagerhat and Dakope, Koyra of Khulna and Satkhira earn their livelihood by fishing in the Sundarbans with pass permit. As the price of crab is high, traders give money in advance for crabs to the fishermen, especially during the breeding period when those are available in the Sundarbans. And so, they prefer catching crabs to fishing, he said. Crab collected from the mangrove forest and other coastal areas of the southern region is exported to different countries. Seeking anonymity, a crab trader said, In January-February, there are many kinds of programmes in different countries including Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and China where the demand of crab is high. Besides, in the international market, the demand of egg bearing crab is high. Therefore, catching of the creature in mangrove forest areas is going on unabated. One can get five to seven kg of crabs per day. Two to three big crabs weighing 1 kg is sold for Tk 600 to 700 per kg, he added. Contacted, Divisional Forest Officer (Sundarbans East) Mahamudul Hasan said, Our forest guards as well as smart patrolling teams are very active in different areas of the Sundarbans. We will stop all kinds of illegal activities including crab catching in the areas at any cost. The Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC, remains in operation in Missouri. Missouri WIC has received funding to support normal program operations through at least March 31. The St. Francois County Health Center WIC program will continue to hold appointments with participants and will provide the same level of services and benefits. In addition, the WIC state agency has notified local agencies and retailers that the program will allow all benefits issued to participants to be redeemed for the months printed on the WIC checks. Some participants are on tri-monthly benefit issuance; therefore, during the month of March benefits will be issued to some participants for April, May, and June. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The partial government shutdown and lack of an approved federal budget for the USDA has interrupted the normal flow of funding and information from USDA to WIC state agencies. The WIC state agency is participating in regular calls with USDA to remain apprised of developments at the federal level. USDA has been issuing funding needs surveys and is working diligently with individual state agencies to avoid interruptions to WIC benefits and services. Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian asylum-seeker detained in Papua New Guinea under Australian asylum laws has won the Victorian Prize for Literature. Behrouz Boochani was awarded for his work No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison. The astonishing fact is that Boochani wrote the work on his phone and sent it to Omid Tofighian bit-by-bit in text messages. Omid Tofighian is the books translator who worked with Boochani over five years to bring the stories to life. The book No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison narrates experiences and fear Boochani felt in the guarded camp, which was shuttered last year after a local court ruling and the asylum-seekers moved elsewhere on the island. Australia Detention Policy The Australia Detention Policy deports asylum-seekers who try to enter the country by boat to Manus Island or Nauru in the Pacific for processing, with those found to be refugees barred from resettling in Australia. The international community is criticising Australia for its attempt to use remote Pacific islands such as Nauru as a dumping ground for people seeking asylum and protection by boat to Australia. This offshore processing policy of Australia is giving rise to a completely avoidable health crisis and needlessly destroying lives due to serious levels of mental illness, trauma, depression, self-harm, sexual assault and suicides. Incredibly, the LWCF has supported projects in every state and nearly every county in the U.S., from iconic sites like the Gettysburg National Park, the Appalachian Trail and the Flight 93 Memorial to Pennsylvanias state parks and local trails, pools, and playgrounds. In Pennsylvania alone, the LWCF has provided more than $315 million to preserve and maintain public lands, including Soliders and Sailors Memorial Park Swimming Pool, Shippensburg Memorial Park, and North Middletons Village Park in Cumberland County. Recently, we were proud to join local officials and community leaders in Bethlehem to celebrate a $1 million grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to renovate the citys largest and most popular pool, Memorial Pool in Monocacy Park. That grant, to renovate the 60-year-old pool, was funded by the LWCF. It is a prime example of how this program is used to protect outdoor and recreational spaces that improve the communitys quality of life. We all have our own memories of connecting with nature and exploring the outdoors. That includes camping and hiking the Appalachian Trail at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park, paddling canoes through the Delaware Water Gap, or spotting wildlife at French Creek State Park, all of which have benefited from LWCF funding. Its also true that the number of women who will bring a baby fully to term only to terminate it during the 40th week is indeed extremely small. But it is only small in comparison to the total number of abortions in this country. According to the respected (and pro-abortion rights) Guttmacher Institute, there were some 926,000 induced abortions in 2014 (the most recent year for which data is available), and 1.3 percent or roughly 12,000 of those were after the 20th week. Meanwhile, its not necessarily true, as Northam has tried to argue, that most women who seek late-term abortions do so solely for compelling health reasons or in response to a severe fetal deformity. According to a 2013 Guttmacher study, most women seeking later terminations are not doing so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment. If you dont think late-term, post-viability abortions are morally troubling, you might want to ask yourself why we are only one of seven countries in the world that allow elective abortions after 20 weeks. Its unclear how many countries allow abortion at 40 weeks, mid-delivery, but its possible that the U.S. and North Korea would be the only members of that club. Q. What advice would you give someone who wants to thru-hike the AT at some point or even to someone who just wants to explore the trail locally? A. The official 2018 distance of the Appalachian Trail was 2,190.9 miles. Do not underestimate the difficulty. I have read the elevation changes are equivalent to hiking up and down Mount Everest 29 times, and my belief is that is an underestimate. I lost 44 pounds hiking the trail, and I spent a lot of time both on and off the trail eating just about everything I could. My hike was different than most. In many ways, it was easier than most. I was 62 with too much to do and my time had to be utilized different than most. On the trail you will meet AT purists who believe they need to hike the trail only a certain way. However, the common refrain among thru-hikers is Hey, its your hike. What that means is it is up to you to decide how to get you and your pack from Georgia to Maine. Just so you hike the entire distance, nobody really cares if you walk it fast, walk it slow, sleep in a tent, sleep on the ground, or slip into a nice warm bed when possible. Virtually nobody goes straight through without taking time and sometimes lots of time off the trail. The study also found that wealthier people are more likely to be diagnosed with thyroid cancer, in part because they have better access to health care and screening. It also found that states with higher rates of malpractice payouts also had higher rates of thyroid cancer, and that factor remained the case even when other factors, like socioeconomic status, was taken into account. In contrast, breast, prostate, colon and lung cancers were not associated with malpractice payout rates, according to the study, which said that screening recommendations tend to shield physicians from being sued. Warwick said there are also cultural differences across states, with thyroid cancer incidences being the highest in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, but lower in the South where people may be less likely to sue their doctors or seek medical attention for nonemergency issues. Its possible this is not cause and effect directly but rather a marker of culture, Warrick said. While it may not be the sole cause, Warrick said more is needed for states to handle malpractice suits, including working toward a model where patients are compensated for medical errors instead of lengthy court proceedings, or introducing courts dedicated to hearing medical malpractice cases that could reduce unfair judgments against physicians. The conversation on tort reform is not just about money, Warrick said in a news release Monday. These high-risk malpractice climates are driving physicians to diagnose thyroid cancer in people who really dont benefit from the diagnosis and treatment. Its hurting people not just financially but also medically. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Senior high school students of Taguig National High School wore the Hijab (head covering) for a day in solidarity with Muslim women and girls. This is part of World Hijab Day, an annual global event that asks citizens of all faiths to try the clothing to combat discrimination and celebrate diversity. Peacebuilding NGO International Alert Philippines organized the activity with TNHS and United Youth for Peace and Development Maharlika Village. The World Hijab Day event aims to provide opportunities for young people to get to know more deeply their peers whom they are acquainted with but may not necessarily understand, said Nina Bahjin-Imlan, Project Officer for International Alerts Youth and Women Program. Bahjin-Imlan said it was a good way for the students to experience how to walk in a someone elses hijab and see for themselves the discrimination that Muslim women face in the society, especially as they have visual identifiers of their faith. It is a good exercise in empathy, respect, and tolerance, she explained, which is very much needed at a time of a volatile national political climate. The Bahjin-Imlan was talking about the recent twin bombings at a cathedral in Jolo, Sulu and the Zamboanga mosque blast which happened shortly after the Jan. 21 plebiscite for the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law. According to Bahjin-Imlan, it is after atrocities like these that Muslim Filipinos experience a spike in backlash and an increase in the incidence of hate speech and harassment. Interfaith events like the World Hijab Day can combat this phenomenon, Bahjin-Imlan said. This World Hijab Day event is part of International Alert Philippiness wider advocacy of passing House Bill 8637 or the proposed Anti-Racial, Ethnic and Religious Discrimination Act which the House of Representatives has passed on second reading in December last year. The bill seeks to protect and enhance the rights of all people to human dignity, reduce social, economic and political inequalities, as well as remove cultural inequities.The group also commended Taguig City for passing its own anti-discrimination ordinance in 2018 and looks forward to more local government units doing the same. Bahjin-Imlan underscored the need for government to institutionalize mechanisms that promote inclusivity in schools, public offices, the private sector, and society in general, especially as discrimination is one of the vectors of violent extremism. Bahjin-Imlan noted that their organization has learned that discrimination against Muslim Filipinos increase grievances and make them more vulnerable to violent extremist influence, especially in urban centers where they are usually alienated and pushed into homogenous enclaves. For his part, Dr. Santiago Alvis, TNHS principal, welcomed this event and recognized its importance in building community in the school, 70 percent of which is composed of Non-Muslims and 30 percent of which are Muslims, mostly from nearby Maharlika Village. According to Alvis, the students were enriched by the half day activity which included discussions on the meaning of hijab for both males and females, the discrimination that Muslims face in society, why women should be able to wear the headdress freely, and the importance of celebrating diversity for peace and nation building. Ustadza Omuhanie Mabandes of UNYPAD discussed why Muslim women wear the Hijab according to the Quran. Director Sittie Amirah Pendatun, Director, Bureau of Peace and Conflict Resolution of the National Commission of Muslim Filipinos talked about the legal basis of wearing the Hijab. The students, teachers, and staff of TNHS signed a pledge of commitment at the end of the program to recognize and uphold religious and cultural freedom for all and to create an environment that is safe, culturally sensitive, and respectful of diverse traditions and practices. TNHS vowed to increase the participation of students, faculty, and staff in policy formulation, and decision-making processes and pledged to generate feedback that can enrich peacebuilding practices in the school. Every morning at Watsonville Community Hospital in Northern California, the labor and delivery team divvies up its patients low-risk ones go to the midwives and high-risk ones to the physicians. Then, throughout the day, the doctors and midwives work together to ensure the births go smoothly. "We kind of divide and conquer," said Dr. Julia Burke, chair of the hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department. The hospital began allowing certified nurse midwives to deliver babies in 2017, part of an effort to decrease cesarean sections and make mothers happier. It wasn't an easy transition, Burke said. Some doctors, for example, had been practicing for 30 years and never worked with nurse midwives, who are registered nurses with a graduate degree. Pharmacy, medical billing and other departments also were hesitant about the change, unsure of what it would take to integrate nurse midwives, she said. "It took a lot of convincing," she said. Throughout the country, hospitals and medical practices are battling old stereotypes and sometimes their own providers and staff to bring on certified nurse midwives. To do so, they have to overcome a lack of knowledge about the safety and benefits of midwifery care and the laws and policies that restrict the use of nurse midwives. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Beirut, February 4, 2019 Lebanese authorities should do their utmost to identify and punish those responsible for the February 2 hand grenade attack on independent broadcaster Al-Jadeed TV and ensure the safety of journalists operating in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the early hours of February 2, unknown assailants in a car threw a hand grenade at Al-Jadeed TVs headquarters in Beirut and immediately fled the scene, according to video shared by the broadcaster. No one was harmed in the blast, which damaged the headquarters entrance and a nearby car, according to news reports. Those who perpetrated this attack on Al-Jadeed TVs Beirut office should be swiftly held to account to show that attacks on media will not be tolerated in Lebanon, CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour said from Washington, D.C. Lebanese authorities should take steps to ensure the safety of journalists regardless of the outlet they work for and their political or religious affiliation. Ibrahim Halabi, director of employee affairs at Al-Jadeed TV, was cited by the Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom as saying that Lebanese security forces have opened an investigation into the attack. CPJ reached out to Halabi via social media and the Lebanese General Security directorate via email for comment but did not immediately receive any response. According to a report by Al-Jadeed TV, a several men gathered in front of the broadcasters office a few hours before the attack to protest an episode of the comedy show Qadh and Jam, which was broadcasted on January 31. Druze employees of Al-Jadeed TV had received anonymous threats following the broadcast of the episode, which allegedly caricatured the Druze clergy, according to independent news website Lebanon Debate. This is not the first attack on Al-Jadeed TVs Beirut headquarters. In February 2017, a crowd of 300 attacked the office in response to a political satire show, as CPJ covered at the time. In July 2016, unknown assailants shot at the office, according to news reports. Legislation designed to spur creation of high-wage jobs and capital investment in low-income and rural areas in Nebraska triggered a series of challenges Monday about its effectiveness and its costs. Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha, sponsor of the bill (LB604), told the Legislature's Business and Labor Committee that he stands ready and willing to consider changes in the proposal, recognizing that there are "things we can work on" to improve the legislation. "Nebraska has to have incentives to compete" for business investment and job creation, Lindstrom said, but he also is aware of the state's current revenue squeeze and would be willing to consider implementation at a later date. In its current form, Lindstrom's bill would authorize allocation of up to $30 million in annual job creation incentives to the new program, with half of the money raised by private funding. Benefits would be targeted at businesses with fewer than 150 employees. Dave Rippe, director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, opposed the bill in a letter sent to the committee. Shultz is one of several instructors, some of whom are local and others who come from other areas like Omaha. The outside instructors help provide a unique outside perspective. They give Katie good ideas, Heavican said. Shultz agreed. My students get the opportunity to learn from others who have different experiences, which only helps, she said, noting she expects her new bundle of joy to become a student there soon enough. Shultz, whose students include two of her nieces, said the studio is about far more than dance. She said she wants it to be a place for kids to enjoy time together. Ive always loved dancing, but hanging out with the kids is the best part about it, she said, adding her thanks to her students parents for their efforts and support. I like giving them something to do after school and a place where they can be themselves. Kids need something to do around here, and this has provided us with a safe place for kids to come for a lot of years. Just prior to the 2018 IPCPR Trade Show, Royal Agio Cigars announced two new blends under its Balmoral brand with the Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro and the Balmoral Anejo XO Connecticut. Royal Agio Cigars is a company based in the Netherlands that has a large presence in Europe. However, the company is no stranger to the U.S. market, best known for its machine-made Meharis and Panter brands. The company has also produced cigars in the premium hand-made space under its Balmoral brand. In 2014, Royal Agio entered into a strategic partnership with Drew Estate, where Drew Estate would distribute Royal Agio products in the U.S. while Royal Agio would distribute Drew Estate in Europe. In 2017, Royal Agio decided to take control of its own distribution in the U.S. market (while continuing to distribute Drew Estate in Europe). After establishing a U.S. headquarters, the company would now focus to expand its premium offerings and that is where the extensions to Balmoral came in. Today we take a closer look one of those extensions the Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro in the Rothschild Masivo size. The original Balmoral cigar that was seen in the U.S. was the Balmoral Royal Selection Anejo 18. That cigar was highlighted by an 18-year-old Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper. Once the supplies of that wrapper ran out, the company would substitute a different wrapper and in 2015 released that cigar as the Balmoral Anejo XO. As mentioned, the Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro and the Balmoral Anejo XO Connecticut are extensions of that blend. In addition, a limited edition collaboration extension was launched, Balmoral Serie Signatures Dueto. That cigar was done in conjunction with Tabacalera La Alianza and Ernesto Perez Carrillo. As a brand Balmoral traces its roots back to 1895. The name is derived from the Scottish castle that is used by the Royal Family in the United Kingdom today. Without further ado, lets take a closer look at the Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro Rothschild Masivo and see what that cigar brings to the table. SPECIFICATIONS Blend and Origin Royal Agio Cigars CEO Boris Wintermans has taken a hands-on role in terms of the blending. It is well documented he is a fan of Brazilian tobacco, and with the Balmoral line, he incorporates it into each of the blends. In the case of the Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro, it is Brazilian Mata Norte tobacco used in the filler. The cigar is finished with a Mexican wrapper. Production is handled out of the companys San Pedro de Macaris factory in the Dominican Republic. Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Stalk Cut Binder: Dominican Olor Filler: Nicaraguan Jalapa, Dominican Olor, and Stalk Cut Brazilian Mata Norte Country of Origin: Dominican Republic Factory: San Pedro de Macaris Vitolas Offered The Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro is offered in five sizes. Each is presented in 20-count boxes. Torpedo Mk52: 6 14 x 52 Gran Toro: 6 x 52 Rothschild Masivo: 5 x 55 Corona: 5 7/8 x 42 Petit Robusto FT: 4 14 x 48 Appearance The Mexican wrapper of the Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro Rothschild Masivo has a roasted coffee bean color. There is a slight amount of mottling on the surface. There wasnt much in the way of oil. While there were some visible veins, there was enough of a dark tint on the wrapper to hide the wrapper seams. There are two bands on the Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro. The primary band consists of a gray, black gold, white and copper color scheme. On the center of the band is a dark gray shield with gold trim. On the center of that shield is large gold cursive-styled B. The upper portion of the band surrounding the shield is gray. Above the shield on that gray background is the text BALMORAL in gold font. To the left and right of the shield on the gray background is the text ANEJO XO in gold font. Below that is the text Exceptionally old in white cursive font on a darker gray background. On the far right is a smaller version of the gray shield that is on the front of the band including the gold B. A darker copper stripe is on the lower portion of the band with the text Oscuro in gold cursive font on a black stripe. The remainder of the band has gold dots across the top and copper trim on the bottom. The secondary band is gray in color. The text Anejo XO is in gold cursive font on that background. Below that text is the text ROTHSCHILD MASIVO in smaller gold font. There is a white and copper trim on the bottom. PERFORMANCE Pre-Light Draw A straight cut was used to commence the cigar experience of the Balmoral Anejo XO Rothschild Masivo. After removing the cap it was time to move to the pre-light draw stage. The cold draw was simple, but more than satisfying as it delivered a mix of coffee bean and leather. After that, I lit up the Balmoral Anejo XO Rothschild_Masivo and began to smoke. Tasting Notes The Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro Rothschild Masivo started out with notes of coffee bean, earth, white pepper, and a slight vegetal note. Early on the coffee bean notes moved into the forefront and were joined by chocolate malt notes and an underlying creamy component. The pepper dissipated and was replaced by a cedar note. The cedar settled in the background with the earth and vegetal notes. This was followed by a slight citrus note. Meanwhile, the retro-hale produced a combination of oak and cedar. During the second third, the coffee notes in the forefront became more robust, eclipsing the chocolate malt notes and creamy notes which slowly began to dissipate. Meanwhile the earth, vegetal, citrus, and cedar notes remained. These notes were joined by a return of the white pepper notes. By the last third of Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro Rothschild Masivo, the cedar notes increased in intensity and closed in on the coffee notes. By this point, the malt and cream notes were not much of a factor. Concurrently there still were some earth, vegetal, citrus, and pepper notes present. This is the way the Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro Rothschild Masivo came to a close. The resulting nub was slightly soft to the touch, but cool in temperature. Burn In terms of the burn, the Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro Rothschild Masivo had no problem maintaining a straight burn path. From time to time there was a slight amount of waviness on the burn line, but the cigar never meandered off track. This was a firm, thick ash that was light gray in color. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both were ideal throughout the smoking experience. Draw The Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro Rothschild maintains a nice balance of openness and resistance when it came to its draw. Overall this was a low maintenance cigar to derive flavor from. Concurrently, this was a cigar that produced an ample amount of smoke. Strength and Body In terms of strength and body, the Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro Rothschild Masivo falls as a solid medium. For the most part, the body remained constant throughout the smoking experience. There was a slight dip in strength in the first half, but it ramped back up to the level it was at earlier in the cigar by the second half. In terms of strength versus body, except for the point where the strength dipped, I found both to be on a level playing field. OVERALL ASSESSMENT Final Thoughts My experience with the Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro Rothschild Masivo proved to be a positive one. It delivers a pleasant flavor profile from start to finish. As I have mentioned in the past, my feeling is the San Andres wrapper can tend to overpower a blend, but that was not the case with the Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro Rothschild Masivo. While many connoisseurs might avoid this size because it is a larger ring gauge (55), I found the cigar to be a solid performer in this offering. This is a cigar I could recommend to either a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is a cigar I would definitely reach for again and its worthy of having multiples in the humidor. Summary Key Flavors: Coffee Bean, Chocolate Malt, Earth, White Pepper, Cedar, Citrus, Vegetal Notes Burn: Excellent Draw: Excellent Complexity: Medium Plus Strength: Medium Body: Medium Finish: Very Good Rating Value: Buy Multiples Score: 90 References News: Royal Agio Cigars Showcasing Balmoral Anejo XO Connecticut and Balmoral Anejo XO Oscuro at 2018 IPCPR Price: $9.75 Source: Royal Agio Cigars Brand Reference: Royal Agio Cigars Photo Credit: Cigar Coop Jerusalem during 2nd Temple Period The historical world of the first century Israel is fascinating to those who wish to understand more about Jesuss life and ministry. Interestingly, there is a gap of about 300 years between the end of Old Testament and the beginning of New Testament in Scripture. The question is: what happened in the land of Israel and Judah in the few centuries leading up to the time of Jesus? During that time, there was no kingdom or geographical region called Israel. The area was divided into smaller territories: Galilee in the north, Samaria in the central hill country, and Judaea in the south, all under Roman rule. In the 2nd century AD, the Romans began to refer to the region as Palestine. This became the catch-all term for the region until the birth of the modern state of Israel in 1948. Four Herods lord it over them Herod the Great, a military general and astute politician, was a complex man. Racially, he was an Arab from Idumea, Religiously, he was Jewish. Culturally, he was Greek. Politically, he was Roman. Herod knew how to win the favour of the Roman rule through lavish receptions and was perceived to be a man who could bring order to the province and ensure a continual flow of revenue to Rome. As a result, he was made king of Judaea by the senate of Rome. Herod the Great was the one who sought to kill baby Jesus by slaughtering all the infant boys (Matthew 2). Jewish historian Josephus recounts how Herod engaged in a massive building project to renovate the Temple in Jerusalem. It is no wonder that one of Jesus disciples pointed out the magnificence of Herods temple and the size of its stones (Mark chapter 13 verse 1). Herod Antipas (also referred to as Herod the tetrarch) was the son of Herod the Great who ruled over Galilee. He was the one who had John the Baptist murdered (Matthew 14) and whom Jesus was sent to during His trials before crucifixion (Luke 23). For most of his life, Jesus lived under the rule of Herod Antipas. Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, persecuted the church in Jerusalem and had the apostle James put to death. Agrippas son, Herod Agrippa II, was the one who saved Paul from being imprisoned by the Jews for being a Roman citizen (Acts 25). Agrippa II was the last of the Herod dynasty. After him, the family fell out of favour with Rome. In Luke chapter 22 verses 25-26 Jesus says to the disciples: The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them But not so with you the greatest among you should be the one who serves This is a challenge to all who claim to follow Jesus to this day. Religious and political groups Who were the priests during the time of Jesus? Although the main function of the priests was to serve in the temple, some also had political authority. The high priest was the head of all priests whose authority fluctuated under the Herod dynasty. Caiaphas was the high priest from 18-36 AD who condemned Jesus and had him sent to Pilate, who was the Roman governor of Judaea at the time. A number of priests made up the Sanhedrin, the supreme council in ancient Jerusalem and the ruling body over Jewish affairs. They maintained strict laws of purification. The Sanhedrin opposed Jesus and his followers, but one member, Joseph of Arimathea, took Jesus body to be buried. Pharisees and Sadducees were Jewish sects. Pharisees were concerned with the exact and precise study, teaching and keeping the Law of Moses referred to as Torah. They also believed in the coming Messiah, but not in Jesus. Two notable exceptions were Apostle Paul and Nicodemus. Sadducees were concerned more with keeping the status-quo and economic stability, cooperating with foreign rulers. They did not believe in the resurrection of the dead or the existence of angels and demons. Another Jewish sect called the Essenes, not mentioned in Scripture, were committed to ritual purity, simple living, non-violence and celibacy. Some scholars claim that John the Baptist was an Essene as he lived in the desert resembling their lifestyle and practiced the baptism requiring a change of heart. But this is not proven. All these Jewish groups shared something in common with Jesus. They all had a hope for the future and for Gods intervention. But few believed that Jesus would be their Messiah. Concluding thoughts This article is a very brief introduction to the historical context of Jesus day. It is interesting to survey the geographical, political, economic, religious and social world of the 1st century Israel/Palestine in more detail. It would especially benefit those who wish to travel to Israel on a pilgrimage or study tour immensely. Onboard on a replica Jesus Boat in Galilee Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was criticized on Monday after she praised UK Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is viewed by many Jews as an antisemite. Ocasio-Cortez, a Bronx native, tweeted after a phone conversation with Corbyn, "It was an honor to share such a lovely and wide-reaching conversation with you, @jeremycorbyn!" "Also honored to share a great hope in the peace, prosperity, + justice that everyday people can create when we uplift one another across class, race, + identity both at home & abroad," she added. Her tweet was a response to a previous one from Corbyn, who wrote, "Great to speak to @AOC on the phone this evening and hear first hand how she's challenging the status quo." "Let's build a movement across borders to take on the billionaires, polluters and migrant baiters, and support a happier, freer and cleaner planet," Corbyn said. Corbyn, a far-left MP who took control of Labour in 2015, is known for his vehement anti-Israel positions. In recent years, his party has been hit by several antisemitism scandals, including some stemming from statements made by Corbyn himself. Polls indicate that the overwhelming majority of British Jews consider him an antisemite, and ex-Chief Rabbi of the UK Jonathan Sacks has compared him to the late Enoch Powell, a notoriously racist British politician. Concerned commentators reacted quickly to Ocasio-Cortez's tweet, including New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, who wrote, "Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-Semite, @AOC, a view widely shared by Jewish members of the U.K. Labour Party. Please educate yourself before you embarrass yourself. Again." Tablet journalist Yair Rosenberg wrote, "Imagine that 85% of Muslims polled said they thought a particular European leader was Islamophobic. Would you take that leader's phone call and laud it as a step toward greater justice and equality? If not, please grant Jews the same consideration." Welcome to the Center for Disability Resources Library Blog! Here we will welcome your comments and suggestions about books and videos that you have borrowed, materials that you would like to see purchased, or anything involving the day-to-day operations of the library or even of disabilities in general. Visit the CDR Library's web site! Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh. blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. . ..CAMERA..30 January '19..A Jan. 27, 2019report, Dig for ancient road unsettles Palestinians, offered a glimpse at the problems plaguing the newspapers coverage of Israel. The article, by Jerusalem bureau chief Loveday Morris and reporter Ruth Eglash, relied on questionable sources and revealed the papers preference for narrative-based reporting.Thes 1,181-word dispatch, replete with several photographs, described Israeli archaeological work in ominous terms. The newspaper highlighted excavations near the present day Arab neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh in eastern Jerusalem. Israeli archaeologists believe that the digs will uncover an important thoroughfare used by worshipers some 2,000 years ago to reach the Jewish holy temple.The newspaper noted, Developers envisage an archaeological attraction that would lure millions of visitors keen to walk the same stones as ancient pilgrims, or perhaps even Jesus. Private donors and the Israeli government have contributed to the project, which is organized by the City of David Foundation.The, however, warned: But in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, in which land and each sides historical connection to it is front and center, the endeavor is inevitably mired in controversy. Palestinian officials say it is an attempt to literally pull their hopes for a future capital in East Jerusalem from under their feet.Palestinian officialsnone of whom are specifically cited in the reportmight very well make such claims. Butfailed to inform readers that theyre transparently disingenuous. Major property developer Ayala Land Inc. will acquire the 20-percent stake of Mitsubishi Corp. in Laguna Technopark Inc. for P800 million. Ayala Land said in a disclosure to the stock exchange its executive committee approved the deal. Ayala Land said it would later swap the 20 percent equity interest in LTI for additional shares of stock in Prime Orion Philippines Inc., equivalent to 323,886,640 common shares, subject to conditions to be fulfilled by unit Popi. This transaction will strengthen Popis vision to be the leading real estate logistics and industrial estate developer and operator in the Philippines, Ayala Land said. Ayala Land owns 64 percent of Popi. LTI is a prime developer of industrial parks in the Philippines. It owns and manages the 460-hectare Laguna Technopark, which spans portions of the cities of Santa Rosa and Binan in the province and the 118-hectare Cavite Technopark in the municipality of Naic. LTIs industrial parks have served as preferred locations of local and foreign manufacturing, processing logistics and distribution companies in the Philippines.Popi in November earmarked P1 billion to build and develop a logistics and warehouse facility in Laguna Technopark. The project will generate over 60,000 square meters of gross leasable area, bringing the groups real estate logistics total gross leasable area to 200,000 sqm. Slated for completion by October 2020, the facility can accommodate small and medium businesses, as well as clients with growing warehousing and storage needs. It will also serve non-PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) locators. Popi earlier reported plans to launch a 100-hectare industrial park in Cagayan de Oro and acquire at least another 100-hectare property in Central Luzon to be developed into another industrial park. Ayala Land first acquired a significant stake in Popi in 2016. The Canadian government should suspend engineering giant SNC-Lavalin from competing for future federal government contracts after two former top executives pleaded guilty to charges in recent weeks, says NDP MP Charlie Angus. "How is it that a company with such a horrific record of corporate malfeasance is able to obtain so many government contracts and continue to bid on government contracts?" said Angus. On Friday, former SNC-Lavalin CEO Pierre Duhaime pleaded guilty to breach of trust in a plea deal that resulted in 20 months of house arrest, 240 hours of community service and a $200,000 donation to a fund for victims of crime. His trial had been scheduled to begin Monday. The prosecution dropped 14 other charges, including forgery, conspiracy and fraud. Duhaime is the fourth person to plead guilty in connection with the $1.3 billion contract to build Montreal's McGill University Health Centre, including SNC-Lavalin's former vice-president of construction. In late November, the company's former vice-president Normand Morin pleaded guilty to charges of violating Canada's election financing rules through an elaborate scheme that sent more than $117,000 to the federal Liberal and Conservative parties and to individual candidates. CBC Under federal elections law, companies are not allowed to contribute to parties or candidates. The scheme allowed SNC-Lavalin to circumvent the law by making political donations through employees, who were then reimbursed by the company through "false refunds for personal expenses or payment of fictitious bonuses," according to the 2016 compliance agreement between the federal Commissioner of Elections and SNC-Lavalin. Duhaime's guilty plea means that Canadians may never know details of who exactly received the donations. SNC-Lavalin has won hundreds of federal government contracts over the years and continues to be awarded government work. In December 2015, the federal government signed an administrative agreement with SNC-Lavalin to allow it to continue to compete for federal government contracts while charges against the company or former employees made their way through the courts. Story continues According the a federal government website, SNC-Lavalin is the only company that currently has an administrative agreement with the government under its integrity regime. Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press Steven MacKinnon, parliamentary secretary to Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough, said that under the agreement, the government monitors the company's actions. "The arrangement was concluded with the company," he said. "It will continue to be monitored and that will continue as long as judicial proceedings are outstanding." Angus, however, said he believes SNC-Lavalin should be suspended from further government contracts until the full details of the election financing scheme are clarified. In a letter to the government sent after CBC News revealed that Morin had quietly pleaded guilty, Angus said SNC-Lavalin has faced charges of corruption and bribery of politicians and other public officials in multiple countries and was debarred from World Bank-financed contracts. "Given the international investigations and allegations surrounding the company, it is surprising to me that the government entertained bids on federal contracts from SNC-Lavalin," says Angus in his letter. "In fact, the company is currently working on 99 federal tenders." Justin Tang/Canadian Press Nicolas Ryan, spokesman for SNC-Lavalin, said the company has changed its leadership, cleaned up its act and developed "a world class ethics and compliance framework." He said the company initiated the investigation into the McGill University Health Centre deal, no charges were laid against the company in connection with it and SNC-Lavalin has "always actively cooperated with the authorities." "We have always maintained that those who committed any criminal wrongdoing should be held to account and, in fact, this will be the case," he said. In an interview with CBC News, Angus said he doesn't buy the company's argument. "To simply say that was the old crew, we're the new crew, doesn't cut it," he said. "Either we have standards for corporate ethical behaviour about compliance with the law and respect for the law, or Canada is just a Wild West place. "I'm astounded that SNC is still given such favoured status with the Liberal government in terms of contracts." SNC Lavalin is still before a court in Montreal, charged with fraud and corruption in connection with payments of nearly $48 million to public officials in Libya under Moammar Gadhafi's government and allegations it defrauded Libyan organizations of an estimated $130 million. Ryan said the company is contesting the case and has pleaded not guilty. If the company is convicted, it could be blocked from federal government contracts for a decade. Elizabeth Thompson can be reached at elizabeth.thompson@cbc.ca More than a thousand people lined the start of the 2019 Yukon Quest in Whitehorse cheering on mushers and their dog teams despite temperatures plummeting into the 30s C. Howling dogs strained to begin their charge down the trail, and applause erupted from the crowd as the first of 30 teams began a slow gallop out of the gate on Saturday morning. Over the next nine days, the teams will cover a gruelling 1,600 kilometres before reaching the finish line in Fairbanks, Alaska. While the quest has been around for 36 years, it follows routes that go back over a century that were used by stampeders on their way to the Klondike Gold Rush and then onto Alaska to find gold. Before the race started, fans had a chance to meet the mushers. Curt Perano is originally from New Zealand. He's a Yukon Quest veteran and has been training in Minnesota and Alaska. Saturday's cold snap didn't phase him. "It's been a warm winter, hasn't it? But this is Quest and this is what you normally get, so I think we all kind of expected it to change last minute," he said. Jane Sponagle/CBC Further along the trail, fans gathered by the Takhini River Bridge to get a closer glimpse of the mushers and their teams. Sohil Agarwal moved to Whitehorse four months ago. He used to live in Mumbai where it's common for temperatures to reach 40 C. "My friends here ... they encouraged me to go out in the -25 C and below because I couldn't do it by myself. And then I see all these wonderful dogs racing," he said. Some fans, like Rhonda Mortimer from Tasmania, travelled halfway around the world to see the Yukon Quest. "A girlfriend at home said, 'you don't even like dogs!' These are different dogs and we don't have dog sledding in Australia, it's such a wonderful sport," she said. This will be Nathaniel Hamlyn's second Yukon Quest. "This year, I'm feeling more confident for sure. Last year, it was kind of a shot in the dark. I didn't know what I was doing," said the 24-year-old musher or dogsled driver from Mount Lorne, Yukon. Story continues Jane Sponagle/CBC Last year, Hamlyn was the Red Lantern winner, a distinction that goes to the musher who finishes in last place. Finishing the race at all is a feat. Many say the Yukon Quest is tougher than its Alaskan cousin, the Iditarod. The Yukon Quest includes four mountain ranges, each at least 1,000 metres high, along with fewer checkpoints, which means longer distances between rest stops. It's also a month earlier, meaning it's darker and colder. Wayne Vallevand/CBC Those challenges are what attract competitors from Yukon and Alaska, as well as France, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand and New Brunswick. Yukon Quest rookie Remy Leduc drove from Glenwood, N.B., to Whitehorse to compete in the race. "We managed to do it in about six days, and everything went fairly well," he said. Leduc said driving across the country with 17 dogs meant getting into a routine. "Enough water so that they don't dehydrate, but not too much that we have to let them out to pee." This year, Yukon Quest organizers have been keeping a close eye on the weather. "The thing you have to remember about the trail is the only thing constant is change. It changes every minute of every hour of every day," said Sgt. John Mitchell of the Canadian Rangers. Each year, the Rangers break and maintain the Canadian side of the trail. Mitchell says the latest trail conditions are better than expected, but that does not stop the trail from having technical challenges, like overflow, or water seeping through ice, when crossing rivers. Jane Sponagle/CBC Parts of the trail have little snow, so changes have been made to the race, including trucking dogs between the Braeburn and Carmacks checkpoints and allowing mushers to use as few as eight dogs from Whitehorse to Pelly Crossing, Yukon. "You know, it's a smart choice for the dogs and the mushers," said Michelle Phillips, a musher from Tagish, Yukon. This will be Phillips's seventh Yukon Quest. "You can't do anything. You can just make the race safe for all of us," she said. Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland will host counterparts from across the hemisphere on Monday as the so-called Lima Group meets in Ottawa in an effort to coordinate strategies on a goal they already agree on: the end of Nicolas Maduro's government in Venezuela and new elections to be held under an administration headed by an interim president, Juan Guaido. On Sunday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Juan Guaido by phone. But the Lima Group will be meeting without a country that had been, until January, one of its more important members. Mexico is still nominally part of the group, but its new left-leaning president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador showed on his first day in office that he had a very different view of the Venezuelan situation than his predecessor by inviting Nicolas Maduro to attend his inauguration in Mexico City. Since then, Mexico has taken a somewhat ambivalent attitude. It's reluctant to alienate the majority of the hemisphere that has rejected Maduro's legitimacy, including both of its NAFTA 2.0 partners and all major nations of South America. Competing groups, competing meetings Mexico also won't attend another meeting being hosted by an entirely different group of nations on Tuesday in Montevideo, Uruguay. The European Union's foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini says that meeting will launch a new "international contact group." It will be attended by an EU representative, ministers from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the U.K., as well as Latin American counterparts from Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Uruguay. What common approach that group might find remains a mystery. It includes European countries that gave Maduro a deadline to call new elections or lose recognition a deadline that expired Sunday night and also Bolivia, whose President Evo Morales is one of Maduro's most fervent supporters. Of the four Latin American members of the new group, Ecuador and Costa Rica have recognized Guaido, while Bolivia and Uruguay continue to recognize Nicolas Maduro. Story continues Invasion fever in Venezuela On Sunday here in Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro attended the latest in a string of almost daily military exercises, this one staged by naval commandos on the coast of Aragua state. A group of about a hundred soldiers, crouched on their haunches on the beach at Turiamo on Venezuela's central coast, chanted the slogan: "Always loyal! Never traitors!" One naval commando pinned a medal on Maduro's chest while the two men shouted the slogan together. Each new day in Venezuela brings a new choreographed display of military loyalty to Maduro, and an escalation in the rhetoric of imminent invasion by outside forces led by the United States. "We are in a time of defence of our independence," Maduro told the marines, pacing in front of them on the beach with a microphone. "To be or not to be, said the great Shakespeare, to be a nation, or to be a colony; to be of Venezuela, or to be nothing; to be a united people and armed forces, or to be disintegration; to be the future and the present, or to be the disappearance of this dream that's more than 200 years old: Venezuela." Little appetite for war There is only one country that has seriously discussed the possibility of using armed force to displace Maduro: the U.S. under the Trump administration. Justin Trudeau's government has consistently opposed the idea. "I think it's far too premature to have any discussion regarding any type of military actions," Canada's Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan reiterated Friday on CBC's Power and Politics. "We need to allow the diplomatic space and the experts to be able to move forward." Colombia, certainly the best-placed country geographically to intervene in Venezuela, has also made it clear war is not an option. The Trump administration continues to stand alone in suggesting such an option is on the table. In practice, it would be a difficult and uncertain undertaking, even if the U.S. could count on the use of Colombian territory, which it cannot. Choosing sides The unique situation that has developed in Venezuela, with two rival presidents claiming legitimacy, has forced a large number of countries to choose a side. Countries have tended to fall on the side that most closely reflects the ideology of the governing party. Those with leftist or left-leaning governments including Cuba, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and South Africa have tended to interpret the constitutional questions in ways that bolster the Maduro government. Those with right-wing or right-leaning governments including Brazil, the U.S., and Colombia have interpreted them in the opposite way. On Sunday, an election in El Salvador produced a result that is likely to show that effect again, just as Mexico's vote did. The FMLN government led by former Marxist guerrilla and Maduro ally Salvador Sanchez Ceren was soundly thrashed at the polls, placing third and getting less than 15 per cent of the vote. Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press Centre-right winner Nayib Bukkele probably won't maintain support for Maduro, and is much more likely to side with the Lima Group. Ariana Cubillos/Associated Press A new cold war divide But there is also a split along another axis that has little to do with left or right. Authoritarian governments including Russia, China, Iran, Turkey and Syria have backed Maduro. And democracies that might not otherwise have an ideological stake in the squabble, but believe Maduro has illegitimately given himself a second term in office following a widely condemned vote last year, have taken or moved towards the other side. This group includes Canada, Argentina, France, Germany, and Haiti. Trudeau defended his position at a town hall a week ago when a questioner suggested he was blindly following U.S. foreign policy and a heckler called out, "Hands off Venezuela." "Sorry sir, I disagree," said Trudeau. "The Venezuelan people would probably significantly disagree with you as well because they are suffering and they need true democracy." Moises Castillo/Associated Press Europeans reluctantly embracing opposition On Monday, nine European nations including Spain, Britain, Germany and France endorsed Guaido after giving Maduro an ultimatum to call new elections. But Italy sounded a note of warning. Vice-President Luigi di Maio of the populist 5 Star movement, said the situation reminded him of "interventions of western states in other countries" that produced undesired results. "The greatest interest we have is to avoid a war in Venezuela. We mustn't make the same mistake that was made in Libya and that everyone now recognizes. We have to avoid the same thing happening in Venezuela," di Maio said. He stressed that Rome was also withholding recognition from the Maduro government. Fernando Llano/Associated Press Largest countries the most committed One aspect of the situation is that the most powerful nations involved have taken positions that leave little room for negotiated solutions. The U.S. has refused to rule out war. Russia and China have both invested significant resources into the Maduro regime. Much of Venezuela's most modern military equipment comes from Russia. China has provided technology. Both have provided loans. Meanwhile, the U.S. has committed to regime change. None will want to back down in such a public struggle. Miramichi fiddle legend Matilda Murdoch died Saturday, just days after celebrating her 99th birthday with family and friends. "She was known as the 'Queen of the Fiddle' here on Miramichi," said Susan Butler, longtime friend and director of the Miramichi Folk Festival. "This past week, on Wednesday, she celebrated her 99th birthday. She played all evening with all the other musicians that were there." Murdoch was a well-celebrated musician. In 2002, she received the ECMA Stompin' Tom Connors Award for lifetime achievement in music. Self-taught She was also inducted into the North American Fiddle Hall of Fame in New York and the New Brunswick Country Music Hall of Fame and is well remembered for her song Loggieville Twostep. Self-taught, she first picked up the instrument as a child, when her father brought a fiddle home. According to Connie Doucet, another longtime friend and fellow musician, she had written hundreds of songs since songs that went on to be recorded by musicians such as Don Messer. "She had many accolades and many awards but she would never brag about that," Doucet said. "And when she would get together with other musicians she was always almost the first one there and the last one to leave and she totally enjoyed it. Playing music was one of her true passions." Bridget Yard/CBC Murdoch, as humble as she was, commanded a great deal of respect, especially from younger people, said Butler. Butler recalls her walking down the street in Chatham, her fiddle over one arm and her purse in the other, heading for O'Donaghue's. 'The young crowd just idolized her' "It was always common knowledge for her to go into O'Donaghue's Pub," Butler said. "It was quite a popular place for playing music. "And when she'd walk into there everybody just stopped and just admired her and she'd be in the building no more than five or 10 minutes and then the music would start. The young crowd just idolized her." Story continues Her accolades and achievements seem endless. She was inducted into the Order of Canada and the Order of New Brunswick and received a lifetime achievement award from Music New Brunswick in 2016. But perhaps her greatest achievement was in bringing her community together through countless concerts and kitchen parties, and her kindness. "She was genuine and she was kind and that's what I admired most about her," Doucet said. "And she always wanted to know about when you met her, how you were doing and it wasn't, 'Oh, look at me, I can play the fiddle and I've recorded this.' She was very down to earth and she will be missed." CBC Doucet said musicians clamoured for a chance to play with her. "During the Irish festival we had fiddlers that were coming over from from Ireland and wanting to play with her. And so everybody knew her," she said. She was well known, far and wide, but especially on the Miramichi, where she was known simply by her first name. Like Cher "When you said Matilda, you knew who you know, like Cher," Doucet said. "Who doesn't know Matilda Murdoch," Butler said. As a result, her death is a loss that will be shared by the whole community, said Miramichi Mayor Adam Lordon. "That, I think, is the true testament of her character, to be a woman of such talent but still of such humility," he said. "And it just felt like she was born to play the fiddle. "So when you got to see her do that you felt like you were just in the presence of something special." But her legacy, he said, will certainly live on. "No matter what part of the city or the region you're from you would speak of Matilda with great pride, as she truly was and will forever be, one of the iconic Miramichiers of the ages." LONDON (Reuters) - Three British lawmakers on Monday endorsed reports that women activists detained in Saudi Arabia have been tortured, and said responsibility for what is likely a violation of international law could lie with "Saudi authorities at the highest level". The conclusions of the panel indicate growing uneasiness among Western allies with alleged rights abuses under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto leader who already facing opprobrium over last year's murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A United Nations investigator is now leading an international inquiry into the murder, which has tarnished the crown prince's standing in the West after he won accolades for seeking to ease social restrictions and end the country's dependence on oil revenues. Those reforms have been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, including the arrest of over a dozen women's rights campaigners starting last May, most of whom had advocated for the right to drive and an end to the male guardianship system. Amnesty International said last month it had documented 10 cases of torture and abuse - including sexual harassment, electrocution, flogging and death threats - while the activists were held at an undisclosed location last summer. Reuters reported earlier that an aide to Prince Mohammed who was fired for his role in the Khashoggi murder personally oversaw the torture of at least one of the women months earlier. Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy where public protests and political parties are banned, says it does not have political prisoners and denies torture allegations. Officials have said monitoring of activists is needed to ensure social stability. Yet British lawmakers Crispin Blunt, Layla Moran and Paul Williams said they found reports by international rights groups and news media to be credible, describing the detainees' treatment as "cruel, inhuman and degrading". The lawmakers, who formed a review panel with prominent lawyers, said the Saudi authorities had also violated international law by holding the detainees incommunicado and denying them access to legal advice. Culpability rests not only with direct perpetrators but also those who are responsible for or acquiesce to it, they added. "The Saudi authorities at the highest levels could, in principle, be responsible for the crime of torture," their final report said. The Saudi government communications office did not reply to a request for comment on the report. Some of the detained women's rights activists have been accused in Saudi media of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and supporting Qatar, which is locked in a dispute with Riyadh. The British lawmakers called on the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and review the allegations against them, and to prosecute those responsible for their mistreatment. They said requests to visit the detainees in Saudi Arabia have gone unanswered. "The Saudi women activist detainees have been treated so badly as to sustain an international investigation for torture," said Blunt, a lawmaker in Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party. "Saudi Arabia stands on the brink. It is not too late to alter course and avert the spiral downwards to catastrophe that the detention of these activists represents," he said. (Writing by Stephen Kalin; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) Archival records connect people across time and space, says one Regina archivist. It's a message archive sites across the province will be showcasing during Saskatchewan Archives Week from February 3 to 9, 2019. Crista Bradley an archivist with the University of Regina said she has a lifelong interest in history. "Sometimes people think of us in our lab coats and our white gloves in a stodgy old basement and we do some of that," Bradley told CBC Radio's Saskatchewan Weekend. "But archives are our tools for collective memory, identity and accountability." It can also be fun, Bradley said, like when she goes through old photographs with children. "They're really interested to see what a child their age was wearing in 1937 or to know what so-and-so had for supper in 1889," she said. Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan/PAS Photo R-A5372 For Saskatchewan Archives Week, Archives of Humboldt and District, Craik Oral History Archives, Northern Saskatchewan Archives in La Ronge and Whitewood Archives and Historical Society are all having open houses. The Saskatoon Archives is hosting a variety show at the Roxy Theatre Our colleagues in Saskatoon have planned archives week variety show at the Magic Lantern Roxy Theatre on Feb 7. The Saskatchewan Archives based in Regina is hosting "New to Town: Newcomer Reflections Then & Now" on Feb. 6 at Bushwakker Brewpub. "I look at our history more as the treasures of Canada," said Frank Korvemaker. "Preserving the treasures and making other people aware of them, that really excites me " The thrill the chase, that's been part of me for over 50 years. - Frank Korvemaker Korvemaker officially retired as an archivist and historian, but continues to work. He said looking through archives for decades has changed how he looks at historical records. Korvemaker said one chase was trying to find if a Swedish architect had practiced in Saskatchewan. The family of Rudolf Dahlgren maintained he had designed a number of buildings. Story continues "All of a sudden on November 1907 there's a mention in the Manor Advocate--the architect for the school is in town today. Bingo we got him." "The thrill the chase, that's been part of me for over 50 years," Korvemaker said. "Periodically, you know, you find that needle in a haystack." Saskatchewan Archives Week/website One of Bradley's favourite discoveries was when she was contacted by a man living in Europe. He was hoping to find out about his father who was a Canadian Serviceman that moved back to Saskatchewan after the war. "This man had lived his whole life wondering and I think hoping to to know more about his story," Bradley said. His father had passed away but she was able to connect him with his half-siblings. "It's really a privilege to get to do what we do and help people make those connection," she said. "That's one of the most exciting and most powerful things." 'An injury to one is an injury to all': Human rights defender gets Global Citizen Award Cheryl Stadnichuk is a citizen of Regina, but she's always considered herself a citizen of the world. Her decades of work advocating for worker and human rights saw Stadnichuk recognized with one of three 2019 Global Citizen Awards, presented by the Sask. Council for International Co-operation, at a Saturday gala. "In the union movement, we say that an injury to one is an injury to all. And that is really what I believe, and that's what gives me the commitment to do work in Canada but also globally," Stadnichuk told CBC Radio's Saskatchewan Weekend. Stadnichuk is a researcher for CUPE Saskatchewan, and has been acting in an advisory role for their Global Justice Committee for most of the last 15 years. She's worked alongside women in countries like Nicaragua and Colombia, fighting for rights even in the face of death threats and violence around them. "Their courage is amazing. I can not imagine working in those kinds of conditions. And they keep going," she said. It's that resiliency in the face of obstacles, she said, that gives her hope in the fight against injustice. Whether it's the thousands of Bangladeshi women striking to defend rights, or women in the United States marching on Washington, she says her work is summed up by the Spanish word basta which means "enough." "They're saying 'Basta, that's enough of violence against women.'" Two other women were honoured with Global Citizen Awards at Saturday's ceremony, including high school teacher Kyla Wendell McIntyre and long-time Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan executive director Rhonda Rosenberg. The ceremony in Regina kicks off International Development Week, which runs from Feb. 4 to 10. 21 Savage was arrested on Sunday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which claims the rapper is actually a citizen of the United Kingdom and has overstayed his visa, according to multiple reports. ICE spokesman Brian Cox told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the 26-year-old rapper, born Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested in a targeted operation early on Sunday morning. Cox reportedly said the rapper is an unlawfully present United Kingdom national who entered the country legally as a teenager in July 2005 on a visa, which expired the following year. In addition to being in violation of federal immigration law, Mr. Abraham-Joseph was convicted on felony drug charges in October 2014 in Fulton County, Georgia, an ICE spokesman said in a statement, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. Mr. Abraham-Joseph is presently in ICE custody in Georgia and has been placed into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts. ICE will now await the outcome of his case before a federal immigration judge to determine future actions. According to CNN reporter Nick Valencia, a spokesman for ICE claimed that the rappers whole public persona is false. ICE and reps for 21 Savage did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs requests for comment. In a statement to TMZ, the rappers attorney Dina LaPolt said, We are working diligently to get Mr. Abraham-Joseph out of detention while we work with authorities to clear up any misunderstanding. Mr. Abraham-Joseph is a role model to the young people in the country especially in Atlanta, Georgia and is actively working in the community leading programs to help underprivileged youths in financial literacy. Post Malone and 21 Savage 21 Savage has previously claimed to be from Georgia. We are the real Atlanta, we are really in the street, we are really what the f Atlanta has going on, he told XXL in 2015. The other s yall been seeing, some of them really from Atlanta but some aintwe bringing back that pain, street real feeling music. Story continues In August 2018, 21 Savage hosted his third-annual school supplies drive benefitting students from DeKalb County Schools at a flea market he said he frequented as a teenager, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. RELATED VIDEO: Post Malone Cant Believe How Many People Wished Death on Me After His Plane Lands Safely Speaking about his 2014 arrest, the rapper previously told GQ he was arrested after being pulled over in a car that was filled with contraband. It wasnt my fault, though, and I done sold every drug, robbed every I did everything there is to do, except rob a bank. I swear to God on my life I did everything in between. And I aint never go to jail for that s, he remarked. The musical artist, who previously dated Amber Rose, has been nominated for two 2018 Grammy Awards best rap/sung performance and record of the year for his collaboration with Post Malone on Rockstar. The ceremony will be held on Feb. 10. (Bloomberg) -- Singapore police are examining matters related to Wirecard AG, the German digital payments company whose shares have crashed amid allegations of executive forgery and fraud involving its Singapore office. The police are looking into the matter, a spokeswoman for the force said Monday in an brief emailed reply to questions from Bloomberg News. Separately, the Singapore law firm Rajah & Tann LLP, one of Wirecards legal advisers, said it is unable to comment about the company because of sensitivities. Wirecard shares plunged more than 30 percent last week after the Financial Times reported that a senior company executive in Singapore was suspected of using forged contracts for several suspicious transactions. On Friday, the FT cited a report from Rajah & Tann which it said had identified potential civil and criminal violations in Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Germany, findings that it said had formed the basis of a presentation to Wirecards senior management on May 8 last year. Wirecard has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, calling the stories inaccurate, misleading and defamatory. Wirecard said no presentation was made to its senior management on the matter that day. Regrettably, we cannot respond to your queries at the moment due to sensitivities, an external spokesperson for the Singapore law firm said over the weekend, in response to queries from Bloomberg. In Germany, financial regulator BaFin is looking at the issue for signs of possible market manipulation and Munich prosecutors are also reviewing the facts to decide whether to open a probe. The digital payments company -- which supplanted 149-year-old Commerzbank AG in Germanys benchmark DAX index last year -- operates in the tangled world of online payments. Founded in 1999, Wirecard initially provided financial services to online gambling and adult websites, barely surviving the dot-com bust. Its now threatening traditional financial services and until recently was worth more than Deutsche Bank AG, Germanys largest lender. Story continues --With assistance from Karin Matussek. To contact the reporters on this story: Joyce Koh in Singapore at jkoh38@bloomberg.net;David Yong in Singapore at dyong@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, Marcus Wright For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. - T. S. Eliot Thoughts After Lambeth "The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide." Nepal Woman Dies From Suffocation In Banned Menstruation Hut 21-year-old Parbati Bogati was found dead in a windowless menstruation hut in western Nepal, The New York Times and BBC.com report. Lal Bahadur Dhami, the deputy superintendent of the local police, said, We suspect she died due to smoke inhalation and suffocation because she closed the door of the windowless hut and lit a fire on the floor for warmth during the night. ADVERTISEMENT Abiding by an ancient Hindu tradition known as chhaupadi, Bogati isolated herself in an abandoned house. Chhaupadi, meaning someone who bears an impurity, considers womens menstruation to be unclean and a bringer of bad luck. During their periods or after having just given birth, women are banned from touching people and certain foods as well as entering temples, using communal water sources or kitchen utensils, under this practice. They are then relegated to small structures made of mud or stone Many women say they observe chhaupadi because of social and religious pressures. Several cases of suffocation have been reported and a teenage girl died after being bitten by a snake. Reports of sexual assault are also common. Nepals Supreme Court banned chhaupadi in 2005 and in 2017 the practice was criminalized. Anyone who makes a woman observe chhaupadi faces a three month jail sentence and a $30 fine, the BBC reports. However, activists say police are not enforcing the law and the practice remains widespread in rural areas like Bogatis. Last month, 35-year-old Ambra Bohara died, along with her 7- and 9-year-old sons, in an apparent suffocation from lighting a fire in the hut to keep warm from the harsh Himalayan winter. Nobody has been arrested for their deaths, The New York Times reports. The incident did propel locals to destroy chhaupadi huts around their village. Activists say that they plan to continue destroying the huts but are encountering a great deal of resistance, and lawmakers dont see the current situation improving anytime soon. When a womans bodily autonomy has been so deeply entwined with her religion and its traditions for centuries, changing the current state of affairs seems like a Sisyphean effort. Abortion rights in the US are constantly under attack, with state laws favoring certain religious views over others. Religious moralism and womens bodies have never been mutually exclusive. But we must keep striving to eliminate the correlation between a womans agency over her body and notions of ethics that stem from oppressive religious beliefs. ADVERTISEMENT Header photo by lanur via Pixabay More from BUST This Louisiana Abortion Case Could Tell Us About The Future Of Reproductive Rights In America This Interactive Map Shows You How Hard It Is To Get An Abortion In Each State Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Responds To Trumps Anti-Immigrant Address: "What We Are Seeing Is Violations Of Human Rights" Hi there! Im a comedian, writer and actress living in New York City. Im the only person to have a subscription to Nickelodeon Magazine without access to the Nickelodeon channel. My favorite movie is George Of The Jungle. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @stonecoldvolpe and check out my website francescavolpe.com for more of my writing and silly videos! Opinion / Columnist A cloud of mistrust has reportedly engulfed President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government as emerging details allege that some ZANU PF members participated in the protests that turned violent to sabotage the President, triggering mistrust that can likely generate grave consequences for the Second Republic administration.This comes after the three day crippling protests that rocked the country last month.The strike was followed by a crackdown targeting mainly opposition supporters and other anti-government activists, effectively sweeping under the carpet ZANU PF's involvement as a result of growing discontent in Mnangagwa's leadership.As the situation was seemingly getting out of hand, sources said it was Mnangagwa's lieutenants among them RBZ governor John Mangudya and Owen Ncube who managed to rescue the situation.Thousands of people demonstrated against the fuel price hike and the general increase in the cost of living which is beyond the majority.This triggered nationwide protests that turned violent, with people looting shops and committing acts of arson.Some ZANU PF officials, police and military were implicated in the violence and looting; despite ZANU PF and government maintaining that it was exclusively the MDC with the support of some civic organisations.Many people, including a section of ZANU PF stalwarts were appalled by the fact that it was Mnangagwa himself who announced the fuel prices before leaving the country on official business in the Eastern Europe, something which could have been done by the minister responsible.Reliable sources said that while a junior official had been ideal for the announcement, the President was forced to make the announcement himself after his lieutenants reportedly refused to make the unpopular announcements fearing the repercussions on their political careers.Information deputy minister Energy Mutodi last week took to his Twitter handle to thank Mangudya, Ncube and the Defence Forces commander Valerio Sibanda for their efforts in ensuring that the situation was contained and that peace was restored in the country."For a nation that had been threatened by fuel shortages, social media abuse and lawlessness, many thanks go to Dr John Mangudya, State Security Minister Owen Ncube and the Defence Forces Command for their maintenance of peace and tranquillity", he tweeted.In an interview with the media following his tweet, Mutodi said it was pleasing that the situation in the country had normalised and that those whom he mentioned had put extra effort to restore normalcy."The fuel price hike was actually proposed by Reserve Bank Governor John Mangudya and was approved by the President as a way to stamp out arbitrage in the fuel sectors", Mutodi said then."It was at the height of the protests that impromptu decisions needed to be taken by the President's inner circle yet these decisions left the party and government heavily divided. The shutting down of the internet was one such thing that left ZANU PF dissected."State Security Minister Owen Ncube made the decision to stop further looting and destruction of properties realizing that criminals were organizing themselves under the guise of protest to systematically loot shops and destroy private property."However the minister consulted widely before invoking the Interception of Communications Act which allows for Communications to be blocked where it is suspected that a crime is being committed or is about to be committed."Mutodi said the recent events have shown that there is growing mistrust in the team and a lot needs to be done to ensure cohesion and cooperation among government departments.Some within ZANU PF claimed their lives were in danger after they refused to participate on a plot that was reportedly targeting President Mnangagwa. News / National by Mandla Ndlovu A Zimbabwean man Fita Khupe who is accused of murder was denied bail on Monday at the Protea Magistrate's Court in Soweto on Monday.The magistrate said he is a flight risk and might run away to Zimbabwe or he might be killed by members of the community.Khupe is accused of murdering four children and three women all belonging to the Khoza family in their home in Vlakfontein, South Africa in October last year.His co-accused Ernest Mabaso allegedly committed suicide in January while in police custody.Khupe had been in a longstanding relationship with one of the Khoza women who were found murdered and buried under piles of sand inside the house in October 2018.Neighbours had complained of a strong stench coming from the house and on October 29 2018, police who reported to the house found the bodies of the seven family members. Some had been buried under piles of sand in a locked bedroom inside the house while others had been in an outside room, also covered in sand.Khupe and his co-accused Ernest Mabaso were later arrested for the crime.Twenty-seven-year-old Mabaso had then submitted both an affidavit and confession statement wherein he had admitted to killing the seven Khoza family members and raping three of them.He claimed to have been acting under the instruction and threats of Khupe.Mabaso had been living with the Khoza family for several months after fooling them into believing that he was a long lost relative a plot he says, was orchestrated by Khupe and other unidentified people from Cape Town. News / National by Staff reporter A HARARE teenager was arrested yesterday while trying to steal Member of Parliament Killer Zivhu's car using Senator Josiah Hungwe's name.The 18-year-old - Kingsolom Mlambo - communicated to the unsuspecting Chivi East MP Zivhu while pretending to be Sen Hungwe's son, Vincent.The teenager was nabbed by officers from CID Vehicle Theft Squad at Montague Shopping Centre after being driven from a city hotel the initial meeting point where the car was supposed to be surrendered.Deputy Police Spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrest."Yes we confirm the arrest of a suspected teenager who wanted to use the name of Senator Hungwe to steal a car."More details will be revealed as investigations are underway."Police believe there were more people involved in the deal.Acting on a tip off the detectives tracked the vehicle, a Volvo SUV driven by Zivhu's driver to the hotel where the suspect was waiting.The teenager was picked and led to Montague where the driver said he wanted to drop off.Upon being confronted the visibly shaken Kingsolom said:"I am sorry, I just wanted to use the vehicle for an outing with friends and I wanted to be showing off to them that I have a nice car," he said pleading with the detectives.He was however taken to Southerton Police Station for further investigations.Zivhu said he was saved by an inquiry he made before releasing the car."I nearly gave away my car. It was after I made an inquiry into what type of car was required when I realised that they were thieves who wanted to steal my car."I then engaged police to ensure that the culprit gets arrested," said Zivhu.Below are some of the messages sent to Zivhu by Kingsolom:[13:13, 2/3/2019]: Hy killer its Vincent hungwe[13:13, 2/3/2019]: Im short on money to start a borehole drilling project i just need financial assistance and i will cover you once i get my money..its like a personal loan..i have bought some of the equipmemt..i need to finidh up on monday[13:13, 2/3/2019]: Ok brother thank youwanted to fund a water drilling project of a borehole[13:13, 2/3/2019]: Im really sorrybut mudhara jd (Josiah Dunhira) said i can talk to you regarding this case if you are capable of helping me[13:13, 2/3/2019]: No i want help for something besides that if you are capablemy wife*s mother is really sick in mutoko now and am at beitbridgesent cars to servicemy wife now doesnt hv a car yekunovatora at mutoko..of only u are capable of helping her with a car to go and take her motherplease brother.[13:13, 2/3/2019]: If I sent my driver is it oky[13:13, 2/3/2019]: She wants to go with her brother and sisters ..i dont know if you can make the driver drop off the car on town and she will pick it up i would really appreciate it.thank you.[13:13, 2/3/2019]: She just want something smallautomatic most probablyshe is not fluent in manual cars..anything automatic if you have it we would appreciate[13:13, 2/3/2019]: It will be ok if its automatic but there is no problem with the manual but automatic was easier for her.any way you can have.it will be truly appreciated[13:13, 2/3/2019]: Ok brother thank you..they would want to depart around 1 pm feel free to organise..cheers[13:13, 2/3/2019]: 0782390918[13:13, 2/3/2019]: Anywhrre in town will do she will meet with my son.or my wife there ..or drop it in town and will send someone there[13:13, 2/3/2019]: Can she come pa Hotel.will have someone waiting to pick the car therejust close to the entrance therr as soon as she confirms will have someone to go there[13:13, 2/3/2019]: What kind of a car are you sending inorder for the person am sending yo spot it[13:14, 2/3/2019]: What kinf of a car is it and what tome should she go therethey can talk vega vari 2 on app or use texts.tell your wife to talk to my wife[13:14, 2/3/2019]: Imota ipi which you are sending for easy identification..can yo wife bring it by 11 am at hotel. News / National by Mandla Ndlovu Harare Magistrate Gloria Takundwa on Monday announced that she will hand down her ruling on 18 February 2019 in a matter where MDC National Deputy Chairperson Tendai Biti is accused of contravening the Electoral Act.The defence case took of Monday after the magistrate dismissed the application for discharge at the end of state case."During his trial today, Biti told Magistrate Gloria Takundwa that he is worried about selective application of the law in Zimbabwe and that his arrest and prosecution was a form of political victimisation by his political foes." Zimbabwe Lawyrs for Human Rights said.He is accused of unlawfully and unofficially announcing the 30 July 2018 presidential election results. Biti, the Vice-Chairperson of the MDC-Alliance party was arrested on 8 August 2018 after being returned from Zambia under unclear circumstances.He was initially charged with contravening section 66(A)(1) of the Electoral Act for allegedly announcing the results of the presidential elections held in July 2018, as well as contravening section 36(1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. Biti is represented by Beatrice Mtetwa and Alec Muchadehama, who are members of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.Biti will stood trial on allegations of violating section 66A(1)(a) unofficial or false declaration of results prohibited, as well as section 66A(1)(b) unofficial or false declaration of results prohibited.The State alleges that Biti, who is currently out of custody on bail, unlawfully and unofficially purportedly announced or purportedly declared that the MDC-Alliance party had won the harmonised elections held on 30 July 2018 when in actual fact the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) officials, who are mandated to make the declaration had not yet declared the official results or winner, in contravention of the Electoral Act. Images & Content EXCEPT WHERE OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL IMAGES AND CONTENT ARE 2021 JENNIFER BUXTON. MODEL HORSE PERFORMANCE SHOWERS ARE WELCOME TO USE PHOTOS FOR LIVE SHOW REFERENCE PURPOSES. ALL OTHER USES REQUIRE WRITTEN PERMISSION. Intended as a discussion group, the blog has evolved to be more of a reading list of current issues affecting our county, its government and people. All reasonable comments and submissions welcomed. Email us at: bill.pysson@gmail.com REMEMBER: To view our sister blog for education issues: www.district100watchdog.blogspot.com "After Gerrys death, Quadrigas inventory of cryptocurrency has become unavailable and some of it may be lost," said his widow. The chief executive of cryptocurrency company Quadriga CX has died, and he's apparently the only one with the ability to unlock all his customers' coins. Without their digital keys, his clients lose access to their funds. The company's board of directors said last week it is seeking creditor protection. More from Bloomberg News on digital-asset exchange Quadriga CX's $200 million problem with no solution in sight: The online startup can't retrieve about C$190 million ($145 million) in Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ether and other digital tokens held for its customers, according to court documents filed Jan. 31 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Nor can Vancouver-based Quadriga CX pay the C$70 million in cash they're owed. Access to Quadriga CX's digital "wallets" an application that stores the keys to send and receive cryptocurrencies appears to have been lost with the passing of Quadriga CX Chief Executive Officer Gerald Cotten, who died Dec. 9 in India from complications of Crohn's disease. He was 30. Cotten was always conscious about security the laptop, email addresses and messaging system he used to run the 5-year-old business were encrypted, according to an affidavit from his widow, Jennifer Robertson. He took sole responsibility for the handling of funds and coins and the banking and accounting side of the business and, to avoid being hacked, moved the "majority" of digital coins into cold storage. His security measures are understandable. Virtual currency exchanges suffered at least five major attacks last year. Japan, home to some of the world's most active digital-asset exchanges, has also hosted two of the biggest known crypto hacks: the Mt. Gox debacle of 2014 and the theft of nearly $500 million in digital tokens from Coincheck Inc. last January. The problem is, Robertson said she can't find his passwords or any business records for the company. Experts brought in to try to hack into Cotten's other computers and mobile phone met with only "limited success" and attempts to circumvent an encrypted USB key have been foiled, his widow, who lives a suburb of Halifax, said in the court filing. What a mess. Below, related tweets from the deceased's company and others. Quadriga CX identifies itself on Twitter as a "Canadian Cryptocurrency exchange platform [whose] goal is to provide an easy to use platform to simplify the process of buying and selling Bitcoins." Please see our statement regarding the sudden passing of our @QuadrigaCoinEx founder and CEO, Gerry Cotten. A visionary leader who transformed the lives of those around him, he will be greatly missed. https://t.co/5rvGZ2BfLV QuadrigaCX (@QuadrigaCoinEx) January 14, 2019 This isn't the update that everyone wants but we do have both good and bad news: https://t.co/wpXhJwFZRL QuadrigaCX (@QuadrigaCoinEx) January 11, 2019 What do you get when you provide 12,800 kids with technology and programming classes? You get 12,800 people who are getting ready for the modern workforce of today and tomorrow. You also get 12,800 potential vulnerabilities. With the growing quantity of phishing emails, ransomware and malware that Coppell Independent School District (CISD) already had to combat with a small staff, this Texas school system was looking for smarter solutions. All these students who have taken programming classes, theyre often looking to bypass administrative privileges, looking for ways around the internet filters, or looking for ways to play games on the school computers, said Stephen McGilvray, CISD Executive Director of Technology. So, in addition to all these external threats we have to worry about, we also have a bunch of homegrown, internal threats. The school district recently underwent a data center refresh, which included updates for VMware vSphere, VMware App Volumes and VMware Horizon, and launched the implementation of VMware NSX Data Center. During the refresh, their VMware sales rep told them about a relatively new security product called VMware AppDefense. At its core, AppDefense shifts the advantage from attackers to defenders by determining and ensuring good application behavior within the data center, instead of continuing the losing battle of attempting to identify unknown threats within the internal network. AppDefense looks to prevent the execution and propagation of attacks with a combination of application allowlisting and behavioral awareness. It also integrates into NSX Data Center to prevent the lateral spread of threats with adaptive micro-segmentation. Security is enforced at the most granular level of an app the process level and micro-segmentation of the network stops an attack in its tracks. Before, our security footprint had a strong dependence on keeping people out, said Systems Engineer James Holloway. We didnt have much in place for mitigation, if and when somebody did get through. The AppDefense message really resonated with us, said McGilvray. With a small technology team serving 17 schools, anything that saves us time is appreciated. We liked that AppDefense integrated easily with NSX and into our VMware stack, to add another layer of security. CISD started its AppDefense journey by protecting its most critical systems, including file servers and student information databases The things that would cause the most headaches if they were compromised, said Holloway. Along the way, weve gotten a better understanding of how all our systems communicate. You think of your servers, and each has different services, but from a technical standpoint we were surprised to see just how much data is going in and out. That drill-down opened our eyes to how much we might have been missing. Secure, Game-changing App Delivery Horizon and App Volumes are another significant part of CISDs VMware footprint. The school district uses Horizon to provide remote access for students and teachers. Students can securely access their school desktops and applications and access school apps from anywhere using their school-issued Apple iPads, with security underpinned by NSX Data Center and AppDefense. Holloway calls App Volumes a game changer. Were able to easily provide whatever apps our teachers need and meet their expectations. He noted that while 90 percent of the school districts devices are Apple, the district has purchased many programs over the years that are Windows-only or have other system restrictions. CISD uses App Volumes to deliver those apps to any endpoint, regardless of infrastructure or operating system. Flexible and Responsive for the Future CISDs IT team appreciates the flexibility theyve seen from their software-defined data center refresh. Using virtualization and hyperconverged infrastructure, they were able to shrink their hardware footprint and related costs such as power and cooling. Our systems are fairly static and dont change that much, said McGilvray. Yet, when we do need to make a change, we can make it quickly, scale it out and give people what they need. Thats just gotten better and better as VMware has refined its products over the years. In the future, CISD plans to expand their AppDefense and NSX Data Center footprints to more secondary systems. With AppDefense, We know well be alerted when something isnt operating within its normal parameters. said Holloway. For us, the value of AppDefense lies in having peace of mind. Learn more about VMware AppDefense. Legal notices 1) The material on this blog has been created by W. Blake Gray, is protected under US copyright law and cannot be used without his permission. 2) To the FTC: In the course of my work, I accept free samples, meals and other considerations. I do not trade positive reviews or coverage for money or any financial considerations, unlike certain famous print publications which have for-profit wine clubs but, because they are not classified as "bloggers," are not required by the FTC to post a notice like this. The Kantian dream of undoing real nations keeps foundering on the shoals of human natures need for real attachments to place, says Acton research director Samuel Gregg in a new article for Law & Liberty: If theres anything that political earthquakes like Brexit and the ongoing spread of nationalist feeling throughout the European Union demonstrates, its that popular support for Europes integration project is floundering. In early 2018, Frances pro-EU president Emmanuel Macron publicly acknowledged that France would probably vote to leave the EU if given a simple in/out choice. Politics in a once stalwartly pro-EU nation like Italy is now dominated by Eurosceptic parties. Advocates for deeper European integration like German chancellor Angela Merkel seldom pass up chances to insist, as she did in a November 2018 speech, that Nation-states should be willing to give up their sovereignty today. Many Europeans undoubtedly continue to favor the EUs commercial conveniences. But outside an increasingly-isolated political class which dominates ever-weakening establishment political parties, vocal enthusiasts for a supranational European state are becoming scarce. On a recent episode of this Fox News show, Tucker Carlson called on Congress to ban smartphones for children. Those who assume Carlson is still a conservative might be confused by his abandonment of limited government and his embrace of a nanny-state policy. But this latest call for government to intervene in the lives of Americans is in keeping with Carlsons drift from conservatism to nationalisma shift that is becoming all-too-common on the right side of the political spectrum. Because it is tied to specific nations, nationalism takes on a variety of forms. But what they share in common, as David Koyzis explains in his theological definition of nationalism, is that theyre a form of political arrangement in which the people deify the nation, viewing their nation as the Savior that will protect them from the evil of being ruled by those who are different from them. There are two main aspects of this definition that need to be clarified. First, most people have a natural fear of being ruled by those who are different from them. This in itself is not necessarily wrong. Where it becomes problematic is when we exclude people from our county or from taking positions of leadership because of such benign factors as ethnicity rather than ideology. Second, nationalists trust the nation-stateor rather the nanny-stateto be their Savior and protect them from all forms of evil. This requires an inevitable shifting of rights and power from the people to the government. Because the movement tends to focus on issues such as immigration and protectionism, we tend to associate nationalism with external threats. But that is merely the outer layer of nationalism. There is an inner core that is similarly focused on having the state protect us from ourselves in ways that are unnecessary for ordered liberty and antithetical to moral freedom. What separates nanny-state nationalism from other movements that believe in reasonable regulation, such as conservatism, is the impetus to infantilize the public. Notice how Tucker says in real life its just too difficult for parents to limit their childrens smartphone use. Not only are the children helpless to do anything about the problem, their parents are equally helpless to manage what is going on in their own home. For nanny-state nationalists like Tucker, the protective role of the nation-state is not limited to threats at our borders. For them, the government should have a nearly unlimited say in how we manage any affairs that might harm the deified nation. Nationalists are willing to sacrifice the God-given rights of parents because government leaders (assuming, of course, they too are nationalists) know what is best for us. There is a concept in political science known as the horseshoe theory that claims the far left and the far right, rather than being at opposite and opposing ends of a linear political continuum, closely resemble one another, much like the ends of a horseshoe. That certainly appears to be true for nanny-state nationalists who seem to be closer to nanny-state progressives than they are to conservatives or libertarians. Conservatives and libertarians spent most of the twentieth century opposing left-wing statism. While that is likely to continue, it appears we will also be forced to spend the twenty-first century opposing forms of right-wing statism like populism and nationalism. Up Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., introduced and worked hard to get Savanna's Act approved by Congress. The bill specifically addresses missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. The bill passed the Senate, but was blocked in the House as the congressional session ended. Now, Sens. Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven, North Dakota Republians, are co-sponsoring Savanna's Act and reintroduced it in Congress. Some supporters of Savannas Act have been critical of Cramer because they feel he didnt do enough for the bill during the last session. The Tribune believes supporters should put politics aside and be happy that Cramer and Hoeven are giving the bill another chance. We believe the bill is valuable legislation and are pleased the senators are backing it. Hopefully, Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., can give it a boost if it reaches the House. Lawmakers also discussed a proposal in the bill that would only allow forfeitures if the person is convicted. Current law allows forfeitures from people who have been neither charged nor convicted. Opponents to the bill say some cases can't land charges or convictions, such as absconded drug dealers whose cash is seized. Several legislators drilled into scenarios of large cash seizures, which Bolme said in testimony "can have the same evidentiary value as as large quantity of methamphetamine." "Just you having a large amount of cash, there's no evidentiary value in that without corroboration," Bolme told the committee. "No system is perfect. The one we have right now is pretty good," he later said. "I think there are parts of this bill that would make it better. I'm just asking that we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater." Donnell Preskey, representing the North Dakota Sheriffs & Deputies Association, testified in opposition but also agreed to some aspects of the proposal, such as annual reporting. Aaron Birst, representing prosecutors of the North Dakota State's Attorneys' Association, also opposed the bill, but agreed on the reporting and the forfeiture standard of proof amended to "clear and convincing evidence." Rep. Jeff Delzer, R-Underwood, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, has said the rule change was a "housekeeping" matter to avoid killing duplicate bills from the executive branch. "It's a difference between which branch you're looking from," Delzer said. "I can understand that (Burgum) would like to have it so that we just did what he said, but that's not the way it works. There's three different branches." North Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle said the timing of legislators' rule change seemed "a little strange" in coming so soon before Burgum's budget address. But he added the rule change offers some clarity as appropriations committees and the judiciary worked off different blueprints in recent, previous sessions. "To that extent as a practical matter, I think now we at least know what they're working from, and so we both can work from the same product," VandeWalle said late last month. The judicial budget request which is mostly salaries is in the executive budget recommendation. The North Dakota Senate rejected a 4-cent boost in the states gas tax Monday. Senate Bill 2288 failed in a 26-18 vote. Pushed primarily by Fairmount Republican Sen. Larry Luick, the bill would have inched the states taxes on motor vehicle and special fuels, including diesel, to 27 cents per gallon. Bill proponents urged lawmakers to address the states road funding needs. Sen. Kyle Davison, R-Fargo, said the states top industries, oil and agriculture, rely on well-maintained roads. Im not quite sure why were not interested in sending this across the hall and having a discussion, he said. Let the people of North Dakota come over there and have a discussion if theyre really against it. The American Society of Civil Engineers assigned a B-minus grade to North Dakotas roads last week. The gas tax hike was supported by groups representing local governments, farmers and highway builders. The states tax hasnt been raised since 2005, and the federal tax of 18.4-cents-per-gallon hasnt increased since 1993. North Dakotas tax is lower than its immediate neighbors. North Dakotans teeth are the root of the issue specifically, the ability of those teeth to receive proper care. For the third session in a row, legislation authorizing practice by dental therapists a level of certification above dental hygienist but below dentist is on the table at the Capitol. Similar legislation was defeated in the Senate in 2015 and in the House in 2017. House Bill 1426s proponents say it would increase access to care in rural and tribal areas across the state. Opponents, including the North Dakota Dental Association, say they are concerned it would lower the quality of care for vulnerable populations. Emily Mallory, president of the state Dental Hygienist Association, said she believes most of the opposition to the bill comes from a fear of change. Only eight states allow dental therapists to practice in any capacity. As a dental hygienist at a federally qualified health center in Grand Forks, Mallory said she sees many cases exacerbated by a lack of access to dental services. To commemorate its move from California to Sheridan, Wyoming, Weatherby, Inc. has crafted two styles of commemorative .300 Weatherby Mag rifles a gold and the silver version. The Gold Version will retail for $10,000 while the silver will sell for $6,500. Both will feature the recognizable Bucking Horse and Rider engraved on the floor plate. The walnut stocks has a raised-comb Monte Carlo design, right-side palm swell and a custom designed mountain scene integrated into the fine line checkering. A portion of the proceeds for these rifles will be going back to the state of Wyoming, according to a company press release. Features on the gold version will include: a French walnut stock with a hand rubbed oil finish. An ebony forend tip and grip cap. A damascened bolt with a hand checkered knob. The bolt sleeve and receiver are engraved with gold and silver accents. The barrel bell and muzzle are decorated with gold and silver barrel bands. The bottom plate has the Wyoming Bucking Horse and Rider engraved with gold inlay. The rifle includes a custom leather case stamped with the Weatherby logo and a green velvet interior. There is no cost for the classroom course, which is administered by volunteer instructors through Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Class participants must be 11 years of age or older by the class date. Classroom students should register no later than Feb. 14 and make arrangements to pick up a manual by that date. They are expected to read the manual and complete chapter quizzes prior to the start of class. For more information, contact instructor Doug Roberts at 406-351-3472. Miles City The Miles City class will run from 6-9 p.m. on March 20-23 at Fish, Wildlife & Parks regional headquarters in Miles City. There are 30 seats available, and registration is open online at fwp.mt.gov. This will be the only Bowhunter Ed course/field day in Miles City for 2019. The field day will be March 23 at Spotted Eagle Recreation Area from 8 a.m.-noon. Adult online students are welcome to participate in the field day, but they must register separately at fwp.mt.gov, complete the course and test online and bring a certificate to the field day. Field day students must dress appropriately for the weather and for hunting situations. Bow shooting experience is optional, and students can bring a bow/arrows if they have them. Who is your state representative? Do you know their name or their views? For many of us the state Legislature can feel far away and inaccessible. And for young Montanans like myself, its never been more important for our viewpoints to be heard by our decision makers. Thats why I am so grateful to state Reps. Kathy Kelker and Emma Kerr-Carpenter, and state Sen. Jen Gross for meeting with their young constituents. As a field manager for Forward Montana, its my job to empower young Montanans to shape their democracy. One way that we do this is by setting up time for decision makers to discuss important issues with their Millennial and Gen Z constituents. To Kelker, Kerr-Carpenter and Gross, we truly our time with you and your commitment to building a Montana where young people can thrive. Thank you for listening to our concerns for the future. Reach out to you local representative and thank them for their public service and make sure your voice is heard in Helena this year. Michael Nelson Billings Love 3 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Clearly, Montana Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianoforte have forgotten each were lauded as "technology scientists." They have chosen cement and steel over technology, including artificial intelligence, to provide border security. In the process each has ceded advances in artificial intelligence to the Chinese and ceded thousands of acres of land to Mexico. Instead of Mexico paying for the wall, Mexico is being given acres of valuable land, taken from American ranchers, farmers and private preserves. Take the Trump-style wall that has begun to be built through the National Butterfly Center in Texas. To quote to a House Committee: If our portion of wall (across National Butterfly Center) is allowed to proceed, President Trump will be effectively ceding a portion of the U.S. to Mexico doing what General Santa Ana was never able to do, said Center Manager Trevino-Wright, telling the members of the committee. When did the U.S. government get in the business of giving away the United States of America? Not only giving away 70 percent of the NBC to Mexico, but destroying a significant source of tourism income for Americans, and destroying prime butterfly habitat. Mexico gains both income and habitat. Hop onto a search engine and use the words "firefighter workers compensation" and dozens of lawyers' websites will pop up. It appears there's a cottage industry for lawyers willing to fight for firefighters trying to get coverage for illnesses and ailments related to their work, including back injuries, cancer and emphysema. In some states, firefighters who get injured by fighting fire are exempted from workers compensation. The rationale says that being a firefighter is inherently dangerous and risky. In many states, Montana currently included, the onus is on the firefighter to prove that a disease or condition was a result of battling fires. Proving that firefighting gives any person, say, lung cancer, may be difficult. After all, people who don't fight fires can get the disease, so proving it can be hard. Yet a state like Montana desperately needs firefighters. Sadly, with the rise of near-catastrophic wildfires, we need more and more fighters all the time. And just because we have infrared monitors and more sophisticated tools to fight fire, when it gets to the literal boots-on-the-ground phase of battling blazes, it still means coming face to face with fire and toxic smoke. CHEYENNE, Wyo. Mady Goossen has been out-scouting the boys for most of her life. She can tie the knots, she can recite the pledge and the oath, and shes been holding three fingers up to the Boy Scout values for more than a decade. But prior to midnight Thursday, that was all done in an unofficial capacity. Friday, she and four other girls in Cheyenne were among the first girls in the country to be inducted into the Boy Scouts, now called Scouts BSA. In October 2017, the Boy Scouts of America announced they would be accepting girls into an organization that had been boys-only for more than 100 years. In the statement announcing the change, Boy Scouts of America Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh said, The values of Scouting trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, brave and reverent, for example are important for both young men and women. And Mady is glad to finally be recognized for the work she has been doing for so long. I was kind of upset that I didnt get rewarded for what I did, so Im really excited to finally get the recognition that Ive been waiting to get for a while, she said. CASPER, Wyo. Environmental groups are crying foul that oil and gas lease sales will continue despite lost time during the 35-day partial government shutdown. Federal officials in Wyoming say they are ready to move forward with two scheduled lease sales including the first of four auctions that the agency is required to hold every year having collected and reviewed public comments on whether these acres should be offered to industry. The first-quarter auction on March 19 and 20 will offer 140 parcels, totaling 148,909 acres of Wyoming land for development, including wildlife habitat that environmental groups argue should not be leased for development. The agency is deferring six parcels of land that were proposed by companies but that lie in the Red Desert to Hoback migration corridor for mule deer. Two more parcels in the corridor will be partially deferred and all parcels overlapping the corridor carry a lease notice forcing oil and gas companies to consult with state and federal agencies on how to develop in the sensitive area traipsed by the deer. But for environmental groups, the problem with the sale is one of timing. Warren said he mostly tries to market a rural lifestyle and low teacher-student ratio for open positions, but he finds it hard to compete with other states. At a recent teacher job fair, he found himself sandwiched between districts from Alaska and Wyoming. "On a financial level, we cannot compete," he said. "Both doubled what I could offer to begin with." Montana offers the lowest beginning teacher salary in the nation, according to the most recent federal statistics and national union information. Generally, those salaries are even lower in rural areas. Adding up Warren, who's been Opheim's superintendent since 2014, has no delusions about Opheim having ever been an irresistible draw for teachers. "I'm realistic enough to know that I'm fortunate to get someone for a year or two to get some experience before they move on," he said. But in the past, a small percentage of those young teachers would stick and build a career at Opheim, creating a pipeline of veterans. Without a supply of rookies, that pipeline runs dry. Legislation designed to add more clarity around campaign claims against political opponents failed on a 47-53 vote in the House Tuesday.House Bill 139, introduced by Rep. Kimberly Dudik, D-Missoula, would have required printed election material referencing another candidates voting record to provide specific bill numbers, the years of votes and titles of bills or resolutions. References to another candidates statements would have required the date and location the statement was made.The Legislative Services Division previously noted concerns that Dudik's bill might run counter to the First Amendment. Dudik told the House State Administration Committee Jan. 17 that the bill properly navigated a road map provided by past court decisions leveled against similar legislation."The compelling state interest that's being furthered by this bill is that our citizens have a right to know what information is being given to them about candidates in elections," Dudik said Tuesday on the House floor. "We require truth in advertising and just about everything else in our state, and there's no reason that our candidates and our election process shouldn't have the same requirements."Rep. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, told the House prior to the vote that Dudik's bill would yield a legal challenge, as has occurred with similar legislation in the past."This has been challenged three times. Every time the Legislature's come back and we've made small changes, the law gets challenged again and guess what? It's still unconstitutional," said Mandeville, chair of the House State Administration Committee. "Because what this bill is doing, and what similar bills have done in the past, is compel speech, is force people to engage in speech in order to participate in the political process." Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez deserves a big "Thank you." In calling for top marginal tax rates of 70 percent, the freshman U.S. representative from New York is attracting attention to often-neglected issues linked to federal tax policy.To be clear, this column is not endorsing Ocasio-Cortez's proposal. A near doubling of the current top tax rate would be unwise.Still, Ocasio-Cortez's high profile - especially among younger voters - means that at least some AOC fans might be willing to devote time to learning facts about tax rates. Those who look into the topic might be surprised at what they learn.Permitted since the adoption of the U.S. Constitution's 16th Amendment, the modern federal income tax started in 1913 with a rate of 7 percent. Its top marginal rate reached as high as 94 percent during World War II. The top rate stood at 91 percent as recently as 1963. It didn't dip below Ocasio-Cortez's 70 percent standard until 1981.Ronald Reagan entered the White House that same year and began a concerted campaign to lower tax rates across the board, including the top marginal rate. (Reagan's jump from the Democratic Party to the Republicans had stemmed, in large part, from his own experience with high marginal tax rates. At the peak of his movie-star career, the Gipper had experienced firsthand the disincentives linked to sky-high rates. If he could keep less than a dime of each dollar he earned beyond a certain income threshold, why bother working on another movie?)By the time Reagan left office, the top marginal rate stood at a postwar low of 28 percent. Rates have climbed since that time. The top rate has fluctuated between 35 percent and roughly 40 percent for the last quarter century.Ocasio-Cortez and her supporters point to the pre-Reagan historical record. They see that the American economy thrived at times when tax rates topped out at 70 percent or higher. They are correct.But as economist Milton Ezrati noted this month in New York's City Journal, those higher rates accompanied a much different federal tax code. Deductions and exemptions "drastically reduced" the amount of income subject to the higher rates. Tax cuts enacted since the Reagan era have closed most of those "loopholes."Ezrati reminds us of the era of 70 percent top marginal rates.That's not all.Ezrati adds.The end result: Few people paid 70 percent rates on any income. Ezrati cites a Tax Foundation estimate that the top 1 percent of taxpayers in the 1950s ended up paying an average effective tax rate of 17 percent. That was despite a top rate that hit 92 percent.Ezrati concludes.The old rules might benefit those high earners, but it's hard to argue that the increased complexity in the tax code would benefit the economy as a whole. Tax reformers argue fairly consistently for " neutrality and simplicity. " That means eliminating special credits and deductions that complicate the tax code and skew taxpayers' economic decisions.One suspects that Ocasio-Cortez has no interest in restoring the old special breaks and deals that helped high earners avoid much of the tax burden a 70 percent rate would imply. Instead she is likely to support higher rates alongside the current number - or even fewer - credits and deductions.If that's true, one can expect high earners to follow one of several courses in the face of a new sky-high tax bracket. First, they might emulate the moviemaking Reagan and simply curtail their income-generating activity. If they can't keep more than 30 cents of every dollar they earn, they'll have less incentive to earn that additional dollar. That means less economic activity overall and a hit to American economic growth.Second, they might steer more of their earnings toward tax accountants and lawyers who will help them game the system. These are the very taxpayers who will be able to afford that type of specialized tax expertise. Money spent for tax-saving purposes won't go into savings and investment that boost economic growth.Third, high earners will hire lobbyists to help them win targeted tax relief from Congress. The higher the top marginal tax rate, the larger the incentive for prospective payers to seek a deal from Washington bureaucrats and elected officials. New breaks would undo many of the reforms that helped improve the American tax code over the past four decades.It's doubtful that Ocasio-Cortez has spent much time considering these potential consequences. One hopes at least some of her followers will dedicate more attention to these critical details. State Treasurer Dale Folwell. (CJ photo by Dan Way) The state panel that determines how much money North Carolina can prudently borrow over the next 10 years rejected an appeal Wednesday by Gov. Roy Cooper's budget director to triple the state's debt ceiling from $2.03 billion to more than $6 billion.The 6-3 vote of the Debt Affordability Advisory Committee approved a study that for the first time calculated unfunded liabilities in the State Health Plan and state pension system into debt capacity. Voting no were state Budget Director Charles Perusse, Revenue Director Ronald Penny, and Auditor Beth Wood.The study left less room to borrow money for construction and maintenance of K-12, university, and state government buildings, and for local government water and sewer infrastructure improvements some committee members advocated. But backers of the study noted bond agencies and large financial institutions have urged governments to include unfunded liabilities in their debt calculations. Lenders are likely to look more favorably on states that have done so when they ask to borrow money.The governor and General Assembly use the debt affordability study as an important tool in drafting budgets and considering program and project priorities. By law it had to be sent to the governor by Feb. 1."Our business is to calculate mathematically what the debt capacity of the state is so that we have a solvent state that can weather anything that might come in front of us," State Treasurer Dale Folwell, committee chairman, told Carolina Journal after the meeting."The two biggest things coming at us financially are not acts of God. They're acts of man, especially the health plan that has not been properly funded the last 40 years," Folwell said. By reformulating the way to calculate debt capacity, "we're acknowledging this man-made tsunami that's coming at us in terms of these health care and pension bills."He told committee members the Treasurer's Office pays $740 million every 30 days for pension, health care, and outstanding debt. Gross annual payout of $6 billion will quickly reach $9 billion.Folwell said he discussed the debt study with past treasurers. He's confident the recommendation aligns with principles they espoused since the Debt Affordability Advisory Committee was created 15 years ago.He said the late, longtime former treasurer Harlan Boyles even warned nearly 40 years ago, "unfunded debts would eventually equal, surpass, and dwarf the state debt of North Carolina, and that's happening right now."Deputy Treasurer Greg Gaskins said national bond rating agencies are scrutinizing states' pension and other employee and retiree benefits more closely to see how well they're funded. They have directed states to include unfunded liabilities in debt affordability reports.North Carolina will have a better chance to sell bonds in a competitive market if it follows rating agencies' directions, Gaskins said. That also will help protect North Carolina's AAA bond rating among the three major rating agencies. That rating can secure lower interest payments and a bigger bang for borrowed money.Business coalitions and bond buyers also are beginning to pay closer attention to states' unfunded liabilities for creditworthiness, Gaskins said.Perusse said the law doesn't require the debt affordability study to include unfunded pension or health plan liabilities. He said under the previous formula, debt capacity for the next 10 years would be closer to $10 billion. He advocated a borrowing ceiling of $6 billion or higher.It is important to acknowledge the unfunded liabilities in the debt study, Perusse said. But the report gives them too much weight, and chokes off the ability to reduce more than $30 billion in unmet needs.Forty percent of school buildings are more than 50 years old, and $8 billion is needed for construction and repair, Perusse said. There are $17 billion in water and sewer needs, and $6 billion necessary for state government and university buildings.Penny said lowering employee and retiree unfunded liabilities is important, but not as critical as school needs. He said strong schools are the catalyst to improve rural economic development.Wood said "it pisses me off" that so many cities, counties, and school boards failed for years in their responsibilities to pay for local construction and infrastructure projects. That puts her in the untenable position of choosing between their pressing needs, and the urgency of addressing unfunded pension and health plan liabilities.She said the state allowed local governments to shirk accountability for too long, but she voted against the debt study because it turns a blind eye to those local needs.In voting for the study, State Controller Linda Combs agreed local governments have enormous needs due to their own failings, and committee members all would like to see them resolved. But for several years the state has vowed to tackle unfunded liabilities, and it's vital for the fiscal integrity of the state to follow through.Folwell said he stands behind the debt affordability study, but the General Assembly and governor have no obligation to follow its recommendations. They can borrow higher amounts than recommended, but should be prepared to own any consequences. Leftist feminists judge women by whether they meet male measures of success, yet they call conservatives sexist.Leftists want the government to be able to control every thought, word, action, and dollar in the country, yet they call conservatives fascist.They think they are looking at conservatives when they are really looking in the mirror. For those of us whose mordant cynicism finds humor in the twisted corruption of the human heart, it's sort of funny. Sort of.One of the wilder and nastier charges the Left has been hurling around during the Donald Trump years has been this: anyone who supports Donald Trump is as bad as Donald Trump - or as bad, that is, as the Left makes Donald Trump out to be.said CNN commentator Kirsten Powers.Commentator Michaela Angela Davis said much the same:Asked if that meant all those people were racist, Davis said,Now there's some moral sense to this. If I thought Trump truly was a racist - that is if I thought he was someone who believed that one race is morally inferior to another - and if I thought that philosophy guided his policies, I would indeed share in some of the responsibility for allowing that evil.But since Trump's policies have helped create an economy that has improved the lives of black Americans with lower unemployment and higher incomes, and as none of his policies seem directed at doing any particular race harm, I have to wonder: is the Left's accusation of generalized guilt another example of projection?What responsibility, for instance, do leftists have for the new law in New York State that permits abortion up until birth and allows children who survive abortions to be left to die? What part of the guilt do they share for the barbaric comments of infanticidal Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who said leaving an infant to die should be a decision made by doctors and mothers - which means such children should not be protected by the law?Is it the fault of all Democrat voters when the party harbors socialists like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who push a policy that has destroyed every single economy it has ever touched, and which is inherently antithetical to the American founding principle of liberty for all? Is it the fault of all Democrat voters when the party brings anti-Semites like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib into Congress?I meet self-described liberals all the time who tell me they do not agree with the Left's excesses. They say they reject the notion that men and women are the same, or that people should be forced by the state to violate their religious principles in order to bolster the agenda of sexual radicals, or that speech should be policed and censored online in order to ensure conformity with leftist principles.But if you don't believe in these things - in infanticide, in socialism, in the suppression of religious freedom and freedom of speech - and yet you vote for the party that increasingly supports them all, don't you bear some responsibility for these evils?I mean to ask: given the true agenda of the Left, who are the deplorables now? President Trump is moving toward his 2024 candidacy as per all indications from his enlightening address to the NC GOP on June 5, 2021. Considering this political vector as a distinct possibility: What is your electoral pleasure as an integral cog in this Representative Republic? No Vote: Mr. Trump will never be president again as we boldly march toward a Socialist society. Yes Vote: Mr. Trump was the best president since Ronald Reagan, and we need a real leader, who is fully cognitive of that responsibility in these tumultuous times.. When I question students at my Christian college about how their faith affects their learning practices, they stare blankly at me or scribble a note about being motivated by the true, good, and beautiful. But studying (and education) for Christians should look different than a secular approach, though many students cannot articulate these differences.To clarify the connections between their beliefs and education, I teach Simone Weil's(1942), a great essay with an unwieldy title.Weil, born in Paris in 1909, taught for a number of years in the 1930s in France, where she also participated in the French resistance to Nazi occupation. A series of mystical experiences led her to affirm the truth of Christianity. Her reflections on school studies are directed to the Dominican Father Joseph-Marie Perrin in Marseille, intended for the benefit of the Catholic students whom he served.Considering the context of World War II, Weil's comments echo C.S. Lewis' 1939 admonition to Oxford students, "Learning in War-Time." To a church filled with young men ready to leave their studies and join the fight, Lewis insisted on learning asand cultivating humility in the student. Like Lewis, Weil directs students' vision toward the higher ends of education.Weil argues, "The Key to a Christian conception of studies is the realisation that prayer consists of attention." If Christians desire communion with God, they should pray. For Weil, prayer is the practice of self-emptying, much as Jesus Christ did when He descended from the Godhead to the earth and then to the humiliation of the cross. When we give our undivided attention to something, we are practicing what Weil calls kenosis. This posture prepares us for prayer, enables us to pray-and may, in fact, be a form of praying. Thus, studying leads us to commune with God. School studies are sacramental exercises; with the right motivation, learning can be sanctifying.For Weil, Christian students should be more concerned with their ascent on the spiritual plane than their success within the earthly realm. Education, to her, is a spiritual exercise. Studying for geometry, for example, is less about the right proofs and more about perfecting the practice of attention. Weil does not denigrate the benefit of geometry or other courses; instead, she assumes and acknowledges their intrinsic value.Additionally, she praises school studies for their further, eternal good. With theas a goal, studying becomes a means for greater participation with the divine. Weil claims,Whether or not one excels in a class, the effort itself-of attending to one's studies in a striving for truth-will be transformative.If Weil is correct, then students should be eager to attend every class, read each assigned text, and delight in all courses-regardless of their preference or talent.Weil writes. Instead, students should like all of their subjects because they are steps toward communing with the divine. Weil wanted to move students away from a focus on success and self-interest in favor of the contemplative love of God. Students who practice an openness to their studies will receive more than those who vainly strive for trivial ends, such as a high grade on a disposable assignment. In Weil's argument, education is not a right, an opportunity, or an advantage over others, but a gift. How this approach would change Christian students' attitudes toward required courses!Students who practice an openness to their studies will receive more than those who vainly strive for trivial ends, such as a high grade on a disposable assignment.Weil indicts students who would make excuses, justify their mistakes, or be tempted to point out the faults of others. Contemporary teaching pedagogy is partially to blame for those student attitudes. Since kindergarten, many students have absorbed deceptive messages promising them they can succeed at anything. American teachers have expended too much energy building the self-esteem of students and making them less resilient as a result. Now, any knowledge of their mediocrity-or worse, failure-causes extreme anxiety. Yet, Weil asserts that knowledge of our mediocrity oris desirable because, through such knowledge,If students imagine themselves as fallen souls progressing toward spiritual perfection rather than as completed products, the evidence of their brokenness will not shatter them.Unsurprisingly, Weil's argument grates against popular conceptions of education. One of my first-year students came to my office after reading Weil to argue with a few of her claims. He disagreed with her proposal that studentsHe countered,He had been led to believe in education as a utilitarian enterprise.I answered. As Walker Percy famously writes, "You can get all A's and still flunk life." The telos for education, for a Christian student, is to know Jesus Christ and make Him known. All study of any discipline with the desire for truth participates in this process; the grade is tangential. If one excels in the subject, the grade should correlate with the performance. But, according to Weil, and I agree, the grade should never be the focus or the desire for the student.Weil's assertions align well with other Christians who recognize students as souls moving from sinners to saints. Percy describes us as pilgrim wayfarers. Flannery O'Connor describes us as goods under construction. The movement is the key. My students place so much value on their identity as though it is static. By choosing a major, they think they decide who they are. Instead, students need to focus on verbs, not nouns. They are not engineers, nurses, and teachers; they engineer, nurse, and teach. The verbs, with the accompanying practice, reveal the process and show students that vocation is about responding in practice to the ultimate call of discipleship.As Christians, we are all disciples, and we all do more than our occupations. A faithful Christian will practice learning inside and outside of the classroom, from birth to death, though the verbs differ from age to age. In college, the Christian student studies and attends to math, science, and literature perhaps more than she will after graduation. Yet, all of the practices in Christian higher education should have ultimate, transcendent ends. Weil concludes,Why, then, do students so often act as though academic work is a barrier between them and theChristian students especially need to read Weil's essay, that they may see and understand the right use of education. It is not for them to get ahead or to become well-rounded, but to discern the love of God. As Weil explains, theof academic work is, in reality, connecting students to the real world and, via their attention, to the transcendent. Stella Anderson, left, was appointed Thursday by Gov. Roy Cooper to the new State Board of Elections and elected secretary. She's pictured here in October with Valerie Johnson. Both served on the previous elections board. (CJ photo by Dan Way) Gov. Roy Cooper named three Democrats and two Republicans Thursday to the newly constituted State Board of Elections. The board members' first big test will be the disputed election in the 9th Congressional District. The new board elected Democrat Bob Cordle of Charlotte chairman in conference call a couple of hours after Cooper's announcement.Along with Cordle, Cooper picked Democrats Stella Anderson of Boone (who was elected board secretary) and Jeff Carmon of Durham; and Republicans David Black of Concord and Ken Raymond of Winston-Salem.They'll serve through April 30, 2023, or until successors are named and qualified, a statement by board spokesman Pat Gannon said.Republican nominee the Rev. Mark Harris defeated Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in the unofficial tally for the 9th District. But the previous board didn't certify Harris, and the board was dissolved last month by a three-judge state court panel.An evidentiary hearing is expected in February to examine claims of ballot fraud centering around a contractor who worked for a consultant Harris hired. The contractor, Leslie McCrae Dowless of Bladen County, was named as a person of interest by investigators . Dowless allegedly mishandled or destroyed absentee ballots. It's also possible local elections officials released early voting totals early to political operatives, which would violate the law.Last week, Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway refused a request to certify Harris, noting that the new board would be in place by the end of January.The board could certify Harris, continue the investigation, or order a new election. The last option would require the approval of at least four of the five board members. Even if Harris is certified, several Democratic leaders in the U.S. have said he won't be seated.If the board can't come to a conclusion about the race, then the House may assume jurisdiction over the contest, possibly conducting its own investigation and even order a new election. New Zealand Society of Authors - Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa Two writers receive NZSA Waitangi Day Literary Honours Two writers receive NZSA Waitangi Day Literary Honours Two writers making waves on the international scene have been awarded Waitiangi Day Literary Honours by the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc). This year's recipients are Samoan/Maori writer Lani Wendt Young, and Scottish-born crime writer Liam McIlvanney who now lives in Dunedin. "The selection of Lani Wendt-Young and Liam McIlvanney as recipients of the 2019 New Zealand Society of Authors Waitangi Day Honours is exciting. Both are very well accomplished authors. Lani is an inspiring Samoan/NZ YA author, journalist, editor and publisher; Liam is a well respected academic and a crime writer with a growing international reputation. Lani's recent attainments include being named 2018 ACP Pacific Laureate. Liam's achievements last year included the winning of the Scottish 2018 McIlvanney Prize,' says Siobhan Harvey, President of the New Zealand Society of Authors. Lani Young is a Samoan/Maori author and columnist. In 2018, she was named the ACP Pacific Laureate, selected by the African, Caribbean, Pacific Group of States as they paid creativity, courage and entrepreneurship . The ACP acknowledged her fiction writing, utilising digital publishing to take Samoan stories to a global audience, and also her journalism. Shes the author of ten books including the international bestselling Young Adult TELESA series, and PACIFIC TSUNAMI GALU AFI which tells the story of the 2009 disaster. Shes worked as a scriptwriter for Disney, and her stories for children are published by the NZ School Journal. She was the 2018 recipient of the Douglas Gabb Australia-Pacific Journalism internship and in 2017 her reporting on climate change issues in the Pacific won her a coveted fellowship award covering the UN Climate Conference in Bonn, Germany. In 2012 she won the USP Press Prize with her collection of short fiction, Afakasi Woman. Lani writes columns about tribute to her. The ACP acknowledged her fiction writing, utilising digital publishing to take Samoan stories to a global audience, and also her journalism.Shes the author of ten books including the international bestselling Young Adult TELESA series, and PACIFIC TSUNAMI GALU AFI which tells the story of the 2009 disaster. Shes worked as a scriptwriter for Disney, and her stories for children are published by the NZ School Journal.She was the 2018 recipient of the Douglas Gabb Australia-Pacific Journalism internship and in 2017 her reporting on climate change issues in the Pacific won her a coveted fellowship award covering the UN Climate Conference in Bonn, Germany. In 2012 she won the USP Press Prize with her collection of short fiction, Afakasi Woman.Lani writes columns about feminism , religion, culture, parenting, climate justice and everything in between. Her essay on A Samoan Womans Perspective on Ordained Women features in the Oxford Univ Press 2015 collection Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings . Her writing on child sexual abuse and domestic violence in Pasifika communities has generated dialogue in many forums worldwide. Her latest novel OCEANS KISS was published in September 2018. Lani Wendt Young says "I am humbled to receive this recognition and express my thanks to the New Zealand Society of Authors - Faafetai tele lava. As a brown woman who writes - oftentimes from the margins and smashing gates as I do so - I have seen the transformative power wrought by stories written by us, about us, and for us, as our communities the world over revel in books they can see themselves in, that they can embrace as their own. This literary honour is testament of that power, and emphasises the ever present need for more of us to write, publish, and have the support we need to take our stories to an international audience. The road is not always fun and fanciful, and an award like this is a much appreciated encouragement to keep forging ahead. Writing is resistance. It doesnt matter if we are writing fiery island romance, crime thrillers, or the next Man Booker prizewinner we are changemakers and can choose to either disrupt or uphold the status quo. To all my sister storytellers out there, weaving words in between the chaos of jobs, children, faalavelave, (and the possible frowning censure of your aiga!)...loto tele! My hope for all of us, is that we will have the fortitude to write though storms and fire, without approval or Likes, and stride like Nafanua the war goddess, with courage through every battleground. May we speak our truth, even when our voices shake. May we find joy in every dream we dream and every story we tell - as we rewrite the world." As a consequence of highlighting social issues she has been targetted with on-line hate campaigns and direct death threats. NZSA salutes her resilience and vision and defends the importance of her writing.Lani Wendt Young says Liam McIlvanney is the inaugural Stuart Professor of Scottish Studies and Director of the Times Literary Supplement , the London Review of Books and the Guardian . His debut, Burns the Radical , won the Saltire First Book Award in 2002. His second novel, Where the Dead Men Go, won the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best New Zealand Crime Novel. His most recent novel, The Quaker , won the 2018 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. He is a patron of the Imprint Book Festival in his native East Ayrshire, an honorary member of the Irvine Burns Club, and an Honorary Fellow in the Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow. He became a New Zealand citizen in early 2019. He lives in Dunedin with his wife and four sons. Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Otago. He has written for numerous publications, including the, theand the. His debut,, won the Saltire First Book Award in 2002. His second novel,won the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best New Zealand Crime Novel. His most recent novel,, won the 2018 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. He is a patron of the Imprint Book Festival in his native East Ayrshire, an honorary member of the Irvine Burns Club, and an Honorary Fellow in the Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow. He became a New Zealand citizen in early 2019. He lives in Dunedin with his wife and four sons. I am stunned and delighted to receive this honour from the New Zealand Society of Authors. It testifies to the ongoing vitality of the crime fiction produced in this country and, on a personal level, its a very special moment for this transplanted Scot. I am due to become a New Zealand citizen at a ceremony in Dunedin on 19 February, and to receive this literary honour in the same month is deeply moving. Thank you.' When notified of the honour, McIlvanney responded: ' Harvey adds: 'In person and product, both recipients represent different but complimentary examples of contemporary literature in Aotearoa. The awarding of the Waitangi Day Honours this year continues our organisation's commitment to excellence, equality and recognising diversity, as evidenced by the range of previous recipients such as Ashleigh Young and Selina Tusitala Marsh. The Waitangi Day Honours are the only NZ literary awards bestowed by peers, hence the recognition of excellence and achievement is particularly significant." Previous honourees also include Owen Marshall, Paul Cleave and Man Booker winner Eleanor Catton. For further information please contact: Jenny Nagle, CEO, Siobhan Harvey, President, Jenny Nagle, CEO, director@nzauthors.org.nz Siobhan Harvey, President, president@nzauthors.org.nz New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc.) Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa NZSA is the principal organisation representing the interests of writers in New Zealand. PO Box 7701, Wellesley Street, Auckland 1141 Ph: 09 379 4801 Success for book on children's literature Children's Literature in a Multililterate World, edited by Nicola Daly and Dr. Libby Limbrick, with advisory editor Pam Dix, has been shortlisted for the United Kingdom Literacy Association 2019 Academic Book Award. Children's Literature in a Multililterate World is published by Trentham Books and UCL, Institute of Education Press, University College London, is a collection of chapters based on papers presented at the 35th IBBY Congress, hosted by Storylines in Auckland in 2016. The book was launched by Dame Wendy Pye, Patron of Storylines, in August 2018 at a Storylines event prior to the Booksellers New Zealand 2018 Conference. Dr Libby Limbrick and Nicola Daly following the launch of the book Storylines Margaret Mahy Award Winner 2019 Mandy is author of an impressive list of award-winning books spanning the last two decades; she is a trained teacher, with an Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts (Whitireia) and an MA in Creative Writing from Victoria University. In addition to her YA fiction, she also writes adult fiction, short stories, non-fiction, educational resources, blogs and articles. She currently tutors the Novel Course for Whitireias Creative Writing programme. Read more about Mandy Acclaimed Young Adult and adult novelist Many Hager has been selected as the 2019 Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal winner.Mandy is author of an impressive list of award-winning books spanning the last two decades; she is a trained teacher, with an Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts (Whitireia) and an MA in Creative Writing from Victoria University. In addition to her YA fiction, she also writes adult fiction, short stories, non-fiction, educational resources, blogs and articles. She currently tutors the Novel Course for Whitireias Creative Writing programme. Read more about Mandy here . Read the full news release about her award here Mandy Hager 2018 Storylines Betty Gilderdale Award lecture The Storylines Betty Gilderdale Award for 2018 was presented to Northland librarian and childrens literacy advocate Jeannie Skinner in early December. A full copy of the text of her lecture is now on our Storylines Betty Gilderdale Award website page Jeannie Skinner presents the Storylines Spring lecture Storylines National Festival Story Tour 2019 Applications are still open for thsi year's Story Tour, but there are limited spaces on each remaining. Please check your emails as in the next couple of weeks for confirmation of whether your application has been successful. If you' haven;t yet done so and would like one (or maybe two) of our writers or illustrators to visit, apply now: Otago , 13-17 May Northland , 17-21 June Auckland , 19-23 August Gisborne/Central Plateau , 9-13 September Thames/Coromandel/Hauraki , 21-25 October anterbury & South Island east coast , 8-22 November Bottom: Gavin Bishop on the Story Tour Top: Darryn Joseph & Gavin Bishop on the Story TourBottom: Gavin Bishop on the Story Tour Congratulations Gerri Judkins Storylines Foundation has awarded Gerri Judkins a Storylines Life membership. Gerri, who will be acknowledged at the Storylines National Margaret Mahy Awards Day, is a children's literature specialist and librarian at Southwell School in the Waikato. She has been a judge of children's literature awards, and a speaker on children's literature nationally and internationally. She was the 2016 winner of the Storylines Betty Gilderdale Award for services to childrenb's literature, and has also been recognised by the Library and Information Association and the School Librarians Association for her work as an advocate for children's books and young people's engagemnt with literature. Gerri Judkins Storylines Margaret Mahy National Awards Day 2019 Now we're into 2019, remember to mark 12.30pm, Sunday 31 March 2019 for the Storylines National Margaret Mahy Awards Day. We'll be making an exciting announcement about a new activity for Storylines as well as presenting awards and certificates for the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal, the manuscript awards, the Storylines Gavin Bishop Award for a new illustrator, and the 2019 Notable Books. It will be held the University of Auckland Music Auditorium, Epsom campus, Epsom Avenue, Auckland. Highlight of the afternoon will be the presentation by Mandy Hager of her Margaret Mahy lecture. Registrations essential. Now we're into 2019, remember to mark 12.30pm, Sunday 31 March 2019 for the Storylines National Margaret Mahy Awards Day. We'll be making an exciting announcement about a new activity for Storylines as well as presenting awards and certificates for the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal, the manuscript awards, the Storylines Gavin Bishop Award for a new illustrator, and the 2019 Notable Books. It will be held the University of Auckland Music Auditorium, Epsom campus, Epsom Avenue, Auckland. Highlight of the afternoon will be the presentation by Mandy Hager of her Margaret Mahy lecture.Registrations essential. Register now Networking and book buying opportunities at the 2018 Awards day Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-loved Book deadline for submissions is Friday 15 February 2019 . Details on Storylines invites nominations for the 2019 Gaelyn Gordon Award. Sponsored by David Ling Publishers, Scholastic New Zealand and HarperCollins, the award honours a book for children or young adults which has remained in print for a period of more than five years and proved itself a favourite with readers. but which has not won a major award.Nominations are invited from publishers, authors or illustrators for any book which meet these basic criteria. The. Details on our website 2018 Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award winner, by Joy Cowley Nickety-Nackety, Noo-Noo-Noo Top Ten ways to reach reluctant readers If you are not a current Storylines member, but would like to support Storylines and gain access to our member-only resources, head to our Storylines members can now access a new Top Ten Tips sheet on our website, as author peter Millett offers his take on how to achieve success writing for reluctant readers. Read his advice here If you are not a current Storylines member, but would like to support Storylines and gain access to our member-only resources, head to our membership page first. Peter Millett Subscription reminder Storylines thanks all members who have renewed their subscriptions or joined this year. Your support, through your Storylines Foundation membership, is important to us. Foundation memberships support our work engaging young New Zealanders with books and reading (e.g. through the Story Tours) and supporting New Zealand children's writers and illustrators (e.g. through national awards, events and publications). Renew your membership, or join the Storylines Foundation, through the website with your credit card, or as a direct credit to the Storylines bank account. Check out our instructions for renewal or new membership Members and volunteers are integral to the success of Storylines' activities Answer & Win Please tell us the name of the 2019 Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal winner, and when she will be awarded with her medal. In 2019 we are giving away two prize packs containing fabulous New Zealand children's books every month. Email us at competition@storylines.org.nz with the answer to this month's question: Our February prize pac: News on our Facebook and home pages more. You'll also read other news items on our Storylines' Facebook page is accessible through the website, and we would love to increase our tally of likes. Content includes photos and reports from the 2018 Story Tours and muchYou'll also read other news items on our home page . Check in for updates. News from other organisations Excerpt #4: A Nation Deceived It had been a hectic and far-from-pleasant week despite attempts by my parents to make us, especially Karen, comfortable. Tun Razaks death had cast a gloom on the entire nation. My being posted to Kuala Lipis only made the mood worse despite my earlier spin at viewing that as an exotic sojourn. My father was conflicted on whether I was still his teenage son whom he could order around or a young surgeon deserving of some awe and respect. He occasionally addressed me as Tuan Doctor! but seeing that I did not respond, reverted back to the familiar Bai! My mother stuck to Bai. To her I was still her young boy to whom she had waved a long, tearful goodbye some thirteen years earlier, and now desperate to make up for all those precious lost times. She was noticeably restrained however, in ordering me around in Karens presence. I in turn was very effective in using that as a convenient shield. This Kuala Lipis posting was not what we had expected. That Friday, as we had promised before we left Canada, Karen phoned her parents. She broke down during the call and had to hand the phone to me as she could not continue. Her earlier excitement of a new adventure had now given way to a terrible homesickness. I did my best on the phone to reassure my in-laws. It helped that the call was expensive and thus had to be brief. Ruth maintained her composure. Her parting words was a pleading take good care of my baby and grandchildren. Karen and I were not the only ones down in the dumps that week. The day before, the Tuns body arrived at Subang Airport from London. The place was packed and the grief palpable. His funeral was, as expected of a much-loved leader, somber. The mood was amplified by the live coverage. Everyone who could not go to the airport were glued to the television sets, at home, in the restaurants, and community centers. The whole nation was in despair. It was the suddenness and unexpectedness that shocked the nation. Malaysians had not at all been prepared for the tragic news. I felt detached through it all. That surprised me for I had admired the man. He had after all inspired me to return! Engulfed in my own turmoil, the Tuns death was more disappointment than sadness. That soon turned to anger as details of his malady became known. He had been sick for years, stricken with leukemia. He had kept that secret, from his family as well as the nation, right till the very end. Even when he took the final trip to London for his desperate and ultimately futile treatment, there was an elaborate ruse to disguise and hide it from the public. This despite his obvious emaciation. Hard to believe that his fellow cabinet ministers, top civil servants, and others close to him did not notice this dramatic physical deterioration in the man. You did not have to be a doctor to know that there was something wrongand mortally sowith him. Yet he was able to deceive everyone right to the day he left Malaysia by sneaking through Singapore on the pretense of a routine visit. As details of that and other deliberate deceptions later emerged, I became angry. He had not taken Malaysians into his confidence. Now his demise had caused so much pain. The Tuns keeping his fatal illness a secret was not an act of courage or favor but the contrary. When you are in the doldrums, indulging in one bad thought would in quick order degenerate into other more sinister ones, with subsequent contemplations even less charitable if not downright ugly. I wished Allah would let the Tun have a final look on earth and see the grief he had inflicted upon his people. He could have lightened that burden had only he had taken them in his confidence. We Muslims are very accepting of death. My thoughts flashed back to my childhood days in the old village. I remembered my cousins and others being taken out of the English school we attended, opting instead for the new Malay stream. They had fallen for the sway of the nationalists. My father managed to dissuade some of them. We should not listen to what our leaders say, instead follow what they do, he advised them. The Minister of Education at that time was Tun Razak. While he was exhorting the Malay masses to send their children to Malay schools, he was surreptitiously sending his, all of them, to English schools, and in England to boot. That was Tun Razaks first deception. He succeeded very well. No surprise then that others would follow, until the ultimate one that January. Years later my cousins whose parents had kept them in the English stream would never cease to express their gratitude to my father. On the other hand, a friend whose parents had taken him out of English school, on Tun Razaks exhortations, on meeting me later (now a surgeon) would only comment that my father had been wiser than his! Tun Razak was the man who inspired me to give up my career in Canada and return home. Now the best my country could offer me was a slot in Kuala Lipis District Hospital, and without an anesthesiologist! I was directing my anger on and disappointment to the man. He was now the focus of my conflicting emotions. How on earth did I end up in this predicament? The sparkles of the fond memories I had of the late Tun were now dimmed but I still harbored a tiny reservoir of goodwill for the man. To escape the turmoil within me, or more correctly, to distract myself, I decided to take the weekend off to go Port Dickson. We pretended that the last week or two had been but a bad dream and that we were back at Honolulu and extending our stay there. Although the amenities at the Rest House in Port Dickson were far from those at the hotel we stayed in Waikiki, nonetheless our brief make-believe diversion was therapeutic. Next: Excerpt #5: Meeting The Big Chief The list is almost endless -- even in the less than five mass shootings that were committed by non-citizens, none of those shooters were here illegally or Hispanic. So why do the victims of citizens of the United States deserve less outrage and demands for solutions than victims of illegal immigrants? The deaths of Mollie Tibbetts and Officer Singh are tragic, as are all the deaths listed and not listed, but we arent willing to even try to prevent deaths by gun perpetrated against citizens by citizens? On Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019 at approximately 5 p.m., the Coconino County Sheriffs Office Search and Rescue Unit responded to a report of an overdue skier who had left the ski area boundary at Arizona Snowbowl and entered the Kachina Peaks Wilderness. The skier, a 16-year-old male from Flagstaff, became separated from his group and the rest of the group returned to the Arizona Snowbowl where they made the report to the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Patrol. The skier was reported to be equipped with only his skis and cell phone and no other survival equipment. At the time the report was made, it appeared that the skiers cell phone had been powered off or had run out of battery. Coconino County Sheriffs Office Search and Rescue along with the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Patrol initiated a search for the skier. At approximately 5:45 p.m. the officers located the skier on Snowbowl Road close to milepost 3. The skier was uninjured and was given a ride to the Agassiz Lodge to be reunited with his family and friends. On Sunday afternoon Flagstaff Police Department officers responded to the Saga Motel on 820 W Route 66 to assist the U.S. Marshals Office with the arrest of a fugitive believed to be in one of the rooms, according to an FPD release. The fugitive was identified as Brandon Daniel Coronado, 34, of Phoenix. Coronado was wanted for aggravated assault involving a weapon and was considered to be armed and dangerous. At approximately 1:30 p.m. officers on scene heard a single gun shot from inside the room where Coronado was. Members of the Flagstaff Police Department SWAT and Negotiations Teams responded to assist with the arrest. After a tactical entry into the room, Coronado was located dead in the bathroom from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. A suicide note was located inside the room. Love 9 Funny 7 Wow 1 Sad 10 Angry 3 Watching the Super Bowl has become as much about the commercials as it has about the actual game itself. As the New England Patriots (yet again) played for the Lombardi Trophy against the Los Angeles Rams, many in the audience merely saw that as killing time until they got to see their favorite celebrity hawk products that they probably already own.That also means that ad agencies and companies go all-out when it comes to Super Bowl commercials. And while sometimes that leads to very memorable and powerful imagery, it can also backfire in an avalanche of cringe and bad taste. Its not enough to hire a famous person for your commercial, you have to give them something to do and have it make sense for your product. You cant just show us inspirational images, you have to provide context. You cant just do gross-out humor for the sake of it, it has to actually be funny.These are all lessons that go unheeded every year by at least a few advertisers. Lets find out which ones were the bottom of the barrel when it came to Super Bowl LIII commercials. (Dont forget to check out the best Super Bowl commercials of the year over here). Dishonorable Mention All of the Sad Robot Commercials (Michelob Ultra, Turbo Tax, Sprint) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNfv9wsttKEThe robot busts his ass and all the humans could care less. Were on #TeamRobot. Also, whats the deal with all the robots suck commercials this year? This is why the robot uprising is coming. Avocados from Mexico Top Dog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUuFfR6-cxMA classic case of trying too hard to be funny. And why is Kristin Chenoweth here? Audi Cashew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrgq2CIag6MSo, if were reading this ad correctly, the idea of owning an electric Audi is something you can only achieve in death and youll never be able to afford or appreciate that kind of thing in your crummy day-to-day existence. Got it. Stella Artois Change Up The Usual https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX8TMYRk6_wTHIS is what you bring The Dude back for? What a waste. Were supposed to be really excited about seeing our favorite characters pop up once more (as well as The Most Interesting Man in the World). But this ad just leaves us feeling bummed out about selling out the characters. Sarah Jessica-Parker and Jeff Bridges might as well be toting the big sacks of money they were paid to show up along with them. 5. Kia Give It Everything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_awpNKfjDkThis earnest Kia had makes the list for reasons that require a little context.First of all, the first 30 seconds of this commercial feels like a dystopian nightmare or an dire indie movie that you would never want to watch.Second of all, the idea that we should be showcasing normal folks instead of paying celebrities millions to endorse random products every year is a noble one. And if this message was coming from some nonprofit organization or charity it might resonate a bit more. The problem is that it comes from Kia, a company that has literally been paying celebrities millions of dollars to endorse its products during the Super Bowl for a decade now. There was the Laurence Fishburne ad in 2014, the Pierce Bronson ad in 2015, the Christopher Walken ad in 2016, the Melissa McCarthy ad in 2017, the Steven Tyler ad in 2018.Shut up, Kia. 4. Pepsi More Than OK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9xy3cdykJsWere gonna guess a lot of people will say they enjoyed this, but were pretty sure its not because its a good ad. Its actually something of a monument to all of the bad instincts that advertisers have when it comes to the Super Bowl.You start with a decent-enough idea. Its a common enough experience that people order Coke at a restaurant only to be asked if Pepsi is okay. But then it steps into the worst Super Bowl commercial trope, the Hey, A Famous Person Showed Up To Do The Thing Theyre Famous For routine.Steve Carell is basically doing Michael Scott before handing it off to Lil Jon so he can say Okay a couple times before they both make room for Cardi B to show up andsit down. You can feel the ad executives working out the celebrity cameos to make sure theyre hitting all the relevant demographics (Cardi B for the young folk! Steve Carell for middle-aged white people!). Theres nothing inherently offensive about the ad, its just a mish-mosh of ideas and cameos that dont amount to much. 3. Budweiser Wind Never Felt Better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6VciSoR1iQFor a company known for its pandering Super Bowl commercials, this might just take the cake. Lets start by acknowledging that its a good thing that Anheuser-Busch is using wind energy. No qualms there. But its just the self-aggrandizing nature of this whole package that rubs us the wrong way. First, the Bob Dylan song. Second, the dog. Third, the Clydesdale horses. Fourth, the close-up on all that (probably genetically modified) wheat. All of these things engineered to elicit a reaction out of you, whoever you are. And it all just feels so obvious, which robs it of any emotional resonance.We can see the moving parts, the boardroom meetings to discuss demographics, the carefully selected imagery to appeal to baby boomers as well as millennials. All of these Super Bowl advertisements like this are created to make you dance like a puppet, but a really good commercial will camouflage the strings so you dont see them. In this ad, you can see the strings, the puppeteer, and the entire backstage area full of people in suits grinning about what a good job theyve done. 2. Mint Mobile Chunky Style Milk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhkcQbhiOiMGross-out humor can certainly work in commercials. Brands like Skittles and Doritos have found success with gross imagery because they find a way to balance it with humor and/or messaging. Thats not really the case here as the chunky milk idea is just plain gross. Watching people drink spoiled milk full of chunks is so off-putting it makes you turn away from the screen. By the time the messaging comes around, its too late. Youre just thinking about how gross all of this is.Also, the whole thing felt like a rejected Geico commercial, right down to the setup. So altogether, this ad left us with a bad taste in our mouth (pun intended) and made us think of a different company. Not great, Bob. 1. Planters #Crunchtime https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1M2S_4p_6cEverything about this commercial feels like they decided to brainstorm one really good idea but just collected all their first-draft ideas and shoved them together. Theres a lot going on but none of it makes any sense. Youve got Mr. Peanut doing insane tricks in The Nutmobile (actual name). Charlie Sheen is there for some reason. Then Alex Rodriguez is there for some reason. Mr. Peanut saves ARod from the scourge of kale chips even though he seemed more than happy to eat them beforehand. Then theres a guy getting his newspaper (in 2019) cheering on the Nutmobile just for the hell of it.Were deducting extra points for the inclusion of Charlie Sheen, who hasnt been relevant in years and weve all agreed should have been irrelevant far sooner. Really not sure why they thought they needed to include him, but then again this ad is so bonkers it doesnt seem like they had much of a throughline anyway.Be sure to check out what we thought were the 10 best Super Bowl LIII commercials here. For the moment at least, newspaper publisher Gannett wont be acquired by Digital First Media (the hedge fund-owned company also known as MNG Enterprises). Digital First made a bid for Gannett early in January, offering $12 a share (a 23 percent premium over Gannetts $9.24 stock price at the time; Gannett stock is currently at $10.81), and that worried many journalists, given that Digital First has been known for massive cuts at papers like The Denver Post and given that Gannett (which owns USA Today, The Detroit Free Press, The Cincinnati Enquirer and many more) is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation of all its titles. Gannett conducted major layoffs of its own in mid-January (alongside plenty of other media companies), but their 10-member board announced Monday that theyd unanimously rejected the Digital First offer. Heres more on that from CNNs Tom Kludt: After careful review and consideration, conducted in consultation with its financial and legal advisors, the Gannett board concluded that MNGs unsolicited proposal undervalues Gannett and is not in the best interests of Gannett and its shareholders, Gannett said in a statement. In addition, Gannett does not believe MNGs proposal is credible. MNG (itself mostly owned by New York hedge fund Alden Capital) currently owns around 7.5 percent of Gannett stock, so they wouldnt be able to force a change here without other investors getting on board. Their own statement made it seem like they may not have given up, though: Gannetts Board today sent shareholders a clear message: that it intends to block immediate and certain value creation opportunities in favor of a speculative future engineered by the team that already has destroyed over 40% of the Companys value. Gannetts long-suffering shareholders cannot afford to wait any longer, MNG said in a statement. The only responsible course is for Gannett to engage in a genuine pursuit to maximize value, either from MNG or others with reported interest. MNG criticized Gannetts strategic vision, saying the company has no credible plan to attain a $12 per share valuation on its own and criticizing Gannetts pie in the sky hopes for its digital businesses. And this story maybe isnt over yet. Kludt notes that Gannett board chair J. Jeffry Louis requested a meeting with MNG board chair Joseph Fuchs in a letter Monday. That isnt necessarily going to lead to a different offer, especially with the sides seemingly so far apart, but its interesting that Gannett still wants to talk about this. And its notable that MNGs push isnt just for them to acquire control of Gannett, but for the company to engage in a genuine pursuit to maximize value, either from MNG or others with reported interest. However, any pursuit to maximize value is likely going to involve major cuts, if the past history of hedge fund ownership of papers is any indication. While that can briefly improve the bottom line, its far from clear that that maximizes long-term value, especially once subscribers and advertisers start leaving a skeletal paper, and once journalists start choosing not to work there. Of course, Gannetts current ownership has made plenty of big cuts too, but it seems likely that hedge fund ownership might lead to even larger reductions at their papers. And given the scale of Gannett, this is definitely worth keeping an eye on. This particular bid may have been rebuffed, but that doesnt mean thats the end of the story. [CNN; photo of the Gannett/USA Today McLean, VA headquarters from Wikipedia] MONTREALThe month of February just became a little more beautiful, courtesy of Girlsway and Aidra Fox. For 28 days, Fox will reign as Girlsway's Girl of the Month. Wow! What an amazing honor it is to be the face of this wonderful website this month, said Fox. Ive loved Girlsway content and the true girl-on-girl sex they believe in for so, so long, and I couldnt be happier to represent Girlsway this whole month! The Wisconsin-born brunette, who made her Girlsway Model Debut in 2014s WebYoung release Strip Poker, defines the attitude and energy of a Girlsway Girl of the Month according to Bree Mills, who oversees Gamma Films award-winning lesbian adult studio. Aidra is a fantastic performer and truly embodies everything we look for in a Girl of the Month, Mills said. She is beautiful, professional, talented and loves other women! Fox can next be seen in her very own spotlight scene alongside her personally handpicked co-star, Gina Valentina, available February 7, as well as Girlsways family roleplay fantasy from Mommys Girl, Who Needs Dad?, (with Serene Siren) out February 9. Model Page . Find out more about Fox at her Girlsway.com Above, the Real World Suite Party on Jan. 19, one of the many events during the GayVN Awards weekend in Las Vegas. To see more photos from the weekend's parties as well as the GayVN Awards red carpet and stage show, click here. As the crowd built on the red carpet before the GayVN Awards ceremony at The Joint in the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino two weeks ago, Phoenix Fellington lifted his phone up in the air as he took a video of the sea of people. He smiled as he soaked it all up, the special nature of the moment sinking in. He wasnt the only one. Just yards away, Corbin Colby finished his red carpet interviews and caught up with Johnny V. After chatting, Johnny V reached in to give a long, tight hugone that had Colby grinning from ear to ear, his pure happiness unmistakable as he reciprocated the heartfelt embrace. The first company I ever filmed with was American Muscle Hunks, and Johnny V was the person who started me in the gay industry. I hadnt seen him for at least two-and-a-half years, and his was the most genuine connection that I feltnot just in the industry, but with people in general. I was just thrilled to see him because Ive missed him ever so dearly, shared Colby. And that spoke to the power of the environment that weekend. For industry insiders, it was about a lot more than just winning awards. This weekend is very important, because the gay porn industry really needs this recognitionand it deserves it. I personally connect with this because Ive been doing porn for three years, and I feel like we need to be shared in this light that shows us as something different, that is something unique, Colby said. Thats what I love about all of this. And from what Ive seen, GayVN has done the most to establish thatto show the people what we are and who we are, and I appreciate that ever so much. The festivities started Friday night before the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend with the HustlaBall Official Opening Party in collaboration with GayVN at Vanity Nightclub in the Hard Rock. Alex Mecum and husband Carter Dane arrived the night before, and were in attendance to kick off the weekend. (Click here for Hustlaball photos.) AVN went all out for this show, so I feel like it gives some dignity to what were doing, and thats important, said Mecum. I think now more than ever, a lot of our industry has come into the light. For a lot of uslike Jake Jaxson said on stagethis is our first education on what sex should be like. And for us as sexual minorities, its so important to have that celebrated. We have an opportunity to influence people for future generations, and Im glad we have better sex education these daysand porn will always be around as something that we identify with and attracts us. Mecum and Dane spent that Friday night meeting fans and catching up with fellow performers like Levi Karter, Austin Wolf, Johnny V and moreall as DJ Dominic Pacifico entertained the crowd through the wee hours of the morning. I love getting to see everyone, all of us coming togethereven the people I dont like, and even the people that dont like me, joked Wolf. I do like all of them. I like the idea of being here and knowing were all together. Im hoping 2019 will be a little bit more of a coming together year and feeling that were all on the same team. There really doesnt have to be a competition here I really want all of these boys to succeed. Wolf was a noticeable presence all weekend, from throwing out GayVN hats to the crowd Friday night to presenting during the GayVN Awards. When you come to something like this, it shows how things are changing I mean, five years ago when I went to a sceneand Trenton Ducati and I had this conversationit would literally enter your head that you were worried about the next one, and even if there was going to be a next one. You almost felt like gay porn was dead. There was no hope, there was no light at the end of the tunnel. All there was was escorting, and depending on who you were, that was not the healthiest lifestyle. And now things are progressing and evolving, and money is coming in. New sites are being built and new concepts are being developed, and Im very excited to see what we come up with next. It was that sense of community and shared success that made the weekend special for performers. Its always nice to see everyone come togetherits like the Avengers. Everyone comes from their own little world and always gets along, smiled Beaux Banks. You get to catch up and see what everyones doing inside and outside of the industry, and the messages that theyre advocating forlike Jacen (Zhu) and his Takedown Tina initiativeand then just to see how far people come. Everyone has stepped it up a notch, and its good to see the growth. I get so excited to see everyone, even if I dont know them. Banks notes that the return of the awards last year was huge for the industry. With the GayVNs specifically, we feel like were part of it now. AVN is so bigI call it the regulatory agency of the whole adult industry, so it feels good to have the light shine on us, and on everyone. Last year had that big controversy with the ethic category, and this year, it was so diversefrom the nominees to the marketingso its nice seeing everyone celebrated, whether its nominees, attendees, the fans who come its just a time to celebrate everyone. And out of all the award shows Ive been to in the past two years, this has been the biggest turnout for fansand they stay for the week. Thats a good part of being in Vegasthey can find things to do, and they can meet their favorite people. For Skyy Knox, it was extra special seeing Banks. Its great to see people I started with, like Beaux Banks. We started at the same time, so weve been growing on our journey together, so its great for both of us. We always support each other. This weekend gets the whole industry together, and its great because we only get to be together as a group a few times a year. The GayVNs especially just came back last year, and now were back againand its grown even bigger, so more people are coming. With the events they throwlike the VIP parties, the after-parties, and then the awardswow, its so spectacular, and they got amazing performers. My Falcon team got together, and it was great just for us to grow as a family even more. I love themthey do so much for me. Adam Ramzi, who took home the fan award for Favorite Daddy, shared the sentiment as he enjoyed his first ever GayVN Awards. I love this weekend as an opportunity for us all to get together and catch up and see what were all up to. I dont see a lot of members in this industry on a regular basis, so just even before the awards started, it was so nice to be able to talk to people, see what everybody is up to, catch up, make jokes, congratulate each other. The thing is, we are a small community of people, and were making stuff for the world to seeand this makes me feel like people are seeing it, which is awesome. It was a big gay weekend in Vegas, which helped add to the excitement for both fans and industry folk. This brings the community together, shared Dane. There was HustlaBall and the Sin City Classic, and then the GayVNs its just bringing so many different aspects of the industry togetherand so many performers together. Its important to keep that within our community and keep on growing it. Fellow CockyBoy Karter concurred: For me and just everyone in this industry in front of and behind the camera, this is a very important weekend for all of usnot just in the sense of work, but also because this is our time to celebrate. We only have a handful of shows, so its just one of those times that we really all get to be together. Both performers congregated for the awards rehearsal, and also made appearances throughout the weekend. Other events included the Real World Suite Party on Saturday night, the official GayVN Awards Pre-Party at the Paradise Penthouse on Sunday night, and the GayVN Awards After Party (also in the Real World Suite)which ran into the early morning hours on Tuesday (and was highlighted by Johnny Rapids excitement with the bowling lane). Its really good to have everybody together; its just fun. We get to break bread together and network, and its a good reminder that youre not alonetheres other people trying to create the best art that they can, shared Max Konnor, who won the Best Duo Sex Scene award with Armond Rizzo. Ive caught up with some old friends and met some new ones; everybodys really cool. I also got to see a few of my fans who have been ride or die since the very beginning. I took some of the new AVN Men magazines, autographed them and gave it to them. Its really nice to be able to get to meet them and give something back for their faithful fandom. Rizzo also spend time chatting with Diego Sans over the weekend. Sans shared the Best Actor trophy for his performance in Pirates: A Gay XXX Parody. These awards, its important to many of the models. I was just talking to Armond, and in a way it gives you a bit of recognition that, as a performer, youre doingnot necessarily your job, but youre doing you, and people are liking who you are and what youre projecting, Sans said. I love the environment that were all in. Were all in the same industry, but you dont see many of these models on a daily basis. So its a bit of a family reunion for your business family. And its good because you can connect with directors, and you can get to know a little bit more about the industry. So many people think its just that you go in, you do a shoot, edit and done. Theres so much more behind it, and this is where you actually get to meet people that are responsible for productions, marketing and editing. This is where you really start to see the business and what its all about, and theres no fucking way theyre not going to like it, because its fucking porn! Sans shared his Best Actor trophy with Wesley Woods (for Zack & Jack Make a Porno), who also took home Performer of the Year. Woods arrived the day before the awards and made the most of his time. Its great whenever you can get all of us into one space its nice to be able to get any kind of group together, because we all get it. We all understand what we do for work; we dont have to have weird conversations or explanations. You actually get to laugh with people about hilarious stories, catch up or just bond with people that you dont always get to see or be around. I like it for that aspect, he said. I think its important to show that youre recognized for what youre doing in your efforts, and porn has a huge platform. Some of these performers need to be very aware of their following and the messages that theyre putting out there. So its a good time to check in with each other: How are you doing? Do you need help with anything? Because we all live very different, chaotic lives. Its just nice to be around everyone. The GayVN Awards Show, presented by ManyVids with support from event sponsors CAM4 and CCBill and bar sponsors ModelCentro and Mr. Man, took place January 21. Click here for more on the show. Stacee S. Harvey, 32, of 2 Seminary St., Auburn, was charged Feb. 1 with possession of a hypodermic instrument and endangering the welfare of a child. Martin L. Scott, 27, of 2 Seminary St., Auburn, was charged Feb. 1 with possession of a hypodermic instrument and endangering the welfare of a child. Joshua M. Martin, 31, 14 Greenview Circle, Auburn, was charged Feb. 3 with second-degree criminal contempt. Michael A. French, 32, of 103 King Ave., Solvay, was picked up on a bench warrant Feb. 2. Diondrie E. Smith, 18, of 35 Barber St., Auburn, was picked up on a bench warrant Feb. 2. Kenneth J. Laframboise, Jr., 35, of 86 Owasco St., Auburn, was picked up on bench warrant Feb. 2. Kimberly A. Walawender, 35, of 75 North Division St., Auburn, was picked up on a bench warrant Feb. 1. State Darryl A. Esce, 56, of East Syracuse, was charged Feb. 3 with operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs and first-offense aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child. Ricky Bellamy, 49, of Groton, was charged Feb. 3 with petit larceny. Ashton T. Sheils, 21, of Montezuma, was charged Feb. 2 with first-offense driving while intoxicated and first-offense operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .08 of 1 percent. Love 0 Funny 4 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} "There's a quality management system we have to adhere to in order to work with these customers," he said. "We had to change a lot of security aspects of the facility and button up our processes." Northeastern's growth was strong even before it obtained that certification. After the company was started in 1981 by Stephen and Brent's father, Steven, Northeastern made its name manufacturing power cords for IBM, and even expanded production to a second facility in North Carolina. When overseas competitors drove prices down, Northeastern shifted from strictly commercial clients to military ones as well, Stephen said. Today, he continued, the manufacturer does business with an equal amount of both and that business is booming. The reason that business is booming and the reason Northeastern has a nearly 100-percent customer retention rate is because the manufacturer is nimble enough to quickly meet needs that larger companies can't, Peltz said. It can provide point-by-point feedback on technical drawings, he said, and deliver thousands of cables on lead times as short as a few days. "You're not going to find a lot of companies that can do large volumes of small, complex cables," he said. The Cayuga County Health Department will host a free presentation on vaping and smoking prevention, "The New Smoking Culture in Youth," from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, at Auburn Junior High School, 191 Franklin St., Auburn. Dr. C. Beth Gero, a certified tobacco treatment specialist, will answer questions and address topics like what vapes and e-cigarettes look like, the health consequences of using those devices, and more. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call (315) 253-1560. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York's top fiscal officers revealed a steep revenue decline over the last several weeks that could lead to changes in the state budget. Cuomo, along with state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Budget Director Robert Mujica, announced Monday that state personal income tax receipts are $2.3 billion below projections. The revenue decline was first noticed in late December and continued through January. During that period, the state usually receives 39 to 46 percent of its personal income tax receipts. However, the state only received about 30 percent of the revenue over the past month or so. "This is worse than we had anticipated," Cuomo said. Cuomo blamed the revenue decline on several factors. However, he emphasized the impact of the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions that was included in the federal tax law signed in 2017. The law took effect last year, which means the state is seeing the impact of the cap for the first time. The cap on state and local tax deductions has long been criticized by Cuomo. New York joined other states in challenging the constitutionality of the provision, and the governor warned last year that it could impact the state's finances. Finland has breached the political rights of its Sami population, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled Monday, charging that Helsinki had violated the indigenous people's right to "internal self-determination". Tiina Sanila-Aikio, president of Finland's Sami parliament, and 25 other lawmakers complained to the committee in October 2015, saying Helsinki had unlawfully interfered in their people's right to decide who can participate in elections to their house of representatives. They said Finland's Supreme Court had granted 93 people the right to vote in the Sami parliamentary elections, despite the fact that the house itself had found them ineligible. It had also rejected others in an "arbitrary" fashion, they said. "The Human Rights Committee found that Finland has improperly intervened in the complainers' rights to political participation regarding their specific rights as an indigenous people," a panel statement said. The Sami, formerly known as Lapps, are spread out across the northern parts of Sweden, Finland and Norway and the Russian Kola peninsula, in a region known as Lapland. According to the Finnish Sami parliament, there are 10,000 Sami in Finland. In the statement, committee chair Yuval Shany stressed that "the right to internal self-determination requires that indigenous peoples be afforded with the capacity to define group membership." "Although the state may exercise powers of oversight over procedures designed to facilitate the operation of indigenous peoples' democratic institutions, such powers should be applied carefully, on the basis of reasonable and objective criteria," he added. The team of 18 independent experts is tasked with monitoring whether countries are adhering to their human rights commitments, but it does not have enforcement powers. In Monday's ruling, it stressed the importance of ensuring that the Samis themselves determine who is eligible to take part in their elections. The Sami parliament, it said, "ensures an internal self-determination process, which is necessary for the continued viability and welfare of the indigenous community as a whole." The committee said it had asked Helsinki to inform it within six months about what measures it was taking to rectify the situation. The Sami people, formerly known as Lapps, are spread out across the northern parts of Sweden, Finland and Norway and the Russian Kola peninsula, in a region known as Lapland Somalia's Al-Shabaab militants shot dead the Maltese manager of a major northern port and detonated a car bomb in the capital on Monday, killing nine people, in a deadly day for the restive nation. A gunman shot Maltese national Paul Anthony Formosa at the Bossasso port, in semi-autonomous Puntland state, while he was at work for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based global operator DP World. Soon after nine people were killed as a result of a powerful explosion from a car bomb, which rocked the busy Hamarweyne market in the capital Mogadishu, in the latest attack by the Al-Qaeda affiliate plaguing the country. "An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot", local security official, Mohamed Dahir, told AFP. A witness, Abdukadir Weheliye, said he heard several shots coming from inside the port and then saw the body of a white man being taken away in an ambulance. The Dubai government confirmed the death in a statement on Twitter and said the circumstances of the incident was being investigated. "Three other employees have been injured in this morning's incident, and all are currently receiving medical treatment," read the statement. The attack was claimed by Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it was "part of broader operations targeting the mercenary companies that loot the Somali resources". The DP World subsidiary in 2017 signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Mogadishu. The Dubai-based ports company has sparked friction with Mogadishu over its development of ports in Berbera in breakaway Somaliland -- whose independence is not recognised -- as well as Puntland. Many of Somalia's federal states have aligned with the United Arab Emirates, while the central government is perceived as pro-Qatar, in the Gulf crisis pitting Arab powers against each other. - 'Death and destruction' - Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the car bomb in Mogadishu, via a statement on a pro-Shabaab website. "The blast occurred close to Mogadishu mall and it has caused death and destruction. Nine civilians were confirmed dead and several others are wounded," police officer Ahmed Moalin Ali said. "The terrorists parked a vehicle loaded with explosives in the vicinity of the mall to kill the innocent civilians." He said some of the victims died in a building that collapsed as a result of the blast in the Hamarweyne market. "I saw the dead bodies of four people recovered from the debris of a collapsed building and three others were strewn dead outside after the blast had blown them," said shopper Munira Abdukadir. "I was not far away from the blast location, but I was lucky to have survived, several people were wounded and some were screaming before the ambulances arrived," said another witness, Abdulahi Mohamed. Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre's military regime which ushered in decades of chaos -- including an insurrection by the Shabaab since 2006. The group once held sway over large swathes of countryside and the capital, however they were chased out of Mogadishu by the 22,000-strong African Union peace-enforcement mission, AMISOM in 2011, and have since abandoned many strongholds. They nevertheless control vast rural areas and remain a key threat to peace in Somalia and the region, with the capacity to stage significant attacks. In October 2017, a truck bombing in a busy neighbourhood of Mogadishu killed over 500 people in the deadliest attack in Somalia to date. On January 15, Shabaab gunmen -- and the first-ever suicide bomber in Kenya -- attacked the Dusit hotel and office complex in Nairobi, leaving 21 people dead and prompting police and the US embassy to urge caution in public spaces. A car bombing in Mogadishu's Hamarweyne market was the latest attack by the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab The DP World subsidiary had signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port of Bossasso Map of Somalia locating attack in Mogadishu Nine civilians were killed in the market car bombing Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the car bomb in Mogadishu Hundreds of residents have been sent fleeing after flames took hold of a high-rise apartment block in Melbournes CBD. Firefighters were called to the apartment, on the corner of Spencer Street and Little Bourke Street, just before 5am this morning. Terrified residents stood on Spencer Street in their pyjamas clutching their pets and any items they could get their hands on before exiting the building. Firefighters eventually managed to contain the blaze and enter the building to to tackle it from the inside, as glass and steel came crashing down onto the streets. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. A spokesperson from Ambulance Victoria told Yahoo7 News that one person had been taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade said 60 firefighters were on the scene but the cause of the fire had not yet been determined. Spencer Street remains closed between Bourke and Lonsdale Street, while trams have also been stopped in both directions. More to come. An exchange of thousands of prisoners between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and Huthis rebels hangs in the balance, marred by deep distrust between the warring sides, a senior Red Cross official said Monday. The prisoner swap agreed in Stockholm in December is seen as a crucial confidence-building measure in the UN-led push to bring the warring sides to negotiations on ending the devastating four-year war. On Tuesday, the United Nations is hosting another meeting between the warring parties in Jordan to try to agree on the lists of detainees to be released, with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) set to attend. ICRC's director of operations Dominik Stillhart told reporters that the agreement on the prisoner exchange is "hanging in the balance," with trust among the parties "insufficient." Each side has presented a list of up to 8,000 detainees to be freed, but many names cannot be accounted for, said Stillhart, adding that the prisoner swap realistically would involve a significantly lower number. "There is a lot of disappointment on both sides," said Stillhart. "What we now see on both sides (is that) they don't have them all because a lot of them, they probably died during the conflict." "The whole discussion now is who will finally be on the lists?" he said. Distrust is running high between the government, backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, and the rebels, said Stillhart. "There are expectations that some people on both sides should appear on the list and if they are not, immediately the question is: are you hiding them?" he said. - Extremely fragile Yemen talks - In late January, the Huthi rebels released a Saudi prisoner who was ill in exchange for seven detainees who were flown in to Sanaa by the ICRC. In August 2015, the sides agreed to exchange seven prisoners each. Once agreement is reached on the lists, the exchange could happen quickly. "We have mobilized the logistics, the planes and so on... we are ready to do it," said Stillhart. UN envoy Martin Griffiths has been working on the prisoner swap since he took up his post as Yemen peacemaker in February 2018. At the Stockholm talks, the Huthis and the government also agreed on a ceasefire in the flashpoint city of Hodeida and a pullback of forces, but deadlines to implement those measures have slipped. Stillhart welcomed what he described as "the beginning of a political process," but added that it was "extremely fragile." The Yemen conflict has triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with millions of people at risk of mass starvation. The war between the Huthis and troops loyal to the government escalated in March 2015, when President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia and the Riyadh-led coalition intervened. The World Health Organization has put the death toll since 2015 at about 10,000 people but rights groups say that figure could be five times higher. Yemeni Huthi official Abdel Kader al-Murtadha (C) attends a January 2019 meeting in Amman, Jordan to discuss prisoner swaps between the Yemeni government and Huthi rebels Yemeni pro-government forces advance towards the port area from the eastern outskirts of Hodeida as battle Huthi rebels for the control of the key city Map of Yemen locating the key port city of Hodeida Pope Francis and a top Muslim cleric Monday issued a joint call for freedom of belief during the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the birthplace of Islam -- the Arabian Peninsula. Francis, who has made outreach to Muslim communities a cornerstone of his papacy, is on an historic three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates. He is due to hold an open-air mass on Tuesday for 135,000 of the Muslim country's million Catholic residents, set to be the largest ever public gathering in the Gulf state. On Monday, the pope held talks in Abu Dhabi with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb -- imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's prestigious seat of learning. The two religious leaders signed a document on "human fraternity for world peace and living together", described by the Vatican as an "important step forward in the dialogue between Christians and Muslims". They called for "freedom of belief", the "promotion of a culture of tolerance", the "protection of places of worship" and "full citizenship" rights for minorities. "It is... crucial to establish in our societies the concept of full citizenship and reject the discriminatory use of the term minorities which engenders feelings of isolation and inferiority," read the document. It said "freedom is a right of every person: each individual enjoys the freedom of belief, thought, expression and action" and that "pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God". "The fact that people are forced to adhere to a certain religion or culture must be rejected, as too the imposition of a cultural way of life that others do not accept," it said. Francis also delivered an address at an interfaith meeting attended by Sheikh Ahmed and UAE leaders, and pushed for an end to all wars in the Middle East, including in Yemen. The United Arab Emirates and neighbouring Saudi Arabia are key allies of the Yemeni government, which is locked in a war against Iran-linked rebels that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. - 'Reject war' - The pope said all religious leaders had a "duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war". "I am thinking in particular of Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya," he said. Yemen is the scene of what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, triggered by the intervention of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies in a war between the government and Huthi rebels. More than 10 million Yemenis now risk imminent starvation. The UAE, which prides itself on its religious diversity in the Gulf, is also a member of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in both Syria and Iraq. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, one of the most powerful rulers in the seven emirates, on Monday gifted the pope a deed for the plot of land on which the first church in the UAE was built. Pope Francis in turn gave him a framed medallion of the meeting between St. Francis Assisi -- the pope's namesake -- and the Sultan of Egypt Malek al-Kamel, in 1219. While the pope did not openly discuss politics, he called for "the full recognition" of rights for people across the Middle East, a potential reference to communities including Shiites in Saudi Arabia, refugees and migrants, stateless peoples and other minorities. "I look forward to societies where people of different beliefs have the same right of citizenship and where only in the case of violence in any of its forms is that right removed," he said. - 'Year of tolerance' - The Emirates has dubbed 2019 its "year of tolerance" but rights groups have criticised it for its role in Yemen, where an estimated 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-led alliance the government's fight against the Huthis in 2015. Muslims make up nearly four fifths of the UAE's population, but the country is also home to nearly a million Catholics, according to the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Migrants from Asian countries make up about 65 percent of the population. The UAE has pushed itself as an open society in a conservative region. The country is home to eight Catholic churches, Hindu temples and a place of prayer that serves as a synagogue. Bahrain and Qatar are home to one Catholic church each while Oman, Kuwait and Yemen each have four while Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia bans all non-Muslim places of worship. Pope Francis (C) is welcomed by the Dubai ruler and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince, upon his arrival to the presidential palace in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi on February 4, 2019 Pope Francis (L) and the Grand Imam of Cairo-based Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb (2nd-R) sign documents during the Human Fraternity Meeting at the Founders Memorial in Abu Dhabi on February 4, 2019 The pope's visit to the Arabian Peninsula This handout photo released by the Vatican Media, shows Pope Francis meeting Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan at the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi on February 4, 2019 Aircraft fly over the presidential palace in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi during a reception for Pope Francis on February 4, 2019 Robert Nichols is the state senator for Senate District 3. First elected in 2006, Nichols represents 19 counties, including much of East Texas and part of Montgomery County. He can be reached at 699-4988 or toll-free at (800) 959-8633. Five policemen raise their guns and fire dozens of times into a parked car at point-blank range in Pakistan. Then they reach inside, around the bodies of the dead, to pull out three crying children. The footage filmed by shocked witnesses to the killing went viral, sending Prime Minister Imran Khan scrambling to quell anger over a police culture of impunity that is now being threatened by social media. Thousands have been gunned down in recent years across Pakistan in so-called "encounter killings" -- incidents where suspects allegedly resist arrest, are slain, then later identified as terrorists to boost statistics. This latest "encounter" saw a family gunned down in broad daylight in the eastern city of Sahiwal last month, leaving four people dead including two parents and their teenage daughter. Three children survived the incident, including nine-year-old Umair Khalil who later told journalists that police shot at the family as their father offered the cops a bribe, pleading to let them go. "My father told them to take our money and not to shoot their guns. But they started firing," Umair said in the video broadcast widely across Pakistan news outlets and social media. Police initially defended their response saying terrorists with links to the Islamic State group were in the car using the family as a human shield. But this "encounter" was fundamentally different to others -- it was filmed on phones and the videos posted online. Authorities have since backtracked as furore grew with the prime minister vowing to mete out "exemplary punishment" to the guilty. Five officers were hit with murder charges and protests erupted in nearby Lahore. "People... know that a video they make from their cell phone can have far more impact than the camera of a news channel," said Pakistani digital rights activist Haroon Baloch. "Had the nearby people not filmed the Sahiwal incident, nobody would have noticed the extrajudicial killing," he added. The incident is the latest instance of how phones are radically changing Pakistanis' relationship with power. During elections over the summer, a host of videos went viral, showing angry voters hounding elected representatives over their failure to serve their constituents. And it's not just in Pakistan. In the US, the Black Lives Matter movement coalesced as outrage exploded following a series of viral videos allegedly showing police killing black Americans, bringing greater scruity to racial profiling and pushing some police departments to outfit patrol officers with body cams. - Killing with impunity - The Sahiwal incident comes almost exactly a year after a similar killing of a young social media star in Karachi ignited an ethnic rights movement by the country's beleaguered Pashtun community. The movement it spawned -- the Pashtun Protection Movement, or PTM -- has been largely sustained by social media and videos captured on mobiles, piling even more pressure on authorities. But the killings continue, with analysts saying reforms are needed to challenge impunity in the police ranks. "It's a culture of the police in Pakistan to kill people and make it look it like an encounter," Mehdi Hasan -- chairperson of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) -- told AFP. Data compiled by HRCP showed that 4,803 people were killed in these "encounters" in Pakistan within the past three years alone. "The police need to be properly trained if such incidents are to be avoided in the future," Hasan added. Security analyst Amir Rana however argued that increased police accountability and judicial reform were key to cementing lasting change. "This culture has existed in the police force for decades," Rana explained, saying Pakistan's mammoth backlog of legal cases overloading its judiciary was part of the problem. "(Police) want quick results and they try to avoid... lengthy legal procedures which leads to staging encounters." The police killing of four people, including three from the same family, has provoked outrage in Pakistan The staged police killing sparked widespread anger because it was widely viewed in Pakistan, after being filmed on phones and spread online Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed to punish those responsible for the deaths as anger grew More than 4,800 people were killed in staged 'encounters' in Pakistan in the last three years alone, says the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan An hour south of Paris in the town of Montargis, "yellow vest" demonstrators like Isa Duchesne have no intention of stopping their 12-week protest against President Emmanuel Macron or being drawn into his "great national debate." At a roundabout in the south of the town, where violent protests have taken place since November, the 57-year-old factory worker dismissed the government's two-month debate which has seen dozens of town hall meetings held since the middle of January. "Macron is preparing for the European elections," she said bitterly. "He couldn't care less about us." It's a charge made by many of Macron's opponents who see the debate as a tactic to distract attention from the "yellow vest" movement which has roiled the country and caused the biggest crisis of Macron's 20-month presidency. Announced in December, the national debate has so far provided both an outlet for angry voters to air their grievances -- and a stage on which Macron can perform ahead of the EU parliament elections in May. After months of plummeting approval ratings, the 40-year-old head of state has clawed back some lost ground in recent weeks thanks to a series of public appearances that have sought to stress his more humble side. The number of "yellow vests" has also fallen sharply nationwide, with fewer and fewer roundabouts occupied, while the mass demonstrations held every Saturday have dwindled in scale. Most observers agree that the crisis is likely to be a turning point in Macron's presidency, having highlighted the extent of anger among low-income families in rural and small-town France. "The anger won't go back into the bottle," Marc Pochon, a 64-year-old retiree in Montargis, predicted. "There are so many people today who are suffering. They don't want any more talking. Pochon demonstrated for five straight weeks in Montargis "with the elderly, single mothers, retired folk, people who have knocked on every door but can't make it work". But he believes the demonstrations should now come to a halt. "We've got a chance to discuss now, let's seize it," he added. "But I say to the president 'respond now to the plight of the working poor. Don't wait for the end of the debate'." - Into the wall? - Montargis, known for its 130 bridges across its numerous canals and the Loing river, is like many small towns in France that have been hit by factory closures and rising unemployment -- 13 percent at the last count, roughly four percentage points higher than the national average. "The 'yellow vest' movement is still strong here, supported by a large part of the population," said the head of the Montargis urban area, Franck Supplisson. The first of four debates in the town, a former production centre for the leather industry, took place last Thursday. Around 45 people gathered in a public hall in a working-class area of the town where many of the familiar complaints from the "yellow vest" protesters were raised. They include Macron's tax cuts for high-earners, shortages of doctors in rural areas, public transport cutbacks and the difficulty of finding stable full-time jobs, forcing many people to take several short-term jobs at the same time to make ends meet. The microphone was passed from hand to hand, with each person given their chance to speak. Marie-Reine Poulin, who works in a school canteen, brought up falling living standards for low-income workers -- the spark that ignited the protests back in November when a planned rise in fuel prices threatened to hit their spending power. She appeared unimpressed by tax cuts on overtime and a rise in the minimum wage which were announced by Macron in December, and echoed the feeling found among many protesters that the political and economic system was stacked against them. "I don't think it'll change much. Those who have the power don't want to lose it," she said. "But we women need to be there, on the roundabouts, because we are the ones that are most vulnerable." Jeremy Clement, a 41-year-old with a construction business, said he had travelled to Paris six weekends in a row to join the protests. "We live in a rich country. How can we accept that people cannot live off their work?" he told the room. "In the big cities, people don't realise. But if we don't change, we're headed for disaster." Protestors wearing 'yellow vests' ('gilets jaunes') stand at a makeshift shelter at an occupied round-about in Montargis some 130 kms south of Paris Le "grand dbat" dans une salle de Montargis le 31 janvier 2019 "Gilets jaunes" Montargis le 31 janvier 2019 The EU warned Tehran over its ballistic missile programme and interference in the Syria conflict Monday, while welcoming a new mechanism to trade with Iran while bypassing US sanctions. In a long-awaited statement on Iran that has been the subject of more than a week of wrangling in Brussels, the EU restated its commitment to saving the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and took aim at Washington for abandoning the pact and reimposing sanctions. The bloc hailed the creation last week by France, Britain and Germany of a system to allow firms to trade with Iran without falling foul of US sanctions as vital to supporting legitimate business and said the "resolve to complete this work is unwavering". But with numerous European powers growing increasingly concerned about Tehran's missile programme, meddling in several Middle East conflicts and recent attempted attacks on opposition figures living in the EU, the bloc urged Iran to mend its ways. The statement criticised Iran's "provision of military, financial and political support to non-state actors in countries such as Syria and Lebanon". "The (EU) Council has serious concerns regarding Iran's military involvement and continuous presence of Iranian forces in Syria," the statement said. Iran is a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the statement urged Tehran to use its leverage to get Damascus behind UN-led efforts to end the civil war, which has claimed more than 360,000 lives since it began in 2011. While defending the nuclear deal -- which limited Tehran's atomic ambitions in return for sanctions relief -- Europe has sought to keep up pressure with sanctions, most recently listing Iranian intelligence services over plots to assassinate regime opponents on Dutch, Danish and French soil. Continuing Iranian missile tests have also alarmed the EU -- not to mention countries in the Middle East -- and Monday's statement called on Tehran to stop such activities. "Iran continues to undertake efforts to increase the range and precision of its missiles, together with increasing the number of tests and operational launches. These activities deepen mistrust and contribute to regional instability," the statement said. Brussels hopes the new Iran trading mechanism -- registered last week in Paris under the name INSTEX -- will keep Tehran in the nuclear deal by preserving some of the economic benefits it received. Iran gave INSTEX a cautious welcome but US officials have dismissed the idea that the new entity would have any impact on efforts to exert economic pressure on Tehran. Before INSTEX can go live, Iran has to set up a similar entity of its own so the two sides can clear trading on a barter basis without transferring money. It is not clear how long this will take. In a long-awaited statement on Iran that has been the subject of more than a week of wrangling in Brussels, the EU restated its commitment to saving the 2015 nuclear deal and took aim at the US for abandoning the pact and reimposing sanctions Chinese communities around the world welcomed the Year of the Pig on Tuesday, ushering in the Lunar New Year with prayers, family feasts and shopping sprees. In mainland China over the past week, hundreds of millions of people have crammed into trains, buses, cars and planes to reach family and friends in the world's largest annual migration, emptying the country's megacities of much of the migrant workforce. Celebrations will take place across the globe, from Southeast Asia's centuries-old Chinese communities to the more recently established Chinatowns of Sydney, London, Vancouver, Los Angeles and beyond. The most important holiday of the Chinese calendar marks the New Year with a fortnight of festivities as reunited families wrap dumplings together and exchange gifts and red envelopes stuffed with money. Pigs symbolise good fortune and wealth in Chinese culture and this year's holiday brings a proliferation of porcine merchandise, greetings and decorations. During the Spring Festival season -- a 40-day period known as "Chunyun" -- China's masses will be on the move, chalking up some three billion journeys, Chinese state media reported. Streets and busy thoroughfares were uncharacteristically empty in Beijing on Monday, with many shops and restaurants closed until next week. A growing number of Chinese are also choosing to travel abroad, booking family trips to Thailand, Japan, and other top destinations. An estimated seven million Chinese tourists will head overseas over the Spring Festival this year, according to the official news agency Xinhua, citing numbers from Chinese travel agency Ctrip. Researchers have also traced the origins of the zodiac animal. Chinese archeologists found that China was one of the earliest places in the world to domesticate pigs about 9,000 years ago -- around the time when ancient Turkey began similar domestication practices -- based on research on pig bones excavated at Jiahu in Henan province, Xinhua reported. - Prayers and greetings - In Hong Kong, flower markets were filled with residents picking out orchids, mandarins and peach blossoms to decorate their homes -- with stalls also boasting a dizzying array of pig-themed pillows, tote bags and stuffed toys. Thousands of incense-carrying petitioners, some dressed in pig costumes, crammed into the city's famous Wong Tai Sin temple overnight, a popular location to mark the first prayers of the New Year. In Shanghai on the mainland crowds packed into the Longhua temple to pray for good fortune. In Malaysia -? where 60 percent of the population is Muslim, and a quarter ethnic Chinese -? some shopping centres chose not to display pig decorations, while some shops kept them inside. But shoppers and traders said that was usual in a country where the Muslim majority are sensitive about an animal considered unclean in Islam, and overall there had been little controversy this year. Next door in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country which also has a sizeable ethnic Chinese population, the Lunar New Year is a public holiday. Events such as traditional lion dances are held in decorated public spaces while supermarkets stock up on mooncakes and tangerines. In Japan, the capital's famous Tokyo Tower was due to turn red in celebration of the New Year -- a first for the city. It is also the most important holiday in Vietnam, where it is celebrated as Tet. Parades and lion dances in Western cities such as New York and London were expected to draw large crowds. Beijing-friendly figures such as Pakistani President Arif Alvi and Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen extended new year greetings to China. Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen used her social media accounts to deliver a political sideswipe at Beijing with a message highlighting the island's democratic credentials and linguistic pluralism. "In Taiwan we are able to maintain our cultural traditions," she said in a video in which she delivered the traditional new year greeting in five Chinese languages: Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, Teochew and Cantonese. Mainland authorities have long been accused by critics and minorities of pushing Mandarin at the expense of other languages. China still sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunified, despite the two sides being ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949. Relations between Taipei and Beijing have had a rocky start to 2019 after Xi Jinping delivered a bellicose speech last month describing the island's unification with the mainland as "inevitable". burs-ey-jta/kaf/bmm/fox/rma Pigs symbolise good fortune and wealth in Chinese culture A woman poses for photo next to caricature of pigs during Lunar New Year celebrations in Yangon A fire breather performs during celebrations for the Lunar New Year of the Pig in Manila's Chinatown Graphic showing the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. The Year of the Pig starts on February 5. Children play games on Kim Il Sung square during celebrations marking the Lunar New Year on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang Lion dancers perform during Lunar New Year celebrations in Yangon Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday pledged Can$53 million (US$40 million) in humanitarian aid for Venezuelans amid a deepening crisis. "Today, Canada is stepping up and announcing $53 million to address the most pressing needs of Venezuelans on the ground, including almost 3 million refugees," Trudeau told a gathering of the Lima Group of nations. "The bulk of the funds will go to trusted partners, and neighboring countries to help them support Venezuela and Venezuelans," he said. The 14-member Lima Group, which includes most Latin American countries and Canada, met to discuss how to support opposition leader Juan Guaido, who proclaimed himself acting president last month. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Deputy Head of European Diplomacy Helga Schmid were to participate by videoconference in the debates. Guaido, who heads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, addressed the gathering in a video message, saying he looked forward to having "free and fair elections as soon as possible in order to restore democracy to Venezuela." Venezuelans are "very close to reclaiming their freedom," he said. Most of the bloc last week urged Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down, and make way for elections to deal with an economic collapse that has sent Venezuelans flooding into neighboring countries. Madrid, London, Paris, Berlin and several other European capitals on Monday also backed Guaido as interim president of Venezuela after Maduro refused to call a presidential election despite a European ultimatum. Created in 2017, the Lima Group includes Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico (which did not recognize Guaido), Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Guyana and Saint Lucia. - Trudeau, Guaido call - Trudeau, who has been personally involved in the crisis, spoke with Guaido by telephone on Sunday. The two men called for the organization of a "free and fair" presidential election in Venezuela and reaffirmed the "illegitimacy" of Maduro's presidency. Maduro began a new term in office last month after disputed 2018 elections whose results were rejected as invalid by the opposition. Julio Borges, leader of the Primero Justicia Party of Venezuela and Guaido's special envoy, told reporters as he arrived for the Lima Group meeting that European backing of Guaido was "very good news." "We are hoping and we are expecting at this meeting of the Lima Group to have full support for the humanitarian channel, for the coalition for freedom in Venezuela, full support for free elections in our country, full support for new measures for democratic pressure in order to finish the regime of Maduro," he said. "We really believe that what we are doing is not only for Venezuela, it's the fall of the Berlin wall in Latin America and it's a new chapter for history." The Canadian funding will go specifically to providing emergency food assistance, healthcare, water and sanitation, education and protection services for those most affected by the crisis, including refugees. Canada will also help monitor and report on the human rights situation in Venezuela. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledges Can$53 million, about $40 million, in humanitarian aid for Venezuelans The leaders of Germany and Japan on Monday vowed a commitment to free trade at a time when multilateralism is being buffeted, in the words of Angela Merkel, by "choppy waters". The German chancellor said her meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was "between two national leaders who want to work together, who believe that there can be very good win-win situations when all partners work together". She added that February 1, when the free-trade agreement between the European Union and Japan came into force, was a "special day" which has "shown that we are prepared to make agreements -- even if multilateral agreements are to some extent in choppy waters". The accord is the biggest bilateral trade deal ever signed, covering more than 630 million people and nearly one-third of global gross domestic product. Merkel also stressed the importance of "fairness" and "reciprocity" in trade agreements at the start of her two-day trip to Japan accompanied by a large business delegation. For his part, Abe said the two countries would "cooperate closely towards maintaining and strengthening a free and open economic system". The German chancellor will also meet Emperor Akihito just months before he is due to abdicate and the crown prince Naruhito. Stressing the economic aspect of the trip, she will also address German and Japanese business leaders and visit an artificial intelligence laboratory operated by electronics giant NEC. Germany and Japan are both defenders of free trade Australian auction clearance rates remain weak, sitting just above the record-lows reported late last year. Auction volumes, as is usually the case at this time of year, are incredibly low at present, meaning it will be hard to get a firm read on market conditions for several weeks. In January, Australian capital city home prices fell by 1.2% following a 1.3% drop in December. Those declines are faster than at any point in the current downturn. CoreLogic will release separate data on early price movements in early February later today. Australian auction clearance rates began the year as they finished the last: weak. According to preliminary figures released by CoreLogic, 47.8% of homes across Australia's capital cities sold either before, at or after auction last week, a small improvement on the levels seen late last year. In the same corresponding week in 2018, CoreLogic's preliminary combined capitals clearance rate was revised from 67.7% to a final figure of 62%. 48.9% of houses sold at auction during the week, marginally above the 44.0% level for apartments. As seen in the chart below form CoreLogic, it's not unusual for nationwide clearance rates to bounce early in the New Year, partially reflecting that auction volumes are typically well down on normal. "It is important to note that volumes are significantly lower than what we were seeing at the end of last year and clearance rates are generally less indicative over periods of such low activity," CoreLogic said. "As the number of auctions held increases over the next few weeks we will be able to get a firmer perspective on auction conditions for 2019." Last week, CoreLogic received results from 338 of the 526 auctions held across the country, or 62.3%. Of those results received, 162 homes sold while 176 were passed in, including 32 that were withdrawn from the market prior to going under the hammer. In late December last year -- when the data was last collected -- just 40% of homes sold across the capitals sold at auction, the lowest proportion since the CoreLogic series began. Story continues The table below from CoreLogic reveals how individual capital city auction markets fared last week. Clearance rates ranged from as high as 53.7% in Sydney to as low as 25% in Perth. Given poor reporting levels, the final rankings could look very different to the preliminary results when they arrive in the coming days. "Its likely this weeks clearance rates will see the usual downward revision as final results are collected and come in the low-mid 40% range," CoreLogic said. Typically, late results are usually for unsuccessful results. From a historic perspective, the current level of clearance rates is also consistent with further declines in home prices ahead. According to CoreLogic's separate Home Value Index released last Friday, Australian capital city home prices fell by 1.2% in January in average weighted terms, building upon the 1.3% drop seen in December that was the largest one-month percentage decline since 1983. While the declines were once again led by Sydney and Melbourne, median prices fell across all capitals except for Canberra over the month. CoreLogic will provide the first glimpse of how home prices fared in early February today when it releases separate information based on daily price movements. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. If you didnt talk about bare breasts, cannibals or the quality of SP beer within the first 30 seconds, eyes would glaze over and the conversation would quickly drift to the days footy or racing results. After the match there was the usual party at someones house and the usual question, So you work in New Guinea, whats it like? During my first leave I went back to catch up with my mates and play a couple of games with my former football club. While interest appeared to be there and the questions indicated some degree of attention, I was never sure what impact I made on the audience. I trod a well-trodden path: invitations to address the local Rotary Club, the old school and so on. MELBOURNE - I learnt about culture shock very early on whilst on my first leave from colonial Papua New Guinea. The chamber at Frankston City Council where, after many attempts, Ross Wilkinson found a job in Australia In the late 1960s and early 1970s, self-government and independence had become a reality but the public service was top heavy with experienced expatriate officers in both headquarters and the field. This had to be urgently rationalised and the Public Service Board decreed that 50% of all advertised positions would be localised. Departments had to select suitable national officers to fill the vacancies and discuss meaningful employment or redundancy with the sidelined expatriates. In 1973 I was transferred to headquarters from the field because of an injury and posted to the District Administration Localisation Unit. My task was to create a database of all departmental national field officers and create a grading system based on a number of factors such as seniority, qualifications, field experience and confidential staff reports. As part of this exercise I also travelled around PNG to interview national officers and their supervisors. When vacancies were filled and expat officers sidelined, I was advised by my unit head, Jack Battersby, about how many national officers were to be promoted and I provided him with a list, including emergencies in case there was unknown information that would affect my ratings. The only position not covered by this method was the appointment of District Commissioners, which was a separate process. I was also not privy as to the rationale behind why individual expats were sidelined. My contract expired on 31 December 1981. Id been offered a promotion to move to Port Moresby from Madang to work with the PNG Electoral Commission but declined due to the security situation in the capital. During our final 12 months I declined a contract renewal offer as our kids were approaching school age. Our decision was confirmed when our home was twice broken into. John Biltris was a good friend and mentor to me and, on his advice, I had commenced a business degree by correspondence from a Melbourne university. The degree was required to gain town clerks qualifications and so my future career was chosen. On return to Melbourne I made 34 job applications to different councils throughout Victoria but only one responded to thank me with a no thanks. Hmmm. But when I hand delivered an application to Frankston City Council, and while there was interviewed by the Deputy Town Clerk, he immediately offered me a job. One unusual situation had occurred when I arrived in Melbourne. I went to an office of the Commonwealth Employment Service and applied for the unemployment benefits, the dole. I didnt get it immediately because of my PNG entitlements but then the cheques started arriving by post. When I started at Frankston Council, another dole cheque arrived so I took it back to the CES and handed it across the counter, advising I was now employed. The staff were nonplussed as no-one had ever returned a cheque before. So, I guess if I had just banked it CES would not have queried it. Perhaps Im just too honest for my own good. In a country like PNG where much of the populace is ignorant and illiterate many people would think Cuban doctors will equate to better health. But healthcare is more than doctors. This deliberate use of deflective communications, along with the oversimplification of the problem and solution, is representative of how the ONeill regime continues to misinform citizens. Recently, the government has sought to blame Papua New Guinean doctors and public servants for hampering its efforts to bring in Cuban doctors and claims they are the cause of deteriorating health conditions. PORT MORESBY - The ONeill government has totally bungled the health system on the watch of a health minister who is a registered medical practitioner. Its also about health infrastructure and equipment. You can bring Cubans to rural PNG but will they have the appropriate working environment. In PNG current healthcare is significantly about the efficiency of drug supplies. The Cuban doctors wont solve the problem of giving drug contracts to cronies who cannot deliver. Furthermore, healthcare is about support staff - such as radiographers, nurses, medical laboratory technicians, anesthetic scientific officers, pharmacists, biomedical medical engineers, cleaners and cooks - who all work with doctors. Doctors cannot run drips, take x-rays and test blood samples all at once they need support staff to deliver prescribed treatment regimes. Anyone who has studied medicine knows that the most important person in the hospital is the nurse. Nurses are supposed to tend to patients and assist them in their recovery. But in most of PNGs major hospitals, there are so few nurses they only see patients after doctors ward rounds and for drug administration. Good nursing care is the key to successful clinical medicine. In PNG, many cases that present at health facilities arise from poor community health. The recent polio outbreak is an example of how low immunisation coverage led to poor herd immunity in the population. Many Papua New Guineans also suffer from respiratory illnesses because peoples fireplaces are in their homes. Diarrhea and other water-borne disease are prevalent due to poor access to water and sanitation. Many villages have no toilets at all. The problem of maternal and infant mortality is directly related to access to family planning. Women who have had five or more children are at higher risk of peri-natal death. A woman with too many children to take care of wont provide the best support thus predisposing them to sickness and death. I saw this happen my neighbours family. There are no simple solutions to the dilemma that PNGs health systems faces. It is important to understand the different components of a health system. First, there is community medicine, or health care. This is about prevention and keeping healthy people healthy. Then there is clinical medicine - sick care. Clinical medicine is for when prevention fails and patients need treatment to restore health. Finally there is pathology - death care. This is perhaps the most under-rated of the medical field but it in very valuable as it provides answers to why we get sick and why we die. All these components are important cogs in any health systems wheel. Hopefully, a better understanding of PNGs health system will lead to better service delivery. A stock of weapons and other cargo belonging to the UN have been held up at Vurra border with DR Congo for more than a month due to unpaid transport and customs fees. Sources familiar with the matter told Daily Monitor that the impasse that has seen eight weapon-loaded trucks grounded at the border in Arua District of West Nile, about 345km north-west of Kampala, stems from millions of shillings owed to transporters and customs offices. Sources said the delay in delivery of the weapons poses a security risk for both Uganda and DR Congo. Flatbed trucks loaded with UN vehicles at Ugandas Vurra border point near the Democratic Republic of Congo (Picture source; D.R.) The multi-billion military consignment, sources say, also includes medical equipment, French-made VAB armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and Land Rovers with the UN marking. This is confirmed by copies of manifests and agreements seen by this newspaper. The military equipment which left Dungu in DR Congo on December 24, 2018, is destined for Agadir, a city on Moroccos southern Atlantic coast via the port of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Daily Monitor was told that the removal of the equipment is part of a wider plan to scale back on the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) operations as the UN begins plans to end its largest peace keeping operation in the world. More equipment is expected to be moved through Uganda to other destinations. Connections to the UN are wide. Several contractors are involved and it is unclear at which level the money failed to reach the final group tasked with the actual transportation of the equipment. Daher Technologies, a French industrial conglomerate working in the aerospace, defense, nuclear, and automotive industrial sectors in the fields of manufacturing, services and transport is the main contractor. Daher subcontracted another company, STE Groupe Dirco Ltd based in Lubumbashi, Haut Katanga in DRC which in turn sought the services of KTG of Uganda. KTG in turn subcontracted the Ugandan transporters who are now stuck with the cargo. The UN authorities in Kampala asked Daily Monitor to furnish them with details of the subject to crosscheck and revert, but by press time, they had not responded. Please send me an email with your inquiry so we can verify the situation, Ms Rosa Malango, the UN representative who was attending the World Wetlands Day in Pallisa District, said. This newspaper understands that Ugandan authorities, particularly the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) have expressed willingness to escort the consignment to Ugandas border with Tanzania. The Uganda Revenue Authority Commissioner for Customs, Mr Dickson Kateshumbwa, denied the UN consignment is being held at border for unsettled customs fees. He said URA has nothing to do with the UN trucks and their contents. URA is not holding the trucks and contents therein, Mr Kateshumbwa said yesterday. The UPDF spokesperson, Brig Richard Karemire, said the equipment had been cleared. UPDF gave clearance for the transit of that equipment in question. It is now up to the UN to organise its movement with UPDF providing security escort, Brig Karemire said. Mr Jaffer Senfuka, a transporter, said on December 19, 2018, he was approached by a broker, one Moses, about a business deal to transport UN cargo from DR Congo to Kampala. An agreement, a copy of which Daily Monitor has seen, was entered between KTG Africa Ltd represented by Mr Timothy Kyaligonza and Mr Jaffer Ssenfuka on the same day to transport the cargo from DRC to an unspecified place in Kampala. The following day, trucks were dispatched from Kampala and reached four days later on December 24. A freight rate of $3,500 inclusive of clearance fees for the complete route was to be paid per truck from DRC to Kampala. A down payment of $1500 per truck was made with $2,000 remaining outstanding. Road cargo manifests issued to the drivers in DR Congo by MONUSCO indicated that the cargo was destined for Dar es Salaam and the drivers were required to sign on. They made it through DR Congo to the Ugandan side and thats where they have been stuck since. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. The examination of the complaint on the preventive measure of 2nd President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan ended at the Court of Appeal. The court will announce the decision on February 7, 12:00, ARMENPRESS reports Kocharyans lawyer Hayk Alumyan told the reporters after the hearing. A complete trial took place. All the arguments of the parties have been discussed. The decision will be published on February 7 at 12:00, he said. The court prolonged Robert Kocharyans pre-trial detention by 2 months on January 18. Kocharyans lawyers have appealed the decision of the court of 1st instance. Former President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan is charged for breaching constitutional order during the 2008 March 1 unrest. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received on February 4 Rafik Mansour, Charge dAffaires of the U.S. Embassy in Armenia. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the parliament of Armenia, greeting the guest, Mirzoyan emphasized that the USA is an important partner for Armenia and the bilateral relations have developed dynamically based in mutual respect and confidence since the establishment of diplomatic relations. According to the Speaker, the parliament of Armenia is ready to further expand and deepen the existing relations. Referring to the activation of cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries, mutual visits and exchange of experience, the Speake of the parliament hoped that the friendship group to be formed soon in the newly elected parliament will give a new impetus to the deepening of bilateral relations. Ararat Mirzoyan highly assessed the U.S. assistance to the reforms carried out in various spheres. Congratulating Ararat Mirzoyan on being unanimously elected Speaker of the parliament, Rafik Mansour said, Its obvious that the Armenian people have great expectations from this National Assembly and I expect the efforts of the MPs aimed at the fulfilment of their mandate in 2019. Thanking for the congratulation, emphasized, Democracy, effective and transparent management, guaranteeing and protecting human rights and freedoms are the basic values for us on which the activities of our government is based. The interlocutors spoke about the development of democracy in Armenia, improvement of the legislative, fight against corruption and other issues of bilateral interest. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Russian Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation has provided a new turbo-generator to the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP), ARMENPRESS was informed from Rosatom. This is the second turbo-generator provided by Rosatom in the sidelines of the project of the modernization of the ANPP and prolongation of its exploitation period. The new turbo generator will give an opportunity to raise the effectiveness of the power plant and increase electricity production. The first turbo-generator was provided in 2017, which came to replace the old one exploited since 1970. After the modernization of the equipment of the ANPP, which also assumes replacement of transformers, turbines, capacitors and other devices, we will produce nearly by 40 MWs more electricity using the same amount of fuel than we produce now, General Director of the ANPP Movses Vardanyan said, emphasizing that it will give an opportunity to reduce the prime cost of the product. A Rosatom official informed that all the equipment necessary for the modernization of the ANPP have already been delivered to Armenia or will be delivered during 2019. The works will be over by the end of 2021. The Armenian Nuclear Power Plant is the only NPP in the region. The 2nd energy block is now in use, which provides 40% of the energy consumed in Armenia. The State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM is one of the global technological leaders. It is one of the largest companies of the Russian Federation and largest taxpayers of the country. It brings together nuclear power and power engineering assets, as well as NPP design and construction. ROSATOM is the largest electricity generating company in Russia. ROSATOM holds first place for the largest portfolio of foreign construction projects (36 NPP Units in 12 countries). ROSATOM covers 16% of the global nuclear fuel market. ROSATOM also manufactures equipment and produces isotopes for nuclear medicine, carries out research, material studies. It also produces supercomputers and software as well as different nuclear and non-nuclear innovative products. ROSATOMs strategy is to develop clean energy projects, including wind energy. ROSATOM brings together about 400 enterprises and companies, including the world's only nuclear icebreaker fleet. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan on February 4 received Ambassador of Ukraine to Armenia Petro Lytvyn, the Parliament told Armenpress. At the meeting the Speaker highly appreciated the Armenian-Ukrainian friendly relations, stating that they serve a firm base for further deepening the bilateral ties. Ararat Mirzoyan highlighted the further development of the inter-parliamentary relations and stated that the upcoming parliamentary friendship group will play a key role in intensifying the bilateral contacts. In his turn the Ukrainian Ambassador congratulated the Speaker on assuming office and stated that Ukraine is interested in developing mutual relations, adding that his country fully supports the ongoing processes in Armenia. The Ambassador expressed readiness to further develop and expand the inter-parliamentary ties and attached importance to the cooperation at international platforms. The two officials also discussed a number of programs of bilateral agenda, as well as praised the growth of the trade turnover volumes between Armenia and Ukraine. The sides highly valued the role of the Ukrainian-Armenian community on deepening the relations, as well as in the countrys public, political, cultural, scientific and educational sectors. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Moscow and Tbilisi have completed the discussions on launching an alternative land route vital for Armenia. The sides have completed the procedures on implementing the provisions of the agreement on Customs administration and Monitoring mechanisms for the trade of goods, Kommersant reports citing a source of the Russian government. The agreement enables to use the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia for trade and transit. It was signed in Geneva in 2011. Russia joined the World Health Organization in 2012, but the agreement with Georgia, which supposes formation of three trade corridors between the two countries, two of which will pass through Abkhazia and South Ossetia, has not worked. The preparation for this required 7 years from Moscow and Tbilisi, the newspaper says. The source said at the moment there are no obstacles for conducting the agreed upon mechanisms. The Swiss Societe Generale de Surveillance will conduct the monitoring and labeling of the goods flow. The Georgian side has signed a contract with the Swiss company in 2017 and Russia in 2018. The concrete geographic coordinates of the trade corridors are enshrined in the 2011 agreement. According to Kommersant, Armenia is also interested in the launch of the implementation of the agreement. Armenia views the corridor passing through South Ossetia as an alternative to the Lars checkpoint which is often closed in winter due to bad weather conditions. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of Armenia to Sri Lanka Armen Martirosyan on February 1 presented his credentials to President Maithripala Sirisena, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress. Following the ceremony the Armenian Ambassador had a discussion at the foreign ministry of Sri Lanka about the future actions aimed at boosting the bilateral inter-state relations. In particular, an importance was attached to the cooperation opportunities between Armenia and Sri Lanka in education and culture, as well as boosting the commercial ties. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Ministry of Diaspora will attempt to collect the opinions of Armenian communities from across the world regarding the idea of amending the national anthem, Acting Minister of Diaspora Babken DerGrigorian said on Facebook. Taking into consideration that the anthem of the Republic of Armenia is one of the state symbols, we began to hear out the opinion of the Diaspora, he said. The regional departments of the ministry are already tasked to collect the opinions of Armenian communities from across the world about the amendment of the anthem. DerGrigorian also encouraged Diaspora-Armenians to express their opinions by email at [email protected]. UPDATE - 14:24: Shortly after writing the abovementioned statement, the acting minister made another post on his Facebook account. He said that amending the national anthem is not on the agenda. "Dear citizens, taking into consideration that my latest [Facebook] post gained broad public discussion, I would like to clarify: there is no amendment of the Armenian anthem on the agenda. Given the resonance of the matter and the numerous calls that we have received from the Diaspora, we simply couldnt ignore. With this option we wanted to receive opinions from broader circles and present them to the publics attention. My [Facebook] post was non-official, regional departments of the Ministry of Diaspora are regularly carrying out surveys regarding any given resonant issue in Armenia. P.S. I am deleting my previous post in order to avoid misunderstanding", - DerGrigorian said. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan Camp Humphreys, a U.S. Forces Korea base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, is seen in this file photo. Yonhap South Korea and the United States are expected to strike a deal this week on splitting the cost for the stationing of American troops here as the allies consider the need to work closely together to denuclearize North Korea, a diplomatic source said Sunday. The U.S. will likely accept South Korea's request for a contribution of less than US$1 billion (1.1 trillion won) in 2019. Seoul plans to sign a one-year contract as Washington demands, according to the source. Last year, South Korea paid around 960 billion won for the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) under a five-year deal signed in 2014. Senior diplomats of the two sides had ten rounds of face-to-face talks on the Special Measures Agreement last year but failed to reach a compromise. The Trump administration has called for a sharp rise in Seoul's share. It initially asked Seoul to pay up to $1.2 billion a year, saying the minimum contribution should be $1 billion. South Korea, however, has maintained that the scale of its contribution should not exceed 1 trillion won ($893 million), a de-facto "psychological Maginot Line" for its people. It wanted the contract term to be at least three years to avoid frequent negotiations on money. "The U.S. has made a concession on the total amount (of South Korea's contribution) and the two nations have narrowed differences, because they considered the importance of the South Korea-U.S. alliance," the source said. In particular, the two sides hope to focus efforts on dealing with the North Korea issue in advance of a second North Korea-U.S. summit to be held late this month, the source added. Political parties were divided in response to the news of the imminent agreement. The ruling Democratic Party described it as a "positive and wise" decision, taking note of the size of Seoul's payment. "It's assessed that the U.S. side has made much of public opinion (in South Korea) that the government should not accept a unilateral demand by the U.S.," the party's spokesman Lee Hae-sik said. The main opposition conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP) took a dim view of the reported contract period. If that is the case, South Korea and the U.S. will soon face a "burden again of having prickly bargaining for their own interests," its spokesman Yoon Young-seok said. "South Korea-U.S. defense-cost talks subject to a renewal every year is not helpful to the relations between the two sides. It even raises the possibility of a deepening of a rift in the alliance," he added. (Yonhap) RTHK: Venezuela's Maduro rejects EU's election ultimatum Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday flatly rejected a call by European countries to call snap elections after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country's interim leader. Maduro said in an interview with Spanish television station Sexta that he would not "cave in to pressure" from those calling for his departure. "They are trying to corner us with ultimatums to force us into an extreme situation of confrontation," Maduro said. Seven EU states had given Maduro a Sunday deadline to call snap presidential elections or see them recognise Guaido as interim president. Guaido, already recognised by the United States, Canada, Australia and several Latin American countries, said on Sunday he would lobby the European Union for badly-needed humanitarian aid to a nation wracked by economic crisis. "We are going to exercise our powers to deal with the crisis, restore democracy and achieve freedom," the 35-year-old National Assembly leader said on Twitter. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2019-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. The opposition Lusavor Hayastan (Luminous Armenia) faction of the Armenian parliament has summoned foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan to a meeting with its lawmakers, faction leader Edmon Marukyan said on Facebook. He said they invited the FM for discussions and exchange of views on the latest developments around the Artsakh conflict settlement, as well as other foreign policy priorities of our country. The meeting is expected to take place today. Marukyan said they will give details from the meeting after it ends. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. An Armenian businessman is going to import crocodile eggs from Tanzania, Kenya and other African countries. Firstly, the crocodiles will live in a resort to be constructed in Dashtavan community, then a big crocodile farm will be established, Founder of ARMON Co.Ltd, Geologist Khachatur Sargsyan told reporters, reports Armenpress. We will import crocodile eggs. The cost of one egg is 400 USD. We will bring them from breeding farms, we are working with 3-4 different farms in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. The goal is to create a tourism place in Dashtavan village. In addition to the crocodiles, there will also be chickens, geese, ducks. The park will consist of 31 infrastructures, and the crocodile farm is one of those infrastructures. There will be infrastructures for children in the park and etc., he said. Asked why they have chosen crocodiles, he said he thinks that they will be attractive for tourists. We mainly focus on tourists. Two of every 10 tourists will visit here for relax. There is no such place in the whole region, the company founder said. The company has applied to Armenias ministry of economic development and investments with the request to import crocodiles during the previous leadership. A land in Tavush province was offered to us, but we were not interested in it. Then we sent letters to Armavir and Ararat provinces. The governor of Ararat province immediately responded to us and we met. They offered us several territories, and we selected the one in Dashtavan community, held a discussion with the community representatives, he said. Khachatur Sargsyan said they have no problems with the State Revenue Committee. The only problem is linked with the code. As this is the first such case on importing crocodiles to Armenia, the SRC doesnt have the respective code for that. But we have already clarified with the SRC with which code we must import the crocodiles, he said. The program will most likely launch on March 1. It is expected to be completed within 5 years. The initiative representatives also plan to use the crocodile leather in the future, but this will require 7-10 years. Leather processing plant will be established in Gyumri. Sargsyan noted that they plan to create 300-500 jobs as a result of the program implementation. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. The Committee on Urban Development of Armenia has held a consultation involving leading experts of earthquake-resistance construction sector, as well as scientific and designing organizations. Issues related to the committees development of constructions norms under the 2018-2022 government action plan were discussed. The experts also touched upon the issue of creating a base organization of CIS countries in earthquake-resistant construction. The matter requires additional discussions involving the committee and experts. The process of revising the construction norms in the process of implementing the improvement of seismic safety of public schools with assistance of the ADB was also discussed, the committee said. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Ethnic Armenian citizens of Russia are among those injured in a passenger bus crash in Kaluga Oblast, Russia the Armenian Embassy in Russia said. Maria Arakelyan, 11, and Sona Adamyan, 31, were injured as the bus overturned. Both of the victims are hospitalized at the Kaluga city hospital. Information about other victims is being clarified. The Armenian Embassy in Russia said it maintains constant contact with local authorities. The crash took place in the morning of February 3. The passenger bus was carrying 48 people, including 33 children. Seven people died and 32 others were injured in the crash. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called on opposition leader Juan Guaido not to cause more harm to the country and refuse from the current strategy, the President made this statement in an interview with the Spanish television channel la Sexta, TASS reports. Maduro announced that he supports dialogue with the opposition. He urged Guaido to think well about what he is doing. Let him not do more harm to the country, let him give up the coup strategy. If he wants to contribute something, let him sit at the table [for conversation] face to face, Maduro said. Commenting on the requirement of a number of EU countries to announce the presidential elections, the head of state recalled that the expression of will is scheduled for 2024. I think Venezuela needs parliamentary elections, he added. Let Europe deal with its own problems. Why should the EU dictate political norms to the country? Maduro said. We are the victims of the campaign in which the US turned us into the number one enemy, the president stressed. I like saying: if you want peace, get ready to protect it. We are getting ready. Only if the American army attacks us, we will have to defend ourselves, the president said. The worst alternative is war, and we will not start it, he added. On January 23, the leader of Venezuelas opposition Juan Guaido, whose appointment as parliamentary speaker had been annulled by the Supreme Court two days before that, declared himself as acting president. On the same day, the United States recognized him as acting head of state. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. The ministry of emergency situations informs that on February 4, as of 08:30, some roads are closed and difficult to pass in Armenia, reports Armenpress. The Vardenyats Pass is closed for trailer trucks and is difficult to pass for passenger vehicles due to snowstorm. Sotk-Karvachar highway is difficult to pass. Fog is reported on Goris-Kapan highway. Drivers are urged to use winter tires. The Georgian authorities inform that the Stepantsminda-Lars highway is open for all types of vehicles. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan #Ahora Participacion del canciller @NestorPopolizio en la apertura de la decima reunion ministerial del Grupo de Lima. pic.twitter.com/onzO5miLsZ Last year, nearly one rape a week was reported in Kokomo, and two months into 2019, three of 46 reported rapes made it to court. While those numbers are alarming, there is a certain story not told by the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting statistics for 2018 that recently were released by the city of Kokomo. Within those statistics one finds a methodology behind UCR reporting that is somewhat convoluted, and many cases filed never see their day in court or even their way to the prosecutors office. At first glance, the data seems self-evident; 46 rape cases were reported to KPD in 2018, according to the definition of rape set forth by the FBI for UCR reports. But theres a wide gap between the FBIs definition and Indiana code. For example, crimes such as performing sexual conduct in the presence of a minor are classified under the UCR system as rape. Of the 46 rape reports, six were not rape as defined in the Indiana code. Of those six, one was attempted rape, one was molestation, and the other four were listed as vicarious sexual crimes. Comparatively, 2018 brought on more reported rapes under the UCR definition than the year prior. In 2017, 36 rape reports were taken by KPD. Kokomo isnt an outlier when compared to the rest of the Midwest, though. National data has yet to be compiled by the FBI for 2018, but in 2017 the rate for rapes reported per 100,000 residents in Kokomo was 49.6. Similarly, the FBIs data for the Midwest found that rape reports occurred at 48.9 per 100,000 residents. Kokomo had 57,758 residents that year. Of the rapes reported in 2018, many cases were not forwarded to the prosecutors office for any myriad of reasons. Five reports were found to be unfounded, six investigations were suspended for a lack of evidence or awaiting lab reports, and four were cleared after all leads in the investigation were exhausted. In 11 cases the victims of the incidents became uncooperative with investigators after an initial report, according to KPD statistics. According to KPD Maj. Brian Seldon, investigators can run into issues with cases, resulting in them not being forwarded to the prosecutors office, for any litany of reasons. Most cases are crimes where the victim knows their attacker. Cases where the victim and perpetrator know each other can commonly result in the victim changing their mind about pursuing charges further, said Seldon. And, due to the nature of the crime, which more often than not occurs in an isolated area, other witnesses can be hard to come by as well. All cases are different We rarely have those typical stranger rapes. A lot of these are mostly persons that are familiar with the victim, said Seldon. Theres a lot of factors that go into play when these are reported too. I think a lot of victims are familiar with their attackers or suspects. Its just, I dont know. It can be kind of frustrating, but we do what we can to help the victim in these situations. Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by making a contribution. Contribute Another issue that can be problematic is the time between the incident and when a victim informs the police. Due to the traumatic nature of such a crime, victims may not come forward right after an incident has happened. Unfortunately, physical evidence can degrade over time, making investigations more difficult. I would say certain things that are problematic when it comes to prosecution are how quickly something is reported, said Capt. Tonda Cockrell. I think theres five in here that were delayed a month or two or whatever. The reason for that is personal to the victim, but then theres almost never physical evidence to support a criminal prosecution. Thats a problem. Once investigations end, officers send their findings to the Howard County Prosecutors Office for possible charges to be filed. The department sent 12 cases to the prosecutor last year. Thats 26 percent of cases reported locally, which was more than the national average, according to data gathered by RAINN (RAPE, Abuse & Incest National Network). That organization found that 3.9 percent of cases, on average, are referred to a prosecutors office. According to Howard County Prosecutor Mark McCann, even then cases may be found to be lacking prosecutorial evidence. They are very difficult to prosecute in respect to the fact that normally it is a, like I said, his word against her word or vice versa, and there are very few witnesses other than the victim and the alleged perpetrator, said McCann. You also have a credibility issue usually with victims who are, a majority of the time, put themselves in a position that may attack their ability to recover events, meaning theyre under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Three of the 12 cases referred to the prosecutors office in 2018 have resulted in charges being filed, but each of those cases is still pending. But even when the evidence does stack up, McCann said that some victims simply dont want to go through with the trauma of a jury trial. Due to a traumatic event, when we get those cases and try to get the victim in there and tell them what to anticipate theyll go through, unfortunately, for a victim, a trial can be a traumatic event as well in the fact that the defense attorney can turn them into the defendant, in a way. Blame it on them, said McCann. I always look to the victim, or more importantly, their counsel or who theyre talking to and say, Whats the best here? Some will plea down to a sexual battery just to avoid that and get a conviction. Regardless, Cockrell urged the victims of rape and similar crimes not to hesitate in reaching out to police, and she believes that in recent years a certain stigma has been lifted for reporting such crimes, resulting in more victims coming forward with their stories. And the sooner after an incident the better, as physical evidence from the crime can be preserved. Victims also shouldnt shower or bathe after such a crime either, said McCann. Even if reporting a crime doesnt result in prosecution, Cockrell also stressed that resources are available to the victims of sexual assault and rape. KPD works with a victim assistance specialist, Ryan Wolfe, who can help victims connect with therapists or even financial compensation for injuries after an attack. By Ritah Kemigisa. The Busiro East Member of Parliament Medard Lubega Ssegona has accused government of not doing enough to prepare Ugandans for the lucrative oil business. Ssegona says the oil and gas sector is a specialized sector that requires internationally certified skills especially for engineers and technicians which most Ugandans do not have. He adds that the country has no integrated plan to show readiness to take advantage of the Oil whose commercial production is expected to start in 2022. However through the local content policy government assured Ugandans and local companies that they would take up 40% of the jobs in the sector. By Ritah Kemigisa. The speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga has expressed concern over the delayed date for Ugandas first Oil drilling and commercial production. Opening an Oil workshop for Members of Parliament, Kadaga said Ugandans are growing more anxious about the prospects of oil production anticipated to begin by 2022. She said much as the Oil was discovered in 2006, It was announced that production would begin in 2013 but has since been pushed to 2020 and now 2022. In response, The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Eng. Irene Muloni attributed the shift to the delay by the joint venture partners Total, China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) and Tullow to make an investment decision to develop the oil fields in Tilenga and Kingfisher blocks. Muloni says they now estimate that the final investment decision will be made in the first quarter of 2019 and production would then start in 2022. By Ruth Anderah. A City hospital has agreed to pay 10 million shillings in compensation to a juvenile who was pricked with a cannula that had pricked the nurses hand, well knowing that she was HIV positive. In a consent judgement, the management of Victoria Medical Center located on Lumumba Avenue, in Kampala agreed with Ruth Mushabe, the mother through whom the minor had sued for compensation. In 2014, Rosemary Namubiru, the nurse formerly attached to Victoria Medical Centre a private hospital was arrested, prosecuted and convicted for criminal negligence when she used an intravenous needle on the child after pricking herself with the same needle. The hospital has agreed to amicably settle the nearly five year dispute by compensating the complainant. According to the agreement the will be paid in monthly installments of Shs 1million per month starting on the February 10th 2019. 1. Yes. Its important for students to stay focused throughout the year. Its a plus. 2. Yes. It would fill the learning gaps caused by COVID and would help cut youth crime. 3. No. Students and teachers deserve a summer break. Year-round school wont work. 4. No. It wouldnt work with the militarys summer PCS schedule. Its a bad idea. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say without knowing how the school calendar would work. Vote View Results Ward chiefs stage sit-in against mayor Expressing dissatisfaction with the mayors working style, the ward chairpersons of Janakpur Sub-Metropolis staged an hour-long sit-in outside the sub-metropolitan office on Sunday. Used vehicle market a boon for customers For those looking to buy a four-wheeler, the second hand market is an extremely viable alternative to buying a brand new vehicle. Buying a new car generally costs an arm and a leg in Nepal thanks to the insane taxes imposed by the government on vehicles while importing them. Two Chinese firms roped in for 4G LTE expansion project Nepal Telecom has roped in two Chinese companies for the expansion of nearly Rs19 billion fourth generation 4G LTE expansion project throughout the country that is expected to connect 6.5 million users under the 4Gs core network system. Trade unions to shut down restaurants Three trade unions affiliated to the ruling and opposition parties have decided to shut down all member restaurants of the Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal for an indefinite period from Tuesday onwards, demanding to roll back the decision to scrap 10 percent mandatory service charge which is added to the meal bill of customers. The Peace and Security bill 2019, which was registered at the parliament secretariat by the Home Ministry last week, has vested powers upon the Chief District Officer (CDO) to stop any peaceful protest even before such a deliberation takes place It is now at the discretion of the CDO whether or not any mass gathering should be allowed to happen 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!) Iryna Gerashchenko also urged to consider the draft law #9508 on Unified register of veterans in the first reading First Vice-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Gerashchenko has urged the MPs to support the draft law #9478, which allows to provide 24 Ukrainian sailors with the status of combatants, as the basis as 112 Ukraine reported. I kindly ask that... We need to submit and consider the draft law on the status of veterans #9478, in the first reading. It will allow us to provide 24 Ukrainian sailors with the status of combatants on the request of their relatives and blood brothers. Nobody doubts that these guys were at the front, when the Russians shelled them, Gerashchenko said. She also urged to consider the draft law #9508 on Unified register of veterans in the first reading. The draft law #9478 proposes amendments to the law On the status of the veterans of war and guarantees of their social protection. Particularly, it is proposed to establish that the crews of the vessels, boats, supply vessels, planes and helicopters, other persons, who defended the territorial integrity of Ukraine and participated in the carry out military tasks in the terms of the direct contact and fire contact with the military formations of other states and illegal armed formations can be concerned as the combatants. The action of the law should be spread on the relations that occurred since the beginning of the temporary occupation of the part of Ukraine since February 20, 2014. 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. As we reported, lawyer Nikolai Polozov, who deals with the defense of Ukrainian prisoners of war, confirmed that three Ukrainian sailors wounded in the Russian Navy attack on Ukrainian ships were brought from Matrosskaya Tishina to Lefortovo prison in Moscow. He also added that it happened on Monday, January 28. Related video: Open source Ukraines Foreign Ministry explained why Google maps define the territorial affiliation of the occupied Crimea differently for Ukraine and for Russia due to that fact that the localized content of the resource falls within the jurisdiction of the relevant local legislation, UNN news agency reported. At the same time, this should not be perceived as the policy of Google Inc. towards the territorial affiliation of the temporarily occupied Crimea. Ukraines Embassy in the U.S. has appealed to Google Inc. on the depiction of the peninsula on web maps on Google.ru/maps it shows Crimea separated from Ukraine by a line used to display borders between the countries. The official position of Google Inc. in this regard which was sent to Ukraines Embassy in Ukraine, says that the localized content in Google maps, on https://www.google.com.ua/maps and https://www. google.ru/maps, in particular, is the subject of the jurisdiction of the relevant legislation (Ukrainian and Russian). Therefore, Crimea is depicted on the Ukrainian and Russian resources differently. At the same time, the representatives of the company stressed that the designation of Crimea on Google resources does not imply the policy of Google Inc. concerning the existing disputes, the Justice Ministry informed. Ukraines Embassy in the U.S. continues working with the company and the American official party on provision of a correct display of Crimeas territory on Google maps. The diplomatic office reminded that the Crimean Tatar was detained 55 days ago U.S. Embassy to Ukraine urged Russia to immediately release Crimean Tatar Edem Bekirov detained at Simferopol remand center and other Ukrainian political prisoners as the diplomatic office reported on Twitter on February 4. Russia, release Bekirov and all other Ukrainian political prisoners immediately. #CrimeaIsUkraine pic.twitter.com/UxSSAFMTbD U.S. Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) 4 2019 . Russia, release Bekirov and all other Ukrainian political prisoners immediately!, it says. The diplomatic office reminded that the Crimean Tatar was detained 55 days ago, when he tried to visit his old mother. The video message states that the political prisoner with amputation was denied in the proper medical service. On January 10, the court of occupied Crimea decided to keep Crimean Tatar Edem Bekirov behind the bars until February 11, 2019. As we reported earlier, the Russian law enforcers detained Crimean Tatar Edem Bekirov at the entrance to the occupied Crimea from Chongar, as the Chairman of Mejlis of Crimean Tatars Refat Chubarov wrote on Facebook. On December 12, 2018, Ukrainian citizen, 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 message says. According to Chubarov, Bekirov 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. Rail project hinders movement of elephants A herd of wild elephants has been trapped in a forest in Sarlahi district for the last one and a half months after their route was blocked by the rail track and bridges that are being built between Bardibas and Simara as part of the Mechi-Mahakali Railway Project. We are analyzing the courts decision and I am convinced that soon we will seize his property again, - Lutsenko Vitaliy Zakharchenko, former Internal Minister of Ukraine Open source The property of former Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko will be seized again soon, as Ukraines Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said after the provisional investigatory commission held for investigation of embezzlement of property in Armed Forces of Ukraine, 112 Ukraine broadcasted the event. Answering the question about lifting the seizure of Zakharchenkos property, the Prosecutor General said: We are analyzing the courts decision and I am convinced that soon we will seize his property again. It will not escape these mainly are apartments, parking lots, land parcels. Everything will be under investigation as it was. He stated that the property of the ex-Minister also has to be seized in another case. I am convinced that Zakharchenkos property will be seized within the case on mass murder in Maidan, in which he is involved as well. And later it will be confiscated if the court makes the relevant decision, Yuriy Lutsenko. Earlier, in 2017 the Prosecutor Generals Office announced charges against Yanukovych, Zakharchenko, Yakymenko and some other ex-officials on Maidan cases of 2014. They are suspected of illegal resistance to organization and holding of rallies, demonstrations and marches, of organizing power abuse among law enforcers, premeditated murder of two or more persons, and organizing a terrorist attack. According to the Prosecutor General, the issue is about technical norms Open source Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yury Lutsenko has expressed the hope that the parliament will make the amendments to the legislation on the investigation in absentia this week as 112 Ukraine reported. I will ask the parliament this week, if the committee supports me... if the technical norm, which appeared due to the creation of the State Investigation Bureau will be supported, and if it will be allowed to continue the pretrial and trial processes in absentia in the cases where necessary, Lutsenko said. He added that recently he held the consultations on this issue with the heads of the parliamentary factions and he expects that the profile committee will approve this conclusion this week. The issue is not about Yanukovychthe issue is about a few thousand people, who involved in the cases on the terrorism. We perfectly know that they will be jprobably udged in absentia, the Prosecutor General explained. Earlier, Zhovtnevy Court of Mariupol, Donetsk region, has convicted the so-called Finance Minister of Donetsk Peoples Republic to ten years of the imprisonment in absentia Besides, the Prosecutor Generals Office of Ukraine (GPU) has sent to the court the indictment act against Deputy Chairman of Russias State Duma Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Russian MPs Mikhail Degtyarev and Aleksey Didenko. February 20, 2014 marks the official beginning of the temporary occupation of Crimea by Russian troops, as defined by the respective bill; the MPs will convene on February 19, Speaker Andriy Parubiy says On February 19, the Ukrainian Parliament will hold a special session timed to the fifth anniversary of the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Andriy Parubiy, the Parliamentary Speaker said this during the conciliatory board on February 4. 'The session, slated for February 19 is timed to the fifth anniversary of the Russian aggression. This session is not foreseen in our calendar plans, but whoever stays in Kyiv at this time, all the factions... I'm asking you to join it', Parubiy said. According to him, it will be an especially important view, 'especially in the foreign dimension'. In autumn 2015, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine set February 20, 2014 as the official date of the beginning of the temporary occupation of Crimea. Then, as the law on re-integration of Donbas was being passed, the MPs also set this date as the beginning of the occupation of part of Ukraine's territory. As of December 31, 2018, the UN stated that the number of victims of Donbas conflict reached from 40,000 to 43,000 people, 25-26 percent of those lost their lives in the hostilities. Volodymyr Gorbenko Open source The law enforcement officers declared the captain of the arrested Russian vessel Nord Volodymyr Horbenko is now wanted. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reports this on the website. According to the report, the man has been missing since January 26, 2019. The place of his disappearance is Melitopol, Zaporizhzhya region. The Melitopol Police Department of the National Police in Zaporizhia region is searching for Horbenko. Earlier, the Ukrainian border guards arrested fishing vessel-violator under the Russian flag in the Sea of Azov on March 25. The Nord vessel was stopped 15 miles from the Obytichna sandspit. The inspection defined that the vessel was registered in the temporarily occupied Crimea. Besides, the members of the crew violated the order of the exit from the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. All of them had the so-called 'Russian passports', issued in Kerch. Later, the court arrested the arrested vessel. Ukrainian border guards detained Volodymyr Horbenko on April 4. The EU and the U.S. sanctioned Russia after it annexed Crimea. The sanctions expire on July 31 if the EU states do not renew them by consensus Yehor Bozhok, the Head of Ukraines Foreign Intelligence service Ukraines Foreign Intelligence service Ukraines intelligence chief stated that anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the EU and the U.S. had a much bigger impact than previously thought, as EU Observer reported. "One of the estimates which we managed to learn, the Russian internal estimates, is that Western sanctions ... forced the Russian budget to lose $173bn already, which is quite a lot," Yehor Bozhok, the Head of Ukraines Foreign Intelligence Service, said. "This is their (Russia's, - ed.) internal assessment, which they prefer not to make public," he added. The figure covered the period from 2014 to the end of 2018. The EU and the U.S. sanctioned Russia after it annexed Crimea. The sanctions expire on July 31 if the EU states do not renew them by consensus. Russia, in its turn, denies being at war with Ukraine, having informed that the sanctions do not have any effect on its economy. Crimea was annexed by Russia after the illegal referendum held on the peninsula in March 2014. Earlier, the Russian military captured all strategic military objects and buildings of the key authoritative bodies. Neither Ukraine nor the rest of the civilized countries recognized the results of the referendum. A number of the European and the world countries, including Ukraine, imposed the economic sanctions against Russia. The thieves managed to steal the firearms from a military unit Open source Employees of the SBU, Ukraine's state security service detained two residents of Novohrad-Volynsky, northwestern Ukraine. The malefactors stole weapons and ammunition from a military unit in order to smuggle them, the SBU reported on Facebook. The men searched for customers among the people they knew and the representatives of local criminal gangs. The law enforcers took the culprits in as they tried to sell two assault rifles and clips to them, a handgun with rounds to it and a silencer. They counted on getting USD 2,400 for the goods. One of the men tried resisting the arrest but failed. As the SBU searched the arms cache located in the woods next to the town, they found another two assault rifles, three handguns, silencers and rounds of various calibers. The detainees who appeared to be judged before will face justice again; they are in custody now, as the court chooses the pre-trial restriction measure. A window of Kyiv Regional Organization National Journalists Union of Ukraine was shelled on the night of February 1 The unknown culprits shot the window of Kyiv Regional Organization of the National Journalists Union of Ukraine as the website of the organization reported. The incident took place on the night of February 1. The damaged window was found at the end of the working day and workers immediately appealed to the police. The police stated that it is no wonder: the office is located in the downtown of Kyiv, at Kreshchatyk Street and the shootings often take place here. The showdown with the use of the firearms take place very often in the city, Alla Malienko, the spokeswoman of the organization said. At the moment, the law enforcers establish the circumstances of the incident; they study the records from the CCTV cameras. 'So far, the sum of the damage is assessed at the rate of $547-730,' Malienko added. The National Police reported that the investigative group documented the fact of the damaging of the external double glazing unit (the inner double glazing unit is not damaged). Nothing was confiscated from the site. The information that the damage was caused by the shooting from the firearm is not confirmed. The information on the damage of the window was spotted in the journal of the unified consideration of the statements and reports of Shevchenkisky Department of the police. The qualification of the incident should be considered. As we reported 86 cases of the use of the force against the journalists were spotted in Ukraine in 2018. Earlier we reported that 94 journalists and media workers were killed while on duty in the world in 2018 and it is 12 persons more than that in 2017. Besides, far-right opponents of the March in support of transgender people in Kyiv attacked Canadian journalist Michael Colborne. Around 1,000 servicemen and 50 units of equipment are involved in it Units of the detached brigades of Black Sea Fleet Marine Corps started training in the annexed Crimea, as Russias Defence Ministry reported. Training is held at the firing ranges Perevalne, Angarsky and Kazachy. Around 1,000 servicemen and 50 units of equipment are involved in it The military are performing combat-firing exercises from all the types of small arms and anti-tank systems. The gun spotters of the armored fighting vehicles are working on target direction, fire adjustment from a cannon or gun, while moving and on the ground. The driver mechanics are learning how to carry out driving technics and overcome various obstacles in motion. It was also reported that the Russian servicemen were learning actions which could help them dodge air strikes, neutralization of the subversive and intelligence groups when the equipment conoy passes. Crimea was annexed by Russia after the illegal referendum held on the peninsula in March 2014. Earlier, the Russian military captured all strategic military objects and buildings of the key authoritative bodies. Neither Ukraine nor the rest of the civilized countries recognized the results of the referendum. A number of the European and the world countries, including Ukraine, imposed the economic sanctions against Russia. The planks in Taras Kostanchuks program violate the Constitution of Ukraine, the CEC ruled The Central Election Committee refused to register as a presidential candidate the ex-fighter of the Donbas volunteer battalion Taras Kostanchuk. The press-service of the Central Election Committee of Ukraine reports this. According to the report, the reason for refusal is the planks in Kostanchuks program, which violate the Constitution of Ukraine and suggest professional discrimination, propagate violence and encroach on the rights and freedoms established by the Constitution of Ukraine". In particular, the program suggests a death penalty for civil servants for corruption, betrayal, and theft of state property, as well as the abolition of the presumption of innocence for civil servants. 'Under such conditions, the Committee refused to register Kostanchuk as a presidential candidate in the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine', the report said. As we reported earlier, the Central Election Committee of Ukraine has completed the procedure of registration of presidential candidates who will be running for the office on March 31. 89 people expressed the will to run for the presidency. 28 candidates were registered; the applications of another 22 were turned down. The Central Election Committee of Ukraine has completed the procedure of registration of presidential candidates who will be running for the office on March 31. Interfax news agency reported that on Monday. Sunday, February 3, was the deadline for when the candidates to file the applications. Most notably, President Petro Poroshenko was among those who filed on that day. Apart from the incumbent head of the Ukrainian state, 16 more people filed the documents to be registered as the presidential race participants. That included reporter Dmytro Hnap, famous for his part in a number of high-profile journalist investigations and Vira Savchenko, the sister of Nadiya Savchenko; she did not register herself but her sister, who claimed to be running for the presidency. Nadiya Savchenko is now in custody, as the court considers her case under several tough charges, including the coup d'etat attempt. 89 people expressed the will to run for the presidency. 28 candidates were registered; the applications of another 22 were turned down. Police arrest two men in rape and murder of girl, 11 Police arrested two persons in connection with the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in Biratnagar-8, Morang. Many times you might have found the multiple casinos available in the online market but when you are going to... Her sister Vira Savchenko claims that authorities want to hide Nadiya Savchenko before the elections Open source According to the information of the Red Cross, Nadiya Savchenko has been transferred to Lukyanivska Prison. Her sister Vira Savchenko reported this on Facebook. Nadiya Savchenko has been sent to Lukyanivska Prison. In other words, they want to hide Nadia from Kyiv during the elections, Vira Savchenko wrote. As we reported earlier, on January 26, the delegates to the congress unanimously supported the candidacy of Nadiya for the presidency of Ukraine. According to her, the monetary contribution for the participation of Savchenko in the presidential elections of Ukraine is collected from the funds of party members and people who support it, including from abroad, for example, from the United States. Yuriy Lutsenko, Prosecutor General, claimed that he had proof that Savchenko planned an armed coup d'etat, which would have led to mass civilian casualties. In particular, according to the information of Prosecutor General's Office, she planned to shell Kyiv with a grenade launcher. Furthermore, together with earlier detained Volodymyr Ruban she is suspected of an organization of assassination of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Many EU countries are afraid to recognize Juan Maduro as the president of Venezuela Open source Italy declined the proposition of EU to recognize the leader of Venezuelan opposition Juan Guaido as the head of the only democratically chosen body of the power of Venezuela, Reuters reported. The EU countries have been discussing how to solve the Venezuela crisis for a couple of days, 10 counties have recognized the leader after the deadline ends when president Nicolas Maduro declares new presidential elections. Some EU members are worried about the situation with the self-proclaimed leader, - the report said. Italy has declined the EU project, according to which the recognition of Guaido is the national prerogative. Some EU members recognize the leader of the National Assembly as the interim president of Venezuela, the common project suggests, calling for free and democratic presidential elections. As we reported earlier, Ukraine has recognized the leader of Venezuelan opposition Juan Guaido as the head of the only democratically chosen body of the government of Venezuela, the National Assembly and the leader of the democratic opposition. On January 23, opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president. He was supported by many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Soon we will mark the fifth anniversary of the ongoing armed conflict in Donbas. The main parties, one way or another involved in the conflict, have created many different plans and proposals to this sad jubilee. But their plans still have remained on paper. Some of them are impossible in reality; others do not satisfy one party of the conflict. Actually, the only document on which the parties agreed and which more or less works, is the Minsk agreements. The last document for the years of its operation was criticize a lot, and in general this is logical - the Minsk agreements cannot return Donbas to Ukraine, and cannot solve its problem. But the harsh truth of life lies in the fact that, most likely, the document was aimed just at reducing the escalation in the region, which it successfully achieved. Demanding more from the Minsk Agreements is simply unfair. If we put aside all the plans, proposals and loud statements of the politicians, there are only two ways to solve the Donbas issue and a number of options that are aimed at solving the problem. Their quantitative and qualitative composition depends on the ultimate goals, means, opportunities, domestic and international situation, and many other factors. The main ways to solve the problem of Donbas provide a choice between the military and diplomatic option. 1) The force option involves the return of temporarily uncontrolled territories of Donbas by force of arms. Actually, in this sense, there are only two most likely options - a direct large-scale offensive in order to return the territories of the "people's republics" or the implementation of the so-called "Croatian scenario." Ukraine has already tried to test the first option in 2014, but because of the intervention of the Russian Armed Forces, its implementation was impossible. The balance of power between Ukraine and Russia in the support the "people's republics" is too unequal. Actually, the last year's "Kerch incident" has already shown this. Another force option for Ukraine, from time to time actively discussed in the information space, is the so-called Croatian scenario. Successfully applied by Croatia in 1995, it has become synonymous with a strategy of long-term preparation for a forceful resolution of the issue, restructuring the country and the economy to achieve the goal. And finally, there will be one quick and successful offensive strike. In the conditions of Ukraine, such way is possible only with guarantees of non-interference of the Russian Federation. 2) The diplomatic way involves a greater number of options, depending on the ultimate goal - to return the uncontrollable part of Donbas or "let it go". The simplest option is obvious - to recognize the "people's republics", but it is obviously impossible for the authorities. In fact, this means admitting a complete defeat on all fronts, losing all that allowed them to come to power in 2014 and get a credit of national trust, which, however, has already been wasted successfully. But if this option means political bankruptcy of power, for Ukraine its results may turn out to be even worse, since the surrender of ORDLO will stimulate the further growth of separatist tendencies, which will receive confirmation of the possibility of their realization. In this sense, the southern regions of the country and Transcarpathia may be the most dangerous. As part of this option, there were also quite a few plans, ranging from the outright idealism of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and ending with the most recent Sajdik plan for today. The plan proposed by the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Tripartite Contact Group, Martin Sajdik, is largely based on the use of similar experience in the Balkans. The essence of the diplomat's proposals in brief means the introduction in the uncontrolled part of Donbas of some kind of transitional international structure with its own military and police forces, civilian administration, under the auspices of the UN and the OSCE. The humanitarian component should be provided by the creation of a Donbas Recovery Agency by the European Union, similar to the one that previously existed in the Balkans. According to Sajdik, the final task of the work of such a transitional structure should be the reintegration of the uncontrolled part of Donbas into Ukraine. According to the diplomat, the peace plan must be signed by the heads of the countries of the "Normandy Quartet" - Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany, and then approved by their parliaments. In essence, in theory, the plan looks good, perhaps even the best for today, since, apart from simply entering international peacekeepers, it presupposes a humanitarian and no political settlement. However, its implementation even in theory has a huge number of obstacles. Perhaps the most pressing issue for the EU, the UN and the OSCE in this regard today is financial. It is impossible to imagine how much the peacekeepers, the police forces, the international administration, not to mention the Donbas Rehabilitation Agency, will cost. And although, if desired, the participants of the plan can find all these costs together, but the critical question is: do they really need it? True, the main issue still remains the problem of peacekeepers. It is unlikely that anyone will want to go to the zone of military conflict in order to carry out a humanitarian mission, to ensure the restoration of infrastructure or to carry out management activities without adequate force protection. Of course, peacekeepers are not armed forces, they have a different status, and their very presence in a combat zone does not guarantee security, but its safer with them there than without them. On the other hand, the transitional administration will clearly reduce the influence of the Russian Federation in Donbas, and retreat from its own positions in Russia itself can be interpreted as a defeat. The latter is very important in the light of the clearly growing discontent with the power in the country on the part of society. Is this plan beneficial for Ukraine? If we really want to return the region, yes, we still cannot offer anything better at the moment. Ships are seen in the Azov Sea port of Berdyansk, Ukraine November 30, 2018. Picture taken November 30, 2018 Reuters Moscow captured three Ukrainian navy vessels and arrested twenty-four Ukrainian sailors on November 25, 2018, near the Kerch Strait. The maritime clash indicates that the focal point of the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict may gradually switch from the Donbas to the Azov Sea and Crimean peninsula in 2019. More conflict in the south would further throttle Ukraines already battered economy. According to Vitaliy Kravchuk, senior researcher at the Institute of Economic Research and Policy Consulting in Kyiv, If there are further marine incidents, it could mean the closure of the Azov ports for shipping. Such a development would have grave economic repercussions for the port cities of Mariupol and Berdyansk, which handle approximately 5 percent of Ukraines foreign trade. Ukraine has only limited alternative transport infrastructure to redirect trade flows. An escalation at the Azov Sea will threaten social stability in southeastern Ukraine. It might also lead to a significant reduction or even curtailment of Ukrainian economic growth in 2019 and beyond. Four factors make further tensions between Russia and Ukraine along the shores of Crimea and mainland southern Ukraine probable. They include the Wests lack of reaction to the recent tensions, the absence of international organizations in the Azov Sea, the functionality of the Kerch Strait Bridge and its symbolism for Putin, and the unresolved issue of supplying fresh water to occupied Crimea. All four of these factors distinguish this area from the Donbas, where the OSCE is heavily present, a more or less stable front line has emerged, and the conflict has become partially frozen. Also, the EUs most serious sanctions introduced in the summer of 2014 have later been linked to the fulfillment of the Minsk Agreements concerning exclusively the Donbas. A major factor currently enabling escalation in the Azov is the Wests lack of reaction to the November 2018 naval confrontation. The West has done little beyond condemning the aggression and such symbolic measures as US President Donald Trump canceling an official meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin (while still meeting him unofficially). The EU has not reacted and probably will not react materially, as it did after the shoot down of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 in July 2014 to the confrontation and capture of Ukrainian sailors either. Second, the absence of any relevant international organizations on the Azov Sea or on Crimea makes Russian actions against Ukraine there less risky and more likely. There are no international monitors, like the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in the Donbas, to alert the international community. Russia has been far more lenient in allowing international organizations, with their respective ties to the diplomatic community, into the Donbas. A third factor potentially motivating the Kremlin to behave more adventurously between the Azov and Black Seas could become technical malfunctioning or the economic ineffectiveness of the new Kerch Strait Bridge connecting Russia and Crimea. This prestige object has strong symbolic value for the legitimization of the Putin regime in the eyes of the Russian population. For one reason or another, this bridge might not provide a sufficient boost for Crimeas social development or integration into the Russian economy, as promised. The Kremlin may start searching for excuses and try to stage an escalation that can be spun to explain a partial or full dysfunction of the bridge. This would be especially the case if the bridge starts to crumble. Since its opening in May 2018, there have been repeated reports in the Ukrainian media about the bridges engineering issues and geological challenges. A closure or even collapse of the bridge would be a catastrophic blow to Putins post-annexation image, and make deceptive maneuversincluding military onesby the Kremlin more probable. A final urgent problem for the Kremlin is Crimeas precarious situation with fresh water. In 2014, Kyiv stopped the delivery of water to the peninsula via the North Crimean Canal. Constantly declining aquatic reserves, in combination with a continuing dearth of energy supply, are a virtual time bomb with potentially far-reaching economic and social consequences for Crimeas residents. In a surprising geoeconomic gaffe, Moscow has done little to resolve this issue, such a building at least one large desalination plant. Should there be no solution, Crimeans will soon experience insufficient water supplies, which complicates business and daily life. A rise of social tensions on the peninsula may provide yet another potential trigger for escalation between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow may try to capture the closed channel between Crimea and the Dnipro River. This would lead Russian regular troops deep into Ukraines southern mainland and start a second high-intensity and then official war between the two countries. These factors constitute only some of the possible scenarios for escalation between Russia and Ukraine. Yet, given that these four conditions are present in Crimea, the Kerch Strait, and the Azov Sea, they make rising tensions in this area likely. The Azov Sea ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk will continue to operate under various limitations and risks. Will Ukraine and its Western partners be willing to provide some plausible stability guarantees and security mechanisms to those businesses engaged in the region? If not, Ukraine as well as various national and foreign companies should start preparing for a gradual decline of Mariupol and Berdyansk as well as for the grave social and political consequences this will have for southern Ukraine and eventually the whole country. These places are more closed than prisons. And the journalists are uninvited guests here. These are boarding schools. There are 751 boarding schools in Ukraine, 106 thousand minors and about 50 thousand adults with disabilities live here. We have already shown the terrible truth about boarding schools. In particular, terrible living conditions in the Teteriv boarding school in Zhytomyr. And the local orphans were used as slaves; they worked at the local market. Director Oleksandr Honcharov now faces up to 12 years in prison for human trafficking. Meanwhile, the Zhytomyr Regional Council has already allocated almost 10,000 USD for the repair of the institution. When our journalists' crew came to Verkhniodniprovsky boarding school (Dnipropetrovsk region), the institution psychiatrist broke our camera. And hit one of the journalists. However, even despite the video evidence, the Dnipro police are in no hurry to punish the attacker. Therefore, we wrote a complaint to the Prosecutor General's Office. Previously, we showed how the director of Verkhniodniprovsky boarding school, Hennadiy Fedenko, beats his pupils. Fedenko has beaten, to the point that he had lost consciousness. The pupils also complained that Fedenko took their social benefits and intimidated them. Khotyn general boarding school, Chernivtsi region. Almost 100 girls and boys live and study here (from 2nd to 9th grades). The crew, accompanied by of the Chernivtsi Regional Council deputy Mykhailo Lypka and volunteer Lina Deshvar, who was brought up in a boarding school. Each of these children has his or her own reason to have come to the boarding school. Someone's parents are in prison or abuse alcohol, and someone's father and mother live below the poverty line or are seriously ill. This is their school; it is full of old furniture. The conditions the residential building is also terrible. The furniture crumbles from the inside. There are two bedroom buildings on the territory of the school; one of them does not even has a toilet. Boys and girls are forced to do the deed outside or use buckets in the middle of their bedroom. Ihnat Didych, the director of the boarding school, does not consider it to be a serious problem: Well, maybe were used to it, maybe, for you its crazy. Do not dramatize, this is not a tragedy," he says. Schoolchildren also wash in their bedrooms. Each child keeps his bowl under the bed. There is no hot water there, so the children are forced to bring it from the neighboring building. In 2018, 536,000 USD were allocated for Khotyn boarding school, and in 2019, it has got only 321,000 USD. This money goes for salaries of employees and maintenance of children. Money for repairs is not allocated. Skvirsky psycho-neurological boarding school, Kyiv region. 360 adult men live here, all of them suffer from mental disorders. This is one of the largest boarding schools in Ukraine. The rooms are full of beds, wall-to-wall. Some furniture is too old. Some patients wear old, tattered clothes. There are no low walls in shower and toilet. The director assures: there are no problems with financing. Patients do not complain about the conditions either. They spend their free time in the recreation room, usually, it is overcrowded. Some patients are forced to watch TV standing up. There is no security or at least a high fence there. Therefore, patients with mental disorders and criminal past often flee. In 2016, Mykola Semenyuta has first seen the world outside the orphanage. He learned to write and read at the age of 25. Now Mykola lives a full life. He likes fishing and dancing. Once he even met with motivational speaker Nick Vujicic. Mykola was lucky that in 2016 he was adopted. He was brought up in an orphanage. Due to congenital malformations, his parents abandoned him when he was five. He still remembers Nizhyn boarding school in Chernihiv region with horror. They have beaten me many times. On the back and on the head. And on the legs, even though I do not feel them, but still. My head was wracked. I still have a scar on my head, so that one nurse hit her with something sharp I remember that there was a lot of blood, he remembers. And this is Oleksandr Redchich, another pupil of the Nizhyn orphanage. He has spent 23 years in a special institution. If a child peed himself, they can even put a diaper on his head. I remember when a nurse took off her shoes and threw them at the children, Redchich says. Often, the nannies tie up the children. These terrible photos were taken in 2016. Children with disabilities cannot move because they are tightly tied with diapers and clothes. Children are forced to sit in a chair motionless, nurses tied some children right to their wheelchairs. Some children were tied straight to the pot. There is a video, where nanny took a paralyzed boy from the bed and tied him. The boy groans in pain. After the publication of the terrible video, the prosecutor's office of Chernihiv region opened criminal proceedings on the fact of child abuse; the perpetrators have not been found. The prosecutors ignore our request. The deputy director of the department bluntly states: reporters have nothing to do in the orphanage. Then our crew randomly went to the Nizhynsky special institution. The reporters were still allowed into the territory. But the administration declined to give any comments. In the end, the journalists were let for only 5 minutes. This is Oksana Svichkolap. She is the only parent who was not afraid to report on torture of the sick children. Her son Danylo was diagnosed with autism. The husband immediately left the family. It was difficult to cope with the child because he became more and more aggressive. In 2015, when the boy turned 16, Oksana was forced to send her son to a boarding school. Soon she began to detect bruises on the boy's body. And provided evidence of beatings. In the autumn of 2018, Oksana came to visit her son. Beaten Danylo could not even get up. For about 15 years, the boarding school of Nizhyn orphanage has been headed by Harmash Olena. And despite numerous scandals, she has not been fired or reprimanded. They say that the director is on good relations with the head of the regional department of the social security department Oleh Rusyn. We have received a video message from the Biloposky boarding school in Sumy region. This is Mykola Bazyliuk. "They smacked us in the back of the head. They can hit with a mop too And they beat those who cannot speak," says Mykola. This resident of the boarding school says: the staff forces them to work instead of themselves. And in this photo, one of the pupils is wearing a bathrobe over his naked body. They are bullied in such a way. They put on a bathrobe, take all the clothes away, the director takes him to his office You can wear it for two or three months, without underwear, says Mykola. Children with disabilities of physical and mental development live in Biloposky boarding school. The youngest patient is 4 years old, the oldest is 35. The worst thing in a boarding school is a punishment cell. This is a small basement room, like in prisons. Chernivtsi. This institution is called the Center of Kindness Marta's Dream. It was founded in 2017 by Marta Levchenko. Ten women with children, who had to be deprived of parental rights, live in the Center. Olha Gerega and her daughter have been living here for more than a year. Olha was brought up in a boarding school. She left the orphanage as an alcohol addict. And when the social services decided to take her daughter away from her, Olha took hold of her head and found volunteers herself. In fact, the boarding schools are mostly not for orphans, but for the children who have parents, who are addicts. Ukraine plans to abandon boarding schools by 2026. They would be replaced by family-type centers. And now, boarding schools remain a relic of the Soviet Union, a place of bullying and torture. Read the original text at 112.ua. Stiri pe aceeasi tema - Parliament Decision 36/2021 for the removal from office of Ombudswoman Renate Weber is unconstitutional as it violates the provisions regarding the principle of legality and the five-year office tenure, reads a constitutionality objection filed by the opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) with - Noua denumire, cu literele grecesti, va fi folosita atat la variantele de ingrijorare (VOC), cat si la variantele de interes (VOI).OMS a spus ca a luat aceasta decizie pentru a simplifica discutiile, dar si pentru a ajuta la inlaturarea stigmatizarii din cauza numelor. ului numelor. Guvernul indian - Administratia judeteana a fost informata cu privire la oferta educationala propusa pentru Filiala de la Focsani, pentru anul universitar 2021 2022, de catre institutia de invatamant superior din Iasi. - The Deputy Prime Minister Dan Barna said on Monday that there is no mistake regarding the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), being only about "a stage of consultations". "This program will bring the 30 billion (euro), just as it was foreseen and thought out at the European level - Representatives of ministries, central authorities and religious denominations met at the Victoria Palace on Thursday to determine ways in which Romanians living, studying and working abroad can be supported, as well as in historical communities, agerpres.ro confirms. The discussions focused - The Ministry of Health specified that at its level "there is no legally established work group" regarding checking daily reports for the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that one will be established on Monday, in accordance with the current legislation, and Prime Minister Florin Citu ruled - Prime Minister Florin Citu said that budget revenues are higher than estimated, which means that the government expects a budget deficit below 7 percent. "We have some very good news at this time as regards the economy. (...) The good part is that the budget revenues are higher than estimated, which - O tranzactie" surpriza, de care opinia publica a auzit abia ieri, in mod intempestiv, desi e vorba de o cladire din patrimoniul local. Conducerea Colegiului Pedagogic Vasile Lupu" din Iasi a inaintat ieri o scrisoare deschisa catre ministrul Educatiei Nationale in speranta ca va fi oprita actiunea Femeie din Vulturu, judecata pentru evaziune cu deseuri metalice O femeie de 46 de ani, originara din Vulturu, este trasa la raspundere pentru aproximativ 1.000 de lei, bani cu care aceasta ar fi prejudiciat bugetul de stat cu ocazia unor tranzactii pe care le-a facut in urma cu aproape doi ani. In prezent, femeia a fost acuzata de [citeste mai departe] Over 600 Nepal-bound cargo stranded at Kolkata Port as protest continues More than 600 Nepal-bound cargo are still stuck at Kolkata Port as disgruntled customs clearing agents continue their protest. They are dissatisfied by the government gaining transshipment privilege at the Indian port and implementing the electronic cargo tracking system. South Boston, VA (24592) Today Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 71F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 71F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-05 06:39:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ZAGREB, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic wished Chinese people "Happy New Year" here on Monday as she attended a New Year's Eve dinner in a renowned Chinese restaurant. "It was wonderful to celebrate the Chinese New Year with Chinese friends here in Zagreb. I would like to wish Happy New Year to all the Chinese people in China and all over the world. Xin Nian Kuai Le," the president said, ending her greetings with Chinese words she just learned for "Happy New Year". Croatia will host the summit between China and 16 Central and Eastern European countries in April. Grabar-Kitarovic said that she looked forward to it. "I'm very happy that the program actually corresponds to my own initiative of the three seas, connecting the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Sea," said the president, mentioning the Three Seas Initiative that includes 12 EU members located between the Adriatic Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. It aims to enhance regional cooperation and dialogue in various aspects. According to owner of Asia Restaurant Chen Yinglie, who has been running the Chinese restaurant in Croatia for over two decades and invited many high-ranking officials and top leaders to the restaurant, this was the first time that Grabar-Kitarovic came as president. "China and Croatia are friends. The president has come to celebrate Chinese New Year because she recognizes Chinese culture," said Chen. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-05 06:28:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan Foreign Minister Richard Sezibera on Monday urged the international community to heed the increase of cyber attacks by mercenary groups. "Mercenaries are not only involved in active combat. We now see an increase in cyber attacks and industrial espionage earned out by mercenary groups within the comfort of their homes," said Sezibera while addressing the UN Security Council high-level debate: Mercenaries activities as a source of instability and destabilization in Africa. "The existing policy frameworks of the African Union and also the United Nations Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries of 1989 need to be updated in order for them to cope with emerging realities," he added. "To address and neutralize the threat of mercenary activities in Africa, we must take robust measures to deal with this persistent source of instability on our continent," said the foreign minister. "Only collective and well-coordinated approach at regional and international levels will allow us to end the mercenary phenomenon by disrupting their financial networks, cross border recruitments and therefore defeat their operations," said Sezibera. Sezibera addressed the Security Council on behalf of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who was invited in his capacity as chairperson of the African Union to contribute to the debate. "Mercenaries are part of a worrying increase of trans-boundary criminal networks, some well financed with sophisticated communication and military equipment and many connected to global terrorist networks," said the foreign minister. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the debate that the international body "stands ready to continue to support governments in tackling mercenary activities." Equatorial Guinea, which holds the presidency of the Council for February, organized the high-level debate, presided over by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-05 06:23:57|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo (Front) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of Chinese Light Festival in Kalemegdan Park in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, on Feb. 4, 2019. The Chinese Light Festival is held here from Feb. 4 to Feb. 24 to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. (Xinhua/Predrag Milosavljevic) BELGRADE, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Year of the Pig was welcomed here Monday, with the opening of the Chinese Festival of Lights event in the Serbian capital. The light exhibition that takes place from Feb. 4 to 24 at the historic Kalemegdan fortress in downtown Belgrade brought colorful light sculptures designed by Chinese artists and built by a well-known Chinese company from Sichuan province, depicting motives from Chinese folklore, animals, flowers and buildings. The opening ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabic, Minister of Culture and Information Vladan Vukosavljevic, Belgrade Mayor Zoran Radojicic and the newly-appointed Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo. Serbian musician and founder of the group Balkanopolis Slobodan Trkulja said at the ceremony that the manifestation will "contribute to even stronger ties between peoples of the two countries, which are connected by traditional friendship." "Disregarding the distance between our countries, tonight here in Kalemegdan we celebrate the Chinese New Year with our brothers from China, in the same light and the same joy," Trkulja said. Vukosavljevic reminded that the "Year of the Pig in symbolic sense is related to progress and prosperity, good opportunities and business success". "I wish to our Chinese friends as well as to ourselves that the beautiful symbolic nature of this sign comes true in the year that has already begun for us," he said. Chen said: "I wish Serbian and Chinese citizens enjoy the lights and welcome the new spring together. Today myself and all Chinese people that live here feel like we are in China." She concluded with a wish that China-Serbia friendship continues to "shine with amazing light" in the new year. Brnabic reminded that this year is an important jubilee -- 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China. "Myself, the government of Serbia and all citizens of Serbia wish good luck and further success in all areas of development to our brotherly Chinese nation," she noted. Hundreds of visitors toured the exhibition and enjoyed the fable-like world of joyous sculptures at Kalemegdan. "This is very nice, and a completely new thing in Belgrade and I hope this will turn into a traditional event," said Vesna from Belgrade, wishing Chinese people good health, success, prosperity and well-being together with her grandchildren. "This is fairy tale, and although it was a long time ago since my childhood ended, I am enjoying this like a little girl, and I cannot decide which part of the exhibition is more beautiful," said Sanja, another local citizen. "It will be remembered." "Chinese had made this all very beautifully. I am thrilled with what I had experienced. This is very nice, professional and also warm. I wish Chinese and our people happy new year, for them to visit us often, and that we also go to China to experience its beauty," said visitor Milan Tatalovic. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-05 06:08:53|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- UN agencies and their humanitarian partners need to increase aid to Nigerian refugees in neighboring Cameroon, Stephane Dujarric, the chief UN spokesman said on Monday. "The response needs to be scaled up significantly to cope with the influx of people, with many refugees reluctant to return to Nigeria's Rann area or any other camp in Ngala without assurances of their safety and security," he said. "Aid workers are working with authorities to protect the refugees' right to asylum and to relocate them to safer areas away from the border," Dujarric told reporters at a regular briefing. He said that Allegra Baiocchi, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Cameroon, and representatives from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and local authorities, visited the Goura refugee site in the far north of Cameroon, adjacent to northeast Nigeria where government troops have been clashing with terrorist groups. Some 35,000 Nigerian refugees have fled into Cameroon. "Aid organizations are providing food, shelter and water and sanitation, among other services," Dujarric said. "At the end of January, the World Food Program (WFP) began distributing food for 13,500 Nigerian refugees," he said, adding that the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for Cameroon seeks financial aid to assist 2.3 million vulnerable people. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks to soldiers while attending a military exercise in Turiamo, Venezuela on February 3, 2019. MOSCOW, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Russia supports a settlement plan for Venezuela, proposed by Uruguay and Mexico, but does not accept proposals by the European Union and condemns U.S. threats to invade the Latin American country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. "We will uphold international law and support the initiatives taken by individual Latin American countries, in particular, Mexico and Uruguay," Lavrov spoke to students at Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in Kyrgyzstan's capital of Bishkek. "They are aimed at creating the conditions for a national dialogue with the participation of all political forces in Venezuela," he said, according to an official transcript on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website. Unfortunately, Europe is imposing a slightly different configuration of international mediation, Lavrov said. According to him, the European Union has proposed to create a contact group made of eight of its members and a comparable number of Latin American countries, but Russia, China and the United States have not been invited to join it. Lavrov noted that the EU proposed to include in the group countries which eight days ago demanded that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announce presidential election by Monday. This means that on Monday these mediators will have to recognize Maduro's opponent Juan Guaido as a new legitimate acting president, Lavrov said. "This is no way to mediate. This is called an ultimatum and not an attempt to find a common denominator," he said. Lavrov recalled that the United States did not hide the fact that it wanted to change the regime in Venezuela at any cost, keeping the option of military intervention on the table. "I think it goes without saying that it undermines all the foundations of international law," Lavrov said. The opposition led by Guaido refuses to begin a dialogue, ultimately demanding the departure of Maduro and the transfer of power to opposition forces, he said, adding that this is not a dialogue, but imposing one's unilateral will. "The fact that this is being done with direct indulgence from Washington, and now also Europe, exposes those alleged values in international politics that our Western colleagues profess," Lavrov said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-05 03:08:15|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close GAZA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A health official in the Gaza Strip said on Monday that 120 to 130 new cancer cases are discovered in the besieged Palestinian enclave every month. "The numbers of cancer patients in Gaza are significantly increasing compared with the previous nine years," Khaled Thabet, head of Oncology Department at al-Rantisi Cancer Center in Gaza City, told reporters. "In 2018, around 1,800 cancer patients in total were discovered," he noted. According to Thabet, breast and colon cancers are the most common for women and men in Gaza respectively. "Radiation therapy is not available at all," he noted. Thabet pointed to rapid demographic changes, the excessive use of Insecticides and the chemical remnants of Israeli wars as the three reasons behind the significant increase in the numbers of cancer patients in Gaza. However, about 60 percent of the cancer patients can't receive Israeli permissions to travel from Gaza to Israel or the West Bank to continue their medical treatment, the Gaza official said. File Photo: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, on Jan. 18, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday extended his warm wishes for the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival. In a video message, Guterres thanked China and the Chinese people for their commitment to the United Nations and called for efforts to build a peaceful and prosperous world. He began his greeting in Mandarin: "Chun Jie Kuai Le!" (Happy Spring Festival!) "I'm pleased to send you my best wishes on this auspicious occasion." "In this new year, let us join hands to build a peaceful and prosperous world for all, leaving no one behind," he said. "Despite the headwinds in our world today, we know that when we work together, we get things done. In that spirit, I wish you and your families health, success and happiness in this new year." The Year of the Pig falls on Tuesday this year. Nepali Congress organises nationwide protest against government The Nepali Congress (NC) staged protest rallies and demonstrations across the country against the government on Monday. The main opposition party said the governments recent activities were against the interest of public. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-05 02:23:08|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TUNIS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi will pay a two-day official visit to Malta on Feb. 5-6, the government said Monday. During his visit at the invitation of Maltese President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, the two leaders will co-chair the opening of the third edition of Malta-Tunisia Business Forum. They will also sign several memorandums of understanding to strengthen bilateral cooperation. Preca paid a state visit to Tunisia in 2017 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-05 01:37:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TIRANA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Albanian government has invested over 10 million euros (around 11.4 million U.S. dollars) in the past five years in diagnostic equipment and tumor treatment, Albanian Minister of Health and Social Protection Ogerta Manastirliu reported to the Parliamentary Commission of Health on World Day against Cancer on Monday. According to Manastirliu, the government has increased public funding by 43.3 percent compared to five years ago. Manastirliu underlined that in 2018 about 16,000 women across the country had free mammograms, twice as many as in 2017. Meanwhile, in regard to the basic medical examinations, over 1.3 million tests have been performed to detect colorectal cancer. "With the installation of the new linear accelerator in Tirana University Hospital Centre today we also provide radiotherapy for tumor-affected children and have reduced the waiting time thrice for radiotherapy patients," added Manastirliu. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-05 00:17:42|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TASHKENT, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan's finance ministry said Monday the country will hold a "road show", meeting with investors from the United States and Britain from Feb. 7 to 14 ahead of the debut Eurobond placement. "Based on conditions and trends in the international financial markets, it is planned to issue the country's first state international bonds for a period of 5 and or 10 years," the finance ministry said in a statement. Uzbekistan for the first time plans to issue 500 million U.S. dollars of bonds, a minimum benchmark bond. JP Morgan was appointed as a global coordinator and joint bookrunner, while Citi and Gazprombank - joint leading managers and bookrunners, the ministry said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-05 00:02:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MOSCOW, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Russia supports a settlement plan for Venezuela, proposed by Uruguay and Mexico, but does not accept proposals by the European Union and condemns U.S. threats to invade the Latin American country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. "We will uphold international law and support the initiatives taken by individual Latin American countries, in particular, Mexico and Uruguay," Lavrov spoke to students at Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in Kyrgyzstan's capital of Bishkek. "They are aimed at creating the conditions for a national dialogue with the participation of all political forces in Venezuela," he said, according to an official transcript on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website. Unfortunately, Europe is imposing a slightly different configuration of international mediation, Lavrov said. According to him, the European Union has proposed to create a contact group made of eight of its members and a comparable number of Latin American countries, but Russia, China and the United States have not been invited to join it. Lavrov noted that the EU proposed to include in the group countries which eight days ago demanded that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announce presidential election by Monday. This means that on Monday these mediators will have to recognize Maduro's opponent Juan Guaido as a new legitimate acting president, Lavrov said. "This is no way to mediate. This is called an ultimatum and not an attempt to find a common denominator," he said. Lavrov recalled that the United States did not hide the fact that it wanted to change the regime in Venezuela at any cost, keeping the option of military intervention on the table. "I think it goes without saying that it undermines all the foundations of international law," Lavrov said. The opposition led by Guaido refuses to begin a dialogue, ultimately demanding the departure of Maduro and the transfer of power to opposition forces, he said, adding that this is not a dialogue, but imposing one's unilateral will. "The fact that this is being done with direct indulgence from Washington, and now also Europe, exposes those alleged values in international politics that our Western colleagues profess," Lavrov said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 23:37:31|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua (C), former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda (L) and Tomoko Ukishima, State Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan, attend a lighting ceremony of the Tokyo Tower in Tokyo, capital of Japan, Feb. 4, 2019. As the Chinese people cheer for the Lunar New Year Eve, the iconic scenic spot of Tokyo Tower in the Japanese capital was lit up Monday evening in Chinese red as a symbol of promotion of China-Japan relations. The famous tourist attraction was dressed in Chinese red for the first time. A video from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was played to express his greetings to the Chinese people residing in Japan, the first time an incumbent Japanese prime minister sends the Chinese Lunar New Year greetings through a video. (Xinhua/Wang Kejia) TOKYO, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- As the Chinese people cheer for the Lunar New Year Eve, the iconic scenic spot of Tokyo Tower in the Japanese capital was lit up Monday evening in Chinese red as a symbol of promotion of China-Japan relations. The famous tourist attraction was dressed in Chinese red for the first time. A video from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was played to express his greetings to the Chinese people residing in Japan, the first time an incumbent Japanese prime minister sends the Chinese Lunar New Year greetings through a video. "Happy Chinese New Year," Abe said in Chinese at the beginning of the video. He went on to say "Last year was an important year in the history of Japan-China relations." Abe said Japan-China relations have fully returned to the normal track. The Japanese prime minister said that Japan welcomed a record high number of more than 8.3 million Chinese visitors in 2018 and the direct exchanges between the two peoples play a vital role in deepening mutual understanding and trust between the two countries. Abe said he sincerely welcomes more Chinese friends to visit Japan and also hopes more Japanese will go to China and build a bridge for exchanges. Speaking at the lighting ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua hoped for the further development of China-Japan relations. He said that the lighting of Chinese red not only expresses sincere greetings from the Chinese residents in Japan to their fellow people in China, but also conveys Japanese people's festival greetings and good wishes to the Chinese people. It also means China-Japan relations will make further progress and gain new developments in the new year, the ambassador said. More than 500 hundred children from both China and Japan set off balloons at the ceremony, while activities such as traditional lantern show and lion dancing performance brought a festive atmosphere to the Tokyo Tower. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 23:22:28|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia exported 6.1 million barrels of crude oil to China in 2018, local media reported Monday, citing the country's Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry. As a result, Mongolia received 223.4 billion Mongolian Tugrik (84.94 million U.S. dollars) into the state budget. During this period, Mongolia extracted 6.4 million barrels of crude oil. Mongolia's economy will accelerate this year and exceed international forecasts, according to experts of the Central Bank, because prices of natural resources including copper, gold and coal, which have a significant impact on Mongolia's economy, will be relatively high. The increase in foreign investment and the development of mega-projects will also have a positive impact on the Mongolian economy, the experts added. Meanwhile, more than 97 percent of imported fuel was imported from Russia. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 23:22:27|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China has confiscated about 1.5 million illegal publications and shut down many pornographic websites amid a nationwide crackdown launched early January. More than 700,000 pirated books were seized in Beijing during the campaign, according to the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications. Around 500,000 illegal compact discs and 110,000 pirated works of the late Chinese martial arts novelist Jin Yong, also known as Louis Cha, were confiscated by local authorities in Tianjin. Meanwhile, regulators in Shanghai deleted over 31,000 items of harmful information and punished 7,871 accounts for violations of law and regulations. Authorities in Hubei shut down 41 websites containing obscene content and deleted more than 40,000 pieces of harmful information. The office said it was open to any public tip-offs regarding illegal publications and online porn. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 23:17:25|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MOSCOW, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Russian government said Monday it is planning to provide 21 billion rubles (320 million U.S. dollars) to enhance tourism infrastructure across the country for the next three years. Moscow is ready to subsidize 24 investment projects for tourist cluster infrastructure in 22 regions inside the country, according to a statement published on the government's website. According to the same statement, these projects will receive 83 million dollars this year, 76 million the next and 161 million in 2021. The government subsidies will go to the construction of facilities like new hotels, camping areas and cafes, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was quoted by TASS news agency as saying. Regional authorities will also have to repair existing facilities, bring communications back to order and provide transport access to sights of interest for tourists, he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 23:02:18|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close RIYADH, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Saudi-led coalition involved in a war in Yemen announced on Monday the targeting of Houthis' drones and warehouses near Sanaa, Al Arabiya TV reported. Houthi militias had established military camps east the province of Hodeidah in breach to the agreement of Sweden, said the coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki at a press conference on Monday in Riyadh. Meanwhile, he revealed that the coalition has granted 448 permissions to ships to enter Yemenis ports. He affirmed the dedication of the coalition to avoid the falling of civilians during its operations, especially children, accusing Houthis of using civilians as human shields. He revealed that the coalition, which will complete its fourth year next month in Yemen, targeted in January Houthis fighters and trainers in Dhamar Governorate and launched airstrikes at Houthi training sites, killing 181 fighters in Al Mahwit. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 22:32:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close LHASA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Tibetans have spent a busy Monday preparing for Losar, or Tibetan New year, which coincides with the Lunar New Year this year. Early in the morning, Tseringtso, 60 living in Lhasa, capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region, assigned jobs to do among her family members -- some in charge of shopping, some cleaning, and some decoration. Monday marked the eve of the upcoming Losar on the Tibetan calendar. The Tibetan New Year is normally celebrated by religious rituals, long prayers, horse races, family gatherings and feasts. Standing in front of the "Qiema," a two-tier rectangular wooden box containing roasted barley and fried wheat grain, Tseringtso said the decorations on the table -- ears of wheat, a porcelain sheep head, and a pot of highland barley, dates, air-dried beef, candies, nuts, butter, and brown sugar -- symbolize harvest in the next year. In Gatso Township under Tsonyi County, about 5,000 meters above the sea level and some 1,000 km from Lhasa, 20 officials were preparing dinner around a Tibetan-style coal stove. "Both Tibetan and Han officials watched the Tibetan New Year gala and had guthuk, a traditional snack similar to a dumpling, last night. Tonight, we gathered again to watch the Lunar New Year gala and marked the happy occasion," said Sun Chao, deputy Party head of the township. At the foot of Mt. Gang Rinpoche, regarded as one of the holiest destinations by Buddhists, herders in Ngari reunited with their families and friends, despite the fact that they have just celebrated their own New Year a month ago. "Our village has already shaken off poverty in 2017. But the villagers will continue to work diligently to improve their living conditions in the new year," said Jigme Dorje, village head of Gangsha, Ngari. Days of religious services have come to an end in Champa Ling Monastery in Chamdo, a city about 1,200 km from Lhasa. On the New Year's eve, Tenzin received his parents who came all the way from the regional capital. "As a monk, I feel blessed to celebrate the festival with my family. I wish an even brighter future for Tibet," he said. Nepal Police sets up separate bureau to look into human trafficking cases With the rise in the cases of human trafficking, Nepal Police has set up a dedicated bureau to investigate and prevent the crime The Human Trafficking Bureau will have more than 50 staff under the leadership of SSP Ishwar Babu Karki Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 22:27:09|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian lawmakers on Monday appealed to the government to allow the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to retain 40 percent of its annual collections for improvement of other strategic harbors in the east African nation. Members of the Parliamentary Committee for Infrastructure said the government should allow the TPA to retain 40 percent of its 117 million U.S. dollars annual collection to improve efficiency of Dar es Salaam, Mtwara, Kigoma and Kalema ports. "Almost all TPA collections are remitted to government coffers, leaving the ports authorities without funds" for its ports improvement, said Moshi Kakoso, chairman of the committee. He was presenting in the National Assembly the committees' activity report for January 2018 to January 2019. Kakoso said Dar es Salaam port has a number of challenges that affect its performance, including inadequate capacity to handle big vessels. Dar es Salaam and Tanga ports required deep berths to enable big ships to dock, Kakoso told the House in the capital, Dodoma. "Most of the infrastructures at our ports are dilapidated. We can hardly compete with Mozambique's Beira port, Durban port of South Africa and Mombasa port in Kenya," he said, adding that there is also need to improve roads to the ports. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 22:27:09|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (1st R) meets with Yu Hong (2nd L), the newly-appointed Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam, in Istana Nurul Iman in Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of Brunei, Feb. 4, 2019. Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah on Monday sent a message of goodwill to the Chinese people ahead of the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations. (Xinhua/Brunei Infofoto) BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah on Monday sent a message of goodwill to the Chinese people ahead of the traditional Chinese lunar New Year celebrations. After receiving credentials in Istana Nurul Iman from Yu Hong, the newly-appointed Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam, the Sultan asked the Chinese ambassador to convey his sincere greetings to the Chinese leaders and the Chinese people. The Sultan said that Brunei Darussalam attaches great importance to the traditional and friendly relations with China, and looks forward to making common efforts with the Chinese side to further promote bilateral relations and develop practical cooperation between the two countries. Yu Hong said the relations between China and Brunei are currently in its best shape and as the Chinese ambassador to Brunei, she will make her best efforts to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries to further consolidate the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries and enhance traditional friendship between the two peoples. Yu Hong arrived in Bandar Seri Begawan to assume her office on Jan. 16, 2019. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 22:22:06|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close TEHRAN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned the recent terrorist attack on a bus carrying a number of Iranian pilgrims in Iraq as "brutal." In a statement on Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said that the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the country's embassy in Baghdad are seriously looking into the incident. "The terrorist groups think that they can damage the strong bonds between the Iranian and Iraqi nations by committing such inhumane crimes, but they won't achieve their inauspicious goals," Qasemi was quoted as saying by the Foreign Ministry's website. "Such disasters will strengthen the two nations' resolve to fully eradicate the remnants of criminals," he said. According to Tasnim news agency, the terrorist bomb attack near the Iraqi city of Balad in Saladin Governorate on Sunday injured several pilgrims, including nine Iranians, three of whom are in critical condition. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 22:17:06|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian police have arrested 10 businessmen in Njombe and Makambako towns in the east African nation's southern highlands in connection with the recent killing of 10 children, the speaker of the National Assembly, Job Ndugai, said on Monday. The speaker announced the arrest as four more children were reportedly killed in Njombe region over the weekend, bringing to 14 the number of children killed in the region over superstitious beliefs. Ndugai appealed to the government to present in the National Assembly a detailed report on what was going on in Njombe region and on measures taken to contain the situation. "Security organs must team up to end the brutal killings of innocent children. The government should table its report in the House by the end of this week," the speaker said, adding that such grisly incidences tarnished the country's image. Joram Hongoli a member of Parliament for Lupembe constituency, said the situation in Njombe region is tense and that businesses are at a standstill over fears. Parents have stopped working to escort their children to and from school, he said. The legislator warned that failure to address the problem would result in the killing of many more people as residents have started attacking people they suspected to be involved in killing the children. "Two people have been allegedly killed by angry mobs in Ludewa and Waning'ombe areas," said Hongoli, adding that several others have been attacked and injured after they were suspected to be the killers of the children. Jenista Mhagama, minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office responsible for policy, parliamentary affairs, labor, employment, youth and the disabled, said the government needs more time "to come up with a detailed report of what have been done so far." Last week, Minister for Home Affairs Kangi Lugola associated the killings of children in Njombe with superstitious beliefs. He said security organs have identified some of the people involved in the killings and that they would to be arraigned soon. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 22:07:03|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close by Keren Setton JERUSALEM, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Days after the new Lebanese government convened its first cabinet meeting, Israel sees its neighbor's new government formation with caution. Hezbollah, heavily funded by Iran, is one of Israel's most bitter enemies. Their last war in 2006 left both sides scars and put both in a state of mutual deterrence. The United States, the European Union and other countries consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization. After months of internal political deadlock, a Lebanese government was formed with Hezbollah getting three important portfolios. With the health ministry in its hands, Hezbollah can take credit for a major achievement. Hezbollah is still licking its wounds from intense participation in the Syrian civil war on behalf of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad. With thousands of militants wounded and thousands dead, the state funds now in the hands of Hezbollah can be used to deal with the issue. The United States, which has imposed sanctions on Lebanon since 2007 in an attempt to curb Hezbollah, has also voiced concern over this particular move. In Israeli eyes, this will allow Hezbollah to use its own money to strengthen military and continue to prepare for the next conflict with the Jewish state. "It will enable Hezbollah to increase support within the Lebanese society," said Sarit Zehavi, a former Israeli military intelligence officer and founder of the Alma Research and Education Center on Israel's Security Challenges on its Northern Borders. Hezbollah, a Shiite group, supplies large-scale social services in the country which enable it to maintain a tough position against Israel in the Lebanese public. "These developments are very meaningful for Israel," said Yossi Mansharof, a researcher in the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and an expert on political Shiite Islam, "Israel hoped that the economic efforts against Hezbollah will weaken it." Speaking to United Nations (UN) ambassadors touring Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "Hezbollah just joined the government of Lebanon. That's a misnomer; they actually control the government of Lebanon. It means that Iran controls the government of Lebanon." In reaction to this, a senior Hezbollah official told a Lebanese television network, saying his organization only held 10 percent of the government portfolios. "Hezbollah has been significantly strengthened and will continue to maintain a strategic presence on the border," Mansharof told Xinhua. Just weeks ago, the Israeli military announced it had finished an operation to destroy cross-border tunnels allegedly built by Hezbollah. According to Israel, the tunnels were to be used as the opening act for a war Hezbollah planned to wage on Israel. Hezbollah remained largely ambiguous on the matter, without every confirming or denying its involvement in the tunnels. Israel has been largely unsuccessful in gathering international support or action against Lebanon on the matter. "Hezbollah is still deterred. Israel showed significant intelligence capabilities in its airstrikes in Syria," said Mansharof. "This has hurt both Iran and Syria. Hezbollah has lost a strategic advantage after Israel exposed the tunnels. "But Israel is also deterred by the expectation of 1,700 missiles to be fired each day in the event of a war," he added. With Hezbollah emboldened internally, Israeli action against it may not be met with such a silent response in the near future. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 21:47:00|Editor: ZX Video Player Close NAIROBI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya is on course to issue a green bond by end of 2019, a bankers' lobby said on Monday. Habil Olaka, CEO Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), told journalists in Nairobi that the industry is pushing for the floating of a green bond because it makes sense. "Looking at the environmental, social and financial needs of both the country and the banking sector there is no better instrument to achieve sustainability like the green bond," Olaka during the rebranding of Remu Microfinance Bank to Key Microfinance Bank. He said that given Kenya's level of economic development, it is prudent for the financial sector to prioritize sustainability. He noted that the green bond will be floated at the Nairobi Security Exchange under the Sustainable Finance initiative. According to KBA, there are currently three different initiatives that are working in parallel to develop a green bond. "Each of the initiatives have an equal chance of producing Kenya's first green bond," Olaka said. He added said that either an individual bank or several banks with a special purpose vehicle or a client of bank will be supported to issue a green bond which will be championed by the entire industry. He added that actual size of the green debt instrument will be determined by the appetite of green investors. Olaka said that the proceeds of the bond will go towards purchasing green assets that will help Kenya to mitigate or adapt to the effects of climate change. The CEO said that the government is supporting the issuance of green bonds through a number of tax incentives. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 21:46:59|Editor: ZX Video Player Close RIYADH, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced on Monday the launching of eight initiatives to promote air transport-related industries. According to a report on the Saudi Press Agency, the initiatives are part of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP). The program is expected to contribute about 1.2 trillion riyals (320 billion U.S. dollars) to the Saudi economy by 2030, which comprises over half the size of the current economy. Domestic production will also increase by more than 700 billion riyals, creating 1.6 million jobs, and raising the value of Saudi Arabia's exports to more than one trillion riyals. The initiatives include the expansion of airports, air cargo services, aviation safety, developing navigation systems, flight scheduling, domestic air ticket rates, supporting Saudi airlines, technology and innovation, and improving the overall customer experience at airports. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 21:26:50|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIRUT, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's General Security on Monday arrested 20 Syrian refugees in Western Bekaa for illegally entering Lebanon from Syria, the National News Agency reported. The arrested people were referred to Bayader al-Adas police station in Western Bekaa for further investigations and legal procedures. There are many reasons that could drive Syrians to Lebanon, including seeking education and attending an interview by European embassies. In 2015, however, the Lebanese government has barred the UN refugee agency from registering Syrian refugees or placed additional restrictions on their entry into the country without guarantors, work visas or visas for transit. Such measures led to a rise in the number of Syrian refugees attempting to enter Lebanon illegally. As a result, security forces have been trying to crack down on smuggling in areas close to the border with Syria. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 21:21:49|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a deadly car bombing in Mogadishu on Monday has risen to 12 while several others have been hospitalized, police said. "We found more bodies under the rubble and the death toll now stands at 12. We don't know if there will be other bodies but we are trying to recover those missing," a police officer who requested anonymity told Xinhua. The blast, which occurred at the entrance of Mogadishu shopping mall in Hamarwayne district, also destroyed many buildings nearby. Aamin Ambulance driver Ahmed Said told Xinhua that they had carried nine bodies and seven injured people. "The blast was so huge and we have seen huge smoke rising above the site of the explosion," a witness, Sumaya Farah, told Xinhua. The militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, saying its fighters targeted a key meeting near the shopping mall. On June 29, a car filled with explosives detonated in the same district, killing at least two people and injured five others. The bombing on Monday came amid major operations staged by Somali national forces against the al-Qaida-affiliated group in central and southern Somalia. Somali National Armed Forces, backed by African Union Mission in Somalia, ousted al-Shabab from Mogadishu in August 2011, but the terror group is still in control of some areas in central and southern Somalia and capable of conducting attacks. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 21:16:48|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's strong consumption momentum and ample potential for investment could have a major upside for global economic growth in 2019 when observers are raising the risk of a further slowdown. Some economists have overblown the spillover effect of China's economic slowdown, but such kind viewpoints hold no water and are misleading. STRONG CONSUMPTION MOMENTUM China is shifting its economy toward a more sustainable growth model that draws strength from consumption, services and innovation, which means big chances for countries who can provide quality products and services. Consumption is expected to contribute to 65 percent of China's economic growth in 2019 and remain the largest contributor, with an expected 9-percent increase in total retail sales of consumer goods, said Wang Bin, deputy director of the Department of Market Operation and Consumption Promotion of the Ministry Of Commerce (MOC) at a recent meeting. China's strong consumption momentum is a blessing for the world. A case in point is that during the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) held in Shanghai from Nov. 5-10 in 2018, deals worth about 57.83 billion U.S. dollars were made, benefiting 3,617 foreign exhibitors and more than 400,000 buyers from home and abroad. The second CIIE scheduled for November 2019 will be better than last year's session, with further opening-up measures. Shanghai will put into practice 100 measures to support further opening up this year. According to the CIIE bureau, more than 500 companies from more than 40 countries and regions have confirmed participation in the 2019 CIIE. Chinese authorities last month pledged an array of measures to boost consumption as part of the efforts to support the economy. Optimizing market supply and increasing consumption are playing a greater role in effectively coping with downward pressure on the economy and maintaining stable growth, said a statement released after a teleconference held by the National Development and Reform Commission, the MOC and the State Administration for Market Regulation. The meeting vowed to encourage consumption of automobiles and electrical home appliances according to local situations, providing greater policy support where conditions permit, and meet demand for green, smart automobiles and home appliances. The supply of high-quality products and services will be increased, and residents' spending power will be strengthened with measures such as special individual income tax deductions. AMPLE POTENTIAL FOR INVESTMENT With stable debt levels, China has more room for effective investments to shore up growth, while a better environment for foreign investors is also foreseeable as the country opens up further to the world. As most of China's debt is priced in local currency, and the debt owed by strategic sectors are often backed up by the central government, it is unlikely a financial crisis will occur, said Credit Suisse in its report on investment outlook for 2019. With stable economic growth and easier market access, China bucked the global foreign direct investment slide in 2018, as the largest investment recipient in the world. In 2019, foreign businesses are set to reap more benefits from China's continued efforts to widen market access and build a better business environment. One of the highlights will be a unified foreign investment law that aims to adopt a model of pre-established national treatment with a negative list and strengthened protection of property rights for companies with foreign investments. The law will be submitted to the upcoming plenary session of the National People's Congress, which is scheduled to open on March 5. Although the world is witnessing rising trade protectionism, the Chinese government supports an open and inclusive world economy, makes effort to broaden market access, eases foreign equity restrictions and lowers import tariffs. China's reform momentum has remained unabated. Over the past five years, the country has held at least 45 high-profile meetings on advancing reforms, during which 400 documents and 1,932 reform plans have been launched. Nepal has pledged to end rabies by 2030, but dog-bite cases are rising Despite Nepal committing to achieve the goal of eliminating cases of dog-transmitted rabies by 2030, a target set by the World Health Organization, hundreds of people are contracting the virus in Kathmandu. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 21:11:46|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close BEIRUT, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese forces' Strong Republic bloc said Monday that it will not accept a ministerial statement that contains a stance supporting the Syrian regime, the National News Agency reported. "How can Lebanon normalize ties with a regime that is not yet accepted by its own people?" asked Wehbe Katisha, a parliamentary member. Katisha, who belongs to the Strong Republic bloc, slammed Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil for working in favor of returning Syria to the Arab League. "Lebanon should adopt a neutral stance in the ministerial statement when it comes to the relation of Arab countries among each other," Katisha said while adding that Lebanon should not be involved in regional conflicts. Although Lebanon has not cut diplomatic or trade ties with Syria, it has kept relations at "arm's length" avoiding official contacts with the Syrian government. Lebanon has also kept itself away from regional conflicts after the Syria war broke out in 2012. But some political parties in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, Amal movement, and Free Patriotic Movement, have been pushing the government into normalizing ties with Syria in a bid to solve the issue of refugees and their safe return to Syria. However, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri previously said that he refuses to visit Syria or meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, under any circumstances, even if that would cost him his position. Hariri has been a long-time supporter of the Syrian opposition and has often been outspoken about his desire to see Assad removed from power. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 21:06:43|Editor: ZX Video Player Close OSLO, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Norwegian Seafood Council advises Norwegian suppliers to export as much as possible seafood to Britain before the country leaves the EU and the EEA on March 29, news agency NTB reported Monday. Nobody knows what the reality after the Brexit on March 29 will be, Hans Frode Kielland Asmyhr from the council told Aftenposten. The UK's leave of EU without an agreement will likely bring more customs, the report said. According to the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), "Norway negotiates with the British for an emergency solution agreement that can prevent the introduction of customs." The Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry stated that Norway and Iceland are currently in talks with Britain, in order to ensure continuation of the current customs level and rules. The negotiations are to be finalized by the end of February, NTB reported. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 21:01:40|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close KABUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least 27 people including eight Taliban militants had been killed in Afghanistan over the 24 hours amid ongoing peace efforts in the conflict-strucken country, officials said Monday. In the latest fighting against armed opposition groups, the government forces stormed a Taliban hideout in Mardian district of the northern Jawzjan province early on Monday, killing four insurgents and injuring seven others, provincial government spokesman Farid Aneq said. Aneq has also confirmed the injury of three security personnel in the fighting which lasted for a few hours. Similarly, the government forces killed eight Taliban fighters and injured two others in Mizan district of the southern Zabul province on Sunday, an army spokesman in the province Ahmad Sadeq Marastyal said. The government forces in crackdown on militants also targeted a Taliban hideout in Miwand district of the neighboring Kandahar province on Sunday night, killing four insurgents and captured another, the provincial government said in a statement. Two militants affiliated with the hardlienr Islamic State group were also killed as their hideout came under drone attack in the eastern Nangarhar province on Sunday. Meanwhile, Taliban fighters targeted security checkpoints in Dara-e-Suf Payan district of northern Samangan province late on Sunday night, triggering gun battle that lasted until Monday morning which left nine pro-government militia dead and injured seven others, head of provincial council Hajji Raz Mohammad told Xinhua. He also added that the Taliban suffered casualties in the fighting but could not give an exact figure. The clashes are taking place amid the ongoing peace efforts supported at home and abroad to find a negotiated end to the prolonged fighting in the country. Governor of northern Kunduz province Abdul Jabbar Naemi in a meeting with religious scholars on Monday urged them to encourage Taliban militants to give up fighting and join the government-backed peace and national reconciliation. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 20:46:37|Editor: ZX Video Player Close NAIROBI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday sent a message of goodwill to the Chinese people ahead of New Year festivities to be marked from Tuesday. The Kenyan leader in his salutations underscored the long-standing friendship between Nairobi and Beijing that has unleashed benefits across the social, economic, political and cultural spheres. "It is a pleasure to send our best wishes to the people of China, and to all those who will celebrate the Chinese New Year beginning this Tuesday," said Kenyatta. "The friendship and partnership between Kenya and China is very old; in recent years, we have drawn even closer together, with tight cooperation now across a whole range of areas, from industry to infrastructure," he added. Chinese nationals will celebrate the 2019 New Year or Spring Festival beginning Feb. 5 amid pomp and pageantry. The 2019 Chinese New Year called the Year of the Pig will provide an opportunity for family reunions and celebration of timeless cultural values and norms that have defined the Asian country. President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has visited China four times since he was sworn into office in April 2013, in his New Year message hailed bilateral ties with the world's second largest economy. "That cooperation has changed the lives of ordinary people in both countries: here in Kenya, we see it most clearly in the Standard Gauge Railway, the region's most ambitious infrastructure project," said Kenyatta. He said the China funded modern railway project has reaffirmed the mutual benefits that are likely to be unlocked against a backdrop of robust ties between Nairobi and Beijing. "I look forward, as do the people of Kenya, to working with China, a true partner and friend, in the year to come," said Kenyatta. China has become the leading trading partner and source of foreign direct investments in Kenya since the two countries established diplomatic relationship more than 50 years ago. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 20:31:35|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is in talks with the World Bank for 400 million U.S. dollars loan to fix the country's taxing system, according to local reports. The negotiations between the FBR and the Washington-based lender is going on currently, and a positive outcome is expected in the coming days, a senior official with the FBR confirmed to Xinhua on Monday on condition of anonymity. Local reports said that the negotiations include conditions to set up a constitutional body for resolving tax disputes between the central and provincial governments, and also changing tax structure for the agriculture sector. The reports said that the World Bank also sought common policies and administration for sales tax and income tax aimed at ending overlapping of policies of federal and provincial revenue authorities. The World Bank estimated that Pakistan's current tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio is 12.6 percent of the GDP, which should ideally be 23 percent of the GDP, and it wants the FBR to shift from profit-based income tax to turnover taxation as it can help reduce tax evasion by around two-thirds by the corporate sector. If the two sides could reach the agreement, it will be the second full-scale attempt by the World Bank to reform the FBR in the past 14 years, according to the Express Tribune. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 20:26:33|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BISHKEK, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov on Monday met with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, exchanging views on bilateral and multilateral cooperation. "We are always glad to meet our Russian friends. Your official visit is taking place on the eve of a significant political event -- the state visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Kyrgyzstan," the press service of the Kyrgyz president cited Jeenbekov as saying. Jeenbekov expressed confidence that the visit of Putin will be a demonstration of a high level of alliance and strategic partnership based on strong traditions of historical friendship and mutual respect between the two countries. Jeenbekov noted that with the accession of Kyrgyzstan to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), relations between Kyrgyzstan and Russia have shifted to a new, higher-quality level of cooperation. Lavrov noted that his official visit to Bishkek was devoted to the preparation of the state visit of Putin to Kyrgyzstan, as well as to a meeting of the intergovernmental commission which will be held on March 1. Lavrov said Russia values its relations with Kyrgyzstan within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the EEU, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations and other organizations. The two sides also discussed the upcoming meetings of the Council of Heads of State of SCO and the CSTO Collective Security Council under the chairmanship of Kyrgyzstan in 2019. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 20:16:28|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close YAOUNDE, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A Singapore-flagged oil tanker with 26 crew members on boardincluding two Chinese nationalshas been seized by military in Cameroon since Feb. 1, consular and security sources told Xinhua on Monday. According to the Chinese embassy in Cameroon, the Singaporean vessel, after discharge operations in Cameroon's western Limbe port, was about to leave when Cameroon military took control of it on the evening of Feb. 1. There were 26 crew members on board, including the captain from Ukraine and two Chinese nationals. They were forbidden to leave the ship and the ship was forbidden to leave the port. There have been no reports of physical injuries of the crew members. A Cameroon military official who preferred not to be named confirmed the information to Xinhua, and said the ship was seized over "a commercial disagreement." "The ship is still in our keeping. They were operating where they were not supposed to operate and we seized it," the official said on Monday. The seized ship is managed by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping. The company, in a communique published on Sunday, accused DSC Marine, a Cameroon charterer, of using "illegitimate means to seize the vessel for the purpose of holding its owners to ransom." DSC Marine has not responded for the moment. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 20:06:26|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close TASHKENT, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan formed a new ministry to oversee energy sectors including its oil and gas, electricity and hydro energy industries, said the country's government press service on Monday. Alisher Sultanov, a former deputy prime minister, has been appointed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to head the new ministry of energy, said a government spokesman. While serving as deputy prime minister, Sultanov was in charge of geology, fuel and energy, chemical, petrochemical and metallurgical industries. The newly formed energy ministry will be entrusted to run the fuel and energy sectors of the country and bring together three state-run companies of Uzbekneftegaz, Uzbekenergo and Uzbek hydro power. Earlier, Mirziyoyev signed a decree to restructure the government. The number of deputy prime ministers was reduced from eight to five. The Central Asian country, rich in resources, has been taking a series of steps to reform its economy, including liberalization of the foreign exchange market, reduction of tax burdens and improvement of the investment climate for foreign investors since Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power following the presidential elections in 2016. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 19:51:21|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close YAOUNDE, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A navy officer was killed by gunmen early Monday at his home in Mokunda, a locality in the Southwest, one of Cameroon's two war-torn English-speaking regions, the military said. A military source told Xinhua that "several" people were abducted by the gunmen after the murder. "They were about 15 to 20 of them (gunmen). They came to his house very early this morning and demanded that he should hand over his gun to them and he refused. He was then killed in front of his wife and children," the source, who demanded anonymity, told Xinhua. Locals interviewed by Xinhua said the gunmen held the neighborhood hostage for about an hour while committing the act. "They warned us to stay quiet or be killed. All of them were armed. They have released some people that they kidnapped but some are still with them," another local resident, who also asked not to be named, said. Locals could not identify the gunmen but the army said they were "secessionist terrorists," a referrence to armed separatists. Clashes between government forces and armed separatists are escalating in Cameron's two anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest where separatists have declared an independent state called "Ambazonia." The United Nations estimates that at least 430,000 people have been displaced internally by the conflict. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 19:21:19|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least four children of a family were charred to death and two members suffered severe burns in a devastating fire on early Monday in India's eastern state of Bihar, officials said. The victims were aged between 4 to 8 years. The fire broke out late on Sunday night at Shripur village of Bhagalpur district, about 237 km east of Patna, the capital city of Bihar. At least eight houses were gutted in the blaze. "Last night at around 12:00 a.m (local time), a fire broke out and four children of a family were burnt to death at village Shripur," a police official posted in Bhagalpur said. "Two elders of the family (grand mother and uncle) managed to come out after suffering burn injuries, while as children who were fast asleep were charred to death." According to officials, the fire was caused by spark from a bonfire and it engulfed eight houses in the vicinity. Following the incident, neighbours alerted police, who rushed fire tenders and firefighters to the spot to contain the fire. Chances of fire in Indian houses are usually high as people ignore safety standards and store combustible material in a haphazard manner. Nepal Communist Party against foreign interference in Venezuela The ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has said that there should not be any external interference in the internal affairs of any country, expressing its concerns over the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 19:11:16|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least four militants were confirmed dead and another arrested after the government forces stormed a Taliban hideout in Miwand district of the southern Kandahar province on Sunday, a statement from the provincial government said here Monday. The attack was conducted in Cholawak area on Sunday night and lasted for a while during which four motorbikes and a good quantity of arms and ammunition were also destroyed. Taliban militants haven't commented. Government forces have intensified operations against the armed opposition groups over the past couple of months. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 19:11:16|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close SHIBERGHAN, Afghanistan, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Seven people lost their lives in a accident on a road linking the northern Jawzjan province with the neighboring Balkh on Monday, Farid Aneq, the spokesman for Jawzjan's governor, said. "The victims including two men, three women and two children were going from Jawzjan provincial capital Shiberghan by a car to Balkh provincial capital Mazar-e-Sharif when their car collided with an oil tanker coming from opposite direction," Aneq told Xinhua. Blaming reckless driving for the deadly accident, the official said that an investigation has been initiated to the case. However, he didn't say if the driver of the oil tanker had been arrested. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 18:31:09|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close ABUJA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has destroyed one of Boko Haram's logistics base in the restive northeastern state of Borno, a spokesperson told Xinhua on Monday. The NAF struck the target on Saturday after it found vehicles and equipment of the terrorist group covered by dense vegetation, Ibikunle Daramola said, adding that the entire area was engulfed in fire and terrorists in the location were killed. Boko Haram has been trying to establish an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria since 2009, killing some 20,000 people and forcing displacement of millions of others. The group has launched attacks in recent months on military and civilian targets in northeastern Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, killing hundreds of people and forcing thousands to flee their home. According to a recent statement by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), there has been a steep surge in displacement in northeastern Nigeria since November, triggered by a spike in attacks. More than 100,000 people have been forced to flee, many for the second time. This is creating vast humanitarian needs and stretching the capacity of already congested camps and sites across the region, NRC said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 18:21:07|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close NAIROBI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Monday issued a security alert for Kenya, citing credible information that Westerners may be targeted by extremists in the coastal region and three other towns. In its security alert, the U.S. embassy in Kenya reminded the public of the continued need for enhanced vigilance throughout the country, saying terrorists may be planning to carry out attack on Westerners in the capital, Nairobi, and in Naivasha and Nanyuki, both in northwest Kenya. "The U.S. Embassy reminds the public of the continued need for heightened vigilance throughout Kenya, especially in public spaces such as shopping malls, hotels, and places of worship," it said in its alert. The embassy asked the public to be aware of their surroundings and stay alert in locations frequented by tourists and Westerners. The warning came after al-Shabab attacked a luxury hotel and office complex housing multinational companies in Nairobi on Jan. 15 that left 21 people dead and several others injured. Security forces have arrested and taken to court several suspects in connection with terror attack at the leafy Dusit2 complex on 14 Riverside Drive. Somalia-based terror group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the hotel attack, saying they killed 47 people inside Dusit Hotel, part of a Thai-owned international chain that appeared to be the chief target of the attackers. Two people were injured on Jan. 26 when a suspected improvised explosive device exploded at a busy street in Nairobi a day after the U.S. embassy issued similar alert. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 18:21:07|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Stephen Biegun, U.S. special representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) policy, met Monday with Chung Eui-yong, top national security advisor for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, according to the South Korean presidential Blue House. Chung and Biegun met for about 50 minutes from 4 p.m. local time (0700 GMT) at the presidential complex. Biegun explained to Chung about the U.S. position ahead of the working-level discussion between Pyongyang and Washington, while Chung delivered his country's assessment on current situations and issues to tackle to the visiting U.S. special envoy. During the meeting, Chung said South Korea anticipated a fruitful working-level discussion between the DPRK and the United States leading to a successful DPRK-U.S. summit. According to Yonhap news agency, Biegun came here to hold a working-level discussion with his DPRK counterpart on Tuesday at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom for the second DPRK-U.S. summit. Top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump held their first-ever summit meeting in Singapore in June last year. Biegun arrived in Seoul Sunday and met with Lee Do-hoon, special South Korean representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 18:06:03|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's President Barham Salih on Monday rejected any role for U.S. troops in Iraq beyond helping Iraq's security forces. Salih's comments came during the Rafidain Center for Dialogue (RCD) Forum in Baghdad, in response to a question regarding recent comments made by U.S. President Donald Trump and the intention of the latter to keep an eye on Iran through his troops in Iraq. "The presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is part of an agreement to support Iraqi forces in the fight against terror," Salih said. "Trump did not ask for our permission to watch Iran. Do not burden Iraq with issues that don't represent a priority to it," Salih added. During an interview with U.S.-based CBS television broadcasted on Sunday, the U.S. president highlighted the importance of U.S. troops in Iraq "to watch Iran," adding that he has no intention to strike Iran. U.S. troops, stationed in several military bases across Iraq, are part of an anti-Islamic State (IS) global coalition which has been fighting and conducting airstrikes against IS targets in both Iraq and Syria. On Dec. 26, 2018, Trump paid a surprise visit during Christmas time to U.S. troops stationed in the Ayn al-Asad air base, which has the largest number of U.S. troops, along with others from different coalition members. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 18:01:00|Editor: ZX Video Player Close MANILA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Exploratory talks to review the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the United States and the Philippines will kick off next week, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Monday. Lorenzana told reporters that a team from the United States will arrive in Manila next week to conduct initial talks with Philippine officials on the possible changes in the treaty. "They have been asking me on our plans and their high-level delegation will be arriving here soon. It's not yet the formal talks but just maybe (seek an) audience to explore what other things we are thinking on our side," Lorenzana said. Lorenzana said the Philippines specifically wants to know the sentiments of the Americans on the issue. He added that the Philippines wants "to know what they (U.S. officials) are thinking on their side because the agreement is actually very short, it's a very short document." Lorenzana said in December that he had directed lawyers in the Philippine Department of Defense to review the MDT with the United States to determine whether to "maintain it, strengthen it, or scrap it." The United States and the Philippines signed the treaty in 1951, with the two countries committing to defending each other in the event of an armed attack. The MDT is the Philippines' only defense treaty with another country and is considered a deterrent against foreign attacks. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 17:35:56|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China has stepped up efforts to crack down on violations in the healthcare product industry, after a series of scandals. Thirteen central ministries jointly launched a 100-day campaign in early January to fight against irregularities in the sale of healthcare products. Until now, authorities have received over 1,100 complaints and helped consumers prevent over 8.4 million yuan (1.24 million U.S. dollars) of losses, said a senior official with the State Administration for Market Regulation. Earlier in January, police arrested the founder of Quanjian Nature Medicine Technology Co., amid allegations of fraudulent practice following the death of a seven-year-old girl who had used the company's products as part of her cancer treatment. Infinitus, a multi-billion-yuan Chinese company, is under investigation after it was accused of selling products that damaged a child's heart. China will continue to clamp down on illegal advertising and other violations in the healthcare sector, the official added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 17:35:55|Editor: ZX Video Player Close TOKYO, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed higher Monday on the solid U.S. jobs data released late last weak and a comparatively weak yen. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 95.38 points, or 0.46 percent, from Friday to end the day at 20,883.77. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, gained 16.70 points, or 1.07 percent, to finish at 1,581.33. U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for January released Friday and coming in ahead of market expectations helped lift sentiment here, local brokers said. "The data calmed extreme concerns over the U.S. economy...indicating that for now the partial government shutdown had a limited impact on the country," Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co., was quoted as saying. The yens depreciation against the U.S. dollar added to a risk-on mood and helped lift exporter issues, market strategists here said. They added that the markets topside was capped in later trade, however, as some investors opted to take profits, while others hit the sidelines ahead of a slew of earnings reports from domestic bellwether companies. By the close of play, consumer credit, oil and coal product, and metal product-linked issues comprised those that gained the most, and rising issues beat falling ones by 1,888 to 203 on the First Section, while 36 ended the day unchanged. On the main section on Monday, 1,328.95 million shares changed hands, dropping from Friday's volume of 1,418.07 million shares. The turnover on the first trading day of the week came to 2,272.9 billion yen (20.67 billion U.S. dollars). Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 17:35:54|Editor: ZX Video Player Close JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least two militants affiliated with the Islamic State group were killed as unmanned planes targeted the armed outfit hideout in Khogiani district of the eastern Nangarhar province on Sunday, said an army statement released here Monday. The strikes, conducted on tip-off, struck the IS hideout in Wazirutangi area on Sunday afternoon, killing two insurgents on the spot and injuring a few others. No casualties on civilians have been reported, the statement added. The government forces will continue to target the armed insurgents elsewhere in the country, the statement asserted. IS outfit has yet to make comments. Kamaiya women campaign to end gender violence Women from Kamaiya community, freed labourers, have launched campaigns to end gender-based violence in Kailali district. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 17:20:51|Editor: ZX Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A conservationist group on Monday applauded the Cambodian government's decision to officially approve the management zones of Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary in northeastern Mondulkiri province. The decision was a critical move for protection of biodiversity and indigenous communities, World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Cambodia said in a statement. "The new government sub-decree issued on Feb. 1, 2019 will ensure effective protection against environmental crimes such as wildlife poaching, forest destruction and illegal land encroachment," the statement said. The zoning plan inside the protected areas allows clear demarcation between different types of land-use: core zones, conservation zones, sustainable use zones and community zones, the statement said. "This commitment will promote strong participation from local communities as it evokes support from the people to conserve the country's rich biological diversity," it said. Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary is home to globally endangered species including Asian elephant, leopard, clouded-leopard, Banteng, Giant Ibis, white-shoulder Ibis and Siamese crocodile, the statement said. It was once home to tiger and it has been identified by the government as a priority site for the Tiger reintroduction program. Moreover, it is important in terms of social and cultural aspects for the indigenous communities who live within the realms of the forest, according to the statement. "The approval of this management zones will allow rangers to effectively implement the Protected Areas Law and to stop any illegal land encroachment inside the Wildlife Sanctuary," said Seng Teak, WWF-Cambodia country director. "More importantly, it's a cornerstone for securing an inviolate area for Tiger reintroduction program," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 17:20:50|Editor: ZX Video Player Close QALAT, Afghanistan, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least eight militants loyal to the Taliban group were killed and two others wounded, following Afghan forces operation in southern Zabul province, an official said on Monday. The offensive, launched in Mizan district of the province on Sunday, resulted in the death of eight Taliban fighters and injury of two others, army spokesman in the province Ahmad Sadeq Marastyal said. The Taliban militants have not commented on the report. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 17:05:47|Editor: ZX Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian authorities will evacuate 4,000 families from damaged buildings in Aleppo city in northern Syria, following the death of 11 civilians when their building collapsed recently, a pro-government newspaper reported Monday. The authorities will secure alternative housing to the 4,000 families which are living in around 10,000 damaged buildings in Aleppo, said al-Watan newspaper. It added that measure will help the people until their homes are fixed or rebuilt. On Saturday, a total of 11 people died when their building collapsed in the eastern part of Aleppo city. The victims lost their lives when their 5-story building collapsed as it's located in the Salahuddin neighborhood, which was under the rebel control before 2016. The area is largely damaged as the area was a battlefield between the rebels and the Syrian government forces. Since its liberation in late 2016, many civilians returned to their shattered homes even if their buildings were largely damaged due to the high expense of rents in other neighborhoods in Aleppo. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 17:00:46|Editor: ZX Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A manager of United Arab Emirates-based DP World company was shot dead in Bosaso port, in Somalia's northern region of Puntland, police said on Monday. Police officer Ahmed Jama in Bisaso told Xinhua that a gunman disguised as a local fisherman opened fire on Paul Anthony near his office at the port. "I can confirm to you that Anthony is dead and we have arrested the gunman. We will give full details after the investigation," the officer said. Independent sources told Xinhua that two gunmen were involved in the assassination, one was killed, and the second was arrested by police. The sources said that the killer in police custody also sustained injures during the shooting. Workers at the port told Xinhua that the shooting caused panic among them but the situation is now back to normal. Al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the killing. There was no immediate comment from officials in Puntland. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 17:00:46|Editor: ZX Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Powerful explosion hit the Somali capital of Mogadishu early Monday, witnesses said. People are feared dead as police has sealed off the area to allow ambulances to transfer victims to hospital. Witnesses said black smoke could be seen rising from the scene which was near the headquarters of the local government of Banadir region in southeastern Somalia. There is no immediate report of casualties as rescue efforts are still underway. No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 17:00:46|Editor: ZX Video Player Close COLOMBO, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday urged all political parties to unite to eradicate poverty and corruption and accomplish the ultimate goals of Independence as the country celebrated its 71st National Day. Sirisena, in a message to mark the National Day, said that Sri Lanka could accomplish colossal tasks, similar to those gigantic achievements of other great civilizations in the world by being independent. "Our prime objective should be to collectively commit ourselves to achieving the true meaning of the freedom we obtained with a new vision and renewed vigour," Sirisena said. "For future progress we need people with spirits invigorated by national customs, values and culture. We are people who established our own national identity from the beginning. Therefore, on this auspicious occasion, I would like to emphasize that time has come to build the economy of our country on the foundation of agriculture," he added. Sirisena further remembered all the men and women who had dedicated themselves to safeguarding the freedom and independence of the island nation and the thousands who sacrificed their lives for this purpose. Meanwhile, in a letter, Britain's Queen Elizabeth congratulated Sirisena on the occasion of the island country's 71st National Day and also sent her best wishes for the good fortune and happiness of the people of Sri Lanka in the coming year. Sri Lanka held a grand military parade in capital Colombo to mark the 71st National Day which included an air and sea parade by the air force and the navy. President Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, political legislators and diplomats were among those who were present to view the parade. Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was the Chief Guest at this year's celebratory event held in Colombo. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 16:40:41|Editor: ZX Video Player Close MACAO, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Chui Sai On said on Monday that the SAR government will continue to strive for the sustained development of the SAR. Cui made the remarks on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year. He noted that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao SAR. Macao will make unremitting efforts to ensure the successful implementation of the "one country, two systems" principle, and to integrate further into the overall development of the country, he said. The chief executive extended his sincere gratitude to all workers who keep essential services operating during the holiday, and wished the whole community a happy, healthy and prosperous Year of the Pig. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 16:00:34|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Folk artists performed lion and dragon dances in Cambodia on Monday to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival, which falls on Tuesday. The dancers from four different troupes jointly performed at the Royal Palace and the Chinese Embassy here. At the palace, they were greeted by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Royal Palace Minister Kong Sam Ol, while at the embassy, they were received by Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian. Spring Festival was the most important festival in China. "May the Year of the Pig bring good health, luck and fortune as well as new success to the Chinese people, Cambodians of Chinese descent and all Cambodian people," Ambassador Wang said. He is strongly confident that the ties and cooperation between China and Cambodia would be further deepened in the new year, particularly under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. Lion dance is usually invited by traditional Chinese families to perform as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Spring Festival and ward off bad luck and evil spirits. The Chinese New Year is broadly celebrated in Cambodia, though it is not a public holiday. Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen last week sent best wishes to the people on the occasion and said the country celebrates three New Year festivals a year, the Universal New Year, the Chinese New Year and the Cambodian New Year. "Nowadays, there are more and more Cambodians of Chinese descent," Hun Sen said. "When the nation has full peace, people have freedom to choose religious beliefs and celebrate festivals according to their traditions," Hun Sen said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 15:55:33|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close MANILA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A main suspect in the deadly twin blasts hitting the southern Philippines late last month has surrendered to authorities, the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Monday. PNP Chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said the suspect, identified as Kamah Pae, and four others "performed individual roles" in the church bombings that killed 22 and injured more than 100 others on Jan. 27 in Jolo in southern Sulu province. Albayalde said Kamah, a student, turned himself in along with four others over the weekend in Jolo. Multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder charges will be filed before the provincial prosecutor of Sulu on Monday, Albayalde added. "The five surrendered due to the massive hot pursuit operations by troops from the Patikul Municipal Police Station," Albayalde told a news conference in Manila, adding that the five "performed individual roles in that incident." Albayalde said the five suspects belong to a group of Abu Sayyaf militants led by Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, which is believed to be responsible for the blasts. Fourteen more suspects remain at large, Albayalde said. Albayalde added that three others, including the "two Asian suicide bombers," were among those who were killed in the attack. The police claimed that Kamah, an alleged member of the Abu Sayyaf's Ajang-Ajang sub-group, was seen near the church moments before the explosions. Albayalde said the attack was plotted as early as between Jan. 8. and Jan. 21. "An identified Asian couple believed to be holed in Lampinigan island for a few days sailed to Jolo on Jan. 24 by pump boat to meet up with other suspects." From fragments and components recovered at the scene, Albayalde said forensic technicians concluded that the bombs were made by pipes that contained "possible ammonium nitrate-fuel oil compound as primary explosive charge and possibly boosted by secondary high explosives." The IEDs are typical bombs used by the Abu Sayyaf militants, Albayalde said. "The signature of the Abu Sayyaf group, therefore, is patently present in the IED used in this latest terror attack in Jolo." Albayalde added that the investigation of the blasts "is far from over as there are evidences that need to be carefully examined to test its consistency with other facts and circumstances surrounding the incident." Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 15:40:29|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- SAIC Motor has recalled 10,570 vehicles due to defective components, according to the country's market regulator. The recall involves 10,570 Roewe RX5 vehicles manufactured between July 20 and Aug. 31 last year, the State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement. The rear brake calipers of the affected vehicles may not work properly in emergency braking situations, posing safety threats to drivers and passengers. The automaker promises to replace the defective components free of charge. Sales of SAIC Motor rose 1.75 percent year-on-year to 7.05 million vehicles in 2018, totalling over 24 percent of market share. Sales of the Roewe and MG brands skyrocketed 34.45 percent year-on-year to reach 701,900 vehicles last year. Janakpur-Jayanagar railway procurement process begins A procurement process has begun to materialise the government plan of launching the railway service from Kurtha of Janakpur to Jaynagar of India. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 15:35:27|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia will spend 75.2 billion Mongolian tugriks (28.5 million U.S. dollars) to improve air quality in its capital Ulan Bator in 2019, Minister of Environment and Tourism Namsrai Tserenbat said Monday. "Air pollution is the most pressing issue in the capital city of Ulan Bator. The government allocated 75.2 billion Mongolian tugriks (28.5 million U.S. dollars) to reduce air pollution in the city in 2019," Tserenbat said. "This year, we will focus on replacing low-grade coal with processed fuel," he said. "We estimate that providing processed fuel for households in the capital's ger districts would reduce air pollution in the city by at least 50 percent," he added. The Mongolian government has decided to stop burning low-grade coal in Ulan Bator from May 15 this year, in an effort to reduce air pollution. More than 800,000 residents, over half of Ulan Bator's population, live in slums, also known as ger districts. They have to rely on burning raw coal and other materials such as plastics, old tires to stay warm and cook meals during the six-month-long winter season. It is estimated that 80 percent of air pollution in Ulan Bator is caused by ger stoves. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 15:15:23|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir on Monday exchanged congratulations on the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In his congratulatory message to the Sudanese president, Xi said Sudan is one of the first African countries to establish diplomatic relations with China. Over the past 60 years, bilateral relations have been developing in a healthy and stable manner, and cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful results. In 2015, the two countries established a strategic partnership, said Xi, adding that he is satisfied. Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Sudan relations and is willing to work together with the Sudanese president to take the opportunity of the 60th anniversary to deepen various cooperation within the framework of the joint construction of the Belt and Road and implement the outcome of the Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, so as to push forward the strategic partnership to continue achieving new and greater development. In his congratulatory message to Xi, Omar al-Bashir said the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic ties is a major event of profound historical significance. Noting that over the past 60 years, bilateral relations have developed steadily in various fields, the Sudanese president said the Sudanese side is willing to continue strengthening their friendship and cooperation, respond to the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, as well as actively participate in the Belt and Road construction, so as to push the strategic partnership to a higher level. Also on Monday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister of Sudan Motazz Moussa exchanged congratulatory messages. Li said in his congratulatory message that China attaches great importance to the development of bilateral relations and is willing to work together with the Sudanese government to take the 60th anniversary as a new starting point to expand and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, and continuously enhance the well-being of the two peoples. In his message to Li, Motazz said that the 60th anniversary is an important milestone in the history of bilateral relations. The Sudanese side will work together with China to continue deepening mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries and promote the continuous development of their traditional friendship, so as to benefit the two peoples, said Motazz. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 15:05:19|Editor: ZX Video Player Close KABUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- More than 330 newly graduated Afghan officers joined the country's national army on Monday, an army source said. "Up to 331 army officers received their certificate during a ceremony at Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) Monday morning," Colonel Mohammad Amin Waheedi, commander of the KMTC, told Xinhua. The new graduates have received a 12-week training period at the KMTC in eastern Kabul, he said, adding that they would be deployed to the countryside. The latest graduation came as Taliban militants have escalated attacks over the past couple of months and fighting has been continuing in nearly half of the country's 34 provinces. The graduation will boost the capacity of the Afghan army and enable the security forces to further check subversive activities, Waheedi said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 13:55:11|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close SHENYANG, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Instead of traveling back to hometown, young workers in China began to invite their parents to cities where they settle for the Spring Festival holiday, a new trend during the annual travel rush. "My parents spent almost their whole lives in a small county," said 30-year-old Li Qian from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who works in Shenyang. "This year, I invite them to my apartment in Shenyang to celebrate the New Year." Like many other young Chinese who move to big cities to seek better opportunities, Li has settled down in Shenyang, capital of northeastern Liaoning Province. "It's also much easier to book tickets since most people make outbound trips leaving major cities to smaller places during the travel rush," Li said. Chinese Lunar New Year falls on Feb. 5 this year. From Jan. 21 to March 1, nearly 3 billion trips will be made on China's transport system. In southern metropolis of Shenzhen, over 3 million passengers have traveled to the city for this year's holiday celebration. "My parents and my little daughter are really impressed by Shenzhen," said Zhang Song who moved to the metropolis from Hunan Province for better work opportunities several years ago. Zhang said he booked the high-speed railway tickets a week prior to the upcoming festival. China Railway says this year's "reverse travel" for Spring Festival on busiest train routes rose 9 percent over the previous year. Meanwhile, the number of trips from small cities and counties to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou jumped by over two-fold, according to Ctrip, a major online travel agency. "The reverse Spring Festival travel mirrors China's accelerating urbanization," said Liang Qidong, vice president of Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences. "More rural dwellers benefit from the household registration policy that encourages them to settle down and become new city residents." Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 13:20:04|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close ANTARCTIC INLAND, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The 37 members of the 35th Chinese research mission to the Antarctic -- from the Kunlun and Taishan teams -- left Taishan station for the 520-km-away Zhongshan station on Sunday amid a snowstorm. After completing their research at Kunlun station, the 16 members of the Kunlun team left the station on Jan. 24 and met with the 21 Taishan team members at Taishan station on Thursday. On Friday, the Taishan team finished the second stage of construction on the Taishan station, including the completion of the main building and installation of supporting facilities. All members then cleared the construction site and collected waste before leaving. A severe snowstorm hit Taishan when the mission left with 11 snowmobiles. Visibility was down to about 100 meters and members could only communicate via interphones. Lying at an altitude of 2,621 meters in the icy Princess Elizabeth Land in the East Antarctic inland ice sheet, Taishan was hit by continual snowstorms when it was opened for use in February 2014 and the weather has been snowy in summer since then. As a summer station, the Taishan station, which is shaped like a Chinese red lantern, can be used by as many as 20 people as the second stage of construction has made it more environmentally friendly and better equipped. The research mission is scheduled to arrive at Zhongshan on Friday and members will celebrate the Chinese New Year on their way back. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 13:15:04|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close SAN SALVADOR, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Nayib Bukele declared victory in El Salvador's presidential elections on Sunday after securing a decisive lead over his two main rivals. According to preliminary results from the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), with more than 87 percent of ballots counted, the 37-year-old former mayor of San Salvador garnered a commanding 53.8 percent of the votes, enough to win the first round. In second place was Carlos Calleja, candidate of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), with 31 percent of the votes. Hugo Martinez, candidate of the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), trailed in third place, with nearly 14 percent of the votes. "We have won in the first round, we made history," Bukele told supporters in a victory speech. The FMLN's Martinez promptly conceded defeat, tweeting: "We are democrats and we respect institutions and respect the people's verdict. We recognize the results." The president of the TSE, Julio Olivo, told the press "we have results that mark a definitive trend." Bukele, the presidential candidate of the right-of-center Grand Alliance for National Unity, recently parted ways with the FMLN. His mayoral race was under the FMLN banner. He went on to run a successful campaign as the anti-establishment alternative to the two main parties, namely the FMLN, which has governed the last two terms, and ARENA, which ruled for 20 years prior. Bukele has pledged to fight corruption and break the domination of the two-party system. More than 5.2 million Salvadorans were eligible to vote, including nearly 6,000 living abroad. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 12:44:57|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close SAN SALVADOR, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Nayib Bukele declared victory in El Salvador's presidential elections on Sunday after securing a decisive lead over his two main rivals. According to preliminary results from the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), with more than 87 percent of ballots counted, the 37-year-old former mayor of San Salvador garnered a commanding 53.8 percent of the votes, enough to win the first round. In second place was Carlos Calleja, candidate of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance, with 31 percent of the votes. Hugo Martinez, candidate of the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, trailed in third place, with nearly 14 percent of the votes. "We have won in the first round, we made history," Bukele told supporters in a victory speech. The president of the TSE, Julio Olivo, told the press "we have results that mark a definitive trend." The presidential elections began Sunday morning with the opening of more than 9,000 polling stations throughout the country. More than 5.2 million Salvadorans were eligible to vote, including nearly 6,000 living abroad. Constructors work at the site of the first cast-in-place continuous beam of the China-Laos railway at the under-construction Nathon Station Double-track Super Major Bridge, some 360 km north of Vientiane, capital of Laos, Jan. 18, 2019. (Xinhua/Huang Zongwen) by Zhang Jianhua, Wang Shan, Huang Zongwen VIENTIANE, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- All the key projects along the China-Laos railway are set to be completed specifically on exact dates, such as those of the tunnels to be bored through, bridges' closure and concrete casting of substructures. "This is the way the project construction is pushed forward, because we can only start the next step after the preceding work is done," Xiao Qianwen, the Communist Party of China (CPC) secretary of joint working committee of the China-Laos railway, told Xinhua on Sunday while inspecting the project. The traditional Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, falls on Feb. 5 this year in the dry season of Laos, when is the most favorable period for construction. "Most of the Chinese workers and engineers have to give up vacation and stay at the construction sites. The Chinese staff can be busier during the Spring Festival than usual, since the construction of the outstanding project under the Belt and Road Initiative is entering the critical and decisive phase in 2019," Xiao said. According to Xiao, the joint venture of Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd., which is responsible for the construction and operation of the railway, will adopt a high standard and ensure high quality construction of the railway, to fully realize the target and fulfill the responsibilities entrusted by the peoples and leaders of the two countries. "We have completed the 100th T-shape concrete beam today," Hu Bin, manager of the China Railway No.2 Engineering Group (CREC-2) Vientiane beam fabrication yard, told Xinhua. Thus, the yard has achieved one progress, out of the 50 marked in the timetable. However, the manager could not let out a sigh of relief. "In the coming days of the Spring Festival, we are to erect the beams of the longest-ever bridge of the railway and the Laos, the Nam Khone super major railway bridge in the north of Lao capital Vientiane," he said. The CREC-2 beam yard lies at the southern end of the China-Laos railway. The yard has set a record that it started construction in last February, cast the first beam in June and erected the first railway beam in December in the same year. At the northern end of the railway, which is bordering China, the Chinese railway engineering companies are also as busy as bees. The Chinese workers and engineers chose to produce joys and make new year wishes with their Lao colleagues at their off-work time. Workers from ChinaRailway No. 5 Engineering Group (CREC 5) celebrate the completing of the first over-1000-meter tunnel along the China-Laos railway in Luang Namtha province, Laos, on Oct. 28, 2018. (Xinhua/China Railway No. 5 Engineering Group) Prior to the festival at the CREC-5 project camp in Boten, or the China Railway International's construction site of the future Muangxay Railway Station, Chinese staff can be seen, together with their Lao partners, decorating their dorms and offices. They hung red lanterns, New Year blessing slogans and New Year couplets, which symbolize the traditional Chinese culture. The Chinese will send a camp video to their families to assure their loved ones feeling the atmosphere of the New Year abroad. The Lao staff will also share the Chinese New Year fun with their families and friends through cellphone videos. The middle section of the China-Laos railway runs through tropical forests. The CREC-8 has done a great job there last year when it planted all the piers of the two cross-Mekong bridges. The CREC-8's No.2 subsection is constructing a length of 18.125 km railway, with 17.777-km tunnels, completely in an uninhabited area. Till February, the subsection has bored 11.186 km of tunnel, or 63 percent of the total drilling. "We've overcome the hardships at the early stage with almost no entrance to the construction sites, but it's not the time to relax," Wu Zhibin, the CPC secretary at the subsection told Xinhua. "I've been in the project for two Spring Festivals, and I will be here during this festival too," he said. Wu said in his first Spring Festival spent there in the mountains, the Lao staff were curious about the way the Chinese workers celebrate, but now all of them join the celebration and enjoy the festive atmosphere. "I feel the project has been filled with something new and something familiar. The sense of unity and happiness might be the characteristics of the Spring Festival along the China-Laos railway," the subsection manager Yuan Rong said. The construction of Ban Muang No. 2 tunnel, one of the key node of the railway in northern Laos' Luang Prabang province, is full of risks and difficulties. The construction is at the critical stage during the Spring Festival and many Chinese workers remain at the site. "The cellphone couldn't do so much good at that time and I could only use it to make some expensive phone calls. Now it's fine. I can talk with my wife and kids," said Hu Hongbing, who has joined the CREC-8's tunnel boring team in China and abroad for over 10 years. The first thing, the same as his other Chinese peers after coming out of the under-construction tunnel, is picking up his mobile phone. Hu said no matter how exhausted he was he felt the warmth after hearing his family's voices and kids' laughters. Chinese workers cast concrete at the site of the first cast-in-place continuous beam of the China-Laos railway at the under-construction Nathon Station Double-track Super Major Bridge, some 360 km north of Vientiane, capital of Laos, on Jan. 19, 2019. (Xinhua/Huang Zongwen) Aluogebu, an ethnic worker from western China's Sichuan province, is building a tunnel with CREC-5 in the northern Lao border town of Boten. "The Chengdu-Kunming Railway changed my hometown, and I know what a railway means. I deeply felt the aspiration of the Lao people to the railway, just like my hometown fellows were looking forward to the railway," he told Xinhua. "So, I don't go home this Spring Festival, but stay at the construction site, try to dig through the Boten railway tunnel and complete the railway construction as soon as possible, so as to make the Lao people take their own train and enjoy the benefits of the railway earlier," he said. Liang Jingyu, one of the hundreds of Chinese engineers working at the railway construction sites, told Xinhua that this year is the 10th Spring Festival he had been on duty. "Construction of a railway will make more people go home easier," Liang said. The China-Laos railway is promoted by leaders of the two countries as one of the interconnectivity projects under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Tunnels, bridges and roadbeds have been built along the route after construction of the cross-border railway began in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021. The 414-km China-Laos railway runs from Mohan-Boten border gate in northern Laos to the capital of Vientiane with an operating speed of 160 km per hour. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 10:09:32|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close CARACAS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday urged the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) to remain united amid mounting pressure from the opposition. "You soldiers of the nation are the maximum guarantee of unity, integrity and respect for Venezuelan sovereignty. We are at a time of defending our independence," said Maduro at the Turiamo naval base in Aragua state. Overseeing naval preparations before the nationwide military exercises, Maduro called on the nation's armed forces to "rise to the historic occasion that we live in." National conservative factions, aided by international right-wing governments, especially the United States, are conspiring to divide the nation, Maduro said. Saturday saw tens of thousands of Venezuelans fill the streets as both Venezuela's ruling socialist party and opposition coalition organized competing rallies in a show of strength. "Is Venezuela going to become another star on the gringo flag or is Venezuela going to continue to fly its own flag?" Maduro asked the assembled troops, referring to a photo of opposition supporters waving a U.S. flag. "Neither intervention nor civil war, in Venezuela there is going to be peace," said Maduro. Washington has been aggressively backing the opposition in Venezuela in a bid to oust Maduro from power, as U.S. President Donald Trump is endorsing opposition leader and self-proclaimed "interim president" Juan Guaido and threatening military action. The military drills in Venezuela are planned from Feb. 10 to 15. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 09:59:29|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- In an interview with CBS News that aired Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump refused to commit to making special counsel Robert Mueller's final report public. During the interview, Trump said the decision would be made by his attorney general. "Totally up to the attorney general," Trump said. "I don't know. It depends." "I have no idea what it's going to say," the president said of the Mueller report. "There was no collusion. There was no obstruction. There was no nothing. (It) doesn't implicate me in any way, but I think it's a disgrace." Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said last week that the Russia investigation led by Mueller is "close to being completed," although there has been no confirmation of this from the special counsel's office. The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed a vote on Trump's nominee to lead the Justice Department, William Barr, until Feb. 7. During his confirmation hearing last month, Barr said that Mueller's findings in the Russia investigation will be confidential but that he supports their release to the public. Whitaker has previously criticized the Mueller investigation, and Barr's nomination is under scrutiny from Democrats for a memo he wrote last year criticizing Mueller's inquiry. Mueller, who was appointed in May 2017, is looking into the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and any potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, among other matters that may arise from the investigation. His team has indicted or gotten guilty pleas from 34 people, including several former Trump campaign aides and two dozen Russians, and three companies. Trump has repeatedly dismissed any collusion between his campaign and Moscow, while slamming the Mueller probe as a "hoax" or "witch hunt." Last month, Mueller arrested Roger Stone, a longtime Trump associate, on charges of obstruction, witness tampering and making false statements to Congress. As to Stone, the president told CBS in the interview that the 66-year-old veteran political operative "didn't work on the campaign" except at its onset. The president also said he hasn't thought about pardoning Stone. It takes two to tango In diverse Nepal, it is natural that different lifestyles shape different world views Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 09:49:27|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Libyan eastern-based army's air force on Sunday attacked Chadian opposition militants in the southern town of Murzuk, some 900 km south of the capital. "Fighter jets of the air force targeted gatherings of Chadian opposition on Libyan territory in the outskirts of Murzuk," the army's information office said in a statement later on Sunday. "The strike, which took place today, was direct and caused the enemy who violates the Libyan sovereignty great losses of lives and equipment," the statement said. The army, led by General Khalifa Haftar, has been launching a military campaign against terrorism and crime in the south since mid-January. The army is allied with the eastern-based government, as the country is politically divided between two governments in the east and the west, both competing for legitimacy. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 08:04:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HAVANA -- The death toll from a devastating tornado that tore through Cuba's capital Havana a week ago reached six, health officials said on Sunday. The toll rose after two people who had been seriously injured by the tornado died of their injuries, Health Minister Jose Angel Portal told a cabinet meeting presided by President Miguel Diaz-Canel. (Cuba-Tornado) - - - - LONDON -- British Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Sunday dismissed newspaper speculation of a snap general election in June, saying that "last thing we want is an election, the people will never forgive us." The British government is still hoping to secure a time limit or unilateral exit mechanism for the Irish border backstop when the country leaves the European Union (EU) on March 29, he told the BBC's The Andrew Marr Show. (UK-Brexit-Elections) - - - - LOS ANGELES -- "I went to China to connect with fine filmmakers that I wouldn't have a chance to meet otherwise - who share my passion for great filmmaking," Academy Award-winning editor Tom Cross told Xinhua in a recent interview about his visit to China. "It turned out to be the opportunity of a lifetime," said the editor of such iconic, hit movies of "Whiplash", "La La Land", "Hostiles", "The Greatest Showman" and "First Man", with his signature grin. (U.S.-China-Film) - - - - SANAA -- Delegations of Yemen's warring parties on Sunday met on a UN-hired ship in the Red Sea to resume discussions over implementation of a stalled troop withdrawal from Hodeidah port city in line with a peace deal reached in Stockholm in December last year, sources from both sides said. It was the third face-to-face meeting between the representatives of the Saudi-backed government and Iranian-allied Houthi rebels since the formation of the UN-led Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) in December last year. (Yemen-Hodeidah-Houthis-Troop Withdrawal) Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 07:38:50|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Photo taken on Jan. 30, 2019 shows destroyed buildings adjacent to the campus of the University of Mosul, in Mosul, Iraq. Founded in 1967, the University of Mosul was liberated from Islamic State militants in January 2017. Though reconstruction and renovation work still continues, school life has almost gone back to normal on campus. (Xinhua) Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 07:19:02|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Pentagon announced Sunday that it is deploying 3,750 more active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border for three months to support border agents. The deployment will raise the total active duty forces supporting U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to approximately 4,350, according to a statement released by the Pentagon. "Additional units are being deployed for 90 days, and we will continue to evaluate the force composition required to meet the mission to protect and secure the southern border," the statement said. The announcement came as bipartisan lawmakers are trying to negotiate a deal on border security funding with a view to averting another partial government shutdown. U.S. President Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of declaring a national emergency if the deal doesn't include money for a border wall with Mexico, a plank of his 2016 presidential campaign. Such a declaration would enable him to bypass congressional approval and redirect funds already allocated by lawmakers for other purposes, possibly at the Pentagon, to his wall, but it is almost certain to draw political backlash and legal challenges. In a CBS interview aired on Sunday, Trump said he doesn't "take anything off the table." The lack of an agreement between the White House and Congressional Democrats on the border wall funding had led to a historic 35-day partial government shutdown that ended on Jan. 25. Trump initially ordered the deployment of thousands of active-duty troops to the border with Mexico in October last year to deter members of a caravan of Central American migrants from illegally entering the United States. The move, carried out shortly before the November midterm elections, was embraced by Trump's allies and supporters, while critics slammed it as "a political stunt." Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan approved the latest deployment in January to fulfill a request from the Department of Homeland Security for assistance. The Pentagon said it is "transitioning its support at the southwestern border from hardening ports of entry to mobile surveillance and detection, as well as concertina wire emplacement between ports of entry." The new troops, the Pentagon said, will be used to install additional wire barriers and provide a large new system of mobile surveillance and monitoring of the border area. The effort announced Sunday is separate from the potential White House-led effort to use existing Pentagon resources to help build new sections of the border wall, according to CNN. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 05:18:47|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MUSCAT, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Omani Public Authority for Mining said on Sunday that it has launched a campaign to search for meteorites in the Omani territory. A team of members of the authority, together with the Swiss National Museum of Natural History and the Swiss University of Bern, has conducted a search and collection of Omani meteorites from mid-January last year until mid-February this year, a statement by the Omani Mining Authority. The statement confirmed that the team has found some meteorites, without revealing the number and size of them, noting that it will be announced after the end of the campaign. The statement pointed out that the team conducted a similar search of Omani meteorites last year, and found a total of 352 pieces of meteorite at the weight of 53 kg. Sobhi Nasser, director of the Earth Sciences Research Center at Sultan Qaboos University, said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua that Oman is known for its richness of meteorites. Nasser stressed that the total number of meteorites discovered in Oman, which were named and adopted by the International Meteorological Organization, has so far reached 5,500, and about 300 meteorites are still in the hands of meteorologists. He pointed out a large proportion of meteorites found in the country were from the moon or the Mars, 1 gram of which is valued at 2,000-4,000 U.S. dollars. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 05:18:47|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close RIGA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- A celebration of the Chinese New Year, organized by the China Alumni Association of Latvia, was held at the University of Latvia on Sunday. The event featured a number of speeches and a concert which took place in a packed hall. The audience included Chinese entrepreneurs, students, artists and families with children. Latvian guests included Peteris Pildegovics, director of the Confucius of Latvia, as well as other senior academic staffs from the university's language departments. In Latvia, a small and ethnically very diverse nation, interest in the Chinese language and culture has been growing strongly in recent years. Mandarin is taught in the University of Latvia and Riga Stradins University (RSU) in Riga, two regional universities, as well as in many schools and in special courses, as well as the Latvian Chinese Studies Association. The Chinese New Year's show reflected this deep interest as both professional and amateur artists of various ages performed on the scene of the university hall with great inspiration. People both on the scene and in the audience were dressed in bright festive colors, with red dominating in the traditional Chinese costumes. A group of school girls of Riga High School 34, wearing gilded red dresses, sang humorous Chinese songs with surprisingly accurate pronunciation and their classmate Alisa Lebedeva performed a superb solo number. The students have been taught Chinese for more than a decade already. The program of the Chinese New Year's concert also featured a Chinese dance performed by University of Latvia student Marija Kantale, a rendition of Chinese and Latvian folk songs by an ensemble of young and beautiful Chinese girls, as well as theatrical and musical performances by students of the Riga Culture High School which has a department of Oriental cultures and languages. The event also included masterclasses in Chinese calligraphy and origami. Artist Ekaterina Beljajeva gave a masterclass in Chinese traditional drawing and at the end of the concert showcased the works created by her talented pupils to the audience. People were all smiles as they left the festive event, wishing each other health, wealth and happiness in the coming Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb. 5 this year. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 03:03:27|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close ANKARA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that talks were underway at lower levels with Syria, ruling out any contact at higher levels with Damascus. "Talks at lower levels must continue with Syria even if not between leaders," Erdogan said during a live-broadcast interview with Turkish broadcaster TRT. Turkey broke all contacts with the Syrian government at the start of the civil war in 2011 and sought to oust President Bashar al-Assad by offering support to some rebel groups. During their last meeting in Moscow on Jan. 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin encouraged Erdogan to establish some form of contact with the Syrian leadership, invoking a Turkish-Syrian security pact signed in 1998 that could be reactivated to address the security concerns of the two neighbors. People view a tree full of red packets in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 25, 2017, before the Spring Festival. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei) NEW YORK, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou has amazed New Yorkers with its unique festive traditions through blossoms and delicacies, as a flower fair carnival and story forum was held on Saturday. The event, called Overseas Spring Festival Flower Fair Carnival and Guangzhou Story Forum, focused on introducing Guangzhou's time-honored tradition of hosting Spring Festival flower fairs and Cantonese food. It was also part of the city's global road show activities in 2019. "Guangzhou Spring Festival flower fair, which dates back to more than a thousand years ago, is indispensable for local residents to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. We hope to promote this unique tradition to overseas people and let them know more about Guangzhou, the Flower City," said Xu Bei, the event organizer. Saturday's event also included interactive games such as learning Cantonese and recognizing various types of dim sum. "It's amazing that I'm able to say 'Happy New Year' in Cantonese. Also, it's the first time I got to know the different meanings of the flowers according to Guangzhou customs," said Sarah Siskind, who comes from the U.S. state of California and now works in New York. For 23-year-old Su Zicong, a student from Guangzhou who studies at Columbia University, it is the fifth year that he has not been able to go back home during the Spring Festival. The event helped cure his nostalgia, he said. William H. Su, chairman of the Myanmar Chinese Association of New York Inc., said such activities are also significant in helping overseas Chinese, especially the young generation, learn and inherit the traditions of the Chinese New Year. The interaction between Guangzhou and New York has been increasingly frequent in recent years. In 2017, the southern Chinese city's promo video "Guangzhou, Flower City in Bloom" was displayed on the screen at New York Times Square, while in 2018, New York won the 2018 Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation. Indeed, Guangzhou, with a history stretching back to more than 2,000 years ago, is aiming to become a global city by integrating itself with the rest of the world. On Jan. 23, Guangzhou held its first international road show this year in Davos, Switzerland and presented itself at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. On Jan. 25, the city showcased its glamor through delicacies in the French capital of Paris. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-04 01:03:10|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close CHANGSHA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- With Spring Festival just around the corner, women from a remote village in central China are busy sending their best wishes in Nvshu, the most gender specific language in the world. Hanging new red couplets and the Chinese character for "fu" -- literally meaning happiness -- on their doors is an important tradition to usher in a prosperous and happy new year. But now old customs have come alive in digital forms. As tens of millions of Alipay users across the world play the "fu"-scanning game to grab a digital red packet, Hu Xin, a museum employee in Jiangyong County in Hunan Province, writes by hand. "In every 12th lunar month of the past four years, I present 'fu' characters I write as a new year gift to those who like my handwriting," Hu said. Over the past month, she has already handed out 500 of them in Nvshu characters after posting a notice on her WeChat moments. Hu has learnt the art of Nvshu (women's writing), a rare Chinese syllabic script used exclusively amongst women in Shangjiangxu town of Jiangyong. The museum she works for collects Nvshu calligraphy and artifacts. Normally painted on paper or embroidered into cloth, the intricate Nvshu characters, with a unique writing style, were supposed to illustrate female postures. Women used this ancient method to communicate their deeper feelings with each other. They also used it to record their lives and write songs. It is the only script used exclusively amongst women ever found and reveals the feminine characteristics of delicacy, according to Hu. Original copies of Nvshu are rare since they are usually burnt or buried with the dead. The creation and small-scale dissemination of Nvshu remains a mystery. "The writing skills are only passed onto females," Hu said. Utterly unique, Nvshu made a worldwide stir on its first discovery in the 1980s and in 2005 set a Guinness world record as the most gender specific language. In 2006, the age-old art earned a place on the list of national intangible cultural heritage. Hu Meiyue, a practioner of Nvshu in her mid-50s, shares her experiences related to the art and provides on-the-spot teaching of Nvshu calligraphy and singing. "Reading Nvshu writing is all about exploring the stories of women," she said. The women writing received national and local attention and promotion in recent years, with academic and civilian studies increasing. In recent years, Nvshu exhibitions have been held at the U.N. Headquarters in New York and its office at Geneva. Practitioners have been invited to present and promote the art in Japan. MARIANNA, Fla. (WTXL) - Two people have been arrested for a string of burglaries from retail stores in the Marianna and Jackson County area. Alexander Williams, 39, and Fatimah Borders, 38, were arrested by the Marianna Police Department. On Sunday, officers were called to Winn Dixie in response to a shoplifting incident. Officers found Williams' car as they tried to leave Marianna and go to Alabama. During a traffic stop, Williams was arrested for outstanding warrants from Jackson County. Additionally he had two hydrocodone pills that he could not provide a prescription for, which were concealed in a cigarette pack. Employees of Winn Dixie were able to positively identify Borders as the woman that left the store with over $300 worth of merchandise in a shopping cart that she had not paid for. MPD said as the employees tried to stop Borders from leaving, she left the merchandise in the parking lot and fled the area. Officers stated new merchandise was found in the vehicle including several expensive appliances, clothing, bedsheet sets along with other items. Those items did not come from Winn Dixie and are believed to be stolen from other retail stores in the Jackson County area. The Jackson County Sheriffs Office was notified and took possession of the other suspected stolen items and a joint investigation between the Marianna Police Department and the Jackson County Sheriffs Office is underway with additional charges possible. Borders is being charged with grand theft and resisting a merchant and Williams is being charged with possession of hydrocodone and possession of marijuana under 20 grams. Both were taken to the Jackson County Correctional Facility. Handover delay in peak season stalls more than 1,000 road projects As development works usually pick up in the second half of the fiscal year, there is no sign that stalled construction on over 1,000 road projects will resume any time soon due to the delay in handing over the projects to the provinces. LEON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - A man has been arrested for sending sexually explicit messages to a 14-year-old girl in Leon County. On Feb. 1, members of the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force conducted search and arrest warrants in the 100 block of Picolata Forest Drive in St. Johns County, Florida. The ICAC Task Force that served the warrant consisted of members of the Leon County Sheriffs Office, St. Johns County Sheriffs Office, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations. The month long investigation began after a complaint was made to LCSO about 47-year-old Richard Confer, a St. Johns County resident, for sending sexually explicit messages to a 14-year-old girl via SnapChat in Leon County. As a result of the investigation, probable cause was found for Confers arrest and for a search of his home. Confer was arrested at his home while officers conducted the search warrant and he was taken to the St. Johns County Jail. He is being charged with five counts of transmission of harmful material to a minor and one count of online solicitation of a minor. MARIANNA, Fla. (WTXL) - The focus, Hurricane Michael Recovery at the Summit for a Resilient North Florida in Marianna. On Monday, 12 counties of officials, homeowners, experts, corporations and others came together at the Rivertown Community Church to provide and share information about Hurricane Michael recovery. The goal, to connect all of the groups together. There was information and opportunities for homeowners like how to apply for debris pick up, how to speed up debris collection or learn how to put on a more resilient roof and save money on insurance. Organizers say they hope the event is a step toward helping people get their lives back to normal after the storm. "My greatest hope for today and the reason why I organized this with my partners is because we want people empowered with information that moves them through recovery and helps them return to normal," said Leslie Chapman Henderson, President/CEO of Federal Alliance for Safe Homes. Chapman Henderson said June 1 is the beginning of another hurricane season, so there is no time to waste. She said we need to help people recover strong and bounce back so they are ready for the next one. Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to provide more educational opportunities for students with special needs. The Governor announced on Monday that he's eliminating a wait list for the Gardiner Scholarship, which provides financial assistance to students with special needs in grades K-12. Nearly 1,900 students who need special services have been placed on that wait list because the demand for the scholarship has outpaced state funding for it. "In our budget that we just submitted, I have allocated enough money to get rid of the wait list for the Gardiner Scholarship entirely," Gov. DeSantis said Monday morning in Jacksonville to a round of applause. "What we've seen with the Gardiner program is proven success. Parents who need to find that good environment for their kids have been able to find it using the Gardiner scholarship." The average scholarship amount for most students in the 2018-19 school year is $10,400, according to the organization, Step Up For Students. That money can be spent on private school tuition, curriculum, tutoring, therapy, as well as Florida's Prepaid College Program. "We look forward to getting the Legislature to allocate these funds, and we look forward to welcoming close to 2,000 new students in the next school year," Gov. DeSantis said Monday in Jacksonville. Education has been a big priority for Florida's 46th Governor. Last Thursday, he said he's signing an executive order to eliminate Florida's controversial Common Core program. "When you complained about Common Core, I hear you. I told you I would do something about, and today we're acting to bring those promises into reality," said Gov. DeSantis last Thursday. Common Core is a set of academic standards in mathematics and arts/literacy that outline what students should know at the end of each grade. Some parents argue the guidelines are too rigid and require too much testing for students. "This is going to be a process that will take the balance of this year and then we will go to the Legislature next session and want to get that done," said Gov DeSantis. "We dont want to dilly dally, but at the same time we want to get it right." Also last week, the Governor held a news conference at Tampa Bay Technical High School, where he announced a plan to improve Florida's workforce education program. CINCINNATI (WCPO) - The FBI is investigating an off-duty Cincinnati police officer's use of a Taser on an 11-year-old girl last August for a possible civil rights violation, a police spokesperson confirmed Friday. Up to now, the Cincinnati Police Department had conducted its own administrative review of the incident, and Chief Eliot Isaac authorized three reprimands for the officer, 55-year-old Kevin Brown. But the feds involvement raises it to a criminal investigation, according to Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police President Dan Hils. Hils called it part of "an assault on our cops" and said it is politically motivated. "Talk about a war on police, Willie," Hils said on Bill Cunningham's talk show on WLW Friday. "The war on police isn't only when people shoot policemen, it's when politicians and even sometimes politicians with things on their collar within the police department take part in allowing this kind of assault on our cops. "If we're not perfect in the community's eyes, not only are we condemned by politicians who ask for us to be fired ... Somebody must have pushed for this criminal referral and my guess is this has to do with the old ugly word, politics ... They're going after Kevin Brown for political reasons, not true criminal reasons." Brown, 55, shot the girl in the back with a Taser as she left the Kennard Avenue Kroger store, where Brown was working security. Brown accused the girl of shoplifting and said he stunned her when she walked out of the store and refused his order to stop. The charges of theft and obstruction against the girl were later dropped and the city and Kroger agreed to pay her family $240,000, according to the family's attorney. Cincinnati police spokesperson Tiffany Hardy said Friday that the department is cooperating with the FBI investigation. Hardy said no one in the department could speak on the investigation. Al Gerhardstein, attorney for the girl's family, issued this statement: If the family is contacted we will cooperate. But any investigation should also review the broader systemic issue of excessive force against juveniles generally and the extreme racial disparity regarding juvenile arrests. On January 25, Cincinnati police announced a revised use-of-force procedure policy that says officers should avoid using a Taser on any people who appear to be "young children, elderly, medically infirm, pregnant or users of a cardiac pacemaker." Before the revision, officers were permitted to use a stun gun on anyone between the ages of 7 and 70 who was "actively resisting arrest when there is probable cause to arrest." Isaac announced the change in procedure to officers in a department "staff notes" memo . The procedure was revised to align with a 1989 Supreme Court ruling in the case Graham v. Connor, which requires police to meet a standard of "objective reasonableness" when using force. "Officers should avoid using the TASER on persons who reasonably appear to be, or are known to be, young children, elderly, medically infirm, pregnant, or users of a cardiac pacemaker," the revised procedure states. "Officers are not prohibited from using the TASER on such persons, but use is limited to those exceptional circumstances where the potential benefit of using the TASER (i.e., injury reduction) reasonably outweighs the risks and concerns." The guidelines for Tasers apply to all less-than-lethal and non-lethal force options. Also, the use-of-force procedure now also reinforces de-escalation techniques "as the preferred method of gaining voluntary compliance." It also permits the use of a beanbag shotgun by sworn department supervisors who are certified by certain groups during annual firearms training. In a memo to city manager Patrick Duhaney, Isacc wrote that the effort to revise the policy included input from the city law department, FOP Lodge 69 and the Citizens Complaint Authority, as well as a national survey of other use-of-force policies. After the 11-year-old girl was stunned, Isaac promised a review of his actions and the department's use-of-force policies pertaining to juvenile suspects, though department officials didn't specify in the memo that the revision was related to that incident. Copyright 2019 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Families and supporters of Children's rights will be at the Florida Capitol to talk about rights for foster youth, families and child welfare workers. WTXL's Jada Williams was live Monday morning at the Florida State Capitol to discuss the event. The Rally in Tally aims to remind those making the laws who those laws affect. It's a two-day event. The first day will focus on more of the human element to child welfare. Foster families, children's services and advocates will pack the state Capitol just to share their stories in a one-on-one meeting. On Tuesday, the leaders with groups like the Florida Coalition for Children will meet with lawmakers to talk about the policy side of things. By the end of the two-day rally, the group hopes the legislators can walk away with well-informed information. Kurt Kelly is the Florida Children's Coalition CEO. "The legislators, and I was a former legislator, I wanted to hear from folk," Kelly said. "I wanted to hear their stories. It meant a lot to me that when I started digging into the policy, I could put that face with the story, and then with the policy that I'm looking at, I could put that all together." Day 1 starts at the Capitol at 9:30 a.m. Email Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter According to JLL, the overall office take-up in 2018 amounted to 1.39m sq. m, being flat year-over-year. Strong demand and low completions have led to growth of Class A and B+ rents, by 6.3% and 3.2% respectively over the course of last year. In 2018, the decentralization of take-up continued due to the deficit of new supply in the Central business district (CBD). The share of non-central locations, beyond the TTR, in the take-up structure reached 46% in 2018 against 39% in 2017. The manufacturing and business service companies have taken the lead in the with 19% of take up each, after banks and finance organizations led the way a year ago. In 2018, companies of service industries were in second place, with 18%, and third were construction companies at 15% of take-up. Take-up in the Moscow office market The overall 2018 completions volume was a record low of 125,000 sq. m. The Class A share was 62% versus 63% in 2017. On the back of limited construction sites in the city centre, the development continues decentralizing further. As a result, the share of non-central completions was at 78% of overall volume. The largest projects delivered were Class A business centres, Amaltea at Skolkovo (30,900 sq. m), VTB Arena Park at Leningradsky Avenue (24,700 sq. m) and Novion near Olimpiysky Avenue (22,000 sq. m). "In 2019, about 382,000 sq. m is announced to be completed. Despite the potential tripling of office completions, the supply stays limited," comments Elizaveta Golysheva, Head of Office Agency, JLL, Russia & CIS. - "About 2.1m sq. m of new office space is expected by 2022, with less than 7% of it expected in the CBD. Thus, the supply deficit will stay there in the future. Two office projects from AFI Development and second phase of Smolenskiy Passage by A.N.D. Corporation are among new projects in the CBD." New supply in the Moscow office market High take-up coupled with low completions stimulated the vacancy rate reduction in all classes and submarkets. The largest decrease was observed in Class A, by 5.6ppt YoY to 10.8%. Class B+ vacancy reduced by 2.7ppt YoY to 10.8%, Class B- indicator declined by 3.3ppt YoY to 8.8%. The lowest level of vacancy rate among submarkets was registered in Moscow City, a 7.3% (declined by 6.6ppt YoY). The second place has been taken by the CBD, where the vacancy was at 7.8%, 2.9ppt decrease YoY. The average vacancy reached ten-year lowest level of 10.3%, down 3.5ppt YoY. Vacancy by submarkets The shortage of large office blocks availability in the city centre and the Moscow City district has let some landlords to increase asking rents in their buildings, resulting in the market average rent increase. The Class A average rent increased by 6.3% YoY to RUB22,700/sq. m/year, the Class B+ by 3.2% to RUB17,000/sq. m/year (excluding operating expenses and VAT). Prime rent remained at USD750/sq. m/year. The highest Class A rent increase in 2018 was observed in the Moscow City (+16.4%). The CBD Class A rent increased by 4.4% YoY. "The new supply growth and stable take-up at about 1.4m sq. m is expected in 2019," says Olesya Dzuba, Head of Research, JLL, Russia & CIS. - "Unlike 2017, when market saw huge lease and sale deals done by banks and government companies, there were almost no such transactions in 2018. This indicates the recovery of the take-up in the Moscow office market. At the same time, companies do not expand their offices but try to optimize office costs, as well as space utilization. Some companies already use new ways of working, like flexible space in their own offices or external locations." Sign Up Free | The WPJ Weekly Newsletter Relevant real estate news. Actionable market intelligence. Right to your inbox every week. Go Thank you for your interest! You will now be receiving our Weekly Real Estate Newsletter. Why screen time needs to be limited High levels of screen time, among babies, children and adolescents, are associated with potential harm. There is increasing concern about the amount of time children and adolescents are spending in recreational screen time. Theres also increasing controversy over whether or not screen time is actually harmful. Since 2016, we (researchers whove contributed to the development of the 24-hour movement guidelines for children and adolescents) have led a number of wide-ranging reviews of the scientific evidence on the impact of screen time from infancy to early adulthood. We examined whether or not the amount of recreational (spare time, non-educational) digital screen use influences health. These included risks such as obesity, reduced sleep, low physical fitness, anxiety and depression. We also looked at the impact of recreational screen time on social and emotional as well as cognitive and language development, well-being and educational attainment. These reviews demonstrated that high levels of screen time, now typical among children, are associated with potential harm. And they showed clearly that less recreational screen time is better for avoiding obesity, and for promoting sleep, physical fitness, and cognitive, social and emotional development. Over the past three years the evidence reviews generated authoritative guidelines nationally in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the UK and internationally. We were all involved in the development of global guidelines for zero to four year-olds for the World Health Organisation (WHO). These guidelines all recommended that recreational screen time should be limited in infancy, childhood and adolescence. Limiting screen time Guidelines from Canada, Australia, and South Africa recommend that recreational screen time should be avoided in the under twos, limited to one hour per day in two to four year-olds, and to two hours per day in five to 17 year-olds. Based on our collective experience in developing these guidelines its clear that these limits on recreational screen time are needed for a number of reasons. First, the evidence suggests strongly that limits are required. The recommendations to limit screen time were based on a rigorous, widely-accepted, and evidence-based approach. This included systematic reviews, critical appraisals of the evidence, national and international consultation and review, and transparent reporting. Second, less recreational screen time is clearly better. There is evidence in support of the specific time limits recommended and our wide consultation with stakeholder individuals and organisations including parents and families suggests that they find time limits helpful. Third, our recommendations that recreational screen time should be limited are consistent with other recent and thorough reviews of the evidence conducted by authoritative bodies such as the WHO and the World Cancer Research Fund. These reviews highlighted the important role of recreational screen time in the development of obesity, many cancers and myopia. Our specific recommendations are also consistent with those made by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Paediatric Society. Taking a laissez-faire approach to screen time would be to ignore the wider context. This is that modern childhoods are characterised by low physical activity, excessive sitting and time indoors. Children and adolescents also suffer from poor motor skills, high levels of myopia, increased risk of type 2 diabetes and hypertension. And as new forms of screen time emerge, a precautionary approach is required some limits on recreational screen time would be prudent until it is clear that there are negligible harms. Still time to act Some argue that the genie is out of the bottle in relation to screen time. But this is defeatist. The same arguments could have been made in relation to control of tobacco and alcohol and sugar. But it is now accepted that unlimited exposure to these substances isnt compatible with public health. And constraints are accepted as essential. In addition, in many parts of the world the genie may not yet be out of the bottle. In many low- and middle-income countries exposure to recreational screen time may still be relatively low among children. There is also scope to prevent excessive screen time in babies and young children, acting before adverse, or at least sub-optimal, lifestyle habits become established later in childhood or adolescence. Screen time harms can be indirect as well as direct recreational screen time increases with age and as it does it displaces more beneficial forms of sedentary behaviours such as reading. Screen time also displaces physically active play, and sleep. Recreational screen time may seem to be an inevitable part of modern life. But even from infancy and early childhood, we should all be concerned about the potential for harms at least until new, robust evidence demonstrates no harm. The most prudent approach would be cautious, attempting to follow recent evidence-based guidance that recreational screen time should be restricted. John J Reilly, Professor of Physical Activity and Public Health Science, University of Strathclyde ; Anthony (Tony) Okely, Professor of Physical Development, University of Wollongong; Catherine Draper, Senior Researcher, University of the Witwatersrand, and Mark S. Tremblay, Professor of Pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Government entrusts National Reconstruction Authority with task of rebuilding Rani Pokhari The government has entrusted the National Reconstruction Authority with the task of rebuilding Rani Pokhari. King Ashurbanipal of Assyria. (AINA) -- The British Museum exhibit on the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal has been a tremendous success and critically acclaimed. The Assyrian community worldwide has taken great pride in having its culture on display. The exhibition fails, however, to mention that Assyrians still exist. The Assyrian Confederation of Europe, an umbrella organization representing more than half million Assyrians in Europe, issued the following statement regarding this point. Ms. Gamri was accompanied by a cohort of fifty other Assyrians, who gathered from across Europe to attend the exhibition. This visit was coordinated by the Assyrian Confederation of Europe and by the Assyrian Federation in the Netherlands (Assyrische Federatie Nederland). The group came together to celebrate their shared Assyrian heritage and to appreciate the British Museum's dedicated work. Although I am Ashurbanipal does an excellent job of discussing the rich history of Assyria, it does make one vital omission that is of concern to the Assyrian Confederation of Europe. Crucially, the exhibition fails to mention the continued existence of the Assyrian people. Though the Museum is providing external programming related to modern Assyrian culture, this information is not presented anywhere in the exhibit itself. It is entirely understandable that the museum's work would be primarily focused on history, rather than contemporary Assyrians. However, as representatives of a persecuted and globally marginalised community, the Assyrian Confederation of Europe notes that even a cursory mention of today's Assyrians would have served a key educational purpose. Such information is vital to our ongoing struggle and threatened identity. It is the position of our organisation that the British Museum has neglected its important role in this conversation. For this reason, the Assyrian Confederation of Europe and the visiting group of European Assyrians has presented the British Museum with a letter expressing our concerns. The Confederation has also been in correspondence with the Museum directly. Bevin Announces $20M in Park Improvement By The Associated Press CARROLLTON - Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin has announced plans for an additional $20 million to fund state park improvements. Bevin announced the kickoff of phase II of the "Refreshing the Finest" initiative on Friday alongside officials with the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet and Kentucky State Parks. Facilities at five parks will get new roofs and other improvements. Utility improvements are planned at three other sites, including Lake Barkley State Resort Park. Five other parks will get campground improvements. The first phase launched in 2016 and invested $18 million in maintenance and operational improvements. Last year, lawmakers allocated an additional $20 million for projects inclduing replacing park lodge roofs, upgrading campgrounds and fixing swimming pools. Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Don Parkinson says the funding is needed to keep aging park buildings operational. Officials said 133 projects started during the initial phase are nearly complete and have helped boost business, with parks seeing a $7.6 million revenue increase in 2018 compared to 2016. Sullivan's Mayfield Center Grand Opening Today By West Kentucky Star Staff MAYFIELD - Sullivan University will formally open the Mayfield Learning Center with a ribbon-cutting and community open house today. The ribbon cutting will be held at 12:30 p.m. followed by a community open house until approximately 2:30 p.m. Sullivan administrators, faculty and staff will be on hand to greet visitors, who will be treated to light hors doeuvres and refreshments. The Sullivan University Mayfield Learning Center is located at 1102 Paris Rd., Unit 15A in Mayfield. We are very excited and honored to be part of this wonderful community, said Sullivan Universitys Vice President-Community Partnerships David Keene.The outstanding people and leaders of Mayfield and Graves County have been so welcoming and accommodating. Now, its our turn to welcome the community to our new home a place we hope to be for a very long time. Based in Louisville, Sullivan University is one of Kentuckys leading providers of education programs and work skills training. In Mayfield, Sullivan will not only provide education opportunities, but also professional skills training and programs for workers and employers. The Mayfield Learning Center will offer courses in a traditional classroom setting, but most classes will be taught online. The Learning Center will offer computer and internet for students who may not have the access or resources for online learning. Sullivan University has always had the practice of meeting the students where they are, Keene said. By opening the Sullivan University Mayfield Learning Center, students in Graves County as well as surrounding counties will have the opportunity to take some classes in a face-to-face setting, utilize the center for computer or internet access, or just to have a quiet place to do their work, but closer to home. 'Pizza with the Police' Saturday in Mayfield By West Kentucky Star Staff MAYFIELD - Join the Mayfield Police Department for "Pizza with the Police", Saturday Feb. 9 at 3:30 pm at Northside Baptist Church Community Center, 611 West Lochridge Street. Pizza with the Police is an event to encourage communication and positive interactions between law enforcement agencies and the public.This event shadows the Coffee with a Cop initiative that started in Mayfield last year. This specific event allows Mayfield Police officers to celebrate National Pizza Day while interacting with the people in the community over a slice of pizza and conversations. No speeches or agendas, just a casual family friendly atmosphere to talk with officers about sports, weather, or concerns in your neighborhood. The Marshall County Sheriff's Office says the woman in the photos is wanted for questioning in a recent theft that happened in the KenLake area. PHOTO:Marshall County Sheriff's Office The Marshall County Sheriff's Office says the woman in the photos is wanted for questioning in a recent theft that happened in the KenLake area. PHOTO:Marshall County Sheriff's Office Marshall Deputies Seek to Identify Woman in Photos By West Kentucky Star Staff MARSHALL COUNTY - Authorities in Marshall County are asking for the public's help identifying a woman in surveillance photos. The Marshall County Sheriff's Office says the woman in the photos is wanted for questioning in a recent theft that happened in the KenLake area. If you can assist in this investigation, please contact the sheriff's office at 270-527-1333. FNB Donates to Local Schools' Resource Centers By West Kentucky Star Staff CALLOWAY COUNTY - FNB Bank donated $2,600 to the Family Resource Centers of Murray Independent Schools and Calloway County Schools as a result of the banks 2018 philanthropic efforts in Murray-Calloway County.The Resource Centers for both schools work to ensure that all students have the opportunity to succeed by identifying unmet needs affecting children and families and mobilizing available resources to help meet those needs. They also organize programs and provide services in such areas as job/career counseling, parenting, youth enrichment and childcare. We are honored to be able to fund raise and volunteer year after year for the family resource centers at both school systems, stated Ashley Gibson, FNB Mortgage Loan Officer. What they do for the families in our community is truly inspiring. FNB employees coordinated and participated in numerous fundraising events benefiting the Family Resource Centers throughout 2018, including various jean days and an April Cookout. In addition, FNB employees from the Murray Office assisted with serving meals during the Summer Feeding in the Park program, provided a personal shopper for new school clothes at the First Loves Murray event and helped to stuff backpacks in preparation for the Back to School Blast. Employees also volunteered to support the Murray Tiger and Calloway Laker Christmas programs via donating time and gifts to the causes. Christmas tree tags from both schools were also available at FNBs Murray Office; these tags provided support to local families in Murray-Calloway County that needed assistance during the holiday season. Two Arrested in Paducah Shooting Investigation By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - Authorities made two arrests in a shooting last month in Paducah, and have released additional details about the incident.The Paducah Police Department says officers were called to Baptist Health Paducah on the evening of Jan. 27 about a man with a gunshot wound. They identified the man as 20-year-old Darrius Wesley of Paducah, but were unable to interview him at the time.Wesley was transferred to an out-of-state hospital, where he was listed in critical but stable condition.Police released additional information about the case Monday afternoon, saying officers have arrested 20-year-old Tyrese Jones and 19-year-old David Knight Jr. as suspects in the case on first-degree assault charges. Knight is also charged with first-degree robbery. Jones was arrested on Friday and Knight on Monday.Police said witnesses initially told them the shooting had occurred in the area of 21st and Broadway street, but after a week-long investigation they determined it had actually happened near 10th and Greer Street in an apparent drug deal gone bad. They said Knight and Wesley went to the area to buy illegal drugs from Jones, and Wesley was shot during an ensuing altercation between Knight and Jones.Jones was booked into McCracken County Regional Jail. Knight was being held at the Christian County Jail.McCracken County Jailer David Knight confirmed to West Kentucky Star that Knight, Jr., is his son, but would not comment further.On the Net: Paducah Woman Pleads Guilty to Child Abuse By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - A Paducah woman has pleaded guilty to child abuse.Court records show 31-year-old Teresa Tyler entered a guilty plea Friday in McCracken County Circuit Court on two counts of first-degree criminal abuse and one count of first-degree assault. The charges were filed in April, after a child in Tyler's care was brought into a local doctor's office with injuries that required hospitalization.Formal sentencing for Tyler is set for April 12. She faces up to ten years in prison. A co-defendant in the case, 31-year-old Jennifer Smith, is set to go to trial on March 20 for the same crimes. Detectives said the victim in both cases is her 6-year-old child.On the Net: Fishing nets a major threat for gharial conservation Fishing nets placed in rivers are becoming a major threat for gharial conservation in Chitwan National Park (CNP), say conservationists. Fort Polk, LA (71446) Today Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Under the auspices of the WCO/JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Joint Project to support trade facilitation and border control in Africa, a Sub-regional Training-of-Trainer Workshop on Programme Global Shield (PGS) in East Africa was held in Kampala, Uganda, from 22-30 January 2019. This is the second activity under the PGS component of the Trade Facilitation and Border Control project launched by the five Revenue Authorities in East Africa, namely Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, to further enhance their border control capacity. Programme Global Shield, or in short PGS, is a multilateral WCO initiative, which aims at building the capacity of customs administrations to counter the illicit trafficking and diversion of chemicals and other components used by terrorists to manufacture improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The Training-of-Trainer workshop aimed at developing a pool of PGS trainers in East Africa to mitigate the threat posed by IEDs and demonstrating ways how Customs can contribute to control such threats. Amongst other things, the participants practiced exchanging information through the WCO Global Shield secure communication platform, provided to all PGS member states. Twenty (20) Customs officials from five Revenue Authorities in East Africa who got together last year at the Awareness Raising Seminar in May 2018 participated in this workshop again to be PGS Trainers. The WCO and other experts provided the latest updates on the WCO Security Project's initiatives and shared information about the Customs role in border security, technology deployment, and operational activities. The information shared by the invited national experts from Asia and Europe has significantly contributed to converting knowledge into practices. During the workshop, the participants also went through sessions to be a quality trainer on PGS. As a result, all participants acquired the mindset to be a PGS trainer by deepening their understanding of the threats posed by IEDs, the role that Customs can play, and how PGS training can be delivered effectively. The workshop was successful and rich in its content from theory to practice, and created a clear path to further enhance customs capacity to mitigate the threat of IEDs through the training to be delivered by the pool of trainers developed by this Training-of-Trainer workshop. The WCO and JICA will continue to support the efforts by the five East African Revenue Authorities to mitigate the threat of IEDs for more sustainable development of the region. Escaping the tourism trap Tourism Trap, Lisa Abends cover story for a recent issue of the Time Magazine, highlighted the changes brought about by mass tourism in Europe and captured how local residents and governments have reacted to the issue. Safer Internet Day - Tuesday 5th February The statutory body in Gibraltar responsible for safeguarding children and young people is the Child Protection Committee, (CPC). On Tuesday 5th February, the CPC will be supporting the Safer Internet Day. The aim of Safer Internet Day is to inspire a conversation about using technology responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively. Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, the celebration sees hundreds of organisations becoming involved to help promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people. Safer Internet Day offers the opportunity to highlight positive uses of technology and to explore the role we all play in helping to create a better and safer online community. It calls upon young people, parents, carers, teachers, social workers, law enforcement, companies, policymakers, and the community, to join in helping to create a better internet. Each year, for Safer Internet Day, the UK Safer Internet Centre creates a range of resources to help educational settings and the wider community to celebrate the day. This includes: Lesson plans, assemblies and films tailor-made for all ages. Resources to support social media involvement on Safer Internet Day. Registration as a Safer Internet Day Supporter. National research looking at young peoples use of technology. The Child Protection Committee and the UK Safer Internet Centre invites everyone to join Safer Internet Day supporters across the globe to help create a better internet on Tuesday 5th February 2019 and throughout the whole year. The Chair of the Child Protection Committee, Natalie Tavares, commented: The Committee has already been active on matters concerning online safety. The Royal Gibraltar Police led on the Dont click...Think awareness campaign in June of 2017, and highlighted the dangers of sexting and keeping safe online. Safer Internet Day is an excellent initiative to ensure children, young people, their carers and professionals continue to be aware of how to use the internet and social media safely, and keep abreast of whats happening in this rapidly evolving area. Minister for Health, Care and Justice, the Hon Neil F. Costa MP said: The internet is an extremely useful tool, which our children and young persons can employ to support their educational needs and also enjoy for recreational use. The internet and social media must be used safely and responsibly, however. To safeguard our children and young persons against the real dangers that can arise in the context of internet use and social media is very important. The work that the Child Protection Committee are carrying out, in this instance, in promoting the Safer Internet Day, helps children and young people better understand how they can protect themselves online. As a parent myself, I fully support this initiative. The UK Safer Internet Centre is a partnership of three leading charities Childnet International, the Internet Watch Foundation and South West Grid for Learning, (SWGfL) - with a shared mission to make the internet a better place for children and young people. The partnership was appointed by the European Commission as the Safer Internet Centre for the UK in January 2011 and is one of the 31 Safer Internet Centres of the Insafe network. The UK Safer Internet Centre delivers a wide range of activity to promote the safe and responsible use of technology by children and young people: coordinates Safer Internet Day in the UK, reaching millions every year. In 2018 Safer Internet Day reached 45 of young people and 30% of parents in the UK; founded and operates an online safety helpline for professionals working with children in the UK, including teachers, police officers, GPs and more; operates the UKs hotline for reporting online child sexual abuse imagery; develops new advice and educational resources for children, parents and carers and teachers to meet emerging trends in the fast-changing online environment; delivers education sessions for children, parents, carers, teachers and the wider childrens workforce, including free events across the UK; trains children and young people to be peer educators and champions for the safe and positive use of technology; shapes policy at school, industry and government level, both in the UK and internationally, and facilitates youth panels to give young people a voice on these issues. For more information visit www.saferinternet.org.uk and the websites of the partners: Childnet, the Internet Watch Foundation and SWGfL. Congress criticises government, NCP over Venezuela stand The main opposition Nepali Congress has fired a broadside at the government and Nepal Communist Partys stand on the unfolding political crisis in Venezuela. Boy admits to killing employer A 14-year-old boy has admitted to killing his female employer Rupa Thapa of Mudabhari in Rapti Municipality-6, Chitwan. Editorial policy is determined by the student editor, and views expressed in editorials are those of the majority of The Videttes Editorial Board. Columns that carry bylines are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Vidette or the University. IF YOU SUPPORT THE VIDETTE MISSION of providing a training laboratory for Illinois State University student journalists to learn and sharpen viable, valuable and marketable skills in all phases of print and digital media, please consider contributing to this most important cause. Thank you. Arjun Poudel is a health reporter for The Kathmandu Post. Before joining the Post, he worked for Sagarmatha Television, Naya Patrika, Republica and The Himalayan Times. Normal, IL (61790) Today Mainly clear. Low around 50F. NNW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low around 50F. NNW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon's editorial staff. Experience survival horror like never before in the 8th major installment in the Resident Evil franchise - Resident Evil Village. With detailed graphics, intense first-person action, and masterful storytelling, the terror has never felt more realistic. Register for a FREE account to keep reading! Register now for a FREE account to keep reading. No cost and no credit card required! Access up to 5 articles per month when you register, or get unlimited access to all of our content online starting at $1.99 now! Already registered? Click the log in link below Nepal to resume talks with Bhutan on refugee repatriation Nepal has decided to resume talks with Bhutan to repatriate the remaining Bhutanese refugees who are living in two camps in Jhapa. The initiative will be first in the last one and a half decades after the 15th round of ministerial level talks with Thimphu failed in 2003. tZERO Partners with Dinosaur for Launch of Digital Securities Trading Dinosaur Financial Group, LLC (Dinosaur), a New York-based institutional brokerage firm, today announced its partnership with tZERO Group, Inc., a global leader in blockchain innovations for the capital markets. Dinosaur is the broker-dealer to provide brokerage accounts for investors seeking to trade tZEROs digital security tokens, which is one of the first offerings on a decentralized network intending to be fully-compliant with the U.S. securities laws. Dinosaur Managing Director of Equity Trading Elliot Grossman commented: Becoming the provider of brokerage accounts for tZERO security token holders is a significant milestone for Dinosaur. Blockchain is changing how securities are traded and settled, and I am particularly proud that Dinosaur has joined with tZERO, tZEROs broker-dealer subsidiary, PRO Securities (and the PRO ATS), PROs other partners and Electronic Transaction Clearing to pioneer disruptive changes for issuance, trading, and settlement in the capital markets. He added: tZEROs security token is a digital security tracked via a blockchain protocol. Its an evolutionary change that will reduce operational risk and drastically improve the process of clearance and settlement. Dinosaur Founder and Chairman Glenn Grossman said: We are very pleased to have partnered with tZERO and PRO Securities and to offer our services to accredited investors interested in trading digital securities. Dinosaur is an agile business, and our clients expect us to use leading-edge technology, so todays announcement should be no surprise. Working with blockchain technology is a natural step for me because of my previous work pioneering electronic trading in US Treasury markets. tZERO CEO Saum Noursalehi noted: Were very excited to be joining forces with Dinosaur as the broker-dealer for our new security token platform. With Dinosaur, we have found a firm that understands our vision to bring transparency and efficiency to global markets and accelerate the adoption of security tokens. tZERO, a subsidiary of the digital retailer Overstock.com and a Medici Ventures portfolio company, is one of the first companies to issue security tokens. The launch of trading will be a pivotal moment for the company and its founder, Patrick Byrne, who has championed blockchain technology since he learned about it in 2014. Mr. Byrne founded tZERO soon after in 2014 with the purpose of bringing innovation and transparency to financial markets through blockchain. Dinosaur is a New York-based brokerage firm and investment bank with extensive experience in capital markets and a global reach. The team behind Dinosaur, led by father-son pair, Glenn and Elliot Grossman, has decades of experience in electronic markets globally. Its institutional brokerage provides clients with a comprehensive investment service and is now making its services available for tZEROs security tokens. In 2016, tZEROs parent, Overstock.com, was the issuer of the world's first public crypto security, and PRO Securities, the broker-dealer subsidiary of tZERO, introduced the concept of real-time trade settlement. Almost three years later, PRO Securities is now using tZERO technology, making its first steps toward a blockchain-powered market alongside its newest partner, Dinosaur. Using the tZERO technology, the digital securities trading platform is designed to enable private resale transactions to accredited investors, consistent with U.S. securities law. Dinosaur was advised by Seward & Kissel LLP and tZERO was represented by Jones Day on this transaction. For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: Crypto Exchanges Are Rage-Quitting as Crypto Winter Drags On Bitcoin at $3,400 and Ethereum at $100, how the crypto winter feels like a weight. In 2019 it isnt just crypto thats a bad word, its even blockchain as well. Its a rag tag banking mafia proclaiming the death of crypto exchanges, and Twitter is rife with tweets signalling the beginning of the end: "We need more. More exchanges gone. More projects shuttering. More SEC enforcements. More developer ragequits. More ICO Treasury selling. More layoffs. More fund liquidations. More scammers exposed. More failed cap raises. More crypto is dead." The crypto priests vs. the banking evangelists police. Lack of liquidity huh? Cryptocurrency exchange Liqui, ranked 181st by 24 hour volume on Coinmarketcap, is shutting down. This makes it the first cryptocurrency exchange to go down in 2019 If altcoins shimmer out of existence every few days, that some Crypto Exchanges would go under in the crypto winter should not surprise is, its all business. The use case of blockchain, the scalability of dApps, the alternative value of digital assets, the consumer adoption of cryptocurrencies??well, we have a ways to go. Liqui is no longer able to provide liquidity for the Users left. We also do not see any economic point in providing you with our services. What was the economic point of ICOs and airdrops again? To build community? To foster blockchain innovation? To see who is the last man standing? If only the SEC was a more aggressive and responsible regulator, we might see the blockchain startups that have true viability left. No all altcoins are built equally. Not all blockchain startups are working on actual products, same old story. Here is the list of a few crypto exchanges that announced their shutdown since the beginning of 2018: Mr. Exchange : Japan-based crypto exchange announced cease-and-desist citing regulatory concerns. : Japan-based crypto exchange announced cease-and-desist citing regulatory concerns. Tokyo GateWay : Another Japanese exchange that withdrew its application with Financial Services Agency : Another Japanese exchange that withdrew its application with Financial Services Agency ZebPay : Indias premier crypto exchange closed operations after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut their banking links. : Indias premier crypto exchange closed operations after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut their banking links. BTCX India and ETHEX India: Other Indian exchanges which opted to shut its door after RBIs anti-Bitcoin stance. BitGrail : Italian crypto exchange forced to close down operations after three hours of launch. They blamed a court order. : Italian crypto exchange forced to close down operations after three hours of launch. They blamed a court order. 1Broker : US-based crypto trading platform announced closer after SEC crackdown. : US-based crypto trading platform announced closer after SEC crackdown. Cryptopia : New Zealand-based crypto-to-crypto exchange discontinued operations after claiming that it got hacked. As stock markets and stocks bounce back, so too should crypto. Though its not clear what will drive it or the objective measures that crypto market prices are actually tethered to besides sentiment and some mysterious demand for it. Liqui, a small but a long-running crypto trading company in the Ukraine said its exchange was unable to provide liquidity to its customers. If you go broke after a little hardship perhaps you arent a legit startup. If you werent running lean all the while, you might be taking your last breath. More Crypto Exchanges, crypto hedge funds, and bockchain startups are expected to rage quit in 2019. For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: Fairmont Dubai, a luxurious hotel located on Sheikh Zayed road, has appointed of Renald Epie as its new executive chef. Epie, a French national, has over 20 years experience in perfecting the art of classical French cuisine at a number of Michelin-starred restaurants. Prior to joining Fairmont Dubai, he started off his career in the culinary world at the age of 15 in Chicago, only to become a chef at the age of 21. Renald worked at Alain Ducasses luxurious establishments such as Le Louis XV in Monte Carlo, The Spoon Food & Wine in Paris and La Bastide de Moustier in South of France. He has also worked in many other famous restaurants including Citrus Etoile, Bar & Boeuf and II Cortile before moving to Qatar as a private chef for the ambassador of France. In 2013, Epie landed in Dubai to join the Burj Al Arab team to head-up Al Mahara, the acclaimed seafood fine dining restaurant before being promoted to executive sous chef, a role, he held for two years before moving to the sister property Jumeirah Al Naseem to be part of the pre-opening team. He then joined Atlantis, The Palm in the same capacity to experience a large-scale food and beverage operations. In his new role, Epie will oversee Fairmont Dubais 10 food and beverage outlets including the multi-award winning restaurants Noire and The Exchange Grill. - TradeArabia News Service Dubai-based flydubai has announced the start of operations to Kozhikode in Kerala, India with its inaugural flight landing in the Indian city on February 1. The airline will operate flights three times a week connecting Dubai International Airport to Kozhikode Calicut International Airport. With this launch, flydubai now offers 30 weekly flights to and from Dubai to eight destinations in India. Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive officer at flydubai, said: As the first Dubai-based carrier to operate direct flights from Dubai to Kozhikode, we expect this route to be very popular for travellers from the UAE to the region. Similarly, passengers from Kozhikode now have easier access to popular destinations on the flydubai network as well as the Emirates network providing easy access to more destinations when visiting family and friends. Speaking at the press conference held on February 4 to mark the start of flights to Kozhikode, Sudhir Sreedharan, senior vice president, commercial operations (UAE, GCC, Subcontinent and Africa) at flydubai, said: with the commencement of our service to Kozhikode, passengers will be able to connect to hundreds of destinations. Flydubais professional and friendly service onboard will offer an exceptional travel experience whether travelling for business or leisure. Business Class services will be available on this route and offer faster check-in, priority ground services and onboard comfortable spacious seats. Passengers choosing Economy Class will be able to enjoy the airline's innovatively-designed seats to optimise legroom and maximise comfort. Depending on travel needs, passengers will be able to select between bundled (Flex/Value) or unbundled (Lite) fares. Business Class return fares to Kozhikode from Dubai start from Dh2,659 ($723.8), while Economy Class return fares to Dubai start from Dh670 ($182.3). Flydubai started operating to India in 2010 with the start of direct flights to Lucknow. With the commencement of this new route, the airline has further grown its Indian network, which currently includes Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Lucknow and Mumbai. Kozhikode, formerly known as Calicut, is a trade centre known for its spices and hand-woven cotton cloth. The city is a geographical haven, nestled between the Arabian Sea and the Wayanad Hills. With its serene beaches, green countryside and rich history, Kozhikode makes for a fascinating destination for travellers. As part of the Emirates flydubai partnership announced in 2017, Emirates will codeshare on this route. For bookings under the codeshare, Emirates passengers will receive complimentary meals and the Emirates checked baggage allowance on flights operated by flydubai in Economy class. Benefitting from this codeshare partnership, travellers from India will have access to travel to hundreds of destinations all over the world via Dubai. - TradeArabia News Service In celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year on February 5, Abu Dhabi Duty Free, in collaboration with DFS, is treating customers to a series of exclusive offers, fun activities, and promotions from February 1 to 17. As a part of the celebration, travellers at Abu Dhabi International Airport will have the chance to win gifts from the Fortune Catcher claw machine. By playing an interactive game on the machine, customers will unlock the opportunity to win a broad range of gifts including accessories, watches and gold. A special Personalisation Gift Shop and branded personalisation gift carts will bring an exclusive and enticing experience to travellers with personalisation services. Select gifts and products purchased across the airport can be embossed, printed, stitched, or gift wrapped. Travellers will be able to add initials or messages on their tote bags, ribbons, luggage tags, leather goods and other select items. Bryan Thompson, CEO Abu Dhabi Airports, commented: Abu Dhabi Airports aligns its activities and initiatives to support national efforts towards driving further the economic growth of the Emirate. The Government of the UAE recently revised visa requirements for Chinese visitors, in a drive to ease travel between China and the UAE, enhancing the attractiveness of the UAE to Chinese market. In turn, being the UAE capitals airport, we want to ensure that passengers are extended this welcome across our facilities. Maarten De Groof, chief commercial officer at Abu Dhabi Airports, added: Abu Dhabi Airports is keen to create a welcoming atmosphere to its customers with unique and exciting experiences that would reflect key national and international occasions, such as the Chinese New Year. This year we have a range of special offers and services, from cash back and personalization carts to the incredible Fortune Catcher machine. Abu Dhabi International Airport has 28 flights per week connecting the UAEs Capital with four destinations in China; Chengdu, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai. In 2018 alone the airport saw 578,551 passengers travelling through its terminals to these Chinese destinations. We look forward to welcoming passengers from around the world and providing them with a rewarding retail experience that caters to their needs and reflects our commitment excellence in customer service, added De Groof. - TradeArabia News Service Denmark, in partnership with VFS Global, a leading outsourcing and technology services specialist for diplomatic missions worldwide, has announced the opening of its visa application centre in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Following the launch of the new centre, which has started accepting visa applications for Denmark from Kuwait, applicants will no longer need to visit the Embassy of Denmark. Instead, they can conveniently submit their visa applications with ease at the VFS Global centre in Kuwait City. During the official inauguration of the centre on January 31, Ole Emil Moesby, ambassador of Denmark to Kuwait, said: The visa application centre in Kuwait City will facilitate much easier visa application procedures for anyone living in Kuwait who needs a Schengen visa to visit Denmark. Previously, applicants had to travel to Danish missions elsewhere in the region to apply for a visa, which made travel to Denmark somewhat cumbersome, expensive and time-consuming." "More recently, weve noticed that it is not just Denmark that tourists are looking to explore. There has also been a steady increase in tourists interested in visiting Iceland, which is another great travel destination within easy reach of Denmark. It is our aim to provide a hassle-free service to applicants, and with the launch of the new centre in Kuwait City, this is making the travel aspirations of tourists, business travellers, and anyone looking to visit family members in Denmark or Iceland, a reality, he said. Commenting on the launch of the new visa application centre, Vinay Malhotra, regional group COO Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global, said: "Denmark is an attractive destination for tourists which has been illustrated through the dynamic growth in the number of people seeking to travel. As a hub for global trade and tourism, Denmark has many drawcards for tourists and business travellers alike and we are pleased to add this great location to our ever-growing list of destinations in Kuwait." "As a preferred outsourced visa-processing provider to governments across the world, we are proud to build on this legacy and will continue to provide convenient services, which open up more of the world to our valued customers, Malhotra added. VFS Global has been associated with the Client Government of Denmark since 2008 and presently serves applicants through a vast network of 114 visa application centres across 40 countries such as Australia, Canada, Ecuador, India, New Zealand, Russia and the UAE, amongst others. Key features of the centre include: Access to the Premium Lounge facility with personalised service by dedicated staff Extended operating hours enabling visitors to submit applications at their time of convenience Doorstep delivery of passports SMS notifications on application status Online tracking of application status Dedicated website for easy access to end-to-end information including visa categories, requirements, document checklists and applicable fees Dedicated contact centre and email support to answer queries and track application status. - TradeArabia News Service Family receives body of Ram Manohar Yadav five months after he died in police custody Ram Manohar died days after being detained ahead of a protest against Deputy Prime Minister Upendra Yadav. His body had been lying inside the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital morgue since then. Turkey-based ThermoBor, a company specialising in production of thermal insulation materials, recently met with senior Bahraini officials to discuss the companys plans to open a regional office in Bahrain to cover the Gulf market, said a report. Bahrains Electricity and Water Affairs Minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza received the delegation from Bahrain Buildings Company, led by Abdullah Al Meer; and Walid Bujairi, who introduced Murad Sargin, president of ThermoBor, reported Bahrain News Agency (BNA). The minister welcomed the guests, who were briefed on the Turkish-made ThermoBor material for thermal insulation, which can be applied to the buildings as an alternative to the traditional cement, directly on the surfaces to be isolated, it said. The minister praised TermoBor's activities in Turkey, Europe and other countries in the region and expressed his appreciation for the selection of Bahrain as the starting point for the promotion of their products in the GCC countries. The visitors expressed pleasure to present their products in the local market, added the report. Bahrain-based Investcorp, a leader in alternative investment products, has signed an agreement to acquire a majority interest in Sweden-based Cambio Healthcare Systems AB from Valedo Partners Fund II AB and a group of minority investors. Cambios founders and management team will continue to hold a meaningful stake in the company. The transaction remains subject to receipt of customary regulatory approvals. Cambio operates in the Electronic Health Records (EHR) market, offering software solutions for acute, primary, social and person-centred care. Cambio promotes a holistic view on health and social care and offers an EHR agnostic solution for clinical decision support applicable for all branches of health and social care. The company, which has grown rapidly in recent years, has customers primarily in Sweden, Denmark and the UK, with more than 150,000 users of its software solutions. Cambio is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and has approximately 600 employees, of which the majority are dedicated to research and development as well as software maintenance. Hazem Ben-Gacem, Co-CEO of Investcorp, said: We see solid growth potential in Cambio Healthcare System, which has already established itself as a strong player in the European region, offering innovative solutions in a promising healthcare market. We look forward to working with Cambios management team and using our expertise to build on their success story. Yasser Bajsair, Investcorps managing director in Saudi Arabia, said: The global healthcare industry is witnessing a digitization overhaul, and an investment in Cambio Healthcare Systems allows our clients to be directly exposed to a successful healthcare digital service provider. This acquisition is another step towards further diversifying our healthcare portfolio across the value chain. Peter Gille, CEO, Cambio Healthcare Systems, said; eHealth is increasingly transforming how healthcare is delivered, and is a key enabler for further improvements of quality of care, productivity and patient empowerment. Cambio is clearly one of the leading providers in the Nordic and UK eHealth markets and I am very proud of our achievements during the last few years. We now look forward to continuing Cambios growth journey with the support of Investcorp. Investcorps previous investments in Nordic technology companies include Abax, a leading developer and supplier of vehicle tracking systems technology in Norway; Coresec, a leading cyber security infrastructure and managed services provider in Sweden; and Asiakastieto, Finlands leading provider of business and credit information which Investcorp took public on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in 2015. TradeArabia News Service Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) recently signed an agreement with the Securities Depository Centre Company (EDAA), which is wholly-owned by the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) and the sole entity responsible for providing custody, registration, clearing and settlement services for securities traded on the Saudi Stock Exchange. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in the Saudi capital Riyadh with the aim to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the dual listing of securities in Saudi and UAE financial markets, reported Emirates news agency Wam. The agreement falls within the framework of cooperation between the two countries, and the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council, which seeks to achieve a common vision of integration between the two countries and bolster bilateral cooperation on key issues and common concerns. The agreement is part of ADX and EDAA continuous efforts to enhance their regional standing and implement the highest standards of governance and transparency in the listing process. Khalifa Salem Al Mansouri, acting chief executive of ADX, and Mamdooh AlSedairy, CEO of EDAA signed the MoU. The agreement aims to identify and standardise the operational, administrative and technical procedures between the two countries, and establish effective cooperation on dual listing of securities in their financial markets. This will be achieved through the exchange of information and data included in the ownership register or relevant to transactions carried out by brokers, members, or investors. Additionally, this agreement allows for the transfer of securities, and updating the securities ownership registers in each country. Commenting on the signing of the agreement, Al Mansouri reaffirmed ADX's keenness to develop its legal and legislative structure in accordance with the best international standards to ensure a competitive, transparent and fair trading environment. He said: "The MoU with EDAA will enhance the Exchanges efficiency in the governance of dual listing operations, which in turn will increase the Exchanges attractiveness to foreign investors, enhance liquidity and boost investor trading." Al Mansouri added, "This agreement reiterates the strong relationship that ADX enjoys with Tadawul and other organisations in Saudi Arabia. We continuously seek to bolster these partnerships through cooperation agreements and the standardisation of frameworks in various aspects of ADX operations, such as corporate governance, listing requirements, disclosure, and trading rules. The agreement will also prove an attractive platform for Saudi, UAE and foreign investors alike, thanks to the stable and competitive investment environment in the region's financial markets. The number of Saudi investors in ADX reached 147,412 by the end of 2018, of which 147 were institutional investors, with a total trading value (buy + sell) of Dh1.6 billion ($435 million) in 2018. Mamdooh AlSedairy, CEO of EDAA, said, "This partnership stems from our mutual commitment to enhance our cooperation with ADX to facilitate depositary services between the Saudi and UAE financial markets through providing all facilities to enable the depository operations, preservation and maintenance of ownership registers between both parties." The agreement between the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and EDAA will enable each party to open a deposit account with the other party to deposit and transfer securities in accordance with their procedures. In addition, it will enable holding and maintaining securities ownership registers of the deposited securities within each party and managing them , as well as effective exchange of information, data and records related to the ownership registers or the transactions executed or to be executed by brokers, members or clients or any information and data that both parties deem necessary. In this July 11, 2018 photo, Japanese organizational expert Marie Kondo introduces her new line of storage boxes during a media event in New York. Kondo is launching the product line, a six-piece set of colorful and sturdy paper boxes, for $89. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Congress boycotts hearing panel meeting, accuses ruling party of bypassing opposition The Parliamentary Hearing Committee on Sunday moved forward the hearing process of chairpersons of five constitutional commissions despite objections from the main opposition, in a move which the Nepali Congress said is against democratic practices and parliamentary norms. 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. By Kelly Page pagekell@grinnell.edu Across jobs at Grinnell, it seems that many transgender student employees do not feel accepted in their workplaces. Some feel more comfortable going by the pronouns they were assigned at birth rather than risking awkwardness and non-acceptance from supervisors. Others who opt to choose gender-affirming pronouns in the workplace often find that they are frequently misgendered. Some trans individuals have reported hearing transphobic comments from workplace supervisors. It appears that Grinnell needs to try harder to create more comfortable work environments for its transgender student employees. More often than respected, I feel my trans identity is mostly just tolerated, in pretty much every campus job Ive had, wrote Cassidy Christiansen 19 in an email to the S&B. Christiansen currently works for Student Government Association (SGA) as the Concerts Chair, and in the past, they have also worked as a concerts committee member, a Community Advisor (CA) and CA at Large, and at various positions in the Dining Hall. I didnt come out to the non-student staff at D-hall about my pronouns because I was just too nervous, and it was a very gendered atmosphere Im glad that workers there are sometimes choosing to wear their pronouns on a pin, but it doesnt really get at the issue of assuming you need to know or have the right to know anyones gender identity, they wrote in an email to The S&B. Christiansen continued, There are several wonderful women working in the bakery and I just couldnt know if they would accept me or not, and it seemed like less of a hassle to just be misgendered. Another student employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, also chooses to use the pronouns they were assigned at birth rather than risk potential othering from their colleagues. The place where I work is mostly middle-aged white ladies, some of whom have made explicit transphobic comments to me, they said, so theres that aspect of it that I know some of them are actively transphobic. Also, I just dont want this part of my identity to be such a big thing in my interactions with people at the workplace. I think its easier for me in the classroom, like if I say my pronouns are they/them its just easily incorporated and if I did that in the workplace people would try but it would just be like a whole thing and I dont want it to be a whole thing, and people would mess up a lot, and I feel like it would just become central to some of my interactions and I just dont want that. That student was left feeling uncomfortable after a coworker recently asked them what their pronouns are. It was like they were saying, your gender isnt legible to me, please come out to me, they said. For me, I dont like that question. I feel like if people are referring to me in a way thats different from how I want to be referred to, I feel like I can say something, but I dont like being confronted. I saw the other day on Twitter, someone said instead of asking what are your pronouns, you should ask what are your pronouns in this space. Among students who choose to use gender-affirming pronouns in the workplace, it is a common experience to be continually misgendered. Jax Seiler, who works in the Spencer Grill, wears their pronouns on their nametag but still gets misgendered by supervisors. I get misgendered with pronouns even though I have them on my hat with the name tag, but I havent really said anything, so I feel like thats kind of ignored Its a little like, okay youre wrong and its a little uncomfortable but Im gonna move on because thats life, they said. Harley Rivers 19 has worked as a CA for three years. Initially, ze felt that zir nonbinary identity was not accepted by other CAs during training. I was nominally out as non-binary but could never talk about it or dress in an affirming way without feeling uncomfortable stares during training from a staff of many whod never seen someone like me before, ze wrote in an email to The S&B. Rivers was also surprised to find that zir previous struggles with mental health issues and anxiety, common for trans and nonbinary individuals, were seen as weaknesses within the position. With the empathy and crisis aversion and anti-oppressive work I had learned through my gender identity and associated emotions, I thought that I could bring more to the table; instead I stayed silent on this point out of fear of judgment and performance evaluations, ze wrote. In the last two years ze has worked as a CA, Rivers has seen improvements in how the CA system treats trans students, for instance by adding places to write pronouns on door decorations. However, ze still wishes that the CA system could become more accepting to transgender applicants. I yearn for more representation and for the wonderful transgender applicants to this job to be accepted into a more welcoming space, ze wrote. Making work environments more welcoming to transgender students is a bigger issue than simply telling supervisors to forcibly ask for their employees pronouns. It would mean restructuring entire workplace cultures to be less gendered and more welcoming of transgender individuals. If there were other trans and nonbinary people in a certain space, that could help. Or if people had some kind of training. Because theres some conversation around it, enough that people would think to ask what my pronouns are, but theres maybe not enough of a conversation, or maybe its not quite the right conversation, the anonymous student said. Christiansen suggested allyship to trans students as an important way to make them feel safe and supported at work. If its okay with your trans colleagues, call out people, staff/administration (and even professors!) because when you speak up for us we feel so much safer knowing theres an ally in the room, they wrote. Christiansen also highlighted the importance of intersectionality in addressing problems facing transgender student-workers. As a white nonbinary trans person, my experiences with transphobia are not the same of those of trans people of color on campus and I can only hope that we begin to highlight those voices and experiences while taking seriously radical bias training across all employees of Grinnell College. This is certainly not just an issue of gender bias, but bias of race, class, and sexuality as well. Posted Monday, February 4, 2019 5:35 am Awhile back The Reflector asked readers the following: Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this month said that if a new Interstate 5 bridge is to be built, Southwest Washington needs to compromise with Oregon by allowing it to feature light rail otherwise it wont get done. Do you believe this is a fair compromise to finally get the project moving? Who will light rail serve? Will it reduce traffic congestion? The CRC demonstrated the planned new bridge with light rail would reduce the morning southbound commute time by one minute. That was because Oregon refuses to add new through lanes to I-5 at the Rose Quarter. Furthermore, roughly $2,000 per year in tolls would be required to pay back borrowed money. Southwest Washington residents would pay up to 60 percent of those tolls. Every past new light rail line saw a reduction in bus service by TriMet. They simply reduced or eliminated bus service to force people to use the more expensive light rail transit. C-Tran currently offers seven separate express bus lines into Portland. They travel both the I-5 and the I-205 corridors. In 2017, only 1,437 people used these express buses on an average day. Thats a rounding error of the 310,000 vehicles WSDOT reports cross the Columbia River daily. Furthermore, since the light rail would only travel the I-5, it would attract a small, unknown portion of the 1,437 people. John Charles of the Cascade Policy Institute reports TriMets light rail carries just under one percent of the regions daily trips. Furthermore, all mass transit carries less than 5 percent of trips. As the recent PEMCO survey reported, 94 percent of people prefer to use their privately owned vehicles. The MAX yellow line travels at an average speed of 18 mph. There are nine stops between Delta Park and the Rose Quarter in addition to congested downtown Portland streets. Current C-Tran express buses are faster for commuters than riding light rail. The TriMet Milwaukie MAX extension cost $200 million per mile. The Tigard/Tualatin proposal will be $240 million per mile. Compare that with a $500,000 bus. A bus has flexible routing, when there are traffic accidents, weather, or other problems. Trains cant divert. Contrary to what Governor Inslee says, light rail is not required to get federal money. The CRC had $830 million federal transit dollars plus $400 million non-transit federal dollars. The transit could be buses. Our Congresswoman can fight for non-transit funds. If we want to solve the nations 12th worst traffic congestion, we need more bridges and new transportation corridors. Its been almost 40 years since the I-205 bridge and transportation corridor opened. Regional population has doubled. Thats the problem. In the words of citizen Steven Wallace (to the Bi-state Transportation Committee): we need lanes, not trains. Posted Monday, February 4, 2019 4:39 am Clark County Public Healths latest update on the measles outbreak today has a total of 49 confirmed cases, with nine more suspected. Last week the county health department announced that one of the cases was an individual who had one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, though they noted that two doses is the recommended amount in order to have as much immunity as possible. Public Health Director Alan Melnick noted in a news release that although the vaccine isnt perfect with the recommended two doses of the vaccine the protection would be greater, going to 97 percent from 93 if only one dose has been received. The outbreak has been investigated by Public Health since Jan. 1 and both Clark County and Gov. Jay Inslee have declared public health emergencies in their respective capacities. Local legislators putting forth bills requiring vaccines Following the outbreak two Clark County lawmakers for Washington State have put forth or plan to put bills requiring removal of a personal exemption for varying levels of vaccinations. Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, had his bill, HB 1638, read into the Legislature Jan. 25, with a scheduled hearing before the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness Feb. 8. Harris bill would remove the personal exemption specifically for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, while leaving that exemption for other mandated vaccines. This would apply to any child attending a public or private school or state-licensed daycare. Fellow Clark County legislator Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, has announced she is drafting legislation that will go a step further, removing personal exemptions for all vaccines. Personal exemptions are one of three types allowed under Washington State law, alongside exemptions based on a medical professionals opinion and those on religious grounds. A release from the Washington Senate Democratic Party notes Cleveland is the chair of the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee, adding that the personal exemption is the one used most often and is least substantiated. The release notes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had declared measles eliminated in 2000. Measles: what to know Those who may have been exposed and believe they have measles symptoms are asked to contact their healthcare provider prior to visiting their offices to avoid more exposure. Public Health is requiring the exclusion of students and staff without documented immunity to measles from schools identified as possible exposure sites. The exclusion does not apply to students and staff at schools where measles exposure did not occur. Those with the disease are contagious for four days before a rash appears and up to four days after the rash appears, according to Public Health. The department noted that children younger than 5 and adults older than 20 were most likely to suffer complications including lung and ear infections, diarrhea and in rare cases swelling of the brain. Public health did note some likely immune groups, such as those born before 1957, those who are certain they have already had the disease and those up-to-date on vaccines one dose for children up to four years old and two doses for those four and older. Learn more Public Health has established a call center for questions about the investigation: (360) 397-8021. Hours are 9 am to 5 p.m. daily, including weekends. There is also a website which, among other things, features an up-to-date list of potential exposure locations: clark.wa.gov/public-health/measles-investigation. Anyone with questions about measles infection or the measles vaccine should call their primary care provider or Clark County Public Health, (360) 397-8021. Posted Monday, February 4, 2019 6:17 am The Rotary Club of Greater Clark County is trying to raise awareness of a problem mostly associated with Portland that they feel is making its way across the river. The club is hosting Too Close to Home, an information session featuring speakers involved with sex trafficking enforcement and recovery. The event is focused on youth trafficking specifically, looking at the warning signs that the activity is going on while finding ways to prevent it from happening. Rotary Club of Greater Clark County member Becky Willey explained the idea came from what a fellow club is doing in Oregon. Ending sex trafficking has been one of the missions of the East Portland Rotary since 2012 according to their website, using a variety of methods to raise awareness. Since 2015 that club has also hosted training classes for hospitality workers to help them recognize when such activity was happening. Willey said that individuals who were once involved in sex trafficking would be speaking, as well as a presentation from the Portland Police Bureau on what they have seen in their community. Willey has seen the presentation before, calling it a riveting look at the work that department has been doing to deal with the activity. Willey said that on this side of the river sex trafficking hasnt been as much of a focus, something she would like to see changed, starting with the presentation. I think awareness is the first step. The community needs to know whats going on before we can start tackling it, Willey remarked. After several similar seminars, Willey believes Portlands crackdown on sex trafficking has led to an increase in Clark County, as sex traffickers look to find places in the region less monitored. Saturdays presentation will focus on youth, as Willey explained the average age of individuals becoming a part of the activity was 13. Experienced traffickers were pros at getting young victims indoctrinated to the system, Willey said. In some cases individuals in the foster care system were targeted, she said, as they are more vulnerable. These girls think that they have a new boyfriend; they dont realize that they are being groomed to be trafficked, Willey said. Should the event go well Willey said that moving toward hospitality worker training would be the next step, similar to what East Portland Rotary has been doing. She hopes that starting the conversation will help so that sex trafficking doesnt become a crisis in Clark County. Human trafficking doesnt belong anywhere, but it especially doesnt belong in our community, Willey said. Posted Monday, February 4, 2019 6:28 am The Pumice Plain on Mount St. Helens is one of the most unique places on Earth, a six-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 had been 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. Elizabethtown, KY (42701) Today Cloudy with occasional rain showers. Low 57F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Cloudy with occasional rain showers. Low 57F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. It all began with one fishing boat on a 200-kilometre journey across Northern Palawan. Now, over a decade later, Tao Philippines employs over 200 islanders who guide travellers as they embark on a raw expedition through Palawans remote islands. However, at Tao, their goal is not just to share their home with people from around the world but also to preserve and sustain the natural environment to ensure that Palawan can be experienced by generations to come. Formed of 1,780 islands, Palawan is a tropical archipelago at the heart of South East Asia, a dreamscape of mountainous jungle and a haven for diverse tropical marine wildlife. A myriad of limestone islets, wildlife sanctuaries, and hidden lagoons, the region was untouched apart from fishermen until the 1970s, and still remains relatively unexplored. Onboard the Tao expedition. Image credit: Katie Treharne The only expedition of its kind in the Philippines, Tao is an immersive exploration of Palawans paradisal islands guided by those who know them best, trained islanders nicknamed the lost boys. Departing from Coron and arriving in El Nido, explorers can choose from a three-day or five-day expedition snorkelling over coral megalopolises, drinking quintessential jungle juice (rum with pineapple and mango), and falling asleep to the lull of the ocean in beachside bamboo tuka huts. Tao, meaning human in Tagalog, is a resilient and innovative community who operate with a sense of pride and passion which motivates them to sustain and preserve the environment while still offering travellers an insight into life in Palawan. Image credit: Tuka huts at Tao base camp. Image credit: Katie Treharne The company originates from an adventure into homestays with isolated island communities in 2006, which laid the foundation for the strong bond between Tao and Palawans island communities today. As trained crewmembers with roles ranging from drivers, chefs, and guides, the islanders are the essence of the Tao expeditions, sharing their bahala na (life is to be lived) attitude to life with everyone onboard and divulging local knowledge. In turn, Tao creates jobs, supplies food and safe water as well as schools and scholarships to the island communities, encouraging an alternate means of livelihood to fishing, which has inflicted so much damage on marine wildlife already. The lost boys. Image credit: Katie Treharne Whilst Palawan is renowned for the biodiversity of its marine life, currents bring in waste from elsewhere which poses a threat to many species of animals, including sea turtles and whalesharks . At sea, the lost boys retrieve plastic hauled into the region by currents, and, onboard and at base camps, they enforce strict waste regulations which segregate rubbish from recyclable plastics. Their hands-on approach to combatting waste is encapsulated in the moment Expedition Leader Jeff Deniega grapples to rescue a whaleshark entangled in a stray fishing rope. Not often do we happen to meet creatures under the sea. If they need help, do something to set them free, Jeff says. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tao (@taophilippines) on Jan 8, 2019 at 2:59am PST Most of Tao Philippines work for sustainability is concentrated at the Tao Centre Camp, based on a secluded 700-meter-long sandy cove in San Fernando in El Nido, known to the locals as Pangaraycayan. Surrounded by hillsides previously devastated by harmful slash-and-burn farming techniques, Tao has since helped to bring back the fertility of the soil through gradually re-educating local farmers and villagers in sustainable farming and fishing methods, as well as offering alternative means of earning a wage to help preserve the oceans fish stocks. Tao Centre Camp. Image credit: Katie Treharne Sustainability at camp is encouraged by solar panels and a generator that is only turned on between 6pm and 10pm to conserve energy. The traditional tuka huts where expeditioners sleep are constructed out of natural bayog bamboo, with bamboo nails and saltwater treatment to withstand monsoons and deflect falling coconuts. Food served in the Kantina and onboard the expeditions is sourced from the organic farm or caught fresh at sea. Founded in June 2011, the Organic Farm Project harnesses indigenous knowledge combined with new research into new techniques to produce their own vegetables and meat through principles of permaculture. Working with nature rather than against it, the project has involved eight years of growth, experimentation, innovation. Worms are used to process manure and toilet paper at the Tao Farm. Image credit: Katie Treharne Tao Centre Camp is also the source of Taos community projects, which are funded directly by the Tao expeditions. A symbiotic relationship exists between Tao and the island communities, where products are shared back-and-forth through barter. Island families are Tao's partners, who helped to spread the word of Tao in the Philippines and have been crucial in helping to construct base camps, lead expeditions, and offer local indigenous knowledge In the low season, the focus shifts to giving back to the community through projects focusing on education and womens training. Children from the isolated island communities previously struggled to complete primary education only offered in larger towns, accessible by long journeys on foot or by boat. Tao supplies materials, employs teachers, and builds learning centres that train children in social responsibility. So far, they have supported eight students at college-level, two at high-school level, and produced four graduates due to take up pursuits such as business and agriculture through Tao-funded scholarships to universities in Palawan and Manila. A family home at the Tao Centre Camp. Image credit: Katie Treharne Furthermore, since the formation of the Tao Kalahi Foundation, Tao has trained over 40 hilot massage therapists, providing families with an additional income and promoting social change where women can sell their own coconut and cashew products and receive a salary for massage services or sewing schoolbags and bedding to support the community health programmes. Becoming a masseuse for Tao has had a great impact on my life. We now have extra income for bringing up our seven children and I also really enjoy meeting such a wide variety of people. Ive even learned English from doing massage, says Gemma Fabrigas , the daughter of a traditional hilot therapist in Pangaraykayan Village. Preserving and sustaining the environment extends from waste management and wildlife protection to enhancing local communities. A model of sustainable travel, learning and growing through experimentation and innovation, Tao Philippines provides travellers with a way to uncover Palawan while giving back to its communities and ensuring the natural paradise can be experienced by other generations. Learn more about Tao Philippines' expeditions and their vital work to sustain and preserve Palawan on their website. Salida, CO (81201) Today Clear skies. Low 54F. Winds SE at 15 to 25 mph, becoming W and decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low 54F. Winds SE at 15 to 25 mph, becoming W and decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Feb 04 2019 2:09 pm Commenting today on Senator Bookers announcement this past Friday that hes running for President, Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg urged Booker to reflect. Cory Booker has undoubtedly been a longtime friend of the Jewish community, says Rabbi Weisberg. In the past, he has advocated strong pro-Jewish and pro-Israel positions, including opposition to the Obama Iran nuclear deal and opposing to the anti-Semitic BDS (Israel boycott) movement. On Friday, Sen. Booker threw his hat into the 2020 Presidential race. After a long run as Mayor of Newark (2006-2013), he won a NJ Senate seat in 2013 with much Jewish support and financing, including the support of the Vaad. He is now seeking to become the Democratic nominee for President. However, when push came to shove, in the Senate he voted FOR the Obama Iran nuclear deal, stating that is was the better of the two flawed options. Then again last Tuesday, he voted AGAINST the Strengthening Americas Security in the Middle East Actlegislation that would enable state and local governments in the United States to fight BDS. For this vote, he cited first amendment concerns. Note that this is after he co-sponsored anti-BDS legislation in 2016. Both these votes are troubling and seemingly out of character for Cory, says Rabbi Weisberg. Combined with his strong liberal voting record (pro womens rights, affirmative action, same-gender marriage and single-payer healthcare) he is drifting away from some of his long-held principled positions, seemingly to better align himself with the left-leaning mainstream Democratic party rank-and file. Rabbi Weisberg added, It is important to note that NJs other Senator, our loyal friend Senator Bob Menendez, withstood the Democratic liberal pressure and voted against the Iran deal and for the anti-BDS bill. We thank and applaud his friendship and steadfast loyalty. We still consider Cory Booker a loyal friend and it pains us to chastise him publicly. We would like to given him the benefit of the doubt and chalk up these two votes to uncharacteristic flukes in an environment of immense political pressure. That it our way with friends that occasionally make mistakes. However, this may become more difficult as the 2020 Presidential race unfolds and the stakes become much more dangerous. We appeal to our long-time friend to reflect carefully on the direction he will taking moving forward and allow us to remain his friends and supporters. Feb 04 2019 7:57 am Today, Cory 2020 announced the hiring of several key members of Sen. Cory Bookers campaign team in the critical early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. On Friday, Booker announced that he is running for President of the United States. Booker will head to Iowa on February 8 & 9, and then to South Carolina on February 10 & 11. Booker will visit New Hampshire over Presidents Day weekend. IOWA Mike Frosolone will serve as Iowa State Director. Frosolone brings a deep knowledge of Iowas political landscape to the Cory 2020 caucus effort. He served as the Caucus Director for the Iowa House Democrats in 2016 and 2018, recruiting the most state House candidates in thirty years and sending a record number of women to the Iowa House. Prior to that, Frosolone worked in Iowas Third Congressional District and began his Iowa career managing a successful state House race in Western Iowa in 2010. Haley Hager will serve as Iowa Director of Operations and Special Projects. Hager served as the 2018 State Director for NextGen Iowa. Her leadership helped boost turnout among young voters in Iowa, leading to Democratic victories at the state and federal level. Hager launched her career as an organizer for Wendy Davis and Battleground Texas in 2014. She previously worked in Iowas First District in 2016. Adam Henderson will serve as Regional Organizing Director. In 2018, Henderson managed Kenan Judges successful bid for the Iowa House, flipping a critical seat blue. Prior to that, he organized for several different Iowa campaigns, including the 2016 Iowa Coordinated Campaign. Joe OHern will serve as Iowa Senior Advisor. OHern has dedicated his career to electing Democrats in Iowa. Cory 2020 will be his fourth Iowa Caucus campaign. OHern began his career as a field organizer for Obama 2008, went on to work for Rep. Leonard Boswell, the Iowa Democratic Party, and served as Rep. David Loebsacks campaign manager in 2016. In 2018, he crossed the Midwest to manage the Ohio Democratic Partys coordinated campaign. Tom Pietrykoski will serve as Iowa Communications Director. Pietrykoski has served as Press Secretary in Senator Bookers Newark, NJ, office for more than three years, helping to advance major legislative efforts on economic justice, criminal justice reform, and environmental justice. Pietrykoski previously served as Communications Director for Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09), including as spokesperson for two re-election cycles. Tess Seger will serve as Deputy Iowa Communications Director and Press Secretary. Seger most recently served as the Communications Director for the Iowa Democratic Party, where she helped the party flip Iowas First and Third Districts, pick up seats in the Iowa House, and capture the State Auditors office. Prior to coming to Iowa, Seger served as a communications advisor to progressive federal and state campaigns seeking to represent some of the most vulnerable communities in Southern California. Sarah Sterner will serve as Iowa Organizing Director. Sterner is a leading voice in Midwest progressive organizing. She brings several cycles of experience in Iowa, including the 2014 Midterms and Hillary Clintons successful 2016 Iowa Caucus campaign. Sterner served as the Statewide Organizing Director for the Ohio Democratic Partys 2018 coordinated campaign. NEW HAMPSHIRE Erin Turmelle will serve as New Hampshire State Director. A native of Stratham, New Hampshire, she was the Coordinated Campaign Director for the historic 2018 cycle where Democrats flipped the State House, State Senate, Executive Council and held both Congressional seats. Before that, she worked at the New Hampshire Democratic Party as Political Director. Erin worked for Hillary for America in the 2016 cycle. She worked as a Regional Field Director in New Hampshire in 2014 for Senator Jeanne Shaheens reelection campaign. Sean Downey will serve as New Hampshire Senior Advisor. Downey has most recently been a Partner with Hilltop Public Solutions New England. Downey has served as Political Director for President Barack Obamas 2012 re-election campaign, District Director for U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster from 2013-2014, Senior Advisor to Governor John Lynch in his 2010 campaign, and held senior roles for Chris Dodd for President, U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh and the historic 2006 NH Senate Democratic Caucus. Sean was also Executive Director of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee in 2011. Emma Tyler will serve as New Hampshire Deputy State Director. Tyler served as the Organizing Director for the successful 2018 NHDP Coordinated Campaign. Previously, Emma was a Project Manager for Strategic Initiatives & International Affairs for New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, a Regional Organizing Director for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and an organizer for Hillary Clinton in Manchester, New Hampshire. SOUTH CAROLINA Christale Spain will serve as South Carolina State Director. Spain has worked for Rep. Jim Clyburn, and is the founding chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party Black Womens Caucus. She is the former Executive Director of the South Carolina Democratic Party, and worked as South Carolina Political Outreach Director for Senator Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign. Clay Middleton will serve as Senior Political Advisor for Cory 2020. Middleton worked as the South Carolina State Director for Hillary Clintons presidential campaign in 2016, and later as a regional political director for Hillary for America in Florida. In addition to serving in several roles in the Obama administration and White House, Middleton worked as the South Carolina Political Director for Barack Obamas 2008 general election presidential campaign. Middleton has also been a long-time district aide to Congressman Jim Clyburn. Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has engaged in a juvenile campaign to fly flags from his Capitol office in defiance of state law. It's an act of foot-stomping behavior that is the antitheses of that of a grown-up - and a responsible elected official. Meet Sam. Sam is a 9-year-old lab mix rescue and the resident shop dog at Defense In Depth in Sabraton. His favorite treat is chicken. DuBois, PA (15801) Today Scattered thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 56F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 56F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. * "Most Popular Intellectual Property Law Blawg" of all time according to Justia rankings , May 2021. * "Most Popular Copyright Blawg" of all time according to Justia rankings , May 2021. * PermaKat Eleonora Rosati listed as one of the World Intellectual Property Review's "Influential Women in IP" of 2020. * PermaKat Eleonora Rosati listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2018. * IPKat founder and Blogmeister Emeritus Jeremy Phillips listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2005, 2011, 2013, and 2014. * Recommended by the European Patent Office as reading material for candidates for the European Qualifying Examinations, 2013. * Listed as "Top Legal Blog" in The Times Online, March 2011. 2010 ABA Journal 100. * One of the only two non-US blogs listed in the Blawg100. * Court Reporter Top Copyright Blog award winner, November 2010. * Number 1 in the 2010 Top Copyright Blog list compiled by the Copyright Litigation Blog, July 2010. * Selected by the United States Library of Congress for inclusion in its historic collections of Internet materials related to Legal Blawgs as of 2010. * Top Patent Blog poll 2009: 3rd out of 50 in the "Favourite Patent Blog" poll and 2nd out of 50 in the "Most-read" poll. Blog of the Year, 20 August 2008. * ComputerWeekly IT Law and Governance, 20 August 2008. Unlimited website access 24/7 Unlimited e-Edition access 24/7 The best local, regional and national news in sports, politics, business and more! With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. Judge O'Malley, commented that t here is usually a very good reason why a patentee has specified a numerical limitation, namely in order to avoid prior art. Judge O'Malley suspected that this is why she had not seen many doctrine of equivalent cases involving numerical limitations. Dutch Judge, Judge Rian Kalden ( Head of the IP Division, Court of Appeal, The Hague) also observed that in the Dutch court, as a general rule, it is difficult to sustain a doctrine of equivalents argument for a numerical limitation. Regen Lab v Estar confounds any such expectation. We may therefore have expected that establishing equivalence to a claimed numerical limitation would be a similarly high bar in the UK. The UK High Court decision inconfounds any such expectation. Platelets and red blood cells Separation of whole blood Validity Wading through prosecution history The recent High Court caseapplied thequestions to a numerical value for the first time. The case concerned the validity and alleged infringement by Estar medical ("Estar") of Regen Lab 's ("Regen") EP (UK) patent for a method of producing cells for regenerative medicine.The issue of whether the doctrine of equivalents should apply to numerical ranges was discussed in the memorable UCL IBIL event that took place shortly afterwas handed down (IPKat event reports here andvideo here ). Lord Neuberger commented at this event that he was "attracted by the point" that, where a party had specifically defined numerical limits, this should be a clear enough limitation that they didn't intend the scope of the claims to go outside these limits. US Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) Judge,The patent in question related to the field of regenerative medicine, and in particular to a method for producing platelet rich plasma (PRR) from whole blood. Platelets are small cell fragments necessary for blood clotting. PRR can be obtained by spinning down whole blood in a centrifuge. Red blood cells are forced to the bottom and PRR rises to the top. A thin layer of leukocytes and platelets (the buffy coat) separates the layer of red blood cells and the layer of plasma. Separation of the PRR can be facilitated by including a medium density gel that positions itself between the red blood cells and the buffy coat/plasma. The separation of whole blood in this way is a standard technique in the art. This Kat has herself spent many a happy hour during her PhD collecting buffy coats for the purpose of culturing macrophages.The patent EP (UK) 2073862 at issue claims a process for the preparation of a cell composition, comprising the steps of centrifuging whole blood in a separator tube, removing half of the platelet poor plasma from the top and re-suspending the remaining plasma and buffy coat to produce enriched platelet rich plasma (PRP). The claim specifies the type of separator tube and the centrifugal force to be used. In particular the claim specifies that the separator tube is either (1) a glass tube containing thixotropic gel and 0.10 M sodium citrate, or (2) a polyethylene terephthalate separator tube containing a highly thixotropic gel formed by a polymer mixture and anhydrous sodium citrate at 3.5 mg/mL. The inventive concept of the claim was said to reside in the resuspension step, which permits preparation of PRP from whole blood using only one centrifuge step.Regen brought an infringement action against Estar. Estar counterclaimed that Regen's patent was invalid. Estar has also filed an opposition against the granted patent at the EPO, and third party observations against a pending divisional application.The issue of validity primarily concerned whether the claims were novel in view of Regen's own disclosures prior to the priority date of the patent. The issue of infringement depended on whether the use of a separator tube comprising sodium citrate at a different molarity than that specified in the claims, none-less-the infringed under a doctrine of equivalents.A number of disagreements emerged between the witnesses provided by each party as the subject-matter of a disclosure by Regen's witness Mr Turzi, and whether this disclosure had been given in confidence. HHJ determined that a public disclosure of the claimed process had occurred, that the claimed process therefore lacked novelty.One interesting point to be noted is that whilst HHJ Hacon was not able to determine whether the type of tube specified in the claim had been disclosed by Mr Turzi, this did not matter (para. 133). The tubes were available for purchase, and so disclosure of the use of the tube enabled use of the invention.HHJ Hacon proceeded to consider the issue of infringement, applying the principles of claim interpretation set out by, as reviewed by the Court of Appeal in Icescape v Iceworld (IPKat post here ). HHJ addressed two issues relating to thequestions, (1) should each limitation in a claim be treated separately or together, and (2) how should thequestions be applied to a numerical limitation.Should multiple differences between an alleged infringement and the claim on a normal (i.e. purposive) construction be assessed separately or together? As HHJ Hacon pointed out, "if there is some interaction between the relevant elements of a claim, the answer to the revisedquestions ["thequestions"] could lead to one result if the equivalents are considered separately and the opposite result if considered together" (para. 211). In HHJ Hacon's view, "only the latter result is relevant", given that the question is whether an alleged infringing product or process as a whole is a variant of the claimed invention.The question was at issue in this case because the alleged infringement differed in two features from the claimed invention: (1) the gel in the separation tube, and (2) the molarity of the sodium citrate solution was 0.136 M, not 0.10 M.Claim 1 claimed a separation tube comprising 0.10 M sodium citrate. Estar's tubes contained 0.136 M sodium citrate. As pointed out by HHJ Hacon, the law on claims with a numerical content was recently revisited in(IPKat post here ). HHJ Hacon noted that this case confirmed that the approach to claims containing numerical ranges is the same as for any other claim, and thathad not changed this. Thequestions should thus be applied to numerical claims in the same way as any other claims.HHJ Hacon observed that, beforepurposive construction did not mean "that an integer can be treated as struck out if it does not appear to make any difference to the inventive concept. It may have some other purpose buried in the prior art and even if this is not discernible, the patentee may have had some reason for introducing it" (para. 219, quoting [1993] RPC 513 ). However, as confirmed in, the focus should no longer be on the claim language, but should be directed to the "inventive concept" of the claim.HHJ Hacon then made a distinction between "the inventive concept" and "the invention". HHJ Hacon observed that the invention is that which is claimed, according to Section 125(1) UKPA. Following, the patent protects, it protects the "inventive concept: "the new technical insight conveyed by the invention - the clever bit - as would be perceived by the skilled person" (para. 222).If this Kat understands HHJ Hacon's reasoning correctly, the central position of the claim in the patent specification appears severely diminished. It appears to have been demoted to the description of a mere embodiment comprising the "inventive concept". In, for example, the claims were interpreted as describing an embodiment in which pipes were arranged in parallel, and that this did not prevent infringement by an alternative embodiment in which the pipes were arranged in series. This Kat is interested in readers views of HHJ Hacon's separation of "the inventive concept" from the "invention" (para. 222). Is this a real or useful distinction?Some significance is apparently returned to the claims by the thirdquestion. This final question asks whether, if the alleged infringement is found to be a variant of the claimed invention, a reader of the patent would have none-the-less concluded that the patentee intended that strict compliance with the literal meaning of the claim was an essential requirement of the invention. However, HHJ Hacon's application of this test in the present case appears to place the bar for demonstrating this relatively high as compared to, for example, the US.HHJ Hacon applied thequestions in order to determine whether Estar's tubes comprising a 0.136 M sodium citrate were equivalent to the claimed tube comprising 0.10 M sodium citrate.HHJ Hacon identified the inventive concept of the claim as the preparation of PRP for solely therapeutic use by employing a thixotropic gel wherein (a) there is only one centrifugation and (b) after centrifugation about half the supernatent is removed and the platelets are then re-suspended in the enriched plasma. On expert evidence that "[t]he molarity [of the sodium citrate]is not important", HHJ found that the inventive concept of claim 1 is exploited in substantially the same way to achieve substantially the same result by Estar's use of 0.136 M sodium citrate as opposed to 0.10 M citrate.HHJ determined that the view of the expert corresponded to what would have been the view of the skilled person at the priority date. The answer to this question was therefore "yes".In HHJ Hacon's view, this question "would only be answered yes if there had been a sufficiently clear indication to the skilled person that strict compliance with the figure of 0.10 M was intended" (para. 252). In the absence of such an indication in the specification or from common general knowledge, HHJ Hacon found no such indication.permits recourse to the prosecution history, (1) if there is an issue of construction of scope that is unclear in view of the specification or claims, or (2) if it would be contrary to the public interest for the file to be ignored. The Defendants cited a letter from Regen to the EPO in which the novel features of the claims in view of prior art were indicated, including "a specific concentration" of sodium citrate. HHJ Hacon did not consider there was any matter of scope that was unclear or that it would be contrary to public interest to ignore the letter. HHJ Hacon thus determined that "the prosecution history has no effect on the scope of the claim".HHJ Hacon therefore found that, had the patent been valid, it would have been infringed according to the doctrine of equivalents.Doctrine of equivalent cases always seem to beg the question of why, if a limitation is not essential or material to the inventive concept of the claim, was the limitation included in the claim?In the present case, the 0.10 M limitation was specified in theboth in claim 1 and throughout the description. Why was the claim drafted to include this feature if it was not intended to be limiting? The 0.10 M limitation does not seem to have been relied on for novelty during prosecution of the parent, but was cited as providing novelty in combination with other features. Limiting your claim with preferable but inessential features of your invention, corresponding to your commercial embodiment, is one strategy for achieving quick grant (as it can pre-empt novelty objections). Was this Regen's strategy? If so, is it fair that these limitations are disregarded in an assessment of infringement?It therefore appears that the doctrine of equivalents, as established byand interpreted by HHJ Hacon, permits a patent proprietor to claim infringement by a variant that does not possess a claimed limitation, wherein the same limitation may be cited (if only obliquely) as a feature conferring novelty.Notably, during prosecution of the pending divisional ( EP3111974 ), the EPO Examiner acknowledges the 0.10 M concentration of sodium citrate as a novel feature distinguishing a composition produced by the claimed process from the prior art. See for example the EPO Examination report here , where novelty of a claim directed to a cell composition obtained by a process equivalent to the granted patent, is acknowledged over a Regen sales sheet "since the citrate concentration is not specified". See also the proprietor's submission to the Opposition Board for the granted case : 'D9 and D15 also do not disclose "a glass separator tube containing a polyester-based thixotripic gel and a buffered sodium citrate solution at 0.10 M' (page 12, second paragraph). Enough to satisfy the public interest test?in an equivalent German infringement case in the Dusseldorf Regional Court, Estar was found not to infringe Regen's patent. IPKat has been unable to find a copy of this decision, and would be grateful readers could provide a pointer.Inandthe UK courts demonstrated their willingness to apply the principles offirst to mechanical inventions and then to claims specifying clear numerical limitations. The opportunity for an alleged infringer to make recourse to prosecution history, the possibility of which was established by, has so far not provided any circumstance in which purposeful limitation by a patent proprietor can be demonstrated.undoubtedly provides an interesting development of the UK doctrine of equivalents, one that even Lord Neuberger may not have foreseen. It will be interesting to see if the reasoning will be adopted on appeal. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! 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 ... Spain closed 2018 with an unemployment rate of 14.45 per cent, according to government data published this week. The data is from the EPA active- population survey, published every three months and seen as more reliable than the monthly social security department data, which excludes those who have signed off jobless registers. According to the last EPA data of 2018, the country had 3.3 million out of work, a fall of 462,000 over the year, although this decline slowed down in the last three months of the year. The amount of new jobs created also accelerated in 2008. Last year, the total size of the workforce grew by 566,200, the most for 12 years. In the Andalucia region, the total number of unemployed fell to 834,300 in December, a rate of 21.26 per cent, down from over 30 per cent at the height of the financial crisis. New regional employment minister, Rocio Blanco, said the figures, "could have been much better if Andalucia had carried out the reforms needed to generate employment and make people more employable" . In Malaga province, including the Costa del Sol, unemployment is now at 16.56 per cent. Copyright Prensa Malaguena, S.A. - Malaga. Includes content from the company, the media group, SUR, the newspaper of Malaga and, where applicable, from other companies within the group or third parties. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES: It is prohibited to reproduce, distribute, make available, communicate publicly and use in whole or part the contents of this website, in any form or way, without previous express authorisation in writing. This includes simply reproducing it and/or making it available as a summary, comment or press review for commercial purposes or those which are directly or indirectly lucrative, which is expressly forbidden. The flu epidemic has begun in Malaga, and the health authorities believe it will reach its peak in mid-February. It has occurred later this year than last year, probably because of the mild, dry weather. So far, the incidence of flu is described as 'moderate'. The viruses which are circulating appear to be type A: AH1N1 and AH3. Last year, there was a predominance of type B viruses. Judging by results so far, experts believe the peak, when it comes, will not be very high. The accumulated rate of flu in Malaga province is 211.28 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, lower than the average for Andalucia, which is 263.59 casos per 100,000. Malaga has the second lowest rate so far, after Almeria with 155.27 cases per 100,000. In Cordoba, however, the situation is different, with 544.33 cases of flu per 100,000 inhabitants. In Seville province, the rate is 267.22. Although the vaccination campaign has now finished, Yolanda Gonzalez, the head of Public Health in Malaga province, recommends that anyone who is in a group at risk should be vaccinated. She points out that flu is a viral illness for which there is no specific treatment, but there are ways of treating the symptoms. There is no point in taking antibiotics, because they don't combat the virus. As preventive measures, people are advised to wash their hands frequently, cover their mouth when coughing or sneezing, use disposable tissues instead of cotton handkerchiefs, not to go to work or school to avoid spreading the illness, and air homes for ten minutes every day. "Flu is like being hit by a car or run over by a train. It makes you feel as if you have been beaten up," says GP Juan Manuel Jimenez. He explains that intensive muscular pain and a high temperature (from 38.5 to 40 degrees) are the two main symptoms of flu. Other signs of the illness are generally feeling unwell, headache, a sore throat and a dry cough. Flu doesn't normally involve sneezing or a runny nose. Flu is highly contagious and can be passed easily from one person to another through the air, and through direct and indirect contact. Uncertain what the future holds due to Brexit, some British citizens on the Costa del Sol have decided to forge closer links with their adoptive home. After years of an apparent mass exodus (between 2013 and 2016 around 2,000 British residents came off the population register in Marbella), the number of those registered at the town hall (on the Padron) has suddenly gone up. It may be only a small increase, of 48 people, but the council says it is important because this is the first time the number has risen in at least five years. Foreign residents' associations in Marbella say Brexit is the reason many people have decided to take this step. At a meeting with British residents organised recently the British consul in Andalucia, Charmaine Arbouin, recommended that they apply for residency as soon as possible, and it is necessary to be on the 'padron' as part of that process. The council has also been carrying out information campaigns to encourage people to register, not least because the amount of funding from the Spanish government depends on the number of people officially registered as living in the town. The local authority believes that around 100,000 people resident in the town are not on the population register, and of them 60 per cent are not Spanish. This week the mayor and some of the councillors went to meet British residents in Las Chapas as part of the latest campaign. Last year Marbella's official population rose to just under 150,000, after a further 2,000 people added their names to the register. Of those, 1,887 were foreigners. Although many residents left during the economic crisis, this is still the second largest foreign community in Marbella. The latest figures show that Moroccans top the list, with 5,075 registered at the town hall (up from 4,919 in 2017), followed by British (3,866, compared with 3,818 the previous year); Ukrainians at 2,632 (up from 2,522), Russians with 2,293 (previously 2,186) and Italians (1,952 compared with 1,886 in 2017). These five nationalities, out of a total of 141, represent nearly 40 per cent of all foreign residents on the municipal population register in Marbella. A group of fundraisers are celebrating after raising 310 euros for the Parkinson's Association in Estepona last Sunday. More information : Facebook Funandfund and Gatosdemanilva A total of 15 people and 10 dogs took part in the sponsored 8km family walk around the ruins of the Castillo del Nicio. It was hoped the event would raise 300 euros for a new air conditioning unit for the charity's community room - and the volunteers managed to raise 310 euros. The event was organised by British expat Michele Yanez-Bowker, whose mother, Violet Bowker, has Parkinson's. Michele, 48, who is originally from London and has lived in Spain for 10 years, told SUR in English: "We had a brilliant walk; the weather was tremendous, as if we had booked it. "We also had donations from four people that didn't walk and we made 310 euros. So yes we made our target and I'm absolutely delighted." The President of the Parkinson's Association in Estepona, Carmen Ramos, also took part. Carmen told this newspaper: "We are very happy with the donation. It will allow us to have air conditioning in the painting and crafts room, and thus provide a better service to people with Parkinson's. "We liked the walk because the area is very familiar and everyone has been very nice to us. It's a fantastic initiative for our association and will help us to continue with our projects." This is the fourth charity walk around Estepona that Michele has helped to organise through her Fun and Fund Facebook page. The next walk will take place on Sunday 3 March and will be in aid of the newly formed Gatos de Manilva charity. The charity helps trap, neuter and release street cats in order to control their numbers in Manilva. One of the aims of the Spanish Cancer Association (AECC) is to make the services it offers available to patients and their families at any time of day, any day of the year. With this in mind, the Malaga headquarters of the association has reached an agreement with Ly Company Malaga. The Spanish Cancer Association will put their 24-hour cancer care line on the Ly Company's cardboard water containers. The cardboard water container has already been distributed in the Costa del Sol Hospital, and over the next few days the same will be done throughout Malaga province hospitals. The association explains that it is thanks to the selfless collaboration of the Ly Company that it is possible to share this important campaign. The phone line works as an 'on-line' consultation service, available at any time of the day, throughout the year. People can ask questions, and be given information, support and advice by the team of volunteers and professionals at AECC Malaga. "The first thing that many people do when they arrive at the hospital is buy a bottle of water. Our volunteers distribute the water for free so that patients have our contact number and can get in touch any time." explained a spokesperson for the Spanish Cancer Association. The manager of the association in the Malaga province, Pedro Gonzalez, explained that both Ly Company and Tetra Pak have provided the water and the cartons free of charge. Attracting elderly residents from abroad may not be the perfect solution to counteract a serious loss of population, but for 1,263 villages in the Serrania Celtiberica region, which includes parts of Soria, Teruel, Guadalajara, Cuenca, Valencia, Castellon, Zaragoza, Burgos, Segovia and La Rioja, it could be a lifeline. This region has now become the most depopulated in the European Union. With no chance of finding jobs locally, young people are moving to towns, encouraged by their parents. It's better to have little in a city than nothing in a village, they say. So only the elderly are left, and the more there are, the better: at least, that's Gary Bedell's philosophy. This Canadian, who has lived in Spain for 25 years, has set up an internet platform to attract retired people from the USA and Canada to Spanish villages. His plan is simple: the pensioners are offered a peaceful existence in delightful villages where their savings will go a lot further than at home, and they will be made very welcome. About 60 villages have already shown an interest in welcoming elderly couples who have money and want to integrate into local life. This would be completely different from the hordes of British and Germans who flock to other parts of the country, live in 'urbanisations' and surprise waiters if they are able to speak Spanish to them, he explains. The first arrivals are due in January 2018, to see how the land lies. Gary's 'Viva Rural Spain', the non-profit-making platform, will offer them all the help they need. Nobody packs a bag one day and takes off to live in another country the next. The idea is that they come and rent a place and spend a while here, and then if they like it they'll buy a house and do it up to live in, he explains. Not every village is suitable. They have to be no more than a 90-minute drive from a hospital and must have basic facilities such as shops and a chemist. The council must also be prepared to help the newcomers to integrate. We will try to ensure that they do not make up more than ten per cent of the population, says Gary. One town hall which has expressed an interest in the project is that of Muiesa, a village with 480 inhabitants which will cease to exist unless something is done. If they come, we will welcome them with open arms. In two days, they'll be learning Spanish, says the mayor, Jose Luis Iranzo. He says his village has numerous advantages. We have a health centre, and patients can be transferred from there by helicopter to Zaragoza. We have two supermarkets, a chemist, several bars, allotments and there are plenty of empty houses available at a good price. If they want peace and quiet, Muiesa is ideal, he insists. Like so many other villages, Muniesa is doing everything it can to prevent its young people moving to the towns, but its economy isn't strong enough. There are three small furniture factories and a wine cooperative, but these are not enough to prevent the exodus. We want to set up a new factory and create five jobs, says the mayor. It's not much, but every initiative is welcome, if it helps to save the village. We can't afford to miss any opportunity, says Joaquin Juste, the vice-president of the Teruel provincial government. In this province there are nearly 100 villages with fewer than 100 inhabitants. It is very difficult to find an answer to depopulation. First the economy has to be stimulated, and then people's mentality has to change because until recently parents have encouraged their children to leave. For them, moving away signifies success; saying here means failure. For the Americans, life would be cheaper. Their average pensions are $1,200 and their savings would guarantee them a tranquil existence in Spain. Totally deserted The Serrania Celtiberica covers 63,098 square kilometres, double the size of Belgium. It has a population of 487,417 and a density of 7.72 inhabitants per square kilometre. Of its 1,263 municipalities, 556 have fewer than 100 residents. In the rest of Spain, there are 514. This is the most depopulated region in the EU, similar to sparsely inhabited parts of Scandinavia and the Arctic, but its situation is worse: it has the highest rate of ageing population in the UE, and the lowest birth rates. Woburn, MA (01801) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. Low around 70F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy. Low around 70F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. We were at a similar crossroads 61 years ago, when military dictator Perez Jimenez saw his authoritarian grip on Venezuela devolve into revolution. My father, Foreign Service officer Robert C. Amerson, was there. His first-hand account, How Democracy Triumphed Over Dictatorship, tells how he and his colleagues at the American Embassy watched and listened as tensions escalated, staying in contact with the repressed media and others in the opposition. When things came to a head and Perez Jimenez flew into exile in 1958, the Embassys connections among the builders of the countrys nascent democracy kept American-Venezuelan relations on good footing. Another major liability is that the present system treats most voters those living everywhere but in 10 or so battleground states as unworthy of attention. There is no incentive for a Republican to troll for votes in California or New York, or for a Democrat to appeal to Texas. In 2016, thirty-eight states saw practically no campaign activity. It took place almost entirely in the 12 battleground states. Fewer voters went to the polls where their votes were taken for granted. Many law enforcement agencies across Florida are appropriately protecting this right by not automatically publicly disclosing victims names, addresses, and dates of birth. The most recent example of this is the horrific crime in Sebring, where five people were killed when a gunman opened fire in a bank. In this case, the victims families had the choice to disclose the names of their murdered loved ones in their own way and time. Citizens, professionals in the field of climate impacts and resiliency, municipal and county staff, and elected officials are encouraged to attend. The conference is an opportunity for both new and experienced climate advocates to gain knowledge, inspiration, skills, and strategies and network with leaders in the field of climate science and activism. I am horribly depressed as to why I am there, Guttenberg said Monday. I can't remove that reality that I am there because my daughter isn't here with me. We should be sitting on a couch watching this together." The bill has received 284 co-sponsors in the House. Last year, the measure was blocked from coming to the floor by former Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who is no longer in Congress, according to The Humane Society of the United States. It read, "Jim Bronzo has dedicated his life to saving animals. All animals, including those no one else will take ...llamas, peacocks, pigs and so many more. Early this morning it was those very peacocks Jim saved that saved him...He is blessed to have gotten out alive while trying to save his dogs and cats. Dozens of animals perished. The entire structure is gone. Jim was unable to have insurance on the contents of the property and it is a total loss. 38+ years, his life's work. Please help him and our community rebuild this amazing, nurturing and safe sanctuary!" The comments by Ertel, the first since he resigned within hours of the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper showing the photos to Gov. Ron DeSantiss office on Jan. 24, comes two days after Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam was caught up in his own blackface scandal, for which he has refused to resign despite Democrats and Republicans alike calling for him to step aside. Deputies say when they searched the apartment after obtaining a warrant, they found a gray-hooded sweater, several wigs and a large amount of wadded up cash in an open dresser drawer. The store owner reviewed 160 hours of store video recorded during Evans shifts. He noticed Evans made more no sale entries to open the cash register than employees, and also did not move cash from the register to a safe as often as other workers, according to the police report. Two pilots and three flight attendants on American Airlines Flight 1060, a Boeing 737, were evaluated by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and one of them was the person hospitalized, according to WPLG-Ch. 10. Summer girl, she was barking trying to protect us, but she wasnt vicious, she wasnt biting or nothing. She was just doing her barking, doing her job, the woman said. A pro-Israel student leader at George Washington University has criticized an ongoing campaign by the The Jewish Voice for Peace chapter at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., for a petition calling for the Hillel on campus to cease ties with the Israel on Campus Coalition, whose purpose is to inspire American college students to see Israel as a source of pride and empower them to stand up for Israel on campus, according to its website. Asked if Israel would pursue Iran in Iraq even if it pushed Iran out of Syria, he said, There are reports of Israeli military activities in Iraq as well. Definitely we will try to do it anywhere possible. Iran is a nuclear issue. Its a separate issue from Iran establishing a front for a war of attrition against Israel. We will continue to fight the Iranians and their proxies in Syria and elsewhere probably. A war of attrition will not solve the nuclear issue. [Syrian president Bashar] Assad is linked, of course, to the Russian intervention, and we have no interest in entering into a conflict with the Russians. As long as Assad is not helping Iran, we do not care what kind of regime is beyond our borders. Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. Judith (Judy) Breiner David, May 26, 1938 January 30, 2019. Judy was born to first generation immigrants James and Fannie Breiner in Milwaukee, Wisc., later moving to St. Louis. She and her three brothers helped out regularly at Breiners Bakery on The Loop in U. City. Active and outgoing from Delmar Harvard grade school through University City High, she became known as the funniest student in class of 56. Judy returned to St. Louis after college years, and later relocated to Atlanta, before eventually heading west to San Diego and Santa Monica. You can take the girl out of the Midwest, butwell, apparently, not. Judy relocated back to St. Louis again in 2016, wanting to be near family and high school friends. Judys award-winning career as a copywriter and producer in the advertising industry began upon first returning to St. Louis, extending through her years in Atlanta and California. She earned Addy and Clio awards for her work on high-profile accounts from Purina and Coca-Cola, to MARTA and Chick-fil-A. Her impressive portfolio is forever available at JudyDavid.com. Being in La La Land, Judy replaced her career with the hobbies of acting and stand-up, for fun, and as a new challenge. Her most exciting role was beside Shaquille ONeal. Her quick wit and word mastery never ceased, nor did her ongoing urge just to make people laugh. Judy was the creative mom everyone wanted as theirs, eagerly taking daughter Donna and friends to midnight showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show, and son Rod to concerts of his favorite comedians from George Carlin to Martin Mull. Judy set examples of self-determination, persistence and self-sacrifice, while being supportive, encouraging, and always sure to acknowledge and applaud even the smallest achievement. Judy was preceded in death by parents James and Fannie Breiner, and by her beloved big brother, Marvin. She is survived by children Donna in St. Louis and Rod (Wendy) in Lenexa, Kan., grandchildren Jeremy in Kansas City, Mo., and Samantha in New York, N.Y., brothers Judge Richard Breiner (Dorothy) of Marin County, Calif., and Sheldon (Mimi) in Palo Alto, Calif. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, February 10 at 10:30 am at Kol Rinah Synagogue, 829 N. Hanley (Hanley Road street-parking recommended, enter through Amherst door). Donations may be made in her name to Camp Sabra or Kol Rinah, or just try to make someone laugh today in Judys memory. ANDOVER [emdash] Wild Bill passed away and left his sister, Sharon, son, Jason, step daughters, Tiana and Sarah to remember him. He was PAPA to Devin and Emma and a darn good friend. He will be missed by many. Milton, PA (17847) Today Thunderstorms, some strong early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 63F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms, some strong early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 63F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. In its response to the draft Environment (Governance & Principles) Bill, the ALA is clear that the new Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) should report directly to Parliament, not just to Government departments. As an independent body, the OEP will be giving advice on proposed changes to environmental law, but under the current wording of the draft Bill the Minister wont be required to present this advice to Parliament, which has the real possibility of limiting the scrutiny of any future changes, said Mike Holland, consultant and adviser at the ALA. Environmental law has a direct effect on land use and management. For the agricultural industry to have confidence in the OEP it absolutely must be transparent, open and independent, and for that to be the case it must report directly to Parliament. In addition, the ALA recommends that the OEP has an internal panel with legally qualified members to deal with any authority which fails to comply with environmental law or issues arising from misinterpretation of Government policy. This panel should have the power to set up a judicial inquiry, to ensure policy implementation is robust, explained Mr Holland. Another area of concern is how the Environment Bill will dovetail with the Agriculture Bill. With all the pieces of legislation coming from Brexit there is a danger that they wont tie up together. It is vitally important that the contents of the proposed Environment Bill reflect the direction of Government policy contained in DEFRAs Health and Harmony consultation in 2018. Brexit prospects for UK agri-food trade examines in detail how both an orderly withdrawal and a no-deal scenario will affect trade across the UKs main farming sectors and a bite-size version has been produced for beef and lamb. Using the latest data, the full report looks at the current trade situation, potential tariff levels and the size of the domestic production base to reveal a complex picture for UK agriculture and horticulture after Brexit. It provides ready comparisons between sectors in terms of imports and exports, self-sufficiency and tariff levels. UK exports of agricultural and horticultural products are likely to be rendered uncompetitive if World Trade Organisation (WTO) tariffs come into play on our exports to the EU. By plotting the value share of particular food products in imports and exports markets against its ad valorem tariff, the report visualises which goods would be most affected by the imposition of WTO rules if the UK defaults to no-deal. In addition, if the Government decides to drop all tariffs on imports from the EU this would have to apply to the rest of the world, meaning UK products could face increased competition on the domestic market. In many sectors, UK costs of production are high when compared with those of key international competitors. No deal could mean the loss of tariff barrier protection and more competition from global producers. AHDB Beef and Lamb Strategy Director Will Jackson said: The prospect of a no-deal scenario cannot be ignored. This would have a seismic impact on UK trade, with major implications for the farming sectors. New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 72F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 72F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%. by Rajan Philips In November 2014, to mark its own eightieth anniversary, the British Council published a list of 80 greatest world moments over 80 years (1934-2014), based on a survey of 10,000 adults in ten countries in four continents (the five BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and five others Egypt, Germany, Japan, UK and USA) and ranked by eminent experts in diverse fields from diverse countries. The list starts with the invention of the Worldwide Web in1989 and ends with innovations in German ballet dancing, perhaps indicative of the distribution of judges and the survey population. Fourth on the list is the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the same year Sri Lanka became independent. Decolonisation is ranked 36, as the Independence of former Colonies of Europe. Thanks to the Indian independence movement (the role and influence of Mahatma Gandhi is ranked 29), Britain handed over independence to the colonial conformists in the model colony that was Ceylon, while the islands anti-colonial revolutionaries were underground in India. This is old water long run under even older bridges.' What is new are the many moments on the list of 80 landmarks assigned to information technology, besides the worldwide web, and how these global technology moments are transforming Sri Lanka in ways that only a few among us seem to be noticing with some consistency. Third on the list of 80 is the widespread availability of home computers since the 1980s. The list goes on: the growth of social media (#12); mobile phone (#15); public television (#24); Nano Technology (#25); Email (#26); digital photography (#42); and Wikipedia (#47). With the exception of public television that took over forty years, since its initial launching by the BBC in 1936, to arrive in Sri Lanka, the integration of other information and media technologies in Sri Lankan society has been swift and comprehensive. In a country, where the landline telephone was once an exclusive luxury, the mobile phone represents the omnipresent necessity for cordless technology. The impact of social media on Sri Lankan society is largely unfathomed, although there is great interest in whatever impact that social media is having on the countrys politics. The first use of social media in Sri Lankan politics was in the January 2015 presidential elections. It certainly created a buzz but it is highly unlikely that social media contributed to any significant movement of votes. Stories about the corruption of the Rajapkasas were broadcast over social media, although quite a few of them later turned out to be pure fabrications. The sinister use of social media in Sri Lanka was in fomenting anti-Muslim sentiments and organizing anti-Muslim violence in parts of the Kandy District in March 2018. A positive use of social media came to the fore in the mobilization of public opposition to Maithripala Sirisenas presidential antics late last year. The famous tweet from a protestor at Temple Trees, I am not here for Ranil, but for democracy, generated a rare response from the Prime Minister: That is what democracy is all about. That may have been the high point of Ranil Wickremesinghes participatory democracy. He is reported to have gone dormant in social media interactions after he was re-sworn as Prime Minister. Ironically, the Rajapksas (the father, the son and the uncle) are believed to be the heaviest users of social media among Sri Lankan politicians. However, and not so ironically, their politics and political messaging failed to resonate in social media during the shutdown of parliament and earlier during the orchestrated Colombo protest march over nothing. The disconnect is not implausible, because social media empowers the individual, though not always positively or for positive purposes, and it can hardly be the medium for the Rajapaksa brand of politics that dismisses individuals and wants to treat people as social animals. A broken party system The point is also that 71 years after independence Sri Lanka finds itself strung between new forms of technology and old forms and old questions of politics. The antics of October-November and their continuing aftermath have created a special backdrop to the 71st independence anniversary that will be officially commemorated tomorrow. The President and the Prime Minister who will be leading the ritual celebrations tomorrow were not born at the time of independence. That in itself is not a problem, but the problem stems from their dubious abilities and commitments to meet the challenges of todays circumstances, some of which they themselves have created or aggravated separately and together over the last four years. The two men together raised high hopes at independence anniversary celebrations in 2015 and 2016. Everything has been going downhill ever since. Last year especially, they were at each others throat, the President more than the Prime Minister, trying to outdo one another in the Local Government elections. They both failed, Sirisena more miserably than Wickremesinghe, and yet it was Sirisena who wanted the ouster of Wickremesinghe as PM based on the LG elections. After losing every battle from that time, the President is still not calling off his war against the Prime Minister. He makes it a point to send public overtures to Sajith Premadasa, perhaps still trying to wean him away from Wickremesinghe. And Mr. Premadasa doesnt seem to be averse to receiving and reciprocating them, although there is not a hell of a lot that he can do with them. The Presidents newest harebrained idea is to use the rump of the SLFP that he is supposedly leading to become the vehicle for a new national government that will be open to anyone except Ranil Wickremesinghe. At the same time, the Prime Minister never seems ready to give up on placating the President to have another crack at the national government. For all their infirmities, the UNP and the SLFP have been Sri Lankas alternative governing parties. The UNP, although founded by as a motley collection of different political groups, was the party of independence. Its creator was also the father of the nation and first Prime Minister, DS Senanayake. The SLFP was the democratic alternative to the UNP and was founded three years after independence by SWRD Bandaranaike. Today the UNP is the political vehicle of Ranil Wickremesinghe and is forever in some part of an alliance or front for contesting elections, often unsuccessfully. Although the junior of the two and began as an opposition party, the SLFP has spent more time in government than the UNP. Today the SLFP is in virtual death throes. For the last 25 years the President of the SLFP has also been the President of Sri Lanka: Chandrika Kumaratunga (1994-2005); Mahinda Rajapaksa (2005-2015); and Maithripala Sirisena (2015-?). But during the last four years, Maithripala Sirisena has been presiding over the dismemberment of the Party of SWRD Bandaranaike. The Rajapaksas have spirited away about one half of the Party. Many of the remaining members are not happy with Sirisena, who is fearing a challenge from Chandrika Kumaratunga for the control of the official party or its breakaway and leaving Sirisena in the political lurch. Sri Lankas political party system was insubstantially developed at the time of independence, and whatever that grew afterwards is not working like a democratic party system should. Even the numerically smaller but organizationally vibrant Left Parties and minority political Parties have lost their identities. And this is one of the sadder and more tragic developments after 71 years of independence. Other moments and lapses The spread of English as a global language is ranked 11th in the list of 80 moments, one step ahead of the growth of social media. What was a global moment about the English language became a huge lapse in Sri Lanka, not so much because of the Sinhala Only Act of 1956 under Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike, but because of its aggressive implementation after his death which he may not have condoned. The tragic hypocrisy again was that those who had a head start in English and their children did not lose anything, but generations of students who would have gained fluency in English in the normal course of education were shut out of that opportunity in the name of swabasha streaming. The 13th Amendment belatedly recognized English as a link language and there is now a hunger for learning English, but there is no infrastructure to satisfy that demand. Sri Lanka has fared better on a different innovative moment (#69): the development of shipping containers.This was also a rare, if not unique, instance where the institutional and professional body of expertise that began with the building and operation of the Colombo harbour under colonial rule was able to continually upgrade the harbour and its operations in keeping with the global development of port technology. This was unique because in almost all other departments of engineering and infrastructure that were started quite systematically under colonial rule, the record after independence is disgraceful failure. Transport is the worst sector. There are no transport moments after 1934 in the British Council list of 80 they had all happened much earlier, except the Growth of low cost air travel since the 1970s. Sri Lankans have immeasurably benefited from low cost flying, but the successive governments mismanagement of the national carrier is a different story. The daily exposure of the rot at SriLankan, the national carrier, is again a national shame. The key moments on the social front are: the mass production of penicillin (#2); Greater equality for women in many parts of the world (# 10); the invention of the contraceptive pill (#22); and the growing recognition of Gay and Lesbian rights (52). The sixties began with the pill and ended with the coming out of gay pride. Sri Lanka was not concurrently buffeted by these sweeping changes, but these changes are gradually finding their way into South Asian and Sri Lankan societies. The Indian Supreme Courts ruling to decriminalize homosexuality is a landmark ruling in the slow march from social intolerance to social refinement. Globally, Sri Lankas independence coincided with the emergence of the Cold War (# 37) that split the allies who fought the Nazis. The Cold War ended with the breakup of the Soviet Union (# 8). The beginning of the end came earlier with the fall of the Berlin Wall (# 27), which is also considered to be the beginning current phase of globalization. The financial infrastructure for globalization had been anticipated in 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement (#51) that set up first the IMF and then the World Bank. These developments became the facts of life for countries like Sri Lanka influencing foreign policy and the management of the economy. Sri Lankas foreign policy in the past has been driven more by domestic ethno-political considerations than economic interests. What was Anglo-mania and India-phobia in foreign policy soon after independence became China-mania and Anglo-India phobia under the Rajapaksas. The present government has tried to be all things to all people both in domestic politics and international relations, but has little to show as results for its efforts. At the same time, there is a new Cold War emerging over trade, technology and climate change, and globalization is giving way to greater emphasis on regional blocs. Where and how Sri Lanka will adapt to these changes are questions that should preoccupy those aspiring to be presidential candidates. But they are usually preoccupied by other matters such as dual citizenship, cabinet expansion, or trading in presidential pardons. 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. US-NKorea summit details to be announced next week: Trump Washington (AFP) Jan 31, 2019 US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the details of his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be announced next week - and that a date and place had been settled. "We're going to announce it very soon. We'll be announcing early next week and they very much want the meeting," Trump told reporters in the White House. "I think most of you know where the location is. I don't think it's a great secret," he added, touting what he called the "tremendous progress" made with Py ... read more Lima Group calls for Venezuela regime change without force (lead) Ottawa, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2019 The Lima Group of Latin American countries and Canada called Monday for a peaceful change in government in Venezuela, without military intervention. Eleven of the group's 14 members said in a joint statement after meeting in Ottawa that they "reiterate their support for a process of peaceful transition through political and diplomatic means without the use of force." They also urged Venezuela's military to support opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president and "not to impede the entry and transit of humanitarian assistance to Venezuelans." Guaido's "legitimate government of Venezuela" was also welcomed into the Lima Group. Earlier Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged Can$53 million (US$40 million) in humanitarian aid for Venezuelans amid a deepening crisis. The bulk of the funds are to go to "trusted partners" and neighboring countries to help them support three million refugees that have fled Venezuela, he said. Guaido has accused the military -- controlled by President Nicolas Maduro -- of planning to divert international humanitarian aid headed for the crisis-torn country. "We have received information, from the circle close to the high command, who are no longer evaluating if they let it enter or not, but how they will steal it from us," Guaido told reporters in Caracas. "They are going to hijack it to distribute it through the CLAP," he alleged, referring to the socialist government's program to distribute subsidized food boxes to its supporters. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Deputy Head of European Diplomacy Helga Schmid also participated by videoconference in the Lima talks. Guaido, who heads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, addressed the gathering in a video message, saying he looked forward to having "free and fair elections as soon as possible in order to restore democracy to Venezuela." Venezuelans are "very close to reclaiming their freedom," he said. Military planning to divert Venezuela-bound humanitarian aid: Gauido Caracas, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2019 Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido accused the military -- controlled by President Nicolas Maduro -- of planning to divert international humanitarian aid headed for the crisis-torn country. The US and other countries that have recognized Guaido as interim president have pledged humanitarian aid, amid questions over how it can be distributed without the military's support. "We have received information, from the circle close to the high command, who are no longer evaluating if they let it enter or not, but how they will steal it from us," Guaido told reporters in Caracas. "They are going to hijack it to distribute it through the CLAP," he alleged, referring to the socialist government's program to distribute subsidized food boxes to its supporters. Guaido said he was appealing to the military's "conscience" to let the aid pass into the country to those who most need it. Maduro has refused to accept humanitarian aid, dismissing it as a precursor to US military intervention. Guaido confirmed that aid is being stockpiled in Colombia, Brazil and on an unidentified Caribbean island, amid plans to transport it to Venezuela. The opposition leader said the proposed aid shipments would be prioritized for the "most vulnerable" people. He said earlier that between 250,000 and 300,000 Venezuelans were at risk of death due to malnutrition and lack of medicines and supplies. He called for a "large mobilization to safeguard this humanitarian aid," though he did not specify a date for such a protest. Yazidis bid last farewell to spiritual leader in Iraq Sheikhan, Irak, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2019 Thousands of Yazidis who survived atrocities at the hands of the Islamic State group bid a last farewell in Iraq on Monday to their spiritual leader who died last month. The longtime head of the world's Yazidi minority, Prince Tahseen Said Ali, died in the KRH Siloah hospital in Hanover, Germany at the age of 85 at the end of January. Incense floated in the air as thousands of mourners, both men and women, solemnly lined the side of the road to the mountaintop temple in the holy town of Lalish watching his wooden coffin go by. Musicians dressed in white played flutes and drums as they accompanied the funeral cortege on Monday, the eve of the prince's burial in the northern Iraqi town. "It's a day of great sadness," said one of the mourners, Abdel Khamuma. His death had left "an immense void", he told AFP. The Yazidi people were brutally targeted by the IS jihadists who swept across northern Iraq in 2014 and seized their bastion of Sinjar near the border with Syria. IS fighters slaughtered thousands of Yazidi men and boys, then abducted women and girls to be abused as "sex slaves". According to authorities, more than 6,400 Yazidis were abducted and only half of them were able to flee or be rescued. The fate of the others remains unknown. The brutal assault pushed around 360,000 of the Kurdish-speaking Yazidis to flee to other parts of Iraq, including the Kurdish region, in addition to another 100,000 who left the country altogether. The United Nations has said IS's actions could amount to genocide, and is investigating the jihadist group's atrocities across Iraq. The Yazidi faith emerged in Iran more than 4,000 years ago and is rooted in Zoroastrianism, over time integrating elements of Islam and Christianity. With no holy book and organised into castes, Yazidis pray to God facing the sun and worship his seven angels -- first and foremost Melek Taus, or Peacock Angel. Of the world's 1.5 million Yazidis, around 550,000 were living in the remote corners of northern Iraq, where their holiest site Lalish lies and where Prince Tahseen was born, before the IS onslaught. Prince Tahseen, whose body arrived in Iraq from Germany on Monday, will be buried in Lalish on Tuesday. The Yazidi cause has found a powerful symbol in Nadia Murad, a former IS abductee from Sinjar who escaped and went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her activism against sexual violence. Prince Tahseen was born in 1933 in Iraq's northwest Sheikhan district and was appointed head of the Yazidis at age 11 after the death of his father, who was the previous emir. He later moved to Germany, home of the biggest expatriate Yazidi community. Iraqi Yazidi parliamentarian Vian Dakhil has told AFP that before dying, Prince Tahseen had appointed his son, Hazem, to succeed him. Germany ups investment in NATO battalion in Lithuania Vilnius, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2019 Germany will invest 110 million euros (US$127 million) in military infrastructure in Lithuania until 2021, its defence minister said Monday, on a visit to mark two years since NATO installed battalions in the Baltic region to ward off Russia. In 2017, NATO deployed four multinational battalions to Poland and the Baltic states as a counter against possible Russian action following its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Germany leads the NATO battalion in Lithuania comprising 1,200 troops from 10 countries. "We're going to invest in the long-term engagement," Ursula von der Leyen told reporters, adding that Berlin would invest in "common barracks and training fields" in Lithuania until 2021. Lithuania's defence minister Raimundas Karoblis hailed Germany's spending plans as evidence of commitment to the NATO deployment. "We have heard very officially, very clearly at the political level.. that Germany is for the long run here and will stay here as long as the security situation will demand it," Karoblis said. The other three NATO battalions deployed in 2017 are based in Estonia, Latvia and Poland and are led by Britain, Canada and the United States, respectively. The three Baltic states, with a combined population of just six million people, were occupied and annexed by Moscow during World War II. They broke free from the Soviet Union in 1991 and joined both the European Union and NATO in 2004. US offers Niger operations centre to fight Boko Haram Niamey, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2019 The United States turned over a communications and operations centre to the Niger army on Monday to help the African nation battle Boko Haram, a statement said. The planning and operations control centre, worth $16.5 million (14.4 million euros), is designed to help Niger forces sychronise its operations through improved communications, US Ambassador Eric Whitaker said during the handover ceremony. Niger has taken on an important geostrategic role in the US fight against Islamist groups in Africa, and the centre known as a C2 Node comprises two tactical operations units equipped with sophisticated communications material. It aims to "streamline pertinent battlefield information to commanders, so that they can best employ their forces," a copy of Whitaker's remarks said. The US has already provided Niger with Cessna C-208 surveillance planes, armoured personnel vehicles and small craft known as mud boats, along with other equipment and training. "We believe all these capabilities are critical to helping Niger defeat Boko Haram and other terrorist organisations," Whitaker said. The US operates an aerial drone base in Agadez that provides surveillance of Boko Haram units and others allied with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) that operate along borders with Libya, Mali and Nigeria. Niamey has also given the US permission to base armed drones on its soil. The US presence in Niger was revealed on October 4, 2018, when four US soldiers and five Nigerien troops were killed in an ambush by fighters affiliated with the Islamic State group. Sudan protesters chant 'freedom' as police fire tear gas (lead) Khartoum, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2019 Crowds of Sudanese protesters chanted "freedom, freedom," as riot police fired tear gas on anti-government rallies in the capital and its twin city of Omdurman on Monday, witnesses said. They said protesters took to the streets in two districts of Khartoum and in Omdurman, across the Nile. Riot police swiftly moved in to disperse the protests, firing tear gas at one of the rallies in Khartoum and in the twin city, according to witnesses. Even as police fired tear gas, protesters kept up the "freedom, peace, justice" rallying cry of an anti-government campaign that erupted in December, witnesses said. Monday's demonstrations came after campaigners called for new rallies this week against the government of President Omar al-Bashir. Deadly protests have rocked the east African country since December after cash-strapped Khartoum cut a vital subsidy on bread. The protests quickly escalated into anti-government demonstrations across cities and towns, with protesters calling on Bashir to step down. Officials say 30 people have died in nationwide protests, but Human Rights Watch says at least 51 people have been killed. Bashir has remained defiant, addressing loyalists at several rallies across the country and seeking support from regional allies. On Sunday, he held three rallies in the state of North Kordofan where he pledged to bolster rural growth by undertaking new infrastructure projects. Bashir and other senior Sudanese officials have repeatedly said the government can only be changed through elections. The veteran leader, who came to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, is considering running for a third presidential term in polls due next year. The protest campaign led by the Sudanese Professionals Association is seen as the biggest challenge yet to Bashir's three-decade-rule, with young men and women demanding his resignation in daily demonstrations. At one of his rallies in North Kordofan on Sunday, Bashir appealed to the country's youths to help build a new Sudan. On Monday, Defence Minister Awad Ibnouf called for the inclusion of youths in dialogue. "The recent incidents show that there is a division between the young generation and others within families," Ibnouf told a gathering of army officers in Khartoum, according to a statement issued by the army. "This is something that needs to be solved by dialogue with the youth." His comments come days after the army's chief of staff, General Kamal Abdelmarouf, said the army "will not allow the Sudanese state to collapse or fall into chaos" amid the ongoing protests. US, S. Korea meet on eve of Trump-Kim II preparatory talks Seoul, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2019 The US special envoy for North Korea met Seoul's top security advisor on Monday, a day before discussions with Pyongyang officials on the much-anticipated second summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. Stephen Biegun briefed Chung Eui-yong on Washington's stance ahead of a working-level meeting with the North's delegation -- expected to take place in the border truce village of Panmunjom -- to discuss the agenda of the summit. Chung, the South Korean national security advisor, "conveyed our government's assessment of the current situation and what needs to be done in the future", the South's presidential office said in a statement. Security allies Seoul and Washington have at times pursued divergent approaches toward Pyongyang, with South Korea's dovish President Moon Jae-in pursuing engagement while the United States insists pressure must be maintained until it denuclearises. But a senior South Korean presidential official told the Yonhap news agency that "South Korea and the US have been working well together, and we have high expectations for the meeting between Pyongyang and Washington". In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Trump said the date and venue of his upcoming second summit with the North Korean leader had been agreed -- and would likely be announced before or during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. Vietnam is seen as the most likely venue for the meeting, which is expected to take place late this month, and follows their landmark first summit in Singapore last June. That meeting -- the first-ever between the leaders of the US and North Korea -- produced a vaguely-worded document in which Kim pledged to work towards "the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula". But progress has since stalled with the two sides disagreeing over what that means. Last week, US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told Congress that "North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons and production capabilities". sh/qan French air strikes 'repel incursion into Chad from Libya' (lead) Paris, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2019 French warplanes on Sunday struck twice to halt an armed group that crossed into northern Chad from Libya in a column of 40 pickups, the French military said, adding it acted at Chad's request. In a statement on Monday, the military said that Mirage 2000 fighters intervened "together with the Chadian army" to "halt the hostile advance and disperse the column," which had crossed deep into Chadian territory. The warplanes are based near N'Djamena, the Chadian capital, as part of France's Barkhane counter-terrorism force in the Sahel. "The column had been spotted at least 48 hours beforehand," armed forces spokesman Patrik Steiger told AFP. The Chadian airforce carried out strikes to try to repel it before asking the French to intervene, he said. On Sunday morning, French planes made low warning passes over the column but it continued to advance, triggering a decision to scramble more fighters, which carried out two strikes at around 6 p.m. Paris time. Steiger said the group had crossed 400 kilometres (250 miles) of Chadian territory before being halted "between Tibesti and Ennedi" in the northwest. He did not identify which armed group they belonged to. The Chadian military has carried out several air strikes recently in the arid north against Libya-based rebels. It also launched an operation last year aimed at "clearing out" illegal gold miners whose arrival in the far north has fomented unrest with locals. US sends 3,750 more troops to Mexico border: Pentagon (lead) Washington, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2019 The United States will send an additional 3,750 troops to its frontier with Mexico, the Pentagon said Sunday, as President Donald Trump doubled down on his call for a wall to boost border security. Soldiers were originally deployed to the border under an order President Donald Trump gave before midterm elections in November as "caravans" of migrants made their way to the border to seek asylum from violence and poverty in their own countries. But the mission, under which troops assist civilian border patrol agents by providing logistical support and installing concertina-wire fencing, has been described by opponents as a political stunt designed to create the illusion of a crisis. "The Department of Defense will deploy approximately 3,750 additional US forces to provide the additional support to CBP (Customs and Border Protection) at the southwest border that Acting Secretary of Defense (Pat) Shanahan approved Jan. 11," a statement said. This additional deployment is for three months, the statement added, and will bring to 4,350 the total number of troops at the border. Their tasks will include "a mobile surveillance capability through the end of September 2019, as well as the emplacement of approximately 150 miles of concertina wire between ports of entry." The news comes ahead of a February 15 deadline that President Donald Trump set for Congress to agree on funding for building a border wall which he made a key pledge in his election campaign. The president says that existing sections of walls should be extended along the border to stop what he describes as an uncontrolled invasion of criminals. Trump underscored these claims Sunday. "With Caravans marching through Mexico and toward our Country, Republicans must be prepared to do whatever is necessary for STRONG Border Security," he tweeted. "Dems do nothing. If there is no Wall, there is no Security. Human Trafficking, Drugs and Criminals of all dimensions - KEEP OUT!" Democrats, who control the lower house, have repeatedly rejected Trump's funding demands, saying that he has made the wall project a political crusade to demonize immigrants and to satisfy his base. He previously tried to pressure Congress into backing his idea by refusing to sign off on budgets for swathes of the federal government, leading to a five-week shutdown of some 800,000 government jobs. The border troop deployment was one of several issues on which Trump and former defense secretary Jim Mattis disagreed before he quit in December after Trump's shock decision to pull troops from Syria. Nancy Madsen has written for newspapers in Watertown, N.Y., and Mankato, as well as for PolitiFact Virginia at the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Richmond, Va. Nancy is a graduate of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., and Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y. Jeffrey Jackson is the managing editor of the Owatonna People's Press. He can be reached at 507-444-2371 or via email at jjackson@owatonna.com You are the owner of this article. Sports Editor for the Northfield News. Also a California native looking for tips on surviving the winter and an Indiana University grad on the quest for a good breaded pork tenderloin. Enterprise, AL (36331) Today Isolated thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Isolated thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. 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Candidates who have appeared for these exams can check their results from their official websites results.unomac.in, ideunom.ac.in, egovernance.unom.ac.in. The university had conducted the semester examinations for students for UG, PG and professional courses in November/ December 2018. How to check Madras University UG results 2018 - Visit the official website of the university, unom.ac.in or ideunom.ac.in or egovernance.unom.ac.in. - Click on the link that says results or under the page, click on UG/PG/Professional Degree Examination Results 2018 or click here for direct link - Enter the details in the spaces provided and click on submit Once the results are displayed, make sure to take a print of the same for future reference. There used to be rapes in this country earlier too, it is a shame that we still hear about such cases. Now, culprits are hanged within 3 days, 7 days, 11 days and a month. Steps are being taken continuously to get daughters justice and results are evident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Surat on January 30, 2019. PM Narendra Modi in Surat: There used to be rapes in this country earlier too, it is a shame that we still hear about such cases. Now, culprits are hanged within 3 days, 7days, 11 days & a month. Steps are being taken continuously to get daughters justice & results are evident. pic.twitter.com/eA1SBipQUH ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2019 Fact: The claim regarding hanging is untrue. There has been no execution for any rape case in India over the last 15 years. In the last such hanging, Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged in 2004 on a rape charge. Nine people were sentenced to death for sexual violence against girls below 12 years, without murder, in 2018. This followed an executive order in April 2018 that enabled courts to punish rapists of children under 12 years with the death penalty, after which parliament approved a corresponding change in law in August 2018. Although more people, 58, were awarded death in 2018 by sessions courts for murder involving sexual violencean increase of 35% from 43 in 2017 and over 100% from 27 in 2016, according to Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report 2018, published by Project 39A at the National Law University, Delhithe rate of conviction in rape cases remained low at 25.5%, lower than 27.1% in 2013. As many as 38,947 rape cases against women were reported in 2016 or nearly 107 every day, according to National Crime Records Bureau data, the latest available. Only one in four rape cases ended in conviction that year, lower than in the three preceding years. (Paliath is an analyst with IndiaSpend.) An Indiaspend story. (Indiaspend.org is a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit. FactChecker.in is fact-checking initiative, scrutinising for veracity and context statements made by individuals and organisations in public life.) Tamil hero Vijay Sethupathi, popularly known as Makkal Selvan, has a huge fan following in Kerala. Recently, while on a shooting at Alappuzha, the actor made some comments about the Sabarimala issue, which has started off a fresh debate. According to reports, the hero praised Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and supported the way he handled the Sabarimala issue. He is said to have made some remarks against women being considered impure during their menstrual cycle. This has initiated a discussion on the issue with some attacking the actor on social media for his comments. He accused the Centre of committing a scam through the scheme and manipulating data to suppress the truth about economic growth. Kolkata: Raising concern over security of data of small businesses under the scheme for sanctioning speedy loans for micro, small and medium (MSMEs) enterprises, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra on Friday questioned who all are the beneficiaries of the programme. During the Budget speech, Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said the Centre undertook many effective steps to strengthen the MSME sector, which provides employment to crores of people and mentioned the scheme of sanctioning loans up to Rs 1 crore in 59 minutes. "The 'MSMEs loans in 59 minutes' scheme is one of the biggest scams. You have created a website (for the scheme) and you have done competitive bidding. A company - CapitaWorld - was selected to take the data of small businesses. "All data including identification number, income tax return, banks' statement of last six months, directors' and ownership details went to a company which was non-existent till 2015. The company was formed in 2015 and it suffered a loss in 2016. How was the company selected?" he asked. Mitra also said when it was found moving towards a scam, "a State Bank entity was forced to take 60 per cent equity from the company". "Who are going to get benefits of the scheme? Globally, many big companies were being charged for misusing personal data," Mitra said. He also said the report of unemployment was not allowed to be released. "Central Statistics Office has been asked to say that the GDP growth was 8.1 per cent in the middle of demonetisation particularly, when there was relatively less GDP growth in the last quarter of 2016-17 and in the entire year, economic growth was 7.1 per cent. "They are data manipulation masters," he said. Not only black money generation, the west Bengal government said that hawala transactions have been taking place due to Centre's failure to put in place a GST regime which is seamless and transparent. "It (hawala) is happening because there is no proper matching of invoices. It is a big scam. You failed to provide GST that is seamless and transparent. You created an opportunity for some people to make money by claiming input tax credit which is non-existent," he said. The malware named "CookieMiner" is capable of stealing browser cookies associated with mainstream cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet service websites visited by the victims, said Unit 42, an arm of Palo Alto Networks. San Francisco: Global cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks has discovered a malware that is capable of stealing saved usernames and passwords in Google Chrome, saved credit card credentials in Chrome and iPhones text messages if backed up to a Mac. It steals saved passwords in Chrome and iPhone text messages from iTunes backups on the tethered Mac. "By leveraging the combination of stolen login credentials, web cookies and SMS data, based on past attacks like this, we believe the bad actors could bypass multi-factor authentication for these sites," the researchers noted. If successful, the attackers would have full access to the victim's exchange account and/or wallet and be able to use those funds as if they were the user themselves. The malware also configures the system to load coinmining software on the system. Web cookies are widely used for authentication. Once a user logs into a website, its cookies are stored for the web server to know the login status. If the cookies are stolen, the attacker could potentially sign into the website to use the victim's account. "Stealing cookies is an important step to bypass login anomaly detection. If only the username and password are stolen and used by a bad actor, the website may issue an alert or request additional authentication for a new login," said Unit 42 in a blog post on Thursday. However, if an authentication cookie is also provided along with the user name and password, the website might believe the session is associated with a previously authenticated system host and not issue an alert or request additional authentication methods. Most modern cryptocurrency exchanges and online wallet services have multi-factor authentication. "CookieMiner" tries to navigate past the authentication process by stealing a combination of the login credentials, text messages and web cookies. "If the bad actors successfully enter the websites using the victim's identity, they could perform fund withdrawals," said the researchers. Apple's Safari is not the only web browser targeted. Google Chrome also attracts the threat actors' attention due to its popularity. "Cryptocurrency owners should keep an eye on their security settings and digital assets to prevent compromise and leakage," the report suggested. Chennai: The Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal has proposed an allocation of Rs 11,538.26 crore for the Department of Space, in his interim Budget for 2019-20 presented in Parliament on Friday. According to the Budget papers, a sum of Rs 11,538.26 crore has been proposed for Department of Space for 2019-20, up from Rs 11,200 crore as per the revised estimates for 2018-19. ANI spoke with scores of people residing in Nagpur on Thursday to find out what they expect from the 2019 Interim Budget. Nagpur: Though it would be an Interim Budget, the people of Nagpur are hoping the central government would raise the minimum tax slab from Rs 2 lakh 50 thousand to Rs 5 lakhs. Sanjay Patola, a resident of Davlameti area, said there is dire need to increase the taxable income slab to Rs 5 lakh as it was becoming difficult for people to meet their ends. "The minimum tax slab should now be increased to Rs 5 lakh. Paying taxes despite earning as low as Rs 3 lakh per annum makes it difficult for us to run the household," Patola told ANI. Deepak Malhotra, another resident, said he feels that in order to boost the middle class and businessman, the Centre must exempt some more products from the Goods and Services Tax (GST). "They have not done much for the middle class and businessmen in these four years. Being a businessman, I am also facing trouble in filing GST every month. They must exempt some more products now to woo traders," Malhotra added. City doctor Sanjay Sood said the central government in its interim budget needs to increase the healthcare outlay. "They must allocate more funds for building government hospitals. People should get all the facilities at minimal cost in these government hospitals. If the allocation of funds is more, then doctors practising at government-run medical centres will be motivated," he said. The Vote on Account to be presented on Friday will only be for three months before the new government presents a full-fledged budget in July. Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal who has taken interim charge of the Finance Ministry will be presenting the budget on February 1. New Delhi: Bharti Airtel on Thursday said the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has completed the proposed investment of $200 million in Airtel Africa, a subsidiary of the telecom major. The proceeds of the deal would be used to reduce Airtel Africa's existing debt, the company said in a regulatory filing at the BSE. "I welcome tax benefits for middle and lower income groups. I welcome direct benefit transfer to both small and marginal farmers on lines of our KALIA Scheme. However, it would have benefitted farmers more if the quantum of assistance is equal or more than KALIA Scheme," Patnaik said. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday welcomed the tax benefits proposed for middle and lower income groups and the direct benefit transfer proposed for small and marginal farmers on the line of Odisha's KALIA scheme. The Odisha government launched Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme on December 31 last year to expedite growth in the agriculture sector and reduce poverty. Under this scheme, Rs 10,180 crore will be spent over three years until 2020-21 to provide assistance to cultivators and landless agricultural labourers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the Budget a trailer that will take India on the path to development after elections, while BJP national president Amit Shah said the budget has benefited all sections of the society. Chief Minister of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra hailed the decision to transfer Rs 6,000 directly to farmers. Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan dubbed the interim Budget a surgical strike on the Opposition. New Delhi: In a bonanza for the country's middle class in an election year, the government on Friday proposed tax exemption for individual annual incomes of Rs 5 lakh. Presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20, acting Finance Minister Piyush Goyal proposed doubling the standard deduction threshold for individual annual incomes from the current Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. "The highlight of the Budget was the announcement of a National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and the AI portal. This will play a key role for India to accelerate AI development and adoption," IT industry apex body Nasscom said in a statement. Bengaluru: The Indian IT industry on Friday lauded the Interim Budget 2019-20 for its push to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI). The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said it was keen to partner with the government on the AI initiatives. Presenting the Interim Budget, Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said the government would set up a National Centre for Artificial Intelligence as a hub along with centres of excellence for AI and other disruptive technologies. "In order to take the benefits of AI and related technologies to the people, a national programme on AI has been envisaged by the government," Goyal said. The Interim Budget's plan to convert a lakh villages into "Digital Villages" over the next five years gives an "impetus to technology integration and penetration" in the country, Nasscom said. "While the Finance Minister focused on education, jobs, and start-ups, the industry's key ask towards abolition of Angel Tax and various Goods and Services Tax (GST) clarifications did not a find mention," the IT industry body lamented. Indian IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) also hailed the programme on AI. "The announcement of a national programme on AI will provide a fillip to building national capabilities in this area," said the company's Chief Financial Officer V. Ramakrishnan in a statement. While TCS reacted to the Interim Budget positively, the city-based global software majors Infosys and Wipro, however, declined to comment on it. The support of the government to disruptive technologies like AI can help drive the nation's growth, said L&T Infotech's Chief Executive Sanjay Jalona in a statement. "The role of such exponential technologies in driving the nation's development is immense and provides a much-needed avenue to address and overcome pertinent age-old issues," Jalona noted. New Delhi: Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp on Saturday reported a decline of 9.15 per cent in its sales for January 2019. According to the company, sales during last month declined to 582,756 units from 641,501 units reported for the corresponding month of last year. "The weak market sentiment from the previous quarter spilled over to January and continued to dampen sales. The industry has been witnessing lower retail off-take in the past few months due to multiple factors, like the credit crunch and higher two-wheeler insurance costs," the company said in a statement. "Those who could not do anything in the last five years what good can they do with this budget? They will just try to tell their populist schemes in it. Till now all the budgets they have presented common man has not benefited even by a bit. They anyway have only 4 months, out of which two months will be spent in polls. They will ll try to introduce populist schemes in the budget keeping an eye on Lok Sabha polls," Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, told ANI. New Delhi: The Congress party on Friday said that nothing is expected from the interim budget, which the Narendra Modi-led government is scheduled to present in the Parliament today. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal arrived at the Parliament earlier today, ahead of the presentation of the interim budget. This is Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA governments sixth and last financial exercise, which will seek Parliaments nod for spending for six months of the new financial year till the formation of the new government at the Centre. The new Central government, likely to get elected after the general elections by May, is expected to present a full-fledged budget in July, which will be preceded by the tabling of Economic Survey. As per the standard practice, a vote-on-account or approval for essential government spending for a limited period is taken in an election year and a full-fledged budget is presented by the new government. If the budget date falls few months ahead of polls, then an Interim Budget is presented. Finance Minister Goyal, who examined the final copy of the document on Thursday evening here, will present the budget in the Lok Sabha at 11 am. He is also expected to address the media around 3.30 pm. IRDAI Chairman S.C. Khuntia has asked them to make suitable provisions as those exposures cannot be written off, five months after the regulator had sought the insurance companies' equity and debt exposures to the IL&FS group. Mumbai: The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDAI) has advised insurance companies to create a buffer against their exposure to the beleaguered Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) Group, an official said here on Thursday. While the public-owned Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC) is the biggest stakeholder with a 25.34 percent stake in IL&FS, the private player IDBI Federal Life Insurance has an exposure of around Rs 20-crore plus. Aditya Birla Sun Life has no exposure but the real extent of exposure of the other insurance companies in the IL&FS is not clear so far. The IRDAI and Khuntia had earlier warned insurance companies on probable risks associated in investments in low-rated debt instruments. Later, some of the group companies of IL&FS defaulted on debt repayments causing a liquidity freeze in the NBFC sector in September 2018. Presently, the IL&FS is in the red with a debt of over Rs 90,000 crore and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs dragged the company to the National Company Law Tribunal where it (IL&FS) submitted a revival plan. At around 9.45 a.m., the Sensex traded at 36,405.45 points, higher by 148.76 points or 0.41 per cent from the previous close of 36,256.69 points. Just ahead of the interim Budget, healthy buying was witnessed in the auto and capital goods stocks. Mumbai: Positive expectations from the interim Budget for 2019-20 on Friday buoyed the BSE Sensex by 148 points during the pre-noon trade session. It had opened at 36,311.74 and has so far touched an intra-day high of 36,448.30 and a low of 36,261.95. The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange traded at 10,869.10, higher by 38.15 points or 0.35 per cent from the previous close of 10,830.95 points. "Indian markets opened higher on Friday, rose further to touch an intra day high of 10,888 and later softened a bit. Volumes were higher than normal but in line with Budget days. Advance decline ratio remains positive in anticipation of positive cues from the Budget and following large buying from FIIs on Thursday," said Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities. "Real estate, FMCG, Media and Auto indices are up, suggesting expectation build-up in these sectors while Metal index is down following poor numbers from Vedanta the previous evening." He added that Jet Airways gained on reports that the lenders have made progress in involving Etihad to take a higher stake in the company. Australian Royal Commissioner Kenneth Hayne delivered a devastating blow to commission salespeople or financial advisers, depending on your point of view but Australias Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is baulking at implementing the proposed ban. Out of Haynes 76 recommendations, the one on banning mortgage brokers from taking commissions from the lenders they place loans with is the one Australias coalition government singled out as problematic, particularly in light of Australias already sagging housing market. Since its hardly credible that mortgage brokers in New Zealand would be allowed to continue collecting commissions if theyre banned in Australia, that industry will be heaving sighs of relief at Frydenbergs attitude, although such relief could be short-lived. The Treasurer says banning commissions over the next two to three years as Hayne recommended would basically be a free kick to the banks. The government recognises the importance of competition in the home lending sector and will proceed carefully and in stages, consistent with the recommendation, with reforms to ensure that the changes do not adversely impact consumers access to lenders and competition in the home lending market, Frydenberg said. A stock broker, FNZC, is estimating that eliminating commissions could save the Australian banking industry billions of dollars a year. A leading mortgage broker here, Bruce Patten, a director of the NZ Financial Services Group which incorporates the Loan Market brand and has more than 1,200 brokers writing 4,000 mortgages a month, is in no doubt that banning commissions would be inviting disaster. Why would a client have to pay for something that they got for free yesterday? Is that something theyre actually going to do?" Patten asks. Mortgage brokers have traditionally sold themselves as a free service to consumers but those consumers already effectively pay indirectly with the higher costs lenders charge to cover the commissions they pay mortgage brokers. Patten says one outcome of banning commissions would mean consumers would have less access to advice and financial education. All we will end up with is an erosion of wealth and the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, he says. There is certainly a structural issue: in Australia, mortgage brokers write nearly 60 percent of all mortgages. A similar figure is unavailable in New Zealand because the banks dont disclose this information but Patten says he thinks its north of 40 percent now. There are 20,000 mortgage brokers in Australia writing 30,000 loans a month. Whos going to write those 30,000 mortgages every month? The banks wont because they dont have the capacity. Neither will mortgage brokers be willing to rejoin the banks most mortgage brokers used to work for banks and were laid off during progressive rounds of downsizing at salaries of $65,000, Patten says. Nevertheless, Patten acknowledges that this whole industry is going to be turned on its head. The Financial Markets Authority and Reserve Banks report on life insurance released last week inspired by the Hayne commission also took sharp focus on commissions. The FMAs reaction to the Hayne report is brief: We are currently reviewing the report and considering its implications for New Zealand. Hayne took an uncompromising attitude towards commissions. The interests of consumers and those of advisers and companies providing investment products or services are not only different, they are opposed. An intermediary who seeks to stand in more than one canoe cannot," he said. Conflicts of interest can seldom be managed effectively; self-interest will almost always trump duty, Hayne said. As for the rest of his report and the other 75 recommendations, in a note to FNZC clients, the broking firm says the report was less negative for banks and insurance companies than market expectations. It concurs with Frydenberg that removing commissions would be beneficial to the banks, boosting their profitability. Things Hayne didnt recommend include the banning of vertical integration where institutions both produce investment products and then sell them through their own networks, any changes to the National Consumer Credit Protection Act and he didnt recommend the banning of the Household Expense Measure. The HEM is widely used by banks is approving mortgages but it is to greatly underestimate household expenses. Even though Hayne was often critical of the time it takes for institutions to identify and remedy their mistakes, he stopped short of recommending a mandated time frame. And while he was highly critical of the failure of regulators, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Australian Investments and Securities Commission, to prosecute bad behaviour, he recommended the regulatory framework be maintained as is. Nevertheless, the likely effect of these recommendations is a more litigious environment in the financial services sector and the end of extended negotiations with the regulator. But National Australia Bank, whose chair Ken Henry and chief executive Andrew Thorburn Hayne singled out for particular criticism, has said a quicker move to prosecution could be positive for banks by reducing the cost burden, FNZC notes. An increase in litigation could also provide more precedent and clarity around areas of the law not previously tested. Apart from the recommended changes to mortgage broker commissions, other remuneration recommendations were light-touch, in our view, FNZC says. It notes that Frydenberg plans to ask the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to review the recommendation of mortgage brokers commissions and the implications for competition. FNZC says under a Dutch Model where lenders pay brokers a flat A$2,500 fee, NAB could save nearly A$200 million a year after four years and Westpac nearly A$250 million, although Commonwealth Bank of Australia would save less than A$100 million a year and ANZ Bank less than A$50 million. Phasing out trail commissions, annual payments for as long as a mortgage remains on a lenders books, as Hayne recommends, would save the major banks between A$784 million and A$1.352 billion over five years, the broker estimates. (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: 22nd June 2021 Morning Report 21st June 2021 Morning Report Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) TPW Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Trustpower Limited (NZX: TPW) Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Mercury NZ Limited (NZX: MCY) Agrees to Acquire Trustpower's Retail Business 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 The 76 recommendations from Australia's royal commission on banking include sweeping reforms. The ones most likely to cause shock waves in New Zealand include banning commissions paid to mortgage brokers, the repeal of grandfathering of conflicted remuneration for financial advisers and a ban on hawking all superannuation and insurance products, including those covering funeral expenses. Australia's federal government has pledged to take action on all 76 recommendations. While Commissioner Kenneth Hayne didn't recommend criminal or civil charges be brought against individuals or organisations, he has recommended that regulators look at at least 24 cases of misconduct with a view to taking further action. Some of these relate to the well-publicised scandal of institutions charging fees without delivering services and AMP and all the major banks except Westpac can expect to feel the heat. Hayne's interim report last September complained that the regulators weren't using their powers to pursue prosecutions. Mortgage brokers write more than 50 percent of Australian mortgages and their market share in New Zealand has been estimated as somewhere between 25-40 percent. In just about all cases, their remuneration is through commissions from the lenders with whom they place their clients' mortgages. Haynes made no bones about greed causing the myriad problems he has unearthed in Australia over more than a year. In almost every case, the conduct in issue was driven not only by the relevant entity's pursuit of profit but also by individuals' pursuit of gain, whether in the form of remuneration for the individual or profit for the individual's business, Hayne said in his report. Providing a service to customers was relegated to second place and the roles of sellers and advisers became confused. Rewarding misconduct is wrong. Yet incentive, bonus and commission schemes throughout the financial service industry have measured sales and profit, but not compliance with the law and proper standards, Hayne says. Rewards have been paid regardless of whether the person rewarded should have done what they did. Hayne makes it crystal clear that the interests of consumers and those of advisers and companies providing investment products or services are not only different, they are opposed. An intermediary who seeks to 'stand in more than one canoe' cannot. Conflicts of interest can seldom be managed effectively; self-interest will almost always trump duty. And too often financial institutions have broken the law but haven't been properly held to account, Hayne says. But the finance industry should be thankful for small mercies; Hayne didn't, for example, recommend an end to vertical integration. That means banks such as ANZ and ASB will still be free to continue both creating retail investment products and selling them through their branch networks. Other recommendations cover how banks should deal with distressed agricultural loans, how point-of-sale lending should be handled and that banks be banned from charging dishonour fees on basic accounts. Hayne wants the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to be given the power to approve of and enforce finance industry codes of conduct, and for any ongoing fee arrangements to be subject to mandatory annual review by the client. No fees that haven't been expressly agreed to by the client will be permitted. Where advisers have a conflict of interest such as when they receive commissions they must explain to the client in writing simply and concisely why the adviser is not independent, impartial and unbiased. Of particular interest to New Zealand's life insurance industry, Hayne is recommending that ASIC should not only cap commissions and reduce that cap in respect of life risk insurance products but unless there is a clear justification for retaining those commissions, the cap should ultimately be reduced to zero. New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority and the Reserve Bank published a report on 16 life insurance companies last week that estimated upfront commissions on sales of life insurance policies are 170-210 percent. Hayne made a number of recommendations relating to general insurance products and consumer credit insurance products including a review of whether conflicted remuneration related to such products remains justified. He also recommended a new disciplinary system for financial advisers. He also made a number of recommendations about how ASIC and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority should co-operate with each other. Hayne railed against institutions' unwillingness to recognise and accept responsibility for misconduct and against the way they dragged their heels in responding to misconduct and to compensating affected customers. He singled out National Australia Bank, which owns Bank of New Zealand, saying that it stands apart from the other three major banks and that, after hearing from NAB chair Ken Henry and chief executive Andrew Thorburn, I am not as confident as I would wish to be that the lessons of the past have been learned. Hayne thought it telling that Mr Thorburn treated all issues of fees for no service as nothing more than carelessness combined with system deficiencies when the total amount to be repaid is likely to be more than A$100 million. He also thought it telling that in the very week that NAB's chief executive and chair were to give evidence before the commission, one of its staff should be emailing bankers urging them to sell at least five mortgages each before Christmas. (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: 22nd June 2021 Morning Report 21st June 2021 Morning Report Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) TPW Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Trustpower Limited (NZX: TPW) Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Mercury NZ Limited (NZX: MCY) Agrees to Acquire Trustpower's Retail Business 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 Financial Markets Authority chief executive Rob Everett was under-stating the case when he said the life insurance industry isnt capable of making necessary changes on its own. Everett said the FMA had told the government that it hasnt seen sufficient evidence of the industrys willingness to change. I dont believe the industry will do it quickly enough or well enough, left to itself, he told journalists last week. Given the life industry reaps premiums totalling $2.57 billion a year, some sort of rearguard action to protect their patch is to be expected. Yet, to date, the major firms have been conspicuous by their silence. The way industry reacted to a much milder report produced in November 2015 by consultants Melville Jessup Weaver suggests it will have to be forcibly wrestled, kicking and screaming all the while, into dealing with the root cause of the problem - its commission structure. The industry had financed the 2015 report through the Financial Services Council, which represents 10 of the companies included in the FMA/Reserve Bank report on the life insurance industry published last week. When the 2015 report was published, a number of companies including Asteron Life, AIA and Partners Life said they were resigning from the FSC because of it they obviously relented because theyre still members. And the report was published with a disclaimer including the statement that some FSC members believe there are matters covered in the report that are outside the scope as approved by the funders. Partners Life managing director Naomi Ballantyne, who also founded Sovereign, said her company had only joined the FSC on the understanding that it would raise awareness of the benefits of life insurance and would avoid undertaking any projects relating to distribution models. Ballantyne accused MJW of having a pronounced bias against independent advisers and that, rather than genuinely consulting with the industry, it had used its report to sell its opinion. Asteron Lifes then managing director Nadine Tereora, now Fidelity Lifes chief executive, said the MJW report didnt fairly represent the adviser community. John Body, ANZs managing director of wealth, which includes OnePath, said the industry shouldnt be debating commission structures because the market sets commissions and that its difficult to draw conclusions from lapse rates. It was hardly surprising that the Professional Advisers Association leapt to their defence, saying that tipping advisers business models upside down wasnt in consumers interests. The PAA disagreed with the view that advisers present the greatest conflict of interest, chief executive Rod Severn said then. A similar report with similar conclusions and recommendations came out in Australia earlier in 2015, known as the Trowbridge report. Michael Dowling, president of the Institute of Financial Advisers argued that New Zealands environment was quite different to Australias, a complaint that has eerie similarities to Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orrs argument early in 2018 before he faced up to the fact that such dismissals of the revelations coming out of the Australian royal commission were untenable. Thats especially so since Australias Big Five financial institutions, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, Westpac, ANZ Bank and AMP, own New Zealands big five. The complainers in 2015 and other companies in the sector have been conspicuous by their silence in the face of the FMA/Reserve Bank report, although in some ways, the 2015 report was mild by comparison. For example, MJW had requested information from insurers on the percentage of sales of new policies that were actually new, rather than simple switches from one policy to another. From the responses, it concluded that about 10 percent of the business written by banks was replacement of existing policies but that it was between 40-50 percent of the business written by financial advisers. That proved to be a significantly conservative estimate. The FMA used its legislative teeth, section 25 of the Financial Markets Authority Act 2011, to require 12 life insurers to provide it with data for the period April 2011 to March 2015. From that data, the FMA concluded that just 2 percent of supposed new business is genuinely new and the rest is replacement activity. A certain amount of replacement activity is legitimate because peoples circumstances change over time, but that level of replacement activity is a strong indicator that advisers have been churning their customers out of old and into new policies to generate commissions. Adding to that suspicion, MJW found that much of the replacement activity occurs three years after a policy starts. Usually, clawbacks of commission only last for the first three years a policy is in place. After that advisers are free to switch their customers to restart the commission merry-go-round. The FMA/Reserve Bank report estimates that upfront commissions paid on new policy sales range from 170-210 percent of the first years premiums, followed by trail commissions of less than 10 percent a year, and that commissions account for about 25 percent of gross premiums paid in New Zealand. Thats way out of whack with the rest of the world: data sourced from the OECD shows Hungary and Mexico are the next highest commission payers but that accounts for only about 15 percent of total premiums in those countries. Australia pays about 12 percent of total premiums in commission, although a number of industry players point out that many Australians get their life insurance through their superannuation funds. Asked about such differences, the FMA and the Reserve Bank say they believe the data is essentially comparable across countries, in particular in relation to sales costs incurred as commission. Its clear that changing the commission structure in New Zealands life insurance industry is going to take legislation, something Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi have promised to fast track. Thats because if any one insurance company decided to follow the MJW recommendation to cut its upfront commissions to 50 percent of the first years premiums, most, if not all, of its agents would immediately switch their clients into policies provided by other companies that continued to pay the current industry standard 170-201 percent commissions. As the cliche goes, turkeys dont vote for Christmas. (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: 22nd June 2021 Morning Report 21st June 2021 Morning Report Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) TPW Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Trustpower Limited (NZX: TPW) Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Mercury NZ Limited (NZX: MCY) Agrees to Acquire Trustpower's Retail Business 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 The New Zealand dollar is little changed and holding recent gains after much better-than-expected US jobs numbers on Friday sent a powerful signal that its still worth buying riskier assets, such as the kiwi currency. The kiwi was trading at 68.92 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 68.91 at 8am. The trade-weighted index rose to 74.33 from 74.28. Its successfully weathered a stronger US dollar after the better than expected non-farm payrolls data, says Peter Cavanaugh, senior adviser at Bancorp Treasury Services. Fridays data showed US jobs rose 312,000 in December, almost double market expectations of 177,000. Cavanaugh says the domestic currency has made significant gains against so-called safe haven currencies ones investors tend to retreat to in times of stress so far this year. The New Zealand dollar has gained more than 2.6 percent against the US dollar this year and more than 4 percent against the Swiss franc. Investors are now eyeing potential new leads with turnover light with China and much of Asia celebrating the Lunar New Year this week, Cavanaugh says. The release at 6.10pm New Zealand time of Kenneth Haynes final report from his Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry could potentially impact currency trading, he says. But given all the dire predictions and fears about what that report might contain, a positive surprise is more likely than not. So much of its already factored in and everybodys got to the point of thinking its going to be this bad, theres a potential for it to be taken positively, Cavanaugh says. The pundits are expecting everything from a ban on vertically integrated investment firms, to the banning of commissions paid to mortgage brokers and investment advisers, to recommendations to curtail top bankers fat pay packets. And its possible Hayne may even recommend criminal charges against individual senior executives. The New Zealand dollar was fetching 95.30 Australian cents from 95.09, 75.53 yen from 75.45, and was unchanged at 52.70 British pence. It was at 60.19 euro cents from 60.10 and 4.6463 Chinese yuan from 4.6463. The two-year swap rate was at 1.9082 percent from 1.9000 at Fridays close; the 10-year swap rate was at 2.5075 percent from 2.4900. (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: 22nd June 2021 Morning Report 21st June 2021 Morning Report Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) TPW Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Trustpower Limited (NZX: TPW) Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Mercury NZ Limited (NZX: MCY) Agrees to Acquire Trustpower's Retail Business 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 Shares of Amcor didnt have the best of years in 2018, but have recovered slowly and surely from the lows of last October. This is also as the companys acquisition of US peer Bemis has created an additional layer of complexity. The transaction, thanks to the government shutdown has also been delayed, and has been pushed into the second quarter. Investors seem to have taken the revelation in their stride and reflects (much like the broader market) the excessive sell-off in Amcors shares last year, the value present and the synergies to come from the transformational deal. While caution over the trade war (which we see as being resolved) continues to ebb and flow, markets have generally pushed higher this year, on the view that the situation (and global economy) is not as bad as it seems, and nowhere near the excessive pessimism that was priced in during December quarter. This is also very relevant to Amcor, which is soon to become the worlds largest packaging company. While having a defensive tilt, packaging firms typically do better when economic activity is strong. A further factor is that advent of retail disruption (think Amazon and co) means that the need for demand for high quality packaging has received another tailwind. The US government shutdown (in essence a stoush over funding for Donald Trumps wall) has commanded newspaper column inches, and while a reprieve has been granted, is estimated to have cost the US economy around $4 billion. It has also seen employees in Washington come back to a backlog of paper work some have estimated that the Inland Revenue Service will take a year to catch up. The stalemate in Washington has also had an impact on Amcor. The company last week announced that it has caused delays in US anti-trust clearance and the SEC review of documents in relation to the packaging companys acquisition of Bemis. The transaction close now looks to be pushed out a quarter to the end of June. Still it is proceeding and continues to look to be a good one for Amcor with US$180 million in synergies from the $9 billion deal. The all-stock acquisition will make Amcor the largest consumer packaging company in the world and should proceed smoothly post approval, with management having a great record of integrating targets. The proposed merger with Bemis will create the worlds biggest manufacturer of flexible plastic packaging products. While this deal is not without its risks, we believe it has significant strategic merit, and will make the combined entity a very strong player in an industry with attractive characteristics. Amcor CEO Ron Delia has highlighted the attributes of the Bemis deal, saying the combination of the two companies will create the global leader in consumer packaging with sales of US$13 billion, EBITDA of around US$2.2 billion and annual cash flow after capital expenditure (but before dividends) in excess of US$1 billion. Strategic merits include a global footprint, greater scale, increased exposure to attractive markets and products, along with best-in-class operating capabilities. The merger is forecast to deliver pre-tax cost synergies between the two companies of US$180 million per annum by the end of year three, after the deal is concluded, and be accretive to earnings per share by a double-digit percentage, assuming the full cost synergies are achieved. Potential revenue synergies offer further upside. Source: Amcor The transaction is an all stock deal at a fixed ratio of 5.1 Amcor shares for each Bemis share, resulting in Amcor and Bemis shareholders owning approximately 71% and 29% of the combined entity, respectively. Bemis share price has also rebounded and is currently trading back above the closing price prior to the deal announcement, and not too far below the implied offer value. This also suggests that the markets doubts over the deal being completed has subsided, even though it has been delayed. Amcor is trading on approximately 15.4 times forecast FY19 earnings, falling to 14.2 times the following year. We view the current valuation as attractive, with a projected dividend yield over the same time frame of 5.0% expanding to 5.4%. Greg Smith is the Head of Research at investment research and funds management house Fat Prophets. To get access to further research from Fat Prophets please CLICK HERE 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: Catapulting ahead Hardening up - James Hardie Decmil Group - The Ducks are lining up Spark New Zealand: Taking Something Off The Table Vocus Communications Apple QBE Insurance Hot stock - Domain Holdings Australia Orora Apple - a bit(e) of confidence Feed tests reveal lower digestibility New seasonal feed quality test results showing the stark differences between wet and dry seasons have underlined the need for end users to measure and know what they are feeding. 'On Deck for a Cause' benefits five international cancer organizations in the United States, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. 5k fundraising walks Passengers are invited to participate in a noncompetitive 5k fundraising walk on every sailing aboard each of the lines 15 ships, with proceeds distributed among the American Cancer Society, Canadian Cancer Society, Cancer Council Australia, Cancer Research UK and KWF Kankerbestrijding (Dutch Cancer Society). On the 'Girls Getaway' cruise, the walk was kicked off with remarks by Jayne Jamison, SVP, publisher and chief revenue officer of 'O, The Oprah Magazine,' and a cancer survivor. 'Thanks to generous contributions from thousands of our guests and employees weve been able to passionately raise funds for cancer awareness and research for more than a decade, and we are extremely proud to have surpassed the $6 million milestone in donations,' Holland America president Orlando Ashford said. Special celebrations are being held on every ship in the fleet following each of their 'On Deck for a Cause' walks, with the traditional lemonade as well as sparkling wine, cake, appetizers and celebratory music. More than 395,000 participants Since 2006, more than 395,000 participants have joined in more than 5,600 walks aboard Holland America cruises. Passengers are invited to donate $20 to the Holland America Line Foundation, and on a sea day participants join in a 5k walk around the ships decks. Participants receive an 'On Deck for a Cause' T-shirt, wristband and a reception following the walk. Depending on the ship, the distance to reach 5k ranges from nine to 12 laps. In 2019, more than 500 'On Deck for a Cause' events are scheduled across the fleet. Sport Austria enter last 16 as Dutch complete perfect group phase Christoph Baumgartners first-half goal sent Austria through to the last 16 of Euro 2020 on Monday after a 1-0 win over Ukraine that left their opponents facing an anxious wait to see if they qualify. In another match of the day, A new study published in the journal Food Webs provides additional evidence that wildlife is abundant in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a large area of contamination around the Chernobyl nuclear plant. University of Georgias Dr. James Beasley and co-authors used motion activated cameras to monitor experimentally placed fish carcasses to quantify the composition and efficiency of scavengers of canal and river communities in the Polesie State Radiation Ecological Reserve (PSRER) portion of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The researchers conducted 83 trials that were scavenged by 10 mammalian and 5 bird species. Three mouse species striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius), yellow necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) and harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) and two bird species Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) and common magpies (Pica pica) were among the most common scavengers, although they rarely completely consumed a carcass. Larger scavengers, including raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), American mink (Neovison vison), Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), wolves (Canis lupus), raven (Corvus corax), and white-tailed eagle (Haliarrtus albicilla), completely consumed carcasses when found. These animals were photographed while scavenging fish carcasses placed on the shoreline of rivers and canals in the PSRER, Dr. Beasley said. Weve seen evidence of a diversity of wildlife in the area through our previous research, but this is the first time that weve seen white-tailed eagles, American mink and river otter on our cameras. Dr. Beasley is referring to a 2015 study that provided the first evidence that wildlife exists in abundance in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. In the current study, fish carcasses were placed at the edge of open waters at the Pripyat River and in nearby irrigation canals, mimicking the natural activity that occurs when currents transport dead fish carcasses to the shore, said Dr. Peter Schlichting, a postdoctoral research associate at Arizona State University. The results show that 98% of the fish carcasses were consumed within one week by a multitude of scavengers. This is a high rate of scavenging, and given that all our carcasses were consumed by terrestrial or semi-aquatic species, it verifies that the movement of nutritional resources between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems occurs more frequently than often recognized, Dr. Beasley said. We tend to think of fish and other aquatic animals as staying in the aquatic ecosystem. This research shows us that if a reasonable proportion of dead fish make it to shore, there is an entire group of terrestrial and semi-aquatic species that transfer those aquatic nutrients to the terrestrial landscape. The scientists also compared scavenger activity at the river with scavenger activity at the canals, evaluating parameters including the percent of carcasses consumed and how quickly they were consumed, the number of species that showed up, and how frequently each species was detected. Scavenger efficiency was higher in the river because the limited shoreline cover increased the visibility of the fish carcasses, making them easier to find. But, as the team predicted, richness was higher in the canals. Many former agricultural areas within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone were irrigated through the use of these small canals, Dr. Beasley said. Most of them still hold water, but they are overgrown with vegetation that provides cover for wildlife, so they are used by a wider array of species. _____ Peter E. Schlichting et al. 2019. Efficiency and composition of vertebrate scavengers at the land-water interface in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Food Webs 18: e00107; doi: 10.1016/j.fooweb.2018.e00107 A duo of astronomers has spotted three new globular clusters in the Milky Ways bulge, a 10,000-light-year-wide central structure made primarily of old stars, gas and dust. Globular clusters are ancient groups of thousands or even millions of stars, gravitationally bound into a single structure about 100-200 light-years across. They are among the oldest known objects in the Universe and are relics of the first epochs of galaxy formation. As relics of star formation in the early Universe, globular clusters may provide important clues on the Milky Way history, said Dr. Denilso Camargo from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and Dr. Dante Minniti from the Universidad Andres Bello in Chile. In the current view, bulges are classified in classical bulges and pseudobulges or disk-like bulges, they explained. Classical bulges are thought to emerge from violent events such as galaxy mergers or sinking of giant gas clumps and host older stellar population within a spherical structure like elliptical galaxies. Flattened disk-like bulges may arise on longer timescales via internal processes such as disk instabilities and secular evolution. Since globular clusters basically witnessed the entire history of our Galaxy, they may allow us to reconstitute the chain of physical processes experienced by the Milky Way from its origin to the present-day. However, the census of globular clusters in the Milky Way is still far from complete, especially for the bulge globular clusters. The newly-discovered globular clusters, named Camargo 1107, 1108, and 1109, are located at distances between 10,800-14,000 light-years from the Sun and are close to the Galactic mid-plane. They are very old and extremely poor in what astronomers call metals (elements heavier than helium), with ages in the range from about 12 to 13.5 billion years. Camargo 1107, 1108, and 1109 may be the remaining of a primordial class of globular clusters that were destroyed mainly by dynamical processes and are the source of the ancient field stars that inhabit the Milky Way bulge and the inner halo, the astronomers said. Previous works suggest that there are a significant fraction of globular clusters which were formed just after the Big Bang, around the epoch of reionization. These globular clusters suggest that the Milky Way central region hosts a sub-population of very old and metal-poor globular clusters, which is consistent with being an inner halo component, they said. Alternatively, these clusters may be part of an old classical bulge built up by merging in the early history of the Milky Way. The discovery is reported in a paper in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. _____ D. Camargo & D. Minniti. 2019. Three candidate globular clusters discovered in the Galactic bulge. MNRASL 484 (1): L90-L94; doi: 10.1093/mnrasl/slz010 Atlanta, GA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2019 -- As the trusted law firm renowned for their expert services, Workers' Compensation from the Law Offices of Darwin F. Johnson is the premier workers' comp lawyer serving Atlanta and the surrounding communities. Now, the organization is advising why nurses and other healthcare workers injured on the job need their professional services. Individuals who work in nursing homes, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities provide an exceptional level of care to the sick and elderly, but it can sometimes be detrimental to their own physical condition. In fact, nurses are subject to higher rates of injuries than many other worker groups, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Due to the physically demanding nature of their jobs, healthcare providers are required to rush around the workplace to address patients' needs, especially during emergencies. This leads to an increased risk of slip and fall injuries, as well as other issues. Additionally, because they need to lift and move patients, nurses suffer from high instances of musculoskeletal injuries like strains, sprains, tears, and more. 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Johnson provides workers' compensation legal defense to individuals throughout the Atlanta area. The firm focuses on representing injured workers before the Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation. This firm is dedicated to providing clients with legal defense, getting them the compensation they deserve. Interested parties can call the firm today at 404-369-3167. Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2019 -- According to the new market research report "Vehicle Scanner Market by Scanner (fixed, portable), Structure (drive-through, UVSS), Application (Critical Infrastructure Protection, Commercial), Technology (Sensing, Illuminating, Scanning, Imaging, Processing), Component - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, Global vehicle scanner market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.28% from USD 1.5 billion in 2018 to reach USD 2.3 billion by 2025. Get Free 10% customization @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=255473881 Browse and in-depth TOC on "Vehicle Scanner Market" 44 - Tables 43 - Figures 131 - Pages The growth of the automotive vehicle scanner market is influenced by factors such as rising safety and security concerns, huge investments in infrastructure, and securing border premises. Drive-through vehicle scanner: Increasing air and sea cargo trade is expected to drive the vehicle scanner market The drive-through vehicle scanner segment is the largest market and is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period. The growing trend of transportation of goods through air and water modes has resulted in a higher demand for drive-through vehicle scanners. Also, the use of advanced technology in drive-through vehicle scanners such as scanning cargo with X-ray technology has enhanced the security level. Government/Critical infrastructure protection: Securing the borders and premises The government/critical infrastructure protection segment is expected to be the largest vehicle scanner market. The growth is due to factors such as a continuous rise in military expenditure and securing borders by installing safety and security products. Cross- border security is one of the highly sensitive security aspects considered for the safety of any country. Illegal entry of migrants by crossing the borders in shipping containers, boxcars, and trucks can be minimized by installing vehicle scanners. Thus, the demand for vehicle scanners is high for the government/critical infrastructure protection segment. Asia Pacific: China is expected to lead the Asia Pacific market The Asia Pacific region is estimated to be the fastest growing market. The region comprises some of the fastest developing economies of the world such as China and India. The Asia Pacific region is home to key suppliers of vehicle scanners such as Vehant (India), Safeways Systems (China), Dahua Technology (China), and ParkNSecure (India). The countries in this region are investing a huge amount to develop and maintain the infrastructure. With infrastructure, a country is able to create macroeconomic conditions in order to reduce poverty. A well-developed infrastructure helps in developing the economy and enhancing the standard of living. The development of infrastructure leads to the rise of safety and security concerns such as terrorism, illegal activities, bombs, and threats. Thus, to combat rising security concerns, the demand for vehicle scanners in the region has increased. Inquiry Before Buying @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=255473881 The global vehicle scanner market is dominated by major players such as Gatekeeper Security (US), SecuScan (Germany), UVIScan (Netherlands), Leidos (US), and IRD (Canada). About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Shelly Singh MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: 1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/vehicle-scanner-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Newtown, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2019 -- They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, and there's no better way to transform a living space than to revamp such an important gathering area. Rittenhouse Home, an interior design company specializing in cabinets for kitchens in Newtown, PA, makes homeowners' dream kitchens come to life with custom cabinetry services. Rittenhouse Home involves customers in the cabinet design process from start to finish, allowing them to choose the right combination of materials, color, style, and price range for their custom cabinets. 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Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2019 -- According to the new market research report "Polymer Binders Market by Type (Acrylic, Vinyl Acetate, and Latex), Form (Liquid, Powder, and High Solids), Application (Architectural Coatings, Adhesives & Sealants, Textile & Carpets, Paper & Board, and Construction Additives), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", The polymer binders market is projected to grow from USD 24.1 billion in 2018 to USD 35.0 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 7.8% during the forecast period. The growth of the polymer binders market can be attributed to the rising per capita paint consumption in APAC and the global growth in the construction industry. In addition, the increased demand for technical textiles is expected to drive the demand for polymer binders, globally. Don't miss out on business opportunities in Polymer Binders Market. Speak to our analyst and gain crucial industry insights that will help your business grow: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=80334872 The growing construction industry globally to drive the polymer binders market during the forecast period. Polymer binders are mainly used as mortar additives for the performance modifications of mortars. It is also used in paint & coating formulations. Growth in the construction industry drives the demand for architectural coatings and mortar which will have a positive impact on the growth of the polymer binders market. The global construction output will grow by 85% to reach USD 15.5 trillion by 2030. China, the US, and India, three major countries, are expected to contribute more than 50% to the overall growth of the construction industry due to economic growth in these economies. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), based on the current growth rate of APAC, the region requires an investment of USD 1.7 trillion till 2030 for its infrastructure. This scenario is favorable for the growth of the polymer binders market. Browse and in-depth TOC on "Polymer Binders Market" 69 - Tables 41 - Figures 123 - Pages View more detailed TOC @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/polymer-binder-market-80334872.html Vinyl acetate is projected to be the fastest-growing type segment of the polymer binders market. The vinyl acetate type segment of the polymer binders market is projected to register a higher CAGR between 2018 and 2023. The growth of the vinyl acetate segment can be attributed to its excellent pigment binding capacity and excellent oil & grease and dust resistance. This polymer binder is efficient in terms of performance as compared to acrylic, owing to which vinyl acetate has high demand in the adhesives & sealants, carpet backing, and paper binding applications. Apart from these applications, it is also used in the architectural coatings, paper & board, and construction additives applications. APAC to be the fastest-growing regional segment of the polymer binders market. APAC is projected to be the fastest-growing polymer binders market. The growth of the APAC polymer binders market can be attributed to the presence of the largest textile producing countries, such as India, China, and South Korea. Additionally, the increasing demand for architectural coatings from the rapidly growing construction industry is expected to drive the APAC polymer binders market during the forecast period. Most active players in the polymer binders market: BASF (Germany), DowDuPont (US), Celanese Corporation (US), Arkema (France), Wacker (Germany), Trinseo (US), Taogosei (Japan), Synthomer (UK), Dairen Chemical (Taiwan), and OMNOVA (US) are the leading players operating in the polymer binders market. Request for Free Sample Report @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=80334872 This research report categorizes the polymer binders market based on type, form, application, and region. Based on type, the polymer binders market has been segmented into acrylic, vinyl acetate, latex, and others. Based on form, the market has been segmented into liquid, powder, and high solids. Based on application, the market has been segmented into architectural coatings, adhesives & sealants, textile & carpets, paper & board, and construction additives. Based on region, the polymer binders market has been segmented into North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and the Middle East & Africa. Browse Adjacent Markets @ Chemicals Market Research Reports & Consulting About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". 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Contact: Mr. Shelly Singh MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA : 1-888-600-6441 Email:sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/polymer-binder-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2019 -- the global OTR tire market is anticipated to surpass US$ 29 Bn by 2026, expanding at a CAGR of more than 4% during the forecast period. Growing urbanization and sustained investments in construction are driving the usage of construction vehicles, thus boosting the demand for OTR tires. The Trump government has set plans for an infrastructure investment of US $ 1.7 Trn to develop rural infrastructure, highways and bridges. The EUChina deal, named Belt and Road Initiative, of US$ 9 Bn to construct an intercontinental highway is expected to drive the demand for construction vehicles, thereby boosting the demand for OTR tires. Increased industrial activities in Asia Pacific and Latin America is driving the sales of electric forklifts and warehouse trucks. Demand for lean production is driving the adoption of large number of industrial vehicles within facilities and warehouse, which in turn is boosting the OTR tire market. Request a PDF Sample https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=39716 Based on industry, the agriculture segment is expected to dominate the global OTR tire market both in terms of volume and revenue. Modernization of agricultural activities and rising consumer demand due to rising population are boosting the adoption of tractors and agricultural equipment, which in turn is driving the demand for OTR tires. The construction & mining segment of the market in Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa is expected to expand at a high growth rate during the forecast period. Recovery of the economy of Brazil is expected to witness higher budgeting for infrastructure, thus boosting the sales of construction vehicles. This, in turn, is anticipated to propel the OTR tire market in the country. Giant OTR tires of 51'' to 63'' rim size are expected to witness a significant demand owing to rise of construction projects in developing countries. The stability of commodity prices has boosted the mining sector. Usage of dump trucks, excavators, scrappers, and other mining vehicles to improve the output is expected to boost the demand for OTR tires. Asia Pacific is a key market for OTR tires. Abundance of natural rubber in the region has played an instrumental role in achieving competitive pricing of OTR tires. Rapid economic expansion witnessed by countries in Asia Pacific is expected to boost industrial activity and construction projects, thus driving the OTR tire market in the region. The aftermarket segment is expected to lead the sales channel segment of the global OTR tire market due to the need for replacement of tires. Demand for replacement of OTR tires is considerably high, as these tires are employed in rugged terrain and work under heavy load conditions. Browse Our Press Release @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/otr-tires-market.htm Key players operating in the global OTR tire market for automotive include Continental AG, Bridgestone Corporation, MICHELIN, The Good Year Tire Company, Prometeon Tyre Group S.R.L., Yokohama Tire Corporation, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd., Nokian Tyres, China National Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd., JK Tyre & Industries Ltd., Trelleborg AB, Apollo Tyres Ltd., Quindao Rhino Tyre Co., Ltd., Titan, International Inc., and Balkrishna Industries Limited, Double Coin Tyre Group Ltd., and Triangle Group Co., Ltd. You might also like: Testing Services Market Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2019 -- According to a new market research report published by Transparency Market Research, the night vision device market is expected to reach US$ 14,861.2 Mn by 2026, expanding at a CAGR of 8.9% from 2018 to 2026. According to the report, the global night vision device market is likely to continue to be influenced by a range of macroeconomic and market-specific factors in the next few years. In terms of demand, North America is projected to lead the global market during the forecast period. The market in the region is likely to expand at a CAGR of 9.3% from 2018 to 2026. China, India, Japan, and South Korea are expected to be major contributors to the night vision device market in Asia Pacific during the forecast period. Rising Adoption and Upgrade of Different NVDs for Military and Defense Applications In different countries across the world, government organizations are upgrading their existing weapons and devices in order to enhance navigation and targeting and surveillance capabilities of the military. Increasing terror threats in different countries is expected to be a major factor boosting the global night vision device market during the forecast period. Preview Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/night-vision-device-market.html Increasing demand for automotive night vision devices for use in high-end commercial cars is fueling the market for night vision devices. It is also expected to create better opportunities for manufacturers of night vision devices in the next few years. Moreover, the night vision technology have become an important topic for scientists to conduct research on. Furthermore, rising need of the modern armies to operate at night and during conditions with poor visibility has led to significant advancements in the technology of night vision devices. With the increased spending by governments on NVDs to fulfill the demand for combat operations and night patrolling, the global night vision device market is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period. This is expected to propel the demand for night vision devices in the next few years. Global Night Vision Device Market: Scope of Report The global night vision device market has been broadly segmented in terms of type, technology, application, and geography. Based on type, the market has been segregated into vehicle use and personal use. The personal use segment has been sub-segmented into scopes, googles (bi-ocular & monocular), cameras, and others. Among types, the personal use segment accounted for a major share of more than 80.0%, in terms of revenue and volume, in 2017. Request a Sample - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=57543 In terms of revenue, the personal use segment is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 9.6% during the forecast period. In order to fulfill the global demand, various manufacturers of night vision devices are currently focusing on research and development activities on a regular basis in order to invent advanced applications of night vision devices. Developing infrastructure, economic growth, large population, and increasing urbanization are expected to drive the night vision device market during the forecast period. Military & defense is a leading sector driving advancements in the night vision technology. On the other hand, as applications in commercial markets continue to advance, the demand is estimated to increase further in the near future. Based on technology, the night vision device market has been divided into image intensifiers, thermal imaging, and others. The image intensifiers segment held the maximum market share in 2017, in terms of both revenue and volume. Additionally, it is a highly attractive segment of the global night vision device market. It is expected to register the maximum growth rate of 9.4% during the forecast period. Growing concerns about the national security, lower prices of devices than thermal imaging devices, and rising adoption of night vision devices from the military & defense sector are fueling the night vision device market. Get TOC @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/57543 In terms of application, the night vision device market has been classified into military & defense, law enforcement, hunting, wildlife observation, surveillance & security, navigation, and others. Military & defense is a highly attractive application segment of the global night vision device market. In terms of revenue, the segment is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.4% during the forecast period. The increasing need of the modern armies to operate at night and during conditions with poor visibility has led to significant advancements in the technology of night vision devices. With the increased spending by governments on NVDs to meet the demand for combat operations and night patrolling, the global night vision device market is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period. As per TMR analysis, in 2017, North America accounted for the maximum i.e. more than 35% share of the global market, in terms of both revenue and volume. The Asia Pacific night vision device market is primarily driven by increased investments in modernization of military infrastructure and risen urban population in the region, especially in developing economies such as China and India. The night vision device market is expected to witness further innovations and developments in the near future, as several leading manufacturers are investing in research and development activities. Global Night Vision Device Market: Competition Scenario The research study includes profiles of leading companies operating in the global night vision device market. Market players have been profiled in terms of attributes such as company overview, financial overview, business strategies, and recent developments. Some of the key players operating in the global night vision device market are Armasight, ATN Corporation, BAE Systems, FLIR Systems, Inc., Harris Corporation, L-3 Communications, Meopta, Newcon Optik, Optix, Sofradir EC, and Thales Group. Various business strategies are being adopted by market leaders. Companies are focusing on expanding their business by entering into strategic partnerships and offering innovative solutions. Shenzhen, China -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/03/2019 -- Magoshare, the famous data recovery software developer, releases new version of iPhone Data Recovery Software Magoshare iPhone Data Recovery 2.6. With powerful data recovery technology, Magoshare iPhone Data Recovery can help in recovering deleted or lost data from iPhone, iPad and iPod touch! iPhone users store important data in iPhone. But, when the data in the iPhone gets deleted or lost, there is no recycle bin in iPhone for data recovery. Fortunately, iPhone data recovery program can help the iPhone users to recover deleted or lost iOS data. Magoshare iPhone Data Recovery is one of the most powerful iPhone data recovery programs. Magoshare iPhone Data Recovery supports to recover deleted or lost data from iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and iTunes backup. It is able to restore more than 15 types of iOS data including photos, contacts, notes, WhatsApp messages, WeChat messages, videos, voice memos, Kik messages, etc. When the data in iPhone is deleted by mistake, it can scan the iPhone device and find the deleted data. Compared with other iPhone data recovery programs, Magoshare iPhone Data Recovery is much easier to use. 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Contact: Address: Shenzhen, Guandong, China Contact person: Frank Hu Company: Magoshare Email: support@magoshare.com Number: +8613323823432 Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2019 -- Corporate Wellness Market: Snapshot: The corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific is predominantly driven by the increasing prevalence of obesity, the growing number of smokers, and the rising awareness levels among employers about corporate wellness. The number of key players entering the market is increasing consistently owing to the high demand for corporate wellness services in multinational companies and mid-sized firms. The market in the region was valued at US$3.4 bn in 2015 and is expected to reach US$7.4 bn by the end of 2024. If these values hold true, the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to register a strong CAGR of 9.0% during the forecast period. Immense Scope for Growth offered by Smoking Cessation Programs Various services are available under corporate wellness programs, such as health risk assessment (HRA), fitness, smoking cessation, health screening, weight management, nutrition, and others, including stress management, diabetes management, and vaccination. Request A Sample Copy @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=13988 The fitness segment took the lead in the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific in 2015 owing to the rising incidence of chronic diseases, increasing medical cost related to obesity, and the growing awareness about health and fitness among the population of various countries. On the other hand, the smoking cessation segment is projected to expand at an impressive CAGR during the forecast period. An estimated 5.8 trillion cigarettes were consumed globally in 2014 and the consumption is still on the rise. China ranks first in the top ten countries in terms of cigarette consumption. This list also includes other countries in Asia Pacific such as Indonesia, Japan, India, and South Korea. Strong Government Support Contributing to Japan's Corporate Wellness Market China led the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific in 2015 and the market in the country is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 9.1% from 2016 to 2024 owing to the increased development and high adoption of wellness programs. Changing lifestyles, an increase in the incidence of chronic diseases, rapid economic development, and large-scale urbanization are some of the other factors responsible for the growth of the corporate wellness market in China. A large number of public and private players have been providing corporate wellness services in China. Request Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=13988 Japan is also a prominent market for corporate wellness in Asia Pacific and is likely to remain a key contributor to the APAC market primarily due to the amendments in Japan's Industrial Safety and Health Act in December 2015. According to the law, health checkups are mandatory for workers and employees. This is likely to drive the corporate wellness market in Japan during the forecast period. Moreover, sufficient government support to address the issue of employee health in a clear and effective manner has created a demand for corporate wellness programs in the country. Another lucrative market for corporate wellness in Asia Pacific is India. The rising number of corporate enterprises in the country is significant to the growth of the corporate wellness market. The willingness among corporate organizations to conduct wellness programs, the growing awareness among individuals about health and well-being, and the increasing incidence of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart attacks are expected to accelerate the growth of the corporate wellness market in India. Key players operating in the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific include Central Corporate Wellness, ComPsych Corporation, Optum, Inc., JLT Australia (Recovre Group), Truworth Wellness, SOL Wellness, Sodexo, ConneXions Asia, and Bupa Wellness Pty Ltd. About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge. Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement. Contact 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2019 -- The global commercial refrigeration equipment market has been accumulating lucrative opportunities with the increasing rate of international food trade over the past years. Commercial refrigeration equipment is largely used in the transportation of extremely perishable foods and beverages, promising the market of an improving growth rate. Food as the number one human need in all parts of the world is anticipated to remain as a strong growth factor for the global commercial refrigeration equipment market. For instance, China, Indonesia, and India have been at the forefront of increasing the production rates of seafood, whereas Peru has been a leader in aquaculture activities. There are some interesting figures to take into consideration if you are a player operating in the global commercial refrigeration equipment market. Analysts foresee the market to be valued at a US$66.88 bn by the end of 2022 after progressing from a US$39.44 bn earned in 2016. During the forecast tenure 2015-2022, the market could expand at a 9.1% CAGR. Get PDF Sample of This Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=723 Researchers authoring the report segment the world commercial refrigeration equipment market as per application and product with different segments taken into account. On the basis of application, you could find some or the other prospects in four key segments, viz. food and beverage production, food and beverage distribution, food and beverage retail, and food service. However, analysts foretell the world commercial refrigeration equipment market to be largely benefited with the leading rise of food service anticipated to secure a king's share until the end of the forecast tenure. The food and beverage industry could witness an escalation in the demand for commercial refrigeration equipment due to the improvement of cascade refrigeration systems installed with variable speed compressors. By product, the world commercial refrigeration equipment market has been classified into commercial refrigeration equipment parts, beverage refrigerators, refrigerators and freezers, transportation refrigeration equipment, and other equipment. The last classification in the list could include equipment such as egg refrigerators, dairy coolers, compressor racks, liquid chillers, cryogenic equipment, refrigerated vending machines, ice machines, and display cases. Out of the above segments, transportation refrigeration equipment is predicted to demonstrate a faster growth in the coming years. This segment could be favored for growth on account of the rise in international food trade with trade liberalization and globalization in agriculture. The growth of the international commercial refrigeration equipment market is envisaged to remain dominant in Asia Pacific as the region holds a leading position in the global food industry. The demand for food has been growing at a brisk rate in the region on the back of the speedy progress of emerging economies therein. International horticulture and food trading could see the achievement of a higher rate owing to enhanced consumer trends based on rising disposable income. It is important for players to note that this region is envisioned to attain a valuation of US$29.06 bn by the final forecast year. Browse Our Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/commercial-refrigeration-equipment-market.html Nevertheless, developed regions are also projected to significantly contribute to the international commercial refrigeration equipment market. For instance, North America could make its presence known in the market while riding on a vast consumption of foods that require commercial refrigeration. However, concerned players may look into the latest changes brought about by North American governments, especially the U.S., regarding the deployment of greener, modern refrigeration systems while replacing older units. The report also provides a regional study of other important markets, viz. Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and Europe. Besides this, it analyzes the competitive landscape while profiling key players such as Dover Corporation, United Technologies Corporation Unit (Carrier), and Daikin Industries, Ltd. Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/03/2019 -- MarketResearchNest.com published an Exclusive Research Report on "Global Bone Distractors Market Research Report 2019" that highlights the in-depth market analysis and covers significant data with future prospects of the market. The global Bone Distractors market is valued at million US$ in 2018 is expected to reach million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of during 2019-2025. This report focuses on Bone Distractors volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall Bone Distractors market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect. Regionally, this report focuses on several key regions: North America, Europe, China and Japan. At company level, this report focuses on the production capacity, ex-factory price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer covered in this report. Request for sample copy of Bone Distractors Market Report 2019@ https://www.marketresearchnest.com/report/requestsample/519975 The following manufacturers are covered: - Acumed - Innomed - Stryker - DePuy Synthes (Johnson and Johnson) - Zimmer Biomet - Arthrex - KLS Martin Group - Vilex - Cibei Bone Distractors Segment by Type: - Implantable Bone Distractor - Alveolar Distractor - Jaw Distractor Bone Distractors Segment by Application: - Hospitals - Research Institutes Market Segment by Regions: - North America - Europe - China - Japan Browse full content and In-depth TOC of Bone Distractors Market Report 2019@ https://www.marketresearchnest.com/Global-Bone-Substitutes-Market-Research-Report-2019.html Bone Distractors Consumption Breakdown Data by Region: - North America-United States, Canada, Mexico - Asia-Pacific-China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam. - Europe-Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Rest of Europe. - Central and South America-Brazil, Rest of South America - Middle East and Africa-GCC Countries, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, Rest of Middle East and Africa The study objectives are: - To analyze and research the global Bone Distractors capacity, production, value, consumption, status and forecast; - To focus on the key Bone Distractors manufacturers and study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in next few years. - To focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis. - To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region. - To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks. - To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth. - To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments. - To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the market. - 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. In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Bone Distractors: - History Year: 2014-2018 - Base Year: 2018 - Estimated Year: 2019 - Forecast Year 2019 to 2025 For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2018 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered. Inquiry for buying a sample copy of Bone Distractors Market Report 2019 @ https://www.marketresearchnest.com/report/enquirybuy/519975 About MarketResearchNest.com MarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the Global and Southeast Asia's most complete and recent database of expert insights on industries, organizations, products, and trends. Contact us: - Mr. Jeet Jain, Sales Manager, sales@marketresearchnest.com ; +1-240-284-8070, +44-20-3290-4151; Connect with us: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook Philadelphia, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2019 -- Anu Nair, a partner at Klasko Immigration Law Partners, recently served as a key panelist at a national event hosted by the Indian American Chamber of Commerce. On January 15, 2019, Anu attended the "Business After Hours" event in Orlando, Florida. The topic was U.S. Immigration and IRS Update and Anu provided attendees an overview of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, and spoke on the latest developments affecting the program, most notably the government shutdown. She also included an update on the impending visa backlog for Indian foreign nationals. "It was an honor to participate in this wonderfully informative event and share my experience in EB-5, as well as the most recent news and developments in the program. The event was well-attended, and the organizers and sponsors were excellent to work with," Anu says about her experience with this event. Anu is an emerging leader in the EB-5 industry and was honored to participate in this informative event. As an experienced EB-5 immigration lawyer, she has filed over 2,000 EB-5 petitions for immigrant investors. EB-5 is a complicated program with strict standards for compliance, and Anu is a trusted source of information and counsel for aspiring investors and current clients. In her role as managing partner of the EB-5 Investor Team, and leading EB-5 visa lawyers, at Klasko Immigration Law Partners, Anu helps her clients secure EB-5 visas, and a permanent future in the U.S., while their investments contribute to the U.S. economy Anu is available to share her about the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program or address any questions or concerns about immigration law. Contact the firm today at 215-825-8695 to schedule a consultation. About Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP has offices in Philadelphia and New York, and provides top-tier legal services to EB-5 investors, regional centers, and developers. Its EB-5 team is one of the largest and most respected in the country, and its Compliance team is the first of its kind. The firm has been selected as one of the top 5 business immigration law firms in the United States by the prestigious Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business (Chambers and Partners) for the past ten years. The firm serves as the North American Regional Representative of the Investment Migration Council, the worldwide association Investor Immigration and Citizenship-by-Investment. For more information, please see www.klaskolaw.com. Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2019 -- 2018 Global Factory Automation & Industrial Controls Market Report 2018 provides information about market segmentation, leading manufacturers, types, applications, and regions. Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market report shares market capacity, production, consumption, sales, and revenue. The Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market report also provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market. Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market covers the insight of competitive analysis, geographical regions, and suppliers of Factory Automation & Industrial Controls. The Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market is expected to register a CAGR of approximately 9.81% during the forecast period of 2018 - 2023. Competitor Analysis: Global Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market covers the vision of competitor analysis by product types, market share, applications, sales, and revenue. Factory Automation & Industrial Controls Market Report covers the top key players like: Rockwell Automation Inc., Honeywell International Inc., General Electric Company, ABB Ltd., Emerson Electric Company, Dassault Systems SE, Autodesk Inc., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Siemens AG, Aspen Technology Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, Texas Instruments Inc., Johnson Controls International PLC Access Full Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.360marketupdates.com/enquiry/request-sample/12886003 Key Developments in the Keyword Market: - February 2018 - Honeywell collaborated with Equate Petrochemical Company, a global producer of petrochemicals. The companies signed MOU for development of technologies to support operations at EQUATE - February 2018 - ABB Ltd was set to develop smart city solutions for Vasteras, Sweden's fifth largest city. The company's Ability digital technologies and expertise will allow in increasing sustainability, resiliency, and efficiency Regional Analysis: Global Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market focuses on the growth rate, price, sales and revenue by each region. The regions include: - North America - Europe - Asia-Pacific - South America - Middle East & Africa Highlighted points of Factory Automation & Industrial Controls Market Report: - Varying dynamics of the Factory Automation & Industrial Controls industry. - Prospective changes in sales volumes and worldwide share growth in upcoming years (2018-2023). - Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market report recognizes the key drivers of growth and challenges of the key industry players. - Competitors profiles along with product description, overview, and business data. - A complete analysis of market risks, opportunities, limitations, and growth of the market. - Market driving and restraining factors. - Delivers information on the historical and current market size and the future potential of the market. - Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market report provides a comprehensive analysis of the market with respect to market dynamics, competitive analysis, and upcoming trends of the market. Key Questions Answered in the Factory Automation & Industrial Controls Market Report: - What will the market growth rate of Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market in 2023? - What are the key features driving the global Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market? - Who are the key vendors in Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market space? - What are the opportunities, threats and overview of the Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market? - What are sales, revenue, and price analysis by types and applications of Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market? - What are sales, revenue, and price analysis by regions of Factory Automation & Industrial Controls industry? - What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the Factory Automation & Industrial Controls market? Price of Report: $4250 (Single User Licence) Purchase Full Report @ https://www.360marketupdates.com/purchase/12886003 Finally, the report Global Factory Automation & Industrial Controls Market 2018 describes Factory Automation & Industrial Controls industry expansion game plan, the Factory Automation & Industrial Controls industry knowledge supply, appendix, analysis findings, and the conclusion. "We are also able to fulfill your additional customized requirements which will surely enlighten the study more effectively." About 360 Market Updates: 360 Market Updates is the credible source for gaining the market reports that will provide you with the lead your business needs. At 360 Market Updates, our objective is providing a platform for many top-notch market research firms worldwide to publish their research reports, as well as helping the decision makers in finding most suitable market research solutions under one roof. Our aim is to provide the best solution that matches the exact customer requirements. This drives us to provide you with custom or syndicated research reports. Contact Us: Name: Mr. Ajay More Email: sales@360marketupdates.com Organization: 360 Market Updates Phone: +1 408 520 9750/+44 203 239 8187 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. Albertville Chamber of Commerce President Stan Witherow has been on the job a little more than two weeks. Witherow is a former retail sales district and regional manager. He said he believes his experience in the retail industry will help him connect with local businesses. Remember this Trump campaign promise? Donald Trump still will not release his taxes even though they are no longer under audit. One wonders why his ardent supporters dont scream out to keep that campaign promise. With the recent revelation of the Woodbridge Group and its founder, Robert Shapiro, being fined for running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scam, and Bernie Madoff and his Ponzi scam, we just might find out that Trump has been using this same kind of business model for years and when it catches up to him, his business files for bankruptcy and starts all over again. Remember how the Mafia dons are adored in their neighborhoods by appearing to benefit people all while they are destroying those same neighborhoods. Advertisement Robert Stewart Oceanside Wall must not be much of a national emergency Donald Trump says if he doesnt get his wall he will either shutdown the government again, even though he has seen how it damages the lives of millions of middle class workers, or he will declare a national emergency. An emergency that can wait until Feb 15?. How can it be an emergency if he has already waited 35 days & now he wants to wait another 3 weeks to declare this emergency. If he really wants to keep his campaign promises why doesnt he release his taxes? The people he really represents, the 1 percent, dont have any idea of what normal people have to go through in their day to day lives. His cabinet, the wealthiest in history, dont have a clue what working Americans have to endure. Michele Rose Advertisement Oceanside 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. Imagine for a moment that a presidential candidate made this speech: My fellow Americans, Im here today to tell you about my economic plan. Each year, I will require every middle-class family across this great country to write a check. We will then pool the money and distribute it to the richest Americans among us the top 1 percent of earners, who, because of their talent, virtue and success, deserve even more money. The exact size of the checks will depend on a familys income, but a typical middle-class household will hand over $15,000 each year. This plan, I promise all of you, will create the greatest version of America that has ever existed. You would consider that proposal pretty radical, wouldnt you? Politically crazy. Destructive, even. Well, Ive just described the actual changes in the American economy since the 1970s. Advertisement Economic output known as GDP per person has almost doubled over this period. But the bulk of the bounty has flowed to the very rich. The middle class has received relative crumbs. If middle-class pay had increased as fast as the economic growth, the average middle-class family would today earn about $15,000 a year more than it does, after taxes and benefits. Instead, that middle-class family effectively forfeits the money to the rich, year after year after year. (Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary, first got me thinking about calculations like these.) The extreme redistribution of income upward has multiple causes. Some of them, like technological change, stem mostly from private-sector forces. But government policy plays a crucial role. Tax rates on the wealthy have fallen sharply. Labor unions have been undermined. Big companies have been allowed to grow even bigger and more powerful. The United States has lost its lead as the most educated country in the world. More often than not over the past 40 years, our government has helped the rich at the expense of everyone else. As a result, economic inequality has reached Gilded Age levels. In the face of these trends, the radical response is to do nothing or to make inequality even worse, as President Donald Trumps policies have. Its radical because soaring inequality is starting to threaten the basic fabric of American life. Many people have grown frustrated and cynical. Average life expectancy, amazingly, has fallen over the past few years. Over the sweep of history, the main reason that societies have declined, as scholars Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson have written, is domination by a narrow elite that have organized society for their own benefit at the expense of the vast mass of people. The name of Acemoglus and Robinsons book on this phenomenon is, Why Nations Fail. Its worth keeping all of this in mind when you hear critics (or journalists) describe the economic proposals of the Democratic presidential candidates as radical. Theyre not radical, for the most part. The proposals are instead efforts to undo some of the extreme economic changes of recent decades and to ensure that most Americans workers not just a narrow elite fully benefit from economic growth. Advertisement The proposals also happen to be popular, broadly speaking. On social issues, like abortion and immigration, the country is deeply divided. But clear majorities support higher taxes on the wealthy, higher taxes on corporations, more education funding and expanded government health insurance. No wonder: Americans dont resent success, but they do resent not receiving their fair share of economic growth. The coming primary campaign will be a good time for the candidates to hash out which specific ideas make sense and which dont. So far, the agenda looks pretty good. Elizabeth Warren has a plan to increase workers power within companies and help them get larger pretax raises. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris want to lift the after-tax pay of the middle class and poor. Kirsten Gillibrand and others support reducing major living costs, like child care and education. Perhaps most important, some Democrats have begun pushing for a wealth tax to reverse the upward redistribution of the past 40 years. Warren has proposed an annual 2 or 3 percent tax on large fortunes. Bernie Sanders has proposed a big increase in the inheritance tax. These wealth taxes are a classic example of policies that are less radical than their opponents claim. Advertisement Do you know who already pays a wealth tax? Middle-class Americans. Its called the property tax, as Noah Smith of Bloomberg Opinion has noted. Every year, homeowners pay a percentage of their house value in tax. A house, of course, is the biggest asset that most families own. If middle-class families can pay an annual tax on their main source of wealth, wealthy families can, too. The United States as we have known it optimistic, future-oriented and more powerful than any other nation cannot survive the stagnation of mass living standards over many decades. Im glad to see that some political leaders understand this and are trying to recapture a core feature of American life. Maybe we should start describing those leaders as conservatives. Cynics often dismiss the annual State of the Union speech as a useless ritual. Theyre wrong. The words, to be sure, are usually forgettable. But the event itself the pomp-filled spectacle, the partisan applause and the equally partisan silences, unscripted reactions by Supreme Court justices and members of Congress is always worth seeing. And on Tuesday, when President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress and the nation from the well of the House, his tone will be especially important because he is undergoing a new experience: a divided government, with the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi will stand behind the president wielding a gavel and the satisfaction of having bested him in a brutal 35-day standoff over a government shutdown. That alone will be worth a look. Advertisement Will he even acknowledge his partys loss of 40 House seats in November, the worst defeat since Watergate? After that kind of defeat, most presidents offer at least a show of humility. George W. Bush did in 2007 when he saluted Pelosis election as the first female speaker. Barack Obama did in 2011 when he ruefully acknowledged the electorates rebuke. Trump never admits defeat. He still insists the GOP won last years campaign, just as he claims he didnt surrender in the shutdown fight. Aides say he might say something nice about Pelosi, though. So will Trump be gracious or angry? Inspiring or petty? Conciliatory or confrontational? Spoiler alert: Hell probably sound surprisingly little like the irascible, self-absorbed president who fires off insults and tirades in serial tweets. Hell be teleprompter Trump, not Twitter Trump. A strange thing happens to Trump at State of the Union time: for one night, one big speech, he abandons his usual bare-knuckled style and summons the better angels of his speechwriters nature. Last year, Trump assured Congress that nothing but blue skies lay ahead a New American Moment, in his unmemorable catchphrase. It was also true in his 2017 congressional address, when his appeal to patriotism prompted a CNN pundit to declare that he became president of the United States in that moment. Advertisement And it will be true this time too, if you believe the president and his aides. The theme, Trump told reporters, will be unity. A White House aide read a bit of an early draft: Together we can break decades of political stalemate bridge old divisions [and] heal old wounds. Given the raw edges of American politics since roughly 1968, that would be something to see. Somehow Trump seems a uniquely unlikely vessel for bridging divides and national reconciliation. But heres an unsentimental explanation for the presidents once-a-year excursions into rhetorical conciliation and bipartisanship. Its not the majesty of the moment. Its smart political strategy. Theres broad concern among voters about the level of divisiveness in the country, Republican pollster David Winston told me. Advertisement If you listen to voters in the middle, both sides came out of the shutdown badly, he added. The State of the Union is an opportunity for the president to address that concern and define what matters. In that sense, the speech will help Trump kick off his 2020 reelection campaign. In addition to the feel-good stuff about unicorns and unity, he will crow about strong job numbers and other upbeat economic statistics. He will claim he revived manufacturing jobs in the Rust Belt states that sealed his election in 2016 and could determine the next race. Any president would do the same. He will also follow tradition and tick off a laundry list of proposals he wants Congress to pass. Advertisement They will include money for a southern border wall, tougher immigration laws, money to rebuild crumbling bridges and other critical infrastructure, a law to reform drug pricing, and more. But those priorities were all on Trumps list last year when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and none of them passed. With the race to replace Trump already heating up, Democrats and the president too, for that matter have little incentive to make big compromises. Thus his bows toward bipartisanship will be even more symbolic than usual. So when Trump speaks, the television networks might consider running a message on the screen: Do not adjust your set. The president will return to regular programming soon. Howard Schultz, who turned Starbucks into an international hot-beverage behemoth, is brewing up a possible run for president, and, no, thats not the last bad coffee pun you will hear between now and when he decides. The Seattle billionaire announced he was exploring a possible 2020 run as an independent, casting himself as an alternative to the two major political parties, which he depicts as cause and beneficiaries of a failed system of infighting and self-interest that has starved the country of leadership. President Trump responded with a tweet egging Schultz into the race by claiming he doesnt have the guts to seek the White House. Democrats and their allies were apoplectic. Dont help elect Trump, you egotistical billionaire ... a heckler shouted at a New York City book signing, articulating a concern others share and doing so with particular vehemence and profane vernacular. Combined, the reaction underscored the conventional wisdom for what thats worth that Schultzs candidacy would most likely siphon votes from Democrats eventual nominee, ensuring Trump a second term. Advertisement Is that why Schultz is thinking of running? He insists not. A professed Democrat his whole life, Schultz, 65, has harshly criticized Trump, calling him unfit for office and stating he would not do anything to put Donald Trump back in the Oval Office. One has to presume if the former Starbucks chairman and chief executive runs, he hopes to win the White House. So what are the chances? Negligible. No third-party or independent candidate has ever been elected president. The most successful was Theodore Roosevelt, in his 1912 political comeback bid. The former two-term president, running as the candidate of the splendidly named Bull Moose Party, received 27% of the vote and 88 electoral votes, good enough to finish second ahead of Republican President William Howard Taft and tip the race to Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Will Howard Schultz run under the banner of some shaggy mammal? Alas, probably not. Advertisement Why do third-party candidates face such steep odds? There are structural reasons. Laws restricting ballot access and helping perpetuate the two-party system can pose a formidable challenge, albeit one that Schultz, who is worth an estimated $3.4 billion, could presumably overcome with enough legal firepower and on-the-ground organization. Another reason perhaps more formidable is partisan loyalty. Although its fashionable to assert ones political independence, the truth is most voters are faithful to one or the other major political party, even if they choose not to identify themselves as Democrat or Republican. True independents who vote Democratic, Republican or third-party depending on the election may constitute as little as 5% of the electorate. Among partisans, which is to say most voters, the overwhelming majority end up supporting their partys presidential nominee, notwithstanding all that grumbling about lesser of evils. In fact, party labels are the single best predictor of voting behavior, a better forecaster than age, income, gender, education, sexual orientation or whether someone lives in a city, the suburbs or rural America. Advertisement What about the prospects of tipping the election? Thats always a possibility, though it may be somewhat exaggerated. Some Republicans assert that Ross Perot, who won 19% of the vote in 1992, put Democrat Bill Clinton in the White House by taking votes away from President George H.W. Bush. But that fails to bear up under careful study. A case could be made that Ralph Nader cost Al Gore the presidency by peeling off votes in Florida, which Republican George W. Bush carried by 537 votes to win the White House (thanks to an assist from the U.S. Supreme Court). Nader, running to Gores left, won more than 97,000 votes in the state. Advertisement Some Democrats also point to Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which elected Trump president, and note his margin against Hillary Clinton in 2016 was less than the vote received by third-party candidates. That, however, assumes the bulk of those votes would have gone to Clinton, which is more clairvoyance than political science. So when will Schultz decide? Bill Burton, a former White House spokesman for President Obama who has signed on as a strategist for the maybe-campaign, said the coffee mogul would make up his mind sometime in the summer or fall. Burton suggested nothing was certain. Hes just asking the question of whether or not theres an appetite out for there for another choice that is not the nominee of either party, Burton said. Well find out the answer to that question over the course of the next several months. Advertisement Theres a latte to consider! Please. Given history, Schultzs candidacy seems like a waste of time and effort. Not necessarily. Even if he fails to win the White House and who the heck knows he could help shape the debate and maybe influence the policies pursued by whoever gets elected in 2020. Advertisement Perot, for instance, took deficit reduction, a pet obsession, and helped make it a driver of policy in the Clinton administration, which produced, in tandem with a GOP-run Congress, the first balanced budget in generations. If Schultz has a particular policy he wants to pursue, it might be worth the effort, said Daniel Franklin, a professor of political science at Georgia State University. An expert on third parties, Franklin noted Perot spent tens of millions in pursuing the White House and, in the process, made the national debt a part of the political conversation. On the other hand, Perots vivid description of a giant sucking sound of American jobs heading south of the border failed to derail the NAFTA trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. What issues would Schultz run on? Advertisement That remains to be seen. Given how hes assailed Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California over raising taxes on the rich and vastly expanding Medicare, respectively, it seems likely he would marry fiscal conservatism with a more centrist stance on social issues and the environment. That could be grounds for a campaign. Stop. Just stop. mark.barabak@latimes.com Advertisement @markzbarabak A company that marketed Proactiv acne treatments and Wen hair care products has agreed to pay up to $8.5 million to settle a consumer protection lawsuit that claimed it did not properly disclose charging customer credit cards through automatic renewals. The San Diego County District Attorneys Office, along with other members of the states Automatic Renewal Task Force, had filed a lawsuit against Guthy-Renker L.L.C. claiming it had misled customers about its auto-renew practices. As part of the settlement, which was announced Monday, the company will pay up to $7.3 million in restitution to customers whose payments were automatically renewed without their consent. It also will pay $1.2 million in penalties. Companies should know that automatically renewing customer payments, without the consumers express prior consent, violates the law, District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement. These laws are in place so consumers know what theyre getting when they make purchases. Advertisement Companies must adequately disclose when a transaction will renew automatically and they should not hide that information where a consumer is not likely to notice it. Joining San Diego County in the suit were other members of the task force, including district attorneys from Santa Clara, Los Angeles and Santa Cruz counties, and the Santa Monica City Attorneys Office. Stephans office said the company promised to more clearly display its automatic payment renewal policy on its website. It also said it would send restitution notices to affected customers including Wen customers charged after May 2012 and Proactiv customers charged between July 2014 and August 2016. Under state and federal law, online businesses must clearly and conspicuously disclose all automatic renewal charges and terms and get the affirmative consent of consumers for those charges. Stephans office said the settlement applied only to Guthy-Renker and not to other businesses that sold Wen or Proactiv products. Guthy-Renker no longer markets Proactiv although it still sells Wen products, a spokeswoman for the District Attorneys Office said. Advertisement Twitter: @karenkucher (619) 293-1350 Advertisement karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com UPDATES: 2:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details. This article was originally published at 12:55 p.m. Police arrested a 48-year-old woman driving a stolen pickup early Monday after she led officers on a 30-minute chase from Mission Valley to Mira Mesa, a police spokesman said. A motorist left his Dodge Ram running at the 7-Eleven on Linda Vista Road near Napa Street, and a woman jumped into the pickup and took off, San Diego police Officer Dino Delimitros said. Officers spotted the truck around 3:30 a.m. near Napa Street and Riley Street and tried to pull it over but the driver refused to stop, said police Officer Billy Hernandez. A pursuit ensued over several freeways before the truck exited northbound Interstate 805 at Mira Mesa Boulevard. The chase ended on eastbound Mira Mesa Boulevard near Westonhill Drive after the truck drove over spike strips set up by officers. Advertisement One of the patrol cars also ran over the spike strips, Hernandez said. The woman was taken into custody without incident around 3:30 a.m. City News Service contributed to this report Twitter: @karenkucher (619) 293-1350 Advertisement karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com A woman took a bullet to the leg in an apartment complex in the community of Linda Vista, and police are still trying to sort out who shot her, a San Diego police said. The shooting was reported about 11:30 a.m. in a complex on Linda Vista Road near Mesa College Drive. The woman and a man she was with said an unknown suspect shot her, but police said the pair provided conflicting statements that will require more investigation, San Diego police Lt. Christian Sharp told OnScene TV. Officers found a gun in a nearby dumpster, but its unclear if it was the weapon used in the shooting, Sharp said. Advertisement The woman was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening. She nor her companion could provide a description of the suspect, according to the lieutenant. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com A fire that started in a large trash bin in a Chula Vista apartment complex spread to a neighboring carport and damaged four storage units before it was put out, a fire official said. The fire was reported shortly before 11 a.m. at a complex on Woodlawn Avenue near G Street. When firefighters arrived the found a trash fire that had spread to a carport in an adjacent apartment complex, Battalion Chief Brendan Barahura said. It was a different apartment complex, on the property line between the two, Barahura said. Four storage units inside the carport were damaged by the fire. No damage estimate was immediately available. Fire investigators were working to determine what caused the fire, he said. Advertisement Twitter: @karenkucher (619) 293-1350 karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com Since 1790, when George Washington gave a brief speech to Congress on the condition of the country, presidents have issued an annual State of the Union message. But for more than 100 years, the type of flap that occurred between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Trump over the use of the House chambers could not have happened. Thats because presidents from Thomas Jefferson to William Howard Taft sent written State of the Union messages to Congress, Jefferson beginning the practice because of his concern that appearing before the legislative bodies resembled the practice of British monarchs addressing the Parliament. With small exceptions, the modern practice of delivering an annual oral message to a joint session of the House and Senate did not begin until 1934, when Franklin D. Roosevelt made his first of 11 annual appearances before Congress. As technology has evolved, the speech, given early in the year, has been delivered simultaneously to the American public via radio, television and webcasts. The Constitution mandates that the president shall from time to time report to Congress on the state of the country and recommend measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. But the parameters of the address remain open. Advertisement As Trump prepares to deliver this years address on Tuesday, here are some facts and background about the State of the Union: How are the speeches delivered? Washington and John Adams delivered speeches, but Jefferson opted to submit a written message to Congress, a practice that continued until 1913 when Woodrow Wilson spoke before Congress, and continued to do so annually for the next five years. In 1919 and 1920, Wilson, for health reasons, did not address Congress. His successors, Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, spoke to Congress for the next three years, but Coolidge and Herbert Hoover went back to written messages for the next nine years, setting the stage for FDR. State of the Union: 15 historic moments Over time, technology lent the address a new edge. Coolidges speech in 1923 was a radio broadcast. Harry S. Trumans 1947 address was the first broadcast on television, and Lyndon B. Johnson delivered his 1965 speech in prime time to catch the most viewers. George W. Bush gave the first live webcast in 2002, and Barack Obamas enhanced broadcast in 2013 included infographics, charts and statistics. Social media have given the speech even more visibility. Trumps address in 2018 sparked 4.5 million tweets, more than any other State of the Union address since Twitter began over a decade ago. How long are the speeches? Speeches averaged about 10,000 words during the 19th century and about half that in the late 20th century. At 1,089 words, Washingtons 1790 speech was the shortest. His speech was delivered in New York, and at the time was called an Annual Message. Jimmy Carter delivered the longest written address (accompanying his speech) 33,667 words in 1981 followed by Taft 27,651 words in 1910. From 1966 to the present, Bill Clintons 2000 oral address took the longest to deliver, at nearly one hour and 29 minutes. Advertisement How do opposition leaders respond? It has become customary for one or more opposition party leaders to issue a response to the address on major television networks. Republican Congressmen Everett Dirksen and Gerald Ford gave the first opposition rebuttal in a program that aired five days after Johnsons 1966 address. Responses in English and Spanish to the same address have delivered different messages. In 2015, Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelos Spanish-language response to Obamas address encouraged immigration reform, while Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) did not touch on immigration in her English version. Pushing back against the president can be nerve-racking. Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman felt anxious before delivering the response to Clintons speech in 1995. As he gave his address, she recalled, I was standing there listening to it thinking, Hes saying everything Im going to say. He was being a moderate Republican to the extreme. Have any presidents not delivered a State of the Union? Advertisement Only two have not William Henry Harrison and James Garfield because they died first. Who are the presidents special guests? Ronald Reagan began the practice of inviting individuals in order to honor them for singular achievements or to personify messages in the speech. In 1982, Reagan acknowledged Lenny Skutnik, a federal employee who jumped into the Potomac River to help rescue survivors of an Air Florida plane crash. In 2003, George W. Bush kept one of his guest seats vacant to symbolize the empty place many Americans will always have at their tables and in their lives because of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the White House said. Obama in 2013 invited more than two dozen Americans whose lives had been affected by gun violence. In 2018, Trump invited parents who had lost children in the United States to the Central American MS-13 gang, addressing in his speech how open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities. Have there been any historical declarations? Advertisement In 1823, President Monroe introduced the Monroe Doctrine in his State of the Union, asserting American intolerance of further European interference in the Western Hemisphere. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense, he said in his speech. James K. Polks 1848 address confirmed news of the abundance of gold in California. And Johnson introduced the War on Poverty in 1964, stating that the then-current Congress should become known as the one which declared all-out war on human poverty and unemployment in these United States. Sources: The American Presidency Project, UC Santa Barbara; Congressional Research Service; House of Representatives: History, Art and Archives A U.S. decision to send humanitarian aid to Venezuela in coordination with the countrys opposition could test the loyalty of the Latin nations armed forces. The militarys top brass has pledged allegiance to the government of President Nicolas Maduro, who has rejected receiving aid from a country that he accuses of mounting a coup against him. But opposition leader Juan Guaido, who requested the assistance, has urged the military to allow the aid in, a sentiment backed by U.S. policymakers. Military & police leaders in #Venezuela must now decide to either help food & medicine reach people, or help #Maduro instead, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) wrote Sunday on Twitter. Rubio has been deeply involved in the Trump administrations Venezuela policy. Advertisement Despite its vast oil wealth, Venezuela has long suffered from food and medicine shortages a problem that the opposition attributes to what it calls the incompetence and corruption of Maduros government, while Maduro blames a U.S.-led economic war and blockade. Guaido, the opposition lawmaker whom the Trump administration last month recognized as the countrys interim president, told a rally Saturday that U.S. aid would be arriving in the coming days via three nations, neighboring Colombia and Brazil and an unspecified Caribbean country. But Guaidos self-proclaimed acting government controls no territory or government institutions. You soldier[s] will have in your hands the possibility that this humanitarian aid enter into the country, Guaido said Saturday at a mass opposition demonstration, during which he also called on the armed forces to switch loyalties to his acting government. Madurowhose authority Washington says it no longer recognizes-- has denounced the idea of U.S. aid as hypocritical. Venezuela is not a country of beggars, Maduro told supporters at a pro-government rally here Saturday, calling Venezuela a country of dignity and honor. The opposition has sought humanitarian aid when the United States blockade is the reason that [Venezuela] cannot acquire medicines and food, Maduro said. In a Twitter message on Friday, John Bolton, the U.S. national security advisor, said that Washington would be sending medicine, surgical supplies and nutritional supplements for the people of Venezuela. Pursuant to the request of Interim President Juan Guaido, and in consultation with his officials the US will mobilize and transport humanitarian aidmedicine, surgical supplies, and nutritional supplements for the people of Venezuela. Its time for Maduro to get out of the way. https://t.co/LXZsBf8vq6 John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) February 2, 2019 On Saturday, Mark Green, who heads the U.S. Agency for International Development, posted on Twitter photos of stacked boxes of aid, including tons of Ready-to-Use Supplementary Foods (RUSF) for malnourished children. Advertisement @USAID is working hard to help the people of #Venezuela with humanitarian assistance such as these tons of Ready-to-Use Supplementary Foods (RUSF) for malnourished children. #EstamosUnidosVE pic.twitter.com/42cTd6OKfY Mark Green (@USAIDMarkGreen) February 3, 2019 Jorge Arreaza, the Venezuelan foreign minister, dismissed the U.S. aid plan as inhuman and cynical in a Twitter response [link in Spanish]. Mogollon is a special correspondent. Times staff writer Patrick J. McDonnell contributed to this report. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax issued a statement early Monday denying a sexual assault allegation that appeared on the same conservative website that posted a racist photograph from Gov. Ralph Northams medical school yearbook page. Lt. Governor Fairfax has an outstanding and well-earned reputation for treating people with dignity and respect, read the statement from his chief of staff and communications director. He has never assaulted anyone - ever - in any way, shape or form. The statement came after the online publication, Big League Politics, ran a story under the headline: UPDATE: Stanford Fellow Hints At Possible Justin Fairfax Sex Assault. The story was based on a private Facebook post from the woman, which the publication said it had obtained from a friend of hers who had permission to share it. Advertisement In their response, Fairfaxs staff members, pointed out that the woman first approached The Washington Post with the allegation shortly before he was inaugurated and The Post carefully investigated the claim for several months. The woman approached The Post after Fairfax won election in November 2017 and before he was inaugurated in January 2018 inauguration, saying she felt like she had an obligation to speak out. The woman and Fairfax first met in Boston at the 2004 Democratic national convention. During a conversation, the two realized they had a mutual friend. It was that commonality, she recalled, that put her at ease enough that on the afternoon Fairfax asked her to walk with him to his hotel room to pick up some papers, she thought nothing of joining him. Fairfax and the woman told different versions of what happened in the hotel room with no one else present. The Washington Post could not find anyone who could corroborate either version. The Post did not find significant red flags and inconsistencies within the allegations, as the Fairfax statement incorrectly said. Fairfax (D), who was not married at the time, has denied her account through his attorneys and described the encounter as consensual. The woman described a sexual encounter that began with consensual kissing and ended with a forced act that left her crying and shaken. She said Fairfax guided her to the bed, where they continued kissing, and then at one point she realized she could not move her neck. She said Fairfax used his strength to force her to perform oral sex. The Washington Post, in phone calls to people who knew Fairfax from college, law school and through political circles, found no similar complaints of sexual misconduct against him. Without that, or the ability to corroborate the womans account - in part because she had not told anyone what happened - The Washington Post did not run a story. Advertisement She said she never told anyone about what happened at the time or in the years that followed until shortly before she approached The Post. The Post reached out to the woman again Monday and she has not returned messages. The Post generally does not name alleged victims of sexual assault without their explicit permission. One person who knew both the woman and Fairfax and spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the nature of the allegations, said he felt torn when he first heard the accusations. He spoke highly of both. It doesnt sound like anything he would do, he said. It doesnt sound like anything she would lie about. An MMA fighter suspected of killing two people, including an ex-girlfriend, was captured Sunday after escaping from a prisoner transport van in Texas, authorities said. Cedric Marks was taken into custody after a nine-hour manhunt involving multiple law enforcement agencies, Conroe police Lt. Scott Spencer said in a tweet Sunday evening. Marks escaped from the private prison transport van during a stop at a McDonalds in Conroe about 40 miles north of Houston, police Lt. Dorcy McGinnis said. McGinnis said murder warrants were issued Sunday for Marks in last months killings of an ex-girlfriend, Jenna Scott, and a friend of hers, Michael Swearingin, who disappeared Jan. 4 and were found buried in a shallow grave in Clearview, Oklahoma, on Jan. 15. Marks was arrested in Michigan last month on a Bell County, Texas, charge alleging that on Aug. 21, he broke into Scotts home in Temple, which is about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of Austin. Authorities say he escaped while being transferred to Bell County to face that charge. Scott requested a protective order against Marks last July, accusing him of choking her unconscious twice, Temple television station KCEN reported. Each time he allowed me to regain consciousness and then he choked me out again, Scott said in an affidavit. The protective order request was denied. She also reported to police that Marks had broken into her home in August while her daughter, who was 9, was there. She said he took her cellphone to prevent her from calling 911. The Montgomery County Sheriffs Offices initial tweet about Sundays escape said Marks was facing three pending murder charges, but it didnt immediately respond to requests for further information about those charges. Police in Bloomington, Minnesota, say Marks remains a person of interest in the 2009 disappearance of April Pease, who was the mother of one of his children. The two were involved in a fierce custody dispute in Washington state and Pease, who had a drug problem, went to live in a Bloomington womens shelter because she said she was afraid of Marks. Like Scott, Pease alleged that Marks had choked her unconscious on more than one occasion, according to a court custody investigator. Pease went missing in March 2009 and Marks got custody of their son. Peases mother, Dottie Pease, told KCEN last month that she had believed her daughter might have had a drug relapse, but that given the developments in Texas, she thought it was possible that Marks might have had something to do with her daughters disappearance. Two women were arrested in Michigan on charges related to Marks. Maya Maxwell is charged with evidence tampering and is jailed in Bell County, Texas, on $150,000 bond. According to an arrest affidavit, she told detectives that she drove Swearingins vehicle to Austin in an attempt to hide it from investigators. It was found abandoned in the city Jan. 6. Ginell McDonough, who is Marks wife and the mother of two of his two children, is jailed in Muskegon County, Michigan, on an obstruction of justice charge. She is accused of allowing Marks and Maxwell to stay in her home between Jan. 5 and Jan. 9. Jail records do not list an attorney for either woman. Marks compiled a record of 31-28-0 during his professional MMA career, which began in 1999, according to mixedmartialarts.com. His last fight was in September. The U.S. Department of Justice said Sunday it will work with the Bureau of Prisons to examine what happened at a federal detention center in Brooklyn that had lost heat and electricity last week and to ensure that it has a backup system in place. In the coming days, the Department will work with the Bureau of Prisons to examine what happened and ensure the facility has the power, heat and backup systems in place to prevent the problem from re-occurring, said Wyn Hornbuckle, deputy director of public affairs for the Justice Department. Electrical power was finally restored at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Hornbuckle said. Protesters have gathered outside the facility in recent days following news reports that those housed there have largely been without heat or power for the past week and also havent been able to communicate with lawyers or loved ones. Outdoor temperatures have been well below freezing on some recent days, though Sunday was warmer. Advertisement With the heat and hot water operational, and the restoration of electrical power, the facility can now begin to return to regular operations, Hornbuckle said. Earlier Sunday, some demonstrators attempted to enter the facility, and guards drove them back with pushes and shoves. Witnesses said they also used pepper spray. A reporter and photographer for The Associated Press were at the facility when a woman, whose son is being detained, tried to get into the jail. On Sunday, an inmate was able to call through the window of his cell, which faces out to the street, to his mother below. The woman, Yvonne Murchison, was crying and upset and tried to get into the facility, where visits have been stopped. Id trade places with him any day, thats my child, she said. She was followed by activists and media into the lobby, where visitors have to pass through metal detectors. Witnesses said officers used significant force to push the people out, with some of those attempting to come in being pushed to the ground. The AP photographer felt some type of spray, and began to have trouble breathing. Those affected were seen washing out their eyes with water or milk. The Bureau of Prisons has acknowledged that the jail experienced a partial power outage due to a fire in the switch gear room. The bureau had said a new electrical panel was being installed by an outside contractor. The agency insisted that inmates had hot water for showers and sinks, and were getting medications as needed. The jail administration did not return an email seeking comment on the clash Sunday. Advertisement New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for an investigation of the circumstances of the loss of heat and electricity by the federal Department of Justice, saying the situation was a violation of human decency and dignity and also raises questions of potential violations of law. The Democrat said he wanted answers, and those responsible held accountable. Prisoners in New York are human beings, Cuomo said. Lets treat them that way. The New York Civil Liberties Union released a statement Sunday calling on the Bureau of Prisons to ensure that no detainee be subjected to retaliation for peacefully protesting. Advertisement Todays confrontation between the Bureau of Prisons and family members of people jailed at MDC highlights the desperate need to address the dangerous, inhumane and unlawful conditions inside the facility, NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman said. Associated Press Writer Michael Balsamo contributed to this report. A knife-wielding man made his way into a pregnant woman's Queens apartment building early Sunday morning, dragging her down three flights of stairs before stabbing her to death in the lobby. The attacker quickly ran, leaving dying woman lying in a pool of blood. Police have identified the victim as Jennifer Irigoyen, a 35-year-old real estate agent and fitness instructor who was reportedly five months pregnant at the time of her death. Around 1 a.m., officers responded to a 911 call from one of Irigoyen's neighbors at 60-80 Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood. Maurice Roman Zereoue told the NY Post he heard her scream during the attack"He's got a knife! He's going to kill the baby!" Zereoue reportedly looked out into the hallway and saw Irigoyen's "hands hanging on" to a wall as she tried to keep a man in a hoodie from pulling her down the stairs. Another neighbor confirmed that she had also heard arguing, and Irigoyen "yelling ... about wanting to protect her baby." While Zereoue's girlfriend called the authorities, he ran down to the vestibule and found Irigoyen still alive, with stab wounds to her neck and stomach. "She was at the bottom of the stairs bleeding out," he told the Post. "She had a little dog with her, a pug, I think. Its feet were soaked in blood." He said he asked her if she knew her attacker, "And she kept nodding yes and waving her arm," unable to speak as her throat filled with blood. Responders rushed Iriogyen to Wyckoff Hospital, where she and her baby both died. After reviewing security footage from the attack, Irigoyen's super, Lisa Ramos, told the Post that the killer landed his first blow on her stomach. "I had a tenant that heard what was going on. She thought it was a party, because they have parties all the time," Ramos told the NY Daily News, calling Irigoyen a "beautiful person," "bubbly," and "warm." She had lived in her third-floor apartment for about a year, and had a young son (alternately reported as 12 and eight years old) whose grandmother has since taken him in. The killer left bloody boot tracks in his wake as he fled the building, running east on Myrtle toward Fresh Pond Road. No arrests have been made, but police are reportedly searching for Irigoyen's boyfriend: One NYPD source told the Post that he has not come forward to ask for any information about the murder. We will update as more information becomes available. A 24-year-old employee of the University of Maryland School of Medicine is in critical but stable condition after he was shot outside the universitys downtown Baltimore hospital Monday morning, police and hospital officials said. UPDATE: I want him dead: Suspect shot victim at University of Maryland hospital after relationship ended, police say The shooting at the University of Maryland Medical Center roiled Baltimores medical community, a tight-knit group in which some doctors already have called for measures to abate gun violence in Baltimore and beyond. Ive done way too many of these things with you guys, Dr. Thomas M. Scalea, head of the hospitals R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, told reporters at a news conference Monday morning. This one is as close to home as it has ever been. Advertisement The victim, who police have not identified, was just east of an ambulance bay, in the 600 block of W. Redwood Street, when he was shot in the face and buttocks at about 7 a.m., police said. University of Maryland police apprehended a suspect, a 26-year-old man, with a loaded handgun about two blocks north of the hospital shortly after the shooting, according to the Baltimore Police Department. Police believe the victim knew the alleged shooter, spokesman Matt Jablow said, though the nature of their relationship was unclear. Police charged Jamar Haughton in Mondays shooting outside the University of Maryland Medical Center. (Baltimore Police Department) Late Monday afternoon, police identified the suspect as Jamar Haughton, 26, of the 900 block of Lemmon St. Haughton, who was being held at the Central Booking and Intake Facility in Baltimore as of Monday afternoon, is charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and several firearm related charges, police said. Haughton did not have an attorney listed in online court records as of Monday evening, and could not be reached for comment. Scalea said doctors were treating the victim, who was on life support. He said he was hopeful the victim would recover. The hospital was placed on lockdown after the shooting, but, after police scanned the area, the facility soon resumed normal operations. At no time were we out of business, Scalea said. We remained open and ready to take care of anyone else. Advertisement 1 / 8 Police were on the scene at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, where an employee was shot Monday morning. (Jerry Jackson / Baltimore Sun) 2 / 8 Police were on the scene at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, where an employee was shot Monday morning. (Jerry Jackson / Baltimore Sun) 3 / 8 Police were on the scene at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, where an employee was shot Monday morning. (Jerry Jackson / Baltimore Sun) 4 / 8 Police were on the scene at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, where an employee was shot Monday morning. (Jerry Jackson / Baltimore Sun) 5 / 8 Police were on the scene at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, where an employee was shot Monday morning. (Jerry Jackson / Baltimore Sun) 6 / 8 Police tape off the scene outside the Unversity of Maryland Medical Center in downtown Baltimore, where an employee was shot Monday morning. (Jerry Jackson / Baltimore Sun) 7 / 8 Police taped off the ambulance bay outside the Shock Trauma Center after a University of Maryland Medical Center employee was shot outside the hospital Monday morning. (Colin Campbell / Baltimore Sun) 8 / 8 Police outside the University of Maryland Medical Center, where an employee was shot Monday morning. (Colin Campbell / Baltimore Sun) The shooting was an isolated event, Baltimore Police Lt. Col. Kevin Jones said at a news conference. At no time was the general public at risk. Jones said there was no indication the shooting was related to any others in the area. Mondays shooting followed a June incident inside a behavioral health clinic on the University of Maryland Medical Center campus, where Baltimore police shot and tased a 27-year-old man who they said charged at them with a chair and a knife. Advertisement Also, in October 2017, a woman was arrested and charged in the fatal stabbing of her husband, Christopher Yancey Sr., 33, inside a room at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where their son was receiving treatment. The woman, Anita Nicole Jones, 31, is scheduled to stand trial in the case in May, according to court records. The latest shooting reverberated around Baltimores medical community, including at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where a doctor was shot in 2010 and survived with aid from his colleagues. Paul Warren Pardus, 50, shot and killed his 84-year-old mother, wounded her physician and then fatally shot himself because he believed her doctor failed her. Dr. Joseph Sakran, a Hopkins trauma surgeon, didnt know that doctor, David B. Cohen. But he said it all feels personal, as Sakran was also a victim of gun violence while in high school and in November launched the viral Twitter campaign @ThisIsOurLane after a tweet from the National Rifle Association told doctors to stay in their lane when it came to gun control. He said medical staff in Baltimores four trauma hospitals repeatedly see the devastation from gunshot wounds which state data show grew to about two a day who needed emergency care in 2015 after a spike in violence following the death of Freddie Gray. Advertisement Baltimore has seen more than 300 homicides annually for the last four years, the majority of which are due to fatal shootings. Shootings are a small but growing percentage of emergency visits, which are dropping overall in Maryland. The wounds, however, have become far more devastating from larger caliber guns. Hospitals have taken steps to address distress and fatigue in staff, such as adding meditation sessions and discussion groups. When the victim is a colleague, or from the medical community, its still shocking, said Sakran, who recommended those affected seek care if they need it and also discuss the shooting with others to alleviate their emotional load. Its one of those things that makes you realize that were all susceptible to being a victim of gun violence, he said. Were all human. I dont think anyone can deny when its someone you know or is close to you, emotions are high. Advertisement He said he heard about the efforts to care for Cohen at Hopkins and is sure that the staff at Maryland acted in a similar professional way to provide treatment to their colleague. When we are needed we go into a mode where were making one life-saving decision after another, he said. What he wants now is to stem preventable deaths from gun violence. He had been preparing for congressional testimony on the topic of gun research and violence when he heard about the University of Maryland Medical Center shooting. It makes him more determined, he said. Baltimore Sun reporters Kevin Rector and Colin Campbell contributed to this article. WASHINGTON The Pentagon said Sunday it will send 3,750 more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to put up another 150 miles of concertina wire and provide other support for Customs and Border Protection. The additions will bring the total number of active-duty troops on the border to 4,350. The announcement is in line with what Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan had said on Tuesday when he provided estimates for the next phase of a military mission that has grown in size and length. Critics have derided it as a political ploy by the White House as President Donald Trump seeks billions to build a border wall. Shanahan said on Tuesday that several thousand more troops would be sent mainly to install additional wire barriers and provide a large new system of mobile surveillance and monitoring of the border area. Sundays announcement said the mobile surveillance mission would last through Sept. 30. Advertisement Members of Congress have question whether the border mission is distracting troops from their main work of fighting extremists abroad and training for combat. The first active-duty troops were sent to the border on about Oct. 30 for a mission that was to end Dec. 15. It has since been extended twice. What impact does it have to readiness to send several thousand troops down to the Southern border? It interrupts their training. It interrupts their dwell time, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said at a hearing on Tuesday. Vice Adm. Mike Gilday, the director of operations for the Joint Staff, told the panel that he does not believe military readiness has been significantly affected. He said some units have missed training opportunities because of the deployment and others have seen less time at home between deployments than the military likes to provide. But he said there is an effort to rotate service members in and out of the mission every six to eight weeks in order to minimize any impact. Faye Hollins-Moore has been a newspaper columnist, playwright, novelist, accountant and notary public in a long career of steady work. The one descriptor she never thought shed add to that list: homeless. People need to realize they could trade places with a homeless person in a heartbeat, said Hollins-Moore, who moved into a rented room in an Escondido mobile home park two months ago. While surveys of homeless people have found a high percentage have mental health issues, addictions, disabilities and other challenges, many say they simply had a string of bad luck compounded by the loss of a job, a medical issue and depleted savings. Advertisement Hollins-Moore, 67, falls into that latter category. She lost a job in 2008 after the office where she worked had cutbacks because of the recession. She took a few other jobs as her savings ran low, and in 2010 she found a new place to live in La Jolla as a caretaker for a woman who had Alzheimers. A fall in 2014 left Hollins-Moore with a broken shoulder that she said still prevents her from doing data-entry work at a desk. A year later, she lost her job as a caretaker, which had provided her a home for several years. That led to three years of homelessness for Hollins-Moore. She lived in shelters and later slept outside a Vista church. A donation from a generous stranger helped her move into a room she now rents in a mobile home, and she is working on a book about her homeless experience. I feel like I know what it was to be a war correspondent and returning home, she said. Hollins-Moore grew up in Los Angeles specifically in the Venice neighborhood and after high school joined her brother in San Diego, where she earned a degree from Grossmont College. She did office work for a construction company for years, learning enough about the business to help pull building permits and writing articles for trade publications. In 2004, she pitched a North County Times editor an article idea on tips for hiring a contractor. Advertisement He said, We dont want you to write a article, she recalled. We want you to write a column. I couldnt believe it. Readers wrote in with questions, which she answered by interviewing professionals in the field. She produced the column for about a year. Before the column, Hollins-Moore had written a play called Aloha Also Means Goodbye, a commissioned piece produced in 2005 as a fundraiser for Vista Townsite Partnership Urban Renewal. In 2009, she and Encinitas songwriter Kent Horner wrote the musical Secrets in the Sand, a tribute to the heroes of 9/11, which was also produced locally. Advertisement I sent a copy of the playbill and Kents CD to the mayor of El Cajon, and he liked it so much he convinced the City Council to let us use it in the citys 1,200-seat theater at no charge, she said. Hollins-Moore has also written a book, titled Parental Controls, for middle-age people who have to provide care for their parents. After five years as a caretaker at a home in La Jolla, Hollins-Moore lost her job and a place to live when the woman she was working for moved into a care center. That was the beginning of my homelessness, right there, she said. Advertisement She then moved into Project TOUCH, a shared-housing project in Temecula, where she paid $375 a month for a half-bedroom. She was taking in about $900 a month from Social Security benefits and after a while couldnt afford to stay. She moved to the Bread of Life Rescue Missions winter shelter in Oceanside for four months in 2016, then to Interfaith Community Services Haven House shelter in Escondido. The whole time youre at a shelter on the waiting list for another shelter, she said. Eventually, Hollins-Moore had to leave Haven House, and with a $1,000 grant she received from the Dramatist Guild, she spent the next few weeks in a motel. When her money ran out, she began staying behind a church in Vista that had an agreement with the city to be a sanctuary for the homeless. Advertisement The first night I got there, I was so afraid, she said. She was given a sleeping bag and could get food from the church pantry, but she said this was no summer camp. She still is shaken by the memory of the night a homeless man woke her up, stared at her and asked if she was going to hurt him. When she asked him the same question, he replied, I dont think so. Thats when I started thinking, Ive got to get out of here, she said. Hollins-Moore said a woman spotted her sitting on the sidewalk one day and asked if she needed anything. The woman returned with a new sleeping bag for Hollins-Moore, and eventually became something like a guardian angel for her. Advertisement One day, the woman gave Hollins-Moore $500, enough to help her move into the room she now rents. Ive been here almost two months, and I still wake up at 5 oclock in the morning, and still think theres going to be a waiting line for the bathroom, she said. Although shes off the street, Hollins-Moore said times are still tight, with two-thirds of her monthly income going toward rent. Shes launched online fundraisers on GoFundMe and Kickstarter to help her continue writing full-time until her next book is complete. She is now several chapters into the book, Hitting the Pavement, which will chronicle her homeless years. Hollins-Moore said part of the proceeds from the book will go toward homeless services. Advertisement I had a choice, she said. I could either feel sorry for myself, give up and just live like this, or I could use my skills and write about it. Advertisement Homeless Playlist On Now San Diego hepatitis outbreak continues to grow: 481 cases On Now Homeless entrenched in booming tent city along Santa Ana River On Now San Diego mayor agreed to homeless hub, then delayed, advocates say On Now Homeless outreach in San Diego On Now Video: Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #8 On Now In poverty himself, 'Water Man Dave,' is the fearless saint of San Diego's homeless 5:41 On Now Video: Homeless living in cars find safe havens 2:21 On Now Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #7 On Now Pitching a tent plan for San Diego's homeless On Now Homeless efforts get $80M boost for various services gary.warth@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @GaryWarthUT Advertisement 760-529-4939 Recent expansions and more investment on the horizon make it clear that San Diegos Hillcrest neighborhood is at the center of a growing competition between two of the regions best-known oncology programs. Earlier this month, specialists began treating patients in remodeled space at UC San Diego Medical Center, which tripled the number of infusion chairs available and added a seven-room cancer clinic in space formerly used for neonatology and ophthalmology. Meanwhile, Scripps Mercy Hospital, located less than a half-mile away, has dramatically increased its oncology staffing in partnership with Houstons MD Anderson Cancer Center. And both organizations plan to build stand-alone cancer centers on their campuses in coming years as part of much larger construction projects that will replace the existing medical towers on both Hillcrest campuses. Advertisement As the regions only National Cancer Institute designee, UC San Diego has traditionally had the broadest access to cancer research among local programs, hosting hundreds of clinical trials which patients often gain access to at Moores Cancer Center in La Jolla. But Scripps new collaboration with MD Anderson has changed that dynamic a bit. In November, Mercy doctors were the first to infuse a patient with Lutathera, a newly-approved drug that can precisely target a radioactive payload on difficult-to-treat gastrointestinal tumors. Dr. Thomas Buchholz, medical director of the Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center, said the new collaboration helped secure access to the drug in November before it was widely available. Some of our colleagues back in Houston did the pivotal phase three trial, and we were fortunate to, with our relationship, gain early access to this promising new radiopharmaceutical, Buchholz said, adding that Scripps plans to administer the drug only at Mercy. UC San Diego also is moving forward with Lutathera, and will infuse its first patient this month. Like Scripps, it will handle all Lutathera infusions in Hillcrest. Both organizations cited clinical complexity as the main reason why they are having their Hillcrest locations specialize in delivering the drug. As has been the case in many other areas of health care, proximity to patients is a key factor in both organizations decisions to significantly expand their offerings in central San Diego. Dr. Rebekah White, the surgical oncologist who is leading UC San Diegos cancer efforts in Hillcrest, said patients have already shown significant interest in being seen farther south even though Moores is just a 14-mile drive away. While its possible to cover that distance by car in 20 minutes, traffic, White noted, can push the length of that journey past 40 minutes. For some, its the longer drive, but for other people, La Jolla feels like a different state, and they are more comfortable here, White said. Advertisement UC San Diego has prided itself in offering comprehensive cancer treatment that follows the latest protocols shown to deliver better results for patients. Dr. Joseph Califano, physician-in-chief of Moores Cancer Center, said that same approach is fully present at the Hillcrest clinic, which is focusing on several subspecialties including colorectal, gastrointestinal, breast and prostate cancers. Many Moores physicians will split time between the La Jolla and Hillcrest facilities. If youre going to do high-end cancer care, you really do need to have specialized teams, Califano said. This expansion in Hillcrest really is about making sure that those multidisciplinary teams are distributed and convenient for patients. Buchholz, the Scripps director, said that close collaboration with MD Anderson has focused on similar goals. Its these subtle types of things, multidisciplinary coordination in all aspects of care, that really make a difference for cancer patients, Buchholz said. Advertisement Scripps, the executive said, hopes to have a full stand-alone cancer center that duplicates its offerings at its main cancer center in Torrey Pines by 2021. UC San Diego has similar plans for a stand-alone center on its sprawling Hillcrest campus, but has not yet targeted an opening date. Health Playlist On Now Video: Why aren't Americans getting flu shots? 0:37 On Now Video: Leaders urge public to help extinguish hepatitis outbreak On Now San Diego starts cleansing sidewalks, streets to combat hepatitis A On Now Video: Scripps to shutter its hospice service On Now Video: Scripps La Jolla hospitals nab top local spot in annual hospital rankings On Now Video: Does a parent's Alzheimer's doom their children? On Now Video: Vaccine can prevent human papillomavirus, which can cause cancer 0:31 On Now 23 local doctors have already faced state discipline in 2017 0:48 On Now EpiPen recall expands On Now Kids can add years to your life Advertisement paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1850 Twitter: @paulsisson UC San Diego on Friday will open Gilman Bridge, a 402-foot concrete archway across Interstate 5 that will connect the universitys rapidly growing main campus to its health sciences complex. The university partnered with SANDAG and Caltrans to build the bridge, which was designed to ease street and freeway congestion, especially between La Jolla Village Drive and Genesee Avenue in La Jolla. The bridge is part of traffic and transportation improvements that include the remake of the Genesee/I-5 interchange and the extension of the Mid-Coast Blue Line Trolley, which will link San Diego and University City. The project is currently under construction. Gilman Bridge will help enhance the student experience by making it easier for students to travel across campus, and it will also help alleviate traffic on busy surrounding surface streets, said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla. Advertisement The university is the countys fourth largest employer and one of the nations fastest growing research schools. Enrollment has increased by almost 11,000 over the past decade. The campus now has nearly 39,000 students. The campus announced last week that it had received a record 118,372 applications for freshmen and transfer enrollment for fall 2018. Only a fraction of those will be admitted. The schools expansion also includes billions of dollars in buildings on both sides of the freeway. In recent years, the health sciences complex on the east side of the freeway added Jacobs Medical Center, the Altman Clinical & Translational Research Institute, and the Koman Family Outpatient Pavilion. The main campus has added a variety of research centers, classrooms and dormitories. Constructions is underway on the $627 million North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood, which includes research towers and housing for 2,000 students. The university will hold a public ribbon cutting ceremony for Gilman Bridge on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The bridge will accommodate both vehicles and pedestrians. The state Supreme Court on Monday upheld the murder conviction and death sentence of David Westerfield, convicted almost 17 years ago for the abduction and murder of Danielle van Dam, the 7-year-old Sabre Springs girl whose disappearance from her own bedroom launched both a countywide search and later a national obsession with her killers trial. In a 150-page unanimous opinion, the justices systematically rejected nearly a dozen arguments raised by Westerfields lawyer seeking to overturn the first-degree murder conviction and death sentence. Those included arguments that the trial court judge, the late San Diego Superior Court Jude William Mudd, should have kept out of the trial information gleaned from five search warrants San Diego police obtained as they investigated Danielles disappearance and zeroed in on Westerfield. The justices ruled that police had enough probable cause to search Westerfields home and vehicles for evidence. That search developed more leads that led to additional warrants each of which the court concluded were properly obtained and did not violate Westerfields rights. The justices also turned aside arguments that the jury in the case ought to have been sequestered during the trial because of the rampant publicity and coverage. Mudd rejected such requests, and the higher court said he was correct to do so. Advertisement While acknowledging the considerable ongoing media and public interest in the trial, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote there is nothing in the record to indicate that the jury did not continue to abide by the trial courts repeated admonitions and orders to avoid exposure to the news and publicity during the weeks-long trial. Danielles mother Brenda van Dam said in a statement she was not surprised justices rejected Westerfields arguments because there was substantial evidence at the trial against him. She also criticized the slow pace of the death penalty process in the state. She noted that the co-prosecutor on the case George Woody Clarke who later became a Superior Court judge, and Mudd both died before Westerfields initial appeal was heard. The appeal process has already taken too long and has been a waste of taxpayer money, she said in the statement.The cruel irony is that Judge Mudd, Woody Clarke, and Danielle are no longer alive, but he is. This is the first appeal of Westerfields death sentence, and it comes nearly 17 years to the day since Danielle was abducted. He can now ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review this decision. And he and his lawyers can still file post-conviction petitions in state and federal courts, raising issues that were not a part of the trial itself such as claims of newly-discovered evidence or inadequate legal representation. Westerfield is now 66 years old, and given the years it will likely take to resolve further appeals he is entitled to he may die of old age in prison rather than by lethal injection. Since capital punishment was reinstated in 1978, 79 inmates died from natural causes and another 25 committed suicide on the states death row. There have been a total of 13 executions in that time. The state has not executed an inmate since 2006. As of Monday there were 739 inmates under a death sentence. Danielle disappeared from her bedroom sometime during the night of Feb. 1, 2002. Her parents discovered she was missing the next morning, touching off an intense three-week search for her. Finally, on Feb. 27, 2002, searchers found her nude, partially decomposed body off a trail near Dehesa. By then San Diego Police detectives had arrested Westerfield, a 50-year-old engineer who lived just a few doors down from the van Dam family home. Prosecutors said he sneaked into the van Dams house, kidnapped the girl from her bedroom, sexually assaulted her and dumped her nude body. Advertisement Evidence included matching orange fibers found in Westerfields home and on a necklace Danielle had been wearing. A forensic DNA specialist testified that her hair, blood and fingerprints were found in Westerfields house and in his recreational vehicle parked outside. The key piece of evidence was a bloodstain on a jacket he dropped off at a dry cleaners two days after Danielle vanished. The blood was Danielles. His trial in the summer of 2002 was broadcast live and gripped the nation for months. In addition to testimony about the tragic and to parents around the country terrifying testimony about a child abducted from her own bedroom, the case was jolted with testimony about the couples unconventional marriage. The couple had an open marriage a fact the defense tried to use to plant the idea that their lifestyle at the time could have attracted others who may have been in the home the evening of the disappearance. Westerfield did not testify at the trial. Advertisement His appeals lawyer did not respond to a request for comment on the ruling Monday. Advertisement Twitter: @gregmoran greg.moran@sduniontribune.com First-time visitors to Courtroom 15B are usually taken aback when U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz begins to speak. Diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular disease nearly a decade ago, the longtime judges speech has become increasingly slurred, making him difficult to understand. But then the computer monitors placed strategically around the courtroom spark to life. In real time, the carefully considered questions and rulings that Moskowitz is known for march across the screen, his words transcribed with surprising speed by a court reporter for all to read. It may be unconventional, but he has made it work. Advertisement The arrangement has allowed Moskowitz, 68, to remain on the bench, pushing back at a disease that is trying to silence him. He waves off his disability with his characteristic humor and a tip of the hat to his faithful staff and colleagues. I get by with a little help from my friends, he likes to say. Thats his humility speaking, friend and fellow Judge Jeffrey Miller said in a recent interview. Moskowitzs greatest gift has been his spirit the indomitability of the human spirit and the grace to confront a rare neuromuscular condition has been an inspiration to everyone who works with him or has had the chance to spend time with him, Miller said. Moskowitz, who grew up in New Jersey, dreamed of being a rabbi. But his father convinced him to go to law school. He graduated from Rutgers School of Law, where he was classmates with the future Sen. Elizabeth Warren and FBI Director Louis Freeh. Moskowitz was eventually drawn to Southern California by a mentor and a murder. As an assistant U.S. attorney back east, Moskowitz had been prosecuting a case involving 21 tons of hashish on a freighter when one of the suspects lawyers was shot dead in the parking garage of his Los Angeles law office. Moskowitz was sent west to investigate. Advertisement I thought everyone was crazy out here, he half joked during a recent interview in his chambers overlooking San Diego Bay. A few years later, a mentor from New Jersey, Bill Braniff, joined the U.S. Attorneys Office in San Diego and lured him south with reports of balmy, year-round sailing weather. It wasnt just Braniffs legal mind that inspired Moskowitz. When asked by the San Diego County Bar Association to name a moment that continues to inspire him, Moskowitz pointed to the memory of Braniff paralyzed from the waist down and moving around in a wheelchair while trying a case before a jury. Advertisement After only a year as a federal prosecutor in San Diego, Moskowitz was appointed as a federal magistrate judge in 1986. Ten years later he was nominated by President Bill Clinton to be a district judge. He earned the nickname Midnight Moskowitz for his willingness to stay late into the night or into the next day in at least one instance to resolve cases. He also became known for bringing moments of much needed levity to the courtroom. Like the time he ordered two squabbling patent attorneys to watch Ace Ventura: Pet Detective over the weekend and provide a full report on Monday, which they did. But the humor was lost on them. They didnt get it, Moskowitz said. It was in 2007, when he was jogging, that he first felt something strange with his legs. Later, his coordination came into question while he was taking dance lessons with his wife in preparation for their daughters wedding. My wife just thought I wasnt paying attention, he laughed. I just couldnt get it. Advertisement He was diagnosed with primary lateral sclerosis, a condition that affects the nerve cells that control voluntary muscles, causing weakness and stiffness. Only 500 to 1,000 people a year are diagnosed with the condition in the U.S. While it has some similarities to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as ALS or Lou Gehrigs disease, it is not fatal. For that, Moskowitz says, he feels lucky. By 2010, he needed a walker. The speech problems came on more gradually. He was named chief judge of the Southern District of California in 2012, a seven-year term that is basically two jobs in one: oversee the administration of the court covering San Diego and Imperial counties, all while maintaining a full court docket. Advertisement In that role, Moskowitz coordinated the move into the new federal courthouse a courthouse without enough courtrooms or chambers and helped negotiate the naming of that courthouse, a challenge in Washington, D.C., that turned out to be full of partisan landmines. When the downtown childcare center that served many court and federal employees was shutting down, Moskowitz led the effort to relocate it to federal property. The daycare is named in honor of him. There were government shutdowns and a fiscal cliff. One of the courts biggest challenges came last year, when the Trump administrations zero-tolerance policy to criminally prosecute all illegal entry cases flooded the court with misdemeanors. At the same time, the court was short both district and magistrate judges. Advertisement Moskowitz recently referred to it as the most difficult time in the history of our district. Moskowitz convened a committee from all sides of the system to come up with a solution, and a special streamlined court was instituted for the illegal entry cases. The program has been criticized by the defense bar for its fast pace and threat to due process, and the court has since adjusted by no longer taking same-day guilty pleas. All this, and his motor skills and speech were slowly deteriorating. I have come to focus on what I can do and not dwell on what I cannot, the judge explained. Advertisement There is a formal mechanism to have a judge removed from the bench in cases of mental or physical disability that renders him or her unable to discharge the duties of office. Examples include substance abuse, the inability to stay awake during proceedings or cognitive impairment. None of those situations apply to Moskowitz. His chambers and the bench were modified for a wheelchair. And court reporter James Pence began to transcribe hearings in real time so attorneys, litigants, defendants, jurors and the public can follow along. He understands me more than anyone, the judge chuckled, even more than my wife. Advertisement The setup appears to work well, although there have been a couple times when the large computer screen meant for the viewing public was not turned on when the hearing began, making the proceedings mostly undecipherable until the court was notified and the monitor revived. Moskowitz also uses a type-and-talk computer software that speaks his words in a digital voice. He uses it during jury trials to deliver standard instructions. He also makes sure jurors have printed copies of the materials. During public addresses, he often has someone else read his written remarks for him. Those who spend time with the judge develop a keen ear for his speech patterns, and his staffers often help translate for him in meetings or on other official business. Advertisement One of the hard parts is when people dont understand me, they just smile instead of communicate and ask what it was I said, Moskowitz explained. They dont want to insult me by asking me to repeat myself. Few judges have faced similar obstacles. One notable example is recently retired San Diego Superior Court Judge David Szumowski, who was blinded while serving in Vietnam. Clerks helped him read files before court and staffers would sit next to him on the bench, whispering important information in his ear. His guide dog would settle at his feet. And in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Ronald Gould, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and in an electric wheelchair, uses voice-activated typing software and is allowed to appear in court by video when hearings are outside his home base of Seattle. Advertisement Still, disabled judges and attorneys remain grossly underrepresented in the U.S. legal system, said Peter Lynch, a catastrophe litigator. He is not disabled but saw the need to start a Disability Interest Group at the San Diego County Bar Association. There is implicit bias about this issue. They dont make the cut. They may look good on paper, but when they show up to the interview, they dont look like anyone else, Lynch said. I think its tragic. We need people to pay attention in positions of power. Lynch said Moskowitz has emerged a bright shining example of what can be done with the appropriate accommodations. If there was any doubt that Moskowitz would finish his term as chief judge, it was put to rest last month when he passed the chiefs gavel to U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns right on schedule. Advertisement He did it. You never know what youre made of until faced with a challenge like that, Judge Miller said. Not only did he prove it to himself, in my view he was an inspiration for all of us. On Jan. 23, Moskowitz went on senior status, a semi-retirement that allows qualified judges to remain on the bench but take a reduced caseload. He plans to whittle his by half. Before, his wife of 46 years often had to make two dinners: one for her and a late one for him. Now: Ill try to be home by 6, Moskowitz said. Thatll be good. Advertisement kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @kristinadavis Rams fans wont have Southern Californias blue skies and sunshine to comfort them after the teams 13-3 Super Bowl loss to New England on Sunday. Scattered showers and snow in the mountains are expected throughout the Southland through Tuesday night as back-to-back cold troughs of low pressure move over the area, according to the National Weather Service. Rams far from super in 13-3 loss to Patriots By noon, the heaviest rains had passed through Ventura and Los Angeles counties and a flash flood warning issued from Thousand Oaks and Agoura Hills to Pacific Coast Highway had been lifted. Advertisement PCH was closed for several hours in both directions from Broad Beach Road to Las Posas Road in Ventura County because of debris flowing into the roadway, according to the city of Malibu. The road reopened about 1:30 p.m. Flooding on #PCH Pacific Coast Hwy/ SR-1 north of Broad Beach Rd in #Malibu #Caltrans is working 24/7 to clear mud and storm debris If your street or highway is flooded -- Turn Around, Don't Drown! pic.twitter.com/xCIsXSNQsy Caltrans District 7 (@CaltransDist7) February 4, 2019 Half an inch to 1 inch of rain was expected across the coasts and valleys, while 2 to 3 inches were predicted along the southern slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains, forecasters said. Magic Mountain in Valencia closed at 2 p.m. because of the rain. The weather service issued a winter storm warning for the Los Angeles and Ventura County mountains through Wednesday, with more than a foot of snow forecast above 7,000 feet and 2 to 4 inches expected above 4,500 feet. Snowfall could affect the 5 Freeway along the Grapevine area of the Tejon Pass and Highway 14 in the Antelope Valley, meteorologists said. Snow levels were expected to range from 4,500 to 5,500 feet Monday before dropping to a level of 3,000 to 3,500 feet that night into Tuesday, according to the weather service. The local snow level could be as low as 2,500 feet, with some snowfall along the Antelope Valley foothills Tuesday morning. Several ski resorts in the Eastern Sierra and Tahoe including June Mountain in June Lake and Mammoth Mountain in Mammoth Lakes closed part or all of their operations Monday because of a blizzard that dropped as much as 9 feet of snow. Advertisement It's officially a blizzard here in Mammoth with another 7-10" of snow since 6AM. Main Lodge is closed due to blizzard conditions as is June Mountain. Travel is not advised. Current storm total: 58-81" and counting. pic.twitter.com/6dOm5VgH5S MammothMountain (@MammothMountain) February 4, 2019 In Northern California, westbound traffic on Interstate 80 was being turned around at the border with Nevada due to whiteout conditions at Donner Summit, according to the California Department of Transportation. Eastbound traffic was being turned around at Applegate in Placer County. Caltrans said there was no estimated time for the interstates reopening. Topanga Canyon Boulevard remained closed due to a mudslide. Northbound traffic on the 5 Freeway in Boyle Heights was stopped around 6 a.m. because of a rock slide but reopened around 7:30 a.m. Westbound traffic on the 210 was stopped early Monday after a van hit the center median. The two right lanes were open, but the carpool lanes and two left lanes remained closed longer while crews cleaned up a fuel spill from the crash, according to Caltrans. Advertisement On Highway 1 near Big Surs slide areas, the road was set to remain closed through at least Tuesday because of rainstorms, Caltrans announced. A rock slide also closed Highway 150 between Ojai and Santa Paula, Caltrans said. The outlook improves for Southern California after Tuesday. We should get some sun back Wednesday and Thursday, said Bonnie Bartling, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Advertisement But she said a new storm could arrive over the weekend. Friday was expected to be partly cloudy, the weather service forecast, and there was a 40% chance of rain Saturday and a 20% chance of rain that night. javier.panzar@latimes.com Twitter: @jpanzar The California Supreme Court decided unanimously Monday to overturn the death sentence of a man convicted of killing a Long Beach woman, ruling that prospective jurors were improperly excused for expressing ambivalence about the death penalty. The state high court said the trial judge should not have excused at least four potential jurors in the trial of Jamelle Edward Armstrong, one of three men convicted of kidnapping, robbing, raping, torturing and killing Penny Sigler in 1998. All of the excused jurors had testified they could recommend the death penalty if evidence showed it was justified, despite their personal views. The state is permitted to cull from the jury pool only those who would be unable to set aside their personal views and follow the law and the courts instructions, Justice Carol A. Corrigan wrote for the court. Advertisement Three of the courts seven justices also would have overturned Armstrongs convictions on the grounds that racial bias may have infected jury selection. Justice Goodwin Liu, writing for the dissenters, noted that the prosecutor struck four black male jurors, leaving no black man on the jury. Armstrong is black. The victim was white. Liu said he was particularly concerned that the trial judge failed to probe the striking of one of those four men because the reasons for the removal raised significant questions about the prosecutors credibility. The record here contains a number of proffered explanations for the strike of a black juror that are implausible, misleading, contradicted by the record, or difficult to credit in light of the prosecutors disparate treatment of similarly situated jurors, Liu wrote. The trial court should have pressed the prosecutor on these points, but it did not. Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar and Court of Appeal Justice Dennis M. Perluss, filling a previous vacancy on the court, joined Lius dissent. Armstrong was one of three men tried separately and convicted of attacking Sigler, 45, who had left her Long Beach home on the night of her death to buy cereal and milk. Her body was found the next day on an embankment near the 405 Freeway. Armstrong admitted he was with the others when they encountered Sigler and attacked her, but he downplayed his role. Advertisement Kevin Pearson and Armstrongs older half-brother, Warren Hardy, were also sentenced to death for the killing. Los Angeles prosecutors may now retry Armstrong on whether he should be again sentenced to death or to life without possibility of parole. maura.dolan@latimes.com Twitter: @mauradolan The director of Caltrans has ordered a state audit of expenditures tied to the protection of the agencys work crews by California Highway Patrol units after a CHP investigation uncovered evidence of fraudulent overtime among its officers. The agency is looking to identify potential malfeasance and to potentially discipline any officials involved in misconduct in which the CHP said some officers in its East Los Angeles station exaggerated the number of hours they worked in protection details for Caltrans workers. Director Laurie Berman on Monday announced the audit, which will be conducted by the agencys inspector general. It comes days after the CHP revealed that dozens of officers and supervisors have been temporarily relieved of duty while the department investigates an alleged massive overtime scheme involving officers getting paid for hours they did not work. Calling it fraud, CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley and top officials said Friday they uncovered at least $360,000 in fake overtime and provided the evidence to the Los Angeles County district attorneys office for potential criminal prosecution. Advertisement The overtime is typically earned sitting in a cruiser at each end of a construction zone to ensure motorists dont get too close to Caltrans workers. In California, funding to protect Caltrans work crews and contractors is used to pay CHP officers through programs that include the Construction Zone Enhanced Enforcement Program and Maintenance Zone Enhanced Enforcement Program. Those programs are run in a partnership between Caltrans and the CHP. Caltrans takes violations of the law very seriously and illegal activity of any kind is not tolerated within the department, Berman said in a statement to The Times. The independent inspector general will conduct an audit of the [enhanced enforcement] program[s] to identify any weaknesses and where appropriate, make recommendations for improvements. If it is determined there was Caltrans employee misconduct, disciplinary action will be taken. Each freeway work zone is supposed to have roving or static CHP vehicles, and officers generally work such assignments on overtime. The officers are required to conduct active speed control, DUI enforcement and assist with traffic flow. Authorities expressed shock and disappointment at the scope of the alleged misconduct by law enforcement officials, saying it extended beyond officers to higher-level managers. Our supervisors were complicit in this, said Chief Mark Garrett, who oversees the CHP Southern Division. I am extremely disheartened by the actions of these employees. I am frankly angered and appalled by the actions of those involved, Stanley said. Let me be clear: The CHP does not tolerate misconduct by any of its employees. The moment CHP management discovered the potential misconduct, we immediately launched an investigation. Garrett said a review of overtime processes in March uncovered irregularities that go back at least two years. The scheme involved not only officers but supervisors inside the East L.A. station, where 115 sworn personnel are employed, he said. Advertisement There were ringleaders in the scheme, and numerous members of the East Los Angeles station are involved, Garrett said. He declined to say whether any officers had confessed to their involvement, citing the ongoing investigation. Officials examined records from the states 103 CHP stations, and the improper activity appears to be confined to the East L.A. station, Stanley said. Garrett said that once the discrepancies were discovered, the agency immediately initiated an investigation to further identify any employees who betrayed the trust of the public and their fellow members of the CHP. The chief said the agency has since altered its overtime practices to prevent further abuses. Any deviation from the new regulations would require Garretts personal approval, he said. Advertisement So many officers are under scrutiny that CHP is shifting extra staffers to the Southern Division, which patrols the Los Angeles area, sources told The Times. richard.winton@latimes.com Twitter: @lacrimes After more than a week without heat and power, conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn showed signs of improvement on Sunday evening, but not for everyone. Emergency generators are on, and heat has been restored to parts of the federal jail, but public officials and lawyers who toured the facility again Sunday told reporters not everyone has heat and some inmates are going without their medication. NBC NY reports that lights were seen turning on at the facility after 6:30 p.m. For the past week, many inmates have been on lockdown in cells without electricity or heat, during days of bitter cold. "How is that? We live in a 3rd World country?" the mother of one inmate, Yvonne Murchison, asked. Where's the president on this? He's worrying about the wrong issue, where's he on this? Everybody in there's not guilty, and even if they were, they're human beings." Murchinsons son Desmond, who she said has been awaiting trial for a year at the Sunset Park jail, shouted to his mother through metal grates on Sunday. Murchison then led a group of protesters into the building, and were met by guards who used pepper spray. Several protesters came running out minutes later to cover their faces in water and milk. An NYPD spokesman said no arrests were made. Authorities busting out pepper spray to keep people away from #MDCBrooklyn. This is getting out of control pic.twitter.com/LK28tyD1WG Sen. Mike Gianaris (@SenGianaris) February 3, 2019 Lawyers meeting with clients reported coughing fits from everyone in the meeting room. One federal defender, Amanda David said that in the four and half years of doing this work, shes never seen conditions this bad. It is very apparent that there is a massive failure of caring here, a massive failure of proper supervision, a massive failure of planning, Congressman Jerrold Nadler said, after touring several floors on Sunday. Terrifying screams of help! Thudding on walls, clapping on glass at MDC Brooklyn. pic.twitter.com/QZFzwpOl3N Just your friendly neighborhood transit reporter (@s_nessen) February 3, 2019 Nadler said the warden told him power would be restored by noon on Monday. Con-Edison was reportedly waiting for a missing component to arrive Monday morning and then full power could be restored. Nadler said there was heat in several parts of the building, but many cells remained frigid. He said the warden told him 600 blankets from the city had been distributed. But City Councilman Brad Lander, who was also on the tour, said he didnt see any blankets in any of the cells they visited. I shared this update 18 hours ago. The moment a van arrived with hundreds of blankets to provide freezing inmates at #MDCBrooklyn w/ no heat. We celebrated. We now know MDC accepted them BUT NEVER GAVE THEM to those incarcerated. Constitutional violation is understatement. https://t.co/FQ3uVNfIfw Scott Hechinger (@ScottHech) February 3, 2019 Nadler said hes spoken with the acting Director of the Bureau of Prisons, who seemed to be acting with more urgency after the protests began last Friday. The NYCLU is calling on the Bureau of Prisons to allow family and legal visits immediately. "Todays confrontation between the Bureau of Prisons and family members of people jailed at MDC highlights the desperate need to address the dangerous, inhumane and unlawful conditions inside the facility," executive director Donna Lieberman said in a statement. "This has gone on for far too long. The BOP must act immediately to get the heat and lights back on, to restore family and legal visits, and resume programming within the facility. It is essential that BOP ensure that no detainee be subjected to retaliation for peacefully protesting this inhumane treatment. Wyn Hornbuckle, the Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the Department of Justice, issued a statement on Monday morning saying, "The electrical power at the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility at MDC Brooklyn was restored at approximately 6:30 p.m., Sunday evening. With the heat and hot water operational, and the restoration of electrical power, the facility can now begin to return to regular operations. In the coming days, the Department will work with the Bureau of Prisons to examine what happened and ensure the facility has the power, heat and backup systems in place to prevent the problem from reoccurring." Never thought prison lights would look as good as this. pic.twitter.com/RMFn6R7UUZ Brad Lander (@bradlander) February 3, 2019 Governor Andrew Cuomo is also calling for a full investigation into what is happening at the facility. "Today, I am calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to immediately investigate the circumstances at the Metropolitan Detention Center. New York State stands ready to provide any support necessary to keep the heat, hot water and electricity running at the Center and augment the investigation into those responsible for this mess, Cuomo wrote in a statement. [UPDATE] Just before 7 p.m., Councilmember Brad Lander tweeted that the power had been fully restored at MDC. Lander told Gothamist that he had spoken to the warden, who also confirmed that the power was running again. Stephen Nessen is the transportation reporter for WNYC. You can follow him on Twitter @s_nessen. Ironing a shirt. Shining shoes. Gaining self-confidence. These are not skills focused on in high school. Thats why the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) is referred to as a family, and its top patriarch is Someone You Should Know. Master Sergeant Ferdinand Toledo has been the backbone of the CA-935th Scripps Ranch High School Air Force JROTC program for 10 years. He says the intangible life skills students gain in JROTC, such as looking after each other and working together in service to the community, can be learned only through experience. Hundreds of students have gone through the program over the years. Raised in a military family in Mira Mesa, Toledo served in the Air Force for 20 years before retiring and becoming an aerospace science teacher and Air Force JROTC instructor at Scripps Ranch High. And he has made a difference. The unit consistently ranks at or near the top among the 13 high schools in the San Diego Unified School District. In addition, the units teams drill and academic win top awards, including national competitions. Advertisement Toledo was named the nationwide Outstanding JROTC Instructor of the Year for the 2016-2017 school year. Locally, he was voted by his peers as the SRHS Teacher of the Year two years in a row and will vie for the district award again this year. What makes Toledo the best of the best? His focus on values and the extra time he devotes to cadets, which his wife, Sylvia, says is more time than hes on the clock. But, shes very supportive. Its part of himhe loves it, she says of his splitting time between his two families. What takes the extra time? Weekend team competitions, movie nights on campus, helping the cadets, and community volunteering, such as the 2018 SRHS Holiday Canned Food Drive, which raised a record 22,279 pounds for the San Diego Food Bank. And when the program was in jeopardy of losing its PE accreditation, Toledo devoted 250 hours of his own time to earn the credential to keep the program going. Most importantly, he teaches students to become leaders. Cadet Major Evan Dicker, SRHS senior and operations commander, as well as part of the districts joint brigade, says Toledo treats each cadet like family and keeps tabs on us but lets us lead as the individuals he raised us to be. Dicker says his four years with JROTC have contributed to who he is today. As soon as I joined the program, it seemed really clear that Master Sergeant Toledo was there to emphasize what was important in life and what wasnt. Dicker adds, It seemed (he) was always there helping us. From learning how to iron our own shirts to shine our shoes to being prepared for a drill competition It felt very clear that he would always be there no matter if I was struggling or succeeding. Dicker plans to major in aerospace engineering. According to Toledo, only 2 percent of cadets nationwide join the armed forces. Toledo is humbled by the success and shares the accolades with the cadets. What does JROTC mean to him? Everything. I get the wonderful opportunity to work with amazing students every single day The longer I do this, the more grateful I am, especially seeing these kids blossom and grow as young adults within months, you see changes, positive changes. Toledo exemplifies the SRHS JROTC motto: More than a corps, we are a family. Advertisement About this feature Tran is a member of the U-T Community Advisory Board. Someone San Diego Should Know is a weekly column about local people who are interesting and noteworthy because of their experiences, achievements, creativity or credentials. If you know of someone you believe San Diego should know, please send your idea to advisoryboard@sduniontribune.com With a flimsy storyline amounting to little more than an evocation of the old Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland Lets put on a show! films of the 30s wrapped around a love story, Crazy for You is best appreciated as an episodic stage musical, one in which the parts are definitely greater than the whole. But the combination of some of Broadways most enduring songs (written by George and Ira Gershwin), dollops of slapstick (conceived by Ken Lend Me A Tenor Ludwig) and some hellacious tap dancing makes Crazy for You an audience-pleasing affair. It certainly is at the Horton Grand Theatre downtown, where San Diego Musical Theatre is staging a rollicking production of Crazy for You, directed by Kirsten Chandler with inspired choreography by Jill Gorrie. Crazy for You debuted on Broadway in 1992. Based on the 1930 musical Girl Crazy which introduced Ethel Merman to the stage it features tunes from that show, including I Got Rhythm, But Not For Me and Embraceable You, while incorporating songs from other musicals, among them Shall We Dance and A Damsel in Distress. Advertisement The sophistication of many of these numbers can feel at odds with Crazy for Yous cowpoke motif, but with its big-as-all-outdoors spirit, everything falls together: romance, showgirls, shootin (well, with blanks). It all happens in lazy Deadrock, Nev. described by town hotelier Lank Hawkins as a town full of singing cadavers where big-city banker Bobby Child (Jeffrey Scott Parsons) is sent by his overbearing mother (Katie Gucik) to foreclose on the burgs dormant theater. Almost immediately the reluctant Bobby meets the only gal in town, pretty Polly Baker (Tayler Mettra). Can Bobby win Pollys heart and save Deadrocks old theater at the same time? The musical journey to the wow finish is a Gershwins celebration, from the swooning (Embraceable You, Shall We Dance) to the rousing (Slap That Bass, the show-stopping I Got Rhythm). Superbly juggling singing, dancing and comedy in this show, Parsons croons They Cant Take That Away from Me with easy grace. The sparkling Mettra solos with earnest sweetness on But Not For Me and Someone to Watch Over Me, one of the Gershwins most plaintive compositions. (Frank Sinatras understated rendition in the 1955 film Young at Heart will always be the definitive version.) David McBean contributes a wacky turn as producer Bela Zangler (who Bobby impersonates and with whom he shares the shows funniest scene). There are also winning supporting performances from Edward Chamberlain (as Lank) and Kelly Derouin (as the fiancee Bobby forsakes). But most of all, SDMTs Crazy for You under the musical direction of Don LeMaster, who oversees a 17-person orchestra is a two-plus-hour party of dancing both sumptuous and acrobatic. Everyone gets into the act, whether its the showgirls leg-kicking, the Deadrock locals swinging pickaxes in percussive rhythm, or Bobby and Polly moving as elegantly as if in a ballroom. It might be crazy to suggest that a Gershwin song could ever be upstaged by choreography, but like Bobby and Polly, the two are made for each other in this wholly likable show. Crazy for You When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Through March 3. Advertisement Where: San Diego Musical Theatre at the Horton Grand Theatre, 444 Fourth Ave., downtown. Tickets: $30-$70. Phone: (858) 560-5740 Online: sdmt.org Advertisement Coddon is a freelance writer. Top concerts this week include Kiss, M, Marc Anthony, 2Cellos and Atmosphere. 2.4: Travis Scott The Houston rappers latest album, Astroworld, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, was certified Gold in its first week of release, and follows 2016s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight as Scotts second No. 1 album. And if that wasnt enough, the Astroworld Tour features a fully functional roller coaster that operates above the crowd. Scotts other claim to fame: Being Kylie Jenners baby daddy. @ Pechanga Arena, pechangaarenasd.com Advertisement 2.5: Gang of Four Their name may say differently, but pioneering post-punkers Gang of Four have spent most of their career as a two-man mob. And until 2012, that was singer-guitarist Andy Gill and lead vocalist Jon King. The politically minded English quartet still features Gill, but now features John Gaoler Sterry on vocals. @ Casbah, casbahmusic.com 2.5: M Danish superstar M (aka singer/songwriter Karen rsted) released her second full-length album, Forever Neverland, in October. It features an appearance from longtime collaborator Diplo, as well as Charli XCX, Empress Of and What So Not. Rapper and performance artist Mykki Blanco opens the show. @ Observatory North Park, observatorysd.com 2.5: DaniLeigh The Miami-born, L.A.-based singer, dancer and creative director was discovered by Prince, directed his Breakfast Can Wait video, and has appeared as the lead dancer in others by Daddy Yankee and Nelly Furtado. Her debut album, The Plan, was released in November and features appearances from YG, Lil Yachty and more. @ House of Blues, houseofblues.com/sandiego Advertisement 2.7: KISS The long-running, Kabuki-costumed rockers are finally (I mean, so they say) hanging it up. Calling this last run The End of the Road tour Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer head to Viejas Arena for one more night in San Diego filled with their trademark pyrotechnics, showmanship and arena-sized rock tunes. @ Viejas Arena, viejasarena.com Advertisement 2.7: Marc Anthony The singer, actor, producer and multi-Grammy winner returns to Point Loma on his LEGACY Tour. And even if Anthony never makes a follow-up to his last album, 2013s 3.0, the multi-faceted performers own legacy is well intact. He released a pair of singles recently, Esta Rico with Will Smith and Bad Bunny, as well as Adicto with Prince Royce, and has sold over 12 million albums worldwide. @ Pechanga Arena, pechangaarenasd.com 2.8: Atmosphere Veteran Minneapolis-based hip-hop duo Slug (rapper Sean Daley) and Ant (DJ/producer Anthony Davis) love the Observatory! They return for this sold-out show to celebrate the 2018 release of their ninth studio album, Mi Vida Local, as well as the 20th anniversary of their fifth studio album, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That S**t Gold. Advertisement @ Observatory North Park, observatorysd.com 2.8: Steve Aoki In November, the Grammy-nominated, globetrotting DJ and entrepreneur released Neon Future III, his fifth studio album. The most recent chapter in his Neon Future concept series, it featured collaborations with everyone from blink-182 and Lil Yachty to Daddy Yankee and Lady Antebellum. Even celebrity scientist Bill Nye gets in on the action. @ OMNIA, omnianightclub.com Advertisement 2.8: Destructo Former CEO and founder of HARD Events, and current president of LiveStyle, Gary Richards has somehow still found the time to DJ quite regularly for the last 20 years. Richards released his latest single, Boom (feat. Problem), in November, and remixes for his recent single with rapper Busta Rhymes, F#cking Sh*t Up, in December. @ Spin, spinnightclub.com Advertisement 2.9: Arty Russian DJ and producer Arty (aka Artem Stoliarov) was last here in 2017, but performed under his other moniker, Alpha 9. As Arty, his latest is a joint offering with progressive house DJ Audien, the November-released single Never Letting Go. @ Bassmnt, bassmntsd.com Arty. (Courtesy photo) 2.10: 2Cellos Croatian duo Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic are cello-playing virtuosos who perform instrumental versions of well-known pop and rock classics. They also happen to have a social media following in the millions. Listen to them put their spin on songs like Ed Sheerans Perfect, U2s With or Without You, Celin Dions My Heart Will Go On and more when they bring their Let There Be Cello tour to San Diego. Advertisement Click here for a chance to win a pair of tickets. @ Pechanga Arena, pechangaarenasd.com 2Cellos. (Matthias Hangst / Getty Images) 2.10: Lee Scratch Perry The reggae legend and Studio One super-producer, along with his Subatomic Sound System backing band, hit the road to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Upsetters seminal Blackboard Jungle Dub LP. Jah Rasta! Advertisement @ House of Blues, houseofblues.com/sandiego More... Groove: February concert calendar Spin cycle: February DJ and EDM performances A corporate officer is rarely legally responsible for paying damages to injured employees. A corporate officer, for example, generally is not personally liable for wages the corporate employer didnt pay. But what about the civil penalties the law imposes on top of unpaid overtime and minimum wages? May a corporate officer who causes that compensation not to be paid be held personally responsible for the resulting penalties -- even if the individual was acting within his job responsibilities? If employees successfully sue to recover those penalties, may the individual who caused the employees not to be paid be held responsible, as an individual, for the employees substantial attorneys fees? The San Diego division of the California Court of Appeal recently concluded that, under the plain language of California employment statutes, the answer to both questions is yes. Marco Antonio Atempa and Keilyn Reyes were a cook and a dishwasher, respectively, at Via Italia Trattoria, an Encinitas restaurant. Paolo Pedrazzani was the owner, president, and secretary of Pama, the entity that did business as Via Italia. It was undisputed that Pama, not Pedrazzani, was the mens employer. After their employment ended, Atempa and Reyes sued Via Italia over its payroll practices. They asserted seven claims against Pama alone, including claims for unpaid overtime and failure to pay minimum wages. Advertisement Atempa and Reyes asserted an eighth claim against both Pama, as their employer, and Pedrazzani, individually, for civil penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA). Labor Code section 2699(a), part of PAGA, authorizes any aggrieved employee to bring a representative action on behalf of himself and other affected employees to recover civil penalties for violations of overtime, minimum wage, and other employment laws. Before PAGA, only the Labor Commissioner could seek those penalties. The state legislature enacted PAGA to supplement limited public enforcement resources with litigation by motivated aggrieved employees acting as private attorneys general. Under PAGA, 75 percent of the penalties employees recover goes to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and 25 percent goes to employees in proportion to the violations each employee suffered. The trial judge sided with Atempa and Reyes on each of their claims, holding Pama responsible for the unpaid overtime and regular wages. The judge held Pama and Pedrazzani jointly and separately liable for $31,074 in civil penalties and the employees $315,014 in attorneys fees. Pama and Pedrazzani appealed. Pama filed bankruptcy soon thereafter. Pedrazzani argued he could not be liable for either the penalties or the attorneys fees because he was not plaintiffs employer -- Pama was -- and plaintiffs had made no showing Pedrazzani was Pamas alter ego, that is, that Pedrazzani had fraudulently and unjustly used Pamas corporate form to evade liability for Pamas debts. The court of appeal rejected those arguments. Labor Code section 558(a) explicitly makes an employer or anyone acting on behalf of an employer subject to civil penalties for failure to pay overtime. Labor Code section 1197.1(a) makes an employer or other person acting individually or as an officer, agent, or employee of another person subject to civil penalties for failure to pay the minimum wage. Therefore, said the court of appeal, civil penalties for violating overtime laws may be imposed on any individual that acted on behalf of the employer. And an other person liable for civil penalties for minimum wage violations doesnt have to have any relationship to the employer. The person only needs to have caused the employees to be paid less than the minimum wage. That is why it did not matter that the former employees did not show that Pedrazzani was Pamas alter ego. [F]or purposes of recovering such civil penalties from the employers agent, the identity of the employer including the employers business structure is irrelevant. The court of appeal further held Pedrazzani liable for the employees $300,000-plus in attorneys fees in bringing the PAGA claim, plus fees incurred on appeal. Labor Code section 2699(g) of PAGA entitles prevailing employees but not a prevailing employer to an award of reasonable attorneys fees and costs. Most of the time, the corporate employer will pay these civil penalties itself. Where an insolvent employer is unable to pay, the responsibility for paying penalties and the attorneys fees employees incurred to obtain the penalties as distinct from the unpaid wages themselves may fall on an individual corporate officer personally. Advertisement Dan Eaton is a partner with the San Diego law firm of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek where his practice focuses on defending and advising employers. He also is an instructor at the San Diego State University Fowler College of Business where he teaches classes in business ethics and employment law. He may be reached at eaton@scmv.com. His Twitter handle is @DanEatonlaw. Ever since Edward Lamperts hedge fund, ESL Investments, made a $5.2 billion offer to buy the assets of the retail giant Sears Holdings and bring it out of bankruptcy, he has insisted that his offer is the only one that would keep the business going. But the plan has run into opposition from creditors skeptical that Sears will be any more successful after exiting bankruptcy. On Monday, Sears Holdings Corp. and its creditors appeared before Judge Robert Drain in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to square off over whether Lampert, the retailers chairman and former chief executive, should get yet another chance to rescue the iconic American retail chain and avoid a liquidation. Lampert has asserted that his plan will preserve 45,000 jobs, but lawyers for the creditors on Monday pressed Sears financial advisor, Brandon Aebersold of Lazard Frere, and board member William Transier about the possibility of more store closures and layoffs. Advertisement ESL, in a court filing on Friday, outlined plans to close three Kmart stores per month in 2019, and the cross examinations of the witnesses emphasized the uncertainty of the chains future. You understand from the ESL business plan that there are planned headcount reductions, correct? said Lacy Lawrence, an attorney representing a committee of Sears unsecured creditors. Yes, Transier said. But you dont know the magnitude of the planned reductions, do you? she asked. I do not, he said. And you understand that the (asset purchase agreement) does not have a guarantee of continued employment, correct? It does not, Transier said. In a statement after the hearing Monday, ESL Investments reiterated that its bid offers Sears the only long-term opportunity to save and create jobs, honor the extended warranties that were purchased by so many customers, generate new volume and grow, a spokesman said. We intend for the new company to operate as many Sears and Kmart stores as reasonably possible, including new smaller stores that emphasize our stronger capabilities. Continuing to operate a meaningful network of stores is essential to achieving our goal of returning Sears to profitability. Advertisement Also Monday, Sears lawyer Ray Schrock told the judge that there were differing interpretations over whether Sears or ESL would assume $166 million in liabilities, raising a possible point of contention as they move forward with the deal. Schrock said the parties hope to resolve the issue and close on the sale on Friday, if it is approved. The case, affecting tens of thousands of workers and former employees, even has emerged as a potential 2020 campaign issue. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat of Massachusetts, who is expected to kick off her presidential campaign this week, bashed what she called Lamperts inherent conflicts of interest in a scathing letter to the company. The hearing will continue Wednesday and into Thursday, with a ruling expected this week. How did Sears end up picking Lamperts bid? Sears received five bids from parties interested in buying individual business units along with a couple proposals from buyers who would liquidate the companys assets, butESL Investments was the only bidder interested in acquiring the whole company and operating it, Sears said in a statement filed with the court Friday. ESL also has said it would bid on certain assets individually if the larger bid was rejected. Advertisement Initially, the company rejected ESLs bid. But Lampert sweetened the offer multiple times during negotiations in the bankruptcy auction, and the final bid was $5.2 billion for the companys remaining 425 stores, other assets and businesses. Sears decided it was the best option, saying it would recover more funds than if the business were to be shut down and sold, while keeping stores open and preserving 45,000 jobs, according to the Friday court filing. Why are creditors critical of Lamperts proposal? A committee of Sears unsecured creditors has said it believes ESLs plan would only delay the companys demise, according to court filings. The committee has pushed for a liquidation, arguing that shutting the company down and selling its assets could recover more of what Sears owes. In its objection to the proposed sale, the committee also argued that the sale would benefit ESL at the creditors expense and took issue with the decision to let ESL finance a portion of the deal by trading $1.3 billion in Sears debt it holds for ownership in the reorganized company. Edward Lampert (Amanda Gordon / Bloomberg) The committee also has threatened legal action over financial dealings among Lampert, ESL and the retailer since Lampert combined Sears and Kmart in an $11 billion deal in 2005. That includes financing that ESL provided to Sears in recent years and transactions like the 2015 sale of more than 230 stores to Seritage Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust spun off from Sears that Lampert controls. Lampert is both a minority investor in Seritage and its chairman. Through his hedge fund, he is also Sears largest shareholder. Advertisement ESL has denied the committees allegations and said that its transactions with the retailer had the approval of the companys board and independent advisers, were done in good faith and show consistent support for the company. Why is the federal pension agency involved? The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which guarantees individuals pension plans if an insured plan shuts down without enough money to cover benefits, filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to take over Sears pension plans. The agency has estimated that the plans, which cover 90,000 people, are underfunded by about $1.4 billion. It is a member of the unsecured creditors committee but added an independent objection to the sale to Lampert. Sears gave the pension guarantee fund an interest in intellectual property related to the Kenmore appliance and DieHard auto products plans to protect the guarantee fund if Sears finances deteriorated. A sale to ESL would leave those brands under ESLs control and weaken those protections, according to the guarantee fund. What happens next? If the judge signs off on the sale, Lampert and ESL have said they believe the company can be profitable, but have shared few specifics of their plan to right the ship. In a court filing Friday, ESL said the company would be able to make more investments in new initiatives and get better terms with vendors after shedding debt and pension obligations. ESL also said it expected to continue pursuing a strategy Sears tested involving smaller stores focused on profitable categories, such as appliances. Advertisement READ MORE ON SEARS: Additional Tribune coverage of the iconic retailer It will also emerge with fewer, but more profitable stores. But analysts said its not clear that shrinking will be enough to get Sears back to profitability, since it has already closed stores and cut costs while losing more than $11 billion since 2011. At the time of the retailers bankruptcy filing in October, it had 68,000 employees and 687 Sears and Kmart stores, down from 178,000 workers and 1,672 stores in January 2016. If the sale fails to win the courts approval, Hoffman Estates-based Sears would find itself back on the brink of liquidation. In the court filing naming ESL the bankruptcy auction winner, Sears did not appear to designate a runner-up whose bid would be selected if the sale to ESL fell through. However, ESL is the only bidder interested keeping the business going. Advertisement lzumbach@chicagotribune.com Twitter @laurenzumbach NEW YORK (AP) Facebook, trudging through its awkward teenage years, is turning 15 on Monday. Launched in 2004 as "TheFacebook," the service was originally intended only for Harvard students. It's now a massive global business that connects some 2.3 billion users. It was born in an era of desktop computers, years before the iPhone, and ran no ads. At the time it was impossible to imagine that someday countries like Russia and Iran would try to use it for sophisticated information operations in order to influence elections around the world. In 2004, CEO Mark Zuckerberg's biggest problem may have been almost getting kicked out of Harvard. Zuckerberg's 2019 worries include the threat of government regulation of the empire he has built and the gnawing possibility that despite its stated lofty goals around connecting people and building community, Facebook may not be good for the world. Today, it's hard to take a subway in New York or a tram in Budapest, Hungary without overhearing the word "Facebook" or "Instagram" in conversation or seeing their apps open on passenger phones. The social network has transformed the world, for better and for worse, and its effect will be debated for years. Here are some numbers that give an idea of Facebook's past, present and future: Number of monthly users as of Dec. 31, 2018: 2.32 billion Number of daily users as of this date: 1.5 billion Number of people in the world with internet access: 3.9 billion Year Facebook reached 1 billion users: 2012 Number of users affected by the Cambridge Analytica data-mining scandal: up to 87 million 2018 revenue: $55 billion 2018 profit: $22 billion Number of employees in 2018: 35,587 Number of employees in 2004: About 7 Year the iPhone launched: 2007 Year Facebook launched its iPhone app: 2008 Year Facebook bought Instagram: 2012 Money it paid to buy it: $1 billion Money it paid to buy WhatsApp a year later: $19 billion Amount Facebook spent lobbying the U.S. government in 2018: $12.6 million Amount it spent lobbying the U.S. government in 2010: $259,507 Initial public offering stock price on May 18, 2012: $38 Lowest stock price, reached on Sept. 4, 2012: $17.55 Highest stock price, reached on July 25, 2018: $218.62 Market value Facebook lost the next day , a stock market record: $119 billion Kuwait's GDP: $120 billion Mark Zuckerberg's net worth as of Friday: $62.4 billion Date he said the idea that fake news on Facebook influenced elections was "pretty crazy": Nov. 10, 2016 Date he wrote on Facebook he regrets saying that: Sept. 27, 2017 Number of hours Zuckerberg testified before Congress in April 2018 on election interference, privacy and other issues: 10 Number of followers he has on Facebook: 119 million Number of kids he has: 2 Sources: Facebook, International Telecommunications Union, Forbes, FactSet, lobbying disclosure forms Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi says reporters from the Samoa Observer will get special treatment courtesy of questions sent to his Office and getting a written response. During his recent weekly media programme, the Prime Minister insisted that questions are sent to his office. Early in the week the Prime Minister has a one-on-one interview with TV1 and Talamua Media separately and does a live interview on 2AP on Thursday followed by other media representatives. Previously, there was a one-on-one for the Samoa Observer following the 2AP programme, but that arrangement was scrapped last year. When the Prime Minister was asked why Samoa Observer reporters are not permitted to ask questions during the weekly press programme, he said: You guys are special because then it will take me time to write it. The reporters did not leave the Office of the Prime Minister until the conclusion of the weekly media programme and interviews with the other media outlets. This newspaper then put it to the P.M. that he was being unfair refusing to take questions from the Samoa Observer, he replied: You should be thankful that I did not remove you from my office. You are sitting in listening to other media questions, then tomorrow it will be printed in your newspaper! He then described the special arrangement as treatment of the century, and when pressed by this newspaper on his decision being unfair, he said Samoa Observer reporters were his favourites. No, look at it from the positive side, you are the only one that you will put down in writing what you want and all my staff will work on it 24 hours to produce the most complete reply. You are my favourites (referring to the reporters) and you see me because I like you, he added. Last week Samoa Observer reporter Sapeer Mayron sent a list of questions to the Office of the Prime Minister, as per his instructions. The Government Press Secretariat responded after seven days. The questions and answers are published below: Q.1: Can you please explain your comment that you would blow up petitions against the Electoral Constituencies Bill 2018? What does that mean? PM: The comment was a figure of speech, a simple matter for a journalist of Samoan roots with some depth of our cultural knowledge. It is one of the oldest and most popular sayings or tactics used by Samoan matais to emphasise the importance of an issue. It was literally blown out of proportion and deliberately sensationalised as usual by the Observer for the sake of a dramatic headline to sell their paper. The Electoral Constituencies Bill 2018 is the last phase of the long line of many, many electoral reforms initiated by the HRPP government for the close to 4 decades ago. Since the HRPP came into office, respective Electoral Commission of Inquiries were established to review the electoral processes after every General Elections to minimise and remove any corrupt practices observed during the election. But as we all know while government does not condone corrupt and illegal electoral practices before, during and after general elections, candidates always seem to be creative in all kinds of tricks to win. Q.2: Regarding the potential establishment of a three tier court, what are the advantages and disadvantages to having such a court system in place of the current one? PM: The Press Secretariat has issued a press release to this effect and the benefits are quite obvious e.g. It protects the rights of all Samoans today and future generations to come. The Bill is also posted on the Parliament of Samoas official website http://www.palemene.ws in both Samoan and English languages for anyone who is interested to read and understand. Q.3: The national airline has signed a dry lease for a new aircraft. How does Samoa Airways intend to finance the aircraft? Can you give us an indication of the financial performance of the company, and when will you be in a position to share financial reports with the public? PM: The Samoa Airways will finance its proposed Boeing Max 900 the same way the Airline financed the first Boeing 737-800. On its financial reports, the Board will issue its own reports when its Accounts are audited. It is a normal process with all kinds of businesses. Q.4: As the chair of the Samoa Rugby Union, what comment do you have about the passing of a young man suffering head injuries at a rugby game on Saturday? Is rugby safe enough to play, and is the Samoa Rugby Union well equipped and well-funded enough to protect players from the repercussions of injury? Especially as the Red Cross was absent for this game (unlike others). Does SRU properly insure players or ensure they are insured? PM: It is a very sad and unfortunate incident. I note, the SRUs Chief Executive Officer has already commented on this issue which was published by your newspaper. The CEO, as you should know deals more with matters of details you raised. Q.5: Two more prisoners escaped Tafaigata prison this week. Why does this recurring issue happen and what will you do to prevent it going forward, to protect citizens not only in the village area but across Samoa? Furthermore - when will prisoners be relocated to the new prison site, is there a date set? And what has been planned for the site at Tafaigata? It has been put to the Observer there are proposals for a Zoo AND a Police Academy - which is it? PM: I have been informed that public alerts were immediately issued by prison and police officials to warn the public once the two prisoners were discovered missing. Better security is the reasons for the new Tanumalala prison which should open for use this year. A Police Academy is a government project. The proposed Zoo is a private project. When these projects finally take off, a release will be issued. Q.6: As the Minister of Police, what comments do you have regarding the police commissioner and media team being uncommunicative with media? They routinely decline requests for comments, which is their responsibility. The Police Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner must be more available to media as they are the only people with clearance to comment to media, but barely make themselves available to do so. PM: There is a long standing policy for the appropriate authorities from CEOs to Cabinet Ministers to respond to media inquiries in a timely fashion. However like the media industry, police also has its own code of ethics and due process when it comes to the release of information to the media. Both the Commissioner and his Deputy are highly qualified professionals and I trust their judgment to deal with any media inquiries appropriately. The two top law officials at times are not readily available as they have more pressing matters pertaining to the safety and security of the country to deal with rather than to assist in writing your ready-made articles to be published every week. As in any business public relation is very important. Your usual style of asking for information to be used by you to ridicule the source does not help. Then you wonder why CEOs avoid wasting their time when they have more important things to do. Always remember that the Government also issues what we give you on our own websites to ensure the readers also have access to Governments releases because you only publish little of what we release and leave out what reflects on your papers bad practices. On that note, I again reiterate an earlier suggestion for media personnel to use the Courts as a credible source of information since that is where all the evidence and investigation findings supporting the charges will be made public. I think the media at times are spoiled and are expecting to be spoon-fed by government. Q.7: Lastly, when will Parliament move into the new Maota Fono at Mulinuu? What delays have occurred to mean parliament cannot begin there, despite the architects assuring readers in November the building would be ready by Christmas. PM: As soon as the new Parliament Building is ready to be dedicated, the Samoa Observer will be the first to know. Members of Samoas private sector have expressed concern with the changes in capital gains tax rules and warn that it could remove fuel from the engine of growth. Last week, the Ministry for Revenue (MfR) presented proposed changes to the capital gains tax regulations to the Samoa Chamber of Commerce, saying while changes have been approved by Cabinet but they are not set in stone. A draft bill is yet to be written and presented to Parliament, another key step in changing any legislation. As consultations continue, the proposed changes have not been made available to media for publication. The Ministrys assistant chief executive officer for the policy division, Theresa Amosa, gave the presentation, saying the private sector are welcome to make submissions to the Ministry before a draft bill is written. Today, capital gains are taxed at 10 per cent if the property was sold within the first 12 months of ownership, at 27 per cent if sold in the first three years, and not taxed if sold after three years of ownership. Levine Siemu, a hardware store manager, said he is against the changes being proposed and is of the view that capital gains taxes are not appropriate for Samoa. It shouldnt be done in Samoa, there are no rich people over here, he said. The reason we are selling our assets is because we have to pay our loans, running out of business, so you have to sell some of your assets. If you have to pay tax on that youre not going to make money. The government is trying to collect taxes from every bits and pieces, its really uncomfortable for a lot of people in Samoa. Rather, Mr Siemu said he would happily see low introductory tax rates that might eventually be increased over several years. He said he would be channelling his concerns through the Chamber to the Ministry. We need to get our people used to that kind of tax. Chief executive of Natural Foods International, Papalii Grant Percival, also disagreed with the proposed tax rate, saying it would be an economic destruction tool instead of a development tool. Capital gains taxes on all assets sold could discourage long term investment in Samoa, he added. Not only that, but the tax affects a minute proportion of Samoan people. According to Papalii, freehold land in private ownership accounts for just eight per cent of the country. Its the piece of the market they always talk about as being the engine of growth, Papalii said, referring to the Governments description of the private sector. When you keep removing the fuel from the engine of growth, what happens to the engine of growth? It stutters, and its been stuttering for a few years now. A Government report clearly stating the division of land between customary, freehold and public land is the State of the Environment Report from 2006. It states government land accounts for 16 per cent of land, which includes 4 per cent of land registered under the Western Samoa Trust Estates Corporation (WSTEC), which in some reports is considered freehold land, hence the discrepancy. Other reports suggest the number is closer to 15 per cent. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) are in the process of surveying Samoa to have an updated, accurate figure, an MNRE spokesperson said. Papalii said in other countries, governments assist their growing private sector and rural communities, not tax them, and he wants to see Samoa doing the same. A review of capital gains tax has been ongoing since several changes were made in 2017 to the 1989 legislation. The tax applies only to assets purchased after December 31, 1989, the year the legislation was first introduced in Samoa. For more information on the proposed changes to capital gains taxes, contact the policy division of the Ministry on 21561. Another new era in the history of the health sector in Samoa started last week. With Parliament passing the law to merge the National Health Services and the Ministry of Health, Samoa in a sense is back to square one. We say this because before the Government spent several millions of tala to separate the entities more than 10 years ago, everything was under the one umbrella of the Ministry of Health. So what happened? In short and according to Prime Minister Dr. Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi in Parliament last week, the decision to separate and then re-merge the bodies proves that theory is one thing and practicality is quite another. When the issue of separation was discussed, Tuilaepa said it looked quite attractive on paper, and the consultants who offered the recommendation were confident that the separation was working fine elsewhere and therefore it should be the same in Samoa. The result is quite obvious isnt it? We dont need to tell you what happened. Suffice to say if it were successful, we wouldnt be having this discussion today. Which means the mere fact weve gone back to square one is quite a telling indication that it was a big failure, and a fat waste of millions of tala at that too. So where to from now? And what are we to expect? Well on the Sunday Samoan, an interesting letter to the editor was published on page 13 under the headline Reformed Ministry of Health needs to return to basics. Written by one Johnny Cash, it offered excellent insights on the merger that is worth repeating. No doubt the reformed MOH has a plateful of health problems to deal with, not the least being non-communicable diseases which is bankrupting the country diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and cancer being the leading causes of illness and death, the letter reads. The reformed MOH needs to return to the basics and hopefully the new top-level reshuffle of service delivery will attempt to address the fact that the major contributors to these serious health problems are obesity, sugary drinks, smoking and inactivity. The split of the service arm of the MOH into curative and public health and the revival of the Womens Village Committee will in my opinion go a long way to address these problems. The key to effect these important changes are the workers good people at the top and a strong, robust and well trained health workforce particularly the doctors and nurses. Good luck! Wonderful thoughts and good luck is certainly needed. This is especially after the report by the Commission of Inquiry, which was appointed by Cabinet to review the merger, highlighted the sorry state of affairs in there. Weve heard stories about the power struggle between personalities and senior figures in the sector for a long time, but what we knew was more or less scratching the surface type of stuff. We did not know the sector was in a state of warfare. Fuelling the warfare is the strained relationship between the doctors and nurses. 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 reads. The Commission strongly recommends the conduct of a formal process of reconciliation between the leaders of the warring occupational groups. (There is also) a need for a nationwide resetting of health sector goals where the best interests of patients and the needs of the public, dictate the form of health administration we have, (and not groups of privileged self- centered office bound jet setting combatants), whilst the vast majority of ill- treated underpaid staff continue to work hard and do the best with what they have, whilst the war rages above and around them. The report said a lot more but we will stop here. You get the picture though. Now last week, another story titled Minister optimistic as new era in health services begins, was published. This time, it followed the first unification meeting where health workers were addressed by the Minister of Health, Tuitama Dr. Leao Tuitama. I have high hopes that this unification will help us work together to improve the health care for the people of Samoa, Tuitama said. That is why I applaud the hard work carried out by everyone within the Ministry. The feeling is more of excitement than of doubt, mainly because we all know what we are stepping into, and it has been such a long time since we have planned this. The Ministers optimism is great. As for his claim that we all know what we are stepping into, we sure hope they do. So much money that should be spent on primary health care and saving lives have been wasted on these administrative decisions. The people responsible should be held accountable and made to pay for their expensive mistakes. Lets hope theyve got it right this time around. Or in the words of our letter writer Johnny Cash, good luck! In a shot in the arm for the Narendra Modi government, the British government on Monday approved the Vijay Mallya ' title=' extradition of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya '>extradition of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya to India where he is wanted in the Rs 9,000-crore Kingfisher Airlines loan default case. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday signed the order to extradite Mallya which has already been allowed by a lower court. Mallya has 14 days' time to appeal against his extradition in a higher court -- the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. A note issued by Press Officer Bethany Ditzel, citing a UK Home Office spokesperson, said: "On 3 February, the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India. "Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences. He has 14 days from today to apply for leave to appeal." India has welcomed the decision by the British government to extradite Mallya. "While we welcome the UK government's decision in the matter, we await an early completion of the legal process for his extradition," said a source in the Indian government, adding they have taken note of the decision of the British Home Secretary. Welcoming the development, the CBI officials in New Delhi hoped to bring Mallya back to India soon and said that the agency was always strong on facts and legally, it was confident while pursuing the extradition process. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took a dig at the opposition over the British government approving the extradition of Mallya, saying that they were rallying around the Saradha scamsters but the Modi government has cleared one more step for bringing back the fugitive liquor baron. "Modi government clears one more step to get Mallya extradited while opposition rallies around the Saradha scamsters," Jaitley, who is in the US for medical treatment, said in a tweet. Jaitley was referring to opposition parties supporting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her sit-in against the Centre over the CBI investigation into the Saradha scam case in the state, which involves the Kolkata Police Commissioner, among others. The decision of the British government gave the BJP bragging rights in the poll season with its leaders expected to tom-tom as a success during their speeches for the coming Lok Sabha elections. They are also expected to target the Congress which has often accuse the BJP leadership of not being successful in bringing back economic fugitives including Mallya. The Westminster Magistrates Court in the UK on December 10 gave the ruling to extradite Mallya following a prolonged litigation. Westminster Magistrates' Court Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot had then sent Mallya's case to the Home Secretary of State for a decision to be taken on whether to order his extradition. After the British Home Secretary's order, Mallya can move the Special Immigration Appeals Commission -- also known by the acronym SIAC -- which is a superior court of record in the United Kingdom established by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997. It deals with appeals from persons deported by the Home Secretary under various statutory powers, and usually related to matters of national security. SIAC also hears persons deprived of British citizenship under the British Nationality Act 1981 as amended by Section 4 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. An appellant is represented to the Commission by a special advocate who is a person vetted by the security service with controversy surrounding the use of secret evidence which only the judges and special advocates have access to. Mallya, 63, left India on March 2, 2016 after defaulting on loan amounting to Rs 9,000 crore he had taken for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines but he has repeatedly denied fleeing the country, saying he is ready to pay back the money he owed to the Indian banks. A consortium of 13 banks -- led by the State Bank of India (SBI) -- has been preparing to initiate loan recovery proceedings against him. The proceedings are on before the Mumbai Special Court against Mallya under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. Kingfisher began defaulting on loans in 2009-10. Late in 2017, India had filed extradition proceedings against Mallya which he contested. He is currently out on bail in London. On June 22, the Enforcement Directorate had moved the Special PMLA Court to declare Mallya a "fugitive economic offender" and confiscate all his properties, estimated at more than Rs 12,000 crore, making it the first such case of its kind under the new FEOA (Fugitive Economic Offender Act) law. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premier Diversified Holdings Inc. ("Premier" or the "Company") (TSXV: PDH) is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement offering (the "Offering") of units of the Company ("Units") of up to 15,000,000 Units at $0.05 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $750,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share ("Share") and one share purchase warrant ("Warrant") exercisable to purchase one additional Share at $0.05 for five years from the date of issue. There is no minimum Offering amount required to close, and the Offering may be closed in tranches. The first closing is expected to occur on or about February 25, 2019. The Units will be issued in reliance on exemptions from the prospectus and registration requirements contained in the securities legislation in the Province of British Columbia and in the jurisdiction of residency of each investor. The Shares will be subject to a hold period. No finder's fees or commissions will be paid in connection with the Offering. The Offering is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. The net proceeds of the Offering will be used for general working capital and may be used to fund the acquisition of an interest in a public or private entity. The Issuer may, in its discretion, determine to use the proceeds for other business purposes as identified by the board of directors and management. Questions regarding the private placement may be directed to the CEO, Sanjeev Parsad, at sparsad@pdh-inc.com ; questions regarding subscription information and subscriptions may be directed to the Corporate Secretary at mdavidson@pdh-inc.com . About Premier Diversified Holdings Inc. Premier Diversified Holdings Inc. participates in diversified industries through its acquisitions of securities and/or assets of public and private entities which it believes have potential for significant returns. It may act as a holding company (either directly or through a subsidiary) and may participate in management of subsidiary entities to varying degrees. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Sanjeev Parsad" Sanjeev Parsad President, CEO and Director Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This 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 jurisdictions in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Any offering made will be pursuant to available prospectus exemptions and restricted to persons to whom the securities may be sold in accordance with the laws of such jurisdictions, and by persons permitted to sell the securities in accordance with the laws of such jurisdictions. Further information regarding the Company can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Not for dissemination in the United States of America. Legal Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are indicated expectations or intentions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include that Premier can close a private placement of up to $750,000, that the first tranche of the Offering will close on or around February 15, 2019, that no finder's fees or commissions will be paid in relation to the Offering, and that the net proceeds of the Offering will be used as stated in this news release. Factors that could cause actual results to be materially different include but are not limited to the following: that we may not be able to raise sufficient capital to accomplish our intentions and that even if we do close the maximum private placement, capital alone may not be sufficient for us to grow our business. Growth depends on several factors including market conditions. Investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements. It is not our policy to update forward looking statements. COffe72/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- A new leak of three months worth of President Donald Trump's daily schedules has provoked anger among top White House aides and allies of the president, echoing the early days of Trump's presidency during which leaks seemed to plague the administration on a near-daily basis. Axios reported Sunday on the series of schedules provided by "a White House source," which revealed according to their analysis that the president spends "around 60% of his scheduled time over the past 3 months in unstructured "Executive Time."" The internal schedules offered significantly more insight into the president's daily activities compared to the 'Daily Press Guidance' provided to the public. The White House did not dispute the authenticity of the schedules and instead set their sights on publicly trashing the official responsible for the leak. "What a disgraceful breach of trust to leak schedules," Director of Oval Office Operations Madeleine Westerhout wrote on Twitter Sunday. "What these dont show are the hundreds of calls and meetings [President Trump] takes everyday. This [president] is working harder for the American people than anyone in recent history." In a statement to Axios, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the schedules showed that "President Trump has a different leadership style than his predecessors and the results speak for themselves." Sanders declined to comment further on the story and whether the White House planned to mount an internal investigation similar to previous major leaks. Several conservatives and allies of the president expressed similar concern over the leak and also defended the president from accusations that the unstructured time in his schedule proves he's not productive. The 'Executive Time' moniker grew to prominence over a year ago following a similar leak of internal schedules, which showed the blocks of time spent by the president away from the Oval Office often lined up with his habit of tuning in to cable news and tweeting out observations or grievances. "Disgusting that someone would leak this," tweeted Marc Thiessen, an AEI fellow and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. "An appalling breach of trust." "The distortions of the hate Trump movement are never more obvious than in the reaction to the President's leaked schedule," Trump ally Newt Gingrich said. Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt went as far to suggest that the leak could be dangerous to national security. The controversy mirrored previous major leaks that roiled the White House, including the publishing of the president's call transcripts with the leaders of Mexico and Australia in 2017 and details of the president's private conversation with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in the Oval Office following FBI Director James Comey's firing. Such episodes have fueled the belief among the president and many supporters of the existence of a wider 'deep state' embedded in his presidency aiming to undermine or embarrass him in order to thwart his agenda. The White House in the past has repeatedly said it was working to root out such officials through internal investigations, including the author of an anonymous op-ed posted in the New York Times by an official who identified themselves as a member of the "Resistance inside the Trump Administration." Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. New CBI chief Rishi Kumar Shukla takes charge Newly appointed Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief Rishi Kumar Shukla took charge of the probe agency on Monday. Shukla, 59, took over the reigns as the agency clashed with the Kolkata Police on Sunday over questioning of its Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar over a ponzi scheme scam. The confrontation has led to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee staging a sit-in protest in Kolkata. A 1983-batch IPS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, Shukla was appointed as the 28th Director General of Police (DGP) of Madhya Pradesh on June 30, 2016. But he was shifted to the post of Police Housing Corporation chief last week by the state's new Congress regime. His appointment comes after Alok Verma was removed on January 10 unceremoniously from the post following his bitter feud with Special Director Rakesh Asthana. By SA Commercial Prop News The power utilitys Group Chief Executive Phakamani Hadebe said significant progress has been made in securing funding. The debt-laden Eskom, which is asking for a 15% tariff increase over the next three years, has concluded a R15 billion loan facility with a consortium of local and international banks. The government guaranteed facility will form part of the financing of Eskoms current capital expenditure programme. The power utilitys Group Chief Executive Phakamani Hadebe said significant progress has been made in securing funding. We have made significant progress in transitioning the business and securing funding. We are pleased that lenders have elected to continue partnering with Eskom on our journey to complete the capital expansion programme for the benefit of South Africas economy, said Hadebe on Friday. He said it is encouraging to note that financial markets continue to view the utility in a positive light as the company strives towards financial and operational sustainability. Meanwhile, general manager of treasury at the utility, Andre Pillay, said the conclusion of the loan facility will ensure that liquidity requirements are fulfilled timeously. To date we have raised and secured approximately 95% of the R72 billion funding requirement for financial year 18/19; the remaining 5% will be raised through various funding sources including domestic debt capital markets. The stable liquidity position places us in a position to focus on securing funding for the next financial year (financial year 19/20 of which 30% has already been secured), he said. Eskom is asking for a 15% tariff increase over the next three years In January, the power utility made a desperate plea for higher Eskom tariffs over the next three years, as well as for more money from the government, while apologising to SA for the mess the utility is in. Hadebe was speaking in Cape Town at public hearings held by the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) to interrogate Eskoms application for a 15% tariff increase beginning in 2019-2020. The application needs to meet Nersas approval before it can be applied to customers. Eskom is in a dire financial situation, with a R419bn debt it is unable to service from the revenue it earns. It costs more for it to generate electricity than it recoups from tariffs due to a high cost base, which Nersa believes should not be made the burden of the South African public. By SA Commercial Prop News African Development Bank president Donald Kaberuka said the African growth story is only partly a commodity story its also about FDI (foreign direct investment), private equity, remittances and urbanisation. Sub-Saharan Africa can meet growth expectations of more than 6% this year, despite a slowdown in China, but the outlook for North Africa is more uncertain, the president of the African Development Bank said on Friday. The bank forecasts growth of 5.3% across Africa this year and 6.2% in sub-Saharan Africa. Slower growth in China has hit prices of commodities, sub-Saharan Africas key export. But the regions economy has diversified, Donald Kaberuka told Reuters news agency in interviews. "The African growth story is only partly a commodity story its also about FDI (foreign direct investment), private equity, remittances, urbanisation," Mr Kaberuka said. "The commodity story only explains maybe a third of what is happening." Growth expectations in North Africa were less clear, he said. The Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 continue to take a toll on political stability in several countries, leading to overall growth levels of about 3.2%-3.5%. "Algeria and Morocco are holding up quite well," he said. "Those countries could do anything in the region of 5.5% growth. Tunisia is beginning to stabilise our numbers are around 2.5%-3%. Egypt is much more complicated, around 2%, and as for Libya, I couldnt tell you." South Africas sluggish growth is holding back overall growth for sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Kaberuka added. Some countries could see double-digit growth gains this year, he said. Emerging markets have seen a heavy sell-off since the US Federal Reserve began to wind down its bond-buying programme, which had depressed US bond yields and fuelled demand for high-yielding risky assets. The move out of emerging markets has been accelerating in recent weeks. That has particularly hurt countries such as South Africa. Other African countries have been better insulated from the investor flight. "South Africa and Mauritius are different economies," Mr Kaberuka said. "These are open economies that are attracting a lot of portfolio flows." South Africa is one of the so-called "Fragile Five" economies heavily dependent on investor flows. Strikes by South African miners are also deterring investment, Mr Kaberuka said. "If they could address the issues around the political economy of the mining sector, labour relations, that would be a huge contribution to providing clarity to investors," he said. South African President Jacob Zuma told mining companies on Thursday to improve worker housing this year to meet a government deadline, saying Africas largest economy could not afford more social unrest in the sector. Other countries are seeing contagion from the emerging-market crisis as well. Ghanas currency, the cedi, has been hitting record lows. Nigeria, an investor darling last year, is now seeing currency and stock market outflows. Ghana and Nigeria are among several African countries that have issued Eurobonds in the past two years, often to huge demand. "The countries which have been doing debut bonds will see perhaps a change in the costs of borrowing," Mr Kaberuka said. "That was expected." Those countries with the strongest economies would weather the emerging-market storm best, he said. "What matters most is the fundamentals the budget, balance of payments. These are weaker than they were before Lehman Brothers levels of debt have increased, reserves have come down but they are in green territory." Parliament listens to clarification from Minister of Information, discusses several topics [04/February/2019] SANAA, Feb. 4 (Saba) - The Parliament on Monday continued to hold its meetings under the chairmanship of its speaker, Yahya al-Ra'i. At the meeting, al-Ra'i welcomed Minister of Information, Daifallah al-Shami. He pointed out to the letter addressed by the parliament to him to attend to the session to provide clarification on the reason of delaying of broadcasting the news of the parliament's session through the official newsletters and non-compliance with the norms and protocols included in the Constitution and law. Al-Ra'i pointed out that coverage of the news and events of the parliament should be the priority after the covering of news of the Supreme Political Council. He pointed out that the news of the parliament were not published today in the newspaper Al-Thawra. For his part, the Minister of Information expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Speaker of the parliament, his deputy and its members for their understanding and transparency embodied by the parliament in the treatment and rectification of any error may occur unintentionally. He pointed out that errors may occur, but the most important is to work to avoid them and correct them .. The Information Minister welcomed the criticisms to correct media work in the framework of constructive criticism. He pointed to the role played by the media to face of aggression coalition's attack on Yemen through covering the news of the fronts in view of the size and magnitude of the sacrifices made by the heroes of the army, supported by popular forces, to foil the barbaric attack of the US-backed saudi-led aggression coalition against our country during the last period. The Minister of Information the Ministry's commitment to the proposal put forward by the President of parliament regarding the broadcast of parliament's news after covering the news of Supreme Political Council and then the fronts. At the session, the People's Deputies stressed in their discussions the need for the official media to cover the news of the legislative authority according to what is practiced, recognized in the protocols and stipulated by the law and Constitution. The people's deputies also expressed thanks and appreciation for the role played by the national media to expose the Zionist media funded by the countries of the aggression coalition. They stressed that all state authorities represent a single front against the forces of oppression and aggression. The Parliament listened to the letter of the President of the Supreme Political Council on the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the parliament agreed to refer the matter to the Committee for further clarification and further discussions and clarifications. The parliament also listened to the letter addressed by Minister of State for Parliamentary and Shura Council Affairs, Dr. Ali Abu Hulika, on the inclusion of the draft law establishing the fund for the support and development of public education provided by the Government of National Salvation. It has approved the presence of the competent Minister to submit the draft to the parliament at a future meeting. At this session, the Parliament heard the Government's letter on the withdrawal of the draft law on medicine and pharmacy to make important amendments to it in line with current legislation. It approved the attendance of the Minister of Public Health and Population to clarify the draft law. The parliament reviewed the letter of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on the Government's commitment to implement the recommendations of the parliament, which was committed in the meeting of the parliament held on 12/12/2018, which discussed the report of the Development Committee, oil and mineral wealth on its follow-up actions taken by the government to address the crisis Petroleum products and household gas. The parliament agreed to refer the matter to the Development Committee, oil and mineral wealth. The parliament had started its session by reviewing its previous minutes and approved it and will continue to hold its meetings on Tuesday. AA Saba The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced that Lakewood, Calif. firm Q's American Best Trading Inc. is recalling approximately 1,008 pounds of imported Siluriformes fish products that were not presented for import re-inspection into the U.S. This problem was discovered on January 29, 2019 during FSIS surveillance activities of imported products at the distributor facility. Meanwhile, there are no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. The frozen Siluriformes, specifically Sheat fish, items were imported from Vietnam on December 25, 2018 and were shipped to retail locations in California. The product subject to recall include 14-oz. clear bag packages containing "Q'S AMERICAN BEST AB CA TREN KET Sheat fish" For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News After a weak start, the Switzerland stock market edged higher on Monday, and despite moving along the unchanged line amid alternate bouts of buying and selling, ended the session on a positive note. Activity was mostly stock specific with earnings reports and other corporate news setting the trend. The benchmark SMI ended up 15.12 points, or 0.17%, at 9,011.48. The index scaled a low of 8,950.74 and a high of 9,015.64 in the session. On Friday, the SMI ended up 27.09 points, or 0.3%, at 8,996.36. Lonza Group shares gained nearly 2%, Roche Holding ended 1.1% up and Novartis advanced by about 1%. Julius Baer ended 4.4% down after the bank's earnings fell short of expectations. Julius Baer reported net profit of CHF 735 million for 2018, up 4% over previous year. Earnings per share was up 4% at CHF 3.37 in 2018. Bernhard Hodler, Chief Executive Officer of Julius Baer Group Ltd., said the bank ended the year with stable profit and robust new money growth despite a challenging environment. He added that the bank made strategic growth investments and has initiated a structural cost reduction programme to absorb revenue fluctuations from potential market headwinds over the short to medium term. Swisscom shares declined by about 2.4% and UBS Group ended nearly 1% down. The in Europe ended mixed today. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended up 0.06%. Among major markets in the region, France and Germany ended lower, with their benchmarks CAC 40 and DAX declining by 0.38% and 0.04%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE ended up 0.2%. Investors treaded cautiously as they looked ahead to fresh developments on Brexit and U.S.-China trade issues. After negotiations between the two largest economies in the world ended without any breakthrough, markets now await the upcoming visit of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to China during the middle of this month for the next round of talks. Meanwhile, on the Brexit front, discussions on an alternate arrangement to the Irish backstop have begun today between British MPs and Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay. Prime Minister Theresa May is scheduled to travel to Northern Ireland on Tuesday to reassure businsses that the government is committed to maintaining an open border after Brexit. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com No City Limits Conference features National Leaders on Poverty and Renewed Strategic Vision from Robin Hood CEO $25 Million Mobility LABs National Partnership Unveiled NEW YORK, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today leaders from across the spectrum in the fight against poverty came together at Robin Hoods annual thought leadership conference No City Limits: Reimagining the Poverty Fight 2019 to reaffirm the need and commitment to effectively support people in the fight against poverty, focusing on this years theme: Mobility from Poverty: Moving from Ideas to Action. During the conference, Robin Hood announced a new $25 million national partner initiative, new data from Poverty Tracker and renewed strategic vision to accelerate the rate of sustainably moving people out of poverty. Robin Hood CEO Wes Moore opened the conference by sharing details of a year-long strategic planning process culminating in a renewed strategic vision and a new path forward for the organization. This years conference theme reflects Robin Hoods new strategic vision: to lift households in New York City from poverty measurably and sustainably. Robin Hoods Board of Directors unanimously approved this strategic focus this past fall, after a year-long process launched to assess our impact given the current demands of this work that involved feedback from communities, community partners, data, and diverse leaders and experts in academia, philanthropy, nonprofits, government, and more. "We understand that philanthropy has a critical role to play in this fight. We also understand that the current state of poverty in our society is not because philanthropy hasn't done its job. The current role and the current state of poverty in our society is not because community partners and those on the ground haven't done their jobs," said Wes Moore, CEO of Robin Hood. "We are here because of the systemic, structural, and policy inequalities that exist. We are here because we have policies that are in place that are putting people and keeping people in poverty." Data from Robin Hoods Poverty Tracker with Columbia University shows povertys pervasiveness: 42 percent of New Yorkers more than twice the poverty rate in New York City experienced poverty at some point over the past three years. Robin Hood will approach its work with a focus on lifting households in New York City from poverty measurably and sustainably, to a point where households are less likely to fall back into poverty. Robin Hood will further supplement its impact by leveraging public policy, partnership, and narrative change. Robin Hood will focus on importing and exporting effective interventions, addressing the narratives that hold back people in poverty, creating initiatives to explore solutions across the spectrum, and address the policies preventing people from moving out of poverty. Our work with our community partners is the cornerstone of everything we do, and that will not change, said Moore. Were going to support our impactful grants and our rigorous metrics with a focus on getting families in New York City to a point where their chances of slipping back into poverty are greatly diminished, and were going to work in partnership with communities to do it. As part of the new areas of focus, Robin Hood announced Mobility Learning and Action Bets, or Mobility LABs, a pioneering $25 million, four-year initiative to spur the development of new solutions to sustainably lift families out of poverty, and to promote dynamic leaders who will aim to change the national conversation around social and economic mobility. Mobility LABs will work in partnership with major donors, including The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, and Tipping Point Community, with additional support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Robin Hood has been laying the groundwork for this strategic progression. In recent months, three key leadership roles have been added to the team, including Chief Public Policy Officer Jason Cone; Managing Director for Narrative Change & National Initiatives Nisha Patel; and Samantha Tweedy, Chief Partnership and Impact Officer. Informing Robin Hoods work is the Poverty Tracker, a groundbreaking study of disadvantage in New York City, conducted in partnership with Columbia University starting in 2012. Poverty Tracker checks in with the same 4,000 households quarter after quarter tracking the dynamics of income poverty, material hardship, health problems, and other forms of economic and social well being. According to new data shared at the conference: New Yorkers by and large perceive the economy as unfair and opportunity to be limited, including childrens chances of outperforming their parents. New Yorkers overwhelmingly believe that, in the United States, not everyone has an equal chance, and a majority think that the economic system is unfair. 71 percent of New Yorkers report that in this country we do not give everyone an equal chance When asked what drives chances of achieving success, New Yorkers cited having a good education, hard work, and knowing the right people. Despite this relatively gloomy outlook on the state of affairs in the country, most New Yorkers remain optimistic about their own chances of seeing their situation improve. Todays No City Limits conference was attended by 250 people with speakers and panelists including Sheldon Danziger, president of the Russell Sage Foundation and Wes Moore, CEO of Robin Hood; Geoffrey Canada, president of Harlem Childrens Zone; Raj Chetty, Harvard University professor and Opportunity Insight founder; Katie Couric, award-winning journalist and podcast host; Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of the Advancement Project; Jennifer L. Eberhardt, professor, Department of Psychology, Stanford University; Kaya Henderson, Head of Community Impact, Teach for All; Van Jones, activist and host of The Van Jones Show, CNN; John King, president and CEO of The Education Trust; Nick Kristof, New York Times op-ed columnist; Daniel Lurie, CEO and founder of Tipping Point Community; Heather McGhee, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Demos; Rachel Garbow Monroe, president and CEO of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation; Soledad OBrien, founder and CEO of Starfish Media Group; Katherine ORegan, Professor of Public Policy and Planning, NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, Faculty Director, NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy; John Ridley, filmmaker; Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color Of Change; Jim Shelton, partner, Amandla Enterprises, entrepreneur in residence, Blue Meridian; Steve Stoute, founder and CEO of Translation and UnitedMasters; Marta Tienda, Princeton University, Department of Sociology and Woodrow Wilson School; Mayor Michael Tubbs of Stockton, California; and Jane Waldfogel, Compton Foundation Centennial professor for the Prevention of Childrens and Youth Problems, Columbia University, co-director of the Columbia Population Research Center. Photos will be available for download here after the conclusion of the conference. Follow No City Limits on Twitter with the hashtag #NoCityLimits and #MobilityFromPoverty and on Robin Hoods Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . No City Limits: Reimagining the Poverty Fight 2019 is sponsored by Capital One. About Robin Hood Founded in 1988, Robin Hood finds, fuels, and creates the most impactful and scalable solutions lifting families out of poverty in New York City, with models that can work across the country. Robin Hood invests roughly $120 million annually to provide legal services, housing, meals, workforce development training, education programs, and more to families in poverty in New York City. Robin Hood tracks every program with rigorous metrics. www.robinhood.org Many European countries, including France, Germany, Spain, and the U.K., officially recognized Venezuela's self-declared president Juan Guaido after President Nicolas Maduro dismissed the European Union's Sunday deadline to call a snap election. The European Union and Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain had given an ultimatum to Maduro to declare elections by February 3. The United States was the fist country to recognize the opposition leader as interim president. More than 20 governments have pledged their support to Guaido. Earlier in a TV interview , Maduro warned US President Donald Trump that he will counter attack if the US military intervened in the crisis as part of a "dirty" imperialist conspiracy to overthrow his government. "You are making mistakes that will leave your hands covered in blood and you will leave the presidency stained with blood," Maduro said in an interview broadcast on Sunday. "Why would you want a repeat of Vietnam?", he told Spanish journalist Jordi Evole. The Socialist leader rejected European calls for elections, saying that the next elections will be held only in 2024. "We don't accept ultimatums from anyone," he added. Maduro also warned of the possibility of civil war. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was the first leader to respond to this. "Nicolas Maduro has not called Presidential elections within 8 day limit we have set. So UK alongside European allies now recognises @jguaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held. Let's hope this takes us closer to ending humanitarian crisis," he said in a statement on Twitter Sunday. Meanwhile, anti-Maduro protests gained intensity in the weekend. Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of capital Caracas on Saturday to demand the exit of the authoritarian regime. Guaido, who is the President of Venezuela's National Assembly, said on Sunday that he would build an international coalition to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuelans. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. announced the indictment of 20-year-old Dawson Bakies for stealing the identities and funds of more than 50 victims across the United States in a sophisticated "SIM swapping" scheme executed from his Ohio home. Bakies is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with Identity Theft, Grand Larceny, Computer Tampering, and Scheme to Defraud, among other charges. "Today my Office is putting the small handful of sophisticated 'SIM Swappers' out there on notice," said District Attorney Vance. The filings in the court between October 2018 and December 2018 show that Bakies fraudulently ported the cell phone numbers of at least 50 individuals across the U.S. to multiple iPhones he possesses. It was noticed that he bypassed the authentication security to get access to online accounts. He did this by requesting the recovery codes to be sent to phone numbers connected to the online accounts. Bakie is alleged to have chosen people who are active in cryptocurrency, partly due to the difficulty in tracing the theft and transfer of cryptocurrency. He accessed 18 online accounts belonging to three Manhattan-based victims, including their Google accounts and cryptocurrency accounts, and changed the passwords so that victims cannot get back the password in control again. Bakies stole about $10,000 in cryptocurrency from three victims and further attempted to extort one of the victims by demanding a ransom to be paid in Bitcoin. "SIM swapping" or "SIM hijacking" is a growing crime in the telecommunications world that, in a few moments' time, can allow a thief to steal millions of dollars of an unsuspecting victim's assets. This can be done with little more than a persuasive plea for assistance, a willing telecommunications carrier representative, and an electronic impersonation of the victim. According to a report on krebsonsecurity.com, the U.S. State of California is said to be the hub of unauthorized "SIM swaps." The report says kids aged mainly between 19 and 22 are being able to steal millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies. SIM swapping attacks primarily target individuals who are visibly active in the cryptocurrency space, such as people working at cryptocurrency-focused companies, speakers at public conferences on blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies, and those openly talk on their crypto investments on social media. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Amid political turmoil in Venezuela, the government issued a decree establishing a legal framework for cryptocurrencies in the country. The elaborate decree, consisting 63 articles, has set rules for the purchase, sale, use, distribution, and exchange of cryptocurrencies and related products. It also made a registration system mandatory. One rule says heavy penalties, equivalent to 100 to 300 sovereign crypto assets, will be imposed for unlicensed crypto activities. Another rule stipulates imprisonment of up to three years and a fine equivalent of 50-100 sovereign crypto assets to those who have obtained, accessed, intercepted, interfered or used "information technologies related to the Integral System of Crypto Assets" without proper authorization. The "Constituent Decree on the Integral System of Crypto Assets" details audit procedures, penalties for non-compliance, and how mining equipment can be confiscated. The decree came into force as it was was published in the official gazette on January 31. The first section of the decree defines blockchain, digital mining, crypto asset, sovereign crypto asset, cryptography, user, and public price. Other sections explain the "structure of the Integral System of Crypto Assets", set rules for the new registration system, detail the audit and inspection procedures, discuss offenses and penalties, and describe administrative procedures. Sunacrip, which is the regulator of all crypto-related activities in Venezuela, has been empowered with enforcing the decree. Specifically, it will regulate the creation, issuance, organization, operation and use of crypto assets, and the operation of the exchange houses and other crypto asset financial services, as well as activities associated with digital mining. Potential cryptocurrency operators - firms and individuals - are required to register with Sunacrip. Non-compliance with the rules will attract confiscation of mining equipment and the suspension of license. As the all-powerful crypto currency market regulator, Sunacrip will reportedly wield the authority to monitor any commercial cryptocurrency platform in Venezuela. The Maduro administration has adopted Petro as Venezuela's national cryptocurrency to ease the country's economic crisis, and circumvent U.S.-led sanctions. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Canadian shares are likely to open with a negative bias on Monday amid worries about global growth and weak commodity prices. Investors may well be tracking quarterly earnings reports for direction. Concerns over U.S.-China trade disputes are expected to weigh as well. Trade negotiations between the two countries ended without concrete results last week, though both countries claimed progress after two days of "candid, specific and fruitful" discussions in Washington. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will travel to China in mid-February for the next round of talks, according to Xinhua. On Friday, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 34.29 points, or 0.22%, at 15,506.31. The index scaled a high of 15l568.93 and a low of 15,483.40 in the session. Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Monday, with investors reacting to upbeat U.S. jobs data and largely shrugging off worries over U.S.-China trade tensions. Investors also took weak service sector data from China in stride. The Chinese market remain closed for a week for the Spring Festival. Seoul were also closed for the Lunar New Year holidays. European stocks were exhibiting a mixed trend as the euphoria over stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data faded a little and investors awaited further developments on Brexit and the U.S.-China trade dispute. On the Brexit front, U.K. MPs will meet Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay today to discuss an alternative arrangement to the Irish backstop. Prime Minister Theresa May is scheduled to travel to Northern Ireland on Tuesday to reassure businsses that the government is committed to maintaining an open border after Brexit. In economic releases from Europe, Sentix research group said its investor sentiment index for the euro zone dropped to -3.7 in February from -1.5 in the previous month. The latest score marked the lowest level in more than four years. U.K. construction activity hit a 10-month low in January amid Brexit uncertainty, the latest survey report from Markit Economics showed. On U.S. economic front, data on factory orders for the month of November is due at 10:00 AM ET. In commodities, crude oil futures for March were down $0.51, or 0.91%, at $54.75 a barrel. Gold futures for April were down $6.80, or 0.51%, at $1,315.30 an ounce. Silver futures for March declining $0.231, or 1.45%, at $15.700 an ounce, while Copper futures for March were lower by $0.0125, or 0.5%, at $2.7605. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Ultimate Software Group Inc. (ULTI), a provider of human capital management or HCM solutions in the cloud, said Monday that it has agreed to be acquired by an investor group led by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman or H&F, for $331.50 per share in cash. The company's shares are gaining more than 17 percent in pre-market activity. The transaction represents an aggregate value of about $11 billion, after which Ultimate Software will operate as a privately held company. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2019. Under the terms of the agreement, all Ultimate stockholders of record will receive $331.50 in cash for each share of Ultimate's common stock held by them upon the closing of the transaction. This price represents a nearly 32 percent premium over Ultimate's volume-weighted average price during the 30 trading days ending February 1, 2019, and a premium to Ultimate's all-time high closing share price. Ultimate said its Board of Directors has unanimously approved this transaction and recommended that stockholders vote in favor of the transaction. Upon completion of the transaction, Ultimate will continue to operate under the leadership of CEO Scott Scherr and the existing senior management team. The privately-held company will be owned by an investor group led by Hellman & Friedman in partnership with significant investors Blackstone, GIC, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board or CPPIB, and other investors including JMI Equity. The company noted that the definitive agreement for the transaction includes a 50-day "go-shop" period that permits Ultimate Software's Board of Directors and financial advisor to actively initiate, solicit, and encourage alternative acquisition proposals, and potentially enter negotiations with other parties that make alternative acquisition proposals. Ultimate Software will have the right to terminate the merger agreement to accept a superior proposal subject to the terms and conditions of the merger agreement. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News U.K. stocks rose on Monday and the pound held steady against the euro as MPs meet Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay to discuss an alternative arrangement to the Irish backstop. Meanwhile, U.K. construction activity hit a 10-month low in January amid Brexit uncertainty, the latest survey report from Markit Economics showed today. Investors awaited further developments on the U.S.-China trade dispute following meetings in Washington last week. The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 19 points or 0.27 percent at 7,039 in opening deals after climbing 0.7 percent on Friday. Budget carrier Flybe Group soared over 11 percent after it agreed to demand from its largest shareholder to call a general meeting in aid of removing chairman Simon Laffin. Miner and commodities trade Glencore dropped 1 percent on reports that it is nearing a $500 million deal to buy iron ore from Brazil's Companhia Siderurgica Nacional. Anglo American shed 0.9 percent. India's Vedanta said that its foreign unit Cairn India Holdings' investment in Anglo American Plc met all governance requirements. Low-cost airline Ryanair Holdings slumped 4.7 percent after it posted a Q3 loss on higher revenues. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis Shares of Ryanair Holdings Plc (RYA.L,RYAAY) were losing around 5 percent in the early morning trading in London after the low-cost airline reported a loss in its third quarter, compared to prior year's profit due to weaker than expected air fares. Revenues, however, were higher. Further, for the month of January, Ryanair reported higher passenger traffic. Regarding Brexit, the company noted that the risk of a "no deal" Brexit remains worryingly high. The company said it has taken all necessary steps to protect Ryanair's in a no-deal environment. Over the next 12 months, Ryanair will move to a group structure, and Michael O'Leary will become Group CEO. A replacement CEO of Ryanair DAC, who will work alongside the CEOs of Laudamotion and Ryanair Sun, will be appointed later this year. The company noted that O'Leary has agreed a new 5 year contract as Group CEO, which secures his services for the group until at least July 2024. His agreement will allow him to guide the individual CEO's of Ryanair, Laudamotion and Ryanair Sun, the company noted. Regarding the results, O'Leary said, "While a 20m loss in Q3 was disappointing, we take comfort that this was entirely due to weaker than expected air fares so our customers are enjoying record low prices, which is good for current and future traffic growth. While ancillary revenues performed strongly, up 26 percent in Q3, this was offset by higher fuel, staff and EU261 costs." For the third quarter, loss attributable to equity holders of parent for the third-quarter was 66.1 million euros or 0.0580 euros per share, compared to profit of 105.6 million euros or 0.0885 euros per share in the prior year. Ryanair reported a net loss of 19.6 million euros, excluding Lauda. Quarterly revenue increased 9 percent to 1.53 billion euros from prior year's 1.41 billion euros. Revenues were up 1 percent per guest, due to a strong performance in ancillary revenue and increased traffic. Passenger traffic grew 8 percent to 32.7 million from 30.4 million last year. Load factor was flat at 96 percent. However, the strong traffic growth was offset by a 6 percent decline in average fares to under 30 euros due to excess winter capacity in Europe. Ancillary revenue climbed 26 percent to 557 million euros, offset by higher fuel, staff and EU261 costs. As announced on January 18, Ryanair's fiscal year 2019 profit guidance will be in a range of 1.0 billion euros - 1.1 billion euros. The outlook reflects the expected decline of around 7 percent in winter fares; Stronger traffic growth of 9 percent to 142 million; Stronger ancillary sales as more customers choose lower cost optional services; and slightly better than expected second-half unit cost performance, mainly lower unhedged oil prices. Separately, the company announced that its January total passenger traffic increased 11 percent to 10.3 million from 9.3 million, a year ago. Ryanair alone recorded 10.0 million customers, up 7 percent from the prior year level. Laudamotion carried 0.3 million passengers, for the month. Load factor was 91 percent for January. The company operated over 58,000 scheduled flights in the month with over 90 percent arriving on time. In London, Ryanair shares were trading at 10.90 euros, down 4.76 percent. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Professional kitchen specialist Rational AG (RTLLF.PK) reported preliminary sales revenues of 778 million euros in fiscal year 2018, represented a growth of 11 percent or 76 million euros from the prior year. The preliminary sales revenues met the Company's outlook, which was previously increased to a bandwith of 10 to 12 percent in the course of the year. The company noted that all regions around the world contributed to this positive development. North America, which realised a sales revenue increase of 20 percent, was a key growth driver, while China also made an above-average revenue contribution to continued expansion. Sales revenue growth after adjustment for exchange rate movements was just under 13 percent. Rational forecasts earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of around 205 million euros compared to 188 million euros reported in 2017. The company noted that its investments in its workforce and in various strategic programmes to ensure the future-oriented development of processes continued in the past fiscal year. During the past year more than 220 new jobs were created worldwide, around half of them in Germany. The company said its executive Board believes that the company is well positioned to keep on growing successfully in fiscal year 2019. It will publish a detailed outlook on expected business development, final Group earnings for 2018 and the proposed dividend on 14 March 2019. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Julius Baer (JBARF.PK, JBAXY.PK) reported that its full year 2018 IFRS net profit attributable to shareholders grew by 4% to 735 million Swiss francs and IFRS earnings per share rose by 4% to 3.37 francs. Adjusted net profit for the Group increased slightly to 810 million francs from 806 million francs. Adjusted EPS attributable to shareholders was up 2% to 3.72 francs. Full year net commission and fee income declined by 1% to 1.90 billion Swiss francs. Net interest and dividend income decreased by 7% to 919 million francs. Excluding items, underlying net interest and dividend income was down 6% to 741 million francs. Julius Baer announced it has put in place a structural cost reduction programme. The Group will lower expenses by 100 million Swiss francs by further enhancing market focus and related prioritisation of resource allocation; leveraging automation and digitalisation; and applying stricter performance management. This will by the end of 2019 lead to a net reduction in the Group's headcount of 2%. The company said the results from the structural cost reductions are expected to fully materialise in the 2020 financial results. The Board of Directors of Julius Baer Group Ltd. will propose an ordinary dividend of 1.50 francs per share for the financial year 2018. Assets under management decreased by 2%, to 382 billion Swiss francs. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Kyocera Corp. (KYO), a Japanese manufacturer of medical products, announced Monday that its units have made two acquisitions in Europe. Kyocera Senco Industrial Tools, Inc., a U.S. pneumatic and cordless power tool manufacturing and sales company based in Cincinnati, Ohio, has concluded an agreement to acquire Van Aerden Group BV, a European pneumatic tool manufacturing and sales company. In addition to manufacturing pneumatic tools and related products, Van Aerden Group sells power tools under multiple brands, including Senco, as a distributor. Effective March 1, 2019, Van Aerden will be renamed Kyocera Aerfast Europe BV. With the manufacturing and sales assets brought by this acquisition, Kyocera aims to strengthen its pneumatic tool in Europe. Separately, the company said its Germany-based European headquarters, Kyocera Fineceramics GmbH has concluded an agreement with H.C. Starck GmbH to acquire its subsidiary H.C. Starck Ceramics GmbH, a European advanced ceramics manufacturing and sales company based in Selb, Germany. H.C. Starck Ceramics will join Kyocera Group and begin operations in spring 2019, subject to regulatory approval. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- bioAffinity Technologies, a privately held biotech company, announced that the Canadian Intellectual Property Office has awarded a patent expanding the Companys claims associated with its proprietary CyPath technology for the early detection of cancer. The patent, titled System and Method for Analyzing Samples Labeled with 5, 10, 15, 20 Tetrakis (4-Carboxyphenyl) Porphine (TCPP), is bioAffinitys third Canadian patent granting protection for its porphyrin-based oncology platform developed for the non-invasive diagnosis of cancer. bioAffinitys intellectual property (IP) portfolio now consists of 51 awarded patents in 21 countries. bioAffinitys porphyrin-based CyPath assay preferentially binds to cancer cells that can be found in bodily fluids, such as sputum or urine, collected from people with cancer. CyPath causes cancer cells in the samples to fluoresce in contrast to non-cancer cells, allowing for detection and diagnosis. CyPath Lung, bioAffinitys initial product for the early detection of lung cancer, is currently in a test validation trial at seven clinical sites in the U.S. The Company expects to begin commercial sales in Q2 2019 under a licensing agreement with Precision Pathology Services of San Antonio, TX. According to the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths and the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Canada, bioAffinity President and Chief Executive Officer Maria Zannes said. In Canada, where 44 percent of Canadians are either current or former smokers, CyPath Lung can provide clinicians with an accurate, non-invasive, cost-effective tool for the early detection and diagnosis of lung cancer when patients have the best prognosis for survival. Canadian health officials currently recommend low dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for adults between 55 and 74 years of age who are at high risk for lung cancer. But the high false-positive rate for LDCT can lead to invasive and expensive follow-up testing and overdiagnosis. Using CyPath Lung as an adjunct to LDCT will improve the positive predictive value of lung cancer screening and diagnosis and lower the number of unnecessary invasive procedures. We are pleased to add our third Canadian patent to our patent portfolio, Zannes said. Protecting our IP at the international level is part of a strategy to commercialize our proprietary CyPath technology and make a meaningful contribution to the global war on cancer. bioAffinity holds 51 awarded patents, including protection in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Australia and countries of the European Union. The Company has three additional patent applications pending in the United States and internationally. About bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. (www.bioaffinitytech.com) is a privately held development-stage company addressing the significant unmet need for non-invasive, early-stage cancer diagnosis and treatment. The Company develops proprietary in-vitro diagnostic tests and targeted cancer therapeutics using breakthrough technology that preferentially targets cancer cells. Research and optimization of its platform technology is conducted in bioAffinity Technologies laboratories at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA). The Companys platform technology will be developed to diagnose, monitor and treat many cancers. Buzz! Warli Revolt is a war-cry warning of a brewing revolution against cutting down of the one of the biggest green pacth in the suburbs of Mumbai More voices are coming up to save the Aarey Forest in Mumbai. Swadesi, a multilingual hip-hop band has released a music video in collaboration with activist Prakash Bhoir and The Aarey Collective. It is well known how this big green patch in the suburbs of Mumbai, where the Warli people live (who are now being affected for life), is being cut down with non-stop development causing displacement and eventual loss of livelihood. This new song is in Marathi titled THE WARLI REVOLT, sounds like the most original Indian hip-hop track ever with Swadesis signature beat structures and Prakash Bhoirs revolt outlining the history of Warli people and their brewing of a revolution against the cutting down of the forest. The music video is assisted with subtitles to understand the language and its lyrics with animated Warli art by Janmeet Singh. Seoul, South Korea -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/03/2019 --With just about two weeks to go in their Kickstarter campaign, the design team behind the nostalgic new project, "Rollis" has already surpassed the halfway mark on their funding goals. Now, they're looking for backers who are also retro car enthusiasts to help them bring eco-friendly toy car models to life -- in more ways than one! Through animation and real-life modeling, the "Rollis" project is re-interpreting the classic designs of the automobile yesteryear with today's modern sensibilities and vehicular power features. Envisioned as a highly creative and collaborative project, the Rollis design team is looking to create an entertaining video trailer with animated versions of the cute and memorable Piaggi APE, the 175A Berlin and more. Alongside this animation-based endeavor, Rollis designers will also be releasing 20 limited edition toy car models for each of their three distinct retro designs: the Isette Mania, the Inter 175A Mania, and the Piaggio Ape Mania. Each of these "rewards" sits at a pledge of $269 USD and also comes with hard packaging, acrylic covers, and a fixed board for display. The carefully and expertly hand-crafted models are cast in a 1:18 scale resin body and finished with eight coats of high-impact, high-gloss spray and UV coating. Backers at this level will also receive Rollis-themed postcards, a gift bag, and a credit in the film's end roll. Of course, true car enthusiasts will appreciate the highest and final level of backing that delivers all three retro-inspired toy car models for a pledge of $749 USD. These limited edition creations are a testament to automobile design as a labor of love. Through their details and finishes, the collection showcases the design team's interpretation of "classic cars" of the 1950s. There are more ways than one to make a beloved era come alive in today's modern context. The team behind Rollis is employing all three, from a video-focused trailer meant to inspire nostalgia to the limited edition models of each retro car design. It's not just about the idea of nostalgia. These retro-inspired designs spark a personal connection that each collector makes to a time when design ruled the automobile industry. Through the trifecta of the Isette Mania, the Inter 175A Mania, and the Piaggio Ape Mania, backers and car enthusiasts can help bring alive both an era gone by and an aesthetic preserved. San Francisco, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/04/2019 --On Air Parking is reinventing the way travelers purchase parking online by selling it unbranded. Unlike the similar parking reservation service of SpotHero, On Air Parking doesn't provide the exact parking location until a reservation is made, and travelers don't seem to mind. With a growing list of partnerships with the best-reviewed parking providers in the country, On Air Parking is able to sell parking deals at more locations in the country. And by selling them unbranded, the company is able to give the deals at dirt cheap prices. "Travelers are now just realizing that they have other means to get to the airport besides taking public transportation or booking an Uber or Lyft," said NOSON CEO Patrick Murray. "Parking near the airport to save on expensive parking fees is nothing new in concept, but it's such a great 'hack' that more travelers ought to consider it." Noson, Inc., the parent company of On Air Parking, was established in 2016 by Murray and his co-founder, Brett Harwood, a former chairman of the National Parking Association. Murray explains that part of the benefit of near-airport parking is that these parking facilities normally provide travelers a complimentary shuttle ride to the airport and back upon return. But to make the deal even better for travelers, On Air Parking negotiated with these parking facilities to offer the deals unbranded so they can be sold at rock-bottom prices. On Air Parking guarantees the cheapest parking rates online for major airports in the country. For example, the company offers Atlanta Airport parking for only $2.75 a day and Oakland Airport parking for only $6.50 a day. Travelers may also use coupon codes to get additional discounts on their parking reservation. All reservations may be cancelled at any time for free. "Of course the parking deals we offer have to make sense," said Murray. "They're cheap in price but never cheap in value. For instance, we make sure our partner parking providers are licensed entities so travelers can rest assured their cars are safe. The complimentary shuttles must also run 24/7 to serve our travelers." While the company started in the airport parking vertical, it has expanded to serve the cruise port parking and city parking market. The company offers Port Everglades parking for only $6.99 a day and Upper East Side parking in New York for only $9.99 a day, among other deals. "We've been busy preparing for more launches this year," said Murray. "We're excited to make airport parking cheap and easy for more travelers across the country." About On Air Parking On Air Parking is an airport parking reservation company that aims to disrupt the airport parking vertical. Present in 35 markets, the San Francisco-based startup guarantees the cheapest rates at five star parking facilities, with free cancellations and free shuttle services to get to and back from the airport. To purchase guaranteed off airport parking near your local airport, visit onairparking.com. Singapore -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/03/2019 --Elibank Vernon, one of Asia's leading commodity brokers and a respected provider of benchmark prices and information for the commodity market, today announced that a market outlook that the company released, indicates that Saudi Arabia has heightened its effort to increase the production of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC. This boost of production has been undertaken to cover up the losses that have been incurred due to the supply disruption in Venezuela, Libya, Canada, and Iran. Together with the falling of crude stocks in China, the loss was being covered by increasing production to check the prices of oil. The survey released jointly by the Elibank Vernon and Information for Energy states that the stocks of gasoline will decrease to 1.2 million barrels. The utilization of all the refining centers will increase up to 0.5 percent. The Information for Energy states that the record amount of sale in the crude export from China will be facilitated at the end of the year. The crude stock of China has decreased below the level of the standard in the last six years. The world trade market is tightening up its regulations for this according to the traders. This is the main reason for the increase in the price of the oil. The supply of the barrel of the crude stock decreased to 4.4 million. Another survey, also conducted by Elibank Vernon states that for the last seven weeks the supplies in the inventories have dropped up to 18.9 million barrels. At the end of the month, the average monetary amount of the crude export has amounted to four million b/d every week. About Elibank Vernon Elibank Vernon is one of Asia's leading commodity brokers and a respected provider of benchmark prices and information for the commodity market. The Elibank Vernon is here to provide the insights to help in making more informed business and trading decisions. Customers of over 150 countries look forward to avail the expertise in analytics, pricing, and news, that offer greater efficiency and transparency to the markets. Elibank Vernon's area of operation includes shipping, agriculture, metals, petrochemicals, power, oil and natural gas. The company is a renowned independent provider of benchmark prices of commodities across the Asian market. Greenville, NC (27833) Today Mainly clear. Low 76F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low 76F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. LOS ANGELES, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (LLCP), a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, announced today the hiring of Erik Nobel as a Managing Director, responsible for establishing and managing its newly opened office in Stockholm, Sweden. Mr. Nobel will lead LLCPs structured equity origination and investing efforts in the Nordic region. According to Mike Weinberg, Partner and LLCPs Head of European Investing, We are very excited to welcome Erik to our team. His professional network and investing experience throughout Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland will be very valuable as we continue to expand our platform. I have no doubt that Erik will be a critical part of our continued success. Mr. Nobel joined LLCP in January 2019 and is a member of the Firms global originations group. He will direct the sourcing of investment opportunities, as well as participate in due diligence and work with our local management teams post-transaction. Prior to joining LLCP, Mr. Nobel worked as an Investment Director at AP6, a state-owned pension fund specializing in managing unlisted equity assets. At AP6, he was responsible for co-sponsored and co-investment transactions, which included origination, evaluation and lead generation of direct investment opportunities throughout the Nordic region. Previously, Mr. Nobel worked as a Deputy Director at IK Investment Partners in Stockholm and he began his career at J.P. Morgan in London as part of the Nordic M&A team. He has received a Master of Science degree in Business and Economics from Stockholm School of Economics. LLCP Stockholm Office Information Erik Nobel, Managing Director enobel@llcp.com LLCP Sweden AB. Vastra Tradgardsgatan 15 111 53 Stockholm, Sweden +46 708 74 10 42 About Levine Leichtman Capital Partners LLCP is a Los Angeles, California based private investment firm that has managed approximately $10.2 billion of institutional capital since its inception. LLCP invests in middle market companies located in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. LLCP is currently making new investments through Levine Leichtman Capital Partners VI, L.P., LLCP Lower Middle Market Fund, L.P., Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Europe, L.P., and Levine Leichtman Strategic Capital, LLC. Current and prior investments by Levine Leichtman Capital Partners in Europe include CJ Fallon, ZorgDomein, SK Aerosafety, Squla, Mander Portman Woodward, GL Education, Law Business Research, Bluebird Care, etc. LLCP has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Chicago, Charlotte, London, Stockholm and The Hague. David Wolmer 310-275-5335 Starkville, MS (39762) Today Showers and a few thundershowers. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Showers and a few thundershowers. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Tougher fines proposed for illegal private security business in Russia RIA Novosti, Valery Melnikov 17:54 04/02/2019 MOSCOW, February 4 (RAPSI) The National Guard has proposed to tighten penalty for illegal private security activities in Russia. A relevant bill has been published on the official website of draft laws and regulations. Amendments are proposed to the Code of Administrative Offences. Under the bill, illegal private security activities would be punished with fines varying from 2,500 to 5,000 rubles ($40 - 80) for individuals, from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles ($80 - 150) for officials, and from 30,000 to 60,000 ($500 - 900) for companies. Tougher penalties would be also fixed for repeated violations. Moreover, the draft law envisages suspension of companies activity for 90 days. Currently, illegal private detective and security activities are punishable by fines ranging from 1,500 to 2,500 rubles for individuals, from 2,000 to 3,000 for officials and from 20,000 to 30,000 rubles for companies. Ruling on revocation of Yugra banks license not to be reconsidered flickr.com/Moscow-Live.ru 15:55 04/02/2019 MOSCOW, February 4 (RAPSI) The Moscow Commercial Court has dismissed an application filed by Yugra bank seeking the review of a ruling on the validity of the Central Banks license revocation order upon newly discovered evidence, RAPSI has learnt in the court. The banks managers have attempted to challenge the Moscow Commercial Courts ruling of December 2017 and rulings of appeals courts. The Central Bank has revoked license of the bank as there have been two measures taken against it already, managers noted. They added that such revocation was unjustified because Yugra complied with the Central Banks demands. Yugra license was revoked in July 2017. At the time it was among Top-30 largest Russian banks. Earlier, the Central Bank imposed temporary administration represented by the DIA in the bank for six months and a three-month moratorium on creditor claims. The DIA was ordered to conduct Yugras status inquiry. The bank managers powers have been suspended for six months as well. These measures were applied because of Yugras financial uncertainty and threat to interests of its creditors and depositors, according to the regulator. Illegality of ex-Transaero receivers actions upheld RIA Novosti, Natalia Selivestova 11:22 04/02/2019 MOSCOW, February 4 (RAPSI) The Thirteenth Commercial Court of Appeals has dismissed an appeal against a lower courts ruling over actions (inaction) of the former court-appointed receiver of Transaero air carrier Mikhail Kotov, who stands charged with 1-billion-ruble embezzlement ($15.3 million) and abuse of office, according to court records. On October 19, the Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region granted an application lodged by the Federal Tax Services St. Petersburg Directorate and declared illegal Kotovs omission to file an application with a commercial court seeking Transaero heads dismissal and additional measures to ensure the safekeeping of the debtors property as well as failure to perform financial analysis of Transaero business for 8 months in 2017. Moreover, the court ruled his inaction concerning disregard of the authorized bodys appeals as illegal. On October 16, Moscow's Meshchansky District Court ordered detention of Kotov. According to investigation, Kotovs action resulted in embezzlement of the airlines property worth over 1 billion rubles ($15.3 million). Moreover, he forged some documents to suppress crimes allegedly committed in conspiracy with the former Transaero CEO Alexander Burdin, the statement reads. Burdin was reportedly arrested in absentia this August. According to investigators, he caused damage estimated at more than 1.7 billion rubles ($26 million). Transaero found itself unable to pay its debts valued at 250 billion rubles (about $4 billion) in 2015. The government-approved plan of transferring 75% of companys shares to Aeroflot failed. Its problems resulted in a large number of flight cancels and delays. In October 2015, Sberbank and Alfa Bank filed bankruptcy petitions against the troubled airline. The Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region initiated bankruptcy procedure against Transaero on December 16. The Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region declared Transaero air carrier bankrupt in September 2017. Rantoul, IL (61866) Today Partly cloudy skies. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. LONGUEUIL, Quebec, Feb. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reunion Gold Corporation (TSX-V: RGD) (the Company or Reunion) is pleased to announce i) the execution of a Strategic Alliance Agreement (the SAA) with Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick) (NYSE: GOLD) (TSX: ABX) to form a 50:50 alliance to jointly explore for, develop and mine certain mineral projects in the Guiana Shield (the Alliance), including Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and the North and Northeast Regions of Brazil (the Subject Area); and ii) Barricks concurrent agreement to increase its interest in Reunion to 19.9% through its participation in Reunions previously announced private placement offering. Alliance on Guiana Shield mineral properties Reunion and Barrick have entered into the SAA to establish terms for the identification of mineral properties and mining projects (or options in respect thereof) that will be subject to the Alliance, the governance of the Alliance and the management of the mineral properties and mining projects that will be subject to the Alliance. Reunion will initially contribute to the Alliance the Waiamu Project, the Aremu Project, the Arawini Project and the Oko Project, all located in Guyana (the Initial Included Projects). Barrick will initially fund an amount equal to US$4.2 million on the Initial Included Projects, as credit for historical exploration expenditures spent by Reunion, with subsequent funding to be on a 50:50 basis between Reunion and Barrick. Subsequently, and as long as the Alliance will be in effect, if Reunion acquires an interest or an option to acquire an interest in any mineral property in the Subject Area, it will present the new project to Barrick and Barrick will have 90 days to elect to include the new project (an Additional Included Project and, together with the Initial Included Projects, the Included Projects) in the Alliance. If included, Barrick will fund the initial costs and expenditures for the project in an amount equal to Reunions incurred costs on the project up to a maximum of US$250,000. Barrick can at any time designate an Included Project as a Designated Project. Following such designation, Barrick will sole fund the Designated Project until the completion of a feasibility study in respect of the project. Upon completion of a feasibility study, Barricks interest in the Designated Project will increase to 70% and Reunion will retain a 30% interest. If Barrick does not deliver a feasibility study on the Designated Project, the project returns to the Alliance as an Included Project. Reunion will manage all exploration projects within the Alliance until such projects are defined as Designated Projects. Barrick will manage all Designated Projects. Reunion's interest in the Dorlin, Haute Mana and Boulanger Projects, all located in French Guiana, are initially not included in the Alliance. However, Barrick retains a right of first refusal on these projects, and can in the future define any project, based on certain criterias, as a Designated Project and would then, at that time, pay to Reunion 50% of all costs incurred by Reunion on such Designated Project to that date. Following delivery of a feasibility study for a Designated Project, at Reunions request, Barrick will fund or arrange capital for Reunions share of any debt financing required to develop and construct a mine and related facilities on the Designated Project that Barrick has chosen to develop. Barrick will receive an additional 5% interest in the Designated Project for funding or arranging such capital. Rejean Gourde, Reunions president and CEO comments: This Alliance addresses the concerns faced by explorers worldwide. The combination of skills, knowledge, working together create the conditions necessary for exploration and development success. The Guiana Shield is one of the best remaining places in the world for large scale gold discoveries. The Alliance creates the opportunity to deploy skills and expertise effectively and efficiently. The Guiana Shield has been overlooked for a variety of historical reasons, including remoteness, lack of infrastructure, knowledge of how to conduct effective tropical exploration and an understanding of local conditions and laws. The Alliance combines long-term local knowledge and record of success of the Reunion team together with the industry-leading skills and knowledge of Barrick. This combination focused on the Guiana Shield creates a greatly enhanced opportunity of success. The gold industry is in its infancy in Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. However, the success of the Omai, Rosebel and Merian gold projects have made the government of each of these countries fully aware of the societal and economic benefits that well regulated and efficient mining investment brings. In summary, you have one of the best geological environments in the world with political and social support and local acceptance for exploration and development which is being conducted by responsible companies in a professional manner. In connection with the entering into of the Alliance, Barrick will exercise its right under the Investor Rights Agreement between Barrick and Reunion dated December 1, 2017 to nominate one director to Reunion's board of directors. The obligations to consummate the transactions contemplated by the SAA are subject to certain conditions and any required approvals. Increased interest to 19.9% Concurrently with the signing of the SAA, Barrick has agreed to subscribe to such number of shares to increase its interest in Reunion from 15% to 19.9%. Assuming that the previously announced private placement of up to $15 million is fully subscribed, Barrick will purchase 35,700,000 shares for a total value of $5,355,000. The Company is planning to close the private placement on or about February 6, 2019, subject to certain conditions including receipt of TSX Venture Exchange acceptance of the private placement. Cautionary Statement This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: expectations concerning the Alliance with Barrick and the private placement financing. The Company may be unable to satisfy the conditions of the transactions described herein in the required timeframes. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by 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. About Reunion Gold Reunion Gold Corporation is a Canadian exploration company focused on acquiring, exploring and developing gold projects in the Guiana Shield, South America. The Company has entered into agreements to acquire an interest in the Dorlin, Boulanger and Haute Mana gold projects in French Guiana and in the Waiamu, Oko, Aremu and Arawini gold projects in Guyana. The Companys shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol RGD. Additional information about the Company is available on SEDAR ( www.sedar.com ) and on the Companys website ( www.reuniongold.com ). For further information, please contact: If you are not redirected automatically, please follow this link New York City, NY (11385) Today Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. Low 71F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. Low 71F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Global online printing franchise Happyprinting has kicked off its operation in Australia and New Zealand with the signing of a partnership agreement with SMP Solutions. The global online printing franchise company began in 2017. There is a great personal and cultural fit with the people of SMP Solutions. We both see great potential to make ordering print disruptively easy, down under, Happyprinting co-founder and CTO, Jean-Pierre Meijer, said in a statement. Simon Murray chief executive officer of SMP Solutions says there is huge value in his company joining forces with Happyprinting. I am excited to be part of the Happyprinting team. These guys created a cutting edge online printing platform and a lovely brand. There is huge value in joining the global Happyprinting network, sharing knowledge and technology. It allows us to act fast and run an efficient online printing business in both Australia and New Zealand, Murray said. Happyprinting co-founder and chief executive officer Sven Rusticus says the print industry in Australia and New Zealand represent a market size of respectively $8b and $1b per year. He also says ordering via the internet is relatively underdeveloped, while e-commerce logistics performances are reliable and internet penetration is high. There is a tremendous opportunity in those markets, Rusticus said. Happyprinting launched in The Netherlands in 2017 and recently signed a partnership deal with with Yon-Art Printing in South Korea. This is only the start of our international adventure. We are now talking to printing partners in more than twenty countries and the fact that we have registered over fifty country domain names represents our global ambition, Rusticus said. Happyprinting is a global online printing franchise company that works with local printing partners worldwide. The company says it can optimise existing printing capacity, minimise transportation and lower the general carbon footprint of print. Printing companies worldwide can use its online printing solution, in combination with the full Happyprinting branding and marketing package. Happyprintings vision is to create a global network of printers, based on one brand, one platform, and local printing partners. Comment below to have your say on this story. If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at [email protected] Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter Sterling Heights, MI (48312) Today Mostly cloudy early, then clearing overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 46F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy early, then clearing overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 46F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Thank you for reading the Philadelphia Tribune. You have exhausted your free article views for this month. Please press the "subscribe" button below and see our introductory price of $0.25 per week for 13 weeks. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you next month. For years, David Sommers would drive from his Levittown, Bucks County, home to New Jerseys swamps and marshes, often under the cover of darkness, to collect turtles or dig for their eggs. But these werent just any turtles: They were diamondback terrapins, a species native to the East Coast that is in sharp decline. When hatched or mature, they can bring in thousands of dollars in sales. In New Jersey, its illegal to take or transport the semi-aquatic turtles. Federal law bans misrepresenting such sales by, for instance, claiming wild turtles actually were bred in captivity. In 2017, federal investigators, posing as buyers, launched an elaborate sting that included tracking Sommers' vehicle by GPS to remote wetlands. On Monday, Sommers pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia to one count of false labeling for shipping a package with the turtles. The charge was filed under the Lacey Act, which makes it unlawful to submit false records for fish, wildlife, or plants that have been shipped in the United States or internationally. He was originally charged with six counts, including smuggling and trafficking, when he was indicted in July 2018. An attorney representing Sommers, Steven M. Jones, said he could not comment until after sentencing, which is scheduled for May 15. Sommers faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 as well as restitution. Though Sommers collected and sold turtles for a number of years, federal officials narrowed the focus of the charge to the period of their investigation, from August 2014 through October 2017. Prosecutors say they found 3,442 diamondback terrapin hatchlings at his home. A court document shows his total sales over the period to be $530,341. According to his plea agreement, Sommers, now in his early 60s, began collecting eggs and female turtles from New Jerseys coastal marshes at least five years before his arrest. He would sell the turtles or hatch their eggs in an incubator and post them for sale online, marketing them as captive-bred. In reality, they had all come from marshlands. Sommers, a retired reporter for the Trentonian and a part-time courier for a law firm, eventually grew the business to where he was selling 1,000 diamondback terrapins a year, earning between $50,000 and $75,000 annually, prosecutors said. He was not only warned by U.S. Postal Service employees that shipping turtles was illegal, but was also told by New Jersey wildlife officers, who once stopped him, that it was illegal to collect turtles and their eggs. Still, Sommers shipped the turtles to Canada and other parts of the U.S. In 2014, Canadian customs officials intercepted a FedEx package Sommers had shipped, according to court papers. The package was labeled as a book valued at $10. It actually contained 11 live diamondback terrapin hatchlings concealed in pouches. The turtles were valued at up to $1,320 in total. Canadian officials seized the package and identified Sommers as a common link to many known reptile dealers and bank accounts associated with turtle trafficking, his plea agreement states. The terrapins, which have diamond-shape shell markings, are protected under New Jersey law and by an international treaty, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. New Jersey once allowed limited taking of terrapins, but banned that in 2016. Prices paid for the turtles vary widely, with hatchings fetching between $10 and $120. But an adult female can sell for hundreds of dollars in Asia. Sommers advertised primarily on a reptile trade website with the username Dave-PA. The federal investigation began in 2017 when an agent in New York went undercover to buy turtles from Sommers through the website kingsnake.com. The agent ultimately purchased 17 diamondback terrapins for $1,394. Sommers had marketed the turtles as captive-bred, according to a court filing. Another undercover agent in Wisconsin also made a purchase. Agents then obtained search warrants to place GPS tracking devices on two cars owned by Sommers. New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife Conservation officers saw Sommers on a main road at 9:30 p.m. on July 11, 2017, in the Great Bay Management Area. Sommers showed the officers eight turtle eggs and said he had taken them from nests along the road, according to the filing. But the officers saw freshly dug holes nearby. They issued him a citation for being in the wildlife area after hours and warned him that collecting turtle eggs was illegal. However, the court filing says GPS located Sommers the next night in the same area in his other car, where he made stops between midnight and 2 a.m. before returning home. They then tracked Sommers again a few nights later, when an agent conducting surveillance saw him remove 188 eggs from his car. They tracked him at least two other times until searching his home on Oct. 24, 2017. There, court papers say, they found 3,442 diamondback terrapin hatchlings and 23 box turtles. They also found oxytocin, a hormone used to induce female turtles to release their eggs. Shipping packages and labels we also discovered. Sommers then admitted he had been collecting eggs and turtles from New Jersey. The quantity of terrapins Sommers had for sale dwarfed any other seller, federal prosecutors stated in his plea agreement. Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam is continuing to resist calls to resign following a controversy involving a racist photo in his medical school yearbook. Dozens of Republicans and Democrats have called for Northam to leave office after his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page surfaced, showing a photo of a man wearing blackface standing next to a another person dressed in a Ku Klux Klan robe on Northams page. Northam initially apologized Friday for appearing in the photo, but then claimed during an odd press conference Saturday that it was definitely not me wearing blackface in the photo. My first instinct is to reach out and apologize because this was so hurtful, Northam said. After I did that, I had a chance to reach out to classmates and my roommates and I am convinced, thats not my picture. If Northam were to resign, hed be the first Virginia governor since the Civil War to step down. The remainder of his term would be filled by Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who would become just the second African-American governor in the states history. Heres the latest of what we know: Other racist photos found in Northams yearbook CNN obtained a copy of the yearbook and found several more racist photos scattered throughout, including one that shows a man in a wig dressed up like a woman wearing blackface and another featuring a white male holding a coffee mug with words We cant get fired! Slaves have to be sold. CNN said it chose not to publish the images themselves until receiving comment or confirmation from the individuals pictured. Lieutenant governor says hes ready to become governor, calls sexual assault allegations a smear Fairfax told reporters at the Virginia capitol on Monday afternoon that he hasnt spoken recently with Northam, and that hes not sure how the governor plans to proceed. I believe the governor has to make a decision thats in the best interest of the commonwealth of Virginia, Fairfax said. Fairfax was also pressed by reporters on whether he was taking any steps or making any plans should Northam decide to resign as governor. Theres a lot of uncertainty right now in our government but we always have to be prepared to assume our roles and responsibilities that are given to us by the Virginia Constitution," Fairfax said. Fairfax also denied allegations of sexual assault made by a woman who claims he attacked her at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004, when he was working as an aide for then-Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Fairfax called the encounter with the unidentified woman 100 percent consensual. Does anybody think its any coincidence that on the eve of potentially my being elevated that thats when this uncorroborated smear comes out? Northam asked. We hit it off, she was very interested in me and so eventually, at one point, we ended up going to my hotel room. Its such a shame that this has been weaponized and used as a smear because this is a very real issue, he said of sexual assault. Northam met with senior officials, said he needs more time Northam meet with his Cabinet and other officials within his administration Monday morning, according to the Washington Post. The embattled governor also held an abrupt meeting with his senior staff prior to the Super Bowl, the Post reported. Despite that, Northam reportedly informed staff members he needs more time to deliberate, and is not expected to make a public appearance Monday. Virginia House Speaker Kirk Cox, a Republican, once again called for Northam to resign during a press conference Monday morning, but paused at the idea of the legislature forcibly removing Northam if he refused to step down. Regardless of the veracity of the photograph, the governors lost the confidence of the people and cannot effectively govern, Cox said. Northam admitted to wearing blackface to portray Michael Jackson While Northam denied wearing blackface in the yearbook photo, he did admit to darkening his face to play Michael Jackson during a dance contest in 1984. "I had the shoes, I had a glove, and I used just a little bit of shoe polish to put on my cheeks," Northam said during his Saturday press conference. "And the reason I used a very little bit is because, I don't know if anybody's ever tried that, but you cannot get shoe polish off." "I look back now and regret that I did not understand the harmful legacy of an action like that, Northam added. Northams support is dwindling By Monday morning, nearly every high-profile Democrat had called on Northam to resign, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, DNC chairman Tom Perez, Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Joe Biden. I dont see that the governor has any other choice but to step aside, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who is also the vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association, said on MSNBC Friday night. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who announced the launch of his 2020 presidential campaign on Friday, wrote on Twitter we should expect more from our elected leaders. A husband-and-wife parenting team at the Milton Hershey School have sued the multibillion-dollar charity for poor children, claiming that they were fired after complaining that the institution repeatedly forced them to attend evangelical Christian sessions, retreats, or chapel with students. Bradley and Val Darrington, who lived on the campus in Central Pennsylvania as surrogate parents for about 10 children, claim discrimination and retaliation in the suit, filed this month in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Bradley Darrington reported the school to the Pennsylvania Department of Children and Youth Services, alleging psychological abuse, after attending a mandatory chapel service last November during which, the suit says, a pastor told school employees and students: "The Bible says that when we choose not to follow God's way, we are in effect following the way of the world which is the way of the devil." Derogatory comments were made toward people with HIV/AIDS and homosexuals during the religious sessions, the suit says. Hershey School spokesperson Lisa Scullin said in a statement Wednesday that the "Milton Hershey School will defend itself vigorously against these meritless allegations. We are confident that the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, after conducting its own investigation, correctly dismissed the Darringtons' claims." The EEOC dismissed the Darringtons' complaint to that agency in July, after its investigation failed to establish violations of law. She added that the "Darringtons know why their employment was terminated, and it had nothing to do with religious discrimination. We are confident it will become very clear as to why they could no longer work at MHS when we are afforded our day in court." The school's full statement can be read here. Katherine C. Oeltjen, one of the Philadelphia lawyers who represent the Darringtons, had no comment. Her firm, Console Mattiacci, specializes in employment law. The Darrington suit brings added attention to religious fervor at the nation's richest private school, which has 2,000 students and heavily recruits in impoverished neighborhoods in Philadelphia and other parts of Pennsylvania. Students live in suburban-style homes in the Hershey area, overseen by house parents who are school employees. Earlier this year, Pennlive.com in Harrisburg published a lengthy story about socially conservative evangelicalism on the campus. In 2017, the Inquirer and Daily News published stories on two male students who said they were forced to watch anti-gay Christian videos. Scullin said in her statement, "We maintain a diverse and inclusive community on our campus, and our curriculum is intentionally designed to help students develop the life skills they need to become successful leaders and compassionate global citizens. Religious education is one part of the holistic education we provide our students." According to the suit, the Hershey School "threatened its nonevangelical Christian employees and students with isolation, death, hell, and demonic possession." It says 55 percent of Hershey students say they have no religious preference at the time of admission. The school says on its website that "education in the Judeo-Christian faith, the heritage of the school's founders, is part of the MHS program and includes daily devotions and Sunday chapel services." Pennsylvanias elections like many other states are vulnerable to cyber attack, leaving our democracy in a precarious state. As a former Pennsylvania legislator and member of Congress representing the Keystone State, I know how important free, fair, and secure elections are to governing. A lack of public trust in the vote imperils our great American experiment in popular sovereignty. Despite these serious threats to our election architecture, there are known solutions that we can, and must, implement. The report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Pennsylvanias Election Security provides this blueprint to secure our elections. The most pressing challenge in Pennsylvania rests with our voting machines. In the 2018 midterm elections, more than 80 percent of Pennsylvania voters cast their ballots on less secure, paperless machines (called direct-recording electronic systems, or DREs). These machines are vulnerable to hacking and technological errors, something that researchers have long demonstrated. The machines used also lack a paper trail, making it impossible for officials to recount individual ballots in close races or conduct routine post-election audits. Pennsylvania is not alone: 13 states total used paperless DREs in this past Novembers elections. These threats are grave enough to demand action in any state, and Pennsylvanias status as a perennial battleground adds to the immediacy of the problem. In 2016, for example, Donald Trump prevailed in Pennsylvania by fewer than 50,000 votes, and in this past Novembers congressional elections, voters decided several races by a few percentage points. These close races coupled with the commonwealths vulnerable voting machines make Pennsylvania a prime target for any sophisticated attacker set on shifting the results of national elections. Nation-state adversaries have the means to conduct such an attack, which would exploit long-known vulnerabilities. We are fortunate that sophisticated hackers have not yet, as far as we know, stolen an election. Rather than wait for the worst, officials should instead be taking decisive action to protect our elections. The Blue Ribbon Commission on Pennsylvanias Election Security (on which I serve as a senior adviser) brought together an impressive group of leaders from across Pennsylvania to study the states election cybersecurity. This independent, bipartisan commission chronicled the weaknesses in Pennsylvanias cyber readiness and issued a report with concrete, actionable recommendations. Chief among those recommendations: Replace paperless DREs with voter-marked paper ballots, backed up by robust, post-election audits. The commission also called on the General Assembly to help counties bear the financial burden of replacing voting systems and asked Congress to further support such efforts in the states. These recommendations and others are detailed in the commissions comprehensive report, which officials ought to heed as a call to action. Implementing these measures will require a financial investment. In Pennsylvania, the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania estimates the cost of replacing voting systems statewide at $125 million. As a fiscal conservative, I am sensitive to the budgetary concerns of state and county officials, but the cost of leaving vulnerable machines in place is far greater than the price tag to replace them. I am confident that Pennsylvanias leaders, from both political parties, are up to the task of doing what is necessary to protect our elections. Our leaders should embrace the recommendations of the commissions report, which are supported by the evidence and work of experts in the field and importantly are achievable. And across the country, officials should look to the commission as a model for how to work in a bipartisan fashion to offer tangible solutions to secure our elections. Our citizens deserve nothing less. Charlie Dent represented Pennsylvanias 15th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2005 to 2018 and served in the Pennsylvania General Assembly from 1991 to 2004. All eyes are on several high-profile cases of abuse and its cover-up in the Roman Catholic Church. Many of them include bishops and priests from the Washington areaformer Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, disgraced Opus Dei priest John McCloskey, the now-retired Cardinal Donald Wuerl, and so on. And yet, what is happening in the seemingly isolated and unimportant Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in West Virginia is also important to watch. The investigation of former Bishop Michael Bransfield, who resigned in September and is now accused of sexually harassing adults, is wrapping up. Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, who is currently in charge of the West Virginia diocese and the investigation, appointed five laypeople to investigate Bransfield and tapped a layperson to oversee daily operations of the diocese as a move toward greater transparency and lay involvement. Yet, instead of full transparency and thorough truth-telling, Loris investigation remains tainted by the hierarchys habitual secrecy. For example, the Baltimore Sun confirmed that one of the five investigators is a Baltimore lawyer who defended abuser priests for Loris archdiocese. His presence raises questions about the investigations credibility, as do reports that Bransfield has been in regular contact with West Virginia clergy and diocesan officials despite his banishment from the state during the investigation. Bransfield has also been calling and texting diocesan seminarians, the very group he is alleged to have harassed. And although Lori has promised to meet with local Catholic reform groups to hear concerns, these meetings have not materialized. Rather, Lori has prioritized closed meetings with the diocesan finance council and seminarians over open consultations with laity, suggesting a desire to keep the future inheritors of the clerical caste system happy, loyal, and quiet. Most troubling is that while Lori has urged investigators to follow the truth wherever it leads, it is unclear to what extent they will probe older allegations from Bransfields history in Philadelphia and Washington. At last count, reports state that more than 75 calls have come in, alleging misconduct in West Virginia, Washington, and Philadelphia that stretches back decades. Additionally, the current investigation takes place just six years after allegations surfaced that Bransfield abused minors decades ago in Philadelphia, allegations that Cardinal Justin Rigali reportedly chose not to disclose to his archdiocesan abuse review board. Bransfield and other diocesan officials have denied those allegations. However, since the opening of the present investigation, the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese released a list of credibly accused clergy, and Bransfields glaring absence from that list prompted questions about whether the Philadelphia allegations were fully resolved. In their defense, diocese officials stated that any questions about the allegations should be forwarded to Philadelphia, implying on jurisdictional grounds that the West Virginia diocese had no further responsibility to investigate. But many questions remain about how those allegations were handled, both internally by the archdiocese and by the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office, which reportedly reopened its own investigation in 2012. In a recent conversation, a West Virginia official could not recall how they were deemed non-credible or who precisely had deemed them such. The allegations against Bransfield of harassment of adults are indeed serious in themselves. For a bishop to make sexual advances toward seminarians and priests is an abuse of power that can never be considered consensual. But knowing the whole truth about the Philadelphia allegations is also crucial, and West Virginians will be expecting this to be addressed when the investigation results are publicized. To make that happen, the Bransfield investigation team should be the ones forwarding questions to the Philadelphia Archdiocese, to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, and to Philadelphias civil authorities, rather than hiding behind jurisdictional boundaries. The alleged actions of Rigali, whose known failures in dealing with sexual abuse raise a serious red flag about Bransfields time in Philadelphia, must be scrutinized. Philadelphia authorities should cooperate with these inquiries. A clear statement of the truth would go a long way in legitimizing Loris own efforts in Baltimore to hold bishops accountable. Jurisdictional boundaries havent stopped Bransfield from contacting his former seminarians and underlings in West Virginia. Those boundaries should not stop the investigation from learning the truth about Bransfields time in Philadelphia. If church authorities in the dioceses implicated in the Bransfield case are serious about transparency, accountability, and justice, wouldnt they be eager to use whatever resources they have to truly follow the truth wherever it leads? And if not, why not? West Virginia Catholics call on Archbishop Chaput and his archdiocese to help us connect the dots. Michael J. Iafrate and Jeannie Kirkhope are co-coordinators of the Catholic Committee of Appalachia, based in Spencer, W.Va. Rela Mintz Geffen, 75, of Philadelphia, a noted sociologist who used the phases of her life as a catalyst for studying the life cycle of Jewish women and families in American society, died Sunday, Feb. 3, of heart failure at Pennsylvania Hospital. Dr. Geffen joined the faculty of Gratz College in the late 1970s and was a professor of sociology. For five years, she was Gratzs dean of academic affairs, before leaving in 2000 to become president of Baltimore Hebrew University. She stayed there until 2007. Her major studies focused on Jewish women on the way up, breaking the glass ceiling, in dual-career families, and as grandparents, said her son, Uri Monson, chief financial officer for the School District of Philadelphia. She was interested in these life cycles because she was experiencing them. They informed her work and made it more real for people, Monson said. She was also intrigued by Jewish rites and how American Jews had adapted them to everything from birth and marriage to divorce, her son said. She really liked interacting with people and teaching people, her son said. If anyone went to a wedding, she asked them to bring back any handout material for her collection. She wanted to see how people were taking modern rituals and adapting them. The point of comparison was how similar rituals were conducted before Jews began arriving in the United States in large numbers. Between 1880 and 1924, more than two million Jews came here from Russia, Austria-Hungary and its successor states, and Romania, according to the website www.myjewishlearning.com. The first generation of Jews born here began loosening rituals and practices. For example, her grandfather, the famed Rabbi Tobias Geffen of Atlanta, certified Coca-Cola as kosher, which allowed many observant Jews to drink it. While teaching at Gratz, Dr. Geffen helped create a dual study program with the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice. Students would earn a masters degree in social work from Penn and a certificate in Jewish communal service from Gratz. Equipped with the dual degree, graduates could qualify for jobs in Jewish family services, childrens agencies, day-care programs, geriatric services, hospitals, schools, and Jewish community centers, the program synopsis said. Dr. Geffen was a visiting teacher at Oxford University, Boston University, Harvard University, and Bryn Mawr College. She also traveled across the country on speaking engagements, her son said. Born in Troy, N.Y., she grew up in Manhattan and graduated from Public School 9. She was the daughter of Sylvia Mintz and Rabbi Joel Geffen, director of field activities at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City. Dr. Geffen earned two bachelors degrees in 1965, one from Columbia University, the other from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. She completed a masters degree at Columbia, and a doctorate in sociology at the University of Florida in 1972. A prolific writer, Dr. Geffen published more than 40 scholarly articles and authored or edited several books. She wrote some of the chapters and edited Celebration and Renewal: Rites of Passage in Judaism; coedited Centennial Volume of Gratz College: Freedom and Responsibility; and coauthored Conservative Judaism: Dilemmas and Challenges. While visiting her extended family in Israel a decade ago, she gave a spirited and scholarly lecture on grandparenting, her son said. Dr. Geffen read voraciously. A judge for the Jewish Book Councils Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, she once had to read 11 books to prepare for a council meeting. Could she do it? No problem, she told her family. She collaborated with 17 cousins on a history of the Geffens, whose roots go back to Lithuania. She was a longtime member of Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel in Center City. Dr. Geffen was married to Rabbi Michael Monson. They divorced two decades ago. He survives. In addition to her son, she is survived by another son, Amiel Monson; a sister; and five grandchildren. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, at Goldsteins Rosenbergs Raphael-Sacks, 6410 N. Broad St. Interment is in Chesed Shel Emet at West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd. HARRISBURG When Gov. Tom Wolf delivers his budget address Tuesday, he is expected to call for more money for public schools, a higher minimum wage for Pennsylvania workers, and a new tax on natural-gas drillers. In doing so, the Democratic governor who is now unfettered by reelection concerns and has been openly showcasing his progressive roots will have to persuade a more conservative, Republican-controlled legislature to buy in to his plan. Although administration officials have closely guarded details of Wolfs budget, a few things appear certain: Wolf will not ask for hikes in the income or sales tax, the states two biggest revenue-generating levies. He will ask for additional funding for public schools, as he has every budget year since taking office in 2015. He will ask for money for career and technical training, which has been a recent talking point for Republicans. And he will try, for the fifth time, to persuade lawmakers to impose a severance tax on drillers although with a twist. The governor announced last week that he does plan to seek a severance tax on Marcellus Shale natural-gas drilling to help fund disaster recovery and infrastructure projects. But, he said, he is not planning on using that money to balance the states books, as he has in past years. Instead, if the measure were approved a long shot in the historically resistant legislature the money would funnel through a separate account. A severance tax has long been opposed as being detrimental to the industry; in turn, the conventional thinking went, it would cost revenue and jobs. The thinking this year is that dedicating the revenue to disaster recovery and infrastructure would convince lawmakers, who would be lured by the promise of more money in their district, to buy in. Gov. Wolf will make the case that, throughout history, Pennsylvania has boldly led the nation in advancement and innovation, and hell ask the General Assembly to join him in seizing that opportunity to do it again, spokesperson J.J. Abbott said in a statement Friday, which outlined other areas Wolf will prioritize in his speech, including job growth and opioid addiction prevention. Administration officials would not say how much in additional spending they will propose over this years $32.7 billion budget. They also would not provide specific numbers for proposed increases in education funding. Also unclear is whether the 14 universities in the states System of Higher Education, or the four state-related universities -- Temple, Lincoln, Penn State, and the University of Pittsburgh -- would receive more money. At the negotiating table this year will be a mix of veterans (some of them legislators who have resisted hallmarks of the governors past budget proposals) and freshmen, including a new budget secretary for the governor. While publicly many in the Capitol have expressed a sense of optimism about resolving this years budget without much drama, there are some signs that it could be a difficult year for negotiations. The states independent fiscal office, in a report issued last fall, predicted a challenging budget year ahead, noting that it projects that legislators will need to plug a roughly $1.6 billion deficit. Some lawmakers, though, have downplayed that concern. State Rep. Stan Saylor, Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has said he believes the office has historically overestimated how much money lawmakers are willing to spend. The deficit, he suggested, could be avoided by controlling spending. House Republicans will continue to hold the line on new taxes, he said in a statement. The people of Pennsylvania want a government that lives within its means, and we intend to provide that. Still, the request could affect the tenor of budget negotiations. Republicans in the House came out sharply against a severance tax, and the issue has in previous years contributed to protracted budget stalemates. Instead, the governor is expected to push an increase in the minimum wage as a way to reduce the cost of certain social services programs while also bringing in revenue. Wolf unveiled last week a proposal to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour by 2025.The states minimum-wage rate has been stagnant for a decade, rising only to match the last national increase. Republican leaders in the legislature argue that wages should be decided by the market, rather than mandated by government. And their approach this year has been no different, with many expressing concerns that small business could be hurt by an increase. We remain open to a reasonable discussion on changes to the minimum wage, Jennifer Kocher, a spokesperson for Senate Republicans, said in a statement. Im not sure that this proposal meets the definition of reasonable. We cannot deal with changing the minimum wage in a vacuum. A new flag, a symbol of inclusivity, now hangs above the students who tap at their keyboards and kick their feet up in the atrium of Temple Universitys Howard Gittis Student Center. Temple hung the Progress Pride flag in mid-January. Its a symbol of acceptance, a catalyst for conversation, and a statement that the university is supportive of everybody, said Jason Levy, senior director of student center operations. We really want students to feel comfortable here, Levy said. We want everybody to come in the building knowing that they have a place. And the university appears to be at the forefront of colleges across the region thatdisplay the flag. The Inquirer reached out to more than a dozen schools across the region, and of the 10 that responded including the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, West Chester and Lincoln Universities, and Rutgers-Camden none hung the flag. The flag is an update of the traditional LGBTQ banner, with the six-stripe rainbow. It has an additional five stripes arranged in a chevron shape: three represent transgender individuals, and two represent marginalized people of color and individuals living with AIDS or facing other stigmas. Its not to be confused with the citys official Pride flag, released in 2017, which added black and brown stripes to recognize people of color who had long felt excluded. College unions are the living room of campuses, Levy said, a place to eat, study, meet with friends, and put your feet up. Theyre a site of inclusivity. So Temples student center makes sense as the site for the flag, he said. Conversations swirled last September between Levy and his staff about which flags would be added to the student center when the time came to rotate the country flags that hang in the atrium. Then, someone pitched the Pride flag, and the idea immediately caught on. Levy didnt know of other colleges displaying the Progress Pride flag, though some local colleges hang Phillys official Pride flag. That all but sealed the deal. READ MORE >>> Who gets to decide what belongs on the gay pride flag? The flag that now hangs was crafted by Oregon-based designer Daniel Quasar. Its installation was the result of efforts among Levys staff, Temple Student Government, the Queer Student Union, and the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, Advocacy and Leadership. Students are really happy to see that this flag is up there, said junior Hailey McCormack, director of communications for Temple Student Government, because it shows that Temple is progressive. It shows that Temple is really representing as many people as possible. Some see it as proof that Temple takes steps to ensure it is an inclusive university fostering a safe environment, she said. The current student government inherited this project from the prior administration, McCormack said, but continued to champion and advocate for the flag. All of the flags that are up now are representative of every country that every student on Temples campus is from, and by including that flag, were including a whole community on our campus that wasnt being represented before, McCormack said. The commercial opens with a closeup of a Dalmatians head, ears billowing, jowls flapping, scored to Bob Dylans Blowin' in the Wind. No, the Budweiser wind farm ad wasnt among the top five highest rated Super Bowl commercials for 2019, according to USA Todays Ad Meter. That honor went to the NFLs ad celebrating the leagues 100th anniversary. Nor, was it among the top five lowest. But its been a winner among online viewers since first debuting on Jan. 23, though its not been a favorite of the fossil fuel industry. In the one-minute commercial, the camera zooms out and the Dalmatian is seen riding atop an old-fashioned wagon drawn by the beer companys iconic Clydesdales through a wheat field. Mountains dotted with windmills emerge in the background. The ad is not as clever or dramatic as the dragon-themed Bud Light and Game of Thrones mashup commercial that drew lots of attention. But it manages to be simple and nostalgic while demonstrating that at least one big corporation believes renewable energy has a mainstream U.S. audience despite President Donald Trumps doubts that human activity causes climate change and his administrations pro-fossil fuel stance. As of Monday afternoon, the commercial had been viewed 18.3 million times on YouTube. By comparison, the official Bud Light and Game of Thrones/HBO worlds collide video had been viewed about 3 million times, though it had not been released until Sunday. Budweiser, owned by the multinational corporation AB InBev, says it is committed to brewing beer with clean energy through an arrangement with a 60,000-acre, 300-megawatt Thunder Ranch Wind Farm in Oklahoma. AB InBev says it has committed to purchasing 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025. The company also owns Bud Light, Busch, Stella Artois, Corona, Modelo and Lowenbrau, to name a few of its 100 brands. AB InBev is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, but also has a main office in New York. Wind Power Monthly reported in 2017 that, under the power purchase agreement, Enel Green Power, an Italian company that owns Thunder Ranch, will sell about half the electricity generated from the farm to the power grid for AB InBev to purchase. That would enable the brewer to access enough renewable energy to cover half of its energy use in the U.S. The Energy and Policy Institute, which describes itself as a watchdog against misinformation on renewable energy, said the ad has been attacked by The Kentucky Coal Association and the website ClimateDepot.com, which is aided by a coal-backed group. The Kentucky Coal Association says Budweiser is still brewed with mostly fossil fuels. Two-thirds of the energy used to brew the beer comes from industrial heat, not electricity, the association says, based on Anheuser-Buschs own literature. Industrial heat comes from a mixture of energy sources including natural gas. The association called Budweisers ad a publicity stunt. Last week, Tony Milikin, chief procurement and sustainability officer of AB InBev, told Reuters he knows consumers are often skeptical about corporate environmental pledges. But he said that AB InBev expected to obtain 31 percent of its electricity this year from renewable energy and is still on track to obtain all of its electricity from renewables by 2025. The company plans to add a 100 percent renewable electricity symbol to U.S. bottles and cans. A Northeast Philadelphia priest has been placed on administrative leave following an allegation of sexual abuse, according to a statement by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The Rev. Steven J. Marinucci, 71, who had served as an assistant to the pastor at St. Matthew Roman Catholic Church since 2010, is accused of sexually abusing a minor in the late 1970s. Marinucci has denied the allegation, which was received by the archdiocese in late January and shared with parishioners during weekend services at St. Matthew, 3000 Cottman Ave. It is the only allegation the archdiocese has received against Marinucci, the statement said. The matter has been referred to law enforcement, and the archdiocese will also investigate. Ordained in 1974, Marinucci has served at parishes including St. Bernard (1974 to 1978), St. Bartholomew (1978-83), St. Clement, (2000-01), and St. Agatha/St. James (2001-10), all in Philadelphia, as well as Our Lady of Fatima in Bensalem (1983-85), St. John the Evangelist in Morrisville (1985-90), and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood (1990-2000). He worked at schools including St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls (1975-79), and Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls (1980-83), both in Philadelphia. The allegation was reported less than three weeks after the archdiocese announced that two area priests had been found not suitable for ministry following an investigation by church officials of sexual-abuse allegations against them in the early 1980s. The Rev. John F. Meyers had most recently served as interim rector at Malvern Retreat House. The Rev. Raymond W. Smart is retired and has been on leave because of failing health since 1995. Another priest, Msgr. Joseph L. Logrip, had been placed on administrative leave after a sexual-abuse allegation was made against him for conduct in the early 1980s, the archdiocese also announced at the time. Logrip earlier was cleared of similar allegations that surfaced after a 2011 grand jury report. In August, Roman Catholic leaders in Pennsylvania were revealed to have covered up decades of child sex abuse involving more than 1,000 victims and hundreds of priests, in a new grand jury report. The U.S. Justice Department has launched its own investigation. HARRISBURG State Sen. Daylin Leach announced on Monday that he is stepping aside, at least temporarily, from his role as the Democratic leader on an influential Senate committee as he fights decades-old allegations of sexual abuse. I have always believed that as elected officials, we should always avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, Leach, who has for years served as the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. "Given that the Judiciary Committee will potentially be taking up legislation that could theoretically be relevant to the battle I am fighting, I thought it was best that I allow the debates on such issues to play out without the distraction of such an appearance. " Senate Democrats are awaiting the results of a law firms investigation into a complaint that Leach lured a woman into oral sex in 1991, when she was 17 and he was representing her mother in a criminal case. Leach, of Montgomery County, has repeatedly denied the allegations and last month filed a defamation suit against the woman and two activists who have supported her. It also comes as a large contingent of Senate Democrats are seeking support for a bill that would abolish the statute of limitations for sexual abuse, assault, and misconduct for all victims. Previous bills seeking to change the criminal statute of limitations for such crimes have passed through the Judiciary Committee, but failed to win full Senate support. Leach wrote in his statement that he spoke to Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D., Allegheny) on Monday about allowing me to take a leave from my duties" while he works "to clear my name against completely false assertions about events 28 years ago. The three-term senator from Wayne wrote that he intends to be the Democratic chair of a different, unspecified committee where the legislation we consider will be less likely to present the appearance of a conflict. Costa said Monday that a decision had not been made regarding whether Leach would be reassigned as Democratic leader on a different committee. Costa said he had not seen Leachs statement and cant speak" to it. The minority leader declined to comment when asked whether he or anyone else in the caucus asked Leach to step aside. Because their party has the majority in both chambers, Republican chairs currently decide which bills come up for a vote in committee. The Democratic leaders such as Leach serve as a voice for the minority party. Committee assignments are generally set at the beginning of each two-year session. Absent a death or resignation, its rare for major changes to occur outside of that initial selection. Earlier this year, House Republicans announced that they had suspended Republican State Rep. Brian Ellis' chairmanship of the House Consumer Affairs committee after the Inquirer and the Caucus reported that prosecutors were investigating an allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman who was incapacitated. When John J. Dougherty, the blustery leader of organized labor in Philadelphia, was indicted on charges of embezzlement, bribery, and theft, Ted Kirsch worried what it would mean for other union officials in the area. Im very upset, because I think whats happening, or what Im afraid is going to happen, is that labor leaders are going to be painted by a broad brush, said Kirsch, president of the American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania. It was a reference to the stereotypes that unions have long had to fend off, due to a well-documented history of corruption as well as what some experts describe as anti-union bias in mainstream media. American culture has always painted unions as corrupt, as bullies, and the truth is, the large, large majority of unions are nothing like that," said Ana Avendano, the Washington-based former assistant to the president of the AFL-CIO, who now runs a partnership between the AFL-CIO and United Way. In recent years, those attitudes have shifted, as unions are more in the news for teachers' strikes and the Fight for $15 than for racketeering and violence. The definition of labor has widened as advocates fight for protections like predictable scheduling and paid time off, even for workers who arent unionized. And as more attention is paid to income inequality, many see unions as a strategy to combat inequity. Even during the partial government shutdown, some called for Transportation Security Administration agents to go on strike, suggesting there was public support for those kinds of collective actions even if they are disruptive. But the indictment of Dougherty, head of Electricians Local 98, flies in the face of that changing tide. Whats more, barely anyone in the labor movement will publicly discuss what Dougherty is alleged to have done. He might be corrupt but hes still looking out for us The stereotypes about corrupt unions date back to the 1920s and 30s, when unions struck a Faustian bargain with the mob as a way to protect themselves from employers who were killing workers who wanted to organize, said Bill Fletcher, a labor expert, who wrote Theyre Bankrupting Us!, a 2012 book on myths about unions. Mobsters often requested payment in the form of access to workers' health funds or pension funds. In other words, union officials would steal from their workers in order to protect them. Sometimes the theft was small enough that workers didnt notice; or, they did and it was tolerated because it was deemed necessary to survive.That was often the line about Jimmy Hoffa, the notorious Teamsters head, Fletcher said: He might be corrupt but hes still looking out for us. At the news conference announcing Doughertys indictment, prosecutors argued that it was Local 98 members who were the victims of his alleged crimes. Its too soon to say how members will be affected the national office of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers has yet to respond to the indictment but reputation has been key to construction unions' landing work. Before the indictment was announced, Dougherty, in his role as the head of the 50-union Building Trades Council, was lobbying for a Project Labor Agreement that would require Montgomery County to hire union contractors for its massive Norristown courthouse renovation, a deal that would be a coup for members of the Philly building trades. The day after Councilman Bobby Henon was indicted, he introduced a bill that would create a city contractor review board, a policy critics said would force nonunion contractors to work with unions. Its unclear if City Council will hold a hearing on the bill. Asked if the indictment could perpetuate union stereotypes, Local 98 spokesperson Frank Keel said, Nonunion contractors that routinely cheat the system ... as well as national right-wing power-mongers like the Koch brothers are the ones pushing the unions are corrupt narrative." He added: Weve not heard of any dissension within labors ranks, despite the usual fat-cat One Percenters pushing their false agenda. The cost of silence When Saturday Night Live With Philly Labor, the self-described pro-labor radio show that Dougherty used to host, was broadcast on WPHT-AM (1210) days after Doughertys indictment was announced, the shows hosts took just five minutes to address the news. We shouldnt rush to judgment, said Chris Woods, executive vice president of health care workers' local 1199C. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. I believe in Johnny Doc, said Joe Dougherty Jr. no relation whose father, Ironworkers head Joe Dougherty, was convicted in 2015 on charges of racketeering conspiracy, arson and extortion. For the most part, the labor community in Philadelphia has not been willing to speak on the record about the indictment. Of more than two dozen labor officials and representatives approached, only a few would discuss anything, if they returned the call at all. That could be explained by the insular nature of the building trades and union cultures tendency to only let specific people talk to the media. Others cited the importance of preserving a relationship with Dougherty and the trades. (The indictment says Dougherty used his political clout to punish union foes, like the Teamsters.) In many ways, Philadelphia is a small town where locals have long-standing relationships and loyalty runs deep. Others said it seemed inappropriate to talk negatively about a labor leader when there are already so many attacks on labor. Its also very early in the process, not even a week after the indictment was announced, they said. But whats the cost of silence? Is there a labor leader in Philly who will stand up and say, What Doc is alleged to have done stealing from the membersis wrong? tweeted Kati Sipp, a longtime labor organizer who now runs a consultancy. "The theft of dues money doesnt just harm one individual union. It is actively bad for every union member, because it makes people have less faith in their own union. And it makes nonunion workers fear that if they organize, that their dues wont be used to build power. In an interview, Sipp said its ultimately detrimental to the movement if no one is willing to speak up about the allegations of corruption. I think it does send a message that people are tacitly OK with this thing, or that theyre afraid of saying something and being ostracized," she said. Avendano said that too often, people equate criticism with union-bashing. But, she said, unless we address these things, I dont think we ever move beyond them. A fire in a house in Northeast Philadelphias Frankford section early Monday left a man dead and his father critically injured. A firefighter also was treated for minor injuries. The fire on the 900 block of Foulkrod Street was reported about 2:15 a.m. and arriving units reported smoke coming from the second floor before it erupted in flames, the Fire Department said. Firefighters found the older man on the second floor and rushed him to Temple University Hospital in critical condition, officials said. They found the younger man dead in the rear of the home. Eric Olsen told 6ABC that the injured man was his 79-year-old father and the man who died was his 58-year-old brother. Olsen said his father almost didnt make it, but was in stable condition after being treated for serious smoke inhalation. The fire spread to an adjoining twin and the woman who lives there escaped unharmed with her pets. Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel told reporters at the scene that the house had working smoke detectors that were sounding when firefighters arrived. The fire was declared under control at 2:51 a.m., the Fire Department said. The cause of the blaze is under investigation. Editors Note: This story was revised to correct the neighborhood where the fire occurred. The red-brick apartments on South Sixth Street squat side by side, braced against the wind and snow. An overturned blue armchair, missing two wooden legs, has crashed against a metal grate. A windblown plastic bag sends two sparrows flitting to the curb. But one step through the door of the red-and-gold temple on the corner of this South Philadelphia block, and all is instantly quiet. A sign at the top of the stairs reads: Take Off Your Shoes. A golden shrine, covered with lilies and purple orchids, holds a white stone statue of the Buddha. Low tables and cushions line the wall. A barefoot monk named Muni Rath pads across brightly colored woven mats that cover the tiled floor. The space at Sixth and Ritner Streets may seem surprising. But for many people, its home. As migrant populations in Philly have increased, so have linguistic and cultural differences, and some of the citys newest East and Southeast Asian residents are struggling to find places where they feel safe, supported, and included in community life. Their desire for the familiar has them turning to religious spaces. One class at Pennsylvania State Abington is attempting to log these spaces, and to document the many forms of American Buddhism seen around Philadelphia. The class is called Buddhism in the West; its a religious studies course taught by Pierce Salguero, who specializes in the study of Buddhism and healing practice. The course requires its students to visit each site, interview community members, and record their perspectives. Many of our students are intimately familiar with Buddhism as an everyday reality, Salguero says. I thought that this would be an area where students would be able to contribute to the field of Buddhist studies based on their own experiences. Salguero and his students have been developing an online archive called the Jivaka Project, which charts almost 50 Buddhist temples and community centers around Philadelphia. He says its the first project of its kind. Some of the places surveyed are traditional temples like Preah Buddha Rangsey, Raths South Philly home. It opened more than 15 years ago and now holds services for up to 100 community members at a time. Sixty percent to 70 percent of those members are Vietnamese, Chinese, Cambodian, or Laotian immigrants so the temple, staffed by five monks, provides services like legal aid, document translation, and interpretation. When entering a community, Rath says, we dont think of religion. We teach instead loving kindness, helping people to live peaceful lives and relieving the burden of a new culture and new language. For a temple with more than 3,000 registered members, its a formidable responsibility. But Rath is undaunted. We cannot separate ourselves, he explains. How can we live together peacefully when we dont understand each other? The Jivaka Project also catalogs nonprofit offices with Buddhist roots, like the Buddhist Tzu-Chi Foundation, which organizes community events and disaster relief. Although its founder is a Buddhist nun, the staffer on duty at its Philadelphia Service Center Sister Sueling Wang emphasizes that the center does not press religion onto its members or visitors. Instead, Wang says, the core value of compassion drives the centers initiatives, which include a soup kitchen, weekly English classes, and tax assistance in Chinese and English. And while Tzu-Chi is located in Chinatown, its outreach includes communities beyond the neighborhood. Wang places one hand on top of the other and locks her fingers to demonstrate how diverse communities should hold onto one another. We are as a family," she says, showing her clasped hands. "We are all the same. Still other organizations surveyed by Salgueros students provide Buddhism-based healing and community in concert with Western practices. In Glenside, the Won Buddhist Temple meets in a revamped Protestant church; there are two services, one in Korean and one in English, with a similarly bicultural audience. The integration of these communities has taken time. According to the Jivaka Project, the community center in the temple basement was started to support the Asian immigrant population in the suburbs. But as it grew, and as immigration patterns in Philly began to shift, it expanded to serve populations from Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and other parts of the world. These locations offer comfort, care, and understanding for migrant Philadelphians, many of whom have fled pain and trauma in their heritage countries or who find themselves dealing with unexpected catastrophe in the United States. One such woman is at the South Philly temple on this day. Her sister-in-law and nieces recently died in a house fire, and her grief is palpable. But over the course of an hour, as the temple staffers remind her of their support and offer help with funeral processes, she begins to seem hopeful. Now, she and her companions look out the window and gasp at the storm outside. Speaking in rapid Khmer, the Cambodian language, they button their jackets and wrap themselves in scarves, wave farewell to Rath, and exit the temple. One, a young man, hesitates just before the doorway and turns back to the monk. Goodbye, he says in English, and thank you. Did the election of Donald Trump lead to a stampede of women getting IUDs? Well, maybe not a stampede. But there was a measurable uptick in women getting long-acting contraceptives, namely intrauterine devices and hormonal implants, according to a new analysis published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. Trumps vow to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act unnerved women who feared losing an important ACA benefit access to all forms of birth control with no out-of-pocket costs. Days after the election, social media lit up with exhortations to get an IUD. That high-cost option works for five to 12 years, potentially enough to outlast Trumps presidency. For the new analysis, researchers from Harvard Medical School and Vanderbilt University used data from commercial health plans covering about 3.4 million women ages 17 to 45. They compared IUD and implant insertions in the month before and after Trumps election on Nov. 8, 2016. The daily rate of insertions rose from about to 13 to 16 per 100,000 women about a 22 percent increase. To bolster the theory that it was a Trump effect, the researchers checked the same period a year earlier; it had no such surge. Extrapolating the findings to the 33 million U.S. women of childbearing age would mean 700 more insertions per day, wrote the researchers, led by physician Lydia E. Pace. The finding is in line with an analysis of AthenaResearch electronic health records that found IUD prescriptions and procedures increased 19 percent between October and December 2017. Of course, Trump has not managed to get rid of Obamacare, although he hasnt given up. But his administration has been hostile to family planning, to the dismay of experts in womens health and health policy. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services issued rules that would vastly expand the number of employers who could claim moral objections in order to opt out of providing no-cost contraception. (A federal judge in Pennsylvania issued an injunction on Jan. 14, the day the rules were to take effect.) The ACAs contraceptive coverage mandate is an important strategy to reduce unintended pregnancies," Pace and her co-authors wrote. The Trump administration has weakened this mandate. An opinion piece in last weeks New England Journal of Medicine by experts from the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey went further, decrying the administrations attacks on reproductive rights. Eroding the ACAs contraceptive mandate is just one of several attacks the Trump administration is waging on family planning, wrote Cynthia H. Chuang and Carol S. Weisman. Another one, they said, is the administrations new rules for the Title X family planning program. Besides denying money to family planning providers like Planned Parenthood that also offer abortion services, the rules would shift money to faith-based organizations that promote fertility awareness and abstinence as contraception. The final rules are expected to be issued soon. Chris Fetfatzes and Heather Annechiarico are headed next door to their South Street bar/restaurant, the Cambridge, for a new concept called Wine Dive. It will replace So Crepe at 1506 South St., sometime this spring, down the street from the couples Mexican cantina, Tio Flores. Fetfatzes describes it as a wine shop serving $5 burgers, chicken sandwiches, and large salads. Youll be able to walk in and buy a great bottle of wine, champagne, cider, or beer while grabbing a drink from our list of wines and cocktails, he said through his rep. There will be a deep list of wine by the glass as well as heavy focus on affordable cocktails and beers, too. Beer always is in the couples wheelhouse. They got started in the biz by opening Hawthornes, a family friendly restaurant and bottle shop at 11th and Fitzwater Streets. Another potential sighting of the undead dragon on Game of Thrones isnt all TV has to offer over the next few months. Along with the final six episodes of the HBO fantasy drama, which returns for one last run in April after taking 2018 off, CBSs long-running and top-rated comedy hit The Big Bang Theory is expected to air its finale sometime in May. BBC Americas addictive spy drama Killing Eve picks up again in April after a critically acclaimed first season, and Peoples Sexiest Man Alive, Luthers Idris Elba, stars as a reluctant babysitter dont call him a manny in a new Netflix comedy in March. I havent seen everything yet (and much of what I have remains under embargo for review), but here are some shows to look out for: White Dragon (Friday, Feb. 8, Amazon). Eight-episode British thriller stars John Simm (Doctor Who) as college professor Jonah Mulray, who, after his wife, Meghan (Dervla Kirwan, Ballykissangel), is killed in a suspicious crash in Hong Kong, travels there to claim her body. There, he learns that she, and their marriage, might not have been what hed thought. Anthony Chau-Sang Wong stars as David Chen, a former police officer who also had reason to think he knew Megan. PEN15 (Friday, Feb. 8, Hulu). Would you want to relive seventh grade? Adult actresses Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle play remarkably convincing versions of 13-year-old best friends in this middle school comedy set in 2000. Cocreated by the two leads with Sam Zvibleman, its school is otherwise populated by more age-appropriate actors, but the language and subject matter suggest its meant for people at least old enough to be happy theyll never have to go through this again. One Day at a Time (Friday, Feb. 8, Netflix). One of TVs best comedies returns for its third season, with Gloria Estefan guest-starring in the first episode as the long-estranged sister of Rita Morenos Lydia. Wont You Be My Neighbor? (8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, HBO and WHYY12). Penn grad Morgan Nevilles moving documentary on the late, legendary childrens TV host Fred Rogers makes its television debut. I dare you not to cry. To honor Rogers' commitment to public television, HBO is allowing PBSs Independent Lens to present the film at the same time. Riviera (10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, Ovation). Julia Stiles plays an art curator whose billionaire husband (Anthony LaPaglia) dies in a yacht explosion, leaving her to deal with his grown children, his ex (Lena Olin), and a tangle of legal problems she never saw coming. (If you cant wait to see what happens next, the 10-episode first season series is already available for streaming to Sundance Now subscribers.) Miracle Workers (10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, TBS). Steve Buscemi, Daniel Radcliffe, and Geraldine Viswanathan star in a decidedly irreverent comedy from Simon Rich (Man Seeking Woman) in which Buscemi plays an exasperated God, and Radcliffe and Viswanathan two angels trying to persuade him not to blow up Earth. Proven Innocent (9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, Fox). Rachelle Lefevre (Under the Dome) stars as Madeline Scott, a lawyer who specializes in the cases of wrongly convicted people, and Russell Hornsby as the man who got Madelines murder conviction overturned after she and her brother (Riley Smith) spent a decade in prison for the death of her high school best friend. Not a subtle show, but the cast is great, including Kelsey Grammer as the man who prosecuted the Scott siblings and who still believes theyre guilty, Nikki M. James as the host of the firms podcast and its communications director, and Mad Mens Vincent Kartheiser as the firms quirky investigator. Might be a good fit for anyone who misses the speechifying of The Practice. The Umbrella Academy (Friday, Feb. 15, Netflix). Adopted by an eccentric billionaire who hoped they would save the world, grown siblings with extraordinary powers come together after his death, and it turns out the world may need saving. The live-action series was inspired by the comics and graphic novels of Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba and stars Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, David Castaneda, Aidan Gallagher, Cameron Britton, and Mary J. Blige. Lorena (Friday, Feb. 15, Amazon). Direct from Sundance, the Jordan Peele-produced four-part docu-series supposedly tells us what we didnt know or understand about Lorena Bobbitt, who became infamous in 1993 after cutting off husband Johns penis. Whiskey Cavalier (Feb. 24, sneak peek after Academy Awards, then 10 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27). Action rom-com stars Scott Foley (Scandal) as an FBI agent celebrated for his empathy whos paired with a CIA operative (Cherry Hills Lauren Cohan, The Walking Dead) who may not always realize theyre supposed to be on the same side. University of the Arts grad Ana Ortiz (Devious Maids, Ugly Betty) plays the FBIs top criminal profiler. The Enemy Within (10 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25, NBC). The Blacklist meets Homeland? Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) stars as a brilliant ex-CIA agent who became one of Americas most notorious traitors, and Morris Chestnut (Rosewood) plays an FBI agent who has reason to hate her but who needs her help in catching a spy whos costing U.S. operatives their lives. After Life (Friday, March 8, Netflix). New dark comedy stars Ricky Gervais as a widower whose response to losing his wife is to stop holding back, and to start saying and doing whatever he likes. Now Apocalypse (9 p.m. Sunday, March 10, Starz). Steven Soderbergh is part of the producing team of this new L.A.-set comedy starring Avan Jogia as Ulysses, whose disturbing dreams signal either the possible end of the world or that he needs to smoke less pot. Follows the second-season premiere of American Gods. Manhunt (March 11, Acorn). Anglophile alert: Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) stars as a British police detective on the trail of a serial killer in a three-part, fact-based mini-series from Britains ITV that in January became the networks highest-rated drama since the 2013 debut of Broadchurch. The Village (10 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, moving to 9 p.m. on April 2, NBC). Lorraine Toussaint (Any Day Now, Saving Grace) and Dominic Chianese (The Sopranos) are among the stars of this new ensemble drama about the tenants of a Brooklyn apartment building. Turn Up Charlie (Friday, March 15, Netflix). Luthers Idris Elba stars as a struggling DJ who hopes for a career lift when one of his oldest friends (JJ Feild) returns to London, now rich and famous and with an equally rich and famous DJ wife (Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs). Instead, they hire him to play nanny to their out-of-control daughter (Frankie Hervey). Shrill (Friday, March 15, Hulu). In a dramedy adapted from Lindy Wests memoir Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman and produced by Penn grad Elizabeth Banks, Saturday Night Lives Aidy Bryant plays Annie, an insecure journalist who decides shes had enough of being treated badly by people who cant get past her weight. SNL veteran Julia Sweeney plays Annies mother, and English comedian Lolly Adefope her best friend and roommate. The Fix (10 p.m. Monday, March 18, ABC). Robin Tunney (The Mentalist) plays a Los Angeles prosecutor who leaves the city behind after losing a high-profile case involving a celebrity (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Lost) charged with a double murder, only to be lured back when he becomes a suspect in the death of his girlfriend. And, yes, this is the show whose producers include O.J. Simpson prosecutor Marcia Clark. Jane the Virgin (9 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, CW). Even the best things must come to an end. The fifth and final season of the telenovela-inspired dramedy starring Gina Rodriguez as the no-longer-virginal Jane Villanueva premieres on a new night, but with, I hope, the same heart and smarts as ever. Masterpiece: Mrs. Wilson (9 p.m. Sunday, March 31, WHYY12). Ruth Wilson (Luther, The Affair) stars in a two-parter about a widow who discovers her late husband had many secrets in a story based on Wilsons own grandmothers memoir. In the Dark (9 p.m. Thursday, April 4, CW). From the creator of CBSs Fam, this new drama stars Perry Mattfeld (Shameless) as a hard-living blind woman who sets out to solve the murder of a friend but first she has to convince the police hes dead. Killing Eve (8 p.m. Sunday, April 7, BBC America). Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer made a splash last year as each played both hunter and prey in a globe-trotting spy story that became deeply personal, as Ohs MI6 agent and Comers psycho assassin got way too close to comfort. This seasons said to pick up only seconds after the first seasons finale, so if you missed it, theres still time to head to Hulu to catch up. Fosse/Verdon (10 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, FX). Limited series based on the biography Fosse tells the story of the relationship and collaboration of filmmaker and choreographer Bob Fosse (Sam Rockwell) and legendary Broadway dancer Gwen Verdon (Michelle Williams). Producers include Hamiltons Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail, Joel Fields (The Americans), and Steven Levenson (Dear Evan Hansen). Game of Thrones (9 p.m. Sunday, April 14, HBO). What we know: There are only six episodes left in the series, and they may run longer than an hour each. What we dont: Who wins the Iron Throne, or whether achieving such an uncomfortable seat can even be called winning. What were hoping for: dragons and direwolves. Bless This Mess (9:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, ABC). New comedy stars Lake Bell (Boston Legal) and Dax Shepard (Parenthood) as newlyweds who ditch their jobs and move from New York City to Nebraska to become farmers, only to find surprise! that life in the heartland isnt as simple as theyd thought. The title could come back to haunt whoever named it, but, hey, Green Acres ran for six seasons. The Red Line (8 p.m. Sunday, April 28, CBS). Four-week, eight-episode event series tells the stories of three Chicago families coping with the aftermath of a tragedy. Noah Wyle (ER) plays a teacher and father whose husband, an African American doctor, was killed by a white police officer (Noel Fisher, Shameless) who mistook him for a robber. Emayatzy Corinealdi plays an alderman candidate trying to unseat an entrenched incumbent by running on a platform that includes police reform. Producers include Selma director Ava DuVernay, Greg Berlanti, and Philadelphias Kevin Hooks. China-based clothing giant Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding says it will run the U.S. apparel and advanced textiles business it acquired from Koch Bros.' Invista group as an independent firm, Lycra Co., to be based in Wilmington, Del. The owner is also preparing Lycra for an initial public offering (IPO), Bloomberg reports, citing an interview with Kelvin Ho, chief strategy officer at Ruyi. Ho said a public listing would provide top bosses with extra incentives to boost Lycras performance. Lycra will be based near the DuPont Co. labs where the synthetic fibers uses were developed by DuPont before it sold much of its former fabrics business to Invista in 2001. Shandong Ruyi agreed to buy the business for $2 billion in 2017, and said Thursday it has completed the deal, more than a year after the announcement. Lycra is named for one of its best-known brands, a spandex fabric developed in the 1950s for clothing and hygiene-products makers, and used in popular stretch products such as yoga pants. Other Lycra brands include Coolmax, Thermolite, Elaspan, Supplex, Tactel and Terathane. The company employs 3,000 at eight factories, four R&D labs and 17 offices spread among 13 countries. That includes 90 at Lycras Wilmington headquarters and its Newark, Del. R&D lab. The business will be run by chief executive Dave Trerotola, who earlier headed Invistas apparel division. In a statement, Trerotola said Lycra was fortunate to be purchased by Ruyi, whose experience he said would help Lycra develop new fibers for customers. Ruyi Group has bought a series of foreign brands since 2016, including Aquascutum, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and Sandro. The company, based in Jining, Shandong province, say it is the largest textile and apparel manufacturer in China. Invista still owns DuPonts former nylon business, operates factories near its Texas headquarters and in Kansas and other states and foreign countries, and maintains a lab at the mostly shuttered, 750-acre former DuPont nylon plant in Seaford, Del. As a publicly-traded company, Lycra would join Wilmington-based Chemours (chemicals), Malvern-based Endo (pharmaceuticals), Philadelphia-based Axalta (paint), and other former DuPont Co. businesses as independent public companies now based in the Philadelphia-Wilmington area. DowDuPont plans to split into three companies this Spring, of which two -- CorTeva Agrisciences (pesticides and GMO crop seeds) and a reconstituted DuPont Co. (industrial enzymes, food additives, and electronics, construction and automotive materials) -- will also be based in the Wilmington area. Philadelphia City Council members are set to consider a bill on Tuesday that would ban cashless stores in the city. The bill proposes to prohibit retail locations from refusing to accept cash or from charging cash-paying customers a higher price. The proposal would not apply to transactions made by phone, mail, or online. Violators could be fined up to $2,000. The councils Committee on Law and Government is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill at 10 a.m. Tuesday in room 400 of City Hall. The committee could then vote to advance the legislation for the City Councils consideration. As technology gives consumers more ways to pay, including with their smartphones, some businesses have gone cashless to improve efficiency and reduce the risk of robbery, among other reasons. A few businesses in Philadelphia have gone cashless in recent years, notably the salad chain Sweetgreen and Bluestone Lane, a coffee shop. Representatives for both businesses did not immediately return requests for comment on Monday. Councilman William Greenlee, who introduced the bill, said he is concerned that cashless stores are discriminating against those who dont have a bank account. Nearly 6 percent of the Philadelphia region was unbanked in 2017 and roughly 22 percent were considered underbanked because they have bank accounts but still use alternative financial services, such as check cashers, according to the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation. Americans are less reliant on paper bills and coins, according to Pew Research Center survey released in December. The survey of 10,683 U.S. adults found that 29 percent said they made no purchases using cash during a typical week, up from 24 percent in 2015. Likewise, those who made all or almost all of their weekly purchases with cash dropped from 24 percent in 2015 to 18 percent today, according to the survey. New Jersey lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a similar bill last week, sending the legislation to Gov. Phil Murphy, who can sign of veto the measure. Electricians Local 98 wasnt quite absent when Mayor Jim Kenney addressed the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce at its yearly luncheon Thursday: The union helped pay for the business event, so its lightning-in-a-fist logo was flashed across oversize display screens at the programs opening, as it was when President Donald Trump addressed builders and union tradesmen at the Convention Center last year another nod to the locals political clout. But none of the days speakers addressed the weeks big news the federal indictment of the unions business manager, John J. Dougherty, and his principal aides on corruption charges the day before. The chambers executive director, former State Sen. Rob Wonderling, reminded the packed Marriott hotel meeting room how capitalism is hard, hard work that creates jobs, jobs, and more jobs. Comcast senior executive vice president David L. Cohen, handing out a couple of college grants, delivered ringing support for Doughertys good friend Kenney, despite the indictments allegations that Comcast had been squeezed by the union leader. And Kenney, gearing up for reelection, reminded the crowd that Target, Wawa and JPMorgan Chase have opened new Philly locations. He also defended his sweetened-drink tax, and bragged about police safety and job efforts, among other initiatives, without a word about the U.S. attorneys charges. They werent asking the question, so I will: Who gains from Doughertys indictment? Besides developers, of course, there is, for example: Comcast. While Verizon, Peco, and other major utilities in the Philadelphia area use union crews to hook up homes and businesses, the largest corporation based in town is resolutely nonunion in its area hiring and its installation contractors, except for a relatively small unit that Local 98 organized years ago when it was part of another company, and has held onto amid difficult contract renewals that included Doughertys 2015 efforts to publicly embarrass Cohen. The local hasnt expanded that bridgehead, but it has pushed Comcast to use union construction contractors that employ IBEW members and those of allied unions, guaranteeing union working conditions, pensions, and health care. A part of the indictment shows how Electricians leaders, from Dougherty through indicted City Councilman and Local 98 business agent Bobby Henon, delayed Comcasts Philadelphia city service contract while the union pressured the company. With Dougherty and his team distracted, Comcast wont likely face the same combination of labor and political pressure over whom it hires, how much it pays them, and what it charges the public. The Teamsters. The citys labor unions arent monolithic. While Dougherty is a loyal and leading Democrat, the citys former Carpenters leadership and key Teamsters locals backed Republicans in the early 2000s, in protest of City Halls support for tightening of work rules at the Convention Center. That struggle ran for years. Then, Carpenters chief Ed Coryell Sr. finally overplayed his hand in 2015 when he refused to sign a new Convention Center work agreement. The Teamsters also held out. Convention Center leaders were grateful when Doughertys Electricians and three other unions signed the deal including the Laborers local, the largest African American-led construction union. Those Dougherty allies ended up gaining jobs as the Carpenters and Teamsters were iced out. Teamsters leaders loudly criticized Dougherty for cutting the deal at their expense. According to the indictment, Dougherty retaliated for the Teamsters' public criticism by backing Kenneys drink tax, which the Teamsters say cost union jobs because it cut soda consumption. Doughertys problems make it easier for his rivals to fight the soda tax and its prime backer, Kenney. George E. Norcross III. The New Jersey Democratic power broker and Cooper Health boss used to say he steered clear of Pennsylvania Democratic politics because politicians west of the river have a long history of being overheard by investigators while discussing favors granted for favors received one of the surest ways to get charged with corruption. Its much safer, long-lasting politicians know, if you make a general habit of doing your friends favors, while letting them do you favors, without anybody crudely tying one to the other in ways that prosecutors can make a case from. But Doughertys handling of the Convention Center issue made the Local 98 leader look like the kind of modern labor executive that businessmen and politicians could work with. Norcross adjusted his policy and began meeting with Dougherty to talk about mutual interests, including planning for the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Last year my colleagues Jeremy Roebuck and Andrew Seidman reported that federal investigators had been collecting Norcross' conversations about Dougherty. Norcross was able to produce an unusual confirmation that he was not the target. If Norcross has indeed acted with care, Doughertys fall might position him to help friendly forces move into any resulting vacuum in Philadelphia politics. Union members. Prosecutors in their public statements tried to separate Dougherty from his cherished position as defender of the working man. He and other union leaders illegally spent members' funds at Target and on fancy meals, the indictment said. Prolonged embezzlement has sunk a lot of careless politicians. If Dougherty goes down, will his members and allied unions elect new effective leaders? Will the national union impose new ones? And will Doughertys successors keep contractors union-organized, protect wage rates, and especially maintain the guaranteed pension and health plans that nonunion construction employers tend to lack? As it turns out, Philadelphia is a laboratory for that kind of experiment. Three years ago, the Carpenters reorganized Coryells old district council under leaders more compatible with their national outlook. Around the same time, the Ironworkers' national union took over the Philadelphia local, following the conviction of the Philly locals leaders on charges of firebombing a scab-built Quaker meetinghouse. The building-trades unions have prospered with Philadelphias apartment and hospital construction boom. The real test may come in the next recession. Thats when well learn if Local 98 and its allies prospered because of, or despite, the extensive political work of Dougherty in reshaping City Council, the state Supreme Court, and the climate of commercial construction in the Philadelphia area. Do you need financial help filling out the dreaded student aid form known as the FAFSA? Want to avoid taking out big loans for college? There are two start-ups with Philadelphia ties that can help. The rising cost of college and the ensuing student loan crisis are creating ripple effects, for example a decline in home ownership among young people. The New York Federal Reserve Bank recently issued a report that found a direct link between burgeoning student loans and a decline in home buying by millennials. First things first: Check your states financial aid filing deadlines some of which come up in the next few weeks. If you have questions, visit the Department of Education website to find out your states deadline at www.studentaid.gov. Entrepreneurial companies like Frank and PayForEd are also helping parents and students tackle financial aid. Charlie Javice, a 2013 University of Pennsylvania graduate, founded Frank, which aims to check the $1.5 trillion student loan market by making the application process easier and faster. Since 2016, her company has helped more than 300,000 students apply for financial aid and get more money from universities in lieu of borrowing. TechCrunch called Frank like a TurboTax for college loan applications. Frank has raised money from investment fund Aleph, WeWork, Reach Capital, Bradley Tusks Tusk Ventures, and fellow Penn graduate and mega-donor Marc Rowan, co-founder of Apollo Global Management. Newtown Square-based PayForEd last year launched a software program that helps recent graduates navigate their student loans before and after they go to college. In America, students default on a college loan every 28 seconds, with the number of those forced into default growing each year. Pennsylvania graduates rank first in the country for student debt with an average of $36,193. The software program launched by PayForEd provides a tool for financial planners to help people find the best option for repaying their student loans. It is the first student-loan repayment tool that helps recent graduates, married couples, and engaged couples navigate their various student loan repayment and forgiveness options, said PayForEd founder Fred Amrein. Most people dont realize there are over 126 combinations of repayment options for a single person and a married couple. PayForEd software can help with both Parent PLUS as well as loans for retraining. Parent PLUS loans to help parents pay for their kids' college education comes with life and disability coverage for both parent and student, deferred payments, and flexible repayment options (although not as good as student loans). But those loans can be expensive and interest may be charged even during deferments, he explained. With our software, parents and student can compare the various college award letters. It will project their debt and repayment at graduation based on the options selected. We believe transparency is the only way to solve this problem. The college financial decisions are the only major financial decisions where advice is limited and not reviewed by a third party for approval, Amrein said. Recognizing that student loan payments can leave employees struggling to save for retirement, some employers have started offering help. Unum, a Tennessee-based Fortune 500 insurance company, will offer a new option to any U.S. employee who has student debt, including parents who have taken out educational loans for their children. Starting next year, in January 2020, Unum employees can opt to transfer carryover paid time off, turn that into money, then into a payment against student debt. Beginning in their first year at Unum, full-time employees receive 28 days of paid time off, including holidays and personal days. Each year, employees can carry over up to five days (40 hours) of unused paid time. In January 2020, those in the Student Debt Relief Program will be able to transfer up to 40 hours of carryover time off into a payment against student debt. Its not just home ownership thats suffering because of rising student debt. A recent finder.com study found 72 percent of Americans surveyed would reconsider a romance with a person who had unsettled debt. More than one in two (56 percent) Americans said credit card debt was the most unacceptable debt for a partner. Just behind credit card debt was student loan debt, with two in five saying they would give a relationship a second thought if their partner carried college debt. Perhaps its lunacy, or anticipation of the 50th anniversary of humanitys first footsteps on the moon, but Earths only satellite will be on view in several local art museums this spring. A centerpiece exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art focuses on a great Japanese printmakers views of the moon, the Michener is devoting an entire exhibition to American moon-gazing painters, and the Berman tackles science fiction and space-age childhoods. Beyond all that, the Barnes will feature some of the earliest photographs ever made. An impressionist show at the Art Museum exhibits paintings, sculptures, and works on paper by celebrated artists Cezanne, Monet, Cassatt known for oils on canvas. Princeton hosts an assembly of Gainsborough portraits. Delaware has a treasury of childrens book illustration, and, in this age of wildfires, Reading scrutinizes Smokey Bear. In this age of confronting Confederate battle symbols, the Fabric Workshop and Museum examines one that has not been all over the news: the Confederate truce flag. Introducing Tony Conrad: A Retrospective (through Aug. 11, Institute of Contemporary Art). This show, organized by the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, is billed as the first full retrospective of the six-decade career of a multifaceted artist who became an important voice during the 1960s. The show will include videos, music, and performance, in addition to works created to be shown in museums. Also at ICA are Cecilia Vicuna: About to Happen (through March 31), the first major solo exhibition by an influential Chilean-born artist, and Mundane Futures (through March 31), the first installment of a three-part show, Colored People Time, about the contemporary impact of slavery and colonialism. (215-898-7108, icaphila.org) Carrie Mae Weems: Strategies of Engagement (through May 5, Allentown Art Museum). This is a major traveling exhibition of a celebrated contemporary African American artist. It will include more than 100 photographs, videos, and mixed-media works, most of which explore themes of social and racial inequality throughout American history and today. (610-432-4333, allentownartmuseum.org) Reinstalled Chinese Galleries (permanent, Philadelphia Museum of Art). Consisting of more than 5,000 objects, the Art Museums Chinese collection is one of the nations earliest, begun in 1876. Now it has a new look, with improved display and interpretation. (215-763-8100, philamuseum.org) The Art of Seating: Two Hundred Years of American Design (Feb. 9-May 5, Michener Art Museum). This show, organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, includes 40 distinguished chairs by John Henry Belter, George Hunzinger, the Herter Brothers, the Stickley Brothers, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, Isamu Noguchi, Frank Gehry, and others along with designers renderings, patent drawings, and upholstery. (215-340-9800, michenerartmuseum.org) Long Light: Photographs by David Lebe (Feb. 9-May 5, Philadelphia Museum of Art Perelman Building). This is the first in-depth exhibition of a photographer who was a pioneer in depicting homoeroticism during the 1970s and expressing the impact of AIDS in the next decade. (215-763-8100, philamuseum.org) Freedoms Journal: The Art of Jerry Pinkney (Feb. 16-May 12, Woodmere Art Museum). Some 85 works by the renowned Germantown-born illustrator and watercolorist will be included. Among the highlights are his illustrations for Escape from Slavery, a 1984 National Geographic article by Charles L. Blockson credited with transforming perceptions of the Underground Railroad. (215-247-0476, woodmereartmuseum.org) Gainsboroughs Family Album (Feb. 23-June 9, Princeton University Art Museum). This show, which originated at Londons National Portrait Gallery, will include all 10 of the portraits the 18th-century English artist Thomas Gainsborough did of his daughters, along with 40 more paintings of other family members. (609-258-3788, artmuseum.princeton.edu) From Today, Painting Is Dead: Early Photography in Britain and France (Feb. 24 May 12, Barnes Foundation). This exhibition, drawn from an important private collection, will include about 250 images from the 1840s to the 1880s, the earliest days of photography. It will include the earliest known war photographs (from the Crimean War), some of the earliest travel photos, and works by Felix Nadar, arguably the inventor of celebrity photography. (215-278-7000, barnesfoundation.org) Fairy Tales to Nursery Rhymes: the Droller Collection of Picture Book Art (March 2-May 12, Delaware Art Museum). On exhibit will be more than 100 childrens book illustrations, including works by such classic illustrators as Randolph Caldecott, Kate Greenaway, and Arthur Rackham, along with more recent works by Maurice Sendak, Jerry Pinkney, and others. (302-571-9590, delart.org) American Beauty: Highlights from the Richard M. Scaife Bequest (March 9-May 27, Brandywine River Museum of Art). In his will, Scaife, the Pittsburgh-area publisher, philanthropist, and political activist, left his collection of American paintings to the Brandywine and to the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, Pa., for the two museums to divide. This show will include 50 works, 25 from each museum. (610-388-2700, brandywine.org/museum) Sonya Clark: Monumental Cloth, The Flag We Should Know (March 29-Aug. 4, Fabric Workshop and Museum). The Truce Flag, signaling the end of the Civil War, looks something like a dish towel. Artist Sonya Clark proposes that this modest flag, and not the Confederate Navy Jack battle flag, should be remembered. The installation, which includes an oversize re-creation of the truce flag, will contrast these two symbols and consider Confederate imagery in contemporary culture. (215-561-8888, fabricworkshopandmuseum.org) The Impressionists Eye (April 16-Aug. 18, Philadelphia Museum of Art). This exhibition, drawn mostly from the Art Museums collection, places the emphasis on works by impressionist artists that are not paintings on canvas. About 70 watercolors, prints, drawings, and sculptures will be on display, including pages from Paul Cezannes sketchbooks, which will be seen for the first time in 30 years. On the same dates in adjacent galleries, the museum will be showing Yoshitoshi: Spirit and Spectacle, drawn from its collection of more than 1,200 prints by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-92). These include selections from his last and best-known series, One Hundred Aspects of the Moon. (215-763-8100, philamuseum.org) Quotidian Pasts (April 26-Aug. 11, Institute of Contemporary Art). The second installment of Colored People Time is a collaboration with the Penn Museum that deals with the complexities of collecting and displaying works from foreign cultures. (215-898-7108, icaphila.org) Smokey Bear and the Art of Rudy Wendelin (May 18-Aug. 25, Reading Public Museum). A Kansas-born artist and longtime employee of the U.S. Forest Service, Wendelin oversaw the appearance of an American icon in decades of posters, commercials, and products. (610-371-5850, readingpublicmuseum.org) The Color of the Moon: Lunar Painting in American Art (June 1-Sept. 8, Michener Art Museum). This show of about 50 works, organized by the Michener and the Hudson River Museum, begins with the 19th-century romanticism of Thomas Cole and ends with Norman Rockwells celebration of the moon landing in 1969. In between are works by Henry Ossawa Tanner, Arthur Dove, and others. (215-340-9800, michenerartmuseum.org) Science Fiction (June 6-Oct. 6, Berman Museum of Art). This group show of international artists, all born in the 1960s and 1970s, considers the blurring, during the space age and now, between science fiction and everyday life. (610-409-3500, ursinus.edu/berman) Souls Grown Deep (June 8-Sept. 2, Philadelphia Museum of Art Perelman Building). The Souls Grown Deep Foundation, based in Atlanta, documents, preserves, and promotes the work of contemporary African American artists in the South. This is the first showing of 24 works the foundation has given the Art Museum, including 15 of the distinctive quilts made by residents of Gees Bend, Ala. (215-763-8100, philamuseum.org) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Members of the MUSIGA Presidential Grand Ball Executive Board have paid a courtesy call on First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo to thank her for her continued support for the Ageing Musicians Welfare Fund (AMWeF) and also discuss the upcoming Presidential Grand Ball, which is slated for March 29 at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC). This years Presidential Grand Ball coincides with President Akufo-Addos birthday which falls on March 29. The discussions, therefore, covered raising funds with the ball to support AMWeF and also to mark the presidents birthday. The first lady supported the ball with a donation. The first lady also expressed her appreciation to the AMWeF board for the visit and indicated her commitment to supporting the fund to cater for the welfare of our veteran musicians. On his part, MUSIGA President Obour expressed the union and AMWeFs gratitude to the first lady for her support. This years Presidential Grand Ball is under the theme: The Role of Music In The Implementation of NACAP. This year, MUSIGA is embarking on a series of anti-corruption activities as part of a campaign to raise awareness about the effects of corruption and how to prevent it in the country, with support from STAR-Ghana. 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 Minister for Information, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has disclosed that the government of Ghana will continue to engage the United States government on the latter's recent decision to place visa restrictions on the former. He says it is just a matter of communication because the Ghana government cannot entirely accept their conditions when they have not indeed verified the claims being made by the US government. Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained that the "figure" being given out by the government of US is "too huge" and that government "cannot even ascertain" whether they are all Ghanaians. "You know, we don't know the orientation of these people. Government will have to verify to know their country of origin before government will even decide to accept. "Ghanaians who will want to travel should not be worried, they can go about their processes as government continues to engage the US government over this travel ban. It is only when government is unable to resolve this matter that i think there will be further restrictions. "But it will never get to that because government is in talks with them and i know the matter will be resolved amicably," he assured. Background The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of State issued visa sanctions on Ghana earlier this month citing lack of cooperation on the part of Ghana government in accepting its citizens ordered removed from the US. In a statement, the US Homeland Security said Ghana has denied or unreasonably delayed accepting their nationals ordered removed from the United States. As a result, the US has temporarily placed visa restrictions on certain categories of applicants from Ghana, including domestic employees of Ghanaian diplomats posted in the US until cooperation is deemed satisfactory. The United States routinely cooperates with foreign governments in documenting and accepting U.S. citizens when asked, as appropriate, as do the majority of countries in the world, but Ghana has failed to do so in this case. We hope the Ghanaian government will work with us to reconcile these deficiencies quickly, the Secretary of Homeland Security added. Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Member of Parliament for Bia East, Richard Acheampong has blamed the media in Ghana for encouraging violence in the country. Commenting on the violent attacks on electorates during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election that resulted in a shooting incident, the Bia East MP told host Kwami Sefa Kayi that some media practitioners in the nation cannot absolve themselves from blame because they provide the ammunition for political figures to fan the flames of violence. He spoke about how some journalists conduct their interviews and reportage which brings about divisiveness within the political divide of the country. Dont give us the opportunity to destroy this country of ours. Youre part of it. You (media, show hosts) give us the platform . . .Enough is enough, he advised journalists on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo'. Hon. Richard Acheampong also touched on the issue of security agencies in the nation, saying if they had gone about their duties professionally, to protect life and property, the Ayawaso West Wuogon situation would have been prevented. He bemoaned the Rambo style conduct adopted by the security forces during the by-election, stating that the way and manner in which they (security) readily pounced and punched innocent people, exposed their ill-intents. He asked security agencies and the government to "think about Ghana. We should devise means on how we can jealously guard and protect our infant democracy to avoid any violent clashes in the future. 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 Former Presidential Staffer and Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa South, Dr Clement Apaak has asked Sammy Gyamfi and Hon. Sam George to kindly accept the attacks on them because it is the Change Ghanaians voted. In a post on his facebook wall, the former presidential staffer ironically wrote: Folks, indeed change has come! Its now acceptable to slap political opponents in radio and TV studios because they have disrespected the Presidency and pretend to apologise! This is soooo peaceful, so the Peace Council sees nothing wrong with such barbaric conduct!" Read full statement below. Folks, indeed change has come! It's now acceptable to slap political opponents in radio and TV studios because they have "disrespected the Presidency" and pretend to apologise! This is soooo peaceful, so the Peace Council sees nothing wrong with such barbaric conduct! It's peace when Nana B, the National Youth Organizer of the ruling NPP and Hon. Collins Amankwa, an NPP MP and deputy chair of the Defense and Interior committee of Parliament assault Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communication Officer of the opposition NDC? The Peace Council, civil and moral society see nothing wrong with the assault of a sitting member of the Minority in Parliament, Hon. Sam Gorge, the shooting and brutally unleashed on Opposition NDC party activists on the day of the illegitimate by-election by the ruling NPP party thugs dressed in police uniforms, armed, hooded and moving about in official Police vehicles? It's ok to be silent on the shooting and injuring of eleven citizens and a sitting MP? Peaceful right! And it's ok that the President of the Republic of Ghana, Akufo-Addo, a lawyer by profession, a so-called human rights advocate, fails to condemn the assault on an opposition NDC MP, Sam George, but deemed it fit to congratulate an elected MP, Maa Lydia? And in all this the Peace Council is silent? Wait! The Peace Council is rather worried that John Mahama, the obvious choice of the NDC to lead us to free our nation from oppression has indicated that we in the opposition NDC will defend ourselves against government sponsored state terrorism/brutally? Let them see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil hypocratic brigade know that it's boot for boot! We will not be sitting ducks! By way, we are fully aware of the NPP hit list. Be assured that it will not stop us from speaking out and calling attention to the hardship, deciet and misgovernance under the NPP family, friends and business associates government! Dr. Apaak M.P, Builsa South Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/Peacefmonline/[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 Inter-Party Coalition for National Sovereignty (IPCNS), a political pressure group, has announced that it would embark on a demonstration in Accra on Thursday, February 7, to protest against what it describes as the breakdown of security in the country. The coalition is made up of political parties, including the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), the All Peoples Congress (APC) and the Peoples National Convention (PNC). According to them, the open display of impunity and acts of violence instigated by pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) vigilante groups in the wake of last Thursdays Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election had reached an alarming proportion, therefore, necessitating the need for an immediate and effective remedial action before the unthinkable happens. They made this disclosure at a press conference in Accra to express their displeasure over the violent clashes last Thursday. Meanwhile, more groups have condemned the violence that took place and have called for investigations for the culprits to be apprehended and prosecuted. Catholic Bishops Conference The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference (GCBC) has said it condemns in no uncertain terms the reported shootings and assaults perpetrated by some unidentified groups resulting in injuries. Of particular concern, the GCBC said, was the reported use of vigilante groups to disturb the peace and orderliness of the by-election. A press release signed by the Secretary General, the Very Rev. Fr Lazarus Anondee, said those incidents did not only pose a serious threat to the countrys democracy but would also certainly draw back the progress and successes of the countrys democratic gains. We, therefore, call on the Ghana Police Service and all other relevant security agencies to conduct thorough investigations into the incidents and bring the perpetrators to book. We also call on the Electoral Commission (EC) to liaise with the political parties to address all the challenges and fears of stakeholders in the conduct of peaceful elections, the statement urged. Jacob Osei Yeboah Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah (JOY), an independent candidate in the 2016 presidential election, noted that he had condemned such violence since the 1992 general election but the situation had not changed for the better but had rather worsened. However, he added that the attempt to label the Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Jean Mensa and the Commission for biases without facts was another dangerous move. He advised that the government ought to be clear in communicating decisions taken to assure the security of all. He, however, cautioned against blowing last Thursdays disturbance out of proportion, saying: Let us, therefore, not magnify the Ayawaso West Wuogon incident to our detriment to affect our economic endeavours as a people. Lets salute the professionalism of the security forces and thank God that the planned disturbances did not spread across polling stations. Professor Alabi A flag bearer aspirant of the NDC, Professor Joshua Alabi, has commiserated with the injured and traumatised victims and condemned the acts of violence visited upon law abiding citizens who were exercising a democratic right to vote in an election. He said he had also been briefed about the unusual activities of supposed policemen clad in unfamiliar uniforms with masks, armed with AK-47 assault rifles with no badge numbers or name tags and patrolling the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency in a manner that voters found intimidating. The use of violence in elections and within the conduct of any democratic exercise cannot and will not be countenanced in the run up to the 2020 general election. The government and all state institutions mandated to maintain law and order must remain loyal to our sacred Constitution and rid our politics of all forms of violence, he posited. Former President Mahama Meanwhile, former President John Dramani Mahama has questioned the selective conduct of some civil society organisations (CSOs) in the country, especially on issues of national importance. He noted that some civil society organisations had developed a cold attitude for commenting on many important national issues, including human rights, since the inception of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos government even though they were very vocal during the administration of the NDC. He, for instance, wondered why his statement that the NDC would defend the Constitution of Ghana after last Thursdays violent attacks and gunfire on NDC members and supporters in the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election had attracted criticism from some CSOs leaders. Mr Mahama also urged the police not to shield the NPPs rampaging hoodlums who injured scores of NDC members when they opened fire on them during the by-election in Accra. Source: Daily Graphic 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 Comments by former President Mahama, that no political party in Ghana can outdo the National Democratic Congress in unleashing violence, has been condemned by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party. Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako has said, it was wrong for the former president to make such a call; knowing very well the heated implications it could generate in the future. Speaking to Peacefmonline.com, the NPPs Ashanti Regional Chairman, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi noted that the call made by the former President is uncharacteristic of a leader whose sole aim is to govern a peaceful country such as Ghana. For this reason, he called on the state to provide former President Mahama with a psychiatrist to examine his head before things get out of hand. Mahama is trying very hard to brainwash certain people in society. He is a radical man and believes so much in the ideology of militants. The state mustnt allow him to persuade the vulnerable in society and a psychiatrist must quickly attend to him and let him know he is walking on a rough road, Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako said. In his view, the former President shouldnt pretend he didnt hear his own General Secretary speak, when he famously declared on radio that the NDC, has accepted the formation of vigilante groups to protect the party. In September last year, Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the NDCs General Secretary, defended the fresh emergence of vigilante groups within the party. According to him, the emergence of groups like Hawks is "an appropriate natural response" to the failure of the Akufo-Addo government to rein in its party vigilante groups. Shortly after the violence that characterised the Talensi by-election in 2015, former Interior Minister under forrmer President Mahama, Mr Mark Owen Woyongo was quick to described the incident as a case of violence begets violence. According to him, Violence begets violence. Azoka boys will not behave violently if they were not provoked.The other side also brought in some peoplethe Invincible Forces and then the Bolga Boys, so violence begets violence. What I mean is that if you are a peace lover and someone comes to attack you, definitely you have to protect yourself, Mr Woyongo was reported as saying on a Kumasi-based radio station, Ultimate Radio. Chairman Wontumi therefore noted that former President Mahama knew very well the atrocities that took place in Talensi during the last by-election but cast a blind on it and went along his usual business. Mahama shouldnt pretend the monster he created in the NDC thugs when he was president have left their body and soul. They still live with it and this forced them to cause trouble a La Bawaleshie during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election. He commended the police and their colleagues from the SWAT division for aiding to bring peace and harmony in the constituency Speaking on last Thursdays violence at La Bawaleshie during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election, former President Mahama told a gethering at the Volta region that the NDC can do worse, warning the governing NPP that the opposition party will meet it boot for boot in 2020. Aside the Chairman Wontumi who has responded to the comment by the former President, the Chairman of the National Peace Council Professor Emmanuel Asante has also lashed out at former president John Mahama indicating that his utterances smacked of violence. 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 Former President John Mahama has described the Akufo-Addo led administration as the most 'nepotistic government' in the history of the country The only person in my government and I have said it over and over again with the same blood flowing in her veins as mine was a deputy minister of transport, Joyce Bawah my only family member in my government Today every sector is full of the presidents family, it is the most nepotistic in the history of Ghana, and weve never seen this level of nepotism in Ghana before", Mahama told his delegates, Saturday. According to him, when we talk they say oh they are qualified, so who doesnt have qualified relatives, who doesnt have qualified families, we all have qualified families. Watch video below 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 Former President John Mahama is wondering why he is being asked to apologise when he has done nothing wrong. If you may recall, the Chairman of the National Peace Council, Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante and some other political pundits condemned some comments the former President made and asked that he apologise. Former President Mahama after some members of the NDC were shot at La Bawaleshie during Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election blamed the ruling NPP and said 'we will match them boot for boot' According to him, we are not going to joke in 2020, and Im sounding a warning to the NPP we are going to match them boot for bootI want to sound a caution that NDC has a revolutionary root and when it comes to unleashing violence, no one can beat us to that. It is just that we are mindful of this countrys democracy and that is why we must be the first to respect it. That is why we are acting as a party that is docile and respecting the rule of law. But if we believe that the government cannot protect our people and we believe that the government is using its vigilante groups and illegal forces to intimidate and harass and injure our people, then we may have to advise ourselves. Rev. Prof. Asante speaking to the former President's comment said: if he said that, I would want to say that President Mahama, with all humility, I will plead with him to apologise to the nation. In making that statement, he has really created fear in the hearts of people and its not just President Mahama I will say this to, I want to say this to all our leaders, people we are looking up to in this nation; that under such circumstances one would expect that they will be the voice of wisdom, a voice that will calm tension, a voice that will help Ghanaians to be able to say: Indeed, we have leaders. So, please lets be very careful about these things that we say However, the former President said instead of Rev Asante and others asking that he apologise, they should rather condemn those who engaged in the shootout. "Look at what happened in Ayawaso West Wuogon and what was pitiful was that these were armed people that our Ghana police service say they dont know and yet at Ayawaso, the guys were running rampage and our police service could not control them...the duty of the National security council is not to control a force; they coordinate the existing security services. They are not supposed to have hoodlums dressed in police uniforms, using police vehicles and firing bullets at innocent civiliansand when you talk, it is rather me they are accusingand they say I should come and apologiseI should come and apologise? meanwhile, you wont condemn the one who shot. We will not tolerate this in Ghana. We are serving them notice, they shall never deploy such a force in any election in Ghana again; we will resist it. we are for peace but to enjoy peace you must be vigilant and alert. We must defend our democracy. We will not accept all be die in this country. they should advise the ones unleashing violence; not me" he said while speaking to delegates during his campaign tour. 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 Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has said that they will fight to repel various attacks launched on journalists in their line of duty. According to the President of the Association, Mr. Affail Monnie, attacks on journalists in the country is unfortunate, adding that it is about time adequate steps are taken to ensure the safety of journalists in the country. Speaking at a seminar held by the Association for journalists following the brutal murder of Ahmed Hussein-Suale an undercover investigator for the Tiger Eye PI at the Ghana International Press Centre, Mr. Monnie noted that the seminar is one of the arsenals the Association is unleashing to repel ferocious attacks against the media industry and also draw the attention of the authorities on the safety of journalists in the country. He said since hosting of the World Press Freedom Day in May last year with all the plaudits showered on Ghana, media practitioners have come under attacks from all fronts with the police and politicians leading the onslaught, the height of such was the brutal killing of investigative journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale by gun men on Wednesday, January 16, 2019, an act which dents the highly improved credentials of Ghana on the safety of journalists in the country. "Even though Ghana is still holding the attention of the World in respect of press freedom credentials, journalists are sad, their pride has been riddled with gloom and are drenched in tears because their lives are allegedly in danger. He has therefore called on the government to deal with the subject matter thoroughly as it demands," he said. Nonetheless, we will fight to continually protects journalist in the country to enable them dispense their duties effectively without fear or favour. We are therefore pleading with the security agencies and the government to in their own interest ensure the safety of the Ghanaian journalist. A Former Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group and now the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Mr. Ken Ashigbey said the time has come for journalists to mount pressure on government to bring perpetrators who attack them to book by constantly campaigning for their rights. He said the death of Ahmed Hussein-Suale is unfortunate and so from the 20th of February 2019 which is a Wednesday (and every other Wednesday),every journalist should wear black to signify their grieve and unhappiness about the reluctance of government and the Ghana Police in urgently addressing the murder of their colleague. He also cautioned journalists to unite in solidarity to resist attacks, adding that the GJA should set up complaint centers across the country for journalist to address various issues of attacks and maltreatment meted out to them in line of their duties. Source: Akua Adufa Mintah/Peace FM News 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 Pius Enam Hadzide Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide says the United States' visa restrictions on Ghana are an attempt to "bully" the country. According to him, the Government of Ghana has been cooperating with the US to ensure a safe and smooth deportation of Ghanaian nationals from the foreign land. He wondered why then the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of State would issue visa sanctions on Ghana for "lack of cooperation" on the part of Ghana government. Speaking on Peace FM's Kokrokoo, Hon. Enam Hadzide told host Kwami Sefa Kayi that the government has not relented on her decision to accept her nationals into the country. He explained that "a deportation list" provided by the US to the Ghana mission in Washington had 28 people, of which 11 have been processed to return to Ghana. "The remaining people awaiting deportation," he noted, "are still under scrutiny because they all have peculiar issues that the government has been to be well informed before any action can be taken." The Deputy Minister of Information, however, advised Ghanaians not to panic because of the visa restrictions by the US saying it doesn't mean they cannot travel. He noted that Ghanaians who seek to travel to the US can still do so, but the new order is "don't spend more than one month in America. This is the new order . . . However; this doesnt call for fear and panic. He also disclosed that due to the visa sanctions, the usual multiple entry which gave people the right to travel to the US with the same visa has been cancelled. Hon. Enam Hadzide added that despite the visa sanctions on Ghana, the Ghana's relationship with the US will continue unabated. 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 Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchway Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, has expressed disappointment at the US governments decision to impose visa sanctions on Ghana. Speaking in an interview on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', she said: the sanctions imposed on Ghana are without any justification whatsoever. as is the requirement, and, in accordance with international law, the Ghana embassy in Washington D.C. undertakes identification and verification processes to ensure that all persons earmarked for deportation to Ghana are bonafide citizens of Ghana. All countries undertake these processes to accept their deported citizens from all over the world and it is not peculiar to Ghana and the U.S. The identification and verification mechanisms have stipulated timelines and procedures which are communicated to the deporting authorities at all times. It should be noted that as of 8 January 2019, our Washington mission had received 28 applications from the U.S. authorities out of which 19 has been interviewed by the embassy and 11 travelling certificates issued for their travel to Ghana. Those outstanding are as a result of doubts on their Ghanaian nationality, ill health, and pending litigation in U.S. courts. Background The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of State issued visa sanctions on Ghana earlier this month citing lack of cooperation on the part of Ghana government in accepting its citizens ordered removed from the US. In a statement, the US Homeland Security said Ghana has denied or unreasonably delayed accepting their nationals ordered removed from the United States. As a result, the US has temporarily placed visa restrictions on certain categories of applicants from Ghana, including domestic employees of Ghanaian diplomats posted in the US until cooperation is deemed satisfactory. 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 Pictures of what appears to be starving lions at the Achimota Forest Zoo have gone viral on social media, prompting members of the public to raise concerns about the welfare of animals in Ghana. In one of the photos available to DAILY GUIDE, the lions appear so lean that members of the public are alleging that they are being starved at the Achimota Zoo by the officials. Currently, the Achimota Forest is the only area in Accra where some animals are being kept after animals in the main Accra Zoo were transferred to Kumasi. However, the Ghana Forestry Commission, which is in charge of the Achimota Zoo, has denied the reports. Executive Director of the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, Nana Kofi Adu Nsiah, told the paper that the animals had never been starved at the zoo. He said the lions were brought to Ghana from South Africa about two weeks ago and were being quarantined. He asked angrily whether those making the allegations know how to feed lions. Another official of the Forestry Commission, who also spoke to DAILY GUIDE on condition of anonymity, said the lions were one year old. The official said the animals are trying to adjust to climatic conditions in Ghana. According to the official, professionals were taking good care of the animals at the Achimota Zoo and that there was no cause for alarm. 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 Three of the 17 defendants in a suit brought against directors of the defunct uniBank and others for the various roles they played in the collapse of the bank have filed an application praying the High Court to join the Attorney-General (A-G) to the suit as a defendant. Dr Kwabena Duffuor II, Prof. Newman Kwadwo-Kusi and Ms Boatemaa Kakra Duffuor-Nyarko want the court to join the A-G to the suit as the 18th defendant. The motion for joinder, which was filed on behalf of the defendants by their lawyer, Mr Yaw Oppong, on January 31, 2019, will be heard on February 12, 2019. Affidavit An affidavit in support of the motion sworn to on behalf of the defendants by Mr Kwadwo-Kusi indicated that the KPMG Report which led the government on to take over the bank was full of misrepresentations. It said the report failed to take into account the future prospects of the bank and rather misled the government and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to take over the bank. According to the affidavit, as a result of the defendants filing a counter-claim to the suit, defence lawyers advised that the A-G be furnished with the notice of intention to join the A-G to the suit. The affidavit further argued that attaching the A-G as a party to the suit would enable the court to effectually and completely determine the matters of this suit in order to avoid multiplicity of suits, with concomitant expenses. Suit The receiver of uniBank, Nii Amanor Dodoo, sued the three and 14 others on September 4, 2018 for breaching their fiduciary duties as directors of the bank and, in the process, leaving behind a GH5.7-billion debt. The plaintiff is, accordingly, praying the High Court to hold the defendants jointly liable for all the loss uniBank Ghana Limited has suffered. The other defendants are Dr Kwabena Duffuor, HODA Holdings Ltd, HODA Properties Limited, Integrated Properties Limited, Alban Logistics Limited, Starlife Assurance and Bolton Portfolio Limited. The rest are Opoku Gyamfi Boateng, Owusu Ansah Awere, Ekow Nyarko Dadzie-Dennis, Clifford Duke Mettle, Kofi Kyereh Darkwah, Nana Boakye Asafu-Adjaye and Alex Gaddiel Buabeng. Counter claim However, three of the defendants the receiver of uniBank sued for causing the GH5.7 billion debt to the bank hit back last September. Dr Kwabena Duffuor II, Prof. Newman Kwadwo-Kusi and Boatemaa Kakra Duffuor-Nyarko, in their defence, accused the receiver, Nii Dodoo, of issuing a defective report leading to the collapse of the bank. In a counter-claim, the three are arguing that the BoG would not have revoked uniBanks licence but for the acts of misrepresentation and the rent-seeking behaviour of KPMG and the receiver. The defendants are accordingly seeking a declaration that the entire procedure culminating in the purported appointment of KPMG as an official administrator was unlawful, illegal and contrary to the prevailing and acceptable practice and custom of the banking sector. Background UniBank was one of the eight local banks that collapsed as a result of what the Bank of Ghana (BoG) described as poor corporate governance and mismanagement of depositors funds. The bank, set up by Dr Duffuor, a former Governor of the BoG, was one of five banks merged into the Consolidated Bank, which is a 100 per cent state-owned entity, after their licences were revoked by the BoG. Source: Daily Graphic 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 I have listened to the entire recording of comments made by former President, John Dramani Mahama, on the events at the by-election in Ayawaso West Wuogon. John Mahama in addressing NDC supporters at Adaklu in the Volta region, among other things, alluded to the capacity of the NDC to unleash violence on the citizenry, and daring to match the NPP boot for boot going forward. Am I am truly hearing this comment coming from Mr Mahama the pauper-politician, who once thought that he possessed the magic wand to wish away the nations problems. Is this the same gentleman who once argued that Nana Akufo-Addo's "all-die-be-die" comment was irresponsible? Its amazing the sheer brazenness and the absolute illogicality of such a statement from an Ex-President, who from all indication is having a huge challenge in his bid at a comeback to the Presidency. What is equally unfathomable is how far John Mahama would go to destroy the NDC, a party that offered him the opportunity to lead it even though he was originally from the CPP stock. As an NDC activist, I feel ashamed that Mahama was once my leader and President of Ghana. Some of us condemned Nana Akufo-Addo when he made the infamous "all-die-be-die" comments and I am calling on all lovers of peace in this country to come down very hard on the filth associated with Mahama's politics. Mahamas comment must not be taken lightly. It is one of the many sad episodes in Ghanaian politics. In twenty-first century democratic Ghanaian politics, some of our respected leaders have the habit of intellectualizing idiocy. They speak ill of commonsense where their nascent ideas are laid bare in the face, and their intellectuality questioned. How does he intends to match the NPP boot for boot? John Mahama wants to take up arms to settle political differences? A whole former President of Ghana? And he intends to engage in civil war while his children are studying in Europe and far East? Whose children and family members does he intend to use for his senseless and immoral civil unrest? So as a former commander in chief of the Ghana Armed forces, Mahama is saying that it was wrong for a state security to neutralize goons with weapons firing at the citizenry going about their legitimate, legal and civic duty of voting in a democracy? So much so that he's threatening violence in return? John Mahama was a huge failure as President. Yes he is a failed politician. He was unable to resist the trappings of power and did very little if not worse to erode the perception that, all politicians are corrupt, easily manipulated and consistently ineffective. In the end Mahama was the terrible chief executive who did not only bring disgrace to himself but to the office of President. He presided over the most corrupt administration in the history of Ghana politics because he himself is corrupt to the core. His family have been in business for decades but only found wealth after he became president. Mahama wasn't good enough to be held up as an example for others to follow. He had every opportunity to set himself apart and provide excellent leadership. But he squandered it all and ended up as a failed leader, with a weak legacy if any at all. No matter how anyone sees it Mahama is a coward and a loser. Mahama has not changed one bit. He wasn't a cleaver leader and he's not any wiser even after such a humiliating electoral defeat in 2016. With all these albatross dangling around his neck, he managed to use corrupt means to elevate himself as the front runner for the NDC nominations to lead the party into 2020 elections. I believe these questionable political exploits gave him false sense of invincibility, and he's desperately seeking to start some stupid civil war because he know for sure that he has no chance of getting back to power. In my judgment, political leaders like Mahama are not saints, but a subset of criminals draped in suits to hide their criminal dispositions. The National Security must as a matter of urgency call Mahama to order. I shall be back!! Source: Dela Cofie 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 Iraqi President Responds To Trump's Comments: U.S. Did Not Ask Permission To 'Watch Iran' 02/04/19 Source: Radio Farda Iraqi President Barham Salih said on Monday that the United States has not asked permission from Iraq for U.S. troops to "watch Iran". On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump told CBS "Face the Nation" in an interview that it is important to keep a U.S. military presence in Iraq to keep a close eye on neighboring Iran. Trump: We want to keep troops in Iraq to 'watch Iran' Iraq's president: 'Do not pursue your own policy priorities, we live here'https://t.co/w15nnnodnA RT (@RT_com) February 4, 2019 But on Monday, speaking in Baghdad, Salih responded to a question about Trump's comments and confirmed that Iraq was not asked for a permission. He added that U.S. troops are in Iraq as part of an agreement between the two countries with a specific mission to counter terrorism. Trump also made a similar reference about Afghanistan, saying the U.S. can keep a small intelligence presence in that country, although troops must be pulled out. Trump's comments will most likely put Iraq's government and politicians in a tough position, as Iran has many allies in Iraq, represented in parliament and among influential circles. With reporting by Reuters IRAN: President Rouhani's Former Deputy Says His Government Has Failed Women 02/04/19 Source: Radio Farda President Hassan Rouhani's former Deputy for Women and Family Affairs, Shahindokht Molaverdi, has admitted that the president who campaigned as a moderate and his team failed to address major problems confronting Iranian women. Former Iranian Vice President Shahindokht Molaverdi (photo by Hojjat Sepahvand, Arman daily) Referring to various hurdles blocking the governments' plans, including harsh opposition of the conservatives and other close allies of the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Molaverdi acknowledged that, during the past six years, the Rouhani's Administration failed to present even one single bill concerning women's rights to Majles (parliament). Failing to table bills on women's rights was our major shortcoming, Molaverdi has lamented, adding, "When I was appointed as the Deputy President for Women and Family Affairs (October 2013), I thought that I would bombard Majles with a barrage of bills related to women's rights. However, that never happened." Sadly, Molaverdi has noted, women's rights in Iran and other countries that are experiencing a similar development has been politicized. Molaverdi who held her position for four years during Rouhani's first term, was replaced by Masoumeh Ebtekar in 2017 and appointed as Rouhani's Special Aide. Meanwhile, a law banning retirees to serve in governmental positions ended Molaverdi's career as a public servant in November 2018. In her first interview after retirement, Molaverdi told the government's official news agency (IRNA) that any step toward improving women's public stature was immediately challenged by the conservatives and, soon, aborted. "Our efforts to grant Iranian women their absolute rights were doomed from the very beginning, since the conservatives were, and are, very sensitive toward such issues," Molaverdi has bitterly complained, reminding, "Our opposition to issues such as child marriage and banning women from entering volleyball arenas, were silenced by the conservatives." Presenting a list of her failures, including efforts to save women from home violence, granting citizenship rights to the children of Iranian women married to foreigners, and banning stepfathers to marry their adopted daughters, Molaverdi reiterates that all such attempts were a non-starter and doomed to fail from the time of their inception. Giving herself a grade of ten out of twenty, Molaverdi insists that she had somehow succeeded in ending the hardline former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's policy of "denial" and "cover up" of facts. Nearly two years ago, Molaverdi made the headlines by referring to a village in the impoverished province of Sistan&Baluchestan, southeast Iran, where all its male residents were executed. Without naming the village, Molaverdi disclosed that the entire male population of the village was executed for their alleged role in drug trafficking. "The children of the executed criminals are also already drug traffickers. They want to avenge the deaths of their fathers. At the same time, they are feeding their families with money from the drug trade and the people of this village cannot be protected," Molaverdi told the state-run Mehr News Agency (Mehr News Agency) at the time. "We believe that if we do not support these people, they will be prone to crime, that's why society is responsible for the families of those executed," Molaverdi told MNA. Molaverdi had also disclosed the fact that babies are sold in Iran even long before being born. Immediately, she was summoned to the courts and charged for "spreading fake news" and blamed for feeding foreign-based media (including Radio Farda) with anti-Islamic establishment information. Defending her position, Molaverdi had fired back, "Are we supposed to keep mum, because foreign media might refer to our comments?" Molaverdi was replaced by Masoumeh Ebtekar, renowned as Sister Mary among the U.S. diplomats taken hostage in 1980 in Tehran, almost immediately after the downfall of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran. PARLAMENTUL REPUBLICII MOLDOVA 2010 The Moldovan Parliaments website design was supported by the Democracy Support Programme in Moldova" an initiative financed by the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe Jessica McGowan/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Compared to those chosen for the politically challenging role in the past, Stacey Abrams, set to deliver the Democratic response to the presidents State of the Union address on Tuesday, certainly bucks tradition. Most notably, Abrams will be the first-ever African-American woman to give the formal response to a president's address, according to archival research from both the House and Senate historians. And even though she lost a tight race for Georgia governor last November, Abrams was nevertheless selected to be the face of the party in a speech seen by millions nationwide a testament, experts say, to the power Democrats believe Abrams holds to connect with a diverse electorate in a moment of American politics enveloped by the complexities of gender and race. Moreover, in the aftermath of reports of racist photos involving Virginia's Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, Abrams' words will be increasingly in the spotlight. "I know there were some headlines that characterized her as the future of the Democratic Party. In my estimate, she is the present and the future. Shes shaping the future," Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who in 2018 became the first African-American woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress, said in an interview with ABC News. And while Abrams' defining characteristics set her apart, they also match her up for the current, unpredictable era one in which the State of the Union is pushed back after a historic government shutdown, and the president giving the address had never held elected office himself before taking office. I think it's untraditional in all the right ways and ways voters are showing themselves to have an appetite for, said Jamila Michener, a professor at Cornell University who researches racial inequality and the electoral system. Particularly African-American women, Michener said, who are the electoral bedrock of the Democratic Party. Its almost a kind of duh moment for the Democrats, and one its good they finally had, she said. Giving the rebuttal will be a notch on a long resume of groundbreaking roles for Abrams, who was the first African-American woman to be nominated for governor by a major political party and the first woman to lead a party in the Georgia Statehouse. She also was the first-ever recipient of the Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award, an award for rising women in public service. That was how she met her close friend the aforementioned history-maker Pressley, who received the award the following year. Stacey has many times had history-maker attached to her name, Pressley said, speaking with ABC News a few days before the address. But I dont think she set out to make it. I dont think she ever set out to be the first anything. I think shes been enthusiastically received because the electorate is clamoring for truth tellers and justice seekers and grassroots foot soldiers and visionary architects and those are all the things that Stacey embodies, Pressley said of her friend. Pressley, like Abrams, is credited with expanding the electorate in 2018 in a way that lit up the Democratic Party, providing momentum for 2020. Her race, like mine, did expand the electorate and so it's easy to make that just about votes, but really it was about engaging voices, Pressley said. New people are feeling heard and seen in the first time ever. Democrats are keenly aware of the power of mobilizing African-American voters across the country a factor that gave Sen. Bernie Sanders a boost in his presidential campaign in 2016 and hampered Hillary Clintons run. And when Democrats took back the House in the midterms, exit polls showed black women voted for Democrats at higher rates than any other group. In traditionally red, Southern states like Alabama, where 98 percent of black women brought Democrat Doug Jones over the victory line with their votes in 2017, or in Georgia and Florida, where both Abrams and Democratic candidate for Florida governor Andrew Gillum came close to victories in 2018, Democrats continued to see the impact of connecting with the black community. For both Abrams and Gillum, those races also took on bigger causes of voter suppression -- allegations of which led to lawsuits and the creation of Abrams' group, Fair Fight Georgia, which focuses on improving the state's election system. Thats why even losses such as in the cases of Gillum and Abrams have Democrats excited. They fell short but look what they did in coming close, said Democratic strategist and former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile in an interview with ABC News just before Democrats announced Abrams as their pick for the rebuttal. They expanded the electorate, they made it possible for the next person who gets on the ballot to win and they also wrote a new political playbook that I think Democrats have to work on, and that is the campaign has to be about you and not your opponent, Brazile said. Pressley, who said she initially worried that a decisive margin of victory for Democrats in 2018 would allow the party to be less introspective, pointed to picking Abrams as a sign the party was still moving forward. The fact that Stacey Abrams will be delivering the State of the Union response is an early and encouraging indicator to me that we are taking stock of those lessons learned, Pressley said. And experts say choosing Abrams, despite her loss in 2018, sends a unique message that the party doesnt intend to let that energy go. The Democrats aren't going to leave that money on the table, Michener said. There are some real rewards at stake here. Its crucial for the Democratic Party at this point to decide what sorts of voices they want to represent and what sorts of inroads they want to make as far as the party being optimally inclusive, she said. Keneshia Grant, an assistant professor of political science at Howard University who studies race and the electoral system, pointed out the important timing of this speech, coming out of 2018 and heading into 2020. We can kind of see the Democratic Party in the people, the candidates are thinking about black voters, Grant said, mentioning the early focus 2020 presidential candidates are placing on states like South Carolina, where a majority of those casting ballots will be African-American. Choosing Abrams is in line with that idea that black voters matter, Grant said. That being said, Abrams is up against a tough challenge. The rebuttal is no walk in the park. Its taken victims, whether its because of awkwardly interjected sips of water, overused chapstick, or the premise of rebutting the person in the highest held position of elected office in the U.S. And in the age of President Donald Trump, experts also say Abrams also needs to unify across all demographics, a challenge she has acknowledged. One way to go about it? Dont go straight for Trump, Grant said, mirroring Braziles advice for Democrats to focus on themselves and not their opponents. I think the things she stands for are already in direct conflict with what he stands for, she said. I dont think its as tricky as you might think, Pressley said. Stacey Abrams is just a sharp contrast in every way of the current occupant of the White House and that is not only immediately true, visually, but it is also true in how she presents, in how she engages. Another challenge may come if some voters see Abrams as a pick that qualifies as identity politics, Michener said, a point of sharp criticism of the party after the 2016 presidential elections for voters who thought too much focus on marginalized groups fractured the party. Its a factor Abrams who has argued instead that identity politics strengthen Democracy has pushed back on, writing in a recent essay that her campaign built an "unprecedented coalition of people of color, rural whites, suburban dwellers, and young people in the Deep South by articulating an understanding of each groups unique concerns instead of trying to create a false image of universality." In my bid for office, I intentionally and vigorously highlighted communities of color and other marginalized groups, not to the exclusion of others but as a recognition of their specific policy needs, Abrams wrote in the essay. The essay was published days after Abrams was announced as the Democrats' pick for the rebuttal. Its interesting to me that Democrats took that really hard thing to do [the rebuttal speech] and they gave that platform to a massively successful African-American, who appeals in ways Democrats might want to come forth, but also risks highlighting some of the division the party is fighting, Michener said. But, Michener pointed out, without risks, there are no rewards. The role will require more of her than it would if she weren't an African American woman, Michener said. But if starting at a disadvantage was a disqualifier for black women, then we shouldnt do anything at all, she added. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. 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. Soundview Paper's Marcal Paper Mill in Elmwood Park, NJ Destroyed by Fire Firefighters continued to pump water on hotspots on the morning of Jan. 31 in what was left of the Marcal paper mill after a raging fire devated most of the 30-acre complex. Feb. 4, 2019 - A massive fire swept through Soundview Paper's Marcal paper mill in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, on the night of January 30, burning some 90 percent of the paper mill complex to the ground. No injuries were reported and Soundview Paper's president and CEO, Rob Baron, confirmed that none of the nearly 200 employees working at the mill at the time of the fire were injured. "Our sole focus is our people," Baron said the day following the fire. "That's the most important thing we have in that building." According to news reports, the fire started in one of the warehouses where finished goods and parent rolls of paper are stored. Elmwood Park Police Chief Michael Foligno said the frigid weather and whipping winds escalated what started out as a typical fire to one that quickly grew out of control. It's a paper mill, right, so they have their own fire brigade for a reason. Paper, paper dust, electrics and stuff. Fires happen, it's inevitable. Nothing catastrophic because their brigade is good and our fire department is outstanding, Foligno told reporters the day after the fire. I firmly believe that had the wind not been the way it was last night, we wouldn't even be talking right now. It was reported that temperatures dropped to around nine degrees in Elmwood Park that night and the wind was gusting at times to nearly 30 mph. An undated photo of the Marcal paper mill with its iconic red sign visible for years along Route 80 in New Jersey. Local news reports say 30 of the 36 buildings on the 30-acre site were demolished as well as the mill's iconic red sign visible for years along Route 80. The business employed about 500 people. The full extent of the damage to our facility is not yet known, but we know the impact will be incalculable to the lives of our dedicated workers and our business as a whole," Baron said. "Our top priority in the coming days and weeks will be to support our associates at Marcal whose lives will be directly impacted by this disaster," he added. The Marcal mill manufactured bath tissue, paper towels, napkins and facial tissue for customers in the Private Label, Away-From-Home, Office and At-Home markets. The facility was also fully integrated with deinking and converting capabilities. Soundview Paper has posted a message to the Elmwood Park community on its website: www.soundviewpaper.com SOURCE: New Jersey news reports and Soundview Paper 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. : 22 , , , , , ? - () : - 6,384 . . 580 . , , , , , , . , 22 ? : , . , , 6,300 . 650 -700 , . : , ? - , ? : . , -. . : , . , ? : , , . , . (), . . , , , , 50 50% , . . . : 15- , ? : , , . , -. , . , . , . , . . , , 20 . 1% . , 15 , . : , ? : , , . , 100 . , , , , , . , , . , , 22 , . 9 , 11 . : , . , . , ? : . , . . 080014726. , . , . sms 1133 , . , . sms- 25 . : , 18 12 , , ? , 18 ? : , 22 18 . . : ? : , , - , , , , . , . . , , , , , . , . . , , , . . Do you appreciate the work we do as the only independent media outlet dedicated to serving OU students, faculty, staff and alumni on campus and around the world for more than 100 years? Then consider helping fund our endeavors. Around the world, communities are grappling with what journalism is worth and how to fund the civic good that robust news organizations can generate. We believe The OU Daily and Crimson Quarterly magazine provide real value to this community both now by covering OU, and tomorrow by helping launch the careers of media professionals. If youre able, please SUPPORT US TODAY FOR AS LITTLE AS $1. You can make a one-time donation or a recurring pledge. In this episode of Central Florida Explorer, Patrick heads to the Silver Moon Drive-In near Lakeland. The theater has stood the test of time for more than 70 years and shows no signs of going away anytime soon. The Constitution Revision Commission meets every 20 years, then someone in the Legislature usually tries to abolish it. That would be the right thing to do if the commission were to be judged only by its record last year. It did more harm than good and willfully ignored issues of urgent concern to many Floridians, such as assault weapons and open primaries. Trulieve also argued that the cap was problematic because it was imposed after the company had already opened 14 retail locations throughout the state. Trulieve which had 14 dispensaries before the new law went into effect and would have reached the 30-dispensary cap by the end of January would have chosen different locales had it known the number of storefronts would be limited, the companys lawyers argued. Its impacts were not just financial but also emotional, having to watch what my fellow federal workers had to go through, Velez said in a statement. I hope that the president can see the economic turmoil and stress that his decision to shut down the government has caused, and that he does not repeat that mistake on Feb. 15. No honest working families in today's America should have to go through that stress and anxiety again. In January, the billboard from the national Mad Dog PAC was a large red sign with the letters GOP, the acronym for the Republican Grand Old Party. The O was a hammer and sickle that appeared on the flag of the former Soviet Union, designed to remind people about alleged Russian meddling on Trumps behalf in the 2016 presidential election. Kasky, in a written statement, said he was very excited to attend the speech. He said he hoped it would lead to meaningful discussions about how we can take action to tackle gun violence for the horrific epidemic it is. A 37-year-old man and a 34-year-old man were standing outside the entrance of Sunlight Jr., in the 800 block of south Ivey Lane, around 5 p.m. when a suspect walked up and shot them, said spokesman Lt. Ken Taylor. The unsealing of the documents came at the request of The New York Times and Vice News. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan had ordered prosecutors to review the material originally sealed because it was deemed unrelated to the drug charges and make portions of it public within four days of the government resting its case against Guzman. A judges statement released by the Mount Dora Center for the Arts, which puts on the festival, said the overall quality of art was very high and made our job challenging. We were looking for a number of things including overall professional presentation, consistency of quality, unique imagery that ignited our curiosity, craftsmanship, and techniques both traditional and innovative. The 2018 law specifically required all health care professionals registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and authorized to prescribe controlled substances to take an education course on opioids. The course covers the current standards for prescribing controlled substances, particularly opiates; alternatives to the standards; nonpharmacological therapies; prescribing emergency opioid antagonists; and the risks of opioid addiction following all stages of treatment in the management of acute pain. Theres some personal gratification knowing that you're on a time-critical mission, said Neubauer. And even though my role is not as predominant as the surgeons, I play an important part in that if I do it really well, I help increase the odds of getting more time to the life of that organ and potentially be more successful for a favorable outcome. So I really walk away saying, You know, I've done good, and I smile because someone on the other end benefited by that. Hall, who has been teaching for 15 years, was described as energetic and inspiring, a teacher who goes above and beyond for students and colleagues, the school district said. I think at the end of the day, parents are not going to want to send Gardiner money to a school that is not doing a good job for their kids, he said. Theyre the ones who are really going to provide us with the best oversight because nobody is forcing them to come here. Its such an honor and a thrill the idea that my version of Hedy Lamarrs story is going to be read by so many people, said Benedict of Pittsburgh. Benedict also has published under her real name, Heather Terrell, but she took the Benedict name for her novels on historical women. That effort has been credited with helping the region shield itself from federal base closures, known as Base Realignment and Closures or BRAC, a periodic reassessment of the size and scope of military-owned facilities. When Secularism means Opposition to SaNskrit Sanskrit and India are co-extensive. However much you can try, you cannot get away from Sanskrit. Our institutions are interwoven with it and values of our lives have been created out of its philosophy. All that is good and all that is valuable and all that we fight for and all that we hold precious have come from Sanskrit literature. The great personalities of Sri Krishna, the Buddha and the Father of the Nation-why do we follow them ? It is in Sanskrit that we have got the most beautiful literature, the most profound philosophy and the most intricate of sciences Shri Kuladhar Chaliha, a member of the Constituent Assembly, from Assam during the discussion on National Language, Constituent Assembly Debates, September 12, 1949, Part III Invoking some fraudulent principles and defying the basic philosophy of the Constitution envisaged by the makers of the Constitution of Bharat is in fashion. The petition filed by lawyer Veenayak Shah from Jabalpur opposing the Sanskrit prayers in Kendriya Vidyalayas on the ground of Secularism and Scientific Temperament is another attempt in that direction. Surprisingly, the Supreme Court bench has also accepted the petition and now recommended its hearing by a Constitution Bench. A Muslim body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has also joined the tirade and filed a petition saying that students are forced to join hands and recite Hindu prayers and therefore it is unconstitutional. Before deliberating on any such case, we need to keep in mind the thinking of our Constitution makers on the issue and what can be the possible implications if the logic of petition is accepted. The petition by Veenayak Shah whose children also passed out of Government-run Kendriya Vidyalayas has argued that the Sanskrit prayer recitation is a violation of Article 28 (1) as it promotes Hinduism. The petitioner has also argued that making children start their day by reciting prayers created "obstacles in developing a Scientific Temperament" among the students. Let us examine the Kendriya Vidyalaya prayer first. The prayer starts with Asato Maa Sadgamaya Tamso Maa Jyotir Gamaya Mrityorma Amritam Gamaya, which essentially plays for eternal self, light, Immortality and peace. The prayer ends with Saha navavatu Saha Nau Bhunaktu. That is protection, nourishment, energy and intellect for all and, at the same time, end of animosity amongst all. These have been the mantras for not just the humanity but for the entire universe, articulated by the ancient sages after spiritual experimentation. How can they be considered as promoting Hinduism and unscientific? If this logic is extended, then every institution of Bharat will have to change their motto. Why then the Supreme Court work with the motto, Yato Dharmastato Jayah, means Where there is Truth (the dharma), there is Victory (justice), which is a quote from Mahabharata? With this absurd argument, our armed forces and even organisations like DRDO are communal as all of them have their motto with Sanskrit shlokas. As all entries in the Parliament are carved with the Sanskrit shlokas, even those will have to be removed. Even our Consitution has depictions from Ramayana, Mahabharata and Upanishads; then our Constitution can be termed as a communal document with this illogical petition. During the Constituent Assembly debates, there was a prolonged discussion on the National Language, during which a proposal was made to make Sanskrit as National Language. It was supported by many including Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Even Muslim representatives like Naziruddin Ahmed while quoting the international luminaries argued that Sanskrit is grandest, greatest and the best language. For the practical reasons though we eventually accepted Hindi and English as languages for official purpose, other languages including Sanskrit are being recognised as national languages. Unlike the word Secularism which was inserted in the Constitution in 1976, Sanskrit has been recognised by the Constitution since its inception. The argument of secularists-atheists does not understand the philosophy of Hinduness, that grants spiritual democracy and therefore, pray for everyone. Viewing through the Semitic prism, they want to impose secularism on Bharatiya mindset. The danger of erasing Sanskrit shlokas from prayer means eliminating Sanskriti of Bharat, the only long-lasting view of life rooted in the integral approach and wellbeing for all. @PrafullaKetkar The Saint who actualised Antyodaya through Gramodaya One of the most respected leaders in post Independence India, Nanaji Deshmukh is a rare breed of humane leaders who sacrificed his entire life to the cause of Antyodaya through Gramodaya Dr Swadesh Singh e are not for ourselves but for those who are exploited and vulnerable. Nanaji Deshmukh said and lived his entire life by this motto. Eight years after his death, the Government of India conferred on him the Bharat Ratna, on the eve of the Republic Day. He is the one who turned the idea of Antyodaya into reality through Gramodaya. He was an able organiser, thinker, revolutionary and a social architect (Samaj Shilpi). He made successful efforts to implement the ideas of Gandhis Gram Swaraj, Deendayals Antyoday and JPs Sarvodaya through Gramodaya. Brainchild of Nanaji: The first Saraswati Shishu Mandir was started by Nanaji Deshmukh in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh in 1950 Born in Maharashtra he devoted his entire life to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) making Uttar Pradesh his area of working as an RSS pracharak. He was based in Gorakhpur and expanded the RSS work in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. In 1950, he opened the first Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Gorakhpur, which has now bloomed into over 18,000 branches across the length and breadth of the country. He worked closely with Deendayal Upadhyay, whom he treated like his senior even though they were of the same age. When the magazines Panchjanya and Rashtra Dharma were published from Lucknow, Nanaji Deshmukh was made its Managing Editor with Atal Behari Vajpayee as its Editor. APJ Abdul Kalam once said that the idea of Providing Urban Utilities to Rural Areas came to his mind after visiting Nanajis Chitrakoot project In 1951, the RSS loaned a team of committed swayamsewaks under the leadership of Deendayal Upadhyay to Dr SP Mookerjee to work in the newly launched Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS). Nanaji was one of the committed swayamsewaks, and he was given the work of Uttar Pradesh where he devoted the next 25 years of his life, taking BJS to new heights. He established sub-divisional, district and state unit of BJS over the next five-six years. The credit for the expansion of BJS in Uttar Pradesh should be given to the organisational skills of Nanaji Deshmukh along with the remarkable oratory skills of Atal Behari Vajpayee and the able navigation of Deendayal Upadhyay. Nanaji also developed cordial relations with opposition leaders like Charan Singh and Ram Manohar Lohia. In fact Nanaji had even brought Ram Manohar Lohia to Jan Sangh which helped the latter to study the organisation closely. After the mysterious death of Deendayalji, Vajpayee was given the reins of the party and Nanaji became part of his team along with LK Advani and others. As corruption and chaos reigned under the Indira Gandhi regime in the 1970s, students and youth took to the streets across the country. Jayprakash Narayan (JP) was requested to provide direction and leadership to the movement. It was due to the efforts of Nanaji that JP agreed to steer the agitation. Nanaji was very close to JP. Nanaji in an event with JP had made his famous declaration that politicians should give up politics at the age of 60 and work for the society. Nanaji later implemented this on himself. Though he had won the 1977 Lok Sabha election from Balrampur and he could have become a minister in the government, he chose to renounce politics. In order to give shape to Deendayaljis Antoydaya and philosophy of Integral Humanism, Nanaji had set up Deendayal Research Institute (DRI) in 1968. For this, he received the support of RSS second Sarsanghchalak Guru Golwalkar. Nanaji turned to rural India to provide an alternative development model to the villages and set up Jai Prabha Gram in Gonda where thousands of drought-stricken villages were provided bamboo-pipe tube wells. Jai Prabha Gram was named after JP and his wife Prabha Devi who was a long-time associate of Mahatma Gandhi. Projects were also started in Beed and Nagpur areas of Maharashtra. In the drought-hit Beed, Nanaji got check dams built in large numbers. In the 1980s, he decided to work in the Chitrakoot region that stretched across parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh that suffered from acute poverty and backwardness. He built his Ashram in Chitrakoot along the banks of Mandakini river and called it Siyaram Kuteer. He began the task of Gramodaya with 500 villages spread in an area of 50km around this point and urged young couples to work as social architects (samaj Shilpi) for Gramodaya. Hundreds of young people responded to his call and started working with him. While Nanaji brought local villagers into his project he also managed to explain his vision to industrial houses like Tata, Vadia, Mahindra, Goenka, Thapar and many others. As a result, they provided support and many times even visited the project sites at Nanajis request. Late President APJ Abdul Kalam often mentioned PURA (Providing Urban Utilities to Rural Areas) as a tool to check problems of migration and development. Dr. Kalam said that the idea of PURA came to his mind after visiting Nanajis Chitrakoot project in which villages were organised into clusters where efforts were made to provide all civic amenities. Under Nanajis guidance a Gramodaya song was composed with the lines - Har haath ko denge kaam, har khet ko paani, fir se dharti sajegi, jaise dulhan rani (Every hand will get work, every field will get water, the earth will bloom again, like a royal bride). Nanaji was convinced that the upliftment of the village would make villagers independent and with a change in the condition of the village and villagers, the administration and politics will also change. Hence he inspired people to become self-reliant and emphasised minimum dependence on government. He believed that no economic growth is possible without becoming independent. He talked about making villages fully independent units where the emphasis would be on agriculture, water resources, health, education, employment as well as character building. He felt that this was possible only when local traditional knowledge and technology is used along with the efforts of the villagers to create a system. To make agriculture profitable, Nanaji first built check dams for water conservation. He established Kirishi Vigyan Kendra, where research could be done to make loss-making cultivations profitable. On the one hand he started the project Nanhi Duniya for the education of children, and on the other, he set up Mahatma Gandhi Gramodaya Vishvavidyalaya for higher education. This was the first university that had been set up with rural development as its focus. To provide health services to villagers, Aarogya Dham was set up where arrangements were made for medical facilities of international standards and where Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy were used. As he laid great stress on self-reliance, he also ensured the establishment of Udyamita Vidyapeeth (Entrepreneurship Training Centre) where people could be trained in skills to create low-investment jobs with high returns. Taking a look at his work in the field of social ervice, the Government nominated him to the Upper House. For his experiments in development and self-reliance of villages, he was also conferred the Padma Vibhushan in 1999. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after the announcement of Bharat Ratna on him, Nanaji Deshmukh's stellar contribution towards rural development showed the way for empowering those living in our villages. He personifies humility, compassion and service to the downtrodden. He is a Bharat Ratna, in the truest sense. Not only did he understand the ideas of Gandhi, Deendayal and JP, he also made them relevant to our times and manifested them on the ground. Hence a postal stamp in 2017 to mark the birth centenary of Nanaji thus summarised the essence of his ideas and vision Gramodaya will be possible only with the feeling of cooperation in our society. (The writer teaches Political Science in Satyawati College of Delhi University, Delhi) You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Photo via the Museum of the Bible In an 1846 speech to the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, Frederick Douglass summed up the twisted bond between slavery and religion in the U.S. He began with a short summary of atrocities that were legal, even encouraged, against enslaved people in Virginia and Maryland, including hanging, beheading, drawing and quartering, rape, and this is not the worst. He then made his case: No, a darker feature is yet to be presented than the mere existence of these facts. I have to inform you that the religion of the Southern states, at this time, is the great supporter, the great sanctioner of the bloody atrocities to which I have referred. While America is printing tracts and Bibles; sending missionaries abroad to convert the heathen; expending her money in various ways for the promotion of the gospel in foreign lands, the slave not only lies forgotten, uncared for, but is trampled underfoot by the very churches of the land. Douglass did not intend his statement to be taken as an indictment of Christianity, but rather the hypocrisy of American religion, both that of the Southern states and of the Northern religion that sympathizes with it. He speaks, he says, to reject the slaveholding, the woman-whipping, the mind-darkening, the soul-destroying religion of the country, while professing a religion that makes its followers do unto others as they themselves would be done by. Douglass harshly condemns slave society in the U.S., but, perhaps given his audience, he also politically elides the extensive role many churches in the British Empire played in the slave trade and Atlantic slave economya continued role, to Douglasss dismay, as he found during his UK travels in the 1840s. Im not sure if he knew that forty years earlier, British missionaries traveled to slave plantations in the Caribbean armed with heavily-edited Bibles in which any passage that might incite rebellion was removed, as Brigit Katz writes at Smithsonian. But he would hardly have been surprised. The use of religion to terrorize and control rather than liberate was something Douglass understood well, having for decades keenly observed slaveowners finding what they needed in the text and ignoring or suppressing the rest. In 1807, the Society for the Conversion of Negro Slaves went so far as to literally excise the central narrative of the Old Testament, creating an entirely different book for use by missionaries to the West Indies. Gone, Katz points out, were references to the exodus of enslaved Israelites from Egypt, references that were integral to the self-understanding of millions of Diaspora Africans. Gone also were verses that might explicitly contradict the few proof texts slaveholders quoted to justify themselves. Especially dangerous was Exodus 21:16: And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. The typical 66 books of a Protestant Bible had been reduced to parts of just 14. How is it possible to publish a Bible without what amounts to the mythic origin story of ancient Israel? One answer is that this was a different religion, one whose aim, says Anthony Schmidt, curator of the Museum of the Bible, was to make better slaves. The Slave Bible did not cut out the subject completely. Josephs enslavement in Egypt remains, but this is likely as an example, says Schmidt, of someone who accepts his lot in life and is rewarded for it, a story U.S. churches used in a similar fashion. Passages in the New Testament that seemed to emphasize equality were cut, as was the entire book of Revelation. The infamous Ephesians 6:5servants be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, in fear and tremblingremained. Whether or not the Bible really did sanction slavery is a question still up for debateand maybe an unanswerable one given differences in interpretive frameworks and the patchwork nature of the disparate, redacted texts stitched together as one. But the fact that British and American churches deliberately used it as a weaponized tool of propaganda and indoctrination is beyond dispute. The so-called Slave Bible is both a fascinating historical artifact, a very literal symbol of a practice that was integral to the institution of slaverythe total control of the narrative. Such practices became more extreme after the Haitian Revolution and the many bloody slave revolts in the U.S., as the planter class became increasingly desperate to hold on to power. One of only three extant Slave Bibles, the abridged versioncalled Parts of the Holy Bible, selected for the use of the Negro Slaves, in the British West-India Islandsis now on display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, on loan from Fisk University. In the NPR interview above, Schmidt explains the books history to All Things Considereds Michel Martin, who herself describes the texts purpose in the most concise way: To associate human bondage and human slavery with obedience to the higher power. via The Smithsonian Related Content: The Only Surviving Text Written in Arabic by an American Slave Has Been Digitized & Put Online: Read the Autobiography of Enslaved Islamic Scholar, Omar Ibn Said (1831) 1.5 Million Slavery Era Documents Will Be Digitized, Helping African Americans to Learn About Their Lost Ancestors The Atlantic Slave Trade Visualized in Two Minutes: 10 Million Lives, 20,000 Voyages, Over 315 Years Cornell Creates a Database of Fugitive Slave Ads, Telling the Story of Those Who Resisted Slavery in 18th & 19th Century America Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 716-372-3121 or email nfinnerty@oleantimesherald.com. Yes. I would be the first in line. No. I don't trust that a vaccine will be safe. I plan to, but I want to wait to see effects of first doses. Not sure. Vote View Results Bohemia, L.I.: So the NYPD mistakenly let a scumbag slip through the cracks with horrible results (NYPD clerical error allows Staten Island sex offender to roam streets, Jan. 28). Unfortunately this happens from time to time given the amount of paperwork the NYPD mandates. Hopefully this doesnt happen again, and prayers to the victims of this fiend. Someone will be disciplined Im sure. But let me say this. This incident was a clerical error, unlike the deliberate release of felons from prison by Gov. Cuomo. The Kennedy nitwits bailing out accused felons, thats okay, too? Mayor Dumblasio allowing anyone to do what ever they want on the streets of New York with no consequence, thats okay, too? Why doesnt the left-wing Daily News investigate those stories a little further to see how well those miscreants are blending into society? NYC is becoming cesspool once again. Harry DOnofrio The Royal Bahamas Defense Force told the Miami Herald that they learned of the tragedy after bodies were spotted floating in the water. Seventeen survivors were also found, and the force was continuing its search and rescue operation. Roberta Kaplan, the lead lawyer in the case against the Charlottesville white nationalists, called Spitalnick a force of nature who is exactly the right person to lead [Integrity First for America] as we fight to vindicate the simple but necessary principle that conspiracies to commit racialized violence have no place in American cities or on our streets. The spokesman for the governor also said Rossello will use the trip to lobby for an emergency disaster bill introduced by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) that would provide relief and recovery assistance for Puerto Ricans impacted by the hurricanes that devastated the island in 2017 as well as other Americans harmed by natural disasters in Florida, California and Texas. The new policy is tied up in several lawsuits, but the Supreme Court late last month lifted stays in two of the cases, making it likely the ban may take effect while the cases are argued in lower courts. The suits argue that Trump's policy is capricious and discriminatory, and not based on any sound military reasoning. Right now, New Yorkers can vote on a minor party line to express their values and policy preferences without spoiling an election or wasting their vote, the letter says. Taking that choice away from voters in our state is fundamentally anti-democratic. We should be empowering voters and making it easier for voters to express their viewpoints, not limiting their choices The measure, which has widespread bipartisan support in the Legislature and among local government officials, would cost $400 million over the first five years and then $400 million annually to keep it running. The #FREEnewyork coalition praised the governors state budget plan for including proposals to end cash bail, expand use of mandatory desk appearance tickets, and ensure defendants are not forced to bear the cost of provisions for release, such as pretrial services and electronic monitoring. The report said that ISIS could resurge in six to 12 months without sustained pressure. It also noted that while ISIS is down to its last stronghold in Syria, they continue to carry out attacks in rural Iraq. I just feel particularly moved that in her first participation in the State of the Union, she is inviting me to join and inviting that moment of the elevator, my confrontation with the men who do not understand the life of women and the lives of people who are not in power, that shes inviting that into the imagination of people again, Archila told the news outlet The Intercept. In theory, she also had the option of calling, but for many benefit recipients that isnt a realistic option. According to the Safety Net study, 10 out of 19 HRA Job Centers citywide were in compliance with their own rules less than 50% of the time. The survey also found that when asked how often calls to HRA are answered, more than 36% of people who responded said never. I knew a couple of guys that died on hunger strike, he said, and I had acquaintances who were very caught up in the Troubles, and I understand that need for revenge, but it just leads to more revenge, to more killing and more killing, and Northern Irelands proof of that. All this stuff thats happening in the world, the violence, is proof of that. But that primal need, I understand, he said. The eight women and four men their names a tightly guarded secret to protect their safety must determine whether the 14 former cartel underlings and associates who flipped on Chapo and testified for the U.S. were telling the truth when it mattered most. An Instagram-worthy art installation featuring the Year of the Pig is on the first floor, while shoppers who spend $88 (Chinese people consider eight a lucky number as it rhymes with fortune in Mandarin) will get a free notebook that may contain a gift card. The company had proposed to the organization Need to Impeach, who advocates for the impeachment of President Trump, that the egg could crack and reveal the message Impeach Trump. The Atlantic reported that Trump would pop out of the egg and do the chicken dance, and a demo animation was even provided. I know he built his political career knowing what he was doing on questioning the legitimacy and the birthplace of the President of the United States, he said. I know that thereve been all kinds of reports about what he did early in his career on housing. "I think the hope going forward is that guns are locked up in people houses so something tragic like this doesn't happen, Abbott said, according to KOMO-TV. When pressed by Bednar, Reich said she planned to get married but not until after the baby was born, according to the lawsuit, and indicated that they planned the baby in such a way that she would not need to take time off. The next day in Pennsylvania, an assailant shot and killed his ex-girlfriend after gunning down a pair of strangers who attempted to intervene. Meanwhile, in Georgia, a shooter killed four people and injured another. Two days later a 21-year-old admitted to fatally shooting his parents in their Louisiana home before he gunned down his girlfriend, her 17-year-old brother and their father. The Pacifica was traveling north on Route 301 when, for an unknown reason, it went off the left side of the road and into the woods. It began to spin in the snow-covered field, police said, throwing the children from the car. There was only one vehicle involved in the crash. I do find that the victims in this case, in particular, were more an aggressor than a participant in the criminal conduct, Gibbens said in court, according to the Kansas City Star. They were certainly selling things monetarily that its against the law for even an adult to sell. Indeed, he may as well have been separated from himself at birth three times. Mitchells face had three distinct looks that made for what may be an early contender for 2019 mug shot of the year, as the website The Smoking Gun put it. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that a judge on Friday sentenced 32-year-old Frank Altimari after concluding his "detailed delusions that his father wanted a mercy killing by an ax is not reliably substantiated by the evidence." Altimari had pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and malicious wounding in the November 2017 slaying of 61-year-old Nicholas Altimari. The suspected homicide comes just three months after the area was rocked by four grisly murders in Colts Neck, where Paul Caneiro was charged with the murder of his brother, his brothers wife and their two young children. "One incident is a problem. We have had a number of incidents involving MS-13 in recent months, Shea said. When we have violent incidents, or certainly an incident as horrific [as] this, on a crowded train, in the middle of the day, with hard-working people trying to go about their lives, we will bring the full brunt...The fast way to get the NYPD's attention is an incident like this." Zancocchio, who had already accused prosecutors of being too cozy with a mob turncoat, also charged in the new papers that a second snitch harassed his daughter on Facebook just last week. I want to know how much time and money out of the citys budget is being devoted to trapping people of color for this nonsense that could be used for solving and fighting real crime, he said. Hes on the seventh floor, and he said that the heat is on, the hot water is on, and the electricity is on, she said. But its still cold. And they alternate, so half the unit could have everything on but then the other side wont. I would like to establish a task force made up of young individuals that would hold meetings and public forums on the issue of bullying, Gregory said. I think that would be a good way to draw more public attention to the issue and make people better informed on how to combat it. The threat came a day after power and heat were restored to the jail after inmates were isolated in dark, frigid conditions for more than a week. The thing that I love the most about the character is, she's telling them who she is or what she is right off the top. ... That's kind of how I feel in my real life, Haddish explains. I tell people who I am and what I am right off the top, and they're like, 'Oh, she's ghetto. She's this, she's that.' But really, I'm not all those things, but that's their perception. And she does not let allow their perception to affect what she wanted to achieve. Rome, GA (30161) Today Thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 68F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 68F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. La Fayette, GA (30728) Today Showers and thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 64F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall possibly over one inch.. Tonight Showers and thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 64F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall possibly over one inch. Extra school resource officers have been assigned to North Fort Myers high School. Although detectives do not believe last weeks written threat to be credible, the incident at North Fort Myers High School remains an active investigation, a release from the agency states. Sheriff Carmine Marceno remains steadfastly committed to the safety and security of Lee County schoolchildren and in an abundance of caution, will temporarily add extra school resource officers to the campus. In addition to detectives investigating exactly whom may be responsible for writing these threats, Sheriff Marceno restates his message to students, Fake Threats Have Real Consequences.' Source: Lee County Sheriffs Office Lobbyists hired by Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), played a huge role in making him visi... Lobbyists hired by Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), played a huge role in making him visit the US after a ban which lasted over a decade. In a report, Reuters quoted several US government officials as saying the travel ban was waived temporarily by the US state department after lobbyists mounted a campaign among congressional lawmakers arguing that the administration should not snub the leading challenger to President Muhammadu Buhari in the February 16 election. One person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Atiku was allowed to enter because the United States saw little benefit to creating bad blood with the man who might be the next leader of Africas most populous nation and the continents biggest oil producer, Reuters said in the report. The agency said during his visit, Atiku met with top US diplomats and lawmakers to thank them for the temporary suspension of a travel ban linked to bribery scandals. Atikus critics had said he went to the US as an aide of Senate President Bukola Saraki, who was among those with the presidential candidate during the trip, but the Reuters report has laid that aside. The visit was seen by his supporters as a major landmark, especially as the All Progressives Congress (APC) had argued he would be arrested if he tried entering the country. THE GENESIS Atikus row with the US authorities began after the FBI investigated a bribery scandal involving William Jefferson, former US congressman, in 2004. He was accused of demanding a bribe of $500,000 to facilitate the award of contracts to two American telecommunication firms in Nigeria. The FBI had searched his residence in the posh neighbourhood of Potomac, Maryland, but no money was found. The investigators had videotaped Jefferson, who was the congressman representing Louisiana, receiving $100,000 worth of $100 bills which he claimed was meant for Atiku, but the former vice-president has consistently denied the allegation. In another case, US senate investigators had alleged in 2010 that one of Atikus wives allegedly helped him transfer more than $40 million in suspect funds into the United States from offshore shell companies. At least $1.7 million of that money was bribes paid by German technology company Siemens AG, according to the US senate investigators. The company pleaded guilty to bribery charges in 2008 and agreed to pay a $1.6 billion fine. Neither Atiku nor his wife is however, facing criminal charges in the US. THE STRUGGLE TO OBTAIN US VISA After leaving office in 2007, Atiku was unable to enter the US after his request for visa was refused. Commenting on this in December 2017, he said: It is the sole prerogative of America to determine who they want in their country or not. Im not running away from America. I applied, but wasnt issued a visa. In November, we had reported that Atikus party signed a deal with Brian Ballard, a top US lobbyist, to enhance US-Nigeria relations, with a focus to maintaining political and security conditions free of intimidation and interference. We also reported that he had been granted visa. According to Reuters, Atiku engaged Holland & Knight, a lobbyist for the firm, to help him secure a visa, in part by enlisting members of Congress to request one on his behalf. Lobbyists hired by Atiku said they sought to overcome resistance at the State Department by securing support from members of Congress for the visit, as well as arguing that the top U.S. official for African affairs, Assistant Secretary Tibor Nagy, had an obligation to encourage democracy in the seventh most populous country in the world, it reported. A source at the US state department was also quoted as saying: Assistant Secretary Nagy was pleased to meet with him and share the U.S. governments expectations that Nigerias elections be free, fair, transparent, and peaceful, and reflect the will of the Nigerian people. We had reported how Judd Legum, former research director of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, suggested the former vice-president paid as much as $540,000 to get his way into the US. Former president Olusegun Obasanjo was said to have been very instrumental in the process which made the US grant Atiku the visa. The presidential candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), retired Major-General, John Wilson Gbor has urged Nigerians to rem... The presidential candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), retired Major-General, John Wilson Gbor has urged Nigerians to remove President Muhammadu Buhari from office with their votes in the forthcoming election. Gbor also told newsmen in Makurdi, on Monday at a press conference, that he was the right replacement for Buhari, who is seeking reelection on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). I want to be the president of this country to make things work. Buhari is helpless. Nigerians are being killed all over the country. Nigerians are hungry. He cannot arrest the situation of insecurity. We need to change Buhari with a more competent person. President Buhari has proven to be inefficient. There is need for Nigerians to do the needful, remove him and bring somebody who will protect this country and that person is me (John Gbor). A Coalition of Civil Society Organizations, known as Concerned Civil Society Groups (CCSG), on Monday, stormed the premises of the Amer... A Coalition of Civil Society Organizations, known as Concerned Civil Society Groups (CCSG), on Monday, stormed the premises of the American and United Kingdom Embassies in Abuja, protesting the continued detention of a Human Rights Activist, Deji Adeyanju. The protesters said Adeyanju has been in detention in Kano for 52 days illegally, insisting all stakeholders should prevail on the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government for his unconditional release. The protesters, led by Coordinator of Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy, Ariyo-Dare Atoye and Co-Convener, Free Nigeria Movement, Raphael Adebayo were carrying placards with different inscriptions such as tyranny thrives when the majority are cowed, democracy under threat, among others. Addressing the groups and journalists, Atoye said Nigerian youths played key roles in the enthronement of President Muhammadu Buhari government and are committed to bringing the government down, following the alleged new wave of tyranny, disregard for democratic institutions and the use of executive fiat to engage in illegalities without regard to the rule of law. He said: Our fellow Comrade has been unlawfully detained in Central Kano Prison for the past 52 days with limited access to family and associates. And all efforts to recall the regime of the day from this blatant assault on human rights and free speech has proved abortive. The family and associates of our fellow Comrade fear that a plot may be in the offing to eliminate him as we have seen in recent times in Nigeria of cases and instances where suspects died mysteriously in Police custody without any autopsy or forensic investigation carried out on their behalf. The Police Command in Enugu State says it has commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding the murder of a woman by her hu... The Police Command in Enugu State says it has commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding the murder of a woman by her husband and his second wife in the state. The spokesman of the police, SP Ebere Amaraizu, said on Friday in Enugu that the couple had been detained pending the outcome of the investigation. He said the incident occurred on Jan. 26 at Amokofia Ukehe community in Igboetiti Local Government Area of the state. Amaraizu said the suspects (names withheld) were currently helping the police to ascertain why the woman was murdered. According to him, information has it that the deceased had been having a running battle with the husband and the second wife before the unfortunate incident. He said, in a statement, that the corpse had been deposited at Atta Memorial Hospital, Aku in Igboetiti Local Government for an autopsy. John Moore/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Approximately 3,750 additional active duty U.S. troops are heading to the southern border in support of Customs and Border Protection, according to a statement released by the Department of Defense on Sunday. "That support includes a mobile surveillance capability through the end of September 2019, as well as the emplacement of approximately 150 miles of concertina wire between ports of entry," the statement said. The new troops are expected to deploy in mid-February, a U.S. official told ABC News. There are already about 2,350 active duty troops along the border in Texas, Arizona and California. In the statement, the DOD said the total number of active duty forces would only rise to 4,350, meaning some of those currently deployed troops would return to their bases. There are also about 2,200 National Guard troops who have been serving on the southern border since last April. "Additional units are being deployed for 90 days, and we will continue to evaluate the force composition required to meet the mission to protect and secure the southern border," the statement said. The troop increase was previously announced by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith who in a statement on Thursday sharply criticized top Pentagon officials for not disclosing the figure during a public hearing about DOD's border mission earlier in the week. Smith, a Democratic congressman from Washington state, said he has since spoken with Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan for more details about the additional troops, but that phone call was "not a substitute for transparency before Congress and public candor." When the active-duty mission was first announced in late October, it was originally slated to only last 45 days, but has been extended twice. Now both the active duty and National Guard missions are slated to continue through Sept. 30. The active duty and Guard deployments are already estimated to cost taxpayers $682 million. Since the fall, military engineers have built approximately 87 miles of wire obstacles and placed movable barriers at 22 ports of entry in Texas, Arizona and California, according to the Department of Defense. On Thursday, President Donald Trump tweeted that more troops were deploying "to stop the attempted Invasion of Illegals, through large Caravans, into our Country," adding that a wall would make it "easier" and "less expensive" to stop the migrants. More troops being sent to the Southern Border to stop the attempted Invasion of Illegals, through large Caravans, into our Country. We have stopped the previous Caravans, and we will stop these also. With a Wall it would be soooo much easier and less expensive. Being Built! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2019 Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the All Progressives Congress (APC) is feverish over the endorsement of Atiku Abubakar, its ... The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the All Progressives Congress (APC) is feverish over the endorsement of Atiku Abubakar, its presidential candidate, by various socio-cultural groups. On Sunday, five socio-cultural organisations in the country namely the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere and Middle Belt Forum (MBF) adopted Atiku as their consensus candidate. The groups said Atiku has shown he will restructure the country if given the mandate. But the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, in reaction, said the endorsement was engineered and carried out by PDP members and sympathisers. Festus Keyamo, the council spokesman, had said there is no fraud bigger than that of known PDP members and/or hardened PDP sympathizers wearing the apparel of socio-cultural groups. However, addressing a press conference in Abuja, Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP presidential campaign spokesman, said coming on the heels of The Economists prediction that Atiku will win, the endorsement attests to his (Atikus) widespread support. Today, the APC and the Buhari Presidency have become uncontrollably feverish over the overwhelming acceptance gained by Atiku Abubakar in all the geo-political zones, particularly in the north-west states of Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna and Jigawa states, hitherto considered as President Buharis political stronghold, he said. Having lost genuine followership in the North West, the north-central, the north-east and a greater part of the south-west, all of which gave them a ride to victory in 2015, and having no prospects in the south-east and south-south, the APC and the Buhari presidency are now seeking ways to derail our electoral process. He said Nigerians have shown their determination to vote out Buhari from office due to his incompetence, divisiveness, executive high-handedness and corruption. The presidency has released full testimony Vice President Yemi Osinbajo gave at a Thanksgiving Service on Sunday after he survived a hel... The presidency has released full testimony Vice President Yemi Osinbajo gave at a Thanksgiving Service on Sunday after he survived a helicopter crash. Osinbajo revealed that on Friday, he had gone to the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) camp for the February edition Holy Ghost service. His spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Monday quoted Osinbajo as saying: We came in very late from Akwa Ibom State. In fact, we arrived just in time for the grace at the end of the service. Thereafter, our daddy in the Lord, (G.O) Pastor Adeboye, wanted to speak to me. He asked me how things were going on, the campaign activities and all that, and I explained everything; what I was doing on the campaign trail and all of that, some of the challenges. He then said, I am going to pray for you. He said a prayer that turned out to be very interesting because usually, as you know, he doesnt pray for long. He said Lord God Almighty, I want you to protect this man, He said it three times and paused, then he continued. You know how very dear he is to my heart. I want you to protect him. I found it very funny that he repeated it several times and then he prayed for favour and other things. So, when the crash happened, immediately it dawned on me that the Lord God had led him to say that very special prayer. And the Lord God Almighty delivered us in accordance with His word that, even when 10,000 fall by our side, no harm whatsoever, will come near us. I just want to thank the Almighty God for His grace and mercy that has been so abundant in my life and in all of our lives who are here. The VP also called up members of his entourage who were with him in the Chopper and who were in the church to join him at the altar. They were: Labour Minister, Stephen Ocheni; & Mr. Femi Osinbajo, VPS elder brother. He also called the names of Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Special Adviser; & Ambassador Abdullahi Gwary, SSA Foreign Affairs/Protocol although both of them were not in the service. Others are Mr. Laolu Akande, the VPs Spokesman; Dr Biodun Adelowo, Personal Physician; Mr. Doyin Adetuberu, Security Officer; and Ayoola Oladunni, ADC). Osinbajo added: This is my older brother, the same father, same mother. Our father passed on long ago, but our mother is alive. If both of us had lost our lives on the same day, that would have been an absolute tragedy, but God saved that from happening. Forty-eight hours after the convoy of the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Oyo State, Seyi Makinde was atta... Forty-eight hours after the convoy of the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Oyo State, Seyi Makinde was attacked in the Ojoo area of Ibadan, in which one person was injured and a vehicle was damaged, the ruling All Progressives Congress lost one of its supporters in Igboora, Ibarapaland, on Saturday. Our correspondent gathered that armed thugs laid an ambush for Makinde and his team, who were returning from Oyo after their campaign in the town. Similarly, gunmen struck at the APC rally around 5.30pm on Saturday when the campaign was reportedly at its peak, leaving a motorcycle mechanic in the area and a supporter of the party lying in a pool of his blood. The APC spokesman in the state, Dr AbdulAzeez Olatunde, accused the PDP of attempting to kill its gubernatorial candidate, Mr Bayo Adelabu, whom he claimed narrowly escaped the attack. Olatunde said, The untoward event occurred after the APC gubernatorial hopeful, Bayo Adelabu, finished addressing the crowd of supporters, who were apparently in an upbeat mood to receive him and his campaign train in the sleepy town. Shortly after the address by the duo of the Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, and the partys governorship candidate, some stern looking PDP hatchet men made to attack the gubernatorial candidate of the APC, Bayo Adelabu, by wielding dangerous weapons as they advanced to his direction. He said it took the quick response of security men to hurriedly whisk Adelabu away to the nearest vehicle for protection. Makinde had earlier through his Director of Media and Publicity, Prince Dotun Oyelade, called on the state Commissioner of Police and the Director of the Department of State Services to, as a matter of urgency, summon an emergency meeting of leaders of all political parties on the current tense security situation in the state. Makinde stated, Security chiefs must take my advice seriously because thugs of the government and its party, the APC, are getting bolder, more desperate and audacious with each passing day, having realised that electoral defeat is imminent. He cited an allegedly unprovoked attack on his entourage at Ojoo in the Akinyele Local Government Area of the state three days earlier and other previous attacks on the opposition to buttress his point. Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said no politician can defeat the All Progressives Congress, APC Presidential candidate Pre... Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said no politician can defeat the All Progressives Congress, APC Presidential candidate President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 Presidential election. The Governor described the President as the will of God and darling of Nigerian masses. He said the president earned the masses trust because he had never cheated or betrayed their trust when he held previous offices. The Governor stated this in an interview aired on BBC Hausa, monitored in Kaduna, on Monday. President Buhari is a will of God and I dont see any politician or civil servants that is so much loved by the masses like him, he said. The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council has dismissed the endorsement of Atiku Abubakar, presidential candid... The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council has dismissed the endorsement of Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), by some socio-cultural groups. Festus Keyamo, the council spokesman, said the endorsement was engineered and carried out by PDP members and sympathisers. Earlier on Sunday, five top socio-cultural organisations in the country namely the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere and Middle Belt Forum (MBF) adopted Atiku, saying he has shown that he will restructure the country if given the mandate. But reacting via a statement, Keyamo said the same groups had supported the PDP in the 2015 presidential election but the party was still defeated nonetheless. As regards the endorsements by the socio-cultural groups, there is no fraud bigger than that of known PDP members and/or hardened PDP sympathizers wearing the apparel of socio-cultural groups, purporting to represent entire regions and endorsing their own political party, the statement read. Their excuse that they are supporting Alhaji Atiku Abubakar because of the bogey called restructuring is nothing but a subterfuge. In any case, Ohaneze had said in its earlier release that the first reason they are endorsing Atiku Abubakar is that his running mate is an Ibo man. He said while some of the leaders of the various groups have enjoyed government patronage in the past, the proceeds of such patronage have never trickled down to their people they purport to represent. He said this is in tune with the campaign promise of Atiku Abubakar to enrich only his friends and as such, like bees and honey, these people and Atiku Abubakar are attracted to themselves. Unfortunately for them, President Muhammadu Buhari has managed to navigate his way directly to the masses who they purport to represent and is ensuring that the dividends of democracy reach the people directly, Keyamo added. By Fredrick Nwabufo Before I give a historical perspective on the veracity of Nnamdi Kanus claim that Atiku Abubakar is original... By Fredrick Nwabufo Before I give a historical perspective on the veracity of Nnamdi Kanus claim that Atiku Abubakar is originally from Cameroon, I must say this about this disturbed personality. Kanu is a disadvantaged character who does not take himself seriously, but who some lost Igbo sons and daughters, in terrible need of guidance, take seriously. I do not think he regards much of the rottenness that proceeds from his vocal aperture. I believe he laughs at himself and takes a dip with the cacophony that his bizarre utterances and commandments effectuate. Kanu is a little scared figure with the ego of a planet. He is what happens when elders fail, and the people yearn for guidance; a lodestar to show them the way. Whoever emerges to cater to their sentiments is king. But I think Kanu knows he has thousands of young impressionable minds in his thrall; so he provides them fodder to feed their sentiments, curiosity, bias and confusion. This is how he keeps his business enterprise alive. It is all about influencing. Kanu is not different from Speed Darlington, the Instagram clown, who markets products for clients by making wry comedy out of them. The more controversial he gets, the more his influence and the more financial endorsements from sponsors. When Kanu marketed the Buhari body-double conspiracy theory, he scored a big one. Many Nigerians, including professors swallowed the garbage. I read as some professors theorised about the possibility of his claim and shuddered at the certificated ignorance. I was surprised that only a few people realised that Kanu was delivering a PR assignment denuding Buhari. And he was successful at it. President Buhari had to succumb to pressure to confirm his own existence. But now, he says Atiku is originally from Cameroon, and that the PDP presidential candidate became a Nigerian when his region through a referendum became part of Nigeria. Is he right? Is there a method to his madness? Yes. Kanu may not be entirely wrong. On 1 June, 1961, northern Cameroon became part of Nigeria, and on 1 October 1961, the southern territory dissolved into Cameroon. On 11 February 1961, a plebiscite was held in British Cameroons to determine which parts of the territory will stay in Cameroon or align with Nigeria. While northern Cameroon favoured a union with Nigeria, southern Cameroon wanted an alignment with the mother country.On 1 June, 1961, northern Cameroon became part of Nigeria, and on 1 October 1961, the southern territory dissolved into Cameroon. And really, much of the present day Adamawa state in Nigeria is part of the old northern Cameroon. In fact, there is a region called Adamawa in Cameroon today. And even the kingdom of the Lamido of Adamawa stretches into Cameroon. However, Kanus claim, though historically correct, is for exploitative propaganda purposes. Kanu does not believe in Biafra, he only believes in the idea of making a living by selling an illusory kingdom. Biafra is just merchandise for him. Fredrick is media personality. The Peoples Democratic Party said Nigerians would not allow President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress to rig the ge... The Peoples Democratic Party said Nigerians would not allow President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress to rig the general elections. He urged Buhari to accept his imminent defeat when it eventually comes on February 16. The partys National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, stated this during a media briefing in Abuja, adding that the alleged recourse to the importation of mercenaries into Nigeria would not save Buhari and the APC from defeat. He said, The world can recall how certain leaders in the past attempted to subvert our constitutional democracy, arrogate excessive powers to themselves and how they failed in the face of the Nigerian spirit. Today, that Nigerian spirit, with which we won our democracy and nurtured it to this stage, is being assailed by the APC and the Buhari presidency with their unrelenting constitutional breaches, attacks on our democratic institutions, violation of human rights, siege to our electoral system and opening of our territorial borders to mercenaries; all in the bid to subdue our citizenry and achieve a self succession plan, having realized that there is no way they can win in a free, fair and peaceful election. According to him, all these will not break the Nigerian spirit. Ologbondiyan alleged that the APC and the Buhari presidency had become uncontrollably feverish over the perceived acceptance of the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in all the geopolitical zones. The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says the agency had dislodged 35 drug joints and hotspots in Kano State. The sta... The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says the agency had dislodged 35 drug joints and hotspots in Kano State. The state Commander of the agency, Dr Ibrahim Abdul, disclosed this on Monday while briefing newsmen on the activities of the command in the last month. According to him, the success is recorded due to the efforts of its officers during their special operations to keep the state free from drug use as the 2019 general elections approach. During the period under review, 35 joints and hotspots were dislodged at the following areas: Plaza, Sanya Olu, Kabuga, Rimin Kebe and Danzaki village. Others are Sauna, Wurare, Aisami, Sabon Titi, Dorayi, Hauren Gadagi, Kwanar Dan-marke Motor park, Chalawa, Madobi, Ring Road, Farawa village, Mariri Motor park and Kofar Ruwa, among others, he said. Abdul explained that the operation would be sustained to ensure that those drug users did not continue to patronise the joints and the hotspots. However, during the raid operation, a 42-year-old suspect named Okechukwu Echefu was arrested with nine cartons of fake Coartem tablets, seven cartons of fake Augmenting tablets. Other exhibits found with the suspect included two cartons of Laclox tablets and two cartons containing brand package and label of the fake drugs. Preliminary investigation revealed that the drugs were imported and also investigation is ongoing which at the end the suspect will be transferred to the relevant authority, he said. According to him, the command had arrested 176 suspects, out of which eight are female, during the period in review. He added that a grand total of 736,165 kilograms of exhibits were intercepted by operatives of the command. Abdul explained that among the drugs intercepted, an exhibit similar to Cannabis called Khat, imported from South Africa was intercepted. The commander added that 136 drug users were referred for brief intervention counseling, while five regular clients were counselled and rehabilitated. We were also able to secure the conviction of three suspects, and presently 81 cases are pending. From the statistics and considering the previous record, the supply chain has reduced significantly. This I believe was recorded as a result of the new approaches we adopted in combating the menace which has yielded a positive result, Abdul said. He commended the Kano Emirate Council and the state government for their relentless efforts towards reducing drug abuse and trafficking in the state. He called on religious, traditional rulers and community leaders to redouble their efforts in supporting the command in carrying out its responsibilities. I also wish to call on property owners to desist from allowing their premises to be used for hoarding drugs or any form of such dealing, as the law has made a provision that will earn such an individual or corporate body a jail term conviction, he warned. Caleb Olubolade, a retired navy captain and minister of police affairs under former president Goodluck Jonathan, has endorsed Presiden... Caleb Olubolade, a retired navy captain and minister of police affairs under former president Goodluck Jonathan, has endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term. He was at the presidential villa on Monday, in company with other retired military officers who endorsed the president for another four years in office. In all, there were 13 major generals, eight air vice marshals, two rear admirals, 12 brigadier-generals, nine air commodores, eight commodores and 17 former military administrators all retired. They were led by former military administrator of Lagos state, Buba Marwa, a retired brigadier-general who currently heads the presidential advisory committee on the elimination of drug abuse in the country. Marwa said if Buhari had failed in his duties, they would not have endorsed him. He said: As an officer and a gentleman, his word is his bond. After winning the elections, he brought out simple three-points programme security, economy and fighting corruption. He led the fight and is leading the fight by personal example. That is the height of leadership. Do as as I do not as I say. He has demonstrated that. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano, says it has removed the name of Shaaban Sharada as the APC House of Repre... The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano, says it has removed the name of Shaaban Sharada as the APC House of Representatives candidate for the Kano Municipal Federal Constituency, following a Federal High Court order. The Public Relations Officer of the commission, Alhaji Lawal Garba, disclosed this in an interview in Kano on Monday. According to him, the commission was still awaiting the name of the All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives candidate for the Kano Municipal Constituency. We are working on the order of the court in removing the name, but the APC leadership in the state is yet to present another name to replace that of Sharada, he said. According to him, the name of Sharada, a Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Broadcast Media was earlier submitted to the Commission by the party as its candidate. It was that APC had earlier presented the name of Sharada as the winner of the Primary election for the constituency but his opponent, Alhaji Mukhtari Ishak-Yakasai challenged the election and sought redress in Court. . ,... The former vice president added that education plays a pivotal role in the rise to success of any individual or nation and hints further that if he becomes the next president of Nigeria, his administration will triple the budgetary allocation to education from the current seven per cent to not less than 20 per cent. The federal government has revealed plans by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to reject the outcome of 2019 upcoming election. Mi... The federal government has revealed plans by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to reject the outcome of 2019 upcoming election. Minister of Information, Lai Muhammad speaking during a press conference said PDP has sent delegations to London, Washington alleging plans by President Muhammadu Buhari to rig the election. Mohammad noted that the opposition party had planned to reject the 2019 election results. He said: Today, still based on credible intelligence, we can reveal that the opposition is moving a step further. They are working hard to discredit the forthcoming election before, during and after the polls. Specifically, they are sending a delegation to some Western capitals, including London, Brussels and Washington, DC, to push the concocted line that the Buhari Administration has perfected the plan to rig the polls. They are, therefore, pushing for a rejection of the results if the President wins re-election. They are also predicting carnage in the event of the Presidents victory. He, however, reiterated Buharis commitment to ensuring a free and fair election. The Buhari Administration is committed to a free, fair, credible and peaceful poll. We are glad that local and international observers are already fully mobilized to monitor the election. The trial of the immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, resumed on Monday before a Federal High Court, Lagos, with a pr... The trial of the immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, resumed on Monday before a Federal High Court, Lagos, with a prosecution witness, Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro, admitting he was a suspect and investigated. Obanikoro, a former Minister of State for Defence, was cross-examined by defence counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN). Fayose was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Oct. 22, 2018, alongside his company, Spotless Investment Ltd. on an 11-count charge bordering on N6.9 billion fraud. He pleaded not guilty to the charge, and was granted bail in the sum of N50 million with one surety in like sum. The EFCC opened its case on Nov. 19, 2018, and has so far called five witnesses. Obanikoro, the fifth prosecution witness began evidence on Jan. 21, saying that Fayose received five million dollars and some amounts of naira from the impress account of a former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, in June 2014. The court adjourned until Monday for his cross examination. Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) appeared for the EFCC on Monday while Agabi and Olalekan Ojo (SAN) represented Obanikoro and Spotless Investment, respectively. On cross-examination by Agabi, Obanikoro admitted that there was a long time between when he was invited for evidence and when he finally came. He also admitted that he was a suspect and investigated when he made a statement to the EFCC. When told that he made the statement in self-defence, he said: I gave evidence of what transpired; I was stating the truth and nothing but the truth. He testified that he was investigated about funds disbursed through the Office of the National Security Adviser. I was in custody for 21 days. When asked how many statement he made when in custody, the witness replied that he made several statements but could not remember how many. He told the court that his investigation did not result in confiscation of his property. When told that, from his statement, he did not say that the accused requested him to contact the NSA, he said: That is correct. He admitted that N1.3 billion was brought in bullion van by Diamond Bank on the instruction of the NSA. Obanikoro testified that his statement -exhibit G was made in answer to a petition against him by the NSA, complaining that a company, Silver Macnamara, collected funds for which no contract was executed. The witness said that the former NSA orally requested him to furnish that account. If that was the case, why would the NSA turn around to petition you, Agabi asked. Obanikoro told the court that it was not Dasuki but the current NSA who petitioned him. He told the court that he was aware that his son, Gbolahan aged, 33, paid N20,000 into the account of Silver macnamara in 2012. Look at other disbursement and tell the court if some of them are from members of your family, Agabi told the witness, who replied that he could only his name. Obanikoro testified that N74,000 was the balance in that account before June 5, 2014 when N200 million was paid into it. I put it to you that you were the owner of the funds in the account, Agabi said, but the witness replied: Thats not true, thats not correct. Under cross-examination by Ojo, Obanikoro told the court that the money in the account of silver Macnamara was kept in the bank and not in his custody. You agreed to return the sum of N200 million to the government of Nigeria, Ojo told the witness, who replied: You are very wrong. As at the time of your statement, exhibit G, the sum of N200 million had been disbursed from the account based on your instructions to the bank, Ojo added, with Obanikoro replying: It was disbursed not once and not twice on my instruction. Ojo told him that he agreed to refund the N200 million because he ought not to have spent the money the way he did, but the witness replied: Thats not correct; it is because it was intended to secure Lagos. So you agreed to return N200 million spent to secure Lagos? Ojo asked but Obanikoro said: It was a reluctant agreement. He testified that he indicated in his statement of Oct. 19, 2016, the purpose of the N200 million he agreed to refund and indicated what it was meant for. When asked whether he was satisfied with the content of his statement to the EFCC before signing it, he said: Yes and no. Ojo told the witness that he did not mention in his statement that Fayose requested to know from him if there was any message from Dasuki, and he said: Yes. The witness said that he did not give the EFCC any telephone number with which he had any discussion with Fayose. On the number of days he spent in Ado-Ekiti, and what he was doing there for the period, the witness replied that he could not recall the number of days spent, but said he was in the state capital to pursue Fayoses gubernatorial ambition. I suggest to you that you are giving evidence here reluctantly, Ojo said, and the witness replied: It is even painful for me to give this evidence; I must admit that. Can you recall that on June 21, 2014, gubernatorial election was held in Ekiti, Ojo asked but the witnes said: I cant recall the date. The trial will continue on Tuesday. Justice Mojisola Olatoregun handling the trial, had earlier risen shortly after the court began sitting over the case. Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), has accused the Adeboyega Awomolo, counsel to Walter Onnoghen, suspended... Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), has accused the Adeboyega Awomolo, counsel to Walter Onnoghen, suspended chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), of applying delay tactics to stall proceedings. Umar made the accusation at the resumption of hearing on the case against Onnoghen on Monday. The court of appeal had refused to stay proceedings in the matter against the suspended CJN who is accused of false assets declaration. Awomolo had applied for an adjournment till Thursday because of a petition submitted to the National Judicial Council (NJC) against his client. The lawyer said the NJC would meet on Wednesday on the petition, the tribunal should adjourn so that it it does not result in double jeopardy. Aliyu Umar, counsel to the federal government, agreed to the adjournment but the CCT chairman said since the matter has been slated for hearing both lawyers must move their applications already pending before the court. That [petition against Onnoghen at NJC] has nothing to do with the tribunal, the CCT chairman said. Why are you using delay tactics? At the point, Awomolo was visibly angry. He said in his over 40 years at the bar, he has never done such. The FG counsel intervened and asked that the tribunal is stood down for 30 minutes. President Muhammadu Buhari has sworn-in 27-year-old Hannatu Muhammad as a member of the board of the Independent Corrupt Practices Com... President Muhammadu Buhari has sworn-in 27-year-old Hannatu Muhammad as a member of the board of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). Muhammad was appointed as one of the board members to represent the youth in compliance with the provision of the ICPC Act. According to the Act, the board shall include a youth not being less than 21 or more than 30 years of age at the time of his or her appointment. The president also swore-in Bolaji Owasanoye, who was screened and cleared by the senate in 2018, as the chairman of the commission. Other members are Grace Chinda (Delta); Olubukola Balogun (Lagos); Okolo Titus-(Enugu); Obiora Iqwedebia (Anambra); Adamu Bello (Katsina); Abdullahi Maikanu Saidu (Niger) and Yahaya Umah Daudu (Nasarawa). The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Council Chamber, State House, in Abuja on Monday. While swearing them in, President Buhari noted that he was particularly delighted that the ICPC law under which you will operate is robust enough to assist government to sanitise the public sector in service delivery, public procurement, diversion of public revenue, deliberate misuse of public funds, and so on. Speaking at the event on Monday, the new chairman swore to eschew, expose and fight corruption in Nigeria. He also said that he was encouraged by the unquestionable, unshakeable and unequivocal stand of Mr. President against corruption, which indicated a very strong political will to fight corruption. President Muhammadu Buhari says despite his administrations fight against corruption, some government agencies still divert or... Muhammadu Buhari says despite his administrations fight against corruption, some government agencies still divert or refuse to fully account for revenues generated. PresidentMuhammadu Buhari says despite his administrations fight against corruption, some government agencies still divert or refuse to fully account for revenues generated. Buhari disclosed this during the swearing-in of board members of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) at the state house, Abuja, on Monday. He said the ordinary people in the country understand and support his administrations fight against corruption, adding that those opposing the fight against corruption are only pretending not to know what it is. He reminded the members that their appointment is a call to service and critical in his governments agenda. This is why I have often said if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria, he said. The fight against corruption is very crucial in our national development.This is why I have often said if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria, he said. Those opposed to our fight against corruption berate us for our focus, determination and single mindedness. They pretend that they do not know what corruption is. But Nigerians know what corruption is. Ordinary people know what corruption is and they support our effort and determination to fight it. Corruption has negatively affected our political, economic and social life.Those opposed to our fight against corruption berate us for our focus, determination and single mindedness.They pretend that they do not know what corruption is. But Nigerians know what corruption is.Ordinary people know what corruption is and they support our effort and determination to fight it. The diversion of state revenue or miss-application of budgeted funds falls into the same category. The abuse of public office for private gain represents corruption in its worst form. The abuse of public office for personal benefit even if no bribery occurs is also corruption.The diversion of state revenue or miss-application of budgeted funds falls into the same category. Rather than obey constitutional provisions and extant rules and regulations, such agencies continue as if nothing has changed. As I have noted in recent times, despite our anti-corruption drive, some agencies of government still divert or refuse to fully account for revenue generated.Rather than obey constitutional provisions and extant rules and regulations, such agencies continue as if nothing has changed. The president expressed his determination to ensure that every agency of government accounts for public revenue generated or spent. He also reiterated his commitment to fighting corruption in the nation. I am looking forward to ICPCs support both for enforcement of anti-corruption laws and submission of policy measures and directives to prevent revenue leakage and diversion. We are determined to ensure that every agency of government account for public revenue generated or expended.I am looking forward to ICPCs support both for enforcement of anti-corruption laws and submission of policy measures and directives to prevent revenue leakage and diversion. I am particularly delighted that the ICPC law under which you will operate is robust enough to assist government to sanitize the public sector of corruption in service delivery, public procurement, diversion of public revenue, deliberate misuse of public funds, and so on. Your statutory mandate recognizes this principle. Therefore, I encourage you to come up with strong preventive policy measures and strategies for governments endorsement to take us to the NEXT LEVEL in the fight against corruption. As the old saying goes, Prevention is better than cure.Your statutory mandate recognizes this principle.Therefore, I encourage you to come up with strong preventive policy measures and strategies for governments endorsement to take us to the NEXT LEVEL in the fight against corruption. I assure you of my full support in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. My resolve to fight corruption remains unshaken.I assure you of my full support in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. A former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe had raised the alarm, warning that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) might lose el... A former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe had raised the alarm, warning that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) might lose elections in Lagos without coordination. Ogunlewe, in a viral social media post, said: To all Members of Global Mandate, we have a big problem in PDP Lagos state. There are three campaign teams; we have 207, We have 112, we have the Party Secretariat. What do you suggest we must do? The main objective is to win the elections. Without coordination, we may labour in vain. Ogunlewe, who spoke with our correspondent, expressed concerns that the lack of harmony in the campaign structure may precipitate defeat for the party. According to him, there were three campaign structures in the state including the Presidential campaign for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, that of the partys governorship candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, as well as the partys campaign team, all working at cross purposes. He pointed out that the current disharmony stemmed from the disagreements over the outcome of the partys primaries as well as the Presidential primaries held in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, saying many party members were still aggrieved. Ogunlewe, however, stressed the need for all party members to forget the past, reunite in the interest of the party. We can win this election but there must be unity. I am an elderly man, I have been a Minister, I have been a Senator, I am not contesting any election. If I see something that is going wrong and I didnt speak out, I would be a fool. We need to harmonize the campaign structure. I am appealing to the leadership to work together. But the Chairman, Lagos Legacy Group for Atiku, Dayo Williams, insists there is no division in Lagos PDP, saying Senator Ogunlewes alarm has no basis. In a statement, he said, Let it be known that there is no divided house in Lagos PDP. Any attempt to input a sense of disharmony in our party is untrue, false without foundation. Senator Ogunlewes alarm is without concrete evidence, devoid of logic, virtually without a modicum of goodwill. As a loyal member of PDP from Amuwo Odofin and as a Lawyer with over 35 years experience, I can always tell when fifth columnists are bent on destroying our partys unity. It is an established fact that the PDP Presidential Council has been collapsed into one uniform platform. This is the time everyone should be on-board. We must all work together to achieve our destined goal. Senator Ogunlewe must choose where he belongs. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai on Monday urged troops to clamp down on activities of the outlawed Indigenous People of... The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai on Monday urged troops to clamp down on activities of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its splinter groups to prevent disruption of the forthcoming election. Buratai, who gave the directive in Abuja, when he declared open the 2019 first quarter Chief of Army Conference, accused the banned group of planning to disrupt the election. It was gathered that unlike in the past the conference is tagged the Chief of Army Staff Operations Conference. According to him, activities of IPOB are gaining momentum ahead of the election. Their excesses must, therefore, be curtailed immediately, he said. The Federal Government, in September 2017 through an Executive Order of President Muhammadu Buhari, outlawed the Indigenous People of Biafra and its activities in every part of the country. The Federal High Court in Abuja, thereafter gave judicial backing to the Executive Order. The Acting Chief Judge of the Court, Justice Abdu Kafarati, granted the order proscribing the group. The court declared that activities of the group constituted acts of terrorism and illegality. The army chief also noted that the political clashes in Taraba and a few other states called for enhanced liaison between commanders, the police and other security agencies. He said the collaboration was necessary in order to de-escalate tension as quickly as possible. Buratai restated that there were intelligence reports on subversive motives by some unpatriotic groups aided by foreign conspirators to scuttle the peaceful conduct of the election in some parts of the country. He warned such detractors to immediately mend their ways. The Nigerian Army is working closely with the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to ensure an enabling environment for good citizens of our dear country to exercise their civic rights. In this regard, GOCs and field Commanders at all levels are to deal decisively with any form of security breach. On the involvement of officers and soldiers in the conduct of the election, Buratai said he had in the past one year given clear directives on the posture they should adopt during the exercise. According to him, the need for the Nigerian Army to remain apolitical and professionally responsive in the discharge of its constitutional roles has been stressed. All personnel must remain neutral, non-partisan and transparent in all their actions. I need to reiterate that there will be zero tolerance for any action and in-action by commanders at all levels that are deemed tilted towards giving undue advantage to any candidate, political party, ethnic or religious leanings to the detriment of the unity and integrity of Nigeria. This includes knowingly or unknowingly receiving any form of inducement from politicians or other entities, be it public or private. GOCs and Field Commanders at all levels are to warn all officers and soldiers under their command to remain forthright and not in any way deviate from the professional ethics of the Nigerian Army, he added. Still, on the election, the army chief said he had issued operational directives for Operation Safe conduct for the general election. The Nigerian Army has also produced a Code of Conduct Handbook for personnel to guide them during the election and copies have been distributed to all formations. He reminded them of events in the 2015 general election which subsequently led to the sad exit of some fine officers, who were found culpable. I, therefore, enjoin you all to impress on your personnel to avoid a repeat of such occurrences, he said, noting that the armys role in support of the nations democracy cannot be over-emphasised. Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, has met with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Women and Youths(WAY) Presidential Cam... Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, has met with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Women and Youths(WAY) Presidential Campaign team to re-strategise for the success of President Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming presidential election. The meeting which held at the Presidential Villa on Sunday night in Abuja had in attendance the Chairman of Central Working Committee of APC women and youths, retired Gen. Buba Marwa, among others. Mrs Buhari commended the efforts of the campaign team in galvanising support for the re-election of President Buhari. She also expressed her gratitude to the team for embarking on a door-to-door campaign strategy by informing Nigerians on the success recorded by the APC administration, especially in the agricultural sector and the fight against the insurgency. She assured the delegation of her commitment to ensuring greater participation of women and youths during before and after the election. Responding, Gen. Marwa expressed appreciation to the wife of the President for her continued support to the campaign team. This is the first time in the history of electioneering campaign a women and youths presidential campaign team was launched in our country. This is because women and youths are key to the success of any election because they form eighty percent of our voting population, he said. He said the campaign team had embarked on a campaign tour of the northern and southern parts of Nigeria to galvanise support for the re-election of President Buhari. Marwa assured the wife of the president of their determination to further engage their members on a door-to-door and a grassroots mobilisation to ensure the victory of APC in Feb. 16 Presidential election. Former Inspector-General of Police and member of the campaign team, Suleiman Abba, said, we will use every opportunity to mobilise and sensitise Nigerians on the achievements of the APC administration. Abba emphasised the need for the campaign team to engage media in the campaign for adequate publicity. He assured the wife of the president of their readiness to educate Nigerians on the dangers of electing the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). We will continue to meet the press and let me assure you that we will not relent in our campaign, we will let the people know the dangers of electing PDP again, he said. Former Deputy Governor of Plateau, Mrs Pauline Tallen, said the campaign team had recorded huge success in the states visited, so far. Tallen said a mammoth crowd greeted the campaign team in every state it visited. According to her, that was a sign of love and appreciation by women and youths to the achievements of the governing APC. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was also attended by the wife of Nasarawa State Governor Mairo Al-Makura, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration Dr Hajo Sani. (NAN). Have an opinion on a recent story or event around the University of Cincinnati? Let us know what you think! If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click the button below to email Anne Simendinger, editor-in-chief. For news tips or story ideas, contact one of our editors. Email the editor Jessica Kopp can be reached at jessica.kopp@newspressnow.com or you can follow her on Twitter: @NPNOWKopp 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. Bahrain Fintech Bay will host the first Fintech for Sustainability Hackathon in the MENA Region in partnership with BENEFIT and The Manama Hub of the Global Shapers Community. The month-long hackathon will start in February open to all university students in Bahrain. The joint initiative will gather multidisciplinary students from local universities, to participate in the first Fintech for Sustainability in the MENA region, with the goal of promoting Bahrains ecosystem within the fintech industry by giving students the exposure and opportunities within the financial industry. The programme will be running for four weeks, where industry experts will provide educational sessions on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the financial technology fintech industry trends, and the opportunities for connecting the industry to sustainability in the context of Bahrain. Prizes will include internship opportunities for students which could lead to working opportunities. Industry partners will also provide weekly mentorship and workshops for the participants to learn directly from industry experts who will be hosting workshops. The Manama Hub will conduct a multi-day roadshow, visiting all universities across Bahrain to encourage passionate students to sign up for the Hackathon and showcase their innovations. 50 participants will have 6 hours to come up with innovative solutions under the Fintech theme for sustainability where 3 winners will be selected based on their final presentation. We are happy to collaborate with Benefit and Bahrain FinTech Bay on developing innovative solutions to tackle world problems by using financial technology as an enabler, stated Nada Darwish, Curator, Manama Hub of the Global Shapers Community. Germanys coalition government agreed in principle yesterday to soften a controversial law that bars medical doctors from advertising abortion services. Gynaecologists and hospitals will now be allowed to share essential information about where and how women can terminate unwanted pregnancies. German law allows abortions but has long effectively discouraged them through various hurdles such as the advertising ban. Last year gynaecologist Kristina Haenel was fined 6,000 euros ($6,800) for breaking the law by publishing information on abortion services on her website. The case revived debate in the coalition government led by Chancellor Angela Merkels conservative Christian Democrats (CDU). Junior partners the Social Democrats (SPD) wanted the paragraph scrapped, a demand backed by leftist opposition parties the Greens and Die Linke. In the end the ruling parties reached a compromise that many read as a defeat for the SPD. Andrea Nahles, the SPD leader, nonetheless welcomed the agreement, tweeting that women are finally getting the information they need. Health Minister Jens Spahn of the CDU said women needed access to crucial information but added that abortions should not be advertised because they are not a medical procedure like any other. The draft bill seen by AFP would allow federal health authorities and the German Medical Association to publish nationwide lists of doctors who perform abortions. In other changes, the age limit for women entitled to free contraceptives will be raised from 20 to 22 years, and training on performing abortions will be expanded for medical students. The bill is expected to be approved by the Merkel cabinet on February 6 and then pass both houses of parliament. The International Advertising Association (IAA) will host the 44th IAA World Congress in Kochi, India, from February 20-22 at the Grand Hyatt Lulu International Convention Centre Bolgatty. Khamis Al Muqla, President of the IAA Bahrain Chapter and member of the World Council of the International Advertising Association, said that he is keen to see the members participating in this important World Congress. He urged the advertising and media sectors in the Kingdom to participate and be informed of the trends and developments in the global advertising industry. The theme of the Congress will be Brand Dharma to bring to life the basic principles that a brand has to follow to connect with its customers and society at large. The Congress is planned as the most significant event covering marketing, advertising, communications, media and related technology areas in the world. A stellar array of 35 speakers has been assembled, each one a global leader in their own rights. There are special rates for academics and students so that they learn from this great line-up of speakers. More than 2,000 delegates from nearly 25 countries are expected to participate in the event. Some of the key speakers at the Congress will be Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman and Managing Director, Mukesh Ambani, Unilever CEO Paul Polman, Qualcomm CEO, Steven Mollenkopf, non-executive Chairman of Infosys and former Chairman of UIDAI, Nandan Nilekani, CEO of Investment Advisors, Rajeev Misra and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachan will also speak at the event. The University of Bahrain (UoB) in association with the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China hosted a Chinese art exhibition at its premises in Sakhir. The inaugural ceremony of the exhibition was attended by many dignitaries including Chinese Ambassador Anwaer, Prof Xu Shi of Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University and UoB President Prof Riyadh Hamza. Speaking to Tribune, Prof Hamza said: We are delighted to be hosting the exhibition at the University of Bahrain and hearing the experience firsthand from one of the worlds leading professors in contemporary art. It is a matter of pride that Prof Xu has chosen to visit the Kingdom of Bahrain and the University of Bahrain on his world tour. We are overwhelmed to host a colleague from Tsinghua University which is one of the world leading universities, ranked 22 globally by the Times and 17 globally by QS and number one not just in China but also in Asia. This event not only demonstrates the deep relationship between Bahrain and China, but also the UoBs appreciation for the Chinese culture, which goes from strength to strength through our Confucius Institute. Last year, we had over 1,500 students studying Mandarin language and our working relationship with Huawei Technologies Bahrain provides our students with real opportunities for employment. The UoB has nine international study centres, which shows the breadth of our international outlook and how we encourage our students to understand different cultures and perspectives. This outlook is also reflected within the university. The university is currently ranked in the top 100 globally for international staff and we are proud to be a global university. As part of the Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN), the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) is inviting applications from firms wishing to test innovative financial products, services or business models across more than one jurisdiction. The GFIN is a network of 29 international financial regulators and related organisations committed to supporting financial innovation in the interests of consumers. The pilot cross border tests follow last years consultation on the role of the GFIN in creating an environment that allows firms to simultaneously trial and scale new technologies across multiple jurisdictions, gaining real-time insight into how a product or service might operate in the market while ensuring appropriate consumer protection is in place. Rasheed Al Maraj, Governor of the CBB said, This step marks an important milestone in our drive towards digitisation and innovation in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the mutual efforts undertaken by all GFIN members in enhancing our Fintech ecosystems. This will build on the success of our the CBBs own Regulatory Sandbox which launched in mid2017, and will attract even more companies to test their innovative financial solutions. Khalid Al Rumaihi, Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), said: Bahrain has created a successful FinTech ecosystem built on a foundation of strong regulations, a talented workforce with a long history in the financial services industry, and cost competitiveness. (Newser) Virginia politics was in turmoil Monday, with the governor fending off calls to resign and his lieutenant governor forcefully denying sexual assault allegations. The accusations against Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam have been swirling for days, ever since a photo emerged of a person in blackface and another person in KKK garb on Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook page. Northdam denies that either person is him. If Northam does resign, he would be replaced by Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who would become the state's second black governor, reports the AP. However, Fairfax also finds himself at the center of controversy. On Monday, he threatened legal action against a right-wing site, Big League Politics, after it ran a sexual assault allegation against him dating back to 2004, reports the Richmond Post-Dispatch. The BLP site also was the first to run the Northam photo. story continues below Fairfax's female accuser describes a forced sexual encounter in a hotel room, while Fairfax describes it as consensual. The Washington Post investigated the story previously but opted not to run it because it found nobody to corroborate it. The Post also found no similar allegations against Fairfax. However, the newspaper makes a point to say it did not find significant red flags and inconsistencies within the allegation, as a statement from Fairfax asserts. The same statement declares that Fairfax "has never assaulted anyoneeverin any way, shape, or form." The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, has a story about Big League Politics, which it describes as a "scrappy, pro-Trump outfit backed by Republican operatives." (Northam explained his shifting statements about the yearbook photo.) (Newser) Iraq's president on Monday criticized President Trump for saying he wants to keep US troops in Iraq "to watch Iran," saying the US leader didn't ask Iraq's permission to do so. "We find these comments strange," said Barham Salih, speaking at a forum in Baghdad. Salih said US troops were in Iraq as part of an agreement between the two countries and with a specific mission of assisting in the fight against ISIS and combating "terrorism." He said the Iraqi Constitution forbids the use of Iraq as a base to threaten the interests or security of neighboring countries, reports the AP. "Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues," he added. story continues below Salih was responding to Trump's comments in an interview with CBS News' Face the Nation, during which Trump said the US has an "incredible base" in Iraq that he intends to keep "because I want to be able to watch Iran." "We spent a fortune on building this incredible base," Trump said. "We might as well keep it. And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem." He said the US base in Iraq is "perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East." (Iran, meanwhile, is holding a US veteran due to a "private complaint.") (Newser) The risks of investing in cryptocurrency have been well documented, but a new case out of Canada may be the weirdest example yet. It seems the founder of a crypto exchange died unexpectedly, and he was the only one who had access to most of the $190 million of his clients' funds, reports Gizmodo. They might be out of luck as a result. The strange tale began in December when the exchange QuadrigaCX announced that 30-year-old Canadian Gerald Cotten had died while on a trip to India of complications from Crohn's disease, reports the CBC. Cotten apparently had the only access to the bulk of clients' money, spread out over various cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. His widow, Jennifer Robertson, has his laptop but says nobody has been able to get past its encryption, according to an affidavit in British Columbia Supreme Court. story continues below "They've left us completely in the dark," says a Calgary investor who found that he couldn't withdraw $15,000. "I'm kind of preparing for the worst." In the affidavit, Robertson said that Cotten had "sole responsibility for handling the funds and coins." While some of the money appears to be in accessible "hot wallet" storagesort of like liquid cashthe vast majority is in inaccessible "cold wallet" storage. The latter is used to keep the money safe from hackers. Adding to the intrigue: Some people think the whole story is a little too fishy. For example, the CEO of rival exchange Kraken says it is investigating "the bizarre and, frankly, unbelievable story of the founders death and lost keys," per CCN. Kraken's Jesse Powell also encouraged the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to investigate. (Read more cryptocurrency stories.) (Newser) A 13-year-old boy in Indiana ended up in juvenile detention after asking Siri a disturbing questionand sharing the results online. The Valparaiso Police Department says the teen told the Apple digital assistant, "Siri, I am going to shoot up a school," Fox reports. Police say the teen then posted a screenshot of the response, in which Siri obligingly provided a list of nearby schools. The teen was charged with intimidation and taken to the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center, though police say the picture was posted as a joke and the boy did not have access to weapons. story continues below Police say the boy, a Chesterton Middle School student, was reported by his online contacts. They say there was no direct threat to any specific person or school. "The threat is not believed to be credible at this time; however, these types of communications are taken very seriously by the Valparaiso Police Department and our community," police said in a statement, per the Northwest Indiana Times. (Siri offered some suggestions when this Florida man asked for help hiding a body.) (Newser) Ralph Northam was still the governor of Virginia as of Sunday nightbut with dozens of his fellow Democrats calling for him to step down over a racist photo in his 1984 medical school yearbook, few observers expect him to last another week. Sources tell the Washington Post that Northam held a meeting with senior staff Sunday night and will hold another one with administration staff Monday morning. The insiders say that during the "emotional" meeting, Northam admitted for the first time that he is actively considering resignation, though no decision was made. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who would become governor if Northam stepped down, was not present, the sources say. story continues below At a press conference Saturday, Northam reversed earlier statements and said he was neither the person in blackface nor the person in a KKK outfit in the photo, though he admitted he had blackened his face to look like Michael Jackson in a 1984 dance contest. The Post's sources say some of Northam's remaining supporters are trying to find evidence that he was not in the photo. Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe called for Northam, who served as his lieutenant governor, to step down regardless, the AP reports. "It doesnt matter whether he was in the photo or not in the photo at this point," he told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. "We have to close that chapter." (Read more Ralph Northam stories.) He Was Her Stepdad, Then Her Husband. Now, a Murder Trial Hundreds of Bushiri followers protested outside the court in a show of unwavering support for the self-proclaimed prophet and his wife. Congregants from the church were seen singing and dancing outside the commercial crime court. VICE-PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwenga (pictured) was on Saturday morning reportedly airlifted again to South Africa for emergency medical services after his health deteriorated last week. Top government sources yesterday confirmed the development, although Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa was not picking calls when sought for comment, while the permanent secretary in the ministry, Ndavaningi Mangwana, referred all questions to presidential spokesperson George Charamba. NewsDay has it on authority that the VP has not been well in the past week. Kindly talk to the presidential spokesperson Cde George Charamba on all issues relating to the presidency. I can only answer to questions that involve government business, not the presidency, Mangwana said. Attempts to get a comment from Charamba were fruitless, as his phone went unanswered, but sources said Chiwenga left for Cape Town after briefly visiting a local health centre on Wednesday evening. Mutsvangwa, her deputy Energy Mutodi and Charamba did not respond to questions sent to their mobile phones on the matter. The VP on Wednesday was at Avenues Clinic from around 4pm until around 7pm. He then left for home. The situation deteriorated, forcing him to seek further attention in Cape Town, said a source. The former army general, who led an operation to remove former President Robert Mugabe in November 2017, was said to be receiving treatment at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. Chiwenga, according to sources, was taken ill after attending a brief politburo meeting and checked in at Avenues Clinic an elite hospital in the city centre. His health had improved in recent months after being taken ill in October last year and being airlifted to South Africa then for close to a month. Government, in October, said the VP was being treated for exhaustion and 1980s injuries from the war of liberation. The Vice-President and his wife, Marry, have been showing signs of illness, with visibly swollen hands and discoloured skin patches, something he said was due to poisoning. Chiwenga appeared agitated and angrily fidgety in recent public appearances, raising fears about his health. Last year, Chiwenga suggested he was paying the price for removing Mugabe, triggering speculation he might have been poisoned. I have decided to talk about it because that is what you see, but you should know that everything that happens, comes with a price, he said then. Today, we want to set the record straight on one issue, now that journalists are here. When we did our operation to normalise things in the country, I was with General [Phillip Valerio] Sibanda and many others. They are brave men, indeed. a decade-and-a-half, said then. We also informed vaMatanga [Godwin,) then Deputy Commissioner-General of Police, but now Commissioner-General] about the plan; it was during that time that I fell ill. I had this skin disease [nhuta] that affected my whole body from beneath my feet to my back and the journalists started saying I was using skin lightening creams, but that was not the case. I was sick, the Vice-President, a career soldier who commanded Zimbabwes military for almosta decade-and-a-half, said then. The Zimbabwean presidium has been criticised for going on foreign medical sojourns, shunning local State health institutions that are on the brink of collapse due to poor resourcing. Recently, doctors embarked on a 40-day protest over poor remuneration and working conditions, lack of drugs and medical equipment, demands which the government promised to look into. Former President Robert Mugabe took frequent medical visits to Singapore, Mnangagwa frequented South Africa for check-ups after the 2017 poisoning incident, while Vice-President Kembo Mohadi and Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri were flown to South Africa after being wounded in the White City bomb blast in Bulawayo last year. Newsday Kathmandu, February 4 A South Korean firm contracted to prepare the detailed project report for the Kathmandu-Terai fast track has submitted its report to the Nepal Army. Sources at the national military organisation say the report was handed over last night. Nepal Army spokesperson Yam Bahadur Dhakal says, Now, we will study the DPR. We will review is as per necessity and finalise it as soon as possible. It has been learned that the report was prepared at the cost of Rs 101.5 million. Though the Nepal Army has already contracted 28 firms for different sections of the project, some works were halted in absence of the DPR. On October 2 last year, the Army had signed the contract with Soosung Engineering to prepare the DPR in 105 days. What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 574-583-5121 or email cgrace@thehj.com. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. By AFP OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday 53 million Canadian dollars (USD 40 million) in aid for Venezuelans suffering through a political, economic and humanitarian crisis. "Today, Canada is stepping up and announcing USD 53 million to address the most pressing needs of Venezuelans on the ground, including almost 3 million refugees," Trudeau told a gathering in Ottawa of the Lima Group of nations. "The bulk of the funds will go to trusted partners, and neighbouring countries to help them support Venezuela and Venezuelans," he said. By PTI LONDON: The UK government on Monday announced that the European Union (EU) has suspended Turkmenistan Airlines flights over safety concerns, affecting budget flights that operate from India. The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advisory notes that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has ordered the airline's suspension, which means flights from Amritsar to Birmingham and London's Heathrow Airport, and New Delhi to Heathrow Airport, which fly via Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat, will not be able to land in the UK. "The European Aviation Safety Agency has suspended Turkmenistan Airlines flights to and from the EU pending confirmation that it meets international air safety standards," the FCO advisory notes. "This means Turkmenistan Airlines flights from Amritsar to Birmingham and Heathrow, and New Delhi to Heathrow, which fly via Ashgabat, do not have permission to continue their route from Ashgabat to Birmingham and Heathrow; affected passengers are advised to contact Turkmenistan Airlines for advice," the FCO said. The route is a commonly used budget route between India and the UK, with cheaper tickets as a result of the indirect route via Turkmenistan. The airline operates five flights a week from Birmingham to Ashgabat and a weekly departure from Heathrow Airport, with a majority of the passengers connecting to services to India. The European Aviation Safety Agency has suspended Turkmenistan Airlines flights to and from the EU. This affects some #TurkmenistanAirlines flights from #India to Birmingham and Heathrow. Affected passengers are advised to contact Turkmenistan Airlines https://t.co/d5DecWn1Yw pic.twitter.com/oHSTPI71KL FCO travel advice (@FCOtravel) February 4, 2019 It is an especially popular route with the British Punjabi population, flying to Amritsar. Turkmenistan, a former Soviet Union country, had set up its flagship airline in 1992. Its other flights to be affected by the EU suspension include those connecting Ashgabat with Germany and France. The UK remains an EU member-country until the Brexit deadline next month and therefore all EU rules continue to apply in Britain. By PTI DUBAI: Abu Dhabi's first Hindu temple, whose construction involves an Irish Catholic designer and a communist atheist consultant, represents the UAE's unique diversity and fraternity, a senior Hindu priest has said. The UAE is celebrating 2019 as the 'Year of Tolerance'. In February last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Swaminarayan temple of the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha through video conferencing from Dubai. Sadhu Brahma Viharidas, who is in charge of the Middle East at BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha that will build and manage the temple, said on Sunday that the UAE is a unique example for tolerance. "A Muslim country gave the land for the temple. It is being designed by an Irish Catholic and the consultant is a communist atheist," he was quoted as saying by the Gulf News. The temple's designer is Michael Migel and consultant is Singapore-based RSP Architects Planners and Engineers led by a Chinese. "A foreign journalist once asked me whether tolerance in the UAE was only cosmetic? I said 'Not at all. It is not skin deep, tolerance is the soul of the UAE'," the priest said while addressing the opening session of the Global Conference on Human Fraternity at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. He said that tolerance and human fraternity is not just a beautiful word or meaningful idea or value here. "In the UAE, they are verbs and not nouns. Verbs mean they are in action. We can write poetry and hold conferences but unless they are in action. They are meaningless," Viharidas said. He called on the followers of all religions to focus on improving human relations. "If we upgrade the world, but downgrade human relationships, everything is worthless," the priest said. He also heaped praises on Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who donated the land for the temple. The temple will come up on 55,000 square metres of land. The structure will be hand-carved by Indian artisans and assembled in the UAE. It will be completed by 2020 and open to people of all religious backgrounds. It will be the first traditional Hindu stone temple in West Asia, said a spokesperson of the Sanstha, a socio-spiritual Hindu organisation set up in 1907. It runs over 1,100 temples and cultural centres around the world. The temple will be a replica of the one in New Delhi and another under construction in New Jersey. Superstitions remain rife even as belief has ebbed away. Koreans wish each other good fortune in their New Year's greetings, regardless of their religious or spiritual orientation. The year 2019 is the Year of the Golden Pig, which is particularly lucky, symbolizing prosperity, good fortune and fecundity. That means it will probably lead to a spike in weddings. Statistics prove it. More people are born in the Year of the Pig than in any other of the 12 animal years of the Chinese zodiac with 3.79 million, followed by Dog with 3.78 million, and Rat with 3.58 million. At the bottom of the table was the Horse with 3.29 million people, and next up were Rooster and Snake. For every 100 people born in the Year of the Pig, there are only 87 born in the Year of the Horse. Statistics Korea started compiling figures on newborn babies from 1970, so estimates were used for those born before then. Even in an era of a record low birthrate, the Year of the Red Pig 2007 was special. A total of 496,822 babies were born that year, 30,000-60,000 more than other years before and after. The number of marriages hit the highest level that year for the period between 2004 and 2017 with 344,000 cases. By PTI ISLAMABAD: After Pakistan's Foreign Minister angered India with two phone calls to Kashmiri separatist leaders, the country's Army chief on Monday chaired a Corps Commanders conference and discussed the Kashmir issue along with the situation at the Line of Control. Gen Qamar Bajwa's provocative move on the eve of the Kashmir Day came days after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi discussed the Kashmir issue with hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. ALSO READ: Pakistan has no intention to interfere in India's internal matters: Shah Mehmood Qureshi Following the foreign minister's phone calls, India summoned Pakistan envoy Sohail Mahmood and categorically told him that Qureshi's telephonic conversation with Mirwaiz was a "brazen attempt" to subvert India's unity and violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Qureshi's telephonic conversation with a separatist leader, India said, reflected the duplicity in Pakistani leadership's approach on ties with India. India has always maintained that the Kashmir issue is bilateral and there can be no third party intervention in the matter. New Delhi has also emphasised that whatever happens in Jammu and Kashmir is India's internal matter and Pakistan should stop interfering in it. Pakistan and Kashmiri separatists observe 'Kashmir Day' on February 5 every year to observe the country's support to the cause of an independent Kashmir. It is a national holiday in Pakistan. During a meeting in Rawalpindi to review the internal security situation and preparedness along the LoC, Bajwa "expressed solidarity with resilient Kashmiri brethren on the eve of Kashmir Day", Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said in a statement. "The forum discussed situation along Line of Control and Working Boundary with reference to continued ceasefire violations," he said. By PTI LONDON: The Indian media was not allowed entry into a global conference, which was projected as an 'open' event, addressed by Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a committee room in the UK House of Commons complex on Monday. The International Conference on Kashmir was billed as an event to express "solidarity" with the people of Kashmir. Chaired by Rehman Chishti, a Pakistan-occupied Kashmir-born Conservative Party MP, the event was organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pakistan. There was restricted access allowed into what had been projected as an open conference. India had registered strong opposition over Qureshi being allowed to address such a meeting within the British Parliament complex. The event was attended by Pakistani-origin British MPs and peers, including Khalid Mahmood and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi. British Sikh Labour Party MP, Tan Dhesi, was among the few Indian-origin parliamentarians seen entering the room. ALSO READ: Pakistan army chief Qamar Bajwa discusses Kashmir issue with senior military officers The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had earlier said that India has "strongly" taken up the issue with the UK and hopes "they do understand our objections to proposed conference and take appropriate action". In response, the UK government had said Qureshi was not an official guest as he was on a private visit to Britain. "The UK's longstanding position is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution to the situation in Kashmir, taking into account the Kashmiri people's wishes. Members of Parliament are independent of the government; it is for individual members to decide who they meet and for what purpose," a Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) source said in reference to the controversial meeting. The UK event coincided with the "Kashmir Solidarity Day", observed by Pakistan on February 5. A rally is planned at Parliament Square by separatist groups on Tuesday, with UK-based Kashmiri Hindu outfits planning a counter-protest. "UK Hindus strongly oppose this rally as it is dangerous and threatens the measures to rehabilitate Kashmiri Hindus back to their homeland," said the Indo-European Kashmir Forum, an umbrella body representing Indian community groups. By AFP WASHINGTON: Pete Buttigieg, an openly gay mayor who is running for US president, said Sunday he believes America will judge him based on the quality of his ideas and experience. Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, launched his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in January. If elected -- which for now seems unlikely -- Buttigieg, a former naval intelligence officer who served in Afghanistan, would become the first openly homosexual president of the United States. He is among a crush of Democrats vying to unseat Republican Donald Trump next year. Other declared Democrats include Trump nemesis Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris, a California senator who aspires to be the nation's first black female president. ALSO READ: Meet Mayor Pete Buttigieg, US' first gay nominee But are Americans ready for a president who is openly gay and in a same-sex marriage? The question was put to him in an interview on ABC's "This Week." "I think there's only one way to find out," said the mayor of the city whose population is about 100,000. Buttigieg, 37, recalled that he came out as gay in 2015 in the middle of a re-election campaign. South Bend is a conservative community and at the time Mike Pence was governor of the state, Buttigieg said, recalling that he still got re-elected with "80 percent of the vote." "So, I think the lesson we learned is that people are prepared to get to know you and judge you based on the quality of your ideas and your experience and your work. And I trust that America could do that too." Buttigieg, who has been South Bend's mayor since 2012, married junior high school teacher Chasten Glezman last year. Same-sex marriages have been legal throughout the United States since a 2015 Supreme Court decision. In last November's mid-term elections, Jared Polis became the first openly gay governor in US history when he was elected in Colorado, after serving in Congress. By PTI DHAKA: Bangladesh police is on the hunt for a suspected serial killer who identifies himself as 'Hercules' and has been murdering alleged rapists, according to a media report. Over the past two weeks, bodies of three alleged rapists have been recovered and police suspect they were killed by the same person as all the murders bore similarities, the Daily Star reported. On February 1, police found the body of a rape suspect with a note hanging around his neck in Jhalakathi's Rajapur upazila, in third such incident. This time, the note reads, 'I am Rakib. I am the rapist of a madrasa girl'of Bhandaria. This is the consequence of a rapist. Be aware rapists' Hercules. "The dead, Rakib Hossain, 20, was a law student at a private university in the capital and was accused in the gang rape of a madrasa student in Bhandaria, the daily said. The body was found with bullet injuries on the head, said Jahidul Islam, officer-in-charge of Rajapur Police Station. On January 14, a madrasa student was allegedly gang-raped by two men when she was on the way to her grandparents' house. The victim's father filed a case accusing Rakib and another man Sajal in the case. On January 24, police recovered Sajal's bullet-hit body in Jhalakathi with a similar note hanging round the neck. Sajal's father lodged a police complaint over his son's murder and the rape victim's father has been named prime accused in the case, said a senior police officer. On January 17, police had found the body of another key suspect in the gang rape and murder of a female garment worker on the outskirts of the capital, with a similar note hanging around his neck. Raising concern over the incidents, Sheepa Hafiza, executive director of rights group Ain O Salish Kendra, said killing people 'extra-judicially' and leaving a note was not acceptable. By Express News Service NALGONDA: Yadadri Lakshmi Narasimha Swami Temple is being revamped into a unique place of worship with the entire structure being adorned with spellbinding sculptures chiselled on Krishna shila, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Sunday, after visiting the temple and reviewing progress in construction work with officials, architects and sculptors. The temple will be a sight to behold and will remain that way for generations to come. The critical phase of construction has almost been completed giving due diligence to agama shastra. A 1,000-acre city will come up around the temple, the chief minister said and added that he had released Rs 70 crore to acquire about 173 acres of land at the foot of the hill, of which 30 acres would be dedicated to creating a pond for the Lords Teppotsavam. In the remaining 143 acres, nityannadana chowltries, a bus station and a parking lot will be constructed. I will visit the temple once again with Chinna Jeeyar Swamy (an ascetic known for his spiritual discourses on Sri Vaishnavism) and proceed with construction work in accordance with his suggestions, the chief minister said. The chief minister declined to announce a date for the consecration of the renovated temple, but said it would be a momentous occasion. I cannot say when, but it will a momentous occasion. China Jeeyar Swamy will conduct the ceremonies using 1,008 homa gundams. Swamijis from Badrinath and Vaishnavite spiritual leaders from 133 countries will participate in the function. Around 70,000 devotees visit the temple during weekends already as it is very powerful. I expect around 15 lakh devotees to turn up on the day the revamped temple is opened. About 65,000 ritviks will chant vedic hymns. I will be around like a devotee to ensure nothing goes awry, the chief minister said.Rao, sporting a cowboy hat, conducted an aerial survey of the progress in construction works at the temple. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao took a close look at the temple, the area where the temple city will come up and the hillock on which a presidential suite is being built. He later had darshan of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swami and offered special poojas. The chief priest of the temple, Lakshmi Narasimhacharyulu, led vedic pundits who blessed the chief minister. Raju Vegesna, an organisation that mobilises funds from Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam for the construction of an annadana satram in Yadadri handed over a Rs 10-crore cheque to the chief minister. Foundation president A Kotraju and secretary Aanaraju met the chief minister and apprised him of the work they were doing. The chief minister said several donors were coming forward to make donations for the construction of chowltries and guest houses.Around 43 donors have expressed willingness to donate Rs 2 crore each for the purpose, the chief minister said. By PTI CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government Monday unveiled a new solar energy policy 2019 that aims at generating 9,000 MW for the state by 2022. Chief Minister K Palaniswami had announced in June 2018 that a similar policy released in 2012 would be upgraded by combining the Vision 2023 document released by former late chief minister J Jayalalithaa and also the target set by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of 9,000 MW installed capacity. According to the new policy, Vision Tamil Nadu 2023 document includes a solar energy target of 5,000 MW. To meet the Vision Tamil Nadu 2023 and MNRE 2022 target, substantial solar energy capacity addition was required, it said. Following the experience gained from implementation of Tamil Nadu solar energy policy 2012, the Tamil Nadu Solar Energy Policy 2019 was created and it provides an inclusive policy framework promoting both utility and consumer category solar energy generation through various enabling mechanisms. By achieving the target, Tamil Nadu would be an international climate leader for emerging economies by 2023. The policy would be applicable to projects, programmes and installations relating to solar photovoltaic energy and thermal energy and to both utility and consumer categories. Of the total 9,000 MW, 40 per cent would be earmarked for consumer category solar energy systems. The government would review the implementation of the policy every year to evaluate the actual results against policy objectives. At a function held in the Secretariat, Palaniswami released the solar energy policy 2019 document the first copy of which was received by Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise P Thangamani. According to the energy department policy note, the installed capacity of solar energy as on March 31, 2018 was 2,034.25 MW. Dhinesh Kallungal By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Keralas love affair with Soviet literature and its passion for Communist Russia was famous down the decades. However, the Russian landscape did not capture the imagination of the Malayali as much as its thoughts did.The things are changing now. According to tourism agencies, there is a newfound craze for Russia among Keralites to visit Russia and the former Soviet Union countries. Of late, there has been a three to four-fold increase in people visiting Russia and other USSR countries like Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and others in the last few years. To capitalise on this newfound love for eastern European countries, the travel agencies are offering attractive and competitive offers ranging from `60,000-`75,000 per person for a six night package while five day packages to the Far East including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia are offered at `40,000-60,000 during peak season. According to Ross Masood Padiyath, chairman, Kerala chapter of Travel Agents Association of India, If there were only a few hundred tourists to these destinations from the state a few years ago, the number would be near 10,000 now. Russias liberal visa policy attracting more tourists There are around 15 registered agencies under the TAAI, and each one of them has been now sending at least 1,000-odd tourists to these destinations during summer. Abraham George, member, National Tourism Advisory Board, says: These visits are purely sightseeing and not based on any love for communist countries. The iconic places like Red Square in Moscow, St Basils Cathedral, Kremlin, St Petersburg and of course epic train rides and vodka-fuelled nightlife in these destinations are the main attractions for the tourists. Earlier, there were strict visa regulations in these countries. Now they have liberalised it to attract more tourists. E M Najeeb, South India regional chairman of IATO, said the rise in outbound tourist traffic would also catalyse inbound as the cultural exchange between these countries will be strengthened with the increase in tourists. According to the tourism officers, as many as 17,820 foreign tourists from Russia alone visited Kerala in the first six months of 2018, whereas it was 16,601 during the same period the previous year, an increase of 7.34 per cent. By Express News Service PATHANAMTHITTA: Head of the Chinmaya Mission Kerala chapter Swami Vivikthananda Saraswathi on Sunday called upon members of the Hindu community to strengthen themselves to face the challenges being posed against ongoing practices. He was speaking after inaugurating the 107th Ayroor-Cherukolpuzha Hindu Convention, one of the largest Hindu congregations in Central Travancore, on the sand-bed of the Pampa at Ayroor near Kozhenchery. The recent protests by lakhs of devotees, including women and children, against the deviation from ongoing practices of Hindu religion should be a clear case of fighting the government-sponsored move against the faith, he said. Citing Sabarimala, he said the Hindu community was facing challenges. Lakhs of devotees, including elderly women, across the country and the globe, opposed the move to deviate from the traditional practices of the faith. The government could not succeed in the face of the resistance from thousands of faithful opposing the challenges posed against the practices, he said. Swami said awareness campaigns should be held among members of the community, including the new generation, regarding the unique philosophy of Hindu religion. The absence of basic knowledge of the Hindu philosophy, including Upanishads, Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita, among a majority of the Hindu community, is the tragedy faced at present. The inclusion of the Bhagavad Gita in the curriculum or even higher education-levels, should be considered the need of the hour, he said. Head of Vazhur Theerthapada Ashramam Swami Prajnananda Theerthapada presided over the inaugural function of the eight-day convention. Aswathi Thirunal Gowri Lakshmibai of Kowdiar Palace was presented with the annual Vidhyadhiraja Award by Ayroor Hindumatha Parishad president T N Upendranatha Kurup. Swami Prabhakarananda Saraswathi delivered the benedictory address. Former deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha P J Kurien, Raju Abraham MLA and BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai offered felicitations. Hindumatha Mahamandalam vice-president P S Nair welcomed the gathering and joint secretary D Rajagopal proposed vote of thanks. By Express News Service Congress MLA from Vijaynagar, Anand Singh, who was hospitalised after he was assaulted by an MLA from his own party at Eagleton resort on January 20, has been discharged on Monday. He has recovered well. But needs rest for few more days. We have discharged him and have asked him to take rest at home, confirmed Dr Umesh, medical superintendent at Apollo Hospital. The MLA has been asked to come for a follow-up visit after one week. The MLA accused of attacking him, KN Ganesh, representing Kampli, is still absconding and according to sources, has been trying to approach Anand Singh for a compromise through his family members. However, any chance at reconciliation has been dismissed by his family as well as Singh as they are insisting that Ganesh must be tracked down by the police soon. A committee had been formed, under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara to inquire into the matter and submit a report. The police have registered a case against Ganesh and are on the lookout for him. Subhash Chandra NS By Express News Service HAMPI: As tourists rush to take a look at the vandalism reported in Hampi, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has begun damage control measures and issued a stern warning to its staff for failing to ensure security at the World Heritage Site. An ASI team led by M Kalimuthu, Deputy Superintending Archaeologist, ASI, Hampi Mini Circle, arrived at Vishnu temple which was vandalised by some miscreants. The video went viral last week. The team inspected the temple premises and stone pillar which had collapsed on the ground, to verify the authenticity of the video. I can clearly say that this is not a new incident. We can see cobwebs and vegetation growing beneath. This is not less than two years old. But the video was posted recently, he told TNIE. However, locals beg to differ. If the pillars were damaged years ago, mud beneath the pillar would have washed away during heavy rainfall recently, and there would be some fungal growth, as is seen under some other pillars, said a local, adding that the pillars were damaged only recently. The temple, which is adjacent to Parshwanath Jain temple and behind the elephant stable, stands on rocky pillars which are geometrically arranged to hold the weight of the temple dome. Built during the Vijayanagara Empire, the temple is part of a complex of the Mahanavami Dibba, Kamal Mahal, elephant stable, watch tower and Parshwanath temple. Since this temple falls within this complex, technically it is under the protection of the ASI, said Kalimuthu. Kalimuthu, who rushed back from his hometown on Sunday morning, said that he would convene a meeting of ASI staff tomorrow. They will be served a notice, seeking an explanation why the matter was not brought to my notice. This happened several months ago, but I was not informed. The lapse is on the part of my staff. I will set my house in order first, then begin an exercise to strengthen security, he said. Kalimuthu said the vandalism is an attempt to tarnish the reputation of Hampi, listed as a must-see place for the year 2019. Complaints have been lodged against the miscreants under the Ancient Monument and Archeological Remains Act, he added. Extent of damage At least 14 pillars have been damaged over the years. The temple had pillars on either side of the platform to support the roof, which were either destroyed during the Vijayanagara period by invaders or due to ageing. However, it is clear that pillars on the other side broke when pushed to the ground, which is a stony surface, while pillars from the opposite side, which fell to the ground, are not broken. "While we have taken this decision for business reasons, the continued uncertainty around the U.K.'s future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future," Nissan Europe Chairman Gianluca de Ficchy said in a statement. That reverses a decision in late 2016 to build the SUV at Nissan's Sunderland plant in northern England, which employs 7,000 workers. That plant will continue to make Nissan's Juke and Qashqai models. The announcement Sunday made no mention of any layoffs relating to the X-Trail SUV decision. Nissan said it will consolidate production of the next generation X-Trail at its plant in Kyushu, Japan, where the model is currently produced, allowing the company to reduce investment costs in the early stages of the project. Nissan announced Sunday it has canceled plans to make its X-Trail SUV in the U.K. -- a sharp blow to British Prime Minister Theresa May, who fought to have the model built in northern England as she sought to shore up confidence in the British economy after it leaves the European Union. Less than two months before Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union on March 29, Britain still doesn't have an agreement on what will replace 45 years of frictionless trade. This has caused an enormous amount of concern among businesses in Britain, which fear the country is going to crash out of the vast EU trade bloc without a divorce deal, a scenario economists predict would hurt the U.K. economy. The Nissan decision, first reported by Sky News, is a major setback for May's Conservative government, which had pointed to Nissan's 2016 announcement that Sunderland would make the SUV -- months after the country's Brexit referendum -- as proof that major manufacturers still had confidence in Britain's economic future. Nissan's announced its plans to build the X-Trail and Qashqai models in Sunderland after the government sent a letter to company officials offering undisclosed reassurances about its ability to compete in the future. British politicians have sharply criticized May's Brexit deal and voted it down in Parliament. May's government has refused to rule out a no-deal Brexit, saying the threat strengthens her hand with EU negotiators. Parliament voted last week to give May more time to try to iron out a compromise with the bloc. Nissan's change of heart comes just days after Britain's carmakers issued a stark assessment about Brexit's impact on the industry, warning that their exports are at risk if the U.K. leaves the EU without an agreement. Investment in the industry fell 46 percent last year and new car production dropped 9.1 percent to 1.52 million vehicles, in part because of concerns over Brexit, the Society of Motor Manufacturing said. The group's chief executive, Mike Hawes, described the threat of a no-deal Brexit as "catastrophic." He says the drop in investment is only a foreshadowing of what could happen if the U.K. leaves the EU on March 29 without a deal. "With fewer than 60 days before we leave the EU and the risk of crashing out without a deal looking increasingly real, U.K. Automotive is on red alert," Hawes said Thursday. "Brexit uncertainty has already done enormous damage to output, investment and jobs." Marx Tejaswi By Express News Service TARIKERE: At first sight, the tiny village of Huli Timmapura in Chikkamagaluru district appears like any other lacking in infrastructure, bustling with farming activity. A short walk along the fields brings us to a group of farmers tending to their crop of corn, and collecting grass to feed cows. Yes, sundry activities that all farmers do. But, in a nation of peasants, this eight-member group stands apart, because all of them belong to the third gender. They have been cultivating 4.5 acres of land here for four years. While two acres belong to one of them, Anju (35), a native of the village, the rest was taken on lease. For Anju, and her friends Spoorthi, Megha Malnad, Prema, Harshitha, Bhagya, Kavya and Abhishek farming has given them an opportunity to lead an independent life, free from sex work and begging. I left my village as a 16-year-old when I was in Class 10, says Anju, recounting how she met other transgenders in Mysuru, and went with them first to Mumbai and then to Bengaluru. I worked as a sex worker there and took part in Badai (blessing ceremony) on special occasions, she adds. As days went by, she felt increasingly sad about her existence in that manner, and decided to start an independent life. Transgenders working on their farm People sceptical before, but no more: Village elder Anju says, If a transgender commits a mistake, the finger is pointed at the whole community. I wanted to come back and live with my parents, but they did not want me initially. But later, they welcomed me back. While many in the village felt sorry for her, a few cracked jokes. Some saw her as a threat and mistook her for a child-lifter or black magician. At that point, I decided to show them what I can do and lead a life which they are also proud of, she says. She took training in farming from Chikkamagaluru zilla panchayat. First, I bought a cow four years back. I then received two acres of my ancestral property. Later, I took 2.5 acres nearby on lease. I invited my transgender friends to work with me, she explains. Anjus friend Megha is the founder of Madilu Seva Samsthe, an NGO working for the welfare of transgenders in Chikkamagaluru. Anju now lives in a house which she has built on her own land, using the loan and subsidy offered by the government. I built the house at a cost of Rs 6 lakh. Last year, we grew potato, corn, green peas, hyacinth beans and brinjal, she says. The slow acceptance among villagers has now evolved into open praise for them. Its a revolution, says Rangaswamy, a village elder. Earlier, people were not so convinced about them, but now they are also happy. The group of friends now wants to support other transgenders. They think the government should help the third gender community by allotting agriculture land and houses. At present, the state government gives subsidy of Rs 25,000 and Rs 25,000 as loan for self-employment. We invested that money in agriculture. The government must provide assistance for drilling borewells, says Megha. Helping others too The group collected Rs 25,000 to help Kodagu flood victims. They are now planning to raise money to help a toddler battling cancer in Belur. Anju tried to take part in reality shows with an aim to use the reward money for the child too. Karamatullah K Ghori By It was a ghastly spectacle caught live on the cell-phone camera of a stunned bystander; 16 cops of Pakistani Punjabs Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), armed with automatic weapons, opened fire on a car carrying a family of four, plus their driver-friend, in broad daylight. Within minutes, three members of the familyparents and their 13-year-old daughterlay dead in a pool of blood. The driver of the car was also killed on the spot. A nine-year-old son of the slain couple dodged the hail of bullets by crouching low inside the car and survived. The video of the gory incident of mass shooting by the guardians of law enforcement in the city of Sahiwal (Montgomery of yore), a 100 kilometres or so from Lahore, went viral within minutes on Pakistans vibrant social media, triggering protests on a massive scale. It stirred the conscience of a nation which otherwise seems to have grown jaded on terrorism-related incidents because of their frequency in a country long plagued by terror. What hurt peoples sensitivities more was the insensitive and almost insulting reaction to the dastardly incident from the governor of Punjab and his law minister. Governor Chaudhry Sarwarwho has spent a lifetime in Britain and was the first South Asian Muslim of Pakistani origin to sit in the British Parliament as an MPjust shrugged off the tragedy by saying the victims happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time. But what his law minister said, with callous disdain, was even more infuriating. He dismissed the cold-blooded murder as collateral damage in Pakistans ongoing war against terrorism within the country. So robust and spontaneous was the popular outcry against what most commentators described as cold-blooded murder of an innocent family in a fake encounter by the Punjab police that Imran Khans government in Islamabad, sworn to enforcing civility in Pakistans governance long held hostage to the whims of autocrats and carpetbaggers, was forced to immediately constitute a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the gory incident. That was on January 19. Within four days, by January 23, the JIT had concluded that the police indeed worked outside of its ken of countering Pakistans rampant terrorism and, in the process, killed the four civilians who had nothing to do with it. Mindful of the popular backlash demanding quick justice, the government briskly removed the top echelons of CTD involved in the killing. Five of the trigger-happy policemen have also been apprehended for murder. To further tackle the public outrage, the government has also announced a handsome package of compensation for the surviving child of the family. The government may think that quick remedial measures taken by it may adequately douse the flames of public outrage and anger over the gory tragedy. But they apparently arent. Some lawyers among the social media activists have already gone to the Lahore High Court and petitioned that constituting a JIT wasnt an adequate response to the rising incidence of police brutality and fake police encounters against alleged terrorists. They have demanded, instead, that a judicial commission headed by a sitting judge of the High Court be formed to thoroughly investigate the role of law enforcement apparatchiks who seem to be going berserk because of unlimited powers given to them to combat the scourge of terrorism in the country. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has come up with some soul-searching and sobering statistics to highlight the menace of vigilantism by the police in its supposed crusade to root out the menace of terrorism from Pakistan. According to these figures, 3,345 people were killed in Pakistan in police encounters between 2014 and 2018, and 12 of the victims were children. Popular sentiment against police brutality and extra-judicial killings is such that most peoplelaymen as well as punditsblame the police for staging fake encounters and settling personal scores in these vendettas which come under the sobriquet of encounters. There was this celebrated case of a handsome young Pathan, Naqeebullah Mehsud, killed in a fake police encounter in Karachi in January last year. His executioner was a notoriously rowdy police superintendent, Rao Anwar, said to have close links with the countrys intelligence apparatus as well as with Pakistans former president Asif Ali Zardari. Mehsud was killed, according to a popular social media version, at the behest of some political heavyweights because he had allegedly irked them. Pakistans feudal lords are known to have insatiable lust for the blood of those crossing their paths. However, the notorious Anwar has conveniently eluded accountability for his murder of Mehsud and dozens of other hapless victims of his vigilantism-gone-berserk. He has been allowed to retire from police service with full benefits, pension, etc. PM Imran Khans passage to political stardom and power was smoothened by his slogan of changing Pakistans power-besotted political culture. The gory Sahiwal massacre of four innocent civilians can only add to his burden of hammering out a New Pakistan. Karamatullah K Ghori Former Pakistani diplomat Email: K_K_ghori@hotmail.com By PTI KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: A political firestorm raged Monday as Mamata Banerjee's sit-in protest against CBI's bid to question Kolkata police chief in chit fund scam cases entered the second day, with the West Bengal Chief Minister declaring her agitation to save the "Constitution and country" will go on and she was ready to face the consequences. ALSO READ | Centre vs Mamata HIGHLIGHTS: Tejashwi Yadav, Kanimozhi meet Didi at her dhrana venue in Kolkata Virtually all opposition parties rallied behind Banerjee's direct confrontation with the Modi government, even as the BJP called it an "alliance of corrupt" and Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that developments in West Bengal were indicative of a "breakdown of the Constitution". Trinamool workers took to streets burning effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and blocked trains, while the BJP lined up its top leaders to step up the counter-offensive against Banerjee and other opposition leaders. The ripple effect of political tremors in West Bengal were felt in several state capitals, as Banerjee's combative posturing on the issue drew support from several regional satraps trying to sew up an anti-BJP alliance ahead of Lok Sabha polls, expected in April-May. ALSO READ: Solicitor General says CBI thought of moving SC Sunday night itself Refusing to budge, Banerjee held her Cabinet meeting at the protest site and also gave police gallantry awards there. "This is a satyagraha and I'll continue (it) till the country is saved. The constitution is saved," the firebrand TMC boss said at the protest site. The tense standoff between the CBI and the Kolkata police for the second day echoed in Parliament and led to a washout of the proceedings following opposition protests. "There may be a breakdown of Constitution in West Bengal under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country," Singh told Lok Sabha. ALSO READ: CBI, an independent agency, let it work on Saradha scam: Mukul Roy to Mamata "Whatever happened on Sunday indicates a constitutional breakdown," he said. Singh also sought a report from Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi which was promptly sent by Raj Bhavan. "I do not have any grudge against any individual. But I am angry over the way institutions are being destroyed and misused," Banerjee told the gathering at the protest venue. She said it was her government that arrested Saradha chairman Sudipta Sen and claimed Rs 250-300 crore was returned to the duped depositors. The alleged ponzi scams at Saradha and Rose Valley groups are at the centre of what has become a major political controversy now, as the BJP leaders have alleged that the ruling party leaders in West Bengal have been among major beneficiaries of fraudulent collection of money. ALSO READ: 'Why is Rajeev Kumar avoiding CBI?' Congress' Bengal chief asks as Rahul Gandhi backs Mamata Allegedly, these schemes were being run without necessary regulatory approvals and collected nearly Rs 20,000 crore from lakhs of investors in West Bengal and neighbouring states, through what is commonly known as 'chit funds'. Several TMC leaders including parliamentarians like Kunal Ghosh, Srinjay Bose, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal, and state minister Madan Mitra were arrested for their alleged links with the two groups. "Today you are labelling those who helped arrest the culprits as thieves. You are calling Rajeev Kumar (Kolkata Police Commissioner) a thief! Whose money has he taken? You are calling me a thief! Whose money have I taken? "If you are labelling people who are honest as thieves without any evidence, then I will definitely stand by their side. ALSO READ: BJP asks if Kolkata Police commissioner knows chit fund scams' secrets, needs to be saved by Mamata And for that, if I need to give up my life, then I am ready to do that but I will not compromise," she asserted. Claiming that the CBI team had knocked on Kumar's door without a warrant, Banerjee said, "I have fought all through my life but never given up. I am ready to face any consequences." The failed attempt by the CBI to question Kumar in connection with the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams on Sunday became the latest flashpoint between the BJP-led Centre and Banerjee, one of its bitter critics. The CBI has accused Kumar of destroying evidence related to the two fraud cases. A CBI team was bodily prevented from entering Kumar's residence by police personnel, bundled into vehicles, and detained. Police contingents also descended on CBI premises in Kolkata, as a furious Banerjee rushed to Kumar's residence before beginning a dharna opposite landmark Metro Cinema. As political temperature soared, Banerjee told her supporters to keep the demonstration peaceful and not to burn any effigies. "Save the Constitution, save the federal structure, save the police force, save the Indian Administrative Service and all ranks of civil service from disaster," read the banner that fluttered on the dais Banerjee has made her home since Sunday night. ALSO READ: TMC takes out rallies in West Bengal against Modi government; blocks highways, rail tracks Support for her poured in from far off leaders -- DMK chief M K Stalin in Chennai, Andhra chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Amaravati and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda in Bengaluru. Odisha's ruling party BJD, which had hitherto kept silent over the development, also threw its weight behind Banerjee. "We are not a banana republic," BJD leader B Mahtab said, adding the CBI was becoming a "political stooge and political weapon" in the Centre's hand. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge charged that the government was using the CBI as a weapon to finish the Opposition and put in place an autocratic regime. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged the "Modi-Shah duo" were trying to "murder" democracy. NCP leader Sharad Pawar, at whose residence leaders of opposition parties met, said what has happened to Mamata has happened in Delhi to Kejriwal also. By PTI MUMBAI: Social activist Anna Hazare, whose indefinite fast for appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs entered the sixth day Monday, has refused to call off his protest saying the government is handling the issue of corruption in a casual manner. The talks between Union minister Subhash Bhamre, state minister Girish Mahajan and Hazare in the latter's Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmed Nagar district, the venue of his fast since January 30, remained inconclusive Monday. Hazare has been demanding appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra and resolution of farmers' issues. The 81-year-old, who has lost 4.25 kg in the last six days, also accused the ruling dispensation of betraying people who voted it to power in 2014. Bhamre reached the village this evening to talk to Hazare as a representative of the Union government. Mahajan, who accompanied him, said, "There will be some solution by tomorrow." Bhamre said Hazare had some concerns and doubts even after he and Mahajan held talks with him. The Union minister said he would visit Hazare again tomorrow and try to persuade the Gandhian to withdraw his hunger strike. However, repeating his demands, the anti-grft crusader said the ministers who called on him Monday had nothing concrete to offer. "This insincere attitude of the government is very disappointing," he told PTI. "I will not call off my hunger strike till the government initiates concrete steps beyond hollow assurances," he said. Hazare accused the Central government of misleading the common people over the draft of Lokpal bill. "They (Centre) are misleading the people on Lokpal bill. Also, the draft of Lokayukta bill by the Maharashtra government is also misleading, hence I am not accepting it," he said. "I was also told that the Supreme Court has given a date to the Centre for submission of its plan for appointing a search committee for Lokpal. The Centre also said that it will abide by the search committee's report. I will wait for it," he said. When asked about how long would he continue with his protest, Hazare said he can easily keep on fasting for another five days. "And I am prepared to sacrifice my life," he added. Hazare said he had spoken to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the Lokayukta issue several times in the past, but nothing has come out of them. Earlier in the day, about 2600 villagers, including farmers and women, held a demonstration in front of the district collector's office in Ahmednagar. A protest was also held at the office of local BJP MP Dilip Gandhi for "inaction". Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: The split in the first family of the Samajwadi Party was out in open once again on Sunday when former party leader Shivpal Yadav announced that he would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election from Ferozabad against nephew Akshay Yadav, son of Ram Gopal Yadav, a SP Rajya Sabha member. On the other hand, Ram Gopal accused the BJP of fielding candidates against SP leaders by paying them. While Shivapl addressed a massive rally in Shikohabad of Ferozabad, Ram Gopal also addressed a rally in Jasrana tehsil of the same district later in the day. In his speech, Ram Gopal dubbed Shivpals newly launched outfit Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSP-Lohia) as a fake cautioned people against it. Only the Samajwadi Party is the genuine Samajwadi. Everyone else is fake, said the SP parliamentarian. Shivpal had launched his own political outfit in October last year after being sidelined in the SP by national president Akhilesh Yadav. Addressing a rally in Shikohabad in Ferozabad district, Shivpal announced his own candidature from Ferozabad. Seeking support, Shivpal rued how he was made to pay with his Cabinet berth for opposing the sale of spurious liquor and land grabbing in Mainpuri during Akhileshs regime. By Online Desk In a sight that warmed that everyone's hearts, prominent women politicians on Friday whirled in gay abandon. Usually seen making fiery speeches inside the Parliament, these women netas let their hair down and had fun, proving that they know how to balance both work and fun! In a video on Twitter, Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Smriti Irani, Anupriya Patel and MPs Kirron Kher, Kanimozhi, Supriya Sule can be seen holding hands and moving around in a circle. The step is called 'Kikkli'. Harmsimrat and Irani then separate from the group and break into a giddying spin, which is a part of 'Giddha' -- a popular Punjabi folk dance. This candid moment was from an annual lunch thrown by Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat, and her husband, former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday. The lunch was hosted at the Badals' residence in New Delhi on the first day of the budget session. Union home minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union ministers Kiren Rijiju, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, were among the several leaders who attended the lunch. Harmsimrat Kaur shared the video via her Twitter handle: "Life worked its magic on us yesterday afternoon, when a routine lunch became a trip to childhood," wrote the minister. Twitterati were quick to respond, with many sharing their love and cheers for the ladies! There were naysayers too who critiqued them for having fun while pressing issues were raging on in the country. So cute! What's the ocassion? @smritiirani graduating again, this time from Harvard . Abrar Hussain (@AbrarHu) February 1, 2019 Let there be more women in politics who work hard and play hard Badri Partha (@NarainNRI) February 1, 2019 Wonderful. Eishwer Bless All Ladies. (@bvsindhu) February 1, 2019 Wish you all show this camaraderie in addressing challenges faced by the nation!! You women can do it ma'me!! Charkhastick (@Charkhastick) February 1, 2019 Proudly called A Democratic & Incredible India !! Different Parties Leaders are enjoyed together. Dr. Swapnil Patel (@SWAP7PATEL) February 2, 2019 and you just happened to have 10 photographers on your random lunch? sari duniya nu bewkoof samjya tusi? Progressive Liberal (@SSandhu21) February 2, 2019 We lost two of our young pilots today. Do you have any feelings for those mothers. Please call them once your fun, play is over Respected MPs. MI...NI (@monicanitin) February 1, 2019 The politicians seemed to have had a gala time playing dhols, listening to Gurdas Maan songs and having authentic Punjabi food. Makki di roti and sarson da saag was among the fare they were treated to. It sure is refreshing to see our politicians bond and make merry. A sight we want more of, wouldn't you agree? Kanu Sarda By Express News Service fffffffffffffffffffQQNEW DELHI: With an aim to bring more transparency and accountability in the conduct of judicial affairs in the country, judges in the trial courts across the country are being trained in data management so that information collected at district levels could be synced with the data collected centrally. The step comes days after the Ministry of Law and Justice wrote to all district courts for not sending the updated case details on daily basis. As many as 1,000 district and subordinate courts arent updating data regularly, according to the ministry. Under the District Courts Monitoring System (DCMS), which is used for assessing the performance of each judicial officer, every judge needs to enter the days work on the web-based application on a daily basis by 4.45 pm by themselves or in their presence, regularly, without fail. The data entered will then be reviewed by the District and Sessions Judge and then the same will be forwarded to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). The NJDG gives daily status report of each court on cases filed, disposed of, under objection and status of those pending for more than two years, five years or 10 years. The NJDG also has details of cases filed by women and senior citizens in respect of each of these courts and the progress of proceedings on a day-to-day basis. As part of its ongoing implementation of the second phase of e-courts project, which is being monitored by the Supreme Courts e-committee, government has started giving unique IDs to all judges. Judges with unique IDs will have to specify the nature of proceedings on a daily basis in the online log sheet, whether he delivered judgment, reserved it or no business took place. Such details, which are largely specific to a judge, would , in turn, help the higher judiciary in considering the promotion and elevation of the lower court judges to the higher judiciary. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Terming the situation as extraordinary, Centre on Monday approached the Supreme Court seeking initiation of contempt of court proceedings against West Bengal Chief Secretary, DGP and Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar for obstructing court directed probe into chit fund scams by CBI. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing on behalf of Centre told the bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi that, An unprecedented situation was created when state police laid siege of CBI joint director's home and held him and his family hostage. SG said it is unfortunate that uniformed police officers sat in dharna with political leader last night to protest against CBI who is probing into chit fund scam cases. Mehta said, We fear evidence will be destroyed. ALSO READ: Mamata on Dharna after Kolkata police-CBI face-off; CBI to move SC CBI claimed that the police commissioner was a key accused in the case and expressed fears that he would destroy electronic evidence to show alleged RTGS payments and sought contempt action against him for being seen at the dharna of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Fixing the hearing for tomorrow, CJI ask Mehta to lay the material before them and if Kolkata police commissioner is trying to destroy evidence, and we will come down so heavily that he will regret. Appearing for West Bengal government, senior advocate A M Singhvi told the bench that it is witch hunt by the CBI as the Kolkata Commissioner of Police is a witness and not an accused in the case. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is continuing with her sit-in protest against the Centre over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams. By PTI NEW DELHI: Newly-appointed CBI Chief Rishi Kumar Shukla took over the reins of the probe agency Monday. A 1983-batch IPS officer, Shukla has taken charge at a time the agency is busy in a dirty battle of turf war with the Kolkata Police which spiralled into a political slugfest between the Centre and West Bengal Government. A perplexed interim CBI chief M Nageswara Rao was seen scrambling resources to counter the West Bengal Police's action that not only detained a CBI team, which went to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, but also cordoned off the agency's office at the CGO complex in Salt Lake city. The arrival of 58-year-old Shukla, a former DGP of the Madhya Pradesh Police and an Intelligence Bureau veteran, as a full-fledged director is likely to bring some sort of order in the agency as it moves to the Supreme Court to challenge the action of the West Bengal government in ponzi scam cases. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had started a dharna on Sunday evening to protest against the alleged highhandedness of the Centre and insults meted out to her by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. The issues were triggered when a team of CBI officials arrived unannounced at the doors of Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar to question him in connection with Saradha and Rose Valley scam. The investigations in these cases have been sped up in the run-up to the general elections with the agency recently questioning a close aide of Banerjee at his residence. The team was stopped by West Bengal Police personnel and they were bundled into a police vehicle and taken to a police station. The West Bengal Police took the action as the agency's officials had failed to produce any warrant, state police officials had said. By PTI NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday complimented Union minister Nitin Gadkari for his remarks that "one who cannot take care of home, cannot manage the country", saying he has guts and should also comment on the Rafale deal, "farmers distress and destruction of institutions". The Congress president cited a report quoting Gadkari as saying that party workers should first fulfil their domestic responsibilities as "those who cannot do that cannot manage the country". "Gadkari Ji, compliments. You are the only one in the BJP with some guts. Please also comment on: The Rafale scam and Anil Ambani, farmers' distress and destruction of institutions," he tweeted and tagged with it the report on Gadkari's comments. ALSO READ: Nitin Gadkari slammed by opposition for 'veiled criticism' of PM Modi The Union minister had made the remarks on Saturday while addressing former workers of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the BJP's student wing, in Nagpur. The Congress chief's comments praising Gadkari came in the wake of various other Congress leaders lauding the Union minister for his recent statements they view as a swipe at the BJP leadership. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari had last week lauded Gadkari for his remarks that "leaders who fail to fulfil promises get 'beaten up' by people", but at the same time took a swipe at him saying his target was Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his eyes were on the PM's chair. In December, Gadkari had said at an event in Pune that leadership should have the tendency to own up defeat and failures. The remarks had come days after the BJP's loss in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assembly polls. Incidentally, Rahul Gandhi was seen exchanging notes with Gadkari while being seated along with him in the front row at the Republic Day parade at Rajpath. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Most students in India are aware of just seven career options out of the more than 250 they can pursue in the country, according to a survey. The survey of over 10,000 students across India in the 14-21 age group found that 93 per cent of them were aware of only seven careers, including law, engineering, design, and management. The survey was conducted by Mindler, an online career-counselling platform. There are over 250 careers across 40 domains covering over 5,000 job types that one can pursue in India, the researchers said. Our research on over 10,000 students across India suggests an alarming ignorance of the career options available to students today, said Prateek Bhargava, founder and CEO of Mindler, who recently launched a platform for career counselling in tier II and tier III cities across India. India has limited trained career counsellors available who can assist and guide students to make the correct career decision, he said. The platform aims to bring counsellors from underserved cities across India under one roof and systemise the career counselling sector. By PTI RALEGAN SIDDHI: MNS chief Raj Thackeray and noted water conservationist Rajendra Singh Monday met social activist Anna Hazare, who has been sitting on an indefinite hunger strike over his demand for appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra. On the sixth day of Hazare's fast, Thackeray met the 81-year-old anti-graft crusader at his protest site in Ralegan Siddhi village of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra and extended his full support to his agitation and asked him not to sacrifice his life for the "useless" government. He asked Hazare to end his protest and conduct a joint tour of the state with him to "bury" the BJP-led government. The MNS leader and Hazare held a closed-door meeting at a room in the Yadavbaba temple premises for around 20 minutes. ALSO READ: People will hold PM Narendra Modi responsible if anything happens to me: Anna Hazare After the meeting, Thackeray addressed the gathering at Hazare's protest site and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "cheating" the nation and not following his party's own poll manifesto. He quoted some tweets and speeches of Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections campaign in which, Thackeray said, the prime minister had praised Hazare for his honesty and moral attitude. "I have appealed Anna not to sacrifice his life for these useless people. I have also asked him not to trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi and any of his promises," he said. Thackeray claimed that Modi had on December 18, 2013 tweeted in favour of the Lokpal Bill. "Now, almost five years of the Modi government is completed but no action has been taken so far. Today, the people in power are there because of Anna's agitation in 2013. They should not forget it," he said. Thackeray said he was surprised that even Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was part of Hazare's agitation some years back and came into national limelight from there, had not visited the activist or enquired about his health. ALSO READ: Save Anna Hazare's life, Sena tells Centre as fast enters sixth day "The entire country got to know Kejriwal because of Anna's agitation. Now, he (Kejriwal) is in power and not showing concern towards Anna's health," he said. The MNS leader said he had told Hazare that they are "dishonest" people. "You should quit the fast and we will jointly tour the state and bury this government. My party is extending support to Anna's cause," Thackeray said. Hazare has been on a hunger strike since last Wednesday, demanding appointment of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states where such statutory anti-corruption watchdogs do not exist, and resolution of farmers' issues. He has also been demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations on ways to address agrarian distress, besides electoral reforms. Earlier in the morning, water activist Rajendra Singh also met Hazare and expressed concern over the activist's health. Singh along with some social activists discussed the issues plaguing the farmers and "flaws" in the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act-2013. After the meeting, Singh said the central government will play the same "game" which it had played with activist G D Agarwal, who had sat on a huge protest in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand in support of his demand for a clean Ganga river last year and later died. He extended his support to Hazare and his agitation and said some NGOs would also be joining his protest in a day or two, as everybody has realised the "insensitivity and cruelty" of the Modi government. Singh, known as the 'Waterman of India', is credited with reviving rivers in his home state of Rajasthan and was conferred the Stockholm Water Prize for his work in 2015. He had also won the 2001 Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra, had on Sunday extended his support to Hazare, urging him to emulate socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and lead an agitation against corruption. Hazare had earlier warned that if the Modi government did not fulfil its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan award. By IANS KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday continued her sit-in protest here over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with a ponzi scheme scam, as Samajwadi Party leader Kiranmoy Nanda joined her. The Trinamool Congress supremo, surrounded by her ministers and top party leaders, stayed up the entire night on a makeshift dais at the city hub Dharamtala area, near the Metro Channel, after starting the demonstration around 9 p.m. on Sunday. There is a blanket security cover in the area. "This is a Satyagraha and I'll continue till the country is saved," Banerjee told the reporters here. READ: Mamata on Dharna after Kolkata police-CBI face-off; CBI to move SC The Chief Minister said she was getting calls from politicians, including former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, all of whom expressed their support for her action. Nanda reached the venue in the morning as representative of party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress supporters held protest demonstration and put up rail and road blocks in various parts of the city and districts. ALSO READ : Opposition leaders called up to extend support, says Mamata A large number of party activists also arrived at Dharamtala since early in the day to express their solidarity. In an unprecedented confrontation between the Narendra Modi-led central government and the West Bengal government, Banerjee began the sit-in accusing Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah of attempting a coup to destabilise her state, saying there is a "constitutional break-down", after an ugly face-off between the CBI and the state police. The showdown started after the federal probe agency's officers showed up near the residence of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who has been under the scanner in connection with the Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the ponzi scheme scam case. The events were expected to cast a shadow on the Budget Session of Parliament on Monday with the opposition expected to vociferously raise the issue. By Online Desk The #GetWellSoonRahul hashtag is trending on Twitter once again. Here's why. The BJP has launched a fresh attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday for backing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees ongoing dharna over an attempted CBI raid on Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumars residence at Kolkata's Loudon Street. I spoke with Mamata Di tonight and told her we stand shoulder to shoulder with her. The happenings in Bengal are a part of the unrelenting attack on Indias institutions by Mr Modi & the BJP. The entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 3, 2019 Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Sunday, saying the entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces in Mamata Banerjee's protest against the Centre. Not missing the opportunity, the BJP promptly pulled out the Congress chief's speech from 2016 when Rahul had attacked the Bengal chief minister, in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam. ALSO READ | CBI vs Mamata Banerjee: Netizens keep the josh high with hilarious memes The tweet read: "Diagnosed: Multiple Personality Disorder is characterized by atleast two distinct and enduring personality states - there is trouble remembering certain events, beyond ordinary forgetfulness. These states alternately show in person's behavior. Get well soon, Rahul ji." Diagnosed: Multiple Personality Disorder is characterized by atleast two distinct and enduring personality states - there is trouble remembering certain events, beyond ordinary forgetfulness. These states alternately show in person's behavior. Get well soon, Rahul ji. pic.twitter.com/lMBQqijfcY BJP (@BJP4India) February 4, 2019 Among other things, the BJP missive recalled that in the past Rahul Gandhi had himself tweeted saying "Mamataji had said that she would stop corruption, but instead of taking action, she is protecting those looting Bengal". Similarly, BJP sought to point out that Mr Gandhi had said in the past that '20 lakh people had lost money in chit fund scam in West Bengal'. Earlier, Congress leaders told PTI on condition of anonymity that TMC is averse to Rahul Gandhi leading the opposition front, alleging that the TMC considers Rahul Gandhi as a threat for Banerjee's prime ministerial ambitions. The Congress and Trinamool Congress are rivals in West Bengal and the state Congress unit is against having any alliance with the TMC. The BJP has been accusing the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal of not allowing its political programmes and rallies in the state and has sought the Election Commission's intervention so that the Lok Sabha polls can be held in a "free and fair" manner. Get Well Soon hashtag was used earlier Last week, the BJP and its supporters had used the same #GetWellSoonRahul hashtag, indicating that all was not well with Rahul Gandhi's mental health after ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar accused the Congress president of using his courtesy visit to him for "petty political gains". Coming down heavily on Rahuls comment that the former defence minister had said he was not aware of the Rafale jet deal announced by Prime Minister Modi in Paris, Parrikar denied having discussed the issue at all during the five-minute meeting the two had. BJP supporters took to social media What kind of sick person uses illness of others to settle their political scores? #GetWellSoonRahul pic.twitter.com/lU2BDLJPIf Sir Jadeja (@SirJadeja) January 30, 2019 Why Mamata is on dharna Mamata Banerjee is continuing with her sit-in protest on Monday against the Centre over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief, "one of the best officers in the world, someone who's integrity, bravery and honesty are unquestioned". Rajeev Kumar had headed a special probe into the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams in which thousands of small investors were left in the lurch and it led to the arrest of many leaders and ministers of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress. All of them are now out on bail. The CBI has said that Rajeev Kumar had ignored multiple summons over the past two years and that he had some key evidence from the chit fund scams investigations in his custody. ALSO READ | Mamata VS Centre faceoff LIVE updates 15-odd CBI sleuths were part of a 40-member team led by CBI DCP Tathagata Burman, who tried to raid Rajeev Kumars residence to question him on his alleged role in the removal of several important files connected to the Saradha chit fund case. When the CBI officials countered that they had the Supreme Courts authority to probe the Saradha scam, Kolkata police forcibly detained them. Following the altercation, large contingents of state police forces were simultaneously posted at CBI office, CGO Complex and CBI joint director Pankaj Srivastavas office at Nizam Palace. READ HERE | All eyes on Mamata as 13 years later she returns to her favourite dharna spot The CBI had last week questioned a close aide of Mamata Banerjee, Manik Majumdar, in connection with the Saradha ponzi scam. Sources told PTI that the CBI suspected that Majumdar was a key player with knowledge about the purchase of Banerjee's paintings by Sudipta Sen, the promoter of Saradha group. The Supreme Court had ordered a probe into the multi-crore-rupee Saradha scam and transferred the case to CBI in 2014. Saradha group founder Sudipta Sen and his associate Debjani Mukherjee, arrested in 2013 from Kashmir, are in custody. also read (With inputs from Express News Service and PTI) By PTI NEW DELHI: Criticised by Union Minister Arun Jaitley for his "dissent" note on the appointment of CBI Director, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has written to the BJP leader that the objections raised by him were on the flouting of procedure and not on the integrity of the officer. In a letter to Jaitley after his blog --"Has Mr. Kharge Brought Down the Value of Dissent?", the Congress leader in Lok Sabha demanded that the government put in public domain the minutes of the meeting of the panel headed by the prime minister on the CBI Director's appointment. Kharge said he "is pained to say the value of the Prime Minister's Office has been brought down" by the way the government has conducted itself in the matter of CBI Director's appointment. The Congress leader said Jaitley had himself penned "the strongest dissent note" against the CBI and its functioning after which the agency transferred its officers and stopped investigations, an apparent reference to the minister's remarks on the CBI investigation in the case against former ICICI bank CEO Chanda Kochhar. ALSO READ: Rishi Kumar Shukla takes charge as CBI chief amid face-off with Kolkata cops In his two-page letter, Kharge also expressed the hope that the new Director's "lack of experience" in CBI would not hamper his ability to rebuild institution "this government has destroyed". Jaitley had on Sunday accused Kharge of dissenting excessively, saying he has made the appointment of CBI director look like a political battle which was never envisaged. He was referring to Kharge writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express his dissent on the appointment of new CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla, alleging that the officer did not have experience in handling anti-corruption cases and the criterion for selection was diluted in violation of law and Supreme Court judgements. In the blog, Jaitley said the leader of the largest party in opposition in Lok Sabha, Kharge, "dissented once again" in the appointment of the new CBI Director. "Kharge dissents regularly," the minister said. Jaitley is currently in the United States undergoing medical treatment. Anand ST Das By Express News Service PATNA: A man from Katihar in Bihar has been arrested for posting a decidedly vulgar and misogynous tweet on newly anointed Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi after a social activist based in Kuwait lodged a complaint against him. The 38-year-old man, who mentions his name on Twitter as Yogi Sanjay Nath and describes himself as Namo Bhakt (admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi) was arrested from his house in Vinodpur area in Katihar town, said Ranjan Kumar, SHO of Town police station, on Monday. We were alerted by the cyber crime cell in Patna about certain indecent tweets posted by the accused. After ascertaining the allegations, we arrested him on Saturday and the local chief judicial magistrates court forwarded him to judicial custody for 14 days, said the SHO. The FIR was registered under Sections 420 and 292 (A) of IPC and Section 67 of the IT Act, he added. After Naths previous twitter account @harharmodi2019 was suspended, he started tweeting from a new handle, @yogisanjaynath since January. His twitter account says Mission BJP 2019 and carries photographs of PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. The objectionable tweet Nath had posted on January 31 was liked 252 times and re-tweeted by 77 people. It also generated 831 replies, many of them supportive and several others pointing at its overtly indecent nature. Nath has 1,514 followers and he follows 1,683 people. I was shocked to see such horrid portrayal of a politically active woman on twitter and immediately sent an email to Bihars cyber crime cell, urging them to take action against the person for this tweet and protect the dignity of women, said Kuwait-based social activist Shaheen Sayyed to this newspaper. Sayyed, who hails from Mumbai and helps Indian workers stranded in the Middle East, said she was glad that Bihar police took prompt action after her complaint. BJPs Katihar district president Manoj Rai said the party had no worker by the name of Yogi Sanjay Nath and that no BJP worker or supporter has been arrested recently in the district. The FIR, however, does not mention Naths age, his fathers name and his complete address. Both the SHO and other police officials declined to give details about Nath. His twitter account, which contains several objectionable tweets, is yet to be suspended. It is apparently still getting more followers. By Express News Service BHOPAL: A video clip in which Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel is seen telling a group of people, including BJP MLAs and leaders to take care of Modi Sahab has gone viral over social media, triggering a political controversy in the Congress-ruled state. The 2.30 minute video, which possibly pertains to the Governors ongoing two-day visit to states Vindhya region shows Patel visiting a solar power plant in Gurh area of Rewa district. In the video, the Governor is seen talking to a group of people, among them local BJP MLAs Rajendra Shukla (a cabinet minister of erstwhile Shivraj Singh Chouhan government) and KP Tripathi. In the video, Patel is seen discussing on how youngsters are migrating to other states in search of job opportunities. She is also seen praising the work being done at the plant. When one of those present at the plant say that had the solar power plant not been there, they wouldnt have got an opportunity to interact with the Governor, she says aisa kayee aayega, aap Modi Sahab par dhyan rakho (youll get many such opportunities, just keep your focus on Modi Sahab). Congress leaders, including cabinet minister Dr Govind Singh and state media in-charge Shobha Oza alleged that such statements expose that she is working as an agent of the BJP. Its better if she quits the gubernatorial posting and returns to full-fledged BJP politics by contesting coming LS polls on BJP ticket, they said. Its not the first time that Patel has stoked controversy. In April 2018, while on a visit to Satna district, Patel was seen in a video telling BJP leaders Youll get vote only when you adopt the needy and malnourished children and take them in your lap. Officers dont need votes, its you and me who have to get votes ... Alisha Rahaman Sarkar By Online Desk As soon as the CBI-Kolkata police stand-off started taking shape, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to her old political tactic and immediately sat down for a dharna, this time to protect the Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar. Thirteen years ago Bengal's "Didi" had at the same spot, the Metro Channel in Kolkatas Esplanade area, protested against the Left government. The difference this year? She is now fighting against the BJP at the Centre, which she says is trying to "take control" of West Bengal prior to the Lok Sabha elections. The dharna came after a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team was detained by the Kolkata police on Sunday night when they tried to raid the top cop's Loudon street residence for allegedly holding back evidence in the Saradha and Rose Valley chit-fund, which had brought Trinamool leaders under the corruption lense. Following a quick conversation with Rajeev Kumar, the West Bengal CM started her "Satyagraha to save the Constitution". Mamata was accompanied by a few state ministers and senior police officials. As mentioned earlier, the Metro Channel is the very spot where she held her hunger strike in 2006 during her Singur land agitation against the Left regime. Mamata then sat on a 26-day hunger strike. In January 2008, the land acquisition case after making the rounds of both the High Court and the Supreme Court, finally ended with a win for Mamata. A few months later, Ratan Tata formally announced that he would move the Nano project from West Bengal. That was the first time; Trinamool Congress tasted victory in Bengal. The following Assembly election, with the success of Nandigram and Singur agitation, the Mamata-led Trinamool won 184 seats putting an end to the 34-year long Left rule. She became the first woman CM of the state. Mamata vs Centre: Why the standoff now The ruling BJP has been eyeing West Bengal for a long time. West Bengal remains one big state where the party has failed to make their presence felt until recently. With the Left being the dominant party for a long time, the right-wing has had very little say in West Bengal's post-Independence political history. This is a fact BJP stalwarts like Lal Krishna Advani have often lamented, given that Bengal is the birthplace of Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of Jana Sangh. However, the vote-base of the BJP has slowly risen since 2014 and now the right-wing party has been making efforts to lure the Hindu voters in the state where Banerjee has been routinely accused of minority appeasement. The BJP which only had a 17% vote share in 2014 made substantial growth in the 2018 panchayat polls. Earlier, the party's vote bank was limited to the non-Bengali speaking population, indications are that it is now making headway into rural Bengal. Mamata, who was once part of the NDA for a brief stint in 1999, has been critical of the Narendra Modi government. With the possible "mahagatbandhan" falling into place prior to the Lok Sabha elections, she is one of the Prime Ministerial contenders in the likelihood of a split mandate. She could also be a kingmaker in the elections. In 2014, out of 42 Lok Sabha seats, Trinamool won 34 and the BJP was left confined to two seats in Asansol and Darjeeling. The Mamata-Modi stand-off took place in 2018 after her government started denying permissions to the right-wing party to take out Rath Yatras. Modi, who was in the state recently, launched an attack on her and held her responsible for the increasing violence. Now, we have the fresh stand-off brewing between Modi and Mamata. It is unprecedented to see a state police unit and the Central Bureau of Investigation clash with each other in this manner. No matter which way things now move, Banerjee sure has managed to grab the national limelight. By Express News Service MUMBAI: Non-Bailable warrants were issued by a sessions court against two Pakistan Army officials, Major Abdul Rehman Pasha and Major Iqbal, in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case. Major Iqbal and Major Pasha are wanted accused as per the charge sheet filed by the Mumbai Polices Crime Branch in the case. While Major Pasha has retired, Major Iqbal is still believed to be serving as an ISI official in Pakistan. According to the prosecution, this was disclosed by the US born Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist David Coleman Headley, who is an approver in the case here. Headley is lodged in a US prison and his testimony was recorded via video conference in 2016. Additional Sessions Judge S V Yarlagadda on January 21 allowed an application filed by Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam. The court is at present conducting a trial against alleged LeT operative Sayyed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case. Nikam said in the application that the role of the two Pakistani Army officials was revealed further during the testimony of Headley on the conspiracy hatched in the case. David Headleys testimony has vindicated the stand of India that the terror attacks of November 26, 2008 were not only sponsored by militant groups of Pakistan but were, in fact, actively supported by Pakistan Army officials, Nikam said. The application filed by the prosecution for issuance of non-bailable warrant against the two persons (Pasha and Iqbal) is allowed. The approver, David Headley, has named them, the court said. How the terror unfolded On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived by sea route The ultras opened fire indiscriminately, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel Several people were injured in the attack and property worth crores was damaged The attacks lasted three days. While nine terrorists were killed during the siege, Kasab was caught alive and later awarded death sentence. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Sunday led a delegation of 11 political parties from the Northeast which met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and urged him not to press the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha. Called on Union Home Minister Shri @rajnathsingh ji to discuss #CitizenshipAmendmentBill. Rajnath ji has assured that centre would consider the interest of #Northeast people (sic), Sangma tweeted. #NESO delegation comprising of AASU, AAPSU, MZP, KSU, GSU, TSF, NSF, AMSU met me and other political parties, at my residence to express their opposition to the CAB, that concerns the #Northeast, the National People's Party leader added. BJP allies Mizo National Front, National People's Party, Naga Peoples' Front, National Democratic Progressive Party, Hill State People Democratic Party, Peoples Democratic Front, United Democratic Party, Ason Gana Praishad are united in their protest against the Bill. Discussion of Regional Parties of North East with Home Minister @rajnathsingh this morning, he assured that Govt. Would consider the interest of Northeast People before placing bill in Rajya Sabha (sic), senior AGP leader Prafulla Mahanta tweeted. The Bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act to grant citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians from neighbouring Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, if they have stayed in India for six years. The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill in January. The Northeast political parties oppose the Bill on the grounds that it seeks to grant nationality to non-Muslims who have come up to December 31, 2014, thereby, increasing the deadline from 1971 as per the Assam Accord. The leaders of the Northeast regional parties will meet representatives of all political parties so that the Bill is not passed in the Upper House of Parliament. By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: In a significant development in NRI Chigurupati Jayaram murder case, Rakesh Reddy, who is in the custody of Krishna district police, on Sunday reportedly told police that the murder plan was hatched in Hyderabad on Thursday. The deceaseds niece, Pulavarthi Madhuri alias Shika Chowdary, told the police that she used to date Rakesh Reddy and parted ways with him following differences over properties and financial transactions. She said her uncle (Jayaram) gave `4.5 crore as loan to Rakesh for his business, which he failed to repay. Claiming innocence, Shika said that she and 55-year-old Jayaram had an extramarital relationship. In her police statement, she said, I was unaware of the murder. When the incident happened, I was with my friend Srikanth. I rushed to Hyderabad upon coming to know of the incident and went home directly. SP Sarvashresth Tripathi told TNIE that Jayaram was murdered on Thursday afternoon and the body was ferried in a car and left on Ithavaram village outskirts. We almost cracked the Jayaram murder case. During postmortem, forensic doctors identified fist marks on Jayarams body. He must have been beaten before being injected with the poisonous substance. To throw the police off tracks, the assailants portrayed the murder as an accident. We completed more than 80 per cent of the investigation. We are now probing into Shikas role in the murder, the SP said. Meanwhile, Jayarams last rites were conducted in Hyderabad on Sunday morning. Later, addressing media, Jayarams wife urged the police to give protection to her family members hinting at a threat from Shika and Rakesh. Case to be handed over to TS cops? The Krishna district police have decided to hand over the case to Telangana police after Rakesh reportedly confessed that Jayaram was killed in his house on Thursday, according to police sources. As the murder took place in Hyderabad, we want to transfer the case to TS police. The killers had left Jayarams body in Ithavaram only to create confusion. We are ready to share information with the TS police. However, the higher-ups are yet to take a decision, a senior police official said. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday said the CBI action in Kolkata is clearly "mala fide" and an "assault" on the federal polity, which has come within 48 hours of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah's public "threat" to him. Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the antipathy of Modi and Shah towards West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is "visceral". He alleged that the BJP and the prime minister are desperate to create a controversy in the state for "cheap publicity and divisiveness" to get some space in 2019 elections. ALSO READ: Kolkata police-CBI fight: Opposition leaders called up to extend support, says Mamata He claimed the Modi government has ensured a non-functional and non-productive Parliament session going by such assaults on the federal polity on a Sunday evening. Singhvi also called for opposition unity after this action, which he described as "political vendetta" and an "assault on federalism". "Kolkata CBI action clearly mala fide. Done within 48 hours of Modi, Shah rally threat to commissioner of police; done on Sunday on mere section 160 notice which is bailable and non-cognisable; operating high court stay protecting officers under CP on identical case, identical issues; yet harass CP without clarifying from HC," he said on Twitter. The Congress leader said the Supreme Court allowed West Bengal police officers to seek protection in the high court against the CBI. Subsequently, the high court stayed coercive action against them regarding the same issues. "These officers are working directly under the CP. Without going to HC or SC, how can CBI go to CP's residence on Sunday? Complete falsehood being spread by the BJP," he said. "Did CBI land up to have coffee with CP on Sunday? No warrant, mere section 160 notice. All this despite operating HC stay in favour of police officer," he tweeted. He said these are "last gasps" of the outgoing CBI director on last day of office to demonstrate loyalty to his political masters and ensure good postings now and in the future. "All must back Mamata Banerjee and people of West Bengal in this blatant assault on federalism and example of political vendetta. Time to be 100 per cent united now," he said. The Congress leader said the commissioner of police is available for answering questions for months and the high court order operates. "The CBI does not even ask HC. How can CBI land up at residence of CP," he asked. By Express News Service KOCHI: Goa-based artist Afrah Shafiqs works draw viewers into the minds of women in a unique way. For, the multimedia artist probes what archives and printed matter can reveal about the inner lives of those who originally made them. At the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, the 29-year-old artist goes through the psyche of the contemporary audience. Her two works st.itch and Sultanas Reality are on display at Kashi Town House venue. As for st.itch, it emerges from Afrahs research of archival images of women in Victorian England sewing and the products of this labour. This work is specifically created for the Biennale commissioned by the NNS with archives in the North of England, she says. It is a multimedia patchwork using video, QR codes, archival images and mechanised states of being, besides embroidery to look at the transgressive nature of womens work within the home such as cooking, cleaning, planning and, especially, sewing. These are long considered an acceptable activity for women to keep them busy from within the home, says Afrah. My work explores the transgressive potential of sewing, and envisions the action as an agent of freedom allowing women to creatively imagine. Sultanas Reality is an interactive multimedia web-story about the relationship between women and books in India. Afrah documents Indian women who have challenged societal conventions and is an immersive game-like space navigated using the mouse. It invites the viewer to explore the relationship between women and books in a five-chapter multimedia story, says the Bengaluru-born artist, who uses tropes of gaming such as hidden notes, jokes, GIFs and animation in the work. The installation is inspired by Bengali feminist thinker Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossains 1905 short story Sultanas Dream, which narrates how a young girl falls asleep to re-imagine a world where the roles between men and women are reversed. Now, I dont mean to propagate men should be locked in homes while women roam free, but I was interested in the reality or what the life of someone who wrote this story was like, the artist says. Sultanas Reality won the artist an award: Art in Mobile Applications at the Computer Space festival, Bulgaria. She spent about two years working on this project. There was no clear separation between the research phase and the scripting, animating, designing, etc. They all happened in parallel, she says. Sultanas Reality is an interactive multimedia storybook, which explores the lives of women in Indian History through their own stories and writings - be them published fiction or personal writings. The work is playful, exploratory, almost game-like, states Afrah, who won the South Asian Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in the Best web series/special edition category. All the visual material in the story is archival and comes from matchbox labels, early photographs, oil paintings, folk art forms, lithographs and other popular visual forms of the same period, she says. Afrah has also been awarded the Archival and Museum fellowship by the India Foundation for the Arts and has been a curatorial fellow with the Katha Centre for Film Studies. As for the relationship between both the works at the Biennale, she says: Both Sultanas Reality and st.tich try to encourage audiences to engage with history in a playful manner, experientially drawing them into the inner minds and lives of women without being estranging. Sahaya Novinston Lobo By Express News Service CHENNAI: A traffic police inspector has been suspended from the Chennai city police after a video that showed his collecting bribe from motorists went viral in social media on Monday. Interestingly, the suspended police inspector Ravichandran was the same police officer who in November hit the news after a CCTV video showed him pushing down a police constable from running motorbike on a busy road. It was said that Ravichandran allegedly did that to detain his subordinate and implicate in a false case that he was drunk on duty since the latter had complained to a senior officer about him being denied leaves even to attend last rites of his mother. WATCH : Chennai traffic cop pushes down 'escaping' colleague from running motorbike After the incident, Ravichandran was suspended and later posted in duty in Ambattur again as a traffic police inspector. On Monday, he again landed in trouble after a 1.39-minute-long video surfaced. The video showed Ravichandran sitting in the police vehicle and collecting bribe from motorists. At the end of the video, he was seen taking a small bag full of currencies and counting them. Sources said the video was shot when Ravichandran was on duty on the Chennai-Tiruttani highway, but its not clear when was this video shot. A senior police officer confirmed to Express that Ravichandran has been suspended from duty on Monday. Ravichandran may find it difficult to defend himself. The Chennai city police had banned collecting even penalty from the traffic rule violators in form of cash. "Though there are bribery allegations, we have suspended him for receiving spot fine from motorists by cash. It has been prohibited since May 2018. A few police officers had also be suspended for the same reasons earlier," the senior police officer said. Inspector Ravichandran could not be reached for comments despite repeated phone calls. They have introduced e-challan system under which the violators can only pay the fine using their debit or credit cards in POS terminals. Those who don't have either debit or credit cards, can pay the fine in post offices. Samuel Merigala By Express News Service CHENNAI: Illegal water extraction in the southern suburbs happens primarily in agricultural fields, hidden from public view. However, residents allege a local politician at Chromepet is brazenly running a water supply business right from his house at Senthil Nagar. The residents allege that M Bhaktavatsalam uses three water tankers that carry water to other parts of the suburbs throughout the day even as ground water levels have drastically fallen in the area in the last five years. When we first moved here, we used water from the well even in summer, but now we have to depend on the borewell and water is available only at 60 feet, said Shanthi (name changed), a resident of Murugesa Naicker Street. She said multiple requests to Bhaktavatsalam to stop the commercial supply fell on deaf ears. Since his family is very influential with local bureaucrats, he knows that we cannot enforce anything, said one of the neighbours who claimed that at least 15 loads of water are extracted each day. In addition to depleting groundwater resources, residents also complain of roads being destroyed due to the plying of water tankers. They say the tankers are a hindrance to traffic. When Express visited the site on Sunday morning, it found a tanker parked in the empty plot next to Bhaktavatsalams well-awaiting filling. A local activist, David Manohar, said Bhaktavatsalam s tanker was supplying water to parts of nearby Radha Nagar on Saturday. The illegal water extraction is continuing despite revenue officials directing him to stop, he said. Bhaktavatsalam, however, rubbished the allegations. We are using the water only for our construction business, he said. When contacted, Pallavaram Tahsildar Hemalatha said she would take action. I will instruct the revenue inspector to keep a watch and take action if the water extraction continues, she said. Rochana Mohan By Express News Service The massive engine whirrs beneath your body, wind strikes your face and your hair whips around you. Every action has an immediate consequence when riding, according to Meeta Walavalkar, whose life motto is to live in the moment. However, the 40-year-old mother of three has not gone riding in the last 45 days. On December 17, 2018, Meeta, her husband Amit, and their two sons welcomed their three-year-old daughter, Shambhavi, into their home. My husband and I were so busy with all the paperwork at the time that we did not actually take in the fact that one of the ten children inside was going to be our daughter. We were more concerned about how she would react to coming home or if she would have any language barriers, said the owner of Soul Bakery, which supplies organic food to Chennai and Bengaluru. However, she said her two sons, Ved and Darsh, were inside, spending time with their new sister. Shambhavi, who came to Bengaluru from Chattisgarh. Now, shes seen her 13-year-old and 10-year-old sons become protective of their sister. In March 2016, after attending an inner engineering workshop with Sadhguru, the Bengaluru-based NGO consultant and her husband came away feeling lighter spiritually and mentally. Meeta told her husband that she wanted to adopt a girl child, and Amit was onboard. After some discussion with her family, they applied for a girl child through the Central Adoption Resource Authority system, and two-and-a-half years later, they brought their daughter home. Her name, Shambhavi, is the energy form consecrated in Sadhgurus ashram in Coimbatore, said Meeta, who is a follower who can perform pujas. The day before Shambhavi came home, Meeta reminded her sons to express any concerns without fear of judgment. The three-year-old loves school, and wakes up every day excited to learn. She comes home before they boys do, and asks when her bhaiyas will come home. Before, the boys would come home, eat something, and go out to play. Now, they spend some time with their little sister before going, said Meeta. Coming from a family with many male children Meetas father had two brothers, as did Amits father, and she has two sons Meeta has found little changes in her parenting. With the boys, if they fall and hurt themselves, I just have to put a little dettol and send them off. Im not used to mollycoddling my children, but Shambhavi wants to be held and cuddled if she falls, said Meeta. There was some hesitancy from her and Amits parents initially. Meeta had a bustling daily schedule, and caring for a child would take up a lot of time. When the topic was broached to her parents, Meetas father was averse to the concept. Now, he videocalls every other day to see her. You know the Queen song Bohemian Rhapsody? She calls out to him the same way they sing Mama in the song. So shell go, Ajuba and call out for him, said Meeta. Shabhavi has a high emotional intellect for a child her age, said Meeta. The other day, my father called, and he had hurt his hand. He showed it to her, and she was very affected by it. She came into our room crying, saying that her Ajuba was hurt, said Meeta. Another trigger for Shambhavi was when her plate was taken away from her, as in the funds-strapped orphanage she grew up in, that was a sign of having no food. Meeta and her husband know that eventually, Shambhavi will want to meet her parents. All I hope is that the process goes as smoothly as possible, for her. We will be there with her, of course, said Meeta. Its too soon to plan for the future, she said. Meeta is not one to live in anything but the present, but for one instance When we ride, I take the youngest and Amit takes the older one. Now with Shambhavi, we need to figure out a way to take all of them when we go riding next. By PTI KATHMANDU: Nepal has asked the RBI to declare newly circulated Indian currency notes of denominations higher than Rs 100 legal tender in the country, according to media report on Sunday. The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the country's central monetary authority, has written a letter on Friday to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), asking it to make Indian bank bills Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 legal tender in Nepal, The Himalayan Times reported. The NRB has asked the India's central bank to issue a notification under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), which will make Indian bank notes of denomination more than Rs 100 legal tender in Nepal and to provide the exchange facilities to get bills of such denominations, it said. The RBI has only allowed the circulation of Indian currency notes of Rs 100 and less in Nepal and provides exchange facilities for bills of these denomination. Before the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes in November 2016, the RBI had issued a FEMA notification allowing Nepali citizens to carry Rs 25,000 worth of such bank notes. After the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 Indian currency notes, circulation of new bank notes of denominations Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 was started by the Indian government. The RBI did not issue the notification for the newly circulated bank notes, making their use illegal in Nepal. "As the RBI was not allowing the circulation of the higher denomination Indian notes, we had to ban their use in Nepal to protect our citizens," Chief of Foreign Exchange Management Department at the NRB. "However, after we received complaints from people in various sectors, especially those who have to visit India frequently, we asked the Indian central bank to make such bank notes legal tender in Nepal." The circulation of such notes in Nepal, according to Dhungana, will solely depend upon the RBI and Indian government's will. Also the NRB, in the same letter, has asked the Indian central bank to provide exchange facility to Nepalis holding the banned Indian currency in the country. The central bank has said the country's banking system, including banks, financial institutions and NRB, hold Indian currency denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 worth Rs 48 million. But the actual stock of banned Indian bank notes is expected to be much more because Nepalis were previously allowed to carry Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 Indian bank notes worth up to Rs 25,000. Also, those residing in areas bordering India usually stash Indian notes of larger denominations as they have to go to Indian markets frequently to buy goods. To make exchange facility available to Nepalis holding banned Indian currency, NRB has already prepared software to keep a database of names of people who sought exchange facility, serial number of bills of 00 and Rs 1,000 submitted by the people, and their identification numbers, among others. But the Indian government is yet to take a decision, it said. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Niti Aayog is open to the idea of having a role in fund allocation to states for developmental expenditure and would discuss the matter with the 15th Finance Commission, the think tank's vice chairman Rajiv Kumar said Monday. Former chairman of the Finance Commission Vijay Kelkar recently suggested that the Aayog should be given financial powers to help address regional imbalances. The Aayog, unlike its predecessor Planning Commission, does not have financial powers nor any say in preparing annual plans of the states. "I have always respected Dr Kelkar and his views comes from a very long experience, both as finance secretary as well as chairman of the Finance Commission. "I having worked as the vice chairman of Niti Aayog for 16-17 months, what I do feel is that there needs to be some independent allocations for states to undertake their developmental expenditure," Kumar told PTI in an interview. He said that if the Aayog would be given some role in allocating development expenditure to states, then that would also "promote co-operative and competitive federalism". "And I can also say to you that we are going to be discussing this with the 15th Finance Commission.," the Aayog vice chairman said. ALSO READ | Uttar Pradesh, Bihar lagging behind in construction of toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission: Niti Ayog In a recent research paper, Kelkar suggested setting up of 'Niti Aayog 2.0' that would have financial powers as part of efforts to address regional imbalances. Kelkar had also suggested that the vice-chairman of the new Aayog be made a permanent invitee of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). Socialist-era Planning Commission was replaced by the Aayog on January 1, 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the chairman of the Aayog. While the Aayog is open to the idea having a role in resource allocation to states, Kumar made it clear that he was not seeking revival of the Planning Commission. "But certainly we don't want to return to old days of the Planning Commission and have a huge expansion in the number of centrally sponsored schemes etc," he noted. The Planning Commission used to play a key role in deciding the expenditure plans of central ministries as well as that of states. "I think the time has come to achieve a better balance between complete fiscal sovereignty and some allocation for targeted infrastructure in development-oriented expenditure across the states to ensure that there is a better convergence within the states. "And all those states that are now today have weaker infrastructure (and need to) catch up with the more forward states," Kumar said. ALSO READ | Jharkhand Minister compares NITI Ayog and its directions with 'Chacha Chaudhary' and 'Saboo' Echoing similar views, former Union minister and noted economist Yoginder K Alagh said that in 2014, he had called for the new body to have powers to allocate funds as per transparent rules. "The government abolished the Planning Commission, started a large number of central schemes but resources (are allocated) by the finance or the ministry concerned. Some chief ministers' say this is arbitrary. Kelkar rightly wants a rule-based system,"Alagh told PTI. About the interim Budget for 2019-20, Kumar said it has achieved a very good balance between providing a growth stimulus and maintaining the fiscal discipline. On former finance minister P Chidambaram's criticism that the Budget was an 'account for votes' and not a 'vote on account', Kumar said, "you cannot expect a non-election budget in an election year". "addressing some of the issues of some of the classes of the people is good political economy and only shows that the government is sensitive to the problems of the particular segments," Kumar said. Regarding the disinvestment target for 2019-20, he said the government when it comes back to the office would pursue the target much more efficiently. "We will make sure that this Rs 90,000 crore disinvestment target will be achieved through some strategic disinvestment of loss-making PSUs. The Interim Budget has set a target of Rs 90,000 crore to be mopped up from CPSE disinvestment in 2019-20 higher than Rs 80,000 crore in the current fiscal. Meanwhile, the Aayog vice chairman said there is now a need for re-establishing the quality of the India' statistical system. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation should not only come out as a collector of all data but also a quality regulator of all data, he opined. "What we have inherited is a relatively neglected statistical and data system in the country. I think, we now need to reverse that. And there was a time when the Department of Statistics was also a part of the Ministry of Planning, and I think that particular co-ordination is required," he said. The Department of Statistics has now rechristened as the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Prof MV Rajeev Gowda By Express News Service The Interim Budget presented by Piyush Goyal is the last desperate attempt by the government to pull a fast one on the people of India. It signals that Prime Minister Narendra Modi knows he will not return to power unless he succeeds in fooling the people once again. Yet, despite the government presenting its sixth budget, when its mandate was for five, it came up substantially short. The budget aimed to please a range of vote banks. But its effort is as too little, too late. After ignoring farmers for five years, the government finally woke up to their plight and announced an income support of a measly Rs 500 a month. For a family of five, this would mean just Rs 3.30 per day. Further, this does nothing to alleviate the distress of the tenant farmer and landless labourer, who face a double whammy with the poor implementation of MGNREGA. The budgets middle class tax rebate turns out to be an unfunded announcement. It will be up to the next government to actually implement the scheme. While tax rebates are welcome at a time of stagnant incomes, what use are they when there are no jobs? ALSO READ: What Interim Budget means for your money That the budget did not address the question of record unemployment demonstrates its priorities. Instead, the government had tried hard to hide the NSSO numbers, which revealed the bitter truth. This budget shows how Modi Sarkar has abandoned our youth amidst talk of pakoda frying and Uber driving. The government continues to be fiscally undisciplined, breaching deficit targets yet again. This is despite low oil prices, and minimal fund increases for defense and the social sector. The CAG in its compliance audit raised concerns on how expenditures were being massively understated. This calls into question the veracity of the budget documents and the other data the government puts out. Under the Modi government, India is fast gaining the reputation for hiding data and cooking numbers. Hence, most of the budgets claims are hard to believe and will require a fact check. ALSO READ: Budget boost for Brands with large rural biz For example, the government claims that the economy grew at 8.2 per cent in the year of demonetisation. A paper by IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath, studying employment and night lights data, shows instead that demonetisation caused a decline in national economic activity of roughly 3 percentage points or more in November and December 2016. Unemployment rose sharply too as the Annual Survey of Industries attests. But evidence be damned, the Prime Minister just makes grand announcements. For the Saubhagya scheme aiming for 100 per cent electrification of all households, the government has not increased access, but just reduced targets! Similarly, the budget for the much-hyped Ayushman Bharat was slashed last year. Overall, despite revenue constraints, the government has gone ahead with huge spending promises but no concrete plans. ALSO READ: Interim budget failed queer people, say experts Go back and examine the BJP manifesto and PMs speeches, one thing stands out: this government has been a spectacular failure. The RBI Consumer Confidence Survey from September 2018 made it clear that dissatisfaction with the Modi government was higher than it was with the UPA in its last year. It had one last chance to make amends. This budget is a testament it failed at that too. By PTI NEW DELHI: The government on Monday submitted the debt resolution plan for crisis-hit IL&FS to the NCLAT and also suggested the name of retired Supreme Court judge Justice DK Jain to supervise the entire process. The entire resolution process would be based on the principles enunciated in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Under the plan, the government has categorised IL&FS group companies into green, amber and red based on their respective financial positions. The corporate affairs ministry has fixed September 30, 2018 as the cut-off date for entertaining the claims submitted by the lenders. On October 1 last year, a newly appointed board took over the reins of IL&FS. "During the conduct of the resolution process of the IL&FS group, payments will be permitted only to maintain and preserve the going concern status of the companies of the IL&FS group," the ministry said in its affidavit detailing the resolution plan. According to the ministry, it would maintain the waterfall system during asset monetisation, wherein the seniority of lenders would be maintained as is done under the IBC. "The distribution of the sale proceeds would be in accordance with the waterfall mechanism specified under section 53 of the IBC," it added. Under Section 53 of IBC, senior secured creditors loans are cleared first and any surplus that remains thereafter is given to unsecured or subordinated creditors and thereafter to the equity owners. "We allow the counsels for Union of India and IL&FS to contact Justice (Retd) D K Jain, for consent and to discuss the terms and conditions of engagement including monthly fee, travelling expenses, allowance etc," the two-member NCLAT bench said. According to the resolution plan, a suitable eligibility criterion will be stipulated, approved by the newly appointed directors and then the expression of interests will be invited for the same. It further added that upon receipt of the recommendations, a successful bidder would be declared, who will deposit the earnest money. Upon declaration of the successful bidder, documentation of the sale will be completed and the forwarded to National Company Law Tribunal for the final approval. According to the affidavit filed before the NCLAT, the classification of the IL&FS group companies is "based on a 12-month cash flow based solvency test". Companies falling in the green categories are the entities, which will continue to meet their payment obligation. While companies falling in the amber category are those who are not able to meet their obligations but can meet only operational payment obligations to senior secured financial creditors. Amber category entities "are permitted to make only payments necessary to maintain and preserve the going concern". "Companies falling in the red category are the entities which can not meet their payment obligations towards even senior secured financial creditors," it said, adding that these companies would be permitted to make payment necessary to maintain and preserve the going concern status. Over the cut-off date, it said, "Financial, operational and statutory claims and liabilities as of September 30 (Cut-Off-Date) will be invited. The Cut-off date has been kept as September 30 since the newly appointed director was appointed by the NCLT on October 1, 2018". Woodland Park Police(NEW YORK) -- A nurse from Twin Falls, Idaho, is expected to plead guilty to at least one charge in connection to the case of missing Colorado mother and flight instructor Kelsey Berreth, ABC News has learned. Krystal Lee, 32, is scheduled to appear in a Colorado courtroom this week to enter a plea deal with prosecutors, according to two of Lee's relatives who spoke anonymously because the deal hasn't been publicly announced. Family members said Lee has been cooperating with investigators, who have been looking into allegations she may have disposed of evidence. Lee had been employed as a nurse at St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls, Idaho. But on Monday, hospital spokeswoman Michelle Bartlome told ABC News that "an individual by that name no longer works at the hospital." In January, hospital officials said Lee was on a leave of absence. It's not yet clear what charge or charges Lee is expected to plead guilty to, or whether she'd face jail time. Attempts to reach Lee's attorney have been unsuccessful. A spokeswoman for District Attorney Dan May would not confirm or comment on any potential plea, but she did confirm that Lee has a court date set for Friday, Feb. 8, in Teller County, Colorado. "This case is under seal," said Lee Richards, a spokeswoman for Colorado's 4th Judicial District Attorney's office. Patrick Frazee was arrested in December and charged with Berreth's murder and three counts of solicitation to commit murder. He has not entered a plea. Berreth was last seen Thanksgiving Day, shopping with the couple's 1-year-old daughter, Kaylee, at a Woodland Park, Colorado, supermarket. Three days after Berreth vanished, investigators said her cell phone signal was detected in Idaho. While Lee's exact relationship to Frazee and her alleged role in the case aren't known, multiple law enforcement sources have told ABC News she's suspected driving Berreth's phone to Idaho in an attempt to dispose of it. According to two family members, Lee said she only helped Frazee because he threatened her life. Police said they believe Berreth was killed in her townhome, and that Frazee was the last person to see her. Berreth's body has not been found, which could complicate how a jury views the case, according to former Adams County, Colorado, prosecutor Bob Grant. "Without a body or cause of death, the prosecutor has to prove the death without any question," Grant said. Last month, a judge granted temporary custody of Kaylee to Berreth's parents, Cheryl and Darrell Berreth. The couple also has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Frazee. Frazee is due back in court Feb. 19. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. RTHK: Trump sending 3,750 troops to border The United States will send an additional 3,750 troops to its frontier with Mexico, the Pentagon said on Sunday, as President Donald Trump doubled down on his call for a wall to boost border security. Soldiers were originally deployed to the border under an order Trump gave before midterm elections in November as "caravans" of migrants made their way to the border to seek asylum. But the mission, under which troops assist civilian border patrol agents by providing logistical support and installing concertina-wire fencing, has been described by opponents as a political stunt designed to create the illusion of a crisis. "The Department of Defence will deploy approximately 3,750 additional US forces to provide the additional support to CBP [Customs and Border Protection] at the southwest border that Acting Secretary of Defence [Pat] Shanahan approved [on] January 11," a statement said. This additional deployment is for three months, the statement added, and will bring to 4,350 the total number of troops at the border. The news comes ahead of a February 15 deadline that President Donald Trump set for Congress to agree on funding for building a border wall which he made a key pledge in his election campaign. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2019-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.